The Express.
London, England, 1849-07-31 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 31, 1849.

A MAZZINI MEDAL.

TO TIM ZDITOR OP TEI IXTIMS.

Sla,—Mazzini has left Rome. Protected by a
British passport, be has hitherto defied the burglarious
hands of the French government—the ready pickers
and stealers" of the inspired Oudioot: inspired "with
the voice of God." upon the sweet faith and weeping
testimony of lackey cardinals. For French gunpowder
is now your racrificial o4our—your only myrrh and
frankincense at the altar of St. Peter's.

azzins is now in Switzerland. "A great pity"—
thick certain ones who speak and write the Et.glish
tongue—" a great pity that the arch-conspirator
was not for once and all provided for ;
pat to sleep with French lead in his breast."
Tee English people think otherwise. The Eng-
lish people have watched with kindling adm ra-
tios the glorious growth of the man Mazzini, cc-
la,ged and ennobled by the most sublime of human
motives. The heart of the Engl eh nation glowed at
the manful digni'y, at the direct simplicity, straight is
a javelin to its m rk, with which the triumvir met the
Frenchman. Hew admirably did Mazzini tear to
shreds the palitic sophistrits—ot approved French
manufacture—of the stammering Lamps ; with the
cold calmness of scorn puffing back the ambassador's
fallacies in the p! niputential visage ! By the down-
right directoeis of purpose the Italian made the
Frenchman nothing. It was the swoop of the eagle
trussing the barn-door cock.
However French lamb-shells have prevailed, and
again the However,
hat burns in Roman sunlight. And
then the French have wormed Rome gently, kindly.
They need philanthropic bayonets, and, in the name
of freedom, carefully cut the throat of liberty. All,
too, with such self-denying veneration for monuments
of art; proclaiming a determination to repair, by
Freniii hands, the devastation of French shot. Guido
should be improved, and Raphael in misfortunebenefit
by improving art, d la mode de Paris. Nothing
more easy for FrenA genius. Were it possible for
Fr, neh artillery to damage the planet Jupiter,
French compliancy would squeak the name of Arago
or Leverrier, and serenely promise to make the
battered Jupiter a better planet—a much more jaunty
Jupiter than before.
It was not permitted to the people of England to
give to the Romans aught but their sympathy and
the it prayers. The sympathy was deep, the prayers
wire fervent; and Mazzini with every new despatch
grew in the national heart the statesman-hero of the
struggle, the man who stold out from the cause with
the severe serenity, tt e grind simplicity of early
Rome. But Marshal Oulinot shelled the city.; French
metal prevailed: nor was it permitted to England by
a single gun to gainsay it.
Nevertheless, as I conceive, Eng'isbanen may yet
mount metal in the cause of Roman freedom : most
potent meta', the more potent that in the end it bht d 4
no blood, defaces no picture, shivers no statue. I
mean the metal that enshrines opinion. I mean in
this especial case, a medal struck in honour of the
Roman cause, and as its noblest expositor and de-
fender, bearing the name or effigies of Joseph
Mszzioi.

Despotism, that for a time has crushed men only
g' a li•tle lower than the angels"— flattery, tba..has /ea-
vered things on y a little high r than the ape—loot
rapine—imp-rial faheho bd—all these have had their
medals, immortalising lies: shamelea eouttt rfti.s,
straok at nctigial mints. Let the English people
a.rike their meda' in honour of human I:b.r y, and in
symplthe with its suffering. It is the game of a car-
tam pmtv to preach and advocate the spat-y of Eng-
lie men towards the social and political emdition of

the foreigner. " Good Englirdiman," gays the tory
preacher, "Provolerce hes cast the sea about your
I nd ; let y ur beset b' as insular as your courery.
Fill your belly with beef, warm your krees be ere a
eeaca.l fire; what have you t„) do with Hungarian or
Roman ? You have your habeas cwirris and your
House of Commons, at.d—in the name of Lord Aber-
di en—why trouble yourself will the foreigner ? Pay
your taxes—sing ' God save the Queen'—and, above
all—believe there be no livers out of Britain." But,
somehow, the ENlishmen ceases to listen to this
good counts]. He still likes his beef—finds comfort
at his sea-eoal fire; but nevertheless has a restless
yi art ing to know how that Mazzini bears himself in
Rome; and hopes, with all his heart and all his soul,
that Hem will give a maul ng hug to Brain.
In conclusion, sir, I wool! propose that a cony-
mi tee should be formed to receive subscriptions,
that a medal be strn k commemorative of English
sympathy with the cruse of the Romans, and of ad-
miration of the charac'er and genius of Joseph Nlaz-
sini. Here to dwell upon details is needless. I would
merely suggest that the medal be placed within
the possession of the humbl, et subscriber.
A few thousand Mazzini medalscirculating through
out the continent would in due season, do more endur-
ing service to the cause of European liberty than as
many thousand cannot, -b &snow slumbering (may their
s'sep be eternal!) in the. Mecca of the Horse-guards,
Woolwich an enal. I remain, sie,
DOUGLAS JERROLD.
West Lodge, Putney Common, July 30.