tion, by the refusal of her government to allow her to follow the example of England, in holding political meetings, celebrating reform dinners, and making such speeches as, however familiar to us, were, until within the last few months, looked upon as fearful novelties abroad. Large numbers of English have long been resident in Italy, where, however great may be their reserve in political matters, their very presence has acted as an incentive to innovation. The proud independence of their bearing, their systematic resistance to every species of interference with their personal freedom, even their contempt for foreigners, based chiefly on the fact of their submission to arbitrary power, could not fail to exercise a considerable influence. We have, in fact, witnessed in all parts of Italy, the extreme surprise of the inhabitants, at the audacious contempt of authority habitually exhibited by our countrymen. They appear to breathe everywhere the air of Palace Yard, or St. Stephen's Chapel, and argue on political subjects as recklessly in the shade of the Vatican, or on the steps of the police office at Milan, as they would in the sanctuary of a London clubroom. It is not too much, therefore, to attribute to their continued residence in all the great capitals of Italy, something of that movement, the progress and probable termination of which now occupy the thoughts of statesmen in all countries.

It is unnecessary to go over the ground which others have already trodden, and recapitulate the history of Italy, from the birth of her mediæval republic down to the present day; for it is not from the spontaneous inspiration of the people that we are to look for the regeneration of the peninsula. Not that we are disposed to deny the excellent qualities of the Italian mind. We cheerfully admit all that it has achieved in science, literature, and politics; we recognise its admirable fertility, its imaginative relics, its productions of art, its rare musical triumphs. But we have too much respect for truth, to think of complimenting the Italians upon having themselves originated the political agitation out of which their deliverance is, in all probability, to proceed. Nations act and re-act upon each other, and the beneficial influence we are now exerting beyond the Alps, is only a tardy repayment of the benefits we formerly received from the republics of the middle ages.

If we go back as far as the year 1812, we shall find that the constitution framed for Sicily by an English statesman, must be regarded as the great germ of the movements which have since taken place. The idea, passing from that island to the continent, slowly pervaded the whole mass of Italian society, fermenting perpetually, and exciting a multitude of indefinite hopes,

many of which we are, in part, to see realized. How long the combination of diplomacy may check the development of Sicilian independence, it is not perhaps possible at present to foresee, though, if the principle of humanity were properly recognised in politics, all doubt and suspense would be speedily cleared away from the Sicilian question, and the independence of the island established on an immoveable basis. Hitherto, however, there exist interests which, in the prevailing theories of politics, are deemed paramount to those of humanity, we mean those of the ruling families. The inquiry is not so muchWhat is best for the people of Sicily? as-How we are to reconcile their emancipation with what are called the rights of the king of Naples. The discovery, therefore, has not yet been made throughout Europe, that governments have only been instituted for the good of the people, and that when, from natural imperfection or the decrepitude of age, they cease to effect that purpose, they should no longer be suffered to

exist.

But, not to dwell on this point, the aspirations, excited by the Sicilian constitution, communicated themselves to the whole of Italy, where, in spite of the benumbing influence of Catholicism, immense plans were formed for the establishment of liberty. At first, these plans were very naturally confined within the circle of secret societies, which, under various names, sprung up in nearly all parts of Italy, having for their object the overthrow of absolute monarchy, and the setting up in some places of republics, and in others, of constitutional governments. Among these societies, as is well known, that of the Carbonari was the chief. Originating with a few patriots, who had been driven to take refuge among the charcoal burners of Calabria, it speedily struck forth roots and branches, which spread over the whole peninsula, from sea to sea, and up to the very foot of the Alps.

Some have made it a reproach to the Italians, that they should then have sought their freedom through clandestine associations, and not have risen boldly in the face of day to vindicate their rights. But they who make this objection, can know nothing of the state of Italy, where, until recently, thought and feeling were wholly deprived of those instruments by which they cause their existence to be recognized. There existed, properly speaking, no press, no parliament, no right of assembling, no organized system of communication between mau and man. Authority flowed like a pestilential flood between the integers of the population, isolating them from one another. The very freedom of conversation was denied them. Every man

dreaded his neighbour, the son held the father, and the father held the son in suspicion, not exactly knowing what dreadful influence the government might not have exercised upon him. An universal system of espionage overspread the land, the effect of which not only poisoned the enjoyment of the domestic hearth, but pursued men to the very privacy of their bedchambers; for, in some instances, wives were bought over, to extort secrets from their husbands, when retired from the society of the rest of the world, that they might afterwards make revelations to the police. Brothers had been frequently known to betray brothers, and thus all the tenderness and all the charities of domestic life were poisoned at their source, in order to gratify the pride, and consolidate the tyranny of some dozen or fourteen families.

