New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-13


ple of the poorest classes. The ambitious NOBLE
man was nearly bankrupted. In his Corso PAL
ace. however were two rich galleries OF paint
ings He tried to sell them to the Govern
ment. but the Government was in no condition
70 diminish its exchequer to enlarge its art COL
lections He then put himself in communication
with A certain foreign government and with
several enormously rich connoisseurs Clever
artists who made a speciality OF copying famous
paintings. were engaged in the Princes gallery
Several original "old masters" went out from
Italy to other lands, while marveHously exact
fac-smiles, with all the complexion OF age 'ooA
the vacated places in the old frames, ana went
back to their respective positions on the walls 10
look down, half ptyingy and half hypocriu-
cally upon the visitors, who. with guide-books IN
hand, stood admiIingly before them. ana Won
dered at the beauty that outlasted 50 many
centuries The galleries had remained closed
during six months and when they were re-
opened there was nothing to indicate that every.
thing of interest was not exactly as before. ANA
the practical Prince exchanged sympathetic
wnks with the counterfeit presentments, ana ms
Golfers were gratefully repenished since the DAY
when the workmen were first put in the palace
ITO repair rotten rdfters."
This business-mnded nobleman Is not unique
in the current annals of Rome. The Boncom-
pagn and the LudOvis demolished their his
toric villas. and on their sites erected blocks OF
painfully modern apartment houses. The late
the gardens surrounding the family palace on
the Via Quattro Fontane. and sold them for
building lots. And there were many other among
the nobemen Of Rome who did the same. These
princes hewed boldly upon the preserves or
family pride, ignoring the menacing spectre
clothed in the mighty majesty of all their an
cestors. that foretold tale Of drest woe. Woe
quite dire probably more inevitable, and eel
tainly more imminent. would have fallen like
plague upon all their houses II they mad not
sacrificed sentiment 70 necessity; so what man
tNnrN 70 afrg1 Qci m
present hariships at the expense or the shadows
of splendor?
1t only the existence Of the Pacca law
that made the act of the prince who sold his own
property illegal, for the statute defining ''monu-
ment publici" comprises certain private prop
erty as well as the possessions or the state
When it was framed, not only all Italians, bat
men of other nations well. approved the pro-
visions that prohibited the removal Of the his
toric relics and the artistic treasures out Of the
country in which they had had their home for
centuries and where their poetic surroundings
blended in harmony that captivated the imagi-
nation. There thought then that the
day might come when these precious objects
could buy the welfare of the nation. But an un-
foreseen era has arrived The alternatives are
the fall Of Italy the sacrifice Of her treasures.
The hour is not one In which 10 weigh queens
jewels against her life. Beset by difficulties
that seem impossible of adjustment, confronted
by enormous and increasing debt. over
burdened by taxation and menaced In her honor.
the Nation stands modern Niobe. majestic In
her sorrow. eloquent in the resignation with
which she views the Affections Of her children.
and pathetic in the patience with which she
waits her doom. While desolation spreads her
preying brood over all the land; while the King
and his Ministers are IN despair. and over the
poor peasants emaciated body the night wind
blows fever through the cracks In his crumbling
howell. the wall Of sentiment becomes az the
thin screech of the owl in the thunderous plead
ing Of humanity.
The Prime Minister recognized that the plant
OF the hungry citizen appeals more keenly 10 the
Government than the vauntngs of sentimental
itx- nep In IN he Ifal
on May T. he said: Humanitarian questions are
crowding national ones further and further into
the background"
The Government need only answer with the
word necessity" the protests of those who
call 1t sacrilege to let the ancient treasures go
out Of Italy. But against such protests may also
be cited many strong arguments. In the first
place. thought OF sacrilege comes into The con-
sidera ton, apprehension Of abuse Of the
Venerated treasures, for the country or individ-
ual purchasing Of them would be none the
less proud of the precious possession, or cherish
it less tenderly than Italy. Then moreover. the
proverbial contention OF the dilettante that art
has nationality and that it's treasures belong
to the world may be hurled back upon the pro-
testers. Hand in hand with this might go the
reminder that many Of the greatest statues in
the Capiiollne ana Natcan museums IN the
UfIzi Gallery, and elsewhere throughout the
country. wrested by the invading Romans
of ancient times despite the pleas OF sentiment,
from the Greeks; that the obelisks that mark 50
many squares in the Eternal Cl'y were brought
as tributes from Egypt and that the sacred
seven-branch candelabra that has been lying for
centuries upon centuries under the mud Of the
Tiber carried to Rome by the imperial
legions who broke the heart Of Judea by the
destruction Of the Temple Of Jerusalem. II sentl
ment not respected in their acquisition why
should 1t be invoked now, 10 the detrimcnt or
that nation that is the heir and successor or I'M
perial Rome? "Se. monumentum quaeris circum-
spice" The Roman of to-day need only look
about him, in his strolls through the city. to see
all sides the evidences Of the subordination
OF sentiment to utility, and in some cases, In
deed, absolute absence Of all sentiment what
ever. The practical logical lesson viii be ever
under his eyes He Will see that the great
basllcas were helped. in their construction. with
stones and metal from the Colosseum. lie VIII
learn that the huge badacchino In st. Peters
was butt OF bronze torn from the roof OF the
antique Pantheon. He will know that the ma
jestic tomb Of Hadrian is now occupied as mill
tary barracks and that the tomb ~ another
Caesar has been converted into pubic circus
In one of the naVes OF the baths OF Docletiah
he will find a stable In many Of the small os-
terra or wneshops. within and outside the city
he will discover ancient pedestals serving as
tables seats for the humble FAMILY OF the
dealer: and ancient medieval inscriptions
carved in stone, and taken from some dernoi-
shed house wall, Will stare at him through
a beard of rough grasses and weeds upon some
dumping ground outside the city gates
II some offers the more practical contention
that when her museums and galleries. ere stripped
Italy will be robbed n tho So at
fractions that draw foreigners thither every year
TO contribute to her commercial prosp srity, II may
be none the less practically answered That those
possessions that more particularly make the
entire country unique III the woflu VIII sun re-
main. The Government cannot sell the Colos-
scum. which will stand for centuries TO come
as It has since the time OF Flavius. teaching TO
all ages the power and Tory OF the antique days
one nav. indeed paraphrase Byron and predict
that even when Rome shall fall the Colosseum
will stand. Others Of the great ancient edihces
throughout the whole country, and those stupen-
dous architectural marvels Of more modern
times cannot by any physical possibility be
comprised among the monuments that the Cow
eminent can sell to other nations They form
parts and parcels Of Italy, as ineradcable as Its
sacred SOL and its illustrious history. which
alone will always invest the country with fasci-
,,tion for all az long as civilization sur
wives. . 80
The Government Itself can have no jnstifable
excuse for refusing to seek relief by the sale OF
Us monuments. on the plea that Ii respects the
sentiments Of those who protest. or shares those