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 VICTOR EMMANUEL IL
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 FIRST KING OF ITALY 
 
 BY 
 
 G. S. GODKIN 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 iSSo 
 
 The right of translation and reproduction is resenxd
 
 LONDON : PRINTED BY 
 
 SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 
 AND PARLIAMENT STREET
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Many Memoirs have been written of Victor Emmanuel 
 since his death, but none of them would answer for the 
 purpose of translating into our language. The best 
 work on the subject is one lately issued from the press, 
 entitled ' La Vita ed il Regno di Vittorio Eviannele^ by 
 Signor Massari, and to it I am much indebted in the 
 composition of this work. It is full of reliable infor- 
 mation, and ably written ; but too comprehensive and 
 diffuse for English readers, who cannot be supposed to 
 take the same interest in all the particulars of contem- 
 porary events in Italy as the natives of the country. 
 
 Ghiron's brief ^Memoir is charming as far as it goes, 
 but it does not pretend to be a regular biography. And 
 the author is a true hero-worshipper ; he is on his knees 
 at the opening sentence, and never rises from that 
 reverential attitude to the close of the book. 
 
 But it is hardly reasonable to expect at the present 
 moment an impartial work on the subject from an 
 Italian, any more than it would be to look for an impar- 
 tial biography from a son of a loved father whom he 
 had just laid in the grave. While the heart of the nation 
 was still vibrating with a sorrowful emotion, some writers 
 felt impelled to vent their excited feelings in eulogistic 
 Memoirs of the deceased ; and at the same time the 
 Papal party let loose a flood of foul invective — not so 
 much in the press, for fear of popular indignation, as by
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 private means and verbal reports, sent floating through 
 society— particularly foreign society — in Italy. 
 
 I confess that I have been partly induced to under- 
 take a Life of the Honest King, in whose career England 
 has always taken a warm interest, by observing how 
 English and American travellers, who do not read 
 Italian books, and who see only the surface of things, 
 receive as undoubted facts eveiy false report set on foot 
 by the malignity of a party whose defeat naturally 
 renders them bitter. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel, from the day he succeeded his 
 father on the field of Novara, distinguished himself by a 
 rectitude of purpose, so strikingly at variance with the 
 conduct of the other Italian princes, that his subjects 
 dubbed him Re Galmitiiomo — a title soon endorsed by 
 the rest of Europe. 
 
 How did the Honest YJva^ par excellence, who would 
 have resigned every foot of ground he possessed rather 
 than break his word to his people, ever merit the title 
 — equally widespread in the Catholic world — of Robber 
 King ? There may be difference of opinion with regard 
 to a man's appearance, manners, or abilities ; but surel)'' 
 there ought to be but one with regard to his honesty. 
 Can black ever be white, or white black .'' Can a man be 
 an honest, a remarkably honest man, and a robber, a 
 very great robber .'' He can, and is so, in the sincere 
 opinion of tliose who so designate him. It all depends 
 on the sort of spectacles through which he is regarded. I 
 have tried to look through both spectacles with as fair an 
 eye as possible. If I have seen unreal distorted visions 
 through one, which vanish or change their character on 
 investigation, I may be pardoned for preferring the glass 
 Avhich in the main is true, though given overmuch to 
 beautify the object under consideration.
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 I believe that a perfectly impartial biography is an 
 extremely difficult, almost impossible, thing to find. The 
 sympathy which a writer naturally feels, and ought to feel, 
 for his subject, is apt to increase as he studies his life in 
 all its bearings, and his motives of action. To be on his 
 guard against this sympathy, and not let it bias his judg 
 ment, is the duty of the conscientious biographer. I have 
 tried, in this simple record of facts, to do justice to the 
 memory of Victor Emmanuel, without doing injustice 
 to the opposing party. 
 
 G. S. GoDKIN. 
 
 Siena : December 19, 1878.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 XVII. 
 XVIII. 
 
 Parentage 
 
 Birth, Education, Marriage, a.d. 1820-42 
 The Voung Soldier, a.d. 1848. 
 The Honest King. a.d. 1849 .... 
 Pio NoNO and the Papal Power. a.d. 1848-49 
 The King and Constitution. a.d. 1849-50 . 
 The Beginning of the Quarrel with Rome, and 
 
 Continuation of the Quarrel with Austria 
 
 a.d. 1850-53 
 
 The Alliance with England .a.nd France. — Domestk 
 
 Afflictions. a.d. 1854-55 
 
 Rattazzi's Law. — Crimean War. — Visit to Pari 
 
 AND London, a.d. 1855 
 
 The Congress — The Peace, a.d. 1856 
 
 Continued Disagreements with Austria. — Machi 
 
 nations of the Clericals and Sectaries 
 
 A.D. 1857-58 
 
 'J'attends mon Astre.' a.d. 1858-9 . . . 
 The First Soldier of Italian Independence 
 
 a.d. 1859 
 
 ' Italy shall be free from the Alps to the Adri 
 
 atic : ' A.D. 1859 
 
 The Peace of Villafranca. a.d. 1859 . 
 The Vote of the Italian People, a.d. 1859 
 The Robber King. a.d. i860 .... 
 King of Eleven Million Subjects, a.d. 1S60 
 
 I 
 
 28 
 
 58 
 68 
 
 81 
 
 lOI 
 
 110 
 
 118 
 130 
 
 142 
 
 152 
 166 
 177 
 1 86 
 20:?
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XIX. The Revolution of Naples, a. v. i860 . . 210 
 
 XX. King of Italy, a.d. i860 217 
 
 XXI. By the Grace of God and the Will of the 
 
 Nation, a.d. 1861 231 
 
 XXII. Death of Camillo Benso Cavour. a.d. 1861 . 238 
 
 XXIII. Italy without Cavour. a.d. 1862-3 • • • 243 
 
 XXIV. The Seat of Government transferred to Flo- 
 
 rence, a.d. 1864-5 . . . . . . 256 
 
 XXV. The Final Expulsion of the Foreigner, a.d. 1866 265 
 XXVI. The King and Pope. — Financial Difficulties. — 
 
 Marriage of Prince Amedeo. a.d. 1867 . 277 
 
 XXVII. Mentana. a.d. 1867 282 
 
 XXVIII. Marriage of the Crown Prince. — Anecdotes of 
 Victor Emmanuel's Charity. — Spanish Revolu- 
 tion. A.D. 1868 293 
 
 XXIX. Birth of Amedeo's Son. — Dangerous Illness of 
 
 the King. — Birth of Umberto's Son. a.d. 1869 301 
 XXX. Franco-Prussian War. a.d. 1870 . . . 307 
 XXXI. M. Thiers' Appeal to the King. — Amedeo 
 accepts the Crown of Spain. — Last Parlia- 
 ment IN Florence, a.d. 1870 .... 317 
 XXXII. Italian Unity finally accomplished. a.d. 
 
 1871-76 322 
 
 XXXIII. Victor Emmanuel in Private Life. a.d. 1S77 . 334 
 
 XXXI V. Drawing to a Close, a.d. 1877 .... 344 
 XXXV. The Last Days of Victor Emmanuel, a.d. 1878 348 
 
 XXXVL The Funeral 351
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 ' Italy is one sole nation : the unity of customs, of language, 
 of literature — in some future, more or less distant — will unite 
 all its inhabitants under one sole government. . . . Rome is 
 undoubtedly the capital which one day the Italians will select. 
 ... It is necessary to the happiness of Europe that Italy 
 should form one sole State which will maintain the equilibrium 
 on the Continent between France and Austria, and on the sea 
 between France and England.' 
 
 The man who on a desert rock thus meditated on the des- 
 tinies of nations, says the historian La Farina, ' was not a poet 
 guided by imagination and sentiment ; not a solitary philoso- 
 pher, little practised in human affairs ; he was a man who had 
 learned by experience how empires are made and unmade — 
 who had studied peoples, observing them from the most hum- 
 ble grades in society and from the loftiest throne that for ten 
 centuries had ever been supported in Europe ; who had expe- 
 rienced victories and defeats, who had overrun the world as 
 master — from the arid deserts of Egypt, to the snowy plains of 
 Russia.' 
 
 While the idea of Italian unit}' was thus working in Napo- 
 leon's brain, Italy was sunk in abject slavery under a host of 
 petty tyrants, who, overawed and supported by Austria, dared 
 not, if they would, institute any reforms in their respective 
 governments. All the sovereigns without exception were des- 
 pots pure and simple — their subjects at the mercy of their 
 good or bad impulses, or the suggestions of their ghostly 
 advisers. The rulers were divided into two classes : those 
 conscienceless princes to whom the possession of a throne 
 only means superior facilities of enjoyment ; and those whose 
 consciences were in the keeping of the Jesuit Fathers, and 
 who carried out their views in the administration of State 
 affairs. It would be difficult to say under which of these 
 regimes the community suffered most. 
 
 \Mjen a people were permitted to live in peace without any
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION, 
 
 intolerable exactions or injustices, as in Tuscany and Pied- 
 mont, it was the effect of the sovereign's goodness, and he was 
 much praised for abstaining from harassing his subjects by im- 
 prisonments, confiscations, tortures. And where, as in the 
 Romagna, Naples, Parma, Modena, and Lucca, the princes 
 indulged in rapacity, cruelty, and caprice, their subjects had no 
 remedy but hopeless rebellion ; for these petty tyrants were 
 supported by the great military power of Austria, which not 
 only ruled Lombardy and Venetia with a rod of iron, but pre- 
 vented any change of government in the other States. 
 
 In Piedmont there reigned Victor Emmanuel I. — good, 
 honourable, and brave, but wedded to the past, and much 
 under priestly influence ; consequently opposed to any reforms, 
 even to a mitigation of the barbarous laws which his humanity 
 rarely allowed to be carried out to the letter. His cousin, 
 Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano-Savoy, heir presumptive to 
 the throne, was known to have liberal sympathies, hated Austria, 
 and was hated by the Austrians, who wished to break the Salic 
 law, hitherto in force in Sardinia, and cut him oft from the in- 
 heritance, in order to give the crown to the Duke of Modena, in 
 virtue of his connection by marriage with the House of Savoy. 
 
 Francis IV., Duke of Modena, was a Bourbon prince, with 
 all the vices of his race, and perhaps an extra grain of savage 
 cruelty. The prisons of Modena in his reign were worthy of 
 the days of the Borgias. The loathsome dungeons in which 
 the unhappy Liberals languished without a trial were not the 
 worst infliction. They were drugged so as to produce delirium 
 just before they were brought out to be examined, and every- 
 thing they said in this state was noted down and used against 
 them. An officer died of an over-dose of the poison ; and a 
 barrister went violently mad, and had to be chained to prevent 
 him killing himself ; while countless numbers of the most intel- 
 ligent, high-minded, and well-disposed citizens perished on the 
 scaffold, or endured the prolonged martyrdom of the galleys, 
 without any positive evidence against them. This ferocious 
 prince spared neither sex nor age ; and not even the sacred 
 office of priesthood could protect the unhappy man, no matter 
 what his virtues, who was once suspected of Liberalism. One 
 instance will serve to show the sort of justice that was then 
 administered in Modena. Two prisoners were sentenced to 
 die on the same day — the one for the murder of his father ; the 
 other, a priest, accused of Liberalism, a man of great talent, 
 and such excellent character that he was universally beloved 
 and respected. The parricide received the sovereign grace ;
 
 INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 while the good priest was pitilessly sent to the block, though 
 his bishop begged on his knees for his life to be spared, and 
 refused to iiiiprkst the condemned, which was necessary before 
 the sentence could be executed. Another less scrupulous 
 bishop was found to perform the office, and the victim died 
 with the calm resignation of a Christian. The clergy were 
 almost always on the side of despotism, and were the chief 
 supporters and instigators of every act of tyranny perpetrated 
 throughout the peninsula. But there were not wanting noble 
 exceptions ; every State in Italy counts some reverend names 
 among its martyrs of liberty, and with them must be numbered 
 this poor Andreoli di Correggio. 
 
 In Parma the Austrian Duchess, Maria Luisa, acting in 
 obedience to orders from Vienna and her Jesuit advisers, 
 pursued the same course, persecuting with unrelenting animo- 
 sity all enlightened thought, as tending towards disaffection. 
 
 Passing over the Duchy of Tuscany,, which enjoyed a mild 
 rule under the house of Lorraine — except when, occasionally 
 bullied and threatened by Austria, the Grand Duke was forced 
 into some act of severity, such as surrendering a political 
 refugee to a neighbouring government — we come to the vast 
 and fertile provinces stretching across Central Italy from the 
 Mediterranean to the Adriatic. These were under the Pope's 
 sway, and were in as miserable a condition as a government 
 founded on corruption, and nurtured in abuses, could make 
 them. Pius Vll. was personally a respectable character, with 
 a reputation for learning ; and he was undoubtedly an encour- 
 ager of art. But he was never capable of governing the Papal 
 States with any efficiency, and his great age left him in a state 
 of ineptitude for years before his death. 
 
 It is anticipating the narrative somewhat to mention his 
 successor Leo XII., who ascended the Papal throne 1823 ; 
 but, as we are now taking a general glance at the state of the 
 peninsula in our hero's infancy, we may as well here give a few 
 brief words to describe the most remarkable and powerful 
 enemy to progress that Italy had then to struggle against. 
 Pope Lea appeared to be in a hopeless state of health at 
 the time of his election, and it was confidently believed that 
 he would not survive many months. But, like Richelieu, the 
 possession of power had a revivifying effect on him, and the 
 new Pontiff began to display extraordinary energy as soon as 
 the tiara was on his brow. He was a ferocious fanatic, whose 
 object was to destroy all the improvements of modern times, 
 and force society back to the government, customs, and ideas
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of mediaeval days. In his insensate rage against progress he 
 stopped vaccination ; consequently, small-pox devastated the 
 Roman provinces during his reign, along with many other 
 curses which his brutal ignorance and misgovernment brought 
 upon the inhabitants of those beautiful and fertile regions. 
 He curtailed the old privileges of the municipalities, granted new 
 privileges to the religious communities, and enlarged the power 
 of the clergy to the extent that bishops and cardinals had the 
 power of life and death in their hands. He set the Inquisition 
 to work with new vigour ; and though torture had been nomi- 
 nally abolished in 1815, new kinds of torment were invented, 
 quite as effectual as the cord, the thumbscrew, and the rack of 
 old times. He renewed the persecutions of the Jews ; drove 
 them back into the Ghetto from whence they had begun to 
 emerge, rebuilt its walls, and had them locked in at night like 
 wild beasts ; and issued an edict ordering all Israelites to sell 
 their goods within a given time on pain of confiscation. On the 
 first day of the Carnival they were obliged to come in a deputa- 
 tion to the Capitol, kneel at the foot of the throne of the Sena- 
 tor of Rome, and petition to be let live. The Senator made a 
 motion of his foot as if to spurn them, with the words : ' Go ; 
 for this year we will tolerate you.' 
 
 The Christians fared little better ; to use a vulgar but ex- 
 pressive phrase, they literally ' could not call their souls their 
 own.' The Pope put all educational establishments into the 
 hands of the Jesuits, and no other means of instruction were 
 permitted to his holiness's subjects. He instituted a system 
 of espionage by which he could be accurately informed of the 
 private sins of the people, and punish them as crimes against 
 the State. Whoever did not observe the fasts of the Church, 
 or neglected to attend religious service on prescribed days, or 
 failed to confess once a month — the confessors being appointed 
 by government — or committed any offence against morality, 
 was subject to whatever castigation the bishop or the Holy 
 Office of the Inquisition chose to inflict. One instance Avill 
 serve to show the severity of those sentences. One of the 
 Noble Guards was accused of a misdemeanour with a woman 
 of light fame ; without a trial he was deprived of his rank, and 
 ordered to be imprisoned for seven years. At the same time 
 the clergy, whose good example might have done more than 
 these harsh laws to reform the morals of the laity, were leading 
 scandalous lives ; but no one dared accuse them. And the real 
 felons who preyed upon society escaped with impunity by 
 briljing the officers of justice. Brigandage was rife throughout
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 the States of the Church, and it was in this reign that the 
 famous chiefs De Cesaris and Gasparone Hourished. At the 
 head of a numerous following of malefactors they fortified 
 themselves in the wooded mountains, making raids on the 
 neighbouring towns and villages, committing indescribable out- 
 rages on the inhabitants, and sparing neither convents, schools, 
 nor monasteries. The fear and horror that reigned in those 
 neighbourhoods induced the unfortunate citizens to supplicate 
 the Pope to put a stop to the infliction. But the Papal Govern- 
 ment, strong to persecute, was powerless to protect. It had 
 resort to such means as the princes of the Saxon Heptarchy 
 tried in order to extirpate wolves from Britain ; that is, it oftered 
 a reward for a certain number of brigands' heads. It is unne- 
 cessary to point out the incentive given to crime and treachery 
 by this irregular mode of executing justice. The system which 
 answered very well for wild beasts could not be applied with 
 equal success to men, inasmuch as a wolfs head could not be 
 mistaken for anything but a wolf's head •. but who could tell 
 whether a human head had belonged to a brigand or an honest 
 man? The cardinal sent by the Pope to find a remedy for 
 these ills became infected himself with the spirit of brigandage, 
 and was discovered in such nefarious practices that Leo hastily 
 recalled and sent him into retirement, despatching another in 
 his stead. This prelate opened negotiations with the bandit 
 chief, with the view of coming to terms. After long discussion, 
 the preliminaries of a treaty of peace were agreed upon, and 
 the brigands capitulated on honourable conditions ; that is, life, 
 liberty, and a pension, ^^^lile these abandoned criminals were 
 set free of all punishment, honest, brave men were dying on 
 the gibbet, or languishing in the dungeons of the Inquisition. 
 The papal legates who ruled the provinces were worthy repre- 
 sentatives of their sovereign ; particularly Cardinal Rivarola in 
 Ravenna, who decimated the surrounding country of its most 
 intelligent and virtuous inhabitants. In one month, August 
 1825, the following condemnations — nearly all capital — were 
 passed in Ravenna, all for the offence of Liberalism — Thirty 
 nobles, one hundred and fifty farmers and shopkeepers, two 
 priests, seventy-four employes, thirty-eight military men, seventy- 
 two doctors, lawyers, and men of letters, and many artisans. 
 As may be imagined, a brief experience of this rule emibittered 
 the spirit of the Liberal party, who threw themselves without 
 reserve into the ranks of the secret societies, and planned acts 
 of desperate revenge. Many attempts were made on the life 
 of Cardinal Rivarola, who at last had to fly Ravenna, and was
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 succeeded by anotlier, as bad if not worse. The prisons could 
 not hold all the accused ; and they had to be crammed into 
 monasteries and such-like edifices, where they were secretly 
 examined, condemned, and sent where their relatives might 
 never know what had become of them. 
 
 The famous Society, or, as the Italians call it. Sect, of the 
 Carbonari, which had been introduced into Naples some time 
 before, was now spreading northwards, and gaining importance 
 and influence, as the tyranny of the governments hardened and 
 embittered the populations. The Carbonari now counted 
 amongst their numbers scions of the oldest families in Italy, 
 and some of the noblest and most single-minded men that 
 any country ever produced, who, under more favourable cir- 
 cumstances, would have been useful and honoured members of 
 society. It was, however, composed for the most part of the 
 sons of the people. The word Carbonaro, coal-man, signifies 
 that its founder was a man of humble rank ; and it continued 
 to have the character of a very democratic institution, in spite 
 of the admixture of noble blood which by degrees had been 
 infused into it. The middle classes supplied large numbers to 
 the society, and the professional men who belonged to it were 
 not few. It is unnecessary to say that there were attached to 
 this as to all such combinations a goodly number of worthless 
 characters ; self-seeking adventurers who made a trade of poli- 
 tics ; light-minded, erratic youths who wanted the excitement 
 and importance attaching to the character of cojispirator ; vain 
 and unprincipled ones, who loved to hear themselves holding 
 forth on the subject of Liberty, and were ready for any deed 
 that would bring them notoriety. 
 
 This faction had ramifications in all parts of Italy, but it 
 took deeper root in the Papal States than elsewhere — the 
 natural result of persecution. For every member immolated 
 by the Holy Office seven sprang into existence, more fierce and 
 reckless than he, more determined on revenge. To assassinate 
 a tyrant became an act of sublime public virtue in their eyes, 
 and the perpetrator was regarded as a magnanimous hero, a 
 modern Brutus. 
 
 Many suffered, however, who were innocent of any offence 
 against the law, and who died professing the Christian faith, 
 but protesting against its unworthy ministers. One of these, 
 going to the scaftbld, was exhorted by his confessor to reconcile 
 himself to the Pope, ' Christ's minister on earth ; ' to which he 
 replied, ' It is a long time since Christ has had any ministers 
 on earth, and certainly he is none such who has transformed
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 himself into an executioner.' He kissed the crucifix and ex- 
 claimed, ' Lord, save me, and I shall be safe ! ' 
 
 The Papal Government being unable to cope with the 
 Carbonari, a counter-secret societ)' was instituted, in order to 
 overcome them by espionage. The members called them- 
 selves Sanfedisti, Holy Faithists. The following initiator}' oath 
 will sufficiently explain the object of this combination : — 
 
 Sanfedist Oath. 
 
 ' In the presence of Omnipotent God, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Spirit, of Mar}', Immaculate Virgin, of all the celestial host, 
 and of thee, my honoured father, I swear to let my right hand 
 be cut off, or my throat be cut, to die of hunger, or perish in the 
 midst of terrible torture, and I pray the Lord God to condemn me 
 to eternal pains, sooner than I should betray one of the honoured 
 fathers or brothers of the Catholic Apostolic Society, to which 
 in this moment I subscribe myself, and if I do not scrupulously 
 obey its laws and assist my brothers in need. I swear tirmly to 
 maintain and defend the holy cause I have embraced, and to 
 spare no individual appertaining to the infamous sect of 
 Liberals, whatever be his birth, parentage, or fortune ; to have 
 no pity either on children or old men, and to shed the last drop 
 of the Liberals' blood without regard to sex or rank. I swear, 
 in short, implacable hatred to the enemies of our holy Roman . 
 Catholic and only true religion.' 
 
 The oath was taken, kneeling, upon the Eucharist, and a 
 blessed dagger was put into the hand of the neophyte. ' 
 
 Adjoining the States of the Church was the kingdom of 
 Naples, under the Bourbon sway. Ferdinand I. had already 
 been driven from his kingdom by the aid of French arms, when 
 he was reseated on the throne by the English, who compelled 
 him to restore the ancient privileges and liberties of which 
 he had deprived Sicily, and institute some reforms in Naples ; 
 but he soon returned to the old regime again. He was coarse, 
 illiterate, heartless, and mindless, given up to the grossest 
 pleasures. When his dying brother, who had shown him much 
 kindness, sent repeated messages requesting his presence, he 
 refused to sacrifice a hunting-party or feast ■ft'ith his favourites 
 to gratify the fraternal wish. And while the funeral obsequies 
 were going on, he was revelling with shameless indecency in his 
 favourite amusements. The English minister, having received 
 at this tmie a royal invitation, replied to the eftect that he had 
 
 ' See La Farina, Storia d^ Italia, vol. I. 
 a2
 
 XVIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to assist at the mournful ceremony of an august funeral, and 
 therefore could not accept it. 
 
 In 1820 an outbreak of Carbonarism shook the throne of 
 the Two Sicilies to its foundations. Almost all the population 
 of Naples except the old nobility attached to the Court were 
 Carbonari ; a great part of the army fraternised with the 
 revolutionists, and many priests and monks were seen marching 
 in their ranks. The king and all his family made a virtue of ne- 
 cessity, and pretended to be quite charmed with the novel idea of 
 a Liberal Constitution. They made a great /^/^ to celebrate the 
 event, the princes and princesses standing on a balcony, waving 
 their handkerchiefs to the cries of Viva il Re e la Co7istituzione, 
 and showering tricoloured cockades amongst the people. The 
 hoary king walked at the head of a procession to church, and, 
 taking his place at the altar with his hand on the Bible, swore 
 to maintain the Constitution, invoking the Deity to strike him 
 that moment with a thunderbolt if he spoke falsely. His sons 
 also swore, and kept the oath in the same manner as their sire. 
 
 Soon after this he fled to Laybach, at the invitation of the 
 Emperor, and sent an Austrian army to reduce his subjects to 
 submission. AVhen they were utterly crushed, and King 
 Ferdinand absolute was proclaimed through the streets, he 
 returned to his capital. We have already described how 
 Carbonarism was punished in the States of the Church and the 
 Duchies of Modena and Parma. We will now return to 
 Piedmont, where all the hopes of Ae revolutionists began to 
 centre, after the overthrow of the Neapolitan rebels. The 
 King of Sardinia was absolute like all the other princes ; but he 
 was Italian, descended from a long line of Italian fathers, 
 while all the others were more or less foreign, and under the 
 influence of Austria to a greater extent than he was. The heir 
 presumptive was well known to be Liberal, and it was hoped 
 that he would take the lead of the national party. The 
 Carbonari were national in their aspirations, though they had 
 but a vague plan for the future of their country when all the 
 tyrants should be extinguished. They were not Red Repub- 
 licans, being quite willing to follow the standard of any 
 hereditary prince who would grant a free constitution, and 
 engage in a war for the expulsion of the Austrians from the 
 peninsula, as it was that Power only which held the petty 
 tyrants on their respective thrones. 
 
 The national party in Piedmont felt their hopes of a reform 
 rise when the enlightened and highly cultivated Count Prospero 
 Balbo came into power. But when he proposed some necessary
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 reforms in the administration, he was overborne by the clerical 
 party and the old nobility, who warned the king to beware of 
 innovations, ' which always brought misfortunes in their train.' 
 The Spanish revolution and the outbreak in Naples had pro- 
 duced a profound impression in Piedmont : eveiy class was 
 penetrated with the desire for a reform in tne government, though 
 they were all loyal to the House of Savoy. In March. 182 1 a 
 general rising of the people in Turin simultaneously with one in 
 Alessandria led by the Carbonari, in which the military joined, 
 forced Victor Emmanuel I. to look the question straight in the 
 face. It is probable th.at he would have yielded to the just 
 desires of his people, and granted the constitution they asked, 
 but for his fatal promise to the Emperor of Austria not to make 
 any change in the existing order of things. He abdicated in 
 fa\our of his brother, Charles Felix, making Charles Albert 
 regent in the absence of the new king. The regent, who was at 
 the same time loyal and liberal, was much puzzled as to his duty 
 in the trying circumstances in which he was placed. He yielded 
 to the popular demand, proclaimed the Spanish Constitution, 
 adding on his own account an oath of fealty to the new king. 
 
 Carlo Felice Avas a strong upholder of absolute power, and 
 devoted to Austria. He banished his young cousin from the 
 kingdom in return for his fidelity, and visited the revolutionists 
 with the severest punishments. The rebellion of Piedmont had 
 been the result of a concerted plan with the nationalists of other 
 States. The Lombards, particularly, were deeply involved in 
 the conspiracy, and when it fell to the ground the tenible 
 price of the daring attempt had to be paio in blood and tears. 
 The trials, sentences, and executions were going on at the 
 same time in Lombardy and Piedmont ; and there were few 
 families in either State who were not torn with anxiety and 
 grief, if not for relatives at least for friends who had come 
 under the law, so widespread was the s}mpathy with the move- 
 ment in Sardinia, and so deep-rooted in Lombardy the hatred 
 of the Austrian rule. 
 
 The Austrian Government was rather more civilised and 
 enlightened than that of the other States in Italy — that is, as 
 long as there was no suspicion of disaffection towards the 
 Imperial power ; but any offence that came under the head of 
 treason was punished with merciless severity. Everyone has 
 read Sih'io Pellico's ' Le Alic F?-igioni ; ' but perhaps everyone 
 does not know that it is entirely free from exaggeration, that 
 the author was scrupulously truthful in all his statements. 
 Orsini's ' Austrian Prisons,' published in England and in the
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 English language, shortly before his death, is intensely interest- 
 ing, and gives a fair idea of the treatment which political 
 prisoners received under the government of Austria. It would 
 seem incredible, if such accounts were not corroborated by 
 hundreds of trustworthy authorities. The acts of gratuitous 
 brutality which Austrian soldiers perpetrated in the discharge 
 of their duty was not the worst infliction which the poor 
 prisoners had to complain of. Horrible calumnies were 
 circulated about them, so as to destroy all sympathy for their 
 fate in the hearts of the people. This, doubtless, was the 
 work of the Jesuits, whose influence was all-powerful at 
 Vienna ; and it was also to them tlie prisoners owed certain 
 refined cruelties, such as depriving them of a valuable book, 
 or precious souvenir, removing the spectacles of those whose 
 sight was defective ; and telling ihem bad news of their 
 companions in misfortune or of their families. They were 
 deprived of light and air, almost starved, allowed no water to 
 wash themselves, or any appliance of civilisation; their miserable 
 sleep was interrupted by gaolers who came to conduct them to 
 midnight examinations, presided over by judges who took 
 pleasure in augmenting their unhappy condition. Of the many 
 touching instances of Lombard courage and constancy then 
 displayed we will cite one. 
 
 The Count Confalonieri, a young enthusiast in the cause of 
 liberty and nationality, was in the thick of the conspiracy, and, 
 after a prolonged and cruel imprisonment, was condemned to 
 death with many other noblemen and gentlemen, among whom 
 was Silvio Pellico, October 1823. The count's young wife was 
 broken-hearted; during her husband's trial and imprisonment she 
 touched the hearts of the severest Austrian judges by her grief. 
 When the sentence was at last pronounced, she set out for Vienna, 
 accompanied by her husband's father and brother, to plead his 
 cause at the feet of the emperor. They all threw themselves on 
 their knees, and, with tears and sobs, the old count implored grace 
 for his unhappy son. The emperor replied that mercy was impos- 
 sible ; examples must be made ; the sentence of death was already 
 signed and on its way to Milan. The father fell insensible to 
 the ground on hearing this, and the wife with passionate entrea- 
 ties tried to touch the heart of the emperor ; but to no purpose. 
 She almost went mad with grief that night. The empress had 
 her carried to her outi apartments, where she showed her the 
 greatest attention, and, in compliance with her piteous appeals, 
 went repeatedly to try to change the resolution of her husband. 
 All night she stayed with the unhappy lady, going to and fro
 
 INTRODUCTION'. xxi 
 
 behveen the emperor and her guest. At last she prevailed on 
 him to commute the sentence. The countess and her father 
 instantly set out for Milan, and never stopped day or night till 
 they reached it, fearing that the sentence might be executed 
 before the arrival of the pardon. The Count Confalonieri was 
 separated from his companions, and conducted alone to Vienna, 
 where he was put under a searching examination : but nothing 
 could be extracted from him which could compromise anyone. 
 He was proof against every temptation and ever}- falsehood told 
 him in order to shake his faith in his companions. At last Prince 
 Mettemich himself came to visit him in prison, and, expressing 
 sympathy and regret to see the count in such a condition, said 
 it depended on himself to make the chains fall from his hands 
 and those of his friends. He had only to tell who it was who 
 had conspired along with them (the Lombard rebels), who it was 
 who had encouraged them to the attempt. What he would not 
 tell the judges he could tell him in confidence. Confalonieri 
 knew whose name it was that he was expected to reveal. E\'i- 
 dence of treason in the Prince of Carignano would have been 
 worth the lives of a score of Carbonari leaders ; for the Austrians 
 desired above all things to cut him oft' from the succession, and 
 give the throne of Sardinia to an obedient vassal who would 
 cany out their policy — that is, the Duke of Modena. 
 
 ' I see you have no confidence in me, count,' said Prince 
 Metternich, on the prisoner's repeated declaration that he had 
 nothing more to say. ' If you wish to confide your secrets to 
 the most august person in the empire, that person will come to 
 see you.' 
 
 ' Tell that august person that I have nothing to reveal more 
 than what I have told the judges,' was the firm reply. The 
 Count Confalonieri was thrown mto prison, chained and subject 
 to the worst treatment ; he was told he must consider himself 
 dead to the world for evermore. All communication Avas cut 
 oft" from his family, from whom he never heard. Twice a year 
 they were informed that he was ' well ' or ' ill,' as the case 
 might be. His devoted wife, who was a woman of superior 
 mind and character, lived only to accomplish his freedom. 
 For ten years she gave herself with untiring zeal to this work, 
 and then died, when the hope of saving him died in her heart. 
 One day the prisoner No. 14 was called out of his cell, and 
 thus addressed : ' No. 14, the emperor has ordered me to 
 announce to you that your wife is dead ; ' and without another 
 word he was led back to his dungeon. 
 
 ' The Austrian Government,' says La Farina, ' not content
 
 XXll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with punishing the conspirators in the provinces subject to her 
 domination, stimulated to severity the other Itahan Govern- 
 ments whose subjects had committed no acts of rebeUion ; and 
 the most of them needed no stimulus.' 
 
 This brief sketch will give an idea, though an imperfect one, 
 of the general state of Italy when Victor Emmanuel II. was 
 born in 1S20 — a state of things which continued for nearly forty 
 years after, with very little mitigation.
 
 LIFE 
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PARENTAGE. 
 
 A MODERN Italian writer says : ' Few families in Eu- 
 rope have flourished so long as the Sabaud, and among 
 its members we do not count one tyrant' ^ It is a 
 proud boast, that is, if it were absolutely true. But the 
 word tyrant is a plastic term, and there are other Italian 
 historians who would be inclined to dispute this state- 
 ment of the Marquis Gualterio, who is an enthusiastic 
 admirer of the Savoy family. But if it is saying too 
 much to state that it does not count one tyrant, it might 
 be safely said that few dynasties could count so many 
 heroes, famous for their daring deeds, against whom no 
 charge of cowardice could be brought ; false dealing 
 and treachery were also alien to the blood of the 
 Sabauds ; but they were men of fierce ungovernable 
 passions and great ambition. 
 
 Legendary records of the Sabaud family date back 
 to the tenth century. Old chronicles relate that in 998 
 a foreign prince of Northern extraction, exiled from his 
 own countr}-, settled in Burgundy, where, by his military 
 prowess and administrative ability, he rose to power and 
 
 ' Gualterio, Ulti?ni Rivolgiiiienti lialiani. 
 B
 
 2 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 influence. This prince, so the story ran, was of Saxon 
 birth, the nephew of the Emperor Otho III., banished 
 from his native soil for having slain the empress in a 
 moment of uncontrollable anger, when he detected her 
 infidelity to his uncle. But these early records are no 
 more than tradition, and we are sure of nothing about 
 this gallant prince, not even his name. He first appears 
 to go under the designation of Berold, but in 1003 there 
 is mention made of him as ' Humbert of the White 
 Hand.' It is possible that the Saxon Berold may have 
 changed his name to elude the pursuit of his enemies, 
 or that it may have been changed by the people he lived 
 amongst to a more familiar appellation ; but it would 
 appear that Berold and Humbert were one and the same 
 person, and the founder of the Sabaud family. 
 
 Humbert of the White Hand is spoken of as the 
 possessor of large territories, and as having erected his 
 family seat or castle at the narrow pass called Morienne 
 on the frontier of Savoy ; hence the title assumed later 
 of Count Moriana. In the course of time these brave, 
 gifted, ambitious counts became Dukes of Savoy (1238), 
 intermarried with the most powerful royalties of Europe, 
 and commanded extraordinary respect and considera- 
 tion, the smallness of their state taken into account. 
 
 The growing power and prosperity of the dukes, and 
 the geographical position of their states, drew upon 
 them the enmity of their powerful neighbours. In 
 the reign of Charles III., 1536, Savoy and Piedmont 
 were invaded by the Swiss, Spanish, and French ; and 
 for several years the dukedom remained the battle- 
 ground of foreign powers, while the legitimate prince, 
 by degrees despoiled of all his possessions, died in absolute 
 want, and with him the Sabaud monarchy seemed to 
 have come to a termination. But the wonderful vitality 
 of that dynasty enables it, as we have seen in our days, 
 to survive misfortunes which would extinguish an or- 
 dinary race. Charles III. had left one son, who was 
 destined to restore and re-invigorate the family fortunes, 
 and whose courage, genius, and force of character won 
 from his contemporaries the surname of Testa di Ferro
 
 EMMANUEL PHILIBERT. 3 
 
 (head of iron). He had been early destined for the Church 
 because of the weakness of his legs, and was usually 
 called ' the little Cardinal,' the Pope having promised 
 him such preferment when he came of age. But his 
 elder brother dying, and the succession so devolving 
 upon him, the boy threw off the monk's frock, buckled 
 on the sword, and added to his classic and philosophic 
 studies the arts of war and government. Emmanuel 
 Philibert showed great aptitude and talent in the various 
 branches of learning to which he gave his attention, but 
 his genius was essentially militar}-. 
 
 When still a mere boy he had attached himself to 
 the Emperor Charles V., and followed his standard 
 through all the wars that then desolated Europe, ser\'ing 
 him faithfully, but never losing sight of the interests of 
 his own unhappy and oppressed countr}^, for the relief 
 of which he never ceased to implore the emperor, though 
 with little or no result. Emmanuel Philibert won for 
 himself, by the might of his sword, and by the genius of 
 his statecraft, the restitution of his ancestral dominions, 
 the people of which had always remained faithful to their 
 legitimate prince. He was offered the hand of Elizabeth 
 Tudor of England ; but hearing that the princess herself 
 was not quite agreeable to the match, he declined. He 
 then married the Duchess de Berry, sister of the King 
 of France — this marriage being part of the treaty by 
 which his dominions were restored — and had one son, 
 who succeeded him. Emmanuel Philibert was great 
 in peace as in war ; he brought his testa di fcrro 
 to bear upon the management of his state ; and if this 
 early part of his reign had not been darkened by the 
 persecutions of the Waldensians, he might have been 
 called a model prince. These persecutions, however, 
 were far less cruel than those of the other Catholic princes, 
 by whom Emmanuel Philibert was driven to take severe 
 measures in order to prevent a foreign intervention for 
 the purpose of eradicating the heresy. He was not a 
 bigot by any means, and adopted these repressive 
 measures more from reasons of state than fanaticism. 
 He found that his subjects, Protestant and Catholic, when
 
 4 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 left to themselves, were constantly making war upon 
 one another, and he thought it best to compel the mino- 
 rity to conform, and live ' Cattolicamente,' in order to 
 maintain peace. When he found that did not answer, 
 he became more tolerant, and granted certain privileges 
 to the proscribed sect. 
 
 The Testa di Ferro remains to this day a most popu- 
 lar hero in Piedmont ; for the people, feeling that to his 
 courage and genius they owe their national existence, 
 overlook the loose morality of the gifted and patriotic 
 chief, as incident to the times in which he lived. * All 
 his good qualities were his own, the bad ones he drew 
 from the age,' says Ricotti, the historian of the Pied- 
 montese monarchy. 
 
 Somewhat different from the description of this fa- 
 mous prince given by Italian writers is the picture drawn 
 by the masterly pen of the Anglo-Saxon republican, 
 Motley, who seems to delight in stripping sixteenth 
 century heroes of the virtues with which the popular 
 voice of their respective countries had endowed them. 
 The glorious Count Egmont, the flower of Flemish 
 chivalry, the Bayard of the Netherlands, shrinks into a 
 rude soldier, vain, ignorant, and arrogant. The good 
 Coligny, who had ' more elevated views than many of 
 his contemporaries,' is introduced in the act of surprising 
 a sleeping city in time of truce. In fact, William the 
 Silent is the only one of the popular heroes of the day 
 whom this merciless iconoclast leaves standing on his 
 pedestal. It is not to be expected, then, that a soldier of 
 fortune like Emmanuel Philibert should be described as 
 other than ' unscrupulous ; ' had he been scrupulous, he 
 would have had no business to take part in the councils 
 of European princes as they then stood. Here is his 
 portrait at twenty-seven years of age, when he was 
 appointed Governor of the Netherlands. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy had become one of the most ex- 
 perienced and successful commanders of the age, and 
 an especial favourite of the emperor. He had served 
 with Alva in the campaigns against the Protestants of
 
 MOTLEY ON TESTA DI FERRO. 5 
 
 Germany, and in other important fields. War being 
 his element, he considered peace as undesirable, 
 although he could recognise its existence. A truce, 
 however, he held to be a senseless paradox, unworthy 
 of the slightest regard. An armistice, such as was 
 concluded on the February following the abdication, 
 was in his opinion only to be turned to account by 
 dealing insidious and unsuspected blows at the enemy, 
 some portion of whose population might repose con- 
 fidence in the plighted faith of monarchs and plenipo- 
 tentiaries. He had a show of reason for his political 
 and militar\- morality, for he only chose to execute 
 the evil which had been practised on himself. His 
 father had been beggared, his mother had died of 
 spite and despair, he had himself been reduced from 
 the rank of a sovereign to that of a mercenar}' soldier, 
 by spoliations made /« time of truce. 
 
 He was reputed a man of ver\- decided abilities, and 
 was distinguished for headlong braver)-. His rashness 
 and personal daring were thought the only drawbacks 
 to his high character as a commander. He had many 
 accomplishments ; he spoke Latin, French, Spanish, 
 and Italian with equal fluency, was celebrated for his 
 attachment to the fine arts, and wrote much and with 
 great elegance. Such had been Philibert of Savoy, the 
 pauper nephew of the powerful emperor, the adven- 
 turous and vagrant cousin of the lofty Philip, a prince 
 without a people, a duke without a dukedom, with no 
 hope but in warfare, with no revenue but rapine ; the 
 image in person of a bold and manly soldier, small, but 
 graceful and athletic, martial in bearing, wearing his 
 sword under his arm like a corporal, because an internal 
 malady made a belt inconvenient, and ready to turn to 
 a swift account ever}' chance which a new series of cam- 
 paigns might open to him. With his new salary- as 
 governor, his pensions, and the remains of his posses- 
 sions in Nice and Piedmont, he had now the splendid 
 annual income of one hundred thousand crowns, and 
 was sure to spend it all.^ 
 
 ' The Rise of the Dutch Republic .
 
 6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Victor Amadeus, the second of that name, and 
 fifteenth Duke of Savoy, was the first prince of the 
 family who assumed the title of King, 1703. He was 
 a sickly, inert youth, who allowed his mother to rule 
 as regent, even after he had attained his majority. 
 Suddenly, however, he seems to have awakened from 
 his lethargy, and shaken off the tyranny of the duchess. 
 With the sovereign power once in his hands, he developed 
 a surprising energy of character, tact, and firmness. He 
 married the niece of Louis XIV. of France ; but this 
 alliance, instead of being an advantage to the young 
 duke, proved a misfortune, since it gave the ' Grand 
 Monarque ' a pretext for meddling in the affairs of Savoy 
 and treating the prince as his vassal. At last the 
 overbearing haughtiness of King Louis drove Victor 
 Amadeus to declare war, with the hope of succours from 
 Spain. ' But more than to my allies I trust to the 
 valour and loyalty of my nobility and my people ; to 
 these a Prince of Savoy has never yet appealed in vain,' 
 he said, addressing the council. 
 
 The war was long and disastrous for Savoy, but 
 year after year the indomitable courage of the duke led 
 him to renew it, rather than submit to humiliating con- 
 ditions. No sooner was this over than other wars suc- 
 ceeded, the Duke of Savoy being sometimes on the side of 
 France, sometimes on the side of Germany, but almost 
 always the sufferer. The last great contest, in which the 
 enemy had carried his arms to the walls of Turin, ended 
 favourably for Victor Amadeus, who displayed extra- 
 ordinary skill and courage during the siege, and for the 
 time overturned the Bourbon power in Italy. The treaty 
 which followed made him King of Sicily, 1703, after- 
 wards exchanged for Sardinia, and some other territories 
 adjoining his frontier. 
 
 This prince's reign marks a long step in the rising 
 fortunes of the House of Savoy, and so deserves the 
 brief notice which we cannot afford to give to his suc- 
 cessors, though some of them were very distinguished. 
 He was pious like all his family ; and in gratitude for 
 the deliverance of his country from the French yoke, he
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL I. 7 
 
 erected the church of Superga, used as a royal mauso- 
 leum, on the spot where he defeated the enemy. The 
 stain upon his fame is the painful fact that for a time 
 he bowed to the dictates of the French king, and allowed 
 a war of extermination to be waged against the un- 
 happy Huguenots and Waldensians who had fortified 
 themselves in the mountains of Savoy. At that time, how- 
 ever, he had not made up his mind that he had the power 
 to resist Louis' authority ; after he had once taken up 
 arms against the French, these persecutions were not 
 renewed. 
 
 The princes of Savoy generally left a goodly number 
 of sons to perpetuate their name and honours. In the 
 beginning of the present century, however, this robust and 
 long-lived family came very near extinction, when no 
 less than six brothers died without leaving male issue. 
 Three of these died unmarried ; the other three suc- 
 ceeded each other to the throne, took wives and lived 
 to be old, but left only female offspring. The eldest, 
 Charles Emmanuel IV., was deceived by his French 
 allies, and tricked into concessions, till at last he was 
 compelled by the republican government to abdicate and 
 seek refuge in Tuscany, where he became a Jesuit monk. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel I. succeeded his brother, was per- 
 secuted by the French emperor, and driven into the 
 island of Sardinia, where he remained till Napoleon was 
 himself confined to the narrower limits of Elba, when 
 he returned to his capital, to the great joy of the Pied- 
 montese people. Victor Emmanuel was a brave, honest, 
 good-hearted man, but of limited intellect, with preju- 
 dices which had their roots firmly fixed in mediaeval 
 soil. He was a conscientious despot, and to change the 
 ways of his house would have seemed to him sacrilege. 
 He might, nevertheless, have listened to reason, and come 
 to see what the present century required, if it had not 
 been for Austrian influence. The emperor had ex- 
 torted a promise from him that he never would grant 
 a free constitution, and that promise held him so firmly as 
 a man of honour that he chose to lay down his crown 
 rather than break it.
 
 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 He was succeeded by his last brother, Charles Felix, 
 man in no way more enlightened, and with a less 
 kindly nature. With Charles Felix the House of Savoy 
 would have come to an ignominious termination had there 
 not been a collateral branch, descended in seven genera- 
 tions from Charles Emmanuel I., of which one young 
 scion was in existence, the sole hope of the Savoy 
 dynasty, his father having died when he was two years 
 old, and left no other son. 
 
 Thomas, fifth son of Charles Emmanuel I., born in 
 1596, was invested by his father with a rich inheritance 
 of ' castles, territories, and jurisdictions, with the title of 
 Prince of Carignano, for himself and his descendants.' 
 The seventh Prince of Carignano-Savoy in direct line 
 was Charles Albert, born 1798, and left an orphan two 
 years later to the guardianship of his mother, a princess 
 of Saxony, who kept him far from his cousins, and gave 
 him a much more liberal education than he would 
 have received at their hands. It was a grief to the 
 royal brothers that their heir should not have been 
 reared according to the traditions of the family. The 
 Austrian rulers also were distressed about the education 
 of the future King of Sardinia ; and Prince Metternich, 
 having intercepted letters from the Princess of Carignano 
 to her son, wrote to King Victor advising him to remove 
 the boy from the influence of one whom he described as 
 a lady of ' detestable political principles, fomenting liberal 
 ideas in the mind of Charles Albert.' 
 
 The young prince spent some time at a military 
 school in Paris, and at the age of sixteen was made 
 lieutenant of dragoons by Napoleon. His education 
 was completed at Geneva under the direction of a very 
 learned Protestant divine. 
 
 For all his liberal education, Charles Albert was as 
 devout a Catholic as any of his predecessors. He was 
 by nature profoundly religious, and his faith was firmly, 
 indissolubly fixed in the Catholic Church. His poli- 
 tical principles were liberal, just, generous, his love of 
 country sincere. The conflicting elements of love of 
 liberty and love of the Church warring in his soul,
 
 CHARLES ALBERT. 9 
 
 made him melancholy, reserved, inconsistent, ' incom- 
 prehensible ' ' — wore out his mortal frame, and before 
 he was past the meridian of life brought him to a 
 premature grave. The noble, chivalrous character of 
 this prince, and the pathetic stor}- of his unhappy- 
 reign, make him personally quite as interesting as his 
 successful son, whose stronger and tougher fibre was 
 able to bear the strain which broke the father's heart. 
 
 Prince Charles Albert married the daughter of the 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany and had a son, who was 
 only a year old at the time of the rising in Piedmont in 
 1 82 1. The Prince of Carignano was then in his twenty- 
 third year, very tall, and of noble, dignified aspect, with 
 a face pale, grave, thoughtful, almost severe. His man- 
 ners were reserved and cold, but gentle ; he had a sweet 
 low voice, and when he spoke there was some subtle 
 fascination in his bearing which excited interest and 
 sympathy. Though not on good terms with his cousin, 
 Charles Felix, who disliked and distrusted him because of 
 his Liberalism, he had completely won the aftection of his 
 distant cousin, King A'ictor, whom he called ' Uncle,' 
 and to whom he was faithfully attached. For this reason 
 the young prince was much beloved by the people ; 
 the Liberals of Piedmont being loyal to the king, and 
 ver\^ anxious to secure his heir as their leader, and so cut 
 him off from Austrian influence. The Carbonari had 
 gained a strong footing in the Sardinian States, and 
 though all the Constitutionalists were not connected 
 with the society, they were willing to work in concert 
 with it to effect their object. The Piedmontese army 
 was full of the idea of a grand military coup, by which 
 they would liberate Lombardy, and annex it to the 
 kingdom of Sardinia. But they all reckoned without 
 their host ; the sovereign's consent was wanting to this 
 agreeable arrangement. The Liberals presented a 
 petition to him ; and a false report was spread that he 
 had said, that if his people asked a constitution he 
 would not deny it. The joy caused by this report was 
 
 ' ' Is it not true that I am an incomprehensible man ? " he said once to 
 a friend.
 
 10 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 quickly quenched when the people saw military pre- 
 parations going on to resist any movement that might 
 be made. 
 
 Just at this critical and exciting moment some fool- 
 ish students appeared at the theatre with red caps, 
 and were arrested by the police. Their companions at- 
 tempted a rescue and were themselves dragged to prison. 
 Next morning great excitement prevailed, and a cry 
 was raised about university privileges. The students 
 barricaded the college, and vowed they would not open 
 it till the prisoners were released. A body of grena- 
 diers assaulted the college, broke it open, and charged 
 the helpless students, who were found wounded in 
 all parts of the building. Great indignation was felt 
 throughout the city, for alm^ost all the respectable in- 
 habitants had som.e member of their family in the 
 university. Among those who paid a consolatory visit 
 to the wounded youths was the Prince of Carignano ; 
 the news flew like lightning through Turin, and im- 
 mensely increased his popularity. The conspirators of 
 Lombardy and Piedmont felt that the moment for 
 action had arrived, and Charles Albert must be secured 
 to them. 
 
 The famous Count Santorre Santa Rosa, the leader 
 of the Piedmontese ' federates,' opened the matter to 
 Prince Charles, explaining how entirely loyal their in- 
 tentions were towards the king, and that all they wanted 
 was that he should separate himself from Austria, and 
 become nationalist. The prince did not utterly reject 
 nor yet accept the proposition. The Marquis Gualterio 
 and Count Cibrario, and all the admirers of Charles 
 Albert who have written narratives of those events, de- 
 clare that he declined to lead the movement ; he would 
 never lend himself to anything like a rebellion against 
 his sovereign. The Carbonari, on the other hand, branded 
 him as a traitor, who deserted them in the last moment. 
 He himself left a narrative in which he protested his in- 
 nocence of treason, either towards his king or the revolu- 
 tionists. La Farina, who is, on the whole, just and true, 
 and not by any means blinded by affection for the
 
 OVERTURES OF THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. II 
 
 Sabaud family, says that after half consenting, he got 
 frightened and withdrew his assent, and then hesitated so 
 long that the revolutionists were induced to precipitate 
 the movement in order to cut off his retreat. Santa 
 Rosa, who was the leading spirit of the party, and the 
 medium of negotiations, says in his account of the 
 transaction, that ' he w^ould, and he would not' 
 
 This is most likely true. Charles Albert was as brave 
 as a lion when his duty was clear before him ; but he 
 had an unhappy conscience, which was constantly giving 
 him contradictory counsels, and dragging him in opposite 
 directions. At one moment doubtless he was dominated 
 by his love of liberty and justice, while at another he 
 shrank from what would appear to stain his ancient name 
 with a spot of disloyalty to his kinsman and sovereign. 
 He was alike incapable of treason to the king who 
 trusted him implicitly, or to the revolutionists who had 
 confided in him, A less conscientious man would 
 have stuck to the conservative party, cried ' Viva il Re 
 assoluto ! ' and won honour by so doing ; or he would 
 have silenced the claims of kindred, told himself that 
 the interests of his country were paramount to all 
 others, and sailed into power on the wave of popular 
 enthusiasm. He did neither, and 'between the two 
 stools he fell to the ground.' 
 
 The Count Santa Rosa printed an address to the 
 Piedmontese calling on them to rise, with the war-cry, 
 * Viva Italia e la Costituzione ! Guerraall' Austria ! ' In 
 Alessandria, a great military depot, the Carbonari 
 proclaimed the Spanish constitution, and declared war 
 against Austria ' in the name of the Kingdom of Italy.' 
 The soldiers thought it no violation of their oath to take 
 part in this movement ; for their king should still be 
 their king ; they only wanted to make him great and 
 powerful in spite of himself On the arrival of this 
 news at Turin there was great disturbance and excite- 
 ment. Victor Emmanuel hastened from his country 
 seat to the capital, and called a council in which the 
 queen and Prince Charles Albert took a part. He 
 issued a proclamation to the effect that there was
 
 12 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 nothing in the movement, and that it did not deserve 
 any serious notice. 
 
 ^ TranquilHty is not the least disturbed in our capital, 
 where we are with our family and our beloved cousin 
 the Prince of Savoy-Carignano, who has given us 
 proofs of his constant fidelity.' That sentence must 
 have hurt Prince Charles's delicate conscience, and per- 
 haps helped to make him break utterly with the revolu- 
 tionists. 
 
 But the capital was not tranquil ; next day some 
 of the military, uniting with the students and citizens, 
 marched through the streets with the red, white and green 
 banner, crying ' Viva la Costituzione ! Viva I'ltalia ! ' 
 The guards flew to arms, and one officer was killed 
 when trying to force his way through the people with 
 drawn sword. Prince Charles was then sent, in the 
 king's name, to ask the people what it was they 
 desired. He came on horseback, unattended by mili- 
 tary escort, and was received with warm applause. ' Our 
 hearts are faithful to the king,' was the reply of the 
 Turinese, ' but we wish to withdraw him from perfidious 
 counsels. The Spanish constitution, war with Austria, 
 these are our desires.' 
 
 Victor Emmanuel did not think any reforms 
 were likely to be beneficial ; but his mind would have 
 gradually opened to the necessities of the times, and he 
 would then and there have acceded to his people's 
 wish, but for the fatal promise which the Emperor of 
 Austria had extorted from him — 
 
 His honour, rooted in dishonour, stood ; 
 And faith, unfaithful, kept him falsely true. 
 
 But he would not shed his subjects' blood. He abdi- 
 cated in favour of his brother, Charles Felix, then in 
 Modena, and appointed Charles Albert regent with full 
 regal powers. 
 
 The abdication of Victor Emmanuel was a great 
 grief to the Constitutionalists. Santa Rosa wrote : ' The 
 night of March 13, 1821, was fatal to my country. So 
 many swords raised in defence of liberty dropped, so
 
 CHARLES ALBERT REGENT. I 3 
 
 many dear hopes vanished Hke a dream. The countr\', 
 it is true, did not fall with the king ; but the country 
 was for us iji the king ; V^ictor Emmanuel himself 
 personified it ; and the young promoters of that military 
 revolution often exclaimed, " Perhaps some day he will 
 pardon us for having made him king of six millions 
 of Italians." ' 
 
 The new king, Charles Felix, was devoted to the 
 House of Austria, a firm upholder of absolutism, an 
 enemy to liberty, and inferior to his brother in point 
 of feeling. Even the devoted adherents of the Savoy 
 family find little to admire in this prince, except that 
 he was a man of his word, and did not perjure himself, 
 as the custom was among Italian sovereigns. 
 
 If Charles Albert had been the self-seeking man that 
 some writers have represented him, he had now a grand 
 opportunity of seizing the reins of power, and establish- 
 ing a popular government without a shadow of dishonour, 
 his oath of allegiance to the abdicated king being dis- 
 solved, and all the authority of the state vested in his 
 hands. But instead, he made desperate efforts to recon- 
 cile the monarchy with liberty ; he wanted to be faith- 
 ful alike to king and people, and he displeased both. 
 Great agitation reigned in Turin on the night of the 
 abdication of Victor Emmanuel I., with intense impati- 
 ence to hear the regent's programme. The ministers of 
 the late king counselled him to declare the Spanish con- 
 stitution, and so save the country from a bloody revolu- 
 tion. The people stood all night round the regent's 
 palace, and sent a deputation to him to explain their 
 wishes. They disliked and distrusted Charles Felix, 
 and they wished to have the revolution carried into effect 
 before he had time to come from ]\Iodena, or send any 
 express commands. ' How can I proclaim the consti- 
 tution in the king's absence ^ ' said the regent ; and, 
 when urged to it in order to avoid bloodshed, he replied 
 proudly, ' I am ready to die for him I represent.' The 
 liberal counsels prevailed, howev^er, and Charles Albert 
 came on the balcony and proclaimed the constitution, 
 in the midst of intense agitation, and at the same time
 
 14 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 swore fidelity to the new king, Charles Felix. In his 
 proclamation he said : — 
 
 Our respect and submission to his majesty Carlo Felice, 
 to whom the throne belongs, would have hindered us 
 making any fundamental change in the laws of the 
 realm till the sovereign's intentions were known ; 
 but as the force of circumstances is manifest, and 
 we desire to render to the new king his people 
 safe, uninjured, and happy, and not in a civil war, — 
 having maturely considered everything, and with the 
 advice of our council, we have decided — in the hope 
 that his majesty, moved by the same considerations, 
 will give his approval, — that the constitution of Spain 
 shall be promulgated. 
 
 Charles Felix did not give his approval ; he showed 
 his disapprobation very strongly, and ordered his young 
 cousin to quit Turin and go to Novara. He immediately 
 obeyed ; and the secrecy of his departure awakened the 
 suspicion of treason in the minds of the revolutionists. 
 On his arrival in Novara another letter met him, re- 
 quiring him on his allegiance to betake himself instantly 
 to Florence, where his family should speedily join him. 
 
 Carlo Felice took possession of his capital shortly 
 after, when the leaders of the revolution, and particularly 
 the officers of the army, were visited with the heaviest 
 punishments. Massimo Azeglio says he did not merit 
 the name the Liberals gave him of ' Carlo Feroce,' but 
 there is no doubt he was very severe. 
 
 The Prince of Carignano, distrusted and hated by his 
 cousin the king because of his liberalism, maligned and 
 execrated by the revolutionary party because of his 
 loyalty, took up his abode with his father-in-law, the 
 Duke of Tuscany. Conscious rectitude of purpose may 
 sustain an old man, who has learned by experience what 
 the gratitude of princes and peoples is worth ; but it 
 could not and did not sustain Charles Albert under this 
 double trial. He was only twenty-three, a young soldier, 
 full of generous, chivalrous sentiments ; and to be so 
 wronged by his king and country, for both of whom he
 
 THE BITTERNESS OF EXILE. I 5 
 
 was ready to die, was more than he could bear. He 
 desired to return to Turin, and be tried by court- 
 martial. But his friends, particularly the French ambas- 
 sador in Florence, strongly dissuaded him from putting 
 himself into the hands of his enemies so entirely. Austria 
 was using all her secret influence against him ; and 
 Charles Felix contemplated cutting him oft' from the 
 succession, and appointing a regent during the minority 
 of the little Prince Victor. The bitterness of the exile's 
 life at Florence became insupportable, and he begged 
 permission to travel, which prayer was answered im- 
 mediately by a commission to ser\-e in the Spanish 
 war, where he distinguished himself by extraordinary 
 braver)-. 
 
 In accepting this commission, and engaging to fight 
 in the French army against the liberties of Spain, Charles 
 Albert committed the only inexcusable mistake of his 
 life ; and we know not how to account for it, except 
 that he was in a desperate frame of mind and wished 
 to meet death, which would appear from the reckless 
 manner in which he exposed himself to danger. 
 
 He was a man of strange contradictions, and it is 
 probable that the violence of the Carbonari, and their 
 bitter vituperations of himself, had thrown him back into 
 the arms of the retrograde party; and the clergy, to 
 whose influence he had always been subject, had worked 
 upon his mind so as to win him over to see things from 
 their point of view. It was a fatal step, which divorced 
 him from the national party, and made him disliked and 
 distrusted, even in his own Piedmont, where he had once 
 been held so dear. 
 
 Charles Albert was recalled to Sardinia by Charles 
 Felix in 1824, and a reconciliation took place later, 
 shortly before the king's death, which occurred in 1831, 
 when the Prince of Carignano ascended the throne 
 peacefully, but with no demonstrations of joy. 
 
 Charles Albert seems to have been born under an 
 unlucky star, for he invariably took the wrong road in 
 the turning points of life ; and with the best and most 
 disinterested intentions he ruined the cause he most
 
 l6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 wished to serve. He was always destined to be mis- 
 judged and misunderstood. Half his honesty and jus- 
 tice, and a third of his morality, would have sufficed 
 to carry an ordinary prince through life with a pretty 
 fair reputation, while he was branded as a traitor, a 
 tyrant, an executioner. When he ascended the throne, 
 Mazzini had instituted a new secret society called Giovane 
 Italia (Young Italy), which put the Good Cousins and 
 all the rest quite out of fashion. The society did not 
 begin as republican, at least did not so profess itself. 
 The great conspirator who set the machine to work, 
 and directed its movements with such consummate skill, 
 made overtures to most of the crowned heads, or those 
 nearest the thrones, in Italy, before he declared war 
 against monarchies. To Charles Albert he wrote a long 
 letter, offering his services to him if he would consent 
 to lead the Liberal cause. And here again, if Charles 
 Albert had not been conscientiously conservative, he 
 would have been tempted by the dazzling prospects so 
 ably depicted. 
 
 ' Sire,' wrote the great revolutionist : — 
 
 All Italy waits for one word — one only — to make herself 
 yours. Proffer this word to her ! Place yourself at 
 the head of the nation, and write on your banner : 
 ' Union, Liberty, Independence.' Proclaim the liberty 
 of thought. Declare yourself the vindicator, the in- 
 terpreter of popular rights, the regenerator of all Italy. 
 Liberate her from the barbarians. Build up the future ; 
 give your name to a century ; begin a new era from 
 your day. All humanity has declared that kings do 
 not belong to it ; history bears out the sentence with 
 facts. Contradict humanity and history. Compel it 
 to write under the names of Washington and Kos- 
 ciuszco, born citizens, another name greater than these : 
 to say. There was a throne erected by twenty million 
 free men, who wrote on its base : ' To Carlo Alberto, 
 born king, Italy regenerated by him . . .' Select the 
 way that accords with the desire of the nation ; main- 
 tain it unalterably ; be firm, and await your time ; you
 
 MAZZINl'S APPEAL. 1 7 
 
 have the victory in your hands. Sire, on this condition 
 we bind ourselves round you, we proffer you our hves, 
 we will lead to your banner the little states of Italy. 
 We will paint to our brothers the advantages that are 
 born of union ; we will promote national subscriptions, 
 patriotic gifts ; we will preach the word that creates 
 armies. . . . Unite us, Sire, and we shall conquer. 
 
 To this stirring appeal Charles Albert would not 
 listen ; he seemed completely transformed into the legi- 
 timist sovereign of the old school. Then Giovane Italia 
 lost all confidence in kings, became republican, and 
 made war on Charles Albert with the bitterness of a 
 suitor scorned. Seditious publications were circulated 
 through his realm, exciting his subjects against him — 
 the officers of the army in particular Mazzini tried to 
 seduce from their allegiance. A conspiracy was disco- 
 vered, and the promoters put on their trial. The bad 
 feeling between sovereign and people was fanned into 
 a flame by the Jesuits, who were then, as always, the 
 creatures of the Austrian government, though Charles 
 Albert did not know it. They carried the most alarm- 
 ing reports to the king's ears ; they gave him informa- 
 tion of a frightful plot to overturn the monarchy and the 
 altar by means of the most diabolical crimes. 
 
 These stories were for the most part inventions, got 
 up to frighten the king, and drive him into severe re- 
 pressive measures, and thus sever him for ever from the 
 Liberal party. It was afterwards discovered that the 
 head of the police was in the pay of Austria ; but, unfor- 
 tunately, too late to prevent' certain military executions 
 which might with advantage have been commuted to a 
 lighter punishment, and which filled the king with re- 
 morseful sadness. 
 
 In 1833 conspiracies broke out in the other states of 
 Italy, simultaneously with that in Piedmont, and were 
 punished much more severely. In Naples there reigned 
 Ferdinand II. — quite a different character from his grand- 
 father, Ferdinand I. He was neither immoral, intempe- 
 rate, nor extravagant ; on the contrary, he began his reign 
 
 C
 
 l8 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 by an edifying simplicity, economy, and piety, which led 
 his subjects to hope that better days than they had been 
 accustomed to were in store for them. But a few years 
 of his reign made them cry out, * Better the rule of the 
 Turks.' In fact, this prince's Christianity was no better 
 than his grandfather's paganism. He was a morose 
 bigot, given up to superstition ; a slave to the Jesuits, 
 who made him model his government on that of Pope 
 Leo XII. In character he resembled Louis XI. of France, 
 but without his ability. There was no falsehood, cruelty, 
 or treachery he was not capable of. Religious persecu- 
 tions, such as we have described as existing in the papal 
 states, were carried on with vigour. Accusations of 
 heresy were frequent, and for every small offence against 
 the Church's laws the sinner was subject to corporal 
 punishment, more or less severe, according to the nature 
 of his offence. It is recorded that ' many citizens died 
 under the infliction of the lash, as much from shame as 
 suffering,' the sentences being carried out in the open 
 squares. When private sins were visited with such seve- 
 rity, we can imagine how the great crime of rebellion 
 would be treated in the Neapolitan states. The exe- 
 cutions and proscriptions which took place there, and in 
 the pontifical possessions, reduced the populations con- 
 siderably ; and, as generally happens in such cases, the 
 most promising young men were those who fell victims 
 to the tyranny of the government. In Modena the 
 duke, having trifled with the Liberal leader, Menotti, 
 in order, it is thought, to draw him into a snare, had to 
 fight for his life in a sudden outburst of rebellion. The 
 same night in which he had overcome this treasonable 
 attempt, he despatched the following characteristic 
 note : — 
 
 A terrible conspiracy against me has broken out to- 
 night. The conspirators are in my hands. Send 
 me the hangman. 
 
 Francis. 
 
 The Austrians, always at hand to crush any rising, 
 swarmed all over Central Italy and Naples, assisting
 
 GROWTH OF THE NATIONAL SPIRIT. 1 9 
 
 energetically in the punishment of the rebels, and in 
 the work of restoring order, or what they called order. 
 The kingdom of Sardinia alone was not visited by 
 this infliction, its sovereign reserving to himself the 
 right of punishing his own subjects without foreign 
 assistance. 
 
 The secret hatred which King Charles nourished 
 toward Austria he was obliged to smother, for he had no 
 means to resist her power. Keeping therefore his plans 
 and desires buried in his own breast, he devoted him- 
 self to reforming the semi-barbarous laws still existing 
 in his state — those relating to prison regulations, cruel 
 punishments, disabilities of Jews and Protestants, etc. — 
 and to improving the state of the army. But the sad, 
 silent king, who lived like an anchorite, devoted to 
 business, rigorous in the performance of religious duties, 
 became more and more of a puzzle to everyone, and 
 was not regarded either with confidence or affection by 
 his subjects. What unhappy years those were to the 
 friendless, lonely monarch, his subjects have since learned, 
 and shed tears of remorse upon the tomb of him whom 
 they justly call ' the martyr of their liberties.' 
 
 The desire for national unity, as the only safeguard 
 of liberty, began to be felt more and more by thinking 
 men. Giusti, in his famous poem called ' The Boot ' 
 (1836), makes Italy describe herself as made up of 
 patches, and beg her next possessor to have her re- 
 made all of ' one piece and one colour ; ' but this owner 
 must not be a foreigner- — - 
 
 Non Tedesca s'intende, ne Francese ; 
 Ma una gamba vorrei del mio paese. 
 
 The book which perhaps best describes the growth 
 of the national spirit in Italy, during the seven years that 
 preceded the great revolutionary era of 1 848, is D' Aze- 
 glio's / Miei Ricordi. This distinguished man may be 
 said to have presided at the birth of that spirit ; he cer- 
 tainly watched over its diseased infancy with indefatigable 
 care and patience, and was rewarded by seeing it grow 
 up with a certain robustness of constitution, though it 
 
 c 2
 
 20 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 never quite realised his ideal. D'Azeglio travelled north, 
 south, east, west, trying to sow in the different popu- 
 lations the seeds of national life. It was grievous 
 and discouraging to find the youth of the educated 
 classes generally given up to pleasure, or burning with 
 that patriotic fervour which consisted chiefly in shouting 
 ' Priori il barharo ! Fuoj'i lo straniero ! ' while the more 
 earnest ones were members of secret societies. 
 
 There was, however, a considerable party of moderate 
 men like D'Azeglio himself, who desired reform if it could 
 be effected without war, and if it could not, were pre- 
 pared to push matters to the last extremity when a 
 favourable moment arrived. This party went on in- 
 creasing and gathering new force every year, and at last 
 it became evident that the nation was preparing itself 
 for some grand movement. The premonitory symptoms 
 were felt by the rulers of the land, like the rumbling 
 thunder that precedes a volcanic outburst. 
 
 D'Azeglio, who loved law and order, trembled for 
 what might come. He had endeavoured to educate 
 the youth of Italy in a higher political creed than the 
 assassination of tyrants. He desired that the war 
 should be solely for the expulsion of the foreigner, and 
 his earnest wish was that the national forces should be 
 united and led by a native sovereign. And where in 
 Italy was there what might be called a native sovereign } 
 They were all satraps of Austria, with the exception of 
 the Pope and the King of Sardinia. The Pope was out of 
 the question, and D'Azeglio naturally turned his thoughts 
 to his own king, who, if a despot, was at least an Ita- 
 lian, and maintained the independence of his little state 
 against Austrian encroachments. 
 
 The bad reputation which he had among the Liberal 
 party made it difficult for D'Azeglio to persuade his 
 friends to share his hopes. ' What is it you want .'' ' he 
 said, trying to argue his Roman colleagues into a prac- 
 tical view of the case. ' You wish to drive the Austrians 
 out of Italy, and to check the power of the priests. If 
 you tell them to go, it is probable they will refuse. 
 You must force them, and what force have you "i None.
 
 D'AZEGLIO'S efforts. 21 
 
 Then you must unite with those who have, that is, 
 with Piedmont. She at least has an independent Hfe, 
 and money, and an army.' 
 
 * What, Carlo Alberto ! would you have us hope in 
 him ? ' asked his Roman friend. 
 
 ' If you will not hope, don't hope. But you must 
 then resign yourselves, and hope in nothing.' 
 
 'But '21 and 't,^ ?' persisted the Roman. 
 
 ''21 and '33 are not pleasing memories to me any 
 more than to you. Nevertheless there is something to be 
 said in his defence. But, admitting the worst, I repeat 
 that in him you must trust, or in no one. Were we in- 
 viting Charles Albert to engage in a scheme contrary to 
 his interests, for pure heroism and to serve Italy, then you 
 might ask, "Shall we confide in the traitor of '21 and 
 the executioner of '33 .'' " But we only ask him, when an 
 opportunity offers, to let us aid him to become more 
 great and powerful. If you invite a thief to become an 
 honest man, you may doubt his promise to do so ; but 
 if you invite a thief to rob, I see no reason to think he 
 would fail in his promise.' 
 
 D'Azeglio adds, ' Poor Charles Albert ! Time proved 
 that you did not deserve so harsh a judgment. When I 
 think of my comparison, I am bitten with remorse.' 
 
 D'Azeglio did not make much head in Tuscany, so 
 deep-rooted was the prejudice against the Sardinian 
 king. One gentleman quoted the example of a Roman 
 legion, the soldiers of which killed their general when 
 they found him unfaithful to his duty. ' What sort,' he 
 asked, ' are the Piedmontese soldiers, who suffer Charles 
 Albert to live } ' D'Azeglio tried to excuse the poor 
 Piedmontese soldiers for not having executed their king, 
 urging in their defence that the times and ideas were so 
 changed since the days of the pagan republic. But he 
 felt the unlucky Roman legion had put him to the rout, 
 and he could make no impression on the mind of the 
 sanguinary Tuscan. Finally, having made the round of 
 all Italy, D'Azeglio arrived in Turin (1845), and de- 
 manded an audience of his sovereign. 
 
 We have said that Charles Albert had a fascination
 
 22 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 for those who approached him. D'AzegHo had armed 
 himself against this influence, and while the king, who 
 had not seen him for a long time, was courteously in- 
 quiring after his welfare, he said to himself, ' Massimo, 
 trust him not ! ' 
 
 ' Whence do you come now ? ' asked the king. 
 D'Azeglio then seized the moment to explain his 
 mission. He said he had been travelling in all parts of 
 Italy, and if his majesty permitted he would like to 
 tell him the state of public affairs. Charles Albert said, 
 ' Pray speak ; I shall be glad to hear you.' 
 
 D'Azeglio spoke at some length. He began by allud- 
 ing briefly to the rebellions, their causes and effects. Then 
 he passed on to the present disturbed state of the nation ; 
 dwelt on the danger of a revolution at the Pope's death ; 
 but said that for the most part the people were convinced 
 of the folly of such attempts. They desired a new and 
 more moderate plan of action, and they looked to Pied- 
 mont only for a leader. He then related all he had 
 done in concert with the reform party, and assured the 
 king that he had never been a member of a secret 
 society. 
 
 ' And now,' he concluded, ' your majesty will tell me 
 whether you approve or disapprove of what I have done.' 
 He paused for a reply ; and, according to his precon- 
 ceived idea of Charles Albert's doubleness, expected an 
 evasive one. Instead of that, the king, without a mo- 
 ment's hesitation, fixed his eyes frankly on those of 
 D'Azeglio, and said in a calm, resolute tone : — 
 
 ' Let those gentlemen know that for the present they 
 must remain quiet ; but when the time comes, let them 
 be certain jhj' life, the lives of my sons, my arms, my 
 treasures — all shall be freely spent in the Italian canse! 
 
 D'Azeglio, whose loyalty till now had been of the 
 coldest, was touched by the king's heroic sentiments, 
 and thanked him with emotion for his confidence. 
 When they both rose to their feet, Charles Albert laid his 
 hands on D'Azeglio's shoulders, and touched first one 
 cheek and then the other with his own. There was some- 
 thing so solemn, almost funereal, in this embrace, that it
 
 CHARLES ALBERT'S PROMISE. 23 
 
 somewhat chilled D'Azeglio's enthusiasm. In after years 
 he said he could never see without a thrill those green 
 silk chairs in the bay-window where they sat while the 
 king offered, through him, to his country, all he pos- 
 sessed — even his life. 
 
 D'Azeglio communicated the result of his interview 
 with the king, in cypher, to his correspondents ; and, in 
 obedience to a suggestion of his majesty, began to 
 write a pamphlet for the furtherance of their scheme. 
 It was to be a vast society extending over all Italy ; its 
 proceedings carried on in open day, without arms, or 
 oaths, or concealment; its object the gradual redemption 
 of the whole peninsula from the hands of the foreigner. 
 He felt painfully how difficult it was to rouse a popula- 
 tion sunk in misery- and ignorance to a feeling of citizen- 
 ship ; and part of the reform scheme was to improve 
 the condition of the people, and educate them. ' Before 
 forming Italy, we must first form the Italians,' he often 
 said. 
 
 Great secrecy was observed on the part of the 
 Liberal party so as not to compromise the King of Sar- 
 dinia ; but in spite of this it crept out that he was 
 giving them his adhesion, and he began to be received 
 with warm demonstrations when he appeared at the 
 reviews, Austria's suspicions were aroused ; but Charles 
 Albert's spirits were raised and sustained by the joyful 
 news of the accession to the papal throne of the reform- 
 ing liberal Pio Nono. 
 
 DAzeglio, who had been banished from Rome for his 
 attack on the late popes, wheedled himself into the 
 good graces of the new pontiff, and used all his arts to 
 bind him to the reform party. He writes thus to his 
 wife : — 
 
 I found Rome completely changed — joyous, full of hope 
 and confidence in the future. The old party falls 
 lower and lower every day ; it still works mischief, 
 however. 
 
 He evidently thought he could lead the good-natured 
 pontiff by the nose ; and he conciliated him in every
 
 24 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 possible way, while he worked hard by speeches and 
 meetings to make the people loyal to their new sove- 
 reign, trusting altogether to gentle persuasion to obtain 
 the desired reforms. He writes again to his wife : — 
 
 The Pope was much pleased, and in dismissing me said, 
 ' Marchese d'Azeglio, I bless you. Continue always 
 in the moderate course you have chosen.' I have now 
 the approbation of Pio Nono, which is no little thing. 
 We are forming a society called Concordia, which I 
 hope will extend overall Italy ; objects : to improve the 
 condition, moral, civil, and social, of the nation ; means : 
 law, moderation, absolute publicity, absolute absence 
 of secrets and mysteries. We shall combat the ex- 
 cesses of both parties ; and in the people, gambling in 
 the lotteries, and drink. We shall promote education 
 and establish schools . We shall send into the pro- 
 vinces agents to propagate our doctrines. Amongst 
 its founders are monsignori and citizens of the highest 
 class. The Duke Cesarini gives funds, and his palace, 
 provisionally, for our meetings. 
 
 D'Azeglio and his colleagues had their hands full, 
 preaching patience and moderation to the Romans, 
 promising that the Pope would institute all needful 
 reforms — and at the same time urging Pio Nono for- 
 ward, while the powerful retrograde party were pulling 
 him back. 
 
 The people believed the leaders of the moderate 
 party ; they believed in the reforming Pope, who was 
 at that moment the most popular sovereign in Europe. 
 The ' Hymn of Pio Nono ' was sung at the theatre 
 amidst rapturous applause, the audience standing and 
 waving their handkerchiefs. In short, the enthusiastic 
 Romans were wild with loyalty to their priest-king, 
 under whose beneficent rule religion and liberty were 
 to be at last reconciled. The Pope's charming manners, 
 and benevolent, handsome face, did a great deal to 
 win the faith of the people ; and they followed him 
 in thousands to his palace to receive the papal bene- 
 diction from the balcony. This ceremony of marching
 
 THE NEW pope's ASPIRATIONS. 2$ 
 
 to the Quirinal, and calling out the Pope, became a 
 regular institution at Rome. D'Azeglio describes it as a 
 soul-stirring scene, the vast piazza filled with thousands 
 and thousands of people, who, at the sight of the noble 
 figure and beaming face of the Pontiff, dropped on their 
 knees, while in a voice of thrilling sweetness he gave 
 the Benediction. 
 
 But there was another power at work besides the 
 Moderates and the Retrogrades, who were tearing Pio 
 Nono in opposite directions. There were the members 
 of the Society of Giovane Italia, who, acting under the 
 directions of IMazzini, were exciting the people to vio- 
 lent demonstrations, in order to goad the Pope to sweep- 
 ing reforms, and make him commit himself irretrievably 
 to an advanced liberal policy. These agents of Mazzini 
 gathered the people together on every possible pretext, 
 and by degrees began to introduce national cries such as 
 ' Viva r Italia ! Fuoj'i lo straniero I ' mixed up with ap- 
 plause and loyal exclamations for the sovereign. Still, 
 though one secret society thus worked upon the people, 
 and played upon the vanity of the Pontiff, there is no 
 just reason to believe that the great bulk of the Romans 
 were insincere in the affection that they professed for 
 Pio Nono, or that Pio Nono was insincere in his profes- 
 sions of affection for his subjects, and his earnest desire 
 to improve their condition. He had been an excellent 
 bishop, and he would have made an excellent Pope, if 
 circumstances had not rendered it next to impossible. 
 The writings of Balbo, and the philosopher-priest Gio- 
 berti, had made a deep impression on him, and he had 
 come to the throne with the noblest aspirations of re- 
 generating not the Roman states only, but all Italy. 
 On the other hand, the subjects of Leo XII. and 
 Gregory XVI. might well be fascinated by such a man 
 as Pius IX., whose many virtues shone with all the more 
 lustre from the contrast presented by the character of 
 his predecessors. The fact that this mutual good-will 
 did not last is not a reason to believe it feigned. There 
 were causes enough in the great divergence of opinion 
 which afterwards arose between the Pope and his sub-
 
 26 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 jects to create the breach which ended so unhappily, 
 without accusing either party of unusual fickleness. 
 
 In the beginning of 1847 the Romans began to feel 
 restive and impatient. For nearly a year they had been 
 fed on smiles, benedictions, and a few trifling concessions. 
 D'Azeglio writes to his brother : — 
 
 You can tell the king, if a favourable opportunity occurs 
 — I do not care to write it by post, but I want you to 
 know it as soon as possible — I am convinced — it 
 wrings my heart to .say it — but I am convinced the 
 viagic of Pio Nono will not last. He is an angel, but 
 is surrounded by demons ; he has a disordered state 
 and corrupt elements, and he will not be able to com- 
 bat the obstacles. 
 
 Meantime Charles Albert was making preparations 
 which could no longer be concealed. He had medals 
 struck with his image, and the motto, which he had 
 taken from the shield of a remote ancestor, J' attends 
 inon astre, and secretly distributed them amongst the 
 Liberals. D'Azeglio's pamphlets were also circulated by 
 royal permission in the Sardinian states, though he did 
 not dare to print them there for fear of compromising 
 the king before the moment for action arrived. 
 
 Although Pio Nono had done little more than smile, 
 and bless the Liberals when they put themselves strik- 
 ingly under his notice, yet he had offended the despotic 
 power of Austria, and in the summer of 1847 she pro- 
 ceeded to the hostile step of violating the papal territory 
 and occupying Ferrara. All the Roman provinces were 
 ready to rush to arms to resent the indignity. Money 
 and arms poured in from all quarters to the holy father, 
 with ardent protestations of devotion. Charles Albert 
 despatched a letter to say he regarded the quarrel as 
 his own, it being a violation of the independence of the 
 Italian princes. But the Pope held back and vacillated, 
 putting off taking any decided step beyond sending an in- 
 dignant protest to the Austrian general, until the Romans 
 rose and threatened to burn the cardinals' palaces if 
 troops were not sent to defend the provinces. Then,
 
 THE CONSTITUTION GRANTED. 2/ 
 
 unwillingly, he gave his consent, but faltered again, and 
 wished to recall them when they arrived at their desti- 
 nation, declaring he never meant to make war, only to 
 protect his states against aggression. 
 
 Charles Albert meanwhile was bracing his nerves for 
 the death-struggle with Austria ; and as a preliminary 
 step he decided on granting the constitution so long 
 desired by the Piedmontese people. This important act 
 would, he knew, give mortal offence to Austria, and cut 
 him off from all kinship with the other Italian princes. 
 But he had the Pope on his side ; and he said in the 
 council, ' If Austria is against us, Italy will be with us.' 
 Next day, February 7, 1848, a royal proclamation made 
 public his consent to the much-desired Statnto. The 
 citizens of Turin, wild with joy, but still doubting, ran 
 to the palace, singing the ' Hymn of Pio Nono,' then a 
 national song. The pale face and tall form of Charles 
 Albert appeared on the balcon}', with his sons by his side, 
 holding the tricolour in his hands. The people shouted, 
 wept, embraced each other, and swore eternal fealty to 
 the Plouse of Savoy. 
 
 What the conscientious King of Piedmont granted 
 voluntarily, the sovereigns of Tuscany and Naples were 
 compelled to cede to the unanimous demand of their 
 people. 
 
 All Italy was on fire. Lombardy and Venice were 
 already in arms, and the Milanese, after five days of ter- 
 rible fighting, drove the Austrian troops out of the city. 
 The declaration of the War of Independence could be no 
 longer delayed. The last grand act of the drama in 
 which Charles Albert played the part of hero began 
 with that declaration of war ; the rest of his life is so 
 bound up with that of his son, whose story we have 
 undertaken to relate, that we will pursue it no further in 
 this chapter.
 
 28 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BIRTH, EDUCATION, MARRIAGE. A.D. 182O-42. 
 
 On March 14, 1820, in the Carignano Palace, Turin, the 
 eldest son of Charles Albert of Savoy-Carignano first 
 saw the light. The child was born a little after mid- 
 night, and next day he was received into the bosom of 
 the Catholic Church, — King Victor Emmanuel and his 
 queen assisting at the ceremony, in which the august 
 godfather bestowed on his little cousin his own name, 
 and a liberal supply of other appellations. The child 
 was baptised, Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio 
 Ferdinando Tommaso. 
 
 Before a year passed the Carbonari revolution, and 
 the consequent change of sovereigns, drove the Prince 
 of Carignano into exile. The infant years of Victor 
 Emmanuel were passed in a villa outside of Florence, 
 called Poggio Imperiale, and there, when he was two 
 years old, the life on which Italy's destinies hung was 
 all but extinguished. His nurse, Teresa Bacca, a Turin 
 woman, having accidentally set fire to his bed-curtains, 
 only with difficulty saved him from the flames. He was 
 slightly burned, and the unfortunate nurse died a few 
 days after of the injuries she received. A tablet placed 
 on the spot by the Provisional Government of Tuscany 
 commemorates the accident. 
 
 In this same year, 1822, was born Charles Albert's 
 second son, the Duke of Genoa. This baby brother 
 was the object of intense interest and affection to the 
 little Victor, who used to run every minute to the nur- 
 sery, which adjoined his own room, to look at him and 
 kiss him. His mother writes of him : — 
 
 My little Victor is very docile ; I have, however, some 
 difficulty in teaching him, for he wants to be always
 
 victor's early education. 29 
 
 running or jumping, but when he once learns a thing 
 he rarely forgets it. 
 
 The future hero's chief delight in infant years was 
 playing at war — constructing armies of little wooden 
 soldiers, and putting them through militaiy evolu- 
 tions. The child felt with his parents, that he was 
 an exile from the paternal abode, and at four years old 
 he said to his mother, ' I am impatient to see papa's 
 house.' 
 
 Very soon after this they returned to Piedmont, and 
 lived in retirement in their castle of Racconigi, where 
 Charles Albert devoted himself to the mental and physical 
 training of his sons. He wished to give them a high 
 intellectual education, but also to familiarise them with 
 a soldier's duties, so that they should not be inferior to 
 their ancestors in courage, strength, and daring. So, 
 between learned bishops and professors in the class- 
 room, and military tutors and drill-sergeants out of 
 doors, the young princes had a pretty hard time of it, 
 and not a minute to spare to get into mischief, from 
 morning till night. They were up at five o'clock in 
 the morning, when they began their studies, and con- 
 tinued them till late in the day, only broken by the 
 hours allotted for meals, and diversified by a fencing 
 lesson, a long walk, or a six hours' ride on horseback. 
 The Princess of Carignano did not like to see her little 
 boys kept under such severe soldierly discipline, and 
 often reproached her husband for his excessive rigour. 
 
 But notwithstanding this severity, and the strict 
 court etiquette which always accompanies an absolute 
 monarchy, and which obliges the son of the prince to 
 maintain towards his sire an attitude of distant respect, 
 — Victor Emmanuel understood and appreciated his 
 good father, whom he loved devotedly, and regarded as 
 an ideal hero. 
 
 When Prince Victor was fifteen his father succeeded 
 to the throne ; and just about that time he wrote a life 
 of one of his ancestors, Amadeus VI., surnamed Conte 
 Verde. This juvenile production is dedicated * A Papa ' 
 on one side of the page, and ' Au Roi ' on the other, and
 
 30 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 signed ' P. V^ictor de Savoie,' in a bold clear hand. The 
 letter, which is prettily composed in the French lan- 
 guage, begins ' Sire,' and concludes with these words : — 
 
 Deign, my very dear father, to throw a kind glance 
 on this effort of your son Victor, full of the desire to 
 please you, and to give you some proofs of his tender 
 and respectful attachment, proofs which he would 
 have wished to render more worthy of you. 
 
 Almost all the compositions of the Duke of Savoy at 
 this period treat of military subjects, such as the arrange- 
 ment of an army in a plain, the siege of a fortress, the 
 passage of a river, the defence of a wood, etc. One is 
 entitled, 'The History of the Treaties between the dif- 
 ferent Powers of Europe, in which reference is made to 
 the Savoy Dynasty.' The subjects were suitable studies 
 for the heir to the throne which must be held by the 
 sword. 
 
 Eveiy Wednesday morning in Turin, in spite of burn- 
 ing sun, or pouring rain, or drifting snow, the drums 
 beat and the trumpets blew for the military to repair to 
 the Piazza d' Armi, where the King held a grand review, in 
 which he was always assisted by his sons. An extra- 
 ordinary sympathy and friendship had always united 
 these brothers from infancy. They were inseparable as 
 twins ; no boyish emulation, no ambitious rivalry in 
 manhood, ever cooled the fraternal affection, which is a 
 beautiful trait in the character of the Savoy family. 
 The brothers were equally brave, generous, kind- 
 hearted, but Victor's fiery, impetuous nature, and over- 
 flowing animal spirits, were tempered by the prudent 
 counsels of the graver, calmer Ferdinand, who resem- 
 bled his father in character much more than did the 
 elder son. Prince Victor's fine, manly qualities, and plea- 
 sant, genial manners endeared him to all his teachers 
 and masters ; in a special manner to two — Monsignor 
 Charvaz, afterwards Archbishop of Genoa, and Colonel 
 Dabormida, afterwards general and minister of state. 
 The general's affection for his royal pupil surpassed the 
 common devotion of a faithful subject, and was fully
 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 3 1 
 
 returned by the prince. Having received one day from 
 the king, his father, an intimation of his friend's promo- 
 tion, he writes thus : — 
 
 Carissimo, — I experienced the greatest pleasure in receiv- 
 ing this note that his majesty sends me, while I listen 
 to the relations of the Minister of War, J'ai signe la 
 patente de Daborinida, and I hasten to announce it to 
 you. I do not know, dear friend, and dear lieutenant- 
 colonel, how I can express to you the gratification 
 this gives me, but you know how I love you, and that 
 everything that gives you pleasure gives me a great 
 deal. . . . We have here (at Genoa) the third son of 
 
 Prince . He is a handsome youth, tall as my 
 
 brother, but very cfflanqiie. We are always together ; 
 he asks me ever>"thing he ought to do, and seems much 
 embarrassed with his person, which ought not to be 
 after ten years' travelling in all parts of the globe. 
 He is about my age, and knows nothing of the usages 
 of the world. One evening he was in company at the 
 
 Lady 's, and sat opposite to her before a roasting 
 
 fire, without knowing how to take himself away. 
 Monday we must manoeuvre with seventeen battalions 
 before the prince. I shall command the Savona re- 
 giment and Royal Marines, forming a reserve. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy had now reached his twenty-first 
 birthday ; and on the whole Charles Albert was not dis- 
 appointed in the heir on whom he had lavished such 
 care and affection. His father's training had not suc- 
 ceeded in making him a learned man, for his natural 
 bent was towards action rather than study ; but he was 
 a keen observer of men and things, had a large endow- 
 ment of good sense, wide sympathies, and shared to the 
 full his father's generous ambition to liberate Italy from 
 the foreign yoke, and bring fresh lustre to the ancient 
 race from which he sprang. 
 
 This ancestry worship, with other chivalrous ideas of 
 bygone times, is a striking characteristic of the House of 
 Savoy. The children of that house have always been 
 nourished and fed upon the traditions of ancestral
 
 32 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 heroes, and taught that they ought to endeavour to 
 resemble them to the utmost of their abihty. The 
 rehgious reverence which every son of the Sabaud family 
 entertains for the early founders of the house, as much 
 as for his immediate progenitors, has always acted as a 
 powerful incentive to their daring deeds. * A people,' 
 says Macaulay, ' who take no pride in the noble achieve- 
 ments of remote ancestors will never achieve anything 
 worthy to be remembered by remote descendants.' 
 Without a particle of personal vanity, this pride of 
 race was a passion in Victor Emmanuel. An exiled 
 Neapolitan general once said to him tliat there were 
 two sovereigns in Europe who might serve as a warn- 
 ing and example for a young prince — Ferdinand of 
 Naples, and Leopold of Belgium ; to which Victor replied 
 with a proud smile and flashing eye, ' Geperal, I need 
 not go out of my own family for examples of loyalty 
 and heroism. Enough for me to remember the deeds 
 of my ancestors.' 
 
 The prince was of middle stature, broad shouldered, 
 powerfully built, with a brown complexion, snub nose, 
 and a heavy underjaw ; his full brown beard, and fierce- 
 looking moustache curling upon his cheek, were not 
 then such striking characteristics as afterwards. Not- 
 withstanding this homely exterior, the intelligence, good 
 sense, and good feeling expressed in his broad open 
 brow and kindly smile, won confidence and sympathy 
 at a glance. His ardent, dauntless spirit might be read 
 in the steady unflinching glance of his piercing dark 
 eye, which was never seen to quail for an instant in the 
 presence of any earthly peril. His manners were frank 
 and simple, but not wanting in a certain soldierly 
 dignity. 
 
