Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-03-02

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man ought to set his face against every thing cal
culated to favor religious persecution or to txten-
uate the conduct of prosecutors. This letter Of
Bishop Hughes is unworthy of him and of the &C.
casion. The real question presented by this Ma
dial affair is-arc they prosecuted 70, heirrehgion.
This the Bishop in no way denies. but merely
Lwels upon matters more verbal and immaterial
than real VERITAS.
The NIndini Family.
GRAND DEMONSTRATION METROPOLITAN HALL,
NEW
| A public meeting was held last evening at Me
tropolitan Hall, to express .he feelings of the Chris
tan public and the friends of Religious Freedom,
in regard to the Madiai Family and Others impris-
oned in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, for possess
ing and reading the oily Scriptures. His Hon, r,
Jacob A. ~estervelt, Mayor of the city, presided.
The hall was densely crowded, anu great enthu
sasm was manifested. From a statement of facts
made by Rev. Robert Baird, we give the follow
ing extracts; the length OF the document preciud
| ing lis entire insertion.
STATEMENT, &c.
In the year lS4S and I849, many thousands of
copies of the Sacred Scriptures, the Italian Ian
| guage, were published in Florence, and some ten
or twelve thousand were put into crcu ation among
the people, who received them with great avidily.
| For the space of year, all this was done with the
consent of the government, and i'll accordance with
| the laws ofTuScany.
But ut length the reaction set in, in Tuscany
well as in all other parts of Italy, excepting the
kingdom Of Sardinia. The Grand Duke having re-
turned from the temporary abdiCation the throne
of his fathers, it not long till one privilege al
ter another, and one liberty after another was
| abolished, together with the constitution which had
been adopted i'll 1913. The court Of Tuscany was
| induced to adopt measure after measure TO arrest
the spirit of inquiry and its consequences among
the people. The Italian preaching i'll the Swiss
chapel interdcted. In the spring of 1851,
Count Piero Guicciardlni ard five others were ar
rested, and thrown mo prison. for the sole offence
of possessing and reading the New Testament. At
the moment when the gems d'armes broke in upon
their simple and truly primitive meeting for spirit
ual edilcation. they were engaged III reading the
| 18th chapter of the Gospel bySt. John, which com
menceS with these words of our Saviour:-"l aus
The true vine, and my Father is the huSbandman."
The Imprisonment of these men was but of Shor
duration, for their sentence was committed Through
the influence 1t is said, OF the lat: Mr.. Shell, the
then British ambassador at the court of Floreuce)
| to Punishment for the period of SIX months i'll
cases, and year i'll Others
This was the prelude TO greater trials to the lit
tie bands of Scripture inquirers. Other mprison-
ments and other banlShmentS took place, until il
was believed that in the autumn of 1851, as many
as twenty OF the most prominent persons in this re-
llglouS movement were either i'll prison, anon,
common felonS, or i'll exile. In the succeeding
winter, Francisco Madiai, and his wife Rosa, both
persons in the middle period of life, rather pass
| ing out of it, arrested and thrown into Il
loathSome prison, among the vileSt criminals where
they languiShed many months, and their health
was, it is feared, permanently affected. Atlength,
IN June last they were brought TO trial. The only
charge was, lin the language of the indictment, lit
orally translated,) that of ''impiety, shown i'll
making prOSelytcS to the So called evangelical or
pure Gospel confeSsion.' In other words it was
charge that they possessed and read the Word
of God, and, having found the blessed peace which
| it gives, desired to make their neighbolS and
friends paItakeIs Of their Joy. The trial lasted
from the 4th to the St of June, 1852, and ended i'll
their being condemned Ey vote of three judi. Is
| against them to two in their favor. They were
defended with great ability by Sig. Maggiorani,
talented Florenline advocate, Who deserves the
greatest credit for his ntrepdty in that trying mo-
ment. and for his subsequent kind and considerable
attention 10 his unfortunate clients. It's proper TO
add, that the argument of this able advocate was
fully sustained by the opinions of some of the most
distinguished juriss in Tuscany. The noble confess
Sors so deported themselves on the occasion as To
| command the deepest sympathy OF all who were
present. Pale and exhausted by their long a nd
| miserable imprisonment, they answered with meek
ness and rmneSS to the nerrogatorieS of the court
| At the commencement of the trial, Signor Madia
was asked ii he was born in the bosom of the Holy
mother, the Roman Catholic Church. "YeS," he
| replied, "but now | am Christian, according 10
| the Gospel" "Who has made you such, and does
there exist any act of abjuIation amongst those TO
whom you united?" "My convictions have
existed for many years, but have acquired strength
from the study of the Word OF God II has been a
matter between God and my own soul, but which
was outwardly manifested when took tie commu
MON in the Swiss church, His wife also testified
that the change in her views and feelings had been
tie result of years Of prayerful inquiry, and that
she had made public profession OF her new faith
at time when the law gave religious liberty 10 its
| citizens.
| But the very defence in vain. They were
condemned.-Sig. Madia to Sc and his wife 10 as
months imprisonment at hard labor; and both
| have already passed more than six months of the
terms OF their sentence, not in the same penitenua
ry, butin establishments so miles apart-the hus-
band at Voterra, and his wife at Lucca.
| When it became known that the health OF one
if not both of thesA Sufferers Tor Christs sake
was i'll danger of giving completely away, and
that other instances of persecution W occurring
at Florence, the ProteStants of Great Britain, Ho.-
land, France, Germany and Switzerland, sent a
deputation of ten men; the Earls of Roden and
Cavan, and Capt. Trotter, from England; Mr..
Elout, Holland; Count A. de Casparin and NJ. de
Mlmont, France, MeSSrS. Four'allS and BONN,
| Germany; and Count de ST. George and Colonel
TIonchn, Geneva; men distinguished for their
piety and by their social nosition-to Florence, 10
sue for the clemency of the Grand Duke. They
were refused personal interview by the Grand
| Duke! Whereupon they addressed q respectful
but earnest note to his royal hghneSs and returned
10 their respective countries 10 make report TO
those who sent them. Their report is before the
world, and reveals remarkable and even an alar-
ming state of things in Tuscany.
| We complete this simple narrative by satnL
that the Earl of Roden obtained permission 10 Wis
1t Sig Madla and his wife in their respective priS-
ons; and whilst he bears honorable testimony to
The clvllity of the keepers; we'll to the cir
cumStanceS of comparative comfort in which they
are, not being at work in the gaIleys as was re-
ported, nor Shut up with felons; he describes their
health. particularly that of Sig. Madia las such as
to render it certain, humanely speaking, that he
cannot longer endure the imprisonment which he
is undergoing. Neither of them is allowed to have
the religious Instruction and consolation of Prot
estant pastor and teacher, nor even a Protestant
nj he (yuoh altaCa prota
tant book; but are both subject, by way of discip-
line Ito the attempts oft:repeated of priests, monks,
and nuns to convert them back to the Roman
Catholic Church. Such is'the brief notice of the
persecution in Tuscany, and of the present condi-