Margaret Fuller Ossoli - At Home And Abroad

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Two of the balls that struck St. Peter's have been sent to Pius IX. by
his children, who find themselves so much less "beloved" than were the
Austrians.

These two days, days of solemn festivity in the calends of the Church,
have been duly kept, and the population looks cheerful as it swarms
through the streets. The order of Rome, thronged as it is with troops,
is amazing. I go from one end to the other, and amid the poorest and
most barbarous of the population, (barbarously ignorant, I mean,)
alone and on foot. My friends send out their little children alone
with their nurses. The amount of crime is almost nothing to what it
was. The Roman, no longer pent in ignorance and crouching beneath
espionage, no longer stabs in the dark. His energies have true vent;
his better feelings are roused; he has thrown aside the stiletto. The
power here is indeed miraculous, since no doubt still lurk within the
walls many who are eager to incite brawls, if only to give an excuse
for slander.

To-day I suppose twelve thousand Austrians marched into Florence.
The Florentines have humbled and disgraced themselves in vain. They
recalled the Grand Duke to ward off the entrance of the Austrians, but
in vain went the deputation to Gaeta--in an American steamer! Leopold
was afraid to come till his dear cousins of Austria had put everything
in perfect order; then the Austrians entered to take Leghorn, but the
Florentines still kept on imploring them not to come there; Florence
was as subdued, as good as possible, already:--they have had the
answer they deserved. Now they crown their work by giving over
Guerazzi and Petracci to be tried by an Austrian court-martial. Truly
the cup of shame brims over.

I have been out on the balcony to look over the city. All sleeps with
that peculiar air of serene majesty known to this city only;--this
city that has grown, not out of the necessities of commerce nor the
luxuries of wealth, but first out of heroism, then out of faith.
Swelling domes, roofs softly tinted with yellow moss! what deep
meaning, what deep repose, in your faintly seen outline!

The young moon climbs among clouds,--the clouds of a departing
thunderstorm. Tender, smiling moon! can it be that thy full orb may
look down on a smoking, smouldering Rome, and see her best blood run
along the stones, without one nation in the world to defend, one to
aid,--scarce one to cry out a tardy "Shame"? We will wait, whisper the
nations, and see if they can bear it. Rack them well to see if they
are brave. _If they can do without us_, we will help them. Is it thus
ye would be served in your turn? Beware!

LETTER XXXI.

THE FRENCH TREASON AT ROME.--OUDINOT.--LESSEPS.--LETTER OF THE
TRIUMVIRATE.--REPLY OF LESSEPS.--COURSE OF OUDINOT.--THE WOUNDED
ITALIANS.--GARIBALDI.--ITALIAN YOUNG MEN.--MILITARY FUNERAL.--HAVOC OF
THE SIEGE.--COURAGE OF MAZZINI.--FALSENESS OF THE LONDON TIMES.

Rome, June 10, 1849.

What shall I write of Rome in these sad but glorious days? Plain facts
are the best; for my feelings I could not find fit words.

When I last wrote, the French were playing the second act of their
farce.

In the first, the French government affected to consult the Assembly.
The Assembly, or a majority of the Assembly, affected to believe the
pretext it gave, and voted funds for twelve thousand men to go to
Civita Vecchia. Arriving there, Oudinot proclaimed that he had come
as a friend and brother. He was received as such. Immediately he took
possession of the town, disarmed the Roman troops, and published a
manifesto in direct opposition to his first declaration.

He sends to Rome that he is coming there as a friend; receives the
answer that he is not wanted and cannot be trusted. This answer he
chooses to consider as coming from a minority, and advances on Rome.
The pretended majority on which he counts never shows itself by
a single movement within the walls. He makes an assault, and is
defeated. On this subject his despatches to his government are full
of falsehoods that would disgrace the lowest pickpocket,--falsehoods
which it is impossible he should not know to be such.

The Assembly passed a vote of blame. M. Louis Bonaparte writes a
letter of compliment and assurance that this course of violence shall
be sustained. In conformity with this promise twelve thousand more
troops are sent. This time it is not thought necessary to consult the
Assembly. Let us view the

SECOND ACT.

