III. GARIBALDI AND THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
Italy, as she exists, is a sad country. Where is there to be found acountry more favored by nature, with a lovelier sky, a climate moresalubrious, productions more varied and excellent, a population morelively or intelligent? Her soldiers, if well-directed, would undoubtedlyequal any of the first soldiers in the world; her sailors are secondto none. And yet all these advantages, all these favors of Nature,are neutralized by the connivance and co-operation of priests with anextremely bad government.
One finds misery, ignorance, weakness, servility to the stranger, whereone should see abundance, knowledge, strength, and haughtiness towardsintruders.
An unpopular government, which, instead of organizing a national armythat might be placed at the head of the first armies of the world,contents itself with accumulating many carbineers, policemen, andcustom-house officers, and spending, or rather squandering the money ofthe nation in immoral "secret expenses." A navy that might compete withthe most flourishing, is reduced to a pitiable condition, from its beingplaced under the direction of incompetent and dishonest persons. Botharmy and navy, according to their own officers, are not in a conditionto make war, but only serve to repress any national aspirations, and tosupport the spiritless policy of the Government.
Two abominable acts of treachery have been perpetrated by the ItalianGovernment.
The first act of treachery was ushered in by the arrest of GeneralGaribaldi at Asinalunga.
Eighteen years had passed away since the Roman people sent to theQuirinal their elected representatives, who, on the 9th of February,declared with solemn legality that the temporal power of the Pope wasabolished. The patriots in public assembly, in the light of day, andfrom the height of the Quirinal, unfurled the beautiful, the holy, andbeloved banner of the tricolor of Italy. Who quenched this patrioticfire?
Bonaparte in secret alliance with the fugitives of Gaeta. While theballs of the French canon fell on the citizens posted at the barricades,the representatives of the people replied to these cruel shots byagain proclaiming the statute of the Republic, and confiding the futureliberties of Rome to the charge of Garibaldi.
On September 16th, 1864, was concluded the pernicious convention ofSeptember, which the Moderates declared would open the gates of Rome.Its first result was that Turin saw its streets reddened with blood. Whywere the arms of their brothers turned upon the people who deserved sowell of Italy? Did they wish to overthrow the dynasty? Did they wish tooverthrow the form of government, or overturn the Ministers? Did theywish to upset social order? Did they arm themselves against theirbrethren of the army? Oh, no! they did not arm; they united peaceably,and peaceably cried for justice. Their cry was, "Rome the capital ofItaly." They did not wish the nation to betray itself; they did not wishthe nation to be dismembered; they did not wish the country any longerto serve the foreigner. Its protest was, therefore, against thatconvention which destroys the plebiscite of Southern Italy. To the noblecry, to the generous protest, the Government replied by directing itstroops upon the peaceful citizens; and the Piazza Castello and thePiazza San Carlo were bathed in blood. Unhappy Turin! the Moderate partystifled thy cries in thine own blood, betrayed thy solemn protests,called upon thee not to disturb the concord of the nation, and to thatfalse concord sacrificed thee and the nation alike. Widows and orphanswell remember the impunity given to the assassins of their loved ones inthe name of "concord." When will these crimes end? Without Rome, unityis forever menaced. Without Rome, we have neither moral nor politicalliberty. We have no independence, no right government; but we haveanarchy, dilapidation, servitude to the foreigner, and submission to thepriests.
The Moderates acknowledge Cavour as their leader: hear, then, Cavour.
The Italian Parliament, in 1861, when Cavour was Prime Minister,declared Victor Emanuel King of Italy, and declared Rome officiallythe seat of the new monarchy; and Cavour stated, in his place asPrime Minister, after having bestowed upon the question the utmostdeliberation, that "the ideas of a nation were few in number, and thatto the common Italian mind the idea of Italy was inseparable from thatof Rome. An Italy of which Rome was not the capital would be no Italyfor the Italian people. For the existence, then, of a national Italianpeople, the possession of Rome as a capital was an essential condition.""The choice of a capital," continued Cavour, "must be determined by highmoral considerations, on which the instinct of each nation must decidefor itself. Rome, gentlemen, unites all the historical, intellectual,and moral qualities which are required to form the capital of a greatnation. Convinced, deeply convinced as I am of this truth, I think it mybounden duty to proclaim it as solemnly as I can before you andbefore the country. I think it my duty also to appeal, under thesecircumstances, to the patriotism of all the Italian citizens, and of therepresentatives of our most illustrious cities, when I beg of them tocease all discussion on this question, so that Europe may become awarethat the necessity of having Rome for our capital is recognized andproclaimed by the whole nation."
How the Moderates followed this advice has been already seen. Butstatements were circulated in their papers, far and wide, in order toreconcile the Italian people to a convention, that the rights of theRoman people would not be interfered with; and when the French troopshad left, the people of Rome would have full liberty to act as theythought proper. It was in this view that General Garibaldi visitedOrvieto shortly before his arrest, where he was received with the mostunbounded enthusiasm, the entire city being in festive garb, whilst men,women, and children joined in according him an enthusiastic welcome.
"Our cry must no longer be 'Rome or death!'" he said; "on the contrary,it is 'Rome and life!' for international right permits the Romans torise, and will allow them to raise themselves from the mud into whichthe priests have thrown them."
It was at four o'clock on Tuesday morning, on the 5th of September,that General Garibaldi was arrested, by order of Ratazzi, in thelittle village of Asinalunga. He was sleeping in the house of ProfessorAqualucci, and he was, as the map will show, far from the Romanfrontier. He had been received with the utmost respect by the syndic andby the secretary of the municipality, and all the usual rejoicings tookplace, though it is stated that all the time the syndic had the orderfor the General's arrest in his pocket. General Garibaldi was conveyedto the fortress of Alexandria. In a day or two he was informed thathe would be entirely restored to liberty if he would consent to goto Caprera; he had full liberty to return to the mainland whenever hethought proper. Depending upon this ministerial assurance, he returnedto Caprera, having previously assured his friends in Genoa that he wasin full and perfect liberty. An Italian fleet was sent to guard Caprera,and on his attempting to leave the island to go on board the Rubeatinipostal steamers, his boat was fired at. He was taken on board aman-of-war, and conducted back to Caprera.
