The economist and the secret agent. Strategies to introduce the British model of society into Sicily of 1812.¹

Abstract

The paper explores the events which determined the transition of Sicily from the ancien regime towards a modern liberal society. The key figures selected to understand this historical moment are the economist Paolo Balsamo, professor at Regia Università di Palermo, and the Scottish gentleman Gould Francis Leckie, whose profile as landowner and scholar concealed his intelligence activity in Sicily. This essay shows how British policy and Sicilian ruling class conceived a plan to transform the island by importing a model of capitalist society from the United Kingdom and entrusted it to the cultural and political role exercised by Balsamo.

Keywords:

• Sicily
• Paolo Balsamo
• Gould Francis Leckie
• institutional history of economics
• intelligence assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A special thanks to the anonymous referees for their helpful advice.

2 The present article benefits greatly from works by Rosselli (1956) and D’Andrea (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012), which are rich in detailed findings from British, Sicilian and Neapolitan archives.

3 Re the British occupation of Sicily and its role in the war against Napoleon see (D’Andrea 2007, 2008; Gregory 1988).

4 Re the trade between the UK and Sicily and the penetration of British merchants in the island see (D’angelo 1988, 2007; Lentini 2004).

5 The lack of reaction by King Ferdinando’s army during the attempt of invasion by French troops on 18 September 1810, which was warded off by the British regiments with only the help of the Sicilian people, increased the disrepute and the suspicion around the Bourbons (Gregory 1988, 86).

6 D’Andrea quotes the original manuscript kept in The National Archives with the references P.R.O., F.O 70/30.

7 This policy was suspended and moderated due to the fall the Ministry of All the Talents, the international conjuncture and the ineptitude of the British envoy Drummond (D’Andrea 2008, 46–51).

8 The baron members of Parliament halved the sum requested by the Court and proposed a great project of reform which would have changed both the financial structure of the Kingdom and its constitutional framework reducing the power of the Crown (Renda 1963, 153–156). In February 1811, the King, through a coup d'ètat, issued three bills without the assent of Parliament which introduced a tax on every payment, the auction of the Kingdom and Church’s lands and a lottery. These measures met with strong opposition -also from the community of British merchants in Sicily-and the conflict between the Parliament and the Crown grew until it degenerated into the capture of the leaders of the constitutional opposition. Re see (D’Andrea 2008, 53–86; Renda 1963, 128–211; Rosselli 1956, 9–17). Re the financial conflict between the Crown and the Parliament see Giuffrida (2012).

9 The letter that Lord Bentinck sent to Prince regent Francesco is published in Ganci (1981, 85–86) and Rosselli (1956, 164–165).

10 The main names are: the Generals Henry Fox, John Moore, John Stuart and George Cockburn, Capitan Charles William Pasley, the Civil Governor of Malta Alexander John Ball, the Civil Secretary Samuel Taylor Coleridge (most known to be one of the main poets of English romanticism), the ambassador Lord William Amherst, the naval officer and liberal essayist Edward Blaquiere, the traveller and informer for the Foreign Office Lord Valentia. Lord Valentia was a close friend and confidant of the leaders of the Sicilian constitutional party and was involved in the secret correspondence between them and the British Cabinet when in 1810, during the highest moment of conflict with King Ferdinando III, the barons secretly offered the Crown of Sicily to the Duke of Sussex, Prince Augusto Federico of Hannover, son of King George III (D’Andrea 2008, 72–75).

11 Re British policy in Sicily and the role exercised by his agents see D’Andrea (2007, 2008, 2012).

12 Syracuse was a place of strategic importance for British intelligence since it was one of the main bases of the Royal Navy and the port which connected Malta with the Europe.

13 Subsequently Leckie’s identity was revealed and due to the unsuitability of the envoy Drummond, he was forced to return to London, and he was refunded by the Foreign Office for the loss of his properties in Sicily (D’Andrea 2012, 252–256; 307).

14 Leckie’s projects for Sicily are illustrated in his works (Leckie 1810) which collected both the papers written during his stay in Sicily as well as those written at a later date in London.

