DG 
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 G18 Garibaldi- 
 
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 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
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 JAN 10 1966 
 
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 10 ■?
 
 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 THE 
 
 RULE OF THE MONK; 
 
 OR, 
 
 3^cime m tbe i^meteentl) Century. 
 
 BY 
 
 GENERAL GARIBALDI. ♦ 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK. 
 
 \_AU Rights Reserved.'] 
 
 52517'
 
 tmjF 
 
 a^q 
 
 IMtL 
 
 ^1^ 
 
 
 G(19 
 
 V. 1 
 
 e CONTENTS OF THE FIEST VOLUME. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 \ 
 
 CHAPTER I.— Clelia 
 
 1 
 
 ^V<. 
 
 CHAPTEE IL— Attilio 
 
 9 
 
 
 CTTAPTEE III.— The Conspiracy 
 
 .. 11 
 
 
 CHAPTER IV. — The Meeting of the Conspira- 
 
 
 tors ... 
 
 .. 17 
 
 ^ 
 
 CHAPTER v.— The Infanticide 
 
 .. 25 
 
 a 
 ^ 
 
 CHAPTEE VI.— The Arrest 
 
 .. 31 
 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— The Legacy 
 
 : 36 
 
 
 CHAPTER VIII.— The Mendicant 
 
 .. 45 
 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— The Liberator 
 
 .. 52 
 
 t 
 
 CHAPTER X.— The Orphan 
 
 57 
 
 X 
 
 CHAPTER XL— The Flight 
 
 . 62 
 
 j 
 
 CHAPTER XII.— The Petition 
 
 .. 66 
 
 £ 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL— The Beautiful Stranger 
 
 .. 71 
 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.— Siccio 
 
 .. 76 
 
 
 CHAPTER, XV.— The Corsini Palace 
 
 .. 82 
 
 
 CHAPTER XVI.— English Julia 
 
 91 
 
 
 CHAPTER XVII.— Retribution 
 
 .. 95 
 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL— The Exile 
 
 .. 101 
 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.— The Baths of Caeacalla 
 
 . 105
 
 VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 CHAPTER XX.— The Teaitoe Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XXI.— The Tobture lift 
 
 CHAPTER XXIL— The Brigands 122 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL— The Liberator 129 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV.— The Yacht 135 
 
 CHAPTER XXV.— The Tempest 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI.— The Tower 145 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL— The Withdrawal 153 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII.— The Forest 157 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX.— The Castle 163 
 
 CHAPTER XXX.— Irene 169 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI.— Gasparo 184 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII.— The Surprise 189 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII.— The Assault 195 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV.— A Valuable Acquisition . 202 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV.— The Amelioration of Man- 
 kind 210 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI.— The Subterranean Passages 217 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII.— The Antiquary 222 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.— The Roman Army 230 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX.— Matrimony 238 
 
 CHAPTER XL.— The Seagull's Cruise 24fi
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The renowned writer of Caesar's ""Com- 
 mentaries " did not think it necessary to 
 furnish a preface for those notahle com- 
 positions ; and, in truth, the custom is 
 altogether of modern times. The ancient 
 heroes who became authors and wrote a 
 book, left their work to speak for itself — 
 " to sink or swim," we had almost said, 
 hut that is not exactly the case. Caesar 
 carried those very "Commentaries" between 
 his teeth when he swam ashore from the 
 sinking galley at Alexandria ; but it never 
 occurred to him to supply posterity with a. 
 prefatory flourish. With a soldierly brevit}' 
 he begins those famous chapters at the be- 
 ginning — " Omnis Gallia in tres partes'' &c.
 
 VIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The world has been contented to begin 
 there with him, for the last two thousand 
 years ; and the fact is a great precedent 
 against prefaces — especially since, as a rule, 
 no one ever reads thein till the book itself 
 has been perused. 
 
 The renowned soldier who has here turned 
 author, entering the literary arena among 
 the novelists, has also given his English 
 translators no preface. But custom expects 
 one, and the nature of the present work 
 especially requires that a few words should 
 be written explanatory of the original pur- 
 pose and character of the ItaUan MSS. from 
 which the subjoined pages are transcribed. 
 It would be unfair to Garibaldi if the un- 
 doubted vivacity and grace of his native 
 style should be thought to be here ac- 
 curately represented. The famous cliam- 
 pion of freedom pos.sesses an eloquence as 
 peculiar and real as his military genius ; 
 with a gift of graphic description and
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 creative fancy which are but imperfectly 
 rendered in this version of his tale, partly 
 from the particular circumstances under 
 which the version was prepared, and partly 
 from the impossibility of rendering into 
 English those subtle touches and personal 
 traits which really make a book, as light and 
 shadows make a countenance. Moreover, 
 the Italian MS. itself, written throughout 
 in the autograph of the General, was com- 
 piled not for a studied work, but as the 
 solace of heavy hours at Varignano, where 
 the King of Italy, who owed to Garibaldi's 
 sword the splendid present of the Two 
 Sicilies, was repaying that magnificent dota- 
 tion with a shameful imprisonment. The 
 time will come when these pages — in their 
 original, at least — will be numbered among 
 historic proofs of the poet's statement that 
 
 " Stone walls do not a prison make, 
 Nor iron bars a cage : 
 Minds innocent and quiet take 
 These for a hermitage."
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 And if there be many passages in the narra- 
 tive where the signs are strong that "the 
 iron has entered into the soul," there are also 
 a hundred where the spirit of the good and 
 brave Greneral goes forth from his insulting 
 incarceration to revel in scenes of natural 
 beauty — to recall incidents of simple human 
 love and kindness — to dwell upon heroic 
 memories, and to aspire towards glorious 
 developments of humanity ; made free, like 
 that other apostle, when the angel of the 
 Lord struck off his fetters, and he passed forth 
 from the self-opened portals of his prison. 
 
 It would be manifestly unfair to compare 
 a work written under such conditions to 
 those elaborate specimens of modern novel- 
 writing with which our libraries abound. 
 Probably, had General Garibaldi ever read 
 such productions, he would have declined 
 to accept them as a model. He appears 
 to have taken up here the easy form of the 
 " novella," which belongs by right of in-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 vention to his language and his country. 
 His story is told simply as a convenient 
 way of imparting to his readers and to 
 posterity the real condition and inner life 
 of Eome during these last few eventful 
 years, when the evil power of the Papacy 
 has been declining to its fall. Whereas, 
 therefore, most novels consist of fiction 
 founded upon fact, this one may be defined 
 rather as fact founded upon fiction, in the 
 sense that the form alone and the cast of 
 the story are fanciful — the rest being all 
 pure truth lightly disguised. Graribaldi has 
 here recited — with nothing more than a 
 thin veil of incognito thrown over those 
 names which it would have been painful 
 or perilous to make known — that of whicli 
 he himself has been cognisant as matters 
 of fact in the wicked city of the priests, 
 where the power which has usurped the 
 gentle name of Christ blasphemes Him 
 with a greater audacity of word and a
 
 XU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 more frenzied folly in act as the hour of 
 judgment approaches. Herein the reader 
 may see what goes forward in those de- 
 mure palaces of the princes of the Church, 
 from which the "Vicegerents of Heaven" 
 are elected. Herein he may compre- 
 hend what kind of a system it is which 
 French bayonets still defend — what the 
 private life is of those who denounce 
 humanity and anathematise science ; and 
 why Eomans appear content with the 
 government of Jesuits, and the pri\'ilege of 
 hearing the Pope's artificial altos at the 
 Sistine Chapel. He who has composed 
 this narrative, at once so idyllic in its 
 pastoral scenes — so tender and poetic in 
 its domestic passages — so ^letastasio-Hke 
 in some of its episodes — and so terribly 
 earnest in its denunciation of the wroncrs 
 and degradation of the Eternal City, is no 
 unknown satirist. He is Garibaldi; he 
 has been Dictator in the Seven-hilled City,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 and Greneralissimo of her army ; her ar- 
 chives have lain within his hands ; he 
 has held her keys, and fought upon her 
 walls ; and, in four campaigns at least, since 
 those glorious but mournfal days, he has 
 waged battle for the ancient City in the 
 open field. Here, then, is his description 
 of "Rome in the Ni]y^eteenth Century" — 
 not seen as tourists or dilettanti see her, 
 clothed with the imaginary robes of her 
 historic and colossal empire — but seen 
 naked to the scourged and branded skin — 
 affronted, degraded, defamed, bleeding from 
 the hundred wounds where the leech-like 
 priests hang and suck, who, by their vile 
 organisation, have converted the Eome 
 which was mistress of the world to ' a 
 Rome which is the emporium of solemn 
 farces, miracle-plays, superstitious hypo- 
 crisies — the capital of an evil instead of a 
 majestic kingdom — the metropolis of monks, 
 instead of Caesars.
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 To this discrowned Queen of Nations 
 every page in the present volume testifies 
 the profound and ardent loyalty of Gari- 
 baldi's soul. The patriotism which most 
 men feel towards the country of their birth 
 is but a cold virtue compared with the 
 burning devotion which fills the spirit of 
 our warrior-novelist.^ It is as though the 
 individuality of some antique Cato or 
 Fabius was resuscitated, to protest, with 
 deed and word, against the false and cun- 
 ning tribe who have suborned the im- 
 perial city to their purposes, and turned 
 the monuments of Eome, as it were, into 
 one Cloaca Maxima. The end of these 
 things is probably approaching, although 
 His Holiness, parodying the great Councils 
 of past history, pretends to be as God, and 
 to give laws urbi et orbi, while the kingdoms 
 reject his authority, and his palace is on!}- 
 defended from the people by the aid of 
 foreign bayonets. When liome is freed
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 from the Pope-king, and has been pro- 
 claimed the capital of Italy, this book will 
 be one of the memorials of that extra- 
 ordinary corruption and offence which the 
 nineteenth century endured so long and 
 patiently. 
 
 The Author's desire to portray the 
 state of society in Rome and around it, 
 during the last years of the Papacy, has 
 been clearly paramount; and the narrative 
 only serves as the form for this design. 
 Accordingly, the reader must not expect 
 an elaborately compiled plot, with artistic 
 developments. He will, nevertheless, be 
 sincerely interested in the fortunes and the 
 fates of the beautiful and virtuous Roman 
 ladies who figure in the tale — of the gal- 
 lant and dashing brigand of the Campagna, 
 Orazio — the handsome Muzio — the brave 
 and faithful Attilio, and the Author's evident 
 favourite, " English Julia," whose share in 
 the story enables the soldier of the people
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to exhibit his excessive affection for Eng- 
 land and the English people. It only re- 
 mains to commend these various heroes and 
 heroines to the public, with the remark that 
 the deficiencies of the work are due rather 
 to the translation than to the original ; 
 for the vigour and charm of the great 
 Liberator's Italian is such as to show that 
 he might • have rivalled Manzoni or Al- 
 fieri, if he had not preferred to emulate 
 the Gracchi and Rienzi.
 
 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 CLELIA. 
 
 A celebratp:d writer lias called Rome " the 
 city of the dead ; " but how can there be 
 death in the heart of Italy ? The ruins of 
 Rome, the ashes of her unhappy sons, have, 
 indeed, been entombed, but these remains 
 are so impregnated with life that they may 
 yet accomplish the regeneration of the world ! 
 Rome is still capable of arousing the popula- 
 tions, as the tempest raises the waves of the 
 sea ; for was she not the mistress of ancient 
 empire, and is not her whole history that 
 of giants ? Those who can visit her won- 
 derful monuments in their present desola- 
 tion, and not feel their souls kindle with 
 love of the beautiful, and ardour for gene- 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 reus designs, will only restore at death base 
 hearts to their original clay. As with the 
 city, so with its people. No degradations 
 have been able to impair the beauty of her 
 daughters — a loveliness often, alas ! fatal to 
 themselves — and in the youthful Clelia, the 
 artist's daughter of the Trastevere, Raffaele 
 himself would have found the graces of his 
 lofty and pure Madonna, united with that 
 force of character which distinguished her 
 illustrious namesake of lloman times. Even 
 at sixteen years of age her carriage possessed 
 majestic dignity as of a matron of old, albeit 
 so youthful ; her hair was of a luxurious 
 rich brown ; her dark eyes, generally con- 
 veying repose and gentleness, could, never- 
 theless, repress the slightest affront with 
 flashes like lightning. Her father was a 
 sculptor, named Manlio, who had reached 
 his fiftieth year, and possessed a robust 
 constitution, owing to a laborious and 
 sober life. This profession enabled him to 
 support his family in comfort, if not 
 luxury, and he was altogether as indepen- 
 dent as it was possible for a citizen to be
 
 CLELIA. 6 
 
 in a priest-ridden country. Maulio's wife, 
 though naturally healthy, had become deli- 
 cate from, early privation and confinement 
 to the house ; she had, however, the dis- 
 position of an angel, and besides being the 
 happiness and pride of her husband, was 
 beloved by the entire neighbourhood. 
 
 Ciclia was their only child, and was en- 
 titled by the people, " The Pearl of Traste- 
 vere." She inherited, in addition to her 
 beauty, the angelic heart of her mother, 
 with that firmness and strength of cha- 
 racter which marked her father. 
 
 This happy family resided in the street 
 that ascends from Sungora to Monte Griani- 
 colo, not far from the foantain of Mortoro, 
 and, unfortunately for them, they lived 
 there in this, the nineteenth century, when 
 the power of the Papacy is, for the time, 
 supreme. 
 
 Now, the Pope professes to regard the 
 Bible as the word of Ood, yet the Papal 
 throne is surrounded by cardinals, to 
 ^vhom marriage is forbidden, notwithstand- 
 ing the Scriptural declaration tliat " it is 
 
 ij 2
 
 4 THE IIULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 not good that man should be alone," and 
 that woman was formed to be " an helpmeet 
 for him." 
 
 Matrimony being thus interdicted, con- 
 trar}' to the law of God and man, the 
 enormous wealth, the irresponsible power, 
 and the state of languid luxury in which, 
 as Princes of the Church, they are com- 
 pelled to live, have ever combined, in the 
 case of these cardinals, to present every 
 temptation to corruption and libertinism of 
 the very worst kinds.*' As the spirit of 
 the master always pervades the household, 
 plenty of willing tools are to be found 
 in the large establishments of the Church 
 princes ready to pander to their employers' 
 vices. 
 
 The beauty of Clelia had unhappily 
 attracted the e3'e of Cardinal Procopio, 
 the most powerful of these prelates, and 
 the favourite of his Holiness ; whom he 
 flattered to his face, and laughed at as 
 an old dotard behind his back. 
 
 Jaded by his enforced attendance at the 
 • See Note 1.
 
 CLELIA. 
 
 Vatican, he one day summoned Gianni, 
 one of his creatures, to his presence, 
 and informed him of the passion he had 
 conceived for Clelia, ordering him, at what- 
 ever cost, and by any means, to obtain 
 possession of the girl, and conduct her 
 to his palace. 
 
 It was in furtherance of the nefarious 
 plot thereupon concocted that the agent 
 of his Eminence, on one evening earl}^ 
 in February, presented himself at the 
 studio of Signor Manlio, but not without 
 some trepidation, for, like most of his class, 
 he was an arrant coward, and already in 
 fancy trembled at the terrific blows which 
 the strong arm of the sculptor would cer- 
 tainly bestow should the real object of the 
 visit be suspected. He was, however, 
 somewhat reassured by the calm expression 
 of the Roman's face, and, plucking up 
 courage, he entered the studio. 
 
 " Good evening, Signor Manlio," he 
 commenced, with a smooth and flattering 
 voice. 
 
 " Good evening," replied the artist, not
 
 6 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 looking up, but continuing an examination 
 of his chisels, for he cared little to en- 
 courage the presence of an individual whom 
 he recognised as belonging to the house- 
 hold of the Cardinal, the character of 
 whose establishment was only too well 
 known to him. 
 
 "Good evening, Sig-nor," repeated Grianni, 
 in a timid voice ; and, observing tliat at 
 last the other raised his head, he thus con- 
 tinued — " his Eminence, the Cardinal Pro- 
 copio, desires me to tell you he wdslies to 
 have two small statues of saints to adorn 
 the entrance to his oratory." 
 
 "And of what size does the Cardinal 
 require them ?" asked Manlio. 
 
 " I think it would be better for you, 
 Signor, to call on his Eminence at tlie 
 palace, to see the position in which he 
 wishes them to be placed, and then consult 
 with him respecting their design," 
 
 A compression of the sculptor's lips 
 showed that this proposal was but little to 
 his taste ; but how can an artist exist in 
 Home, and maintain liis family in comfort.
 
 CLELIA. 7 
 
 without ecclesiastical protection and emplo} - 
 ment ? One of the most subtle weapons 
 used by the Eoman Church has always 
 been its patronage of the fine arts.* It 
 has ever employed the time and talent of 
 the first Italian masters to model statues, 
 and execute paintings from subjects calcu- 
 lated to impress upon the people the doc- 
 trines inculcated by its teaching, receiving 
 demurely the homage of Christendom for 
 its "protection of genius," and the en- 
 couragement it thereby afibrded to artists 
 from all nations to settle in Eome. 
 
 Manlio, therefore, who would have sacri- 
 ficed his life a hundred times over for his 
 two beloved ones, after a few moments' 
 reflection, bluntly answered, " I will go." 
 Gianni, with a profound salutation, retired. 
 " The first step is taken," he murmured ; 
 " and now I must endeavour to find a safe 
 place of observation for Cencio." This 
 fellow was a subordinate of Gianni's, to 
 whom the Cardinal had entrusted tlie 
 second section of the enterprise ; and ibr 
 
 * Sec Xote 2.
 
 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 whom it was now necessary to hire a room 
 in sight of the studio. This was not diffi- 
 cult to achieve in that quarter, for in 
 Eome, where the priests occupy themselves 
 with the spiritual concerns of the people, 
 and but little with their temporal prosperity 
 (though they never neglect their own), 
 poverty abounds.* Were it not for the 
 enforced neglect of its commerce, the an- 
 cient activity of Rome might bo restored, 
 and might rival even its former ^'palmiest 
 days. 
 
 Having engaged a room suitable for the 
 purpose, Gianni returned home, humming 
 a song, and with a conscience anything 
 but oppressed; comprehending well that 
 absolution could be easily obtained from 
 the priests for any ruffianism, when com- 
 mitted for the benefit of Mother Cliurch. 
 
 * Sec Koto '.].
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 ATTILIO. 
 
 Ix the same street, and opposite Manlio's 
 house, was another studio, occupied by an 
 artist, named Attilio, already of some 
 celebrity, although he had only attained 
 his twentieth year. In it he worked the 
 greater part of the day ; but, studious as 
 he was, he found himself unable to refrain 
 from glancing lovingly, from time to time, 
 at the window on the first floor, where 
 Clelia was generally occupied with her 
 needle, seated by her mother's side. With- 
 out her knowledge — almost without his 
 own — she had become for him the star of 
 his sky, the loveliest among the beauties of 
 Eome — his hope, his life, his all. Now, 
 Attilio had watched with a penetrating- 
 eye the manner in which the emissary of 
 the Cardinal had come and gone. He saw 
 him looking doubtfiil and irresolute, and.
 
 10 THE RULE or THE MOXK. 
 
 with the quick instincts of love, a suspicion 
 of the truth entered his mind; a terrible 
 fear for the safety of his beloved took 
 possession of him. When Gianni quitted 
 Manlio's house, Attilio stole forth, fol- 
 lowing cautiously in his footsteps, but 
 stopping now and then to elude observa- 
 tion by gazing at the curiosities in the 
 shop windows, or at the monuments which 
 one encounters at every turn about the 
 Eternal City ; clutching involuntarily, now 
 and then, at the dagger carefully con- 
 cealed in his breast, especially when he 
 saw Gianni enter a house, and heard him 
 bargain for the use of a room. 
 
 Not until Gianni reached the magnificent 
 Palazzo Corsini, where his employer lived, 
 and had disappeared therein from sight, 
 did Attilio turn aside. 
 
 "Then it is Cardinal Procopio," muttered 
 he to himself ; " Procopio, the Pope's 
 favourite — the vilest and most licentious 
 of the evil band of Church Princes ! " — 
 and he continued his gloomy reflections 
 without heeding whither his steps went.
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE CONSPIRACY. 
 
 It is the privilege of the slave to conspire 
 against his oppressors — for liherty is God's 
 gift, and the birthright of aU. Therefore 
 Itahans of the past and present days, under 
 their various servitudes, have constantly con- 
 spired ; and, as the despotism of the tiaraed 
 priests is the most hateful and degrading 
 of all, so the conspiracies of the Eomans 
 date thickest from that rule. We are asked 
 to believe that the government of the 
 Pope is mild — that his subjects are con- 
 tented, and have ever been so. Yet, if this 
 be true, how is it that they who claim to be 
 the representatives of Christ upon earth — 
 of Him who said, " My kingdom is not of 
 this world" — have, since the institution of 
 the temporal power, supplicated French 
 intervention sixteen times, German inter- 
 vention fifteen times, Austrian intervention
 
 12 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 seven times, and Spanish intervention three 
 times, while the Pope of our day holds his 
 throne only by means of the intervention 
 of a foreign power ? 
 
 So the night of the 8th February was a 
 night of conspiracy. The meeting-hall was 
 no other than the ancient Colosseum ; and 
 Attilio, instead of returning home, aroused 
 himself to a recollection of this fact, and 
 set out for the Campo Vaccino. 
 
 The night was obscure, and black clouds 
 were gathering on all sides, impelled by a 
 violent scirocco. The mendicants, wrapped 
 in their rags, sought shelter from the wind 
 in the stately old doorways ; others in 
 porches of churches. Indoors, the priests 
 were sitting, refreshing themselves at 
 sumptuous tables loaded with viands and 
 exquisite wines. Beggars without and 
 priests within — for of these two classes 
 the population is chiefly composed. But 
 those conspirators watch for and antici- 
 pate the day when priests and beggars 
 shall be consigned alike to the past. 
 
 By-and-by, in the distance beyond, the
 
 THE CONSPIRACY. 13 
 
 ancient forum — that majestic giant of ruins 
 — rose upon young Attilio's eyes, dark and 
 alone. It stands there, reminding a city of 
 slaves of the hundred past generations of 
 grandeur which it survives above the ruins 
 of their capital ; to tell them that, though 
 she has been shaken down to the dust of 
 shame and death, she is not dead — not 
 lost to the nations which her civilisation 
 and her glories created and regenerated. 
 
 In that sublime ruin our conspirators 
 gather. A stranger generally chooses a 
 fine moonlight night on which to visit 
 the Colosseum; but it is in darkness and 
 storm that it should rather be seen, illu- 
 minated terribly by the torches of light- 
 ning, while the thunder of heaven rever- 
 berates through every ragged arch. 
 
 Such were the accompaniments of the 
 scene when the conspirators, on that Feb- 
 ruary night, entered stealthily, and one by 
 one, the ancient arena of the gladiators. 
 
 Among its thousand divisions, where the 
 sovereign people were wont to assemble 
 in the days when they were corrupted by
 
 14 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the splendours of the conquered world, were 
 several more spacious than others, such as 
 were probably destined for the patricians 
 and great functionaries, but which time, 
 with exterminating- touch, has reduced to 
 one scarce distinguishable mass of ruin. 
 Neither chairs nor couches now adorn them, 
 but blocks of weather-beaten stone mark 
 the boundaries, benches, and chambers. In 
 one of these behold our conspirators silently 
 assembling, scanning each other narrowly 
 by the aid of their dark lanterns, as they 
 advance into the space by different routes, 
 their only ceremony being a grasp of the 
 hand upon arriving at the Loggione — a 
 name given by them to the ruined en- 
 closure. Soon a voice is heard askin"^ 
 the question, *' Are the sentries at their 
 posts ? " Another voice, from the extreme 
 end, replies, "All's well." Immediately 
 the flame of a torch, kindled near the first 
 speaker, lighted up hundreds of intelligent 
 faces, mostly young, and the greater num- 
 ber those of men decidedly under thirty 
 years of age.
 
 THE CONSPIRACY. 15 
 
 Here and there began now to gleam 
 other torches, vainly struggling to conquer 
 the darkness of the night. The priests are 
 never in want of spies, and adroit spies 
 they themselves make too. Under such 
 circumstances it might appear to a foreigner 
 highly imprudent for a hand of conspirators 
 to assemble in any part of Rome ; but be it 
 remembered deserts are to be found in this 
 huge city, and the Campo Vaccino covers a 
 space in which all the famous ruins of 
 western Europe might be enclosed. Besides, 
 the mercenaries of the Church love their 
 skins above all things, and render service 
 ]nore for the sake of lucre than zeal. They 
 are by no means willing at any time to 
 risk their cowardly lives. Again, there are 
 not wanting, according to such superstitious 
 knaves, legions of apparitions among these 
 remains. It is recorded that once, on a 
 night like that which we are describing, two 
 spies, more daring than their fellows, having 
 perceived a light, proceeded to discover the 
 cause, but, upon penetrating the arches, 
 they were so terrified by the horrible
 
 16 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 phantoms which appeared, that they fled, 
 one dropping his cap, the other his sword, 
 which articles they dared not stay to 
 recover. 
 
 The phantoms were, however, no other 
 than certain conspirators, who, on quitting 
 their meeting, stumbled over the property 
 of the fugitives, and were not a little 
 amused when the account of the goblins 
 in the Colosseum was related to them by a 
 sentinel, who had overheard the frightened 
 spies. Thus it happened that the haunted 
 ruins became far more secure than the 
 streets of Home, where, in truth, an 
 honest man seldom cares to venture out 
 after nightfall.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 THE MEETING OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 
 
 The first voice heard in the midnight 
 council was that of our acquaintance, 
 Attilio, who, notwithstanding his youth, 
 had already been appointed leader by the 
 unanimous election of his colleagues, on 
 account of his courage and high moral 
 qualities, although unquestionably the 
 charm and refinement of his manners, joined 
 to his kind disposition, contributed not a 
 little to his popularity among a people who 
 never fail to recognise and appreciate such 
 characteristics. As for his personal appear- 
 ance, Attilio added the air and vigour of a 
 lion to the masculine loveliness of the 
 Greek Antinous. 
 
 He first threw a glance around the 
 assembly, to assure himself that all present 
 wore a black ribbon on the left arm, this 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 being the badge of their fraternity. It 
 served them also as a sign of mourning for 
 those degenerate Romans who wish indeed 
 for the liberation of their country, but 
 wait for its accomplishment by any hands 
 rather than their own; and this, although 
 they know full well that her salvation can 
 only be obtained by the devotion, the con- 
 tributions, and the blood of their fellow- 
 citizens. Then Attilio spoke — 
 
 " Two months have elapsed, my brothers, 
 since we were promised that the foreign 
 soldiery, the sole prop of the Papal rule, 
 should be withdrawn, yet they still con- 
 tinue to crowd our streets, and, under 
 futile pretences, have even re-occupied the 
 positions which they had previously eva- 
 cuated, and to which we were promised that 
 they should not return. To us, then, thus 
 betrayed, it remains to accomplish our 
 liberty. We have borne far too patiently 
 for the last eighteen years a doubly exe- 
 crated rule — that of the foreigner, and that 
 of the priest. In these last days we have 
 been ever ready to spring to arms, but we
 
 MEETING OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 19 
 
 have been withheld by the advice of an 
 hermaphrodite party in the state, styling 
 themselves 'the Moderates,' in whom we 
 can have no longer any confidence, because 
 they have used their power to accumulate 
 wealth for themselves from the public 
 treasury, which they are sucking dry; and 
 they have invariably proved themselves 
 ready to bargain with the stranger, and 
 to trade in the national honour. Our 
 friends outside are prepared, and blame us 
 for being negligent and tardy. The army, 
 excepting those members of it consecrated 
 to base hopes, is with us. The arms which 
 were expected have arrived, and are lodged 
 in safety. We have also an abundance of 
 ammunition. Further delay, under these 
 circumstances, would be unpardonable. To 
 arms, then ! to arms ! to arms ! " 
 
 " Aye ! to arms ! " was the cry re-echoed 
 by the three hundred conspirators assembled 
 in the chamber. Where their ancestors 
 held council how to subjugate other na- 
 tions, these modem voices made the old 
 walls ring again while they vowed their 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE RULE OE THE MONK. 
 
 resolve to emancipate enslaved Rome or 
 perish in the attempt. 
 
 Three Hundred, only ! Yes, three hun- 
 dred ; but such was tlic muster-roll of the 
 companions of Leonidas, and of the libe- 
 rating family of Fabius. These, too, were 
 equally willing to become liberators, or to 
 accept martyrdom. For this they had high 
 reason ; because, of what value is the life of 
 a slave, when compared with the sublime 
 conceptions, the imperious conscience, of 
 a soul guided always by noble ideas? 
 
 God be with all such souls, and those 
 also which despise the power of tyrannising 
 in turn over their fellow-beings ! Of what 
 value can be the life of a despot ? His 
 miserable remorse causes him to tremble at 
 the movement of every leaf No outward 
 grandeur can atone for the mental suffer- 
 ings he endures. May the God of love 
 hereafter extend to tyrants the mercy they 
 have denied to their fellow-man, and 
 pardon them for the rivers of innocent 
 blood they have caused to flow ! 
 
