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 3 93 
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 ON 
 
 ITALY, IRELAND, AND THE UNITED STATES 
 OF AMERICA.
 
 ESSAYS 
 
 ITALY AND IRELAND 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 Reprinted from the '■'■Revue des Deux Mondes''' and tJic 
 " Westminster Review P 
 
 J. W. P R O B Y N 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 TRUBNER & CO., 60 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 186?. 
 
 \All rights reserved^
 
 Ballantyne 6-* Company^ Printers^ Edmburgh,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 " I ^HESE Essays, written during the course of the 
 last three years, are now reprinted in a single 
 volume, in the hope that their publication may not be 
 without use to those who watch with interest the great 
 events of our own time. The subjects treated of 
 are, the Rise and Formation of the Kingdom of Italy, 
 the Disestablishment of Ireland's State Church, and 
 the American Civil War, which involved constitu- 
 tional questions of vital importance to the cause of 
 national self-government. 
 
 The writer must, however, venture to ask those 
 who think it worth while to read these Essays, to 
 bear specially in mind, while doing so, the exact 
 date at which each one of them was written. The 
 reason for making such a request arises simply from 
 the extraordinary rapidity with which the changes 
 of the present day are accomplished ; for they often 
 entirely alter, within a very brief period, the circum- 
 stances and condition of a whole country. Thus 
 have been completely transformed, within a few
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 months, or even weeks, the essential characteristics 
 of a government, and the entire destinies of a people. 
 To take a single but notable instance ; one spe- 
 cially connected with the subject-matter of several 
 of these Essays — Austria, but yesterday an ab- 
 solute despotism, is to-day a constitutional mon- 
 archy ; she is now bound to Hungary by the ties 
 of a free and equal union, instead of oppressing the 
 Hungarian people and trampling on their rights ; 
 she is carrying out the liberal legislation of her 
 representative assemblies, instead of doing the work 
 dictated to her by retrograde ministers and priests ; 
 she has quitted Italy, and officially acknowledged 
 her newly-formed kingdom, instead of ruling two 
 Italian provinces with a leaden hand, while thwarting 
 to the utmost the formation of Italy's constitutional 
 monarchy. 
 
 Thus Austria and Italy are no longer the respec- 
 tive representatives of bigoted despotism and of 
 national aspirations. They now possess in common 
 that constitutional freedom which wisely seeks to 
 bring the prerogatives of the sovereign into harmony 
 with the rights of the people ; which strives to unite 
 together, as necessary parts of a well-ordered govern- 
 ment, the principle of law and the principle of
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 liberty. That these two countries, (lately so bitter 
 in their hostility to each other,) may go forward and 
 prosper in their new career, is the heartfelt desire of 
 all who believe that the adoption by them of a 
 system based upon order and liberty, will not only 
 bestow upon both Italy and Austria internal pros- 
 perity and freedom, but will also draw them together 
 by the enduring ties of common interests and con- 
 stant intercourse, not more productive of material 
 welfare than of peace and good-will. 
 
 Although these great changes, effected with mar- 
 vellous rapidity, have thus transformed the whole 
 condition of these countries, still it by no means 
 follows that it is either useless or uninteresting to 
 recall the progressive steps by which those changes 
 have been brought about. Rather is it well to 
 study them ; for by so doing a clearer knowledge 
 will be gained of the past, and fresh light be ob- 
 tained for guidance both in the present and the 
 future. Special benefit will be conferred upon 
 Austrian and Italian alike by such study ; for it 
 will bring out, in strong relief, the contrast presented 
 by the unspeakable perils and misery brought upon 
 Austria in the past by the blind and unyielding 
 policy of despotism, as compared with the brighter
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 prospects to-day held out to her by constitutional 
 freedom ; it will not less surely afford great en- 
 couragement to the citizens of Italy to persevere 
 unto the end in working out their country's union 
 and regeneration. That work has, in a few short 
 years, made marvellous progress, despite innu- 
 merable difficulties — difficulties which to-day are 
 kept alive, chiefly, if not wholly, by the hostility of 
 those who wield the Papal Temporal Power, which 
 is still upheld (as during many years past) by foreign 
 bayonets.* 
 
 * That Austria and Italy are to-day numbered amongst the free and 
 constitutional powers of Europe, is a matter for sincere congratulation : 
 not, however, on that account are their errors to be passed over in 
 silence. Therefore it is that their respective Parliaments must be censured 
 for subjecting to taxation the bond, fide iortx^ holders of their state bonds. 
 If such holders were exempted, doubtless facilities would be given for 
 the perpetration of frauds which would deprive the treasury of its dues. 
 Nor can it be denied that the taxation referred to will aid in establish- 
 ing an equilibrium between receipts and expenditure, thereby benefiting 
 in the end foreign bondholders, by giving greater security and value to 
 their investments in the public funds of Austria and Italy. Still the 
 income-tax in question is unjustifiable, being in fact a diminution of the 
 rate of interest promised to the foreign purchaser when the loans were 
 brought out on the foreign money markets of Europe. Such proceedings 
 cast a slur on the good faith of Austria and Italy. The writer, there- 
 fore, while cordially sympathising with both countries in their noble 
 work of national regeneration, freedom, and progress, cannot hesitate 
 to blame the parliaments of Vienna and Florence for thus unjustly sub- 
 jecting to taxation the foreign holders of their state bonds.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Some additions have been made, some abbrevia- 
 tions effected, and some inaccuracies corrected, in 
 the Essays reprinted in this volume. These altera- 
 tions have not, however, weakened, in any appreciable 
 degree, the general conclusions of the writer, or the 
 facts and arguments on which they repose. If in 
 some cases he has added proofs, recently obtained, 
 tending to strengthen his previous opinions, he has 
 not hesitated, in other cases, to admit that events 
 have led him to change or modify his views. 
 
 But whatever may be the defects of these Essays, 
 (and doubtless they are many,) the writer, in dealing 
 with the subjects of which they treat, has earnestly 
 sought to arrive at TRUTH alone ; not without some 
 hope that he may perchance, while so engaged, have 
 done something to aid others also in their search 
 after that "pearl of great price." 
 
 J. W. Probyn.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Milan and Venice since the War of 1859 : Translated from the 
 
 Revue des Deux Mondes of October 1 865, . . i 
 
 Italy, Venice, and Austria : Reprinted from the Westminster 
 
 y?^z//^w of July 1866, . . . . ,42 
 
 Italy and the War of 1866 (Custoza, with a Map) : Reprinted 
 
 from the Westminster Review oi K'^rW iB^"], . . 94 
 
 Two Temporal Powers (the Anglican Church in Ireland and the 
 Roman Church in Italy) : Reprinted from the Westminister 
 Review of January 1 868, . . . . . 1 84 
 
 The Church System of Ireland and Canada : Reprinted from 
 
 the Westminster Review oi h'prW i%62>, . . , 254 
 
 The United States Constitution and the Secessionists : Reprinted 
 
 from the Westminster Review of April 1866, . . 283
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE 
 THE WAR OF 1859. 
 
 Translated fro7n the "Revue des Deux Mondes " of 1st October 1865. 
 
 THE peace of Villafranca (1859) gave freedom 
 to Milan, but left Venice under foreign rule. 
 Thus were suddenly separated two Italian cities, 
 which for nearly half a century had been united 
 under the government of the same German power. 
 Six years have passed away since that unexpected 
 separation took place. What are the respective 
 conditions of Milan and Venice at the close of 
 this short but significant period } That is a ques- 
 tion which facts (collected together during frequent 
 and prolonged stays in the north of Italy) enable 
 me to answer with the assurance of bringing to 
 bear on this important subject, information that 
 will interest the friends of the new kingdom of 
 Italy, whether French or English. The contrast 
 afforded by the material prosperity of Milan, as 
 compared with the suffering and languor against 
 which Venice struggles, is not, however, the only 
 
 ^ 
 
 /
 
 2 ESSAYS. 
 
 object of these pages. Examples are not wanting 
 to teach us the hfe-giving power of freedom, and the 
 death-Hke effects of servitude. I desire, whilst point- 
 ing out a contrast so striking and so sad, to set forth 
 also the points of resemblance, the similarity which 
 may be remarked between Milan and Venice as 
 regards their moral and political vitality. I wish 
 to invite attention to the Italian character, exposed, 
 as it were, to a double trial ; here in the best, there 
 in the worst circumstances. If these facts and re- 
 collections afford ground for believing that Venice, 
 when set free, will prove herself able to tread, like 
 Milan, the path of progress, my object will be at- 
 tained, and my conclusion be complete ; for while 
 a severe rebuke will thus be inflicted upon Austria, 
 solid encouragement will at the same time be given 
 to the young Italian nation. 
 
 I. 
 
 In order thoroughly to appreciate the progress 
 accomplished by Milan, some account must be given 
 of the state of that city during the last years of 
 Austrian rule. I shall never forget the impression 
 produced upon me by the general aspect of Milan 
 when I visited it for the first time, in October 1853. 
 The unquiet and suspicious looks of the Austrian 
 sentinels gave one the idea that the enemy was at 
 the very gates. The sentinels had, however, good 
 reason to be on the watch, for the enemy was in 
 possession of a far more formidable position ; he
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 3 
 
 was within the city itself. The enemy was the 
 entire population. I soon remarked that the Aus- 
 trians and Italians were never to be seen in the 
 same cafe. I learned that they never met in the 
 boxes of the Scala, or in private houses. An Aus- 
 trian- officer could not enter a room, without the 
 Italians, who might happen to be there, instantly 
 quitting it. But while the inhabitants of Milan thus 
 proclaimed their detestation of Austrian despotism, 
 the Viennese government was not slow in redoubling 
 its rigour against those whom it styled "the seditious 
 Milanese," {les frondcurs de Milan) 
 
 One day I was loitering about in front of the 
 magnificent cathedral, changing my place leisurely 
 from time to time, the better to see the thousand 
 details of the Duomo, when suddenly an Austrian 
 sentinel came up to me, and gave me to understand 
 by his gestures, accompanied by German phrases, 
 (of which I comprehended not a word,) that I must 
 no longer continue thus sauntering about. He 
 seemed to fancy there was something revolutionary 
 in the proceeding. Accordingly, I took myself ofi*. 
 Half an hour later I came upon one of the gates of 
 the city, and the thought struck me that I would 
 take a look at the neighbourhood outside. I was 
 on the point of passing through the gateway, when 
 my passport was asked for ; I had left it at the hotel. 
 As that necessary document was not forthcoming, 
 I had to give up my country walk. From that day 
 I never again separated myself from my passport. 
 Having determined on a visit to the lake of Como,
 
 4 ESSAYS. 
 
 I took good care to procure the vise necessary for 
 that hour and a half's railway journey : unfortu- 
 nately, though duly furnished with the visi, I for- 
 got to take into account the rain, which obliged me 
 to let two days go by before going on my trip. At 
 length, on the third morning, a bright and sunny 
 one, I started. About half-way, passports were 
 asked for, and I gave up mine with the utmost 
 confidence ; five minutes afterwards the official came 
 and told me that I must return to Milan, as my 
 passport was not in order. The vise, it appeared, 
 was only good for forty-eight hours, which had ex- 
 pired the evening before. I was obliged to leave 
 the railway carriage, and was consigned to the cus- 
 tody of a Croat soldier — the ugliest of his race. 
 The idea of having him as a travelling companion 
 back to Milan led me to make a last effort to 
 soften the official, who, after some hesitation, allowed 
 me to go on to Como ; not, how^ever, until I had 
 given a solemn promise, which I kept religiously, 
 to return within three days. 
 
 In 1859, some two months after the war, what a 
 difference ! On a beautiful September day I entered 
 Lombardy, having crossed the Swiss frontier without 
 even showing my passport. On arriving at Milan, I 
 found the city holding high festival. Bells were 
 ringing, crowds fiilled the streets bedecked with 
 flags, the wdiole population was astir. Citizens and 
 soldiers, nobles and plebeians, municipal authorities 
 and private persons ; in a word, all, from the highest 
 to the lowest, had a frank and joyous look. They
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 5 
 
 were laughing, talking, and discussing aloud political 
 matters. As for me, I stared, walked about, and 
 listened. More than once I looked up at the great 
 Cathedral to make quite sure that I was in that same 
 Milan which had formerly worn so gloomy an aspect, 
 each one of whose citizens seemed to have something 
 of a conspirator's look about him. What had come 
 over these seditious Milanese ? {ccs frondeiirs de Milan}) 
 I asked one of them the question. "To-day," said 
 he, " are coming here the deputations from central 
 Italy on their way to Turin, there to present to the 
 King their votes of annexation." " Are you pleased," 
 I asked, "to be under the government of Victor 
 Emmanuel?" "Pleased ! I should think so," replied 
 the Milanese. Then he added, " Is not our most 
 pressing interest the formation of a kingdom of North 
 Italy capable of opposing Austria, unfortunately left 
 in possession of Venetia .-"" We talked thus freely in 
 the open street, on the very spot, just in front of the 
 Palace, where I had awakened, during my first visit, 
 the suspicions of the Austrian sentinel, while quietly 
 contemplating the Cathedral. 
 
 The arrival of the deputations was hailed Avith 
 transports of joy by the Milanese. In the evening, 
 the city and the Cathedral were illuminated. The 
 theatre of the Scala re-echoed with enthusiastic shouts 
 of applause upon the appearance of the deputations. 
 The enthusiasm was of that pure and heart-stirring 
 kind begotten by the first inspirations of freedom 
 newly bestowed upon a people who had long been 
 oppressed.
 
 6 ESSAYS. 
 
 The next day I presented to one or two Milanese 
 my letters of introduction, and so had the pleasure 
 of entering, for the first time, into Italian society. 
 The welcome I received was full of courtesy and 
 cordial kindness. Politics were, as might be ex- 
 pected, the principal, indeed almost the only, subject 
 of conversation. Every one discussed freely and 
 earnestly, without, however, overstepping the limits 
 of good manners or good sense. That which struck 
 me above all, and pleased me much, was the practical 
 and sensible way in which the questions of the day 
 were dealt with. I heard no propounding of abstract 
 propositions. No one talked about the "rights of 
 man," the origin of the social state, nor of any other 
 of those abstractions which are well enough in philo- 
 sophical disquisitions and during times of leisure. 
 No one took interest in anything except the urgent 
 questions of the day, such as the application of the 
 constitutional system to Italy once emancipated. I 
 have had many opportunities of associating with the 
 Milanese, thanks to the charming kindness, free from 
 all pride, which they lavish (the word is not too 
 strong) upon foreigners whose stay is sufficiently 
 prolonged to enable them to become acquainted with 
 the society of Milan. My first impression has always 
 been strengthened as regards the manner in which 
 the Milanese treat political questions. I have joined 
 in many discussions, some of which were very ani- 
 mated : the subject of them was always one of 
 immediate and serious practical importance, such as 
 the more or less extension of the suffrage, the rela-
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 7 
 
 tions to be established between the Church and the 
 State, the Hmits of power to be accorded to the 
 central and to local authorities, the prompt and 
 surest remedies to be applied to brigandage. From 
 what I have seen and heard in other parts of Italy 
 I can affirm that it is not only in Milan that is to be 
 found this happy tendency ; rather is it a charac- 
 teristic trait of the national mind. Much, there- 
 fore, may be hoped of a society which gives such 
 proofs of good sense. It could not otherwise have 
 effected in so short a time that which has been 
 accomplished, and have already raised itself in no 
 slight degree above the degradation of the past. It 
 is a great misfortune to a nation when its statesmen 
 and the leaders of its public opinion, instead of 
 turning their attention to practical matters, allow 
 themselves to be carried away by merely general 
 theories and purely abstract questions. The Italians 
 thoroughly understand the danger of abstractions ; 
 they seem to agree in recognising (contrary to the 
 received opinion of some other countries) that our 
 modern societies are not like a sheet of blank paper, 
 on which may be written what best pleases the 
 theorist ; but rather do they resemble a contest in 
 which the claims of rival interests, ideas, and facts, 
 often very diverse and even opposed, must be met 
 and adjusted by seeking to effect that which is 
 practically best. 
 
 The general election which took place in the be- 
 ginning of 1 86 1 gave me an opportunity of seeing 
 how the Italians fulfilled that important function of
 
 8 ESSAYS. 
 
 constitutional life, I was present at several public 
 meetings preceding the day of election. The dis- 
 cussions were free and animated, both as regards 
 the candidates and as to political matters generally. 
 Similar discussions filled the public papers without 
 any official interference of any kind whatever. I 
 neither heard nor read anything which could shock 
 a friend of order and liberty. Milan, containing 
 about 250,000 inhabitants, is divided into five elec- 
 toral colleges or districts, each represented by one 
 member, and containing each from 1500 to 2000 
 electors.* Every college or district has several large 
 halls or rooms, where the voting takes place. The 
 suffrage is not universal in Italy, but limited, as in 
 England. The National Guard was on duty at the 
 polling places. All the electoral operations took place 
 with the greatest regularity and amidst the most com- 
 plete order. The electors voted in perfect freedom, 
 without its being possible for any one to know for 
 which candidate any given elector recorded his vote.^f 
 In the interior of the halls, even when full, reigned 
 the most perfect quiet ; indeed, silence was pre- 
 served almost without interruption. The general 
 aspect of the town was as orderly as can possibly 
 be imagined ; in truth, these seditious Milanese {ccs 
 
 * Both population and electors have increased since 1861. 
 
 *t* There is no nomination-day in the Italian electoral proceedings. 
 A most complete and simple form of secret ballot is used in the parlia- 
 mentary and municipal elections throughout the Italian kingdom, as 
 was the case in Piedmont from 1 848-59, under the constitution granted 
 by King Charles Albert in March 1848. It is this same constitution 
 which has been extended by his son and successor, Victor Emmanuel, 
 to the whole of Italy.
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 9 
 
 frondairs dc Milaii) had become the most peaceable 
 of people. The fact is, that knowing, as I do well, 
 what English elections are, I could not but admire 
 the quiet, the order, and, above all, the absence of 
 corruption which characterised the elections of Milan, 
 and did its citizens such great honour."' 
 
 If the political state of a country, and the practical 
 working of its political machinery, deserve special 
 attention when seeking to form a correct idea of that 
 country's condition; it is, nevertheless, true that there 
 are also other subjects of the greatest importance 
 which ought to be closely studied ; as, for instance, 
 the question of public instruction. That is a matter of 
 the utmost importance in all countries, but especially 
 in those which boast of being free, whose citizens 
 have a large share in the direction of public affairs. 
 Whoever sincerely loves free institutions ought to be 
 the decided and active friend of popular instruction. 
 Only by making it sound and effective, by spreading 
 it in all directions, and by v/atching carefully over 
 the spirit which directs it, can the edifice of a nation's 
 liberties be established upon an enduring foundation. 
 This truth has not escaped the Italians, and the 
 Milanese especially have set themselves to practise 
 it with an earnestness that deserves the highest 
 praise. 
 
 The municipality of Milan appointed a commis- 
 sion, in i860, composed of six very competent per- 
 sons, to examine the state of popular education in 
 
 * The same is true of the general election of 1865, which the writer 
 witnessed at Florence and in its neighbourhood.
 
 10 ESSAYS. 
 
 that city, and to report upon it. That report, very 
 detailed, and most carefully drawn up, was presented 
 to the town-council on 6th May 1861. It showed 
 that the number of scholars was, in 1859, 6100, and 
 that in the beginning of 1861 they had increased to 
 6700; that the school accommodation had also in- 
 creased in the same period from 84 school -rooms 
 to 100; and that several of them which were not 
 well arranged had been replaced by others which 
 were much superior. The commissioners, whilst ad- 
 mitting this improvement, earnestly called the atten- 
 tion of the town-council to reforms still required, and 
 to the standard which ought to be aimed at. They 
 observed that the material condition of many schools 
 left much to be desired ; they insisted on the neces- 
 sity of constructing more spacious and commodious 
 localities, instead of hiring houses whose arrange- 
 ments were but little adapted to meet the require- 
 ments of a school. They wished the salaries of 
 the masters and mistresses to be augmented, besides 
 giving them a regular increase of 10© francs every 
 five years. They set forth the necessity of forming 
 a superior school for young girls, as well as one for 
 perfecting their education. In proposing these re- 
 forms the commission remarked that the develop- 
 ment of instruction was the surest guarantee of the 
 prosperity of the country ; it therefore demanded, 
 with a view to carry out such a work, that no sacri- 
 fice should be spared. The municipality hastened 
 to follow the excellent advice of the commission, 
 and to realise the greater part of the reforms sug-
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1859. II 
 
 gested. It recast the system of instruction, and 
 gave it fresh life by the application of the newest 
 and most accredited methods of teaching. It still 
 continues to push forward in the same direction. A 
 few statistics will suffice to show what progress has 
 been made in Milan, since 1861, in the matter of 
 popular instruction : — 
 
 
 PRIMARY SCHOOLS. 
 
 
 
 13 Boys' Schools. 9 Girls' Schools. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1862-63 . 
 
 . . 4849 pupils ... 2986 pupils .. 
 
 • 7835 
 
 IS63-64 . 
 
 . . 5202 „ ... 3480 „ 
 
 . 8682 
 
 1864-65 . 
 
 • • 5359 „ - 3645 „ 
 
 . 9004 
 
 Thus, in these schools, 22 in number, (13 for boys, 
 and 9 for girls,) there were 9004 pupils in 1864-65, 
 as compared with 6100 in 1859 to i860. 
 
 Milan has, besides, three schools for technical in- 
 struction, {scoiilc tcchniche,) a superior institution of 
 the same character, two gymnasiums, two lyceums, 
 and two normal schools. All these schools and insti- 
 tutions are free. The elementary or primary schools 
 are maintained at the expense of the municipality, 
 and are entirely under its control. The government 
 bears a part of the expense of the other establish- 
 ments, and has a voice in their management. There 
 are, besides, evening schools and festival schools, 
 {scoiile festive^ that is, schools opened on Sundays 
 and certain saints' days. The evening schools were 
 first instituted in 1861 by the municipality; they are 
 frequented by men and lads of all ages, who come 
 for instruction after their day's work. These schools 
 are open from the middle of October to the end of
 
 12 ESSAYS. 
 
 May. The numbers attending these evening schools 
 amounted in 1864 to 1684. The "scoule festive," or 
 festival day schools, established towards the close of 
 1862, are of the same kind as the evening schools, 
 with, however, this difference, that the former are 
 exclusively for young girls and women of the work- 
 ing-classes ; while the latter (the evening schools) are 
 only for boys, lads, and men. The scholars of the 
 festival schools assemble on Sundays and certain 
 saints' days, from one to four in the afternoon. In 
 1864 the number of girls and women who took ad- 
 vantage of these admirable institutions amounted to 
 1 1 56. The evening and festival schools are free, 
 being maintained at the expense of the municipality, 
 which alone has the direction and care of them. 
 
 At the close of 1864 Milan possessed not less than 
 44 schools, containing 200 school-rooms, 275 teachers, 
 and 12,695 pupils, as given in the following tabular 
 statement : — 
 
 ( 
 
 Dlass-rooms. 
 
 Teachers. 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 22 primai-y schools . . 
 
 132 
 
 162 
 
 9,004* 
 
 8 evening schools . . 
 
 27 
 
 37 
 
 1,684 
 
 8 festival schools . . 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 1,156 
 
 3 professional schools . 
 
 10 
 
 31 
 
 483 
 
 I superior girls' school 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 95 
 
 I normal school (men) 
 
 ?, 
 
 7 
 
 6^ 
 
 I normal school (women) 
 
 3 
 200 
 
 8 
 275 
 
 208 
 
 44 
 
 12,695 
 
 * Two additional facts are not without interest. The numbers 
 attending the primary, evening, and festival schools at the close of 
 I S64 were, as given above, 1 1 ,844 ; in November 1 865 they had in- 
 creased to 13,057. The numbers attending the infant schools had 
 increased at the same time from 1200 to 2684.
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. I 3 
 
 The infant schools, which depend wholly on private 
 charity, although under government control, were 
 seven in number in 1864, and contained 1200 chil- 
 dren between the ages of two and six years old. 
 
 The city of Milan has increased its budget of 
 public instruction from 100,000 francs allotted to it in 
 1859, to 564,000 francs in 1864. There is no town in 
 Europe which can show a like increase for such a 
 purpose in the same space of five years. In one of 
 the most populous quarters of Milan, there is now 
 constructing a vast school building, which will not 
 cost less than one million francs. The municipality 
 proposes to construct others to meet the wants of 
 their city, whose scholars increase year by year. 
 These facts and figures are striking proofs of the zeal 
 and perseverance with which the civic authorities 
 labour to insure and to advance the moral well-being 
 of the people committed to their charge, as well as 
 of the eagerness with which the Milanese take ad- 
 vantage of the means of instruction thus offered to 
 them. 
 
 I did not, however, content myself with reading 
 the reports addressed to the municipality of Milan 
 on the subject of their popular schools. I wished 
 to look yet more closely into them, and to examine 
 them for myself Thanks to the kindness of more 
 than one member of the School Commission, I was 
 enabled to visit several of the elementary boys' and 
 girls' schools, and also two or three of the evening 
 schools. I remained two, three, and sometimes even 
 four hours in each school, hearing the pupils read,
 
 14 ESSAYS. 
 
 and seeing them write, listening to the lessons given 
 in grammar and geography, and myself examining 
 them viva voce in different branches of popular in- 
 struction. I was very satisfied with the general 
 condition of the schools, with the progress, order, 
 and good conduct of the scholars. Thanks to the 
 obliging kindness of a lady inspector, I was enabled 
 to visit twice, with her, one of the festival schools, 
 and there, also, I could not but admire the sustained 
 attention with which the pupils profited by the 
 opportunity afforded them of gaining instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 It is not the municipality only, but some of the 
 elite of the Milanese society which lends its aid to 
 the development of popular instruction. Such par- 
 ticipation on the part of the rich is excellent in itself, 
 it is also a very favourable testimony to the actual 
 state of the community, and a pledge full of hope 
 for the future ; for it is evident that if the rich thus 
 interest themselves as regards the poor, they will 
 understand better the desires and wants of the work- 
 ing classes, while the poor, on the other hand, w^ll 
 naturally be led to regard their wealthy fellow- 
 citizens with kindly feelings, and will get rid of 
 everything like distrust. The different classes of 
 society will thus become united by the durable tie 
 of common affection. The poor and the rich will 
 feel themselves to be members of the same body, 
 children of the same country, and the nation will 
 thereby find itself stronger, more capable of internal
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. I 5 
 
 development, and therefore more able to resist 
 foreign aggression.* 
 
 But however great the interest which attaches to 
 the moral progress made by Milan under the aus- 
 pices of freedom, its material progress also merits 
 attention and inquiry. The first thing which strikes 
 all observers are the changes which have been ef- 
 fected in the city, and its enlargement. In one of 
 the most populous quarters of the Lombard capital, 
 that between the Porta Nuova and the Porta Gari- 
 baldi, large streets have been opened up which bear 
 the names of Solferino, Ancona, Castelfidardo, and 
 Marsala. Two new bridges, named Pioppette (Little 
 Poplars) and Castelfidardo, have been built over the 
 canal which surrounds the city. Not to take up 
 time with details, I will content myself with men- 
 tioning the construction of the fine Victor Emmanuel 
 Gallery, which is to unite the Cathedral Square with 
 that of the Scala, and with the large and new streets 
 adjacent to those squares. The execution of this 
 project will sweep away the narrow and tortuous 
 streets which encumber the centre of the city and 
 impede the circulation of air, light, and traffic ; it 
 will at the same time make the Cathedral Square 
 worthy of that magnificent building. The plan of 
 this vast and useful work has been made by an 
 architect of Bologna, Signor Mengoni ; its execution 
 
 * Since 1864-65 this important work of popular education has con- 
 tinued to progress in every way, and bids fair to place the Milanese 
 people high on the list of well-educated communities.
 
 1 6 ESSAYS. 
 
 has been undertaken by an English company, which 
 tendered for it to the municipahty of Milan, On 
 the 7th March 1865, King Victor Emmanuel laid 
 the first stone of this magnificent gallery, which bears 
 his name. Despite very bad weather, a great crowd 
 was assembled, anxious to witness the inauguration 
 of works which will make the capital of Lombardy 
 one of the prettiest cities in Europe.* As such un- 
 dertakings cannot, however, be carried on without 
 incurring great expense, the immediate consequence 
 of these fine projects is an increase of taxation ; 
 it must not, however, be forgotten, that they give 
 work and occupation while increasing the circulation 
 of money; and there is good reason for believing 
 that under the direction of a free government they 
 will have the effect of rendering more brilliant the 
 future of Milan. 
 
 Within the last five years the number of hotels, 
 inns, and restaurants has been doubled. Since 1863 
 one of the finest railway stations on the Continent 
 has been opened. A handsome new street, named 
 Prince Humbert, now leads from this terminus into 
 the city, piercing the old ramparts near the public 
 gardens, which have been much extended and im- 
 proved since 1859, The Museum of Natural History, 
 which faces one side of the gardens, has also been 
 greatly enlarged during the last two or three years. 
 In this neighbourhood are forming the new streets 
 
 * The gallery has suice been completed, and is certainly the hand- 
 somest construction of the kind in the world.
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 1/ 
 
 Montebello, Parini, and Carlo Porta, the latter so 
 called after the Milanese poet of that name.* 
 
 The abolition of the petty internal custom-houses 
 which, by their thousand vexations, formerly impeded 
 the development of Italy's material interests, and 
 the great extension of the network of Italian rail- 
 ways since 1859, have given everywhere to the 
 internal commerce of the Peninsula an activity 
 hitherto unknown. Milan has naturally had its 
 share of the general benefit ; still it is difficult to 
 find exact data as to the progress which has been 
 made by the commerce and industry of the city 
 I have only been able to get at comparatively few 
 details worthy of notice in the documents, only too 
 few in number, relative to the commerce of Milan. 
 In the report of the civil administration laid before 
 the communal council on the 28th November 1864, 
 it is said that the produce of the house tax had 
 yielded 19,693 francs more in 1864 than in the 
 previous year. This increase came from the ad- 
 ditional number of houses, whose rental had in- 
 creased by 613,259 francs between 1863 and 1864. 
 The produce 'of the taxes upon the commerce of the 
 city had also augmented, the matters subject to 
 impost having yielded about one million of francs 
 more in the latter than in the former year. It was 
 absolutely the same in the case of all the other 
 taxes, and this result was due to the mere increase 
 of commodities subject to taxation, for (at the time 
 
 * This paragraph was accidentally omitted in the original article. 
 
 B
 
 l8 ESSAYS. 
 
 referred to, 1863 and 1864) the taxes themselves 
 had undergone no change whatever. 
 
 Another document, the report of the Milan Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, especially pointed out the unex- 
 pected extension of the spirit of association since 
 i860. It signalled the formation of six joint-stock 
 companies, and of five limited liability companies, 
 in the province of Lombardy. One of these societies 
 deserves special mention, namely, the one formed for 
 the construction of dwellings for the working classes, 
 and for the building of public baths and wash-houses. 
 Established in 1861, with a capital of 350,000 francs, 
 which has since been augmented, it has already 
 constructed working men's houses to the value of 
 500,000 francs. These dwellings are situated in the 
 new streets of San Fermo and Montebello, and form 
 in great part the new square which bears the latter 
 name. The object of the society is to give the work- 
 ing classes commodious and clean house accommoda- 
 tion at a moderate rent. According to its statutes, 
 the society cannot declare a dividend of more than 4 
 per cent. All monies accruing over and above that 
 profit must be employed in the construction of new 
 dwellings destined to the same object. This society 
 has already made much more than 4 per cent, and 
 has been most successful in every way. Benefit or 
 Mutual Aid Societies have also grown in numbers 
 and importance during the last few years. These 
 inestimable associations (which anticipate distress, 
 which tend to produce and propagate habits of eco- 
 nomy and saving, and which establish the happiest
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1859. I9 
 
 bonds of union between individuals and families) are 
 now so general that the report of the Chamber of 
 Commerce for 1863 says, that almost all the persons 
 belonging to the classes who live by personal or 
 manual labour have become members of one or 
 other of these societies. 
 
 Freedom has thus assured to Milan material as 
 well as moral progress. It has not less contributed 
 to develop those charming and pleasant social rela- 
 tions which are nowhere more agreeable than in the 
 capital of Lombardy. Thus the stranger finds in 
 Milanese society a kindness which never fails, a 
 cordial and unaffected hospitality. There is, how- 
 ever, one reproach to which the Milanese lay them- 
 selves open. The richest and the most aristocratic 
 among them have the disagreeable habit of using 
 generally and constantly in ordinary conversation 
 the common patois or dialect of the country. That 
 the people should converse in it is no matter of sur- 
 prise ; that is the case in all countries. Now, this 
 dialect is composed either of barbarous words pecu- 
 har to itself, or of words belonging to the beautiful 
 Italian language, which are mangled and horribly 
 disfigured. The educated classes of cities like Turin 
 and Milan, which justly boast of being at the head of 
 the Italian movement, will do well to follow the 
 example of good society in Naples, and leave the 
 patois or dialect of the country to porters and un- 
 educated peasants. Is it indeed asking too much to 
 beg of the Milanese to banish from amongst them 
 this last badge of the divisions and bondage of Italy,
 
 20 ESSAYS. 
 
 and henceforth to use only their rich national tongue, 
 that almost divine language, the sweetest and the 
 most musical spoken by any European community ? 
 Let my good friends of Milan pardon me for being 
 so outspoken, for I cannot consent to keep back 
 either praise or blame. I can, however, most truly 
 say, that never shall I forget the many and happy 
 days which I have spent in their midst ; above all, 
 those bright hours of peace and joy in which Milan 
 first tasted the ennobling pleasures of freedom. 
 
 II. 
 
 It was during that same autumn of 1S59, i" which 
 I had seen Milan so full of attraction and life, that I 
 found only sadness and silence in Venice. It ap- 
 peared like a city of the dead. Its people mourned 
 in bitterness of heart the vanished hope of freedom 
 — a freedom that seemed already within their grasp. 
 An incident which occurred at the time paints to the 
 life the condition of Venice in the summer of 1859. 
 
 There lived together a Venetian widow and her 
 son, whom his mother loved tenderly. Her only 
 cause of anxiety was the fear of his getting into 
 trouble with the Austrian government, for the young 
 man was an ardent patriot. The poor woman had 
 so often beheld the hopes of Venice vanish away, 
 that she had almost ceased to believe in the deliver- 
 ance of her country. When her son told her of hope- 
 ful signs, she shook her head sadly, and contented 
 herself with praying in silence for her beloved and
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 21 
 
 unfortunate Venice. The great events of the spring 
 and summer of 1859 kindled anew the ardour of the 
 young man. It is easy to imagine with what anima- 
 tion he related to his mother every particle of news 
 which reached him during that eventful period. Still 
 she believed not ; it seemed too good to be true. 
 At length, one day the son came rushing into his 
 mother's room, and cried, " Come, mother, come 
 quickly ! from a neighbouring roof I will show you 
 the fleet of our deliverers, the flag of France !" They 
 hastened forth, and when, in the far distance, the 
 poor woman saw the French men-of-war, she raised 
 to heaven her eyes full of tears, and said : " Merciful 
 God, I thank thee ! at length I believe indeed in the 
 deliverance of my beloved Venice." The next day 
 came the news of that peace which left Venice to 
 Austria. 
 
 Who on that account has a right to blame France.'* 
 If France did not do all she promised in 1859, she 
 yet did much. To speak plainly, we are still too 
 near those unequal contests, sustained by Poland and 
 Denmark abandoned to their fate, to give an English- 
 man the right to blame France for not having com- 
 pleted the work she undertook in 1859. ^t any rate, 
 she spent both blood and treasure for the Italian 
 cause. If I have narrated, as I heard it, the little 
 story given above, it is with the sole object of show- 
 ing how bitter was the disappointment of Venice, and 
 how deep still is her grief. 
 
 Of all the Italians whom I have known, the Vene- 
 tians are those who display most patience. It is they
 
 22 ESSAYS. 
 
 above all whom I have heard say : " Let not Italy risk 
 everything upon the stroke of some rash attempt ; we 
 know that our king and our brothers will not fail to 
 come to our aid when a propitious occasion presents 
 itself, when strikes the appointed hour." The Vene- 
 tians are right. If young and ardent patriots occa- 
 sionally throw themselves into a hopeless struggle 
 against their oppressors, that is no cause for wonder ; 
 but the more experienced and sensible among them 
 ought to use all their influence to prevent such mis- 
 takes being committed, for mistakes they are. Vene- 
 tians, one and all, ought to reserve themselves for the 
 last great effort which, one day or another, will as- 
 suredly bring with it the triumph of the Italian 
 cause. 
 
 The general aspect of Venice at the present time 
 (1865) is of the saddest; its population wears a 
 sombre look, and there is a singular absence of 
 young men. It is to be accounted for by the fact 
 that thousands of the young generation have quitted 
 their country in order to settle in the Italian king- 
 dom, whose army numbers some 14,000 Venetians in 
 its ranks. Along the Grand Canal and elsewhere, 
 the palaces fall more and more into ruin, and can be 
 bought at a very low price. Everything indicates a 
 decaying city. The beautiful old palace of the Foscari 
 is turned into a barrack, an ample proof of the 
 amount of respect felt by Austrian rulers for the 
 great memories of the past, so dear to Venetian 
 hearts. The ancient Queen of the Adriatic has be- 
 come one of the most mournful cities in Europe..
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1859. 23 
 
 The carnival is now but a thing of the past. Since 
 1859, operas, illuminations, and balls have disap- 
 peared. Festivities find no place in public or in 
 private life. The only demonstrations which inter- 
 rupt the national mourning are those by which the 
 Venetians protest against the rule of the Germans. 
 Sometimes they take an amusing form ; as when, 
 for example, the pigeons of St Mark are seen, 
 some fine morning, flying about with tricoloured 
 wings, to the great scandal of the Austrians. The 
 Venetians have invented various ingenious modes of 
 celebrating the national fetes of Italy ; such as the 
 birthday of King Victor Emmanuel, the giving of 
 the Italian constitution, the celebration of the vic- 
 tories of Magenta and Solferino. Sometimes fire- 
 works displaying the Italian tricolour shoot across 
 the evening sky from one place or another ; some- 
 times the early dawn reveals upon the walls placards 
 in which the Venetians hail Victor Emmanuel as 
 their king, offer him their homage, or express their 
 sympathy and good-will to their brother Italians. 
 Thereupon the Austrian police take the field in hot 
 haste ; ladders, poles, pails of water, are brought 
 quickly to bear on the obnoxious placards ; they are 
 mercilessly attacked, and ere long utterly destroyed. 
 The Venetian character is naturally open and good- 
 humoured. In the cafes, at balls, fetes, and places 
 of public resort, strangers easily made acquaintance 
 with the inhabitants of Venice. Now all is changed. 
 The Venetians regard with suspicion those whom they 
 do not know. Such a change is by no means aston-
 
 24 ESSAYS. 
 
 ishing ; for spies are to be found everywhere plying 
 their vile trade under a thousand disguises. Before 
 1859 they covered the whole of Italy, with the ex- 
 ception of Piedmont ; to-day unhappy Venetia alone 
 is left to them, and there they literally swarm. It is 
 therefore very difficult to examine, on the spot, the 
 condition of Venice. The authorities are always on 
 the watch ; and any stranger who prosecuted in- 
 quiries, and frequented Venetian society (or rather 
 the ghost of it which still survives), would not be 
 allowed to remain long in the city. 
 
 I cannot describe better the state of Venice than 
 by saying that it is exactly that of Milan previous to 
 1859; the same tyranny and the same hatred, the 
 same suspicion on one side, and the same irritation 
 on the other ; the same absolute separation at all 
 times, and in all places, between the Austrians and 
 the Venetians ; the oppressors and the oppressed. 
 Often have I heard from the traveller just come 
 from Venice such language as the following : — " How 
 beautiful are the Venetian buildings and remains ! 
 but what a city of the dead ! how miserable it must 
 be to live there ! " Such exclamations are naturally 
 uttered by every one who visits such admirable 
 specimens of art, in a city which suffers the bitter 
 degradation of servitude. I will, however, cease to 
 dwell upon such sentimental sorrows, and proceed 
 to show from facts and material results what is the 
 condition of Venice. Their testimony is yet more 
 convincing than the voice of complaint. 
 
 A recent report of the Venetian Chamber of Com-
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1859. ^S 
 
 merce gives, in Austrian florins, the value of the 
 exports and the imports of the port of Venice from 
 i860 to 1864. The Austrian florin is as nearly as 
 possible two francs and a half. The report is dated 
 31st January 1865, and gives the following returns: — 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 i860 
 
 48,864,500 florins 
 
 21,233,220 florins 
 
 I86I 
 
 39,145,189 „ 
 
 16,982,508 „ 
 
 1862 
 
 33,359,948 „ 
 
 12,945,225 „ 
 
 1863 
 
 28,346,973 „ 
 
 13,245,641 „ 
 
 1S64* 
 
 26,108,012 „ 
 
 12,822,272 „ 
 
 Amongst the trades which contributed, according to 
 the report of January 1865, to this great decay of 
 Venetian commerce, that of glass manufacture must 
 be specially mentioned. The president of the Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, speaking of it, says : — " This 
 industry falls off notably, and is in danger of com- 
 plete ruin, unless the government comes to its rescue." 
 The same is true of other branches of industry and 
 commerce ; as, for instance, soaps, jewellery, and 
 hardware, metals wrought and unwrought, colonial 
 produce and drugs, cheeses, and animals for butcher's 
 meat. There are, however, som.e exceptions to this 
 general decline, as in the case of the wood trade, 
 colours and colouring material, hemp and cordage. 
 
 * In 1865 and 1866 the imports and exports were : — 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 1865 
 
 22,596,102 florins 
 
 12,741,044 florins 
 
 1866 
 
 22,184,750 „ 
 
 12,482,222 „ 
 
 This latter year (1S66) was the last of Austrian rule, as the Austrians 
 evacuated Venice 19th October 1866.
 
 26 
 
 ESSAYS. 
 
 The Venetian Chamber of Commerce also pub- 
 hshed in January 1865 a report of the number and 
 tonnage of the vessels which entered and cleared out 
 from the port of Venice from 1859 to 1864. These 
 statistics are an irrefutable proof of the ruin which 
 appears in store for this unhappy city. The Presi- 
 dent of the Venetian Chamber of Commerce says : — 
 "From the war of 1859 dates a period of decay in 
 Venice so rapid, that it is probably impossible to find 
 a like example in the history of our commerce." 
 
 Vessels entered.* 
 
 Vessels 
 Tonnage 
 
 1859. 
 4,581 
 537,285 
 
 i860. 1861. 
 4,250 3,788 
 436,416 364,792 
 
 Vessels cleared 
 
 1862. 
 3,382 
 332,413 
 
 OUT.* 
 
 1863. 
 3,292 
 312,275 
 
 1864. 
 3,123 
 301,337 
 
 Vessels 
 Tonnage 
 
 4,466 
 519,241 
 
 4,251 3,756 
 450,980 375,015 
 
 3,295 
 336,483 
 
 3,241 
 310,968 
 
 3,093 
 303,539 
 
 Thus, in five years there has been a diminution of 
 1458 vessels and 235,948 tons entry; and of 1373 
 vessels and 215,702 tons of exit. While Venice f 
 
 In 1865 and 1866 there were — 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 1866. 
 
 Vessels entered . 
 
 3,078 .. 
 
 2,866 
 
 Tonnage 
 
 291,679 
 
 304,696 
 
 Vessels cleared out . 3,I0I ... 2,813 
 
 Tonnage . . 296,416 ... 299,329 
 
 The Venetian coasting and river trade, which in 1858 was valued at 
 36,000,000 florins, had fallen in 1865 to 15,600,000 florins. 
 
 •f- The following facts and statistics given by a correspondent of 
 the Iiidependance Beige, of the 3d May 1866, are worth recording: 
 " Venice has a population of about 118,000, and a garrison of about 
 8000 or 9000. It is a free port, and the capital of a province of
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 2/ 
 
 has had such cruel losses inflicted upon it, Genoa 
 has doubled its commerce in six years, and the port 
 of Naples is not sufficient for its growing trade. 
 
 Though the resources of Venice diminish, its taxes 
 grow heavier. Savings banks and benefit societies 
 are few and far between in Venetia ; no wonder, there- 
 fore, that want increases. Austria maintains herself 
 in that province by means of an army of 150,000 
 men resting on the famous Quadrilateral. The forti- 
 fications of Venice itself have been considerably aug- 
 mented since the war of 1859. The Venetian territory 
 has been covered with numerous strategic works. 
 The necessity of being always on the watch produces 
 in Austria financial difficulties of the most serious 
 kind. The fact is, that Venetia is a heavy burden 
 upon the government of Vienna — a burden which is 
 exhausting the resources of the empire. Without 
 Venetia, every one knows, even at Vienna, that 
 Austria Avould be without doubt richer and stronger, 
 for she would be able to reduce considerably both 
 her army and her expenditure. Indeed, if the true 
 frontier between Italy and Austria, that of the Alps, 
 
 2,500,000 inhabitants. . . . Do you wish some statistics which 
 will show you better than all arguments the decay of this city, which 
 ought to be a centre of pleasure and business, and which might have 
 increased visibly since Italy is free, just as Naples and Milan have in. 
 creased in population and riches ? I will take an article of daily con- 
 sumption (butcher's meat), and I will compare the statistics of i860 
 
 and 1S65 : — • 
 
 i860. 1865. 
 
 Imports . 3,489,356 florins ... 1,897,348 florins 
 Exports . 394,410 ,, ... 266,727 „ 
 
 Consumption 3,094,946 „ ... 1,630,621 „ 
 
 Is it necessary to enumerate the miseries hidden beneath these figures ? "
 
 2S ESSAYS. 
 
 were wisely accepted in accordance with the natural 
 order of things, not only would an end at once be put 
 to the hostility which exists between the two coun- 
 tries, but there would, moreover, spring up between 
 them a trade equally beneficial to both. Austria 
 could thus at a single stroke diminish her military 
 expenditure and augment her commerce. Now, on 
 the contrary, Italy (who if mistress of her national 
 territory would be occupied solely with the develop- 
 ment of her agriculture and industry) is ever on the 
 look-out for an opportunity by which to set Venetia 
 free ; she holds herself ready to rise whenever an 
 offer to aid her in that work is made by an enemy of 
 Austria. How everything would be changed if this 
 latter power undid, of her own accord, the chains of 
 Venice, which weigh so heavily on Austria herself! 
 Much indeed is said of the strategic necessity which 
 obliges Austria to hold the line of the Mincio, and 
 the Germans themselves not unfrequently assert it. 
 Such a pretension is altogether exaggerated, and on 
 the part of Austria it is a mistaken idea. The 
 Italians number, with Rome and Venetia included, 
 about 25,000,000 ; the German confederation num- 
 bers 44,000,000 ; Austria, without Venetia, 32,000,000. 
 Between these German and Italian lands rises the 
 barrier of the Alps. It is really impossible to discuss 
 seriously the claim made by the stronger power, to 
 possess on the other side of that great Alpine barrier 
 a province naturally belonging to its weaker neigh- 
 bour, on the ground of the danger to which the 
 former and stronger power would be exposed, by
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 29 
 
 the province in question belonging to the latter and 
 weaker power. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the question of right be ex- 
 amined, it must be remembered that the possession 
 of Venetia by Austria has its origin in the iniquitous 
 act committed at Campo Formio in 1797 by the first 
 Napoleon, at that time the republican general of re- 
 volutionary France. The Congress of Vienna but 
 re-enacted the selfsame injustice when it permitted 
 Austria to seize again upon Venetia in 18 15. More- 
 over it must not be forgotten that the Austrian and 
 English generals, when they sought in 181 3 to raise 
 Italy against Napoleon, actually declared in their 
 proclamations to the Italian people, that the allies 
 wished only to deliver Italy " from the iron yoke of 
 Bonaparte, and to restore her to herself." Assuredly, 
 then, Venetians and Italians have good reason to pro- 
 test ; assuredly right is on their side — right as clear 
 as ever appealed to the tribunal of public opinion. 
 
 Treaties and right of possession forsooth ! Is this 
 indeed the moment (1865) for Austria and her friends 
 to make use of like arguments .'' Where are the 
 treaties which bound Holstein and Schleswig to Den- 
 mark ? The possession of those provinces by the 
 Danish monarchy is numbered, not by tens, but by 
 hundreds of years. Are these ancient title-deeds of 
 Denmark to the possession of the Duchies of the 
 Elbe inferior to those of Austria touching Venice, 
 which had their origin in an act of modern injustice 
 committed by the republican general of a revolu- 
 tionary power ,'' Is the manner in which the Danish
 
 30 ESSAYS. 
 
 government has treated the Duchies alleged against 
 Denmark ? Certainly that government has not been 
 without its faults ; but any one who reflects upon 
 what the government of Vienna has done, and still 
 continues to do, in Hungary and Italy, can see nothing 
 but a cruel mockery in the idea of Austria's sending 
 an army to deliver Schleswig and Holstein from 
 Danish rule. Those who wish to know how that 
 great German power acts in its non-German pro- 
 vinces, let them make themselves acquainted with 
 the trial known as the "proces Saint -Georges,"* 
 which took place in Venetia in the summer of 1862 ; 
 or with the cause which led to the imprisonment of 
 those Venetian ladies, Mesdames Labia, Calvi, and 
 Montalban. Before playing the liberator on the 
 banks of the Eider, would not Austria do well to 
 renounce her work of oppression on the banks of the 
 Mincio ? The fact is that, so long as she insists upon 
 holding Venetia, so long will she be relatively weak, 
 
 * In the summer of 1862 the poHce arrested at Verona a traveller 
 going to Turin, and seized upon him a paper attributed to the famous 
 secret Venetian committee. The names of 40 persons were on the list, 
 35 being those of respectable citizens, nobles, men of business, and 
 lawyers, the other five were simple miscreants. Englishmen will hardly 
 believe the truth of this affair, but it is simply this, that the traveller 
 seized was no other than one of the Austrian police, disguised for the 
 purpose, and the paper a forgery. The accused were tried, not before 
 a civil, but a military tribunal. The spirit in which the proceedings 
 were carried on may be judged by the shameful means used to begin 
 them. After several months of trial and captivity, the accusation broke 
 down in the case of all but five, two of whom were finally acquitted on 
 a second trial before the superior military tribunal, and three condemned 
 to 10, 12, and 16 years in irons ; they left for the fortress of Lubiana 
 in February 1S64. Such was this famous case known as the "proces
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 3 I 
 
 SO long will her policy be vacillating and inconsistent. 
 It is only by disencumbering herself of such a dead 
 weight as Venice, and by coming to terms with 
 Hungary, as she seems inclined to do at present, 
 that Austria can become truly constitutional and 
 really strong. Argument, right, and interest, even 
 that of Austria herself, plead in favour of a plan 
 which shall separate Venetia from the government 
 of Vienna. Such separation is the only reasonable 
 method that can be employed for putting an end to 
 the actual suffering, and even the material decay of 
 Venice. With regard to the proposal of Austria, that 
 this Italian province should send representatives to 
 the Reichsrath of Vienna, it will ever receive the 
 same refusal as would be given by the people of 
 Innspruck to a proposal on the part of the Italian 
 government to send representatives to the parlia- 
 ment of Florence. As for the writer, having himself 
 seen Milan rejoicing in her freedom, and Venice 
 mourning in grief and misery, he cannot but express 
 
 Saint-Georges," of which fuller details are given in a publication en- 
 titled " La Venetie en 1864," published in Paris, by L. Hachette et Cie. 
 But it was upon the spot, in Venetia itself, that the author of the pub- 
 lication referred to informed himself of this and other facts, which prove 
 how deplorable is the state of this Italian province, and how oppressive 
 is the rule of its foreign taskmasters. The gentler sex also come in for 
 a share of the delights of Austrian rule. The Countess Labia, having 
 gone to mass in St Mark's dressed in mourning on the 6th of June, the 
 anniversary of Cavour's death, was arrested. She refused to pay the 
 fine imposed for this high crime and misdemeanour, and was therefore 
 punished with imprisonment. Madame Calvi and the Countess of 
 ^lontalban have undergone the same punishment after a trial which 
 seems to have formed a pendant to the one described above as originat- 
 ing in the seizure of one of the Austrian police disguised as a traveller.
 
 32 • ESSAYS. 
 
 his ardent desire that the hour of deliverance may 
 speedily come to the ancient city of the Doges — that 
 hour when her people, freed from a foreign yoke, 
 shall celebrate with boundless joy the union of Venice 
 to Italy. 
 
 The principal features of the contrast offered by 
 the actual condition (1865) of these two Italian cities 
 (Milan and Venice) have now been laid before the 
 reader. In the former of these two capitals is to be 
 seen a contented and prosperous population earnestly 
 labouring to develop all that constitutes their moral 
 and material welfare. The increase of commerce, 
 the construction of new houses, hotels, streets, and 
 public buildings ; the formation of several new socie- 
 ties for carrying out useful public undertakings, — all 
 attest present prosperity as well as confidence in the 
 future. Schools are multiplied, and pupils flock to 
 them ; benefit societies, whose object is at once ap- 
 preciated by the working classes, spring up in various 
 parts. Such are the sure signs of real progress. The 
 municipality of Milan, freely elected, displays the 
 most praiseworthy activity, in accordance with the 
 desire of its constituents. Political elections are car- 
 ried on in perfect freedom, accompanied with the ut- 
 most order. Complete liberty is allowed to the press 
 as well as to public meetings. At the same time it 
 would be difficult to find a city where the general 
 security is greater, where the police and administra- 
 tion are better. Its inhabitants are ready to make 
 all the sacrifices demanded by their country's neces- 
 sities. Their devotion to the great national work,
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 3J 
 
 to-day being carried on throughout Italy, and theif 
 attachment to her honest king, knows no limits. 
 Such is the actual condition of the Lombard capital, 
 which Austria found so difficult to govern and so im- 
 possible to satisfy. Never has constitutional liberty 
 gained a more complete or striking victory. 
 
 But Venice ! Not only are the signs of prosperity 
 wanting, but at every step are to be seen the saddest 
 proofs of decay. Palaces are falling into ruin, com- 
 merce diminishes year by year, as does also the num- 
 ber of vessels entering and leaving the port ; primary 
 education hardly exists, beggary and theft continually 
 increase. The population is united in a common 
 hatred against the foreign government which rules. 
 In vain does that government offer to Venice a parti- 
 cipation in the new Austrian system, inaugurated by 
 the patent of February 1861 ; she will have none of 
 it ; she only asks that the foreigner should quit her 
 territory. So long as he remains there the Venetians 
 will never cease to show their abhorrence of the 
 government of the Emperor Francis Joseph, and 
 their attachment to that of King Victor Emmanuel. 
 Neither the menaces nor the offers of Austria will 
 ever produce any effect on the unanimous resolution 
 of the Venetians. Seized upon by an act of crying 
 injustice, held down by force, plunged in misery, 
 Venice is at once a shame and a weakness to Austria. 
 So long as this union, which violates every principle 
 of justice, is maintained, so long will it continue to 
 bear the same bitter fruit. 
 
 Let us suppose for a moment that the war of 1859
 
 34 ESSAYS. 
 
 had restored Venice to freedom, that she had been, 
 hke Milan, united to the mother country, or at least 
 to a constitutional kingdom of North Italy. In that 
 case, would not the Venetians have made the same 
 progress and accomplished the same reforms as the 
 Milanese ? Would not popular schools have seen the 
 number of their pupils increase year by year ? Would 
 not new schools have been erected to satisfy the 
 popular demand ? Would not the municipality of 
 Venice have done its utmost, like that of Milan, to 
 push forward the work of instruction so worthy of a 
 free people, and so absolutely necessary to their wel- 
 fare ? Would it not have furthered public works for 
 the material improvement of the city ? Would there 
 not have been formed in Venetia, as in Lombardy, 
 various joint-stock and limited companies for carrying 
 out enterprises of public utility ? Under a free national 
 government, would not the commerce of the port of 
 Venice have increased, as has been the case with 
 Genoa and Naples ? 
 
 Perhaps the enemies of Italy will reply that the 
 Venetians are too frivolous, too little united among 
 themselves for such a result to be probable ; that they 
 are only capable of vexing and embarrassing their 
 Austrian rulers, but by no means worthy of liberty ; 
 that they are wholly incapable of self-government 
 and of prospering under a system of freedom. The 
 first argument that suggests itself in answer to such 
 allegations is, that all this was said of the Milanese 
 previous to 1859 ; — whereas the facts contained in this 
 essay touching Milan prove how completely those
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 35 
 
 who made such assertions were mistaken. But there 
 is something more to be added in reply — it is this : 
 that Venice gave proof of what she was capable before 
 1859 j t^'^^t it is not so very long since she manifested 
 to the world what she was, and what she could do 
 when mistress of herself. From March 1848 to 
 August 1849 the Venetians became free, after having 
 endured for fifty years a foreign yoke. What use 
 did this people, now accused of frivolity and effemi- 
 nacy, make of that brief period of independence .'' 
 They began by selecting as their chief a citizen of 
 Venice, who united political intelligence to the noblest 
 natural qualities — Daniel Manin. His government 
 was one of freedom at home, while displaying both 
 diligence and ability in the presence of foreign com- 
 plications. Is there need to recall the heroic defence 
 which terminated that short but memorable period of 
 Venetian liberty .'' Assuredly a people who have 
 achieved such things have sufficiently proved that 
 they are worthy of freedom. If they could act thus 
 in the midst of a revolution, after half a century of 
 bondage, what will they not do under a national 
 government which shall bestow upon them all the 
 blessings of order and of liberty ? 
 
 There is yet another fact which strikingly proves 
 that the Venetians are capable, now as ever, of mak- 
 ing sacrifices for their country's cause. Some 12,000 
 or 14,000 of them have exiled themselves, despite all 
 the efforts of the Austrian authorities, and have en- 
 rolled themselves in the ranks of the Italian army. 
 At the same time, Austria obliges the province to
 
 36 ESSAYS. 
 
 furnish its contingent to the Austrian army. Thus 
 Venetia undergoes a double conscription — the one 
 obhgatory, the other of her own free will for the cause 
 of Italy. And yet there are persons who blindly 
 maintain that the Venetians are degenerated, and are 
 unworthy of liberty ; that Italians will not fight, that 
 their country is a land of the dead. In answer to 
 such accusations we point, on the one hand, to those 
 proofs of vitality still to be found in Venice, en- 
 thralled though she be, and, on the other, to Milan, to- 
 day in the full enjoyment of freedom.. Let the friends 
 of Italy take courage. Venice remains worthy of a 
 better future ; she awaits without faltering that day 
 which shall yet realise the prediction of Manzoni : — 
 
 " Non fia loco ove sorgan barriere 
 Tra ritalia e I'ltalia, mai piu ! " 
 
 "No more shall any spot be found where barriers rise to sever 
 Italian from Italian soil — henceforth, for ever ! " 
 
 Let me be permitted to add one word more, after 
 having thus expressed my confidence in the future of 
 Venice. An Englishman thus praising the work which 
 is to-day being accomplished in Italy, might fairly be 
 accused of injustice if he did not recognise the great 
 share which France has had in bringing about that 
 result. Doubtless she did not intervene in the war 
 of 1859, declared by Austria against Piedmont, in 
 order to form a single nation out of the different states 
 of which Italy was composed. France only wished to 
 construct, against the return of Austria, the barrier of 
 a kingdom of North Italy. But was not even that an 
 immense benefit to Italy, a real triumph for the cause
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 37 
 
 of liberty and right ? Where would Italy and Pied- 
 mont be to-day if France had given in 1859 only the 
 aid of words and despatches, the effects of which were 
 made manifest in the case of Poland and of Denmark? 
 If that only had been done, would not Italy still 
 mourn to-day as Poland mourns ? Would not Pied- 
 mont have suffered the same misfortunes as Denmark, 
 despite that admirable Piedmontese army which did 
 such good service in the Crimea, but which was nu- 
 merically so small as was that of Denmark ? Thanks 
 to France, such misfortunes have been averted. Her 
 part in the creation of Italian liberty has then been 
 so noble, that England should cordially recognise it, 
 and support with earnest sympathy the work thus 
 begun. 
 
 Jime 1868. 
 
 The writer has great pleasure in placing at the end 
 of this translation of his article, published in the 
 Revue des Deux Mondes of ist October 1865, the fol- 
 lowing interesting letter signed A. H. L., and inserted 
 in the London Times of 27th February 1868. It 
 bears testimony to the moral and material progress 
 which has already commenced in Venice since the 
 departure of the Austrians in October 1866. The 
 friends of Italy will hail with joy this promise of a 
 brighter future, this dawn of a happier day ; as yet, 
 indeed, but " a day of small things," still assuredly a 
 day not to be despised.
 
 38 ESSAYS. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF " THE TIMES." 
 
 7.']th February 1868. 
 
 "Sir, — You and your correspondents in Italy have, of 
 late, passed severe, though perhaps not unmerited strictures, 
 upon the Italian Government and upon the Italian Cham- 
 bers. But let us be just to the Italian people. I need not 
 point out the singular moderation and good sense which 
 they have shown in times of great difficulty and under grave 
 provocation. You have done them full justice in this 
 respect. I am desirous of calling your attention to the 
 social and moral progress which is taking place in Italy, 
 and which is less known to your readers, as it is with politi- 
 cal matters that your correspondents are naturally most 
 concerned. For the last two months I have been residing 
 in Venice, and an acquaintance with persons of all classes 
 in that city has enabled me to collect a few facts upon this 
 subject which, in justice to the Venetians, should be rhade 
 known. 
 
