Carlo Cattaneo “Universal Mind”

Essays by Sergio Romano, Franco Masoni and Pier Carlo Della Ferrera

“Universal Mind”

Carlo Cattaneo was born in on 15 June ciliatore” in Milan and the Florentine group 1801, the son of Melchiorre, who owned a of Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, in whose “Anto- small goldsmith’s shop, and Maria Antonia logia”, in August 1822, Cattaneo’s first arti- San Giorgio. The second of six children, the cle was published, a review of Romagnosi’s family’s limited financial possibilities meant work, Assunto primo della scienza del diritto that he had to attend seminaries at Arlenico, naturale. Still in this same period, Cattaneo and Milan - where he took courses in came to know some influential men of politics literature, logic and metaphysics - before he from the Canton of , particularly abandoned his religious studies and enrolled , with whom he collaborat- at the S. Alessandro grammar school in ed in translating into Italian, Istoria della Milan. Here, from 1818 to 1819, he took exam- Svizzera pel popolo svizzero by Heinrich inations in religious instruction, universal Zschokke, published in in 1829-1830. history, mathematics, experimental physical mathematics and theoretical and practical In parallel with his professional activity - philosophy. The following year, he completed which, apart from teaching, involved him in his secondary studies at the grammar school the translation and revision of scholastic texts on Geography and History from the original German - Cattaneo dedicated his time to publishing articles and essays; start- ing from 1835 he became a regular contribu- tor to the “Annali universali di statistica”, a newspaper for which he wrote articles on agronomy, business, finance and linguistics. The second half of the eighteen-thirties marked a crucial point in Cattaneo’s person- al and intellectual life. In November 1835, he married Anna Payne Woodcock, an English noblewoman of Irish origin, whom he had met approximately ten years earlier and who at Porta Nuova, where he further enhanced was a faithful partner to him throughout his

Previous page: his already vast and eclectic knowledge with life. In the same year, he gave up teaching Carlo Cattaneo studies in the fields of Latin literature, natur- and devoted himself with ever increasing in a watercolour by Giuseppe Fraschina, al history, and technology. commitment and energy to freelance jour- a colleague of his He then enrolled at the Faculty of Jurispru- nalism. He started to take an interest in the at the Liceo Cantonale dence at the , but never question of railways - his first essay on the in Lugano. The portrait was attended its courses. The death of his father, subject appeared in June 1836 under the title inserted into a copy of which worsened the family’s already difficult Ricerche sul progetto di una strada di ferro Dell’Insurrezione di Milano nel 1848 e della economic situation, forced him, in fact, to da Milano a Venezia – wishing to raise in his successiva guerra. look for work. Having obtained the post of readers not only a purely technical interest, Memorie di Carlo Cattaneo, grammar teacher at the local grammar but also an awareness of the importance of Lugano,Tipografia della school at Santa Marta, Cattaneo took up technological achievements in the economic Svizzera Italiana, 1849 (Lugano, Biblioteca studying law privately, attending the law and social development of a country. Cantonale) school held then in Milan by Gian Domenico This joint and integral vision of technical Romagnosi, the best known lawyer of the problems and social questions formed the Above: Giandomenico time. Romagnosi played a fundamental part basis of “Il Politecnico” , the famous “month- Romagnosi. in Cattaneo’s intellectual and personal devel- ly journal of research applied to prosperity From a drawing by Ernesta Legnani Bisi opment and their relationship gradually grew and social culture”, which, initiated by (Milan, Civica Raccolta into one almost of father and son. Once Cattaneo in 1939, was to become a milestone A. Bertarelli) Romagnosi’s school closed, Cattaneo contin- and essential point of reference for the more Left: ued his university studies on his own and was enterprising exponents of positivist and pro- Cover of the third issue of awarded his degree in law on 19 August 1824. gressive culture in . Open to a “Il Politecnico”, 1839 It was in these years that Cattaneo came into broad range of interests, the periodical pub- (Lugano,Archivio contact with some of the most prestigious lished articles by Cattaneo on economics, Storico della Città, Casa Cattaneo) Italian cultural circles of the time: the “Con- demographics, geography and geology, histo-

[III] Carlo Cattaneo

ry, literature, philosophy, architecture, and It was in these years, in 1844, that one of town planning. Cattaneo’s most significant works, Notizie Between 1840 and 1843, after presenting a naturali e civili su la Lombardia saw the prison reform project developed on mandate light of day, building on a concept arising of the Lombard-Veneto government, Catta- from the initiatives taken for the above men- neo took an active part in the international tioned congress of scientists. Shortly after this, his wide-ranging essay, Sull’ulteriore sviluppo del pubblico insegna- mento in Lombardia appeared, which was a well constructed project on scholastic reform, drawn up in 1848 on behalf of the Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere . The content of the paper, which was inspired by progressive and democratic principles, in clear contrast with the rigid, reactionary sys- tem of the Habsburg regime, caused the Austrian police to regard it with suspicion and mistrust. More generally, what con- tributed to putting him in a bad light in the eyes of the Imperial Royal government, were the efforts he made to create an awareness of their rights in the minds of the citizens, as well as the expression of his ideas on the gradual winning of political, social and civil debate on the question of penitentiaries. reform, as a prelude to the achieving of inde- Through interventions made at conferences pendence by Lombardy-Veneto within the and conventions as well as the pages of the framework of a federal state. “Politecnico” - in which he published the Thus, during the in March collection Di varie opere sulla riforma delle 1848, after an earlier attitude of prudence carceri at the beginning of 1841 - he and caution, Cattaneo allowed himself to expressed himself favourable to the continu- become almost spontaneously involved in the ous segregation of convicts, supporting the events, until finally he fulfilled the role of a so-called Philadelphian system. veritable leader, the charismatic and natural By now numbered among the spearhead inspiration of the Council of War called upon exponents of Milanese culture, he was to organize the revolt. However, his democ- awarded a prestigious appointment in 1843 ratic and republican leanings conflicted with as member of the Lombard Institute of the views of the provisional Government, Sciences, Letters and Arts. In 1844 he was which reflected those of the conservative and called upon to take part in the Commission monarchic Milanese aristocracy, leading for the VI Congress of Scientists, which was them to accept the help of the House of held in the Lombard capital that year, and in Savoia. Forced to flee by the return of the the early months of 1845 he took on the Radetzky troops to the city, after a short stay Frontispiece of office - certainly no less important than in Lugano, Cattaneo departed on 8 August for Ricerche economiche those mentioned above - of Spokesman for ; he returned to the banks of the Ceresio sulle interdizioni imposte dalla legge the Società di Incoraggiamento d’Arti e in November of the same year, 1848, settling civile agli Israeliti, Mestieri di Milano. For three years he dedi- there permanently in his house at Castagno- Milan, De Cristoforis, 1836. cated himself totally and intensively every la, where he lived for the rest of his life. The first essay of note day to this institution; Cattaneo saw in the Returning to his work as writer and histori- by Cattaneo, in which he made a SIAM «an ideal continuation of the work car- ographer, he published two works which con- stand against the Law’s ried out for the ‘Politecnico’, also because of stitute basic sources for the history of the severe prescriptions concerning Jews. the presence of many scientists and techni- 1848 revolution in . He waited first for It was blocked by the cians who had joined him in contributing to the draft of Dell’insurrezione di Milano nel censors and came out the first series of the journal», which had 1848 e della successiva guerra, the Italian in 1837 after the removal of one chapter. ceased publication at the beginning of 1845. edition of a volume already published in

[IV] “Universal Mind”

French in Paris and then collected unpub- held the first of the lessons that were repro- lished materials and documents in his duced in the philosophical essay, La psicolo- Archivio triennale delle cose d’Italia dall’av- gia delle menti associate, which was com- venimento di Pio IX all’abbandono di Venezia, pleted in 1866. which was published between 1850 and 1855 After the success of the expedition of the by the Tipografia Elvetica. The proprietor of Thousand, he joined in

the printing shop, Alessandro Repetti, also , but left when he realized that it was a political refugee, became a close friend. impossible to achieve a federalist-republican From 1852 onwards, he also returned to political system. His ideals made him very teaching. He was appointed Head of Philoso- cautious about accepting official appoint- phy at the Canton Grammar School of ments in the ranks of the newly-born Italian Lugano and remained there until 1865, when nation. Elected Member of Parliament for he resigned in response to the harsh criti- Milan in 1860, he did not want to swear loy- cisms made of him by his adversaries in mod- alty to the crown in contrast to his republi- erate and traditionalist circles. At this time, can beliefs; elected again in 1867, he went to he took up appointments and offices with the Florence, which in those years was the tem- government of Ticino: in 1852 he drew up a porary capital, but he did not attend parlia- memorandum for the reform of teaching in mentary sittings, so that he could avoid being the Canton secondary school; between 1851 formally sworn in. and 1853 he developed plans for the reclama- In the Spring of 1867 he suffered a heart tion of the Magadino plain. attack and in the Autumn of the following Towards the end of 1858 he re-exhumed “Il year, on the worsening of his health, he was Politecnico”, through which he continued to forced to retire permanently from public ser- express his total faith in technical-scientific vice. During the night of 5-6 February 1869, progress as a means of achieving man’s mate- at his home in Lugano, Carlo Cattaneo died. rial and moral improvement. He edited the journal until 1863 and was a contributor until 1865. However, Cattaneo, still opposed to the Savoy monarchy solution, continued from Lugano to watch developments in the Italian political arena. In 1859, while supporting the war, he held tenaciously to his ideas and did not want The Rebel Committee at Taverna’s house to take part in the new order; he returned to during the Five Days Milan on 25 August solely for reasons con- of Milan nected to his scientific activities. At the Lom- (Milan, Museo del Risorgimento) bard Institute of Sciences and Letters, he

