Then, at high noon, under the bright sunshine of May, the next after its
completion, they consecrated it to divine service. There was a carefully
studied ceremonial for the occasion. It was said the high elders of the
sect travelled furtively from the camp of Israel in the wilderness, and,
throwing off ingenious disguises, appeared in their own robes of office
to give it splendor.
For that one day the temple stood resplendent in all its typical glories
of sun, moon and stars, and other abounding figured and lettered signs,
hieroglyphs, and symbols; but that day only. The sacred rites of
consecration ended, the work of removing the _sacrosancta_ proceeded
with the rapidity of magic. It went on through the night, and when the
morning of the next day dawned all the ornaments and furniture,
everything that could provoke a sneer, had been carried off; and except
some fixtures that would not bear removal, the building was dismantled.
This day saw the departure of the last of the elders, and the largest
band that moved in one company together. The people of Iowa have told me
that from morning to night they passed westward like an endless
procession. They did not seem greatly out of heart, they said; but, at
the top of every hill, before they disappeared, they were to be seen
looking back, like banished Moors, on their abandoned homes and the
distant temple and its glittering spire.
After this consecration, which was construed to indicate an insincerity
on the part of the Mormons as to their stipulated departure, or at least
a hope of return, their foes set upon them with renewed bitterness. As
many fled as were at all prepared; but by the very fact of their so
decreasing the already diminished forces of the city's defenders, they
encouraged the enemy to greater boldness. It soon became apparent that
nothing short of an immediate emigration could save the remnant.
From this time onward the energies of those already on the road were
engrossed by the duty of providing for the fugitives who came crowding
in after them. At a last general meeting of the sect in Nauvoo, there
had been passed a unanimous resolution that they would sustain one
another, whatever their circumstances, upon the march; and this, though
made in view of no such appalling exigency, they now with one accord set
themselves together to carry out.
The host again moved on. The tents which had gathered on the hill
summits, like white birds hesitating to venture on the long flight over
the river, were struck one after another, and the dwellers in them and
their wagons and their cattle hastened down to cross it at a ferry in
the valley, which they made by night and day. A little beyond the
landing they formed their companies and made their preparations for the
last and longest stage of their journey.
Though the season was late, when they first crossed the Missouri, some
of them moved forward with great hopefulness, full of the notion of
viewing and choosing their new homes that year. But the van had only
reached Grand Island and the Pawnee villages, when they were overtaken
by more ill news from Nauvoo. Before the summer closed, their enemies
set upon the last remnant of those who were left behind in Illinois.
They were a few lingerers, who could not be persuaded but there might
yet be time for them to gather up their worldly goods before removing.
Some weakly mothers and their infants, a few delicate young girls, and
many cripples and bereaved and sick people--these had remained under
shelter, according to the Mormon statement at least, by virtue of an
express covenant in their behalf. If there was such a covenant, it was
broken. A vindictive war was waged upon them, from which the weakest
fled in scattered parties, leaving the rest to make a reluctant and
almost ludicrously unavailing defence, till September 17th, when one
thousand six hundred twenty-five troops entered Nauvoo and drove all
forth who had not retreated before that time.
Like the wounded birds of a flock fired into toward nightfall, they came
straggling on with faltering steps, many of them without bag or baggage,
beast or barrow, all asking shelter or burial, and forcing a fresh
repartition of the already divided rations of their friends. It was
plain now that every energy must be taxed to prevent the entire
expedition from perishing. Further emigration for the time was out of
the question, and the whole people prepared themselves for encountering
another winter on the prairie.
Happily for the main body, they found themselves at this juncture among
Indians who were amicably disposed. The lands on both sides of the
Missouri in particular were owned by the Pottawottomis and Omahas, two
tribes whom unjust treatment by our United States Government had the
effect of rendering most hospitable to strangers whom they regarded as
persecuted like themselves.
They were pleased with the Mormons. They would have been pleased with
any whites who would not cheat them, nor sell them whiskey, nor whip
them for their poor gypsy habits, nor conduct themselves indecently
toward their women, many of whom among the Pottawottomis--especially
those of nearly unmixed French descent--are singularly comely, and some
of them educated. But all Indians have something like a sentiment of
reverence for the insane, and admire those who sacrifice, without
apparent motive, their worldly welfare to the triumph of an idea. They
understand the meaning of what they call a great vow, and think it the
duty of the right-minded to lighten the votary's penance under it. To
this feeling they united the sympathy of fellow-sufferers for those who
could talk to them of their own Illinois, and tell the story of how they
also had been ruthlessly expelled from it.
Their hospitality was sincere, almost delicate. Fanny le Clerc, the
spoiled child of the great brave Pied Riche, interpreter of the nation,
would have the paleface Miss Devine learn duets with her on the guitar;
and the daughter of substantial Joseph la Framboise, the United States
interpreter for the tribe (she died of the fever that summer) welcomed
all the nicest young Mormon women to a party at her father's house,
which was probably the best cabin in that village. They made the Mormons
at home, there and elsewhere. Upon all their lands they formally gave
them leave to remain as long as suited their own good pleasure.
The affair, of course, furnished material for a solemn council. Under
the auspices of an officer of the United States their chiefs were
summoned, in the form befitting great occasions, to meet in the yard of
a Mr. P.A. Sarpy's log trading-house. They came in grand costume, moving
in their fantastic attire with so much _aplomb_ and genteel measure that
the stranger found it difficult not to believe them high-born gentlemen,
attending a fancy-dress ball. Their aristocratically thin legs, of which
they displayed fully the usual Indian proportion, aided this illusion.
There is something too at all times very mock-Indian in the theatrical
French millinery tie of the Pottawottomi turban; while it is next to
impossible for a sober white man, at first sight, to believe that the
red, green, black, blue, and yellow cosmetics, with which he sees such
grave personages so variously dotted, diapered, cancelled, and
arabesqued are worn by them in any mood but one of the deepest and most
desperate quizzing. From the time of their first squat upon the ground
to the final breaking up of the council circle they sustained their
characters with equal self-possession and address.
I will not take it upon myself to describe their order of ceremonies;
indeed, I ought not, since I have never been able to view the habits and
customs of our aborigines in any other light than that of a sorrowful
subject of jest. Besides, in this instance, the powwow and the expected
flow of turgid eloquence were both moderated probably by the conduct of
the entire transaction on temperance principles. I therefore content
myself with observing generally that the proceedings were such as in
every way became the dignity of the parties interested, and the
magnitude of the interests involved. When the red men had indulged to
satiety in tobacco-smoke from their peace-pipes, and in what they love
still better--their peculiar metaphoric rhodomontade, which, beginning
with the celestial bodies, and coursing downward over the grandest
sublunary objects, always managed to alight at last on their "Great
Father," Polk, and the tenderness with which his affectionate red
children regarded him. All the solemn funny fellows present, who played
the part of chiefs, signed formal articles of convention with their
unpronounceable names.
The renowned chief Pied Riche--he was surnamed Le Clerc on account of
his remarkable scholarship--then rose and said: "My Mormon brethren, the
Pottawottomi came, sad and tired, into this unhealthy Missouri bottom,
not many years back, when he was taken from his beautiful country,
beyond the Mississippi, which had abundant game and timber and clear
water everywhere. Now you are driven away, the same, from your lodges
and lands and the graves of your people. So we have both suffered. We
must help one another, and the Great Spirit will help us both. You are
now free to cut and use all the wood you may wish. You can make all your
improvements, and live on any part of our actual land not occupied by
us. Because one suffers, and does not deserve it, is no reason he shall
suffer always: I say, we may live to see all right yet. However, if we
do not, our children will. _Bon jour!_"
And thus ended the powwow. I give this speech as a morsel of real
Indian. It was recited to me after the treaty by the Pottawottomi orator
in French, which language he spoke with elegance. _Bon jour_ ["good
day"] is the French, Indian, and English hail, and farewell of the
Pottawottomis.
Upon the Pottawotomi lands, scattered through the border regions of
Missouri and Iowa, in the Sac and Fox country, a few among the Ioways,
among the Poncas, in a great company upon the banks of the l'Eau qui
Coulée (or Running Water) River, and at the Omaha winter quarters, the
Mormons sustained themselves through the heavy winter of 1846-1847. It
was the severest of their trials. This winter was the turning-point of
the Mormon fortunes. Those who lived through it were spared to witness
the gradual return of better times; and they now liken it to the passing
of a dreary night, since which they have watched the coming of a
steadily brightening day.