 But Attilio continued, "Happy indeed
 
 MEETING OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 21 
 
 are we to whom Providence has reserved 
 the redemption of Rome, the ancient mis- 
 tress of the world, after so many centuries 
 of oppression and priestly tyranny. I have 
 never for a moment, my friends, ceased to 
 confide in your patriotism, which you are 
 proving by the admirable instructions be- 
 stowed upon the men committed to your 
 charge in the different sections of the city. 
 In the day of battle, which will soon arrive, 
 you will respectively command your several 
 companies, and to them we shall yet owe 
 our freedom. The priests have changed 
 the first of nations into one of the most 
 abject and unhappy, and our beloved Italy 
 has become the very lowest in the social 
 scale. The lesson given by our Papal 
 rulers has ever been one of servile humility, 
 while they themselves expect emperors to 
 stoop and kiss their feet. This is the 
 method by which they exhibit to the world 
 their own Christian humility ; and though 
 they have always preached to us self-denial 
 and austerity of life, these hypocrites sur- 
 round themselves with a profusion of luxury
 
 22 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and voluptuousness. Gymnastic exercises, 
 under proper instruction, are doubtless 
 beneficial to the physical development of 
 the body ; but is it for this reason that 
 the Eomans are called upon to bow to, and 
 kiss the hand of every priest they meet ? 
 — to kneel also and go through a series 
 of genuflections ; so that it is really no 
 thanks to them if one half of the people 
 are not crook-necked or hunch-backed, from 
 the absurd performances they have been 
 made to execute for the gratification of 
 these tonsured masters ? The time for 
 the great struggle approaches, and it is 
 a sacred one ! Not only do we aim at 
 freeing our beloved Italy, but at freeing 
 the entire world also from the incubus 
 of the Papacy, which everywhere op- 
 poses education, protects ignorance, and 
 is the nurse of vice ! " 
 
 The address of Attilio had hitherto 
 been pronounced in profound darkness, but 
 was here suddenly interrupted by a flash 
 of lightning, which illumined the vast 
 interior of the Colosseum, as if it had
 
 MEETING OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 23 
 
 suddenly been lighted by a thousand 
 lamps. This was succeeded by a darkness 
 even more profound than the first, when 
 a terrific peal of thunder rolled over 
 their heads and shook to its foundations 
 the ancient structure, silencing for a brief 
 space Attiho's voice. The conspirators 
 were not men to tremble, each being pre- 
 pared to confront death in whatever form 
 it might appear; but, as a scream was 
 heard issuing at this moment from the 
 vestibule, they involuntarily seized their 
 daggers. Immediately after, a young girl, 
 with dishevelled hair and clothes dripping 
 with water, rushed into their midst. 
 " Camilla ! " exclaimed Silvio, a wild boar- 
 hunter of the Campagna, who alone of 
 those present recognised her. " Poor 
 Camilla ! " he cried ; " to what a fate have 
 the miscreants who rule over us reduced 
 you ! " At this instant one of the sentries 
 on guard entered, reporting that they 
 had been discovered by a young woman 
 dui'ing the moment of the illumination, and 
 that she had fled with such speed no one
 
 24 THE RULE OF THE MONK, 
 
 had been able to capture ber. They bad 
 not liked to fire upon a female, and all otber 
 means of staying ber were useless. But, 
 at tbe words of Silvio, tbe strange appa- 
 rition bad fixed ber eyes upon bim as tbe 
 torcbes closed about tbem, and, after one 
 long glance, bad uttered a moan so piteous, 
 and sunk down witb sucb a sigb of woe, 
 tbat all present were moved. We will 
 relate, bowever, in tbe following cbapter, 
 tbe bistory of tbe unfortunate girl wbose 
 cries tbus effectually cbecked our bero's 
 eloquence.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE INFANTICIDE. 
 
 Born a peasant, the unhappy Camilla had, 
 like her own Italy, the fatal gift of beauty. 
 Silvio, who was by vocation, as we have 
 already said, a wild boar hunter, used often, 
 in his expeditions to the Pontine Marshes, to 
 rest at the house of the good Marcello, the 
 father of Camilla, whose cottage was situated 
 a short distance from Borne. The young 
 pair became enamoured of each other. 
 Silvio demanded her in marriage, and, her 
 father giving a willing consent, they were 
 betrothed. 
 
 Perfectly happy and fair to look upon 
 were this youthful pair, as they sat, hand in 
 hand, under the shadows of the vines, watch- 
 ing the gorgeous sunsets of their native 
 clime. This happiness, however, was not 
 of long duration, for, during one of his
 
 26 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 hunting expeditions, Silvio caught the 
 malarial fever so common in the Pontine 
 Marshes, and, as he continued to suffer for 
 some months, the marriage was indefinitely 
 postponed. 
 
 Meantime Camilla, who was too lovely 
 and too innocent to dwell in safety near 
 this most vicious of cities, had been marked 
 as a victim by the emissaries of his Emi- 
 nence the Cardinal Procopio. It was her 
 custom to carry fruit for sale to the Piazza 
 Navona. On one occasion she was addressed 
 by an old fruit woman, previously instructed 
 by Gianni, who plied her with every con- 
 ceivable allurement and flattery, praised her 
 fruit, and promised her the highest price for 
 it at the palace of the Cardinal, if she would 
 take it thither. The rest of the story may 
 be too easily imagined. In Rome this is 
 an oft-told tale. To hide from her father 
 and her lover the consequences of her fall, 
 and to suit the convenience of the prelate, 
 Camilla was persuaded to take up her resi- 
 dence in the palace Corsini, where, soon 
 after its birth, her miserable infant was
 
 THE INFANTICIDE. 27 
 
 put to death by one of its father's mur- 
 derous ruffians. This so preyed upon the 
 unhappy mother, that she lost her reason, 
 and was secretly immured in a mad-house. 
 On the very night when she effected her 
 escape, the meeting already mentioned was 
 being held, and, after wandering from 
 place to place, for many hours, without 
 any fixed direction, she entered the Colos- 
 seum at the moment it was illumined by 
 the lightning, as we have related. That 
 flash disclosed the sentries at the arch- 
 way, and she rushed towards them, obey- 
 ing some instinct of safety, or at least 
 perceiving that they were not clothed 
 in the garb of a priest; but they, 
 taking her for a spy, ran forward to 
 make her prisoner. Thereupon, seemingly 
 possessed of supernatural strength, she 
 glided from their hands, and finally eluded 
 their pursuit by running rapidly into the 
 centre of the building, where she fell ex- 
 hausted in the midst of the three hundred, 
 at the foot of her injured and incensed lover. 
 " It is, indeed, time," said Attilio, when
 
 28 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Silvio had related the maniac's story, "to 
 purge our city from this priestly ignominy;" 
 and drawing forth his dagger, he brandished 
 it above his head, as he exclaimed, "Ac- 
 cursed is the Eoman who does not feel the 
 degradation of his country, and who is not 
 willing to bathe his sword in the blood of 
 these monsters, who humiliate it, and turn 
 its very soil into a sink." 
 
 "Accursed! accursed be thei/!" echoed 
 back from the old walls, while the sound 
 of dagger-blades tinkling together made 
 an ominous music, dedicated to the corrupt 
 and licentious rulers of Rome. 
 
 Then Attilio turned to Silvio, and said, 
 " This child is more sinned against than 
 sinning ; she requires and deserves protec- 
 tion. You, who are so generous, will not 
 refuse it to her." 
 
 And Silvio was, indeed, generous, for he 
 still loved his ^vretched Camilla, who at 
 sight of him had become docile as a lamb. 
 He raised her, and, enveloping her in his 
 mantle, led her out of the Colosseum to- 
 wards her father's dwelling.
 
 THE INFANTICIDE. 29 
 
 " Comrades," shouted Attilio, " meet me 
 on the 15th at the Baths of Caracalla. Be 
 ready to use your arms if need be." 
 
 " We will be ready ! we will be ready ! " 
 responded heartily the Three Hundred ; and 
 in a few moments the ruins were left to 
 their former solitude. 
 
 What a wild improbable story, we seem 
 to hear some of our readers remark, as 
 they sit beside their sea-coal fires in free 
 England. But Popery has not been domi- 
 nant in England since James II. 's time, and 
 they have forgotten it. Let them remember 
 that in the year 1848, when a Eepublican 
 Grovernment was established in France — 
 which was the signal of a general revolu- 
 tionary movement throughout Europe — and 
 the present Pope was forced to escape in 
 the disguise of a menial, while a National 
 Government granted, for the first time in 
 Rome, religious toleration, one of the first 
 orders of the Eoman republic was that the 
 nuns should be liberated, and the convents 
 searched. Giuseppe Garibaldi, in 1849, 
 then recently arrived in Pome, visited in
 
 30 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 person every convent, and was present dur- 
 ing the whole of the investigations. In all, 
 without an exception, he found instruments 
 of cruelty ; and in all, without an exception, 
 were vaults, plainly dedicated to the recep- 
 tion of the bones of infants. Statistics 
 prove that in no city is there so great a 
 number of children born out of wedlock as 
 in Eome ; and it is in Rome also that the 
 greatest number of infanticides take place. 
 
 This must ever be the case with a 
 wealthy unmarried priesthood and a poor 
 and ignorant population.
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE ARREST. 
 
 We took leave of Manlio at the moment 
 when Grianni had delivered his master's 
 message. The scidptor acceded to the Car- 
 dinal's request, and, after an interview with 
 him, proceeded to execute the order for the 
 statuettes. For some days nothing occurred 
 to excite suspicion, and things seemed to 
 be going on smoothly enough. From the 
 room which Gianni had hired Cencio 
 watched the artist incessantly, all the while 
 carefully maturing his plot. At last, one 
 evening, when our sculptor was hard at 
 work, Cencio broke into the studio, ex- 
 claiming excitedly, " For the love of God, 
 permit me to remain here a little while ! 
 I am pursued by the police, who wish to 
 arrest me. I assure you I am guilty of 
 no crime, except that of being a liberal,
 
 32 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and of having declared, in a moment of 
 anger, that the overthrow of the Republic 
 by the French was an assassination of 
 liberty." So saying, Cencio made as 
 though to conceal himself behind some 
 statuary. 
 
 "These are hard times," soliloquised 
 Manlio, " and little confidence can be 
 placed in anybody ; yet, how can I drive 
 out one compromised by his political 
 opinions only ; thereby, perhaps, adding 
 to the number of those unfortunates now 
 lingering in the priests' prisons ? He 
 looks a decent fellow, and would have a 
 better chance of effecting his escape if he 
 remained here till nightfall. Yes ! he 
 shall stay." Manlio, therefore, rose, and 
 beckoning to the supposed fugitive, bade 
 him follow to the end of the studio, where 
 he secreted him carefully behind some 
 massive blocks of marble, little dreaming 
 that he harboured a traitor. 
 
 The artist had scarcely resumed his oc- 
 cupation before a patrol stopped before the 
 house and demanded permission to make a
 
 THE ARREST. 33 
 
 domiciliary visit, as a suspected person had 
 been seen to enter the house. 
 
 Poor Manho endeavoured to put aside 
 the suspicions of the officer, so far as he 
 could do it without compromising his 
 veracity; and, little divining the trap into 
 which he had fallen, attempted to lead him 
 in a direction opposite to that in which the 
 crafty Cencio had taken refuge. The patrol, 
 being in league with Cencio, felt, of course, 
 quite certain of his presence on the pre- 
 mises, but some few minutes elapsed before 
 he succeeded in discovering the carefully- 
 chosen hiding-place ; and the interval would 
 have been longer had not Cencio stealthily 
 put out his hand and pulled him, the sbirro, 
 gently by the coat as he passed. The 
 functionary paused suddenly, exclaiming, 
 with an affected tone of triumph, " Ah, 
 I have you ! " then, turning upon Manlio, 
 he seized the artist by the collar, saying, 
 in the sternest of tones, " You must 
 accompany me forthwith to the tribunal, 
 and account for youi crime in giving 
 shelter to this miscreant, who is in open 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 THE RULE 0¥ THE MONK. 
 
 rebellion against the Government of his 
 Holiness." 
 
 Manlio, utterly beside himself, in the 
 first burst of indignation, cast his eye 
 around among the chisels, hammers, and 
 other tools, for something suitable with 
 which to cleave the skull of his accuser ; 
 but at this moment his wife, followed by 
 the lovely Clelia, rushed into the apartment 
 to ascertain the cause of so unwonted a 
 disturbance. They trembled at the sight 
 of their beloved one in the grasp of the 
 hated police-officer, who cunningly relaxed 
 his hold, and said, in a very different voice, 
 as soon as he perceived them, " ]3e of 
 courage, signor, and console these good 
 ladies ; your presence will be needed for a 
 short time only. A few questions will 
 be asked, to wliich undoubtedly you can 
 give satisfactory replies." 
 
 In vain did the terrified women expos- 
 tulate. Finding their tears and remon- 
 strances of no avail, they reluctantly let go 
 their hold of the unhappy Manlio, wliom 
 they had clasped in their terror. He, dis-
 
 THE ARREST. 35 
 
 daining any appeal to the courtesy of such 
 a scoundrel as he knew the patrol to be, 
 waved them an adieu, and departed with 
 a dignified air. 
 
 \) :z
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE LEGACY. 
 
 The Eoman Eepublic, establisliea by the 
 unanimous and legitimate votes of the people, 
 elected General Garibaldi, on the 30th of 
 June, 1849, legal guardian of the rights of 
 the people, and conferred upon him the exe- 
 cutive power of the State, which the Trium- 
 virate resigned into his hands. This national 
 government was overthrown by foreign 
 bayonets, after a most heroic struggle for 
 freedom. The first act of General Oudinot 
 was to send a French colonel to lay the 
 keys of the city at the feet of the Pope. 
 
 Thus was the power of the priests re- 
 stored, and they returned to all their former 
 tyranny and luxury. 
 
 These worthy teachers, when preaching 
 to the Roman women about the glory of 
 Heaven, impress upon them that they, and
 
 THE LEGACY. 37 
 
 they only, have power to give free entrance 
 into eternal bliss. To liberate these mis- 
 guided beings from superstition, and rescue 
 them from the deceit of the so-called 
 " reverend fathers " is the question of life 
 or death to Italy; this, in fact, is the only 
 way in which to work out the deliverance 
 of our country. Many will tell you there 
 are good priests. But a priest, to become 
 really good, must discard the livery which 
 he wears. For is it not the uniform 
 of the promoters of brigandage over the 
 half of Italy ? Has it not marched as a 
 pioneer-garb before every sinister foreigner 
 that ever visited our country ? 
 
 Again, the priests, by their continual im- 
 postures and crafty abuse of the ignorance 
 and consequent superstition of the people, 
 have acquired great riches. Those who en- 
 deavour to retard our progress make a dis- 
 tinction between the temporal power, which 
 should be combated, and the spiritual 
 power, which should be respected ; as if 
 Antonelli, Schiatone, and Crocco were spi- 
 ritual ushers, by whom the souls of men 
 
 52815
 
 38 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 could hope to be conducted into the 
 presence of the Eternal. But what are 
 the sources of their wealth ? Firstly, 
 they exact a revenue for repentance, as the 
 vicegerents of God upon earth, claiming 
 power, as such, to pardon all sin. A rich 
 but credulous man may thus commit any 
 crime he chooses mth impunity, knowing 
 that he has the means of securing absolu- 
 tion, and believing implicitly that, by ren- 
 dering up a portion of his treasure or 
 profit to the clergy, he will have no diffi- 
 culty in escaping the wrath to come. 
 
 Secondly, there is the tax upon the 
 agonies of death. At the bedside of the 
 sick, by threats of purgatory and eternal 
 perdition, they frighten their unhappy 
 victims into bequeathing to Mother Church 
 enormous legacies, if, indeed, they do not 
 succeed in getting absolute possession of 
 the whole of their estates, to the detri- 
 ment of the legal heirs, who are not un- 
 frequently in tliis manner reduced to 
 beggary. Look, for instance, at the island 
 of Sicily : one half of tluit country now
 
 THE LEGACY. 39 
 
 belongs to the priesthood, or various orders 
 of monks, by this process. 
 
 But, to our tale. One evening, about 
 nine o'clock, in the month of December, a 
 thing in black might have been seen tra- 
 versing the Piazza of the Rotunda — ^that 
 magnificent monument of antiquity — every 
 column a perfect work, worth its weight 
 in silver — ^which the priests have perverted 
 from sublime memories to their cunning 
 uses. It was a figure which would have 
 made a man shudder involuntarily, though 
 he were one of the thousand of Calatifimi. 
 Enveloped in a black sottana — the covering 
 of a heart still blacker, the heart, in fact, of 
 a demon, it was one that contemplated the 
 committal of a crime which only a priest 
 would conceive or execute. A priest it 
 was, and he made his stealthy path to the 
 gateway of the house of Pompeo, where he 
 paused a moment before knocking to gain 
 admittance, casting glances around, to assure 
 himself no one was in sight, as if he feared 
 his guilty secret would betray itself, or as 
 if pausing before he added even to ecclc-
 
 40 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 siastical wickednesses a sin so cruel as the 
 one he was meditating. He knocked at 
 last. The door opened, and the porter, 
 recognising the " Reverend Father Ignazio," 
 saluted him respectfully, and hghted him, 
 as he entered, a few steps up the staircase 
 of one of the richest residences of the 
 city. 
 
 "Where is Sister Flavia?" demanded the 
 priest of the first servant who came forward 
 to meet him. 
 
 " At the bedside of my dying mistress," 
 replied Siccio, in a constrained voice, for, 
 being a true Roman, he had little sympathy 
 for " the birds of ill-omen," as he pro- 
 fanely styled the reverend fathers. 
 
 Father Ignazio, knowing the house 
 well, hurried on to the sick room, at the 
 door of which he gently tapped, requesting 
 admittance in a peculiar tone. An elderly, 
 sour-looking nun opened the door quickly, 
 and, with a significant expression on her 
 evil countenance, as her eyes encountered 
 those of the priest. 
 
 "Is all over?" whispered he, as he ad-
 
 THE LEGACY. 41 
 
 vanced towards tlie bed on which the ex- 
 piring patient lay. 
 
 " Not yet," was the equally low reply. 
 
 Ignazio thereupon, without another word, 
 took a small phial from under his sottana, 
 and emptied the contents into a glass. 
 With the assistance of the nun he raised 
 his victim, and poured the deadly fluid 
 down her throat, letting her head fall 
 heavily back upon the pillows, whilst a 
 complacent smile spread itself over his dia- 
 bolical features as, after one gasp, the jaw 
 fell. He then retired to a small table at 
 the end of the apartment, where he seated 
 himself, followed by Sister Elavia, who 
 stealthily drew a paper from her dress 
 and handed it to him. 
 
 Father Ignazio seized the paper with a 
 trembling hand, and after perusing it with 
 an anxious air, as if to convince himself 
 that it was indeed the accomplishment of 
 his desires, he thrust it into his breast, 
 muttering, with an emphatic nod, "You 
 shall be rewarded, my good Flavia." 
 
 That paper was the last will and testa-
 
 42 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 ment of the Signora Virginia Pompeo, the 
 mother of the brave Emilio Pompeo, who 
 perished fighting on the walls of Eome, 
 where he fell, mortally wounded by a 
 French bullet. His inconsolable widow 
 did not long survive him, and committed, 
 with her last breath, her infant son to the 
 care of his doting grandmother, La Signora 
 Virginia Pompeo, who tenderly cherished 
 the orphan Muzio, the only remaining scion 
 of the noble house of Pompeo. But, un- 
 happily for him, Father Ignazio was her 
 confessor. When the signora's health be- 
 gan to fail, and her mind to be weakened, 
 the wily Father spared no means to con- 
 vince her that she ought to make her will, 
 and, as a sacred duty, to leave a large sum 
 to be spent in masses for the release of souls 
 from purgatory. The signora lingering for 
 some time, the covetous priest felt his de- 
 sires grow, and resolved to destroy this first 
 will, and to obtain another, purporting to 
 leave the whole of her immense estates to 
 the corporation of St. Francesco di Paola, 
 and appoint liimself as her sole executor.
 
 THE LEGACY. 43 
 
 This document he prepared, and entrusted 
 to Sister Flavia, whom he had abeady 
 recommended to the Signora Virginia as a 
 suitable attendant. One morning she de- 
 spatched a hurried message to the con- 
 fessor, reporting that the favourable time 
 for signing the fraudulent document had 
 arrived. He came, attended by witnesses, 
 whom he had had no difficulty in pro- 
 curing, and, after persuading the sinking 
 and agonised lady that she ought to add 
 a codicil to her will (which he pretended 
 then and there to draw up) leaving a still 
 larger sum to the Church, he guided her 
 feeble hand as she unconsciously signed 
 away the whole of her property, leaving 
 her helpless grandson to beggary. As if 
 to jeopardise his scheme, the signora rallied 
 towards the afternoon, whereupon, fearing 
 she might ask to see the will, and so 
 discover his treachery, Father Ignazio 
 resolved to make such an undesirable 
 occurrence impossible, by administering an 
 effective potion, which he set off to procure, 
 wisely deferring his return till nightfall.
 
 44 THE RULE OF THE MONK.. 
 
 The result has been already disclosed; 
 and while the false priest wrought this 
 murder, the unconscious orphan, Muzio, 
 slept peacefully in his little bed, still 
 adorned with hangings wrought by a 
 loving mother's hands ; to awake on the 
 morrow ignorant of his injury, but robbed 
 of his guardian and goods together — 
 stripped of all, and forthwith dependent 
 on chance — a friendless and beggared boy.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE MENDICANT. 
 
 Eighteen years had rolled by since the 
 horrible murder of La Signora Virginia 
 related in the last chapter. On the same 
 piazza which Father Ignazio had traversed 
 that dark night stood a lazzarone, leaning 
 moodily, yet not without a certain grace, 
 against a column. It was February, and 
 the beggar lad was apparently watching the 
 setting sun. The lower part of his face 
 was carefully concealed in his cloak, but 
 from the little that could be discerned of it, 
 it seemed decidedly handsome ; one of those 
 naturally noble countenances, in fact, that 
 once seen, impresses its features indelibly 
 on the beholder's memory. A well-formed 
 Eoman nose was set between two eyes of 
 dazzling blue ; eyes that could look tender 
 or stern, according to the possessor's mood.
 
 46 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 The shoulders, even under the cloak, 
 showed grandly, and could belong only 
 to a strength which it would be dange- 
 rous to insult or rashly attack. Poor as 
 its garb was, such a figure would be 
 eagerly desired by a sculptor who sought 
 to portray a young Latin athlete. 
 
 A shght touch upon the shoulder caused 
 the young mendicant to turn sharply ; but 
 his brow cleared as he welcomed, with a 
 beaming smile, Attilio's familiar face, and 
 heard him saying, in a lively tone, " Ah ! 
 art thou here, brother?" And although 
 no tie of blood was between them, Attilio 
 and Muzio might, indeed, have been mis- 
 taken for brothers, their nobility of feature 
 and brave young Koman bearing being so 
 much alike. 
 
 " Art thou armed ?" inquired Attilio. 
 
 "Armed!" repeated Muzio, somewhat dis- 
 dainfully. "Assuredly ; is not my poniard 
 my inheritance, my only patrimon}' ? I 
 love it as well as thou lov'st tliy Clelia, 
 or I mine own lady. But love, forsooth," 
 continued he, more bitterly; "what right
 
 THE MENDICANT. 47 
 
 to love has a beggar — an outcast from 
 society? Who would believe that rags 
 could cover a heart bursting with the 
 pangs of a true passion?" 
 
 "Still," replied Attilio, confidently, "I 
 think that pretty stranger does, in truth, 
 think on thee." 
 
 Muzio remained silent, and his former 
 gloomy expression returned ; but Attilio, 
 seeing a storm arising in his friend's soul, 
 and wishing to avert it, took him by the 
 hand, saying gently, " Come." 
 
 The young wanderer followed without 
 proffering a word. Night was rapidly clos- 
 ing in, the foot passengers were gradually 
 decreasing in number, and few footfalls, 
 except those of the foreign patrols, broke 
 the silence that was stealing over the city. 
 
 The priests are always early to leave the 
 streets — besides, they love to enjoy the good 
 things of this world at home after preach- 
 ing about the glories of the next, and care 
 little to trust their skins in Rome after 
 dark, notwithstanding the protection af- 
 forded by the mercenary cut- throats just
 
 48 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 named. May the day soon come when 
 their services may be dispensed with alto- 
 gether ! 
 
 "We shall be quit of them, and that 
 before long," answered Attilio hopefully to 
 some such remark, as they descended the 
 Quirinale, now called Monte Cavallo, the 
 site of the famous horses in stone, chefs 
 d'oeuvres of Grecian art. 
 
 Pausing between these gigantic effigies, 
 the young artist took from his pocket a 
 flint and steel, and struck a light, the signal 
 arranged between him and the Three Hun- 
 dred, some of whom had agreed to help him 
 in a bold attempt to release Manlio from 
 his unlawful imprisonment. 
 
 The signal was answered immediately 
 from the extreme end of the Piazza. The two 
 young men advanced towards it, and were 
 met by a soldier belonging to a detach- 
 ment on guard at the palace, who con- 
 ducted them through a half - concealed 
 doorway near the principal entrance, up a 
 narrow flight of stairs into a small room 
 generally used by tlie commander of the
 
 THE MENDICANT. 49 
 
 guard ; here he left them, and another 
 soldier stepped forward to receive them, 
 and, having placed chairs for them at a 
 table, on which burned an oil-lamp, flanked 
 by two or three bottles and some glasses, 
 this one seated himself. 
 
 " Let us drink a glass of Orvieto, my 
 friends," said the soldier; "it will do us 
 more good on a bitter night like this than 
 the Holy Father's blessing," handing to 
 each of them, as he spoke, a goblet filled 
 to the brim. 
 
 " Success to our enterprise ! " cried 
 Muzio. 
 
 "Amen," responded Attilio, as he took 
 a deep draught. " So Manho has been 
 brought hither," said he, addressing 
 Dentato, the sergeant of dragoons, for 
 such was the name of their military friend. 
 
 " Yes ; he was locked up last night in 
 one of our secret cells, as if he had been 
 the most dangerous of criminals, poor 
 innocent ! I hear he is to be removed 
 shortly," added Dentato, " to the Castle of 
 St. Angelo." 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 " Do you know by whose order he was 
 arrested ? " inquired Attilio. 
 
 " By the order of his Eminence the 
 Cardinal Procopio, it is said, wlio is 
 anxious, doubtless, to remove all impedi- 
 ments likely to frustrate his designs upon 
 the Pearl of Trastevere." 
 
 As Dentato uttered these words, a sudden 
 tremor shook the frame of Attilio. " And 
 at what hour shall we make the attempt 
 to Hberate him?" he sternly asked, as his 
 liand clenched his dan^g-er. 
 
 " Liberate him ! Why, we are too few," 
 the soldier replied. 
 
 " Not so," continued Attilio. " Silvio 
 has given his word that he will be here 
 shortly witli ten of our own, and then we 
 shall have no difficulty in dealing with 
 these sbirri and monks." 
 
 .After a pause, Dentato responded, "Well, 
 then, as you are determined to attempt 
 his release to-night, we had better wait a 
 few hours, when gaolers and director will 
 be asleep, or under the influence of their 
 liquor. ]\Iy lieutenant is, fortunately, de-
 
 THE MENDICANT. 51 
 
 tained by a delicate affair at a distance, so 
 we will try it if your friend turns up." 
 
 Before he could well finish his speech, 
 however, Dentato was interrupted by the 
 entrance of the guard left at the gate 
 announcing the arrival of Silvio.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 
 
 Before continuing the story we must 
 remark upon one of the most striking facts 
 in Rome — viz., the conduct and bravery of 
 the Roman soldiery. 
 
 Even the city troops have a robust and 
 martial air, and retain an individual force 
 of character to an astonishing degree. In the 
 defence of Rome, all the Roman artillery- 
 men (observe, all) were killed at their guns, 
 and a reserve of the wounded, a thing un- 
 heard of before, bleeding though they were, 
 continued to fight manfully until cut down 
 by the sabres of their foes. On the 3rd of 
 June the streets were choked with muti- 
 lated men, and amongst the many combats, 
 after the city was taken, between the 
 Roman soldiery and the foreigners, there 
 did not occur one example where the
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 53 
 
 Romans had the worst of it in anything 
 like fair fight. 
 
 Of one point, therefore, the priesthood is 
 certain — that in every case of general insur- 
 rection the Roman army will go with the 
 people. This is the reason they are com- 
 pelled to hire foreign mercenaries, and why 
 the revenues of the " Vicegerent of Heaven " 
 are spent upon Zouaves, rifles, cartridges, 
 and kilos of gunpowder. 
 
 Silvio was received by the triad with 
 acclamations of joy. After saluting them, 
 he turned to Attilio, saying, "Our men are 
 at hand. I have left them hidden in the 
 shadows cast by the marble horses. They 
 but await our signal." 
 
 Then Attilio sprang up, saying, " Muzio 
 and I will go at once to the gaoler, and 
 secure the keys. You, Dentato, guide 
 Silvio and his men to the door of the cell, 
 and overpower the guard stationed before 
 it." 
 
 " So be it," replied Dentato ; " Scipio (the 
 dragoon who had introduced Silvio) shall 
 lead you to the gaoler's room ; l)ut beware
 
 54 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Signer Pancaldo, he is a devil of a fellow 
 to handle." 
 