 Such was Victor Emmanuel of Savoy in his twenty- 
 second year, when he began to pay court to his fair 
 cousin, Maria Adelaide, daughter of the Archduke 
 Ranieri, Viceroy of Lombardy- Venice. The mother of 
 the princess was the only and beloved sister of Charles 
 Albert, and the frequent intercourse of the families led 
 to an intimacy between the young people. Victor's
 
 PRINCESS ADELAIDE. 33 
 
 cousin'y affection quickly grew into love, and he did 
 not fai' to inspire in Adelaide a corresponding sentiment, 
 which, if less ardent, proved more constant than his. 
 The o ily possible objection to an alliance with the 
 archduchess was her Austrian birth ; it was a strong 
 one to Charles Albert at that moment, and would make 
 the marriage very unpopular in Piedmont. But as she 
 was Italian and Sabaud on her mother's side, the king 
 overcame the difficulty, and yielded to the wishes of 
 his son. The marriage took place in 1842, when the duke 
 was twenty-two years old, and his bride nineteen. King 
 Charles Albert celebrated the event with all sorts of 
 fetes, and among other diversions was the novel one of 
 a tournament, not so strange at the Savoy court as it 
 would have been elsewhere, for in no other country have 
 old chivalric customs and ideas lingered so long as in 
 the Sardinian states. The people looked coldly on these 
 festivities, disapproving of the marriage, as a new tie to 
 bind their sovereign to Austrian interests. In a very 
 short time, however, the charming qualities of the Prin- 
 cess Adelaide completely gained the hearts of the Pied- 
 montese, and the manly loyalty of this brave people won 
 the affection of the princess, who had cast in her lot with 
 them for weal or woe. She must have imbibed from her 
 mother some of the sentiment of Italian nationality ; 
 and even if it were not so, the gentle young wife could 
 not have resisted the overwhelming influence of a 
 husband to whom she was so deeply attached. His 
 soul was so permeated with the idea of national inde- 
 pendence that she could hardly love Victor without 
 loving Italy. 
 
 The Princess Adelaide was very pious ; but neither 
 the Austrians nor the Jesuits were able to make use 
 of her influence to the prejudice of Italian interests. 
 When it came to a question of war between her husband 
 and father it nearly broke her heart ; but she was still 
 true to Victor and to Italy. A Neapolitan gentleman 
 records that just before the battle of Novara he was 
 seated beside the Duchess of Savoy, who asked him 
 the news of his country. He replied that they would 
 
 D
 
 34 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 denounce the armistice and appeal once more to arms. 
 ' We also denounce the armistice. Fatal necessity ! ' 
 said the princess, and her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 Maria Adelaide was a princess of boundless (;harity. 
 She kept an exact register of the poor of the civy ; she 
 knew their names, occupations, maladies, etc., and sacri- 
 ficed her time, and many luxuries of dress and jewels, to 
 supply their wants. When her husband brought her a 
 magnificent present, she said it was too handsome for 
 her, the money would have done so much for her poor 
 pensioners. ' She was a most excellent wife and mother,' 
 says Ghiron, ' giving constant care to the education of 
 her children, being herself their teacher, ever present 
 at their studies, their recreations, their meals ; and 
 in educating them she followed the principles of the 
 House of Savoy, which requires its sons to be robust 
 and courageous. We have the results in those two brave 
 princes who exposed their lives on the field of battle 
 like common soldiers ; in Prince Amedeo, who sus- 
 tained such a bitter struggle on the throne from which 
 he retired only when it was necessary to use force ; in 
 Queen Maria Pia of Portugal, who threw herself into 
 the waves to save her son ; in the Princess Clotilde, 
 who proclaimed the incontestable truth that " Fear 
 and Savoy had never yet met." ' 
 
 The friends of Victor Emmanuel assert that he was 
 a loving husband, and deeply attached to his sweet young 
 queen, whose noble qualities he fully appreciated. His 
 enemies, on the other hand, pronounce him a brute, a 
 monster, a demon, who broke the heart of his saintly 
 wife and brought her to an early grave. Neither of 
 these stories is strictly true, but the least false is that 
 told by the Liberal party. It is true that he was very 
 fond of and kind to his wife, and that he retained her 
 affection to the latest hour of her existence. She died 
 of an acute disease, not of a broken heart ; but that he 
 was guilty of certain gallantries during her lifetime, 
 which must have caused her deep pain, is equally true. 
 We do not mean to chalk over the spots on our hero's 
 fame. He had his faults, but they were redeemed by 
 many noble qualities.
 
 35 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE YOUNG SOLDIER. A.D. 1 848. 
 
 The Duke of Savoy, as we have said, was liberal to 
 the heart's core, and hailed with intense joy his father's 
 adoption of the national cause. When the news arrived 
 of the rising of Milan on March 18, 1848, and the famous 
 Five Days that followed, ending in the expulsion of the 
 Austrians, Turin was convulsed with joyful excitement, 
 and the citizens crowded in the piazzas, demanding arms 
 from the government to go to the aid of their Lombard 
 brothers. The king and princes were deeply agi- 
 tated ; though war was pending, they did not expect 
 such a sudden explosion. A Cabinet council was held, 
 and orders were given that the military were to be put 
 in motion as soon as possible to cross the Ticino. Ano- 
 ther council was held to make the necessary military 
 appointments. The prince was not present at the 
 council, and though he was burning to flesh his maiden 
 sword in Austrian breasts, did not know but the go- 
 vernment might forbid his going to the seat of war. 
 Count Cesar Balbo, the historian, was then at the head 
 of affairs ; and as he was returning home from the 
 council he was conscious of some one following his 
 steps. At last he turned round and faced a gentleman 
 wrapped in a mantle so as to disguise his face. 
 
 ' What do you want of me .'* ' he asked. 
 
 ' Don't you recognise me .-* ' asked a well-known 
 voice, and the prince threw back his mantle. ' I am 
 come to pray you not to forget me when forming the 
 divisions of the army that is to cross the Ticino.' Then 
 he said in a voice of concentrated, intense anxiety, 'Am 
 I to have a command .-' I entreat you, speak to my 
 father immediately.' 
 
 Count Balbo replied, ' It is the intention of his 
 majesty to give you a command. Be tranquil; the 
 
 D 2
 
 36 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Duke of Savoy could not be, and has not been for- 
 gotten.' 
 
 Victor caught his hand and pressed it warmly ; then 
 wrapped himself in his mantle, and bounded away 
 joyously. 
 
 ' During the campaign the young general comported 
 himself valorously,' says Massari. ' Without using a 
 profusion of words, it is enough to say that under the 
 canvas or in the battle-field he showed himself worthy 
 of his race. He who knows the story of the Savoy 
 dynasty knows that there is no higher eulogium than 
 this.' 
 
 Apart from the sentiments of patriotism which he 
 felt so strongly, the danger of war had as romantic a 
 fascination for Victor Emmanuel as for any young 
 knight of mediaeval days. In the hunting excursions 
 amidst Alpine snows and glaciers he was famous for 
 the reckless daring of his wild exploits, in which he 
 seemed to court danger for its own sake. When he 
 first heard the rattle of musketry and booming of can- 
 non on the battle-field, and knew the enemy was in 
 front of him, he cried out, ' Ah, tJiis is the music that 
 pleases me ! ' 
 
 His first taste of war was at Santa Lucia, May 6, 
 where he gallantly led his brigade, and behaved so well 
 that. he was awarded a silver medal for valour. Those 
 who have seen Victor Emmanuel on his war-horse in 
 moments of danger say that there was something soul- 
 stirring in his aspect. He looked such a perfect soldier, 
 and displayed such a reckless gallantry in his impetuous 
 charges, that he inspired the wildest enthusiasm in the 
 troops. He was a good general in every respect. He 
 guarded against surprises, looked after the comforts of 
 his men, particularly the sick and wounded, and bore 
 any amount of fatigue and hardship uncomplainingly. 
 
 At Goito, however, the experienced Austrians out- 
 witted the Piedmontese, coming upon them at a mo- 
 ment when they were weary after a long march, and 
 had laid down their arms to prepare themselves some 
 refreshments. The prince, who was just retiring to his
 
 BATTLE OF GOITO. -i^J 
 
 tent when the firing began, sprang to the saddle and 
 galloped to the spot. The Piedmontese, weary, hungry, 
 and surprised unarmed, had not recovered their pre- 
 sence of mind, and were making but a feeble re- 
 sistance to the fresh and vigorous Austrian troops. 
 One regiment was beginning to break up, and give 
 way, when the Duke of Savoy threw himself before 
 the soldiers, and addressing them with that generous 
 indignation which makes men ashamed of weakness, 
 forced them to turn and face the enemy. His own 
 dauntless courage communicated itself to his followers, 
 who contested the field most heroically. 
 
 An eye-witness, the Duke of Dino, thus describes 
 the crisis : — 
 
 There was a moment when victory seemed to smile on 
 the Austrians. Then I saw pass before me like a 
 whirlwind a young general, his Arab horse covered 
 with foam, his spurs stained with blood. The cavalier 
 with eyes flashing fire, and moustache bristling on end, 
 precipitated himself, sword in hand, towards a splendid 
 regiment of the guards ; he pulled up opposite to it, 
 and cried out, ' With me, guards, to save the honour of 
 Savoy ! ' A general shout responded to the chival- 
 rous invitation. The regiment put itself in motion 
 instantly, and the fight was more desperate than ever. 
 The Austrians paused, retreated ; received new rein- 
 forcements, and then returned to the attack. They 
 were on the point of overpowering the guards, 
 whose officers gave the greatest proof of valour. In 
 the midst of the smoke and fire the young general 
 appeared and disappeared from my sight like light- 
 ning. He galloped up and down the field, encourag- 
 ing the soldiers with voice and gesture, and though 
 wounded by a ball in the thigh, still stood firm in 
 the fiercest struggle. At last General d'Arvillars 
 ordered a light battery to advance. When this 
 opened fire the Austrians paused, and became con- 
 fused, and then the Cuneo Brigade rushing into the 
 combat, they soon sounded a retreat. I asked an 
 officer who passed me, wounded, ' Who is that general
 
 38 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 who SO courageously exposed his h'fe ? ' ' The Duke 
 of Savoy.' 
 
 ' Viva Casa Savoya ! ' cried the Duke of Dino ; ' the 
 descendants of Emanuele Filiberto have not degenerated.' 
 
 While this desperate fight was going on, King Charles 
 Albert, pale and immovable, sat on his horse like the 
 statue of an ancient cavalier, giving his orders with a calm 
 and stately dignity, as if he were on the parade. As the 
 Duke of Savoy had just driven the Austrians from their 
 last stand-point, and they were in full retreat, the king 
 received a despatch, and turning to his officers, said : 
 ' Gentlemen, Peschiera is ours. My son, the Duke of 
 Genoa, gives me news of its surrender.' At that moment 
 the crown prince rode up, with blood-stained garments 
 and radiant face. ' Majesty,' he said, with a military 
 salute, 'the battle of to-day shall be called the victory of 
 Goito.' It was a proud and happy moment for the king 
 and father, who had i'ew such in his life, and whose feelings 
 were all the more intense because of the habitual restraint 
 in which he held them ; a moment of delirious joy to the 
 crown prince, and of true, deep-felt enthusiasm on the 
 part of the army, who with acclamations long and loud 
 saluted Charles Albert as the liberator of Italy. 
 
 'Viva ritalia! Viva Carlo Alberto! Viva Vitto- 
 rio ! ' were the cries that rang from regiment to regi- 
 ment, then taken up, and repeated again and again, 
 throughout the camp. Victor Emmanuel was intoxi- 
 cated with delight. The rare honour of a gold medal 
 for valour was awarded to him ; but his wound was more 
 precious still. It was, fortunately, not so serious as to 
 disable him from active service, but enough to give him 
 the delicious sensation of having shed his blood for 
 Italy. He did not conceal his boyish delight in the fact, 
 and said to his attendants, ' How the Duke of Genoa 
 will envy me this ! ' 
 
 Alas ! it was a short-lived triumph. The glory of 
 Goito was doomed ere long to be extinguished in blood 
 and tears. 
 
 ' 'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace,'
 
 THE FALSE LEAGUE. 39 
 
 the causes of the disastrous issue of this campaign. It 
 was meant to be a national war. Charles Albert be- 
 lieved, as many others did, that he was to lead an 
 Italian, not a Piedmontese army, for the expulsion of 
 the foreigner from Italian soil. The Romagna, Tus- 
 cany, Lombardy, Venice, and Naples had all declared 
 their determination to unite in one great effort to libe- 
 rate the whole country from Austrian oppression. The 
 Pope had an army already in the field near Ferrara to 
 combat Austrian aggression, the Lombards were actually 
 in arms before the King of Sardinia had crossed the 
 Ticino, He had said in his proclamation : ' I will do 
 my best to further your just desires, aided by that 
 Providence which has given to Italy a Pio Nono.' The 
 Pope had proposed a league between the Italian princes 
 for the protection of the peninsula, which he hoped 
 would soon bring matters to a peaceful solution ; he 
 meant to go to Lombardy himself, and throw the weight 
 of his spiritual authority into the scale of Italian inde- 
 pendence, which — added to the united arms of all the 
 principalities — would bring Austria to see the matter 
 from a just and Christian point of view. There can be 
 little doubt that the Pope was honestly patriotic in his 
 intentions, though the republican writers will not ac- 
 knowledge it, and invariably class him with the other 
 princes who acted so false a part on this occasion. All 
 the sovereigns declared themselves disposed to follow 
 the lead of the good Pope in everything. They granted 
 constitutions all round with a great flourish of trumpets, 
 and loudly declared they shared the sentiments of their 
 ' beloved subjects,' in their hatred of the foreign yoke. 
 P'erdinand II.'s patriotic fire burned stronger than that 
 of any other. 'War with Austria,' he said, was his 
 soul's desire. He had always ' detested Austria.' One 
 can hardly take in the full depth of this man's treachery 
 without reading his long proclamation to his ' most be- 
 loved people,' on the occasion of the declaration of war, 
 in which he says, ' Our brothers await us on the field of 
 honour, and we shall not fail them,' and concludes with 
 these words : —
 
 40 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Union, abnegation, firmness — and the independence of 
 our beautiful Italy shall be accomplished. Let this 
 be our only thought ; so generous a passion silences 
 all other less noble ones. Before long 24,000,000 
 Italians will have a country — a common and rich 
 patrimony of glory, etc., etc. 
 
 The Grand Duke of Tuscany was not behind his 
 royal brothers ; and it must be owned that they had all 
 learned the language of the Nationalists admirably. 
 Leopold's address to his soldiers is so short that we are 
 tempted to quote it. 
 
 Soldiers! — The holy cause of the independence of 
 Italy is to be decided now on the fields of Lombardy. 
 Already the citizens of Milan have bought — with their 
 blood, and by a heroism the like of which history 
 offers few examples — their liberty. Already the 
 Sardic army moves to the field, led by its magnani- 
 mous king, under whose orders fight the royal princes. 
 Sons of Italy, heirs of the glory of their ancestors, 
 the Tuscans cannot, must not, remain in shameful ease 
 at such a solemn moment. Fly then, unite yourselves 
 to the valiant citizens who as volunteers are ranging 
 themselves under our banner — fly to the succour of our 
 Lombard brothers, etc., etc. 
 
 The little Dukes of Modena and Parma were drawn 
 along in the wake of their powerful neighbours. They 
 expressed great repentance for having yielde.d so long to 
 Austrian domination — because they could not help it ; 
 henceforth they should put themselves under the direc- 
 tion of his holiness the Pope, the King of Sardinia, 
 and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Tliey also made out 
 a statiito, and swore to it ; and sent forth their little 
 contingents to aid in the national war. The wildest 
 enthusiasm prevailed in every part of Italy ; the great 
 sacrifices that were made by the poor as well as the rich 
 attested the sincerity of the sentiment which burned in 
 the breasts of all Italians who deserved to be called 
 such. The young women who had no ornaments to
 
 A HOLY WAR. 4 1 
 
 give sold their abundant tresses to contribute to the 
 expenses of the volunteers. 
 
 Led by their princes, blessed by the Pope, the peo- 
 ple felt they were going to fight in the holiest of causes, 
 'And holy it was, because it was a war of indepen- 
 dence,' says Farini. 
 
 Imprudent or no, it was hol)\ Holy, because a war of 
 independence is always holy. A war of defence only 
 is always legitimate, because to repulse and expel a 
 foreign invader from our country' is to defend our wel- 
 fare, our honour, our sepulchres — all that a man holds 
 dear and sacred, from the altar of God to the kiss of 
 his beloved. And the foreigner is always a domi- 
 neering tyrant. He cannot be other than a tyrant. 
 Even his civilisation, his gentleness, his liberality are 
 refinements of tyranny. • Holy, then, was the war of 
 independence ; holy the enthusiasm that kindled the 
 population in the Roman State, in the spring of 1848 ; 
 holy the gifts and the sacrifices that they made.^ 
 
 But the glorious hopes of the Italian nation were 
 blasted by the weakness and treachery of the sovereigns. 
 The army of the King of Naples took as long to reach 
 Lombardy as they would have taken to go to the Holy 
 Land. They never went farther than Bologna, where 
 the commander, Pepe, received an order to return to 
 Naples with the troops. This he could not bring him- 
 self to do, so resigned his post to an inferior, who, in 
 obedience to secret orders from the king, had under- 
 mined and thwarted him all through the march. The 
 officers and men were filled with shame and grief; some 
 deserted and volunteered in the Sardinian army, but 
 most of them submitted to the authority of their supe- 
 riors. One ofificer is said to have died, literally of grief, 
 
 * Lo Stato Romano dal 181 5 al 1850. The illustrious author, Luigi 
 Carlo Farini, is a most trustworthy historian of the events in which he took 
 an active and important part. He was a Moderate, high in favour with Pio 
 Nono in the Pontiff's liberal days, and one of the few whose attachment 
 to him seems to have survived his apostasy. His book has the additional 
 interest to the English reader of being dedicated to William E. Gladstone,
 
 42 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 and it is certain that another committed suicide. The 
 grand duke's army was similarly rendered useless by 
 secret orders to hoodwink and delude the Sardinians 
 with the false hope of aid. 
 
 The Lombards, who had begun the war with such 
 heroism as was displayed in the Five Days' struggle, did 
 not maintain the same noble bearing throughout ; they 
 were divided among themselves and failed to support 
 the Piedmontese as the king had been led to expect. 
 They and the Venetians spent the precious time in dis- 
 puting as to what form of government they would have, 
 while the Austrians were still in possession of Italian 
 soil. The Mazzinians were busy haranguing against 
 monarchies, and circulating libellous stories about the 
 Savoy family, while that family were doing more than 
 any other in Italy to defend the rights and liberties of 
 the nation. 
 
 The Romans, on whom King Charles had been 
 taught to rely much, were rendered almost useless by 
 the extraordinary indecision of Pius IX., who, as soon as 
 he had committed himself to a straightforward course of 
 action, directly after stultified himself by some contra- 
 diction. Though he protested against Austrian outrages 
 on the frontier, and sent troops to defend it, he did away 
 with the effect of these proceedings by saying that he 
 did not mean to make war. Radetsky knew how to 
 avail himself of this weakness, and issued a proclamation 
 saying that as the holy father had said repeatedly that 
 he would not make war, he regarded the Roman soldiers 
 as outlaws, and would shoot every man he found bear- 
 ing arms ; which he accordingly did. This naturally 
 had a demoralising effect on the troops, and all the more 
 because they were not allowed to cross the Po and meet 
 the Austrians in honourable warfare. General Durando 
 could not wring a consent from the Pontiff, and he found 
 himself in the position of making war on his own account, 
 till at last the fear of a popular rising in Rome obliged 
 the Pope to put his troops under the command of Charles 
 Albert. But the papal army was very much inferior in 
 spirits and numbers then to what it had been when it
 
 REVERSES. 43 
 
 marched out of Rome, and did not render very effectual 
 aid in the contest. 
 
 Thus, in point of fact, if we except the volunteers, 
 gallant little Piedmont was left alone to fight the battle 
 of Italian independence. Marshal Radetsky, having 
 made short work of the papal troops at Vicenza, collected 
 his forces, and concentrated them on the point where he 
 could most easily come upon the Sardinian army, small 
 in numbers, exhausted by heat, fatigue, and fevers. The 
 first reverse they had was at Sommacampagna, the royal 
 family not being present at the engagement. They 
 hastened forward and encountered the enemy at Staffala, 
 and attacked them with such vigour that they drove 
 ihetn from the field, taking 2,000 prisoners, arms, colours, 
 etc. Victor Emmanuel was the leading spirit of this 
 battle. For the past two months, during which the army 
 had suffered much from fever and other causes, the 
 prince, by his admirable discipline, the kindly interest 
 he took in the men, and the soldier-like manner in which 
 he shared their hardships, had endeared himself more 
 and more to them. 
 
 The victory of Staffala was v.-on under great diffi- 
 culties ; a wasted army, encamped in a low, hot plain, 
 under a burning July sun, was not equal to another such 
 effort. But on the morrow the Piedmontese were called 
 to defend themselves from a fresh attack, and they did 
 it gallantly, desperately, but all in vain. The Austrian 
 officers bore testimony to the valour of the Duke of 
 Savoy and his brother, who led their men again and 
 again to the assault, and were finally driven back only 
 when all hope was over. This battle, fought at Custoza, 
 near Villafranca, left the Italian army almost crushed, 
 morally and physically. 
 
 Charles Albert was advised to retreat across the Po. 
 and fortify himself in Piacenza. But the evil genius 
 which had presided overall his public acts did not forsake 
 him now. His generous disposition led him to neglect 
 this prudent counsel, and betake himself to the aid of 
 Milan. D'Azeglio said : — 
 
 Since Lombardv and Venice will not unite, I told the
 
 44 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 king that his duty, the good of Italy, the welfare of 
 the cause, required that he should retreat to Piedmont 
 and defend it, where he could preserve an Italian 
 army for a better occasion. Another defeat will render 
 this occasion hopeless for centuries ; and with one sole 
 army we should not risk it. 
 
 But Charles Albert did risk it ; he threw himself into 
 Milan. Badly provisioned and badly defended against a 
 powerful victorious army, the struggle became hopeless, 
 and he capitulated. It was then that the Milanese 
 populace effaced the glory of the Five Days by their 
 cruel ingratitude to the too-generous king, who had all but 
 sacrificed his own state to protect them. Goaded by 
 the Mazzinians, they cried out that he was a traitor, and 
 might have taken his life if he had not escaped from the 
 city before his sons had come to his rescue. 
 
 The populace of Milan were saved from the infamy 
 of. personal outrage towards the king by the daring 
 feat of a young Piedmontese major, who with a few 
 followers came under his balcony at midnight, and 
 carried him off out of the city. This brave officer had 
 already given evidence of the noblest gifts of heart and 
 mind, and he was destined in the future to win im- 
 mortal honour for the Italian arms, and cover with new 
 glory the ancient name of La Marmora. 
 
 The unhappy Charles Albert, whose destiny it was 
 still to be misunderstood, recrossed the Ticino with the 
 firm intention of resuming the war. The advice of 
 England and France was strongly against a renewal of 
 the contest, as was that of many brave, wise men in 
 Italy. But the heedless people demanded it, and called 
 everyone a traitor who opposed it ; and the poor king, 
 feeling his honour and the honour of Piedmont to be at 
 stake, went almost without hope to his doom. 
 
 On March 20, 1849, the war was renewed, and was 
 ended in three days by the utter overthrow of the Italian 
 arms at Novara, a defeat which postponed the work of 
 independence for ten years. The Piedmontese army as 
 well as the king, expected defeat, for they were utterly
 
 BATTLES OF MORTARA AND NOVARA. 45 
 
 broken in spirits and health. Even the sanguine, 
 high-spirited Victor Emmanuel went sadly with clouded 
 brow to this last campaign. 'We were unfortunate,' 
 said he to a friend, ' but we were also betrayed by 
 many persons.' The prince probably meant the secret 
 adherents of Austria ; but the republicans helped largely 
 to ruin the national cause for the time. The one con- 
 spicuous person who was openly false to his duty, and 
 who suffered the just punishment of his treachery, was 
 General Ramorino. He was ordered to hold the passage 
 of the Po against the Austrian army, while the king 
 was collecting his forces at Magenta. He left the passage 
 open, the enemy passed into the country, and cut off the 
 Piedmontese from their basis of operations. 
 
 At Sforzesca the Italians met with a success, but at 
 Mortara the great body of the Austrian army was con- 
 centrated ; and there General Durando and the Duke 
 of Savoy encountered them, and after a long-contested, 
 bloody battle, were utterly defeated. The Italians and 
 Austrians fought through the streets of Mortara after 
 night fell, and committed fearful havoc not only on one 
 another but the unfortunate citizens. General Durando 
 fought his way inch by inch out of the town, and joined 
 the Duke of Savoy and La Marmora, who were trying 
 to collect together the miserable remains of the army. 
 The divisions of Durando and the prince, which had been 
 the flower of the army, were no longer in existence. 
 With heart oppressed by grief, Victor set out for his 
 father's quarters, where the fatal news had preceded 
 him. Charles Albert had received his son with sedate 
 composure when he rushed up to him with the cry of 
 victory on his lips ; but now his paternal heart was 
 moved by the young man's misfortune. He embraced 
 him with emotion, and told him that he knew he 
 had comported himself as became a son of the Savoy 
 family. 
 
 The king never raised his head after this ; he knew 
 he must be defeated in the last great encounter, and was 
 resolved to seek death. Throughout the march to Novara 
 his aide-de-camp heard him murmur broken-hearted
 
 46 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 words, unconscious that anyone was listening. ' Ccst 
 tout fini pour inoi,' he said repeatedly. March 23 was 
 the fatal day which extinguished for so many years all 
 hope of Italian independence. The morning broke 
 gloomily in a drizzling rain, and soon came to a heavy 
 fall which lasted all day, mingling with the streams of 
 blood, which, hopeless though they knew it was, the 
 Italians did not shrink from pouring out like water. 
 To die in vain, seemed to the king and his brave fol- 
 lowers all that was left for them to do. We have heard 
 innumerable touching stories of individual heroism dis- 
 played on the field of Novara, and these were only in 
 keeping with the general conduct of the whole army. 
 Radetsky said the Piedmontese 'fought like devils,' and 
 there were moments when he feared that he must give 
 way before them. 
 
 General Perron, heading a desperate assault, had his 
 skull broken. He begged the men who supported him 
 to lay him at the king's feet, and with his last con- 
 vulsive breath he said, ' Sire, I offered to you and my 
 country the last days of my life. My duty is accom- 
 plished.' A captain of artillery having an arm shot off, 
 never left his post, but rallied his men and rushed 
 again to the assault. A young boy pointing a cannon 
 had his hand taken away. His father seeing him look 
 pale asked him was he wounded .'' He raised the bleed- 
 ing stump, and cried, Viva il Re! This heroic boy, 
 Carlo di Robilant by name, is now Italian ambassador 
 at Vienna. Count Balbo had sent his five sons to the 
 war, and all were engaged in this last combat ; one of 
 them fell by too strict obedience to his commander's 
 orders. These deeds of vain heroism only wrung the 
 heart of the unhappy king, who, wherever he turned his 
 haggard eyes, saw his brave people overwhelmed by 
 fresh reinforcements, falling thick and fast upon the 
 field. He was fighting for more than life, for that with- 
 out which life would be insupportable ; and seeing it hope- 
 less, he sought in the thickest fire to meet the death for 
 which he longed. But the balls passed him by as if by 
 a miracle. Indeed the Savoy family seemed on that
 
 ABDICATION OF CHARLES ALBERT. 47 
 
 day to have charmed lives. The Duke of Genoa had 
 three horses killed under him. The Duke of Savoy, 
 having performed deeds of valour greater far than at 
 the famous victory of Goito, covered the slow retreat of 
 the Italian forces when night put a stop to the vain 
 combat. 
 
 A flag of truce was sent to the Austrian camp to 
 demand an armistice ; but the conditions offered by the 
 Marshal were too dishonourable to accept, even then ; 
 the first being the immediate expulsion of all Italian 
 exiles from the state of Piedmont. It was only a few 
 hours after the combat had ceased that the embassy 
 returned with this reply. Charles Albert had previously 
 notified to his generals that they were to meet him in 
 council ; and when he had communicated to them the 
 answer of Marshal Radetsky, he said, ' Gentlemen, we 
 cannot accept these conditions. Is it possible that we 
 can resume hostilities .'' ' 
 
 All replied with one voice, ' No.' 
 
 Then Charles Albert addressed his generals in the 
 following pathetic words, his last speech as king : — 
 
 From eighteen years till now I have always made every 
 effort possible for the benefit of the people. I am 
 deeply afflicted to see that my hopes have failed, not 
 so much for my own sake, as for the country's. I have 
 not been able to find death on the field of battle, as I 
 had desired ; perhaps my existence is now the only 
 obstacle to obtaining from the enemy reasonable 
 terms. And since there remain no further means of 
 continuing hostilities, I abdicate this moment, in 
 favour of my son Vittorio, in the hope that, renew- 
 ing negotiations with Radetsky, the new king may 
 obtain better conditions, and procure for the country 
 an advantageous peace. Behold your king ! 
 
 The prince turned pale, and in an agitated voice 
 tried to dissuade his father from the step he proposed, 
 the Duke of Genoa and all present uniting with him. 
 But in vain ; Charles Albert was resolute. He shook 
 hands with his generals, and dismissed them, remaining
 
 48 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 alone with his sons. The princes were receiving his last 
 advice and counsel, when the officers deputed to carry 
 the message of the change of sovereigns to the Austrian 
 camp presented themselves, saying they wanted more 
 minute instructions from the king. 
 
 'Certainly,' said Charles Albert. 'Victor, speak to 
 those gentlemen, give them your instructions.' 
 
 At midnight the uncrowned king set out in a small 
 carriage with one sole attendant, under the title of Count 
 Barge, to seek an obscure home in the friendly state 
 of Portugal. Charles Albert had warm devoted friends 
 who would have followed him, had he permitted it, in 
 poverty and exile to the ends of the earth. But he 
 chose to live in absolute privacy in Oporto, where he 
 tried in vain to forget the dream of his life, the glorious 
 dream of being the liberator and uniter of Italy. All 
 that now remained to him for the few short months of 
 his existence was to watch, from a distant shore, his 
 Victor, all unaided, bravely buffeting the waves of adverse 
 fortune, under which he himself had sunk exhausted. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE HONEST KING. A.D. 1 849. 
 
 * Per Dio, Italia sara ! ' cried Prince Victor, shaking 
 his sword in the direction of the Austrians, as he followed 
 in the rear of his shattered army at Novara. It seemed 
 a mad boast at that moment, and doubtless would have 
 made Marshal Radetsky smile, had he heard it ; yet, 
 insuperable as the obstacles seemed to be, he lived to 
 overcome them all, and fulfil his vow. 
 
 His first taste of sovereign power was bitter ; a 
 more miserable inheritance could hardly have been 
 handed from father to son than that which he received 
 on the evening of the fatal day which seemed to have
 
 FIRMNESS OF THE YOUNG KING. 49 
 
 extinguished the last hope of Italian liberty. ' I did 
 not desire to be king,' he said a short time after to Sir 
 Ralph Abercrombie, and there is every reason to believe 
 that he spoke sincerely. ' I have no taste for the pro- 
 fession, which seems to me a miserable one, and in the 
 present day very difficult.' 
 
 It was indeed a gloomy prospect. Surrounded by 
 enemies in all the Italian princes, forsaken by the Pope, 
 Lombardy and Venice crushed, the Jesuits and Ivlazzi- 
 nians working to their utmost for the destruction of 
 his dynasty, England and France looking on in strict 
 neutrality, he stood alone in presence of a powerful and 
 victorious army, which threatened his little state with 
 annihilation. But he manfully took up the broken 
 sceptre which had fallen from his father's grasp, and 
 nerved himself to encounter the terrible difficulties that 
 beset his way. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to arrange an armistice, 
 so as to give time to consider a treaty of peace. Marshal 
 Radetsky requested a personal interview with the king, 
 hoping to win him by threats and bribes to abandon the 
 Liberal cause. He was young and inexperienced, had not 
 yet sworn to the Constitution, and perhaps had suffisred 
 enough to show him the folly of adhering to so hopeless 
 a cause as popular government in Italy. If he could be 
 brought to exchange his new-fangled ideas for the good 
 old despotic rule of the House of Savoy, then Austria 
 would be his friend and ally, and hold him on the 
 throne in spite of a rebellious and discontented people. 
 
 But the young king was faithful to his subjects and 
 to his principles. He knew how to resist the cunning 
 old general's threats and blandishments alike. ' ^Marshal,' 
 said he with a fierce energy, ' sooner than subscribe to 
 such conditions I would lose a hundred crowns. What 
 my father has sworn I will maintain. If you wish a 
 Avar to the death, be it so ! I will call my nation to 
 arms once more, and you will see what Piedmont is 
 capable of in a general rising. If I must fall, it shall be 
 without shame. j\Iy house knows the road of exile, but 
 not of dishonour.' 
 
 E
 
 50 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 The manly firmness of the loyal-hearted king in his 
 misfortune stirred a little sympathy in the grizzled old 
 soldier who was trying to stamp his principles and his 
 nation out of existence. At least, he always professed 
 an admiration and esteem for Victor Emmanuel, and 
 spoke of him as a ' noble fellow.' 
 
 On March 26, 1 849, the armistice was concluded. The 
 King of Sardinia was to break up all the military corps 
 composed of Lombards, Poles, Hungarians, etc., retain- 
 ing only the few who chose to remain his subjects for 
 ever ; a heavy war indemnity was to be paid to Austria ; 
 and meantime the troops were to occupy Piedmontese 
 territory between the Po, the Sesia, and the Ticino ; half 
 the fortress of Alessandria was to be given up to the 
 foreign army. 
 
 These were the best terms that King Victor Em- 
 manuel could wring from the conquerors ; and though 
 something was ceded in compliment to him personally, 
 they were hard conditions. A writer who saw him come 
 away from this trying interview thus describes him : — 
 
 Victor Emmanuel II. passed at a gallop, followed by his 
 staff officers, in the midst of the serried battalions ; 
 but in that rapid glance his appearance was impressed 
 on the mind of everyone who saw him. His coun- 
 tenance was grave, severe, firm, his gaze fixed before 
 him as of one who reflects deeply ; in it we noted the 
 resoluteness of a strong soul, that accepts events, but 
 does not sink under them. In the expression of his 
 face there was dignity mingled with a noble, proud 
 grief — the grief of a son, citizen, and king.^ 
 
 Marshal Radetsky wanted to make a great display 
 of military homage to the king, and had ordered that all 
 the Austrian troops on the road to Turin were to turn 
 out to do him honour. Victor Emmanuel absolutely re- 
 fused to permit it, as he wished to return to his capital 
 in the most private manner. 
 
 When a prince leads forth an army amidst the ac- 
 
 ' Bersezio, / Contetnporanei Italiani.
 
 RETURN TO THE CAPITAL. 5 1 
 
 clamations of the citizens to expected victor}', and returns 
 defeated, with a shattered remnant of that army, what 
 welcome does he look for from his countrymen ? If he 
 has read history to any purpose, he may know that a 
 leader who comes back alive under these circumstances 
 must be made a scapegoat. The ' many-headed mon- 
 ster ' called the People, who at times have as little 
 generosity as reason or gratitude, but an immense 
 amount of vanity, cannot conceive how their army could 
 be defeated by any just means. Nothing but treason 
 or gross mismanagement on the part of the commander 
 could account for the humiliating fact. So they make 
 him a scapegoat. 
 
 The republican element, which had ruined the 
 national cause in Lombardy and Venice, had not been 
 without effect in Piedmont. Slanderous insinuations had 
 been set afloat about Victor Emmanuel as well as his 
 father, so that the news of the overthrow of the Italian 
 army set Turin in a flame of anger against the prince, 
 who had a large share in the conduct of affairs. Of 
 course it was for the most part the basso popolo who 
 felt so. The sober-minded, well-informed citizens knew 
 enough of the difficulties of the war question to under- 
 stand how the Italian army, with all its courage and 
 enthusiasm, could be defeated. Yet even the minds of 
 the better classes were influenced by false reports. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel on his way to the capital received 
 a private letter from the queen consort, acquainting him 
 with the state of public feeling, and begging him to enter 
 Turin privately. He did so ; and the day after issued 
 a proclamation, and received the oath of the troops. 
 The queen assisted at the ceremony in a carriage, ac- 
 companied by the two children Humbert and Amadeus, 
 the one five and the other four years old. The royal 
 party were received with the coldest courtesy by the 
 citizens. Not a cheer welcomed the unfortunate prince 
 to the throne of his ancestors, except what was given by 
 his faithful soldiers who had followed him through the 
 war. The king was deeply wounded by the injustice 
 and ingratitude of his people, and, naturally, his wife felt
 
 52 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 with him. They went home miserable and disconso- 
 late. 
 
 The royal proclamation was to the following efifect: — - 
 
 Citizens, — Untoward events and the will of my most 
 venerated parent have called me, long before my 
 time, to the throne of my ancestors. The circum- 
 stances under which I hold the reins of government 
 are such that nothing but the most perfect concord in 
 all will enable me, and then with difficulty, to fulfil my 
 only desire, the salvation of our common country. The 
 destinies of nations are matured in the designs of Pro- 
 vidence, but man owes to his country all the service 
 he is capable of, and in this debt we have not failed. 
 Now all our efforts must be to maintain our honour 
 untarnished, to heal the wounds (jf our country, to con- 
 solidate our constitutional institutions. To this un- 
 dertaking I conjure all my people, to it I will pledge 
 myself by a solemn oath, and I await from the nation 
 the exchange of help, affection, and confidence. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The proclamation was not countersigned by any 
 minister ; but his adviser was Cadorna, whom he had 
 empowered to form a ministry on the resignation of the 
 late one. 
 
 On the evening of March 27 the new ministers pre- 
 sented themselves to the Chamber of Deputies, to make 
 known the terms of the armistice which had been agreed 
 to on the 24th, that is, the day after the battle. At 
 8 o'clock the Chamber was opened, and the house was 
 crowded to excess by an anxious, agitated assembly. 
 The Minister of the Interior, Pinelli, rose to read the 
 articles of the capitulation. His face was pale with sup- 
 pressed emotion as he looked round at his hearers and 
 began the humiliating recital. He was listened to in 
 gloomy silence till he came to the third article, which 
 provided that the Austrian troops, 18,000 infantry and 
 2,000 cavalr}^ were to occupy Piedmontese territory and 
 part of the fort of Alessandria. Then there was a general 
 burst of indignation, and a cry against the Austrians
 
 THE ARMISTICE. 53 
 
 and the traitors. ' It is an infamy,' was shouted from 
 the benches of the deputies and the galleries simul- 
 taneously. The tumult lasted for some minutes, and it 
 was some time before the minister could resume his 
 reading, which he was hardly able to do because of his 
 own agitation and that of his hearers. He was inter- 
 rupted by fierce exclamations at ever}^ article, which 
 came to a climax when it was stipulated that the Sar- 
 dinian fleet should be removed from the Adriatic, and 
 brought into the Ligurian ports within fifteen days. 
 
 The minister felt it his duty to add that these con- 
 ditions would have been much heavier if the earnest 
 insistance of the king had not obtained considerable 
 modifications. 
 
 When the ministers betook themselves to the palace, 
 they found the king waiting in intense anxiety to hear 
 how the armistice had been received, and they described 
 the scene in the Chamber. He had borne up bravely 
 throughout the miserable week, but when he knew the 
 Parliament was hostile to him his spirits gave way. 
 The suppressed grief of the past five days found vent in 
 tears and sobs, as he repeated again and again that he 
 had nothing to reproach himself with ; he had done 
 his utmost for the country, and that was his only 
 consolation. 
 
 Next day a deputation from the Chamber of Deputies 
 waited on the king, and addressed him in terms of 
 respectful remonstrance, as though their sovereign held 
 their liberty in the hollow of his hand, and had but 
 to issue an order and they would immediately be rid of 
 the incubus of Austrian occupation. The deputation, 
 after bitterly lamenting the grievous state of things, 
 hoped that their monarch would follow the example of 
 his magnanimous predecessor, who was a firm upholder 
 of the Italian cause. The king was put on his defence, 
 and, though ver\- much agitated, he did defend himself 
 boldly and ably. He began by saying that he wished to 
 be, like his father, an upholder of Italian independence, 
 and he had already gi\en some proofs of his fidelity to 
 the cause. He then related the story of the disastrous
 
 54 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 campaign from beginning to end. The deputation was 
 impressed by the narration from the lips of the king, 
 whose truth they could not doubt, and they reported the 
 facts to the assembly. 
 
 Next day, the 29th, the king took the oath to the 
 constitution. As he was ascending the stairs of the 
 palace, on his way to the Chamber, he narrowly escaped 
 a sudden death. An enormous beam fell from the roof 
 close to him, striking the epaulet of the gentleman 
 beside him, Menabrea, who was horrified at the danger ; 
 but the king did not give it the least attention. ' Come 
 on, we have other things to think of,' he said to his 
 minister, and moved forward without a moment's delay. 
 
 The senators, deputies, and spectators were very 
 numerous. Victor Emmanuel, dressed in military uni- 
 form, took his seat upon the throne, while the Keeper of 
 the Seals announced the Chambers opened. When the 
 formula of the royal oath, which is the twenty-second 
 article of the famous Statuto} for which his father had 
 suffered so much, was presented, the king stood up, 
 uncovered his head, and after casting a significant glance 
 around the assembly, spoke in a loud, sonorous voice : — 
 
 In the presence of God, I swear to observe loyally the 
 Statuto : not to exercise the royal authority but in 
 virtue of the laws and in conformity with them ; to see 
 that full justice is rendered to everyone according to 
 his rights ; to comport myself in all things with the 
 sole view of the interest, the prosperity, and honour of 
 the nation. 
 
 He placed his signature to the document, reseated 
 himself on the throne, and said : — 
 
 In assuming the government of the state in the present 
 circumstances, of which I more than any other feel 
 the weight and bitterness, I have already expressed 
 to the nation what my intentions are. The consolida- 
 tion of our constitutional institutions, the welfare and 
 
 ' For particulars of the Sardinian Constitution, now that of all Italy, 
 see Monaixhia Rapprese7itativa in Ilalia, by Count Cesare Balbo.
 
 DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 55 
 
 honour of our common countr)-, form the constant 
 subject of my thoughts, and I trust I shall be able to 
 accomplish them with the aid of Providence and your 
 accordance. In taking this solemn oath, I am pro- 
 foundly sensible of the gravity of my duties, which 
 must shorten my life. 
 
 In returning from the legislative assembly, Victor 
 Emmanuel had recovered his usual composure. The 
 agitation of his mind was calmed by the grandeur of 
 the oath and the consciousness that he meant to maintain 
 it at any cost. It was only a week since the battle of 
 Xovara, yet he had lived through so many important 
 scenes and events in that time, that the Duke of Savoy 
 seemed quite a different person from the King Victor 
 Emmanuel II. 
 
 The new ministr\- was formed by General Delaunay, 
 who chose for one of his colleagues Gioberti, who had 
 been in the Cabinet of Charles Albert. Signor Nigra, a 
 rich banker, much esteemed for his spotless probity, 
 consented, from pure devotion to the king and country, 
 to be ^Minister of Finance, at a moment when the treasury 
 was empty and the nation reduced to a state of penurj^-. 
 
 The first thing the king and his ministers agreed 
 upon was to dissolve the Parliament and have a general 
 election. It was an unpractical and scatter-brained 
 assembly, elected on the war-cr>', when no candidate 
 would have had a chance who was not ' sound ' on that 
 question; when such men as Camillo Cavourwere rejected, 
 and sometimes denounced as traitors, because they were 
 opposed to it. It was, in fact, an impossible Parliament 
 to do sober, sad work with, for it could not be persuaded 
 to accept the inevitable consequences of defeat. The 
 Chambers were dissolved on the 30th, and the day for the 
 general election was not named, because the government 
 thought it well to give time for turbulent passions to calm 
 down, while the peace negotiations were going forward. 
 
 These negotiations were prolonged into the summer, 
 and seemed never likely to come to a peaceful solution. 
 The King of Sardinia had recourse to the friendly powers
 
 $6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 of France and England to use their influence on his 
 behalf. In a private conversation with the respective 
 ambassadors of these states, V^ictor Emmanuel spoke to 
 the following effect :— 
 
 I have done my duty as a soldier, and now I will serve 
 my country in another way, because I love her sin- 
 cerely. I will tell you the truth always, and I wish 
 my ministers to do the same. If we think it necessary 
 to follow a line of conduct, once it is adopted, I will 
 say so frankly. This shall always be my policy, 
 internal and external. As to you, gentlemen, you can 
 tell your governments that I desire peace, frankly, 
 loyally, without any ambitious second ends. Say, 
 also, to Marshal Radetsky that I am willing to follow 
 the armistice, or even to modify it in the interest of 
 peace. I do not pretend to elude the fulfilment of 
 the conditions I have signed. I shall be very grateful 
 to you for what you do for us ; be sure I shall never 
 compromise you, for I never fail in my word. 
 
 The city of Genoa had been the seat of republican 
 intrigues in 1848, and after the overthrow of the royal 
 army in 1849 ^^^ people, incited by some unprincipled 
 demagogues, broke into open anarchy. General Alfonzo 
 la Marmora was sent to restore order to the distracted 
 city, and he fulfilled his mission with ability and discre- 
 tion. He was, however, obliged to hold it in a state of 
 siege for some time. An amnesty was granted to the 
 insurgents, with a few exceptions ; and amongst those 
 few was the Marchese Pareto, formerly Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs in Charles Albert's reign. His case was 
 a bad one ; but when the paper was presented to the 
 king, he said, — 
 
 ' I do not wish this exception made. I will not have 
 it said that I have used rigour towards a man who was 
 once my father's minister.' 
 
 The ministry soon broke up, divided on the peace 
 question, and Delaunay resigned ; on this the king 
 thought of Massimo d'Azeglio, who, still suffering from the 
 wound received at Vicenza, and deeply afflicted in spirit,
 
 MASSIMO DAZEGLIO AS MINISTER. 5/ 
 
 was wandering up and down the Riviera. If Victor 
 Emmanuel did not like the ' profession of king,' 
 D'Azeglio liked that of minister quite as little. The 
 king's message found him at Genoa, and it was earnestly 
 backed up by his brother Roberto, Marchese d'Azeglio, 
 and one of the ministers, who came to his room early 
 in the morning, before he was out of bed, and entreated 
 him to accept the difficult charge. He could not re- 
 fuse, though the office was most distasteful to him. On 
 May 10, he sent forth an address to his constituents 
 confirming what the king had already said. ' The 
 misfortunes, the errors of the past, render war impos- 
 sible,' said he ; ' but for the nation, for the king, for us, 
 we proclaim it in the face of the world, dishonour is 
 quite as impossible.' 
 
 The king was much pleased with his new minister ; 
 their political opinions exactly coincided ; they both had 
 a large fund of good sense and keen observation, as well 
 as an uncompromising candour and honesty of character ; 
 and though Victor Emmanuel was not a polished man 
 of letters, he could appreciate D'Azeglio's varied talents 
 and charming manners. He made him his friend and 
 confidant ; and when D'Azeglio's wound obliged him to 
 lie on a sofa all day, used to go to see him, and talk 
 over affairs public and private. D'Azeglio, being so 
 much older than the king, and having had such a large 
 experience of life, beside being nothing of a courtier, 
 gave his opinions and advice with unusual frankness. 
 
 One day talking alone with his sovereign, he said, 
 there have been so few honest kings in the world, it 
 would be a grand thing to begin the series. 
 
 And Victor, looking at him with a smile, asked, — 
 ' Have I to play the part of honest king } ' 
 ' Your majesty has sworn to the Statiito, and has 
 thought of all Italy, and not of Piedmont only. Let us 
 continue in this path, and hold always that a king, as 
 well as an obscure individual, has one word only, and by 
 that he must stand.' 
 
 ' Well, in that case,' replied the monarch, ' the pro- 
 fession seems easy to me.'
 
 58 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 ' And the Re galantiiomo, we have him,' concluded 
 the minister. 
 
 His majesty was pleased with the title, and proud 
 of it. When the register of the census of Turin was 
 brought, and he was asked to sign his name, he wrote, 
 under the head 'Profession,' ^ Re gala7itiiomo! ' 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PIO NONO AND THE PAPAL POWER. A.D. 1 848-49. 
 
 There were no people in Italy in whom the feeling of 
 nationality was stronger, or the desire for a change of 
 government so intense, as the Romagnuoli. And indeed 
 when one reads the history of modern Rome, the won- 
 der is how a brave, high-spirited people could have 
 submitted so long to the papal government. They did 
 not submit very patiently, it is true, for they were 
 much given to conspire and rebel ; but these conspiracies 
 and rebellions were nipped in the bud by a system 
 of espionage and terrorism quite unique — a system in 
 which were united the temporal and spiritual powers. 
 Anyone suspected of liberal thought in religion or poli- 
 tics was hunted down, not so much by means of the 
 police as by means of the priests. The confessional was 
 a ready way of obtaining the secrets of every family ; 
 and the aged or dying persons were refused absolution 
 
 ' A critic in the Pall Mall Gazette, among some other misstatements, 
 contradicted this story and substituted the following : — 'The title of Rt 
 galantiiomo was not given him by any minister. The story runs that when 
 some one was blaming the errors of the preceding reign he replied — But I 
 am an honest ?>mn.^ 
 
 All we have to say concerning this is that the critic should have some 
 better proof than ' the story runs ' when he undertakes to correct ; and that 
 no one who knows anything about Victor Emmanuel would believe that 
 he could insinuate that his father was not an honest man. His father's 
 honour was an article of faith with him. Our version is so well known in 
 Italy that we did not think it necessary to cite any of the numerous 
 authorities which we might on so trivial a matter. 
 
 See D'Azeglio's Letters to Torelli, published at Milan ; Massari's Life 
 of Victor Eiiivianiiel, etc., etc.
 
 CHARACTER OF PIUS IX. 59 
 
 unless they betrayed the haunts of their suspected 
 friends and relations. The information thus obtained 
 was grossly abused, and men were dragged before the 
 Inquisition, tortured and imprisoned on the pretext of 
 heresy, who were perfectly orthodox, and desired nothing 
 but some reform in the administration of justice. 
 
 The immediate predecessors of Pius IX. were so 
 detestable, that they made him appear, by force of con- 
 trast, an angel from heaven. His benevolent disposi- 
 tion, the purity of his private life, and the reforms with 
 which he began his reign — for he too granted a repre- 
 sentative form of government — raised the wildest hopes 
 in the hearts of the people ; they persuaded, caressed, 
 and adored him to such an extent that he was carried 
 along on the wave of popularity, and landed in Libe- 
 ralism before he knew what he was about. But sud- 
 denly he awoke as if from a delirium, and finding he 
 had drifted unconsciously away from the fixed principles 
 of the papacy, tried to get back as best he could. 
 
 He had initiated the reform movement before 
 Charles Albert had dared to unfurl the tricolour ; but 
 before that unfortunate monarch had well entered into 
 the desperate struggle, Pius IX. was beginning to re- 
 cover from the liberal fever ; he was quarrelling with 
 his ministers, contradicting his own utterances, sending 
 orders to his generals not to fight, and trying every 
 means to avoid a rupture with Austria — Austria who all 
 the time hated him as a demon of revolution, and had 
 the clergy preaching against him and threatening a 
 schism. This was what he feared ; and though not de- 
 void of courage and patriotism, the priest was stronger 
 in him than the citizen. Still some reforms from time 
 to time he granted, and he had fresh accesses of 
 Liberalism when Austrian aggression made him feel for 
 the moment like a man and an Italian. His subjects, 
 who were truly attached to him, prostrated themselves at 
 his feet, and implored permission to fight his enemies — 
 to defend the sacred confines of the Church's States. 
 They ofi"ered money, arms, jewels — all they possessed 
 — if he would only give them the blessed privilege of
 
 6o LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 dying in his cause, and let that cause and Italy's be 
 one. He was touched by the pathetic appeal, and 
 seemed to yield for the time. He would bless them 
 and their banner, and write an indignant protest to the 
 Austrian general against outrages in Ferrara, or brutali- 
 ties in Bologna ; and then his patient subjects would 
 thank him with an excess of gratitude, for having pro- 
 tested against the violation of his own territories. 
 
 The Romans were all the time burning to take their 
 part in the national war into which they had helped to 
 drive Charles Albert. He had said : — 
 
 I will do my best to further your just desires, aided by 
 that Providence which has given to Italy a Pio Nono 
 — that Providence which is visibly with us, and has 
 given Italy strength to stand alone. 
 
 They thought it would be an everlasting disgrace if 
 Piedmont and Lombardy were left to fight the battle of 
 liberty all unaided, after having been misled by so many 
 promises ; and there were those who felt such generous 
 .shame at the idea, that they did not wait for any per- 
 mission, but volunteered under the banner of the King 
 of Sardinia. 
 
 The wildest joy pervaded the city of Rome when 
 the first Piedmontese successes were announced, but 
 the defeat of Custoza threw her into mourning. The 
 deputies of the Consulta — a sort of parliament which 
 the Pope had instituted — framed an address to the 
 sovereign in the most passionate language of entreaty, 
 concluding thus : — 
 
 We wish to save the state from the discord and horrid 
 turmoil by which she is threatened, and we cannot do 
 so unless we direct to a good end the extraordinary 
 popular enthusiasm, and unless you uphold us with 
 your authority. Listen, O blessed Father, to the 
 sorrowful cry of your devoted children ! Oh, do not 
 zvill that in the reign of Pio Nono a great disaster to 
 the Italian arms should weigh down our consciences 
 with remorse !
 
 RETROGRESSION OF THE POPE. 6 1 
 
 The Pope still hesitated ; he wanted time to consi- 
 der, he said. The citizens became desperate. Time ! 
 they exclaimed, time ! while their Piedmontese and 
 Lombard brothers were pouring out their best blood ! 
 while Italy was being assassinated ! 
 
 Even the priests — many of them, at least — shared 
 the popular enthusiasm. They harangued the people, 
 blessed the banners, and ofifered to march north with 
 the army. Amongst these warlike priests was the 
 Barnabite frate, Gavazzi, a very eloquent, but a turbu- 
 lent and injudicious preacher, who subsequently left the 
 Church of Rome. When General Durando, accompanied 
 by Massimo d'Azeglio, at last marched to the seat of war, 
 he was not permitted to cross the Po, and the discontent 
 at this inactivity of the papal government was increased 
 by various other incidents. Gioberti had just issued his 
 book against the Jesuits, who were detested in Rome as 
 the deadly enemies of liberty, and the Romans received 
 the work with unmeasured praise. 
 
 The Pope grew angry^, and accused everyone of in- 
 gratitude ; the people insulted the Jesuits and forced 
 them to leave Rome, threatened to burn cardinals' pa- 
 laces, crying, ' Live Pio Nono alone ! Death to Lam- 
 bruschini ! ' The Pope grew more angry ; he went about 
 guarded, and showed a want of confidence in the citizens, 
 even alluding to the national aspirations as ' insane hopes.' 
 All this time a continual change of ministers went on, as 
 Hberal or clerical counsels prevailed, or rather as the 
 pressure of the popular will was brought to bear upon 
 the sovereign. The people were becoming more vio- 
 lent and unreasonable in their demands, and the Pope 
 was gradually receding from the position of reformer, 
 frightened of schism and anarchy. The breach was 
 widening rapidly, and the people, under the pernicious 
 influence of violent demagogues, had been worked into 
 the worst frame of mind, when Pellegrino Rossi came 
 into office. He was an excellent man, and an able 
 statesman ; but he pleased nobody, because he courted 
 neither clergy nor people, but set about his duty with a 
 stern resolve to put down riotous disorder in the city,
 
 62 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 and corrupt practices in high places. His brutal murder, 
 which is an everlasting disgrace to the people of Rome, 
 gave Pio Nono a great shock, and threw him back into 
 the arms of the retrograde party. He was bitterly 
 disappointed and grieved to find that the Utopia of 
 his poetic imagination was but an impossible dream,- 
 Disaffection daily increased, and the Romans began to 
 regard their once adored Pontiff as a false, capricious, 
 tyrannical ruler. 
 
 D'Azeglio had said truly when he wrote, ' The magic 
 of Pio Nono will not last.' The fact is, that he never 
 had been the phcenix they took him for at first, nor was 
 he. even at his worst, a heartless tyrant, though the acts 
 of his government might well cover his name with 
 odium. He was weak and vacillating, and lent an ear 
 now to the words of one party, now of another. The 
 clerical party was the most powerful, and by the most 
 cunning and artful means managed to inspire in him 
 such a fear of anarchy and schism that he shrank from 
 the simplest and most necessary reforms as dangerous. 
 His great fault was an extravagant idea of his own self- 
 importance. He believed in himself as Pope as firmly 
 as he did in the Madonna ; an offence against him was 
 an offence against religion, and deserved the severest pun- 
 ishment. This will account for what sometimes seemed 
 evidence of a vindictive nature, but was not really so. 
 He never meant to deceive his subjects. They de- 
 ceived themselves by imagining that the Pope was a 
 man of such transcendent genius, force of character, and 
 sublime virtue, that he could overturn and remodel at 
 his will such a powerful institution as the Church go- 
 vernment, the abuses and corruptions of which had their 
 roots deep fixed in far-back ages. 
 
 When at last the mutinous citizens bombarded the 
 Quirinal palace— the Pope being inside — he ceded, but 
 with a protest. ' I cede to force alone,' he said ; and in a 
 few days he left Rome secretly by night, disguised as a 
 common priest. November 25, 1848, Pio Nono aban- 
 doned his capital, a prey to contending parties, and took 
 refuge with the King of Naples at Gaeta. It was a
 
 EFFORTS AT A RECONCILIATION. 63 
 
 most unhappy choice, and cut off all hope of a recon- 
 ciliation with his people. The liberal ministers, lately 
 called to office by compulsion, established a provisional 
 government, and sent a deputation to Gaeta to entreat 
 his holiness to return to Rome. The deputation was 
 stopped on the frontier by order of the King of Naples, 
 and not allowed to approach the Pope. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Austrian Jesuits had come round 
 him, and were doing their utmost to make the breach 
 wider. In an evil hour he appealed to the Catholic 
 powers for help against his subjects — an evil hour for 
 him, Pio Nono, and the temporal power — not for Italy. 
 He had left his capital without a leader, and one of 
 his deadliest enemies, Garibaldi, had taken possession 
 of it, and was disseminating his heretical views in 
 a very fruitful soil, giving a republican bias to all 
 the liberal movements. The reception the deputation 
 met with broke the last tie between the Pope and 
 his subjects. 
 
 Carlo Alberto was cut to the heart by the defection 
 of Pio Nono from the Liberal cause. He was really his 
 only ally, and he valued him more than all the other 
 princes put together, because of his spiritual authority. 
 He tried repeatedly to reconcile the Romans and their 
 sovereign, but in vain. On January i, 1849, Conte di 
 San Martino, envoy of the Sardinian king, arrived at 
 Gaeta. The Pope refused to see him, though the king 
 had given him no offence whatever. At last, after much 
 trouble, he consented to receive him as a private indivi- 
 dual. They talked of his return to Rome, and the 
 count hinted at the advisability of conciliatory measures ; 
 but the Pope gave him to understand that he trusted 
 entirely to foreign aid for his restoration. The count 
 started and looked reproachfully at the Pope, who was 
 himself a little disturbed. ' die vuole} they would have 
 it,' said he. 
 
 The Austrian and Bavarian ambassadors laboured 
 incessantly to circumvent San Martino, but he re- 
 mained for some time at Gaeta, and pleaded the cause 
 of the Romans, which was the cause of Italy, with great
 
 64 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 earnestness. There were moments when the Pope's 
 better nature was in the ascendant ; and once he 
 seem.ed moved by San Martino's arguments ; but he 
 said again, ' What would you have .-' It is too late/ 
 and sighed. 
 
 It was doubtless a sigh from the depth of his soul, a 
 sigh for his better self, the lost Pio Nono of 1846, beloved 
 and reverenced as he never could be again. Perhaps at 
 that moment a vision flashed across his mind of himself 
 on the balcony of the Quirinal, with hands outstretched 
 over thousands of upturned faces, all breathing love and 
 trust, while he blessed the Italian cause, and they vowed 
 fidelity to their pastor and king. And now he was 
 about to let loose upon them a foreign soldiery ; hence- 
 forth he must hold his throne by the sole force of arms. 
 Well might Pio Nono sigh.' 
 
 King Ferdinand and the Austrian ambassador per- 
 suaded the Pope that nothing but Austrian interven- 
 tion could reseat him on the throne. France and Spain, 
 equally eager to get hold of him, were profuse in offers 
 of services. Poor Count San Martino had no chance 
 against such odds, but he spoke boldly nevertheless. 
 Gioberti, once much admired by Pio Nono, was then 
 Charles Albert's minister, and he addressed a letter to 
 Gaeta on the subject of a reconciliation between the 
 Pope and the Romans which concluded thus : — 
 
 ' Early in 1848, the Pope had issued a proclamation blessing the Italian 
 cause. Some misunderstandings had previously arisen between the Pontiff 
 and citizens about the Civic Guard ; but these differences having been 
 accommodated for the moment, the proclamation was issued, and the 
 people surrounded the Pope's carriage, holding up a placard with the 
 words : ^ Holy Father, confide in your people^ — and then followed him in great 
 numbers to the Quirinal. He came on the balcony, and spoke, in the midst 
 of a profound silence : — 
 
 ' Before the benediction of God descends upon you, on the rest of my 
 states, and — I repeat it once more — on all Italy, I pray you to be of one 
 accord, and to maintain that faith which you have vowed to your Pontiff.' 
 
 The silence was Lroken by a tumultuous, agitated crj' from the multitude : 
 'I swear.' 
 
 The Pope raised his hand to consecrate this solemn compact by calling 
 God's blessing upon it. 
 
 Who broke faith — the Pope or the people? To be quite just, we should 
 say neither party observed the compact, both feeling themselves justified in 
 breaking it.
 
 THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. 65 
 
 I hope the Court of Gaeta is about to return to senti- 
 ments more evangelical, more worthy of Pio Nono. 
 I am sorr>' to have to say that the Court of Gaeta, 
 repudiatingr the doctrine of conciliation, and adopting 
 that of vengeance and blood, does not seem to know 
 that it is repudiating the maxims of Christ, and 
 putting in their stead those of Mahomet. 
 
 It is necessary to bear these events of Charles 
 Albert's reign in mind, in order to judge fairly of the 
 quarrel between his successor and the Holy See. 
 
 The respectable portion of the city of Rome thought 
 they had done their duty in trying to make peace, and 
 now, under the influence of Garibaldi and Mazzini, just 
 then arrived, they felt inclined to use their liberty, and 
 establish a different form of government. In February 
 1849, a meeting of Parliament took place, in which it 
 was resolved that Pope Pius IX. had fallen from the 
 temporal power in fact and in right, but that his in- 
 dependence as Pontiff should be strictly guaranteed. 
 Galletti, the late minister of Pio Nono, accepted office. 
 The Romans inaugurated their republic with religious 
 observances, for they were anxious to show that they 
 adhered to the Christian faith, and that liberty did not 
 mean atheism. Among the first measures of the new 
 government was the abolition of the Holy Office of the 
 Inquisition. 
 
 The populace would have levelled it with the ground, 
 but the ministers decided to put the building to some 
 charitable purpose ; before making any alteration in it, 
 they thought it well to leave it open for a few days, to 
 let the citizens see with their own eyes the secret 
 mechanism of the papal system. They did not need 
 any evidence to know that the only crime of serious 
 moment in the States of the Church was liberal thought 
 in religion and politics. That their friends and relations 
 had been spirited away, and immured in prison, they 
 also knew too well. And when the prison doors were 
 open these emaciated heretics had a sad tale to tell of 
 cruel suffering and ingenious torture, and that without 
 
 F
 
 66 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 any visible instruments, for these had been abolished 
 by law in 1815. But worse than anything that had 
 come to their knowledge was discovered in the dungeons, 
 and in the archives where the criminal records were 
 kept.^ 
 
 The following account by one of the prisoners, a 
 foreigner, will give an idea of the excitement of Rome 
 at the opening of the Inquisition. 
 
 It was the 27th of March, 1849, near sunset, when a 
 great tumult and rushing of feet at a rapid pace, and 
 a noise of many voices made themselves heard in the 
 corridor. Ignorant of what had happened, I did not 
 know the cause of the noise, and thought my last 
 hour was come, and throwing myself on my knees, I 
 commended my soul to God. Then the door of my 
 prison opened, and there entered a man of short stature, 
 who fell upon my neck and embraced me, while tears 
 fell abundantly from under his green spectacles. It was 
 the minister Sterbini, author of the abolition of the 
 Holy Office. ' You are free,' he said. I was ex- 
 cessively weak from long confinement in the narrow, 
 damp prison, and had almost lost the power of walk- 
 ing. But the men who accompanied him took me by 
 the arms and carried me across a court, through a 
 crowd who cried, ' Down with the Pope ! ' ' Live the 
 Republic ! ' I was put in a room with other prisoners, 
 where the good people, so different from their priests, 
 took great pains to restore me with soups, wine and 
 cordials. When Sterbini had visited all the prisoners, 
 he asked each where he would like to be sent. I 
 replied that, being a foreigner, I had no friends in 
 Rome, and prayed him to conduct me to the consul 
 of my nation. 
 
 ' You shall go to your consul,' he said, ' but not in 
 your present state ; wait till you are a little recovered.' 
 Then one of the gentlemen present entreated me to 
 accept his hospitality, which I did with gratitude. I 
 
 ' See Fiorentino, La Vita di Pio Nono.
 
 THE SIEGE OF ROME. 6j 
 
 was put in a carriage and carried to the house of this 
 good Roman, where I now am. 
 
 It was just three days after the battle of Novara, 
 which plunged Rome and Italy in the deepest mourning. 
 There were rejoicings at Gaeta when the news arrived, 
 and Pio Nono showed his chameleon-like character in 
 its worst aspect at this time. His old ally. Carlo 
 Alberto, who was a devoted son of the Church, had 
 been overpowered in a last desperate stand against 
 his enemies. Lombardy was being trampled to death 
 by Austrian dragoons, under a general at whose name 
 humanity shudders. Venice was still making a gallant 
 but utterly hopeless defence against the enemy, having 
 addressed the most touching appeals for help to the 
 holy father, before his flight. 
 
 At the time that the war was raging in the north 
 of Italy, Naples was a prey to the same misfortune. 
 The Two Sicilies were in open rebellion ; having decided 
 to depose for ever the Bourbon race, they invited to the 
 throne Ferdinand of Savoy, Charles Albert's younger 
 son. But Piedmont could not spare one gallant arm 
 from her service, much less a prince of the blood. 
 Garibaldi, with 5,000 volunteers, lent able assistance 
 to the Neapolitan insurgents, and defeated the royal 
 troops repeatedly. He hastened back to defend Rome 
 from the French, who, in answer to the Pope's appeal, 
 had landed at Civitavecchia, April 1849. Though they 
 came in friendly guise, promising to respect the liberties 
 of the people, the Romans thought it well to prepare for 
 defence, and the bells of the Capitol rang out calling the 
 citizens to arms. On April 29 there were within the 
 walls 9,000 soldiers ready for battle, in two divisions, 
 one commanded by Garibaldi, the other by Bartolucci. 
 
 The gallant conduct of the Romans during the siege 
 redeemed their character from the stain which their 
 previous excesses and follies had left upon it. The 
 best men came to the front in this moment of dire 
 distress, while the citizens, aided by some northern 
 volunteers, not only performed acts of great valour, but 
 
 F 2
 
 68 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 displayed a constancy and heroism worthy of ancient 
 days. The siege lasted four months. Then, utterly worn 
 out, the city capitulated, and General Oudinot entered 
 on July 3. The Pope sent him a warm letter of 
 thanks, and benedictions for himself and his soldiers. 
 
 When he fled from Rome [says Guerrazzi], with the 
 locket of Pius VI. in his bosom, and the woman Spaur 
 by his side, he never ceased to supplicate the Divine 
 Redeemer for the health of his enemies — whom later 
 he sent openly to the gallows. 
 
 The same author records the fact that at the time 
 of the numerous trials for high treason which followed 
 the Pope's restoration, he used to lay the death warrant 
 at the foot of the cross, and when no heavenly inspira- 
 tion or sign came from it, he ordered the sentence to be 
 executed.' 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE KING AND CONSTITUTION. A.D. 1849-50. 
 
 Early in May, a month after Victor Emmanuel had 
 come to the throne, it was decided between him and his 
 advisers to make one more effort to restore peace to the 
 distracted peninsula by addressing an earnest appeal to 
 the three exiled sovereigns at Gaeta, more particularly 
 to the Pope, who would naturally have more influence 
 than the others if he could be won over to a policy of 
 conciliation. 
 
 The ambassador chosen for this delicate mission was 
 Cesare Balbo, a man of superior intellect, great personal 
 worth, and much public spirit. He was one of those 
 rare men whom it was Victor Emmanuel's good fortune 
 to find round him in his hour of bitterest trial — men 
 whose truth and loyalty could not be doubted, for 
 
 ' L'Assedio di Roma.
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL AS MEDIATOR. 69 
 
 nothing but disinterested patriotism could bind them to 
 his service at that moment. Count Balbo was Azeglio's 
 cousin and very dear friend, and Hke him he felt that all 
 personal feeling must give way before the public in- 
 terests, so he accepted the mission.' 
 
 The king had charged Count Balbo with reverent 
 messages for the Pope, and told him to exhort him 
 to re-establish a constitutional government in his states, 
 send away the French, and conciliate his people. As 
 the two other dispossessed sovereigns, the Grand Duke 
 of Tuscany and the King of Naples, were also at Gaeta, 
 the count was instructed to drop a word of advice to 
 them also. The mission failed utterly, no one of the 
 three giving any ear to the Sardinian envoy. But it is 
 right to record every effort made by Victor Emma- 
 nuel's government to reconcile the Pope with the spirit 
 of the nation. These attempts at establishing a good 
 understanding are not usually mentioned by clerical 
 writers, nor do they generally take much note of the 
 proscriptions and executions which followed the Pope's 
 restoration. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had not been yet two months on 
 the throne, when his life, which had already had so 
 many hair-breadth escapes, was threatened by a danger- 
 ous illness, the same sort of fever which ultimately proved 
 fatal. For nearly a month his family and friends were 
 held in a state of suspense, hope and fear alternating as 
 the fever abated or increased. It was a time of harrow- 
 ing anxiety for those who understood the situation of 
 affairs. His death at that moment would have been a 
 calamity for the country which had no parallel. A 
 letter from General Dabormida, the king's aide-de-camp, 
 to General La IMarmora at Genoa, will explain the 
 state of feeling at the time. 
 
 ' Azeglio writes to his wife on March 28: — 'I have just heard that 
 one of BaJbo's sons is killed ; I do not know which. Poor Balbo ! He 
 had five sons in the field, and it seems that our people contested that battle 
 like lions. . . . Poor Balbo ! Noble heart! While I write to you I am 
 thinking of him, and that poor youth — I do not know which — but I loved 
 them all, and I cannot restrain my tears.'
 
 70 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 May 29, 1849. 
 
 Dearest Friend, — I delayed some days replying to your 
 letter, hoping to have some good news about the king, 
 and it is with a sad heart I must tell you that the 
 disease does not draw to a favourable conclusion, but 
 on the contrary increases, so as to put us in fear of 
 his life. Riberi at first seemed confident of a favour- 
 able issue, but now he begins to be frightened, and 
 the Prince Carignano, who sees the king often, yester- 
 day was much afflicted. Grief perhaps makes us see 
 the danger greater than it is, but the danger exists. 
 
 Just think, my friend, of the dreadful consequences 
 of such a loss. How could we in these times sustain 
 a regency which would last over thirteen years ? ' I 
 shrink from the thought ; and I fear more than ever 
 that we are destined for some terrible crisis. Believe 
 me, I do not grieve for the king as much as for the 
 country. He would cease to suffer, and be spared the 
 future miseries, which threaten to embitter his life, 
 of party conflicts. You cannot imagine how much 
 this poor young man suffers in seeing himself so 
 villanously maligned in the journals, and threatened 
 and insulted by anonymous letters. I have always 
 believed his disposition good, but I never imagined 
 him so excellent as since I have seen him groan 
 under the weight of undeserved calumnies, but never 
 heard issue from his lips a single threat, a desire for 
 revenge, or a word of hate. He is, I repeat, excel- 
 lent, and his death would be a great calamity to the 
 country. I do not doubt that when the present trou- 
 bles are passed his fine character will be appreciated, 
 and he will be loved in the end. But before he arrives 
 at that point, how much he has to suffer! If you 
 were here I might relieve my heart to you, and I have 
 much need to do so, because my friends who do not 
 know the king well do not sympathise with my grief. 
 The queen is an angel ; she never abandons her 
 husband, and I fear that her health cannot hold out 
 
 ' The crown prince, Humbert, was five years old.
 
 THE king's illness. /I 
 
 much longer under the fatigues of nurse-tending. The 
 Duke of Genoa comes from the camp every day to visit 
 the king and take his orders. 
 
 The duke, who filled the king's place with ability, was 
 the most devoted of subjects. ' How good my brother 
 is ! ' he said to General Dabormida, on coming out of 
 the sick-room. ' Confess, General, that even you doubted 
 Vittorio would have tumed out so good ? ' 
 
 Happily for Italy Victor Emmanuel did not die ; 
 and General Dabormida's words, that he had much to 
 suffer, but would conquer in the end, were fulfilled. 
 
 As soon as the king was recovered he issued a pro- 
 clamation to the people. He thanked ever>-one for the 
 trouble and anxiety they had had about him ; said he 
 was grateful to Providence for such a brother and 
 friend as the Duke of Genoa ; spoke with tender sadness 
 of his father, who 'had so loved Italy and her people, 
 who had laboured and suffered so much for them, and 
 noAv found himself in a distant land in infirm health ; ' 
 alluded to the peace still unsigned, saying it never should 
 be, unless the terms were honourable and worthy of the 
 nation. 
 
 While the king was ill, General Ramorino, who had 
 assisted as much as was in him to the overthrow of the 
 Italian arms, was tried by court-martial, and being found 
 guilty of disobedience to his commander's orders, which 
 was plainly tantamount to treason, was sentenced to be 
 shot. He appealed to the royal clemency ; but the king 
 being too ill to attend to the afiair, his advisers felt 
 that Ramorino was not a fit subject for grace, and the 
 sentence was executed. Ever}-thing that the govern- 
 ment did in those days was criticised and cavilled at. 
 While the case was pending, D'Azeglio said to a friend 
 with a bitter smile : — 
 
 Certain journals have their articles already prepared 
 for each of the two hypotheses : if it be the first, they 
 will leave the one and print the other ; and if the 
 second, they will do the opposite. In both cases their
 
 ^2 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 aim will be reached, which is to put the ' traitor ' king 
 and his ministers in the wrong. 
 
 The negotiations for peace dragged their weary 
 length far into the summer, and seemed as if they never 
 would come to a conclusion. The Sardinian govern- 
 ment held out for an amnesty for Lombardy. ' We never 
 will abandon the brothers who fought by our side — not 
 to save Piedmont from annihilation,' said Azeglio. 
 ' Peoples, like individuals, should prefer death to dis- 
 honour.' These noble sentiments were fully shared by 
 the king. 
 
 But there was another point on which he was even 
 more sensitive, and M^iere he felt the responsibility to be 
 his alone : this was the Statiito, which the Austrians 
 again attacked, threatening to break off the negotiations 
 unless it were modified. But Victor was inexorable ; in 
 public and private he vowed he would resign his kingdom 
 sooner than touch it. ' I have promised,' said he, ' to 
 maintain the constitution intact, and I never will violate 
 my oath ; sooner than submit to foreign dictation on 
 the subject, we will all go to America.' 
 
 The general election took place on July 15, and 
 the Parliament opened on the 50th. The countiy was 
 in a miserably distracted, impoverished state, full of 
 discontent, everyone blaming someone else for the 
 public misfortunes. Many of the electors had abstained 
 from voting, out of weariness and disgust with politics. 
 Those who did vote were the ' Reds,' who sent many 
 of the Radical agitators who had ^^composed the late 
 Parliament back again. One person, even, who had been 
 excluded from the amnesty for open rebellion in Genoa 
 — the Marchese Pareto, who owed it to the king's special 
 grace that he was not in prison — was duly elected deputy 
 to the Chamber. Notwithstanding this the Turin people 
 were coming to their senses, and beginning to see the 
 king's conduct in a clearer and juster light. He was 
 welcomed more warmly on his way to the Legislative 
 Assembly than ever before, and the royal discourse was 
 well received, Victor seemed happier than he had been
 
 TREATY OF PEACE. y^ 
 
 since his accession ; and on his return to the palace he 
 said to D'Azegho in a gay tone, ' Don't you think the 
 Tyrant did his part well to-day ? ' He used to call him- 
 self 'the Tyrant ' jestingly to his friend. But the hap- 
 piness was short-lived. Even while he was delivering 
 the speech from the throne, his beloved father was already 
 dead. Victor, who had constantly corresponded with the 
 late king, felt his loss deeply, and made arrangements 
 for the transfer of his body to the family mausoleuni 
 at Superga, near Turin. Over and above this private 
 trouble, he found himself all at v^ariance with the new 
 Parliament, which seemed as impracticable and difficult 
 to get on with as the last. In fact it represented 
 ' Giovane Italia,' which ' being young,' said Azeglio, 
 ' cannot be expected to have much sense, and certainly 
 has little.' 
 
 The treaty of peace was signed August 6, 1849 — a 
 treaty which Balbo pronounced an armistice which would 
 last ten years. It was near coming to an end much 
 sooner. In November a fierce debate, which lasted 
 several days, took place in the Chambers on the subject 
 of the treaty, particularly the provisions relating to the 
 Lombard and Venetian refugees. The government had 
 every intention of protecting them ; but the opposition 
 party were not content with reasonable assurances, they 
 wanted a revision of the treaty. The king and the 
 ministry were oi one accord that it was necessary to 
 dissolve the Assembly, and appeal once more to the 
 country. In his proclamation the king strongly defends 
 himself and his ministers, severely blames the Chamber 
 for its unreasonable and ill-timed opposition to the 
 Crown, and reproaches the electors for their neglect of 
 duty in not going to the poll. Cavour thought the bold, 
 firm action of the government at this crisis saved the 
 country, but others thought that it was too arbitrary a 
 measure. As the royal proclamation of Moncalieri has 
 become an historical document, v/e will quote a para- 
 graph or two from it. 
 
 By the dissolution of the Chambers the liberties of the
 
 74 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 country run no risk whatever. They are guarded by 
 the venerated memory of King Charles Albert, my 
 father ; they are confided to the honour of the House 
 of Savoy ; they are protected by the religion of my 
 oaths. Who dares fear for them ^ 
 
 Before assembling the Parliament, I addressed to 
 the nation, and particularly to the electors, some frank 
 words. In my proclamation of July 3 I admonished 
 them to bear themselves so as to render the Statuto 
 possible. But only a third, or little more, went to the 
 elections. The remainder neglected to exercise that 
 right, which is a strict duty in every free country. I 
 have fulfilled my duty ; why have they not fulfilled 
 theirs } 
 
 In the speech from the throne I made known the 
 sad conditions of the State. I demonstrated the 
 necessity of giving a truce to party passions, in order 
 to resolve the vital questions of the day. My words 
 were the result of profound love of my country, and 
 fearless loyalty. What fruit did they obtain 1 The 
 first acts of the Chamber were hostile to the 
 Crown. ... I signed a peace with Austria, honour- 
 able, and not ruinous. The public good required it. 
 The honour of the country and the religion of my 
 oath demanded that it should be faithfully followed 
 out, without duplicity or equivocation. . . . 
 
 I have sworn to maintain justice and liberty. I 
 have promised to save the nation from the tyranny of 
 factions, whatever be the name, objects, or rank of the 
 men who compose them. These promises I fulfil by 
 dissolving a Chamber whose existence had become 
 impossible ; I fulfil them by calling another imme- 
 diately. But if the country, if the electors, deny me 
 their support, not on me will fall the responsibility of 
 the future. 
 
 If I have believed it my duty to give utterance to 
 severe words, I confide in the sense and justice of 
 the public to understand that they are dictated by 
 a profound love of my people and of their true in- 
 terests ; that they arise from my firm will to maintain
 
 THE STATUTO. 75 
 
 their liberty, and to defend them from foreign as well 
 as internal enemies. 
 
 The country responded to the king's earnest appeal, 
 which aroused in the electors a sense of duty and citizen- 
 ship. The new Parliament was composed of different 
 elements from the last — moderate, sensible men, who 
 had the true interests of the country at heart. The 
 Chambers were opened on December 20. The ceremony 
 was more cheerful than the last. The king began to 
 win the confidence of the people ; his last frank pro- 
 clamation had done much to bring about a better under- 
 standing. He was received with warm applause, as was 
 also Queen Adelaide, who appeared in one of the galleries 
 leading the little Prince Humbert, dressed as a national 
 guardsman. The king's speech was cheerful in tone. 
 He warmly thanked the electors for having listened to 
 his voice, and performed the duty of good citizens. 
 
 The new Chamber approved of the treat}^ with 
 Austria, and amicable relations were resumed between 
 the two countries. ' Vot7'e roi est Ji?i bon enfatit' said 
 Radetsky to the Piedmontese plenipotentiaries. ' Nojis 
 raimons beaiicoiip ; nous sommes ses meilleia's amis : nous 
 avons toiijoiirs a sa disposition quarantc inilie baionnettes! 
 The Piedmontese ambassadors thanked the Marshal for 
 his praises of their sovereign, but declined the proffered 
 aid of bayonets, saying the King of Sardinia had no 
 need of foreign soldiers to hold him on his throne; he 
 confided in the affection of his subjects. 
 
 The ambassador who was sent to represent Austria 
 at the Court of Turin was very well selected for the 
 position. Count Appony was a Hungarian of much 
 ability, tact, and delicacy, and all these qualities Avere 
 needed in the very sore state of Sardinian feelings at 
 that time. The peace being finally settled, it was neces- 
 sary to turn the attention of Parliament to the civil insti- 
 tutions of the country. The famous Statnto, which had 
 been the cause of so much quarrelling, was still a mass of 
 undeveloped laws. It is true that some legal reforms had 
 been under discussion in the late Assembly, but they
 
 ^^ LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 had not passed into acts, having excited the bitterest 
 and most strenuous opoosition even in the royal house- 
 hold. 
 
 To put the new Constitution in working order was 
 a task of incalculable difficulty. Piedmont had hitherto 
 been not only an absolute monarchy, but in an extra- 
 ordinary degree under clerical domination ; so that this 
 order retained certain privileges which had been long 
 abolished in other principalities of Italy. Everyone 
 knows how much it goes against the natural inclination 
 of man to resign a power or privilege inherited from 
 ancestors or predecessors of any sort, however founded 
 in injustice. Charles Albert, called by his subjects the 
 Magnanimous, voluntarily resigned his absolutism : but 
 his profound reverence for the Church, and his deep re- 
 ligious feeling, would not let him touch the privileges of 
 the clergy ; and these privileges were on the whole much 
 more objectionable than the sovereign's power. There 
 was a constant war going on in the king's mind between 
 his religious convictions and his sense of political jus- 
 tice ; and it is said that the Jesuits took advantage of 
 his perturbed state to terrify his soul by awtul midnight 
 visions, so that he was sometimes found insensible on his 
 chamber floor in the morning. 
 
 But the Statiito which he at last promulgated 
 struck indirectly at those privileges, by providing that 
 * all subjects should be equal in the eyes of the law ; ' 
 and when Victor Emmanuel's government came to 
 apply the articles of the Statuto, they had, amongst 
 other abuses, to deal with the important question of the 
 Foro Ecclesiastico. The Foro Ecclesiastico was a power- 
 ful tribunal over which the clergy only presided. A 
 council of three bishops had the right to pronounce 
 sentence of death on any ecclesiastic. The pTain of 
 death for offences against religion was part of the penal 
 code ; to the Church was still permitted that relic of 
 mediaeval lawlessness- — the right of asylum for criminals ; 
 to the parish priest were left all civil registers ; to the 
 Jesuits the right to penetrate everywhere — to rule the 
 royal household, the private homes of citizens, the
 
 ABOLITION OF CLERICAL IMMUNITIES. JJ 
 
 public institutions, the schools, etc. ; so that the country 
 was absolutely subject to the priestly power. 
 
 In the new Chamber the Minister of Grace and Jus- 
 tice, Count Aveta, boldly asserted that by the 24th 
 and 68th articles of the Statiito — the first of which de- 
 clared all subjects equal before the laws, while the 
 second provided that justice should be administered 
 in the name of, and by judges chosen by, the king — the 
 ecclesiastical tribunal should cease to exist. His suc- 
 cessor, Sclopis, said that the existence of a privileged 
 jurisdiction, independent of the royal authority — re- 
 garding affairs entirely temporal — was quite irrecon- 
 cilable with the provisions of the Statute Book. 
 
 The clergy were naturally up in arms ; they protested 
 against the sacrilege and impiety of touching their 
 ancient privileges ; they denounced in the grossest 
 language the promulgators of these wicked laws, par- 
 ticularly Siccardi, a man of great probity and learning, 
 who had given many years of his life to the study of 
 jurisprudence, and was energetic in carrying out the 
 reforms. Count Siccardi was sent on an embassy to 
 the Pope to ask his consent to the abolition of the 
 above-mentioned abuses, and to beg him to put a check 
 on the insolence of the Piedmontese bishops, who were 
 trying to excite civil dissensions in the realm. Antonelli 
 replied that * the holy father was willing to please the 
 King of Sardinia as far as going into the antechamber 
 of the devil, but into his very chamber he would not go.' 
 
 The Sardinian king and Parliament, indignant at the 
 insult, set about abolishing the clerical privileges and im- 
 munities without further ceremony. They were branded 
 as infidels who wanted to overturn the altar, and destroy 
 all religion. Victor Emmanuel did not like this reputa- 
 tion ; he protested to the French ambassador that he 
 was not * a bad Christian,' as he had been falsely repre- 
 sented, and tried in every way possible to conciliate the 
 irate priesthood. He had had a hard trial in the opposition 
 of the queen dowager, who wearied him with entreaties 
 and exhortations not to give his sanction to the anti- 
 clerical acts. But however grieved he was at his
 
 yS LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 mother's distress, he never dreamed of letting any con- 
 sideration interfere with his public duty. When he put his 
 signature to the act, he looked at Siccardi with a smile, 
 and said, ' Look to it. Count ; if this law leads those who 
 have made it to the mfcvjio, you will have to go alone.' 
 
 It was followed by a burst of rage from the clergy — 
 protestations from Rome, and protestations from the 
 Piedmontese bishops. Two of these violated the law of 
 the realm and were consequently punished,, a delicate 
 intimation that the Statuto had begun to work, and the 
 clergy were to be treated like any other delinquents. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was consoled for the abuse which 
 the clergy poured out upon him, and which caused him 
 acute pain, by the ever-increasing affection of his subjects. 
 The abolition of the Foro Ecclcsiastico made him im- 
 mensely popular throughout Piedmont ; his triumph was 
 shared by his minister Siccardi, to whom the nation 
 decided on immediately building a monument. When 
 the king went in the summer-time on a tour in the Alps 
 he took Siccardi with him, that they might do some 
 work from time to time in their resting-places. The fol- 
 lowing characteristic letter is addressed to D'Azeglio : — 
 
 Dear Friend, — 'In this Alpine retreat I never forget my 
 friend. Thanks for your two letters. We arrived 
 here on Saturday at eleven, after a week of terrible 
 fatigues over the glaciers of Dondenaz and Cogne. I 
 traversed the valleys of Bard, Champorcher, Fenils, 
 .Saint Julien, and Cogne, and found everywhere proofs 
 of true affection from these hardy sons of the Alps. 
 On Sunday I received almost the whole town of Aosta, 
 A^'hich came to compliment me in a truly cordial 
 manner. Some of these discourses I wall send you, 
 because they are really fine. In the replies I was 
 aided by the sincerity of my sentiments and my small 
 poetic vein. 
 
 I had good fortune in the chase, too. I killed six 
 chamois and two stags of the rare kind. I astonished 
 the hunters of these mountains by the length of my 
 shots, and we have left a good impression of ourselves
 
 THE KING IX THE ALPS. 79 
 
 also, because Barba Vittorio makes money circulate a 
 little. 
 
 To-day (Monday) is a very sad day for us, for me 
 in particular. It is the anniversary of my poor 
 father's death. I ordered a high mass to be said, and 
 almost all the national guards of Aosta came in 
 uniform to assist at it ^\^th great decorum. They 
 have asked that my second son, who is duke of these 
 regions, should be enrolled as one of them, and my 
 consent gave them great pleasure. But, dear Massimo, 
 I am very sad, and I do nothing all day but shed 
 tears, thinking of him I loved so dearly, and of the 
 mournful past. . . . 
 
 Write to me, dear friend. Take care of your 
 health ; and think sometimes of Barba Vittorio, who 
 loves you from his heart, and who never deceives. 
 Your affectionate 
 
 July 29, 1850. Vittorio Emanuele. 
 
 To the Noble Man, Chevalier Massimo d'Azeglio, 
 President of the Council, &c. 
 
 Barha Vittorio means ' uncle Victor ' in the Piedmon- 
 tese dialect, and was probably a name given to the king 
 by some of the little mountaineers, with whom he loved 
 to converse familiarly, and play the part of ' special 
 Providence.' There are many anecdotes told of his 
 adventures in the Alps, which show his genial, sympa- 
 thetic nature. One time he asked a little girl if she had 
 ever seen the king .' The child replied that his majesty 
 often came to her father's cottage to eat polenta with 
 them. ' You little story-teller,' said Victor, giving her 
 a piece of money. ' Here is his portrait, and don't tell fibs 
 any more.' Another day he met a little barefooted boy in 
 a wood, carr\-ing his shoes in his hand. The king asked 
 him why he did not put on his shoes. ' They wear out,' 
 was the reply. ' And the soles of the feet, don't they 
 wear ? ' • Yes, but the skin grows again, and costs 
 nothing.' ' What is your name .''' asked Victor. 'Albert.' 
 The king took out a gold piece and put it in his hand.
 
 80 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 ' You bear my father's name, my boy,' said he ; ' buy a 
 pair of new shoes with this.' 
 
 One evening descending from the mountain, after a 
 hard day's sport, with one attendant, he met a peasant 
 farmer who accosted him thus : — ' You seem brave 
 hunters, gentlemen ; you would do me a great kindness 
 if you would kill a fox which destroys all my property.' 
 ' To-day our ammunition is exhausted,' replied the 
 royal sportsman ; ' but we will pass this way to-morrow.' 
 On the morrow he pursued and killed the animal, bring- 
 ing its head in triumph to the peasant, who thanked the 
 king, and gave him two francs for his trouble. Victor 
 put the francs in his pocket, saying to his friend, ' These 
 are the only moneys I ever really earned.' Soon after, 
 the peasant was summoned to the royal villa, and, to 
 his amazement, recognised in King Victor Emmanuel, 
 the Alpine hunter, who returned him his two francs with 
 enormous interest. 
 
 In this year, 1850, the Duke of Genoa married 
 Elizabeth of Saxony, and the king and queen made a 
 tour through Savoy to meet the bride and bridegroom, 
 and fete them on their return. While the royal family 
 travelled by the easiest routes in carriages to Courmayeur, 
 the king and his brother made an excursion across the 
 mountains in hunting costume ; and after the usual 
 fatigues, adventures, and enjoyments, joined the ladies 
 in their rustic retreat. While sojourning in the moun- 
 tains all court etiquette was laid aside, and the royal 
 family lived in the utmost simplicity. The primitive 
 inhabitants of those wild regions did not even know the 
 king by sight. One day a woman came to the door of 
 the royal villa with eggs, and met on the threshold a 
 roughly dressed individual, who saluted her graciously, 
 and asked her what she had in her basket. This man 
 took the basket, brought it into the kitchen, and then 
 returned it to her empty, with a piece of money. Seeing 
 him so polite, the woman confided to him her desire to 
 see the king, — the queen she had already seen. 
 
 ' I am he,' said Victor, who with his thick boots, 
 gaiters, conical hat, and rough sun-burnt features, was
 
 PUNISHMENT OF BISHOPS. 8 1 
 
 not the peasant's beau ideal of regal majesty. ' You ! ' 
 she exclaimed with a derisive laugh. ' Oh, you won't 
 get me to believe that ! A nice, pretty woman like the 
 queen would never many such an ugly man.' 
 
 The king related the story to the queen, laughing 
 heartily, and often repeated it to his friends when telling 
 of his first trip to Courmayeur. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE QUARREL WITH ROME, AND 
 CONTINUATION OF THE QUARREL WITH AUSTRIA. 
 A.D. 1850-53. 
 
