steps of the scaffold were spread with velvet, so little noise do heads make when they fall.” Occasionally indeed there is an outbreak, but the Austrian troops march in, and their bayonets soon restore the cause of despotism. Yet beneath its surface the spirit of the old Carbonari still "lives, and moves, and has its being." That deep feeling of which the stern enthusiast, Arnold of Brescia-the plebeian Rienzi—and the patrician Stefano Porcaro, were in succession the developments, and which in later days burns in every page of Alfieri-is only biding its time to come forth in action. We met with individuals dispersed here and there who were writhing under the foreign yoke, and when they found we were foreigners threw aside the customary caution and gave utterance to their indignant thoughts. The society of "Young Italy" still exists in depths to which even an Austrian police cannot penetrate, striking its roots every where and reaching each rank of society. Its objects are the expulsion of the Imperial troops and the liberation of Italy-its union under one government with Rome for the capital—and the reduction of the Pope to his spiritual duties as a Christian Bishop. Its members are often men, who like "the last of the Tribunes" look beyond the feudal forms of the Middle Ages, and feed the kindling fires of their minds by recollections of ancient Classic Rome. The very beauty of their land-rich in so many haunting memories-presents to them its ceaseless appeal. As they wander among its antique monuments, the admonitus locorum awakens every noble impulse, and speaks to their souls like a clarion's voice. And we trust that one day the time will come, when from the plains of the soft Campania-the hoary relics of Imperial Rome-the sea-girt palaces of Venice—and the olive groves of fair Milan-shall burst one wild shout-the voice of a people rising in its might-the herald of returning freedom. And then, when their magnificent designs are accom plished, and the name of Italy is once more written among the opinions of the world, another Sismondi will be needed to continue her history, assuming for his work indeed a happier name than that which the last adopted, when he was forced to inscribe upon his title-page-"Italian Republics; or the origin, progress, and fall of Italian freedom." CHAPTER XXII. THE theory on which the Roman government is founded, is a noble one-that of rendering every thing subsidiary to religion. The whole object and aim of the civil authorities is, the advancement of their faith. And since they are clothed with despotic power to accomplish this end, we should suppose they would wield an overpowering influence for the spiritual benefit of their people. Why is it then that ignorance and degradation are so much the characteristics of the Roman populace, except that their Church does not well and worthily use the power with which it has been intrusted? We would attempt however with diffidence the expression of an opinion on the religious state of Rome. It is most difficult in a foreign land to decide on the spiritual significancy with which the people invest their many ceremonies, or the degree of moral influence which these rites exert over them. Every thing is of course more prominently brought before us, than humble unostentatious devotion. Of the possessors of this spirit, the world knows not. Christ's true followers are often His "hidden ones." Generally indeed we learn nothing of a system but its glaring abuses, and from these we form our estimate. We look, for instance, upon a monastery, but remember not how many fervent prayers ascend from its altars, or how many hearts in its gloomy cells may be disciplining themselves by bitter penitence for the world to come. We think only of the corruptions of the system-and + |