Previous - next
At length the German commissioner arrived, and came to acquaint us
that within two days we were to set out. "I have the pleasure," he
added, "to give you some consoling tidings. On my return from
Spielberg, I saw his majesty the Emperor at Vienna, who acquainted
me that the penal days appointed you will not extend to twenty-four
hours, but only to twelve. By this expression it is intended to
signify that the pain will be divided, or half the punishment
remitted." This division was never notified to us in an official
form, but there is no reason to suppose that the commissioner would
state an untruth; the less so as he made no secret of the
information, which was known to the whole commission. Nevertheless,
I could not congratulate myself upon it. To my feelings, seven
years and a half had little more horrible in them (to be spent in
chains and solitude) than fifteen; for I conceived it to be
impossible to survive so long a period. My health had recently
again become wretched! I suffered from severe pains of the chest,
attended with cough, and thought my lungs were affected. I ate
little, and that little I could not digest. Our departure took
place on the night of the 25th of March. We were permitted to take
leave of our friend, Cesare Armari. A sbirro chained us in a
transverse manner, namely, the right hand and the left foot, so as
to render it impossible for us to escape.
We went into a gondola, and the guards rowed us towards Fusina. On
our arrival we found two boats in readiness for us. Rezia and
Canova were placed in one, and Maroncelli and myself in the other.
The commissary was also with two of the prisoners, and an under-
commissary with the others. Six or seven guards of police completed
our convoy; they were armed with swords and muskets; some of them at
hand in the boats, others in the box of the Vetturino.
To be compelled by misfortune to leave one's country is always
sufficiently painful; but to be torn from it in chains, doomed to
exile in a horrible climate, to linger days, and hours, and years,
in solitary dungeons, is a fate so appalling as to defy language to
convey the remotest idea of it.
Ere we had traversed the Alps, I felt that my country was becoming
doubly dear to me; the sympathy we awakened on every side, from all
ranks, formed an irresistible appeal to my affection and gratitude.
In every city, in every village, in every group of meanest houses,
the news of our condemnation had been known for some weeks, and we
were expected. In several places the commissioners and the guards
had difficulty in dispersing the crowd which surrounded us. It was
astonishing to witness the benevolent and humane feeling generally
manifested in our behalf.
In Udine we met with a singular and touching incident. On arriving
at the inn, the commissary caused the door of the court-yard to be
Previous - next