Then it was that, on the evening of the 14th of October, 1867, threeindividuals came down from the farm at Caprera towards Fontanazia; afourth passed by way of the wooden porch which joins the small ironcottage to the large Souse, and took the high road to Stagnatia--thelatter, by his dark physiognomy and the style of his apparel, appearedto be a Sardinian--the men belonging to the yacht which the munificenceand sympathy of the generous English nation had placed at the disposalof the General. The first three men might have been recognized by thatfamous distinction, the red shirt, had not this garment, in a greatmeasure, been concealed by the outer habiliments of each. They wereBarberini and Fruchianti, and the third we need not describe. Barberini,though not strong by nature, had a wiry arm and the heart of a lion;Fruchianti was far more robust.
The sirocco, with its melancholy breath, beat down the poor plants ofthe island, daughter of the volcanoes and of the sea, and denseblack clouds, chased by the impetuous winds, eddied on the summit ofVeggialone, and then became mingled with dense vapors, which on highermountains often form the centre of storms.
The three silent men descended, and on the way, whenever the unequalground permitted a view
of the port, they gazed with watchful eyes onthe three ships which rocked gracefully in the Bay of Stagnabella. Theyacht, with a small cannon at her bow, and a boat lashed to the poop,formed a strange contrast (completely deserted as she was) with themeu-of-war, their decks covered and encumbered with men.
It was six o'clock in the evening, and the sun had set, and the nightpromised, if not tempest, that disagreeable and oppressive weather whichthe sirocco generally brings from the burning plains of the desert. Thethree men having arrived on the Prato, Fruchianti said, "I leave you; Iam going to the left to explore the point of Araccio."
The two continued to descend; they passed--opening and shutting themagain--the four gates (?) of Fontanazia, and arrived under the dry wallwhich divides the cultivated part from the deserted shores.
Having reached that wall, the elder man threw off his cloak, changed hiswhite hat for a cap, and after having reconnoitred a time beyond the drywall, got over it with surprising agility. He now seemed to recall thestrength of his past life, and was reinvigorated as if by twenty years.Were not his sons and his brothers fighting against the mercenaries ofPapal tyranny? and could he remain quiet, murmuring complaints, or givehimself up to the shameful life of the indifferent?
Having crossed the wall, and turned to Barberini, the General said, "Letus sit down and smoke half a cigar," and drawing from his left pocket alittle case, a souvenir from the amiable Lady Shaftesbury, he litone, which he then handed to his companion, a great amateur of suchcommodities.
Meanwhile the first shadows of darkness began to obscure the atmosphere,but in the east they saw the appearance of a changing color, the firstherald of the coming moonlight.
"In three-quarters of an hour," said the General, "the moon will riseabove the mountains, and there is no time to lose."
Thereupon the two men took their way to the port, Giovanni was at hispost, and, with the aid of Barberini, in a moment the little skiff wasin the water, and the General sat on his cloak as low as possible. Afterlaunching the little boat into the sea, Giovanni embarked in thelarger one, and having assured himself of the progress of the first, heproceeded towards the yacht, merrily singing.
"Halt! who goes there?" twice cried the men-of-war's men, who had becomepolicemen to the Sardinian ruler. But he sang on, and did not seem tocare for their cries. Nevertheless, at the third intimation, Giovannireplied, "Going on board!" At this they seemed satisfied.
Meanwhile the little skiff pursued her course, coasting Carriano, atthe distance of two miles from the shore, partly propelling itself,and partly propelled by a boat-hook used in the American fashion. FromCarriano to Barabruciata, and thence to the point of Treviso, near whichappeared the form of the faithful Fruchianti.
"Nothing new as far as the rocks of Araccio," said Fruchianti.
"Then I push on," answered the General.
And his little boat dashed among the breakers. He gave a glance to thesmall island, which appeared at a convenient distance, and the tinyskiff was on the high sea.
Garibaldi, seeing the moonlight increase, paddled on with good will,and with the help of the breeze crossed the Straits of Moneta withsurprising velocity.
In the moonlight, at a certain distance, every reef appeared a boat; andas the squadron of Batazzi, besides so many launches for the shipsof war about Caprera, was also augmented by numerous vessels fromMaddalena, the sea all around the island was crowded with vessels,to prevent one man from fulfilling his duty. Nearing the coast of thelittle island of Giardinelli, not far from Maddalena, the skiff plungedamong the broken waters, which is there always, and coasted the shore,already illumined by the moon.
It is a fact that many people on service in every Government affect agreat deal of zeal in daylight, and in the presence, or the supposedpresence, of the chief. At the arrival of night, however, after agood supper and copious libations to Bacchus--at night, I say, whencommanders are sleeping or diverting themselves--zeal and vigilance diein exact proportion to the discipline and the interest which the motiveof the watch inspires. Thus, then, one must not ascribe all the meritto him who managed the boat, but more to the sleeping vigilance of thosewhose duty it was to have kept a better look-out, that he reached thelittle island safe and sound, without being molested by one solitarycall of "Who goes there?"
Having reached land, there were three paths to take: first, to row closeto the land; secondly, to leave the island to the left, and coast alongto the west; and thirdly, leaving the island to the right and followingthe coast, to approach the ford which separates it from Maddalena,where probably Basso and Captain Cunio were waiting. The first plan wasadopted.
