having now crossed from the adriatic to the mediterranean, and travelled through a considerable part of italy, i acknowledge i have been agreeably disappointed in finding the state of the poorer part of the inhabitants less wretched than, from the accounts of some travellers, i imagined it was; and i may with equal truth add, that although i have not seen so much poverty as i was taught to expect, yet i have seen far more poverty than misery. even the extremity of indigence is accompanied with less wretchedness here than in many other countries. this is partly owing to the mildness of the climate and fertility of the soil, and partly to the peaceable, religious, and contented disposition of the[371] people. the miseries which the poorer part of mankind suffer from cold, are, perhaps, greater than those derived from any other source whatever. but in italy, the gentleness of the climate protects them from this calamity nine months of the year. if they can gather as much wood as to keep a moderate fire during the remaining three, and procure a coarse cloke, they have little to fear from that quarter. those who cannot get employment, which is often the case in this country, and even those who do not choose to work, which is the case with numbers all the world over, receive a regular maintenance from some convent: with this, and what little they can pick up otherwise, in a country where provisions are plentiful and cheap, they pass through life, in their own opinion, with more satisfaction than if they had a greater number of conveniencies procured by much bodily labour. whereas in great britain, germany, and other northern[372] countries, the poor have no choice but to work; for if they remain idle, they are exposed to miseries more intolerable than the hardest labour can occasion to the laziest of mankind; they are invaded at once by the accumulated agonies of hunger and cold; and if they have ever had sufficient credit to contract a little debt, they are continually in danger of being thrown into a jail among pickpockets and felons. with respect to the lowest of the tradespeople and the day-labourers in this country, their wages are certainly not high; nor are they willing, by great efforts of industry, to gain all they might; but what they do gain is never wasted in intemperance, but fairly spent in their families on the real necessaries and comforts of life.
the italians are the greatest loungers in the world, and while walking in the fields, or stretched in the shade, seem to enjoy the serenity and genial warmth of[373] their climate with a degree of luxurious indulgence peculiar to themselves. without ever running into the daring excesses of the english, or displaying the frisky vivacity of the french, or the invincible phlegm of the germans, the italian populace discover a species of sedate sensibility to every source of enjoyment, from which, perhaps, they derive a greater degree of happiness than any of the other. the frequent processions and religious ceremonies, besides amusing and comforting them, serve to fill up their time, and prevent that ennui and those immoral practices which are apt to accompany poverty and idleness. it is necessary, for the quiet and happiness of every community, that the populace be employed. some politicians imagine, that their whole time should be spent in gainful industry. others think, that though the riches of the state will not be augmented, yet the general happiness, which is a more important[374] object, will be promoted by blending the occupations of industry with a considerable proportion of such superstitious ceremonies as awaken the future hopes, without lulling the present benevolence, of the multitude; but nobody can doubt, that in countries where, from whatever cause, industry does not prevail, processions and other rites of the same nature will tend to restrain the populace from the vices, and of consequence prevent some of the miseries of idleness.
the peasantry of this country are unquestionably in a more comfortless state than a benevolent mind could wish them. but, england and switzerland excepted, is not this the case all over europe? in all the countries i have seen, or had an account of, the husbandmen, probably the most virtuous, but certainly the most useful part of the community, whose labour and industry maintain all the rest, and in whom the real strength of the state[375] resides, are, by a most unjust dispensation, generally the poorest and most oppressed. but although the italian peasantry are by no means in the affluent, independent situation of the peasantry of switzerland, and the tenantry of england, yet they are not subjected to the same oppressions with those of germany, nor are they so poor as those of france.
great part of the lands in italy belong to convents; and i have observed, and have been assured by those who have the best opportunities of knowing, that the tenants of these communities are happier, and live more at their ease, than those of a great part of the nobility. the revenues of convents are usually well managed, and never allowed to be squandered away by the folly or extravagance of any of its members; consequently the community is not driven, by craving and threatening creditors, as individuals frequently are, to squeeze out of their vassals[376] the means of supplying the waste occasioned by their own vanity and expence. a convent can have no incitement to severe and oppressive exactions from the peasants, except sheer avarice; a passion which never rises to such a height in a society where the revenue is in common, as in the breast of an individual, who is solely to reap the fruits of his own oppression.
