Homer - "The Iliad of Homer"

John Morley - "Critical Miscellanies (Vol 2 of 3)"

An American Lady - "The Ladies' Vase"

G. A. Henty - "With Wolfe in Canada"

Author of ‘Conversations With God’ Admits Essay Wasn’t His
Steve Knopper’s stark accounting of the mistakes major record labels have made in the digital era suggests they are largely responsible for their own demise.

Books of The Times: When Labels Fought the Digital, and the Digital Won
Oprah.com, the Web site of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” has posted a disclaimer acknowledging that Herman Rosenblat admitted he had invented portions of his Holocaust memoir.

Arts, Briefly: Winfrey Web Site Notes Fabricated Memoir
Mr. Seaver defied censorship and conventional literary standards to bring works by rabble-rousing authors like Samuel Beckett, Henry Miller and William Burroughs to American readers.

Margaret Fuller Ossoli - At Home And Abroad

M >> Margaret Fuller Ossoli >> At Home And Abroad




"Ay, down to the dust with them, slaves as they are";--

to think how bitter the English were on the Italians who succumbed,
and see how they hate those who resist. And their cowardice here in
Italy is ludicrous. It is they who run away at the least intimation
of danger,--it is they who invent all the "fe, fo, fum" stories about
Italy,--it is they who write to the Times and elsewhere that they dare
not for their lives stay in Rome, where I, a woman, walk everywhere
alone, and all the little children do the same, with their nurses.
More of this anon.




LETTER XXXII.

PROGRESS OF THE TRAGEDY.--PIUS IX. DISAVOWS LIBERALISM.--OUDINOT,
AND THE ROMAN AUTHORITIES.--SHAME OF FRANCE.--DEVASTATION OF
THE CITY.--COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE.--BOMBS EXTINGUISHED.--A CRISIS
APPROACHING.


Rome, June 21, 1849.

It is now two weeks since the first attack of Oudinot, and as yet we
hear nothing decisive from Paris. I know not yet what news may have
come last night, but by the morning's mail we did not even receive
notice that Lesseps had arrived in Paris.

Whether Lesseps was consciously the servant of all these base
intrigues, time will show. His conduct was boyish and foolish, if it
was not treacherous. The only object seemed to be to create panic, to
agitate, to take possession of Rome somehow, though what to do with
it, if they could get it, the French government would hardly know.

Pius IX., in his allocution of the 29th of April last, has explained
himself fully. He has disavowed every liberal act which ever seemed
to emanate from him, with the exception of the amnesty. He has
shamelessly recalled his refusal to let Austrian blood be shed, while
Roman flows daily at his request. He has implicitly declared that his
future government, could he return, would be absolute despotism,--has
dispelled the last lingering illusion of those still anxious to
apologize for him as only a prisoner now in the hands of the Cardinals
and the king of Naples. The last frail link is broken that bound to
him the people of Rome, and could the French restore him, they must
frankly avow themselves, abandon entirely and fully the position they
took in February, 1848, and declare themselves the allies of Austria
and of Russia.

Meanwhile they persevere in the Jesuitical policy that has already
disgraced and is to ruin them. After a week of vain assaults, Oudinot
sent to Rome the following letter, which I translate, as well as the
answers it elicited.


LETTER OF GENERAL OUDINOT,

_Intended for the Roman Constituent Assembly, the Triumvirate, the
Generalissimo, and the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard._

"General,--The events of war have, as you know, conducted the French
army to the gates of Rome.

"Should the entrance into the city remain closed against us, I should
see myself constrained to employ immediately all the means of action
that France has placed in my hands.

"Before having recourse to such terrible necessity, I think it my
duty to make a last appeal to a people who cannot have toward France
sentiments of hostility.

"The Roman army wishes, no doubt, equally with myself, to spare bloody
ruin to the capital of the Christian world.

"With this conviction, I pray you, Signore General, to give the
enclosed proclamation the most speedy publicity. If, twelve hours
after this despatch shall have been delivered to you, an answer
corresponding to the honor and the intentions of France shall not have
reached me, I shall be constrained to give the forcible attack.

