All his remarks about the present government of Italy
(of which he speaks as "the Sardinian government" with an emphasis akin
to the B_u_onapart_e_ of old French monarchists) are to be taken with
the utmost reservation, as most readers will see for themselves after
meeting his allusion to the massacre at Perugia in 1859 as in some sort a
defensive action on the part of the papal troops. Mr. Hare's reasoning
on all that relates to this subject is weak and illogical, sometimes
puerile. Any one who loves what is venerable and picturesque must share
the impatience and regret with which he sees so much beauty and
antiquity disappearing before the besom of progress or the rage for
improvement, especially in Rome. But we must remember that Italy is not
the first, but the last, European country in which this has come about:
in England, France and Germany what delights the eyes of the few has
long been giving place to what betters the condition or serves the
interest of the masses. Moreover, the Italians themselves, of whatever
political complexion, black or red, are totally indifferent to these
losses and changes which we lament so deeply. If there be a sad want of
good taste and good sense in Cavaliere Rosa's management of the
excavations, there is at least no lack of zeal. Formerly, next to
nothing was done to preserve or protect the monuments, and many of the
finest were irrecognizable and all but inaccessible from dirt and
dilapidation.
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