the stories which circulate in protestant countries, concerning the scandalous debauchery of monks, and the luxurious manner in which they live in their convents, whatever truth there may have been in them formerly, are certainly now in a great measure without foundation. i remember when i was at the grande chartreuse, near grenoble, which has a considerable district of land belonging to it, i was informed, and this information was confirmed by what i saw, that those monks were gentle and generous masters, and that their tenants were envied by all the peasantry[377] around, on account of the treatment they received, and the comparatively easy terms on which they held their farms. from the enquiries i have made in france, germany, and italy, i am convinced that this is usually the case with those peasants who belong to convent lands; and very often, i have been informed, besides having easy rents, they also find affectionate friends and protectors in their masters, who visit them in sickness, comfort them in all distresses, and are of service to their families in various shapes.
i have been speaking hitherto of the peasantry belonging to convents; but i believe i might extend the remark to the tenants of ecclesiastics in general, though they are often represented as more proud and oppressive masters than any class of men whatever; an aspersion which may have gained credit the more easily on this account, that instances of cruelty and oppression in ecclesiastics strike more, and raise a greater[378] indignation, than the same degree of wickedness in other men; they raise a greater indignation, because they are more unbecoming of clergymen, and they strike more when they do happen, because they happen seldomer. the ambition of popes some centuries ago, when the court of rome was in its zenith, the unlimited influence and power which particular churchmen acquired in england and france, had those effects upon their actions and characters, which ambition and power usually have on the characters of men; it rendered them insolent, unfeeling, and persecuting. yet, for every cruel and tyrannical pope that history has recorded, it will be easy to name two or three roman emperors who have surpassed them in every species of wickedness; and england and france have had prime ministers with all the vices, without the abilities, of wolsey and richelieu.
those who declaim against the wickedness of the clergy, seem to take it for[379] granted that this body of men were the authors of the most horrid instances of persecution, massacre, and tyranny, over men’s consciences, that are recorded in the annals of mankind; yet philip ii., charles ix. and henry viii. were not churchmen; and the capricious tyranny of henry, the frantic fury of charles, and the persevering cruelty of philip, seem to have proceeded from the personal characters of these monarchs, or to have been excited by what they considered as their political interest, rather than by the suggestions of their clergy.
as the subjects of the ecclesiastical state are perhaps the poorest in italy, this has been imputed to the rapacious disposition which some assert is natural to churchmen. this poverty, however, may be otherwise accounted for. bishop burnet very judiciously observes, that the subjects of a government, which is at once despotic and elective, labour under peculiar disadvantages;[380] for an hereditary prince will naturally have considerations for his people which an elective one will not, “unless he has a degree of generosity not common among men, and least of all among italians, who have a passion for their families which is not known in other places[9].” an elective prince, knowing that it is only during his reign that his family can receive any benefit from it, makes all the haste he can to enrich them. to this it may be added, that as popes generally arrive at sovereignty at an age when avarice predominates in the human breast, they may be supposed to have a stronger bias than other princes to that sordid passion; and even when this does not take place, their needy relations are continually prompting them to acts of oppression, and suggesting ways and means of squeezing the people. other causes might be assigned; but, that it does not originate from the imputation above mentioned,[381] seems evident from this, that the peasants of particular ecclesiastics, and of the convents in the pope’s dominions, as well as in other countries, are generally less oppressed than those of the lay lords and princes.
from what has been thrown out by some celebrated wits, and the common-place invective of those who affect that character, one would be led to imagine that there is something in the nature of the clerical profession which has a tendency to render men proud and oppressive. such indiscriminating censure carries no conviction to my mind, because it is contradicted by the experience i have had in life, and by the observations, such as they are, which i have been able to make on human nature. i do not mean, in imitation of the satirists above mentioned, to put the clergy of all religions on the same footing. my opportunities of knowledge are too slender to justify that; my acquaintance[382] with this order of men having been in a great measure confined to those of the protestant church, men of learning and ingenuity, of quiet, speculative, and benevolent dispositions; it is usually, indeed, this turn of mind which has inclined them to the ecclesiastical profession. but though my acquaintance with the roman catholic clergy is very limited, yet the few i do know could not be mentioned as exceptions to what i have just said of the protestant; and, exclusive of all personal knowledge of the men, it is natural to think that the habitual performance of the ceremonies of the christian religion, though intermingled with some superstitious rites, and the preaching the doctrines of benevolence and good-will towards men, must have some influence on the lives and characters of those who are thus employed. it is a common error, prevailing in protestant countries, to imagine that the roman catholic clergy laugh at the religion they inculcate, and regard their flocks as the dupes of an artful plan[383] of imposition. by far the greater part of roman catholic priests and monks are themselves most sincere believers, and teach the doctrines of christianity, and all the miracles of the legend, with a perfect conviction of their divinity and truth. the few who were behind the curtain when falsehood was first embroidered upon truth, and those who have at different periods been the authors of all the masks and interludes which have enriched the grand drama of superstition, have always chosen to employ such men, being sensible that the inferior actors would perform their parts more perfectly, by acting from nature and real conviction. “paulum interesse censes,” says davus to mysis, “ex animo omnia ut fert natura, facias an de industria[10].”
