The terrible outburst of cholera in Southern Italy has had
one good result. It has convinced the populace that their cruel pre- cautions are all useless, and the Ministry of the Interior has ventured to withdraw the guards on the frontiers, posted in two cases on glaciers far above the line of contagion, and to order the Municipalities to discontinue their oppressive cordons. The orders are not always obeyed ; but the people, helped by three devoted classes, are recovering their heads. The doctors, though they know nothing, stand their ground, the civil officials do not dream of flying, and the priesthood perform their offices in the worst and most crowded alleys. The severity of the epidemic is, however, greatly aggravated by the extreme poverty of a section of the people. They have not the means of burying their dead, they cannot endure the necessary destruction of clothes, and they are compelled to adhere to their cheap and dangerous vegetable diet. lb Naples, the one cry to the King, other than a cry of delight at his presence, was, "Give us a little meat, cheap." The populace have imbibed the idea, accurate enough, that meat is the safest thing to eat ; but they are wholly unable to buy it, in quantitiss however small.
Previous page
