CAVOUR, Gustavo Benso, Marquis of. - Born January 27, 1806 in Turin, died there February 26, 1864. Elder brother of Camillo Cavour, he inherited from his father, by right of primogeniture, the title of Marquis. Endowed with an excellent memory and vast culture, he was naturally inclined toward liberal institutions; but, while opposing absolutism, he was inclined toward measures of a reformist character rather than radical provisions.
Bound by true friendship to his brother, he admired his intellectual gifts and urged him to devote himself to the office of writer. Having lost his wife at a very young age, at 27, he immersed himself in studies, especially philosophical ones, and made the acquaintance of Rosmini in 1836, whom he loved and associated with intimately. Cavour became an enthusiastic disseminator of Rosminianism in Piedmont, Switzerland and France. He published in the Bibliothèque universelle de Genève a series of three articles, introductory to the study of the doctrines of the philosopher of Rovereto (Des ouvrages philosophiques de M. l'abbé Rosmini, new series, 11, 14, 15 [1837-38]). Three years later, he expanded this exposition, and the result was a small volume entitled Fragments philosophiques. This admiration of his for Rosmini also made him the protagonist of a quite lively controversy with Gioberti. Having found, during a stay in Paris, in the Catholic newspaper Cuiwars an article contrary to Rosminian doctrines and in favor of Gioberti's, Marquis Gustavo replied in the same paper in a harsh manner; nor did he limit the polemic to the merely scientific field, but made about Gioberti personal judgments that did not correspond to the truth, which deeply wounded Gioberti. Cavour continued his activity as a writer in the following years, publishing a philosophical essay on communist ideas (Des idées communistes et des moyens d'en combattre le développement, in Bibliothèque universelle, 4th series, 1 [1846], pp. 5-59), and other writings. He was also a contributor to the Armonia della religione con la civiltà.
He was a deputy in the fourth legislature of the Subalpine Parliament (1852-53) and retained his mandate also in the subsequent elections, until his death. Highly esteemed by his colleagues for his zeal in the work of the assembly, he intervened several times effectively in the debates of the Chamber.
In the discussion on the bill on civil marriage, presented by the Minister of Justice Boncompagni, Cavour declared that he was not opposed to the law itself and that he acknowledged the necessity of separating canonical from civil legislation, but that he could not approve certain amendments proposed by the Left that could cause scruples of conscience in believers. "A sincere Catholic," he said on that occasion, "I believe that Catholicism has nothing to fear from a true law of liberty. Sincerely loving constitutional liberty, I hold that a law can never be called truly liberal which offends, even in the smallest matters, even a scrupulous conscience" (session of July 1, 1852). Consistent with this attitude was also the speech that the Marquis delivered on January 9 and 10, 1855 during the discussion of the bill on the suppression of religious communities. After having affirmed that the provisions of the bill seemed to him contrary "to the principles of justice and rectitude," he went on to define the liberalism of the supporters of the law itself: "For many, he is not liberal who, loving liberty for himself and for others, wants it decisively for all; in the eyes of these people, to be liberal, it is necessary to have at least a suitable dowry of priestophobia, one must nurture a more or less gilded hostility against those peaceful associations, in which man, placed beyond the reach of the terrible yoke of the passions, at least does harm to no one, and very often still finds a way to render to his fellow men splendid and very great services." And he voted against the law presented by the ministry presided over by his brother. He was also in opposition during the debate on the treaty of alliance concluded with France and England for the Crimean War.
Bibliography6 works
Silvio Furlani