Book Description

Excerpt from Mazzini's Letters to an English Family, Vol. 2 of 3 The self-revelation of Mazzini in these letters is, if possible, greater than in those received by the Ashursts during the ten previous years. In this second volume, though there are fewer passages that give us direct insight into his religious faith, the extraordinary altitude of character reached, the singular width of outlook, the power of seeing from the point of view of others which invariably tempered his judgments - these things distinguish the portion of his involuntary autobiography comprised in the years 1855 to 1860. It is interesting to examine into what made this man what he was, for his was not the artistic temperament actuated by outside matters rather than by hidden aspects of the inner man. It was that higher type that lives from within; that puts its own impress upon its surroundings instead of taking any impress from them. In Mazzini we encounter one of those rare minds whose thought goes to form the mould that must slowly but inevitably shape the thoughts of men for many a generation. It is well, therefore, so far as we may, to ascertain the sources of his power, for it is the penalty of such pioneers of the road Humanity is treading, to be allowed no privacy, no secret of the method of their own advance, which study of the various aspects of their life can unveil. Writing to Matilda Biggs in December, 1856, he tells her about a gift he is sending for her and her daughters - Terre et Ciel, by Reynaud; and of the author he says: "Reynaud is one of ours, one of that small church of wanderers through the world who are not Christians because they are deeply religious and believing that a new religious manifestation is approaching and will save mankind through faith and unity, from selfish anarchy and selfish despair. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.