"Accept, &c.

"Villa Pamfili, 12 June, 1849, 5 P.M."


He was in fact at Villa Santucci, much farther out, but could not be
content without falsifying his date as well as all his statements.


"PROCLAMATION.

"Inhabitants of Rome,--We did not come to bring you war. We came
to sustain among you order, with liberty. The intentions of our
government have been misunderstood. The labors of the siege
have conducted us under your walls. Till now we have wished only
occasionally to answer the fire of your batteries. We approach these
last moments, when the necessities of war burst out in terrible
calamities. Spare them to a city fall of so many glorious memories.

"If you persist in repelling us, on you alone will fall the
responsibility of irreparable disasters."


The following are the answers of the various functionaries to whom
this letter was sent:--


ANSWER OF THE ASSEMBLY.

"General,--The Roman Constitutional Assembly informs you, in reply to
your despatch of yesterday, that, having concluded a convention from
the 31st of May, 1849, with M. de Lesseps, Minister Plenipotentiary of
the French Republic, a convention which we confirmed soon after your
protest, it must consider that convention obligatory for both parties,
and indeed a safeguard of the rights of nations, until it has been
ratified or declined by the government of France. Therefore the
Assembly must regard as a violation of that convention every hostile
act of the French army since the above-named 31st of May, and all
others that shall take place before the resolution of your government
can be made known, and before the expiration of the time agreed upon
for the armistice. You demand, General, an answer correspondent to the
intentions and power of France. Nothing could be more conformable with
the intentions and power of France than to cease a flagrant violation
of the rights of nations.

"Whatever may be the results of such violation, the people of Rome are
not responsible for them. Rome is strong in its right, and decided
to maintain tire conventions which attach it to your nation; only it
finds itself constrained by the necessity of self-defence to repel
unjust aggressions.

"Accept, &c., for the Assembly,

"The President, GALLETTI.

"Secretaries, FABRETTI, PANNACCHI, COCCHI."


"ANSWER OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL GUARD.

"General,--The treaty, of which we await the ratification, assures
this tranquil city from every disaster.

"The National Guard, destined to maintain order, has the duty of
seconding the resolutions of the government; willingly and zealously
it fulfils this duty, not caring for annoyance and fatigue.

"The National Guard showed very lately, when it escorted the prisoners
sent back to you, its sympathy for France, but it shows also on every
occasion a supreme regard for its own dignity, for the honor of Rome.

"Any misfortune to the capital of the Catholic world, to the
monumental city, must be attributed not to the pacific citizens
constrained to defend themselves, but solely to its aggressors.

"Accept, &c.

"STURBINETTI,

_General of the National Guard, Representative of the People_".


ANSWER OF THE GENERALISSIMO.

"Citizen General,--A fatality leads to conflict between the armies
of two republics, whom a better destiny would have invited to combat
against their common enemy; for the enemies of the one cannot fail to
be also enemies of the other.

"We are not deceived, and shall combat by every means in our power
whoever assails our institutions, for only the brave are worthy to
stand before the French soldiers.

"Reflecting that there is a state of life worse than death, if the war
you wage should put us in that state, it will be better to close our
eyes for ever than to see the interminable oppressions of oar country.

"I wish you well, and desire fraternity.

"ROSSELLI."


ANSWER OF THE TRIUMVIRATE.

"We have the honor to transmit to you the answer of the Assembly.

"We never break our promises. We have promised to defend, in execution
of orders from the Assembly and people of Rome, the banner of the
Republic, the honor of the country, and the sanctity of the capital of
the Christian world; this promise we shall maintain.

"Accept, &c.

"The Triumvirs,

ARMELLINI.
MAZZINI.
SAFFI."