Now appears in Rome M. Ferdinand Lesseps, Envoy, &c. of the French
government. He declares himself clothed with full powers to treat
with Rome. He cannot conceal his surprise at all he sees there, at
the ability with which preparations have been made for defence, at the
patriotic enthusiasm which pervades the population. Nevertheless, in
beginning his game of treaty-making, he is not ashamed to insist on
the French occupying the city. Again and again repulsed, he again and
again returns to the charge on this point. And here I shall translate
the letter addressed to him by the Triumvirate, both because of its
perfect candor of statement, and to give an idea of the sweet and
noble temper in which these treacherous aggressions have been met.

LETTER OF THE TRIUMVIRS TO MONSIEUR LESSEPS.

"May 25, 1849.

"We have had the honor, Monsieur, to furnish you, in our note of the
16th, with some information as to the unanimous consent which was
given to the formation of the government of the Roman Republic.
We to-day would speak to you of the actual question, such as it is
debated in fact, if not by right, between the French government and
ours. You will allow us to do it with the frankness demanded by the
urgency of the situation, as well as the sympathy which ought to
govern all relations between France and Italy. Our diplomacy is the
truth, and the character given to your mission is a guaranty that the
best possible interpretation will be given to what we shall say to
you.

"With your permission, we return for an instant to the cause of the
present situation of affairs.

"In consequence of conferences and arrangements which took place
without the government of the Roman Republic ever being called on
to take part, it was some time since decided by the Catholic
Powers,--1st. That a modification should take place in the government
and institutions of the Roman States; 2d. That this modification
should have for basis the return of Pius IX., not as Pope, for to that
no obstacle is interposed by us, but as temporal sovereign; 3d.
That if, to attain that aim, a continuous intervention was judged
necessary, that intervention should take place.

"We are willing to admit, that while for some of the contracting
governments the only motive was the hope of a general restoration and
absolute return to the treaties of 1815, the French government
was drawn into this agreement only in consequence of erroneous
information, tending systematically to depict the Roman States as
given up to anarchy and governed by terror exercised in the name of an
audacious minority. We know also, that, in the modification proposed,
the French government intended to represent an influence more or less
liberal, opposed to the absolutist programme of Austria and of
Naples. It does none the less remain true, that under the Apostolic or
constitutional form, with or without liberal guaranties to the Roman
people, the dominant thought in all the negotiations to which we
allude has been some sort of return toward the past, a compromise
between the Roman people and Pius IX. considered as temporal prince.

"We cannot dissemble to ourselves, Monsieur, that the French
expedition has been planned and executed under the inspiration of this
thought. Its object was, on one side, to throw the sword of France
into the balance of negotiations which were to be opened at Rome;
on the other, to guarantee the Roman people from the excess of
retrograde, but always on condition that it should submit to
constitutional monarchy in favor of the Holy Father. This is assured
to us partly from information which we believe we possess as to the
concert with Austria; from the proclamations of General Oudinot; from
the formal declarations made by successive envoys to the Triumvirate;
from the silence obstinately maintained whenever we have sought to
approach the political question and obtain a formal declaration of the
fact proved in our note of the 16th, that the institutions by
which the Roman people are governed at this time are the free and
spontaneous expression of the wish of the people inviolable when
legally ascertained. For the rest, the vote of the French Assembly
sustains implicitly the fact that we affirm.

"In such a situation, under the menace of an inadmissible compromise,
and of negotiations which the state of our people no way provoked, our
part, Monsieur, could not be doubtful. To resist,--we owed this to
our country, to France, to all Europe. We ought, in fulfilment of a
mandate loyally given, loyally accepted, maintain to our country the
inviolability, so far as that was possible to us, of its territory,
and of the institutions decreed by all the powers, by all the
elements, of the state. We ought to conquer the time needed for appeal
from France ill informed to France better informed, to save the sister
republic the disgrace and the remorse which must be hers if, rashly
led on by bad suggestions from without, she became, before she was
aware, accomplice in an act of violence to which we can find no
parallel without going back to the partition of Poland in 1772. We
owed it to Europe to maintain, as far as we could, the fundamental
principles of all international life, the independence of each people
in all that concerns its internal administration. We say it without
pride,--for if it is with enthusiasm that we resist the attempts of
the Neapolitan monarchy and of Austria, our eternal enemy, it is with
profound grief that we are ourselves constrained to contend with the
arms of France,--we believe in following this line of conduct we
have deserved well, not only of our country, but of all the people of
Europe, even of France herself.

