friend at Liverpool, in long letters which Panizzi often answered by sharp criticisms, perhaps provoked in part by the heavy postage which he had to pay, and to which he did not scruple to call attention. In one especial respect there was great dissimilarity between the Count and Panizzi, for whereas the former for some unknown reason hated England and the English people, the latter early evinced the strongest liking for both.
In December, 1823, he wrote to Linati, minutely describing his position, and concluding his long letter thus:—“In spite of all my sufferings and many troubles occasioned by poverty, I had rather live in England than in Italy.”
Upon this Linati wrote:—“Though your dear and beloved England may in some measure have slackened your chain, I will nevertheless tell you that I still prefer the Duke d’Angoulême, open enemy as he is, to that vile and infamous Sir William A’Court, who has betrayed the rights of hospitality by supporting a Government which, if unable to save itself, ought at least to have saved others. I can make a distinction between the generous people of England, whose hearts beat with noble enthusiasm at the war-cry of the liberal Spaniards, as well as the aspiration for Greek independence and self-government. I am delighted to learn that you are in the way of getting an honest livelihood. A hazardous occupation is that of teaching languages, particularly if you happen to meet with a pretty ‘Brittanna,’ who, whilst she is anxious to learn how to sing in Italian, may seem still more anxious to master the language of Petrarch, and suggest to her teacher that he might assist her in conjugating the verb amare (to love).”
The biographer has at this point to deplore the absence of some of Panizzi’s letters; not only because of the interesting matter which they are sure to have contained, but because curiosity must now remain unsatisfied in regard to the particular impression made on Panizzi’s mind by the suggestion in the last paragraph of Linati’s letter.
As the Count was no longer allowed to reside in France, the police ordered him to quit the country at once; whereupon he emigrated to Brussels, and here he found a letter from his Liverpool friend, enclosing an order for 300 francs. This present, however, he declined with thanks. The wretched state of the Italians, cast into the streets of Paris penniless, after several months of imprisonment, gave Panizzi and Linati work enough to do. The former used his influence with the Philhellenic Society in London, and the latter secured the interest of Lord Byron, of whom he happened to be an intimate friend.
In the summer of the following year it appears that both intended to settle at New York. Panizzi, however, in discussing this project, remarked that his acquaintance, though showing him every mark of kindness, never seemed to lose sight of the fact that he was an Italian; from the Americans, who were “a proud people,” there was a fortiori but scant courtesy to be expected, and but little advancement to be hoped for in their country. Linati’s answer was:—“I do not agree with you in what you say respecting the North Americans, for half the population consists of adventurers, and the system of colonization being so active, there will be no difficulties in becoming a citizen, whereas in England you will remain a ‘foreigner’ for ever.”
However, Linati went to Mexico, and from there again indulged in his abuse of England in these words:—“I cannot understand your sympathy with those English tradesmen; for whilst living amongst them I daily noticed cold and formal ceremonials, stupidity provoked by drink, and the brutality of the ‘prize-ring,’ with its livid eyes and battered faces. Really, and indeed, my dear friend, I am truly sorry that you do not agree with me.”
Linati seems to have discovered that worse countries existed than England; only a short interval had elapsed before we find him leaving Mexico in disgust and returning during the winter of 1827 to London, where he is heard of no more until 1830. In that year he was upon the committee for remodelling Italy. It is certain, however, that in course of time he overcame his antipathy to Mexico, for he afterwards returned thither, and died at Tampico in the year 1832.
Count Giuseppe Pecchio was another of those distinguished exiles in whose company Panizzi delighted. Their long correspondence reveals a close intimacy. Pecchio, better known in England as the author of the “Semi-serious Observations of an Italian Exile during his Residence in England,” was also one of the victims of the ill-fated Piedmontese Revolution. England was his first refuge, and, after being engaged in various occupations, amongst others that of Italian teacher at Nottingham, he married an English lady, and, “post tot naufragia tutus,” took up his residence at Brighton.
The book, published at Lugano in 1827, contains amusing sketches of English life from a foreigner’s point of view; and after perusing it one can safely conclude that the Count was indebted for his inferences rather to imagination than to memory—perhaps to the two combined more than to actual facts.
While residing in London Pecchio contemplated the production of a periodical, to which Panizzi was to be the chief contributor, with Messrs. Haywood and Roscoe as his supporters in addition to Silvia Pellico, who was about to be set free on occasion of the marriage of the Archduke Leopold, and whose presence was expected in the metropolis. This formed a strong company for the undertaking, to which the promoters were justified in looking forward with no little hope of success. The attempt to start this periodical, however, proved futile, and not even a number of it ever appeared.
On the 13th November, 1825, Pecchio wrote a letter to Panizzi, for the purpose of introducing a certain Miss E ****, telling him that he ought to appear as a Narcissus to captivate the young lady. Panizzi’s health, however, seemed at this time to fail him, and this he attributed to the severity of the winter season, which, as before stated, invariably affected him in a remarkable decree.
Possibly this may have been one cause of his indisposition. The Count, however, with some acuteness in deciding on symptoms, remarks: “The loss of one’s country is a wound which never heals; it is one of those pains which slowly destroy our own existence without our perceiving it.”
Sufficient space has, however, been allotted to Panizzi’s friends, and it is now time to return to Panizzi himself. His celebrity as a teacher of Italian and lecturer on that language was established at Liverpool. Before dilating upon his peculiar aptitude in this direction we must mention one feature in his character which will pre-eminently raise him in the estimation of all discerning readers. Miss Martin, one of his former pupils, knew him as a political exile in the time of his penury; nevertheless, she well recollects and bears witness to his most high-spirited disinterestedness in pecuniary matters—in fact, his singular disregard of money.
The lectures on the Italian language, at which this lady was present, were delivered by him in the years 1824 and 1825 in English; they had been inaugurated by Mr. Roscoe, and were given at the Royal Institution, Liverpool, where, strange to say, no record of them has been kept.
The following anecdote related by Miss Martin may serve to illustrate the earnestness of his addresses. In reciting some of the lines of the “Gerusalemme Liberata,” where the anxious Crusaders first catch sight of the sacred city of Jerusalem:—
“Ecco apparir Gerusalem si vede,
Ecco additar Gerusalem si scorge;
Ecco da mille voci unitamente
Gerusalemme salutar si sente.—”
his eager eye glanced at the wall at the side of the lecture-room with such realistic animation, and with such power over his hearers, that some of the audience turned to gaze on the vacant space as though the veritable towers and walls of Jerusalem had been thereon depicted.
These lectures were never published. The following extracts, expressive of his personal feelings towards his auditors may, even at this distance of time, be not altogether devoid of interest.
The first quotation is from
