Chapter XVIII: Part 18

Italy is more densely inhabited than any other of the great states of Europe, in spite of vast extents of almost uninhabitable mountain tracts and swamps. The population, however, increases less rapidly than in Russia, England, or Germany. It doubles in about a century, whilst that of Russia doubles in fifty and that of France in two hundred years. Italy thus occupies an intermediate position. In Apulia and Calabria, which are amongst the poorest provinces, the birth rate is highest, whilst in the wealthy Marches and Umbria it is lowest. On an average the Italian dies when he is thirty-two, and his life is consequently much shorter than that of the average Frenchman or Englishman.

Agriculture and the development of the natural resources of the soil and the sea engage much more attention than industry properly so called. Nearly fifty per cent. of the total area is under cultivation. The cereals raised do not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants, but other products are exported in considerable quantities. In its production of oil Italy holds a foremost rank as regards quantity, but not always with respect to quality. The amount of fruit grown, such as figs, grapes, almonds, and oranges, is greater than in any other country of Europe. The chestnut forests in the Apennines and Alps yield rich harvests. Its mulberry plantations are four times more extensive than those of France, and the raw silk produced in favourable years exceeds in quantity that exported from China. The peninsula is still entitled to its ancient epithet of {354} Œnotria (wine land), but, apart from certain districts of continental Italy and Sicily, the quality of wine produced, owing to carelessness on the part of the growers, is inferior to what it is in France. The cultivation of cotton is comparatively of small importance. The breeding of animals yields large profits, and Italy is noted throughout Europe for the quality of some kinds of cheese.[120]

The working of the iron mines of Elba, the quarrying of marble and granite in the Alps and Apuanic Alps, the extraction of borax and boracic acid in the Tuscan Sub-Apennines, the mining for lead and zinc in Sardinia, and for sulphur in Sicily,[121] lead up to industrial pursuits properly so called. These latter extend nearly to everything, from the manufacture of pins to the construction of steam-engines and ships. Italy, however, is eminent only in the production of certain _articles de luxe_, such as straw bonnets, cameos, coral jewellery, glass, and in the preparation of macaroni and other farinaceous pastes. The manufacture of silk, however, has taken a rapid development in recent years, and Milan has become a dangerous rival of Lyons. In the province of Novara, and more especially at Biella, there are hundreds of woollen factories. The cotton manufacture is not of much importance, and linen-weaving is for the most part carried on as a domestic industry. Italy, in fact, cannot yet be called a manufacturing country. The number of workmen is large, but they mostly labour at home or in small workshops,[122] and a division of labour, such as exists in England, France, or Germany, is hardly known. Manufactories, however, are rapidly increasing, and economical conditions are gradually becoming what they are already in most other countries of Europe.

Italy possesses a powerful mercantile marine, manned by 150,000 seamen; but its foreign commerce is far less than might have been expected from its tonnage.[123] Most of the vessels are engaged in the coasting trade. The first Italian vessel was seen in the Pacific in 1847, and even now the Italian flag is very inadequately represented in the navigation of the great oceans. Italian patriots are anxious to see the commerce of the country extended to the most distant regions. For the present Italy enjoys a sort of monopoly in the Mediterranean, and any increase of {355} population or wealth in Northern Africa must prove of immediate advantage to it. But there can be no doubt that the proposed railway from Antwerp or Calais to Saloniki or Constantinople will seriously affect the transit trade of Italian ports. Nor are Italian shipowners able to compete with their rivals of Marseilles or Trieste when it is a question of speed, for the number of their steamers is very small.

The facilities for carrying on coasting trade have, in some measure, interfered with the development of the inland trade of the country. The construction of railways, however, is gradually bringing about a change. Already five lines of {356} rails cross the Apennines, others are projected, and one of the Italian railways, namely, that which pierces the Alps in the tunnel of Mont Cenis, and finally follows the eastern coast to Rimini, has become a portion of the great European highway to India. Nor must the political importance of these railways be underrated, for they knit together the most distant provinces of Italy, and make the country really one.[124]

Scale 1 : 6,000,000.]

{357}

The commerce of Italy has increased rapidly of late, but it is still inferior not only to that of England, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia, but likewise to that of much smaller countries, like Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1875 the imports, including transit, were estimated at £48,614,280, the exports at £42,301,800. France participates in this commerce to the extent of 31 per cent., England is represented by 23, Austria by 20, and all the other countries of the world share in the remainder. Recently the commerce with North and South America has assumed considerable proportions, and efforts are being made to obtain a footing in Eastern Asia.

The great scourge of Italy consists in the poverty of its peasantry even in the most fertile provinces, as in Lombardy and the Basilicata. These peasants live in foul hovels, and the united earnings of a whole family are hardly sufficient to procure bread. Chestnuts, and a polenta of maize and paste made of damaged flour, are the principal articles of food, and nothing is left for luxuries, or even comfortable clothing. Rickets and other diseases brought about by an insufficiency of food are common, and, in fact, mortality is very great. Emigration is under these circumstances of immense advantage to the country, for the thousands of Italians who seek work or found new homes in South America, the United States, France, Turkey, Egypt, and elsewhere, not only earn their bread, but also render some assistance to those of their relatives who remain behind. It is said that out of 500,000 Italians living abroad, no less than 100,000 are engaged in art, either as painters, sculptors, or musicians, the latter being frequently mere street-singers or organ-grinders.

