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    704 The Saturday Analyst andLeader. ¦ [A...

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    ITALY IN TRANSITION* TV>CUM:RNTARY histo...

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    • Italy in Tradition. labile. Soohoh nnd...

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    The Litekaliy Pension List. An Minimi Fr...

    present distribution of the fund , between the dates of June , 1859 , and June , I 860 . Three daughters p f a late clerk in the War-office are set down for £ 50 a year , in addition to £ 50 granted to them in 1855 ; To six sisters of the late Dr . Lakdnek , £ 125 , in equal proportions is awarded , "in consideration of their late brother ' s labours in the cause of science . " A " daughter of Hoppnek , the painter , " is to receive £ 100 per annum ; a lady , who , we understand , is the widow to a late consul at Naples . To Dr . Kjlakey , the scientific writer , £ 100 are given ; and to Mr . Edivaed Atheestone , £ 25 , in addition to £ 75 he lias already , " in consideration of his great services to literature . " To Miss Jujlia Pakdoe , the traveller and novelist , £ 100 ; and to the widovy of a sea captain £ 50 a year . To Dr . Bobebt Bigsby , " in consideration of his great services and contributions to the literature of his country , " £ 100 per annum ; and to the Rev . Heney Logan , who has contributed to mathematical and scientific literature , £ 100 a vear To the widow of the late Bishop of Antigua , £ 150 a year ;

    and to two daughters of Heney Cost , the discoverer of the " puddling" process in iron , £ 50 each . A lady , for her benevolent labours among the London seafaring population , £ 50 . The daughter of the late Sir Samuel Bektham , £ 100 ; and the widow of a consul in the United States has £ 50 , in addition to £ 50 granted to her in 1851 . Of this sum , not so much as a moiety goes either to literary and scientific ' men , or their relatives ; and even of these we should find it exceedingly hard to approve the selection . Are they the most deserving , the most meritorious , or tlie most serviceable ? The late Sir HoBEET Peel was not accustomed to regard these pensions as Parities , but as encouragements and rewards , and gave them to such men as Wordsworth and Sotjthey , not in paltry sums of

    £ 25 and £ 50 , but in donations of £ 200 a year . His successors have regarded the matter in a far different light , and have accepted poverty as the principal recommendation . Even if tliis were rightly the rule , the recipients of such bounties should have belonged to the literary classes . But these classes are so far from being exclusively iregardedm the administration of the fund , that the \ majjority of the hetiefieiareti consist of impoverished ladies' -maids , bishop ' s children , doctors , consuls , Government clerks , inventors , schoolmasters , military and naval men , and teachers in the royal nUrsery- ^ -people whom it may be quite proper to subsidise , but not out of this fund . Meanwhile , there are really well-deserving men , pursuing the fcio-her branches of literature , to whom the proper assistance to from such fund would be not onl

    which they are entitled a y a great assistance , but also a greater benefit to the country , Xow and then , indeed , such men as Tennyson are selected to give a lustre to the grant ; but , in general , the real working , intellect of the country is avoided , and people of whom little is known , and iess expected , have the preference . And even these are few in number ; the bulk of the recipients consists of paupers without merit , and impostors who havie no claim to the gratitude of the ( c'OUtitiT , or the recognition of the CrOvernment in any shape . A s a charity , we repeat , that this fund should never be regarded by its distributors . It is an insult to literacy men of the present tVayV who are as well employed and as well paid as any other class of professionals , and some of whom , are making even handsome in-<* omeR There are others whose labours are less popular , but more the

    beneficial in the long run , whose studies , rather than ¦ .. men , require Government support ; arid these ( the philosopher and the . favan ) are entitled to claim it , not as a charity , but as a right . In the interest of the people we likewise claim it for such , as conducive to the greatest ultimate benefit of the jpopular mind . But , if the .. 'isant is to be considered as a charity , let it at least be given to those who # ive name to the Pension List . Let it be given to literary people , and not to others , in their name . If literature must be fuAneeb ip tlxis insult , for the sake of a paltry annual grant of twelve the with the

    hundi-cd pounds , let the literary man reap profit phame . Let him not be regarded ¦ merely as a foundling , who is to give name to an hospital , but not to receive the benevolence intended by the donor and founder . There is nothing immoral in the idea of such a fund , nothing injurious to the public interest j and therefore it can-W > t bo politically or socially expedient to divert it from its original destination . While this continues the practice , we ( concluding this article with the statement with which it commenced ) pronounce that an annual fraud is perpetrated by the Government on the people of England , and that money is obtained and expended on false pretences .

    704 The Saturday Analyst Andleader. ¦ [A...

    704 The Saturday Analyst andLeader . ¦ [ Aug . 4 , 1806 .

    Italy In Transition* Tv>Cum:Rntary Histo...

    ITALY IN TRANSITION * TV > CUM : RNTARY history is always instructive . By a decree JLJof Farini , as Dictator of tho Emilia , commissioners were appointed to search tho archives in order that the plenipotentiaries of Europe should have in their hands the means of judgment in the Congress expected to MHsemblo at Paris . Tho documents so collected fill in tho original two ponderous volumes . Mr . Arthur has abridged , collated , and connected thorn in one portable volume which ¦ Tipw ^ lies"beft > r 6 "Ufl . - — : r ~ — - —— . — - —^ — ¦¦ + The subject it * introiluced by a humourous description ot . " Savoy , pending- annexation with Franco . " The people , by our author ' s account , regarded their jelations with Piedmont as nothing bettor than those of a tributary province ; because , owing to tho barrier of the Alps , they could not have any commercial intercourse with it . After the decree of annexation had pussed , ho describes the troops of French soldiers winding among tho Alpine passes . Tho Savoyards , ho adds , " seemed well content that they and their vines wore to

