4433. Simone Luigi Peruzzi to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 192–196.
Firenze
21 Giugno 1859
Gentilissimo Sig Roberto Browning [1]
Ho ricevuto l’Esemplare del Galignani’s Messenger dei 10 Giugno corrente e vi ho letto con penoso interesse quanto, nella Seduta del 7 stesso mese, Lord Normanby ha espresso davanti la Camera Alta Inglese sugli ultimi avvenimenti della Toscana: ciò mi richiama a dirle qualche parola a nostra difesa. [2]
Io stimo molto Lord Normanby, il cui vivo interesse per la Causa Italiana nel 1848 mi è ancora presente. Esso era allora Ambasciatore della Regina Vittoria a Parigi e tanto il mio amico Marchese Ridolfi [3] Inviato Straordinario Toscano che io stesso come Ministro Residente Granducale in Francia abbiamo in quell’epoca ottenuto spesso il suo appoggio per l’esecuzione degli ordini del nostro Governo relativi alla Causa suddetta.
Devo credere adesso che Lord Normanby sempre affezionato alla Toscana e grato al nostro Paese per la ricevuta costante ospitalità non è stato esattamente informato su quanto ha recentemente avuto luogo fra Noi: anzi, essendo Lui stesso partito di Firenze [4] quasi contemporaneamente al S.I. Leopoldo II è forza di precisare che non ha neppur cercato di conoscere la verità.
Io non confuterò gli errori del suo discorso sulla Toscana poichè molti sono gli Opuscoli particolari che forniscono i veri dettagli dell’accaduto: mi limiterò a citare il noto Memorandum del 2 Maggio pubblicato dal Governo Provvisorio nel Monitore Toscano del 5 stesso e stato rimesso preventivamente a ciascuna delle Legazioni Estere quà restate. [5]
In questo Memorandum viene indicata l’esistenza nella Fortezza di Belvedere di una Circolare segreta del General Ferrari, [6] la quale racchiudeva le istruzioni preliminari per un attacco contro la Città di Firenze: vi vengono pure dettagliati i particolari relativi alla lettura ordinatane il 27 Aprile dall’Arciduca Carlo secondogenito di Leopoldo II davanti all’uffizialità riunita in quella Fortezza come altresi alle dimande d’esecuzione indirizzate dal Principe stesso in complemento delle barbare istruzioni del Gen. Ferrari, e infine alle risposte piene di fermezza ma però di rispetto verso la Dinastia Sovrana data dal Capo dell’uffizialità ivi presente.
Simili Circolari erano state egualmente mandate dal Gen. Ferrari in altre Fortezze della Toscana; ed una di esse, credo che sia, non ha [sic, for da] molto, stata inviata officiosamente di qui a Londra. Come dunque Lord Normanby, dopo aver sfregiato il Sentimento Nazionale dei Toscani col chiamarlo “cospirazione costituzionale” ed ingiuriata la Truppa Toscana accusandola di essersi lasciata corrompere, ha potuto esprimersi sulla Lettera Circolare in questione così leggermente “there was not from beginning to end, one word of truth in it”?!!!
Terminerò dicendo, che io stesso ho potuto avere sotto gli occhi e leggere nella giornata di ieri i documenti che confermano le asserzioni del Memorandum: citerò fra questi il Rapporto militare del Tenente d’Artiglieria Sig Angiolini [7] in data dei 28 Aprile cioè il giorno dopo la partenza del Gran Duca: in esso vi si dice che il Comandante della Fortezza Sig. Mori [8] nella giornata anteriore, cioè nella mattina del 27 Aprile, fù quello che per ordine dell’Arciduca Carlo lesse ad alta voce la Circolare del Gen Ferrari; che tal lettura mosse vivissima indignazione in tutti gli uffiziali presenti e che Essi approvarono la risposta ferma e rispettosa del Comandante con cui si ricusava l’esecuzione delle barbare istruzioni abbassate.
Autorizzato io dunque superiormente, mi faccio un dovere di portar questi dettagli a di Lei conoscenza e credo che l’amore per la verità e per la giustizia da rendersi in questa circostanza al nostra Paese le farà accogliere con favore i miei presenti caratteri. Ho l’onore in<tanto> di separarmi con sincera ed alta stima
Suo Devo Altissmo
Commendre S. L. Peruzzi [9]
Address, in RB’s hand, on integral page: William C. Cartwright Esq / Aynhoe Park / Brackley, / Northamptonshire.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Northamptonshire Record Office.
Translation:
Florence
21 June 1859
Dear Mr. Robert Browning, [1]
I received the copy of Galignani’s Messenger of the 10th June and read in it with painful interest what Lord Normanby said to the English Upper House sitting on the 7th of the same month about recent events in Tuscany; that provokes me to say a few words in our defence. [2]
I greatly esteem Lord Normanby, whose keen interest in the Italian Cause of 1848 I still remember. He was then Queen Victoria’s Ambassador in Paris, and at that time both my friend the Marchese Ridolfi, [3] Tuscan Envoy Extraordinary, and I myself, as the Grand Duke’s Resident Minister in France, often received his support in carrying out the orders of our Government concerning the above-mentioned Cause.