[V]

“Universal Mind”

Two ways of remembering Cattaneo

by Sergio Romano*

Giuseppe Canella Lombard Landscape (details), 1837 (Milan,Accademia di Brera) Carlo Cattaneo

Among the memoirs honouring Carlo Catta- economist, the article has now been pub- neo that were published on the occasion of lished by Libri Scheiwiller in two languages, the second centenary of his birth, two seem Italian and English, with a preface by Carlo to me to be of particular interest and origi- G. Lacaita and an afterword by the editor. nality. The first is clever and humorous, the It is entitled Del pensiero come principio second very topical. d’economia publica and, one hundred and The humorous memoir is by Arturo Colom- forty years after it was first published, it is bo, who researched passages on Cattaneo in surprisingly topical. the Note azzurre by Carlo Dossi and had The article is a small historical study on eco- them published by Franco Sciardelli with a nomic theories. Cattaneo observed that the beautiful lithograph by Fabio Sironi. Dossi major economists of the previous genera- was not only one of the major writers of tions had studied the “physics of wealth” Lombard “Scapigliatura” and of the second with inspired intuition, but had mainly Italian period of Romanticism, he was also a ignored or neglected its “psychology”. Their State functionary and was therefore a man books explored the role of nature, capital of politics. He worked with and labour, but did not attribute enough in the years that the latter was Foreign importance to what Cattaneo defined as Secretary, helped him reform the country’s “thought”, a term the author of the excel- diplomacy, and represented Italy in Colom- lent English translation (Ruggero Palma di bia and Greece. His pages on Cattaneo are Castiglione) has expressed with “intelli- an anecdotal and literary “petite histoire” in gence”. “Thought” is man’s intellect; in the style of the Note azzurre, but they add other words, his capacity to perceive the some curious and interesting features to value of a natural resource, to use it for new this portrait of the scholar. «In short, the goods and instruments, to create new indus- ‘blue’ Cattaneo that we perceive through tries and multiply the beneficial effects of the brilliant snapshots given by Dossi’s commercial exchanges. Capital is not only accounts…», writes Colombo in his intro- the mechanical accumulation of income ductory essay, «is so unusual and unexpect- produced by natural wealth (agricultural ed because here - instead of the usual gruff, property, a flock of sheep, a mine, the fruits almost rough personality, ‘stubborn and of the earth and the sea), it is above all the sharp-edged’ (as Salvemini once said), there result of invention, initiatives, and the dis-

emerges an obstinate but affable, brilliant, coveries of talented and enterprising people. sometimes even carefree personality». «There is neither labour nor capital», wrote The second memoir is the new edition of an Cattaneo, «unless they start with an act of Luigi Steffani article published by Carlo Cattaneo in the intelligence. Before any work or capital, The Plough, “Politecnico” of April-May 1861. Thanks to when things are lying neglected and un- (Milan, Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna) Marco Vitale, the brilliant and dynamic known in the midst of nature, it is intelli-

[VIII] “Universal Mind”

gence that starts the work and imprints they sustained that capital derived exclusi- upon them for the first time the character of vely from the unequal distribution of natural wealth». The coal that is brought to the sur- wealth and maintained, in order to correct face in China, and the oil that emerges from this inequality, that this should belong «to beneath the ground in Pennsylvania assume the whole of society, indeed, only to work- importance only when man realizes he can ers». Capital is born from science, genius,

make use of them. The current of a river enterprise and, above all, from man’s free- becomes wealth only when someone discov- dom. «These are the rocks», wrote Cattaneo, ers that he can use it to drive the paddles of «on which almost all socialist undertakings a mill or the turbines of a power station. The foundered. The founding fathers understood world for centuries - and perhaps still now - the principle of labour in all its strength, has been full of riches that are both visible and to some extent, the principle of intelli- and unknown, known and neglected. It is gence; but they did not appreciate the effec- “thought” that raises them from generalized tiveness of free labour, which, in other Plan of a mill wheel, indifference and makes them useful and pre- words, is the same thing as free will». 1844 cious. According to Cattaneo, then, the early “Thought” or “intelligence” is not only the (,Archivio Storico della Città) Socialist theoreticians were wrong when intelligent and free initiative of individual

[IX] Carlo Cattaneo

entrepreneurs; it is also the “dominating thoughts exist. Alongside the long-sighted- thought” of a society at a particular stage of ness of the intelligent entrepreneur, is the its evolution. In his preface, Lacaita recalls a egoism of those who want to monopolize Prolusione of 1852, in which Cattaneo spoke natural resources and prevent their free of «the vast moral combinations that unite exploitation. Alongside the good laws that millions of men in a powerful order of encourage competition and the free circula- thought and free will». As soon as it becomes tion of goods, there are also bad laws that a political order and inspires laws, “domi- create blocks and obstacles. Alongside the nating thought” can transform the economy good “dominating thought”, is one that and start new phases in human history. overturns the natural tendencies of “eco- When he wrote his essay in the Spring of nomic” man. «Nature offers its goods in vain 1861, Cattaneo was thinking of the abolition –wrote Cattaneo– when the will of men, in of feudal bonds in in August 1789, of the form of self interest and arrogance, the Irish reforms after the disastrous famine places a veto upon them. In order to enable of 1848, the sale of ecclesiastical assets in a few of the privileged to sell the iron of Italy and, above all, of the freeing of the serfs Catalonia and Biscay at the price of gold, in Russia. The great reforms of Alexander II prohibited the mining of iron in were dated 3 March 1861 and the news America. Not only were the profits of the reached him while he was working on his ironworks lost, but the whole of agricultur- article. «No-one will ever doubt –he wrote– al and industrial production over immense that the freeing of the serfs in Russia was areas were deprived of the instruments they

Pietro Ronzoni not in order to miraculously activate labour needed, or had to pay for them at more than Spinning mill near and increase several times over the produc- excessive prices». , ca. 1825 tion of land and the trades». Among the “dominant thoughts” that have (Milan, Fondazione Cariplo) Unfortunately, however, not only “good” had a great influence on the history of

[X] “Universal Mind”

humanity, there is one that never ceases to and vindicators of free intelligence and free trigger off debate and polemics. This is the will». Let us hope that someone in «theological idea» which came «into the fer- will read these words written by Carlo vid imagination of an Arab camel driver» Cattaneo. and drove «a horde of shepherds» to «take possession of all the lands eastwards up to and beyond the Ganges and westwards * Ambassador, journalist and writer beyond the Tagus». They believed that all the earth was God’s and belonged by right to the Faithful. And in the countries they con- quered, therefore, they imposed an econo- my in which «the Infidel is destined to labour, the Faithful to enjoy». Since then, fortunately, Muslim attitudes to economics have changed. Some old prejudices still hold their own, however, and continue to exer- cise a bad influence over the economic poli- cies of some of the Arab States. In his Afterword, Marco Vitali refers to an analysis by David S. Landes, the author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, according to whom «the great manna of oil […] has intoxicated those in power, their functionar- ies and suppliers, who have slept on moun- tains of money, wasting it on projects that are often without meaning […]». Here, then, are some of the reasons why Carlo Cattaneo’s writing is still extraordi-

narily topical. This is particularly true of a country that in recent years has not given sufficient care to the education of its own young people, or to the research of its sci- entists. «If legislators are unable, by waving a magic wand, to create in all countries the goods that nature has too unequally spread over the earth; if they are unable to multiply at will the numbers of strong arms and the Vincenzo Vela strength of labour; if they are not always Carlo Cattaneo. able to win over the arbiters of capital; they Medallion (Lugano, Liceo Cantonale) are certainly able to become the promoters

[XI]

“Universal Mind”

Carlo Cattaneo and Italian Switzerland

by Franco Masoni*

Carlo Bossoli View of Lugano, Piazza Grande (details), 1849 (Lugano, Museo Civico di Belle Arti) Carlo Cattaneo