After having drawn up the boat on the beach, the General proceeded atmidday in the direction of the ford, where, on his arrival, he heardcries from those who guarded the strait, and a few shots fired in thedistance.
At a short distance from the ford of the island there is a wall coveredwith creepers, which prevents the escape of the animals that pasturein the island; and at midday he reached a compound. Then also came theford, and through the wall there was a little passage formed of stones.
The General thought he could distinguish along the wall a file ofsailors lying down, and he was so much the more disposed to believe it,as Captain Cunio and Basso had seen seamen arrive on the island in thecourse of the day. This made him lose about half an hour waiting andreconnoitring, and Captain Cunio and Basso, imagining the shots directedat the boat, had concluded him taken or obliged to recede. Under thispersuasion the friends returned from the ford towards Maddalena, andwere greatly vexed when, towards 2 p.m., they were informed by theconfidential servant of Mrs. Collins that he, the General, had reachedher house. In fact, about 10 p.m., Garibaldi ventured to pass the littlestrait which divides the isle from Maddalena, and effected it withouthinderance, but was obliged, to his great inconvenience, to ride a longway down a road flooded with water, which had deluged it. He then camein sight of Mrs. Collins's house, sure of a good reception, but drewnear cautiously, apprehending that some one might be on the watch; andfinally, in a moment in which the moon was veiled by a dark cloud, heapproached the dwelling, and with the end of his Scotch walking-stickstruck at the window a few slight blows.
Mrs. Collins who had strong faith in the fortunes of the General, andwho was warned of his attempt, expected him, so that at the first soundshe advanced to the front door, opened it, and received her old neighborwith friendly greetings. And pleasant he found it to receive shelterafter such a wild night; so that the wanderer was once more safeand indeed happy in his friend's house, where a thousand cares andattentions were lavished on him.
After this there was a little difficulty in crossing Sardinia andreaching the main land. While the Government still supposed Garibaldi aprisoner at Caprera, he had arrived in safety at the Hotel de Florence!
Not less atrocious was the treachery used towards the volunteers. Theywere promised that as soon as the first French soldier disembarked thearmy should march on Rome, and the Government, to put the country offher guard, occupied several points of the Roman territory, and spread aconsiderable number of troops over the frontier that they might the moreeasily disarm the volunteers, as well as close up from them every path,so that no supplies or subsidies could reach them from their brothersand the Committee of Help.
Having thus isolated the volunteers and deprived them of succor andsupplies--especially the supply of ammunition, of which the Governmentknew them to be in want--they spread discouragement and demoralizationamong the young volunteers, and did all they could to betray and destroythem.
Rome being occupied by the French, and part of the Roman territory bythe Government troops, the Papal army _en masse_ could freely operateagainst the volunteers. The papal mercenaries, still alarmed by therecent defeats they had sustained, did not dare to confront alone theunarmed soldiers of liberty, and it was therefore determined that theFrench army should support the Papal troops.
The Government of Florence did not think it necessary to take part int
he glory of the battle of Mentana, by adding its troops to those of theFrench allies; or perhaps it believed, and with reason, that the Italianpeople would not have quite tolerated such an accumulation of villainy,although the Ministry would certainly have executed it of themselveswithout any remorse. It contented itself, therefore, with deprivingthe volunteers of their natural aids, with sowing diffidence anddiscouragement in the hearts of our youthful and impressible soldiers,and with giving the National Army Contingent orders to slaughter theflower of the Italian nation, their brother Italians.
Well was it for the soldiers of the Pope that they were backed by thoseof Bonaparte.
The battle of Mentana commenced at 1 p.m. on the 3d of November, betweenthe Papal troops and the volunteers. After two hours' desperate fightingthe mercenaries' lines had all fallen back, and our men marchedover their corpses in pursuit of the fugitives. But the new line ofImperialists advancing, and finding our youthful volunteers in thatdisorder incidental under these circumstances to men little disciplined,compelled them to retreat.
In this manner was accomplished two most execrable acts of treachery, towhich parallels can not be found in any page of the world's history.
IV. NOTES.
NOTE 1.
Among the cardinals nominated by Sixtus IV. was Raffaelle, who, underthe direction of his great uncle, Sixtus IV., had acted the principalpart in the bloody conspiracy of the Pazza. In assuming his seat amongthe fathers of the Christian Church, Giovanni de Medici, afterwards LeoX., found himself associated with one who had assisted in the murder ofhis uncle, and had attempted the life of his father. But the youth andinexperience of Riaro excused the enormity of a crime perpetrated underthe sanction of the supreme pontiff.
The eldest member of the college at this time was Roderigo Borgia, whohad enjoyed for upwards of thirty-five years the dignity of the purple,to which he had for a long time past added that of the vice-chancellorto the holy see.
The private life of Roderigo had been a perpetual disgrace to hisecclesiastical functions. In the Papal History by Dr. Beggi (edition1862, pages 553-556) we are told that this cardinal was at one timesovereign regent of Rome, that he had a ferocious and indomitableambition, with such a perverse spirit fomented by debauchery, luxury,and riches, that in the contempt of any pretense of virtue, he livedpublicly with a barefaced concubine named Rosa Vennozza, by whom he hadmany children. After his election to the chair of St. Peter, he createdhis eldest son Duke of Candia. Caesar Borgia was the second son; LucretiaBorgia was of the same stock, and the eldest of several daughters whomhe had by other mistresses.
On the death of Innocent VIII., Cardinal Roderigo Borgia, being the mostpowerful in authority and wealth, with cunning artifices, and corruptpromises to the Roman barons and the most influential cardinals--suchas the Sforzas, the Orsini, the Riarii, and others, ascended the papalchair under the title of Alexander VI.
NOTE 2.
