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September 1, 1855.] T HE LEADBE. 841
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GENERAL PEPE. (From a Correspondent?) On...
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[IN THIS DBPABTMErTT, AS AU OPINIONS, HO...
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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ITAXY FOR THE ITALIANS. (To the Editor o...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Marshal Radetzki And Lord John Russell. ...
years of age , should thus grasp at power which he cannot long retain , . and for this should commit atrocities and advise Ministers to uphold martial law , is one of those anomalies of which frail human nature has not offered many examples . The fact is , the Marshal cannot forgive the people who , in the streets of Milan , with no other weapons but knives and stones , for five days
forced his soldiers to retreat before them , disgraced and defeated . Is it not strange that the very Ministers who at Vienna * affect a wish to conciliate the people Lombardy by permitting the municipal and central congregations to meet , as in 1815 , when Austria , dreading the effects of Napoleon ' s return from Elba , first instituted them , should still keep Radetzki in Lombardy ? He cancels the provisions of M . Bach , M . Bruck , and Count Buol with an obstinacy that reminds us o AH Pacha of Janina ' s self-will . Even
the sequestration of the estates of the Lombard refugees , which , to avoid an old cause for discontent in the presence of new ones with the Western Powers , the Austrian Ministry was disposed to relax , was resolutely opposed by the Lieutenant till the 7 th of August , ¦ when he sent a notification that he consented to restore thirty-one estates , which were found to be of little or no value . It is thus that a spirit of vengeance , the masterpassion of the ferocious old man , rules the wrecked and impoverished Lombards and Venetians , and dictates the arrogant doctrines of the Marshal .
It is a sorrowful task for us to register the desolation which Radetzki ' s maxims , applied to the art of government , necessarily imply ; still we must denounce them . Then will the English people better understand the right Italians have ( the only one now left to thenij to become conspirators and revolutionists .
September 1, 1855.] T He Leadbe. 841
September 1 , 1855 . ] T HE LEADBE . 841
General Pepe. (From A Correspondent?) On...
GENERAL PEPE . ( From a Correspondent ?) Onus of the noblest men in the contemporary history of Modern Italy , the General Guglielmo Pepe , died at Turin , at the age of seventy-two . His loss will be severely felt in England by the many friends who remember him in the circles of Lord Holland , the Duke of Sussex , Sir Robert Wilson , Lord William Fitzgerald , and other noted men . The military career of the illustrious Neapolitan , although it failed in its object , affords an example of courage , perseverance , and stability of opinion , which exile and danger never weakened , nor disappointment ever changed . From the day when , -at the age of seventeen , he inscribed bis name on the roll , of the sala pairiotica in Naples , which bore the solemn title of " Oath of freedom or of death , " to the end of his long and painful career , he was faithful to his oath . In 1799 , within a few months after having given that solemn promise , he was twice wounded , he was imprisoned , and was driven into exile . In our limited space it would be impossible to sketch his eventful life for upwards of half a century ; the deeds with which Ins name is connected fill three octavo volumes of his Memoirs , and are well known in England , as they were originally published in our language . There we find the fortunes of the national cause of Italy mingled with his own active patriotism . In those volumes , and in the history he published after the fall of Venice , the passage of St . Bernard with the Italian legion : the battle " of Marengo ; the siege of La
Man tea ; the battle of Mileto ; King Joseph ; General Massdna , General Regnier , General Luchet ; Joachim Murat ; the combat of lleggio ; the battles o Panaro , Occhiobollo , Carpi , Bologna , and Macerata ; Jerome Bonaparte ; the Carbonaria ; the revolution of Naples in , 1821 ; the unfortunate combat of Rieli ; the revolution of Spain ; and the laat unsuccessful , but not inglorious struggle of Italy in 1848-49 , pass rapidly before our eyes . General Pepe ' s name is identified with all the
agitations of Italian independence . His constant aspiration was to destroy municipalising and make Italy one strong undivided nation . He Cared not whether Italy wore a constitutional kingdom or a republic , but was ready to seize any opportunity that would secure hor liberty . Although Joachim Murat had bestowed wealth and honours upon him at court , Pepe entered into a conspirucy with the other Neapolitan Generals . When the King naked him if this was true , ho replied : " I conspire against your Majesty because you are ngnjinst tho liberty of my country . If your Majesty were to grant
the constitution , we would pray for you , would consolidate your throne for ever ; you would be adored by the Neapolitans . " The advice was not followed , and the King feli unregretted . General Pepe ' s conduct fully merited the woids addressed to him by General Foy , after the catastrophe of 1821 , ¦ ' Votts avez ete maUieurcux , metis vous etes restesans reproche . " ¦ But it will be pleasing to the friends of Italy to observe that his career began by opposing the hordes of Cardinal R uffb , and the brigands on the mountains of Calabria , his own countrymen ; and it was chiefly due to his own efforts that , ere the close of his
life , the descendants of those very brigands , having become honest patriots , enrolled themselves under distinguished oflicers to fight against the common foe . We need not speak of the private virtues of the man , they are written on the hearts of his friends , and need no publicity . May those Italian officers who have shared with Pepe his last exile follow his noble example ; may they use the same selfdenial , perseverance , and honesty by which , for nearly sixty years , his military and political life were distinguished ; and may they achieve that great work which he failed to accomplish !
