Rule of the Monk; Or, Rome in the Nineteenth CenturyGaribaldi, Giuseppe
History
Rule of the Monk; Or, Rome in the Nineteenth Century
Garibaldi, Giuseppe
Italian fiction -- Translations into English; Rome (Italy) -- History -- 1798-1870 -- Fiction
Silvio also fell by the side of Gasparo, both his thighs pierced with
musket-balls. Orazio had his left ear carried off by a ballet, while
another slightly grazed his right leg. Muzio would have been dispatched
also by a shot in the breast, had it not been for a strong English watch
(a present from the beautiful Julia), which was smashed to atoms, and so
saved his life, leaving the mark of a severe contusion. Attilio had his
hip grazed, as well as his left cheek, and received from a flying bullet
a notch on his skull, resembling in appearance the mark a rope wears on
the edge of a wall.
The butchery of the people was so great and the fallen were so numerous,
that after these three consecutive charges the brave insurrectionists
were obliged to retreat. Orazio carried Silvio on his back into the
first house near the bridge for safety, but when the soldiery returned,
the wounded were massacred and cut in pieces. Women, children, and many
unarmed and defenseless persons who fell into the hands of these worthy
soldiers of the priesthood shared a similar fate.
The good instincts of the working-class are proved in the solemn times
of revolution. In such times the noble-minded working-man saves and
defends his employer's goods, never robs him; but if he takes arms he
spares the lives of defenseless beings, and of those who surrender. He
would shudder to kill with the cynicism of the mercenary; he fights like
a lion--he who was so patient--one against ten!
In the Lungara there is a large woollen manufactory, which employs many
workmen. From that woollen factory many had joined the insurgents, the
elder ones remaining to guard the establishment. When these good old
artisans saw the people and their fellow-workmen thus followed by the
Papal bullies and the mercenaries, they threw open the doors and gave
shelter to the fugitives, or at any rate to some of them, and levelled
bars, axes, and every iron instrument that would serve as a weapon of
offense or defense against the hated foreigners and the gendarmerie.
There arose in consequence an indescribable tumult at the entrance to
the factory, where the advantage was, at first, to the honest people,
and where not a few of the Papal soldiers had their skulls smashed in,
and their blood let out by the blows received. At length the besiegers
took up their position in the opposite houses, and the besieged, having
barricaded themselves and collected a few more fire-arms, began afresh,
with constant change of fortune, a real battle.
Our three surviving friends had entered the factory, and fought there
with great determination. The workmen and insurgents, too, encouraged by
their chiefs, had also comported themselves valorously. But ammunition
was lacking, and detachments of mercenaries were advancing to the succor
of their comrades. Night, however, now favored the sons of liberty, who,
although without ammunition, still kept up the defense.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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