"We come to the actual question. You know, Monsieur, the events which
have followed the French intervention. Our territory has been invaded
by the king of Naples.

"Four thousand Spaniards were to embark on the 17th for invasion of
this country. The Austrians, having surmounted the heroic resistance
of Bologna, have advanced into Romagna, and are now marching on
Ancona.

"We have beaten and driven out of our territory the forces of the king
of Naples. We believe we should do the same by the Austrian forces, if
the attitude of the French here did not fetter our action.

"We are sorry to say it, but France must be informed that the
expedition of Civita Vecchia, said to be planned for our protection,
costs us very dear. Of all the interventions with which it is hoped to
overwhelm us, that of the French has been the most perilous. Against
the soldiers of Austria and the king of Naples we can fight, for
God protects a good cause. But we _do not wish to fight_ against
the French. We are toward them in a state, not of war, but of simple
defence. But this position, the only one we wish to take wherever
we meet France, has for us all the inconveniences without any of the
favorable chances of war.

"The French expedition has, from the first, forced us to concentrate
our troops, thus leaving our frontier open to Austrian invasion, and
Bologna and the cities of Romagna unsustained. The Austrians have
profited by this. After eight days of heroic resistance by the
population, Bologna was forced to yield. We had bought in France arms
for our defence. Of these ten thousand muskets have been detained
between Marseilles and Civita Vecchia. These are in your hands. Thus
with a single blow you deprive us of ten thousand soldiers. In every
armed man is a soldier against the Austrians.

"Your forces are disposed around our walls as if for a siege. They
remain there without avowed aim or programme. They have forced us to
keep the city in a state of defence which weighs upon our finances.
They force us to keep here a body of troops who might be saving our
cities from the occupation and ravages of the Austrians. They hinder
our going from place to place, our provisioning the city, our sending
couriers. They keep minds in a state of excitement and distrust which
might, if our population were less good and devoted, lead to sinister
results. They do _not_ engender anarchy nor reaction, for both are
impossible at Rome; but they sow the seed of irritation against
France, and it is a misfortune for us who were accustomed to love and
hope in her.

"We are besieged, Monsieur, besieged by France, in the name of a
protective mission, while some leagues off the king of Naples, flying,
carries off our hostages, and the Austrian slays our brothers.

"You have presented propositions. Those propositions have been
declared inadmissible by the Assembly. To-day you add a fourth to
the three already rejected. This says that France will protect from
foreign invasion all that part of our territory that may be occupied
by her troops. You must yourself feel that this changes nothing in our
position.

"The parts of the territory occupied by your troops are in fact
protected; but if only for the present, to what are they reduced? and
if it is for the future, have we no other way to protect our territory
than by giving it up entirely to you?

"The real intent of your demands is not stated. It is the occupation
of Rome. This demand has constantly stood first in your list of
propositions. Now we have had the honor to say to you, Monsieur, that
is impossible. The people will never consent to it. If the occupation
of Rome has for its aim only to protect it, the people thank you,
but tell you at the same time, that, able to defend Rome by their
own forces, they would be dishonored even in your eyes by declaring
themselves insufficient, and needing the aid of some regiments of
French soldiers. If the occupation has otherwise a political object,
which God forbid, the people, who have given themselves freely
these institutions, cannot suffer it. Rome is their capital, their
palladium, their sacred city. They know very well, that, apart from
their principles, apart from their honor, there is civil war at the
end of such an occupation. They are filled with distrust by your
persistence. They foresee, the troops being once admitted, changes in
men and in actions which would be fatal to their liberty. They know
that, in presence of foreign bayonets, the independence of their
Assembly, of their government, would be a vain word. They have always
Civita Vecchia before their eyes.

"On this point be sure their will is irrevocable. They will be
massacred from barricade to barricade, before they will surrender.
Can the soldiers of France wish to massacre a brother people whom they
came to protect, because they do not wish to surrender to them their
capital?

