New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-06

,as,ed the people to dispense. There was
s ~ hesitation. dark cloud drifted
W. ,he face IL the sum- and transformed the
a., ar5 brilliant day into one Of ominous
- Tho soldiers fixed bayonets for a charge
60 was an instant of awful silence. Then
.r,ou hoy snatched gun from one of the crowd
-, fred il at random. That was the crack or
aoo,, The crowd. Crisp at its head, swept the
..,ons from the square like chaf from thrash
,r floor The streets were barricaded. The
IS safe within the walls of the castle rained
,lats and cannon balls upon the city as plenti-
.,nv and as vainly summer rain. Within the
-oak they were driven from the fortress, from
,be city from the island. Catania, MESSING and
Al other Sicilian towns joined in the revolt And
q, wear and a half Sicily was lost to the
Neapoltan crown.
Crispi was the head and heart Of the whole
,rs;ness As soon as Sicily was liberated he
FASTENED across TO the mainland TO lead the re-
volt in Caabria and in the very streets of
Naples Ten thousand men marched down the
great Via Ill Toledo to the very gates of the
nalace demanding a constitution. Ferdinand
answered them in his usual way. He ordered
the commander Of his troops TO fire upon them
and 10 set the cannon of the castle to lombard
Ing the city. But the commander refused. The
troops would have mutinied against so horrible
an order Ferdinand found himself powerless
and had to yield. He agreed TO dismiss his
Ministers and appoint more liberal men in their
places. He promised to give a new constitution.
and to grant other popular demands In his zeal
h not only sWore to do these things. but even
offered 10 swear new and more solemn oaths
than ever had been used before Accordingly,
a new Ministry was formed with the patriot
Charles Poerio at its head. For time all went
well and there seemed reason TO hope that the
REDEMPTION Of the kingdom had been effected.
But the Sicilians had no thought Of stopping
there. They placed no faith in Bombas pledges
and strange oaths. To his Overtures they re-
turned tie answer that all that year resounded
among the panic-s,ricken thrones Of Europe
'aToo late, Too late" They organized gov
eminent II their own. Crispi was at its head.
he was Secretary Of the Revolutionary Commit
tee Of National Defence and Director Of War
Affairs He created a complete administration,
and an army and navy. and gave the island
thorough civil and military organization. He
al the same time founded and directed paper.
"LApostole,o" to be the organ Of the new
regime and 10 defend the principles Of liberty.
The Sicilian Parliament met. and its first act
was TO declare Ferdinand deposed and the throne
vacant Then it elected the younger son Of
Charles Albert. King Of Sardinia, TO be King Of
Sicily
Ferdinands answer to this was his Crown
Ing infamy. He set agents TO work in Naples
to call the people into the streets, and then had
his soldiers fire upon them and butcher them
wholesale Not only that. but he gave the city
over 90 Dee plllaged by the Lazzaroni, or outcasts
and professional criminals No less than one
thousand five hundred of the people Of Naples
in Then
al his attention to crushing the sicilians Crisp
stoutly withstood him. however, and actually
succeeded in defending the island against him
for more than year. AT last, in 1919. the
sic!lians were forced TO yield. Ferdinand or
dered his troops to sack every town and city on
The island and the order was fulfilled almost to
the letter. Never did conquered country sCf-
fer more at the hands Of Goths and Huns or
Moguls Palermo itself was to have been treated
worst Of all The men were TO have been slaugh-
tered the women violated and the city burned
But the English and French Governments IN
tertered They sent their fleets to the harbor
and thus protected the city But Palermo did
not feel safe until after Ferdinand had died. as
Gle he did in agony from nameless disease
As for Crispi. he was condemned 20 death. but
made his escape to return in after years among
the Red Shirts Of Garibald to drive the son OF
Dcmta from the throne and complete the work
sovs,iantly begun at Palermo
The Italian court and people are now celebrat-
Ing their jubilee The festivities began on jan
ualy 70 the nftieth anniversary Of the uprising
a. Palermo and will continue unbroken until
March + the fftieth anniversary Of the granting
o. constitution by Charles Albert Of Sardinia
Those two dates mark the renaissance of Italian
national life. Since then the name of the Land