1805.) 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT of the PRESENT STATE Of LI- 
LERATURE aud the ARTS tz ITALY, 
colle@ed ina TOUR through that coun- 
TRY,12,1803. By M. FERNOW. 
(Continued from page 487 of vol. xviii.) 
N our arrival at the frontiers of the 
Italian Republic, at Scaricalafini, 
fituated on the fummit of the Appenines, 
we began to be tormented by cuitom- 
houfe-oficers. In the Roman and Tuf- 
can territories little ceremony had been 
madg refpecting our paffes and trunks, 
but in the Republic we were treated with 
fuch’ fulpicious feverity, that, in fpite of 
all the inconveniences to which we were 
fubjeS&ted by this condué&t, it trequently 
appeared perfectly ludicrous. I had a 
parcel of books in my trunk, and had not 
the leaft idea that they could give any 
umbrage ; but they caufed us a thoufand 
vexations, which continued from the mo. 
ment we entered the Republic till we 
reached the foot of the Spliigen, where its 
jarifdiction terminates. When the books 
were difcovered, I was told that my trunk 
muft be fealed up till we arrived at Bo- 
logna, becaufe the ftritteft orders had been 
iffued to fuffer no books to enter the terri- 
tories of the State, without the precaution 
of fending them fealed to Bologna, where 
they would be returned me after they had 
been revifed. When I expreffed my fur- 
prize to the cufiom-houle-officer, and add- 
ed, that I fllould have expected fuch a pro- 
ceeding in the Papa] dominions, but not 
in the Italian Republic, he replied very 
frankly, ‘* Yes, it fhould be fo; bat at 
prefent we are more afraid of books than of 
the Pope.” At Bologna, notwithftand- 
ing all my remonftrances, my books were 
declared to be merchandize, and in that 
city, as well as at Parma and Milan, I 
was obliged to pay duty for them as fuch. 
During all this time I was never mafter of 
my trunks, for in all the towns through 
which we paffed, they were detained at 
the cuftom houfe. In this blefled repub- 
lic all the regulations relative to travellers 
ate calculated only to harais and extort 
money. In the: Parmefan, which is now 
a French province, we experienced the 
{ame vexatious treatment as vo our trunks, 
pafles, &c. 
Our refidence at Bologna was fo fhort, 
that I could only vifit the Gallery of Sam- 
pieri, where many old impreffions were 
renewed. In this city Italian literature 
fii] maintains ‘the preponderance, and I 
found enly two bookfellers who fold 
French works. At M odena, Parma, and 
2 
State of Literature and the Arts in Ltaly, | 03 
Milan, the trade in French books, and 
probably the ftudy of French literature, is 
at leait ona par with the Italian. At 
Bologna TY met witha few more books in 
the Bolognefe dialect, for my colleftion. of 
the various dialects of Ttaly. 
Ait Mcdena there are few works of art 
worthy of notice, fince the ducal collec 
tion has been removed from the palace — 
At the library, which is admirably ar. 
ranged, and is particularly copious in hilt 
torical works, I {poke with the Padres 
Pozzetti and Scotti, who jointly perform 
the office of librarian, which was befcre 
held by Tirabofchi, and his predeceffor, - 
Muratori, alone. The manufcripts oc- 
cupy afpacious apartment. Among other 
curiofities I faw a beautiful copy of Pro. 
vencal Poems, containing pieces by 143 
different poets. At a bookteller’s in this 
place I found two new works, which con. 
fiderably interefted me as a German.— 
One of theie was an Italian Tranflation 
of Kotzebue’s Mifanthrepy and Repen- © 
tance, and the other an Expofition and 
Examination of Kant’s Philofophy, by 
Francefco Soave. Out of curiofity I 
bought the latter, a pamphlet of only 108 
pages, fifty-two of which are occupied 
with the Expofition, and the remainder 
with the Examination. Upon clofer in- 
fpeétion I found that what the author calls 
his Expofition, is nothing more than a 
f{canty extract from that of Villers. In 
his Dedication to the Vice-Prefident Me}. 
zi, he fays, that he undertook this exami- 
Nation of a Syftem, which is beginning to 
extend itfelfin Italy, only with a view to 
warn and caution youth againit ftudying 
it; for, fays he, ia another place, it has 
been forbidden even in Germany by feveral 
Governments, and has been ill-received 
by almof all. After this it may eafily 
be conceived how his examination and re- 
futation are conducted. It does not ap- 
pear that M. Soave has underftood, or 
taken in a proper fenfe, a fingle fentence 
of his author ; and even what is moft. in- 
telligib’e is diftorted and placed in a ludi+ 
crous light. I was informed, when too 
late, that this Italian Anti Kantift re- 
fides at Modena, where he is teacher of 
philofophy at the Col/egio, or Liceo Nazzo+ 
male, otherwife I fhould have made a per- 
fonal acquaintance with him. Soave has 
long been efteemed in Italy asa man of 
talents. He is the author and tr-nflator 
of feveral works, and has written a 
Grammatica Ragionaia della Lingua Ita- 
liaza, which is accgounted the beft Italian 
Grammar extant, though it is rather a- 
fketch than a complete work; likewife a 
collection 