In the spring of 1847, a body of one hundred forty-three picked men,
with seventy wagons, drawn by their best horses, left the Omaha
quarters, under the command of the members of the high council who had
wintered there. They carried with them little but seed and farming
implements, their aim being to plant spring crops at their ultimate
destination. They relied on their rifles to give them food, but rarely
left their road in search of game. They made long marches, and moved as
rapidly as possible.
Against the season when ordinary emigration passes the Missouri, they
were already through the South Pass, and after a couple of short days'
travel beyond it entered upon the more arduous part of their journey,
which now lay through the Rocky Mountains. They passed Fremont's Peak,
Long's Peak, The Twins, and other summits, but had great difficulties to
overcome in forcing their way over other mountains of the rugged Utah
range, sometimes following the stony bed of torrents, the headwaters of
some of the mightiest rivers of our continent, and sometimes literally
cutting their road through heavy and ragged timber. They arrived at the
grand basin of the Great Salt Lake, much exhausted, but without losing a
man, and in time to plant for a partial autumn harvest. Another party
started after these pioneers from the Omaha winter quarters, in the
summer. They had five hundred sixty-six wagons, and carried large
quantities of grain, which they were able to sow before it froze.
The same season these were joined by a part of the battalion and other
members of the Church who came eastward from California and the Sandwich
Islands. Together they fortified themselves strongly with sun-dried
brick walls and blockhouses, and, living safely through the winter, were
able to reap crops that yielded ample provision for the ensuing year.
In 1848, nearly all the remaining members of the Church left the
Missouri country in a succession of powerful bands, invigorated and
enriched by their abundant harvests there; and that year saw fully
established their commonwealth of the "New Covenant," the future State
of "Deseret." [Footnote: The Mormons repeatedly tried to secure the
admission of Deseret into the Union as a State under that name--said to
mean "virtue and industry."]
When Utah was organized as a Territory (1850), the Mormon leader,
Brigham Young, was made governor. In 1857 President Buchanan appointed a
non-Mormon to succeed Young. This act led the Mormons to rebel, but
after a display of military force by the Government they acknowledged
allegiance. In 1896, polygamy having been prohibited by Congress, Utah
was admitted to the Union. Since the settlement of the Mormons upon the
Great Salt Lake there has been a large immigration into Utah. [The
Mormons have spread beyond that State into Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, and
other parts of the West and Southwest--ED.]
(1848) THE REFORMS OF PIUS IX, Francis Bowen
In the long roll of pontiffs the name of Pius IX stands conspicuous
among those of popes, who have greatly exerted their power for effect
upon the papacy itself. But the influence of Pius IX was not less marked
in Italian and European politics. An account of the reforms which he
undertook and of the obstacles he had to confront, cannot fail to
convey, directly or by implication, matters of much importance in modern
history. That a pope who signalized the beginning of his official career
by a series of liberal reforms should soon have been driven from his see
by revolutionists is one of the historical paradoxes for which even the
"philosophy of history" finds it difficult to account. But, as one
writer tells us, "The revolutionary fever of 1848 spread too fast for a
reforming pope, and his refusal to make war upon the Austrians finally
cost him the affections of the Romans."
Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti) who at the age of
fifty-four brought the power of his papal throne to advance the cause of
Young Italy--led by Mazzini and other patriots--was born at Sinigaglia
May 13, 1792. He was descended from a noble family, and his early
education was received at the College of Volterra. Throughout the years
of his youth he suffered from infirm health, but before reaching thirty
he gained much in strength, and in 1827 became Archbishop of Spoleto. In
1840 he was made cardinal by Pope Gregory XVI. Gregory died June 1,
1846, and after being two days in conclave the cardinals elected their
colleague Ferretti to succeed him. The cardinals felt the advisability
of choosing for pope a native of the Papal States, a man not too far
advanced in years, and one "who would see the necessity of correcting
abuses and making some reforms."
Francis Bowen, whose review of Pope Pius's career, from his entrance
upon the papal office until his temporary withdrawal from Rome, is here
presented, is a well-known authority in this as also in other fields of
history, and his recital is based upon the best contemporary accounts.
When Pius IX was elected Pope his course did not long remain doubtful.
He limited the expenses of the court at once, dispensed alms in
abundance, set aside one day of each week for giving audiences, and
commanded that political inquisitions should be stopped immediately.
These few steps, taken before he had had time to consult with others,
afford perhaps a better indication of the mild and kind character of the
new pontiff than the grave political acts which were subsequently
performed. These show us the man, the others reveal only the sovereign.
Just one month after his election, a manifesto of amnesty for all
political offenders was published at Rome, including the exiles, those
awaiting trial, and those undergoing sentence. The only conditions
imposed were that the individuals pardoned should give their word of
honor never to abuse the indulgence, and would fulfil every duty of a
good citizen.
The news of this act flew like the wind through the Papal States, and
caused everywhere a burst of exultation and gratitude toward the new
sovereign. It carried joy to thousands of households, bringing back to
them the long-separated brother or parent, and it was a token of future
peace and contentment. In the city, says Farini, [Footnote: Luigi Carlo
Farini, who is freely quoted by Bowen, was an Italian historian and
statesman. His principal work is _Storia dello stato Romano dall' anno
1814 al 1830_.--ED.] the hosannas were countless; each citizen embraced
his neighbor like a brother; thousands of torches blazed in the evening;
the multitude ran to the palace of the Pope, called for him, threw
themselves prostrate on the earth before him, and received his blessing
in devout silence. Many of the pardoned offenders were still more
extravagant in their demonstrations of joy and thankfulness. Among them
was Galletti, of Bologna, afterward one of the Pope's ministers, and
most active in those measures which ended in the assassination of Rossi
and in driving Pius into exile. He had been sentenced to imprisonment
for life, and was kept in the castle of Sant' Angelo. When released, he
threw himself at the Pope's feet, and swore, by his own heart's blood
and that of his children, that he would be grateful and faithful. Some
of the exiles, however, among whom was Mamiani, refused to subscribe the
proposed engagement, simple as it was; but they returned after a time to
their homes, merely promising allegiance. Every time that the Pope left
his palace he was surrounded by a sort of triumphal procession. The
whole length of the Corso was decorated when he passed through it, and
hundreds of likenesses of him, and of panegyrical compositions, covered
the walls. Foremost in getting up these popular celebrations was Angelo
Brunetti, afterward so well known by his nickname of "Ciceruacchio." "He
was a person of single mind, rustic in manners, proud and at the same
time generous, as is common with Romans of the lower class." By his
industry he had acquired considerable property, and by his liberal use
of it had become a leader of the populace, whom he now fired with his
own enthusiasm for Pius IX.
The Pope would have been more than man if his head had not been a little
turned with all this adulation, which came to him from many foreign
lands as well as from Italy. But his simple and modest character bore
the trial well; he manifested no undue elation, and formed his plans
tranquilly and without hurry for the improvement of his people. Cardinal
Gizzi, well known as a friend to reform, and much attached to the Pope,
was named Secretary of State; and he wrote letters to the presidents of
the provinces, inviting them, the municipal magistrates, ecclesiastics,
and all respectable citizens, to prepare and offer schemes for promoting
popular education, and especially for the moral, religious, and
industrial instruction of the children of the poor. Commissions were
appointed to deliberate and advise upon many subjects of proposed
reform. Great, indeed, was the need of change in the institutions of the
Pontifical States; but the Government had a delicate part to play in
amending them, and it wisely determined not to be precipitate in its
measures. "Already the Liberals had conceived boundless desires, and the
Retrogradists were haunted with unreasonable fears. The Government had,
to-day, to moderate on the left, circulate despatches, wellnigh to scold
men for hoping too much."
But the friends of change, says Farini, were for the most part measured
in their wishes and cautious in their proceedings; for all prudent men
were exerting themselves strenuously to keep the impatient in hand, with
excellent effect.
We cannot follow in detail the Pope's measures down to March, 1848, till
which period the movement may be considered as all his own, emanating
from his free choice and not from the pressure of outward circumstances
or from revolutions in foreign States. He did enough during these twenty
months to establish his character as a wise, humane, and liberal
sovereign, eager to promote the temporal and religious interests of his
people, and prompt to give political power into their hands as fast as
they showed themselves capable of using, and not abusing, it. He
instituted a civic guard throughout his dominions, modelled on the
French National Guard, and disbanded the Gregorian Centurions and
volunteers. All his court was opposed to this measure as premature and
dangerous; and even Cardinal Gizzi resigned his place in consequence of
it. But the Pope persevered, and Cardinal Ferretti, still more inclined
to liberalism, was appointed in his place.
