New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-07-09
ITALIAN LIFE AND MORALS.
LIGHT THROWN UPON THEN BY TIE CASE
OF SIGNOR SONZOGNO.

POLITICIAN ACCUSED OF INsTIGArING HIS As>AS-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. PIECES cR EVIDENCE
Irkoa A RrGUL,R CORRESPONDENT OF rhh rhiH' Nh'l
ROME. June 1G.-An Rome-wth the exception
that is 10 say of foreign Rome for thai Is sc"ere"
over the face of the earth at the approach o the uog
DAYS; but all Rome in every other sense; home
black Rome red Rome mdu,c las the Others love 10
call the governmental shade; Rome Official Rome
fashionable Rome poltical-is the tip;oe oi cA-
ectation and tenter-hooks Of interest with respect
tn the issue of trial which has been fixed to come
Of at the asszcs on the 9Th Of next July. 1t IL
likely enough that il may bs put off for IN TINS
country everything is put off; hut IT viii take place
within the first half of next month. The newspapers
on your side of the water must have mentioned tue
case al the time-the murder of Sonzogno-and the!
will doubtless give detailed accounts OF
tbs trial. whom it shall have taken place.
But inasmuch ~ l have received the
,vhoe story from the lips of the only man i'll Rome
who knows it i'm all its details e. the magistrate
,hareed with the secret examination and preparation
If tho case for the as>Zc court and inasnnca ~
,;his account cannot come back here in yo'r columns
IN time enough to do any schef,.l think nay as
:,ell LET vnur reader, have the story without waiting
ior it-fCr If is very strange one! Nheh the 'rd'
as been held may perhaps write to you again Oh
the subject with view pointing to some oil inc SIN
sular lights which the circumstances throw on the
ss the space which can expect you TO allow HE VIII
lorcly suffice fol- the mere outline Of the story.
In the midst of its carnival revclry on the 9th OF
Inst Tcl r,ary-Romc at "a masked ball dancing,
shrekimc iddling. and fancying that 1t was IN
,acnscly enjoying itself-Rome, with Its annual
false as.eboard nose on was almost shocked mo
moments seriousness 10y hearing that Sign"r
Raffaello SomzognO had been murdered that evening
at half-past eight
Ranopllo SOnIOCnO.
He was the proprietor and editor OF the
most extreme democratic paper in Rome, La
Capifqlc He was not a man whose record
WAS unite clear before the world lilo was
hated by the Right. C., the friends OF the
Government because he was a violent and turbulent
radical: and he imporfcctly trusted by his own
psrty because when the AuStlians ruled at Milan he
had been the editor under them Of their o1icial
cozette When Garibald came to EOme SlgnOr
Sonzorno had wished TO be presented to him. ""ri-
baldi hal refused to receive him, but had II days
later rcleuted and consented Ia do so. And now
RaTaeno Sonzogno was dead, killed by repeated
arabs from the dagger of man he had never seen
before AZ he sat at his desk alone in the Offices OF his
paper In Capit1c Al his cries sundry OF the people
employed on the paper ran IN from other rooms ana
succeeded in arrcstiug the assassin Just as ne was
escapine down the stairs. and the dying man was
crying out. "Seize him. ho is my murderer" lie
was 4 consigned 10 the naNus Oh the p'ii'''
And these facts constitute the whole OF what was
known in I'll the places of amusement to the Pubhc
who crowded tlither on that carnival night.
The small number of these facts, however, were
asma, he supposed no measure OF the amount OF
chatter and conjecture that rife throughout TIE
city. Who could the assassin be- What could be
the Motive, Political hatred, no donbt From
which side then could the blow have come: - rom
y,ur friends of the Government OF course lNs
clear" "No; this is evidently vengeance Of the
Rcpuhlicans" "Wcll, shall see.' No, we
shan't will aIl he hu>hed mp, You Will see, e't
Mkt day il became known that the name of the
muir lcrcr was FTezza: that he was working car
Y,nt.l and that he was a man of Violent republican
opinions And upon this public speculation went to
work agaiu. a week or two later another ray Oh
light shot ont from the secrecy OF the examining
raOist s,ts ,ahjnct TreZ2a Lad confessed; and two
men of the names of Morclii and Parma WEI
arrested. still there not much 10 be made ont
Of this A little time longer however, ard ii wa
rurnoTcd final the prisoners Norclh and Parma had
also confessed; and another man named Armaji was
arrested The hl-hly excited curiosity Of tie public
WAS now iitlc like thai of children playing
bdc-and-scrk, when they told that "thcy
burn Tor this AImatl mainly known aS an
intimate fncnd and sort of h'ngeTon OF certain
Signor iucian at whom, IN q certain degree, pubic
opinion had from the first pointed.
If | write to Yen again on the subject when
The trial shall I've over may give you some very
curious particulars of thc previous life of SigHor
Inciali Tor tIe present the following facts must
suffice: Iuciani had been the intimate friend of
Sonzoguo; was one of tho principal writers III La
CapifQic and had for time, D,en an inmate OF SON
gosn,s house lie aYacd himself of tAis position
t. scducc has friends WIFE woman Of great beauty
aud hal persuaded her to leave hey husbands house
with lm-the latter step an objectionable sin AGAINST
Italian social morality All this was publicly
known and seemed to afford sufficient grounds for
sulp,>ine hatred to exist between the tw0men. But
il Wa, objected that under The circumstances there
seemed more reason for SOMEONE TO wish to kill
Iuciani than for Lucani TO desire to kill Sonzo.no
am not sure that tins latter reasoning
has any force in it, But be that it
may it was pointed out that other motives
of il-will were not wanting When Garibadi
was elected to the Chamber by two of the Eve
electoral colleges of Rome. he preferred to sit for the
first college, and second election became necessary
In the fifth college. The Liberals put up an Old
member of the party to oppose the Government can
didate and il was thought that the Liberal would
win the election. But all of Sudden SignoT Lu-
ciani had himself nominated az a candidate 10y "a
section Of the Liberal parry; and the result was that
the Government man went in. Iucian was accused
OF treason to the Liberal party. SonzognO vche-
nently opposed and reproaohed him III the columns
of La CapidLe and this, it was urged was the OIL
fense that had required dagger to avenge II. Now
therefore whom Armati, the known friend and init
mate of Iucami. arrested the fact taken IN con-
junction with those which have been mentioned
seemed to point very strongly TO this I.uciani lie
had left Rome shortly before the murder of SON
gogno and was understood Ia be now at Turin.