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CHAPTER XIX
"This Pius the Ninth for us, Romans, has made
Short joy and long grief by his treacherous trade.
Beguil'd and oppress'd, we have lost ev'ry hope:
Then unpope him, unpope him, unpope the false pope."
G. Rossetti.
"Priests of Italy! we can conquer without you, but do not wish to. Are you not our brothers?" —Manzini.
"Have the Roman people submitted quietly to the Popes' temporal power? History records more than one hundred and sixty rebellions against it in ten centuries." —An Italian writer.
"Curia Romana non petit ovem sine lana." —Modern Roman proverb.
THE POPE URGED BY FRANCE AND SARDINIA TO DISMISS HIS FOREIGN TROOPS – INCONSISTENCIES OF LOUIS NAPOLEON – MARKED CHANGES OF TIMES, DOCTRINES, AND MEASURES – VICTOR EMANUEL'S DEMANDS PRESSED ON THE POPE – CONSPIRACIES AND INSURRECTIONS IN THE POPE'S REMAINING DOMINIONS – THE ULTIMATUM REFUSED – GENERAL CIALDINI MARCHES – BATTLE OF CASTELFIDARO – CAPTURE OF SPOLETO, ANCONA, PERUGIA, AND OTHER PLACES – VICTOR ENTERS THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES
We must now leave Garibaldi for a time, and devote a chapter to the affairs of the Pope and Sardinia.
The Emperor of the French and Victor Emanuel had long since advised and urged the Pope to dismiss his foreign troops, with which he garrisoned his fortresses, and not only kept the people in awe, but oppressed them intolerably; but he, under the influence of his prime minister, Antonelli, stubbornly refused, as well as persisted in denying every proposition for the removal of abuses. Adhering to the old and impious claim of divine right, as the vicegerent of God on earth, and hoping, no doubt, that Austria would be able to come to his aid with her armies, when every intelligent eye saw that Austria was hardly able to stand alone, the pope had excommunicated Victor Emanuel, and even Louis Napoleon in fact, though without naming him, at a time when the latter was still upholding with his army the papal power in Rome, which he had restored by besieging that city in 1849. There was an abundance of inconsistencies and self-contradictions on all sides; and it would have been difficult to point out any way in which either of the three sovereigns could consistently move, speak or even stand still. But good men rejoice when good is done, and sometimes the more when it is effected in an unexpected quarter. In 1849 the Roman republic was overthrown by French cannon, though created by the free suffrage of the Pope's subjects; and, in 1860, most of the Pope's territory and fortresses were to be captured in siege and battle, in order to drive out foreign troops, whose presence was "an insult to Italy," and to allow the inhabitants freedom to vote for annexation to Piedmont.
England had often protested to the kings of Naples against their inhumanity toward their subjects; and thus she was prepared to approve, as she has done, of the invasions of her territory by Garibaldi and Victor Emanuel.
We can find here but little space to notice the events which followed the Pope's final refusal to accede to the demands made upon him. How unreasonable soever they appeared to him, or however inconsistent they may have seemed to the world, especially the appeal to free, universal suffrage, which would be hardly submitted to in any other country in Europe, no alternative was left.
After the iniquitous overthrow of the republic by Louis, the occupation of Rome by his army in fact conciliated the entire papal priesthood of the world, and the population which has remained under their spiritual influence; and it has prevented Austria not only from taking that place, but of every excuse and possibility of aspiring to obtain it. While the Pope has been surrounded by French troops, he has appeared to be under safe guardianship, even although during the few months which have passed since the fulmination of the Bull of Excommunication against Victor Emanuel, Louis Napoleon himself has also been, by plain innuendo, laid under the ban by the same instrument, and has been transformed from "the eldest son of the church – the beloved in Christ," as the Pope used to denominate him, to an enemy, delivered over to Satan, and anathematized, in every part and member of his soul and body, from the crown of his head to his accursed feet.