He conceived the idea of an Italian customs league, after the model of
the German one, and pressed it with so much earnestness that in
November, 1847, it was instituted for the Roman, Tuscan, and Sardinian
dominions, and every effort was made to render it acceptable to the
other powers of Italy. He established a municipal government for the
city of Rome, which had hitherto remained without one; and he created a
Council of State for all his dominions, to consist chiefly of the laity,
one person being chosen for each Province by the sovereign, out of a
list of three, nominated by the provincial authorities. This Council was
to sit in Rome, and aid the Government with its advice in putting the
various departments in order, in constituting municipalities, and in
other public concerns. He created, also, a Council of Ministers, which
Farini calls the most important act of his reign, "As being that by
which the executive power acquired an organization worthy of a civilized
state, and altogether novel in that of Rome." There were to be nine
departments, and, with the exception of the president of the Council and
its secretary, the ministers need not be cardinals. All those first
appointed, however, were cardinals or prelates.
A body of _Uditori_ was attached to this Council, consisting of twelve
ecclesiastics and twelve laymen, all appointed by the sovereign. The
laws respecting the censorship of the press were much relaxed, and
numerous political journals were established at Rome, which before had
nothing that deserved the name of a newspaper. "Our infant journalism,"
says Farini, "had its infant passions and caprices; instead of
meditating, it gambolled, and every day it smashed its toys of the day
before, as children do; it instituted a school of declamation, not of
political knowledge; it ran and plunged about, blindfold; it made boast
of an independent spirit, and was a mean slave to out-of-doors
influence."
These measures of reform, and the enthusiasm which they created, were
not without effect on surrounding nations. Considering the place whence
they came, and the sovereign who conducted them, they were adapted to
have a vast influence. Rome, the "Eternal City," was regenerated, and a
new life bounded through her old limbs; and the August head of the
Catholic Church, the greatest religious potentate of the civilized
world, the infallible, the object of veneration to half Christendom, and
hitherto the most despotic and conservative sovereign in Europe, was now
the daring innovator, the radical, the idol of the populace. Austria
looked on with distrust and dismay, and tried to pick a quarrel and thus
find a pretext for invasion by ordering its troops, who had as yet only
garrisoned the fortress, to occupy the city of Ferrara and patrol its
streets--a measure almost sure to lead to a collision with its citizens.
The Pope protested in a firm but temperate tone, and his indignant
people would fain have hurried him into a war; but he bridled their
impatience and the matter ended in a compromise. Tuscany caught the
generous flame of freedom; and though there was not so much to be
accomplished there, as the Government had long been mild and discreet,
the good Archduke [Leopold II] professed the utmost admiration for Pius,
and began to imitate his measures.
The King of Sardinia was moved to enthusiasm; during the difficulty with
Austria about Ferrara he offered the Pope whatever succor of ships or
men he might need, and an asylum in his dominions if he should be
compelled to leave Rome. He did more; he relaxed the bonds of the press,
improved the administration of justice, deprived the police of their
discretionary power, enlarged and amended the Council of State,
emancipated the communes, and allowed their officers to be chosen by
popular vote. The character and example of Pius seemed likely to effect
as great and as beneficial changes out of his dominions as within them.
Those of the Italian sovereigns who were not willing to follow his lead
of their own accord, were obliged to yield in dismay before the spirit
which he had awakened in their subjects.
The silly Duke of Lucca, a fanatic, a prodigal, and a despot, after
attempting in vain to cudgel his people into submission, fled in terror
from their aroused wrath, and consented to the annexation of his
dominions to Tuscany, whereby they shared in the reforms instituted by
Leopold.
But in Sicily and Naples were developed the most striking results of the
fire which had been kindled by a reforming pope. The cruel and imbecile
Bourbon who reigned there became only more harsh and obstinate, while
the other princes of Italy deemed it necessary to reform their
institutions and conciliate their people. His subjects petitioned him,
and shouted for Pius in the streets; but the soldiery were turned
against them, and the King showed himself alike inaccessible to their
caresses and their prayers. "One king only," said Thiers from the
tribune, speaking of Italy, "he of Naples, presented the sword's point
to the people who were flocking around him, and that people fell on it."
The impulsive Sicilians fixed January 12, 1848, as the day beyond which
their patience would not extend. The King made no concessions, the day
came, and the island was revolutionized, the troops everywhere giving
way before the excited populace. Within a fortnight the inhabitants of
Naples followed their example; and before the fight began, the King's
heart failed him, and he granted all that they asked. The Ministry was
changed, a constitution was resolved upon, and its fundamental
principles were announced on January 29th, while the Administration
pledged themselves to publish it complete within twelve days. The King
came out to meet the crowd, who were cheering him, and intimated his
purpose to surpass the other sovereigns of Italy in the magnitude of his
concessions. How sincere his promises were, the lapse of a few months
fully showed; but at present everything wore a cheerful aspect.
The Pope had now reached the climax of his fortunes, the furthest limit
of the good which he was permitted to accomplish by his own free will,
and the sky began to be overcast. The enthusiasm of his people became
unmanageable, and the volcanic force of another French revolution was
soon to burst and to prostrate half the governments in Europe by the
explosion. Constant excitement for twenty months had made Rome noisy and
turbulent, and the populace had been gratified so often that they now
expected everything to succumb to their wishes. Busy agitators were in
the midst of them, intent upon prosecuting the plans of Mazzini and
Young Italy, and turning reform into revolution. The people were mad for
a declaration of war against Austria, though the military strength of
the Roman States was grossly inadequate for such a conflict, and the
head of the Catholic Church was naturally reluctant to come to
extremities with a Catholic power which had long been the firmest
support of the papacy. Then a cry was raised to exclude all
ecclesiastics from office, or at least to admit so large a portion of
the laity into the Administration that Rome would be secularized and
lose its distinctive character as an appanage for the head of the
Church. The people would not consider, or were reckless of the fact,
that Pius was a devout Catholic as well as a liberal sovereign, and
could not be expected to lend his aid to a project for stripping the
papacy of all temporal power, if not for razing it to its foundations.
The cries of expulsion and death to the Jesuits were also raised; and as
that body, however obnoxious elsewhere, had given no offence at Rome,
the Pope's sense of justice inclined him to protect them and to resist
the clamor of the mob.
The news from Sicily and Naples caused a great popular demonstration at
Rome, the aspect of which was so threatening that Pius issued a
proclamation, on February 10th, announcing that he had taken measures
for reorganizing and enlarging the army, and for augmenting the lay
portion of the Council of Ministers; but appealing to his people in
affecting terms, by the proofs already given of his solicitude in their
behalf, that they should cease from agitation and not make demands which
could not be granted consistently with his duty and their own
well-being. This paper caused another effusion of popular gratitude; an
immense multitude collected in the Piazza del Papolo, and, accompanied
by the Civic Guard and bearing banners, they set out for the Pope's
palace. When they came to the Quirinal Pius showed himself at the
balcony and made signs that he wished to speak. "There was a profound
silence, not broken even by the trickling of the fountains, which had
been stopped some days before." The Pope said:
"'Before the benediction of God descends upon you, on the rest of my
people, and, I say it again, on all Italy, I pray you to be of one mind,
and to keep the faith which you have sworn to me, the Pontiff.'
"At these words the silence of deep feeling was broken by a sudden
thunder of acclamation, 'Yes, I swear,' and Pius proceeded:
"'I warn you, however, against the raising of certain cries, that are
not of the people, but of a few individuals, and against making any such
requests to me as are incompatible with the sanctity of the Church; for
these I cannot, I may not, and I will not grant. This being understood,
with my whole soul, I bless you.'"
Deeds followed words; the Ministry was changed; five laymen were
admitted into it, and it was intimated that a constitution would be
granted resembling those in other States. Then came the news of the
disasters at Paris, and everything was precipitated. On March 10th the
Ministry was again changed, only three ecclesiastics being now admitted
into it; and on the 14th the new constitution, or "Fundamental Statute,"
was proclaimed. It instituted a Legislature in two branches, the High
Council and the Council of Deputies, the members of the former being
appointed by the Pope, and those of the latter being chosen by popular
vote in the ratio, as nearly as might be, of one to every thirty
thousand souls. All citizens were voters who paid twelve crowns a year
in direct taxes or had property amounting to three hundred crowns; to
these were added all members of colleges and honorary graduates, and all
persons holding office in the communes and municipalities. The
Legislature was to be convoked every year, both Councils were to choose
their own officers, and their sessions were to be public, except on
extraordinary occasions when they might of their own accord prefer
secrecy. Freedom of debate and vote was guaranteed, and the members of
both Houses were protected from arrest, even for notoriously criminal
acts, during the session, except by consent of the Council to which they
belonged.