 " Since the departure of the Austrians, in the autumn of 
 1866, schools have been opened by the municipality in all 
 the parishes of the city, and are now frequented by about 
 3800 children of both sexes. Other schools will be speedily 
 added. Sunday-schools, for girls who cannot attend on 
 week-days, and infant schools, have also been estabHshed. 
 An institution for the education of female teachers already 
 contains ninety pupils. Night schools have been founded 
 by gentlemen connected with the liberal professions in the 
 eight districts of Venice. The municipality has since under- 
 taken to support some of them. They are divided into 
 inferior and superior schools, and are attended by nearly 
 2000 pupils, including about 1000 adults, working-men who 
 resort to them after their day's labour. The most dis- 
 tinguished professors of Venice give gratuitous lessons 
 there every evening, and the progress made by the mecha-
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 39 
 
 nics is most remarkable. The schools are admirably con- 
 ducted, the rooms large, clean, and well-aired. 
 
 *'A reading-room, open every evening, and a lending 
 library in connexion with it, for the benefit of working-men 
 and poor prisoners, was established about eight months ago 
 in the quarter of San Giovanni Laterano. Members pay 
 the small entrance-fee of one halfpenny (five centesimi). 
 The books are lent for fifteen days, and are well selected, 
 including translations from the works of J. S. Mill, Smiles, 
 Ellis, Chambers, Macaulay, &c. Above 1500 volumes had 
 been lent at the end of the year, and among the applicants 
 for them were members of all the different trades, and many 
 common soldiers. 
 
 " Two co-operative stores, upon the English system, have 
 been opened for working-men. Shares, representing some- 
 thing more than ^300, have been taken up by 450 associ- 
 ates, and the experiment is answering so well that other 
 shops are to be opened in different parts of the city. 
 
 " People's banks, upon the German system, and savings 
 banks, have also been founded. 
 
 "A technical school, in which instruction is given in the 
 various branches of science, including political economy, 
 has been established in the old convent of San Giovanni 
 Laterano, and is furnished with laboratories and scientific 
 collections. It is frequented by a large number of pupils, 
 some of whom assist the professor in teaching reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic to evening classes of adults. A 
 technical school of commerce, on a large scale, including 
 instruction in the commercial laws of all countries, and in 
 the languages of Europe and the East, is about to be 
 opened in the Palazzo Foscari. 
 
 "The societies for mutual help (benefit societies) which 
 existed during the Austrian rule, but which were then only 
 allowed to squander their money in masses, funerals, and 
 festivities, are being reorganised and turned to good and 
 useful purposes. Already several of the corporations — such
 
 40 ESSAYS. 
 
 as the gilders, carpenters, smiths, &c. — have formed them- 
 selves into such societies, and have placed themselves under 
 statutes framed upon the English model. They include, at 
 present, about 2700 working-men. 
 
 " There are gratuitous evening lectures for the people, in 
 which the principal professors of Venice lecture upon poli- 
 tical economy and other branches of science, and read the 
 best Italian classics, illustrating and explaining them by 
 commentaries on history, constitutional law, and public 
 economy. 
 
 " The foundation of all these institutions is due to the 
 professors and representatives of the middle class in Venice, 
 and the names of Dr Errera and Professors Luzzatti, 
 Namias, and Gera deserve special mention in connexion 
 with them. They have received of late the support of the 
 municipality. It would be well for them and for their 
 country if the inheritors of the great historic names of the 
 Venetian Republic, who form the upper or aristocratic class 
 of Venice, were to think less of frivolous amusements, and 
 to associate themselves heartily with the promotion of these 
 good works. 
 
 " I may mention that a company has been formed for 
 building docks upon a large scale in Venice, and that 
 negotiations are in progress for the establishment of a line 
 of steamers between the city and Alexandria, and other 
 parts of the East. Other projects for the development of 
 the resources and for the improvement of Venice are being 
 carried out, under the direction of the active and public- 
 spirited prefect, Signor Torelli. 
 
 " The progress which I have described as taking place in 
 Venice extends to other cities and towns in Italy, especially 
 in the north. All this has been done in the first year of 
 libert)\ Scarcely twelve months ago, any attempt to intro- 
 duce real knowledge among the people, and to improve 
 their condition, would have been treated by the Austrian 
 rulers of Venice as a political crime. Dr Errera was con-
 
 MILAN AND VENICE SINCE THE WAR OF 1 859. 4I 
 
 demned to ten years' imprisonment — two and a half of 
 which he had passed in sohtary confinement, wlien he was 
 hberated on the transfer of the Italian provinces — mainly 
 for attempting to introduce those institutions which he has 
 now helped to establish. 
 
 " That there is discontent in Italy — discontent with the 
 manner in which the affairs of the country are administered 
 - — there can be no doubt. With a perfectly free press and 
 absolute liberty of speech, that discontent finds ample 
 expression ; but those who imagine that there is any desire 
 on the part of the Italians to return to their old divisions, 
 and to give up that national unity which alone can make 
 them a great people, altogether mistake the popular feeling. 
 It may suit the French, who are naturally irritated at seeing 
 a young nation enjoying those liberties of which they have 
 been deprived, to misrepresent the present state of feeling 
 in Italy ; but there is no Italian, except the veriest boor of 
 the Neapolitan provinces, who would not spurn with indig- 
 nation the suggestion of returning to that miserable priestly 
 and political tyranny which has reduced Italy to the condi- 
 tion of ignorance and degradation from which she is now 
 surely, though slowly, emerging. The choice is not now 
 between a united Italy and a divided Italy, but between mon- 
 archy and republicanism. The decision of the Italian 
 people will depend upon the patriotism and wisdom of 
 Italian statesmen, and not a little upon the policy of France. 
 — Your obedient servant, 
 
 "A. H. L."
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 Reprinted from the ^'Westminster Revieiv'''' for 1st fnly 1866. 
 
 1. Reciieil dcs Traitcs, Conventio7is, et Actes Diploina- 
 
 tiqnes conccrnant HA utriche ct Vltalie. 1 703- 1859. 
 Amyot, Editeur, Rue de la Paix. Paris. 
 
 2. Documents et Pieces A uthentiques laissh par Daniel 
 
 Manin, President de la Republique de Venise. 
 Traduits S7ir les Originanx et Annotis par Mme. 
 Planat de la Faye. Furne et C'% Editeurs. 
 Paris. 2 vols. 
 
 3. Memoires de Daniel Manin. Par M. Henri 
 
 Martin. Furne et C'^, Editeurs. Paris. 
 
 4. La Vaietie en 1864. Librairie de L. Hatchette et 
 
 C'^ Paris. 
 
 5. La Prima Legislatnra del Regno d' Italia ; Stiidii 
 
 e Ricordi di Leopoldo Galcotti, Dcpittato al Parla- 
 inento. Firenze. 1865. 
 
 THE condition of Italy during the first half of the 
 present century seemed to forbid the idea of 
 its ever becoming one united kingdom. Yet not only 
 
 * This article was completed just before the actual commencement 
 of hostilities between Prussia and Austria in June 1866.
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 43 
 
 has such a kingdom been formed, but it has received 
 official recognition from all the governments of the 
 world, with but one exception. The work is not, how- 
 ever, completed, inasmuch as portions of the Italian 
 soil are still in the possession of foreign powers. Its 
 completion is the one engrossing object to which all 
 the efforts of the statesmen and people of Italy are 
 alike directed. They aim avowedly at excluding all 
 foreign rule and influence from the Peninsula, substi- 
 tuting in their place a purely national government, 
 presided over by a sovereign of the nation's choice. 
 
 The more closely this important v/ork is examined, 
 the clearer does it become that it alone offers a rea- 
 sonable hope of bestowing upon Italy the blessings 
 of order and of freedom, increasing thereby most 
 materially the general security and peace of Europe. 
 This may be shown both by the failure of French 
 supremacy in Italy, under the first Napoleon, to at- 
 tain these objects, and also by the yet more signal 
 failure of Austrian supremacy, which succeeded to 
 that of Imperial France. It is yet further proved by 
 the results which have sprung since 1859 from the 
 formation of the Italian Constitutional Monarchy. 
 Results obtained, despite the innumerable difficulties 
 arising from the continuation of the Austrian rule in 
 Venetia, and from the intricate problems involved in 
 the solution of the Roman question. 
 
 From the commencement of the present century 
 up to the year 18 14 the supremacy of France was 
 established throughout Italy in one form or another 
 by the Emperor Napoleon. The introduction of his
 
 44 ESSAYS. 
 
 celebrated code of laws and a generally enlightened 
 system of government did much to improve the con- 
 dition of the country. But the burdens of the con- 
 scription and of heavy taxes (not with a view to 
 national freedom, but for the prosecution of wars 
 arising from the insatiable ambition of the Emperor), 
 rendered the Italians weary of a rule which was after 
 all but that of a foreign power. The other nations of 
 Europe viewed this de facto possession of Italy by 
 France as unjust in itself and as dangerously increas- 
 ing French preponderance. Nor can this discontent 
 of Italy and of Europe be deemed other than just 
 and natural. 
 
 Upon the fall of Napoleon, the treaties of Vienna 
 professed to undo that which had been done in Italy 
 by the French revolutionary wars and those of the 
 empire. The Neapolitan Bourbons were restored to 
 the thrones of Naples and Sicily. The Papal autho- 
 rity was re-established throughout the States of the 
 Church. The house of Hapsbourg-Lorraine was rein- 
 stated in Tuscany. The kingdom of Sardinia, incor- 
 porated into the French empire by Napoleon, again 
 appeared as an independent state. Lombardy was 
 replaced under the sway of Austria. 
 
 To this general rule of restoring the old order of 
 things, an exception, deserving particular notice, was 
 made in the case of Venice. For centuries she had 
 been an independent republic, and was so still in 1796, 
 when Bonaparte commanded the French republican 
 armies in Northern Italy. Having revolutionised the 
 Venetian government, he established over it a so-called
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 45 
 
 Protectorate. In the following year he handed over 
 Venice and all her territory, as far as the Adige, to 
 Austria, by the treaty of Campo-Formio, which was 
 signed on the 17th October 1797. His government 
 had, in a despatch dated the 29th September, ex- 
 pressly ordered him not to give up Venice to Austria, 
 and had spoken of the "shame of abandoning" to 
 that power the Queen of the Adriatic. The Directory, 
 however, after some hesitation, ratified this act of 
 their general, who thus, to suit his own purpose, 
 blotted out the old republic from the map of Europe, 
 and incorporated her with the Austrian empire. 
 
 Again, by the treaty of Presbourg, in 1805, Napoleon 
 separated Venice and all its territory from Austria, 
 and so united Venetia to that northern Italian king- 
 dom, over which he placed, as viceroy, his stepson, 
 Eugene Beauharnais. 
 
 Had the statesmen assembled at Vienna in 1815 
 been true to their own principle of undoing the work 
 of their arch-enemy Napoleon, they would have re- 
 stored, if not the Venetian republic, at least an inde- 
 pendent state of Venice. Instead of doing so, they 
 united Venice to Lombardy, thereby creating the 
 Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, which they gave to 
 Austria. Thus the republic of Venice was once again 
 incorporated with that empire, and thus the states- 
 men who framed the treaties of Vienna renewed the 
 flagrant act of robbery and injustice perpetrated at 
 Campo-Formio by Bonaparte, of whose system they 
 professed to be the uncompromising opponents. 
 
 This policy was rendered the more obviously unjust
 
 46 ESSAYS. 
 
 by the language addressed to the Itahans in December 
 1813, and in March 1814, by the alHed Austrian and 
 English generals, who, while then endeavouring to 
 drive the French from Italy, sought to win the 
 Italians to their standard. The Austrian general, 
 Count Nugent, commences his proclamation, "To 
 the peoples of Italy," dated Ravenna, loth December 
 1 81 3, with these words : "You have been sufficiently 
 oppressed, — you have groaned beneath a yoke of 
 iron. Our armies are come into Italy for your de- 
 liverance !" In his enthusiasm for Italian freedom he 
 does not hesitate to add further on the following sen- 
 tence : " You must all become an independent nation." 
 General Bentinck,the commander of the English forces, 
 in his proclamation dated Leghorn, 14th March 18 14, 
 declares, amongst other things, that " we do not ask 
 you to come to us ; we ask you to make good your 
 own rights, and to be free !" 
 
 Yet the Austrian and English statesmen at Vienna, 
 when they had full possession of Italy, disregarded 
 those stirring promises of independence and freedom 
 addressed by the generals of their allied sovereigns 
 to the Italians, re-enacted Bonaparte's violent spolia- 
 tion of Venice, and riveted at Vienna the chains forged 
 at Campo-Formio. Thus were broken the promises of 
 liberty held out to Italians when the allies sought to 
 rouse them to arms against the French ; and thus the 
 special defenders of legitimist principles endorsed the 
 lawless wrong of France's revolutionary general. 
 
 Surely these facts must have escaped the memories 
 of English writers and speakers, when, after the conclu-
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 47 
 
 sion of the war of 1859, they made Napoleon III. the 
 object of their sarcasms and attacks, because he failed 
 to carry out Jiis promise to free Italy from the " Alps 
 to the Adriatic." 
 
 The Congress of Vienna effected, in fact, no other 
 change in Italy than that of substituting for the rule 
 of Napoleon the supremacy of Austria. Lombardy 
 and Venetia were now hers. Entrenched within the 
 famous Quadrilateral, her will was law to the petty 
 Italian courts, each of whom aped the manners and 
 customs of their powerful brethren of the Holy Alli- 
 ance. Such was the result brought about by the 
 Austro- English allies, whose commander-in-chief, 
 Count Nugent, had called upon you " frank and 
 courageous Italians to effect, arms in hand, the re- 
 storation of your prosperity and your country. You 
 will do it so much the more effectually, as you will 
 be aided to repulse whoever opposes this result. You 
 must all become an independent nation." Has Gari- 
 baldi himself ever asked for more } Are the legiti- 
 mists of Europe aware that the demands of Italy's 
 popular hero are but identical with the promises of 
 the Austrian generalissimo } Count Nugent's pro- 
 clamation thus concludes : " Show your zeal for the 
 public welfare, and your happiness will depend on 
 your fidelity to those who love you and defend you. 
 In a short time your lot will cause envy, your nev/ 
 condition will excite admiration. 
 
 " By order of Count NUGENT. 
 "Ravenna, December 10, 1S13."
 
 48 ESSAYS. 
 
 What that new condition did excite will best be 
 gathered from the history of the next thirty years 
 or more which terminated in the great uprising of 
 1848. 
 
 An acquaintance with the state of Italy, from 181 5 
 to 1859, is absolutely necessary to all who would 
 rightly understand how the formation of the present 
 kingdom of Italy has been brought about. Without 
 that knowledge, which alone gives the clue to the 
 final result, nothing but blunders and confusion can 
 ensue, arising either from absolute ignorance or from 
 mistaking some momentary or trivial circumstances 
 (which may have had a temporary influence on the 
 course of events) for the real causes which have re- 
 sulted in the establishment of the Italian constitutional 
 monarchy of which Victor Emmanuel is the chosen 
 ruler. Such knowledge will also demonstrate clearly 
 the reason why Venetians and Italians are unanimous 
 in demanding that Venetia should become an integral 
 portion of the kingdom of Italy. 
 
 The years which elapsed between the conclusion of 
 the treaties of Vienna in 181 5, and the era of Italian 
 reforms and revolutions in 1847 ^^^ 1848, are amongst 
 the saddest in the history of Italy. The courts avowed 
 ultra theories of divine right, and carried out the com- 
 plete repression of all popular demands. The arm of 
 military power, sometimes their own, sometimes that 
 of Austria, crushed every effort to oppose, or even miti- 
 gate, the severity of the rulers. The press was stifled 
 by a rigid and benighted censorship. Arbitrary power 
 of every kind was employed to restrain the dreaded
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 49 
 
 might of intelligence and thought. A system of 
 espionage was ever at work to detect all who sought 
 to ameliorate the condition of the country or reform 
 its institutions ; nor were those who pursued these 
 objects by efforts the most legitimate, treated more 
 leniently than those who sought to effect them by 
 means the most violent. The rulers were leagued 
 together for the oppression of the people, and the 
 people were united by a common hatred against the 
 tyranny of the rulers. First in one part and then in 
 another of the Italian Peninsula revolutionary move- 
 ments broke out. Sometimes so formidable were 
 they as to necessitate the intervention of Austrian 
 armies to prevent the overthrow of the dynasty at- 
 tacked. Such was the case in Sardinia and Naples 
 in 1 82 1, in Parma, Modena, and the Papal States in 
 183 1. But, throughout the whole period, smaller 
 movements were continually recurring. Thus the list 
 of sanguinary repressions, and of their victims in- 
 creased together, and with them increased the hatred 
 of the people to Austria and to the princes whom her 
 arms and policy upheld. Vainly did the great powers 
 attempt by the Congress of Laybach in 1820, and by 
 that of Verona in 1822, to maintain tranquillity in 
 Italy by propping up the system established by their 
 diplomacy at the Congress of Vienna. " There was," 
 says an Italian, writing of these sad times, " scarcely a 
 year which did not see many executions in some one 
 or other of our provinces ; but, amongst the record of 
 our sufferings, the years 1831, 1833, 1837, 1841, and 
 
 1844 will remain, more than all others, engraven in 
 
 D
 
 50 ESSAYS. 
 
 characters of blood." In a letter written to a friend in 
 1832, the then young and unknown Cavour says : — 
 
 " Pressed upon one side by Austrian bayonets, and on 
 the other by the excommunications of the Pope (Gregory 
 XVI.), our condition is truly deplorable. Every free exer- 
 cise of thought, every generous sentiment is stifled, as if it 
 were a sacrilege or a crime against the State." 
 
 The Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio, who died at the 
 beginning of this year (1866), one of the most able 
 and upright public men of the day, thus defines 
 Austria's Italian policy in his pamphlet, entitled " La 
 Politique et le Droit Chretien:" — "The system 
 adopted by Austria, since 181 5, reduces itself to 
 this, to kill Italy, morally and politically, in order 
 to reign in her place." He also relates an anecdote 
 of himself, which illustrates to what an extent 
 Austria carried her dictation. When a young man, 
 prosecuting his studies in Rome, in the year 1820, 
 he was sent for one day by the Governor, Monsig- 
 nore Bernetti, and questioned upon political matters. 
 The suspicions entertained about him having been 
 proved utterly groundless, the Governor said to him, 
 — " Cavaliere, this affair displeases me, it is odious, 
 but what can we do .'' A iisiria forces us ; the Duke of 
 Modena sends us notices ; they are stronger than we 
 are." The Marquis d'Azeglio goes on to say how 
 surprised he was at the embarrassed manner and 
 apologetic tone of the Roman Governor. Such lan- 
 guage but proved to him how utterly prostrate was 
 Italy beneath the all-pervading influence of Austria. 
 
 A young Milanese nobleman, an intimate friend
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 5 I 
 
 of M. d'Azeglio, known as hostile to the Austrian 
 rule, was, says M. d'Azeglio, sent for one day by the 
 chief of the police, who politely warned him of the 
 danger he incurred by mixing himself up with poli- 
 tical matters, and then added : — " Good God, Signor 
 Count ! you are young, rich, noble, and amiable, why 
 do you mix yourself up in such troubles ? Are you 
 afraid of the ballet-girls of the Scala ? The Emperor 
 is fond of young people, and wishes them to amuse 
 themselves. What is wanted of you is very easy ; 
 lend yourself to it with a will, and listen to my 
 advice." Well may M. d'Azeglio add : — " If Europe 
 knew all that has been done in Italy to beat down 
 the strongest minds, to sear the conscience, to darken 
 the intellect, great would be her surprise at seeing 
 that virtue, sound judgment, and magnanimity still 
 live amongst us." 
 
 Such, then, was the new condition of Italy which 
 was to "excite admiration ;" such were the fruits of 
 that Austrian supremacy in Italy established by the 
 Congress of Vienna. Yet amidst this conflict en- 
 gendered by misrule ; despite proscription, exile, 
 imprisonment, and death, patriotic aspirations and 
 liberal opinions continued to gain ground. At 
 length the rulers, unable to stem the swelling cur- 
 rent, yielded in a degree to demands which they 
 could no longer resist. Some of the princes were 
 only actuated by fear, mingled Avith crafty designs, 
 others were influenced by timid hopes, united to 
 worthy motives. 
 
 Thus it was that, in 1847, Pius IX., recently elected
 
 52 ESSAYS. 
 
 to the Papal throne, promulgated a general amnesty. 
 Iniquitous courts of so-called justice were abolished ; 
 unpopular public functionaries were removed ; com- 
 missioners for carrying out reforms were named ; the 
 municipal system was sensibly improved ; and soon 
 the name of Pio Nono became the rallying-cry of 
 Italian patriots. 
 
 Such a course pursued at Rome produced an im- 
 mediate effect at Turin, Florence, and Naples. Early 
 in the following year (1848), Constitutional Govern- 
 ments were inaugurated in all four capitals. 
 
 What occurred in Venice is characteristic of the 
 Austrian system of government. The Venetians, 
 headed by Daniel Manin (one of the purest and the 
 most enlightened public men of our own or any other 
 time), to whom Tommaseo and other of their fellow- 
 citizens united themselves, reminded the Austrian 
 authorities of the various liberties and reforms pro- 
 mised to the inhabitants of the Lombardo-Venetian 
 kingdom ever since 181 5 ; liberties which had never 
 been granted — promises which had never been ful- 
 filled. They kept carefully within the prescribed 
 legal means of making known their wishes, both in 
 reference to what had been promised in 18 15, and 
 also as regarded further reforms much needed. The 
 result was, that every concession was refused, and 
 both Manin and Tommaseo were thrown into prison. 
 The former relates what took place in these words : — 
 
 " I asked the Austrian government to execute, and to 
 cause to be executed, the laws which it had itself given, and 
 to keep the promises it had made ever since 1815 ; to ac-
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 53 
 
 cord the reforms demanded by the wants and wishes of the 
 populations, and by the spirit of the times. The govern- 
 ment rephed by throwing M. Tommaseo and myself into 
 prison, as well as others who had written in the same 
 sense." 
 
 As in Venice, so in Milan, the course taken by the 
 Austrian authorities was that of violent repression. 
 Not until the revolution of March 1848 in Vienna 
 itself had shaken to its foundation the throne of the 
 Hapsbourgs, did its officials yield in any degree to 
 the demands of the Venetians and the Milanese. 
 Thus it was manifest that nothing but the direst 
 necessity could wring from the German rulers of 
 Northern Italy any concession of even the com- 
 monest justice. Hence followed the natural con- 
 sequence, that the inhabitants of Venice and Milan, 
 once in possession of power, drove out their foreign 
 masters, and proclaimed their own freedom. 
 
 Every Italian, of every shade of political opinion, 
 felt assured that the freedom of Italy, whatever form 
 that freedom might assume, could only be secured by 
 the expulsion of the Austrians from the Peninsula. 
 So surely as they remained in any part, so surely was 
 all hope of the permanency of Italian liberty a mere 
 delusion. Subsequent events confirmed only too fully 
 this opinion, and proved that the maintenance of 
 German rule to the south of the Alps is certain de- 
 struction to the freedom of Italy. But to effect this 
 vital object of driving out the hated foreigner, the 
 co-operation of all Italians, governors as well as 
 governed, was absolutely necessary. The people of
 
 54 ESSAYS. 
 
 Italy, therefore, headed by the leading men of every 
 state in the Peninsula, insisted upon all their princes 
 forming an active alliance for the expulsion of the 
 Austrians. But the princes, with the exception of 
 Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, were opposed to 
 the war against Austria. Pius IX. declared that, as 
 head of the Church, he could not appeal to the 
 sword ; he allowed, however, at first, volunteers from 
 the States, and some regular regiments under General 
 Durando, to join the national forces against Austria. 
 But in little more than a month, on the 29th April 
 1848, he pronounced an allocution, in which he repu- 
 diated all partnership with those who were fighting 
 against the Austrians in Northern Italy. From that 
 hour he lost both his influence and popularity. This 
 act put an impassable gulf between the Italians 
 and Pius IX. Henceforth his course was vacil- 
 lating. After various ministerial changes, the unfor- 
 tunate Count Rossi became Prime Minister. He 
 was assassinated in November 1848, as he mounted 
 the stairs leading to the Legislative Chamber. 
 Shortly after the commission of this foul crime, 
 perpetrated by an unknown hand, the Pope fled from 
 Rome, and went to Gaeta, in the Neapolitan domi- 
 nions. The Roman Republic was immediately estab- 
 lished, but was soon overthrown by the arms of then 
 republican France. The French restored the Pope 
 to his temporal power, for the maintenance of which 
 their soldiers have ever since been necessary. But 
 the Papal Cabinet ever refused to carry out the re- 
 forms and ameliorations constantly insisted on by the
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 55 
 
 French Government ; it ever followed the counsels of 
 Austria, and rejected those of France. 
 
 The Grand Duke of Tuscany disliking-, both from 
 reasons of policy as well as from family connexion, 
 the war against Austria, yet allowed his soldiers and 
 subjects to join in it. The assent he gave was reluc- 
 tant, and the support feeble. Suddenly he quitted 
 his dominions, without telling even his own ministers 
 of his intention of doing so ; nor did he return to 
 Florence until his States had been occupied by 
 Austrian troops. They maintained order while he 
 abolished the constitution and drove the Tuscan 
 patriots into exile. 
 
 Ferdinand II. of Naples acted in accordance with 
 the two main principles of his statecraft, falsehood 
 and treachery. On the 7th of April 1848, he issued 
 a proclamation, in which he said : — 
 
 " The lot of the common country is about to be decided 
 on the plains of Lombardy ! Every prince, every Italian 
 people, is bound to hasten thither to take part in the con- 
 flict which ought to secure the independence, the glory, and 
 the freedom of Italy. As for us, we intend to co-operate 
 with all our forces by land and sea, with our arsenals, with 
 all the riches of the nation, &c., &c. 
 
 (Signed) " Ferdinand." 
 
 The Neapolitan king accordingly ordered his fleet 
 to sail for Venice, to aid the Venetians, who had just 
 flung off the Austrian yoke ; but he sent secretly a 
 note to the admiral to be opened near Ancona, abso- 
 lutely forbidding Mwa to undertake anything hostile to 
 the Atistrians. The same precautions modified the
 
 56 ESSAYS. 
 
 royal commands touching the Neapolitan land forces, 
 ostensibly sent to North Italy to take part in the war 
 of Italian independence. This is but a sample of the 
 habitual perfidy of Ferdinand II. of Naples, Not 
 long after he succeeded in getting rid of constitu- 
 tional freedom at home. Instantly he recalled his 
 forces from Northern Italy, and employed them in 
 crushing out liberty in his own dominions, and in 
 hunting down its friends, whether republicans or 
 constitutionalists. It was after this fashion that the 
 Neapolitan Bourbon " co-operated with all his forces 
 by land and sea to secure the independence, the 
 glory, and the liberty of Italy." 
 
 Charles Albert, the King of Piedmont, was the 
 only one of the Italian sovereigns who was sincere 
 in the war against Austria. But he had been so in- 
 consistent and so vacillating in the early part of his 
 life — was so open to the charge of mere personal 
 ambition — was so suspicious and so suspected, that 
 he never won the full confidence of the Italians. He 
 was, however, throughout the war brave, loyal, and 
 sincerely devoted to the cause of Italian independ- 
 ence, but he possessed little capacity as a general. 
 At the commencement of the campaign he was, how- 
 ever, successful : he took Pischiera, one of the fort- 
 resses of the Quadrilateral ; beat Marshal Radetzky 
 at Goito, on the 30th May 1848, and drove him 
 across the Adige. But the Austrian Marshal re- 
 ceived reinforcements, and succeeded soon after in 
 gaining the upper hand. He drove Charles Albert 
 out of Lombardy, retook Milan, and compelled him
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 57 
 
 on the 9th of August 1848 to sign the armistice of 
 Salasco, by which the King of Piedmont consented 
 to give up all he had gained beyond his own frontiers, 
 and to recall his fleet from the Adriatic, where it was 
 aiding the Venetians, under Daniel Manin, against 
 the Austrians. In the following year (1849), Charles 
 Albert again declared war against Austria. Ill-pre- 
 pared for the conflict, his army, commanded by 
 the Polish general Chrzanowski, was defeated by 
 Radetzky at Novara, on the 23d March 1849. The 
 king abdicated immediately, quitted Italy, and died 
 in exile not long after. He was succeeded on the 
 throne of Piedmont by his son Victor Emmanuel, 
 who thus began his reign on the battlefield which 
 had just witnessed his country's defeat and his 
 father's abdication. 
 
 While the cause of national liberty was falling in 
 all parts of Italy, Venice, under the guidance of her 
 noble chief, Daniel Manin, still carried on the con- 
 test against Austria. Those who desire to become 
 fully acquainted with the whole truth concerning 
 Venice,* its government and condition, from March 
 1848 to August 1849, when engaged in defending 
 its ancient rights and liberties, of which it had once 
 again possessed itself; those, too, who desire to form 
 a just appreciation of the statesmanlike ability and 
 exalted patriotism of her great citizen Daniel Manin, 
 should read his memoirs, written by M. Henry ]\Iar- 
 
 * The republic of Venice was proclaimed 22d March 1S4S; the 
 next day were published the names of those who formed the govern- 
 ment, of which Daniel Manin was chosen President.
 
 58 ESSAYS. 
 
 tin, the able historian of France ; they should, above 
 all, study " the authentic papers left by Daniel Ma- 
 nin," which have been arranged and translated by 
 Mdme. Planat de la Faye, with all the accuracy and 
 care worthy of so interesting and noble a subject. 
 There will be seen with what self-sacrificing devotion 
 the Venetians, high and low, rich and poor, vied with 
 each other in carrying on the defence of their com- 
 mon country; how the feuds of past ages were 
 buried never to rise again ; how amenable they were 
 to the authority of their chosen rulers — they whose 
 hearts were fired, then as now, with inextinguishable 
 hostility to the stranger's hated rule ; how joyfully 
 and eagerly they encountered privations, suff"erings, 
 and death, in the cause of their country's freedom ; 
 how they added to patience endurance, and to en- 
 durance courage, in their reiterated efforts to undo 
 the wrong done to them at Campo-Formio, and 
 endorsed at Vienna. Isolated, unaided, beset with- 
 out by a powerful foe, wasted within by famine and 
 disease, they maintained for long months the un- 
 equal struggle ; not until the last extremity did they 
 yield, then only did they cease the desperate strife ; 
 and so fell Venice, after an heroic defence worthy of 
 her ancient renown. 
 
 On the 27th August 1849, whilst the Austrians 
 defiled through the deserted streets and past the 
 closed houses of the conquered city, Daniel Manin 
 Avent forth into exile, and in exile died. But his 
 name is engraven in imperishable characters upon 
 every Venetian heart — it is had in everlasting re-
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 59 
 
 mcmbrance throughout Italy's dominion, from the 
 eternal snows of the Alps to the sunny shores of 
 Sicily. 
 
 To this illustrious citizen of Venice, as to the 
 wronged and noble country of his birth, may well 
 be applied the lines of Manzoni — 
 
 " Dove g\h libertade e fiorita, 
 Dove an cor nel segreto matiira, 
 Dove ha lacrime un' alta sventura, 
 Non c'& cor clie non batta per te." — Manzoni. 
 
 " WHierever freedom has aheady blossom'd, 
 Wherever in secret it still matures, 
 Wherever a sublime misfortune calls forth tears, 
 There, there is no heart that does not beat for thee." 
 
 With Venice fell the last hope of Italian liberty. 
 Piedmont had been crushed by Novara's terrible 
 defeat. Austria and Austrian influence were now 
 all-powerful. Lombardy and Venetia, with the quad- 
 ruple fortresses of the Quadrilateral, were again in her 
 absolute possession. Her troops occupied Tuscany, 
 and garrisoned the northern portion of the Papal 
 States. Her counsels were supreme in the Vatican, 
 and the French troops in Rome but maintained that 
 supremacy. The Dukes of Modena and Parma were 
 the devoted satellites of the house of Hapsbourg. 
 Ferdinand of Naples eagerly obeyed all its behests, 
 save when he added some wanton cruelty of his own 
 special grace. Thus the liberties of Italy went down 
 before the treachery and despotism of its princes, 
 united to the brute force of its implacable enemy 
 enthroned at Vienna, who stifled the last hopes of 
 national independence in the blood and carnage of
 
 6o ESSAYS. 
 
 such awful deeds of violence and cruelty as those 
 perpetrated by the brutal Haynau when the city 
 of Brescia fell into his clutches. And so, to use, 
 with reference to Italian freedom, the touching lan- 
 guage applied to Venice by M. Henri Martin, in 
 his "Life of Daniel Manin," "Again the tomb closed 
 over the liberties of Italy, and the heavy hand of 
 Austria sealed the stone." 
 
 Had some prophet gifted with divine foreknow- 
 ledge, filled with that sacred fire which is kindled 
 by an unfaltering belief in the ultimate triumph of 
 justice and of right, predicted in the dark hour of 
 the German Hapsbourg's triumph, that within i6 
 years an Italian kingdom, comprising 22,000,000 of 
 inhabitants should be formed, and acknowledged by 
 all the powers of Europe, Austria alone excepted, 
 with what derisive incredulity would his words have 
 been received by the myrmidons of despotism ? 
 How would they not have laughed to scorn the 
 prediction that a king of Italy, the chief of a con- 
 stitutional government, freely chosen by the nation, 
 should then have at his command an army number- 
 ing 300,000 soldiers, and a fleet of 60 ships of war, 
 great and small, comprising 24 ironclads .-• Yet all 
 this and more, which only a few years back seemed 
 to short-sighted humanity but an idle dream, is to- 
 day (May 1866) a mighty reality, gladdening the hearts 
 of all who believe in the strength of justice and of 
 liberty, of all who glory in the triumph of a nation's 
 freedom and a people's rights. 
 
 But why did the Italians select Victor Emmanuel
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 6l 
 
 as their king ? Why did they annex themselves to 
 Piedmont and proclaim her ruler their sovereign, 
 rather than select some other Italian prince, and 
 unite themselves to his dominions and government ? 
 To those who reply that the victories of the allied 
 French and Piedmontese armies in the North, and 
 the marvellous triumphs of Garibaldi in the South, 
 were the cause, it is sufficient to reply that those 
 victories only gave to Italians the opportunity of 
 proclaiming their will, and neither did nor could 
 force them to choose this government rather than 
 that, or this king rather than another. Nay, more, 
 it is well known that though France aided the 
 Italians in 1859 ^o strike a first blow at Austria, (which 
 they could not have done successfully without such 
 assistance,) yet French diplomacy was opposed to 
 the union of Central and Southern Italy beneath 
 the constitutional sceptre of the king of Piedmont. 
 Why, then, did the people of Italy make that choice.-' 
 There is but one true answer to the question, all 
 others are mere vain or dishonest subterfuges to get 
 rid of the truth. The real reason was the conduct 
 and policy of the king and government of Piedmont 
 from March 1849, when Victor Emmanuel ascended 
 the throne, to 1859, when the French-Piedmontese 
 alliance and war gave to the Italian people the op- 
 portunity of making known their real wishes. A 
 short rSsume of facts will place this beyond all doubt 
 or controversy, and will serve to recall the enlight- 
 ened and patriotic statesmanship of the rulers of 
 Piedmont, which the stirring events of the last few
 
 62 ESSAYS. 
 
 years have thrown into oblivion. Nor let it be for- 
 gotten that the admirable course pursued by the 
 Piedmontese sovereign and statesmen, during the ten 
 years alluded to, ever received the hearty support 
 of their brave and loyal people. 
 
 Rarely has any king mounted his throne in a 
 darker hour than that in which Victor Emmanuel 
 ascended the throne of Piedmont in March 1849. 
 Her military power had been broken by the defeat 
 of Novara. Her finances were disordered by an 
 unsuccessful war. A portion of her territory, and 
 the half of her chief fortress of Alessandria, were 
 occupied by the Austrians. A heavy war indemnity 
 was the price to be paid for their withdrawal. The 
 people, irritated by disasters, were in a mood to 
 commit any rash folly at the instigation of violent 
 counsellors. All was confusion, doubt, and anger. 
 An implacable enemy was at the very gates of the 
 capital ; and within, were a distracted parliament, 
 an exhausted treasury, and an angry people. 
 
 The king confronted these dangers, and finally 
 overcame them ; neither by craft nor by violence, 
 but by good faith, honesty, and firmness. In the 
 proclamation announcing his -advent to the throne, 
 he invited his people to aid him in consolidating the 
 free institutions of the country. He returned quickly 
 to his capital from his camp, and there swore fidelity 
 to the constitutional liberties granted by his father, 
 Charles Albert, in March 1848. He kept his oath, 
 and never swerved from its letter or its spirit. His 
 very people and parliament in their irritable mood, in
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 6^ 
 
 their little experience of free government, furnished 
 him with occasion, or at least with a plausible excuse, 
 for overthrowing the constitution. The honest sove- 
 reign would not avail himself of it. He hastened 
 to summon to his councils one whose name was but 
 another word for rectitude and spotless patriotism, 
 Massimo d'Azeglio. 
 
 Meanwhile, Austria plied all her arts. She spoke 
 smoothly. Her terms of peace should be softened, 
 her pecuniary demands lessened ; but could not his 
 Piedmontese Majesty get rid — quietly, gradually, if 
 he would, but at any rate get rid — of the Constitu- 
 tion .'' He rejected the insidious counsels, spurned 
 the proffered bribe, signed the disastrous treaty, paid 
 the heavy indemnity, preserved his people's rights, 
 and kept his royal word. Austria never forgave 
 it ; his country never forgot it. From that hour it 
 was that Victor Emmanuel gained the well-earned 
 title of "the honest king,""// 7r galantiiovio^' and 
 from that hour Italy knew where she could find a 
 leader whom she could trust. Great was the debt of 
 gratitude she then incurred, and at no distant day right 
 well was that debt discharged. In the time of her 
 deepest distress, Italy found the King of Piedmont, 
 alone among Italian princes, true to his people and 
 to his word — alone he gave a refuge to her exiled 
 sons, alone resisted her German oppressor, alone pre- 
 served the ark of her liberties : 
 
 " In te sol uno un raggio 
 Di nostra speme ancor vivea." — Manzoni. 
 
 " In thee alone a solitary ray of our hope yet lived.'
 
 64 ESSAYS. 
 
 Therefore was it that in the day of her national 
 triumph Italy would have none other for her king. 
 
 Thus amid gloom and danger was laid the founda- 
 tion of Italy's future freedom by the honest policy of 
 an honest prince. The accomplishment of that free- 
 dom was worked out by a master-mind, which had 
 long employed all its vast powers in the study of the 
 political questions both of our own and of other days. 
 
 In the year 1832, a young Piedmontese of enlight- 
 ened opinions was for a short time put under arrest 
 by his suspicious government on account of his 
 liberal views. Writing about the matter to a lady 
 friend, he says : — " I thank you for the interest you 
 take in my disgrace, but believe me I shall make my 
 way all the same. I am very ambitious, and when I 
 am minister I hope I shall justify it ; for in my 
 dreams I already see myself minister of the kingdom 
 of Italy." Viewed in relation to the then state of 
 Italy, these words, written in 1832, must have seemed 
 indeed but idle dreams ; read iwiv by the light of 
 accomplished facts, they seem rather the prophetic 
 utterance of genius, for he who wrote them was none 
 other than Camillo Cavour. 
 
 When 1848 arrived it found him amongst the 
 ardent friends of a wise liberty. He had studied 
 closely, thought deeply, and travelled much. He 
 loathed the foreign supremacy which for more than 
 thirty years had sought to stifle all liberty and 
 thought in Italy, and had deprived her of all power. 
 But his well-balanced intellect perceived that vio- 
 lent deeds and Utopian schemes could give her no
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 65 
 
 relief. The model he studied was England. With 
 eager interest he followed her political course, which 
 avoiding alike useless change and stereotyped im- 
 mobility, reformed what needed reformation, and 
 altered her laws to meet the requirements of the 
 a<Te 
 
 Such was the statesman who, in October 1850, first 
 became a Cabinet minister in the Piedmontese Go- 
 vernment, of which Massimo d'Azeglio was the pre- 
 sident. The story runs, that when the Prime Minister 
 mentioned Cavour's name to the King, he said, smil- 
 ing : — ** If Cavour once enter the Cabinet, he will soon 
 be master." It was true, and D'Azeglio knew it, but 
 he was one of that noble type of men to whom the 
 public welfare is the one supreme consideration, com- 
 pared with which all mere personal questions are as 
 nothing. If another proved more capable than he in 
 directing the national policy, it but afforded him joy, 
 for he loved his country incomparably better than he 
 loved himself 
 
 It would indeed be most unjust to the statesmen, 
 neither few in number nor ordinary in intellect, who 
 sat in Piedmont's parliament, to represent Count 
 Cavour as alone worthy of mention during the years 
 Avhich elapsed between 1850 and 1859. Indeed, he 
 would himself have been the first to protest against 
 such a view. Yet, none who have studied the home 
 and foreign policy of the court of Turin during this 
 important period, can fail to see that Cavour's was 
 the master-mind that ruled, that shaped the policy so 
 wisely pursued, and guided his country through in-
 
 66 ESSAYS. 
 
 numerable difficulties to the high destinies of a 
 glorious future. 
 
 The Piedmontese government determined, by a 
 system of enlightened reforms, ecclesiastical, political, 
 and financial, to get rid of abuses, to consolidate the 
 free institutions of the state, and to improve the con- 
 dition of the people. The Siccardine Laws, so called 
 from one of the ministers. Count Siccardi, who pro- 
 posed them, abolished the old right of asylum, and 
 the special ecclesiastical tribunals before which alone 
 priests could be tried. Thereby was established the 
 equality of all, whether layman or ecclesiastic, before 
 the law. Another measure, brought forward by 
 Cavour himself, abolished certain religious commu- 
 nities, chapters of collegiate establishments and other 
 benefices, whose members were not positively minis- 
 tering to the spiritual wants of the people, by preach- 
 ing, by educating youth, or by attendance on the 
 sick and poor. The revenues possessed by these 
 bodies were handed over to an ecclesiastical commis- 
 sion, which allotted a small portion of them to the 
 life-maintenance of the members of the suppressed 
 establishments. The rest was divided amongst the 
 parish priests, formerly paid out of the exchequer, 
 the clergy of the island of Sardinia, where tithes had 
 been abolished, and those ministers who, though 
 engaged in laborious parish duties, were ill paid. 
 Considerable sums were also obtained from the pro- 
 perty belonging to abbeys, benefices, and bishoprics, 
 which had until then been exempt from taxation. 
 These funds were also handed over to the Ecclesias-
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 6/ 
 
 tical Commissioners, and distributed in a manner 
 similar to that just stated. The law, brought forward 
 by the government, making marriage a civil contract, 
 as in France and Belgium, was approved by the 
 Lower House, but was thrown out by the Senate. 
 It has very recently passed the two houses of the 
 Italian parliament at Florence, and forms one of the 
 many wise measures voted by the legislature of the 
 Italian kingdom to the great benefit of the country. 
 
 Popular education was carefully improved, and 
 every effort made to put it into effective operation 
 throughout the whole land. Statistics which ap- 
 peared in 1863 showed that Piedmont was in advance 
 of all other parts of Italy in this most important 
 branch of the public welfare ; then came Lombardy ; 
 Tuscany being much behind the two provinces just 
 named ; while the rest of Central Italy (Parma, Mo- 
 dena, the Roman Legations, Umbria, and the Marches) 
 was in a far worse condition : that of Southern Italy 
 and Sicily, after a century of Bourbonic rule, reach- 
 ing such a climax of ignorance and neglect that 
 something like nine-tenths of the population could 
 neither read nor write. A few facts, towards the 
 close of this article, will show what strenuous exer- 
 tions are being made, under the present constitutional 
 government of Italy, to remedy so sad a state of 
 things. 
 
 The question of the liberty of the press presented 
 peculiar difficulties in a country like Piedmont, so 
 new to free institutions, and having powerful and 
 despotic neighbours, who were specially jealous of
 
 68 ESSAYS. 
 
 such liberties. The poh'cy adopted was that of allow- 
 ing ample freedom in the discussion of all home affairs, 
 but as regarded foreign affairs, especially with refer- 
 ence to the rulers and governments of other countries, 
 some check was placed on the freedom of the press. 
 
 While developing and facilitating the construction 
 of railroads, ordinary roads, canals, and other public 
 works, Count Cavour particularly occupied himself 
 with a series of able financial measures. A decided 
 advocate of free-trade, it was upon that great prin- 
 ciple that he based his financial reforms, which did so 
 much to augment the resources of the country and to 
 develop its wealth. The manner in which he framed 
 and carried out those measures signally displayed- the 
 power with which he grasped a great principle, and 
 the skill with which he applied it. He further endea- 
 voured, by liberal commercial treaties, to diminish the 
 impediments to commerce, and to facilitate the pro- 
 gress of free-trade. 
 
 While carrying out this progressive policy, the 
 government of Piedmont, with equal generosity and 
 wisdom, offered an asylum to those whose fidelity to 
 the rights and liberties of Italy had caused their 
 banishment from all other parts of their unhappy 
 country. Thus Piedmont became to every Italian 
 patriot the refuge of the present and the hope of the 
 future. Such a system of policy as that briefly de- 
 scribed won for Piedmont the ever-increasing admira- 
 tion and sympathy of every free and intelligent man 
 in Europe. Her internal order, her wise reforms, her 
 enlightened progress, contrasted splendidly with the
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 69 
 
 mingled tyranny and anarchy which afflicted all 
 other parts of Italy. Every day proved more clearly 
 the fact that tJicrc, where foreign bayonets were not, 
 and there alone throughout the whole Peninsula, was 
 to be seen an Italian people enjoying all the bless- 
 ings of order and of freedom. 
 
 Yet not without difficulty was this admirable policy 
 pursued. The extreme radicals said the government 
 did not go far enough — accused it of weakness, of 
 duplicity. The extreme reactionists cried out that 
 the ministers were mere revolutionists in disguise, 
 and declared religion and the state alike in danger. 
 Austria, and the whole tribe of Italian courts who 
 followed in her wake, did their utmost to impede such 
 a policy. Well they might ; for it was undermining 
 their power far more effectually than the plots of 
 conspirators or the theories of republicans. But Pied- 
 mont's great minister went steadily on, overcoming 
 (sometimes by prudent tact, and sometimes by skilful 
 boldness) all opposition at home, while baffling at 
 every turn, with incomparable skill, the hostile diplo- 
 macy of Austria. 
 
 Thus matters were progressing, when, in 1854, 
 England and France declared war against Russia. 
 The clear intellect of Cavour at once saw what course 
 Piedmont ought to pursue, and how much Italy's 
 cause would gain by an active alliance with the West- 
 ern powers. The king fully concurred in Cavour's 
 policy. Eighteen thousand men were accordingly 
 sent to the Crimea, where the soldiers of this free 
 Italian state proved by their discipline, no less than
 
 70 . ESSAYS. 
 
 by their valour, that they were worthy to fight side 
 by side with the armies of France and England. 
 
 Many members of both of the extreme parties 
 opposed this policy of Cavour's. It was, however, " 
 supported by a decided majority both of the nation 
 and of the parliament, as it was also by the noble 
 exile of Venice, Daniel Manin, who declared " that in 
 serving under the flag of Italian redemption, our 
 soldiers who fight in the Crimea are not the soldiers 
 of the province of Piedmont, but of Italy." 
 
 The early termination of the war prevented the 
 Italians gaining as much from it as they had hoped. 
 Nevertheless, their cause had made decided progress 
 through Piedmont's active alliance with the Western 
 powers. Not only did the Piedmontese ministers sit 
 at the Congress of Paris on equal terms with those of 
 the five great European monarchies — not only did 
 they there plead the cause of Italy, and expose its 
 intolerable condition, but they obtained from the re- 
 presentatives of England and France the official 
 acknowledgment that it required speedy amelioration. 
 The Russian minister also adhered to that opinion. 
 It was clear that after such authoritative declarations 
 the actual state of Italy could not long endure un- 
 changed. It was indeed intolerable. The leadeil 
 despotism which oppressed the whole land, Piedmont 
 alone excepted, was annihilating both order and 
 liberty. The cruelties of tyranny goaded the people 
 on to revolutionary violence, and drove many to take 
 part in conspiracies. Some, indeed, maddened at the 
 sight of their country's sufferings, sought revenge by
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 71 
 
 assassination, that execrable crime which is the scourge 
 ahke of the victim it attacks and of the cause which 
 it espouses. 
 
 The nature and the fruits of forty years of Austrian 
 supremacy in Italy were now laid bare to the world. 
 Such a condition, brought into direct contact, as it 
 was, with the freedom and good government of Pied- 
 mont, threatened not only the peace of Italy but of 
 Europe. If left unchanged it could not fail to bring 
 about a violent conflict. Yet the powers assembled 
 at the Congress of Paris were unable to find any 
 practical remedy ; they confined themselves to pro- 
 tests and protocols, which cost nothing and which 
 effected nothing. The opportunity was lost, and with 
 it, as soon was seen, the hope of an enduring peace. 
 
 It was in this year, 1856, that Daniel Manin, now 
 fast sinking into the grave, wrote : — " All the sove- 
 reigns of Italy, except the King of Piedmont, are 
 hostile to the Italian cause ; that simplifies the ques- 
 tion, and distinguishes it from the state of affairs in 
 1848, when it was necessary to respect the interests 
 of princes soi-disant favourable to the cause of inde- 
 pendence." 
 
 The Congress of Paris left face to face the freedom 
 of Piedmont and the despotism of Austria, Around 
 the one was gathered all the love of the hot Italian 
 race, and around the other all its bitterest hate. Old 
 distinctions faded away as men of every party rallied 
 closer around Piedmont's king. To him Manin bade 
 his countrymen to look. Garibaldi desired no better 
 lot than to fight under his banner in a national war.
 
 72 ESSAYS. 
 
 Politicians of the right, the centre, and the left sup- 
 ported the constitutional monarch. On him was bent 
 the wistful gaze of all Italians — of those who had shared 
 with his father the victory of Goito and the defeat of 
 Novara ; of Tuscans who had followed Montanelli to 
 the field of Curtatone ; of Venetians who had toiled 
 with Manin in the heroic defence of Venice; of Romans 
 who had fought under Garibaldi in the memorable 
 siege of Rome ; of Neapolitans who had languished 
 for years in the dungeons of the lying Bourbon ; of 
 Sicilians burning with hatred and crying for ven- 
 geance against the same evil rule. Such a condition 
 of Italy only served to increase the ill-feeling between 
 Turin and Vienna ; it but added fuel to the fire which 
 was soon to burst out into another European war ; it 
 but hastened on the irrepressible conflict between 
 freedom and despotism. 
 
 At length, in March 1857, diplomatic relations were 
 broken off between Piedmont and Austria. The 
 Piedmontese government urged on the fortifications 
 of Alessandria. The people gave it their eager sup- 
 port. The storm was evidently gathering, when sud- 
 denly the appalling attempt of Orsini on the life of 
 the French Emperor in January 1858, fixed upon 
 Paris the attention of Europe. The French govern- 
 ment appealed to its foreign neighbours to prevent 
 such criminal attempts in future. That of Piedmont 
 expressed its full intention to do so, but pointed out 
 that such criminal deeds sprung from the exaspera- 
 tion produced by the intolerable state of Italy. Such, 
 despite the repressive acts of his government, appears
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 73 
 
 to have been the view of the Emperor Napoleon. At 
 least, in his interview with Count Cavour at Plom- 
 bieres in the autumn of that year, 1858, he appears 
 to have expressed a determination not to abandon 
 Piedmont if she were attacked by Austria. 
 
 At length the memorable year 1859 arrived, and 
 with it Napoleon's expression of regret to the Aus- 
 trian minister at Paris that the relations of the two 
 courts were not as good as they had been. Victor 
 Emmanuel, in his speech at the opening of his Par- 
 liament a few days later, declared " that he was not 
 insensible to the cry of agony which arose to him 
 from so many parts of Italy." 
 
 Then followed the marriage of his eldest daughter 
 to Prince Napoleon. Austria augmented her forces 
 in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. Piedmont re- 
 plied by additional military preparations. War was 
 imminent. Diplomacy made impotent efforts to avert 
 it ; but it was now too late. On the 19th April 1859, 
 the Viennese government addressed its ultimatum 
 to that of Turin. It was rejected without hesitation. 
 The Austrian troops at once crossed the Ticino and 
 invaded Piedmont. The despotic statesmen of Vienna 
 hoped by one fierce blow to crush the last refuge of 
 Italian liberty ; but France came to the rescue, and 
 by her powerful aid the invader was driven back. 
 Nor can any later shortcomings and faults of French 
 diplomacy take from the great and generous people 
 of France the glory of having defended free Pied 
 mont against despotic Austria, and so struck a mighty 
 blow for the cause of Italy's freedom. With what
 
 74 ESSAYS. 
 
 marvellous perseverance, courage, and skill, the Italian 
 people, guided by the genius of the great Cavour and 
 the patriotic ardour of Garibaldi, followed up that 
 blow, is known to all. It docs not fall within the 
 scope of this article to relate that part of Italy's 
 modern story ; suffice it to say, that within eighteen 
 months Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed King of 
 Italy, and immediately conferred upon her citizens 
 the rich blessing of constitutional liberty and a really 
 national life. To those, then, who ask the reason 
 why the Italians — when the occasion presented itself 
 — selected the King of Piedmont as their sovereign, 
 and annexed themselves to his dominions, the simple 
 reply (obvious enough to all but those who will not 
 see) is, that the cause of such a choice sprung from 
 the admirable and patriotic policy pursued by Victor 
 Emmanuel and his government from 1849 to 1859- 
 That policy, despite innumerable obstacles, was in- 
 itiated and carried out with a firmness, consistency, 
 and wisdom which will reflect eternal honour upon 
 Piedmont's courageous and honest king, upon her 
 gifted statesmen, upon her free parliament, upon her 
 brave and loyal people. 
 
 Turning now from other portions of Italian soil, 
 let the reader fix his attention upon Venetia, whose 
 lot was left unchanged by the events of 1859, and 
 which to-day (May 1866) demands justice in tones 
 that cannot be silenced, re-echoed as they are by the 
 millions of armed and united Italy. Nor will the old 
 pleas of her German taskmaster in favour of his 
 leaden rule avail him any more, for they are now
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 75 
 
 met by this crushing reply — Schleswig- Holstein ! 
 Since the formation of the Itahan kingdom Europe 
 has had presented to it a remarkable contrast in the 
 condition of two well-known cities situated in the 
 north of Italy. On the one hand, Venice has con- 
 tinued, after as before 1859, beneath the rule of 
 Austria, that great German power to whom she was 
 handed over, despite all her remonstrances, by the 
 acts of Campo-Formio and of Vienna ; on the other 
 hand, Milan has been released from that same Ger- 
 man rule, and become an integral portion of the 
 Italian constitutional monarchy. It is interesting to 
 examine, by the aid of facts, the respective condition 
 of these two cities during the few years which have 
 elapsed since 1859. [The contrast offered by the 
 progress and freedom, alike moral and material, of 
 Milan under the rule of the Italian national govern- 
 ment ; as compared with the commercial decay, the 
 servitude, and the discontent of Venice under Aus- 
 trian rule, has been fully set forth in the preceding 
 essay on " Milan and Venice since the war of 1859." 
 The writer begs to refer the reader to that essay, in- 
 stead of again repeating here those same facts and 
 statistics, taken from it and inserted in the article on 
 " Italy, Venice, and Austria," as contained in the 
 Westminster Revieiv of 1st July 1866.] Yet not 
 from Milan alone come proofs in support of Italy's 
 righteous cause, to the confusion of her calumniators. 
 A brief glance shall now be given at what is going on 
 in Naples, the beautiful capital of Southern Italy. 
 There the education of the people was in the grossest
 
 •J^ ESSAYS. 
 
 State of neglect previous to i860. Since that date 
 both the municipaHty and individuals have striven 
 earnestly to amend a state of things so hurtful and 
 dangerous to the public welfare. 
 
 In 1862 there were already in operation 263 ele- 
 mentary schools, comprising day schools for boys 
 and girls, and 19 evening schools for boys, lads, 
 and men. The total number of pupils amounted 
 to 10,500. 
 
 In 1865 the total number of schools was — 
 
 Boys' day schools • . . . . . . 251 
 
 Girls' day schools 202 
 
 Evening schools 129 
 
 Infant schools 22 
 
 Schools on Sundays and fetes for girls and women . 16 
 
 620 
 Private schools, not under the care of the muni- 
 
 370 
 cipality, for poor boys and girls . . . ) 
 
 Total, 990 
 
 The number of pupils amounted to 39,611. In 
 1865 the municipality expended 510,216 francs on 
 popular education. Besides these elementary schools, 
 there have been established superior ones in which 
 some 800 pupils obtain a more complete education. 
 Two normal schools have also been established, in 
 which at present 40 young men and 160 young 
 women are being trained up as teachers. 
 
 In March of this year (1866) the correspondent of 
 the JoiLnial des Dcbats says : — 
 
 " The distribution of prizes among the pupils of the ele- 
 mentary schools in the Theatre del Fondo, by the heir to
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 'J J 
 
 the throne, Prince Humbert, was one of the ceremonies by 
 which was celebrated on the 14th of this month the king's 
 fete. Here more than elsewhere the instruction of the 
 people is a question of capital importance ; its progress is 
 therefore followed with the liveliest interest. This year it 
 has surpassed all expectations. Amongst the pupils who 
 had most distinguished themselves were men of the people 
 of from forty to fifty years of age, mingled with children of 
 eight years old." 
 
 The writer of this article himself visited the schools 
 of Naples some eighteen months back. Nothing could 
 surpass the eagerness with which boys, lads, and men 
 were then flocking to the evening schools after a hard 
 day's work. Little fellows of nine to fourteen years 
 old were to be seen sitting beside their own fathers, or 
 mingled with grown men of their own family and 
 friends, all diligently at work, reading, writing, learn- 
 ing arithmetic, or- the rudiments of geography. The 
 quickness with which they learn is marvellous, and is 
 only outdone by their desire to acquire knowledge. 
 
 Naples is to-day as remarkable for the absence of 
 beggars as it used to be famous for the swarms of 
 them. The formation of a good police, the introduc- 
 tion of gas, of various sanitary measures, and other 
 good municipal arrangements, have greatly improved 
 the condition of the city. Much, however, remains 
 to be done, for it must take years to civilise and to 
 bring into thorough order the towns and country of 
 the Neapolitan provinces, which long years of Bour- 
 bon misrule had converted into an Augean stable of 
 ignorance, pauperism, brigandage, and vice. 
 
 In Palermo had been established 27 schools in
 
 78 ESSAYS. 
 
 1861 ; there are now yS. Those of Bologna have 
 also increased considerably. Indeed, throughout 
 Italy, the government, the municipalities, and indi- 
 viduals have done their utmost to push on the 
 all-important work of popular education, and still 
 continue to do so. The general result is thus given 
 by Signor Galeotti in his interesting volume entitled 
 "La Prima Legislatura del Regno d'ltalia," published 
 in 1865 : — 
 
 Boys' and girls' elementary schools 30,321 Pupils 939,234 
 Evening schools .... 3,576 ,, 123,581 
 
 Infant schools .... 1,774 5) 80,819 
 
 35>67i 1,143,434 
 
 The government, the municipalities, and individ- 
 uals are spending annually, says Signor Galeotti, 
 12,122,515 francs on elementary popular instruction. 
 
 The Italian government has, during the six years 
 of its existence, spared neither labour nor money in 
 promoting the material interests of the country. A 
 well-planned network of railways has been formed, 
 and is being rapidly executed. Turin is now united 
 by a continuous line, via Milan, Bologna, and Ancona, 
 to the port of Brindisi, in the extreme south-east of 
 the Peninsula. Other important lines — such as that 
 which crosses the Apennines, connecting Bologna 
 and Florence, and that between Naples and Rome — 
 are now in operation ; while others of great import- 
 ance are being constructed as quickly as possible. 
 
 Not less diligence is being shown in the matter of 
 ordinary roads, chiefly in the southern provinces,
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 79 
 
 which greatly need them. Ports, harbours, bridges, 
 canals, and lighthouses are being made or repaired. 
 Industrial societies and public companies are grow- 
 ing in numbers and prospering, the government and 
 the municipalities favouring and aiding them in every- 
 way. 
 
 The parliament has already done very much in the 
 vast and intricate work of administrative, legislative, 
 judiciary, and monetary reform. Previous to i860, 
 the country was divided into seven separate states, 
 whose rulers endeavoured to keep the Italian people 
 as much divided as possible. They fostered all the 
 local jealousies, prejudices, and petty interests to the 
 utmost, and impeded by their custom-houses, their 
 different coinages, their varying systems of adminis- 
 tration, law, and usage, the union, liberty, and pro- 
 gress of Italy. 
 
 The enlightened and beneficent work of the con- 
 stitutional government which now rules has been, on 
 the contrary, that of overthrowing local prejudices 
 and interests for the sake of promoting the general 
 welfare. It has broken down separating barriers, 
 and united, both materially and morally, these com- 
 mon children of a common country. In this double 
 work of demolition and reconstruction, the parlia- 
 ment and people of Italy have displayed patience 
 and prudence, mingled with earnest and persevering 
 efforts to found upon just and wise principles a good 
 and enduring system of government. If much re- 
 mains to do, yet assuredly very much has been 
 already done, and the work continues to progress.
 