A better illustration of the manner in which the Church of Rome appliesher patronage of the fine arts to the inculcation of her doctrines andthe increase of her power, can hardly be found than among the frescoesof the Campo Santo, Pisa. Here we have represented the most ghastlycartoons of death, judgment, purgatory, and hell; we behold angels anddevils fighting for the souls of the departed, snakes devouring, fiendsscorching, red-hot hooks tearing their flesh. Those on earth can, sosay the priests, rescue their unfortunate relatives from this melancholyposition by giving donations to their spiritual fathers, who will thenpray for their escape. We read in the New Testament that the rich enterheaven with difficulty, but it is they, according to the Church of Rome,who enter easily, whilst the poor are virtually excluded.
NOTE 3.
In foreign discussions on the papal question it is always assumed as anundisputed fact that the maintenance of the papal court at Rome is, ina material point of view, an immense advantage to the city, whatever itmay be in a moral one. Now my own observations have led me to doubt thecorrectness of this assumption. If the Pope were removed from Rome, orif a lay government were established--the two hypotheses are practicallyidentical--the number of the clergy would undoubtedly be muchdiminished, a large number of the convents and clerical endowments wouldbe suppressed, and the present generation of priests would be heavysufferers. This result is inevitable. Under no free government would orcould a city of 170,000 inhabitants support 10,000 unproductive personsout of the common funds--for this is substantially the case in Romeat the present day. Every sixteen lay citizens--men, women, andchildren--support out of their labor a priest between them. The papalquestion with the Roman priesthood is thus a question of daily bread,and it is surely no want of charity to suppose that the material aspectinfluences their minds quite as much as the spiritual. It is, however,a Protestant delusion that the priests of Rome live upon the fat of theland. What fat there is is certainly theirs. It is one of the mysteriesof Rome how the hundreds of priests who swarm about the streets manageto live. The clue to the mystery is to be found inside the churches. Inevery church--and there arty 866 of them--some score or two of massesare said daily at the different altars. The pay for performing a massvaries from sixpence to five shillings. The good masses--those paidfor by private persons for the souls of their relatives--are naturallyreserved for the priests connected with a particular church; while thepoor ones are given to any priest who happens to apply for them. Thenobility, as a body, are sure to be the supporters of an establishedorder of things; their interests, too, are very much mixed up with thoseof the papacy. There is not a single noble Roman family that has not oneor more of its members among the higher ranks of the priesthood. And ina considerable degree their distinctions, such as they are, and theirtemporal prospects, are bound up with the popedom. Moreover, in thisrank of the social scale the private and personal influence of thepriests through the women of the family is very powerful. The moreactive, however, and ambitious amongst the aristocracy feel deeply theexclusion from public life, the absence from any opening for ambition,and the gradual impoverishment of their property, which are thenecessary evils of an absolute ecclesiastical government.--_Dicey's"Rome in 1860_."
NOTE 4.
Many of our readers may have only an indistinct idea of the causes whichled to the siege of Rome in 1849; and to understand it we must turnfor a moment to the history of France. The revolution of 1848, whichdethroned Louis Philippe and the house of Orleans, and establisheda republican government in France, was the signal for a generalrevolutionary movement throughout Europe. The Fifth Article of thenew French Constitution stated, "The French Republic respects foreignnationalities. She intends to cause her own to be respected. She willnever undertake any sin for the purpose of conquest, and will neveremploy her arms against the liberty of any people." Prince LouisNapoleon was elected a member of the Chambers. He had fought for theItalian liberty in the year 1831, when the Bolognese revolution brokeout. Louis Napoleon had taken an active part in the campaign, and, aidedby General Sercognani, defeated the Papal forces in several places.His success was of short duration. He was deprived of his command, andbanished from Italy, and only escaped the Austrian soldiers by assumingthe disguise of a servant.* When the prince landed in France fromEngland, where he had resided several years, he caused a proclamationto be posted on the walls of Boulogne, from which we extract thefollowing:--
"I have come to respond to the appeal which you have made to mypatriotism. The mission which you impose on me is a glorious one, andI shall know how to fulfill it. Full of gratitude for the affection youmanifest towards me, I bring you my whole life, my whole soul.
"Brothers and citizens, it is not a pretender whom you receive into yourmidst. I have not meditated in exile to no purpose. A pretender is acalamity. I shall never be ungrateful, never a malefactor. It is as asincere and ardent Democratic Reformer that I come before you. I call towitness the mighty shade of the man of the age, as I solemnly make thesepromises:-
"I will be, as I always have been, the child of France.
"In every
Frenchman I shall always see a brother.
"The rights of everyone shall be my rights.
"The Democratic Republic shall be the object of my worship. I will beits priest.
"Never will I seek to clothe myself in the imperial purple.
"Let my heart be withered within my breast on the day when I forget whatI owe to you and to France.
"Let my lips be ever closed if I ever pronounce a word, a blasphemy,against the Republican sovereignty of the French people.
"Let me be accursed on the day when I allow the propagation, under coverof my name, of doctrines contrary to the democratic principle whichought to direct the government of the Republic.
* See "Vicissitudes of Families," by Sir Bernard Burke, pp. 294, 395. See also "The Autobiography of an Italian Rebel," by Riccalde, from p. 5.
"Let me be condemned to the pillory on the day when, a criminal and atraitor, I shall dare to lay a sacrilegious hand on the rights of thepeople--whether by fraud, with its consent, or by force and violenceagainst it."--See Courier de la Sarthe.
And on December 2d, 1848, he addressed the following letter to theEditor of the Constitutionnel:-
"Monsieur,--Sachant qu'on a remarque mon absence au vote pourl'expedition de Civita Vecchia, je crois devoir declarer, que bien queresolu a appuyer toutes les dispositions propres a garantir la liberteet l'autorite du Souverain Pontife, je n'ai pu neanmoins approuver, parmon vote, unie demonstration militaire qui me semblait perilleuse,meme pour les interets sacres que Ton veut proteger, et faite pourcompromettre la paix europeene.
