any considerable sacrifice of public convenience. Many of us know, however, to our cost, how difficult is the task of altering an old house so as to bring it into line with modern requirements, without committing acts of archæological and æsthetic sacrilege, and the problem is certainly not easier of solution in the case of ancient cities which have to be remodelled in accordance with the requirements of vastly increased populations, and those of unscientific hygienic principles. Moreover, we are so much accustomed in these days to accept as a matter of course all that modern science has placed at our disposal to add to the safety and convenience of our daily lives that it may be doubted whether any but a very few among us stop to consider what these things really represent.

As one who is used to spend most of his life in country districts in Italy, I venture to think that in these, even more than in the cities, are to be found the most striking object-lessons in Italian national progress. It is in the small country towns and villages that comparisons with the old order of things may best be made, and that, perhaps an idea may best be formed of the immense work which modern Italy has already accomplished in a couple of generations of national existence. This phase of Italian life very naturally escapes the attention of the average visitor to Italy who is seldom brought into anything but a fleeting and superficial contact with it. And yet, I think, it is to the rural districts and to the small local towns that one must look, if one wishes really to judge of the stability either of a nation's progress or of a people's character. And especially is this the case with Italy. She has no great industrial cities on the scale that is to be found in coalproducing countries, with the exception of Milan, Genoa, and Naples. The re

mainder depend quite as much, or more, on their historic and artistic past for their importance and their influence as on their present capacity for trade or manufacture; though several of lesser rank, such as Bari, Livorno, and some others must not be placed in this category.

One of the most striking changes which have taken place in Italian rural life is that of the rapid disappearance of that spirit of jealousy and unfriendliness between inhabitants of neighboring villages and towns which forms part of what Italians significantly call "campanilismo"-or the spirit of the church-steeple. Until comparatively recent years it was no uncommon thing for adjacent villages and country towns to be in a permanent state of feud with each other. Each place was firmly convinced that only those who had been born under the shadow of its own campanile were worthy of esteem or confidence; and in some parts, and notably in the remote district in which I live, this spirit formerly ran so high that young fellows from one little town could scarcely show themselves in others in the immediate neighborhood without being exposed to jeers and insults which frequently provoked very deplorable scenes. This may seem a matter of small importance; but in reality it is not so. These local misunderstandings and dissensions considerably retarded the genuine unity of the newly formed nation. They interfered with the growth of that public opinion which is so important a factor in the progress of any nation, and which, unfortunately, is still to a large degree lacking to Italy. Education has certainly helped enormously in the eradication of this spirit; but even more efficacious has been the influence of compulsory military service. It is not necessary to be in sympathy with militarism to recognize the fact that, had force of circumstances not

rendered it imperative to Italy to maintain a large army and navy which could only be kept in an efficient state by conscription, it would have been well-nigh impossible for her to have consolidated her union, and still less to have accomplished all that she has accomplished in so short a period. Not the least wise reformation, even from the purely political point of view, which has in recent years been adopted by the Italian Government is that of its military system. Formerly the soldier's life was made unnecessarily hard, and, indeed, almost brutalizing during his term of service, and it may be doubted whether the rough village lad and the town-bred youth belonging to the lower classes did not often return to their native places as even less desirable members of the community than when they left them; importing, too, vices and other acquisitions certainly not beneficial either to the moral or physical health of the population. Of late years, however, the young soldier is no longer treated as but little better than an animal. Both his health and his morals are looked after; and, though the discipline of the Italian army and navy is severe, it is no longer unreasonable, and the tendency is ever to reconcile it with an aim to elevate instead of debasing the nature of those undergoing it. The result of this more humane system is not only beneficial to individuals, but of immense advantage to the State, inasmuch as those now serving their military term return to their homes as a general rule transformed into self-respecting and useful citizens, instead of embittered, and often corrupted undesirables. Scarcely a month passes in which Italian soldiers are not called upon to display acts of courage, and often of heroism in moments of disaster or in the supporting of public law and order, and nobly do they respond to the call. The first duty of any man wearing the

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King's uniform is to afford help to those who through accident may need it, and to assist in the safe-guarding of the public from crime or violence. ties, therefore, may at any moment devolve upon him which, in England as a rule, fall to the lot of the police only. Often, as in strikes and political demonstrations, these duties are carried out in the face of the greatest provocation, and the troops have to submit to savage attacks, sometimes resulting in serious injuries, with imperturbable patience and coolness. There can be no doubt that such training results not only in the production of valuable citizens, but also contributes in the highest degree to the welfare and stability of any State which is sensible enough to use the rough material that lays ready to its hand; to convert it into assets making not for defence or offence only, but also for the raising of the standard of social ideals and for the maintenance of law and order; but not to leave it, as we are short-sighted enough still to do in England, to become either useless or dangerous or both-to society in general.