Italian Switzerland erupted into the life of realization of incredible dreams within Carlo Cattaneo as early as 1815, when the arm's reach of development in the more young Leventinese, Stefano Franscini advanced regions of the ancient Helvetic (almost five years his senior), joined him at League; for Franscini it brought pangs the Seminario Arcivescovile in Milan. when thinking of the state of his Valley, but Fellow students, they became close friends was also a promise to himself and great (as recalled by Cattaneo in his Ricordo hopes. The effect of the journey and the milanese di Stefano Franscini of July liberal enthusiasm of Zschokke did not 1857). Discarding their cassocks, Cattaneo seem alien to Cattaneo’s encouragement of in 1817, followed by Franscini a year later, his friend in those years to return to his both moved on, hungry for books and home country on his true mission: «I often knowledge, to the Ambrosiana and the reminded him that in Milan he was super- Library of the Museo Numismatico of fluous, while in his own country he could Brera, where they discovered the premises, be needed». the shelves and the texts of the Lombard Enlightenment. It was like a miracle: their In 1824, Franscini left the Milan school for intelligent willpower overcame the erudite Bodio; his sister had died of consumption librarians, cousins of Cattaneo’s. «In the and he had to take care of his parents and Autumn of 1821», Cattaneo persuaded his own health. He later admitted that he Franscini, «since the latter wished to see also aspired to represent the people in the his native valley again», to accompany him Grand Council. In 1826 he was called to to , where his brother was in busi- Lugano to direct a school of reciprocal tea- ness: for both of them, it was a sort of ching: working with him was his wife (a reverse Grand Tour. The classic Tour con- member of the Massari family of Milan, ducted young gentlemen and future busi- whose brother, a scholar, was the teacher nessmen from the strongest and most pro- and colleague of Cattaneo) and a sister of sperous independent countries of northern hers at a similar school nearby. Franscini Europe (France, the Netherlands, the taught, published scholastic texts, was United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia) around Secretary of the Società ticinese d'utilità Italy, on an educational journey, during pubblica, founded in 1829-1830 by the libe- which they would discover the almost reli- ral Abbot, Vincenzo D'Alberti. He was a fre- gious link between the beautiful and the quent visitor at the Ruggia house, where good; the journey of the two young men the first Risorgimento printer's in Ticino from the foothills of the , was on foot, was located. The patriot, Giuseppe Vanelli from Lombardy to central Europe, as if to had founded it after he was hounded from examine whether the happiness and well- the management of the “Gazzetta di Lugano” being of the north-east of the Swiss pla- because he had followed democratic and teau, dedicated to business, were legend or anti-Habsburg lines disapproved of by the reality, or whether any inter-dependence Lombard-Veneto police; he was joined by existed between these and the more enligh- the pharmacist, Giuseppe Ruggia, another tened bourgeois freedom these regions patriot who finally took it over. Together enjoyed. The consequences were not slow with Ruggia and several other courageous in appearing: a few years later, the two political radicals, Pietro Peri, Giacomo devoured the Istoria della Svizzera pel Luvini-Perseghini, Carlo Battaglini, Giovan popolo Svizzero by Enrico Zschokke, a Battista Pioda, Carlo Lavizzari and others, book brought with them on their return Franscini fought for liberal reform of the from Cattaneo’s brother; they were fascina- Canton Constitution, against the authori- ted by it and decided to translate it. «I was tarian regime of the regional functionaries. enchanted by it and translated the first half In two of his volumes printed in Zurich and into Italian», wrote Cattaneo, and, to no distributed anonymously at the expense of lesser extent, «it worked on the imagina- friends all over the Canton Ticino, he tion» of Franscini, who translated the other reversed public opinion: the Grand Council half. A full immersion, then, for Cattaneo, adopted the reform in June, and the peo- into the beginnings of federalism and the ple followed on 4 July 1830. This was the

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first “regenerated” constitution in Europe. sia (Berchet, Santarosa, Gabriele Rossetti, Elected Secretary of State, Franscini colla- Giannone, Porro, Arrivabene, Ugoni, Ange- borated with Ruggia's newspapers and loni) at the cottage in Turnham Green undertook to reform the State and the belonging to Lady Heli Woodcock, the lea- public administration, to create the state der of the welcoming committee for Italian schools that had been approved but never refugees, and the mother of Ann, who was brought into being. In a Europe that was to become Cattaneo’s wife. The Cianis gave generally deprived of freedom and demo- strength and funds, arms and support to cracy, Switzerland was already by its natu- the cause; (apart from Franscini’s booklets) re an oasis; in Ticino the new, more liberal they provided substantial financial backing Constitution, its own freedom encouraging for the Ruggia printer’s: when it ceased publishing, they took over some of the installations in order to create the “Tipo- grafia della Svizzera Italiana” . While Cattaneo - because of the lucidity and depth of his analyses, his multi-disci- plinary interests, the breadth of his know- ledge, his critical capacity - made even more acute by his perspicacity as a lawyer, the force of his arguments, and the strength of his intellect - gradually acqui- red great fame in Lombardy as a scholar, historian, philosopher, journalist, and advocate of the most modern ideas and causes, Franscini made his own way, encountering greater difficulties in these poor, harsh fields, though no less fertile for all that, as a writer, author of textbooks, a statesman and politician. His La Svizzera Italiana, a great work published in 1837, preceded Le notizie naturali e civili su la Lombardia published by Cattaneo in 1844, as if between the two men - or from a com- mon source - there flowed an arcane that of others, made it possible for waves of spring. Cattaneo never lost his friend from refugees to flee here from each failed revo- sight and certainly followed the highs and lutionary uprising, especially from Italy, lows of his political fortunes. They met full of hope and ready to help Ticino stay again at Serocca d’Agno in 1829 at the villa free. Among the exiles of 1820/1830 were of a mutual Ticino friend (a participant in General de Meester and the brothers, the Piedmont uprising of 1821), Giuseppe Giacomo and Filippo Ciani, whose fore- Filippo Lepori, whom Cattaneo had known bears were from Ticino. In Milan, they had as a student in Milan and Pavia and intro- dedicated themselves to the cause of “free- duced to Franscini: «the theme of their dom or death” since the Habsburgs, thou- discussions –he would write– was the poli- gh reminded in 1814 by Giacomo, together tical reform of the Canton, which, it was with Porro and Confalonieri, had reneged, believed, was prohibited then by the acts of strong in the rights of their victory, on the Congress of . Franscini was wri- their promise of constitutional guarantees ting a pamphlet, I believe, at that time, to the Lombards. Implicated in the conspi- which, by removing this false belief, ope- racy of the in 1821, which for ned the way to a new future for his country, others had meant imprisonment in the to a large circle of political friends, and a Vincenzo Vela Spielberg, the two brothers were able to career that no-one would have predicted Stefano Franscini. leave Milan first for Paris and then , for him in his youth». In 1834, Cattaneo Bust, 1860 (Lugano, Liceo Cantonale) exiles with the flower of Italy’s intelligent- published and supported in his “Annali”,

[XV] Carlo Cattaneo

Franscini’s Appello per una generale sotto- been imposed upon them; a Federal inter- scrizione a favore delle scuole pubbliche del vention suppressed the uprising, but not Cantone Ticino: this followed the regres- the love of freedom that continued to infla- sion that threatened the gains made by the me Giuseppe Vanelli, his newspaper, his reform of 1830 and gave rise to the liberal printworks, then Ruggia, the Radicals, revolution of 1839, which was not to be the last. Franscini certainly uncovered for Cattaneo the deep roots of the Ticino peo- ple’s love of freedom: the ancient “vallerane” traditions (a more rugged form of the adjec- tive that the regional Italian of Ticino pre- ferred to the Italian term “valligiano”) and those of the mountains, handed down in the Vicinie region from times immemorial; the habit, over three centuries of tough protec- torate of sovereign Cantons, of discipline and self-discipline in governing the local statutory autonomy; the proud reserve shown by the Protestants of Locarno on lea- ving for exile; the space for spiritual free- dom opened by the presence in Lugano of a School for Somascan Fathers and, even more by the printing works for the Milanese Agnelli, a hotbed of anti-Jesuit, then pro- Jansenist, pro-encylopaedic and democratic publications that were not permitted or welcome in Milan. From this, then, in Lugano at the end of the eighteenth cen- tury, according to the news of the time, there bloomed at least five clubs that were not unfamiliar, in February 1798 (the inva- sion of the Cisalpini and young patriots of the city having been repelled by Lugano volunteers) with the proclamation of the Franscini, and the Reform of 1830. Lugano citizens that they wished to be “free These facts were well known to Cattaneo and Swiss”: a freedom that some Sovereign through his friends, his relationships, and Cantons welcomed and implemented the an uninterrupted flow of information. They following month in the Helvetic Republic, certainly flooded back into his mind, mixed imposed upon them by the French invaders. with the anger and disappointment he felt Opposed because of its centralism in at the wrecking of the epic Five Days by Central Switzerland, the citizens of Lugano Carlo Alberto’s inglorious handing back of were divided: some clubs were in favour; Milan to the Austrians, while he accompa- strongly against, however, were the reactio- nied his sick wife to Lugano. He then naries and countrymen. The latter, the fol- rushed to Paris, where he sought - armed lowing year, on the approach of the Austro- with authoritative credentials and a bur- Russian army of general Suvarov, invaded ning analysis of the Five Days that was

Pictures of the city in huge mobs, looted the print- clear in his mind but difficult to explain - Castagnola and the works which they blamed for the revolutio- to win over the French to the idea of mili- house where Carlo Cattaneo lived from nary contagion, killed the abbot, G.B. tary intervention in Lombardy. Lugano 1848 to 1869, Vanelli who directed it, as well as two repre- could have seemed to be his natural objec- in “Il Secolo Illustrato”, art. 13 sentatives of the new Republican authori- tive after that mission, in order to settle (23 and 30 June 1901) ties. But the ideas lived on: in 1815, a pro- there. His many letters to his wife from (Lugano,Archivio Storico della Città, nunciamento,, a true liberal revolution, Paris, however, announced his desire to go Casa Cattaneo) rejected the illiberal constitution that had on to England; to some extent, because he

