FRANCE, ITALY, AND SWITZERLAND -1886 -1887 419 



syndic of Turin, who was with him. Minghetti said that 

 the Italian school system was not yet satisfactory, though 

 young men are doing well in advanced scientific, mathe 

 matical, historical, and economic studies. On my speak 

 ing of a statistical map in my possession which revealed 

 the enormous percentage of persons who can neither 

 read nor write in those parts of Italy most directly under 

 the influence of the church, he said that matters were 

 slowly improving under the new regime. He spoke with 

 respect of Leo XIII, saying that he was not so bitter in 

 his utterances against Italy as Pius IX had been. Dis 

 cussing Bismarck and Cavour, he said that both were 

 eminently practical, but that Cavour adhered to certain 

 principles, such as free trade, freedom of the church, and 

 the like, whereas Bismarck was wont to take up any 

 principle which would serve his temporary purpose. 

 Minghetti hoped much, eventually, from Cavour s idea 

 of toleration, and spoke with praise of the checks put 

 by the American Constitution on unbridled democracy, 

 whereupon I quoted to him the remark of Governor Sey 

 mour in New York, the most eminent of recent Demo 

 cratic candidates for the Presidency, to the effect that 

 the merit of our Constitution is not that it promotes 

 democracy, but that it checks it. Minghetti spoke of Sir 

 Henry Maine s book on &quot;Free Government &quot; with much 

 praise; in spite of its anti-democratic tendencies, it had 

 evidently raised his opinion of the American Constitu 

 tion. He also praised American scientific progress. 

 Sambuy said that the present growth of the city of Rome 

 is especially detested by the clergy, since it is making the 

 city too large for them to control ; that their bitterness is 

 not to be wondered at, since they clearly see that, no 

 matter what may happen, even if the kingdom of Italy 

 were to be destroyed to-morrow, it would be absolutely 

 impossible for the old regime of Pope, cardinals, and 

 priests ever again to govern the city; that with this in 

 crease of the population, and its long exercise of politi 

 cal power, the resumption of temporal power by the Pope 