    belong henceforth to the nation to which their language and their interests pointed them . It is a poor country , but beautiful , and with its lakes , its mountains , its vineyards , its glaciers , and its sunsets , if it is henceforth to be known in European diplomacy as the idea , must , at least , be admitted that the idea is a romantic one . " ' Mr . Arthur Avrites with eloquence , and his passage across Mount Cenis is picturesquely described . And here it is that he discusses promotion by purchase in the British army , as forming the topic of conversation among foreigners whom he met , French and Italian soldiers in fact . This third chapter describes Turin , during the

    voting upon annexation in Central Italy . Here is some fine writing . The church of the Vaudois is grandly treated . It is , as . he says , " an aboriginal Christian church , holding the forms and the doctrines handed down from the most distant Christian times . " He was greatly impressed with the Piedmontese soldiers ; he never saw men better dressed , or of finer physical proportions . He was as much pleased with the people . They were in a state of exultation with the present ; as to the past , " . they seemed to think that the Emperor of the French was well paid by Savoy ; and that , however serviceable he had been , they had acquitted their debt to him . "

    That Napoleon III . has lost moral influence by demanding Savoy , Mr . Arthur is certain ; nor less so , that the Pope has sutfered ^ by his threat or mockery of excommunication . On the interesting question whether Italy can ever become Protestant , he thinks that time will show men how inevitably temporal despotism arises out of spiritual . The notion of an united Italy fills the Italians with rapture . The isolating system has been tarried to extremes . The different dialects of Italy , owing to it , are scarcely reeoncileable . They are not the mere brogues or accents which we find in different parts Of the British islands , but really deserve to be called separate dialects ; so much so , that the inhabitants , of one part of the country can converse in the presence of those of another ,-with tolerable security , that they will scarcely be understood ; and , as to a foreigner , they put him out at once . This inconvenience , great as it is ; wiU subside before an united Italy . The social will follow in the steps of poiitical-progress , ;" . ; :. ; . # - . ;

    _ „ , The fifth chapter describes Milan , during the rejoicings for the annexation of Central Italy with the Northern State . The Milan cathedral struck our author with admiration , and induced him to , meditation . " Those old walls , and their predecessors , have seen the gradual corruption of religion , arid the successive wrongs and oppressions of Italy . They now hear the shouts of a hopeful uprising . " In a coffee-house he found papers with these words in large letters , " We are a nation ! We are eleven millions ! For the first time , since ancient Rome , we can to-day use the words , ' ¦ * we are a nation ! ' Italians have learned to unite . Again we cry . ' we are eleven millions ;!* " Arid this strange joy of their newfound nationality , he adds , seemed to throb in the veins of every mart vou met with . Among the crowds ; assembled on the occasion t

    to which the chapter relates ,, there was an . intelligent , thoughful looking man , of about twenty-five , who turned to two friends , who seemed like "fast" young gentlemen , and said , " We must all become Protestants . " *¦ This was the first time our author had heard such an expression from an Italian , and it-took him by surprise . The dandies were startled . Hereupon Mr . Arthur took the opportunity of explaining t ^ th 1 ? nTtfre ~ n ^^ To this the elder of these youths replied , very gravely , . ¦ " O ! yes ; I know all about it ; that is the thing for us . Italy will never be right , until we have that . I have books , and I have read them , and I know ; " and , turning to his comrades , he said , " You must read ecclesiastical history . You must read the r < ouleh : " . This may be added to the intimations noticed by us some weeks ntfo , <> f a concealed Protestant feeling in Italy , only awaiting its

    opportunity . The official dociiments of which Mr . Arthur has made use art ' very damaging to the Austrian ( lovcniment and the Papacy . As to ' the latter , the Bolognose stated that Home was a den of assassins . The police were in league with the robbers , and the priests with the police . When a great robbery was committed , the culprits , even if imprisoned , were always discharged . They got a share , and the authorities a share . As to assassination , any man who had committed one , if he had only money , could at oiuv . make friends with the priests , and the evidence broke down , and In * was set at large . But an honest man who dared to think xvuh punished without mercy ; or a poor man who happened to get into prison , and had no money or friends to carry the priests' inflncmu * for him , might lie there and rot , before they oven took tho trouble to bring him to trial . Verily , here is a picture , in little , of a grout universal fact . One of the last men with whom our author talked in Bologna , looking out with an eyo where consumption gleamed ,

    said , " Sir , the Almighty is tired of Homo !" This book is , altogether , a hopeful hook ; and , as it is well written , may bo read extensively . The author fulfilled a sort ot mission during his journey . Continually he explained the difference JbetweoiLjPraleflta ^ true nature of Catholicism . He seems to have been well nttcd lor this kind of work ; sufficiently learned , with a clear ami logical head , and u moderate amount of enthusiasm . Hin opinions are sometimes peculiar . Ho believes that both the I ' npwjy and Mohuinmedanism aro doomed to ruin ; tho causes of their decay , however , aro opposite , as their development was by opposite tendencies . Islam has lost territory , but , held fast the opinion o its own people . Home lost its strongont races by the revolt , oi opinion . Both have now long been dependent on foreign support ; but , in the case of tho Sultan , it is to proteot him from the aggression of neighbouring States , or the uprising of conquered races ;

    • Italy In Tradition. Labile. Soohoh Nnd...

    • Italy in Tradition . labile . Soohoh nnd rrvate Opinions In tUo Hprinnr or 1800 . illustrated by Official Documents from tho Papnl Archives or tho JRovoltoU Legations . ByViM . iAMt AnxiU'R , A . M . Hamilton , A , diu »» , nnU Co ,

    Ar00802

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 4, 1860, page 8, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04081860/page/8/