ART. VIII.-1. Young Italy. By Alexander Baillie Cochrane, M.P. 12mo. 1850.

2. République et Royauté en Italie. Par J. Mazzini. et Préface, par George Sand. Paris, 8vo. 1850.

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Traduction

N the unconnected series of tales and sketches to which Mr. Baillie Cochrane gives the general title of Young Italy,' he confines himself neither to Italy nor to modern days. He treats largely of France, and his observations extend from the sixteenth to the present century. The chief interest of his pages will, however, be found in the testimony he gives on the present political state of the Italian peninsula.

His first chapter describes a visit to Lælius' at Cannes-nor perhaps could any greater homage be paid to the genius of this extraordinary person than the halo it seems to have thrown over the scenes it has haunted. The delighted guest says:

'I am persuaded of one fact, that the few square miles round Cannes and Nice, enclosed between the amphitheatre of the maritime Alps and the sea, is at once the perfection of climate and the garden of Europe. It is no slight merit to be able to add to the associations of a spot like Cannes; but Lælius has done so. It is curious to observe the number of travellers who linger about the gates, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him, or who send up their names for permission to see the grounds or the house, with its classical and graceful inscriptions, the object assigned being only an excuse for looking at the man. In years long distant the spot itself will possess all the historical interest which attaches to the favoured residences of the most eminent in their generations, like Abbotsford and Newstead, Ferney and Coppet ; people will make pilgrimages to the spot, and dwell with pleasure on every record of the great.'-p. 3.

And again:

'Altogether ten days were passed delightfully at Cannes. To pass from the severest winter of France to more than Italian climate, as poets love to describe it, not as people generally find it, and to enjoy all this charm of nature in the society of one whose every word is worth remembering, and whose conversation could render an Arabia Petræa agreeable, is worthy of a grateful record; it is but adding one more to the many tributes of regard which he possesses, and nowhere more than at Cannes, where he may be seen surrounded with people of all classes, to all of whom he extends the same heartfelt courtesy, and by all of whom he is in his turn beloved. The memorials of his name among these simple people will not be the immortal productions of his master mind, but his unceasing acts of charity and kindness.'-p. 8. Posterity will give Mr. Cochrane credit for exaggerating less the honours and captivations of 'Lælius' than he does the beauties of his distinguished friend's favourite residence. We hope meantime

meantime the tourist's invalid readers will not be so far misled by his amiable enthusiasm as to seek climate at Cannes, or to expect an Elysium in the arid plains of Provence-a country which, 'as people generally find it,' has nothing of the south but its glare and dust, or of the north but its bleakness and cold winds.

Next to its having been selected for the winter retreat of the British Lælius, the Honourable Member for Bridport values Cannes because near it the proudest type of human greatness' disembarked on his return from Elba. We will not quarrel with this young senator for the lofty eulogism he lavishes on the military hero of France. We are well aware that his strain is entirely in harmony with the prevailing taste of the continent and candour of England. It is for those who adopt such language to ask each other why, if monarchists, they worship an usurper-why, if republicans, the destroyer of all liberty. The French may settle among themselves whether they exhibited generosity or consistency in their treatment of their demigod, and explain, if they can, the equal promptitude with which, in April, 1814, they abandoned his falling greatness, and submitted, in March, 1815, to his reviving tyranny-why, again, upon his final overthrow his name was universally cursed, and yet after the lapse of a few years his bones were reclaimed and enshrined as the relics of a tutelary glory!

It appears that Mr. Cochrane had spent some interesting days at Paris on his way to the ex-Chancellor's villa :

6 Oh, that Elysée! What a long history it might tell of broken fortunes, and worse than broken faith! As I stand in its magnificent reception rooms, gazing on the nephew of that man whose name illustrated not France alone but Europe-observing that nephew installed there in almost regal splendour, with his pale and earnest countenance, yet always anxious steps, my heart recalls the past and trembles for the future.... After a long lapse of years the name of Napoleon is again uttered within these walls with more than admiration, with real affection.... all speaks of Napoleon. Nor are the tribe of courtiers who grasp at any service wanting, nor the great ministers, who always stretch forth the hand, but never venture to accept the proffered gift. There are aides-de-camp in brilliant uniforms, gentlemen of the chamber in court costume; there is but one thing to make the resemblance to the imperial Elysée complete-that the title of President be exchanged for that of Emperor.'-p. 12.

In spite of his regal splendour,' the anxiety to which the nephew of his uncle' is a prey in the palace, or rather the caravanserai, of the Elysée, is but too natural, and we would earnestly hope for his own sake that he does not seriously entertain any of those visions which are attributed to him, nor will suffer himself to be made the cat's-paw of self-seeking partisans, and pay for the elevation of a day which may possibly be within his

reach)

