XLVI. 1848. A CHAP. Something occurring which demonstrated the deplorable prostration of Government, and the entire contempt into which the Pope, recently so popular, had fallen. fête had been proposed for the first day of the new year the Pope forbade it; a clamour was immediately raised, and he revoked his order and consented to it, and even agreed to show himself to the people. He did so, and immediately a violent crowd, uttering loud cries, surrounded the carriage; blackguard youths mounted on the steps, and one more audacious than the rest, seated himself on the box behind, and waved an enormous tricolor flag over the carriage in which the Pontiff was seated! This occurred on the very square of the Quirinal, where, eighteen months before, he had been almost adored "As yet," 1 M. Rossi à M. Gui- by the grateful multitude on their knees! zot, Jan. 5, 1848; said M. Rossi, in recounting the scene to M. Guizot, "it D'Hausson- is only a storm in a tea-cup; Turin and Naples are its 261, 262. sides; but if those sides should break, we may ville, ii. 84. Sicily. Jan. 12, 1848. for the whole world."1 tremble Strange to say, it was from the Government of Naples, Revolt in which passed for the most despotic country in Europe, that the impulse was first given, which blew into a flame the smouldering elements of Italian conflagration. Hitherto the King of the two Sicilies had kept aloof from the course of innovation upon which Pius IX. had entered, and viewed with undisguised alarm the changes which had been commenced in the northern states of the peninsula. Nothing whatever had been done to reform the social abuses which, in Sicily especially, were more rife than in any other country in Europe. They were there felt the more keenly that the people had been accustomed, during the long military occupation of the country by the English, in the revolutionary war, to the mildness and privileges of a constitutional government. The intelligence of the reforms of Pius IX. had in consequence excited an extraordinary enthusiasm in that isle, though few ventured to hope that any attempt to follow the example XLVI. 1848. would be made. But the event outstripped the most CHAP. sanguine anticipations of the reformers. The mission of Lord Minto to the Court of Naples, whither he proceeded from Rome, did not remain long without effect. Early in December, the Duke di Serra - Capriola, ambassador of the Court of Naples at Paris, was recalled by an order from his sovereign, in order to his being sent to Sicily as lieutenant-general, with full powers to inquire into all abuses, and concede all proper reforms. The character of the duke, mild and liberal, rendered the appointment very agreeable to the Sicilians; but circumstances having retarded his arrival beyond the time which was expected, disturbances broke out at Pal- Jan 12, ermo on 12th January, and an expedition sent from 1 D'HausNaples to put it down being feebly conducted, was re-sonville, ii. pulsed with loss. Upon this the Liberals in the island Ann. Hist. no longer kept up the semblance even of loyalty, but 369; Ann. openly revolted against the government, and the insurrec- 398. tion ere long spread over the whole island.1 1848. 267, 268; xxx. 367, Reg. 1848, of a consti Jan. 23, This formidable event, and the counsels of Lord Minto, 85. who was aware how feeble were the means of repression Publication at the disposal of the Government of Naples, and who tution at saw no escape from the danger which threatened them Naples, in their continental dominions but in immediate con- 1848. cession, terminated the indecision of the King of Naples. He resolved to outstrip all the concessions of the other Italian sovereigns, and appease the general effervescence by the publication of a constitution. He was fearful, not without reason, of a repetition of the Revolution of 1821. The ministers known to be hostile to reform were removed from the Cabinet, and on 18th January a decree appeared, which gave large additional powers the deliberative assemblies of Naples and Sicily. Comte d'Aquila, the king's brother, was appointed Lieuttenant-general in Sicily, with a special cabinet to assist 401: Ann. him in his deliberations.2 On the day following, a decree 369, 371. removed nearly all the restrictions on the liberty of the The Jan. 18. Jan. 19. to 2 D'Hausville, ii. Ann. Reg. 267, 269; 1848, 399, Hist. xxx. XLVI. 1848. Jan. 23. Jan. 27. CHAP. press, and declared a large amnesty for political offenders. On the 23d the king announced to his astonished subjects the elements of a constitution; on the 27th a new Cabinet was formed, with the Duke di Serra-Capriola at its head, and the Prince di Cassaro and Prince Torrilla, all known to hold Liberal opinions, forming part of it; and on the 29th, the long-wished-for constitution was officially published. 