(Signe) "L. N. Bonaparte."
It must also be borne in mind that the Emperor Napoleon, his uncle, hadcreated his own son King of Rome, and had detained the Pope a prisonerin France; when, therefore, Prince Louis Napoleon was elected Presidentof the French Republic, it was universally supposed that he wouldrejoice at the formation of a sister Republic in the Roman States. TheRoman Constituent Assembly elected by universal suffrage voted by onehundred and forty-three against five votes for the perpetual abolitionof the temporal government of the Pope.
On the 18th of April, 1849, the Constituent Assembly voted that amanifesto should be addressed to the Governments and Parliaments ofEngland and France. In this document it was stated, "That the Romanpeople had a right to give themselves the form of government whichpleased them; that they had sanctioned the independence and freeexercise of the spiritual authority of the Pope; and that they trustedthat England and France would not assist in restoring a governmentirreconcilable by its nature with liberty and civilization, and morallydestitute of all authority for many years past, and materially so duringthe previous five months."
Notwithstanding this, the French Government dispatched a French army toCivita Vecchia, where they landed on the 27th of April, 1849. GeneralOudinot declared that the flag which he had hoisted was that of peace,order, conciliation, and true liberty, and he invited the Roman peopleto co-operate in the accomplishment of this patriotic and sacred work.He also declared that the French had landed, not to defend the existingPontifical Government, but to avert great misfortunes from the country.France, he added, did not arrogate to herself the right to regulateinterests which belonged to the Roman people and extended to the wholeChristian world. The prefect of the province replied, "Force may do muchin this world, but I am averse to believe that republican France willemploy its troops to overthrow the rights of a republic formed underthe same auspices as her own. I am convinced that when you ascertainthe truth you will feel assured that in our country the republic issupported by the immense majority of the people."
The Roman Government--which was a triumvirate consisting of Mazzini,Armellini, and Aurelio Saffi--resolved to oppose force by force, andthe Assembly did not hesitate. The Triumvirate intrusted to GeneralGaribaldi, who arrived the same evening, the defense of the city ofRome. It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm which took possessionof the population at the sight of him. The courage of the peopleincreased with their confidence, and it appeared as if the Assembly hadnot only decreed defense but victory.
Garibaldi upheld for three months in the future capital of the nationthe national flag, against the forces of France, Austria, Naples, andSpain. Twice were the French troops attacked at the point of the bayonetand repulsed far beyond the walls. It was afterwards stated byFrench writers, that the French soldiers only intended to make are-connoissance, and had fallen into a snare. This is not true. TheFrench general had resolved upon a battle, the plan of which was foundon the body of a French officer killed in the conflict, and transmittedto the Minister of War. It was after this victory that Garibaldi, seeingall the advantages of his situation, wrote to Avizzana, Minister of War:"Send me fresh troops, and as I promised to beat the French, andhave kept my word, I promise you I will prevent any one of them fromregaining their vessels." It was then that Mazzini, placing all hishopes on the French democratic party, of which Ledru-Rollin was thechief, interposed his authority. He refused the fresh troops asked for,and ordered Garibaldi not to make a mortal enemy of France by completedefeat.
On Monday, 7th May, in the French National Assembly there was ananimated discussion on the French expedition to Rome, M. Jules Favrehaving denounced its proceedings as contrary to the intention avowedby ministers, which was to prevent foreign interference at Rome, and asclearly opposed to the wishes of the Roman people; he also stated, onthe authority of private letters, that five unsuccessful assaults hadbeen made, that 150 men had been killed and 600 wounded, and he ended bymoving the appointment of a committee. M. Barrot, the President of theCouncil, declared that the object of the expedition was, really, toprevent another power from interfering in the affairs of Rome, andexpressed his belief that General Oudinot had not acted contrary to hisinstructions, though the army might have fallen into a snare. He opposedthe committee as unconstitutional, and called upon the Assembly toreject the motion. General Lamoriciere believed that General Oudinotmight have been deceived as to the wishes of the people at Rome.
Mr. Flocon announced that barricades had been erected at Rome, and thatthe French residents would fight against the new-comers. After somefurther discussion, M. Barrot acquiesced in the motion, and the memberswithdrew to appoint the committee.
The sitting was resumed at nine o'clock, when the report of thecommittee was presented. It stated that as the idea of the Assembly hadbeen that the expedition sent to Civita Vecchia ought to remain there,unless Austria moved on Rome, or a counter revolution in that cityrendered an advance necessary, the committee considered that more hadbeen done than had been intended, and it therefore proposed a resolutiondeclaring that the National Assembly requested the Government to takemeasures that the expedition to Italy be no longer turned aside from itsreal object. M. Drouyn de Lhuys, on the part of the Government, said hemust positively refuse to order the troops to return to Civita Vecchia,their presence being required by events at Rome. The ministerfurther declared that the Government fully supported its agent, thegeneral-in-chief, and the more so that the details of the encounter atRome were wanting. M. Lenard accused the ministry of wishing to putdown the Roman Republic. After various amendments had been proposed andrejected, the resolution of the committee was carried against ministersby a majority of 328 to 241. The result was received with loud cheers,and cries of "Vive la Republique," and the Chamber adjourned at aquarter past one o'clock.
Notwithstanding this vote of the French National Assembly, the Presidentof the Republic, Prince Louis Napoleon, addressed a letter to GeneralOudinot, in which he says: "I had hoped that the inhabitants ofRome would receive with eagerness an army which had arrived there toaccomplish a friendly and disinterested mission. This has not been thecase; our soldiers have been received as enemies, our military honoris-engaged. I shall not suffer it to be assailed. Reinforcements shallnot be wanting to you."
