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The Two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen on the State Prosecutions of the Neapolitan Government , by Mr . Gladstone , are noticed in other parts of our columns . We hope they will draw forth an universal voice of hearty English execration on the authors of atrocities like those Victor Hugo was called unnatural for imagining in a drama of which the scene was Padua , in the 16 th century , under the Government of Venice ! Mr . Gladstone has made a valuable contribution to the political literature of the day .
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mr . Gladstone ' s letters . Two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen , on the State Prosecution * of fhe Neapolitan Government . By the Right Honourable W . E . Gladstone , M . P . for the University of Oxford . Second Edition . Murray , Albemarle-street . Letters so remarkable as these have not issued from the press for many a day ; nor has a fact so remarkable as that which they convey to the public , happened for a long time . The Right Honourable W . E . Gladstone , a scholar , a man of academic reputation , an eminent member of the Conservative party of English politicians , and distinguished
among members of that party for his calm and logical mind , and for his profound views of the nature and functions of a Church—this man goes to Italy in the winter of 1850-51 , and spends three or four months at Naples . He has heard before of the cruel political prosecutions that have been going on in Naples since the suppression of the reform movement in Italy ; but now that he is on the spot he comes to know such horrors , such facts of unparalleled atrocity , connected with the judicial proceedings of the Neapolitan Government , that he cannot , as a man and a Christian , keep silence ; but , quitting Naples , resolves that he will first try what he can privately do to redress the wrongs whose existence he has ascertained , and
then , if private exertions fail , denounce these wrongs in the face of the world . Accordingly , in April , 1851 , or immediately after his return to England , he addresses a private letter to Lord Aberdeen on the subject , trusting that , through a man of such weight , something may be done . This failing , after three or four months , he publishes the letter , and appeals to that public opinion , whose tribunal , he "says , he would have shunned , had it been possible to do so . He then appends a second or supplementary letter ; and the two are now published together in a united pamphlet . We can but give an extract or two , to which we prefix headings ; but we earnestly advise every one to procure and read the whole .
NUMliEK OF POLITICAL I'ltlSONEKS IN THE KINGDOM Ol' TIIE TWO . SICILIES . " The general belief is , that the prisoners for political offences in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies , are between fifteen , or twenty , and thirty thousand . The Government withholds nil means of accurate information , and accordingly there can be no certainty on the point . I have , however , found that this belief is shared by persona the most intelligent , considerate , and well-informed . It is also supported by what is known of the astonishing crowds conlined in particular prisons ; and especially by what is accurately known in particular provincial localities , as to
the numbers of individuals missing from among the community . 1 have heard these numbers for example at lteggio , and at Salerno ; and from an effort to estimate them in reference to population , I do believe that twenty thousand is no unreasonable estimate . In Naples alone , Home hundreds are at this moment under indictment capitally ; and when I quitted it , a trial was expected to come on immediately ( called that of the lifteenth of May ) , in which the number charged was between four and live hundred ; including ( though tl > is in a digression ) at least one or more persons of high station , whose opinionH would in this country be considered more conservative than your own ( Lord Aberdeen ' s ) . "
HAH' A I'Alll . lAMIiNT 1 'tIT INTO THIKON . " Shortly alter I reached Naples I heard iimuii of eminent station accused , with much vituperation , of having stated that nearly all those who had formed the * Opposition' in the Chamber of Deputies under the Constitution , were in prison or in exjle . I frankly own my impression was , that u statement apparently bo montrous and incredible deserved the reprobation it was then receiving . It was ( I think ) in November
last . Tho Chamber had been elected by the people under it Constitution freely and spontaneously given by the King : elected twice over , and with little change , but that little in favour of the Opposition . No one of the body , 1 think , had then been brought to trial ( althoug h I may state , in passing , one of them hud boon assassinated by u priest named l ' eluso , well known in the streets of Naples when I was there , never questioned for the act , and said to receive a pension from tho Government ) . 3 o that 1 put down
the statement as a fiction , and the circulation of it as , at the very least , a gross indiscretion or more . What was my astonishment when I saw a list in detail which too fully proved its truth ; nay , which in the most essential point proved more ? It appears , my dear Lord , that the full complement of the Chamber of Deputies was 164 ; elected by constituency which brought to poll about 117 , 000 votes . Of these about 140 waB the greatest number that came to Naples to exercise the functions of the
Chamber . An absolute majority of this number , or seventy-six , besides some others who had been deprived of offices , had either been arrested or had gone into exile . So that after the regular formation of a popular representative Chamber , and its suppression in the teeth of the law , the Government of Naples has consummated its audacity by putting into prison , or driving into banishment for the sake of escaping prison , an actual majority of the representatives of the people . "