They were to have authority to make laws on all subjects, excepting
ecclesiastical matters and the canons and discipline of the Church, but
including the imposition of taxes; the Pope, however, like most
monarchs, reserved to himself the right of negativing a law. All
discussions, also, of the diplomatico-religious relations of the Holy
See with foreign powers were forbidden. Money bills were to originate in
the lower house, and direct taxes could be granted for only a year. The
Deputies had a right to impeach ministers, who, if they were laymen,
were to be tried by the High Council; if ecclesiastics, by the Sacred
College. The unlimited right of petition to the lower house was assured
and ministers were responsible for every ministerial act; they had the
right of sitting and debating, but not of voting, in both Councils. A
portion of the revenue of the State, for the support of the cardinals,
the ecclesiastical congregations, and generally for the transaction of
purely ecclesiastical business, was to be secured to the Pope, and to be
borne on the estimates every year.
The judges were to be irremovable after they had held office for three
years; and all persons were declared equal in the sight of the law.
Extraordinary commissions or tribunals for the trial of offences were
abolished. All property, whether of individuals or corporations, whether
civil or ecclesiastical, was to be held subject to its equal part of the
burdens of the State; and to all bills imposing taxes, the Pope would
annex, of his own authority, a special waiver of the ecclesiastical
exemption. The administrations of the Provinces and the communes were
placed in the hands of their respective inhabitants. The Government (or
political) censorship was abolished, but the ecclesiastical censorship
was retained.
Such is a general outline of the Roman Constitution spontaneously
granted to his subjects by Pius IX. Its merits, in all civil or
political matters, are certainly equal, if not superior, to those of the
English Constitution, from which in great part it was borrowed; its
faults are precisely those which resulted necessarily from the Pope's
double character, as temporal sovereign of the Roman States and as head
of the Catholic Church throughout the world. It was not within the
province or at the discretion of Pius to alter the tenure by which he
held his throne, to change the fundamental principles of the Church or
to abolish his ecclesiastical dominion. He granted to his subjects all
that was in his power to grant as their temporal sovereign. His purely
ecclesiastical relations and duties did not concern them, or concerned
them only so far as they were members of the great body of Catholic
believers in all lands. The College of Cardinals _must_ choose the Pope,
and _must_ choose one of their own number; this is not a law of the
Roman States, but a law of the Catholic Church. Pius could not abrogate
it; and if he had been inclined to grant everything to his people by
divesting himself of the last rag of his sovereignty, the only
consequence would have been that the cardinals must have chosen another
pope in his place, who might undo all that Pius had accomplished.
These are obvious and necessary considerations; and the Pope expressly
recognizes them in the ordinance accompanying the grant of the
constitution. "We intend," he says, "to maintain intact our authority in
matters that by their nature are related to the Catholic religion and
its rule of morals. And this is due from us as a guaranty to the whole
of Christendom, that, in the States of the Church reorganized in this
new form, nothing shall be derogated from the liberties and rights of
the Church herself, and of the Holy See, nor any precedent be
established for violating the sacredness of the religion which it is our
duty and mission to preach to the whole world, as the only scheme of
covenant between God and man, the only pledge of that heavenly
benediction by which states subsist and nations flourish."
Now, it is worthy of note that neither this constitution nor any of the
acts of Pius under it was ever complained of by any party among the
Pope's subjects except in regard to these ecclesiastical reservations
which were forced from him by the very nature of the office that he
held. The constitutionalists, indeed the moderate reformers, the party
of Balbo and Gioberti and D'Azeglio, which comprised most of the
educated and reflecting persons in the State, seem to have been entirely
satisfied with it as a whole, or as it was. So also were the unthinking
populace, who received it with shouts of exultation, so long as they
were not moved by the arts of a party who would not be satisfied with
having a good pope, but were bent upon having no pope at all. This was
the party of Mazzini, the revolutionists as distinguished from the
reformers--not strong at first either in numbers or credit, as we have
seen, but who made up for all deficiencies by their zeal and
activity--who were determined to establish a republic, and who cared
nothing for the embarrassments of the Pope's situation as head of the
Church, of indeed for the Church itself. They complained--and with
reason, too, upon their principles--of these ecclesiastical
reservations; and they made out of them their chief weapon of attack
upon the Pope's government, though they did not profit so much by the
use of it as by the evident unwillingness of Pius to rush into a war
with Austria for the purpose of giving the sovereignty of Lombardy to
Charles Albert, a measure to which he was averse, because he thought
such a conflict would be detrimental to the interests of the Church over
which he presided.
The world's future judgment of Pius will depend upon its belief of the
sincerity with which he acted in thus allowing nothing but his religious
duties and his position as the head of the Church to limit his
concessions of political privileges to his subjects. On this point, it
is well to hear the opinion of Farini, who, as one of the Mamiani
Ministry and as employed to mediate between them and the Pope, because
much loved and trusted by him, seems peculiarly qualified to form one
without undue bias on either side:
"Pius IX had applied himself to political reform, not so much for the
reason that his conscience as an honorable man and a most pious
sovereign enjoined it, as because his high view of the papal office
prompted him to employ the temporal power for the benefit of his
spiritual authority. A meek man and a benevolent prince, Pius IX was, as
a pontiff, lofty even to sternness. With a soul not only devout, but
mystical, he referred everything to God, and respected and venerated his
own person as standing in God's place. He thought it his duty to guard
with jealousy the temporal sovereignty of the Church, because he thought
it essential to the safe-keeping and the apostleship of the faith.
"Aware of the numerous vices of that temporal government, and hostile to
all vice and all its agents, he had sought, on mounting the throne, to
effect those reforms which justice, public opinion, and the times
required. He hoped to give lustre to the papacy by their means, and so
to extend and to consolidate the faith. He hoped to acquire for the
clergy that credit, which is a great part of the decorum of religion and
an efficient cause of reverence and devotion in the people. His first
efforts were successful in such a degree that no pontiff ever got
greater praise.
"By this he was greatly stimulated and encouraged, and perhaps he gave in
to the seduction of applause and the temptations of popularity more than
is fitting for a man of decision or for a prudent prince. But when,
after a little, Europe was shaken by universal revolution, the work he
had commenced was, in his view, marred; he then retired within himself
and took alarm.
"In his heart, the pontiff always came before the prince, the priest
before the citizen; in the secret struggles of his mind, pontifical and
priestly conference always outweighed the conscience of the prince and
citizen. And as his conscience was a very timid one, it followed that
his inward conflicts were frequent; that hesitation was a matter of
course, and that he often took resolutions even about temporal affairs,
more from religious intuition or impulse than from his judgment as a
man. Added to this, his health was weak and susceptible of nervous
excitement--the dregs of his old complaint. From this he suffered most
when his mind was most troubled and uneasy; another cause of wavering
and changefulness.
"Under the pressure of the extraordinary occurrences throughout Europe
early in the spring of 1848, the Pope's new Ministry under the
constitution proceeded vigorously and rapidly to give full development
and efficiency to that instrument. They also expressed the wish for a
firm union of the constitutional thrones of Italy with one another with
a view to insuring her independence; and they ordered the papal banners
to be decorated with pennons of the Italian tricolor. On March 21st the
news of the revolution at Vienna, much magnified by report, arrived, and
the excitement of the Roman populace knew no bounds.
"Every bell in the city pealed for joy; from palace and from hovel, from
magazine and workshop, the townspeople poured in throngs into the
streets and squares; some took to letting off firearms, some to strewing
flowers; some hoisted flags on the towers, some decked with them their
balconies; everybody was shouting '_Italia! Italia!_' and cursing the
Empire. In an access of fury, the Austrian arms were torn down, dashed
to pieces, and befouled amid the applause of the crowd in spite of the
dissuasion of the public functionaries and of prudent persons."
The hostility to the Jesuits now threatened to break out into violence;
and for the double purpose of protecting them and appeasing the passions
of the mob the Pope consented that the schools which they had
superintended should be given into other hands, that their associations
should be disbanded and they should be exiled.
