Young Italy remained stunned by these severe blows for some years, but after a decade had passed she again became active. In 1843 at Savigno and in other places in Romagna, several revolutions against the pontifical gov ernment took place, but the insurgents were beaten, and many of them were imprisoned or condemned to death. A band of Calabrian patriots marched toward Cosenza (15 March 1844) and entered the place carrying the tri colored banner and shouting 'gong life to lib and down with despotism,* but being at ;riled vigorously by the Bourbon militia, they were quickly dispersed. Information of this somewhat insignificant movement reached two courageous youths, brothers Atilo and Emilio Bandiera, of Venice, who, being of the same political faith as Mazzini, had abandoned the service of the Austrian marines (in which they were officers and their father an admiral) and had fled to Corfu, there to wait for the moment to strike a blow for liberty and their country. Having collected other exiles, among them Nicola Ricciotti, they set out for Calabria, where they believed that the insurrection was being carried on, and disembarked at Cotrone, not expected, not knowing to whom or where they should turn, but convinced that if the under taking should end with the sacrifice of them selves, then such sacrifice would help the cause of Italy. Received in an unfriendly manner by the people — perhaps victims of treachery — they were attacked by the police and a battalion of the Bourbon military,• some were taken prisoners, some were wounded and some were killed. A court-martial condemned to death the survivors, who were shot near Cosenza, only a very few being allowed to go free. In 1845 the agitation by Mazzini induced the Romagnoli to make another attempt; Rimini rose and a provisional government was installed; but the liberal troops were put to flight by the Papal soldiers, and the rebels fled, reappearing in Tuscany.
These and other attempts all met with fail ure, because the people who should have made them succeed were not as yet sufficiently edu cated up to the national idea, and because the number of insurrectionists did not suffice for the extremely difficult task of redeeming and uniting Italy.
Period III.—Action of the Neoguelf Po litical School (1846-49).— In 1843 Vincenzo Gioberti, an exile for 10 years in Brussels, pub lished there a book entitled 'Upon the Moral and Civic Pre-eminence of the Italians,' in which, with much eloquence, he developed the following conceptions: That Italy could rise again without recourse to insurrections; that this resurrection could come to pass, uniting the entire peninsula, by means of a confedera tion of her princes; that to establish this Italian unity two provinces especially should be ac tive — Rome, which should give the Pope as head of the confederation, and Piedmont, which should give its military force; that the princes should and would make wise and pacific re forms; and that Italy, thus leagued together, guided by a liberal Pope, would then rise to exercise that universal influence in action and in thought to which she was destined by her very nature. This book was rapidly dissemi nated throughout the peninsula and gave a great impetus to thought. In 1844 Cesar Balbo, in a work called 'Upon the Hopes of Italy,' argued that the confederation would be possible only after the Austrians had been driven out from Italy; he advised, moreover, above all that the young men should be instructed in arms for a national war. In 1845 Massimo d'Azeglio wrote 'Upon the Latest Developments in Ro man Affairs,' in which he demonstrated that conspiracy, sedition, partial insurrections, could not but be injurious to the establishment of lib erty; that they should, on the contrary, first give proof of their civic courage by demanding openly from the government liberal reforms and institutions; and then of their military cour age by conquest — when the occasion should arise — of their independence from foreign in vaders. Following the publication of these
books came many others, which argued the necessity of abandoning revolutionary move ments, the advantage of looking frankly to the princes themselves for the reform of public or dinances and the possibility of making liberty and religion go peacefully side by side. Thus they went on, forming a new political school, which was called oneoguelfa,° and of which Gioberti was the inspiration and the leader. The Neoguelfi, then, differed from the disciples of Mazzini in their aim and in their methods. In their aim, because deeming it impossible to take Rome from the Pope on account of the op position which it would raise among Catholics throughout all Europe, they wished to substi tute for the united republic desired by Mazzini a confederation of princes presided over by the Pope; and they differed in their means because in place of popular and partial revolutions they wished to substitute pacific propaganda in order to obtain liberal reforms from the sov ereigns, and preparation for national war in order to acquire independence.
This program seemed to be realized at once, for on 15 June 1846, Cardinal Giovanni Mastai Ferretti was elected Pope with the name of Pius IX; he was noted for his liberal senti ments, and his first act, most unusual, was a general amnesty to political offenders who filled the prisons of the Pontifical State, which am nesty awakened enthusiastic joy, not alone in Rome but throughout all Italy. In 1847 other reforms followed, such as the concession of moderate liberty to the press, which allowed the foundation of various newspapers; the in stitution of a committee of state, composed of the laity, and a council of ministers; and the organization of the civil guards. The populace not only applauded but was really delirious with joy and demanded that the sovereigns should do as much as the Pope. And in this way they influenced the Grand Duke of Tus cany, Leopold II, and the king of Sardinia, Carlo Alberto. The latter dismissed his reac tionary minister, Solaro of Margarita, and in October and November 1847 he granted a mod erate liberty to the press, improved the judiciary ordinances, conceded to the citizens the election of municipal councillors. Public enthusiasm was extraordinary and the names of Pius IX and of Carlo Alberto were lauded to the skies. The movement extended throughout the penin sula and spread through all classes of the popu lation, because the initiative came from the head of the Church and because literature had taken upon herself a civic duty and disseminated widely sentiments of liberty and independence. Every mode of literary expression became an instrument for patriotic propaganda. The ro mances of Guerrazzi and of d'Azeglio, the trag edies of Manzoni and of Niccolini, the poetry of Leopardi, of Berchet, of Rossetti, of Giusti and of hundreds of others recalled to Italians in words of fire their former greatness and glory and incited them to rise from the pitiful condi tions into which they had fallen. Literature, painting and music had civic and national in tentions.