Italy in Transition: public scenes and private opinions in the spring of 1860; illustrated by official documents [translated by J. K. Arthur] from the Papal Archives of the revolted Legations

Front matter

ITALY IN TRANSITION PUBLIC SCENES AND PRIVATE OPINIONS IN THE SPRING OF 1860; ILLUSTRATED BY OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS FROM THE PAPAL ARCHIVES 0$ THE REVOLTED LEGATIONS. BY WILLIAM ARTHUR A.M., AUTHOR OF "A MISSION TO THE MYSORE," "THE SUCCESSFUL MERCHANT," "THE TONGUE OF FIRE," &C, &C. THIRD EDITION. LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.; NEW YORK: HARPER AND BROTHERS. 1860. LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, 38, LOND03C WALL. THIS VOLUME $s |nstriTbtb, WITH PROFOUND RESPECT, AND GRATEFUL AFFECTION, to one of England's best sons, and op Italy's warmest friends, THE SEVENTH EAEL OE SHAFTESBURY. a

Preface

TO THE SECOND EDITION. Events in Italy have now reached such a point, that everything as to the prospects of the Pope seems to depend on the designs of Napoleon III. As his plans are frequently modelled on those of his uncle, perhaps some light may be derived from an authentic disclosure of what they were. The subjoined drafts of Decrees, from the archives of the first Napoleon, are translated from the work referred to in the original Preface, / Lutti dello Stato Romano, by the Cavaliere Gennarelli, Editor of the Government Documents. The manner in which he became possessed of them was this : in 1814 Austria took possession of the archives of the Kingdom of Italy, but the more secret papers were secured by Napoleon's Minister, Aldini. He left them by will to his secretary, who committed them to the friend and relation of his principal, Gennarelli, who now for the first time brings them to the light.

From these documents it appears that the inten tions of the Emperor as to the Papacy were : — 1. That the Pope should possess no territory but the Church and Square of St. Peter's, and the two palaces of the Vatican and the Inquisition. 2. That the second Papal residence — the Quirinal — was to become an imperial palace. 3. That the city, with a small strip of barren ter ritory close round it, and a few mountain towns, should be placed under a Government independent a VI

PREFACE.

TO THE SECOND EDITION. both of the Pope and the Kingdom of Italy, but dependent on the Emperor. 4. That the Pope's revenue should be about thirty to thirty-five thousand pounds a year. These measures were concerted in 1808 ; affairs in Spain delayed the execution of them; and wheD Napoleon, once more victorious at Wagram, resolved to give them effect, provoked by the Pope's excommunication, he proceeded to the length of removing His Holiness altogether. A few articles of a formal character are omitted in the translation. N. 69 Pr. r. Kingdom of Italy. DRAFT OF DECREE. Registered V. F. Subject of the Decree : First Roman Statute. NAPOLEON, By the Grace of God and by the Constitutions, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation ofthe Kingdom. To all those to whom these presents shall come, greeting.

Wishing to restore to the Roman people that form of government which in former times they enjoyed, we have ordered and decreed, and do order and decree, as follows : Art. I. Rome is a free imperial city. Art. II. The Palace of the Quirinal, with its depen dencies, is declared an Imperial Palace. Art. III. The boundary between the Roman territory and our Kingdom of Italy is fixed by a line which, departing from Certeveri, passes by Baccano, Palestrina, Marino, Albano, Monterotondo, Palombara, Tivoli, and,

PREFACE.

TO THE SECOND EDITION. VII following a distance of two miles from the sea, again touches Certeveri. Art. IV. The territory of the villages (paesi) in tersected by the before-named line constitutes the Circum scription of Rome, except all that which lies between the sea and the line itself. Art. V. A Senator and a Magistracy of forty Con servators form the government of the city and of its territory. Art. VI. The executive power is vested in the Senator, the legislative in the Magistracy of Conservators : the Senator initiates laws. The office of Senator is for life, that of Conservator for four years. ***** Art. IX. The Senator is always appointed by ourselves and our successors. For this present time we reserve also the right to appoint the Magistracy of Conservators. Hereafter, when they must be replaced, the Senator fills up vacancies, from a double list presented to him by the Magistracy.

Kingdom of Italy. DRAFT OF DECREE. Registered Æ F. Subject of the Decree : Annexation of the Districts composing the Roman States to the Kingdom of Italy. NAPOLEON, By the Grace of God and by the Constitutions, Fmperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Kingdom. We have decreed, and do decree, as follows : — Art. I. All the Districts composing the Roman States, with the exception of Rome and its territory, as described in the first Roman Statute, are irrevocably and in per petuity united to our Kingdom of Italy. Art. II. Possession will be formally taken of these districts on day, and the arms of the Kingdom will be set up. Art. III. On the same day the Code Napoleon will be published.

PREFACE.