But now things have changed wonderfully, and we have indications that the French emperor is about to change his position accordingly. If events take such a course as we may anticipate, the Pope's temporal power will soon be entirely gone, and his respectability in the eyes of the world will be only such and so much as can be bought with two millions of dollars a year, and by a train of cardinals, with ten thousand dollars apiece. This is the plan now proposed for the future position of Pius IX., which Victor Emanuel seems likely to carry into operation, with the approbation of Louis Napoleon. There is now no longer any danger from Austria, weak as she is by bankruptcy, the loss of most of her Italian possessions, threatened with the invasion of the remainder by Garibaldi on "the ides of March," and with Hungary ready to rise at the first signal. The Italians can now take charge of the Pope and of Rome, without fear of Austria or assistance from France; and, either before any more fighting in Lombardy and Venetia, or, if need be, after it, the kingdom of all Italy is likely to be proclaimed, according to Garibaldi's announcement, from the Quirinal, one of the seven hills of Rome.
When this shall have been done, the anticipations of the Italian patriots will be realized, who have long regarded the loss of the Pope's temporal kingdom as surely involving the destruction of his spiritual; and many of them were early advocates of the doctrine preached by Gioberti twenty years ago, although he was a devotee of popery and they were its radical enemies, because they had sagacity to foresee the necessity of this act, which was beyond his perception. They knew full well, what millions of the unwilling subjects of the papacy have known for centuries, that nothing but severe and cruel oppression could ever keep the human mind submissive to such a system of tyranny, spiritual and physical, and that, whenever force and fear were removed, individuals, communities and nations would throw off the galling and degrading yoke. This the world has seen proved within the past few months, in ways and modes, in a degree and to an extent, which only those who were acquainted with popery, with human nature and with Italy would have expected. As soon as freedom of speech and action was granted to the people of Lombardy, the Duchies, Tuscany and Emilia, and a free, universal suffrage was proclaimed, the inhabitants rose in a mass in city, villages and country, and proceeded, with banners, music and acclamations, to the election urns, and voted unanimously for immediate annexation to the constitutional kingdom of Victor Emanuel. And this expression of the universal and enthusiastic popular will was greatly enhanced by the circumstance that the king had just before been excommunicated by a Bull of the Pope, which consigned him to outlawry, persecution, torture and death in this world, and to eternal misery in hell; and yet many Italian archbishops, bishops and priests, of all degrees, have openly approved the rejection of allegiance to the papacy, and urged and even led their people to the polls, themselves, in many instances, putting in the first votes.
But not only have the hopes of good Italian patriots been gratified: the prophecies of God himself have been fulfilled, by the recent astonishing course of events in Italy. So striking is the resemblance between those changes and the scenes recorded in the Bible, that the mind is filled with solemn awe and grateful adoration while contemplating them in comparison. "The souls under the altar" introduced to the reader of the book of Revelation, with their purity, faithfulness, patience, but earnest inquiry: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood?" how much do they resemble the victims of the Inquisition, whose horrible secrets were disclosed by the opening of that infernal edifice in Rome by the republican government in 1849! And how much does the present period resemble that described in chap. xviii. ver. 13 of that book, where the destruction of Babylon the Great is described, and one of whose chief articles of traffic were not "the persons of men," as in Tyrus (Ezekiel xxvii.), but their "souls!"
And how Garibaldi appears like the agent by whom that destruction is to be accomplished, when we hear him repeat his open and tremendous denunciations against the papacy, now, recently, standing in Naples, almost in the same words which he wrote in New York in 1850, for this volume, and recorded on page 233.
Before the war with Italy the States of the Church were divided into four legations, not counting the district of Rome. The first comprised the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Forli and Ravenna, and was called Romagna. This is the portion which had been already annexed to Piedmont. The second, which separates the Romagna from the Neapolitan states, is composed of the provinces of Urbino, Pesaro, Macerata, Loreto, Ancona, Fermo, Ascoli and Camerino. It is this portion of the Roman territory which is commonly known under the name of the Marches, and is bounded on the north by Romagna, on the east by the Adriatic, on the south by the Neapolitan territory, and on the west by the provinces of Spoleto and Perugia. The third legation was composed of the provinces of Spoleto, Perugia and Rieti. The first two corresponded to what is generally known under the name of Umbria. The fourth legation comprised Velletri, Frosinone and Benevento, the last province being surrounded by Neapolitan territory. The district of Rome was placed under a special régime, and consisted of that city, of Viterbo, Orvieto and Civita Vecchia.
