Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1859 — The Carbonari and Napoleon III. [ARTICLE]

The Carbonari and Napoleon III.

The failure of Lewis Napoleon to redeem his pledges in regard to Italian independence, and the consequent indignation of those who had trusted their cause in his hands, to so great an extent, renders it not improbable that renewed attempts will be made at his assassination. How much truth there is in the current reports of his having been a member of the secret order of the Carbonari, that they had d omed him to die as a traitor to his former vows, and that his recent undertakings were the price of his respite, we do not profess to know. That his life is now more than ever in danger from that source, would seem reasonable. The Philadelphia Argus makes the following statement in regard to this subject: “Not long ago we met an Italian of much intelligence whom we knew to be a member of the order. In the course of a conversation on the war then raging in Italy, we asked him the opinion entertained by the Carbonari as to the sincerity of Louis Napoleon. He replied that the motives of the French Emperor were doubted, and that he was surrounded by members of the order, who were sworn to take his life if he should show any disposition to betray the Italian cause. ‘The Emperor of the French,’ said he, ‘will undoubtedly be killed if he fails, either designedly or otherwise, in accomplishing the liberation of Italy from Austria. Every member of the Carbonari in America has been apprised of this, and of the means to be used in its accomplishment. Some of the greatest and noblest men now fighting in Italy are sworn to destroy him the moment he hesitates or fails. There is not a fortification in Italy that can hide him from the order, nor can he travel over a foot of soil where he will not be met with its membars.’ ”