 80 ESSAYS. 
 
 The general state of Continental Europe, and the 
 peculiar condition of the Italian kingdom, with foreign 
 powers still in possession of portions of its territory, 
 and with a powerful enemy encamped within the 
 famous Quadrilateral, has necessitated the creation 
 and maintenance of a large army and fleet ; the 
 Italians not wishing to have as their only available 
 weapon against foreign foes that moral support, that 
 thunder of despatches and articles, whose aid proved 
 so ineffectual in the recent cases of Poland and of 
 Denmark. This necessary military work has been 
 accomplished, so that the Italian nation is to-day 
 able to vindicate its just claims with something more 
 than moral force to sustain them. 
 
 But all these vast undertakings have severely 
 taxed the financial resources of the country, which 
 have not had time in six years to grow in proportion 
 to the immediate outlay necessitated by so many and 
 such important demands. Hence the deficits and 
 financial difificulties of the moment. It is, however, 
 a mistake to suppose that they present anything like 
 hopeless embarrassment. There is nothing but what 
 time, economy, and prudence can surely put right. 
 Space will not allow this interesting and important 
 subject to be dealt with in the present article. But 
 those who desire to form a true idea of Italy's finan- 
 cial difficulties and financial resources, of the great 
 work she has done and is doing, cannot do better 
 than study Signor Galeotti's work, " La Prima Legis- 
 latura del Regno d'ltalia." There assuredly they will 
 find the full confirmation of the saying attributed to
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 8 1 
 
 Cavour — " If Italy wishes to be free, she must pay, 
 pay, and pay again." But there they will also learn 
 that if much remains to be done, vast has been the 
 work already accomplished ; that rulers and people 
 are alike determined to shrink from no sacrifice re- 
 quired for the completion of Italian union and inde- 
 pendence ; that they possess in themselves and in 
 their country resolution and resources sufficient to. 
 overcome the difficulties and the dangers yet to be 
 encountered in completing the glorious task. The 
 might of freedom, justice, and right is on their side, and 
 though dark and stormy be the present hour, (May 
 1866,) though to-day the sky be black with the thun- 
 der-clouds of imminent war, theirs shall be the final 
 victory. It is but the history of all struggles for 
 liberty that the world has ever seen. It is but the 
 universal law, that no great and good object can be 
 attained or carried out, by nations or by individuals, 
 without costly labour and exertion. There can be 
 no freedom unless the price for obtaining it be paid, 
 no leaving the house of bondage save by signs and 
 by wonders, no entering into the promised land with- 
 out toiling through the wilderness of privation and of 
 suffering — in a word, no redemption without sacrifice. 
 As to the attitude of Italy at the present hour, it 
 is but that which would be assumed by every other 
 nation in the like circumstances. She finds Austria 
 and Prussia on the point of coming to blows over 
 their Danish spoils, and the latter willing to enter 
 into an Italian alliance. The occasion is unique ; for 
 hitherto the vast majority of Germans have been in
 
 82 ESSAYS. 
 
 favour of aiding Austria to retain possession of Venetia, 
 whenever that possession has been endangered. The 
 National German Assembly at Frankfort, in 1848, 
 where there was full freedom of vote and voice, pre- 
 sented the spectacle, at once ludicrous and shameful, 
 of declaring that Germany ought to possess itself 
 of Schleswig-Holstein, but should at the same time 
 support Austria in maintaining her hold upon Venetia. 
 
 There are those who talk of the necessity of the 
 frontier of the Mincio as a protection to Germany. 
 Frontier ! Necessity ! What frontier have Germans 
 left to Denmark ? What forbearance have they mani- 
 fested for Danish necessities ? Have they not taken 
 even to the uttermost farthing ? In this matter Ger- 
 man Powers have pronounced judgment without mercy 
 against their weaker neighbour ; therefore judgment 
 without mercy shall be their portion. Let the facts of 
 the case be looked to. The German Confederation 
 numbers 44,000,000; Austria, without Venetia and the 
 Italian Tyrol, 32,000,000 ; Italy, with those two pro- 
 vinces, rather more than 25,000,000. Between these 
 German and Italian lands rises the great barrier of the 
 Alps, (like the Pyrenees between France and Spain,) 
 yet the more powerful retains possession of a large 
 province of Italy to the south of the Alps as being 
 necessary to German security ; and t/m^ after the 
 conduct pf Germany towards Denmark in the matter 
 of Schleswig-Holstein. 
 
 If it be said that the Italian kingdom has no claim 
 to Venetia, because that province has never belonged 
 to the kingdom of Italy, it is sufficient to reply, first.
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 83 
 
 that the desire of ItaHans to possess Venetia is only 
 the echo of Venetian longing to be united to Italy ; 
 next, that Venetians and Italians only ask for Venetia 
 that which Austria so loudly demands for the Duchies 
 of the Elbe — freedom to choose their own sovereign. 
 Let it also be remembered that Italy did not create 
 the present danger of war now (May 1866) so immi- 
 nent ; she has but taken advantage of her German 
 oppressor's quarrels to assert her own rights by 
 negotiation, or by arms, as the case may be. To 
 those who advise her to wait she replies by asking : 
 Until when .'' Until German Powers have made up 
 their differences ? Until it suits those who, in full 
 possession of all their rights and liberties, find their 
 business affairs deranged by Italian demands for the 
 like blessings ? Are not such advisers the very same 
 as those who told Italy in 1859 ^^^^^ she had nothing 
 to gain by war .-' Or shall she wait until moral force 
 delivers Venetia from Austrian rule } Italians surely 
 may be pardoned if they are sceptical about the 
 efficacy of such aid, considering what a broken reed 
 it proved to Poland and to Denmark. It was not 
 mere moral force, able despatches, and eloquent 
 writing, but far sterner work, that gave Italy her 
 present position, her fleet, her artillery, and her army 
 of 300,000 men. To-day she relies on bringing them 
 to bear upon the work of completing her deliverance 
 at a time when the two great German Powers are in 
 hostile array against each other. 
 
 Experienced Piedmontese generals and officers, 
 men not given to boasting, not blinded by enthusiasm,
 
 84 ESSAYS. 
 
 men who know what military matters are, both by- 
 practice and in theory, have the greatest confidence 
 in the ItaHan army, in whose formation, training, and 
 disciphne they have borne a large part, having made 
 it the subject of their most earnest labours. To such 
 a force must be added the tens of thousands of volun- 
 teers who are flying to arms with the devoted enthu- 
 siasm of those who believe themselves called to fight 
 for all that a people holds most dear. Time, with its 
 stern facts, alone can prove whether, as the writer 
 believes, the chiefs of the Italian army are justified in 
 their confidence ; but woe to the enemy that comes 
 to do battle with Italy's sons in the belief that he has 
 but an easy victory to win. Italians are under no 
 delusion as to the power of their formidable foe; that 
 foe had best not undervalue those who, from their 
 gallant king to the youngest conscript, from the hero 
 of Caprera to the most youthful of his volunteers, are 
 one in their devotion to the sacred cause of their 
 countrj^'s freedom ; who know that to-day the ques- 
 tion for them and Italy is nothing short of this, " To 
 be, or not to be.-'" 
 
 There are some who, as usual, suspect France 
 of waiting to aggrandise herself at Italy's expense. 
 France, for service done, made the Alps her boun- 
 dary between Italy and herself. History will no 
 doubt give full weight to whatever may be urged 
 against that proceeding, but it will assuredly admit 
 that there was much to justify it. Sound policy and 
 justice alike forbid France to change the boundaries 
 of her south-eastern frontier, and that double motive
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 85 
 
 will doubtless prevent her from tarnishing the lustre 
 of those triumphs which marked the memorable cam- 
 paign of 1859, bright as they are, not so much with 
 the questionable glare of mere military achievement, 
 as with the imperishable glory of a kindred nation's 
 freedom and a kindred people's rights. Not to the 
 elected of millions, but to those who claim to be the 
 special depositories of the divine right of kings, to 
 the Hohenzollerns and to the Hapsbourgs, the world 
 must turn if it would contemplate the most recent 
 example to be found of a policy which has not 
 scrupled to break down treaties, to belie promises, to 
 use alike violence and fraud, for the attainment of its 
 own ends at the expense of its feeble neighbour. 
 Such, in the Danish question, was the statecraft 
 common to the royal and imperial raonarchs en- 
 throned at Berlin and Vienna, who are not sovereigns 
 by the national will, not offsprings of universal suffrage, 
 but whose boast it is that they reign by right divine, 
 that tJiey rule by the grace of God ! 
 
 It remains only to say a few words upon a subject 
 much talked of latterly, which is, however, by no 
 means new — that of the cession of Venetia to Italy 
 by negotiation. This has long been desired by vari- 
 ous English diplomatists and statesmen, not only in 
 the interest of Italy, but in that of Austria and of 
 Europe. It is interesting to see what was being said 
 and proposed on this subject in the troubled years 
 1848 and 1849, niore especially as all subsequent 
 events have amply proved the wisdom and foresight 
 of those who advocated such an arrangement.
 
 86 ESSAYS. 
 
 In May 1848, Sir Ralph Abercromby, the English 
 minister at Turin, in a despatch to Lord Palmerston, 
 then Foreign Secretary, points out that, should 
 Austria completely reconquer Lombardy and Vene- 
 tia, they would always be a cause of heavy and per- 
 manent expense. " If Austria," he writes, "could for 
 once make up her mind to negotiate honestly for the 
 evacuation of those provinces and the recognition of 
 the new constitutional kingdom of North Italy, in 
 consideration of an advantageous pecuniary arrange- 
 ment, she would certainly find the most liberal inten- 
 tions, both in this country, (Piedmont,) and in the 
 provinces which are uniting themselves to it." Hav- 
 ing spoken of the great value to be attached to a 
 prompt and satisfactory solution, he concludes with 
 these words : " But, in order to be satisfactory, it is 
 indispensable that the Austrians evacuate Italy, and 
 recognise its complete independence. Any other 
 solution would but serve to prepare for the future 
 new insurrections and new conflicts." 
 
 Upon the 3d June 1848, Lord Palmerston, in a very 
 able despatch to M. de Hummelauer, endeavours to 
 persuade the Austrian minister of the necessity of 
 giving up Venetia as well as Lombardy, chiefly on 
 the ground of the cost and difficulties in which 
 Austria would be involved if she undertook to re- 
 establish her power over those provinces, and, when 
 re-established, the impossibility of maintaining it, 
 except at great expense, and by the costly means of 
 the permanent employment of a large military force. 
 He expresses the willingness of the English govern-
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA, 8/ 
 
 ment to interpose its good offices between Piedmont 
 and Austria, provided that the arrangements already- 
 accorded in the case of Lombardy were extended by- 
 Austria to that part of the Venetian territory which 
 should be agreed upon between the two parties. 
 
 Again, on the 9th October 1848, after the recovery 
 of Lombardy and Milan by Austria, Lord Palmerston, 
 writing to Lord Ponsonby, the English minister at 
 Vienna, again points out the insuperable obstacles 
 which prevent that power from holding Lombardy, 
 except as a conquered province, and its therefore 
 becoming a burden and a source of weakness to 
 Austria. He says that the hatred of the Lombards 
 towards her might well lead them to ask foreign aid 
 against her, and that if such aid led even to a 
 general war, it might well end in Austria losing all 
 her Italian possessions. The despatch terminates 
 thus : — 
 
 " Thoroughly disposed as the friends and allies of Austria 
 might be to aid her if she were menaced in her own proper 
 and legitimate existence in Germany, there exists on the 
 subject of her pretensions to impose a yoke on the Italians 
 so general a feeling of their injustice, that this feeling might 
 well have the effect of leaving Austria with very little aid in 
 the case of a similar war." 
 
 Another most remarkable despatch of Lord Pal- 
 merston's is that of the nth of November 1848 
 addressed to Lord Ponsonby, at Vienna. The Eng- 
 lish Foreign Secretary again refers to the inextin- 
 guishable hatred of the Lombards to Austria ; he im- 
 presses on the Cabinet of Vienna that the policy of
 
 88 ESSAYS. 
 
 ceding Lombardy could now be adopted by the im- 
 perial and royal government without loss of prestige 
 or honour, inasmuch as the arms of Austria having 
 been completely victorious, and being in full posses- 
 sion of that province, such cession would be regarded 
 as an act of wise and generous policy, springing from 
 the purely voluntary determination of Austria. He 
 goes on to remind the Viennese statesmen that the 
 government of France might soon change hands, as 
 it actually did, on account of the presidential elec- 
 tion then pending ; that French policy might assume 
 in the future a much more active part as regarded 
 foreign affairs ; that a war against Austria for the 
 liberation of North Italy would always be pleasing 
 to France, in certain circumstances ; and he then 
 asks : " Could Austria be certain that even the sym- 
 pathy of Germany would follow her in her efforts to 
 force again her yoke on the Italian nation .-*" He 
 further says, most truly, that the principle of nation- 
 alities to-day, (1848,) the rally ing-cry of Germany, is 
 in itself a protest against Austrian rule in Italy : then 
 adds, that the principle of prescriptive right is scarcely 
 more favourable to Austria, because, although good 
 as regards certain parts of Lombardy, which, like the 
 Duchy of Milan, had long been fiefs of the empire, it 
 was equally strong in favour of the republic of 
 Venice. 
 
 " This State," says the despatch, " has played a consider- 
 able part ill history during nearly fourteen centuries of 
 liberty, whilst the title of Austrian possession only remounts 
 to the treaty of Campo-Formio, (1797,) by which General
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 89 
 
 Bonaparte handed over to her (Austria) Venice, and to 
 those of 1 8 15, Avhich once again placed Venice in the pos- 
 session of Austria." 
 
 Never, in the course of his long and remarkable 
 career, did Lord Palmerston display more far-sighted 
 sagacity than in his Austro-Italian despatches of 1848- 
 49. Never have predictions been uttered which sub- 
 sequent events more completely ratified. It is 
 curious to reflect that it was at that very time the 
 fashion to call him a mere meddler, and to decry his 
 policy with a persistency as ignorant as it was unjust. 
 Had his wise counsels been followed in the years 
 referred to, immense would have been the gain, not 
 only to Italy, but to Europe and to Austria.* As he 
 so justly pointed out to this latter power, her Italian 
 possessions have been nothing but a source of embar- 
 rassment and disaster. They have been the scene of 
 that oppressive and cruel rule, from 1849 ^o 1859, 
 which alienated from Austria the sympathy of all 
 lovers of freedom and of justice. They cost her the 
 blood, the treasure, and the disasters of that latter 
 year, when, left without an ally, she was brought into 
 the utmost peril. They are the reason why, at this 
 very hour, an Italian army of 300,000 men, and a 
 fleet more powerful than her own, menace the southern 
 
 * No one more constantly and consistently supported the policy of 
 effecting a complete separation between Italy and Austria than Sir 
 James Hudson, who so ably represented England at the court of Turin 
 from January 1852 to August 1863. He rightly believed that the abso- 
 lute severance of those two countries, and the formation of an indepen- 
 dent and free Italian kingdom would be beneficial alike to Austria and 
 Italy.
 
 90 ESSAYS. 
 
 frontier and ports of Austria, when she needs all her 
 strength to oppose the policy and armaments of 
 Prussia, Had the statesmen of Vienna wisely fol- 
 lowed Lord Palmerston's advice, given seventeen 
 years ago, and consented to the formation of a 
 northern Italian kingdom, with an Alpine frontier, 
 running somewhere between Trent and Bolzano, and 
 including Venetia within its limits, Austria would 
 have escaped all the disasters and difficulties of the 
 last fifteen years, and would not see Italy to-day 
 arrayed in hostility against her. Indeed, the gain 
 would have been greater still ; for commercial inter- 
 ests and intercourse would, long ere this, have sprung 
 up, and necessarily drawn together in friendly rela- 
 tion Italy on the one side, and Austria, with Ger- 
 many, upon the other. Instead of the ruinous ex- 
 penditure caused by the creation and maintenance of 
 enormous armaments of every kind, a lucrative com- 
 merce would now be enriching both countries, and 
 erasing the old feelings of hatred engendered by past 
 wrongs. 
 
 It was in April 1848 that Daniel Manin, then Pre- 
 sident of the Republic of Venice, wTote the following 
 lines, in an official despatch addressed to the French 
 and English governments : " Venise affranchie ne 
 saurait donner de I'ombrage. Venise autrichienne 
 serait une honte pour le present et un embarras pour 
 I'avenir:" "A free Venice can give no offence: an 
 Austrian Venice will be a present shame and a future 
 embarrassment." The world, and especially Austria, 
 know to-day, (May 1866,) how true those words were
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 9I 
 
 and are. Happy would it have been, judged only as 
 matter of policy, (or even from a mere money-point 
 of view, without entering into higher considerations,) 
 had the wise and far-sighted advice of England's 
 minister been followed, and that " future embarrass- 
 ment" been got rid of — happy for Italy, happy for 
 Europe, and happy for Austria herself 
 
 As to the claims of Venetians to settle freely their 
 own future, they have the support alike of policy and 
 justice; more especially after the conduct of Ger- 
 many, and particularly that of Prussia and Austria, 
 in the question of the Duchies of the Elbe. To every 
 sophism urged by Germans, Austrian or other, for 
 the maintenance of German rule in Italy, there is to- 
 day this short but unanswerable reply, Schlcswig- 
 Holstein. Let statesmen and diplomatists be well 
 assured that there can be no lasting peace until Ger- 
 mans and German powers cease to hold Italian pro- 
 vinces beneath their yoke. To patch up a peace, 
 leaving those provinces in such thraldom, is a worse 
 evil than setting them free by immediate war. 
 
 If Austria were once again to have Italy in her power 
 as completely as in 1850, not only would it be a cala- 
 mity to Italy but to Europe, for so surely would it 
 entail a lengthened period of conflict and revolution, 
 so surely would it bring in its train such years as 
 1848 and 1859. Upon such a basis there can be no 
 enduring peace for Europe. Those, then, who prize 
 that rich blessing, those who uphold order and justice, 
 no less tlian those who love freedom, are interested 
 in delivering every portion of Italy from foreign rule.
 
 92 ESSAYS. 
 
 Those who would maintain it are favouring that which 
 does but lay up countless and certain stores of future 
 disorder, revolution, and war. 
 
 The cause of Italy is the cause of liberty and order, 
 of right and justice, of all that is held most dear by 
 every people under heaven, of all the most precious 
 among temporal rights that man can claim or God 
 bestow ; therefore the voice of every free nation, and 
 especially that of England, (the ancient cradle, the 
 island home of liberty and law,) should be raised in 
 support of Italy's just claims — that most beautiful of 
 southern lands, so long oppressed by the curse of 
 tyranny and the miseries of anarchy. There, to-day, 
 are to be seen a patriot king, a free parliament, a 
 brave army, and a noble people, all equally devoted 
 to the sacred cause of their country's freedom ; there 
 the millions of enfranchised Italy, without distinction 
 of rank or age, are united in an heroic determination 
 to deliver, once for all, their native land from foreign 
 thraldom, and prepared to seal her freedom with their 
 blood : — 
 
 " Gia le destre hanno strette le destre; 
 Gia le sacre parole son porte : 
 O compagni sul letto de morte, 
 O fratelli su libero suol." — Manzoni. 
 
 " Already right hands by right hands are grasp'd ; 
 Already the sacred words are utter'd : 
 Either companions on the bed of death, 
 Or brothers on a free soil." 
 
 It may be that even such a sight vvill fail to move 
 those who proclaim cheapness to be the highest good, 
 the desire of all nations, who never rise above the
 
 ITALY, VENICE, AND AUSTRIA. 93 
 
 business point of view, who have no thought, save for 
 material interest and personal loss or gain, who know 
 no higher law than that of buying in the cheapest 
 market and selling in the dearest, who hold no book 
 so sacred as the ledger, who, in their blind devotion 
 to the golden idol of their worship, forget the Divine 
 claims of justice and liberty, of a nation's freedom, 
 and a people's rights. 
 
 But whoever has faith in those mighty principles, 
 whoever believes that they are the God-given heritage 
 of all mankind, will turn with deepest sympathy to 
 Italy's brave sons, who, rallied around their chosen 
 king, are "to-day (1866) soldiers, that they may be 
 to-morrow the free citizens of a great country."* To 
 them will be given an earnest "God-speed" where- 
 ever justice reigns ; for them the free men of every 
 land and of every clime will raise to Heaven the 
 heartfelt prayer, " May God defend the right." 
 
 * It is well to remind the reader that these words are taken from the 
 proclamation of Napoleon III., dated Milan, 8th June 1859: — " Ne 
 soyez aujourd 'hui que soldats ; demain vous serez les citoyens d'un 
 grand pays."
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1866. 
 
 Repnnt:d from the "Westnmister Review " of April 1867. 
 
 1. Dociimenti Diplomatici presentati al Parlamento dal 
 
 Ministro degli Ajfari Esteri, il 21 Diccmbre 1866. 
 Firenze : Eredi Botta, Tipografi della Camera 
 dei Deputati. 
 
 2. Relazione Ufficialc deW Arciduca Alberto, sidla 
 
 Battaglia di Ctistoza. 
 
 3. Rapport I sidle Opcrazioni Militari del 2^ e 24 
 
 Giitgno, 1 866, del Geiierale Lanianiiora. 
 ^. La Guerre de 1866 en Alleniagne et en Italie. Par 
 W. RUSTOW, Colonel de Brigade. Geneve et 
 Paris : Joel Cherbuliez, editeur. 
 
 5. Rapporto del Vice-Ammiraglio Tegethoff, sulla Bat- 
 
 taglia di Lissa. 
 
 6. Relazione suir attaeco di Lissa e sulla battaglia navalc 
 
 del 20 Lnglio, 1866. " Gazzetta Ufficiale." Fi- 
 renze, 3 Agosto 1866. 
 
 AJMONG the memorable events of the last twenty 
 years, those of 1 866 hold no secondary place ; 
 for by their instrumentality the unity of Germany
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 95 
 
 has been founded and that of Italy well-nigh com- 
 pleted. They have called into existence, under the 
 direction and government of Prussia, a united north- 
 ern Germany, possessed of vast and varied resources, 
 upon whose government and people.it alone depends 
 to turn those resources to good account. Nor does 
 it seem improbable that this new power will ultimately 
 attract to itself the states to the south of the Main, 
 and thus end in forming that united fatherland which 
 has only existed hitherto in the aspirations of its 
 children. This great change has been brought about 
 in no slight degree by a diplomacy, often unscrupul- 
 ous in the means it employed for attaining its ends, 
 and by the war originating in the quarrels of Prussia 
 and Austria over the spoils of the Danish monarchy, 
 whose integrity they had bound themselves by treaties 
 to respect. Thus the new Germany of to-day has 
 had its immediate rise under auspices which find but 
 little favour Avith those who desire that a great and 
 worthy end should be pursued by no less worthy 
 means. It will, however, be matter for congratula- 
 tion if this sin of origin be redeemed by the estab- 
 lishment in Germany of a political system based up- 
 on sound principles of order and of freedom. That 
 the Germans should succeed in bestowing upon their 
 fatherland such a system, and prevent its becoming 
 little else than a mere military despotism, is to be 
 desired not only for the sake of their own country, 
 but also for that of the progress, the liberties, and 
 the peace of Europe. It is time that Germany, in- 
 habited by a people admirably instructed and en-
 
 96 ESSAYS. 
 
 dowed with so many excellent qualities, should no 
 longer be stultified by the rivalry of its princes, or, as 
 in days past, by the political craft and imperious will 
 of a Nicholas of Russia ; on the contrary, Germany, 
 placed in full possession of its just influence, should 
 bear its part in promoting the advancement and civi- 
 lisation of the world in the matter of political self- 
 government and in questions of international policy, 
 as well as in the regions of thought, science, and lite- 
 rature, in each of which it holds so leading a position. 
 That such a result may spring from the new-born 
 unity of Germany, is the heartfelt wish of those who 
 desire not only the welfare and progress of their own 
 land, but also that of other countries, being, as we all 
 are, members of the same body, the common children 
 of a common humanity. 
 
 While the events of the past year have thus done so 
 much towards realising a united Germany, they have 
 all but completed the great work of Italian unity, 
 which not ten years ago seemed but an idle dream. 
 To the south of the Alps is to be seen a spectacle 
 w^hich has for centuries been the desire of the noblest 
 and the most gifted of the sons of Italy, and which is 
 at length realised to-day — that of their country freed 
 from* all foreign rule, and her destinies consigned to 
 the hands of a purely Italian government, the off- 
 spring of the nation's will, and the responsible guar- 
 dian of its rights. To see a whole country thus re- 
 
 * The French occupation of Rome ceased in December iS66, but was 
 resumed in October 1867. The circumstances under which that re- 
 occupation took place are discussed in the next (4th) Essay.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 97 
 
 stored to the possession of itself after having been for 
 centuries sacrificed to the greed of foreign ambition, 
 or to the selfish ends of its own petty rulers, is a re- 
 sult full of present good, and pregnant with hope for 
 the future. It may well attract the thoughtful study 
 of all who watch with profound interest the spectacle 
 offered by the triumphs and the failures, the successes 
 and the errors, the excellences and the defects, the 
 struggles (sometimes effectual and sometimes the re- 
 verse) of Italians striving, amidst many difficulties, to 
 establish order in the place of despotism, liberty in 
 the place of anarchy, national independence in the 
 place of foreign domination. To Englishmen this 
 spectacle, which Italy offers to the world at the pre- 
 sent time, is especially interesting, inasmuch as she 
 has selected the principle of constitutional freedom 
 as the means for effecting this mighty change in her 
 internal condition — a principle which has secured to 
 England the unspeakable blessing of a wise, a well- 
 ordered, and a progressive liberty. Indeed all, to 
 whatever country they belong, who are sincerely at- 
 tached to that or any other form of free self-govern- 
 ment, should give Italy their cordial support in her 
 arduous and patriotic task ; unless, indeed, despite 
 all their loud profession of attachment to constitu- 
 tional freedom, they would sacrifice its triumph to 
 that despicable policy whose supporters proclaim 
 that the receipt for the greatness and prosperity of 
 their own country is the weakness, the division, and 
 the misgovernment of their neighbours. How des- 
 picable that policy is, becomes clear enough to each 
 
 G
 
 98 ESSAYS. 
 
 of us \\'4'icn we see it adopted by others. Thus Eng- 
 h"shmen are fully alive to its unworthiness when they 
 hear a certain class of French politicians speak with 
 undisguised ill-will of Italian or German unity and 
 freedom ; on the other hand, its unworthiness be- 
 comes not less obvfous to Frenchmen when they re- 
 member how a certain class of English politicians de- 
 sired and predicted the breaking up of the United 
 States, the wish being father to the thought. But 
 every true friend of progress and civilisation should 
 protest against this despicable and odious policy, be- 
 gotten of petty jealousy and the narrowest selfishness, 
 absolutely opposed to all that is elevated and gener- 
 ous, utterly unworthy of nations who boast that they 
 are great and who call themselves Christian. 
 
 To give a truthful sketch of what has taken place 
 in Italy during the year 1866 is the object of the pre- 
 sent article ; yet such a sketch must necessarily be, 
 at the best, imperfect ; for the events of which it treats 
 are too near to allow of all their details being fully 
 known, and the feelings they excited are still too 
 vivid to admit of a perfectly calm and impartial esti- 
 mate being formed of those events and of their results. 
 Whoever, then, seeks to make himself acquainted 
 with them must for the present be content with an 
 approximative judgment as to the share of praise or 
 blame to be bestowed upon the Italians for their con- 
 duct during the past year, and upon their leading 
 men, whose arduous task it has been to direct the 
 nation's destinies at this decisive moment of the^ 
 nation's history. It should, moreover, be borne in
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 99 
 
 mind, when dealing with this subject, that Italy is no 
 longer an oppressed nationality, but has now her 
 place among free nations. Those, then, who have 
 been faithful to her just cause in days gone by, and 
 who still desire to do it real service, will not now 
 dwell so much upon the cruel wrongs she has suffered 
 in the past, as upon the work to be done in the pre- 
 sent. Nor can they render greater service to Italy 
 than by pointing out honestly what they believe to 
 be both her merits and her faults ; knowing that if 
 she is to reap all the fruits to be obtained by the just 
 restitution of her rights, it must be by a truthful exa- 
 mination of all that is good and all that is bad within 
 her body politic, of its strength and of its weakness. 
 Such a process has assuredly its unpleasant as well 
 as its pleasant phase ; but it issues in this great good, 
 that if faithfully persevered in, evils are exposed and 
 corrected, impending dangers are pointed out and 
 averted, and the nation is gradually formed to that 
 vigorous public life and power of self-government 
 whose fruits, if slow in their growth, are sure and 
 enduring. A nation, trained up in such a school, 
 will often surprise the world by passing safely through 
 some formidable crisis in which its enemies predict 
 its inevitable ruin ; it will, like the government and 
 people of the United States, know how to maintain 
 its constitutional rights against the armed attacks of 
 a violent and misguided minority ; it will, as did 
 England and Belgium in the years immediately fol- 
 lowing 1848, preserve its freedom when despotism 
 and reaction crush the liberties of ne'^hbouring" na-
 
 100 ESSAYS. 
 
 tions ; or, again, like those two countries during the 
 year 1848 itself, it will maintain in all their integrity 
 its laws and institutions when the storm of revolu- 
 tion, sweeping over a whole continent, overthrows 
 governments which form the beau-ideal of those who 
 prefer the rule of an intelligent despot to the self- 
 government of an intelligent people. 
 
 During the first two months of 1866, Italy, in com- 
 mon with the rest of Europe, had little or no belief 
 that the wrangling of Prussia and Austria would ter- 
 minate in a resort to arms. The Italians were busy 
 about matters of a very different kind : they were 
 debating what reductions could be made with safety 
 in their army, so as to improve the financial condition 
 of the country. Among other projects for its amelio- 
 ration there had been formed that of an "Associa- 
 tion," or " National Subscription," for diminishing the 
 public debt. At its head was no less a person than 
 the king's cousin. Prince Eugene de Savoy Carignano. 
 The means by which the society was to carry out its 
 project formed the subject of much public discussion ; 
 but as time passed on, and the irritation increased 
 between Berlin and Vienna, the government, press, 
 and people of Italy followed with continually in- 
 creasing watchfulness the diplomatic war between the 
 two German governments, each of whom, by the 
 middle of March, was accusing the other of making 
 armed preparations. By the end of the month the 
 armaments of Austria in Bohemia, and the counter 
 armaments of Prussia, had fairly aroused the attention 
 of the Italian public. The press advised the Govern-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. lOI 
 
 ment to keep a watchful eye upon what was going on 
 in central Europe. " We cannot sufficiently recom- 
 mend to our statesmen," wrote the Pcrscveranza of 
 Milan on the 26th of March, " that prudent audacity 
 which holds itself ready for every eventuality, ready 
 to seize every occasion that may be favourable to the 
 completion of the national destinies, without compro- 
 mising itself by useless demonstrations." This influ- 
 ential and moderate organ of the Italian press, which, 
 up to that time, had had but little belief in war 
 breaking out between Austria and Prussia, continues 
 in the same article to express its belief " that perhaps 
 the day is not far distant when fortune will smile on 
 Italy, offering her a means of triumphing over her 
 adversary." The Italian and Prussian governments 
 entered into negotiations with a view to concert a 
 common action in case of war. General Lamarmora, 
 the head of the cabinet of Florence, conducted the 
 negotiation with ability and success, thus adding an- 
 other important service to the many he had already 
 rendered to the cause of Italy. In his despatch of 
 the 3d of April, the General states the double object 
 of the alliance, and the principles upon which it was 
 based, according to the views of the Italian govern- 
 ment. It was — " i'*, To maintain, if necessary by arms, 
 the proposals made by his Prussian Majesty for the 
 reform of the federal constitution in conformity with 
 the wants of the German nation ; 2°, To obtain the 
 cession to the kingdom of Italy of Italian territories 
 subject to Austria." As to the principles upon which 
 the alliance was based, the Italian statesman declares
 
 102 ESSAYS. 
 
 it to be that of German and Italian nationality for 
 the furtherance of liberal institutions in Germany and 
 Italy. It is indeed earnestly to be desired that such 
 may be the final result of the Prusso-Italian alliance, 
 and war to the north as well as to the south of the 
 Alps. The concluding portion of the despatch runs 
 thus : — 
 
 "Piedmont began in 1859 the work of liberating the 
 Italian soil, with the noble aid of France. We trust that 
 that work may be completed at no distant time by Italy — 
 perhaps in a war of independence, fought side by side with 
 that power which represents the future of the German 
 people, in the name of an identical principle of nationality. 
 Amongst the solutions which, in these last years especially, 
 have been proposed as regards the Venetian question, this 
 more than any other would enable us to remain consistent 
 with our political and international position, and would 
 preserve our national alliances, even the most distant. We 
 shall, besides, be happy to aid Prussia in resisting the de- 
 signs of the Austrian Empire, by placing herself resolutely 
 at the head of the German national party, by calling together 
 that Parliament which has been for so many years the desire 
 of the nation, and securing in Germany, as has been done 
 in Italy, the progress of liberal institutions, by the exclu- 
 sion of Austria." 
 
 It is pleasant to see Italy thus pushing Prussia, as 
 it were, into the path of progress, and bidding her 
 remember that her real work was not mere self- 
 aggrandizement, nor the humbling of a rival, but the 
 far nobler one of uniting Germany together, and 
 endowing her with a great national system, at once 
 liberal and progressive. Nor can the correctness and
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 03 
 
 elevation of these ideas of the cabinet of Florence be 
 denied, if a large and comprehensive view be taken 
 of the wants and aspirations of the German people ; 
 although it must be owned that the course pursued 
 by Prussian statesmen and Prussian diplomacy during 
 the last three or four years has often been such as to 
 dishonour the cause of German nationality and pro- 
 gress. 
 
 As regarded Venetia, the policy of the Italian minis- 
 ters was perfectly consistent with the declarations 
 continually and publicly made during the last six 
 years by Italians of all classes and of all parties. 
 Ever since the formation of the Italian kingdom, the 
 government and the people, the parliament and the 
 press, had made no secret of their determination to 
 unite Venetia to the new kingdom, a union eagerly 
 desired by the people of that province. They were 
 willing enough to compass that end by negotiation 
 and indemnity ; but if such means were not opened 
 to them, they avowed very frankly that they should 
 make use of other means whenever the occasion pre- 
 sented itself. Austria, on the other hand, refused to 
 come to any terms touching the cession of Venetia. 
 It was hers by the treaties of 18 15, and she intended 
 to keep it. She cared nothing for the fact of Vene- 
 tians having had no voice in those treaties, which, 
 after the fashion of Campo-Formio, blotted out the 
 ancient Venetian state from the map of Europe, and 
 handed it over to Austria, because it seemed good to 
 the conquerors that it should be so. In vain the 
 wisest friends of Austria advised her to yield ; she
 
 104 ESSAYS. 
 
 refused. They gently reminded her of her recent 
 pohcy with regard to Denmark and the Duchies of 
 the Elbe ; she turned a deaf ear to all such remon- 
 strances. They warned her of the danger of a con- 
 flict in which she ran the risk of being attacked at 
 the same time by Prussian ambition and Italian 
 patriotism ; she pointed to her army and to the Quad- 
 rilateral. She had trusted to them in 1859, ^^^ the 
 result was Solferino ; but that lesson was not enough. 
 Again she trusted to them in 1866, and the result 
 was — Koniggratz. 
 
 This attitude on the part of Italy and Austria 
 respectively takes away all real interest from the 
 question which of the two powers first armed. The 
 exact point of time at which the respective arma- 
 ments commenced, or Italian negotiations with Prussia 
 began, furnishes admirable ground for diplomatic 
 fencing. Two skilful practitioners in that art would 
 be able to sustain a very able and almost endless 
 defence of their respective clients upon such a ques- 
 tion. But similar discussions have but little value as 
 regards the real cause of the hostilities which broke 
 out to the south of the Alps. That cause was the 
 possession of Venetia by Austria. It was the ques- 
 tion of treaties as against national independence. 
 On the one side were the artificial rights created by 
 the treaties of Campo-Formio and of Vienna, which 
 for their own purposes disposed, each in their own 
 way, of a people who had enjoyed centuries of a great 
 and glorious independence, without deigning to con- 
 sult that people ; on the other was the mighty senti-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I05 
 
 ment of national liberty, the profound conviction that 
 the stranger must be ejected from every part of Italy, 
 if Italy were to be indeed free. That conviction 
 arose from no mere abstract principle, but from the 
 bitter experience of centuries. The occupation of 
 some portion or portions of Italy by one or more 
 foreign powers was ever giving rise to the intervention 
 of others. Germany, France, and Spain had made 
 her the battle-field of their endless quarrels about 
 Italian possessions. Her neighbours fomented her 
 internal discords. Her petty governments were per- 
 petually invoking the aid of the stranger to suit their 
 own purposes. Such had been the fate of Italy up 
 to the end of the eighteenth century ; the nineteenth 
 has beheld her first under the dominion of imperial 
 France, next under that of the Hapsbourgs. The 
 curse of foreign domination had eaten into her very 
 soul, and had aroused a deep and universal hatred of 
 the stranger's rule, such as is known to those alone 
 who have been subjected for long years to its galling 
 yoke. 
 
 At length, the Italian policy inaugurated by Na- 
 poleon HI. in 1859 — a policy which, despite all its 
 shortcomings, was truly noble, and really worthy of 
 the ruler of a great people — gave Italy the opportu- 
 nity of establishing her national independence. She 
 turned that opportunity to such good account that 
 friends and foes remained equally astounded at the 
 results. The quarrels of the two German powers, 
 who had hitherto united in oppressing her, offered 
 her, in 1866, an opportunity of completing the work
 
 I06 ESSAYS. 
 
 of her unity and freedom. She hastened to seize 
 upon it by forming an alliance with Prussia against 
 Austria. A more compact and better-united Ger- 
 many, under the direction of the Hohenzollerns, was 
 the object of Count Bismarck ; the completion of 
 Italian independence was that of the government 
 and people of Italy. Austria determined to oppose 
 both. She tried to break down the newly-formed 
 alliance by disarming in Bohemia and arming to the 
 full in Venetia. But the Prussian statesman was not 
 the man to be blinded by so transparent a manceuvre. 
 He demanded a complete disarmament on the part 
 of Austria on her southern as well as on her northern 
 frontier. The latter refused, upon which all three 
 powers placed their respective forces on a war foot- 
 ing. France, England, and Russia endeavoured to 
 bring about a Congress for the settlement of the 
 three questions in dispute, — that of the Elbe Duchies, 
 of Venetia, and the reform of the German Bund. 
 Prussia and Italy accepted the proposal, the terms of 
 which were carefully drawn up, so as not to wound 
 the susceptibilities of Austria. This latter power, 
 however, declined the proposal, unless a formal pro- 
 mise was given beforehand that the Congress " should 
 exclude from its deliberations every combination 
 which should tend to give to any one of the states 
 to-day invited to the Congress a territorial aggran- 
 disement, or an augmentation of power." With such 
 questions pending as those of Schleswig-Holstein and 
 Venetia, such a proposition simply rendered all nego- 
 tiation useless. The three intervening powers, France,
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 10/ 
 
 England, and Russia, naturally took that view, and 
 the proposed Congress fell to the ground. Austria, 
 confident in her military strength, preferred an appeal 
 to arms. 
 
 On the 20th of June i866, the King of Italy put 
 forth a proclamation declaring war against Austria. 
 In so far as it referred to the monarch's past devotion 
 to the cause of Italian independence, to his desire to 
 liberate Venice, to his determination to seize again 
 the sword of Goito, Palestro, and San Martino, the 
 proclamation was suited to the occasion ; but to 
 refer in such a document to the armaments that had 
 been made by Austria was a mistake. It was fitting 
 enough that that question should be discussed in the 
 despatches of diplomatists, but it had really little to 
 do with the cause of the war, which arose from the 
 desire of the Venetians to be united to Italy, and the 
 determination of the Italians to effect that union, 
 thereby completing their national independence, 
 Austria was determined to prevent that work ; Italy 
 was equally determined to accomplish it. All the 
 rest was a mere secondary question of time, policy, 
 and opportunity. The ministers of the crown were, 
 therefore, ill-advised in touching upon the question of 
 armaments in a proclamation which bade the nation 
 rally around the soldier-king, and called his people 
 to arms in the name of the liberties and independence 
 of their country. 
 
 Never did such an appeal meet with a more unani- 
 mous and enthusiastic reply from an entire people. 
 The Parliament received with shouts of applause the
 
 I08 ESSAYS. 
 
 announcement that war had been declared against 
 Austria. The Senate and the Chamber hastened to 
 vote the special powers demanded by the govern- 
 ment. The ranks of the army were speedily filled up 
 by soldiers eager to bear a part in the war universally 
 regarded as the final and victorious struggle for the 
 independence of Italy. The National Guard has- 
 tened to bear its part in the national armament. 
 The bnreaiLX for the enrolment of the volunteer corps 
 were literally besieged by the youth, chiefly of the 
 middle and lower classes, proud to enrol themselves 
 under the command of Garibaldi. Among the young 
 men of the upper classes, those who had quitted the 
 army hastened to return to the military service ; 
 many of those who had never entered it volunteered 
 as common soldiers. Thus it was that some twenty 
 or more young Neapolitans of rich and noble families 
 entered in a body the regiment of the Guides. That 
 of the Lancers of Aosta, quartered at Milan when the 
 war broke out, received into its ranks over eighty 
 recruits, all of whom were members either of the 
 aristocracy or of the wealthy families of the Lombard 
 capital. Nor were the two Italian provinces still 
 subject to foreign rule behindhand in responding to 
 their country's call. Upwards of 2000, belonging to 
 the strip of territory which was then still garrisoned 
 by the French in the interest of the Papal temporal 
 power, joined the ranks of the regular army or those 
 of the Garbaldians ; and among them were to be 
 found not a few members of rich or aristocratic 
 Roman families. The number of Venetians in the
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. IO9 
 
 Italian army before the war amounted to about 
 14,000 — a number further increased in 1866 by those 
 who, escaping across the frontier, took up arms for the 
 redemption of Venice, whose sons were still animated 
 by that spirit which had led them eighteen years 
 before to struggle single-handed against the return of 
 Austrian despotism, with a devoted courage, not the 
 less heroic because it was unsuccessful. Italians of 
 every class vied with one another in sacrificing what- 
 ever was most dear to them in their country's cause ; 
 their lives, their wealth, their children, were freely 
 devoted to the final and complete liberation of their 
 native land from foreign thraldom. 
 
 Yet, noble and heart-stirring as was this spirit of 
 patriotic devotion and self-sacrifice which burst forth 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land, it was 
 not without its defects and dangers. That it should 
 have begotten a feeling of general confidence was 
 right and natural ; but that it should have passed 
 beyond that limit, and produced overweening assur- 
 ance, was much to be lamented. The young and 
 high-spirited nation had the courage and enthusiasm 
 of youth, but it had also its presumption. Of this 
 charge the Italians cannot be acquitted ; and it is 
 all the more to be regretted, because their cause 
 was as righteous and as pure as ever roused a people 
 to arms. There were many amongst them who drew 
 in bright colours the future exploits of their army and 
 navy, and some even talked of marching to join the 
 Prussians at Vienna. They forgot that -it would have 
 been both good taste and good policy not to have
 
 no ESSAYS. 
 
 talked overmuch beforehand of what they were going 
 to do. They were guilty of no slight fault, which 
 brought with it its own punishment. Yet, in justice 
 it must be added, that the fault arose not from under- 
 rating their foe, but from the confidence arising from 
 a deep conviction of the justice of their cause, and 
 from the knowledge that the whole nation was pre- 
 pared to support it by every possible sacrifice ; truths 
 which led them to overlook the fact that courage 
 and devotion, even in support of the most just of 
 quarrels, must be united to good administration and 
 able leadership in order to secure victory. Soldiers 
 may be brave, and do their duty well, as did those of 
 the young Italian army ; but to gain battles they 
 must be led by a chief who is not only upright and 
 courageous, but who is also capable of planning a 
 campaign skilfully, and of executing it well. Sailors 
 may be as devoted as those on board the Palestro^ 
 who preferred to follow the example of their gallant 
 captain, and perish Avith their ship rather than aban- 
 don her, and so run the risk of her being captured by 
 the enemy ; their officers may be as gallant as the 
 one on board the Re cC Italia, who, when the enemy 
 approached to seize the flag of the sinking vessel, 
 only thinking (even in that terrible moment) of his 
 country's honour and his own duty, fired on the ad- 
 vancing foe, then tore down his ship's flag, and fas- 
 tened it around his body, that, thus preserved from 
 the enemy's hand, it might with him be saved or with 
 him find a watery grave. Yet fleets manned even by 
 such men will fail to win victories if placed under a
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. HI 
 
 commander in whom they feel no confidence, and 
 whose conduct justified only too well the absence of 
 that feeling on the part of those who served under 
 him. 
 
 The lesson which the Italians have received has 
 been a bitter one ; but it has not been without good 
 effects. They are themselves the severest critics of 
 their own failures during the brief campaign of last 
 year. They search resolutely into the causes of their 
 defeats. In so doing they are right. It is the only 
 honest and manly course — the only one worthy of a 
 free people, who, instead of seeking to hide from 
 themselves the truth as to past failures, are wise 
 enough to study them and learn by them, so prepar- 
 ing the way for success in the future. Thus it was 
 that England repaired, towards it close, the series of 
 blunders which marked the opening of the Crimean 
 campaign, and showed in the power and promptitude 
 with which she overcame the formidable Indian re- 
 bellion a year or two later, that the severe lessons of 
 the Russian war had not been studied in vain. So, 
 too, the government and people of the United States, 
 whose mistakes and failures at the beginning of the 
 war against the Southern Secessionists afforded matter 
 of much pleasantry to their European critics, finally 
 succeeded in forming a powerful and efficient military 
 organisation, which annihilated their enemy, changed 
 foreign ridicule into something very like fear, and 
 gave the laughers good reason to meditate upon the 
 homely proverb, " He laughs best who laughs last." 
 
 When the war broke out, Italy was able to bring
 
 112 ESSAYS. 
 
 at once into the field rather more than 2CO,coo men 
 ready to carry on active operations against the 
 Austrians in Venetia. This force v/as divided into 
 two armies of about equal strength, one of which, 
 commanded by General Cialdini, had its head-quarters 
 at Bologna, in order to operate on the Lower Po ; 
 while the other, under the orders of General Lamar- 
 mora, was destined to attack the Quadrilateral on 
 the line of the Mincio. This latter army was com- 
 posed of the 1st corps d'annec, commanded by 
 General Durando ; the 2d by General Cucchiari ; 
 and the 3d by General Delia Rocca. The head- 
 quarters of these three corps were respectively at 
 Lodi, Cremona, and Piacenza before the actual out- 
 break of hostilities ; their forward movement towards 
 the Mincio was directed by the King in person and 
 by General Lamarmora when the war actually broke 
 out. Prince Humbert, the heir to the throne, and 
 his brother, Prince Amadeus, accompanied the army 
 of the Mincio, and took an active part in its opera- 
 tions ; the eldest brother commanding the i6th divi- 
 sion of the 3d corps d'armce, and the second a brigade 
 of the 3d division of the ist corps. The two young 
 princes proved themselves true scions of the fighting 
 House of Savoy, and displayed on the hard-fought 
 field of Custoza that intrepid courage which has ever 
 distinguished the warrior race from which they spring. 
 To General Lamarmora's army was thus assigned 
 the arduous task of making a direct attack against 
 the most formidable military position in Europe by 
 crossing the Mincio between the fortresses of Peschiera
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. II3 
 
 and Mantua, in order to take possession of the cluster 
 of hills which occupy the north-west corner of the 
 Quadrilateral, and command the plain lying between 
 the Mincio and the Adige. The object of this move- 
 ment was to cut off Peschiera from the three re- 
 maining fortresses of Verona, Legnago, and Mantua, 
 placing at the same time the Italian forces in posses- 
 sion of the hills just mentioned, so as to establish 
 them solidly in a strong position capable of being suc- 
 cessfully defended against all attacks which might be 
 made upon it by the Austrians issuing out of Verona. 
 That done, the army of General Cialdini, whose head- 
 quarters were transferred to Ferrara at the outbreak 
 of hostilities, was to cross the Po and march north- 
 ward upon Rovigo and Padua, or else form a junc- 
 tion with General Lamarm.ora, as circumstances 
 might direct. 
 
 On the morning of the 20th June 1866, notice was 
 given to the Austrians that, at the expiration of 
 three days, active hostilities would be commenced. 
 On the 22d, General Lamarmora's head-quarters were 
 at Canneto ; that night they were advanced to Cer- 
 lungo, close to Goito, which lies on the right bank of 
 the Mincio. Orders were given to cross that river, 
 which formed the boundary between Venetia and the 
 Italian kingdom, on the following morning, the 23d 
 June. The troops which performed that operation 
 were those of the 1st corps d'ainn^e, commanded by 
 General Durando (with the exception of the 2d divi- 
 sion, under General Pianell, which remained on the 
 right bank in the neighbourhood of Peschiera, to ob- 
 
 H
 
 1 14 ESSAYS. 
 
 serve that fortress) ; and the 3d corps d'armee, com- 
 manded by General Delia Rocca ; together with the 
 reserve division of cavalry, under General de Son- 
 naz. 
 
 As to the 2d co?'ps d'arniife, commanded by General 
 Cucchiari, two divisions, those of General Cosenz and 
 Nunziante, remained on the right bank of the Mincio, 
 and were pushed forward towards Mantua, to watch 
 that strong place. The two other divisions of Gene- 
 rals Angioletti and Longoni did not cross the Mincio 
 imtil the morning of the 24th, but took no part in the 
 action of that day. 
 
 The 1st and 3d corps d'arinee, which alone were en- 
 gaged in the battle of Custoza of the 24th June 1866, 
 were composed of the following divisions : — 
 1st corps d'ar7n€e, General Durando : 
 1st division. General Cerale. 
 
 2d division, General Pianell, ordered to remain 
 on the right bank of the Mincio, not far from 
 Ponti, to watch Peschiera. 
 3d division, General Brignone. 
 5th division. General Sirtori. 
 3d corps d'armce, General Delia Rocca : 
 7th division, General Bixio. 
 8th division, General Cugia. 
 9th division, General Govone. 
 1 6th division, Prince Humbert. 
 Each division consisting of 16 battalions of infantry, 
 
 2 battalions of the bersaglieri, and 3 batteries of ar- 
 tillery-, the actual fighting force of a division may be 
 reckoned at 9000 men. The cavalry, under General
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I 15 
 
 de Sonnaz, consisted of 20 squadrons and 2 batteries, 
 amounting to 2000 men and 12 guns. 
 
 The 1st division of the ist corps d'armee was or- 
 dered to cross the IMincio on the morning of the 23d 
 by the bridge at Monzambano ; the 2d remained on 
 the right bank, watching Peschiera ; the 3d effected its 
 passage at Molini di Volta by means of two pontoon 
 bridges ; the 5th crossed by the bridge of Borghetto. 
 
 The 7th, 9th, and i6th divisions of the 3d corps 
 d'armcc, and the cavalry, passed the Mincio at Goito, 
 and the 8th at Ferri, by a pontoon bridge thrown 
 across the river at that place. 
 
 This passage of the Mincio was eftected without 
 the slightest opposition from the Austrians, who had 
 left untouched the regular bridges of Monzambano, 
 Borghetto, and Goito. In consequence of this ap- 
 parent inactivity of the enemy. General Lamarmora 
 became unfortunately more than ever convinced that 
 the Archduke Albert, who commanded the Austrian 
 forces in Venetia, was on the other side of the Adige, 
 and that he would offer no serious opposition to the 
 Italian army while taking complete possession of the 
 hills situated in the north-west angle of the Quadrila- 
 teral between Peschiera and Verona. Orders were 
 consequently given to the effect that at early dawn 
 on the 24th of June, the 1st, 5th, and 3d divisions of 
 the 1st corps d'armee were to march as follows : the 
 1st division, General Cerale, by Monte Vento and 
 Oliosi to Castelnovo, where the head-quarters of the 
 1st corps were to be established ; the 5th division. 
 General Sirtori, by San Rocco di Palazzolo and San.
 
 Il6 ESSAYS. 
 
 Giorgio, in Salicc, to Santa Giustina ; the 3d division, 
 General Brignone, by Custoza and Sommacampagna 
 to Sona. The 3d corps d'armcc, with its four divisions 
 of the 8th, General Ctigia ; the 9th, General Govone ; 
 the 7th, General Bixio ; and the i6th, Prince Humbert, 
 marching in the plain, or skirting the hills on the 
 right of the 1st corps d'armce, were to go forward 
 until they finally occupied the line extending from 
 Sona to Sommacampagna, Villafranca, and Mozze- 
 cane. The cavalry were to take up their position 
 just to the rear of the two last-named places at 
 Ouaderni. 
 
 The 1st and a portion of the 3d corps d'armee 
 were thus ordered to traverse a broken hilly country 
 within the Quadrilateral, in sight of Verona itself, in 
 order to occupy the long line which extends in a 
 semicircle from Castelnovo to Santa Giustina, Sona, 
 Sommacampagna, Villafranca, and Mozzecane. And 
 yet the Italian commander-in-chief had actually per- 
 suaded himself that the Austrians w^ould offer no 
 opposition to such a movement, to be effected in such 
 a field of operation. " But this forward march," he 
 writes naively, in his report of the battle, " which it 
 seemed was only to lead simply to taking up a posi- 
 tion, changed soon after into a serious action along 
 the whole front of our line." As if it were the most 
 wonderful thing in the world that the Archduke 
 Albert, with his army in and around the great en- 
 trenched camp of Verona, should come out at a 
 moment's notice from that stronghold and attack his 
 adversary suddenly while on the march among the
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 11/ 
 
 hills which General Lamarmora fondly imagined he 
 was going to take possession of without serious op- 
 position. Assuredly it was not to so little purpose, 
 as the Italian commander learned to his cost, that 
 the Austrians had been for half a century in posses- 
 sion of the famous Quadrilateral, had strengthened it 
 by every means which military art could devise, and 
 had made themselves thoroughly acquainted with 
 every inch of its ground, with every road and bye- 
 way, river and streamlet, with every hill and valley, 
 with every variation of its surface, with every village, 
 cluster of houses, or solitary building situated either 
 in the plain or among the hills. 
 
 The fact is, that the Archduke and his generals 
 watched from their impregnable position at Verona 
 the proceedings of their antagonists. No doubt the 
 satisfaction of the Austrian commanders was great 
 when they saw the Italian army of operation, rather 
 over 200,000 strong, divided into two distinct and 
 equal corps entirely separated from one another, thus 
 giving the Austrians the. chance of attacking each 
 corps singly, by issuing out from their strong position 
 in and around Verona at the moment they judged 
 most opportune for doing so. When, then, the Arch- 
 duke found that one of the Italian armies w^as cross- 
 ing the Mincio, he determined to attack the assailants. 
 He knew well that the Italians must detach consider- 
 able forces from their main body, as they did, in order 
 to mask Peschiera and Mantua, thus enabling him 
 to meet them on equal terms upon a battlefield so 
 well known to the Austrians as that between Peschiera
 
 Il8 ESSAYS. 
 
 and Verona. If the Italians were repulsed or beaten, 
 they had the consolation of knowing that they had a 
 river in their rear and a hostile fortress on each flank ; 
 if the Austrians met with a reverse they had the very 
 different consolation of having simply to take refuge 
 in Verona, whose multiplied defences afforded secure 
 shelter to their retreating columns. Surely, then, a 
 general undertaking such a movement as that which 
 the Italian commander-in-chief attempted to execute, 
 should have set about the task, not with the assurance 
 that he would not be attacked, but with the assurance 
 that he might be attacked at any moment, and that 
 he would very probably meet with determined oppo- 
 sition. Nor should any reports that the Austrians 
 were on the other side of the Adige, or appeared to 
 be preparing no movement, have lulled General La- 
 marmora into security, inasmuch as the position of 
 Verona, which is the junction of three branches of 
 railway., and the nature of its fortifications, which 
 make it a vast fortified camp, enabled the Austrians 
 to change their plans at a ipoment's notice, according 
 to the proceedings of their adversary, and come out 
 upon him suddenly just when and where he least ex- 
 pected an attack. Such appears to be the conclusion 
 that should have been drawn from all the circum- 
 stances of the case when duly considered either from 
 the military point of view, or from the more homely 
 one of common-sense. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 23d of June the Austrians 
 commenced their advance. Early on the following 
 morning (the 24th) their forces, consisting of the divi-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I I9 
 
 sion of reserve (Ruprecht) forming their extreme right, 
 the 5 th corps d\irme'e, a brigade of the 7th corps, and 
 the 9th corps, with their cavalry on their extreme left 
 on the plain near Ganfardine, were in possession of 
 the hills extending from Mongabia to San Giorgio in 
 Salice and Sommacampagna ; to the left of which 
 latter place, in the plain below, was their cavalry sup- 
 ported by artillery. 
 
 Thus the Italian army on the southern portion of 
 the hills marching in a northerly direction towards 
 the positions which its various divisions were ordered 
 to take up, met half-way the Austrian army, which, 
 from the northern portion of the hills, was marching 
 in a southerly direction. This hilly country is tra- 
 versed by the little river Tione, which flows in a 
 south-south-easterly direction. 
 
 Instead, then, of taking unopposed possession of 
 these hills, General Lamarmora found himself unex- 
 pectedly engaged along his whole front, in the midst 
 of them, and in the midst of a march in which bag- 
 gage-trains stopped in more than one instance the 
 advance and impeded the movements of his troops, 
 so unhappily rooted was his conviction " that this 
 forward movement was only to take up a position." 
 In other words, the Archduke surprised General 
 Lamarmora, and gave him battle precisely when the 
 latter believed that such would not be the case. 
 There is no other conclusion to be drawn from the 
 Italian commander's own report. The fact redounds 
 but little to his foresight and capacity ; it proves, on 
 the other hand, that the Archduke knew how to turn
 
 120 ESSAYS. 
 
 the formidable position of Verona to the best possible 
 account, by leaving it suddenly and attacking his 
 enemy just at the time and place in which he least 
 expected such an attack. 
 
 The battle began on the extreme right of the 
 Italian army about 6 A.M., and commenced by an 
 attack directed chiefly against the i6th division, com- 
 manded by Prince Humbert. The division of General 
 Bixio was on the left of the Prince, that of General 
 Cugia a long way to the rear, and that of General Go- 
 vone far away to the rear again. Soon after the 
 Austrian artillery had opened fire, Prince Humbert's 
 division was suddenly charged by a large force of ca- 
 valry. The Parma brigade, which was in front, formed 
 quickly into squares, within one of which, that of the 
 fourth battalion of the 49th, was the Prince and part 
 of his staff. Twice the onslaught of the Austrian ca- 
 valry was impetuously renewed and twice repelled. 
 The division of General Bixio deployed and joined in 
 repulsing the various attacks of the enemy. All the 
 efforts of the Austrians completely failed in this quar- 
 ter, and severe loss was inflicted upon them. The two 
 divisions of Generals Bixio and Prince Humbert, be- 
 longing to the 3d corps d'amnccoi General Delia Roc- 
 ca, maintained their positions throughout the day ; 
 nor were they again molested. As will be seen here- 
 after, they were most unhappily left inactive during 
 the rest of the day, although a fierce struggle was 
 carried on for hours along the hills around Custoza, 
 which formed the central and decisive point of the 
 battle.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 121 
 
 But matters proceeded unfavourably to the Italians 
 upon their left at Oliosi ; close to which place, the 
 first division of the 1st corps d'armcc first came in 
 contact with the Austrians. This division, com- 
 manded by General Cerale, instead of crossing the 
 Mincio, as it was ordered to do, at Monzambano, 
 descended the river to Valeggio, and crossed the river 
 at that point, where the 5th division, under General 
 Sirtori, was effecting its passage over the Mincio. 
 Hence much confusion and loss of time. Besides 
 which, the vanguard of the 5th division, on arriving 
 at Fornelli, instead of preceding its own division in 
 the direction of San Rocco di Palazzolo, followed the 
 high road towards Oliosi, in front of General Cerale's 
 division (the ist), which was behindhand in its move- 
 ment, owing to its having descended the right bank 
 of the river in order to cross it at Valeggio. The 5th 
 division followed the route assigned it in the direction 
 of San Rocco di Palazzolo. Its advancing columns 
 first came into contact with the enemy near the farm 
 buildings of the Pernisa, close to the little river Tione, 
 its second line occupying the heights behind, at Santa 
 Lucia del Tione. 
 
 The 1st division, under General Cerale, advancing 
 in column along the high road from Valeggio to 
 Oliosi, came upon the Austrians just beyond that 
 place on the rising ground of Mongabia. General 
 Villarey, who commanded the foremost brigade of 
 the Italian division, seeing the Austrians extended 
 along his front, began quickly to deploy his troops 
 in order to attack the enemy, when he received from
 
 122 ESSAYS. 
 
 his superior, General Cerale, the command to continue 
 the advance in column, as his orders were to take up 
 his position at Castclnovo. General Cerale, impressed 
 with the conviction that the Austrians (as General 
 Lamarmora, the commander-in-chief, declared) would 
 offer no opposition to the march of the Italian army, 
 thought that his subordinate had but to deal with 
 some of the enemy's skirmishers. He soon found out 
 his mistake, which cost him the lives of many brave 
 men and very nearly his own. General Villarey 
 obeyed the order to continue his advance in column, 
 predicting only too truly the fatal consequences, as 
 turning to his son, who was by his side, he said — 
 " On nous envoie a la boucherie. Allons-nous faire 
 tuer en gentilhomme." * Then leading on his men, 
 the gallant officer continued his advance along the 
 high road. The Italians moving forward in column 
 became the focus of the fire and attacks of the enemy 
 who was on their flanks and to their front, while they 
 themselves, marching in column, could offer but an 
 ineffectual resistance. General Villarey was killed. 
 General Cerale wounded, and the Italians were finally 
 driven back in confusion with heavy loss. General 
 Durando, who commanded the 1st corps d'armec, 
 upon learning how ill matters were going with 
 the Cerale division, hastened to the front with the 
 2d, 8th, and 13th battalions of the Bersaglieri, four 
 batteries, and the Lancers of Aosta. These troops, 
 posted on the rising ground between Monte Vento, 
 
 * "They are sending us to the slaughter-house. Well, let us go 
 and die like gentlemen."
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF I 866. I 23 
 
 Monte Magrino, and the Colle Lanzetta, offered an 
 effectual resistance to the advance of the enemy. It 
 was during this part of the battle that General 
 Durando was wounded and had to leave the field. 
 