The course of policy recently adopted by Sardinia had now been made known by what was deemed a semi-official announcement by a Turin gazette, under the direction of Cavour. It was this: that the cabinet of Turin, in placing itself in the position of the representative of Italian nationality, had a right to reproach Austria for not having given to Venetia, either a separate government or an Italian army. This violation of the treaty of Villafranca had very naturally disquieted the Sardinian government, which, however, had no intention of provoking an imprudent war. On the contrary, it desired to prevent this, and demanded to this end, the dismissal of the foreign hordes which had been united by General Lamoricière. "It cannot be permitted," says the paper in question, "that Italy should be made the camping ground of twenty-five thousand foreign mercenaries, who entertain toward the Italians feelings of hatred and aversion." The Sardinian government cannot look on with indifference at the renewal of the massacres of Perugia. It owes protection to the populations of Umbria and the Marches, who are subjected to a military dictation which they hate, and it is better for the government to take the responsibility of energetic measures, which will be too late if it waits for the attack. Such was the substance of the article written while the people of Umbria and the Marches were in a state of insurrection. For, before that time, the following accounts had been received from different parts of the Pope's dominions. At Fano, Sinigaglia and Ancona, the government of Pius IX. were in serious danger. The last-named town in particular, which had revolted, and had been brought back to obedience rather by stratagem than by force, was said to be the centre of agitation and the hotbed of revolutionary incendiarism. A correspondence had just been discovered which compromised a great number of persons. Many had been arrested. It was connected with a conspiracy, the ramifications of which were said to be so widespread, and included men so high placed in society, that the authorities admitted that they were incapable of guarding against the storm without the assistance of an armed force. Advocates, officials, private individuals, and even a certain number of Roman officers, were compromised in the affair, but no general arrest could be attempted for fear of leading to a most dangerous collision. The mass of the people only waited as a signal the arrest of some eminent personages to rise in insurrection, and the police were well aware that a large depot of arms existed, but they were ignorant of the spot. Such was the situation of Ancona, which, it would appear, regulated the movements of the towns on the coast of the Adriatic, such as Sinigaglia, Fano and Pesaro, and of those in the interior, as Osimo, Loretto and Recanati, and as far as Macerata. In this state of things the Roman government had just ordered troops to proceed by forced marches on Ancona from Pesaro, Perugia and Rome.
At length Count Cavour gave notice to the Pope, in the following letter to Cardinal Antonelli, that he must immediately decide on what course to pursue.
"Turin, Sept. 7.
"Eminence: The government of his majesty, the King of Sardinia, could not without serious regret see the formation and existence of the bodies of foreign mercenary troops in the pay of the Pontifical government. The organization of such corps not consisting, as in all civilized governments, of citizens of the country, but of men of all languages, nations and religions, deeply offends the public conscience of Italy and Europe. The want of discipline inherent to such troops, the inconsiderate conduct of their chiefs, the irritating menaces with which they pompously fill their proclamations, excite and maintain a highly dangerous ferment. The painful recollection of the massacre and pillage of Perugia is still alive among the inhabitants of the Marches and Umbria. This state of things, dangerous in itself, becomes still more so after the facts which have taken place in Sicily and in the kingdom of Naples. The presence of foreign troops, which insults the national feeling, and prevents the manifestation of the wishes of the people, will infallibly cause the extension of the movement to the neighboring provinces. The intimate connection between the inhabitants of the Marches and Umbria and those of the provinces annexed to the states of the king, and reasons of order and security in his own territory, lay his majesty's government under the necessity of applying, as far as in its power, an immediate remedy to such evils. King Victor Emanuel's conscience does not permit him to remain a passive spectator of the bloody repression with which the arms of the foreign mercenaries would extinguish every manifestation of national feeling in Italian blood. No government has the right of abandoning to the will and pleasure of a horde of soldiers of fortune, the property, the honor and lives of the inhabitants of a civilized country.
