Viaggio in Italia, Baviera e Svizzera nell’ estate del 1885 is available at the University of Malta as a set of two documents. The handwritten scans have never been transcribed and translated.
Transcribing handwriting is a difficult and time consuming process that involves guesswork. Plus it appears that Canon Pullicino has an incredible knowledge of art, history and politics. He tends to drop names and references with ease.
Many eyes help, and it has become a team effort with my uncle John, to try and decipher the handwriting from 140 year ago. Nowadays this ardous exercise is somewhat aided by the help of the internet and new advances in artificial intelligence.
Corrections are very welcome.
Here are some excerpts from the ongoing translation:
In the Name of the Lord –
and Under the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.1885.
May 11
We set off from Malta aboard the steamship Etna of the Florio Rubattino Company. My companion on this journey was my very good friend, Baron Giuseppino De Piro Gourgion. The sea was somewhat rough, and with a wind blowing sideways against the ship. The entire passage to Syracuse was marked by a most unpleasant motion. Having set off at 6 p.m., the vessel docked in the port of Syracuse in the early hours of the following day. The ship’s movement was so disagreeable that it caused me to endure a sleepless and distressing night.
May 12
At daybreak, we disembarked in Syracuse. Although this very ancient city appears to be in a state of near decay nowadays, efforts are nevertheless being made to improve it. Recently, new constructions have been erected.
A large building has recently been erected to serve as a museum. It is not yet finished, but it seems that it will be completed soon. It has a beautiful façade facing the Piazza del Duomo, with another side overlooking the port. A new Theatre, which has been under construction for years, also remains unfinished.
Meanwhile, this apparently derelict city has many comforts lacked by other cities which are considered to be more prosperous: it has a beautiful lava pavement; and it has public fountains in some parts of the city, made in the form of basins attached to the wall, which do not obstruct the passage at all, in addition to being very elegant to the eye..At 8 o’clock we departed on the Etna, with calm seas, and at 11 o’clock we arrived in Catania. In Catania, a beautiful artificial port can be seen, recently constructed, in a curved shape
and capable of handling considerable sea freight. It is similar to the port of Messina, but larger. Besides Catania and Messina, they have ports of this kind, why shouldn’t there be similar ports in other places where it is necessary to have them, like at Migiarro, in Gozo?At 2 o’clock on Wednesday of the same day we left Catania. I had wished on this day, sacred to San Filippo, to have made a trip to Agira, not far from Catania; but the shortness of time did not allow me to do so: hoping to do so on another occasion.
At 7 o’clock in the evening, we arrived in Messina, and having to transfer to another steamer, I did not reach the port directly but had to disembark on land and carry my luggage to the hotel. I went to the Hotel Trinacria, which overlooks the port, and I had the comfort of having beautiful rooms overlooking the sea.
The sleep that night gave me the needed [illegible word] and thanks to God, I had it. The Hotel Trinacria at Messina I found excellent.May 13.
The day was well spent in Messina. The city inside is much more beautiful than one can say. A beautiful post office, with all its workshops and other related […]has risen in the Town Hall square. A beautiful building, […] inside, finished with beautiful types of white marble. And why is it not done in other places?
The streets of Messina are very well paved with lava, with beautiful sidewalks, channeled under […] the course of the water. The vegetation is beautiful, and very well kept; there are many beautiful trees. The city is expanding, and new streets are being built. The Cathedral underwent some exterior restorations; it is large and beautiful; it contains various remarkable works in marble. There are sculpted statues of the twelve Apostles a […]. People gather in good numbers on weekdays to attend Holy Mass. The main street, which is the main thoroughfare, is very beautiful, extending a great distance in a straight line. At no other time has it seemed more beautiful than this.
The steamboat on which the journey to Naples was to continue did not arrive until late at 9 p.m.
(… now in Rome a fortnight later)
May 29.