 One of the king's ministers, who had assisted at the 
 passing of the Siccardi bill for the abolition of clerical 
 privileges, was the Cavaliere Santa Rosa, a gentleman 
 of excellent private character, and a pious Catholic' 
 He was dying of consumption, even while he sat in the 
 council ; and soon after the prorogation of Parliament 
 he succumbed to the fatal disease. His confessor had 
 no power to administer the sacrament without the concur- 
 rence of the parish priest, who refused it, at the command 
 of his bishop. The dying man protested that he was a true 
 Catholic, that he was conscious of no sin in taking part 
 in the late acts of the government, and implored his 
 confessor to procure for him the last consolations of re- 
 ligion. The confessor, moved with pity, returned once 
 more to the curate, and used all his persuasions to 
 change his resolution. Instead of yielding to the prayer, 
 the brutal priest entered the sick chamber and reviled 
 the dying man so grossly, that his wife, weeping hys- 
 terically, implored him to quit the house, and not torture 
 her husband in his last agonies. The good Santa Rosa 
 expired without receiving the sacrament ; and all Pied- 
 
 ' Cousin of the revolutionist Santorre Santa Rosa. 
 G
 
 82 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 mont was stirred to its depths with indignation, and 
 cried out that the law must be vindicated. The bishop 
 by whose authority this outrage had been committed 
 was imprisoned, and another also for some similar 
 offence. 
 
 Naturally the Court of Rome protested against this 
 outrage to the sacred persons of the bishops. An envoy 
 was sent to explain the case to his holiness, and further 
 beg of him to put a restraint on the rebellious language 
 of the clergy. The Pope refused to listen to the Pied- 
 montese ambassador. Later, another was sent, with 
 whom he seemed disposed to treat ; but as he demanded 
 a restitution of the immunities the clergy enjoyed in the 
 reign of Charles Albert, the negotiation ended in smoke. 
 The next move was an autograph letter addressed by 
 Victor Emmanuel to the holy father, couched in the 
 most respectful terms, asking him again to restrain the 
 insolence of the clergy, who did not hesitate to insult 
 him and the laws of his realm. The Pope, not to be 
 outdone in politeness, replied in an autograph letter, in 
 which he said the priests had only done their duty, 
 and begged his majesty to put a restraint on the ex- 
 cessive liberty of the press, ' boiling over with blas- 
 phemies and immoralities — to the end that the clergy 
 should not be persecuted, calumniated, and derided.' The 
 irate Pontiff adds, ' Because they defend pure religion 
 and the principles of truth, is this a reason why they 
 should come under your majesty's displeasure .'' ' 
 
 And so these exchanges of royal compliments went 
 on with ever-increasing acerbity. 
 
 D'Azeglio could restrain himself no longer : he 
 rushed to the front of the battle, and wrote a pamphlet in 
 his own name, attacking the papal government under Pio 
 Nono, as he had so often done under his predecessors, 
 but in dignified and measured language. 
 
 The death of Santa Rosa, which had given rise to 
 these disputes, gave occasion also to the Premier to call 
 to the vacant post of Minister of Agriculture and Com- 
 merce another bold spirit, whose statesmanlike genius 
 far surpassed his own in grand design and daring exe-
 
 THE KING OF NAPLES. 83 
 
 cution. ' Take care,' said the king, when D'Azeglio pro- 
 posed the appointment. ' Cavour will rule you all ; he 
 will send you away ; he must be Prime ^Minister.' 
 
 In this year, i85i,a fourth son was born to King 
 Victor, whom he called Charles Albert ; and in the same 
 year was born also the Duke of Genoa's eldest child, 
 Margherita, now Queen of Italy. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel at this time had need of all the 
 affection of his subjects, for he had little sympathy from 
 the outer world. He was the only constitutional 
 monarch in Italy. The position of the Lombardo-Vene- 
 tian provinces was a perpetual thorn in his side, and a 
 continual source of irritation between the governments 
 of Vienna and Turin. The subjugated provinces would 
 rebel from time to time ; and these rebellions being put 
 down with great severity, the Piedmontese, having a 
 free press, would express their feelings without reserve. 
 Hence arose complaints and counter-complaints. All 
 the other states of Europe were either coldly neutral or 
 critical, with the sole exception of England, ' whose 
 friendship for the House of Savoy and Piedmont was of 
 ancient date, and her sympathy for Italy profound,' 
 says ^Massari. 
 
 The governments both of Berlin and Vienna sent to 
 Victor Emmanuel dictatorial, menacing messages, thinly 
 veiled under the form of friendly advice. In Italy the 
 petty princes were one and all his enemies, his con- 
 stitutional government being a standing reproach to them, 
 who had violated their oaths. But the greatest enemy 
 of liberal institutions was Ferdinand, King of Naples, 
 who, in 1848, after having sworn upon the Bible to 
 grant a constitution and to join the national war, pro- 
 ceeded to slaughter, imprison, and banish innumerable 
 citizens, for no other offence than taking part in the 
 movement. This old tyrant hated Victor Emmanuel 
 and Piedmont, and was most anxious to put an end to 
 what he called ' the bad example of the King of Sar- 
 dinia,' or ' the Sardo,' as he designated him in private. 
 
 Massari, who is Neapolitan, says he was discontented 
 with his ambassador at the Court of Turin, and recalled 
 
 G 2
 
 84 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 him for the following reason : A princess of the Bour- 
 bon family asked the Count Grifeo to narrate to her the 
 disorders which had taken place in Turin. He looked 
 amazed at the question, and said no disorders had been 
 known during his residence there. This was enough to 
 excite the distrust of the suspicious sovereign, and Grifeo 
 was recalled. His successor, Cavaliere Ramirez, better 
 understood what was expected of him. 
 
 On presenting his credentials to the Sardinian king 
 he was received courteously ; and after the usual ex- 
 change of compliments, he began to read an address 
 written in French. The king, who was quite unprepared 
 for an ' allocution ' from the Neapolitan ambassador, was 
 not attended by any of his ministers on the occasion. 
 'The king, my august master,' said Ramirez, reading 
 from the paper, ' has ordered me to explain to your 
 majesty the wishes he has formed for the conserva- 
 tion of your majesty's country, threatened by so many 
 dangers.' 
 
 ' What are the dangers, M. le Chevalier .'' ' asked the 
 king, interrupting him. The ambassador was not pre- 
 pared for the question ; he hesitated, stammered, and at 
 last spoke of the wicked press, secret societies, and such 
 like. Victor Emmanuel replied with dignity, — 
 
 ' I have nothing to fear, M. le Chevalier. Behind 
 my throne there is neither treason nor perjury.' 
 
 When Massimo d'Azeglio heard of this cutting reply, 
 he felt very proud of his young king, who knew how so 
 well to maintain his own dignity. 'Everyone knows,' 
 said he, with that charming frankness which was a 
 striking characteristic of his, 'that I can always find 
 appropriate phraseology to clothe my thoughts ; but 
 indeed I should hardly have been able to give such a 
 telling, pointed reply as that of the king. It is a fact 
 that an honest man has the secret of true eloquence.' 
 The Neapolitan complained to the Austrian ambassador 
 of the king's rudeness, but Count Appony held that he 
 had provoked the offence, and had better pass it by. 
 
 At this time the philosopher Gioberti, tired of 
 political life, was living in Paris, where he published
 
 MAGNANIMITY OF CHARACTER. 85 
 
 his famous book, ' Rinnovamento Civile d' Italia,' which 
 excited much attention. In treating of Piedmont, he 
 said : — 
 
 Except the young sovereign who rules Piedmont, I see 
 no one in Italy who could undertake our emancipation. 
 Instead of imitating Pius, Ferdinand, and Leopold, 
 who violated their sworn compacts, he maintains 
 his with religious observance — vulgar praise m other 
 times, but to-day not small, being contrary to example. 
 
 The king was much pleased with Gioberti's book, 
 and while reading it often said, ' I will do what Gioberti 
 says.' 
 
 He had enough of trouble and danger to contend 
 with still, but he was more resigned since he knew he 
 had the sympathy of his own people. * I am not sad,' 
 he said in a letter. ' Dangers threaten me, but one must 
 be a fatalist and say, " God is great," and nothing more.' 
 
 Victor Emmanuel, whatever his faults may have 
 been, had a very noble trait of character, which in a 
 prince is particularly admirable — a magnanimity of soul 
 which set him above petty considerations, and made 
 him ignore all personal injuries and offences. He could 
 not bear to have sentences for treason carried out, unless 
 the peace of the country demanded it; and he made a 
 regular habit of setting at liberty all the seditious priests 
 condemned by the courts of law. ' You have done your 
 duty in condemning them,' said he ; 'that is enough to vin- 
 dicate the law ; I do mine in pardoning them.' He never 
 knew what it was to harbour malice against any human 
 being, even when groaning under the weight of un- 
 deserved calumnies. ' I am not angry,' he writes to a 
 friend in 185 1, ' neither was lever. I am accustomed 
 to everything ; and I know we cannot shut people's 
 mouths, and that malicious persons attack virtue, or 
 those that they think better than themselves, for rage 
 against good, or because they cannot attain their per- 
 verse ends. I believe at this moment I know the world 
 well, and nothing can astonish me more.' 
 
 One of the calumnies which struck Victor most
 
 S6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 severely — and which his enemies, knowing this weak- 
 ness, persisted in reiterating loudly — was that directed 
 against his religious belief. He was said to be an im- 
 pious scofifer at religion, who laughed to scorn everj' 
 sacred thing in heaven and earth. The fact was that 
 Victor, who had been brought up by most devout 
 parents, had a profound reverence for religion. It is 
 true he- was not, like Charles Albert, an anchorite ; on 
 the contrary, he was a pleasure-loving man. But this 
 does not, so far as we know, hinder a man being a pious 
 Catholic — else the Bourbon princes and princesses would 
 not have been such favourites with the holy father, or 
 have enjoyed such a reputation for piety as they did. 
 
 Mctor Emmanuel firmly believed the Italian cause 
 was under the protection of Divine Providence ; and in 
 the royal speech for the opening session of 1852, he 
 insisted on inserting the words, ' Providence, which has 
 plainly blessed our work.' His majesty delivered these 
 words with emphasis as he looked round at the assembly, 
 and was much disappointed to see they did not produce 
 the liv^ely impression he expected. 
 
 The king had had for preceptor, when a youth, a 
 very learned divine to whom he was much attached. 
 This Monsignor Charvaz had the courage to espouse the 
 Liberal cause, and stand by his sovereign in the disputes 
 between Church and State — which, it is well known, 
 cost \"ictor Emmanuel, as well as his father, bitter 
 mental struggles. ' Stick to the Constitution,' said 
 Charvaz, ' and let the ignorant and the fanatical scold 
 and shout.' He was a great comfort and support to the 
 king, who used to say that he never saw Monsignor 
 Charvaz without hearing a sermon from him ; but, so 
 far from complaining of his severity, took it as a 
 proof that his old governor's affection for him had not 
 diminished. One day the king sent for Charvaz, wish- 
 ing to convey to him personally the news of his elevation 
 to the Archbishopric of Genoa. When the Monsignore 
 presented himself, Victor sprang forward with boyish 
 glee, and threw his arms round his neck. ' Monsignore, 
 no sermon to-day, I entreat.'said he, holding him tightly
 
 CHANGES IN THE CABINET. 8/ 
 
 in his strong embrace. ' I know I am a sinner, but I 
 have a good heart, and I will not let you go till you 
 promise not to preach to me to-day.' 
 
 Meantime fresh offences were given to Rome by 
 almost every act of the Sardinian Government. There 
 were then going on very warm debates on the subject 
 of civil marriages, which excited the bitterest feeling 
 amongst the clergy. D'Azeglio and Cavour had been 
 disagreeing for sometime ; finally there was a split in the 
 Cabinet, and the ministry resigned. The king accepted 
 the resignation ; but directed D'Azeglio to form a new 
 ministry, excluding Cavour and other discordant ele- 
 ments. ' Later we will want Cavour, but not yet,' 
 said the king, who probably feared that he would push 
 matters to extremes prematurely, and so prevent the 
 possibility of a reconciliation with Rome. 
 
 While the marriage law was in abeyance during the 
 prorogation of Parliament, the king once more addressed 
 a letter to the Pope, giving all his arguments in favour 
 of it. He hesitated before bidding the clergy defiance 
 on this point. When there was placed before him an 
 elaborate statement on the question, he read it care- 
 fully, and then said : ' It is well. Those are the learned 
 arguments of lawyers ; but I must also think how it 
 will be regarded above ' — pointing heavenward. 
 
 Massimo d'Azeglio, weary and disgusted with state 
 aftairs, and in poor health, resigned ofiice in a few 
 months after he had formed his second ministr>% ad- 
 vising the king to call to office his rival Cavour, whom 
 he disliked but admired. Cavour hesitated, and said 
 that in the face of the extravagant pretensions of Rome 
 he could not accept the responsibility. The king said he 
 would not take his refusal, and sent him to talk with 
 Monsignor Charvaz, who had just come back from an 
 embassy to the Pope. The result of the conversation 
 confirmed the count in his opinion that he could not get 
 on peaceably with the Holy See. He accordingly re- 
 commended the king, in the present excited state of 
 public feeling, to send for Count Balbo, who was more 
 moderate and conservative. After further negotiations,
 
 88 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 finding that concessions did not conciliate the Court of 
 Rome, Victor Emmanuel thought it useless to deprive 
 himself of Cavour's able counsel ; and this time the count 
 yielded to the royal invitation, and took upon him the 
 conduct of affairs. It was a fortunate day for the king, 
 for Piedmont, for Italy, when this great, wise, far-seeing 
 patriot seized the helm of the state, and guided her over 
 the stormy waters which so often threatened to engulf 
 her, to a safe anchorage. 
 
 The bitterness of feeling between Austria and Pied- 
 mont broke out from time to time in mutual accusa- 
 tions and complaints- An abortive rebellion in Milan, 
 February 6, 1853, gave occasion for a diplomatic con- 
 flict, which threatened to end in actual warfare. The 
 Austrian Government accused Piedmont of encouraging 
 and hatching conspiracies in Lombardy. Piedmont re- 
 plied that the Lombards were driven to rebellion by an 
 oppressive and cruel government ; and indignantly denied 
 having anything to do with conspiracies. Austria re- 
 sponded in injurious terms, speaking of the Piedmontese 
 as ' traitors.' The king, very indignant, addressed a 
 memorandum to the Court of Vienna. ' We must show,' 
 said he to Cavour, 'that the House of Savoy must not 
 be vilified by any power.' The ambassadors of England 
 and France, feeling the justice of the king's angry 
 message, supported it. Austria was more enraged than 
 ever ; and the quarrel arrived at the dangerous point 
 of breaking off diplomatic relations. Count Appony, 
 having vainly remonstrated with his own government, 
 left Turin at the same time that the Sardinian ambassador 
 started from Vienna. It began to be clear to everyone 
 that the Peace of Milan was, what Count Balbo had 
 said, an armistice that would last about ten years. This 
 illustrious author and statesman died on June 3, 1853, 
 and 
 
 The world was poorer of a noble man. 
 
 Cesare Balbo was one of that brilliant set to which the 
 brothers D'Azeglio belonged, who united the polish and 
 enlightenment of modern times with the knightly spirit
 
 CAVOUR. 89 
 
 of loyalty and patriotism of the antique Piedmontese 
 gentlemen. 
 
 The financial difficulties of Piedmont ever since the 
 war — the indemnity- was eighty million francs — were not 
 the least of her troubles. In this year much discussion 
 on the question had been carried on in the Chambers, 
 and great difference of opinion existed on the subject of 
 taxation. Cavour then shared the common lot of all 
 men in his difficult position. The country was poor, the 
 treasury' empty, money was required to keep the 
 machinery of the state in motion, and he had no magic 
 treasure house to draw upon, so had to resort to taxes, and 
 was consequently unpopular for a time. His liberalism 
 had previously given offence to the aristocratic conser- 
 vative party, to which he belonged by birth and ante- 
 cedents, and this offence was increased by his seeking 
 support from the Left when he found the Right would 
 not advance at his pace. 
 
 But Cavour knew how to balance himself between 
 extremes of party, and make use of politicians of every 
 shade of opinion. He was often attacked by the ex- 
 treme Left, particularly by Brofferio, a clever journalist 
 and dramatist of republican tendencies, whose bitterest 
 satires were directed against the count, and who was 
 never tired of sneering at him. Cavour's admiration of 
 England had won for him the nickname of ' Lord 
 Camillo ' amongst this party. Once when he quoted 
 English institutions in terms of praise — as he often did 
 — there was laughter from the opposition benches. The 
 count said in parenthesis, without losing the thread of 
 his discourse : ' That laughter can only proceed from 
 someone whose name has never reached England.' It 
 was impossible to put out or confuse Cavour, in spite of 
 a certain defect in his speech which he had laboured 
 hard to overcome. But he often put his adversaries to 
 the rout by the ironical smile which he wore while they 
 were speaking. Bonghi says of him : — 
 
 His speech was not fluent nor elegant ; his voice was 
 sharp and sometimes harsh ; the words stopped in his
 
 90 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 mouth ; and although he hid the defect by a cough, 
 which he invoked for the occasion, this would have 
 tired his hearers if their spirit were not sustained by 
 the hope, constantly satisfied, of a lucid idea which 
 shone before them at the end of the period, inter- 
 rupted always, never broken. The hesitation of his 
 tongue never made him lose the thread of his dis- 
 course — much less the interruption of his adversaries, 
 whom he provoked rather than feared — feeling sure 
 of his response. 
 
 Once Brofiferio called him an ' Ultra-Moderate,' and 
 in his reply he said : — 
 
 In truth, I have found the words used by the Hon. 
 Brofiferio rather too indulgent than severe ; and I 
 feel due gratitude for the exquisite courtesy which 
 distinguishes him in calling me only an ' Ultra-Mode- 
 rate,' and not having employed the word ' Retrograde,' 
 or the more vulgar, but more expressive ' Codino! 
 
 Cavour was a man of imperious will, and loved 
 power ; the consequence was that his will and that 
 of his royal master sometimes clashed. But he was 
 good-tempered, and both were large-minded, sensible 
 men, who felt the necessity of mutual support in the 
 great work of developing their liberal institutions, to 
 which they were equally devoted ; and so they not only 
 worked well together, but became personally attached 
 to each other. Though Victor Emmanuel was scrupu- 
 lously conscientious not to stretch his authority beyond 
 constitutional limits, he did not, on that account, throw 
 all the care and responsibility of affairs on his ministers. 
 He took an active part in all the Cabinet discussions, and 
 sometimes his simple straightforward policy was found 
 more efifective than Cavour's diplomatic play. In tlje 
 royal speech of December 1853, the words 'restored 
 finances ' occurred. The king, reading it over, said : 
 ' Stop ; it seems to me we promise too much. Let us 
 put in an " almost." It will be more true, and not spoil 
 the sense of the sentence.'
 
 victor's desire for war. 91 
 
 In this year the king and queen being at Spezia for 
 sea-bathing, with the royal family, all went on an excur- 
 sion in a man-of-war. The ship struck on a rock, sprung 
 a leak, and was foundering rapidly, when another vessel 
 came in time to rescue the precious freight from immi- 
 nent death. When the news arrived in Turin of how 
 near extinction had been the dynasty of Savoy, the 
 people cried, ' God protects Italy ! ' 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 THE ATJJAXCE WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE. 
 DOMESTIC AFFLICTIONS. A.D. 1 854-55. 
 
 Amongst other modern improvements set on foot by 
 Victor Emmanuel's government was railway communi- 
 cation. The line was just completed between Genoa 
 and Turin,, and at Count Cavour's suggestion the king 
 and queen went to Genoa to inaugurate it. That once 
 rebellious city, now become intensely loyal, greeted 
 them enthusiastically. 
 
 Soon after this pleasant trip troubles came. The 
 little prince Charles Albert died, to the great grief of 
 his mother and father, who were both devotedly fond of 
 their children. Cholera broke out with fearful virulence 
 in the Riviera ; but the great populous city of Genoa 
 suffered most in this visitation. The mortality was so 
 great that it was almost impossible to give the most 
 necessan.' attention to the sick, much less decent burial 
 to the dead. The king felt it his duty to be with his 
 afflicted subjects ; so he sent the Duke of Genoa to repre- 
 sent him at the opening of the Novara line of railway, 
 and hastened to the plague-stricken city, where he dis- 
 tributed large sums of money for the relief of the sick, 
 visiting the hospitals, and taking an active part in all the 
 works of charity ; for he did not shrink from death in 
 its most repulsive form.
 
 92 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 In this year, 1854, the famous Silvio PelHco, author 
 of the book describing Austrian prisons, died at Turin. 
 
 In the month of April the treaty of alhance be- 
 tween England and France to defend Turkey against 
 Russian aggression was signed ; and Cavour conceived 
 the bold idea of securing the friendship of those two 
 powerful states by joining in the alliance. The king 
 was more than willing, he was eager for war, if it could 
 be reconciled to the good of Italy. He had said, in 
 1849, to the English and French ambassadors, that, 
 having done his duty as a soldier, he meant to serve 
 his country in other ways ; and he had honestly done 
 so for the following five years. But his pride as a king 
 and soldier had been too deeply wounded for him to 
 content himself with peaceful occupations the rest of his 
 life. The burning desire to retrieve his lost glory, and 
 wipe out the defeat of Novara, though concealed, had 
 never been extinguished in his breast. ' Our defeat was 
 too ignominious ; we have need of a little glory to raise 
 us up,' he said. In addition to this, Russia and Sardinia 
 had been on very bad terms for a long time ; so he 
 caught at the idea of the alliance, saying, ' If I cannot 
 go to the war myself, I will send my brother.' 
 
 The friendship between England and Piedmont had 
 become warmer since 1851, from which time her 
 Britannic Majesty had been represented by Sir James 
 Hudson, a gentleman for whom Victor Emmanuel con- 
 ceived the highest esteem and regard. He was in very 
 friendly relations with France also ; and there seemed 
 no impediment to the conclusion of the proposed alli- 
 ance, except Cavour's natural love of diplomatic mys- 
 tery. The stir of military preparations in Piedmont 
 excited suspicions of hostile. intentions against Austria ; 
 and to quiet these alarms the wily premier had to show 
 his hand a little to the ambassadors, and say that if 
 England or France called on Piedmont for help, she felt 
 bound to send a contingent to the war. He had no 
 immediate designs on Austria ; though the chief object 
 of this Anglo-French alliance was to put Piedmont in a 
 position to settle that old score. Cavour was probably
 
 INTERVIEW WITH THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 93 
 
 held back from committing himself definitely by the 
 uncertainty of what part Austria was about to take in 
 the quarrel. It was likely at that time that she might 
 join in the alliance, but nothing was concluded. King 
 Victor writes to the Minister for Foreign Affairs as 
 follows : — 
 
 Cher Dabormida. — Faites votre possible pour savoir 
 les conditions secretes stipulees par I'Autriche dans 
 I'adhesion a la triple alliance. 
 
 Je ne voudrais pas qu'il y eut quelque article con- 
 cernant la conservation de I'integrite du territoire 
 Italien, guerre finie ; cela changerait bien notre affaire 
 dans I'alliance, et il faut en etre bien sur avant. 
 
 Ciao, cher ami. En avant, marche, et soyez gai. 
 Votre tres-affectionne, 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The official announcement of the Anglo-French 
 alliance, made to the Sardic government in the month 
 of April, was replied to in a friendly spirit, but without 
 committing Piedmont to any positive engagement. This 
 was disappointing to the ambassadors, and not quite in 
 accordance with the king's wishes, as he would have 
 preferred a more straightforward course of action. He 
 took occasion to ask the Duke of Gramont to pay him 
 a private visit. ' Come, sans ccremonic, in an overcoat, 
 about five o'clock,' said the king, and the ambassador 
 did so.' The king was in his hunting-dress, standing 
 by a table, writing, when the ambassador entered. 
 He received him kindly, offered him a cigar, and 
 immediately entered on the subject that was occu- 
 pying his mind, asking him what he thought of the 
 note which his minister had addressed to him on June 2, 
 and telling him to speak frankly. The duke spoke 
 frankly. He said they had expected something dif- 
 ferent from a cold expression of sympathy, particularly 
 after what the Conte di Cavour had said six weeks 
 
 ' The Duke of Gramont communicated the particulars of this interview 
 to Signor Massari. See La Vila ed il Regno, etc.
 
 94 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 before. He confessed that he thought the note rather 
 diplomatic. 
 
 The king said that in his opinion the note was 
 stupid, and he would have written it differently. The 
 duke then asked if his majesty meant to say that he 
 would stand by the overtures of M. de Cavour. ' What 
 do you mean by Cavour's overtures .'' ' asked Victor. 
 * It is better to call things by their names. II n'y a pas 
 d'ouvertures de Cavour; c'est moi qui ai parle. Je lui 
 ai dit de vous offrir 25 mille hommes. C'est tout ce 
 que nous pouvons donner maintcnant, sans quoi j'aurais 
 dit 30 mille.' 
 
 ' Then, sire, if the proposition came from you, how 
 is it that all has ended in smoke .-' ' asked the ambas- 
 sador. 
 
 The king explained how Cavour had been checked by 
 the attitude of Austria, that he feared the war might not 
 be popular, and that he was greatly influenced by his 
 Lombard friends, and wound up by saying that he knew 
 beyond all doubt that Austria would not enter into the 
 alliance, and he was resolved that Piedmont should. 
 
 ' Sire,' returned the Frenchman, ' I have only to say 
 that I share your opinions, and I heartily wish you may 
 do as you say.' 
 
 ' Do you doubt it } ' said the king, fixing his piercing 
 eyes upon him with an angry light in them. 
 
 ' No, sire, no ; I do not doubt it, and I am only too 
 happy to believe it.' 
 
 The king shook hands with him at parting, and told 
 him to keep his own counsel, but not to forget what he 
 had said. 
 
 As time wore on Cavour saw clearer what was best 
 for the interests of his country, and earnestly desired 
 as much as did Victor Emmanuel to conclude the treaty ; 
 but he was strongly opposed by all his colleagues, 
 particularly Dabormida and La Marmora, both military 
 men, whose opinion on a question of war was not to be 
 despised. 
 
 There was at the same time a discussion going for- 
 ward, as to whether Piedmont was bound in honour to
 
 THE TREATY OF ALLIANCE. 95 
 
 make it a condition of entering into the alliance, that 
 the confiscated property of the Lombards who had made 
 themselves Victor Emmanuel'ssubjects should be restored 
 to them. England and France objected to the introduc- 
 tion of the question, and some of the ministry were for 
 breaking off the negotiations. But a Lombard refugee, 
 called Achilles Mauri, wrote in his own name and those 
 of his fellow exiles to the effect that they would not let 
 their private interests stand for a moment in the way of 
 any benefit that m ight accrue to their common country 
 from the Anglo-French alliance ; and this disinterested 
 declaration was a help to Cavour in his long and tedious 
 struggle with his colleagues. The year 1854 drew to a 
 close without any decision. The conferences were re- 
 newed early in January, but the ministers were still 
 divided. ' Well, uncle,' said Cavour's niece, the Countess 
 Alfieri, one evening at a party, ' shall we go to the 
 Crimea or not ? ' 
 
 ' Who knows .-' ' was the reply. ' England solicits us to 
 enter the alliance, and would permit our soldiers to join 
 her army, and wash out the defeat of Novara. But all 
 the Cabinet is hostile to the project. Even Rattazzi, and 
 my best friend, La Marmora, say they will resign on it. 
 But the king is with me, and we may prevail.' 
 
 Hearing of the divisions in the Cabinet, the Duke 
 of Gramont, remembering the words of the king six 
 months before, asked for a private audience on January 
 9. He found him in low spirits ; for, over and above 
 the worry of state affairs, his mother and wife were both 
 very ill at the time. He said he was grieved at the 
 result of the conference the evening before ; the ministers 
 were all against him, save only Cavour. But he had 
 pledged his word to the emperor, and he was resolved 
 to keep it. ' If we are beaten in the Crimea, why, we 
 must retire ; but if we conquer, it will serve the Lom- 
 bards more than all the fine articles that have been 
 written about them. I am weary of telling them this ; 
 as yet they will not listen to me. But, pazienza, all will 
 be well in a little while. You know I told you I have 
 one word only ; and if these generals will not march, I
 
 g6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 must find others who will march. The Chambers and 
 the country are with me.' 
 
 The king urged the ministers to a decision, and 
 next day another conference was held ; but the foreign 
 ambassadors refusing to give a written compact, the 
 meeting, which lasted till midnight, broke up without 
 any result. Count Cavour, who for four hours had 
 carried on the discussion, now with the foreign ministers, 
 and now with his colleagues, was quite exhausted at the 
 close, and his usual serene temper gave way. 
 
 ' I hope you will tell the king what I have said,' re- 
 marked the Duke of Gramont. 
 
 ' I am the best judge of what I ought to tell the 
 king,' replied Cavour brusquely. 
 
 It was an hour past midnight when he arrived at 
 the palace and demanded an immediate audience. His 
 advice was to sign the treaty at once, or withdraw alto- 
 gether from the position. The king did not hesitate a 
 moment ; he had had his mind made up long ago, and 
 so now when Cavour pronounced it safe, he took his own 
 way. Dabormida resigned, and the other ministers 
 yielded to the powerful united will of Victor and Cavour. 
 It was all settled, and Cavour installed as Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, between twelve at night and four in the 
 morning. At seven o'clock the English and French 
 ambassadors received a note inviting them to an in- 
 terview. They found Count Cavour serene and smil- 
 ing. Dabormida, overcome with the fatigues of office, 
 had resigned in the night, he said, and the king had 
 confided to him (Cavour) the vacant post. They were 
 all of one accord now, and the treaty should be signed 
 that evening, if the gentlemen were agreeable. Then 
 he begged the Duke of Gramont to forget his rudeness 
 the evening before, saying they were like advocates, 
 doing the best they could for their clients, and now that 
 the cause was ended they would all dine together to- 
 morrow. 
 
 It was a solemn moment for the king (says Massari), and 
 decided the fate of his country : that treaty was the
 
 DExVTH OF THE QUEENS. 97 
 
 fortune of Italy. To overcome so many difficulties 
 the genius of Cavour was not enough ; there was 
 needed also the firmness of purpose of Victor Em- 
 manuel, for without him the treaty would not have 
 been concluded. 
 
 And it is quite true. Foreigners have not fully appre- 
 ciated how much was due to Victor Emmanuel's indo- 
 mitable courage, firmness, and sound judgment. With 
 another sort of sovereign the great statesman might not 
 have been able to carry out his designs ; while with 
 a less able minister the patriot king could not have 
 conquered all the difficulties, external and internal, that 
 beset his path. Without taking from the merit of either, 
 we may say that Victor Emmanuel was necessary to 
 Cavour, Cavour to the king, and both to Italy. 
 
 During the long and anxious negotiations about the 
 Crimean war, Victor Emmanuel's soul was harrowed by 
 an accumulation of domestic troubles. His mother was 
 hopelessly ill ; Queen Adelaide had had an unfortunate 
 confinement, from which she had not recovered, and the 
 state of her health caused the doctors the gravest appre- 
 hensions ; the Duke of Genoa, who was to have repre- 
 sented his brother in the Crimea, was in a precarious 
 state, though soldier-like he refused to give way to his 
 weakness, saying always he should be well when once 
 the order was given to march. ' The poor duke,' said his 
 aide-de-camp, ' he will die if he goes to the Crimea, and 
 he will die if he does not go.' 
 
 Victor's affectionate heart was wrung with pity as he 
 went from one sick chamber to another, trying to cheer 
 and comfort his invalids, while he was himself oppressed 
 with care and anxiety of all kinds. He was a devoted 
 son ; he loved and reverenced his mother sincerely, and 
 he would sooner have dared the wrath of the whole 
 Catholic world than encounter the prayers and tears of 
 this pious mother, who entreated him not to sanction 
 the anti-clerical laws. Hers was the only remonstrant 
 voice that had power to shake for a moment his strong 
 will ; but he felt the truth of D'Azeglio's teaching : ' Your 
 
 H
 
 98 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 kingly duty overrides all others,' and he listened silently, 
 uncomplainingly, to her reproaches, but never yielded. 
 Even while he was watching over her last hours she im- 
 plored him pathetically to be true to the traditions and 
 faith of his fathers. 
 
 The queen-mother breathed her last two days after 
 the signing of the treaty, that is, January 12. Her 
 broken-hearted son had to suppress his tears, and present 
 a calm front to the poor young wife, whose sufferings now 
 left her no hope of recovery. Her husband attended 
 her continually, never leaving her except to visit his 
 brother, and for the last five days and nights he never 
 closed his eyes. Those who saw the haggard, grief- 
 stricken face of the poor king in those sad days felt the 
 deepest commiseration for him. All his Piedmontese 
 subjects declare that he was deeply attached to his wife, 
 and that her death was a terrible blow to him. This we 
 may believe, because we have it on the evidence of men 
 who were no courtiers, and whose testimony cannot be 
 doubted. But it is also true that his connection with the 
 Countess Mirafiore was the cause of bitter sorrow to 
 Queen Adelaide. And who can tell what remorse was 
 mingled with his grief, when the royal mourner thought 
 of his motherless little ones, as he bent over the couch of 
 his dying wife, and met the gaze of the sad loving eyes 
 which sought his continually ? ' 
 
 The queen consort expired on January 20, just 
 eight days after tiie queen dowager. Her death was 
 an irreparable loss, for such a wife and mother as 
 Adelaide must have made her influence felt alike in the 
 family and the court. 
 
 One invalid was all that now remained to the unhappy 
 king, — his gallant brother, sinking rapidly day by day, 
 while he still hoped to lead his brave soldiers to the war, 
 and obliterate the memories of 1849. 'I shall be better 
 next week,' the poor consumptive would say ; but every 
 
 ' ' Egli aveva assistito, del continuo, i suoi ammalati, che si consolavano 
 nel trovarselo vicino ; ma piu di tutti la moglie, la quale, affranta dai 
 patimenti, volgeva intorno lo sguardo a quando a quando, per fissare colui 
 ch' ella chiamava "mio buon Vittorio."' — Ghiron,
 
 DEATH OF THE DUKE OF GENOA 99 
 
 week found him worse. On the day that the troops 
 marched out of Turin they came by the palace, and the 
 duke was carried to the window to look out at them. 
 As they disappeared from his gaze, he sighed as if his 
 heart would break ; it seemed as if his last hope was 
 gone. He died on February 10, exactly a month after 
 the signing of the treaty. Next day, the king issued a 
 public announcement of his loss. 
 
 Grief comes upon grief, misfortune upon misfortune. 
 My loved brother, he who was my companion in 
 the battle-field, a perpetual comfort and aid to me 
 in deeds and in counsel ; he who, over and above 
 the tie of blood, was bound to me by the most 
 powerful affection of a warm reciprocal friendship, 
 is no more ! He breathed his last sigh yesterday 
 evening, a little after ten. With a lacerated heart I 
 announce to you this my new grief, which will be pro- 
 foundly felt, I am certain, by all the nation, who in 
 the Duke of Genoa not only admired the prince of 
 high aims and indomitable valour, but saw also the 
 splendid example of every virtue. 
 
 Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, was born in 1822, and was 
 just two years younger than Victor. He had a good 
 intellect, a kind heart, and a chivalrous spirit. To say 
 he was brave would be superfluous praise in treating of 
 a Prince of Savoy ; but the duke was an able as well as 
 a gallant soldier ; and if Victor merited the title, which 
 his people proudly cede him, of ' First Soldier of Italy,' 
 Ferdinand, they assert, ought to be called the second. In 
 1848 he w.is invited to the throne of Sicily, on condition 
 that he should be called by his second name, Albert, his 
 first, Ferdinand, being too hateful to the islanders by 
 reason of the Bourbon kings who had borne it. 
 
 The affection and esteem which Victor Emmanuel 
 felt for the duke, and which made him thank Providence 
 for having given him such a rare brother, were fully 
 reciprocated by him, and if he had been spared he would 
 have been a great consolation to the king in his hour of 
 trial. But a cruel fate swept his house clean of all its
 
 lOO LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 grown members at one swoop, leaving him alone in his 
 sorrow ; while the clergy, loudly proclaiming that the 
 judgment of heaven had descended on the wicked king 
 for his persecution of the Church, hissed at him that 
 he was accursed, and tried every secret art to terrify his 
 afflicted soul. 
 
 These denunciations were quickly drowned in a roar 
 of jDopular indignation, and execrations on the priests 
 who dared to insult the sovereign's grief ; for now the 
 hearts of king and people beat in unison, and his sorrow 
 was theirs. The citizens beset the palace day and 
 night with inquiries for the health of the royal family ; 
 and inside, men of all shades of opinion met with tears 
 in their eyes, drawn together by a common calamity. 
 All Turin, all Piedmont, was in the greatest affliction, 
 and by every evidence which it is possible at such a 
 moment to show, made the royal mourner feel that he 
 had his people's truest sympathy. 
 
 The king had ordered that each of the soldiers who 
 had escorted the queen's body to Superga should receive 
 200 francs. They took it, but only, to spend in pur- 
 chasing two magnificent garlands to lay upon her tomb, 
 and that of the queen-mother — saying that they were 
 more than rewarded by the honour. Loyalty in Pied- 
 mont must have been a sincere and high-wrought senti- 
 ment when it could make common soldiers feel as 
 delicately and act as gracefully as high-bred gentlemen. 
 
 The good Archbishop of Genoa, Monsignor Charvaz, 
 hastened to Turin to lend what consolation an old friend 
 and pastor might, and his presence was much needed ; 
 for to feel himself cut off from the Church at such a 
 moment was agony to Victor Emmanuel. Cavour, so 
 potent in mundane matters, had no spell to charm away 
 his master's grief, or quiet his disturbed conscience. 
 He wanted a minister of religion to speak gentle words 
 of faith, and charity, and love, to soothe his wounded 
 spirit. ' They tell me,' said he, in a voice broken by 
 sobs, ' that God has struck me with a judgment, and has 
 torn from me my mother, my wife, and my brother, 
 because I consented to those laws, and they threaten me
 
 REDISTRIBUTION OF CHURCH PROPERTY. lOI 
 
 with greater punishments. But do they not know,' he 
 added, ' that a sovereign who wishes to secure his own 
 happiness in the other world ought to labour for the 
 happiness of his people on this earth ? ' 
 D'Azeglio sa\ s : — 
 
 I found him thinner by half than he had been. His 
 waistcoat, which used to be tight, I could put my hand 
 in, and still it hung loose on him. But, with the 
 exception of a couple of days, he attended to affairs, 
 and signed documents, saying to me these noble words, 
 ' I am king ; it is my duty ! ' Certainly he appears 
 fifteen years older. However, the stuff, physical and 
 moral, is strong, and I have no fear. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RATTAZZl'S LAW. — CRIMEAN WAR. — VISIT TO PARIS 
 AND LONDON. A.D. 1 85 5. 
 
 During the illness of the two queens and the Duke of 
 Genoa the king was not only harassed by the question of 
 the Anglo-French alliance, but by the still more difficult 
 one concerning the redistribution of Church property in 
 Piedmont. The wealth of the bishops and monastic 
 communities was enormously out of proportion with the 
 resources of the countr}-", while the inferior clergy were 
 sunk in poverty, and had to be partly supported by the 
 state. There were 2,540 parishes with only an income 
 of 20/. per annum, and the assistance rendered to them 
 by the state, with other ecclesiastical expenses which it 
 could not afford, amounted to 200,000/. The Church 
 owned at this time more than a tenth part of the landed 
 property of the country, and had amassed untold wealth 
 by other means. 
 
 The arrogance and intolerance displayed by the 
 bishops in their bitter opposition to every attempt at 
 reform, and the absolute refusal of the Pope to sanction
 
 102 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 any readjustment of ecclesiastical property, roused the 
 Sardinian Government to take decisive measures to strip 
 the prelates of some of their power and privileges. The 
 extreme Liberals were for confiscating all Church pro- 
 perty and paying the clergy a salary, but Cavour chose 
 a medium course. Whenever a see fell vacant he reduced 
 the number of superfluous bishops by withholding pre- 
 sentation, which was the right of the government. Mean- 
 while his colleague Rattazzi, Minister of Grace and Justice, 
 introduced the famous bill for the suppression of a 
 certain number of religious houses, and other changes in 
 ecclesiastical affairs, which struck the old-fashioned folk 
 called Codini with horror, and roused the fiercest opposi- 
 tion on the part of the clergy. It was impious ; it was 
 sacrilegious, it was everything that was wicked ; nothing 
 but destruction could come to the country which per- 
 mitted such disastrous laws to pass. 
 
 The bill was under discussion when the terrible 
 calamities which befel the king interrupted the sittings, 
 and gave occasion to the clergy to point out that Pro- 
 vidence had manifestly blighted the House of Savoy for 
 its sins against the Church. The government could not 
 shut the mouths of the disaffected clergy without laying 
 itself open to the charge of persecution ; and the clergy 
 left nothing undone to stir up a religious fanaticism among 
 the people. The king, stunned and prostrated mentally 
 and physically by the cruel trials he had passed through, 
 shrank from a conflict between Church and State, 
 and was disposed to compromise matters when the 
 bishops offered to make up the necessary sum to pay the 
 parish clergy if the Rattazzi Bill were withdrawn. 
 
 On April 14 the king and court went to Alessandria 
 to pass in review the 25,000 troops, about to set out for 
 the seat of war, and to give them new banners. All the 
 soldier awoke within him at the sight of his brave army, 
 always so loyal and devoted to their king, and he longed 
 to be free to lay down the sceptre and resume the sword 
 once more. * Ah, General,' he said to La Marmora, 
 with a profound sigh, ' happy you ! You go to fight 
 soldiers ; I remain to fight monks and nuns ! '
 
 DEPARTURE OF THE ARMY. I03 
 
 The ministers of France and England had accom- 
 panied the Sardinian court to Alessandria to assist at 
 the presentation of banners, and they were much pleased 
 with the aspect of the men. 
 
 Order of the Day. 
 
 Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Soldiers ! — A 
 war founded on justice, on which the tranquillity of 
 Europe and the fate of our country depends, calls you 
 to the East. You shall see distant lands where the 
 Cross of Savoy is not unknown ; you shall see brave 
 people and armies whose fame fills the world. Let 
 their example stimulate you to show to all that 
 the valour of your fathers has not decreased. On 
 former occasions I have conducted you to the field of 
 honour ; and I remember with pride how I shared 
 with you the dangers and fatigues of war. To-day I 
 am grieved to separate from you for a time ; but I 
 shall follow you in thought everywhere, and that will 
 be a happy day on which I shall be permitted to join 
 you once more. 
 
 Soldiers ! here are your colours ! They were gene- 
 rously unfurled by the magnanimous Charles Albert, 
 and they will help to remind you in a distant country 
 of eight centuries of noble traditions. Defend them ! 
 Bring them back crowned with new glor}', and your 
 sacrifices shall be blessed by present and future 
 generations. 
 
 From the soul-stirring prospect of militar}- glor}-, 
 which was the only thing that could have roused him 
 from his unhappy state at tliat moment, Victor Em- 
 manuel turned to the hateful contest with monks and 
 nuns. His soul sickened at the ignoble warfare, and 
 when the Bishop of Casalmonferrato, in the name of the 
 episcopacy of Piedmont, made the offer in the Senate of 
 a large sum for payment of clerical dues, the king wished 
 to accept it. This brought on a ministerial crisis. 
 While it lasted the king consulted not only the most 
 eminent and able of his own subjects, but the ministers
 
 104 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 of France and England. All agreed that he ought to 
 recall Cavour ; and so he turned again to the Bestia 
 Neva, as the fanatics called the great reformer, and rein- 
 stated him in power. The Senate resumed the discussion 
 on the suppression of monasteries, etc., and after long 
 debates agreed to the Rattazzi Bill with modifications, 
 which the Chamber of Deputies accepted, and, the royal 
 sanction being given, it became law. 
 
 ' We shall always count it one of the proudest acts 
 of our political career,' said Cavour, ' that we knew how 
 to sacrifice every personal consideration for what we 
 considered a sacred duty.' 
 
 Many were the friendships lost and bitter enmities 
 incurred by him and the king in their daring determina- 
 tion to pass this measure. The relentless animosity 
 of a numerous and influential class, finding themselves 
 suddenly despoiled of their ancient privileges and a 
 great portion of their wealth, Victor Emmanuel was 
 made to feel to the utmost. They had tried to 
 work upon his feelings and his conscience by reminding 
 him of his dead mother's wishes, and when he was 
 proof against all their subtle attempts to conquer his 
 reason, they slandered and calumniated him without 
 scruple on the points where he was most sensitive. 
 Victor Emmanuel, besides having a great reverence for 
 the Church, entertained such a personal regard and 
 esteem for Pio Nono as made the struggle doubly painful 
 to him. When the accident happened at St. Agnes' 
 Church near Rome, from which the Pope escaped 
 unhurt, the king wrote him a cordial letter of congra- 
 tulation. This was in April, before the obnoxious bill 
 was passed, and Pius replied courteously to the missive. 
 
 The ministry was recomposed, General Durando being 
 Minister of War, Signor Rattazzi of the Interior, Count 
 Cibrario, an able and devoted servant of the Crown, 
 particularly dear to Victor Emmanuel, Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, while Count Cavour, President of the 
 Council, also took charge of the finances. 
 
 This question settled — if it could be called settled 
 while such a storm of clerical indignation was raging
 
 THE king's illness. 10$ 
 
 throughout the country — Victor Emmanuel turned his 
 longing eyes towards the Crimea, where the allied 
 armies were suffering from the ravages of cholera. He 
 desired to share their hardships and dangers, but his 
 people would not consent ; so he had to content himself 
 with the joyful news of the victory won by the allies at the 
 Tchernaya, August i6, 1855, in which his Piedmontese 
 comported themselves most valiantly, and La Marmora 
 proved himself one of the ablest generals in Europe. 
 Queen Victoria and the Emperor Napoleon sent warm 
 congratulations to the King of Sardinia, and he thrilled 
 with exultant pride, while all Italy rejoiced. He was 
 just then doing the honours of Turin to a succession 
 of royal guests — the Prince of Portugal, afterwards his 
 son-in law, and the son and daughter of the good King 
 Leopold of Belgium, for whom he had a great respect. 
 
 Late in the autumn the king, returning from the 
 chase tired and heated, and having to cross a river to 
 arrive at his castcllo, with his usual impatience refused to 
 wait for the boat which should have carried him over, 
 and plunged with his horse into the icy water. Violent 
 fever, accompanied by racking pains in his bones, was the 
 natural consequence of this imprudence. Great alarm 
 was felt for several days, and Cavour was in a state 
 of intense anxiety, not on public grounds alone, but 
 also because, like everyone who shared the counsels 
 of the genial, warm-hearted Victor, he had become 
 personally attached to him. He watched his conva- 
 lescence with joy ; and, partly for the king's sake and 
 partly for political motives, he begged him to accept 
 the invitation to visit his august allies, Victoria and 
 Napoleon. It was desirable to draw the bonds of 
 friendship closer by personal intercourse ; and also to 
 contradict the slanders which the clerical party were 
 circulating in England and P'rance. 
 
 At first Cavour thought it better not to accompany 
 his master, as it might give too political a character 
 to the visit. But afterwards he was persuaded that he 
 might profit by the occasion to let his English friends 
 know more particularly the state of affairs in Italy.
 
 I06 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 He made it a condition that Massimo d'Azeglio should 
 accompany them, ' his presence being necessary to prove 
 to the world that we are not infected by the revolu- 
 tionary stain.' Cavour and Azeglio had quarrelled ; but 
 they immolated all ill-will on the altar of patriotism. 
 A reconciliation took place, and mutual esteem soon 
 ripened into a firm friendship, which was only dissolved 
 by death. 
 
 Before setting out on the journey, the Legislative 
 Assembly was opened, November 12. It was the first 
 time the king had opened Parliament since his domestic 
 afflictions, and though nearly a year had elapsed, the 
 memories awakened by the ceremony had an agitating 
 effect on him. The Prince of Carignano now stood 
 beside the throne in the place of his brother, while the 
 gallery where his wife and mother were wont to sit 
 was vacant. His voice trembled a little when he first 
 began to speak, but he conquered the weakness as he 
 went on. 
 
 The Kings Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, Gentlemen Deputies, — The year 
 that is almost finished has been for my heart a 
 period of cruel trials. They were alleviated by seeing 
 the tears of the whole nation associated with the 
 mourning of my house, and in the midst of my sorrows 
 God sustained me to fulfil my duty. 
 
 I turn my glance to the great struggle which for 
 two years has raged in the East. I did not hesitate 
 to unite my arms to that party which combats for the 
 cause of justice, civilisation, and the independence of 
 nations. I was urged to it by the desire to share in 
 the triumph of those principles which we are propa- 
 gating, the generous instincts of the Subalpine people, 
 and the traditions of my family. Our soldiers, unit- 
 ing with the valiant armies of France, England, and 
 Turkey, seconded by the zeal and activity of our 
 fleet, have shared perils and glories with them, and 
 increased the ancient fame of this warlike country.
 
 VISITS TO FRANCE AND ENGLAND, 10/ 
 
 May God crown their united efforts with greater 
 success, and render possible a lasting peace securing 
 to each nation its legitimate rights. 
 
 The expenses of the war will render necessary a 
 fresh recourse to the public credit. The scarcity of 
 the harvests, the renewed scourge of cholera, united 
 with other unexpected contingencies, have diminished 
 the public revenues. If, contrary to the desire of my 
 heart, necessity compels us to ask fresh sacrifices of 
 the nation, my government will seek by every means 
 to render these imposts as light as possible. It will 
 project a law for the more equal distribution of taxes, 
 so that they will not press so heavily on the poorer 
 classes. 
 
 Other laws to improve the political administration 
 and economy of the State, the courts of justice, and 
 public instruction, shall be proposed for your consi- 
 deration. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, Gentlemen Deputies, — The 
 arduous mission which is confided to you, you will 
 prosecute so as to give proofs of that prudence and 
 laboriousness, of that constant affection for the inte- 
 rests of the country, for which you have been distin- 
 guished. We shall thus continue the noble example 
 of a king and a nation bound by the indissoluble ties 
 of love and confidence, in joy as in grief, being always 
 in accord in maintaining the two great bases of public 
 happiness — order and liberty.' 
 
 The king was received on his first appearance with 
 the warmest demonstrations of affection, and was loudly 
 applauded at the conclusion of his speech. He was 
 touched and gratified by these demonstrations ; for 
 Victor, not pretending to be superior to popular praise, 
 always acknowledged himself proud of the devotion 
 of his subjects. ' How could my uncle,' he once said, 
 speaking of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, ' by his own 
 doing, sacrifice the affections of his people } If I reigned 
 not over a little state like Piedmont, but an empire 
 vast as America, and I was obliged to do what he has
 
 I08 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 done, to preserve the little throne of Tuscany, I would 
 not hesitate a moment, I would renounce empire.' 
 
 On November 30 the king started from Turin. At 
 Lyons, Cavour and Azeglio awaited him. The latter 
 humorously describes how they drove side by side in 
 the same carriage for public edification, like rivals 
 shaking hands on the stage. Victor Emmanuel was 
 well received in Paris, and the emperor and empress 
 vied with each other in the most delicate attentions. 
 The arms of the Sabaud family were emblazoned on the 
 Sevres china, and everything destined for his use. On 
 the table of his salon was a portfolio of drawings, re- 
 presenting all the glorious feats of arms of the Pied- 
 montese in 1848. This delicate flattery was not confined 
 to the monarch alone. D'Azeglio found in his room four 
 of his own beautiful pictures, for which the galleries and 
 royal palaces had been searched. Cavour may be sup- 
 posed to have had his own peculiar vanity, though not 
 so patent as that of the soldier-king and the noble 
 artist ; and without doubt his French hosts knew how- 
 to tickle it in some graceful, subtle way — at which he 
 may have smiled, but must have been pleased. 
 
 The sovereigns parted with the warmest expressions 
 of personal regard on both sides ; and before saying 
 adieu the emperor asked the momentous question, 
 which must have set Victor's brain throbbing, ' Que peut- 
 071 faire pour t Italic ? ' 
 
 The Honest King's welcome in England, if not so in- 
 genious in complimentary devices, was beyond all doubt 
 as hearty and sincere. He was just the sort of man the 
 English nation delights to honour. The people love 
 a hero, particularly a hero who has fought for some 
 oppressed nationality, and when that hero who defended 
 his nation's rights was himself a sovereign who rejected 
 the despotic power which his neighbours wanted to 
 thrust upon him, resting his authority on the devotion 
 of his subjects — their enthusiasm knew no bounds. 
 There was something, too, in the admiration and sym- 
 pathy w^hich Victor Emmanuel and his minister always 
 openly expressed for England, pointing to it as an
 
 SPEECH AT THE GUILDHALL. 109 
 
 example of the splendid effects of constitutional mon- 
 archy. ' The Times ' spoke of the illustrious guest as 
 'a prince gallant in war, wise in council, constant in 
 adversity, tried above the common lot in domestic as 
 well as political life, and under every aspect worthy of 
 the cordial sympathy of the English people.' 
 
 The Queen and Prince Consort were not less warm 
 than the nation in the welcome they gave him. D'Azeglio, 
 in his charming letters, describes the interesting visit, 
 and says they were entertained with feudal magnificence. 
 Queen Victoria bestowed the Order of the Garter on her 
 illustrious namesake, whom she treated as ' an old friend ; ' 
 and the visitors were enchanted with everything English, 
 except the climate, which in mid-winter did not make a 
 favourable impression. The Italians made their entry 
 into the metropolis in a bitter north wind. ' In full 
 dress in an open carriage, with no mantle to protect me, 
 I suffered the agonies of the hifenio with neuralgia in 
 my face,' says Azeglio. King Victor was much too 
 hardy a hunter to be ruffled by a north wind, and he 
 enjoyed everything, particularly the reviews, for the Eng- 
 lish troops filled him with admiration. The City of 
 London gave a grand banquet at the Guildhall in honour 
 of the royal guest, where he was received with the warm- 
 est demonstrations ever accorded to a foreign prince. 
 King Victor did not speak English, and he preferred to 
 reply to the Lord Mayor's address in his own language 
 rather than French. 
 
 My Lord Mayor, — I warmly thank the Lord Mayor and 
 the aldermen and the cojiiune of the City of London 
 for the courteous felicitations that they have presented 
 me with on the occasion of my visit to Queen Victoria 
 and the English nation. 
 
 The welcome I have met in this ancient home of 
 constitutional liberty — of which this address is a con- 
 firmation—is a proof of the sympathy inspired by the 
 policy I have followed till now, and in which I intend 
 to persevere. 
 
 The close alliance between the two most powerful
 
 I 10 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 nations of the earth, which I am now visiting, is an 
 honour to the wisdom of the sovereigns who rule them 
 not less than to the character of the peoples. They 
 have learned to substitute a profitable friendship for 
 an ancient rivalry, and this alliance will contribute to 
 the triumph of civilisation. 
 
 In spite of the misfortunes that have weighed on the 
 beginning of my reign, I also have entered into this 
 alliance, because the House of Savoy believes it to be 
 always its duty to unsheathe the sword in the cause of 
 justice and independence; and if I bring to my allies 
 the forces of a small kingdom, I bring at least the 
 strength of a loyalty which no one has ever doubted, 
 supported by the valour of an army which always 
 follows faithfully the banner of their king. We cannot 
 lay down our arms till we have obtained an honourable 
 and lasting peace ; and with the aid of Providence this 
 will be arrived at by seeking to reconcile the true 
 rights and just desires of every nation. 
 
 I thank you for the good wishes which you have 
 offered me to-day for my future and that of my king- 
 dom. But while you speak to me of the future, I am 
 happy instead to speak to you of the present, and 
 I congratulate you on the high position England 
 occupies as due to the free and noble character of the 
 nation, and to the virtues of your queen. 
 
 On December ii, Turin welcomed the return of her 
 beloved king with clamorous applause — all the warmer 
 because he was so highly appreciated in other countries. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE CONGRESS.— THE PEACE. A.D. 1 856. 
 
 The fall of Sebastopol early in the year 1856 ended 
 the winter's campaign, and an armistice was concluded 
 between the belligerents. In order to take part in a
 
 cavour's labours at the congress. I I I 
 
 conference to consider the future plan of action for the 
 allies, General Alfonso La Marmora was recalled from 
 the Crimea. The king was delighted to see his old 
 friend who had so well represented him at the war, and 
 expressed the greatest regret for his brother, General 
 Alessandro La Marmora — famous as the founder of the 
 Bersaglieri — who had died of cholera in the Crimea. 
 
 The Congress was to meet in February at Paris, and 
 every state was to be represented by two plenipoten- 
 tiaries. The King of Sardinia wished to send as first 
 plenipotentiary Cavaliere ^Massimo d'Azeglio ; but he 
 objected, saying that he disliked the office, hated 
 courts, was no diplomatist, and in short would not go 
 unless it were an absolute obligation. Count Cavour 
 hated the office equally, because he heard that as Austria 
 had proposed the peace, and was pressing it upon 
 Russia, she would have a powerful voice in the Congress, 
 and Piedmont would look small. 
 
 ' What is the use of our going to the Congress to be 
 treated like children .' ' said he. But the king overcame 
 his reluctance, and he wrote to the ]\Iarquis \'illamarina, 
 who was to be the second plenipotentiary : — 
 
 I have not hesitated, in spite of the innumerable affairs 
 that claim my attention in Turin, in spite of my ex- 
 cessive repugnance to play the diplomat — I have not 
 hesitated to announce to the king that I am ready to 
 start for the Congress, and I pray you to join me in 
 this ungrateful mission. 
 
 To tell how bravely he struggled to maintain the 
 dignity of his country against the Austrian schemes to 
 humiliate her, belongs to Cavour's life ; but it reflects 
 glor>' on the reign of Victor Emmanuel, and should not 
 be altogether unnoticed. Cavour's large-hearted pa- 
 triotism was not confined to the narrow limits of Pied- 
 montese territory', but embraced all Italy. Piedmont was 
 naturally his first care, for she was the centre and seat 
 of independent thought and action. But all Italy was 
 his country ; he had one great end in his life for which 
 he laboured incessantly, indefatigably — and that was
 
 112 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Italian unity. He now seized the opportunity of the 
 Congress to make the wrongs of Italy fully known to 
 all Europe. He had previously written a letter to the 
 emperor in which he had fully answered his question, 
 ' What can we do for Italy .-* ', concluding thus : — 
 
 The emperor can render immense service to Italy — 
 firstly, by inducing Austria to do justice to Piedmont 
 and maintain her engagements ; secondly, by obtain- 
 ing from her a mitigation of the regime that weighs 
 upon Lombardy and Venetia ; in the third place, 
 by forcing the King of Naples not to scandalise 
 civilised Europe by a deportment contrary to all 
 the principles of justice and equity ; in the fourth 
 place, by re-establishing an equilibrium in Italy 
 such as was settled at the Treaty of Vienna, that is 
 to say, rendering possible the removal of the Aus- 
 trians from the Legations and the Romagna, by 
 placing those provinces under a secular prince, or 
 procuring them the benefit of a laic and independent 
 administration. 
 
 Cavour had the warm sympathy of the English 
 plenipotentiaries, Lords Clarendon and Cowley, and 
 also that of the Buonaparte family. He put himself 
 in friendly relations with the Russian envoys, though 
 Russia and Piedmont had long been on bad terms and 
 lately were open enemies ; in short, he left nothing 
 undone to win .sympathy for his country, and gain a 
 hearing for her woes ; but other questions had to be 
 first decided. The Congress was drawing to a close, 
 and Cavour had found no opportunity to introduce the 
 state of Italy. Austria had been careful to circulate the 
 idea that it was a land of lawless revolutionists ; and 
 after the Congress was ended, she would resume her 
 tyranny in the provinces under her rule, and her aggres- 
 sions against Piedmont, if the question were allowed to 
 sink into oblivion. Outside the Congress the represen- 
 tatives of England and France, in answer to Count 
 Cavour's importunities, invited him to make known his 
 views on the state of Italy, and he drew up a memorial
 
 SCENE IN THE CONGRESS. II3 
 
 and laid it before these two powers. At last with much 
 difficulty he obtained the emperor's consent to bring the 
 Italian question before the Congress. The particulars of 
 that conference were not made known, but a letter written 
 by the Tuscan minister at Paris will give an idea of what 
 a lively discussion it was. 
 
 [Strictly private.] Paris : April 15, 1856. 
 
 In the preceding despatch I had the honour to an- 
 nounce to your Excellency that the Sardic pleni- 
 potentiaries were finally allowed to discourse in 
 the Congress on Italian affairs. To the particulars 
 contained in that report I may now add the fol- 
 lowing : — The motion of the Sardic plenipotentia- 
 ries took place on the twentieth supplementary sitting, 
 that is, on April 8. Signor Cavour, having drawn 
 a very ugly picture of the general condition of 
 our peninsula, touched upon the delicate theme 
 of the presence of foreign troops in the pontifical 
 States and in the ducal States ; and endeavoured to 
 show that by means of proper reforms the discontent 
 might be removed, and the country guaranteed against 
 the immense danger of the increasing activity of the 
 revolutionists. He took pains to show that in the 
 Papal States, as in the ducal, there was no want 
 of elements to constitute a force of their own suffi- 
 cient to maintain order ; and in support of his argu- 
 ment he cited with words of high praise the example 
 of Tuscany, and on the management of our troops he 
 dwelt with much eulogium. 
 
 As to the state of the Two Sicilies, Count Cavour, 
 without dissimulation, spoke in the hardest terms, 
 picturing it in the most repulsive colours. He spoke 
 in the same terms of the condition of the Lombardo- 
 Venetian kingdom, and hinted at the necessity of 
 some reforms more in accordance with the require- 
 ments of the present age. . . . 
 
 Lords Clarendon and Cowley supported strongly 
 the motion of Count Cavour, and passed in review the 
 leading points treated of by the Sardic plenipoten- 
 
 I
 
 114 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 tiaries. It was at this point that Lord Clarendon 
 questioned Count Buol in a very warm manner on the 
 intentions of the Cabinet of Vienna with regard to 
 Italy ; and Count Buol replied more warmly in a 
 manner to take away all hope that Austria was 
 disposed to enter line upon that ground. The dis- 
 cussion assumed a very grave aspect. Clarendon, 
 piqued by the bare, peremptory reply of Buol, said, 
 ' If your intention is really to make no promise, 
 nor enter into any engagement towards Italy, it 
 amounts to throwing down the gauntlet to Liberal 
 Europe, which will not fail to take it up. The ques- 
 tion will then be decided by means the most vigorous 
 and energetic. It is a great mistake for you to believe 
 that our forces are exhausted.' It was Clarendon who, 
 talking of the Pontifical State.'?, was bold enough to 
 say that the government of the Pope was 7ine Jionte 
 potir r Europe. This, which the English plenipotentiary 
 said in a moment of passion, excited the Count Buol, 
 and he replied with great vivacity. 
 
 I have reason to believe that the Premier of King 
 Victor Emmanuel is satisfied to be able to say to the 
 Piedmontese Parliament that he has thought of Italy, 
 that his motion has been listened to with favour 
 by the ministers of England and France : and has 
 awakened the sympathy of Europe. I know that the 
 Count Walewski is occupied in trying to reproduce 
 this stormy discussion in the best aspect, and to 
 eliminate from it all traces of the thorns and thistles, 
 the invectives and resentments of the sitting. 
 
 ' Milord,' said Cavour to Lord Clarendon, coming 
 out of the Congress, * you see that diplomacy will do 
 nothing for us ; it is therefore necessary to think of 
 other means, at least as far as regards Naples.' 
 
 He paid a visit to Lord Clarendon subsequently, and 
 briefly stated the case thus : — 
 
 That which has passed in the Congress proves two 
 things : first, that Austria is decided to persist in her 
 system of oppression and violence towards Italy ;
 
 cavour's efforts. 115 
 
 secondly, that the forces of diplomacy are impotent 
 to modify that system. The consequences for Pied- 
 mont will be dreadful. With the irritation on our 
 side, and the arrogance of Austria on the other, there 
 are but two alternatives to take : reconcile ourselves 
 to Austria and the Pope, or prepare to declare war at 
 the Court of Vienna in a future not far distant. If 
 the first part is preferable, I must on my return to 
 Turin advise my king to call to power the friends of 
 Austria and the Pope. If the second hypothesis is 
 best, my friends and I will not shrink from preparing 
 for a terrible war — a war to the death. 
 
 Lord Clarendon replied that he believed it was in- 
 evitable, but for the present it was best not to speak 
 of it. 
 
 ' Milord,' urged Cavour, earnestly, ' I have given 
 proofs of my moderation and prudence ; and I believe 
 that in politics it is necessary to be excessively reserved 
 in words and very decided in action. There are positions 
 in which there is less peril in a bold course than a very 
 prudent one. La Marmora thinks with me that before 
 long we shall be able to make war, and you will have 
 to aid us.' 
 
 ' Certainly, if you are in serious embarrassment you 
 may count on our aid,' replied the English plenipoten- 
 tiary. Doubtless in speaking thus he meant to defend 
 Piedmont from overt acts of aggression, and did not con- 
 template taking part in a national war of redemption ; 
 but this last was plainly what Cavour meant, as he had 
 dwelt more on the general state of Italy, and Lombardy, 
 and Venetia in particular, than the grievances of Pied- 
 mont against Austria. 
 
 In spite of the fact that the emperor still held back, 
 and told the Sardic minister to go to London and talk 
 to Lord Palmerston before he would give him a decided 
 answer, while the English premier gave him to under- 
 stand that they would be disposed to defend Pied- 
 mont only, not Italy, against Austria — Cavour felt 
 that he had advanced the national cause not a little 
 
 I 2
 
 Il6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 by openly declaring his country's wrongs before Europe. 
 For the first time Europe was informed officially — 
 not by a conspirator or revolutionist, but by the min- 
 ister of a king of one of the most ancient dynasties 
 of Europe — that there existed an Italian question, and 
 that means ought to be adopted to remove the cause 
 of the disturbance which constantly threatened the peace 
 of the continent. 
 
 The treaty of peace was signed on March 30, after 
 which had followed the discussion on Italian affairs. 
 
 On April 29 the Sardic minister returned to Turin, 
 well pleased with himself as having done his country 
 good service, and sure of a cordial reception from his 
 king, whom he had kept informed of the minutest par- 
 ticulars of the Congress. He hastened to the palace 
 immediately on his arrival to salute the king and give 
 him the latest nevv's. Victor Emmanuel embraced him, 
 then caught both his hands and shook them repeatedly 
 with a warmth of look and manner which spoke his 
 thanks better than words. He immediately bestowed 
 on him the Order of the Santissima Annunziata. 
 
 By June all the Sardinian troops were returned from 
 the Crimea, that is, all that survived — about 4,000 had 
 perished from cholera or in the field — and were received 
 in Turin with enthusiastic applause. On the i6th the 
 king held a grand review in the Piazza d'Armi — a solemn 
 ceremony initiated by thanksgiving for the safe return 
 of the army in p atria. It was a very imposing spectacle 
 in itself, and the emotions it excited made it more 
 interesting. The king, accompanied by the English, 
 French, and Turkish ambassadors and a brilliant staff", 
 entered the Piazza, round which rose an amphitheatre 
 of seats filled with spectators, and in the midst an altar 
 where the bishop and clergy stood performing the ser- 
 vice. The king listened to the prayers on horseback, 
 looking, says his biographer, ' like the statue of his 
 glorious ancestor, Emanuele Filiberto.' The service 
 ended, Victor Emmanuel passed down the lines, amidst 
 the ardent acclamations of the soldiers, who cried Viva 
 il Re! while the spectators added, Viva Vesercito !
 
 RETURN OF THE ARMY. II/ 
 
 Viva La Marmora ! The gallant general, who rode 
 side by side with the king, was overcome with emotion 
 when he thought of his brave soldiers sleeping in the 
 Crimea, and among them his own brother. When the 
 king had made the round of the Piazza he addressed the 
 troops : — 
 
 Officers, Sub-officers and Soldiers ! — Hardly a year has 
 passed since I saluted you in sorrow, because I could 
 not be your companion in this memorable undertaking. 
 I meet you again with joy, and tell you you have 
 deserved well of your country. You have responded 
 worthily to my expectations, to the hopes of the 
 country, and to the confidence of our powerful allies, 
 who to-day give you a solemn testimony of it. 
 
 Firm in the calamity that afflicted a portion of 
 you, dauntless in war, well-ordered always, you have 
 increased the fame and influence of this elect part 
 of Italy. I retake the .banners that I consigned to 
 you, and which you have brought back to me victorious 
 from the East. I shall preserve them as a record of 
 your fatigues, and as a sure pledge that when the 
 honour and the interests of the nation oblige me to 
 return them, they will again be defended by you on 
 the field of battle with equal courage, and covered with 
 new glories. 
 
 The king's address was received with immense en- 
 thusiasm on the part of both citizens and soldiers. 
 The proceedings terminated by the king distributing 
 the medals for military valour, — his own and those 
 sent by Queen Victoria and the Emperor for the men 
 specially distinguished in the Piedmontese army. All 
 Italy was full of admiration and congratulation for 
 the gallant little army of Piedmont which had so well 
 maintained the national honour ; and in spite of the 
 jealous watchfulness of the governments, they subscribed 
 — Lombards, Venetians, Tuscans, Romans, Neapolitans 
 — a sum to provide lOO cannons for the fortress of 
 Alessandria. 
 
 The king promoted Alfonso La Marmora to the
 
 Il8 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 highest rank, and loaded him with honours ; but he did 
 not wish the general to resume his place in the Cabinet, 
 because on some points they differed strongly. Cavour, 
 however, persuaded the king that the uncompromising 
 soldier's services were necessary, and he yielded. ' The 
 king loves and esteems you sincerely,' wrote the count 
 to his friend. And La Marmora loved and esteemed 
 Victor Emmanuel ; nevertheless, they often disagreed. 
 
 * Now that you have resumed office,' said the king, 
 ' I hope you will do as I wish.' 
 
 ' Sire, I will do my duty, now as always,' was the 
 proud reply. It was no idle boast. La Marmora's 
 character commands even more admiration than his 
 great talents — talents which are rarely found united with 
 so much simplicity, modesty, and self-abnegation. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CONTINUED DLSAGREEMENTS WITH AUSTRIA. — MACHI- 
 NATIONS OF THE CLERICALS AND SECTARIES. A.D. 
 1857-58. 
 
 Time had not mitigated the burning sense of wrong 
 which Piedmont felt towards Austria as the implacable 
 enemy of her liberties ; nor the fear and hatred which 
 Austria felt towards Piedmont as the head-centre of 
 revolutionary doctrine subversive of her power in the 
 peninsula. These hostile sentiments had settled into a 
 chronic irritation, which at times broke out in fierce 
 diplomatic conflicts. Victor Emmanuel suffered from 
 this suppressed rage against Austria more perhaps than 
 any man in his kingdom. After the treaty of peace in 
 1849, he had tried hard to conquer it, and accept his fate 
 with a good grace. For a few years a semblance of 
 amicable relations was kept up, though they never ex- 
 ceeded the coldest courtesy. When the Archduke Albert 
 of Austria expressed a desire to see his sister, the Queen 
 of Sardinia, he was not invited to Turin for the purpose.
 
 GOOD RESULTS OF THE CONGRESS. II9 
 
 Victor Emmanuel did not wish to entertain his obnoxious 
 relative with false compliments ; all he would do was 
 to permit his wife to meet her brother on Lombard 
 territor}'. With the queen's death every tie was severed, 
 and \'ictor felt free to pursue the policy his inclination 
 dictated, that inclination being uncompromising enmity 
 towards Austria, as long as an Austrian soldier remained 
 on Italian soil. 
 
 It is idle to deny that his soul was filled with this 
 ambition of driving the foreigner out of Italy, from the 
 day he ascended the throne. Of course his ministers 
 did not avow it in diplomatic language, but Jie never 
 concealed his wishes. ' They said Italy should have been 
 my father's, and Italy shall be mine,' he said at the time 
 of the Crimean War. We must remember this was after 
 the Italian princes had all betrayed the national cause 
 and united themselves with Austria. He kept alive and 
 concentrated in himself the hopes of the national party ; 
 Lombards, Romans, Neapolitans, all agreed that the 
 young King of Sardinia was the only man in Italy who 
 could ever work out the redemption of their common 
 countr}'. This was reason enough to make him hated 
 and feared by Austria, whose great aim was to prove 
 Italy, what Prince Mettemich said she was, a mere 
 * geographical expression.' 
 
 ' The King of Sardinia,' wrote a Neapolitan minis- 
 ter to the Court of Vienna. ' only waits a favourable 
 moment to put himself at the head of a revolutionary 
 movement throughout Italy.' 
 
 So far they did him no wrong, for that was really his 
 intention. But they did slander him and his govern- 
 ment when they persisted in tr}-ing to convince 
 Europe that the king and his ministers organised 
 and fomented conspiracies against the governments 
 of other States ; that political assassinations and all 
 lawless deeds had their origin among the most well- 
 ordered, well-conducted, loyal people in the peninsula, 
 as the Piedmontese undoubtedly were. Nothing could 
 be more contrar}- to Victor Emmanuel's policy and 
 that of his great minister, than lawless violence, and
 
 120 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 secret conspiracies. His object was to detach the cause 
 of Italy from Mazzinianism, and unite it in his own 
 person with constitutional monarchy. It was absurd to 
 suppose that the representative of an old hereditary 
 sovereignty, like Victor Emmanuel, could be a revolu- 
 tionist in the sense they said he was, to imiagine that 
 the head of the Savoy dynasty could think and act like 
 a political adventurer who had no family name to 
 sustain, a demagogue who had no position or character 
 to lose. But the Austrian press, which once attacked 
 Pio Nono as a demon of revolution, could not be ex- 
 pected to make nice distinctions with regard to Victor 
 Emmanuel's Liberalism. He was opposed to Austrian 
 rule in Italy, and that was enough to make those writers 
 represent the King of Sardinia as a sort of brigand chief, 
 who, though he maintained a savage discipline in his 
 own State, recognised no international obligations and 
 kept no faith with neighbouring princes. These calumnies 
 were partly believed till the Crimean war brought Pied- 
 mont into notice, and made her people and king better 
 known throughout Europe, Cavour's agitation of the 
 Italian question at the Congress of Paris did much to 
 enlighten the world, while it provoked the rulers of Austria 
 beyond description. Renewed accusations and recrimin- 
 ations followed. The king's government was not remiss 
 in replying that the disorders complained of had their 
 origin in the bad system of administration pursued in 
 the Italian principalities. The King of Naples and the 
 dukes followed in the wake of Austria, and laid at the 
 door of Victor Emmanuel every political offence per- 
 petrated in their dominions. 
 
 The king [writes Cavour in one of his notes] repels 
 every- insinuation tending to generate the belief that he 
 disturbs abroad, by means direct or indirect, that peace, 
 that tranquillity, which he knows how to maintain con- 
 stantly in his own state. It is not by the reasonable 
 and temperate exercise of moderate liberty that disor- 
 ders and insurrections are born. The history of Pied- 
 mont during these late years proves it clearly. The
 
 FALSE ACCUSATIONS. 121 
 
 grand-ducal government knows by experience in how 
 many circumstances Sardinia has efficaciously co- 
 operated to impede disturbances, internal and ex- 
 ternal. . . . The king knows what international obli- 
 gations mean, and fulfils them scrupulously. 
 
 Again, he says, in reply to an opposition member, — 
 
 We have always followed a frank, loyal policy without 
 duplicity, and so long as we shall be at peace with 
 other potentates we will not employ revolutionary 
 means, nor ever seek to excite tumults or rebellions 
 in their states. 
 
 If we had proposed to ourselves such an aim as the 
 honourable Brofterio hinted ; if we had intended to 
 send ships to aid revolutionary movements, before 
 doing it we would have declared war. As to Naples, 
 it is with pain that I reply to the hon. Brofferio. 
 He has spoken of a very melancholy fact, the blowing 
 up of a magazine of a ship of war, involving the loss 
 of many lives — a horrid deed. He has spoken in a 
 manner to lead one to believe that this act was the 
 work of the Italian party. I deny the assertion boldly 
 in the interest of Italy. No, gentlemen, these acts 
 cannot be placed to the account of the national 
 Italian party. They are the isolated acts of some 
 deluded wretch, who may merit compassion, but must 
 be stigmatised by all wise men ; and above all, by 
 those who have at heart the honour and interest of 
 Italy. 
 
 In the month of February, while Victor Emmanuel 
 and Cavour were fighting these battles on Italian ground, 
 a heavy misfortune from without came upon them, which 
 both felt deeply. It was the defection of their best ally, 
 in whom they trusted most, who had never misjudged 
 them ; whose soldiers, only last year, had mingled their 
 blood on the battle-field with that of the Piedmontese ; 
 who had welcomed King Victor and his ministers with 
 the warmest hospitality and most eager demonstrations 
 of sympathy that could be imagined. Suspicions of the
 
 122 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 French Emperor's fidelity had induced the British Go- 
 vernment to form an aUiance with Austria, not without 
 a protest from the more generous-minded portion of the 
 nation. ' L'ltaHa era la vittima immolata suU' altare di 
 tale riconciliazione,' says an Italian historian. In the 
 month of February the Neapolitan ambassador at London 
 wrote to his king — strictly private — as follows :— 
 
 The English Government, firmly bound as it is at present 
 to Austria, will not admit of a change of dynasty in 
 the Two Sicilies. It has abandoned the protection 
 of revolution in Italy, and renounced the idea of the 
 independence of Sicily. Lord Clarendon assures me 
 of this as a gentleman. 
 
 The word gentleman, italicised, is in English.' 
 This alliance was a heavy blow to the Italian cause. 
 Even without the material aid which Lord Clarendon 
 had led Count Cavour to expect at the termination of 
 the Crimean War, the moral support of such a power as 
 England was felt to be very important. It is true that 
 the British Government undertook to make Austria 
 behave better for the future ; and some amelioration of 
 the condition of the Lombardo-Venetian provinces was 
 due undoubtedly to English influence. An amnesty 
 was granted to the banished Lombards, who had for the 
 most part taken refuge in Piedmont, their confiscated 
 property was restored, and the enlightened and benignant 
 Archduke Maximilian sent as viceroy to conciliate the 
 discontented inhabitants. 
 
 With these liberal measures towards Lombardy- 
 Venice, Austrian fury against Piedmont raged more vio- 
 lently than ever ; and the most virulent attacks on the 
 government appeared in the official gazette of Milan — 
 attacks which Cavour never failed to answer with a proud 
 defiance. To him the sudden clemency of the Vienna 
 Government was only an artifice to win over the Lombards 
 to the side of Austria in case of another war with Pied- 
 mont. That such a war was imminent he could no 
 
 ' Archives of Foreign Affairs in Naples. See Catnillo Cavojt?; Docu- 
 ments Edited and Unedited.
 
 ROYAL VISITS. 1 23 
 
 longer doubt, as great military preparations were con- 
 stantly going forward near the frontier. At last diplo- 
 matic relations were broken off between the two countries. 
 On March 22 the Austrian ambassador took his leave of 
 the King of Sardinia, putting the affairs of his legation 
 in the hands of the Prussian minister. The same day 
 an order was sent to the Sardic ambassador to quit 
 Vienna, and leave his affairs in the hands of the French 
 legation. 
 
 In order further to conciliate his Italian subjects, the 
 Emperor Francis Joseph made a tour through the pro- 
 vinces ; but his welcome was strictly official ; he was 
 received with chilling coldness everywhere. On the 
 very day he entered the Lombard capital the official 
 gazette of Turin announced that Milan was about to 
 present a testimonial of esteem and regard to the Pied- 
 montese army. 
 
 ' The decisive moment approaches,' said Victor Em- 
 manuel solemnly to Cavour. But though they knew 
 it to be inevitable, they did not wish to precipitate it too 
 soon. The difficulties which the Piedmontese Government 
 laboured under were aggravated by another insurrec- 
 tionary attempt of Mazzini, who, as usual, rushed forward 
 to complicate still more the already too complicated 
 state of affairs. This conspiracy being hatched at Genoa 
 furnished the friends of despotic power with an argument 
 against the Sardinian Government, and involved it in a 
 tedious dispute with Naples, which lasted nearly a year. 
 
 The loss of the English alliance was somewhat com- 
 pensated for in the increasing friendship of the Czar of 
 Russia. Two of his brothers visited Victor Emmanuel 
 at Turin, and brought him their sovereign's warmest 
 assurances of regard. His mother, the widow of the 
 late Emperor Nicholas, came to pass the winter at 
 Nice, where the king visited her twice, and bestowed 
 such delicate attentions upon her — she being in feeble 
 health — that she declared him to be the most gal- 
 lant prince in Europe ; and before returning home in 
 spring she paid a visit to Turin to thank him for his 
 hospitality.
 
 124 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 The King of Saxony was another royal guest whom 
 Victor Emmanuel received during that winter. He was 
 pleased to have an opportunity of showing a German 
 prince how well ordered and contented his subjects were, 
 and what progress they were daily making in civilised 
 arts. Wherever a I'ailway was to be opened or a foun- 
 dation-stone laid, the king was sure to be there to 
 applaud and encourage the workers in their under- 
 taking. 
 
 On August 30 Victor Emmanuel went to Chambery 
 to inaugurate the opening of the Mont Cenis pass, and 
 the following day he went to place the first stone of 
 a bridge across the Rhone. He was received very 
 warmly by the Savoyards ; and amongst other deputa- 
 tions that waited on him was one composed of a number 
 of noble ladies who had a petition to present. They 
 were received with great courtesy, which gave them 
 hope that their petition would not be rejected. It 
 prayed his majesty to revoke the decree which had been 
 issued a short time before, by the Minister of Public 
 Instruction, to close the School of the Sacred Heart in 
 Chambery, because the sisters refused to obey the law 
 which required teachers to have a diploma. 
 
 The king's gallantry did not carry him so far. He 
 frankly replied : — 
 
 ' I should be happy to do your ladyships any plea- 
 sure possible. But you must know that as a constitu- 
 tional sovereign I must be the first to set an example of 
 respect for the laws, and I cannot interfere.' 
 
 ' And where shall we have our daughters educated in 
 future ^ ' asked one of the petitioners. 
 
 ' I can tell you where they will find instructors 
 far superior to the S!/07^e. Educate your girls your- 
 selves,' said the king with a low bow to the deputa- 
 tion. 
 
 The ladies, baffled by the complimentary refusal, 
 retired without further remonstrance. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1857, the Parliament, 
 now four years old, was dissolved. The general election 
 which took place in November was seized upon as a
 
 KINGLY RESPONSIBILITY. 1 25 
 
 grand occasion for the reactionary party to put their 
 machiner}- in motion. In their efforts to overturn the 
 Liberal government, the clerg}^ did not scruple to make 
 common cause secretly with the Mazzinian faction ; and 
 between the ' clericals ' and the ' sectaries ' the mode- 
 rate government stood in a precarious position. Cavour 
 writes despondingly at this time : — 
 
 Public affairs hold me in very great suspense. Aban- 
 doned by England, having in front of us Austria, 
 malevolent and hostile, obliged to struggle against 
 Rome and the other Italian princes — you can im- 
 agine how difficult our position is. . . . In spite of 
 all, I am not quite discouraged, because I believe 
 that the countr\^ is with us. 
 
 The elections, however, went against him, and it 
 needed all his extraordinary ability to hold the ground 
 he had gained so hardly, inch by inch, the last seven 
 years. But the patience and perseverance of this great 
 man were inexhaustible, and the king's courage and 
 resolution indomitable. 
 
 In the king's speech at the opening of Parliament, 
 he alluded briefly to ' the interruption of friendly inter- 
 course with a neighbouring state,' without offering any 
 explanation on the subject, or expressing any hope of a 
 better understanding in the future. The fact was he did 
 not hope it, and feeling that war was inevitable, he did 
 not choose to give utterance to any diplomatic regrets 
 on the subject. Victor Emmanuel's speeches from the 
 throne are stamped with the sincerity of his own cha- 
 racter ; though they were of course the composition of 
 his ministers, he was particular to read them with care, 
 so that nothing should be put into his mouth, as coming 
 personally from him, of which he did not approve ; and 
 he often required an alteration or insertion of a phrase, 
 and often added a paragraph. 
 
 ' The ministerial responsibility covers me, I know,' 
 he often said, ' but still I must think of my own con- 
 science.' 
 
 Yet he was rarely at variance with his ministers ; for
 
 126 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 if his objection to any measure was not perfectly just 
 and reasonable, he was open to conviction, and ready 
 to acknowledge himself wrong. Once the Minister of 
 Public Instruction, Lanza, had a difference with the king 
 on the subject of two nominations, which he had made in 
 the colleges, of foreign professors — the Committee of 
 Public Instruction having preferred two Piedmontese. 
 The king sided with the committee, and refused to sign 
 when presented with the nomination. Lanza respect- 
 fully argued the case, and put before the sovereign the 
 bad policy and illiberality of not employing men of 
 high ability, no matter whence they came ; but as these 
 men were Italians they were their own countrymen, and 
 entitled to be regarded as Victor Emmanuel's sub- 
 jects, since they entertained the same aspirations after 
 national independence. The king, convinced, took up 
 his pen and signed, thanking his minister with a warm 
 shake of the hand for the frankness with which he had 
 spoken. 
 
 At the end of this year, just a few days before the 
 opening of Parliament, an illustrious senator, the Count 
 Siccardi, died, leaving a grateful memory behind him 
 of the services he had rendei'ed his country, in carry- 
 ing the anti-clerical laws in the face of such terrible 
 difficulties. 
 
 The year 1858 opened inauspiciously by a criminal 
 attempt, which threatened utter ruin to the Italian cause 
 by estranging the power most disposed to befriend it. 
 A young Italian, Felice Orsini, who had suffered much 
 from Austrian oppression, and had been bred in the 
 unwholesome air of secret societies, where he imbibed 
 the pernicious doctrine of the justifiableness of tyran- 
 nicide — tried to destroy the French emperor on his 
 way to the theatre, by the explosion of a sort of bomb, 
 popularly called an ' infernal machine.' Fortunately the 
 plot failed. Orsini and his two confederates were ar- 
 rested and tried. It turned out that they had been in 
 England just before, where they had planned the mur- 
 derous attempt. England was then open to precisely 
 the same charge as Piedmont had been with regard to
 
 ORSINI'S ATTEMPT. 12/ 
 
 the conspiracies conceived in Genoa by Mazzini. Free 
 countries naturally become the refuge of political 
 exiles ; they come without any encouragement on the 
 part of the rulers, for they are not desirable subjects. 
 But as long as they respect the laws of the state, they 
 are permitted to live in peace, and go away when 
 they like ; and it is impossible for the government to be 
 responsible for what projects they may design in the coun- 
 try, and perpetrate when they get out of it. Despotic 
 rulers, however, always look with suspicion on neigh- 
 bouring countries which enjoy more liberty than their 
 subjects. And so the French emperor hurled the same 
 reproaches at his late ally, as Austria had done at Pied- 
 mont. He called England ' a den of assassins.' British 
 journals replied by reminding him of the coup d'etat, 
 and informing him that ' England loathed an assassin, 
 whether killer of thousands or killer of one.' This was 
 unkind, as the offence had been condoned when he was 
 taken into the alliance, in consideration of his general 
 good conduct after its perpetration, and the promise of 
 future good faith and uprightness. But the fact was, that 
 though he had won the queen's confidence and affection, 
 the Enghsh nation never put perfect trust in him, and 
 of late there had been a suspicion that the star of his 
 destiny was moving in a northerly direction, and likely 
 to stand still over the British Isles. So the indignation 
 felt against him was general throughout the whole king- 
 dom. Napoleon III. in his outcry against conspiracies 
 seemed to have utterly forgotten the hospitality that 
 England had once extended to him, a political exile, 
 much addicted to conspiracy ; and that he had gained 
 the throne by a conspiracy even more culpable than 
 Orsini's, bad as it was. His appeal to all the powers, 
 however, called attention to the subject, and it was found 
 that the secret societies were gaining ground to an 
 alarming extent. The English Government sent infor- 
 mation to the King of Sardinia that Jus life was also 
 threatened by the fanatical republicans, inspired by 
 Orsini's example. Even in the city of Turin an article 
 in one of the journals appeared apologising for the deed.
 
 128 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 Victor Emmanuel and his advisers were deeply- 
 distressed by the unfortunate event. It seemed as if 
 some perverse fate were trying to circumvent every 
 effort to regenerate Italy. In order to neutralise the 
 effect of Orsini's attempt on the mind of the emperor, 
 Victor Emmanuel wrote him a long private letter, 
 putting the case clearly before him, and earnestly entreat- 
 ing him not to condemn or abandon the nation for the 
 misdeeds of a few fanatics. Cavour writes to a friend 
 in profound melancholy at the prospect before him. 
 
 The present time is full of difficulties and dangers ; they 
 augment daily. There is no longer any restraint on 
 the fury of the sectaries, and their perversity increases 
 the strength of the reaction, which becomes every day 
 more threatening. In the midst of these opposite 
 perils, what are the Liberals to do .-' If they divide they 
 are lost, and with them falls the cause of Italian liberty 
 and independence. We shall stand in the breach 
 imperturbable and resolute ; but fall we must, unless 
 our friends group themselves round us to aid in our 
 defence against the assaults that come from right and 
 left. 
 
 A bill was introduced into the Piedmontese Parlia- 
 ment to define the offence of ' apologising for regicide,' 
 and to punish more effectually the crime of conspiracy. 
 
 Orsini's death redeemed his life, and proved him to 
 be one of those disinterested enthusiasts, whose fine 
 nature had been warped by bad example and teaching. 
 Penitent for his crime, he wrote a touching letter to the 
 emperor, not asking for grace for himself, which he did 
 not desire, — but humbly entreating aid for his beloved 
 Italy. This letter was forwarded to Cavour, who had it 
 published, with a few words of introduction from him- 
 self, pointing the moral. 
 
 The king requested Cavour to address a letter to 
 the Papal Government, begging them to cease inundating 
 the country with discontented subjects of the Holy See, 
 and pointing out that the system of banishing every 
 suspected person was mosi; pernicious to the Roman
 
 REMONSTRANCE. 1 29 
 
 States, and to Italy at large. ' Keep them at home ; 
 punish them if necessaiy, but keep them at home,' was, 
 in brief, the burden of the missive. 
 
 This system of expulsion from their own state (writes 
 Cavour) — exercised on so large a scale by the Pontifical 
 Government, that in our state alone there are one 
 hundred subjects of the Holy See— cannot but have 
 dreadful consequences. The man exiled on suspicion, 
 or because his conduct is not so good as it ought to be, 
 is not always corrupt, or affiliated indissolubly with re- 
 volutionary factions. Kept in his own country under 
 surveillance, orpunished if necessary, he might mend his 
 ways, or at least not become dangerous. But irritated 
 by illegal measures, sent into exile, constrained to live 
 outside respectable society, often without the means of 
 subsistence, he necessarily puts himself in relation with 
 the fomenters of revolution. It is then easy for them to 
 seduce him and bind him to their society. The exile, 
 in short, becomes a sectary — often a very dangerous 
 sectary.' Hence one can say, with reason, that the 
 system followed by the Pontifical Government is cal- 
 culated to swell the army of revolutionists. . . . To 
 the measures adopted by the Holy See is to be attri- 
 buted the extraordinary vitality of the Mazzinian 
 party. 
 
 On March 14, which was the king's birthday, and 
 also that of his eldest son Humbert, now fourteen, he 
 conferred upon the prince the rank of captain in an 
 infantry regiment, because he wished ' to attach him to 
 the army whose perils and glories he should one day 
 share, when the honour of the country required it.' 
 
 ' In Italian, settat'io means simply member of a secret society, or sect, 
 . as they call it. 
 
 K
 
 130 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 'j'attends mon astre.' a.d. 1858-9. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel and Camillo Cavour, by a happy 
 union of diplomatic ability, courage, and prudence, — not 
 only lived down the slanderous attacks of their enemies, 
 but turned the tables on them, and showed clearly to all 
 Europe that while Piedmont was peaceful, contented, 
 and loyal, all the other States of Italy were a prey to 
 violent disorders, the result of gross misgovernment, — 
 more especially the Two Sicilies and the States of the 
 Church. We have not space here to dwell on the suffer- 
 ings of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Naples and 
 the Roman States ; but their condition presented a 
 picture to excite indignation and pity.' 
 
 The Austrian provinces, hitherto much oppressed, 
 now enjoyed a respite under the mild rule of the Arch- 
 duke Maximilian. But this change of policy on the 
 part of the conquerors did not mitigate one iota the 
 sentiment of hostility which the natives felt towards 
 them. No amount of conciliation could now win their 
 hearts. They had suffered too much in the past ; the 
 iron had entered into their soul. And though Maxi- 
 milian was personally popular, the firm resolve to 
 banish the House of Hapsburg from Italian soil was 
 stronger than ever in the hearts of the Lombards and 
 Venetians. There was something noble in the indif- 
 ference they showed to the material advantages offered 
 them by the ruling race, and in the proud cold bearing 
 with which they received the conciliations of a most 
 amiable and fascinating prince, whose winning qualities 
 had power to disarm hostility in the breasts of the most 
 inveterate enemies of his house. Maximilian admired 
 and respected their pride, and when he became an in- 
 
 ' See I Cast di Napoli (Massari) ; Gladstone's Prisons of Naples ; La 
 Vita di Pio Nono ; Corresp07idenze di Panizzi ; Ricordanze delta Mia Vita, 
 da Settembrini.
 
 NATIONAL ASPIRATIONS. 13I 
 
 dependent sovereign, eagerly sought the friendship of 
 the Itahan king, with whom he kept up the best rela- 
 tions to the end of his brief unhappy reign. This gene- 
 rous, just, and noble-minded prince deserved a better fate 
 than that which his injudicious friend, Napoleon III., 
 allotted to him as Emperor of Mexico. 
 
