The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-08 00:00:00

soldiery. Says the hon. member for Dundalk—" I saw two I
gentlemen who were eye-witnesses, and they assured me
there was no such thing." I have not got to quote two
gentlemen who were eye-witnesses, but I have to quote the
printed account of one gentleman who was officially respon-
sible, for he was the Papal officer on the spot. (Hear, hear.)
The paper from which I am about to quote is the report of
that Papal officer to- his superior in Rome. His name is
Menem, he was sub-intendant of the district, and he re-
ports to his Excellency the Intendant-General Agostini, in
Rome. We have heard something about foreign mercena-
ries, and a comparison was drawn between the foreigners
whom England has at different times employed to make up
the paucity of her men—a policy, perhaps, doubtful enough
—but a comparison was drawn between them and the
foreigners in the army of the Pope. This reporter, who I
must say seems to do his duty honestly, but who of course
does not make the case too bad says :—" The enthusiasm
of the troops in attacking the city was indescribable, espe-
cially that of the foreigners and gendarmes." Their en-
thusiasm in assaulting the city was something beyond
the average of the rest of the soldiers. Having men-
tioned that there were certain barricades, he goes on—
will read it as accurately as I can into English :-
0 The soldiers then passed over these barricades. They took
by assault the houses and the convent, where they killed and
wounded all they could, not excepting some women"—
alcune donne—" and, proceeding for Ward, they did the same
thing at the inn in the Borge San Pietro." This is the case
on which my hon. friend undertook to confute the lion.
member for Southwark, and with respect to which he
thought that confutation would be so easy. Why, sir, this
is the precise assertion in terms that was made by the hon.
member for Southwark, because it was not the accidental
death of women in the moment of assault, but it was the
wanton and deliberate murder of women distinctly testified
to by an officer of the Papal Government. (Hear, hear.)
[Sir G. Bowyer—" Read, read 1"] I have read. [Sir G.
Bowyer—" Nothing about ' wanton."] Ido not find
here the word " wanton." 1 admit that. I find that
the troops when they had got into the town killed
all they could, including women as well as men. (Cheers.)
Now. sir, unfortunately, there is, at least there was, a de-
plorable solidarity among the Italian Governments, and as
sometimes in a miniature you see represented with the
greatest force the features of the countenance, so there was
one of the smallest of these States, the most insignificant of
these Governments, which perhaps presented the fullest
and truest development of the system—l mean the Govern-
ment of a Sovereign to whom no allusion has been made by
my hon. friend the member for Dundalk, the late Grand
Duke of Modena—(hear)—one of those a horn, of course, we
ought to regard with pity, and even with veneration, as a
righteous ruler driven out of his States by the contemptible
intrigues of Victor Emmanuel. Well, sir, here are again a
set of original documents. Perhaps the hon. member will
say that they are forgeries. ("Hear, hear," from Mr. Hen-
nessy, and a laugh.) I have never seen the original manu-
scripts, but I hold in my hand the published book, and no
contradiction of that book has to my knowledge or belief
ever appeared. (Hear.) Let us have a few specimens of the
mode of governing in that country which was above all
others a paternal State, which was the pet State of the
Austrians, and was steadily supported and uniformly
countenanced by the Pope. The Pope, who has the thunders
of the Vatican ready to launch at the head of Victor Mu
manuel, and to brand his crimes, never had any words ex-
cept those of courtesy and kindness for the Duke of. Mo-
i dens, to whose deeds lam about to refer. These are docu-
ments, of a great number of which I have not been able
to make myself master, but I think that the specimens
which I shall give you will be sufficient. The first which
I shall cite was written in the year 1853, a time of pro-
found peace. It does not mention whether the persons
referred to were criminal offenders, but I have no doubt that
they were This document is signed "Francesco," and
dated Reggio, May 22, 1853, and is addressed to the Minis-
ter " di Buon Governo," which I may translate " the
Home Office," although my right hon. friend the Home
Secretary, who I am glad to see is not in the House, would
not thank me for the comparison. The decree refers to a
batch of 254 criminals, and orders that they shall all be
sent to another prison, and then continues : " Observing
that about one-third of them, who have received but very
slight sentences from the tribunals, are to finish their sen-
tences within the current year, we decree by our Sovereign
authority that none of them"-80 or 9Q—" shall be re-
stored to society until they shall have given a proof of re-
formed conduct in the place where they are to be confined,
and shall have acquired some trade." That is the system
of government with regard to the security of the people
as respects their personal rights. (Sir G. Bowyer.—
" The offence ?") The document does not state the offence.
