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    ITALY IN TRANSITION.*

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    present distribution of the fund , between the dates of June , 18 oi > , said June , 1860 . Three daughters of a late clerk in the War-office are set down " for £ 50 a year , in addition to £ 50 . granted to them in L 855 . To six sisters of the late Dr . Lapi > nek . £ 125 , in equal proportions is awarded * ' ¦ in qonsideration of their late brother ' s labours in the cause of science . " A " daughter of Hoppner , . the painter , " is to receive £ 100 per annum ; a lady , who , we understand , is the widow to a late consul at Naples . To Dr . Blakey , the scientific writer , £ 100 are given : and to Mr . Edwaud Athf . bstone , £ 25 , in addition to £ 75 he has already , "in consideration of his great services to literature . " To Miss Jx lia

    Pvbdoe , the traveller and novelist , £ 100 ; and to the widow of a sea captain £ 50 a year . To Dr . Robert Bigsby , " in consideration of his great services and contributions to the literature of his country , " £ 100 per annum and to the Key . Henhy Logan ., who has contributed to mathematical and scientific literature , £ 100 a year . To the widow of the late Bishop of Antigua , £ 150 a year ; and to two daughters of Henk y Cort , 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 Bextham , £ 100 ; and the widow of a consul in the United States has £ 50 , in addition to £ 50 granted to

    her in 1851 . ,. Of this suin . 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 the most serviceable H The late Sir KoBEirr Pkicl was not accustomed to regard these pensions us charities , but as encouragements arid rewards , and gave them to * uch men as Woeds # mh and SorriiEY , not in paltry suins of £ 25 and £ 50 , but in donations of £ 200 a year . His successors have

    regarded the matter in a lar different light , and have accepted poverty as ' -tile principal recommendation . Even if this were rightly the rule , the recipients of such bounties should have belonged to the literary classes . But these classes are so far from being exelusrvely regarded in the ; adminfetratipnof the fund , that the majority of the henefieiares consist ofinipoverishedladies ' -maids , bishpp ? s children , doctors , consuls , Government clerks , inventors , schoolmasters , military and naval nien > and teachers in the royal nursery—people whom it may be quite proper to subsidise , but not-Oiit of this fund . Meanwhile , " there are really well-deserving men , pursuing the higherbranches of literature ,, to whom the proper assistance to which they are entitled from such a ftrftdwould be not only a

    great assistance , but also a greater benefitto the country * -Now and then , indeed * such men as Texkyson are selected to give a lustre to the grant ; but , in general , the-real working intellect of the couiitry is avoided , and people ** of whom little is known , and less expected , have the preference . And even these are iew in j owmber ; the btillc of the recipients consists of paupers without merit , and impostors who have no claim to the gratitude of the . countrv , or the recognition ofthe Government in any shape . Ah a charity , we repeat , that this fund should never be regarded by its distributors . It is an insult to literary men of the present day , who . are as well employed and as well paid as any other class of ' professionals , and some of whom are making even handsome in-Ji nthftrs hosfi ' but

    ^^^^^^ T ^ v ^ -ar-A- . jiv . . Jabours are less popular ; , more beneficial in the long run . whose studies , rather than the men , require Government support ; and these ( the philosopher and the miiff «) nv < & 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 popular mind . But , if the « rant is to be considered as a charity , lei it at least be given to those who give name to the Pension List . Let it be given to literary people , and not to others , in their name ! If literature must be subject to this insult , for the sake of a paltry annual grant of twelve hundred pounds , let the literary man reap the profit with the shame . Let him > ot 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 ; and therefore it cannot be 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 tho Government on the people of England , and that money is obtained and expended on false pretences .

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    DOCUMENTARY history is always instructive . By a decree of Farini , as Dictator of the Emilia , commissioners wore appointed to search the archives in order that the plenipotentiaries of Europe should have in their hands the means of judgment in tho Congress expected to assemble at Paris . Tho documents so collected fill in tho original two ponderous volumes . Mr . Arthur has abridged , collated , and connected them in one portable volume which now ~ ueTtefore : us . ~ ~ ¦—^ *— ' - — Tho snbjcet is introduced ,, by a humourous description of" Savoy , ponding annexation with France , " The people , » y our attthor ' s account , regarded their jolations with Piedmont as nothing bottor than those of a tributary province ; because , owing to tho barrier of the Alps ' , thoy could not 'have any commercial intercourse with it . After the decree of annexation hod passed , he describes tho troops of French soldiers winding : among tho Alpine passes . Tho Savoyards , he adds , " seemed well content that they and their vinos wore to