I am now forced to believe that Lord Normanby, who has always had an affection for Tuscany and been grateful to our country for the constant hospitality with which he was received, has not been properly informed about what has recently happened amongst us; in fact, since he left Florence [4] at almost the same time as the Grand Duke Leopold II, I am compelled to state that he did not even try to find out the truth.
I will not confute the errors in his speech about Tuscany since there are many specialised pamphlets dealing with the true details of the event: I will limit myself to quoting the well-known Memorandum of May 2nd published by the Provisional Government in the Monitore Toscano of the 5th of the same month, and which was sent in advance to each of the Foreign Legations remaining there. [5]
This Memorandum draws attention to the existence in the Fortezza Belvedere of a Secret Circular from General Ferrari [6] which contained the preliminary instructions for an attack against the City of Florence: in it are also detailed particulars about the reading aloud ordered on the 27th April by the Archduke Charles [i.e. Archduke Karl Salvator], second son of Leopold II, before all the officers gathered at that Fortress, as well as about the requests for its carrying out by the Prince himself to complement the barbarous instructions of General Ferrari: and finally about the very firm replies, though full of respect towards the Sovereign dynasty, given by the Leader of the officers there present.
Similar Circulars were likewise sent by General Ferrari to other Fortresses in Tuscany, and one of these, I believe, was not long ago sent semi-officially from here to London. How then could Lord Normanby, after having tarnished the national feelings of the Tuscans by referring to them as ‘constitutional conspiracy,’ and insulted the Tuscan Army by accusing it of having allowed itself to be corrupted, how could he express himself about the Circular Letter in question thus frivolously ‘there was not from beginning to end one word of truth in it’?!!!
I will conclude by saying that yesterday I myself was able to set eyes on and read the documents which confirm the assertions in the Memorandum: amongst these I will quote the military Report of Artillery Lt. Angiolini [7] dated April 28th, that is the day after the Grand Duke’s departure: in this it is said that Signor Mori, [8] the Commandant of the Fortress, was the man who on the preceding day, that is on the morning of April 27th, by order of the Archduke Charles read aloud General Ferrari’s Circular; that this recital aroused real indignation amongst all the officers present, and that they approved the Commandant’s firm and respectful reply, in which he rejected the carrying out of such barbarous and base instructions.
So, on higher authority, I make it my duty to bring these details to your notice, and believe that love of the truth, and the justice to be rendered to our country on such an occasion will make you receive my present letter favourably. I have the honour meanwhile to express my sincere and deep regard,
Your devoted etc.
Commendatore S. L. Peruzzi. [9]
1. As EBB explains in letter 4438, although this letter is addressed to RB, it was intended for Lord John Russell. RB sent it by way of William Cornwallis Cartwright, but it apparently did not reach Russell, since it remains with Cartwright’s papers in the Northamptonshire Record Office.
2. In a speech delivered in the House of Lords on 7 June, Lord Normanby responded to a report that the Grand Duke had ordered the bombardment of his own people: “There was not from beginning to end one word of truth in it” (Galignani’s Messenger, 10 June 1859, [p. 2]). Peruzzi was also provoked by Normanby’s assertion that Tuscan troops though “seduced from their allegiance … showed such desire to return to it that the Piedmontese general had threatened to decimate them” ([p. 2]).
3. Cosimo Ridolfi (see letter 2757, note 5), one of three men heading the provisional government of Tuscany at this time (see letter 4390, note 11).
4. Normanby, British minister to Tuscany from 1854 to 1858, had by his “local meddling and Austrian sympathies vexed successive foreign secretaries until he was abruptly recalled by telegraph in April 1858” (ODNB). But, with a villa just outside Florence, it can be assumed he continued to spend much time there. We cannot confirm Peruzzi’s statement that Normanby “left Florence at almost the same time as the Grand Duke [i.e., 27 April].” In his aforementioned speech, however, Normanby said that “from personal knowledge—the very next day after the arrival of the French fleet at Genoa a conspiracy … broke out in Florence, and the lawful Sovereign of the country … was expelled from his capital” (The Times, 8 June 1859, p. 7).
5. The Memorandum was published on the front page of the Monitore Toscano, 5 May 1859. It was signed by the provisional government and dated 2 May 1859:
“In the San Giorgio Fort, commonly called Belvedere Fort, there was a sealed secret circular, sent by the General to all the headquarters in August last year. At 8½ a.m. on 27th April the Archduke Charles, second son of Leopold II, went to the above mentioned Fort, summoned the Officers and told them he was the bearer of a letter from General Ferrari from Grado, which ordered to open the above mentioned Circular. The envelope was opened, and it was found out that it contained the preliminary instructions for an attack against the city. These instructions were personally completed by the Archduke Charles who ended asking the Officers how many munitions they had and how many boxes of artillery they could have at their disposal. The Commander of the Fort answered such words with respectful firmness telling the Archduke that, while he and his comrades would risk their lives unhesitatingly in order to protect him and the whole Royal family, however, they refused the disgusting idea to be cruel towards their own townsmen, who were only guilty of a generous national feeling that the army itself was proud to share.
Cav. Ubaldino Peruzzi
Avv. Vincenzo Malenchini
Magg. Alessandro Danzini.”
6. Ulisse d’Arco Ferrari (1786–1869).
7. Giacomo Dario Angiolini (1829–92).
8. Major Mori. We are unable to further identify this officer.
9. Simone Luigi Peruzzi (1792–1870), diplomat and author.
___________________
