The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-03 00:00:00

FARLYTS PROGERS TEROUGII 71111
ROMAGNA.

PROM THE CORRESPONDENT OP TILE DAILY NEWS.
RLMINI, FEB. 24.
Had the supporters of the temporal power of his:
Tidiness followed Farini in his triumphant journe,
through the Emilian provinces, an opportunity
would havesbeen offered to them of revising their,
opinion about the sentiments by which the Romag-
nols are- animated. Here, as well as at Ferrara,
Lugo, Ravenna, and Cesena, the outburst of popular
enthusiasm for the representative of Victor. Emma-
nuel's authority was too manifest, too solemn, Lobe
mistaken. Had the Marquis of Normanby been
present at the demonstration effete(' last night by..
the people of this town to the Governor-General-
within the walls of their magnifieent theatre, I
think he would have been converted. Our former
ambassador at Florence may quote as long as he
likes the cor-respondence of the clerical papers, or
his friends' letters, but the eloquence of facts is too
much for him. There has bcen no got up or official,
enthusiasm; the very simplicity of the public fes-
tivities is the most striking proof of their sincerity.
Farini has been received as your Queen would have
been.were she unexpectedly to arrive in one of your
towns, in a manner in fact in which Popes and
dukes have never been received here in our century.
I was myself present when the Governor-General
made his appearance in the vast theatre, which
by the way is one of the most splendid buildings
of the kind I ever saw. The large and lofty edifice,
which, although modern, presents the aspect
of an ancient Roman theatre, was thronged
by a crowd which, considering the population of •
Rimini, about 16,000 souls, one migh call impos-
ing. Venetian mastshad been placed on each side
of the stage, and over them the national colours
were floating, with the arms of the House of Savoy
in their centre. On the, appearance of Farini in the
large box on the second tier a shower of green,
white, and red papers fell upon the crowd in the
pit. On those papers sonnets and epigramshad been-
, printed in honour of the.man who by his civic cou-
rage and wisdom had snatched the Legations from
the grasp of-the Vatican. It is difficult to describe
t hepopular excitement at that moment—excitement
the principal element of which was the joyful feeling
of escape from the worst government that ever af-
flicted humanity. To form an exact idea of the cha-
racter of the Roman rule in these late yearrs, it is
necessary to come here and talk with all classes of
the people themselves. There are facts which no
man in England would believe, and which I should
not have believed were not the proofs offered to me,
and had I not been permitted to read the official
documents which confirm them. Yesterday Marquis
Rork the Intendente of Ravenna, was kind enough
to show me the original sentence by which the
famous Legate a latere Rivasola condemned 500 in-
dividuals of that town to the police surveillance.
By one article of that sentence those persons were
also subjected to the obligation of presenting every
month a certificate from the rector of their parish,
proving that they attended confession and com-
munion, thus turning the sacraments of the Chris-
tian religion into an aggravation of a penal sen-
tence. It is necessary to observe that out of the
500 persons put under the surveillance of the police,
300 were Notoriously bad characters, who, from the
fear of being arrested, were induced to.eontess and
communicate, although they knew it was for them
an act of barefaced sacrilege. Between a sacrilege
and the Papal prisons they did not, however, hesi-
tate a moment. It is unnecessary for me to com-
ment upon such an application of religious obser-
vances. Moreover, this is but one, and not the
most iniquitious, of the numerous chapters of Papal
misrule.

The Governor-General will leave this town in
two hours' time for Cesena and Forli. At the lat-
ter of these places he will pass the night, and by
to,morrow evening he will arrive at Bologna, after
having paid a short visit to the towns of Faenza,
Castel Bolognese, and Timola.

