The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-19 00:00:00

THE STATE OF SICILY.

The following letter on the state of Sicily is
published in the Dovere of Turin. It was written
in Garibaldi's house, by one of the Sicilian deputies,
and represents the general disaffection existing in
the island, which has since found expression in a
long parliamentary debate at Turin, and the result
of which, it is said, will be the secession of the
Sicilian members of the Italian Parliament :
CArnEnk, Nov. 1863—My dearest friend, the affairs of
Sicily induce mo to write to you. I cannot tell you with
what feelings Garibaldi read the cases of Petralia Soprano,
nor can I repeat the indignant words to which he gave
utterance. Whether by good or ill fortune, I hardly know,
but he had for a listener one of those Englishmen, who,
edified by the correspondents of the Times and the Horning
Post come to Italy under the beatific illusion that they are
about to find the garden of nature, and the kingdom of the
arts illuminated by the splendours of liberty, watched over
by laws and inviolablestatutes. Now I leave you to imagine
from what a height of rosy dreams the honest son of Albion
was flung down, when he heard the story of that daily
chronic:e of Sicily; it is enough to say, that becoming in-
flamed with Southern enthusiasm he protested he would
write to the Englishjournals himself, and force the truth on
thenoticeof thepublic. However, whether it mayever reach
the foreign journals or not, at least it is necessary that the
Italian press should do its duty, and recall the country to one
hour of counsel and good sense. Let us not imitate the
moderate pereons who commit their defence to the Aloizileur
of Bonaparte, just as if no Italian language exted.
fess
Let
those who will adopt the pharisaical formula, that to con
the evils of one's country is to dishonour it, we may reply
Italy has
that " already silence has been too much prolonged, and it
may be that the wound has become grave and chronic be-
cause it was not probed at first—that not on the country can
iskenohNevr
tsheervitude, and
the dishonour fall, but on the perverse conventicle, which
number of
that in short, if
ddeenceeivwesreanngdi: misgoverns iitts;
yoke, it is good and neces-
see herself as she is.
sary now that she 6hYluiddorecnogont
letters which come to us here from Sicily, laden with cries
and imprecations, in every variety of style, some tragic • ,and
somecomic, some true, and some exaggerated, come, perhaps,
false, and all concluding by the same uunni
COlne, 0 Garibaldi, and bringus aid." And mous prayer,
14
how many letters are sent forth henee,ne you knownot
v
words but those of conciliation, and n er containing any
and how the voice which speaks from Caprera is the only
counsels of tolerance,
one listened to or respected by the d:egraced people.
It is certain that there would have been an opportunity
supplied by these last events f
frankly, severely, and o for the General to have spoken
openly, but everyone knows to what
his reticence is owing, and
will respect it. No ono who
men
knows Garibaldi could for a moment ose him the ac-
complice, even by silence
AL any rate, I stn not -,' of any injustice.
lt impediments,
being too in6grameat deterred by imy stieilci
you my whole
mind. And in order t,oadnod
slommcoasnt
tborictly and directly, I
will say that, " if things continue as they are, the Govern-
ment will destroy Sicily, and Sicily will destroy Italy." The
Sicilian people have given evident© in their history morehr
than once that patience is not the most striitls-inghoiafht
areei
virtues, and that their forbearance.
lies
ohnveshwers of the
not to be transgressed with impunity,
Now, the Italians
4th of April have sufficiently
preovseseely than any • other
cannot trill i with them, m
• is certainly
sacred end vital
people. The cause of unsituyprems,
and above the cause
to Italy, but it is not
• the conscience, of every people that
of unity there rcigus in
of liberty, justice. In the lone'
or liberty, and above that
will find that they must reason thus, and
run the civilians
reduced to the painful strait of choosing jute.
they will be re Italy But you will ask, are there
ties before liberty, or. . ,
..
sufficient injustice and suffering toeuetity my presentiments
9 Let us see. On the debiepide of the Government
and fears •
we enlist put to the account everything which they ought
to have dons, and have not known how, or have not chosen
to do. We find in this list schools, streets, reintegrated
funds, bravest terli and patriots rewarded, thieves aril
I3ourb mists punialed, Gar ibaldiand his followers hunourec',

N S PA F- E
Sv , because a direct negative and a frol,..z>79nt:. 4
justices like the rest. But let we leave t' es
to the princip,-.1 charge. Vt/ •Nt •
Gen. Govone supnoses 4,000 in Eilernp4:o4l;:i4f.fg.
