The Secret Societies and Carbonari of Italy. 



tit', ii/. 1 declaie the laJioiirs ended; 

 itlireto your Baracca — retire iu peace. 



CIRO ANNICHIARICO. 



Ciro Aniiichiarico, born of pnrenfs 

 in easy circumstances, ia tlie little 

 town of Grottaglie, Avas destined to the 

 ecclesiastical profession, and entertained 

 it very young. Ilis brothers arc re- 

 spectable farmers ; his uncle, the Ca- 

 siouico Patitaro, is a man of learning 

 and informatioT!, and never took any 

 p<irt in the crimes of his nephew. The 

 latter began his infaiuovis career by 

 killing ayoung man of tlie Motolesi 

 family, in a fit of jealousy. His in- 

 satiable hatred pursued every memljer 

 of the family, and exterminated them 

 one after the other, ^vitli the exception 

 of a single individual, who succeeded 

 iu evading his scai'cli, and who lived 

 shut up in his hcuse for several years, 

 ■without ever daring to go out. This 

 imtortunate being thought that a snare 

 was laid for him wlien people came to 

 tell him of the imprisonment, and 

 sliortly after of the death of iiis enemy ; 

 and it was with difficulty that he was 

 induced^ to quit his retreat. 



Ciro, condemned for tlie murder of 

 the Motolesi, to fifteen years of chains, 

 or exile, by the tribunal of JiCCce, re- 

 mained there iu prison four years, at 

 tile end of which time he succeeded in 

 escaping. It was t'len tliat he began, 

 and afterwards continued for several 

 j«ears, to lead a vagabond life, which 

 was stained with the most atrocious 

 crimes. At P.farfano, he penetrated 

 with his satellites into one of the first 

 houses of the place, and, after having 

 ofiered violence to its misti'cs--, lie mas- 

 sacred her with all her people, and car- 

 ried off ninety-six tlious.uid ducats. 



He was in correspondence with all 

 the hired brigands ; and wlioever wish- 

 ed to get rid of an enemy, had only to 

 address himself to Ciro. On being 

 -asked by Captain Montorj, reporter of 

 the military commission wliich con- 

 demned him, how many persons lie 

 had killed with liis own hand, he care- 

 lessly answered, " E rhilo xfi? saranno 

 tra sessanla -e settanta,'''' Who can re- 

 member ? they will be between sixty 

 and seventy. Oi;e of his companions, 

 Gcchiohipo, confessed to seventeen;' 

 the two brothers, Francesco and Vito 

 Serio, to twenty-three; so that these 

 four ruffians alone had assassinated 

 upwards of a hundred ! 



The activity of Ciro was asastonish- 

 m^ as Ilis artifice and intrepidity. He 

 handled <>.ie mtiskct and manaced the 



^99 



horse to perfection : and as he was al- 

 ways extremely well motmted, found 

 coucealmentaiu^ support, either through 

 fear or inclination, every where. He 

 succeeded in escaping from the hands of 

 the soldiers, by forced mai-ches of thirty 

 and forty miles, even when confiden- 

 tial spies had di'-covs redh^spUH,•eofc<^l- 

 ce4llment but a fi'W hours before. The 

 singular good fortune of beijiir able to 

 extricate himself from the most inrmi- 

 nent dangers, af(juired fur liim t!ie re- 

 putation of a necromancer, upon whom 

 ordinary means of attack had no po\> er, 

 among the people, and he ueglecte<l 

 nothing whicli could confirm this idea, 

 and increase the sort of sjiell it pro- 

 duced upon the peasants. They dared 

 not execrate, or even blame him iu his 

 absence, so firmlj' were they persuaded 

 that Ilis demons would immediately in- 

 form him of it. On the other hand, 

 again, he aflected a libertine character ; 

 some very free French songs were found, 

 in his portfolio when he was arrested. 

 Altliough a priest liimself, and exer- 

 cising the functions of one when he 

 thought it expedient, he often declared 

 his colleagues to be im|)osfors without 

 any faittu He published a paper against 

 the missionaries, who, according to him, 

 disseminated illiberal opinions among 

 the people, and forbade them on pain of 

 death to preach in the villages, " be- 

 cause, instead of the true principles of 

 the Gospel, they taught nothing but 

 fiibltis and impostures." This paper is 

 headed, ••' In uome detla Grande Assem- 

 biea Nazionale deW Ex-Regnn di Na- 

 poli^ o piuttosto delV Europa intera, 

 pace e salute.^'' — ■' In the name of the 

 (Jreat National Assembly of tlie Ex- 

 Kingdom of Naples, or rather of all 

 Europe, peace and health." 



He amused himself sometimes with 

 whims, to which he tried to give an air 

 of generosity. General i d'Octavio, a 

 Corsicau in the service of Murat, pur- 

 sued him for a long time with a thou- 

 sand men. One day, Ciro, armed at all 

 points, surprised him walking in a gaj"- 

 den. He discovered liiinself, remark- 

 ing that the life of the general was in 

 his hends; "but," said he, "1 wilt 

 pardon you this time, although I shall 

 no longer be so indulgent, if you con- 

 tinue to hunt me about with such.fuiy.''' 

 So saying, he leaped over the gara^i 

 wall and disappeared. ' 



Having hidden himself, with several 

 of his people, behind a ruined wallit 

 the entrance gate of tii-o^faglie, the day 

 when General Chnrch and the th>lf<?^f 



