Mergherita of Savoy
Mergherita of Savoy
Mergherita of Savoy
UNIVERSITY
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Margherita of Savov, first queen of Ital
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028308264
MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
A SELECTION FROM
MILLS AND BOON'S
LATEST GENERAL LITERATURE
BY
FANNY ZAMPINI SALAZAR
WITH A PREFACE BY
RICHARD BAGOT
WITH 24 ILLUSTRATIONS
BY KIND PERMISSION
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO
H, E.
— —
to place the aims political, social, and economic
of the modern Italians before his compatriots in
a somewhat different light from that in which
these matters have, as a rule, been regarded by
English people.
At the same time, it is by no means an easy
task for a foreigner to comment upon a volume
dealing with the personal character and influence
of a Sovereign of another State ; especially
when, as is happily the case in the present
instance, that Sovereign is still alive and, though
no longer reigning as a Queen Consort, is still
reigning in the hearts of a grateful people ever
mindful of her devotion to the aims of national
unity and progress in the past, and of her un-
ceasing efforts to promote the dignity and the
social and economic well-being of Italian home-
life in the present. Fortunately, however, com-
paratively few comments of my own are neces-
sary to introduce this volume to English readers.
xi
xii MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
These become aware that, to
last will speedily
its authoress, the Queen Mother of Italy —
the title
—
has a double significance represents not only a
beloved and revered Sovereign, but an ideal of
the womanhood of her country a womanhood
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MAEGHEKITA OF SAVOY
CHAPTER I
H
EDUCATION OF MARGHERITA 19
those who saluted them on their way. The
Turinese have been always devoted to the
House of Savoy, and they were proud of their
Princess, considering that she
little had not her
equal in the world !
King.
" She is no longer a child," replied the General,
" but a good, charming, and cultivated young
woman."
Prince Umberto was then twenty-three years
old and Princess Margherita only seventeen.
Vittorio Emanuele was struck by the suggestion,
and did not at all dislike the idea that the first
Queen of Italy should be a Princess of the House
of Savoy. For the last four years Vittorio Eman-
uele had lived away from Turin, having made a
morganatic marriage with Rosa Vercellana, on
whom he had conferred the title of Contessa di
Mirafiori, and by whom he had several children.
He had seen little during this time of the Duchess
of Genoa and her children, so he decided to go
and see for himself if General Menabrea had not
exaggerated the merits of Princess Margherita.
The King arrived in Turin unexpectedly, went at
once to call on his brother's widow and asked to
see his niece.
Princess Margherita was then very slender,
fair, with a lily-like complexion, that enhanced
the brightness of her deep blue eyes her smile
:
MEANWHILE
had reacted
political events in France
on the situation in Spain,
where all were desirous of putting an
end to an unsettled state of affairs. The negotia-
tions with Italy were resumed, and this time led
to a happy conclusion Vittorio Emanuele induced
;
And "Hail !
" I go singing, " O lady imperial,
Thou whom the fair Graces crowned with all ornament.
Whose gentle voice so sweetly discourses
Words of love and heavenly compassion.
not only from the civil list, but from their private
purse, the Sovereigns had been always ready to
help their subjects in distress, and their bounty
was not infrequently extended to those who did
not merit it. There had been no pretext of any
kind for the crime, which could only be explained
by mental disturbance or political fanaticism.
The following day in Rome the people crowded
the streets, and held popular demonstrations.
On their way to the piazza before the Quirinal
Palace, the crowd passed the house of one of the
Ministers. In common with many of the houses
in Rome, on that night, the Minister's house was
illuminated in token of rejoicing for the King's
safety. On hearing the shouts of the crowd the
Minister supposed that they were cheering him,
and he showed himself at the window to acknow-
ledge their applause. He was greeted by bowlings
and hisses, and speedily understood that the
people were showing their anger at the inefficiency
of the Ministers who had not been able to prevent
the attempted assassination.
100 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
Italians, like all lovers of liberty, hold that
political opinions may be expressed, encouraged,
developed in every way, but that human life
must ever be held sacred, be it the life of a good
and beloved King or that of the commonest
malefactor. All sections of political opinion are
now convinced of the all-powerful influence of
thought, idea, and will, which alone can change
or modify laws and governments, for better or
for worse. It is not to be doubted, that with
time, when civilization shall have accomplished
its full evolution and the divine law of love and
brotherhood shall everywhere prevail, men will
be more and more bound by the moral ties that
unite them in the short struggle for existence
which is our earthly life. They will then disdain
to employ their short span of life in injuring each
other, and in stifling the noblest impulses of the
soul. We are certainly bound not to hate, but
to love each other, since in doing good and hoping
for nothing again we feel satisfaction.