In Sicily there are ten residents bi".e.,lli;t6'4i,
suppositions he includes dead men, wonlcti,•:,:ti4wit E,Q7
scripted, in short an entire imaginary contint. 14 us s-
and double names, and men who have becatiiikilfaiy.:.iujej.)Y
leave for the present, to those who choose to dwell upon it, •
ari estimation of the ability of our commissioners of conscrip-
tion, and a consideration of the urjust persecution, the
useless suffering which a furious pursuit of these phantoms
has inflicted. Let us pass over in silence the wasted
strength of the soldiers, and the degradation of their oflice,
the tragi-c,•rnedy of the cquivolues, and the good humour
of the Italian People,
who clapped their hands for victories
over enemies who never had any existence. At cry rate,
there are raistanee in Sicily then. " Martial law," too,
what the bkesing,s of
martial law are, the whole of Italy
can more or less remember, and Sicily is learning yct more
thoroughly under the rule of General Govone.
Let us speak plainly. If you think to scourge a country,
and then call on its sine. to bear arms ,for von; if you non,
rich its hopes and aspirations with th, sacred images of
Ilene and Naples, and condemn it to the ni.,htiv patrol of
sbirri and police, if you call for soldiers, and make carabi-
nee rs, if, in a word, you destroy in a people that profound sen-
timent of justice which make theta say—., It e.e give our
country our lives and our fortunes, our country gives us
love, justice, prosperity, and greatness in return,',—N„.„
hope, General, that you will see that people voluntarily and
cheerfully recruit the raztka of your army. One does not de-
base, one does not deprave a country, and then ask it fir
deeds of virtue; one does not bleed a man and thou tell him
to fight. The same reason by which you justify desertion
from the Austrian array by the Venetians, and by the Niz..
zards from the French, the same reason which made you
term those Italian deserters comrades, who went with you
from Marsala to Maddaloni, and who, in 12 hours, left your
regiment in 1860, when they learned that the promises of
Cattolica had been broken, the same reason may, if not to-
day, one day or another, be valid in the.case of the Duchies,
the Neapolitans, in a word, for all Italians.
' we are face to
However, w think of
the whole of Sicily in a state of siege, not even excepting
face with the lhawateo"ferreswisetannatsa,y it,
and the Government has put

t is what a state of siege? At the
I mercy of the Semery ... their most truculent mood, in a
condition compounded of Link, limit, and the Holy Office.
You will say I exaggerate, perhaps. Hear Imo. Do you know
the story of Gen. Serpi? If no'-, read the Sicilian journals,
,Jind especially the extraerdinary supple:l-sr:A to the IZ?ete
.Politico of Sept. 27, No. 215. In the..iireantime, I will
sketch it for you briefly: An old feud reigned between the
houses of Palozzili and Bonmariti in Favorotta. Some of
the Palozzoli aro arrested on some imputation by the "Na-
tional Guard, and on the following day aro found dead in.
dthair, pboryfisamah. This murder is ascribed te domestic vengeance,
and the Bonmariti are accused of it, and one of there is
life ?
brought up for trial, while two others are stabbed in the
theanßdaawmhaorsietideisat
made
easilyc but
tinweto
Theca can inno-
cence
mandant of theraclts.
