The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Reminiscences of the Life and Character of Count
Cavour. By William De La Rive. Translated
from the French by Edward Romilly. Long-

man and Co.

The work before us is a translation of one
which appeared in five successive numbers of
the " Bibliothique Universelle of Geneva,"
and which, written by a relative and intimate
friend of Cavour, bears every mark of trust-
worthiness. Without assuming to be a com-
plete biography, it nevertheless traces his career
from its commencement to its close, conveys a very
vivid idea of his character, and is among the most
interesting works of the kind that have of late ap-
peared. At present the writer intimates that a
biography perfect in all its details could not be
written. "Too many pages must be left in blank
which another generation may be entitled to fill up
with those secrets which official documents can
alone reveal, and which we in the present day must
be contented to guess at. Neither can the memory
of Cavour be so quickly disengaged from the in-
fluence of those conflicting passions which were
called forth or fomented by himself." But if, as a
diplomatist, it is as yet impossible to do full jus-
tice to his genius, the same objection does not apply
to his character as an individual. Of the latter,
those about him and his intimate friends were the
best judges; to this their testimony is invaluable,
and few would seem to have possessed more favour-
able 'opportunities than the writer of the present
volume. Camille Benso de Cavour, born at Turin,
August 1, 1810, is described as being, when about
three years of age, a " good romping boy ; stout,
obstreperous, and always ready for play." At first
he seems to have had little taste for study.
Indeed, he expressed a horror of it. Never-
theless, he was destined one day to be-
come the hardest of workers. "In 1816,"
says the author, " his parents brought him and
his brother to Geneva. They spent some time
at Presinge, at my grandfather's. lam tempted
to allude to this visit, in consequence of my father
having more than once described to me the im-
pression produced by Camille de Cavour, on his
first visit to Presinge. He was then an arch
little fellow, with a countenance full of animation,
indicative of decision of character; very enter-
taining in his ways, and with an endless flow of
childish frolic and fun. He wore a little red coat,
which gave him a droll, and, at the same time,
a determined look. On his arrive, he was under
a good deal of excitement, and stated to my
grandfather that the postmaster at Geneva had
given them such execrable horses that he ought
to be dismissed. I insist upon his being dismissed,'
he repeated again and again. But,' replied my
grandfather, ' I cannot dismiss the postmaster;
the first Syndic alone has that power. Well,'
then, I must have 'an audience of the first Syn-
dic.' You shall have it to-morrow,' replied my
grandfather; and he at once wrote to his friend,
M. Schmidtmeyer, then first Syndic, and told
him he was going to send him a very amusing
'little man;' and, accordingly, the next day the
child appeared at M. S.'s, and was received in
due form. With perfect composure he made three
profound bows, and then, in a clear voice, pre-
ferred his complaint, and called for judgment.
On his return, as soon as he perceived my grand-
father, he exclaimed, Well, he will be dismissed.'
He was then hardly six years old; his taste for dis-
missals, therefore, began early." Intended by his
father for a soldier he went, at ten years of age, to
the Military Academy, and was soon after made
a page at the palace—an honour reserved
for youths of high birth, but which to
the independent spirit of the young Camille
seems to have been by no means agreeable, " One
day," says the writer, " when I happened to ask
him what dress the pages wore, Parbleu! 'he re-
plied in an excited voice, ' how do you suppose we
could have been dressed, except as lacqueys, which
we were ?' It made me blush with shame." As page
he had been attached to the service of Prince Carig-
nan, after wards Charles Albert,for whom he always
entertained a rooted dislike, which seems to have
been mutual. At the Military Academy, however,
he distinguished himself, especially in mathematics.
" I owe a great deal to mathematics," he said, " it
forms the mind, and teaches one to think." Still,
he afterwards regretted that his education had not
been wider in scope. So marked were his abilities,
however, while at the Academy, that when he left
it at sixteen, he was made sub-lieutenant of engi-
neers, although, by the rules of the service, it was
not before twenty years of age that an officer's com-
mission could be obtained ; but an exception was
made in his favour, and as sub-lieutenant he served
in various garrisons. Some imprudent, or as we
may suppose, liberal expressions he made use of
while at Genoa during the events of July, 1830,
brought him into disgrace, and forced him to resign
his commission, and it was now that, in default of
other employment, he took to agriculture, and with
complete success. "It is right you should know,"
he says in a letter to M. Naville, "that I have be-
come an agriculturist for good and all ; it is now
my vocation. On my return from England I found
my father occupied with public affairs, and, there-
fore, no longer able to attend to his own ;
he suggested that I should take charge
of them, and I most readily consented,
for when it has been decided to undertake the
management of one's own property, unless it is
carefully looked after, one's fortune is et stake.
These occupations, which I undertook at first out of
duty, I now follow from inclination ; by degrees I
have acquired a taste for agricultural pursuits, and
I could not now give them up without much re-
gret." It was in 1833 that he undertook the
management of Leri, a large and neglected estate
which by his energy and sagacity he appears to
have brought to the highest degree of productive-
ness. "At sun rise, he was at his work, inspect-
ing his cattle sheds, present when the labourers
went to their work, and superintending their work
during the dog-days under a burning sun ; net
satisfied with giving general orders, but providing
for the minutest details, alive to all the discoveries
of chemistry and mechanical invention, multiplying
his experiments, and recording their results with
that good sense which never failed him, abandoning
one set of experiments and repeating others, upon
an immense scale, and with a degree of boldness
which frightened his good neighbours, who came
to him with fear and trembling for an
opinion." To agricultural chemistry, and especially
to the subject of manures, he seems to have paid
great attention. " Manures," he says, "is the basis
of agriculture ; if it cannot be obtained, all effectual
progress is at once arrested. It is like building a
house with no foundation." And here we cannot
help remarking the peculiarly English or practical
turn of his mind—a turn altogether exceptional in
the Italian aristocracy, who, as a general rule, leave
their estates entirely in the hands of their stewards,
many of them, into
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Nor
alone absorb all his activity. "At one time he was
superintending the clearing of a forest, at another
he was undertaking to supply the Pacha of Egypt
with 800 merino sheep, which after wards he did not
know where to get (though he soon found the
means to do so), then making canals, introducing
the cultivation of beet root, and projecting a menu-
factory of sugar." Moreover, "He established