maintain itself during any considerable length of time, the return of the Pope in his spiritual character would have been impossible. As it is, the axe has been laid to the root of the tree, which, at no distant day, will unquestionably fall, and cumber the Italian soil with its ruins.

Other views are now beginning to be opened up into the internal structure of Italian society: not so much, perhaps, by books, as by those casual revelations made by individuals who cannot, or dare not, write. Sufficient, however, is known to convince all impartial men that the despotism of the Austrians, the Pope, and the King of Naples, is borne with the utmost impatience from the Alps to the southern extremity of Sicily; and that one vast and tremendous rising, too simultaneous and enthusiastic to be suppressed by external interference, will soon take place, and deliver the mixed descendants of the Romans and the Goths from pontifical and imperial slavery.

At the same time we confess, not without pain, that the people even of this country have not taken an interest so deep as might have been expected in the troubled fortunes of Italy. We proceed thither, we gaze upon her as upon a syren, we confess ourselves to be smitten by her beauty, we revel in the softness and brightness of her skies, we feel all the witchery of her literature, we enter into the most friendly and familiar relations with her people, we are disgusted with the insolence of the rude barbarians who trample on her classic soil; and yet, when the critical moment arrives, when, by a single bold act, we might ensure her independence, we suffer ourselves to be cheated by the maxims of a false prudence, and stand tamely aloof, while a savage and inhuman enemy perpetrates the worst of crimes against her children. It is with extreme regret that we couple the French with the Austrians, while denouncing these excesses of barbarism; but we must be careful not to be betrayed by our zeal into the perpetration of injustice. The French people were certainly not accountable for the expedition against Rome, undertaken at the instigation of the priesthood, by their weak and profligate government. From one end of France to the other, every friend of liberty denounced the undertaking, which was as much aimed at the republic at home as at the kindred government of the Eternal City. For this reason we omit to dwell on the painful topic; though, as the dishonour belongs not to the nation, but to those few individuals who happened at the moment to possess the lead in public affairs, we should run no risk of wounding, by the severity of our observations, the susceptibilities of a brave and liberal people.

General Pepe, the author of the work before us, is one of those earnest and honest individuals who have been compelled,

by the tyranny of the Italian governments, to spend the greater part of their lives in exile. Without home, kindred, or friends, but such as they are able to make for themselves, by the exercise of agreeable manners or useful accomplishments, they have wandered over half Europe-inspiring everywhere a respect for the Italian character, and giving birth to warm wishes for the emancipation of their country. General Pepe has lived much in England, where he is greatly respected; but on the breaking out of the insurrection in Naples he happened to be in Paris, where he eagerly awaited a recall to his country. But Ferdinand is a man of strong hatred. Forced by the popular party to grant an amnesty to numbers of exiles, he still excepted General Pepe; and it was not until the democratic party obtained an overwhelming, though temporary, influence, that he consented to include his name in the list of those who were to be permitted to revisit their homes.

The policy of this cruel and vindictive despot has been seldom tempered by a single touch of humanity. For upwards of fifteen years, more than four thousand men, members of the secret society of Carbonari, languished in dungeons, dispersed over the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. As far as regarded all intercourse with the external world, they were already dead. Never permitted to see their wives or children, or parents or friends, or even to communicate with them by letter, they were really blotted out from the map of active existences; and would probably have been extinguished in prison, but that they would then have escaped from the power of their tormentors. An English gentleman, sailing through the Lipari Islands, felt himself oppressed by melancholy, as he moored his skiff under the castle of the little capital, where, as he was informed, a number of these unfortunates wasted away their lives in hopeless. captivity. Their dungeons were below the level of the sea; and the sound of those waves, which appeared so cheerful and inspiriting to him, tolled in their ears like the perpetual knell of death.

The author of these volumes does not spare the King of Naples, though he is far from doing justice to the atrocity of his character. He proves, however, beyond dispute, what was all along suspected throughout Europe, that while he ostensibly sent an army to co-operate with the forces on the Po for the liberation of Italy, he issued secret orders in contradiction of those he had given in public. Thus keeping the word of promise to the ear, but breaking it to the hope. As this is, perhaps, the most curious passage in the work, we will lay it before our readers, merely premising that the chain of circumstances, of which it forms a part, must be supposed to be known to him.

General Pepe, at the head of a powerful body of troops, was on his march to join Durando beyond the Po. Full of hope that, after his twenty-seven years of exile, he should be able at length to perform important services for Italy, he pushed vigorously forward, and had already arrived at Bologna, when he was unexpectedly arrested on his march in the following manner :—

While I was dying,' he says, 'with impatience to cross the Po, and fancied that I held the liberty of the Peninsula in my hand, an incident as unexpected as it was fatal took place.

"When I awoke, on the morning of the 22nd May, LieutenantGeneral Statella and Brigadier Scala were introduced, the latter arriving from Naples, with a letter and information of great importance. A copy of this letter, which announced the new and terrible misfortunes of all Italy, here follows:

"Excellency,

"Naples, May 18th.

"The serious disturbances which took place in the capital on the 15th instant, as well as in some of the provinces, and which are threatened in others, impose on the government the duty of recalling, as soon as possible, the troops which are on their march for Upper Italy.

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In consequence of this, your Excellency will make arrangements, that part of the infantry may embark at Rimini, to be disembarked at Manfredonia, while the remaining divisions, including the cavalry, artillery, and ambulance, shall fall back on Ancona, from whence the artillery and cavalry shall, in the first place, be ordered to proceed, and when they are nearly arrived in the kingdom, the remaining divisions of infantry shall be embarked and landed at Pescara. This being executed, the squadron shall proceed to Naples.

