s and
power of other nations"--as, for example, the Austrian nation,--but I
know very few qualities, physical, intellectual, or moral, which the
Italians do not possess. Are they "devoid of energy," as M. de
Rayneval declares? I should rather reproach them with the opposite
excess. The absurd but resolute defence of Rome against the French
army, may surely be regarded as the act of an energetic people. We
must be extremely humble, if we admit that a French army was held in
check for two months by men wanting in energy. The assassinations
which occur in the streets of Rome, prove rather the inefficiency of
the police than the effeminacy of the citizens. I find, from an
official return, that in 1853 the Roman tribunals punished 609 crimes
against property, and 1,344 against the person. These figures do not
indicate a faultless people, but they prove little inclination for
base theft, and look rather like a diabolical energy. In the same year
the Assize Courts in France pronounced judgment upon 3,719 individuals
charged with theft, and 1,921 with crimes against the person. The
proportion is reversed. Robbers have the majority with us. And yet we
are rather an energetic people.

If the Italians are so also, there will not be much difficulty in
making soldiers of them. M. de Rayneval tells us, they are "entirely
wanting in military spirit." No doubt he echoed the opinion of some
Cardinal. Indeed! Were the Piedmontese in the Crimea, then, wanting in
the military spirit?

M. de Rayneval and the Cardinals are willing to admit the courage of
the Piedmontese, but then, they say, Piedmont is not in Italy; its
inhabitants are half Swiss, half French. Their language is not
Italian, neither are their habits, the proof of which is found in the
fact, that they have the true military and monarchical spirit, unknown
to the rest of Italy. According to this, it would be far easier to
prove that the Alsacians and the Bretons are not French; the first,
because they are the best soldiers in the empire, and because they say
_Meinherr_ when we should say _Monsieur_; the second, because they
have the true monarchical spirit, and because they call _butun_ what
we call _tabac_. But all the soldiers of Italy are not in Piedmont.
The King of Naples has a good army. The Grand Duke of Tuscany has a
sufficient one for his defence; the small Duchies of Modena and Parma
have a smart regiment or two. Lombardy, Venice, Modena, and one-half
of the Papal