"For these reasons, after having applied to his majesty, the king, my august sovereign, for his orders, I have the honor of signifying to your eminence that the king's troops are charged to prevent, in the name of the rights of humanity, the Pontifical mercenary corps from repressing by violence the expression of the sentiments of the people of the Marches and Umbria. I have, moreover, the honor to invite your excellency, for the reasons above explained, to give immediate orders for the disbanding and dissolving of those corps, the existence of which is a menace to the peace of Italy.
"Trusting that your eminence will immediately communicate to me the measures taken by the government of his holiness in the matter, I have the honor of renewing to your eminence the expression of my high consideration.
"Cavour."
The following is the reply of Cardinal Antonelli:
"Rome, Sept. 11.
"Excellency: Without taking into account the manner in which your Excellency has thought proper to have your letter of the 7th inst. conveyed to me, I have directed my whole attention calmly upon the subject you lay before me in the name of your sovereign, and I cannot conceal from you that it has cost me an extraordinary effort to do so. The new principles of public law which you lay down in your letter, would be, indeed, sufficient to dispense me from giving any answer at all, they being so contrary to those which have constantly been acknowledged by all governments and nations. Nevertheless, feeling deeply the inculpations cast upon the government of his holiness, I cannot refrain from at once noticing the blame, as odious as it is unfounded and unjust, pronounced against the troops belonging to the Pontifical government, and I must add, that I find the pretension of denying the right belonging to the Pontifical government as well as to any other, of having foreign troops in its service, utterly unjustifiable. In fact, many governments of Europe have foreign troops in their pay. On that subject it may be expedient to observe that, owing to the character with which the Sovereign Pontiff is invested as the common father of all believers, he ought to be less subject to criticism than any other for receiving in the ranks of his troops all who come and offer themselves from the various parts of the Catholic world, for the defence of the Holy See, and of the States of the Church.
"Nothing is more false or insulting than to attribute to the Pontifical troops the disorders which have taken place in the states of the Holy See. There is no necessity for asking, for history has already enregistered whence came the troops who have violently constrained the will of the people, and the artifices which have been made use of for throwing into perturbation the greater part of Italy, and ruining all that was most inviolable and most sacred, both in right and in justice.
"As to the consequences which it has been sought to make weigh on the legitimate action of the troops of the Holy See, to put down the rebellion of Perugia, it would truly be more logical to throw that responsibility on those who, from abroad, have excited the revolt; and you know perfectly well, M. le Comte, where that outbreak was concerted, whence were derived money, arms and means of all kinds, and whence instructions and orders were sent to the insurgents.
"There is, consequently, reason for representing as calumnious all that has been said by a party hostile to the government of the Holy See, as to the conduct of its troops, and for declaring that the imputations cast on their chiefs by the authors of proclamations of a nature to excite dangerous ferments, are not less. Your excellency concludes your painful dispatch by inviting me, in the name of your sovereign, to immediately order the disarming and disbanding of the said troops. This invitation was accompanied by a sort of menace on the part of Piedmont in case of refusal, to prevent the action of said troops by means of the royal troops.
"This involves a quasi injunction which I willingly abstain from qualifying. The Holy See could only repel it with indignation, strong in its legitimate rights, and appealing to the law of nations, under the ægis of which Europe has hitherto lived, whatever violence the Holy See may be exposed to suffer, without having provoked it, and against which it is my duty now to protest energetically in the name of his holiness. With sentiments of consideration, I am, etc.,
"G. Cardinal Antonelli."
The occupation of the Roman States by the King of Sardinia was one of the most important and unexpected steps in the war, which soon followed the preceding announcement. The above note was sent by Count Cavour to Cardinal Antonelli, minister of the Pope, in compliance with the urgent demand of the people of Umbria and the Marches, in which the Sardinian government had demanded the immediate dismissal of the papal mercenaries, affirming that the presence of upward of 20,000 foreign troops in the centre of Italy was incompatible with the treaty of Villafranca. The note threatened that unless this demand should be agreed to in 24 hours, the Sardinian army would enter those territories. No reply was received within that time, and then Victor Emanuel issued the following proclamation:
"Soldiers: You enter the Marches and Umbria to restore civil order in their desolated cities, and to afford the people the opportunity of expressing their wishes. You have not to combat powerful armies, but to free unhappy Italian provinces from foreign bands of mercenaries. You go not to avenge the injuries done to me and to Italy, but to prevent the bursting forth of popular hatred and vengeance against misrule. You will teach, by your example, forgiveness of injuries, and Christian tolerance to him who in his folly has compared to Islamism our love for our country, Italy.