 But that which especially contributed to check the 
 progress of the Austrians was the movement made 
 by General Pianell, who commanded the 2d division. 
 When from his position on the right bank of the 
 Mincio, in the neighbourhood of Ponti, he perceived 
 from the heavy and continued firing on the other 
 side, that, contrary to General Lamarmora's expecta- 
 tions, a great battle had begun, he advanced towards 
 the river, and upon finding that the ist division was 
 being driven back in disorder, he at once took the 
 initiative, boldly crossed the Mincio, attacked the 
 Austrians in flank, checked their advance, and cap- 
 tured a number of prisoners. In vain the Austrians 
 directed their attacks against General Pianell's forces, 
 admirably handled and directed by their able com- 
 mander. He preserved his menacing position until 
 seven in the evening, thus saving the extreme left 
 of the Italian army from what might have proved 
 an irreparable disaster, and enabling them, when they 
 finally retreated upon Vallegio, about five P.M., to 
 do so without pursuit on the part of the enemy. 
 General Sirtori took command of the ist corps d'ar- 
 fnee after General Durando had been wounded and 
 forced to leave the field. Owing to the severe re- 
 pulse of General Cerale's division, the 5th — that of 
 General Sirtori — had to fall back from the Pernisa to 
 its second line at Santa Lucia del Tione.
 
 1 24 ESSAYS. 
 
 Whilst this struggle was going on on the left of the 
 Italian line from the morning until 5 V.M. against the 
 Austrian infantry reserve of Ruprecht and the 5th 
 co?'/>s d'armee of the Austrians, a yet fiercer contest 
 raged throughout the whole day along the hills close 
 to Custoza, which formed the central scene of action 
 and the key of the whole position. This part of the 
 battle was sustained first by the 3d division of Gene- 
 ral Brignone, belonging to the ist co7'ps d'arniee, and 
 afterwards by the 8th and 9th divisions of the 3d 
 corps, commanded respectively by General Cugia 
 and General Govone. These three divisions bore the 
 whole struggle at the centre against the Austrian 9th 
 corps d'armce and the brigade Scudier of the 7th corps. 
 
 The 3d division — that of General Brignone — was 
 conducted by General Lamarmora himself, about 7 
 A.M., to take possession of Monte Torre and Monte 
 Croce, heights which lie a little to the right of the 
 hill on which Custoza stands. The commander-in- 
 chief had the intention of pushing on this division to 
 Sommacampagna, but found the Austrians in force 
 upon the opposing heights of the Berettara, thus bar- 
 ring the further advance of the Brignone division. 
 The numerous artillery of the Austrians, who covered 
 the hills in front of the Berettara between Monte 
 Godio and StafFalo, inflicted heavy loss on General 
 Brignone's troops, after which they were attacked by 
 the enemy with a view to dislodge them from Monte 
 Torre and Monte Croce. An arduous struggle en- 
 sued, during which Prince Amadeus, who commanded 
 a brigade of the division, was wounded while leading
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 25 
 
 his men to the charge, as was also General Gozani, 
 who commanded a brigade of the Sardinian grena- 
 diers. After an obstinate fight General Brignone 
 was obliged to fall back before the numerous forces 
 brought up to the attack by the Archduke Albert, 
 who rightly judged that the hills around Gustoza 
 formed the key of the whole position ; whoever got 
 final possession of them forced his enemy to retire. 
 The eastern slopes of the hill of Gustoza were still 
 held by some companies of the grenadiers. These 
 troops fought with a courage and tenacity that would 
 have done honour to the best corps of any of the old 
 armies of Europe. They were still in possession of 
 their position when the divisions of Generals Govone 
 and Cugia, ordered up by General Lamarmora, at 
 length came upon the scene of action, which, how- 
 ever, they did not do, unfortunately, until after Gene- 
 ral Brignone had fallen back, about 1 1 A.M. 
 
 But before describing the successful counter-attack 
 directed against the Austrians around Gustoza by 
 Generals Govone and Cugia, a few words must be 
 said touching an incident that occurred in this part 
 of the day's fighting, which strikes the ordinary 
 reader with astonishment. General Lamarmora, in 
 his second report " on the military operations of the 
 23d and 24th of June," after describing the hard fight- 
 ing which resulted in the retirement of the 3d divi- 
 sion (Brignone), and before describing the successful 
 counter-attack of the 8th and 9th divisions (Cugia 
 and Govone), says : " I went in person to Goito to 
 secure that position in case of retreat, and to prepare
 
 1 26 ESSAYS. 
 
 to bring up the troops of the 2d corps d'armce ; " . . . . 
 that is, the divisions of Generals Angioletti and Lon- 
 goni, who, however, never did come up. Now, Goito 
 Hes some six or seven miles to the rear of Custoza. 
 The battle, it must be remembered, was raging along 
 the whole line. On the Italian left, at Oliosi, the 
 success of the Austrians was being effectually checked 
 by the admirable movements of General Pianell ; on 
 the right at Villafranca they had wholly failed in their 
 attacks upon the divisions of Prince Humbert and 
 General Bixio, in front of whom it is important to 
 remark, as will presently be seen. General Lamar- 
 mora says the enemy had left but " insignificant 
 forces ; " at the centre a deadly struggle was being 
 carried on between the Archduke, who was making 
 every effort to possess himself of the hills around 
 Custoza, and the division of General Brignone, who 
 was straining every nerve to prevent the enemy gain- 
 ing such an advantage. At length, after much hard 
 fighting. General Brignone was forced back. Gene- 
 rals Govone and Cugia were coming up, according to 
 the commander-in-chief's orders, but had not yet ar- 
 rived. And it is about this time that General La- 
 marmora says that he went off in person to Goito, 
 some six or seven miles to the rear. For what pur- 
 pose .'' To see that all was right in case of retreat, 
 and to prepare to bring up the two divisions of the 
 2d co7ps d'arntcc, which, however, never took any part 
 in the battle, although it lasted some twelve hours. 
 Surely what the commander-in-chief went to do at 
 Goito could have been as well and much more appro-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 12/ 
 
 priately done by an officer of his staff. Surely it was 
 of the utmost importance that the commanding gene- 
 ral should have been at Custoza, directing operations 
 at that vital central point against which his adversary 
 was making repeated and desperate attacks. If 
 aides-de-camp and staff-officers are not used under 
 such circumstances to see that all is right in the rear 
 and to order up fresh troops, thus enabling the com- 
 mander-in-chief to direct the movements of his sub- 
 ordinates on the actual field of action, it is hard to 
 see for what purpose aides-de-camp and staff-officers 
 exist at all. 
 
 But to return to the counter-attack of the 9th 
 division, under General Govone, sustained by the 
 8tb, under General Cugia. Tlieir task was a difficult 
 one. They, however, succeeded in establishing them- 
 selves on Monte Torre and Monte Croce. Some 
 companies of grenadiers continued to hold the east- 
 ern slopes of the hill of Custoza. The Austrians were 
 in possession of Custoza itself, of Monte Belvedere, 
 which lies close to it, and commands the whole 
 position, of Monte Godio and Monte Staffalo. 
 General Govone, seeing the necessity of re-taking 
 Custoza, opened fire upon the Austrians who occu- 
 pied it, and at length carried it at the point of 
 the bayonet. This success was gained by the in- 
 trepid attack of the 34th Bersaglieri, united to the 
 grenadiers, who had been disputing inch by inch 
 the possession of Custoza. The enemy attacked in 
 return, but were repulsed. The 51st regiment was 
 sent forward to aid in maintaining the conquered
 
 128 ESSAYS. 
 
 position. But the adjacent Monte Belvedere was 
 still in the hands of the enemy. General Govone, 
 fully alive to the vital importance of occupying that 
 commanding position directed against the enemy's 
 forces which held it, a sustained and heavy fire, 
 which inflicted upon them severe losses, and Monte 
 Belvedere was finally carried by assault about 3 P.M., 
 by the 34th Bersaglieri, the 51st, and a battalion of 
 the 35th. But the Archduke was as Avell aware as 
 his opponents of the vital importance of the position 
 he had thus lost. The Austrian commander, there- 
 fore, returned to the attack as soon as he was in 
 force to do so. Then commenced one of the fiercest 
 struggles on record. The steady valour of the old 
 Austrian legions, and the devoted courage of the 
 soldiers of the young Italian army, met in fair and 
 deadly strife. The result of the contest, sustained 
 on both sides with the greatest courage and endur- 
 ance, was for some time doubtful, but the remainder 
 of the 35th regiment having come up, it was at 
 length decided in favour of the Italians. The Aus- 
 trians were driven back to a considerable distance 
 in disorder. "At 3. 30 P.M.," writes General Lamar- 
 mora, in his report, "the day seemed gained, at 
 least at this important point." The Archduke 
 Albert says : — 
 
 " Despite all the efforts of tlie 7 th and 9th corps d'armee, 
 up to 3 P.M. we had not succeeded in taking Custoza. I 
 therefore accorded to my troops, worn out by the burning 
 heat and by the efforts made in the struggle, a moment's 
 repose, and then ordered the 7th corps, sustained by a
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 29 
 
 brigade of the 5th corps, to make a last effort to take 
 Custoza, defended by the enemy with obstinacy and great 
 valour." 
 
 It was, in truth, the critical moment of the day, 
 for whoever held final possession of Custoza and 
 the adjacent Monte Belvedere, compelled his adver- 
 sary to retreat. General Govone knew it well, and 
 saw that the Austrians were as well aware of it 
 as he was. He had therefore sent several times to 
 his superior, the commander of the 3d corps. General 
 Delia Rocca, to urge him to send with all promp- 
 titude reinforcements, as he. General Govone, could 
 not hold his own without ; for the Austrians were 
 bringing up every available man to carry the all- 
 important position, for the possession of which so 
 deadly a struggle was raging. General Delia Rocca 
 replied that he could not do so, as he had orders to 
 hold Villafranca. The general had, hoAvever, at his 
 immediate command, the two divisions of General 
 Bixio and Prince Humbert, with but a very incon- 
 siderable force of the enemy to his front, as General 
 Lamarmora states. How inconsiderable, a reconnais- 
 sance of the cavalry attached to the 3d corps d'armee 
 would have let its commander know. 
 
 General Delia Rocca had at his disposal for this 
 purpose a brigade of cavalry, consisting of fifteen 
 squadrons, and the reserve under General Sonnaz 
 of 2000 men. This body of troops, with the excep- 
 tion of three squadrons of the Alessandrian light 
 horse, were kept completely inactive the whole day. 
 Twice Prince Humbert sent to his superior, General
 
 130 ESSAYS. 
 
 Delia Rocca, to know if he might not lead his divi- 
 sion to aid Generals Govone and Cugia, who were 
 maintaining so gallant a fight on the hills of Custoza 
 and Monte Belvedere, and twice he received orders 
 to remain where he was. Indeed, General Lamar- 
 mora says in his report that the two divisions of 
 General Bixio and Prince Humbert remained all 
 day in the same position. There were, besides, near 
 Roverbella, the two divisions of Generals Angioletti 
 and Longoni, of the 2d corps d'annce, who were never 
 brought up to take part in the action. General La- 
 marmora's report affirms that the commander of the 
 3d corps, General Delia Rocca, " thought of" bringing 
 up the two last-named divisions. It would have been 
 better if he had done so instead of only thinking 
 about it. Happily for the ist corps of the Italian 
 army. General Pianell not only tJioiight of crossing 
 the Mincio, but actually did so ; and what is more, 
 took that bold initiative on his own responsibility. 
 
 It was well, indeed, for the Austrians that the 
 commander of the 3d corps of the Italian army 
 was not a man of the stamp of General Pianell. 
 Had that corps been under the orders of a general 
 of his quickness of perception, and of his resolution 
 in action, General Govone would assuredly not have 
 had to reiterate his demands for reinforcements. A 
 well-directed reconnaissance made by the cavalry 
 attached to the 3d corps at Villafranca, would 
 have soon let its commander know that he had but 
 " insignificant forces " of the enemy to his front, 
 and the obvious conclusion would have been, that
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 13I 
 
 the Austrians were bringing their main strength to 
 bear against the central position of Custoza. Gene- 
 ral Bixio's division, and a brigade of Prince Hum- 
 bert's, would have been well up in time to maintain 
 the all-important positions of Custoza and Monte 
 Belvedere, so gallantly won by the divisions of 
 Generals Govone and Cugia. Nor would the divi- 
 sions of Generals Angioletti and Longoni have been 
 left idle the livelong day in the plain between Rover- 
 bella and Goito. 
 
 As it was, the Archduke Albert, about 4 P.M., 
 gathered all his available forces well in hand in order 
 to make " a last effort," and then launched them 
 against Monte Belvedere and Custoza. General 
 Govone did all that lay within his power to repel the 
 overwhelming attack, to aid him in which no rein- 
 forcements arrived. At length his division, which 
 had been engaged for some four hours in severe and 
 continuous fighting, was forced to yield the positions 
 it had so bravely won, and the Austrians regained 
 possession of them. General Cugia retired from 
 Monte Torre and Monte Croce, no longer tenable 
 after the loss of Monte Belvedere. The Italians 
 retreated, fighting as they fell back ; nor was it until 
 towards 7 P.M., as the Archduke says in his report, 
 that he obtained final possession of Custoza. 
 
 The hills all around this latter village, which formed 
 the commanding positions of the field of battle, being 
 thus in the enemy's hands. General Lamarmora deemed 
 it wise, if not necessary, to abandon Villafranca. The 
 whole Italian army thus fell back upon the Mincio ;
 
 132 . ESSAYS. 
 
 the divisions of the 1st corps d'armee towards Valeg- 
 gio, and those of the 3d corps towards Goito. The 
 Austrians made little or no effort to pursue their 
 retiring foe. Themselves worn out with the hard 
 struggle, which had continued throughout the long 
 summer's day beneath a burning sun, they were in no 
 condition to pursue or harass their retreating enemy ; 
 and, fearing to see the attack renewed, they flung up 
 earthworks in the neighbourhood of Custoza. The 
 Italian retreat was covered towards Valeggio by a 
 portion of the ist corps, and especially by the flank 
 position taken up by General Pianell, who did not 
 quit it until seven in the evening. The 3d corps 
 d'armcc, in withdrawing from Custoza and Villafranca 
 to Goito, was covered in its retreat by the cavalry, 
 and by the division of General Bixio. The latter re- 
 pelled without difficulty such efforts as the enemy's 
 cavalry attempted to make in order to disturb the 
 retreating Italian columns. The recrossing of the 
 Mincio was effected unharassed by the Austrians. 
 On the 25th of June the whole Italian army was 
 again on the right bank of that river. The ist corps 
 of General Durando was at Volta and Cavriana ; * the 
 3d corps of General Delia Rocca and the cavalry at 
 Cerlungo ; the two divisions of Generals Angioletti 
 and Longoni of the 2d corps were at Goito. 
 
 Such was the battle of Custoza of the 24th June 
 1866, gallantly disputed for twelve hours by the 
 .soldiers of the two contending armies. The ultimate 
 success on that hard-fought field rested with the 
 
 * Cavriana is about 5 miles north-west of Volta.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I 33 
 
 Austrians, whose disciplined legions and better gene- 
 ralship succeeded at last in overmatching the devo- 
 tion and courage of the young Italian army, whose 
 honest and upright chief had done so much in the 
 work of its organisation, but who displayed so little 
 capacity either for conducting a campaign, or for 
 handling effectively the various divisions of a large 
 army during an arduous and protracted battle. The 
 numbers of each army on the field actually en- 
 gaged amounted to about 75,000 men. The Italians 
 lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners 8175 men, 
 according to the detailed account of the losses 
 incurred by the various divisions ; they also left 
 behind them a few pieces of artillery which had been 
 damaged during the engagement. A statement in 
 the OesterreicJusche Zeitschrift of Vienna gives the 
 Austrian loss at 7100, including more than 1300 
 prisoners, the greater part of whom fell into the 
 hands of General Pianell, 
 
 The Archduke Albert and the generals under him 
 deserve praise for the rapidity with which they issued 
 out of Verona when assured that General Lamarmora 
 had crossed the Mincio. By this prompt movement 
 they surprised the Italian general on the march when 
 he fancied that he was not going to be attacked. 
 During the actual battle, also, the Archduke dis- 
 played more capacity than his opponent. Neither 
 the Austrian success against the Italian left at Oliosi, 
 nor the failure to make any impression against the 
 Italian right at Villafranca, diverted the Archduke's 
 attention from the vital points of Monte Belvedere
 
 134 ESSAYS, 
 
 and Custoza. Against them he directed his" utmost 
 eftorts : to win them he strained every nerve. He 
 seems to have perceived at once that they must be 
 won, or he must retire ; and that, if he won them, 
 then his adversary must retire. He did, therefore, all 
 that lay in his power to gain possession of those vital 
 positions, and his persevering energy was, after a long 
 and desperate struggle, crowned with success. 
 
 In examining the unprecedentedly short campaign 
 of the summer of 1866, several matters of much 
 interest come out as regards the Italian army so 
 recently formed. The soldiers who composed it did 
 their duty well, and fought with courage and endur- 
 ance. It was also shown that the fusion of its different 
 elements, composed of the inhabitants of all the 
 various provinces of the newly-formed kingdom, had 
 been thoroughly effected — a result due in no slight 
 degree to General Lamarmora, who with others has 
 laboured so earnestly and so successfully during the 
 last six years at the organisation of the Italian army. 
 Every incident of the protracted battle of the 24th of 
 June showed that between the soldiers of one part of 
 Italy and of another there was no greater difference 
 to be found than that which exists in all armies — 
 French, Austrian, or English. The officers bear una- 
 nimous testimony to the discipline and courage of 
 their men, and their desire to measure themselves 
 again against the enemy after the unsuccessful battle 
 of Custoza. To this testimony must be added that 
 of the Austrians themselves, who rendered a just 
 tribute to the fighting qualities of their opponents.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 35 
 
 This appears not only from the Archduke's report, 
 but also from the language held by the Austrian 
 officers to those of the Italians who were made 
 prisoners during the campaign. Speaking of the 
 military qualities of the soldiers, an Italian officer 
 said to the writer of these pages : — " If all our gene- 
 rals had understood and done tJieir work as well as 
 all our men did theirs, the battle of the 24th would 
 have been an Italian, and not an Austrian success." 
 
 As to the mistakes made in the planning and 
 execution of the Italian campaign, it may be said 
 that such errors occur in all wars, and that the mili- 
 tary men of all nations have their share of blunders 
 to answer for. It is true, also, that the generals of 
 Italy had an arduous task before them, namely, that 
 of attacking an army composed of the troops of one 
 of the oldest of European military powers in posses- 
 sion of the strongest military position in Europe, 
 which since 1859 ^^^^ been further strengthened by 
 every means which modern art could devise. In fact, 
 Austria had expended, and was expending, millions 
 in adding to the strength of the already mighty 
 Quadrilateral. It is, however, good for the Italians 
 themselves to consider the mistakes they committed, 
 and to study the various criticisms which have been 
 made upon their military operations of the past 
 year. 
 
 Having, as they had, rather more than 200,000 
 men available for attacking Venetia, it was surely a 
 mistake to divide that force into two armies of equal 
 strength, completely separated from each other, one
 
 1 16 ESSAYS. 
 
 of which, attacking the Quadrilateral in front on the 
 line of the Mincio, was necessarily obliged to leave 
 whole divisions to watch the fortresses of Mantua and 
 Peschiera. The Italian commanders thus offered to 
 the Austrians, who had never more than 80,000 men 
 to bring into the field, the opportunity of giving 
 battle on their own ground within the Quadrilateral, 
 with numbers equal to that of the Italian army on 
 the actual field of battle — an opportunity which the 
 Archduke hastened to profit by. The reverse of 
 Custoza must have brought to the minds of the Italian 
 generals the words of one of the ablest of their num- 
 ber, General Fanti, who died in 1865, and who, feeling 
 his health beginning to fail, used to say, " God grant 
 I may live long enough to persuade my brother 
 generals not to attack the Quadrilateral in front, but 
 to turn it." 
 
 Admitting, however, the plan of campaign actually 
 adopted, it was surely most hazardous of General 
 Lamarmora to attempt taking up so extended a line 
 as that reaching from Castelnovo to Santa Giustina, 
 Sona, Sommacampagna, Ganfardine, Villafranca, and 
 Roverbella, without a second line, without a large 
 reserve, with the Mincio in his rear, and a hostile 
 fortress on each flank. The French, in 1859, with a 
 much larger force, deemed it prudent to hold a much 
 less extended line upon this very ground. In order 
 to take up the position selected by General Lamar- 
 mora, his army had to traverse a broken undulating 
 country, within sight of the great entrenched camp 
 of Verona, out of which the Austrians could come at
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 37 
 
 a moment's notice — as they did — or wait until he had 
 taken up his too extended position, and then throw 
 their whole weight on some one given point, to oppose 
 which movement General Lamarmora had kept no 
 reserve force at hand. That he had grounds for sup- 
 posing that the Archduke was not in a position to 
 attack on the 24th, may, no doubt, have been the 
 case ; but how General Lamarmora could have per- 
 suaded himself of the certainty, or almost certainty, 
 that he would not be attacked, it is difficult to under- 
 stand. There is no trace of his having concerted a 
 plan of action with the generals under him in case of 
 their being attacked while marching to take up the 
 positions assigned to them ; no strong reconnaissance 
 was made in advance which would have given timely 
 warning of impending danger. The divisions of the 
 army marched into the Quadrilateral with consider- 
 able distances separating several of them, with bag- 
 gage and auxiliary trains, with almost as little pre- 
 caution as if they were going to change garrison, 
 instead of entering the strongest military position in 
 Europe, within sight of Verona itself! More than 
 once General Lamarmora speaks in his report of carts 
 and baggage obstructing the movements of his troops. 
 But did not such untoward circumstances arise from 
 the manner in which the advance was made, in the 
 full conviction that the Austrians were not going to 
 attack, but were obliging enough to wait until the 
 Italians had taken full possession of the whole semi- 
 circle of hills from Castelnovo to Sommacampagna and 
 Custoza, as well as of Villafranca, in the plain below ?
 
 138 ESSAYS. 
 
 Surprised on his march — as General Lamarmora 
 admits being — he fails to display that quickness of 
 perception and sure coup d'a^il, which sees at a glance 
 what must be done under the unexpected circum- 
 stances, discerns instantly the vital point to be won 
 or maintained, and brings to bear upon it every avail- 
 able resource. He seems to have had but a partial 
 idea of the importance of Custoza and Monte Belve- 
 dere ; true, he brings up the Brignone division to 
 the hills of Monte Torre and Monte Croce, close to 
 Custoza, and orders up reinforcements to support it ; 
 but instead of waiting to see them come up, and 
 directing in person the great central struggle, bring- 
 ing every available man to bear upon this key of the 
 whole battle-field, he rides off to Goito, some six or 
 seven miles to the rear, to do work which he should 
 have sent his aides-de-camp to perform. 
 
 General Delia Rocca also showed himself incapable 
 of dealing with an unexpected emergency, even when 
 the course to be taken was pointed out to him. In 
 vain General Govone, fully alive to the greatness of 
 the occasion, reiterates his demands to General Delia 
 Rocca for further support ; in vain Prince Humbert 
 begs to be allowed to aid the divisions of Generals 
 Cugia and Govone. General Delia Rocca replies, 
 that he has orders to hold Villafranca, and keeps the 
 divisions of General Bixio and Prince Humbert there 
 the entire day, although they had before them a 
 most inconsiderable force of the enemy ever after 
 the attack made upon them in the early morning, 
 as General Lamarmora says in his report, and as
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF I 866. I 39 
 
 General Delia Rocca might have ascertained had he 
 ordered his cavalry to make a reconnaissance to his 
 front. As it was, he satisfied himself with holding 
 Villafranca ; kept two divisions of infantry and 15 
 squadrons of cavalry, with 42 guns, in the same posi- 
 tions they had held in the morning, doing nothing 
 all the remainder of the day, and contented himself 
 with thinking about ordering up the divisions of 
 Generals Angioletti and Longoni, who, however, 
 never appeared. In cons.equence, Generals Govone 
 and Cugia did not receive the reinforcements so 
 urgently needed and demanded ; they were, there- 
 fore, obliged to give up Monte Belvedere and 
 Custoza, which they had won. The Austrians thus 
 regained possession of them, and the Italian army 
 had to retreat ; it is ordered to recross the Mincio, 
 whidi it does without difficulty, the enemy making 
 no attempt to harass it during that operation. 
 
 But if there were blunders committed by some of 
 the Italian generals, there was considerable ability 
 displayed by others. Generals Govone and Cugia 
 directed with great skill and energy their successful 
 counter-attack upon Custoza and Monte Belvedere, 
 of whose importance they were fully aware. General 
 Bixio was deservedly praised for the manner in which 
 he covered the retreat of the 3d corps d'armee. Colonel 
 Bonelli commanded with great ability and effect the 
 batteries which, in the neighbourhood of Monte Vento 
 and Monte Magrino, were brought up to check the 
 advance of the Austrians, after the severe repulse of 
 General Cerale's division. Colonel Boni displayed no
 
 140 ESSAYS. 
 
 little skill and great tenacity in maintaining through- 
 out the day, with two battalions of grenadiers, his 
 hold on the slopes of the hill of Custoza. Colonel 
 Strada, with three squadrons of the Alessandrian light 
 horse, drove back a larger force of the celebrated 
 Hungarian hussars during the attack upon Prince 
 Humbert's division, near Villafranca, in the early 
 morning of the 24th. 
 
 But the Italian general whose conduct on that day 
 deserves special praise, and who gave proof of a high 
 order of military capacity, was General Count Pianell. 
 Placed with his division on the right bank of the 
 Mincio, he no sooner perceived that, contrary to the 
 commander-in-chief's expectations, a great battle had 
 begun, than he moved his forces towards the river, 
 and when aware of the repulse of the ist division he 
 crossed over to the left bank on his own responsibi- 
 lity. By this bold initiative, promptly taken and 
 ably executed, he effectually checked the advance of 
 the Austrians, and inflicted upon them severe loss 
 by this flank attack. Nor could any efforts of which 
 the enemy were capable succeed in driving him from 
 his menacing position, which he held until seven P.M., 
 thus covering the retreat of the ist and 5th divisions 
 upon Valeggio. 
 
 General Pianell displayed in the very trying cir- 
 cumstances in which he was placed not only the 
 quickness of perception which sees in a moment what 
 is best to be done, and then proceeds to do it with 
 promptitude and ability, but also that high moral
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1866. I4I 
 
 courage which does not hesitate to take upon itself 
 heavy responsibihty in the performance of an arduous 
 duty suddenly rendered necessary by unlooked-for 
 danger. It is an interesting fact, that the gallant 
 commander who thus distinguished himself was a 
 Neapolitan never before engaged in actual war, but 
 who had diligently employed his time, unknown to 
 the world at large, in the close and careful study of 
 military science. General Pianell now commands the 
 important military department whose headquarters 
 are at Verona. He will doubtless continue to hold 
 a high place amongst those who have to regulate the 
 military affairs of his country, or who may have here- 
 after to plan and execute the future operations of her 
 army. 
 
 The necessity of being thoroughly and scientifically 
 acquainted with the art of war in all its varied 
 branches and details cannot be too much impressed 
 upon the officers of the young Italian army. It is 
 not simply by mere personal courage on the field of 
 battle that military operations are well carried out 
 and victories won. If such results are to be gained, 
 courage and devotion must be supplemented by that 
 scientific knowledge which persevering study alone 
 can give. What brilliant results may be obtained by 
 generals and officers who have thus studied, even 
 when having had but little practical experience of 
 war, is exemplified in the case of Prussia, who over- 
 threw in a moment her powerful antagonists, and in 
 a brief campaign of three or four weeks crushed their
 
 142 ESSAYS. 
 
 armies, broke up the old German Confederation, and 
 dictated peace to the great military empire of Austria 
 within sight of its capital. 
 
 The errors committed by General Lamarmora in 
 conducting the operations of the army of the Mincio, 
 which have been sharply criticised by military autho- 
 rities, have been recalled in these pages because truth 
 demanded the performance of that unpleasant duty 
 when dealing with the subject of " Italy and the War 
 of 1866." But the reader would be far indeed from 
 the truth if he supposed that the enumeration of such 
 alleged errors arose from a desire to lessen the real 
 merits of the gallant general, or from any wish to 
 diminish the many claims he has upon the gratitude 
 of his countrymen. It is not too much to say that 
 Italians and all the friends of Italy would be guilty of 
 deep ingratitude, if the loss of a single battle, or the 
 commission of errors which but prove the absence of 
 great military capacity, led them to forget the im- 
 mense services which, during a life devoted to the 
 faithful discharge of public duties, General Lamar- 
 mora has rendered to his sovereign and to his country. 
 It was he who reorganised the Piedmontese army 
 after the unsuccessful campaigns of 1848 and 1849. 
 It was he who led some 18,000 of those troops to 
 victory in the Crimea, where their discipline and 
 valour excited general and deserved admiration. It 
 is to him, in a large measure, that praise is due for 
 successfully forming around the nucleus of that brave 
 army, the army of Italy, which throughout the pro- 
 tracted twelve hours' struggle of Custoza proved how
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I43 
 
 well the work of its organisation and the fusion of its 
 various elements had been performed. It was he 
 whose administrative firmness and justice first suc- 
 ceeded in substituting something like order and good 
 government for the chaos of corruption and vice 
 to which the people of Naples had been accustomed 
 by the Bourbon dynasty, whose steady aim it was to 
 render the people they misruled ignorant, supersti- 
 tious, and brutal. It was he who, in the difficulties 
 which arose out of the transfer of the seat of govern- 
 ment from Turin to Florence, was called to the helm 
 of the state ; and by his firm and upright conduct of 
 affairs appeased the troubles of the hour, and carried 
 through the celebrated convention of September 1864, 
 which had been made with the French government, 
 and which resulted in the withdrawal of the French 
 troops from Rome. It was he who successfully con- 
 ducted the negotiations which led to the Prussian 
 alliance, so fruitful in its results to Italy. And if 
 to-day (March 1867) the aspiration of centuries is 
 accomplished, and the soil of Italy from the Alps to 
 Sicily, and from Mount Cenis to the lagoons of Venice, 
 is freed from all foreign rule, among those to whom 
 that great deliverance is due he will ever hold an 
 honoured place in the annals of emancipated Italy. 
 Great have been the services which he has rendered 
 to her cause ; nor does it require the gift of prophecy 
 to affirm that, if life and health are spared to him, the 
 list of those services is not yet completed. It may 
 be clear enough that he does not possess the highest 
 order of military talent, such as is capable of planning
 
 144 ESSAYS. 
 
 and directing with success the movements of large 
 armies against the most formidable military position 
 in Europe, but that fact by no means proves that 
 he is incapable of rendering in the future, as in the 
 past, most valuable service in the conduct of political 
 and also of military affairs. If uprightness and true 
 patriotism — if the keenest sense of honour ever pre- 
 served unsullied — if chivalrous loyalty to his king — 
 if constant and often self-sacrificing devotion to his 
 country's welfare — if the assiduous and conscientious 
 discharge of public duties are virtues which excite 
 admiration and esteem, assuredly to no living man is 
 such admiration and esteem more due than to Alfonso 
 Lamarmora. 
 
 But it is time to return to the main subject, and give 
 an account of what occurred after the battle of Custoza. 
 The conclusion come to at the headquarters of the 
 Italian army, after the retreat across the Mincio, is 
 thus stated: — "Our attempt to establish ourselves 
 between the Mincio and the Adige, in order to sepa- 
 rate the fortresses (of the Quadrilateral) from one 
 another, not having been successful, the position we 
 had taken up along the Mincio had no longer any 
 object." It was therefore determined not to renew 
 the attack. The feeling throughout the army was of 
 an exactly opposite kind ; officers and men desired, 
 on the contrary, to renew the attack as soon as pos- 
 sible, nor would there have been any difficulty in 
 doing so a day or two later. The divisions of Gene- 
 rals Angioletti and Longoni had taken no part what- 
 ever in the action ; to them might have been added
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I45 
 
 at least a brigade of General Cosenz's division, which, 
 with that of General Nunziante, was watching Man- 
 tua. The divisions of Prince Humbert and General 
 Bixio were almost intact ; that of General Pianell had 
 suffered but slight losses. These various divisions 
 made up a force of nearly 50,000 men. The three 
 divisions of Generals Cugia, Govone, and Sirtori, 
 which had suffered heavy losses, would certainly have 
 been able to muster from 6000 to 7000 men each, 
 thus making up a force of about 70,000 men. The 
 remains of the divisions of General Cerale and Gene- 
 ral Brignone, which had been terribly cut up, could 
 have watched Peschiera. Such a course, which the 
 army would have gladly seen adopted, was, however, 
 not pursued. All further attacks in the direction of 
 Custoza and Sommacampagna were abandoned, and 
 the army was withdrawn behind the river Oglio. The 
 generals set about devising a fresh plan of campaign, 
 concerning which it seems that opinions differed not 
 a little. More than a week was consumed in these 
 movements and discussions, accompanied, as usual in 
 the case of failure, by a good deal of unpleasant criti- 
 cism as to whom most blame was due for the want of 
 success. This loss of time greatly displeased the na- 
 tion and the army, both desirous of again measuring 
 themselves with the hereditary foe of Italy. In the 
 meanwhile the Prussians had been gaining continual 
 successes, and had at length inflicted upon the Aus- 
 trians the overwhelming defeat of Koniggratz on 
 the 3d of July. The tidings of that great victory 
 were speedily followed by an announcement which 
 
 K
 
 146 ESSAYS. 
 
 nowhere produced a greater sensation than in Italy. 
 On the 5 th appeared the following official paragraph 
 in the French Moniteur : — 
 
 " A very important event has just taken place. The 
 Emperor of Austria, having maintained intact the honour 
 of his arms in Italy, accepts the ideas set forth by the Em- 
 peror Napoleon in his letter of the nth June, addressed to 
 his Minister of Foreign Affairs, and cedes in consequence 
 Venetia to the Emperor of the French, whose mediation he 
 accepts in order to re-establish peace between the contend- 
 ing parties. The Emperor Napoleon has hastened to reply 
 to this appeal, and has immediately addressed himself to 
 their majesties the Kings of Prussia and of Italy, in order 
 to bring about an armistice." 
 
 On the same day the Emperor of the French wrote 
 the following note to the King of Italy : — 
 
 "Paris, 5//^ July 1866. 
 
 " Sire, — The Emperor of Austria, acceding to the ideas 
 set forth in my letter to M. Drouyn de Lhuys, cedes to me 
 Venetia, and declares himself ready to accept a mediation 
 in order to bring about peace between the belligerents. 
 
 " The Italian army has had an opportunity of showing 
 its valour. A greater effusion of blood is therefore unne- 
 cessary, and Italy can obtain honourably the object of her 
 aspirations by an arrangement with me, concerning which 
 it will be easy to come to an understanding. I am writing 
 to the King of Prussia, in order to make him acquainted 
 with the position of affairs, and to propose to him as regards 
 Germany, as I do to your majesty as regards Italy, the con- 
 clusion of an armistice, as preliminary to negotiations for 
 peace. 
 
 (Signed) " Napoleon." 
 
 The King of Italy replied, thanking the Emperor 
 for the interest he took in the Italian cause, and re-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 47 
 
 serving to himself to consult his government, and to 
 learn the views of his ally the King of Prussia con- 
 cerning this most important proposal : — 
 
 " As regards the armistice or the suspension of hostili- 
 ties," writes on this same 5th of July Signer Visconti- 
 Venosta, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to M. 
 Nigra, the Italian Minister at Paris, " the King's govern- 
 ment has a double duty to perform ; towards Prussia, who, 
 not having notified to us her acceptation of the proposal, 
 has a right to expect that we continue to prosecute our 
 military operations ; towards the Italian populations subject 
 to Austria, not comprised within the administrative limits of 
 Venetia, whose liberation ought to be the object of our 
 utmost efforts." 
 
 On the same day, Signor Visconti-Venosta wrote to 
 
 the Count de Barral, the Italian Minister at Berlin, as 
 
 follows : — 
 
 " Florence, ^ih July. 
 
 " SiGR. MiNiSTRo, — Be good enough to inform your- 
 self with the utmost possible sohcitude of the feeling of the 
 Prussian government concerning the proposition of media- 
 tion and armistice made by the Emperor of the French. I 
 have sent by telegram to your lordship the sense of the 
 reply made to the same by the King. Our loyalty, and the 
 unanimous desire of the Italian nation, secure to the Prus- 
 sian government the continuance of our co-operation in so 
 far as it has a right to ask it. We desire, under all circum- 
 stances, to come to an understanding with it (the Prussian 
 government) as to the conditions to be established in com- 
 mon between Italy and Prussia, in order that we may be in 
 a position to reply to the proposal of the Emperor of the 
 French. 
 
 (Signed) " Visconti-Venosta." 
 
 This firm determination of the Italian "-overnment
 
 148 ESSAYS. 
 
 to remain faithful to its Prussian ally, and not to con- 
 clude a peace, (even though it offered Venetia to Italy,) 
 without having first come to an understanding with 
 Prussia, was in full accordance with the universal 
 feeling of the Italians. Indeed, such a course was 
 the only one that could be for a moment entertained 
 under the circumstances by a nation which had any 
 regard for its honour, or the slightest feeling of self- 
 respect. If a moment's doubt could have been enter- 
 tained upon such a point, it would have been dissi- 
 pated by the language of the Vienna papers, which 
 openly avowed that peace must be made with Italy, 
 in order to give Austria the full use of all her re- 
 sources against Prussia. 
 
 The Italian government and people further deter- 
 mined, most rightly, that deeds as well as words must 
 prove their unswerving fidelity to the engagements 
 they had entered upon with Prussia before the war. 
 Therefore it was that, on the 7th of July, the troops 
 of General Cialdini began their movements in order 
 to cross the Po, and by the 14th of the month they 
 had occupied Padua. General Nunziante attacked 
 the forts of Borgoforte on the 17th, and on the night 
 of the 1 8th the Austrians were compelled to evacuate 
 that place and retire to Mantua. General Cialdini 
 continued his onward march, occupied Vicenza and 
 Treviso, and pushed on beyond the Tagliamento 
 towards the Isonzo. In the meanwhile Garibaldi at- 
 tacked the Trentine district on the side of the Guidi- 
 caria and Val d'Ampola, while one of the divisions of 
 General Cialdini's army, that of General Medici, pushed
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 49 
 
 up the Val Sugana towards the town of Trent, ad- 
 vancing to within five miles of it, when the armistice 
 between Italy and Austria having at length been 
 signed, further hostilities were put an end to. 
 
 This httle campaign of General Medici was very 
 well executed, but the inferior numbers which the 
 Austrians were able to oppose to him, owing to the 
 withdrawal of the greater part of their army from 
 Venetia, deprive it of value as a military success. The 
 instant the Austrian government had handed over 
 Venetia to France it recalled in the utmost haste its 
 troops from that province in order to protect Vienna, 
 which was in the most imminent possible danger after 
 the crushing defeat of Koniggratz. The Austrians 
 left only the necessary garrisons in the fortresses of 
 the Quadrilateral and in those of Venice, The de- 
 fence of the Trentine district was left to a body of 
 troops much inferior to those under the command 
 of General Medici, and the volunteers of Garibaldi, 
 Some of the enemies of Italy have therefore repre- 
 sented the advance of General Cialdini as a vain-glo- 
 rious affair, undertaken at a "time when the Austrians, 
 on account of the Prussian victories, were obliged to 
 evacuate Venetia. Such a statement is an utter mis- 
 representation of the case. No Italian ever speaks of 
 General Cialdini's advance, or of whatever advantages 
 General Medici may have gained, as if they were 
 occasioned by Italian successes. That advance was 
 made as an assurance to Prussia that the Italians did 
 not consider the handing over of Venetia to France 
 by Austria as in any degree freeing them from their
 
 150 ESSAYS. 
 
 engagements with their German ally ; those engage- 
 ments being binding until Prussia herself was satis- 
 fied, in common with Italy, as to the terms of peace 
 granted to the allies by Austria. They further de- 
 sired, by taking possession of whatever portion they 
 could of Venetia, and by pushing on to the Austrian 
 frontier, to hold such a position as would enable them 
 effectually to aid Prussia in the case of Austria not 
 accepting the conditions demanded, and the war in 
 consequence being resumed ; a possibility which might 
 easily have occurred, as the Prussian demands in- 
 cluded the ejection of Austria from the German Con- 
 federation, to which the house of Hapsburg was not 
 likely to assent, unless from the belief of being wholly 
 unable to continue the war against the allies. The 
 conduct of Italy was therefore not only justifiable, 
 but was the only course which could have been pur- 
 sued with honour. That she did pursue it without 
 hesitation, and without allowing herself to be hindered 
 by the cession of Venetia to France, only proved that 
 Italy possessed a proper sense of the binding nature 
 of the engagements entered into with Prussia, which 
 she rightly deemed must be faithfully and fully main- 
 tained at all costs. This conduct of Italy was spoken 
 of in the highest terms, as it well deserved, by Count 
 Bismark, in a speech delivered on the 20th December, 
 in the Prussian Chambers, on the subject of the war 
 and the negotiations which followed it. 
 
 " We had," he said, " a powerful support in the unshake- 
 able fidelity of Italy — fidelity which I cannot sufficiently 
 praise, and whose value I cannot too highly appreciate.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 151 
 
 The Italian government resisted with great energy the 
 temptation of abandoning the aUiance on account of Austria's 
 gift (that of the cession of Venetia) who was our common 
 enemy ; from this fact we can draw legitimate hopes in 
 favour of the friendly and natural relations which in future 
 ought to unite together Germany and Italy." 
 
 The Emperor of the French has been blamed for 
 the manner in which he stepped in, as tending to 
 arrest the action of Italy in a way which it was 
 wholly impossible for her to agree to with hon- 
 our. Indeed the Italians felt not a little irritated 
 by the position in which the intervention of the 
 Emperor placed them. That irritation gradually 
 subsided as circumstances enabled them to form a 
 juster idea of the course pursued by the French 
 government, which in the first instance, it must be 
 owned, seemed to take too little into account the just 
 susceptibilities of a people smarting under a defeat, 
 which only made them more anxious to keep scrupu- 
 lously their engagements, and show that they were 
 ready to strike another, and, as they hoped, a more 
 successful blow against the common enemy. Such 
 feelings were natural and even praiseworthy, in so 
 far as they showed a keen sense of national honour ; 
 nor is there any other people possessed of a proper 
 sense of what is due to itself and to others, who would 
 not in like circumstances have felt as did the Italians. 
 
 The intervention of the Emperor Napoleon had 
 too much the appearance of wishing to separate 
 Italy from Prussia, thereby enabling Austria to direct 
 all her forces against the latter. Such was the im-
 
 152 ESSAYS. 
 
 pression produced by the announcement of the ces- 
 sion of Venetia at the headquarters of the Prussian 
 army, where, as generally throughout Germany, much 
 irritation was felt against Austria for having called in 
 French intervention to put an end to the quarrel 
 between the German powers. The Vienna papers 
 openly declared that Italy w-as to be appeased in 
 order that Austria might have at her disposal her 
 whole available forces against her rival in Germany. 
 Such statements only made the Italians fear the 
 more that their Prussian allies might suspect them — 
 as they seem for a moment to have done — of being 
 faithless to the engagements entered into before the 
 war. The possibility of such a suspicion naturally 
 irritated the Italians, who complained much of the 
 position in which they were placed. Nor w^as such 
 irritation lessened by the fact, that while the import- 
 ant announcement in the Moniteur spoke of the 
 Emperor of Austria " having maintained the honour 
 of his arms intact in Italy," it uttered no w^ord tend- 
 ing to smooth the amour propre of the Italian army, 
 nettled by a defeat in which the capacity of one or 
 two of its generals, but not the courage of its soldiers 
 had been found wanting. It has been said that such 
 a feeling of avioiir propre was out of place. To which 
 it may be replied, that such a feeling was an inevit- 
 able consequence of what had occurred ; that to have 
 repressed it was impossible ; that no other people 
 would have been without it under similar circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The truth is, that the victory of Koniggratz made
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 53 
 
 the French government forget for the moment every 
 other consideration excepting that of saving Austria. 
 Nor is such a consequence to be wondered at. France 
 had every possible reason for preserving Austria from 
 what threatened to be simple annihilation. It would 
 be unjust to the Emperor Napoleon to forget the 
 difficulties and dangers of every kind which would 
 have come upon him had he allowed Austria to have 
 succumbed completely to her rival. The danger was 
 imminent, and he is scarcely to be blamed, if, when 
 it first arose with a suddenness that baffled all pre- 
 vious calculation, he somewhat forgot what was due 
 to others in his efforts to ward off a catastrophe fatal 
 to Austria, and fraught with no little danger to him- 
 self. But Austria once saved, though at a heavy cost 
 to herself, the Emperor of the French gave abundant 
 proof that his feelings of friendship and goodwill to- 
 wards Italy were as strong as ever. It is easy to point 
 out the shortcomings which have marked on more 
 than one occasion his Italian policy ; but whoever 
 bears in mind the innumerable difficulties of his posi- 
 tion cannot but allow that the Emperor Napoleon 
 has after all been a faithful friend to Italy, and that 
 her freedom would assuredly not be to-day an ac- 
 complished fact but for the great policy which, in 
 spite of the utmost opposition both at home and 
 abroad, he inaugurated in 1859. The consequences 
 which have flowed from it have surpassed the good 
 which the Emperor intended to effect, namely, the 
 exclusion of Austria from the peninsula by the estab- 
 lishment of a kingdom of North Italy; but those
 
 154 ESSAYS. 
 
 greater consequences do not diminish the merit of 
 Napoleon's original intention — they only redound to 
 the wisdom and courage of the Italians, who thus 
 proved how capable they were of turning to the utmost 
 account the occasion offered them by the enlightened 
 policy and sincere friendship of Napoleon III. 
 
 If, however, the Italian government deserves real 
 praise for the determination and fidelity which it 
 showed towards its ally at the moment of the Aus- 
 trian cession of Venetia to France, it clearly erred in 
 not at once accepting and signing an armistice when 
 Prussia agreed to do so at Nikolsburg on the 26th 
 July. The true course of Italy was to have gone 
 completely hand-in-hand with Prussia under all cir- 
 cumstances which came within the engagements made 
 before the war. It may be that all the causes are 
 not yet known to the world at large which led to the 
 delay in signing the armistice between Austria and 
 Italy, which did not take place until the 12th August ; 
 but from what is actually known, it appears that the 
 delay occurred from Italy's endeavour to conclude 
 the armistice on the basis of the iiti possidetis with 
 a view of making good her claims to the Trentine 
 district, her forces being in possession of a large por- 
 tion of that province. She sought to reserve to her- 
 self expressly the power of raising the question of 
 the Trentino during the negotiations for a final peace, 
 in order to obtain a rectification of frontiers which 
 would unite to her the Trentine province, and make 
 the river Isonzo itself her eastern frontier. But inas- 
 much as Prussia had only engaged before the war to
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1866. I 55 
 
 obtain the liberation of Venetia, the cabinet of Berlin 
 was in no degree bound upon the subject of the 
 Trentino nor upon the question of the uti possidetis. 
 Prussia had indeed obtained her armistice upon the 
 basis of the iiti possidetis, but then there was this 
 great dift'erence between the position of the two 
 belligerents — the one, Prussia, had been victorious ; 
 the other, Italy, had been beaten. It is true that 
 France had agreed to use her best efforts, as she did, 
 to obtain an armistice for Italy on the basis of the 
 titi possidetis, and that the Emperor was favourable 
 to such a frontier between Italy and Austria as was 
 desired by the former of these two powers, wisely 
 deeming such a frontier to be really in the interest of < 
 both, and as being more conducive to a lasting peace 
 between them. But it surely required no extraor- 
 dinary foresight to perceive that if Austria refused 
 such terms, France would not enforce them by arms. 
 When, then, Italy found that Prussia was not only 
 agreeing to an armistice, but was even hurrying on 
 negotiations for peace, as well she might, considering 
 that her supremacy in Germany was secured by the 
 ejection of Austria from every German confederation, 
 the Italian statesmen should at once have agreed to 
 an armistice and negotiations for the re-establishment 
 of peace conjointly with Prussia. Had they taken 
 that clear and penetrating view of the case which is 
 rarely wanting to Italians when the question to be 
 solved is one of diplomatic tact and skill, they would 
 have perceived that this hanging back upon the ques- 
 tions of the titi possidetis and the rectification of
 
 156 ESSAYS. 
 
 frontiers, when Prussia was pressing on, and when 
 France had no intention of going beyond a diplo- 
 matic support of Italian claims, could only result in 
 the isolation of Italy, and would oblige her finally 
 either to accept the armistice and subsequent nego- 
 tiations upon the Austrian terms, or to recommence 
 hostilities single-handed against Austria, thereby 
 putting in peril the acquisition of Venetia itself. 
 And this was precisely what occurred, the end being, 
 that Italy had to accept the terms offered by Austria, 
 thus bringing upon herself a diplomatic defeat in 
 addition to the material ones she had already suffered 
 by land and sea. 
 
 But the fault thus committed was quite as much 
 due to the condition of public feeling as to the mis- 
 takes of the Italian government. Bitterly disap- 
 pointed at the result of the war, smarting under 
 unexpected defeats, justly angry with more than one 
 of their military and naval commanders, the Italians 
 were unable at the moment to take a calm and just 
 view of the circumstances in which they were placed, 
 and failed to see the absolute necessity of yielding to 
 the inevitable conditions which those circumstances 
 had created. It is rare indeed that they fall into 
 such errors, but so it was in this instance, as the 
 Italians now admit ; one of whose excellent qualities 
 it is, that they never seek to blind themselves as to 
 their mistakes, faults, and failures. At present they 
 are much inclined to exaggerate them, a wholesome 
 fault, which their sincere friends will be in no hurry 
 to check. Many of them, indeed, grumble and find
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I 57 
 
 fault with everything and everybody, in a manner 
 worthy of old John Bull himself, with whom grum- 
 bling is a cherished and oft-exercised privilege. The 
 symptom is by no means a bad one ; and even 
 though it may sometimes run into exaggeration, its 
 effects are much more likely to be beneficial than 
 hurtful. 
 
 Those, however, who have known what it is to see 
 expectations falsified and failure incurred where suc- 
 cess was justly anticipated, (and there are no nations 
 who have not gone through that unpleasant experi- 
 ence at some moment of their history,) will find 
 perhaps some excuse for that ill -humour of the 
 Italians, which prevented them seeing the best course 
 to be pursued on the question of the armistice, if it 
 be remembered that it was just in the midst of the 
 delicate negotiations consequent on the cession of 
 Venetia to France that the defeat of the Italian fleet 
 at Lissa occurred. True, such disasters ought to 
 make the sufferers more reasonable, ready to lower 
 their demands, and inclined to yield ; but in almost 
 all cases they only irritate a people, particularly if 
 high-spirited and sensitive, so as to blind them even 
 to their own real interests under the circumstances. 
 If ever irritation were excusable, it assuredly was so 
 in the case of the Italians when they learned of the 
 defeat sustained by Admiral Persano. They had 
 spent ungrudgingly their money in order to create 
 a navy in accordance with the wants of Italy's mari- 
 time character and position. The Peninsula possesses 
 a considerable population along its extended coasts.
 
 158 ESSAYS. 
 
 fond of the sea, and composed of brave and skilful 
 sailors. The Italians possessed a fleet much more 
 numerous than the Austrian, more heavily armed, 
 and composed of a larger number of ironclads, more 
 than one of which was superior to any similar vessel 
 in the Austrian navy. It was therefore natural that 
 they should anticipate decided success at sea ; in- 
 stead of which Admiral Persano, whose fleet included 
 twelve ironclads, was beaten by Admiral Tegethoff, 
 who had at his command but seven of that class of 
 ships. 
 
 Admiral Persano first directed an attack against 
 the island and forts of Lissa, which he failed to take. 
 When the Austrian fleet arrived, with the object of 
 obliging him to cease his attack on Lissa, Admiral 
 Persano, although he had obtained information 
 beforehand of the approach of his adversary, not 
 only failed to beat or drive off the enemy's fleet, but 
 was himself driven off, with the loss of two vessels. 
 Admiral Tegethoff thus succeeded in relieving Lissa, 
 into whose port he entered without the loss of a single 
 vessel, after a fight of from three to four hours, which 
 Admiral Persano, although still in greater force than 
 his adversary, did not attempt to renew ; on the con- 
 trary, he drew off and made for Ancona, after having 
 wholly failed to effect any one of the objects for 
 which the expedition was undertaken. This failure 
 was greatly aggravated by the fact that the ship on 
 board of which Admiral Persano placed himself dur- 
 ing the action, inflicted no loss whatever upon the 
 enemy, although belonging to a most formidable class
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866, 1 59 
 
 of the newest kind of war-ships. Her name was the 
 Affondatore ; she was a powerful ironclad monitor, 
 furnished with an immense spur, for the purpose of 
 charging and running down her antagonists ; she had 
 a couple of 300 lb. Armstrong guns on board, mea- 
 sured 4000 tons, and had engines of 700-horse power. 
 The admiral left his own ship, the Re d'lialia, 
 only just before the battle commenced, to go on 
 board the Affondatore, placed her " out of the line of 
 attack," in order, as he says, " to take a part accord- 
 ing to circumstances in the combat at the most 
 opportune moment, and to convey orders more 
 promptly to the various parts of the fleet." In fact, 
 it appears that the Affondatore took up her position 
 behind the other ironclads. The admiral relates a 
 series of manoeuvres executed by this vessel, which 
 may have been very masterpieces of nautical skill, 
 but which, as a matter of fact, failed to inflict the 
 slightest loss upon the enemy, and " the whole of 
 which history," as Colonel Rustow justly observes, 
 " is singularly obscure." Indeed, to the ordinary 
 reader, with nothing but common-sense to guide him, 
 it seems little else than a miserable attempt to con- 
 ceal a miserable failure. The only part of the 
 account which is clearly corroborated by facts is, that 
 the Affondatore took up her position " out of the hne 
 of attack ;" and that, after a fight in which Admiral 
 Persano losses two vessels and some 900 men, he 
 withdraws from the scene of conflict, so as to be 
 completely out of sight of Lissa by the following 
 morning. Yet it is in the face of such facts that a
 
 l6o ESSAYS. 
 
 despatch, dated " the channel of Lissa, 20th July/' 
 contains these words : " The Italian fleet remained 
 master of the waters in which the combat took place," 
 — a phrase which will ever rank as one of the most 
 absurd and impudent attempts to conceal the truth 
 which was ever penned. In truth, the only success 
 which Admiral Persano gained in all this wretched 
 business of Lissa, was that of deluding, for a day or 
 two, the Italian public into the belief that his dis- 
 graceful failure had been a victory. But the truth 
 soon came out, and naturally produced a feeling of 
 just and general indignation. It was determined 
 that a strict investigation should take place as to the 
 facts of the case and the conduct of the admiral. A 
 sincere and searching examination was imperatively 
 demanded ; and the Senate, to which body Admiral 
 Persano belonged, was finally called upon to exercise 
 its constitutional function of investigating and judging 
 the conduct of its member, who had given his country 
 good reason to suppose that he was himself the chief 
 cause of the disaster of Lissa. Such a course was not 
 only justifiable but right ; for by it alone could be 
 determined the measure of blame due to Admiral 
 Persano, and what amount, if any, fell to the share 
 of others. 
 
 The conduct of Admiral TegethofTwas that of a 
 brave and able man, who, though possessed of means 
 very inadequate to the task assigned him, yet knew 
 how to make them sufficient for the purpose by the 
 boldness with which he used them, and by the confi- 
 dence which his courage and determination inspired.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. l6l 
 
 As soon as he found that Admiral Persano was 
 attacking Lissa, the Austrian commander made at 
 once for that place. He knew that he was about to 
 meet an enemy superior to him in force ; but, nothing 
 daunted, he determined to drive his adversary away 
 from Lissa, or perish in the attempt. Instead of 
 placing the vessel he commanded " out of the line of 
 attack," and making her take up a position behind 
 the other ironclads. Admiral Tegethofif gallantly led 
 them on. Nor does that course appear to have at all 
 prevented him " from conveying promptly his orders 
 to the different parts of his fleet." As regards that 
 "opportune moment" for attacking and damaging 
 the enemy, which Admiral Persano was never fortu- 
 nate enough to hit upon. Admiral Tegethoff discovers 
 it instantly, and uses it to such good purpose, that 
 with his own vessel, the Archduke Ferdinand JMaxi- 
 viilian, he sinks the Re d' Italia. The general result 
 of his courageous onslaught being, that he destroys 
 two of the enemy's ships, breaks through his fleet, 
 which sought to prevent the Austrians from reaching 
 Lissa, and takes up a position in front of that port, 
 so as to protect it from further attack : after which 
 Admiral Persano drew off, and by the next morning 
 was out of sight, making for Ancona. 
 
 If Admiral Tegethoff had had to measure himself 
 with a man of his own pluck, he must have been 
 beaten, being, as he was, so inferior in ironclads to 
 his adversary. That he would, even in that case, 
 have inflicted some loss upon the Italian fleet is 
 quite possible, because he is one of those com-
 
 1 62 ESSAYS. 
 
 manders who know how to lead gallantly gallant 
 men. He would therefore very probably have made 
 his enemies pay dearly for their victory. As it was, 
 he won without the loss of a single vessel, and if his 
 adversary rejoiced in being " master of the waters," 
 the Austrian admiral no doubt found sufficient con- 
 solation in the fact that he was " master of Lissa." 
 Such having been the result of the naval operations 
 commanded by Admiral Persano, it was both just and 
 natural, under the circumstances, that the whole affair 
 should be carefully examined, and an authoritative 
 decision be arrived at. At the end of January 1867, 
 the Senate decided by 71 votes against 60, that there 
 was not sufficient ground for bringing the admiral 
 to trial on the charge of cowardice ; but a majority 
 of 116 to 15 decided that there was ground for pro- 
 ceeding to try him on the charges of incapacity and 
 negligence, as also upon that of disobedience, this last 
 accusation being sustained by 83 votes against 48. 
 If the three charges of incapacity, negligence, and dis- 
 obedience be proved. Admiral Persano will no doubt 
 be deprived of all further opportunity of winning vic- 
 tories which leave his adversary master of the place 
 attacked, and himself " master of the waters." * 
 
 The armistice which was signed between Italy 
 
 *-0n 15th April 1867 the Senate pronounced Admiral Persano 
 guilty on the charges of incapacity, negligence, and disobedience ; it 
 sentenced him to retire from the service, to be degraded from the rank 
 of admiral, and to pay the costs of the trial. It has been well said that 
 at the battle of Lissa " every man in the Italian fleet — but one — did 
 his duty." Upon that one man the Italian Senate justly inflicted sig- 
 nal punishment, after full and fair investigation.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 163 
 
 and Austria on the 12th August, was followed by 
 negotiations which led to the conclusion of a treaty 
 of peace between the two powers on the 3d October 
 1866, at Vienna. The Emperor of Austria renounced 
 his title to the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, and 
 consented to its union with the kingdom of Italy, 
 which he at length recognised, and with which he 
 agreed to establish diplomatic relations. The debt 
 that Italy took upon herself in consequence of re- 
 ceiving Venetia, was not regulated upon the basis 
 of the proportion of the debt of that province to 
 the general debt of the Austrian empire, but upon 
 the principle of its being a portion of the debt of 
 the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom only, as was done 
 in the case of the cession of Lombardy by the treaty 
 of Zurich in i860. In maintaining that basis for 
 the settlement of the debt, much more advantageous 
 to Italian interests than the other, Italy was warmly 
 supported by France and Prussia. It was further 
 agreed that the frontier of the ceded territory should 
 be that of " the actual administrative confines of the 
 Lombardo-Venetian kingdom." 
 
