There were deeper reasons than any which appear on the surface for the
failure of the revolutionary movements of this period. North and
south, though the populations exhibited a childish delight at the
overthrow of the old, despotic form of government, their effervescence
ended as rapidly as it began. They did not really understand what was
going on. 'By-the-bye, what _is_ this same constitution they are
making such a noise about?' asked a lazzarone who had been shouting
'Viva la Costituzione' all the day. Within a few weeks of the
breakdown at Novara, Count Confalonieri wrote wisely to Gino Capponi
that revolutions are not made by high intelligences, but by the masses
which are moved by enthusiasm, and for a possibility of success, the
word Constitution, the least magical of words, should have been
replaced by the more comprehensible and stirring call: 'War to the
stranger.' But this, instead of sounding from every housetop, was
purposely stifled at Naples, and kept a mysterious secret in
Piedmont.






CHAPTER III

PRISON AND SCAFFOLD

1821-1831

Political Trials in Venetia and Lombardy--Risings in the South and