15 Re the cultural life of Palermo in the XVIII century see Romano (1983) and Verga (1999). According to Verga, the process of cultural modernization of the Kingdom’s capital was in progress in the middle of the century and had already reached an advanced stage.

16 The call of Isidoro Bianchi is a deliberate plan of the archbishops of Palermo, Serafino Filangieri (the uncle of author of La Scienza della Legislazione), and Monreale, Francesco Testa, to open and modernize Sicilian culture creating a centre of advanced studies in the seminaries of the archdioceses. See Crisantino (2012), Verga (1999, 513–525).

17 Re the biography of Isidori Bianchi see Venturi (1968).

18 Giarrizzo (1992, 108–113) underlines the influence that Domenico Grimald’s (Genovesi’s pupil) moderate reformism exercised in Sicily and whose evidence is clear in a pamphlet written in 1784 by the Prince of Pantelleria and above all in the well illustrated work published in 1786 by the Prince of Trabia, Pietro Lanza (1988 [1786]). Re Lanza di Trabia’s economic proposal see Dentici (1999). Renda (1974, 60–67) and Verga (1993, 184–185) focus on the unusual fact that in Sicily, Genovesi and Filangieri’s Neapolitan reformism was adopted and interpreted both by government and the baronage to support opposite and antagonistic political proposals. The result was a serious misrepresentation for political aims of the original message of the great masters of Neapolitan Enlightenment. Re the influence of Antonio Genovesi’s school on the Sicilian public debate and its successive decline see Simon (2021).

19 British literature had been gradually entering Sicily since 1730 determining the spread and the success of empiricism (Bottari 2007, 90; De Matei 1927, 48–51; Romeo 1989 [1950], 109; Sciacca 1966, 35–36; Verga 1999, 454). Re empiricism in Sicily see Romeo (1989 [1950], 78–103).

20 Re this edition see Crisantino (2012, 318). In 1781 also the Italian translation of John Locke’s Of the conduct of Understanding was reprinted in Palermo (Spoto 1988, 99). According to Romeo (1989 [1950], 91) in 1799 in Palermo the direct translations from English of economics works started.

21 Unlike Giarrizzo, who bases a great part of his analysis on the ideological trend of the Sicilian lodges, Sciacca focuses on the real circulation and impact of British literature in the island. We find confirmation of Sciacca’s thesis in Romeo (1989 [1950], 109–110) who already in 1770 underpins the influence of Anglophilia in Sicily. In this passage Romeo inadvertently contradicts one of the conclusions of his work, according to which on the island the rise of a political consciousness is a result of Caracciolo’s reformist actions. Indeed, quoting Patrick Brydone (1773), he attests a widespread reflection on British constitutionalism among the exponents of the upper class in the seventies before the viceroyalty of Caracciolo (Romeo 1989, 109). Sciacca (1966, 94) confirms that Lockean constitutionalism had already begun to spread in Sicily in the seventies.

22 He was one of the most famous travellers of that period and the author of A Tour Through Sicily and Malta (1773), an international bestseller of the literary genre on the Grand Tour.

23 I sought evidence of the presence of the British economic literature in the Sicilian libraries during the international research Ee-t Economic E-Translations directed by Marco E. L. Guidi. I visited the two public libraries of Palermo—Biblioteca Comunale di Palermo and Biblioteca Centrale della Regione Siciliana- and that of Istituto Castelnuovo. The latter, above all, has a huge choice of works and journals in English regarding economics and agriculture but also concerning politics, law and natural sciences.