Ignorance, the usual companion of poverty, is still very great throughout the peninsula. We might err in condemning the Italians because of their ignorance of the arts of reading and writing, for, as the heirs of an ancient civilisation, they are more polished in their manners than the educated peasants of the North. Still this ignorance is most deplorable, for it precludes all progress. Nearly two-thirds of the population over ten years of age are unable to read, and fifty-nine men and seventy-eight women out of every hundred are unable to sign the marriage registers. There are several thousand parishes without elementary schools, and the number of pupils, instead of amounting to the normal proportion of one to every six or seven inhabitants, is only one to about eleven.[125] Education, however, is making fair progress, but its influence upon the diminution of crimes of violence has hitherto been small. In 1874 Signor Cantelli, the Home Secretary, stated that there occurred annually 3,000 homicides, 4,000 cases of highway robbery, and 30,000 violent assaults.

The permanent confusion of the finances of Italy, attended as it is by heavy and vexatious taxes, must be looked upon as one of the principal causes which retard the development of the country. The national debt may appear a small matter if we compare it with that of France, but it has been raised in the course {358} of a single generation, and is augmenting from year to year. The revenue increases but the expenditure does so likewise, and the additional income resulting from an increase of taxation and the sales of Church property is not sufficient to cover the deficiency. The heavy cost of the army, an absence of sustained efforts in carrying on public works, waste and fraud by public servants, have hitherto prevented the establishment of a balance between income and expenditure, and the paper money issued by Government is nowhere accepted at its nominal value.

This disorganization of the finances places Italy at the mercy of foreigners, and the arrangements which have to be made from time to time with foreign capitalists are not always of a purely financial nature. The inefficiency of her military and naval organization, moreover, compels her to cultivate foreign alliances as expediency may direct, and to these alliances Italy is, in a large measure, indebted for her political unity.[126]

Nor is this unity even now as perfect as could be desired. The Pope has been deprived of his temporal power; he resides at the Vatican as a guest; and the money offered him by the Italian Government, but which has never been accepted, is not tribute, but a gratuity. But, in spite of this, the Pope is still a real power, and his very presence interferes substantially with the permanent establishment of the state. The Catholics of the world have not yet acquiesced in his disestablishment, and they allow no opportunity for attacking the new order of things to escape them. Political Europe is consequently much interested in the home affairs of Italy, and feels tempted frequently to intervene. The most expert diplomacy may not be able to avert this danger, and if there is a struggle it will certainly not be confined to the peninsula.

In the end Italy will no doubt escape from the anomalous position of having for her capital a city which is the seat of a theocratic government claiming the allegiance of the Roman Catholics of the entire world. The geographical conditions of no other country are equally favourable to the development of national sentiments and the maintenance of a national individuality. At the same time the well-defined boundaries of the country deprive it of all force of expansion. Italy will never play a great part beyond the bounds of the Mediterranean, and though Italian may obtain a certain preponderance in Tunis, Egypt, and the Levant, the noble language of Dante has no chance, as regards universality, when opposed to English, French, Spanish, German, or Russian.

X.—GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.

The charter promulgated in March, 1848, declares the old kingdom of Sardinia to be an hereditary constitutional monarchy. It has gradually been {359} extended to the other portions of the peninsula. Like most similar documents, it guarantees equality before the law, personal liberty, and inviolability of the domicile. The press is free, “subject to a law repressing its abuses;” the right of meeting is recognised, “but not in the case of places open to the general public;” and all citizens are promised the enjoyment of equal civil and political rights, “except in those cases which shall be determined by law.”

The executive is intrusted to the King, but no law or act of government is valid unless countersigned by a minister. The King, as such, is commander of the naval and military forces, he concludes all treaties, and the assent of the Chambers is only required if they concern cessions of territory, or entail an expenditure of public money. All Government officials are appointed by the King, he may dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, justice is administered in his name, and he possesses the right of pardon. He enjoys the fruits of the Crown lands, and may dispose of his private property without reference to the general laws of the country. The civil list of the King and the members of his family annually exceeds £800,000 !

Senators are appointed by the King from amongst ecclesiastical, military, and civil functionaries, persons of wealth, and men who have deserved well of the country. Their number is not limited, and they must be forty years of age. Deputies are elected for five years. They must be thirty years of age. Neither senators nor deputies are in receipt of emoluments, and this may explain the little zeal they exhibit in the performance of their public duties. A quorum, consisting of one-half the members of each house _plus_ one, is frequently unattainable for weeks.

The franchise is enjoyed by professors of universities and colleges, civil servants, knights of orders of chivalry, members of the liberal professions, merchants, persons who have an income of £24 from money invested in Government securities, and all others twenty-five years of age, able to read and write, and paying 32s. in taxes. The number of electors is about 400,000, but hardly one-half of them ever go to the poll.

Each province occupies the position of a “corporation,” which may hold property, and enjoys a certain amount of self-government. The “Provincial Councils” consist of from twenty to sixty members, who are chosen by the municipal electors for five years. These Councils usually occupy themselves with the material interests of the province, and, when not sitting, are represented by a “Deputation” charged with controlling the acts of the prefect.

The municipal organization is very similar to that of the provinces. The Councils are elected for five years: all males of twenty-one years of age paying from 4s. to 20s. in taxes (according to the importance of the municipality), professors, civil servants, members of liberal professions, and soldiers who have been decorated are in the enjoyment of the franchise. The Council meets twice a year, and its sittings are held in public if a majority demands it. It appoints a municipal _giunta_ of from two to twelve members, charged with the conduct of current affairs. The mayors, like the provincial prefects, are {360} appointed by Government, but must be chosen from the members of the Municipal Council.