“These movements must be varied and combined according to circumstances and the position of the troops and the country.

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"For the 10th of the line, which is now at Gorto, near Casalmaggiore, your Excellency will direct that it may, by the Modena road, join on to the troops in the Bolognese territory, and follow the same movement.

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The Neapolitan volunteers may, if they desire it, continue their march, and join Durando's troops.

"Your Excellency will be pleased, without retarding the movement of the troops, to communicate the present orders at the head quarters of H. M. C. Charles Albert.

"In fine, I am to add, in the name of the royal Government, that if your Excellency does not think proper to take the command of the troops in their retreat, in should be assumed by Lieutenant-General Statella.

"The Minister-Secretary of State for War and Marine,

The state of mind produced in the general by this order, it

would be difficult to conceive. His first and most natural resolution was to disobey the king's orders:

The two generals,' he says, 'could not conceal their joy on the receipt of this letter. I told them to return to me at mid-day. I sent to beg Count Pepole to come to me quickly; he is a Bolognese, but had been absent from that city sixteen years; I told him that I commanded troops, who, in consequence of my seven years of exile, now saw me for the first time; and that the soldiers, superior officers, generals, all were devoted to the king-that notwithstanding I should have attempted to oppose the royal orders if the population of Bologna had supported me in arms-and, above all, the National Guard. Pepole, and other Liberals, told me not to count entirely on the population against regular troops, who might arrest and conduct me out of the town. Rather than expose, not only myself, but the Bolognese, to a fratricidal war, and to a political scandal, which would have rejoiced the Austrians beyond measure, I decided on offering myself to Charles Albert as a simple volunteer on his staff, and, with a heart oppressed with anguish, with sufferings more acute than if my last moment of life had arrived, I gave Lieutenant-General Statella orders to take the command of the brigade, and follow the directions of the Government. Without losing a moment, Statella expedited couriers in every direction to the chiefs of the different corps, to commence the retrograde march; and, thinking to be agreeable to me, they said, that as I proposed to go on, they offered to give orders to the paymaster to give me whatever sum I might require. I smiled at such an offer, and thanked them.

In the mean time, the news of the orders from Naples spread along the Italian shore, and it was said that my life was in great peril. When a multitude of officers came running to defend me, I asked them if they would also have assisted me in preventing the troops from returning, which not only diminished the numbers of the defenders of Italy, but sent fresh aid to despotism in Naples against the Liberals, who had risen in favour of Neapolitan liberty.

The brave among the National Guards put their hands on their swords, saying, "This is for you, Italian General!" And I, grasping my own sword, added, "This is for Italy as long as I live."-Ib. p. 171.

Into the events which followed it is unnecessary to enter; but if the reader desire to understand the chain of circumstances which brought about the second prostration of Italy, he should go carefully through General Pepe's two volumes. They are full of instruction, and written in a spirited manner, which keeps awake the reader's curiosity. The time, we suppose, however, is not yet come for entering into full details respecting the movements which preceded the open outbreak in Lombardy. Neither can it be said that the seal of historic truth has yet been put upon all the details of Austrian cruelty and oppression.

We are fully convinced of the justness and necessity of Italian independence, and entertain no doubt in our own minds that the

rule of Austria beyond the Alps has been stained with infamy and blood. But even the enormities of despotism may be exaggerated, and, therefore, we experience some reluctance to accept, literally, all the particulars related by General Pepe, or those who have aided him in compiling the present volumes, especially as they do not, in such cases, speak on their personal knowledge, but depend upon the reports supplied them by others. Still, very much of what seems at first incredible, might probably be substantiated by good evidence. We have heard stories related by two ladies who happened to be in Milan on the return of the Austrian army, which certainly would do no discredit to a horde of cannibals. What is said to have happened at Brescia is exactly in keeping with these details, and supposing they should be overdrawn, enough will still remain to prompt the people of Italy, when the day of retribution arrives, to inflict signal vengeance on their oppressors.

It is very far from our wish to apologize for any excesses into which the Italians may themselves have fallen. In most popular outbreaks, the masses are intoxicated with passion before they take up arms. Nothing short of temporary madness could ever induce a populace undisciplined and imperfectly armed, to hazard a protracted and sanguinary conflict with regular troops. Yet, in most parts of Europe, the humbler classes, trusting entirely to their enthusiasm, and unconquerable consciousness of right, boldly opposed the finest troops in the world, and in many cases overcame them. Indeed, when a people is resolved to recover its liberty, it is impossible by any exertion of material force to keep it in subjection.

We would illustrate this position by referring to what took place at Brescia, the details of which are with tolerable completeness given in the volumes of General Pepe. Our limits will not permit us to go at length into the subject, but we shall extract a few passages, which, while they show by what spirit the Italians were in this case animated, will likewise afford some idea of the fearful obstacles and difficulties with which they had to contend.

After the treachery of Carlo Alberto, of which General Pepe offers an explanation, the Brescians were far from abandoning all hope in the fortune of Italy. They determined to make one last effort to resist the power of Austria, and though the fortress of their city was in the hands of the enemy, and a formidable army approaching from without, erected the standard of revolt.

'On the 14th of March, the news reached Brescia that the amnestice between Austria and Piedmont was broken. On the 20th, that hostilities were commenced, and 100,000 Italian soldiers ready to take the field. On the 19th the struggle had already begun. Mountain bands, guided by the valiant Caralo di Serle, came and stationed themselves