The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-17
En-.

m - r.s
II IL be true. however. that. all tho MI
lanese were traders. all we're no Iess aRri-
culturtsts. The fear Of aggression, WHISTLER
from soldiers or from rObbers. rendered.
the existence Of remote and isolated farm
buildings almost impossible. Hence the
country around Milan was divided. into
small holdings. cultivated by people who
returned to the, city in the evening bring
ing their cattle with them. Every mer.
chant or lawyer had az least one little farm
in which he invested his savings and whencS
he drew enough grain. oil. wine. cheese
and milk to supply the needs Of his family.
Depending as they did on the fruits OF
OF their own cultivation. n good or a bad
harvest was a matter Of life and death 70
the citizens Of Milan. Even in time OF
peace a bad season brought famine in its
train. On the other hand, after a good
season. such as a chTonicIer describes In
1903. grain. fruit and wine could be had
in great abundance and very Cheap"
despite past wars and the continued pres
ence OF foreign soldiers in the duchy.
Our author notes that among the various
ways in which the fusion Of Agriculture
and industry showed itself in Milanese
society was the comparatively small inn
portanoe attached to the distinction be-
tween noble and non-noble. She records
that when an Italian gentleman, Antonio
de Beatis, travelled through France in 1917
he was astonished at the privileged con-
dition Of the Fench nobility. They had,
he thought, more cause to thank God
than any one else" il being certain that
as nature had made them. noble by birth
they could not die of hunger nor practice
low trades" (arte vile). @as they do for
the most part in our country, where very
few live as mobiles, even If they have tho
MEANS
II, on the other hand, the noble tended
TO identity himself with the trading inter-
ests, the merchant who invested his money
in land would be likely o to join hands
with the feudal nobility. Thus il came to.
pass that the aristocTacy OF Milan was 6ne OF
wealth and not of birth. Social and poIit-
icRl rivalry lay not between noble and
non-noble but between merchant and
artisan, between capital and labor. The
curious mixture Of great magnihcence I.
with primitive simplicity in the life Of the
day ID traced by the author OF the book before.
us to the conflicting tendencies at work
among a population which was az tbs
aho Iih'1 MOUNTAINEERING ana 9&rlculturaI d,
Visitors to Milan. whether Italian or Ultra
montana, seldom failed to be. impressed ,
by the splendor of the ladies' dresses,
often made entirely OF cloth of gold. adorned
with rich embrOideries and loaded with
jewels. All such extravagances were
indeed forbidden by the ssmptuary laws,
but. these prohibitions appear to hava
been enforced hut rarely. If the statutes
cOndemnins the Use OF smbr0ideries. for
instance, had beer enforced vigorously
an important Milanese trace would have
ruined. The luxury that was CEN
sured on moral grounds Ivy a paternal
Government was encouraged in the interest
Of a trading community. The fact that
modern inventions were legislated
against in Milan some years earlier than
in any other Italian city is in our authors
judgment a proof rather Of the towns
enterprise than OF excessive zeal on the
part OF its sumptuary officials. In tho
Milanese statute book Of I4pS a heavy
fne was imposed upon any lady. seen driving
n a carriage through the streets OF the
,ity. At Ferrara, or the other hand, laws
against carriages do not occur until 1914,
md Antonio de Beats speaks OF the car.
which he saw in Milan in 1917 AZ Of
something entirely new and remarkable.