The great territorial divisions of the kingdom (see p. 362) consist of 69 provinces and 284 circles (_circondarii_), or districts. These latter again are subdivided into 1,779 judicial districts (_mandamenti_) and 8,360 communes. The central Government is represented in the provinces by a prefect, in the districts by a sub-prefect, and in the communes by a mayor, or _sindaco_. This system of administration is very much like that existing in modern France.

The administration of justice was organized in 1865. In each commune there is a “Conciliator,” appointed for three years by Government, on the presentation of the Municipal Council. A “Pretor” administers justice at the capital of each of the judicial districts: he is assisted by one or more Vice-pretors. Next follow 161 civil and correctional courts, 92 assize courts, 24 courts of appeal, 25 commercial tribunals, and 4 courts of cassation; the latter at Florence, Naples, Palermo, and Turin. The Code of Laws is an adaptation of the Code Napoléon, and breathes the same spirit.

In military matters Prussia has served as a model. Every Italian, on attaining his twenty-first year, becomes liable to serve in the army or navy. Men embodied in the first category of the standing army (_esercito permanente_) remain from three to five years under the colours, according to the arm to which they belong, and six to seven years on furlough. The men of the second category, or reserve of the standing army, drill fifty days, and are then dismissed to their homes. The “mobilised militia” includes all men up to forty not belonging to the standing army. A “levy en masse,” or _Milizia stanziole_, is provided for by law, but nothing has been done hitherto to render it a reality. The standing army includes 90 regiments of infantry, 20 regiments of cavalry, 14 of artillery, and 1 of engineers, and numbers 410,000 men; the reserve amounts to 180,000 men; the mobilised militia (247 battalions, 24 Alpine companies, 60 batteries, and 10 companies of engineers), 277,000, and 234,000 officers and men are stated to be under the colours. The four great fortresses of the north are Verona, Mantua, Peschiera, and Legnago. These form the famous “Quadrilateral.” Venice is likewise a place of great strength, and made an heroic defence in 1849. Palmanova defends the frontier between the Julian Alps and the Gulf of Trieste. Rocca d’Anfo, on an isolated rock to the north of Lake Garda, commands the defiles of the Adige and Chiese. Pizzighettone, on the Adda, is no longer of much importance, now that Italy has acquired possession of the Quadrilateral; but Alessandria, at the confluence of the Tanaro and Bormida, will always retain its rank as the great strategical centre of Piemont, and one of the strongest places of Europe. Casale may be looked upon as one of its outworks, and together with Genoa defends the passages of the Apennines. Piacenza and Ferrara command important passages of the Po. The other fortresses of Italy are Ancona in the centre; Porto Ferrajo in Elba; Gaeta, Capua, and Taranto in the south; and Messina in Sicily.

The navy consists of 21 ironclads (179 guns, engines of 11,310 horse-power, 76,842 tons) and 51 wooden steamers, manned by 20,000 seamen. The great {361} naval arsenals and stations are at Spezia, Genoa, Naples, Castellamare di Stabbia, Venice, Ancona, and Taranto.

The Roman Catholic Church alone is acknowledged by the State, but all other religions are tolerated. The conflict between Church and State is favourable to the spread of Protestantism; but, apart from the Waldenses and a few foreigners in the larger towns, there are no Protestants in Italy. Many of those, however, who are nominally Catholics have ranged themselves amongst the enemies of their Church, or are perfectly indifferent.

Italy occupies quite a special position in the world, owing to its being the seat of the Papacy. Rome is the seat of two governments, viz. that of the King and of the Sovereign Pontiff. The latter, though shorn of his temporal power, is in principle one of the most absolute monarchs. Once elected Vicar of Jesus Christ by the cardinals met in conclave, he is responsible to no one for his actions, though it is customary for him to listen to the advice of the Sacred College of Cardinals before deciding questions of importance. The Pope alone, of all men, is infallible; he can efface the crimes of others, “bind and unbind,” and holds the keys of heaven and hell, his power extending thus beyond the span of man’s natural life.

The cardinals are the great dignitaries of this spiritual government. They are created by the Pope. Their number is limited to 70, viz. 6 Cardinal Bishops (who reside at Rome), 50 Cardinal Priests, and 14 Cardinal Deacons. The Cardinal _Camerlengo_ represents the temporal authority of the Holy See, and on the death of a pope he takes charge of the Vatican and of the Fisherman’s Key, which is the symbol of the power bestowed upon St. Peter and his successors. In special cases the cardinals of the three orders may be convoked to an Œcumenical Council. On the death of a pope the cardinals elect his successor, who must be fifty-five years of age, and obtain two-thirds of the votes. His investment with the pallium and tiara, however, only takes place after the assent of the Governments of France, Spain, Austria, and Naples (now represented by Italy) has been secured.

In virtue of the formula of “A free Church in a free State,” so frequently repeated since Cavour, the Pope is permitted to enjoy sovereign rights. He convokes councils and chapters, appoints all ecclesiastical officers, has his own post-office and telegraph, his guard of nobles and of Swiss, pays no taxes, and enjoys in perpetuity the palaces of the Vatican and Lateran, as well as the villa of Castel-Gandolfo, on the Lake of Albano. In addition to this, he has been voted by the Italian Parliament an annual “dotation” of £129,000. This grant, however, he has not touched hitherto, but the “Peter’s pence,” collected by the faithful in all parts of the world, amount to more than double that sum.