24 The conflict between the Crown and the Sicilian baronage witnessed three intense phases: in 1769-1775 when Bernardo Tanucci –Secretary of State of King Ferdinand- during the suppression of the Jesuits, promoted a great process of distribution of lands throughout Sicily which favoured the small property of peasants, excluding on the other hand the great aristocracy; in 1781–1786, during Domenico Caracciolo’s viceroyalty, when the struggle reached its highest moment as result of several reforms which reduced the powers of lordships on the fiefdoms and the attempt to introduce a great reform of taxation based on the introduction of a new land register; 1787, when Caracciolo was Secretary of State in Naples and tried to weaken the legal succession of fiefdoms disputing the lawfulness of some fundamental Sicilian constitutional and feudal laws. Re this season of Sicilian history see Brancato (1946), Pontieri (1943, 1945), Renda (1974), Romeo (1989 [1950], 54–77), Giarrizzo (1992, 101–129, 177–193), Verga (1993). Re a general history of Sicily see D’Alessando and Giarrizzo (1989), Renda (2003). Some of these works, which belong to a renowned historiography, today appear in some aspects to be dated and unbalanced in remarking the profile of Caracciolo and the role of his political action. It is the case of Pontieri’s works which can be considered obsolete but some interpretative weakness can be found also in the works of Romeo and Giarrizzo.

25 The ability of the baronage to conceive an effective reactive political strategy–based also on intellectual and ideological assumptions- is an aspect covered by Renda (1974) and Verga (1993) and which can be found some years before the anglophile turning-point. Renda (1974, 69–96) lucidly shows the main weakness of Caracciolo’s political line which, behind the rhetoric of the struggle against the unfair privileges of Sicilian aristocracy, aimed to remove the ancient national institutions of the island in order to fuse Sicily in a greater unique Southern Italian state. Renda (1974, 37–39) finds evidence of this political attitude, comparing the aggressive reformism deployed by the Crown in Sicily and the lack of the same effort on the continent where barons were equally powerful and institutions just as unfair. The Anti-Sicilianism which characterized this policy was so easily perceptible that it ended up strengthening the baronage. The fact that Anti-Sicilianism undermines Caracciolo’s Sicilian followers -above all the scholars of Genovesi’s school- is a thesis shared also by Giarrizzo (1992, 368).

26 The debt and bankruptcy of some Sicilian aristocratic families was an unquestionable reality, yet we cannot assume it to be a condition shared by the entire class of barons. The Sicilian grain market of XVIII century was a cause of great licit and illicit profits for several landowners, and the lordships in towns and villages remained a solid source of income. However, it was clear –above all for the best brains of baronage and the intellighenzia of the island- that feudalism was no longer a sustainable form of economic system. We can find a critical conscience of baronage in the economic pamphlets of the Prince of Trabia, Pietro Lanza (Dentici 1999). Re the Sicilian feudalism in the last century of its history see Cancila (2013a, 2013b, 2015) Verga (1993). Re the grain market in Sicily of XVIII century see Fazio (1993).

27 This profile is close enough to that of Pietro Lanza di Trabia. See Giacomo Dentici’s introduction to the pamphlet of the Prince of Trabia (1988, L-LXVIII). According to Renda (1963, 51) this attitude is shared by several exponents of baronage.

28 Re the constitutional debate in Sicily at the end of eighteenth century and during the British occupation see Sciacca (1966).

29 In the eighties the Regia Accademia di Palermo was the centre of a great process of cultural modernization which aimed to provide the Kingdom’s capital with all the most advanced field of study and, in order to pursue this target, several new Chairs were created. A significant trait of this policy was the international vocation which included: to convince the new professors to spend a traineeship period abroad, mainly in the United Kingdom; the adoption of foreign textbooks—often translations of English ones. See Cancila (2006, 85–95).

30 Although Sicilian culture of that era could not rival the great centres of European Enlightenment such as Naples and Milan, in the last decades of the eighteenth century it showed dynamism and modernity and its academies were vanguard in several scientific fields. Above all for that which concerns political economy, Sicily was at that time one of the European regions endowed with largest number of Chairs which also had a longer and more secure life than Italian ones. Furthermore, some Italian States only introduced the teaching of economics a few years before unification. Re Italian Chairs of economics see Augello (1988).

31 An adequate study of Sergio’s thought and of his unpublished works is still missing.

32 Although Verga (1993, 217–227) lists Sergio among the ranks of supporters of the baronage, considering above all his public activity he appears s to vacillate between the viceroy Caracciolo and the aristocracy (Li Donni 1983, 42–44).

