4.5.
Unpublished fragment from Mr. Arthur Young's diary of his travels in
Italy in the year 1789.
October 1st.
Having agreed with a vetturino to carry me to Pianura, set out this
morning from Mantua. The country mostly arable, with rows of elm and
maple pollard. Dined at Casal Maggiore, in an infamous filthy inn. At
dinner was joined by a gentleman who had taken the other seat in the
vettura as far as Pianura. We engaged in conversation and I found him a
man of lively intelligence and the most polished address. Though dressed
in the foreign style, en abbe, he spoke English with as much fluency as
myself, and but for the philosophical tone of his remarks I had taken
him for an ecclesiastic. Altogether a striking and somewhat perplexing
character: able, keen, intelligent, evidently used to the best company,
yet acquainted with the condition of the people, the methods of farming,
and other economical subjects such as are seldom thought worthy of
attention among Italians of quality.
It appeared he was newly from France, where he had been as much struck
as myself by the general state of ferment. Though owning that there was
much reason for discontent, and that the conduct of the court and
ministers was blind and infatuated beyond belief, he yet declared
himself gravely apprehensive of the future, saying that the people knew
not what they wanted, and were unwilling to listen to those that might
have proved their best advisors. Whether by this he meant the clergy I
know not; though I observed he spoke favourably of that body in France,
pointing out that, long before the recent agitations, they had defended
the civil rights of the Third Estate, and citing many cases in which the
country curates had shown themselves the truest friends of the people: a
fact my own observation hath confirmed.
Pages:
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478