[XVI] “Universal Mind” really could not bear to be in Lugano would be alone among colleagues who among all those living there in exile, whom spoke another language; and, above all, he he blamed for placing the fate of Lombardy felt a huge sense of guilt for leaving Ticino, into the hands of Carlo Alberto, but also for failing to live up to his promise and the because of the precarious state of his wife’s immense task of making a modern state of health. France, however, was not ready to it, the function as protagonist and general intervene: Cattaneo’s Parisian mission inspiration - historian, philosopher, politi- came to nothing. On 30 October 1848, he cian scientist, economist, statistician - of returned to Lugano and stayed there, an Ticino radicalism. To whom could this be exile, for the rest of his life. But why, after entrusted? The answer seemed obvious. all those repeated denials? Yet in a man of What was certain was that Cattaneo (tem- character (stubborn, said his wife; shy and porarily a guest at Franscini’s house) saw proud, wrote Romeo Manzoni), changing his friend again in Lugano before the plan- his mind should not seem surprising in ned election and only on the following 16 those volatile times. Over five decades, the December decided to apply for permission European, French and Lombard scenarios to live at Casa Morosini in Via Pretorio in changed frequently and without warning, Lugano. How can we not infer the real rea- and Cattaneo’s choices too were liable to son for his changed opinion? With the change, from seminary to lay studies, from intuition and prophetic vision of the histo- his refusal to become partisan or involved rian, he could not fail to understand his in conspiracies or uprisings to the “diavo- friend’s difficulty, could not fail to feel the lezzo” (as he was to call it) of the Five Days, incitement from Milan driving him to from his refusal of politics to being struck return to his home country; could he now by and totally absorbed in it. This changed fail to live up to the mission his friend and opinion may have derived from Ann, or - fate seemed to have given back to him? according to the historians - to the climate There is certainly no proof of this: but how of the Alpine foothills that agreed with her; can proof be provided for a mission that or from his renewed hope that freedom had to remain a secret, because it was that could be instigated from the riverbanks of of a foreigner acting as alter ego to the the free to those of the enslaved, from the highest federal magistrate? Not that Lugano side of the Ceresio to the other. Cattaneo would not have been acceptable Achieved with the concrete help of true to the Swiss Radicals of the time, even if friends, both Italian and Swiss, gathered at they were less fiery than those of Ticino. To Lugano. In Switzerland, the Radicals had the Jacobins, pre-revolutionary Enligh- just eliminated the Sonderbund, the sepa- tenment was preferable, «amazing ... fer- ratist league of the catholic Cantons and, ment that [in the eighteenth century] after patient mediation between their cen- could be seen in the nations», and adding: tralism and the federalism of the Conser- «It is something unknown to Europe, but vatives, had obtained a new Constitution. is nevertheless true: while France went From the ancient League of free Cantons into raptures in vain over the new ideas, was born the federative state: political and announced a new era to Europe which rights and individual freedom were guaran- it was not able to achieve except through teed by the Constitutional Charter; an the bloodiest of upheavals, modest Milan army, security policy and Government were began a fourth phase of progress, entrusted in common: now a true Government, the to a gathering of magistrates who were, at Federal Council (no longer an impotent the same time, a school of thinkers: Commission of Canton dignitaries as the Pompeo Neri, Rinaldo Carli, Cesare Diet had been), for which elections were Beccaria, Pietro Verri are not names that planned for the 16th of November and are equally well known in Europe, but all included Franscini. For this reason, he had are equally sacred in the memory of the to leave Ticino for Berne, but at the point citizens». of decision, he felt acute distress: Berne It does not seem far from the truth, the- was so remote for him and his devoted refore, to hypothesize that what contribu- councillors, who could not follow him; he ted to convincing Cattaneo to stay was pre-

[XVII] Carlo Cattaneo

cisely also that mission which, leaving For Franscini in Berne, his inspiration and Franscini’s shoulders, where he himself collaboration were precious; both coopera- had helped to place it, now settled on his ted in dealing rigorously with the Swiss own, together with the determining sup- university problem, together they develo- port of Giacomo Luvini Perseghini, mili- ped the ideas of the Messaggio for the crea- tary leader and strong man of Ticino tion of a federal polytechnic, untiringly Radicalism. A high mission, with no promoted by Franscini. Cattaneo developed honours, office, or authority, which would for him the concept of a federal university make the protection Cattaneo benefited and the first warning for the federation and from in Switzerland and Ticino more plau- didactic coordination of the existing uni- sible despite his strongly anti-Austrian versities; these were ideas common to position as writer and spiritual head of the both, strongly ahead of their time, promo- Radical-Democrats of Italy. So Cattaneo ted with scientific foundation and method stayed: nor was he enticed by other offices, and inter-disciplinary openings. Franscini, appointments, chairs, or parliaments. therefore, was to have a profound influence on the courageous development of sciences The young Canton Ticino continued throu- in the Confederation between the nine- gh the myriad difficulties of its task (which teenth and twentieth centuries. Cattaneo must have fascinated Cattaneo both for too, like Franscini, advocated a Ticino itself and because of its link with the cause Academy over the long term. In Ticino, he of the Risorgimento) of civilizing in order was appointed to offices by Councillors of to consolidate and reduce the differences State, the Schools, the administrators of with the Cantons from over the Alps, which the Canton and the City, teachers, Presi- were more solid in their economy and their dents of Mutual Aid Associations, politi- secular self-government. In reality, the pre- cians. Filippo Ciani, Councillor of State, sence of Cattaneo, in the history of this entrusted to him the project of reforming young republic, was a strong one, one that secondary education in the Canton. His brought him to be named an honorary citi- ideas underlay the law of 1852 on reorgani- zen in 1858: and proud to be so, when Italy zing studies; he promoted secular schoo- was still to be born. If Franscini had really ling, filling it with the humanities, the secretly cherished the idea of having him sciences and technical subjects. He not as the person to continue a common only saw to the organization and program- mission, Cattaneo certainly filled the role mes of the new Canton grammar school fully, without, furthermore, losing any after the secularization of the Convents, of his commitment and value as a writer, but he was also a member of the Commis-

A deviation in the course of the River Ticino from economist, historian and philosopher. sion that appointed the teaching staff. He Bellinzona While continuing to be actively involved, refused to become director of the grammar to Lago Maggiore. Plan by Rinaldo Rabbi, from Ticino, in the struggles of the Risor- school, as this should be a post filled by a 1888 gimento, Cattaneo immediately entered Ticino citizen: his was the inaugural spee- (Bellinzona, Consorzio fully into the reality and problems of Italian ch, the high statement of policy. He occu- Correzione Fiume Ticino) Switzerland. pied the Chair of Philosophy for over twel-

[XVIII] “Universal Mind”

ve years. He developed his philosophy from priesthood from Austria for purposes that Vico, Locke, Romagnosi, as a sum of the were not exactly religious. Besides, it was discoveries of all the sciences, science of the writings of philosophers of the mettle the sciences that was open to continuous of Cattaneo that contributed, a century evolution; human thought was its founda- later, to the catharsis of Catholicism, with tion, freed from metaphysical and theologi- the recognition of freedom of thought. It cal bonds, capable of approaching truth through reason, intuition, experimental or deductive verification, comparison, con- frontation, the instruments of free enquiry used with methodological rigour. He encouraged the new generations of Ticino to become educated for new times, to serve the cause of truth and progress through science and a strong moral conscience. In later works, he returned to, completed, and extended his basic Corso di filosofia, a discipline that he always saw as an open system. He investigated the progress made by associated minds, discovered the econo- mic value of thought, promotion and eco- was not the Church itself, but the contri- nomic enterprise, of intellectual conquest, bution of a certain clericalism and new almost making advances into the modern dogma that denied fundamental liberty and concept of immaterial rights. the consequent anti-modern involution of His method of analysis was significant: in the Church of the nineteenth century that the sciences, philosophy, history, confron- was the cause of anti-clerical polemics and ting political, economic and legal pro- its high expression in Cattaneo. blems, he squeezed the problems to their essence, explaining it with a reductive pro- Apart from his work at school, Cattaneo cedure that to a degree evoked Marxism, collaborated at all levels in many other sec- and to another, phenomenology, though tors too as an expert, in drafting laws, exe- foreign to considerations of class or oppres- cutive orders, taking and supporting initia- sion. It was a prelude to positivism, though tives for great progressive technical, scien- without rhetoric, and to an empirical criti- tific, agricultural, industrial, commercial, cism which rejected metaphysical certain- and railway enterprises. His was the draf- ties as much as it did nihilism. It acknow- ting of a law on exploiting, encouraging the ledged doubt as an instrument, not as a parallel installation of machinery and result. industry. He gave impetus to ideas, research Certainly, his secular and anti-clerical and projects for the reclamation of the frankness did not please the conservatives Magadino plain, a huge undertaking which and in the priesthood he had violent deni- depended heavily on experience of the anci- grators: from the mid ‘fifties, Credente ent water works and Lombard reclamation, cattolico inveighed declaredly and violen- which lay at the origin of the agricultural tly against his teaching. In order to pro- wealth of the Valley. He could see huge perly understand his anti-clericalism, it potential in the area and planned therefore should not be overlooked that he was not a genuinely new organization of the terri- lashing out against either the Bible’s doc- tory, with the canalization of Ticino, the trine or priests as persons, but on one hand development of roads and railways, the was against clericalism when it defended reclamation of the marshlands, in order to earthly privileges rather than the divine, or increase agricultural revenues and reduce Works on the Gotthard tunnel, 1874 used the divine for material and political dependence on the imports that were con- (Bellinzona, Archivio di purposes, almost in a form of reverse simo- trolled by Austria. Work of such dimen- Stato del Cantone ny; and prelates, on the other hand, who sions required the participation of Lom- Ticino, Collection of prints) could seem to have infiltrated the Lombard bard capital, enterprise and experience, but