33 A few years later (1807) –following the retirement of Sergio- the two teachings were once again joined.

34 Due to the fact that in 1787 the new viceroy Francesco Caramanico took over from his predecessor Domenico Caracciolo created a favourable political context for the birth of the new Chair. Despite Caracciolo, in his role as Secretary of State, continuing the political struggle against Sicilian baronage from Naples, the Barons took advantage of the conciliatory attempt which characterized the new political course of viceroy Caramanico in Sicily. See Renda (1974, 125–150) and Romeo (1989 [1950], 71–77).

35 Gabriele Lancillotto Castelli, Prince of Torremuzza, (1727–1794) was a scholar of archaeology who earned considerable fame in Europe of 18th century.

36 The Deputazione took advantage of the fact that from 1776 to 1786 the Secretary of State of King Ferdinando was the Sicilian Marquis of Sambuca, a fellow of the same boarding school attended during childhood by Prince of Torremuzza and other of its members

37 The attitude of Sicilian scholars and the ruling class –between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries- to connect the cultural and political reality of the island to the international scenario is a topic dealt with by D’Amore and Travagliante (2017).

38 The choice of the word Agriculture aimed to enhance the distance from industrialism and public intervention in favour of manufacturing which characterized some of Caracciolo’s measures of economic policy. Giarrizzo (1992, 242–248) traces the work of Pietro Lanza di Trabia (1988) –son of one of the members of the Deputazione- to the source both of the political decision of creating the Chair and its scientific programme. Indeed, Lanza di Trabia’s work can be considered the manifesto of the “barons reformism”. See also Dentici’s introduction to the pamphlet (1988, VII-CVI). Yet, we will see that the cultural and political effects produced by the new Chair were beyond the original aim conceived by the barons and its role went beyond the mere importation from the United Kingdom of applied knowledge in agriculture and theoretical notions on British institutions.

39 The Deputazione announced the choice to send the new professor abroad for a traineeship tour with a missive to viceroy on 13 August 1786. The original document is kept in Palermo’s State Archive (Archivio di Stato di Palermo) with signature A.S.P. Real Segreteria Incartamenti, vol 5180.

40 It is significant datum that Monsignor Giuseppe Gioeni d’Angiò (1717–1798) -the greatest Sicilian Maecenas of the age, financial supporter of the new Chair of Ethics in Palermo and patron of the awards for scholars in economics- spent many years visiting Europe and England (Cancila 2006, 104).

41 The procedure and the works for the selection of the new professor and the names of other candidates are not known. Yet further research could be conducted on the archives of Deputazione –at the Archivio di Stato di Palermo- and that of the University of Palermo.

42 It is a pity that the diary of this tour has never been found. What we know is only thanks his correspondence.

43 Leckie entrusted Balsamo to take care of some of his business. D’Andrea (2012, 206) quotes the papers kept in the public archive of Syracuse with references: ASS, ANS, 13753, ff 1061–1062.

44 The correspondence between Leckie and Balsamo has not been found. It is easy to assume that the sensitive nature of the people and topics discussed led the authors to destroy the letters, especially once Leckie left Sicily and also following the restauration of Bourbon absolutism. Indeed, for the same reasons, most of Balsamo’s works remained unpublished and for several years circulated in secret.

45 However, we have evidence that already in 1783 viceroy Caracciolo was conscious that barons were conceiving the idea to transform Sicilian institutions based on British ones as a strategy of reaction to the Crown’s reformism. See Caracciolo’s missive to John Acton on 28 January 1783 in Pontieri (1933, 97).

46 A favourable circumstance was the end of Borbon reformism as a consequence of the fear for the spread of Giacobinism in Europe (Giarrizzo 1992, 279) which in Sicily culminated in the revolt of 1795 arranged by Francesco Paolo Di Blasi (Romano 1983, 487–520).

47 The Prince of Castelnuovo Carlo Cottone, the leaders of the Sicilian constitutional party, had valid knowledge of economics which he acquired also during his tour through Europe and his stay in England. When, after the failure of the Sicilian constitutional season, he retired to private life, he founded an Institute to promote agricultural and economics studies which still functions today . The Instituto Castelnuovo Library keeps the Prince’s manuscripts even if a study on them is still missing and there is no significant work on his economic and political thought. Re Castelnuovo biography see Brancato (1978).