CASE OF CAKLO P 0 ER . I 0 5 FORGED EVIDENCE . " Perhaps , I cannot do better than to furnish a thread to my statement by dealing particularly with the case of Carlo Poerio . It has every recommendation for the purpose . His father was a distinguished lawyer . He is himself a refined and accomplished gentleman , a copious and eloquent speaker , a respected and blameless character . I have had the means of ascertaining in some degree his political position . He is strictly a Constitutionalist ; and while I refain from examining into the shameful chapter of Neapolitan history which that word might open , I must beg you to remember that its strict
meaning there is just the same as here , that it signifies a person opposed in heart to all violent measures from -whatever quarter , and having for its political creed the maintenance of the monarchy on its legal basis , by legal means , and with all the civilizing improvements of laws and establishments which may tend to the welfare and happiness of the community . His pattern is England , rather than America or France . I have never heard him charged with error in politics , other than such as can generally be alleged witn truth against the most high-minded and loyal ,
the most intelligent and constitutional , of our own statesmen . I must say , after a pretty full examination of his case , that the condemnation of such a man for treason is a proceeding just as much conformable to the laws of truth , justice , decency , and fair play , and to the common sense of the community , in fact just as great and gross an outrage on them all , as would be a like condemnation in this country of any of our best-known public men , Lord John Russell , or Lord Lansdowne , or Sir James Graham , or yourself . Carlo Poerio was one of the Ministers of the Crown
under the Constitution , and had also one of the most prominent positions in the Neapolitan Parliament . He was , as regarded the Sicilian question , friendly to the maintenance of the unity of the kingdom . He was also friendly to the war of independence , as it was termed ; but I have never heard that he manifested greater zeal in that matter than the King of Naples ; it is a question , of course , wholly irrespective of what we have now to consider . Poerio appeared to enjoy the King ' s full confidence ; his resignation , when offered , was at first declined , and his advice asked even after its acceptance . The history of his arrest , as detailed by himself , in his address
of iebruary 8 , 1850 , to his judges , deserves attention . The evening before it ( July 18 , 1849 ) , a letter was left at his house by a person unknown , conceived in these terms : — ' Fly ; and fly with speed . You are betrayed ! the Government is already in possession of your correspondence with the Marquis Dragonetti . — From one who loves you much . ' Had he fled , it would have been proof of guilt , ample for those of whom we are now speaking . Hut he wus aware of this , and did not ily . Moreover , no such correspondence existed . On the 19 th , about four in the afternoon , two persons , presenting themselves at his door under a false title , obtained entry , and announced to him that he uras arrosted in virtue of a verbal order
of Peccheneda , the prefect of police . He protested iu vain : the house was ransacked : he was carried into solitary confinement , lie demanded to be examined , and to know the cause of his arrest within twenty-four hours , according to law , but in vain . So early , however , as on the sixth day , he was brought before the Commissary Maddaloni ; and a letter , with the seal unbroken , was put into his hands . It was addressed to him , and he was told that it had come under cover to a friend of the Marquis Dragonetti , but that the cover had been opened in mistake by an ollieer of the police , who happened to have the same
name , though a different surname , and who , on perceiving what was within , handed both to the authorities . Poerio was desired to open it , and did open it in the presence of tho commissary . Thus far nothing could be more elaborate and careful thau the arrangement of the proceeding . But mark the sequel . Tho matter of the letter of course- was highly treasonable ; it announced tin invasion by Garibaldi , fixed * conference with Muzzini , and referred to a ¦ correspondence with Lord Palmerston , who . ™ name wan miserably mangled , who promised to aid a proximate revolution . -1 perceived at once , ' Hny « Poerio that the handwriting of Drogonctti wus vilely imitated ,
and I said so , remarking that the internal evidence of sheer forgery was higher than any amount of material proof whatever . ' Dragonetti was one of the most accomplished of Italians ; whereas this letter was full of blunders , both of grammar and of spelling . It is scarcely worth while to notice other absurdities ; such as the signature of name , surname , and title in full , and the transmission of such a letter by the ordinary poBt of Naples . Poerio had among his papers certain genuine letters of Dragonetti ' s ; they were produced and compared with this ; and the forgery
stood confessed . Upon the detection of this monstrous iniquity , what steps were taken by the Government to avenge not Poerio , but public justice ? None whatever : the papers were simply laid aside . * ' I have taken this detail from Poerio himself , in his defence ; but all Naples knows the story , and knows it with disgust . " Poerio ' s papers furnished no matter of accusation •« It was thus necessary to forge again ; or rather perhaps to act upon forgeries which had been prepared ,. but which were at first deemed inferior to the Dragonetti letter .
