The history of the Papacy is a history of brigands. From the mediaeval
period robbers have been paid by that weak and demoralizing Government
to keep Italy in a state of ferment and internal war; and at this very
day it makes use of thieves to hold her in thraldom and hinder her
regeneration. I repeat, then, that the history of, the Papacy is a
history of brigands.
Whoever visited Civita Vecchia in 1849 must have heard of Gasparo, the
famous leader of a band of brigands, a relative of the Cardinal A------.
Indeed, many persons paid a visit to that city simply for the purpose of
beholding so extraordinary a man.
Gasparo, at the head of his band, had long defied the Pontifical
Government, and sustained many encounters with the gendarmes and regular
troops, whom he almost invariably defeated and put to flight.
Failing to capture the brigand by force of arms, the Government had
recourse to stratagem. As I have already stated, Gasparo was related
to a cardinal, one of the most powerful at Court; and as they were both
natives of S------, where many of their mutual relations resided, these
relations were made use of by the Government to act as mediators between
it and the brigand, to whom it made several splendid offers.
Gasparo, putting faith in the promises made by his kinspeople at the
instance of the Government, disbanded his men, but was then shamefully
betrayed, arrested, and taken in chains to the prison in Civita Vecchia,
where he was found during the Republican period in 1849.
Prince T------, the brother of Irene, having obtained some clue through
the shepherds, whose description of a beautiful dweller in the forest
left little doubt upon his mind as to her identity, consulted with the
Cardinal A------, and determined at any cost to recover his sister.
Although backed by the Government, and authorized to make use of the
regiment which he commanded, the Prince, from his ignorance of the many
hidden recesses in the forest, did not feel at all certain of success,
and in his dilemma applied to the Cardinal to secure for him the
services of the prisoner Gasparo, his relative, as a guide.
"It is a good thought," said the Cardinal. "Gasparo is better acquainted
with every inch of the forest than we are with the streets of Rome.
Besides, they say that such are his olfactory powers, that by taking a
handful of grass, and smelling at it, even at midnight, he could tell
you what portion of the forest you were in. He is old now, it is true;
but he has courage enough still to face even the devil himself."
When Gasparo heard he was to be conducted to Rome he gave himself up
for lost, and said to himself, "Better were it to die at once, for I
am tired of this miserable existence, only then I should go to my grave
unrevenged for the treachery and injury I have suffered at the hands of
these villainous priests."
Two squads of gendarmes, one on foot and the other mounted, conducted
this formidable brigand from Civita Vecchia to Rome. The Government
would have preferred moving him at night, but darkness would have
facilitated his rescue, which it feared some of his old companions might
attempt if they heard of his journey. It was therefore decided Gasparo
should travel by day, and the road was thronged by so dense a multitude,
who pressed forward to gaze at the celebrated chieftain, that the
progress of the Pope could scarcely have attracted greater numbers.
Arrived in Rome, Gasparo was afterwards introduced into the presence of
his relative, Cardinal A------, and the Prince T------, who, with
many words and promises of a large reward in gold, to all appearance
prevailed upon him to assist them to destroy the bands of "libertines"
by which the forest was infested.
Rejoicing in such a chance of escape and opportunity for revenge upon
his persecutors, Gasparo affected to be delighted at the proposition,
and consented to it with much apparent pleasure.