There is, of course, another side of the picture. Enforced military service is not popular with the masses in Italy, or, doubtless, in any country. Certain classes it hits very hardly, and the peasant class is probably the only one, with the exception of the gentry, with which it is not in countless cases a real and serious grievance. The peasant, as a rule, gains everything and loses nothing by his years in the army. He is tolerably sure of finding employment when his term comes to an end. To those employed in trade, on the other hand, enforced absence from their situation at the very commencement of their career very often means disaster. Competition is so keen in Italy at the present time that many a young fellow returns from military service to find his place occupied, and himself stranded

without any certainty of being able again to procure the particular kind of employment to which he had previously been trained. Yet, notwithstanding these very real grievances, there is far less popular discontent with and dislike for compulsory service than was the case until comparatively recently; and this is, no doubt, largely due to the wisdom of the authorities in having ameliorated the conditions of military life, and having removed from it many of the unnecessary hardships and tyrannies which formerly were considered to be inseparable from discipline. Young men not only return to the native towns and villages better fitted in every way to become good citizens, but they bring back with them enlarged ideas as to life generally, and a more definite understanding of their position as members of a united nation. They have seen something of the needs and aspirations of Italy beyond the very limited area of their native place. For them "il campanilismo" has become a folly to laugh at, instead of a sacred tradition to be upheld, and those who give vent to its spirit in their presence are apt to be held up to ridicule. by side with the spread of education in the country districts with all its attendant advantages, one cannot help noticing a feature which is likely in the not very remote future to prove an embarrassment to the nation, and which already is making itself felt in various ways. Together with education, has come ambition on the part of the agricultural and operative classes to enter spheres of action very different from those with which their fathers were contented. Formerly, a peasant family had realized the summit of its ambition if one of its members possessed sufficient intelligence and education to become a priest. That the youth should have any real vocation for the priesthood was, and is still, a matter of entirely secondary impor

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tance. The step was taken in a purely speculative spirit, with a view to making as much money out of the affair as possible. The lad who, a few years ago, would have become a priest is now destined by his parents to adopt other professions which the community generally has come to regard as more respectable. He is sent, often at great pecuniary sacrifices on the part of his family, to study law, medicine, art, or to fit himself to become an impiegato in some Government or municipal department. The result of this is that every one of the civil professions is immensely over-crowded; and that for the few who succeed in making a career for themselves there are thousands of young men who pass the best years of their lives in being "students," and often unruly students, and nothing more. In many agricultural districts the land is suffering under this withdrawal of its natural laborers; and this ambition to sit behind a desk rather than walk behind the plough, together with the enormous drain caused by emigration, threatens to become another problem with which modern Italy will have to deal. Moreover, it distinctly tends to swell the ranks of that bureaucracy which cannot be said to contribute to national progress or to the material welfare of a people.

Another development in Italian rural life, and one which is wholly advantageous, is the remarkable movement in the direction of public thrift which has taken place during the last few years. Co-operative societies, savings banks, and peoples' banks exist on a scale and on a system immeasurably superior to anything of the kind that we can show in England. Co-operative stores are to be found in even the most insignificant country villages, and I can vouch for the fact that the goods sold by them are often superior in quality to those one may purchase at almost double the price at the shops in the

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large towns. Friendly societies numerous, and many of these are wealthy enough to advance loans at a reasonable rate of interest to the agriculturist or peasant proprietor, who again finds assistance and encouragement in the agricultural syndicates. It must be confessed that this movement is largely due to the action of the Socialists, and it must be noted that its initiation was the almost immediate result of the change in the policy of the Italian Government towards Socialism which has been so wise a feature in the reign of the present Sovereign Instead of attempting to destroy, as is the case with English Socialism, Italian Socialism has honorably and systematically set itself to build up-and in this lies the whole distinction between the two. While detesting the former, one may surely be allowed, without departing from one's principles, to testify to the beneficent action of the latter, and to express one's regret that Socialism should ever aim at exceeding the limits of its programma minimo.

