21 AUGUST 1852, Page 2

• A spontaneous expression of tender and elevated sentiment, re-

cently witnessed at Genoa, contrasts in a striking manner with the artificial pasteboard display of the Parisian "feast of eagles." We allude to the obsequies of Mazzini's mother. The only claim of this lady -upon public reverence—for private virtues are not held to establish such a claim—was the circumstance of her being the mother of Mazzini, the enthusiastic love which mother and son were known to bear each other, and the mother's high-hearted appreciation of the son's character. Mazzini himself—with the in- - exorable logic of his principles of action, and his affectionate dis- position, is no unapt resemblance of some old Roman characters. It is the likeness not of imitation but of the inherent dispositions of a race. And the relations which existed between the exile and .his mother recall the story of Cornelia and the Gracehi. To pay homage to this combination of stern principle and maternal and filial affection, Genoa poured forth all its citizens to attend the fu- neral of the dead, and even foreigners caught the contagions en- thusiasm. It was a tribute to personal worth. No doubt, many joined in the demonstration who do not hold the uncompromising Mepublican principles of the Triumvir. At the same time, it is

• obvious that those principles cannot be regarded by the citizens of " Genova la superba " as implying any moral taint in him who ,entertains them. The obsequies of Mazzini's mother have ne- cessarily a political import.