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condemned five hundred and eight persons to death, hard labour, confinement, or exile, on mere suspicion of belonging to the liberal party. The capital sentences were afterwards commuted into imprisonment for life; but there was an incessant and universal crusade against liberal opinions. In Ro magna, under Invernizzi, who presided over a commission of military men and petty-fogging lawyers, the innocent were confounded with the guilty and hanged. The prisons would not hold the multitude of persons arrested, who were therefore lodged in convents and other spacious buildings. When seven men charged with carbonarism were executed at Ravenna and left suspended all day upon the gallows, the inhabitants, to avoid the hateful spectacle, left the city in a body, and did not return till dark. In Rome, other murders took place, for we cannot bestow on them the name of executions; but instead of striking terror into the population, they inspired the strongest sympathy, the prevalent opinion being that to stab a Sanfedist or a Centurion was not assassination. Spies and informers, however, persevered in hunting down the liberals, whose hardships were increased by contrast with the freedom people enjoyed in the neighbouring state of Tuscany. Upon the death of Leo XII., Francesco Severio Castiglioni di Cingoli was elected pope, and took the name of Pius VIII. His short reign formed no exception to the general rule any more than did that of his successor Matteo Capellari di Belluno, who, under the name of Gregory XVI., governed the dominions of the church from February 2, 1831, to June 18, 1846. Under this pontiff the persecution of the liberals continued with increasing severity; the influence of priests and monks was, if possible, augmented, and large classes of the population lived, as it was expressed, "under warning;" that is to say, were interdicted from all offices of honour or emolument. It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the hideousness of the picture presented by society in the Papal States under Gregory XVI. Farini, though strongly disposed to apologise for the excesses of men in authority, is unable to screen Cardinal Bernetti, Gregory's secretary of state, from the guilt of reviving the Centurions-a secret militia, or, rather, society of political assassins, who, drilled and trained under priests and bishops, favoured with immunities, and in many parts of the country having the police entirely in their hands, lighted up in Romagna a very hell of frantic passions.'

Through the operation of this odious system, not only did all public employments, but a very large portion also of the property of the country, pass into the hands of priests and pious fraternities. Half the houses in Rome now belong in whole or

in part to monasteries, which have likewise obtained possession of so large a portion of estates, that unless some effectual stop be put to the process, they will inevitably in a short space of time absorb the whole territory. Gregory XVI. prostituted the papal authority to the pleasure of the sacerdotal order. The laity were crushed and insulted, and the revenues were squandered by profligate cardinals and prelates, so that society appeared to be on the very point of dissolution. Insurrections broke out repeatedly in every part of the state, and the French and Austrians were invited to aid the sovereign pontiff in exterminating his own subjects. The treasury was thus further impoverished, and the affections of the people were alienated. The hatred of the political sects gained fresh strength perpetually, and every man seemed ready to fly at his neighbour's throat, when the death of Gregory XVI. gave a new turn to people's thoughts, and inspired some hopes of an auspicious change in the system.

Pius IX., elected June 16, 1846, came into possession of sovereign power under the most favourable auspices. Enjoying the reputation of piety, and never having rendered himself unpopular by any acts of severity under the former reign, he occupied a position to command, if he had pleased, the warmest admiration and attachment of the people. The highest expectations were formed of his government, and he certainly made a good beginning, by proclaiming, contrary to the advice of many cardinals, a general amnesty for political offences. Historians, unable to descend to the level of the common people, or to enter thoroughly into the sphere of their sympathies, are too much inclined to regard with disdain their excessive rejoicings at the accession to power of a new prince, especially when he abounds in gracious promises and affects to be inspired with Christian love; but what can be more natural than such self-delusion? When the Romans, for example, beheld Pius IX. mounting the balcony of his palace, and with tears of delight showering down blessings on their heads, could they have anticipated that all his promises would prove futile; that they should discover his love for them to be a pure illusion of enthusiasm; that they should see him falter in the career of reform; and that they should ultimately, by bitter experience, be forced to adopt the conviction that no combination of circumstances whatever can elevate a priest into a patriot, or render the interests of a pope or a prince identical with those of the people?

We do not, of course, contend that the pope could have been expected to repress the popular delight at his election. But he appears to have encouraged it, and voluntarily to have taken

steps to confirm the Romans in the belief that Astræa had returned to the earth, and that it would constitute the whole business of his life to adjust the scales of authority and popular. opinion, so as to appropriate to each exactly what was due to it. Knowing what we now know, it would perhaps be more satisfactory to have witnessed in the people of Rome more cynicism and incredulity. History might surely have taught them not to expect any permanent good from an ecclesiastical hierarchy with an ascetic priest at its head. But mankind are weak, especially when their better feelings are excited, and are apt to give each other credit for a degree of virtue and selfdenial, seldom, we might, perhaps, say never, found in the possessors of sovereign authority.

Let us now borrow from Farini a brief description of the Roman people's enthusiasm, which, however short-lived it may have been, was genuine while it lasted, and would have ripened into a sober feeling of respect had the actions of authority been such as to justify that sentiment:—

When the intelligence of the amnesty had flown through Rome, and when its conciliatory language had been perused, it seemed as though a ray from the love of God had unexpectedly descended upon the eternal city. The hosannas were countless; the ninth Pius was hailed as a deliverer; each citizen embraced his neighbour as a brother; thousands upon thousands of torches blazed at even; and as if the full tide of all those tender affections, which are the godlike part of man, had burst its banks, the multitude, driven by an involuntary impulse towards the palace of the Pontiff, called for him, venerated him, themselves prostrate on the earth, and received his blessing in devout silence. No human tongue can adequately paint that festival of their souls; nor do I aim at descriptive language, for fear I should do dishonour to its sanctity. Quick as thought the news, of these solemnities of love and gratitude, flew to the farthest confines of the state; the record of them, which is ill retained by the heart of man, was in many cases inscribed on marble. I do not dwell upon the ovations celebrated for Pius IX., in Rome, upon the 19th, upon the notes of exultation everywhere sounded, echoed, and prolonged.'Vol. i. p. 182.