the dead to •
inter-
feres in the affair of th
h ea Pal
c.a.,
nzr
azd obs lhi tn. ,i
peoenres.o with fTwGhheeonmg. e Syndicintlerrarli,
ica ot
13ae ofr
:
Favorotta, cont
and proposes to them that
Sicilianeuitendetta, and in order to protect
finish the feud alts Figgie. He his friends from a laws andn perhaps worse, proposes to
daughter, aged 13, to one of the they'o assembles the Bonmariti,
NeVkhnOo haswl shed the blood of her
4 aszi
Iszeh:ei
iN.u.vl
swears
shb
telt
Bonmariti
nshha
let
ahvirei
will
consent, but the daughter refuses
availsreats so that they
never give her hand to a mana
kin. General Serpi will not
edge himself to be de-
feated, and insists, and threatens the
place the girl in his hands. Little theta
her parents
girl that she cries, entreats, and bewails her fate; the unhappy
ell:ill-lib:Tat;
and her life are sacrificed. The general threataete
with a revival of the Palazzolo process if thensmila
not accomplished. His actions followed sr.)eedilr-riage be
threats. Oa the 21st a column of the 19th Infantry:a°rti* his
at Favorotta, arrested the Bonmariti and their adheriolv'el
and carried them off to the headquarters. There they were
confronted with the General, who declared to Vito Bon_
merit°, the father of the girl, " I have come here to cause
the completion of the marriage of your daughter with Palaz-
zolo, and I have made all the necessary dispositions for se-
curing its fulfilment." I omit the arguments, the terror,
the father's prayers. The daughter was dragged away front
the College and was subjected to a last trial. She alone was
brave and refused anew to barter her soul. and took refuge
in a convent. General Govone contented himself with ad-
monishing the parties. As for General Serpi, who could
think of assailing the army, by touching one of its chiefs?
In the Aquila Latina, a Messiness journal, we read as
follows :

" According to the instructions of the Municipal autho-
rities, some soldiers were sent to Rocca, to arrest a young
man, aged 18, named Pasquale Sacca, a carpenter, whom
they found in his bed, and dying. This circumstance made
no impression whatever upon his captors, and Sacca was
brought to Romella, a two hours journey, over tzieilian
roads, in such a condition," A few hours later, he died.
Sacca had never disturbed the public security. " Pied-
monteae, Lombards, Sicilians, Tuscans, Metropolitans
(exclaims this friend of the people) —have you heard ?"
And you, whose weapon is the pen, you who have not had
courage to confess the -truth, when it could be injurious to
your interests—what have you to say ?
The Giornale di Sicilia, the official organ of the Govern-
ment, relates according to ?isz(:zt Pelphtni, the Petralia So-
prana affair. If the facts were on!y such as it states them
to have been they would be sufficient to cover us with
shame. But much worse remains to be told. You must
know that a bcdy of men, guided by a delegate of public
safety, and composed of soldiers, carabineers, and commer-
cial guests, surrounded the house of Petralia Soprana, ty
night, demanding a resident. The inmates, who knew no-
thing about him, refused to open the door at that hour, and
hearing the soldiery threatening, and striking the door and
walls, they fired a few shots out of the upper windows. As
it seemed difficult to force an entrance, the commandant of
the troops was sent cif* to call the lieutenant, who came im-
mediately, and decided that in such cases the resources em-
ployed by Mouravieff were advisable. They sot fire to the
straw in an adjoining stable. and to the door, so that it
spread at once all over the house, the door fell down in ashes,
and they entered by the breach. When the conquerors
reached their victims they were already burnt to ashes, says
the Giornale di Sicilia. Tney were still alive, say several
witnesses, Who shall penetrate the mystery of their suffer-
ings ? The fact is, that on the bodies burned by the fiimes
men, women, and children, were found undeniable traces of
t entire tir u
'het h
reader I
wounds inflicted by firearme, The version which I have
d is
the
the mildest;
Jiel
forahe Journal. ene
you to
theel e creportt
ill or
enough—but let him say that to those who commit
6111
se
horrors, not to mo who only relate them.