Italy is divided into 47 archiepiscopal and 206 episcopal sees. There are more than 100,000 secular priests, and in 1866, when the monasteries and convents were suppressed, their inmates receiving pensions from Government, there were 32,000 monks and 44,000 nuns. The ecclesiastical army consequently numbers 176,000 souls, and is nearly as numerous as the military force on a peace footing. {362}

The following table exhibits the area and population (estimated for 1875) of the great territorial divisions of Italy:―

Area. Square miles. Population. Piemont 11,301 2,995,213 Liguria 2,056 865,254 Lombardy 9,084 3,553,913 Venetia (Venezia) 9,060 2,733,406 Emilia 7,921 2,153,381 Umbria 3,720 563,582 Marches 3,748 930,712 Tuscany 9,287 2,172,832 Rome (Latium) 4,601 839,074 Abruzzos—Molise 6,676 1,302,966 Campania 6,941 2,807,450 Apulia (Puglie) 8,539 1,464,604 Basilicata 4,122 517,069 Calabria 6,663 1,229,614 Sicily 11,290 2,698,672 Sardinia 9,398 654,432 ─────── ────────── Total 114,407 27,482,174 ═══════ ══════════

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CORSICA.[127]

Corsica, with Sardinia, forms a world apart. At a remote epoch these two islands were but one, and it is curious to find that Corsica, which politically now forms part of France, is geographically as well as historically much more Italian than its sister island. A glance at a map is sufficient to convince us that Corsica is a dependency of Italy, for while abyssal depths of more than 500 fathoms separate it from Provence, it is joined to the coast of Tuscany by a submarine plateau, the mountains of which rise above the surface of the waters as islands. The climate and natural productions of the island are those of Italy, and the language of its inhabitants is Italian. Purchased from the Genoese, then conquered by main force, Corsica in the end voluntarily united its destinies with those of France. It has now been connected for more than three generations with the latter, and there can be no doubt that most of its citizens look upon themselves as Frenchmen.

Though only half the size of Sardinia, Corsica is nevertheless larger than an average French department. The fourth island in size of the Mediterranean, it follows next to Cyprus, but is far more important than that island, and only yields to Sicily and Sardinia in wealth and population.[128] It is a country of great natural beauty. Its mountains, attaining an altitude of over 8,000 feet, remain covered with snow during half the year, and the view from the summits embraces nearly the whole of the island, its barren rocks, forests, and cultivated fields. Most of the valleys abound in running water, and cascades glitter in all directions. Old Genoese towers, standing upon promontories, formerly defended the entrance to every bay exposed to incursions of the Saracens, but they are hardly more nowadays than embellishments of the landscape.

Monte Cinto, the culminating point of the island, does not pierce the region of {364} persistent snows. A huge citadel of granite, whose fastnesses afforded a shelter to the Corsicans during their wars of independence, it rises in the north-western portion of the island. From its summit we can trace the whole of the coast from the French Alps to the Apennines of Tuscany. There are other peaks to the north and south of it which almost rival it in height.[129] This main chain of the island consists throughout of crystalline rock. Transverse ridges connect it with a parallel range of limestone mountains on the east, which extend northward through the whole of the peninsula of Bastia, and shut in, farther south, the old lake basin of Corte, now drained by the Golo, Tavignano, and other rivers. The whole of the interior of Corsica may be described as a labyrinth of mountains, and in order to pass from village to village it is necessary to climb up steep steps, or _scale_, and to ascend from the region of olives to that of pasturage. The high-road which joins Ajaccio to Bastia has to climb a pass 3,793 feet in height (Fig. 134), and even the road following the populous western coast ascends and descends continuously, in order to avoid the promontories descending steeply into the sea. These physical obstacles sufficiently explain why railways have not yet been built.

Scale 1 : 1,850,000.]

The western coast of the island is indented by numerous gulfs and bays, which resemble ancient fiords partly filled up by alluvial sediment. On the eastern coast, {365} which faces Italy, the slopes are more gentle; the rivers are larger and more tranquil, though not one of them is navigable; and the ground is more level. This portion of the island is known as _Banda di Dentro_, or “inner zone,” in distinction from the _Banda di Fuori_, or “exterior (western) zone.” The eastern coast appears to have been upheaved during a comparatively recent epoch, and ancient gulfs of the sea have been converted into lagoons and swamps, quite as dangerous from their miasmatic exhalations as those of the sister island. If we add that the mountains in the west obstruct the passage of the vivifying mistral, that the heat in summer is great, and droughts frequent, we have said enough to account for the insalubrity of the climate.[130] The maritime basin between Corsica and Italy is almost shut in by mountains, and purifying breezes are rare there. Between Bastia and Porto-Vecchio not a single town or village is met with on the coast, and in the beginning of July the peasantry retire to the hills in order to escape the fever. Only a few guards and the unfortunate convicts shut up in the penitentiary of Casabianca remain behind. Nothing more melancholy can be imagined than these fertile fields deserted by their inhabitants. Plantations of eucalyptus have been made recently with a view to the amelioration of the climate.