48 The report was written a few months before Lord Bentinck’s mission and in that moment its author, although still in intelligence correspondence with the island (D’Andrea 2012, 280 and n.23), had been away from Sicily for four years. So, we can assume that when Leckie met Scuderi the latter was still a young pupil of Balsamo. Consequently, the Scottish agent did not know the works that the Sicilian economist had published in Scuderi’s (1811) and (1812) and which revealed him as an opponent of liberalism that United Kingdom aimed to introduce in the island. Re Scuderi see: Salvo (1993), Travagliante (1999a, 1999b, 2018), Augello (2013, 1479–1491).

49 D’Andrea quotes from the official edition of Castlereagh’s correspondence and despatches.

50 Ricotti (1998, 391–395) underlines that the main interpreters of this strategy were all exponents of Whiggism and pupils of Burke. Furthermore they applied their experiences, earned during this Mediterranean political phase, in their successive offices in the British east Asian colony.

51 Above all, Leckie obtained the exemption from “terze parti” tax collection, being the duty to sell one third of production to the public warehouses at a fixed price.

52 An Historical Survey –whose first and incomplete edition was in 1808- was sent to the press after Leckie’s return to the United Kingdom. The book was largely inspired by a feeling of resentment against the British envoy Drummond and the Foreign Office. This was possibly made worse by the initial unwillingness of the London Cabinet to refund Leckie for the loss of his properties in Sicily. The work provoked a great public debate and caused an international incident with the Kingdom of Sicily. The success of this publication gave Leckie great visibility but at the same time made him fall into disgrace with the British government. D’Andrea (2012, 260–272).

53 Leckie demonstrates a good knowledge of economics but of course he is not an economist and in his papers we do not find an economic analysis which can be considered a deep theoretical understanding. Leckie’s work (1810) was reviewed by several journals and among them the Edinburgh Review which published James Mill’s review. These works deserve to be studied.

54 This thesis is clearly influenced by the Smithian theory.

55 The Norman origin shared by the Kingdom of Sicily and the United Kingdom is one of the most recurrent rhetorical arguments both in Sicilian constitutional party and British whiggism propaganda.

56 Leckie tried in vain to gain admission to the nobility corp of the city of Syracuse.

57 The quotation is from Leckie’s dispatch to Lord Castlereagh of 1812 entitled Hints for the Improvement of Sicily . D’Andrea quotes it from the official edition of Castlereagh’s correspondence and despatches. These and other sentences of the report easily reveal the United Kingdom’s intention to profit by direct rule of Sicily reserving some significant resources of island for British citizens.

58 This sentence reveals that between 1811 and 1812, some months before the commitment of Lord Bentinck in Sicily, the hypothesis of a direct involvement of a member of royal family—probably the prince Augusto Federico—was still considered feasible.

59 Re Balsamo’s works and their editions see Renda (1969, 7–18), Salvo (1994, 183–186), Augello (2013, 41–45).

60 Elaborating Balsamo’s economic thought is not the aim of this article. This was covered together with its connections to Smith’s theories in my paper presented during the Smithian Conference in Palermo (5–6 July 2017) which has now been published in the special issue of History of Economic Ideas. See Simon (2021).

61 Re the history of Italian economic thought see Faucci (2014).

62 Re the decline of Genovesi’s thought and the rise of Smithianism in Sicily, Simon (2021).

A significant difference we find in the cultural context of Catania where the themes of “economia civile” were not altogether abandoned. Re the distinction between Palermo and Catania’s economics schools see Travagliante (2001, 2011).

63 Quotations from Giornale di Viaggio are from the English translation and edition (1811). Yet, the English text in some passages is not entirely in line with the original one.

64 In order to achieve this, during the academic years some of Balsamo’s lectures were open to a wider audience than to only students.

65 The translations from Balsamo (1983 [1845]) are mine.

66 The reforms which would have resulted in the rise in land rents.

67 Balsamo (1855, 49–50). In Balsamo’s lectures, the pamphlet of Caracciolo (1785) is often the explicit target of criticism.