[XIX] Carlo Cattaneo it was just these interventions, the size of the soundness of his designs together with the work and the interests involved that his technical-economic vision. As had caused the project to fail; it was taken up already occurred in Lombardy for the rail- again after Cattaneo’s death by the liberal- ways, fuel, Monte sete, agriculture, even in conservative Government, started up with exile Cattaneo promoted early initiatives difficulty and was completed much later. that were not successful. For these, or bad Already passionately interested since his investments by his brother, he had to meet years in Milan, in the design and construc- even very serious losses. The need for funds tion of railways, Cattaneo considered how may have contributed to creating in him these could be extended to Italian Switzer- that reputation for greed that Giovan land, how to set up the most suitable lines Battista Pioda referred to in an unfortuna- and have them accepted by the various te letter to his brother, Luigi, after his States and economic organizations concer- famous quarrel with Cattaneo: in a report ned. He admired the idea of the Bridge- to the federal authorities in October 1865, dam of Melide, which adapted nature to the the State Councillor, Luigi Pioda, mistru- needs of local people and, therefore, closely sted the reliability of a representative of a followed the work’s designer, the engineer, company (supported by Cattaneo) which Pasquale Lucchini, and in particular his was hoping for a contract in the railway reports and plans on railways. He referred development. Cattaneo, of the opposite opi- to these in his studies on the Alpine railway nion, confronted Pioda at the Caffé Terreni tunnel. Amidst the praise heaped upon him (now called Olimpia) in Lugano, and called for his choice of the Gotthard line, he never him a liar; the other retorted that he, as a forgot to acknowledge the merit of Luc- teacher, was in his employ; Cattaneo chini (who was later the designer of the promptly resigned from his chair and helicoidal galleries that were used to mana- would not be persuaded, even by his friend ge large differences in level). Initially, for Lavizzari, to change his mind. This episode the great Alpine tunnel, the Swiss and forei- perhaps concealed a cooling of the rela- gn experts preferred Lucomagno, Spluga or tionship between the surviving radical lea- even some other secondary passes to the ders and Cattaneo, whose relations with Gotthard. Cattaneo and Lucchini, convin- two deputies of the liberal-conservative ced that the Gotthard variation would cost opposition, Polar and Lurati, fervent sup- less and provide more, would serve areas porters of the Gotthard, and with the open to development and would enable Consortium that they supported for the to be supplied more easily, far work on the Gotthard, were severely censu- from Austria and its political and military red by them. This criticism, in reality, over- pressure, put their faith in quantities of looked that Cattaneo, while having, so to writings, plans, reports, innumerable con- speak, inherited from Franscini the role of tacts to convince opponents and the doubt- ideas man and inspiration of the Radicals, ful. It is to these tireless efforts while Catta- had never been a party man: his hostility neo was alive, that Italian Switzerland did not involve all the Conservatives, but owed the triumph of the Gotthard tunnel, rather the Clerics, while Polar and Lurati which even Italy finally complied with, passed as liberals in economics and non- though he did not live to see the agree- clerics, as true liberal-conservatives, so ments of all the bordering countries, which that the attitude of Cattaneo was not to be were concluded shortly afterwards. censured. Here too, there seems to have In Cattaneo’s century, however, the study been a parallel with Franscini, embittered of even an excellent project was not suffi- in the last years of the Federal Council by cient: technical expertise and financial his distance from his Ticino Radicals and brokering were not at today’s levels. A large from certain of their decisions that were part of the work, no less arduous, consisted not very liberal. However, to return to that of forming a group with the technical abi- accusation of greed, actual reality, with lities and financial contacts required to Cattaneo living modestly and dying in guarantee its realization. This was a chal- poverty, does not support it. Perhaps the lenge that interested Cattaneo, as if to test fees earned for some consultations, even

[XX] “Universal Mind”

though not comparable to international all the actions of the printing shop. custom for one of the greatest economic- According to Caddeo, Cattaneo approached legal consultants of the time, may have see- them «towards April or May 1849», with med ostentatious in a land of poverty-stri- the «project of the Archivio Triennale», cken valleys. then with the collection of Documenti della guerra santa d'Italia, which appeared Even in Lugano, which after the Milanese between July 1849 and 1851, followed by rebellions, underwent oppression and the three volumes of Carte segrete ed atti blocks by Lombardy-Veneto, Cattaneo con- ufficiali della polizia austriaca. The prin- tinued to be very active in the Italian cause. ting shop also published many works of a At Ciani’s printing works, the Tipografia political nature or aimed at civilization. It Letter on headed della Svizzera Italiana, he published L'In- suffered the arrest of Dottesio (a tip-off or paper of the Tipografia Elvetica di surrezione di Milano. He then started a col- betrayal) and his sentencing to death, and Capolago, laboration with the Tipografia Elvetica di the violent division between the exiles over written by Alessandro Repetti to Carlo Capolago, founded in 1830 by Moderates, the dissidence between Unitarists and Battaglini on 31 passed on to Radicals which then became a Federalists. The scattering of collaborators October 1857. printers’ of capital importance for the and supporters, meant they were reduced (Lugano,Archivio Storico della Città, Risorgimento. On the arrival of Cattaneo, to pure Federalists only, Cattaneo, Ferrari Casa Cattaneo) the Radical Repetti took responsibility for and few others. It was ironical that the [XXI] Carlo Cattaneo

Austrians, instead, believed it to be a den of Mazzini supporters. They insisted that Berne must have the principle of interna- tional law respected, by which those enjoying asylum must abstain from interfe- rence in the affairs of other states. The Ticino Government attempted to resist, but with the block of 1852, Lombardy-Veneto expelled nearly six thousand Ticinese. Pressure grew on the Federal Government, on the Council of State, and on the exiles. Many of them undertook to observe neu- trality, others refused, took to hiding, and if found were expelled, though not Catta- neo, who continued to be openly active. In the spring of 1853, in order to bring the oppression against the Canton to an end, Repetti agreed to close down the Elvetica; Cattaneo resisted, sought to bring it back to life, printed the third volume of the Archivio, continued to write for Italy. But he too now concentrated increasingly on his activities as teacher, counsellor, scho- ce, of ideas, inventions, communication, lar. He contributed to local newspapers the entrepreneurial function, of discove- (above all to the “Gazzetta Ticinese”), and ries; it is still current because of his con- to Italian newspapers and journals. Then viction of the freedom of knowledge and the situation in Lombardy and all over Italy research, but also because of the need to relaxed: at the end of 1859, Cattaneo star- unite them with technical matters; it is ted up the second series of the “Politecnico”. still current in the social sciences, because In his last, important articles, his ideas of its perception of the peculiarity and were so advanced, democratic and at the value of the working of associated minds, same time elitiste, that they did not attract but also because of the leap in quality that the disciples they deserved. His public - comes from the genes, which together with perhaps like the students at his lessons of ideas and works mark out the ways of the philosophy at grammar school - were future. It still is, in his writing, for the perhaps not always able to keep up. In power and incisiveness of his language, Ticino, Cattaneo lacked a university chair, images, descriptions, for their interior with generations of students, who were strength, without rhetoric. It still is, in capable of understanding, extending and politics, because of his liberal, secular, non disseminating his ideas, which thus remai- partisan ideas and because he understood ned isolated. But his teaching becomes the dangers of fanaticism; because of his topical in difficult times. It is still so today, natural concept of a federalism that would for its interdisciplinary intuition, its grow from the bottom upwards in a need seeking for the explanation of events and for unity in diversity that from cities rises current situations, also in Geology, Anthro- to regions, nations and Europe. These are pology, Archaeology, History of Peoples, all aspects that still today make knowledge

Dedication to Ideas, and Languages; its awareness of the of his works important. More widespread in Konrad Kern, attention that sciences, arts, technical mat- the past, better known abroad, they could written in the hand of Carlo Cattaneo. ters, economics and territorial organiza- perhaps have contributed to providing Cover and half title of tion owe each other; for its open-minded- greater strength in the first half of the a copy of Carlo Cattaneo, L’insurrection ness to progress in the sciences and tech- nineteenth century in Italy and in Europe, de Milan en 1848, Paris, nical subjects; in economics, he was among to the “politics of reason”, which might Amyot, 1848 the first to have understood the future have contained the excesses of ideologies, (Lugano, Collezione privata) importance, including financial importan- nationalism, racism, that so dramatically

[XXII] “Universal Mind” shook the twentieth century. The bicente- nary of the birth of Cattaneo has given rise to and, in part, has already launched an imposing series of works by him or about him that are worthy of reading and con- templation. If the fleeting and hurried times we now live in, are better able to understand his spiritual legacy, then the celebrations of his Bicentenary will not have been in vain. The journey backward in time to meet with Cattaneo, may become a journey forward into the future; an ideal Grand Tour to encounter the essential elements of a modern map of the human spirit, the fasci- nating discoveries of a great thinker.

