Part 11 (2/2)

The rest of the day was devoted to the interment of the dead, of which there were not a few, and to tending the wounded, nearly all of whom were Papalini. Three of the Liberals only were wounded, and those not seriously. This proves that, in the strife of battle, the valorous run the least danger; and if the statistics of the field were referred to, it would be seen that fugitives lose more men than any army which stands its ground.

At midnight the Prince started for Rome. And who acted as his guide?

Who, but Gasparo, the veteran chief of the bandits in old times, now an affiliated Liberal, as he had proved in the last affray, in which he had done wonders with his unerring carbine.

I who write this am well persuaded of the truth of the perpetual amelioration of the human race. I am wholly opposed to the cynic and the pessimist, and believe with all my heart and soul in the law of human progress by various agencies, under many forms, and with many necessary interruptions. Providence has willed that happiness shall be the final end of this sad planet and suffering race; but Its decrees work slowly, and only by the submission of mankind to the higher law of light is happiness attainable. Not by miracles will men become regenerated.

Voltaire has well said-

”J'en al vaincu plu d'un, Je n'ai forco personne, Et le vrai Dieu, mon fils, Est un Dieu qui pardonne.”

If humanity does not improve along with the progress of knowledge, as it should do, the fault must lie with the various governments, for with kind treatment and judicious care, even the wild beasts of the forest become domesticated, and their fierce pa.s.sions are tamed. What, then, may we not accomplish with the very lowest grade of mankind? But can any thing be expected from a people kept purposely in ignorance, and reduced to misery by exaction, imposts, and taxes? We know that these taxes and exactions are not, as it is stated, imposed upon the Romans for the defense of the state, or for the support and maintenance of national honor, but to fatten the Pontifical Government and its mult.i.tude of parasites, who are to the people what vermin are to the body, or what the worm is to the corpse, and who exist only to plunder and devour. Who can deny that the people of Southern Italy were more prosperous in 1860 than at the present day, and is not the reason because they were better governed?

In those days brigandage was scarcely known; there were no prefects, no gendarmes, no bravos. Now, with the mult.i.tude of satellites who ruin Italian finance existing in the South, anarchy, brigandage, and misery prevail. Poor people! They hoped, after so many centuries of tyranny, and after the brilliant revolution of 1860, to obtain in a reformed Government an era of repose, of progress, and of prosperity. Alas, it was but a delusion! ”Put not your trust in princes,” says Holy Writ.

Gasparo had baptized himself a Liberal in the Wood of the oppressors. He was received by the young brigand with indulgence, and even enthusiasm, and intrusted, as already mentioned, with the important mission of conducting Prince T------ out of the forest into the direct road to Rome.

The prediction of Orazio respecting the steps that would be taken by the Papal Government fulfilled itself exactly. After the reverse it had sustained at the castle of Lucullus, the bishops decided in council to send a large body of troops, with artillery, against this stronghold of the Liberals; and as it was thought they would not tarry long for such a descent, the resolution was to carry the a.s.sault into immediate execution.

With this in view, it was determined that not only the Papal, but also the foreign troops at the service of the Pope, should be drawn upon for the expedition. A foreign general of note was called in to direct the enterprise, and every thing was made ready with alacrity, that the critical a.s.sault might be delivered on Easter Day, generally so propitious to the priests, who on that occasion, after their long fast, gorge even more than usual their capacious stomachs at the expense of their ignorant and superst.i.tious flocks.

Orazio and his companions meanwhile were not sleeping, and received regular information from their friends in Rome of the plans and preparations made by the Pontifical Government, albeit it kept them as secret as possible. The first thing Orazio did was to explore the subterranean pa.s.sages thoroughly. These were known, even to him, only partially, and a few of his comrades; but Gasparo, who had already returned from his mission, had had better opportunities of examining them, and, with his a.s.sistance, a thorough exploration was to be made.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI. THE SUBTERRANEAN Pa.s.sAGES

Among the wonders of the Metropolis of the World, the catacombs or subterranean vaults and pa.s.sages are certainly not the least. The first Christians, persecuted with atrocious cruelty by the pagan imperial government of Rome, sought refuge for safety occasionally in the catacombs; and sometimes, also, that they might a.s.semble without incurring suspicion, in larger numbers, to instruct themselves in the doctrines of their new religion. These subterranean pa.s.sages were also undoubtedly the resort of fugitive slaves and other miserable beings, who sought refuge from the tyrannical government of imperial Rome, over which have presided some of the direst monsters that ever existed--Heliogabalus, Nero, Caligula, and other despots in purple.

Among these subterranean pa.s.sages there are, it appears, different kinds. Some were constructed for the purpose of receiving the dead, others were used as water conduits, and supplied the city with rivers of fresh water for a population of two millions. The cloaca maxima, which led from Rome to the sea, is very famous, as well as many smaller hidden roads, constructed by wealthy private individuals, at an enormous expense, in which they could secrete themselves from the depredations of those greatest of all robbers the emperors, and in later times from the persecution and ma.s.sacre of the barbarians.

The soil on which Rome is built, as well as that in its immediate neighborhood, offers great facilities to the excavator, being composed of volcanic clay, easy to pierce, yet sufficiently solid and impenetrable to damp to form a secure habitation. In fact, to this day many shepherds, with their flocks, lodge in these artificial caverns.

Before the exploration of the subterranean pa.s.sages of the castle, it was thought desirable to send the severely wounded to Rome, attended by those who were only slightly injured, and conducted by some shepherds.

Among the Liberals very few were wounded, and none severely so. Many of the Papilini, moreover, requested permission to remain and follow the fortunes of the proscribed, for there are not many Italian soldiers, however debased, who willingly serve the priesthood; and there is no doubt that when the hour for liberating Italy and Rome from their pollution arrives, not a soldier, with the exception of the foreign mercenaries, will remain to protect them.

After dispatching the wounded, Orazio and his men removed to the subterranean pa.s.sages all that the castle contained which was valuable and useful, with provisions of all kinds to last for some time, and then awaited calmly the coming of the enemy. They did not fail to take all military precautions, and that in spite of the notices from Rome of every movement of the enemy, Orazio also sent scouts and placed sentinels in all directions, that he might be apprised at the earliest moment of their approach.

The original party had been considerably augmented by the arrival of Attilio and his followers, as well as by those of the Roman soldiers who had resolved to serve the priest no longer, not to mention certain youths from the capital, who, having heard of the victory won by the Liberals, determined forthwith to join them. They now numbered sixty individuals, without counting the women, while Orazio's authority over his band was increased rather than lessened by this addition, and Attilio, although at the head of the Roman party, and commander of the ”Three Hundred,” showed the greatest fidelity in obeying the orders of his brave and warlike brother in arms.

Orazio divided his little army into four companies, under the command of Attilio, Muzio, Silvio, and Emilio the antiquary. The latter had been second in command before the advent of the chief of the Three Hundred, but made it a point of honor to yield this post to him. A generous dispute ensued, which would never have ended, had not Orazio persuaded Attilio to accept the first command, and a.s.signed the second to Emilio.

Such was the disinterestedness of these champions of Rome's liberty.

”Freedom for Rome or death!” was their motto. Little did they care for grades, distinctions, or decorations, which they indeed held as instruments used by despotism to corrupt one half of the nation, and humiliate and hold in bondage the other half.

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