"At peace with all the great powers, and without any idea of provocation, I intend to remove from the centre of Italy a perpetual source of disturbance and discord. I desire to spare the seat of the head of the church, to whom I am ready, in accord with allied and friendly powers, to give all those guarantees for independence and security which his blind counsellors have vainly imagined they could obtain from the fanaticism of that mischievous party that conspires against my authority and the liberty of the nation.
"Soldiers; They accuse me of ambition! Yes! one ambition is mine – that of restoring to Italy the principles of moral order and of preserving Europe from the continual peril of revolution and of war.
"Victor Emanuel."
Before the middle of September, General Cialdini had taken the town of Pesaro, and captured twelve hundred of the German troops, being a portion of those bands of foreign soldiers, against the keeping of which France and Piedmont had so long protested, and the retaining of which was the chief ground of the war. Orvieto was also taken. Fossombrone had risen in insurrection, as Pesaro had done before Cialdini's arrival; but Fossombrone, being unsupported, had been reduced to obedience, by such savage punishment as had been suffered by Perugia.
The "London Times" remarked, on receiving this news, and in reviewing the manifesto of Victor Emanuel:
"We freely admit that nothing but the extremity of the evil could justify the step which Sardinia has taken, but we think that step is justified. The evil would not cure itself. For all these reasons, we think the King of Sardinia is entitled to the sympathy of Englishmen in the war in which he has engaged. We wish him cordially success, and that his success may be rapid as well as decisive."
The war, in fact, was begun by the rulers and their hired butchers against the people, before the Sardinian troops crossed the frontier. The presence of those troops was also an insult to Italy, as their express object was to oppose the movement in the free territories. The same writer added the following remarks:
"Then there is the intolerable oppression of the Pope's government. The best proof of that oppression is the fact that the Pope dares not trust his own subjects with arms, but places himself, like Dionysius of Syracuse, in the hands of foreign mercenaries. The spectacle of a people kept down by such means is an outrage on the civilization of the age, and a danger and menace for all the rest of Italy. Till some government be established in the centre of Italy, which can be maintained without ten thousand French troops to garrison the capital, and five and twenty thousand foreign mercenaries to sack insurgent towns, it is in vain to hope for peace."
General Cialdini approached Ancona, and a naval squadron was to coöperate. The battle of Castelfidaro was fought on the 18th of September, when Lieut. General Cialdini was furiously attacked by General Lamoricière, with eleven thousand men and one hundred and forty cannon. Four thousand other papal troops made a sortie from Ancona, to support the latter. The contest was short but bloody. Many of the wounded papists used their daggers against the Piedmontese, who went to assist them. The results, said Cialdini's report, were as follows:
"The junction of Lamoricière's forces with Ancona has been prevented; we have taken six hundred prisoners, among whom are more than thirty officers, some of them of high rank; we have taken six guns, among others those given by Charles Albert to the Pope in 1848, one standard, and numerous ammunition wagons, etc. All the wounded, including General Pimodan, who led the attacking column, are in our hands, and a great number of killed."
General Cialdini conceded the honors of war to this corps, and officers and men were allowed to return to their homes.
General Lamoricière, accompanied by a few horsemen, fled from the field of battle on the 18th, and, following the road by the sea through the defiles of Conero, succeeded in reaching Ancona. All the prisoners and troops were indignant at his conduct. Nothing remained of Lamoricière's army except the troops shut up in Ancona; all the rest were in the hands of the royal troops, with the exception of two thousand men dispersed in the mountains. The Sardinian government offered to the English government to set all the Irish prisoners at liberty. The latter sent a courteous reply, leaving it entirely to the Sardinian government to take such resolutions as it might deem most suitable. The Sardinian government ordered the release of all Frenchmen taken prisoners from Lamoricière.
