so Bellezzi and the honest leaders of the
people, but with little success. It was reported that Bellezzi himself
had given leave to kill those whom they called the spies; one Masina
came before us, proposing by way of compromise to banish those whose
lives were threatened; armed men were in the very palace of government,
and we ourselves at their mercy. Accident, however, effected at a stroke
what we could have done only slowly and with difficulty. An assassin
attempted the life of a carbineer; his companions, inflamed with anger,
pursued him and caught him in a church. They then volunteered their most
resolute efforts at repression. They were ordered to sally forth, arrest
and disarm the ruffians. The dragoons seconded them; young Pepoli,
commandant of the Civic Guard, mustered a few companies; Bianchetti and
the respected citizens of the Committee of Public Safety drew close
around us, and we hurried in the Swiss from Forli. The population began
to regain its courage and to applaud the carbineers as they arrested the
assassins; the Swiss entered amid cheers."

The disturbances at Bologna were quelled; but the bonds of law and order
throughout the Papal States were now loosened, and it became evident
that a more determined minister must be placed at the helm, or the
experiment of the existing form of government must be abandoned in
despair. A republic or a return to the old principles of despotism would
then be inevitable. In this emergency the eyes of the Pope and of all
prudent persons at Rome were turned to Rossi, who, since the fall of
Louis Philippe's Government, from which he had been ambassador to the
Roman States, had resided there as a private citizen, taking no active
share in politics, but often consulted by both parties, owing to his
high reputation for sagacity and firmness. Exiled on account of his
liberal opinions by Gregory, he had laid the foundation of his fame at
Paris, where he successively became professor, peer, and ambassador, and
was highly esteemed by all parties as a writer and a statesman. Once
before, Pius had solicited him to form a ministry; but he had declined,
because conscious that the affections of the populace were not with him,
and he judged that the minds even of the better portion of the citizens
were not yet prepared for a resolute attempt to carry on a
constitutional government by firm measures.

He suggested to the Pope that he was probably odious to the court on
account of his