AN ITALIAN SECRET SOCIETY.
FORLI, FEB, 25.
Before leaving Rimini I had made up my mind
to stop a few hours at Cesena, for I was anxious
to see with my own eyes Zow Farini would be
aeceived in that ancient city, which still retains
the name of the last town of Cisalpine Gaul
on the tEmilian Way. Cesena had acquired
such a character for turbulence and ferocity that
it was really worth while to learn whether mat-
ters had changed since the establishment of a
national and liberal Government. To judge
of the evils brought about by the government of
the priests in that city it is sufficient to bear in
mind that during the course of the last five years
more than 60 political assassinations had occurred
1 within its walls. These black deeds were per-
petrated with impunity by a secret society, which,
under the pretence of ser wing the cause of liberty,
not seldom mercilessly revenged some private
wrong. Although in more than one instance
these horrid crimes had been perpetrated in broad
daylight, the Papal police had never been able to
discover the assassins. Public opinion pointed to
them, but either through fear or through conni-
vance they were never arrested. The majority of
the persons tnus slain in the streets of Cesena
were bad characters, spies of the Papal police, or
men who had turned evidence against their poli-
tical friends ; the rest were poor fellows who had
had the misfortune of displeasing one mem-
ber or another of the secret association. I have
been told that the mysterious power of this ter-
rible society not seldom reached a treacherous
brother even across the British Channel or the
Atlantic Ocean.

The present liberal Government, howeverr, has
made up for the incapacity of its predecessor, and
done itself the honour of avenging the victims of
this bloodthirsty association. At the end of last
June Count Guidi, the Mayor of Cesena, was return-
ing home when he was assaulted by two men near
the Archb 'shop's palace. He was cruelly dealt with,
and left on the ground insensible. The authors of
this fresh outrage thinking themselves safe did not
hesitate to speak about it at a wine shop to which
they afterwards repaired. The consequence of this
was that the two men were arrested in a few days,
and subjected to a strict examination. One of
them was led to confess that both he and his com-
panion belonged to the secret society above-men-
tioned, and that they had assaulted the gonfaloniere,
having been ordered to do so by their chiefs. At
first it was difficult to obtain from them the names of
their associates, such was the fear they evinced of
being mtardered when free. But at last they spoke,
and about 20 persons_of Cesena and the surrounding
villages were arrested by Farini's order. Amongst
these persons there are three officers, who, after
Villafranca, had entered the army of Central Italy.
Majer Valgania is of the number, and from what I
hear it seems he really was the acknowledged chief
of the assassins. This an belongs to an
honourable family of Cesena, but in consequence
of his misconduct, he had become an associate of
all sorts of bad characters, and so been brought
into the disgraceful position in which he now finds
himself. When the war broke out he entered as a
volunteer in one of Garibaldi's regiments, and
having distinguished himself, he was afterwards
appointed major in the Romagna. In a few days
I hope to be able to send you some interesting de-
tails about these wretches, who for so many years
have been the scourge of their native town. Now
let me ask once more on whom must fall the
responsibility of tteic crimes ? Were they not the
logical consequence of the bad and immoral govern-
ment of Rome ? Could such atrocities have been
perpetrated with impunity in a well-ruled country ?
You see that I am always forced to come to the same
conclusion. Under the government of Papal legates
we find assassinations, depredations, immorality
of all kinds; the lives and property of the peaceful
citizens unprotected. As soon as the Government
of his Holiness is overthrown—as soon as the Papal
Legate leaves a town or a province the liberal Go-
vernment makes the law respected. Criminals are
discovered and order is re-established. This fact, so
often noticed by your correspondent, is not ignored
by the now happy population of the Romagna, who
in warmly greeting the arrival of Farini know that
they are exalting the man who has broght their
community from a state of something like barbarism
to one of civilisation. This was the main cause of the
at Cesena this morning, for every eiti-
n e enthusiastic reception of the Governor General of
the e Emt it
Lilt his peace and security were insured
z
by the wise and determined measures adopted by
their illustrious countryman. Now that Cessna
has got rid of those assassins much may be hoped from her. Already, though numbering only 8,686
inhabitants, she has given to the national army 800
volunteers, 600 of whom are still in its ranks. Bad
governments make bad institutiona, and bad insti-
tutions bad citizens. Let the generous' instincts of
the Romagnols freely develop themselves, and you
will see that within a period of a few years all traces
of this demoralisation will disappear. For the arri-
val of Farini a sp'endid banquet had been prepared
at the Palazzo Pubblico, where tables had been laid
out in a large saloon, whose walls were adorned
with the masterpieces of Guercino and Francesco
Francia. Entablatures of red satin were suspended
on its walls ornamented with elegant arabesques.
The two entrances to this magnificent saloon were
lined with heavy silk curtains, the centre of each
exhibiting the time-honoured escutcheon of the
Malatesta family. All the principal families of the
town and neighbourhood were represented, and at
the right hand of Farini, and opposite to him, sat
the two Princes Chiaramonte, nephews and heirs of
Pius VIII.