The envoy of the Roman Government in Paris addressed the followingletter, in the name of the Roman people, to their brothers in France:"A sanguinary combat has ta
ken place between the inhabitants of Rome andthe children of France, whom rigorous orders urged against our homes;the sentiment of military honor commanded them to obey their chiefs,the sentiment of patriotism ordered us to defend our liberties andour country. Honor is saved, but at what a price! may the terribleresponsibility be averted from us, who are united by the bondsof charity. May even the culpable be pardoned; they are punishedsufficiently by remorse. Health and fraternity.--L. Tarpolei, Colonel,Envoy Extraordinary, of the Roman Republic in Pans."
In the next sitting of the French Assembly, the subject of thePresident's letter to General Oudinot was brought forward by M. Grevy,in reply to whom M. Odillon Barrot stated that though the letter inquestion was not the act of the Cabinet, he and his colleagues wereready to assume the whole responsibility of it. He declared that theobject of the letter was merely to express sympathy with the army, andthat it was not intended as the inauguration of a policy contrary tothat of the Assembly.
General Changamier placed the letter of the President of the Republic toGeneral Oudinot on the orders of the day of every regiment in the Frenchservice, although M. Odillon Barrot declared in the Assembly that itwas not official. Also General Foret refused to obey the orders of thePresident of the Assembly by sending two battalions to guard it duringits sitting; a breach of orders which was brought under the noticeof the Assembly by M. Armand Manest, and apologized for by M. OdillonBarrot. On the 9th of May, M. Ledru-Rollin declaimed the letter of thePresident to General Oudinot to be on insolent defiance of the NationalAssembly, and a violation of the Constitution.
Ultimately the debate was adjourned on the motion of M. Grevy and M.Favre, in consequence of M. Odillon Barrot having announced that M.Lesseps, the late minister from Paris at Madrid, had been sent by theGovernment as an envoy to Rome to express to the Roman people the wishesof the Assembly, which showed that the Government did not intend tooppose the Assembly.
The Paris correspondent of the _Morning Chronicle_, noticing the stormydebates in the French Assembly, says: "In the last three days troopshave been pouring into Paris, and the number of men now garrisoning thecapital is upwards of 100,000."
We will now return to Rome, and to the day of the first victory overthe French. The joy which pervaded Rome in the evening and night whichfollowed this first combat may be easily supposed. The whole city wasilluminated, and presented the aspect of a national fete. Songs andbands of music were heard in all directions. The next day, the 1st ofMay, Garibaldi received from the Minister of War authority to attack theFrench with his legion. He took up a splendid position on a height onthe flank of the French army; but at the moment the Italians wereabout to charge, a French officer arrived and demanded a parley withGaribaldi. He stated that he was sent by General Oudinot to treat for anarmistice, and to be assured that the Roman people really accepted theRepublican Government, and were determined to defend their rights. Asa proof of his good intentions, the French General offered to give upGaribaldi's favorite chaplain, Ugo Bassi, who (having the evening beforerefused to leave a dying man whose head he was holding on his knees) hadbeen taken prisoner.
The Roman Minister of War ordered Garibaldi to return to Rome, which hedid, accompanied by a French officer. The armistice requested by GeneralOudinot was accorded by the Triumvirs, and the Republican Governmentgranted unconditional liberty to fully 500 French prisoners in theirhands. A letter from Garibaldi, after speaking of the bravery displayedby the Roman troops, says: "A quantity of arms, drums, and othermatters have remained in our hands. The wounded French, before expiring,expressed their sorrow for having fought against their republicanbrethren."
The King of Naples, at the head of his army, was now marching upon Rome.Seeing this, Garibaldi whom the armistice left unoccupied, demandedpermission to employ his leisure in attacking the King of Naples. Thispermission was granted, and on the evening of the 4th of May, Garibaldileft the city with his legion, now 2500 strong.
On May 6th, General Garibaldi gained the battle of Palestrina,completely defeating the Neapolitans, 7000 strong, and taking theirartillery. Shortly after, however, the ambassador of the FrenchRepublic, Ferdinand de Lesseps, entered Rome with Michael Accrusi, theenvoy of the Roman Republic in Paris, and by means of the good officesof the French Ambassador, the armistice, against which General Garibaldihad given a strong opinion, was concluded. The Roman Government resolvedto take advantage of this truce to get rid of the Neapolitan army. Atthe same time Mazzini first created Colonel Roselli a general, and thennamed him general-in-chief of the forces. The friends of Garibaldi urgedupon him not to accept a secondary position under a man who the daybefore only had been his inferior. The General, however, was utterlyinaccessible to personal considerations where the welfare of his countrywas concerned, and he therefore accepted, he states himself, even withgratitude, the post of general of division.
On the 16th May the entire army of the Republic, consisting of 10,000men and twelve pieces of cannon, marched out of the city of Rome bythe San Giovanni gate, General Garibaldi being ordered to proceedin advance. He had received information that the Neapolitan army wasencamped at Velletri, with 19,000 to 20,000 men and thirty pieces ofcannon.
In the end the army of the King of Naples was again entirely defeated byGeneral Garibaldi's division alone. In an early part of the day he sentto the commander-in-chief for reinforcements, and received for answerthat soldiers could not be sent, as they had not eaten their soup. Hethen resolved to do what he could with his own strength, and victoryagain crowned his efforts. Towards midnight his troops took possessionof Velletri itself.
At daybreak the General resumed the pursuit of the Neapolitans; but hereceived orders to return to Rome, which he re-entered on the 24th ofMay, amidst an immense multitude, who hailed him with the wildest criesof joy. The utter incapacity of General Roselli is now acknowledged byall; however, in those days, he shared the views of the Roman Governmentregarding the French.
