The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-27 00:00:00

ranks whose names history has proclaimed, two eonsnira-
tors, of whom one found a glorious death upon the battle
field. Orsini, the prisoner, was then 12 years of age.
He saw the Pontificial Government uproot the hearth- ,
stone of his home, and the dungeon and no ,caffold were '
the fruits which unsuccessful valour had gathered in the
combat. At the moment of his death Orsini invoked the
name of Napoleon the Great, and you would fain believe
that such an entry into life as that of my client, that such
recollections, were not calculated to inflame his heart with
impassioned sentiments? You have jest heard it said that
Orsini has passed his life in conspiracy. But how could it
be otherwise, if you will reflect on the teachings of that
past whichbas been revealed to you? Must not an Italian
feel his chain ? And you wish that the grand idea of
Italian unity, put into practice by him who understood
that its establishment demanded the overthrow of the tem-
poral power of the Pope— a power which was actually over-
' thrown—you wish that such a remembrance should have
perished, and left no trace behind. Bnt it has been said
Orsini took an oath, an oath which he has never violated.
In 1846 Tuscany drove him into exile—Tuscany, that is to
say, Austria. At length arrived '4g. It is not my business
to-day to explain the causes of its birth ; but we cannot
efface from our memories a time when such an act was per-
mitted. When M. de Lamartine made public
rora
cf hie famous
a au in-
manifesto, wLicli Italyb_ailal as the
dependence, when the news arrived at Paris of the re-
treat of the Austrians across the Ta..liamento, France, if
I recollect aright, was the first and the loudest to applaud
Orsini, still the same, has not changed his sentiments.
'Universal suffrage gave him a place in the Constituent
Assembly convoked at Rome. You
know the history of
that Assembly. Europe trampled uit under f iot, and the
cannon of France crushed it. This man must then yield to
his weakness. This son of Captain Orsini must quit his
country once more. He goes to Vienna under the name of
Herman, still pursued, as he avows, by the same demon
which pursued him thus far. Seized, bound, led to the
citadel of Mantua, which more resembles a tomb than a
prison, his spirit remains unbroken. He forces the secret
judges to render homage to the serenity of his soul, to the
purity of his intentions. The instruments of ,leath were
ready, but the devotedness of a woman causes a letter
to reach him,
in which is explained to him a plan of
escape. Eight bars of iron are cut through, and, after a
long suspension over the abyss, the fragile support
gives, at a height of 40 metres. and he falls into the
abyss. He is found by shepherds, who conceal him for
4s hours in the reeds of a frozen lake. He then goes to
England, and tries to excite the sympathy of a powerful
and generous nation in favour of his unfortunate country.
When his legal and legitimate efforts appear useless his
spirit, which again leads him astray, urges him to the
commission of a crime, which at this moment he would
wish to efface at the cost of his blood. The independence
of Italy and he himself are sacrificed even to the very
name he bears, and which he has sullied by assassination.
Doubtless such persistence is deserving of blame. A man
must know bow to bow to force, and before the Cabinet of
Kings who tell you ' Your Government displeases me. I
destroy it.' But all that the work of force is destined to
encounter on its way is a resistance which will rather allow
itself to be crushed than to submit to reason. In our own
history we have proofs of the fact. In 1815 Napoleon was
overthrown. A regular Government succeeded a despotism.
Well then, was not that Government, which was accused
of having been imposed by the foreign bayonets, inces-
santly manaced by conspiracies, of which our people were
pleased to consider themselves, I will not say as martyrs—
I will not exaggerate—but as victims.
With respect to the victims of the attempt on
the 14th, M. Jules Favre said :
" Yes, that is a crime, a crime of which Orsini will be
accountable before God, much more than before the law of
men, because the law before it strikes him has to inquire
as to his intentions. The Procureur-General has not insisted
excessively on this count. He has laid much more stress
on what he calls the variations of his language. I will try
to remove that reproach. It does not much matter to us
that he may have contradicted himself, or that he shows
vacillation of mind of which the solitude of his prison is
the cause. It is not by such circumstances that we must
judge an accused man."
M. Jules Favre examines this part of the ques-
ticu at some length. He said :
"Orsini entered on this dangerous path on which fana-
ticism urged him, bowed before the man he had intended
to strike, and turning towards the nephew of the great
Emperor, said to him ' Prince you boast of having issued
from the ranks of the people. Well, then, take courage,
and pxtrnd your hand to the people who are the brothers of
the Fi ench people. Do not allow Italy to be trampled
under foot by the children of the north. The source of your
own power is a revolutionary source ; bear it always in
mind, and you shall be invulnerable ' I have now done,
and my last words will be, like those of the Procureur-Ge-
neral, a prayer. You will do your duty without passion and
without weakness, and God, who judges the great of the
earth—God, who measures all human actions, and weighs
the lives of men in the balance of which our intelligence
and our hearts cannot have any adequate notion—God
who views the sufferings of this man—his anguish, and the
thoughts which have ever agitated his spirit—the ardent
passions which have filled his heart—and will, perhaps,
render to this intelligent and noble soul a pardon which,
in their weakness, mea will not be able to extend to him."
M. Jules Favre then re,umed his seat. The im-
pression produced by these last words was so great
that several minutes elapsed before the Court was
collected enough to call on M. Nogent St. Laurens,
Pierri's counsel.