reach) by a sudden degradation and a subsequent life of mortified nullity-affording another example of weakness and ambition united, to point a moral which requires no fresh illustration, and adorn a tale in which there is neither romance nor interest. In the midst of so much faithlessness, our readers must be glad to hear that Lælius affords a practical lesson of steadiness by preserving the fleurs-de-lis on his richly wrought gates (p. 2). We may somewhat doubt, however, whether this act of homage is quite so disinterested as the bow which the freethinking philosopher of the last century made to the Jupiter of the Capitol- If ever you get your head above water, sir, remember I paid my respects to you in your adversity.' Without affecting the prophetic strain' we more than ever doubt whether either peace or security can be restored to France till she returns to legitimate monarchy. It is not that we suspect our enlightened neighbours of harbouring the antiquated sentiment of loyalty, but events are stern monitors as respects practice, and a cycle of unsuccessful experiments may bring back the nation in despair to their point of departure. Moreover, though they have lost the old ennobling feeling, they have not lost the taste for the trappings of Royalty. How can we anticipate permanency for a republican government where already the cry of Vive la République is considered a sign of mutiny, and resented accordingly by the administrators of republican authority? A king may be easily displaced-but from the substitute, no matter by what title he is addressed,-consul, dictator, president-the assumption of kingly state is looked for not less than from him who had been supplanted. There is no taste for republican simplicity in France. By the elevation of Louis-Philippe the principle of election was anew proclaimed, and the prestige of the throne for ever, to all appearance, abolished; but if the people loved equality, would they not rejoice in the modesty of the appointments and demeanour of their first magistrate? The American President (though intrusted with at least as much patronage and power as can safely be left to an individual) has a very moderate salary, and assumes even less state than the Speaker of the English House of Commons; but the French President, disposing of a more than royal revenue, holds a court, is attended by a body-guard, flies from place to place reviewing troops and fleets, inspecting manufactories, haranguing corporations, hearing masses, asking silly questions, showering fulsome flatteries and tinsel decorations-in other words, the French have preserved all that republicans consider dangerous, as well as all that they call idle and valueless, in the royal prerogative. We are no enemies to the President-on the contrary, we believe there is much of good in his disposition, and give him sincere credit for

the

the desire to maintain order in France and peace in Europe; but his recent progress must appear ridiculous and even disgraceful to the country. Hero-worship' has been condemned by a certain class of philosophers, and it will no doubt be discontinued when reason guides all our inclinations-when beauty of person in the other sex is postponed to that of the mind-but our neighbours have adopted a system of puppet-worship for which even their previous history had not prepared us.

It is time, however, to accompany Mr. Cochrane into Italy. His account of the condition to which it has been reduced by the seduction of French principle and example, is, on the whole, highly creditable to his acuteness of observation and the fairness of his judgment. His mode of writing, too, is in general very pleasing his earlier works all showed liveliness of talent-now and then a very remarkable happiness of expression—but the improvement of his taste is visible; and if he will only study Old English models as diligently as he evidently has studied recent rhymesters and tale-spinners, foreign and domestic, we shall expect much from his maturer exertions. He seems to have entered Italy about the beginning of 1850, and, after a few weeks spent in the north, says :

It is quite unjust to suppose that Austria is regarded with unfavourable eyes by the population of Lombardy; Charles Albert found, to his dismay and surprise, that it was far otherwise; the nobility and upper classes of the Bourgeoisie retain all their ancient hereditary animosity to the name and habits of the Tedeschi; not so the people with a happier, although uncultivated instinct, they perceived that the government which Austria organized at least preserved order, that the returns of their labour were secured to them, and that equal justice was administered. In the towns there were sects and clubs which exploited all the possible errors of the Austrian government for their own advantage; but throughout the provinces there is but one feeling that the rule of some great power is the only possible means of saving the country from perpetual warfare and its attendant miseries.'

After glancing at the stimulants afforded to Lombard disaffection by the revolutionary triumphs elsewhere in the beginning of 1848, our traveller proceeds thus:

Charles Albert had sufficient keenness to perceive that now or never was his time. Austria was menaced in Hungary-even Vienna was in danger; France, as a republic, must assist the constitutional King of Italy, and, above all, England had intimated her support. I put this cause the last, but it was the most important of all. I am compelled to tell the truth, that it is universally believed that-if it had not been for the false hopes which England held out-Charles Albert would never have embarked in his dishonourable and perilous enterprise. True every hasty incitement to advance, urged by the English agents, was followed by the advice to abstain from such an ambitious

course;

course; the counsels given him were in the style of Antony's declamation over the body of Cæsar: "dear friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up to any sudden flood of mutiny," &c.; and all that can be said is, that the king, when he undertook this ill-timed expedition, certainly thought that, if England would not interfere in his behalf, she could at least ward off any possible evil consequences of such a monstrous aggression.'-(p. 28.)

He is perfectly right when he states that the Austrian rule had not been unpopular with the peasantry of Lombardy, but he is wrong, we think, when he supposes Charles Albert to have been surprised by the evidences of that fact. The King was far too acute to have been unaware of it. He knew the people too well, however, to fear much from their active opposition; he trusted largely to their selfishness, and to the terror which a small but active majority inspired. The political and the religious creed of that artful prince had ever been guided by his sense of personal interest. From his accession to the throne until about two years before the French Revolution of February, he had been to all appearance a zealous adherent of Austrian policy. It was not till then that he began to waver and give some indication of views which must, if ever developed, place him in collision with the Imperial power: the policy of the Pope, and the recent discontents of Lombardy, promised the chance of some favourable opportunity for forwarding such views; but the downfall of Louis-Philippe surprised him as much as the rest of the world, precipitated the outbreak in Lombardy, excited the radicals in his own dominions to overweening audacity, and altogether left him, he thought, no choice but to declare himself, without further delay, the champion of a cause which would otherwise triumph by its own exertions, and involve him in the ruin prepared for the rest of the Italian Sovereigns. The key to his conduct will be found in a despatch communicated by the Marquis Ricci, Sardinian minister at Vienna, on the 31st of March, 1848: after a clumsy attempt to establish a grievance in the treaties entered into between Austria, Modena, and Parma, it concludes with these words :

'Il est naturel de penser que la situation de Piémont est telle que d'un moment à l'autre, à l'annonce que la république a été proclamée en Lombardie, un mouvement semblable éclaterait aussi dans les états de S. M. le Roi de Sardaigne, ou que du moins il y aurait quelque grave commotion qui mettrait en danger le trône de S. M.'

Though he may have been in error, he thought he understood his situation, and no man ever more deliberately trod the road to destruction. Mr. Cochrane is quite wrong in attributing 'slender capacity' to him. His capacity would have amply sufficed to

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