The Express.
London, England, 1862-08-13 00:00:00

HIGH_ Malt AT LOSDOR 1111.1D01.

THIS DiiLii.llllll67W 6ii:77.itie7ZOn, 46. 2soa.
To-mosaow—llorabig, 40. 42. O.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13.

Wa have heard Italians who knew England as
well as their own country make the remark that
' the Southern population of the Peninsula and of
the adjoining island act towards the Govern-
ment of united Italy a part like that which
the Irish act towards that of the British
Isles. More valuable subjects could not be
found whenever they rally to the common
empire, or, what is the same thing, forget the
petty causes which tend to alienate them ; and
this they do in all serious crises and solutions.
Let actual war rage, let a great demand arise for
their voices or their efforts, and both will be given
with energy—nay, with fury. But let the exi-
gency diminish, let excitement subside, let there
be no pressing danger, no urgent demand, and
let patriotic sentiment flag in consequence, and
Neapolitans and Sicilians become at once most
difficult to satisfy or to keep in working humour.
When Vicroa Eitstsrium, visits Naples or Pr •
lermo, it is just like Qu:en Vicronis land"ig
Dublin. Loud are the acclamations, boisterous the
welcome. But the Sovereign's back turned, loyalty
is apt to evaporate, and the efforts of vicegerents
are thwarted with an obstinacy that seems without
an aim. If a Cabinet be formed, and no Neapolitan
or Sicilian Minister be in it, the better half of
Italy, you see, is ignored and vilified. Yet if a
Neapolitan do accept a Cabinet office, he is
assailed as a traitor, and as one false to his vows.
In the Chamber it is the same. The extravagance
of the Southern members is quite equal to their
vehement and often real eloquence. They are
listened to sometimes with astonishment, often
with admiration, not so much of their sense as of
their talert. But it would defy the keenest
intellect to discover what they were driving at, or
what was their policy or purpose.

The Southern priesthood are as great a puzzle
as their lay brethren. Everyone knows, and Cap-
tain FORBES may be adduced as • witness, that
GARIBALDI'S famous expedition was warmly wel-
comed by the country clergy, and that, whilst de-
voutly faithful to the tenets of their Church, they
were all for subjecting the POPZ to Italy. Padre
GAVAZZeB political explanation of Christianity did
not please them. But Padre G•ovexxr, more
orthodox, though not less patriotic, was univer-
sally popular. Here we may turn aside to notice one
of the most important acts of N. Rerrszzfe ad-
ministration. He has passed through the Chambers
a law, emancipating the lower clergy from their
prelates, by forbidding their deprivation or removal
without the assent of the lay tribunals of the dis-
trict. Were NAPOLEON 111. but to pass a similar
law in France, he would at once punish and hum-
ble the high prelate., so generally adverse, and
even insolent to his government. Such a mea-
sure, however, is only justified in a free country
by the necessity of resistance to the Temporal
Power at Rome. Were the Temporal Power
abolished, there would be no longer • divided
allegiance among the clergy, and a Free Church
in a Free State would guarantee the equal rights
of all citizens, lay and clerical alike.
It is doubtful whether the higher or the lower
order of the Southern Italians show less alacrity
in behalf of constitutional government. The mid-
dle, the commercial, and professional classes are,
indeed, as thoroughly Italian, patriotic, and con-
stitutional as could be desired. But neither
the nobles nor the people can be mentioned with
the same approbation. The gentry and proprietors
hold, for the most part, aloof. They have not the
zeal or the thoroughness of principle which would
urge them to stand up for the BOURBON dynasty.
There is none of the Scottish loyalty for the
STUARTS, or even of the Vendeans for Church
and King. There reigns indifference, a distaste of
the North, an ingratitude towards these who freed
them from the most galling tyranny, and a fasti-
diousness which spurns a regimen in which courtiers
have small weight, and in which rank itself is
little valued unless it exerts itself and gives
proofs of activity and power.
One of the most dangerous characteristics of the
South is the excessive dislike of the young pea-
santry to the conscription. They do not want
' courage, and have no objection to fighting when
there is a cause which catches their imagination
and stirs their blood. But military service and
discipline in time of peace, with its manifold
restraints, and its separation from home,
is intolerable to them. The Italian War-office
drafts them all northwards, to render desertion
more difficult, but this has the effect of rendering
desertion more general. The Piedmontese mili-
tary authorities know not what to do, or how to
meet • reluctance, which is not disaffection, but
which is calculated to produce it. Caoeco's or
Cirravoxe's bands might be recruited for aver
from refractory conscripts, who are merely anxious