S, the sincere opponent, then enters and announces with foolish pride,
that "Italy shall be free, and the gates of hell shall prevail." Pride
cometh before a fall, and S is shortly convinced that his remark was
profane, and that, by his own shewing, liberty was a gift of hell. S
then repeats a number of common-places about the rights of men, the voice
of the people, and the will of the majority; and as, in every case, he
quotes these common-places incorrectly and inappropriately, X upsets him
without effort. As a specimen of the style of logic adopted, I will take
one case at hazard. S states that "his reason of all reasons is, that
Italy belongs to the Italians, and that the Italians have the right of
dividing it, uniting it, and governing it, as seems good in their own
sight." To this X answers, "I adopt and apply your own principle. Turin,
with its houses, belongs to the Turinese; therefore the Turinese have the
right to divide or unite the houses of Turin, or drive out their
possessors, as seems good in their own sight." The gross
disingenuousness, the palpable quibble in this argument, need no
exposure. Logically, however, the argument is rather above the usual
range. X then proceeds to frighten S with the old bugbears;--the
impossibility of real union between the Italian races; the absorption of
the local small capitals in the event of a great kingdom, and the
certainty that the European powers will never consent to an Italian
monarchy.
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