may chance to hear these persons spoken of as tepid in their patriotism by
yet more fiery haters. Yet it must not be supposed that the Italians hate
the Austrians as individuals. On the contrary, they have rather a liking
for them--rather a contemptuous liking, for they think them somewhat slow
and dull-witted--and individually the Austrians are amiable people, and
try not to give offence. The government is also very strict in its control
of the military. I have never seen the slightest affront offered by a
soldier to a citizen; and there is evidently no personal ill-will
engendered. The Austrians are simply hated as the means by which an alien
and despotic government is imposed upon a people believing themselves born
for freedom and independence. This hatred, then, is a feeling purely
political, and there is political machinery by which it is kept in a state
of perpetual tension.

The Comitato Veneto is a body of Venetians residing within the province
and abroad, who have charge of the Italian interests, and who work in
every way to promote union with the dominions of Victor Emanuel. They live
for the most part in Venice, where they have a secret press for the
publication of their addresses and proclamations, and where they remain
unknown to the police, upon whose spies they maintain an espionage. On
every occasion of interest, the Committee is sure to make its presence
felt; and from time to time persons find themselves in the possession of
its printed circulars, stamped with the Committee's seal; but no one knows
how or whence they came. Constant arrests of suspected persons are made,
but no member of the Committee has yet been identified; and it is said
that the mysterious body has its agents in every department of the
government, who keep it informed of inimical action. The functions of the
Committee are multiplied and various. It takes care that on all patriotic
anniversaries (such as that of the establishment of the Republic in 1848,
and that of the union of the Italian States under Victor Emanuel in 1860)