My case is, that they were offences that had been tried and
judged not by Italian juries but by Italian judges, not
persons of opulence and station, like those of this coun-
try, but receiving pittances not sufficient for a moderate
livelihood, and holding those pittances at the absolute
will of the Crown. (Hear, hear.) The Duke of Mo-
dena said, " I decree that the imprisonment of the whole
shall be prolonged until the parties shall individually give
satisfactory proofs of reformation." Again, a young man of
17, named Granaj, of Carrara, was found guilty of murder
or manslaughter. The law of Modena does not permit capi-
tal punishment under the age of 21. After the trial the
Duke of Modena sends forth an edict declaring that, not-
withstanding the law, the young man shall be executed.
[Mr. Bowyer made an observation which did not reach the
gallery.] Ihe hon gentleman seems in some degree acli-
mated. (Laughter and cheers.) In another edict I find
that the Duke is nauseated by reading three judicial sen-
tences, and his reason is that the crimes are so lightly
treated that the punishment is worth nothing at all. The
Duke is even more nauseated by finding that previous good
conduct has been alleged on the part of the criminals. (A.
laugh.) The third thing that nauseates him is that a man
named Felice Libbra, who had been the accomplice of some
criminal, should be let out of prison when he had exhausted
the whole term of his imprisonment. (A laugh.) In this
case the judges were rebuked and a new trial was ordered.
I do not wonder that a smile of incredulity passes over the
lipabf hon. gentlemen. It ought to do so. (Hear, hear.) It
would be wrong that in this age and in this part of the world
ono should be too ready to believe that such things could
take place. (Hear, hear.) But I quota offlcini docurrzente,
which I offer for the inspection of hon. gentlemen opposite.
I have told the house of the case of a criminal who did not
come under the operation of capital punishment, but in
whose case the Duke made an ex post facto law for his exe-
cution. Here comes a converse case of a law or a remission
that is not allowed to be retroactive. The Duke, writing to
one of his Ministers, describes his affliction relative to the
case of some criminals who were entitled to the operation
of a mitigating law, and he issues an edict addressed to his
_ _

" Dear Cocchi," its object being to declare that the initi‘
gating law shall not be applicable to that crime. (Hear.)
Here is another case, in which one citizsn was killed and
others were wounded in a row between the townspeople and
the military at Carrara. The order to fire was given, not by
the commander of the troops, but by a soldier, without the
order of the commander, who was on the spot. The Duke
of Modena issued a public edict, stating that, having looked
into the case he was of opinion that the soldier was perfectly
justified in firing without the order of his commander, who
he added, probably deserved a rebuke for not having given
the order to fire. (A laugh.) I will trouble the house
with one more document, and if ever there was a document
that deserves to be transmitted for the study of posterity,
it is this. It is a letter of congratulation addressed by the
Duke of Modena to his Minister of the Interior. I will
state its purport in English. The Duke states that, hav-
ing examined the list of those admitted to philosophy and
the superior faculties in the Universi y from 184 S to 1833,
"we have remarked with genuine satisfaction the
decreasing number of admissions." (A laugh.) He says
that these admissions had previously gone to an excess most
pernicious to society. "We recognise that these results are
owing, not only to the method of examination and the firm-
ness of the professors, but particularly to the firmness of
the Minister of the Interior, who is persuaded of the evils
that flow from an excess of students and doctors. (Laugh-
ter.) Wherefore we exhort him, as well as all the pro-
feassors, to continue always in this salutary path of reduc
ing more and more the number of those who are to be
admitted to the faculties and philosophy, and particularly
to the faculty of law, which is still in excess." (A laugh.)
