At that moment no municipal body existed in Ancona. The nobles and citizens who composed it had either fled the country or were in concealment, or declared themselves to be ill, or flatly refused to retain office under their new gonfaloniere. The deputation, lyingly reported to the world as embodying the sentiments of the town-council and civil authorities of this miserable city, was composed of two of the Pope's cousins, and an underling of the Neapolitan consulate.
General Kalbermatten, however, determined that the Marchese should not, on another occasion, be forced thus to extemporize a following. He imposed a fine of five dollars a day upon the sick or refractory members of the Municipio, which at last told so heavily upon their resources, that such as could not escape[20] into the free atmosphere of Romagna—professional men and merchants, whose families and avocations chained them to the spot—were compelled to give in. But in a few months the corporation was again fatally at issue with its chief.
His first essay at addresses had apparently been so gratifying, that in December the zealous gonfaloniere sent up a second to Rome, couched as before in the name of the whole Municipio, to be laid before the then expected Congress, protesting against any changes in the actual political régime under which they had the happiness of living. Deep and irrepressible was the indignation of the Anconitans on discovering what he had had the audacity to affirm, for not one—no, not one—of the Anziani was cognizant of the proceeding; and with a spirit which can only be appreciated by those who understand their critical position, they simultaneously threw up office.
Since then I know not what expedient has been adopted to bring these contumacious subjects to obedience, for private letters from that centre of desolation are more eloquent in their silence than their details. This much I know positively, that none of the accounts which from time to time find their way into the “Times” or “Daily News” of the actual condition of Ancona, of the continual landing of Austrian recruits for the Papal army, of the stagnation of trade, and the despairing, sullen attitude of the population—are in anywise exaggerated.
It is sad to turn from the scene of so many pleasant associations, leaving it so wretched in the present, in such utter uncertainty for the future; but my limits are well nigh attained, and I should only be going over a thrice-told tale if I enumerated all the grievances which it shares in common with the other provinces still under Papal rule. These are forcibly condensed in the address lately presented to the Emperor of the French by the refugees from Ancona, Perugia, and, in fine, every other part of the Roman States not yet emancipated from the priestly yoke.—“A destructive blast has swept over the country. No responsibility in those who govern, no publicity in the administration, no safeguard before the tribunals, canon law above the civil code—these are the inevitable consequences of a Government at the head of which stands a prince, who, bound by religious ties, and declaring himself infallible, is free from all control. All modification of an essentially corrupt system would be fruitless. Principles may be corrected, persons may be changed, but the intrinsic nature of a thing admits neither of correction nor change. The clerical system is incompatible with the customs and civilization of the present day; to endeavour to mend it would be to galvanize a dead corpse.”
The Romagne stands out in bright relief against this gloomy background. A fierce ordeal had to be encountered when, close upon the rapture with which the population received Massimo d'Azeglio as Commissioner Extraordinary from Victor Emmanuel, came the unlooked for, palsying announcement of the Convention of Villafranca. But right nobly did they surmount the dangers that menaced them on every side. Though the soldier-statesman, the Bayard of politicians, whose writings, whose eloquence, whose example had so potently contributed to purify and exalt the national character, was compelled to withdraw from the post so recently assumed, they loved and trusted him and his royal master too implicitly to be false to his exhortations.
Hence it was that, abandoned to themselves at a conjuncture the most critical and perplexing, the Romagnuoli, so long noted for their turbulence and lawlessness, seemed suddenly to have acquired a ripeness of judgment and power of self-control worthy of a long apprenticeship to freedom. By the middle of July a body of 12,000 men were already equipped and on their way to La Cattolica, to ward off any attack of the pontifical troops; and before the end of August the elections had taken place for the National Assembly. The four Legations, containing about a million of inhabitants, returned one hundred and twenty-six deputies, the leading men in the country, whether in respect of rank, learning, or public estimation.
The assembly met in Bologna for a twofold purpose; first, to pass in solemn review the conduct of the late Government, and set forth the reasons for which the people cast off its authority; next, to vote the annexation to the constitutional monarchy of Sardinia. These acts accomplished, it separated, patiently waiting until the sanction of Europe should permit Victor Emmanuel to ratify their choice.
Meanwhile, though the suspense is long, and the tension of public feeling extreme, the calmness and confidence of the population have never wavered. There has been no retaliation for the excesses of Perugia, no reckoning sought for the fearful arrears of oppression which the publication of the late Government's state-papers have brought to light.
The highways were never so safe before; travellers now pass through the whole of Romagna without a shadow of apprehension.