* Lawyer, President of the Italian-Swiss Committee for the publication of the works of Carlo Cattaneo, President of the Carlo Cattaneo Association of Lugano

[XXIII]

“Universal Mind”

Some writings by Carlo Cattaneo on the province of Sondrio

by Pier Carlo Della Ferrera*

The Church of Sassella at Sondrio (details), second half of the nineteenth century (Sondrio, Private Collection) Carlo Cattaneo

In the context of studies of Cattaneo that it and the possibility of progressing from an were intended to «bring to the individual economy of simple subsistence level. municipal home countries that intimate Written in a spare, elegant style, the writing and truthful awareness of themselves» inte- is practically devoid of the author’s personal rest in the province of Sondrio, to which opinions, unless exception is made for the Cattaneo had started to devote his attention decisive and, moreover, fully justified posi- many years before the publication of Notizie tion he took regarding excessive deforesta- naturali e civili su la Lombardia in 1844, tion and the practice of transporting timber could hardly be lacking. by flotation. In one of the first Italian economics week- lies, the Milanese “Eco della borsa” a short Rivista della Valtellina1 article appeared, in fact, on 8 October 1837 The Province of Sondrio which belonged pre- entitled Rivista della Valtellina, in which viously to Grigioni, then coming under Cattaneo outlined a profile of the valleys of Austrian government, is made up of Val- the and the considered mainly tellina itself and the two ex-counties of from the geographical and economic points Bormio and . of view. All this stretch of the country together bor- The literal matching of some passages of the ders to the east with the Province of Berga- article with Topografia statistico-medica mo and the Tyrol; to the south it borders della provincia di Sondrio by Lodovico Balardini, printed in Milan in 1834 by the Società degli Editori degli “Annali Univer- sali”, makes it clear that this was the main source referred to by Cattaneo for the draft- ing of the article. Furthermore, Cattaneo must also have had in mind the Descrizione statistica della Provincia di Valtellina drawn up in 1833 by Pietro Rebuschini, a report from which he transcribed some passages in a manuscript conserved at the Archivio del Museo del Risorgimento in Milan. The paper by Cattaneo, written with the un- declared, but fairly evident, intention of rep- resenting reality in a precise and objective manner, provides a picture of Valtellina that coincided in general with the usual one: the raising and marketing of cattle, wine pro- duction, mining activities, the working of ollite stone and slate are indicated as the principle sources of wealth. At a first glance, again with the Province of Bergamo and that some aspects of the essay may nevertheless of Como, to the west with the latter and be surprising: it is remarkable, for example, Switzerland, to the north with Engadine. that Cattaneo, emphasizing the limited area Sondrio, a small union of houses, is the cap- of lands suitable for cultivation in the ital of this Lombard province and is placed Province of Sondrio, should consider the at 27°,32',7’’,9’’’ longitude, 46°10’,0’’,3’’’ lati- economy of Valtellina to be predominantly tude, and is 52,577 m distant from the one of manufacturing. Evidently, however, meridian of the spires of the Duomo of he had before him the production reality of Milan. The valley is split politically into the plains of lower Lombardy, in compari- seven districts, of which the chief towns son with which the agriculture of a moun- are: Sondrio, Ponte, Tirano, Morbegno, First page of Carlo Cattaneo’s tainous area could only seem modest and of Traona, Bormio, and Chiavenna, and com- article Rivista limited potential. Moreover, in nineteenth prises an area of 82 square miles, corre- della Valtellina, century Valtellina, probably only artisan in “L’Eco della Borsa”, 1 no. 40 (8 October 1837) activities could guarantee a minimum prof- “L’eco della borsa”, no. 40 (8 Oct. 1837), pp. 158-159.

[XXVI] “Universal Mind”

sponding to 3,197,492.840 m with a popu- the col of Stelvio, 3911 metres high2; lation of approximately 87,000, of whom Monte delle Disgrazie, in Valmalenco, 3611 3,700 belong to the local capital. m.; monte Scalino, 3330 m.; the Redorta, Roads. – From the port of Colico to the in Valle Ambria, 3043 m.; Monte Diavolo, ridge of the Stelvio there runs a wide mili- 2918 m.; the Stelvio, 2800 m.; the Spluga, tary road that is 126,000 metres in length; at Chiavenna, 2117 m.; the Spluga, above

from the same port to Bocca d’Adda there Traona, 2845 m.; Monte Mesuccio, 28203; is another that is equally wide, which is as the Legnone, 2641. yet uncompleted; from Chiavenna to the Principle water sources. – Such mountain- Swiss border, on the summit of the Spluga, ous countryside is obviously provided with a magnificent carriageway winds for some an abundance of water which, disastrous- 32,000 metres; another from Chiavenna to ly for the valley, rushes down from their the Swiss border in the Pregaglia valley, peaks with such force as to cause irrepara- towards Castasegna, is also a carriageway ble damage. The principle river is the for 2,000 metres; from Tresenda to Aprica, Adda, which springing from the Braulio, on the borders with the Province of runs through the whole valley in an east- Bergamo, there is a road that can barely west direction and flows into the Lario. be ridden on horseback for 9,000 metres; The Valviola, originating from the small from Cosio to Traona, there is another car- lake of Livigno, receives this river into its riageway for 2,000 metres. course; the Fridolfo, springing from Monte Mountains. – Two long mountain chains, Gavio; the Mallero, a disastrous torrent, almost parallel, close Valtellina to the which in 1834 brought devastation to the south and the north, and another chain capital of Valtellina, that leaps from the closes it off to the east. In a few places, glaciers of the Malenco Valley; the Bitto these chains seem completely bare, while that comes from the top of Alberino4; the the remainder are now covered with vine- Poschiavino, distilled from the peaks of yards, then pastures, then forests. The Monte Bernina; the Ravasco, originating northern peaks are sublimely clothed with

eternal snows, making a majestic impres- 2 The altimetrical information, which in the rest of Cattaneo’s

sion when gazed at from afar. There, the writings is very precise, is in this case definitely erroneous, since

J.J. Meyer sounds of living nature die out; no other Mount Cristallo measures 3434 m. Cattaneo may have confused Oberste Gallerie von sound can be heard except that of the the Cristallo with the Ortles, which is 3916 m. high. der Mittagseite des Splügen. Gallerie à breaking of the ice when the energy of the la pente meridionale sun is such as to soften and tame its 3 This is Monte Masuccio (2816 m). du Splugen strength. The principle peaks of these (Chiavenna, Collection of Guido Scaramellini) mountain ranges are Monte Cristallo at 4 This is very probably a deformation of the toponym, Albaredo.

[XXVII] Carlo Cattaneo in the glaciers of Monti Teverino, Spella are the gragnuole9, which were unknown to and Cornacchio5; the Masino, which runs the fathers of the present inhabitants, but down from the Monti d’Oro, Zocca, Pizzo, now occur often and destroy the few hopes delle Disgrazie and Corna Rossa. The Inn of those poor valley dwellers. Metal, too, starts in the Valley of Livigno, continues constitutes a source of wealth for its course into the Upper Engadine and is Valtellina, including, though in small joined by the Valmona, which rises in the quantities, also some gold and silver. Iron Monte del Ferro6. In the ex-county of is mainly found at Forte di Fuentes, Girola, Chiavenna top of the list is the Mera, an in the valleys of the Bitto, the Masino, of imperious torrent that rises in the Malenco, of the Fucine, in Val d’Ambria and Pregaglia Valley and discharges into the in Valle del Liri. Lead and magnetic iron Lake of Mezzola, and the , formed by are found on the Campeccio10 in Val Livigno the discharge from the Spluga glaciers, and in Valmalenco; there is an abundance which has its outlet in the Mera. Apart of copper in the Val d’Ambria, not yet test- from these principle torrents, a quantity of ed, however; copper pyrites are at Boffetto, secondary streams cut the mountains and Aprica and in Valmalenco, where petrole- the Valtellina plain in all directions, occu- um is also found, as well as asbestos and pying and devastating a large part of the beautiful rock crystal; in a number of territory, which could otherwise be places in the Province there is marble, enlivened by agriculture. slate and ollite stone. The many roads Territorial production. – To call the Provin- criss-crossing the valley facilitate the car- ce of Sondrio agricultural land would be a rying out of this mineral production. way of showing total ignorance of its Industry. – Although the inhabitants of scarcity of cultivable land. Very little wheat Valtellina are accused by some people of or melgone7, then, no rice or flax, and little not taking advantage of each piece of land fruit, even though that little is very tasty that could be exploited, even despite the and attractive. On the other hand, large overflowing of the rivers, yet no-one can quantities of fraina (buckwheat), barley call them inactive as far as manufacturing and panico8. Its primary wealth, however, industry is concerned. This is shown main- lies in its exquisite wines, first among ly in different sorts of iron works, and in which being those of Sassella and Inferno work with ollite stone, of which there are which, when exported, greatly improve in great seams in Valmalenco and at Chia- flavour, in the raising of cattle and its venna, with which all kinds of pots are abundance of timber. It is painful to see, made, sorts of cooking pots, very suitable however, that self-interest, blind to the for cooking food. future, is cutting down those woods respected by the ages without any consid- 5 The most likely interpretation of this somewhat obscure pas- eration, and to facilitate its means of trans- sage would be a reference to the Roasco torrent in the western port, makes use of flotation which creates Val Grosina, of which the springs are found in the area domi- great damage. This consists of abandoning nated by the peaks of Trevesina, Sperella and Cornin. the cut and pruned trunks on the tops of the mountains to the impetus of the slope, 6 Cattaneo is referring to the Spöl torrent, a tributary of the Inn, allowing them, as they roll down, to flatten which receives the Acqua del Gallo, which rises near the peak of the small, newly born plants, which one the Ferro. Before flowing into the Spöl, the Acqua del Gallo joins day would have grown large and high on the waters of Val Mora. those mountain ranges, and drag with them the small quantities of cultivable 7 Maize. earth which covers the core of the moun- tain. When they reach the valley below, 8 Panico (literally the ear of millet) is a grain similar to millet, they tumble into the Adda, so that in turn grown as birdseed. they crash against the banks and bridges in all the other points of shelter. Further dam- 9 Avalanches. age suffered by the inhabitants of Valtellina from this denuding of the mountain tops, 10 This is very probably Monte Campaccio (3007 m).

