ace religion before politics. The eighteenth century
had rebelled for rights and selfish interests, and the nineteenth
century was preparing to follow the same teaching. Rights would not
help to create the ideal government of Mazzini. Men fought for the
right to worship, and sometimes cared not to use the privilege when
they had obtained it. Men demanded votes and sold them, after making
an heroic struggle.

In 1837, London received the exiles who could find no welcome
elsewhere. The fog and squalor of the {191} city offered a dreary
prospect to patriots from a land of sun and colour. Poverty cut them
off from companionship with their equals. Mazzini was content to live
on rice and potatoes, but the brothers Ruffini had moments of reaction.
The joint household suffered from an invasion of needy exiles. There
were quarrels and visits to the pawnshops. Debt and the difficulty of
earning money added a sordid element.

Mazzini made some friends when the Ruffinis left England. He knew
Carlyle, the great historian, and visited his house frequently. The
two men differed on many points, but "served the same god" in
essentials. Carlyle had an admiration for the despot, while the
Italian loathed tyranny. There was hot debate in the drawing-room
where the exile talked of freedom, blissfully unconscious that his wet
boots were spoiling his host's carpet! There were sublime discussions
of the seer Dante, after which Carlyle would dismiss his guest in haste
because he longed to return to his own study.

The prophet had lost his vision but it came back to him, working among
the wretched little peasants, brought from Italy to be exploited by the
organ-grinders. He taught the boys himself and found friends to tend
them. Grisi, the famed singer, would help to earn money for the school
in Hatton Garden.

To reach the working classes had become the great aspiration of
Mazzini. "Italy of the People" was the phrase he loved henceforward.
He roused popular sympathy by a new paper which he edited, the
_Apostolato Popolare_. It served a definite end in rousing the spirit
that was abroad, clamouring for nationalism.

Revolution broke out in 1847 when Sicily threw off the Bourbon yoke,
and Naples obtained a constitution {192} from King Ferdinand. The
Romans followed their lead, and Piedmont and Tuscany were not
behindhand. Joyful news came from Vienna, announcing Metternich driven
from his seat of power. One by one this