Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber : $b or, The influence of Romanism on trade, justice, and knowledgeWylie, J. A. (James Aitken)
History
Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber : $b or, The influence of Romanism on trade, justice, and knowledge
Wylie, J. A. (James Aitken)
Catholic Church -- Italy; Italy -- Description and travel
I shall first narrate the story of Colonel Calendrelli. It was told me
by our own consul in Rome, Mr Freeborn, who knew intimately the colonel,
and deeply interested himself in his case. Colonel Calendrelli was
treasurer at war during the Republic. The Republic came to an end; the
Pontifical Government returned; and Colonel Calendrelli, being unable to
get away along with the other agents and friends of the Republic, was,
of course, apprehended by the restored Government. It was necessary to
find some pretext on which to condemn the colonel; and what, does the
reader think, was the charge preferred against Colonel Calendrelli? Why,
it was this, that the colonel had embezzled the public funds to the
amount of twenty scudi. Twenty scudi! How much is that? Only five pounds
sterling! That Colonel Calendrelli, a gentleman, a scholar, a man on
whose honesty a breath had never been blown, should risk character and
liberty for five pounds sterling! Why, the Pontifical Government should
have made it five hundred or five thousand pounds, if they wished to
have the accusation believed. Well, then, on the charge of defrauding
the public treasury to the extent of twenty Roman scudi was Colonel
Calendrelli brought to trial, and condemned! Condemned to what? To the
galleys. Nor does that bring fully out the iniquity of the sentence. Our
consul in Rome assured me that he had investigated the case, from his
friendship for the colonel, and that the matter stood thus:--The colonel
had engaged a man to do a piece of work, for which he was to receive
five pounds as wages. The work was done, the wages were paid, the man's
receipt was tendered, and the witnesses in whose presence the money had
been paid bore their testimony to the fact. All these proofs were before
Mr Freeborn. Nay, more; the papal tribunal that tried the case was told
that all these witnesses and documents were ready to be produced. And
yet, in the teeth of this evidence, completely establishing the
innocence of Colonel Calendrelli, which, indeed, no one doubted, was the
colonel condemned to the galleys; and when I was in Rome, he was working
as a galley-slave on the high-road near Civita Vecchia, chained to
another galley-slave. This is a sample of the pontifical justice. Take
another case.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account