 "Leave me to manage him," replied 
 Attilio, and he hastily left the apartment, 
 preceded by Scipio and Muzio. Such an 
 attempt as they were about to make would 
 be a most difficult, if not an incredible 
 thing, in any other country, where more 
 respect is attached to Government and its 
 officers. In Eome little obedience is due 
 to a Grovernraent which, alas ! is opposed 
 to all that is pure and true. 
 
 Dentato, after summoning Silvio's men, 
 led them to the guards stationed at the 
 entrance to the cells. Silvio waited until 
 the sentinel turned his back upon them, 
 then, springing forward with the agility 
 that made him so successful when pursuing 
 the wild boar, he hurled the sentinel to the 
 ground, covering his mouth witli his hand 
 to stifle any cry of alarm. The slight 
 scuffle aroused the sleepy quarter-guard, 
 but before they could even rub their eyes, 
 Silvio's men had gagged and bound tliem. 
 As they accomplished this, Attilio appeared
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 55 
 
 witli Muzio, convoying the reluctant gaoler 
 and his bunch of keys between them. 
 
 " Unlock !" commanded Attilio. 
 
 The gaoler obeyed with forced alacrity, 
 whereupon they entered a large vaulted 
 room, out of which opened, on every side, 
 doors leading to separate cells. At sight 
 of them, a soldier, the only inmate visible, 
 approached with a perplexed air. 
 
 "Where is Signor Manlio?" demanded 
 Attilio ; and Pancaldo felt the grip of the 
 young artist clutch his wrist like iron, and 
 noticed his right hand playing terribly with 
 the dagger-hilt. 
 
 " Manlio is here," said he. 
 
 " Then release him," cried Attilio. 
 
 The terrified gaoler attempted to unlock 
 .the door, but some minutes passed before 
 his trembling hands allowed him to effect 
 this. Attilio, pushing him aside as the 
 bolts shot back, dashed open the door, and 
 called to Manlio to come forth. 
 
 Picture the sculptor's astonishment and 
 joy when he beheld Attilio, and realised 
 that he had come to release him from his
 
 56 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 cruel and unjust incarceration. Attilio, 
 knowing they ought to lose no time in 
 leaving the palace, after returning his 
 friend's embrace, bade Muzio lock up the 
 guard in the cell. As soon as this was 
 accomplished, they led the gaoler between 
 them through the passages, passing on 
 their way the soldiers whom they had 
 previously bound, who glared upon them 
 with impotent rage, till they gained the 
 outer door in silence and safety. Dividing 
 into groups, they then set off at a quick 
 pace, in different directions. Attilio, Muzio, 
 and Manlio, however, retained possession a 
 little while of the gaoler, whom they made 
 to promenade with them, gagged and blind- 
 folded, until they thought their com- 
 panions were at a safe distance. They 
 then left him, and proceeded in the direc- 
 tion of the Porta Salaria, which leads into 
 the open country.
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE ORPHAN. 
 
 When Silvio, with despair in his soul, 
 was leading the unhappy Camilla out of 
 the Colosseum, towards her father's house, 
 not a word passed between them. He re- 
 garded her with tender pity, having loved 
 her ardently, and feeling that she was 
 comparatively innocent, being, as she was, 
 the victim of deception and violence. 
 
 Onward they went in silence and sadness. 
 Silvio had abstained from visiting her home 
 since it had been so suddenly deserted by 
 Camilla, and as they neared it a presenti- 
 ment of a new sorrow took possession of 
 him. Turning out of the high road into a 
 lane, their meditations were broken in upon 
 by the barking of a dog. "Fido! Fido!" 
 cried Camilla, with more joyousness than 
 slie had experienced for many, many
 
 58 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 months ; but, as if remembering suddenly 
 her abasement, she checked her quickened 
 step, and, casting down her eyes, stood 
 motionless, overwhelmed with shame. 
 Silvio had loved her before too dearly to 
 hate her now even for her guilt. Or if he 
 had ever felt bitterly against her, her 
 sudden appearance that night, wild with re- 
 morse and misery, had brought back some- 
 thing of the old feeling, and he would have 
 defended her now against a whole army. 
 He had sustained her very tenderly through 
 the walk from the Colosseum, and, although 
 silent, had been full of generous thoughts; 
 while she, tim^idly leaning on his strong 
 arm, had now and then learned, by a timid 
 glance, that he entertained pity for her 
 and not contempt. 
 
 But when she stopped and trembled at 
 the sound of the house-dog's bark, Silvio, 
 fearing the return of a paroxysm of mad- 
 ness, touched her arm, saying, for the first 
 time, " Come, Camilla, it is your little Fido 
 welcoming you; he has recogiiised your 
 footstep."
 
 THE ORPHAN. 59 
 
 Scarcely had he uttered these words 
 before the dog itself appeared. After paus- 
 ing a moment in his rush, as if uncertain, 
 he sprang towards Camilla, howling, and 
 jumping, and making frantic efforts to 
 lick her face and hands. Such a re- 
 ception would have touched a heart of 
 stone. 
 
 Camilla hurst into tears as she stooped to 
 caress the affectionate animal ; hut nature 
 was exhausted, and she fell senseless on 
 the damp ground. Silvio, after covering 
 her with his mantle, to protect her 
 from the cold morning air — for daylight 
 was already dawning — went to seek her 
 father. 
 
 . The barking of the dog had aroused the 
 household, and the young hunter perceived, 
 as he approached, a boy standing on the 
 threshold, looking cautiously around, as if 
 distrusting so early a visitor, 
 
 " Marcellino," he shouted; whereat the 
 boy, recognising the friendly familiar voice, 
 ran to him, and threw his arms around 
 his neck.
 
 60 THE RULE OF THE MONK, 
 
 " Where is your godfather, my boy ? " 
 Silvio asked; but receiving no response 
 save tears, he said again, " Where is Mar- 
 cello ?" 
 
 " He is dead," replied the sobbing 
 child. 
 
 "Dead!" exclaimed Silvio, sinking upon 
 a stone, overcome with surprise and emo- 
 tion, while the tears rolled down his 
 manly cheeks, and mingled with those 
 of the child, who lay upon his bosom. 
 
 "0 God!" he cried aloud; "canst thou 
 permit the desires of a monster to cause 
 such suffering to so many and to such 
 precious human creatures? Did I not 
 feel the hope that the day of my beloved 
 country's release from priestly tyranny was 
 at hand, I would plunge my dagger into 
 my breast, and never again behold the 
 light of day." 
 
 Recovering himself with a violent effort, 
 he returned, accompanied by Marcellino, to 
 Camilla, whom he found in a disturbed and 
 restless sleep. " Poor girl ! poor ruined 
 orphan ! " murmured Silvio, as he gazed
 
 THE ORPHAN. 61 
 
 upon her pale and wasted beauty ; " why 
 should I arouse you? You will awake 
 but too soon to a life of tears, misery, 
 and repentance !"
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FLIGHT. 
 
 We left Attilio, Silvio, and Manlio on their 
 way to the suburbs. Attilio bad determined 
 that the house lately tenanted bj'' poor Mar- 
 cello, and still inhabited by Camilla, would 
 be a safe hiding-place for the liberated 
 sculptor, who could scarcely be prevailed 
 upon not to return at once to his own 
 home, so great was his desire to behold 
 his cherished wife and daughter. 
 
 As they trudged on, each busy with his 
 own thoughts, Attilio turned over in his 
 mind the visit of Gianni to the studio, for 
 the information Sergeant Dentato had given 
 him relative to the arrest confirmed his 
 suspicion that the Cardinal was plotting 
 villany against his beloved Clclia. After 
 some reflection, he concluded to impart 
 his suspicion to Manlio, who, when he
 
 THE FLIGHT. 63 
 
 had recovered from his first surprise and 
 horror, declared his belief that Attilio's 
 surmises were correct, and that it was 
 necessary at once to hasten home in order 
 to preserve his darling from infamy. 
 
 Attilio, however, aided by Muzio, at last 
 prevailed upon him to conceal himself, pro- 
 raising to go and inform the ladies of the 
 designs against them as soon as he had 
 placed the father in safety. 
 
 Attilio, in truth, though so young, had 
 the talent of influencing and guiding those 
 with whom he came in contact, and the 
 soundness of his judgment was frequently 
 acknowledged, even by men advanced in 
 years. Though reluctant to part with 
 them, still Manlio felt that he could not 
 do better than to entrust the care of his 
 dear ones to this generous youth. 
 
 The day was beginning to dawn as they 
 neared the cottage at the end of the lane, 
 and, just as on the occasion of Camilla's 
 return on the night of the meeting, Fido 
 barked furiously at their approach. At 
 Silvio's voice, the dog was quieted instantly,
 
 04 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and again Marcellino met him at the door. 
 Silvio, after saluting the lad, asked where 
 Camilla was. " I will show you," was the 
 answer, and leading the way, he took them 
 to an eminence near the cottage, from 
 which they beheld, at a little' distance, a 
 cemetery. " She is there," said Marcellino, 
 pointing with his finger ; " she passes all 
 her time, from mom till eve, at her father's 
 grave, praying and weeping. You will find 
 her there at all hours now." Silvio, with- 
 out a word to his companions, who followed 
 slowly, strode on towards the spot indicated, 
 which was close by, and soon came in view 
 of Camilla, clad in deep mourning, kneeling 
 beside a mound of newly-turned earth. She 
 was so absorbed, that the approach of the 
 three friends was unperceived. Silvio, 
 deeply moved, watched her, without daring 
 to speak, and neither of the others broke 
 the silence. Presently she rose, and clasp- 
 ing her hands in agony, cried bitterly, "Oh, 
 my father, my father, I was the cause of 
 your death !" " Camilla!" whispered Silvio, 
 coming close up. She turned, and gazing
 
 THE FLIGHT. 65 
 
 at them with a sweet but vacant smile, as if 
 her lover's face brought her some solace 
 in her heavy sorrow, passed on in the 
 direction of her home, for the poor girl 
 had not yet regained her reason. 
 
 Silvio touched her on the arm, as he 
 overtook her, saying, " See, Camilla, I have 
 brought you a visitor ; and if any one should 
 ask who this gentleman is, tell them he 
 is an antiquary who is studying the ruins 
 around Rome." This was the role which 
 Attilio had persuaded Manlio to play, until 
 some plan for the future had been formed. 
 After a short consultation as to the precau- 
 tions they were to observe, Attilio bade 
 them farewell, and returned to the city 
 alone, leaving behind him, with many a 
 thought of pity and stern indignation, this 
 father's humble household, devastated by 
 the devices of the foul priest. 
 
 VOL. T.
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 THE PETITION. 
 
 We must return to the sculptor's domicile, 
 where two days had elapsed after the arrest 
 of Manlio ; nor had Attilio, who was gone 
 in search of him, as yet appeared ; so that 
 the family were reduced to the greatest 
 anxiety. 
 
 " What can they be doing with your good 
 father ? " repeated constantly the weepuig 
 mother to her daughter. " Although a 
 Liberal, he has never mixed with any one 
 whose principles would compromise him. 
 He hates the priests, I know, and they 
 deserve to be hated for their vices, but 
 he has never talked about it to any one 
 but me." 
 
 Clelia shed no tears, but her grief at her 
 father's detention was almost deeper than 
 that of her mother; and at last, saddened by
 
 THE PETITION. 67 
 
 these plaints, slie said, with energy, " Weep 
 no more, mother ; tears are of no avail ; we 
 must act. We must discover where my 
 father is concealed, and, as Monna Aurelia 
 has advised, we must endeavour to procure 
 his release. Besides, Attilio is in search of 
 him, and I know he will not desist until 
 he has helped him and us, if he has not 
 already done so." 
 
 A knock interrupted Clelia's consolatory 
 words. She ran to the door, and opening 
 it, admitted a neighbour, whose name has 
 just been mentioned, Monna Aurelia, an 
 old and tried friend. 
 
 " Good day," said she, as she entered the 
 sitting-room with a cheerful countenance. 
 
 " Good day," answered Silvia, with a faint 
 smile, wiping her eyes. 
 
 " I bring you something, neighbour ; our 
 friend Cassio, whom I consulted about your 
 husband's affair, has drawn up this petition 
 on stamped paper, supplicating the cardinal 
 minister to set Manlio at liberty. He says 
 you must sign it, and had better present it 
 in person to his Eminence." 
 
 i 2
 
 08 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Silvia took the paper, and looked at it 
 doubtfully. She felt a strong aversion to 
 this proposition. Could she throw herself at 
 the feet of a person whom she despised, to 
 implore his mercy? Yet perhaps her 
 husband's life was at stake ; he might even 
 now be suffering insults, privations, even 
 torture. This thought struck a chill to 
 the heai-t of the wife, and, rising, she said 
 decidedly, " I will go with it." 
 
 Aurelia offered to accompany her, and 
 in less than half an hour the three women 
 were on the road to the palace. 
 
 At nine o'clock that same morning, as it 
 happened, the Cardinal Procopio, Minister 
 of State, had been informed by the questor 
 of the Quirinale of ]\Ianlio's escape. 
 
 Great was the fury of the prelate at the 
 unwelcome news, and he commanded the 
 immediate arrest and confinement of the 
 directors, officers on guard, dragoons, and of 
 all, in fact, who had been in charge of the 
 prison on the previous night. 
 
 Despatching the questor with this order, 
 lie summoned Gianni to his presence.
 
 THE PETITION. 69 
 
 "Why, in the devil's name, was that 
 accursed sculptor confined in the Quirinale, 
 instead of being: sent to the Castle of St. 
 Angelo ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Your Eminence," rephed Gianni, con- 
 ceitedly, " should have entrusted such im- 
 portant affairs to me, and not to a set 
 of idiots and rascals who are open to 
 corruption." 
 
 " Dost thou come here to annoy me by 
 reflections, sirrah?" blustered the priest. 
 " Search in that turnip head of thine for 
 means to bring the girl to me, or the palace 
 cellars shall hear thee squeak thy self-praise 
 to the tune of the cord or the pincers." 
 
 Gianni knew that these fearful threats 
 were not vain ones, and that, incredible as 
 it may appear to outsiders, tortures too 
 horrible to describe daily take place in the 
 Rome of the present day. Meekly sub- 
 mitting to the storm, therefore, with down- 
 cast head, the mutilated wretch — for he was 
 one of those maimed from their youth to 
 sing falsettoes in the choir of St. Peter — 
 pondered how to act.
 
 70 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 " Lift up tliine eyes, knave, if thou 
 darest, and tell me whether or no, after 
 causing me to spend such pains and money 
 in this attempt, thou hast the hope to 
 succeed ? " 
 
 Tremblingly Gianni raised his eyes to 
 his master's face as he articulated with 
 difficulty the words, " I hope to succeed." 
 
 But just as he spoke, to his considerable 
 relief, a bell rang, announcing the arrival 
 of a visitor. A servant in the Cardinal's 
 colours entered, and inquired if his Emi- 
 nence would be pleased to see three women 
 who wished to present a petition. 
 
 The Cardinal, waving his dismissal to 
 the still agitated Gianni, gave a nod of 
 assent, and assumed an unctuous expression, 
 as the three women were ushered into his 
 presence.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER. 
 
 Rome is tlie museum of the fine arts, ilie 
 great curiosit^-sliop of the world. There 
 are collected the ruins of the ancient 
 societies, temples, columns, statues, the 
 remains of Italian and Grecian genius, 
 the great works of Praxiteles, Phidias, 
 Raphael, Michael Angelo, and a hundred 
 masters. Fountains, from which arise 
 marine colossi, chiefly, alas ! in ruins, 
 meet the eye on all sides. The stranger 
 is struck with amazement and admiration 
 at the sight of these gigantic works of 
 art, upon many of which are engraved 
 the mighty battles of a wonderful by- 
 gone age. It is the fault of the priest 
 that their beauty is marred by endless 
 mitres and superstitious signs. But they 
 are still marvellous and beautiful, and ib 
 was among them that Julia, the beautiful
 
 72 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 daughter of England, was constantly to be 
 found. She had resided for several years in 
 this city of sublime memorials, and daily 
 passed the greater part of her time in 
 sketching all that to her cultivated taste 
 appeared most worthy of imitation and 
 study. Michael Angelo was her especially 
 favoured maestro, and she might frequently 
 be seen sitting for hours before his colossal 
 statue of Moses, rapt in the labour of depict- 
 ing that brow, upon which, to her vivid 
 imagination, sat an air of majestic greatness 
 that appeared almost supernatural. Born 
 and bred in free and noble England, she 
 had separated herself voluntarily from lov- 
 ing and beloved friends, that she might 
 thus wander undisturbed among the ob- 
 jects of her idolatry. Unexpectedly, her 
 pursuits had been interrupted by a 
 stronger feeling than art. She had en- 
 countered Muzio many times in the studio 
 of the sculptor Manlio; and, poor and appa- 
 rently humble as he was, Julia had found 
 under the ragged garb of a painter's model 
 her ideal of the proud race of the Quirites.
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER. 73 
 
 Yes ! though obscure, still Muzio was 
 beloved by this strange English girl. He 
 was poor, but what cared she for his 
 poverty. 
 
 And Muzio, did he know and return this 
 generous love ? * 
 
 Ah ! in truth ; but, although he would 
 have given his life to save hers, he con- 
 cealed all consciousness of her interest in 
 him, and allowed not a single action to 
 betray it, though he longe^ fervently for 
 occasion to render her some trifling ser- 
 vice ; and, at length, the opportunity came. 
 As Julia was returning from Manlio's 
 studio, some few days previous to his 
 arrest, accompanied by her faithful old 
 nurse, two drunken soldiers rushed upon 
 her from a by-way, and dragged her 
 between them some little distance, before 
 Muzio, who secretly kept her in view during 
 such transits, could come to her succour. 
 No sooner had he reached them, than he 
 struck one ruffian to the earth, seeing which, 
 his fellow ran away. The terrified Julia 
 thanked him with natural emotion, and
 
 74 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 besought him not to leave her until she 
 reached her own door. Muzio gladly ac- 
 cepted the welcome honour of the escort, 
 and felt supremely happy when, at their 
 parting, Julia gave him the favour of her 
 hand, and rewarded him with a priceless 
 smile. From this evening, Muzio's dagger 
 was consecrated to her safety, and he vowed 
 that never again should she be insulted in 
 the streets of Eome. 
 
 It befell that the same day upon which 
 Silvia went to the palace Corsini to present 
 her petition, Julia was paying one of her 
 visits to the studio. Arriving there, she 
 was informed by a lad in attendance of 
 all that had occurred. Whilst pondering 
 over the ominous tale, Attilio entered in 
 quest of the ladies, and from him the Eng- 
 lish girl learned the particulars of Manlio's 
 escape. His narration finished, Julia, in 
 turn, recounted to him all that the youth 
 had imparted to her concerning the pre- 
 sentation of the petition. 
 
 Attilio was much distressed, and could 
 with difficulty be restrained from going
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER. 75 
 
 directly to the palace in search of Silvia and 
 her daughter. This would have been very 
 imprudent, and therefore Julia offered, as 
 she had access at all times to the palace, to 
 go to the Cardinal's house, and ascertain 
 the cause of the now prolonged absence of 
 the mother and daughter, promising to 
 return and tell him the result. 
 
 Attilio, thoroughly worn out with ex- 
 citement and fatigue, yielded to Spartaco's 
 invitation to take some rest, whilst the 
 boy related to him the particulars of what 
 had passed since he left them to carry 
 out the rescue of his friend.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SICCIO. 
 
 Let us return to the year 1849, to the fatal 
 scene in which the young Muzio was robbed 
 of his patrimony. 
 
 There was an old retainer named Siccio, 
 already introduced, who had served longer 
 in the house of Pompeo than any other ; he 
 had, in fact, been bom in it, and had received 
 very many acts of kindness there. These 
 benefits he repaid by faithful love to the 
 orphan Muzio, whom he regarded almost 
 as tenderly as if he had in reality been 
 his own child. He was good, and rather 
 simple, but not so much so as to be blind 
 to the pernicious influence which Father 
 Ignazio had acquired over his indulgent 
 mistress, which he feared would be used 
 to the injury of her grandchild. 
 
 But the guardian of souls, the spiritual 
 physician, the confessor of the lady of the
 
 siccio. 77 
 
 house ! what servant would dare openly to 
 doubt him, or cross his path ? Confession, 
 too, that terrible arm of priestcraft, that 
 diabolical device for seduction, that subtle 
 means of piercing the most sacred do- 
 mestic secrets, and keeping in chains the 
 superstitious sex ! How could Siccio dare 
 openly to fight against such weapons ? 
 
 The confessor was, however, aware of the 
 good servant's mistrust, and therefore caused 
 him to be discharged a few days after the 
 Signora Virginia breathed her last, though 
 not before he had overheard a certain dia- 
 logue between Father Ignazio and Sister 
 Flavia. 
 
 "What is to be done with the child?" 
 the nun had asked. 
 
 "He must pack off to the Foundling," 
 replied he ; " there he will be safe enough 
 from the evil of this perverted century and 
 its heretical doctrines. Besides, we shall 
 have no difficulty in keeping an eye upon 
 him," he continued, with a meaning look, 
 which she returned, causing Siccio, who 
 was unseen, to prick up his ears.
 
 78 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 He straightway resolved not to leave tlie 
 innocent and helpless child in the hands of 
 these fiends, and contrived, a few nights after 
 his dismissal, to obtain an entrance to the 
 house by the excuse that he had left some 
 of his property behind. Watching his op- 
 portunity, he stole into the nursery, where 
 he found the neglected child huddled in a 
 corner crjdng with cold and hunger. Siccio, 
 taking him in his arms, soothed him until 
 he fell asleep, when he glided cautiously out 
 of the house into the street, and hired a 
 conveyance to carry them to a lodging he 
 had previously engaged at some distance 
 from the city. To elude suspicion and pur- 
 suit he had cleverly concealed the little 
 Muzio in a bundle of clothes, and, alight- 
 ing from the vehicle before he arrived at 
 his dwelling, quietly unwound and aroused 
 the child, who trotted at his side, and was 
 introduced by him to his landlady as his 
 grandson. 
 
 During the lifetime of Muzio's father, 
 who was an amateur antiquary, Siccio had 
 gained a considerable knowledge of the
 
 siccio. 79 
 
 liistory of the ruins around Rome by at- 
 tending him in his researches. This 
 knowledge, as he could not 'take service 
 as a domestic, on account of his unwilling- 
 ness to part from the child, he determined 
 to turn to account, and so become a 
 regular cicerone. His pay for services in 
 this capacity was so small, that he could 
 with difficulty provide for himself and his 
 little charge even the bare necessaries of 
 existence. This mode of living he pursued 
 however for some years, until the infirmities 
 of old age creeping upon him, he found it 
 harder than ever to procure food and shelter 
 of the commonest kind. What could he 
 now do? He looked at Muzio's graceful 
 form, and an inspiration broke upon him. 
 Yes, he would brave the danger, and take 
 him to the city, for he felt that the artists 
 and sculptors would rejoice to obtain such a 
 model. The venture was made, and Siccio 
 was elated and gratified beyond measure at 
 the admiration Muzio, now in his fifteenth 
 year, called forth from the patrons of lioman 
 ragazzi.
 
 80 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 For a while they were enabled to live in 
 comparative comfort. Siccio now dared to 
 reveal to him' the secret of his birth, and the 
 manner in which he had been despoiled, as 
 the old man at any rate suspected, of his in- 
 heritance. Great was the indignation of the 
 youth, and still greater his gratitude to the 
 good Siccio, who had toiled so uncomplain- 
 ingly for him, but from this time he steadily 
 refused to sit as a model. Work he would, 
 even menial work he did not despise, and he 
 might have been seen frequently in the 
 different studios moving massive blocks of 
 marble, for his strength far exceeded that of 
 other youths of his own age. He also now 
 and then assumed the duties of a cicerone, 
 when the aged Siccio was unable to leave 
 the house from sickness. His youthful 
 beauty often induced strangers to give him 
 a gratuity ; but as he was never seen to 
 hold out his liand, the lazzaroni of Rome 
 called him ironically " Signor." 
 
 In spite of his eifoi-ts Muzio was unable, 
 as Siccio's feebleness increased, to provide 
 for all their wants ; and he became gloomy
 
 siccio. 81 
 
 and morose. One remarkable evening, when 
 Siccio was sitting alone, shortly after Julia's 
 adventure, a woman closely veiled entered 
 his mean little room, and placing a heavy 
 purse upon the table, she said — 
 
 " Here is something, my worthy friend, 
 which may be useful to you. Scruple not to 
 employ it, and seek not to discover the name 
 of the donor, or should you by chance learn 
 it let it be your own secret." And thus, 
 without giving the astonished old man time 
 to recover his speech, she went out, closing 
 the door behind her. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 THE CORSINI PALACE. 
 
 " This is truly an unexpected blessing — a 
 fountain in the desert," thought the Car- 
 dinal, as the three women were ushered into 
 the audience-chamber : " Providence serves 
 me better than these knaves by whom 1 
 am surrounded." Casting an undisguised 
 look of admiration at Clelia, who stood 
 modestly behind her mother, he said aloud, 
 " Let the petition be brought forward." 
 
 Monna Aurelia, considerately taking the 
 document from Silvia, advanced with it, 
 and presented it on her knees. 
 
 After perusing it with apparent atten- 
 tion, the Cardinal addressed Aurelia, saying, 
 " So you are the wife of that Manlio who 
 takes upon himself to shelter and protect 
 the enemies of the state, of his Holiness 
 the Pope?" 
 
 " It is I who am the wife of Sign or
 
 THE CORSINI PALACE. 83 
 
 Manlio, your Eminence," said Silvia, ad- 
 vancing. " This lady," pointing to Aurelia, 
 " kindly offered to appear before your Emi- 
 nence, and assure you that neither my 
 husband nor I have ever meddled with 
 politics, and that we are persons of un- 
 questioned honesty." 
 
 "Unquestioned honesty!" repeated the 
 Cardinal, in simulated anger. " Why, 
 then, as you are so very honest, do you 
 first shelter heretics and enemies of the 
 state, and then assist them to escape in 
 such an unpardonable manner ? " 
 
 " To escape !" exclaimed Clelia, who had 
 hitherto preserved her presence of mind. 
 " Then my father is no longer confined in 
 this dreadful place " — and a flush of joy 
 spread itself over her lovely features. 
 
 " Yes, he has escaped ; but ere long he 
 will be re-taken, and must ansvvTr for his 
 double crime," said the Cardinal. 
 
 These words gave a blow to Silvia's new- 
 bom hopes, and, wliat with surprise, fear, 
 and excitement, slie fell back into lier 
 daughter's arms in a swoon. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 The Cardinal, hardened to such, scenes, at 
 once determined to take advantage of it, so, 
 summoning some servants, he ordered them 
 to convey the fainting woman and her 
 friends to another room, where proper reme- 
 dies could be applied to restore the stricken 
 wife. As they made their exit, he rubbed 
 his soft hands gleefully, saying to himself, 
 " Ah, my pretty one ! you shall not leave 
 the palace until you have paid me a fee." 
 He then sent for Gianni, who, recognising 
 the trio at their entry, had remained at 
 hand, as he divined his services would be 
 needed. When he presented himself, his 
 master chuckled out — 
 
 " Ebben, Signor Gianni ! Providence 
 beats your boasted ability out and out." 
 
 Gianni, knowing that all was sunshine 
 again when he was thus dignified by the 
 title " Signor," answered, " Have I not 
 always said your Eminence was bom under 
 a lucky star ? " 
 
 " Well," continued the profane Cardinal, 
 " since Providence favours me, it now only 
 rests with 3'ou, Gianni, to finish the matter
 
 THE CORSINI PALACE. 85 
 
 off." Then he continued, "Follow the 
 women, and see that every respect is paid 
 them ; and when they are calmed, direct 
 Father Ignazio to send for the elder woman 
 and the wife of the sculptor, under pretence 
 of questioning them about his escape, that 
 I may have an opportunity of conversing 
 alone with the incomparable Clelia." 
 
 Bowing profoundly, the scoundrel de- 
 parted to execute his dissolute master's 
 commands. 
 
 As he passed out, a lackey entered, an- 
 nouncing that " La Signora Inglese " 
 wished to see his Eminence on business. 
 
 " Introduce her," said Procorpio, stroking 
 his chin complacently ; for he congratulated 
 himself, in spite of the interruption, on 
 his good fortune, as he admired the young 
 Englishwoman excessively. 
 
 Julia greeted him frankly as an acquaint- 
 ance, holding out her hand in the English 
 fashion, which he took, expressing in warm 
 terms, as he led her to a seat, his delight 
 at seeing her. 
 
 "And to what am I to attribute the
 
 86 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 felicity of again receiving you so soon under 
 my roof? This room," he continued, "so 
 lately brightened by your presence, has a 
 renewed grace for me now." 
 
 Julia seated herself, and replied, gravely, 
 lor she was slightly discomposed by the 
 Cardinal's flattery, " Your Eminence is too 
 condescending. As you well know, my 
 former object in coming to the palace was 
 to crave leave to copy some of the chefs- 
 d'oeuvre with which it is adorned ; but 
 to-day I am here on a different errand." 
 
