From Cremona he made his way as well as he could to Switzerland, where he took up his quarters at Lugano. Here he wrote his “Processi di Rubiera,” and at first thought of settling in the place, as this was a free town, near his own home. It may be as well to keep the memory of wrongs before the world, and it is unfortunately the way of unsuccessful men in general, and of unsuccessful revolutionists in particular, not to accept defeat philosophically, but after all hope of success has departed, still to irritate those whom they have failed to dispossess or overcome. From this pardonable defect Panizzi was, as might be expected, not more free than the rest of mankind. His restless and energetic disposition would not allow him to refrain from political controversy, and the character of his writings so provoked the Austrians that he was ordered to quit Lugano and proceed to. Geneva. Thither he accordingly went, but not to remain long; his objectionable reputation had preceded him, and the representatives of Austria, France, and Sardinia insisted on his expulsion. England was the only country now open to himself and his brother exiles, and thither they determined to journey by way of France; but, as they were not certain that the French authorities would allow refugees to pass through their country, it was decided to send forward Signor Bezzi (afterwards well-known in England as Mr. G. Aubrey Bezzi, who died in Piedmont only a few months before Panizzi) to exploiter the route. This gentleman’s exploitation must be held to have fallen a little short of complete success. At Gex, a small town in France, in the Department of Ain, and about 11 miles from Geneva, he was stopped, unceremoniously stripped, and after being thoroughly searched and examined, sent back. There was, however, a way to England still left to the party, by the Rhine and the Netherlands, and by this route they arrived in London in May, 1823. It is painful to have to record that the slenderness of their means obliged them to live in a state bordering on actual destitution. The author clearly recollects hearing Panizzi narrate that, in these days of his indigence, fourteen-pence was all he allowed himself for breakfast and dinner, and how well he remembered spending one portion of an afternoon in gazing through the windows of a cook-shop watching with hungry eyes the more fortunate mortals who were satisfying their appetites within; and this reminiscence gained additional zest from the fact that it was related at a banquetbanquet.
London at this period was full of refugees, from every country and of every grade, including presidents of republics, generals, men of letters, lawyers, poets, etc.
At first these various celebrities enjoyed a considerable amount of notoriety, no small part of which was bestowed upon them by the newspaper writers, who seemed for some time to be indefatigable in drawing public notice to the exiles, and in relating exciting anecdotes of this or that famous person sojourning amongst them. In due course, however, the novelty of the thing wore off, and readers, having had a surfeit of such accounts, the newspapers gradually ceased to stimulate their curiosity, and the expatriated heroes were forgotten by the public at large.
If, as the maxim is, a man may be known by the society he keeps, Panizzi, who seems at most times to have had peculiar good fortune in attracting to himself men of worth, both privately and publicly, must be allowed to have stood high in this respect.
His dearest friend at this period of his life in London was the illustrious Piedmontese statesman, Santorre Santa-Rosa, who, the life and soul of the great patriotic movement then lately made to achieve the freedom of his country, was born at Savigliano in Sardinia, in September, 1783. He was the author of the History of the Piedmontese Revolution, a work which breathes the true spirit of national liberty, and exhibits its writer as a most determined foe to anything in the shape of foreign domination. Forced by his Government to expatriate himself in 1821, Santa Rosa went to Switzerland, but being, like Panizzi, compelled by the Austrian and Sardinian Governments to quit that country, he betook himself to France, taking up his residence in Paris, where he assumed the name of Conti, and became the bosom friend of Victor Cousin. Early in October, 1822, he arrived in England, on the merits and defects of which country he makes the following quaint comment in one of his letters to his brother exiles:—“Here I have been received with sincerity and kindness. I also admire the virtuous habits of the English, but cannot get used to their mode of cooking.”
For ourselves, as true lovers of our country, we are too well content with the eulogy at the beginning, to take exception to the blame of one of our institutions implied in the concluding part of the sentence.
In November, 1824, Santa-Rosa left England for Napoli di Romania to fight for the cause of Greek independence, and was killed in battle on the 19th of May, 1825. His death was a sad blow to the band of Italian patriots in London, but especially to Panizzi, who had looked up to him as a father and a counsellor, and had kept up a constant correspondence with him. There are in our possession but two letters written by Santa-Rosa to his friend, dated respectively the 5th September and 13th November, 1823, from “The Green Cottage, South Bank, St. John’s Wood,” a part of the town much affected as a dwelling place by the leading refugees. Conspicuous in these are the writer’s affection for Panizzi and anxious care for his welfare; nor are matters of mental instruction omitted, for we find strong recommendations carefully to study the political and literary history of Italy, and also “note all the most important points of English habits.” After Santa-Rosa, Panizzi’s chief friends, with whom during his stay in town he spent a great portion of his time, were the brothers Camillo and Filippo Ugoni, both literary men of some note.
Shortly after Panizzi’s arrival in London he was tried in his absence on the charge of Carbonarism, in which it has been shown that he was deeply implicated. Of this, as might have been expected, he was found guilty on pretty clear evidence, and, in default of appearance, was sentenced to death by the Government of Modena.
Subjoined is a translation of the sentence:—
Invoking the name of God Most Holy, in the reign of Francis IV. Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.
The Special Tribunal, instituted by revered sovereign sign manual of 28 July, 1823,
Having assembled at the Palace of Justice, and in the chamber duly appointed for the purpose of trying the Doctor of Laws, Antonio, son of Luigi Panizzi, native of and domiciled at Brescello, province of Reggio, contumacious, and CRIMINALLY ARRAIGNED:
1. For that he, being already enrolled in a prohibited sect, took part with other persons known to the judicial authorities in the reception into the sect of Carbonari of the appraiser Francesco Panizzi, and Doctor Domenico Giglioli of Brescello, in the afternoon of the 11th of March, 1821, in his own office situated in his dwelling house at Brescello.
2. For that he in the evening of the next day, the 12th, did with other persons likewise known to the judicial authorities take part in the reception into the sect of Carbonari of the apothecary Bartolomeo Panizzi of Brescello, which reception took place in the office of the appraiser Francesco Panizzi, situated in his dwelling house at Brescello.
Having referred to the documents drawn up by the acting Director of Police, Doctor Pietro Curti, and to the further documents before this Tribunal, and particularly to the charges issued against the accused by the special inquisition on the 1st, and the 19th of September last past;
Having referred to the inferences of the Procurator Fiscal of this Tribunal, Advocate Felice Fieri;
Considering that the results of the legal proceedings taken against the said contumacious Dr. Panizzi prove that he certainly belonged to a proscribed sect, and moreover clearly demonstrate that he was anxious to gain proselytes for the sect of Carbonari, and to promote by every means the efforts of the confederates, and the object at which they were aiming, that is the overthrow and destruction of our present lawful government;
Considering