and, in default of appearance, was sentenced to death by the Government of Modena.
Subjoined is a translation of the sentence:—
Invoking the name of God Most Holy, in the reign of Francis IV. Duke of Modena, Reggio, and Mirandola, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.
The Special Tribunal, instituted by revered sovereign sign manual of 28 July, 1823,
Having assembled at the Palace of Justice, and in the chamber duly appointed for the purpose of trying the Doctor of Laws, Antonio, son of Luigi Panizzi, native of and domiciled at Brescello, province of Reggio, contumacious, and CRIMINALLY ARRAIGNED:
1. For that he, being already enrolled in a prohibited sect, took part with other persons known to the judicial authorities in the reception into the sect of Carbonari of the appraiser Francesco Panizzi, and Doctor Domenico Giglioli of Brescello, in the afternoon of the 11th of March, 1821, in his own office situated in his dwelling house at Brescello.
2. For that he in the evening of the next day, the 12th, did with other persons likewise known to the judicial authorities take part in the reception into the sect of Carbonari of the apothecary Bartolomeo Panizzi of Brescello, which reception took place in the office of the appraiser Francesco Panizzi, situated in his dwelling house at Brescello.
Having referred to the documents drawn up by the acting Director of Police, Doctor Pietro Curti, and to the further documents before this Tribunal, and particularly to the charges issued against the accused by the special inquisition on the 1st, and the 19th of September last past;
Having referred to the inferences of the Procurator Fiscal of this Tribunal, Advocate Felice Fieri;
Considering that the results of the legal proceedings taken against the said contumacious Dr. Panizzi prove that he certainly belonged to a proscribed sect, and moreover clearly demonstrate that he was anxious to gain proselytes for the sect of Carbonari, and to promote by every means the efforts of the confederates, and the object at which they were aiming, that is the overthrow and destruction of our present lawful government;
Considering that the deposition of the appraiser Panizzi and those of Giuseppe Alberici, of Dr. Giuseppe Minzi and of Dr. Giov. Batta Cavandoli all of Brescello, show that the accused Panizzi took part in the reception into the sect of Carbonari of the said appraiser Panizzi and of Dr. Domenico Giglioli of Brescello, which took place at his own house and exactly in the office of the accused himself, in the afternoon of the first Sunday in Lent, in the year 1821, that is on the 11th of March in the said year, whilst amongst the said persons there are some who assert that the accused himself acted there as chief, and also instructed the aforesaid Giglioli and appraiser Panizzi, the first of whom likewise confesses that his aggregation to the sect, which he afterwards found to be that of the Carbonari, and which was even indicated to him as such by the accused Panizzi, took place with the participation of the said accused and in the place above-mentioned;
Considering that in regard to the aggregation of the apothecary Panizzi to the Carbonari sect with the participation of the accused, there are the depositions of the former as well as of the appraiser Panizzi and of Cavandoli, who were present there with others, and that those depositions are corroborated by the extrajudicial confession of the accused himself, made to Nizzoli on the very evening of the event, that he had introduced the said apothecary Panizzi into the Carbonari sect, and made a Carbonaro of the said Panizzi, and subsequently with regard to Giglioli that he too had been affiliated to the Carbonari sect;
As the said Panizzi still persists in his contumacy, which in terms of the law is equivalent to imputed confession, and considering that all the formalities prescribed by T. 12, L. 4 of the Cod. Est. have been observed;
Having referred to the same code §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of L. 5. T. 2.—§ 9. L. 4, 7, 15, and the sovereign edict 20 September, 1820;
The above-mentioned tribunal has condemned, and does condemn, the contumacious Doctor of Laws, Antonio Panizzi, to the punishment of
DEATH
to be executed on his effigy, to confiscation of his property, and in the costs.
Modena, 6 October, 1823.
Giuseppe Consre Terni, President.
Pe Cavedoni, Judge.
C. Tassoni, Judge.
P. Pedreschi, Chancellor.
This sentence was promulgated by me in due form this 20 October, 1823.
Pedreschi, Chancellor.
A true copy. Pedreschi, Chancellor.
These hair-breadth escapes may be very amusing and pleasant to read about, but to the principal person concerned, who was thoroughly capable of appreciating the various positions and vicissitudes of life, they must have conveyed anything but agreeable impressions, or conduced to the ease of mind so acceptable to mankind in general.
Panizzi remained but a short time in London. The celebrated Ugo Foscolo, to whom the Ugoni had introduced him, had strongly advised him at once to quit the metropolis and to try his fortunes at Liverpool, where there was more likelihood of his obtaining employment. Foscolo furnished him with letters of introduction to William Roscoe, author of the life of Leo X., and also to other distinguished Liverpool men. How he was received by Roscoe, the following passage in the biography of the latter (Lond. 1833), vol. ii., p. 406, will show:—“It was the good fortune of Mr. Roscoe to retain, even to the close of his life, that power of attracting the friendship of others which had been from his youth one of his most marked characteristics. Amongst these, the friends of his age, there was no one who became more sincerely attached to him, or for whom he himself felt a higher degree of esteem and affection than Mr. Panizzi, an Italian gentleman, who had been compelled, in consequence of political persecutions, to abandon Italy and to take refuge in England. Soon after his arrival in this country he settled in Liverpool as a teacher of the Italian language, where his talents and worth soon won the regard of Mr. Roscoe. To the kindness and attention of Mr. Panizzi, which rather resembled that of a son than of a stranger, he owed many happy hours.” Mr. Roscoe died on June 30th, 1831.
At his death Panizzi received the following letter:—
Lodge-lane, 30th June, 1831.
So affectionately attached as you have been to my father, I cannot let you learn the sad intelligence which this letter will convey from anybody but one of his own family.
He was seized last week with a violent cold or influenza, accompanied with fever. At first we thought him getting over it, but on Monday night he was attacked with a shivering fit, and being put to bed he never rose again. His strength failed him rapidly, and this morning at 11 o’clock he breathed his last quite peacefully.
It is a great consolation to know that he suffered no acute pain, and his mind seemed perfectly composed.
Yours, &c.,
H. Roscoe.
The centenary of William Roscoe’s birth was celebrated at Liverpool on the 8th March, 1853, and Panizzi was of course asked to attend.
In replying to the invitation he said:—“Feb. 19, 1853. … The veneration in which I, together with