 The Cardinal, drawino" a chair to her 
 side and seating himself, said, " And may I 
 inquire its nature, beautiful lady?" placing, 
 as he spoke, his hands upon hers with an 
 insinuating pressure. 
 
 Julia, resenting the Cardinal's familiarity, 
 drew her chair back ; but, as he again ap- 
 proached, she stood up, and placed it be- 
 tween them, saying, as he attempted to 
 rise, and with a look that made him flinch, 
 " You surely forget yourself, Monseigneur ; 
 be seated, or I must leave you." 
 
 The prelate, profoundly abashed by the
 
 THE CORSINI PAIACE. 87 
 
 dignity of the English girl, obeyed, and she 
 continued, " My object is to obtain in- 
 formation of the wife and daughter of the 
 sculptor Manlio, who, I am told, came to 
 the palace some hours ago to present a 
 petition to your Eminence." 
 
 " They came here, but have already left," 
 stammered Procopio, as soon as he had 
 recovered from his surprise. 
 
 *' Is it long since they quitted your 
 Eminence ? " asked Julia. 
 
 "But a few minutes," was the reply. 
 
 " I presume they have left the palace, 
 then ? " 
 
 " Assuredly," affirmed he, unblushingly. 
 
 Julia, with a gesture of incredulity, 
 bowed, and took her leave. 
 
 What is there perfect in the world? The 
 English nation is by no means exempt from 
 imperfection ; yet the English are the only 
 people who can be compared with the 
 ancient Romans, for they resemble each 
 other in the splendid selfishness of their 
 virtues and their vices. 
 
 Egotists and conquerors, the history of
 
 88 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 both abounds in crime committed either in 
 their own dominions, or in those countries 
 which they invaded and subdued. Many are 
 the nations they have overthrown to satisfy 
 their boundless thirst for gold and power. 
 
 Yet who dare deny that the Britons, with 
 all their faults, have contributed immensely 
 to the civilisation and social advancement 
 of mankind ? They have laid the grand 
 foundations of a new ideal of humanity, 
 erect, inflexible, majestic, free ; obeying no 
 masters but the laws which they them- 
 selves have made — no kings but those 
 whom they themselves control. 
 
 By untiring patience and indomitable 
 legality, this people has known how to 
 reconcile government and order with the 
 liberty of a self-ruling community. 
 
 England has become a sanctuary, an 
 inviolable refuge, for the fugitive and 
 unfortunate of all other nations. Those 
 proscribed by tyrants, and the tyrants who 
 have proscribed them, flee alike to her 
 hospitable shores, and find shelter, on the 
 single condition of taking their place as
 
 THE CORSINI PALACE. 89 
 
 citizens among citizens, and yielding obe- 
 dience to the sovereign laws. 
 
 England, too, be it ever remembered, 
 first proclaimed to the world the emancipa- 
 tion of the slave, and her people willingly 
 submitted to an increased taxation in order 
 to carry out this glorious act in all her 
 colonies. Her descendants in America 
 have, after a long and bloody struggle 
 between freedom and oligarchy, banished 
 slavery also for ever from the New World. 
 
 Lastly, to England Italy is largely 
 indebted for her reconstruction, by reason 
 of that resolute proclamation of fair play 
 and non-intervention in the Straits of 
 Messina in 1860. 
 
 To France Italy is also, indeed, indebted, 
 since so many of her heroic soldiers fell in 
 the Italian cause in the battles of Solferino 
 and Magenta. She has also profited, like 
 the rest of the world, by the writings of the 
 great minds of France, and by her principles 
 of justice and freedom. To France, more- 
 over, we owe, in a great measure, the aboli- 
 tion of piracy in the Mediterranean.
 
 1)0 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 France marched, in truth, for some cen- 
 turies alone, and as the leader in civilisation. 
 
 The time was when slie proclaimed and 
 propagated liberty to the world ; but she 
 has now, alas ! fallen, and is crouching 
 before the image of a fictitious greatness, 
 while her ruler endeavours to cajole the 
 nation which he professed to emancipate, 
 and employs his troops to deprive Italy of 
 the freedom which he helped to give her. 
 
 Let us hope that, for the welfare of 
 humanity, France will, ere long, resume 
 her proper position, and, united with Eng- 
 land, once again use her sublime power 
 to put down violence and corruption, and 
 raise the standard of universal liberty and 
 progress.
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 ENGLISH JULIA. 
 
 In Siccio's little room there was gathered 
 that same evening a group of three persons 
 who would have gladdened the heart and 
 eyes of any judge of manly and womanly 
 beauty. 
 
 Is it a mere caprice of chance to be born 
 beautiful ? The spirit is not always reflected 
 in the form. I have known many a noble 
 heai*t enshrined in an unpleasing body. 
 Nevertheless, man is drawn naturally to the 
 beautiful. A fine figure and noble features 
 instinctively call forth not only admiration, 
 but confidence ; and every one rejoices in 
 having a handsome father, a beautiful mo- 
 ther, fine children ; or a leader resembling 
 Achilles rather than Thersites. On the 
 other hand, how much injustice and mor- 
 tification are often borne on account of
 
 92 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 deformity, and how many are the wounds 
 inflicted by thoughtless persons on those 
 wrongly afflicted by their undisguised con- 
 tempt or more cruel pity. 
 
 JuHa, for she it is who shone the love- 
 liest of our triad, had just returned from 
 her visit to the palace, and related to her 
 auditors, Attilio and Muzio, what had 
 transpired. 
 
 " Yes ! " she exclaims, " he told me they 
 were gone ; but you see how powerful is 
 gold to obtain the truth, even in that 
 den of vice ! The ladies are there de- 
 tained. I bought the fact from one of his 
 people." 
 
 Attilio, much disturbed, passed liis hand 
 over his brow as he paced and re-paced 
 the floor. 
 
 Julia, seeing how perturbed in spirit he 
 was by her discovery, went to him, and, 
 placing her hand with a gentle pressure 
 upon his shoulder, besought him to be 
 calm, saj'ing that he needed all possible 
 self-control and presence of mind to pro- 
 cure his betrothed's release.
 
 ENGLISH JULIA. 93 
 
 "You are right, Signora," said Muzio, 
 who until now had remained silent, but 
 watchful; "you are ever right." 
 
 The triad had already discussed a plan 
 of rescue ; and Muzio proposed to let 
 Silvio know, and to engage him to meet 
 them with some of his companions at ten 
 o'clock. 
 
 Muzio was noble-minded, and though he 
 loved the beautiful stranger with all the 
 force of his passionate Southern nature, he 
 felt no thought of jealousy as he thus pre- 
 pared to leave her alone with his attractive 
 friend. 
 
 Nor did Julia run any danger from her 
 warm feeling of compassion for Attiho, 
 for her love for Muzio, though as yet 
 unspoken, was pure and inalienable — a love 
 that no change of fortune, time, or even 
 death, could destroy. Slie had but lately 
 learned the story of his birth and misfor- 
 tunes, and this, be sure, had not served to 
 lessen it. 
 
 " No," she replied ; " I will bid you both 
 adieu for the present. At ten o'clock I shall
 
 94 THE RULE OF THE MO^K. 
 
 await you in a carriage near tlie Piazza, and 
 I will receive the ladies, and cany them, 
 when you have liberated them, to a place 
 of safety." 
 
 So saying, she beckoned to her nurse to 
 follow, and departed to make the necessary 
 arrangements for the flight of the sculptor's 
 family, whose cause she had magnani- 
 mously espoused, ignoring completely the 
 personal danger she was incurring.
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 RETRIBUTION. 
 
 Justice ! sacred word, how art thou 
 abused by the powerful upon earth ! Was 
 not Christ, the just one, crucified in the 
 name of justice ? Was not Galileo put to 
 the torture in the name of justice? And 
 are not the laws of this unjust Babel, 
 falsely called civilised Europe, made and 
 administered in the name of justice? Aye, 
 in Europe, where the man willing to 
 work dies of hunger, and the idle and 
 profligate flaunt in luxury and splendour ! 
 — in Europe, where a few families govern the 
 nations, and keep them in a chronic state of 
 warfare under the high sounding names of 
 justice, loyalty, military glory, and the like ! 
 And in the name of justice there in the 
 palace sit Procopio and Ignazio. Outside are 
 the " rabble " — Attilio, forsooth, Muzio, and
 
 96 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Silvio, with a score of the Three Hundred, 
 who mean to have justice after their own 
 fashion. The hearts of these common people 
 are glad and gay, as on the eve of a feast. 
 It is true they beat, but it is in confident 
 hope, for the hour of their duty is near. 
 They pace the Lungara in parties of twos 
 and threes, to avoid suspicion, awaiting the 
 striking of the clock. Whilst they linger 
 outside, we will enter, and take a retrospect. 
 When Gianni summoned Aurelia and 
 Silvio to attend Father Ignazio, Clelia, 
 suspecting treachery, drew a golden stiletto 
 from her hair, and secreted it in her belt, 
 that it might be at hand in the event of 
 her needin"- it to defend herself. 
 
 o 
 
 The prelate, meantime, having attired 
 himself in his richest robes, in the hope 
 that their magnificence might have an effect 
 upon the simple girl, prepared, as he face- 
 tiously termed it, "to summon the fortress." 
 Opening the door of the apartment in which 
 Clelia was anxiously awaiting her mother's 
 return, he entered with a false benignancy 
 upon his face.
 
 RETRIBUTION. 97 
 
 " You must pardon us," he said, " for 
 having detained you so long, my daughter, 
 but I wished to assure you in person that 
 no harm shall befall your father, as well as," 
 he continued — and here he caught up her 
 hand — " to tell you, most lovely of women, 
 that since I beheld you first my heart has 
 not ceased to burn with the warmest love 
 for you." 
 
 Clelia, startled by the words, and the 
 passionate look which the Cardinal fixed 
 upon her, instinctively drew back a little, 
 so as to leave more space, and place a small 
 table between them. 
 
 A shameful burst of insult and odious 
 entreaty followed this movement. In vain 
 did Procopio plead, urging that her con- 
 sent alone could procure her father's pardon. 
 Clelia continued to preserve her look of 
 horror, and her majestic scorn, contriving 
 by her movements to keep the table be- 
 tween them. Enraged beyond measure, 
 the Cardinal made a sign to his creatures, 
 Ignazio and Gianni, who were near at hand, 
 to enter. 
 
 VOL. I. II
 
 9S THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Clelia/compreliending her danger, snatched 
 forth her dagger, and exclaimed in an in- 
 dignant voice, " Touch me at your peril ! 
 rather than submit to your infamous desires 
 I will plunge this poniard into my heart !" 
 
 The libidinous prelate, not understanding 
 such virtue, approached to wrest the weapon 
 from the Eoman girl, but received a gash 
 upon his palm, as she snatched it free, and 
 stood upon the defensive, with majestic 
 anger and desperation. He called to his 
 satellites, and they closed like a band of 
 fiends about the maiden ; nor was it till 
 their blood was drawn by more than one 
 thrust from her despair, that Grianni caught 
 the wrist of Clelia, as she strove to plunge 
 the knife into her own heart, while Father 
 Ignazio passed swiftly ])ehind her, and 
 seized her left hand, motioning to Gianni 
 to hold the right fast, and the Cardinal 
 himself threw his arms around her. The 
 heroic girl was thus finally deprived of 
 her weapon. This achieved, they proceeded 
 to drag her towards an alcove, which was 
 concealed behind a curtain of tapestry.
 
 RETRIBUTION. 99 
 
 At this instant, happily for our heroine, 
 there was a sudden crash in the vestibule, 
 and as her assailants turned their heads 
 in the direction of the sound, two manly 
 forms, terrible in their fiery wrath and 
 grace, rushed forward. The first, Attilio, 
 flew to his beloved, who, from revulsion of 
 feeling, was becoming rapidly insensible, and 
 tore her from the villains ; while the prelate 
 and his accomplices yielded their hold with 
 a ciy, and endeavoured to escape. This 
 Muzio prevented by barring the way; and 
 bidding Silvio, and some of his men, who 
 arrived at this juncture, to surround them, 
 he drew forth a cord, and, after gagging the 
 three scoundrels, he commenced binding the 
 arms of the aflrighted prelate, his friends 
 similarly treating Ignazio and the trembling 
 tool Gianni. Many and abject were the 
 gestures of these miserable men for mercy, 
 but none was shown by their infuriated 
 captors. The prayers and curses of the 
 Cardinal were choked with his own mantle ; 
 and Muzio did not refrain, as Father 
 Ignazio writhed under the pressure of the 
 
 II 2
 
 100 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 cord, from reminding him of his villany in 
 robbing a helpless child of his lawful in- 
 heritance. 
 
 At dawn three bodies, suspended from a 
 window of the Corsini palace, were seen by 
 the awakening people ; and a paper was 
 found upon the breast of the Cardinal, 
 with these words : "So perish all those 
 who have polluted the metroj)olis of the 
 world with falsehood, corruption, and 
 deceit ; and turned it into a sewer and 
 a stew."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE EXILE. 
 
 The sun of that avenging morning was 
 beginning to shed its rays upon the few 
 stragglers in the Forum who, with pale 
 squalid faces betokening hunger and misery, 
 shook their rags free of dust as they rose 
 from their unrefreshed slumbers, when a 
 carriaofe containing: four women rolled 
 through the suburbs. It passed rapidly 
 along towards those vast uninhabited plains, 
 where little is to be seen except, here and 
 there, a wooden cross, reminding the tra- 
 veller unpleasantly that on that spot a 
 murder has been committed. 
 
 Arriving at the little house already twice 
 mentioned, its occupants alighted ; and who 
 shall describe the joy of that meeting. 
 Julia and Aurelia contemplated in silence 
 the reunion of the now happy Manlio with
 
 102 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 his wife and daughter, for all the prisoners 
 of the wicked palace were free. 
 
 Camilla also watched their tears of glad- 
 ness, but without any clear comprehension. 
 Could she have known the fate of the 
 Cardinal, it might perchance have restored 
 her reason. After a thousand questions 
 had been asked and answered, Manlio ad- 
 dressed Julia, saying — ■ 
 
 " Exile, alas ! is all that remains for us. 
 This atrocious Government cannot endure ; 
 but until it is annihilated we must absent 
 ourselves from our home and friends." 
 
 "Yes, yes! you must fly!" Julia said. 
 " But it will not be long, I trust, ere you 
 will be able to return to Eome, and find 
 her cleansed from the slavery under which 
 she now groans. My yacht is lying at 
 Porto d' Anzo ; we will make all haste to 
 gain it, and I hope to see you embark 
 safely in the course of a few hours." 
 
 A yacht ! I hoar some of my Italian 
 readers cry. What part of a woman's 
 belongings can this be ? A yacht, then, is 
 a small vessel in which the sea-loving and
 
 THE EXILE. 103 
 
 wealthy British take their pleasure on the 
 ocean, for they fear not the storm, the 
 heat of the torrid zone, nor the cold of the 
 frozen ocean. Albion's sons, aye, and her 
 daughters too, leave their comfortable fire- 
 sides, and find life, health, strength, and 
 happiness in inhaling the briny air on board 
 their own beautiful craft in pursuit of en- 
 joyment and knowledge. France, Spain, and 
 Italy have not this little word " yacht " 
 in their dictionaries. Their rich men dare 
 not -seek their pleasure upon the waves — 
 they give themselves to the foolish luxuries 
 of great cities, and hence is it that names 
 like Eodney and Nelson are not in their 
 histories. Britannia has always loved and 
 " ruled the waves " for centuries. Her 
 wooden walls have been her inviolable 
 defence. Long may her new iron-sides 
 aad ramparts prove the same, aad pro- 
 tect her hospitable shores against foreign 
 foes ! 
 
 But a yacht is a strange thing for a 
 woman to possess. True, but English 
 Julia in childhood was of delicate con-
 
 104 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 stitution ; the physicians prescribed a sea 
 voyage, and her opulent parents equipped 
 a pleasure- vessel for her use. Thus Julia 
 became so devoted to the blue waves that, 
 even when the balmy air of Italy had re- 
 stored her to robust health, she continued, 
 when inclination disposed her, to make 
 little voyages of romance, discovery, and 
 freedom in the waters of the Mediterranean. 
 Thus it was that she could offer so timely 
 a refuge to the family of the sculptor.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE BATHS OF CARACALLA. 
 
 Imagine the consternation in Rome on the 
 15th of February, the day following the 
 tragic death of the Cardinal Procopio 
 and his two abettors. Grreat, indeed, was 
 the agitation of the city when the three 
 bodies were seen dangling from the upper 
 window of the palace. The rumour spread 
 rapidly, and the immense crowd under the 
 facade increased more and more, until a 
 battalion of foreign soldiers, sent for by the 
 terrified priests, appeared in the Lungara, 
 and driving the people back, surrounded 
 and entered the palace. To tell the truth, 
 the soldiers laughed sometimes at the jests, 
 coarse but witty, which were flung by the 
 mob at the three corpses as they com- 
 menced hauling them up. Many were 
 the bitter things that passed below.
 
 lOG THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 " Let them down head over heels," 
 shouted one ; " your work will be finished 
 the sooner." 
 
 " Play the devil-fish steadily, that they 
 may not slip from the hook," hallooed 
 another. 
 
 By-and-by the cord to which the cor- 
 pulent body of the prelate was attached 
 broke as the soldiers attempted to hoist it 
 up, and hoarser than ever were the shouts 
 of laughter with which it was greeted as it 
 fell with a heavy shock upon the pavement. 
 
 Muzio, who was surveying the avenging 
 spectacle, turned to Silvio, sa^dng, with a 
 shudder, " Let us away; this laughter is 
 not to my taste now they have paid their 
 debt." 
 
 In truth, Pasquin is almost the only real 
 survivor of ancient Rome. Would that 
 our people possessed the gravity and force 
 of those times, when our forefathers elected 
 the great dictators ; or bought and sold, at a 
 high price, the lands upon which Hannibal 
 was at the time being encamped. Put it 
 must be long before their souls can be
 
 THE BATHS OF CARACALLA. 107 
 
 freed from the plague of priestly corruption, 
 and before they can once more be worthy 
 of their ancient fame and name. 
 
 " We must have patience with them," 
 observed Silvio. " Slavery reduces man to 
 the level of the beast. These priests have 
 themselves inculcated the rude mockery 
 which we hear. At least, it could have 
 no fitter objects than those dead carcases. 
 Eeproach not the people to-day — mud is 
 good enough for dead dogs." 
 
 Thus discoursing, the friends made their 
 way through the crowd, and separated, 
 having first appointed to meet at the end 
 of the week in the studio of Attilio. 
 
 On the day in question they found the 
 young artist at home, and gave him a 
 detailed account of what they had wit- 
 nessed under the palace windows. It was 
 the time for the re-assembling of the Three 
 Hundred, but, before setting out to meet 
 their associates at the Baths of Caracalla, 
 they lay down to rest for a few hours ; 
 and while they slumber we will give some 
 account of the place of assignation.
 
 108 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Masters of the world, and wealthy beyond 
 compute from its manifold spoils, the ancient 
 Romans gave themselves up, in the later days 
 of the Republic, to fashion, luxurionsness, 
 and excesses of all kinds. The toils of the 
 field — ^whether of battle or of agriculture — 
 although they had conduced to make them 
 hardy and healthy before their triumphs, 
 had now become distasteful and odious. 
 Their limbs, rendered effeminate by a new 
 and fatal voluptuousness, grew at last un- 
 equal even to the weight of their arms, 
 and they chose out the stoutest from 
 among their slaves to serve as soldiers. 
 The foreign people by whom they were 
 surrounded failed not to note the advan- 
 tage which time and change were preparing 
 for them over their dissolute masters. They 
 rose with Goth and Ostrogoth to free them- 
 selves from the heavy yoke. They fell 
 upon the queenly city on all sides, dis- 
 crowned her of her imperial diadem, and 
 bore away her uncounted riches. 
 
 Such was the fate of that gigantic em- 
 pire, which fell, as all powers ought to
 
 THE BATHS OF CARACALLA. 109 
 
 fall which have been based on violence 
 and injustice. 
 
 One of the chief imported luxuries of 
 the degenerate Romans was the thermae, or 
 baths, edifices upon which immense sums 
 were lavished to make them beautiful and 
 commodious in the extreme. Some were 
 private, others public. The emperors vied 
 with each other to render them celebrated 
 and attractive. Caracalla, the unworthy 
 son of Severus, and one of the very vilest 
 of the line of Caesars, built the vast pile 
 still called by his evil name ; the ruins 
 of which forcibly illustrate the splendour 
 of the past sovereignty, and the causes 
 of its swift decay. The greater number of 
 these conspicuous and magnificent build- 
 ings in the city of Eome have subterranean 
 passages attached to them, provided by 
 their original possessors as a means of 
 escape in times of danger, or to conceal the 
 results of rapine or violence. It was in the 
 subterranean passages connected with the 
 Baths of Caracalla that the Three Hundred 
 had agreed to meet, and as the darkness of
 
 110 THE IIULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 night crept on, the outposts of the con- 
 spirators, like gliding shadows, planted 
 themselves silently at the approaches to 
 this wilderness of antique stones, from time 
 to time challenging, in a whisper, other and 
 more numerous shadows, which slowly con- 
 verged to the spot.
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 THE TRAITOR. 
 
 The liberation of Manlio and the execu- 
 tion of tlie Cardinal gave an unexpected 
 blow to the Pontifical Grovernment, and 
 aroused it from, its previous easy lethargy. 
 All the foreign and native soldiers avail- 
 able were put under arms, and the police 
 v/ere everywhere on the qui vive, arresting 
 upon the slightest suspicion citizens of all 
 classes, so that the prisons speedily became 
 filled to overflowing. 
 
 A member of the Three Hundred — 
 shameful to say — had been bought over to 
 act as a spy upon the movements of his 
 comrades. Happily, he was not one of 
 those select members chosen to assist in the 
 attack upon the Quirinale prison, or the 
 release of Silvia and Clelia. Of the pro- 
 posed meeting at the Baths of Caracal! a he
 
 112 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 was nevertheless cognisant, and had duly 
 given information of it to the police. 
 
 Now, Italian conspirators make use of 
 a counter police, at the head of which 
 was Muzio. 
 
 His garb of lazzarone served him in 
 good stead, and by favour of it he often 
 managed to obtain information from those 
 in the pay of the priests, who commonly 
 employ the poor and WTetched people that 
 beg for bread in the streets and market- 
 places of Rome in the capacity of spies. 
 
 But this time he was ill-informed. The 
 last conspirator had entered the subter- 
 ranean passage, and Attilio had put the 
 question, " Are the sentinels at their 
 posts?" wdien a low sound, like the hiss- 
 ing of a snake, resounded through the 
 vault. This was Muzio 's signal of alarm, 
 and he himself appeared at the arch- 
 way. 
 
 " There is no time to be lost," said he ; 
 " we are already hemmed in on one side 
 by an armed force, and at the southern 
 exit another is taking up its position."
 
 THE TRAITOIl. 113 
 
 This imminent danger, instead of making 
 these brave 3'ouths tremble, served but to 
 fill them with stern resolve and courage. 
 
 Attilio looked once on the strong band 
 assembled around him, and then bade 
 Silvio take two men and go to the en- 
 trance to reconnoitre. 
 
 Another sentinel approached at this mo- 
 ment from the south, and corroborated 
 Muzio's statement. 
 
 The sentinels from the remaining points 
 failing to appear, a fear that they had been 
 arrested fell upon the young men, and their 
 leader was somewhat troubled on this ac- 
 count, until Silvio returned, and reported 
 that upon nearing the mouth of the pas- 
 sage he had seen them. At this moment 
 they heard a few shots, and immediately 
 after the sentinels in question entered, and 
 informed the chief that they had witnessed 
 a large number of troops gathering, and 
 had fired upon one file, which had ventured 
 to advance. 
 
 Attilio, seeing that delay would be 
 ruinous, commanded Muzio to charge out 
 
 VOL. 1. I
 
 114 THE RULE OP THE MONK. 
 
 with a third of the company, he himself 
 would follow up with his own third, and 
 Silvio was to hurl the rearmost section 
 upon the troops. 
 
 Attilio briefly said, "It is the moment 
 of deeds, not words. No matter how large 
 the number opposed to us, we must carve 
 a road through them with our daggers." 
 Me then directed Muzio to lead on a de- 
 tachment of twenty men, with a swift 
 rush, upon the enemy, promising to follow 
 quickly. 
 
 Muzio, quickly forming his twenty men, 
 wrapped his cloak around his left arm, and 
 grasping his weapon firmly in his right 
 liand, gave the word to charge out. 
 
 In a few moments the cavernous vault 
 startled those outside by vomiting a torrent 
 of furious men ; and as the youths rushed 
 upon the satellites of despotism, the Pope's 
 soldiers heading the division had not even 
 time to level their guns before they were 
 wrenched from their grasp, and many re- 
 ceived their death-blow. ^ 
 
 The others, thoroughly demoralised at
 
 THE TRAITOR. 115 
 
 the cry of the second and third divisions 
 bursting forth, took to headlong and 
 shameful flight. The Campo Vaccino, and 
 the lanes of Rome leading to the Campi- 
 doglio, were in a short time filled with 
 the fugitives, stiU pursued by those whom 
 they should have taken prisoners. 
 
 Helmets, swords, and guns, lay scattered 
 in all directions, and more were wounded 
 by the weapons of their own friends in 
 their fl.ight, than by the daggers of their 
 pursuers ; in effect, the rout was ludicrous 
 and complete. 
 
 The brave champions of Roman liberty, 
 satisfied with having so utterly discomfited 
 the mercenaries of his Holiness, dispersed, 
 and returned to their several homes. 
 
 Amongst the dead bodies discovered next 
 morning near the baths was that of a mere 
 youth, whose beard had scarcely begun to 
 cover his face with down ; he was lying on 
 his back, and on his breast was the shame- 
 ful word " traitor," pinned with a dagger. 
 He had been recognised by the Three 
 Hundred, and swiftly punished. 
 
 I 2
 
 IIG THE nULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Poor Paolo, alas ! had had the misfortune 
 — for misfortune it proved — to fall in love 
 with the daughter of a priest, who, enacting 
 the part of a Delilah, betrayed him to her 
 father as soon as she had learned he was 
 connected with a secret conspiracy. To 
 save his life, the wretched youth con- 
 sented to become a paid spy in the ser- 
 vice of the priesthood, and it was thus 
 he drew his pay. 
 
 The worth of one intrepid spirit, as 
 Attilio showed, is inestimable ; a single 
 man of lion heart can put to fliglit a 
 whole army. 
 
 On the other hand, how contagious is 
 fear. We have seen whole armies seized by 
 a terrible panic in open day at a cry of 
 "Escape who can," "Cavalry," "The 
 enemy," or even at the sound of a few 
 shots — armies, too, that had fought, and 
 would again fight patiently and gallantl3\ 
 
 Fear is shameful and degrading, and we 
 think the southern nations of Europe are 
 more liable to it than the cooler and more 
 serious peoples of the north ; but never
 
 THE TRAITOR. 117 
 
 may we see an Italian army succumb to 
 that sudden ague-fit which kills the man^ 
 even though he seems to save his life 
 thereby !
 
 CHAPTEE XXL 
 
 THE TORTURE. 
 
 As tlie liour of solemn vengeance had not 
 yet struck, fright, and fright alone, was for 
 the black-robed rulers of Eome the result 
 of the events we have detailed. 
 
 The priests were in mortal terror lest 
 the thread by which the sword of popular 
 wrath was suspended should be cut. 
 
 The hour, however, had not struck ; the 
 measure of the cup was not full ; the God 
 of justice delayed the day of His retribution. 
 
 Know you what the lust of priests is to 
 torture ? Do you know that by the priests 
 Galileo was tortured? — Galileo, the greatest 
 of Italians ! Wlio but priests could have 
 committed him to the torture ? AVlio but 
 a Popish prelate could have condemned to 
 death by starvation in a walled-up prison 
 Uerolino and his four sons?
 
 THE TORTURE. 119 
 
 Where but in Rome have priests hated 
 virtue and learning while they fostered 
 ignorance and patronised vice ? Woe to 
 the man who, gifted by God above his 
 fellows, has dared to exhibit his talent in 
 Papal Italy. Has he not been immediately 
 consigned to moral and physical torturers, 
 until he admitted darkness was light ? 
 
 Is it not surprising that, in spite of the 
 light of the nineteenth century, a people 
 should be found willing to believe the 
 blasphemous fables called the doctrines of 
 the Church, and the priests permitted to 
 hold or withhold salvation at their 
 pleasure, and to exercise such power that 
 rulers court their alliance as a means of 
 enabling them the more effectually to 
 keep in subjection their miserable sub- 
 jects ? 
 
 In England, America, and Switzerland, 
 the torture has been abolished. There 
 progress is not a mere word. In Eome the 
 torture exists in all its power, though con- 
 cealed. Light has yet to penetrate the 
 secrets of those dens of infamy called
 
 120 THE RULK OF THE MONK. 
 
 cloisters, seminaries, convents, where beings, 
 male and female, are immured as long as 
 life lasts, and are bound by terrible vows 
 to resign for ever the ties of natural 
 affection and sacred friendship. 
 