 Many illustrious exiles, who by no means came 
 under the denomination of the sectaries and conspirators 
 condemned by Count Cavour, had fled from the op- 
 pressed principalities, and received an hospitable welcome 
 in the Sardinian states. These had seen the folly of 
 partial and local revolutions, without proper guidance 
 and discipline. They desired nothing more than a just 
 amount of liberty under a constitutional monarchy, such 
 as Piedmont enjoyed, but such as their sovereigns, they 
 knew by experience, would never grant. They desired 
 the next revolutionary movement to be an uprising of 
 all Italy to expel the foreigner and his satraps, and this 
 movement to be led by a native prince. So they had 
 come to centre all their hopes of regeneration on the one 
 honest king in the peninsula, whose example seemed 
 all the brighter because of the darkness by which he 
 was surrounded. 
 
 These exiles had beset King Victor from the time 
 he came to the throne with passionate appeals for help 
 for their afflicted countries. Almost all the books 
 written on the subject of Italian nationality, and narra- 
 tives of the revolutions, were dedicated to him, or to the 
 memory of his father. If he ventured to congratulate 
 himself on the improving state of his kingdom and the 
 contentment of his subjects, they did not fail to remind 
 him that there were others of his Italian countrymen, 
 who felt as loyally towards him. still groaning under an 
 oppressive foreign yoke. All this made a deep impres- 
 sion on his mind, stirred all his generous sympathies, 
 and kept constantly alive in his soul the noble ambition 
 which his father had bequeathed to him of accomplishing 
 national emancipation. The decisive moment approached 
 which Victor Emmanuel felt could no longer be post- 
 poned. It was now three years since, at the close of the
 
 132 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Crimean War, Napoleon III. had asked that momentous 
 question which thrilled his listener's heart, Que peut-on 
 faire pour Vltalie f And nothing had been done, nor 
 attempted. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel thought that it was time to re- 
 present to his ally that if he desired to do something for 
 Italy, and take away the cause of a continual disturbance 
 of the peace of Europe, the time had arrived. In obedi- 
 ence to a secret invitation. Count Cavour met the Em- 
 peror Napoleon, on July 20, at Plombieres. The business 
 was kept strictly private between the king and himself, 
 so that no one knew the purport of the meeting till the 
 end of the year. The result of that interview was cal- 
 culated to raise Victor Emmanuel's hopes and fill his 
 soul with glorious anticipations. In spite of the secrecy 
 enjoined by his minister, he was heard to say in con- 
 fidence, * Next year I shall be King of Italy, or plain 
 M. de Savoie.' Reviewing the troops in the Piazza 
 d' Armi, the king, in speaking to a colonel, gave expres- 
 sion to some ' bellicose ' words, which, being repeated and 
 exaggerated, caused great disturbance in the diplomatic 
 world, and brought down severe rebukes upon him. A 
 few careless words to one of his own officers at a review, 
 were criticised in the journals as a ' speech.' Indignation 
 articles, even in France, were written upon the subject ; 
 and it was said that the unrestrained ambition of the Sar- 
 dinian king, supported by his turbulent minister, threat- 
 ened Europe with the calamities of war. Cavour, who 
 had to act as a cork, bottling down the patriotic ardour of 
 his king, entreated his majesty not to make such warlike 
 speeches in public or private, since the eyes of Europe 
 were jealously watching his every word and movement. 
 But though he reproached his imprudence, no one ad- 
 mired the fiery spirit, which he alone knew how to rein 
 in, more than Cavour himself. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1858 another visit from 
 the royal family of Russia showed increasing esteem 
 and cordiality on their part. The Grand Duke Con- 
 stantine and his wife were such enthusiastic admirers of 
 Victor Emmanuel and his state, that a Russian noble
 
 AX IMPRUDENT DISCLOSURE. 1 33 
 
 said they had become quite Picdniontcsc. The princess 
 said to Cavour, ' In Russia we are proud to have such 
 a friend as your king.' 
 
 The auspicious year 1859 opened with brighter pros- 
 pects than the last. It was just ten years since Charles 
 Albert had made up his mind to embark on that last 
 fatal venture of his life which brought his country to 
 the verge of destruction. J'attaids mon astre, was the 
 motto he had chosen ; and unlucky as had been that 
 star for him, his son still waited in the sure and certain 
 hope that it would rise all glorious one day and reward 
 his faith and patience. It had taken all those ten years 
 for Victor Emmanuel, by constant strenuous effort, to 
 recover the prestige lost in the campaign of 1 849. But 
 he had done it ; and now that the ten years' armistice — 
 which Count Balbo had called the Peace of iMilan — was 
 about to expire, he stood on the threshold of the new 
 year, impatient for the moment when he might unsheathe 
 the sword and wash out the memory of Novara. 
 
 The Parliament was to be opened January 10, and 
 the king and his ministers were much exercised over the 
 royal speech for a fortnight before it was to be delivered. 
 Victor Emmanuel was disposed to throw down the 
 gauntlet without further delay ; he could not give utter- 
 ance to language calculated to mislead the public. 
 Cavour said they were not yet prepared for war, and 
 it would be giving the enemy an unfair advantage to 
 announce their intentions so soon. ' Then, if I cannot 
 speak clearly, better say nothing,' said the king ; and the 
 minister had much trouble in convincing him that he 
 must say so)netJiing. Piedmont — all Italy — expected to 
 hear the voice of the king, and must not be disappointed. 
 ' We will say all we can,' said Cavour. ' We must try 
 and reconcile prudence with candour.' 
 
 'Well, then,' said Victor, at last yielding, as he 
 generally did, to Cavour's convincing arguments, ' I will 
 speak ; but I wish the speech to be brief.' This all- 
 important composition, which was to unite brevity and 
 clearness, prudence and boldness, frankness and reticence 
 — which was to give comfort and hope to the Italians,
 
 134 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 but not to give open ofifence to Austria — was found to 
 be a ver}- difficult task, and was not completed till the 
 day before the opening of Parliament. 
 
 On New Year's day, the king, according to custom, 
 received a number of deputations who came to wish 
 him the compliments of the season. First there was the 
 diplomatic body ; and in conversing with them Victor 
 Emmanuel was reserved and cautious, as he had pro- 
 mised Count Cavour he would be. It was some time 
 since diplomatic relations with Austria had been broken, 
 so he was not under the necessity of receiving a repre- 
 sentative of that much-hated power. The new French 
 ambassador was Prince La Tour d'Auvergne, who was 
 struck with the king's good sense and dignity. ' J'ad- 
 viire t elevation cV esprit avec laqiielle le roi Victor cause 
 des affaires^ he said to Signor ^lassari coming out from 
 the reception. With the senators and deputies he also 
 behaved admirabl}-. But the magistrates unfortunately 
 spoke of the important events of the past year, which 
 drew from the king the remark that the year they were 
 entering on might bear still more important ones. As 
 soon as the deputation was gone he was seized with 
 remorse ; and when Cavour entered the room, he came 
 to meet him with a smile of compunction, saying, 
 
 ' Fc rgive me, I have done it ! ' 
 
 ' How, and with whom, your majesty "i ' asked the 
 Count in some anxiety. 
 
 ' In speaking to the magistrates.' 
 
 ' The magistrates I ' said Cavour. with his good- 
 humoured laugh. ' The most peaceable people in the 
 world I How did you do it .' ' 
 
 ' Forgive me,' said the king again. , ' I followed your 
 advice as long as it was possible ; but I really could 
 not keep in any longer.' 
 
 Cavour's exquisite sense of humour was highly 
 tickled at the incorrigibility of his royal pupil, and we 
 can imagine him laughing till he had to take off his 
 gold spectacles and wipe them, while the king joined 
 heartily in the laugh against himself. The glimpses we 
 get of the intercourse between Victor Emmanuel and his
 
 THE GRIDO DI DOLORE. 135 
 
 illustrious minister convey the idea of perfect confidence, 
 friendship and sympathy ; though they sometimes had 
 sharp disputes on public questions. 
 
 Cabinet councils were held on January- 8th and 9th 
 in preparation for the opening of Parliament on the loth, 
 but still the speech of the Crown was unfinished, be- 
 cause it was so difficult to be bold and frank as the 
 king required, and at the same time cautious and am- 
 biguous as prudence dictated. The speech was in point 
 of fact written out in a manner to satisfy the king, but 
 the ministers still hesitated as to the advisability of 
 allowing him to deliver it exactly as it was worded. 
 The last paragraph, dealing with the Austrian difficulty, 
 held the pith of the discourse. It had been sent for 
 approbation to the Emperor, but he, finding it too 
 strong, suggested the famous passage, — ' While we re- 
 spect treaties, we are not insensible to the cr}^ of anguish 
 {grido di dolore) which comes up to us from many 
 parts of Italy,' — which pleased the king and was 
 adopted.^ 
 
 The royal speech was brief, but it contained that 
 which satisfied the king, ministers, Parliament, and na- 
 tion. It became a memorable historic utterance, for 
 the famous grido di dolore set all Italy on fire, and 
 hastened the inevitable breach with Austria. The king 
 was up at daybreak on the morning of the loth, reading 
 over the speech, and making some trifling alterations. 
 Then he read it aloud to Count Cavour, to see that his 
 tones gave the proper signification to the words. He 
 had, unfortunately, a sore throat, and he said, laughing 
 with his usual jocularity, ' I am afraid that with this con- 
 founded sore throat the first tenor will not sing his part 
 well.' 
 
 As he ascended the stairs of the Palazzo iMa- 
 dama a deputation of senators came to meet him, 
 according to custom ; and to one he was particularly 
 fond of, he said with a happy smile, ' Dear Cibrario, 
 
 ' The origin of the grido di dolore has been kept a secret by Signor 
 Massari till his recent publication of La Marmora's life.
 
 136 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 you shall hear nice things ! ' The Chamber presented 
 an unusually festive appearance, and was crowded to 
 excess. Nothing was known of the policy for the coming 
 year, and everyone was impatient to hear the royal 
 utterance, seeming to expect something more than an 
 ordinary ' king's speech,' a mere rehearsal of facts already 
 well known to the public. His majesty took his seat on 
 the throne amid loud applause ; but when he opened the 
 paper he was about to read, there was a sudden profound 
 silence ; all awaited with eager impatience the words 
 about to fall from his lips. He held his audience in 
 suspense another minute, while he swept the assembly 
 with a flashing eye which revealed the excitement of his 
 mind. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, Gentlemen Deputies, — The new 
 Legislature, inaugurated a year ago, has not disap- 
 pointed the hopes of the country nor my expecta- 
 tions. By means of an enlightened and loyal concord 
 we have been enabled to surmount the difficulties 
 that beset our policy external and internal, thus ren- 
 dering more solid those broad principles of nationality 
 and of progress on which our liberal institutions repose. 
 Following on the same road this new year, you will 
 be able to accomplish improvements in the various 
 branches of the legislation and of the public adminis- 
 tration. In the past session there were presented to 
 you various projects for amending the administration 
 of justice. Resuming the interrupted examination, 
 I trust that in this you will be able to provide for the 
 re-ordering of the magistracy, the courts of assizes, 
 and the court of procedure. You shall be called 
 again to deliberate on the reform of the administration 
 of the communes and of the provinces. The lively 
 interest that the subject awakes will be an incitement 
 to dedicate to it your special care. 
 
 There shall be proposed to you some modifications 
 of the laws of the National Guard. In order to pre- 
 serve the basis of this noble institution intact, and 
 render it more efficacious at all times, it is necessary
 
 THE EFFECT OF THE SPEECH. 1 37 
 
 to introduce some improvements suggested by ex- 
 perience. 
 
 The commercial crisis from which our country 
 has not been exempt, and the calamity which re- 
 peatedly strikes our principal industry, diminishes the 
 income of the State, and prevents us for the present 
 realising the hope of equalising the expenses with the 
 public revenues. That will not prevent you — in the 
 examination of the future balance-sheet — from trying 
 to reconcile the needs of the State with the principles 
 of a severe economy. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, Gentlemen Deputies, — The hori- 
 zon in which the new year rises is not quite serene. 
 That notwithstanding, you will apply yourselves 
 with your usual alacrity to your parliamentary labours. 
 Strengthened by the experiences of the past, we will 
 go resolutely forward to meet the future. This future 
 will be happy, if we repose our policy on justice, on 
 the love of liberty and of country. 
 
 Our country, small in territory, has acquired credit 
 in the councils of Europe, because she is great in the 
 idea she represents, in the sympathy that she inspires. 
 This situation is not exempt from perils, for, wJiile zve 
 respect treaties, zve are not insejisible to the cry of an- 
 guish that comes up to ns frojn many parts of Italy. 
 Strong in concord, confident in our good right, we 
 await with prudence and resolution the decrees of 
 Divine Providence. 
 
 To appreciate the thrilling effect produced by this 
 discourse, we must remember that it was quite new to 
 the audience. They had not been behind the scenes 
 ' assisting ' at the composition of it, nor known how that 
 grido di dolore, which went straight to their hearts, had 
 been the suggestion of the Emperor. And though 
 the king read the speech which everyone knew had been 
 prepared for him, there was a fire and animation in his 
 look and tone as he delivered it, which made it seem the 
 spontaneous expression of feeling which rushed from the 
 heart to the lips of the royal speaker. The scene in the
 
 138 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 assembly must be described in the vivid language of an 
 Italian eye-witness ' : — 
 
 At every period the speech was interrupted by clamor- 
 ous applause, and cries of ' Viva il R^ ! ' But when 
 he came to the words, grido di dolore, there was an 
 enthusiasm quite indescribable. Senators, deputies, 
 spectators, all sprang to their feet with a bound, and 
 broke into passionate acclamations. The ministers 
 of France, Russia, Prussia, and England were utterly 
 astonished and carried away by the marvellous spec- 
 tacle. The face of the ambassador of Naples was 
 covered with a gloomy pallor. We poor exiles did 
 not even attempt to wipe away the tears that flowed 
 copiously, unrestrainedly from our eyes, as we fran- 
 tically clapped our hands in applause of that king 
 who had remembered our sorrows, who had promised 
 us a country. Before the victories, the plebiscites, 
 and the annexations conferred on him the crown of 
 Italy, he reigned in our hearts ; he was our king ! 
 
 Before the day was done the speech was repeated by 
 thousands of lips ; it passed like an electric shock from 
 one end of the peninsula to the other. It was quoted 
 by hundreds of writers and speakers, both friends and 
 enemies, with the passionate comments which their re- 
 spective feelings dictated. 
 
 The comments of the Codini, condensed, read some- 
 what in this style : ' Threatening language of the Sar- 
 dinian king ; boundless ambition, unscrupulous as to 
 means ; nothing sacred that blocks his way ; ready to 
 plunge Europe into a bloody war to gratify insatiable 
 desire for dynastic aggrandisement,' etc., etc. 
 
 The Libcrali, on the other hand, with rapturous 
 applause, spoke their gratitude to the honest king and 
 daring soldier, who had lent an ear to their cry of 
 anguish. He had spoken like a patriot prince, whose 
 Italian heart was still the same as when he led the for- 
 
 ' Massari, author of a Life nf Gioberti, a Life of Cavour, a Life of Vietor 
 Emmanuel, a Life of La Marmora.
 
 THE FREN'CH ALLIANCE. 1 39 
 
 lorn hope of Piedmont against the Austrian guns at 
 Novara, Ten years of patient endurance had not 
 changed his sentiments ; he was still theirs — Italy's — the 
 champion of their liberties, the first soldier of Italian 
 independence. Under the banner of such a leader, who 
 would not be proud to enrol himself ? P''h'a Vittorio, 
 the gallant, the loyal, and the true ! Viva Casa Savoya ! 
 — these and like expressions were heard on all sides. 
 
 They prepared themselves for war ; the young men 
 in the different States collected all the little wealth 
 that they might without exciting the suspicion of their 
 governments, and quietly took their way northwards to 
 be ready at a moment's notice. Amongst these were 
 nobles of the highest rank, some nephews of cardinals, 
 and one nephew of the prime minister of Tuscany. 
 Every town sent its contribution of a gallant little band 
 to the national war, which was expected even sooner 
 than it actually broke out. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had to pay a good price for the 
 alliance of the French Emperor. Two sacrifices he 
 had to make which wounded his heart deeply, and which 
 nothing but the cause of Italy, which absolutely de- 
 pended on those sacrifices, would have induced him to 
 accomplish. The Bonaparte family desiring much to 
 connect themselves with the ancient dynasties of Europe, 
 a marriage was proposed between the emperor's cousin, 
 Prince Napoleon Jerome, and Clotilde, the eldest child 
 of Victor Emmanuel, then not much past fifteen }-ears. 
 The princess was a bright girl, with a mind matured 
 beyond her years, full of maternal care for her brothers 
 and sister, and devotedly attached to her father, who 
 loved her tenderly. The first mention of the marriage 
 the king met with a repugnance which could not be 
 overcome. To separate his child at so tender an age 
 from all family ties, and give her to a man who had 
 more than twice her years, was an idea which he could 
 not entertain. But the statesmen returned again and 
 again to the subject, and he was given to understand 
 that this matrimony must be a condition of the French 
 alliance. The king consulted the opinion of all the
 
 140 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 men he most esteemed, and laid the whole matter be- 
 fore them. They admired the strength of his paternal 
 affection, but naturally thought more of the national 
 welfare than the happiness of the princess ; and expected 
 that a king should sacrifice personal feelings for the 
 public good. At last Victor Emmanuel, with a heavy 
 heart, said to his minister, ' You have convinced me of 
 the political reasons which render this marriage useful 
 and necessary to our cause. I yield to your argu- 
 ments, but I make a great sacrifice in so doing. My 
 consent is subject to the condition that my daughter 
 gives hers freely.' 
 
 It was not in the nature of things that a young girl 
 should receive this proposal with a good grace. Her 
 father would not urge her, but Cavour was there, who 
 knew how to play upon the finest chords of the human 
 heart with the most skilful and delicate touch. The 
 princess was convinced that, to be worthy of the noble 
 race from which she sprung, she must sacrifice herself 
 for the honour of that house, the love of her father, the 
 redemption of her country. She was Victor Emmanuel's 
 daughter — with all his generous pride of race and love 
 of country — and she consented. Cavour, wily diplomatist 
 as he was, had a warm heart, and when he related the 
 scene to a friend, and described the noble bearing of the 
 young girl, his eyes were filled with tears. ' I have the 
 hope that my good daughter will be happy,' said the 
 king, trying to persuade himself that the marriage would 
 turn out well. The ceremony took place on January 29, 
 and the wedded couple set out for France at once. The 
 bride was accompanied by ladies of the Sardinian court, 
 and the king went as far as Genoa, to see them embark. 
 It was a bitter moment to Victor Emmanuel ; the prin- 
 cess could hardly tear herself from her father's arms, 
 and he broke down utterly in saying the last farewell. 
 
 Among the wedding presents which the king be- 
 stowed on the day of the marriage, was a very handsome 
 ring which he gave to Count Cavour. 'Your majesty 
 knows I have no wife — nor will I ever take one,' 
 observed the minister, apropos of rings.
 
 EXCITEMENT ABOUT WAR. I4I 
 
 ' La sua sposa t la Patria. I know it,' replied the 
 king gracefully. 
 
 The other sacrifice which Victor Emmanuel was 
 called upon to make was the cession of Nice and Savoy 
 to France, in return for her aid in helping to liberate 
 North Italy 'from the Alps to the Adriatic,' as the em- 
 peror expressed it. It was a bitter trial to him to have 
 to surrender the cradle of his race, from which his 
 dynasty took its title ; but nothing should be allowed to 
 stand in the way of national independence. The treaty 
 of alliance was signed January 18, by Prince Napoleon 
 and General Neil on the part of France, and Count 
 Cavour and General La Marmora on the part of Sar- 
 dinia. It was kept strictly secret, as the emperor 
 bound himself to aid the king only in case of Austria 
 being the aggressor. Victor Emmanuel's patience was 
 at its last ebb ; Austria had the power of tormenting 
 him in a thousand ways without absolutely invading his 
 dominions. But still his allies preached patience to 
 him. ' //yh';^/'«//'^;/^/r,i'/r<?,' said General Neil. ^ J' attends 
 depnis dix ans, General^ was the brief but pregnant 
 reply. 
 
 The marriage of the Princess Clotilde following 
 close on the warlike speech of the king had a signifi- 
 cance which the diplomatists were quick to understand. 
 Austria had already made military preparations on a 
 large scale ; Piedmont now did likewise. The volunteers 
 from all parts of Italy hastened to the Subalpine 
 capital ; and the prince of volunteers, Giuseppe Gari- 
 baldi, put his sword at the command of the Sardinian 
 king, whose born subject he was, though he had earned 
 his great military renown in the service of republics 
 in divers parts of the world. All minor differences of 
 opinion were at that moment forgotten by every sincere 
 lover of his country. Lombardy and Venetia, particu- 
 larly, were in a state of wild excitement ; the youth of 
 every class in those provinces flocked in great numbers 
 to the standard of Victor Emmanuel. Ladies of rank 
 gave their money, jeweller}', and articles of luxury ; poor 
 women made a sacrifice of their everj^ comfort to aid
 
 142 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 the national cause ; all encouraged and animated their 
 male relatives to join the Sardinian army. And it was 
 marvellous to see how quickly, at the first scent of war, 
 the luxurious, pleasure -loving nobles left their palaces, 
 villas, horses, and carriages a prey to Austrian greed, 
 and betook themselves with cheerful alacrity to the life 
 of privation and hardship which is the lot of an Italian 
 soldier. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FIRST SOLDIER OF ITALIAN INDEPENDENCE. 
 A.D. 1859. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the preparations for war on the 
 part of the belligerents, each equally eager to attack 
 the other, four months elapsed before the first gun 
 was fired. These months were consumed in vain but 
 strenuous efforts on the part of England, Prussia, and 
 Russia to accommodate matters peacefully. Towards 
 the end of January the Austrian minister, Count Buol, 
 sent a despatch to the London ambassador, in which he 
 tried to prove that the King of Sardinia was responsible 
 for all the discontent and disorder of the peninsula ; 
 and proposing that the great powers should unite to 
 make Piedmont modify her institutions. The indigna- 
 tion of Victor Emmanuel when he heard of this attempt 
 to undermine him, knew no bounds. It was like beard- 
 ing a lion in his den to hint at meddling with the con- 
 stitution of his state. Piedmont at least was his, and 
 should enjoy that freedom for which he and his father 
 had fought, and shed their subjects' blood. Sooner than 
 surrender it, they would die at the foot of their Alps, or 
 * all go to America.' 
 
 Cavour, however, was a match for Count Buol. In 
 reply to a question of Lord Derby as to what was the 
 best expedient to pacify Italy and improve her state,
 
 EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN PEACE. 143 
 
 he sent a memorandum, which was an able indictment 
 against Austria for her unjust usurpations in Italy, and 
 a rehearsal of all the efforts made by her to annihilate 
 the independence of the Italian principalities, and showed 
 that she desired to have Piedmont, like the rest, abso- 
 lutely subject to her despotic will. He turned the tables 
 upon Austria completely, accusing her of being the 
 cause — the sole cause — of all the ills of the unhappy 
 country. He demonstrated clearly that the only way 
 to save Italy from continually recurring revolutions was 
 to grant a home government to Lombardy and Venetia, 
 to oblige the other states to have a constitutional form, 
 and to preclude the possibility of Austrian intervention. 
 
 In another despatch to the young Marquis d'Azeglio 
 — nephew of Massimo — who was Piedmontese ambas- 
 sador in London, Cavour said that he admitted the 
 liberty of Piedmont was a continual danger to Austria ; 
 but Austria, having violated conditions in substance 
 and in spirit, had now come to encircle Piedmont with 
 a cordon of iron, watching for a convenient opportunity 
 to uproot her liberal institutions. Could and ought 
 Piedmont to await with stupid resignation the accom- 
 plishment of such an end .-* 
 
 On this Austria cleverly retreated a little, confessing 
 that reforms were needed in the principalities, and that 
 she had already initiated them in Lombardy-Venice ; 
 and intimating that she was willing to be further guided 
 by the advice of England. 
 
 A European congress for the adjustment of Italian 
 affairs was then proposed ; and Austria put in motion 
 every influence to induce the great powers to insist on 
 Sardinia disarming before it took place. The first 
 article of the Austrian declarations for the consideration 
 of the Congress was : ' To examine what would be 
 the best means to lead Sardinia back to the fulfilment 
 of her international duties, and to take measures to 
 avoid a return of the present complications.' The other 
 governments tried to induce Piedmont to disarm for the 
 sake of peace, and urged France to use her influence 
 with her ally for the same end.
 
 144 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 The Piedmontese government listened to these 
 counsels as a man would to a friend who advised him 
 in a kindly manner to commit suicide. Disarm ! they 
 said, while Austria, who had first prepared for war, 
 was armed to the teeth ! Impossible, utterly impos- 
 sible. The great powers, though friendly fot the 
 most part towards Italy, were bent on maintaining 
 peace at any price. France, though bound by secret 
 treaty to Piedmont, dare not stir unless Austria made 
 some fresh aggressive movement. Friends and enemies 
 all seemed united to crush the independence of poor 
 little Piedmont. But her brave king and his incompar- 
 able minister held their heads erect, while diplomatic 
 notes were flying in every direction, piling difficulties 
 on difficulties. 
 
 The next Austrian move was to get the governments 
 to consent to exclude Piedmont, as a secondary power, 
 from the Congress. 
 
 Count Cavour's reply to this notification was full of 
 deep indignation at the injustice of his late allies, who 
 could forget what they owed to a state which four years 
 before had lost 4,000 men and spent 50,000,000 francs, 
 to maintain European equilibrium. He added that, 
 since Piedmont must have no part in the Congress, she 
 would hold herself free to take such measures as she 
 thought best to maintain her rights. By way of ceding 
 something, Austria proposed that both countries should 
 keep an armed force near the frontier ready for ' acci- 
 dental aggressions.' Piedmont, at the earnest request of 
 England, promised that if no fresh Austrian troops were 
 sent into Italy, King Victor would not call out the 
 reserves, nor hold the standing army in the defensive 
 position it had occupied during the last three months. 
 Fresh obstacles and difficulties and bushels of notes 
 followed. 
 
 England at last notified to the government of Turin 
 that she had obtained the consent of the other powers 
 that a Sardic plenipotentiary .should be admitted to the 
 Congress, ' but to treat only of the question of disarma- 
 ment.' Count Cavour replied, rejecting the concession,
 
 * VIVA CAVOUR ! ' 145 
 
 as humiliating to his king and his country. He was 
 worn out with the diplomatic war, and in March went 
 to pay a visit to the emperor to try and bring matters 
 to a conclusion. 
 
 Before returning to Turin he made a tour through 
 Switzerland and Germany. He was received very 
 well in Prussia ; and everywhere as he passed on his 
 journey he met with demonstrations of sympathy. He 
 writes to a colleague : ' Austria, thank God, by her bad 
 faith, has alienated all the continent from her.' The 
 Turin people met their illustrious fellow-citizen at the 
 railway with a grand demonstration, and nearly pulled 
 him out of the carriage in the excitement of their feel- 
 ings, and joy at seeing his broad, smiling face again 
 amongst them. They followed him with loud applause 
 to his palace, and he had to come out on the balcony to 
 thank the people before they dispersed. 
 
 Next morning the hero of this ovation was describing 
 it to the king in glowing colours — for he was not afraid 
 of making him jealous — when his majesty interrupted 
 him, laughing : — 
 
 ' My dear Count, you need not tell me. I know all 
 about it better than you do. When you were on the 
 balcony I was in the street, lost in the crowd, shouting 
 Vh'a Cavoiir ! with the rest.' 
 
 There is a charming touch of nature in this little 
 incident, which gives one an idea of what a pleasant king 
 to sen.^e was this appreciative warm-hearted Victor, who 
 was not afraid of derogating from his royal dignity by 
 sometimes mingling with his people as one of them, and 
 entering into their feelings. He used often to go about 
 in disguise, not only in the mountain districts, where he 
 was comparatively unknown, but even in Turin. A 
 gentleman encountering him one evening in the street, 
 asked him to let him light his cigar with his, and in 
 offering the desired courtesy the king came near enough 
 to be recognised by his surprised interlocutor. In the 
 days of his youth he had suffered so much boredom 
 from the rigid etiquette of his father's court, that he was 
 
 L
 
 146 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 all the more inclined to disregard it when he became 
 king.' 
 
 Count Cavour returned from his trip with renewed 
 vigour for the contest which was not yet ended. Eng- 
 land, bent on maintaining peace, made another effort 
 with France to induce her to insist on a simultaneous 
 disarmament ; and at the same time used her influence 
 so strongly with the other powers as to make them 
 admit a Sardic plenipotentiary, on equal groimds, at the 
 Congress. 
 
 This proposition the emperor could hardly object 
 to, so he telegraphed to Turin his advice to accept. 
 Cavour did not reply immediately, because of secret in- 
 formation he had received as to the warlike intentions of 
 Austria. He waited, and, as he had been led to expect, 
 on April 23, 1859, the Austrian ultimatum reached Turin : 
 immediate disarmament or war, with three days to 
 decide. 
 
 It was a relief to both king and minister. The 
 quarrel had passed from the jurisdiction of diplomacy 
 to the arbitrament of the sword, and the soldier-king 
 buckled on his armour with a feeling of solemn satisfac- 
 tion. He had ' awaited his star,' and now it rose, 
 beckoning him on to glory. The Parliament decreed 
 that the troops were to be put in motion immediately 
 for the frontier of Lombardy, and that the supreme 
 command should be confided to their valiant and be- 
 loved sovereign. While the Parliament was applauding 
 Cavour's speech, the Austrian plenipotentiaries em- 
 powered to receive the reply of the Sardinian govern- 
 ment arrived. They were answered by the martial 
 
 ' One little incident will serve to show the severe restraint under which 
 the Savoy princes were held in those days. Weary of ceremony and state. 
 Prince Victor, one evening, soon after his marriage, conceived the bold 
 design of taking his wife for a walk alone, like a simple citizen. The Princess 
 Adelaide, doubtless, thought it a pleasing adventure to elude the vigilance of 
 maids of honour and gentlemen-in-vvaiting, and escape from the palace on 
 her husband's arm. The young people were recognised of course, and the 
 scandalised courtiers hastened to tell the king that the Duke of Savoy and 
 his bride were seen promenading in the city, on foot, and unattended ! 
 The prince was severely rebuked for the oiTence, and ordered not to leave 
 the palace for some days.
 
 DECLARATION OF WAR. 1 47 
 
 aspect of the city, even before official response could 
 be communicated. Prince Carignano was nominated 
 regent in the king's absence, and when Victor Emmanuel 
 put his signature to the document, he threw down the 
 pen with a sigh of relief, saying, ' Now I shall sign 
 nothing more ! ' He made his will, and gave minute 
 instructions to those who remained in charge of affairs 
 at home, as to what should be done in the event of his 
 fall. 
 
 Royal Proclamation to the People of the Khigdom. 
 
 Austria assails us with a powerful army, which, while 
 simulating a desire for peace, she had collected for 
 our injury in the unhappy provinces subject to her 
 domination. 
 
 Not being able to endure the example of our 
 civilised institutions, nor wishing to submit to the judg- 
 ment of a European congress on the evils and dangers 
 she has caused in Italy, she now violates the promise 
 given to Great Britain, and makes a law of honour a 
 cause for war. 
 
 Jealous custodian of our common patrimony of 
 honour and glory, I take up my sword again, confiding 
 the state to the rule of my beloved cousin Prince 
 Eugenio (Carignano). 
 
 With my soldiers, the valiant soldiers of the 
 Emperor Napoleon III., my generous ally, will fight 
 the battles of liberty and justice. 
 
 People of Italy ! Austria assails Piedmont because 
 I have maintained the cause of our common country 
 in the councils of Europe, — because I was not insen- 
 sible to your cries of anguish. Thus, she violently 
 breaks now the treaties which she never has re- 
 spected. 
 
 So to-day the right of the nation is complete, and 
 I can, with a free conscience, fulfil the vow I made on 
 the tomb of my parent, by taking up arms to defend 
 my throne, the liberties of my people, the honour of 
 the Italian name. I fight for the right of the whole 
 nation.
 
 148 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 We confide in God and in our concord ; we confide in 
 the valour of the Italian soldiers, in the alliance of 
 the noble French nation ; we confide in the justice of 
 public opinion. 
 
 I have no other ambition than to be the first soldier 
 of Italian Independence. Viva I'ltalia ! 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Order of the Day. 
 
 Soldiers ! — Austria, who at our confines concentrates 
 armies and threatens to invade our territories, be- 
 cause here liberty is united with order; because not 
 force, but harmony and affection between sovereign 
 and people, rule the state ; because here has been 
 heard the cry of anguish from oppressed Italy ; — 
 Austria dares to intimate to us, armed only on the 
 defensive, that we must lay down our arms, and put 
 ourselves at her mercy. The outrageous proposal 
 should have a suitable response. I have replied to 
 it with scorn. 
 
 Soldiers ! — I give you this announcement, sure 
 that you will make it yours, this insult to your king 
 and country. The announcement that I make is, war. 
 To arms, then, soldiers ! You will find yourselves in 
 front of an enemy who is not new. But if he is valiant 
 and well-disciplined, you need not fear the comparison. 
 You can boast the days of Goito, Pastrengo, Santa 
 Lucia, Sommacampagna — ay, even Custoza itself — 
 where only four brigades fought for three days against 
 five different bodies of troops. 
 
 I shall be your leader. In former times I have 
 seen most of you in the fervour of battle, when I fought 
 by the side of my magnanimous father, and I ad- 
 mired and felt proud of your valour. You, I am sure, 
 will know how to preserve and increase the fame of 
 those days. You shall have with you the intrepid 
 French soldiers, conquerors in so many great battles, — 
 who were your companions at the Tchernaya, and 
 whom Napoleon III., always ready to defend a just 
 cause, sends to our aid.
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 149 
 
 March, then, confident of victory, and wreathe your 
 banner with fresh laurels — that banner with its three 
 colours, under which the chosen youth of all Italy 
 ranges itself, indicates to you that yours is the task 
 of accomplishing Italian Independence. This just and 
 sacred enterprise shall be our cry of war. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, April 27, 1859. 
 
 The day before his departure from the capital the 
 king called Count Nigra, minister of the household, to 
 give him his instructions. ' Signor Nigra,' he said, 'we are 
 near great events, and we must prepare for every even- 
 tuality. I confide to your care all that is most dear to me 
 — my children. I know I leave them with another 
 self." 
 
 * Your majesty may go in peace. I will be answer- 
 able for all ' was the reply. 
 
 ' Here is my testament,' pursued the king. ' If I should 
 be killed, open it, and see that my will is executed. I 
 will try to bar the road to Turin, but if I should not 
 succeed, and the enemy advances, remove my family to 
 a place of safety, and follow scrupulously what I tell 
 you. In the Gallery of Arms you will find four Austrian 
 banners taken by our soldiers in the war of 1848, and 
 deposited there by my father. They are the trophies of 
 his glory, and I wish to preserve them. If need be, 
 abandon everything else — valuables, jewels, archives, col- 
 lections — all contained in my palace, — but save the 
 banners. Let me but find my children and them safe, 
 the rest does not matter.' 
 
 Next morning, before marching, a solemn service 
 was held in the Duomo, which was crowded with excited 
 citizens, more bent on admiring the spectacle of the 
 warrior king kneeling before the altar, asking Heaven's 
 blessing on his enterprise, than on attending to their own 
 particular devotions. He departed at the head of his 
 troops amidst enthusiastic acclamations, and fervent 
 blessings and prayers for his safety and success. So 
 was he received in every village through which he passed
 
 I50 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 till he reached the great fortress of Alessandria, where 
 the troops were concentrating. The ten years of peace 
 had not diminished Victor Emmanuers military ardour, 
 though they had brought him more experience and 
 heavier responsibilities. His devotion to the cause of 
 Italy was as warm as when on the field of Novara he 
 had fiercely sworn, ' Italia sara ! ' The enthusiasm which 
 filled his soul imparted a dignity and grandeur to his 
 bearing, and — his homely features notwithstanding — 
 made him look all a king. 
 
 ' It was fine,' says Bersezio, ' to see him ride up the 
 ranks of his soldiers, or in the midst of his people as he 
 acknowledged with dignity their enthusiastic evvivas ; 
 but finest when in the heat of battle he flung himself 
 with impetuous valour upon the enemy.' 
 
 It was not only his own subjects and soldiers who 
 were stirred into enthusiasm at the sight of the hero- 
 king. A French officer who saw him for the first time 
 on his arrival at Alessandria thus writes : — 
 
 A great noise was raised ; we heard the tramp of horses " 
 and cries of enthusiasm. Certainly some great man 
 must be coming ! In fact, in a minute after I saw enter 
 under the portico of the palace, King Victor Emmanuel. 
 I recognised his countenance by the rugged features, 
 such as one sees at any humble fireside. There was that 
 eye, ardent yet soft, which darted a straight, bold glance 
 over a provokingly aggressive pair of moustaches. I 
 leave it to others to cite this prince or that, named in 
 the pages of history. But henceforth from to-day I will 
 think that a king on horseback in a moment of danger 
 is a sight to make the heart beat. Lamartine has said, 
 ' Horses are the pedestals of princes.' . . . Whatever 
 happens, I shall never forget King Victor Emmanuel 
 as I first saw him, on horseback, with his sabre by his 
 side, breathing freely and joyously the warrior air of 
 Alessandria, as an atmosphere suited for his lungs. 
 Other memories as well as mine will preserve this 
 image, and in the minds of the people an image is a 
 judgment.
 
 THE KING TAKES THE FIELD. 15I 
 
 General La Marmora, knowing the king's rash spirit, 
 ventured to remonstrate with him about exposing himself 
 to danger, and Victor, unlike himself, answered rudely, 
 that if the general felt afraid he might keep in the 
 background. This was an outburst of temper, caused 
 by the worry he had been subject to, since war had been 
 declared, on the duty of taking care of himself. La 
 Marmora and other friends persuaded a senator, Plezza, 
 who was royal commissioner at Alessandria, to remon- 
 strate with him in the name of all. ' Say to those gen- 
 tlemen,' replied the king, * that in a few days I must 
 send to death who knows how many thousand men. I 
 have not the courage to send them to meet death if I do 
 not act so as to let them see that the cause is such as 
 deserves that we ought all to meet it if need be, and that 
 I myself am ready to do so.' This reply of the king, 
 being repeated from mouth to mouth, had a powerful 
 and inspiriting effect on the soldiers. 
 
 At San Salvador the Sardinian army was in danger 
 of being surrounded by the enemy ; a sort of panic 
 seized the men, and Victor Emmanuel, acting under the 
 advice of some of his officers, had decided to make a 
 retrograde movement. La Marmora, hearing this, forced 
 his way into the royal chamber in spite of orders that 
 no one was to be admitted, and protested vehemently 
 against a retreat. Angry words were exchanged, and the 
 general wound up by saying that if the army retreated he 
 would not, as he would rather fall into the enemy's hands 
 than be the scorn of Frenchmen. In consequence of 
 this the king delayed the departure of the troops, and 
 next day the panic passed, when news arrived that the 
 French were coming to their assistance. Victor Em- 
 manuel then behaved like himself, and penned an affec- 
 tionate and apologetic letter to his general, thanking 
 him for his timely opposition. 
 
 On May 13 the French Emperor landed at Genoa, 
 whither the king went to meet him. The French troops 
 were greeted with great warmth in all the towns through 
 which they passed. The Piedmontese people feted 
 them and bestowed presents on them just as they did
 
 152 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 on their own men ; and the two armies fraternised most 
 satisfactorily. 
 
 Between the sovereigns also a warm friendship sprang 
 up, which there is every reason to believe Avas sincere on 
 both sides. Napoleon III. was capable of a faithful and 
 lasting friendship, and had a wonderful knack of winning 
 the regard of those who had intimate intercourse with 
 him, as we can see in the ' Life of the Prince Consort,' 
 where the queen describes with charming simplicity his 
 growing influence on her and her husband. Victor Em- 
 manuel felt the emperor's fascination, and quickly grew 
 to like him personally, while on public grounds he ex- 
 perienced the strongest sentiments of gratitude for the 
 aid he was rendering to his country when all other 
 sovereigns refused to help her. It was not in Victor 
 Emmanuel's nature to inquire if the emperor were or 
 were not guided by selfish, ambitious motives ; enough 
 for him that he befriended Italy in her distress ; and the 
 memory of that service never could be obliterated from 
 his mind, though his patience was often sorely tried by 
 the conduct of his ' generous ally.' 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 'ITALY SHALL BE FREE FROM THE ALPS TO THE 
 ADRIATIC! ' A.D. 1 859. 
 
 Meantime the Austrians, assembled in great force on 
 the frontier, at the first intimation of war crossed the 
 Ticino and began to devastate the Sardinian territory. 
 The king's troops were commanded to flood the country 
 in order to impede the enemy's advance on the capital. 
 In this work the peasant-farmers took an active part, 
 eagerly assisting the soldiers in the destruction of their 
 own crops. It was a great sacrifice for the poor people, 
 but in that moment of exalted enthusiasm they were 
 ready to sacrifice not only their harvest but their lives, 
 for la patria.
 
 THE FIRST VICTORY. 1 53 
 
 It was a happy thought this of inundating the 
 countr>^ ; for the enemy began to advance rapidly into 
 the interior, and for several days Turin was threatened 
 with an attack. The government was in the hands of 
 the Prince of Carignano, who, aided by the energetic 
 services of the citizens, and those old noble? who had 
 not gone to the seat of war, made haste to put the city in 
 a state of defence. The king was in great anxiety, and 
 kept up a constant correspondence with the capital till 
 the danger was passed. The courage and quiet resolu- 
 tion displayed by the whole population of Turin was 
 very gratifying to Victor Emmanuel, who expressed his 
 feelings in a letter to the old General de Sonnaz, who 
 was in command of all the forces that could be mustered 
 together for the defence of the city. 
 
 Your Excellency, — The noble, patriotic, and valiant con- 
 duct that you have displayed in these past days when 
 the capital was threatened by a raid from the enemy, 
 during which time you collected together such forces 
 as were available, and enrolled them with the division 
 of cavalry, — I appreciated so highly that I experienced 
 a lively desire to express to your excellency' my great 
 satisfaction and earnest thanks. This bold act, spon- 
 taneous as it was, is a new proof of that constant de- 
 votion to the throne of which my father and I have 
 had so many evidences in times past ; and another 
 gem added to the brilliant services which entitle your 
 excellency to my particular goodwill, and to the 
 esteem and gratitude of the country and army. 
 
 To-day, since the peril which menaced the capital 
 is passed, your excellency can resume the command 
 of the military division of Turin, and I will rest in 
 the firm confidence that if there should arise any grave 
 trouble, the country and the king may count on the 
 arm and the heart of your excellency — a heart and 
 an arm which never grow old. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Occimiano, May i8, 1859. 
 
 For some time before the war, the great body of
 
 154 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 volunteers had been put under the command of General 
 Garibaldi. They had taken the field before the royal 
 troops, and in several encounters with the enemy on the 
 Po, had come off victorious — a fact which greatly cheered 
 the spirits of the Piedmontese. 
 
 On May 20, at Montebello, took place the first en- 
 counter of the allied armies with the Austrian, and so 
 far as it went it was a brilliant success. On May 30th, 
 that is, the eleventh anniversary of Goito, where Victor 
 Emmanuel first distinguished himself, there was fought 
 a more important battle. At Palestro the Austrians 
 had collected strong forces to oppose the passage of the 
 Piedmontese across the Sesia. General Cialdini attacked 
 them with great energy at one point, and General 
 Fanti at another, while the king, who directed the 
 movements of all, seeing his men swept down rapidly 
 by the terrible Austrian fire, led on a third division, 
 passed the bridge with overwhelming impetus, and as- 
 sailed Palestro with a fury before which the enemy 
 had to give way. On receiving fresh succours the 
 Austrians returned to the combat, and twice drove the 
 Piedmontese back, but twice had to yield in their turn. 
 In all the three dift"erent points the Austrians were 
 ultimately forced to retreat, and the Italians remained 
 in possession of the position. 
 
 Royal Proclamation. 
 
 Soldiers! — Our first battle signalises our first victory. 
 Your heroic courage, the admirable order of your 
 lines, the daring and sagacity of your leaders, have 
 triumphed to-day at Palestro, Vinzaglio, and Casalino. 
 The enemy, repeatedly attacked, after an obstinate 
 defence, abandoned the strong positions into your 
 hands. This campaign could not open under happier 
 auspices. The triumph of to-day is a pledge that 
 future victories are reserved for the glory of your 
 king, and the fame of the valiant Piedmontese army. 
 
 Soldiers, your exultant country expresses through 
 me her gratitude, and, proud of your battles, she adds
 
 THE BATTLE OF PALESTRO. I55 
 
 to her story the names of her heroic sons, who for the 
 second time on the memorable day of May 30 have 
 successfully and valiantly combated for her. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The Austrians, knowing the importance of the village 
 of Palestro, returned at daybreak next morning with 
 all the fresh forces they could collect to try to retake it. 
 As Victor Emmanuel, armed for the afifray, was about 
 to leap to the saddle, he paused one moment to send 
 a line to his dear Cavour — 
 
 ' You must be pleased with the news of yesterday 
 evening. I am mounting my horse. This evening you 
 shall receive other good news.' 
 
 The Austrians, wishing to regain the positions lost 
 the day before, tojk the offensive, and fought with a 
 desperate resolve to gain the day ; the Italians, with an 
 equally desperate tenacity, were resolved to cede those 
 valuable posts only with their lives. 
 
 It was an obstinate and bloody battle. The Italians, 
 fighting furiously and falling in great numbers, were 
 almost surrounded and overwhelmed, when the Zouaves 
 came to the rescue and, with a dauntless bravery, threw 
 themselves on the enemy and made themselves masters 
 of the cannons. Inspirited by the help of their gallant 
 allies, the Italians renewed the attack with great vigour, 
 all the more courageously that just then Victor Em- 
 manuel, ' plunged in the battery's smoke,' was seen 
 galloping to the front, SAvord in hand, waving on Italians 
 and French to the defence of a bridge. The sight of 
 their king inspired the Piedmontese with fresh ardour ; 
 and the Zouaves, with the cry of Vk'e V Empereiir, threw 
 themselves precipitately along with them upon the 
 enemy, and a furious contest ensued, in which the day 
 for a long time remained doubtful. 
 
 The Zouaves Avere lost in admiration of Victor 
 Emmanuel's gallantry. He was the first of Zouaves, 
 they said, for 'he would listen to no reason.' The 
 French standard-bearer fell at his feet, struck by two 
 balls ; and he rushed on into the thickest fire, deaf to
 
 156 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 the remonstrances of the Zouaves, who entreated him 
 to withdraw a little in the background. The idea of 
 thinking of his own life at such a moment was out of 
 the question for Victor Emmanuel ; but the ' First 
 Soldier of Italian Independence ' ought to have remem- 
 bered that he was necessary to the cause for which he 
 fought, and ought not to have so recklessly thrown him- 
 self into the jaws of death. At one dreadful moment 
 he was almost cut off from his followers and surrounded 
 by the enemy. ' In that instant,' says the narrator, 
 • from thousands of breasts there rose a cry of terror ; 
 the Zouaves, the staff officers, the Bersaglieri, all with 
 horror in their faces, threw themselves like a thunder- 
 bolt on the enemy ; like lightning they encircled the 
 king, and saved his precious life and liberty.' ' Are you 
 afraid I shall throw you into the shade .^ ' he said, in 
 reply to their remonstrances. ' Do not fear ; there is 
 glory enough for all.' 
 
 The day was won, the king was safe, and the joy 
 of the Sardinian army can be better imagined than de- 
 scribed — a joy in which the Zouaves heartily shared, 
 making the field ring with shouts of Vive Ic Rot ! 
 Henceforth he was their peculiar hero ; that evening 
 they elected him their corporal, and carried to his head- 
 quarters the pieces of cannon taken from the enemy. 
 
 The king sent back the cannon with the following 
 letter to Colonel de Chabron : — 
 
 From Headquarters, Torrione, June i, 1859. 
 
 Monsieur le Colonel, — The emperor in placing at my 
 orders the third regiment of Zouaves, has given 
 me a precious proof of his friendship. I thought 
 that I could not better welcome this choice troop 
 than by furnisliing an occasion to aid in a new exploit 
 those who in the fields of battle in Africa and the 
 Crimea have rendered so redoubtable the name of 
 Zouaves. 
 
 The irresistible impetus with which your regiment, 
 Monsieur le Colonel, rushed yesterday to the attack, 
 excited all my admiration. To throw themselves
 
 PROCLAMATIONS. 1 57 
 
 upon the enemy at the bayonet's point, and possess 
 themselves of a battery, while braving the fire of the 
 initrai/lc, was the affair only of some moments. You 
 ought to be proud to command such soldiers, and 
 they ought to be happy to obey a chief like you. 
 
 I appreciate highly the thought which induced 
 the Zouaves to bring to my head-quarters the pieces 
 of artillery taken from the Austrians, and I pray you 
 to thank them for me. I hasten to send this fine 
 trophy to his majesty the emperor, to whom I have 
 already made known the incomparable bravery with 
 which your regiment fought yesterday at Palestro, and 
 sustained my extreme right. 
 
 I shall always be very glad to see the third regiment 
 of Zouaves fight beside my soldiers, and gather new 
 laurels on the fields of battle which await us. 
 
 Will you. Monsieur le Colonel, make known these 
 sentiments to your Zouaves .-' 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The Zouaves having elected the King of Sardinia to 
 be their corporal, the emperor said smiling, ' Now that 
 you belong to my army I have a right to reprove you 
 for your imprudence yesterday. If that happens again 
 I will put you under arrest.' 
 
 On the evening of the 31st Victor Emmanuel ad- 
 dressed a proclamation to his own troops, and de- 
 spatched ' the other good news ' which in the morning 
 he had boldly promised Cavour. 
 
 To the Sardinian Army. 
 
 Soldiers ! — To-day a new and splendid feat of arms has 
 been signalised by a new victory. The enemy assailed 
 us vigorously in the positions of Palestro. They con- 
 veyed heavy forces against our right, in order to impede 
 the conjunction of ours with the troops of Marshal 
 Canrobert. 
 
 It was a supreme moment. Our ranks were far 
 inferior to the adversary ; but there stood in front of
 
 158 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 the attacking party the valorous troop of the fourth di- 
 vision, led by General Cialdini, and the incomparable 
 third regiment of Zouaves, who, working in conjunction 
 with the Sardic army, contributed powerfully to the 
 victory. It was a murderous fight, but at the end 
 the allied troops repulsed the enemy, having inflicted 
 upon him serious losses, including a general and many 
 officers. We have about 1,000 Austrian prisoners. 
 Eight cannon were taken at the bayonet's point — 
 five by the Zouaves, three by our men. 
 
 At the same time that the battle of Palestro 
 was taking place, General Fanti, with equally happy 
 success, repulsed with the troops of the second divi- 
 sion another attack directed by the Austrians upon 
 Confienza. 
 
 His majesty the emperor, on visiting the battle- 
 field, expressed his heartfelt congratulations, and ap- 
 preciates the immense advantage of this day. 
 
 Soldiers ! Persevere in these your sublime efforts, 
 and I feel certain that heaven will crown the work so 
 courageously initiated. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 From Headquarters at Torrione, May 31, 1859. 
 
 This order of the day, in Victor Emmanuel's own 
 style, gives briefly a fair idea of the day's doings, only 
 his own exploits are necessarily omitted. 
 
 While recording the triumph of the Piedmontese 
 army, it would be unjust to withhold the tribute of 
 praise from those exiles who, before Garibaldi's volun- 
 teer army was organised, had abandoned home and 
 country, and gone to aid their Sardinian brothers in 
 their struggle for liberty. There were no braver nor 
 more devoted men in the army than these poor 
 ' foreigners,' as they were then called ; and many touching 
 anecdotes are told of how willingly they died, praying 
 for their country, and blessing ' the champion of their 
 liberty,' as he walked over the field, taking cognisance 
 of his losses, and giving orders for the care of the 
 wounded.
 
 MAGENTA. 1 59 
 
 It must always be a melancholy moment to a 
 general when, the excitement and exultation of vic- 
 tory passed, he begins to count the costs, and sees 
 so many of his brave followers laid low ; and Victor 
 Emmanuel, whose emotional nature was quickly touched, 
 felt depressed by the spectacle. In the course of his 
 mournful walk he came to where a young Roman lay, 
 with the life-blood slowly ebbing from his side. At the 
 sight of the king his eye brightened, and he said to the 
 companion who supported him, — 
 
 ' Raise my head ; let me look at him again. My 
 leader, my hero, my king ! ' 
 
 Victor Emmanuel approached, and the volunteer 
 exclaimed, * God preserve you, saviour of Italy. For 
 the sake of this blood, for the glory of your throne, for 
 the memory of your martyred father, I conjure you to 
 make our country free ! ' 
 
 The king, deeply moved, bent over the dying volun- 
 teer, placed his hand on his, and with tears in his eyes 
 gave once more the oft-repeated promise to liberate 
 Italy if life were spared to him.' 
 
 On June 3, the allied armies arrived at Novara, the 
 painful memories of which were fast being obliterated 
 by the exultation of the present successes. On the 4th 
 the great and decisive battle of Magenta was fought 
 and won by the allied armies, and placed Lonibardy 
 at the feet of the Sardinian king.^ 
 
 Two days after this victory Victor Emmanuel re- 
 ceived the deputation which came in the name of the 
 whole population of the state to offer their fealty to 
 him, and beg to be united to Piedmont. As a confir- 
 
 * Bersezio. 
 
 ^ There was a little incident of this battle which we recollect being re- 
 ported by some newspaper correspondents at the time, though we have never 
 met with it anywhere since, which is interesting and significant. Among 
 the Austrian dead there was found a youth, ' whose musket had never been 
 loaded,' and on him were papers declaring that he, a Venetian, had been 
 forced to serve, but he never would fire on his countrymen, and only desired 
 to be killed by them. The Italians took oflf the hated white uniform and 
 buried him with their own dead, ' that his spirit might have rest.' This is 
 the origin of Mrs. Browning's poem The Forced Recruit.
 
 l6o LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 mation of the union, the khig immediately appointed 
 some noble Lombards to offices of state. 
 
 On June 8, four days after the battle of Magenta, 
 the allies made a triumphal entry into Milan, and went 
 straight to the magnificent cathedral, to return thanks 
 in a solemn service. While they were thus engaged 
 came the news of another success gained by the French 
 troops at Melegnano, so that the campaign was one un- 
 broken series of victories from beginning to end ; and as 
 for the allied armies, so also it was for the volunteers 
 under Garibaldi, who, being a perfect master of irregular 
 warfare, harassed the enemy in such a way as to con- 
 tribute not a little to the successful issue of the campaign. 
 
 Royal Pjvclamatioji. 
 
 People of Lombardy ! — The victory of the liberating 
 army brings me among you. Your national rights 
 restored, your votes will confirm your union with my 
 kingdom, which is founded on the guarantees of a 
 civilised life. The temporary form of government 
 which I establish to-day is required by the necessity 
 of war. When assured of independence, men's minds 
 will acquire the coolness and strength necessary to 
 prepare the foundation of a liberal and lasting regime. 
 The Subalpines have made, and still make, great 
 sacrifices for the common country. Our army, which 
 welcomes in its ranks many valiant volunteers of 
 other Italian provinces, has already given splendid 
 proofs of its courage, combating victoriously for the 
 national cause. The Emperor of the French, our 
 generous ally, worthy of the name and genius of 
 Napoleon, putting himself at the head of the heroic 
 army of that great nation, wishes to liberate Italy frojn 
 the Alps to the Adriatic. In a rivalry of sacrifices 
 you will second these magnanimous proposals on the 
 fields of battle, you will show yourselves worthy of the 
 destinies to which Italy is now called after so many 
 centuries of suffering. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 June 9, 1859.
 
 THE CAMICIA ROSSA. l6l 
 
 The Lombards welcomed back their dear exiles with 
 frantic joy, and passionate demonstrations of gratitude 
 to the liberator so long prayed for, who was now in very 
 truth their king, for the Austrians, everywhere beaten, 
 •had retired beyond the Mincio into the Venetian pro- 
 vinces. It was in the Lombard capital, after so many 
 brilliant feats on the part of both leaders, that Victor 
 Emmanuel and Garibaldi first met. 
 
 The king had always felt interested in the strange 
 romantic career of the poor fisherman's son, who had 
 been described by the Papal and Bourbon adherents — 
 trembling in '48 at the sight of the Camicia rossa — 
 as a bloodthirsty anarchist, a communist, an antichrist, 
 in fact; and whose story, divested of this warm colouring, 
 was not such as to recommend him particularly to the 
 favour of an hereditary monarch. He was a republican 
 Italian, and a cosmopolitan defender of peoples' rights in 
 every land. With those in authority he had earned a repu- 
 tation somewhat like that of the Irishman who on landing 
 in America asked, ' Is there any government established 
 in this country' ^ Because, if there is, I'm agin' it.' 
 
 Garibaldi had hitherto found himself pretty well 
 agaijist Q\&ry government where he happened to sojourn : 
 that was the fault of the governments, of course ; but 
 nevertheless it made him be dreaded by order-loving 
 people, who thought a little tyranny preferable to con- 
 tinual revolutions. 
 
 The daring courage, the childlike simplicit)-, the 
 originality of this strange man, whose soul seemed cast 
 in the mould of ancient days, won the admiration of a 
 kindred spirit, singularly free from the prejudices of his 
 class — one who could value a man for his own worth 
 apart from all accessories of rank or position. It was 
 flattering to a king like Victor, the voluntary homage 
 of this wild republican ; and it was flattering to the 
 great volunteer, the tone of brotherly equality with 
 which the head of an ancient dynasty received him. 
 The meeting between the two heroes at Milan was most 
 cordial, full of mutual congratulations and expressions of 
 esteem. The king fastened the gold medal for military 
 
 M
 
 l62 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 valour on the breast of the valiant general, who was 
 proud to receive it from his hands, not because he was 
 a king, but because he was a patriot and a hero. 
 
 But Lombardy had not seen the last of that ob- 
 noxious individual popularly known as lo Straniero. It 
 was not to be expected that a great military power, 
 with vast resources at her command, would relinquish 
 those rich provinces to her old hereditary foe without a 
 desperate struggle. Hastily collecting troops in those 
 provinces still subject to her sway, she returned to the 
 combat with renewed vigour. So secretly, speedily, and 
 cleverly was the move executed, that the Austrian army 
 was in front of the allies before they had dreamed of 
 a renewal of the contest. But both French and Sards 
 were equal to the occasion ; and on June 24 was fought 
 the double battle of Solferino and San Martino, which 
 was the crowning glory of this glorious campaign. The 
 French call this day ' Solferino,' but the Italians like to 
 speak of it as ' San Martino,' that being the name of the 
 hill from which the Sardinian king and his soldiers dis- 
 lodged the Austrians, after a prolonged and bloody 
 combat, which lasted from early morning till seven 
 o'clock in the evening. During all this time the king 
 was in the saddle, directing the movements of the troops 
 over the extensive battle ground, and with four divisions 
 under his immediate command he opposed a greatly 
 superior force, fighting his way from Lonato to San 
 Martino to the aid of General MoUard, whom he knew 
 to be hard pressed by the enemy in that position. ' By 
 his able dispositions,' writes a Frenchman, ' by the 
 magic effect of his presence, by the impetus with which 
 he knows so well how to inspire his soldiers, his troops 
 were able to accomplish prodigies, displaying an inex- 
 haustible tenacity in resistance as well as in attack.' 
 
 The Austrians under the command of General 
 Benedek encountered General Mollard at San Martino 
 early in the morning. The Italian general, knowing the 
 importance of this position, was resolved to hold it at 
 any cost. San Martino is a high hill, the precipitous 
 sides of which were protected by little forts, and it com-
 
 SOLFERINO— SAN MARTINO. 1 63 
 
 manded all the roads between Solferino and the Lago 
 di Garda. After a hard struggle, the Austrians, being 
 superior in numbers, forced the Piedniontese from the 
 height and pursued them into the plain. The king 
 having in the meantime sent them succours, they re- 
 turned to the combat, climbed the hill of San Martino 
 once more, under a furious fire, and drove the enemy 
 from the position at the point of the bayonet. But in 
 that attack the Piedmontese ranks had been terribly 
 thinned, and again the enemy, with an overwhelming 
 effort, forced them from the height. Meantime an officer 
 from the king arrived to say he was hastening to their 
 assistance. ' Our allies are winning a great battle at 
 Solferino ; it is the wish of the king that his soldiers 
 should win one at San Martino,' said the aide-de-camp. 
 ' Say to the king that his orders shall be executed,' was 
 the proud reply of General MoUard. 
 
 Before noon Victor Emmanuel had sent a message 
 to the French commander. Marshal Hilliers, ' who was 
 winning a great victory at Solferino.' The mountain 
 sides were so bestrewed with wounded that the king's 
 messenger had to lead his horse to avoid trampling 
 on them. He found the French commander in pos- 
 session of the field and the enemy retreating. The 
 marshal spoke slightingly of the Piedmontese slowness 
 in advancing, and said, — 
 
 ' Vous liavcs pas encore appris a niarcJicr coinvie 
 nous! The Sardinian replied that some of their troops 
 had been called to support the emperor in the plain, 
 and that those that remained under the king's command 
 had a vastly superior force to combat. The marshal 
 looked at his watch and said, ' It is one o'clock. I hops 
 that by evening your army will have arrived at Pozzo- 
 lengo.' 
 
 Pozzolengo was two miles from Lonato ; and before 
 reaching it, it was necessary for Victor Emmanuel to 
 overpower the forces that opposed him there, and 
 then go to the defence of San Martino, which was the 
 all-important post that must be conquered finally before 
 proceeding to Pozzolengo. When his aide-de-camp re-
 
 164 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 turned and told him what the French general had said, 
 he was somewhat piqued. It was not quite just to 
 reproach him with ' slowness ' under the circumstances. 
 He despatched a messenger to La Marmora — about 
 three-quarters of an hour's ride — saying, * Go immedi- 
 ately to La Marmora, tell him that I order him to take 
 the command of Durando's division, with half of Fanti's, 
 and to hasten to San Martino ; say at the same time that 
 I am sending orders to Mollard and Cucchiari to attack 
 it in front at half-past four, while La Marmora at the 
 same time will attack it at the side. San Martino shall 
 be ours — we will go to Pozzolengo this evening ! ' 
 
 The orders of the king were punctually obeyed ; 
 against the appointed hour he himself was there with 
 his own followers ready to lead the attack at the other 
 side. 
 
 ' My sons,' said he, ' we must take San Martino, or 
 the enemy will make us do San Martino.' San Martino 
 was the day on which the people of that country always 
 removed from one house to another ; hence removing 
 came to be called doing San Martino. The king's bad 
 pun was received with loud cheers. They took San 
 Martino after a desperate resistance, and Victor Em- 
 manuel, according to his promise, arrived at Pozzolengo 
 late in the evening. When Marshal Hilliers was com- 
 plimenting the king on his day's work, he took care to 
 let him know that he had heard his remark about the 
 slowness of his ' march.' Victor Emmanuel did not wait 
 to repose himself before expressing his warm thanks to 
 the army which had so nobly sustained him throughout 
 the day. 
 
 R oyal Prod a nia tion . 
 
 Soldiers ! — In two months of war from the invasion 
 of the banks of the Sesia and of the Po, you have 
 advanced from victory to victory to the banks of the 
 Garda and the Mincio. In the glorious path you have 
 traversed in company with our generous and powerful 
 ally, you have given the most splendid proofs of 
 discipline and heroism.
 
 TERMINATION OF THE WAR. 1 65 
 
 The nation is proud of you. Italy counts among 
 your ranks her best sons, applauds your merit, and 
 from your actions draws happy auguries for her future 
 destinies. To-day you have won another great 
 victory ; you have poured out your blood unsparingly, 
 conquering an enemy great in numbers and protected 
 by the strongest positions. 
 
 In the day, now famous, of Solferino and San 
 Martino, you fought from the break of day till the 
 close of night, led on by your intrepid officers, and 
 repulsed the repeated assaults of the enemy, forcing 
 him to re-cross the Mincio ; leaving in your hands, on 
 the field of battle, men, arms, and cannon. On their 
 part, the French army obtained equally great results, 
 equal glory, giving new proof of that incomparable 
 valour that for centuries has called the admiration of 
 the world on their heroic ranks. 
 
 Victory has cost us heavy sacrifices ; but by that 
 noble blood so freely shed for the holiest of causes 
 Europe will learn that Italy is worthy of a seat 
 amongst the nations. 
 
 Soldiers ! — In the preceding battles I had often 
 occasion to signalise the names of many of you in the 
 order of the day. Now I bring to the order of the 
 day the whole army. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 From Headquarters, Rivoltella, June 25, 1859. 
 
 This was the last battle of the campaign, which was 
 strangely and unaccountably cut short by the emperor's 
 resolution to advance no further than the Mincio. For- 
 getful of his promise to liberate Italy ' from the Alps to 
 the Adriatic,' he left poor Venice still in the clutches of 
 the Austrian eagle, and led his army homewards.
 
 l66 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE PEACE OF VILLAFRANCA, A.D. 1 859. 
 
 It was not to be expected that the inhabitants of the 
 states of Central Italy could sit still while the Sardinians 
 and Lombards were carrying on a successful war for the 
 expulsion of the foreigner. Tuscany rose against the 
 grand-duke, demanding a Constitution. He ordered 
 the troops to fire on the people from the battlements of 
 the Forte di Belvedere. The officers replied that they 
 dare not give such an order, as the men would refuse to 
 shoot down their fellow-citizens. ' And what will become 
 of us .-• ' asked the crown prince, indignantly. 
 
 ' Grant the Constitution,' was the ready answer of 
 the ministers. The grand-duke asked time to de- 
 liberate, retired to a villa, and from thence took his 
 departure, escorted to the frontier by the carabinieri, 
 to protect him from insult — an unnecessary precau- 
 tion ; the courteous Tuscans saluted him respectfully as 
 he passed, too glad to be rid of him without bloodshed. 
 He hoped to return, as in 1849, with an Austrian army 
 at his back — but this time he miscalculated. The Duke 
 of Modena and the Duchess of Parma fled precipitately ; 
 with the duchies rose also the Pontifical States — the 
 provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Umbria, the Marches 
 — all joined in the national cry of Viva r Italia ! 
 Viva Vittorio Enianuele ! In fact, all the inhabitants 
 of Central Italy loudly proclaimed their determination 
 to be free — and none more resolutely than the subjects 
 of Pio Nono. After the battle of Magenta deputations 
 from the provinces arrived in Turin, entreating a union 
 with North Italy. Cavour, not being able to give any 
 answer that would satisfy the deputations, sent them to 
 the camp to speak to the king himself They arrived 
 the day before Solferino, and were immediately admitted 
 to the royal presence. The Piedmontese headquarters 
 were at Calcinate, where the king had taken up his
 
 REVOLUTIONS IX CENTRAL ITALY. 1 6/ 
 
 abode in a poor little country house. They found him 
 standing by the window, with one hand on his sword- 
 hilt, and the other resting on a writing table, where he 
 had just laid a letter from the holy father, more dis- 
 agreeable than usual, as was natural under the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The Marquis Pepoli read the address from the 
 provinces, and then added some words of his own 
 earnestly urging the king not to leave them without a 
 government, and begging him to accept provisionally 
 a military dictatorship. Victor listened in thoughtful 
 silence, and then told the gentlemen to thank the popu- 
 lations they represented ; begged them still to put con- 
 fidence in him, even though he could not now accept 
 their ofter ; protested that he was ready to surrender 
 himself utterly for the accomplishment of the great end 
 they had in view ; Italy should be ' made ' beyond all 
 doubt, but it was necessary to wait. He was afraid 
 ' diplomacy ' would throw serious obstacles in the way 
 of a dictatorship. 
 
 'The Pope gives me much annoyance, and I cannot 
 do as I should like,' he added, showing the letter he had 
 lately received. He then directed them to lay the case 
 before the French Emperor ; and they received from 
 him the advice to arm themselves ' to the teeth,' and 
 wait what might turn up. Finally, Cavour was sum- 
 moned to the camp. Something must be done imme- 
 diately ; the papal troops had entered the town of 
 Perugia, overcome the citizens with great slaughter, and 
 committed disgraceful atrocities. The other insurgent 
 cities wanted the protection of some sort of governing 
 body, while putting themselves in a state of defence. 
 Cavour's advice was not to assume the title of Dictator 
 nor Protector, but simply to send royal commissioners 
 to Bologna with the sole object of maintaining order, 
 and organising military forces in the surrounding pro- 
 V'inces. Governors in the king's name had been sent to 
 the principalities of Tuscany, Parma, and Modena ; but 
 dealing with the papal territories was a more delicate 
 matter. Victor Emmanuel was already under the cen-
 
 1 68 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 sures of the church, and he was now threatened with ex- 
 communication in its extremest rigour. The governor 
 chosen for the Bolognese province was Pio Nono's old 
 favourite, Massimo Azeglio. ' Am I to go to Bologna 
 to do the anti-Pope ? ' said he, smiling, when he received 
 the king's command. On the very day that it was 
 officially announced that the commissioner was about to 
 take temporary charge of the Romagnian provinces, the 
 Pope's allocution arrived, breathing the fiercest anathe- 
 mas against the king and his government if they carried 
 out their impious intentions. 'Atrocious deeds like 
 those of Perugia, and threats like those of the allocution,' 
 wrote Sir James Hudson, 'ought to persuade the sincerest 
 Catholics of the approaching fall of the temporal power 
 of the Popes.' 
 
 Ferdinand II. of Naples had died on May 22, a few 
 minutes after receiving the news of the battle of Monte- 
 bello. The old tyrant's last moments were embittered 
 by the victory of * the Sardo,' whom he had always hated, 
 as representing the principles of religious and civil free- 
 dom, which his soul abhorred. At the beginning of the 
 struggle with Austria the Savoy family had no designs 
 on the other kingdoms of Italy. Both Charles Albert 
 and Victor Emmanuel had again and again offered to 
 form a federation with the other Italian princes for the 
 expulsion of the foreigner, — in which case they would 
 have contented themselves with the annexation of 
 Lombardy and Venetia to the kingdom of Sardinia. 
 But the other princes steadfastly refusing this alliance, 
 breaking their promises of granting reforms, and above 
 all maintaining their position altogether by the aid of 
 Austria, and acting under her control,— they had gradu- 
 ally come to see no way for the redemption of Italy but 
 a complete overthrow of the principalities. Personal and 
 dynastic ambition was doubtless blended with patriotic 
 fervour in the soul of Victor Emmanuel ; but it was an 
 ambition which the Italians themselves excited and 
 commended to the last degree. The crown of Sicily 
 had been offered in 1848 to the younger son of Charles 
 Albert and refused, after which many conciliatory em-
 
 THE ARMISTICE. 169 
 
 bassies from Sardinia had been sent to Ferdinand, as 
 also to Leopold and Pius, entreating them to reform 
 their respective governments, — but all in vain. 
 
 Now that the old king was dead, \'ictor Emmanuel, 
 with that generosity which was his most striking charac- 
 teristic, resolved to bur}' all the offences and insults of 
 the past ten years in his grave, and offer his frank and 
 cordial alliance to the son of his old enemy. He did 
 not do this without the concurrence of Poerio, and the 
 other noble Neapolitan exiles, who, like him, thought it 
 a duty, for the sake of peace, to smother personal ani- 
 mosity. But the Bourbon pride and obstinacy, like that 
 of the Stuarts, blinded them to their danger. Francis II. 
 declined the honour of an alliance with the liberator of 
 Italy, — unfortunately for himself, but happily for his 
 countn,-. 
 
 The Emperor Napoleon having promised and pro- 
 claimed that Italy should be free from the Alps to the 
 Adriatic, and having had one unbroken series of victories 
 from the Sesia to the Mincio, it was natural to expect 
 that he would carry his conquering arms into Venetia, 
 and finish the work he had undertaken. But all of a 
 sudden this unaccountable man was taken with a panic 
 — some say it was the spectacle of Solferino the day 
 after the battle which struck him with horror ; others 
 that the empress had informed him of the growing 
 jealousy of Prussia after every victory which threatened 
 to have serious consequences, and of the displeasure of the 
 Russian government at the expulsion of the dukes, who 
 had taken refuge in the dominions of the Czar and asked 
 his protection. Be this as it may, he was resolved to 
 turn back from the enterprise. And he demanded an 
 armistice from the Austrians, as if he had been the 
 beaten party. Victor Emmanuel, it may be imagined, 
 did all that man could do to dissuade him from throwing 
 away the fruits of their united victories. It was all in 
 vain ; the man of fate would move no further, and 
 Victor, with a heavy heart, resigned himself ' Povera 
 Italia!' he exclaimed mournfully, then added, 'What- 
 ever shall be your majesty's decision, I shall always feel
 
 I/O LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 grateful for what you have done for Itah'an independence, 
 and you may count on me as a friend.' 
 
 The Marshal Vaillant ventured to remonstrate with 
 the emperor. ' Sire,' said he, ' an armistice means 
 peace.' 
 
 ' That is nothing to you,' was the polite rejoinder. 
 
 ' Sire,' said the undaunted marshal, ' you have pro- 
 mised to make Italy free from the Alps to the Adriatic. 
 
 ' Je vous repute, niarechal, cela ne vous regarde pas' 
 
 The armistice was concluded, and the preliminaries of 
 peace arranged, July 8. The Emperors of Austria and 
 France had settled that the banished princes were to be 
 restored without violence, that Piedmont was to be left 
 in possession of Lombardy, and that the Pope was to be 
 persuaded to make some reforms in his government. 
 The grief of the disputed provinces, when they heard 
 of the proposed peace, was indescribable. No calamity 
 that war had brought could cause such bitter anguish as 
 the Italians, especially the Romagnuoli, then felt. They 
 had borne oppression so long, they had suffered so much 
 for their sympathy with their no.-thern countrymen, they 
 had contributed their money and their blood to the na- 
 tional cause, and now, in the moment of victory, they 
 were abandoned to the tender mercies of their ecclesias- 
 tical rulers,— after having laid their homage at the foot 
 of the throne of Sardinia. It was a cruel case, and 
 Victor Emmanuel would have sacrificed some years of 
 his life to be able to fulfil their wishes. But he had no 
 choice ; to make war alone and unaided would have 
 been madness. 
 
 The news of the armistice struck Cavour like a 
 thunderbolt. He did not see things from the emperor's 
 point of view, and peace under such circumstances 
 seemed like insanity or treachery. It would be difficult 
 to imagine how he felt without knowing how entirely he 
 had made every other consideration in life subservient 
 to the cause which now seemed wantonly ruined. 
 
 The world [says his biographer] will ever remain ignorant 
 of the immense labour and fatigue of mind that Count
 
 cavour's disappointment. 171 
 
 Cavour passed through in those days [preceding the 
 war]. But history in its justice will relate how in the 
 midst of such a boiling over of violent passions, of 
 mortal hatreds, of generous excitement, of storms and 
 worries indescribable, he remained imperturbably 
 serene, calculating the current events, knowing how 
 with extraordinary acuteness of mind to master men 
 and things, to hit the best opportunity for action ; and 
 though he held in the hollow of his hand the fomenting 
 revolution, never did he once depart from the course 
 of patient moderation, which alone could save the 
 Italian question from becoming lacerated by the claws 
 of the Austrian eagle, in that last and most difficult 
 period of the negotiations. 
 
 But once the note was sounded for bold and 
 strong measures, the patriotic spirit of Camillo Cavour 
 shared largely the .enthusiasm, the just resentment, of 
 his nation. Let us look at his work. At one and 
 the same time he was President of the Council, Min- 
 ister of Foreign Aftairs, ^Minister of War, ^Minister of 
 the Interior. He had a bed placed in the apartments 
 of the War ^Ministry, and during the nights he walked 
 in his dressing-gown from one department to another, 
 giving directions as to police regulations, diplomatic 
 correspondence and preparations for war, inflaming 
 everyone by his example of laboriousness and pa- 
 triotism.^ 
 
 His herculean labours did not affect his health, for 
 he had great courage, hope, and patience to support 
 him ; and as the news of each successive victory 
 reached Turin, hope became certainty. What his sen- 
 sations were when the news of the armistice reached 
 him may be imagined. The heavy responsibility of 
 having urged the king and nation into a fruitless war 
 weighed upon him, mingled with the fierce indignation 
 which he felt towards his false ally, for such he consi- 
 dered Napoleon. He set out for the camp, hoping, as 
 the preliminaries were not yet signed, he might still stop 
 
 ' Bianchi.
 
 172 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 the proceedings. He had an interview with the em- 
 peror which proved ineffectual in changing his reso- 
 lution. His destiny had carried him to the Mincio, 
 but it refused to move further in an easterly or southerly 
 direction. 
 
 Cavour's passions, though habitually concealed under 
 an imperturbable serenity and sang froid, were pro- 
 found and strong, and they were now stirred to their 
 depths. For the first and only time in his public career 
 he allowed them to master him, completely obscuring 
 his usually clear, unerring judgment. He had gener- 
 ally acted as a check on the fiery impulsiveness of the 
 king, but now they seemed to have changed characters. 
 Victor Emmanuel, calm and resigned, was listening to 
 a French officer reading the preliminaries of the treaty 
 in the presence of La Marmora and three other witnesses, 
 when the count entered. White with anger, which he 
 made no effort to suppress, he stormed against the 
 emperor, and upbraided the king with his complaisance. 
 He said he ought to refuse to accept Lombardy, and 
 withdraw the Piedmontese army into his own proper 
 territory. The king argued against this extreme mea- 
 sure, saying he was pledged to the Lombards, and it 
 would be unjust and unfaithful to abandon them. But 
 Cavour would not admit of any compromise. The 
 interview was long and painful ; and though the king 
 maintained a dignified calm throughout, he was deeply 
 offended. 
 
 The vehemence of Count Cavour's language attested 
 the excitement of his soul [says Massari]. All the 
 more painful and keenly felt was the struggle between 
 the king and minister, because both desired intensely 
 to arrive at the same end, to secure the destinies of 
 Italy. General La Marmora, always ready for every 
 good work, conquered his own grief, and tried to calm 
 the generous ire of Count Cavour, and put an end to 
 the king's distress. 
 
 The count returned to Turin almost broken-hearted. 
 ' In the space of three days he had grown older by many
 
 RESIGNATION OF CAVOUR. 1/3 
 
 years.' The day the peace was signed at \"illafranca 
 Cavour sent in his resignation, and all his colleagues 
 with him. Paleocapa, the blind Venetian minister, wept. 
 * My blindness is no longer a grief to me, since I can 
 no longer hope to revisit my beloved Venice,' he said. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the king did not feel 
 as much as his ministers the sudden termination of the 
 war ; but for once he seemed to see a little farther into 
 the future than the astute Cavour, and did not utterly 
 despair. His trouble was aggravated by his quarrel 
 with the count, which threw on him the whole responsi- 
 bility of accepting a very unpopular peace. The treaty 
 was signed July 12, Victor Emmanuel, by the advice of 
 the emperor, putting in these words : ^ J' accepte poiir ce 
 qui vie concerne', meaning that he accepted Lombardy, 
 but had nothing to say to the question of the duchies or 
 the Romagna, which left him free for future action. He 
 issued a farewell address to the Lombards, couched in 
 the affectionate terms of a sovereign to his own subjects, 
 renewing his pledge to protect them, and telling them 
 to confide in their king. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel entered the Subalpine capital in 
 company with the Emperor Napoleon. The joy of see- 
 ing their beloved king safely returned was damped by 
 the depression of spirits consequent on the peace. Yet 
 a certain warmth of greeting to the foreign sovereign 
 gratitude demanded. He had done much for them, and 
 doubtless had his reasons for not doing more. The 
 king had accepted the peace, and he would not have 
 done it if it could have been avoided. The Turin 
 people, reasoning thus, behaved ver\^ well and decor- 
 ously on the occasion of the emperor's visit. The day 
 after his return the king received Sir James Hudson in a 
 private audience. He had always regarded him as a 
 peisonal friend, and it was a relief to open his mind, and 
 confide all his troubles to such an intelligent sympathiser 
 as the English minister, who had shown that he had the 
 interests of Italy at heart. 
 
 The Cavour ministry only held office till their 
 successors were appointed. Their chief was nursing his
 
 174 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 wrath to keep it warm ; and the king was full of indig- 
 nation against him for the disrespectful manner in which 
 he had deported himself in their last interview, when in 
 wanting to force his rash counsels upon him he had 
 forgotten what was due to his personal dignity. But 
 without Cavour, Victor Emmanuel felt deprived of his 
 right arm. He had some difficulty in forming a new 
 ministry, but finally Signor Rattazzi undertook the 
 conduct of affairs, with the aid of Generals La Marmora 
 and Dabormida, all honourable men and true, but the 
 three of them could not make one Cavour. The new 
 ministry began by a timid retrograde movement. Orders 
 were issued to all the royal commissioners governing the 
 insurgent provinces of Central Italy to leave their posts 
 and return to Turin. 
 
 ' But these patriots understood,' says Signor Ghiron, 
 ' that it would be grateful to the king to disobey these 
 orders, and that it would expose the country to the 
 gravest perils to abandon them,' so they remained. 
 Cavour never would have put his government in such a 
 position as to issue orders which ought to be disobeyed. 
 Massimo d'Azeglio, who was at Bologna with ii,ooo 
 men under his command, to keep the peace of the sur- 
 rounding provinces, positively refused to stir. 
 
 ' I thought,' he wrote to his wife, ' that the king would 
 not wish to dishonour himself and me by leaving those 
 provinces in a state of anarchy, and I disobeyed. In- 
 stead of moving the troops to Turin, I sent 9000 to the 
 frontier of Romagna to defend the people who had been 
 confided to me from the Swiss of Perugia. I invested 
 my powers in Colonel Fallicon, my head staff officer, and 
 I left all at their posts, the government in full authority ; 
 so there has been no disorder, and I came on the fifth 
 day to Turin to tell the king to put me under a council 
 of war. The king said I had done rightly, and that 
 there must have been some mistake in the order.' 
 
 The Roman legations and the duchies, when they 
 heard of the peace, sent deputations to Turin ; the king 
 received them kindly, and tried to soothe their excited 
 feelings by renewed promises of future help.
 
 GRIEF OF THE PROVINCES. I75 
 
 ' What do they think of me in Tuscany ? ' he asked 
 of the secretary of the provisional government in 
 Florence. 
 
 ' We confide always in the loyal protection of your 
 majesty.' 
 
 ' I am glad of it,' he replied. ' I could not have any 
 peace if I thought you could doubt me for a moment, 
 or imagine that I, for my own interests, had abandoned 
 the brave people who had put their trust in me.' 
 
 The Marquis Pepoli, who had been the head of the 
 deputation from the Emilian provinces, to pray for 
 annexation with North Italy, immediately on hearing of 
 the peace hastened to Turin and asked an audience of 
 the king. The particulars of that inter\-iew the marquis 
 himself related to a mournful assembly in Bologna, 
 Januar>^ 23, 1S78. 
 
 The Peace of Villafranca struck us all with horror. We 
 lost every hope, for we feared a fresh intervention, and 
 we had neither soldiers nor money to offer any effica- 
 cious opposition to the violence of the foreigner. It 
 was then that the provisional government sent me to 
 Turin to speak directly to the king. In fact, as soon 
 as I arrived in that city, Victor Emmanuel granted 
 me an audience. I explained frankly, without reticence, 
 our doubts, our fears, our urgent needs. The king 
 replied benignly, ' You have not the faith that saves. 
 Why do you doubt me J Do you believe that I Avould 
 have put my signature to the Peace of Villafranca 
 without a formal promise that any fresh inter\-ention 
 would not be allowed ? ' 
 
 Seeing that I was not yet quite easy, he added, — 
 ' If after my words the Bolognese still doubt, tell 
 them, in my name, that if the Austrians should again 
 invade the sacred soil of /a P atria, I will abdicate like 
 my father, and come to fight in the ranks of the 
 Romagnuoli volunteers.' 
 
 ' I believe your majesty's words,' I broke forth ; 
 ' but how shall we be able to provide for our wants, 
 without money and without credit ? '
 
 1/6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 'My government cannot come to your aid, for the 
 diplomatic reasons which you know too well,' said the 
 king. ' The House of Savoy is poor, therefore I 
 cannot offer you the material aid you require. One 
 thing only can I give — my signature. With that, try 
 to provide necessaries, and arm yourselves for the day 
 of battle.' 
 
 So saying, he wrote on a sheet of paper and handed 
 it to me, with a kind look. I bathed the august hand 
 with tears ; and if I lived for a hundred years, never 
 can I forget, as an Italian, as a citizen, that most 
 noble act. 
 
 The Lombards at this time, to show their devotion to 
 their new sovereign, celebrated the tenth anniversary of 
 the death of the late King Charles Albert by a religious 
 service in his honour held in the cathedral of Milan. 
 His grateful son wrote to the podesta as follows : — 
 
 My dear Count Belgiojoso. — The testimony of pious 
 mourning offered by the people of Milan, July 28, to 
 the memory of my father's great soul, moved my 
 heart deeply. The Milanese associating themselves 
 thus spontaneously with the domestic mourning of 
 their king, shows that the bond that unites them to 
 me is a bond of love, and gives me deep satisfaction. 
 Their honouring in this unusual way the memory 
 of Charles Albert, signifies that years and changing 
 circumstances have not diminished their reverence and 
 gratitude to the initiator of their independence, and in 
 the name of Italy I thank them. 
 
 Although I had no need of any fresh proof of the 
 affection and loyalty of my Milanese, it was at the 
 same time so consoling to me, that I feel the need of 
 showing them how I have understood them. The 
 honourable podesta, by making himself interpreter of 
 my sentiments with his fellow-citizens, will fulfil one 
 of my dearest wishes. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, July 31, 1859.
 
 MANZONI ON VICTOR EMMANUEL. I// 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE VOTE OF THE ITALIAN PEOPLE. A.D. 1859. 
 
 Cavour's wrath calmed down after a time, and he 
 began to see things in a clearer light ; but he was still 
 resolved to remain in retirement. In the autumn he 
 wrote to a friend as follows : — 
 
 I am full of faith in the future triumph of the cause for 
 which I have struggled so long, and to it I am always 
 ready to consecrate what life and strength I still 
 possess ; but I am fully persuaded that my participa- 
 tion in politics at this moment would be damaging to 
 my country. Her destinies have been put back again 
 into the hands of diplomacy. Now I am in bad odour 
 with the diplomatists ; my resignation is very grateful 
 to them, and its effect will be such as to render them 
 more favourable to the unhappy populations of Central 
 Italy. 
 
 In August the king visited Lombardy privately ; the 
 final treaty of peace not being yet signed, it would not 
 have been good taste to do so officially. During this 
 visit to Milan he expressed a desire to see Manzoni, and 
 was told that he was ailing. Then Victor declared he 
 would go to see him in his own home, but Manzoni 
 would not permit this, and hastened to pay his respects 
 to the king as soon as he was able. Victor Emmanuel 
 received the author of / Pronicssi Sposi with such 
 marks of regard and profound respect as quite over- 
 whelmed the modest poet. He was agreeably surprised 
 to find the king, who thought and spoke either in Pied- 
 montese or French, express himself so well in Tuscan ; 
 and found him more cultivated and appreciative than he 
 had expected. Here is the judgment of the gifted and 
 pious Lombard on his new sovereign : — 
 
 I see in the character of the king the intervention of 
 
 N
 
 1 78 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Providence. He is exactly the sovereign that circum- 
 stances require to accompHsh the resurrection of Italy. 
 He has rectitude, courage, incorruptible honesty, and 
 disinterestedness : he seeks not glory or fortune for 
 himself, but for his country. He is so simple, never 
 caring to appear great, that he does not meet the 
 admiration of those who seek to find in princes and 
 heroes theatrical actions and grandiloquent words. 
 He is natural because he is true, and this makes his 
 enemies say that he is wanting in regal majesty. To 
 found Italian unity he has risked his throne and his 
 life. 
 
 We have heard some English persons criticise Victor 
 Emmanuel's manners just in the way Manzoni describes ; 
 but ' to found Italian unity,' they should remember, 
 something more was needed than a drawing-room ex-' 
 quisite ; and there are a great many elegant gentlemen 
 who would * look ' the character of king as far as state 
 ceremonies were concerned much better than he, but 
 who would have cut a poor figure under circumstances 
 in which he made a brilliant one. The Italians might 
 well overlook the defects of their unconventional sove- 
 reign, who knew how so well to defend their rights and 
 his own dignity when occasion required. 
 
 The Peace of Villafranca was referred to a conference 
 held at Zurich for formal settlement. It began its 
 sittings early in August and lasted till November. Great 
 difficulties arose on the question as to what was to be 
 done with the dispossessed princes. The Emperor of 
 France had promised the King of Sardinia that no 
 foreign intervention should take place. How then were 
 they to . be restored ? The provinces were in arms, 
 protesting vehemently against the return of their former 
 rulers, declaring their right to decide their own destinies, 
 and persisting in offering the sovereignty to Victor 
 Emmanuel. It was not to be expected that /le would 
 take any part in the restoration of the banished dukes. 
 
 ' The negotiators of the Peace of Villafranca,' says 
 Massari , ' seemed to think that they had only to declare
 
 DEPUTATIONS FROM THE PROViN'CES. 179 
 
 that Leopold of Lorraine should go to Florence, Francis 
 D'Este to Modena, the Duchess de Bourbon to Parma, 
 and the Pope's legates ' to Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, and 
 Ravenna. But the inhabitants had quite different views 
 on the subject' 
 
 Baron Ricasoli in P'lorence, and the famous Farini 
 (whose Stato Romaiw vv^e have several times referred to) 
 in Modena, took the lead in maintaining the liberty they 
 had won. An Assembly was convoked of representa- 
 tives of all the provinces ; and in this general Parliament, 
 which was conducted with the utmost order and modera- 
 tion, it was resolved that they should be citizens of the 
 kingdom of Italy, subjects of Victor EmmanueL 
 
 Meantime, while the inhabitants of Central Italy 
 were sending deputations to Turin, and declaring loudly 
 m their assemblies that they would have no other 
 sovereign than the hero of San ]\Iartino, the Austrian 
 rulers and the dispossessed princes were making a fearful 
 outcry about the usurpations of the Sardic king, and 
 trying every art to detach the PVench emperor from his 
 alliance. In fact. Napoleon was worked upon so strongly 
 that he .<«nt envoys to the provisional governments of 
 the duchies to stop any further demonstrations in favour 
 of Victor Emmanuel, and to himself he sent a special 
 ambassador, the Count de ReLset, for whom he knew 
 the king had a great esteem, to persuade him not to 
 receive the offer of the dominions in question- 
 Victor explained frankly to the count that he did not 
 regard the matter merely as a question of enlarging his 
 dominions. It was the spontaneous desire of the popula- 
 tions of those provinces that they should be united to 
 his kingdom, and though he felt for the em.barrassment 
 of his ally, he could not bring himself to disappoint 
 the confidence that those peoples had reposed in him 
 after the warm sympathy they had shown for him and his 
 government, and the piteous tenacity with which they 
 now clung to him for protection- 
 
 In fact, the king gave the Florence deputation, which 
 arrived, on September 3, a very cordial reception. The 
 Comit Ugolino della Gherardesca read the address
 
 l8o LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 offering the throne of Tuscany to Victor Emmanuel in 
 
 the name of all its inhabitants. 
 
 Victor Emmanuers reply to the Tuscans. 
 
 I am profoundly grateful for the vote of the Tuscan 
 
 Assembly of wWch you are the interpreters to me. I 
 
 thank you for it, and with me my people thank you _ 
 
 I receive this vote as a solemn manifestation of 
 
 the will of the Tuscan people that in putting an end, 
 
 n that land which is the mother of modern civilisation, 
 
 o the last vestiges of foreign domination, they desire 
 
 to contribute to the construction of a strong realm, 
 
 ^^d place Italy in a position to be able to provide for 
 
 ,er own "^dep^end^nc^^^^ ^^^ ^^ 
 
 that all Italy is involved in her fate and that the 
 ulfilment of this vote cannot be effected but by means 
 of the negotiations which are taking place foi the re- 
 arrano-ement of Italian affairs. 
 
 strengthened by the right your vote confers on 
 me, I wiU second your desire, and f-" he can^e 
 of Tuscany before those powers in which the Assem- 
 by with much good sense places -ts hopes- and 
 above all with the generous Emperor of the French 
 who has done so much for the Itahan nat on Europe 
 will not refuse, I hope, to exercise towards Tuscany 
 fl t work of r;paratron which ""/er less favor^able 
 circumstances she has exercised for Greece, Belgium, 
 and the pHncipahties of Moldavia and Wallach.a. 
 
 Wonderful example of tcmperateness and concord 
 o-entlemen, your noble country has given n these 
 Tim A^d^o those virtues which the schoo of mis- 
 fortune has already taught to I'^ly- y°" „^' " J,^''J 
 feel sure that which overcomes the most arduous 
 trials and assures the triumph of just enterprises- 
 perseverance. 
 
 There was a court dinner in the evening_ The king 
 was most aflfable to all the representatives of the Tuscan
 
 victor's replies to the deputations. iSi 
 
 cities, particularly to Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, 
 who sat at his right, and with whom he jested about 
 his classic name, saying he thought all the family of 
 Ugolino had perished in the tower of Pisa. 
 
 Close upon the Tuscan deputation came those of 
 Modena and Parma together, with equally warm protes- 
 tations of devotion, and were received with the same 
 honours. 
 