Owing to the great height of the mountains we are able to trace in Corsica distinct zones of vegetation. Up to a moderate height the character of the vegetation is sub-tropical, and resembles that of Sicily or Southern Spain. There are districts which can be numbered amongst the most fertile of the Mediterranean. One of these is the _Campo dell’Oro_, or “field of gold,” around Ajaccio, where hedges of tree-like cacti separate the gardens and orchards; such, also, is the country to the north of Bastia, with its aromatic flowers and luscious fruits. Olive forests generally cover the lower hills, their silvery foliage contrasting with the sombre verdure of the chestnut woods above. Balagna, near Calvi, on the north-western coast of the island, is famous for its olives, whilst another valley, on the opposite side of the island, near Bastia, can boast of the most magnificent chestnut-trees. Chestnuts, in some parts, constitute the principal article of food, {366} and enable the inhabitants, who are by no means distinguished for their industry, to dispense with the cultivation of cereals. Some political economists have actually proposed to fell these trees, in order that the inhabitants may be forced to work.

Chestnut-trees grow up to a height of 6,250 feet. The virgin forests which formerly extended beyond them to the zone of pasturage have for the most part disappeared. In the upper Balagna valley, Valdoniello, and Aitone, however, magnificent forests may still be seen, and a larch (_Pinus altissimus_), the finest conifer of all Europe, attains there a height of 160 feet. These splendid trees, unfortunately, are rapidly disappearing. They are being converted into masts, or sawn into staves and planks.

The pasturing grounds above these forests are frequented during summer by herdsmen with their flocks of sheep and goats. The agile moufflon is still met with there in a few rocky recesses, and the shepherds assert that wild boars, though very numerous on the island, carefully avoid its haunts. The wolf is unknown in the island, and the bear has disappeared for more than a century. Foxes of large size and small deer complete the fauna of the forest region of Corsica. The _malmignata_ spider, whose bite is sometimes mortal, is probably of the same species as that of Sardinia and Tuscany; the _tarentula_ is the same as that of Naples, but the venomous ant known as _innafantato_ appears to be peculiar to the island.

* * * * *

We know nothing about the origin of the aboriginal inhabitants of Corsica. There are neither nuraghi, as in Sardinia, nor other antiquities enabling us to form an opinion with respect to their manners. But there exist near Sartène and elsewhere several dolmens, or _stazzone_, menhirs, or _stantare_, and even avenues of stones, which are similar in all respects to those of Brittany and England. We may assume, therefore, that these countries were formerly inhabited by the same race.

The inhabitants of Corte, in the interior of the island, and the mountaineers of Bastelica, boast of being Corsicans of the purest blood. At Bastia the type is altogether Italian, but as we travel into the interior we meet men with large fleshy faces, small noses devoid of character, clear complexion, and eyes of a chestnut colour rather than black. Phocæans, Romans, and Saracens, who maintained themselves here until the eleventh century, were succeeded by Italians and French. Calvi and Bonifacio were Genoese settlements, and at Carghese, near Ajaccio, we even meet with a colony of Greek Mainotes, who settled there in the seventeenth century, and whose descendants now speak Greek, Italian, and French. But, in spite of these foreign immigrations, the Corsicans have in a large measure retained their homogeneity. Paoli was rather proud of a Genoese proverb, which said that the “Corsicans deserved to be hanged, but knew how to bear it.” History bears, indeed, witness to their patriotism, fearlessness, and respect for truth; but it also tells us of foolish ambitions, jealousies, and a furious spirit of revenge. Even in the middle of last century the practice of the vendetta cost a thousand lives {367} annually. Entire villages were depopulated, and in many parts every peasant’s house was converted into a fortress, where the men were constantly on the alert, the women, protected by custom against outrage, sallying forth alone to cultivate the fields. The ceremonies observed when a victim of the vendetta was brought home were terrible. The women gathered round the corpse, and one amongst them, in most cases a sister of the deceased, furiously called down vengeance upon the head of the murderer. The _voceri_ of death are amongst the finest national songs. Foreign domination is to blame, no doubt, for the frequency of these assassinations. The judges sent to the country did not enjoy the confidence of the inhabitants, and these latter returned to the primitive law of retaliation.

Though Corsica gave a master to France, the spirit of the people is essentially republican. The Romans barely succeeded in enslaving it, and even in the tenth century the greater portion of the island formed a confederation of independent communities known as _Terra del Comune_. The inhabitants of each valley formed a _pieve_ (_plebs_), by whom were elected a _podesta_ and the “fathers of the commune.” These latter appointed a “corporal,” who was charged with the defence of popular rights. The podestas in turn elected a Council of twelve, who stood at the head of the confederation. This constitution survived conquest and invasion. In the eighteenth century, when fighting heroically against Genoa and France, Corsica declared all citizens equal. It was institutions like these which made Rousseau say that “that little island would one day astonish Europe.” Since that time the Napoleonic era has whetted the ambition of the Corsicans, and they appear to have forgotten their traditions of freedom.

Corsica is one of the least-populated departments of France.[131] The eastern slope of the island, though more fertile and extensive than the western, and formerly densely peopled, is now almost a desert. The Roman colony of Mariana no longer exists, and the Phocæan emporium of Aleria has dwindled down since the thirteenth century into an isolated homestead standing close to a pestiferous swamp. At the present time the great centres of population are on the western coast, which faces France, enjoys a salubrious climate, and possesses magnificent ports.

The Corsicans certainly appear to deserve the charge of idleness which is brought against them, for they have done but little to develop the great resources of their island. Fishing and cattle-breeding they understand best. In many parts agricultural operations are carried on almost exclusively with the help of Italian labourers, known as Lucchesi, because most of them formerly came from Lucca. Thanks, however, to the impulse given by France, a commencement has been made in the cultivation of the soil, and olive oil, equal to the best of Provence, wine, and dried fruits already constitute important articles of export.[132]

Corsica abounds in ores, but they do not appear to be as rich as those of Sardinia. Formerly iron mines alone were worked, the ore being conveyed to the {368} furnaces near Bastia and Porto Vecchio; but of late years copper mines have been opened at Castifao, near Corte, and argentiferous lead is being procured from a mine near Argentella, not far from Ile Rousse. Red and blue granite, porphyry, alabaster, serpentine, and marble are being quarried. There are many mineral springs, but the only one enjoying a European reputation is that of Orezzo, which rises in the picturesque district of Castagniccia. Its ferruginous water contains a considerable quantity of carbonic acid, and is recommended as efficacious in a host of diseases.