Observe the miserable evasion of this missive of Oudinot: "The fortune
of war has conducted us." What war? He pretended to come as a friend,
a protector; is enraged only because, after his deceits at Civita
Vecchia, Rome will not trust him within her walls. For this he daily
sacrifices hundreds of lives. "The Roman people cannot be hostile to
the French?" No, indeed; they were not disposed to be so. They had
been stirred to emulation by the example of France. They had warmly
hoped in her as their true ally. It required all that Oudinot has done
to turn their faith to contempt and aversion.

Cowardly man! He knows now that he comes upon a city which wished to
receive him only as a friend, and he cries, "With my cannon, with my
bombs, I will compel you to let me betray you."

The conduct of France--infamous enough before--looks tenfold blacker
now that, while the so-called Plenipotentiary is absent with the
treaty to be ratified, her army daily assails Rome,--assails in vain.
After receiving these answers to his letter and proclamation, Oudinot
turned all the force of his cannonade to make a breach, and
began, what no one, even in these days, has believed possible, the
bombardment of Rome.

Yes! the French, who pretend to be the advanced guard of civilization,
are bombarding Rome. They dare take the risk of destroying the richest
bequests made to man by the great Past. Nay, they seem to do it in an
especially barbarous manner. It was thought they would avoid, as much
as possible, the hospitals for the wounded, marked to their view
by the black banner, and the places where are the most precious
monuments; but several bombs have fallen on the chief hospital, and
the Capitol evidently is especially aimed at. They made a breach in
the wall, but it was immediately filled up with a barricade, and all
the week they have been repulsed in every attempt they made to gain
ground, though with considerable loss of life on our side; on theirs
it must be great, but how great we cannot know.

Ponte Molle, the scene of Raphael's fresco of a battle, in the
Vatican, saw again a fierce struggle last Friday. More than fifty were
brought wounded into Rome.

But wounds and assaults only fire more and more the courage of her
defenders. They feel the justice of their cause, and the peculiar
iniquity of this aggression. In proportion as there seems little aid
to be hoped from man, they seem to claim it from God. The noblest
sentiments are heard from every lip, and, thus far, their acts amply
correspond.

On the eve of the bombardment one or two officers went round with
a fine band. It played on the piazzas the Marseillaise and Roman
marches; and when the people were thus assembled, they were told
of the proclamation, and asked how they felt. Many shouted loudly,
_Guerra! Viva la Republica Romana!_ Afterward, bands of young men went
round singing the chorus,

"Vogliamo sempre quella,
Vogliamo Liberta."

("We want always one thing; we want liberty.") Guitars played, and
some danced. When the bombs began to come, one of the Trasteverini,
those noble images of the old Roman race, redeemed her claim to that
descent by seizing a bomb and extinguishing the match. She received a
medal and a reward in money. A soldier did the same thing at Palazza
Spada, where is the statue of Pompey, at whose base great Caesar fell.
He was promoted. Immediately the people were seized with emulation;
armed with pans of wet clay, they ran wherever the bombs fell, to
extinguish them. Women collect the balls from the hostile cannon, and
carry them to ours. As thus very little injury has been done to life,
the people cry, "Madonna protects us against the bombs; she wills not
that Rome should be destroyed."

Meanwhile many poor people are driven from their homes, and provisions
are growing very dear. The heats are now terrible for us, and must be
far more so for the French. It is said a vast number are ill of fever;
indeed, it cannot be otherwise. Oudinot himself has it, and perhaps
this is one explanation of the mixture of violence and weakness in his
actions.

He must be deeply ashamed at the poor result of his bad acts,--that at
the end of two weeks and so much bravado, he has done nothing to Rome,
unless intercept provisions, kill some of her brave youth, and
injure churches, which should be sacred to him as to us. St. Maria
Trastevere, that ancient church, so full of precious remains, and
which had an air of mild repose more beautiful than almost any other,
is said to have suffered particularly.

As to the men who die, I share the impassioned sorrow of the
Triumvirs. "O Frenchmen!" they wrote, "could you know what men you
destroy! _They_ are no mercenaries, like those who fill your ranks,
but the flower of the Italian youth, and the noblest among the aged.
When you shall know of what minds you have robbed the world, how ought
you to repent and mourn!"

