The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-02-21
CRISppS uNSAvORY RECORD,
A Short But Interesting Sketch of
That Unprincipled
Statesman.
MAZZlNl AND GARIBALDI.
He Was An Ally Of These Men
aud Prosecutor Of
the Church.


the Church.
With the single exception of Bis
marck, before the present German EN-.
peror supplanted that willy politician
with his present chancellor, Caprivi,
there is q o man who has been SO prom
inent of recent years in European affairs
of state as Francesca Crispi. who has
occupied at Rome position much akin
in power and influence to that which
the whiiom Iron Duke lately eDjoved at
Berlin. 1t remains to be seen whether
his recent emphatic defeat in the Italian
Chamber OF Deputies. and his slbse-
quent resignation of his portfolio, mark
the disappearance Of Crispi from Italian
politics. A. man of his iDcliDations
and perverse abilities is not apt to sur
render all at once: and he is doubtless
the prompter of the efforts which are al
present being made, and to which the
King. apparently, lends his influence,
to secure his recall and restore him
again to the premiership. But to those
individuals who have followed the
course of Italian politics during the last
score of years, and who have observed
the policy which Crisp, as prime minis
ter. has followed in that time, it has
long been evident that the premier's
overthrow was an event which must In
fallibly come sooner or later. Whether
his present position is the end OF his
tether, Or whether he will yet recover,
temporarily, the ground he has lost, are
events which a few weeks at the fur
thermost will make plain. Should
King Humbert insist ON Crjspi's re-
sumption Of his portfolio, and should
the outcome of that lnsistence be the
formation by him of new ministry.
affairs may go on in hap hazard way
in Rome for a few months or years
more; but the end will be drawing
nearer every day, and Crlspl's final col
lapse, when it comes, will be all the
more complete and disastrous.
Francesca Crispi, than whom no man
Ill lIuAOtCClu POAAC4Io HOO
shown himself more virulent and unjust
toward the Catholic Church, was born
October 4, 1919, at Ribera, town in
Sicily. and has, consequently, passed
beyond the common span of three score
and ten of human life. OF his parents
little has ever been made public, He
was one Of seven children, and he was
given tolerably fair education in his
youth, it being the intention Of the
family to make lawyer Of him. While
yet in his teens, and still prosecuting
his studies. he gave evidence of a pas
sion that has characterized his whole
career, by inducing q poor peasant
maiden to elope with him. Rumor
credits him with having welded this
girl, but Cr1spl's matrimonial affairs
have always been in such a muddled
condition that it is difficult to say
whether or not such report is correct.
Two years after the el0pement, the girl
died, and Crispi again applied himself
to his studies and succeeded in passing
his examinations and securing admis-
sion to the bar. He does not appear TO
have been much Of a success as a law
YER, though, and he soon drifted into
journalism, and not finding that profit
able enough to give him living, he be-
came teacher of languages. His po
litical opinions soon got him into
trouble, and he was compelled to quit
Italy and hide in London. where he
eked out a precarious existence for a
while, drifting subsequently to Malta
and living by his wits,
The downfall of King Bomba brought
Crispi, armed with one of Mazzini's |
passports, back to Italy, and when the
italian capital was located at Florence
our adventurer was one of the first to
establish himself in that city. He had
q second wife at this time, but he had
not been long Florentine before, be |
coming possessed IN some way or other
of means enough to build fine house.
he became enamored Of a younger and
wealthier woman. Casting off the part
ner who had shared his poverty and
exile then, he took to himself another
associate, with whom he still cOhabits,
but whose position is very we'll under
stood in all European circles and courts.
Queen Margaret Of Italy has always re-
fused to allow this woman to appear in
her presence, and Crispi's conduct in
this matter for long time threatened
to lead to his exclusion from Italian
politics. The King. though. who did
not hesitate to despoil the Church of its
lawful possessions. could not afford to
be too squeamlsh with 9 manof Crispi's
effrontery and usefulness to him in his