Austrian Italy.
The Times, 1824-03-10T00:00:00

TO TIUE EDITOR F TH1E TIMElS. Sir,-Iu the Ailan Gazette of the 21st and 231 of January, 1824 is promulgated a gentence of death for high treason against certair persons tlerein named. This sentence has been carried into etfeci (in effigy) uprn those absent; for those present it has been com. muted into the too well-known imprisonment of the carccre duro. Amongst the latter is to be found the name of the Count Frede. rick Gonfalonrere, wiose rank and consequence in the state hai given his title to the triaL The same Uazette, in a sabsequent number, gives a relation ot the crimes imputed to these illustrious sufferers, as well as of the na- ture of the evidence upon which they have been condemned. But the first are so indistinctlv defined, arid the latter are so slightly ad- duced, that the publicatiin assumes more the character of an histo- rical romance than of a grave report of the solemn proceedings of a court ofjustice condernnine these persons to the loss of life. If this publication could be considered as the production of the Gazetteer alone, it would not be entitled to the slightest degree of ctedit; for the trial was conducted in the mnost secret tribunal, and the proceedings known onlv to the judges who composed it. Given, therefore, as it is to the public through the medium of the Austrian press, although unaccompanied by the signature of anv frunctionary of the state, or of any of the judges vho composed th tribunal, for legal defender there was none, it must still be considered as an official document of the Government and as such, it is entitled to niuch attention; for it is the first instance in which the pride of the Atis- trian Government in Italy has cordeseended, and indeed felt the necessity of making the public the arbitrator of its hitherto secret proceedings. But by whatever motive the Austrian Government may have been actuatea ini the publication of this extraordinary documernt, it appears evidently intended as its own justification, and proposes by it to gain for itself tlre public esteem. But the effect produced hias been directly contrary to this intention, for it has served only to concen- trate to itself the general contetnpt, and to alienate still more all ranks of the people. I, Sir, who have bee-n long a sorrowful and in- dignant observer of the conduct of the Austrian Government to- wards its ill-fated Italian States, shall endeavour to state the truth, and to detail to you the real feeling of the Italian people. In 1821, the two extremes of the peninsula, Piedmont and Na- ples, brokeout into revolt. That no previously concerted plan ceca- sioned this simultaneous rising is evider.t, from the conduct of the business. Betiaved, however, by those who had excited theni to rebel- wlon in. part, and deceived by tle most flag,rant perjury which until then hadt ever mark-ed even regal proceeding, this combustion was easily extingtuished. In Naples the people took a great share in the revolution; in Piedmont the army was the principal incenrdiary, and has furnished, both to all people and to all Governments, an example how little reliance is to be placed upon such an agent. The centre of Italy would not remain an unconcerned spectator of such a convulsion; and warmed bhi a spark whichl had lighted the flamn, her long cherished desire was keindled in hope that Italy was no longer to bc the slave of'slaves. However falsely it has been represented that this effort arose fron a wish of the People of Italy to institute agrarian law, or to bind themselves to a band of regicides, it is easily to be tr.ced to a nirore imperative cause. Indeed, so inuds more advantageous to the peo- ple is the actual mode of cultivating tie soil irn the greatest portion of Italy, that such an institution would not be accepted by them eve.i froin the hand of their Governments; and in Naples, where tle rnode differs, all those called Carbona ri were proprietors of the land; and are yet, in this publication, acetised of thus wishing to destroy their own properties. And witls nuch less justice can those concerned in these revolutions be accused of belonging to a band of regicides; for during therevolt, trhe two Kings ofiNlaples mnd Sar- dinia were totally in the power of their revolted subjects, and vet no violence, not even restraint, was offered to their persons. But, Sir, the real canse of Italian discontent arises from tlIe ab- sence of established and equal law, and from the evil administration of vhat their Governments call law-from the necessity of well-regu. lated and equal taxation-from