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o-raph , we have spoken of the " . woi'lonan at Rome , ' not of the " Roman workman . " The difference , though slight , is an all-important one . The . workmen sit Rome are not Romans , for the Romans proper liever work . The Cnmpngna is tilled in winterby o-roups of peasants , who come from the Marches in long stragglingfiles , headed by the " Piflferari "—pipers . Iii summer time the harvest is reaped and the . vintage gathered in by labourers - whose homes are in the Abruzzi mountains . In many ways these mountaineers bear a strong resemblance to the swarms of Irish labourers who come over to England for the harvest . They are frugal , goodhumoured , and , for Italians , hard-working- and industrious . A very small proportion , too , of the working- men in Rome itself are Romans . Certain trades , as that of the ' cooks , for instance , are eonfined to the inhabitants of particular districts . The masons , carpenters , carver ? , and other mechanical trades are filled by men who do not belong-to the city , and are called and considered foreigners . Of coarse , the rule is not without exceptions , and you will find sometimes genuine Romans amongst the common workmen , but amongst the skilled workmen never . There is a very large poor population in Rome , and ; in some form or other , these poor inust work for their living ; but their rule is to do as little work as possible . There still exists amongst the Romans a sort of debased Imperial pride ; a belief that a Roman is . per se , superior to all other Italians . For manual laboiir , or labour under others ,. lie . has a contempt and dislike . All " the semi-independent trades , like those of cab-drivers , street pedlars , petty shopkeepers , &c , are eagerly sought after and monopolised by Romans , Indeed , the extent to which small trades are carried on by persons without capital and miserably in debt , is , we understand , one of the greatest evils hi the social system which prevails here . If the Romans also , like the unjust steward , are too proud to dig , unlike that worthy , to beg- they are " not" ashamed . Begging is a recognised and a respected profession ; and if other trades fail , there is always this left . ¦¦ Besides . , the poor at Rome are . not afraid of actual starvation . Any man who goes to confession , is not a " scontento . " and can get a good word from his priest , is sure of food at the convent doors for himself and his family . Weare not saying 1 there is no good in this custom ; in fact , it is the one good thing ^ we have eome across in connection \ vitli the priestly system , of government ; but stilll on an indolent and demoralised population like that of Jiome , the benefit of this sort of charity , which destroys the last and strongest motive for exertion , is by no means -im . . cd . The cardinal principle , indeed , of Papal rule is to teach its subjects to rely on charity in place of industry . In order to relieve , in some measure , the fearful distress that exists among the poor of Rome , the Government has taken some hundreds ( nearly a thousand we should guess ) of persons into their employment , and set them' to work on excavating the Forum . The sight of these men working , or rather pretending-to work , is reckoned one of the stock jokes of the season . Six men are regularly employed in conveying a wheelbarrow filled with two spadefuls , of soil . There is one man to each handle , two in'front to pull when the road rises , and one on each side to keep the barrow steady . You will see any day long files of . such barrows so escorted , creeping 1 at a snail ' s pace , to and from the Forum . It is hardly necessary to say that no progress whatever has been made in the excavations , or , in truth , is likely to be made . Yet nil . these workmen are ablebodied fellows , who receive two pauls a-diiy for doing- nothing . Much less injury would be inHicted on their self-respect by giving them the money outright titan in return for this mockery of labour . The amusements of the people are much whatmight be expected from their occupations . To do them justice , they drink but little , and even at the road-side " Osterias" on a Sunday you rarely see a Roman drunk . On the other hand ,- they are a nation of gamblers . Their chief amusement , not to say their chief occupation , is gambling , In the middle of the day , at street corners and in sunnyspots , you see groups of working-men playing- at pitch halfpenny , or gesticulating wjklly over the mysterious game of " inoro . " ¦ feikittles and stone-throwing are the only popular amusements which require bodily exertion ; and both of these , as' played hero , lire as much chance as skill . The lottery , too , of which we have spoken before , is the delight of every truu Roman . „ , , Tlrs pictnro of the Roman people may not seem a very favourable OV a vory promising one . We ' quite admit that many persons who have come much into contact with them speak highly of their general good humour , their siHbfitionato feelings , und their sharpness of intellect . At the name time we have observed that these eulogists of the Roman population , are either Papal partisans , who , believing that " this is thu best of all possible worlds , " wish to prove that " everything here is for the best ; " or else they arc vehement Italy-oluters , who are afraid of damaging their beloved cause by admission of the plain truth , that tlio Romans are not , a » a people , either honest , truthful , or industrious . For our own part , our faith is different . A bud govormnenb produces bud subjects , and we are not sui-pi-isod to Und in the debasement and degradation of a priest-ruled , people tho strongest condenmation of tho papnl system . ~~ Tuiun , April 7 , 18 ( 10 . / ji'jna ciiintoii and iM-umroNT . BY billrt posted upon tho . walls of tho Eternal City the world jenrns that the lung-expected pupal performance 1 i » r taken piano . The pontifical tnigudy luw been pruaentod , but in tho . unpretentious , humble fushion bolit ' ting the pretsont restricted rottoiu'oefl of the mistress of the Stivon HilK Afraid to utter hur loudest thunUgr , lost its reverberations should shako lior tottering soat and upheavo \\ w decaying iouiuhuiona , she hua vonturod upon little moro than ft ,