From the 17th to the 20th November, from
dawn to dark of each day the Neapolitans never
ceased to assemble for popular demonstrations in
the square before the Royal Palace. On Novem-
ber 20th, the twenty-seventh birthday of Queen
Margherita, from midday to two o'clock in the
morning, the people gave proof of their passionate
devotion to their young Queen. A procession
consisting of thousands of children, from five to
twelve years of age, was organized to march
beneath the windows of the Royal Palace. From
all quarters of the city and the suburbs they
came, dressed in white and carrying flowers,
which they lifted up to the Queen and then
placed on the ground before her balcony. With
RETURN OF THE ROYAL FAMILY 101
the King and Queen and Crown Prince were the
Duke of Aosta, Prince Amedeo, who had come
to congratulate his brother, and the Marchese
and the Marchesa di Villamarina. The Queen
could hardly restrain her tears, smiling at the
children and repeating that no official or popular
demonstration could have moved her as did this
of the children, the little ones of the queen of
sea-cities. It became known later that not all
the flowers laid under the balcony had been
allowed to fade there not a few were and are
;
DURING the
Emanuele
later years of his life Vittorio
II had renewed the ties of
friendship with his relatives of the
House of Austria,and with the Emperor Francis
Joseph, whom he had visited in Vienna. This
visit was never officially returned by the Emperor,
who went to see the King of Italy when he was in
Venice. But after the death of Vittorio Emanuele
Italians began to entertain hostile sentiments
towards Austria, sentiments which have since
increased and intensified. The national longing
106
THE MARCHESA PAOLA PES DI VILLAMARINA.
THE "EASTERN QUESTION" 107
for Italian territory, still " unredeemed" often
occasions much friction between Italians and
the Austrian political authorities. These patriotic
Italians receive the moral support of their com-
patriots throughout Italy new patriotic associa-
;
WHEN
Rome
Margherita of Savoy arrived in
as Crown Princess and began to
the charitable institutions then
visit
existing, and at the same time to meet the
aristocratic society of Rome, she felt how
frivolous and vain was this society, bent only
on amusement and not troubling itself in the
least about the needs of its poorer fellow-citizens.
Rather than dictate reforms and impose new
methods, she used her modest womanly charms
to awaken in cultivated and serious women the
desire to associate themselves for the study of
useful reforms, with the object of raising, to-
gether with the moral tone of society, that of the
country in general. Those only who remember
the noise and thoughtless revelry of the Carnival
in Rome, and can compare those diversions with
123
124 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
the present serious and interesting intellectual
recreations of the capital, can realize what the
good influence of a Queen of large heart and wide
culture has achieved for the moral and civil
progress of Italy. The Queen's discernment was
shown above all in the initiation and encourage-
ment she gave to the movement for the solution
of the all-important but till then entirely
neglected woman question. Throughout Italy the
education of women had been purposely kept at
a lower level than that of men ; in the southern
provinces and in the pontifical States it was not
even tolerated. In those parts of Italy women,
as a rule, were not allowed to learn to read or
write. Not only among the lower classes did this
degrading usage prevail, but in higher orders of
society, where it was very rare indeed to meet
with a cultivated woman. Italy had, even in
those dark times, women remarkable for their
mental gifts and their patriotism whose names
find an honoured place in the literary and
political history of that time ; but as a rule
women were kept in the most absolute ignorance.
Margherita of Savoy saw that laws for com-
pulsory education would be powerless against the
ancient prejudices, habits, and opinions deeply
rooted in Southern and Central Italy, unless a
vigorous impulse was given to the diffusion of
more reasonable views and to the enlightenment
of people who sincerely believed that it would
injure women to raise their intellectual level to
that of men. It seems well-nigh incredible to us
that in those times no one had perceived that
society is a whole consisting of two parts ; if
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EXCURSIONS IN NAPLES 163
States, she had always seen the Queen's por-
trait accompanying that of the King. Mrs.
Sewall declared that Italians are thought the
best immigrants who enter the United States ;
proverb :
" Who has a mother need not weep,"
and it reverences the innocent victims of brutal
"
desertion, calling " Children of the Madonna
the denizens of the foundling hospitals.
