New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-13


ences which developed the mind of Dante were
the same In character and extent with those that
moulded the Florentne State. There could not
be a better instance Of the representative quar-
ity OF great genius. In a sense Dante was Flor
ence. and It took all the forces that made the
Commune and those also which destroyed 1t. TO
make Dante's poem possible. Professor Wharf
defends himself from the criticism Of those VINO
dwell on the fragmentary character OF has Work
considered as history. He evidently thinks that
they need not have made so much OF as
covery which he himself forestaed he toid
them at the outset that his work had THIS oeiec'
and he now adds the obvious consideration that
10 remedy IT would be to suppress the book alto
gether.
III he had been willing to do that on personal
grounds there would still remain the fact tha'
these fragmentary essays comprised the nrs' Sc
rious attempt to explain the causes OF the many
POLITICAL and social revolutions which took place
IN Florence. OF the successive modlncauons III
ths F1orentine Constitution and Of the parties.
half political half military. by which the repup-
lie was rent. In particular ne could not cast
away as useless the result OF his effort TO snow
that a struggle went on in Italy throughout the
medieval period between Germanc elements
introduced by conquest and Latin clements hand-
cd down by tradition. But Il was just this point
unon which others were readiest with their CEN
sure. Italian patriotism accepted the thought OF
conflict between Latin and Teuton. They had
suffered in the same struggle While expeiiihs the
hated Austrian. But they did not so reaoiis
agree that in the past the struggle had Deeh
more intimate one and that II had resulted over
end over again IN the TRANSMISSION Of Germanic
blood and Germanic ideas into political organ
,sms which claimed the heritage Of Rome
On the other hand, Professor Villari found that
outside of Italy ne had to meet those who sup
nosed that all the Teutonism In the peninsula
c,n,d be accounted for by the fusion that .oc
Cured In the time Of the Lombard Kingdom
His reply is that the struggle OF the Germanic
md LATIN elements in civilization is obvious
,broushout Europe to historians like Guizot and
Jervinus. and that 1t gave purpose and name to
the ouarrels within the Italian communes that
claimed always 10 De part OF the EMPIRE
though they invariably disobeyed Its behests.
The Commune Itself and the social organisms OF
which II was made up were the proouct ho'
OF Roman tradition alone. but OF IDEAS from the
rude North. This Is illustrated IN the v1clssi-
tuaes undergone by Roman law In Italy. espe-
cially In regard to the family In the lessenins
~ the power Of the father. in the rise OF the
wife and the son to legal independence was 10
be found according to Professor Vilar', the
main cause OF the destruction OF the ola Roman
system. But the ancient family council COM
prisns as 1t did large circle OF relatives. re-
manned when the family Itself. In the old Roman
sense Of the tern, had melted away and II FUR
nished the model for those associations which
were long the cause Of prosperity and the To-
menters of disturbance in Italian cties-the
trade guilds.
II was the Family Council that perpetuated 10
feudal times the idea that every man must be
youched for by somebody else. by his relatives at
the outset by his fellow craftsmen If he was
townsman and by his overload. II he had one.
The principles Of mutual obligation and respon-
sibility which had been the instructive logic OF
the Family Council were transferred without
hesitation to the guilds. Not only might "a father
or brother be summoned to pay the debts Of a
son or brother, bu, every creditor Of consoca-
ton could sue It's individual members. and one
associate might be made liable even for the
crimes of another. Within the circle of the fam
lily or association disputes We're settled by ar
b;ters. whose awards had the validity Of legal SEN
fences" Even the individualist tendencies Of
German life were overcome by this inveterate
Latin tendency to combination. On the other
hand the habits of the Teutons cut off this organ
izing disposition in the South well as in the
North before 1t grew to anything like either an
ancient empire or a modern state. In the face Of
a national peril Germans had always united, but
when the danger was past they fell away again.
and this practice was the inspiring cause of that
feudaism which dotted Europe with castles, each
Of which contained sovereign who owed just
enough fealty TO somebody else to keep him in
mind of the fact that there was world beyond
the group OF valleys and mountains where he
held sway.
The idea Of responsibility which animated every
dom was looked upon as organized upon the basis
of II. 1t required the practical observation OF
the italian Communes TO show that this respon-
sibirty must be secular. not ecclesiastical II po-
ltical liberty was to be preserved The Com
mune grew up in a continuous warfare between
the warike nobility that surrounded II and the
common people who constituted 1t. The latter
came together as already organized, and when
they conquered as they did at Florence. the ,
mobiles were also fain &c be guildsmen, too Thus
In a city which had been formed out Of diverse |
strains Of population there were many concep- |
tons Of law and right. all Of which seemed to one
class Of people or another the legal system to !
which they and their ancestors had always been /
There the custom Of the lower |
class which unconsciously reflected the most an
Gent Roman law. there Teutonic law more /
or less pure there Roman law filtered /
through barbarous channels, ana there was the |
revived Roman Jurisprudence taught al Bologna !
and advocated by its students everywhere. The /
of ideas was matched BY the confusion
Of tongues. Humanity was In a state of chaos.
The written law subject TO sudden and
sweeping changes Nevertheless the majority
Of men must have felt "a the great political
former Gano della Bella did Better the de-
struction of the city than the failure OF justice"
But what was justice? Among many inter
prefers and many divergent texts the meaning
u the word doubtful
Such was the confusion in Dantes time. Flor
ence prospered enormously. Her trade was hard
y interrupted even by war without riot
within the city. Her most dangerous rivals had