) he Seen C Socieiits and Carhonari of Italyr 



cost hiin dear: (lie iniliUa sent infor- 

 nialion to Lieutenant Fonsmore, sta- 

 tioned at the •' Crislelli," a siioug po- 

 sition between Grottaglio and Franca- 

 villa. This officer Imsteued to the spot 

 v,'ith forty men. On seeing him ap- 

 proach, Ciro perceiv(ul tliat a vigorous 

 attack was to be made. He shut up 

 the people of the Massoria in the sfraw 

 magazine, and put the key in his pocket. 

 He took away the ladder fioni (lie 

 tower, and loaded, with the aid of bis 

 companions, all the guns, of which _ie 

 had a good number. 



Major Biauchi, informed of what was 

 going on, sent on tl<e same evening a 

 detachment of Gendarmes, under Cap- 

 ttiiu Corsi, and the next morning j)ro- 

 ceeded in person to Scaserba. The 

 siege v,-as ibrmed l)y one hundred and 

 thirtj'-two soldiers: the militia, on 

 which little dependence was placed, 

 were stationed at some distance, and in 

 the second line. 



Ciro vigoronsly defended the ap- 

 proaches to his tower till sun-set. He 

 attempted to escape in the night, but 

 the neighing of a horse made him sus- 

 pect that some cavalry had arrived, 

 whose pursuit it would be impossible 

 to elude. He retired, after having, 

 killed, with a pistol shot, a VoISigeur, 

 stationed under the wall he hal at- 

 tempted to scale. He again shut him- 

 self up in his tower, and em])Ioyed him- 

 self till morning in making cartridges. 

 At day-break, tlie besiegers tried" to 

 burst open the wooden gate of (he outer 

 wall ; Ciro and his men repulsed the 

 assailants by a well-directed fire; they 

 killed five and wounded fourteen men. 

 A barrel of oil was brought, in order 

 to burn the door. The first man who 

 set fire to it was shot through (he heart. 

 A four pounder, which had been con- 

 veyed to the place, was jiointed against 

 the roof of the tower. Several of this 

 calibre had been contrived to be easily 

 dismounted from tlieir carsiages, and 

 transported on mules. This little piece 

 produced ' great effect. The tiles and 

 bricks which fell, forced Ciro (odescend 

 from the second story to the first. Ho 

 M'as tormented Avith a burning thirst, 

 for he had forgotten to provide himself 

 with water, and he ncner drank wine. 

 This thirst soon became insupportable. 



After some deliberations with his 

 companions, he demanded to speak with 

 General Church, who, he believed, was 

 in the neiffhbourhood, tlieu to tlie Duke 

 «tf Jasi, who was also absent; at last, he 

 resolved to capitulate with Major Bian- 



601 



chi. He addressed (he besiegers, and 

 threw (hem some bread. Major Biau- 

 chi promised hin» that he should not be 

 maltreated by the soldiers. He de- 

 scended the laddei', ojiened the door of 

 the tower, and presented himself with 

 the v.ords, '• Eccomi, Don Ciro '." — • 

 Here I am, Don Ciro! 



He begged them to give him some 

 water to quench his tiiirst, and desired 

 them to liberate the farmer and his 

 family, who had been shut up all this 

 while in the straw magazine. He de- 

 clared that they were innocent, and 

 distributed money among tiiem. 



He sullered himself to be searched 

 and boimd patiently ; some poison was 

 found upon him ; he asserted that his 

 companions had prevented him from 

 taking it. He eonveised quietly enough 

 wi(h Major Bianchi on the road to Fran- 

 cavilla, and related to him the princ:pai 

 circumsiances of his life. 



In prison, he appeared to be interest- 

 ed for the fate of some of his partisans, 

 begging that they might not be perse- 

 cuted, and declaring tiiat tiiey had 

 been forced toido what they had done. 



He had entertained some hope, till 

 the moment when he was placed l>efore 

 the council of war, under the direction 

 of Lieutenant-Colonel Guarini. He 

 addressed a speech to him, taking him 

 for General ("hurch. He insisted on 

 speaking to that officer: this was re- 

 fused, and he resigned himself to his 

 fate, dryly saying, " Ho capita,'''' I un- 

 derstand. 



When condemned to death, a mis- 

 sionary offered him the consolations of 

 religion, Ciro answered him with a 

 smile, " Lasciate qiiesle chiacchiere : 

 siamn deW' istessn professlone ; non ci 

 burliamo fra noi.'''' — Let us leave alone 

 this prating ; we are of the same pro- 

 fession ; don't, let us laugh at one ano- 

 ther. 



As he was led to execution, the Sth 

 of February, ISIS, be recognized Lieu- 

 tenant Fonsmore, and addressed 

 these M'ords to him, " <Se to fosse Re, vi 

 farei Capitatw,'''' — If I were King, I 

 would make you a captain. This officer 

 was the first to arrive at Scaserba with 

 his soldiers. 



The streets of Francavilla were filled 

 with people : there were spectators even 

 upon the roofs. They all preserved a 

 gloomy silence. 



On his arrival at (be place of execu- 

 tion, Ciro wished (o remain standing; 

 he Mas told to kneel, he. did so, pre- 

 sent iug his breast. He was then in- 

 formed 