 The Trentine district was thus left to Austria, 
 while the eastern limit between the two States, in- 
 stead of being the river Isonzo, is a line presenting a 
 mere arbitrary and imaginary frontier, running just 
 to the west of that river. General Menabrea, the 
 Italian plenipotentiary at Vienna, in a remarkably 
 able and temperate despatch of the 2d of October, 
 shows the great inconvenience of such a limit between 
 Italy and Austria. He points out that the Isonzo
 
 1 64 ESSAYS. 
 
 itself formed the frontier between the ItaHan kingdom, 
 under Eugene Beauharnais, and the Austrian empire, 
 adding, "it was under these conditions that Venetia 
 fell again to Austria during the events of 1 8 14-18 15." 
 That the Isonzo offers a far more suitable frontier 
 than the present arbitrary line, both as regards cus- 
 tom-houses, and for all other purposes which render 
 a frontier useful and necessary, is obvious to any one 
 who judges the question impartially, and that in the 
 interest both of Austria and of Italy. In touching 
 upon the question of the Trentine district, the gene- 
 ral dwells upon the fact, that so great is the difference 
 of ideas and interests vyhich exist between the Italian 
 people of the Trentino and the German populations 
 of the Tyrol, that the Austrian government itself 
 separated the two peoples, and gave to the former 
 a distinct administration of its own. Nor did the 
 government of Vienna stop there ; but " recognising 
 the constant aversion of the Trentino to organise the 
 defence of their country after the model of the Tyrol, 
 it adopted for the district of Trent a different system, 
 similar to that established in its ancient Italian pro- 
 vinces," viz., Lombardy and Venetia. He recalls, 
 also, the well-known fact, that in 1863 the deputies 
 elected by the Trentine province drew up a memorial 
 to the Emperor, in which they stated their reasons, 
 founded upon considerations of race, language, his- 
 tory, and interest, which led them to refuse to take 
 part in the Diet of Innspruck. So, again, in 1866, 
 after the rc-establishment of peace, the great majo- 
 rity, if not all, of those elected as deputies, refused to
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. l6$ 
 
 present themselves in that assembly. It was known 
 beforehand that such was their intention if elected, 
 and they were therefore chosen as representing the 
 feelings of the province in the matter. Since then 
 the government of Vienna have asked the munici- 
 palities of Trent and Riva to state how the frontier 
 could be so drawn as to be most in accordance with 
 the interests of the province ? The reply was very 
 detailed and very respectful in form, but in substance 
 it amounted simply to this : the frontier line which 
 would leave us united to Italy, is that which most 
 accords with our wislies, wants, and interests. 
 
 It has been said that when, during the late war, the 
 Italians entered the Trentine district, the peasants, 
 instead of taking up arms against the Austrians, 
 showed themselves very indifferent on the subject of 
 being united to Italy. Admitting such to have been 
 the case, it is a fact of little weight as compared with 
 the repeatedly-expressed will of the more intelligent 
 classes of the community, manifested by the election 
 of representatives who always refused to take part in 
 the proceedings of the Diet of Innspruck, the seat 
 of the Tyrol government. Nor must it be forgotten 
 that such has been the course deliberately and con- 
 stantly adopted under Austria's own rule, who did 
 her utmost to induce the electors of the Trentino to 
 pursue exactly the opposite course, and to allow 
 themselves to be represented in the Tyrolean Diet. 
 
 General Menabrea shows further, with great clear- 
 ness, that the actual frontier renders the economical 
 condition of the Trentine province such as to make
 
 1 66 ESSAYS. 
 
 its possession a burden rather than a resource to the 
 empire. Nothing, in fact, can be much worse than 
 its present position. It is a small district, of very 
 limited resources, containing a population of 350,000 
 inhabitants, cut off from the Tyrol and the rest of the 
 Austrian empire by the immense barrier of the Alps, 
 and therefore naturally drawing its supplies from the 
 Italian provinces to the south, from which it is now 
 separated by a frontier line of custom-houses. This 
 line, open on all sides, will necessitate a perfect 
 army of employes to prevent smuggling, which will 
 assuredly be attempted on no small scale — a natural 
 consequence of cutting off the Trentino from that 
 natural source of its supplies, the fertile Italian pro- 
 vinces to the south. Besides this, Austria v;ill have 
 to fortify this outlying dependency, thereby further 
 increasing the cost it entails. Now, as the sum of 
 400,000 francs (^16,000) represents the net annual 
 revenue which Austria has hitherto obtained from 
 this little district, it is not difficult to see that, what 
 with fortifications, soldiers, and employes for custom- 
 house purposes, and for putting down smuggling, the 
 Trentino will be a dead loss to the Austrian exche- 
 quer. It is, then, in the interest of this latter power, 
 as well as in that of Italy, to put an end to such a 
 state of things, bad for all concerned, a last though 
 small cause of difference between the governments of 
 Florence and Vienna. The true frontier is that of 
 the mountains between the towns of Trent and 
 Bolzano, as wisely suggested by Lord Palmerston 
 in one of his far-sighted despatches written in 1848.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1866. 167 
 
 What incalculable losses, what terrible defeats, has 
 Austria not brought upon herself by refusing to follow 
 the wise suggestions of that English statesman, given 
 in the memorable year referred to ! It surely may 
 be hoped that a man of M. Von Beust's ability will 
 not fail to apply to this Trentine question a solution 
 in conformity with Lord Palmerston's views expressed 
 nearly twenty years ago, which events have so com- 
 pletely ratified, and in conformity also with the real 
 interests of Austria. If the frontier were placed, then, 
 between Trent and Bolzano, and if the river Isonzo 
 itself were taken as the eastern limit between the two 
 powers, every just cause of future difficulty between 
 them would be removed. Such a course would com- 
 pletely heal the wounds caused by the past errors of 
 a diplomacy which cared only for dynastic interests, 
 built too often on an arbitrary and artificial basis, 
 without paying any attention to the rights or wishes 
 of the people. It would consolidate the good feeling 
 already fast springing up between Italy and Austria, 
 who have need of one another, and whose common 
 interests are best served by a common regard for 
 each other s just claims and necessities. Nor are such 
 ties of goodwill and interest desirable only for Austria 
 and Italy, but for the whole of Europe, whose states- 
 men, by putting an end to every future source of dis- 
 cord between these neighbouring countries, would 
 thereby obtain an additional guarantee for the gene- 
 ral peace of Europe, and an additional means of 
 developing its moral and material resources. Incal- 
 culable as have been the woes inflicted by the past
 
 1 68 ESSAYS. 
 
 antagonism of Italy and Austria, they will assuredly 
 be surpassed by the benefits which shall spring from 
 their future harmony and goodwill ; because, immense 
 as are the evils arising from injustice, oppression, and 
 wrong, still greater are the blessings which have their 
 eternal source in justice, liberty, and right. 
 
 Great was the joy throughout Venetia when the 
 official announcement was published that peace had 
 been finally signed between Italy and Austria ; for 
 the people were wear>' of the delays which diplomacy 
 interposed between them and their deliverance from 
 foreign rule. In Venice itself there had been various 
 signs of a growing impatience ; but the tact and 
 good sense of General Alemann, the Austrian gover- 
 nor, united to the moderation and good conduct of 
 the Venetian people, happily averted all unpleasant 
 consequences. It was, indeed, a spectacle almost 
 unique in the vvorld's history which Venice thus pre- 
 sented during the last moments of Austrian rule, as 
 she awaited its final disappearance, impatient to wel- 
 come her own and Italy's chosen king. As time 
 passed on, and the sway of the foreigner drew surely 
 and gradually towards its close, General Alemann 
 wisely permitted certain measures to be adopted and 
 certain demonstrations to take place, which indicated 
 the near approach of Venetian independence. Thus 
 it was that he allowed the organisation of the National 
 Guard, and ultimately made use of it in maintaining 
 public order. Its band, in preparation of the ap- 
 proaching national fetes, was allowed to practise well- 
 known Italian airs in one of the large Venetian palaces.
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 69 
 
 When it had attained a certain perfection, it played 
 in the presence of a Venetian audience assembled in 
 the theatre of St Samuel, which was decked out with 
 tricoloured flags, and resounded with the repeated 
 acclamations of those present to the memory of the 
 illustrious Daniel Manin, as well as in favour of Italian 
 unity, Venetian independence, Victor Emmanuel, and 
 Garibaldi. The portraits of the royal and popular 
 hero, the representatives of the principle of order and 
 the principle of liberty, happily and inseparably united 
 in the just cause of national independence, began to 
 show themselves ; and soon shop windows were 
 adorned, not only with them, but with various other 
 well-known Italian statesmen aud generals, among 
 whom naturally figured the special patriot and hero 
 of Venice, Daniel Manin. Groups of people crowded 
 to behold with eager gaze and joyful hearts. As they 
 discussed the news of the hour, and refreshed their 
 eyes with the sight of portraits so long forbidden to 
 public view, they questioned among themselves as to 
 the day, so ardently desired, when / nostri would at 
 length enter Venice, and as to the fetes which were to 
 celebrate their arrival and that of " Vittorio," as sol- 
 diers and people ever call the king. In truth, pre- 
 parations of various kinds, some visible and some 
 invisible, were quietly beginning. The fronts of 
 houses and shops were cleaned and painted white ; 
 green was selected as best suited to shutters, doors, 
 and window frames, to which was added a red line in 
 some conspicuous place, or the owner's name in that 
 colour ; so that, when the painting and cleaning was
 
 I/O ESSAYS. 
 
 finished, the eyes of all good patriots — that is, of the 
 entire population — were gratified with the sight of the 
 national colours — red, white, and green. On Sunday, 
 the 1st October, as if in anticipation of the news which 
 arrived three days later of the conclusion of peace, 
 the whole population bedecked itself with the national 
 Italian colours. The organs in the street took courage, 
 and regaled the passers-by with " Garibaldi's Hymn," 
 the Royal March, or that of the Bersaglieri. The 
 Austrian authorities meanwhile took no notice, rightly 
 believing that such harmless demonstrations tended 
 to prevent difficulties by giving a vent to the popular 
 feelings. Whenever, during the last few weeks of 
 Austrian rule, any symptom indicative of disorder 
 occurred. General Alemann issued some temperate 
 proclamation to the eff"ect that the simplest means 
 had hitherto sufficed, to his great satisfaction, for the 
 maintenance of public order, and that he trusted that 
 such would continue to be the case so long as he 
 remained in Venice. The municipal authorities spoke 
 in the same strain, and the National Guard used its 
 influence to persuade the people to indulge in no 
 demonstration prohibited by the Austrians, whose 
 dominion was so rapidly drawing to a close. The 
 Venetian people, naturally gentle and easily governed, 
 were thus induced to be patient, and to content 
 themselves with giving only such expression to their 
 patriotic feelings as was wisely permitted by those 
 still in power. At length, on the 4th October, the 
 walls of the city were placarded with the official news 
 of the signature of peace, and the congratulations of
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. I/I 
 
 the Italian government upon the auspicious event 
 which at length restored Venice to freedom. The 
 news ran like lightning through the city, and crowds 
 formed in a moment round the placards announcing 
 the joyful intelligence. As the writer was standing 
 in one of these groups some Austrian soldiers passed 
 by, upon v.'hich a woman cried out to them, " You 
 can stay or go now, as you please, because you are 
 no longer our masters, but only our guests." " Well 
 said," cried another bystander, "for we are the masters 
 now." Such was the bearing of the Venetian people 
 in the hour of their liberation, in the day of their 
 returning power, after years of long and cruel oppres- 
 sion, during which many of their countrymen had 
 suffered exile, imprisonment, and death, because 
 guilty of labouring to effect their country's freedom, 
 and of seeking to break the chains forged at Campo- 
 Formio and riveted at Vienna. 
 
 Now followed in hot haste the preparations for 
 w^elcoming the Italian troops and the Italian king 
 — preparations in which all classes busied themselves 
 to the utmost. The cleaning and painting went on 
 with redoubled ardour ; poles, flags, flagstafifs, crowns, 
 crosses of Savoy, hangings for windows and balconies- 
 tricoloured rosettes, lanterns for illuminations, were 
 fabricated by the thousand. Hundreds were at work 
 on the scores of gondolas, public and private, which 
 formed so striking a feature in the public fetes. St 
 Mark's Square re-echoed with the unaccustomed 
 sound of shrill voices shrieking out the names and 
 prices of innumerable papers, which came in like a
 
 172 ESSAYS. 
 
 flood from all quarters of the Italian kingdom upon 
 Venice, or sprung into life within her sea-girt limits. 
 Thus matters proceeded up to the 19th October, 
 when the Austrian authorities finally quitted the 
 city. As General Alemann went on board the 
 steamer which was to take him to Trieste, the people 
 saluted him with a quiet and friendly adieu, in testi- 
 mony of the goodwill he had manifested in the per- 
 formance of his duties during the last days of 
 Austrian rule. An hour or two later the national 
 colours were hoisted on the great flag-staffs in front 
 of St Mark's Cathedral ; and then, amidst the peal- 
 ing of bells and the booming of cannon, accompanied 
 with warm greetings and tearful eyes, burst forth 
 that heartfelt and boundless joy with which Venetians 
 of every age and rank hailed the longed-for hour of 
 their deliverance. How deep and universal was the 
 feeling, how striking and multiplied its outward 
 tokens, have been so thoroughly described by many 
 an eye-witness, that there is no need nor room for 
 dwelling upon them in these pages. Suffice it to 
 say, that nothing which the Venetians could do was 
 left undone to celebrate worthily their union to Italy, 
 and give a fitting welcome to the brave and honest 
 sovereign who has borne so large a part in accom- 
 plishing that mighty work of national independence 
 which has given to Italy her rightful i:)lace -among the 
 nations of the earth. 
 
 When the Italian Parliament met on the 15th 
 December, at Florence, the king was able to an- 
 nounce in his speech from the throne that the
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 173 
 
 aspirations of centuries had been accomplished, and 
 that Italy was " freed from all stranger rule." The 
 troops of Austria had ceased to occupy Venetia and 
 the Quadrilateral ; those of France no longer kept 
 guard in Rome. Italy has thus entered upon a new 
 era after centuries of discord and oppression: The 
 stranger has at length quitted the land ; its people 
 and government are free ; and the first duty that 
 their freedom imposes upon them is the homely 
 one of setting their house in order. It calls for 
 earnest exertions, which, if well directed, and per- 
 severingly maintained, will bear rich fruit to the 
 present generation, and far richer to those who shall 
 come after. Not that Italy has done nothing towards 
 improving her internal condition since 1861, when its 
 new-born monarchy first demanded and obtained re- 
 cognition at the hands of other nations. On the 
 contrary, both morally and materially, much has 
 been done ; but owing to the peculiar circumstances 
 of its condition, arising chiefly from the possession of 
 Venetia and the Quadrilateral by Austria, the posi- 
 tion of Italy prevented her devoting herself to the 
 single work of internal improvement, and obliged her 
 to form and maintain armaments whose huge propor- 
 tions overburdened her with taxation, and checked 
 the development of her resources. It is a most 
 healthy sign, that the government and nation (now 
 that Austria no longer menaces their very existence 
 from the banks of the Adige and Mincio) are direct- 
 ing their special attention to the questions of finance 
 and the diminution of their armaments, with the wise
 
 174 ESSAYS. 
 
 resolve to apply an efficacious remedy to the financial 
 difficulties of the country. That the army should be 
 diminished and reduced to the lowest point consist- 
 ent with Italy's imperative needs both at home and 
 abroad is agreed upon all hands ; but what that point 
 is must necessarily be a matter for consideration and 
 discussion, which cannot be too thorough and search- 
 ing. Upon such a subject it would be presumptuous 
 of foreigners to pronounce an opinion, for even the 
 best-informed amongst them cannot pretend to have 
 that thorough and intimate knowledge of the country 
 and its wants which is necessary to determine such a 
 question ; it must, therefore, be left to the decision of 
 the government, parliament, and people of Italy. It 
 is, at any rate, satisfactory to see, that while other 
 nations seem only bent upon increasing their already 
 overgrown and unwieldy armaments, free Italy is 
 reducing hers, that she may lighten the burdens of 
 taxation, give freer scope to the development of her 
 resources, and establish a permanent equilibrium be- 
 tween her income and expenditure. 
 
 But it is not only by reduction of military expen- 
 diture that Italians can improve their financial con- 
 dition. A better system of taxation and improved 
 administration will do much towards that end. It is 
 not rare to hear it said that the form in which the 
 taxes are laid on aggravates their burden. They are 
 often unnecessarily vexatious and troublesome, press 
 unequally and illogically upon the persons who pay 
 and upon the objects taxed, so that the public would 
 contribute more readily and easily a larger sum under
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 75 
 
 a better and simpler system than the actual amounts 
 to which it is liable under the system at present in 
 operation. It is not so very long since, that similar 
 complaints were heard in England, the causes of which 
 have been removed by various changes made in the 
 mode and manner of taxation, which have been 
 amongst the most useful reforms introduced of late 
 years into England's financial system. Italian finan- 
 ciers cannot do better than follow such an example, 
 thereby relieving the tax-payer and benefiting the 
 treasury. Administration is still the weak point of 
 Italian statesmen. No matter of surprise, as good 
 administrators are very rarely improvised ; they 
 must be formed by experience and practice, which 
 is exactly what the public men of Italy have hitherto 
 had no opportunity of acquiring ; for up to the for- 
 mation of the present kingdom the country was 
 divided into a number of small governments, which, 
 even when well administered, like that of Piedmont 
 from 1 849- 1 859, off"ered far too limited a sphere of 
 action for the formation of a class of administrators 
 capable of dealing with the wants and circumstances 
 of a large kingdom numbering 25,000,000 of inhabit- 
 ants. Already several mistakes have been made, and 
 consequent injury inflicted, from the error of suppos- 
 ing that what was applicable to the small community 
 was equally so to the larger one, and tJiat despite of 
 the latter's widely differing circumstances and con- 
 dition. Nor must it be forgotten that those circum- 
 stances and conditions are specially varied and diffi- 
 cult to deal with in the case of Italy ; the result of
 
 176 ESSAYS. 
 
 many causes, and amongst others of the ceaseless 
 efforts of the fallen governments to keep the people 
 of Italy as much divided as possible, and to foster 
 among them every difference of custom, every local 
 jealousy, prejudice, and animosity for the furtherance 
 of the selfish and unworthy ends of their petty rulers. 
 To financial and administrative improvement must 
 be added increasing efforts in the vital work of 
 popular instruction, and the scarcely less important 
 one of the construction of common roads, the want of 
 which in the southern provinces is immense, a cen- 
 tury of Bourbon rule having left them almost wholly 
 unprovided with those two essential instruments of a 
 people's welfare, public roads and public schools. 
 The present constitutional government is fully aware 
 of their importance, and is earnestly at work in creat- 
 ing them ; it cannot labour too assiduously in the 
 matter, for roads and schools will do more than all 
 else to diminish and get rid of ignorance and super- 
 stition, mendicity and brigandage, with all their at- 
 tendant ills and crimes. 
 
 But if the ministers and administrators of Italy 
 have much to learn and to do, there is also room for 
 improvement in the parliament itself. That body 
 has without doubt rendered good service to the 
 country, but it might render greater still were it to 
 give a working majority to an intelligent and upright 
 administration, which although by no means perfect 
 and producing perfect measures, would with no great 
 difficulty lay down a good line of policy and act 
 steadily upon it. Instead of that, the Italian de-
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1860. I77 
 
 puties are too apt to form themselves into various 
 and ill-defined groups, giving an uncertain support to 
 a cabinet, and then tripping it up upon some minor 
 point or question of detail. Now what Italy wants 
 at the present time is not so much some statesman 
 of immense genius, furnished with some marvellous 
 plan capable of setting everything right in a moment, 
 but a government of clear-headed and patriotic min- 
 isters, by no means hard to find, supported by a 
 manageable majority, whose members, instead of 
 being each bent upon his own pet scheme, should 
 support the government in the continued application 
 of a well-considered policy. Constant changes of 
 government and government plans are injurious to 
 the public interest and to the credit of the parlia- 
 ment ; whereas the adoption and steady application 
 of a moderately good financial and administrative 
 system would in a few years, if but patiently per- 
 severed in, go very far indeed towards restoring the 
 financial condition of the country and developing its 
 resources. Italian deputies will do well to take this 
 plain and practical view of Italy's political necessities, 
 and so avoid those useless and too frequent changes 
 of administration which become both ridiculous and 
 hurtful. Such, then, are the principal difficulties and 
 defects which Italy has to surmount and correct, 
 such the work she has to accomplish. Her states- 
 men and people are alive to the necessities of their 
 country and to the greatness of the task before them. 
 As to the means, the will, and the power which they 
 
 possess for accomplishing that work, they shall be 
 
 M
 
 178 ESSAYS. 
 
 for the present left untouched, because time and 
 space are wanting to deal fully with them, and also 
 because it is better, at the present juncture, that 
 Italians and all the friends of Italy should direct 
 their undivided attention to the dangers to be over- 
 come, and the faults to be corrected, rather than 
 enumerate successes already obtained, or dwell com- 
 placently upon Italian merits and capacity. Suffice 
 it here to express the firm belief that Italy's go- 
 vernment and people possess alike the means of 
 triumphing over present difficulties, and the qualities 
 necessary to the successful application of those means. 
 Though many obstacles and dangers still encumber 
 the path of the Italian nation, yet theirs shall be the 
 final victory — a victory precious not to Italy alone, 
 but to the world at large, because it establishes 
 national order, liberty, and progress in the place 
 of foreign domination, that fruitful source both of 
 tyranny and revolution ; because it is the consecration 
 of the rights and liberties of a whole people hitherto 
 down-trodden and oppressed, but now recognised by 
 all the powers of the earth ; because, in a word, it is 
 the victory of justice, liberty, and right. 
 
 To the house of Savoy is given the noble task of 
 heading this great national uprising. It is not a little 
 interesting thus to see the chief and the members of 
 one of the very oldest royal families in Europe lead- 
 ing the great popular movement in Italy. Instead of 
 throwing themselves blindly into the arms of the reac- 
 tionary party, as has been done by so many of their
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 79 
 
 compeers, they wisely embraced the national cause 
 which the other Italian rulers hated and betrayed ; 
 they recognised Italy's demands for freedom and in- 
 dependence, and sustained them with honesty and 
 courage in the name of constitutional liberty ; they 
 have had the wisdom to understand and in some de- 
 gree to direct the onward movement of their age and 
 country, lending to it their willing aid instead of re- 
 pressing it by violence or treachery. Brave and 
 honest, faithful to the rights and liberties of their 
 people, they have been rewarded by that people's 
 gratitude and love, thus winning for themselves the 
 leadership of one of the noblest works of national 
 regeneration that the world has ever seen. This they 
 have done, not by the possession of great genius, but 
 by a certain tact and instinctive knowledge of the 
 times they live in and the people whom they rule, 
 united to unswerving honesty of purpose and heredi- 
 tary courage. Yet the princes of the house of Savoy 
 will do well to remember that such good qualities are 
 much enhanced when united to the virtues of private 
 life, and also that they may be further improved and 
 turned to ever better account by continued study 
 and self-instruction. No slight benefit is conferred 
 on a country when those in high places set a good 
 example to the nation not only in the discharge of 
 public duties, but also in those of a more private 
 character, in a well-ordered court and household. 
 Whereas the contrary is hurtful alike to the ruler 
 . and the people, injures the family which occupies
 
 I So ESSAYS. 
 
 the highest position in the realm and society at large, 
 gives their enemies a handle against them, and dis- 
 courages their friends. 
 
 It is important also, in Italy's position, that her 
 princes should make themselves thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the principles of military science and 
 of constitutional law, subjects which demand close 
 and persevering application. Assuredly courage on 
 the battle-field is admirable, and seems an hereditary 
 appanage of Savoy's royal house, but the possession 
 of that quality alone is not sufficient for conducting 
 a campaign skilfully, or even for winning a victory ; 
 such success is the result, in no slight degree of a 
 thorough knowledge of the art of war, which must be 
 acquired by careful and accurate study. Without it 
 Prussian generals would not have planned, nor would 
 Prussian princes have executed, their brilliant cam- 
 paign of 1866. The generals and princes of Italy 
 cannot do better than imitate such an example, and 
 in this matter the house of Savoy would do well to 
 follow in the steps of the house of Hohenzollern. 
 
 Fidelity to the rights and liberties of the nation, 
 and an ever honest support given to them, cannot be 
 too highly praised ; but princes who desire really to 
 understand the principles of constitutional rule, and 
 practise them well, should study carefully the history 
 of those countries which have grown and prospered 
 under the regime of limited monarchy. Such study, 
 united to the daily acquisition of knowledge con- 
 cerning the condition of their own land and people, 
 is a sure means of becoming thoroughly acquainted
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. iSl 
 
 with the varied duties of constitutional rule, and the 
 best means of fulfilling them. There is no greater 
 mistake than that of supposing that the chief of a 
 constitutional government is a mere roi faijieant — 
 that any puppet will do for such a place. On the 
 contrary, he has, within the limits of his power, an 
 ample field for the exercise of the highest intelli- 
 gence. Of this it would be difficult to find a better 
 proof, both as regards its results to the country 
 governed as well as to the royal family itself, than 
 that offered by Leopold I., king of the Belgians, one 
 of the ablest and most enlightened men of the pre- 
 sent century. On the other hand, Spain is a ter- 
 rible example into how pitiable a condition a fine 
 country, and a people by no means destitute of good 
 qualities, may be brought, when the sovereign is 
 ignorant of the real principles of constitutional rule, 
 or untrue to them ; when a willing ear is or has been 
 too often lent to unworthy favourites; when the 
 court, instead of setting a good example to the 
 nation, is immoral and corrupt, containing within it 
 those who pander to royal passions, and whose evil 
 influence outweighs that of faithful and upright coun- 
 sellors, who alone are alike loyal and patriotic ; when 
 the difficulties arising from party contests, instead of 
 being overcome by the healthy action of public 
 opinion, operating through constitutional channels, 
 are aggravated a hundredfold by military pronuncia- 
 mentos, which place the country at the mercy first of 
 one and then of another military adventurer, whose 
 pompous titles are too often won upon the sorry
 
 1 82 ESSAYS. 
 
 field of civil discord ; when the ruler falls under the 
 influence of priests, ever (in all ages and countries) 
 striving after temporal supremacy — ever opposed to 
 perfect religious freedom — ever seeking to impose or 
 maintain some burden upon the members of other 
 communions — ever disfiguring by ecclesiastical fan- 
 cies and systems the divine and simple precepts 
 of holiness and love which appeal in the name of 
 God to the conscience of man. 
 
 How immense, on the contrary, are the benefits 
 resulting to a nation constitutionally governed — when 
 its ruler and royal family rightly understand and 
 practise constitutional principles ; when its sovereign 
 unites to the faithful discharge of public duties the 
 example of a pure and consistent private life ; when 
 favouritism and bigotry find no favour near the 
 throne ; when every effort is made to offer in the 
 highest quarters a good example to the nation — may 
 be seen to-day, not only in the general condition of 
 England, despite all her faults, but also in the merited 
 ■ respect and love with which the nation looks up to 
 its Queen, in its deep-rooted attachment to the na- 
 tional laws and liberties, in the feeling of loyalty and 
 the love of freedom which are blended together in 
 the hearts of its people. 
 
 It is well, then, for Italy and her princes that they 
 should meditate upon these things — well that they 
 should study the examples of England and of Bel- 
 gium — well, also, that they should take warning by 
 that of Spain — for it is the high privilege of Italy's 
 royal family to head a work of national regeneration
 
 ITALY AND THE WAR OF 1 866. 1 83 
 
 rarely, if ever, surpassed in the loftiness of its aim — 
 a work which fixes on the members of that family, 
 and on their country, the eyes of all men — of enemies 
 gloating over every defect and error, of friends rejoic- 
 ing in every progress made, and in every virtue called 
 into life and action. Those, then, to whom so glori- 
 ous a mission has been given should ever bear in 
 mind how much their personal influence and example 
 can do in its fulfilment — how much they can help 
 forward, even by their daily life and conduct, that 
 great cause of which they are the acknowledged 
 chiefs. Influenced by such truths, may all the mem- 
 bers of the house of Savoy seek faithfully to fulfil 
 even the least of the many duties, private as well as 
 public, which belong to their high station : thus shall 
 they win ever more and more the love and esteem of 
 their country, in whose triumph their honesty and 
 courage have had so large a share. So shall Italy's 
 new-born freedom be consolidated and secured, its 
 roots strike deep into her soil, its blessings spread to 
 every class of her gifted, but hitherto misgoverned 
 and neglected people ; so shall the structure of her 
 laws and liberties bind in ever close union the na- 
 tion's freedom and the sovereign's rights, establish 
 order and liberty in the place of mingled despotism 
 and anarchy, thereby bearing rich fruit to those of 
 our own day, and richer still to generations yet un- 
 born.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 
 
 Reprinted from the " Westminster Review" of 1st January i5 
 
 1. Ireland and her Churches. By jAMES GODKIN. 
 
 London: Chapman and Hall. 1867. 
 
 2. Histoire dit Canada depnis sa deconvcrtc jiisqn'd nos 
 
 joitrs. Par F. X. Garneau. 3™^ edition, revue 
 et corrigee ; imprimee par P. Lamoureux, No. i 
 Rue Buade, Quebec : 1859. 
 
 3. La Convention cntrc la France et Vltalie, signce le 
 
 15 Septcvibre 1864. 
 
 4. Lett re adresscc par le Mare dial Nicl, Minis trc de la 
 
 Giieri'e, aic Colonel commandant la Legion d'Anti- 
 bcs. Paris : le 21 Juin 1867. 
 
 WHENEVER the expression "Temporal Power" 
 is used,' the thoughts of Englishmen revert to 
 Rome. They too often forget that it is not in other 
 lands only that a church exists whose temporal status 
 is opposed to the wishes and liberties of the great 
 majority of the people in whose country that church 
 is established. The temporal power of an ecclesiasti- 
 cal body imposed upon an unwilling nation by force
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 1 85 
 
 excites the warm disapprobation of Englishmen ; they 
 see and condemn such a system in the case of others 
 with that clearness and force which usually charac- 
 terises persons when judging, not their own defects, 
 but those of their neighbours. Far be it from the 
 writer to deny the justness of such a judgment. But 
 would not Englishmen do well, while condemning the 
 temporal power of the Roman Church in Italy, not 
 to forget the temporal power accorded to the Angli- 
 can Church in Ireland .'' When we ourselves cease to 
 impose by force of law a Protestant Establishment 
 upon a Roman Catholic country, we shall prove by 
 the most effectual of all means — that of example — 
 our sincerity in condemning others who are main- 
 taining by force the temporal power of their church 
 in opposition to the will and liberties of an entire 
 people. When we have cast first the beam out 
 of our own eye, we shall see clearly to pull out 
 that which is in our brother's eye. Beginning then 
 at home, let this subject of the "Temporal Power" 
 be first considered as it exists in connexion with the 
 Church Establishment in Ireland, and afterwards as 
 maintained in Rome. Such is the twofold aspect 
 presented by this important question which it is now 
 proposed to examine, so far at least as can be done 
 within the limits accorded to a review article. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact that tithes were first intro- 
 duced into Ireland, or at least first enforced, by the 
 secular arm, at the time of the conquest of that island 
 by Henry II. in 1156 — a conquest made with the 
 approbation of the reigning Roman Pontiff, Pope
 
 1 86 ESSAYS. 
 
 Adrian IV. The present Lord Primate of Ireland, in 
 a charge delivered to his clergy in 1864, said : — 
 
 " To the clergy of the early Irish Church tithes were not 
 paid, though it appears by some ancient canons attempts 
 were made to establish them. In the year 11 27 St Bernard 
 complains of the Irish, ' they pay no tithes ;' and in the year 
 1 172 Pope Alexander III., in a letter dated 20th September, 
 states, among other abuses of the Irish Church, ' the people 
 in general pay no tithes.' English influence, however, in 
 that year sufficed to introduce them at the Council of 
 Cashel. They formed part of the splendid bribes which 
 Henry II. gave to the Irish clergy to induce them to con- 
 form to the usages of the English Church and acknowledge 
 the Papal supremacy." 
 
 However, then, ecclesiastics may dispute about the 
 condition of the early Irish Church as regards its 
 dogmas or its relationship to the See of Rome pre- 
 vious to the English conquest by Henry II., it be- 
 comes quite clear that by that conquest the tithe 
 system and the Roman Catholic Church were estab- 
 lished together ; and further, that the tithe system 
 was so established for the benefit of the Roman 
 Catholic clergy. 
 
 The great religious revolution of the sixteenth 
 century, known as the Reformation, separated both 
 Eno-land and Scotland from the Church of Rome. 
 The result of their conversion to the Protestant faith 
 was the establishment in the former country of the 
 Episcopal Church, and in the latter of the Presby- 
 terian. 
 
 This change, however, was not effected in Scotland 
 without a bitter struggle, on account of the wicked
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 1 8/ 
 
 attempt made by the English government to force 
 upon the Scotch an Episcopal Establishment. The 
 attempt was successfully resisted, to the lasting benefit 
 both of England and of Scotland. For had an estab- 
 lished church distasteful to the great mass of the Scotch 
 people been forced upon them, it would assuredly 
 have created and perpetuated all the innumerable 
 evils necessarily arising from so execrable and anti- 
 Christian a policy. 
 
 The reformed doctrines were not accepted by Ire- 
 land ; her people remained faithful to the Church of 
 Rome. Then it was that the English government 
 established by force in Ireland a Protestant State 
 Church, handing over to it, without demur, the tithes 
 which had belonged for 400 years to the Roman 
 Catholic Church. Then it was that to old feuds 
 springing out of conquest and antipathies of race 
 were superadded those arising from religious differ- 
 ences, of all roots of bitterness the bitterest. Then 
 it was that England's government, in their endeavours 
 to force Protestantism upon Roman Catholic Ireland, 
 set (during two centuries) its hand to a work as full 
 of oppression and injustice as ever darkened the 
 world's history, or disgraced the Christian faith. Yet, 
 despite all the efforts made, nothing resulted but 
 ignominious failure. Of this no better proof can be 
 given than the fact that, whereas, according to Sir 
 W. Petty, the .Protestants in Ireland numbered, in 
 1672, 300,000, and the Catholics 800,000, in 1861 the 
 Protestants were 1,293,702, and the Catholics 4,505,265. 
 Thus there had been a relative decrease of Protestants
 
 1 88 ESSAYS. 
 
 during that period of nearly 200 years. It must be 
 further borne in mind that of these Protestants rather 
 less than 700,000 belong to the Established Church, 
 which possesses an income of half-a-million sterling, 
 while the Roman Catholic clergy depend for their 
 daily subsistence upon the voluntary contributions of 
 their flocks. 
 
 The history of Ireland from the Reformation until 
 towards the close of the last century is, speaking 
 generally, that of oppression on the one side and 
 resistance on the other. It would, however, be an 
 exaggeration to say, either that there was no good 
 attempted or performed by the English government 
 in Ireland during that period, or that the Irish were 
 wholly blameless as regards the ills which came upon 
 their island in the shape of conflicts, rebellions, con- 
 fiscations, and slaughters, which desolated the land 
 and its inhabitants with the sword, the famine, and 
 the pestilence. Still the great general characteristic 
 of that sad and lengthened period was the misery 
 arising from the wrongful and persevering attempt to 
 force upon Roman Catholic Ireland the church and 
 the rule of the Protestant minority. At length, to- 
 wards the close of the last century, the cruel penal 
 code which had long been in operation was relaxed in 
 various ways, and the suffrage was accorded to the 
 Irish Roman Catholics, in whose Parliament, however, 
 Protestants alone could sit. 
 
 It was after the suppression of the rebellion of 
 1798 that Mr Pitt determined upon a policy whose 
 large and liberal scope would have cut at the root of
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. ' 189 
 
 Irish grievances, had he been allowed to carry it out. 
 He proposed to abolish the Irish Parliament as a 
 separate body, and by uniting the Irish, Scotch, and 
 English representatives in one assembly, to be called 
 the Parliament of the " United Kingdom," so to effect 
 a complete legislative union between Great Britain 
 and Ireland. He desired also to emancipate at the 
 same time the Roman Catholics from civil disabili- 
 ties, and to make a State provision for the Irish Ro- 
 man Catholic clergy. Unhappily the policy of the 
 great minister was stultified by the narrow bigotry 
 of George III. The union with England, the least 
 popular part of the scheme in Ireland, was carried 
 out To the rest the king and his friends absolutely 
 refused to agree. In consequence Mr Pitt resigned. 
 It is sad, indeed, to read this page of our histoiy, 
 which exhibits the melancholy spectacle of the just 
 and liberal designs planned by such an intellect as 
 that of Pitt, brought to nought by an intelligence so 
 petty and so poor as that of George III. The eman- 
 cipation was not granted for nearly thirty years, and 
 then only on compulsion, the Duke of Wellington 
 declaring that if it were refused he could no longer 
 answer for the tranquillity of Ireland, Thus this 
 great act of justice lost nearly all the benefit that 
 might have been reaped from it, on account of the 
 tardy and ungracious manner in which it was be- 
 stowed. The College of Maynooth, for the educa- 
 tion of students designed for the Roman priesthood, 
 was established by Mr Pitt in 1795. The Protestant 
 Dissenting ministers continued to enjoy the Regium
 
 190 ESSAYS. 
 
 Donum, a grant the origin of which appears to have 
 come from sums given by Charles II. out of the 
 "secret service money." It was not, however, until 
 the reign of William III. that the grant was publicly 
 conferred and enlarged. It has been continued ever 
 since, and increased from time to time ; its present 
 amount being about ^40,000. 
 
 But the tithes, and a part of the ecclesiastical pro- 
 perty,* were, from the Reformation downwards, ap- 
 propriated to the exclusive use of the small Protestant 
 Episcopal minority and their State Church. Mr Pitt's 
 scheme of paying the clergy of both churches may 
 doubtless be considered less good, and certainly less 
 suitable to our own days than that of paying no 
 church. Still it was a just and liberal policy, which, 
 if adopted, as it might have been in his day, would 
 have been an immense improvement upon the in- 
 justice of forcing Roman Catholic Ireland to main- 
 tain a Protestant Establishment for the benefit of a 
 wretchedly small minority. 
 
 But this injustice was greatly increased by the way 
 in which the tithes were collected, even up to so recent 
 a date as the year 1832, when the Irish Tithe Com- 
 mutation Act was passed. That Act was only at 
 length wrung from the Legislature, when the aggra- 
 vating and oppressive mode of collecting the tithes in 
 Ireland had produced such violence and such resist- 
 ance, such bitter hatred and such fearful outrages, 
 
 * Some of the ecclesiastical property was secularised, portions being 
 bought by laymen, and not a little of it being handed over to courtiers 
 and favourites.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. I9I 
 
 that it had brought about a state of things so nearly 
 bordering on general insurrection as to be called the 
 " Tithe War." 
 
 It will, perhaps, be asked, why refer to these circum- 
 stances which no longer exist .'' Firstly, because it is 
 well that we Englishmen should remember that such 
 a system, so fraught with evil, was in actual opera- 
 tion only thirty-five years ago ; its memory therefore 
 rankles still, it may be, among other past wrongs, in 
 the hearts of the Irish (as it would in our own had we 
 been subjected to it), and therefore, in some degree, 
 accounts for the ill-feeling still only too prevalent in 
 Ireland. Secondly, because we should never forget 
 that although the oppressive mode of collecting tithes 
 alluded to has been abolished, the injustice itself of 
 compelling Roman Catholic Ireland to pay tithes in 
 support of a Protestant Establishment still exists ; 
 tithes whose history is inseparably connected with 
 the recollection of conquest, and which, when first 
 imposed, were imposed for the maintenance of the 
 Roman Catholic Church. To that Church they con- 
 tinued to be paid for 400 years ; after which lapse 
 of time it seemed good to Englishmen who had be- 
 come Protestants, to oblige Irishmen who remained 
 Roman Catholics to pay those tithes, and to hand 
 over much of the ecclesiastical property to the Pro- 
 testant Anglican Church, thus by force established 
 and maintained even to this day. Therefore is it 
 that we Englishmen should be reminded of these 
 things, — we who boast so often of equal laws, of 
 ancient liberties, of the rights of conscience ; we
 
 192 ESSAYS. 
 
 whose Protestant faith proclaims the freedom of pri- 
 vate judgment. 
 
 But it has been said- that after all the Irish State 
 Church is only a " sentimental grievance." A very- 
 few questions will dispose of that assertion. If at the 
 time of the Reformation Ireland had been the strong 
 country and England the weak one ; if England hav- 
 ing become, as she did, Protestant, Ireland had im- 
 posed by force a Roman Establishment upon Eng- 
 land ; if at this hour to such an establishment, hateful 
 to the great mass of Englishmen, they were yet 
 obliged to pay tithes ; if our English bishops and 
 clergy (ignored by the State) depended on voluntary 
 contributions, while Archbishop Manning and his 
 brother prelates inhabited palaces, enjoyed large or 
 comfortable revenues, and graced with their presence 
 the House of Lords — would Englishmen describe 
 the existence of that Papal Church Establishment in 
 Protestant England as merely a " sentimental griev- 
 ance .'' " Some object to the abolition of the Irish Pro- 
 testant Establishment, on the ground that it would 
 do little or nothing to pacify Ireland. Even if this 
 could be proved before the event, which it cannot be, 
 it would be no sound argument against abolishing 
 the grievance in question. " Be just, and fear not," 
 is a good moral maxim, and not a less good political 
 one. To do right without being deterred by a con- 
 sideration of consequences is as wise and Christian in 
 public as in private life. There is, however, no occa- 
 sion to take up time with mere argument, because 
 there lies at our doors a fact which throws no little
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. I93 
 
 light upon this matter. There exists a province sub- 
 ject to England, the great majority of whose popu- 
 lation is neither Enghsh nor Protestant, yet there is 
 no county in Great Britain more loyal or more at- 
 tached to England's crown than that province of 
 Lower Canada, Roman Catholic though it be by re- 
 ligion, and French by origin. It was the writer's 
 good fortune, while in America ten years ago, to 
 make an expedition from Quebec down the St Law- 
 rence and up the Saguenay river in company with 
 several Canadian Roman priests. The conversation 
 turned chiefly upon Canada, its condition and politics, 
 a subject which led the priests to speak in the high- 
 est praise of the English government, while bearing 
 testimony at the same time to the good feeling pre- 
 valent throughout Canada towards England. Yet 
 but some twenty years before, Lower Canada was, 
 and had been for a lengthened period, discontented 
 with the manner in which it was governed. This 
 discontent more than once broke out into open vio- 
 lence, and even actual rebellion. Now, no one who 
 has sought impartially to investigate that unhappy 
 condition of things can rise from such investigation 
 without being convinced that its chief cause lay in 
 the attempt to maintain, more or less, the ascendancy 
 of the British Protestant element over the French 
 Roman Catholic element. Nor is it less evident that 
 the Clergy Reserves were also a great source of dis- 
 cord. These Clergy Reserves were created by an Act 
 of the English Parliament in 1791, which directed 
 that in respect of all grants made by the Crown, a 
 
 N
 
 194 ESSAYS. 
 
 quantity equal to one-seventh of the land so granted 
 should be reserved for the clergy. This apple of dis- 
 cord did not fail to produce its natural effects, by 
 giving rise throughout Canada to dissensions between 
 Protestants and Romanists, Churchmen and Dissent- 
 ers. Not until after many years of dangers and con- 
 flicts of every kind between the colonies and the 
 mother-country, as well as between the various na- 
 tional, political, and religious sections of the colonists 
 themselves, was the system changed. At 'ength the 
 attempt to override one class or section by another 
 was abandoned, the Clergy Reserves were swept away, 
 and a system of perfect religious equality was inau- 
 gurated. From that time discontent died out, peace 
 and order flourished. And so it has come about that 
 loyal attachment to England pervades the whole of 
 our North American colonies ; nor are those feelings 
 anywhere stronger than in Roman Catholic Lower 
 Canada, the language and customs of whose people 
 still denote their French origin. Let English states- 
 men profit by the lesson, and do without more delay 
 in Ireland that which has borne such good fruit in 
 America. 
 
 The question of what is to be done with the tithes 
 when the Irish Establishment ceases to exist, though 
 a question requiring serious consideration, is not one 
 presenting insuperable difficulties. If nothing were 
 left but the choice of either continuing the present 
 system, or of simply abolishing the legal obligation 
 to pay tithes upon the death of the incumbent of 
 each parish, the second alternative would certainly
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. I95 
 
 be by far the least of the two evils. There are, how- 
 ever, other modes of deahng with the moneys derived 
 from the tithes. That of handing over a certain 
 portion of them to the CathoHc priests can no longer 
 be entertained, both as being repugnant to the prin- 
 ciples of many Protestants, (especially to those of the 
 Protestant Dissenters,) and, above all, because the 
 Roman Catholic clergy refuse such aid. These ideas 
 are set forth in a resolution of the " National Associ- 
 ation," of which most of the Roman Catholic prelates 
 in Ireland are members. The resolution, adopted in 
 December 1864, was as follows: — 
 
 " That we demand the disendownient of the Established 
 Church in Ireland, as the sole condition upon which peace 
 and stability, general respect for the laws, unity of senti- 
 ment and action for national objects, can ever prevail in 
 Ireland. And in making this demand we emphatically 
 disavow any intention to interfere in the vested rights, or 
 to injure or offend any portion of our fellow-countrymen, 
 our desire being rather to remove a most prolific source of 
 civil discord, by placing all religious denominations on a 
 footing of j.ierf ct equality, and leaving each Church to be 
 maintained by the voluntary contributions of its members." 
 
 These principles have been very recently affirmed 
 afresh by the Irish Roman Catholic hierarchy. By 
 thus abolishing the Establishment, the incomes aris- 
 ing from tithes would lapse to the State, as benefices 
 became vacant. It would be for Patf ament to decide 
 to what purposes such revenues should be applied. 
 It is pretty clear that no better use could be made of 
 them than by applying them,, in great part at any 
 rate, to educational purposes..
 
 1:96 ESSAYS. 
 
 The recent refusal of the Roman prelates to receive 
 State aid was no doubt wise. It is also a course that 
 deserves the approbation of all the friends of perfect 
 religious liberty. Thus the Irish Roman Catholic 
 clergy renounce all support of a temporal character, 
 conferred by a temporal power. Having taken up 
 this position, they may still (from their point of view) 
 say to their people : We possess no legal means of 
 enforcing your support, much less of wringing support 
 from those who are not of us ; we have no temporal 
 arm to call to our aid, neither do we possess temporal 
 power, for " the weapons of our warfare are not car- 
 nal ;" we stand before you as the ministers of Christ's 
 Church, not as the paid agents of the State ; we serve 
 the Altar, and we are content to live only by the 
 Altar ; we ask nothing of Ceesar, and we receive 
 nothing from Caesar ; we have neither rich revenues 
 nor sumptuous palaces ; we have no other blessings 
 to offer but the ministrations and consolations of the 
 Church — her teachings and those of her Lord ; these 
 gifts, and these alone, have we to bestow — "silver 
 and gold have we none." 
 
 Surely such a position and such language are those 
 most really in keeping with the character of the 
 ministers of Christ, who refused all temporal power, 
 who said " My kingdom is not of this world," who 
 used no other means of propagating or maintaining 
 His teaching save those of awakening the conscience, 
 convincing the judgment, and converting the heart. 
 Can similar language be used by the bishops and 
 clergy of the Anglican State Church, whose temporal
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 
 
 197 
 
 power and position is established and maintained 
 by the strong arm of the law, in opposition to the 
 wishes and religious liberties of Roman Catholic Ire- 
 land ? That Church Establishment contains num- 
 bers of benefices whose populations, varying from 
 500 up to 7000, very rarely include 100 churchmen, 
 and often the number is far less. The incomes of 
 those benefices run from .^100 up to ;^500, £600, and 
 even ;{^900 per annum. Only a very few examples 
 can be given here, as both our space and time are 
 limited : — 
 
 _ ^ 1 „ . . 
 
 Church 
 
 Income or Value 
 
 Benefice. 
 
 i'opulation. 
 
 Members 
 
 of Benefice. 
 
 Garrycloyne 
 
 3427 
 
 38 
 
 ;^866 
 
 Donoughmore . . 
 
 
 
 3999 
 
 84 
 
 662 
 
 Clonmult .... 
 
 
 
 621 
 
 9 
 
 174 
 
 Kilvvorth .... 
 
 
 
 5000 
 
 144 
 
 516 
 
 Inchigeelagh . . . 
 
 
 
 4020 
 
 55 
 
 297 
 
 Knockavilly . . . 
 
 
 
 1155 
 
 64 
 
 438 
 
 Fetliard, (7 parishes) 
 
 
 
 5972 
 
 192 
 
 985 
 
 Kilbehenny . . 
 
 
 
 2348 
 
 16 
 
 299 
 
 Aney, (7 parislies) 
 
 
 
 7076 
 
 30 
 
 398 
 
 Prebend of Killandry 
 
 
 
 963 
 
 7 
 
 291 
 
 Kilmastiilla, (2 parishes) 
 
 
 261 1 
 
 53 
 
 554 
 
 Moyne, (2 parishes) 
 
 
 1451 
 
 41 
 
 364 
 
 The actual number of those who are members of 
 the Irish Church Establishment is only 693,357, 
 while its annual revenues amount to ^559,763. Par- 
 liamentary returns give the public grants of money 
 made to the Irish Church from the Union in 1801 to 
 the year 1 844 as follows : — 
 
 For building churches . , . ^{^^525,371 
 
 ,, glebe-houses . . . 336,889 
 
 ,, Protestant charity-schools . 1,105,588 
 
 In 1842, during a debate in the House of Com-
 
 \gS 
 
 ESSAYS. 
 
 mons, statistics were produced, extracted from the 
 probates of wills in the registry office, Dublin, from 
 which it appears that — 
 
 Archbishop Fowler, of Dublin, left 
 
 ;^I 50.000 
 
 „ Beresford, of Tuam „ 
 
 250000 
 
 „ Agar, of Cashel „ 
 
 400.000 
 
 Bishop Stopford, of Cork „ 
 
 25.000 
 
 „ Percy, of Dromoie „ 
 
 40,000 
 
 „ Cleaver, of Ferns „ 
 
 50,000 
 
 „ Bernard, of Limerick „ 
 
 60,000 
 
 ,, Porter, of Clof^her „ 
 
 250.000 
 
 „ Hawkins, of Kaphoe „ 
 
 250,000 
 
 „ Knox, of Killaloe „ 
 
 100,000 
 
 Making in all the goodly sum of ;^i, 575,000. These 
 prelates died at various dates between 1800 and 1833, 
 in which latter year the Church Temporalities Act 
 was passed, limiting episcopal revenues, reducing the 
 Irish archbishoprics from four to two, and the bishop- 
 rics from eighteen to ten. Such accumulations of 
 wealth are assuredly not in harmony with the apos- 
 tolic saying, " Silver and gold have I none." Neither 
 are rich benefices united to immense poverty of church 
 members in keeping with apostolic precedents. It is 
 true, indeed, as regards the wealth left by the prelates 
 mentioned, that those golden days belong rather to 
 the recent past than to the actual present. The 
 wealth so left arose in some cases from the posses- 
 sion of private property as well as from ecclesiastical 
 revenues ; but it is not the less true that while bishops 
 of the Establishment were thus heaping to themselves 
 riches, Roman Catholic prelates and clergy had no 
 other means of subsistence save the voluntary con- 
 tributions of their flocks. Some of the worst and
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS, I99 
 
 most scandalous grievances connected with the Irish 
 Establishment have been done away ; but the injustice 
 of forcing a Protestant State Church upon Roman 
 Catholic Ireland still exists, producing the evil fruit 
 naturally springing from such a root of bitterness. 
 Doubtless many of the bishops and clergy of the Irish 
 Establishment are excellent men, but that by no 
 means proves the excellence of the system by which 
 they live; for unfortunately history furnishes only too 
 many instances of excellent individuals supporting, 
 and being supported by, unjust systems. No abun- 
 dance of such precedents can, however, prove the 
 goodness of a given system, change injustice into 
 justice, or convert wrong into right.* 
 
 As in Great Britain, so throughout her numerous 
 colonies, peopled by English, Scotch, and Irish, by 
 Churchmen, Dissenters, and Roman Catholics, there 
 is nowhere to be seen in operation this evil principle 
 of imposing by force the Church Establ shment of the 
 small minority upon a large and unwilling majority. 
 In Ireland alone is such injustice perpetrated, and in 
 Ireland alone is discontent chronic. In England and 
 Scotland the Establishment is at any rate that of the 
 most numerous Church ; and in both countries much 
 
 * Mr Godkiii, in is able and interesting work, entitled " Ireland 
 and her Churches," published in 1867, says : " I have, with the kind 
 permission of the registrar, extracteil from the registry in the Court of 
 Probate the amount of assets left by every bishop who died since 1822, 
 with ihe exception of a few who were l)ut a short lime in their sees. 
 The assets were sworn to be under a certain rum, on which duty is 
 paid. But this sum does not include any real property the deceased 
 may have purchased, nor any settlements he may have made on mem- 
 bers of his family, nor any stuck he may have transferred to avoid
 
 200 
 
 ESSAYS. 
 
 of the spiritual teaching of the State Church is in 
 harmony with that of those Protestant Dissenters 
 who, with the members of the two EstabHshments, 
 form nine-tenths of the whole population of Great 
 Britain, in none of England's colonies does an Esta- 
 blished Church exist. That which the Roman Catho- 
 lics of Ireland demand at the hands of the Parliament 
 of the United Kingdom is not even, as in Great 
 Britain, the establishment of the church of the ma- 
 jority, but the yet fairer system of being burdened 
 with no establishment whatever, as in the case of all 
 our English colonies. Were. Parliament wisely to 
 adopt that system by abolishing the payment of tithes 
 
 legacy-duty, or possibly to 
 
 avoid the fame of having died too rich 
 
 for the bishop of a poor Church." — Pp. i8, 19 of 
 
 " Ireland and her 
 
 Churches." 
 
 
 Name. See. 
 
 
 Broderick . . . Cashel . 
 
 ;^8o,ooo 
 
 Trench 
 
 Tuam . 
 
 7.^.846 
 
 Alexander . 
 
 Meath . 
 
 73,000 
 
 J. G. Beresford . 
 
 Armagh 
 
 70,000 
 
 Tottenham Loftus 
 
 Clogher 
 
 60,000 
 
 Lawrence . 
 
 Cashel . 
 
 55.000 
 
 Bisset 
 
 
 Raphoe 
 
 46,000 
 
 Magee 
 
 
 Dublin . 
 
 45,000 
 
 Griffin 
 
 
 Limerick 
 
 45,000 
 
 Whateley 
 
 
 Dublin . 
 
 40,000 
 
 Leslie 
 
 
 Kilmore 
 
 40,000 
 
 Ritson 
 
 
 Killaloe 
 
 40,000 
 
 Beresford . 
 
 
 Kilmore 
 
 36,000 
 
 Knox 
 
 
 Derry . 
 
 27,692 
 
 Plunket 
 
 
 Tuam . 
 
 26.331 
 
 Stewart 
 
 
 Armagh . . 
 
 25,000 
 
 Singer 
 
 
 IVIeath . 
 
 25,000 
 
 O'Beirne 
 
 
 Meath . 
 
 20000 
 
 Kyle . 
 
 
 Cork . 
 
 20,000 
 
 Stopford 
 
 
 Meath . 
 
 14,000
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 201 
 
 to the Irish Episcopal Church as its living ministers 
 died out, by a gradual (if not immediate) withdrawal 
 of the Regium Donum given to Dissenters, and also 
 of the grant to Maynooth, there would within a com- 
 paratively small number of years be inaugurated in 
 Ireland that just system described by the Irish "Na- 
 tional Association" as "placing all religious denomi- 
 nations on a footing of perfect equality, leaving each 
 church to be maintained by the voluntary contribu- 
 tions of its members." If such a course were adopted 
 in the sister island, one source of discord at least 
 would be ^ut an end to, and thus a hope might dawn 
 of seeing commenced in Roman Catholic Ireland 
 some such happy change as that which has occurred 
 in Roman Catholic Lower Canada. It is said, how- 
 ever, by some that it will never do to abandon the 
 Irish Establishment, because if that be done the 
 English Establishment must fall also. These persons 
 hope that by uniting the fortunes of the two they 
 will save both. Are they quite sure that that will be 
 the result .-* May it not happen that instead of the 
 English Establishment saving the Irish, the Irish will 
 be the means of dragging down the English ? A 
 good swimmer has ere now saved a bad one ; but, on 
 the other hand, often has the former not only failed 
 to do so, but has himself been drowned in the attempt, 
 and so both have perished together. It is often wise 
 to lighten an overladen vessel before the storm is at 
 its height ; nay, more, it is often the only hope left of 
 saving the ship. Some may think an all-or-nothing 
 policy wise, and even heroic ; they will, however, do
 
 202 ESSAYS. 
 
 well to remember that it may prove most disastrous 
 to their cause. Very recent events have shown that 
 those who are loudest in refusing comparatively small 
 concessions one year, may find themselves forced to 
 give large ones the next 
 
 Happily, to England's people has just been ac- 
 corded a great extension of the suffrage. This affords 
 much hope as regards Ireland, for the English people 
 are bent upon doing justice to their Irish brethren. 
 There are no doubt, besides the ecclesiastical ques- 
 tion, others of the very utmost importance to Ireland, 
 which urgently require speedy and fair adjustment. 
 Englishmen desire earnestly to co-operate with their 
 Irish fellow-countrymen in settling them satisfac- 
 torily. They cannot, however, be entered upon here, 
 as space does not permit of it, neither do they fall 
 witliin the scope of this article. 
 
 It is indeed unhappily true that in all probability 
 no abolition of wrong systems, no wise reforms, will 
 conciliate those extreme members of the Fenian 
 plotters in Ireland, who seem bent upon the hopeless 
 and criminal attempt to separate her altogether from 
 Great Britain by revolution and armed violence. Yet 
 that sad probability is by no means a reason for not 
 sweeping away institutions founded on injustice, or 
 for neglecting to carry out wise reforms. On the 
 contrary, it is a strong argument for so doing. Be- 
 cause by thus acting, the government of the United 
 Kingdom would commend itself to the consciences of 
 its own people, as well as to those of the enlightened 
 men of all civilised nations. It would render its
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 203 
 
 moral and legal position impregnable if, while firmly- 
 putting down every attempt to overthrow its just 
 rule and authority by armed violence, it at the same 
 time carried out a vigorous policy of reform as re- 
 gards every wrong, great and small, of which Ireland 
 can still complain. It is not too much to expect that 
 such a policy, inaugurated without delay and stead- 
 fastly maintained, would ere long rally round it a 
 large public opinion in Ireland itself, and detach from 
 the ultra-leaders of Fenianism many of the Irish who 
 now have more or less sympathy with it, owing to 
 the recollection of past injustice, or to the existence 
 of such as still continues to afflict their country. 
 Justice demands that all those evil relics of evil times 
 be swept away, and wisdom counsels prompt and 
 wise legislation upon such important matters as edu- 
 cation and the tenure of land. As regards these last 
 two questions, our legislators will do well to consider, 
 not so much what is done in England, and what 
 works well there, but what is best for Ireland, what is 
 most likely to work good there, and what is most 
 suited to her wants and to the character of her people. 
 Differences of law and custom are often good, because, 
 though incompatible with a hard outward uniformity, 
 they very frequently strengthen that which is really 
 essential — namely, a sound and living unity. Thus 
 there are great differences in the customs and legal 
 procedures, as well as in the ecclesiastical state 
 systems, of England and Scotland, yet nothing can 
 be more perfect than their cordial union, so beneficial 
 to both. Indeed, it may be said that any attempt to
 
 204 ESSAYS. 
 
 make the two countries absolutely uniform in the 
 matters referred to would only impair their living 
 unity. In legislating for Ireland this principle should 
 be borne in mind and practically applied. 
 
 It may here be permitted to say a few words 
 touching the criminal attempts of the Fenian leaders 
 to bring about the secession of Ireland by an appeal 
 to arms and violence. From the constitutional point 
 of view the case is clear. No portion of the United 
 Kingdom, whether it be Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or 
 England, has any power or right to make any law 
 for itself, much less to secede from our Union, except 
 with the consent and concert of the people of the 
 United Kingdom, to be given through its national 
 representatives in the two Houses of Parliament, and 
 sanctioned by the Crov/n, in conformity with the pro- 
 visions of the constitution of this realm. The Fenians 
 may indeed use those, but only those, lawful means 
 which our free constitution gives, to work upon the 
 public opinion of the whole nation, so as to try and 
 persuade its majority, and thereby the majority of its 
 representatives, to sanction the secession of Ireland, 
 and its erection into an independent republic. If 
 they kept thus strictly within constitutional bounds 
 they would be wholly blameless, and as legal in their 
 course of action as any political association which 
 has ever aimed at effecting political changes by con- 
 stitutional means. The Anti-Corn-Law League is a 
 notable example of such a mode of action crowned 
 with splendid success. 
 
 But if because the Fenian leaders cannot persuade
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 205 
 
 the majority of the people of the United Kingdom 
 and their lawful representatives to agree to the seces- 
 sion of Ireland, or because they feel it to be hopeless 
 even to attempt such lawful persuasion, they there- 
 fore seek to compass their object by armed violence 
 or war, then they must be firmly put down by that 
 executive power whose duty it is to protect, by force 
 if necessary, the rights, laws, and liberties of the 
 United Kingdom. The principles thus laid down 
 are essential not only to order but to freedom. F'or 
 if it be once admitted that a minority has a right to 
 appeal to force because it cannot persuade the majo- 
 rity to adopt a given line of policy, then all free 
 government is at an end, and liberty (whether it take 
 the form of a united constitutional monarchy, or a 
 united federal republic) is simply rendered impos- 
 sible, and must give place to anarchy. Popular and 
 democratic politicians of all countries must be re- 
 minded that this very line of argument was used and 
 enforced by the government of the United States 
 when the Southern Secessionists sought to secede by 
 force of arms from the Federal Union. Most memor- 
 able are those words addressed, at Mr President 
 Lincoln's bidding, by Mr Seward to certain Seces- 
 sionist leaders, in March 1861, that no State could 
 withdraw from the Federal Union "in any other 
 manner than with the consent and concert of the 
 people of the United States, to be given through a 
 national convention, to be assembled in conformity 
 with the provisions of the constitution of the United 
 States." Let all politicians ponder well those words.
 
