ber, and the Cortes to meet on the 6th January 1821. That body, when as sembled, was to fix the other particulars of the constitution.

This arrangement did not satisfy the more violent partizans of liberty, who called for nothing less than the entire acceptance and immediate enforcement of the Spanish constitution. With this view, on the 11th November, a great body of the troops, in concert, as was supposed, with Silveira, Vice-President of the junta, appeared in arms. Under the influence of this assemblage, the junta decided upon the immediate proclamation of the Spanish constitution, at the same time making certain changes in its own internal composition. The oath was immediately taken by the troops, amid loud acclamations, and the change was forthwith announced to the people.

Although this last movement, amid the surprise of the moment, had taken place with outward apparent harmony, a considerable part of the military kept aloof, and murmurs began soon to arise in the public. Four members of the junta, and 150 officers, gave in their

demission. It soon appeared that the hasty step of the 11th November was taken contrary to the general tenor of public opinion. After a good deal of interior fermentation, the principal military officers assembled in council on the 17th, and resolved, that the members who had demitted, should be invited to resume their functions; that the elections should take place on the same footing as for the Spanish Cortes; but that the new constitution should not be put in action till it was adopted, with the requisite modifications, by the Cortes of Portugal. These resolutions were immediately acted upon. The members who had resigned, resumed their places. Silveira, in his turn, was obliged to resign, and on the 20th, was ordered to quit Lisbon in 24 hours.

This crisis put an end to the disturbances which had agitated Lisbon. The elections were tranquilly proceeded in ; but as the Cortes did not meet till the following year, we must of course reserve till the next volume our account of its proceedings.

POPULAR revolutions have a natural tendency to spread; and there were several countries, too closely connect ed with Spain, and too much united to her in political feeling, not to be liable to imbibe the contagion. Italy was united to her by many ancient ties; and amid the soft effeminacy into which she had sunk, powerful stirrings of her ancient spirit began to be felt. An in dignant recollection of departed greatness had become a leading feature in the mind of the modern Italians. The works of her recent poets are filled with the memory of her former glories, and lamentations over her present downfall. The various revolutions through which the country had passed during the last twenty years; even the temporary sway of France, though it was only that of a military despotism, had tended to enlarge the sphere of their political ideas and information. Even before the return of the King, a general call for a constitutional go vernment had been raised. This was recognized and sanctioned by Ferdinand of Naples in his proclamation, issued at Palermo on the 1st May, 1815. He there told his subjects: "A go

vernment, stable, wise, and religious, is assured to you. The people will be the sovereign, and the monarch will only be the depositary of the laws, which shall be decreed by a constitution the most energetic and desirable." He after wards added," Can you possibly doubt the promises of that father, who, born among you, has every thing in common with you?"

The Neapolitan people had thus a just right to expect from their King the gratification of their wishes for a representative government. But besides the natural tendency of Kings to for get such pledges, after they have ser ved their temporary purpose, a foreign influence of a most powerful nature was exerted in an opposite direction. Austria, which had been the immediate instrument in restoring the Neapolitan family, and still held military posses sion of the country, claimed a right to bar the adoption of any step tending to commit the tranquillity of her own Italian dominions. In conformity to these views, there was concluded at Vienna, on the 12th June, 1815, a secret convention, of the following te

nor :

"The engagements which their Majesties contract by this treaty, to secure the internal peace of Italy, rendering it incumbent on them to preserve their respective states and subjects from fresh re-actions, and from the danger of imprudent innovations, which would lead to their return, it remains understood between the high contracting parties, that his Majesty the King of the Two Sicilies, on reestablishing the government of his kingdom, shall admit of no changes which cannot be conciliated, either with the ancient monarchical institutions, or with the principles adopted by H. I. and R. A. Majesty, for the internal government of his Italian provinces."