 Fearful are the punishments inflicted 
 upon any hapless member suspected of 
 being lax in his belief, or desirous of being 
 released from his oaths. Redress for them 
 is impossible in a country where despotism 
 is absolute, and the liberty of the press 
 chained. 
 
 Yes, in Rome, where sits the Vicar of 
 God, the representative of Christ, the man 
 of peace, the torture, we say, still exists as 
 in the times of St. Dominic and Torque- 
 mada. The cord and the pincers are in 
 constant requisition in these present days 
 of political convulsion. 
 
 Poor Dentato, the sergeant of dragoons 
 who facilitated the escape of Manlio, soon 
 experienced this. He had been unfortu- 
 nately identified as engaged at the Quirinale. 
 Morning, noon, and night, means too 
 horrible to divulge were resorted to for
 
 THE TORTURE. 121 
 
 the purpose of compelling him to give up 
 the names of those concerned in the attack 
 upon the prison. Failing to gain their 
 point, he had been left by his tormentors 
 a shapeless mass, imploring his persecutors 
 to show their mercy by putting him to 
 death. 
 
 Unhappy man ! the executioners falsely 
 declared he had denounced his accomplices, 
 and continued daily to make fresh arrests. 
 
 Yet the world still tolerates those fiends 
 in human form, and kings moreover impose 
 them' upon our unhappy countries. God 
 grant the people of Italy may before long 
 have the will and the courage to break this 
 hateful yoke from ofi" their necks ! Grod set 
 us free — before we are weary of praying — 
 from those who take His holy name in 
 vain, and chase Christ himself out of the 
 Temple to set their money- changing stalls 
 therein !
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 THE BRIGANDS. 
 
 Let us for a time depart from these scenes 
 of horror, and follow our fugitives on the 
 road to Porto d'Anzo. Their hearts are 
 sad, for they are leaving many dear to 
 them behind in the city, and their road is 
 one of danger, until they reach the sea ; 
 but, as they breathe the pure air of their 
 beloved country, their spirits revive. That 
 country, once so populated and fertile, is 
 now all barren and deserted — indeed, it 
 would be difficult to find another spot on 
 earth that presents so many objects of past 
 grandeur and present misery as the Roman 
 Campagna. The ruins, scattered on all 
 sides, give pleasure to the antiquary, and 
 convince him of the prosperity and gran- 
 deur of its ancient inhabitants, while the 
 sportsman finds beasts and birds enough
 
 THE BRIGANDS. 123 
 
 to satisfy him ; but the lover of mankind 
 mourns over it as a grave-yard of past 
 glories, with the priests for sextons. The 
 proprietors of these vast plains are few, 
 and those few clerics, who are too much 
 absorbed by the pleasures and vices of the 
 city, to visit their properties, keeping, at 
 the most, a few flocks of sheep or buffaloes. 
 
 Brigandage is inseparable from priestly 
 government, which is easy to understand, 
 when we remember that it is supported by 
 the aid of cowardly and brutal mercenaries. 
 These men, becoming robbers, murderers, 
 and criminal ofienders, flee to such places 
 as this historical desert, where they find 
 undisturbed refuge and shelter. 
 
 Statistics prove that in Rome murders 
 are of more frequent occurrence in propor- 
 tion to the population than in any other 
 city. And how, indeed, can it be otherwise, 
 when we consider the corrupt education 
 instilled by the priests ? 
 
 But other outlaws are styled brigands, 
 besides these recruited from the runaway 
 hirelings of the priests, who have committed
 
 124 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 such dreadful ravages during the last few- 
 years. We have a sympathy for the wild 
 spirits who are falsely said to live by 
 plunder, but who retire to the plains, and 
 pass a rambling life, without being guilty 
 of theft or murder, in order to escape the 
 humiliations to which the citizen is daily 
 subjected. 
 
 The tenacity and courage shown by the 
 latter in their encounters with the police 
 and national guards are worthy of a better 
 cause, and prove that such men, if led by a 
 lawful ruler, and inspired with a love for 
 their country, would form an army that 
 would resist triumphantly any foreign 
 invader. 
 
 All "brigands" are, indeed, not assassins. 
 
 Orazio, a valorous Boman, though a bri- 
 gand, was respected and admired by all 
 in Trastevere, particularly by the Eoman 
 women, who never fail to recognise and 
 appreciate personal bravery. 
 
 This valiant man was reputed to be 
 descended from the famous Horatius Codes, 
 who alone defended a bridge against the
 
 THE BHIGANDS. 125 
 
 army of Porsenna, and, like him, curiously 
 enough, he had lost an eye. Orazio had 
 served the Roman Eepublic with honour. 
 While yet a beardless youth he was one 
 of the first who, on the glorious 30th 
 of April, charged and put to flight the 
 foreign invaders. In Palestrina he received 
 an honourable wound in the forehead, and 
 at Yelletri, after unhorsing a Neapolitan 
 officer with his arquebuss, he deprived him 
 of his arms, and carried him in triumph to 
 Rome. Well would it have been for Julia 
 and her friends had men of this type alone 
 haunted the lonely plain ! But when they 
 were not far distant from the coast, a 
 sudden shot, which brought the coachman 
 down from his seat, informed our fugitives 
 that they were about to be attacked by real 
 brigands, and were already within range of 
 their muskets. Manlio instantly seized the 
 reins, and whipped the horses, but four of 
 the band, armed to the teeth, rushed imme- 
 diately at the horses' heads. " Do not stir, 
 or you are u dead man," shouted one of the 
 robbers, who appeared to be the leader.
 
 126 THE RULE or THE MONK. 
 
 Manlio, convinced that resistance was use- 
 less, wisely remained immovable. In no 
 very gallant tone, the ladies were bidden to 
 descend, but, at the sight of so much 
 beauty, the robbers became softened at first, 
 for a time, and fixed their admiring looks, 
 with some promise of repentance, upon the 
 exquisite features of the youthful Clelia 
 and the fair Englishwoman. But their 
 savage natures soon got the better of such a 
 show of grace. The chief addressed the 
 disconcerted party in a rough tone, saying, 
 " Ladies, if you come with us quietly no 
 harm shall happen to you, but if you resist, 
 you will endanger your own lives ; while, to 
 show you that we are in earnest, I shall 
 immediately shoot tliat man," pointing to 
 Manlio, who remained stationary on the 
 box. The eifects produced upon the terri- 
 fied women by this threat were various. 
 Silvia and Aurelia burst into tears, and 
 Clelia turned deadly pale. Julia, better 
 accustomed to encounter dangers, preserved 
 her countenance with tluit fearlessness so 
 characteristic of her countrywomen. " Will
 
 THE BRIGANDS. 127 
 
 you not," said she, advancing close to the 
 brigand, "take what we possess — we will 
 willingly give you all we have?" putting, 
 at the same time, a heavily- filled purse into 
 his hand; "but spare our lives, and permit 
 us to continue our journey." 
 
 The wretch, after carefully weighing the 
 money, replied, "Not so, pretty lady," as 
 he gazed with ardent eyes from her to 
 Clelia ; " it is by no means every day that 
 we are favoured by fortune with such charm- 
 ing plunder. We are in luck with such 
 lovely visitors. You must accompany us." 
 
 Julia remained silent, not realising the 
 villain's presumption ; but Clelia — in whom 
 the chill of despair, which struck her when 
 her father's life was menaced, was yielding 
 to a deeper horror still at the scoundrel's 
 words — with a spasm of anger and terror, 
 snatching her poniard from her bosom, 
 and sprang upon the unprepared bandit. 
 
 Julia, seeing the heroic resolution of her 
 friend, also attacked him ; but, alas ! they 
 had not the chief alone to struggle witli. 
 His comrades came to his assistance and
 
 128 TJIE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the English girl was speedily overpowered, 
 whilst Clelia was left vainly to assail him ; 
 for, although she succeeded in inflicting 
 several wounds, they were of so slight a 
 nature that, with the aid of a follower, he 
 had no difficulty in wresting her weapon 
 from her and securing her hands. 
 
 When Julia was dragged off" by two of 
 the ruffians towards some bushes, Aurelia 
 and Silvia followed, entreating them not 
 to kill her. 
 
 Manlio, who had attempted to leap to 
 the ground to aid his daughter, had been 
 instantly beaten to the earth, and was 
 beinc: dra":<T:ed off in the direction of the 
 same thicket by the band, while the chief 
 brought up the rear with Clelia in his arms. 
 
 All appeared lost. Death — and worse 
 than death — tlireatened them. 
 
 But they had not gone many paces before 
 the knave whose vile arms encircled Clelia 
 was felled to the ground by a blow from 
 a sudden hand ; and Clelia gave a cry of 
 joy as her deliverer raised her from the 
 ground.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 
 
 Clelia's liberator, who had arrived so 
 opportunely on the scene of violence, was 
 by no means a giant, being not more than 
 an inch or two above the ordinary height ; 
 but the erectness of his person, the ampli- 
 tude of his chest, and the squareness of his 
 shoulders, showed him to be a man of 
 extraordinary strength. 
 
 As soon as this opportune hero, who had 
 come to the rescue of the weak, had stricken 
 down the chief by a blow of the butt-end of 
 his rifle upon the robber's skull, he levelled 
 the barrel at the brigand who held Manlio 
 in his grasp, and shot him dead. Then, 
 without waiting long to see the effect of his 
 bullet — for this hunter of the wild boar 
 had a sure eye — he turned to the direction 
 pointed out by Clelia. She was still much 
 
 VOL. I. J
 
 130 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 agitated ; but when she perceived her 
 champion so far successful, she cried — 
 
 " Avanti ! go after Julia, and rescue her. 
 Oh, go!" 
 
 With the fleetness of the deer the 
 young man sped away in pursuit of Julia's 
 captors, and, to Clelia's instant relief, the 
 English girl soon reappeared with their 
 preserver, the brigands having taken to 
 flight upon hearing the shots. 
 
 Eeloading his gun, the stranger handed 
 it to Manlio, and proceeded to appropriate 
 to his own use those arms which he found 
 upon the dead bodies of the brigands. 
 
 All then returned to the carriage, and 
 found the horses grazing contentedly on 
 the young grass that bordered the road. 
 For a little while no one found a voice, 
 absorbed as they were in thoughts of joy, 
 agitation, and gratitude ; the women re- 
 garding the figure of the stranger with 
 fervent admiration. How beautiful is 
 valour, particularly when shown in the 
 defence of honour and loveliness in woman, 
 whose appreciation of courage is a deep
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 131 
 
 instinct of her nature ! Let a lover be bold 
 and fearless, as well as spotless ; a despiser 
 of death, as well as graceful in life ; and he 
 will not fail to win both praise and love 
 from beauty. 
 
 This sympathy of the fair sex with lofty 
 qualities in the sex of action has been the 
 chief promoter of human civilisation and 
 social happiness. 
 
 For woman's love alone man has gra- 
 dually put aside his masculine coarseness, 
 and contempt for outward appearances, be- 
 coming docile, refined, and elegant, while 
 his rougher virtue of courage was softened 
 by her into chivalry. 
 
 So far from being his " inferior," woman 
 was appointed the instructress of man, 
 and was designed by the Creator to mould 
 and educate his moral nature. 
 
 We have said our fair travellers gazed 
 with admiration at the fine person of the 
 brigand — for " brigand "we must unwill- 
 ingly confess their deliverer actually was 
 — and as they gazed, the younger members 
 of the party, it must be acknowledged, 
 
 J 2
 
 132 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 imported into their glance a little more 
 gratitude than the absent lovers, Attilio 
 and Muzio, would perhaps have wished. 
 But admiration gave place to surprise, 
 when the brigand, taking Silvia's hand, 
 kissed it, with tears, saying — 
 
 " You do not remember me, Signora ? 
 Look at my left eye : had it not been for 
 your maternal care, the accident to it would 
 have cost me my life." 
 
 " Orazio ! Orazio!" cried the matron, 
 embracing him. " Yes, it is indeed the 
 son of my old friend." 
 
 "Yes, I am Orazio, whom you received 
 in a dying condition, and brought back 
 to life ; the poor orphan whom you 
 nourished and fed when left in absolute 
 need," he replied, as he returned her em- 
 brace tenderly. 
 
 After exchanging these words of recog- 
 nition, and receiving others of ardent 
 gratitude from the party, Orazio explained 
 liow he had been hunting in tlie neighbour- 
 hood, when he saw the attack, and came 
 to do what he could for the ladies. He
 
 THE LIBERATOR. 133 
 
 advised Manlio to put tlaem into the car- 
 riage again, and depart with all speed ; 
 " for," said he, " two of these bandits have 
 escaped, and may possibly return with 
 several of their band." Then, ascertaining 
 the name of the port from which they 
 intended sailing, he offered to become 
 their charioteer, and mounting the box, 
 drove off rapidly in the direction of Porto 
 d'Anzo. 
 
 Arrived there without further adventure, 
 the freshness of the sea air seemed to put 
 new life and spirits into our jaded travellers, 
 and the effect upon the beautiful Julia 
 in particular was really marvellous. A 
 daughter of the Queen of the Ocean, she, 
 like almost all Albion's children, was 
 enamoured of the sea, and pined for it 
 when at a distance. 
 
 The sons of Britain scent the salt air 
 wherever they live : they are islanders, with 
 the ocean always near. They can under- 
 stand the feehng of Xenophon's thousand 
 Greeks, when they again beheld the ocean 
 after their long and dangerous Anabasis,
 
 134 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and how they fell upon their knees, with 
 joyful shouts of " Thalassa ! Thalassa ! " 
 saluting the green and silver Amphi- 
 trite as their mother, friend, and tutelary 
 di\dnity.
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 THE YACHT. 
 
 The English girl broke out into pretty 
 speeches of gladness when she caught sight 
 of her little ship. " Dance, graceful naiad," 
 ejaculated Julia, when she beheld it upon 
 the blue waters of the Mediterranean, " and 
 spread your wings to bear away my friends 
 to a place of safety. "Who says I may not 
 love thee as a friend, when I owe to thee 
 so m£tny glorious and free days ? I love 
 thee when the waters are like a mirror and 
 reflect thy beauty upon their glassy bosom, 
 and thou rockest lazily to the sigh of the 
 gentle evening breeze which scarcely swells 
 thy sails. I love thee still more when thou 
 plungest, like a steed of Neptune, through 
 the billows' seething foam, driven by the 
 storm, making thy way through the waves, 
 and fearing no terror of the tempest. Now
 
 136 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 stretch thy wings for thy mistress, and 
 bear her friends safe from this treacherous 
 shore ! " JuHa's companions were in the 
 mood to echo this spirit of joy and exulta- 
 tion, and eagerly gazed at the little vessel. 
 
 Not daring, however, to excite suspicion 
 by conducting the whole of her party at 
 once into Porto d'Anzo, Julia decided upon 
 leaving Silvia and her daughter under the 
 protection of Orazio, who would rather 
 have been cut in pieces than allow them 
 to be injured or insulted. They were to 
 wait in a wood a short distance from the 
 port, while Julia, taking with her Manlio, 
 who acted the part of coachman, and Aure- 
 lia, as her lady's maid, passed to the ship 
 to make preparations to fetch the others. 
 Capo d'Anzo forms the southern, and Civita 
 Vecchia the northern limits of the danger- 
 ous and inhospitable Roman shore. The 
 navigator steers his vessel warily when he 
 puts out to sea in winter on this stormy 
 coast, especially in a south-west wind, which 
 has wrecked many a gallant ship there. The 
 mouth of the Tiber is only navigable by
 
 THE YACHT. 137 
 
 vessels that do not draw more than four or 
 five feet of water, and this only during 
 spring. On this left bank of the Tiber, 
 in the marshes, dwelt of old the warlike 
 Volsci, who gave the Eomans no little 
 trouble before those universal conquerors 
 succeeded in subjugating them. The ruins 
 of their ancient capital, Ardea, bear witness 
 to its ancient prosperity. 
 
 The promontory. Capo d'Anzo, both forms 
 and gives its name to the port, in which was 
 stationed our heroine's yacht, awaiting her 
 orders. The arrival of Julia, if not a delight 
 and fete day for the priests — who hate the 
 English, because they are both " heretics " 
 and "liberals " — was certainly one for the 
 crew of the Seagull, to whom she was always 
 affable and kind. The sailor, exposed to 
 dangers nearly all his life, is well worthy 
 of woman's esteem, and nowhere will she 
 find a truer devotion to her sex than among 
 the rough but loyal and generous tars. 
 
 Going on board, the pretty English lady, 
 after returning the affectionate and respect- 
 ful greeting of her countrymen and servants.
 
 138 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 descended to the cabin and consulted with 
 her captain, an old sea-dog (Thompson by- 
 name), as to the best means of embarking 
 the fugitives. 
 
 " Aye, aye. Miss," said he, glad to escape 
 his enforced idleness, as soon as he saw how 
 the land lay ; " leave the poor creatures to 
 me ; I'll find a way of shipping them safe 
 out of this hole ! " 
 
 And in less than an hour the captain, true 
 to his word, weighed anchor, and sailed 
 triumphantly out to sea with our exiles on 
 board, who, though shedding a few natural 
 tears as the coast faded rapidly from their 
 view, were inexpressibly thankful to feel that 
 they were at last out of the clutches of their 
 revengeful persecutors.
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 THE TEMPEST. 
 
 But our readers will remember tliat it was 
 now the third week in February — the worst 
 month at sea, at least in the Mediterranean. 
 The Italian sailors have a proverb, that *' a 
 short February is worse than a long Decem- 
 ber." Captain Thompson, in his anxiety to 
 fulfil his young mistress's wishes, had not 
 failed to heed the weather-glass, and he had 
 felt anxious at the way in which the mer- 
 cury was falling — a sure sign that a strong 
 south-west wind was brewing nigh at hand, 
 the most unfavourable for the safety of our 
 passengers on this rocky coast. The Seagull, 
 however, sailed gracefully out of j)ort with 
 all sails set, and impelled by a gentle breeze 
 — gracefully, we say, that is, in the eyes 
 of Captain Thompson and her owner ; but 
 not so gracefully in the eyes of Aureha
 
 140 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and Manlio, who, never having entrusted 
 themselves^ to the deep before, were con- 
 siderably inconvenienced by the undulating 
 motion. 
 
 Julia had arranged to cruise down the 
 coast for Silvia and Clelia, still under Orazio's 
 protection, bringing to off a small fishing 
 place a few miles from Porto d'Anzo, 
 where the yacht was to put in and embark 
 them ; but, though the captain would have 
 gone through fire and water to obey his 
 mistress's commands, the wind and waves 
 were his superiors. The gentle breeze had 
 given place to strong gusts, and black 
 clouds were rapidly chasing one . another 
 athwart the sky. A storm was- evidently 
 rising, and every moment the danger of 
 being driven ashore was becoming more 
 and more possible. Night was closing in, 
 and breakers were in sight. The only 
 chance of escape was to cast anchor. 
 Thompson, addressing Julia — whom he 
 found wrapped in a shawl, lying on deck 
 watching every movement — now acquainted 
 her with his resolution, in which she
 
 THE TEMPEST. 141 
 
 acquiesced. The sailors were about to 
 obey their captain's orders, when Julia 
 cried out "Hold!" for she had already 
 felt the wind upon her cheek suddenly 
 shift, and felt that to anchor was no 
 longer wise. Now they must stand out 
 to sea, and face the shifts of the tempest. 
 The sails began to fill, and in a short 
 time the Seagull moved off, and began 
 to leave the surf behind her, obedient 
 to the helm. The wind was fitful, and 
 now and again terribly fierce ; the sails, 
 cordage, and masts creaked, and swayed 
 to and fro. Captain Thompson ordered 
 his crew, in the energetic yet self-possessed 
 tone so characteristic of the British sea- 
 man, to " stand by " the halyards, with 
 all ready to let go, but to take in 
 nothing. Luffing a little more, they were 
 soon free of the immediate peril ; but, 
 the wind increasing, they dared not carry 
 so much sail, and three reefs were taken in 
 upon the mainsail, the foresail and jib were 
 shifted, and everything was made taut and 
 snug against the fierce blasts which dashed
 
 142 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the billows over her sides, and occasionally 
 almost submerged the tiny bark. 
 
 The Sea(/uU presently put about on 
 the port tack, always beating out from 
 the land, and battled bravely with the 
 storm, which waxed momentarily louder and 
 stronger. One tremendous wave dashed 
 over her, and then the captain, addressing 
 Julia, who had remained on deck, besought 
 her to go below, for he feared she might 
 share the fate of one of the crew who had 
 just been washed overboard by it. Poor 
 fellow, no help could save him ! Julia 
 saw the sailor go over the side, and threw 
 him a rope herself, but the man was 
 swallowed up in the darkness and foam. 
 The steersmen (for there were two) were 
 now lashed to the helm, the captain to 
 the weather shrouds of the mainmast, and 
 the men held fast under the bulwarks. 
 
 When Julia descended to the cabin to 
 appease the captain's anxiety, and look 
 after her friends, the scene that met her 
 view was so ludicrous that, in spite of her 
 sorrow for t|ie loss of the poor seaman, she
 
 THE TEMPEST. 143 
 
 could not repress a smile. Wlien the sliip 
 reeled under the shock of the wave which 
 had carried the sailor away, Aurelia had 
 been precipitated like a bundle of clothes 
 into the same comer in which Manlio had 
 taken refuge. The poor woman, frightened 
 out of her wits, and thinking her last hour 
 had come, clung to the unfortunate sculptor 
 with all her might, as if fancying she could 
 be saved by doing so. In vain Manlio 
 implored her not to choke him : the more 
 he entreated, the closer became her grasp. 
 The sculptor, accustomed to move blocks 
 of marble, was powerless to release him- 
 self from the agonised matron, but, aided 
 by the motion of the ship, contrived to 
 hold her oif a little so as to escape suffo- 
 cation. In this tragic and yet comic atti- 
 tude Julia beheld them, and, after giving 
 way for one moment to her irrepressible 
 amusement, she called a servant to assist 
 her, and succeeded in pacifying Aurelia, 
 and in liberating Manlio from his uncom- 
 fortable position. 
 
 All night the Seagull struggled bravely
 
 144 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 against the storm; and had it not been 
 for her superior construction, and the 
 skill of her commander and the gallant 
 seamen in Julia's service, she must have 
 perished. 
 
 Towards morning the tempest subsided, 
 and the wind having changed to south- 
 south-west. Captain Thompson informed 
 Julia that it would be necessary to put in 
 at Porto Ferrajo or Longone to repair the 
 damages the yacht had sustained, which, 
 indeed, were not slight. The two light 
 boats had been carried away, also every 
 article on deck, and the starboard bulwarks 
 from amidships to stem. The foremast, 
 too, was sprung, and Julia, seeing the im- 
 possibility of setting the vessel to rights 
 at sea, consented to make the land. Here 
 we will take leave of them for a time.
 
 CHAPTEE XXYI. 
 
 THE TOWER. 
 
 It is time to return to Clelia, and see how 
 it fares with, her and her companions, Silvia 
 and Orazio. As night approached, Orazio 
 made a large fire, which he had been 
 directed to do by Julia, in order that the 
 smoke might be a guide to her vessel. He 
 then looked out for a boat to hire, in which 
 to convey the women to the yacht ; but 
 as the storm rose, he felt there would be 
 no chance of embarking that night, and 
 therefore cast about for a place of shelter 
 until the morning. 
 
 He found a ruined tower : such towers 
 abound on the coasts of the Mediterranean, 
 and are the remains of places which were 
 erected by the mediaeval pirates, who used 
 them chiefly to signal to their vessels when 
 it would _ be safe to approach the shore. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Here, after making the ladies as comfort- 
 able as circumstances permitted, he left 
 them, and paced up and down the beach, 
 straining his eyes for a glimpse of the Sea- 
 gull, which, he feared, could scarcely live 
 in such a tempest. Half blinded by the 
 spray, he continued his watch, dreading most 
 of all to see the signs of a wreck. Some 
 hours had elapsed when he perceived a dark 
 object tossing about in the water, nearing 
 and then receding, and finally stranded 
 on the beach. Orazio ran towards it, and 
 was horrified to discover that it was a 
 human body, apparently lifeless, but still 
 clinging to a rope and buoy. He snatched 
 it up in his sturdy arms, and carried it into 
 the tower, where he found Silvia and Clelia 
 sitting by the fire which he had kindled for 
 them. The lad whom Orazio had rescued 
 was no other than the young English sailor 
 washed overboard from the Scayiill. 
 
 Silvia, aided by her daugliter, stripped 
 tlio inanimate lad, laid him before the fire, 
 and chafed him with their hands for a very 
 long while, until, to their great delight, he
 
 THE TOWER. 147 
 
 slowly returned to consciousness. Then 
 they wrapped him in some of their own dry 
 garments, and hung his wet ones before the 
 fire, Orazio supplying them with fresh fuel. 
 Some of his native " grog " was needed for 
 poor Jack, but none was to be had. For- 
 tunately, Orazio had a flask of Orvieto, 
 which he had mven to the travellers to 
 warm their chilled bodies during the bitter 
 night, and Silvia wisely administered 
 a liberal dose to the exhausted mariner, 
 who, with a stone for a pillow, and his 
 feet towards the friendly fire, fell by- 
 and-by into a sound sleep, till yacht, tem- 
 pest, shipwreck, and angelic nurses were all 
 lost in oblivion. His slumber could not 
 have been more profound had ho lain 
 upon a bed of down. The youthful 
 Clelia, also wearied -with the fatigue of 
 the past day, soon follow^ed his example, 
 and with her head in her mother's lap, she 
 slept the sleep of the innocent. 
 
 Orazio returned to his lonely post, and 
 after pacing up and down the shore in the 
 fear of seeing some other sign of disaster, 
 
 K 2
 
 148 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 returned at dawn to the tower to dry his 
 dripping clothes, and refresh himself after 
 his dreary vigil. 
 
 Silvia alone could not sleep all that 
 night, but only dozed occasionally, as she 
 thought over the misfortunes that had be- 
 fallen them. Her delicate and graceful 
 frame had been much shaken by the terri- 
 ble occurrences of the past few days. Affec- 
 tionate mother ! Though weary, she bore 
 the weight of her precious Clelia, and 
 though her position was a constrained one, 
 remained immovable lest she should awake 
 her. Slie was tormented with fear, too, 
 on account of her beloved Manlio, who had 
 escaped the fury of the priests only to be 
 exposed to the merciless waves ; and then, 
 as if struck with remorse for thinking solely 
 of him, she murmured, in bitter accents, 
 " Ah, my poor Aurelia, to what a fate has 
 your generous kindness brought 3'ou also ! " 
 And with these reflections she fell into 
 another troubled doze. 
 
 The Roman outlaw slept not, even after 
 daybreak. He felt he was too near the
 
 THE TOAVER. 149 
 
 (junning priests of Porto d'Anzo to be very 
 safe. Seating himself upon a stone placed 
 near the fire, which he fed from time 
 to time with the wood he had previously 
 gathered, he dried his garments one by 
 one, with the exception of his cloak, which 
 he had politely insisted upon wrapping 
 around the ladies in the early part of the 
 evening, as they were but indifferently pro- 
 tected from the cold. Orazio was gaily 
 dressed in a dark velvet suit, ornamented 
 with silver buttons ; gaiters buckling at 
 the knee covered a comparatively small 
 and well-shaped foot, and a leg now dis- 
 played to advantage ; while a black cravat 
 was knotted round his handsome throat, 
 and a red satin handkerchief, loosely tied, 
 fell upon his wide shoulders. A hat, 
 resembling in shape those worn by the 
 Calabrians, nattily inclined a little to the 
 right, crowned his head; a leathern powder- 
 bag, embroidered with silk and silver, sluDg 
 round his waist, in the band of which were 
 placed two revolvers and a broad-bladed 
 dagger, serving both as a weapon of defence
 
 150 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and hunting-knife. These gave him a 
 well-prepared air ; not to speak of his trusty 
 carbine, which he had taken the precaution 
 to reload, and which he always rested upon 
 his left arm. ^s the flickering light of the 
 fire fell upon him and lit up his bronzed 
 features, an artist would have given much 
 to have depicted what was truly a type of 
 strength, courage, and manly beauty; while 
 now and then, awakening from her uneasy 
 slumber, Silvia ree:arded him with admirinsr 
 eye, and forgot for a moment her anxieties, 
 while guarded by that faithful sentinel. 
 It is to be regretted that our hero, Orazio, 
 was a "brigand;" but then he was a 
 brigand of the better sort, and one only 
 from the force of circumstances, his sin 
 being that, like all brave and loyal men, 
 he wished Italy to be united, and liome 
 freed for ever from priestly despotism. 
 
 Towards dawn Orazio approached Silvia, 
 saying respectfully, " Signora, we must not 
 remain here till broad day ; as soon as there 
 is sufficient light to show us the path to 
 take we must depart. AVe are too near
 
 THE TOWER. 151 
 
 our mutual enemies here to be out of 
 danger." 
 
 " And Manlio, Julia, Aurelia, where are 
 they?" 
 
 " Probably far out at sea," he replied ; 
 " and let us only hope it, for so they will 
 be safe ; but it would be well before we 
 strike out into the woods once more to 
 examine the beach. God grant we may 
 not find any more bodies there." 
 
 " God grant they may not have been cast 
 upon the coast during this fearful storm ! " 
 ejaculated Silvia, with clasped hands and 
 raised eyes. 
 
