The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-07 00:00:00

LOMBARDI

A later from Milan, dated Oct. 23, says
Milan is the most unruly of towns and the
Milanese the most ungovernable of peoples." This
was the " refrain" which was repeated for years by
the Austrians. It served as an excuse for the tight
grasp in which Austria held the fair city. Nothing
but the strong hand of military rule could keep in
order this turbulent population, and the reins once
loosened anarchy must needs follow. So long and
so often has all this been dinned into the ears ofl
Europe, that half of it at least believed the Milanese,
the most incorrigible race of revolutionists. Nor
did the appearance of the town under Austrian rule
belie this belief ; on the contrary, it served to
strengthen it. That sulky silence, that concentra-
tion of hatred which was stamped visibly on the
physiognomy of the town, that captiousness with
which every Govenment Measure was received as a
new grievance and insult, were quite calculated to
give some appearance of truth to the Austrian view
of the Milanese characters It would have tired the
patience of a saint that tough, premeditated illwill
which saw in every concession, a sign of weakness
and in every new rigour a fresh ground for com-
plaint.
Well, all this has been changed, as if by magic.
Let any one who knew Milan under the Austrians
and who might have still some misgivings in
this respect, come here now, look about him, and
inquire, lam sure he'will go away with the im-
pression that Milan is the most quiet and orderly
of towns, and the Milanese the most easily go-
verned people on the face of the earth. Its humour
is like the deep blue ever-autumnal sky above it,
brightening and gilding everything, the marble
lace of the Duomo, the bold outlines of the Alps,
and the vapours arising from the plain.
As everything was bad that the Austrian Go-
vernment did, so everything that the Sardinian
Government does is satisfactory. As the Austrian
soldiers were detested and shunned, so the Sardi-
nian and French troops are courted and petted.
Scarcely a single administrative disposition has
been altered, the old taxes not only not changed
but increased by the extraordinary war-tax, almost
the whole administration is carried on by the very
men who were so ohjectionede in the finless of the
Austrians; the Custom-house officers have kept on
the very uniform which the Austrians had given
them. In one word, Lombardy is living well nigh
under the same laws as of old, and is content. In-
deed, the outward change is so small that one would
almost be inclined to attribute the thorough change
in the disposition of the people to a simple change
of colours. Never has there been, perhaps, so much
painting going on in a town as in Milan since the
retreat of the Austrians; the black and yellow has
disappeared and the red, white, and green taken
its place everywhere. The white coats have gone,
and blue and gray ones are in their place.
The blue trousers are seen no more and their
place is taken by red and gray ones. The
helmet of the Austrian Gendarme has given way to
the cocked hat of the French and Sardinian Gen-
darmes, and a band in blue kepis is playing where
one in black shakos was wont to so-end its martial
strains, and, en parenthese, much better.
But this change of colours represents the down-
fall of foreign domination and the beginning of a
National Government, so long desired, and this is
the spell which has converted the silent city into
one full of life and movement, which has changed
a suspicious population into a, confiding one, and
the turbulent Milanese into bons enfants.
In spite of the delays which take place in the
military organisation of Lombardy,—iu spite of
the inconveniences caused by the maintenance of
the provisional state of affairs,—confidence is
scarcely shaken, and very little energy would be
sufficient to restore it altogether. This is so much
the more wonderful, as there is a general feeling
in the population, a kind of instinct rather than a
conviction founded on reasoning, that before next
spring Italy will have to fight Austria, and that
probably, without an ally. It is above all' in the
higher class that confidence is least shaken, which
is naturally explained by the more, conservative
tendency which this class exercises everywhere.
In the present instance this conservative feeling is
very likely heightened by the recollection of 1848-9,
and the fear of seeing the revolutionary element
get the upper hand. Every one will sympathise
with this feeling up to a certain point,
but the question is whether there is not
more danger in too great caution that in
too great boldness. The national' feeling has
awakened, and there is no mistake that it will as-
sert itself, but unless those in whose hand the lead
now is prove themselves fit for the work it will
seek leaders elsewhere. As for the peasantry, it
is as most peasantries, if not all, it must not be ex-
pected to take an active part, unless it sees some
material advantage in store for it. But, on the
other hand, it may be led away without difficulty,
especially if there is so strong a proportion of the
active elements as there exist in Lombardy, with
her many towns. The population in these is to a
man with the movement, and ready for every sacri-
fice ; but, just because it has the national cause so
much at heart, it is most anxious to see it progress
and least likely to be satisfied with a lethargic Go-
vernment. As in Piedmont, in the Lombard towns
the inactivity of the Government has produced the
desire for the convocation of the. Chambers, which,
with true instinct, are expected to inspire the Go-
vernment with the necessary energy, or, if neces-
sary, change. it into one more capable of coming up
to the hopes of the people. Had there been any
huthority shown, the thought of convoking the
Chambers would probably not have occurred.
Popular assemblies are too new in this part of the
world to understand fully the strength which a
Government derives from their existence and sup-
port. But under the circumstances the wish for
them becomesmOre arid more general, and- this-wish
is the best sign that all is not as it should be in the
present Government of Piedmont.