[XXVIII] “Universal Mind”

A further source of wealth is slate, a tion, there is no mention of any article on greenish, layered stone, with which to the thermal waters of Alta Valtellina or cover roofs instead of tiles. A busy cotton Masino. To this subject, however, Catta- factory employs a part of the population neo devoted a specific, if brief, para- at Chiavenna; the keeping of bees near graph in his greater work, Notizie natu- Bormio produces types of honey that are rali e civili su la Lombardia. said to be better than those of Spain; a

large number of producers of high and low Health waters in the Province of fat cheeses, the most popular of which Sondrio11 being the sweet cheese of the Valle del Valfurva. – In a lonely valley, eight miles Bitto keeps food in the mouths of many above Bormio toward the south-east, at the Alpine inhabitants, just as many others bottom of a marshy meadow, this water, make their living from making and selling also called the water of St. Catherine and charcoal. discovered around 1700, is collected with The four yearly fairs at Bormio, Chiaven- primitive equipment. It is cold; it develops na, Delebio and Tirano, and in particular gaseous carbonic acid and contains salts of the last three, provide very active business iron and also magnesium and sodium. The in horned beasts and sheep; the ten mar- people staying there in the height of the kets also held annually at Berbenno, summer number about 155, but many oth- Bormio, Chiavenna, Chiuro, Fusine, Gro- ers lodge in Bormio, having the mineral sio, Novate, Ponte, Tirano, and Valle s. Gia- water brought to them from the valley. It como, and the two weekly fairs held at was analyzed by Dr Peregrini12. Sondrio and Morbegno, are all reduced,

from the one at Chiavenna outwards, to a 11 Notizie naturali e civili su la Lombardia, Milan, published by

cold merchandising of foodstuffs and hab- Giuseppe Bernardoni di Giovanni, 1844, pp. 254-255 erdashery. How different from the popu- Pietro Martire Rusconi View of the new lous markets in the rest of Lombardy! and 12 Dr Luigi Peregrini, a Milanese chemist, analysed the thermal installations at the yet they are always busy and industrious. waters of Bormio and Santa Caterina in 1835, on the instructions Bagni di Bormio, in Francesco De Picchi, We will speak specifically about the waters of the Lombard-Venetian Government. This is attested to by the Cenni storico-medici sulle of the Masino and de’ Bagni of Bormio, writings of Francesco De Picchi Cenni storico-medici sulle acque acque termali di Bormio, aggiuntavi un’appendice another source of activity in Valtellina. termali di Bormio, aggiuntavi un’appendice intorno alle acque intorno alle acque acidulo-marziali di Santa Caterina in Valfurva, Sondrio, Tip. acidulo-marziali di Santa Caterina in Valfurva, In the bibliography of Carlo Cattaneo’s Provinciale Della Cagnoletta, 1835, pp. 16 and 52, and Metodo Sondrio,Tip. Provinciale writings compiled by Alessandro Levi in ragionato per bevere le acque salino-acidulo-marziali di Santa Della Cagnoletta, 1835 1928, which is still today the most author- Caterina presso Bormio coll’aggiunta della relativa analisi, (Sondrio, Biblioteca Civica Pio Rajna) itative catalogue of Cattaneo’s produc- Milan, Tip. Giuseppe Crespi, 1840, p. 36.

[XXIX] Carlo Cattaneo

Bormio. – A little higher than Bormio, along which Cattaneo traces a brief geographic the Via dello Stelvio, these springs bubble up profile of the mountainous chains that out- from the ground, some on the slopes of the line the Valtellina, the highest valleys of the mountain, others from its layers, yet Province of Sondrio and some of the most others in the bed of the Adda, with a tem- important communication passes with the perature ranging from 37° C to 44° accord- nearby Swiss Canton of Grigioni. ing to the season. They contain a little hydrogen sulphurate gas, with sodic, potas- The river, whose course determines the sic and magnesic salts and are used in most general position of the country [Lom- baths, fumigation, mud baths, and showers, bardy] is the Adda, which penetrates and and are applied also to animals. – They runs across it from one end to the other. belong to the eight Communes of the […] Above [Lario] starts the Val-Tellina […]; ancient County of Bormio, whose inhabi- the summit of the valleys, where Bormio is tants have the right to use it free of charge located, forms a tableland that is distinctly

and who number approximately 386 in the elevated (1221 m) and has a really northern annual balance. In the new building erected appearance. And from there, it is possible to by the eight Communes for the use of visi- go further up and enter the basin of Val- tors, about 147 bathers can be accommo- Furva (1768 m), at the foot of those vast dated. In all, the days of residence add up to glaciers which, with the exception of a few 3270. Analyzed by Dr. Peregrini. peaks in the western Alps, tower over all the Màsino. – In the interior of Val-Màsino, European continent. On the other side of which ends up between Sondrio and Bormio, with an only slightly greater climb, Traona, there are hot springs of 35° C to the pass of Fraele (1986 m) which can be 40° C containing predominantly salts of ridden upon, can be reached. From here, on sodium and magnesium. They are used in the side by now of the Black Sea, one comes drinks, douches, mud baths and fumiga- before the Val-Bruna and the other solitary tion. There is accommodation for the lands where the highest of our communes is needy and 175 bathers, amounting in all

per day to approximately 1000. 13 Padre Ottavio Ferrario (1787-1867), master of natural sciences

Analyzed by P. Ottavio Ferrario and Dr. at the Istituto di San Giovanni di Dio, where today’s 13 Peregrini . Fatebenefratelli originated, had published the analyses on the Geographical Atlas waters of Masino as an appendix in memory of Lodovico Balardini of Italy. Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto. A description of the mountains and Delle acque salino-termali del Masino nella Valtellina, printed in 14 no. 2. Government passes of Valtellina and 1835 by the Tipografia Provinciale Della Cagnoletta of Sondrio. of Milan. Provinces of Como Still taken from the Notizie naturali e civili The same memoire also gives the results of the analyses carried and Valtellina. su la Lombardia, in appropriate excerpts out by Dr. Peregrini. ca. 1840 and presented in a different order from the (Sondrio, Biblioteca Civica Pio Rajna) original, there are given below some texts in 14 Notizie…, cit., p. 13-14, 7-10.

[XXX] “Universal Mind”

to be found, the transalpine Livigno (1774 m). the north. At Campodolcino the height of Val-Tellina comprises two further branches, 1081 m is already reached; and the Pass of that is to say, the valleys of the Mera and the the Spluga is at 2117. Liro. Val-di-Mera, slightly higher than Chiavenna (332 m), takes the name of Val The Rhaetian Alps in our country [Lom- Pregallia, and belongs to the territory of bardy] form a great wall that is about 124 Grigioni; it is at 1091 m of altitude, under kilometres long, whose twists and turns as the Castle of Soglio, and (1497 m) at are shown by the Monti Bràulio, Pizzo- Casaccia, where it ends. From there, with a Ferro, Fuscagno, Bernina, Maloja, Sèttimo, climb of only 330 m. the Rhaetian Alps are Gallegione, Pizzo-Stella, Groppera, Spluga, crossed by the pass of the Maloja (1827 m). Tamburo15 and Ferraro16, constitute an arc The descent is to the plain of Alta Engadina, that turns towards the north and embraces full of the lakes of Silvaplana, which with the high valley of the Inn or Engadine, on the tributary of the nearby glaciers feed the all its northern slopes that extend from limpid streams of the Inn. However, if, tur- Monte Bràulio to Monte Sèttimo, and on ning to the left from Casaccia, the climb is the remaining side to the Rhine. On the made instead to Monte Sèttimo (2390 m), Italian side, all the waters flow into the one comes out on a rideable road at Bivio Adda, which runs below like a moat under a on the side of the Rhine, which place then, fortress. The topmost summit of the peak by the carriageway pass of Monte Giulio seems to be Monte Fuscagno, estimated at (2036 m), again joins Silvaplana. Since the 3088 m; the lowest gorge is Monte Maloja, bottom of all those secluded valleys is which rises nevertheless to 1827 m. But in already so high, to pass from one to the front of this continuous curtain wall, some other requires only a short climb, and these even higher peaks reach up like towers,

Eugenio Amus are the most accessible and least dangerous such as Pizzo Scalino (3330 m) between A spot in Valtellina and most ancient passes in the Alps. The Val-Puschiavo and Val-Malenco, and Monte with Garibaldi and his volunteers Pass of the Stelvio is almost one thousand moving towards the metres higher than Maloja and does not 15 This is the Tambò Peak (3275 m). Stelvio (detail), 1861 cross the main chain of the Alps. (Milan, Museo del Risorgimento) Val-di-Lirio points from Chiavenna towards 16 This is the Ferrè Peak (3103 m).