 A mournful silence fell upon them, broken 
 at last by Orazio, who had been looking out 
 for the first streak of light in the leaden 
 sky. 
 
 " Signora, it is time we were off"." 
 
 Silvia shook her daughter gently, to 
 arouse her, and Clelia got up, feeling 
 greatly restored by her peaceful slumber ; 
 while Orazio, touching Jack with the butt- 
 end of his carbine, awoke him. Then, for 
 the first time, the sailor-boy was able to
 
 152 THE RULE or THE MONK. 
 
 tell how he was washed overboard, and 
 his account gave hopes to the listeners 
 that the Seagull was safe. 
 
 Our bandit, going first, led his party in 
 the direction of the coast ; but, although the 
 rain had ceased, the wind had not subsided, 
 and the women made their way with diffi- 
 culty along the rough, uneven pathway, the 
 spray from the sea beating in their faces. 
 Orazio and Jack, who was now nearly re- 
 covered, searched for the tokens of a wreck, 
 but, happily, none were found, and they 
 returned to Silvia and Clelia, whom they 
 had left in a sheltered place, with relieved 
 countenances and cheerful voices, saying, 
 "Our friends are out of danger." Orazio 
 added, " And now, ladies, we will begin our 
 own journey," turning at the same time to 
 the right, and taking a narrow footpath 
 through the wood well known to him. His 
 charges, attended by Jack the English boy, 
 followed in silence.
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 THE WITHDRAWAL. 
 
 After the affair at the Baths of Caracalla, 
 the position of Attiho and his companions 
 became very much compromised. The traitor 
 had, indeed, paid for his infamy with his 
 life ; but though the Grovernment's mer- 
 cenaries had had the worst of it, the police 
 were now on the alert, and, if not quite 
 certain, could make a shrewd guess as to 
 who were the leaders of the conspiracy. 
 
 If, however, the friends of hberty out- 
 side had been as ready as the E-omans, 
 the conspirators might yet have had it all 
 their own way on the 15th of February, 
 or, indeed, at any other time. But the 
 "Moderates," always indissolubly bound 
 to the chariots of selfishness, would not 
 hear the words "To arms!" They pre- 
 ferred waiting, at whatever cost, until
 
 154 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the manna of freedom fell from heaven into 
 their mouths, or the foreigner should come 
 to their relief, and set their country free. 
 
 What cared they for national dignity, 
 or the contemptuous smile of all other 
 European nations at the open buying and 
 seUing of provinces ! They were thinking 
 first of gain and remunerative employment, 
 and were consequently deaf to all generous 
 propositions likely to set in risk their 
 Eldorado of profits ; though they would, if 
 successful, procure national unity and pros- 
 perity by energetic action. 
 
 This middle-class cowardice is the cause 
 of Italy's degradation at the present day, 
 and were it not for that, the kissing of the 
 slipper would be an infamy of the past. It 
 is the reason, too, why Italy's soil is so 
 often vainly wet with the blood of her 
 nobler, braver sons ; and why those who 
 escape the sword wander in forests to avoid 
 the vengeance of the robed hyaenas ; and 
 why the poor remain in abject miseiy. 
 
 Such was the condition of Rome at the 
 beginning of the year 1SG7. Yet she might
 
 THE WITHDRAWAL. 155 
 
 have been happy, regenerated, and powerful, 
 crowned with glorious liberty and inde- 
 pendence, had not the foreigner have come 
 to the aid of the falsely-called " father of 
 his people." Now she grovels in bondage, 
 loaded with French chains. 
 
 One evening, early in March, Attilio, 
 Muzio, and Silvio met at Manlio's house to 
 discuss their future movements. They had 
 remained in Rome in the hope of achieving 
 something, but the labyrinth was far too 
 involved to allow our youthful and inex- 
 perienced heroes to extricate themselves, 
 or the Three Hundred to extricate their 
 countrymen. 
 
 " There is no use," spoke Attilio, bitterly, 
 " in dedicating one's life to the good of 
 one's country in these days, w^lien the 
 'Moderates'* check all our efforts, and 
 basely reconcile themselves w^ith the enemies 
 of Italy. How is it possible for Romans to 
 do so ? How can they ever live in harmony 
 with those who have sold them and theirs 
 so many times ! who have precipitated us 
 
 * See Note 4.
 
 156 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 from the first rank amorig the nations to 
 the lowest ! who have corrupted and pol- 
 luted our city ! who have tortured our 
 fathers and violated our virgins !" 
 
 In his wrath Attilio's voice had risen 
 until he literally shouted. 
 
 Silvio, more composed, said, " Speak 
 lower, brother, thou knowest how we are 
 pursued ; perchance there may even now be 
 some accursed spy near. Be patient, and 
 for the present let us leave Regola in charge 
 of our affairs, and quit the city. In the 
 country we have true and courageous 
 friends. Let us leave Rome until she is 
 tired of being the laughing-stock of these 
 leeches, who live by imposture and t}Tanny. 
 Let us go. Our generous countrymen will 
 call us brigands, adventurers, as they did 
 " the Thousand " during the glorious ex- 
 pedition of Marsala, which by-and-by 
 astonished the world. Wliat matters it 
 to us? Now, as then, we shall work and 
 watch for the liberty of this our unhappy 
 country. When slie is willing to emanci- 
 pate herself, we will fly to her rescue."
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE FOREST. 
 
 After walking for about two hours through 
 the forest, where to Silvia's and Clelia's 
 inexperienced eyes there appeared to be no 
 path ever trodden by man, Orazio stopped 
 at a clearing, and they beheld a small 
 pleasant-looking glade. Jack the sailor 
 had proved of great use in removing fallen 
 branches strewn across the way, which 
 would else have greatly impeded the pro- 
 gress of the ladies. The weather had 
 cleared up, and although the wind still 
 moved the crowns of the trees, it fanned 
 but gently the cheeks of the fugitives. 
 
 " Signora, sit down here with your 
 daughter," said their guide, pointing to a 
 large flat stone, " and take some rest, of 
 which I see you are in need. Jack and I 
 will go in search of some food ; but, before
 
 158 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 we do SO, I will spread my cloak upon your 
 hard bench, that you may repose in greater 
 comfort." 
 
 Orazio was repaid with a graceful bow, 
 and starting into the wood at a rapid pace, 
 accompanied by the sailor boy, was soon 
 hidden from their view. 
 
 Silvia was really tired, but Clelia, 
 being of a more elastic constitution, and 
 refreshed by her sound sleep during the past 
 night, was not so much fatigued ; never- 
 theless, she found it very welcome to rest 
 in that agreeable place, where no human 
 being save themselves was visible. 
 
 Yielding presently, however, to the 
 vivacity of her age, the young girl sprang 
 up, and began to gather some pretty wild 
 flowers she had observed, and forming them 
 into a bouquet, presented them with a smile 
 to her mother, and reseated herself at her 
 side. Just then, the report of a musket 
 re-echoed through the wood. Silvia was 
 greatly startled by the sudden echo in that 
 lonely silent retreat, which had in it some- 
 thing solemn.
 
 THE FOREST. 159 
 
 Clelia perceiving the effect upon her 
 mother, embraced her, and in reassuring 
 tones, said, " That is only a shot from our 
 friend, 7nia madre, he will soon return with 
 some game." * 
 
 Silvia's colour came hack again, and very 
 soon afterwards Orazio and Jack rejoined 
 the ladies, carrying between them a young 
 boar, struck down by a ball from the 
 carbine of the Roman. 
 
 At Orazio's request, Clelia, who had some 
 knowledgfe of the Enerlish lanofuagfe, bade 
 Jack gather some sticks, and light a fire, 
 which he did willingly, and in a little time 
 the cheerful pile was blazing before them. 
 
 Animal food may be necessary to man, 
 in part a carnivorous animal, still the trade 
 of a batcher is a horrid one, while "the con- 
 tinual dabbling in the blood of dumb 
 creatures, and cutting up their slaughtered 
 carcases, has something very repulsive in it. 
 For our own part we would gladly give up 
 eating animal food, and as years pass on, 
 we become more and more averse to the de- 
 struction of these innocent creatures, and
 
 / 
 
 IGO THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 cannot even endure to see a bird wounded, 
 tbough formerly we delighted in the chase. 
 However, habit had made slaying and 
 preparing the boar natural and easy to 
 Orazio, who, compelled to live in the forest, 
 had, indeed, no choice in the matter, being 
 obliged either to kill game, or starve. He 
 laid the boar upon the grass, and, with 
 his hunting knife, skinned a portion, and 
 carving some substantial slices, fastened 
 them on a skewer, cut by Jack out of a 
 piece of green wood, and laid them over the 
 lire. When fairly cooked, he presented 
 them to the famished travellers. It was a 
 roast w^ell fitted to appease the cravings of 
 a moderate appetite, and the wild dinner 
 was heartily relished by all the party. 
 The meal was, indeed, a cheerful one, much 
 merriment being caused by the absurdities 
 uttered by Jack, whom Clelia was laugh- 
 ingly endeavouring to teach Italian. 
 
 The sailor is always a light-hearted 
 fellow on land, and more particularly 
 after he has been a long time at sea. 
 Jack, forgetting his narrow escape, was
 
 THE FOREST. 161 
 
 now the gayest of the four, and, in the com- 
 pany of the gentle and beautiful Clelia, 
 did not envy his late shipmates, who were 
 still tossing on the tempestuous ocean. 
 For Orazio, his preserver, and the Italian 
 ladies, his gratitude knew no bounds, 
 although he had but a vague idea of 
 their position and purposes. 
 
 When the repast was ended the party 
 continued their journey, resting occasionally 
 by the way; and in this manner arrived, 
 late in the afternoon, in sight of one of 
 those ancient edifices along the Ostian 
 shore which appear to have escaped the 
 destroying touch of time. It stood away 
 from the sea, on the edge of the forest, 
 and at the entrance to a vast j)lain ; 
 several fine oaks, many centuries old, were 
 growing about it, planted apparently by 
 media3val possessors, with some attempt 
 at regularity. 
 
 Orazio, begging the ladies to recline 
 upon a mossy bank, stepped aside, and 
 drawing a small horn from his pouch, 
 blew a blast, shrill and long. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 162 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 The signal was answered by a similar 
 sound from the ancient building, and an 
 individual, dressed much in Orazio's style, 
 issued from it, who, approaching the 
 brigand with an air of respect, cordially 
 saluted him. 
 
 Orazio took the new-comer's hand in 
 a friendly manner, and, pointing to his 
 party, held a short conversation with him 
 in an undertone. The man then retired, 
 and Orazio, returning to the ladies, begged 
 them to rise, and permit him to conduct 
 them to this secure place of refuge.
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 THE CASTLE. 
 
 The period of highest glory for the ancient 
 capital of the world vanished with the Ee- 
 public and with the majestic simphcity of 
 the republican system ; for after the battle 
 of Zama, in which Hannibal was defeated 
 by Scipio, the Eomans had no longer any 
 powerful enemies. It therefore became 
 easy to conquer other nations, and, en- 
 riched by the spoils of the conquered, the 
 Eomans gave themselves up to internal 
 contentions, and to every kind of luxury. 
 In this way they were dragged down to 
 the last stage of degradation, and became 
 the slaves of those whom they had enslaved. 
 And right well it befitted them that God 
 should pay them in the same coin which 
 they counted out. The last generation of 
 the Eepublic, however, had truly a sunset 
 
 L 2
 
 164 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 grandeur about it, and splendid names. 
 Before passing away it presented to his- 
 tory some men at whom one cannot but 
 marvel. Sartorius, Marius, Sylla, Pompey, 
 and Caesar, were men of such stature that 
 one alone would suffice to illustrate the 
 valour of a warlike nation. If perfection 
 in a military ruler were possible, Caesar, 
 with his suj)erb qualities as a general, 
 needed only to possess the abnegation of 
 Sylla to have been a perfect type of the 
 class. Less sanguinary than the Pro- 
 scriber, he possessed more ambition, and 
 desired to decorate his forehead with a 
 crown, for which he fell a victim, stabbed 
 to the heart by the daggers of the Koman 
 republicans. Sylla was also a great general, 
 and a reformer ; he struggled hard to wean 
 the Romans from their vices, and even 
 resorted to terrible means, slaying with this 
 view at one time 8.000 persons. Subse- 
 quently, wearied with the ineffectual struggle 
 against the tide of the time, he assembled 
 the people in the Forum, and, after re- 
 proaching them for their incorrigible vices,
 
 THE CASTLE. 165 
 
 declared, that as his power as Dictator had 
 failed to regenerate them, he would no 
 longer retain that dignitj^, but before he 
 laid it aside he challenged the city to 
 require from him an account of his actions. 
 Silence ensued, no man demanding redress, 
 though there were many present whose re- 
 latives and friends he had sacrificed. With 
 an austere mien he then descended from the 
 tribunal, and mingled with the crowd as a 
 simple citizen. 
 
 The Empire rose on the ruins of that 
 wonderful Republic. And here it may be 
 remarked that no republic can exist unless 
 its citizens are virtuous. This form of go- 
 vernment demands moral education and 
 elevation. It was the vice and degrada- 
 tion to which the Eomans had sunk that 
 inaugurated the Empire. 
 
 Among the emperors there were some 
 less deplorable than others — such as 
 Trajan, Antoninus, and Marcus Aurelius. 
 The greater part, however, were monsters, 
 who, not satisfied with the enormous 
 wealth they possessed, and with their
 
 166 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 lofty position, set themselves to plunder 
 the substance of others. They sought 
 every pretext for robbing the wealthy 
 citizens. Many of those, therefore, pos- 
 sessing wealth, retired from Eome — many 
 sought refuge in foreign lands, others in 
 far distant parts of the country, where 
 they were safe from molestation. Among 
 the fatter, a descendant of Lucullus, in the 
 reign of Nero, built the original walls of 
 the antique castle where we left Clelia 
 and her companions. Peradventure, some 
 of the enormous oaks by which it was 
 surrounded had sprung in but few re- 
 moves from the acorns of the trees which 
 shaded the courtier of Nero. However 
 this may be, the architecture of the castle 
 is certainly wonderful, and wonderfully 
 preserved. The outbuildings are covered 
 with ivy, which age has rendered of extra- 
 ordinary growth. The interior had been 
 completely modernised by mediaival owners, 
 and although not adorned with all the luxu- 
 ries of the nineteenth century, it contains 
 several dry-roofed and spacious apartments.
 
 THE CASTLE. 167 
 
 « 
 
 TJninliabited for some time, the castle had 
 been almost buried out of sight by the 
 surrounding trees, which circumstance made 
 it all the more suitable for Orazio and his 
 proscribed comrades. Built in dark and 
 troublous times, this stronghold, hke all 
 those of the same kind, possesses immense 
 dungeons and subterranean passages spread- 
 ing over a large space in the bowels of the 
 earth. Superstition also guarded the lonely- 
 tower. Travellers making inquiries about 
 the neighbourhood from the shepherds who 
 tend their flocks in the forest openings, 
 had heard, and duly related, that some- 
 where in this district was an ancient castle 
 haunted by phantoms ; that no one ever 
 dared to enter it, and that those un- 
 happy beings who summoned up courage 
 to approach its gateway were never seen 
 again. Moreover, was there not a story 
 told that the beautiful daughter of the 
 
 wealthy Prince T , when staying with 
 
 her family at Porto d'Anzo for the benefit 
 of sea-bathing, had one day wandered with 
 her maids into the woods, where the
 
 168 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 affrighted and helpless women saw their 
 mistress carried up into the air by spirits, 
 and although every nook of the forest was 
 searched by the command of her distressed 
 father, no traces of the young princess 
 were ever afterwards discovered? 
 
 To this haunt of marvels Orazio then 
 conducted our travellers, as we have before 
 described.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 IRENE. 
 
 Upon the threshold of the castle, as our 
 travellers drew near, stood a young woman, 
 whose appearance betokened the Eonian 
 matron, but of greater delicacy perhaps than 
 the ancient type possessed. She numbered 
 some twenty years ; and, though a charm- 
 ing smile spread itself over her lovely 
 features, and her eyes and soft abundant 
 hair were extremely beautiful, still it was 
 the majestic natural bearing of Irene which 
 most struck the beholder. 
 
 As if unconscious of the presence of 
 strangers, she ran to Orazio, and folded 
 him in a warm embrace, whilst the blush 
 which glad love can excite suifusod both 
 their faces, as they regarded each other 
 with undisguised affection. Then, turn- 
 ing to the two ladies, she bowed grace-
 
 170 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 fully, and welcomed them with a cordial 
 salute, as Orazio said — 
 
 "Irene, I present to you the wife and 
 daughter of Manlio, our renowned sculptor 
 of Kome." 
 
 Honest Jack was perfectly astounded 
 at seeing so much beauty and grandeur 
 where he expected to find nothing except 
 solitude and savage desert. But his as- 
 tonishment was greater still when he was 
 invited, along with the rest, into the castle, 
 and beheld a table covered with a profusion 
 of modest comforts in a handsome and 
 spacious dining-hall. 
 
 "You expected me, then, Carissima?" 
 observed Orazio, as he entered it, to Irene. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; my heart told me you would 
 not pass another night away," was the 
 reply; and the wedded lovers exchanged a 
 look, which made the thoughts of Clelia, 
 as she beheld it, fly to Attilio, and we 
 do not overstep the bounds of truth if 
 we say that Silvia also remembered her 
 absent Manlio with a sigh. 
 
 Jack, with the appetite of a young
 
 IRENE. 171 
 
 boy after his very long walk, felt no- 
 thing of the pangs of love, but much of 
 those of hung'er. A.nd now another scene 
 amazed mother and daughter as well as 
 the sailor — who stood, indeed, with wide 
 open mouth staring at what seemed en- 
 chantment — ^for, as Orazio blew his horn 
 again, fifteen new guests, one after another, 
 each fully armed and equipped like their 
 leader, filed into the room. The hour 
 being late, there was little daylight in 
 the apartment, which gave to their en- 
 trance a more melodramatic air; but when 
 the room was lit up with a lamp, the open 
 and manly countenances of the new-comers 
 were seen, and inspired our party with 
 admiration and confidence. The strangers 
 made obeisance to the ladies and their 
 hostess. Orazio, placing Silvia on his 
 right hand, and Clelia on his left, Irene 
 being seated by her side, called out, " To 
 table." When their chief (to whom they 
 showed great respect) was seated, the men 
 took their places, silently, and Jack found 
 a vacant seat by the side of Silvia, which
 
 172 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 he took with calm resignation at his good 
 luck. The repast began with a toast 
 "to the liberty of Eome," which each 
 drank in a glass of vermuth, and then 
 eating commenced, the meal lasting some 
 time. When all had appeased their 
 hunger, Irene rose, with a sweet grace, 
 from the table, and conducted her fair 
 visitors to an upper chamber of the tower ; 
 and while a servant prepared, according 
 to her orders, some beds for her guests, 
 she exchanged with them, after the uni- 
 versal manner of ladies, a few words about 
 their mutual histories. 
 
 Silvia's and Clelia's you already know, 
 so it only remains for us, who have the 
 privilege of their confidence, to narrate 
 what Irene imparted to them. 
 
 " You will wonder to hear," said she, 
 
 ** that I am the daughter of Prince T , 
 
 whom perhaps you know in Rome, as he 
 is famous for his wealth. My father gave 
 me a liberal education, for I did not care 
 about feminine accomplishments, such as 
 music and dancing, but was attracted by
 
 IRENE. ' 173 
 
 deeper studies. I delighted in histories ; 
 and when I commenced that of our 
 Rome, I was thoroughly fascinated by 
 the story of the republic, so full of deeds 
 of heroism and virtue ; and my young 
 imagination became exalted and affected 
 to such an extent that I felt ashamed of 
 my name and time. Comparing those 
 heroic days with the shameful and selfish 
 empire, and more especially with the present 
 state of Eome under the humiliating and 
 miserable rule of the priest, I became inex- 
 pressibly sorry for the loss of that ancient 
 ideal, and conceived an intense hatred and 
 disgust for those who are the true instru- 
 ments of the abasement and servility of 
 our people. With such a disposition, and 
 such sentiments, you can imagine how dis- 
 tasteful the princely amusements and occu- 
 pations of my father's house became to nie. 
 The effeminate homage of the Roman 
 aristocracy — creatures of the priest — and 
 the presence of the foreigner palled upon me. 
 Balls, feasts, and other dissipations, gave 
 me no gratification ; only in the pathetic
 
 174 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 ruins scattered over our metropolis did I 
 find delight. On horseback or on foot, 
 I passed hours daily examining those 
 relics of Eome's ancient grandeur. 
 
 "When I attained my fifteenth year I 
 was certainly better acquainted with the 
 edifices of the old architects and our 
 numerous ruins than with the needle, 
 embroidery, and the fashions. I used to 
 make very distant excursions on horseback, 
 accompanied by an old and trusty servant 
 of the family. 
 
 " One evening, when I was returning 
 from an exploration, and crossing Traste- 
 vere, some drunken foreign soldiers, who 
 had picked a quarrel at an inn, rushed 
 out, pursuing one another with drawn 
 swords. My horse took fright, and galloped 
 along the road, overleaping or overturning 
 everything in his way, in spite of all my 
 endeavours to check his speed. I am a 
 good rider, and kept a firm seat, to the 
 admiration of the beholders ; but my steed 
 continuing his headlong race, my strength 
 began to fail, and I was about to let
 
 IRENE. 175 
 
 myself fall — in whicli case I should cer- 
 tainly have been dashed to pieces on the 
 pavement or severely hurt — when a brave 
 youth sprang from the roadside, and, fling- 
 ing himself before my horse, seized the 
 bridle with his left hand, and, as the animal 
 reared and stumbled, clasped me with the 
 right. 
 
 " The powerful and sudden grasp of my 
 robust preserver caused the poor beast 
 indeed to swerve sharply round, and, 
 striking one foot against the curb, he 
 stumbled and fell, splitting his skull open 
 against the wall of a house. I was saved, 
 but had fainted ; and when I returned to 
 consciousness I found myself at home, in 
 my own bed, and surrounded by my 
 servants. And who was my preserver ? 
 Of whom could I make inquiries ? I sent 
 for my old groom, but he could tell me 
 little, except that he had followed me as 
 quickly as he well could, and had arrived at 
 the scene of the catastrophe just as I was 
 being carried into a house. All he knew 
 was that my dehverer seemed a young man,
 
 i76 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 and that he had retired immediately after 
 placing me in the care of the woman ot 
 the house, who was very attentive when 
 she learned who I was. 
 
 "Still my ardent imagination, even in 
 that dangerous moment, had traced more 
 faithfully than they the noble lineaments of 
 the youth. His eyes had but flashed an 
 instantaneous look into mine, but it was 
 indelibly imprinted on my heart. I could 
 never forget that face, which realised at 
 last, as in my memory, the heroes of the 
 past. I shall know him again, I said to 
 myself. He is certainly a Roman, and if 
 a Eoman, he belongs to the race of the 
 Quirites ! My ideal people ; the objects of 
 my worship ! You know the custom of 
 visiting the Colosseum by moonlight, which 
 then displays its majestic beauty to per- 
 fection. Well, I went one night to view it, 
 guarded by the same old servant ; and as 
 I was coming back, and had arrived at the 
 turning of the road which leads from the 
 Tarpcian to Campidoglio, my servant was 
 struck down by a blow from a cudgel, while
 
 IRENE. 177 
 
 two men, who had concealed themselves in 
 the shadow cast by an immense building, 
 sprang out upon me, and, seizing me by 
 the arms, dragged me in the direction of 
 the Arch of Severus. I was terror-stricken 
 and in despair, when, as Heaven willed it, I 
 heard a cry of anger, and we were quickly 
 overtaken by a man, whom I recognised 
 in the dim light as my late preserver. 
 He threw himself upon my assailants, and 
 a fearful struggle began between the three. 
 My young athlete, however, managed to 
 lay the assassins in the dust, and returned 
 to my side ; but, perceiving that my servant 
 had risen, and was approaching unhurt, 
 he took my hand, and kissing it respect- 
 fully, departed before I could recover from 
 the sudden shock of the unexpected attack, 
 or could articulate a single word. 
 
 " I have no recollection of my mother ; 
 but my father, who loved me tenderly, used 
 to take me every year to bathe at Porto 
 d'Anzo, for he knew how much I delighted 
 in the ocean, and how pleased I was to 
 escape from the aristocratic society of 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 178 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Rome, where, liad he studied his own 
 inclinations, he would gladly have remained. 
 My father possessed a little villa not far 
 from the sea, to the north of Porto d'Anzo, 
 where we resided during our visits to the 
 ]Mediterranean, the sight of which I dearly 
 loved. Here I was happier than in Rome ; 
 but I felt a void in my existence, a craving 
 in my heart, which made me restless and 
 melancholy. In fact, I w^as in love with 
 my unknown preserver. 
 
 " Often I passed hours in scrutinising 
 every passer-by from tlie balcony of my 
 window, hoping vainly to obtain a glimpse 
 of the man whose image Avas engraven upon 
 my heart. If I saw a boat or any small 
 craft upon the sea, I searched eagerly, by 
 the aid of my telescope, among crew and 
 passengers for the form of my idol. 
 
 " I did not dream in vain. Sitting 
 alone in my balcony one evening, wrapped 
 in gloomy thoughts, and contemplating 
 almost involuntarily the moon as she 
 rose slowly above the Pontine marshes, I 
 was startled from my reverie by the noise
 
 IRENE. 179 
 
 of something dropping to the ground from 
 the wall surrounding the villa. My heait 
 began to beat violently, but not from fear. 
 I fancied I saw by the dim light a figure 
 emerging from the shrubbery towards me. 
 A friendly ray from the moon illumined the 
 face of the intruder as he approached, and 
 when I beheld the features I had sought for 
 so many days in vain I could not repress 
 a cry of surprise and joy, and it required 
 all my womanly modesty to restrain a 
 violent desire to run down the steps 
 leading to my balcony and embrace him. 
 
 " My love of solitude, and my disdain for 
 the pleasures of the capital had kept me 
 in comparative ignorance of worldly things, 
 and, with good principles, I had remained 
 an ingenuous, simple daughter of nature. 
 
 " 'Irene,' said a voice which penetrated 
 to the inmost recesses of my soul ; ' Irene, 
 may I dare ask for the good fortune to 
 say two words to you, either there or here ? ' 
 
 " To descend appeared to me to be more 
 convenient than to permit him to enter 
 the rooms ; I therefore went down imme- 
 
 M 2
 
 180 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 diately, and, forj^etting, for the moment, 
 his tine speeches, in joy, he covered my 
 hands with burning kisses. Conducting 
 me towards some trees, we sat down upon 
 a wooden bench under their shady branches 
 side by side. He might have led me to 
 the end of the world at that strange and 
 sweet moment had he pleased. 
 
 " For a while we remained silent ; but 
 presently my deliverer said, ' May I ask 
 pardon for this boldness — will you not 
 grant it my loved one?' I made no 
 reply, but allowed him to take possession 
 of my hand, which he kissed fervently. 
 Presently he went on, ' I am only a 
 plebeian, Irene — an orphan. Both my 
 parents perished in the defence of Rome 
 against the foreigner. I possess nothing 
 on this earth but my arms, and my love 
 for you, which has made me follow your 
 footsteps.' 
 
 " Predisposed to love him, even before 1 
 had heard his voice, now that his manly yet 
 gentle and impassioned tones fell upon my 
 ear, I felt he might do what he would with
 
 IRENE. 181 
 
 me — I was in an Eden. Yes, he belonged 
 to me, and I to him ; but I could not find 
 the voice to say so as yet. 
 
 " ' Irene,' he continued, ' I am not only a 
 portionless orphan, but an outlaw, con- 
 demned to death, and pursued like a wild 
 beast of the forest by the bloodhounds of 
 the Government. Yet I have presumed to 
 hope that you might be gentle to me for my 
 love, with the strength of your generous 
 nature; and more so, alas! when I saw that 
 you were unhappy, for I have watched you 
 unseen, and noted with sorrow and hope the 
 melancholy expression of your face. I am 
 come, though your sweet kindness flatters 
 me, Irene, to tell you these things which 
 make it impossible, of course, that you can 
 ever be mine. I have no claim or right 
 but my ardent love ; the small services I 
 have rendered you have blessed me, and 
 made me proud and happy ; therefore you 
 owe me nought of gratitude. If I should 
 ever have the delight of laying down my 
 life for yours, my happiness will then, in- 
 deed, be complete. Adieu, Irene, farewell !'
 
 182 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 he continued, rising and pressing my liand 
 to his heart, while he turned to leave me. 
 
 " I had remained in an ecstacy of silent 
 joy, forgetful of the world, of myself, of all 
 save him. At the word 'farewell,' I started 
 as if electrified ; I ran to him, crying ' stay, 
 oh, stay !' and clasping him by the arm, 
 drew him back to the bench, and quite 
 forgetting all reserve myself, exclaimed, 
 ' Thou art mine, and I am thine for life ! 
 thine, yes, thine for ever, my beloved ! ' 
 
 "He told me all his story — he pictured 
 to me the hope and aim of his life. His 
 burning words of love for Italy and hatred 
 of her tyrants added to my strength of 
 resolve. I replied, that I would share his 
 fortunes forthwith as his wife, and with 
 no regrets, except upon my father's account. 
 It was then arranged that we should live 
 here together. A few days of preparation, 
 and we were privately married. I followed 
 my Orazio to the forest, where ever since I 
 have dwelt with him. I will not say I am 
 perfectly happy — no ; but my only grief is 
 the remembrance that my disappearance
 
 IRENE. 183 
 
 accelerated, I fear, at least in a measure, 
 the death of my aged and affectionate 
 parent." 
 
