The Express.
London, England, 1856-06-27 00:00:00

ITALY.

THE AFFAIRS OF PARMA-ENGLISH

MINISTERS IN ITALY.

(TROY ♦N ITALIAN CORREAPONDRNT)

TURIN, Jc:lt 22.
The greatest excitement reigns here on the subject
of the little Duchy of Parma. Three or tour days ago,
as you may have beard, it was bruited about thnt the
Duchess's government and the Austrian commander,
Crenneville, had lallen out. The Austrian wished that
his coorts.martial, which had been charged with the
inquest on the two murderous attempts lately coin.
emitted, should take a retrospective cognisance of all
political cffenoes committed since the Duke's murder
—or, for aught we know, since the murder of Pier
Luigi Flamm The ducal goveromect objected to
this measure, as it might jeopardise the life or liberty
of persons who had already been taken up on suspi•
cion, and fairly acquitted. There were high words
between Crenneville and the Prince Diutebo di
Soragna, a whipper snapper of a young sub liente.
mint, whom the Deicliees hes made little lees than a

field-marshal. The Austrian insisted on having h;
own way, threatening otherwise to deprive the
Duchess of his mighty patronage, and bidding
her beware of the consequences: whereupon, it
was said, the Duchess's government had replied they
knewa surer way of keeping the peace than that of
the Austrian bayonets, and forthwith they ordered
the release of all the unconvicted prisoners in the
state gaols.
The news was too good to be believed, and in sooth
we hear today that the quarrel between the two
powers of evil is not so serious as was stated, and
that at any rate, overflowing as the prisons of Parma
and those of Mantua, may be, there is no present in-
motion of " oiling the hinges of the iron gates."
conceived,
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aPtniyi painfully
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old
The excitement into which that incorrect informa-
tion threw the good people of Piedmont may be easily
n
Ibubtotiontihganooefilalgrretbly:ound beyond the Ticino, or the Trebbia and
Magrs, to this country, the effect it might have
on other parte of Italy would be incalculable.
Take as an instance that same duchy of Parma—l
know it of old—having long resided there in the palmy
days of Maria Louisa—and I can tell you a more in.
offensive, gentle, and loving u well as loveable
people is not to be found in the Italian Peninsula,
not even at Venice. In the happy days I allude to,
Maria Louisa, an ex-Empress, as well es an Austrian
Arch-Duchess, was allowed to some extent to have
her own way ; and that meant, to do as she
sou bidden by those around her. Her first lover,
Neipperg, was a soldier, and a kind-hearted
man, sad the Parmese were allowed as much
latitude or license—liberty it cannot be called-4S
was good for them. From 1813 to 1630 Parma
was a little Athens of Italy—the best behaved and
most envied of all Italian communities. Neipperg
died, and matters so far changed for the worse under
his immediate successor, Werkleio, that in 1831 the
people, unused to harsh trestme nt, joined the revo.
lationary movement of Central Italy, and drove out
the Duchess and her minions, without even a show
of fight, without a drop of blood shed. Maria Louisa
came bark, aided by the Austrians, and the curb was
somewhat tightened. Matters went on smoothly
enough till the Duchess took to her bed and board a
snuffy, bewigged old French emigre, yclept Bom-
belles, who brought with him the Jesuits, foreign
police agents, and the devil to pay. That gave rise to
the first political murder since that of Pier Luigi
Farnese, son of Pope Paul 111 , that ever was heard
lof at NMI. It was committed on the person of
Berton°, director of the police, a stranger to the
town, and who had driven the whole place and every
man in it out of all patience. The blow was struck
in full daylight in a crowded street, and itnessed by
thousands. Who did it will be a mystery until the
solution of all mysteries.
Maria Louisa died, and after the &flair of 1848 that
nine-tenths fool, one-tenth villain, Carlo 11. came
to the throne, about whose fall it was impossible even
for his loving wife to evince either regret or resent-
meat. Since the days of Sertorio's and the Duke's
murders the fatal opportunity and the consummate
dexterity of those deeds earned for them a certain