 206 ESSAYS. 
 
 and remember how they were enforced, and justly- 
 enforced, by one of the very freest governments that 
 has ever existed. Now the great majority of the 
 people of the United Kingdom, (not, alas ! of its 
 upper classes,) especially the intelligent artisans of 
 our great cities, cordially sympathised with the go- 
 vernment and people of the United States during the 
 Secessionist war. They can therefore have no hesi- 
 tion with regard to any attempts at bringing about 
 secession at home by armed violence, unless, indeed, 
 they would fly in the face of the very principles they 
 supported, and which many well-known men amongst 
 them vindicated with great force of argument through- 
 out the late American war. As to those who in Eng- 
 land espoused, more or less, the cause of the Southern 
 Secessionists, it is to be hoped that they see by this 
 time, at any rate, the error of their ways. In this 
 matter our conscience is clear; for as, from first to 
 last, we blamed and abhorred the armed Secessionist 
 movement in the United States, so assuredly not less 
 do we hate the like criminal movement in the United 
 Kingdom. For whatever may be their national faults 
 or the defects of their constitutions, (which while dif- 
 ferent in form are yet both based on the principle 
 of free self-government,) these two great nations 
 are respectively, in the new world and the old, 
 the depositaries and guardians of well-ordered yet 
 free systems of the utmost value to mankind as 
 well as to their own people. Therefore any design 
 on the part of any section of their subjects to change 
 those systems by other than constitutional means is
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 20/ 
 
 blameable ; while any attempt to break them down 
 by armed violence cannot be too strongly condemned, 
 and should ever be promptly and firmly repressed. 
 The great majority of the people of the United States 
 supported their government in so doing, and such in 
 similar circumstances will ever be the course adopted 
 by the great majority of the people of the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 But to return, though only for a moment, to the 
 Irish State Church, which forms the subject of the 
 first part of this article. It seems clear that in Great 
 Britain the conviction is ever increasing that the wrong 
 of an ecclesiastical establishment, hateful to the great 
 majority in Ireland, yet forced upon her, and main- 
 tained by force, can no longer be allowed to exist. 
 Nor should it be forgotten that this injustice is one 
 which lowers our country in the eyes of foreign 
 nations, who justly reproach us with it, being, as it 
 is, in flagrant contradiction with our principles of 
 civil and religious liberty, and with that freedom of 
 private judgment proclaimed by Protestants. It pro- 
 duces evils which affect all parties alike, both those 
 who perpetrate the injustice and those who are com- 
 pelled to endure it. It is a wrong to Ireland, a dis- 
 grace to England, and a dishonour to her Protestant 
 faith. So long as it shall exist, so long will it continue 
 to produce, as in the past, those evils which naturally 
 spring from it. Only when overthrown will there be 
 some hope of substituting for those evils the blessings 
 of concord, peace, and contentment. May the first 
 use which England's people make of their newly-
 
 208 ESSAYS. 
 
 acquired liberties be that of applying efficacious 
 remedies to the ills of Ireland. And who can deny- 
 that one of those ills which must be put an end to, is 
 that great ecclesiastical injustice which in the sister 
 island still tramples down the sacred rights of con- 
 science, and makes the term " religious liberty" a cruel 
 mockery when applied to Ireland ? When that wrong 
 shall be undone, and not till then, can the hope arise, 
 that these Islands, (whose ancient sceptre is swayed so 
 gently and so w^ell by England's Queen,) may become 
 of a truth, and not be by legal title only, a "United 
 Kingdom." 
 
 The same frankness w^hich has been used in deal- 
 ing with the temporal power and position of the 
 Protestant State Church in Ireland must now be 
 applied to the temporal power of the Roman Church 
 as exercised by the Pope, who is also its spiritual 
 head. That spiritual headship is willingly acknow- 
 ledged by all Roman Catholics, however much they 
 may differ upon the question whether the temporal 
 power of the Roman Pontiff should be restored to 
 the position it held previous to the formation of 
 the Italian kingdom, or be limited to a far narrower 
 compass, or be completely abolished. That such 
 differences of opinion do exist amongst Roman 
 Catholics upon this subject is a simple fact. To 
 deny it is as futile as to deny that different views 
 are taken by English Churchmen upon the question 
 of inspiration, and by English statesmen upon that 
 of the Irish Church Establishment. Yet, inasm.uch
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 209 
 
 as this temporal power touches matters more or less 
 connected with the religious convictions of devout 
 Romanists, care should be taken in discussing it to 
 avoid giving any unnecessary pain to their feelings. 
 The discussion should be earnest and serious, as well 
 as free and searching. It is in such a spirit that the 
 writer desires to treat (with all due respect to the 
 convictions of others, yet with freedom and sincerity) 
 this question of the Papal " Temporal Power," which 
 is now exciting such deep interest throughout the 
 world. 
 
 No one can have investigated what has been 
 going on in Italy for many years past, without see- 
 ing how hopeless a task has been that of France 
 in endeavouring to awaken the Papal Government 
 to the necessity of ruling in accordance with the 
 feelings, the progress, and the necessities of the 
 times. Thus, in 1849, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the 
 French Minister for Foreign Affairs, in a despatch 
 dated Paris, 9th May 1849, urges the Pontifical 
 Court, then at Gaeta, to proclaim some clear and 
 tangible concessions in order to prepare the way for 
 its return to Rome, and so give some security to its 
 future government by awakening well-grounded hopes 
 in the minds of the Romans. In one place the min- 
 ister writes .• — 
 
 " Besides, can it be thought a matter of indifference to 
 reassure that numerous portion of the Roman population 
 whose moderation, while detesting a regime of anarchy, 
 fears almost equally the return of that which marked with 
 so sad a character the reign of Gregory XVI. — of that 
 
 O
 
 210 ESSAYS. 
 
 regime Avhicb, on the death of that pontiff, rendered a change 
 of system absolutely necessary T' 
 
 It is worthy of special remark that this minister, who 
 is considered one of the French statesmen the most 
 favourably disposed to the Papal power, should thus 
 pass a distinct condemnation on the reign of the 
 preceding pontiff, thereby showing that the ill adapta- 
 tion of the Papal temporal rule to present times is 
 nothing new. He further warns those who were 
 about to resume the direction of that rule in Rome, 
 against following so fatal an example. Again, on the 
 6th June 1849, M. de Tocqueville, who had succeeded 
 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France, wrote 
 a despatch to the French Minister at the Papal 
 Court, in which he insisted on the necessity of " not 
 re-establishing those institutions and forms of the 
 past which have given rise to complaints ;" declares 
 the earnest wish of his government " to assure to 
 the States of the Church institutions really liberal;" 
 and says that " France, in return for the sacrifices 
 already made, has a right to expect that the condi- 
 tions necessary to the existence of a government 
 liberal and worthy of the enlightenment of the age 
 should not be refused." On the i8th August 1849, 
 followed the celebrated letter of the Prince-President, 
 now Napoleon III., to Colonel Ney, dwelling upon 
 the same theme. " I resume thus," says the writer 
 of that letter ; " the re-establishment of the temporal 
 power of the Pope, a general amnesty, secularization 
 of the administration, Code Napoleon, and a liberal 
 government."
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 211 
 
 Thus every attempt was made, but unhappily in 
 vain, to pave the way for a better state of things 
 upon the restoration of the Papal temporal power 
 by French arms. During the years which elapsed 
 from the time of that restoration to the year 1859, ^^e 
 Imperial Government of France constantly warned 
 and expostulated with the Pontifical Government ; 
 still, throughout the period mentioned, little or no- 
 thing was done in the way of necessary improvement. 
 The administrators of the temporal power remained 
 deaf to all advice, and persisted in a policy of the 
 most reactionary and retrograde character ; maintain- 
 ing, at the same time, their rule in Rome by the aid 
 of French soldiers, and in Bologna by that of Aus- 
 trian. In those days Austria was the perfection of 
 absolutism and so-called divine right in church and 
 state ; nor did she fail to use all her influence in 
 sustaining those principles in Rome, whose govern- 
 ment was. only too happy to follow such advice. 
 What terrible disasters the Viennese statesmen who 
 pursued this wretched policy brought upon their 
 unfortunate country, as well as upon the Papal tem- 
 poral power, has been made manifest to the eyes of 
 all men. But while touching upon that dark and 
 melancholy period, we cannot but for a moment 
 refer to the brighter present, in which an absolutely 
 opposite policy gives the hope of seeing the whole 
 Austrian empire regenerated by the operation of 
 constitutional liberty and progress. Cordially do 
 all the friends of freedom hail the change which 
 has been thus inaugurated in Austria by men so
 
 212 ESSAYS. 
 
 eminent as M. von Beust, Count d'Andrassy, and last, 
 but not least, the patriot statesman of Hungary, 
 Francis Deak. Englishmen of all parties and classes 
 watch the progress of this noble work with joyful 
 hope, and give to the constitutional Austro-Hungarian 
 State of to-day their warmest sympathy and heartiest 
 God-speed. 
 
 But to return to the subject in hand. When the 
 great events of 1859 overtook the Papal Government, 
 its weakness became manifest. The moment the 
 Austrians withdrew from Bologna, and so liberated 
 the populations of the Romagna provinces from 
 foreign occupation, they at once declared against 
 the Papal temporal rule, and overthrew it. Nothing 
 occurred at the time in those provinces to bring 
 about this change, save the withdrawal of the Aus- 
 trian troops. Neither French nor Piedmontese ap- 
 peared upon that scene. Garibaldi was away in the 
 mountains of North Lombardy. Such was the effect 
 in the Romagna of the cessation of that foreign aid 
 which had there been for years the sole support of 
 the temporal power of the Holy See. Besides, it 
 must not be forgotten that this proceeding, and the 
 annexation it led to, like that of Parma, Modena, 
 and Tuscany, took place in spite of French diplo- 
 macy: the Emperor Napoleon, at the peace of Villa- 
 franca, having expressed his desire to see the old 
 authorities restored in all those provinces — a desire 
 which he, however, refused to realise by force, and 
 which he forbade others to attempt by that evil 
 means.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 213 
 
 When the marvellous exploits of Garibaldi in Sicily 
 and Naples had made it clear to Italy that the estab- 
 lishment of a united Italian State had been changed 
 from an idea into a possibility, the provinces of 
 Umbria and the Marches showed manifest symp- 
 toms of desiring to share in the great national move- 
 ment, despite the presence of a papal army, com- 
 posed chiefly, then as now, of French, Swiss, German, 
 Belgian, and other foreigners, commanded at that 
 time by the late French General Lamoriciere. As 
 soon as the provinces just named were freed from the 
 foreign soldiery who maintained the temporal power, 
 they declared, like their brethren of the Romagna, for 
 annexation to the new Italian kingdom. Indeed the 
 fact that the Pontifical Government has long been 
 unable to exist save by foreign support in one form 
 or another, is an overwhelming proof that its tem- 
 poral power rests only upon mere force — the force of 
 foreign bayonets, ever destructive in the end of the 
 very power they support, because rendering it un- 
 speakably odious to its ow^n subjects. This odium only 
 increases in proportion to the number of bayonets, 
 and to the length of time during which their detestable 
 agency is employed. No more striking proof of this 
 truth exists than the case of the Bourbons, restored in 
 1814-1815 to the throne of France by the allied armies 
 of Europe. It may truly be said that the unfortunate 
 princes of the Bourbon line have never got over the 
 fact of having been restored to power by such means. 
 Again, in 1S52, the election of the present French Em- 
 peror to the imperial throne was probably in some de-
 
 214 ESSAYS. 
 
 gree due to the fact that such a choice by no means har- 
 monised with the general views of the foreign powers 
 who had made the treaties of Vienna, one of whose 
 most special objects was the overthrow of the first 
 Napoleon and the restoration of the Bourbons. In- 
 deed, it appears that some of those powers determined 
 at the time (1815) that no Bonaparte should ever 
 again be recognised as ruler of France. The French 
 profited by the occasion offered in the year referred 
 to (1852), to settle the point once for all by electing 
 the present Emperor and calling upon Europe to re- 
 cognise him. More than this, the Emperor purposely 
 took the title of Napoleon III., thereby maintaining 
 in the face of the world the principle of the continuity 
 of the Bonaparte dynasty ; thus vindicating at the 
 same time what he considered to be his family claims, 
 as well as the incontestable right of the French people 
 to choose whatever temporal rule seemed good to 
 them. The result was, that Europe bowed its head 
 to the will of France and of her Emperor, to the im- 
 mense satisfaction of both. 
 
 In the name, then, of what principle does this same 
 France impose or maintain by force, upon Italians or 
 any other people, a temporal power of any kind which 
 they desire to get rid of, or greatly to curtail and 
 modify } Is it because that people are comparatively 
 weak } Is it from a selfish fear, the offspring of a 
 despicable jealousy, which dreads to see in the future 
 a united Italy growing in strength and prosperity, 
 and so emancipating itself from what a powerful 
 neighbour is pleased to call his jusi influence ? Can
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 2 I 5 
 
 it be that such unworthy motives, such unjust preten- 
 sions, are really in harmony with the feehngs of the 
 French people, who, whatever may be their faults, 
 have often deserved to be called great and generous, 
 and often done much for the liberties and progress of 
 mankind ? To the conscience of France these ques- 
 tions are addressed ; from her conscience let the 
 answer come. 
 
 But there are those who say that it is for the sake 
 of religion — the religion of Christ — that the temporal 
 power of the Roman See must be maintained at all 
 costs, even by absolute force, and the aid of foreign 
 soldiers, other means failing. The employment of 
 these violent methods, (in opposition to the national 
 will and aspirations of the people upon whom this 
 temporal power is thus by force imposed,) is justified 
 on the ground that the conservation of that power is 
 necessary to the independence and due exercise of 
 the spiritual authority of him who claims to be on 
 earth the Vicar and representative of Christ. When 
 these or similar assertions are heard or read, the minds 
 of reflecting men instinctively recur to the evangelical 
 writings which narrate the life and death of the holy 
 Jesus. There it is told how full of love and gentleness 
 He was, how meekly He bore all injuries, how He re- 
 pelled not violence by violence, how He rebuked His 
 disciples for wishing to call down fire from heaven 
 upon those who would not receive Him, saying : " Ye 
 know not what manner of spirit ye are of;" how He 
 refused all temporal power, departing when He " per- 
 ceived that they would come and take Him by force
 
 2l6 ESSAYS. 
 
 to make Ilim a king ;" how He declared " My king- 
 dom is not of this world ; if my kingdom were of this 
 world then would my servants fight." In propagating 
 and maintaining His spiritual teaching and authority, 
 He used no other means save those of awakening the 
 conscience, convincing the judgment, and converting 
 the heart. 
 
 Yet to-day we are told that foreign aid, foreign 
 soldiery, the newest and most improved weapons for 
 destroying human life, war with all its bloodshed and 
 horrors, not only may, but ought to be employed in 
 order to impose upon an unwilling people the tem- 
 poral power of him who proclaims himself to be the 
 Vicar and representative of that very Christ. In all 
 seriousness we ask those Roman Catholics who hold 
 such opinions, is it by such signs that we Protestants 
 are expected to recognise the true head of the 
 Christian Church on earth, the chief pastor of that 
 faith which proclaims " peace on earth and good-will 
 towards men ;" who've golden rule bids us " to do unto 
 others as we would they should do unto us.''" Is the 
 spectacle of Roman Catholic France forcing Roman 
 Catholic Italy to accept the temporal power of the 
 Pope calculated to give Protestants a pleasing idea of 
 that unity and brotherly love which is so often boasted 
 of by members of the Church of Rome ? Is it not 
 more likely to make us heretics thank the Reforma- 
 tion for having freed England from connexion with 
 Rome, and so having preserved us from those quarrels 
 about the papal temporal power which set Romanist 
 against Romanist even to the shedding of their
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 21/ 
 
 brother's blood ? Can those who enjoy and main- 
 tain that temporal power by means of foreign aid 
 and foreign soldiers, duly armed with a Chassepot 
 rifle, which "does wonders" in its bloody work of 
 death and slaughter, say — " We serve the altar, and 
 we are content to live only by the altar ; we ask no- 
 thing of Caesar, and we receive nothing from Caesar ; 
 our kingdom is not of this world ;" " the weapons of 
 our warfare are not carnal ?" If such things continue 
 to be done, there will be no difference between the 
 manner of upholding the temporal power which exists 
 in Rome and the temporal power which exists in 
 Warsaw ; between the means employed to maintain 
 the earthly crown of the Pope in Italy and the earthly 
 crown of the Czar in Poland ; unless it be that the 
 former is obliged to have recourse to foreign aid, 
 while the latter is able to do without that degrading 
 expedient. 
 
 Do not Roman Catholics perceive the immense 
 danger which such a policy creates of alienating the 
 Italian nation from the spiritual authority of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, as well as from its tem- 
 poral power .'' This latter power, indeed, is already 
 odious to the great majority of Italy's people, nor 
 are all the bayonets of France able to restore it ; 
 nay, they but increase that odium in proportion to 
 the number employed against Italy, and to the dura- 
 tion of their stay within her limits. When then 
 Italians, finding the temporal power the one remain- 
 ing obstacle to the realization of their country's 
 perfect union and freedom under a constitutional
 
 2 1 8 ESSAYS. 
 
 sovereign of the nation's choice, are at the same 
 time told that such temporal power is absolutely- 
 necessary to the due maintenance of the spiritual 
 authority, there is no little danger of their confound- 
 ing both in one common hatred. Where to-day 
 would be the religious influence of England's clergy 
 if they favoured the maintenance of a Prussian garri- 
 son in London for the sake of maintaining the tem- 
 poral power and position of their Church ? Where 
 would be that of the French priests if they openly 
 advocated the maintenance of an Austrian or Spanish 
 garrison in Avignon for the sake of maintaining there 
 the Papal temporal power which actually existed in 
 that city for centuries, and was only finally swept 
 away by the great Revolution in 1791 ? What would 
 France have said, at this or any other period of her 
 history, if her bishops and clergy had opposed her 
 formation into one national kingdom because they 
 affirmed it to be incompatible with the interests or 
 necessities of the Church ? Such a course would 
 have caused irreparable damage to her in France, 
 and no other result can be expected in Italy. Surely, 
 then, this maintaining of the " temporal power " of 
 the Pope at all costs, and by every means, even the 
 most violent, endangers his spiritual authority, and 
 brings not only dishonour, but even peril on the 
 Church herself. Such, or at least very similar, ap- 
 pears to have been the opinion of one who was no 
 Protestant, but a devout Roman Catholic in all re- 
 ligious matters — of one who ranks amongst the 
 mightiest geniuses of the world, whose name sheds
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 219 
 
 imperishable lustre upon his age, his Church, and his 
 country ; for it was the illustrious Dante, who, nearly 
 600 years ago, seeing how fatal an adjunct to the 
 spiritual authority of the Roman Church was the 
 temporal power, how hurtful to her the union of the 
 two within herself, wrote those lines, never more true 
 than to-day : — 
 
 " Di' oggimai che la chiesa di Roma, 
 Per confondere in se duo reggimenti, 
 Cade nel fango e se bruta e la soma." 
 
 Piirgatorio, xvi. 127-129. 
 
 Say henceforth that the Church of Rome, 
 
 By confounding within herself two regimes, 
 
 Falls in the mire, defiles both herself and the burden (she bears). 
 
 And again, — 
 
 " Ahi, Costantin, di quanto mal fu matre, 
 Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote,* 
 Che da te prese il primo ricco patre ! " 
 
 Inferno^ xix. 115- 1 17. 
 
 Alas ! Constantine, of how great ill was the mother. 
 Not thy conversion, but that dowery,* 
 Which from thee accepted the first rich father. 
 
 Who, indeed, can look to-day on Italy or Ireland 
 without seeing what fearful wrongs and evils the 
 Christian Church has inflicted both on herself and 
 others by accepting temporal aid and temporal 
 power, so calling in the secular arm to help her, as 
 she vainly imagined, in her spiritual work } 
 
 Perhaps some such feelings and ideas were mingled 
 
 * Dante here alludes to what was believed in his days, viz., that 
 Rome and the territory around it, called the Patrimony of St Peter, 
 were given by Constantine to Pope Sylvester.
 
 220 ESSAYS. 
 
 with those of a more worldly character which made 
 Napoleon III. desirous of withdrawing his troops 
 from Rome. For he well knows, that being, as his 
 soldiers now are, the only foreigners in forcible pos- 
 session of Italian soil, a cause of perpetual irritation 
 is thereby kept alive in Italy against France, which 
 is destructive of the natural ties that would otherwise 
 unite them together. He appears to have hoped to 
 put an end to his occupation of Rome by the Con- 
 vention made in September 1864, with the Italian 
 Government. That hope he has not, however, re- 
 alized — a result by no means surprising, when the 
 discussions (about the instrument itself) which oc- 
 curred between the two governments, and the general 
 circumstances of the case, are fully considered. The 
 Convention stipulated that Italy should promise not 
 to attack the present territory of the Pope, and " even 
 prevent by force " any attack proceeding from the 
 exterior; that France "should withdraw her troops " 
 from the Papal States within two years ; that the 
 Italian Government should make no protest against 
 the organization of a " Papal army even composed of 
 foreign Roman Catholic volunteers," provided such 
 a force did not degenerate into a means of attack 
 against the Italian government. Italy further de- 
 clared herself ready to enter into an arrangement 
 for assuming a proportional part of the debt of the 
 former States of the Church. A protocol regulated 
 the transfer of the Italian capital from Turin to 
 Florence. Such were the leading features of the 
 Convention. No sooner had it been signed than a
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 221 
 
 good deal of discussion ensued between the French 
 and Italian governments as to what would or ought 
 to be the line of action pursued respectively by the 
 contracting parties in case eventualities arose which 
 were not provided for in the Convention itself That 
 such eventualities might arise was clear enough ; thus, 
 there might be an internal revolution in Rome, or 
 the Italian government might fail in its endeavours 
 "to prevent by force" a hostile incursion into the 
 Papal States. The Cabinet of General Lamarmora 
 (then in power) pointed out, amongst other things, 
 the immense difficulty of successfully and completely 
 " preventing by force " such attack, even when em- 
 ploying for that purpose a large army ; because it 
 was almost impossible really to cover such a frontier 
 as that of the Papal States, which is but a mere line, 
 and is open in all directions to the incursion of hos- 
 tile bands. In case, then, these or similar circum- 
 stances arose, what was to be done ? After no little 
 discussion, it was finally determined that as it was 
 impossible to foretell and therefore provide for all 
 future eventualities, it would be better for both the 
 contracting parties to reserve their liberty of action 
 as regarded any future circumstances not positively 
 provided for in the Convention itself Thus there 
 was left, unfortunately, as it has turned out for all 
 concerned, no slight danger of future complications. 
 
 The Papal government received volunteers chiefly 
 from France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. 
 Amongst its defenders, however, was a corps named 
 " The Antibes Legion," whose formation calls for
 
 222 ESSAYS. 
 
 special remark. A French writer of position and 
 ability refers to it in these words : — 
 
 "France furnished to the Pope, under the form of volun- 
 teers freely enrolled from the ranks of the religious party, 
 the corps of Pontifical Zouaves ; the Zouaves were the con- 
 tingent of the clerical party in France. Apart from this 
 spontaneous movement the French government took the 
 initiative of a more important combination. It favoured 
 the creation, for the military service of the Holy Father, of 
 a corps which was called the Antibes Legion. The manner 
 of recruiting this Legion was peculiar. We do not know 
 how it could be justified as being in conformity with our 
 military laws. In any case it cannot be disputed that it 
 bore an irregular appearance. The soldiers of the Antibes 
 Legion are soldiers of our army ; they are commanded by 
 French officers, who, during the time of their service in the 
 Legion, preserve their rights of promotion. Our military 
 contingents are determined by the laws voted by the 
 national representation, and affected exclusively to the 
 service of the country. It is difficult to understand how 
 any fraction of those contingents can be legitimately de- 
 tached from the service, and authorised to pass into the pay 
 and under the flag of a foreign state." 
 
 A little further on the same writer remarks : — "The 
 journey of General Dumont to Rome, and above all 
 a letter of our Minister of War (Marshal Niel), gave 
 to the Antibes Legion a meaning more marked and 
 more disquieting to Italian susceptibilities," The 
 French General mentioned went to Rome and in- 
 spected the Antibes Legion in July 1867. It was 
 affirmed that he went officially ; then it was said by 
 the Moniteur of 1st August 1867, that his mission 
 was of quite a private character. The French blue-
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 223 
 
 book, however, published at the end of November, 
 under a paragraph headed " Mission of General 
 Dumont to Rome," says he was sent to ascertain 
 the causes of discouragement in the Legion, and to 
 reanimate the spirit of the corps. In the speech he 
 made to the soldiers of that corps he is reported to 
 have told them in so many words that they were 
 "French soldiers ;" then it was said that the reports 
 given of the General's speech were not accurate. It 
 is difficult to arrive at the exact truth in the matter ; 
 but at any rate, the General certainly saw those in 
 high official position before being scut from Paris to 
 Rome, That fact, connected with what he did say 
 to the soldiers of the Antibes Legion (whatever may 
 have been the exact words used), roused — as well 
 such circumstances might — the susceptibilities of the 
 Italian government, which in consequence asked for 
 explanations from the French government touching 
 General Dumont and his inspection of the Antibes 
 Legion. Throughout Italy generally this matter 
 produced much irritation, which certainly was not 
 to be wondered at, for it looked only too like a 
 breach, of the spirit at any rate, of the September 
 Convention, which stipulated that the imperial go- 
 vernment should withdraw its troops from Rome. 
 But whatever Italian susceptibilities General Du- 
 mont's mission naturally roused, it was, " above all," 
 the letter of Marshal Niel, the French Minister of 
 War, to Colonel D'Argy, the commander of the 
 Antibes Legion, which gave Italy just cause of com- 
 plaint. This letter ran as follows : —
 
 224 ESSAYS. 
 
 " Paris, 21st June 1867. 
 
 " My DEAR Colonel, — My attention is too seriously fixed 
 on the Roman Legion to allow of my ignoring the grave 
 facts which for some time past have taken place in refer- 
 ence to it. How can this desertion, not individual, but 
 collective, which threatens to reduce your effective force to 
 nothmg, be explained ? The soldier has no reason to envy 
 the troops of the mother country ; he is commanded by 
 French officers who hold suitable positions {convenablement 
 poses) in our army ; he serves a respectable cause which he 
 has asked to serve ; he has before him that which has 
 always inflamed the French soldier, an enemy to combat, 
 a danger to face ; and yet he shamefully deserts the flag 
 which he has freely chosen, and, yielding to culpable en- 
 ticements, he abandons his chiefs in order to follow despic- 
 able foreign seducers, {de miserables e7tibaucheurs eiratigers.) 
 
 "■ It is not the desire of again seeing his country Avhich is 
 an excuse ; for he knows well that so soon as he has en- 
 tered France he is sent into a disciplinary African corps, (un 
 corps discipUimire d'Afriqi/e,) where he remains until the 
 expiration of his time of military service. I deplore this 
 state of things, my dear Colonel, because it is a stain on 
 our army which, wherever it is represented, ought to pre- 
 serve its prestige of honour and courageous abnegation. 
 Notwithstanding these sad incidents, my dear Colonel, I 
 do not lose the hope of seeing the good elements which 
 your Legion still includes efface, by dint of devotion and 
 perseverance, the memory of these last times. Your energy 
 is well known to me ; the government of the Emperor and 
 that of the Holy Father know that it will not fail. It is of 
 importance that your officers, upon whom you firmly count 
 with just reason, give confidence to the troops by their 
 bearing, by their language, by that military spirit which is, 
 amongst us, the source of such great things. Amongst 
 men of all ranks in your Legion, I shall be happy to signal 
 to the Emperor all those who make themselves remarked 
 by their conduct. I know that you are to present to me
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 22$ 
 
 Serjeant Doussin and two of his soldiers. I shall examine 
 their claims with great interest. 
 
 " Tell your Legion plainly, my dear Colonel, that we 
 have our eyes upon it, and that I suffer deeply as regards 
 everything which is an affront to its flag, so justly vener- 
 ated. I confound it with the corps {/es corps) of our army 
 in everything which touches its military honour and the 
 necessities of its organisation. 
 
 " Receive, my dear Colonel, the assurance of my most 
 affectionate sentiments. 
 
 (Signed) " Le Marechal de France, Niel." 
 
 Such is the letter of the French Minister of War 
 to the Colonel, himself a Frenchman, of the Antibes 
 Legion. Let the facts thus gathered from these 
 various French sources be now summed up. They 
 clearly show that this Antibes Legion was composed 
 of the soldiers of the French army, who were per- 
 mitted, if not induced, to enlist forthwith into the 
 Legion. Their officers are French officers, " who, 
 during the time of their service in the Legion, pre- 
 serve their rights of promotion." No wonder the 
 French writer, when commenting upon these most 
 unprecedented arrangements, calls such a mode of 
 recruiting " peculiar," doubts much its " being in 
 conformity with our military laws," and describes 
 the whole affair as " disquieting to Italian suscepti- 
 bilities." But what says Marshal Niel, the Minister 
 of War? What light does his letter throw upon the 
 subject.'' After lamenting over the desertions which 
 had taken place among the soldiers of the Legion, he 
 says distinctly that they are commanded by French 
 officers who hold suitable positions in our army ;"
 
 226 ESSAYS, 
 
 that is, who as such continue to preserve their rights 
 of promotion in the French army. Soldiers who so 
 desert, adds the Marshal, cannot be led to commit 
 that grave offence from wishing to return to France, 
 because when found there they will be sent off into a 
 disciplinary African corps ; that is, punished by the 
 French military authorities for such desertion. The 
 Minister of War deplores this state of things in the 
 Antibes Legion as "a. stain upon our army." He 
 expresses his willingness to point out to the Emperor 
 any soldiers of the Legion who may duly distinguish 
 themselves ; and as a proof that he really means what 
 he says, he mentions by name a worthy serjeant, 
 whose claims, with those of two of his men, he will 
 " examine with great interest." Once again the 
 Marshal declares how deeply he suffers for every 
 dishonour inflicted on this much-loved Legion, and 
 then concludes with these astounding words : — " I 
 confound tl (the Legion) with the corps {/es corps) of 
 our anny in everything which touches its military 
 honour and the Jiccessities of its organisationr 
 
 Let those who are versed in the military code of 
 France decide whether such arrangements infringe it 
 or not. But it is in the name of common sense and 
 common honesty that the question must be asked : 
 How is it possible to justify such proceedings and 
 such language in the face of the distinct stipulation 
 contained in the September Convention, that " French 
 troops" were to be withdrawn from Rome? Let 
 quibblers split what hairs they will, but upright and 
 impartial men will not fail to say that all such doings
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 22/ 
 
 assuredly broke the spirit, if not the very letter, of 
 that stipulation. Now, when a strong power makes 
 a compact with a weak one, the former is specially 
 bound, by every honourable feeling, not to permit 
 anything to be done on its part which appears even 
 like tampering with that compact to the disadvantage 
 of its weaker partner. The French government has 
 not acted in conformity with this principle in the case 
 of the Antibes Legion, and the various circumstances 
 connected with it. Imperial France has thereby laid 
 herself open to just and severe censure. None can 
 help contrasting the complete and absolute manner 
 in which French troops were, according to promise, 
 withdrawn from Mexico, and the very incomplete 
 and questionable manner in which the like promise of 
 withdrawal was kept as regards Rome. Nor will the 
 imperial government do well to say that the two cases 
 are different, because its enemies will quickly reply : 
 Assuredly, all the difference of the distance between 
 Toulon and Civitia, Vecchia, as compared with that 
 between Brest and Vera Cruz ; all the difference be- 
 tween Italy, alone and weak, and Mexico, not alone, 
 but warmly befriended by the great republic of the 
 United States, with victorious generals, tried armies, 
 and well-equipped fleets at its command. Be all that 
 as it may, one thing at least is certain, that with these 
 matters of the Antibes Legion, Marshal Niel's letter, 
 and General Dumont's mission, known to the whole 
 world, the French government will do wisely to make 
 no allusion to Italy not having been successful in its 
 attempts to prevent by force, last autumn, an attack
 
 228 ESSAYS. 
 
 upon the Papal States. A very common proverb 
 bids people who live in glass houses not to throw 
 stones. What share all these proceedings of the 
 Imperial Government had in rousing Garibaldi to 
 direct an armed attack against Rome, thus re-opening 
 violently that question, and defying the September 
 Convention which French authorities had so flag- 
 rantly tampered with, we have no means of knowing ; 
 but that those proceedings did influence the course 
 taken by Garibaldi, and those who acted with him, 
 can scarcely be doubted, and is not to be wondered 
 at. The following facts are, at any rate, indisput- 
 able : — That immediately after the Convention was 
 concluded, the Antibes Legion was formed in the 
 manner described; in the summer of 1867 came, 
 first, Marshal Niel's letter; then General Dumont's 
 mission ; and in the autumn of that year followed 
 the Garibaldian attack directed against Rome. 
 
 It was about the middle of September that Gari- 
 baldi, taking counsel only of his own patriotic aspira- 
 tions, put himself at the head of the volunteers who 
 Avere assembling at his bidding to attack the Papal 
 States. The Italian Government had forbidden all 
 such proceedings, and placed troops to guard the 
 frontier. Before the month closed. Garibaldi was 
 arrested and sent to Caprera. There he was closely 
 watched by the vessels of the royal navy, who at 
 first succeeded in preventing his return to the main- 
 land ; but at length he eluded their vigilance, and 
 made at once for the Papal frontier. Despite the 
 efforts of the Italian government, the volunteers con-
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 229 
 
 tinued to get into the Papal territory, and were con- 
 tinually reinforced : among them were Garibaldi's 
 two sons. The General himself now joined them, 
 and led them against the Papal forces, whom they 
 beat at Monte Rotondo : this place, occupying a 
 strong position, was taken by the Garibaldians. 
 Rome itself was in much danger. Already one or 
 two collisions had taken place between the garrison 
 and some of those within the walls. It was at this criti- 
 cal moment that the P'rench government intervened by 
 sending a considerable force to occupy Civita Vec- 
 chia and Rome. Upon hearing of this, the Italians 
 urged their government to intervene. Those at the 
 head of affairs appear to have vacillated much upon 
 this momentous subject, involving, as it did, hopes 
 and aspirations, dangers and risks, the magnitude of 
 which language can scarcely exaggerate. Vacillation 
 is always a mistaken policy ; but in this case it is 
 scarcely to be wondered at, though it must be cen- 
 sured ; for rarely, if ever, has any government been 
 surrounded by difficulties and dangers of a greater, 
 and at the same time of a more opposite kind, than 
 was that of Italy on this occasion. Postponing for a 
 few moments further observations upon such and 
 other kindred matters, this question only shall Jicre 
 be asked : Who, after all, are most to blame — those 
 whose rash patriotism creates a crisis necessarily 
 fraught with the utmost danger to their country and 
 her cause, or those at the head of affairs, who, after 
 wisely endeavouring, at the outset, to dissuade the 
 leader of that rash patriotism from entering on a
 
 230 ESSAYS. 
 
 course so full of peril to his country, fall at last them- 
 selves into the error of vacillation, or commit other 
 mistakes, while doing their best to steer the ship of 
 state safely through the fearful perils which Gari- 
 baldi's rashness had created ? 
 
 The Ratazzi Cabinet resigned, and after some 
 delay, owing to General Cialdini failing to form a 
 government, the arduous task Avas finally undertaken 
 and performed by General Menabrea. Not until 
 after the French had landed in Italy, did the Italian 
 troops cross the frontier, taking, at the same time, 
 every precaution to guard against a collision with the 
 French, while pressing messages were sent to Gari- 
 baldi to try to persuade him to abandon his now 
 hopeless enterprise. As soon as Rome had been 
 secured by the soldiers of Imperial France, 2000 of 
 them, armed with the new Chassepot rifle, together 
 with 3000 Pontifical troops, well equipped and accom- 
 panied by artillery, marched out against the Garibal- 
 dians. The two hostile corps, each numbering, as it 
 seems, 5OCO men, met at Mentana. Garibaldi and 
 his men, generally badly armed and poorly clothed, 
 fought with such determination and courage, that the 
 conflict continued to rage fiercely from one in the 
 afternoon until dark, and though the French and 
 Papal troops had gained decided successes by night- 
 fall, they were not able to complete their success 
 before it was actually night, but had to wait until the 
 next morning. Such a defeat reflects, indeed, the 
 highest honour upon Garibaldi and his brave men ; 
 for opposed to them were 2000 regular French troops.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 23 1 
 
 who, armed with the Chassepot rifle, which " did 
 wonders," evidently turned the fortune of the day. 
 But despite the courage and devotion displayed by 
 the Garibaldians, ultimate success against such forces 
 as those opposed to them was hopeless. Gradually 
 driven back, after much hard fighting, they retreated 
 under cover of night, having suffered heavy losses, 
 and leaving many prisoners in the hands of the enemy, 
 When within the limits of the Italian kingdom, Gari- 
 baldi was taken by its authorities, and sent to the 
 fortress of Varignano, in the Gulf of Spezia. He 
 might have resisted ; but, to his honour be it ever 
 said, he would permit of no resistance, because he 
 never will allow his own person to be the cause of 
 armed conflict between Italians. Such a conflict, 
 willingly and intentionally brought about, would be 
 not an error, but a crime. For whatever differences 
 may exist among them as to the best means of attain- 
 ing the great object all have in view, the whole nation 
 is one in its firm determination to attain that object, 
 which is but that of freeing for ever their native land 
 from the presence of foreign soldiery, and the wrong 
 of foreign interference. Their neighbours, French, 
 Swiss, and German, have attained that result, and 
 Italians are steadfastly determined to do likewise. 
 
 After the French had landed in Italy, the Italian 
 troops had, as just mentioned, crossed into the Papal 
 territory. This passage of the frontier gave great 
 offence to the French government. For what reason 
 it is hard to say, except that the French are inclined 
 to be much too easily offended if any one, except
 
 232 ESSAYS. 
 
 themselves, ventures to do anything. This same 
 kind of touchiness some of them have lately shown 
 most unwarrantably towards Germany, with whose 
 work of internal reorganisation no other nation what- 
 ever has the slightest right to interfere. But happily 
 the Germans are very numerous and very strong. It 
 is to be hoped that that fact, coupled with their abso- 
 lute right to do what they please in their own coun- 
 try, will ever be sufficient to protect them from the 
 wrong of foreign interference while engaged in recon- 
 structing the government of their great fatherland. 
 
 The circumstances connected with the crossing of 
 the frontier by the Italian army fully warranted such 
 a step on the part of the Italian government, for 
 they clearly belonged to those future eventualities 
 not expressly provided for in the September Conven- 
 tion — eventualities concerning which each government 
 had reserved its "freedom of action." When, then, 
 the imperial government made use of that freedom 
 of action (as it had a right to do) to enter the Papal 
 territory, the Italian government was perfectly justi- 
 fied in doing the same. Not only would Italy have 
 had good ground for occupying Rome jointly with 
 France, but that would have been by far the most 
 politic and equitable arrangement. Instead of that, 
 the imperial government became very indignant 
 with the Italian for having ordered its army to 
 cross the frontier at all, and appeared (though it 
 seems almost incredible) inclined to pick a wolf-and- 
 lamb quarrel with its weaker partner. In all this 
 the French government acted most unfairly. Nor
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 233 
 
 has it a right to utter a syllable about the Italian 
 government having been unsuccessful in its attempts 
 to prevent the Garibaldians from entering the Papal 
 territory, because success neither had nor could be 
 stipulated for ; on the contrary, the Italian govern- 
 ment had pointed out from the first (in 1864) the im- 
 mense difficulty of successfully doing so. But there 
 was another and far more powerful reason which 
 should have made the French government hold alto- 
 gether a different tone to the one it affected — namely, 
 that scarcely had the Convention been signed when 
 the imperial government began to tamper with its 
 spirit, if not its letter, in the matter of the formation 
 of the Antibes Legion, as has already been plainly 
 shown. No wonder, under these circumstances, that 
 this high-handed conduct of Imperial France to a 
 weaker neighbour caused her enemies to draw many 
 a biting comparison between her bearing towards 
 Italy on the Roman question and her bearing to- 
 wards the United states in the Mexican ; nor did 
 they forget to remark sarcastically on the quiet and 
 proper manner in which the imperial government 
 accepted the perfectly just, but most decided refusal 
 given by Germany to listen to any proposal for the 
 rectification of the Rhine frontier. As to the accla- 
 mations with which French telegrams announced the 
 reception of French troops in Italian towns, not only 
 were they at variance with the testimony of independ- 
 ent witnesses of the receptions given, but they were 
 at the same time in complete harmony with the offi- 
 cial announcements (made during some two or three
 
 234 ESSAYS. 
 
 years) of the rapturous reception given to French 
 troops in Mexico. Yet no sooner did French bay- 
 onets cease to uphold that Mexican State which they 
 had temporarily called into existence, than it fell 
 hopelessly and utterly within a few weeks. Not only 
 have Mexicans given no signs of love to France 
 since, but they have, by the cruel execution of the 
 poor Archduke Maximilian, flung in her face the 
 most terrible insult that ever one nation offered to 
 another. The French Emperor will do well to bear 
 in mind that these things are remembered and freely 
 discussed, if not in France, at least in other countries. 
 Nor can the truth be concealed that, though the citi- 
 zens of free nations may deem Garibaldi's course un- 
 wise or inexpedient, yet assuredly their sympathies 
 were not with those who, on Mentana's field, handled 
 the "wonder-working" Chassepot, but with those 
 who faced it with heroic courage, animated by the 
 " w^onder-working " love of freedom and of country. 
 
 As soon as the Papal territory had been evacuated 
 by the Garibaldians, the Italian troops withdrew from 
 it also. This step was taken by the king's govern- 
 ment of its own accord, though it would be folly to 
 deny that in taking it they were uninfluenced by the 
 hostile attitude unjustly assumed by France. At the 
 same time, it would be unfair to the rulers of Italy 
 not to admit that if they were greatly influenced by 
 prudence in avoiding all risk of war with a neighbour 
 so immensely powerful, they were also influenced by 
 gratitude from a recollection of the generous aid 
 afforded by France in 1859. ^ '^^ ^^^^s latter power
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 235 
 
 should remember that generosity at one time is no 
 excuse for injustice and overbearing conduct at 
 another. It is sad, indeed, to see the noble work 
 commenced in that memorable year, endangered and 
 delayed by an uncertain and changeable policy, creat- 
 ing general distrust, because its author will persist in 
 the vain attempt to support at the same time two 
 hostile systems and serve two hostile masters. 
 
 When the immense dangers and difficulties of 
 every kind which surrounded the Italian government 
 are taken fairly into account, its conduct in thus 
 giving way to France, and so avoiding all present 
 danger of a conflict with a neighbour so immeasur- 
 ably stronger than Italy, is, to say the least of it, 
 excusable. Certainly, her rulers took in this matter 
 the prudent rather than the heroic line. In conse- 
 quence, there have been some English writers who 
 have, when commenting upon this subject, spoken 
 of the Italian king and government in the harshest 
 terms. Surely such critics will do well to be more 
 considerate, if not for the sake of Italy, at least for 
 that of England. For when foreigners read such 
 very severe criticism, coming from such a quarter, 
 they will be tempted to ask, Did not England, despite 
 all her vast power and resources, finally take, in the 
 Danish question, the prudent rather than the heroic 
 line .'' Can we English deny that that prudence was 
 preceded by a great deal of what our American 
 cousins amusingly term "tall talk.?" That having 
 been the case, Englishmen will be wise not to judge 
 over harshly a young country, infinitely less power-
 
 236 ESSAYS. 
 
 ful than their own, which, in circumstances of far 
 greater danger, followed, like England, the counsels 
 of prudence rather than those of heroism. As to 
 Italians, however bitterly they may feel just now 
 at having been forced to give way to Imperial 
 France ; however much the rash amongst them may 
 have wished that their sovereign had defied her to 
 the uttermost, at whatever risk ; they will not allow 
 themselves to be so blinded by such feelings as to 
 listen to designing persons, who, in their folly or their 
 wickedness, seek to turn the hearts of their country- 
 men from their honest king. Italians will not forget 
 that for eighteen eventful years Victor Emmanuel, 
 whether as King of Piedmont or of Italy, has ever 
 been true to his country's rights and liberties, has 
 ever faithfully preserved them when the rulers of 
 neighbouring nations were trampling those of their 
 people in the dust. They will remember that, in 
 the cause of Italy, he has more than once risked 
 life and crown. Under his honest rule their native 
 land, (which scarcely ten years ago was but a down- 
 trodden slave,) has not only broken the old yoke, 
 but has made greater strides towards becoming a 
 free and united nation than was ever effected in the 
 same brief time by any people in the world's history. 
 It is not too much to say, that the unswerving devo- 
 tion of Victor Emmanuel to Italy's righteous cause, 
 and his honest faithfulness to his people's liberties, 
 have been as efficacious in bringing Italy so far 
 forward on her way, as the genius of the great 
 Cavour, or the burning patriotism of Garibaldi ; for
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 237 
 
 without such a king, the illustrious statesman would 
 never have risen to power, and the great patriot 
 would, in all probability, have passed his life, from 
 1849 to the present day, as a comparatively unknown 
 exile. Italians cannot but feel sure that what their 
 sovereign has done at this time he has only done 
 because he honestly believed (rightly or wrongly) 
 that it was, on the whole, the best that was possible 
 amidst the unspeakable dangers of a crisis brought 
 on by Garibaldi's movements. Well are they aware 
 that none regret more than the king himself, his 
 country's not yet being equal to the great military 
 monarchies of Europe, which have grown to their 
 present strength in the course of centuries. It would 
 indeed be a miracle if Italy were so, considering she 
 numbers scarce seven years of national existence. 
 And none but wild fanatics can suppose that such a 
 miracle could have been wrought by Italy's adopting 
 any other form of government, or by selecting as her 
 rulers any other class of men whatever. Granting* 
 then, that the statesmen of Italy have, in the last 
 terrible crisis, made mistakes, failed to take the best 
 course, or preferred prudence to heroism, who shall 
 on that account fling at them the first stone .-' Shall 
 England .' Thoughts of Denmark, if nothing else, 
 will stay her hand. Shall France .'' Is Mexico so 
 soon forgotten .'' If, then, in circumstances far less 
 difficult, two of the greatest nations in the world must 
 own to a policy whose results were anything but 
 flattering to their pride and self-esteem, Italians may 
 well pardon (while freely, within the limits of their
 
 238 ESSAYS. 
 
 constitutional liberties, pointing out) the mistakes 
 of their goveriiment. This is the course they will 
 pursue. At the same time, they will rally closely 
 around their king and parliament, and so by firm 
 union, and careful preparations of every kind, become 
 better able in the future to enforce, if necessary, their 
 just rights and claims ; for, acting otherwise, they 
 would but play into the hands of their country's 
 bitterest enemies. Nor will Italians forget that some 
 of those amongst them who have been loudest in 
 demanding that Italy should plunge headlong into 
 an unequal contest with France, have been but lately 
 the loudest to cry out for the reduction of their army 
 to the lowest possible point, and tliat just when the 
 French Emperor (without any sufficient cause) was 
 devising fresh plans with the object of strengthening 
 his military system. The inconsistency of such men 
 needs only to be mentioned to be exposed. Of two 
 things, one — either Italy may ease her finances by 
 cutting down her army to the utmost, and then she 
 must abandon all idea of resisting an overbearing 
 neighbour of ten times her strength, who persists in 
 doing the contrary ; or else her soldiers must be very 
 numerous, thoroughly well-armed and equipped, and 
 then Italians must consent to a taxation in propor- 
 tion to the expenditure necessitated by maintaining 
 so large a force. The fault of such a state of things 
 must not, however, be laid at Italy's door, who, like 
 her German neighbours, simply asks to be let alone, 
 and left to regulate her own internal affairs as she 
 pleases, just as Germany does and has a right to do.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 239 
 
 Happily this latter country is strong enough to keep 
 meddling neighbours from interfering with that right. 
 The fact is, that the huge standing armies which 
 disgrace our age and civilization, are caused chiefly, 
 if not wholly, by the imperial government of France. 
 For by maintaining and strengthening the enormous 
 military establishments which it persists in keeping 
 up, it compels its neighbours to be well, if not 
 equally, prepared. Yet France has no need for such 
 an overgrown army as that which weighs down her 
 people with an ever-increasing taxation ; while the 
 capricious foreign policy of her government entails 
 the burden first of one, and then of another military 
 expedition, abundant in cost, but certainly not in 
 glory. Such a policy keeps all the world in per- 
 petual alarm, to the detriment alike of France and 
 other nations, from the uncertainty and misgiving to 
 which it naturally gives rise. This conduct of the 
 imperial government is without excuse, for no one 
 menaces France, none do her dishonour (unless it 
 be Mexican Juarez,) none seek or wish to deprive her 
 of any fraction of that which is hers, neither do any 
 of her neighbours possess so much as a single village 
 which has the least desire to belong to Imperial 
 France. Were her government to prove its love of 
 peace by a policy of strict non-intervention in the 
 concerns of other countries, instituting at the same 
 time large and obvious reductions in its huge military 
 establishments, instead of merely protesting in words 
 its peaceful aspirations, the present state of uncer- 
 tainty would soon pass away, and there would be
 
 240 ESSAYS. 
 
 some hope that over-taxed Europe would see a 
 diminution, at least, of the standing curse of stand- 
 ing armies. 
 
 The actual crisis through which Italy, not to say 
 Europe, is passing, cannot be considered without 
 making a few observations upon the course pursued 
 by Garibaldi. Burning with a devoted patriotism 
 that knows no bounds, ever exposing himself to all 
 the dangers incurred in the carrying out of his rash 
 plans, Garibaldi will ever command the sympathy of 
 all those who believe that every people have a right 
 to struggle against foreign interference, whether it 
 take the form of threats or of force backed up by 
 bayonets. But it does not by any means necessarily 
 follow that the mode of proceeding adopted by him is 
 therefore the wisest or the best. That must depend 
 upon quite other considerations, themselves depend- 
 ing upon a variety of circumstances well worth a few 
 moments' serious attention. 
 
 Garibaldi is to-day the subject, indeed one of the 
 representatives, of the Italian kingdom, not yet com- 
 pleted, but assuredly deserving the title of free within 
 its actual limits. At its head is a sovereign faithfully 
 carrying out constitutional principles ; under him are 
 really responsible ministers, answerable to the freely- 
 elected Parliament of a people who possess the most 
 substantial liberties, — amongst others, those of the 
 press and of public meetings. Now the question 
 arises, which is best for Italy, that Garibaldi, keeping 
 himself within the limits of action which a free state 
 necessarily (as in the case of England or Belgium)
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 24I 
 
 prescribes to all its citizens, should unite himself with 
 the governing powers of his country in the arduous 
 task of solving the last great question which still 
 impedes the completion of Italy's union and inde- 
 pendence ? or whether he should take a course which 
 almost of necessity brings him into collision with 
 those at the head of affairs, nay, what is far worse, 
 brings his country into only too possible collision 
 with imperial France, for whose power he must know 
 that Italy is, and can be, no match ? for no political 
 machinery can even be conceived which could pos- 
 sibly in six or seven years make a people who have 
 long been downtrodden and divided equal in arms to 
 a military nation whose strength is the growth of 
 centuries. Surely, if Garibaldi were as wise as he is 
 patriotic in heart and courageous in deed, he would, 
 in the altered condition of Italy, (being as it is so 
 widely different from what it was in the days of his 
 earlier career,) see the expediency and wisdom of 
 altering his own course according to the altered cir- 
 cumstances of his country. For her sake he would 
 do well to curb his too daring ardour, and help her 
 honest King and free Parliament in their endeavours 
 to solve the Roman difficulty, instead of causing em- 
 barrassment and danger, not only to them, but even 
 to that noble Italian cause which, since 1859, has 
 made such gigantic strides towards its destined goal — 
 that great consummation of Italy's complete union 
 and independence, which is the earnest desire not 
 only of her own children, but of all who love national 
 freedom, and hate foreign interference in whatever 
 
 Q
 
 242 ESSAYS. 
 
 garb it clothes its odious form. Again, Garibaldi 
 seems to believe that the French Emperor is the 
 worst of men, and in his heart a hater of Italian free- 
 dom. Assuming, for the sake of argument, this to be 
 true, does not the General perceive that his own con- 
 duct gives that very Emperor a handle for employing 
 the worst kind of interference, that of bayonets and 
 Chassepots .-' To say that France has no more right 
 to maintain by force of arms in Italy any temporal 
 rule whatever, than Italians have to do the like in 
 France, is unquestionably true ; but unfortunately 
 (not only for Italy and Europe, but for France her- 
 self) she has the power to do so, and is only too much 
 inclined to exercise it. This fact is incontestable, and 
 when Garibaldi, choosing to disregard it, gives by the 
 course he pursues an excuse to Napoleon for inter- 
 fering in Italy, the imprudent patriot only plays the 
 game of the very man whom he declares to be Italy's 
 worst, because most insidious, enemy. 
 
 Moreover, the citizen of a free country is not jus- 
 tified in endeavouring to force his government by 
 extra-legal means to pursue a given line of policy or 
 conduct, instead of employing only the many legal 
 means of doing so which are at his command, thanks 
 to the constitutional liberties such a country bestows 
 on its people. When, then, any citizen pursues such 
 an erroneous course, he endangers the liberty he loves, 
 because he breaks down those proper and legal bounds 
 which in all free lands must and ought to be pre- 
 served, as being absolutely necessary to their free- 
 dom. Thus acting, such a citizen (whatever may be
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 243 
 
 his past services or intrinsic merits) does wrong, im- 
 perils his country and her cause ; therefore he must 
 be blamed. To say that Garibaldi's character and 
 services are such that the above rule is inapplicable, 
 cannot be admitted. That character is noble, those 
 services immense ; they may be pleaded in extenua- 
 tion of the course he took last autumn ; but consider- 
 ing the actual point at which Italy has arrived in the 
 establishment of a national and constitutional system 
 of freedom, Garibaldi's proceedings were not, under 
 the circumstances, really wise or justifiable, for that 
 system offered him other, better, and safer ways of 
 devoting himself to his country's service. It will 
 perhaps be said, that what he has just done will, after 
 all, help on in the end the cause of Italy. Very pos- 
 sibly; but that does not therefore make the particular 
 way in which he acted necessarily commendable. 
 Yet whatever Garibaldi's faults and errors — for neither 
 popular nor royal heroes are exempt from them — his 
 name is, and ever will be, loved wherever freemen 
 dwell, as expressing in a single word life-long, un- 
 dying devotion to the sacred cause of his country's 
 rights and independence. 
 
 Among the thousand arguments and reflections to 
 which the mighty work of Italy's union and regener- 
 ation gave rise, but few indeed can here be even 
 touched upon. There is one assertion, however, which 
 must not be forgotten. It is sometimes said that the 
 Papal government only desires to be left quietly in 
 Rome. This is wholly contrary to the fact. What it 
 has ever, hitherto at least, demanded, is that all its
 
 244 ESSAYS. 
 
 former provinces be restored to it ; in other words, 
 that the Italian kingdom be broken up. It says to 
 Italy : Your existence as a free and united nation is 
 incompatible with my temporal rule ; I therefore de- 
 mand your destruction. What would be the reply of 
 France, England, or any other nation, if, being in the 
 position of Italy, such language were addressed to 
 them ? Again, the chief of the Papal government 
 hurls his anathemas at Italy for adopting a variety 
 of laws which are not only demanded by modern 
 progress and civilisation, but which Roman Catholic 
 France and Belgium have already adopted, and 
 which the free Austria of to-day is hastening to 
 adopt. Who amongst enlightened men does not 
 sympathise with the work which is now being carried 
 on by the Austro-Hungarian diets and statesmen .'' 
 With what disgust would not every friend of justice 
 and freedom see to-day Vienna or Pesth in the hands 
 of a temporal power maintained by foreign bayonets, 
 anathematising and impeding at every turn the great 
 work of national regeneration, liberty, and progress 
 now being carried on in the Austro-Hungarian state .^ 
 Assuredly such a spectacle would be hateful in Vienna 
 or Pesth, and assuredly it is not less hateful in Rome. 
 There is a desire often expressed by many of the 
 most inveterate enemies of the Roman Church, which 
 Roman Catholics will do well to consider. It is this : 
 that the temporal power of the Pope may continue to 
 be prolonged by forcible means, because thereby the 
 greatest possible damage will be inflicted upon his 
 spiritual power. These bitter foes of the Holy See
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 245 
 
 will certainly read with joy of the Roman Pontiff 
 blessing and decorating the foreign soldiers who have 
 fought for the shred of territory still left him — soldiers 
 whose Chassepot rifle " did wonders " in its murder- 
 ous work of death and slaughter. But what answer 
 can be given to those inveterate enemies when they 
 ask, pointing to the hecatomb of mangled corpses 
 which strewed Mentana's field : Are these the bloody 
 tokens by which the Papal king would have mankind 
 believe that he is indeed the true representative on 
 earth of the gentle and loving Jesus who refused to 
 be made king — who was named the Prince of Peace ; 
 who "came not to destroy men's lives, but to save 
 them ?" 
 
 Those who, in examining this double question of 
 the "temporal power" of the Roman Church in Italy, 
 and of the Anglican Church in Ireland, look only to 
 the vast material strength of France and England, 
 will perhaps come to the conclusion that the " tem- 
 poral power" of the two churches, which those nations 
 respectively uphold, is in no danger of being brought 
 to an end, or even of being greatly modified. But 
 those who observe the direction in which the current 
 of civilisation and progress is running, who watch the 
 onward flow of civil and religious liberty in all direc- 
 tions, who mark the successful vindication of national 
 and individual freedom, even in countries hitherto 
 most opposed to all such principles, will come to a 
 very different conclusion. The ruined and decaying 
 remains of a vast armoury of weapons by which 
 arbitrary statesmen and bigoted ecclesiastics sought
 
 246 ESSAYS. 
 
 to sustain and strengthen, as they imagined, the 
 cause of religion, are to be seen lying broken and 
 disused on all sides. Such instrumentality belongs 
 to the past, whether its outward forms were to be seen 
 in the stake and torture of ages long gone by, or in 
 those civil disabilities and offensive oaths which were 
 abolished but yesterday. The attempt to maintain 
 by force the temporal power and position of an eccle- 
 siastical body, in opposition to the will, the liberties, 
 and the progress of a whole people, is but a vain 
 endeavour to preserve the last remnants of the old 
 system, which sought in a thousand ways to shackle 
 the liberties and consciences of men, by compelling 
 them to accept, or at least support, some form of reli- 
 gious belief which their brother men believed to be 
 the truest and the best. Those last remnants will be 
 as surely swept away as those around which the pres- 
 ent generation can remember the battle raging, but 
 which now exist no longer. More time may yet have 
 to be lost in the struggle, that struggle may blaze 
 forth for a moment hotter and fiercer than ever, but 
 the ultimate result is inevitable. France may be the 
 greatest of military powers, while Italy has not yet 
 organised the undeveloped resources of a nation whose 
 birth-throes we have witnessed and yet are witness- 
 ing. England possesses might and resources such as 
 may well make the strongest shrink from rousing her 
 to hostile action ; while Ireland may be said never 
 even to have known an existence at once independent 
 of others and united within herself. Yet when Italy 
 and Ireland demand the cessation of the temporal
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 247 
 
 power and rule of an ecclesiastical body which weighs 
 down their liberties, stops their progress, and poisons 
 their whole national life, it is with them that the final 
 victory will rest, despite all the strength of France 
 and England, who respectively uphold in Italy and 
 Ireland the temporal power of the Roman and Angli- 
 can hierarchies. For while the former nations have 
 on their side, in this matter, only the material strength 
 of Chassepot rifles and Armstrong guns, the latter 
 have with them the whole current of modern civilisa- 
 tion and progress, united to the divine power of 
 justice, liberty, and right, now, as ever, numbered 
 amongst the best gifts which God has bestowed on 
 man. 
 
 If, moreover, a glance be directed from the old 
 world to the new ; whether to the vast dominion of 
 the great American republic, or to the rising com- 
 munities of England's colonial empire — those free 
 nations of a no distant future — the system of ab- 
 solute religious freedom and equality will there be 
 seen reigning unquestioned, none having the least 
 desire to disturb, in those countries, that universal 
 settlement which, to the benefit of State and Church, 
 leaves both unhampered, thus realising the idea of a 
 free church in a free state — " Libera chiesa in libero 
 stato," as said Cavour. 
 
 Such facts, when connected with the manifestly 
 increasing tendency of the more enlightened and 
 powerful European nations to put in practice the 
 principle of complete religious freedom, reveal clearly 
 to every thoughtful observer what must be the final
 
 248 ESSAYS. 
 
 result. Is such a result to be dreaded ? Is it indeed 
 to be lamented that the prospect opens of a time 
 when no temporal power of any church whatever 
 shall thwart the independence and progress of a 
 whole nation ; when no country shall be compelled 
 to support a cliurch hateful to the great majority of 
 its people ? Surely the fall of such systems, not le^s 
 unworthy of an enlightened age than of the Christian 
 faith, should be hailed with thankfulness ; while at 
 the same time due preparation should be made so to 
 meet that salutary change as to turn it to the best 
 possible account, for if well and wisely profited by, 
 it will usher in the full reign of absolute religious 
 freedom and equality. Then shall all those who 
 share a common faith, and " reverence their con- 
 science as their king," follow its dictates without let 
 or hindrance, without paying tax or tithe to any other 
 creed save that which reigns in their own hearts. 
 Thus shall religion rest upon conviction, its only 
 sure foundation, and so the sacred claims of man's 
 spiritual life be brought into harmony with the no 
 less sacred rights of freedom, truth, and conscience. 
 
