Considering that in regard to the aggregation of the apothecary Panizzi to the Carbonari sect with the participation of the accused, there are the depositions of the former as well as of the appraiser Panizzi and of Cavandoli, who were present there with others, and that those depositions are corroborated by the extrajudicial confession of the accused himself, made to Nizzoli on the very evening of the event, that he had introduced the said apothecary Panizzi into the Carbonari sect, and made a Carbonaro of the said Panizzi, and subsequently with regard to Giglioli that he too had been affiliated to the Carbonari sect;
As the said Panizzi still persists in his contumacy, which in terms of the law is equivalent to imputed confession, and considering that all the formalities prescribed by T. 12, L. 4 of the Cod. Est. have been observed;
Having referred to the same code §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of L. 5. T. 2.—§ 9. L. 4, 7, 15, and the sovereign edict 20 September, 1820;
The above-mentioned tribunal has condemned, and does condemn, the contumacious Doctor of Laws, Antonio Panizzi, to the punishment of
DEATH
to be executed on his effigy, to confiscation of his property, and in the costs.
Modena, 6 October, 1823.
Giuseppe Consre Terni, President.
Pe Cavedoni, Judge.
C. Tassoni, Judge.
P. Pedreschi, Chancellor.
This sentence was promulgated by me in due form this 20 October, 1823.
Pedreschi, Chancellor.
A true copy. Pedreschi, Chancellor.
These hair-breadth escapes may be very amusing and pleasant to read about, but to the principal person concerned, who was thoroughly capable of appreciating the various positions and vicissitudes of life, they must have conveyed anything but agreeable impressions, or conduced to the ease of mind so acceptable to mankind in general.
Panizzi remained but a short time in London. The celebrated Ugo Foscolo, to whom the Ugoni had introduced him, had strongly advised him at once to quit the metropolis and to try his fortunes at Liverpool, where there was more likelihood of his obtaining employment. Foscolo furnished him with letters of introduction to William Roscoe, author of the life of Leo X., and also to other distinguished Liverpool men. How he was received by Roscoe, the following passage in the biography of the latter (Lond. 1833), vol. ii., p. 406, will show:—“It was the good fortune of Mr. Roscoe to retain, even to the close of his life, that power of attracting the friendship of others which had been from his youth one of his most marked characteristics. Amongst these, the friends of his age, there was no one who became more sincerely attached to him, or for whom he himself felt a higher degree of esteem and affection than Mr. Panizzi, an Italian gentleman, who had been compelled, in consequence of political persecutions, to abandon Italy and to take refuge in England. Soon after his arrival in this country he settled in Liverpool as a teacher of the Italian language, where his talents and worth soon won the regard of Mr. Roscoe. To the kindness and attention of Mr. Panizzi, which rather resembled that of a son than of a stranger, he owed many happy hours.” Mr. Roscoe died on June 30th, 1831.
At his death Panizzi received the following letter:—
Lodge-lane, 30th June, 1831.
So affectionately attached as you have been to my father, I cannot let you learn the sad intelligence which this letter will convey from anybody but one of his own family.
He was seized last week with a violent cold or influenza, accompanied with fever. At first we thought him getting over it, but on Monday night he was attacked with a shivering fit, and being put to bed he never rose again. His strength failed him rapidly, and this morning at 11 o’clock he breathed his last quite peacefully.
It is a great consolation to know that he suffered no acute pain, and his mind seemed perfectly composed.
Yours, &c.,
H. Roscoe.
The centenary of William Roscoe’s birth was celebrated at Liverpool on the 8th March, 1853, and Panizzi was of course asked to attend.
In replying to the invitation he said:—“Feb. 19, 1853. … The veneration in which I, together with all lovers of truth, of freedom, of independence, of literature, and of the arts, hold the memory of that illustrious man, and the grateful recollection of the warm and affectionate regard with which I was honoured by him, are inducements so powerful to accept so kind an invitation as that which your letter conveys, that nothing but the absolute impossibility of leaving my duties here could restrain me from availing myself of it.”
Before Panizzi left London he received from Italy a most curious bill for money due from him; such a bill as few men have ever received at any time, and such as many men, Panizzi, probably, amongst the number, would hardly consider the most unpleasant of their kind. It was from the Inspector of Finances and Tax-gatherer (Ispettore ed Esattore di Finanze) at Reggio, who, having heard of Panizzi’s escape and arrival in Switzerland, sent him an account of money spent in preparing his accusation, sentence of death, and even for the expenses of his execution, “in contumaciam.” The actual sum demanded was 225 francs and 25 cents, including the usual fee for the hangman.
In his then low state of spirits Panizzi hardly felt equal to answering this amusing epistle in a befitting manner, and accordingly postponed his reply until after his arrival at Liverpool, whence he sent the following humorous letter:—
(Translation.) Realm of Death,
Elysian Fields,
10th May, 1824.
The soul of whilom Dr. Antonio Panizzi,
To the Inspector of Finances and Tax-gatherer of the Province of Reggio (Satanic Domain).
The body animated by me before I was smitten by the pointless stiletto of Terni, Cavedoni, and crew, and now living at Liverpool, by the grace of God sound and so sprightly that those who see it think that—spite of Modena’s Dukeling—I have not yet forsaken it, has sent me in my abode here a letter of yours, No. 14 of the 26th of March last past, requesting information or reply. Now I, in compliance with the latter solicitation, have to tell you that, mindful of the maxim “mors omnia solvit,” I do not consider that since my departure I have any longer either assets or liabilities in that miserable world of yours; unless you mean to say that, notwithstanding the Holy Alliance, I am still united to that body of mine at Liverpool; which would be a deadly sin ipso facto et jure incurring the penalty of higher excommunication, from which none but a fashionable Jesuit could absolve me, for having had the audacity to suggest a doubt of your most benign petty masterling’s lawful authority to expel me from the world.
Nevertheless, as I and that aforesaid body of mine are always upon such good terms with each other that we might still pass for body and soul conjoined, and as the corporal party through honourable industry can by my direction dispose of a few pounds sterling without inconvenience, I beg you to send to my body at Liverpool—for the post from your diabolical State never comes to disturb my rest here—a detailed account