"The Government perhaps had no choice, so swiftly and impetuously did
the torrent of popular commotion roll. I will not affirm that the Pope
and the Government ought to have exposed to the last hazard the security
of the State for an ineffectual defence of the fraternity. What I wish
to observe is that if there were among the Jesuits men stained with
guilt, and mischievous plotters, they ought to have been watched and
punished as bad citizens; but it was incompatible with propriety or
justice to condemn and punish a religious association, as such, in a
place where the Pope held both his own seat and the supreme authority of
the Church. None but the Pope had the power to condemn the society as a
whole, and no condemnation but his could be just or valid in the opinion
and conscience of the Catholics, or produce the desired political
effects." On the same day that the Jesuits were expelled, the Pope
issued a noble proclamation, breathing the best spirit of religion. The
following excerpt is a portion of it:
"_Pius Papa IX to the People of the States of Italy--Health and
Apostolic Benediction_:
"The events which the last two months have witnessed, following and
thronging one another in such rapid succession, are no work of man. Woe
to him that does not discern the Lord's voice in this blast that
agitates, uproots, and rends the cedar and the oak. Woe to the pride of
man if he shall refer, these marvellous changes to any human merit or
any human fault; if instead of adoring the hidden designs of Providence,
whether manifested in the paths of his justice or of his mercy, or of
that Providence in whose hands are all the ends of the earth. And we,
who are endowed with speech in order to interpret the dumb eloquence of
the works of God--we cannot be mute amid the longings, the fears, and
the hopes which agitate the minds of our children.
"And first, it is our duty to make known to you that if our hearts had
been moved at hearing how, in a part of Italy, the consolations of
religion have preceded the perils of battle, and nobleness of mind has
been displayed in works of charity, we nevertheless could not and cannot
but greatly grieve over the injuries which, in other places, have been
done to the ministers of that same religion--injuries, even if contrary
to our duty we were silent concerning them, our silence could not hinder
from impairing the efficacy of our benedictions.
"Neither can we refrain from telling you that to use victory well is a
greater and more difficult achievement than to be victorious. If the
present day recalls to you any other period of your history, let the
children profit by the errors of their forefathers. Remember that all
stability and all prosperity has its main earthly ground in concord;
that it is God alone who maketh of one mind them that dwell in a house;
that he grants this reward only to the humble and the meek, to those who
respect his laws, in the liberty of his church, in the order of society,
in charity toward all mankind."
* * * * *
Shortly afterward another measure, emanating entirely from the Pope, and
opposed by the prejudices of the mob, showed that his humane and liberal
disposition and enlightened understanding waited for no impulse from
without, and for no hope of increased popularity, before doing justice
to a long oppressed race. "The friends of social progress were highly
gratified by the decision of Pius IX to raze in Rome the walls and gates
which shut up the Jews in the Ghetto. He had already, at the
commencement of his pontificate, softened some of the rigors with which
they were afflicted, and had directed that they might spread beyond that
ignominious precinct; nor, however great was the outcry about it among
the mob, did he forego the idea of bettering the condition of the
followers of the Mosaic law." He was disposed to give them civil rights;
and if he did not think of extending his concessions even to political
privileges, yet he would give this as the main reason for it, that, in a
constitutional country, everyone who enjoys them may rise to the highest
stages of power; whereas a pope could not have any save Catholic
ministers. In the mean time he raised them out of the abjectness of
their isolation, although the Roman vulgar censured him for it bitterly,
most of all because it took effect in Holy Week. When it was known in
the city that the walls and fastenings of the Ghetto were to be pulled
down at night, by order of the Cardinal Vicar, Ciceruacchio hastened
with his companions, or subjects, to share in the work; and they shared
in it so largely that it seemed as though the thing were effected more
as their boon than by the will of the Pope. Pius IX was vexed at this;
whether because noise had been made about what he wanted done quietly,
or because it was brought about in such a manner that it might seem the
popular party had had more to say to it than the authority of the head
of religion. Rome fully shared the enthusiasm which was awakened
throughout Italy by the entrance of the Piedmontese troops into
Lombardy, and by the announcement by Charles Albert that he had drawn
the sword in the sacred cause of Italian independence. His proclamation,
in the stilted phrase common to such state papers, declared that he
relied upon "the assistance of that God who is visibly with us; of that
God who has given Pius IX to Italy; of that God who, by such wondrous
impulses, has placed her in a condition to act for herself." And if she
acted for herself, if her deeds had been commensurate with her glorious
words, the Austrian would never again have trodden any portion of the
peninsula with the step of a master. But the zeal of the Italians for
independence seemed all to evaporate in high-sounding manifestoes, and
in a few excesses of the populace in the great cities. The inactivity of
the Italian sovereigns may be explained by their imputed treachery or
lukewarmness in the cause. But what prevented the people themselves from
crowding the camp of Charles Albert with volunteers at a time when not a
crowned head in Italy dared offer the least open opposition to such a
movement? The King of Naples, sorely against his will, sent his regular
army, consisting of about fourteen thousand men, to fight for the cause,
and withdrew them in about six weeks, as soon as a base act of treachery
had given him the victory at home. General Pepe, their commander, wished
to disobey the order and move forward; but "nearly the whole army turned
its back on the Po and on him, and moved backward in the direction of
the Neapolitan Kingdom." Two hundred volunteers had previously set out
from Naples for Upper Italy, under the guidance and at the expense of an
enthusiastic woman, the Princess Belgioioso. "She had lived as an exile
in France, and was at first enthusiastic for the _Giovine Italia_; she
afterward became averse to it, and sided with Guizot, Duchâtel, and
Mignet, her intimate friend. She was well versed--or mixed herself
much--in literature, politics, the study of theology, and journalism; a
woman that had some of the feelings and anxieties of men, together with
all those of her own sex, and who was now travelling through Italy
intent upon manly business, but after woman's fashion. Other volunteers
afterward started, and a vessel set sail for Leghorn, which carried
them, along with the Tenth Regiment of the line." The Sicilians at the
same time determined to separate entirely from Naples and the rest of
the peninsula; "and thus all the ability and spirit, the arms and
wealth, of that powerful island were applied to the effort for insular
independence, and drawn off from that for the independence of the
nation." From Tuscany there went to this national war "about three
thousand volunteers, and perhaps as many more regulars"--a number so
small that Farini apologizes for it, and endeavors to prove that it
ought "not to be imputed to any lukewarmness in the affection for
Italy." The army from the Roman States, which the Pope had set on foot,
but hoped to retain as a defensive force within the northern boundary of
his dominions, numbered about sixteen thousand, of whom more than half
were volunteers. The conduct of the people of Lombardy, who though the
conflict raged on their own soil, and their own freedom was immediately
at stake, wasted their strength in quarrelling with one another instead
of succoring Charles Albert, has long been a topic of wonder and
censure. In short, all Italy did not furnish for this sacred war, so
long the object of her aspirations and her prayers, a body of volunteers
one-fourth as large as the army which the King of Sardinia brought into
the field, though it was probable that he was moved from the first only
by the hope of personal aggrandizement. He invaded Lombardy with an army
of fifty-five thousand men, expecting thereby to win, with the aid of
the national enthusiasm, the sceptre of all Italy for himself and his
descendants. A terrible disappointment awaited him; instead of glory,
shame and defeat were his portion; and having abdicated his paternal
throne in despair he died in exile, literally of a broken heart. Pius IX
was hardly more fortunate; to him also this fatal war brought dishonor
and exile, the loss of the affection of his subjects, and of the
admiration of the civilized world. The reluctance of the Pope to engage,
when unprovoked, in a war with Austria is no cause for wonder. He
earnestly desired the welfare of his people and the independence of his
native land; but all his desires were subject to the interests of the
Church, of which he was the recognized head throughout Christendom. The
republicans in his dominions, including Mazzini and his party, were
aware of this reluctance, and determined to make use of it and of the
passions of the people in order to get rid of him altogether. No
opportunity was lost to compromise him in the war, both in his temporal
and ecclesiastical character; and the misfortune of his twofold position
did not allow him to resist these machinations with success. General
Durando, the commander of the papal forces, issued a flaming
proclamation to his army when they passed the Po, announcing to them
that their swords were blessed by the venerable head of the Church, and
that they should all wear the cross on their bosoms, as beseemed those
who were engaged in a holy war. This act naturally gave great uneasiness
to the Pope, and Farini censures it as an unwise attempt to obtain the
sanctions of religion for merely political objects--the very conduct
which the Liberal party had previously censured in their opponents. If
Italian minds, he argues, "were not capable of warming with the simple
fire of patriotism for the noble and even holy enterprise of liberating
Italy from the stranger, it was vain to hope that hearts so frozen up in
indifference could kindle with religious faith." In the mean time the
Germans, who were speculating about the unity of their own stock and
nation and were straining every nerve in that difficult enterprise,
could not excuse the desire of independence in the Italians, and
contended for the boasted rights of Austria and Germany over the lands
and the coasts of Italy, with the people that inhabited them. When it
became known in Germany that the pontifical troops were hastening to the
legitimate defence of Italy it affected the public feeling generally,
and the name of Pius IX was branded with censure, not by laymen only,
but by some bishops and high ecclesiastics. Monsignor Viale, nuncio at
Vienna, and Monsignor Sacconi, nuncio at Munich, were assiduous and
eager in detailing the sinister reports touching Rome and the Pope, and
colored them in such a way as to create an apprehension of schism, the
most serious one that could rise for a pope--and that pope, too, Pius
IX. He had before this been greatly troubled by the proclamation of
General Durando; still he had hoped that the Italian League would be
shortly concluded, and that, when he had furnished the quota of troops
that might be due from him as a temporal sovereign, he would then have
been able, in the capacity of pontiff, to use those good offices which
he considered requisite to assure the consciences of Catholics.