Teresa Filangieri Ravaschieri-Fieschi possessed
in a rare degree the power of persuasion ;and
she succeeded in winning over the better part of
Neapolitan society to her benevolent ideals, and
she saw them perfectly realized we cannot doubt
;
1 Crispi after his fall told one of his political friends that
Baratieri had wrongly interpreted his instructions.
174 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
the army became separated, and the vanguard,
instead of taking up a position to await the
attack of the enemy, advanced to the assault.
The Abyssinian troops, greatly exceeding in
number their adversaries, easily defeated the
first column before the second could come up,
the second column shared the fate of the first,
and this was repeated, until the whole Italian
army had advanced, attacked, and been anni-
hilated. Nearly one-third of the Italian forces
perished on this disastrous day. Brave Generals,
brilliant young officers, and soldiers lay in thou-
sands on that field of blood ;Italy wept for the
brave lives wantonly sacrificed, and the voice
of lamentation and great mourning was heard
through all the land, from city and village, from
palace and cottage.
The heroic defender of the Fort of Macalle,
Major Galliano, who had fought with the well-
known dash and spirit of Italian soldiers, re-
calling the daring deeds of warriors of old, fell
in the Adua massacre, for whom and for
many nameless heroes Italy has never ceased
to mourn. Notwithstanding this victory Menelik
did not venture to follow it up. General
Baldissera, arriving too late, was in time
only to avoid greater disasters he took the
;
refugees ofHerzegovina.
the Turkey then
attempted a kind of blockade on the Montenegrin
frontier, which justified Prince Nikita's warlike
preparations. In June, 1876, Milan, King of
Servia, asked the Sultan to commission him to
1 See " Nozze Italia." Montenegro. Casa Editrice Perino.
Roma, 1896.
MONTENEGRO 187
put an end to the insurrection, and Prince Nikita
at once asked for the cession of a part of Herze-
govina ; but when, on July 1st, the Servian
troops began war, a very large force of Monte-
negrins threw themselves into the Herzegovina.
The Turks were defeated on July 29th in Albania,
near the Lake of Scutari, and in the Herzegovina
between Urbitza and Biletz, while Prince Nikita
blockaded Muklar Pasha, near Mostr, and as
Turkey would not accept the proposals of the
Conference in Constantinople, Russia entered the
field in February, 1878, and declared war on
Turkey.
The Treaty of Berlin finally gave to Monte-
negro an increase of territory, and the inde-
pendence of the State was at length recognized
by Turkey and by the Powers who signed the
treaty. Public offices and the enjoyment of civil
and political rightsbecame accessible to all
Montenegrins without any distinction of creed,
and liberty of worship was ensured. On July
12th, 1878, the first civil code was formulated in
Montenegro. In the ukase published on the
occasion of its promulgation. Prince Nikita
expressed feelings of affectionate regard for
Russia, calling her the Protector of the Slavs, an
expression which greatly offended the Govern-
ment at Vienna.
In the Montenegrin civil code the law re-
garding the household preserves its collective
character, which is one of the most ancient
customs of the Montenegrin people ; the family
is a unit, one only head commands those who live
under one roof, and at his death his successor is
designated by election. The area of Montenegro is
calculated at about 3486 square miles, while the
188 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
population numbered in 1895 about 240,000
the local religion is that of the Orthodox Greek
Church, while there are about seven thousand
Catholic Albanians and three thousand Moham-
medans. The Montenegrin people are a fine, strong,
handsome race, and their national costume is most
original and picturesque. The women are beau-
tiful, proud, and passionate, but pure and good
wives and mothers, exceptionally tender and
devoted to their homes. Princess Milena, since
the days when she was a fair young bride, has
dedicated herself to her family she is devoted
;
night.
As a token of rejoicing a Te Deum was sung in
the church. The obstacle of the difference of
religion was soon overcome; Princess Elena
had already that firm faith in God and in His
revelation which is the basis and source of true
Catholic religion, and she was willing to join that
Church of which the House of Savoy had ever
been the devoted servants. The Princess wrote
a long and affectionate letter in Italian to Queen
Margherita, saying that her betrothal to the
Prince of Naples fulfilled the fondest wishes of
her heart. She cited the Princesses of the House
of Savoy, renowned for their goodness of heart
and their true womanliness, and declared that
she would make it her study to emulate their
virtues. She expressed her love and enthusiasm
and that of all the Montenegrins for Italy, to
which they looked as to a mother-land; Italy
had always been for them the land of learning
and culture, and her glorious history was their
constant study.
