ITALY (HISTORY.) 



169 



object the union of Italy under one government, and 

 its independence of foreign powers, particularly of 

 A ustria, threatened to subvert the political institu- 

 tions of the peninsula in general, and of the single 

 states in particular, and in some places, especially in 

 Naples, Sicily, and Piedmont, actually shook them, 

 by rousing the troops to revolt, and by exciting 

 popular commotions the cabinets laboured with 

 equal zeal to maintain the principle of stability by 

 the suppression of every revolution, and by opposing 

 to the popular spirit the power of the police. Thus 

 was a question, fraught with the most momentous 

 consequences for all Europe, practically decided in 

 Italy, viz. whether one state is entitled to interfere in 

 the internal affairs of another, and overthrow, by 

 force of arms, any new constitution which militates 

 against the absolute monarchical principle. This 

 principle, which was proclaimed unconditionally by 

 the leading states of the continent, and by Great 

 Britain under the supposition of particular circum- 

 stances threatening imminent danger to the neigh- 

 bouring state (see lord Castlereagh's declaration of 

 the 19th January, 1821), resulted in Austria (as the 

 nearest interested power, which had prevented the 

 introduction of the representative system into Italy 

 in 1815) restoring by force of arms the ancient pre- 

 rogatives of the royal authority in Naples, Sicily, and 

 Piedmont, after obtaining the assent of the other 

 four leading powers, which had been closely allied 

 since 1818, and also of the Italian sovereigns, 

 who participated, at the congress of Laybach, in the 

 discussions respecting the affairs of Italy. Thus 

 this power not only secured its own Italian provinces 

 from the operation of liberal principles, but establish- 

 ed its position as the guardian of the principle of 

 stability and absolute monarchy in Italy. All this 

 was effected by a war of four days with the revolu- 

 tionary army of the Carbonari of Naples (7th-lOth 

 March, 1821), and by a war of three days with the 

 federal party of Piedmont (7th-9th of April, 182 J) ; 

 so that Russia had no occasion to permit its army of 

 100,000 men, already put in motion, to advance 

 against the Italian nations. For the history of those 

 military revolutions, see Naples and Piedmont. 

 Respecting the congress of monarchs and ministers 

 held at Troppau, from October to December, 1820 ; 

 at Laybach, from January to the 13th May, 1821 ; 

 and the congress, as splendid as it was numerous, 

 held at Verona, from October to the 14th Decem- 

 ber, 1822, where the question of armed interference 

 in the internal affairs of states, in reference to Italy 

 and Spain, was discussed, and decided against the 

 claims of the popular party, though, in Verona, with- 

 out the acquiescence of Britain, (see Congress, In- 

 tervention, and Holy Alliance) In the congress of 

 Verona the Porte had no share, because it did not 

 recognise the right of interfering in its internal affairs 

 (with reference to the Greeks). Even the deputies 

 of the provisionary government of Greece (see 

 Greece, Revolution of) were not admitted at Verona ; 

 the pope, however, opened an asylum to the 

 Greeks in general in Ancona, and suffered 'the letter 

 of count Metaxa to be published, in which he solicit- 

 ed the mediation of the holy father in behalf of 

 the affairs of Greece at the congress of Verona. 

 The affairs of Italy were discussed in the last 

 sessions of the congress. The plenipotentiaries 

 of the Italian states were as follows, and voted in the 

 following order: Rome, the cardinal Spina, and 

 Leardi, the nuncio at the court of Vienna (who died 

 1823) ; Naples, the prince Alvaro Ruffo, minister of 

 foreign affairs, and the marquis Ruffo, private secre- 

 tary of king Ferdinand ; Sardinia, the count Delia 

 Torre, minister of foreign affairs, and the count Pra- 

 lorme, Sardinian minister to the court of Vienna ; 



Tuscany, the minister, prince Veri-Corsini ; Parma, 

 the count Magarly, minister of state ; Lucca, the 

 minister Mausi, and count Guicciardini. The peti- 

 tions of the Maltese order for their restoration as a 

 sovereign power were submitted by the commander, 

 Antonio Busco ; nothing, however, was decided on 

 the subject, and the loan which the order subse 

 quently attempted to negotiate in London, in 1823, 

 had as little success as the negotiation with the 

 Greek senate for the cession of an island. The 

 political maxims which the monarchs followed at these 

 congresses, with respect to Italy, were laid before 

 the world, in the Circular Note of Verona of Decem- 

 ber 14, 1822. After the dissolution of the congress 

 of Verona, the king of Naples followed the emperor 

 of Austria to Vienna, where he remained till July, 

 1823, and then returned to his states,- his various 

 oaths taken to support a constitutional form of 

 government having been all violated. The efforts 

 of the most intelligent Italians, from the time of 

 Macchiavelli and Caesar Borgia, son of Pope Alex- 

 ander VI. (see Alexander FL), to restore the politi- 

 cal unity of their native country, have given rise to 

 the numerous secret political societies in Italy, which 

 in Bologna were called the Guelft ; in the Roman 

 and Neapolitan states, the Patriotti Europei, and 

 Carbonari; to Upper Italy, the Spilla nera; in 

 Piedmont and Lombardy, the Filadelfi and Federati. 

 in Milan, the Adelfia, or the Societd de 1 sreblimt 

 maestri perfetti, laboured to produce a general out- 

 break of insurrections in Italy, in order to surround 

 the Austrian army on its advance against Naples. 

 Even the advocates of the illiberal system, or the 

 theocratic faction, as it was termed, which likewise 

 pursued its objects in secret societies, took advantage 

 of the national desire of greater unity in Italy. It 

 was therefore natural that the idea of connecting the 

 Italian states in a political system, similar to the Ger- 

 manic confederation, should have been agitated by the 

 statesmen of the congress ; but it seems to have been 

 entirely given up, and Italy was left in the hands of 

 Austria. On the other hand, measures were adopted, 

 by all the Italian states, to extirpate the liberal spirit 

 which, propagating itself under a perpetual variety 

 of new forms (for example, in the sect of the Ordoni 

 di Napoli, of the Descamisados , of the Barabisti, in 

 Naples and the rest of Italy), had not ceased in the 

 year 1825, in the June of which year a conspiracy 

 was detected at Rome, to pursue its ancient object of 

 uniting all the Italian states into one confederacy as 

 a republic or constitutional monarchy, and freeing 

 them from foreign influence. This display of revolu- 

 tionary spirit is nothing new in the history of Italy. 

 The middle ages, that golden period of absolute 

 power, exhibit there an almost uninterrupted series 

 of such political conspiracies, republican schemes, 

 and destructive convulsions, because Italy has never 

 yet been permitted to be politically a nation, and to 

 adopt a form required by its wants and its rights. 

 One leading measure was, to occupy for some years 

 the kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Piedmont (in 

 which the old troops were disbanded), at the expense 

 of these states, with Austrian armies, which had 

 restored the former state of things. This was done 

 conformably with the treaties between Austria and 

 king Ferdinand, of October 18, 1821, and the king oi 

 Sardinia, Charles Felix, at Novara, July 24, 1821. 

 But, in compliance with the decrees of Verona 

 (December 14, 1822), the Austrian troops, 12,000 in 

 number, were gradually removed from Piedmont in 

 1823, and the fortress of Alessandria was surrendered, 

 September 30, 1823, to Sardinian troops. In the same 

 year, after a new Neapolitan army had been organ- 

 ized in Naples, the Austrian 'garrison, of about 42,000 

 men, was diminished about 17,000, and, in Sicily, 