*• A person named Jervolino , a disappointed applicant for some low office , had been selected for the work both of espionage and of perjury ; and Poerio was now accused , tmder information from him , of being among the chiefs of a republican sect , denominated the Unita Italiana , and of an intention to murder the King . He demanded to be confronted with his accuser . He had long before known , and named Jervolino to his friends , as having falsely denounced him to the Government ; but the authorities refused to confront them ; the name was not even told him ; he went from one prison to another ; he was confined , as he alleges , in places fit for filthy brutes
rather than men ; he was cut off from the sight of friends ; even his mother , his sole remaining near relation in the country , was not permitted to see him for two months together . Thus he passed some seven or eight months in total ignorance of any evidence against him , or of those who gave it . During that interval Signor Antonio de' Duchi di Santo Vito came to him , and told him the Government knew all ; but that if he would confess , his life would be spared . He demanded of his judges on his trial that Santo Vito should be examined as to this statement : of course it was not done . But more than this . Signor
Peccheneda himself , the director of the police , and holding the station of a Cabinet Minister to the King , went repeatedly to the prison , summoned divers prisoners , and with flagrant illegality examined them himself , without witnesses and without record . One of these was Carafa . By one deposition of this Carafa , who was a man of noble family , it was declared , that Peccheneda himself assured him his matter should be very easily arranged , if he would only testify to Poerio ' s acquaintance with certain revolutionary handbills . It could not be ; and the Cabinet Minister took leave of Carafa "with the
words—• Very well , Sir ; you wish to destroy yourself ; I leave you to your fate . ' Such was the conduct of Peccheneda , as Poerio did not fear to state it before his judges . I must add , that I have heard upon indubitable authority of other proceedings of that Minister of the King of Naples , which fully support the credibility of the charge . ' '
TREATMENT OF POLITICAL PRISONERS . " Each man wears a strong leather girth round him above the hips . To this are secured the upper ends of two chains . One chain of four long and heavy links descends to a kind of double ring fixed round the ankle . The second chain consists of eight links , each of the same weight and length with the four , and this unites the two prisoners together , so that they can stand about six feet apart , Neither of these chains is ever undone , day or night . The dress of common felons , which , as well as the felon ' s cap , was there worn by tho late Cabinet Minister of King Ferdinand of Naples , is composed of a rough and coarse red jacket , with trowsers of the same material-very like the cloth made in this country from what is called devil ' s dust ; the trowsers ure nearly
black in colour . On his head he had a small cap which makes up the Ruit ; it is of the Hume material . The trowsers button ull the way up , that the may ha removed at night without disturbing the chains . The weight of these chains , I understand , is about eight rotoli , or between sixteen and seventeen English pounds for the shorter one , which must be doubled when we give ouch prisoner hia half of the longer one . The prisoners had a heavy limping movement , much us if one leg had been shorter than the other . But the refinement of suffering in tliis case arises from the circumstance that here we have men of education and high feeling chained incessantl y together . For no purpose are those chains undone ; the meaning of thoae last word * must be ivell considered ; they are to bo taken strictly . "
TOmtTRE IN A NEAPOLITAN rltlSON . ' Settembrini , in a sphere b y some degrees narrower , but with a charncter quite as pure and fair , was tried with Powio and forty more , and was capitally convicted in February , though throug h nil humane provision of tho law the sentence wus not
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706 fR ^ t IL ttfbtt * [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), July 26, 1851, page 706, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1893/page/14/
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