Margherita rejoiced in the happiness of her son,
having already received to her maternal heart
his young and beautiful bride. The Queen, much
pleased with the letter of the Princess, showed
it to friends of the Royal Family, then at
Gressoney, and she telegraphed to Prince Nikita :
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CHAPTER XVI
Inauguration at the Capitol of the International Congress of the Press
— Umberto and Margherita of Savoy among the representatives
—
of the Press of the world Enthusiasm of foreign delegates for the
—
Queen, who speaks to each in his own language Journey of the
— —
Royal Family to Sardinia Conditions of the island Characteristics
—
of the Sardinians The Sovereigns arrive in Cagliari April 12th,
— —
1899 The French squadron Admiral Fournier presents an
autograph letter of President Loubet to the King of Italy The —
Sovereigns are present in Sassari at the inauguration of a monument
—
to Vittorio Emanuelo II Margherita of Savoy admires Sardinian
—
costumes The British squadron in the Golfo degli Aranci The —
—
Sovereigns visit the tomb of Garibaldi in Caprera Ricciotti
—
Garibaldi and his wife found a hospital at Maddalena Returning
to Rome, the King the attention of the Government to the
calls
needs of Sardinia — The Sardinian poets and novelists — The King
and Queen in May, 1900, the High School for
visit founded
girls,
in Naples by Princess Pignatelli Strongoli — The King names
lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Enrichetta Capecelatro Carafa,
Duchessa d'Andria—The two ancient Capecelatro and
families,
Carafa d'Andria— The May, 1900, in Rome—The Queen on
1st of
that day in the Piazza del Popolo —The basis modern education.
of
" MONZA,
" August 1st, 1900.
" MONSIGNORE,
" I am sure that you are with me in heart
and thought in this terrible moment which God
has sent upon Italy. I am sure also that your
thoughts and prayers are for him, for the King
who so loved his people and who fell a victim
to his love for them, stricken by three bullets,
fired by an Italian hand. Oh, shame and
horror ! . . .
" '
Devotion :
" In memory
'
of King Umberto, my lord
and most beloved husband.
PRAYER OF MARGHERITA 215
Rosary :
(( I
—
Credo Pater —De Profundis. —Because he
was merciful to all, according to Thy law, O
Lord, be merciful to him and give him peace !
—
" Pater De Profundis. Because he would
'
—
have only justice, have mercy on him, O
Lord!
" '
Ten Hail Marys.
" '
Pater —De Profundis. —Because he forgave
everyone, forgive him, O Lord, the errors of his
human nature.
" ' Ten Hail Marys.
—
" Pater De Profundis. Because he loved
'
—
his people, and had only one thought, the good
of his country, receive him into the glorious
country, O Lord !
—
" ' Pater De Profundis. Because he was —
good to his last breath and fell the victim to his
goodness, grant him, O Lord, the eternal crown
of martyrs.
—
" Ten Hail Marys Pater ^De Profundis.
' —
" '
Prayer.
" '
O Lord my God world of Thine
! in this
he did only what was good, he bore no malice,
he forgave those who did him wrong, he con-
secrated his life to his duty and to his country's
good, to his last breath he did the work which
Thou, O Lord, gavest him to do. For the red
blood, which flowed from three wounds, for his
cruel death, which crowned a life of goodness and
justice, O merciful and just Lord, receive him
216 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
into Thy kingdom and give him the eternal
reward of his goodness.
" '
Stabat Mater—De Profundis.'
" Cremona, August 3rd, 1900.
" Geremia, Bishop."
" Comrades !
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LECTURE AT THE CAPITOL 243
attached to the vessel by two silver cords. Queen
Margherita gave the silver ship for Turin to the
Archbishop Agostino Richelmy, who solemnly
offered it at the altar of the Madonna, in the
presence of all the Princes and Princesses of
Savoy.
The first important reception at the Palazzo
Margherita was given by Queen Margherita in
honour of Prince Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, on
the evening of January 13th, 1901, when the
young explorer wished for his aunt's opinion of
the illustrated lecture he was to deliver the next
day before the Geographical Society of Rome.
The splendid saloons of the Queen Dowager's
Palace were brilliantly illuminated, adorned with
plants and flowers, for the reception of the Royal
Family, the Court, and the most important
personages of Roman society, and Commander
Cagni appeared with his young bride, radiant
with happiness and pride in her brave husband.
