Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-24
suncrlngs of Young Republicans In the
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1.ad .afsir Eternal City. 10 ttl
The following account of the suffetings of
young Roman, now in Florence, awaiting
a chance revolution to revisit his native city
and aid in freeing her from the Papal yoke,
will give somewhat vivid idea of ecclesi-
astical government. II is from the foreign
correspondence of the Providence Journal:
FLORENCE, June 3O.--Taking my usual
walk, one hot evening last week, on the
Poqgio ImperirJe q jaSelin Of cool air shoot
ing suddenly from the north pole, caused me
to sneeze young military officer standing
by, could not do less, according to the rule
OF italian good-breeding, than to cry out
vipdi OF telicitdl OF course it was my duty
to respond r1zie. This was our introduction
to each other and we fell into conversation.
The young man had been In Florence but
| little more than Ave weeks, and had just put
on his regimentals. He was not without
skill in military affairs, although his knowl-
edge was acquired by former experience. He
soon gave evidence Of possessing respecta-
| bility and intelligence, and finding in me one
who listened with sympathy, he proceeded to
give me history Of a dozen years of his life.
| He was by birth Roman, and had always
lived in his native city, where he had pur-
sued the business of u tradesman. AS long
ago as the revolution of l84S, when hardly
| Of sufficient age 10 bear arms, he first took
| part in the popular NOV gment. After the
| siege of Rome by the French troops, and the
fall of the Republic, he found himself with
many others, a victim of Papal revenge, and
| a prisoner in one of the gloomy piles where
from that time to the present so many
charged with political offences have been
confined For period of fifty-two months
he remained in his narrow cell, cut off from
all communication with his friends, and
Once in two months, by petition to the
SdCra Consultd, he was permitted to have
an interview with his young wife, in the
presence of an officer of police. At times,
in the solitude of his cell, it seemed as if he
would 20 mad Tortured with an intense
consciousness of the injustice of which he
was the victim; of an ardent, and even fiery
nature, sometimes death itself seemed pre-
ferable to such a wretched life Of hopeless
the spirit chafed and chafed but was not
worn out or broken. The brain was racked
almost to despair, but hope still lived in the
| heart-hupe of liberty, new revolutions and
revenge. Precisely In what manner he had
offended against the government. the young
man was not able himself to tell, as ther'
was no specific charge. 1t was enough tC
know that he was an ardent and active re
publican, to prove that he must be danger
Gus citizen For this he was, with others o
his class, put out of the way.
Petition after petition for release, pleading
also for opportunity to justify himself before
the authority. was disregarded. For a long
time no response came. At length, after 9
! period of fifty-two months from the day o
: incarceration, came the order that the offende
| should be set at liberty There was no expla
nation of the reason for this act ofclemency
. and to this day, according to his declaration
it is not known to his family what influence
was brought 10 bear upon the Roman author
5 ity. Restored once more to his friends ant
D freedom the young man commenced agaii
his accustomed pursuits. An interval 0
several years was passed, undisturbed by tn
q outbreak of any revolutionary passion. Tn
: severe lesson Of the long Imprisonment ha,
sobered the ardor, but not changed the prin
4 ciples or the purpose ofthe republican. In tn
, affair of the Corso, ON the festal day OF Sa
. Giuseppe, the 18th day of last March, tn
. | Roman was again pursued as an oifende
y BE succeeded in eluding the sbiTi in thei
hot chase, and was able to reach place {
security, although still within the walls
/, Rome. For forty-fve days and nights b
n evaded the search of the police, snugly hi
in the house of friends.
In the night, sometimes, he was able
v meet a member of his family at place pr
T. viously concerted by some sort of correspon'
ence. His objectwas, unobserved, to get out
10 Rome. Constantly watching MS opportunlt
10 he at length succeeded. Unner the shade
of the vast palace of the Vatican, and screent
y by the huge columns Of the colonade of :
n Peters, is the Porta Apgelica, one of the mo
le retired and quiet gates Of Rome. Out of th
oneeyening unnotieed, the adventurous Ores
n, contrived to slip, and before the dawn of d
n following day was many miles on his Wa
toward Florence. Until he was beyond Il
confines of the Roman territory he avoid'
Ill ALL
g and sometimes fording small streams at d
risk of being carried away by the rapid Gu
"A rent, rendered impetuous by the abunda
a. rains of spring. Visions Of the hated prist
y made him cautious to avoid the police of d
road, but rendered him reckless of his ia
TO from the more mercifal elements OF natnl
s, After fifteen days, for the first time in his Ii
his eyes were gladdened with the sight of d
W picturesque old towers of the free city
y Florence.