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[In This Dbpabtmertt, As Au Opinions, Ho...
[ IN THIS DBPABTMErTT , AS AU OPINIONS , HOWEVER EITItEME , AHB ALLOWED AN KXPBESSION , THE EDITOU MECES 3 ABII . Y HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOB NONE . ]
There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess he bath much , profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for him to read , -why should it not , at least , betoltraolefor his adversary to write . —Mii / toit .
Itaxy For The Italians. (To The Editor O...
ITAXY FOR THE ITALIANS . ( To the Editor of the Leader .. ) Sir , —We would thank "An Italian" for his answers to our questions— " Will the Italians accept nothing short of a Republic ? " "Do all liberals hold the views for which M . Mazzini ' s name stands ? " We believe that there are a great number of " reasonable [ talians" who share your correspondent's opinions on these points . He then speaks of the monarchy of Savoy as " the only state in Italy where a king has kept his word , " " the only asylum of free thought . ' * We join heartily in his appreciation of Piedmont . Revolutionists would do well , before trying to disnffect one Piedmontese subject towards his Government , to mark what Piedmont has achieved towards the overthrow of the two avowed obstacles to Italian nationality—what she has done to chase the Austrian from the country , what she is doing to restrain and diminish Papal influence within it . The scoffers at the idea of an " Italy for the Italians , " who tell ua that they cannot govern and cannot be governed by themselves , will do well to look at Piedmont , and see what Italian institutions are doing to promote the mental and moral progress of the people , and to advance the physical and economical condition of the stato . AH honour to Piedmont as the bulwark of
Italian liberty ! But , mistaking the object of our questions , " An ItaliafP' indignantly asks if they are to make their profession de foi to European diplomats or to English officials ? We deprecate too much the habit of seeking aid whence no aid can come to recommend any such fallacy . We are sensible that England has forfeited her right to tho confidence of oppressed nations , through the selfishness and cowardice of her foreign policy . Only inasmuch as tho English press may influence Italian affairs , do we ask for information for it respecting them . It was to Italians that we said , " Know what your creed is , and seo who among you subscribe to it . "
Wo hold the European system , and England ' s share therein , in as much abhorrence as any cun do ; but we have too much faith in Italy ' s future to invest it with tho supreme power which " An Italian " does , when ho asserts that this system prevented tho Italians from attaining their full rights in 1848 , - The European system had nothing to do with the failure of the Italian m ovement , and those who wilfully ignore the real causes of that failure are doing their best to insure its repetition . Most assuredly that revolution was called for by sectarian
the " national will , " and was of no origin . The Papal States called for civil equality , and all tho Italian States , with one voice , clamoured for the extirpation of foreign rule . This is a desire deeper and diviner in the human heart than any that a more Beet could implant . It is Nature ' s prompting , who , every time a httlo silence is made fpr her to speak in , will speak in Italy for national independence . In what iho nation willed in those years tho sovereigns wore compelled , willing or unwilling , to acquiesce . What a Piua IX . and a Charles Albert gavd to the Papal States and to Piedmont , Naples , Tuscany , and Lucca wrung from a Ferdinand , a Leopold , and a Bourbon .
