Libro vii
. cap. 53.
Footnote 26:
A young aspirant was asked, during the progress of his initiation, whether, if commanded by the society, he would put his own father to death. He answered, “Yes.” He was taken to a room where, by some contrivance it seemed to him that he saw his father sitting at a table shading his eyes with his hand. A dagger was given him: “Your father is a traitor to the sect,” he was told, “strike!” The weapon fell from the youth’s hand; in an instant he was blind-folded—hurried away—set free in some distant spot—rejected from the sect, as incapable of that devotion to the cause which was demanded of its members.
Footnote 27:
The spots where the Carbonari assembled were called _Vendite_—or Places for Sale—in accordance with the fiction of their being sellers of charcoal. Thus, as we should write over a shop “Charcoal sold here;” in Italian, the phrase is, “Vendita di Carbone.” Where there was one Vendita, there could be no other within four miles;—if another was established within these limits, a schism ensued, and every endeavour was made to put it down.
Footnote 28:
Rogers’s “Italy.”
Footnote 29:
In the same manner his tragedy, lately published, “_Arnaldo da Brescia_,” is a splendid protest against the temporal dominion of the Pope and the abuse of the power of the church.
Footnote 30:
This work was first published at Palermo about two years ago, under the title of “Un Periodo delle Istorie Siciliane del secolo 13^{mo}.” The manuscript was of course submitted to the censor of the press, who permitted its publication. It acquired universal reputation, and was enthusiastically received in the kingdom of Naples. As soon as public attention was excited, the police of that state grew suspicious and fearful. The book was prohibited, the remaining copies were sequestrated, and all notice of it in newspapers and periodical works, which had already begun to praise the author and give an account of his book, was forbidden. The persecution did not cease here; influenced by some sinister, and, as is supposed, personal motive, Del Carretto, director or minister of the police, gave orders that Amari should be dismissed from an employment he held in a government office, and sent to Naples. Signor Amari was warned in time, and convinced that a long and severe imprisonment awaited him at the capital, he preferred going into voluntary exile from his country, to falling into the hands of a cruel enemy. Signor Amari is at present living in Paris, where he published, about a year ago, a second edition of his work, under the amended title of “Guerra del Vespro Siciliano,” with corrections and additions. He is at present occupied in collecting materials for the compilation of a history of Sicily, from the occupation of the Saracens; for which, as he must consult Arabic documents, he is studying with unwearied ardour; he thus adds another proof that the Italians of the present day are capable of severe application and learned research, in addition to the frequent gift of remarkable talents.—1844.
Footnote 31:
Plato’s Ion. Shelley’s Essays.
Footnote 32:
M. Rio.
Footnote 33:
Maccabees, ii. 3.
Footnote 34:
Childe Harold, Canto IV.
Footnote 35:
Rome in the Nineteenth Century.
Footnote 36:
The want of conventual charities, whose funds, on the Reformation, were greedily appropriated by the laity, forced Queen Elizabeth to institute the Poor-Laws.
Footnote 37:
Arnaldo da Brescia.
Footnote 38:
“Ahi, la vedete; Di porpora è vestita; oro, monili, Gemme tutta l’ aggravano; le bianche Vesti, delizia del primier marito, Che or sta nel cielo, ella perdè nel fango. Però di nomi e di blasfemi è piena, E nella fronte sua scrisse; _Mistero_. Ahi, la sua voce a consolar gli afflitti Non s’ ode più; tutti minaccia, e crea Con perenni anatèmi all’ alme incerte Ineffabili pene; gl’ infelici, Qui lo siam tutti, nel commun dolore Correano ad abbracisarsi, e la crudele Di Cristo in nome gli ha divisi; i padri Inimica coi figli, e le consorti Dai mariti disgiunge, e pon la guerra Fra unanimi fratelli: è del Vangelo Interprete crudel: l’ odio s’ impara Nel libro dell’ amor.”
· · · · ·
——“il mondo ignora S’ ella più d’ oro o più di sangue ha sete. Perchè salì costei dalle profonde Viscere della terra al Campidoglio? Fu bella e grande nelle sue prigioni.” _Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia._
Footnote 39:
“—— Nelle chiese— I più astuti del clero a udir son posti, Gli altrui peccati, e li sommesse, arcane Parole mormorate ai proni orecchi Sono alla nostra libertà fatali. Perchè nuda e tremante al lor corpetto Ogni alma è tratta dalle sue lattèbre, E assoluto non è chi si confessa Se gli altri non accusa.” _Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia._
Footnote 40:
Mrs. Starke lived for some years at the Cocumella, at Sorrento. Her account of the place and scenery around, is both accurate and well written, and for this part of Italy she is an excellent guide. Mr. Cooper, the author of “The Spy,” has written very agreeable “Excursions in Italy,” the most interesting portion of which regards Sorrento.
Footnote 41:
Rogers’s Italy.
Footnote 42:
Among modern historians Sismondi and Gibbon dwelt with pleasure on the commerce and prosperity of Amalfi. It was an oasis where the mind of the historian reposed, fatigued by barbarous wars and innumerable acts of cruelty. Gibbon quotes the description given by Guglielmus Apulus—
“Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, oro, Pontibus innumeris; hâc plurimus urbe moratur Nauta maris cœlique vias aperire peritus. Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe Regis, et Antiochi. Quis hæc freta plurima transit. His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri. Hæc gens est totum prope nobilitata per orbem Et mercando ferens, et amans mercata referre.”
Footnote 43:
Rogers’s Italy.
Footnote 44:
“Until that moment I was not fully sensible of the vast superiority of the Italian landscapes over all others. Switzerland astonishes, and it even often delights; but Italian nature wins upon you until you come to love it as a friend. I can only liken the perfection of the scene we gazed upon this evening to a feeling almost allied to transport; to the manner in which we dwell upon the serene expression of a beloved and lovely countenance. Other scenes have the tints, the hues, the outlines, the proportions, the grandeur, and even the softness of beauty; but these have the character that marks the existence of a soul. The effect is to pour a flood of sensations on the mind, that are distinct from the commoner feelings of wonder that are excited by vastness and magnificence. The _refinement_ of Italian nature appears to distinguish it as much from that of other countries, as the quality distinguishes the scene of sentiment and intellect from the man of mere interests. In sublimity of a certain sort—more especially in the sublimity of desolation, Switzerland probably has no equal on earth; and perhaps to this may be added a certain unearthly aspect which the glaciers assume in particular conditions of the atmosphere; but these Italian scenes rise to a sublimity of a different kinds, which, though it does not awe, leaves behind it a tender sensation allied to that of love. I can conceive even an ardent admirer of nature wearying in time of the grandeur of the Alps; but I can scarce imagine one who could ever tire of the witchery of Italy.”—C. F. Cooper; “Excursions in Italy.” Vol. I.; Letter XIV.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Page│Changed from │Changed to
4│and trading Alstadt, and crossed│and trading Altstadt, and │the bridge which │crossed the bridge which
11│words; schmuzig, or dirty, │words; schmutzig, or dirty, │applied to the sheet │applied to the sheet
23│I should liked to have stayed │I should have liked to have │some days at │stayed some days at
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator, applicable to individual characters (like 2^d) and even entire phrases (like 1^{st}).