popularity, and there is no doubt but that a little gang
of wretched youths has been organised who will not
lay down their daggers till the Austrians have with-
drawn their bayonets. The perversion of. mind, the
confusion of all right and wrong that will arise from
tyranny, especially when concentrated within a little
space, is something an Englishman will never
be able to understand. Imagine the feel-
ings a aged wild beast can entertain towards
a harsh brutal keeper, and you may imagine
on what ground teats the allegiance of an Italian to
his sovereign. I have lived with two or three half
generations of Parmesans, and they freely avow that
there is a surprising deterioration of all mental and
moral faculties in the young people now springing
up. Nor, if you reflect whe their education, their
literature, their religion really is, will you have rev
son to weeder at or disbelieve this assertion. For
myself, when I pass over from Turin to Milan, lan
struck with the difference of look, gait, and gesture,
and am convinced that I have come amongst a set of
living beings to whom nothing but the gmereit
sensual enjoyment is treely allowed. :Moralise gloat it
u you will, you will not find a Parmesan or an
Italian whose heart did not thrill with joy on
hearing the tidings of the Duke's shocking death—no
one who would not have harboured the armee at
his own peril, and even looked upon hint as a hero.
Why not? Have they not clapped their hands at
William Tell at the Opera House? Was Greeter any
worse than Carlo 11. ? or did Tell more freely yen.
ture life for life than the unknown youth who
avenged his own and tha city's wrongs ? I tell you,
the Italians dwelt upon that savage cared till ail their
reasoning faculties deserted them, although not
a man in Parma but draws a wide distinction be-
tween that first moat fatal but almost indispensable
stroke and the blood that has bceu must foully,
most wantonly, most absurdly spilt ever since.
Bat the doers of these deeds are evidently
young men, on mere boys, utterly incapable of discern•
meat or even common sense—though it must be ad-
mitted they keep their secret with wondrous tenacity,
and are sure to be betrayed by none of their towns-
people, however severely they may be blamed by
them. The ideas of honour and duty are altogether
turned topsy-turvy in Italy, and there is no doubt
that any man who informed agairst these murderer'
would be branded as a greater scoundrel by far than
the worst of murderers.
It is fearful to think of a society which is to be kept
at such a horrid school of morality from generation
to generation; but I repeat, the contrast between
Parma in 1830 and Parma in 1830 is tar greater
than that between England in the 19th century and
England ss de scribed by Macaulay in the lit ; and
the difference is felt only since the Austrians and
the Jesuits have come in. It is my strong conviction
that the evil is only curable by the removal of the
causes, and not by any other conceivable means.
Had the present Duchess's government really come
to the conclusion that they could dispense with
Austrian help, nay, that they must needs rid them-
selves of the Austrtans presence—had they emptied
the political prisons, were it even by a speedy trial
of all their prisoners ; had they trusted persons whom
the public voice loudly recommends with the supreme
.11C_ INS
power, I would undertake to assure the 1) h
life and the lives of all her officers as confidently
SS I would that of King Victor Emanuel IL or
Canter. The Italian people are kind at heart ; bit
their feelings are morbid, and uuder provocation
easily get the better of their underetanding. Com'
pare Maria Louisa's government founded on icrdcese
with Louisa of Bourbon's rule based on ro:ace:
Maria Louisa had an army of 1,200 gr.-mhos tied
60 gensdarmer. Louisa of Bourbon has 3,000 tteoel
her own, and cannot reign one day without the
Austrian. to back her. Who is it has turned*.
lambs to lions, or the pet spaniel into a mad dog?
AU this is merely to explain why it is that the
Parini news proved so electrical a few days cgs'
Could it be possible that another Italian government t.
besides Pitdmortt would try the effect of getmeans ? Did the Duchess and her advis
wish to try it? They need not burden themsel
with a constitution. All they had to do was to for-
swear the Austrians; protest they would hare uoth.ll4l