That evening was the first of those intellectual,
patriotic, and social gatherings, which always
with some special literary or artistic aim or
attraction, have made the salon of the Queen
Dowager so famous and attractive. On the
following day, the great hall of the " Collegio
Romano," splendidly decorated for the occasion
by the Geographical Society, offered the most
imposing spectacle. The first row of seats was
occupied by the King and Queen and members of
the Royal Family, only Queen Margherita being
absent ; the ladies were in deep mourning, the
all
King and Princes in uniform. Professor Dalla
Vedova, the learned President of the Geographical
Society, presented Prince Luigi, who was greeted
by the imposing assembly with a burst of
244 MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
applause. The lecture was illustrated by over
four hundred lantern-slides.
When the Duke of the Abruzzi recorded the
interest of his uncle, King Umberto, in the Polar
expedition and the generous aid which he had
given it, a wave of emotion seemed to pass
over the assembly, which broke into " Evviva e
bravo " on hearing that Queen Margherita had
sent Christmas gifts for all the passengers,
officers, and sailors, and that the bold explorers,
even during the time of their greatest danger in
the Far North, had faithfully kept the promise
made by their leader to the Queen, his aunt,
never to omit their prayers.
Wniien the Duke, scarcely able to control his
emotion, told how the first flag they saw on their
return journey was the Italian, and it was at
half-mast, and the lantern-slide showed the boat
approaching the Stella Polare to take Commander
Cagni on board the vessel flying the Italian flag,
a thrill ran through the audience, and many wept
when they heard the Duke tell in trembling
tones how the Captain communicated the tidings
of the King's tragic death. " Calling on deck
and the whole crew, he told
his brother officers
them how King had died, and there burst
their
from the hearts and throats of his hearers a cry
of horror and malediction, a cry which echoes
for ever over the eternal ice, through the vibrat-
ing purity of the Polar air."
When the applause had subsided, the Duke re-
sumed his lecture, which concluded with some words
in praise ofthe four brave sailors who planted the
flag in the highest northern latitudes till then
reached, with shouts of " Evviva il Re, Evviva
r Italia" the slide showed the desert plain, the
;
THE ITALIAN NAVY LEAGUE 245
dark horizon, the hummocks of ice, over which
the wind blows at a temperature of many degrees
below zero, and there was flying the White Cross
of Savoy on its red field.
The young Prince concluded with these noble
words " Honour to the banner of our country
:
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! . . .
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PRAYER FOR THE SOLDIERS 271
" Oblessed Virgin, Mother of God, hear my
prayers ; search out the good deeds of their
lives, the generous thoughts of their inmost
hearts, and scatter them like sweet-smelling
flowers of the mountains before the throne of God,
so when their souls shall come before Him, they
shall be received with infinite mercy, and the
light which gilds the high mountains, emanation
from the Divine and Eternal, shall surround them
for ever with ineffable peace."
CHAPTER XXIII
Birth of the Crown Prince, named Umberto, Prince of Piedmont, c
—
September 15th, 1904 Joy of the Italian people The Kii —
—
encourages all social enterprises Honours paid to Guido Baece
—
at the Capitol on April 8th, 1906 Inauguration of the " Policlinicc
— —
The International Institute of Agriculture David Lubin r
—
ceived and encouraged by Vittorio Emanuolo III The Italo-Amei
—
can intellectual alliance Queen Elena receives at Racconigi <
—
August 1st, 1906, a deputation of the Knights of Malta TheGrar
Cross of the Order of Malta conferred on the first two Queens
— —
Italy Significance of this distinction The revival of the study
— —
teaching as a science in Italy Luigi Credaro The training colle;
for teachers in Milan — —
Maria Montessori The great success
her method, encouraged and aided by Margherita of Savoy-
—
Eduardo Talamo and the "Houses for Children" Interest of t!
—
two Queens for the new scheme Efficient co-operation of Doni
Maria Talamo, Princess Brancaccio, for its development and pr
grass— —
Opinion of Luigi Luzzatti Death of Carducci on June 16t
— —
1907 Imposing funeral Tlie house and library of Carduc
bought by Margherita of Savoy and presented to the City of Bologi
— A fine painting by Cavaliere Francesco Santoro given by Ms
gherita of Savoy to the Carducci Library in Bologna.
TO THE MAJESTY
^ OF
QUEEN MARGHERITA
BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW HISTORY OF ITALY
A STAR
STEADFAST, PURE, PROPITIOUS.
The End
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD,
PLYMOUTH
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