This is followed up by a positive decree that there shall
only be two examinations in the University, that only 150
students shall pas‘the first, and 80 the second. I am afraid
I have tried the patience of the house in dealing with the
case of these Italian Governments. (Cheers.) Now, let
me say one word as to the yearning of the Italians for poli-
tical unity. I am ashamed to say that for a long time I
withheld my assent and approval to these yearnings. I
asked why they were not content to pursue locally their
local reforths. But there is the most conclusive evidence
that the time has now come when Italian unity can be
no longer regarded as a dream. And I would ask who have
been its main promoters ? My noble friends who sit near
me hare done something. (Cheers.) The influence of Eng-
land is acknowledged, and it is felt by the Italians
that England has done something to promote the great and
noble object they have at heart. (Cheers.) Let us do justice to
our neighbours over the water. (Hear, hear.) We may
criticise the annexation of Savoy. We disapprove the still
stronger case of the annexe' ion of Nice. We may be lost
in astonishment at the proceedings before Gaeta. But, after
all these deductions have been made—and they are serious
deductions I admit—ltaly acknowledges with one voice
that she owes a heavy debt of gratitude to France. (Cheers.)
But it is not our neighbours nor Victor Emmanuel and
Count Cavour—with regard to whom I wonder at the ex-
travagant compliments paid to them—who have been the
doers of this wondrous work. They have helped to forward
it, and wherever the name of Victor Emmanuel is men-
tioned,, it is a charm from one end of Italy to another,
because he has set that rare example in Italy of a true and
loyal King—(cheers)—l mean a King to whom a com-
pact with a subject is a sacred th:ng, to be maintained
through life and until death. (Loud cheers.) Count
Cavour will bear any criticism, either here or elsewhere,
and I do not anticipate the public judgment when I say
that the name of that man will take a place in the list of
those who have deserved well of Italy. (Cheers.) There
are few indeed whose influence on their time or their coun-
try has been greater in its power or more successfully
directed to benefit that country. (Cheers.) But the house
will permit me to say that it is not any of those who have
made Italian unity what it is—namely, a prospect not far
from being realised. There are others who have more con-
tributed to this unity—those who have resisted all moderate
and reasonable reform—the Kings of Naples, the series of
Popes, the Emperors of Austria. These are they who have
forced forward, and not simply helped forward, the cause
of Italian unity. (Hear, hew.) How is it possible that
when the subjects of the King of Naples found themselves
put down by military power they should not seek that re-
ource, which nature herself teaches, of helping themselves,
and becoming stronger by union with others ? How is it
possible that, when the government of the Pope is carried
on upon the principle that every Roman Catholic through-
out the world is to have a voice in maintaining it, and a
greater voice, indeed, than those who are under the Papal
sceptre—how is it possible the subjects of the Pope should
not seek for strength wherever they can find it to meet such
an unnatural combination ? (Hear, hear.) Above all, it has
been the conduct, the doctrines, and policy of Austria that
have laid broad and deep the foundations of Italian unity.
(Cheers.) When I speak of Austria, I draw a wide dis-inc-
tion between Austria in Italy and Austria beyond it. (Hear,
hear.) Beyond Italy I wish her well with all my heart, and
regard her as the mainstay of the peace and order of Europe.
I do not for a Moment doubt that it has been her unhappy
and miserable task to be the instrument of carrying afflic-
tion to a people, not for her own benefit, but with a result
imperilling her existence as a State. (Hear, hear.) It is
Austria that has made Italian unity. (Cheers.) What
was the course taken by Austria on acquiring her Italian
provinces? Did Austria hold that Italy was a mere acci-
dental aggregation of States, each one of which might be
dealt with by itself apart from the others? No, Austria
was the first that denied that doctrine. She denied it in her
alliance all over Italy. She denied it when by arms and
treaties she provided for perfect unity in the spirit and
principle of government from one end, of the Peninsula
to the other. (Hear, hear.) We know bow Aus-
tria succeeded in that j olicy. She had Piedmont at her
feet, and after the peace drove her into the desired system
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