It would be hopeless, indeed, to attempt to enumerate within the limits of an article the many victories won by modern Italian energy and statesmanship in the rural districts over conditions, habits, customs, and traditions belonging to the past which were not the less pernicious to the welfare of the country because they happened sometimes to be picturesque. These are victories which have been gained silently and unostentatiously, and which have usually escaped the attention of foreigners. Nevertheless, they have contributed in no little degree to the justification of that Triumph with which, among all nations, England has perhaps the prior right to sympathize. There are some who consider, the present writer being among the number, that England might have done more to help the young nation at whose début, to borrow from Mr. Punch, she as

sisted, and to a certain extent, facilitated; and that there have been occasions when Italy might have legitimately complained of a certain discrepancy between the words and the deeds of her traditional friend. However this may be, it need not be dwelt upon in these pages. The truest friendships do not invariably depend entirely upon services given or received.

It is only, I venture to think, foreigners like myself who spend a considerable portion of their lives among Italian rural surroundings who can, perhaps, fully appreciate the magnitude of the work accomplished by Italy in the space of a few years-and I use the term for a few years advisedly, for the work done and the progress made in the last twelve years is far more marked than it was in the same period immediately preceding them. A truer unity has taken the place of one which even then caused some doubts as to its stability, and with it has come an everincreasing spirit of national aspirations and national pride which I, for one, am old enough to remember as, to a great extent, lacking among a section of the population in which it was most necessary that it should exist. have already alluded to the comparative absence of that subtle though important factor in a nation's composition known as public opinion; and on this, as well as on another as yet missing factor in Italian life, I trust I may be allowed to comment without placing myelf in that category of my compatriots to whose illogical attitude towards their neighbors' concerns I have already referred. I do not mean to convey that public opinion is altogether lacking in Italy. It would be more just to say that it is dormant, and this partly for want of any definite guidance, and partly because it possesses no real means of cohesion or of expression. The Parliamentary elections, unfortunately, do not supply these

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means, for reasons which any one who

is acquainted with the peculiarities of their procedure will readily understand. The Italian Press, as a whole, makes little or no effort to supply the deficit. Of newspapers there are no end. Each provincial town has one, and sometimes many more; but these, as a rule, are content to give their readers articles dealing with local matters only, and the great questions of national importance are too often subordinated to municipal frictions or matter inspired by the deputy of the collegio. Even the great journals will dedicate columns to satisfying public curiosity concerning a murder or a suicide to the exclusion of other more healthy and useful material; while their political and social matter is handled rather with a view to furthering the interests of some parliamentary group or individual politician than to forming any compact body of public opinion on questions of vital interest to the State. The Giornale d'Italia may be said to be almost if not quite alone among the leading Italian newspapers in its steady and persistent endeavors to create a healthy and discriminating public opinion in the country and to guide its readers towards a wider and more imperial view on subjects connected with politics and social and economic questions. There can be no doubt that a dozen authoritative journals, inspired with such an aim as the one I have mentioned, however much they might differ among themselves in political theories, had they the capital necessary to build up a large circulation, would do more to further and educate public opinion in Italy than the innumerable minor publications which, in most cases, are launched with altogether inadequate means, financial, literary, and moral, and the letter-press of which is apt to appeal rather to the morbid curiosity than to the higher intelligence of the public. That a

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strong desire for recognized channels of public opinion exists in Italy I can assert from personal knowledge; and I hasten to add that in my remarks on this subject I have merely ventured to re-echo sentiments which I frequently hear expressed by Italians themselves, belonging to all classes of the community. Another trophy which might well be added to a future Triumph of Italy would be the establishment of a Poor Law-and here, again, I am only a critic at second hand. Among the many unjust and untrue assertions frequently made by foreigners regarding Italy is one to the effect that no maintenance or care for the poor exists in the country. be further from fact. gal obligation as yet binding on the State to maintain paupers, and no taxes which can be levied for such a purpose. But Italy possesses an immense number of public charitable institutions, richly endowed by donations and legacies, many of which have descended from mediæval times, and which are perpetually being increased by the generosity of present benefactors. Moreover, provincial and municipal councils are empowered to make grants to any species of charitable institution. I believe that according to recent statistics, the property of the secular charitable institutions alone amounts to nearly eighty millions of pounds sterling. This, in itself, should be sufficient refutation of the charge that modern Italy cares nothing for her sick and poor. If begging in the streets is still an abuse in certain Italian towns, this is largely due to the folly of strangers who give to individuals who, as is the case everywhere, are in nine cases out of ten arrant impostors. The deserving poor of Italy are far too proud to beg in the streets; and the most grinding poverty, alas! often goes about in a tidy dress or a neat suit and seeks to conceal its condition from the eyes of