Star.
London, England, 1813-10-06 00:00:00

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NUMB4R.
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Tn the Intervals of intelligence frnm the North and
the Peninsula, we psoposeto. call the attention of our'
Rvackts to the ,taie of a comics), which will soon
become ()tie c,f the most important theatres of the
• war.-nr..ny causes have combined to render Italy
less interesting to the parWof Xngland than it ought
to hove beep, fr,Pl ttLitieat pOpiliation, wealth, and
refiurnienta On tbrs'accotralp before adverting to the
'actual state of At..liistss we. shill attempt to describe
ti.ose sircutastsuces which Imp contributed to de-
•• •
.graje theros, dis.n.proiou of the British nation, to
-sw;l A degrte tbat oo 04404e:est is taken in their '
• Thew cireumsta,nces are of a very inriot origin.
and d v:d themselves into two classes, political and'
nr,,r4l, the detailed consideration of which does not'
- fall v.ithin the scope of our present purpose, but it
if won't, perhaps, oat be overcurious to-trike.the his-
titory of tote political dislike to the warlike domination
• of the lomans. It may have-began with the aggres-
sion • t Jet.tus Cicsaa, have been fostered by the sub-

sequei,t coerctve attempts to civilize the inhabitants,
aud h..ve early bec.sne a settled principle by t'.e re-
). c.ieu ii the pot of the Roman Government of the
aryu•cat:o,, for ass.stance which our ancestors made,
wten in the decliue of the empire, and. after 'the
le:,,ion.s had been withdrawn, they, were so molestA
and di,trebsed by the inroads •of the 14orthernind!,
Ecstetosbarbtriane. Tinto :events have long since
hien lorgott-ca, but the colourtig which they must
li.,ve ,;'vin to the pubic mind here would remain
.m.lnoi the causes diet prbduced it had ceased to ope.
.ate. 10.1.11 courml,f'shite that cat :wing would, no
dr-obt, also tittieV6eili*.iy,' but such has been the
6.
cpirent nt. trent: at something at distant and dis.
•-•Kinet cocks have silWays arisen to renew it, and to
give% tie strength and durability of an ingrained
gik‘iona! prejudice.
The sec And genital circumstance which has led to
fcsrer itur antipathy to the Italians, may be consider.
!d iss belonging to the mural class.. It arose out of
ills iiitetcourse which began with the 1:o'y war. At
.11141 period the inhabitants of this country were rude
and barbarous compared to the Italians. The trade
4114.'ostr ancestors, at that time, was ant s, and the re.
• creations of their leisure little different from the piac-
. .
1.-.1 banditti. Con.mtrce and the arts of civil
lie were so imperfectly known in gngland, that when
-tht crusaders embarked for Palestine, led in
resolity is much'. by the thirst of military adventure,
Is by the enthusiasm oi religion, they found as they
pasbe.l through Italy, a race of people with whom
elteysetoted 'to have sic common sympathy. The
itatians at that time, though under the domination
Of the prirrstfiood, were, compared with the English,
commeiciatand rn-nufacturing people:—and their
mann( rs appeared to the rude soldiers of the North,
as effeminate to a great and sbanwful degree. The
effect of climate was not considered by the strangers;
4n4 men accustomed only to the use of the sword,
the spear, and the battering ram, naturally regarded
with contempt aneldetektafion the artificers of tapestry

and brocade, and viewed as worse than women those
whom they saw.empliled in the use of the shuttle
aed the pencil: To them the Italian artificers ap.
peareJ as men who had abandoned the occupations
of their st.; for in all semi-harberous countries, the
women are the common labourers Of the loom, and
of those tasks which require sedentary application--
To the impression which the 'civilized state of Italy
produced on the northern crusaders, much of that
prejudice may be ascribed which has so long continued
to disgrace even modern philosophy, by alledging
that proficiency in the arts tends to degrade both the
moral and the physical qualities of mankind—a pre-
judice which The achievements, the military renown,
and the public virtues of the French and Bi itish na-
tions ought to contradict for ever ; for of all the other
kingdoms of Europe, excepting Italy, France and Eng-
land, have the greatest proportion of their population
engaged in occupations which must appear effeminate
to the Russians and Hungarians, who are probably
much in the same state is our ancestors were at the
beginning of the crusades; and yet what other king_
dams have shewn so much permanent energy of cha-
-ractet, as the fetich and English, or have submitted
is great* individual sacrifices for public purpcises, or
helm cArtied military virtue, the'only virtue of bar-
barians, to a greater height ? The present glory of
France and England is a refutation of the assertion,
that refinement destroysisthe masculine energy of na-
tions. But in the dark ages of erusadeg, it was natu-
tal for our rude and plundering ancestors to infer,
from the state in which they found the Italians, that
efftminacy 'was the effect of commercial habits.—
And it was thus afiat their ignorance tended to aug. '
ment and renew that enmity which the conduct of the
ancient Romans had originally excited,
The erroneous impression of the moral qualities of
the Italians, derived from the reports of the Crusa-
recgiyeti a new and a deeper stamp from the
views of the Reformation. The-corruption of the
Atheist.cal u• tof the PI .cy was hlaiened, and,
if n(ts, Magni 44 to a great degree, From
•LoA,,ith.e minis of our father; turned with abh6r-
rence, - They regarded the papal city as the mouth
of Wit, and tenor and ligte which their religioti%
it Ono intekt.o4 rand Oitrik ste cAntinitally ;spins
4‘4 int) %;tiktli, coinKliive.sa 144 clime sins,