Giarrizzo (1992, 116) argues that the “interventionism” which characterized some traits of Caraciolo’s economic policy is more a consequence of the theoretical position of his advisor Giovanni Agostino De Cosmi rather than the authentic view of the viceroy.

68 Translation is mine.

69 See also Balsamo (1855, 29–31).

70 Regarding the topic of poverty, Balsamo significantly differs from the “economia civile” approach and the authors of Neapolitan school. He does not call for public intervention in favour of the poor, instead he trusts that by increasing natural liberty, living conditions of the lower classes will improve. In Giornale di viaggio he emphasizes how it is the peasants who admit the advantages produced by the introduction of a greater free economy (Balsamo 1811, 68–69).

71 Oncia or Onza was the currency of the Kingdom of Sicily.

72 Salma or Sarma was the unit of land used in the Kingdom of Sicily and it was approximately 17.415,37 m².

73 See also Balsamo (1855, 20–21).

74 A strategy which diverges from the original baronage’s idea to promote the development of agriculture mainly by increasing of population and consequently of the number of workers.

75 Balsamo favours the growth of land productivity, also by introducing machinery, which is in line with the positions expressed by the 1753–1755 by a Sicilian society for the improvement of agriculture “L’Accademia degli agricoltori Oretei” which had a short life (Verga 1993, 149–182).

76 See also Balsamo (1855, 97–101).

77 The word salma or sarma was used also as unit of weight and it was approximately 253.89 kg.

78 Balsamo was opposed to the process of splitting public land and distributing small property in favour of peasants which was entrusted to a special administrative body ruled by, the scholar of the Genovesian school, Tommaso Natale (Giarrizzo 1992, 278).

79 Although he believed that the medium-large sized farm is the best model for capitalist and managerial agriculture, no legal hurdle should be in the way of small properties or incentives in favour of the large ones (Balsamo 1790, 60). Consistently with his Smithianism approach, Balsamo asserts that determining the best layout of a property is a task which should be entrusted only to the spontaneous arrangement of the free force of economy (Balsamo 1855, 33–34).

80 The “republic of average and small owners” is a recurring ideal of eighteenth century republicanism (Verga 1993, 186).

81 The capitalist figure exalted by Balsamo is the investor and farmer whereas he censures the rising social class of “gabellotto” whose only business is the speculation on the sub-lease. The same position can be found in a pamphlet of 1788 written by the Prince of Trabia. See Dentici (1999, 57–58)

82 The work was translated in English and published in London in 1811 by Thomas Wright Vaughan who added notes and an appendix of his own papers on Sicilian economy. This edition was supported by the “Board of Agriculture”, John Sinclair being the chairman and Arthur Young the secretary. The book immediately indicates from the first pages its propagandistic aim expressed also by adopting a rhetorical style such as to call Great Britain and Sicily “sister islands”. It is a significant element that, in the introduction, the editor suggests reading the work together with Leckie’s Picture. The book was reviewed by Monthly Review in 1812 and British Critic in 1813.

83 In 1808 Balsamo at this point is more disenchanted than when he began his academic and public activity. So, he puts his confidence more in the rise of a new class of rich tenants rather than in a large direct involvement of old aristocracy. Besides, he proves to be more indulgent with small property on the condition that it is devoted to special cultivation.

84 See Giarrizzo (1992), Renda (1963), Romeo (1989 [1950], 132–154), Rosselli (1956), Sciacca (1966).

85 The Sicilian Constitution of 1812 in consultable in Aquarone (1958).

86 The abolition of feudalism is the evidence of the evolution of the barons’ political line. Indeed, in the proposals of Prince of Pantelleria and Prince of Trabia -1784 and 1786- we can still see the idea to pursue the growth of agriculture without renouncing the lordship powers on lands and towns and the solution to satisfy the peasants’ request distributing among them public and ecclesiastical lands (Renda 1974, 48–49, 58–67). The suppression of feudalism in 1812 is the result of a cultural and strategic change which is largely the effects of the intellectual and political works of Paolo Balsamo during almost 25 years of public and academic activity. On the contrary the political position of the Crown in many aspects was les modern than that of the baronage. Indeed, viceroys aimed to lead back Sicilian fiefdoms under a stricter legislation and royal control without proposing the abolition of the institution of feudalism and the birth of a free market of lands (Renda 1974, 113). Re the debate on the legal status of fiefdoms and its trasformation in private property see Alonzi (2015).