[XXXI] Carlo Cattaneo “Universal Mind”

Disgrazie (3678 m) between Val-Malenco then flanks the Val-Camònica for 45 miles and Val-Màsino, which seems the most lofty up to Monte Guglielmo; 120 kilometres in of all, and Monte Ligoncio (3320 m) all. Its highest glacier in our territory is between Val-Màsino and Val-Pregallia. Monte Zebrù (3871 m), since the Ortele The two biggest glaciers, which here are next to it, which is 46 metres higher (3814 given the name of vetrette or vetriali, are m), pushes out from the chain in the guise between the Bernina and the Maloja, back- of a bulwark and belongs to Val-Venosta. ing onto the Val-Malenco, and between the The most notable Passes in the Alpine part Sèttimo and the Gallegione backing onto of this chain are two: Tonale (1976 m), the Pregallia. The first feeds the small lakes which is 150 metres higher than the Pass of of Silvaplana, from which the Inn rises; the Maloja in the main chain of the Alps, the second is further to the east and is the main Pass of the Stelvio, the highest carriageway source of the Rhine. in the world (2814 m). […] Because of their This, properly, is the part of the main Alps height and continuity, the Camonj that touches our territory, though crossing Mountains always constituted a more effec- on both sides the soil of Grigioni in the two tive obstacle than the gorges of the Alps. stretches of Bernina and Maloja. […] And in fact the mountain ridge of the The Foothills of the Alps. – In the internal Stelvio is a separator of languages, whereas Alps, or the Foothills of the Alps, we shall the whole of the Rhaetian Alps, as will be see three chains, the Camonia, the Orobia seen, constitutes only a separator of and the Mesolcina, that are very distinct by dialects. height and structure. The Orobia Chain. – The second chain of the The Camonia Chain. – This starts from foothills to the Alps, or the Orobia Chain, an Monte Bràulio just above the Pass of the ancient boundary between the Grigione and Stelvio, between the basins of the Adda and the Veneto domains, also branches out from the Adige. It forms primarily an enormous the rim of Val-Furva, but runs from east to mass which, arranged in a precipitous cir- west in a parallel direction to the Rhaetian cle around the health springs of Val-Furva, Alps up to Lake Lario, almost forming a constitutes the culminating point (3917 m – repeated wall and leaving, as mentioned, 3871 m), not only of the Lombard-Veneto the deep ditch of the Val-Tellina in the mid- Kingdom, but of the whole Empire. Among dle. The first part of this chain, up to the those high glaciers are numbered Monte Pass of Aprica, can be said to be a branch of Cristallo, the Ortele, the Regio or Zebrù, the the Camonia chain and, in fact, separates Cevedale, the Ciuffalto17, the Confinale, the Val-Camònica from Val-Tellina; here are Rocca-Marzia18, the Tresero, and the Corno- found Monti Gavio (3582 m), Sobretta, Tre-Signori, which a few years ago marked Boerio, Serotti21, Mortarolo e Padrio. After the boundary between the States of Grigio- the Pass of Aprica, which descends to 1238 ni, the Vèneti and of the Bishop Prince of m, it continues in a prolonged wall up to Trento. The chain then breaks into the Monte Legnone, which, in an almost per- shape of a ridge and, under the name of pendicular mass, overhangs the Lario. In all Monte Tonale, famous in the superstitious

legends of our fathers, divides the Valley of 17 It is very probable that Cattaneo is referring to the Cima

Ollio, or Val-Camònica, from the Valley di Cevedale (3757 m), the lower peak of the Mountain of the same

Sole which belongs to the basin of the Adi- name, whose German toponym, still today, is Zuffallspitze. ge. Another formidable mass is then formed 19 around the glaciers of Monte Adamo (3556 18 This is the Rocca Marcia, a ridge situated between the Ceveda-

m), from which perhaps twenty deep valleys le and the Vioz, previously in the territory of Trento. Manuscript written then set off in all directions like rays and in the hand of Carlo 19 Cattaneo diverge to the Adige, the Ollio, and provide The Adamello. with notes from the the sources of the Clisio20 and the Sarca or Notizie statistiche 20 sulla Valtellina raccolte Alto-Mincio. […] The River Chiese. nell’anno 1842 dal The Camonia Chain first covers 20 miles, R. Delegato D.Ant. Lugani starting from the Stelvio and the main 21 This concerns the Corno di Boero (2878 m) and the Serottini (Milan, Museo del Risorgimento) chain of the Alps up to Corno-Tre-Signori, mountains (2967 m).

[XXXIII] Carlo Cattaneo this stretch, the highest summit is the with «a short note by the late Dr. Massara on Brunone (3061 m)22; the Pass of S. Marco, the rare plants of Valtellina, of which he the least harsh and most accessible, is equal numbers approximately 70, indicating for in height to the Alpine passes (1828 m). each one the particular valley where it could However, this chain, because of the lower be found». Exactly a month earlier, writing to height of its peaks, because of its narrow the same person with regard to the status of ridge and because of the protection provided the work during the preparatory stages of the behind it by the great Alps, does not contain guide, Cattaneo included in the list of «col- true perennial vetrette except around the laborators and contributors», Mr. Visconti sources of the Serio. […] Venosta, with a definite allusion to the man The Mesolcina chain. – The third chain of of letters and scholar of economics, foothills to the Alps and the lowest (2264 m) Francesco (Tirano, 1797-1846), the father of is the Mesolcina, which starts from the the more widely-known Emilio and Giov- Rhaetian Alps between the passes of the anni. The report that Visconti Venosta for- Spluga and the Bernardino, and with its warded to Cattaneo for the Notizie was so continuous ridge separates the side of the well constructed and comprehensive that it Adda from that of Ticino, up to Monte Jorio. deserved publication on its own. It came out, in fact, in installments from April to Notizie naturali e civili su la Lombardia is August 1844 in the “Annali Universali delle probably Carlo Cattaneo’s principle work. Scienze e dell’Industria” and was printed in The author defined it as «a collection of in- abstract, with the title Notizie statistiche formation on that region of Italy, by nature intorno alla Valtellina, to be given to the and civilization distinct from others, to scholars meeting at the VI Congresso degli which, because of singular circumstances, Scienziati held in Milan in September of the the name of Lombardy, already so vast and same year. It is obvious, in any case, that the variable, remained circumscribed». The work work of the Valtellina writer was of service to aimed, with the collaboration of local experts Cattaneo in the drafting of the Notizie natu- and specialists in the various fields of knowl- rali e civili su la Lombardia. edge, to provide a guide that could outline an Apart from the writings of Balardini, Rebus- organic framework to the Lombard territory chini and Visconti Venosta that have already through the «most necessary information» been mentioned, Cattaneo obtained informa- concerning «geological aspects, climate, tion on the Province of Sondrio from the waters, flora, fauna, the status of the popula- “Statistica dello Spluga” by the Engineer, tion and health arrangements, the different Galeazzo Krentzlin and from the reports by types of agriculture, business, industry, lan- Luigi Torelli, who at that time was a func- guage, primary origins and subsequent cul- tionary of Lombardy-Veneto in Milan, and by ture». Notizie naturali e civili came out in Antonio Lugani, who was present in 1844; the plan to produce a second volume, Valtellina from the eighteen-twenties, first as in which other materials that had already deputy-delegate, and then delegate, of the been partly collected and organized, was Imperial Royal Government. In fact, the abandoned in 1847. names of the latter also figure in Cattaneo’s Cattaneo’s correspondence, and above all the manuscripts on Valtellina that are conserved documents conserved in the Archive of the at the Museo del Risorgimento in Milan. In Museo del Risorgimento in Milan, allow us to particular, the notes inferred from the mem- establish which were the main references oirs of Lugani, dated 1842, for the substance made by this scholar in drafting the chapters and richness of their contents seem to have of the Notizie relating to Valtellina. fulfilled a fundamental importance in the A letter of 18 April 1844 to the Brescia preparation of the notes on Valtellina that Botanist, Vincenzo Casati, cites a manuscript Cattaneo included in his work on Lombardy.

22 The peak of the Brunone (2724 m) is found to the west of the

Redorta and is a little more than 3 kilometres distant from the * Consultant in cultural matters to the

Peak of di Coca (3052 m), which is the highest point of the Banca Popolare di Sondrio

Orobica chain.

[XXXIV] “Universal Mind”

Pier Carlo Della Ferrera was responsible for the biographical profile of Carlo Cattaneo and the art research.

Acknowledgements

Our grateful thanks go to The Historical Archive of the City of Lugano, Cattaneo’s House, the State Archive of Bellinzona, the Civic Library Pio Rajna at Sondrio, the Civic Historical Collections at the Museum of the Risorgimento of Milan, the Cultural Activities Department of the City of Lugano, the Cariplo Foundation of Milan, the Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Lugano, Guido Scaramellini and all those who, in various ways, have provided the information, details and advice that have contributed to producing this work.

Photographic References

Pino Brioschi, Bellinzona (p. II, XI, XV, XVI, XVIII, XX, XXII) Massimo Mandelli, Sondrio (p. XXIX, XXX) Paolo Manusardi, Milano (p. V, XXXI, XXXII) Angelo Sgualdino, Sondrio (p. XXIV, XXV) Foto Toso, Venezia (p. XXVI) DESIGN AND CO-ORDINATION SDB, Chiasso

GRAPHIC DESIGN Lucas Häfliger, Bellinzona

Reverse of flyleaf: Carlo Cattaneo, Di una nuova linea per la strada ferrata Lombardo-Veneta, in “Bollettino di notizie statistiche ed economiche”, vol. 52, no. 154 (Apr 1837)