The Roman Question Part 19

Don Ludovico Lante (a younger brother of Filippo) was Captain in the 1st regiment of Roman Volunteers.

Adriano Borgia quitted the Pope's _Guardia n.o.bile_ for a Colonelcy of Dragoons, in the service of the Roman Republic: he was an excellent officer.

Marquis Steffanoni commanded a company of young students.--_Transl_.

5: The ordinary British tourist must not look for his portrait in the witty Author's picture. It is clear that here and elsewhere the pilgrims are all a.s.sumed to be true sons of _the_ Church.--_Transl_.

6: An expression in use among collegians in France, to describe those students who are unable to pa.s.s their examinations; tantamount to our English _plucked_.

7: A man who has worn _cioccie_.

8: _'Tolla_.' 1 vol. 12mo.

9: 'The Victories of the Church,' by the Priest Margotti. 1857.

10: 'Proemio della Statistica,' pubblicata nel 1857, dall'

Eminentissimo Cardinale Milesi.

11: H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.

12: Leo XII. (out of his excessive regard for the interests of morality) occasionally departed from this rule. The same motive caused him to be very fond of what the profane call "gossip." He had a habit, too, of ascertaining by ocular demonstration, whether any incidents of more than ordinary interest in domestic life were pa.s.sing in the palaces of his n.o.ble, or the houses of his citizen subjects. His medium for the attainment of this end was a powerful telescope, placed at one of his upper windows! The princ.i.p.al minister to his gossiping propensities was one Captain C----, a man of great learning, but doubtful morality, selected, of course, for the office of scandalous chronicler, from his experiences in what, in lay countries, the carnally-minded term "life." When, between his telescopic observations, and the reports of the Captain, the Sovereign Pontiff had acc.u.mulated the requisite amount of evidence against any offending party, the mode of procedure was sudden, swift, and sure, fully bearing out the Author's a.s.sertion that in Rome the will of an individual is a subst.i.tute for the law of the State. There was no nonsense about _Habeas Corpus_, or jury, or recorded judgment. The supposed delinquent was simply seized (usually in the dead of the night, to avoid scandal), and hurried off to durance vile, to undergo, as it was phrased _prigione ed altre pene a nostro arbitrio_. One day C---- brought the Pope particulars of what was at once p.r.o.nounced by his Holiness a most flagrant case. The wife of the highly respected and able _Avocato_ B---- (a stout lady of fifty), who was at the same time legal adviser to the French Emba.s.sy, was in the habit of driving out daily in the carriage, and by the side of the old bachelor Duke C----, Exempt of the n.o.ble Guard. The Papal decision on the case was instant. The act was of such frequent occurrence, so audaciously, so unblushingly public, that public morality demanded the strongest measures. That very night a descent was made upon the dwelling of the unconscious _Avocato_.

The sanct.i.ty of the connubial chamber was invaded. The sleeping beauty of fifty was ordered to rise, and was dragged off to--the Convent of Repentant Females! B---- knew, and none better, what manner of thing law was in Rome, so instead of wasting time in reasoning with the Pope as to the legality of the case--urging the argument that, even supposing his wife to have been of a susceptible age and an attractive exterior, so long as he himself made no objection to her driving out with the old Duke, n.o.body else had any right to interfere--and other similar appeals to common sense, he at once requested the interference of the French Amba.s.sador. This was promptly and effectively given. The incarceration of the peccant dame was brief; and a shower of ridicule fell upon the Pontifical head. But the Sovereigns of Rome are accustomed to, and regardless of, such irreverent demonstrations.--_TRANSL._

13: Louis Veuillot, article of the 10th of September, 1849.

14: The princ.i.p.al market in Rome is held in this Piazza.

15: The Basilica of St. Paul without the walls.

16: The rubbio is a measure both of land and of quant.i.ty.

17: Monsignore Nicolai was a good practical agriculturist. He had a sort of model farm, known as the _Albereto Nicolai_, near the Basilica of St. Paul Without the Walls. He was an able administrator, and a man of superior attainments; and had he only possessed common honesty, he would have been in time a great man--as greatness is understood in Rome. He was a _Prelato di Fiochetto_, and held the post of _Uditore della R.C. Apostolica_, one of the four high offices which necessarily lead to Red Hats.

Moreover, he was marked by Gregory XVI for the promotion, and had actually ordered his scarlet apparel. But unfortunately Monsignore Nicolai affected the good things of this life over-much. He was a _bon vivant_, and a _viveur_. He loved money, and he was utterly unscrupulous as to the means by which he obtained it. His career in the direction of the Sacred College was cut short, when he was very near its attainment, by a scandalous transaction, in which, although he was nearly eighty years of age, he played the princ.i.p.al part. He colluded with a notary, named Bachetti, to falsify the will of one Vitelli, a wealthy contractor, inserting in the place of the testator's two orphan nieces that of _his own natural son_. The affair having been dragged to light, Gregory XVI. deprived him of his office, and he ended his days in disgrace and retirement. His fondness for worldly pelf clung to him in his very last moments. A short time before he expired, he ordered some gendarmes to be brought into his bedroom, and charged them to watch over his property, lest anything should be stolen after he had ceased to breathe, and before the representatives of the law could take possession.

It is worthy of mention, as ill.u.s.trating the administration of Justice in Rome, that even with these proofs of the invalidity of the will produced as that of Vitelli, his nieces were never able to recover the whole of his property. They were compelled to make terms with Grossi, the defunct Prelate's natural son, who to this day remains in the enjoyment of one-half of Vitelli's property!

18: All the facts and figures contained in this chapter are taken from the works of the Marchese Pepoli.

19: Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 293.

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