the accounts we receive of their gluttony, are often as ill-founded as those of their infidelity. the real character of the majority of monks and inferior ecclesiastics,[384] both in france and italy, is that of a simple, superstitious, well-meaning race of men, who for the most part live in a very abstemious and mortified manner, notwithstanding what we have heard of their gluttony, their luxury, and voluptuousness. such accusations are frequently thrown out by those who are ill entitled to make them. i remember being in company with an acquaintance of yours, who is distinguished for the delicacy of his table and the length of his repasts, from which he seldom retires without a bottle of burgundy for his own share, not to mention two or three glasses of champaign between the courses. we had dined a few miles from the town in which we then lived, and were returning in his chariot; it was winter, and he was wrapped in fur to the nose. as we drove along, we met two friars walking through the snow; little threads of icicles hung from their beards; their legs and the upper part of their feet were bare, but their soles were defended from the snow by wooden[385] sandals. “there goes a couple of dainty rogues,” cried your friend as we drew near them; “only think of the folly of permitting such lazy, luxurious rascals to live in a state, and eat up the portion of the poor. i will engage that those two scoundrels, as lean and mortified as they look, will devour more victuals in a day, than would maintain two industrious families.” he continued railing against the luxury of those two friars, and afterwards expatiated upon the epicurism of the clergy in general; who, he said, were all alike in every country, and of every religion. when we arrived in town, he told me he had ordered a little nice supper to be got ready at his house by the time of our return, and had lately got some excellent wine, inviting me at the same time to go home with him; for, continued he, as we have driven three miles in such weather, we stand in great need of some refreshment.
that in all roman catholic countries, and particularly in italy, the clergy are too[386] numerous, have too much power, too great a proportion of the lands, and that some of them live in great pomp and luxury, is undeniable. that the common people would be in a better situation, if manufactures and the spirit of industry could be introduced among them, is equally true; but, even as things are, i cannot help thinking that the state of the italian peasantry is preferable, in many respects, to that of the peasants of many other countries in europe. they are not beaten by their ecclesiastical lords, as those of germany are by their masters, on every real or imaginary offence. they have not their children torn from them, to be sacrificed to the pomp, avarice, or ambition of some military despot; nor are they themselves pressed into the service as soldiers for life.
in england and in france the people take an interest in all national disputes, and consider the cause of their country or their prince as their own; they enter into the[387] service voluntarily, and fight with ardour for the glory of the country or king they love. those ideas enable them to submit to a thousand hardships without repining, and they feel the sensations of happiness in the midst of toil, want, and danger. but in germany, where the passions are annihilated, and a man is modelled into a machine before he is thought a good soldier, where his blood is sold by the prince to the highest bidder, where he has no quarrel with the enemy he murders, and no allegiance to the monarch for whom he fights, the being liable to be forced into such a service, is one of the most dreadful of all calamities. yet a regiment of such compelled soldiers, dressed in gaudy uniform, and powdered for a review, with music sounding and colours flying, makes a far more brilliant appearance than a cluster of peasants with their wives and children upon a holiday. but if we could examine the breasts of the individuals, we should find in those of the former nothing but the terror[388] of punishment, hatred of their officers, distrust of each other, and life itself supported only by the hope of desertion; while the bosoms of the latter are filled with all the affections of humanity, undisturbed by fear or remorse.
[9] vide bishop burnet’s travels.
[10] andria terentii.