The most important town of Corsica, though not its capital, is Bastia, thus named from a Genoese castle built towards the close of the fourteenth century on the beach of the hill village of Cardo. Bastia stands about a mile to the north of the two former capitals of the island, viz. Mariana and Biguglia, of which the former has left no trace, whilst the latter has dwindled down to a miserable village. The geographical position of Bastia is excellent, for it is within easy reach of Italy, and frequent communications with that country have exercised a most happy influence upon its inhabitants, who are the most civilised and industrious of the whole island. Its harbour is small, and far from safe, but it is much frequented. The city rises amphitheatrically upon hills, and is surrounded by delightful gardens and numerous villas. {369}

St. Florent, only six miles from Bastia, but on the western coast of the island, has an excellent harbour, but the atmosphere hanging over its marshes is deadly. Ile Rousse, farther to the west, is the principal port of the fertile district of Balagna. It was founded by Paoli in 1758, in order to ruin Calvi, which had remained faithful to the Genoese. This object has been attained. Ile Rousse exports large quantities of oil and fruit, whilst the old town of Calvi, on its whitish rock, is a place without life, frequently visited by malaria. The coast to the south of Calvi, as far as the Gulf of Sagone, though exceedingly fertile, is almost a desert, and many parts of it suffer from malaria. Ajaccio, however, at one time merely a maritime suburb of Castelvecchio, standing a short distance inland, has risen into great importance. It is the pleasantest and best-built town of the island, and Napoleon, the most famous of its sons, showered favours upon it. The inhabitants fish and cultivate their fertile orchards. They also derive great advantages from a multitude of visitors, who go thither to enjoy a delicious climate and picturesque scenery.

The other towns of Corsica are of no importance whatever. Sartène, though the capital of an arrondissement, is merely a village, and the activity of the district centres in the little port of Propriano, on the Gulf of Valinco, one of the trysting-places of Neapolitan fishermen. Corte is famous in the history of the island as the birthplace of the heroes of the wars of independence. Porto Vecchio, though in possession of the best harbour of the island, is frequented only by a few coasting vessels, whilst Bonifacio, an ancient ally of the Genoese, is important only because of its fortifications. The prospect from the isolated limestone rock upon which it is built is exceedingly picturesque. The mountains of Limbara stand out clearly against the sky, and in front we look down upon the granitic islets dotting the Strait of Bonifacio, so dangerous to navigators. It was here the frigate _La Sémillante_ foundered in 1855, with nearly a thousand souls on board.[133]

{370}

SPAIN.[134]

I.—GENERAL ASPECTS.

The Iberian peninsula, Spain and Portugal, must be looked upon geographically as one. Differences of soil, climate, and language may have justified its division into two states, but in the organism of Europe these two constitute but a single member, having the same geological history, and exhibiting unity in their physical configuration.[135]

Compared with the other peninsulas of Southern Europe, viz. Italy and that of the Balkans, Iberia is most insular in its character. The isthmus which attaches it to the trunk of Europe is comparatively narrow, and it is defined most distinctly by the barrier of the Pyrenees. The contour of the peninsula is distinguished by its massiveness. There are curving bays, but no inlets of the sea penetrating far inland, as in the case of Greece.[136]

It was said long ago, and with justice, that Africa begins at the Pyrenees. Iberia, indeed, bears some resemblance to Africa. Its outline is heavy, there are hardly any islands along its coasts, and few plains open out upon the sea. But it is an Africa in miniature, only one-fiftieth the size of the continent upon which it appears to have been modelled. Moreover, the oceanic slope of the peninsula is quite European as to climate, vegetation, and abundance of running water; and {371} certain features of its flora even justify a belief that at some remote epoch it was joined to the British Islands. African Hispania only begins in reality with the treeless plateaux of the interior, and more especially with the Mediterranean coasts. There we meet the zone of transition between the two continents. Its general aspect, flora, fauna, and even population, mark out that portion of Spain as an integral part of Barbary; the Sierra Nevada and the Atlas, facing each other, are sister mountains; and the strait which separates them is a mere accident in the surface relief of our planet.

Scale 1 : 10,300,000.]

Spain, though nearly surrounded by the sea, is nevertheless essentially continental in its character. Nearly the whole of it consists of table-lands, and only the plains of the Tajo (Tagus) and of Andalusia open out broadly upon the ocean. The coast, for the most part, rises steeply, and the harbours are consequently difficult of access to the inhabitants of the interior, a circumstance most detrimental to the development of a large sea-borne commerce.

Ever since the discovery of the ocean high-roads to America and the Indies, the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula has taken the lead in commercial matters, {372} a fact easily accounted for by the physical features of the country. Spain, like peninsular Italy, turns her back upon the east. The plateaux slope down gently towards the west; the principal rivers, the Ebro alone excepted, flow in that direction; and the water-shed lies close to the Mediterranean shores.

