The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-26 00:00:00

kittraturc.

Th. Trinity 4 Italy; or, the Pop , the 800 bum, and
the Victor. Briny 11stor.,,e1 i 6 relotioos of the
Past, Present, tflid Flaftre of Italy. By NI ENULIBH
CIVILIAN, for eight years in (official Connexion
Kith the Court of Naples. Isaidon : Moxon
and Co.

With a somewhat clap-trap title, this is a work
of some ability, of sonic value, and of no little
power of eutertaimneut. We do not see that it
gives, ur that it could give, sinless the author
possessed the gift of prophecy, any " revelations"
of the "future.' of Italy ; but it reflects with con-
siderable liveliness, and with a good deal of discern-
ment, the state of Naples during the reigns of the
last twu sovereigns of the Bourbon line, and the
present condition of the entire peninsula as affected
by recent events. The Pope and " the Victor" (by
which, we suppose, a pun Is intended on the name
of the reigning monarch of Italy) play, however,
but secondary parts in the "English Civilian's"
volume, the chief hero of which is the unenviably
fatuous Neapolitan sovereign, Ferdinand 11.—the
Itomb;c" of Mr. Gladstone a pamphlet. This is as it
should be, for here t lie au thorspeaks from actual expo-
renee. He " resided in Southern Italy front the
cominencement of the year 1556 to near the close
of 1864 ; had the privilege of access to the presence
of King Ferdinand 11. of the Two Sicilies up to
the commencement of his Majesty's last illness,
and was personally acquainted with the various
members of the royal family. His intercourse
with the ministry, especially with the Ministers of
Finance and of Public Works, was frequent and
confidential. Having occasion to visit the Adriatic
seaboard, he was furnished, by the King's com-
mand, with a formal ministerial despatch, addressed
in quadruplicate to the iutendentes or prefects of
the provinces of Salerno, Capitanata, Ravi, and
Terra d'Otranto, and enjoyed, in consequence, the
hospitality of each of those high officials." It
must nut be presumed, front this familiarity with the
great luminaries of the Bourbon court, that the
English Civilian" adopts anything of a Bourbon
tone in his views of Italian politics. The device
he puts on his cover—the silver cross of Savoy, as
exhibited in the insignia of the Piedmontese Order
of Saints Maurice and Lazarus—shows to which side
ho leans in the struggle of parties and of dynasties.
On all these subjects it must be granted that ho
writes with great fairness. lie is in favour of the'
unity, freedom, and progress of Italy, but he sees
bow many are the difficulties besetting the path'
on which the nation has entered—difficulties re-
suiting not merely front the Papal complication,
which perpetuates foreign intervention, and de-
prives the country of its ancient and historic capi-
tal, but from defects inherent in the Italian cha-
racter itself, which have been so burnt in by cen-
turies of division and misrule, that they show no
signs at present of yielding to more reasonable
characteristics. With equal impartiality he admits
the grandeur and dignity of the Latin church,
considered as ono of the most ancient forms of
Christianity, but exhibits with unsparing hand the
moral degradation brought on the lower orders of
Italy by their utter subjection to the priesthood,
and unfolds in a few pages the historical absurdity
of the claim set up by the Popes to be revered as
Vicars of Christ, and possessors of infallible power
and wisdom. Of the prospects of parliamentary
government in Italy he is not very sanguine. The
local jealousy universal among Italians, and the
distrust commonly felt with regard to any
man who distinguishes himself above his fel- '
lows, leading to a violent desire to pull
him down, are influences strongly opposed to the
ideas and habits of constitutionalism. In addi-
tion to this the Italian people generally, according
to our author—and his testimony is confirmed by ,
that of other observers—are no great respecters of
truth. This fosters a certain skill in diplomacy,
but it is fatal to the open and manly virtues of the ,
parliamentary arena. The allegation, no doubt, is
to some extent true of the whole Italian race, but
it is especially true of the southern half, among
whom a large infusion of Oriental blood aids the
almost Asiatic climate in developing many of the
peculiar vices of the East. The "English Civi-
lian's" picture of life in the former kingdom of the
Two Sicilies is extremely vivid and interesting.
We see the impulsive, emotional, fervid, pas-
sionate, unreasoning people of the South under all
the chief phases of their existence—buying and
selling, bribing and being bribed, begging and
thieving, assassinating, idling, gossiping, haggling
over the law, trembling at the Evil Eye, alternately
scoffing at the saints and adoring them, and, above
all things, prostrating themselves at the feet of the
priests. The work also abounds in many anec-
dotes of King Ferdinand, and of the several members
of his family, which certainly have the appearance
of being truthful, and give considerable animation
and interest to the book. The late King is de-
scribed as a tall, portly man, with a dignified
bearing, almost equal to that of the Czar Nicholas.
The first impression he gave a bystander was ex-
tremely unpleasant But he had a remarkable way
of ingratiating himself with anyone whom he
pleased to honour with an interview. On those
occasions his manners were absolutely fascinating,
so that it was hardly possible to come away front
an interview with the monarch without supposing
that the object you sought was the very thing
dearest to his own mind, and certain to be carried
out on the first opportunity. That this was nothing
more than systematic treachery, an anecdote illus-
trating his treatment of the unfortunate Poerio
sufficiently proves. Ono day Poerio went to a
friend of liberal sentiments, and said, "My
heart is full—l must open it to you. The hopes of
my life are on the point of accomplishment ;
there is a bright future for our country.
I breakfasted with Ferdinand this morning ;
I now fully understand him. After breakfast we
took our cigars together, walking up and down
under the orange trees on the terrace of the palace,
and he fully opened his views to me. They are all
that I could wish. There is a future for us all."
That night (adds our author) Poerio was under
arrest, and his long and cruel captivity had com-
menced. His Majesty could also be openly brutal
as well as crafty. One evening when he, his first
Queen (Marie Christina of Savoy), an English
lady, and a Neapolitan nobleman, were playing at
cards, the Queen rose fcr a few seconds, during
which the King furtively withdrew her chair, so
that when her Majesty attempted to sit down again
she came to the ground. What makes the matter
still worse is that the Queen was at that time in a
situation requiring peculiar tenderness and care.
On rising she indignantly exclaimed, " I had in-
tended to marryn a gentleman ; I find I have married
a lazzarone. ' In certain respects, however, the
political system of Ferdinand worked well.
Brigandage—the old curse of the country, now
again rampant—was completely suppressed, and
some of the functions of government wore ener-
getically though despotically performed. On
the other hand, the terrible secret society of the
Camorra—a society of which the object was
plunder, and the means assassination—flourished
with impunity ; the highest officials were bribable
and bribed, and the King himself is said to have
shared the booty ; ignorance and mendicancy over-
spread the land, and the priests trained their
flocks to a belief in the grossest superstitions, and
the idlest tales about the wickedness of protestants,
and the miseries they suffered by way of retribu-
tion. Ferdinand himself superintended all the
details of his government ; nothing could be done,
even to the making of a country road, without his
knowledge and sanction ; and he worked with an
industry which would hare been commendable had
his objects been better. His son had less ability
to carry out this system' and it broke to pieces at
the touch of Garibaldi. The " English Civilian,"
however, thinks that Gari bald i's attempts at govern-
ing Naples were equally erroneous, and he is cer-
tainly far from hopeful of the future of the South.
His remarks un this head are worth considering,
but it is rather as an observer than as a speculator
that we value him. His book might have been
better put together; but it is a contribution to our
knowledge of Italy which we are glad to possess,
and which we have read with pleasure.

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