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    ?06 Wbt VLcatte V* [Saturday,

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    The Two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen ...

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    mr. Gladstone's letters. Two Letters to ...

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    ?06 Wbt Vlcatte V* [Saturday,

    ? 06 Wbt VLcatte V * [ Saturday ,

    The Two Letters To The Earl Of Aberdeen ...

    The Two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen on the State Prosecutions of the Neapolitan Government , by Mr . Gladstone , are noticed in other parts of our columns . We hope they will draw forth an universal voice of hearty English execration on the authors of atrocities like those Victor Hugo was called unnatural for imagining in a drama of which the scene was Padua , in the 16 th century , under the Government of Venice ! Mr . Gladstone has made a valuable contribution to the political literature of the day .

    Mr. Gladstone's Letters. Two Letters To ...

    mr . Gladstone ' s letters . Two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen , on the State Prosecutions of the Neapolitan Government . By the Eight Honourable ¦ W . E . Gladstone , M . P . for the University of Oxford . Second Edition . Murray , Albemarle-street . Letters so remarkable as these have not issued from the press for many a day ; nor has a fact so remarkable as that which they convey to the public , happened for a long time . The Right Honourable W . E . Gladstone , a scholar , a man of academic reputation , an eminent member of , the Conservative party of English politicians , and distinguished among members of that party for his calm and

    logical mind , and for his profound views of the nature and functions of a Church—this man goes to Italy in the winter of 1850-51 , and spends three or four months at Naples . He has heard before of the cruel political prosecutions that have been going on in Naples since the suppression of the reform movement in Italy ; but now that he is on the spot he comes to know such horrors , such facts of unparalleled atrocity , connected with the judicial proceedings of the Neapolitan Government , that he cannot , as a man and a Christian , keep silence ; but , quitting Naples , resolves that he will first try what he can privately do to redress the wrongs whose existence he has ascertained , and

    then , if private exertions fail , denounce these wrongs in the face of the world . Accordingly , in April , 1851 , or immediately after his return to England , he addresses a private letter to Lord Aberdeen on the subject , trusting that , through a man of such weight , something may be clone . This failing , after three or four months , he publishes the letter , and appeals to that public opinion , whose tribunal , he says , he would have shurmed , had it been possible to do so . He then appends a second or supplementary letter ; and the two are now published together in a united pamphlet . We can but give an extract or two , to which we prefix headings ; but we earnestly advise every one to procure and read the whole .

    NUMBER OP POLITICAL , PRISONERS IX THE KINGDOM OP Til 13 TWO SICILIES . " The general belief is , that the prisoners for political offences in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies , are between fifteen , or twenty , and thirty thousand . The Government withholds all means of accurate information , and accordingly there can be no certainty on the point . I have , however , found that this belief is shared by persons the most intelligent , considerate , and well-informed . It is also supported by what is known of the astonishing crowds confined in particular prisons ; and especially by what is accurately known in particular provincial localities , as to

    the numbers of individuals missing from among the community . 1 have heard these numbers for example at Keggio , and at Salerno ; and from an effort to estimate them in reference to population , I do believe that twenty thousand is no imreasonable estimate . In Naples alone , some hundreds are at this moment under indictment capitally ; and when 1 quitted it , a trial was expected to come on immediately ( called that of the- fifteenth of May ) , in which the number charged was between lour and live hundred ; including (( hough this is a digression ) at least one or more persons of high station , whose opinions would in this country be considered more conservative than ¦ your own ( Lord Aberdeen's ) . "

    HALF A PARLIAMENT 1 ' 1 / T INTO 1 'IUf-ON . " Shortly after 1 reached Naples 1 heard a man of eminent station accused , with much vituperation , ef having stated that nearly nil those who had formed the ? Opposition ' in the Chamber of Deputies under the Constitution , were in prison or in exile . 1 frankly own my impression wua , thai a statement apparently so inoiitroiiH and incredible deserved the rcpiobutiou it was then receiving . It . was ( 1 think ) iu November

    last . The Chamber had been elected by the people under n Constitution freely and spontaneously given by ilia King : elected twice over , and with little change , but that little in favour of the Opposition . No otto of the body , I think , had then been brought to trial ( although I may state , in passing , one of them had been H 8 » n 8 » ii ' iute < i by a priest named l ' eluao , well known in the streets of Naples when I wu » there , never questioned for the uet , und ttuid to recoivo a pension from the Government ) . So that I put down

    the statement as a fiction , and the circulation of it as , at the very least , a gross indiscretion or more . What was my astonishment when I saw a list in detail which too fully proved its truth ; nay , which in the most essential point proved more ? It appears , my dear Lord , that the full complement of the Chamber of Deputies was 164 ; elected by constituency which brought to poll about 117 , 000 votes . Of these about 140 was the greatest number that came to Naples to exercise the functions of the