In such a state of things, however difficult it may have been to conspire, conspiracies were clearly the only means left to liberty. Political morality, let us be persuaded, assumes its character from the place in which it is found. We, therefore, who are free, who can think what we please, and speak what we think, and, consequently, stand in no need of plots and conspiracies, must not be too severe upon the Italians for building, as they did, all their hopes of success upon them. To conspire, under such governments, was a virtue; for all legitimate means of defence having been taken out of the hands of the people, those means became legitimate which were not originally so of themselves. The very nature of moral things was changed for the Italians. To be frank and open, became the act of fools. All integrity and all patriotism consisted in being reserved, in covering the feelings of the heart and the aspirations of the soul with that thick veil which, under other circumstances, would be denominated hypocrisy; in smiling upon the authority against which they plotted, and in secretly constructing a political machinery for shaking society to its foundation, and casting forth from its bosom those unclean despots who defiled and polluted it.

This must be the defence of the secret societies of Europe. And, instead of condemning them, let us earnestly thank God that, by the valour of our ancestors, we have been spared the necessity of emerging to liberty through avenues so obscure and questionable. As, moreover, we observed at the outset, the sinister influence of Catholicism was to be counteracted. An immense army of priests and monks quartered upon every city, every town, and every village in Italy, laboured incessantly to advance the cause of superstition, and along with it that of despotism. Whoever, consequently, had the good of his country

at heart, saw his best efforts counteracted, and, too often, rendered futile by some cowled impostor, whose supposed sacred character imparted a formidable weight to the blows he aimed at freedom. The effect was too often what might have been expected; to be a patriot, came by degrees to be synonymous with being an unbeliever; for protestantism not being at hand, they who strayed from the fold of popery knew not in what other ecclesiastical enclosure to take their stand. Yet it was felt from the beginning, by all elevated and comprehensive beings, that a great political movement, totally dissociated from the religious principle, could end in nothing but national confusion. Religion is the adhesive principle in human society, besides being its informing soul. Nay, as the body from which the spirit has departed soon moulders and falls to pieces, so the body politic, from which the influence of religion has been withdrawn, dissolves of its own accord, and falls inevitably to ruin.

Comprehending this truth, many of the Italian patriots, who have rejected Catholicism without adopting any other system in its stead, are forced to affect a reverence for the papacy as a spiritual dominion. There would otherwise exist no affinity, no bond of union between them, and the great mass of the people in all likelihood would rather crouch beneath the sceptre of despotism for generations yet to come, than relinquish the supposed spiritual advantages which they derive from the hierarchy of Rome. And here we touch upon the cardinal difficulty of freedom in Italy. It is of no avail to recur to the republics of the Middle Ages, and to say that they allied themselves extremely well with the genius of Catholicism. The condition of that religion has since undergone a total change. Before the Reformation, it knew nothing of the dangers which were invisibly marshalling themselves around it, and entertained no suspicion that republicanism would create a state of society inconsistent with the sway of popery. It therefore tolerated, through ignorance, those simple political fabrics, which were too primitive and too little powerful to give it umbrage.

But when the republic of Venice had culminated towards the zenith of its power, the papacy began to experience the most poignant alarms, and there arose between the court of Rome and the bridegroom of the Adriatic, an irreconcileable hostility, which has survived the triumphs of Austria in the Lagoons. Venice, therefore, may be said to have had pressed upon the mind the conviction that freedom, however modified, is inconsistent with the spiritual dominion of Rome. A papist, in fact, cannot be a free citizen. He has two countries, and owes allegiance to two sovereigns, and as the sway of the pope is a hybrid thing, which

flies between heaven and earth, and is neither altogether spiritual nor altogether temporal, it must often happen that the allegiance he owes to this strange power, will clash violently with that which is due to his own national government. It consequently follows, that before Italy can be properly free she must cease to be Roman Catholic, though she may approximate towards the desired point, while such popcs as Pius IX. exercise equivocal sovereignty over the seven hills.

The correctness of the above reasoning will be recognised by all those who have watched the progress of events in Italy, where the popular tendency undoubtedly is towards the establishment of a republic, if this could be effected without producing an entire separation between the newly created States and the Roman See. Less embarrassment, as some think, will be experienced if, instead of republics, the attempt be made to establish a series of constitutional monarchies. But this may be doubted. Because, in the first place, it is certain that kings, whether constitutional or not, will as little bear the interference of another power, in the internal concerns of their territories, as the most jealous democracies. Besides, there is no small amount of pedantry in imagining that, because our limited constitution, which is indigenous in this island, and has been fostered and brought to maturity by the co-operation of a thousand causes, has been crowned with success, and therefore it may be transplanted to any other part of the world, with the same certainty of producing beneficial results. No real statesman can possibly entertain this opinion. That government is natural to a people which it spontaneously selects for itself, when the freedom of choice is really put into its power; and, therefore, if the Italians, being left entirely to themselves, give the preference to republican institutions, it is no doubt because they feel an instinctive preference for that form of government, which under such circumstances would ensure their happiness. It may possibly happen, however, that some of the States of Italy will prefer one form, some another, unless it should suit the policy of Europe to organise a single Italian government, the choice of which must, in that case, be unquestionably left to the people themselves.

The next hostile element with which the patriots of Italy have had to contend, is the influence of Austria, which, in all times, and in every locality, has been injurious to the character and material prosperity of the Italians. Foreign writers have generally made an exception in favour of the branch of the Austrian family, which has for some generations reigned over Tuscany. But people will decide in favour of