 The king replied in similar terms to those he had 
 used to the Tuscans, but in the last two paragraphs 
 he expressed himself somewhat more decidedly as to 
 the rigJit of the Italian people to choose their own 
 government. 
 
 Confide, gentlemen, in the sense of Europe ; con- 
 fide in the efiicacious protection of the Emperor 
 Napoleon, who led the legions of France to fight 
 victoriously for the redemption of Italy. Europe has 
 already recognised the right of other peoples to pro- 
 vide for their own safety by the choice of a govern- 
 ment Vvhich will guard their liberty and independence. 
 She will not be, I hope, less just nor less generous to 
 these Italian provinces, who ask nothing more than to 
 be governed by a moderate national monarchy ; and 
 which are already united by geographical position, 
 common race and interests. 
 
 I do not say to you, persevere and unite in this 
 undertaking. The vote which your Assemblies have 
 renewed, and the valiant soldiers whom in the day of 
 battle you sent in such numbers to my standard, 
 render testimony that the peoples of Alodena and 
 Parma have a strength of purpose and virtue which 
 they have proved and sealed with their blood. I may 
 well congratulate you on the order and moderation of 
 which you have given such a splendid example. You 
 also have demonstrated to Europe that the Italians 
 know how to govern themselves, and that they are 
 worthy to be citizens of a free nation. 
 
 Among the Parma deputation was the musical com-
 
 1 82 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 poser Verdi, Avho has always been distinguished for his 
 patriotic sentiments. 
 
 The last deputation, and the most difficult to deal 
 with, was that from the provinces of Romagna. The 
 king felt no less kindly and gratefully to those brave 
 people, who had suffered as much if not more than the 
 others for his sake, or the sake of the principle he repre- 
 sented. But unhappily they were the subjects of the 
 Pontiff; and there was great risk at such a critical 
 moment of rousing religious susceptibilities and bring- 
 ing down upon him the pious indignation of the Catholic 
 powers. He was already under the censures of the 
 Church because he had taken upon himself to direct 
 the provisional governments of the insurgent cities. 
 The king received the deputation from the Pontifical 
 States at the royal villa of Monza, near Milan. 
 
 Victor EinmamieVs reply to the RomagnuoU. 
 
 I am grateful for the votes of the people of the 
 Romagna, of which you, gentlemen, are the interpre- 
 ters to me. As a Catholic prince I shall preserve in 
 every event a profound and unalterable reverence to- 
 wards the Supreme Head of the Church. As an 
 Italian prince I must remember that, Europe having 
 recognised and proclaimed that the conditions of your 
 country require prompt and efficacious remedies, I 
 have contracted towards it solemn obligations. 
 
 Meantime I receive your votes, and strong in the 
 right they confer upon me, I will maintain your cause 
 before the great powers. Confide in their sense and 
 justice, confide in the generous sentiments of the 
 emperor, who will try to complete the great work of 
 reparation to which he has already placed his hand so 
 powerfully, and which has assured him the gratitude 
 of all Italy. 
 
 The moderation which has guided your move- 
 ments in the most painful moments of uncertainty, 
 shows undoubtedly that the mere hope of national 
 rule in the Romagna is enough to quiet civil discords.
 
 MODERATION OF THE REVOLUTIONISTS. 1 83 
 
 Accept my thanks, gentlemen. When in the days 
 of the national struggle you sent me numerous volun- 
 teers, who displayed so much valour under my banner, 
 you understood that Piedmont did not fight for her- 
 self alone, but for our common countr>^ Now pre- 
 serving unanimity of will and maintaining public 
 order, you will fulfil that duty which is most grateful 
 to my heart, and that which will best assure your 
 future. Europe will understand that it is a common 
 duty, as it is a common interest, to close the era of 
 Italian insurrections by procuring the accomplish- 
 ment of your legitimate desires. 
 
 In spite of what Victor Emmanuel considered his 
 prudent and temperate bearing, great indignation was 
 felt by the Catholic powers, and the Emperor of the 
 French was attacked for encouraging this ambitious 
 usurper in his iniquitous and sacrilegious designs. And 
 those whose sympathies were not Catholic preferred the 
 conservation of the established order of things, even 
 when the regime was acknowledged to be bad, lest a 
 worse might be the result of any change. One nation 
 there was which understood and appreciated the grand 
 design of the Sardinian king, and befriended him as 
 far as moral support went in the councils of Europe. 
 And though the British Government never allowed its 
 sympathy for liberty to carry it into a war, a great num- 
 ber of Englishmen felt strongly for Italy in her struggle 
 for freedom and civilisation, and subscribed largely for 
 the aid of the volunteers. 
 
 Baron Ricasoli of Florence, and Signor Farini of 
 Modena, as heads of the provisional governments, sent 
 envoys to all the courts of Europe to enlighten public 
 opinion on the Italian question, and contradict the false 
 reports set afloat by the dispossessed princes and the 
 papal party. The most perfect order reigned in the 
 duchies and in the legations ; the inhabitants felt 
 that they were on their trial before Europe, and they 
 wished to show that they were fit to be citizens of a free 
 nation. Ricasoli was made Dictator of Tuscany, and
 
 l84 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 Farini of the Emilian Provinces, and under the govern- 
 ment of these able and patriotic men matters went 
 on so as to leave nothing to be desired. The world 
 stood in admiration and amaze at the spectacle of such 
 perfect self-control, order, and tranquillity as Central 
 Italy presented under circumstances calculated to excite 
 all the fiercest passions of an ill-educated, hot-blooded, 
 impulsive race, with one exception. No act of revenge, 
 no insults nor outrages towards priests or agents of the 
 late governments stained the record of that bloodless 
 revolution during the six months of suspense in which 
 their destiny hung in the balance. It is one of the 
 brightest pages in the reign of Victor Emmanuel, and 
 reflects more honour on the Italian nation than the 
 glorious victories of which they are so justly proud. 
 
 The suspense was too much for Garibaldi : patient 
 waiting was not the forte of the gallant volunteer. He 
 had been actively organising troops all this time, and 
 now he prepared to make a descent upon the provinces 
 on the Adriatic coast called the Marches. It was one 
 of those critical moments when one false move would 
 ruin the whole cause. The Sardinian (jovernment was 
 much alarmed, and counselled the king to summon 
 Garibaldi to his presence and lay his commands upon 
 him not to proceed with his design. The general 
 obeyed the royal summons, and in a private interview 
 Victor explained his policy and the strong reasons he 
 had for wishing the papal frontier to be respected while 
 awaiting the judgment of Europe. 
 
 Garibaldi was no respecter of kings, as such, but he 
 loved and admired the man who had made himself 
 champion of Italian independence. At this time Victor 
 Emmanuel's influence over the gallant volunteer was 
 greater than that of the republican party, and he laid 
 down his arms at his request. Pity he was not always 
 so amenable ! 
 
 Time passed on, and the Treaty of Villafranca was 
 put into effect by the king's government — that part of 
 it at least 'which concerned him;' but the fate of 
 Central Italy still hung in a state of painful suspense.
 
 proposp:d congress. 185 
 
 It was a difficult position for the provisional govern- 
 ments, having for many months to hold in check the 
 passions of a people excited to the last degree between 
 hope and despair. But Victor Emmanuel had said, 
 ' Be patient, be moderate ; confide in the justice of 
 Europe and my devotion to your cause ; ' and so they 
 waited. Meantime they desired as an additional tie to 
 the House of Savoy, that they might have the king's 
 cousin, the Prince of Carignano, as viceroy. Victor 
 Emmanuel could not bring himself to refuse the request, 
 though it was thought imprudent to grant it. 
 
 In the month of November the idea of a European 
 Congress, which had been for some time ventilated, 
 became a decided thing, and all the powers began to 
 nominate their plenipotentiaries. When the question 
 came up as to who was to represent Sardinia, there was 
 but one opinion on the subject. Camillo Cavour was 
 the name that rose to every tongue, not only in Italy 
 but in every country that had a regard for the interests 
 of that unfortunate peninsula. Lord John Russell de- 
 clared that a Congress to consider the Italian question 
 would be impossible without Cavour. The count was 
 beginning to get tired of his inactive life, and he was 
 quite willing to take up the burden which in a moment 
 of inconsiderate passion he had cast off; but the king 
 was not so willing to recall him to office. He was deeply 
 offended by the way in which he had deported himself in 
 their last interview, and he could not at once get over it. 
 But after a brief struggle, his nobler self conquered ; he 
 put aside personal resentment so far as to allow Count 
 Cavour to be nominated first Sardinian plenipotentiary 
 for the Congress ; and with him was associated Cavaliere 
 Luigi Desambrois, then minister at Paris.
 
 1 86 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE ROBBER KING. A.D. 1860. 
 
 The evening of New Year's day i860, the king was at 
 the theatre, and being in conversation with some gentle- 
 man of the court on pubHc affairs, the subject of the 
 Congress came up. ' Our cause is in good hands,' said 
 the king, who knew that Cavour was near and overheard 
 his words. ' It is confided to a very gifted advocate.' 
 He glanced at the count with a smile, who bowed pro- 
 foundly as he returned the smile. But notwithstanding 
 this exchange of courtesies they were not reconciled. 
 Cavour had consented to attend the Congress, but he 
 was at variance with the ministers then in power, though 
 both Rattazzi and La Marmora had been his personal 
 friends ; he was in favour of a more vigorous action in 
 the national questions, and he thought they were timid 
 and hesitating at a moment which called for a bold and 
 resolute policy. The king's plenipotentiary had to put 
 himself in accord with the king's ministers before he was 
 called to attend the Congress ; but notwithstanding pro- 
 longed discussions no conclusion was arrived at, to 
 Victor Emmanuel's great vexation. Fresh complica- 
 tions arose every day, fresh disagreements in the cabinet, 
 and a ministerial crisis was expected. The king, more 
 and more annoyed, begged his ministers to try to come 
 to some sort of understanding. He felt he was drifting, 
 in spite of himself, towards the painful necessity of call- 
 ing Cavour to the head of affairs. He had consented 
 to his representing Sardinia at the Congress, but he felt 
 a great repugnance to replacing him in his old position 
 as President of the Council. There was a struggle 
 going on in Victor Emmanuel's soul which kept him in 
 a state of painful perplexity. An accidental circum- 
 stance brought matters to a crisis. 
 
 Cavour, weary of disputing with the cabinet, resolved 
 to retire for a while to his country seat of Leri. Before
 
 RECONCILIATION OF THE KING AND CAVOUR. 1 8/ 
 
 starting he paid a visit to his friend Sir James Hudson, 
 and while in the house of the Enghsh minister, a gentle- 
 man sought him in haste with a message from the 
 ministr>^, begging that he would send in writing his last 
 conditions, to see if they could come to an understand- 
 ing. Time was short, and to hasten matters Sir James 
 Hudson seated himself at a table and said he would 
 write from the count's dictation. The condition on which 
 Cavour expressed himself willing to attend the Congress 
 was that Parliament should be dissolved in the month 
 of March. (It was then Januar}" i6.) The ministers 
 were not disposed towards a general election, and one 
 of them in reading the letter recognised the English 
 hand of Sir James Hudson. General La Marmora, 
 offended at what he considered the interference of a 
 foreign diplomatist in the internal affairs of the state, 
 thereupon sent in his resignation. The king was ill in 
 bed, but he did not allow a moment's time to be lost. 
 When he had made up his mind on the right course to 
 pursue he acted with promptitude and decision. An 
 officer was sent in hot haste to Palazzo Cavour with 
 orders to bring the count back with him immediately. 
 He was just stepping into his carriage to go to the 
 station when the ro)-al messenger caught him. The king 
 received him coldly, as if the memor}- of the Villafranca 
 interview had come to his mind. 
 
 Cavour's anger was passed ; perhaps he felt he had 
 been wrong, if not in his advice, in his manner of giving 
 it, and that some concession was due to the king who had 
 sacrificed his pride in sending for him ; he remembered 
 the close tie which had bound them together for seven 
 years, labouring heart and soul for one common object ; 
 and he made the anioidc, which at once restored him to 
 the old confidential footing he occupied before the war. 
 ' Do what you think best in everything,' said the king ; 
 ' the responsibility of whatever happens will be yours.' 
 
 In five days Cavour had composed a new cabinet to 
 his own taste. The Minister of \Var was General Fanti, 
 who had commanded the army of the league in Central 
 Italy ; which meant that it was the policy of the govern-
 
 1 88 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 ment to annex those provinces. The gifted Count Ma- 
 miani, who had taken a prominent part in pubHc affairs 
 in 1 84S, and was a subject of the Pope, was made Minister 
 of Public Instruction ; this too was not without a certain 
 signification. There was joy in the disputed provinces 
 when Cavour returned to power, and there was bitter 
 vexation in the ranks of the Codini. The Chambers 
 were dissolved ; and Massimo d'Azeglio was called once 
 more from his retirement on Lago Maggiore and sent 
 as governor to Milan. In the month of February the 
 king visited Lombardy in royal pomp, accompanied by 
 Count Cavour and all the diplomatic body. The re- 
 ception he met with was enthusiastic in the extreme. It 
 is said that many Austrian officers were there incogriito 
 to judge with their own eyes how the population felt on 
 the subject of the change. 
 
 The longer the central states remained under a 
 provisional government, openly directed by the cabinet 
 of Turin, the m.ore difficult was the task of restoring the 
 exiled princes. It was now seven months since the 
 dukes had fled, and no power seemed to think it a duty 
 to reseat them on the thrones they had justly forfeited. 
 The idea of the Congress had been abandoned ; and as 
 nothing seemed likely to be done by P^urope with regard 
 to Italian affairs, the government of Victor Emmanuel 
 thought it was time to put an end to the state of uncer- 
 tainty, which, if further prolonged, might be dangerous. 
 
 The greatest difficulty was not about the duchies, 
 but the Legations. The late subjects of the Pope were 
 more resolute in maintaining the liberty they had just 
 acquired, and more devoted to the dynasty of Savoy 
 than the Tuscans, and naturally so, for the government 
 from which they had violently wrenched themselves was 
 much worse in every respect than that of the Lorraine 
 family. Macaulay says it is not possible to be ' a good 
 man and a bad king,' but if ever that paradox existed 
 it was in the person of Pius IX., whose private character 
 was so excellent, so lovable, and whose government 
 was beyond all question atrocious. The state of affairs 
 was much aggravated by the presence in the Pontifical
 
 victor's appeal to the pope. 1 89 
 
 States of bands of foreign mercenaries collected from all 
 Catholic countries, who acted like a blister on the 
 irritated and excited state of the public mind. Victor 
 Emmanuel and his government thought it was time to 
 take the initiative in settling the affairs of Central Italy, 
 before some disturbance should give excuse for a fresh 
 foreign intervention. It was evident that the Pope could 
 not govern by himself without some foreign support, and 
 the Sardic Government was of opinion that this foreign 
 support should be superseded by Italian arms, 
 
 Victor Emmanuel to Pins IX. 
 
 Most Blessed Father, — With your venerated autograph 
 of December 3 last year, your holiness enjoins me to 
 sustain before the Congress the rights of the Holy 
 See. I must thank your holiness for the sentiments 
 which counselled you to address yourself to me in 
 these circumstances, and I should not have dela}-ed 
 doing what you requested had the Congress met. I had 
 expected that the meeting of the plenipotentiaries, then 
 definitely decided, would respond in a more adequate 
 manner than I could on the grave subject treated of in 
 the letter which you did me the honour to address to me. 
 
 Your holiness, invoking my aid in recovering 
 the Legations, appears to lay to my charge what 
 has taken place in that part of Itah'. Before con- 
 firming so severe a censure, I respectfully entreat your 
 holiness to weigh the following facts and considera- 
 tions. 
 
 A devoted son of the Church, descended, as you 
 know, from a most religious race, I have always 
 nourished a sense of sincere attachment, of veneration 
 and respect, towards Holy Church and its august 
 head. It never was, and it is not my intention to 
 fail in my duties as a Catholic prince, or to curtail 
 as far as in me lies, those rights and that au- 
 thority which the Holy See exercises on earth by 
 Divine commission from heaven. But / also have 
 sacred duties to fulfil, before God and man, towards 
 my country and towards the people whom Divine
 
 IQO LIFE OP^ VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Providence has confided to my government. I have 
 always sought to reconcile the duties of a Catholic 
 prince with those of an independent sovereign of a 
 free and civilised nation, both in the internal rule of 
 my states and in my foreign policy. 
 
 Italy has been for many years torn by movements 
 which all aim at the same object, the recovery of her 
 independence. In those events my magnanimous 
 father took an important part, ?i\\d, following the im- 
 pulse given from the F^//rc?«, attempted to redeem our 
 country from the domination of the foreigner. In ac- 
 cepting this policy, I do not believe I am putting 
 myself in opposition to the divine will, which cannot 
 certainly be that nations should be divided between 
 oppressors and oppressed. 
 
 As an Italian prince I wished to liberate Italy, 
 and for that purpose I thought it my duty to welcome 
 for the national war the concourse of all the popula- 
 tions of the peninsula. The Legations, for long years 
 oppressed by foreign soldiers, rose in arms as soon as 
 these were withdrawn. They proffered m.e at once 
 the dictatorship and their assistance in the war. I 
 who had done nothing to raise the insurrection, refused 
 the dictatorship from respect for the Holy See ; but 
 I accepted their assistance in the war of independence, 
 because that was the sacred duty of all Italians. And 
 when the presence of a daring leader was near putting 
 in peril the peace of the provinces occupied by your 
 holiness's troops, I used my influence to withdraw him 
 from those provinces. Those people remained per- 
 fectly free from any outside influence, contrary to the 
 advice of the most powerful and generous friend Italy 
 ever had.' They asked with extraordinary sponta- 
 neousness and unanimity to be annexed to my king- 
 dom. Their desire was not acceded to. Nevertheless 
 these people, who had formerly given such signs of 
 discontent and caused continual apprehension to the 
 court of Rome, have governed themselves for many 
 
 ' Napoleon III.
 
 COMPROMISE. 191 
 
 months in the most praiseworthy manner. They Iiavc 
 provided for pubHc affairs, for personal securit}^ 
 for the maintenance of order, for the guardianship of 
 rehgion. It is a fact well known, and I have taken 
 care to verify it, that in the Legations now the 
 ministers of religion are protected and treated with 
 respect, and the temples of God more frequented than 
 formerly. 
 
 Be these things as they may, there is a general 
 conviction that your holiness cannot recover these pro- 
 vinces unless by the force of arms, and foreign arms. 
 
 This your holiness cannot desire. Your generous 
 soul, your evangelical charity, would shrink from 
 shedding Christian blood to recover a province which, 
 whatever be the issue of war, would remain morally 
 lost to the government of the Church. The interests 
 of religion do not require it. 
 
 These are dangerous times. It is not for me, a 
 devoted son of the Church, to indicate the safest way 
 to restore quiet to our country, and to re-establish 
 on a solid basis the prestige and authority of the 
 Holy See in Italy. At the same time I believe it my 
 duty to lay before your holiness an idea of which I 
 am fully convinced. It is this : that taking into con- 
 sideration the necessity of the times : the increasing 
 force of the principle of nationality : the irresistible 
 impulse which impels the peoples of Italy to unite 
 and order themselves in conformity with the model 
 adopted by all civilised nations — an impulse which 
 I believe demands my frank and loyal concurrence — 
 such a state of things might be established not only in 
 the Romagna but also in the Marches and Umbria, 
 as would reserve to the Church its high dominion 
 and assure to the Supreme Pontiff a glorious post at 
 the head of the Italian nation ; while giving the people 
 of those provinces a share in the benefits that a 
 kingdom, strong and highly national, secures to the 
 greater part of Central Italy. 
 
 I hope that your holiness will take into benign con- 
 sideration these reflections, dictated by a soul sincerely
 
 192 LIFE or VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 devoted to you : and that with your usual goodness you 
 will accord me your holy benediction. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, February 6, i860. 
 
 This letter speaks for itself, and gives an admirable 
 compendium of the story of the revolution from a Liberal 
 standpoint. It expresses, only in more measured lan- 
 guage, what all the Liberal party were saying, preaching, 
 and writing, just as the Pope's reply in his encyclical 
 letter, which we have not space for here, expresses what 
 the Clerical party were saying, preaching, and writing. 
 The utterances of the rival sovereigns, both honourable 
 men, may be taken as an example of what human evi- 
 dence is worth. But in reading these contradictory 
 epistles, it is right to remember that Victor Emmanuel 
 never lent his authority to any sort of false dealing or 
 duplicity, that he was a man to inform himself accu- 
 rately on such questions, and was, in fact, in a position 
 to learn the truth easily ; while the Pope was very old, and 
 growing feeble in mind as well as body, shut up in his 
 palace, and surrounded only by one class, whose interest 
 it was to blind him as to facts, and incite him against 
 the Nationalists ; and that this party, who alone had the 
 ear of the Pope, defend the practice of ' pious frauds,' 
 and do not hesitate to make false statements, if the end 
 to be gained is a meritorious one. Would they be likely 
 to consider it a sin to blacken the character of an impious 
 people or government who wanted to rob the patrimony 
 of St. Peter .? 
 
 The good Pope probably believed what he wrote, 
 when he stated that in the provinces revolted from his 
 rule all sorts of immorality had increased, and the 
 most violent disorders prevailed. But nothing could be 
 further from the truth. The fact was that those people 
 never were so well-behaved and well-ordered as during 
 the period when their fate was hanging in uncertainty. 
 The reason is easy to understand ; their souls were filled 
 with the ennobling enthusiasm for national existence, 
 which while it lasted absorbed all baser passions ; they
 
 THE POPES REPLY. 1 93 
 
 felt that ' the eyes of Europe were upon them,' and it 
 behoved them, as Victor Emmanuel had said, to show 
 themselves worthy to be citizens of a free nation. 
 
 The Pope had answered the king's proposition in his 
 encyclical, which was a long indictment against him and 
 his government ; but he was too courteous a gentleman 
 not to reply by an autograph letter to that of his majesty. 
 There was a grace and refinement — a something that 
 the Italians call pocsia — about Pio Nono, which gave him 
 a great charm. In the moment of his deep distress, for 
 such it undoubtedly was, when a cardinal announced the 
 fact of the annexation, saying, * The provinces of the 
 Romagna no longer belong to your holiness, but to the 
 King of Sardinia,' he replied with a playful irony, 
 ' When did those provinces ever belong to me ? ' 
 
 Phis IX. to Victor Einmamiel. 
 
 Your Majesty, — The idea which your majesty has 
 thought well to lay before me is not wise, and certainly 
 not worthy of a Catholic king, and a prince of the 
 House of Savoy. My reply is already given to the 
 press in the encyclical to the Catholic episcopacy, 
 which you can easily read. 
 
 All else I have to say is that I am deeply afflicted, 
 not for myself, but for the unhappy state of your 
 majesty's soul, finding you unmoved by past censures, 
 or by the fear of those still greater ones that must 
 fall upon you when you have consummated the sacri- 
 legious act which you and yours intend to put into 
 execution. 
 
 With all my heart I pray the Lord to enlighten you 
 with His grace, that you may recognise and weep for 
 the scandals given, and the serious evils brought by 
 your co-operation upon this poor Italy. 
 
 Pius PP. IX. 
 
 From the Vatican, February 14, i860. 
 
 This letter called for no answer in words, inasmuch 
 as it put all compromise out of the question. It was 
 then that Victor Emmanuel consummated what the 
 

 
 194 I-I^^K UP^ VICTOR EMMy\NUEL II. 
 
 Ultramontanes call the great crime of his life, and what 
 the Italian nation calls the most glorious achievement 
 in modern history. Undaunted by the ' heavier censures ' 
 than those already promulgated, with which he was 
 threatened, within a month from the receipt of the Pope's 
 reply, he and his unholy minister had carried into effect 
 their sacrilegious intentions. Once more the question 
 v/as put to the vote in the popular assemblies, and once 
 more the populations of Central Italy declared unani- 
 mously for annexation with free North Italy. So, after 
 the prolonged trial of their faith and loyalty, they were 
 at last received into ' the Italian family,' to their inde- 
 scribable joy. Having accomplished the work of spoli- 
 ation, the robber king once more addressed himself to 
 the Pontiff, thinking perhaps that the march of events, 
 which he could not control, would convince him of the 
 necessity of going along with the age to a certain extent. 
 
 Victor EinvianiLcl to Pins IX. 
 
 Most Blessed Father, — The events that have been ac- 
 complished in the provinces of the Romagna impose 
 upon me the duty of explaining to your holiness with 
 respectful frankness the reasons for my conduct. 
 
 Ten continuous years of foreign occupation in the 
 Romagna, while it brought grave offence and injury 
 to the independence of Italy, have not been able to 
 give order to society, repose to the population, or au- 
 thority to the government. The moment the foreign 
 occupation ceased, the government fell, without one 
 arm to support or re-establish it. When left a prey 
 to themselves, the people of the Romagna, hitherto 
 held to be ungovernable, showed by a conduct which 
 won the applause of Europe how easy it would be to 
 introduce among them the order and discipline, civil 
 and military, by which other civilised peoples are 
 ruled. But the uncertainty of their precarious state — 
 already too prolonged — was a danger to Italy and to 
 Europe. 
 
 The hope of a European Congress before which
 
 THE KING EXPLAINS HIMSELF. 1 95 
 
 the question of Central Italy was to have been brought 
 being abandoned, no other solution seemed possible 
 than that of putting once more to the populations the 
 question of their future destinies. 
 
 The universal vote for annexation to the consti- 
 tutional monarchy of Piedmont was reconfirmed with 
 such solemnity that I had to accept it definitely for 
 the sake of the peace and the welfare of Italy. And 
 for the same end of peace I am always disposed to 
 render homage to the high sovereignty of the Apos- 
 tolic See. 
 
 As a Catholic prince I do not feel that I offend 
 against the immutable principles of that religion 
 which with filial and unalterable devotion I glory to 
 profess. But the changes now made regard the 
 political interests of the nation, the order, moral and 
 civil, of society, — regard the independence of Italy, for 
 which my father lost his crown, and for which I should 
 be ready to lose my life. 
 
 The difificulties of the present day overturn terri- 
 torial dominions around us in a manner which the 
 force of events has rendered necessary. To the ne- 
 cessity cf the time all principalities have been obliged 
 to yield, and the Holy See itself had to recognise it 
 in ancient and modern days. 
 
 In such modifications of the sovereignty, justice 
 and the civil reasons of state prescribe that every care 
 should be taken to reconcile ancient rights with the 
 new order of things ; and it is for this that, confiding 
 in the benevolence and good sense of your holiness, 
 I pray you to facilitate the work for my government, 
 which on its side will neglect no precaution, no effort, 
 to arrive at the desired end. If your holiness re- 
 ceives with benignity the present opening of nego- 
 tiations, my government, ready to render homage to 
 the high sovereignty of the Holy See, will also be 
 disposed to supply in equal measure the diminution of 
 its revenues, and to provide for the security and inde- 
 pendence of the Pontiff.
 
 196 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 Such are my sincere intentions, and such I believ^e 
 the wishes of Europe. And now that I have candidly 
 opened my mind to your hoHness, I await your de- 
 hberations with the hope that, by means of the good- 
 will of governments, a satisfactory understanding may 
 be arrived at, reposing on the agreement of the princes 
 and on the contentment of the peoples, which will 
 give a stable foundation to the relations of the two 
 states. 
 
 From the gentleness of the Father of the faithful 
 I promise myself a benevolent reception which will 
 give hope of extinguishing civil discord, pacify ex- 
 asperated spirits, and relieve all of the grave responsi- 
 bility of the evils that might arise from contrary 
 counsels. 
 
 In this expectant confidence, I ask with reverence 
 the Apostolic benediction. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, March 20, i860. 
 
 Six days after this letter was written the bull of ex- 
 communication was issued. Pio Nono cursed Victor 
 Emmanuel, and with him his councillors, soldiers, and 
 subjects, old and new, were all thrown out of the Catho- 
 lic Church without further ceremony, as abandoned and 
 incorrigible sinners. This was Pio's answer as Pope to 
 the king's appeal for a reconciliation ; but even when 
 breathing anathemas he did not seem to be actuated by 
 a personal animus, and he never withheld the courtesy of 
 an autographic reply to Victor's letters. It is curious to 
 obser\^e in their correspondence how persistently the ex- 
 communicated monarch, after laying bare with the 
 utmost unreserve his plans of spoliation, asks the Apos- 
 tolic benediction ; and it is also curious and noteworthy 
 .to see that the irate Pontiff indirectly responds at the 
 end of each letter to the demand by promising to pi'ay 
 for hivi. The Pope's letters have the merit of being 
 briefer than those of the king, but we must remember 
 that Victor Emmanuel said all he wanted to say to the 
 Pope himself, while Pio Nono made Christendom ring
 
 THE POPE REPLIES AGAIN. 1 97 
 
 with encyclicals, allocutions, and addresses of appalling 
 length and wordiness. 
 
 Pius IX. to Victor Ennnnnuel. 
 
 Your Majesty, — The events that have taken place \\\ 
 some of the States of the Church impose on your 
 majesty the duty, as you write me, of giving me an ac- 
 count of your conduct in relation to them. I might stop 
 to combat certain assertions contained in your letter, 
 and tell you, for example, that the foreign occupation in 
 the Legations was for some time confined to Bologna, 
 which never formed part of the Romagna. I might 
 tell you that the supposed universal suffrage was im- 
 posed, not spontaneous (I abstain from asking your 
 majesty's opinion of universal suffrage, and also from 
 giving mine). I might tell you that the Pontifical 
 troops were impeded from re-establishing the legi- 
 timate government in the insurgent provinces, for 
 reasons well known to your majesty. These and 
 other things I might tell you a propos. But that 
 which above all imposes on me the duty of not ac- 
 cepting your majesty's plans, is the steady increase 
 of immorality in those provinces, and the insults 
 offered to religion and to her ministers, for which 
 reason, even if I were not bound to hold intact the 
 patrimony of the Church, by a solemn oath which 
 hinders me from opening negotiations to diminish its 
 extent, I should still find m}'self obliged to reject every 
 project, in order not to stain my conscience by an ac- 
 quiescence that would lead me indirectly to sanction 
 and participate in those disorders, and help to justify 
 an unjust and violent spoliation. For the rest I not 
 only cannot give a benevolent reception to the projects 
 of your majesty, but instead I protest against the 
 usurpation that you have carried out, to the harm of 
 the State and the Church ; and I leave on your 
 majesty's conscience, and that of every other co- 
 operator in the spoliation, the fatal consequences 
 that may follow. I am persuaded that your
 
 198 LIFK OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IE 
 
 majesty, on reading again, with a mind calmer, less 
 prejudiced, and better informed as to facts, the letter 
 you hav^e addressed me, will find there many things 
 to repent. 
 
 I pray the Lord to give you those blessings of 
 which, in your present difficult circumstances, you have 
 most need. 
 
 Pius PP. IX. 
 
 From the \''atican, April 2, 18G0. 
 
 This dignified and gentlemanly letter must command 
 the sympathy and respect of everyone who looks only 
 at the present trying position of the venerable Pontiff, 
 forgetful of his antecedents. However narrow his views 
 and his sympathies, he was acting according to the 
 dictates of his conscience, and contrary to his worldly 
 interests, for he knew well he had no power to withstand 
 the overwhelming impetus of the national will. But the 
 Romans could not forgive his apostasy in 1848. Had 
 he never been a liberal reformer, and not broken his 
 faith, solemnly plighted to the Italian cause, on which 
 he had repeatedly called God's blessing ; had he not 
 abandoned his country in the extreme hour of her ago- 
 nising struggle with the invader of her liberties ; had he 
 not been borne back to his capital by foreign arms, and 
 held on the throne by grinding oppression ; then, indeed, 
 his subjects could not but have admired the firmness, 
 courage, and fidelity to principle, however mistaken, 
 which dictated this reply. But was the oath, they asked, 
 not to diminish the patrimony of St. Peter, already 
 diminished without his consent, more sacred than the 
 pledge given to the national leaders and the Roman 
 people } Undoubtedly the Pope considered it so, and 
 thought moreover that the general deportment of the 
 Roman people in 1848 — which was far from blameless — 
 justified his abandonment of the Liberal cause. 
 
 Pio Nono was convinced that he was doing his duty, 
 and sacrificing himself to a most sacred obligation, by 
 holding to the Church. Victor Emmanuel was as strongly 
 and firmly convinced that he had a grand mission on
 
 EXCOMMUNICATION. I99 
 
 this earth, which was to hberate and unite Italy in one 
 state ; and he was fully persuaded that it was a sacred 
 and bounden duty for him to accomplish that work. 
 Each felt that on the triumph of his principles depended 
 the happiness and well-being of his country, and nothing 
 but evil could follow on the success of his adversary. So 
 the Italian question became a duel between the head of 
 the Church and the head of the State. 
 
 The excommunication, once such a terrible punish- 
 ment, did not hurt V^ictor Emmanuel in the least, unless 
 in a sentimental way. There were patriotic priests, and 
 bishops too, in Piedmont, who stood by their king, and 
 administered the rites of the Church to him and his 
 family. Nevertheless, his feelings were deeply hurt by 
 the Pope's hostility, and he desired intensely to be re- 
 conciled to him. With an extraordinary perseverance 
 he continued to write private and confidential letters, 
 laying his views before him, and trying by every argu- 
 ment to convince him that political freedom did not 
 mean any offence or injury to religion ; protesting that 
 he was ready to make any compromise or sacrifice his 
 holiness might demand, short of giving up his darling 
 scheme of uniting Ital\-. The Pontiff's sovereignty 
 should be guaranteed, his revenues secured ; in fact 
 there should be no difference in his position, except 
 that Italian instead of foreign arms should surround 
 and protect the Holy See, and the tricolour united 
 with the Pontifical colours, as in 1S48, should float on the 
 Capitol. 
 
 ' The Pope will never abdicate,' said a friend to 
 Cavour, as he was propounding his theory of 'a free 
 Church in a free State.' 'We do not ask so much; a 
 tacit renunciation would be enough. And do you 
 believe there is really anything to abdicate ? Do you 
 think that temporal power still exists .-' ' asked the count, 
 who maintained that the Pope would be more free 
 and have more authority under Italian than French 
 protection. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel's efforts to win upon the native 
 gentleness of Pius IX., and rekindle in him a little
 
 200 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 spark of the old patriotic fire, proved fruitless ; to every 
 proposition he replied with the unvarying Non possumus 
 which has become famous. 
 
 In the month of March the two dictators of Central 
 Italy betook themselves to Turin to present the docu- 
 ments of the plebiscite, and lay down their authority at 
 the feet of the constitutional monarch. To the ad- 
 dresses delivered by these gentlemen the king replied in 
 equally complimentary terms. 
 
 Carlo Luigi Farini, Dictator of Emilia, to Victor 
 Emniamiel. 
 
 Sire, — I have the honour to place in your hands the 
 legal documents of the universal suffrage of the popu- 
 lations of the Emilia. Your majesty, who pitifully 
 heard their cry of anguish, will welcome benignantly 
 this pledge of faith and gratitude. Their legitimate 
 wishes fulfilled, these populations, O sire, will have 
 no other desire than that of deserving well of your 
 majesty and of Italy, emulating in civil and military 
 virtues the other peoples of your monarchy. 
 
 Baron Ricasoli, in the name of Tuscany, spoke to 
 the same effect, but at more length. 
 
 Victor Einnianuers Reply to Farini. 
 
 The manifestation of the national will, of which you 
 bring me authentic testimony, is so universal and 
 spontaneous that it re-confirms before Europe, in a 
 different state of things and at a different time, the 
 vote formerly expressed by the Assemblies of Emilia. 
 Such signal manifestations put a seal to the proofs of 
 order, of perseverance, of love of country, of political 
 wisdom, which in a few months have won for those 
 people the sympathy and esteem of all the civilised 
 world. I accept their solemn vote, and henceforth I 
 will glory to call them my people. 
 
 In uniting to the constitutional monarchy of Pied- 
 mont, and making equal to her, other provinces — not 
 only the states of Parma and Modena, but also the
 
 THE PROVINXES UNITED. 201 
 
 Romagna — which already, of their own accord, had 
 separated themselves from the Pontifical rule, I do 
 not mean to lessen my devotion to the venerable 
 head of the Church — a devotion which has been, and 
 always wall be, warm in my heart. As a Catholic 
 and Italian prince I am always ready to defend that 
 independence necessary to his supreme ministry, to 
 contribute to the splendour of his court, and to render 
 homage to his high sovereignty. The Parliament is 
 about to unite. It will receive in its bosom the re- 
 presentatives of Central Italy with those of Piedmont 
 and Lombardy, thus consolidating the new kingdom, 
 and giving a larger prospect of assured liberty and 
 independence. 
 
 To Baro)i Bcttino Ricasoli, Dictator of Tuscany. 
 
 The homage that you bring me in fulfilment of the 
 solemn vote already manifested by the Assembly 
 in which was collected the flower of the Tuscan 
 population, crowns that series of invincible proposi- 
 tions, of generous \vorks, which make Tuscany deserve 
 the affection of every Italian and the applause of all 
 civilised peoples. 
 
 I accept this vote, which after many months of 
 trial is now strengthened by the unanimity of popular 
 suffrage, and I glory to be able to call the Tuscans 
 also my people. 
 
 Associating her lot with that of my kingdom, 
 Tuscany does not renounce her glorious traditions, 
 but continues and increases them, making them 
 common with other noble provinces of Italy. The 
 Parliament in which the representatives of Tuscany 
 shall sit beside those of Piedmont, Lombardy, and the 
 Emilia, will, I am certain, inform all its laws with the 
 fruitful principle of liberty, which will assure to 
 Tuscany the benefits of self-government without 
 weakening, but rather strengthening, that intimate 
 communion of efforts and of will that is the most 
 efficacious guarantee of the prosperity and independ- 
 ence of our country.
 
 202 LIFK OF VICTOR EMMANUEI^ IT. 
 
 The ex-dictators received the order of the SS. 
 Annunziata ; Baron RicasoH was made Governor of 
 Tuscany, and Farini, Minister of the Interior. 
 
 Victor Eniinanucl to the People of Central Italy. 
 
 Your desire is satisfied : you are united witli my 
 other peoples in one sole monarchy ; your concord 
 and perseverance have deserved this reward. Great 
 benefit is this for our country and for civilisation : but 
 in order that it may bear good fruit it is necessary to 
 persevere in the virtue of which you have given such a 
 wonderful example ; and above all must be cultivated 
 the firm readiness to make sacrifices, without which 
 great enterprises are ill-accomplished and badly 
 secured. 
 
 I place in you that faith which, not in vain, you 
 have placed in me. The condition which binds us 
 indissolubly is, honour towards our common country, 
 and universal civilisation. I have not in the past had 
 any other ambition than to hazard my life for the inde- 
 pendence of Italy, and to give the people an example 
 of loyalty which, restoring the public morale, united 
 with liberty, should give a solid foundation to the 
 state. I have now the ambition to procure to myself 
 and to my family, from the people just united, that 
 devoted aft'ection for which the Subalpines are cele- 
 brated ; I am ambitious to fortify the Italians in those 
 noble sentiments by which is formed the strong tem- 
 perament of peoples who know how to bear adversity 
 and prepare for good fortune. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, March 25, 1S60. 
 
 The elections took place on the same day, amidst 
 great excitement, and ovations for those who had been 
 most active in the work of uniting the provinces. 
 Count Cavour was elected in no less than eight con- 
 stituencies, Farini and Ricasoli in several. All the most 
 gifted and distinguished men in Italy were sent to that 
 Parliament in Turin, and were received by the Subal-
 
 CESSION OF NICE AND SAVOY. 203 
 
 pines with an enthusiastic and brotherly welcome ; 
 and the robber king congratulated himself and his ac- 
 complices on the great work of spoliation successfully- 
 accomplished. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 KING OF ELEVEN MILLION SUBJECTS. A.D. 1860. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel Avas now at the head of a kingdom 
 containing about eleven million inhabitants, as the 
 emperor had calculated in a conversation with the 
 Sardic ambassador before the annexations, to which he 
 was a consenting party, had been effected. It was a 
 glorious triumph to be made ruler of those provinces 
 which had forced themselves, so to speak, into his king- 
 dom — to gain the jurisdiction of which not a drop of 
 blood had been shed ; and no man could enjoy more 
 thoroughly such a triumph than King Victor. But 
 there is no rose without a thorn. The price had to 
 be paid for French aid in the recoveiy of Lombardy 
 and the tacit consent of the emperor to the annexation 
 of the Central Provinces. Victor Emmanuel had al- 
 ready sacrificed his daughter on the altar of Italian 
 independence ; she, filled with the enthusiasm of her 
 family, like Jephtha's daughter, surrendered herself will- 
 ingly ; nevertheless the sacrifice wrung the paternal heart. 
 And now the second instalment of the debt to his 
 ' august and generous ally ' had to be rendered in the 
 cession of Nice and Savoy — the latter the dearest pro- 
 vince of all his kingdom — the cradle of his race. 
 Besides his personal feelings, which were ver}' strong 
 on the subject, England — who had openly approved of 
 the annexation of the duchies, and had been ver>' kind 
 and encouraging with regard to the encroachments on 
 the patrimony of the Church — did not like this propo-
 
 204 I^I^'E OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 sition of taking a slice off Italy and putting it on to 
 France ; and Victor always liked to be on good terms 
 with England. On the other hand, France had given 
 active and efficient aid to the national cause, when 
 England had withheld hers. He undoubtedly owed a 
 great debt to the emperor, who represented to him 
 that the enlargement of the frontier was necessary to 
 persuade Frenchmen that there was nothing to be 
 feared from the increasing power of the Sardinian 
 king. This was true enough, for there was a great 
 dread in France of a powerful rival kingdom growing 
 up at her door. M. Thiers and others spoke strongly 
 against Italian unity, and warned the country to beware 
 of the insatiable ambition of ' the Wolf of Savoy.' 
 Distinguished Italians sojourning in France, who had 
 an opportunity of judging of the state of feeling, urged 
 Cavour to assent, saying that if the treaty were not 
 signed they would lose all French sympathy and friend- 
 ship. Cavour wanted to save the provinces by putting 
 the case to arbitration and paying a large sum, but he 
 found it was impossible ; and all he and the king could 
 do was to stipulate for the people the right of giving 
 their opinion. The emperor could not object to a ple- 
 biscite ; so Victor Emmanuel was able to say to the 
 deputations who waited on him with affectionate re- 
 proaches, that the question should be decided by their 
 votes. It was hard to tell his faithful subjects, who had 
 been so devoted to him and his dynasty, that they must 
 transfer their allegiance to another sovereign, and that 
 he ivisJicd them to do so. He did it, however, saying 
 that, though he felt the separation to be a terrible sacri- 
 fice, he knew they would be equally prosperous when 
 united to France ; he hoped they would be good subjects 
 to the emperor, but he begged them not to forget the old 
 country, as he never could forget the proofs they had 
 given of devotion to him and to the national cause. 
 
 On March 24 the treaty was signed, and at the same 
 time the king issued an address to the inhabitants of 
 Nice and Savoy, trying to reconcile them to the change 
 by reminding them of the affinity of race, language, and
 
 OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. 205 
 
 customs between them and the French. Unvvilh'ngly 
 the Savoyards ga\-e their consent to be disunited from 
 the mother country ; but the transfer was effected with- 
 out any serious disturbance, in spite of the passionate 
 protests of a few fiery spirits like Garibaldi. Nice was 
 the birthplace of the great volunteer, and his grief and 
 indignation knew no bounds when he learned that it 
 had been transferred to a foreign rule. 
 
 The Parliament was opened on April 2 with un- 
 usual pomp. The representatives of the new states, the 
 most distinguished men of Southern and Central Italy, 
 mingled with the Sardinian and Lombard senators and 
 deputies in taking the oath of allegiance. It was a 
 roll call of illustrious names, among which were Man- 
 zoni, Capponi, Ricasoli, Farini, Mamiani, Poerio. Great 
 enthusiasm prevailed, and loud acclamations followed 
 the swearing-in of the new members. Then a profound 
 silence followed, and the king delivered his speech, 
 every paragraph of which was received with applause. 
 Avith one e<ception. 
 
 The King's Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators,— Gentlemen Deputies, — The last 
 time I opened Parliament, when Italy was sunk 
 in sorrows, and the state menaced by great danger, 
 faith in Divine justice comforted me, and augured 
 well for our destinies. In a very brief space of time 
 an invasion was repelled, Lombardy liberated by the 
 glorious achievements of the army. Central Italy 
 freed by the marvellous merit of her people : and to- 
 day I have here assembled around me the represen- 
 tatives of the rights and of the hopes of the nation. 
 For so much good fortune we are debtors to a magna- 
 nimous ally, to the valour of his and our soldiers, to 
 the self-abnegation of the volunteers, to the persever- 
 ing harmony of all the peoples ; and let us render to 
 God the merit of it all, for, without superhuman aid, 
 such enterprises, memorable in present and future 
 generations, are not accomplished.
 
 206 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 1 1. 
 
 In gratitude to France, for the good of Italy, to con- 
 solidate the union between two nations that have 
 a common origin, principles, and destinies — and 
 finding it necessary to make some sacrifice — I have 
 made that which has cost my heart dear. Subject to 
 the vote of the people, the approbation of Parliament, 
 and the consent of Switzerland with regard to the 
 guarantees of international rights, I have made a 
 treaty for the reunion of Savoy and Nice to France. 
 
 Here the royal speaker's voice grew thick, and he 
 could hardly finish the sentence. He paused a minute or 
 two before he resumed in his usual firm sonorous accents. 
 
 Many difficulties we have yet to overcome, but, sustained 
 by public opinion and the love of my people, I shall 
 not allow the least of their rights or liberties to be 
 injured. Though firm as my fathers were in the 
 dogmas of the Catholic Church, and reverence for its 
 Supreme Head, should the ecclesiastical authorities 
 adopt spiritual arms for temporal interests, I, with a 
 safe conscience, and reposing in the traditions of my 
 fathers, will find strength to maintain entire civil liberty 
 and my authority, — of which I owe account only to 
 God and my people. 
 
 The provinces of the Emilia have had an adminis- 
 tration in conformity with that of the older provinces ; 
 but with regard to Tuscany, which has had laws of its 
 own, a particular temporary provision is necessary. 
 
 The shortness of the time and the rapidity of 
 events have prevented the preparation of the laws 
 which must give stability and strength to the new 
 state. In the first period of this legislature you will 
 only have to discuss the most urgent questions. My 
 ministers will then prepare, with due consultation, the 
 designs on which yoii must deliberate in the second 
 period. 
 
 Founded on the Slatuto, the unity, political, 
 military, and financial, the uniformity of laws, civil and 
 penal, and the progressive administrative liberty of the 
 province and the commune, will renew in the Italian
 
 WELCOME IX FLOREN'CE. 207 
 
 people that vigorous and brilliant lil'e which in other 
 forms of European civilisation was produced by the 
 self-government of the municipalities, but which in 
 the present day is rejected by the constitution of a 
 strong state and the genius of the nation. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — In 
 turning our attention to the new ordering of affairs, 
 not seeking in old parties other than the memory 
 of the services rendered to the common cause, 
 we invite all sincere opinions to a noble emulation 
 that we may attain the grand end of the well-being of 
 the people and the greatness of the country. It is 
 no longer the Italy of the Romans, nor that of the 
 Middle Ages ; it must no longer be the battle-field of 
 ambitious foreigners, but it must be rather the Italy 
 of the Italians. 
 
 On April 1 5 the king embarked at Genoa and 
 landed at Leghorn, in order to make a tour through his 
 new dominions. He was welcomed with indescribable 
 enthusiasm in all the towns through which he passed ; 
 and beautiful Florence was decorated for his recep- 
 tion with the exquisite taste which distinguishes her 
 inhabitants. Triumphal arches in imitation of antique 
 marble, festooned with evergreens, were erected at 
 the ends of the streets, the whole fronts of the houses 
 were draped in flowers, the pavements were carpeted 
 with laurels and bays, the tricolour floated from every 
 window and housetop, and the passage from the railway 
 station to the Palazzo Vecchio was one continual shomt 
 of applause. 
 
 ' Why such frantic joy .-■ ' asked a distinguished 
 foreigner of a lad who was clapping his hands and 
 cheering vociferously at the sight of his new sovereign. 
 
 ' We are Eleven Million Italians ! ' w^as the reply. 
 Mamiani, who accompanied the king on his tour, thus 
 describes the eft'ect : — 
 
 I believe that rarely if ever has there been recorded in 
 the history of any people such an entry of a prince 
 into a newly annexed province as that of our king ;
 
 208 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 and I who liave been many times witness of the enthu- 
 siasm feel quite incapable of giving an account of it. 
 In the chief cities where he passed he excited an ardour, 
 an intoxication of pure universal joy, to which no pen 
 and no style can do justice. I will only say that at 
 his presence there arose from the thickly-packed 
 and enthusiastic multitude, a thunder of applause that 
 never ceased, and that resounded high above all other 
 noises of carriages, of bells, of artillery, which were 
 completely extinguished and drowned. Over the 
 king and around him fell incessantly, continually, the 
 loveliest flowers, like thick rain. At every step there 
 were festoons, arches, triumphs, national banners by 
 the thousand, arras, damasks, rich pavilions, pictures, 
 emblems, inscriptions, — everywhere a jubilee pas- 
 sionate, intense, interminable. How many triumphs 
 of Caesars, how many coronations of kings, what act 
 of taking possession by great monarch, captain, or 
 conqueror, has ever called forth such ovations ? I be- 
 lieve none. For no king ever brought with him like this 
 all the great social and political good — liberty, inde- 
 pendence, means of defence, personal dignity, the right 
 of self-government. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel found all the men of letters de- 
 voted to him, because his was the only state in Italy in 
 which education and intellectual life were encouraged 
 and fostered. ' I am only a soldier,' he used to say, 
 modestly ; but he knew how to appreciate talent of every 
 sort. We have seen what Gioberti and Manzoni thought 
 of him ; and on his arrival in the Tuscan capital, Gino 
 Capponi was amongst the first to welcome the new 
 sovereign. Victor Emmanuel, grasping the hand of the 
 venerable historian, said : ' I rejoice to press the hand of 
 the first citizen of Florence.' There came also the 
 octogenarian poet, Niccolini, though hardly able to 
 support himself on his feet, happy to behold, and once 
 before he died, the deliverer in whom he had taught his 
 countrymen to trust. He presented the king with his 
 National Poems and Arnold da Brescia, and read an
 
 I 
 
 NICCOLINl'S ADDRESS TO THE KING. 209 
 
 address to him. There was something touching and 
 beautiful in the enthusiasm of the old poet, trembling on 
 the brink of the grave, and Victor was profoundly moved 
 by it The beauty of the language we cannot render ; we 
 can but hope to convey the sentiments expressed in that 
 address. 
 
 G. B. Niccolini to Victor Einmanuel. 
 
 I come, O sire, although bowed down by years and ill- 
 health, I come with infirm step and with unutterable 
 emotion which renders me almost mute, to revere 
 in you the liberty-loving monarch, the stupendous 
 example to the world of loyalty, the first soldier of 
 the war of Italian independence, the elect of the 
 people, the desire, the joy of all Italy. And if it be 
 permitted to me, O sire, I come to express the joy 
 of my soul, to tell you that when I wrote, more than 
 thirty years ago, these poor lines, — 
 
 Qui necessario estimo un Re possente. 
 Sia di quel Re scettro la spada, e 1' elmo 
 La sua corona ; le divise voglie 
 A Concordia riduca, a Italia sani 
 Le servili ferite e la ricrei, — 
 
 I did not dare to hope for a fate so benignant as to 
 see, before closing these eyes for ever to the sweet 
 light of Italy, my most ardent desire for you fulfilled. 
 Still, if I have ever desired that my humble words 
 might carry power with them, I had it in my soul last 
 year, when, with the assistance of a young friend, 
 almost a son in my affections, I gave to the light one 
 of the books which with a frank and reverent love I 
 now offer you, — a book which recommends to all the 
 Italians whom fortune permits to elect a worthy 
 prince, that they should use every effort to unite 
 themselves under your constitutional and heroic 
 sceptre. 
 
 While Victor Emmanuel was on this tour, taking 
 possession of the newly annexed provinces amidst the 
 indescribable joy of the ' Eleven Million Italians,' far 
 
 P
 
 210 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 other scenes were going on in Sicily, the inhabitants of 
 that unhappy island, unable longer to support the 
 Bourbon rule, having risen in a formidable rebellion 
 which the royal troops found it impossible to crush. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE REVOLUTION OF NAPLES. A.D. 1 86o. 
 
 In the latter part of the year 1859 and the beginning of 
 i860, the kingdom of Naples had become the seat of 
 secret intrigues set on foot by the court of Vienna, in 
 which Cardinal Antonelli, the widow of Ferdinand II., 
 and the young King Francis took an active part. A 
 continual correspondence was kept up between Vienna, 
 Rome, and Naples on the subject of the restoration of the 
 old regime in Italy. The conspiracy was already on foot 
 when Victor Emmanuel was frankly offering his alliance 
 to Francis, begging him to make himself Italian. ' I do 
 not understand what is meant by Italian independence,' 
 said Francis, ' I only recognise the independence of 
 Naples.' 
 
 The Count of Syracuse, brother of the late king, who 
 had been banished and despoiled of his property for 
 marrying an English lady, and other offences against 
 the traditions of his house, now made earnest appeals to 
 his nephew to save the family from everlasting infamy 
 before it was too lai"e : but Francis was deaf to all 
 entreaty, and the Count of Syracuse finally washed his 
 hands of him, and threw himself into the arms of the 
 national party. 
 
 In spite of the great caution observed, the astuteness 
 of Count Cavour was able to discover the existence of 
 the conspiracy alluded to, all the secrets of which have 
 never transpired, though enough proofs have come to 
 light to reveal the fact that Antonelli was the leading
 
 REBELLION IX SICILY. 211 
 
 spirit, as the following notes to the Neapolitan Govern- 
 ment will show : 
 
 Albano, Oct. 9, 1S59. [Most private]. 
 I return this moment from an audience with the Holy 
 Father at Castillo. H. H. has conceded the authorisa- 
 tion of the eventual passage of our troops through the 
 Roman territory on the line parallel to the Tronto. 
 Mons. Bernard! will go this evening to tell Card, 
 Antonelli. The Holy Father desires this agreement 
 to remain strictly secret. 
 
 De Martino. 
 
 Jan. 6, 1 860. 
 The Austrian ambassador labours strenuously to push 
 the Holy Father to the most extreme resolutions. A 
 Catholic League, he says, can alone save the Pontifi- 
 cate and society. 
 
 .De Martixo. 
 
 To form this league an earnest appeal was made to 
 Spain, as the most Catholic power ; but the minister, 
 O'Donnell, firmly refused his sanction to engaging in a 
 war against Italy, ' because of the unpopularity ' which 
 would attach to it. 
 
 Meantime it was noted by the Piedmontese Govern- 
 ment that Neapolitan troops were being concentrated 
 in the Abruzzi, and that foreign volunteers, collected 
 from all countries, were pouring into the Pontifical 
 States. The intrigues we have mentioned were known 
 to the King of Sardinia and his minister, but not to the 
 public, when Garibaldi was allowed to equip two vessels 
 and convey his followers to the aid of the Sicilian in- 
 surgents. That the government shut its eyes to the 
 proceedings of the volunteer chief there is no manner of 
 doubt now, though at the time, and even afterwards, it 
 was a subject of dispute, for Cavour with a masterly 
 dissimulation neither denied nor affirmed his complicity 
 in the undertaking. When Francis H. not only rejected 
 Victor Emmanuel's offer of friendship, but engaged in a 
 secret conspiracy for the overthrow of his power and
 
 212 LIP^E OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 the destruction of Italian independence, it became clear 
 to the Turin Government that only a deadly war could 
 settle the long-standing quarrel with the Bourbon, and 
 nothing prevented their declaring it but the disappro- 
 bation of the great powers, and the shifting, incon- 
 sistent policy of their French ally. 
 
 It was not to be expected that the news of the in- 
 surrection in Palermo (April 6) should be received with 
 anything but pleasure, or that the Sardinian Government 
 would throw any impediment in the way of the volunteers 
 going to the aid of the Sicilians. Garibaldi, who always 
 held himself a free agent, and bound to any government 
 only so long as his opinions and theirs coincided, had 
 pledged himself to the southern nationalists in February, 
 and in pursuance of that promise now prepared to take 
 command of the rebel army in Sicily. 
 
 The Turin Government threw no obstacle in his way ; 
 they even adroitly put arms and ammunition within his 
 reach : while the authorities at Genoa allowed him to sail 
 under their eyes without molesting him. A Sardinian 
 fleet set out in a southerly direction at the same time, 
 the Admiral Persano having received a note from the 
 prime minister to the following effect : — 
 
 ' Signor Conte, try to navigate between Garibaldi and 
 the Neapolitan cruisers. I hope you understand me.' 
 
 To which the daring sailor replied : — 
 
 ' Signor Conte, I believe I understand you ; if I am 
 mistaken, you can send me to prison.' 
 
 This was something more than ' winking at ' the 
 volunteer expedition, and the suspicions of the diplo- 
 matic world were aroused. Indignation was freely 
 expressed by most of the great powers ; and the 
 Neapolitan minister described Garibaldi's descent on 
 Sicily as ' an act of savage piracy perpetrated on a 
 friendly state.' Angry notes poured in from Vienna, 
 Berlin, and St. Petersburg to the court of Turin. The 
 brave Garibaldians, ' the flower of the Italian youth,' as 
 Cavour called them, were variously described in the 
 complimentary terms of ' a horde of pirates,' ' despera- 
 does,' ' bandits,' ' dregs of the human race,' etc. The
 
 cavour's defen'ce. 213 
 
 Vienna Government ordered a fleet from Trieste to take 
 its way to the South Mediterranean to protect Naples ; 
 the Czar declared that he would do the same only for 
 the material position which Russia occupied, and directed 
 his minister to telegraph to Turin his profound indig- 
 nation, demanding the punishment of the authorities at 
 Genoa, and inquiring if the filibustering Captain Gari- 
 baldi still wore the uniform of his Sardic majesty ? 
 The English naval officers at Genoa looked on encou- 
 ragingly, if they did not aid in the embarkation of 
 the Italian volunteers : and their conduct was also de- 
 scribed as infdnie. 
 
 Cavour bore this cross-fire of diplomatic batteries 
 directed against him with wonderful courage and calm- 
 ness, and ably defended himself and his ministry from 
 attacks on every side. Why, he asked, should Sardinia 
 throw herself in the way of an enterprise against an incor- 
 rigiblegovernment ? What right had the world to expect 
 that she was bound to hinder Garibaldi's disembarkation 
 in Sicily ? If the Irish and Austrian volunteers could 
 overrun Italy in order to form a Pope's Brigade, without 
 let or hindrance, the Government of Turin could not, 
 without divorcing itself from the national cause, forbid 
 the Ligurian cruisers to carr>^ Italian men to render that 
 aid to the Sicilians which brothers in distress have a 
 right to expect from brothers. And if Giuseppe Gari- 
 baldi had raised the standard of popular war, and the 
 flower of Italian youth were enlisted in his troop, the 
 monarchy could not without destroying the founda- 
 tion of its strength, wrest the arms from the hands of 
 those gallant volunteers. It would be to throw Italy 
 into complete anarchy. In short, Victor Emmanuel 
 and his government were pledged to the national cause, 
 and they did not mean to stultify themselves by taking 
 part with the enemies of that cause. 
 
 It needed all Cavour's bold spirit and subtle Italian 
 intellect to carr\- his sovereign and countr\- through the 
 breakers that stormed round them at this period. So 
 well had he concealed the secret encouragement he had 
 given to the volunteers, that he had to bear the bitterest
 
 214 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 reproaches and upbraidings for his supine indifference to 
 the sufferings of his fellow-countrymen in the south. He 
 was even accused by the Mazzinians of opposing and 
 thwarting the leader of the expedition. While he was 
 being vilified by the republicans, reproached by the 
 royalists, and stormed at by the diplomatists, he listened 
 with that sublime serenity of soul which carried him 
 through one of the most trying of political careers to a 
 glorious finale, and said nothing but what was abso- 
 lutely necessary in reply to the great powers. Victor 
 Emmanuel went hand in hand with him in his daring- 
 policy : and the news of Garibaldi's unbroken series of 
 victories in Sicily filled them both with hope and joy. 
 
 To Signor La Farina at Palermo. 
 
 Turin, June 19, i860. 
 I have received your letters of the 12th and 14th, and I 
 will preserve them as historic documents. . . Persano 
 will give you all the aid he can without compromising 
 our banner. It would be a great matter if Garibaldi 
 could pass into Calabria. Here things do not go 
 badly. The diplomatists do not molest us too much. 
 Russia made a fearful hubbub — Prussia less. The 
 Parliament has much sense. I await your letters with 
 impatience. 
 
 CAVOUR. 
 
 The diplomatists did not allow him much respite 
 however. Garibaldi's increasing successes in Sicily 
 alarmed the Bourbon government for Naples ; and 
 special envoys were despatched to London and Paris 
 to invoke the aid of those powers to protect the Nea- 
 politan coast against the ' filibusters.' France pro- 
 posed a truce with Garibaldi for six months ; Victor 
 Emmanuel's government would only consent to interfere 
 with the volunteer movement on condition of the ab- 
 solute approval of England — wdiich they knew would 
 not be given. Not only did England positively refuse 
 to intervene, but she protested against France doing so.
 
 IX EXILE. 215 
 
 Count Cavour then wrote a statement of facts to Lord 
 Palmerston and Lord Russell, to further strengthen the 
 national cause ; and also exhorted the Marquis d'Azeglio 
 to use all his influence in England on behalf of the 
 Sicilians. 
 
 The infamous government of Naples, and the hor- 
 rible sufferings of political prisoners, had become gener- 
 ally known after the escape of Poerio and his com- 
 panions, and had excited sentiments of indignation and 
 pit}^ in the British Isles, where so many miserable exiles 
 had found refuge in former times, before liberal Piedmont 
 opened an asylum for them. These banished ones 
 were the flower of the population. In 1853, Charles 
 Dickens, visiting Naples after many years, records the 
 following dialogue in his correspondence : — 
 
 ' I knew a very remarkable gentleman when I was last 
 here,' I said to a Neapolitan marchese who came to 
 see me the night I arrived : ' a very remarkable 
 gentleman, who had never been out of his own 
 country, but was perfectly acquainted with English 
 literature, and had taught himself to speak English in 
 that wonderful manner that no one would have known 
 that he was a foreigner. I am very anxious to see 
 him, but I forget his name.' He named him, and his 
 face fell directly. ' Dead ^ ' said I. ' In exile.' 'Ah, 
 dear me ! ' I said, ' I have looked forward to seeing 
 him more than anyone in this country.' ' What 
 would you have ? ' said the marquis in a low voice. 
 ' He was a remarkable man — full of knowledge, full 
 of spirit, full of generosity. Where should he be but 
 in e>:ile ? Where could he be .-• ' 
 
 That word exi/c is a mournful sound in all countries 
 and all languages ; but in Italian it is pregnant with a 
 bitter anguish which northerns, however well they love 
 their countr}-, cannot fully understand. An Italian 
 prefers to live at home in poverty rather than enjoy 
 wealth and luxury abroad — and to banish him from his 
 native place is like tearing his heartstrings out b}' the 
 roots.
 
 2l6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 In historical questions the evidence of a romancist 
 is not admissible ; but a good novel will be read by 
 thousands who do not care to examine historical evi- 
 dence ; and so the romancist wields a mighty power 
 over the sympathies of his fellow-men. Uncle Toms 
 Cabin excited the indignation of the whole world 
 against Negro slavery ; and Giovanni Ruffini's exquisite 
 story, Doctor Antonio, in which he depicted so feel- 
 ingly and truthfully the wrongs of his country, did no 
 small service to the Italian cause. The sympathies of 
 the English nation were now entirely with the revolu- 
 tion ; subscriptions were collected in aid of the Sicilian 
 rebels and the volunteer army ; and the great pirate 
 himself became the idol of young English enthusiasm to 
 an extraordinar}-' degree, considering that he was a total 
 stranger. When Englishmen felt so strongly on the 
 subject, what must have been the feelings of young 
 Italians when this last great struggle for nationality was 
 going on ! 
 
 A frenzied enthusiasm took possession of the popu- 
 lation ; young men of all classes left their employments 
 and their studies, and hastened to take part in the great 
 work of Italian redemption. The camicia rossa was 
 the most glorious of uniforms ; Garibaldi was a match- 
 less hero, to whom the history of ancient or modern 
 times presented no equal ; he was a Cincinnatus, a 
 Belisarius, a Washington, a Kosciusko, all in one. In 
 fact the gallant chief, all unconsciously on his part, 
 began to rival the soldier-king in the affections of the 
 nation. Victor Emmanuel, so far from being jealous, 
 felt nothing but intense pleasure in all this feverish en- 
 thusiasm, in which he shared as warmly as any one of the 
 volunteers. His only trouble was that he could not 
 show his sympathy more openly ; but Cavour as usual 
 restrained him. The count could bear, for the sake of 
 the cause he had at heart, to be misunderstood by the 
 public, and blamed for checking the king's generous 
 impulses ; but he wished to set himself right with 
 Garibaldi, for whom he had a great admiration, and 
 many kind messages he sent him through Admiral 
 Persano.
 
 CAVOUR AND GARIBALDI. 21/ 
 
 'Assure General Garibaldi,' he writes, 'that not less than 
 he do I desire to complete the great enterprise ; in 
 order to succeed it is indispensable that we work in 
 concert, at the same time adopting different means.' 
 
 Again : — 
 
 Turin, July 13. 
 
 Signor Ammiraglio, — This moment I received your 
 letter, for which I thank you. Declare formally in 
 my name to General Garibaldi that it is a solemn 
 falsehood that there exist other secret treaties ; and 
 that the rumours of the cession of Genoa or Sardinia 
 are set on foot by the arts of our common enemies. 
 
 Cavour. 
 
 Turin, July 28. 
 
 Most esteemed Admiral, — I received your letters on the 
 23rd and 24th. I am rejoiced by the victory of 
 Milazo, which honours the Italian arms, and must 
 help to persuade Europe that the Italians are now 
 determined to sacrifice life itself to recover liberty 
 and country. I pray you to give my sincere and 
 warm congratulations to General Garibaldi, etc. 
 
 Cavour. 
 
 CHAPTER XX, 
 
 KING OF ITALY. 
 
 Meantime the Papal Government had been collecting 
 mercenaries from all parts of the world, and the Pope 
 invited General Lamoriciere to take the command of his 
 heterogeneous army. This general had been one of the 
 French commanders at the siege of Rome in 1848, when 
 he had uttered the never-to-be-forgiven, never-to-be- 
 forgotten words: Les Italiens ne se battciit pas. That 
 was before he had measured swords with the Italians in 
 Rome, after which he had reason to change his opinion, 
 though it is not recorded that he retracted it. No
 
 2l8 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 injury that his arms had inflicted on the suffering city 
 was remembered half so bitterly as this insult. He now 
 set out on his second crusade, declaring that he was 
 ready to unsheathe his sword against this modern 
 Islamisvi — an expression which excited great indigna- 
 tion in Piedmont. ' This brave General Lamoriciere,' said 
 Victor Emmanuel, with a scornful laugh, ' baptises us for 
 Turks, and transforms the Sabaud cross into a crescent. 
 He may learn yet that we are the true crusaders.' 
 
 Just at this time the Count of Syracuse, finding all 
 remonstrances with his nephew hopeless, took refuge 
 with the King of Sardinia. The adhesion of this middle- 
 aged Bourbon, so closely allied to the throne of Naples, 
 was a significant fact, and Victor Emmanuel gave him a 
 cordial welcome. 
 
 Erancis H., after some months' fighting, and vain 
 appeals for help to other powers, finding it impossible to 
 stem the tide of war, began slowly to take in the idea 
 that the spirit of nationality was something too powerful 
 for him to combat, and that, to save his throne from 
 wreck, the only chance was an appeal to Victor 
 Emmanuel. It was too late. The idea of Italian unity 
 liad progressed with giant strides since the Sardic envoy 
 had been dismissed from the court of Naples with a 
 rejection of the proffered alliance. Even if Victor 
 1^2mmanuel had willed to restore the Bourbon power, he 
 could not have done it now with the victorious Sicilians 
 and volunteers ready to cross the Strait of Messina. 
 The Neapolitan plenipotentiaries were received with due 
 courtesy, and a dinner given in their honour ; but they 
 were made to understand that the day of compromise 
 Avas passed ; Italian unity must be accomplished. 
 
 Nevertheless, Victor Emmanuel wrote privately to 
 Garibaldi, asking him to content himself with Sicily for 
 the present, and not cross to the mainland. But Garibaldi 
 had independent ideas of serving his king and country. 
 He entered Calabria as soon as circumstances permitted, 
 swept across the country like an avalanche, driving the 
 Bourbon troops before him everywhere, and took posses- 
 sion of the capital, from whence the king had fled.
 
 ' FAITES VITE.' 219 
 
 Some sort of governing head was necessary for the 
 order of the kingdom thus set at Hberty, and Garibaldi 
 was elected Dictator. Very soon serious differences arose 
 between the Government of Turin and the dictator. 
 Garibaldi thought it better for the national interests to 
 hold Naples unannexed till Rome was also liberated, 
 and the volunteers might then present all Italy, united, 
 to Victor Emmanuel. He asked the king's consent to 
 a two years' dictatorship, and demanded at the same 
 time the dismissal of Cavour from office. 
 
 The minister became seriously alarmed ; not for 
 himself — his position was too well-assured for any fear 
 of that : — but the growing power and popularity of the 
 general threatened to take the national cause out of the 
 legitimate hands of the monarchy, and put it into those 
 of the republican party, with whom Garibaldi had old 
 and strong ties. Cavour resolved to appeal to Parliament, 
 and let the representatives of the nation decide the 
 question. They voted for immediate annexation. The 
 question was, would the erratic chief who had conquered 
 the kingdom of Naples with a band of volunteers, submit 
 to the decision of Parliament .-' It is true that his war- 
 cr}' had been Vittorio Emanuele e /' Italia ! but there 
 were many Mazzinians at Naples, and Cavour feared 
 that he might be strongly influenced by them. He 
 never for a moment accused him of personal ambition, 
 for he knew how to read the human heart much better 
 than the hero of Milazo. 
 
 ' I count largely,' writes Cavour, ' on Garibaldi's lo}-al 
 spirit, generous instincts, and the great affection he 
 nourishes for the king.' 
 
 That he nourished an antipathy for him, Camillo 
 Cavour, he also knew well, and deeply regretted it ; but 
 Garibaldi's attacks could not move his generous rival to 
 the smallest resentment. 
 
 The critical moment had now arrived when the royal 
 army must take the lead in the national struggle, or 
 remain in a secondary position to the volunteers. The 
 inhabitants of Umbria and the Marches did not cease to 
 implore King Victor to give them that liberty which he
 
 220 LIFK OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II, 
 
 had bestowed on the other provinces subject to the Pope's 
 rule ; and now the presence of the foreign army under 
 General Lamoriciere excited them to the last degree, — 
 while Garibaldi was preparing to march to their aid. 
 Nothing but prompt action on the part of the government 
 could save Italy from anarchy. The emperor was ac- 
 quainted with the intention of the court of Turin, and re- 
 plied with the simple words — Faitesvite} In truth they did 
 not waste time, the Sardinian army being already on its 
 way to the Marches when the powers were informed of 
 the fact. The memorandum to the ambassadors con- 
 tained these significant words, which were a sufficient 
 apology for the hasty and unexpected irruption into the 
 Pontifical States : — 
 
 ' If we do not arrive on the Volturno before Garibaldi 
 arrives at Cattolica, the monarchy is lost, — Italy remains 
 a prey to revolution.' It was the solemn duty of the 
 king to lead the national movement. The people were 
 resolved to be free, and if Victor P2mmanuel would not 
 be their head, they would find one more dangerous to 
 the peace of Europe ; therefore it behoved him and his 
 government to take the guidance of the revolution into 
 their own hands, so that they might conduct it the more 
 speedily to a peaceful termination, and establish an 
 order of things that would prevent a recurrence of these 
 troubles. 
 
 Order of the Day. 
 
 Soldiers ! — You enter the Marches and Umbria to re- 
 store civil order in the desolated cities, and to give 
 liberty to the people to express their own wishes. 
 You will not have to combat powerful armies, but to 
 liberate unhappy Italian provinces from companies of 
 foreign adventurers. You do not go to avenge the 
 insults offered to me and to Italy, but to prevent 
 popular hatreds from breaking out into vengeance on 
 bad rulers. You will teach them the pardon of 
 offences, and show an example of Christian tolerance 
 
 ' Though the faites vite has been contradicted and denied, there is 
 good reason to believe it true.
 
 DEFEAT OF THE PAPAL ARMY. 221 
 
 to those who stupidly compared to Isiaviisfn the love 
 of the Italian country. 
 
 In peace with all the great powers, and far from 
 giving any provocation, I wish to remove from Central 
 Italy a continual cause of turbulence and discord. I 
 will respect the seat of the Head of the Church, to 
 whom I am always ready to give, in accord with the 
 allied and friendly powers, all those guarantees of 
 independence and security, which his blind councillors 
 have in vain promised him from the fanaticism of a 
 malignant faction, conspiring against my authority 
 and the liberties of the nation. 
 
 Soldiers !— They accuse me of ambition. Yes, I 
 have one ambition ; it is to restore the principles of 
 moral order in Italy, to preserve Europe from the 
 continual perils of revolution and war. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Cavo?ii: 
 
 September ii, iS6o. Farini. 
 
 General Cialdini met the papal troops at Casteln- 
 dardo, where he won a complete victory. Ancona soon 
 fell into his hands, and some thousands of prisoners 
 surrendered themselves, with the general. The foreign 
 mercenaries being utterly overcome, the citizens received 
 the conquering arnn- with joy and gratitude. 
 
 All this time the Pope never lost heart ; he was full 
 of faith in the ultimate triumph of his arms, and said 
 to General Lamoriciere before he went to battle that he 
 was absolutely certain that God would ' convert his 
 enemies or destroy them.' The necessity of destroying 
 them was painful to the kind-hearted Pope, who would 
 have much preferred their conversion. But since they 
 were not moved by all the censures and anathemas of 
 the Church, it was plain they were incorrigible. The 
 robber king's proclamation to the army, in which he 
 spoke of the Papalini as ' a malignant faction, conspir- 
 ing against his authority and the liberties of the nation,' 
 showed that his majesty's soul was in a very bad state ; 
 he had never before expressed himself so strongly,
 
 222 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 so bitterly, against the ecclesiastical government. But 
 irritated and indignant as he was, he was careful to 
 prevent his soldiers avenging the insults that had been 
 heaped upon him and the national cause. He gave the 
 strictest orders to the commanding officers — and, after 
 the fall of the papal power, to his representatives in 
 Ihose provinces — to be moderate and patient with the 
 Clcricali, and to treat the prisoners with the same con- 
 sideration as the royal troops. 
 
 The governors of the newly-acquired states were men 
 of distinguished ability and high character. The Mar- 
 quis Pepoli was sent to Umbria, Signor Valerio to the 
 Marches, and the Marquis Gualterio to the province of 
 Perugia. The present Pope, Leo XIII., was then Bishop 
 of Perugia, and his good sense and moderation formed a 
 contrast to the conduct of the other bishops. He not 
 only did not embarrass the government by useless 
 opposition, but he assisted in maintaining order in his 
 diocese, though he had not, nor has he now, any sym- 
 pathy with liberalism. 
 
 Cavour had tried in vain to persuade the great 
 powers that the sudden descent on the Papal States was 
 a necessity to save society from anarchy ; all except 
 England, who gave her open approval, expressed them- 
 selves greatly shocked by the audacious proceeding ; 
 Prussia, Russia, Austria, and even France, recalled their 
 ambassadors. The Eldest Son of the Church could not 
 openly approve of the spoliation of the holy father, 
 though he had said ' strike quickly ' when consulted on 
 the subject, and his representative, M. Talleyrand, took 
 a cordial leave of the great * spoliator,' heartily wishing 
 him success in all his undertakings. 
 
 It was easier to disapprove of what was done than 
 to find a remedy for the ills of the distracted Peninsula. 
 No foreign intervention nor European congress had 
 ever yet hit upon a means of establishing order, peace, 
 or anything approaching contentment in the population. 
 Now all Victor Emmanuel asked, all the Italians asked 
 of Europe, was to let thcni alone — leave them to 
 work out their own redemption as best they might.
 
 THE KING ENTERS ANCONA. 223 
 
 The king had tried all peaceful means to reconcile 
 ecclesiastical pretensions with the liberties and rights 
 of his subjects and the spirit of nationality. His 
 moderate counsels had been rejected, his propositions of 
 compromise treated with scorn. While he had been 
 trj'ing to come to terms with the papal government, 
 they had been secretly conspiring against him and 
 flooding the countrv' with foreign soldiery. It was time 
 to put an end to this dangerous state of things, even in 
 the interest of the Pope, who would have fared much 
 worse at the hands of the threatened republic than 
 under the gentle and tolerant rule of the Savoy prince, 
 Cavour and the king were ag.-eed to strike boldly, and 
 they conquered. 
 
 'We are misunderstood b}-- the other nations,' said 
 the minister, 'but the time will come when they will 
 judge us with more equity.' 
 
 ' Courage I ' replied the king, who assumed the part 
 of comforter when Cavour was depressed, ' let us do our 
 duty and go fonvard.' 
 
 Towards the end of September the king paid a visit 
 to the newly-acquired provinces, and was received at 
 Ancona amidst a perfect ovation on the part of the 
 soldiers, the citizens, and the peasantrv', who hailed him 
 as Liberator of Italy. 
 
 Order of the Day. 
 
 Soldiers ! — I am pleased with you because you have 
 proved yourselves worthy of Italy. By your arms 
 you have conquered the enemy, and by your conduct 
 the calumniators of the Italian name. The vanquished 
 ones whom we shall set free will speak of you and of 
 Italy to foreign peoples. They will have learned that 
 God rewards those who serve him with justice and 
 charity ; not those who oppress the peoples and 
 trample on the rights of nations. 
 
 A strong Italian monarchy must be founded on 
 liberty ; by order and concord the people will aid us ; 
 and the national army will add fresh lustre to the
 
 224 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 glory that for eight centuries has shone on the cross 
 of Savoy. 
 
 Soldiers, I take the command. It costs me too 
 much not to be first in moments of danger. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Ancona, October 4, i860. 
 
 To the Marines. 
 
 Soldiers of the Navy !— You have deserved well of 
 me and of your country. Your exploits under the 
 walls of Ancona are worthy of the heirs of the glories 
 of Pisa, of Venice, and of Genoa. 
 
 Soldiers, the nation beholds you with pride — your 
 king thanks you. Great is the destiny of the Italian 
 navy. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was proud of the behaviour of 
 his soldiers, and he had every right to be. The valour 
 of the Sardinian troops and their enthusiastic devotion 
 to their king was already well known ; but the disci- 
 pline, order, gentleness, and moderation with which they 
 deported themselves in the hour of victory towards the 
 enemies who had come from all parts of Europe to try 
 to crush their independence at the moment when it 
 seemed within their grasp, was beyond all praise. The 
 Sardinian army, now mixed with so many other national 
 elements, we must henceforth call the Italian army. 
 
 The king had been particular to impress on his re- 
 presentatives in the provinces the duty of being strictly 
 just and moderate, so as not to give the Clericals any 
 reason to complain. Nevertheless they did complain : 
 and in sermons and journals sent forth loud cries of 
 persecution. Signor Valerio, royal commissioner in the 
 Marches, was much disturbed by the unjust attacks upon 
 him, and he complained to the king of the tone of the 
 Clerical press. 
 
 ' Dear Valerio,' said his royal master, ' if I am con- 
 tent with you, is it not enough .-* And are you quite
 
 THE KING IX THE HOSPITAL. 225 
 
 sure you do not push forward too rapidly ? We must 
 be patient and moderate.' 
 
 But all the clerg>- were not opposed to Victor 
 Emmanuel. When at Ancona he paid a visit to the 
 Holy House of Loreto, and greatly edified the community 
 by his reverential bearing. The canons invited the 
 royal visitor to lunch, and he accepted. Subsequently 
 he went to visit the Jesuits' college, converted into a 
 temporary- hospital after the battle of Castelfidardo. 
 Victor Emmanuel's tenderness for the sick soldiers had 
 done much to endear him to the army. He was a 
 constant visitor to the hospitals, cheering the invalids by 
 his kind encouraging words, by presents of cigars, and 
 various little favours — the value of which chiefly con- 
 sisted in the fact that they came directly from the royal 
 hand. Many anecdotes the volunteers tell of his bon- 
 Jioinie, his gentleness, his sympathy for suffering. His 
 genial presence brought light and animation to the pale 
 faces of the sick and wounded soldiers. 
 
 ' Your wound is slight t ' asked the king of a youth 
 whose bright smiling face attracted him. ' Not ver\', 
 your majesty,' was the reply, as he lifted from under 
 the covering a bandaged stump. He was promised 
 promotion. Those whose families were in bad circum- 
 stances had money given them. When the king came 
 to a poor fellow whose head was all bandaged up he 
 asked, ' Are you wounded severely .' ' 
 
 ' Your majesty, I have lost my eyes,' replied the 
 patient. The king bent his head sadly. No money nor 
 promotion could heal such a wound as this ; but he made 
 the young man feel his sym.pathy. Inquiring about his 
 family, he learned that he had a mother who was very 
 dear to him : and Mctor Emmanuel took a medal off 
 his own breast and put it into the hand of the blind 
 soldier with a kindly pressure, telling him to send it to 
 his mother as a proof of how well he had ser\ed his 
 countr}'. 
 
 After the battle of Castelfidardo the wounded pri- 
 soners of the Pope's army were housed with the royal 
 troops, so that the king, in visiting his own soldiers, was 
 
 Q
 
 226 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 obliged to pass by the beds of his enemies. Some of 
 them saluted him courteously, and spoke to him in 
 French ; all looked at him with much curiosity, with the 
 exception of a Belgian, who covered his face with the 
 .sheet to .shut out the hateful sight of the sacrilegious 
 monster. The king returned the salutations, and replied 
 affably to any question or remark addressed to him by 
 the prisoners. 
 
 ' What handsome people ! ' he said on coming out 
 of the hospital. ' What a pity that they will fight against 
 us when we are at peace with their countries.' The 
 officers of Lamoriciere's army were almost all French, 
 and most of the men Irish. As soon as their wounds 
 permitted, they, with their general, were put on board 
 the ship Conte di Cavoiir, and conveyed to Marseilles. 
 
 Meantime Garibaldi, after some hesitation, and a 
 hard contest with his evil advisers, allowed his nobler 
 nature to conquer, and submitted to the decision of 
 what we may now call the National Parliament, since it 
 embraced representatives of all the states of Italy ex- 
 cept Naples. The king marched southwards to take 
 possession of that kingdom, and before starting he issued 
 a proclamation To the People of South Italy, which was a 
 resume of the history of his reign from the day of Novara 
 to the present time, with an explanation of his policy 
 and the motives which had guided him. As it is a 
 lengthy address, and deals with facts already recorded 
 here, it is not necessary to transcribe it. We give the 
 concluding paragraph : — 
 
 People of South Italy, — My troops advance among you 
 to maintain order ; I do not come to impose my will 
 upon you, but to see that yours is respected. You 
 will be able to manifest it freely. That Providence 
 which protects just causes will guide the vote which 
 you will place upon the urn. Whatever be the 
 gravity of the events which may arise, I await tran- 
 quilly the judgment of civilised Europe and of history, 
 because I have the consciousness of having fulfilled 
 my duty as king and as an Italian. In Europe my
 
 VICTOR'S JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 22/ 
 
 policy perhaps will not be without effect in helping 
 to reconcile the progress of the people with the 
 stability of the monarchy. In Italy I know that I 
 close the era of revolutions. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Given in Ancona, October 9, 1S60. 
 
 As a proof that some of the priests were national in 
 their sympathies, it is recorded that on October 15, be- 
 fore the plebiscite, in a church in Abruzzo, there was 
 a solemn service held for the salvation of ' our king 
 Victor Emmanuel,' in which many ecclesiastics took part. 
 The people of the Abruzzi were passionately desirous 
 of annexation, and petitions with thousands of signatures 
 were sent to Ancona, begging an immediate plebiscite. 
 The king was pleased with this, for he said it would 
 show the powers that he had good reason for passing 
 the Tronto. ' Italy must be made by us, or it runs 
 the risk of being unmade for ever,' he said to Dr. Tom- 
 masi, a Neapolitan who took an active part in the re- 
 volution. ' Garibaldi is a hero, but he does not know 
 hOiV to combat the difficulties of the situation. We alone 
 can meet them.' ' 
 
 The king journeyed southward with two Neapolitan 
 gentlemen attached to his staff, Dr. Tommasi and 
 Signor Devincenzi, that they might supply him with 
 useful information about the state of the countr)^ A 
 deputation of distinguished Neapolitans met him as 
 soon as he crossed the frontier, begging of him to hasten 
 to the capital, as his presence was much needed to calm 
 the agitation and uneasiness of the inhabitants. He 
 made the whole tour of the country on horseback, 
 starting at daybreak ever}' morning after partaking of 
 a cup of coffee and a roll, and never halting till late in 
 the evening when he dined at some country house or 
 inn. After dinner he occupied himself in reading and 
 replying to the numerous letters and telegrams which 
 
 ' Garibaldi, as soon as Victor Emmanuel arrived in Ancona, wrote to 
 him to say his presence in Naples was desirable. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IE 
 
 followed him — mostly from Count Cavour — and rarely 
 retired to rest before two o'clock ; but he was always 
 ready again at dawn for the day's journey. At the 
 close of one such day, when the king and his followers 
 had ridden through a heavy rain for many hours, Dr. 
 Tommasi, not being acquainted with his new sovereign's 
 habits, remarked that his majesty must be fatigued. 
 ' I,' said Victor with a frown, ' I am never tired.' During 
 this journey the king talked freely to his new subjects, 
 and showed much intelligent curiosity about the king- 
 dom of Naples. He was astonished at the want of 
 proper roads through the country, and he could hardly 
 believe some things that he was told about the scarcity 
 of schools and teachers. 
 
 'I cannot understand,' said the citizen-king, 'how 
 even a despotic sovereign should wish to abase the civil 
 condition of his own state. But where the light of 
 liberty does not illuminate a government it is blind.' 
 He talked a great deal about the political prisoners, par- 
 ticularly Poerio, and asked Devincenzi to tell him all 
 about him. Ferdinand had offered him (Poerio) liberty, 
 if he would ask pardon, and the prisoner replied, ' Not I, 
 but the king, ought to ask pardon. He has destroyed 
 the constitution he had sworn to defend, he has oppressed 
 his fellow-citizens. I will never bow to what I think 
 wrong.' 
 
 ' Bravo, bravo ! ' cried Victor, enthusiastically, ' those 
 are the sort of men that I like.' Then after discussing 
 the Neapolitan character, he said, ' It seems to me that 
 among you there is no medium ; you are either very 
 good or very bad, either a Poerio or ' 
 
 He did not finish the sentence, but it is easy to supply 
 the ellipsis by the next question : — 
 
 ' Have you ever known Ferdinand H. ? ' 
 
 ' Yes, sire.' 
 
 ' And was he the monster that so many say ? ' 
 
 Devincenzi replied by narrating some facts about the 
 late king. 
 
 ' Perhaps,' suggested Victor Emmanuel, ' he was under 
 the influence of the Jesuits, and that want of spirit was
 
 MEETING WITH GARIBALDI. 229 
 
 the cause of some of his errors. You must know that it 
 took all my strength to resist them, and without a cha- 
 racter of iron I could not have succeeded. But what a 
 struggle I had.' 
 
 The conversation one day turned upon England, 
 where Signor Devincenzi had lived ; and Victor showed 
 himself very anxious to know how he was regarded in 
 that countr}'. 
 
 Sir James Hudson often assured him of the good-will 
 of his compatriots. ' But,' said the king, ' he is attached 
 to our cause, and his opinion may be biassed by friend- 
 ship.' 
 
 When Signor Devincenzi told him that it was true 
 that he was really much esteemed by the English people, 
 he replied, — 
 
 ' I am very glad. I have a great respect for the 
 English nation, and I desire that my Italians may 
 deserve the reputation the English enjoy.' 
 
 It came quite natural to Victor to call them 
 ' m.y Italians ; ' he had long regarded them as his ; 
 for, as Signor IMassari had said, ' Before the victories 
 and the plebiscites had given him the crown of Italy, 
 he was our king, he reigned in our hearts ; ' and now he 
 felt he was in truth no longer the Sardic, but the Italian 
 king. 
 
 One bright morning as the king, at the head of his 
 troops, and surrounded by his generals, set out for the 
 day's ride, he saw another body of horsemen approach- 
 ing, which proved to be the Red Shirts, with their 
 gallant chief in the midst, come to lay down the dic- 
 tatorship at the feet of his constitutional sovereign. 
 Garibaldi's picturesque figure, with the grey mantle 
 flung over the red shirt, his auburn locks blowing in the 
 Vvintry breeze, was easily distinguishable by the keen 
 eyes of Victor Emmanuel. The two leaders rode 
 quickly forward, and when near enough to salute. 
 Garibaldi reined up his horse, and said in an agitated 
 voice, ' King of Italy ! ' 
 
 ' I thank you,' was the simple response of il Re 
 galautiiomo. They clasped hands and stood looking
 
 230 LIFE OF \'ICT()R EMMANUEL IL 
 
 at each other in eloquent silence, the black eyes and the 
 blue flashing; forth mutual congratulations, while the 
 royal troops and Garibaldians, mingling together frater- 
 nally, rent the air with joyous acclamations. Viva 
 Vittorio, Rk d' Italia! Viva Garibaldi! Viva V Italia I 
 were the cries echoed again and again over the country. 
 Alas for the instability of human friendship ! Who 
 that had seen Victor and Garibaldi riding 
 
 -hand in hand, 
 
 'Neath the blue sky of their regenerate land 
 
 on that happy day, could have guessed that the future 
 held in store for them such dark ones as Aspromonte 
 and Mentana t 
 
 On November 7 Victor Emmanuel made a triumphal 
 entry into Naples, amidst the wildest demonstrations of 
 popular enthusiasm. Deputations of citizens of all 
 classes struggled with each other to have the first word 
 from the king, to give him the first welcome, and express 
 their gratitude and affection. 
 
 ' I have hastened my coming,' said he to a friend, 
 ' to save the country from a civil war.' 
 
 ' Your majesty's name exercises a perfect fascination 
 on General Garibaldi,' said Pisanelli. 
 
 ' I know it,' replied the king. ' I never for a moment 
 doubted Garibaldi's great soul ; but I have good reason 
 to suspect many who are about him, and who might 
 exercise a fascination upon him even more potent than 
 mine, because nearer.' 
 
 The king and the dictator drove through Naples 
 in the same carriage, amid the frantic plaudits of the 
 populace, who almost went mad with the excitement of 
 having two such heroes to fete at the same time. 
 
 Then Garibaldi, refusing all the honours and emolu- 
 ments which his grateful sovereign wished to bestow, 
 went his way, still a poor soldier of fortune, to his lonely 
 Isle of Caprera.
 
 RETURN TO TURIN. 231 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND THE WILL OF THE 
 NATION. A.D. 1 861. 
 
 During the last days of December, Victor Emmanuel 
 was on his homeward journey from the southern pro- 
 vinces and he arrived in Turin just two da3"s before the 
 expiration of the eventful year of i860. As in the 
 central provinces and in Naples, so in Sicily, he had 
 travelled through the country on horseback, and made 
 himself acquainted with that land of brigands as far as it 
 was possible in a hasty tour. It would but weary the 
 reader with vain repetitions to recite all the ovations that 
 greeted him in every town, all the graceful demonstra 
 tions of loyalt}' and gratitude which his presence called 
 forth. Enough to say that his journey was like the 
 triumphal march of a hero who had saved his country 
 from destruction and covered her with glory. Dearly as 
 he loved popularity, his soul must have been satiated 
 with plaudits before he found repose and quiet in his 
 palace at Turin, with his own faithful but less demon- 
 strative Subalpines round him. 
 
 On the first day of the new year Farini, Viceroy of 
 Naples, resigned office because of a domestic affliction, 
 and the Prince of Carignano was appointed in his stead. 
 A royal proclamation to the Neapolitans said : — 
 
 I do not know how to give you a better proof of my 
 affection than in sending you my beloved cousin 
 Prince Eugenio, to whom I am accustomed in 
 my absence to confide the administration of the 
 monarchy.
 
 232 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMxVNUEL II. 
 
 Naples, however, was not quite free from the Bour- 
 bons. Gaeta still held out, though besieged by Cialdini 
 and Menabrea ; and the fortresses of Messina and Civi- 
 tella were still in possession of the adherents of the 
 fallen dynasty. The French fleet hovered about under 
 the pretence of protecting the coast. Negotiations on 
 the subject were carried on briskly between Paris and 
 Turin, and finally the fleet sailed off. Gaeta fell into 
 the hands of the Italians ; the other fortresses soon 
 followed, and the conquest of the Two Sicilies was 
 complete. Then France, still pretending, withdrew her 
 ambassador from the court of Turin, while England 
 loudly proclaimed her approbation of Victor Emma- 
 nuel's proceedings, and was warm in admiration of the 
 good sense and moderation with which the Italians had 
 carried out so great a revolution. This moral support, at 
 a moment when diplomacy was looking askance at him 
 from every other side, was a source of much gratifica- 
 tion to Victor Emmanuel, and he felt sincerely grateful 
 for it. 
 