    Chamber . An absolute majority of this number , or seventy-six , besides some others who had been deprived of offices , had either been arrested or had gone into exile . So that after the regular formation of a popular representative Chamber , and its suppression in the teeth , of the law , the Government of Naples has consummated its audacity by putting into prison , or driving into banishment for the sake of escaping prison , an actual majority of the representatives of the people . "

    CASE OF CARLO POERIO } FORGED EVIDENCE . " Perhaps , I cannot do better than to furnish a thread to my statement by dealing particularly with the case of Carlo Poerio . It has every recommendation for the purpose . His father was a distinguished lawyer . He is himself a refined and accomplished gentleman , a copious and eloquent speaker , a respected and blameless character . I have had the means of ascertaining in some degree his political position . He is strictly a Constitutionalist ; and while I refain from examining into the shameful chapter of Neapolitan history which that word might open , I must beg you to remember that its strict

    meaning there is just the same as here , that it signifies a person opposed in heart to all violent measures from whatever quarter , and having for its political creed the maintenance of the monarchy on its legal basis , by legal means , and with all the civilizing improvements of laws and establishments which may tend to the welfare and happiness of the community . His pattern is England , rather than . America or France . I have never heard him charged with error in politics , other than such as can generally be alleged witn truth against the most high-minded and loyal , the most intelligent and constitutional , of our own statesmen . I must say , after a pretty full

    examination of his case , that the condemnation of such , a man for treason is a proceeding just as much conformable to the laws of truth , justice , decency , and fair , play , and to the common sense of the community , in fact just as great and gross an outrage on . them all , as would be a like condemnation in this country of any of our best-known public men , Lord John Russell , or Lord Lansdowne , or Sir James Graham , or yourself . Carlo Poerio was one of the Ministers of the Crown under the Constitution , and had also one of the most prominent positions in the Neapolitan Parliament . He was , as regarded the Sicilian question , friendly to the maintenance of the unity of the kingdom . He was also friendly to the war of independence , as it was termed ; but I have never heard that he manifested greater zeal iu that matter than the King of

    Naples ; it is a question , of course , wholly irrespective of what we have now to consider . Poerio appeared to enjoy the King ' s full confidence ; his resignation , when offered , was at first declined , and his advice asked even after its acceptance . The history of his arrest , as detailed by himself , in his address of February 8 , 1850 , to his judges , deserves attention . The evening before it ( July 18 , 184 !)) , a letter was left at Ilia house by a person unknown , conceived in these terms : — 'Fly ; and fly with speed . You are betrayed ! the Government is already in possession of your correspondence with the Marquis Dragonetti . — From one who loves you much . ' Had lie fled , it would have been proof of guilt , ample for those of whom we are now speaking . But he was aware of this , and did not fly . Moreover , no such correspondence existed . On the lUlli , about four in the

    afternoon , two persons , presenting themselves at his door under a false title , obtained entry , and announced to him that he was arrested in virtue of a verbal order of Peccheneda , the prefect of police . He protested in vain : the house was ransacked : he was carried into Bohtary confinement . lie demanded to bo examined , and to know the cause of his arrest within twenty-four hours , according to law , but m vain . Ho early , however , as on the sixth day , he was brought before the Commissary Maddaloni ; and a letter , with the seal unbroken , was put into his hands . It was addressed to him , and he was told that it had come under cover to a friend of the Marquis Dragonetti , but that the cover had been opened in mistake by an / heer of

    o the police , who happened to have the same name , though a different surname , and who , on perceiving what was within , bunded both to the authorities . Poerio was . desired to open it , and did open it in the presence of the commissary . Thus far nothing could be more elaborate ; and careful than the arrangement of the proceeding . Jiut mark the sequel . The matter of the letter of course was hi ghly treasonable ; it announced un invutfion by Garibaldi , fixed a conference with Mazzini , and referred to a correspondence with Lord Pulmerston , whose niune was miserubly mangled , who promised to aid u proximalo revolution . I percoived at once , ' nays Poerio , that the handwriting of Dragonetti was vilely imitated