Notwithstanding this contrary obligation, the King did not lose sight entirely of his promise. He introduced reforms into the municipal and subordinate branches, and endeavoured to do for his people what could be done, without the infraction of the Austrian treaty. These concessions, however, were not at all calculated to meet the desires and just expectations of the nation. A deep discontent, therefore, fermented among them, and was organized, particularly among the secret societies. These societies have been loudly denounced by the present rulers of the world; and we are not disposed to dispute their inconveniencies. Their members are in a great measure exempted from that check of public opi. nion, which is so necessary to the weakness of human nature. In a body of men, through the whole of whom one opinion reigns undisputed, that opinion, through the zeal of each to distinguish himself in its cause, is likely to be carried to an extravagant height. Such societies, too, can scarcely be carried on without an almost despotic power in the hands of the chiefs, subject of course to all the abuse to which, in the hands of frail mortals, such

power is liable. Secret societies seem, therefore, a very inexpedient mode of discussing and arranging political concerns. But here arises the question— Suppose that there exists an absolute veto upon all public discussion: that deprivation of office, banishment, or prison, await all who address any petition or remonstrance hostile to the existing order, then either all political discussion and inquiry must cease, or they must be carried on secretly.

Among these secret societies, the decided lead in Naples had been taken by that of the Carbonari. This name, at which the mightiest monarchs now tremble, derives its origin from an ancient and somewhat obscure source. During those ages which preceded the regular administration of law and justice in Europe, it became customary for those exercising particular trades, to form themselves into associations for mutual aid and defence against feudal violence. Among these were the charbonniers, or charcoal-makers of France, whose occupation rendered it impossible for them to seek the shelter of fortified towns, within which other manufacturers found security. They refer particularly to Francis I., as having bestowed ample privileges on their order. Their legends make particular mention of Scotland, probably from coal being so large a product of that country. The Genoese territory contained always a branch of these combined charbonniers (carbonari), but it was not till the French Revolution, that the order began to spread through all classes, and to assume a political character. Its introduction into Naples, and diffusion through Italy, was chiefly due to the exertions of an individual of the name of Maghella. This person held first an office in the Ligurian republic, and afterwards in the service of Murat. Under his auspices, an institution well suited to a period when men generally cherished secret and forbidden senti

ments, spread rapidly and extensively. The object of Maghella seems to have been, to make the Carbonari an instrument in compelling Murat to grant a constitution to Naples. The plan, however, was not acceptable to that prince, and on Maghella's share in it being discovered, he was degraded from office, and sent to Paris. Being liberated after the fall of Buonaparte, he again found admission into Murat's service, and even engaged that prince to enter into his views, and to seek the aid of the Carbonari in his schemes for becoming master of Italy. He could not obtain their confidence, however; and on his being crushed by the Austrian force, Maghella fell along with him.

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Notwithstanding these vicissitudes in the fortune of one who might almost be considered as its second founder, Carbonarism continued more and more to flourish in Naples. The initiated into this sect, called " the Good Cousins," form a class entirely separate from the rest of mankind, whom they brand with the opprobrious name of Pagans. They are divided into vendite, or lodges, all dependent on the alta vendita, or principal lodge, established in the capital. Their professed object is to restore to mankind that li berty, virtue and happiness, of which depraved institutions are said to have deprived them. They profess to be strongly impressed with religious ideas, though these, by a singular process, are all brought within the Carbonari circle. Christ is revered as the Grandmaster of the order, while the Deity is worshipped as the "Grand-master of the universe." The initiation into the higher orders is attended by ceremonies which we know not well how to characterize. The candidate is made to go through a full representation of our Saviour's passion. He is called before the council, tried and condemned; a crown of thorns is placed upon his head; he is bound, scourged, and

mocked; the cross is then laid upon his shoulders, and borne to the place of execution, where he suddenly receives a pardon. These strange ceremonies, he is finally told, are intended to warn him, that, like his Grand-master, he must be prepared to endure suffering, and even death, in the cause which he has embraced. At the same time, the rules of the order exact from the "Good Cousins" a purity, and even austerity of morals, which is foreign to Italian habits, and is compared to those of the English puritans. Those guilty of seduction, adultery, intoxication, even of playing at games of chance, are expelled or suspended, according to the enormity of the offence. They particularly boast of the conversions which they effect upon notorious bandits, and others of the most profligate characters: and of the generous and amiable deeds which these persons perform, after their admission within the pale of Carbonarism.