In February , 1848 , the Italian States obtained their constitutions , and in the following month the " mild " government of Austria had by its " paternal" acts brought about its own destruction . During the five days that succeeded the 18 th of March the Milanese , unarmed , drove out 15 , 000 Austrian troops from their capital . On the 22 nd , the Venetians expelled the Austrians from Venice , retaining hostages till the terms ' of capitulation should be fulfilled . From Pavia , Cremona , Como , Brescia , and eight other cities the Austrian garrisons had either been driven out or had joined the inhabitants . Of all the "Lombardo-Venetian kingdom secured to the Austrians by the infamous treaty of Vienna , every city , with the exception of Verona , Legnano , Mantua , and Peschiera had been won back to Italy by the Italians .
" Guerra ai Tedescla was the nation ' s cry , and now behold all the Piedmontese troops—the regular troops and the civic guard from Rome , 15 , 000 Neapolitans , 7000 Tuscans , and volunteers from , every Italian State coming with weapons in their hands , and enthusiasm in their hearts , to combat in the holy war . Did the times of the Crusaders ever furnish us with such a sublime spectacle as this battle host of Italy ' s sons palpitating with their common love of fatherland , ambitious but to be worthy of the name of Italians in winning back their birthright from the stranger ? Glorious , indeed , was that gathering , never to be effaced from men ' s memories even by the bitter , galling , scarce credible reverse of the picture to which we must so hastily turn .
On the 6 th of August , 1848 , Venice and Osopo alone remained to ItaJy of all that she had regained but six months before . What were the causes of this reverse ? Were Italy a corpse , as some would have us believe , we would not broach these questions over her grave ; but we know that she has only swooned , and the blood must Row from her veins that it may cease to stagnate at her heart . Italians had scattered the Vienna parchment to the four winds of heaven ; English diplomats were struck dumb by the sudden wonder that fell on them . Whatever may have been the ultimate views of the French Republic , they had no influence at the moment . A" Pius , a Ferdinand , a Leopold , were ciphers before the national will . Therefore , neither to the European system nor to any one name can the failure of the Italians be attributed . The fault was their own , and theirs only .
Disunion , distrust , and disaffection springing up among them before they had locked their country ' s gates behind the Austrian , these were the causes of Italy ' s failure . Disunion of the rulers , the leaders , the generals , among themselves ; distrust in the ruled of their rulers , in the parties of their leaders , in the troops of their generals . Disaffection of the Piedmontese , the Lombards , the Tuscans , the Romans , and the Neapolitans to each other , —all these things combined rendered the operations of the leaders slow and unsystematic , paralysed the troops , and rendered their individual bravery abortive . While Charles Albert and Piua were disputing what should be the nature of the proposed Italian league , and where it should be formed—while each state was celebrating
its mimic triumph , forgetful of the yet ungotten victory of the whole—while constitutionalists and republicans disputed whether Lombardy should be annexed to Piedmont , or " should remain without a government till all could agree as to its form , —the wily Austrian , who unites to a fair share of brute courage botli perseverance and discipline , stepped in among the divided hosts , and piecemeal won back his prey . Space forbids our pointing oufc how , by her own internal union , Venice escaped the general wreck , nor can we continue to trace the events that succeeded the termination of the first campaign—how , when the Italians no longer held together , with what a wistful eye the European powers then regarded her divided states—but wo put it to any Italian who took part in the affairs of ' 48 whether wo have not traced their failure to its origin ?
And , disastrous as this solution may seem , it ? s yet fraught with more hope for Italy ' s future than any other . What the European system and English diplomacy lms been , that they are likely to remain , as the corner-stone of the former is injustice , and or the latter , interest . So , 2 if the Italians count on the aid of either in their struggle for national independence , or admit that either possesses the power to frustrate it , theirs is a forlorn hope ; whereas , n they allow that their past failure lay " thoir <>*" disunion , it remains with them to unite nndto su cceed . Let them cease to look for help or h »« lornnu from any but themselves ; for onlv / roni jviihin ti » o nation , iui from within tho individual , can strciifetn
for action come . . j without We rot .. m to our original P »« ' « " ^ jSLin Kr ^^ s ag ^^ tgzte ^^¦ kWbjb *• **» —
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 1, 1855, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01091855/page/13/
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