* * * * *

Spain must either have given birth to an aboriginal people, or was peopled by way of the Pyrenees and by emigrants crossing the narrow strait at the columns of Hercules. The Iberian race actually forms the foundation of the populations of Spain. The Basks, or Basques, now confined to a few mountain valleys, formerly occupied the greater portion of the peninsula, as is proved by its geographical nomenclature. Celtic tribes subsequently crossed the Pyrenees, and established themselves in various parts of the country, mixing in many instances with the Iberians, and forming the so-called Celtiberians. This mixed race is met with principally in the two Castiles, whilst Galicia and the larger portion of Portugal appear to be inhabited by pure Celts. The Iberians had their original seat of civilisation in the south; they thence moved northward along the coast of the Mediterranean, penetrating as far as the Alps and the Apennines.

These original elements of the population were joined by colonists from the great commercial peoples of the Mediterranean. Cádiz and Málaga were founded by the Phœnicians, Cartagena by the Carthaginians, Saguntum by immigrants from Zacynthus, Rosas is a Rhodian colony, and the ruins of Ampurias recall the Emporiæ of the Massilians. But it was the Romans who modified the character of the Iberian and Celtic inhabitants of the peninsula, whom they subjected after a hundred years’ war. Italian culture gradually penetrated into every part of the country, and the use of Latin became universal, except in the remote valleys inhabited by the Basques.

After the downfall of the Roman empire Spain was successively invaded by Suevi, Alani, Vandals, and Visigoths, but only the latter have exercised an abiding influence upon the language and manners of the Spaniards, and the pompous gravity of the Castilian appears to be a portion of their heritage.

To these northern invasions succeeded an invasion from the neighbouring continent of Africa. The Arabs and Berbers of Mauritania gained a footing upon the rock of Gibraltar early in the eighth century, and very soon afterwards nearly the whole of Spain had fallen a prey to the Mussulman, who maintained himself here for more than seven centuries. Moors immigrated in large numbers, and they substantially affected the character of the population, more especially in the south. The Inquisition expelled, or reduced to a condition of bondage, hundreds of thousands of these Moors, but its operations only extended to Mussulmans or doubtful converts, whilst Arab and Berber blood had already found its way into the veins of the bulk of the population. Castilian bears witness to the great influence of the Saracens, for it contains many more words of Arabic than of Visigothic origin, and these words designate objects and ideas evidencing a state of progressive civilisation, such as existed when the Arabs of Córdova and Granada inaugurated the modern era of science and industry in Europe. {373}

During the dominion of the Moors the Jews prospered singularly on the soil of Spain, and their number at the time of the first persecution is said to have been 800,000. Supple, like most of their faith, they managed to get a footing in both camps, the Christian and Mohammedan, and enriched themselves at the expense of each. They supplied both sides with money to carry on the war, and, as farmers of taxes, they oppressed the inhabitants. The Christian faith triumphed in the end; the kings, to pay the cost of their wars, proclaimed a crusade against the Jews; and the people threw themselves with fury upon their hated oppressors, sparing neither iron, fire, tortures, nor the stake. A few Jewish families may have escaped destruction by embracing Catholicism, but the bulk of that people perished or were driven into exile.

Far happier has been the lot of the Gipsies, or _Gitanos_, who are sufficiently numerous in Spain to give a special physiognomy to several large towns. These Gipsies have always conformed outwardly to the national religion, and the Inquisition, which has sent to the stake so many Jews, Moors, and heretics, has never interfered with them. The Gipsies, in many instances, have settled down in the towns, but they all have traditions of a wandering life, and most highly respect those of their kinsmen who still range the woods and plains. These latter are proud of their title of _viandantes_, or wayfarers, and despise the dwellers in towns. These Spanish Gitanos appear to be the descendants of tribes who sojourned for several generations in the Balkans, for their lingo contains several hundred words of Slav and Greek origin.

M. de Bourgoing has drawn attention to the great diversity existing amongst the population of Spain. A Galician, for instance, is more like an Auvergnat than a Catalonian, and an Andalusian reminds us of a Gascon. Most of the inhabitants, however, have certain general features, derived from a common national history and ancestry.

The average Spaniard is of small stature, but strong, muscular, of surprising agility, an indefatigable walker, and proof against every hardship. The sobriety of Iberia is proverbial. “Olives, salad, and radishes are fit food for a nobleman.” The physical stamina of the Spaniard is extraordinary, and amply explains the ease with which the _conquistadores_ surmounted the fatigues which they were exposed to in the dreaded climate of the New World. These qualities make the Spaniard the best soldier of Europe, for he possesses the fiery temperament of the South joined to the physical strength of the North, without standing in need of abundant nourishment.

The moral qualities of the Spaniard are equally remarkable. Though careless as to every-day matters, he is very resolute, sternly courageous, and of great tenacity. Any cause he takes up he defends to his last breath. The sons always embrace the cause of their fathers, and fight for it with the same resolution. Hence this long series of foreign and civil wars. The recovery of Spain from the Moors took nearly seven centuries; the conquest of Mexico, Peru, and South America was one continued fight lasting throughout a century. The war of independence which freed Spain from the yoke of Napoleon was an almost unexampled {374} effort of patriotism, and the Spaniards may justly boast that the French did not find a single spy amongst them. The two Carlist wars, too, would have been possible nowhere else but in Spain.