This is especially true of the Emigrant and Garibaldi legions. The
misfortunes of Northern and Southern Italy, the conscription which
compels to the service of tyranny those who remain, has driven from
the kingdom of Naples and from Lombardy all the brave and noble youth.
Many are in Venice or Rome, the forlorn hope of Italy. Radetzky,
every day more cruel, now impresses aged men and the fathers of large
families. He carries them with him in chains, determined, if he cannot
have good troops to send into Hungary, at least to revenge himself on
the unhappy Lombards.

Many of these young men, students from Pisa, Pavia, Padua, and the
Roman University, lie wounded in the hospitals, for naturally they
rushed first to the combat. One kissed an arm which was cut off;
another preserves pieces of bone which were painfully extracted from
his wound, as relics of the best days of his life. The older men, many
of whom have been saddened by exile and disappointment, less glowing,
are not less resolved. A spirit burns noble as ever animated the most
precious deeds we treasure from the heroic age. I suffer to see these
temples of the soul thus broken, to see the fever-weary days and
painful operations undergone by these noble men, these true priests of
a higher hope; but I would not, for much, have missed seeing it
all. The memory of it will console amid the spectacles of meanness,
selfishness, and faithlessness which life may yet have in store for
the pilgrim.


June 23.

Matters verge to a crisis. The French government sustains Oudinot and
disclaims Lesseps. Harmonious throughout, shameless in falsehood, it
seems Oudinot knew that tire mission of Lesseps was at an end, when
he availed himself of his pacific promises to occupy Monte Mario.
When the Romans were anxious at seeing French troops move in that
direction, Lesseps said it was only done to occupy them, and conjured
the Romans to avoid all collision which might prevent his success
with the treaty. The sham treaty was concluded on the 30th of May, a
detachment of French having occupied Monte Mario on the night of the
29th. Oudinot flies into a rage and refuses to sign; M. Lesseps goes
off to Paris; meanwhile, the brave Oudinot attacks on the 3d of June,
after writing to the French Consul that Ire should not till the 4th,
to leave time for the foreigners remaining to retire. He attacked in
the night, possessing himself of Villa Pamfili, as he had of Monte
Mario, by treachery and surprise.

Meanwhile, M. Lesseps arrives in Paris, to find himself seemingly or
really in great disgrace with the would-be Emperor and his cabinet. To
give reason for this, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, who had publicly declared
to the Assembly that M. Lesseps had no instructions except from the
report of the sitting of the 7th of May, shamefully publishes a
letter of special instructions, hemming him in on every side, which M.
Lesseps, the "Plenipotentiary," dares not disown.

What are we to think of a great nation, whose leading men are such
barefaced liars? M. Guizot finds his creed faithfully followed up.

The liberal party in France does what it can to wash its hands of this
offence, but it seems weak, and unlikely to render effectual service
at this crisis. Venice, Rome, Ancona, are the last strong-holds of
hope, and they cannot stand for ever thus unsustained. Night before
last, a tremendous cannonade left no moment to sleep, even had the
anxious hearts of mothers and wives been able to crave it. At morning
a little detachment of French had entered by the breach of St.
Pancrazio, and intrenched itself in a vineyard. Another has possession
of Villa Poniatowski, close to the Porta del Popolo, and attacks
and alarms are hourly to be expected. I long to see the final one,
dreadful as that hour may be, since now there seems no hope from
delay. Men are daily slain, and this state of suspense is agonizing.

In the evening 'tis pretty, though terrible, to see the bombs, fiery
meteors, springing from the horizon line upon their bright path, to do
their wicked message. 'T would not be so bad, methinks, to die by one
of these, as wait to have every drop of pure blood, every childlike
radiant hope, drained and driven from the heart by the betrayals of
nations and of individuals, till at last the sickened eyes refuse more
to open to that light which shines daily on such pits of iniquity.




LETTER XXXIII.

