CHAP. I.]

ST. JOHN OH JERUSALEM.

59

few uncertain years when a crumb of the RomanEmpire ; and this is so true, that it is apparentfrom its geographical form, a priori, by a look on themere map, without opening a page of its annals;for a long narrow slip of land, cut by mountains andrivers, cannot but comprehend various climates andnational distinctions, in which neither languagenor religion could be a nationality, since differencein dialect is more observable than any uniformityof written formula; and did creed suffice, thenSpain, Italy, France, Portugal, and others, wouldbe one nation.

But truth is, neither language nor religion everformed a nationality—nor ever will ; they may becharacteristics of a nation ; which however canchange both, without for that ceasing to be a nation.And all the experience of history leads to the sameconclusion. The oldest accounts of Italy (fromthose faint earliest glimpses where historic authen-ticity begins) find five distinct people there, speakingvarious distinct languages, which with the numerousdialects of the aborigines (none know who thoseaborigines were), and a large majority of words of(Eolic (forefathers of Greek), winnowed by theEtruscans, formed that exquisite olla podrida,Latin.

As late as Julius Cmsar the Italian province went