 The debates which have occurred in the French 
 Chambers since our article on the Two Temporal 
 Powers has been put in type, lead us to add the fol- 
 lowing remarks : — M. Rouher has declared that Italy 
 shall not be allowed to seize upon {scmparer de) 
 Rome. If he means that France will under no cir- 
 cumstances allow that city to become the capital 
 of Italy, the conference proposed by the French
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 249 
 
 government cannot take place. For it is doubtful if 
 any of the great powers will endorse such a doctrine ; 
 certainly England will not. If the French minister 
 only means that Italy will not be allowed to seize on 
 Rome by violence, because a European conference is 
 going to take in hand the Roman question, there is 
 still room for negotiations, however slight the hope 
 of their leading to a satisfactory result. M. Rouher 
 has delivered himself of one of those phrases, so dear 
 to the second empire, which may be explained ac- 
 cording to circumstances. Such phrases often give at 
 first alternating hopes to the various political sections 
 of France, and not unfrequently end in displeasing 
 them all. The French minister also informed the 
 Chambers that the Holy Father raised in Rome his 
 venerable hands in prayer for the good of Christen- 
 dom ; be it so, but it must not be forgotten that he 
 raises his voice there also to anathematise the just 
 and equal laws passed by the Italian government 
 for the good of its own people ; laws not only in 
 consonance with the civilisation of the age, but which 
 France has herself long since adopted. 
 
 M. Moustier, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
 in his speech (4th December 1867) said that M. Nigra, 
 the Italian minister accredited to the French court, 
 in proposing to France a joint French and Italian 
 occupation of Rome, asked the French to become 
 "not only dupes but traitors ;" adding, " Our honour, 
 our uprightness, all the sentiments that exist in the 
 hearts of Frenchmen, as in their national soil, revolted 
 against it." This proposition was therefore " rejected
 
 250 ESSAYS. 
 
 with indignation." Now, only a few weeks before 
 (17th October) M. Nigra, writing to his government 
 at Florence, says, " M. Rouher proposes that the 
 double intervention may be regulated by a common 
 agreement and contemporaneously effected." This 
 idea of M. Rouher's was, as facts show, not acted on 
 by the French government ; it preferred going to 
 Rome alone, and M. Rouher finally agreed to that 
 plan. But what will the world think of M. Moustier 
 officially declaring his own colleague's proposal of a 
 joint occupation of Rome to be one which made 
 them " dupes and traitors," which Frenchmen " re- 
 volted against," and which France " rejected with 
 indignation V These two French ministers have 
 thus brought the utmost discredit upon their own 
 government, unless indeed they have some very clear 
 and straightforward statement to make, which shall 
 explain this extraordinary conduct and language of 
 theirs, touching the proposal of a joint occupation of 
 Rome. Such a specimen of the way in which the 
 imperial government carries on negotiations upon 
 vital questions with another government, of whom it 
 professes to be the friend and even ally, will make 
 most people think that the fewer negotiations foreign 
 countries have with such directors of statecraft the 
 better. But the recollection of how much weaker 
 Italy is than France throws into the background 
 the absurdity of these proceedings of the French 
 government, only to bring out more forcibly the dis- 
 grace which of necessity attaches to them. 
 
 Besides M. Rouher and M. Moustier, another high
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS, 25 1 
 
 authority, M. Thiers, has spoken. If what he says 
 means anything, it means that, arms in hand, France 
 ought to have opposed, if not even now break up by 
 force, German and ItaHan unity. He advocates un- 
 bhishingly the most selfish and narrow of pohcies. 
 The neighbours of France are to be kept weak and 
 divided that she may be strong. According to this 
 doctrine, the French may be united, may change their 
 dynasties and governments as often as they please, 
 may be absolute masters of their own destinies and 
 country ; but woe to Germans and Italians if they 
 do likewise. That the neighbours of France have 
 no right to interfere with Frenchmen as regards the 
 management of French affairs in their own land, is 
 assuredly true ; but no eloquence of M. Thiers will 
 prove that those neighbours have not the same ab- 
 solute right in their respective countries, as against 
 French interference. It is now clear to the world 
 that all those fine phrases about protecting the inde- 
 pendence and spiritual authority of the Pope are but 
 hypocritical devices which attempt to conceal be- 
 neath the garb of religion a policy of interference as 
 petty, as selfish, as opposed to the Christian precept 
 of not doing to others what we would not have them 
 do to us, as ever disgraced the worst times of purely 
 selfish and autocratic misgovernment. Melancholy 
 indeed is it to see the professed advocate of free con- 
 stitutional principles thwarting their progress in other 
 lands instead of aiding them in their glorious work. 
 Such men do but bring dishonour upon themselves, 
 as well as on the party to which they are attached.
 
 252 ESSAYS. 
 
 If, as the words of the statesmen referred to seem to 
 imply, France has determined to prevent, under all 
 circumstances, Rome becoming the capital of Italy, 
 France will assuredly find herself occupying a very 
 isolated position. Such a policy, based on dislike to 
 the unity and independence of her neighbours, will 
 create uneasiness and suspicion throughout Germany, 
 hatred in Italy, and decided disapprobation among 
 the free people of England and the United States. 
 Russia holding down Poland will smile grimly at im- 
 perial France holding down Rome ; but as to sym- 
 pathy, there will be none. Nor will Austria and 
 Hungary have any to bestow, for they are fully 
 occupied with the arduous and noble task of internal 
 union, progress, and liberty, upon the success of which 
 their future prosperity depends. Very many of the 
 sons of France will wish that her work resembled 
 more that of the Emperor-King (Francis Joseph), 
 instead of bearing such an unpleasant likeness to that 
 of the Czar. " Vive la liberty comme en Autriche ! " 
 How strange that cry, uttered but the other day in 
 Paris by those who boast of 1789.* It may be that 
 the French people, so full of generous impulses, will 
 at length say : Enough of a policy advocated by 
 those who bid us selfishly inflict upon our neighbours 
 an interference we should not for a moment tolerate 
 from them ; enough of a conscription creating huge 
 armaments which burden us with an ever-increasing 
 taxation while depriving the land of tens of thou- 
 
 * On the occasion of Emperor Francis Joseph's visit to Paris in the 
 autumn of 1S67.
 
 TWO TEMPORAL POWERS. 253 
 
 sands of able cultivators ; enough of foreign expe- 
 ditions which cost France millions of money and 
 thousands of lives ; enough of a policy which hides 
 national selfishness beneath the garb of religion, and 
 then dares to describe it as patriotism. No neigh- 
 bour threatens us ; each one but asks that we inter- 
 fere not with him, even as he interferes not with us. 
 It is but just, for there are none upon our frontiers 
 who desire to be under our government, each one 
 being content to be united to his own fatherland. 
 We number 2,8 millions, in possession of a rich and 
 magnificent country, whose just rights we are more 
 than able to defend. Let us leave others in peace to 
 do as they will with their own, while we consecrate 
 ourselves to the work of developing the resources, 
 rights, and liberties of our noble France. So shall 
 we worthily fill our place among the nations, and be 
 a blessing both to ourselves and others. Pursuing 
 steadily such a course, we cannot fail in time to reap 
 all the rich blessings bestowed by those mighty prin- 
 ciples of freedom and the rights of nations which we 
 and our great forefathers have done so much to sow 
 broadcast throughout the world.
 
 THE CHURCH SYSTEM OF 
 IRELAND AND CANADA. 
 
 Reprinted from the " IVestminster Review" of the 1st April l868. 
 
 SO paramount is the importance of the Irish ques- 
 tion that no apology is needed for keeping it 
 constantly before the public mind ; rather is it a posi- 
 tive duty to do so until a satisfactory solution has 
 been obtained ; for the welfare alike of Ireland and 
 of England is involved in the issue. The question 
 itself embraces two subjects closely connected with 
 each other — the land and the Church. It is the latter 
 which will be specially dealt with in this paper. 
 
 When the justice and expediency of maintaining 
 intact the Protestant State Church in Ireland are 
 called in question, its supporters are fond of remind- 
 ing their opponents that the great majority of Irish 
 landlords are members of the Established Church. 
 This fact at once provokes the question, How is it 
 that, while the great mass of Ireland's people are 
 Roman Catholic, the great majority of her landed 
 proprietors are Protestant .'' In no other country is
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 255 
 
 to be seen a like strange phenomenon. Presbyterian 
 Scotland, Roman Catholic France, Lutheran Prussia, 
 Protestant England, present no such abnormal condi- 
 tion of things. Whence, then, does it spring in Ire- 
 land ? One word, pregnant with innumerable ills, 
 goes far to solve the problem — Confiscation. Lord 
 Clare, the Irish Lord Chancellor at the time of the 
 Union in 1801, said : " So the whole island has been 
 confiscated, with the exception of the estates of five 
 or six families of English blood, some of whom had 
 been attainted in the reign of Henry VIII., but re- 
 covered their possessions before Tyrone's rebellion, 
 and had the good fortune to escape the pillage of the 
 English republic inflicted by Cromwell ; and no in- 
 considerable portion of the island has been confis- 
 cated twice, or perhaps thrice, in the course of a cen- 
 tury." So again, a very different authority, Mr J. S. 
 Mill, writes : — " According to a well-known computa- 
 tion, the whole land of the island has been confiscated 
 three times over. Part had been taken to enrich 
 Englishmen and their Irish adherents ; part to form 
 the endowment of a hostile hierarchy ; the rest had 
 been given away to English and Scotch colonists, 
 who held, and were intended to hold it, as a garrison 
 against Ireland." This evil work was further aided 
 by that penal code which oppressed Irish Roman 
 Catholics up to nearly the close of the eighteenth 
 century. It enacted, amongst other things, that no 
 member of the Church of Rome could take or trans- 
 fer lands by devise, descent, or purchase ; that he 
 could not dispose of his estate by will, or lend money
 
 256 ESSAYS. 
 
 on the security of land. A child, conforming to the 
 established religion, might force his parent to surren- 
 der his estate, under a fair allowance. A younger 
 brother might deprive the elder brother of the legal 
 rights conferred by primogeniture. 
 
 With such causes to account for the fact, (without 
 parallel in Europe), that while the great majority of 
 landed proprietors in Ireland are of one faith, the 
 great majority of her people are of another, common 
 prudence (if no higher principle) would have sug- 
 gested the wisdom of not adducing that anomalous 
 condition, in order to justify the maintenance of the 
 Church of the small minority as the State Establish- 
 ment of the whole country. One would have thought 
 that the defenders of the Anglican hierarchy in the 
 sister island would have avoided using an argument 
 which, when examined, is proved to rest upon a fact 
 originating in the cruel wrongs of past times — wrongs 
 which now meet with universal condemnation. To 
 right them completely and fully to-day is unhappily 
 impossible ; but assuredly that is no reason for bring- 
 ing them forward in order to prop up an unequal 
 system which it lies within our power to abolish. 
 The merest expediency and. the highest principle 
 alike forbid the folly which vainly seeks to justify 
 the crying anomalies of the present by appealing to 
 the yet more crying wrongs of the past. 
 
 But without dwelling further upon this aspect of 
 the subject, let the Irish State Church, as it actually 
 exists, be now briefly yet carefully examined. Since 
 the Commutation Act was passed, (1832,) the taking
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 257 
 
 a tenth of the cultivator's produce, the seizing for 
 payment his only cow or pig, by way of collecting 
 tithe dues, has been done away. The ills produced 
 by such a mode of proceeding became too aggravated 
 to allow of its continuance. The tithes are now only 
 recoverable from the head landlord. He pays them 
 out of the rent he receives from his land, upon which 
 they are a first charge. Inasmuch, however, as the 
 rent is derived from the labour of the occupier who 
 cultivates the soil, that labour evidently contributes 
 largely and directly to the payment of the tithes. 
 This mode of collecting them, under the Commu- 
 tation Act, is certainly better than the old system 
 of levying them by the seizure of the cultivator's pro- 
 duce or stock : but, however ameliorated the form, 
 the cultivator of the soil still bears his full share of 
 the payment. Nothing can alter the fact that all 
 charges upon land press upon both tenant and land- 
 lord. Now, in Ireland the great majority of actual 
 cultivators or tenants are Roman Catholics, who are 
 thus obliged to contribute directly to the support of 
 the Protestant establishment ; so that the injustice 
 remains of obliging by law the members of the 
 Roman Communion to pay for the Anglican Church. 
 Again, it is urged that as both he who owns the 
 land and he who cultivates it knew of this tithe- 
 charge when they became owners or cultivators, 
 neither of them have a right to complain. Such an 
 assertion is a very exaggerated statement of the case. 
 What may fairly be said is, that being aware of the 
 
 existence of such a charge on land, they have no 
 
 R
 
 258 ESSAYS. 
 
 right to refuse its payment as long as the law de- 
 mands it of them ; but they have a perfect right, if 
 they think such an arrangement tainted with injustice, 
 to use every constitutional means for obtaining a 
 change of the law. That persons buy or lease under 
 such conditions does not by any means necessarily 
 prove that they think such conditions exactly what 
 they ought to be ; all it really proves is, that such 
 persons are so desirous of becoming owners and cul- 
 tivators that even those amongst them who contend 
 that the obligation to pay tithes is unjust, prefer 
 doino- so rather than cut themselves off from the 
 land. But such compliance with the existing law by 
 no means invalidates their right to get rid, by consti- 
 tutional means, of the obligation which they deem 
 unjust. This becomes clearer still if a similar case, 
 though under different circumstances, be imagined. 
 Suppose the legislature, having imposed a five per 
 cent income tax on its subjects, further enacted that 
 all persons with blue eyes should pay an additional 
 one per cent, thus making the tax in their case six 
 per cent. Doubtless every blue-eyed person who, 
 after the enactment, continued to reside in the coun- 
 try and derive his income from it, would be legally 
 and morally bound to pay the extra one per cent ; 
 but that would by no means deprive him of his right 
 of using all legitimate means for the repeal of the 
 enactment in question. A blue-eyed person would 
 not, by continuing to reside in the country, prove 
 that he thought the extra tax reasonable ; the fact 
 of continued residence would prove nothing more
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 259 
 
 than that he thought such extra tax a less evil than 
 that of leaving the country, with all his possessions ; 
 nor would he by thus continuing to live in his native 
 land weaken in any degree his right to agitate for 
 the repeal of the tax. Such a foolish and oppressive 
 measure would offend against justice, not against 
 religious convictions. But inasmuch as these latter 
 feelings are very generally as deep-rooted in the 
 human breast as the sense of justice, such an enact- 
 ment as the one supposed would not be more op- 
 pressive than that which says to a whole people : 
 None amongst you shall possess, nor even cultivate, 
 any portion of the soil of your own country, except 
 upon the condition of paying tithe in support of a 
 religion which the great majority of your people 
 deem wrong and schismatical. Yet such has been 
 the treatment inflicted for 300 years by England 
 upon Ireland. In the i6th century England became 
 Protestant, Ireland remained Roman Catholic. Upon 
 which England, being the stronger, compelled all 
 Irish proprietors and occupiers of land to support, 
 from that time forward, a Protestant State Church 
 in Ireland. 
 
 There are some who fancy that they successfully 
 apologise for this by asserting that the whole change 
 (the cruel penal code of the last century included) 
 was effected by the Irish parliament. Irish indeed ; 
 for although three-fourths of the Irish were Roman 
 Catholics, no Roman Catholic was allowed to have 
 a seat in Ireland's legislature, nor even to possess 
 the suffrage. Have those who make use of this
 
 26o ESSAYS. 
 
 argument about the Irish parliament ever asked 
 themselves what they would think of an English 
 parliament in which no Protestant could sit, and in 
 the election of whose members no Protestant could 
 vote ? Thus is it that men wedded by habit to a 
 long-standing wrong, blindly endeavour to prop it up 
 by means of another and yet greater wrong. Those 
 who thus argue are about as wise as persons who 
 should seek to extinguish a conflagration by turning 
 upon it an abundant supply of oil. Such arguments 
 (and there are many of a similar character brought 
 to bear) really tempt the writer, despite his English 
 birth and Protestant faith, to wish that by some 
 miracle Ireland would suddenly become far stronger 
 than England, and then treat her for a year or two 
 to a Roman Church establishment on tJiis side of St 
 George's Channel. It would then be seen how Eng- 
 lishmen would deal with arguments in favour of a 
 church establishment of the small Roman Catholic 
 minority forced upon the unwilling majority of Pro- 
 testant England. Eighteen months of such a regime 
 would clear away many a sophism by which Anglican 
 Churchmen seek now to justify such a system when 
 applied to Ireland. It would be edifying to see the 
 new light which would break upon their minds. Our 
 public halls would ring with many an eloquent speech 
 proclaiming the freedom of private judgment and 
 defending the rights of conscience. The occasion 
 would, no doubt, be further improved by reminding 
 Roman Catholics that, as professed Christians, they 
 were bound to do unto others as they would be done
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 26 1 
 
 by. Many and powerful discourses would be preached 
 setting forth the apostolic maxim, that the weapons 
 of the Christian warfare are not carnal. Others would 
 dwell with great force of argument upon the truth 
 that the Christian kingdom is not one of temporal 
 but of spiritual rule, even as Christ himself declared 
 when He said, "My kingdom is not of this world." 
 In vain would our Irish fellow-countrymen seek to 
 improve their position by passing an Ecclesiastical 
 Titles Bill forbidding our Protestant bishops to as- 
 sume, for the future, territorial designations. Nor 
 would content be increased by the suspension of the 
 Habeas Corpus Act, although it might well be that 
 such suspension was necessary to the peace of the 
 country, thanks to the ecclesiastical regime thus im- 
 posed upon Protestant England by Roman Catholic 
 Ireland. Indeed it would not be surprising if the 
 head of the police had to call in the authorities of 
 the Horse Guards to enable him to protect Arch- 
 bishop Manning (by law transformed into His Grace 
 Henry Edward, Lord Archbishop of Westminster, 
 Primate of all England and Metropolitan), as he went 
 to take his seat in England's House of Peers. 
 
 Under such circumstances, even those who are 
 loudest in proclaiming that changes in our govern- 
 ment are to be effected only by constitutional means, 
 might be sorely tempted to fall away from that 
 orthodox faith. Some might perchance give ear to 
 evil-disposed persons who should whisper that our 
 forefathers resisted oppression by other than merely 
 moral force and constitutional opposition. Very fervid
 
 262 ESSAYS. 
 
 Protestants, perhaps even Church dignitaries, roused 
 by what seemed to them a grievous wrong, and hope- 
 less of any other remedy, might cry in their despair, 
 " Repeal the Union." One thing, at least, is certain ; 
 that no amount of oratory, no abundance of leading 
 articles, would ever convince Englishmen that a Papal 
 Church established by law in Protestant England was 
 after all " only a sentimental grievance." Now, let it 
 further be supposed that such a Roman establish- 
 ment \,'ere accompanied by a wide-spread system of 
 confiscation, which handed over three-fourths of Eng- 
 land's soil to Irish Roman Catholics and their de- 
 pendents. What would Englishmen say if such a 
 change, brought about by such means, were adduced 
 as an argument to prove that a Roman State Church 
 was no real hardship to England .'' Would not her 
 people condemn the whole proceeding as a mon- 
 strous iniquity, and denounce the argument as one 
 which only added insult to injury ? Such assuredly 
 would be England's sentence in her own case, and 
 such, if justice or manly honesty have any influence 
 over her, must be the sentence she pronounces in the 
 case of her neighbour. To judge otherwise is to run 
 the risk of no slight peril, if, indeed, there be truth in 
 those words: "With what judgment ye judge, ye 
 shall be judged ; and with what measure ye mete, it 
 shall be measured to you again." 
 
 Many defenders of the present Irish Church Esta- 
 blishment affirm that it is the real representative of 
 the early Irish Church as it existed previous to the 
 conquest of Ireland by Henry II. (ii 56-1 171). They
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 263 
 
 say it was that sovereign who first brought the Church 
 of the sister island to acknowledge the Papal supre- 
 macy. Elaborate arguments are adduced to prove, 
 and not less elaborate ones to disprove, the alleged 
 fact. The discipline, dogmas, rites, succession, con- 
 dition, &c., of the early Irish Church are gone into 
 with more or less of success, or want of success. An 
 intricate mass of conflicting evidence is produced, re- 
 vealing a most confused state of things, inextricably 
 interwoven with ecclesiastical difficulties and theo- 
 logical subtleties, the general result resembling any- 
 thing rather than the simplicity of truth. Let ordi- 
 nary readers at least beware how they venture upon 
 the bewildering entanglement of that theological maze. 
 
 " Ahi quanto, a dir qual era. e cosa dura, 
 Questa selva selvaggia ed aspra e forte, 
 Che nel pansier rinnova la paura ! " — Dante. 
 
 *' Alas ! it is in sooth a hard matter to describe it, 
 That forest drear, rugged, and toilsome. 
 The very thought of which rekindles terror ! " 
 
 The writer, at any rate, prefers at once admitting 
 that the existing State Church is the true successor 
 of the early Irish Church, despite the earnest protest 
 of Roman Catholic divines. Protestant Churchmen 
 must, however, be reminded that tithes were unknown 
 to the early Irish Church. They were first intro- 
 duced, or at least enforced, by the secular arm — that 
 is, made compulsory as a legal obligation — by Henry 
 II. for the benefit of that Roman Catholic Church 
 and Roman Catholic priesthood which it is afiirmcd 
 the monarch in question established for the first time 
 in the sister island. The matter is thus stated by
 
 264 ESSAYS. 
 
 the present Lord Primate of Ireland, in a charge de-' 
 hvered to his clergy in 1864 : — 
 
 "To the clergy of the early Irish Church tithes were not 
 paid, though it appears by some ancient canons attempts 
 were made to establish them. In the year 11 27 St Bernard 
 complains of the Irish, 'They pay no tithes;' and in the 
 year 1172 Pope Alexander III., in a letter dated the 20th 
 September, states, among other abuses of the Irish Church, 
 ' The people in general pay no tithes.' English influence, 
 however, in that year sufficed to introduce them at the 
 council of Cashel. They formed part of the splendid bribes 
 which Henry 11. gave to the Irish clergy to induce them to 
 conform to the usages of the English Church and acknow- 
 ledge the Papal supremacy." 
 
 Let, then, the present Irish State Church, whose 
 members so loudly proclaim that they only are the 
 true successors of the early Irish Church, return to 
 its primitive practice, and no longer claim tithes by 
 right of law under State guarantee. Is it not manifest 
 that they are but a popish invention, nay (according 
 to my Lord Primate), a popish bribe, employed by a 
 popish king for the benefit of Papal supremacy .-* 
 Why will the true heirs of Ireland's pure primitive 
 Church defile themselves by touching this unclean 
 thing ? But in this matter of tithes a singular change 
 comes over the members of the Irish State Church, 
 for they utterly discard the pure example of the 
 primitive Christian ministers of Ireland, and cling 
 pertinaciously instead to the precedent established by 
 Popery. Their conduct recalls to mind the story of 
 an old woman who was arguing vehemently in favour 
 of a favourite theological tenet. She quoted, to her
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 265 
 
 own satisfaction at least, gospel and epistle in its 
 •support ; but her opponent, skilled also in the use of 
 such weapons, met her with a text so clearly opposed 
 to her views that to gainsay its force was impossible. 
 The worthy dame, however, was not to be silenced. 
 Carried away by the heat of argument, she exclaimed, 
 with more warmth than reverence, " Ah ! that 's where 
 Paul and I differ!" Sothosewho maintain that the Pro- 
 testant Establishment in Ireland is the rightful heir of 
 that Church which existed previous to the conquest of 
 Henry 11. in 1 156, when brought face to face with the 
 fact that that primitive Church exacted no tithes by 
 force of law, are obliged to exclaim, if not in words, as- 
 suredly by deeds, " That's where the early Irish Church 
 and we differ." In vain do those search who seek for 
 precepts in apostolic writings which tell the ministers 
 of Christ to call in the arm of the temporal power in 
 order to force by legal enactment the payment of 
 ecclesiastical dues. Such proceedings came into 
 fashion under very different auspices, when the Church 
 had changed its condition of persecuted into that of 
 persecutor. From the fatal hour of her union to the 
 temporal power, and to the use she made of it, dates 
 that violence and persecution, those penal enactments 
 and civil disabilities, w^iich through long centuries 
 oppressed mankind. Only too constantly have the 
 professed ministers of Christ been foremost in this 
 ruthless and anti-Christian work. So has it come to 
 pass that every outward Church which has obtained 
 temporal power, has been one of the chief causes of 
 that hatred and ill-will, that war and bloodshed,
 
 266 ESSAYS. 
 
 which have set Christian so bitterly against Christian, 
 that the infidel and the heathen who read that dire 
 ecHpse of Christianity, have but too much reason to 
 exclaim, " See how these Christians Jiatc one another." 
 Such have been the consequences of the union of 
 the temporal and spiritual ; of forsaking the example 
 of the primitive Church ; of not acting in accordance 
 with the apostolic precept, " The weapons of our war- 
 fare are not carnal, but mighty through God ; " of 
 paying no heed to the Master's words : " My kingdom 
 is not of this world ; if my kingdom were of this 
 world, then would my servants fight." Those who 
 really love the name of Jesus should then aid in 
 abolishing every form of compulsion which forces 
 their brother men to support any creed to which 
 their consciences object. For all such compulsion 
 does but dishonour the Christian Church, and sets at 
 nought that golden precept of her Lord, "^//things, 
 whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do 
 ye even so to them." As to those who say that State 
 aid is necessary to their Church, or to the mainte- 
 • nance of its tenets or system, they do but proclaim 
 how wide is the difference between it and the Church 
 of old. Such persons, instead of trusting to the arm 
 of flesh, will do better to rest in faith upon the pro- 
 mise, " Lo ! I am with you alway ; " they should bear 
 in mind those who. eighteen centuries ago, went forth, 
 not with State aid, but in opposition to all the State 
 power of imperial Rome, went forth and conquered. 
 Or if they need less exalted examples, let them look 
 at those unaided members of Christ's Church called
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 267 
 
 Nonconformists, who, though paying tithe and rate to 
 the State Church, yet flourish vigorously. But they, 
 it is true, are free, having neither State aid nor State 
 fetters. It is to be hoped that Christian ears may 
 be henceforth spared the degrading complaint uttered 
 by others who cry that their Church can no longer 
 exist unless the legislature dole out to it so many 
 thousands a year. Not such was the language of the 
 mighty Apostle, whose wealth consisted in no like 
 beggarly elements, but who was rich with all the 
 *' unsearchable riches of Christ." Not by penal laws 
 nor civil disabilities, not by compelling support from 
 those who were not of it, nor yet by any other wrong 
 to the consciences of men, did Christianity win over 
 to itself a hostile world. By the simplicity of its 
 faith, by the purity of its holiness, by the divineness 
 of its love, was the victory won. Nor is it by any 
 other means that the Christian Church can retain its 
 conquest, renew its strength, or bestow upon mankind 
 that " liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free." 
 
 It is ever a difficult matter to remedy an injustice 
 of long standing. Not on that account, however, 
 must the duty of so doing be abandoned. Now, in 
 dealing with the present ecclesiastical system of Ire- 
 land, it will be wise to look round and see if any 
 similar question has presented itself in recent times, 
 and been successfully solved. Such a case does exist, 
 the examination of which will well repay those who 
 really desire to bring about a just and permanent 
 settlement of the religious or ecclesiastical part of 
 what has been well termed the Irish difficulty. The
 
 268 ESSAYS. 
 
 case referred to is that of Canada, where, as in Ireland, 
 a variety of races and creeds are mingled together. 
 Its inhabitants have long been partly Protestants of 
 English blood, and partly Roman Catholics of French 
 blood.'l As the colony developed, the elements which 
 composed it became more numerous and varied. Not 
 only English Churchmen, but Scotch Presbyterians 
 and English Dissenters, multiplied. To the French 
 element was added continually increasing numbers of 
 Irish Roman Catholics, 
 
 Now, in the year 1791, an Act of the English 
 parliament had directed that, in respect of all grants 
 made by the Crown, a quantity equal to one -seventh 
 of the land so granted should be reserved to the 
 clergy. Here, then, was established the principle, if 
 not of a State Church such as existed in the mother 
 country, at any rate of an endowed and privileged 
 clergy. This was avowedly done for the benefit of 
 the Protestant Church ; whether of the Scotch as well 
 as of the English, became a matter of dispute. Nor 
 did disputes upon this subject by any means end here. 
 These Clergy Reserves, as they were named, set at 
 variance Churchmen and Dissenters, Protestants and 
 Roman Catholics ; stirring up at the same time (as 
 was natural) no little ill-will between the various 
 races — English, French, Scotch, and Irish — who in- 
 habited Canada. Thus were created and kept alive 
 bitter differences, not only amongst the colonists, but 
 also between the mother country and the colonies ; 
 
 ^ I>ower Canada is essentially Roman Catliolic, the great majority 
 of its inhabitants beincr of that religion.
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 269 
 
 until at length there was brought about as apparently 
 hopeless a state of discord and ill-will as ever irritated 
 any people or perplexed any government. Other 
 difficulties there were besides this ecclesiastical one, 
 which, however, as usual in such cases, played a pro- 
 minent part in the general discontent and perplexity. 
 The rulers of Canada in past days, (or many of them, 
 at any rate,) by way of showing, as they thought, 
 their skill in statecraft, hit upon the notable device of 
 backing up the English Protestant element as against 
 the French Roman Catholic. The former was dubbed 
 the loyal element, the mainstay of the connexion with 
 England. The latter was treated sometimes with 
 injustice, and almost always with coldness and sus- 
 picion ; the natural result being, that the French por- 
 tion of the colonists became more and more irritated 
 and difficult to manage. So matters went on from 
 bad to worse, until discontent grew into turbulence, 
 and turbulence into rebellion. Such were the fruits 
 of this good old policy of the good old days. 
 
 Now, it is most instructive to remark how the dis- 
 turbing element of the Clergy Reserves was dealt 
 with ; how it passed through two distinct phases, and 
 was finally disposed of. First came the Act of the 
 English Parliament, passed in 1840, which put an 
 end to any further reservation of land for the benefit 
 of the Church, and then proceeded to divide the funds 
 arising from the existing reserves amongst the difterent 
 religious denominations. The Churches of England 
 and Scotland got the lion's share ; the remainder was 
 divided between Protestant Dissenters and Roman
 
 270 ESSAYS. 
 
 Catholics. Something- Hke an approach to reh'gious 
 equality was thus gained. In consequence, a far better 
 state of feeling pervaded the colonies, but, as usual, 
 these half measures proved insufficient. The great 
 mass of the colonists craved after perfect religious 
 liberty and equality ; they wanted to abolish the con- 
 nexion between the government and the churches, so 
 that both might be free. Then it was that in 1853 
 the English government, that of the late Lord Aber- 
 deen, introduced and carried through the imperial 
 parliament a bill handing over the Clergy Reserves, 
 and all questions connected with them, to the Cana- 
 dian legislature, to be settled by it in accordance 
 with the wishes of the Canadian people. It is not a 
 little interesting to refer back to the debates which 
 then took place. The late Duke of Newcastle, at 
 that time Colonial Secretary, in introducing the bill 
 into the House of Lords, said : " In different shapes 
 and ways this subject has been in agitation for the 
 
 last thirty years As long as we leave the 
 
 religious question to excite the people of Canada, 
 we are in danger of disturbing and disorganising the 
 whole foundations of government in one of the ten- 
 derest points on which it can be affected." The 
 arguments of the opponents of the bill were such as 
 might be expected. They opposed it in the name 
 of Church and State, Church rights. Church property; 
 if passed, the differences between the various denomi- 
 nations would become more marked and bitter, the 
 sentiment of loyalty be undermined, the connexion 
 with England weakened, and the funds arising from
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 2/1 
 
 the Reserves be secularised. In a word, it was a dread- 
 ful bill, and would produce dreadful consequences. 
 The bill, however, became law. 
 
 In the following year (1854) the Canadian legisla- 
 ture passed *' an Act to make better provision for the 
 appropriation of moneys arising from the lands here- 
 tofore known as the Clergy Reserves, by rendering 
 them available for municipal purposes." The principle 
 upon which this measure was based appears clearly 
 from the words occurring in the third section of the 
 Act : "Whereas it is desirable to remove all semblance 
 of connexion between Church and State," &c. Exist- 
 ing life interests only were cared for, and the funds 
 handed over to the municipalities, to be disposed of 
 as they thought fit. It appears that they applied the 
 funds thus obtained chiefly to educational purposes. 
 Every vestige of a privileged Church was swept away. 
 The endowment by the State of all Churches was 
 got rid of, as well as the endowment of one privi- 
 leged Church. The axe was laid to the root of the 
 tree. All "semblance" even of connexion between 
 Church and State was blotted out. Thus the true 
 Christian principle of perfect religious liberty and 
 equality now reigns unquestioned throughout our 
 North American colonies. The Churches are free 
 Churches in a free State. 
 
 And now comes the crucial question : What has 
 been the result of this new order of things ? Simply 
 this, that while ill-will and discontent culminating in 
 rebellion existed under the old system, there is now 
 to be seen, under the new, contentment, peace, and
 
 272 ESSAYS. 
 
 loyalty. The voices of angry sects are hushed, for 
 there is now no dominant church creating jealousy 
 and heartburnings. In Canada has been restored 
 the practice of primitive times, when Christians gave 
 freely to the faith they loved, and when Christian 
 ministers had no secular arm to aid them in the 
 unchristian work of wringing support from those 
 who were not of them. Thus have freedom and 
 order, peace and loyalty, taken the place of strife, 
 discontent, and rebellion. Nor is there to be found 
 any exception to this happy change among those 
 of any race or any creed. Nowhere throughout 
 England's empire is to be seen greater attachment 
 to the mother country, or more contentment with 
 her easy yoke, than in that Canadian dominion 
 peopled by English Churchmen and Dissenters, by 
 Presbyterians of the Scotch Church and of the Free 
 Kirk, mingled with a large population of French 
 Roman Catholics, whose congregations are con- 
 stantly increased by numerous arrivals of their co- 
 religionists from Ireland. 
 
 Such, then, is the actual condition of our North 
 American colonies, under a system of absolute re- 
 ligious freedom and equality. How widely different 
 from that of the sister island, where (alone through- 
 out England's empire) is to be seen the dominant 
 Church of the small minority lording it over all 
 Churches. There it still stands, a monument of past 
 conquest and present injustice, which naturally creates 
 discontent ; yet when that discontent shows itself, the 
 members of the Irish State Church say with unblush-
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF H^ELAND AND CANADA. 2/3 
 
 ing effrontery, — See ! we alone are loyal subjects, we 
 alone are true to England ! 
 
 There has lately been furnished a remarkable test 
 of Canadian loyalty to England which must not be 
 passed over. The Fenians in the United States have 
 endeavoured in vain to draw away the Canadians of 
 any race or creed from their allegiance to the mother 
 country. Thus foiled, these lawless marauders ac- 
 tually attacked Canada by armed violence, thus 
 wickedly exposing to the dangers of war a people 
 who have done them no wrong, who suffer under no 
 grievance, and who ask only to be left in peace to 
 manage their own affairs and prepare their own 
 future as seems good to them. This Fenian wicked- 
 ness against Canada happily brings its own punish- 
 ment with it, for it but makes Fenianism hateful to 
 the Canadians, while drawing more closely the ties 
 which unite them to England. It has but brought 
 out in stronger relief than ever the loyalty and con- 
 tentment of all the various peoples and creeds of the 
 Canadian dominion, and of none more than of her 
 Roman Catholic population, whether French or Irish. 
 
 This matter of Fenianism brings to mind the as- 
 sertion that that brotherhood of ill does not object 
 to the Church Establishment in Ireland, nor wish it 
 done away. It would probably be more correct to 
 say that the Fenians desire its continuance. The 
 reason is obvious enough. They know well that the 
 Establishment creates discontent among the Roman 
 Catholics of Ireland. Now, the more discontent 
 
 there is, the more suitable is the state of the country 
 
 S
 
 274 ESSAYS. 
 
 for Fenian plottings. To keep the Irish State 
 Church in existence is really a help to Fenianism, 
 Among its best allies, therefore, are those who would 
 maintain intact the present ecclesiastical condition 
 of Ireland. If they can succeed i-n upholding the 
 dominant church, so much the better for Fenianism, 
 and so much the worse for England, A like system 
 of church supremacy was tried for years in Canada, 
 with what result England knows to her cost. At 
 length it has been changed for one of absolute re- 
 ligious freedom and equality. The benefits which 
 have sprung from that change have surpassed the 
 most sanguine expectations. Is not the lesson one 
 which he who runs may read ? With such results 
 before their eyes, how much longer are English 
 legislators going to stand face to face with the Irish 
 Church difficulty, asking hopelessly what is to be 
 done, or pitifully wrangling about the manner of 
 procedure .'' Is England become so dull that she 
 cannot even learn by experience .-* Or is it deemed 
 wise to wait until an indignant people, newly en- 
 franchised, sweep away at a single blow the crying 
 wrong, levelling all injustices, not with over-careful 
 hand, but rather in the fierceness of their wrath ? 
 Or will the retrograde party resist all innovation 
 until the storm of popular opinion grow loud and 
 menacing ; then hustle through a sweeping change 
 (which in their hearts they hate, but dare not refuse) 
 leaving some one of their number, "faithful among 
 the faithless," to write the story of another " Con- 
 serv^ative surrender.'"
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 275 
 
 Be all that as it may, true Liberals, at any rate, 
 must pledge themselves to the principle of absolute 
 religious liberty and equality, at least in Ireland. 
 What ministry shall carry out that programme is a 
 secondary consideration. The vital point is to do it 
 thoroughly, and to do it quickly. Which is the best 
 plan to adopt ; that of endowing all denominations 
 in proportion to their number, or that of endowing 
 none .-* With all deference to more than one high 
 authority, the writer unhesitatingly advocates the 
 latter principle, that of no longer endowing any 
 church, due regard being had to existing life in- 
 terests. The example of Canada is strongly in 
 favour of such a course. There the system of pay- 
 ing all was tried, and found to be but a half-measure 
 that did not satisfy. Whereas that of paying none, 
 leaving each church to be supported by its own 
 members, while handing over the old ecclesiastical 
 funds for educational and other purposes, has com- 
 pletely settled the vexed question, and ended in 
 creating general contentment. Nor must it be for- 
 gotten that the Roman Catholics of Ireland demand 
 the application of this very principle ; they ask for 
 " the disendowment of the Established Church," for 
 the "placing of all religious denominations on a foot- 
 ing of perfect equality, and leaving each church to 
 be maintained by the voluntary contributions of its 
 members." Such is the language of the Irish Na- 
 tional Association, of which most of the Roman 
 Catholic prelates are members. It would be heartily 
 endorsed by the whole body of English Noncon-
 
 2/6 ESSAYS. 
 
 formists. It enunciates a principle which the Scotch, 
 and probably the evangelical party in the Church of 
 England, would much prefer to that of either endow- 
 ing or paying all denominations according to their 
 numbers. While those who have freed themselves 
 from ecclesiastical fetters, and from the special dog- 
 mas of particular churches, would give a far more 
 ready assent to a measure that endowed none, than 
 to a measure that endowed all. Complete disunion 
 of the spiritual from the temporal power can alone 
 bestow the boon of freedom alike upon the Churches 
 and upon the State. Let it, then, be applied, and 
 applied at once, to Ireland, just as has been done in 
 Canada. There the angry strife of religious denomi- 
 nations no longer troubles the State,- because there 
 the State secures full religious freedom and equality 
 to its subjects of every race and of every creed. 
 
 Moreover, this principle of disconnecting all churches 
 from the civil power is in harmony with the highest 
 and truest views of Christian liberty. By it the tem- 
 poral ruler treats religion as alone it should be treated, 
 as a matter of conscience, not as an affair of State. 
 He thereby declares himself unwilling and unable to 
 legislate about those matters of religious faith for 
 which a man is accountable, not to his fellow-man, 
 but to his conscience and his God. Such sacred sub- 
 jects must be dealt with by the convictions of the 
 heart. Upon that foundation alone can man build 
 his spiritual life. This is no question for a party 
 debate, nor can it be decided by a majority of votes, 
 nor be regulated by a State legislature. Far other is
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 277 
 
 the tribunal which alone of right gives sentence in 
 this deepest of man's concerns, in which the human 
 and the divine are inseparably blended — even the 
 tribunal where in secret the soul of man communes 
 and pleads with the God and Father of mankind. 
 
 Those who say that their creed will not endure 
 under a system thus bereft of all State aid, can have 
 but little real belief in its divine origin or life. Those, 
 on the contrary, who have no like fears, who believe 
 that divine truth possesses divine power, will welcome 
 such perfect freedom for the truth's own sake, as well 
 as for themselves and for their brother men. For 
 they at least believe that never is truth more secure, 
 never is its purity more unalloyed, than when itself is 
 true to the cause of freedom and is faithful to the 
 rights of conscience. 
 
 Touching what has been justly termed the Irish 
 difficulty. Englishmen must remember, that to ask 
 what suits England in this matter, what is in conson- 
 ance with Jier feelings and ideas, is emphatically not 
 the question. That difficulty can be satisfactorily 
 settled by the imperial legislature of the United 
 Kingdom only when it has determined to consider 
 above all what is good for Ireland, what is in accord- 
 ance with her needs, what suits the character, the 
 habits, and the genius of her people. The great 
 object to be aimed at, as necessary to the welfare 
 both of Great Britain and Ireland, is not uniformity 
 of system as regards either land or church, but an 
 equal, just, and cordial union. England and Scotland 
 have attained that result to their cjreat and common
 
 278 ESSAYS. 
 
 advantage. But they have attained it by sacrificing 
 the letter of outward uniformity to the spirit of living 
 unity. In their church systems and in their legal 
 proceedings and customs there are marked differences, 
 in accordance with the different characters and wishes 
 of their respective people. So must it be with Ireland, 
 if she is to become a contented and prosperous mem- 
 ber of our body politic. Let then the argument, that 
 such a course is not followed in England, and does not 
 agree with her precedents, be heard no more. All 
 such prejudices must be cast off for ever. The one 
 paramount question is, What is good for Ireland .'' 
 what is suited to licr condition and needs } To these 
 alone must England lend a willing ear, and give a 
 helping hand. For thus only can efficacious remedies 
 be applied to our sister's ills ; thus only can be satis- 
 fied the righteous cry of "Justice for Ireland." 
 
 In dealing with the question of Ireland's State 
 Church it is worthy of observation that extreme Con- 
 servatives and extreme Radicals not unfrequently 
 unite in declaring that if the Irish Church be dis- 
 established, the English and Scotch Churches must 
 necessarily be disestablished also. Doubtless there 
 are some principles common to all Establishments, 
 and some arguments equally adverse to all ; others, 
 however, there are of less wide scope ; there is, besides, 
 the all-important question of the practical ai^plication 
 of general principles — a question which must be very 
 carefully considered when actual legislation is con- 
 templated. 
 
 Now, as regards the principle of Establishments,
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 2/9 
 
 none can deny that it is one of human origin. The 
 present Archbishop of Canterbury stated this very 
 recently at a public meeting convened to oppose the 
 disestablishment of the Irish State Church. His 
 Grace said ; — 
 
 " Now, the establishment and the union of Church and 
 State has been created by the breath of man, because for 
 the first three centuries we know that there was no 
 union between Church and State. It was in the time 
 of Constantine that the union was first effected." 
 
 Those who look closely into the present condition 
 and tendencies of the Christian world will have good 
 ground for believing in an approaching dissolution of 
 this union between Church and State in all countries 
 in which such union actually exists. Such a change, 
 if temperately brought about, will, on the whole, be 
 probably more fitted to meet the needs and circum- 
 stances of modern Christendom than the system of 
 Establishments — it will be better both for State and 
 Church. But the question of the practical adoption 
 of that great change must be determined not only by 
 abstract principle and logical argument, but also by 
 a careful consideration of all the circumstances of the 
 particular Church and State whose union is being 
 discussed. It may well be that this important sub- 
 ject of Church Establishments ought not to be dealt 
 with either in the narrow spirit of " No surrender," or 
 after the radical fashion of instant and world-wide 
 abolition. It is not difficult to show weighty reasons 
 which will lead wise legislators to disestablish in one 
 case while refusins: to disestablish in another. Let
 
 280 ESSAYS. 
 
 the circumstances of our own country be briefly con- 
 sidered. In the United Kingdom there are two 
 Church EstabHshments — that of the Episcopal Church 
 in England and Ireland, and that of the Presbyterian 
 Church in Scotland. Now, although the principle of 
 Establishment is common to both, there are yet very 
 w'ide and essential differences in the circumstances 
 and condition of these countries, and of their Church 
 Establishments. Thus, England and Scotland are 
 essentially Protestant countries, their respective Estab- 
 lishments being the oldest and largest Protestant com- 
 munion in each country, much of whose spiritual 
 teaching is in harmony with that of the Noncon- 
 formist Churches. Ireland, on the other hand, is 
 essentially Roman Catholic — so much so, that she 
 remains faithful to Rome despite her union to Pro- 
 testant England, and despite all the efforts {often 
 amounting, in past times, to actual persecution) made 
 by the English government to protestantise the sister 
 island. Yet the Establishment maintained by la-w in 
 Ireland is that of the Church of the small minority, 
 which the great majority of the Irish consider hereti- 
 cal and schismatical. For England thus to force a 
 Protestant Establishment on Ireland is as unjust as 
 it would be for Ireland to force a Roman Catholic 
 Establishment on England. It is the same Avrong 
 which was done in past times when England en- 
 deavoured to force upon Presbyterian Scotland an 
 Episcopal State Church. That injustice brought in- 
 numerable evils upon both England and Scotland. A 
 like injustice has brought like evils upon both England
 
 CHURCH SYSTEM OF IRELAND AND CANADA. 28 1 
 
 and Ireland. At length to Presbyterian Scotland 
 was granted what she desired, a Presbyterian Estab- 
 lishment : let Roman Catholic Ireland have what 
 she desires. Happily the Irish Roman Catholics do 
 not demand the establishment of their Church, or the 
 endowment of their priests. What they do ask for 
 is, that all Churches should, in Ireland, be placed on 
 an equal footing, and be supported by the voluntary 
 contributions of their respective members. 
 
 With such wide differences existing in the cases of 
 England, Scotland, and Ireland, surely the wisest 
 practical course is not to preach a crusade against all 
 State Churches, but to enter into a well-considered 
 compromise. That compromise should be, to allow 
 the Establishments in England and Scotland to con- 
 tinue, but to disestablish the State Church in Ireland. 
 In effecting such disestablishment in the latter country, 
 the life interests of all living ministers should be pre- 
 served untouched ; all vested rights should be dealt 
 with in the spirit of the most scrupulous justice ; and 
 the grants to Maynooth and to the Irish Presbyterians 
 be in like manner done away with. Such a compromise 
 as the one thus indicated will not, perhaps, please the 
 ultra-partisans of Church Establishments, who will 
 agree to no change, nor yet the ultra-advocates of the 
 Voluntary system, who would sweep away all Estab- 
 lishments at once, without regard to place, time, or 
 circumstances ; yet surely this compromise would be 
 the wisest course, getting rid, as it would, of an ob- 
 vious wrong in the case of Ireland, while leaving those 
 who come after us to determine whether the principle
 
 282 ESSAYS. 
 
 of Establishment or of ;w;/-EstabHshment shall ulti- 
 mately prevail in England and in Scotland. Let 
 those who to-day refuse to surrender anything be- 
 ware. Ought they not to take warning from very 
 recent events .'' Have not those who only two or 
 three years ago opposed all change upon another 
 great question — that of parliamentary reform — found 
 themselves (after defeating 'a proposition for a mode- 
 rate change) obliged to consent the very next year to 
 an immediate and sweeping alteration of the law upon 
 that very question .'' Thus it was that stout oppon- 
 ents of reform but played the game of the thorough- 
 going reformers. To-day, strong Conservatives and 
 fervid Churchmen cry " No surrender " when the 
 question of Ireland's State Church is mooted, and de- 
 clare that if the Irish Establishment falls, the English 
 and Scotch Establishments must fall with it. Had 
 they not better take warning from the past, lest in 
 again opposing all change, and refusing every com- 
 promise, they find in the end that they have but been 
 helping forward the cause of the ultra-opponents of 
 all Church Establishments whatever ? As regards the 
 Church of England, her dangers come from within. 
 Let her heal, if possible, her own unhappy divisions — 
 above all, let her preserve an essentially Protestant 
 character and teaching — for if she do not, she will 
 assuredly lose her hold on the hearts and consciences 
 of England's great, free, and Protestant people. That 
 hold once lost, the fall of England's Church, as a na- 
 tional establishment, is certain.
 
 THE UNITED STATES CON- 
 STITUTION AND THE 
 SECESSIONISTS. 
 
 Reprinted from the " Westminster Review" of 1st April 1866. 
 
 1. The Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln^ 
 
 Sixteenth Prcsidoit of the United States. By 
 Henry J. Raymond. New York : Derby and 
 Miller. 
 
 2. TJie Constitution of the United States of America. 
 
 By W. HiCKLEY. Philadelphia, 1854. 
 
 3. Bacon's Guide to American Politics. London : 
 
 Sampson Low, Son, & Co. 
 
 4. The Presidential Message, Dec. 3, 1865, of Andrew 
 
 Johnson, Seventee?ith President of the United 
 States. 
 
 A TRAVELLER landing in America for the first 
 time has much difficulty in forming a true idea 
 of the political condition of the country. The first 
 impression is that of so much confusion, of such a 
 Babel of meetings, of speeches, of pamphlets, of papers.
 
 284 ESSAYS. 
 
 of such an endless variety of party names, often 
 amusing and always puzzling, that it is no easy task 
 to form a sound judgment upon public affairs. It is 
 not only the diversity of opinions which embarrasses 
 the stranger, but also the violence with which the 
 Americans frequently put forward their political views. 
 It is not merely the animosity of parties which strikes 
 him, but equally the vehemence of the attacks often 
 directed against the President and his Cabinet, against 
 the highest authorities, civil and military. 
 
 Sometimes the elections, always warmly contested, 
 appear as if they would end in a general overthrow ; 
 and be it borne in mind that they are of such con- 
 stant occurrence as to seem both endless and per- 
 petual. 
 
 Every man forms upon every subject his own judg- 
 ment, to which he gives full and free utterance. In 
 the railway may be seen the labourer or the artisan 
 conning over his paper with evident relish. If spoken 
 to, he w^ill give his opinion upon political subjects 
 without any hesitation. He will discuss freely the 
 policy of the President, the last despatch of the Sec- 
 retary of State, the proposition of one of the senators, 
 the tactics of a general, or any other matter of public 
 interest. He minces neither his praise nor his blame, 
 as the case may be ; for he considers himself as one 
 of the sovereign people judging men of the people's 
 choice. If a stranger from the Old World should 
 hint that he would do better to attend more to his 
 own work and less to politics, the American's w^onder 
 at such an idea would change quickly into something
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 285 
 
 like pity for his foreign fellow-traveller, in whom 
 he would see but a serf of feudal Europe, which 
 he pictures to himself as in the last stage of de- 
 crepitude. 
 
 As to the contents of American papers, whose name 
 is legion, the result of their perusal upon the newly- 
 arrived stranger is that of confusion worse confounded. 
 One journal paints the character and policy of the 
 President and his Cabinet in colours so black that 
 they might be supposed, without any great stretch of 
 imagination, to be monsters of scarcely human origin 
 sitting in the high places of Washington, itself little 
 better than an earthly pandemonium. Another draws 
 these same personages in characters of beatific per- 
 fection, worthy of angelic messengers directing a 
 federal government in possession of a terrestrial para- 
 dise. Should the stranger reasonably conceive both 
 of these pictures somewhat overdrawn, he will find 
 numberless writers and speakers representing every 
 shade of opinion which can possibly lie between these 
 two extremes. He has only to choose; but there 
 lies the difficulty. 
 
 Yet this very country, the surface of whose public 
 life presents so much apparent confusion and disorder, 
 has just traversed victoriously one of the most terrible 
 crises to which a nation has ever been exposed. It 
 has presented to the world the marvellous spectacle 
 of its people going through the great political contest 
 of a presidential election in the midst of a civil war 
 which threatened the very existence of the State — a 
 war which covered with vast armies an extent of ter-
 
 286 ESSAYS. 
 
 ritory the size of half Europe, which cost tens of 
 thousands of lives and millions of money. The na- 
 tional laws and liberties have, notwithstanding, sur- 
 vived intact. Generals in all the prestige of victory, 
 commanding numerous and disciplined armies, have 
 respected the constitution and bowed to the authority 
 of the civil power. During the war people continued 
 to discuss public affairs. Elections, campaigns, ex- 
 peditions, defeats, victories, followed in rapid and 
 constant succession ; but the final result was the 
 complete victory of the United States government, 
 crowned by a moderation of which history offers but 
 few examples. What was the cause of this result, so 
 little anticipated by the enemies of the American 
 Republic .-' Whence sprang that deep devotion to the 
 Federal Union which led the majority of the nation 
 to lavish upon its government the means for crushing 
 the violent attack upon its authority .■' 
 
 One of its chief sources is the love of his country's 
 institutions which the American drinks in from his 
 earliest childhood. That love is inculcated equally 
 at home, at school, and at college. It plays a very 
 important part in the educational system of the United 
 States of America, constitutes in a great measure 
 their strength, and produces results of vast importance 
 to the country. In order thoroughly to appreciate 
 the extent of its influence in the formation of the 
 national character, it is necessary to touch upon the 
 leading features of this system of public instruction. 
 Spreading itself over the length and breadth of the 
 land, it embraces all classes, from the richest to the
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 28/ 
 
 poorest, throughout the whole of the Northern States. 
 In the South it has not received the same full de- 
 velopment, and has been far less generally encouraged. 
 It is worthy of remark that the Federal Congress at 
 Washington has absolutely nothing whatever to do 
 with the system of education — a most singular and 
 abnormal fact according to the ideas prevalent in 
 European countries. It is, indeed, the exception 
 when even the legislature of a particular State inter- 
 feres in the matter of schools. In new States, how- 
 ever, where the population is still scanty, the legisla- 
 ture of the State sometimes aids by grants of land or 
 money. To the township belongs the real manage- 
 ment of its popular instruction. In each township a 
 Committee of Education is elected by the inhabitants, 
 which votes and levies the money destined to this 
 object ; to it belongs the regulation of all details, such 
 as the erection and maintenance of the school-build- 
 ings, the appointment of masters and mistresses, their 
 salaries, the selection of school-books, and the method 
 of instruction to be followed. Another marked feature 
 in the system is the absolute prohibition of all deno- 
 minational religious teaching — that is, of all doctrinal 
 or dogmatical instruction characteristic of any parti- 
 cular church. That general morality which is com- 
 mon to all religious denominations is alone permitted, 
 but all dogmas are forbidden. In many, perhaps the 
 majority of schools, the Lord's prayer or a psalm is 
 read daily at the opening of the school, but it is not 
 allowed to make this practice the occasion for giving 
 religious instruction. The school committee of the
 
 288 ESSAYS. 
 
 township decide whether or not such a practice is to 
 be followed in the schools under its authority. The 
 object of this exclusion of all dogmatic teaching is, 
 to avoid the innumerable difficulties arising from dif- 
 ference of religious views ; the questions which spring 
 from such difference creating almost insuperable ob- 
 stacles to the establishment of a really effective system 
 of national education. All such difficulties are thus 
 got rid of. The religious instruction of the children 
 is left exclusively to the parents and to the Sunday 
 schools. These latter are completely in the hands of 
 the various religious bodies, all of whom are wholly 
 unconnected with the State, and entirely supported 
 by the voluntary contributions of their respective 
 members. 
 
 As to the quality of the instruction given under 
 this system of public education, it may be said, with- 
 out exaggeration, not to be surpassed in excellence 
 oy that of any country. The greatest attention is 
 paid in the teaching of those elementary matters 
 which lie at the foundation of all instruction, and 
 which form by far the most difficult part of education ; 
 the tender age of the children, and the great simpli- 
 city of the primary notions to be taught them, requir- 
 ing all the tact, gentleness, and patience of which the 
 teacher is capable. Nor does the care thus taken at 
 all fall off in the instruction given to the elder pupils. 
 So deeply have the native-born Americans become 
 convinced of the excellence of a sound education, 
 (especially throughout the Northern and Western 
 States, where such a feeling is universal, and where
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 289 
 
 the school is ever one of the first buildings erected 
 in a new township,) that the greatest punishment 
 which can be inflicted is that of forbidding a child to 
 attend school during a given time. The little culprit 
 usually gets punished at home for having allowed 
 matters to reach such a climax. Parents or friends 
 will come to inquire whether the punishment was 
 really merited, and beg to have so severe a sentence 
 remitted, or at least mitigated. 
 
 One of the subjects to which especial interest is 
 attached in the schools of the United States is the 
 history of their own country. The principles upon 
 which the government is founded, and their practical 
 application, are carefully inculcated. Not only is 
 this subject taught in all its details, but the effort is 
 made to impress the pupil with the utmost love and 
 admiration for the institutions of the Republic. The 
 starting-point is naturally the story of American in- 
 dependence. First is stated the origin of the resist- 
 ance of the colonies to the mother country. Then it 
 is shown that this resistance was not a mere capri- 
 cious act arising from no particular cause of complaint, 
 but that it originated in a legitimate opposition to 
 certain illegal proceedings of the home government, 
 which exceeded its powers by taxing the colonists, 
 although they were wholly unrepresented in the 
 British parliament. Thus the EngHsh government 
 violated the principle of that inseparable union be- 
 tween taxation and representation which forms the 
 basis of all constitutional liberties ; nor did numerous 
 and repeated demonstrations of the most lawful char-
 
 290 ESSAYS. 
 
 acter, such as public meetings, protests, and petitions, 
 avail to turn the home government from its uncon- 
 stitutional policy. It must not be forgotten that the 
 Americans are supported by very high authorities in 
 accusing the then English ministers of pursuing a 
 course opposed to the principles of their own consti- 
 tution ; for in England's parliament three of the most 
 eminent statesmen of the day — William Pitt, (Lord 
 Chatham,) Edmund Burke, and Lord Rockingham — 
 protested against the acts of the home government. 
 Pitt and Burke pleaded the cause of the colonists in 
 parliament with great eloquence and unanswerable 
 arguments. These facts are carefully recalled by the 
 Americans, who draw from them strong evidence in 
 support of their cause. This point established, they 
 make every effort to demonstrate the excellence of 
 their own institutions. They dwell especially upon 
 the wisdom, patriotism, and political knowledge dis- 
 played by the men who gave to America her actual 
 constitution ; placing ever foremost the honoured 
 name of Washington. 
 
 Youth is generous : nothing is easier than to make 
 it admire that which is constantly held up to it as 
 great and noble. It is therefore easy to imagine how 
 immense is the effect of the teaching just described. 
 It is yet further increased as the youths of America 
 grow up and realise the vast resources, the immense 
 extent, and the ever-increasing wealth of their 
 country. This system deposits and develops in the 
 hearts of all classes an affection, bordering upon 
 idolatry, for their native land; but such a result
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 29 1 
 
 is not without its defects and drawbacks. From it 
 arises an exaggerated pride of country, often dis- 
 played by the American when away from home. He 
 is apt to boast unbecomingly of his own country, and 
 to speak of other nations and governments as quite 
 inferior to his own. If, on the contrary, the European 
 travels in the States, this same feeling has a very 
 different effect, and is not unfrequently the source of 
 much kindness and hospitality. The American is 
 delighted to be questioned as well as to question. He 
 willingly explains everything, and points out what- 
 ever is most worthy of observation. He is the most 
 indefatigable of cicerones and the kindest of hosts. 
 The traveller gives him real pleasure by studying the 
 institutions of the country, and has every opportu- 
 nity afforded him of doing so thoroughly. Proud of 
 his country's system, and deeply attached to it, the 
 American delights to see others examine carefully 
 that which he so fondly loves himself Let it not, 
 however, be supposed that this love of country, excel- 
 lent as is that feeling, is the only source whence 
 springs that friendly hospitality which is so freely 
 offered to the stranger in all parts of the United 
 States. 
 
