would seem to have succeeded. Crime of
all sorts diminished, and especially theft. Armed
simply with staves, and only distinguished by
a tricolour cockade, they very soon obtained by
their boldness and courage an amount of influence
far greater than that enjoyed by the late
police. But stranger than their bravery, was
their honesty: innumerable are the facts on
record, of their self-denial in temptation, and
their rigid integrity; and there is no doubt that
they mainly contributed to that new-born
enthusiasm for Garibaldi, whose greatest triumph
ever was to evoke from popular masses
whatever was good, or great, or hopeful, in their
natures.

"See what such a people may become when
the causes of their demoralisation are removed.
Look at the virtues these men exhibit, and say
is theirs a nation to be despaired of!" was the
language on every side.

The first enthusiasm over, however, the
Camorristi seemed to revert to their old instincts.
They were not bandits nor galley-slaves, but
they were men of strong frames, violent passions,
long accustomed to lead lives of unrestrained
licence, and to see themselves universally
dreaded. Without ceasing to be a police, then,
they introduced into their discipline all the
oppressions and exactions of the Camorra.
Their first care was to take all smuggling under
their especial protection. Under the Bourbon
dynasty, contraband had long ceased to attach
any shame to its exercise. The most respectable
merchants defrauded the government, without
a particle of remorse, and without any sense
of dishonour. The frauds were arranged between
the chiefs of the Camorra and the officers of the
customs, and a regular tariff was established—
about one fourth of that ruled by the state.
On the arrival of Garibaldi, however, the Camorristi,
no longer content with half measures,
assumed all contraband as their own especial
perquisites. A certain Salvatore de Crescenza, a
well-known Camorrist, took the port dues under
his peculiar care; and from forty thousand
ducats, which was the daily receipt, the dues of
Naples fell short of one thousand!

A no less celebrated leader, Pasquale
Menotte, took charge of the "octroi" at the gates.
No sooner did a waggon arrive laden with
wine, or meat, or any excisable articles, than
the Camorrists presented themselves, arms in
hand, to the customs officials, and crying out
"Let it pass—it is for Garibaldi!" the order
was instantly obeyed, and the tax was paid to
the Camorra in the very presence of the officers
of the government. Strangest of all, the tax now
imposed was a mere fraction less than that
imposed by the state, and so complete was the
intermediation, that the people actually
preferred to hand the sum to the Camorristi rather
than to the servants of the government. It may
be imagined to what an extent this fraud was
practised, when the receipts of all the gates of the
city in one day, realised only twenty-five soldi—
about twopence of our money!

Spaventa, a fellow-sufferer with Poerio, a
man of daring boldness and consummate craft,
was the prefect of police; he resolved on a step
of no mean courage. He arrested one hundred
Camorristi on a single night; dissolved the
whole "Guardia Celladina," as it was called;
and established in its stead a guard of public
safety, over whose organisation he had for some
time sedulously and carefully watched. It has
been alleged that Spaventa used but little
discrimination in his act of repression; that some
tried patriots and brave followers of Garibaldi
were included among those of less fame and
more damaged reputations; but it was a
moment of great peril, and admitted of little time
for selection. The resources of the state were
being preyed upon on all sides. Peculation was in
high places as well as in low; and a letter to the
formidable Camorristi was certain to take effect.

The government by this act severed itself at
once and for ever from all connexion with the
Camorra. Every day has widened the breach,
and every day sees the powers of the state more
stringently exercised towards those who declare
that they are an institution of the land, and that
they are determined to hold their own against the
present government as they did against the last.
Thus the Camorra has in latter times undergone
four distinct mutations. Under the reign of
Ferdinand the Second, it acted as the secret
police; under his son Francis, it became the
ally of the liberals; beneath the revolution
it performed the functions of a police; and
now, under Victor Emmanuel, it declares itself
persecuted, and pronounces for the return of
the Bourbons.

Profiting by the facilities which a state of siege
confers upon a governor, General la Marmora
made a most vigorous onslaught on the Camorra.
Vast numbers have already been arrested, and
the jails of even Florence and Turin are filled
with these southern depredators. The more
active the measures taken, the more does the
extent of the disease manifest itself; the Camorra
is now found to have penetrated the public
service in every direction, to abound in the
ranks of the army, and to have its followers in
the navy.

On the 25th of March will be published the commencement
of a New Serial Work of Fiction, entitled
VERY HARD CASH.
By CHARLES READE, D.C.L.,
Author of "IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND."
To be continued from week to week, until completed in
about eight months.

Now ready, bound in cloth boards, price 5s. 6d.,
THE EIGHTH VOLUME,
Containing from No. 177 to 200, both inclusive; and, in
addition, SOMEBODY'S LUGGAGE, being the
Extra Double Number for Christmas.