O i
In the military
hospital at Palermo there is a poor mute, kept there as a
re-
sistant, and who the doctors persist in declaring feigns this
terrible malady. After many vain efforts to make him speak,
to what, think you, have they resorted ? To fire again ?Thi
y
applied lighted torches to the unfortunate creature'slimbs,
they made 40 wounds in his body, buthe
has not yet
spoken. Torquemada forced innocent
foss sins they had never committed. by persons to eon.
entered the imagination of the ' fire, but it novae
gloomy Priest of the Inqui-
sition to make the dumb speak.
Sicilians guilty when they seek to Ind now, you call the
you say they do not love Italy, that they do not recognise
,
the virtue of self-sacrifice, thatthat
they are Arabs. I will au they arc barbarians,
taro
saver you for than with a; roc d
of two states of siege
With the gates of Palerrao,barrieo;
with citizens and senators arrested on the highf
the nuptial arrangements v7SaaYeCiaw the
andrnents of Serpi, the
flames of Petralia,-corpsesuto of Palermo,
with the army from whithhe wohundestoefketehothme
prestige which
made it sacred and covetcyclouthaev crusade against the two
strangers who still hold Rome and Venice.
Learn 1
entreat you, that Sicily, and I hope I may say
all Italy, is Employ your arms in
not full of pretorians.
the service of Italy, or you will not have them to guard
your slumbers, and adorn your dip la or h ving, you
set mywords down as the
will lose them. Now do no-
f solitary men; the lament of
querulous forebodings o
t
Caprera has an echo. Read the correspondence of the
rerscveranza from Palermo, on
Oct. 17. The letter which
" General Govone hi self
I quote begins With the
werfdengs cannot continne,'ret and
must know that this state
o h
thi t
't b remedied ilindeed
goes on
to advise, as we do, t a e
they do not wish the destruction of Sicily.
imperatively necessaryw,
no that the honest press
shouldis join hands and inaugurate a formal campaign against
the military measures which are pursued in Sicily, demand-
ing the cessation of the state of siege, and of military as-
cendancy, and the
restoration of the) island to ordinary
to morality, and to justice. If this system of violence
laanTdepravation continue, I conclude as I began.—tho
Government
will destroy Sicily, and Sicily will destroy
Italy.—Yours, GutsuprE Gurnzoxf.

et l'Eloquence a Rom."
~.,
JULES JANIN'S NEW WORK is entitled "La Poesie
A CHINESE PIRATE CAI itTRED.LY A OIEFFIELD
CA PTAIN. —A letter has been received from (14 oir-rin
Hopis, of the merchant steamer 3watow, desc.ribiug. the
warmer in which he captured a Chinese pirate. Ile writes:
•
t‘ I was bound fcrSthae uneghtivttaifcre of frees Tien
71 -,tasn,46e, I made
iu
ganti when
odubot'two vessels
miles from h
vessels close together. I altered the ceurse, haul-
lug for them, when about five miles elf.. One made sail
and sheered off. I stood on and s'.eained alongside the
other vessel, and Lund her totally disabled, having her
sails cut and rigging all adrift,
and the crew in a fearful
state, the captain being nearly dead with sabre cuts. I 10'
s:antly gave chase to the first craft, and when within a mile
she opened fire, but did us no damage, I steamed full power_
bang into her, cut:tin:l. her up and damaging her stern,
backed astern and at la,r again amidships. '
; 11-1-ewPiere in
were panie-strit:l:m—so taken by surprise.
Wssible into
the meantime sending rifle balls as fast
as possible
when the
them. The third time I struck her
W,e' bt:aoric 14 prisners,
pirates actually jumped overboard.
Tilled and drowned.
and I think fully that number were killed
mate, who was
We had none killed except the c
'lll Shanghai are asto.•
knocked overboard and drown
ad.
a pirate. A little
nicked at a merchant steamer taking wjosty's g-aeboats and
w'Llile ago they attacked one ot 11
nearly captured her." •