"The mercenary army of General Lamoricière (as the "London Times" remarked) was the last hope of the Pope. Lamoricière, whom the last accounts had described as seeking a junction with the Royalist Neapolitan troops, and threatening a southward movement upon the Garibaldians, had appeared suddenly before Ancona. Cialdini accepted the offered battle, and the event has been that the African general was totally and entirely routed. Those bands, from whom so much was expected, seem to be of no avail whatever against the Sardinian soldiers. This fire-eating and pious soldado, who had fulminated such dreadful threats, and who was known to have done such strong deeds among the Arabs, has really done nothing in Italy which might not have been done by one of the College of Cardinals. With eleven thousand men, and the vigorous aid of the garrison of Ancona, he has simply marched up to a signal defeat."
Ancona was soon after besieged, blockaded, bombarded, and captured. The Sardinian navy and army displayed great skill as well as discipline and courage in this operation. The particulars of this must be omitted, as well as most others connected with the march of Victor Emanuel on his triumphant course toward Naples.
The city of Spoleto was besieged and soon taken. The besieged had three guns, two on a platform above, overlooking the town, and one below, placed in an embrasure on the left of the outer gate of the enceinte, so as to command the road leading up to it. They were iron guns of no great range, but still serviceable. The smallest of the three, in the embrasure by the gate, was the only one that did any execution.
The Piedmontese arrived at Spoleto in the morning. They were between two thousand and three thousand strong, and had one battery of field artillery, consisting of six guns. The fact is, that the whole thing was a farce; there was very little attack, and still less defence. The report of the commandant of Spoleto is an enormous exaggeration.
The Piedmontese, on their part, did not press the siege with much vigor. The Italians were positively disaffected, and threatened their foreign comrades to blow up the powder magazine if they did not give in. Most of the Irish asked nothing better than to escape from the service and from the country, and the rest of the garrison – the motley crew of German, French, Swiss, and Belgians – they were few in number and of little worth. The whole loss of the Piedmontese was, according to the evidence afterward obtained, under one hundred men. The loss of the garrison is stated at three killed and ten wounded.
Nothing, certainly, says a visitor, could be more complete or miserable than the failure and break-down of the Irish contingent to the Pope's harlequin army. It would be very unjust, however, to consider this to be in any degree a stain on the gallant Irish nation, whose impetuous courage and many excellent military qualities, every one must recognize and admire. The same ignominious disasters might, and no doubt would, have fallen to the lot of any body of men, no matter of what nation, similarly recruited, and deceived, and neglected, and sent into the field without the training and education which make the soldier. The shame falls not on Ireland, but on those who insnared unwilling recruits to prop a bad cause.
Perugia, which was the scene of an inhuman butchery last year, committed by some of the horde of foreign wretches who formed the Pope's army, was now held by about three thousand of them, who made a strong resistance. The garrison had raised barricades in all parts of the town, and occupied the houses, from which they fired upon the Sardinians. Every street was the scene of a conflict; but the assistance afforded to General Fanti by the inhabitants made the struggle much shorter than it would otherwise have been. A considerable portion of the Pontifical carbineers contrived to escape out of the town – the others retired to the citadel, which could not hold out long. Toward evening the fort capitulated, and the whole of the garrison, consisting of 1,600 men, were made prisoners, as well as General Schmidt, who commanded them. He was the worthy chief of the adventurers whom the Italians so cordially detested. Switzerland refused to acknowledge him. He was one of the heroes of that impious war of the Sonderbund, which caused much bloodshed in the Swiss cantons. He was subsequently exiled.
Victor Emanuel's address to the people of Southern Italy, dated at Ancona, October 9th, 1860, concludes thus:
"People of Southern Europe: My troops are advancing among you to establish order. I do not come to impose upon you my will, but to cause yours to be respected. You will be able to manifest it freely. Providence, which protects just causes, will inspire the vote which you will deposit in the urn. Whatever be the gravity of events, I wait tranquilly the judgment of civilized Europe and that of history, because I have the consciousness of having fulfilled my duty as king and Italian. In Europe my policy will not be useless in reconciling the progress of the people with the stability of monarchies. In Italy I know that I terminate the era of revolutions.
"Victor Emanuel."Farini.
"Given at Ancona, Oct. 9, 1860."