 Tired as our poor Silvia was, she could 
 not but listen with interest to the narrative 
 of Irene, down whose beautiful cheeks the 
 tears coursed at the mention of her father's 
 name. Clelia, too, had not lost a single 
 word, and more than one sigh from her fair 
 bosom seemed to say, during her hostess's 
 recital, " Ah, my Attilio ! is he not also 
 handsome, valorous, and worthy of love, 
 yes, of my love ! " But now, wishing repose 
 to her guests, Irene bade them good-night.
 
 CHAPTEE XXXL 
 
 GASPARO. 
 
 The history of tlie Papacy is a history of 
 brigands. From the mediaival period 
 robbers have been paid by that weak and 
 demorahsing Grovernment to keep Italy in a 
 state of ferment and internal war ; and at 
 this very day it makes use of thieves to 
 hold her in thraldom and hinder her rege- 
 neration, or drives honest men to the wilds. 
 I repeat, then, that the history of the 
 Papacy is a history of brigands. 
 
 Whoever visited Civita Vecchia in 1849 
 must have heard of Gasparo, the famous 
 leader of a band of brigands, a relative of 
 the Cardinal A . Indeed, many per- 
 sons paid a visit to that city simply for 
 the purpose of beholding so extraordinary 
 a man. 
 
 Gasparo, at the head of his band, had
 
 GASPARO. 185 
 
 long defied the Pontifical Grovernment, and 
 sustained many encounters with the gen- 
 darmes and regular troops, whom he almost 
 invariably defeated and put to flight. 
 
 Failing to capture the brigand by force of 
 arms, the Government had recourse to 
 stratagem. As I have already stated, 
 Gasparo was related to a cardinal, one of 
 the most powerful at Court; and as they 
 
 were both natives of S , where many of 
 
 their mutual relations resided, these rela- 
 tions were made use of by the Government 
 to act as mediators between it and the 
 brigand, to whom it made several splendid 
 offers. 
 
 Gasparo, putting faith in the promises 
 made by his kinspeople at the instance of 
 the Government, disbanded his men, but 
 was then shamefully betrayed, arrested, and 
 taken in chains to the prison in Civita 
 Yecchia, where he was found during the 
 Republican period in 1849.* 
 
 Prince T , the brother of Irene, 
 
 having obtained some clue, through the 
 
 * See Note 5.
 
 186 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 shepherds, whose description of a beautifal 
 dweller in the forest left little doubt upon 
 his mind as to her identity, consulted with 
 
 the Cardinal A , and determined at 
 
 any cost io recover his sister. 
 
 Although backed by the Government, and 
 authorised to make use of the regiment 
 which he commanded, the Prince, from his 
 ignorance of the many hidden recesses in 
 the forest, did not feel at all certain of 
 success ; and in his dilemma applied to the 
 Cardinal to secure for him the services of 
 the prisoner Grasparo, his relative, as a 
 iifuide. 
 
 "It is a good thought," said the 
 Cardinal ; " Gasparo is better acquainted 
 with every inch of the forest than we are 
 with the streets of Eome. Besides, they 
 say, that such are his olfactory powers, 
 that by taking a handful of grass, and 
 smelling at it, even at midnight, he could 
 tell you what portion of the forest you 
 were in. He is old now, it is true ; but 
 he has courage enough still to face even 
 the devil himself."
 
 GASPARO. 187 
 
 When Gasparo heard he was to be cou- 
 ducted to Rorae, he gave himself up for 
 lost, and said to himself, " Better were it to 
 die at once, for I am tired of .this miserable 
 existence ; only then I should go to my 
 grave unrevenged for the treachery and 
 injury I have suffered at the hands of 
 these villanous priests." 
 
 Two squads of gendarmes, one on foot, 
 and the other mounted, conducted this 
 formidable brigand from Civita Vecchia to 
 Eome. The Government would have pre- 
 ferred removing him at night, but darkness 
 would have facilitated his rescue, which it 
 was feared some of his old companions might 
 attempt if they heard of his journey. It 
 was therefore decided Gasparo should travel 
 by day, and the road was thronged by so 
 dense a multitude, who pressed forward to 
 gaze at the celebrated chieftain, that the 
 progress of the Pope could scarcely have 
 attracted greater numbers. 
 
 Arrived in Rome, Gasparo was afterwards 
 introduced into the presence of his relative, 
 Cardinal A , and the Prince T ,
 
 ibO THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 who with many words, and promises of a 
 large reward in gold, to all appearance 
 prevailed upon him to assist them in 
 destroying the bands of " libertines " by 
 which the forest was infested. 
 
 Eejoicing in such a chance of escape and 
 opportunity for revenge upon his persecu- 
 tors, Gasparo affected to be delighted at 
 the proposition, and consented to it with 
 much apparent pleasure.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE SURPRISE. 
 
 Silvia, Clelia, and Jack had passed 
 several days very pleasantly in the Castle 
 of LucuUus, as the guests of Orazio and 
 Irene. 
 
 Among Orazio's band were several well- 
 connected men, whose friends in the city, 
 unknown to the Government, sent them 
 regularly sums of money, which enabled 
 them to supply the table of their chief. 
 The gallantry of the young Romans to the 
 "Pearl of Trastevere" was profound. Clelia 
 would have been more glad, though, to have 
 had her Attilio at her side. And Silvia, tlie 
 gentle Silvia, siglied when she remembered 
 the uncertain fate of her Manlio. But the 
 two ladies were nevertheless well pleased. 
 As for Jack, he was the happiest being 
 on earth, for Orazio had presented him with
 
 190 THE RULE OF THE MOIsK. 
 
 one of the carbines taken from the brigands 
 who liad assaulted Maulio and his party ; 
 and it was inseparable from him in all his 
 hunting and reconnoitring excursions in the 
 woods. 
 
 One day Orazio took the sailor with 
 him to seek a stag, and directed Jack to 
 beat, whilst he placed himself in ambush. 
 Their arrangements were so effective, that, 
 in less than half an hour, a hart crossed 
 Orazio's path. He fired, and wounded him, 
 but not mortally ; he therefore fired a 
 second time, and, with a cry, the noble 
 animal fell. 
 
 As he discharged his second shot, Orazio 
 heard a rustling in the bushes near him. 
 Listening for a second, he was convinced 
 some one was approaching from the thickest 
 part of the cover. Jack it could not be ; 
 he was too far ofl' to have returned so 
 quickly. 
 
 A suspicion that he was to be the object 
 of an attack caused him to curse his in- 
 caution as he looked at the empty barrels 
 of his carbine. He appeared not mistaken ;
 
 THE SURPRISE. 191 
 
 for, hardly had lie placed the butt-end of 
 his gun upon the ground in order to re- 
 load it, than a head, more like that of 
 some wild creature than a human being, 
 was thrust from between the bushes. 
 
 To the valorous fear is a stranger, and 
 our Homan, who was truly brave, sprang 
 forward, dagger in hand, to confront the 
 apparition, which, however, exclaimed, 
 "Hold!" in such a tone of authority and 
 sanfj-froid, that Orazio fell back astonished, 
 and paused. 
 
 The stranger was armed from head to 
 foot, and had, as we have said, a striking 
 appearance. His head, covered with a 
 tangled mass of hair, white as snow, was 
 surmounted by a Calabrian hat ; his beard 
 was grizzled, and as bristly as the cliine of 
 a wild boar, concealing almost the whole 
 of his face, out of which, nevertheless, 
 glared two fiery eyes. Held erect and 
 placed upon magnificent shoulders, years 
 had not bowed nor persecution subjugated 
 that daring front. His broad chest was 
 covered by a dark velvet vest ; around his
 
 192 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 waist was buckled the inseparable cart- 
 ridge-box. A velvet coat, and leather 
 gaiters buttoned at the knee, completed 
 his costume. 
 
 " I am not your enemy, Orazio," said 
 Gasparo — for it was he — "but am come 
 to warn you of an approaching danger, 
 which might prove your ruin, and that 
 of your friends." 
 
 " That you are not my enemy I am 
 assured," replied Orazio ; " for you might, 
 had you chosen, have killed me before I 
 found a chance of defending myself. I 
 know well that Gasparo can handle a gun 
 skilfully." 
 
 " Yes," answered the bandit, " there was 
 a time w^hen I needed not to fire many 
 second shots at deer or wild boar, but now 
 my eyes are beginning to fail me ; yet I 
 shall not be behind my companions when 
 the time for attacking the common enemy 
 arrives. But let us talk a while, for I 
 have important news to communicate to 
 you. 
 
 Seating himself upon the trunk of a
 
 THE SURPRISE. 193 
 
 fallen tree, Gasparo related to Orazio the 
 projects of the Papal court, aided by 
 Prince T at the head of his regi- 
 ment; and how he himself had been sent 
 for, from confinement, to assist the Prince 
 in discovering the retreat of the " Libe- 
 rals;" also how, burning to be revenged 
 upon the priestly Grovernment, he had 
 effected his escape, and now offered his 
 services, and those of his adherents, to 
 Orazio, on the simple condition of being 
 accepted amongst the " Liberals " as one 
 of their band. 
 
 " But, Gasparo, you have so many 
 serious crimes to answer for, if the reports 
 about you be true, that we could not 
 possibly admit you into our company," 
 observed Orazio. 
 
 " Crimes !" repeated the friendly bri- 
 gand ; "I own no crimes but those of 
 having purged society from some bloody 
 and powerful villains and their wicked 
 agrents. Is that a crime ? and is it a 
 crime to have helped the needy and the 
 oppressed? or do you believe that, if I 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 194 THE RULE OP THE MONK. 
 
 had been a mere paltry criminal, the 
 Government would have been in such awe 
 of me, or that I should have been so be- 
 loved by the populace? The Q-overnment 
 fears me because I have no sin upon my 
 soul but resentment against its wicked- 
 ness, and because it is conscious of having 
 betrayed me in a cowardly and deceitful 
 manner, and that, when I return once 
 more to my free life, I shall make it pay 
 dearly for its deceit and treachery. 
 
 " Yes, I have sometimes," he continued, 
 after a pause, " made use of my carbine 
 as an instrument of justice, in accordance 
 with the laws of humanity and of right- 
 eousness. Can the priests say as much of 
 their accursed scaffold?" 
 
 Jack arriving at this moment, Orazio 
 explained by signs that the stranger was 
 friendly ; and, after making preparations 
 to carry off the game, they returned with 
 Gasparo to the castle, to equip themselves 
 against the approaching assault.
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 THE ASSAULT. 
 
 The Prince having ascertained from other 
 spies — who proved more docile than 
 Gasparo — that the band of " Liberals " 
 were occupying the castle of LucuUus, 
 made active arrangements to besiege it ; 
 and, after approaching the place, disposed 
 his men in such a manner that it might 
 be surrounded on all sides, so that escape 
 from it in any direction should be impos- 
 sible. The brother of Irene — like many 
 other generals — committed the error of 
 spreading his men over a large space of 
 ground, and detaching a number of senti- 
 nels, pickets, videttes, and scouts, so as to 
 leave himself with too small a body against 
 assailants. Not knowing the exact site of 
 
 the castle, Prince T had sent Grasparo 
 
 on to explore, who took advantage of his 
 
 N 2
 
 196 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 freedom, as the reader is aware, to desert 
 to the threatened little garrison. Impatient 
 at his prolonged absence, the Prince com- 
 manded his officers to cause their men — 
 about a thousand strong — to narrow the 
 circle, and to assault the castle when each 
 column arrived in sight of it. As might 
 be expected, so complex a scheme proved 
 unfortunate. The detachment to the 
 north, commanded by the Prince in 
 person, marched in a straight line for 
 the tower; but the others, partly through 
 the ignorance of the officers, and partly 
 through the disinclination of the guides 
 to begin the affi*ay, instead of following 
 the right path, struck out into the wood, 
 and were soon in inextricable confusion, 
 calling hither and thither to each other, 
 and often returning to the point from 
 which they started. In this way several 
 hours were lost. 
 
 The Prince, with two hundred of his 
 most serviceable men, arrived, however, 
 within sight of the spot, which they only 
 discovered about four o'clock in the after-
 
 THE ASSAULT. 197 
 
 noon, and then perceived, to their chagrin, 
 that preparations for defence had been made. 
 But reckoning on the numbers of his 
 troops, and on the co-operation of the other 
 detachments, he drew his sword, disposed 
 of half his men as skirmishers, and keep- 
 ing the other half as a reserve, ordered the 
 signal to be given for attack. 
 
 Orazio and his young Eomans could have 
 avoided the combat by taking refuge in 
 the subterranean passages, but • disdaining 
 a retreat before measuring strength with 
 the Papal mercenaries, he determined to 
 show fight, and upon returning to the castle 
 with Gasparo, hastened to have the doors 
 barricaded and holes made in the Myalls 
 for the musketeers, while every necessary 
 instrument was put in readiness for the 
 siege. 
 
 The young leader had ordered his men 
 not to fire at the enemy so long as they 
 were at a distance, but to wait until they 
 were close under the walls, so that each 
 might shoot down his man. The assailants 
 advanced boldly on the castle, and the front
 
 198 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 rank of skirmishers had nearly reached the 
 threshold, when a general discharge from 
 the guns of those within laid nearly as 
 many of the Papal troops on the ground 
 as there were shots fired. This sudden 
 discharge disconcerted those behind, who, 
 seeing so many of their comrades fall, 
 turned and fled. The Prince, with his 
 column, was treading sharply on the heels 
 of the skirmishers, and arrived at this 
 juncture. 
 
 Orazio had taken the precaution to have 
 all the spare fire-arms in the tower loaded 
 and placed ready for use, and now com- 
 manded the domestics to help the ladies to 
 reload them as soon as they were discharged. 
 Jack, however, declined to remain with the 
 women, as Orazio had proposed, and seizing 
 his musket, placed himself at the side of his 
 preserver, following him like a shadow 
 throughout the attack. 
 
 When the Prince arrived under cover of 
 the outer mound, and saw the slaughter 
 that had taken place, he understood at last 
 the disposition of the enemy with whom he
 
 THE ASSAULT. 199 
 
 had to deal. Remarking the fear depicted 
 on the countenances of his men, and per- 
 ceiving that retreat under such a murderous 
 fire would be disastrous, to say nothing of 
 the disgrace of such a movement, he re- 
 solved to storm the wall. He passed the 
 word, accordingly, to the aides-de-camp, by 
 whom he was surrounded, to order the trum- 
 pets to sound the charge ; and, springing 
 forward himself, he was the first to climb 
 the barricade, striking right and left with 
 his sabre at the few defenders posted there. 
 Orazio, Avho was among these few, stood 
 without moving at the first sight of the 
 Prince, in whose lineaments he traced so 
 plainly the likeness to his beloved Irene. 
 One of the barrels of his musket was still 
 undischarged, and he could easily have sent 
 the contents through the body of his enemy, 
 but he refrained. Jack, who was fighting 
 by his side, not understanding the cause 
 of this hesitation, raised his gun to a level 
 with the Prince's breast and fired ; but as 
 he did so Orazio knocked up the muzzle 
 with all the force of his strong arm, and
 
 200 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the ball struck one of the Prince's men, 
 who had just appeared above the barricade. 
 The Prince's followers who mounted with 
 him were few in number, and those few 
 were quickly despatched by the valiant 
 garrison of the castle. 
 
 An unexpected circumstance finally freed 
 our party from their assailants, and made 
 them fly in every direction, scattered like 
 a flock of sheep. 
 
 As the officers were urging the men 
 crowded under the barricades to follow the 
 Prince, a cry of "Enemies in the rear ! " was 
 heard from the east side of the wood. A 
 small band of ten men appearing, sprang like 
 lions on the right flank of the little army. 
 The soldiers, in the panic, thinking the 
 " ten " might be a hundred, dispersed like 
 chaff" before the wind. Some few paused, 
 hoping that the new-comers would prove 
 some of their own missing allies, but upon 
 a nearer view it was plain that they were 
 dressed in the uniform of the Liberals, and 
 the blows they dealt upon the nearest Papa- 
 lini were so terribly in earnest, that these
 
 THE ASSAULT. 201 
 
 latter turned and fled in dismay, leaving 
 their opponents masters of tlie field, and the 
 Prince a prisoner. Realising the generous 
 act oi his enemy, and finding out that he 
 was left alone, he delivered up his sword 
 to Orazio, who received it courteously, and 
 conducted him to the presence of Irene.
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIV. 
 
 A VALUABLE ACQUISITION. 
 
 The most earnest reformer must confess 
 that immense progress has been made 
 during the present century. We are not 
 speaking of mechanical or physical arts — in 
 which the advance is really wonderful — but 
 we are thinking solely of the political and 
 moral achievements of the age. 
 
 The emancipation of the nations from 
 the power of the priest is a vast object not 
 yet attained, but towards the accomplish- 
 ment of it, nevertheless, our generation is 
 making gigantic strides. 
 
 Above all, this progress seems marvel- 
 lous and divinely impelled, when one re- 
 members that the gradual destruction of 
 priestcraft is the work of the priesthood it- 
 self. What enduring consolidation would 
 not the Papacy have obtained, had Pius IX.
 
 A VALUABLE ACQUISITION. 203 
 
 but continued the system of reform with 
 which he commenced his reign, and sincerely 
 identified himself with the Italian nation ! 
 An overruling Providence, however, blinded 
 the eyes of the wavering monk for the good 
 of his unfortunate people, and left him to 
 travel on the perverse and misguided road 
 of his predecessors — that is to say, to trade 
 away Eoman honour and Christian spirit for 
 the help of the foreigner, vilely selHng the 
 blood of his countrymen. The Italian 
 nation, which might have been so well and 
 long deceived, has now seen these impostors, 
 the priests, walking with cross in hand at 
 the head of the foreign troops pitted against 
 Italian patriots. The writer has with his 
 own eyes more than once witnessed priests 
 leading the Austrians against the Liberals. 
 To serve the Papacy, they have excited 
 and maintained brigandage, devastating the 
 southern provinces with horrible crimes, 
 and fomenting by every means in their 
 power the dissolution of national unity, so 
 happily but hardly constituted. 
 
 Another sign of human progress in our
 
 204 THE RULE OF THE MO?IK. 
 
 day is the closer tie establishing itself be- 
 tween the aristocracy and the people. There 
 still exist some oligarchs everywhere, more 
 or less callous, more or less insolent, who 
 affect the arrogance and authority of former 
 times, when the outrageous and intolerable 
 feudal pretensions were in full force. But 
 they are few in number, and the greater 
 part of the nobility (noble not only by birth, 
 but in soul) associate with us, and mingle 
 their aspirations with ours. 
 
 To this last type belonged the brother of 
 Irene, who undertook the unlucky military 
 affair we related in the last chapter, in 
 the idea of rescuing his beloved sister from 
 the brigands, into whose hands he believed 
 she had fallen an unwilling victim. But 
 when he learned that those he had fought 
 against were Romans of noble and lofty 
 spirit, and very far from the assassins he 
 had pictured, he did not fail to compliment 
 the valour of his countrymen ; and when 
 he further learned tliat Orazio, to whose 
 generosity he owed his life, was the 
 legal husband of his sister, and that she
 
 A VALUABLE ACQUISITION. 205 
 
 loved him so tenderly, bis manner and 
 opinion changed entirely. 
 
 These considerations had pleaded already 
 in favour of Irene, who, upon seeing her 
 brother, threw herself at his feet, clasping 
 bis knees, in a flood of tears, which flowed 
 the faster at the remembrance of her dead 
 father, whom he represented in face and 
 voice. ■ 
 
 The Prince, raising her gently, mingled 
 his tears with hers, as be affectionately em- 
 braced her. Orazio, touched to the depths 
 of his soul, was also affected, and taking the 
 Prince's sword by the point, handed it back 
 to him, saying, " So noble a soldier ought 
 not to be deprived, even by accident, of his 
 weapon." The Prince accepted it with 
 gratitude, and shook the bronzed hand of 
 this son of the forest amicably. 
 
 And Clelia ! what had made her rush 
 away from this charming scene ? what had 
 she heard amid the noise of the conflict? 
 She had recognised the voice of her Attiho 
 during the assault, and for her and him too 
 this was a supreme moment. Yes, during
 
 206 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 the battle, when the shouts of the new- 
 comers made the arches of the castle ring 
 again, Clelia distinguished her hetrothed's 
 accents. She threw down a gun which she 
 was loading, and rushed to a balcony, 
 whence she could survey the scene of 
 action. For one second, through the smoke, 
 she obtained a view of the face engraven 
 upon her heart, but that second was suffi- 
 cient to make her feel surpassingly happy. 
 Attilio, indeed, it was, who, with Silvio, 
 Muzio, and some other companions, had 
 thus charged and scattered the Papal 
 troops. 
 
 Silvio, it must be known, was well ac- 
 quainted with the castle of Lucullus, where 
 he had often been a guest, as well as an 
 associate of Orazio in his hunting and fight- 
 ing expeditions. Through him a communi- 
 cation was kept up between the Liberals in 
 the city and those in the country. Before 
 quitting Rome he had come to the determi- 
 nation of taking the field, and placing him- 
 self under Orazio's flag, and, as we have 
 seen, he happily arrived with his associates
 
 A VALUABLE ACQUISITION. 207 
 
 just in time to give the last blow to the 
 Papal soldiers. 
 
 The gentle reader must himself imagine 
 the joy in the castle caused by the arrival 
 of friends who could contribute so power- 
 fully to the safety of the proscribed. What 
 interrogations ! what embracings ! what in- 
 quiries after parents, relatives, and friends ! 
 what new and happy hopes ! what soft illu- 
 sions, dreams of peace and rest ! 
 
 "Oh, my own, my own!" whispered 
 Clelia, when AttiHo for the first time im- 
 printed a kiss upon her beautiful brow, 
 "thou art mine and I am thine, in spite 
 of the wicked priests ; in spite of the 
 world ! " 
 
 The smell of the gunpowder had perhaps 
 turned her dear little head, so that we may 
 pass over the slight indiscretion of such 
 confessions. She should have been more 
 coquettish, but she was a Roman girl, and 
 her love was true. And is not true love 
 sublime, heroic, such as these two happy 
 beings bore to one another ? Is it not 
 the life of the soul, the incentive of all
 
 208 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 that is noble, the civiKser of the human 
 race ? 
 
 The Liberals had a glorious acquisition 
 in the person of Prince T ; he was en- 
 tirely converted by the scenes he had wit- 
 nessed, and the words which he heard ; for, 
 generous and brave by nature, he felt with 
 sliame the humiliation of his country, and 
 desired to see her liberated from the bad 
 government of the priest and the foreigner. 
 Educated away from Eome, however, and 
 moving in a different sphere from those 
 patriots who held in their hands the plot 
 of the Revolution, he had remained in 
 ignorance of much that was passing, and 
 had even accepted, at his father's desire, a 
 post in the Pontifical army, which removed 
 him farther than ever from the influence of 
 our brave friends. But a film had now 
 passed from his sight, and he discerned 
 at last with clearer vision the greatness 
 of his country's future, and how surely 
 Italy — now divided into so many parts, 
 despised and scorned by the world — would 
 yet be re-united, and become one grand
 
 A VALUABLE ACQUISITION. 209 
 
 and noble nation, looked up to and re- 
 spected, as in the days of her past glory, 
 as the patriotic Italians of all periods have 
 ever dreamed and prayed she should be. 
 
 The Prince was enchanted with his new 
 quarters and with his new companions, and 
 vowed to himself to live and die for the 
 sacred cause of his country. 
 
 Rich, powerful, and generous, he became 
 in the future the strongest supporter of the 
 proscribed ; and they had reason to congratu- 
 late themselves for having put faith and 
 hope in so noble a patriot, and one whom 
 they had thus doubly conquered. 
 
 VOL. F.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE AMELIORATION OF MANKIND. 
 
 Orazio having received and welcomed his 
 friend and brethren, now began to think 
 of their general safety. He therefore called 
 aside Attiho and the Prince (who by this 
 time had become firmly devoted to them 
 and the national cause), and addressed 
 them as follows : — 
 
 "It is true we have been victorious in 
 our last encounter, and have vanquished 
 you, Prince, whose noble conduct now 
 conquers our hearts ; but I fear that this 
 castle has become too notorious for us 
 to remain longer in it in safety. The 
 Grovernment will employ every means 
 in its power to hunt us out of our 
 retreat, and to destroy us, and is capable 
 of sending a whole army with artillery to 
 demolish these old walls. I do not, how-
 
 THE AMELIORATION OF MANKIND. 211 
 
 ever, advise an immediate retirement, as the 
 cardinals wiU require time to form projects 
 and make arrangements ; but it behoves 
 us now to use all vigilance, and from this 
 moment to ascertain the movements of the 
 enemy and guard against surprise. As 
 for yourself, Prince, you had better return 
 to Rome ; your presence here is not needed 
 for the present, and there you may be of 
 the greatest use to us. Let it be thought 
 that you were set at liberty on parole, on 
 condition that you would not bear arms 
 against us, and then send in your resig- 
 nation." 
 
 "Yes," replied the Prince, "I can be of 
 more service to you in Pome, and 1 
 pledge my Avord of honour to be yours 
 until death." 
 
 Attilio was of the same opinion, and 
 added that Pee:ola would advise them of 
 the movements of the Pontifical troops. 
 On the Prince desiring some secure means 
 of remaining with them, AttiUo presented 
 him "with a piece of paper — so small that 
 it might easily be swallowed in case of 
 
 n ^ 
 
 U /^
 
 212 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 emergency — containing a line of recom- 
 mendation for the Prince to Eegola. 
 
 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 wnich stands its ground. 
 
 At midnight the Prince started for Rome. 
 And who acted as his guide ? Who, bu 
 Gasparo, the veteran chief of the bandits 
 in old times, now an affiliated Liberal, as 
 he had proved in the last aifray, 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 be- 
 lieve with all my heart and soul in the
 
 THE AMELIORATION OF MANKIND. 2 IS 
 
 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 ai vaincu plus d'un, je n'ai force persoaue, 
 Et le vrai Dieu, mon fils, 
 Est un Diea qui pardomie." 
 
 If humanity does not improve along with 
 the progress of knowledge, as it should do, 
 the fault must lie with the various govern- 
 ments, for with kind treatment and judi- 
 cious care, even the wild beasts of the 
 forest become domesticated, and their fierce 
 passions are tamed. What, then, may we 
 not accomphsh with the very lowest grade 
 of mankind ? But can anything be ex- 
 pected from a people kept purposely in 
 ignorance, and reduced to misery by ex- 
 actions, imposts, and taxes ? We know
 
 214 THE RULE or THE MONK. 
 
 that these taxes and exactions are not, as 
 it is stated, imposed upon the Eomans for 
 the defence of the state, or for the support 
 and maintenance of national honour, but 
 to fatten the Pontifical government and its 
 multitude 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 gen- 
 darmes, no bravos. Now, with the multi- 
 tude of satellites existing in the South, who 
 ruin Italian finance, 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.
 
 THE AMELIORATION OF MANKIND. 215 
 
 Grasparo had baptised himself a Liberal 
 in the blood of the oppressors. He was 
 received by the young brigand with indul- 
 gence, and even enthusiasm ; and entrusted, 
 as already mentioned, with the 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 
 Grovernment 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 artil- 
 lery, 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 assault into immediate execu- 
 tion. 
 
 With this in view, it was determined 
 that not only the Papal, but also the 
 alien 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 everything was 
 made ready with alacrity, that the critical
 
 216 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 assault 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 superstitious flocks. 
 
 Orazio and his companions, meanwhile, 
 were not sleeping, and received regular in- 
 formation from their friends in Eome of the 
 plans and preparations made by the Pon- 
 tifical Government, albeit it kept them as 
 secret as possible. The first thing Orazio 
 did was to explore the subterranean pas- 
 sages thoroughly. These were known, even 
 to him and to a few of his comrades, only 
 partially; but Gasparo, who had already 
 returned from his mission, had had bet- 
 ter opportunities of examining them, and, 
 with his assistance, a thorough explora- 
 tion was to be made.
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES. 
 
 Among the wonders of the metropolis of 
 the world the catacombs or subterranean 
 vaults and passages are certainly not the 
 least. 
 
 The first Christians, persecuted with 
 atrocious cruelty by the pagan imperial 
 government of Eome, sought refuge for 
 safety occasionally in the catacombs ; and 
 sometimes, also, that they might assemble 
 without incurring suspicion, in large num- 
 bers, to instruct themselves in the doctrines 
 of their new religion. These subterranean 
 passages were also undoubtedly the resort of 
 fugitive slaves and other miserable beings, 
 who sought refuge from the tj^rannical 
 government of imperial E,ome, over which 
 have presided some of the direst monsters 
 that ever existed — Nero, Caligula, Helio- 
 gabalus, and other despots in purple.
 
 218 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 Among these subterranean passages 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 Eome 
 to the sea, is a famous example of many 
 more smaller hidden roads, constructed by 
 rich private individuals, at an enormous 
 expense, in which they could secrete 
 themselves from the depredations of those 
 greatest ot all robbers, the emperors, and 
 in later times from the persecution and 
 massacres of the barbarians. 
 
