The Roman Question | Page 8

the 14th of May, 1856, M. de Rayneval, then French ambassador at
Rome, a warm friend to the cardinals, and consequently a bitter foe to
their subjects, thus described the Italian people:--
"A nation profoundly divided among themselves, animated by ardent
ambition, possessing none of the qualities which constitute the
greatness and power of others, devoid of energy, equally wanting in

military spirit and in the spirit of association, and respecting neither the
law nor social distinctions."
M. de Rayneval will be canonized a hundred years hence (if the present
system continue) for having so nobly defended the oppressed.
It will not be foreign to my purpose to try my own hand at this picture;
for the subjects of the Pope are Italians like the rest, and there is but
one nation in the Italian peninsula. The difference of climate, the
vicinity of foreigners, the traces of invasions, may have modified the
type, altered the accent, and slightly varied the language; still the
Italians are the same everywhere, and the middle class--the élite of
every people--think and speak alike from Turin to Naples. Handsome,
robust, and healthy, when the neglect of Governments has not delivered
them over to the fatal malaria, the Italians are, mentally, the most
richly endowed people in Europe. M. de Rayneval, who is not the man
to flatter them, admits that they have "intelligence, penetration, and
aptitude for everything." The cultivation of the arts is no less natural to
them than is the study of the sciences; their first steps in every path
open to human intellect are singularly rapid, and if but too many of
them stop before the end is attained, it is because their success is
generally barred by deplorable circumstances. In private as well as
public affairs, they possess a quick apprehension and sagacity carried to
suspicion. There is no race more ready at making and discussing laws;
legislation and jurisprudence have been among their chief triumphs.
The idea of law sprang up in Italy at the time of the foundation of
Rome, and it is the richest production of this marvellous soil. The
Italians still possess administrative genius in a high degree.
Administration went forth from the midst of them for the conquest of
the world, and the greatest administrators known to history, Cæsar and
Napoleon, were of Italian origin.
Thus gifted by nature, they have the sense of their high qualities, and
they at times carry it to the extent of pride. The legitimate desire to
exercise the faculties they possess, degenerates into ambition; but their
pride would not be ludicrous, nor would their ambition appear
extravagant, if their hands were free for action. Through a long series

of ages, despotic Governments have penned them into a narrow area.
The impossibility of realizing high aims, and the want of action which
perpetually stirs within them, has driven them to paltry disputes and
local quarrels. Are we to infer from this that they are incapable of
becoming a nation? I am not of that opinion. Already they are uniting
to call upon the King of Piedmont, and to applaud the policy of Count
Cavour. If this be not sufficient proof, make an experiment. Take away
the barriers which separate them; I will answer for their soon being
united. But the keepers of these barriers are the King of Naples, the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, Austria, the Pope, and the rest. Are such
keepers likely to give up the keys?
I know not what are "the qualities which constitute the greatness and
power of other nations"--as, for example, the Austrian nation,--but I
know very few qualities, physical, intellectual, or moral, which the
Italians do not possess. Are they "devoid of energy," as M. de Rayneval
declares? I should rather reproach them with the opposite excess. The
absurd but resolute defence of Rome against the French army, may
surely be regarded as the act of an energetic people. We must be
extremely humble, if we admit that a French army was held in check
for two months by men wanting in energy. The assassinations which
occur in the streets of Rome, prove rather the inefficiency of the police
than the effeminacy of the citizens. I find, from an official return, that
in 1853 the Roman tribunals punished 609 crimes against property, and
1,344 against the person. These figures do not indicate a faultless
people, but they prove little inclination for base theft, and look rather
like a diabolical energy. In the same year the Assize Courts in France
pronounced judgment upon 3,719 individuals charged with theft, and
1,921 with crimes against the person. The proportion is reversed.
Robbers have the majority with us. And yet we are rather an energetic
people.
If the Italians are so also, there will not be much difficulty in making