SIEGE OF ROME.--HEAT.--NIGHT ATTACKS.--THE BOMBARDMENT.--THE
NIGHT BREACH.--DEFECTION.--ENTRY OF THE FRENCH.--SLAUGHTER OF
THE ROMANS.--THE HOSPITALS.--DESTRUCTION BY BOMBS.--CESSATION OF
RESISTANCE.--OUDINOT'S STUBBORNNESS.--GARIBALDI'S TROOPS.--THEIR
MUSTER ON THE SCENE OF RIENZI'S TRIUMPH.--GARIBALDI.--HIS
DEPARTURE.--"RESPECTABLE" OPINION.--THE PROTECTORS UNMASKED.--COLD
RECEPTION.--A PRIEST ASSASSINATED.--MARTIAL LAW DECLARED.--REPUBLICAN
EDUCATION.--DISAPPEARANCE OF FRENCH SOLDIERS.--CLEARING THE
HOSPITALS.--PRIESTLY BASENESS.--INSULT TO THE AMERICAN CONSUL.--HIS
PROTEST AND DEPARTURE.--DISARMING THE NATIONAL GUARD.--POSITION OF MR.
CASS.--PETTY OPPRESSION.--EXPULSION OF FOREIGNERS.--EFFECT OF
FRENCH PRESENCE.--ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.--VISIT TO THE SCENE OF
STRIFE.--AMERICAN SYMPATHY FOR LIBERTY IN EUROPE.


Rome, July 6, 1849.

If I mistake not, I closed my last letter just as the news arrived
here that the attempt of the democratic party in France to resist the
infamous proceedings of the government had failed, and thus Rome, as
far as human calculation went, had not a hope for her liberties left.
An inland city cannot long sustain a siege when there is no hope of
aid. Then followed the news of the surrender of Ancona, and Rome
found herself alone; for, though Venice continued to hold out, all
communication was cut off.

The Republican troops, almost to a man, left Ancona, but a long march
separated them from Rome.

The extreme heat of these days was far more fatal to the Romans than
to their assailants, for as fast as the French troops sickened, their
place was taken by fresh arrivals. Ours also not only sustained the
exhausting service by day, but were harassed at night by attacks,
feigned or real. These commonly began about eleven or twelve o'clock
at night, just when all who meant to rest were fairly asleep. I can
imagine the harassing effect upon the troops, from what I feel in
my sheltered pavilion, in consequence of not knowing a quiet night's
sleep for a month.

The bombardment became constantly more serious. The house where I live
was filled as early as the 20th with persons obliged to fly from the
Piazza di Gesu, where the fiery rain fell thickest. The night of the
21st-22d, we were all alarmed about two o'clock, A.M. by a tremendous
cannonade. It was the moment when the breach was finally made by which
the French entered. They rushed in, and I grieve to say, that, by the
only instance of defection known in the course of the siege, those
companies of the regiment Union which had in charge a position on
that point yielded to panic and abandoned it. The French immediately
entered and intrenched themselves. That was the fatal hour for the
city. Every day afterward, though obstinately resisted, the enemy
gained, till at last, their cannon being well placed, the city was
entirely commanded from the Janiculum, and all thought of further
resistance was idle.

It was true policy to avoid a street-fight, in which the Italian,
an unpractised soldier, but full of feeling and sustained from the
houses, would have been a match even for their disciplined troops.
After the 22d of June, the slaughter of the Romans became every day
more fearful. Their defences were knocked down by the heavy cannon
of the French, and, entirely exposed in their valorous onsets,
great numbers perished on the spot. Those who were brought into the
hospitals were generally grievously wounded, very commonly subjects
for amputation. My heart bled daily more and more at these sights, and
I could not feel much for myself, though now the balls and bombs began
to fall round me also. The night of the 28th the effect was truly
fearful, as they whizzed and burst near me. As many as thirty fell
upon or near the Hotel de Russie, where Mr. Cass has his temporary
abode. The roof of the studio in the pavilion, tenanted by Mr.
Stermer, well known to the visitors of Rome for his highly-finished
cabinet pictures, was torn to pieces. I sat alone in my much exposed
apartment, thinking, "If one strikes me, I only hope it will kill
me at once, and that God will transport my soul to some sphere where
virtue and love are not tyrannized over by egotism and brute force,
as in this." However, that night passed; the next, we had reason to
expect a still more fiery salute toward the Pincian, as here alone
remained three or four pieces of cannon which could be used. But on
the morning of the 30th, in a contest at the foot of the Janiculum,
the line, old Papal troops, naturally not in earnest like the free
corps, refused to fight against odds so terrible. The heroic Marina
fell, with hundreds of his devoted Lombards. Garibaldi saw his best
officers perish, and himself went in the afternoon to say to the
Assembly that further resistance was unavailing.

