Naples.
The hereditary jurisdiction of the nobles over their vassals subsists,
both in the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in the full rigour of the
feudal government. The peasants therefore are poor; and it depends
entirely on the personal character of the masters, whether their poverty
is not the least of their grievances. If the land was leased out to
free farmers, whose property was perfectly secure, and the leases of
a sufficient length to allow the tenant to reap the fruits of his own
improvements, there is no manner of doubt that the estates of the
nobility would produce much more. The landlord might have a higher rent
paid in money, instead of being collected in kind, which subjects him to
the salaries and impositions of a numerous train of stewards; and the
tenants, on their parts, would be enabled to live much more comfortably,
and to lay up, every year, a small pittance for their families. But the
love of domineering is so predominant in the breasts of men who have been
accustomed to it from their infancy, that, if the alternative were in
their choice, many of them would rather submit to be themselves slaves to
the caprices of an absolute prince, than become perfectly independent, on
the condition of giving independence to their vassals. There is reason
to believe that this ungenerous spirit prevails pretty universally among
the nobility all over Europe. The German Barons are more shocked at the
idea of their peasants becoming perfectly free, like the farmers of Great
Britain, than they are solicitous to limit the power of their princes:
And, from the sentiments I have heard expressed by the French, I very
much doubt, whether their high nobility would accept of the privileges
of English peers, at the expence of that insolent superiority, and those
licentious freedoms, with which _they_ may, though no English peer can,
treat with impunity the citizens and people of inferior rank. We need be
the less surprised at this, when we consider that, in some parts of the
British empire, where the equable and generous laws of England prevail,
those who set the highest value on freedom, who submit to every hardship,
and encounter every danger, to secure it to themselves, never have shewn
a disposition of extending its blessings, or even alleviating the bondage
of that part of the human species, which a sordid and unjustifiable
barter has brought into their power.
The Court of Naples has not yet ventured, by one open act of authority,
to abolish the immoderate power of the lords over their tenants. But it
is believed that the Minister secretly wishes for its destruction; and
in cases of flagrant oppression, when complaints are brought before the
legal courts, or directly to the King himself, by the peasants against
their lord, it is generally remarked that the Minister favours the
complainant. Notwithstanding this, the masters have so many opportunities
of oppressing, and such various methods of teasing, their vassals, that
they generally chuse to bear their wrongs in silence; and perceiving
that those who hold their lands immediately from the Crown, are in a
much easier situation than themselves; without raising their hopes to
perfect freedom, the height of their wishes is to be sheltered, from the
vexations of little tyrants, under the unlimited power of one common
master. The objects of royal attention, they fondly imagine, are too
sublime, and the minds of kings too generous, to stoop to, or even to
countenance, in their servants, the minute and unreasonable exertions,
which are wrung at present from the hard hands of the exhausted labourer.
Though the Neapolitan nobility still retain the ancient feudal authority
over the peasants, yet their personal importance depends, in a great
measure, on the favour of the King; who, under pretext of any offence,
can confine them to their own estates, or imprison them at pleasure; and
who, without any alleged offence, and without going to such extremes,
can inflict a punishment, highly sensible to them, by not inviting them
to the amusements of the Court, or not receiving them with smiles when
they attend on any ordinary occasion. Unless this Prince were so very
impolitic as to disgust all the nobility at once, and so unite the
whole body against him, he has little to fear from their resentment.
Even in case of such an union, as the nobles have lost the affection
and attachment of their peasants, what could they do in opposition to a
standing army of thirty thousand men, entirely devoted to the Crown?
The establishment of standing armies has universally given stability to
the power of the prince, and ruined that of the great lords. No nobility
in Europe can now be said to inherit political importance, or to act
independent of, or in opposition to, the influence of the crown; except
the _temporal peers of that part of Great Britain called England_.
As men of high birth are seldom, in this country, called to the
management of public affairs, or placed in those situations where great
political knowledge is required; and as his Majesty relies on his own
talents and experience in war for the direction of the army; neither
the civil nor military establishments open any very tempting field for
the ambition of the nobles, whose education is usually adapted to the
parts in life which they have a probability of acting. Their fortunes
and titles descend to them, independent of any effort of their own. All
the literary distinctions are beneath their regard; it is therefore not
thought expedient to cloud the playful innocence of their childhood,
or the amiable gaiety of their youth, with severe study. In some other
countries, where a very small portion of literary education is thought
becoming for young men of rank, and where even this small portion has
been neglected, they sometimes catch a little knowledge of history and
mythology, and some useful moral sentiments, from the excellent dramatic
pieces that are represented on their theatres. They also sometimes
pick up some notion of the different governments in Europe, and a few
political ideas, in the course of their travels. But the nobility of this
country very seldom travel; and the only dramatic pieces, represented
here, are operas; in which music, not sentiment, is the principal thing
attended to. In the other theatrical entertainments, Punchinello is the
shining character. To this disregard of literature among the nobles, it
is owing, that in their body are to be found few tiresome, scholastic
pedants, and none of those perturbed spirits, who ruffle the serenity
of nations by political alarms, who clog the wheels of government by
opposition, who pry into the conduct of ministers, or in any way disturb
that total indifference with regard to the public, which prevails all
over this kingdom. We are told by a great modern Historian[6], that
“force of mind, a sense of personal dignity, gallantry in enterprise,
invincible perseverance in execution, contempt of danger and of death,
are the characteristic virtues of uncivilised nations.” But as the nobles
of this country have long been sufficiently civilised, these qualities
may in them be supposed to have given place to the arts which embellish
a polished age; to gaming, gallantry, music, the parade of equipage, the
refinements of dress, and other nameless refinements.
[6] Vide Dr. Robertson’s History of the Emperor Charles V.
Sect. I.