the total want of personal security- and, perhaps above all, to the desire of seeing these hitherto divided anti subservient states united into one great and connected kingdomns. It was the hope, therefore, of obtaining these blessine;s that urged I the partisans of national independence to otlbr up vows for the suc- cess of these revolutions; and in the indulgence of this hope imagi- nary armies were embodied, supplies were raised, and as the means of attaining this hope appeared to approach neater, these lovers of order and of regular government-not these revolutionary sects, as they are termed-eicouraged one another; they corresponded by messengers, they sought to augment thie nuniber of their frienls, and to iscover the strength of their eniemies. But all the mass of war of which they are accused, consisted in this hope alone; for it went not to the organization of any formal associations; no necessity appeared of consolidating themselves into more compact bodies ; for as tlis hiope was universal, so the positive necessitv of obtaining this hope bound all ranks and sects into one general iand patriotic union. But it appears fiom the same publication, that the Governments antecedent to those since restored in Italy were all undermuinedh b' these various sects. Butthis assertion only proves that the saine ne- cessity of more enlightened institutions existed under those Govern- inents as well as under the Austrian. How- much, then, might that Governiiment have gained by attending to the necessities of the people. But instead of removing the abuses of th,ose Governments, and whicls it was solensnly pledged to effict, it added others still imsoreop- pressive anid intolerable. In short, Sir, no coinsolidated and associated sects exist in Italv: but there does exist a deep-rooted and inveterate hatred to all the tyrannical Governments now established in the peninsula, which awaits onlv a favourable momisent to efect their destruction, and which ruothing but a milder and more liberal policy cnn extinguish. 'What grounds the italian people have now to rest a hope that such a favourable change of policy will be pirsueld, let the proceed- ings in the case of Count Frederick Gonfaloriereconvince the werld. The glaring injustice and cruelty in this cause have renderedl all these Goverments still more insecure, althonigh themajority of their subjects distinguished by their birth, their talents, or their wealth have elther fallen by the hands of the executioner, are languislhing in prisons, or are suffering in exile. In a subsequent letter, Sir, I shall endeavour to point out a line of policy which, if pursued by these Governments. would render rheni secure, and their peoPle calm and cont-nted. I nave tne honour to be,Sir, your obedient humble senvant, A. B. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TI.ES. Byan article in an eveningpaper, headed " The Emperorof Au'" tria," I perceive that you have refiused to insert the anonvymious slanders of a svi- disant " Alilanese," concerning the late condeii. nations of Gonfaloniere, Pallavicini, Visconti, &c. This " Mi- lanese," who dares to speak of the Count Gonfaloniere having " began to betray his own party," and of "one or two" others hav- ing broken their pledges of horiour, after having been tried, convict- ed, pardoned, and set at liberty, speaks with equial truth of the Em- peror's weU-known character fbr lenity and humzianity. Perhaps you will give place in The Tbnes to the following extract from a letter wlhich I have received, and which, though it relates aliost exclu- sively to the case of Count Gonfaloniere, places in its true light the vaunted clemency of the Emperor.- " Francis de Lorraine does not burn people like Dominick Gus- man, but he takes pleasure in heaping upon them sufferings of body and mind. Gonfaloniere was condemned to dleath. The Emperor approved the sentence, and announced it coldly to the nearest rela- tions of the convict, who *vent to Vienna to implore the imperial clemency. The Countess Gonfaloniere, with death in her heart, travelled in four days from Vienna to Mfilan. A courier wras de- spatchsed with fresh solicitations; no means of bending the Emperor were neglected. The courier returned with an answer which put a stop tO all alarms for the life of Genfaloniere. lWlretched farce ! Austria never would give to MAlilan the example of a Sidney. She wished only to sec kneeling at her feet those persons on whonm the horror of Gonfaloniere's mounting the scaffold was all-powerful." 1 am i our orueient servant, Y. B. rnrMv,ArIZLUL U, JO[Z4. AUSTR)AMr rTALY.