87 Re an analysis of the constitutional reforms introduced by Sicilian Parliament see Sciacca (1966, 112–139, 187–228).

88 However, It is also probable that Balsamo attributed his own thought to the Prince of Castelnuovo.

89 Even though they wished for the affirmation by different social classes, from this point of view Balsamo and Caracciolo political lines shared the same weakness.

90 The troubles occured in July 1813 in Palermo. The troubles occurred in July 1813 in Palermo, whose target was also the recent introduction of the free market, produced a negative effect on Balsamo’s persona. The economist was above all disgusted by some exponents of the aristocracy who stimulated rioters (Balsamo 1969 [1816], 153–159).

91 The struggle between the Crown and the aristocracy and their attempt to involve the lower classes in their favour is the interpretative key of eighteenth-century revolutions proposed by Palmer (1959) and Godechot (1989).

92 Sciacca (1966, 111–112) argues that the main problem of Sicilian policy was the inability to create a real two-party system. Indeed, within the constitutional party both the “tory” and the “whig” factions coexisted, the former being furthermore subdivided into right and left wings (Sciacca 1966, 99–110). Outside the anglophile party there were also the reactionary and the democratic ones (Sciacca 1966, 49). The latter -whose political centre was the city of Catania- was a very active movement in the House of Commons. Their ideology and political positions were closer to the Jacobinism and French political thought and during Parliament sessions their main target consisted in corrupting the rigorous British constitutionalism proposed by Balsamo with continental democratic elements. Re the Sicilian democratic party see Romeo (1989 [1950], 121–131) and Sciacca (1966, 141–185).

93 Balsamo (1969 [1816], 162) complained that the “bills of mete” providing local authorities the faculty of taxation on goods, would have compromised the free trade principle ratified by the Constitution.

94 The attempt on behalf of some fringes of baronage to regain administration of the Kingdom’s treasury appeared to Balsamo to be a way to restore aristocracy’s control on taxation which was formerly exercised through the old parliament body of “Deputazione del Regno”. Also, the valiant defense of the fideicommissum betrayed the obvious intention to save the concentration of property and the majorat.

95 Re the reforms of the local authorities see Sciacca (1966, 47).

96 D’Andrea quotes them from the official edition of Caslereagh’s correspondence. The reading of reports reveals that Leckie between 1811 and 1812 must have written other papers for the Foreign Office.

97 Leckie however recommended some devices and cautions in introducing free trade in Sicily in order to overcome the difficulties caused by a country lacking in roads and easy connections between the towns.

98 Leckie suggested at the beginning to avoid trials by a jury and employ mainly English judges in Sicilian courts (D’Andrea 2008, 120).

99 Manuscript kept in Nottingham University Library with the references BP, PwJd 3078.

100 Francesco Ferrara was the Prince of Castelnuovo’s pupil.

101 Bourbon reformism was founded on an exasperated anti-Sicilian propaganda whose deforming narrative of reality, whilst useful in attacking the opponents, was not able to propose a new institutional and social model for the island and furthermore to build a wide consensus around it (Renda 1974, 69–71). Re the difficulty for Caracciolo to gain the consensus of public opinion and furthermore his reluctance to seek it, see Giarrizzo (1992, 120–121)

102 Francesco Ferrara–the main protagonist of the importation of “international packages” process during the Risorgimento (Guidi 2011)-in the prefaces of Biblioteca dell’Economista shows to be inspired by a strong anglophile principle which aims to judge and present the continental authors. Above all, he focuses on the “tour” in England of French scholars as an element which help to explain the link between English and French liberalism and the spread of Smithianism in Europe. See Simon (2015, 338–343).