 These feelings had grown with the nation's growth, 
 and were handed down from father to son. They 
 were especially strong throughout the Northern 
 States, where the national educational system has re- 
 ceived its full and perfect development. Thus it was 
 that, up to the memorable year i860, the Constitu- 
 tion had ever been regarded as the sacred ark, so to
 
 292 ESSAYS. 
 
 speak, of the Republic. To touch or change it, 
 except by those legal means prescribed by the Con- 
 stitution itself, was to commit a veritable sacrilege. 
 It was worthy of notice how both individuals and 
 parties sought, in their discussions, to prove that their 
 opponents were outstepping the limits of the Consti- 
 tution. Such a charge, if brought home, was annihi- 
 lation to the argument of a political adversary, A 
 cry of general indignation quickly arose against any 
 who were even supposed to harbour ideas subversive 
 of the institutions of the country. Did any North- 
 erner chance to use an expression which might seem 
 to have such a tendency, when attacking some piece 
 of pro-slavery legislation, the South and its sup- 
 porters were the first to cry out against him as being 
 untrue to the constitutional principles of the State. 
 This sentiment of deep-rooted love to the Union and 
 the Federal Constitution was shown to be especially 
 strong throughout the North, inasmuch as its people 
 had ever been scrupulous observers of the law, who 
 bowed at once to the electoral decisions. For many 
 years the South had carried their own candidate in 
 the Presidential elections, and commanded the majo- 
 rity in Congress : thus it shaped and directed the 
 policy of the United States. Whenever that policy 
 displeased the Northern statesmen, they only opposed 
 it by the admitted constitutional means ; those once 
 exhausted, the national will, as expressed by the 
 majority, was acknowledged and submitted to by all. 
 These considerations at once explain the indignation 
 of the North at the illegal conduct of the South,
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 293 
 
 which sought to break up the Union by force, and 
 trampled down the Constitution, merely because a 
 President was elected who was not of their political 
 party. For not only had the new President and his 
 Cabinet no intention of perpetrating any illegal act, 
 but they had not had even the opportunity of so 
 doing. What was the course pursued by the South ? 
 It endeavoured to effect by violence a complete trans- 
 formation in the constitutional order of things estab- 
 lished by common consent, although the Constitu- 
 tion itself furnished, by its fifth article, the legal 
 means of proposing, under form of amendment, any 
 fundamental change in the Federal Union which 
 might be thought desirable. Such a mode of pro- 
 ceeding, at once lawful and rational, would have given 
 the whole nation, sole legitimate judge in such mat- 
 ters, the opportunity of discussing the proposed 
 change, and deciding whether or not it should be 
 carried into effect, according to the provisions of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 The fifth article runs thus : — 
 
 " The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses 
 shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this 
 Constitution ; or, on the application of the Legislatures of 
 two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for 
 proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid 
 to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, 
 when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the 
 several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, 
 as the one or other mode of ratification may be proposed 
 by Congress ;" 
 
 Nothing could be more illegal, then, than the course
 
 294 ESSAYS. 
 
 actually pursued by the South, nothing more legiti- 
 mate than the resistance of the Federal Government. 
 The first shot fired upon Fort Sumter was an act of 
 unwarrantable violence against the constituted autho- 
 rity of the United States Government, which had 
 in no way overstepped the bounds of its authority, 
 and to which every official in every State had pro- 
 mised allegiance. From that moment the President 
 of the United States had but one duty to perform — • 
 that of defending and maintaining by arms the legiti- 
 mate authority of the government of which he was 
 the responsible chief. Those who contend that he 
 should have consented to the secession, forget that he 
 had no power whatever to give such consent. As Mr 
 Seward, the Secretary of State, justly laid it down, 
 no State or States could of their own act secede; 
 they could only do so by the consent of the people 
 of the United States, assembled in national conven- 
 tion, according to the provisions of the Constitution. 
 The oath of the President bound him to maintain 
 and defend the Federal Constitution by force of arms 
 against all enemies, from within or from without. 
 This duty was, under the circumstances, terrible in- 
 deed. Mr Lincoln did not fail in its performance ; 
 that is one of his chief titles to the gratitude of all 
 who duly value the maintenance of those rights which 
 belong to a free government. He was able to main- 
 tain them, because supported by the majority of the 
 nation, whose love for its institutions was such that 
 it recoiled from no sacrifice when once convinced that 
 it was necessary to arm the President against the
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 295 
 
 violators of that Federal Union and its laws, which 
 had been bequeathed to the country by the founders 
 of American independence. 
 
 But what, it will be asked, was the policy of Mr 
 Lincoln which so displeased the South ? It was the 
 policy known as the Free- Soil policy. The party 
 which upheld it had for some years past been gaining 
 strength, and, in November i860, finally triumphed 
 by the election of its candidate, Mr Lincoln, to the 
 Presidency. This Free- Soil policy made no attempt 
 to interfere with slavery in those States where it al- 
 ready existed ; but it sought to prohibit that institu- 
 tion from passing those limits, and spreading over the 
 territories not yet formed into States, which are under 
 the immediate and entire control of the Federal Go- 
 vernment and Congress at Washington. This was a 
 really anti- slavery, though not an abolitionist po- 
 licy. Mr Lincoln spoke of it as follows in 1858, 
 during the elections for the nomination of a senator 
 to represent the State of Illinois in the Senate at 
 Washington : " We insist on a policy that shall re- 
 strict slavery to its present limits." And again : "We 
 deal with slavery as with any other wrong, in so far 
 as we can prevent its growing larger, and so deal 
 with it, that in the run of time there may be some 
 promise of an end to it." In another speech he says 
 that the Republican or Free-Soil party 
 
 " Look upon slavery as being a moral, social, and politi- 
 cal wrong ; and while they contemplate it as such, they 
 nevertheless have a due regard for its actual existence 
 among us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any
 
 296 ESSAYS. 
 
 satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations 
 thrown about it. Yet, having a due regard for these, they 
 desire a policy in regard to it that looks to its not creating 
 any more danger. They insist that it should, as far as may 
 be, be treated as a wrong, and one of the methods of treat- 
 ing it as a wrong is to make provision tliat it shall grow no 
 larger. They desire a policy that looks to a peaceful end 
 of slavery at some time as being wrong." 
 
 Pages might be filled with quotations from Mr 
 Lincoln's public speeches to the same effect. He 
 and all his party were bent upon opposing, by every 
 constitutional means in their power, the further ex- 
 tension of slavery. In a speech delivered at the 
 Cooper Institute, New York, in February i860, Mr 
 Lincoln went into the whole question with great 
 minuteness and ability ; indeed throughout his whole 
 life, as well as at the time of his presidential election, 
 he was a staunch supporter of this wise and moderate 
 Free-Soil policy. There was no other essential dif- 
 ference between his political views and those of his 
 predecessors in the presidential chair as regarded 
 home politics. 
 
 The South, on the contrary, openly avowed its 
 determination to carry slavery far and wide, to main- 
 tain and extend it in every direction. To this end 
 all its efforts had been for many years unceasingly 
 directed. Hardly had the Southern Secessionist 
 Government been formed, when its Vice-President, 
 Mr A. H. Stephens, declared, in a memorable speech, 
 delivered at Savannah, that slavery was the " corner- 
 stone " of the new Confederation, that it was " the
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 29/ 
 
 immediate cause of the late rupture and present re- 
 volution." 
 
 Mr Lincoln, when candidate for the Presidency, 
 when elected in November i860, and when inaugu- 
 rated on 4th March 1861, reiterated again and again 
 his firm resolve in no way to infringe the Constitu- 
 tion ; nor did he or his government ever break either 
 the letter or the spirit of that promise. Yet scarcely 
 was the result of the presidential election known, 
 when South Carolina and others of the Slave States 
 declared that they seceded from the Union, and flung 
 off their allegiance to the Federal Government. In 
 the meanwhile, numbers of deputations from all 
 parts of the country waited on Mr Lincoln, both 
 before and after his inauguration as President. Their 
 almost exclusive subject of discussion was the slavery 
 question, in one form or another. Again and again 
 Mr Lincoln assured them that he intended to main- 
 tain the Constitution, and to confine himself strictly 
 within its limits. He declared that he had no inten- 
 tion of interfering with slavery in those States where 
 it already existed ; but nothing would induce him to 
 give up Ins, free-soil policy, which sought to prohibit 
 expressly the extension of slavery into the territories 
 of the Union. One deputation, of which an ex-gover- 
 nor of a Slave State, Mr Morehead, was member, did 
 rts utmost to induce Mr Lincoln to modify this part 
 of his programme. But Mr Lincoln replied that not 
 under any state of the case would he consent to the 
 extension of slavery into the Territories, to which he 
 had been opposed all his life.
 
 298 ESSAYS. 
 
 In the manifesto issued by the Republican or Free- 
 Soil party, which nominated him as its candidate for 
 the Presidency, it is affirmed " that the normal condi- 
 tion of the Territories of the United States is 'that of 
 freedom, and that there is no power which has the 
 right to make slavery a vital institution in any terri- 
 tory of the United States." 
 
 In December 1861, the Federal Congress, in which 
 for the first time the Free- Soil party had the majo- 
 rity, passed a law expressly prohibiting slavery from 
 being introduced into the Territories. It was further 
 abolished on the i8th March 1862, in the district of 
 Columbia, in which Washington stands, and which 
 is under the sole authority of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 These facts clearly demonstrate that slavery was 
 the real question at issue, and that the Free-Soil 
 party, whose chosen leader was Mr Lincoln, had al- 
 Avays been thoroughly consistent and firm in the 
 maintenance of its policy. They also show how wide 
 was the difference between the principles of the Free- 
 Soilers and those of the pro -slavery Secessionists. 
 Indeed, nothing could be more moderate or more 
 able than the policy of the /^r^^-^c*/'/ statesmen. For 
 without infringing upon the constitutional principles 
 of the United States system, that policy would have 
 stopped the spread of slavery, thus reducing it to a 
 mere local institution. In this manner barriers would 
 have been erected against its further extension, and 
 so its power diminished. By a slow and gradual 
 process its strength would have been undermined,
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 299 
 
 and its vitality weakened. Thus, without necessitat- 
 ing political or social convulsions, slavery would have 
 had to modify itself, to soften down its worst features, 
 and so have taken by degrees a new and less repul- 
 sive form, more adapted to the altered circumstances 
 of the case. From that point to its final, but not too 
 hasty extinction, both in fact and in law, would have 
 been a comparatively easy matter. Such a prudent 
 course, spread over a number of years, would have 
 left uninjured the planter interest, which could have 
 adapted itself almost insensibly to the gradual change ; 
 it would also have afforded ample time to prepare 
 the negro for freedom. 
 
 But the sad error of the Southerners in clinging to 
 this evil institution and maintaining it at all costs ; in 
 appealing to force rather than allow it to be legally 
 circumscribed ; in turning their arms against that old 
 Union which had accorded to them all those rights 
 and liberties given so abundantly to the citizens of 
 the United States, prevented the carrying out of the 
 wise and moderate policy of the Free-Soil statesmen. 
 Thus it was that the Secessionists brought fearful 
 calamities on the entire country, and swift destruc- 
 tion upon that slave system to which, alas, the South 
 clung with culpable and fatal obstinacy. 
 
 Such, then, was the distinctive policy of that party 
 which elected Mr Lincoln as President. Not many 
 days after his inauguration in March 1861, two 
 Southern gentlemen asked to have an interview 
 with Mr Seward in their capacity as Commissioners 
 of the Secessionist States. He refused to receive
 
 300 ESSAYS. 
 
 them in their assumed official capacity, sending them 
 this reply : — 
 
 " That it could not be admitted that the States referred 
 to had, in law or fact, withdrawn from the Federal Union, 
 or that they could do so in any other manner than with the 
 consent and concert of the people of the United States, to 
 be given through a national convention, to be assembled in 
 conformity with the provisions of the constitution of the 
 United States." 
 
 The Secessionists made this incident the occasion 
 of precipitating an armed rupture, by summoning 
 Fort Sumter to surrender. This fortress, situated in 
 Charleston harbour, belonged exclusively and abso- 
 lutely to the Federal Government, the troops of 
 which alone formed its garrison. The State of 
 South Carolina had no right to exercise any autho- 
 rity whatever in or over the fort, which was the pro- 
 perty of the national Federal Government, and was 
 placed under its sole authority. The commander of 
 the fortress refused to surrender it to the Carolinian 
 general. The Secessionists at once attacked it, and 
 after a bombardment of thirty-three hours, it fell into 
 their power on the 14th of April 1861. The national 
 flag was hauled down, and that of South Carolina 
 hoisted in its place. This act, and the agreement 
 entered into by the seceding States, constituted a 
 flagrant violation of the First Article of the Constitu- 
 tion, which forbids any State to enter into agreement 
 with any other State, or to levy war. These viola- 
 tions of the law were perpetrated, be it remembered,
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 3OI 
 
 without the Federal Government having done, or 
 having the intention to do, any illegal act what- 
 ever. 
 
 Thus, simply because the separatist minority had 
 been beaten in the presidential election, it took up 
 arms against the National government, and sought 
 to overthrow that constitution to which the governors, 
 senators, congressmen, and officials of each State, (as 
 well as all members of the Federal executive and 
 legislature,) had sworn allegiance. To admit that a 
 minority has a right to appeal to arms because its 
 particular policy is not adopted, and tJiat when its 
 government has committed no illegal act, is to ren- 
 der every form of free government impossible, is to 
 annihilate order and liberty alike. It is the destruc- 
 tion of law and the triumph of anarchy. 
 
 Yet stronger still must be the condemnation of 
 such proceedings when placed in juxtaposition with 
 those words, already quoted, of Mr Stephens, the 
 vice-president of the Secessionist Government, that 
 slavery was the "corner-stone" of the new Confe- 
 deration, that it was "the immediate cause of the 
 late rupture and present revolution." Well, 'then, 
 might one of the greatest statesmen of the present 
 century declare his sympathy for the Northern cause. 
 Not that he was a republican ; on the contrary, he was 
 a great admirer of English constitutional liberties ; 
 they were his model in framing the new structure of 
 his country's freedom. But he knew that law and 
 order are no less necessary to a nation's welfare than
 
 302 ESSAYS. 
 
 independence and liberty. Therefore it was that 
 Count Cavour wrote thus to the Italian minister at 
 Washington on the 22d of May 1861 : — "This re- 
 serve," that of non-intervention, " M. le Chevalier, 
 will not prevent us from manifesting our sympathies 
 for the triumph of the Northern States ; for their 
 cause is not only the cause of constitutional liberty, 
 but of all humanity." 
 
 A thrill of indignation ran through the whole North 
 at the news of the insult offered to the national flag, 
 and of the attack made upon the Federal authority. 
 There could no longer be any doubt as to the 
 danger which threa.tened the Union. Up to the 
 attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, and its seizure 
 by the separatists, the greater part of the North 
 hoped that all would end, after much wordy war, 
 in a peaceful arrangement of the differences between 
 the South and the Federal Government. But the 
 sad truth became clearer every day, and so decided 
 the citizens of the Northern States to take up arms 
 in good earnest in answer to the call of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The varying phases of this gigantic struggle, the 
 immense sacrifices of men and money made by the 
 North, its tenacity despite frequent disasters, its ever 
 firm belief in ultimate success, prove how deep was 
 the devotion of the Northern States to the institu- 
 tions of their country, and how rooted was the con- 
 viction of their excellence and stability. At the very 
 commencement of the war, in July 1861, the Con- 
 gress of Washington passed a resolution setting forth
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 303 
 
 the motives which led them to carry it on. The re- 
 solution concluded with these words : — 
 
 . . . . " That this war is not waged on their part in 
 any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or 
 subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering with 
 the rights or estabhshed institutions of these States, but to 
 defend and maintain the supremacy of the constitution, and 
 to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and 
 rights of the several States unimpaired ; and that as soon 
 as these objects are accomphshed the war ought to cease." 
 
 Two acts of President Lincoln during the course of 
 this war excited especial discussion both in Europe and 
 in America. The one was the suspension of the privi- 
 lege of Habeas Corpus, and the other the Emancipa- 
 tion Proclamation of 1st January 1 863. As regards the 
 first, the Constitution had declared that " the privilege 
 of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended 
 unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
 public safety may require it," but it did not deter- 
 mine who was to exercise the power of suspension. 
 Mr Lincoln and his cabinet were of opinion that this 
 power belonged to the President as chief of the ex- 
 ecutive, and accordingly he proceeded to exercise 
 such power in given cases. This was done while 
 Congress was not in session. When again assem- 
 bled, that body sanctioned the action of the Presi- 
 dent, and passed a resolution to the effect " that 
 during the present insurrection the President of the 
 United States is authorised to suspend the Habeas 
 Corpus when, in his judgment, the pubhc security 
 requires it." These proceedings caused the warmest
 
 304 ESSAYS. 
 
 discussion. The government and its supporters 
 maintained the perfect legaHty of the President's 
 conduct ; the opposition afifirmed the contrary. Each 
 party appealed to the law, and did its utmost to 
 show that its opponents were violating the constitu- 
 tion. This was the good old ground of political 
 disputes ; and it is ever, in all free countries, what- 
 ever be their form of freedom, the only lawful battle- 
 field upon which the members of one party have a 
 right to challenge those of the other to meet them, 
 there to discuss the question at issue, and then de- 
 cide it at the polling-booth. The way, then, in 
 which the Northern States treated this matter was 
 the right and constitutional way. It but affords 
 another proof of that respect for legal and constitu- 
 tional methods of determining political questions 
 which is so marked a feature in their character — a 
 feature which ought to win for them the sympathy of 
 the whole English race, one of whose finest charac- 
 teristics is, that it combines the greatest love of free- 
 dom with the greatest respect for law. 
 
 On the 1st January 1863, Mr Lincoln proclaimed 
 the emancipation of all slaves in those States which 
 were in arms against the United States Government. 
 It must be borne in mind that this act was no part of 
 Mr Lincoln's original programme. He adopted it as 
 commander-in-chief of the United States forces in a 
 time of insurrection against their authority as a 
 means tending to suppress that insurrection. Never 
 let it be forgotten that Mr Lincoln had ever been a 
 Free-Soiler, not an abolitionist. The President's
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 305 
 
 first duty, according to his oath, was to maintain 
 and defend, by all means within his power, the con- 
 stitution of the United States, and to enforce its due 
 observance. Such duty was perfectly compatible 
 with the Free-Soil policy of prohibiting, by legal 
 enactment, slavery from extending into the Terri- 
 tories, but to abolish slavery by his own mere motion 
 was beyond the President's power ; he could only 
 do so as a war measure, for the re-establishment 
 of the Federal government's authority, as against a 
 State or States in overt act of rebellion against that 
 authority. 
 
 As to those Slave States which remained faithful 
 to the Union, Mr Lincoln desired that the Federal 
 government should aid them in the gradual abolition 
 of slavery. To this end Congress had already adopted, 
 on the loth of March 1862, the resolution "That the 
 United States ought to lend their co-operation to 
 every State which shall abolish slavery, according to 
 it an indemnity, which the State should use according 
 to its own discretion, to compensate for the public 
 and private inconveniences arising from such a change 
 of system." During the summer of this year the 
 Congress authorised the government to recognise 
 officially the negro States of Hayti and Liberia. It 
 likewise strengthened and improved the treaty with 
 England for the suppression of the slave-trade. It 
 also prohibited, by express enactment to that effect, 
 slavery throughout the territories of the United States. 
 
 Thus the policy of Mr Lincoln, anti-slavery from 
 the commencement of his life, by means of the Free-
 
 306 ESSAYS. 
 
 Soil principle, and not by the adoption of immediate 
 abolition, took more and more this latter direction 
 according to the necessities of the day and the growth 
 of public opinion in favour of such a course. The 
 President, however, took the utmost care never to 
 infringe the principles of the constitution. 
 
 It does not fall within the scope of the present 
 article to deal with the military operations of the war. 
 It may, however, be permitted to say a few words 
 with respect to the generals who conducted it. 
 
 Assuredly it would be most unjust not to recognise 
 the courage of the Southern soldiers and the skill of 
 their leaders. The frequent repulses and defeats of 
 the Federal armies, the able and prolonged defence 
 of Richmond and Petersburg, the successful resistance 
 offered by Charleston to formidable naval armaments, 
 and many other similar deeds, prove the valour of the 
 Southerners and the great capacity of their com- 
 manders. No one, either in Europe or America, can 
 hesitate a moment to give them credit for the posses- 
 sion of military qualities of the highest order. So 
 that if the Southerners are obliged to say to-day with 
 the captive King of France, " Tout est perdu," they 
 have assuredly the right to add with him, "fors 
 rhojincur." Who would not receive with all respect 
 gallant General Lee } Who does not willingly render 
 homage to his great military talents } Nor let it be 
 forgotten that he is by no means the only one of the 
 Southern generals whose courage and ability have 
 excited upon all hands real and deserved admira- 
 tion.
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 307 
 
 As to the Northern generals, such as Grant, Sher- 
 man, and Sheridan, it is sufificient praise, from the 
 military point of view, to say that they succeeded in 
 defeating such adversaries. But this is not their 
 greatest merit. They possess another and yet more 
 enduring title to their country's gratitude. For, when 
 at the head of victorious armies, numbering no less 
 than one million of soldiers, none of them sought to 
 make such a command the stepping-stone to his own 
 aggrandisement. No Northern general, flushed with 
 victory and inflated with vanity, proclaimed himself 
 alone capable of saving the republic, and then, under 
 pretext of so doing, sacrificed alike the lives and the 
 rights of his fellow-countrymen to his own exaltation. 
 None followed the evil course of those who have 
 raised to themselves a blood-stained throne upon the 
 wreck and ruin of their country's laws and liberties. 
 Far other was the example that they kept in view. 
 Ever did they remember him who set the rights and 
 freedom of his native land above all other considera- 
 tions — him whom the entire nation has with one 
 voice proclaimed " first in peace, first in war, first in 
 the hearts of his countrymen " — him whose name is 
 dear, not to America alone, but to the freemen of 
 every land and of every clime — the loved and hon- 
 oured name of Washington. 
 
 The like praise must be given to the statesmen of 
 the Federal government, for they, too, displayed that 
 elevated patriotism which sought but to perform the 
 duties of a faithful minister, instead of aiming at a 
 dictator's baneful rule.
 
 '308 ESSAYS. 
 
 Can all the leading politicians of the South, who, 
 both before and during the presidential election of 
 i860, sat in the Senate and Congress of Washington, 
 some of whom held prominent positions, and even 
 cabinet offices, in the Federal government, say that 
 they were equally faithful to their high trust ? Were 
 there none amongst them who abetted the overthrow 
 of that very Federal government and constitution 
 which they had solemnly sworn to uphold and to 
 defend, whose bread they were eating, and whose 
 highest offices they filled ? Were there not members 
 of the outgoing administration who emptied the 
 Federal forts in the North of arms and ammunition 
 in order to fill those in the South, that they might 
 thus be within reach of a hostile hand ? Did they 
 not disperse the few armed forces that the United 
 States possessed in those days, in order that their 
 successors might find themselves without the means 
 of defending the authority of the United States go- 
 vernment in case it were attacked ? And if this be so, 
 what other word can fitly be applied to such conduct 
 unless it be that of treason ? 
 
 The truth is, that the sentiment of legality and 
 respect for the constitution had been decreasing in 
 the South for some years previous to Mr Lincoln's 
 election. The traveller in the Southern States met 
 with men of position and influence who avowed that 
 they were prepared to break up the Union by force 
 should a Free-Soil President be elected, and that qwqix 
 though there were nothing unconstitutional in his elec-
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 309 
 
 tion or his public conduct. Thus they preferred law- 
 less violence to constitutional opposition. 
 
 Another and yet more deplorable fact was the ever- 
 increasing attachment of the Southerners to slavery, 
 their determination to maintain it at all costs, and to 
 spread it everywhere. It was no longer in their eyes 
 an evil to be tolerated, but the normal condition of 
 the two races, a good thing in itself, despite certain 
 drawbacks in practice. There were not wanting those 
 who maintained it to be a divine institution, and 
 pleaded not only for negro slavery, but for all kinds 
 of slavery in principle, to be applied according to 
 circumstances. Nor, if what is called the Bible argu- 
 ment be used, is there any stopping short of this 
 hideous conclusion. Some amongst them — men, too, 
 of ability and standing — boldly demanded the re- 
 opening of the African slave-trade, and declared 
 themselves for free trade in slaves as well as in all 
 other branches of commerce. Or, as Mr Yancey put it 
 with great force and clearness, "The South demands 
 as free a trade in negroes from Africa as the North 
 in mules from Malta." 
 
 Sad indeed was it to hear such monstrous senti- 
 ments propounded and enforced by every argument 
 which a misguided ingenuity could suggest. Sadder 
 still to find them daily gaining strength in a commu- 
 nity so many of whose members possessed noble and 
 charming qualities. Who that has travelled in the 
 South can ever forget the kindness and hospitality he 
 there received } What Christmas gatherings could be
 
 3IO ESSAYS. 
 
 fuller of everything" that can render such scenes de- 
 lightful, than those which were to be met with beneath 
 the roof of the Southern planter ? Such pleasant 
 recollections, mingled with the sad tales of suffering 
 and war, were only too well calculated to fill with 
 heaviness the heart of any one who had experienced 
 the warm welcome of Southern hospitalit3^ 
 
 Yet not by mere feeling, however natural and right, 
 can be decided so great a question as that which 
 divided for a time the United States Federal govern- 
 ment and the Southern Secessionists. A careful ap- 
 preciation of facts, and a just application of the great 
 principles of order and liberty, are the only right 
 means of judging between the conflicting parties. 
 
 The more carefully the criterion of those principles 
 is applied to the subject in question, the clearer does 
 it become that Italy's illustrious statesman, whose 
 words have been already quoted, was right when he 
 condemned the slave -owners' secession movement, 
 and declared, the Northern cause to be that " not 
 only of constitutional liberty, but of all humanity." 
 
 History does not record a more complete victory 
 or a more crushing defeat than that which marked 
 the termination of the late American war. At its 
 close were to be seen, on the one hand, victorious 
 armies numbering a million of soldiers, perfectly 
 equipped, ready in case of need to undertake fresh 
 campaigns, supported by a powerful nation possess- 
 ing resources which seemed almost boundless; on the 
 other side were the broken remnants of valiant but
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 3 I I 
 
 defeated troops, encumbering a country once flourish- 
 ing but now desolated, many of whose rich inhabit- 
 ants were reduced to poverty and its poorer classes 
 to want. Hence it was, that immediately after the fall 
 of Richmond and Petersburg, Southern generals and 
 soldiers gave up the struggle and submitted to the 
 Federal government. Thus abruptly finished this 
 gigantic conflict, which but a short time before did 
 not seem so near its close. 
 
 Scarcely had the verdict of the sword to which the 
 Southerners had appealed been given against them, 
 than the North gave instant proofs of a desire for 
 peace and reconciliation. The citizens of the loyal 
 States declared that the South should have back all 
 its former rights, liberties, and privileges, slavery ex- 
 cepted, on the single condition of an honest return to 
 the Union — that Union whose perfect reconstruction 
 was the hearty desire of men who had ever felt for it 
 a love and respect bordering upon idolatry. 
 
 No one longed for such a result more than the 
 upright President of the United States, Abraham 
 Lincoln. Already words of pardon and peace fell 
 from his lips, already his heart thrilled with joy at 
 the prospect of brotherly union once again restored 
 to his native land. Bowed down through four long 
 years beneath the double burden of his country's 
 woes and the awful responsibilities of his own high 
 office, the hope of happier days now dawned upon 
 his sight, and gladdened his soul, weary and worn 
 with watching through the fearful night of his coun- 
 try's agony and peril. To him who had presided
 
 312 ESSAYS. 
 
 over the nation's destinies while the hurricane of civil 
 war swept across the land, seemed now to be given 
 the hallowed task of healing the Republic's wounds, 
 of reconciling her contending sons, of releasing her 
 once for all from slavery's hideous chain. Thus 
 would he re-establish the pillars of the State wholly 
 and without reserve upon justice, liberty, and law, 
 those only sure foundations of a nation's weal, right- 
 eous and eternal even as their eternal Author. But 
 the ways of the Infinite Father are not our ways : 
 He had decreed that the earthly course of this noble- 
 hearted man was run — that the good and faithful 
 servant was now to enter into that rest which lies 
 beyond the grave. The nation was to be yet further 
 tried, was to pass through another crisis, but mo- 
 mentary indeed, yet full of deepest sorrow. 
 
 No words can depict the anguish and horror of the 
 American people when they learned that their true- 
 hearted President had been murdered. If anything 
 can have lessened their bitter grief, it was the repro- 
 bation of that foul crime by every civilised nation, 
 and the heartfelt expression of sympathy offered by 
 every friend of justice and humanity. In a moment 
 the shout of victory was hushed throughout the land. 
 Its busy millions ceased from their accustomed la- 
 bours. For a time no sound was heard save the long 
 deep wail of a nation's grief. Every heart was heavy, 
 every home was desolate. Hundreds of thousands, 
 without distinction of creed or party, class or colour, 
 mingled in that funeral procession which stretched 
 a thousand miles from Washington to Springfield,
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 313 
 
 Illinois, where repose the mortal remains of Abraham 
 Lincoln. Others have possessed more brilliant genius, 
 others have shown as unyielding tenacity ; but none 
 have ever united clearness of intellect and firmness 
 of purpose to a gentler heart or a purer patriotism. 
 Henceforth there are in America two spots sacred to 
 every friend of constitutional law and to every lover 
 of human freedom — Mount Vernon, where lies buried 
 "the father of his country," and Oak Ridge Cemetery, 
 where rests from his labours her Martyr-President. 
 
 There were those who, untaught by past blunders, 
 did not hesitate to predict a revolution, or at least a 
 lengthened period of confusion and disorder. Some 
 seemed to fancy that Northern soldiers, if not armies, 
 maddened with rage, would rush South and com- 
 mence a general massacre. Others declared nothing 
 could save the nation but one of the generals seizing 
 at once the reigns of power. 
 
 The Americans thought of nothing and followed 
 nothing but the constitution. According to its pro- 
 visions, Mr Johnson, the Vice-President, took the 
 prescribed oath a few hours after Mr Lincoln's death, 
 and so became President. Mr Hunter, one of the 
 undcr-secretaries of the State Department, filled ad 
 interim Mr Seward's post, who had been nearly assassi- 
 nated while lying ill in bed. Thus everything followed 
 the regular legal course without a moment's interrup- 
 tion or danger. There was but given to the world 
 another proof of that deep-seated love of law, which 
 is so potent an element in the system of the United 
 States and in the character of its people. This fact is still
 
 314 ESSAYS. 
 
 furtlier brought out by two incidents which occurred 
 about this time, and which are worthy of mention. 
 
 Very shortly before President Lincohi's death an 
 armistice was agreed upon between General Sherman 
 and one of the Southern generals ; the President, how- 
 ever, set it aside, because in his judgment Sherman 
 had overstepped his powers in certain particulars. 
 The ready and entire submission with which the 
 general bowed to the President's decision affords a 
 noteworthy proof of the power which constituted 
 authorities possess in the United States. 
 
 It appears that after Mr Lincoln's murder some 
 foreign paper had alluded to or suggested the idea 
 of General Grant's instantly putting himself at the 
 head of the government. This was told to the 
 general not very long after, upon which he said 
 quietly, that such a thought had never crossed his 
 brain, and even if it had, he could not have put it in 
 execution ; for there was not in his army a single 
 soldier who would have abetted him in such an 
 enterprise. Such words in the mouth of the con- 
 queror of Richniond and Vicksburg show what was 
 the character of the man himself and of his army. 
 
 Many and bitter were the attacks which had been 
 made on Abraham Lincoln — the like were now di- 
 rected against his successor. Neither his origin nor 
 his character was spared ; his future policy was 
 denounced beforehand as cruel and sanguinary. 
 Andrew Johnson has given to these predictions the 
 most complete of all replies — he has lived them 
 down. He is now known to the world as one of the
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 315 
 
 able men of the day. Born of poor parents in North 
 Carohna, he migrated while still a youth to Ten- 
 nessee, Avhere he worked as a journeyman tailor. 
 His education had been much neglected, and it was 
 only about the age of twenty that he learned to read 
 and write, by the assistance of his wife. But from 
 that day he set to work at his own instruction with 
 such ardour and perseverance that he soon made up 
 for lost time. He gained quickly the confidence of 
 his fellow-citizens, and after occupying various less 
 important posts, he was elected senator for the State 
 of Tennessee. F"avourable to slavery, he was conse- 
 quently unfavourable to the Free-Soil policy of 
 which Mr Lincoln was already a well-known sup- 
 porter. But he opposed from the very commence- 
 ment the secessionist movement. Alone amongst 
 the Southern senators, he resisted it with the whole 
 weight of his influence and eloquence. He denounced 
 the course taken by the Secessionists, both in the 
 Senate at Washington and elsewhere, as utterly ille- 
 gal, and as a flagrant breach of the constitution. He 
 predicted that it would bring fearful calamities upon 
 the whole country, especially upon the South. He 
 went down in person to his own State of Tennessee, 
 and did his utmost to turn her from the evil path of 
 secession. This courageous and patriotic conduct 
 nearly cost him his life, thanks to the outrageous 
 violence of his separatist opponents. He was obliged 
 at last to fly from Tennessee, and returned to Wash- 
 ington, where he remained throughout the war. De- 
 voted to the maintenance of the Union, Mr Senator
 
 o 
 
 1 6 ESSAYS. 
 
 Johnson, as he then was, supported the Washington 
 government in its determination to maintain with a 
 strong hand the just authority and rights of the 
 Federal government. His views of pubHc pohcy 
 assimilated themselves more and more, as time went 
 on, to those of Mr President Lincoln, and finally came 
 into agreement with them. When the latter was 
 elected President a second time, Mr Johnson was 
 elected with him as Vice-President. It was a wise 
 choice, for he had shown a rare mixture of courage 
 and ability. He had remained faithful to the Union, 
 and being, as he was, a Southern senator, the North- 
 erners by such a selection clearly showed that it was 
 not against the South, as such, that they were fight- 
 ing, but against the violators of the law and the con- 
 stitution. Since his accession to the presidency he 
 has discharged the duties of his high office and 
 directed the policy of the country with a firmness, 
 moderation, and tact, which prove him to be a man 
 of no ordinary capacity.* The work which Mr John- 
 son and his government have had to do has been of 
 
 * The conduct of Mr Johnson, during the course of his long dispute 
 with Congress on the subject of reconstruction, (begun and carried on 
 since the above estimate of him was written in February 1866,) has 
 clearly proved that that estimate was far too favourable. Siill, those who 
 simply denounce him as wholly unfit for his high office appear to the 
 writer to judge the President over-harshly. The fact seems to be, that 
 he is one of those men who are well fitted to meet such a terrible 
 national crisis as that brought on by the armed and revolutionary 
 attack made upon the Fedeial Union -and government of the United 
 States by Mr Jefferson Davis and his compeers. Nor can Mr John- 
 son's conduct during that crisis be too highly praised. Again, the 
 course he pursued from April 1865, when he unexpectedly became 
 President, until the meeting of Congress at the close of that year, seems
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 317 
 
 the most difficult and delicate kind. Dangers of the 
 most opposite character beset the object to which all 
 their efforts have been directed — that of reconstruct- 
 ing the Union. If too great leniency were shown, 
 there was danger of losing in point of fact one of the 
 
 commendable. His first messnge to Congress, in December 1865, was 
 worthy of the head of a great and free people. But Mr Johnson 
 showed himself wanting in almost all the qualities necessary to his 
 exahed position when questions involving delicate and intricate consti- 
 tutional problems arose, upon which the best, the ablest, and the most 
 loyal men might well disagree. The qualities needed in a Piesident, 
 when dealing with so arduous and unpiecedented a matter as recon- 
 struction, were moderation, tact, a willingness to compromise, a readi- 
 ness to meet the views of those who differed with him, a desire to bring 
 all parties, himself included, to take a middle course. Instead of that, 
 when Mr Johnson found the m'ljority of Congress opposed to his views, 
 he did little else than lay them down more peremptorily than ever, and 
 insist upon their full and instant adoption. No doubt he thought his 
 own plan of reconstruction the best and the most constitutional, but 
 that was just the question at issue. What was wanted was great tact, 
 judgment, and skill ; what Mr Johnson chiefly displayed was an obsti- 
 nate determination to carry out only his own views, united to great 
 intemperance of language, as more especially displayed in his western 
 tour in the autumn of 1866. It must, however, be admitted that more 
 than one prominent man among his opponents was equally guilty of 
 the same faults. When, however, the whole circumstances of the case 
 are considered, the writer, although not endorsing all that the Senate and 
 House of Congress have done, prefers their policy in this great and difhcult 
 question of reconstruction to that of Mr President Johnson. But 
 whatever hesitation the writer may feel with regard to the best solution 
 of so arduous a problem, he has none in expressing his desire that the 
 complete restoration of the Union may be effected upon the broad 
 principles of justice, liberty, and right. His undivided sympaihies 
 were with the people and government of the United States throughout 
 the fearful struggle into which their country was plunged by the 
 Southern Secessionists ; he therefore naturally hails with delight the 
 prospect of a completely reconstructed Union, resting upon the sure 
 foundation of the rights and freedom of all, without distinction of class 
 or colour. 
 
 May the American republic, in this its new and better phase, enjoy
 
 3 1 8 ESSAYS. 
 
 best fruits of the crisis through which the nation had 
 passed ; for to abolish slavery, and yet leave the 
 future of the former slaves entirely in the hands of 
 their old masters, would have been to abolish it only 
 in name — guarantees were necessary that this should 
 be a bona fide abolition, carried into practical effect. 
 It was also just to ask of the South tangible proofs, 
 in one form or another, of its sincerity and loyalty in 
 returning to the Union. On the other hand, it was 
 most desirable, both as a matter of policy and of 
 principle, not to be too severe or even too exacting. 
 Such a course would have been wrong, and would, 
 besides, have hindered the work of reconstruction 
 which the United States government and people 
 earnestly wished to further ; it would, moreover, have 
 irritated the South, and indisposed it towards that 
 party among its own citizens which desired to return 
 to their old allegiance in all good faith. Nor let it 
 be forgotten that such a party not only existed in the 
 South, but was both numerous and influential. A 
 few facts will show that the Washington government 
 has, at least to a very great extent, avoided both 
 these opposite dangers — that it has followed a course 
 which, speaking generally, may be pronounced worthy 
 of an enlightened and free government, presiding, in 
 
 increasing and permanent prosperity ; may every section of its people 
 unite in upholding the lawful authority of the Federal government, 
 and the acknowledged rights of the several States; so shall be realised 
 in the political life of the republic both the letter and the spirit of its 
 national motto — " E plurilms iniuni.^^ 
 
 J. w. r. 
 
 yune 1868.
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 319 
 
 times of no little difficulty, over the destinies of a 
 great and a Christian people. 
 
 Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presidency on 
 the 15th of April 1865, (the day of Mr Lincoln's 
 death.) but the session of Congress did not begin 
 until December. The President and his cabinet had 
 therefore to direct, during the interval, the general 
 policy and affairs of the country. The government, 
 while closely keeping within the limits of the consti- 
 tution, and carefully abstaining from all entrench- 
 ment upon the prerogatives or action of the Federal 
 Congress, used every lawful means to further the 
 work of reconstruction. 
 
 The President, among other measures, decreed a 
 general amnesty, one of whose clauses seemed hard 
 — that clause which excluded from the benefits of 
 this measure all persons who possessed a capital 
 amounting to 20,000 dollars or more. Its real object 
 was to oblige all such persons to ask a special pardon, 
 which was at once given on their promise of renewed 
 allegiance to the Union, and adherence to the late 
 President's proclamation for the abolition of slavery. 
 The demands for these pardons were so numerous 
 that it cost an immense amount of time and labour 
 to furnish them to the multitude of applicants who 
 sought them. This able stroke of policy thus suc- 
 ceeded admirably. It rehabilitated the Southerners 
 of influence and position, whilst it obliged them per- 
 sonally to acknowledge the wrong they had done, and 
 ask for pardon. It further obtained from them an 
 additional guarantee against the return of slaver}%
 
 320 ESSAYS. 
 
 whilst awaiting its complete abolition, by passing to 
 that effect an amendment to the constitution, accord- 
 ing to the provisions of the fifth article. 
 
 The government also established throughout the 
 South a vast number of " Freedmen's Bureaux," 
 under the direction of that good and brave man. 
 General Howard, who, it has been said, won for him- 
 self during the war the title of the " Hedley Vicars 
 of the Federal army." The mission of these bureaux 
 is to afford aid, work, and protection to the recently 
 enfranchised negroes. Throughout the North, private 
 societies have been formed with the same object, only 
 yet further extended to all in need of such assistance, 
 without distinction of race. 
 
 The President hastened to name provisional gover- 
 nors in the States recently in revolt. Their duty was 
 to reassure the inhabitants, and to restore the ma- 
 chinery of government. They called together State 
 conventions, for the double purpose of annulling the 
 Secession ordinances and sanctioning the abolition of 
 slavery. These were the only two acts which were 
 demanded as a sine qua non of their full re-admission 
 into the Union, with all their former rights, privileges, 
 and liberties. As to the suffrage, the President de- 
 cided nothing — believing the matter to lie beyond his 
 power. It was left, like that of the time and manner 
 of the final re-admission of the Southern represen- 
 tatives into the Federal Congress, to be settled by 
 the nation through the action of the Senate and 
 House of Representatives of the United States. This 
 clement policy of the Washington government in the
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 32 1 
 
 hour of victory was further manifested by the fact 
 that no hfe was forfeited, excepting that of those 
 who were proved to be accompHces in Mr Lincoln's 
 murder, and that of a certain Wirz, convicted of 
 heinous cruelty towards Northern prisoners incar- 
 cerated at Andersonville. Such lenient conduct was 
 but right, yet rarely, if ever, has it marked the close 
 of those civil strifes which have desolated in turn 
 every country of the Old World. The reception of a 
 numerous and influential Southern deputation by Mr 
 Johnson at the White House brought out in all their 
 force these sentiments of mercy and reconciliation. 
 The deputation waited on him to make known their 
 views and hopes upon the vital question of reconstruc- 
 tion. Nothing could be more kindly, more dignified, 
 or more truly Christian than the words and bearing 
 of the President of the United States upon that occa- 
 sion. In a speech couched in noble and appropriate 
 language, he expressed the pleasure it gave him to 
 hear the deputation acknowledge the errors of the 
 past. He assured those present of his sincere desire 
 to give back to the South all its rights. He would 
 adhere strictly to the constitution, maintain it in all 
 its integrity, and make it the means of restoring the 
 Southern States to their former position. The gene- 
 rous feelings expressed by the President, his reiter- 
 ated assurances of good-will, his treatment of the 
 Southerners as brothers — as sons of a common coun- 
 try — who had erred indeed, but who were and ever 
 had been brothers, touched all present, and produced 
 a deep impression. More than once the chief magis-
 
 322 ESSAYS. 
 
 trate was interrupted by the approbation and emotion 
 of his audience. The members of the deputation 
 expressed their firm resolve to do all in their power 
 towards the reconstruction of the Union. At length 
 they retired, full of hope and confidence, renewing 
 again their promise to join heartily in the work of 
 restoring harmony and peace throughout the length 
 and breadth of their common country. 
 
 How great is the contrast offered by this brotherly 
 reconciliation between the chief of a free nation and 
 some of its sons for a time led astray, and those 
 scenes of bloody repression which have marked the 
 triumph of many an European despot over his own 
 subjects, whom long years of oppression and misrule 
 had goaded into rebellion ! 
 
 The policy of Mr Johnson may be summed up in 
 these words : " The constitution in all its integrity !" 
 He had been faithful to it in the hour of danger ; he 
 made it the supreme rule of his conduct in the hour 
 of victory. But he determined to apply it, even in 
 the case of those who had taken up arms against it, 
 with all the leniency consistent with its due mainte- 
 nance. Such conduct was worthy of the constitutional 
 chief of a free government, when dealing with those 
 who had ever been considered as erring brothers, and 
 who v/ere now completely at its mercy. 
 
 The last* and highest expression of the President's 
 policy is to be found in the message which he ad- 
 dressed to the United States Senate and House of 
 Representatives on the 4th December 1865. After 
 
 * It was the last when this was written, viz., in February 1866.
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 323 
 
 thanking God, in the name of the people, for the pre- 
 servation of the state, the message set forth the 
 object of the Union, and what it really was in the 
 intention of its authors : " The Union of the United 
 States was intended by its authors to last as long as 
 the States themselves shall last. The Union shall be 
 perpetual! are the words of the Confederation. ' To 
 foj-ni a more perfect Union ' by an ordinance of the 
 United States, is the declared purpose of the consti- 
 tution." The prolonged labours and the earnest dis- 
 cussions by which this great work was accomplished 
 are recalled, as is also the fact that all opinions and 
 all feelings were ultimately united in its support. It 
 is shown that the constitution possesses two most 
 important powers : that of maintaining its authority 
 and that of reforming itself when such reform is 
 deemed necessary. Upon these points the message 
 says : — 
 
 "The constitution to which life was thus imparted con- 
 tains within itself ample resources for its own preservation. 
 It has power to enforce the laws, punish treason, and insure 
 domestic tranquillity. In case of the usurpation of the 
 government of a State by one man or an oligarchy, it be- 
 comes a duty of the United States to make good the 
 guarantee to that State of a republican form of government, 
 and so to maintain the homogeneousness of all. Does the 
 lapse of time reveal defects 1 A simple mode of amend- 
 ment is provided in the constitution itself, so that its con- 
 ditions can always be made to conform to the requirements 
 of advancing civilisation. No room is allowed even for the 
 thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. And these 
 powers of self-preservation have always been asserted in 
 their complete integrity by every patriotic chief magistrate
 
 324 ESSAYS. 
 
 — by Jefferson and Jackson, not less than by Washington 
 and Madison. The parting advice of the father of his 
 country, while yet President, to the people of the United 
 States, was, that ' the free constitution, which was the 
 work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained ;' and 
 the inaugural words of President Jefterson held up ' the 
 preservation of the general government, in its constitu- 
 tional vigour, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home 
 and safety abroad.' The constitution is the work of ' the 
 people of the United States,' and it should be as indestruc- 
 tible as the people." 
 
 The message fully admits that the various State 
 governments have their rights, as well as the Federal 
 government, but declares that all questions at issue 
 can only be settled lawfully by the employment of 
 those means which the constitution affords, and 
 never by force. " The absolute acquiescence in the 
 decisions of the majority was," says the message, "at 
 the beginning of the present century enforced by 
 Jefferson as the vital principle of republics." Indeed, 
 it must ever be, in one form or another, the vital 
 principle of every species of free government, for 
 without it there is no other settlement but that of 
 brute force. 
 
 The supremacy of the constitution is emphatically 
 set forth in these words, taken from the constitution 
 itself :— 
 
 " The constitution and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
 made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
 United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and 
 the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 325 
 
 in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
 notwithstanding." 
 
 That part of the message which touches on the 
 reorganisation of the Southern States shows the 
 extreme care of the Washington government to 
 avoid ahke over-indulgence and undue rigour, as 
 well as its constant adherence to the law and to the 
 constitution as its supreme guide. The following 
 considerations, worthy of remark, are made touching 
 the question of secession, and the position in which 
 those States were placed who took part in it — 
 
 " The true theory is, that all pretended acts of secession 
 were, from the beginning, null and void. The States can- 
 not commit treason, nor screen the individual citizens who 
 may have committed treason, any more than they can 
 make valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with 
 any foreign power. The States attempting to secede 
 placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was 
 impaired, but not extinguished — their functions suspended, 
 but not destroyed. 
 
 " But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its 
 offices, there is the more need that the general government 
 should maintain all its authority, and, as soon as practi- 
 cable, resume the exercise of all its functions. On this 
 principle I have acted, and have gradually and quietly, 
 and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the 
 rightful energy of the general government and of the States. 
 To that end provisional governors have been appointed for 
 the States, conventions called," &c. 
 
 The final accomplishment of the work of recon- 
 struction, the time and mode of re-admitting the 
 Southern representatives into the Federal Congress, 
 and the delicate question of the suffrage, are left
 
 326 ESSAYS. 
 
 undecided by the President. He desires to accom- 
 plish them in accordance with the united action of 
 Congress, and by its aid. 
 
 With regard to the freedmen, the following admir- 
 able language is held : — 
 
 *■' But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of 
 the war, it is not competent for the general government to 
 extend the elective franchise in the several States, it is 
 equally clear that good faith requires the security of the 
 freedmen in their hberty and their property, their right to 
 labour, and their right to claim the just return of their 
 labour. I cannot too strongly urge a dispassionate treat- 
 ment of this subject, which should be carefully kept aloof 
 from all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty assump- 
 tions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live 
 side by side in a state of mutual benefit and good-will. 
 The experiment involves us in no inconsistency; let us, 
 then, go and make that experiment in good faith, and not 
 be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of 
 labour, and the freedmen are in need of employment, 
 culture, and protection. While their right of voluntary 
 migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, I Avould 
 not advise their forced removal and colonisation. Let us 
 rather encourage them to honourable and useful industry, 
 where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the 
 country; and instead of hasty anticipations of the cer- 
 tainty of failure, let there be nothing Avanting to the fair 
 trial of the experiment." 
 
 As to the constitutional amendment for the 
 abolition of slavery, since carried and become law, 
 according to the provisions of the 5th article, the 
 President earnestly advises its adoption. It is in- 
 teresting to observe how he speaks of slavery as 
 " essentially a monopoly of labour," as " the element
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 327 
 
 which has so long perplexed and divided the coun- 
 try," and adds, further, " that the adoption of the 
 amendment re-unites us beyond all power of disrup- 
 tion." Thus he admits that slavery was the real 
 cause of the rupture which had taken place, and 
 which it was now the common desire of all to heal 
 for ever. 
 
 Such views of President Johnson fully agree with 
 those set forth by Mr A. H. Stephens of Georgia, 
 the ex-Vice-President of the ex-separatist govern- 
 ment, who, but a few weeks after its formation, said 
 at a great meeting in Savannah : — 
 
 " The new constitution " of the Secessionist Confeder- 
 ation " has set at rest for ever all agitating questions relat- 
 ing to our peculiar institution — African slavery as it exists 
 among us — the proper state of the negro in our form of 
 civilisation. This was the immediate cause of the late 
 rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast 
 had anticipated this as the rock upon which the old Union 
 would split. He was right." 
 
 If there are still any persons prepared to assert 
 that slavery had little or nothing to do with the 
 Secessionist movement and war, let them meditate 
 upon this united testimony of President Johnson 
 and Mr A. H. Stephens, 
 
 The message concludes by an eloquent panegyric 
 of the United States and its institutions. It is worth 
 reading for its own sake, although in some respects 
 it may be considered too highly coloured ; but it is 
 especially desirable to do so in order to compare it 
 with another panegyric on the same subject, uttered
 
 328 ESSAYS. 
 
 by a very different man, in very different circum- 
 stances. That of the President's message runs 
 thus : — 
 
 " Here is the great land of free labour, where industry is 
 blessed widi unexampled rewards, and the bread of the 
 working man is sweetened by the consciousness that the 
 cause of the country ' is his own cause, his own safety, his 
 own dignity.' Here every one enjoys the free use of his 
 faculties and the choice of activity as a natural right. Here, 
 under the combined influences of a fruitful soil, genial 
 climes, and happy institutions, population has increased 
 fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through the easy de- 
 velopment of boundless resources, wealth has increased 
 with twofold greater rapidity than numbers, so that we have 
 become secure against the financial vicissitudes of other 
 countries, and, alike in business and in opinion, are self- 
 centred and truly independent. Here more and more care 
 is given to provide education for every one born on our 
 soil. Here religion, released from political connection with 
 the civil government, refuses to subserve the craft of states- 
 men, and becomes, in its independence, the spiritual life of 
 the people. Here toleration is extended to every opinion, 
 in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to 
 secure the victory. Here the human mind goes forth un- 
 shackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of know- 
 ledge, and acquire an ever-increasing mastery over the 
 forces of nature. Here the national domain is offered and 
 held in miUions of separate freeholds, so that our fellow- 
 citizens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the 
 earth, constitute in reality a people. Here exists the de- 
 mocratic form of government ; and that form of govern- 
 ment, by the confession of European statesmen, ' gives a 
 power of which no other form is capable, because it incor- 
 porates every man with the State, and arouses everything 
 that belongs to the soul.' 
 
 " Where, in past history, does a parallel exist to the pub-
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 329 
 
 lie happiness which is within the reach of the people of the 
 United States 1 Where, in any part of the globe, can in- 
 stitutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled 
 to their love as their own free constitution ? Every one 
 of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his 
 home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not 
 now acknowledge, in the words of Washington, that ' every 
 step by which the people of the United States have advanced 
 to the character of an independent nation, seems to have 
 been distinguished by some token of providential agency?' 
 Who will not join with me in the prayer that the invisible 
 hand that has led us through the clouds that gloomed 
 around our path, will so guide us onward to a perfect re- 
 storation of fraternal affection, that we of this day may be 
 able to transmit our great inheritance of state governments 
 in all their rights, of the general government in its whole 
 constitutional vigour, to our posterity, and they to theirs, 
 through countless generations 1 
 
 " Andrew Johnson. 
 "Washington, Dtr. 4, 1865." 
 
 Let it be remarked, in passing, that these last words 
 prove that, far from wishing to diminish the rights of 
 the governments of the various States on account of 
 the late rebellion, or on account of the abuse of the 
 doctrine of states rights, the President would fully 
 maintain them, just as he would preserve in all their 
 vigour the rights of the Federal government. Or, as 
 he puts it in another place, " So long as the constitu- 
 tion of the United States endures, the States will en- 
 dure ; the destruction of the one is the destruction of 
 the other ; the preservation of the one is the preser- 
 vation of the other." 
 
 The second panegyric which has been alluded to 
 forms part of a speech delivered on the 14th Novcm-
 
 330 ESSAYS. 
 
 ber i860, before the legislature of the State of Geor- 
 gia, with a view to dissuade it from joining the Seces- 
 sion movement. The man who delivered it was no 
 other than Mr A. H. Stephens, who, in November 
 i860, opposed secession, and then in the following 
 February became Vice-President of the Secessionist 
 Confederation. His words are well worth a careful 
 perusal : — 
 
 " I look upon this country, with our institutions, as the 
 Eden of the world — the paradise of the universe. It may 
 be, that out of it we may become greater and more pros- 
 perous, but I am candid and sincere in telling you that 
 I fear, if we rashly evince passion, and without suffi- 
 cient cause shall take that step [of secession], that instead 
 of becoming greater, or more peaceful, prosperous and 
 happy — instead of becoming gods, we will become de- 
 mons, and at no distant day commence cutting each others' 
 throats. 
 
 " The first question that presents itself is. Shall the people 
 of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the 
 election of Mr Lincoln to the presidency of the United 
 States 1 My countrymen, I tell you candidly, frankly, and 
 earnestly, that I do not think that they ought. In my 
 judgment, the election of no man constitutionally chosen to 
 that high office is sufficient cause for any State to separate 
 from the Union. It ought to stand by, and still aid in 
 maintaining the constitution of the country. To make a 
 point of resistance to the government, to withdraw from it 
 because a man has been constitutionally elected, puts us in 
 the wrong. . . . We went into the election with this 
 people. The result was different from what we wished ; 
 but the election has been constitutionally held. Were we 
 to make a point of resistance to the government, and go 
 out of the Union on this account, the record would be 
 made up hereafter against us."
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 33 1 
 
 In another place Mr Stephens says : — ■ 
 
 " This step, once taken, could never be recalled ; and all 
 the baleful and withering consequences that must follow 
 [as they would see] will rest on the Convention for all 
 coming time. . . . What right has the North assailed ? 
 What interest of the South has been invaded? What jus- 
 tice has been denied 1 And what claim, founded in justice 
 and right, has been withheld^ Can either of you to-day 
 name one governmental act of wrong, deliberately and 
 purposely done, by the government of Washington, of 
 which the South has a right to complain 1 I challenge the 
 answer." 
 
 He then enters into many details to show that no 
 wrong has been done, and that the South has had its 
 full share, and even more, of all the honours, offices, 
 rights, and liberties of their common country and 
 government. After which he concludes by asking 
 why this scission : — 
 
 " Is it for the overthrow of the American government, 
 established by our common ancestry, cemented and built 
 up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad 
 principles of right, justice, and humanity? and, as such — I 
 must declare here, as I have often done before, and which 
 has been repeated by the greatest and wisest of statesmen 
 and patriots, that it is the best and freest of governments — 
 the most equal in its rights, the most just in its decisions, 
 the most lenient in its measures, and the most inspiring in 
 its principles to elevate the race of men, that the sun of 
 heaven ever shone upon. Now, for you to attempt to 
 overthrow such a government as this, under which we have 
 lived for more than three-quarters of a century — in which 
 we have gained our wealth, our standing as a nation, our 
 domestic safety while the elements of peril are around us, 
 with peace and tranquillity, accompanied by unbounded
 
 332 ESSAYS. 
 
 prosperity, and rights unassailed — is the height of madness, 
 folly, and wickedness, to which I can neither lend my sanc- 
 tion nor my vote." 
 
 Such words in the mouth of such a man need no 
 commentary. 
 
 Do not, then, both facts and arguments prove that 
 love of law and devotion to the constitution are in- 
 delible features of the American character ; and that 
 for them the majority of the nation is prepared to 
 make the very greatest sacrifices ? Is it not to-day 
 clear what were the real motives which roused the 
 government and people of the United States to vin- 
 dicate the outraged authority of the Federal rule, and 
 maintain, at all costs, its supreme and lawful rights ? 
 
 Can an impartial mind any longer deny that the 
 Secessionists, on the contrary, trampled npon the 
 constitution and the law, and appealed to that sword 
 which decided against them, although the Federal 
 government had not overstepped, even by a hair's- 
 breadth, its constitutional limits ? And yet the cause 
 of such conduct was even worse than the conduct it- 
 self ; for it arose from the opposition of the South to . 
 the wise and moderate policy of the Free-Soil states- 
 men who, in 1 86 1, came into the legal possession of 
 constitutional power. The Southerners, rather than 
 allow that policy to be adopted, broke through the 
 law, took up arms, plunged the country into civil 
 war, and sought by such lawless means to found a 
 new confederation, based, according to the statement 
 of their own Vice-President, upon " the corner-stone 
 of slavery."
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 333 
 
 The war once closed, constitutional means and 
 principles have alone guided the Federal government 
 in the delicate work of reconstruction. And even 
 these have been applied with all the leniency com- 
 patible with the Federal Union's laws and just autho- 
 rity. 
 
 But there is another aspect of this great question 
 that must not be passed over. It is a matter of the 
 highest import that the great principles of law and 
 order should have been thus vindicated by a people 
 which delights to call itself the freest upon earth, and 
 which is certainly amongst the freest. It has thus 
 by deeds, not words alone, declared that freedom can- 
 not exist without order, that respect for the law is 
 absolutely necessary to the possession of liberty. It 
 is a lesson that can never be forgot, a precedent to be 
 referred to through all future ages. The ultimate re- 
 sult of this tremendous conflict proves also that a free 
 government is perfectly compatible with a strong 
 government ; and that such a government can enforce 
 its constitutional laws without sacrificing its liberties, 
 even though it should deem it necessary to suspend 
 some of them for a time in a moment of danger. It 
 demonstrates admirably that order must not be sac- 
 rificed to liberty, nor liberty to order. The United 
 States of America have thus set their seal to the all- 
 important truth, that these two great principles are 
 essentially necessary to each other, that both are of 
 vital importance to the existence of a free and well- 
 governed people. 
 
 Now, there were none who sympathised more
 
 334 ESSAYS. 
 
 heartily with the Northern States and the Federal 
 government throughout the late war than the work- 
 ing classes of England, especially the artisans of her 
 great cities. To their lasting honour it must be said 
 that they judged well and truly the American ques- 
 tion ; they ever supported staunchly and manfully that 
 cause which no less an authority than the great 
 Cavour had declared to be " not only that of consti- 
 tutional liberty, but of all humanity." 
 
 Let them, then, never forget the great lesson which 
 the free government and people of the United States 
 have inculcated upon the world. Let them remem- 
 ber, that just as order without freedom is little else 
 than tyranny, so freedom without order is little better 
 than anarchy. Let them bear in mind that liberty 
 and law must ever go hand-in-hand ; that the co- 
 operation of the two is absolutely needful to the life 
 of a free people. Thus continuing to think and act, 
 the operative classes will add daily to the proofs 
 already existing, that to admit them in a just propor- 
 tion to a direct participation in the choice of England's 
 representatives, is but to widen and strengthen the 
 basis upon which repose those ancient laws and liber- 
 ties which we English love so proudly and so well. 
 
 But one word more. There are those who dread 
 the growing power of the United States, and that 
 chiefly on account of its republican form of govern- 
 ment. Yet, while believing that, in the Old World 
 at any rate, constitutional monarchy is the best form 
 of freedom, it is only just to add that the republican 
 is but another form of that same freedom, and not a
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND THE SECESSIONISTS. 335 
 
 hostile system. What, after all, lies at the basis of 
 America's republican institutions, if not our own Eng- 
 lish laws and liberties ? Whence comes the system 
 of her jurisprudence — whence her juries? From 
 whence do her legal authorities draw their prece- 
 dents ? Her free press, her public meetings, the two 
 Houses which in her every State form the legislature, 
 are they not outgrowths of England's system ? The 
 principle of self-government, and that local applica- 
 tion of it in every portion of American soil, is it not 
 of Enghsh origin ? 
 
 Wherever America's dominion extends, it ever 
 carries with it the germ of these rich blessings, spreads 
 abroad England's faith and mother tongue, thus ad- 
 vancing her free and Christian civilisation. 
 
 Is it, indeed, so terrible a thing to see them spread- 
 ing throughout the New World .-' 
 
 Is it worthy of English hearts and intellects to 
 tremble at such a prospect .'' 
 
 Would they not do better to rejoice and take 
 courage } Should they not rather bid God speed to 
 the younger branch of our great English family } 
 
 Such, assuredly, is the feeling of England's toiling 
 millions ; and they are right. There is no good 
 reason for a wretched display of petty jealousy 
 between the mother country and her stalwart son. 
 Their prosperity and friendship are mighty elements of 
 the world's order, freedom, and progress. Therefore 
 England's people do well to say to their kinsmen of 
 America : May brotherly union, with all its attendant 
 blessings, be completely restored throughout the
 
 336 ESSAYS. 
 
 length and breadth of your vast dominion. So may 
 all your federated States rally anew around your star- 
 decked flag, planted by the hand of immortal Wash- 
 ington, and saved by that of your loved patriot and 
 martyr, Abraham Lincoln. So may each one of your 
 citizens, whether his State lie on the Atlantic or the 
 Pacific shore, whether watered by the Northern lakes 
 or by the Southern gulf, repeat from his heart those 
 noble words of Daniel Webster, " I know no North, 
 I know no South ; I know only my country." So 
 may your future be yet greater and more prosperous 
 than your past, and that, not by means of crafty 
 policy, not by the brutal force of arms, nor yet be- 
 cause your material wealth increases, but because 
 now your institutions rest, without reserve, upon the 
 sure foundations of justice, liberty, and right — because 
 now you recognise those sacred principles as the com- 
 mon heritage of all, without distinction of class, or 
 creed, or colour — because now the fair page of your 
 constitution is no longer soiled by the foul stain of 
 Slavery ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
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