THE 



No. 352.] 



APRIL 1, 1821, 



[3 of Vol. 61. 



If any one enquire in regard to the public feelings which guide the Conductor of this Miscellany, he re- 

 plies, that in Puffiici, he is an immovable friend to the principles of civil liberty, and of a benevolent 

 administration of governinent; and is of the party of the Tories, the Whigs, and the Radical Reformers, 

 83 far as they are friends to the same principles and practices; — that in matters of Re/igion, ncting in 

 the spirit of Christianity, he maintains perfect liberty of conscience, and is desirous of living in mutual 

 charity with every sect of Christians;— and that, in Philosophy, he prefers the useful to the speculative, 

 constantly rejecting doctrines which have no better foundation than the authority of respected names, 

 and admitting the assumption of no causes which are not equal and analogous to the eflects. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the Monf.hly Magazine. 



Of the NEAPOLITAN NOBILITY «nr/ Me 



CARBONARI.* 

 *' Omnes omnium charitates Patria una 

 complexa est." cicero. 



IS it longer a question whether the 

 nobility still exists in Naples ? The 

 true answer to this will be, that as a 

 name it is still uttered, but that it is 

 indeed vox et prtsterea nihil. But is 

 there such an association as that of the 

 Carbonari? Yes, it first took its form 

 on the 6th of July, and from that me- 

 morable period the sect has daily in- 

 creased, until it has grown into a 

 nation. 



This new and social compact had 

 scarcely been promulgated, when some 

 few, urged by political rather than self- 

 ish aristocratical considerations, frankly 

 gave it as their opinion, that in addi- 

 tion to the parliament of the people, 

 it would be wise to erect a chamber of 

 peers or senators, in order to discuss the 

 merits of the several laws before they 

 should be finally past to (he executive. 



But as soon as this proposition was 

 made known to the people, it excited 

 such an expression of disapprobation 

 and disgust, that its promoters, though 

 persons of acknowledged integiity and 

 ability, were considered little better 

 than inimical to the new order of things, 

 and favourable to absolute monarchy. 



These persons, however, had been 

 guided by pure public principles, with- 

 out any selfish views, and in deference 

 to the opinion of the people, they with- 

 drew a proposal which appeared to them 

 in the light of a mere theoretical error. 



In the ensuing elections, iiowever, 

 throughout the parishes, the districts, 

 and the provinces, the electors not 

 only refused to nominate any of the 

 old Neapolitan barons, but solemnly 

 declared and inculcated the doctrine 



• Traiwlated from " the Minerva Nepo- 

 Htana." 

 Monthly Mac. No. 352, 



of their absolute exclusion from the 

 government. 



The order of the priests was somewhat 

 more fortunate, and some of the first 

 parish-priests iuNaples and other places, 

 have obtained in the suffrages of tlieir 

 parishioners, a pleasing reward for 

 their truly virtuous and patriotic ex- 

 ertions. 



Now it appears to me, that this total 

 exclusion of the aristocratical influence, 

 as a maxim rigidly enforced, is etiually 

 unjust, impolitic and dangerous. It 

 is surely unjust, inasmuch as it de- 

 stroys that eqimliti/ of civil rights 

 which was stipulated for in The Con- 

 stitution. And what crime have the 

 real nobles of the land committed, to 

 deserve from the {people this perpetual 

 exclusion-bill ? It will not be neces- 

 sary to be jealous lu this age of a return 

 of the times in which absurd and bar- 

 barous institutions of society, autho- 

 rized chiefs, and privileged'dependaats, 

 to play the little despot over their plot 

 of unliappy earth, to strengthen the 

 giant hands of monarchical power. 

 That Gothic and Norman fabric was 

 gradually undermined by the efforts of 

 despots themselves, while in the pro- 

 gressive lights of ages it crumbled into 

 dust ; and is now perfectly annihilated, 

 by abolishing aristocratical assemblies 

 in the year 1799, and by the separation 

 of baronial jurisdiction from the feudal 

 system. On account of these events 

 so beneficial to the social system, thougii 

 detrimental to the particular govern- 

 ments under which they rose, the ba- 

 rons virtually became a part of the 

 people, distinguished from their fellow 

 citizens only by a greater portion of 

 wealth and property. And this being 

 merely personal without any exactions, 

 privileges, or the shadow of aulhorify, 

 tlieir true interest consisted in preserv- 

 ing their property by submitting to a 

 constitutional government, of all kinds 

 the best fitted for the protection and 

 2 B security 



