bUO 



The Secret Societies 



San Cesaiio, accompanied by some 

 hoi'senieii, reconuoitered the place, lie 

 did not fire upon them ; lir; wished to 

 make a merit of this before (he military 

 commission, but It was probably the 

 fear of not being able to escape from the 

 troops who followed the general, that 

 made him circumspect on this occasion. 



Giro's physiognomy had nothing re- 

 pulsive about it; it was ralher agree- 

 able. He had a verbose, but persuasive 

 eloquence, and was fond of inflated 

 phrases. Extremely addicted to wo- 

 men, he had mistresses, at the period 

 of his power, in all the towns of the 

 province over which lie was constantly 

 ranging. He was of middle stature, 

 well made, and very strong. 



Giro put himself at the head of the 

 Patrioti Europei and Decisi, two asso- 

 ciations of the most desperate charac- 

 ter. The institution of the Decisis or 

 Decided, is so horrible, that it makes 

 one shudder to contemplate it. The 

 author has given a (<ic-simile of their 

 patent, which will give some idea of 

 the society. 'l"he following is the 

 translation : 



THE DECISI. 



The Salentine Decision. 



Health. 

 No. 5. Grand Masons. 



The Decision of Jupiter the Thun- 

 derer hopes to make war against the 

 tyrants of the universe, &c. ike. 



The mortal Gaetano Caffieri is a Bro- 

 ther Decided, No. .'i, belonging to the 

 Decision of Jupiter the Thunderer, 

 spread over the fa(;e of tiic earth, by 

 his Decision, has had the ])leasure to 

 belong to this Salentine Republican 

 Decision. We, invite, therefore, all 

 philanthropic societies to lend their 

 strong arm to the same, and to assist 

 him in his wants, he having come to 

 the decision that he will obtain liberty 

 or de^ath. Dated this day, the 29th of 

 October, 1S17. 

 Signed, 



Pietro Gargaro, (the Decided Grand 

 Master, No. 1.) 



Vito de Serio, Second Decided. 



Gaetano Caffieri, 



Registrar of the Dead. 



As the number of these Decided ruf- 

 fians was small, they easily recognized 

 each other. We find that the Grand 

 Master bears the No. 1 ; Vito de Serio, 

 No. 2 ; the proprietor of the patent 

 Gaetano Caffieri, No. 5. He figures 

 himself among the signatures with the 

 tide of Registrar of the Dead, wlilch 

 does not allude to thedeceased members 



and Carbonari of llaltj, 



of the society, but to the victims tbey 

 immolated, and of whom they kept a 

 register apart, on tlie margin of which 

 were found blasjdiemics and infernal 

 projecls. They had also a Director of 

 Funeral Ceremonies, for they slaugh- 

 tered with meiiiod and solemnly. As 

 soon as the detachmenfs employed on 

 this service found it convenient to effect 

 their purpose, at the signal of the 

 first blast of a trumpet they unsheathed 

 their poignards; they aimed them at 

 their victim at the second blast ; at the 

 ihinl, Oicy gradually approach their 

 weapons to his breast, " cim vero eutu- 

 siasmo" (with real enthusiasm,) in 

 their cannibal language, and plunged 

 them into his body at the fourth signal. 



TJie four points whicii are observable 

 after the signature of Pietro Gargaro, 

 indicate liis power of passing sentence 

 of death. When the Decisi wrote to 

 any one to extort contributions, or to 

 command him to do any thing — if they 

 added tliese four points, it was known 

 that the person they addressed was con- 

 demned *o death in easeofdisobedienee. 

 If the points were not added, he was 

 (lireatened with milder punishment, 

 .sucii as laying v.aste his fields, or burn- 

 ing his house. 



The Salentine Republic, the ancient 

 name of this district, was also that 

 destined for their imaginary republic, 

 whicli they called " un anello della Re- 

 publica EurojKi," a link of the Euro- 

 pean Republic. 



The symbols of the thunderbolt dart- 

 ing from acloud and striking thecrowns 

 and tiara; the fasces and the cap of 

 liberty planted upon a death's head be- 

 tween two axes ; the skulls and bones 

 ^^•ith the words, " Tristezza, Morfe, 

 Terrore, and Lutto," sadness, death, 

 terror, and mourning, sufficiently eha- 

 racleriso this association. Their co- 

 lours were yellow, red, and blue, which 

 surround the patent. 



HORRIBLE WARFARE. 



Worn out with fatigue, Giro and three 

 companions, Vito di Cesare, Giovanni 

 Palmieri, and Michele Cuppoli, had 

 taken refuge in Scaserba, to repose 

 themselves for a few hours. He had 

 previously provided this and all the 

 farm-houses of the district with am- 

 munition and some provisions. When 

 he saw the militia of S. Marzano march- 

 ing against him, he appeared very little 

 alarmed, and thought he could easily 

 cut his way through their ranks. 

 He shot the first man dead who ca/ne 

 wilhiu range of his musket. This delay 



cost 