 The great events of the past year, in which the 
 kingdom of Sardinia had swelled into the kingdom 
 of Italy, rendered another general election necessary. 
 The new Parliament was opened on February i8 with 
 uunsual pomp. The representatives of the lately an- 
 nexed provinces, mostly men of distinction, who had 
 taken an active part in the recent events, were loudly 
 cheered when taking the oath of allegiance. The king's 
 speech was received with uproarious applause, particu- 
 larly by the southern members. 
 
 TJic King's Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — Almost 
 entirely free and united, by the wonderful aid of 
 Divine Providence, the willing agreement of the peo- 
 ples, and by the splendid valour of the army, Italy 
 now confides in your virtue and your wisdom. To 
 you it belongs to give her common and stable institu- 
 tions. While assigning the largest amount of admi-
 
 THE KINGDOM OF ITALY PROCLAIMED. 233 
 
 nistrative liberty to those peoples who have had dif- 
 ferent customs and laws, you will take care that the 
 political unity sighed after for so many ages shall 
 not be curtailed. The opinion of civilised people is 
 propitious to us ; the just and liberal princes who pre- 
 side in the councils of Europe are propitious to us ; 
 Italy will become for Europe an efficacious instru- 
 ment of universal civilisation. The Emperor of the 
 French, while holding firm the maxim of non-inter- 
 vention — to us a great gain— has thought proper to 
 recall his ambassador. If this is a matter of regret, 
 it cannot alter our gratitude to him. nor our faith 
 in his attachment to the Italian cause. France and 
 Italy, who have a common origin, traditions, and cus- 
 toms, were united on the fields of Magenta and 
 Solferino by a bond which is indissoluble. 
 
 The government and people of England — that 
 ancient land of freedom — strongly afiirm our right 
 to be the arbiters of our own destinies ; and they 
 have been lavish of kind offices, the grateful mem.ory 
 of which shall never perish. 
 
 To the loyal and illustrious prince who has lately 
 ascended the throne of Prussia, I sent an envoy, as a 
 mark of honour to him and sympathy for the noble 
 German nation, which I hope will be more and more 
 persuaded that Italy, constituted in its natural unity, 
 does not ofiend either the rights or the interests of 
 other nations. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators — Gentlemen Deputies, — I feel 
 certain that you will hasten to present to my govern- 
 ment the means of completing the armaments by 
 land and sea, so that the kingdom of Italy, placed in 
 a condition not to fear attack, shall repose more easily 
 in the consciousness of her strength on a reasonable 
 prudence. On other occasions my words sounded 
 bold ; but there is a time to dare and a time to wait. 
 Devoted to Italy, I have never hesitated to place in 
 jeopardy my life and my crown when her interests 
 required it ; but no one has a right to risk the life 
 and the destinies of a nation.
 
 234 I^IFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 After many signal victories the Italian army, always 
 increasing in fame, obtained a new title to glory, by 
 taking one of the most formidable fortresses in the 
 country. The thought consoles me that there was for 
 ever closed the lamentable series of our civil conflicts. 
 The navy has shown in the waters of Ancona and 
 Gaeta that there still survive in Italy the mariners of 
 Pisa, of Genoa, and of Venice. 
 
 A band of gallant youths, led by a captain whose 
 name resounds through the most distant lands, have 
 proved that neither servitude nor prolonged mis- 
 fortunes, have been able to unnerve the Italian 
 people. 
 
 These facts have inspired the nation with great 
 confidence in its destinies. I am glad to make known 
 to the first Parliament of Italy the joy which, as a 
 soldier and a king, I feel in my heart. 
 
 The first thing the Parliament had to do was to 
 proclaim the kingdom of Italy. In a cabinet council 
 the king declared his desire to be called Victor 
 Emmanuel II., not wishing to put the slight upon his 
 worthy predecessor and godfather, of seeming to ignore 
 his existence in assuming the title of First. The 
 council made no objection. Indeed there was no fear 
 of a confusion of names in the history of the Savoy 
 dynasty; Victor Emmanuel II. of Sardinia would be 
 always known as first King of Italy. Secondly, the 
 king said, that as he had done everything that he had 
 accomplished by and with the Italians, and, as he firmly 
 believed, with the approval and help of Providence, he 
 wished to be proclaimed in these terms : — 
 
 VlTTORIO EMANUELE II., PER GRAZIA DI DiO E 
 PER VOLONTA BELLA NAZIONE, Rfe dTtALIA. 
 
 Parliament approving, the proclamation was made in 
 accordance with the king's wishes. 
 
 After the great changes which had taken place in 
 the state, Cavour thought well to send in his resigna- 
 tion. There was probably, along with other motives for 
 the step, some difference between the king and the
 
 ROME UNDER DISCUSSION.. 235 
 
 minister at this juncture. Victor's fiery temper and 
 Cavour's love of power — what Brofferio called his pre- 
 potaite character — led to an occasional collision, which, 
 however, was never allowed to bear serious conse- 
 quences. While the crisis lasted the king consulted 
 the most eminent of his new subjects, Farini, Ricasoli, 
 Poerio, and all were of one opinion that Cavour was 
 the right man in the right place. Brofferio says that he 
 also was consulted, and advised the recall of his great 
 adversary. One day Poerio presented himself to the 
 king, who exclaimed laughing, ' I know Avhat you are 
 going to say ; you are come to again advise me to send 
 for Cavour.' Cav-our was recalled, of course, and soon 
 formed the ministry- of the kingdom of Italy, in which he 
 introduced some natives of the newly annexed provinces. 
 In all this jo}', excitement, and triumph in the 
 attainment of Italian unity, the painful fact remained 
 that it was not quite accomplished. In the reunion of 
 ' the Italian family ' the most illustrious member was 
 still left out in the cold, though earnestly begging for 
 admittance. Everyone felt that without Rome as capital 
 the work of redemption, of unity, was incomplete. The 
 question was taken up and hotly discussed by the new 
 Parliament while in the first flush of national pride. 
 Cavour made one of his most masterly and telling 
 speeches on the subject, which produced a powerful 
 effect, and enchanted the king. He said, ' I consider 
 myself bound to proclaim in the most solemn manner 
 before the nation the necessity of having Rome for 
 the capital of Italy, for without Rome for the capital 
 Italy cannot be constituted.' The Parliament and the 
 nation felt with him, but they were not willing, like him, 
 to temporise and wait. The very name of Rome had a 
 magic sound in it which fired the souls of the Italians 
 into a frenzied enthusiasm. 
 
 One must be Italian [says the Spaniard Castelar, in his 
 Old and New Italy\ one must feel southern blood in 
 one's veins, must have been educated in this glorious 
 history, under the painted wings of classic poetry, to
 
 236 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 comprehend all the influences that Rome exercises 
 over the Italian mind. Those who wished to make 
 Italy a monarchy, and afterwards denied her the 
 capital which is hers by nature, did but construct a 
 headless body. 
 
 Cavour was resolved to have Rome for the capital, 
 and that at no distant day. He w^as even then opening 
 negotiations with the Emperor Napoleon on the subject, 
 for without the concurrence of France he would not 
 take any action in the matter, and there is little doubt 
 that the question would have been brought to a speedy 
 solution if he had been spared another year to put the 
 finishing stroke to his great work. But Garibaldi, and 
 the extreme party whom he represented, did not want 
 to work in accord with France ; the Roman difficulty, 
 they thought, should be solved not by diplomacy, but 
 by the sword. The cession of Nice and Savoy was 
 still fresh in the memory of the general, and in a debate 
 on the condition of the army in Naples, he bitterly 
 attacked the premier, winding up by saying, ' Never 
 will I extend my hand to those who have made me a 
 foreigner in Italy.' 
 
 Count Cavour was deeply wounded. He rose to 
 reply with a visible emotion, which by a great effort he 
 conquered, defending himself with splendid eloquence 
 and powerful reasoning, but with calmness and dignity, an 
 absence of all personal resentment, that won the sympa- 
 thy of all. It was one of his finest speeches ; alas ! that 
 it should have been one of his last. 
 
 I know [said he] that between me and the honourable 
 General Garibaldi there exists a fact which divides us 
 two like an abyss. I believed that I fulfilled a painful 
 duty — the most painful that I ever accomplished in my 
 life — in counselling the king, and proposing to Parlia- 
 ment, to approve the cession of Nice and Savoy to 
 France. By the grief that I then experienced I can 
 understand that which the honourable General Gari- 
 baldi must have felt, and if he cannot forgive me this 
 act I will not bear him any grudge for it.
 
 FETE OF THE STATUTO. 237 
 
 Remembering how soon that eloquent voice was to 
 be hushed in the silence of the tomb, it is pleasant to be 
 able to record that the general, at the earnest request 
 of the king, sought a friendly explanation with Cavour, 
 and offered that stainless palm of his, 
 
 Horny with grasp of the familiar hilt, 
 
 to the great statesman whom he so imperfectl}' under- 
 stood and so often wronged. 
 
 Meantime the new kingdom was threatened with an 
 interdict, the last and most extreme punishment with 
 which an offending prince and people can be visited 
 by the Pontiff. The Pope had exhausted himself in 
 protests, censures, and anathemas ; his ammunition was 
 almost spent ; there only remained this great gun to let 
 oft"; it might miss fire and fall harmless like the others, 
 still the fear of it might have some effect. But no, 
 Victor Emmanuel was only becoming more hardened by 
 familiarity with cursings. One of his ministers warned 
 him that an interdict could not take effect in his state 
 unless the document were put into the hands of the 
 sovereign. ' If that is the case,' replied the king, ' you 
 may be content. Whenever I see a priest who looks as 
 if he wanted to speak to me, I will put my hands in 
 my pockets, and never take them out till he is gone.' 
 
 The Piedmontese were wont to celebrate as a great 
 festival the anniversary of the Statnto granted by Carlo 
 Alberto in 1848, and now this fete, coming round just 
 after the proclamation of the kingdom of Italy, was 
 made the occasion of universal rejoicing. The king de- 
 sired new banners to be presented to the army, and 
 General Fanti read in his name this address. 
 
 Officers, Sub-officers, and Soldiers ! — Thirteen years ha\-e 
 passed away since my august father, crossing the 
 Ticino to carry on the war of national independence, 
 consigned to you the tricolour banner with the cross 
 of Savoy, with the words The destinies of Italy are 
 iimtiiring. Under that banner you won brilliant vic- 
 tories, arresting for a time our adverse fortune. But
 
 238 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 force of virtue and constancy of purpose made it wave 
 freshly, gloriously, in distant regions by the side of the 
 insignia of the most powerful armies in Europe. 
 
 Afterwards re-treading the fields of Lombardy, re- 
 calling the memory of Goito and Pastrengo, you ga- 
 thered splendid laurels in company with the illus- 
 trious French eagle. A new and glorious light shone 
 then on the entire peninsula. The people of Italy, 
 uniting themselves round the flag of national inde- 
 pendence, accomplished deeds that their remote de- 
 scendants wall remember with gratitude and love. 
 To-day the destinies of Italy are mature. 
 
 Soldiers, to you I consign the new banners in the 
 name of redeemed Italy. On their borders are em- 
 blazoned the names of the battles fought. To your 
 courage I confide these emblems of loyalty and honour, 
 on which the shield of my family, glorious for eight 
 centuries of valour, is engrafted with the .symbol of 
 national redemption. VICTOR Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, June 2, 1861. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 DEATH OF CAMILLO BENSO CAVOUR. A.D. 1 86 1. 
 
 Count Cavour laboured continually to convince the 
 Catholic states that the temporal power of the papacy 
 was incompatible with national unity and liberty, that it 
 was an anachronism which must give way before modern 
 progress, and that the holy father would enjoy a more 
 exalted position, more real authority, if he were rid of 
 the embarrassment of it. The Italian Government, he 
 said, was slandered by those who represented that they 
 wanted to overturn Catholicism ; on the contrary, they 
 v.-ished to make it more respected, more respectable,
 
 cavour's last efforts. 239 
 
 than it had been for long ages. In taking possession of 
 Rome they would contract a lasting peace between the 
 Church and civilisation. 
 
 All histor}- proved, he said in one of his speeches, 
 that nothing but a miserable and corrupt despotism 
 could result from the union of the spiritual and civil 
 authority in the same hands. That the State and the 
 Church should be separated was desirable as much in 
 the interest of the one as the other. The authority 
 of the Pope, the independence of the Church, would be 
 much better assured by the free consent of twenty-six 
 million of Italians than by the presence of a body of 
 mercenaries gathered round the Vatican, or even by a 
 valorous and friendly, but still a foreign army. 
 
 It remains [said he] to convince the Pontiff that the 
 Church can be independent, while losing the temporal 
 power. But we will present ourselves to him, and say, 
 ' Holy Father, the temporal power is no longer for 
 you a guarantee of independence. Renounce it, and 
 we will give you that liberty which you have in vain for 
 three centuries demanded from all the great Catholic 
 powers — that liberty which you have sought to drag 
 from them in small portions by means of concordats, for 
 which, O Holy Father, you were constrained in return 
 to concede privileges — and worse than privileges — to 
 concede the use of spiritual arms to temporal powers, 
 in order that they might grant you a little liberty. 
 Well, that which you have never been able to obtain 
 from those powers who boast themselves to be your 
 allies and your devoted sons, we come to offer you in 
 all its fulness ; we are ready to proclaim in Italy this 
 great principle, Free Church in Free State.' 
 
 These were Cavour's sincere convictions. He was a 
 Catholic as Victor Emmanuel was ; that is, he believ-ed 
 in the Church itself, apart from the priesthood. In the 
 heat of the combat with Rome, remembering the fate of 
 Santa Rosa, he had made a compact with a liberal priest 
 that in case of sudden illness he should come to him, 
 no matter where he was, to administer the sacraments.
 
 240 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 In these last two months of his life, Cavour worked 
 more assiduously, more devotedly than ever, pressing on 
 the emperor and on the papal government a solution of 
 the Roman question as though he felt his time was short 
 and the great labour of his life would be still unfinished 
 if Rome were left outside the kingdom of Italy. The 
 king shared his anxiety, and they spent hours together 
 every day, conducting diplomatic correspondence on the 
 one all-absorbing theme. They felt that there could be 
 no union, concord, or peace till that question was finally 
 settled. Rome was the head-centre of the machinations 
 of the retrograde party [Codini), and Francis de Bour- 
 bon had taken up his abode there, and was pursuing his 
 favourite amusement of conspiracy. It transpired at this 
 time that in some of the Neapolitan provinces brigand- 
 age, which was on the increase, and threatened to over- 
 turn all law and order, w^as, in a measure, due to his 
 influence. King Victor then wrote angrily to Paris, 
 ' Tell the Emperor to put an end to this torment of 
 Francis II. at Rome ! ' 
 
 Giovane Italia was growing daily more rampant, 
 and making its cry of Rovie the capital of Italy ! more 
 loudly heard : while the Romans, intensely excited by 
 the great events around them, threatened to rise con- 
 tinually. Amongst their most ardent sympathisers was 
 Garibaldi, who kept his king and government in constant 
 trepidation because of his utter contempt for diplomacy. 
 Cavour so ably urged upon the emperor the pressing 
 necessity of a speedy arrangement, that Napoleon had 
 all but given the order for the evacuation of the Roman 
 territory by the French troops, on condition that the 
 Italians should undertake to protect the papal frontier 
 in their stead. Nor was the great statesman's reasoning 
 quite without effect on Pius IX. and his advisers, who 
 at this time seemed disposed to consider the subject 
 more calmly than they had hitherto done. In short, 
 there were then great hopes of a speedy and satisfactory 
 conclusion to the question which, if prolonged, threatened 
 the peace of Italy and of Europe. 
 
 ' When once I see the king enthroned in the Capitol,'
 
 DEATH. 241 
 
 said the count, ' I will retire to Leri to plant cabbages, 
 tend my vines, and repose myself for the rest of my life.' 
 But meantime he allowed himself no repose ; and it 
 w^as noted by his friends that during the debates of 
 those last days of ^Nlay, Cavour had become irritable 
 and excitable, and did not display his usual tolerance 
 of contradiction. On the 29th he returned from the 
 Chamber after speaking, verj- much agitated, and in the 
 night was taken ill with violent pains, and fits of fever. 
 
 The physicians held out little hope from the first, 
 the disease being of a virulent nature, and the nation 
 awaited the catastrophe in grief-stricken silence. The 
 evening before the death, the king, restless and unhappy, 
 went himself to the Palazzo Cavour, and ascending by a 
 private stair (as he often did), entered the sick chamber 
 unannounced. The patient was Ij'ing in a drowsy state 
 with his eyes closed, and those in attendance maintained 
 a respectful silence while the king stood for some 
 minutes looking down at him with an emotion too deep 
 for words. At last Farini leaned over him and whis- 
 pered, ' The king is here.' Cavour opened his eyes ; the 
 light of his glorious intellect was almost spent, but he 
 recognised the king and put out his feeble hand. ' Ah, 
 JMaesta ! ' he said, and murmured some faint words of 
 farewell. Victor Emmanuel, with tears in his eyes, bent 
 down and kissed him, and departed v/ith a heavy heart. 
 Next morning, June 6, he received the news of the 
 death : and though he expected it, it was still a shock 
 to learn that the heart and brain that beat and thought 
 only for Italy and for him, .were cold and senseless. 
 * Better for Italy if it were I who had died ! ' sobbed the 
 poor king in the privacy of his own apartments, where 
 he gave way unrestrainedly to his grief for his own and 
 his country's loss. But in public he held the calm and 
 dignified language which became his position. Wliile 
 gratefully acknowledging all Cavour had been to him, 
 and mourning for him with undisguised sorrow, he let 
 the world know that he could stand alone, and that he 
 meant not to deviate one iota from the bold policy on 
 which he had entered.
 
 242 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 The grief of all Italy was equal to that of the king. 
 Every patriotic Italian felt that he had lost a personal 
 friend in the great statesman, and feared for the conse- 
 quences of his sudden demise at such a critical moment. 
 Massimo Azeglio wrote from his retirement on Lago 
 Maggiore to Farini : — 
 
 Thanks, dear friend, for your letter, though it made me 
 weep afresh like a child. Poor Cavour! It is only 
 now I know how much I loved him. The last two 
 days have seemed like a frightful dream to me. I 
 am no longer good for anything, but I have prayed 
 to heaven for our country, and a gleam of comfort 
 has come to me. If God ivill He can save Italy even 
 without Cavour. 
 
 But it was the opinion of many that without Cavour 
 nothing short of a miraculous interposition of Providence 
 could save Italy. 
 
 The king, who felt he never could bestow enough 
 honour on the memory of his illustrious minister, 
 wanted to bury him with the royal family in Superga, 
 but was prevented by the count's will, which provided 
 that he should be laid in the vault of the Cavour family. 
 
 Count Cavour's reputation had spread to foreign 
 lands, and all the friendly nations sent special envoys 
 to Italy with condolences and testimonies of sympathy 
 for the misfortune which had befallen the country. The 
 Emperor Napoleon wrote an affectionate letter to Victor 
 Emmanuel, and sent an ambassador, which was his 
 first recognition of the kingdom of Italy. There was a 
 grace in choosing the time, when the king was in 
 trouble ' for the loss of the man who had most power- 
 fully contributed to the regeneration of his country.' 
 
 Camillo Cavour had cherished the dream that, Rome 
 won and his king crowned in the Campidoglio, he would 
 retire to repose himself under his olives at Leri and 
 give up political life. But such a peaceful old age was 
 not for him. He was cut down with his armour on, in 
 the heat of the combat, almost in the moment of victory, 
 and like a true soldier breathed his last sigh with the
 
 THE KING'S INCREAoED RESPONSIBILITY. 243 
 
 battle cry of his party on his h'ps. ' Fraic^ he said, press- 
 ing the hand of his confessor, a few minutes before 
 he expired, 'Fratc, libera Chiesa in libcro Stato! ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ITALY AVITHOUT CAVOUR. A.D. 1S62-3. 
 
 The new ministr)^ was formed by Baron Ricasoh'. 
 Victor Emmanuel turned to his state duties with a feeling 
 of loneliness and a sense of increased responsibility. 
 Henceforth he gave more personal attention to foreign 
 affairs, dictated correspondence, and wrote much. From 
 a number of notes written in his own hand, for the use 
 of an envoy at Paris, we quote one or two. 
 
 I desire that the person that the emperor sends here to 
 represent him, be one who knows how to reconcile 
 in an amicable manner the interests of two countries 
 so closely allied. 
 
 I desire that the emperor should be reassured as 
 to the state of the army, which every day is increasing 
 in strength on the basis of the ancient Piedmontese 
 army ; and that he should not believe the erroneous 
 reports which have been communicated to him. My 
 wish is to Italiaiiise Piedmont, and Picdniontise the 
 army. 
 
 I have in no respect changed my way of thinking on 
 the Roman question. It is a matter of time. I am 
 not ambitious to go there now, nor for some time. I 
 am aware that at present France cannot do otherwi.se 
 than she is doing ; and I am firm in my idea 
 that the question of Venice should precede that of 
 Rome.
 
 244 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Victor Ein7nan7iel to Count Ponza di San Martino. 
 
 Dear Count, — I thank you for the various letters you 
 have written me, and still more for your work. The 
 affairs of the government of the Neapolitan provinces 
 go well, and I am sure, with your activity and capacity, 
 they will continue to improve. 
 
 The death of Count Cavour is a grievous fact, and 
 I feel it deeply ; but that mournful event shall not 
 arrest for one moment the onward march of our 
 political life. I see the future before me clear as a 
 mirror, and nothing can daunt me. I wish strength 
 and courage to the present ministry, for grave trials 
 are still in store for us ; but if God gives me life we 
 shall pass through them fearless and uninjured. The 
 recognition of France will be an accomplished fact 
 within this month. It is not well to push the Roman 
 question ; I delay it as much as possible, feeling sure 
 that that of Venice ought to precede it, and I am 
 firm on this point. 
 
 Dear Count, remember me sometimes, and remain 
 always firm in the faith, as I am : the future is ours. 
 I press your hand. Your affectionate, 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Turin, June 15, 1861. 
 
 In the month of July, Russia and Prussia followed 
 the example of England and France, and acknowledged 
 Italian unity. At the same time the young King of 
 Portugal sent an ambassador extraordinary to ask the 
 hand of Victor Emmanuel's youngest daughter, Maria 
 Pia, and to present his portrait to the king. The offer 
 was received favourably ; in fact, Victor Emmanuel, who 
 knew Don Louis personally and liked the Braganza 
 family, desired the alliance very much. In the course 
 of three months the marriage was officially announced, 
 and there were great rejoicings on the occasion, and 
 congratulatory addresses innumerable. The senators 
 and deputies who came in the name of the legislative 
 bodies to present an address, Victor Emmanuel invited
 
 MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS PIA. 245 
 
 to enter his daughter's reception-room, and speak their 
 farewell compliments personally, — that she might carry 
 away a livelier impression of the affections she left 
 behind her. The young princess was moved to tears, 
 and in thanking the deputation said she would never 
 forget the land of her fathers. The king accompanied 
 her to Genoa, where he consigned her to the charge of 
 the Portuguese ambassadors. The last hour before 
 parting the father and daughter spent alone with each 
 other, and when they reappeared the eyes of both were 
 red with weeping. Maria Pia was Victor Emmanuel's 
 youngest child, and god-daughter of Pio Nono. 
 
 The most striking want — at least, the one that 
 travellers suffered most from — in the Pontifical States, 
 was the absence of railway communication, all the 
 Popes before Pio Nono's time having had a strong pre- 
 judice against steam-engines ; while even he gave only a 
 tardy and reluctant sanction to the dangerous innovation. 
 Long after other civilised states enjoyed the advantages 
 of locomotives, the Pope's subjects still jogged over 
 mountain and moor in carriages, — the tedium of the 
 journey being frequently enlivened by encounters with 
 brigands ; and it was the custom for a gentleman when 
 starting on a trip of thirty or forty miles, to make his 
 will and confession, like a soldier preparing for battle. 
 
 Under the new regime this want of railway commu- 
 nication was being gradually supplied ; and in the 
 November of 1861, the line between Bologna and 
 Ancona being complete, Victor Emmanuel went to open 
 it with an imposing ceremony. The king was greeted 
 with great warmth all along the line. When the train 
 ran parallel to the road great crowds were assembled 
 who waved their hats and cheered vociferously, crying 
 Viva Vittorio Enianucle in Canipidoglio ! The king 
 said to his ministers — ' Yet there are people in Europe 
 who think when I speak of the necessity of settling 
 the Roman question, that it is my caprice or ambition. 
 If they heard those cries they would be persuaded of the 
 just desires of the people, and that it is a necessity for 
 the tranquillity of Italy and the peace of Europe.'
 
 246 LIKE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 At the end of this year the Crown Prince of Sweden, 
 now the reit^ning sovereign, visited the King of Italy, and 
 they became fast friends. Baron Ricasoli only held 
 office about nine months ; not feeling equal to the 
 difficulties he had to encounter, he resigned in March 
 1862, and Signor Rattazzi was empowered to form a new 
 ministry. Naples was still tormented by brigands, and 
 consequently in a disturbed state. The ministers 
 thought the king's presence there would have a good 
 effect : and in fact it had a very powerful one on the 
 excitable Neapolitans, who all united in the warmest 
 demonstrations of affection for him. While there, his 
 son-in-law, the Prince Napoleon, came in state to visit 
 him in the emperor's name, and there was a great 
 nautical fete in the Bay of Naples on the occasion. 
 
 TELEGRAM. 
 TJie King of Italy to the Emperor of the FrencJi. 
 
 I have just now visited the fleet which you have sent to 
 meet me in this port. This act on your part of kind- 
 ness for me personally, and sympathy for the Italian 
 cause, has touched me deeply, and I thank you for it. 
 It is a long time, sire, since I have felt such happy 
 emotion as this day. The order that reigns in these 
 southern provinces, and the warm testimonies of 
 affection I receive on all sides, reply triumphantly to 
 the calumnies of our enemies ; and will convince 
 Europe, I hope, that the idea of Italian unity rests 
 upon a solid basis, and is profoundly engraven on the 
 hearts of all Italians. 
 
 Accept the assurance of my sincere and unalter- 
 able friendship. 
 Naples, May 3. 
 
 All things were going smoothly in foreign affairs, 
 but the Rattazzi ministry were getting into difficulties 
 at home. The volunteer troops had become a source 
 of serious embarrassment to the government; their posi-
 
 DIFFICULTIES. 247 
 
 tion having in fact been the immediate cause of the 
 quarrel between Garibaldi and Cavour. Cavour knew 
 Garibaldi was a great power, and might become a 
 dangerous one ; so he met the general's explanations 
 and demands in a conciliatory spirit, promising to do 
 what he could for the volunteers, — Garibaldi in his turn 
 promising not to thwart or contradict the ministerial 
 policy. The count's sudden death had left things still 
 in an unsettled state, and the difficulties went on in- 
 creasing. It was found disagreeable and dangerous to 
 have two standing armies under separate heads and a 
 separate discipline, and it was proposed to amalgamate 
 the Garibaldians with the royal troops. Endless dis- 
 agreements arose out of this question, and the king, who 
 was excessively worried about it, begged his councillors 
 to arrange matters delicately, so as not to wound the 
 susceptibilities of the gallant volunteers, nor offend their 
 illustrious chief. 
 
 As soon as this question was in a manner accommo- 
 dated, a more serious one arose. The central provinces 
 lost all patience in waiting so long for a peaceful solution 
 of the Roman question. The leaders of the Young Italy 
 party became more warlike in their language, and 
 excited the peasantry to riotous proceedings, which the 
 government had to put down forcibly, and this disa- 
 greeable fact helped to make the Rattazzi ministry 
 unpopular. 
 
 Garibaldi's name had been used as an incentive to 
 those disturbances, and now the hot-headed general 
 embarked for Sicily, to take the command of a troop 
 who were bound for the Eternal City, resolv^ed to cut 
 with the sword the gordian knot of the Roman question. 
 The government used energetic measures to maintain 
 its dignity, and not allow an irregular warfare to be 
 carried on without its sanction. The times were 
 difficult, no doubt, and the ministry had a hard road 
 to tread, but Cavour had gone through m.ore critical 
 times and had known how to make use of Garibaldi's 
 enthusiasm, to hold the seething revolution in check, 
 without appearing to do so, and to avert civil discords
 
 248 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 when they seemed inevitable. ' If Cavour had lived, we 
 should have been in Rome within six months/ said the 
 king a short time after the death. It is not improbable 
 that he would have brought the Roman question to a 
 conclusion before the year was out, and so ' taken the 
 wind out of the sails ' of the republicans, prevented all 
 the troubles that the unsettled state of affairs occasioned, 
 and thus have spared Victor Emmanuel the inexpres- 
 sible pain of opposing his soldiers to the volunteers. 
 Acknowledging the impossibility of guessing what con- 
 tingencies might have arisen, as far as one can judge 
 by probabilities, it is safe to say that if the great 
 minister had survived another year or so the history of 
 Victor Emmanuel's reign would not have been blotted 
 by the name of Aspromonte. 
 
 Royal Proclamation. 
 
 Italians, — In the moment in which Europe has rendered 
 homage to the sense of the nation, and recognised its 
 rights, it grieves my heart to see inexperienced and 
 deluded youths forget their duty, their gratitude to 
 our best allies, making the name of Rome a signal of 
 war — that name to which are turned all our united 
 efforts and thoughts. 
 
 Faithful to the Statnto to which I have sworn, I 
 have held high the banner of Italy, made sacred by 
 the blood and glorious by the valour of my people. 
 No one follows this banner who violates the laws, and 
 who injures the liberties and safety of the country, 
 making himself judge of her destinies. 
 
 Italians ! be on your guard against a blamable im- 
 patience and imprudent agitations. When the hour 
 comes for the accomplishment of the great work, the 
 voice of your king will make itself heard among you. 
 Every appeal that is not his, is an appeal to rebellion, 
 to civil war. The responsibility of it, and the rigour 
 of the laws, will fall upon those who do not hearken 
 to my words. King by the choice of the nation, I 
 know my duties. I must preserve the integrity and
 
 ASPROMONTE. 249 
 
 the dignity of the crown and of Parliament, if I am to 
 have the right to ask of all Europe justice for Italy. 
 
 Victor Emmaxcel. 
 
 Turin, August 3, 1S62. 
 
 It was in vain. The Garibaldians were already in 
 the rield, and having crossed from Sicily, were marching 
 through Calabria with ever-increasing forces and the 
 cry of ' Rome or death ' on their lips. Victor Emmanuel 
 had now no choice left him but, to put down rebellion 
 by force of arms. General Cialdini's painful duty it was 
 to lead the royal troops on this occasion. He encoun- 
 tered the Garibaldians at Aspromonte, in Calabria, and 
 a fight ensued in which the volunteers were of course 
 defeated, and their officers arrested. Garibaldi, with a 
 ball in his foot, from the effects of which he has never 
 recovered, was carried a state prisoner to Piedmont, 
 where the best surgeons in the kingdom were sent to 
 his aid ; but all their efforts to relieve him only in- 
 flicted more intense agony on the sufferer, and it was a 
 year before the lead was extracted from the wound. 
 
 This unhappy episode was a bitter grief to Victor 
 Emmanuel. It was his pride that he was the free choice 
 of the Italian people, that he had never drawn his sword 
 but against the enemies of his country, and though the 
 Garibaldians were all in the wrong, still they were his 
 subjects, and the thought that Italian blood should have 
 been shed by his soldiers afflicted him deeply. Above 
 all he felt the misfortune of the gallant chief, who had 
 done so much for the Italian cause, and for whom he had 
 such a warm regard. But there was no help for it. The 
 national existence was at stake if he allowed his autho- 
 rity to be defied by this ill-advised volunteer movement.^ 
 
 Aspromonte gave a final blow to the Rattazzi 
 ministry. Never very popular, it was utterly shaken by 
 the reaction in favour of Garibaldi. Now that the 
 danger was passed, and the untamable old lion liors de 
 
 ' It is only just to remember in Garibaldi's excuse that he was misled 
 by the vacillating policy of the Rattazzi ministr}-, which, it is now clear, 
 played fast and loose with him.
 
 250 LIFE CF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 combat, his rash inconsiderateness, his violation of the 
 laws, were overlooked, and only his past glorious services 
 remembered. There were fierce debates on the subject, 
 and the ministry found it expedient to send in their 
 resignation, suggesting a dissolution of Parliament. The 
 king did not approve of the dissolution, and preferred 
 to accept the resignation of the Rattazzi cabinet. After 
 a good deal of worry and consultation, the king decided 
 to call Luigi Carlo Farini to office. The name of this 
 enlightened and liberal statesman, who had ruled the 
 Emilian provinces as dictator so ably during the inter- 
 regnum, was a guarantee for a good administration. 
 Unhappily his health obliged him to retire very soon 
 from public life, and he was succeeded by Minghetti. 
 On the whole this first year without Cavour had been a 
 very trying one to Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 In the beginning of 1863 the Minghetti ministry 
 turned their attention to the financial affairs of the 
 state. Several bills relative to taxation were laid 
 before the Parliament, and permission asked to contract 
 a loan. When authority had been granted by both 
 Houses, the king thus expressed his gratification. 
 
 Victor Evnnmniel to Signor Minghetti. 
 
 Dear Minghetti, — I thank you again for your work with 
 regard to the loan, in my own name and that of the 
 nation. May the accomplishment of this act be the 
 forerunner of great events, and conduct us to the com- 
 pletion of Italian glory. You know how this glory has 
 been the dream of my whole life — how it comprises 
 all my aspirations. Firm in the faith, with a fearless 
 and tranquil heart, I await it — and we shall attain it. 
 As soon as I return to Turin I shall send for you. 
 Meantime I press your hand with all my heart. 
 Your most affectionate 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The Parliament met on May 23. The speech from 
 the throne did not contain any remarkable statement. 
 We transcribe the opening paragraphs : —
 
 DISAGREEMENTS THROUGH THE ROMAN QUESTION. 25 I 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — In open 
 ing this new session as King of Italy, I am glad to 
 thank you for so much work done during the past 
 two years. You confirmed the right of the nation to 
 its complete unity. This right I shall maintain in- 
 violable. The parliamentary labours were hardly 
 begun when Providence snatched from us the illus- 
 trious man who was my able coadjutor in the arduous 
 enterprise of our regeneration. This grief was mine, 
 and equal to mine was the grief of all Italy for our 
 loss. 
 
 The marriage of my daughter with the young 
 King of Portugal, while strengthening a beneficial 
 alliance between two free states, has shown me, now 
 as always, that the joys of my house are shared by the 
 nation. 
 
 These two paragraphs were composed by Victor 
 Emmanuel and written in his own hand. Signor Min- 
 ghetti has preserved the speech as a precious relic of his 
 Gt'aii Re. 
 
 ^Meantime the Roman question remained in abey- 
 ance — to the great detriment of the nation, for it kept 
 Central and Southern Italy in a state of fermentation 
 which the government could not long hold in check. 
 The Bourbon intrigues at Rome, encouraging brigand- 
 age in the Two Sicilies, destroyed all security of life 
 and property, and impeded foreigners from visiting the 
 country. The Emperor of the French, occupying the 
 false position of champion of Italian independence and 
 protector of the temporal power of the Pope, would not 
 do anything, nor let the Italian Government do anything, 
 towards settling the momentous question. 
 
 Just at this time an incident occurred which came 
 near exhausting Victor Emmanuel's patience and caus- 
 ing a rupture with France. Four ruffians having com- 
 mitted ' deeds of violence, blood, and rapine,' in Naples, 
 escaped to Rome, where they found a safe asylum, and 
 from thence went on board a French vessel at Civita- 
 vecchia, bound for Marseilles. The Prefect of Genoa,
 
 252 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 Marquis Gualterio, being aware of this, conceived the 
 bold idea of seizing these felons on his own responsi- 
 bility. In so doing he knew he was violating a treaty, 
 and he expected to be disowned by his own government 
 and dismissed. There was a great outcry made about 
 the insult to the French flag, and the emperor's govern- 
 ment demanded the restitution of the ' passengers.' A 
 long diplomatic controversy ensued, and had to be 
 settled finally by a personal correspondence between 
 the sovereigns. The criminals were surrendered to the 
 Italian Government, the king promising to deal merci- 
 fully with them. 
 
 In this year a bill for the suppression of more 
 religious houses was brought in by Signor Pisanelli. 
 When the minister carried it to the king for his approval 
 he said with a sigh — ' This law will entangle the skein 
 still more, and will bring upon me a fresh e]uarrel 
 with all the monks and nuns of the kingdom. Well, I 
 will reply to their complaints that I am sorry to give 
 them pain, but I am, above all considerations, a con- 
 stitutional sovereign.' 
 
 He was never tired of reminding himself that he was 
 a constitutional sovereign, and must set an example of 
 obedience to the laws, as if he felt it necessary thus to 
 check his naturally imperious will. If for a moment he 
 seemed to have forgotten the fact, and felt like one of 
 his despotic ancestors — but this happened rarely — he 
 quickly called himself up, and with a frank, dignified 
 humility, acknowledged that he was wrong. 
 
 Once when the king was on a tour in the provinces, 
 an eminent citizen asked grace for a servant sentenced to 
 hard labour for defaming her mistress. The king, with- 
 out thinking, immediately promised that the sentence 
 should be remitted ; but on referring the matter to the 
 Minister of Grace and Justice he found that he refused 
 to admit that the case was a proper one for the exercise 
 of the royal clemency. The king was deeply mortified, 
 but he replied without resentment, — 
 
 ' Very well, Signor Ministro, you are doing your 
 duty, and I cannot complain. But if you could have
 
 ANECDOTES. 253 
 
 found a way to save " goat and cabbage," I should have 
 been glad. As it is, I will not try to escape the pain 
 that I have merited for having once only since I have 
 practised this profession (he always spoke of his kingship 
 as a profession) forgotten that I am, that I ought to be, 
 and wish to be, a constitutional king.' 
 
 One day Pisanelli complained of the republican 
 writers who accused the king of ambition. 
 
 * Very well,' replied Victor with a merry twinkle in 
 his eye, ' I will punish those gentlemen.' 
 
 ' How ? ' asked the minister. 
 
 ' When we have got to Rome and I have ascended 
 into the Campidoglio, I will take off my hat and say, 
 " Gentlemen, you have believ^ed me to be an ambitious 
 man ; I am not such. Vi^'a la Repubblica ! " ' 
 
 Years after, when Victor Emmanuel was in possession 
 of Rome, this Signor Pisanelli appeared at a court dinner 
 without his decorations, having forgotten them at Naples. 
 It did not escape the king's notice, who after dinner 
 asked him if he had become republican .'' The minister 
 wittily reminded him of what he had said in Turin — 
 that when once in Rome he would proclaim a republic — 
 and said that naturally he would follovr the example of his 
 king. ' But you ought to remember,' said Victor laugh- 
 ing, ' that I said that by proclaiming the republic I would 
 punish the republicans. You will not deny me the right 
 of grace ; and this time it is a grace much more just 
 than many you have made me sign, as the penalty would 
 strike the few guilty and the many innocent.' 
 
 This year Victor Emmanuel travelled a good deal 
 through the central provinces, to the great delight of his 
 new subjects, to whom he was still a curiosity — a liberal 
 king who mixed freely and fearlessly among the people 
 being a thing hitherto unknown in that part of the 
 peninsula. When in Tuscany he paid a visit to the ex- 
 dictator, Ricasoli, at his Castle of Brolio, near Siena ; 
 and to commemorate the event, the baron ordered a large 
 painting representing his majesty's entrance. 
 
 In November he went, accompanied by his ministers 
 and a large following, to open the railway line between
 
 2 54 I'lJ"^ ^^ VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Pcscara and Fogt^ia. The crowds that followed him 
 blocked up all the thoroughfares and rendered the 
 passage from the palace to the church impassable ; the 
 horses had to stop again and again, while the enthu- 
 siastic populace surrounded the royal carriage with 
 uproarious cvvivas. At last the king got out and walked 
 to the church in the midst of the people, followed by his 
 train. The foreign ambassadors who were present 
 thought this was rather an imprudent act, considering 
 that the country was still infested by Bourbon outlaws 
 and brigands ; but Victor Emmanuel knew no fear. For 
 more than eight centuries the princes of Savoy had con- 
 fronted every conceivable danger that man may meet, but 
 the dagger of an assassin had never been raised against 
 them in their own country. Emmanuel Philibert was 
 once near being shot, but it was during the war in 
 Flanders, and the author of the attempt was a lawless 
 German count. Not even in times of revolution, when 
 regicide was considered by the Italian sectaries a most 
 heroic deed, did any of them turn their hands against 
 the life of the Savoy princes. So the first liberal king, 
 the emancipator and uniter of Italy, who realised all 
 that they had been dreaming of for ages — felt he had no 
 reason to fear assassination. And surely his son, who 
 in his brief reign of tv.elve months has given so many 
 proofs of his fitness and capacity to perpetuate his 
 father's work, who has in no way fallen short of his duty, 
 but in all things shown himself a worthy successor of 
 il Re galantuomo, ought to have as little reason to fear 
 it. Yet they have tried to murder him, the assassin pro- 
 testing, Brutus-like, that he had the greatest respect and 
 veneration for Huvibcrt, but that he conceived it to be 
 his duty to kill the king. Alas for the fate of kings ! 
 Even were Humbert not the brave, honest, patriotic man 
 he is, one would have thought that gratitude to his 
 father's memory would suffice to protect him from insult 
 and injury. And if the son of Victor Emmanuel is not 
 safe from murderous attempts, what crowned head may 
 repose in peace .'' But though this atrocious crime has 
 revealed the painful fact that young Italy has not yet
 
 EFFECTS OF MAZZINIANISM. 255 
 
 shaken off her old curse of lawless societies, it has also 
 given occasion for the nation at large to show her loyalty 
 and devotion to the House of Savoy by demonstrations 
 of affection the strength and passion of which could not 
 be believed by those who did not witness it. The most 
 vivid descriptions would seem cold when compared to 
 the reality of the feeling which shook society from one 
 end of the peninsula to the other, when the news of the 
 attempt was made known. It called forth some of the 
 noblest instincts of human nature and the finest traits in 
 the Italian character, and on this account we hardly 
 think the king himself can regret the circumstance which 
 has shown him how deeply rooted in the heart of the 
 nation is her affection for him and his family. The 
 republicans or internationalists, after all, are but a few 
 thousand at most, while twenty-five million Italians 
 loudly proclaim their devotion to the monarchy. 
 
 The seeds which for forty years Mazzini had sown 
 broadcast over Italy, and which Garibaldi has done much 
 to foster, are still bearing fruit, but let us hope the 
 noxious plants may soon be uprooted from the soil. If 
 young Italians would study Azeglio's writings, and shut 
 their ears to the wild utterances of the hero of Caprera, 
 it would be well for them individually, and for the state 
 of which they form a part. 
 
 We owe an apology to our readers for this digression ; 
 but it is impossible to remain an indifferent spectator 
 of the enthusiasm the event alluded to has called forth, 
 impossible not to sympathize with the indignation and 
 the joy of the nation at such a moment, and almost in- 
 voluntarily our pen has run into the all-absorbing theme 
 of the hour.
 
 256 LIFE OK VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT TRANSFERRED TO 
 FLORENCE. A.D. 1S64-5. 
 
 The Roman question, daily increasing the embarrass- 
 ments and dangers of the state, still dragged on ; and 
 Victor Emmanuel, who had his eye on Venice all the 
 time, having a fixed impression that if it could be re- 
 covered he would find less difficulty in getting rid of the 
 foreign occupation in Rome, now adopted energetic 
 measures to bring about a settlement of this Venetian 
 question, urging the English Government to use its in- 
 fluence with Austria to induce her to accept some com- 
 promise and surrender the Italian province peaceably. 
 The Archduke Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, fa- 
 voured the idea of Italian unity, and wished the 
 matter to be arranged amicably between his relations 
 and the King of Italy. 
 
 Meantime the Italian Government continued to invite 
 the French to withdraw their forces from the Roman 
 States, and leave the Pope face to face with his own 
 subjects without the aid of foreign bayonets. This 
 the emperor, fearing to offend the papal party, could 
 not make up his mind to do. But to make the 
 road to Rome easier for the Italians, he proposed a 
 transfer of the capital from Turin to some more 
 southern town, Florence or Naples — he did not care 
 which. The French minister, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, 
 said : — 
 
 Of course in the end you will go to Rome. But it 
 is important that between our evacuation and your 
 going there, such an interval of time and such a 
 series of events should elapse as to prevent people 
 establishing any connection between the two facts ; 
 France must not have any responsibility. 
 
 The suggestion was adopted by the Italian ministry.
 
 PROPOSED REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL. 257 
 
 When Signer Minghetti first broke to the king the sub- 
 ject of changing the seat of government, and making 
 Florence or Naples a stepping-stone to Rome, he was 
 quite overwhelmed, and pleaded, even with tears, for 
 his native city to be spared such a cruel sacrifice as long 
 as the Roman question remained unsettled. 
 
 You know I am a true Turinese [he said], and no one can 
 understand what a wrench it is to my heart to think 
 I must one day abandon this cit}-, where I hav^e so 
 many affections, where there is such a feeling of 
 fidelity to my family, where the bones of my fathers 
 and all my dear ones repose. However (he added), if 
 we cannot do otherwise, I will make even this sacri- 
 fice for Italy. 
 
 This idea preyed on Victor Emmanuel's mind and 
 made him very melancholy. A few days after, he met 
 at a raihvay station a Neapolitan gentleman who was a 
 favourite with him. 
 
 ' Dear Tommasi, I am glad to see you,' he said, 
 'In a short time you will hear news of a great event.' 
 •What event, sire.?' asked the doctor. The king did 
 not answer, but continued with emotion, ' I have decided ; 
 when the interest of Italy is involved, I do not wish to 
 have any remorse. It grieves me to the depth of my 
 soul, but I will consent' ' Your majesty, I do not 
 understand.' But Victor Emmanuel, with a wave of his 
 hand, stepped into the carriage without answering. 
 
 La Marmora was called into the cabinet, and after 
 much discussion by letter and a visit to Paris de- 
 clined to approve of the proposal of the French 
 government — for the reason that he did not like the 
 Italians, after the evacuation of the French, to be bound 
 to protect the papal frontier from all aggression. The 
 Marquis Pepoli, who was intimate with the emperor, 
 had just returned from Paris, and the king asked 
 him if he thought it possible to remain in Turin 
 without renouncing the advantages of the convention 
 with France. When he replied in the negative Victor 
 Emmanuel burst into tears. ' Since the cession of 
 
 S
 
 258 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Savoy and Nice,' he said, ' no public event has cost me 
 such bitter regret. If I were not persuaded that this 
 sacrifice is necessary to the unity of Italy I would 
 refuse.' 
 
 The king accepted the conditions, which provided 
 that the French were to evacuate Rome in two years, 
 and fixed on Florence as the residence of the court. 
 The convention was then agreed to and signed. The 
 ministers were touched by the king's sorrow ; and 
 Visconti Venosta said to a friend : — 
 
 It is a most ungrateful office that I have to perform in 
 bringing a great sorrow upon the city of Turin^ — had 
 it not been for which, instead of being minister of the 
 King of Italy, I should still be suffering under a 
 foreign rule. 
 
 The minister had not exaggerated the effect of this 
 change upon Turin. The wildest consternation, the 
 most passionate grief, reigned in the city. The more 
 ignorant part of the populace, who could not under- 
 stand the state reasons for the sacrifice of Turin after 
 all she had done for the Italian cause, made riotous 
 demonstrations against the government ; while the 
 better class of citizens broke into bitter lamentations 
 and complaints of the cruel ingratitude with which 
 they were treated. The ministry had to resign on Sep- 
 tember 24 ; and the king sent for La Marmora. The 
 general, who was travelling in Switzerland when he re- 
 ceived the royal summons, hastened home, and though 
 he had disapproved of the convention, he generously 
 consented to assume the difficult and ungrateful office of 
 premier. 
 
 The new ministry set themselves to examine the 
 unpopular convention which had driven their prede- 
 cessors out of office, but it being already signed there 
 seemed no remedy. The king said, ' I have signed the 
 convention ; I must maintain it ; / will maintain it. I 
 believe it is for the good of Italy.' 
 
 The single-minded, chivalrous La Marmora stood 
 loyally by the king in his trouble. ' The king's signa-
 
 TURIN RIOTS. 259 
 
 ture is there — that is enough,' he said, in the Chamber. 
 After long and painful discussions the convention was 
 approved by a large majority in both houses. 
 
 On New Year's day 1865, the city deputations who 
 waited on the king were received by him with unusual 
 warmth, and he hoped the inhabitants of his beloved 
 native city would continue worthy of their old reputa- 
 tion for devotion to their common country. The fury 
 against the government had calmed down during the 
 three months since the change of ministry ; but great 
 depression and melancholy prevailed, and there were 
 not wanting demagogues to take advantage of it, to stir 
 up the Mazzinian element to make a demonstration 
 against the king. On the occasion of a court ball, 
 January 31, the populace crowded round the palace, 
 shouting, and hissing, and even throwing stones to im- 
 pede the entrance of the guests. The king in deep 
 indignation set out immediately for Florence, accom- 
 panied by La Marmora. 
 
 All Italy cried shame on the populace of Turin, and 
 tried to atone for the outrage by extraordinary marks 
 of devotion. Crowds waited at every station along the 
 line, cheering and applauding vociferously ; but it was 
 nothing to the reception the king met in Florence, 
 which welcomed him with redoubled warmth because 
 he had chosen that city for his capital. All the most 
 distinguished men hastened to offer their homage, and 
 among them Gino Capponi, for whom the king had a 
 great admiration, and on whom he bestowed the order 
 of the SS. Annunziata. But all this applause could not 
 heal the wound inflicted by the Turinese. A storm of 
 fierce emotions was raging in his heart, and he could not 
 long keep up the farce of smiling, bowing, and looking 
 happy when he was miserable. He hastily left Florence 
 and retired to the Villa San Rossore, near Pisa. 
 
 The day after the seditious demonstration above 
 mentioned, Turin awoke to a sense of shame for the dis- 
 graceful performance. It is true that it was only the 
 mob, and for the most part boys, who had taken part 
 in the outrage ; but the respectable portion of the com-
 
 260 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 munity were conscious of having encouraged a spirit of 
 discontent, and expressed themselves bitterly on the 
 subject of the removal of the capital — so that they 
 now felt the whole city was involved in the disgrace. 
 All the other towns raised a cry of indignation at 
 the disloyal demonstration, and Turin felt crushed 
 under the displeasure of the king and the nation. The 
 nobility and the municipality, wishing to set matters 
 right, conceived the idea of presenting an address to the 
 king, deploring the insult and expressing their devotion 
 to his person and throne. When this address was 
 signed by many thousand names, they humbly solicited 
 an audience, which the irate monarch, still sulking in his 
 little hermitage by the sea, disdainfully refused to grant. 
 The minister, Signor Lanza, and the Prince of Carignano, 
 earnestly pleaded the cause of the offending city, and 
 Victor Emmanuel's fierce but short-lived anger gave 
 way before the evidences of repentance which it dis- 
 played. 
 
 The Marquis Rora, Syndic of Turin, read the ad- 
 dress, which completely melted Victor's soft heart. His 
 full pardon was given in a few frank and generous 
 words, which he could hardly pronounce for the emo- 
 tion that choked his utterance. It was noticed that 
 after this day Victor Emmanuel was no longer gloomy 
 and taciturn. He recovered his usual cheerful gaiety 
 of manners. But his heart was in Turin ; he longed 
 to be back to see the old familiar streets, palaces, 
 and gardens, where his life had been spent, and to re- 
 ceive the affectionate greeting of the citizens. On 
 February 23 he returned to the Subalpine capital, and 
 was welcomed with transports of joy by all classes, with- 
 out a dissentient voice. 
 
 To meet the expenses of the change of capital and 
 other requirements of the state, the Minister of Finance, 
 Sella, found it necessary to resort to fres-h taxation. Pre- 
 vious to laying the matter before Parliament, and asking 
 the nation for new sacrifices, he said to the king, that 
 it would be well that an example of disinterestedness 
 should be given by the highest person in the state.
 
 CONTRADICTORY PICTURES. 26 1 
 
 Whereupon the king, without a word, surrendered a fifth 
 part (three milHon francs) of his civil list. 
 
 Such acts as this, carefully recorded by the Liberals, 
 are as carefully suppressed by the Clericals. Not even 
 in conversation do they ever let slip a single kind or 
 generous action, of all the many that Victor Emmanuel 
 did in public and private ; but they dwell with gusto on 
 his faults, and exaggerate them. These faults the 
 Liberals on the other hand regard as spots on the sun, 
 not worthy of notice, and accordingly as a general 
 rule do not notice them. The whitest swan and the 
 blackest crow could not be more diverse than the two 
 pictures we are called upon to contemplate under the 
 heading, ' Victor Emmanuel.' Let us take, for example, 
 a few sentences at random from the first publications at 
 our hand. 
 
 Clerical : — He left behind him a bad name, an im- 
 poverished nation, and an example which the world 
 must condemn. In public affairs he was an utterly 
 unscrupulous man ; in private he was bold, haughty, 
 full of passion, and wholly given over to licentious- 
 ness, etc. 
 
 Liberal : — What a great monarch was Victor Emma- 
 nuel ! What a fine noble life was his ! How full of 
 sublime teaching for kings and for peoples ! All 
 agree, in death as in life, to honour the name of the 
 first King of Italy- — the greatest, best, and most 
 glorious king she may ever see — the model patriot, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 When the stor}- of Victor Emmanuel has grown 
 dim through time, the future historian will be puzzled 
 to choose between the conflicting records of the ex- 
 treme parties. But we have no hesitation in saying 
 even the most extravagant partisans of the king are 
 more honest and truthful than his detractors ; and there 
 are always some just-minded, moderate men who do 
 not allow their feelings to bias their judgment, and who 
 frankly acknowledge that their hero was not perfect,
 
 262 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 though he had a hundred claims on their affection and 
 gratitude. 
 
 Just at this time Victor Emmanuel was pleased to 
 receive a courteous letter from the holy father asking 
 him to send some confidential person to Rome to con- 
 sult about the nomination to certain vacant bishoprics ; 
 but the king's envoy and the Pope did not come to an 
 understanding, and the negotiations were broken off. 
 
 In this year Spain, the only European power which 
 had not yet acknowledged the kingdom of Italy, sent an 
 ambassador to the court of Victor Emmanuel. Queen 
 Isabella was always the implacable foe of liberty, and 
 had hitherto given great encouragement to the Ultra- 
 montane party, so that it was a triumph to see this 
 last enemy succumb under the pressure of popular 
 opinion. 
 
 Before opening the new Parliament in Florence the 
 king paid a visit to Naples, then suffering terribly from 
 the ravages of cholera, to give relief to the afflicted 
 people, and comfort and encourage them by his pre- 
 sence, as his custom was on such occasions. 
 
 On November i8, 1865, the first Parliament was 
 opened in Florence. 
 
 The Kings Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — When in 
 that generous city which has guarded the destinies 
 of Italy in her new-born fortunes, I inaugurated these 
 parliamentary sittings, my words were ever full of 
 encouragement and hope, constantly justified by the 
 feats that followed. With a soul full of the same 
 confidence to-day I see you united round me in this 
 noble seat of illustrious memories. Here also, intent 
 on the full vindication of our right to self-government, 
 ve shall conquer every obstacle. 
 
 On closing the last legislature, in deference to the 
 Head of the Church, and with the desire of satisfying 
 the religious scruples of the majority, the government 
 welcomed a proposal for negotiations with the Pon-
 
 FIRST PARLIAMENT IN FLORENCE. 26} 
 
 tifical See ; but they were obliged to break them off 
 when they thought the conditions would be derogatory 
 to the rights of the crown and the nation. The ful- 
 ness of time and the inevitable force of events will 
 solve the question between the kingdom of Italy and 
 the papacy. On us meantime it is incumbent to 
 observe faithfully the convention of September 15, 
 which France will in the established time carry into 
 complete eftect. The virtue of waiting is to-day 
 rendered more easy to Italy than it was in the past, 
 for since I last addressed Parliament its condition has 
 been improving. 
 
 In the progress of our work we are comforted 
 by the sympathy of all civilised peoples. By com- 
 munity of interests and by the tie of gratitude we are 
 bound in a close accord with France. We are in 
 good relations with most of the other states of Europe, 
 and with the governments of the two Americas. A 
 vast field was opened to commerce b\' the advantageous 
 treaties concluded with England, Holland, Denmark, 
 Switzerland ; as already with France. Sweden, Bel- 
 gium, Turkey, and Persia. Spain a short time ago 
 recognised the kingdom of Italy, Bavaria and Saxony 
 have manifested the same desire which Germany and 
 Prussia have alread}' put into effect. The ties between 
 the Latin race and the noble Germanic peoples thus 
 strengthened will enable the Italians to entwine with 
 theirs their interests and aspirations, and help to 
 extinguish obsolete prejudices and rancours. In this 
 manner Italy, taking her place among the great states 
 of Europe, will contribute to the triumph of justice 
 and liberty. 
 
 At home our policy has already produced wonder- 
 ful effects. In the course of a few years — in the ad- 
 ministration, in the laws, in codes, in public works, in 
 the army — results have been obtained for which in 
 other countries they have laboured for generations or 
 have gone through deplorable intestine struggles. 
 That so many difficulties are overcome, augurs well 
 for the future.
 
 264 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 My ministers will present drafts of laws to com- 
 pletely systematise the legislative unification of the 
 kingdom of Italy, to redeem from ignorance the poorer 
 classes, to improve the condition of credit, and to 
 push forward more energetically the public works. 
 Other laws you will amend as experience and oppor- 
 tunity counsel. The great difficulty is to repair the 
 unbalanced state of the finances without taking from 
 the nation its strength of arms by land and sea. I 
 am grieved beyond measure that an unavoidable 
 necessity obliges us to ask from my people new 
 sacrifices. But I am certain their public spirit will 
 not fail you, gentlemen ; I have had too many 
 guarantees of it in the privations they have already 
 sustained with such w^onderful constancy. But I 
 desire you to divide the taxes in the most equitable 
 and least burdensome manner possible, reducing the 
 public expenses to the narrowest limits. 
 
 The Italian people ought to divest themselves of 
 all the remains of the past which stand in the way of 
 the full development of their new life. You will have 
 to deliberate upon the separation of the Church and 
 State, and the suppression of religious corporations. 
 Proceeding in this manner the insidious practices of 
 enemies, or the spite of fortune, will not destroy our 
 work. A great change is going forward among the 
 peoples of Europe. The future is in the hands of 
 God. If in the accomplishment of the destinies of 
 Italy, fresh trials should arise, I feel certain that 
 her valiant sons would press around me once more. 
 Where the moral force of civilisation prevails, the ma- 
 ture judgment of the nation will not fail to profit by it. 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — In 
 order that the rights and the honour of Italy may re- 
 main inviolate, it is necessary to advance frankl)i on the 
 road of our national policy. Certain of your concur- 
 rence, confident in the affection of the people and the 
 valour of the army. I will not shrink from this most 
 noble undertaking which we must transmit complete 
 to future generations.
 
 DEATH OF D'AZEGLIO, 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE FINAL EXPULSION OF THE FOREIGNER. 
 A.D. 1866. 
 
 Early in the new year Victor Emmanuel lost his third 
 son, Odone or Otto, Duke of Monferrat, and his dear old 
 friend Cavaliero Massimo d'Azeglio. The death of the 
 poor deformed prince could hardl}- be called a misfortune 
 for himself, as he was a constant sufferer. But his 
 bright intelligence and gentle disposition had endeared 
 him to his family, and his robust and soldierly brothers 
 treated him with affectionate consideration. The com- 
 passionate tenderness the afflicted boy inspired in his 
 father may be imagined from the following anecdote. 
 When in Rome King Victor drove almost every after- 
 noon on the Pincian Hill. At the entrance there stood 
 a hunchbacked boy, for whom he always had a pile of 
 coppers wrapped in a paper. One of the gentlemen in 
 waiting made inquiries about the youth, and told the 
 king that he was quite undeserving of his bounty. ' Oie 
 viiole ? ' was the reply. ' He reminds me of Odone, and 
 I cannot pass him by.' 
 
 Though ^Massimo d'Azeglio had long retired from 
 public life, he was still dear to Victor Emmanuel as the 
 brave, disinterested, and noble-hearted man who had 
 sacrificed every personal regard when he consented to 
 take office in the first miserable year of his reign, sharing 
 his grief, his humiliation, his unpopularity, supporting 
 and sustaining him in the noble part he chose to act 
 of Re galantiiouio. Victor Emmanuel felt strongly the 
 fascination of his versatile genius ; and in the inscription 
 on the monument which he helped to erect to his me- 
 mor}^, he calls him his ' friend.' The readiness with 
 which the great artist and author would assume an 
 office of state when required, and then step down into 
 comparative poverty, li\ing by his brush, is a charming 
 trait in his attractive character. No pecuniary reward
 
 266 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 would he take on his retirement. Victor Emmanuel 
 wanted to bestow on him the Order of the SS. Annun- 
 ziata, but he declined with the smiling remark that it 
 was not meet for the king's cousin to sell pictures. The 
 readers of his correspondence will remember that at the 
 time of the Peace of Milan the Emperor of Austria 
 offered him the Order of St. Etienne, and he replied 
 that if the emperor really wished to show to him some 
 mark of benevolence, let him give him the pardon of 
 the Lombards who had been excluded from the amnesty. 
 
 The king was not in Turin when D'Azeglio's hopeless 
 state was made known, but the Prince of Carignano 
 visited him the day he died, and his last words to him 
 were, ' Remember me, and that I have always been a 
 devoted and affectionate servant of the House of Savoy.' 
 
 All through the past year Victor Emmanuel had 
 been trying to wring Venetia out of the grasp of Austria, 
 in a peaceable manner, if possible, but if that were not 
 possible he was resolved to resort to arms once more. 
 His speech in November plainly pointed to war as more 
 than a probability ; and, Austria firmly refusing to 
 surrender her possessions, both parties prepared for ano- 
 ther struggle. Foreign domination once established in 
 a country is an incubus difficult to shake off. In Italy 
 the monster called lo Straniero died hard, clinging con- 
 vulsively to his victim and sapping the life-blood from 
 her veins with his expiring breath. Lombardy had been 
 won and lost, and won again, with a generous prodigality 
 of the noblest blood in the country ; and now the 
 Italian soil must drink once more the warm libation 
 from Italian hearts before la P atria could be completely 
 redeemed and united. 
 
 The quarrel between Austria and Prussia was grow- 
 ing all this time, and Italy proposed an alliance defensive 
 and offensive with the latter power. The ministry had 
 become unpopular because of the corn-grinding tax, 
 which to the present day has never ceased to be a source 
 of discontent, and Sella, the Minister of Finance, author 
 of the obnoxious bill, sent in his resignation, and all his 
 colleagues with him. The king was greatly annoyed by
 
 WAR WITH AUSTRIA. 26/ 
 
 the defeat of the government at this critical juncture. 
 La Marmora, who had his entire confidence, was em- 
 powered to form a new ministry'. The general had 
 some difficulty in getting a Minister of Finance, but a 
 politician was at last found bold enough to undertake 
 the unenviable duty of directing the monetary affairs of 
 the new kingdom. La Marmora remained President of 
 the Council and ^Minister for Foreign Affairs ; General 
 Pettinengo was called to the War Department, and he 
 accepted office simply to please the king. The distin- 
 guished and patriotic young general, Giuseppe Govone, 
 was sent to Berlin to treat of the alliance. He fulfilled 
 the office with tact and ability, and the treaty was con- 
 cluded April 8, 1866. 
 
 When this fact became known, Austria, on the brink 
 of war with Prussia, began to think that she must rid 
 herself in some way of the worr}- of the Italians on her 
 southern frontier, in order to be free to combat her 
 powerful northern enemy. The cabinet of Vienna did 
 not apply directly to the cabinet of Florence, but to 
 that arbiter of the destinies of nations. Napoleon IIL, 
 proposing to cede Venetia on condition that the Italian 
 government should detach itself from the Prussian 
 alliance. It was a strong temptation ; to recover the long- 
 disputed provinces without the risks and expenses of 
 war would have restored the minister to the popularity 
 he had lost in the matter of the convention with France. 
 But La Marmora was proof against all such temptations. 
 He would brave popular rage, but he would not fail in 
 the smallest particular in any of his engagements. In 
 order to leave his sovereign free to exercise the royal 
 prerogative, he sent in his resignation, which Victor 
 Emmanuel, being entirely of his mind, refused to 
 accept. 
 
 After an ineffectual attempt to accommodate matters 
 by a congress, war was declared against Austria, on June 
 20, 1866, and La Marmora, having appointed Ricasoli 
 as his deputy at the head of the council, led the army 
 northwards. The Italians, though grumbling against the 
 ministry because of the recently imposed tax, received
 
 268 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 the announcement of war with unmeasured applause. 
 The day before the battle is always one of pleasing ex- 
 citement and enthusiasm ; the day after, when the costs 
 come to be counted, one of mourning. Victor Em- 
 manuel appointed his cousin regent, and carried his 
 sons along with him to the seat of war. At sunrise the 
 king passed through the streets of Florence, amidst loud 
 acclamations, good wishes, and blessings, to the railway 
 station, where he embraced Baron Ricasoli, saying, ' I 
 commend our country to you.' 
 
 The ardent applause which greeted the king was in 
 answer to one of his fiery proclamations issued the day 
 before, explaining the reasons of the war, which were — 
 the inveterate hostility of Austria to Italian liberty, her 
 refusal of a pacific settlement of the quarrel by means of 
 a congress, and her threatening attitude on the Italian 
 frontier, which was a continual source of disturbance and 
 inquietude to his state. He thanked his people and army 
 for the ready response they had given to his call ; ex- 
 pressed a strong conviction that the justice of their cause 
 would be recognised by public opinion, and concluded 
 thus : — 
 
 Italians, — I commit the government of the state to my 
 most beloved cousin Prince Eugenio, and I take up 
 again the sword of Goito, Pastrengo, Palestro, and 
 San Martino. I feel in my heart a conviction that 
 this time I shall completely fulfil the vow I made 
 on the tomb of my magnanimous parent. I will be 
 once more the first soldier of Italian independence. 
 Vh'a r Italia ! 
 
 Given from Florence, June 20, 1866. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Ricasoli. 
 
 To the National Guards. 
 
 Officers, Sub-officers, and Militia of the National 
 Guards, — -I commit the sovereign authority to my 
 beloved cousin Prince Eugenio, and I turn again to 
 fight the last supreme battles for the liberty and inde-
 
 LETTER TO NAPOLEON. 269 
 
 pendence of Italy. While the forces of land and sea 
 will vindicate the nation's rights against the threats 
 and provocations of Austria, you will maintain her 
 well ordered and tranquil, because in obeying the 
 laws she will strengthen her liberties and prepare her- 
 self for the glorious future that awaits her. You have 
 constituted this kingdom by your votes : preserve it 
 intact by your discipline and your citizen arms. To 
 you I commit, in full confidence, the guardianship of 
 public order, and calmly I go where the voice of 
 Italy calls me. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Victor Emmaimcl to Napolcoii III. 
 
 Sire and Brother, — I announce to your majesty that, 
 faithful to the convention made with Prussia, I have 
 this morning sent a declaration of war to Austria. 
 My army, which confronts the enemy, counts over 
 250,000 active men. I have a reserve of 50,000, and 
 very soon I may have another as good. I start to- 
 morrow to assume the command of the army. My 
 heart is joyous and full of confidence in the future. 
 
 I thank your majesty for all that you have done 
 for us, and I pray you not to forget us, and me in 
 particular, who am your majesty's good brother, 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 The emperor replied that in the interests of his 
 country he had resolved on maintaining a strict neutra- 
 lity ; but he would never cease to pray for the happiness 
 of his ' good brother ' and the independence of Italy. 
 
 Order of the Day. 
 
 Officers, Sub-officers, and Soldiers, — Austria armino- on 
 the frontier challenges you to new battles. In my 
 own name, in the name of the nation, I call you to 
 arms. This cry of war shall be as heretofore a cr\' of 
 joy to you. Whatever be your duty I will not tell 
 it you, because I am satisfied that you know it. Con-
 
 270 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 fiding in the justice of our cause, strong in the right, 
 by our arms we must accomplish our unity. 
 
 I assume to-day the command of the army, to 
 fulfil the duty which awaits me and you, to liberate 
 the people of Venetia who have long groaned under 
 an iron yoke. You shall conquer, and your name 
 shall be blessed by present and future generations. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel's happy prognostications were not 
 this time destined to be fulfilled. The forces of Austria 
 were led by the able and experienced commander the 
 Archduke Albert, who had distinguished himself at 
 Novara. On the ill-omened field of Custoza, where the 
 Italians had been defeated in 1849, the opposing armies 
 met ; and both being in good condition, well disciplined 
 and brave, there was fought a prolonged and bloody 
 battle, in which the Italians were worsted, but not 
 routed. They valiantly maintained their positions, and 
 though their losses were heavy, those they inflicted on 
 the enemy were also severe. 
 
 On July 20 the Italian navy suffered an overwhelm- 
 ing defeat at Lissa in the Adriatic, and these two great 
 misfortunes plunged Victor Emmanuel into the deepest 
 grief. He felt disabled from continuing the war : all the 
 sacrifice of life had been in vain : national unity was 
 as far off as ever. He had deported himself with his 
 usual gallantry at Custoza ; and the young princes, for 
 the first time in action, had shown a spirit worthy of 
 their father. Amedeo was slightly wounded ; and this 
 gave an opportunity for the generals to protest against 
 the reckless exposure of lives so precious to the state. 
 General Cialdini said the thought that at any moment 
 they might be deprived of all the royal family, had 
 weighed heavily upon his mind. The king combated 
 the idea for his sons as well as himself. He said he 
 did not expose himself from mere recklessness, but from 
 a sense of duty, to inspire his men with more courage 
 and show them that he considered the cause worth 
 fighting for, worth dying for, if need be. ' I appreciate
 
 VENICE LIBERATED. 27 I 
 
 this anxiety about the Hves of the princes,' he said, ' but 
 my sens are soldiers and must fight. If we princes of 
 Savoy remained at home at ease while our soldiers 
 fought for us, we should end like the Bourbons of 
 Naples.' 
 
 Meantime the Prussian arms were everywhere 
 victorious over Austria, and about ten days after the 
 battle of Custoza it was announced in the Moniteur that 
 Austria had asked the Emperor Napoleon's mediation, 
 offering to cede him Venice, and that he was making 
 over that province to the King of Italy. Italy could not 
 accept it without the consent of her ally Prussia ; and 
 while negotiations were going forward on the subject, 
 the brief seven weeks' campaign was brought to a con- 
 clusion by the great victory^ of Sadowa, and on July 26 
 the preliminaries of peace were signed by the Austrian 
 and Prussian plenipotentiaries. 
 
 Though defeated by the Prussians, the Austrians had 
 been victorious in two encounters with the Italians, and 
 these reverses, coming after such sanguine expectations, 
 having sunk the country in gloom and misery, the 
 national misfortune had to be accounted for by imputing 
 mismanagement to the government. The king, finding 
 his army very much diminished, and hemmed in between 
 the Austrian forces, the Po and the Adige, began to see 
 the necessity of an immediate armistice. But to take 
 upon himself the responsibility of concluding an armis- 
 tice, so sure to be unpopular, would be rash. Pie 
 despatched General Menabrea to Florence to explain 
 the desperate state of things at the seat of war, and ask 
 the approval of the government to what was an un- 
 avoidable step. To wait for a reply might be dangerous ; 
 and the king and General La Marmora opened nego- 
 tiations with the Austrians at once, resolved to disregard 
 every consideration but what was best for the country. 
 
 It was then that La Marmora, with that high- 
 souled loyalty which always distinguished him, resolved 
 to throw himself between the king and the nation. A 
 constitutional sovereign must not be permitted by his 
 minister to do anything that would bring upon him the
 
 272 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 odium of his people. ' I take the whole responsibility, 
 whatever may happen,' said he. 
 
 ' This is too much, dear La Marmora,' replied Victor 
 Emmanuel, pressing both his hands with emotion ; ' I 
 must have my share.' 
 
 The king and the general sustained each other in 
 their patriotic resolution to conclude an armistice. 
 ' They will accuse us of having betrayed the country,' 
 said Victor, ' but we will sacrifice even our reputation 
 to preserve the army, and with it the nation.' 
 
 The government approved of the armistice. Venice 
 was restored to Italy by the Emperor of France, with 
 the approval of Prussia. There was a sting in the 
 thought that it was not wrung from the talons of the 
 Austrian eagle by the valour of Italian arms, but by the 
 force of diplomacy ; still it was a delightful fact that 
 Venice was free, with the tricolour waving on St. Mark's. 
 The Italian soil was delivered from foreign occupation ; 
 the never-to-be-forgotten cry, Fuori lo St^-aiiiero ! 
 which had resounded so long throughout the peninsula, 
 was to be heard no more. 
 
 During the period of the armistice, before the treaty 
 of peace was signed, there was an interlude which di- 
 verted the public interest from the late disasters in 
 the form of an insurrection in Sicily, which was quickly 
 suppressed by General Cadorna, who had with him the 
 sympathy of the respectable portion of the community. 
 It was conducted by those lawless adventurers who had 
 been hitherto accustomed to live as they pleased, and 
 prey upon their neighbours, and consequently disliked 
 the new order of things, as tending to do away with 
 their privileges. This movement was the last expiring 
 effort of the Bourbons to restore their dynasty in Italy. 
 
 As soon as the treaty was signed at Vienna, October 
 2, the Venetian Assemblies unanimously elected Victor 
 Emmanuel with acclamations, and begged for immediate 
 annexation to the kingdom of Italy. On November 4, 
 in the city of Turin, Victor Emmanuel received the 
 deputation which came to proffer him the homage of 
 the inhabitants of Venetia; and not only did the citizens
 
 ITALY MADE. 2/3 
 
 greet them with demonstrations of joy, but visitors 
 from all parts of the Peninsula were assembled to 
 welcome them, as brothers long separated by a cruel 
 fate, at last reunited to the Italian family. The exiled 
 Venetians wept for joy to think they should see again 
 their dear native city. The king, in bestowing the Order 
 of the SS. Annunziata upon Generals Cialdini and 
 Menabrea, also decorated the breast of the blind Vene- 
 tian, Paleocapa, who had resigned with the Cavour 
 cabinet, disgusted with the peace of V^illafranca, but 
 who was now full of joy at the thought of breathing his 
 native air once more. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was radiant with happiness. Who 
 will blame him if in that moment he forgot Custoza and 
 Lissa, and thought only that the labour of his life was 
 accomplished, that the vow he made on his father's tomb, 
 so often renewed, was at last fulfilled ; that the foreigner 
 was finally expelled from Italian soil, and he was no 
 longer required to hate anybody .? With him, the hack- 
 neyed phrase, 'This is the happiest moment of my 
 life,' was no mere figure of speech, for he had never 
 used it before in any public address. 
 
 Victor EmmanueV s Reply to the Venetians. 
 
 Gentlemen, — This is the most beautiful day of my life. 
 It is now nineteen years since my father proclaimed 
 from this city the war of national independence. To- 
 day, his birthday, you, gentlemen, bring me the mani- 
 festation of the popular will of the Venetian provinces, 
 which we now unite to the great Italian country 
 {patria Italiana), declaring as an accomplished fact 
 the desire of my august parent. You confirm by this 
 solemn act that which Venetia did in 1848, and which 
 she maintained with such admirable constancy and 
 self-abnegation. Let me here pay a tribute to those 
 brave men who with their blood, and with sacrifices 
 of ever>' sort, kept undiminished faith to their country 
 and to her destinies. With this day shall disappear 
 from the Peninsula every vestige of foreign domi- 
 
 T
 
 274 I'l^'E OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 nation.^ Italy is made, if not completed ; it now 
 rests with the Italians to make her great and pros- 
 perous. 
 
 Gentlemen, the Iron Crown is also restored in 
 this solemn day to Italy. But above this crown I 
 place that which to me is dearer — the crown of my 
 people's love. 
 
 On November 7 Victor Emmanuel made a solemn 
 entry into the most beautiful, and, after Rome, the most 
 interesting city of the Italian peninsula. To tell how 
 he was received would only be to repeat what already 
 has been said about similar entries into the other 
 capitals. Enough to say that 'the Bride of the Sea' 
 gave him a welcome in no way inferior to that of the 
 sister cities. While here he had the pleasure of meeting 
 and entertaining the firm friend of Italian independence, 
 Lord Russell, At the same dinner, which was com- 
 posed of a curious conglomeration of guests, was the 
 Austrian General Moring, and the Cardinal Trevisanato, 
 Patriarch of Venice. 
 
 After visiting several towns of Venetia the king 
 returned to Florence on November 21, 
 
 Hot upon the settlement of the Venetian question, 
 came the discussion of that of Rome, which after the 
 evacuation of the French troops seemed more com - 
 plicated than ever. The Catholic powers were now 
 anxious to accommodate the quarrel between Italy and 
 the Pope, and they offered to guarantee him his income 
 and his independence if he would reconcile himself to 
 the national will. But Pius IX. was immovable in his 
 determination to oppose it to the last. 
 
 It was proposed that the Eternal City, and the little 
 Pontifical State around it, should be guaranteed to the 
 Pope and protected by the Italian Government. But 
 to this arrangement the Italians never would consent, 
 for without Rome the unification of Italy was incom- 
 plete. As for the Romans they had a thousand reasons 
 
 ' The French, in fulfilment of the convention of Septembei" 1864, were 
 evac ating Rome.
 
 EVACUATION OF ROME KV THE FRENCH. 
 
 ^/D 
 
 for opposing such an arrangement. The bare considera- 
 tion of the idea b\- their more fortunate countr\-men 
 outside the sacred Hmits of the Church's State, would 
 seem cruel ingratitude after all the}- had suffered for 
 the national cause. In the midst of this agitation and 
 diplomatic discussions on the Roman question, Parlia- 
 ment was opened, to receive for the first time the 
 \'enetian deputies, who took their oaths and seats in the 
 midst of that pleasing excitement which always followed 
 the annexation of a new province; and. King Victor 
 spoke in that tone of congratulation which was natural 
 to a man who, if he did not ' swallow a province a day,' 
 as a Milanese soldier once said, had within the last 
 seven years absorbed seven principalities.^ 
 
 The speech from the throne is so long that we will 
 only give the opening paragraph and that one which 
 refers to Rome. 
 
 Tiu King's Speech, Deeeviber 15, 1866. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — The coun- 
 try is free at last from ev^er\- foreign domination. My 
 soul exults in telling it to the representatives of 
 25,000,000 Italians. The nation had faith in me, I had 
 faith in the nation. This great event crowning our 
 common efforts, gives new vigour to the work of civili- 
 sation and renders more secure the political equilibrium 
 of Europe. 
 
 The French Government, faithful to the obligations 
 it assumed in the convention of September 1864, has 
 withdrawn her military forces from Rome. On its part 
 the Italian Government, maintaining its engagements, 
 
 ' King Victor related the following anecdote to his ministers one day : 
 'In 1861 I was holding a review on the Piazza d'Armi in Milan. Opposite 
 me was a regiment, the soldiers of which held their eyes fixed on mine, as 
 discipline prescribes. Two of them, without moving their heads, held the 
 following dialogue, which, though spoken in a low voice, I overheard, for, 
 as you may have perceived, gentlemen, I have excellent hearing. "Look 
 at our king, is he not fine and fat ? " "That he is, but considering that he 
 eats a province a day, what wonder that he should be fine and fat ? " ' 
 
 T 2
 
 2/6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 has respected, and will respect, the Pontifical terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The good understanding with the Emperor of the 
 French, to whom we are bound by the ties of friendship 
 and gratitude, the moderation of the Romans, the 
 wisdom of the Pontiff, the religious sentiment and 
 right judgment of the Italian people, will all contri- 
 bute to reconcile Catholic interests and national aspira- 
 tions, which are being mixed up confusedly in the 
 agitations at Rome. 
 
 Reverential towards the religion of our fathers, 
 which is also the religion of the greater part of the 
 Italians, I render homage at the same time to the 
 principles of liberty that inform our institutions, 
 which, applied with sincerity and breadth of judgment, 
 will help to remove the old causes of difference 
 between the Church and State. These our provisions, 
 reassuring Catholic consciences, will, I hope, assist in 
 the fulfilment of my desire, that the Supreme Pontiff 
 should remain independent at Rome. 
 
 General Pettinengo having resigned his post as 
 Minister of War, in the belief that the king was dis- 
 satisfied with him, Victor wrote as follows : — 
 
 Victor Eininaiiucl to General Pettinengo. 
 
 I am vexed to see in a letter from you, directed to the 
 Count Verasis, that you imagine that I am ill-disposed 
 towards you. If such were the case, I must very soon 
 have forgotten the many services rendered by you to 
 the State, the special merit of having accepted, solely 
 to oblige me, the portfolio of War in difficult times, and 
 finally the zeal which you showed for the army when 
 it was put on a war footing. If some things have not 
 gone as I desired, I certainly did not mean to blame 
 you, dear general ; I attributed it rather to an old 
 system, which has need of modifications. 
 
 Ingratitude is, for the most part, the reward of 
 those who labour for the public good. I also have
 
 ROME AGAIN. 277 
 
 had hard experience of this for a long time ; and, less 
 fortunate than you, I cannot yet ask my dismissal. 
 These lines I hope will be sufficient to prove to 
 you, dearest general, that you preserve always the 
 esteem and the friendship of 
 
 Your most affectionate 
 
 VlTTORIO EMAXUELE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE KING AND POPE. — FIXAXCIAL DIFFICULTIES;. — 
 MARRIAGE OF PRINCE AMEDEO. A.D. 1 867. 
 
 The French army being withdrawn from Rome, the Pope 
 had no other defenders than his foreign mercenaries ; his 
 little state was hemmed round on all the land sides by 
 the possessions of the robber king, who had undertaken to 
 defend him against foreign aggression and protect him 
 in the exercise of his spiritual authorit}'. As temporal 
 sovereign he was tottering on his throne ; his subjects 
 were thoroughly disaffected, and in that ancient seat of 
 priestly power which once ruled Christendom, the Pope 
 could not now command the willing obedience of other 
 than his Swiss guards and ecclesiastics. Not daring to 
 trust himself without the protection of a large military 
 force, he again raised a foreign legion, to take the 
 place of the French troops. This proceeding irritated 
 the Romans more than ever ; and instead of practising 
 that patience which the king recommended, they lost all 
 hope in diplomacy, and took to their old expedient of 
 conspiracy. 
 
 ' The internal tempest which rages in Rome,' writes 
 Castelar, ' is at once perceptible to the stranger. There 
 are 400 persons now in prison for political offences. 
 A priest of high position, and an intimate friend of 
 the Pope, assures me that there are in Rome now 
 70,000 Garibaldians. A state which scarcely contains
 
 278 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 600,000 souls keeps a standing army of 20,000. These 
 20,000 are men of different nations, languages, and 
 customs.' 
 
 Meantime it was necessary for the court of Florence 
 and that of Rome to hold some communication with 
 reference to ecclesiastical preferments. A dispute arose 
 about the Archbishopric of Milan, the Pope not approv- 
 ing of the king's nomination, and vice versa. At last the 
 matter was amicably settled to the satisfaction of all 
 parties. Several letters were exchanged between the 
 heads of the Church and State on these ecclesiastical 
 matters. The Pope's missives, when not treating of the 
 political questions of the day, were courteous and not 
 unfriendly ; and he was heard to say at this time that he 
 preferred dealing with Victor Emmanuel than with the 
 Bourbons of Naples or Leopold of Tuscany. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel's communications, it is needless 
 to say, always breathed a profound reverence for the 
 Head of the Church, as such ; and as it was in this 
 character he now approached him, the correspondence 
 between the two illustrious rivals merged into a kind- 
 lier tone than one would have believed possible between 
 the excommunicated monarch and the offended Pontiff, 
 The correspondence was of a private nature ; but Victor 
 Emmanuel communicated the general contents to his 
 confidential advisers. Pio Nono in one of his letters 
 explained why he could not recognise nor bless Victor 
 as ' King of Italy,' though in his own person, and in his 
 quality of King of Sardinia, he did so willingly. 
 
 The king, in speaking of this letter, said : — 
 
 I replied to the following effect:— I have often read in 
 books approved of by the Roman Church, that the 
 Almighty sometimes avails himself of a king to casti • 
 gate a pope, or a pope to castigate a king. If your 
 holiness cannot recognise nor bless the King of Ital^^ 
 as such, you can at least bless in him the instrument of 
 which Divine Providence avails himself for ends beyond 
 our penetration.
 
 FIXANXIAL DIFFICULTIES. 2/9 
 
 Meantime the question of the separation of the 
 Church and State, and the readjustment of ecclesiastical 
 property, was before Parliament, and the government 
 being defeated with a motion of censure, resolved to 
 appeal to the country in a general election. 
 
 The king's speech on opening the new Parliament, 
 March 22, will give a general idea of the state of 
 affairs. The nation was now on the verge of bankruptcy, 
 and nothing but the secularisation of Church property 
 could save its credit. 
 
 TJie Kings SpctxJi. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — For the 
 good of Italy, which has confided her destinies to me, I 
 esteemed it well that the representation of the country 
 should calm itself at the sources of national suffrage. 
 I hope that it has there derived a consciousness of the 
 grave necessities of the country, and the strength to 
 provide for them. 
 
 We have had the time for bold propositions and 
 daring enterprises. I met them confident in the sanc- 
 tity of the cause which God had called me to defend. 
 The nation replied eagerly to my voice. With har- 
 mony and persevering labour we acquired indepen- 
 dence and we maintain liberty. 
 
 But now that her existence is assured, Italy requires 
 that we do not, in intemperate rivalries, lose the vigour 
 of mind and soul which is necessary to give her wise 
 and stable laws ; so that, in peace and tranquillity, 
 those elements of prosperity which Providence bestows 
 so largely, may have time to fructify. The nation 
 expects that Parliament and government will under- 
 take resolutely this work of reparation. The people 
 love and prize institutions in proportion to the benefits 
 they bring them. It is necessary to show that our 
 institutions satisfy the noblest aspirations of efficiency 
 and national dignity, while at the same time afford- 
 ing a guarantee for the good order of the state 
 and the well-being of the population, that in them
 
 28o IJFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 their faith in the liberty which is the honour 
 and the strength of our constitution may not be 
 diminished. 
 
 For the attainment of this object my government 
 will present for your deliberation a complete scheme 
 for the improvement of the administration, which 
 will strengthen at the same time both liberty and 
 authority. 
 
 The necessities and engagements of the state hinder 
 me for the present from lightening as I could wish 
 the heavy imposts which weigh upon my people. 
 But a legitimate liquidation of the ecclesiastical assets, 
 a severe economy in the expenses, a diligent applica- 
 tion of the new laws, an austere morality maintained 
 in all parts of the public administration, will operate 
 so that the taxes may become less burdensome. Only 
 the prompt discussion and efficacious execution of the 
 proposed reforms can restore our credit and remove 
 the necessity of new taxes. To-day the question of 
 the finances is for Italy not only a question of 
 supreme interest, but also a question of honour and 
 of national dignity. I doubt not the Parliament will 
 turn all its attention to solve it. 
 
 On solemn occasions we have promised to Europe 
 that when once we were complete in our entity as a 
 nation, she would find in us a power given to civili- 
 sation, to order, and to peace. It now rests with us 
 to maintain that promise, and to respond to the hopes 
 that we have taught her to conceive of us. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — The 
 honour, the welfare, and the future of Italy are in 
 your hands. If it was a glory to have, with so many 
 sacrifices, conducted to fulfilment the work of our 
 independence, and impressed on the nation the move- 
 ment and vigour of life, it will be no less glory to 
 set her in order within, to make her sure of herself, 
 respected, prosperous and strong. 
 
 Another ministerial crisis followed on the opening
 
 AMEDEO'S MARRIAGE. 28 1 
 
 of Parliament. Baron RIcasoli resigned, and Signor 
 Rattazzi was called to form a new ministry. 
 
 In the April of this year died, comparatively 
 young, Baron Carlo Poerio, to the great grief of the 
 king and the nation. Poerio was the Silvio Pellico of 
 Naples ; he had suffered indescribable martyrdom in 
 the prisons, in the galleys, in exile ; but so far from 
 making a merit of this, he shrank with a painful modesty 
 from any mention of his trials. His simple, beautiful 
 character had won the admiration of Victor Emmanuel, 
 who had conceived for him an immense regard, and 
 felt his death as a national misfortune. 
 
 On May 30, Victor Emmanuel's second son, Ame- 
 deo, Duke of Aosta, married Maria Vittoria, daughter of 
 Prince Pozzo della Cisterna, — the head of a rich and 
 very ancient Piedmontese famih\ devoted to the national 
 cause. The prince was not much past twenty-one, but his 
 youth was full of promise which his manhood has since 
 fulfilled. As ruler of the most disordered country in 
 Europe, his firmness, courage, and rectitude of purpose 
 were acknowledged even by those who rejected his 
 authority. The bitterest enemies of monarchy find it 
 difficult to pick a hole in the character of Amedeo of 
 Savoy — save only that he has a slight dash of the 
 superstition of his fathers. The bride was in every way 
 worthy of the noble prince who had chosen her, and the 
 marriage was — for a royal marriage — a wonderfully 
 happy one. The princess being Italian made this 
 matrimony particularly acceptable to the nation, and 
 there were great rejoicings and demonstrations of loyalty 
 on the occasion.
 
 2S3 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 MENTANA. A.D. 1 86/. 
 
 Meantime things were going from bad to worse in 
 Rome. The hatred between the governing and the 
 governed was becoming fiercer and more uncontrollable. 
 The Inquisition was at work to discover treason as well 
 as heresy, seditious acts and words were punished with 
 extreme rigour, the sentences passed being in many cases 
 unjust ; the soldiers of the foreign legion were insolent 
 and overbearing, and the patience of the Romans was 
 quite exhausted. The immense number of ecclesiastics 
 congregated in the capital and filling every office of the 
 state, and the close connection which many of them had 
 with the old nobility, made the clerical party still for- 
 midable, supported as it was by a strong military force. 
 Nevertheless, the citizens resolved to appeal to arms 
 once more, though many of their most daring spirits 
 were in prison, in the galleys, or in exile. 
 
 The liberator, who had listened to the ' cry of anguish ' 
 from the provinces, seemed deaf to all their entreaties, 
 and preached patience to them while the rest of Italy 
 was congratulating herself on being * made.' So they 
 turned their hopes to the rash but generous chief who 
 had made so many hopeless efforts to aid them in the 
 past. During the five years that had elapsed since 
 Aspromonte, Garibaldi had lived in retirement in Caprera, 
 nursing his wound and brooding over the disjointed 
 state of the world, which he was firmly convinced would 
 never be set right till all the priests were exterminated. 
 This hostility to the clergy endeared him to the Romans ; 
 and almost all the popular songs of this time had the 
 Caviicia Rossa for a hero. They asked him where did 
 he hide himself when the voice of Italy called him : why 
 did he not take his flight to the Capitol, where the bones 
 of Brutus and Cassius summoned him .' Was he afflicted, 
 suffering, depressed } Then he was all the more dear to
 
 ROME OR DEATH I 283 
 
 them for those very reasons ; the scorn of the Moderates 
 onl}- made him the greater — 
 
 Ed Aspromonte farti non possa 
 Meno magnanimo, Camicia Rossa ! 
 
 He responded to the call, and took the field once 
 more, with the old cry of ' Rome or death ! ' — magic 
 words, which drew hundreds of ardent young enthusiasts 
 into the ranks of his veteran band of volunteers, ready 
 at the bidding of their chief to undertake any desperate 
 enterprise. 
 
 The clerical part}- in Rome, knowing the disaffection 
 that reigned in the city, and dreading the approach of 
 the Garibaldians, made an outcry which was echoed 
 by the Ultramontanes in France — all declaring that 
 the Italian Government was false to the convention 
 of 1864. The cr}- of the papal party frightened the 
 vacillating emperor into ordering a large body of troops 
 to embark for Civitavecchia to protect the Pontifical 
 States. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel found himself in a most embar- 
 rassing position. Saving only the first year of his reign 
 he never had passed through such a difficult and trying 
 one — with regard to public affairs —as this year of 
 1867. 
 
 All the complications of the Roman question were 
 becoming more intricate. He was pledged to protect the 
 papal frontier, but not to occupy the territory' with his 
 troops. And now that it was about to be invaded b}- 
 Italian volunteers, in defiapce of the king's government, 
 how was he to fulfil his compact without sending troops 
 across the frontier ? Fearful agitation reigned, not only 
 in the capital, but throughout Italy, the sympathy of 
 the whole nation being with the Romans and the 
 Garibaldians. The king's sympathies there is no doubt 
 were with them also. It was hard for him, feeling as 
 he did, to act the unpopular part which diplomacy 
 dictated and the interest of the country demanded. 
 To make matters worse, the ministry was in a critical 
 position ; in fact no ministry had had any stabilit}' since
 
 284 I^IFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 the convention of 1864, and consequently great care 
 and responsibility fell upon the king. Orders were 
 given to use severe repressive measures with the volun- 
 teers ; Garibaldi was arrested, and, at his own request, 
 carried to Caprera, where he was kept in honourable 
 confinement. Victor Emmanuel could not bear to sub- 
 ject the general to harsh treatment, for he was still 
 suffering from the effects of his wound at Aspromonte ; 
 and the memory of that day was bitter to the king. 
 