The Assembly sent to Oudinot, but he refused any conditions,--refused
even to guarantee a safe departure to Garibaldi, his brave foe.
Notwithstanding, a great number of men left the other regiments
to follow the leader whose courage had captivated them, and whose
superiority over difficulties commanded their entire confidence.
Toward the evening of Monday, the 2d of July, it was known that the
French were preparing to cross the river and take possession of all
the city. I went into the Corso with some friends; it was filled with
citizens and military. The carriage was stopped by the crowd near the
Doria palace; the lancers of Garibaldi galloped along in full career.
I longed for Sir Walter Scott to be on earth again, and see them; all
are light, athletic, resolute figures, many of the forms of the finest
manly beauty of the South, all sparkling with its genius and ennobled
by the resolute spirit, ready to dare, to do, to die. We followed
them to the piazza of St. John Lateran. Never have I seen a sight
so beautiful, so romantic, and so sad. Whoever knows Rome knows the
peculiar solemn grandeur of that piazza, scene of the first triumph of
Rienzi, and whence may be seen the magnificence of the "mother of all
churches," the baptistery with its porphyry columns, the Santa Scala
with its glittering mosaics of the early ages, the obelisk standing
fairest of any of those most imposing monuments of Rome, the view
through the gates of the Campagna, on that side so richly strewn with
ruins. The sun was setting, the crescent moon rising, the flower of
the Italian youth were marshalling in that solemn place. They had been
driven from every other spot where they had offered their hearts as
bulwarks of Italian independence; in this last strong-hold they had
sacrificed hecatombs of their best and bravest in that cause; they
must now go or remain prisoners and slaves. _Where_ go, they knew not;
for except distant Hungary there is not now a spot which would receive
them, or where they can act as honor commands. They had all put on
the beautiful dress of the Garibaldi legion, the tunic of bright red
cloth, the Greek cap, or else round hat with Puritan plume. Their long
hair was blown back from resolute faces; all looked full of courage.
They had counted the cost before they entered on this perilous
struggle; they had weighed life and all its material advantages
against liberty, and made their election; they turned not back, nor
flinched, at this bitter crisis. I saw the wounded, all that could go,
laden upon their baggage cars; some were already pale and fainting,
still they wished to go. I saw many youths, born to rich inheritance,
carrying in a handkerchief all their worldly goods. The women were
ready; their eyes too were resolved, if sad. The wife of Garibaldi
followed him on horseback. He himself was distinguished by the white
tunic; his look was entirely that of a hero of the Middle Ages,--his
face still young, for the excitements of his life, though so many,
have all been youthful, and there is no fatigue upon his brow or
cheek. Fall or stand, one sees in him a man engaged in the career for
which he is adapted by nature. He went upon the parapet, and looked
upon the road with a spy-glass, and, no obstruction being in sight, he
turned his face for a moment back upon Rome, then led the way through
the gate. Hard was the heart, stony and seared the eye, that had no
tear for that moment. Go, fated, gallant band! and if God care not
indeed for men as for the sparrows, most of ye go forth to perish. And
Rome, anew the Niobe! Must she lose also these beautiful and brave,
that promised her regeneration, and would have given it, but for the
perfidy, the overpowering force, of the foreign intervention?

Copyright (c) 2007. topmasterworks.com. All rights reserved.