The Express.
London, England, 1859-03-03 00:00:00

AItIETELIN GOVERNMENT IN THE

PAPAL STATES.

Appended to the letter addressed by the illustrious
Italian historian and statesman, Signor Parini, to
Lord John Russell, and published to-day at
Turin, is the following statement of an
Italian gentleman, who was arrested in the year
1862, thrown into prison, and put to torture, by the
Austrian authorities at Ferrara, in the States of the
Church. This unfortunate victim of what is eupho.
piously called the " faith of treaties " is no rabid
revolutionist or obscure conspirator. He is per-
sonally known to Signor Farini, who vouches for
the unimpeachable character of his testimony u
that of " a young man of respectable family, of good
repute, of liberal education, and an honoured name."
To thou who demand facts duly attested, and de-
spise the vain sentimentalities of the friends of
Italian independence, this plain, unvarnished, and
most pathetic story of Signor Ungarelli's sufferings
cannot fail to be an interesting and useful document,
" I was arrested at Ferrara in July, 1852, by
order of the Austrian general Rohn, and conveyed
into the citadel. There seven of my fellow-citizens
had been confined before met and several nobles,
citizens of the middle class, soldiers, and others,
were removed and confined in the same manner
and to the same place. Shortly after I was
examined by a police agent from Venice, who in-
me concerning affairs of state with which!
reTrall acquaintance. Almost all the persons
arrested made the same answer. I say almost all,
because some superior officials, having entered by
night the cell of a bookseller who was suspected of
having printed some seditious pamphlet, frightened
him to such a degree with threats of immediate
death, and with an array of unaccustomed instru-
ments of torture, that he, though still denying the
having printed seditious pamphlets, told what he
knew or thought he knew with regard to the circu-
lation of such pamphlets. He next confirmed, in the
presence of the police agent, what he had said to the
offioers.

"It being seen that nothing more could be dis-
covered, and Radetzky being embittered by the ac-
cusations of the Count Folicaldi, the Papal legate,
a man devoted to Austria, and, they say moreover,
it being suspected that the conspiracies then dis-
covered in Venice, and that which came to light in
the Romagna, were to be traced to the highest mili-
tary authority; they had recourse to a violation of
all judicial rules, end of all the most cherished
rights of accused persons, by sending armed with
extraordinary powers the Hungarian captain of ca-
valry, Gran-Shak. So, I think, it must be pro-
nounced or written : but I am not quite sure, because
other names were given to him, perhaps by his own
order, desiring to conceal his trite name.
" This man—of whose external appearance it is
enough to say that he was of low stature, with a
nose somewhat flat, mustaches reddish like his hair,
hollow bright blue eyes, pale countenance, and
savage mien—bosats of having in the space of more
than twenty years in the office of military auditor
conducted many political trials, and of having
always the unfortunate men who fell into
his hands to be condemned es guilty. It is said
that he was in his youth a liberal and a compirator,
and betrayed his companions. This man, through
disposition and diseases which sour a man's temper,
was without a spark of pity—a pupil worthy of
Haynau.
"This was the man appointed to torture us. I
won't speak of the sufferings of others. I had my
share.

"Two modes of trial were employed : one for the
sensation of the class of students, of which I alone
was imprisoned, and which afterwards remained
luckily unharmed ; the other for the accusation of
all the other classes of state prisoners. By nar-
rating the most remarkable things affecting myself I
shall give a specimen of the mode of procedure
with all.

1

"In the domiciliary visits to me nothing was
found, at least only some notes of letters. Ten days
after the arrival of Gran-Shak I was summoned to
an examination by the itinerant commiaaion over
whisk he presided. This wee composed of himself
sad two other °Moms of the battalion Romano
Banat*, Captain Nicolu Czarni and Lieutenant
Nemetich; both added, se they said, because they
understood the Italian idiom, of which the auditor
scarcely understood anything. They first made
me go to see a man &needy examined (Peter
Lama), upon whose body were the marks of
blows with a stick. I shuddered at the sight.
Being brought before the judges, I was, after a Wog
preface, asked for the story of my political life.
Having answered' that at 21 years of age one has
no political life, that I had nothing to repent of, and
therefore they must adopt some other mode of in-
terrogation t' the auditor replied ' that he knew
everything already ; for my own good I should not
persist in denial, and should not compel him to put
me to the torture ; he had orders from Field-Marshal
Radetsky to make use of any means which could
extract. the truth.' He showed me five depositions
in a bundle, which he said had been brought against
me, and averted' that he had too good an opinion
of me to imagine that be should have to subject me
to the stick.' For some time I was tempted with
these and other deceits and threats; at last Crain
tried to move me by speaking of eity old parents,
who went every day weeping to the general to wy
for matey. I protested against these attempts, and
said they had better not say any more in that place
about the most holy ties if they did not wish me to
become dumb.
" But behold the preparation for the whipping :
soldiers to hold me, corporals to beat me. I strug-
gled ; I got angry ; I suggested some other tor-
ture, harder, but not so degrading. I prayed—yee,
I prayed with team I confess. I never prayed so
in my life. In vain ; they answered, ' that just
that which was more unsupportable to me was to be
inflicted ; that my prayers were vain, sines it de-
pended upon me to yield. I must speak, or be placed
on the board.' What a moment ! Intimidated per-
haps by my desperate looks, they hastened to buckle
on their sabres, which they had put aside. They
shut the windows that my cries might not be heard
out of doors, and began to scourge me. Then I ex•
claimed,' If you have proofs of my guilt, why don't
you drag me to death ? If you've no proofs, why this
infamous punishment? Since the voice of reason avails
nothing with you, know that you will obtain no-
thing from me by violence.' Taking my handker-
chief, they put it over my mouth, and flung me on
the board. They looked at one another ; the young
lieutenant went out from emotion; tte others, sneer-
ing, gave cedars to strike. For two hours I endured
that torture. The executioners struck at intervals
and, after seven or eight blows, they raised me, and
dragged me to a table, where stood, hanging on my
lips, the so-called judges, pen in band, to write
what I should say. I repeated that I would not
yield to force; they should ask me without bru-
tality.' Mocking and insulting me, they had me led
back to the board, and the punuaiment recommenced.
Alter another blow or two, they asked me, with
savage sarcasm—' No ? ' And upon my nodding with
the head, they gave orders to strike harder. The
'miter (go on) still resounds in my ears. And the
gaoler obeyed ; and even took the rod in both hands,
and more than once broke it on my flesh.
More than once I felt myself dying ; and when they
saw me getting weaker without giving way, they
took me back to prison, and a company of soldiers
teetered. Having examined my back they carefully
abut the windows, and two of them placed them-
selves at my side. Then came the doctors, and ad-
vised the use of baths; I would not, from anger, and
to my injury, for I suffered much more in conse-
quence. Ino longer took food, I was op all night, I
could not sit or lie down, since instead of getting
rest I made the pain of the contusions and wounds
greater.
" The military auditor, seeing me suffer without
complaint, had feared that I should commit suicide.
I learned this from the corporal of my guard, of
whom I asked the motive of such jealous custody.
From the same man I learnt that the blows had
been thirty-five in number, which I bad not been
able to count to the end ; and I heard that
the doctors had asserted that my constitution
could have borne them up to fifty. When the