The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-20 00:00:00

palaces of the wealthy Florentine families made
a brilliant display. The official residence of the mu-
nicipality on the Piazza di Trinita was a blaze of
light, and the Post-office was gorgeous in garlands
of lamps:of the three:ltalian colours. Orchestras had
been erected, and strong bands played on the squares
of the Cathedral, Trinita, Manin, Signoria, and
others ; and so the amusements and sights of the
night formed a worthy conclusion to, the festivities
of a very joyous and happy day.
On Saturday afternoon the King, attended by the
Ministers of Public Instruction and of the Royal
Household, and by Generals Rossi and Cucchiari
was present at the inauguration of the Great Dante
exposition in the Palazzo del Postesth. When he
entered the hall the Gonfaloniere, Count de Cam-
bray Digny, presented to his Majesty, in the name
of the Provincial Council, and as a memorial of the
Dante Festival, a magnificent sword, made for the
occasion by a young workman named Guidi diPescia.
On one side of the blade are the words " Dante to
the first King of Italy," and on the other the fol-
lowing three lines from the sixth canto of the Pur-
gatorio, selected as an appropriate inscription for
the sword of the foremost champion of Italian inde-
pendence :

" Vieni a veder la tua Roma the piange,
Vedova, sola e di a notte chiama,
Cesare mio perche non mi accompagna ?"

On the two sides of the hilt are allegorical figures
relating to the Inferno and the Purgatorio, and on
the guard, allusive to the Paradiso, are those of
Dante and Beatrice. The King is said to have been
much gratified with the present. Among the curio-
sities of this Dante exhibition is said to be the muster
roll of the Florentine army at one of the battles in
which the poet took part. His name appears upon
the document.

The following is a translation of the speech made
yesterday by the Gonfaloniere of Florence at the
inauguration ceremony :
" This concourse of the represenatatives of so many illus-
trious cities and distinguished institutions at the foot of the
statue which we to-day inaugurate and the august pre-
sence of the King of Italy in this solemn assembly have a
great and sublime signification. From Alighieri Italy re-
ceived her language, the first element of unity, and also the
national idea which for five centuries has worked within
her until all obstacles having before our eyes been overcome
by the agency of a magnanimous King the idea has become
a fact. If, then, the memory and the lessons of that great
man, jealously guarded in Italian hearts during times of
oppression, were the germ of the events which we have
witnessed and been actors in, it was a reason for free Italy to
celebrate with singular honours the first secular anniver-
sary of his birth that has occurred since her emancipation.
It is not, then, only to the first of poets, to the eminent
philosopher, and to the great citizen that we to-day render
a richly-merited homage. No, gentlemen, we all here as-
sembled from the remotest districts of Italy, we all from
the august monarch down to the representative of the
humblest municipality, we have come together to affirm
again, in presence of the whole world, the glorious resur-
rection of the Italian nation, our indissoluble unity, our
independence. And affirm it we do in the best and noblest
manner, by revealing to the astonished nations the first
work of our regeneration, which, although not yet com-
pleted, is henceforward assured. Let it, then, be recog-
nised by Italy, by Europe, and the whole civilised world
that this festival which the poet's native city to-day com-
memorates, that this act which we are accomplishing are
nothing less than the solemn confirmation of the compact
that recombines the scattered members of the ancient
mother of modern civilisation. And since official duty has
called upon me, unworthy, to be the first to raise my voice
in this solemnity and in the midst of you, may his Majesty
the King deign to accept from my lips the homage of fide-
lity of this land, which only aspires to devote itself entirely
to the fulfilment of Italian destinies, and may the popula-
tions of the kingdom accept a fraternal salutation from us,
who ardently desire the opportunity of making every sac-
rifice for the glory and prosperity of our common country!"
These words seem to me sufficiently earnest and
weighty to merit reproduction, and all the more so
as they give to the celebration of Dante's 600th
birthday a significance which probably few in Eng-
land have thought of attributing to it.