 Garibaldi's body might be imprisoned at Caprera, 
 but, like old John Brown, 
 
 His soul went marching on. 
 
 The fire which he had fanned into a flame could not 
 be quenched. It increased in fury when the news 
 arrived that a French army was embarking at Toulon 
 to re-occupy the Roman State ; and a civil war, or war 
 with France, seemed imminent. At this unhappy 
 moment the Rattazzi ministry, unable to cope with such 
 overwhelming difficulties, resigned. The king called in 
 General Cialdini ; but to compose a ministry at such a 
 crisis of public affairs was no easy matter. Many days 
 passed before anything was decided with regard to the 
 constitution of the new cabinet. The volunteers gather- 
 ing strength and determination, approached the Roman 
 frontier. The king and the country had often felt 
 Cavour's loss, but never more than at this terrible 
 juncture, when Victor Emmanuel stood alone, trying to 
 guide the tempest-tossed ship of state from foundering 
 on the rocks which threatened her with destruction. 
 His Neapolitan biographer, in speaking of this period, 
 says : — 
 
 I have already had occasion to note, but the repetition 
 is not superfluous, the rare acumen with which Victor 
 Emmanuel solved the most delicate constitutional 
 questions, and in the most difficult moments knew 
 how to draw himself out of an imbroglio by wise, 
 and in every way unexceptionable resolutions. That 
 would be a title to merited praise even in a king of
 
 THE king's appeal TO THE ITALIANS, 285 
 
 England, descended in a long line from constitutional 
 princes, because they have drunk in and been pene- 
 trated with the teaching which is derived from con- 
 stant observance of the traditions of Parliament. But 
 it excites marvel in a king like Victor Emmanuel, the 
 first of his race to exercise the prerogative, lofty but 
 at the same time most delicate, of a constitutional 
 sovereign. It is an example unique in history. 
 
 General Cialdini failing to construct a ministrj', 
 General Menabrea hastily collected together a few 
 devoted • adherents of the throne, who, like the king, 
 were ready to sacrifice their popularity to save the 
 country from imminent danger. Strong measures were 
 taken to maintain public order. The royal troops were 
 ordered to guard the papal frontier, hoping to check 
 the Garibaldian movement and induce the volunteers 
 to unite themselves with the regular army. 
 
 Royal Proclaniatio?t. 
 
 Italians! — Bands of volunteers, excited and seduced 
 by the work of a faction, without authority from 
 me or my government, have violated the frontier of 
 the state. The respect due equally by all citizens 
 to the laws and international conditions sanctioned 
 by the Parliament and by me, establishes in these 
 grave circumstances an inexorable obligation of 
 honour. Europe knows that the banner raised in the 
 neighbouring lands, on which was written the destruc- 
 tion of the supreme spiritual authority of the Head of 
 the Catholic religion, is not mine. This attempt places 
 the common country in grave peril, and imposes on 
 me the imperious duty of saving the honour of the 
 nation, by not allowing to be confounded in one 
 two causes absolutely distinct — two objects totally 
 diverse. 
 
 Italy must be secured against the dangers that 
 may come. Europe must be convinced that Ital}-, 
 faithful to her engagements, does not wish to be, and
 
 286 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 will not be, a disturber of the public order. War 
 with our allies would be a fratricidal war between 
 two armies which have fought for the same cause. 
 
 I am the depository of the right of declaring 
 peace or war for the nation, and I cannot tolerate 
 the usurpation of it. I trust therefore that the voice of 
 reason will be listened to, and that the Italian citizens 
 who are violating that right will quickly place them- 
 selves in the ranks of our troops. The perils and the 
 disorders w^iich this ill-advised project may create 
 among us ought to be forsworn by them, who should 
 maintain firmly the authority of the government and 
 the inviolability of the laws. 
 
 The honour of the country is in my hands, and 
 the confidence that the nation had in me in her days 
 of mourning shall not be disappointed. When the 
 excitement has calmed down and public order is 
 fully re-established, then my government, in agreement 
 with that of France, and according to the vote of Par- 
 liament, will try sincerely by every loyal effort to 
 find a solution which will put a termination to the 
 grave and important question of the Romans. 
 
 Italians ! — I have and always will put con- 
 fidence in your sense, as you have done in the 
 affection of your king for this great country, which, 
 thanks to our common sacrifices, we have at last 
 placed upon the roll of nations, and which we ought 
 to transmit to our sons honoured and entire. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Florence, October 27, 1867. 
 
 Meantime negotiations were being carried on with 
 the French Government to impede the disembarkation 
 of the troops at Civitavecchia. General La Marmora 
 was despatched in hot haste to remonstrate with the 
 emperor, and tell him, if he did not want to see the 
 young nation sunk in a bloody revolution, to refrain 
 from interference. The Marquis Pepoli being then in 
 the French capital, also had an interview with Napoleon 
 III., and communicated the result to the king, who tele- 
 graphed a reply to the following effect : —
 
 THE KING'S TRYING POSITION. 287 
 
 To tJic Marquis Pepoli, Paris. 
 
 Received your report. I thank you. The government, 
 desiring to make known to the Emperor of the 
 French the new condition of the country, which is 
 alarming, sends La Marmora. You will go to the 
 emperor to-day or to-morrow. Tell him on my word, 
 that, in case of the French disembarkation, we 
 should occupy part of the Pontifical territory, this 
 occupation shall not be political; and I pledge my- 
 self that no complication or misadv^enture .^hall happen 
 between the French and us in pursuance of the orders 
 that I have given ; tell him that I find it impossible 
 to act otherwise because of the great excitement of 
 the country. Turin is already rising, and Naples 
 threatens to do so ; I am to call troops to arms, 
 because Parliament, which had taken them from us, 
 is not now able to repress the disturbances. 
 
 Entreat the emperor to believe in my good faith 
 and friendship for him, but ask him to consider my 
 position. Tell him if the Garibaldian bands are 
 repulsed (by the papal troops) we will disarm them. 
 
 Let the emperor tell me immediately where we 
 can hold a congress. I think Savona a convenient 
 place ; and the sooner it is done the better for both 
 of us. Write me something by telegraph, and then 
 start at once and come to me with the latest news. 
 I have need of you here ; your presence is necessary 
 in these difficult moments. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Oct. 30 ; hour 3.45. 
 
 This telegram, the composition of which shows that 
 it was written in great haste and agitation, will give a 
 faint idea of the distress and anxiety which the king 
 suffered at this period. * Do not think of me,' he said 
 to his ministers; 'think only of saving Italy by any 
 measures possible. Do what you esteem best ; I will 
 bear the consequences.' 
 
 In spite of the ill-regulated zeal of the volunteers 
 and their disobedience to his authority, Victor Em-
 
 288 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 inanuel had a great tenderness for those misguided 
 youths ; and he had earnestly hoped that his proclama- 
 tion would have recalled them to a sense of their duty 
 as citizens and subjects. In the hope of winning them 
 over to join the ranks of the royal army, the Italian 
 troops were ordered to cross the papal frontier. 
 
 This precaution was interpreted in a hostile sense by 
 the Pontifical authorities, who loudly proclaimed that 
 the King of Italy had violated the convention. It was 
 well for them, however, that Victor Emmanuel stood 
 between them and the seething fury of the nation at 
 that moment ; if he had slackened the reins of govern- 
 ment and let the storm take its course, guided by the 
 republican leaders, history would have had a different 
 story to tell than the defeat of the volunteers at Men- 
 tana. Whoever has read Garibaldi's book, The Ride 
 of the Monk, will be able to form an idea of how the 
 clergy were regarded by the Republican party, and the 
 fate that would have been allotted to the dignitaries of 
 the Church had they come into power. Happily for hu- 
 manity and civilisation, a wise, firm, and tolerant prince 
 was at the head of the state, who, in order to maintain 
 his treaty in the spirit, sacrificed the letter. 
 
 But matters had gone too far with the Romans and 
 their sympathisers outside to admit of a peaceable 
 termination. Menotti Garibaldi, at the head of the 
 volunteers, had entered the State of the Church, and 
 the inhabitants rose as one man to welcome them and 
 join their ranks. In each town their forces were aug- 
 mented ; they passed through the country defeating 
 the papal troops everywhere, and marched on the 
 Eternal City. It had been pre-arranged that the con- 
 spirators in the city were to admit the invading forces 
 by the gate of St. Paul ; but the government having 
 discovered a great quantity of firearms concealed near 
 this gate, the plot miscarried. The rebels, surprised, 
 made a desperate resistance, but were overcome and cut 
 down with great havoc ; those outside, attempting an 
 entrance, also fell victims to the well-armed and well- 
 disciplined Swiss Guards. The leader of the rebel
 
 DEFEAT OF THE VOLUNTEERS. 289 
 
 band was the brother of the late prime minister of Italy, 
 Cairoli, who won so much renown, in November last, by 
 sa\ang his king's life almost with the sacrifice of his 
 own. Young Cairoli fell mortally wounded, and ex- 
 pired crying, Vtfa Roma ! Deeds of great brutality 
 were afterwards committed by the papal soldiers, but 
 were disowned by the government when they came to 
 be publicly known. 
 
 The Roman Consulta, or senate, presented a petition 
 to the Pope, signed by 12,000 citizens, entreating him 
 to call Victor Emmanuel's army to Rome, as the only 
 means of restoring order and peace. But that was the 
 last course which Pius would have thought of adopting. 
 
 Meantime Garibaldi, having escaped from Caprera, 
 took the field once more, and met with a decided 
 success at ]\lonterotundo, a few miles from Rome, 8co 
 prisoners remaining in his hands. At the head of 3,000 
 men he reached Mentana, where he encountered the 
 French army, which the emperor had sent to defend the 
 temporal power. Superior in numbers, in discipline, and 
 in arms, the French made fearful havoc in the ranks of 
 the volunteers, who fell under the deadly fire of the 
 cJiassepots like grass before the scythe. 
 
 At this moment Pepoli arrived from Paris, and 
 found the king almost broken-hearted, brooding over the 
 thought of all the generous young blood which ensan- 
 guined the field of Alentana. He agreed to recall his 
 troops from the papal territory, so as to give no one an 
 excuse for saying he violated the convention. Who will 
 blame him if at that moment his heart was full of bitter- 
 ness towards his ' august ally,' who Jiad all but ruined at 
 the last moment the work of his lifetime .-* 
 
 He directed the marquis to write a letter to the 
 emperor. When Pepoli had written it he gave it to the 
 king to read, who exclaimed, * How is this } you have 
 said nothing about the chasscpots. Ah, those cJiasscpots 
 have mortally wounded my heart as father and as king. 
 I feel as if the balls had torn my flesh here,' and he put 
 his hand to his breast. * It is one of the greatest griefs 
 that I have ever known in all my life.' 
 
 U
 
 290 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 The marquis having supplied the omission, handed 
 the letter again to the king, and observed the tears 
 rolling down his cheeks as he murmured ' Povcri giovani ' 
 (poor youths). 
 
 The Marquis Pcpoli to the Emperor of the French. 
 
 Sire, — The king's government, in recalling the Italian 
 troops from Roman territory, has rendered a service, in 
 my opinion, not only to Italy, but to the cause of 
 liberty in Europe, avoiding fatal complications and a 
 civil war. It finds itself, however, in a dubious and 
 grievous position with regard to the country. It finds 
 itself accused of having ceded to foreign pressure, which 
 is the worst and most cruel accusation which can be 
 brought against a government. It is necessary that 
 it should be reinforced, if it is to govern the country 
 with a firm hand, if it is to vindicate the principle of 
 offended authority, if it is, without going beyond 
 the laws, to find in the laws themselves the remedy for 
 the evils that torment Italy. 
 
 Your majesty will effectively contribute to this 
 by removing even the appearance of an alliance with 
 the Clerical party, which would be, I will not say 
 fatal to Italy, but most fatal to France, and the 
 Napoleonic dynasty. 
 
 I dare to hope that your majesty will not hesitate 
 to do this, because if the need of satisfying the national 
 susceptibilities, and the obligation of respecting your 
 own word, counselled you to refuse every demand to 
 suspend the expedition to Rome, the same reasons do 
 not exist to-day to make you refuse to recall your 
 army. No ; the permanence of the French banner at 
 Rome would not be a pledge to the national honour, 
 but to the ireful vengeance of the reactionary party. 
 I dare affirm that the return of the French expedition 
 would be saluted by all liberal Europe with joy, and 
 that an immense majority of the French people would 
 applaud it. 
 
 Believe me, your majesty, it is best to break with a
 
 UNHAPPY CONSEQUENCES OF MENTANA, 29 1 
 
 party which dreams of commencing the restoration at 
 Rome and finishing it at Paris. Do not league yourself 
 with the Legitimist clericals. Your majesty can, if 
 you will, be the head of the Liberal party in Europe, 
 of that party which has the future in its hands, which 
 will regenerate the world, in spite of the efforts of the 
 feudal party. It is your majesty's mission to finish 
 once for all with the old world ; you ought to hav^e the 
 glory of uniting religion and liberty. You have made 
 the word of France respected ; you can, if you will, re- 
 conquer lost ground, complete the work initiated, and 
 be the Charlemagne of liberty in Europe. 
 
 Pardon, sire, if I have spoken with my customary 
 frankness. But Italy to-day, after the withdrawal 
 of her own troops, has a right to ask justice from 
 Europe. If your majesty follows a liberal policy in 
 Rome, the benefits of it will react on the internal 
 policy of France. 
 
 The late events have suffocated every remem- 
 brance of gratitude in the heart of Italy. It is no 
 longer in the power of the government to maintain the 
 alliance with France. The cJiassepot gun at Mentana 
 has given it a mortal blow. 
 
 But this alliance is not contemptible, sire ; it is an 
 alliance more safe and effective than that of the Clerical 
 party. Your majesty can, if you will, without offend- 
 ing the dignity of your nation, revi\-ify it and make it 
 fruitful. 
 
 GiOACHixo Pepoli. 
 
 Florence, Nov. 6, 1S67. 
 
 But while Victor Emmanuel wept the fate of the 
 brave youths who fell at Mentana, he had to vindicate 
 his outraged authority by punishing those who survived. 
 The leaders of the movement were arrested, and the 
 arch-offender, Garibaldi, was conducted to the fortress 
 of Varignano a close prisoner. He was cheered en- 
 thusiastically at Spezia, and at every place where he 
 was seen. He was once more the hero of the day, and 
 Victor Emmanuel was under a cloud. After order had
 
 292 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 been restored somewhat, Garibaldi, whose health was 
 much broken, asked and obtained the royal pardon, and 
 was once more conducted to Caprera. 
 
 Certainly, between the Garibaldians, and the reac- 
 tionists, and the French emperor, Victor Emmanuel did 
 not lie on a bed of roses. He had been forced to act a 
 part most repugnant to his feelings, which placed him in 
 a false position towards his subjects and involved him 
 in unmerited unpopularity. Between two evils he had 
 chosen the least, resolved to do his duty at any personal 
 cost ; but the trial was great. ' I have the honour 
 of bearing the title of king, and sometimes I find it 
 very heavy/ Victor Emmanuel once wrote in a private 
 letter ; and we can well believe it. To constitute a vast 
 kingdom out of a number of small states long divided, 
 to ' make ' a nation, as he expressed it, out of such ele- 
 ments as went to compose the ' geographical expression ' 
 known as Italy, involved a herculean labour which few 
 men would have had the strength and perseverance 
 to conduct to a finale, and which could not possibly be 
 accomplished without many difficulties and trials. We 
 can imagine him sometimes, weary of the fitful fever of 
 his existence, looking with envy at a sovereign like 
 Queen Victoria, calmly reposing on the broad and solid 
 foundations of an old hereditary and constitutional 
 monarchy. 
 
 The ministry, as the Marquis Pepoli had said, was 
 in a dubious and painful position. The Chambers were 
 reopened on December i, when the Roman question was 
 put under discussion and gave occasion to passionate 
 debates. One deputy proposed a resolution to approve 
 the conduct of the government, expressing regrets that 
 the friendly relations with France had suffered, and 
 declaring in explicit terms that Italy had a moral right 
 to Rome. The resolution was rejected by a majority of 
 two. ' In the majority there were deputies of the extreme 
 right who would not agree to the affirmation of Italy's 
 right to Rome ; deputies of the left, who would not 
 express regrets for the altered relations with France ; 
 deputies of the centre, who were irritated by the
 
 THE pope's faith IN MIRACLES. 293 
 
 offensive words pronounced with regard to Italy in the 
 French rostrum ; and those deputies who habitually 
 oppose any ministry whatever.' The ministry re- 
 signed, and the king accepted their resignation, but 
 immediately empowered General IMenabrea to form a 
 new cabinet. 
 
 At the time of the ministerial crisis there arrived in 
 Florence a distinguished traveller on his way to Rome — 
 an English statesman for whom Victor Emmanuel had 
 a profound respect. Lord Clarendon was an old ac- 
 quaintance ; and the king talked freely to him of his 
 difficulties and perplexities, and asked him to be the 
 bearer of a message to the Pontiff. He begged him to 
 assure his holiness of his affection, which no political 
 dissension had power to change ; to lay before him the 
 true state of affairs, and to say that the longer the policy 
 of resistance lasted, seeking support from foreign inter- 
 ventions, the more painful would be the inevitable end. 
 Lord Clarendon delivered the message. ' They are 
 strange people, these Italians, pretending to unite Italy 
 without my aid,' said the Pope. Lord Clarendon sug- 
 gested that his holiness might aid in the process by 
 sending his blessing to the King of Italy. But Pius was 
 still obdurate. He said he did not trust in foreign in- 
 ter\^entions, but in some miracle of Providence. ' Pro- 
 vidence has worked miracles, your holiness, during the 
 last ten years, but all in favour of Italy,' was the prompt 
 reply of the Englishman. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 MARRIAGE OF THE CROWN PRINCE. — ANECDOTES OF 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL'S CHARITY. — SPANISH REVOLU- 
 TION. A.D. 1 868. 
 
 Humbert, Prince of Piedmont, was now in his twenty- 
 fourth year, an unusually long time for a crown prince 
 to be permitted to live in single blessedness. His
 
 294 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 younger brother was already provided with a wife, and 
 that he had escaped matrimony so long was owing 
 to a fatal accident which had carried off the young 
 archduchess who had been fixed upon as a suitable 
 match to strengthen the growing friendship between the 
 Houses of Savoy and Hapsburg. When a decent time 
 had elapsed after this misfortune, the king ordered his 
 prime minister to find him a bride for the prince. 
 
 ' Voglio assohitanicntc ch' Ella mi trovi ima sposa 
 per Umberto' 
 
 General Menabrea promptly replied that she was 
 already found ; there was only wanting the will of his 
 majesty and the consent of the prince. It was the 
 daughter of the Duke of Genoa, the Princess Margherita, 
 whom he had fixed upon as the future Queen of Italy. 
 The king had not thought of his niece in this light ; so 
 he asked the general to tell him about the qualities of 
 the princess, and what had suggested the idea to him. 
 Menabrea related anecdotes illustrative of her noble 
 disposition, strength of character, delicacy of feeling, and 
 dilated on the advantage of securing this flower of wo- 
 manhood to the House of Savoy and the Italian nation, 
 before she was snatched up by the Prince of Roumania, 
 who was about to offer her his hand. 
 
 The king listened with increasing satisfaction, and 
 then, striking the table with his fist, as he often did 
 when he was excited, exclaimed — ' Bravo ! from all that 
 you have related I recognise in her the Savoy blood. 
 Now that you have told me so many nice things about 
 my niece, I will go and assure myself of it personally.' 
 
 He set out for Turin immediately, and arrived unex- 
 pectedly at the palace of the Duchess of Genoa. In 
 private conversation with the princess he fully satisfied 
 himself that all he had heard of her goodness was true, 
 and henceforth he took her to his heart as a daughter. 
 
 , The Duke of Genoa died young, leaving his two 
 children, Margherita and Tommaso to the guardianship 
 of their mother, and their uncle the king, with injunc- 
 tions that they should be educated in patria ; he had 
 great faith in early impressions, and he wished his
 
 MARGHERITA AND UMBERTO. 295 
 
 children to love their country as he and his brother 
 did. Margherita was now a lovely girl of eighteen, 
 delicately fair, with eyes of a deeper hue than usually 
 accompany a blonde complexion, and a smile of be- 
 witching sweetness. That smile is always ready in 
 answer to the loyal and affectionate greetings of the 
 people ; whether it be gay or sad, and we hav-e seen it 
 both, it goes straight to the hearts of the Italians, and 
 stirs a sentiment of respectful admiration in the foreign 
 spectator. IMargherita's excellent qualities, winning 
 sweetness of character, and personal grace, have endeared 
 her to the nation in an extraordinary degree, particularly 
 since her husband came to the throne. As princess 
 she was beloved, as queen she is absolutely adored. 
 
 It is probable that the proposition of marriage with 
 Umberto was agreeable to the princess ; the Savoy family 
 entertain a high .opinion of one another, and no doubt 
 she liked her kinsman better than the Prince of Roumania, 
 a foreigner whom she had never seen. Umberto readily 
 gave his consent. Princes must marry whether they 
 like it or not, and this being the case, where could he 
 find so desirable a bride as his fair cousin ? So the 
 marriage was quickly arranged. 
 
 Prince Umberto had, like his father, early earned for 
 himself the reputation of a gay character. But Victor 
 Emmanuel's kingly virtues and genial pleasant ways 
 made people overlook and excuse the faults from which 
 princes are so rarely exempt, while Umberto, being as 
 yet untried in public life, had no title to the gratitude or 
 forbearance of the nation. His manners moreover were 
 not conciliator}-; being of a reserved and undemonstrative 
 nature, he had no aptitude for exchanging the small at- 
 tentions which the Italians call nioine, and which go a long 
 way in winning their affections. Consequently he was 
 popular only so far as that he was his father's son and a 
 Savoy prince, and that he had proved himself a true 
 soldier in the campaign of 1S66. But this was enough 
 to call forth great rejoicings on the occasion of his 
 marriage, and to sustain the hope that when the time 
 came to act, he would prove himself a worthy successor
 
 296 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 of the great founder of Italian independence. That 
 hope has been justified. Umberto has shown himself a 
 man of excellent sense, tact, and good feeling ; and he 
 has gradually and quietly grown into the heart of the 
 nation, where he now reigns supreme. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was very fond of his heir. ' I 
 know Umberto,' he said once ; ' he is an excellent youth ; 
 he has good sense and a good heart ; he will do well.' 
 One of his ministers relates the following anecdote. 
 Returning from Milan, where he had had an interview 
 with the prince, he repeated the conversation to the king 
 in all its particulars, even to some expressions of affec- 
 tion which the young man had used in speaking of his 
 father. The king listened with pleased attention. Just 
 then a letter was handed to him which proved to be 
 from his son. When he had read it he turned to the 
 minister with visible emotion, and said — 'You are right. 
 I wish you to read this letter ; you will see how Umberto 
 writes to me. In my family no one knows how to feign, 
 much less when they are but twenty years old. You are 
 right in what you tell me.' 
 
 Subsequent events have proved how unfeigned, how 
 profound, was Umberto's affection for his father, and it is 
 satisfactory to know that they understood one another. 
 
 The marriage was celebrated at Turin with great 
 pomp, in presence of all the royal family. There came 
 from Paris the Prince Napoleon and Princess Clotilde, 
 as well as Queen Pia of Portugal, and Prince Frederic of 
 Prussia ; between the latter of whom and the Savoy family 
 a great intimacy sprang up. 
 
 The civil marriage was gone through on April 28, 
 and the religious ceremony the following day in the 
 cathedral, the Bishop of Savona officiating. On this 
 occasion the king instituted a new order of knighthood, 
 called La Corona d' Italia. The bride and bridegroom 
 made a tour of all the principal cities in Italy, Rome 
 of course excepted. But the Roman ladies, notwith- 
 standing their mourning for the sad events of the prece- 
 ding autumn, presented an address and a magnificent 
 garland to the princess.
 
 THE king's clemency AND CHARITY, 297 
 
 The Roman question kept up a constant atmosphere 
 of political agitation, but the king and the government 
 tried to calm the excited state of men's minds by turn- 
 ing the attention of Parliament to more prosaic subjects, 
 such as public instruction, assimilating the laws of the 
 different states of the kingdom, and other like questions. 
 
 The king was not opposed to capital punishments in 
 theory, but he was always disposed to seize upon any 
 extenuating circumstance to commute a capital sentence. 
 In this year there was in the ministry a Signor Filippo, 
 keeper of the seals, whom Victor Emmanuel liked very 
 much, and christened ' the mild minister.' He had, 
 however, repeatedly opposed the royal desire to extend 
 a pardon to different criminals. ' How is it,' asked the 
 king one day, ' that you who are so gentle to the appeals 
 of others always exercise towards me the greatest 
 severity .'' ' ' Your majesty must be aware that they 
 turn to the king as a last extreme, that is, when they 
 have failed in every attempt with the ministers.' 
 ' Yes, I understand,' replied the king. ' I fear I am in 
 the position of a physician of the first order, who is 
 generally called in when the case is desperate, the 
 patient at the end of life, and it is next to impossible 
 to save him. I do not complain of you ; on the contrary', 
 I commend you for doing your duty. I wish justice 
 to be done, and grace extended only to those who 
 merit it.' 
 
 The king's character, ho\vever, was so well known that 
 he was beset by such petitions continually, and it often 
 cost him an effort to reject them. He made no effort, 
 however, to resist the appeals for pecuniary help from 
 those in distress. To such his heart and purse were ever 
 open ; and his charities were done in such an unosten- 
 tatious, unsystematic way that the world can never form 
 any just estimate of all he did. Of the many anecdotes 
 we have heard illustrative of his kindliness and liberality 
 during his six years' residence in Florence, we take two 
 or three. 
 
 One day the king came home from a walk very 
 much disturbed, and sent for the President of the Council.
 
 298 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL XL 
 
 ' I have met a poor mutilated soldier who was wounded 
 at San Martino,' he said ; ' he is not able to work, and he 
 is starving, because they have never given him a pension. 
 Speak to the Minister of War immediately about it. I 
 wish the wrong done to this poor fellow to be remedied 
 without delay.' But he did not wait for the War Office 
 to set matters right. He sent the crippled soldier a 
 considerable sum from his private purse. 
 
 One day, as the king was driving out of the palace 
 court, a poor old woman trying to offer him a petition, 
 fell, and the carriage was near passing over her. In 
 answer to his inquiries if she were injured, his attendants 
 assured him that she was not. * But the carriage almost 
 ran over her,' said the king ; ' she must have been dread- 
 fully frightened, and she ought to have some compensa- 
 tion.' Next day a royal messenger arrived at the poor 
 habitation of the old woman with the sum of one hun- 
 dred francs. ' Oh, what a lucky fall ! ' she exclaimed 
 when the notes were handed out to her ; ' what a blessed 
 fall ! ' 
 
 A short time ago a lady who resides in Florence 
 related to us the following little incident. A woman 
 who was employed in the pension where she was staying 
 had a son called out for military service, which she 
 thought a great hardship. One day she came home in 
 good spirits, and entering the apartment of the lady 
 showed her some pieces of gold. The lady asked 
 her where she had got it. ' From the king's own hand. 
 I have come from the Palazzo Pitti,' was the reply. 
 
 ' Impossible ! You never would have been admitted 
 to his presence.' 
 
 ' No ; but I waited at the gate till he was coming 
 out, and I told him they had taken my son for a soldier, 
 and asked him to release him. " My good woman," 
 says he, " I can do nothing for you ; they have taken 
 my two sons to be soldiers, and I cannot release them." 
 Then he put the gold in my hand, saying, " Mind ; do 
 not come back any more." ' 
 
 The royal carriage was just driving up to the door 
 of the theatre one evening, when two shabbily dressed
 
 AN UNWELCOME GIFT. 299 
 
 women, who had been lying in wait, hastily approached. 
 One of them drew something from under her cloak, and 
 a large heavy object came into the carriage, striking the 
 king in the face and knocking off his hat. It proved to be 
 a hard square cushion, embroidered with beads and gold 
 braid. Victor was very angry. He entered the theatre 
 carr}-ing the offending cushion in his hand. The first 
 person he met was Signor Fausto — who tells the story 
 — just at the door of the royal box. He was crimson 
 in the face, partly from a sense of outraged majesty and 
 partly, perhaps, from the hard and crushing properties of 
 the gorgeous cushion. 
 
 ' Go,' said he, ' and see who is that madwoman who 
 has permitted herself the liberty of throwing this in my 
 face.' The gentleman hastened to obey, and found the 
 unfortunate delinquent trembling outside the door, ex- 
 pecting some terrible sentence. She was a poor actress, 
 employed in the humblest position in the theatre. She 
 had no treasonable nor offensive intention towards his 
 majesty ; the sofa-pillow was meant as a present. Mean- 
 time the story had spread, and the head of the police 
 had come to examine the mysterious cushion, to see if 
 it contained an Orsini bomb, or anything dangerous and 
 explosive. When Fausto returned to the royal box he 
 explained that the cushion was simply meant as a gift. 
 ' Well, then,' said Victor, holding it disdainfully by the 
 tassel, 'take it to her and say I have no need or use for 
 such an article.' 
 
 As he was handing it to a servant, a note fastened to 
 one of the tassels caught his eye ; he opened and looked 
 at it, and then read it to the gentlemen present. The 
 petitioner prayed his majesty to deign to accept this 
 humble offering from ' the poor mother of a family over- 
 come by financial difficulties.' 'Ah, the usual moral,' 
 said the king, nodding his head with a smile. His good 
 humour was restored. 
 
 Next evening, his majesty being again at the theatre, 
 he called Signor Fausto to his box. 
 
 ' What has become of the famous lady of the 
 cushion ? ' he asked.
 
 300 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 ' The poor creature has been dismissed by the man- 
 ager,' was the reply. 
 
 'Ah, I am sorry for that. Go to him in my name, 
 and ask him to pardon her,' said the king. Then 
 turning to one of his gentlemen he said — ' Take 
 her 250 francs, and tell her never to throw anything 
 in my face again — at least not without warning me 
 first; 
 
 In this year took place the Spanish revolution, and 
 Queen Isabella, the implacable enemy of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, was chased from the throne and country. 
 She was the last of European sovereigns to recognise 
 the kingdom of Italy, and when pressed to do so had 
 sent as her representative one who had been a courtier 
 of the King of Naples and a professed enemy ^f Italian 
 unity. The downfall of another Bourbon could not be 
 otherwise than pleasing to Victor Emmanuel, who very 
 soon opened friendly relations with the provisional 
 government established by the leaders of the revolu- 
 tion. Marshal Prim's admiration of Victor Emmanuel 
 suggested the idea of offering the throne of Spain to a 
 prince of the House of Savoy. The subject w^as ven- 
 tilated in Spain and Italy some time before the proposi- 
 tion was actually made. The king w^as not averse to it. 
 To restore order to Spain was a dangerous and difficult 
 enterprise, but if one of his family succeeded in the 
 task, it would open up immense advantages to Italy 
 and the Liberal cause ; and for the prince who accom- 
 plished the regeneration of that unfortunate country it 
 would win immortal honour.
 
 THE DUKE OF PUGLIA. ^OI 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 3IRTH OF AMEDEO'S SON. — DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF 
 THE KING. — BIRTH OF UMBERTO'S SON. A.D. 1 869. 
 
 Meantime the young prince against whose peace the 
 statesmen of Spain and Italy were plotting, still happy 
 in his liberty, was just rejoicing over the birth of a 
 little son, which took place on January 15. It was Victor 
 Emmanuel's first Italian-born grandson, and he was 
 delighted beyond measure. He hastened to Genoa, 
 where the Duke and Duchess of Aosta were staying 
 when the happy event took place, baptized him by 
 the name of his most illustrious ancestor, Emanuele 
 Filiberto, and bestowed upon him the title of Duke of 
 Puglia. Congratulator)' addresses poured in on the 
 king and the prince from all parts of the country, and 
 the Genoese made great demonstrations of loyalty on 
 the occasion. The king's thanks were conveyed in a 
 letter the stilted style of which plainly shows that it 
 was not written by himself. 
 
 Victor Eviviamiel to the Syndic of Genoa. 
 
 Illustrissimo Signor Sindaco della citta di Genova, — The 
 new testimony of attachment which we have received 
 from our good city of Genoa, on the occasion of the 
 birth of our grandson, the Duke of Puglia — of which 
 your lordship was the interpreter to our beloved son, 
 the Duke of Aosta — has been ver>^ 'pleasing to us. 
 It is not new to us, however, the affection of our 
 Genoese for our person and for our house, the most 
 solemn testimony of which we considered to be your 
 valid co-operation, which never failed us, in the grand 
 undertaking of the reconstruction of the nation, to which 
 we dedicated our life. You were examples of pa- 
 triotism in the hard struggles and sacrifices of the 
 days of battle, and now you are examples to the 
 Italians in the laboriousness of your industries and
 
 302 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 your commerce. If Italy will follow this impulse and 
 this example, which speaks encouragingly in the 
 multiplicity of your dockyards and your workshops, 
 she may pursue her path in safety to reach those 
 destinies to which the records of your fathers point. 
 As they carried gloriously and puissantly the banner 
 of St. George, so you and your sons shall bear, we are 
 certain, gloriously and puissantly the banner of Italy. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 On his return from Genoa the king made a tour in the 
 south of Italy. In the spring he received visits from 
 several members of the royal family of Russia, and some 
 distinguished Austrians, among whom was General 
 Moring, who had arranged the treaty of peace. Victor 
 Emmanuel won golden opinions among his old enemies 
 when they came to know him personally. 
 
 ' Your sovereign is a true king,' said one of the 
 Austrian visitors on this occasion to General Menabrea. 
 
 The Empress of the French, on her way to the East, 
 touched at Venice, and the King of Italy with four of 
 his ministers hastened to the City of the Lagunes to give 
 her a hospitable reception. Later there came from the 
 opening of the Suez Canal the Austrian minister, Count 
 de Beust, to visit the king, at the request of the em- 
 peror. Victor made him a knight of the SS. Annun- 
 ziata. 
 
 The moment the Austrians were well ' over the 
 border,' within the natural confines of their own state, 
 and the treaty signed that was to keep them there, 
 Victor Emmanuel's heart began to expand towards the 
 Hapsburg family, with which he had been closely 
 allied by marriage, though national and dynastic hatreds 
 had held them divided so many years. Now that his 
 vow was fulfilled, it was easy for him to bury every 
 bitter remembrance of the past and offer a cordial 
 friendship to his old hereditary foe, who could not 
 doubt the sincerity of that friendship, seeing that he had 
 been so sincere an enemy. The emperor responded 
 warmly to his advances, and the kindly feeling grew
 
 DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 3O3 
 
 rapidly, so that there was a project of a matrimonial 
 alliance between the two houses, which, however, was 
 blasted by death. 
 
 No one would have suspected that there was any 
 lurking tenderness in Victor Emmanuel's heart towards 
 the House of Austria from the year 1848 to 1866, 
 during which period he seemed to be in a chronic state 
 of fiery indignation against it. Yet according to his 
 own confession after peace was made, he had suffered 
 much from this state of things, and it ^\as an immense 
 joy to him to be reconciled to those enemies whom he 
 had never been able to forget were still his relations. 
 
 In the November of this year the king was in his 
 Villa San Rossore, near Pisa, when he was seized by a 
 malignant fever — the same which had twice before 
 threatened his life. It was confidently believed that 
 his constitution must succumb to this third attack ; and 
 he was reduced to such a low state that he gave himself 
 up, and made all arrangements in expectation of a 
 speedy dissolution. It was on this occasion that Victor 
 Emmanuel, doubtless under clerical pressure, went 
 through the religious ceremony of marriage with Rosina, 
 Countess Mirafiore, by whom he had two children, then 
 grown up. The popular version of the transaction which 
 is generally recounted to foreigners is as follows. 
 
 The king feeling death approaching called a priest, 
 who having heard the confession of the royal penitent, 
 refused him absolution till he would promise to re- 
 store the property robbed from the Church. Where- 
 upon the king replied that he had not sent for his 
 reverence to discuss political questions, which were 
 the work of the Parliament and nation, but to ad- 
 minister ghostly advice to a d)-ing man. Then the 
 baffled priest attacked the monarch in his vulnerable 
 point. ' You have here with you a woman vrho is not 
 your wife.' 
 
 ' Peccavi' said the king ; ' in that }-ou have a right 
 to dictate to me ; what ought I to do .' ' 
 
 ' Marry her,' said the priest. 
 
 ' Bring her here,' was the penitent's prompt reply.
 
 304 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 And the matrimony was accordingly solemnised at the 
 bedside of the dying king by the priest, whose mali- 
 cious object it was to create dissensions in the royal 
 family. 
 
 Like most popular stories, this dramatic version of 
 the transaction is not strictly correct ; nor is it to be 
 supposed probable that the public could be exactly 
 informed as to the words that passed between a priest 
 and penitent on a matter so entirely personal as the one 
 in question. We will now quote the account of the 
 scene given by Massari, whom we consider the most 
 trustworthy writer on all matters relating to Victor 
 Emmanuel's private life. He was intimate with the king, 
 his ministers, and the officers of his court, and would 
 naturally have informed himself of all that had passed — 
 or, at least, all that concerned the public to know : — 
 
 Conscious of his great danger, he with perfect calmness 
 manifested his last wishes, and made all the arrange- 
 ments which he considered suitable. He celebrated in 
 religious form his marriage with the Countess Mira- 
 fiore ; and wishing to receive the comforts of religion, 
 desired expressly that a priest should be called. He, 
 having received the confession of the dying king, said : — 
 ' I cannot give your majesty absolution if you do not 
 first make a solemn retractation of all the acts effected 
 during your reign against the rights of Holy Church.' 
 And he presented a paper with the formula made out, 
 ready for the king's signature. In that supreme and 
 terrible moment, Victor Emmanuel's fortitude and 
 sense of dignity did not fail him. He replied serenely 
 and resolutely : — ' I am a Christian and Catholic, and 
 I die such. If I have done wrong to anyone I repent 
 of it sincerely, and I ask pardon of God. But the 
 signature you ask of me is a political act, and in my 
 quality of constitutional sovereign I cannot execute 
 such an act without the consent of my responsible 
 advisers. Go then into the next room ; there you 
 will find the president of the council of ministers ; 
 talk to him, — he will answer you.' 
 
 The priest went out, and found in the next room
 
 CLERICAL IXSULTS. 305 
 
 General ^lenabrea, to wliom he related what had 
 passed, — excusing himself for his conduct by saying 
 that he was acting in accordance with orders received 
 from Cardinal Corsi, of Pisa. The general did not 
 hesitate a moment about his reply. The absolution 
 must be given immediately ; any further insistance to 
 obtain a retractation would be an act of violence to 
 the conscience of the dying ; and he reminded the 
 priest that violence of that sort — especially when 
 exercised towards the sovereign — was punishable by 
 law. The priest had already committed a crime, 
 w^hich if he did not repair, he, the minister, would 
 immediately give orders to the carabiniet'i to arrest 
 him, to the end that justice should be done for the 
 patent offence to the majesty of the sovereign and the 
 laws of the state. The priest submitted to the just 
 and severe rebuke, re-entered the king's room and 
 gave him absolution. Victor Emmanuel had preserv^ed 
 throughout the utmost calmness and sang froid ; but 
 now he experienced such a lively emotion that it 
 brought on a salutary crisis. 
 
 The king himself, however, told General Menabrea 
 that he owed his recovery^ to a glass of port wine which 
 his valet gave him when all hope was over, — and that 
 immediately on swallowing it he felt life coming back to 
 him. It is not improbable that the sudden revulsion of 
 feeling aided the salutary effect of the wine. 
 
 This Cardinal Corsi, by whose command the priest 
 had refused the king absolution, was a most violent and 
 uncompromising papalino. When the king went to hear 
 service in the cathedral of Pisa one day, with all his 
 court and a following of citizens which numbered some 
 thousands, he found the great entrance closed against 
 him. Some one proposed forcing the door, and the 
 indignant people only wanted the .slightest assent to 
 give expression to their feelings by some overt act 
 against the priestly authority. But the king, seeing a 
 side door open, said smiling, ' Let us pass in here, my 
 friends ; it is the narrow way that leads to paradise.' 
 
 X
 
 306 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 Very soon after the same thing happened at Bologna. 
 The king, on visiting the Duomo, was received by one or 
 two inferior clergy at a side entrance. Great indignation 
 was expressed by the citizens, so much so that the 
 bishop was somewhat alarmed, and came to apologise 
 to the king, excusing his absence on the plea of illness. 
 The king replied : — 'You were quite right not to incon- 
 venience yourself, my lord. I do not go to church to 
 visit priests, but to worship God.' 
 
 The year 1869 had opened with the birth of a prince, 
 and towards the close of it another little Sabaud made 
 his debut. This last, being heir to the throne of Italy, 
 would have made a great noise on his entrance into the 
 world, if his grandfather had not been at that moment 
 hanging between life and death. On November 1 1 the 
 Princess Margherita gave birth to a son who was chris- 
 tened Vittorio Emanuele, Avith the title of Prince of 
 Naples, where he was born. This event prevented Prince 
 Umberto from being with his father at the time of his 
 illness, and the crisis was passed before he learned how 
 great the danger had been. 
 
 At the end of this year negotiations were opened 
 for a triple alliance between France, Austria, and 
 Italy, but without any result, because the French 
 emperor would not consent to the withdrawal of the 
 troops from Rome, and Victor made that condition a 
 sine qua non for the Italian alliance. This prolonged 
 occupation, in defiance of the wishes of the Romans and 
 the nation at large, as well as those of the king, kept up 
 the bitter memories of the cJiassepots of Mentana, and 
 well-nigh obliterated all feeling of gratitude for the aid 
 Napoleon had given in the liberation of Lombardy. 
 
 A new Parliament was convoked in November, and 
 the king, for the first time in his reign, refused to open 
 it in person, making his recent illness the excuse ; but 
 the real reason was a deep chagrin at not being able to 
 announce anything definite about the Roman question. 
 Another ministerial crisis followed the opening of the 
 Chambers, and Signor Lanza was called to the head of 
 affairs.
 
 BARSAXTI. 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. A.D. 1870. 
 
 'A Roma ci siamo e ci resteremo.' 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1869 Pius IX. called the 
 famous Ecumenical Council which was to promulgate 
 the doctrine of his infallibility ; and in the beginning of 
 the new year the fathers of the Church came from all 
 parts of the Christian world to the Eternal City. The 
 government resolved to abstain from any interference in 
 ecclesiastical matters and to afford every facility to the 
 bishops to pass through Italian territory on their way to 
 Rome, so long as no offence was given to the civil 
 power. On this occasion Victor Emmanuel appealed 
 to the Liberal bishops who stopped to visit him in 
 Florence, to use their influence for the sake of the 
 country's peace and in the interests of religion, to 
 end the strife between Church and State. They did 
 make an effort to bring about an amicable arrange- 
 ment, but to no purpose, being in a minority ; while 
 the Pope's party, and the Pope himself, were resolute 
 in holding out to the last. 
 
 On March 24, 1870, there occurred an incident at 
 Pavia which, so far as we know, has not been related by 
 any Italian writer ; and yet, though none of Victor 
 Emmanuel's biographers have thought it of sufficient 
 importance to mention, ' read by the light of sub- 
 sequent events,' it has a certain significance. Since the 
 attempted assassination of the reigning sovereign, and 
 the consequent agitation for the suppression of disloyal 
 societies, the public has heard a good deal about the 
 Circoli Barsanii. What was the origin of the associations, 
 and who was Barsanti .'' the inquiring foreigner asks ; and 
 in reply he hears all sorts of romantic stories — none of 
 them true and most of them absolutely false. It is 
 curious that a public event which happened only eight 
 years ago should be so shrouded in mystery that hardly
 
 3oS lifp: of victor emmaxuel ii. 
 
 any Italian can tell the facts of the case. Even Signer 
 Lanza, who was then Minister of the Interior, in lately 
 contradicting a false version in the ' Italic,' himself gave 
 an inaccurate account of the affair. The journals have 
 had every variety of story but the true one. Some said 
 Barsanti was a sergeant, who in a republican riot turned 
 treacherously upon his commanding officer and killed 
 him ; others that he was a corporal, and had only drawn 
 upon or slightly wounded his superior, under extenuating 
 circumstances. Others again excited the sympathies of 
 the sentimental by describing Barsanti as a most attrac- 
 tive young hero, who, having somehow mistaken his 
 duty, was cruelly sacrificed by the government of the 
 day, who would not permit the petitioners for royal 
 clemency to approach the king. That Barsanti was 
 twenty years of age, golden-haired, and had a mother, 
 seemed convincing arguments in his favour ; and last 
 December one deputy in his place in the Chamber pro- 
 nounced the execution of this renegade soldier ' an 
 infamy.' It is true he was called to order by the 
 president for the expression ; but the fact of a member 
 of Parliament being so ignorant of the merits of the case 
 as such an opinion implies, seems strange to us. It can 
 only be accounted for in this w^ay. The Italians not 
 being yet habituated to the use of a free press, have not 
 brought theirs quite up to the mark ; journalists have 
 not a sufficient sense of their responsibilities, and 
 private individuals shrink from telling what they know, 
 because they object to be quoted as authorities. It is 
 the cautious, secretive habit engendered by oppressive 
 governments, now happily passed away. 
 
 A writer in the * Nazione ' of Florence, a respectable 
 and trustworthy daily paper, at last undertook to clear 
 up the disputed question ; and on December i6 there 
 appeared an article in that journal, entitled ' Who was 
 Pietro Barsanti ? ' in which the accusation and sentence 
 were reproduced in their entirety, and the testimony 
 cited of the officers and men of Barsanti's regiment. 
 All goes to prove the baselessness of the theory that 
 he was an ill-used hero. According; to the ' Nazione '
 
 'A MARTYR OF THE IDEA.' 309 
 
 the story of the riot in which he took part is briefly 
 this : — 
 
 There was much discontent because of the corn- 
 grinding tax, and the repubhcans thought it a good 
 opportunity to stir up a rebeUion ; so they organised 
 an attempt on the two barracks of Pavia, on the night of 
 March 24. Inside of both these barracks there were 
 several accomphces of the conspirators, and one of 
 these perjured soldiers was Corporal Barsanti, a )'oung 
 man who in no way corresponded to the ideal picture 
 drawn by his adherents. He was not blonde, but dark- 
 complexioned, coarse and ordinary in appearance, and 
 so dull of intellect that he was incapable of passing 
 the examination to become a sergeant. On the night 
 of the attack he kept two sergeants locked in a room 
 to prevent them lending assistance in repulsing the 
 attempt, menacing with a revolver a soldier who 
 wished to release them, and endeavouring in every 
 way to seduce his companions from their duty. He 
 did not, however, kill or wound anyone. The young 
 officer Vegezzi was in command of a detachment in 
 the other barrack when he was wounded by a shot 
 from a traitor soldier. 
 
 They were all tried by court-martial, and Barsanti 
 was shot like the rest ; a petition, got up chiefly by 
 ladies, on the ground of his youth, being firmly re- 
 pulsed by the ministry. The republicans immediately 
 elected him as a ' martyr of the idea,' and endowed 
 him with all the requisite qualities for a hero — the 
 golden hair included. We confess it is not quite clear 
 to us why a blonde traitor should be dealt with more 
 leniently than a brown one. But as the bdla testa 
 bionda has been insisted on by Barsanti's admirers, so 
 the iconoclastic writer above quoted sweeps away this 
 myth with the other fictitious attractions of the re- 
 publican martyr. This was the origin of the Circoli Bar- 
 santi to which belonged the assassin Passanante. 
 
 The Emperor Napoleon had sacrificed the Italian 
 alliance by persisting in holding his army in the Roman 
 State. He declared war against Prussia without con-
 
 3IO LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 suiting or acquainting Victor Emmanuel with his inten- 
 tions ; the news reached the king when he was chamois- 
 hunting in the Alps, and hot upon it came the tidings 
 of French disasters. It then becoming a matter of 
 necessity to France to call all her available forces into 
 the field, the army was withdrawn from Rome and 
 the Pope left to his own devices. At the same time an 
 appeal was made to the Italian Government for help. 
 
 It was Victor Emmanuel's generous impulse to aid 
 France, in spite of the coldness that had arisen on the 
 Roman question. France had once befriended Italy, 
 and now she was in distress ; that was enough to 
 establish a claim upon his sympathy. But he found 
 his government utterly averse to any interference in the 
 quarrel. Italy had suffered enough from war ; her 
 financial affairs were not in a satisfactory condition, 
 nor was she in any way bound to aid France, seeing 
 that France had not thought it necessary to take 
 counsel with her on the subject. The king argued the 
 matter vigorously in the council, listened to the objec- 
 tions and combated them with perseverance but good 
 temper, trying hard to win over his advisers to his 
 opinion. But they stood firm, and of course he had to 
 yield. He is reported to have said to the French 
 ambassador — ' I am ready to go to the aid of the 
 emperor, but I do not expect to return here as King 
 of Italy.' His ministers, however, convinced him that 
 such quixotic friendship, though permissible in private 
 life, did not become a sovereign who had the destinies of 
 a natioji depending on him, and he remembered that his 
 first duty was to his country ; being pledged to Italy, he 
 had no right to throw himself away. The surrender of 
 Sedan was a great shock to him'. 
 
 When the news of the revolution in Paris arrived, 
 Victor Emmanuel naturally thought of his daughter, 
 and sent in haste an escort to conduct her home. But 
 the Princess Clotilde refused to leave her adopted 
 country in its hour of trial. She wrote a letter to her 
 father to thank him for his anxiety about her, and saying 
 that it was impossible for her to abandon Paris at such
 
 LAST APPEAL TO THE POPE. 3II 
 
 a moment. She owed it to her husband, her children, 
 her adopted country, her native countrj', to remain at 
 her post, no matter what might happen. Her brothers 
 or her sister would do the same in the same position, 
 and she knew her father would approve of her resolution, 
 Victor Emmanuel read this letter to his councillors with 
 a proud and flashing eye. He let Clotilde have her 
 way, thinking she was the best judge of what was right 
 under the circumstances. 
 
 The Romans had been very much excited from the 
 time the war broke out ; and when it became known 
 that the emperor had surrendered himself and his army, 
 and that there was a likelihood of a speedy settlement 
 of the quarrel, they believed they would be abandoned 
 once more to their fate, and got into a state of con- 
 vulsive agitation. They sent one more thrilling appeal 
 to Victor Emmanuel to come and take them before 
 the favourable moment should have passed. Had he 
 been deaf to this last petition it is probable that the 
 despair of the Romans would have led to consequences 
 still more serious than Mentana. But he was at last per- 
 mitted to listen to the grido di dolorc that came from the 
 Eternal City. The decisive moment had arrived. As soon 
 as the resolution was taken, an envoy was despatched 
 to Paris to acquaint the provisional government with the 
 intensions of the king. They replied in effect, ' You 
 may do it because we have no longer the power to 
 hinder you.' The truth is that republican France, strange 
 and inconsistent as it seems, was more opposed to Italian 
 unity than the emperor. 
 
 Just at the moment when preparations were being 
 made to go to Rome, the Minister of War, General 
 Govone, retired from office, being attacked by a fatal 
 illness which soon after carried him ofT. He left be- 
 hind him a grateful memory of the most devoted and 
 single-minded patriotism, united with the charming 
 qualities which are comprised in the Italian word sim- 
 patico. 
 
 While General Cadorna was preparing to conduct the 
 Italian troops over the papal frontier, Victor Emmanuel,
 
 312 LIPE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IT. 
 
 whose heart still yearned for a reconciliation with Pio 
 Nono, addressed a private and confidential letter to him, 
 in which he explained his sentiments, ^and entreated the 
 holy father, for the sake of that Italy which he once 
 loved, to make peace before it was too late. Nothing 
 could be further from his desire than to embitter his old 
 age ; he was ready to abdicate if that would spare him 
 pain, but his successor would be constrained to act as 
 he was doing ; the national asjoirations must be satisfied. 
 It is said that the Pope was moved by this letter ; 
 but if so the impression was transitory — as was that 
 which the words of the Conte di San Martino had pro- 
 duced on him at Gaeta. The same Conte di San Martino 
 was now the bearer of an official letter from the King of 
 Italy to the holy father. 
 
 Victor Evnnanuel to Pius IX. 
 
 Most Blessed Father, — With the affection of a son, with 
 the faith of a Catholic, with the soul of an Italian, I 
 address myself now, as on former occasions, to the 
 heart of your holiness. 
 
 A flood of dangers threatens Europe. Profiting 
 by the war which desolates the centre of the Conti- 
 nent, the cosmopolitan revolutionary party increases in 
 boldness and audacity, and is planning, especially in 
 that part of Italy ruled by your holiness, the direst 
 offences against the monarchy and the papacy. 
 
 I know that the greatness of your soul will not be 
 less than the greatness of events ; but I, being a Ca- 
 tholic king and Italian, and, as such, guardian by the 
 disposition of Providence and the national will of the 
 destinies of all the Italians, I feel it my duty to take, 
 in the face of Europe and Catholicity, the responsi- 
 bility of maintaining order in the peninsula and the 
 safety of the Holy See. 
 
 At the present moment, Holy Father, the state of 
 mind of the Roman populations, and the presence 
 among them of foreign troops come from different 
 countries with divers intentions, foments the agitation
 
 DANGERS OF DELAY. 313 
 
 and the danger. A boiling over of the passions may- 
 lead to the effusion of blood, and this blood is mine. 
 
 Your duty is to avoid and prevent this ; and I see 
 the immediate necessity for the safety of Italy and 
 the Hoi}' See that my troops, now placed near the 
 frontier, shall occupy certain positions for the secu- 
 rity of your holiness and the maintenance of order. 
 Your holiness will not see in this precaution an act 
 of hostility. My government and my forces will 
 restrain themselves absolutely within the conservative 
 limits of maintaining and guarding the rights of the 
 Roman people, easily reconciled with the inviolability 
 of the Supreme Pontiff, his spiritual authority, and the 
 independence of the Holy See. 
 
 If your holiness, which I do not doubt — as your 
 sacred character and the benignity of your soul gives 
 me the right to hope — feels the same desire as I do 
 to avoid a conflict and fly the dangers of violence, you 
 can with the Count San Martino, who bears this letter, 
 take counsel concerning the matter now under the 
 consideration of government. 
 
 Permit me, your holiness, again to say that the 
 present moment is a solemn one for Italy and the 
 Church. Let the popehood add efficacy to the spirit 
 of inextinguishable benevolence in your soul towards 
 this land, which is also your country, and the senti- 
 ments of conciliation which I have always studied to 
 translate into acts, that, satisfying the national aspira- 
 tions, the Head of Catholicity, surrounded by the 
 devotion of the Italian people, should preserve on the 
 banks of the Tiber a glorious seat, independent of 
 every human sovereignty. 
 
 Your holiness, by liberating Rome from foreign 
 troops, will take from her the constant danger of being 
 the battle-ground of sub\^ersive parties. You will 
 accomplish a marvellous work, restore peace to the 
 Church, and show P^uropc, aghast at the horrors of war, 
 how one can win great battles and obtain immortal 
 victories by an act of justice — by one sole word of 
 affection.
 
 314 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 I pray your holiness to impart to me your Apos- 
 tolic benediction, and to accept my sentiments of 
 profound respect. 
 
 Your holiness's most humble, most obedient, and 
 devoted 
 
 Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 Florence, Sept. S, 1870. 
 
 Pio Nono received San Martino courteously, and 
 discussed the situation calmly with him. He listened 
 to his assurances that his supreme spiritual authority, 
 his income, his palaces and villas, should be all guaran- 
 teed to him by stringent laws. There was nothing his 
 majesty's government would not do to please his holi- 
 ness — short of abstaining from entering Rome, which 
 could no longer be delayed without risking the exist- 
 ence of the nation. 
 
 ' Signer contc,' said the Pope, ' I am not a prophet 
 nor the son of a prophet ; but I dare to foretell that the 
 Italian troops shall not enter Rome.' 
 
 The count lowered his eyes that the Pope should 
 not see him smile at this extraordinary faith, and replied 
 that neither was he a prophet, nor did he pretend to 
 have any relationship with prophets, but he boldly ven- 
 tured to assert that the Italian army should enter Rome 
 before long. He then consigned the king's letter to 
 him. When he had read it, he turned wrathfully on the 
 envoy. ' What is the use of this hypocrisy .'' ' he ex- 
 claimed. ' Cannot he say at once that he wishes to 
 despoil me of my kingdom ? ' 
 
 San Martino replied that if he had had the compo- 
 sition of that letter he would have used less circumlocu- 
 tion, and said plainly and shortly that Italy, recognising 
 the state of Rome as indispensable to her national being, 
 claimed it as a right. 
 
 This frankness made Pio Nono smile, for his humour 
 was variable as a woman's. He said, ' You talk of the 
 aspirations of the Romans : you see with your own eyes 
 that the city is quite tranquil' 
 
 ' Your holiness,' replied the outspoken count, ' I may
 
 'OVER THE BORDER.' 315 
 
 claim some credit for this tranquillity. The citizens 
 wished to make me a demonstration on my arrival, but 
 I prevented it.' 
 
 Pins IX. to Victor Emuiannel. 
 
 Your Majesty, — The Count Ponza di San Martino has 
 consigned to me a letter which your majesty has been 
 pleased to address to me ; but it is not worthy of an 
 affectionate son who boasts himself a professor of the 
 Catholic faith, and who g'lories in a kingly loyalty. I 
 will not enter into the particulars of that letter, not to 
 renew the pain the first reading occasioned me. But 
 I bless God, who has suffered your majesty to fill 
 with bitterness the last period of life. 
 
 For the rest, I cannot admit the demands of your 
 letter, nor accept the principles contained therein. I 
 address myself to God, and place my cause in His 
 hands, for it is entirely His. I pray Him to concede 
 abundant grace to your majesty, deliver you from 
 every peril, and render you a participator in all the 
 mercies of which you may have need. 
 
 Pius PP. IX. 
 
 From the \'atican, Sept. 11, 1870. 
 
 The day this letter was written General Cadorna 
 had orders to march. He was received with ovations 
 in all the small towns of the Roman State, and took 
 up his quarters outside the capital in the Villa Spada. 
 Here the Prussian ambassador. Count Arnim, visited him 
 to beg that he would suspend hostilities till the diplo- 
 matic body should try mediation with the Pope. Next 
 day he informed the general by letter that the attempt 
 had been fruitless. The Pope was resolved to make a 
 feint of defending the city, to show the world that it had 
 been taken by violence. Early in the morning the 
 attack was begun at the Leonine Gate, and at ten o'clock 
 the Pia Gate gave way before the artiller>^ A breach 
 was opened in the wall, and the infantry threw them- 
 selves into it, while the defenders poured grapeshot from
 
 3l6 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 the bastions. It was not much of a fight, but some 
 killed and wounded there were, and, seeing how utterly- 
 futile the resistance was, the foreign ambassadors thought 
 it a pity that one life should be lost, and entreated the 
 Pope to send out a flag of truce. He did not yield at 
 first ; not till he heard the invaders were inside the 
 Avails. When the white flag was hoisted on St. Peter's 
 the diplomatic body drove in haste to ask General Ca- 
 dorna to put a stop to the conflict. All the male inha- 
 bitants of the city were in the streets ; they now rushed 
 to the Capitol, where the royal troops were disarming 
 the last papal Zouaves. The great bell rang out while 
 the tricolour was hoisted on the palace, and the multi- 
 tude broke into rapturous applause. They could hardly 
 yet believe that the temporal power was fallen. No 
 more foreign legions, no more spies, no more Holy 
 Offices ! Castel Sant' Angelo and San Michele opened 
 to let out the political prisoners ! All this effected in 
 five hours, after so many years of heartburning and bit- 
 terness, and fruitless conspiracies ! It seemed a dream, 
 so easily was Rome lost and won at the last. But Sep- 
 tember 20, 1870, marks a great epoch in the history of 
 the world. 
 
 The Pope bore this last blow, as all the preceding 
 ones, with wonderful fortitude. He was a brave old 
 man, and, strong in the faith that his cause was just, 
 he never yielded an inch. ' I cede only to force,' he 
 had said in 1848 ; and now, at eighty years of age, he 
 presented the same resolute front to all persuasions 
 and remonstrances. 
 
 The vote of the Romans was taken as follows : — 
 
 For the King . . . 40,785 
 For the Pope .... 46 
 
 This vote w-as enough to satisfy Victor Emmanuel's 
 highest expectations. The dream of his life was accom- 
 plished, and in a manner most flattering to a monarch's 
 pride. Yet this rose was not without its thorn either. 
 To be all sweetness he should have had Pio Nono's 
 blessing, and be crowned, like Charlemagne, by the
 
 M. THIERS' VISIT. 317 
 
 hands of the venerable Pontiff in that city of glorious 
 raemories where he was henceforth to reign. But he 
 grasped the rose, thorn and all, with the memorable ex- 
 clamation, ' A Roma ci siamo e ci resteremo ! ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 M. THIERS' APPEAL TO THE KING. — AMEL»EO ACCEPTS 
 THE CROWN OF SPAIX. — LAST PARLIAMENT IN 
 FLORENCE. A.D. 1870. 
 
 The provisional government of Paris had sent an 
 ambassador to Florence, M. Senard, to whom the king 
 had shown such deep feeling for the misfortunes of 
 France that M. Thiers was encouraged to make a journey 
 to Italy to appeal to the king for help for his unhappy 
 country. He had never been friendly to the House of 
 Savoy, and had always opposed Italian unity ; so he 
 felt the mission a tr>nng and painful one. It is needless 
 to say that Victor Emmanuel was not influenced by what 
 the Frenchman had said about him when he met his 
 appeal by a negative. He received him kindly, and ex- 
 plained that the reasons of state which prevented him 
 aiding the emperor m.ust prevent him aiding the 
 Republic. ' You have been a constitutional minister,' 
 said the king, ' and you know what are the duties of a 
 constitutional monarch.' And he defined those duties 
 with such precision and discernment that Thiers was 
 much struck by his cleverness. He related to a friend 
 what passed in the interview. 
 
 The king [he said] avoided disagreeable allusions, but 
 he let me know delicately, that he had not forgotten 
 what I had said of him in the tribune. He discussed 
 politics with the most elevated views, and as a man 
 who understands the profession. I thought I should 
 have to do with a soldier, but I found an accomplished 
 statesman.
 
 3l8 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Spain, still in an unsettled state, with a provisional 
 government, once more thought of applying to Italy 
 for a king. Victor Emmanuel considered the task of 
 rescuing Spain from anarchy, and putting her on the 
 road of civilisation and progress, would be one worthy of 
 a prince of Savoy. He had thought of his nephew, the 
 Duke of Genoa, but his extreme youth was an objection, 
 and he finally decided on sending Amedeo. Some 
 Italian statesmen opposed the idea, urging that the 
 prince would be uselessly sacrificed, that Spain was so 
 hopelessly divided and torn by factions, there were so 
 many pretenders to the throne, that the dangers and 
 difficulties would be insurmountable. But the king 
 replied that he knew one of his family would only yield 
 to impossibilities, and he would like to make the trial. 
 Amedeo shrank from the undertaking with a repug- 
 nance which seemed prophetic of disaster, and it took 
 all Victor Emmanuel's influence to persuade his son to 
 accept the proffered crown. 
 
 As soon as it was known in Spain that he had con- 
 sented, a deputation from the Cortes, headed by the 
 president, Senor Zorilla, came to Florence to make a 
 formal offer of the throne of Spain, in the name of the 
 nation. The deputation was received in state, in the 
 presence of all the court, the ministers, and foreign 
 ambassadors. In a v-ery complimentary address the 
 king's consent was asked to his son's acceptance of the 
 office. 
 
 Victor EimnamicTs Reply to the Cortes. 
 
 By this your request, gentlemen, you do honour to my 
 dynasty and to Italy, and you ask a sacrifice of my 
 heart. I accord to my beloved son my consent to 
 accept the glorious throne to which the wish of the 
 Spanish nation calls him. I trust that, with the aid of 
 Divine Providence and the confidence of }^our noble 
 nation, he shall be able to accomplish his mission for 
 the prosperity and the greatness of Spain. 
 
 The president then turned to the prince, who in a
 
 LAST PARLIAMENT IN FLORENCE. 319 
 
 voice tremulous with emotion signified his acceptance 
 of the honour. He had not yet learned the truth of the 
 poet's words — 
 
 Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, 
 
 but his good sense must have told him that a king with 
 a conscience has a hard road to travel, particularly in a 
 country degraded by ages of misrule and distracted by 
 recent revolutions. He was not dazzled by the pros- 
 pect ; but in obedience to his father's wishes he resolved 
 to make the trial of restoring order to Spain and esta- 
 blishing a settled government. 
 
 Though Victor Emmanuel's ambition was gratified 
 by this arrangement, he felt that he was in a manner 
 sacrificing his son. In a private interview with Zorilla 
 he revealed his paternal feelings, and talked in such a 
 way about Amedeo that the Spaniard came out from 
 the audience in tears, and said to the Italian minister, 
 whom he met at the door — ' The king has confided his 
 son to me ; I will be a faithful subject' In the last 
 days of the }'ear 1870 the }'oung King of Spain sailed 
 from Spezia, amidst the mingled joy and grief, smiles 
 and tears, of his countrymen. 
 
 The last Parliament held in Florence was opened 
 December 5. 
 
 The King's Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — The year 
 that now closes has astonished the world by the 
 greatness of the events which have come to pass 
 and which no human judgment could have fore- 
 told. Our opinion about Rome we have always 
 loudly proclaimed. And in face of the late reso- 
 lution to which my love of country has conducted me, 
 I have thought it my duty to convoke the national 
 assembly. 
 
 With Rome the capital of Italy I have fulfilled 
 my promise, and crowned the undertaking which 
 twenty-three years ago was initiated b}' my magna- 
 nimous parent. As a king and as a son, I feel in my
 
 320 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 heart a solemn joy in saluting here assembled the 
 representatives of our beloved country, and in pro- 
 nouncing these words — Italy is free and one. Now 
 it depends on us to make her great and happy. 
 
 Whilst we celebrate this solemn inauguration of 
 Italy complete, two great peoples of this Continent, 
 glorious representatives of modern civilisation, are torn 
 by a terrible struggle. Bound both to France and to 
 Prussia by memories of recent and beneficial alliances, 
 we are obliged to observe a rigorous neutrality, which 
 is also imposed upon us by the duty of not increasing 
 the strife, and that we may be able to interpose an 
 impartial word between the belligerents. This duty, 
 dictated by humanity and friendship, we will not fail 
 to fulfil, adding our efforts to those of the other 
 neutral powers to put an end to a war Avhich ought 
 never to have broken out between two nations whose 
 greatness is equally necessary to the civilised 
 world. 
 
 Public opinion, approving by its support this 
 policy, has shown once more that Italy free and united 
 is for Europe an element of order, of liberty, and of 
 peace. 
 
 This attitude facilitated our task, when, for the 
 defence of the national territory, and to restore to the 
 Romans the arbitrament of their own destinies, my 
 soldiers, expected as brothers, welcomed as liberators, 
 entered Rome. Rome, reclaimed by the love and by 
 the veneration of the Italians, was thus restored to 
 herself, to Italy, and to the modern world. We 
 entered Rome in the name of the national right, in 
 the name of the compact which binds all Italians 
 to national unity. We shall hold to this, maintaining 
 the promises that we have solemnly made to our- 
 selves. 
 
 Liberty of the Church, of the Pontifical See in the 
 exercise of its religious ministry, in its relations with 
 the Catholic world — on these bases, and within the 
 limit of its powers, my government has initiated the 
 necessary provisions ; but to conduct the great work to»
 
 LOYALTY OF FLORENXE. 32 1 
 
 an end there is required all the authority, all the sense 
 of Parliament. 
 
 A few days after the opening of Parliament a fearful 
 inundation of the Tiber immersed a considerable part 
 of Rome, reducing hundreds of families to the direst 
 distress. Victor Emmanuel went to the aid of the 
 sufferers, and the first sight the Romans had of their 
 new king was in the character of a private philan- 
 thropist, assisting at relief committees, and alleviating 
 the distress of the poor by ever)'' means in his power. 
 With regard to the Pope, it was the least offensive 
 mode of entering the capital that he could have chosen. 
 As soon as he arrived he sent an aide-de-camp with a 
 letter to Pius IX., acquainting him of his presence and 
 repeating his expressions of reverence and affection. 
 Cardinal Antonelli receiv^ed the messenger, and would 
 not admit him to the Pope's presence. 
 
 Meantime the Guarantee Laws were discussed and 
 passed, and arrangements were made for the transfer 
 of the capital to the Eternal City. The king, during a 
 residence of six years, had grown very fond of the 
 beautiful city of Florence, and he left it with regret, but 
 nothing like what he suffered when tearing himself away 
 from Turin, Florence behaved admirably on the occa- 
 sion. The great expense the city had been at to worthily 
 maintain the position of capital of United Italy made 
 the loss of the court very much felt, and this added to 
 other causes has reduced her to great poverty these 
 late years. Nevertheless she rejoiced at the taking of 
 Rome, and applauded enthusiastically the melancholy 
 king as he said farewell to the city representatives at the 
 railway station. ' You rejoice to send me away,' he said 
 with a sad smile. It excites the more sympathy for the 
 present suffering of that most interesting city, that her 
 patriotism and loyalty have undergone no change, as 
 recent events have shown. In the beautiful and touching 
 address which her citizens presented to king Umberto on 
 December 8, 1878, in that exquisite lingua Toscaiia that it 
 is a pity to tran slate, they say — ' Florence was crowned 
 
 Y
 
 322 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 with )oy when the great Father of his Country installed 
 his palace in this fostering mother, Rome. Florence 
 experienced a loss then, but she rejoiced always, 
 because her misfortunes were a glory for Italy.' And 
 they conclude with the declaration that 'as long as 
 there is an arm able to carry a sword, or a drop of 
 blood in the veins of her people, Florence will be always 
 faithful to her plebiscite.' 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ITALIAN UNITY FINALLY ACCOMPLISHED. A.D. 187I-76. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel delayed his entry into Rome for 
 nearly nine months after his troops had taken possession 
 of it. When he left Florence he went to Naples for a 
 time, and did not seem in any hurry to install himself 
 in the city he had desired so intensely to unite to his 
 kingdom. But he had got to make a public entry ; he 
 could not sneak into his capital like a thief who had no 
 right to come there ; so on June 2 he made his ingress 
 in state, with immense demonstrations of enthusiasm. 
 Soon after he went to the opening of the Mont Cenis 
 Railway, and then had the happiness of being feted by 
 his own Turin with more than ordinary warmth. 
 
 This summer the Pope was celebrating the twenty- 
 fifth year of his reign, the longest recorded in the history 
 of the Papacy, and all the sovereigns sent their congra- 
 tulations. Victor would not be behind the rest, and 
 sent a general in state to the Vatican. He was received 
 as before by Cardinal Antonelli, who said the holy 
 father was exhausted and could not receive any more 
 that day, but he desired him to thank his majesty. 
 
 On November 27 the first Parliament which repre- 
 sented Italy in her entirety was opened in the Palazzo 
 Monte Citorio in Rome, more than a year after the 
 entrance of the national army. The senators and
 
 IN ROME AT LAST. 323 
 
 deputies assembled in the midst of a joyous agitation, 
 and Victor Emmanuel took his seat on the throne with 
 a feeling of proud satisfaction. The first words that fell 
 from the royal lips, ' The work to which we have conse- 
 crated our life is accomplished,' awoke such a response 
 from the hearers as shook the house. The cheers in 
 Parliament were heard and re-echoed in the piazza and 
 along the streets. 
 
 On the same day a deputation of the clerical party 
 prostrated themselves at the feet of the Pope with 
 expressions of adoration which might have become a 
 deity to accept, and in equally unmeasured language 
 reprobated the Spoliator, who was just then congratula- 
 ting himself and his hearers that the great crime of his 
 life was consummated. 
 
 The Kifigs Speech. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — The work 
 to which we consecrated our lives is accomplished. 
 After long expiatory trials, Italy is restored to herself 
 and to Rome. Here, where our people, scattered for 
 so many centuries, find themselves for the first time 
 reassembled in the majesty of their representatives, 
 here, where we recognise the home of our thoughts, 
 everything speaks to us of grandeur, but at the same 
 time everything reminds us of our duties. The joy of 
 these days will not make us forget them. We have 
 reconquered our position in the world, defending the 
 rights of the nation. Now that the national unity is 
 accomplished and a new era is opened in the history 
 of Italy, we will not fall away from our principles. 
 We have arisen in the name of liberty, and in liberty 
 and order we ought to seek the secret of strength and 
 conciliation. 
 
 We have proclaimed the separation of Church and 
 State, and recognising the full independence of the 
 Spiritual Authority, we ought to believe that Rome, 
 capital of Italy, can continue to be the peaceful and 
 respected seat of the pontificate. Thus shall we sue-
 
 324 I^IFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 cccd in tranquilHsing the consciences of our people, as 
 with a firmness of purpose equalled by the modera- 
 tion of our measures, we have known how to accom- 
 plish the unity of the nation while maintaining 
 unaltered our friendly relations with foreign powers. 
 The legislative measures that will be presented to you 
 for regulating the condition of ecclesiastical affairs, 
 forming themselves on that same principle of liberty, 
 will only relate to the legal representation, and the 
 nature of possessions, leaving intact those religious 
 institutions that form a part of the government of the 
 Universal Church. Besides this grave question, econo- 
 mical and financial matters principally require your 
 attention. Now that Italy is constructed, we ought 
 to think of making her prosperous by the settlement 
 of her finances, and this we cannot fail to do unless 
 the virtue and perseverance which have given life to 
 the nation should become less. Prosperous finances 
 will give us the means of reinforcing the military 
 ranks. My most earnest prayers are for peace, and 
 there is no reason to fear its being disturbed ; but to 
 reinforce the army and navy,, and to renew the arms 
 and defensive works of the national territory, requires 
 long and mature study, and the future may call us to 
 a severe account for any imprudent delay. You 
 will examine the provisions for that object which will 
 be presented to you by my government. There will 
 not fail to be other questions of grave moment, such 
 as that relating to the government of the municipali- 
 ties and of the provinces, the decentralising of the 
 administration in such measure as not to diminish the 
 strength of the state ; those for making a single penal 
 code, for the reformation of juries,, and for increasing 
 uniformity and efficacy in the administration of 
 justice. In this way we will provide for public 
 security, without which even the benefits of liberty 
 are dangerous. 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — A 
 vast field of labour lies before you. The national 
 unity accomplished, the struggle of parties will be, I
 
 TROUBLES IN SPAIN. 325 
 
 hope, less violent, or they will rival each other only in 
 exciting the development of the productiv^e forces of the 
 nation, and my heart rejoices to perceive already many 
 indications of the increasing industr>^ of our popula- 
 tions. 
 
 On the political revival follows closely the revival 
 of economy ; savings-banks, commercial associations, 
 industry, and art exhibitions, public literary meetings, 
 all multiply. The government and parliament should 
 second this fruitful movement by enlarging and 
 strengthening professional and scientific instruction, 
 and by opening up new roads of communication and 
 new outlets for commerce. The marvellous work of 
 the Monte Cenis tunnel is accomplished, and that of 
 St. Gothard is about to be undertaken : the world's road 
 that traverses Italy to Brindisi, and thus unites Eu- 
 rope with India, will have three openings in the Alps 
 for railroad tra\elling. Celerity of travelling and 
 facility of intercourse will increase the friendly rela- 
 tions that already bind us to tlie transalpine peoples, 
 and will revive a noble rivalry in industry and 
 civilisation. The future opens before us rich in 
 happy promise ; it is for us to respond to the favours of 
 Providence, by showing ourselves worthy to represent 
 amongst the great nations of the earth the glorious 
 part of Italy and of Rome. 
 
 On New Year's day, 1872, Victor Emmanuel sent 
 an envoy with the compliments of the season to the 
 Pope. He was treated in the same manner as be- 
 fore ; the holy father did not receive him, but returned 
 the compliments through his minister. 
 
 The chief source of anxiety the king had at this 
 time was the unsatisfactory state in which Spain con- 
 tinued. The young king had set himself energetically 
 to his arduous task in a straightforward and soldierlike 
 manner. Like his father, he disliked court pomp and 
 pageantry, and lived almost as plainly as a private 
 gentleman. When he was conducted over the magnifi- 
 cent apartments of the palace, and heard that he, the
 
 326 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 queen, and the little prince were all expected to have 
 separate households, he said simply, ' I live with my 
 family ; ' Avhich must have shocked the nerves of the 
 Spanish courtiers not a little. The young king and 
 queen went their own way— he given up to state affairs, 
 she to charitable works, and improving the condition 
 of the poor of Madrid — examples of devotion to duty 
 and domestic virtues to which their subjects were 
 unaccustomed, and which they did not know how to 
 appreciate. 
 
 The war of parties went on raging throughout 
 the country. There were the moderate Liberals who 
 had put Amedeo on the throne ; the Reactionists or 
 friends of the fallen dynasty, to which belonged the 
 clergy and many of the old nobility ; the Carlists, the 
 Republicans, and still another important section of 
 society which the existence of all these generated — the 
 brigands. 
 
 General Prim had already fallen a victim to the 
 vengeance of some of these malcontents, and now an 
 attempt was made upon the life of the sovereign while he 
 was driving through the streets of Madrid with his wife. 
 It was midsummer, and Victor Emmanuel was in the 
 irvountains of Savoy when he received the announce- 
 ment. 
 
 To the King of Italy. 
 
 I advise your majesty that this evening we have been 
 the object of an attempt. Thank God, we are quite 
 safe. 
 
 Amedeo. 
 
 Madrid, July 18. 
 
 When the king had recovered from the agitation 
 into which the first shock threw him, he experienced a 
 feeling of intense anger against the perpetrator of the 
 crime. He hastened to the nearest telegraph office to 
 let off the steam in a communication to his son. 
 
 After three inquiet and unhappy years of sovereign 
 power, Amedeo resolved to abdicate, February 1873,
 
 AMEDEOS RETURN. 32/ 
 
 because he would not betray the constitution to which he 
 had sworn, nor shed blood for the establishment of his 
 dynasty. It was pleasant to see the welcome the fallen 
 king got on his return to Italy. The Turin people re- 
 ceived him with rapture. He went to Florence to meet his 
 father, and arranged to arrive in the dead of the night, so 
 as to avoid a demonstration. But the Florentines were 
 too clever for him. They waited all night in bitter winter 
 weather at the station, and escorted him with a torch- 
 light procession and bands of music to the Pitti Palace 
 with the warmest display of affection. From a house 
 opposite the palace we were witness of this hearty and 
 spontaneous demonstration of the generous Florentines, 
 which, under the circumstances, had something touching 
 in it. Victor Emmanuel was grieved and disappointed, 
 but he did not estimate his son's merit by his success ; 
 Amedeo had failed because, like himself, he would not 
 be other than a Re galantnoino, and he received him with 
 open arms. 
 
 The Emperor Xapoleon died on Januarj- 9 of this- 
 year, and Victor Emmanuel was really grieved at the 
 event, for he had never forgotten the campaign of 1859, 
 and the kindly feeling it had engendered sur\-ived all 
 subsequent trials. In May ^lanzoni died at an advanced 
 age. Milan decreed him a public funeral, and the king 
 sent his sons and cousin to assist at the ceremony. In 
 June another public loss followed in the death of Rat- 
 tazzi ; though not a brilliant statesman, the king 
 mourned for him as a zealous ser\'ant of the crown and 
 an attached personal friend. 
 
 Hosts of distinguished visitors came to Rome these 
 first years of Victor Emmanuel's residence there ; there 
 was hardly a country in Europe which had not sent a 
 royal prince to salute the King of Italy in his new capital. 
 Amongst these were three English princes, a prince of 
 Prussia, and an Austrian archduke. Nothing could be 
 kinder than the feeling that now existed between the 
 Houses of Hapsburg and Savoy, and the King of Italy 
 accepted a very pressing invitation to visit Vienna 
 on the occasion of the Exhibition. Accompanied by
 
 328 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 his ministers, Minghetti and Visconti Venosta, and a 
 large following, he arrived in Vienna on September 17, 
 
 1873- 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had so completely sunk all per- 
 sonal considerations in the patriot king, that no one 
 suspected, during the years of division with Austria, 
 that this hostility cost him any sacrifice of feeling — at 
 least after the death of his wife. But the intense 
 pleasure he showed at the recovered friendship revealed 
 the fact that the relationship of his adversaries had added 
 to the bitterness of the struggle. 
 
 As the train approached the station a flood of pain- 
 ful memories rushed across his mind ; it seemed almost 
 a dream that he was the honoured guest of Francis 
 Joseph, against whom he had been waging war ever 
 since he came to the throne. In a few minutes he would 
 be face to face with this strange brother whom he had 
 never met ; and an extraordinary agitation seized him, 
 which sent the blood from his face to his heart. The 
 Emperor and the King embraced with an emotion 
 which attested the sincerity of their feelings. When 
 Francis Joseph presented his brothers, even in that 
 moment of confusion a gentlemanly instinct made Victor 
 Emmanuel single out for special notice the Archduke 
 Albert, who had distinguished himself on the two fields 
 of Novara and Custoza — pregnant with painful memories 
 to every Italian, but especially to the king. He walked 
 up to him, and taking both his hands, shook them re- 
 peatedly. The emotion which Victor Emmanuel ex- 
 perienced in this reconciliation was brought to a climax 
 when, in the salon of the Archduke Ranieri, he saw the 
 portrait of his late queen, taken when she was a girl. 
 Thinking how happy she would have been in this 
 reunion with her long-divided relations, he could not 
 restrain his tears. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was painfully anxious to avoid 
 any unpleasant allusion to past differences. He had 
 removed from his travelling hat a representation of the 
 Iron Crown of Lombardy ; and when he was told that 
 in proposing the Emperor's health he should also call
 
 VISITS TO VIENNA AND BERLIN. 329 
 
 him Ki)ig of Hungary, he objected, saying that it re- 
 called disagreeable memories, and he would not remind 
 the emperor of them. But he was finally convinced 
 that Francis Joseph was proud of the double title, and 
 he gave the toast as etiquette demanded. In bestowing 
 decorations he did not offer tlie Corona d' Italia to any 
 Austrian unless he had some secret intimation that it 
 was specially desired. 
 
 After four days of the most profuse and graceful 
 hospitality on the part of the emperor, Victor Emmanuel 
 set out for Berlin, where his reception by sovereign and 
 people was cordial in the extreme. Nothing could 
 exceed the Emperor Francis Joseph's kindness, but the 
 welcome the Prussians gave il R^ Galantiiovio was even 
 more thorough and hearty than that of the Austrians. 
 The Emperor William said he had never seen his sub- 
 jects so excited by the presence of a foreign sovereign. 
 Victor also won the hearts of all the royal princes and 
 princesses by his frank simplicity of manners, his humour 
 and bonhomie ; and the crown prince and he became 
 greater friends than ever. While he was at Berlin a 
 characteristic incident occurred. At a court dinner 
 Victor Emmanuel was seated at the emperor's right hand, 
 and many distinguished guests, Italians and Prussians, 
 were present, when he suddenly said, ' You know I 
 would have made war on you only for these gentlemen,' 
 pointing to his ministers, who listened in confused 
 silence to this declaration. He then explained frankly 
 that such had been his personal regard for Napoleon, 
 and his grateful remembrance of past services, that he 
 would certainly have gone to his aid had not his duty as 
 constitutional sovereign compelled him to bow to the 
 will of the government and nation. But now that the 
 quarrel was ended he was proud to be the sincere friend 
 of united Germany and her glorious emperor. The old 
 emperor was charmed with this candour. He took 
 Victor's hand and pressed it, saying, * I thank your 
 majesty for your frankness.' 
 
 On Victor Emmanuel's return to his own countr\' he 
 stopped in Turin to inaugurate a monument to Cavour
 
 330 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 on November 8, and on the 13th of the same month he 
 opened the Parliament, in a long speech, chiefly on the 
 relations of Church and State, which continued to occupy 
 the attention of the government. 
 
 I rejoice to tell you (he said), that our relations with the 
 foreign powers are friendly. These good relations 
 received a solemn confirmation on the occasion of the 
 visit that I have just made to the Emperor of Austria 
 and the Emperor of Germany. The demonstrations 
 of cordial sympathy that I have received from those 
 two sovereigns and from their peoples were meant 
 for regenerated Italy, which has known how to take 
 her place among civilised nations. Austria and Italy 
 have been old adversaries on the field of battle. The 
 cause of their long contest removed, there remains only 
 confidence in their common interests and in the ad- 
 vantages of sincere friendship. This friendship is all 
 the more grateful to me because it is associated with 
 those family affections which a higher and more im- 
 perious duty has been able to dominate, but could 
 not extinguish in my heart. 
 
 These words had been put in at the king's express 
 desire. France, as usual, pretending a devotion to the 
 Church, took umbrage at the proceedings of the Italian 
 government, and recalled her representative. Victor 
 Emmanuel, who liked the ambassador, spoke very 
 frankly to him when he came to take his leave. ' It is 
 a great pity,' he said, ' to use religious scruples as a 
 pretext for political objects. Religion is a grand, a 
 sublime thing ; w^e all feel the need of it, and it is the 
 duty of us all not to compromise it — not to use it as a 
 cloak.' A just rebuke. 
 
 The year 1874 was the twenty-fifth of Victor 
 Emmanuel's reign, and it was celebrated as a great 
 national fete. On the morning of March 23, an immense 
 assemblage thronged to the Quirinal, consisting of 
 deputations representing all cla.sses and bodies of the 
 state, who wished to present loyal addresses to the king. 
 Tlie foreign ambassadors also came in the name of
 
 ROYAL VISITORS. 331 
 
 their sovereigns to offer their congratulations. It was a 
 ver}- warm demonstration, and Mctor Emmanuel was 
 much gratified b}' it. He exhausted himself in suitable 
 replies to the addresses, but they are too numerous to 
 quote. 
 
 About this time the French Government removed 
 the old ship of war Orenogjic, which had remained at 
 Civitavecchia as a protectioji to the holy father, or a 
 means of escape in case of danger. 
 
 In this year several eminent Italians died ; amongst 
 them the ]\Iarchese Gualterio, one of the most devoted 
 friends of the House of Savoy, and the Cavaliere Des- 
 ambrois, v/ho had presided in the councils of Charles 
 Albert at the promulgation of the Statute. The 
 ' makers ' of Itah* were fast disappearing, and \'ictor Em- 
 manuel was left almost the only one of the noble band 
 who had rallied round his throne in the time of trial and 
 danger. He felt it deeply. ' I am not yet old, and all 
 the friends of my youth are passing away,' he said sadly. 
 La Marmora and the king had become estranged in the 
 days of prosperity and peace, having clung to each other 
 faithfully in the time of misfortune. We do not pretend 
 to say whose fault it was, but it must have saddened the 
 last few years of these two gallant warm-hearted soldiers, 
 who had made the campaign of life together, to be divided 
 at the end. 
 
 In 1876 the two emperors returned the visit the 
 King of Italy had made them three years before. In 
 consideration for the Pope's feelings Victor Emmanuel 
 could not receive his visitors in Rome, so they were asked 
 to select whatever other city in the kingdom they liked. 
 The Emperor of Austria, with ' exquisite courtesy,' chose 
 Venice as the spot of Italian soil on which to renew his 
 pledge of friendship to Victor Emmanuel. If he went 
 to Rome the Pope would be offended, if to Florence or 
 Naples he would hurt the feelings of his dispossessed 
 relations. Choosing \'enice he hurt nobody but him- 
 self. Victor Emmanuel was quite touched by this mag- 
 nanimity, because he knew Francis Joseph had selected 
 Venice of a set purpose. There was Turin in which the
 
 332 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL 11. 
 
 kinij could have received his guest without awakening 
 an)' unpleasant recollections. ' It is an act of self-abne- 
 gation,' he said, ' of which I do not believe I should be 
 capable.' 
 
 All the more warm was the welcome he wished to 
 give him in the city of the Lagunes. He felt a little uneasy 
 lest the reception of the emperor by the Venetians should 
 not be all he wished, but there was no need of anxiety on 
 this point. The king walked up and down the platform 
 with feverish impatience, looking up the line every few 
 minutes. When the train stopped, and the emperor 
 sprang out, the first face that presented itself was that 
 of his ' dear friend, ally, and brother.' The sovereigns 
 kissed each other on the lips, and walked arm in arm 
 out of the station. Wherever they appeared they 
 seemed anxious to show the people what sincere con- 
 fiding friends old enemies can become when once recon- 
 ciled. And the Venetians left nothing undone on their 
 part that might please and honour the guest of their 
 king. The city authorities spared no expense, and the 
 people received the emperor, who had been to them the 
 personification of the Strcmlero so long hated, with 
 loud and hearty applause. Did the Kaiser remember 
 all the hard names he was called in those days when the 
 king and he exchanged messages of fierce defiance .'* 
 If so, the memory was quickly drowned in the up- 
 roarious rejoicings with which he was now welcomed as 
 a guest in that city over which he once ruled. The 
 Italian tricolour which floated from the towers and 
 windows was intertwined with the yellow and black of 
 Austria ; the bands played the national tunes of both 
 countries, and various emblematical devices expressed 
 a complete wiping out of the old feud, and cordial 
 reconciliation. 
 
 In the October of the same year the Emperor William 
 came to visit Italy, and stopped in Milan. With him 
 there were no awkward reminiscences to be thrust in 
 the background. Milan was devoted to King Victor, and 
 was proud of the opportunity of displaying her loyalty 
 by doing honour to his illustrious guest ; and the
 
 DEATH OF THE DUCHESS OF AOSTA. 333 
 
 king was proud of * his Milanese, who always did things 
 with spirit' When driving from the station he ordered 
 the soldiers not to impede the crowd from approaching 
 the royal carriage, that the emperor and the people 
 might see each other ; and at a review where they were 
 on horseback, the military gave way and allowed the 
 multitude to surround the sovereigns, whom they greeted 
 with enthusiastic cheers, which were very cordially re- 
 sponded to by both. 
 
 On November 8, 1876, after a lingering illness of three 
 years, died, at San Remo, Vittoria, Duchess of Aosta, to 
 the inexpressible grief of her husband and the deep 
 regret of all the royal family. 
 
 There had been a general election, and the new 
 Parliament opened on the 20th, the court being in deep 
 mourning on the occasion, and the king delivered his 
 last speech from the throne, from which we take the 
 opening paragraph : — 
 
 Gentlemen Senators, — Gentlemen Deputies, — Afflicted 
 by a domestic sorrow, in which I see with gratitude my 
 people warmly share, I come to-day to seek the best 
 consolation in the fulfilment of my duty. And in 
 truth I never have to inaugurate this solemnity with- 
 out feeling increase in my heart faith in the destinies 
 of lta.\y, and in the future of the free institutions to 
 which we are sworn. 
 
 The speech, which is very long, concludes with these 
 words ; — 
 
 For six years we have celebrated in Rome the fete of 
 national unity. Our complete unity has borne fruits 
 of glory and proofs of Avisdom. Much has been done, 
 but much remains to do. There remains the work 
 which requires the greatest patience in labour and 
 the greatest harmony of will, that of consolidating, 
 and, where necessary, correcting, the whole edifice of 
 government. In this we can onl}' succeed by emulating 
 one another in laboriousness and steadiness of purpose. 
 I indicate the way to you, and I feel sure that also in
 
 334 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II, 
 
 these battles for our civil regeneration, my voice will 
 find a response in noble sacrifices and glorious 
 victories. 
 
 This was the last time that the voice of // Re 
 GalantHovw was heard to resound in the Legislative 
 Assembly. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL IN PRIVATE LIFE. A.D. 1 877. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had always been a man of the 
 simplest tastes and habits, and his residence in Rome 
 had in no way changed his mode of life. He rose at a 
 little past four o'clock summer and winter, and took a 
 small cup of coffee before going out for his morning 
 walk. In the shooting season he never went without his 
 gun and dogs ; his favourite of the canine species being 
 an English terrier called ' Milord,' a creature of extraor- 
 dinary sagacity and devotion, and as a protection to his 
 master as good as a regiment of soldiers. When the 
 king died the poor dog, tied up in his house, sent forth 
 the most pitiful cries, and refusing his food almost 
 perished of hunger. On returning from the country the 
 king transacted business of various kinds until his 
 simple breakfast between eleven and twelve o'clock, which 
 was also his dinner, for he tasted nothing more till he 
 took a light supper at a late hour. He then rested for an 
 hour or two, reading and smoking,and afterwards resumed 
 his multifarious duties, of answering correspondence public 
 and private, and giving audiences to all sorts and con- 
 ditions of men, from foreign princes and statesmen down 
 to the meanest artisan in the city. In the afternoon he 
 generally drove through the town and appeared at the 
 fashionable promenade on the Pincian Hill ; after which 
 more business was gone through, and late in the evening 
 he drove to the Villa Mirafiore, a beautiful house a short
 
 CARELESSNESS OF DRESS. 335 
 
 distance from Rome, which he had built for his countess, 
 on whom he bestowed every hixury. It is said that 
 Victor Emmanuel repented of his union with this lady 
 when he recovered from the fever. Be this as it 
 may, after the ceremony of marriage had taken place, 
 though it was in no way legally binding, he always 
 spoke of her and regarded her as his wife. Unless the 
 king were detained at the theatre or a reception or 
 family reunion at the Quirinal, he generally passed the 
 evening with one or two intimate friends at his country 
 home. He supped about ten or eleven o'clock, retired at 
 midnight, was up at the dawn, had two or three hours 
 hard exercise, and was installed in his city palace, ready 
 for work, before many of his subjects had opened their 
 eyes. 
 