From this commencement it must, we think, be clear that had Pius IX. been an honest, sincere, and able ruler, he might have retained an ample share of popularity during his whole life, and transmitted a much honoured name to posterity, But while lavish in promises, he was extremely remiss in performances. He assailed some few abuses; he attempted some few reforms; invariably cheered and encouraged by the enthu siastic gratitude of his people. But cardinals and bishops are naturally inimical to good government, and these, surrounding the pontiff, who, it must be acknowleged, was hypocritical aş well as weak, perverted any good intentions he might have en

tertained, while they fostered all his selfish, ambitious, or sacerdotal prejudices. Still, the Romans could not be easily cured of their strong enthusiasm; but their eyes were at length opened, when, in little more than a year, the idol of their admiration, suddenly investing himself with his priestly privileges, prohibited popular assemblages, no longer finding it agreeable, we suppose, to face those whom he had deluded, and was ready at any moment to betray. Farini, in the course of his history, shows so many symptoms of the weakness of moderatism, that we are not greatly surprised at any contradiction into which he may fall. But even in him it does appear surprising that, after detailing the actions and proceedings of the pontiff, his dissembling, his hypocrisy, his broken promises, his deceit towards the people, his coquetting with Austria, he should still affect the usual amount of commiseration for authority when overwhelmed by popular resentment, and lament the fate of Pius IX. when merely meeting with the natural reward of selfishness and insincerity.

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A year had now passed since Pius IX. had mounted the throne. government had acquired a character for boldness in innovation, although in reality it had done little to renew either institutions, systems, or men. The finances, justice, public instruction, the military service, commerce, all these principal departments of the state were still administered and directed as in former times. The commissions indefinitely prolonged their labours. The practical anomalies of the former system still continued. Questions of form absorbed the minds of men, while little was thought of the substance. The appetite of the liberals was sharpened from day to day by the stimulants of the press and of the popular assemblages. The old government, virtually condemned by the new, had fallen without the new one's founding itself firmly on any ground of its own; it lived upon the mere credit which was lent to it by the opinions of the liberals. It was therefore, in the discharge of its functions, hesitating and remiss, while the population was lively (!) The country had always a government incapable of training it, because itself ill-trained; still, up to that time, there had been material force adequate to the business of repression. Now that system had come to an end and unruliness bore sway; both the governors and the governed were in the hand of chance.' -Ib. p. 223, 224.

The historian is minute without being explicit. While aiming at picturesque effect, and entering for that purpose into numerous details, he often omits the very particulars, the stating of which would have served as a key to his narrative. Thus, when alarm was felt by nearly all members of the papal government, at the excitement and agitation prevailing among the people, one or more diplomatists, he says, warned the court of its danger. But who were those diplomatists ? Were they not the ambassadors of Austria and Prussia, or were they not

at least impregnated by the German spirit which, affecting largeness and liberality, is the most narrow and pitiful in the world? In the future portions of his history, if he expects to be understood and appreciated by the public, Farini must renounce this affectation of reserve, barely tolerable in diplomatic communications, but absolutely impertinent in history.

Though the pontiff was changed, the men who had ruled under Gregory XVI. still continued to fill nearly all offices of trust or emolument, so that we can experience no surprise at the alarm and timidity of the government which, without prudence or foresight, placed itself in collision with the masses by prohibiting popular assemblages. To render the complication of affairs more complete, several persons about the Quirinal circulated the report that the pope disapproved of the policy of repression, and only yielded to the overwhelming influence of the cardinals. It is not, perhaps, too much to believe that his holiness himself sowed the seed of these rumours, which increased his own popularity at the expense of the Conclave. Certain it is that he took no pains to produce a different impression on public opinion, while the popular leaders on their parts felt it to be politic to appear to have the pope on their side. They therefore persisted in meetings and rejoicings, which excited so much fury in the partizans of reaction that the most disastrous consequences were anticipated. The people determined to celebrate the anniversary of the amnesty; the authorities resolved to prevent the celebration.

'While the rejoicings were in preparation, rumours went abroad of a threatened Sanfedist reaction; it was stated that the old police was fishing in troubled waters; that Grassellini, the governor of Rome, let matters take their course; and that many of the Centurions and people from the suburb of Faenza were repairing to the capital. At last the word "plot" was uttered, and it went from mouth to mouth; the Pope, it was said, was menaced with captivity by the Gregorians, and the liberals with extermination by the carabineers under the command of Freddi, Nardoni, and Allai. The celebration was postponed; an under-ground and restless agitation commenced; by degrees it burst into a cry for vengeance; the leaders of the plot, and those suspected of complicity were pointed out; everywhere were imprecations, menaces, and alarms. On the evening of the 14th the names of the supposed conspirators were posted at every corner; cardinals, prelates, military men, and notorious spies, most of them were names hateful and disgraced, but some were untainted. The people read these lists of proscription, and shouted "death!" The carbineers pulled down the lists or attempted it, but made matters worse, and were all but in conflict with the people. The night passed in restlessness and doubt. The next day government had taken no precautions; the troops were in their quarters; the multitude without control. In the evening all those set down on the rolls of the civic guard were summoned to arms;

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