The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Country Life in Piedmont, By Antonio Gallenge,
Author of " History of Piedmont," &c. Chap-
man and Hall.
The author of this work is by birth a Piedmon-
tese, hut his long residence in other countries has
qualified him for being a fair judge of the present
position and future prospects of la's people. To an
ardent affection for his native land and race, he
unites a clear perception of their errors and • defi-
ciencies, and what is more, a sense of what is
needed, of the course of action and system of educa-
lion that would give a tone to the moral and phy-
sical nature, that would rouse the frame to health-
ful exertion, and wake the mind to a stronger sense
of right and wrong. The book is written in a
flowing and agreeable manner, and from the interest
of the subject and the fascination of the style, the
reader wilt find much to suggest reflection and
afford pleasure. The opening chapter " Midnight
on the Alps," gives a vivid picture of the effect
produced on the mind of the solitary traveller, by
the mysterious sights and sounds of the Alpine
11,,ights at the witching hour, " with the wind rush-
in, through the fir-trees with the clash of ten
thousand steel blades," and the " blaze of stars such
as can only light up an Alpine atmosphere." His
journey's end was Piedmont, where he had an idea
of settling, but he abandoneol his intention after
sometime spent there, and after seeing how his
advice and remonstrances only obtained for
him the name of " The Grumbler, " and
his efforts to encourage manly sports and
healthful exercises were met with jests and ridi-
cule. Every allusion to political topics has been
carefully avoided, he desires his work to be simply
cleScriptive of manners and customs ; wishing to
encourage the lively interest which the English
now feel iu Piedmont, he thinks the only way
to render it lasting or beneficial is by representing
the Italian people as they really are ; by telling
their faults with their virtues, by showing the
causes that hold them back in the path of social
advancement and by giving a true picture of the
country and its inhabitants. After describing
" The Country and the People," " Exteriors and
Interiors," " Roads and Conveyance," cs Inns and
Inn Customers," Jec , in separate chapters, we come
to the "Land and Land labourers," and to
" Water and Waterworks." In speaking of the
roads he remarks on the folly of making all Italian
roads of an extreme width. There is scarcely a road
across Piedmont, he tells us, which will not give
passage to six carriages abreast. Besides the waste
of land in this fertile country, the expense and
labour of keeping such roads in repair is seri-
ous. The difficulties of locomotion appear to be
alarming and are amusingly described. The con-
dition of the field labourers in Piedmont seems
to be a sad one, from evils which can hardly be
called necessary, as we are told that the labourer
often drinks water the whole winter while grapes
are rotting on the branehes, and when in ordinary
years the vintage would supply the wants of six
times the population. The great scarcity of
fuel is the cause of much distress, and one of the
authorreasonsl
of the sap oliation
bitterly.
He
of the
says, "one
which the
e
greatest injuries inflicted upon Italian agricultural
of
th
economy, resulted from the all-sweeping destruc-
tion of the fine timber that once mantled the Alps
and Apennines." Every one, he tells us, cuts down •
trees, and nobody plants them. There is no rea-
soning with the destroyer. "Say what you will in
behalf of useful or ornamental trees, be will only
point to the immediate private gain to be derived '
from an irreparable public loss." Another reason
is the difficulty of preserving your own plantations. -
Men and cattle walk into it and take what pleases
them. The writer bought and transplanted into
his garden several hundred ash trees ; but he was
assured that in the next. spring hardly one stick
would be left. He pointed to the hedge he had
put round them, but was told that would go first,
and the young plants after. It is difficult, he says,
to reason with men starving with cold or hunger,
and the law has little power in such matters. .He
considers the very indistinct notions of the rights of
property as one of the serious evils of the nation.
The priests have encouraged mendicancy, and not
checked the notion that a little picking and steal-
ing is no theft. " This year, when grapes agair,
midi) their appearance after six blank vintages,
they had to be gathered in almost green, and the
wine to be made nearly worthless from sourneo,
owing to the impossibility of guarding them, as they
were stolen from the vines before they could come
of maturity." He thinks, notwithstanding that
honesty is more common than in any other country
he knows. It is the easiness and carelessness of
the landowners, and the foolish notions of monkish
liberty," that have fostered these dangerous Ilo'
tions. A few years scarcity has done much good
by teaching each to look sharply after his own-
Some of the author's hints might serve as stints.-
1 tilts to British enterprise. He suggests that Eng-
lish colliers should supply the Piedmontese with
fuel, that a commercial league should be formed of
minor States, which should invite Great Britain to
be the leader and protector. The latter portion of
the work is occupied with social topics, showing the
evils of the " laisser altar" system, the love of
cards, the want of exercise, of rationalemployment,
the precocity of the children, the ignorance of ths,
women, and many other unfortunate sources 01
degradation and indolence. It is absurd, he says,
to blame the climate, for the same temperature
steeled the Gauls and Romans, the Lombards, and
Tuscans of the middle ages. He builds his hopes,
as all true Italians do, on Piedmont. Though the
improvement is slow, though there is much he
longs to alter, still the advance is in the right Nvel3
and with freedom of thought and speech, and
liberty of action, what may not be hoped from 3
race that is degraded, but not natural,
a low one, that has been trampled by the
foot of despotism, but belongs to another atmo-
sphere, a higher state of existence. While render'
ing full justice to the virtues and merits of 11
countrymen, Signor Galleagal does not eshrin
from exposing their faults, and thus shows himself
a true patriot. No doubt his volume will meek
the success it deserves by directing the attention
of English readers to the prospects and neces; •
sities of the constitutional kingdom, " the hope 0'
Italy," and by awakening the interest and arous"
ing the sympathies of all who may peruse hi
pleasant pages.