    and I said so , remarking that the internal evidence of sheer forgery was higher than any amount of material proof whatever . ' Dragonetti -was one of the most accomplished of Italians ; whereas this letter was full of blunders , both of grammar and of spelling . It is scarcely worth while to notice other absurdities ; such as the signature of name , surname , and title in full , and the transmission of such a letter by the ordinary post of Naples . Poerio had among his papers certain genuine letters of Dragonetti ' s ; they were produced and compared with this ; and the forgery stood confessed . "Upon the detection of this monstrous iniquity , what steps were taken by the Government to avenge not Poerio , but public justice ? None whatever : the papers were simply laid aside .

    " I have taken this detail from Poerio himself , in his defence ; but all Naples knows the story , and knows it with disgust . " Poerio ' s papers furnished no matter of accusation . "It was thus necessary Jo forge again ; or rather perhaps to act upon forgeries which had been prepared , but which were at first deemed inferior to the Dragonetti letter . "A person named Jervolino , a disappointed applicant for some low office , had been selected for the work both of espionage and of perjury ; and Poerio was now accused , under information from him , of being among the chiefs of a republican sect ,

    denominated the Unita Italiana , and of an . intention to murder the King . He demanded to be confronted with his accuser . He had long before known , and named Jervolino to his friends , as having falsely denounced him to the Government ; but the authorities refused to confront them ; the name was not even told him ; he went from one prison to another ; he was confined , as he alleges , in places fit for filthy brutes rather than men ; he was cut off from the sight of friends ; even his * mother , his sole remaining near relation in the country , was not permitted to see him for two months together . Thus he passed some seven or eight months in total ignorance of any evidence

    against him , or of those who gave it . During that interval Signor Antonio de' Duchi di Santo Vito came to him , and told him the Government knew all ; but that if he would confess , his life would be spared . He demanded of his judges on his trial that Santo Vito should be examined as " to this statement : of course it was not done . But more than this . Signor Peccheneda himself , the director of the police , and holding the station of a Cabinet Minister to the King , went repeatedly to the prison , summoned divers prisoners , and with flagrant illegality examined them himself , without witnesses and without record . One of these was Carafa . By one deposition of this

    Carafa , who was a man of noble family , it was declared , that Peccheneda himself assured him his matter should be very easily arranged , if he would only testify to Poerio ' s acquaintance with certain revolutionary handbills . It could not be ; and the Cabinet Minister * took leave of Carafa with the words— ' Yery well , Sir ; you wish to destroy yourself ; I leave you to your fate . ' Such was the conduct of Peccheneda , as Poerio did not fear to state it before his judges . I must add , that I have heard upon indubitable authority of other proceedings of that Minister of the King of Naples , which fully support the credibility of the charge . ''

    TREATMENT OP POLITICAL PRISONERS . " Each man wears a strong leather girth round him above the hips . To this are secured the upper ends of two chains . One chain of four long and heavy links descends to a kind of double ring iixed round the ankle . The second chain consists of eight links , each of the same weight and length with the four , and this unites the two prisoners together , Ho that they can stand about six feet apart . Neither of these chains is ever undone , day or night . The dress of common felons , which , as well as the felon ' s cap , was there worn by the late Cabinet Minister of King Ferdinand of Naples , is composed of a rough and coarse red jacket , with trowsers of the same material-very like the cloth made in this country from what is called devil ' s dust ; the trowsers are nearly black in colour

    . On his head he had u small cap which makes up the suit ; it is of the same material . The- trowsers button all the way up , thut the may be removed at night without disturbing the chains . The weight of these chains , I understand , is about , eight rotoli , or between sixteen and seventeen English pounds for the shorter one , which must be doubled when we give each prisoner hi * half of the longer one . The prisoners had a heavy limping movement , much as if one leg had been shorter than the other , lint the refinement of suffering iu this ea . se arises from the circumstance that here we have men of oducation and high feeling chained incessantly together . For no purpose are them : chains undone ; the meaning of these last wordw must be well considered ; they art ! to be taken strictly . "

    TOUTUR 15 IN A NEAPOLITAN 1 'KIKON . " . Settembrini , in a wphere by hoiiio degrees narrower , but with u character quite ua pure and fair , was tried with Poerio and forty more , and was capitally convicted in February , though through an liumano provision of tho law the aentenco wa » not

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 26, 1851, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26071851/page/14/