In regard to their political relations, the Carbonari form most completely a state within a state. The strictest equality is enforced in every respect, except that of distinctions arising from the different degrees of Carbonarism. The commander of a fort has been seen seated at the table of the Vendita beside the galley-slave, confined there for his crimes. All the differences which arise between the Good Cousins must be settled by tribunals formed within. the institution. To carry a cause before any of the pagan courts, is considered sufficient ground for forfeiting all the privileges of the order. This leads us to the deepest blot in the character of Carbonarism. Among other rights, is claimed that of inflicting death upon all, whether initiated or pagan, who are adjudged worthy of it by the tribunals of the order. The dagger of the Good Cousin must be the instrument; and a poniard, worn at his breast, is the essential character

of every Carbonaro. It must be evident, that this is a right which no society, at all civilized, can allow to its members. The case might be very different with the ancient Tugendbund and Free Knights of Germany, and with the Beati Paoli of Sicily, who undertook to redress public wrongs, in an age when might constituted right, and when there was nothing to protect the weak against the oppression of the strong. There is nothing in the present administration of justice in any of the European kingdoms, which can admit of such deeds bearing any other character than that of direct assassination. Certainly this sect could not possibly take more effectual means of defeating their professed purposes. The enemies of them, and of the principles which they support, have thus an exceeding ly fair ground of representing both as incompatible with the security and the very existence of society.

The discontents generated by the continuance of the Austrian troops in the kingdom, and by the refusal of a constitution, swelled always more and more the numbers of a body which had become the rallying point of all who sought to procure to Naples the benefits of a free government. In the month of March 1820, no less than 642,000 are said to have been enrolled on its registers. In this state of things, a very small beginning was sufficient to produce an important revolution. This beginning arose from a small detachment of the Bourbon regiment, which was in garrison at Nola. Morelli, a lieutenant in this regiment, and Minichini, a canon, undertook to change the government of Naples. On the 2d July, Morelli called his men together; painted to them all that the kingdom endured from the want of a constitution, and the glory which they would acquire by taking the lead in giving one. The soldiers were not long of being moved to an unanimous cry of " God,

the King, and the Constitution." A troop was thus collected of 130 dragoons and 20 Carbonari, with which they marched upon Avellino, the capital of the province of Principato Ultra. A command was held there by Colonel de Concilii, an intimate of Morelli, and already well affected to the cause. On being assured of the above facts, and of the immediate intention of the constitutionalists to march upon Avellino, he determined to embrace their cause. No difficulty was found in securing its favourable reception by the 300 men who were in garrison there. On the morning of the 3d, the troops from Nola entered Avellino, preceded by 200 Carbonari, bearing the tri-color standard of the order (black, red, and sky-blue.) The authorities, who had at first made some resistance, at length united themselves to the new cause; and the constitution was proclaimed at Avellino, amid the universal acclamations of the troops and people.

The revolutionary party, now masters of Avellino, sent emissaries to all the neighbouring towns and provinces, well assured of finding confederates in every quarter. When intelligence of this movement arrived at Naples, all who were in any degree aware of the state of the public mind, foreboded the most fatal issue to the established government. They foresaw that the revolution must rapidly gain strength, and that there was not a single body of any description which could be relied upon for acting against it. The royal family, however, having made arrangements for appearing in public that evening, did not alter their purpose; and their countenance and deportment exhibited no traces of agitation. Ge neral Campana, however, with Carras cosa, Nunziante and Ambrosio under him, was directed to march, with all the troops which could be collected in Naples, to attack the insurgents. The latter fortified themselves by strong