The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-31

! the great Genovese harbor OF the past
great enough for its present large COM
merce and with promise of meeting all
! needs Of prosperous future.
Recurring after this DEPRESSION to the
/ proper period of this study OF the port
we are Interested i'm Poggis careful
study of the articles Of its early com
merce. A personal element is enten-
gled in the commerce. The first ship
men TO use the port with imports were
the Greeks, strangers to the city lie.
| 1t IL only OF The most recent civic de-
velopment that the stranger is made
| welcome. The outsider is under suspi-
| cion by the home folk because he is not
| as they are: his speech II different, and
! that sets him apart as unusual and
probably inferior; the cut Of his clothes
and the trim OF his beard are items in
| his offending. lie may he tolerated for
| his economic value. but he must re-
main to himself in a particular quar-
ter, where his outland manners need
not offend Because he sometimes car
ries away the money of the community.
although he leaves his desirable wares
| behind, the iniquity must be corrected
| by tax all but prohibtory. The best
he can hope for IL tolerance. Yet de-
spit. all this the Greeks called Genoa
an emporium and Welcome To~n.
The quality Of the import trade 81
Genoa mus he largely inferential eN-
| cent in so far as excavations disclose
material remains which hint at a trade
in particular objects. The town was
wealthy. IL was the port OF entry for a
large and prosperous territory. there
| fore We assume the import or objects OF
| luxury become matters Of daily need.
| To this great market place flowed the
| wealth Of nations. the men Of distant
| lands. Poggi writes: ITO the mole at
| San Siro came merchants Of all the
lands. Romans. Neapoitans. Sicilians.
Greeks. Armcnians. Bbyans. Syiians,
AleXandrines, Africans Span.ards, Pro-
| vencals, all of whom came 10y sea; men
Of Bibarna, OF TOrtona, OF Piacenza, Of
Pisa. OF Nercelli above all the Milanese
by the roads across the Apennines.'
We are rather better informed as to
the export trade. The wines Of Lguria
| were held in high honor as strong drink,
! too rough for table use in their crude
state, but excellent when diluted and
| largely employed to give body to thin
nnr wines Of less austere vineyards.
The oils Of tue northern hills were well
esteemed throughout the ancient world.
and there was a large trade CeR;ring in
| Genoa. The coast is rich in funny and
| tho fishery was early brought to high
Stage Of industry. The exports Of sailed
fish occupied a large place in the OK
ports. \ very large business grew mp
about the export OF naval stores. pitch
! and timber These products Of the i'm
mediate Apennines and from the great
| forest lands Of the savage north We're
| dealt in abundantly. A considers bile
| shipbuilding industry arose in conneC-
! ton with the supply OF material. 1t was
| his possession which actuated the Gov
eminent Of the Roman republic in es-
| tabl.shing at Genoa its first naval dock
yard and carried il along to greater
expansion in the most fiourishing days
| OF the empire. There was al all times
surplus Of naval stores and ship tim
Der, and this held a large position in
| the statistics OF export.
The trade was in the hands Of mer-
| chant princes. rather the trade made
| its merchants princes IN republic An
| Cient inscriptions preserve names OF a
| few of the merchants Of the Roman pc
| riod When we come to the next age
| We find an honor roll Compare three
OF the great mercantile centres OF me-
dirval Italy. From Florence we readily
recall the Medci. the Peruzzi and the
| FreSC obaldi from Siena the Sallmbeni
] But from Genoa Poggi lists among
the great merchants. princes OF com
| merce the Spinola, the D'Oria, the ca
milla the Della Volta. the IacCara. the
| Gattilusio and the Gius.inisni. every
| name one Of renown In the greater his
| tory Of the world
The final word OF the period com
prised i'm the present volume was writ
| ton by FredegaI-us. "Hlothair with his
army plucking from the empire Genoa
by the sea, Albngano, Naricotti. Saona
and Luna, raNHges. skaters burning
them in a common confagr1'ion. har-
| rles the people. spOils them OF their
| belongings reduces them to slavery,
casting down their hattlements even 10
| the foundations. ordered that these cities
should bear the name OF hamlets"
Vet these could never he Uhe last
words Of Genoa so long az the tideless
| sea bathes It's sands and the Capo del
Faro gives shelter from the gale Here
is the spirit OF the Genovese enlivening
the prose of Poggi:
TN mare di zaffiro scintillante del pin
bel sole dItalla, uno spettacolo di fata
| morgana, un apparre Q scomparine di
vele tinto di croco, I'm fragor cadenzato
al remi un rapido volteggiar di galee.
e in lontananza fra 1 crepuscoli dorati
la Corsica col pensiero 'Sardegna e
TAfrica!"
Hlothair might destroy he might for
bid the town 10 exist. yet the Genovese
spirit remains unconquerable, again
he city Of conscious pride, Geneva la
Sunarha