86. sation produced by this change It is difficult for a stranger, especially in a free country Great sen- to the north of the Alps, to form a conception of the sensation which these decrees, following each other in in Italy. rapid succession, and all breathing so liberal a spirit, produced in Italy. It was the greater from these concessions to the popular cause coming from the Sovereign and the Court known to be most conservative in their policy, and most adverse to political change of any kind. The Liberals were everywhere in transports. It seemed impossible that the antiquated fabric of superstition and despotism could any longer be maintained in the peninsula, when the most absolute monarch within its bounds was the first to put forth his hand to put it down. The Cabinets in the centre and northern parts of the peninsula were thunderstruck at the intelligence; but ere long the enthusiasm became so general, the torrent so powerful, that they saw no chance of escape but in yielding to it. Constitutions on the model of that of Naples were speedily published at Turin and Florence. In Rome, even, the extreme difficulty of reconciling the forms and popular powers of a constitutional monarchy with an absolute government based upon an exclusive theocracy, yielded 1 Ann. Hist. to the same necessity; the Pope made some concessions. to the demands of Liberalism, and promised more. Jan. 28, 1848. xxx. 281, M. Guizot, 1848; In a word, Italy, save when kept down by Austrian bayonets, from the base of the Alps to the point of Calabria, was D'Haus nearly as completely revolutionised, though happily as yet without the shedding of blood, as France had been by the innovations of the Constituent Assembly.1 sonville, ii. 269, 270. XLVI. 87. in Sicily. It was more difficult to arrange matters in a pacific way CHAP. in Sicily, not only because the inhabitants of that beautiful island were smarting under the consequences of a long 1848. period of misgovernment and oppression, but because the Convulsions long delay which had taken place in the Duke di SerraCapriola's taking the command of it had engendered a general suspicion of insincerity on the part of the Government, which had driven the people into open revolt. When he did go to the seat of his government, that nobleman found affairs so threatening, and parties in such a state of mutual exasperation, that he implored the good offices of the French and English ambassadors at the Court of Naples to mediate between them. M. Montessuy, the French Chargé d'Affaires, who had succeeded M. Bresson, recently dead, at once accepted the office of mediator; but Lord Napier, the British representative, refused it, unless the democratic constitution of 1812 was restored, with such changes as the Estates of Sicily elected under it might demand. The King evinced great repugnance at such unlimited concessions; but Lord Napier adhered resolutely to his demand: and as M. de Montessuy spoke, if he still held out for it, of going alone, he said to him, "Set out, if you please, alone, only I give you fair warning that the same vessel which conveys you to Sicily shall carry also letters to our agents and the influential men in the country, in which I will explain why I could not accompany you." I regret being unable to join you on such a mission, but it is impossible. Everywhere else, on all the points of the globe, in China even, I could do what you ask; but in Sicily, France and England have different interests." In consequence of this 1 D'Hausdeclinature, Lord Napier, some days after, on the invi-sonville, ii. tation of the Neapolitan Government, who saw no other Ann. Hist. mode of adjusting matters with their subjects beyond 304; Ann. the Straits, set out alone, and M. de Bressière,1 the 314. new French ambassador, judged it prudent to make 271, 272; xxx. 302, Reg. 1848, 1848. CHAP. arrangements to follow him, in order to prevent British XLVI. influence from being altogether paramount in so large a portion of the Neapolitan dominions. He was preparing to set out, accordingly, when the Revolution at Paris intervened, and in consequence Lord Napier went alone. What followed his arrival in Sicily will form an important and melancholy subject of narrative in a future volume. 88. Lord Pal merston to Italian agents. During the whole course of these important events, Credulity of Lord Palmerston took his information from his agents in Italy, who were entirely in the Liberal interest; and the Liberal desirous above all things to drive the passion for reform into one for independence, and to involve United Italy in a contest with despotic Austria, he went so far as to charge Austria with having been privy to a reactionary conspiracy on the 16th July-a charge which the Imperial Cabinet indignantly denied, and of which no evidence was ever adduced. The British Minister, however, insisted on the charge, even after he had been informed by the British minister at Florence, Sir George Hamilton, that the alleged conspiracy was an entire fable.* In a word, he was entirely the dupe in those matters of the Italian Revolutionists, whose great object was to run the movement in Italy into a war of independence with Austria; and for this purpose, in the words of their leader Mazzini, "to do everything in their power to increase the hatred against the Austrians, and to irritate the Austrians by all possible means." This policy was pursued by Lord Palmerston, even after Prince Metternich had sent him a July 26. "Milord, en réponse à la dépêche de votre Excellence du courant, qui renferme une copie de la note adressée par M. le Prince de Metternich à l'ambassadeur d'Autriche à Rome, au sujet de la conspiration récemment découverte dans cette capitale, et attribuée par le Gouvernement Pontifical aux agents de l'Autriche, j'ai à faire savoir à votre Excellence que j'apprends de sources certaines que l'opinion est générale à Rome, que les agents Autrichiens ont trempé dans le complot, et que le complot était combiné avec les mouvements militaires de la garnison de Ferrara; et telle est, je crois, l'opinion des personnes qui occupent à Rome les plus hautes positions.”— LORD PALMERSTON à LORD PONSONBY, Son Ambassadeur à Vienne, 27th September 1847; D'HAUSSONVILLE, ii. 426. |