An Italian Precursor of Zionism.
THE stirring revolutionary period in Italy during the middle of the last century produced many men distinguished not only for their unselfish patriotism but also for the breadth of their sympathy and loftiness of their humanitarianism. It would have been curious indeed if among so many splendid types of intellectual eminence, someone had not made the subject of the Jews of Europe the object of his study and investigation.
We are indebted to the venerable Moses Finzi, jurist, professor of political economy at the Institute Tecnico, at Florence, and a distinguished modern representative of one of the oldest and best known Jewish families in Italy, for an interesting notice of one of these broad-minded, warm-hearted patriots of the Garibaldian period who was not only interested in the Jewish problem but had actually worked out an elaborate plan for the re-establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine. Professor Finzi writes most entertainingly of his memories of this distinguished man in a recent number of "Revista Israelitica," of Florence. The subject of his sketch is Benedetto Musolino, one of the most vigorous actors in that glorious period of Italian history. Filled with patriotic enthusiasm, endowed with great personal courage and daring, and inspired by high and noble political ideals to sacrifice everything for the liberty of his country, he was one of those men who made the success of the revolutionary movements in Italy possible. Musolino, whom Professor Finzi calls "an illustrious son of hardy Calabria, a Christian, a patriot, a Garibaldian, a Deputy and subsequently a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy" sprung from a family which suffered for several generations from Bourbon cruelty. The family seat in Pizzo was sacked and burned in 1799 by the fanatical hordes led by Cardinal Ruffo, and again in 1848 by the soldiers of
General Nunziante. At the age of twenty-two Benedetto Musolino founded, and for seven years was the leader of, a secret society called "Sons of Young Italy." In 1839 he, together with other young patriots, was arrested and imprisoned in Naples where after twenty months imprisonment they were tried for high treason. Owing to the weakness of the government's case they were acquitted, whereupon instead of being set at liberty they were immediately rearrested and again imprisoned for a long period of time. It is said of these prisoners that they communicated with each other, although placed in different cells, by pretending to sing psalms in Latin—a language which their jailers did not understandl. In 1848 Benedetto's brother and father were both killed in the revolutionary movement and he barely escaped to Corfu, with a price on his head. When the Republic was established at Rome, in 1849, he returned and fought under Garibaldi against the French, winning the rank of colonel by his bravery and skill. After the fall of the Roman Republic he again became an exile and lived in London and Paris for upwards of twelve years, earning a precarious living by teaching Italian. In 1860 he again took up arms under Garibaldi and after the success of the cause of the patriots he entered civil life and was a member of the Italian Parliament for upwards of nineteen years. Early in his career he became deeply interested in the Jewish problem and in all matters pertaining to the Orient. He traveled frequently in Turkey and in Palestine and was honored and decorated by the Ottoman Government.
It is probable that had it not been for an accidental meeting, about 1870, between Professor Finzi and Musolino, the latter's plan for the re-establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine might have remained forever buried in oblivion. It appears, how