Charles James Lever

“ The attempts of the Royalists—for so the partisans of the ex-King continue to be called—in the south of Italy were necessarily such as a guerilla warfare only could compass. Limited to a mountain region, and acting with ill-armed and undisciplined forces, they could only look for success by surprises, by bold and sudden attacks, by daring and unexpected advances, far more calculated to harass and weary their opponents than to vanquish or overcome them. ”

“ His band consists for the most part of charcoal-burners, a rude and savage set of people, who even in peaceful times are reputed to lead lives of lawlessness and violence. Chiavone has no reputation for bravery; he is, on the contrary, reputed to be backward in every enterprise of peril. He usually infests that portion of the kingdom which adjoins the Roman frontier, over which, when pressed, he at once escapes, and, it is rumoured, hastens on to Rome to narrate his daring and successful exploits! ”

“ And yet this is an error which the Italian government and the Italian press have often propagated—certainly not refuted.
Now, Bourbonism has not got a good name in Italy, whether deservingly or not, this is not the place to discuss; but, assuredly, there was no necessity to lay to its charge the frightful excesses and shocking cruelties of assassins by profession.
In the first place, brigandage is not a recent crime in Italy. It has existed for centuries. The journey from Rome to Naples, one of the most frequently made in the Peninsula, has never ceased to be perilous ”

“ From the day that Bourbon and brigand became convertible terms the press has occupied itself largely with the theme, and from one end of Europe to the other has it been proclaimed, that the only obstacle to a united Italy is an organised system of murder issuing from the Roman States, paid by the ex-King, and certainly not discredited by the French. ”

“ If such courtesies—and I believe them to be not unfrequent—are creditable enough to the individual, they are anything but hopeful as regards the prospects of suppressing brigandage, since it is not amidst the merely debased and degraded elements of the population it finds its followers, but amongst men who are really not lost to a sense of honour, nor destitute of many good and commendable traits. ”

“ One of the reasons for this is, there never has yet been an efficient police force in Italy. Another is, the sympathies of the peasantry have been always with the brigand.
It is very difficult for an Englishman to “realise” to himself the indifference with which one of these events is treated by an Italian public. ”

“ No one inquires if violence were used, if resistance were attempted, if considerable property was stolen, or, in fact, asks any details of the incident, which would seem only to interest the actors or their immediate friends. ”