Even the news of some reverses to the Italian arms in Lombardy failed to
awaken a proper feeling among the inhabitants of Central and Southern
Italy, and Farini thus censures the slothfulness and vanity of his
countrymen: "Few gave credit or importance at the time to this and other
sinister intelligence; the greater part of those who beheld the first
marvellous smiles of fortune relied upon the star of Italy, and thought
the Empire was dismembered. We Italians are too susceptible to the
impulses of passion, and of heat in the imagination; with a small matter
we are drunken and think to leap over the moon. Deadly intoxication,
most deadly fault, that of undervaluing an enemy, which lets our
enthusiasm too easily evaporate, and gives him every facility for
showing that he is as gallant as we are, and more resolute; that he has
much of perseverance and of discipline--qualities more effectual and
valuable than simple courage. It comes to this; we must either send
about their business the dreams of poets, and educate ourselves in
severe and masculine virtues, or must yet remain long in a position to
chant many more elegies, to assuage our sorrow, than hymns of triumph;
we must either rest assured that with the tenacious, the disciplined,
and the resolute only the tenacious, disciplined, and resolute can cope,
and must therefore leave off despising the Austrians, and imitate them
in their steadiness and their attention to the military spirit; or else
we must be doomed to the disgrace of seeing them masters of our country.
A stern truth; but the only one that an Italian freeman can utter to
Italians free in mind. He who wants compliments and adulation may fling
these warning words from him."
The Ministry at Rome, driven onward by the popular clamor, represented
to the Pope in strong terms the necessity of sending orders to his army
to take an active part in the war; for they had not yet commenced
hostilities with the Austrians. A consistory of the cardinals was to be
held on April 29th; and it was feared that Pius would take that occasion
for declaring that he was averse to the war, thus pacifying the minds of
the Catholics in Germany. The allocution of the Pope realized these
fears, though it expressed only his wish to remain neutral, "and to
embrace all kindreds, peoples, and nations with equal solicitude of
paternal affection." But the Ministry resigned in consequence, and great
disturbances arose in the city; the populace were not willing themselves
to volunteer for the war, but they were determined that the Pope should
not continue a man of peace. The Civic Guard was placed under arms, but
it was soon found that the soldiers shared the feelings of the people,
and no reliance could be placed upon them. Threats were uttered of
assassinating the cardinals, and others cried out "to make short
work--as they called it--with the government of the priests, those
traitors to Italy, and to place Rome under popular sway." To avert
bloodshed, the Pope consented to a compromise; he gave up the entire
direction of his troops to Charles Albert, and published, of his own
accord, and without the knowledge of his ministers, an affecting
remonstrance to his people.
Pius also wrote an earnest letter to the Emperor of Austria, entreating
him to put a stop to the war by acknowledging the independence of
Venetia and Lombardy. "Let not the generous German nation take it ill,"
he said, "if we invite them to lay resentment aside, and to convert into
the beneficial relations of friendly neighborhood a domination which
could never be prosperous or noble while it depended solely on the
sword." But the prayers of the Pope had now little influence either with
the Emperor or with his own subjects; he had long ago forfeited the
favor of the Absolutists by his political reforms, and he had now lost
the love of his people by his reluctance to gratify their passion for
sway.
Yet if he had basely yielded to their wishes, against his judgment and
his conscience, he would have injured only the cause of the papacy in
foreign lands, and the issue of the war would not have been changed. As
it was, his troops were actively engaged in the contest till the time of
their capture at Vicenza by the Austrians. The fatal blow was given to
the hopes of Italy by the King of Naples withdrawing his troops at a
critical moment, when their loss could not be replaced.
Their departure, and the consequent capture of the papal army under
Durando at Vicenza, enabled the Austrians to turn their whole force
against the Piedmontese, who were then defeated and driven back. The
disgraceful capitulation at Milan followed, and the cause of United
Italy was lost forever. Brilliant as its promise had been at the outset,
the Revolution of 1848 terminated as pitifully as did those of 1820 and
1831; and for its disastrous issue the Italians have none to blame but
themselves.
Misfortunes and defeat had their usual effect in inflaming the rage of
parties. The personal influence of the Pope could no longer keep the
passions of the citizens in check, and the clubs now governed Rome with
absolute sway. The party of Mazzini, bent on trying the experiment of a
republic at all hazards, began to show its head after a long period of
inefficiency and discouragement, and every day acquired new adherents
and stronger influence. One Ministry after another tried in vain to
steer the ship of state on an even course, between the opposite perils
of the domination of a mob and the rigorous enforcement of the laws. The
Pope tried for some months the experiment of a popular administration,
under Mamiani, of whom our author says, "He seemed to play the part of a
tribune of the people more than of the Pope's minister." Still he was an
honest man, opposed to violence, to tumult, and to all excesses, though
he paid too much deference to the clubs, which were now as turbulent and
mischievous as their Parisian prototypes. The acts of his Ministry were
not numerous, Farini says, for the character of the times would not
admit of dispassionate inquiries and solid reforms. In truth, the
energies of Government were exhausted in a vain attempt to keep the
peace in the city, which was now a constant scene of turbulence and
disorder. Bologna also, having successfully repelled an unauthorized
attack made upon it by the Austrians under Welden, had become a prey to
the wildest confusion, owing to the continuance there of the irregular
bands of armed men who had contributed to its defence. At the urgent
request of the Bolognese Deputies, the Ministry determined to send
thither one of their own number to aid in restoring order; and Farini
was deputed for this purpose. The following is a portion of his account
of what he saw there and what he accomplished:
"In the streets and open places of the city, for two days, the brigands
had been slaughtering every man his enemy among the Government officers,
some of them indeed disreputable and sorry fellows, others respectable.
They killed with musket-shot, and if the fallen gave signs of life they
reloaded their arms in the sight of the people and the soldiers and
fired them afresh, or else put an end to their victims with their
knives. They hunted men down like wild beasts, entered their houses, and
dragged them forth to slaughter. One Bianchi, an inspector of police,
was lying in bed, reduced to agony by consumption; they came in, set
upon him and cut his throat in the presence of his wife and children;
the corpse, a frightful spectacle, remained in the public streets. I saw
it, saw death dealt about, and the abominable chase. Cardinal Amat, who
had given notice of his arrival, came the day after; and the armed
commons escorted him to the palace at the very time when the villains
were perpetrating their murders.
"There were no longer any judges, or any officers of the police; those
who had escaped death either had fled or had hidden themselves; the
Civic Guard was disarmed, the citizens killed, the few soldiers of the
line either mixed with the insurgents or were wholly without spirit; the
carbineers and dragoons in hesitation, the volunteer legions and free
corps a support to the rioters, not to the authority of Government. We
sent to Rome for leave to declare Bologna in a state of siege; but the
answer was that the Ministry having taken the opinion of the Council of
State considered that order might be restored without recourse to this
extreme measure.
"All our best exertions were made to draw to the side of Government the
carbineers and dragoons, as also Bellezzi and the honest leaders of the
people, but with little success. It was reported that Bellezzi himself
had given leave to kill those whom they called the spies; one Masina
came before us, proposing by way of compromise to banish those whose
lives were threatened; armed men were in the very palace of government,
and we ourselves at their mercy. Accident, however, effected at a stroke
what we could have done only slowly and with difficulty. An assassin
attempted the life of a carbineer; his companions, inflamed with anger,
pursued him and caught him in a church. They then volunteered their most
resolute efforts at repression. They were ordered to sally forth, arrest
and disarm the ruffians. The dragoons seconded them; young Pepoli,
commandant of the Civic Guard, mustered a few companies; Bianchetti and
the respected citizens of the Committee of Public Safety drew close
around us, and we hurried in the Swiss from Forli. The population began
to regain its courage and to applaud the carbineers as they arrested the
assassins; the Swiss entered amid cheers."