Who need wonder, after this, if even the lowliest Spaniard speaks of himself with a certain haughtiness, which in any one else would be pronounced presumptuous? “The Spaniard is a Gascon of a tragic type;” so says a French traveller. With him deeds always follow words. He is a boaster, but not without reason. He unites qualities which usually preclude each other, for, though haughty, he is kindly in his manners; he thinks very highly of himself, but is considerate of the feelings of others; quick to perceive the shortcomings of his neighbours, he rarely makes them a subject of reproach. Trifles give rise to a torrent of sonorous language, but in matters of importance a word or a gesture suffices. The Spaniard combines a solemn bearing and steadfastness with a considerable amount of cheerfulness. Nothing disquiets him; he philosophically takes things as they are; poverty has no terrors for him; and he even ingeniously contrives to extract pleasure and advantage from it. The life of Gil Blas, in whom the Spaniards recognise their own likeness, was more chequered than that of any other hero of romance, and yet he was always full of gaiety, which even the dark shadow of the Inquisition, then resting upon the country, failed to deprive him of. “To live on the banks of the Manzanares,” says a Spanish proverb, “is perfect bliss; to be in paradise is the second degree of happiness, but only on condition of being able to look down upon Madrid through a skylight in the heavens.”

These opposites in the character of the Spaniards give rise to an appearance of fickleness which foreigners are unable to comprehend, and they themselves complacently describe them as _cosas de España_. How, indeed, are we to explain so much weakness associated with so many noble qualities, so many superstitions in spite of common sense and a keen perception of irony, such ferocity of conduct in men naturally generous and magnanimous? A Spaniard, in spite of his passions, will resign himself philosophically to what he looks upon as inevitable. _Lo que ha de ser no puede faltar_, “What is to be will be,” he says, and, wrapped up in his cloak, he allows events to take their course. The great Lord Bacon observed, three hundred years ago, that the “Spaniards looked wiser than they were;” and, indeed, most of them are passionately fond of gambling, and their apathetic fatalism accounts for many of the ills their country suffers. The rapid decay which has taken place in the course of three centuries has led certain historians to number the Spaniards amongst fallen nations. The edifices met with in many towns and villages speak of a grandeur now past, and the _despoblados_ and _dehesas_, which we encounter even in the vicinity of the capital, tell of once fertile fields returned to a state of nature.

Buckle, in his “History of Civilisation,” traces this decay to the physical nature of Spain and to a long succession of religious wars. The Visigoths defended Arianism against the Franks, and when the Spaniards had become good Catholics their country was invaded by Moors, and for more than twenty generations they struggled against them. It thus happened that patriotism became identical with {375} absolute obedience to the behests of the Church, for every one, from the King down to the meanest archer, was a defender of the faith rather than of his native soil. The result might have been foretold. The Church not only took possession of most of the land won from the infidels, but it also exercised a baneful influence upon the Government, and, through its dreaded tribunals of the Inquisition, over the whole of society.

Scale 1 : 450,000.]

But whilst these long religious struggles tended to the moral and intellectual abasement of the Spaniards, there were other causes which operated in an inverse sense, and these Buckle does not appear to have properly appreciated. The kings, in order to secure the support of the people in their wars against the Mussulmans, found themselves compelled to grant a large measure of liberty. The towns governed themselves, and their delegates, as early as the eleventh century, sat with the nobility and clergy in the Cortes, and voted the supplies. Local government conferred advantages upon Spain then enjoyed only in few parts of Europe. Industry and the arts flourished in these prosperous cities, and a stop was even put to the encroachments of the clergy long before Luther raised his powerful voice in Germany.

A struggle between the supporters of local government and of a centralized monarchy at length became imminent, and no sooner had the infidels been expelled than civil war began. It terminated in favour of King and Church, for the _comuneros_ of the Castiles met with little support in the other provinces, and their towns were ravaged by the bloodthirsty generals of Charles V.

The discovery of the New World, which happened about this period, proved a disaster to Spain, for young men of enterprise and daring crossed the Atlantic, and thus weakened the mother country, which was too small to feed such huge colonies. The immense amount of treasure (more than £2,000,000,000 between 1500 and 1702) sent home from the colonies contributed still further to the rapid decay of Spain, for it corrupted the entire nation. Money being obtainable without {376} work, all honest labour ceased, and when the colonies no longer yielded their metallic treasures the country saw itself impoverished, for the gold and silver had found their way to foreign lands, whence Spain had procured her supplies.

History affords no other example of so rapid a decadence brought about without foreign aggression. The workshops were closed, the arts of peace forgotten, the fields but indifferently cultivated. Young men flocked to the 9,000 monasteries to enjoy a life of indolence, and “science was a crime, ignorance and stupidity were the first of virtues.” Population decreased, and the Spaniard even lost his ancient renown for bravery. If the Bourbon kings placed foreigners in all high positions of state, they did so because the Spaniards had become incapable of conducting public business.

But if we compare the Spain of our own days with the Spain of the Inquisition, we cannot fail to be struck with the vast progress made. Spain is no longer a “happy people without a history,” for ever since the beginning of the century it has been engaged in struggles, and during this period of tumultuous life it has done more for arts, science, and industry than in the two centuries of peace which succeeded the dark reign of Philip II. No doubt Spain might have done {377} even more if the strength of the country had not been wasted in internal struggles. Unfortunately the geographical configuration of the peninsula is unfavourable to the consolidation of the nation. The littoral regions combine every advantage of climate, soil, and accessibility, whilst the resources of the inland plateaux are comparatively few. The former naturally attract population; they abound in large and bustling cities, and are more densely populated than the interior of the country. Madrid, which occupies a commanding position almost in the geometrical centre of the country, has become a focus of life, but its environs are very thinly inhabited.