of turbulent liberty and mortal
servitude; but the name of Dante has remained, and the severe image
of the poet still rules the destinies of Italian generations, now
an encouragement and now a reproach. The splendor of no other
genius has been able to eclipse or dim the grandeur of Dante; never
has there been a darkness so profound that it could conceal this
star of promise from Italian eyes; neither the profanations of
tyrants and Jesuits, nor the violations of foreign invaders, have
been able to efface it. "_Sanctum Poetae nomen quod nunquam
barbaries violavit._"

MAZZINI.

The true life of Italy is not read in any record of contemporary facts
or statistics. Mazzini once said of Dante, in an essay on the immortal
poet, that "the life, the true life of Dante does not lie in the series
of the material facts of his existence. The life of Dante consists in
the sufferings and aspirations of his soul; in its dominant impulses; in
the ceaseless development of the idea which was at once his guide,
inspiration, and consolation; in his belief as a man and as an Italian."
The real life of Italy is, by analogy, to be read in that atmosphere
of aspiration and of noble purpose which characterizes the nation rather
than in the material facts of its general progress at the present time.
As a country Italy is young. It is still less than forty years since her
unity was declared, and to merge the large number of separate States
into one harmonious whole is a task requiring the evolutionary progress
of time; for a nation, like a university, cannot be a matter of
instantaneous creation. It must germinate and grow. The country that,
previous to so comparatively a recent date as the year 1870, was, in the
phrasing of Prince Metternich, "a geographical expression," can hardly
be judged by present national standards after an existence of only
thirty-seven years, although it need be said in no spirit of apology;
for Italy is advancing in scientific development, in manufactures, and
in the problems involved in civil and hydraulic engineering to a notable
degree in the northern part. Milan and Naples are separated by far more
than geographical distance. In modern progress Milan is divided by
centuries from all Southern Italy.

Between Italy and the United States the _entente cordiale_ is not
merely that of diplomatic and ceremonial courtesy, but of an exceptional
degree of m