This land is the land of humanity. Nationality is milk, humanity
is cream. What is there in all the world that we have not in common? It
is true that we cannot enjoy together the harmony of some Northern
verses, but we can assimilate together all the great ideas, and we have
for each other the attraction of the relatively unknown, which fellow-
countrymen have not."
He very acutely characterised his Italian compatriots: "Our intelligence
amounts to prudence and common sense. At a distance we may appear self-
luminous; in reality we are only passivity and reflected light.
Solferino gave us Lombardy, Sadowa gave us Venice, Sedan gave us Rome.
We were just active enough to take advantage of fortunate circumstances,
and passively clever enough not to wreck our advantage by stupidity. In
foreign novels we are scoundrels of the deepest dye, concocters of
poisons and wholesale swindlers. In reality we are indifferent and
indolent. _Dolce far niente_, these words, which, to our shame, are
repeated in every country in Italian, are our watchword. But things
shall be different, if it means that the few amongst us who have a
little share of head and heart have to work themselves to death--things
shall be different. Massimo d'Azeglio said: 'Now we have created an
Italy; there remains to create Italians.
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