The disturbances at Bologna were quelled; but the bonds of law and order
throughout the Papal States were now loosened, and it became evident
that a more determined minister must be placed at the helm, or the
experiment of the existing form of government must be abandoned in
despair. A republic or a return to the old principles of despotism would
then be inevitable. In this emergency the eyes of the Pope and of all
prudent persons at Rome were turned to Rossi, who, since the fall of
Louis Philippe's Government, from which he had been ambassador to the
Roman States, had resided there as a private citizen, taking no active
share in politics, but often consulted by both parties, owing to his
high reputation for sagacity and firmness. Exiled on account of his
liberal opinions by Gregory, he had laid the foundation of his fame at
Paris, where he successively became professor, peer, and ambassador, and
was highly esteemed by all parties as a writer and a statesman. Once
before, Pius had solicited him to form a ministry; but he had declined,
because conscious that the affections of the populace were not with him,
and he judged that the minds even of the better portion of the citizens
were not yet prepared for a resolute attempt to carry on a
constitutional government by firm measures.
He suggested to the Pope that he was probably odious to the court on
account of his previous employments and his writings; that some would
perhaps look very coldly on a minister who had married a Protestant
wife; and that the French Republic might be displeased if he should hold
a high post at Rome. But in the middle of September the solicitations of
the Pope and of many respectable persons in the State became so urgent
that Rossi consented to serve; the opinion was universal that no other
person possessed the requisite abilities, character, and experience to
carry on the Government at this perilous crisis; and that, if he failed,
all indeed was lost. He selected for his colleagues men of liberal
politics, but temperate in their opinions. He announced his intention to
carry into effect the Fundamental Statute, in all its parts, according
to constitutional usage; to counteract and repress both parties opposed
to that instrument; to abolish exemptions, restore the finances, and
reorganize the army; to conclude a league with Piedmont and Tuscany,
even if it should be impossible with Naples; and to fix the contingent
of troops which the Pope was to supply, so that he need not in any way
mingle in the war.
The turbulent and the presumptuous, "the magistrates accustomed to
fatten upon abuses, the Sanfedists who made a livelihood of disorder,
and the clergy, greedy of gold and honors, could ill bear that
Pellegrino Rossi should have the authority of a minister." But those who
knew the real condition of affairs, and that, unless the finances were
improved and public discipline and order restored, all would go to
wreck, counted it great gain that he should take charge of the
debilitated State. "The dissatisfied were more numerous and noisy in the
capital; the contented stronger in the Provinces, especially at Bologna,
where an educated community wished for a liberal system, with a
government strong in the strength of the law; where the recent terrible
events had filled every mind with horror; and where Rossi, the
proscribed of 1815, was dear to memory, and rooted in public esteem."
The Roman Legislature was to meet again in the middle of November, so
that the new minister was chiefly occupied with maturing the measures
which were to be laid before it for adoption. His public acts therefore
were few; but they were enough to show that new wisdom and vigor
directed the course of affairs. He obtained the Pope's consent that the
clergy should make a new contribution of two millions of crowns to the
State, on the strength of which he obtained a new loan and punctually
paid the interest on the public debt. He invited General Zucchi home
from Switzerland to take the command of the army, which rapidly improved
in discipline under his energetic guidance. He distributed medals to
those who had been wounded and to the families of the slain at Vicenza.
He established two lines of telegraph, one to Ferrara by the way of
Bologna, and another to Civita Vecchia. The negotiations with Sardinia
and Tuscany for an Italian league were advanced nearly to completion.
Chairs of political economy and commercial law were founded in the
universities at Rome and Bologna. Toward the close of October the mob
rose in Rome, on occasion of a squabble between a Jew and a Catholic,
and threatened to sack the Ghetto and maltreat its inhabitants. Rossi
hurried the Civic Guard and the carbineers to the spot, allayed the
tumult, arrested and imprisoned some of its ringleaders, and published
an energetic proclamation to warn the turbulent that the laws would be
enforced.
"All these proceedings excited the anger of Rossi's enemies, the
journalists, the captains of the people, and the Roman clubs." There was
no opprobrium that was not heaped upon him, no charge that was not
levelled at the Government. But these declamations seemed to have little
effect on the body of the people. On the morning of November 15th, when
the Legislature was to commence its session, though knots of persons
were seen talking in the streets with excited countenances, there was no
outbreak or popular tumult. Rossi had received many anonymous letters in
which his life was threatened, but he scorned to take any notice of
them. This morning one came which directly affirmed that he would be
assassinated in the course of the day; and he threw it into the fire.
The regulation of the police, now that the day of the session had
arrived, belonged to the President of the Council of Deputies; and
Rossi, punctilious in the observance of the constitution, refused to
give them any orders.
Several of his friends came and remonstrated with him against such an
exposure of his life. "To all this he answered that he had taken the
measures which he thought suitable for keeping the seditious in order,
and that he could not, on account of risk that he might personally run,
forego repairing to the Council according to his duty; that perhaps
these were idle menaces; but if anyone thirsted for his blood, he would
have the means of shedding it elsewhere on some other day, even if, on
that day, he should lose his opportunity. He would therefore go." He was
elated by the confidence which the Pope had in him, and expected both
trust and aid from the Parliament, to which he was so soon to explain
his ideas and intentions.
"When the ordinary hour of the parliamentary sitting, which was about
noon, arrived, the people began to gather in the square of the
Cancellaria, and by degrees in the courtyard and then in the public
galleries of the hall. Soon these were all full. A battalion of the
Civic Guard was drawn up in the square; in the court and hall there was
no guard greater than ordinary. There were, however, not a few
individuals, armed with their daggers, in the dress of the volunteers
returned from Vicenza, and wearing the medals with which the
municipality of Rome had decorated them. They stood together and formed
a line from the gate up to the staircase of the palace. Sullen visages
were to be seen and ferocious imprecations heard among them. During the
time when the Deputies were slowly assembling, and business could not
commence because there was not yet a quorum present, a cry for help
suddenly proceeded from the extremity of the public gallery, on which
everyone turned thither a curious eye; but nothing more was heard or
seen, and those who went to get some explanation of the circumstances
returned without success.
"In the mean time Rossi's carriage entered the court of the palace. He
sat on the right, and Righetti, Deputy Minister of Finance, on the left.
A howl was raised in the court and yard, which echoed even into the hall
of the Council. Rossi got out first, and moved briskly, as was his habit
in walking, across the short space which leads from the centre of the
court to the staircase on the left hand. Righetti, who descended after
him, remained behind, because the persons were in the way who caused the
outcry, and who, brandishing their cutlasses, had surrounded Rossi and
were loading him with opprobrium. At this moment there was seen amid the
throng the flash of a poniard, and then Rossi losing his feet and
sinking to the ground. Alas! he was spouting blood from a broad gash in
the neck. He was raised by Righetti, but could hardly hold himself up,
and did not articulate a syllable; his eyes grew clouded, and his blood
spurted forth in a copious jet. Some of those, whom I named as clad in
military uniform, were above upon the stairs; they came down, and formed
a ring about the unhappy man; and when they saw him shedding blood and
half lifeless, they all turned and rejoined their companions. He was
borne, amid his death-struggle, into the apartments of Cardinal Gazzoli,
at the head of the stairs on the left side; and there, after a few
moments, he breathed his last.
"In leaving the palace of the Cancellaria, one met some faces gleaming
with a hellish joy, others pallid with alarm; many townspeople standing
as if petrified; agitators, running this way and that, carbineers the
same; one kind of men might be heard muttering imprecations on the
assassin, but the generality faltered in broken and doubtful accents;
some, horrible to relate, cursed the murdered man. Yes, I have still
before my eyes the livid countenance of one who, as he saw me, shouted,
'So fare the betrayers of the people!' But the city was in the depths of
gloom, as under the hand of calamity and the scourge of God; and
wherever there were respectable persons, though of liberal and Italian
principles, they were horror-struck, and called for the resolute
exertions of the authorities."
When the terrible news came to the Pope, he was struck with horror and
dismay, but yet strove to rally the other members of the Government
around him and preserve the State from anarchy. But his efforts were
miserably seconded; one person after another declined taking office or
continuing in it; and even when the presidents of the two Councils were
summoned, they had little advice to give. On the morrow the tidings came
that a mob was on its way toward the Quirinal, some of the carbineers
having fraternized with them, to enforce the appointment of a democratic
ministry, and a declaration in favor of a constituent assembly for all
Italy. Only a few Swiss, the ordinary guard of honor, were on duty; but
they shut the gates of the palace, and nobly declared that their own
bodies should be piled up behind them before the rioters should enter.
