Rome has just escaped a sort of counter-revolution. Much doubt
has been thrown upon the reports, but the main facts ap- pear to have been ascertained. It is not surprising, however, that Incredulity should have been the first feeling ; so absurd and wild was the plot ascribed to the conspirators. The tale is, that a con- spiracy was arranged under the auspices of Cardinal Lambru- schini, and the leadership of Colonel Freddi, Chief of the Mounted Police or Carabineers, to set upon the populace and massacre them : the day fixed upon was the anniversary of the amnesty, when the people would have been collected in the streets. The presumed object of the conspiracy was to impart to Rome an as- spect of turbulence, in order to show that it was not prepared for freedom, and so possibly to afford a pretext for Austrian inter- vention.
The mere absurdity of such a project is no sufficient ground for disbelief. Hitherto Italian politics have almost uniformly been of a bookish nature : the friends of liberty have derived their in- spiration from literature, and have shaped their tactics on literary models ; and although the opposite party might be supposed to possess the worldly experience derivable from a practical ac- quaintance with affairs, in point of fact they shared the genius of the country, and acted less upon practical experience or clear scientific knowledge than upon tradition and dogma. The prac- tical style of administration and reform introduced by Pius the Ninth is a startling innovation, which even the more intel- lectually active Liberal party was slow to comprehend or appre- tiate ; and we must not wonder if the Conservative party of Italy remains still in the region of bookish politics.
The probability that the reports are true is confirmed by strange and otherwise unaccountable demonstrations of the Austrians on the Western aide of the Roman States.
If a guess as to the hidden object of the conspiracy may be hazarded, it is very likely that the conspirators, on obtaining pos- session of Rome, would have affected to consider that the Sove- reign Pontiff had previously been under coercion by the mob ; and so, while pretending to guard him, they might have sought to reduce him to a puppet, or to put him out of the way.
The upshot of the movement has been to strengthen the new and popular influences. The class of professed politicians has been usefully weeded : among others, the Governor of Rome, always an object of doubt, has been dismissed. The defence of Rome has been confided to the Romans, now organized as a National or Civic Guard ; and with arms political power has been handed over to the middle class as a constituent part of the state. It will be found that this diffusion of responsibility with power strengthens instead of weakening the Government.
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