"There are for France only three parts to take in the Roman States.
She ought to declare herself for us, against us, or neutral. To
declare herself for us would be to recognize our republic, and fight
side by side with us against the Austrians. To declare against us is
to crush without motive the liberty, the national life, of a friendly
people, and fight side by side with the Austrians. France _cannot_ do
that. She _will not_ risk a European war to depress us, her ally. Let
her, then, rest neutral in this conflict between us and our enemies.
Only yesterday we hoped more from her, but to-day we demand but this.

"The occupation of Civita Vecchia is a fact accomplished; let it go.
France thinks that, in the present state of things, she ought not to
remain distant from the field of battle. She thinks that, vanquishers
or vanquished, we may have need of her moderative action and of her
protection. We do not think so; but we will not react against her. Let
her keep Civita Vecchia. Let her even extend her encampments, if the
numbers of her troops require it, in the healthy regions of Civita
Vecchia and Viterbo. Let her then wait the issue of the combats about
to take place. All facilities will be offered her, every proof of
frank and cordial sympathy given; her officers can visit Rome, her
soldiers have all the solace possible. But let her neutrality be
sincere and without concealed plans. Let her declare herself in
explicit terms. Let her leave us free to use all our forces. Let her
restore our arms. Let her not by her cruisers drive back from our
ports the men who come to our aid from other parts of Italy. Let
her, above all, withdraw from before our walls, and cause even the
appearance of hostility to cease between two nations who, later,
undoubtedly are destined to unite in the same international faith, as
now they have adopted the same form of government."

In his answer, Lesseps appears moved by this statement, and
particularly expresses himself thus:--

"One point appears above all to occupy you; it is the thought that
we wish forcibly to impose upon you the obligation of receiving us as
friends. _Friendship and violence are incompatible._ Thus it would
be _inconsistent_ on our part to begin by firing our cannon upon you,
since we are your natural protectors. _Such a contradiction enters
neither into my intentions, nor those of the government of the French
republic, nor of our army and its honorable chief._"

These words were written at the head-quarters of Oudinot, and
of course seen and approved by him. At the same time, in private
conversation, "the honorable chief" could swear he would occupy Rome
by "one means or another." A few days after, Lesseps consented to
conditions such as the Romans would tolerate. He no longer insisted on
occupying Rome, but would content himself with good positions in the
country. Oudinot protested that the Plenipotentiary had "exceeded his
powers,"--that he should not obey,--that the armistice was at an end,
and he should attack Rome on Monday. It was then Friday. He proposed
to leave these two days for the few foreigners that remained to
get out of town. M. Lesseps went off to Paris, in great seeming
indignation, to get _his_ treaty ratified. Of course we could not
hear from him for eight or ten days. Meanwhile, the _honorable_ chief,
alike in all his conduct, attacked on Sunday instead of Monday. The
attack began before sunrise, and lasted all day. I saw it from my
window, which, though distant, commands the gate of St. Pancrazio. Why
the whole force was bent on that part, I do not know. If they could
take it, the town would be cannonaded, and the barricades useless; but
it is the same with the Pincian Gate. Small-parties made feints in two
other directions, but they were at once repelled. The French fought
with great bravery, and this time it is said with beautiful skill and
order, sheltering themselves in their advance by movable barricades.
The Italians fought like lions, and no inch of ground was gained by
the assailants. The loss of the French is said to be very great: it
could not be otherwise. Six or seven hundred Italians are dead or
wounded. Among them are many officers, those of Garibaldi especially,
who are much exposed by their daring bravery, and whose red tunic
makes them the natural mark of the enemy. It seems to me great folly
to wear such a dress amid the dark uniforms; but Garibaldi has always
done it. He has now been wounded twice here and seventeen times in
Ancona.

All this week I have been much at the hospitals where are these noble
sufferers. They are full of enthusiasm; this time was no treason, no
Vicenza, no Novara, no Milan. They had not been given up by wicked
chiefs at the moment they were shedding their blood, and they had
conquered. All were only anxious to get out again and be at their
posts. They seemed to feel that those who died so gloriously were
fortunate; perhaps they were, for if Rome is obliged to yield,--and
how can she stand always unaided against the four powers?--where shall
these noble youths fly? They are the flower of the Italian youth;
especially among the Lombards are some of the finest young men I have
ever seen. If Rome falls, if Venice falls, there is no spot of Italian
earth where they can abide more, and certainly no Italian will wish
to take refuge in France. Truly you said, M. Lesseps, "Violence and
friendship are incompatible."