TO THE SECOND EDITION. VIII Art. IV. The Districts, as above annexed, shall form four Departments, viz. : — 1. The Department of Circeo ; capital, Velletri. 2. The Department of Cimino ; capital, Viterbo. 3. The Department of Trasimeno ; capital, Perugia. 4. The Department of Clitunno ; capital, Spoleto. A third Decree names the Prince Borghese Sena tor, and then follows : — Kingdom of Italy. DRAFT OF DECREE. Registered __V F. Subject of the Decree : Measures with regard to His Holiness. NAPOLEON, By the Grace of God and by the Constitutions, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation ofthe Kingdom. Considering our first Roman Statute, we have decreed, and do decree, as follows : — Art. I. The Church and Square of St. Peter's, the Palace of the Vatican, and that of the Holy Office, with their dependencies, freely belong to His Holiness.

Art. II. The Chapter and the building of St. Peter's have preserved to them all their property under such an administration as the Pope shall be pleased to appoint. His Holiness shall receive an annual revenue of a million of Italian lire, and shall preserve all his honours which he has enjoyed in the past. Given from our Imperial Palace of St. Cloud this day of September, 1808. In Gennarelli's work the Decrees are accompanied by the Report presented to the Emperor by his Minister Aldini, and also illustrative historical notes. (I Lutti dello Stato Romano, pp. 33-48.) September 29th, 1860.

PREFACE.

TO THE FIRST EDITION. The Documents mentioned on the title page form two ponderous volumes, containing sixteen hundred pages, which cost in Florence fifty-seven francs twelve centimes, about two pounds six shillings. They were collected by a decree of Farini, as Dictator of the Æmilia. It was expected that a Congress would assemble at Paris to solve the difficulties arising out of the peace of Villa Franca; in which case efforts would be made to bring the Romagna once more under the dominion of the Pope. The Government which had replaced his, resolved, that the Plenipotentiaries of Europe should have in their hands the best means of judging as to the justice of the determination felt by the people, to return no more under the temporal authority of His Holiness. Commissioners were X

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TO THE FIRST EDITION. appointed, in the different provinces, to search the archives, and forward documents to the appointed Editor, the Cavaliere Achille Gennarelli. Large quantities of records proved to be wanting from several reasons. In Ravenna, the documents connected with " great causes " had been sent to Rome. In Faenza the archives had been burned by the enraged populace. These defects admitted of some reparation; for in other cities correspondence of the Ravenna authorities existed ; and as to Faenza, leading facts were put upon record under formal attestation of witnesses. But some defects admitted of no remedy. In Ferrara, a Secretary General, Tellarini, had spent three days in burning papers : all the Minutes and Decisions of the tremendous Council of Censure had disappeared in every part of the Romagna ; and the " most reserved" correspondence, contained in registers marked P.P., and kept by the Legates themselves, without any intervention of officials, was entirely missing.

Notwithstanding all this, matter was forthcoming sufficient to furnish the two huge books already issued : these consist of the correspondence of Legates, Pro-Legates, Delegates, Governors, Military and Police Authorities, with one another, and with the Ministers at Rome ; of Judicial Records, Decrees of Synods, Inquisitors, Bishops, and other public

PREFACE.

TO THE FIRST EDITION. XI records. Fourteen thousand documents remain to be published.* In the " Documents " use is freely made of italics and small capitals to mark points worthy of special note ; but, as I presume this to be the Editor's work, and not in the originals, all quoted here are given without these helps to eyes unused to detect the full import of official language. In a few instances in the Appendix they are retained. In several cases, the substance of a set of documents has been framed into a connected narrative. Here I challenge keen examination, as to the care with which facts are stated. For instance, in the narrative ofthe death of Garibaldi's wife, striking circumstances generally believed, and perhaps capable of proof by other evidence, are omitted, and nothing given but what the documents in the collection supply.

The Cavaliere Gennarelli, in publishing an Italian edition of " The Pope and the Congress," has accom panied it with so much historical matter, as to make * See: Relazione a S. E. il Cavaliere Luigi Farini, Governatore delle Frovincie Unite dell' Emilia; which is prefixed to the first rolume. The title of the volumes is, II Governo Pontificio e lo Stato Romano : Documenti preceduli da una Esposizione Storica, e raccolti, per Decreto del Governo delle Romagne, dal Cav. Achille Gennarelli, Amocato nella sacra Flota, gia Residente di Collegio della Ponlificia Academia Archelogica, Ssc, $"c, 8rc. Farte Frima, pp. cxt., 246, Parse Seconda, pp. xixviii., 686, cxz.

PREFACE.

TO THE FIRST EDITION. XII a valuable little book, under the title, " / Lutti dello Stato Romano." As he confines himself chiefly to comments on the Documents edited by himself, I have now and then quoted also from this work ; always distinguishing his statements from what is official. For the translations in the Appendix, and a few of those in the body of the book, I am indebted to my brother, Mr. James K. Arthur. As to the narrative part of this book, its only value, if it has any, lies in reporting the opinions of persons of all classes, uttered freely to a stranger, who, not being a person of consequence, was the more likely to hear their real views. If it help stayers at home to any idea of the scenes my friends and I witnessed, if it give them the least share of the pleasure we enjoyed, and still more if it lead any to a deeper sympathy in the sorrows of the Italian people, a stronger interest in their welfare, and above all to prayer for the blessing of God upon the nation now rising up in their long disjointed provinces, it will not have appeared in vain. Notting Hill, July 4th, 1860. CONTENTS.

Papal Government in Rome, during Ten Years of Restoration, as shown by official Documents 387