 The soil upon which Rome is built, as 
 well as that in its immediate neighbour- 
 hood, offers great facilities to the excavator, 
 being composed of volcanic clay, easy to 
 pierce, yet sufficiently solid and impenetrable 
 against 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 subter- 
 ranean passages of the castle, it was
 
 THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES. 219 
 
 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 Papalini, 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 priest- 
 hood ; and there is no doubt that when the 
 hour for liberating Italy and Eome from 
 their pollution arrives, not a soldier, with 
 the exception of the foreign mercenaries, 
 will remain to protect them. 
 
 After despatching the wounded, Orazio 
 and his men removed to the subterranean 
 passages all that the castle contained 
 which was valuable and useful, with pro- 
 visions of all kinds to last for some time, 
 ind 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
 
 220 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 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 Eoman 
 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 num- 
 bered 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 com- 
 mander 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 EmiHo 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 honour to
 
 THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES. 221 
 
 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 assigned the second to 
 Emilio. Such was the disinterestedness of 
 these champions of Eome's liberty ! " Free- 
 dom 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.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 THE ANTIQUARY. 
 
 It was Easter Eve. Everything in the 
 antique monument was in readiness for the 
 siege, and those of the band who were not 
 on duty were assembled with Orazio and 
 the ladies in the spacious dining-hall. After 
 a truly Homeric supper, which was enli- 
 vened by some patriotic toasts, Emilio the 
 antiquary, who desired to put them on their 
 guard against any contretemps that might 
 arise, asked permission of his commander 
 to speak a few words. Consent being 
 given, Emilio began thus : — 
 
 " As we shall soon have to take refuge 
 in the subterranean passages, I wish, by 
 way of precaution, to narrate a circumstance 
 that happened to me a few years ago in the 
 vicinity of Home. You all remember the 
 superb mausoleum of Cecilia Metella,
 
 THE ANTIQUARY. 223 
 
 erected by a Eoman patrician in honour 
 of his daughter, who died in her twelfth 
 year. 
 
 "You know, too, that that mausoleum 
 is beautifal among all our ruins, and, like 
 the Pantheon, one of the best preserved. 
 But what you do not, perhaps, know, is that 
 under it is the opening to a subterranean 
 passage, leading no one knows whither. 
 One day I determined to investigate this 
 dark place, and as, in my youthful folly 
 and pride, I thought I should not have so 
 much merit if I were accompanied by any 
 one, I resolved to go alone. Providing 
 myself with an immense ball of twine, so 
 large that I could scarcely grasp it, and a 
 bundle of tapers, some bread, and a flask 
 of wine, I ventured out very early in the 
 morning, descended into the bowels of the 
 earth, having previously secured the end 
 of my twine at the entrance to the tunnel, 
 and commenced my mysterious journey. 
 Onward, onward I went under the gloomy 
 arches, and the farther I went the more 
 my curiosity was excited. It appeared
 
 224 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 truly astounding to me that any human 
 being destined by God to dwell upon the 
 earth, and enjoy the fruits and blessed light 
 of the sun, should ever have condemned 
 himself to perpetual darkness, or have 
 worked so hard, like the mole, to construct 
 such a secure, but fearful habitation. 
 Wretched, and bitterly terrified, although 
 rich, must have been those who, at the 
 cost of so much labour, excavated these 
 gigantic works for hiding-places. 
 
 " While such thoughts were passing 
 through my mind, I continued to walk, 
 lighted by my taper, unrolling my ball 
 at the same time, and endeavouring to 
 follow in a direction originally indicated 
 by the narrow passage at the entrance ; 
 but I discovered that the gloomy lane 
 gradually widened, and was supported by 
 columns of clay, from between which 
 opened various alleys, spreading out in 
 all directions. These were fantastically 
 and unsymmetrically arranged, as if the 
 architect had wished to involve any tres- 
 passers in an inextricable labryinth. The
 
 THE ANTIQUARY. 225 
 
 observations I made troubled me somewhat, 
 and I speak frankly when I say that I 
 occasionally felt my courage failing me, 
 and was several times on the point of 
 turning back, but Pride cried, 'Of what 
 use were these preparations if your expe- 
 dition is to be a failure?' 
 
 " I felt ashamed of myself for my terror ; 
 besides, had I not my guiding thread that 
 would lead me back to security ? Onward 
 I went again, unwinding my twine, and 
 lighting, from time to time, a fresh taper, as 
 each became consumed. At last I came to 
 the end of my twine, and, much to my 
 discontent, I had encountered nothing but 
 a profound solitude. I was tired and rather 
 discouraged at having such a long road to 
 retrace. While I stood contemplating my 
 position, and holding the end of the thread 
 firmly, lest I should lose it, and anxiously 
 regarding my last taper, which I feared 
 every moment would be extinguished, I 
 heard a rustling, as of a woman's dress, 
 behind me, and, while turning round to 
 discover the cause, a breath blew out my 
 VOL. I. p
 
 226 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 light, some one tore the thread violently 
 out of my fingers, and my arms were seized 
 with such force that the very bones seemed 
 to crack, while a cloth was thrown over my 
 head, completely blinding me. 
 
 "A presentiment of danger is ofttimes 
 harder to bear than the danger itself. I 
 had felt very much terrified when I first 
 heard the footsteps approaching me, but 
 now that I was being led by the hand 
 like a child, my fear fled : I had to do 
 with flesh and blood. I walked boldly 
 along. Although I was blinded, I was 
 conscious another light had been struck, 
 and that the touch and footsteps near me 
 were those of living beings, and not of 
 spirits. In this manner I proceeded for 
 some minutes, and then the veil or bandage 
 was removed from my eyes, and, to my 
 amazement, I found myself in a small room, 
 brilliantly illuminated, with a table in the 
 centre splendidly laid out, around which 
 sat twenty hearty fellows feasting merrily." 
 
 During the antiquary's narrative, a smile 
 had passed over Gasparo's face from time
 
 THE ANTIQUARY. 227 
 
 to time ; now he rose, and extending his 
 hand to Emilio, said, with some emotion — 
 
 "Ah, my friend, were you then that 
 incautious explorer? I dwelt in the cata- 
 combs in those days with my hand ; and 
 the emissaries of Eome, before venturing 
 into them, generally made their wills, if 
 prudent. The woman who blew out your 
 light, and who afterwards showed you so 
 much kindness, was my Alba, who died a 
 short time since from grief on account of 
 my sufferings and imprisonment." 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed the antiquary, " was 
 it you who sat at the head of the table, 
 and received as much homage from your 
 men as if you had been in reality a 
 sovereign ? " 
 
 " Yes, it was I," replied the bandit, 
 somewhat mournfully, noting Emilio's sur- 
 prise ; " years and the irons and cruelties 
 of those wretched men calling themselves 
 ministers of God liave wrinkled my fore- 
 head and silvered these hairs. But my 
 conscience is pure. I have treated every 
 unhappy creature kindly, and you know 
 
 V :2
 
 228 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 whether you received any harm from us, 
 or if even a hair of your head were touched. 
 I wished only to humihate those proud 
 voluptuaries who live in luxury and vice 
 at the expense of suffering humanity ; and 
 with God's help and yours, although I am 
 old, I yet hope to see my country freed 
 from their monstrous yoke." 
 
 " Yes," answered the antiquary, affec- 
 tionately, " I received the greatest kindness 
 from you and your lady. I shall never 
 forget it as long as I live." 
 
 And then turning to the company, he 
 continued his recital — 
 
 " I was much shaken by my solitary 
 exploration, and a little, too, by my un- 
 expected encounter; and was so feverish 
 in consequence, that I was compelled to 
 remain two days in the subterranean abode; 
 and during that time I received^ as you 
 have heard, the greatest care, and the most 
 delicate attentions from the amiable Alba, 
 who not only provided me with every 
 necessary, but watched assiduously by my 
 pillow. Having regained my strength at
 
 THE ANTIQUARY. 229 
 
 the end of the two days, I requested to be 
 allowed to depart, and was conducted by a 
 new and shorter road into the light of the 
 sun, which I had thought never to see 
 again. Upon giving my word of honour 
 not to betray the secret of their existence, 
 two of the band pointed out the road to 
 Eome, and left me to pursue my way."
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 THE llOMAN ARMY. 
 
 " Now opens before us," says a great 
 writer on ancient Italy, " that splendid 
 region in which man grew to grander stature 
 than in any other part of the world, and 
 displayed prodigies of energy and moral 
 judgment. We are about to enter that 
 land consecrated by heroic virtues, from 
 which came a light of empire that illu- 
 mined the universe. To that proud life 
 has since succeeded deep death ; and now 
 in many places of ancient majesty you 
 will find nought but ruins — monuments of 
 departed grandeur amidst vast deserts of 
 death — dreary solitude, and the decayed 
 achievements of man. The city of the 
 rulers of the world fell, but the remains 
 of her past glories cannot be destroyed. 
 They have for ages sent, and still send 
 forth a mighty voice, which breaks the
 
 THE ROMAN ARMY. 231 
 
 silence of lier grave, proclaiming the great- 
 ness of those ancient inhabitants. The 
 country of the Latins is desolate, but 
 grand in its desolation ; an austere nature 
 adds solemnity to the vacant sites of the 
 cities, their sepulchres, and reHcs. In the 
 midst of a wilderness, at every step, one 
 meets with tokens of a bygone power that 
 overawes the imagination. Frequently, in 
 the same spot, on the same stone, the 
 traveller reads the record of the joys and 
 the sorrows of generations divided by pro- 
 digious intervals of time. Here, also, are 
 to be seen the columns of those temples 
 in which the priests of old, with their 
 auguries and idols, deceived the people, 
 and reduced them to moral slavery. In 
 this, however, little is changed ; for further 
 on may be viewed modern temples, in 
 which religion is still made an instru- 
 ment of infamous tyranny. Sadnesses 
 ancient and sadnesses modern blend to- 
 gether ; memories of past dominations, and 
 tokens of dominations ruling- down to the 
 present day.
 
 232 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 " If the far-off cry of the wretched ple- 
 beians whom the savage aristocracy of a 
 past age precipitated from the cliff, makes 
 us shudder, shall we not feel something 
 akin to this when we hear the cry of 
 living victims of Popish fury imprisoned 
 in dungeons in our own day? Mingled 
 with the ashes of the leaders of the an- 
 cient people, you may here dig up those 
 of the martyrs of our own age, who shed 
 their blood for the new Republic, and fell 
 protesting against the bitter dominion of 
 the priesthood ; and pondering over these 
 memories, antique and recent, each true 
 Roman may draw comfort for his afflicted 
 soul, seeing that in spite of the passage of 
 centuries, and the debasing strength of 
 tyrannies, the children of Rome, far as 
 they are from her heroic da3's, have never 
 quite lost the energy of their forefathers, 
 and thence, on this soil of auguries, each 
 may rightly draw the joyful presage that 
 now, as then, the genius of this sublime 
 country will never long leave her to such 
 shameful vicissitudes."
 
 THE ROMAN ARMY. 233 
 
 We liave introduced this noble patriotic 
 piece to aid in the difficult task of de- 
 picting the Eome of heroic times along 
 with the living but paralysed virtues of 
 modem Latium. We may thus proceed 
 to discuss that strange and sad hetero- 
 geneous band, native and foreign, w^hich 
 forms what is called "the Roman army." 
 What manner of men are those who dedi- 
 cate themselves to the service of a govern- 
 ment like that of " Pio Nono " — a service 
 that cannot fail to inspire an honest man 
 with disgust? And here, we may repeat, 
 none but a priesthood could have so de- 
 graded a people, and placed them on a 
 level with the basest upon earth — a people, 
 too, born in a region where men have 
 attained to greater perfection of manhood 
 than in any other part of the known world. 
 
 The " Eoman army," so called, is at 
 present composed partly of Romans, under 
 the observation of foreign soldiery, and 
 partly of foreign soldiers under the swaj^ 
 of foreign commanders, while the people 
 themselves are under the protection (or
 
 234 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 rather subjection) of a set of scoundrels 
 called gendarmes. For what are these 
 hired mercenaries but knaves thirsting for 
 profit, who, without principle and without 
 honour, enter this disgraceful service ? The 
 title, therefore, of " Papal soldier " is by 
 no means a martial distinction, but one 
 despised by a true man ; while, on the 
 other hand, the foreign interloper, scoundrel 
 though he be in embracing so dishonour- 
 able a calling, despises none the less the 
 native soldiery, whom he is called upon to 
 aid and abet. Hence, the native soldier 
 and the foreign hireling (not being in the 
 the true sense of the term brothers in 
 arms) frequently come to blows, when* the 
 foreigner usually comes off second best, for, 
 in spite of the influence of the priesthood 
 to render the Roman soldiery degenerate 
 and corrupt, some remains at least of their 
 ancient valour still exist. 
 
 This is the condition of the Roman 
 army of the day, and this the reason 
 why it was despised by the " proscribed," 
 who informed themselves of its move-
 
 THE ROMAN ARMY. :235 
 
 ments, and quietly waited its approach. 
 In the case of the impending assault 
 upon Orazio's castle, time was lost by 
 the quarrels which prevailed as usual in 
 it. The foreigners, looking with contempt 
 upon the native soldiers, claimed to have 
 the right wing in the assault assigned 
 them ; but the natives, not fearing the 
 foreigners, and believing themselves, with 
 reason, to be superior to them in the 
 art of war, resolutely refused to concede 
 this honour to alien troops. The priests, 
 too impotent to restore order, begun to 
 gnaw their nails at such junctures with 
 impatience, rage, and fear. 
 
 Easter day, then — the day destined for 
 the destruction of " the brigands " — would 
 most probably have seen the extermina- 
 tion of these mercenaries had not the 
 " Moderates " raised the cry of " Order 
 and brotherhood ! " And thus this fine 
 opportunity for finishing off a set of 
 knaves — the plague and dishonour of 
 Italy — was lost. 
 
 Regola, witli the greater number of the
 
 236 THE RULE or THE MONK. 
 
 Three Hundred, seeing they could do no- 
 thing of themselves, for some time, to- 
 wards the liberation of Eome, had enlisted 
 in the ranks of the Pontifical troops — 
 according to the orders received from 
 outside — and were active in influencing 
 the E^mans to demand the honour of 
 conducting the right wing in the order 
 of march. This being disputed, they 
 mutinied, and ill-treated their officers. 
 Greneral D was sent with a com- 
 pany of foreigners to restore order, but 
 the strife was almost as serious as in a 
 pitched battle, and the foreigners fled dis- 
 comfited to their barracks. 
 
 The chief instigator of the mutiny was 
 our old acquaintance, Dentato, the ser- 
 geant of dragoons. Being released from 
 the pains and penalties inflicted upon him 
 by the Inquisition, which he had sus- 
 tained with a stoicism worthy of the 
 olden times, he resolved to be revenged 
 upon his persecutors at the first oppor- 
 tunity, and did not fail to make good 
 use of this occasion. At the head of his
 
 THE ROMAN ARMY. 237 
 
 dragoons (for he had been restored to his 
 post), sabre in hand, he* plunged into the 
 thickest of the fray, and made serious havoc 
 amongst the foreign troops. The affair 
 over, knowing what to expect at the 
 hands of his masters, he set out from 
 E,ome without dismounting, accompanied 
 by the better part of his men, sought 
 out the proscribed in the forest, who 
 received him most cordially, and heard 
 with satisfaction the account of his ad- 
 ventures in the capital.
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIX. 
 
 MATRIMONY. 
 
 Of a surety the most holy and the closest 
 tie m all the human family is marriage. 
 It binds together two beings of an opposite 
 sex for life, and makes them, if they be 
 but worthy of that condition, supremely 
 happy. We say if they be woi-thy ad- 
 visedly, because that solemn rite should 
 only be contracted with the mutual pur- 
 pose that each is to seek the happiness 
 of the other, and such a union has for its 
 base true love — that is, celestial love — which 
 the ancients rightly distinguished from 
 sensual passion, the former being that love 
 of the soul which no worldly or selfish 
 views can ever influence. Even before 
 the marriage contract its anticipation does 
 much to soften and improve the character 
 of each, from the new feeling that they 
 nmst not fail to contribute to each other's
 
 MATRIMONY. 239 
 
 welfare. The very atmosphere of happi- 
 ness makes married life nobler than lonely 
 life, while the love of parents for their oil- 
 spring renders them gentle and forbearing, 
 and indulgent to their own first ; and finally 
 to others, whose good-will they wish to 
 win. Unfaithfulness, however, is, unhap- 
 pily, too frequently an incident of modern 
 marriages, but those of either sex who sin 
 against that loyalty in wedlock, which 
 should bind both indissolubly, unless hard- 
 ened in vice beyond all hope, feel such 
 remorse that they would, if they could, 
 return to their former purity by any 
 sacrifice. But truth, among other things, 
 should suflB.ce to fortify the good against 
 temptation and dishonour, which brings 
 shame and ruin to the soul. Oh, you 
 whom this sacred tie has newly bound, be 
 true as Heaven to one another ! By your 
 fidelity you will secure your conscience in 
 the future against sharp and stinging re- 
 fiections. Out of noble and heart-felt con- 
 stancy will spring a paradise upon earth, 
 — the foretaste of a blissful life beyond.
 
 240 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 But priestly interference in this holy 
 communion of hearts blights and blas- 
 phemes the name of love, sowing the seeds 
 of hatred ; while this plague is felt more or 
 less all over the globe, by reason of the 
 number of unhappy marriages brought 
 about or directed by these busy tonsured 
 meddlers. What, then, must this baneful 
 influence be in Eome, where the priests 
 are so numerous as to reign almost 
 supreme in society? 
 
 We have before stated that in the city 
 of Rome the largest number of illegitimate 
 births takes place, which arises naturally 
 (or rather unnatuYidlj) from the infamous 
 influence of priests, who traffic in matches, 
 and control the market of men and women 
 for their own profit. 
 
 But we will draw the veil of silence 
 over these lamentable facts, and ask pardon 
 of refined readers if we have shocked them, 
 even by a hint. Nevertheless, when we 
 remember the degradation and misery to 
 which our beloved but unhappy country 
 has been reduced by the despotism and
 
 MATRIMONY. 241 
 
 corruption of her clerical Government, 
 shame and grief are hard to restrain. Oh, 
 pardon me, you whose chaste eyes have 
 no Eome to weep for! 
 
 Yes, marriage is a sacred act. By it a 
 man imposes on himself the duty to 
 love, protect, and support his wife, and 
 the children she may bear him. And this 
 act is the first cause of the progress and 
 civilisation of mankind. The priest, being 
 no other than a meddler and impostor, is 
 consequently unworthy of celebrating that 
 most important act of life. The municipal 
 authorities, who ought to be cognisant of all 
 that concerns the citizens, and register all 
 acts, should preside at the ceremony of 
 marriage, or, as immediate representatives 
 of these, the parents of the contracting 
 parties, who are their natural and lawful 
 guardians. 
 
 To these latter authorities Attilio and 
 Clelia referred themselves. 
 
 " My own ! my own ! " Clelia had whis- 
 pered to herself during Irene's narration ; 
 and in the hour when her beloved was at 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 242 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 her feet, overjoyed by the blissful atmo- 
 sphere that surrounded her, she resisted his 
 passionate and honest solicitations for some 
 time, but at last gave him permission to 
 demand her in marriage of her mother, 
 adding, "If she consents, I will be thine 
 for life." 
 
 Although Silvia was of a somewhat 
 hesitating temperament, and would have 
 preferred having her Manlio at hand to 
 consult as to the destiny of her dearly 
 beloved child, still she had sufficient good 
 sense to see that a union between the 
 two ardent lovers was very desirable, and 
 felt that, under the peculiar circumstances 
 of their banishment and forest life, she 
 might be assured of her husband's sanction, 
 and therefore accorded them hers. 
 
 Silvia could not endure priests, and 
 civil authorities there were none to consult 
 or employ, except the sylvan jurisdiction 
 of their honest preserver, Orazio, and her 
 own maternal governance. These, she 
 opined, were sufficient for the occasion, 
 and it was not difficult to persuade her
 
 MATRIxMONY. 243 
 
 bold but gentle and enlightened conscience 
 that this simple, natural, and legal 
 solemnisation was all that was requisite. 
 
 The celebration of the marriage of our 
 young friends, thus determined upon and 
 permitted, was a true feast for all in the 
 castle, and particularly for Irene, who, as 
 the happy example herself of a rural 
 marriage, was thoroughly proud of being 
 priestess to the natural and noble rite. 
 She erected, without their knowledge, an 
 altar at the foot of the most majestic oak 
 in the neighbourhood. With the help of 
 her maidens, and the sailor's assistance — 
 who prided himself upon his marine 
 agility — Irene reared above this a small 
 temple, formed of green boughs and 
 garlands of wild flowers, the crown of 
 the oak serving as a cupola, illuminated 
 far above by the sun, and at night by 
 beautiful stars and planets, the first-born 
 creations of God. 
 
 The ceremony was not long, for it was 
 simple, but serious. It took place in the 
 presence of those faithful children of liome, 
 
 Q 2
 
 244 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 wlio stood in a circle around the handsome 
 couple, while Irene joined their right hands, 
 pronounced them to be man and wife, and 
 solemnised the sacred union by the follow- 
 ing address : — 
 
 "Dear and true-hearted friends, the act 
 you have solemnised this day unites you 
 indissolubly body and soul. You must 
 share together henceforward the prospe- 
 rities and reverses, the joys and sorrows of 
 this life. Eem'ember that in mutual love 
 and faithfulness you will find your only 
 and enduring happiness, while, if affliction 
 descends, it will be diminished and dissi- 
 pated by your reciprocal love. May Grod 
 bless your union !" 
 
 Then Silvia, her eyes bedewed by 
 maternal tears, placed her hands upon the 
 heads of her beloved children, and repeated 
 che Bio vi benedica! More she could not 
 say for her emotion. The marriage con- 
 tract, w^hich had been previously prepared, 
 was now presented to the united couple h^ 
 Orazio for their signature, and then to the 
 witnesses, the chief finally signing it himself.
 
 MATRIMONY. 245 
 
 In this manner was celebrated, with the 
 greatest order and propriety, in the Al- 
 mighty's own temple, illuminated by the 
 bright golden lamp of all the world, that 
 solemn act of wedlock, none the less solemn 
 or binding for being so celebrated. Never 
 did human pair feel themselves more 
 sacredly bound one to the other than 
 Clelia and Attilio. 
 
 From the altar our joyful party directed 
 their steps towards the castle, where a right 
 •goodly woodland banquet awaited them. 
 All were rejoiced at the auspicious event, 
 and many joyous toasts were given. 
 Patriotic songs were freely sung, and 
 Jack, elated by the general liilarity, 
 treated his friends to his own famous 
 national airs, *' God Save the Queen," and 
 "Rule Britannia."
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 THE SEAGULTi's CRUISE. 
 
 The " army of Rome," as already related, 
 gave the proscribed a long time for pre- 
 paration, and they, knowing the nature of 
 the delay, troubled themselves little about 
 the matter. And now we must return to 
 some of the principal and most cherished 
 personages of our book — namely, Julia and 
 her companions, of whom we took leave 
 when they escaped so narrowly from the 
 storm, and whom we have neglected far 
 too long. 
 
 Two days after the departure of the Sen- 
 fjidl from Porto d'Anzo she entered Porto 
 Longone, with all her sails set, and her 
 colours flying. As soon as she anchored, 
 our friends saw a group of persons issuing 
 from Liberi, a small village overlooking the 
 port, who, on reaching the shore, embarked 
 in a boat and rowed out to the yacht.
 
 THE seagull's CRUISE. 247 
 
 Julia received the party — which was 
 composed of both sexes — gracefully and 
 courteously, and offered them refreshments 
 in her saloon, which they cordially accepted. 
 
 Seated at table, each with a glass of 
 Marsala in hand, the guests turned to- 
 wards Manlio, whom they imagined to be 
 the master of the vessel, and addressed 
 him with a Tuscan accent. It is one less 
 manly than the Roman, but sweeter and 
 more sympathetic, and though it be but 
 a dialect of the real Italian, to it Italy 
 owes much of her revival ; and in this 
 dialect, dignified by so much genius, must 
 be found the language of Italian national 
 unity. 
 
 " Sir," said the elder of the visitors, 
 talking Tuscan, " in Liberi there exists a 
 custom that if a vessel comes into port at 
 the same time birth is given to an infant, 
 the captain is requested to stand godfather 
 to the newly-born child. Will you there- 
 fore vouchsafe to comply with this custom, 
 and do us the honour of becoming a god- 
 father, and your gracious young lady a
 
 248 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 godmotlier, to a little one wlio has this 
 day entered upon existence?" 
 
 Manlio smiled at this odd request, and 
 all present admired the facility with which 
 the visitor in Elba can form an alliance 
 with the islanders. Manlio replied, " I 
 am simply a guest on board, like yourself, 
 Signor; this young English lady is the 
 owner of the vessel, and must decide what 
 shall be done." 
 
 Julia — the traveller, the artist, the anti- 
 quary, and the friend of Italian liberty — 
 was enchanted to find such simplicity of 
 manners among these good people, and 
 said, " For my part I gladly accede to your 
 proposal, and as I hear the captain of the 
 ship must be godfather, I will send for him, 
 when, if he be agreeable, we will place our- 
 selves at your service." 
 
 Captain Thompson was immediately sum- 
 moned, and the English lady explained to 
 her commander what was required. He 
 laughed merrily, and accepted the invita- 
 tion as she had done, declaring that he 
 should feel immensely honoured to stand
 
 THE seagull's CRUISE. 249 
 
 godfather with his charming mistress as 
 godmother. Captain Thompson then gave 
 his orders to the mate, and all embarked 
 in company for Liberi. 
 
 Here our narrative stumbles again upon 
 the topic of the priesthood, and it is a 
 fatality that, in spite of the invincible 
 antipathy which they excite in us, they 
 are thus continually coming in contact 
 with the progress of our tale. But the 
 cure of Liberi was a man of a different 
 stamp. 
 
 A modest but hospitable table was spread 
 for the christening party in the house of 
 the islanders, and it was made pleasant by 
 the cordiality and simplicity of these kind 
 islanders. The guests were all delighted, 
 while Captain Thompson, although a little 
 confused, was happy beyond measure at 
 the honour the beautiful Julia did him by 
 leaning on his arm, and still more so at 
 being sponsor to her godchild. So elated 
 was the worthy seaman that he neither 
 heard or saw as they walked towards the 
 village, and, stumbling over some obstacle
 
 250 THE RULE OF THE MONK. 
 
 in the way, had well nigh fallen, and, to 
 use his own phrase, " carried away his 
 bowsprit." 
 
 Luckily Julia did not perceive the pro- 
 found confusion of her companion, and 
 walked on with a calm and stately de- 
 meanour, in unintentional contrast to the 
 tar's awkward gait, for the excellent 
 Thompson, dreading another stumble, 
 counted every stone on the road as he 
 paced by her side. 
 
 In this manner they arrived at the 
 church. Captain Thompson here put on 
 a very imposing appearance, and, although 
 a little wearied by the inordinate length 
 of the ceremony, gave no sign of im- 
 patience. Having an excellent disposition, 
 the tediousness was relieved by the pleasure 
 of holding his new godson in his strong 
 arm, to which, although a plump and well- 
 formed babe, it appeared but as light as 
 a feather. 
 
 The ceremony ended, the guests invited 
 to the christening bent their steps to the 
 house of the second godfather, who enter-
 
 THE seagull's CRUISE. 251 
 
 tained them at a more formal banquet, the 
 excellent wine of Liberi receiving much 
 favour. Captain Thompson, having to 
 re-conduct Julia, and remembering the 
 stumble, partook very moderately of the 
 liquor, contenting himself with passing a 
 disinterested eulogy upon it. 
 
 The captain had another motive for 
 being temperate and keeping in check his 
 decided predilection for good drink. He 
 was most anxious to please the Signora 
 Aurelia, who, though past the bloom of 
 youth, was extremely amiable, and had a 
 brilliant complexion. She was full of 
 gratitude for the many attentions the 
 captain had lavished upon her during the 
 terrible storm, and by no means repulsed 
 the signs of sympathy, loyal and honest, 
 if not courtly, which the gallant sailor 
 manifested. 
 
 All went very merrily for our amphibious 
 friends, for, much as one may resemble a 
 sea-horse in constitution, land with its 
 pastimes and comforts is always preferable 
 to the tempestuous sea. On leaviug, Julia
 
 252 THE RULE OF THE MONK, 
 
 was covered with blessings and thanks by 
 her new acquaintances, after the manner of 
 olden times. 
 
 Manlio was meditating over a statue in 
 marble, which he determined to carve when 
 he should return to Eome, representing the 
 beautiful Julia as Amphitrite guiding a 
 stumbling Triton. Aurelia and Thompson, 
 absorbed in thoughts of tenderness, were 
 oblivious of the incidents of the past ; 
 and thus our yachting party returned on 
 board, accompanied to the shore by all the 
 villagers, with music and joyful hurrahs. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 CASSELL, PETTER, AND OALPIN, BELLE 8AUVA0B WORKS, LONDOH, E.C.
 
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