Two days ago, at around 11 o’clock, a visiting card was presented to me—Cardinal Czacki. Who brought it? A gentleman. For whom? For Msgr. Pullicino. I did not know Cardinal Czacki. What is this? What does he mean? Let me try [and meet with him].
Today, around 11 a.m., I went to Piazza Santi Apostoli, to Palazzo Balestra No. 49, where he resides on the first floor. I announced myself with a visiting card. He immediately received me, in the drawing room, wearing a cloak (zimarra) and red skull cap (zuchetto). After seating me, I told him how I received his card and that I felt it my duty to present myself to pay my respects and offer him my services.He immediately began to speak of Malta, and about the new Administrator, Mgr. Buhagiar, asking me if I was in Malta at the time of his arrival. I replied that I was and that I had even welcomed him on two occasions before leaving. He asked me whether the reception of him on the island had been as enthusiastic as reported. I asked for permission to speak freely and said that the reception he received was only from a small group of common people, organized by some, and a few discontented priests. But the better part of the clergy and the more respectable laity took no part in it; indeed, they unfavorably received the matter. “But why,” he asked, “such reluctance?”
And I replied: first, because this appointment was made under foreign influence, and secondly, because the individual does not appear to possess the personal qualities necessary to sustain his position effectively in the eyes of all classes, especially the Protestants on the island.
The Cardinal seemed to agree with many of the reflections I shared. I added that the involvement of Cardinal Lavigerie, who naturally sees Mgr. Buhagiar as an instrument he can effectively wield, could, over time, give rise to a conflict between the ecclesiastical authority and the civil government of Malta. Such a conflict might provide an opportunity for some attempt (as had been done in the past) to annex ecclesiastical property. Such is the fear of everyone.“But what intention,” the Cardinal asked, “could Cardinal Lavigerie have had in meddling in this matter of Malta?” And I replied, “If he had no intention, what reason did he have to involve himself in matters that do not concern him?”
The Cardinal, who professes to be a great friend of Lavigerie, spontaneously admitted and confessed that, although Lavigerie is a man of great talent and skill, he has a strong tendency to meddle and involve himself in too many things, including matters that do not concern him. This is how he is regarded in Rome.
“But what is said about the personal qualities of Mgr. Buhagiar?” the Cardinal continued to ask. “How old is he?”
“He is under forty years old.”
The Cardinal expressed astonishment. “But does he have any good qualities?” – “Not so much.” He is not well known among the Maltese. He is scarcely even considered Maltese. He spent most of his prime years in Spain and Bavaria. In those regions, he could not have developed the necessary experience to hold his position well, especially in the eyes of the educated class in Malta and the English population on the island.
The Cardinal agreed and added that, based on the facts, he could confirm that Buhagiar did not appear to have any preconceived plan. And this, he noted, was something tied to Cardinal Lavigerie, who one fine day had gone to him, saying that the Pope had asked him if he could propose someone for the Bishopric of Malta. That he had then taken it upon himself to handle the matter and had chosen Buhagiar, whom he knew.
I replied that it was strange to select a bishop for Malta from among the religious of Bavaria. That Cardinal Lavigerie did not know Malta or the Maltese clergy at all, and it was very odd that he went to Bavaria to find someone when ordinarily we have ecclesiastics who are the pride of Malta.
“But in the meantime,” asked the Cardinal, “does Mgr. Buhagiar have the right to future succession?”
“No.”
“Well, then, everything can still be remedied.”
“What title does he hold?” he asked. “Apostolic Vicar,” I said, “but the insistence of Cardinal Lavigerie could secure him the succession.”
The Cardinal was very open with me and full of courtesy, as befits a noble ecclesiastic. He asked me about the incident with his visiting card, explaining that it had been sent to me by mistake. But he added, and repeated several times, that it was a most fortunate mistake because it had given him the opportunity to make my acquaintance. I replied that I was even more fortunate to have had the privilege of presenting my respects to him. I took my leave, very satisfied with the reception.