Touching the Springs of Action: Mazzini’s Influence in the British Idealism Movement

Mazzini's prominent role within British cultural life has been the object of numerous studies. His moral steadfastness and his genius were praised by the greatest poets and intellectuals of the time. But despite this, little consideration has been paid to the fundamental role Mazzini has played in the origin and the development of a set of political ideas which characterize the movement of the British Idealists. Recent observations, based on Mazzini's commitment to J. Nichol Oxford's club, The Old Mortality, have tried to fill this gap. As A. de Sanctis claims: “At the Old Mortality Society it was possible to breathe an air which was deeply impregnated by Mazzinian suggestions”. Probably inspired by de Sanctis's reflections, the same Director of the Centre for Idealism and the New Liberalism, C. Tyler, has recognized the impact Mazzini had on at least those republican fellows as A. C. Bradley, E. Caird, A.V. Dicey, A. Toynbee and T. H. Green. Tyler's analysis focuses particularly on the relationship between Green's ideas of progress, State and education with those of Mazzini. His brilliant analysis goes to the very depths of the philosophical legacy left by Mazzini. Nonetheless, the limitation of the search area to the central figure of Green has left aside few authors often regarded as secondary within British Idealism itself. Such authors, like J. MacCunn, J. S. Mackenzie, C. E. Vaughan and H. D. Oakeley, which have been strongly infleunced by Green's teaching, are all affected to some degree by Mazzini's ideas. Thus, due to their relevant philosophical activity, which extends over the Edwardian period, it is extremely important to point out their reinterpretation of Mazzini in the light of new social and political issues.