In the mean time, General Oudinot, having received the reinforcementswhich he required, disavowed the treaty entered into by the RomanGovernment and the envoy extraordinary of his master the President ofthe French Republic. It would have been thought that the dream ofa French alliance would now have faded from the ideas of the RomanGovernment, but they were only half convinced even yet, and they allowedtheir commander-in-chief, the newly created General Roselli, to indite aletter, from which the following is an extract:-
"General Oudinot, Duke de Reggio: Citizen,--It is my perfect convictionthat the army of the Roman Republic will one day fight side by side withthe army of the French Republic to maintain the most sacred rights ofpeoples. This conviction leads me to make you proposals, which I hopeyou will accept. It is known to me that a treaty has been signed betweenthe Government and plenipotentiary minister of France, a treaty whichhas not received your approbation." The letter goes on to request anunlimited armistice, with a notification of fifteen days before theresumption of hostilities, asked in the name of the honor of the armyand of the French Republic, and concludes, "I have the honor to requesta prompt reply, General, begging you to accept the salutation offraternity.
"Roselli."
To this the French general replied:-
"General,--The orders of my Government are positive. They prescribe tome to enter Rome as soon as possible. * * * I defer the attack of theplace until Monday morning at least. Receive, General, the assurance ofmy high consideration.
"OUDINOT, Duc DE REGGIO,
"_General-in-chief of the Corps de l'Armee of the Mediterranean._"
According to this assurance the attack would not commence till the 4thof June.
"It is true," writes General Garibaldi, "what a French author, Foland,has said in his commentaries upon Polybius, 'A general who goes to sleepon the faith of a treaty awakes a dupe.' I was aroused at three o'clockby the sound of cannon: I found every thing on fire. This is what hadhappened: Our advanced posts were at the Villa Pamphili. At the momentmidnight was striking, and we were entering on the day of S
unday, the 3dof June, a French column glided through the darkness towards the VillaPamphili.
"'Who goes there?' cried the sentinel, warned by the sound of footsteps.'Viva Italia!' cried a voice. The sentinel, thinking he had to do withcompatriots, suffered them to approach, and was poniarded. The columnrushed into the Villa Pamphili. All they met with were either killedor made prisoners. Some men jumped through the windows into the garden,and, when once in the garden, climbed over the walls. The most forwardof them retired behind the convent of St. Pancrazio, shouting 'Toarms! to arms!' whilst others ran off in the direction of the VillasValentini and Corsini. Like the Villa Pamphili, these were carried bysurprise, but not without making some resistance.
"When I arrived at the St. Pancrazio gate, the Villa Pamphili, the VillaCorsini, and the Villa Valentini alone remained in our hands. Now theVilla Corsini being taken was an enormous loss to us; for as long as wewere masters of that, the French could not draw their parallels. At anyprice, then, that must be retaken: it was for Rome a question of life ordeath. The firing between the cannoneers of the ramparts, the men of theVascello, and the French of the Villa Corsini and the Villa Valentini,increased. But it was not a fusillade or a cannonade that was necessary;it was an assault, a terrible but victorious assault, which mightrestore the Villa Corsini to us. For a moment the Villa Corsini wasours. That moment was short, but it was sublime! The French broughtup all their reserve, and fell upon us altogether before I could evenrepair the disorder inseparable from victory. The fight was renewed moredesperately, more bloodily, more fatally than ever. I saw repass beforeme, repulsed by those irresistible powers of war, fire and steel, thosewhom I had seen pass on but a minute before, now bearing away theirdead.
"There could no longer be any idea of saving Rome. From the momentan army of 40,000 men, having thirty-six pieces of siege cannon, canperform their works of approach, the taking of a city is nothing but aquestion of time; it must one day or other fall. The only hope it hasleft is to fall gloriously. As long as one of our pieces of cannonremained on its carriage, it replied to the French fire; but on theevening of the 29th the last was dismounted."
Garibaldi was summoned before the Assembly, and this is his history ofwhat happened:-
"Mazzini had already announced to the Assembly the position we now stoodin: there remained, he said, but three parts to take--to treat with theFrench; to defend the city from barricade to barricade; or to leavethe city, assembly, triumvirate, and army, carrying away with them thepalladium of Roman liberty.
"When I appeared at the door of the chamber all the deputies rose andapplauded. I looked about me and upon myself to see what it was thatawakened their enthusiasm. I was covered with blood; my clothes werepierced with balls and bayonet thrusts. They cried, 'To the tribune! tothe tribune!' and I mounted it. I was interrogated on all sides.
"'All defense is henceforth impossible,' replied I, 'unless we areresolved to make Rome another Saragossa.' On the 9th of February Iproposed a military dictatorship, that alone was able to place on foota hundred thousand armed men. The living elements still subsisted; theywere to be sought for, and they would have been found in one courageousman. If I had been attended to, the Roman eagle would again have madeits eyrie upon the towers of the Capitol; and with my brave men--and mybrave men know how to die, it is pretty well seen--I might have changedthe face of Italy. But there is no remedy for that which is done. Letus view with head erect the conflagration of which we no longer are themasters. Let us take with us from Rome all of the volunteer army who arewilling to follow us. Where we shall be, Rome will be. I pledge myselfto nothing; but all that my men can do that I will do; and whilst ittakes refuge in us our country shall not die."
In the end the following order was issued:-
"The Roman Republic, in the name of God and the People. The RomanConstituent Assembly discontinues a defense which has become impossible.It has its post. The Triumvirate are charged with the execution of thepresent decree."
NOTE 5.
