CHAPTER V. THE INFANTICIDE
Born a peasant, the unhappy Camilla had, like Italy, the fatal giftof beauty. Silvio, who was, by vocation, as we have already said, awild-boar hunter, used often, in his expeditions to the Pontine Marshes,to rest at the house of the good Marcello, the father of Camilla, whosecottage was situated a short distance from Rome. The young pair becameenamored of each other. Silvio demanded her in marriage, and her father,giving a willing consent, they were betrothed.
Perfectly happy and fair to look upon were this youthful pair, as theysat, hand in hand, under the shadows of the vine, watching the gorgeoussunsets of their native clime. This happiness, however, was not of longduration, for, during one of his hunting expeditions, Silvio caught thefever so common in the Pontine Marshes, and, as he continued to sufferfor some months, the marriage was indefinitely postponed.
Meanwhile Camilla, who was too lovely and too innocent to dwell insafety near this most vicious of cities, had been marked as a victim bythe emissaries of his Eminence, the Cardinal Procopio. It was her customto carry fruit for sale to the Piazza Navona. On one occasion she wasaddressed by an old fruit-woman, previously instructed by Gianni, whoplied her with every conceivable allurement and flattery, praised herfruit, and promised her the highest price for it at the palace of thecardinal, if she would take it thither. The rest of the story may betoo easily imagined. In Rome this is an oft-told tale. To hide fromher father and her lover the consequences of her fall, and to suitthe convenience of the prelate, Camilla was persuaded to take up herresidence in the palace Corsini, where, soon after its birth, hermiserable infant was slaughtered by one of its father's murderousruffians. This so preyed upon the unhappy mother, that she lost herreason, and was secretly immured in a mad-house. On the very nightwhen she effected her escape this meeting was being held, and, afterwandering from place to place, for many hours, without any fixeddirection, she entered the Colosseum at the moment it was illumined bythe lightning, as we have related. That flash disclosed the sentriesat the archway, and she rushed towards them, obeying some instinct ofsafety, or at least perceiving that they were not clothed in the garbof a priest; but they, taking her for a spy, ran forward to make herprisoner. Thereupon, seemingly possessed of supernatural strength, sheglided from their hands, and finally eluded their pursuit by runningrapidly into the centre of the building, where she fell exhausted inthe midst of the three hundred, at the foot of her outraged and ashamedlover.
"It is, indeed, time," said Attilio, when Silvio had related themaniac's story, to purge our city from this priestly ignominy; anddrawing forth his dagger, brandished it above his head, as he exclaimed,"Accursed is the Roman who does not feel the degradation of hiscountry, and who is not willing to bathe his sword in the blood of thesemonsters, who humiliate it, and turn its very soil into a sink."
"_Accursed! accursed be they!_" echoed back from the old walls, whilethe sound of dagger-blades tinkling together made an ominous musicdedicated to the corrupt and licentious rulers of Rome.
Then Attilio turned to Silvio, and said, "This child is more sinnedagainst than sinning; she requires and deserves protection. You, who areso generous, will not refuse it to her."
And Silvio was, indeed, generous, for he still loved his wretchedCamilla, who at sight of him had become docile as a lamb. He raised her,and, enveloping her in his mantle, led her out of the Colosseum towardsher father's dwelling.
"Comrades," shouted Attilio, "meet me on the 15th at the Baths ofCaracalla. Be ready to use your arms if need be."
"We will be ready! we will be ready!" responded heartily the threehundred, and in a few moments the ruins were left to their formerobscure and fearful solitude.
What a wild, improbable story, methinks we hear some of our readersremark, as they sit beside their safe coal fires in free England or theUnited States. But Popery has not been dominant in England since JamesII.'s time, and they I have forgotten it. Let them hear that in the year1848, when a Republican government was established in France, which wasthe signal of a general revolutionary movement throughout Europe, thepresent Pope was forced to escape in the disguise of a menial, anda national government granted, for the first time in Rome, religioustoleration, one of the first orders of the Roman republic was that thenuns should be liberated, and the convents searched. Guiseppe Garibaldi,in 1849, then recently arrived in Rome, visited himself every convent,and was present during the whole of the investigations. In all, withoutan exception, he found instruments of torture; and in all, without anexception, were vaults, plainly dedicated to the reception of the bonesof infants. Statistics prove that in no city is there so great a numberof children born out of wedlock as in Rome; and it is in Rome also thatthe greatest number of infanticides take place.
This must ever be the case with a wealthy unmarried priesthood and apoor and _ignorant_ population.