    belong henceforth to the nation to which their language and ^ theninterests pointed them . It is a poor country , but beautiful , and with its lakes its mountains , its vineyards , its glaciers , and its sunsets , it it is henceforth to be known in European diploma cy's the idka , must , at least , be admitted that the idea is a romantic one . Mr . Arthur , writes 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 tact . 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 doc

    trines harided 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 thmk that this 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 suffered 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 <>« 1 <> i

    spiritual . . The notion of an united Italy fills the Italians with raptuiv . The isolating system has been carried to extremes . The ( liflerent dialects of Italy , owing to it , are scarcely reeoncileable . Thev 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 coimtry can converse in the presence of those of another , ¦• ¦ with tolerable secamtv / that they will scarcely be understood ; and , sis . to a foreio-ner , they put him out at once . This inconvenience , gi : eat as it is ^ will subsidy before an united Italy . The social will follow in the steps of political _ progi-essv ^ . .. . ' , ; . . „ . Milandu the lor the

    The fifth chapter describes , ring rejoicings annexation of Central Italy with the . ^ or thern State . The Milan cathedral struck ourauthor with admiration , and induced him to meditation . - 'Those old walls , and their predecessors , have seen the gradual coiTuption of religion , and 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 \ vords U * large letters , " We are a nation ! \\ W are eleven millions ! For tinfirst time ; since ; ancient Rome , Sv £ can to-day use the words , - we are a nation ! ' Italians have learned to unite . Again we cry , ' we are eleven millions !' " And this strange joy of their riew found nationality , he adds , seemed to throb in the veins of every man vou met with . Among the crowds assembled on the occasion ¦

    to which the chapter relates , there was an intelligent , •' thoughtful looking mart , 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 oppor" tJu ^ ty ^ T ^ J ^ irfnilTgMto-theTrrthe ^^^ 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 wo have that . I have books , and I have read them , undlJcnoto ; " and , turning to his comrades , he said , " You must read ecclesiastical history . You must read the J aii < 7 (? h . " ¦ Tin * may be added to the intimations noticed b y us some weeks ago , of a concealed Protestant feeling in Italy , only awaiting its

    opportunity . The official documents of which Mr . Arthur has made use are very damaging to the Austrian Government and the Papacy . As to the latter , the Bolognese stated that Home was a den ol assassins . The police were in league with the robbers , and the priests with the police . When a great robbery was committed , ihe 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 once make friends with the priests , and the ovidence broke down , and lu * was set at large . But an honest man who daved to think was punished without mercy ; or a poor man who happened to get into prison , and had no money or friends to cany the priests' influence for him , might lie thero and rot , before they oven took the trouble to bring him to trial . Verily , here is a picture , in little , of u groat universal fact . One of the last men with whom our author talked in Bologna , looking out with an oye where consumption gleamed , i , l c < CJ !_ 4 . 1 . ~ A lm : « . l , < -.. 5 n + ! . m / l nf Dntnn I "

    This book is , altogether , a hopeful book ; and , as it is well written , may bo read , extensively . The author fulfilled a sort ot mission during his journey . Continually ho explained the difference betweon _ Prq ^ and asserted thti true nature of Catholicism ; Ho Ho ^ s ^ t 5 ^ Ba ^ l » BBn ~ vrelH ^ ed ^ i this kind of work , suflficiontly learned , with » cjeur and logicul head , and a moderate amount of enthusiasm . His opinions are sometimes peculiar . Ho believes that both tho Pajjacy and Mohammedanism are doomed to ruin ; tho causes of"their decay , however , are opposite , as their development was by opposite tendencies . Islam has lost territory , but hold fast tho opinion of its own people . Rome lost its strongest races by tile revolt ol opinion . Both havo now long been dependent on foreign support ; but , in the case of the Sultan , it is to protoct him from tho aggression of neighbouring States , or the uprising of conquered races ;

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    • Italv in Transition . Fubllo Sconoa and Private Opinions In Uio Spring of 18 C 0 . Illustrated by Official Documents from tho Papal Archives ol tho Rovoltoa Location * . ByWiu . UK Arthur , A . M . Hamilton , 4 < lnnj » , and Co ,

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    704 The Saturday Analyst and Leader , [ Aug . 4 , 1806 .

    Italy In Transition.*

    ITALY IN TRANSITION . *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 4, 1860, page 704, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2359/page/8/