hoarse whisper of indignation and reproach . Even this embraces so . ' many persons in general , that ib affects no one in particular . The curse has-been-adapted ' , to so many , thousands ' of individuals , that a mere . homoeopathic -close , which can be swallowed with perfect ease and facility , fulls to the shareof each . In vain dees poor Rome try to get up si little excitement , to disturb the .-. unscrupulous , consciences of the nineteenth century . Her performance , has taken place at least six hundred years too late , to do more than cause a passing smile of pity . Past ages , and Italy no less than- foreign lands , afford abundant examples of the . same indifference to Papal anathema which Piedmont shows' in the present emergency , England was always , independent- of bulls and excommunications , even when she called herself Roman Catholic . William the Conqueror would not suffer his bishops to issue" ' edicts contrary to his views . Henet II . prescribed the way hi which excommunication might be pronounced against private individuals , and also , the manner in which his subjects mig-ht appeal from the unjust excommunications of the archbishop to the royal tribunal . The offences for which alone it might be pronounced were limited , and distinctly named . Henbt III . ordered the restitution of their goods and privileges to some of his subjects who were excommunicated by clerical authority . The same king obliged the Bishops of Coventry , Iiichfield , and Lincoln to retract anathemas which they had pronounced in perfect accordance with the canon law , but which they had fulminated without consulting the royal pleasure . Edward I . went so far as to banish certain prelates for daring to issue censures without his leave . In the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury , he not only sent him into exile , but compelled the Dean and Chapter to revoke the anathema which the . Archbishop had pronounced against the prior and canons of the Chapel Royal . The reigns of Edward II . and Edward III . offer examples of the same kind , while that of Henry VIII . so far outvies the rest that bur memory and admiration are reserved for it almost exclusively . When the formidable pontifical bull came forth which disr charged Henry ' s subjects from their allegiance , pronounced hid throne forfeited , and conferred his dominions on the King of Scotland , no one ventured to put the strength of English loyalty to the test . To the thunder of the Vatican the king opposed th-j artillery of a new translation of the Scriptures , A . copy was provided for every parish church , at the joint expense of the incumbent and parishioners . The cleVgy were commanded to teach the creed , dominical oration , and Ten ' "Commandments in English , to call off men ' s attention from pilgrimages and relics , and to discourage saintly intercession . Henry , moreover , declared that his own will should decide upon all questions of doctrine and ritual , and that no English delegates should appear at any pretended general council which might be summoned under Italian influence . Ihe well-known bull of Pius V ., which declared Queen Elizabeth a heretic and favourer of heretics , and her adherents to have incurred the sentence of anathema , was followed by ministerial and parliamentary decrees . ' -making it treasonable to acknowledge the authority of the Pope , or to introduce a papal missive into the kingdom . In continental countries the plan adopted has been somewhat different . Kings have , in general , resisted papal violence , not by prohibiting excommunication , or ordering that it should be revoked , but by preventing its publication or execution , and taking measures to render it void and utterly without effect . - Venice more than once displayed great firmness and courage in tacitly opposing the papal interdict ; but the most marked occasion was at the beginning ot the sixteenth century , when Paul V . sought to humble her beneath his spiritual nnutlieinus . Immediately » l ' on llIS elevation to the pontificate lie announced , his intention of exalting the power of the Church at the expense of that of the secular princes of Itiily * whose presumption he declared required to bo mortified . While still cardinal , indeed , he hud expressed himself to this effect to LicoNAupo ' Donato , declaring tlmt if he were Pope and tliu republic of Venice o-avo him the loust ground of complaint , lie would Jose no time m wnrniiin-H and negotiations , but would sit once launch an interdict . " And if I were Doge , " answered the nnihussador , " I would despise your anathemas . " Both soon kept their word . The republic was placed under interdict by the Pope for having most righteously imprisoned and refused to give up to the chums of Koine an ecclesiastic who had been guilty of scandalous crimes of a secular nature . At this period 1 ho Doge died , and Paul ordered his nuncio to oppose the election of another Doge , on the ground that any act performed by those who were excommunicated was null und void . J ho nuncio wiw refused an audience by tho Seignoury , who deolnrod tiittb _ it could not bo accorded while tho ducal throne was vncnnt ; and , in spite of him and his instructions , the election of Donato as Dago took place . The Papal denunciations , were met by the Venetians with offers <> f mon » " v « d resolution and foree in preventing 1 the luwlhuiniiH or Ar . MXANWKU v . IVoiu being oxooutod in his kin ^ oni . JLuhsi-aus took no notice
Untitled Article
April . 14 , I 860 . ] The Leader and Sattcrday Analyst . 359
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 359, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2342/page/19/
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