Galletti, the former minister of police, acted as spokesman of the mob,
and when admitted to an audience he stated their demands. The Pope
indignantly declared that he would not yield to violence, but must
deliberate in freedom. This answer only inspired the insurgents with
fresh fury, so that they pressed forward to the gates, set one of them
on fire, and, mounting upon the roofs of the neighboring houses, opened
a fire upon the walls and windows of the Quirinal. The few Swiss fired
in return; and then the cry ran through the city that the Pope's guards
were butchering the people, and already there were many slain. Within
the palace many advised Pius to yield, a few still spoke of resistance,
and the foreign ministers, who were collected there, had no scheme to
offer. "The scuffle continues; the worthy prelate, Monsignor Palma,
falls dead by the window of his own apartment; balls reach the
ante-chamber of the Pope." At last Pius turned to the diplomatic body
who stood around him, and said: "There is no further hope in resistance.
Already a prelate is slain in my very palace, shots are aimed at it,
artillery levelled. To avoid fruitless bloodshed and increased
enormities, we give way; but it is, as you see, only to force. Therefore
we protest; let the courts, let your governments, know it. We give way
to violence alone, and all we concede is null and void."
Galletti was then asked to propose his list of ministers, from which the
Pope indignantly struck out the name of the Neapolitan Salicetti, but
admitted without a word the names of Sterbini, Lunati, and Galletti.
Their appointment was signed on the spot, and the news being told to the
insurgents "they fired muskets in token of joy, and went off with hymns
for Italy and cheers for the Italian Constituent Assembly and the
democratic Ministry."
The next day the club desired that the Swiss should be deprived of their
arms and dismissed from the Quirinal; the Pope complied. The club then
asked that Galletti should be named general of the carbineers; and he
was appointed. "Such was the poltroonery or such the depravity of
consciences that no journal would or dared denounce the murder. But why
do I speak of denouncing? The murder was honored with illuminations and
festivities in numerous cities, and not in these States only, but beyond
them, especially at Leghorn." The Councils met on the 18th and 20th, but
not a word was said of the murder, and even a proposition for giving
assurance to the Pope "of the devotion and unalterable affection of the
Deputies" was voted down. Three of the Bolognese Deputies and a few
others then indignantly resigned their seats, and assigned their reasons
for this step in addresses to their constituents.
Early on the night of the 25th the Pope secretly left the Quirinal,
entered a carriage prepared for him by the wife of the Bavarian
ambassador, and went into exile from that city which, within two years
and a half, had worshipped, scorned, and assailed him.
(1848) THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY IN FRANCE, François P.G. Guizot and
Mme. Guizot de Witt
This outbreak marked one of the many transitions in French history,
leading to the establishment of the short-lived Second Republic, so soon
to be followed by the _coup d'état_ of Louis Napoleon and the setting up
of the Second Empire. When France passed from the rule of the Bourbons,
represented by Charles X, to that of the Orleanists, in the hands of
Louis Philippe, the "Citizen King" (July, 1830), great hopes were
entertained by the constitutional party that this renewal of the
monarchy through the "July Revolution" would result in permanent
benefits. At first the new King enjoyed great popularity. In some
respects his government, compared with that of Charles X, was liberal,
and one of its early acts was an extension of the suffrage by decreasing
the amount of the property qualification for voters. The demand for
still further enlargement of popular rights became emphatic. The people
were divided mainly into three parties, and the difficulties confronting
the King were formidable. The Conservatives, who had placed him in
power, wished to prevent further changes in the State; the Moderates
asked for new reforms, especially for a still more extended suffrage;
the Radical party desired a republic.
The attitude of the Radicals caused Louis Philippe to halt in his
progressive policy. More than once his life was attempted, and in
consequence of such acts the liberty of the press and other privileges
were restricted. The greater part of the French people wished to have
the King intervene in behalf of Poland--which at that period was in a
state of almost chronic insurrection--as he had aided the Belgians
against Holland. In her Eastern policy France was defeated by the
Quadruple Alliance, formed by England, Prussia, Austria, and Russia, and
in consequence of this failure the King's prestige suffered. But the
question of extending the suffrage was kept always before the people,
and when the King refused to go further with that reform its advocates
urged their demands more strongly than ever. Lamartine founded a journal
in which he agitated for universal suffrage, and in this agitation many
other newspapers joined. Even Thiers, the leading statesman of the
Moderate party, asked for suffrage reform. Failing to control the
Legislative Assembly, the reformers at last appealed to the people. The
King, relying on his majority in the Assembly, was undisturbed by the
popular ferment.
Guizot, whose account of the "February Revolution" is here given, was
the chief minister of Louis Philippe; and however partisan the author's
narrative may seem, it rests upon an intimate knowledge of the events
recorded.
I come with profound repugnance and sorrow to those painful days by the
faults and misfortunes of which France was launched into dangerous
enterprises, such that men of the greatest foresight could not discern
their end. Our country has paid very dearly for the fatal error which
overthrew the throne of the King who had for eighteen years governed it
with a wisdom, prudence, and moderation acknowledged even by his enemies
when attacking him.
"The Cabinet of October 29, 1847, and its political friends, had a
clearly defined idea and purpose. They aspired to bring to a close the
French era of revolutions by establishing the free government which
France had in 1789 promised herself as the consequence and political
guarantee of the social revolution which she was completing." This
policy, formerly the object of their youthful hopes, had become theirs,
whether in power or in the opposition. "It was in fact both liberal and
antirevolutionary--antirevolutionary both in home and foreign affairs,
since it wished to maintain the peace of Europe abroad, and the
constitutional monarchy at home; liberal, since it fully accepted and
respected the essential conditions of free government; the decisive
intervention of the country in its affairs, with a constant and
well-sustained discussion, in public as well as in the Chambers, of the
ideas and acts of the Government. In fact, this twofold object was
attained from 1830 to 1848.
"Abroad, peace was maintained without any loss to the influence or
reputation of France in Europe. At home, from 1830 to 1848, political
liberty was great and powerful; from 1840 to 1848, in particular, it was
displayed without any new legal limit being imposed. It was this policy
that the opposition--all the oppositions, monarchical and dynastic as
well as republican--blindly or knowingly attacked, and tried to change.
It was to change it that they demanded electoral and parliamentary
reforms. In principle, the Government had no absolute or permanent
objections whatever to such reforms; the extension of the right of
suffrage, and the incompatibility of certain functions with the office
of Deputy, might and must be the natural and legitimate consequences of
the upward movement of society and political liberty. They did not think
the reforms necessary or well-timed, and were therefore justified in
delaying them as much as possible, provided they should one day allow to
be accomplished by others what they thought themselves still strong
enough to refuse." "We have too much and too long maintained a good
policy," said Guizot afterward.
A frequent and formidable sign that men's minds are secretly agitated is
the anxiety by which they are seized with reference to intrigues and
vices which they suppose around them. It would be a serious error to see
always a symptom of moral improvement in the clamors against electoral
or parliamentary corruption. Immediately after the ministerial success
in the general elections of 1846, this precursory indication of storms
appeared on the horizon. Guizot raised the question to its proper point
of view. "Leave to countries which are not free," said he, "leave to
absolute governments, that explanation of great results by small,
feeble, or dishonorable human acts. In free countries, when great
results are produced it is from great causes that they spring. A great
fact has been shown in the elections just completed; the country has
given its adhesion, its earnest and free adhesion, to the policy
presented before it. Do not attribute this fact to several pretended
electoral manoeuvres. You have no right to come to explain, or qualify
by wretched suppositions, a grand idea of the country thus grandly and
freely manifested." The rumors of electoral corruptions were soon
followed by rumors of parliamentary corruptions; but the majority of the
Chamber declared themselves "content" with the ministerial explanations.
The "Contents" figured in the opposition attacks by the side of the
"Pritchardists."
Several improper abuses of long standing existed in certain branches of
the Administration; some posts in the Treasury had been the object of
pecuniary transactions between those who held the posts and were
resigning, and the candidates who presented themselves to replace them.
A bill proposed on January 20, 1848, by Hébert, who had become keeper of
the seals, formally forbade any such transaction, under assigned
penalties. Several months previously (June, 1847) M. Teste, formerly
Minister of Public Works, and then president of the Cour de Cassation,
was seriously compromised in the scandalous trial of General Cubières
and Pellapra. Convicted of having received a large sum of money in
connection with the mining concession, he was brought before the Peers,
and being led from question to question and from discussion to
discussion, soon made a confession of his crime. He, as well as his
accomplices, underwent the just penalty.