A military funeral of the officer Ramerino was sadly picturesque and
affecting. The white-robed priests went before the body singing, while
his brothers in arms bore the lighted tapers. His horse followed,
saddled and bridled. The horse hung his head and stepped dejectedly;
he felt there was something strange and gloomy going on,--felt that
his master was laid low. Ramerino left a wife and children. A great
proportion of those who run those risks are, happily, alone. Parents
weep, but will not suffer long; their grief is not like that of widows
and children.

Since the 3d we have only cannonade and skirmishes. The French are at
their trenches, but cannot advance much; they are too much molested
from the walls. The Romans have made one very successful sortie. The
French availed themselves of a violent thunderstorm, when the
walls were left more thinly guarded, to try to scale them, but were
immediately driven back. It was thought by many that they never would
be willing to throw bombs and shells into Rome, but they do whenever
they can. That generous hope and faith in them as republicans and
brothers, which put the best construction on their actions, and
believed in their truth as far as possible, is now destroyed. The
government is false, and the people do not resist; the general is
false, and the soldiers obey.

Meanwhile, frightful sacrifices are being made by Rome. All her
glorious oaks, all her gardens of delight, her casinos, full of the
monuments of genius and taste, are perishing in the defence. The
houses, the trees which had been spared at the gate of St. Pancrazio,
all afforded shelter to the foe, and caused so much loss of life,
that the Romans have now fully acquiesced in destruction agonizing to
witness. Villa Borghese is finally laid waste, the villa of Raphael
has perished, the trees are all cut down at Villa Albani, and the
house, that most beautiful ornament of Rome, must, I suppose, go too.
The stately marble forms are already driven from their place in that
portico where Winckelmann sat and talked with such delight. Villa
Salvage is burnt, with all its fine frescos, and that bank of the
Tiber shorn of its lovely plantations.

Rome will never recover the cruel ravage of these days, perhaps
only just begun. I had often thought of living a few months near St.
Peter's, that I might go as much as I liked to the church and the
museum, have Villa Pamfili and Monte Mario within the compass of
a walk. It is not easy to find lodgings there, as it is a quarter
foreigners never inhabit; but, walking about to see what pleasant
places there were, I had fixed my eye on a clean, simple house near
Ponte St. Angelo. It bore on a tablet that it was the property of
Angela ----; its little balconies with their old wooden rails, full
of flowers in humble earthen vases, the many bird-cages, the air of
domestic quiet and comfort, marked it as the home of some vestal or
widow, some lone woman whose heart was centred in the ordinary and
simplest pleasures of a home. I saw also she was one having the most
limited income, and I thought, "She will not refuse to let me a room
for a few months, as I shall be as quiet as herself, and sympathize
about the flowers and birds." Now the Villa Pamfili is all laid waste.
The French encamp on Monte Mario; what they have done there is not
known yet. The cannonade reverberates all day under the dome of St.
Peter's, and the house of poor Angela is levelled with the ground. I
hope her birds and the white peacocks of the Vatican gardens are in
safety;--but who cares for gentle, harmless creatures now?

I have been often interrupted while writing this letter, and suppose
it is confused as well as incomplete. I hope my next may tell of
something decisive one way or the other. News is not yet come from
Lesseps, but the conduct of Oudinot and the formation of the new
French ministry give reason to hope no good. Many seem resolved to
force back Pius IX. among his bleeding flock, into the city ruined
by him, where he cannot remain, and if he come, all this struggle and
sorrow is to be borne over again. Mazzini stands firm as a rock. I
know not whether he hopes for a successful issue, but he _believes_ in
a God bound to protect men who do what they deem their duty. Yet how
long, O Lord, shall the few trample on the many?

I am surprised to see the air of perfect good faith with which
articles from the London Times, upon the revolutionary movements,
are copied into our papers. There exists not in Europe a paper more
violently opposed to the cause of freedom than the Times, and neither
its leaders nor its foreign correspondence are to be depended upon.
It is said to receive money from Austria. I know not whether this
be true, or whether it be merely subservient to the aristocratical
feeling of England, which is far more opposed to republican movements
than is that of Russia; for in England fear embitters hate. It is
droll to remember our reading in the class-book.

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