An attempt has recently been made to give to the so-called Moderateparty the merit of planning a United Italy. Mr. Stansfield, one of theLords of the Admiralty, whose recent efforts to reform his departmenthave already earned for him the gratitude of the English people, says:"Italy has already accomplished of her unity so much that no policy savethat of an absolute completion of the task is any longer to be dreamedof or suggested, and considering, too, how predominantly the credit andthe practical fruits of that success have, in the opinion of the worldand in the possession of power, inured to the benefit of the Moderateparty, it would seem natural to imagine that they too must have had theunity of their country long in view, and that they can have differedonly from the National party as to the policy best adapted to theattainment of a common object; and yet I believe the acceptance of theidea of Italian unity, as an object of practical statesmanship, by theleaders of the Moderate party, must be admitted to be of a very recentdate. I will go back to Gioberti, who was the founder of that party. Inthe Sardinian Chambers on the 10th of February, 1849, on the eve of theshort campaign which ended in the defeat of Novara, Gioberti said:'I consider the unity of Italy a chimera; we must be content with itsunion. And if you look to the writings, the speeches, the acts of allthe leading men of the Moderate party until a very recent period, youwill find them all, without exception, not only not propounding oradvocating unity, or directed to its accomplishment, but explicitlydirected to a different solution. You will find the proof of what Isay in Balbo's 'Hopes of Italy;' in Durando's 'Essay on ItalianNationality,' advocating three Italies, north, centre, and south;in Bianchi Gioviners work entitled 'Mazzini and his Utopias;' andin Gualterio's 'Revolutions of Italy.' Minghetti, Ricasoli, Farini eachand all have been the advocates of a confederation of princes ratherthan of a united Italy. Let me come to Cavour. An attempt has recentlybeen made to claim for him the credit of having since the days of hisearliest manhood conceived the idea of making himself the minister ofa future united Italy. In an article in the July Quarterly, by awell-known pen, a letter of Cavour, written about 1829 or 1830, is citedin implied justification of this claim. He had been placed under arresta short time in the Fort de Bard, on account of political opinionsexpressed with too much freedom. In a letter to a lady who had writtencondoling with him on his disgrace, he says:--'I thank you, Madame laMarquise, for the interest which you take in my disgrace; but believeme, for all that, I shall work out my career. I have much ambition--anenormous ambition; and when I become minister I hope to justify it,since already in my dreams I see myself Minister of the Kingdom ofItaly.' Now this is, I need not say, a most remarkable letter, and ofthe greatest interest, as showing the confidence in his own future, atso early an age, of one of the greatest statesmen of our times. But noone acquainted with the modern history of Italy, and familiar with itsrecognized phraseology, could read in this letter the prophecy ofthat unity which is now coming to pass. The 'Kingdom of Italy,' is awell-known phrase borrowed from the time of Napoleon, and has alwaysmeant, until facts have enlarged its significance, that the kingdom ofNorthern Italy, whose precedent existed under Napoleon, which was theobject of Piedmontese policy in '48 and '49, and one of the explicitterms of the contract of Pombier's in '59. It is rather a curiousinconsistency in the article in question, that in itself furnishes ampleevidence that the unity of Italy was not part of the practical programmeof the Moderate party. 'Cavour,' we are told, founded in 1847 with hisfriends, Cesare Balbo, Santa Rosa, Buoncampagni, Castelli, and other menof moderate constitutional views, the _Risorgimento_, of which he becamethe editor; and the principles of the new periodical were announced tobe 'independence of Italy, union between the princes,' and the people'sprogress in the path of reform, and a league between the ItalianStates." Again, after saying that it was Ricasoli and the leaders of theconstitutional party who recalled (in '49) the Grand Ducal family toTuscany, and that Geoberti proposed the return of the Pope to Rome, thewriter goes on to say, "It was an immense advantage to the restoredprinces to ha
ve been thus brought back by the most intelligent andmoderate of their subjects. All that the wisest and most influential menin Italy asked, was a federal union of the different states in thePeninsula, upon a liberal and constitutional basis, from which even theHouse of Austria was not to be excluded."
I must trouble you with one more quotation. At the Conference of Parisin 1855, after the Crimean war, Piedmont was represented by Cavour,who brought before the assembled statesmen the condition of Italy, butunable to enter fully into the Italian question, he addressed two statepapers on it to Lord Clarendon. His plan--at any rate, for the temporarysettlement of the question--was a confederation of Italian States withconstitutional institutions, and a guaranty of complete independencefrom the direct interference and influence of Austria; and thesecularization of the legations with a lay vicar under the suzerainty ofthe Pope. At that time he would have been even willing to acquiesce inthe occupation of Lombardy by Austria, had she bound herself to keepwithin the limits of the treaty of 1815.
Now you can not, I think, have failed to note the glaring inconsistencyof these praises of what is called the moderation of Cavour, with theassumption to him and to his party of the whole credit of Italian unity,and the theory, now too prevalent, that no other party has contributedany thing but follies and excesses, impediments, not aids, to theaccomplishment of the great task. I believe such ideas to beas profoundly ungenerous and unjust as they are evidentlyself-contradictory, and I believe that they will be adjudged by historyto be, so far as they are in any degree in good faith, superficial,partial, and utterly incapable of serving as any explanation of themethod of the evolution of the great problem of Italian nationality.
Now let another witness be called into court, the late Prime Ministerof Italy, Farina, on the authority of the Turin Times correspondent, whowrote September 12,1861: "You have not forgotten that in the Jemilia,Farina used, with great bitterness, to complain of the worthlessness ofthe Moderate party in time of trial and strife."*--_From "Garibaldi andItalian Unity" by Lieut.-Col. Chambers, 1864_.
* Count Cavour wrote from Paris In 1866 to M. Rattazzi the following "I have seen Mr. Manin. He is a very good man, but he always talks about the unity of Italy, and such other tomfooleries." Also La Larina, Cavour's agent in Italy in 1860, published in that year the following explanation of his differences with General Garibaldi:--He stated, "I believed, and still believe, that the only salvation for Sicily is the constitutional government of Victor Emanuel." This explanation was published before Garibaldi crossed to the main land; and had Cavour gained his point, and obtained annexation, the kingdom of Naples would now have been under Bourbon rule.
END.
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