 A small plainly furnished suite of apartments on the 
 ground floor was all Victor Emmanuel occupied of the 
 magnificent palace of the Quirinal, except on state 
 occasions. With the exception of his military uniforms, 
 which were of necessity handsome, his wardrobe was the 
 scantiest which a gentleman could be supposed to 
 manage with by rigid economy. He w^ore the same 
 cloth, colour, and texture all the year round — grey for 
 morning and black for evening. He seldom had more 
 than one suit of each, and wore them till they were 
 shabby, which caused a Neapolitan boy to remark, 
 * The ministry load us with taxes, and yet they have not 
 the heart to buy Vittorio a new pair of pantaloons ! ' 
 The king laughed heartily when he heard the observa- 
 tion. The only thing he was particular about was his 
 linen, and of that he liked a great quantity and fine 
 quality. When he was going to Berlin and Vienna, his 
 gentlemen-in-waiting told him that his wardrobe re- 
 quired replenishing. The king replied, ' Very well ; 
 order what is necessary.' ' But your majesty must have 
 your measure taken this time, for they are very elegant 
 at Berlin and Vienna.' 'What a nuisance! Ask Baron 
 
 to be kind enough to have his measure taken for 
 
 me ; he is about my size,' was the response. He never 
 wore gloves but when he was en graiide toilette.
 
 336 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 Going to the theatre one night in a grey coat, the 
 king observed that the daughter of the Emperor of 
 Russia and the Princess Margherita were in the house. 
 He must pay a visit to the foreign princess, and it was 
 too late to return to the Quirinal to change his dress. 
 ' I am all black but the coat,' he said to his attendants ; 
 ' if some one would lend me a coat ! ' He espied a 
 young marquis, one of his aides-de-camp, near, and sent 
 for him. The coat was quickly exchanged, but a white 
 tie was still wanting. The marquis offered his, but 
 Victor Emmanuel, seeing one of his sei"vants at the door 
 of the box with a fresher one, walked up to him, and 
 silently took off his tie and fastened it on himself; then 
 brushing his hair at the glass he said, ' Do I look King 
 of Italy > ' 
 
 This familiarity, in which he occasionally indulged, 
 did not involve a loss of dignity, for he knew how to 
 check any undue presumption. Once a Roman noble, 
 whose sympathies were rather with the old rt^gime than 
 the new, said, ' I wonder your majesty drives in the 
 Corso ; we Roman princes do not go.' 
 
 ' And we, King of Italy, go ; ' replied Victor Em- 
 manuel, with a stately dignity which he could assume 
 when occasion required. 
 
 He was excessively punctual in all his engagements, 
 having his time portioned out for every separate duty, 
 and he could not tolerate the want of punctuality in 
 others. One evening an engineer kept him waiting ten 
 minutes, during which period his impatient temper got 
 the better of him. He was just despatching a mes- 
 senger to know if anything had happened, when the 
 engineer made his appearance. The king walked up to 
 him, watch in hand, saying, ' Bravo ! you are ten minutes 
 late ! ' The delinquent was so crushed that he could not 
 find a word of apology. The good-natured king, seeing 
 this, thought his rebuke had been too sharp, and 
 hastened to add, * Well, I am sure it was not your fault, 
 and I will take care that it does not occur again.' He 
 went into the adjoining room and brought out a hand- 
 some watch, saying, ' This goes exactly with mine, so in
 
 IRREGULARITY OF CONDUCT. 337 
 
 future there shall be no difference in our time.' ' Pardon/ 
 murmured the engineer, ' your majesty, I am so con- 
 fused ' ' Enough, the incident is forgotten ; let us 
 
 talk of more important things,' said the king. 
 
 King Victor was wont to quote the words of Henry 
 of Navarre, ' A court without a queen is like spring-time 
 without flowers ; ' and certainly his court suffered a 
 heavy loss in the early death of his queen, who is 
 described by everyone who knew her as quite an ideal 
 character. The deep attachment and respect which her 
 husband felt for her could not have failed to have a 
 powerful influence on his life had she been spared to 
 him. Unhappily the removal of his guardian angel — 
 for as such he regarded Adelaide — released Victor 
 Emmanuel, already too much disposed to disregard the 
 convoiances, from the wholesome restraints of family and 
 court life ; for a court without a queen, presided over 
 by a king who hated ceremony and etiquette, must have 
 been wanting in some important elements. The result 
 of this excessive liberty on a temperament such as his 
 may be imagined. But when all has been said in just 
 condemnation of Victor Emmanuel's irregularities, the 
 undoubted fact remains that public duty was never 
 neglected nor postponed for private interest or pleasure, 
 and that no back-door influence was permitted to bear 
 upon state affairs ; for no ideal prince, not even the 
 British Arthur, could have a loftier sense of his kingly 
 responsibility, or a more conscientious regard for the 
 honour and welfare of his country. 
 
 Everyone has heard of King Victor's inordinate love 
 of horses, of which he had a rare supply, and spent on 
 them much more than he could afford. We have heard 
 that his successor, who would not sell anything that had 
 belonged to his father, had given some hundreds of these 
 animals as presents to cavalry officers. He also refused 
 to allow the nation to pay the late king's debts — which 
 in the moment of sorrowful enthusiasm she would gladly 
 have done — reserving that duty to himself The king's 
 debts, says an enthusiastic admirer, 'so far from being 
 a blot, are much to his credit, inasmuch as the head of 
 
 z
 
 338 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 every state has an opportunity of amassing a large 
 fortune if he will ; and Victor Emmanuel not only did 
 not do this, but spent much of his private patrimony, 
 his civil list being insufficient even for a miserly sove- 
 reign, while it could not possibly be enough for a very 
 generous one,' 
 
 The worry that all sovereigns have to support of 
 incessant applications for help in various ways, Victor 
 Emmanuel suffered from in an extraordinary degree. 
 Petitioners lay in wait for him at his palace door, on his 
 promenades, at the church door, at the door of the 
 theatre — every place where they could catch sight of 
 him and throw a paper into his carriage. Every post 
 brought bushels of letters, some of them registered, con- 
 taining the most pitiful tales of want, and misery, and 
 despair, and everything that could touch a man's heart 
 and excite his interest and curiosity. Many of these 
 were genuine cases of distress, but many were also in- 
 geniously devised plots to extort money from the soft- 
 hearted king, or trap him into an intrigue. The eclat 
 attaching to his public career, his well-known generosity, 
 and — it must be owned — his reputation for gallantry, 
 which his enemies had spread and exaggerated beyond 
 his deserts, made him a target for this sort of persecu- 
 tion to a degree above the common lot of princes. It 
 was in vain that his faithful servants unmasked impos- 
 tors, and cautioned and warned him against lending 
 too ready an ear to every applicant ; he could not turn 
 a petitioner away unheard, and if undeserving persons 
 sometimes got what they had no right to, on the other 
 hand hundreds of miserable beings were relieved and 
 sustained through some difficult crisis. Here is one of 
 the many authentic anecdotes of Victor Emmanuel's 
 charity : — 
 
 One evening, at the door of the theatre, a man rushed 
 at the royal carriage with a paper in his hand crying, 
 ' Maestd, grazia! The king stopped the carriage, and put 
 out his hand to take the petition. 
 
 ' Permit me one word, your majesty,' said the man. 
 
 * Even two; let us hear them,' was the gracious reply.
 
 CHARITY. 339 
 
 'Your majesty does not know me ? ' 
 
 ' Really I have not that pleasure,' said the king. 
 
 ' Sire, I am a professor in the orchestra of the Poli- 
 teama, where I play the horn close to your majesty's 
 box.' 
 
 'This gives me much pleasure, but let us come to 
 the moral.' 
 
 ' Here it is, sire. My landlord intimates that I must 
 pay my arrears of rent, or be turned out. Imagine it, 
 with a wife and five children. To-morrow I am to 
 appear before the Tribunal to hear myself condemned. 
 Your majesty, I say no more ; here is the citation.' 
 
 'Well, well, I understand ; and do you want me to 
 go to the prefettura instead of you .'* ' asked Victor 
 smiling. 
 
 ' Oh no, your majesty, I will go ; but going, I should 
 like to be able to say, " here is the money, and I owe it 
 to the generosity of my king." ' 
 
 'Very well ; we will provide it.' 
 
 The grateful musician kissed the liberal hand which 
 saved him from ruin, and the king entered his box and 
 related the incident to his friends. 
 
 ' Ah,' said Count Castellengo, the Minister of the 
 Household, whose life was a constant struggle to check 
 his master's extravagance, ' if he makes this public to- 
 morrow, everyone who has rent to pay will come to the 
 Quirinal for it.' 
 
 The king shrugged his shoulders, and next day the 
 player of the horn received 300 francs. 
 
 It was not on the battle-field alone that Victor 
 Emmanuel was always ready to expose his life for the 
 sake of his people. Whenever a town was visited by 
 any violent epidemic, the king, besides contributing 
 largely to the relief of the sufferers, hastened thither to 
 assist personally in the work. 
 
 In 1865 the cholera was raging in Naples, and the 
 inhabitants, seized with a panic, were migrating in hun- 
 dreds from the city. So much depends in this disease 
 on the state of mind, that the terror caused by the panic 
 increased the pestilence tenfold. It was then that the
 
 340 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 king, wishing to give courage to his afiflicted subjects by 
 an example of utter fearlessness, arrived in Naples, and 
 hastened, in company with the syndic and the prefect, 
 to visit all the poor districts, which were most infected 
 because of the dirt and squalor in which the inhabitants 
 lived, ' where in the memory of man the least shadow of 
 a king had never been seen,' says the narrator. A great 
 number of the lower classes held the person of a sove- 
 reign in a sort of superstitious awe, as endowed with more 
 than human power for good or ill ; and so the presence 
 of the benevolent king had a very efificacious effect. 
 
 In visiting the hospitals he stood beside the sick 
 beds, and spoke encouragingly to the patients. Before 
 one of these, already marked for death, the king stopped, 
 and taking his frozen, damp hand, he pressed it, saying, 
 ' Take courage, poor man, and try to recover soon.' The 
 warm grasp of the hand, the strong cheerful voice, the 
 recognition of the king's face, had an agitating effect on 
 the dying man. That evening the syndic visited the 
 king and said : ' Your majesty's coming is a joyful omen. 
 I am happy to tell you that the doctors report a diminu- 
 tion of the disease in the course of the day, and your 
 majesty has unawares worked a miracle. The man you 
 saw this morning stretched for death, is out of danger 
 this evening. The doctors say that the excitement ot 
 your presence caused a salutary crisis.' 
 
 * I am so glad. But what fun ! If they spread the 
 report that I work miracles I am afraid the Neapolitans 
 will divide me in pieces in order to reduce me to relics,' 
 said the king. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had a droll humorous way of re- 
 lating little anecdotes, which amused his friends more 
 from the manner of telling them than the matter. One 
 day when he was on a journey the train stopped for a 
 few minutes at a little country station in a very remote 
 district, where probably the shadow of a king had never 
 been seen. On the platform the syndic appeared, ele- 
 gantly * got up ' for the occasion. The king, seeing the 
 good man ' exhausting himself in bows,' beckoned him 
 to approach the carriage-window.
 
 PASSION FOR HUNTING. 34I 
 
 ' I presume, signore, that you are the syndic. I con- 
 gratulate you,' said his majesty; and after some 
 further remarks he opened his huge cigar-case, which 
 he had ahvays at hand, and offered him one of his 
 havannahs. 
 
 ' No, sire, I never could have the boldness to put my 
 hand in your majesty's cigar-case.' 
 
 ' I pray you accept ; do me the pleasure,' said the 
 king persuasively, taking out a cigar and putting it into 
 the hand of the modest syndic. 
 
 ' Sire,' said he, kissing the royal hand, ' this cigar 
 shall be the chief glory of my comiine. I shall smoke 
 this cigar the rest of my life.' 
 
 Victor was a great smoker. In the Summer Theatre 
 at Naples there was put up once a prohibition against 
 smoking, which displeased the king, and he ordered it 
 to be taken down. Then he lit a cigar, and offered 
 some to his suite ; whereupon all the men in the theatre 
 began to smoke. 
 
 ' Behold, sire,' obser\-ed one of the courtiers, ' how 
 quickly the example of royalty is followed.' 
 
 ' When it is a bad example, yes,' was the keen 
 rejoinder. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had a passion for hunting ; he 
 never seemed in such good spirits as when he was in- 
 haling the keen mountain air, and clambering over 
 Alpine snows, where he outdid everyone in daring feats 
 of agility. He never could be persuaded to wear flan- 
 nel, or put on an overcoat or mantle. In these moun- 
 tain excursions he slept under canvas in the severest 
 weather, regardless of all discomforts. On Sundays a 
 priest was brought from the nearest village, and a little 
 temporary altar erected in the king's tent for religious 
 service, in which he expected all his following to assist ; 
 for Victor Emmanuel was not, as he once said to the 
 French ambassador, a uimivais cJircticn. He reverenced 
 everything sacred, he never used profane language, and 
 we are told by one who knew him intimately, that ' it 
 hurt his nerves to hear anyone swear.' 
 
 The king used to send the produce of the chase as
 
 342 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 presents to strangers in the neighbourhood ; and once 
 there was assembled not far off from the mountain in 
 which the royal hunting-party were stationed, a number 
 of young artists and authors, who on receiving a gift 
 from the king thanked him in comic verse and sketches, 
 which pleased him much. He invited them all to spend 
 a day or two with him, and received them with such 
 a hearty hospitality, such bonhomie, such fun and wit, 
 that the guests will never forget the pleasure of that 
 mountain excursion. When thus set free from the cares 
 of state and the irksome conventionalities of court 
 life, Victor Emmanuel was like a schoolboy in vaca- 
 tion ; no danger could daunt him, no fatigue could de- 
 press his spirits. He has often gone the whole day 
 without food, having taken nothing but a cup of coffee 
 early in the morning, and not returned to supper till a 
 late hour in the evening. 
 
 Senator Plezza relates an amusing little anecdote 
 which is characteristic of Victor Emmanuel. Just at 
 the beginning of the war of 1859 Signor Plezza was 
 appointed governor of Alessandria ; but, on hearing 
 that the Emperor of the French was expected to call 
 there, begged to be excused, on the plea that he was 
 unfit to receive a foreign sovereign. Count Cavour said 
 he had need of him in that post, and refused to cancel 
 the appointment. Plezza then appealed to the king, 
 saying that he understood nothing of etiquette, and 
 could not represent his sovereign. 
 
 ' Is it possible .'' ' said Victor Emmanuel. 
 
 * It is true, your majesty ; I never come to court but 
 on public business, and I am quite ignorant of the eti- 
 quette necessary for such an occasion.' 
 
 ' You understand absolutely nothing of etiquette 1 ' 
 asked the king again. 
 
 ' Nothing, sire.' 
 
 ' Then since it is so, give me your hand. You are 
 entirely fitted to represent me, for neither did I ever 
 understand etiquette.' 
 
 One day one of his ministers spoke of an appoint- 
 ment he had just made to some public office. The king
 
 LIBERALITY. 343 
 
 took up a publication in which the newly-appointed 
 gentleman, writing in the Republican interest, had for- 
 merly attacked the king in a satirical poem. ' Did you 
 know that he was the author of this ? ' he asked, show- 
 ing the production. 
 
 ' No, your majesty ; of course not. I will cancel the 
 appointment.' 
 
 But it was not in Victor Emmanuel's leonine nature 
 to take such a paltry revenge on the ex-republican. 
 
 ' No, we will cancel the poem rather,' he said with a 
 smile ; ' let the poor devil stand.' 
 
 There was a patrician family reduced to poverty by 
 the gambling propensities of the father, and some friend 
 of the house introduced one of the children into the 
 king's presence. He patted her head, kissed her, and 
 put a small gift in her hand. Then looking round to 
 see that no one was observing him, he took notes for a 
 large sum and fastened them in the child's plaits, say- 
 ing, ' Let no one unpin your hair but mamma ; you 
 understand, dear ? ' 
 
 A young French officer, maimed so as to render him 
 unfit for service, had been nursed in the house of a 
 gentleman at Ferrara, and during his convalescence he 
 and the daughter of the house had fallen desperately in 
 love : but as neither the lady nor the gentleman had any 
 provision for the future, the case seemed hopeless. The 
 romantic story being told to the king, he gave the 
 officer a pension and the girl a small dote, to enable 
 them to marry. 
 
 But our space is running short and we must stop, 
 though we could relate many more anecdotes illustra- 
 tive of Victor Emmanuel's character in its strong and 
 weak points. The more one studies it, the more one 
 appreciates the just and well-balanced mind, the simple 
 sincerity, the large-hearted humanity, of the man Victor 
 Emmanuel, apart from his qualities as king, in which 
 the world has acknowledged his merit.
 
 344 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 DRAWING TO A CLOSE. A.D. 1 877. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel had been now seven years reign- 
 ing in Rome, and notwithstanding the difificult relations 
 between Church and State, and other trials which the 
 young nation had to struggle against, public affairs had 
 gone on with wonderful order and tranquillity. The 
 heads of the Church and State reigned in their respective 
 palaces of the Vatican and the Quirinal, each living in his 
 world apart, as if they had been in different hemispheres, 
 
 Pius IX., after an unusually stirring, eventful career, 
 for a churchman, had sunk into political insignificance, 
 and the world heard little of him, if we except the small 
 commotion caused by an occasional flock of pilgrims in 
 the Eternal City, or the reception of a number of foreign 
 visitors desirous of seeing with their own eyes that most 
 interesting personage called the Prisoner of the Vatican. 
 The holy father received these visitors benignly, talked 
 pleasantly with them, gave them his benediction, and 
 his small white hand to kiss. 
 
 Hundreds of anecdotes were afloat as to how serenely 
 — nay gaily — the good old man bore his imprisonment ; 
 and many of his witticisms relate to his own peculiar 
 position, as when he remarked on Garibaldi's arrival in 
 Rome, ' We were tzvo ; now we are tJiree' These bon 
 mots, and an occasional allocution, were all that was 
 heard of the Pope after the Italians took possession of 
 the ancient capital. The bitterness of the pastorals 
 and his private gaiety — the contrast between the ideal 
 mart}"r-pope lying on a bed of straw, and the charming 
 courtly gentleman whose green old age reposed in a 
 home which the proudest monarch in Europe might 
 envy, had a rather irritating effect on the Italian public 
 mind. ?io Nono, however, was not wilfully false or de- 
 ceptive, but he had a dual character : as Pope he felt it 
 his duty to cry out about the persecutions of the Church,
 
 I 
 
 RELATIONS WITH THE POPE. 345 
 
 while as a man he was gentle and amiable, and did not 
 feel towards Victor Emmanuel the animosity with which 
 he was accredited. He sometimes, to the king's friends, 
 spoke kindly of him as a buon figliiiolo, and wrote, when 
 occasion required, in a not unfriendly spirit One in- 
 stance will serve to show that it was as much from the 
 influence of those around him as from principle, that 
 Pius IX. refused all intercourse with the King of Itah-. 
 In 1S72 the Pope, wishing to suppress some scandal of 
 which he had become cc^^isant, wrote in his own hand, 
 without consulting Antonelli, a letter to the kii^, asking 
 him to use his authority" for the remov^al of the said 
 abuse. One of the Noble Guards arrived at the Ouirinal, 
 saying he had orders from the Pope to consign the 
 letter into his majesty's hands. The king was pleased 
 to recognise the Pope's own characters, and pleased also 
 with the contents ; for in that letter he acknowledged 
 him as a constitutional sovereign, telling him to use his 
 power as far as it went, and ' consult his ministers.' It 
 concluded -with these words, * Full of paternal affection, 
 I pray God for your majesty, I pray Him for Italy, and 
 I pray Him for the Church.' 
 
 Thus in private Pio Nono's kind heart sometimes 
 spoke, in spite of the constant guard he kept upon it. 
 His public denunciations were for the edification of the 
 Catholic world, which must also have been edified by the 
 Christian humility with which Victor Emmanuel bore 
 these public denunciations and private snubbings from 
 the Vatican, never failing in deferential respect towards 
 the holy father. And from a heretic point of view 
 there seems something noble in the meekness with Avhich 
 the proud conqueror bowed before his aged and impotent 
 io^, pleading for his friendship, and saying he was read\- 
 to abdicate if tliat could spare him pain. Pius IX. would 
 have been more (or less) than man if he had not been 
 touched by the attitude of Victor Emmanuel towards 
 him j>ersonally ; and there is no doubt that he was, 
 though his court was at great pains to conceal the fact. 
 
 The liberation of Rome by the monarchy had silenced 
 those restless spirits who had so long made it their war-
 
 34^ LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 cry ; and Garibaldi, after sulking for years, and making 
 common cause with the republicans, was elected deputy 
 to the national Parliament, took a solemn oath of alle- 
 giance to the King of Italy, and in a long private 
 audience all differences were explained away and the 
 heroes reconciled. In presence of the great national 
 triumph there was a general truce to the hostilities of 
 party, all uniting in testimonies of admiration and gra- 
 titude to the sovereign whose brave, firm hand had 
 guided the ship of state into port. It is sometimes said 
 of constitutional sovereigns that they reign but do not 
 govern. Victor Emmanuel never was a royal puppet of 
 this sort. As head of the state, he exercised his authority 
 judiciously, and assisted his ministers with his wise, mo- 
 derate counsels, balancing the extremes of opinion. Not 
 long ago he was asked by a distinguished foreigner if 
 his ministers were not Radical. To which he replied 
 with a smile, ' And if they were, what matter } Am I 
 not here } If, instead of Radicals, as you say, I had a 
 ministry of Cardinals, things should go on in the same 
 way.' And when some one hoped that on the occasion 
 of the expected conclave, public matters w^ould be con- 
 ducted with tolerance and moderation, he said, ' Be tran- 
 quil ; all will go well. Remember that the leader of 
 the choir is always the same.' 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was now at the zenith of his 
 glory ; his utmost ambition was attained. He had 
 found Italy oppressed by a host of petty tyrants, domi- 
 nated by Austria, torn by lawless combinations, mis- 
 judged and condemned by the other countries of Europe. 
 She was now a free united nation, tranquil and law- 
 abiding, respected everywhere. At peace with all 
 the world, beloved and honoured by his people, what 
 was left for him to desire.^ He might say with the 
 poet — 
 
 I have touched the highest point of all my greatness. 
 
 But he was not happy ; and during the last few 
 months he had been subject to unaccountable fits of me- 
 lancholy. That this gloom had its origin in a feeling of
 
 THE STAR OF ITALY. 347 
 
 dissatisfaction with himself is ver}^ probable. Notwith- 
 standing- his long and resolute struggle against clerical 
 pretensions, Victor Emmanuel had preserved a simple 
 child-like faith in the religion he had been taught at his 
 mother's knee : and through all the stormy passions of 
 his fitful career he had presei-ved sacred the image of his 
 pure young wife, whose memory he revered as that of a 
 saint. In Turin, where he passed the autumn of this 
 year, having gone there to inaugurate a monument to 
 his brother, the Duke of Genoa, he was heard to say 
 more than once, ' I am not a good man, but I can- 
 not die a bad death ; she who is in heaven would not 
 permit it.' 
 
 In the middle of November the king returned to the 
 capital for the reopening of Parliament. Then in De- 
 cember he made a hasty journe}' to Turin to see the 
 Countess Mirafiore. who was ill, and returned for the 
 festivities of Christmas and New Year's day, with the 
 intention of going back as soon as they were over. On 
 the last day of the year 1877 Victor Emmanuel received 
 all the foreign ministers who waited on him to exchange 
 the compliments of the season in the name of their 
 respective sovereigns. The following day he gave 
 audience to deputations from both Houses of Parliament 
 and others who presented congratulatory addresses. 
 The king spoke cheerfully and hopefulh- of the future, 
 and bade his ministers trust always in the star of 
 Italy. 
 
 ' The star of Italy is your majesty," replied Signor 
 Depretis, at which the king smiled sadly. 
 
 They did not dream that it was his last New Year's 
 day ; but he was even then feeling indisposed, and in 
 nine days after he was dead.
 
 348 LIFE OP^ VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 THE LAST DAYS OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. A.D. 1 8/8. 
 
 On New Year's day the king had not felt well ; on the 
 4th he was decidedly ill. On the 5th the news of 
 General La Marmora's death arriving, gave him a great 
 shock, and he wrote a telegram of condolence to the 
 family, the last words he ever penned. Violent fever set 
 in, accompanied by inflammation of the lungs, which 
 was aggravated by his own imprudence in having got 
 out of bed at night and gone on the balcony to cool 
 himself Eveiy day the disease took more alarming pro- 
 portions. Prince Umberto and the Princess Margherita 
 were the only members of the royal family then at the 
 Ouirinal. Telegrams were sent in every direction to 
 summon the absent ones, but too late. On the morning 
 of the 9th the king was decidedly worse ; the utmost 
 consternation reigned throughout the palace. The grief 
 of the prince and princess was indescribable ; the latter 
 had earnestly entreated to be allowed to sit all night 
 with the patient, but her husband would not permit it. 
 At an early hour a cardinal had come from the Vatican 
 with kind inquiries from the Pope about the health of 
 the royal patient. After being bled there was a slight 
 amelioration in the king's state, and Prince Umberto 
 had a long interview with him, in which he talked so 
 clearly and calmly that his son was inspired with a hope 
 that the case was not so bad as the doctors believed. 
 But very soon after the miliary eruption breaking out, 
 the physicians judged recovery impossible, and Dr. 
 Bruno was deputed to break the fatal intelligence to 
 the patient. With much hesitation he made the an- 
 nouncement, saying that the symptoms were such that 
 he felt it his duty to warn his majesty not to lose time 
 in fulfilling his religious obligations. The king was 
 propped in a half-sitting posture, with his hands folded, 
 twirling his thumbs. He looked a little surprised, but
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR DEATH. 349 
 
 nowise disconcerted ; he did not even cease to twirl his 
 thumbs, and never took his unflinching e\-e off" the doctor, 
 as he said in Piedmontese, ' Are we come to that ? ' 
 {Sianio li ?) 'Very well, I will do as you say. Call the 
 chaplain at once.' 
 
 The court chaplain having received the king's con- 
 fession, was obliged to apply to the parish priest for the 
 Sacrament, and he would not dare to give it without 
 permission from the Vatican, which was immediately 
 granted ; later a cardinal came Avith the special bene- 
 diction of the holy father, whose good feeling at last 
 triumphed over ecclesiastical prejudices. 
 
 As the day advanced the patient grew worse, and the 
 time spent in obtaining the sacrament brought him very 
 near death. He spent the inter\'al in taking leave of 
 his ministers and household, and then asked to be alone 
 with his children, Umberto and jMargherita. After a 
 private interview the attendants were recalled, and all 
 remained present at the administration of the communion. 
 When the priest entered with the Host, the king, who was 
 suffering terribly, his right lung being quite destroyed, 
 raised himself with a violent effort to a sitting posture, 
 and inclined his head reverently. After this his strength 
 sank rapidly, and his chest was so oppressed that he had 
 no voice for further conversation. 
 
 There was no hope of the Queen of Portugal or the 
 Princess Clotilde coniing in time to receive their father's 
 last farewell, but Prince Amedeo and the king's cousin. 
 Prince Carignano, of whom he was very fond, were on 
 their way from Turin, and expected to arrive in the 
 evening ; death, however, travelled faster than they 
 counted for, and they came all too late. The king asked 
 again to see Umberto, and when he approached the 
 bedside weeping, he gazed long and fondly at him, put 
 out his hand and murmured the one word ' Addio ! ' 
 The prince kissed the hand, kneeling, and covered it 
 with tears. During the day the sick man had muttered 
 broken sentences about his beloved Turin, where he had 
 wished to die. His last words were, ' I figli, i figli ! ' 
 
 At the final moment, Prince Umberto was kneeling
 
 350 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II, 
 
 at one side of the bed, and Count Mirafiore at the other, 
 while the friends and attendants knelt round the 
 chamber, and also in the anteroom, weeping silently. 
 Dr. Bruno, who was supporting the patient's head, bent 
 down and put his ear to his heart ; it had ceased to beat. 
 In a voice broken with emotion he made the announce- 
 ment — 
 
 ' The first King of Italy is no more ! ' 
 
 Convulsive sobs broke from all present ; and 
 Umberto remained kneeling in an agony of grief for 
 nearly half-an-hour, till one of the doctors drew his arm 
 in his and led him out of the room. 
 
 The fatal news fell like a thunderbolt on the city, 
 and for a moment it was not credited. Groups of people 
 gathered in the streets with pale, frightened faces, and 
 hundreds of others wee seen rushing from all parts to 
 ^he Quirinal Palace, where a dense, agitated crowd filled 
 the piazza from four o'clock in the afternoon till a late 
 hour at night. Soon, however, all doubt was at an end, 
 and before the winter sun had set every shop was closed, 
 and the grand old city bore an aspect of deepest mourn- 
 ing as for some great public calamity. 
 
 While the poor prince was still stnnned by the unex- 
 pected blow, he had to attend to public business. The 
 diplomatic body came to offer their condolences, the 
 ministry came to tender their resignations, and being 
 reappointed, hastened to issue a proclamation officially 
 announcing the death of Vittorio Emanuele II., and 
 the accession of Umberto I. to the throne of Italy. 
 Late in the evening a proclamation from the new king 
 appeared. 
 
 Italians, — An immense calamity has befallen us. 
 Vittorio Emanuele, the founder and uniter of the king-- 
 dom of Italy, has been taken from us. I received 
 his last sigh, which was for the nation, and his last 
 wishes, which were for the happiness of his people. 
 His voice, which will always resound in my heart, im- 
 poses on me the task of vanquishing my sorrow, and 
 points out to me my duty. At this moment there is
 
 PADRE DELLA PATRIA. 35 1 
 
 but one consolation possible for us, that is, to show 
 ourselves worthy of him : I, by following in his foot- 
 steps ; you, by remaining devoted to those civic virtues 
 by the aid of which he succeeded in accomplishing the 
 difficult task of rendering Italy great and united. I 
 shall be mindful of the grand example he gave me of 
 devotion to our country, love of progress, and faith in 
 Liberal institutions, which are the pride of my house. 
 My sole ambition will be to deserve the love of my 
 people. 
 
 Italians, — Your first king is dead. His successor 
 will prove to you that constitutions do not die. Let 
 us unite in this hour of great sorrow, and let us 
 strengthen that concord which has heretofore been 
 the salvation of Italy. 
 
 Umber TO. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel's failings are as well known as his 
 virtues ; he was a man who scorned hypocrisy, and 
 That fierce light which beats upon a throne 
 
 struck with a more sinister glare on the throne of Italy 
 than that of older monarchies, laying bare remorselessly 
 to the eyes of the world the faults of the sovereign, 
 faults which his clerical detractors loved to dwell on and 
 magnify, but which his people forgave, remembering all 
 they owed him. Nor is it to be wondered at that nothing 
 but hymns of praise should be raised over the lately 
 closed tomb upon which a nation still mourns with heart- 
 felt sorrow the liberator and father of his country. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 THE FUNERAL. 
 
 The Pope is reported to have said that Victor Emmanuel 
 died like a cristiano, re, c galantnovw ; and certain it is 
 that the clerical organs generally supposed to express 
 the sentiments of the Vatican breathed nothing but
 
 352 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 Christian charity in the notices of the king's death, 
 while the popular journals poured forth the most pas- 
 sionate laments. One clerical paper in Venice ventured 
 on some offensive comment, which caused the populace 
 to break into the office and destroy the printing-press. 
 
 The grief of the other cities and provinces was not 
 less than that felt in the capital. In Piedmont it was 
 deeper ; for Victor Emmanuel, liberator and regenerator 
 of all Italy, and as such beloved and revered, never 
 could be to all the Italians what he was to his faithful 
 Subalpines, who had knowm him from infancy, and 
 shared all the struggles of his early manhood. 
 
 Telegrams expressing the most ardent sympathy with 
 the royal family poured in from eveiy town in Italy, and 
 everywhere the demonstrations of national grief were 
 solemn and touching. On the i6th Parliament met, and 
 the aged minister, Signor Depretis, announced to a 
 crowded and agitated House the public misfortune. 
 Again and a-.^ain the old man's speech was interrupted 
 by tears ; and in those painful pauses in which the words 
 seemed to choke him, the deputies were also overpowered 
 with emotion. 
 
 If in history there exists a sovereign who has merited the 
 title of Padre dclla Patria, that sovereign is without 
 doubt Victor Emm.anuel. Member of his Parliament 
 since he ascended the throne, thrice member of his 
 council, I had rather that my life had not been pro- 
 longed to see the dreadful day when the great author 
 of Italian independence disappears in the darkness of 
 the tomb. ... I cannot now speak of the great, the 
 inimitable qualities of the deceased ; but I will say 
 that a death more serene, more confident and manly, 
 it is impossible to imagine. The body succumbed, 
 but the soul remained, the soul of patriot and soldier ; 
 the last look he rested on our faces was so calm ! 
 
 Here the speaker broke down ; and many of the 
 deputies and many occupants of the crowded galleries, 
 were seen to wipe away their tears. In the Senate 
 Chamber a similar scene took place. When the pre-
 
 PLACE OF BURIAL. 353 
 
 sident began to speak all the senators rose to their feet 
 and remained standing, while he delivered a brief but 
 often interrupted eulogium on the dead, in the midst of 
 a profound emotion. * The lips are mute,' he said, ' but 
 the heart bleeds. On the remains of the father of his 
 country I can but weep as Italy weeps.' 
 
 Senators, deputies, and soldiers, who only knew 
 Victor Emmanuel as king, wept his loss : but the grief 
 felt by his household and intimate friends was still 
 deeper. It was touching to see the heart-broken faces 
 of the officers who guarded the remains of their dead 
 sovereign when he lay in state in the chapel of the 
 Ouirinal ; and General Medici, the king's aide-de-camp, 
 was so overpowered with grief on the morning of the 
 funeral, that he had to be assisted to his horse, to take 
 his place in the procession. What Victor" Emmanuel's 
 own children experienced may be better imagined than 
 described — and none felt the blow so heavily as the heir 
 to the throne. We never saw a man so broken down by 
 gnef as he was when he went to receive the allegiance 
 of the troops and to take the oath to the Constitution, 
 the only occasions on which he appeared in public for a 
 month after the death of his father. 
 
 Great diversity of opinion existed as to the place of 
 interment, the royal family and ministers being much 
 divided on the subject. Most of them, however, were of 
 opinion that the first King of Italy ought to be buried 
 in the capital, and the Romans were clamorous to have 
 him sepulchred in the Pantheon. On the other hand 
 King Victor loved Turin, and was loved by his Pied- 
 montese subjects with the romantic loyalty of bygone 
 days ; it was hard to slight them for the Romans, 
 Rome conquered however ; and the citizens of the 
 favoured capital sent an address to the citizens of 
 Turin, asking them, for the sake of united Italy, for 
 which they had already made so many sacrifices, to 
 make this sacrifice also, and waive their claims. The 
 Turin people were not softened ; they had been de- 
 prived of their king in life, and in death they thought 
 he ought to have been theirs ; he was their fellow- 
 
 A A
 
 354 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 citizen, reared amongst them ; he was the descendant of 
 their ancient Hne of princes, who were all buried at 
 Superga, and no city had a prior claim to Turin. They 
 rose in a wild demonstration of grief and anger, and 
 compelled the authorities to send a deputation to Rome 
 to demand the body of their late sovereign. The young 
 king was gratified, but at the same time embarrassed 
 by these passionate demonstrations of affection for his 
 father. He was deeply moved by the address of the 
 deputation, and explained in broken accents, that the 
 Romans had asked, and must have, the king's body : it 
 was a heavy sacrifice to him and all his family, to give up 
 the idea of carrying their father's remains to the tomb 
 of their ancestors ; but private feelings must yield to 
 national interests. He would bestow on the city of Turin 
 the king's sword, helmet, and medals. Immediately 
 after the funeral, Prince Amedeo carried these precious 
 relics to Turin ; they were received by the syndic and 
 municipality with tears of gratitude, and the following 
 day seventeen thousand persons went to look at them. 
 
 During the eight days that elapsed before the 
 funeral, all business was suspended in Rome ; the shops 
 and offices were closed, and from almost every house 
 the tricolour bound with crape was hung out. In the 
 streets were vast crowds of people dressed in mourning ; 
 some eagerly reading the black-bordered journals and 
 proclamations, and others gathered in knots conversing in 
 low sad tones. The one all-absorbing theme was Victor 
 Emmanuel ; nothing else could be spoken of or thought 
 of during that week of intense excitement and agitation. 
 
 On January 17, at ten o'clock, the funeral cortege left 
 the Ouirinal, its departure being announced by the firing 
 of cannon. As early as seven o'clock the streets were 
 lined with military, and the crowds were gathering so 
 densely that it was with difficulty one could push through 
 them to the Corso. All along the line of march every 
 window, door, and balcony was draped in mourning, the 
 tricolour with its crape pendant drooping sadly from the 
 different storeys of the houses and public buildings. The 
 crowds of ladies and gentlemen who filled the windows
 
 THE PROCESSION IN THE CORSO. 355 
 
 and balconies were dressed in black, and provided with 
 wreaths and bouquets of rarest flowers to throw upon 
 the hearse. At the cross streets where carriages had to 
 break up the crowds, the Bersaglieri stood three deep 
 with drawn swords ; but the behaviour of the multitude 
 was admirable. 
 
 After two hours' waiting the procession came in view 
 at the far end of the Corso, moving slowly to the sound 
 of a funeral march, composed especially for the occasion. 
 A battalion of infantr\- with its band passed, then a 
 body of cavalry, and after that there was a break of 
 fifteen minutes or so, when the procession reappeared 
 in a never-ending flood of military. Regiment after 
 regiment poured into the street, and moved slowly past, 
 in all their different varieties of uniform, making a bril- 
 liant spectacle : dark blue slashed with red, light blue 
 with silver cord, gold and silver epaulettes, shining 
 helmets, plumes of white ostrich feathers, of cock's 
 feathers, of white horse-hair, of black horse-hair — 
 plumes of ever}^ colour and variety. 
 
 The men did not walk abreast, but in a loose broken 
 mass, which rather heightened the brilliant effect. They 
 were from all parts of Italy, of ever\' age and rank : 
 grizzled veterans^ who had fought with King Charles 
 Albert and the Duke of Savoy in 1848-9, whose medals, 
 doubtless, covered honourable scars; men in the prime 
 of life also adorned with military decorations, and beard- 
 less cadets who had their honours yet to win. 
 
 After the military came the syndics of Rome and 
 Turin, with the civil functionaries ; then followed the 
 representatives of the schools of arts and sciences, all in 
 plain black ; four hundred deputies and two hundred 
 senators next made their appearance; and then an 
 imposing group of commanding officers of land and sea, 
 the uniforms and decorations, which are strikingly pic- 
 turesque, contrasting with the mass of black-coated 
 gentlemen in front. Very fine also were the judges in 
 
 ' Amongst the old officers we saw General Durando, the brave com- 
 mander who led the papal army in '48.
 
 356 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 their crimson velvet togas. The clergy, eighteen in 
 number, preceded by a white cross on a black field, 
 then appeared ; and were followed by the gorgeous dis- 
 play of the foreign ambassadors, and the not less striking 
 habiliments of the knights of the Santissima Annunziata 
 — crimson velvet mantles trimmed with ermine. 
 
 When this blaze of gorgeous colouring had passed, a 
 solitary horseman appeared, holding aloft a drawn sword, 
 on which was inscribed, ' Viva Carlo Alberto ! 1848.' 
 
 There was a look of settled sorrow in the old officer's 
 face, but he sat his splendid charger with grace and 
 dignity. It was General Medici, bearing the dead hero's 
 battle-blade, the same which he had wielded in many a 
 hard-fought field in the cause of Italian independence — 
 and the sight went home to the hearts of the people. 
 The interest of the spectators heightened, and tears rose 
 to many eyes when the line of princes passed, with 
 Amedeo in the midst — Amedeo who had never recovered 
 the brightness of youth since his ill-starred sovereignty 
 in Spain, who had lately lost a dear wife, and who, in 
 this last affliction, had not the consolation of receiving 
 his father's final farewell. ' Povero Amedeo!' was the 
 exclamation that went round as the crowd caught sight 
 of the pale sad face of the young general. Beside him 
 walked the Archduke Ranieri of Austria ; there was 
 also the Prince Imperial of Prussia, whose friendship 
 for the royal family of Italy was shown by his warm 
 sympathy in their sorrow ; there was the Prince Napoleon, 
 the Prince of Baden, and the Crown Prince of Portugal, 
 King Victor's little grandson, a boy of fourteen. 
 
 Two outriders in black, mounted on black horses, 
 rode forward ; and the funeral car approached and 
 stopped for a short space, while a thrill of deep emotion 
 shot through every heart. The multitude uncovered 
 their heads, and the ladies and gentlemen on the bal- 
 conies and in the windows bent forward to throw with 
 trembling hands the garlands they had prepared. The 
 hearse was an imposing sight — of enormous dimensions, 
 with gold ornamentation on the black field, and the arms 
 of Savoy painted on the panels; it was open at the sides.
 
 LMPOSING EFFECT. 357 
 
 showing the coffin, on which were laid the crown and 
 sceptre of the defunct monarch, and the garlands sent 
 by the Queen of England and the Emperor of Germany. 
 Fastened on to the back of the car were wreaths of 
 rarest flowers, tied with crape and tricoloured ribbons, 
 while the roof was an enormous mass of verdure and, 
 flowers, contributed from the balconies on the line of 
 march. The hearse was drawn by eight black horses 
 covered with crape, with white and black plumes 
 from their heads, each led by a groom. This great car 
 moved on slowly, followed by wistful eyes ; and im- 
 mediately after came a groom leading an aged war- 
 horse covered with crape. It was thirty years old, and 
 had seen many an eventful day, for it was that horse 
 that the young Duke of Savoy mounted on the joyful 
 occasion when his father gave Piedmont a constitution, 
 and it was consequently called il cavallo dcllo Statiito. 
 
 A cavalier with the Iron Crown of Lombardy on a 
 cushion came next, and was followed by the municipality 
 of Monza, where this precious relic is kept ; then a body 
 of ensigns bearing the colours of the different regiments. 
 At this moment it was a splendid spectacle ; in front 
 the funeral car with its following of officers of the royal 
 household, and behind, as far as the eye could reach 
 along the Corso, one sea of waving banners, the brilliant 
 tricolour all draped with crape. Next came the scientific 
 bodies ; they were followed by 450 Turinese students, 
 then Roman students, then municipal bodies from the 
 provinces. These last would have made a respectable 
 funeral procession in themselves, and it was a strong 
 testimony to the sentiments of the nation that every 
 remote mountain village, in spite of the poverty of the 
 times, subscribed funds and sent its representatives with 
 handsome banners and wreaths to the funeral of the 
 great king. 
 
 There were not less than 200 civic flags from the 
 provinces. Many magnificent garlands were borne on 
 the tops of the flagstaffs, but the masterpiece of beauty 
 was one carried by the Roman shopkeepers, of enormous 
 dimensions, composed of the rarest white flowers, bor-
 
 358 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II. 
 
 dered with green, and tied with gold cord and tassels 
 mingled with crape ; it was attached to a broad banner 
 on which was embroidered in huge letters — 
 
 ALLA SACRA M E.MORI A DEL RE GALANTUOMO. 
 
 The piazza in front of the church presented a grand 
 coup (Voeil, with all the houses hung in black and white, 
 the national colours waving from the balconies, great 
 flagstaffs planted as thick as forest trees all round the 
 square, which was lined with a picked body of military, 
 among which were the king's Life Guards in their pic- 
 turesque white uniform with mail breastplates and 
 helmets. These formed a hollow square round the 
 processionists as the principal bodies filed into the 
 church, and the rest who could not enter filled the great 
 piazza to overflowing. 
 
 A fabulous sum had been spent on the decorations 
 of the Pantheon for the occasion, and the result was 
 beyond all doubt impressive in a high degree, notwith- 
 standing that the severe simplicity of the architecture of 
 this vast temple rendered a tasteful ornamentation diffi- 
 cult. On the top of the facade was a huge spread eagle 
 flanked by two winged figures of Fame blowing trumpets ; 
 the front was all covered with paintings in imitation 
 of bas-reliefs in bronze ; the roof of the portico, from 
 which hung great bronze lamps, was covered with black 
 cloth starred with silver, and the sides adorned with 
 arms of all sorts. Over the great door in large gold 
 letters was the inscription : — 
 
 A VITTORIO EMANUELE II. PADRE DELLA PATRIA. 
 Underneath — 
 
 ITALIA CON ORGOGLIO DI MADRE, CON DOLORE 
 
 PI FIGLIA, PREGA AL GRAN RE, 
 
 CHE FU CITTADINO FEDELE, E SOLDATO 
 
 VITTORIOSO, L'IMMORTALITA DEI GIUSTI 
 
 E DEGLI EROI. 
 
 In the middle of the great circular temple rose the 
 enormous catafalque, square in form, divided into three 
 storeys, each one a degree smaller as they went up, the
 
 IN THE PANTHEON. 359 
 
 top one being covered with a crimson cloth and sur- 
 rounded by six grand figures, which the Italian authorities 
 wished to represent the chief cities of Italy, but which 
 the clerg\' insisted on being called cardinal virtues. 
 After some discussion they were named as follows : 
 Magnanimity^ Fortitude, Justice, Liberty, Prudence, 
 Loyalty ; qualities to which, in the abstract, no one could 
 take exception. At the corners of the basement were 
 lions couchant, and on each division of the structure were 
 placed immense caiiddabri lit up with wax-tapers. 
 The catafalque reached almost to the lofty dome, and 
 all the sides of it were covered with exquisitely wrought 
 garlands of every description, presented by the different 
 cities and provinces of Italy. The walls of the church 
 were draped in black with gold ornamentation. At 
 each side of the altars, over a base on which were em- 
 blazoned the arms of Savoy, were large candelabri. The 
 great circular window in the centre of the vault was 
 veiled over with a transparency in the midst of which 
 shone the star of Savoy, the surrounding roof being 
 black, spangled with transparent stars. The effect of 
 the whole was indescribably grand and impressive. 
 
 At the door of the church the priests received the 
 coffin and accompanied it up the steps of the catafalque 
 till it was deposited on the summit, the crown, sword, 
 and sceptre, which had been carried with the defunct 
 monarch, being laid upon it ; and beside these emblems 
 of sovereignty was placed the garland sent by Queen 
 Victoria to be laid on the bier of her old ally. When the 
 funeral cortege departed the great surging multitude were 
 permitted to enter and look their last at the remains 
 of the man who had given them national life and liberty. 
 
 In the evening the church was closed, and at lo 
 o'clock the ministers and officers of state assembled 
 privately to lay their king in his last resting-place. 
 There was a profound stillness in the church. The 
 priests stood at the high altar beside the open tomb, in 
 front of which was a silent group of mourners. The 
 officers and men who guarded Victor Emmanuel in this 
 last watch stood round the catafalque, motionless as
 
 360 LIFE OF VICTOR EMMANUEL IL 
 
 Statues, till the order was given to ' ground arms,' when 
 the clash of the weapons on the pavement broke the 
 awful silence which reigned in the church. When the 
 coffin was placed in the grave all knelt while the priests 
 clianted the burial service. A silence followed, broken 
 only by the click of the mason's trowel walling in the 
 tomb. Then the benediction was said and the mourners 
 departed, leaving il Re Galantiiomo to sleep in peace. 
 
 King Humbert said in a proclamation, ' Romans, I 
 commit to your charge what I hold most sacred on 
 earth ; prove yourselves worthy of the trust' And the 
 Romans replied with one voice, ' It is as sacred to us as 
 to you ; we will be worthy.' 
 
 We believe [said the Popolo Romano\ that we are in- 
 , terpreting a sentiment which will remain indelible in 
 the souls of the Romans, that is, gratitude. Rome, even 
 though she was the last to enter in the great family, 
 after having witnessed the immense affection that the 
 Italians bear to the king and to his dynasty, knows 
 Avhat a sacred deposit is confided to her, and she has the 
 conscience to preserve it scrupulously. Though the last 
 in time, she shall be first from this day henceforth 
 in the love that binds all Italy to her king, and of 
 this love she has yesterday given ample proofs before 
 Europe. 
 
 In the loyal demonstrations which the attempted as- 
 sassination of Humbert last November called forth, there 
 was one little incident expressive of popular sentiment 
 in Rome worthy of remark. The city had been suffering 
 from a severe inundation, the Tiber had left its deposit 
 of yellow mud in the streets, and the Pantheon was still 
 more or less surrounded by water, the weather was 
 bitterly cold, when about fifty or sixty thousand Romans 
 who had assembled to make a loyal demonstration 
 expressive of their horror and indignation at the at- 
 tempted crime, marched through the streets nearly all 
 night, with bands playing the royal march, etc. ; and when 
 they had gone from the Ouirinal to the Capitol, where 
 the syndic brought out the king's bust to please the excited
 
 GRIEF OF THE NATION. 36I 
 
 crowd and made a speech to them, they all turned with 
 one accord, and without any preconcerted arrangement, 
 to the Pantheon to do honour to the memory of the dead 
 king, and walked round the church in solemn silence. 
 
 We do not believe there ever was a monarch w^hose 
 death called forth such spontaneous demonstrations of 
 loyal affection, or who was followed to the grave by such 
 profound sorrow. With the exception of Garibaldi, he 
 was the last of that noble band of patriots who initiated 
 in North Italy the work of Italian independence. And 
 with the death of her chivalrous king the nation feels the 
 romance of her youth is passed. She now enters on a 
 new and m.ore prosaic era — let us hope a happier and 
 more peaceful one — under a sovereign w^ho has already 
 proved himself a worthy successor of il Re Galantuovio. 
 And though the heart of the Italian nation is still ' in 
 the coffir there with Czesar,' it is the just inheritance of 
 Caesar's son. 
 
 May he live to deserve it, and enjoy it !
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ABE 
 
 A BERCROMBIE, Sir Ralph, in- 
 ■^"^ terview with King Victor 
 
 Emmanuel IE, 49 
 Abruzzi, people of, petition for 
 
 annexation, 227 
 Adelaide Princess, see Maria 
 
 Adelaide 
 Alessandria, Italian subscription 
 
 for cannons for, 117 
 Alfieri, Countess, niece of Cavour, 
 
 95 
 
 Alpine peasants and Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 79 
 
 Amedeo, Prince, wounded, 270 ; 
 marries Maria Mttoria, 281 ; 
 birth of his son Emanuele 
 Filiberto, Duke of Puglia. 301 ; 
 made king of Spain, 318 ; depu- 
 tation from the Cortes, to Victor 
 Emmanuel II. thereon, 318; 
 attempt on his life, 326 ; abdi- 
 cates, February 1873, 326; re- 
 turns to Italy, 327 
 
 Ancona, visit of Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to the Holy House of 
 Loreto, 225 ; to the Jesuits' 
 College, 225 
 
 Anglo- Austrian alliance, 122 
 
 Anglo-French alliance, 1854, 92 ; 
 Sardinia proposes to join in, 92 ; 
 joined by Sardinia, 96 
 
 Antonelli, Cardinal, and the 
 Naples revolution, 210 
 
 Aosta, Vittoria, Duchess of, death, 
 
 Appony, Count, the Austrian 
 ambassador at the court of 
 Turin, 75 ; and the Neapolitan 
 
 AUS 
 
 ambassador, 84 ; leaves Turin, 
 88 
 Aspromonte, the battle of, 249 
 Austria, and the Jesuits, 17; and 
 the Liberal party in Italy, 23 ; 
 occupies Ferrara, 26 ; the Sar- 
 dinian war of 1848 with Austria, 
 35 ; battle of Goito, 36 ; Pio 
 Nono's part in the war, 39 ; 
 Ferdinand's proclamation on, 
 39 ; the Duke of Tuscany's pro- 
 clamation on, 40 ; collapse of the 
 Neapolitan army, 41 ; disputes 
 among the Lombards, 42 ; Pio 
 Nono's indecision, 42 ; the battle 
 of Sommacampagna, 43 ; victory 
 of Staffala, 43 ; the defeat at 
 Custoza, 43 ; Charles Albert 
 occupies Milan, 44; renewal of 
 the war, IMarch 20, 1849, 44 ; 
 treachery of General Ramorino, 
 45 ; defeat at Sforzesca, 45 ; 
 victory at Mortara, 45 ; victory 
 at Novara, 44 ; an annistice 
 demanded by the Italians, 47, 
 49 ; concluded, 50 ; negotiations 
 for peace, 56, 72 ; treaty of peace 
 signed August 6, 1849, 73 ; amic- 
 able relations established between 
 Austria and Sardinia, 75 ; bitter- 
 ness between, and Piedmont, 88 ; 
 continued disagreements with 
 Piedmont, 118; severance of 
 diplomatic relations with Pied- 
 mont, 123 ; tour of the emperor 
 through his Italian provinces, 
 123 ; the war of 1859, 138 ; 
 militar}' preparations, 141 ; Count
 
 ;64 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 AUS 
 
 Buol's despatch to the English 
 ambassador, 142 ; endeavours to 
 make Sardinia disarm, 143 ; the 
 proposed European Congress, 
 
 143 ; endeavours to exclude Pied- 
 mont from the Congress, 144 ; 
 Count Cavour's reply thereto, 
 
 144 ; ultimatum to Piedmont, 
 146; declaration of war, 146; 
 the Austrians cross the Ticino, 
 152 ; attempt to retake Palestro, 
 155 ; collects more troops and 
 returns to the combat, 162 ; 
 quarrels with Prussia, 266 ; pro- 
 poses to cede Venice, 267 ; Arch- 
 duke Albert commands the forces, 
 270; battle of Custoza, 270 ; vic- 
 tory of Prussia over, 271 ; asks 
 mediation of Napoleon III., and 
 offers to cede him Venice, 271 ; 
 the defeat of Sadowa, 271 ; treaty 
 of peace signed at Vienna, 
 October 2, 1866, 272 ; visit of 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 328 ; Em- 
 peror of, returns vi.sit of Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 331 
 
 Austrian prisons, death of Silvio 
 
 Pellico, author of book on, 92 
 Avete, Count, on the Statuto, 77 
 Azeglio, Massimo A\I 3Ii£i Ricordi, 
 19 ; his scheme for the unification 
 of Italy, 20, 23 ; his interview 
 with the King, Charles Albert, 
 21 ; his interview with Pio Nono, 
 23 ; advice to King Charles 
 Albert, after the defeat at Cus- 
 toza, 43 ; made chief minister, 
 57; on Pio Nono, 62; on the 
 trial of General Ramorino, 71 ; 
 letter to, from Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 78 ; his pamphlet on the 
 papal government, 82 ; his re- 
 marks on the interview between 
 Victor Emmanuel and the Ca- 
 valiere Ramirez, 84 ; disagree- 
 ment with Cavour, 87; resigns 
 office, 87 ; accompanies Victor 
 Emmanuel II. to Paris, 108 ; 
 his reception by the emperor and 
 empress, 108 ; arrives in England, 
 108 ; sent as governor to Bologna, 
 167 ; made governor of Milan, 
 
 CAP 
 
 188 ; letter to Farini on death 
 of Cavour, 242 ; his death, 265 ; 
 anecdotes of, his character, 265 
 
 "D ALBO, Count Cesare, sent on a 
 
 "^ mission to Pio Nono by 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 68 ; utter 
 failure of the mission, 69 ; death 
 of, June 3, 1853, 88 
 
 Barsanti, the true story of, 307 
 
 Bartolucci, General, and the siege of 
 Rome, 67 
 
 Belgiojoso, Count, 176 
 
 Benedek, General, 162 
 
 Berold (Humbert of the White 
 Hand), founder of the .Sabaud 
 family, i ; Count Moriana, title 
 borne by, 2 
 
 Berr}', Duchess de, marries Em- 
 manuel Philibert, 3 
 
 Bersezio's / Coittemporcuici Italiani, 
 50 ; on Victor Emmanuel II., 
 
 150 
 Bologna, governor sent to, 168 
 Bonghi's opinion of Cavour, 89 
 Bourbon power in Italy, overthrow 
 
 of, 6 
 Bourbon race, the, in the Two 
 
 Sicilies, 67 
 Brigands in Naples, 246, 251 ; 
 
 seizure of, from a French vessel at 
 
 Civitavecchia, 251 ; controversy 
 
 with the French thereon, 252 
 Brofferio, his attacks on Cavour, 
 
 89, 90, 121, 235 
 
 r" ADORN A, General, Victor 
 
 ^-^ Emmanuel's minister, 52 ; 
 
 suppresses the insurrection in 
 
 Sicily, 272 ; marches on Rome, 
 
 315. 
 Cairoli commands the Roman 
 
 rebels, 289 ; his death, 289 
 Capital punishment in Italy, 297 
 Capponi, Gino, member of the new 
 Italian Parliament, 205 ; first to 
 welcome Victor Emmanuel II. to 
 Florence, 208 ; receives order of 
 SS. Annunziata, 259
 
 INDEX. 
 
 365 
 
 CAR 
 
 CAV 
 
 Carbonari, the, 9 
 
 Carignano, Charles Albert, prince 
 of (afterwards King of Sardinia), 
 8 ; his education, 8 ; his religion 
 and character, 9 ; marries daugh- 
 ter of the Grand Duke of Tus- 
 cany, 9 ; proposal of the federates 
 that he should sever himself from 
 Austria, 10; proclaims the con- 
 stitution, 14 ; ordered by the king 
 to quit Turin, 14 ; receives a com- 
 mission to serve in the Spanish 
 War, 15 ; recalled to Sardinia by 
 the king, 15 ; ascends the throne, 
 15 ; is asked by Mazzini to lead 
 the Liberal cause, 16 ; interview 
 with D'Azeglio, 21 ; proclaims a 
 constitution, 27 ; the Mazzinians 
 and, 42, 44 ; defeated at Somma- 
 campagna, 43 ; victorious at Staf- 
 fala, 43 ; defeated at Custoza, 43 ; 
 occupies Milan, 44 ; escapes from 
 Milan, 44 ; renews the war, March 
 20, 1849, 44 ; treachery of General 
 Ramorino, 45 ; victorious at Sfor- 
 zesca, 45 ; defeated at Mortara, 
 45 ; utterly defeated at battle of 
 Novara, 44 ; broken-hearted, 45 ; 
 demands an armistice, 47 ; abdi- 
 cates, 47 ; appoints his son Victor 
 Emmanuel king, 47 ; retires to 
 Oporto, 48 ; death of, 73 ; cele- 
 bration of the tenth anniversary 
 of his death by the Lombards, 
 176 
 
 Carignano, Prince of (cousin of 
 Victor Emmanuel IL), becomes 
 prince regent, 147 ; appointed 
 Viceroy of Central Italy, 185 ; 
 made Viceroy of Naples, 231 ; 
 proclamation of Victor Emmanuel 
 IL thereon, 231 ; appointed re- 
 gent in 1866, 268 
 
 Casalmonferrato, Bishop of, offers 
 to pay certain clerical dues, 103 
 
 Castelar on the influence of Rome 
 over the Italian mind, 235 
 
 Cavour, Camillo, 55 ; appointed 
 Minister of Agriculture, 82 ; dis- 
 agreement with D'Azeglio, 87 ; 
 resigns office, 87 ; resumes office, 
 88 ; feeling against, 89 ; attacked 
 
 by Brofferio, 89 ; his nickname 
 of ' Lord Camillo,' 89 ; his admi- 
 ration of England, 89 ; Bonghi's 
 opinion of him, 89 ; his oratorj-, 
 90 ; called an ultra- JModerate by 
 Brofferio, 90 ; his reply thereto, 
 90; has an interview with Victor 
 Emmanuel II. on the treaty, 96; 
 appointed Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, 96 ; resignation of, 96 ; 
 recalled to ofhce, 104 ; maligned 
 by the clerg}', 103 ; President of 
 the Council, April 1855, 104; 
 accompanies Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to Paris, 108; his reception 
 by the emperor and empress, 108 ; 
 plenipotentiary at the Congress, 
 III; makes the wrongs of Italy 
 known at the Congress, 1 1 1 ; the 
 discussion in the Congress there- 
 on, 112; visits Lord Clarendon, 
 114; returns to Turin, 115; re- 
 ceives the Order of the Santissima 
 Annunziata, 116 ; defends Victor 
 Emmanuel and his policy, 120 ; 
 his reply to Brofferio, 12 1 ; on 
 public affairs in 1857, 125 ; on 
 the crisis, 128 ; on exiling political 
 offenders, 128; interview with 
 Napoleon III., 132; and the 
 marriage of Princess Clotilde to 
 Prince Napoleon Jerome, 139 ; is 
 presented with a ring by Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 142 ; letter to Earl 
 Derby on the Italian-Austrian 
 question, 143 ; his reply respect- 
 ing the endeavour of Austria to 
 exclude Piedmont from the Con- 
 gress, 144 ; visits Napoleon III., 
 145 ; returns to Turin and receives 
 an ovation, 145 ; is summoned to 
 the camp, 167; his view of the 
 armistice of July 1859, 170 ; his 
 immense labours, 171 ; his inter- 
 view with Napoleon III., 172 ; 
 his interview with Victor Em- 
 manuel, 172; returns to Turin, 
 172; resigns ofifice with his col- 
 leagues, 173 ; on the situation of 
 Italy, 177; appointed plenipoten- 
 tiary to the European Congress, 
 November 1859, 185 ; discussion
 
 ;66 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CHA 
 
 CIA 
 
 with the ministry on the Con- 
 gress, 1 86 ; resolves to retire to 
 Leri, 1 86 ; visits Sir James Hud- 
 son, 187 ; sends his last condi- 
 tions to the ministiy, 187 ; Sir 
 James Hudson writes them from 
 his dictation, 187 ; consequent 
 resignation of General La Mar- 
 mora, 187 ; sent for by Victor 
 Emmanuel H., 187 ; composes a 
 new cabinet, January 21, i860, 
 187 ; annoyance of the Ccdini at 
 his return to office, 188; accom- 
 panies Victor Emmanuel H. to 
 Lombard y, February i860, 188; 
 letter to La Farina. 214; mes- 
 sages from, to Garibaldi, 216 ; 
 jealousy between, and Garibaldi, 
 219; resigns office, 234; is re- 
 called, 235 ; resolves to have 
 Rome for the capital, 235 ; attack 
 of Garibaldi on, concerning the 
 cession of Nice and Savoy, 236 ; 
 his reply thereto, 236 ; reconcilia- 
 tion with Garibaldi, 237 ; on the 
 severance of the temporal power 
 from the Papacy, 238; on Free 
 Church and Free State in Italy, 
 239 ; illness of, 241 ; visit of 
 Victor Emmanuel H. to, 241 ; 
 death, 242; letter of D'Azeglio to 
 Farini on death of, 242; his burial, 
 243 ; his last words, 243 ; monu- 
 ment to, 329 
 
 Chabron, Colonel de, letter from 
 Victor Emmanuel II. to, 156 
 
 Chamber of Deputies, dissolution 
 of, in 1849, 55 ; general election 
 of, July 15, 1849, 72; opening 
 of, July 30, 1849, 72 ; represen- 
 tation of Giovane Italia in, 73 ; 
 dissolution of, 73 ; royal procla- 
 mation thereon, 74 ; opening of, 
 December 20, 1849, 75 ; new 
 ministry formed, 104; opened by 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 106; the 
 king's speech, 106 ; dissolution 
 of Parliament, 1857, 124 ; gene- 
 ral election, 124 ; speech of Vic- 
 tor Emmanuel at opening of Par- 
 liament, 125 ; Parliament opens 
 
 . January 10, 1859, 133; comments 
 
 of the Codini and the LiberaH on 
 speech of Victor Pilmmanuel II., 
 138 ; election of members for the 
 new provinces, 202 ; opening of, 
 on April 2, i860, 205 ; general 
 elections, 232 ; new Parliament 
 (February 1861) opens, 232 ; 
 speech of Victor Emmanuel II., 
 232 ; kingdom of Italy proclaimed, 
 234 ; new ministry appointed, 
 243; opening of, May 1863, 
 250 ; speech of Victor Emmanuel 
 II. at, 251 ; new Parliament, 279; 
 Victor Emmanuel II. 's address 
 to, 279 ; opening of, December 
 15, 1866, 275; dissolves, 279; 
 discussion of the Roman ques- 
 tion, December 1867, 262 ; resig- 
 nation of the ministry-, 293 ; the 
 last Florence Parliament, 319; 
 first Parliament in Rome, 322 ; 
 speech of Victor Emmanuel II. 
 thereat, 323 ; general election, 
 333 ; last speech of Victor Em- 
 manuel II. 333; Parliament meets 
 on Januai-y 16, 1878, 352 ; death 
 of Victor Emmanuel II. an- 
 nounced, 352 ; speech of Signor 
 Depretis on, 352 
 
 Chambery, the school of the Sacred 
 Heart in, 124 
 
 Charles Albert, sec Carignano 
 
 Charles Albert (son of Victor 
 Emmanuel II.), death of, 91 
 
 Charles Emmanuel IV., 7 ; abdi- 
 cates, 7 ; turns monk, 7 
 
 Charles Felix succeeds Victor Em- 
 manuel as King of Sardinia, 
 8, 13 ; takes possession of the 
 capital, 14 ; death of, 15 
 
 Charvaz, Monsignor, the king's pre- 
 ceptor, 86; made Archbishop of 
 Genoa, 86 ; visits Victor Em- 
 manuel II. on the death of the 
 queen, 100 
 
 Chassepots at Mentana, 289 
 
 Cholera epidemic in the Riviera and 
 Genoa, 91 
 
 Cialdini, General, 154 ; takes An- 
 cona, 221 ; besieges Gaeta, 232 ; 
 commands the royal troops at 
 Aspromonte, 249 ; receives the
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ;67 
 
 CIB 
 
 EXG 
 
 order of the SS. Annunziata, 
 
 273 
 
 Cibrario, Count, Minister of Fo- 
 reign Affairs, April 1855, 104 ; 
 conversation with Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 135 
 
 Circoli Barsanti, 307 
 
 Civil marriages, S7 
 
 Civitavecchia, landing of the French 
 at, 67 
 
 Ci^'itella, fortress of, taken by the 
 Italians, 232 
 
 Clarendon, Lord, defies Count Buol 
 at the Congress, 114; visited by- 
 Count Cavour, 114; conveys a 
 message from Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to Pio Xono, 293 
 
 Clergy, wealth of, in Sardinia, loi ; 
 proposed confiscation of part of, 
 102 ; Rattazzis Clerical Bill, 102 ; 
 complaints of, 224 ; on Victor 
 Emmanuel II. 260 
 
 Clotilde, Princess, proposed mar- 
 riage with Prince Xapoleon 
 Jerome, 139 ; married, January 
 29, 1859, 140 ; refuses to leave 
 Paris during the Franco-Prussian 
 war, 310 
 
 Codini, the comments of the, on 
 Victor Emmanuers speech at the 
 opening of Parliament, January 
 10, 1S59, 138 ; annoyance of the, 
 at the return of Cavour to oflSce. 
 1 88 ; Rome the headquarters of 
 the, 240 
 
 Concordia, 24 
 
 Congress at Paris on the Crimean 
 War, III , Count Cavour raises 
 a discussion on Italy, 112 
 
 Congress, European, proposed, on 
 the Italian question, 185 
 
 Consulta, address to the Pope fi-om 
 the, 60 
 
 Corsi, Cardinal, and the marriage 
 of Victor Emmanuel II. with 
 Countess Mirafiore, 305 ; anec- 
 dote of, 305 
 
 Courmayeur, Victor Emmanuel's 
 first visit to, 80 
 
 Crimean War : Shall Sardinia go to 
 the Crimea? 95; starting of the 
 troops, 102 ; the victory of Tcher- 
 
 naya, 105 ; fall of Sebastopol, 
 no; the Congress, no; return 
 and review of the troops, 116 
 
 Cushion, the lady of the, and 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 298 
 
 Custoza, battles of, 43, 270 
 
 "rjABORMIDA, Genera], his 
 letter on the dangerous illness 
 of Victor Emmanuel II., 69; 
 letter from Victor Emmanuel 
 II. on Anglo-French alliance, 
 1S54, 93 ; his opposition to Sar- 
 dinia joining the alliance, 94 ; 
 resigns otSce, 96 ; takes office, 
 
 174 
 
 Delaunay, General, forms a new 
 ministry for Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 55 ; its dissolution, 56 
 
 Depretis, Signor, speech in Parlia- 
 ment on death of Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 352 
 
 Desambrois, Caval'ere Luigi, ap- 
 pointed plenipotentiary to the 
 proposed European Congress of 
 November 1859, 185 ; death of, 
 
 331 
 
 Devincenzi, Signor, accompanies 
 Victor Emmanuel II. on his 
 southward journey, 227 
 
 Dickens, Charles, on exiled politi- 
 cians, 215 
 
 Dino, Duke of, 37 
 
 Durando, General, appointed min- 
 ister of war, April 1S55, 104 
 
 pCUMENICAL Council, 307 
 Elizabeth of Saxony, her mar- 
 riage to Duke of Genoa, 80 
 
 Elizabeth Tudor, offered in mar- 
 riage to Emmanuel Philibert, 3 
 
 Emilia, see Italy, Central. 
 
 Emilian provinces, Signor Farini 
 made dictator of, 183 
 
 England and the House of Savoy, 
 
 ^3 . . o 
 
 England, Cavour's opinion of, 89 ; 
 
 visited by Victor Emmanuel II., 
 
 108
 
 368 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 FAN 
 
 GAR 
 
 "PANTI, General, 154, 158 ; 
 
 ■*• takes office as Minister of War, 
 January 21, i860, 187 ; presents 
 banner from Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to the army, 382 
 
 Farini, ' Lo Stato Romano dal 1 8 1 5 
 al 1850,' 41 ; made dictator of 
 the Emilian provinces, 183; let- 
 ter to Victor Emmanuel II., 
 giving up his dictatorship of 
 Emilia, 200 ; Victor Emmanuel 
 II. replies to him, 200 ; receives 
 the order of the SS. Annunziata, 
 202 ; made Minister of the Inte- 
 rio"", 202, 205 ; resigns office as 
 Viceroy of Naples, 231 ; letter to, 
 from D'Azeglio, on the death of 
 Cavour, 241 ; takes office, 250 ; 
 resigns, 250 
 
 Ferdinand of Savoy, 67 
 
 Ferdinand II. (of Naples), character 
 of, 17 ; his proclamation on the 
 war of independence, 39 ; Pio 
 Nono takes refuge with, at Gaeta, 
 62 ; opinion of, by Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 228 
 
 Fiorentino's ' La Vita di Pio Nono, ' 
 66 
 
 Five days' struggle, the, 42 
 
 Florence, proposed removal of capi- 
 tal to, 256 ; remark thereon by 
 De Lhuys, 256 ; La Marmora's 
 opinion thereof, 257 ; Marquis 
 Pepoli's opinion thereon, 257 ; 
 Visconti Venosta thereon, 258 ; 
 consternation in Turin thereat, 
 258 ; the last Parliament of, 258 ; 
 address of the citizens to Um- 
 berto, December 1878, 321 
 
 'Forced Recruit,' the origin of the 
 poem, 343 
 
 Foro Ecclesiastico, 76 ; the Jesuits 
 and the, 77 ; abolition of, 77, 78 
 
 France, the French besiege and 
 take Rome, 68 ; letter of thanks 
 from Pio Nono to their General, 
 Oudinot, 69 ; cession of Savoy 
 and Nice to, 141, 203 ; signing 
 of the treaty, March 24, i860, 
 204 ; French fleet withdrawn 
 from the coast of Naples, 232 
 
 Francis II., alliance offered to by 
 
 \'ictor Emmanuel II., 169, 210; 
 and Count of Syracuse, 210 ; 
 appeals to Victor Emmanuel II., 
 212 ; takes up his abode at 
 Rome, 240 
 Franco-Prussian War, 309 ; Prin- 
 cess Clotilde refuses to leave 
 Paris, 310 ; excitement in Rome 
 on, 311 ; France appeals to Vic- 
 tor Emmanuel II. for aid, 317 
 
 C^ AETA, King Ferdinand's court 
 
 ^•^ at, 62, 64; besieged by Cial- 
 dini and Menabrea, 232 ; is taken, 
 232 
 
 Galletti accepts office under the 
 Roman Republic, 65 
 
 Garibaldi, in Rome, 63; his influ- 
 ence in, 65 ; and the Neapolitan 
 insurgents, 67; defends Rome 
 from the French, 67 ; joins the 
 Italian army against Austria, 141 ; 
 successes of, and his volunteers, 
 154 ; receives the military medal 
 from Victor Emmanuel II., 161 ; 
 proposes to make war on the 
 Marches, 184 ; refrains on the 
 advice of Victor Emmanuel II., 
 185 ; prepares to take command 
 of the rebel army in Sicily, 211 ; 
 indignation of Prussia, Austria, 
 and Germany thereat, 212 ; his 
 successes in Sicily, 214 ; enthusi- 
 asm for, 216 ; message of Victor 
 Emmanuel II. to, 217 ; Cavour's 
 message to, 217 ; enters Calabria, 
 
 218 ; takes possession of the 
 capital, 218; is elected dictator, 
 
 219 ; jealousy between, and Ca- 
 vour. 219 ; submits to the Cham- 
 ber of Deputies, 226 ; meeting of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. in Naples, 
 229 ; resigns his dictatorship, 
 229 ; retires to Caprera, 230 ; on 
 the cession of Nice and Savoy, 
 
 236 ; his attack on Cavour, 236 ; 
 his reconciliation with Cavour, 
 
 237 ; proposed amalgamation of 
 his troops with the Italian aimy, 
 247 ; and his troops march for 
 Rome, 248 ; fight at Aspromonte
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ;69 
 
 GAV 
 
 IT.A 
 
 between the royal troops and 
 the Garibaldians, 249 ; and his 
 troops threaten to invade Rome, 
 283 ; is arrested, 284 ; Italian 
 troops cross the frontier, 288 ; 
 his 'RuU off he Monk,' 288 ; es- 
 capes from Caprera, 289 ; Me- 
 notti Garibaldi at the head of 
 his troops enters the Papal State, 
 289 ; arrive at Rome, 288 ; des- 
 perate encounter at the Gate of 
 iit. Paul, 288; victor}- at Monte- 
 rotundo, 289 ; reaches Mentana, 
 289 ; defeated by the French 
 army, 2S9 ; sent prisoners to the 
 fortress of Varignano, 291 ; is 
 sent to Caprera, 292 ; elected a 
 deputy, 346 ; is reconciled to 
 Victor Emmanuel IL, 346 
 
 Gavazzi, the Bamabitey>-d/<f, 61 
 
 Genoa, insurrection in, 56 ; cholera 
 epidemic in, 91 ; \'ictor Em- 
 manuel II. visits, 91 
 
 Genoa, Duke of, fills place of Victor 
 Emmanuel II. during his illness, 
 71 ; opens the Xovara Railway, 
 91 ; marriage to Elizabeth of 
 Saxony, 80 ; illness of, 132 ; 
 death of, Februar\- 10, 1855, 99 ; 
 his character, 99 
 
 Germany, Emperor of, visits Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 332 
 
 Gioberti's book against the Jesuits, 
 61 ; his letter to Gaeta on Pio 
 Nono, 64 ; his ' Rinnavamento 
 Civile cT Italia; %l 
 
 Giffvam Italia, society founded by 
 Mazzini, 16; becomes republican, 
 17, 25 ; representation of, in the 
 Chamber of Deputies, 73 ; de- 
 mands Rome for the capital of 
 Italy, 239 
 
 Giusti's poem 'The Boot,' 19 
 
 Goito, battle of, 36 ; description of, 
 
 37 
 Govone, General, death of, 311 
 Govone, General Giuseppe, con- 
 cludes treaty of 1866 with Prus- 
 sia, 267 
 Gramont, Duke of, French am- 
 bassador, has an interview with 
 Victor Emmanuel 1 1., concern- 
 
 ing the Anglo-French alliance, 
 *^54i 93 ; his second interview, 
 .95 
 
 Orido di dolore, 135 
 
 Grifeo, Count, his recall from the 
 court of Turin, 84 
 
 Gualterio, Marquis, made governor 
 of Perugia, 222 ; death of, 331 
 
 Guarantee laws, 321 
 
 Guildhall, London, Victor Em- 
 manuel II. attends a banquet 
 at, 109 
 
 J^APSBURG family, Victor 
 Emmanuel II. 's friendship 
 for, 302 
 
 Hilliers, Marshal, 163, 164 
 
 Hudson, Sir James, English am- 
 bassador at Turin, 92 ; on the 
 Papal temporal power, 168 ; in- 
 terview with Victor Emmanuel 
 II-. '^11>\ ^T5it of Cavour to, 
 187 ; the consequences thereof, 
 187 
 
 Huguenots, war of extermination 
 against the, by Victor Amadeus, 
 6 
 
 Humbert of the White Hand 
 (Berold), 2 
 
 Humbert, Prince, made captain, 
 129; marries Princess Margherita, 
 294 ; anecdote of, 296 ; birth of a 
 son, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of 
 Naples, 306 ; succeeds to the 
 throne of Italy, 350 ; his procla- 
 mation, 350 ; proclamation at the 
 funeral of Victor Emmanuel II., 
 360 
 
 INQUISITION, the, 58 ; abolition 
 of, 65; thrown open to the 
 public, 65 ; account of, by a 
 prisoner, 66 ; in Rome, 282 
 
 Italian subscription for cannons, for 
 fortress of Alessandria, 1 1 7 
 
 Italy, the war of 1848, 26; battle 
 of Goito, 36 ; Pio Nono's part in 
 it, 39; Ferdinand's proclamation 
 on, 40 ; the Duke of Tuscany's 
 
 B B
 
 370 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ITA 
 
 LAM 
 
 proclamation on, 40 ; collapse of 
 the Neapolitan army, 41 ; dis- 
 putes among the Lombards, 42 ; 
 Pio Nono's indecision, 42 ; the 
 battle of Sommacampagna, 43 ; 
 victory at Staffala, 43 ; the defeat 
 at Custoza, 43 ; Charles Albert 
 occupies Milan, 44 ; renewal of 
 the war, March 20, 1849, 44 ; 
 treachery of General Ramorino, 
 45 ; Victory at Sforzesca, 45 ; 
 defeat at Mortara, 45 ; battle of 
 Novara, utter defeat, 45 ; an 
 armistice demanded by the Ita- 
 lians, 47 ; negotiations for the 
 armistice, 49 ; conclusion, 50 ; 
 negotiations for peace, 55' 72 ; 
 treaty of peace signed, August 6, 
 1849, 73 ; a mere 'geographical 
 expression,' 1 19; the Anglo- 
 Austrian alliance, 122 ; the war of 
 1859, 139; preparations for, 139, 
 141 ; proposal for a European 
 Congress, 143; Austria's ultima- 
 tum to Piedmont, 146 ; declara- 
 tion of war, 147 ; proclamation to 
 the people by Victor Emmanuel 
 II. 147 ; the king's address to 
 the soldiers, 149 ; the Sardinian 
 army at San Salvador, 151 ; 
 Napoleon III. lands at Genoa, 
 151 ; the Austrians cross the 
 Ticino, 152 ; Turin armed for 
 defence, 153 ; successes of Gari- 
 baldi and his volunteers, 154; 
 victories of Montebello and Pales- 
 tro, . 154 ; royal proclamation 
 thereon, 154 ; the victory of Ma- 
 genta, 159 ; triumphal entry into 
 Milan, 160 ; proclamation of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. to the 
 Lombards, 160 ; the double vic- 
 tories of Solferino and San Mar- 
 tino, 162 ; the central provinces 
 eager for union, 167 ; governors 
 sent to Tuscany, Parma, Modena, 
 Bolog;na, 167 ; an armistice pro- 
 posed and concluded, 169 ; dis- 
 satisfaction of the disputed pro- 
 vinces thereat, 1 70 ; peace signed 
 at Villafranca, 173 ; presenta- 
 tion of banners to Italian army, 
 
 by Victor Emmanuel II., throxigh 
 General Fanti, 237 ; Russia and 
 Prussia acknowledge Italian uni- 
 ty, 244 ; war declared with Aus- 
 tria, June 20, 1866, 267 ; La 
 Marmora leads the army north- 
 wards, 267 ; Victor Emmanuel 
 II. and his sons start for the 
 seat of war, 268 ; battle of Cus- 
 toza, 270 ; defeat at Lissa, 270 ; 
 Venice restored to Italy by Napo- 
 leon III., 272; treaty of peace 
 signed at Vienna, 272 ; financial 
 state of, 1867. 280 ; Italian troops 
 cross the papal frontier, 288 
 Italy, Central, offers itself to Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 179 ; his reply to 
 the Tuscans, 180; Prince of 
 Carignano made Viceroy of, 185 ; 
 annexed with North Italy, 189 ; 
 address from Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to the people of, 202 
 
 JESUITS, and political feeling in 
 *' Italy, 17 ; popular feeling in 
 Rome against the, 61 ; Gio- 
 berti's book against, 61 ; Aus- 
 trian, and Pio Nono, 63 ; and 
 the Foro Ecclesiastico, 76 
 Journalism in Italy in 1849, 71 
 
 T A MARMORA, General 
 -'-^ Alfonzo, rescues King Charles 
 Albert from the Milanese, 44 ; 
 sent to quell the insurrection in 
 Genoa, 56 ; his opposition to join- 
 ing the Anglo-French alliance, 
 94 ; his able generalship, 105 ; 
 promotion of, 117; resumes his 
 seat in the cabinet, 118 ; remon- 
 strates on the king's rashness, 
 151 ; takes office, 174 ; resigns, 
 187 ; his opinion on the removal 
 of the capital to Florence, 257 ; 
 forms a ministry in 1864, 258 ; 
 forms a new ministry in 1866, 
 267 ; leads the army northward, 
 267 ; and the armistice with 
 Austria, 272 ; estrangement of, 
 331
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Z1^ 
 
 LAM 
 
 popular 
 
 feelinc 
 
 Lambruscbini, 
 against, 6 1 
 
 Lamoriciere, General, takes com- 
 mand of the army of Pio Nono, 
 217 
 
 Lanza, Minister of Public Instruc- 
 tion, discussion with the king, 
 126; forms a ministry, Novem- 
 ber 1869, 306 
 
 Lhuys, de, opinion on removal of 
 capital to Florence, 256 
 
 Liberals, on Victor Emmanuel II., 
 261 ; on Victor Emmanuel's 
 speech at the opening of Parlia- 
 ment, Jan. 10, 1859, 1 38 
 
 Lissa, Italians defeated at, 270 
 
 Lo Siranu7V, 266, 272 
 
 Lombardo-Venetian provinces, 83 
 
 Lombards propose to join the 
 Anglo-French alliance, 95 ; am- 
 nesty to the banished, 122 
 
 Lombardy, begs to be joined to 
 Piedmont, 159 ; proclamation of 
 Victor F.mmanuel II. to, 160 ; 
 visited by Mctor Emmanuel II. 
 and Cavour, iSS 
 
 'Lord Camillo,' nickname of Ca- 
 vour, 89 
 
 A/TAGENTA, the battle of, 159 
 Mamiani, Count, made Minis- 
 ter of Public Instruction, Januarj' 
 21, 1S60, 187, 205 ; description 
 of tour with Victor Emmanuel II. 
 through his new dominions, 207 
 
 Manzoni. interview of Victor Em- 
 manuel II. with, 177 ; his re- 
 marks on Victor Emmanuel II., 
 177 ; member of Chamber of 
 Deputies, 205 ; death of, 327 
 
 Marches, Signor Valerio made 
 governor of, 222 
 
 Margheriia, Princess (of Genoa), 
 marries Prince Humbert, 294 ; 
 her character, 294 
 
 Maria Adelaide, Princess, 32 ; 
 marries Victor Emmanuel II., 
 33 ; her boundless charity, 34 ; 
 education of her children, 34 ; 
 cause of her death, 34 ; her ap- 
 pearance in the Chamber of 
 
 B B 
 
 MES 
 75 ; illness of, 
 
 95; 
 
 funeral at 
 
 Deputies, 
 
 death of, 98 ; her 
 Superga, 100 
 Maria Pia (daughter of Victor Em- 
 manuel II.), marries King of 
 Portugal, 244 ; receives a depu- 
 tation from the senators and 
 deputies on her departure, 244 
 Maria Vittoria marries Prince 
 
 Amedeo, 281 
 Marriage laws cf Sardinia, 87 
 Maitino, de, and the Neapolitan Go- 
 vernment, 211 
 Massari, on the friendship between 
 England and the House of 
 Savoy, S3 ; on King Ferdinand 
 of Naples, 83 ; his ' La Vita ed 
 il Rcpio, ' 93 ; on the treaty with 
 England and France, 96 ; his 
 remarks on Victor Emmanuel's 
 speech at the opening of Parlia- 
 ment, Januarv' 10, 1859. 138 ; 
 remarks on the armistice of July 
 8, 1859, 172 ; his account of 
 marriage of Victor Emmanuel II. 
 with Countess Mirafiore, 304 
 Mauri, Achilles, on the proposal to 
 join the Anglo-French alliance of 
 1854, 95 
 Maximilian, Archduke, made 
 
 Viceroy of Lombardy, 122, 130 
 Mazzini, founder of the society 
 Gioz'ane Italia, 16 ; writes to 
 the king, Charles Albert, asking 
 him to lead the Liberal cause, 
 16 ; his followers and the king, 
 Charles Albert, 42, 44 ; his in- 
 fluence in Rome, 65 ; insurrec- 
 tion at Genoa headed by, 123 
 Medici, General, bears sword of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. at his 
 funeral, 356 
 Menabrea, General, narrow- escape 
 from death of, 54 ; besieges Gaeta, 
 232 ; receives the order of SS. 
 Annunziata, 273 ; forms a new 
 ministrj', 285 ; fomis a new- 
 ministry, December 1867, 293 
 Mentana, battle of, 289 ; chasse- 
 
 pots at, 289 
 Messina, fortress of, taken by the 
 Italians, 232
 
 ^72 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 MET 
 
 Metternich, Prince, his definition of 
 Italy, 119 
 
 Milan, rebellion in, 1853, 88 ; the 
 peace, 133 ; triumphant entry of 
 the troops into, 160 ; Massimo 
 d'Azeglio appointed governor of, 
 188 
 
 Minghetti, ministiy, 250 ; and taxa- 
 tion, 250 ; letter from Victor 
 Emmanuel II. on the same, 250 ; 
 resigns office, 258 
 
 Mirafiore, Countess, Victor Em- 
 manuel's connection with, 98 ; 
 marries Vict>^r Emmanuel II., 
 304 ; her villa, 334 
 
 Modena, Duke of, conspiracy 
 against, 18 ; leaves Modena, 
 106; governor sent to, 167 ; in- 
 habitants resolve to become sub- 
 jects of Victor Emmanuel II., 
 179 ; reply of Victor Emmanuel 
 II. thereto, 181 
 
 Mollard, General, 162, 163 
 
 Monferrat, Duke of, death of, 265 
 
 Mont Cenis pass, opening of, 124 
 
 Montebello, battle of, 154 
 
 Moriana, Berold's castle, 2 ; title 
 borne by Berold, 2 
 
 Mortara, battle of, 45 
 
 Motley, the historian, on Emmanuel 
 Philibert, 4, 5 
 
 ■JSTAPLES, revolution of, i860, 
 2IO ; the treatment of poli- 
 tical prisoners in, 215 ; visit of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. to, 230 ; 
 brigandage in, 246, 251 ; seizure 
 of brigands from a French vessel 
 at Civitavecchia, 251 ; the 
 cholera in, 262 ; Prince of (son 
 of Prince Humbert), 306 
 
 Napoleon III., his reception of 
 Victor P^mmanuel II., 108 ; 
 Orsmi's attempt on his life, 126 ; 
 English feeling against him, 127 ; 
 is appealed to by Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 128 ; has an inter- 
 vie%v with Count Cavour, 132 ; 
 lands at Genoa, 151 ; his interview 
 with Count Cavour, 172 ; and 
 
 PAP 
 
 Rome as the capital, 240 ; his 
 friendship with Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 152; demands an armistice 
 from the Austrians, 169 ; Marshal 
 Vaillanl's remonstrance thereon, 
 170 ; attacked for aiding Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 183; a congress 
 proposed to, at Savona, by Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 287 ; Pepoli's 
 letter to, 289, 290 ; declares war 
 against Prussia, 309 ; death of, 
 
 327 
 
 Napoleon Jerome, proposed mar- 
 riage with Princess Clotilde, 139; 
 married, January 29, 1859, 142 ; 
 visits Victor Emmanuel II. in 
 state, 246 
 
 Neapolitan Government and De 
 Marcino, 211 
 
 Niccoiini, the poet, his address to 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 209 
 
 Nice and Savoy, cession to France, 
 141, 203 
 
 Nigra, Count, takes charge of the 
 children and household of Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 149 ; the king's 
 instructions thereon, 149 
 
 Novara, battle of, 44 
 
 Novara railway, opening of the, 
 91 
 
 QDONE (Duke of Monferrat), 
 
 ^^ death of, 265 
 
 Orsini, Felice, attempts to assassi- 
 nate the French Emperor, 126 ; 
 letter to Napoleon III., 128 
 
 Otho III., 2 
 
 Oudinot, General, enters Rome, 68 
 
 pALEOCAPA, the blind Vene- 
 tian minister, 173 ; receives the 
 order of S.S. Annunziata, 273 
 
 Palermo, insurrection in. 212 
 
 Palestro, battle of, 154 
 
 Pantheon, decorations of, at funeral 
 of Victor Emmanuel II., 358 
 
 Papal government, D' Azeglio's pam- 
 phlet attacking the, 82 
 
 Papal .States, absence of railways 
 in, 245
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Z7?> 
 
 PAR 
 
 PIO 
 
 Pareto, Marchese, insurgent al 
 Genoa, 56 ; pardon of, 56 ; 
 elected deputy, 72 
 
 Paris, visited by Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 108 
 
 Parliament, sec Chamber of Depu- 
 ties 
 
 Parma, Duchess of, leaves Parma, 
 166 ; governor sent to, 167 ; the 
 people of, become sul)jects of 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 181 
 
 Peace, Treaty of, of August 6, 1 849, 
 
 Pellico, Silvio, author of book on 
 Austrian prisons, dies, 1854, 92 
 
 Pepoli, Marquis, 167 ; on the 
 Peace of Villafranca, 175 ; made 
 Governor of Umbria, 222 ; his 
 opinion on proposed removal of 
 capital to Florence, 257 ; arrives 
 from Paris, 2S9 ; writes to Napo- 
 leon III., 289, 290 
 
 Perugia, Marquis Gualterio made 
 governor of, 222 ; Bishop of, 222 
 
 Pettinengo, General, Minister of 
 War, 267 ; resigns ministry of 
 war, 276 ; letter of Victor Em- 
 manuel 11. thereon, 276 
 
 Piedmont, financial difficulties, 89 ; 
 increased taxation, 89 ; military 
 preparations in, 92 ; starting of 
 the troops, 102; return and re- 
 view of troops, 116; continued 
 disagreement with Austria, 162; 
 severance of diplomatic relations 
 with Austria, 123 ; preparations 
 for M'ar with Austria, 141 ; Lom- 
 bardy begs to be joined to, 159. 
 See also Sardinia 
 
 Piedmont and Savoy, invasion of, 2 
 
 Pinelli, Minister of the Interior, in 
 1849,52 
 
 Pio Nono, accession of, to the Papal 
 throne, 23 ; popularity of, 24 ; 
 and Austria, 26 ; and the war 
 with Austria, 39 ; his indecision 
 therein, 42 ; and the papal power, 
 
 58 ; his relations with Austria, 
 
 59 ; receives an address from the 
 Consulta, 60 ; his hesitation in 
 sending the papal army to the 
 war, 60 ; disaffection created 
 
 thereby, 61 ; bombardment of 
 Quirinal Palace, 62 ; leaves Rome 
 secretly and takes refuge at Gaeta, 
 62 ; the Austrian Jesuits and, 63 ; 
 is visited by Conte di San Mar- 
 tino, envoy of Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 63 ; resolution of Patliament, 
 that he has fallen from temporal 
 power, 65 ; Fiorentino's ' La 
 Vita di Pio Nono,'' 66 ; thanks 
 the French General Oudinot for 
 the taking of Rome, 68 ; and the 
 death warrants of the traitors, 68 ; 
 receives Count Cesare Balbo on a 
 mission from Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 69 ; receives Count Siccardi 
 as an embassy from Victor Em- 
 manuel II. on the revision of The 
 Statitto, 78 ; letter from Victor 
 Emmanuel II. on the insolence 
 of the clergy, 82 ; letter to Victor 
 Emmanuel II. on the licence of 
 the press, 82 ; sends a letter to 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 167 ; 
 letter from Victor Emmanuel II., 
 189; public character of, 189; 
 letter to Victor Emmanuel II., 
 193 ; letter from Victor Em- 
 manuel II. on annexation of Cen- 
 tral Italy, 194 ; excommunicates 
 Victor Emmanuel II. and all his 
 subjects, 196 ; letter to Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 197 ; threatens to 
 place an interdict on the kingdom 
 of Italy, 237 ; letter to Victor 
 Emmanuel concerning certain 
 bishoprics, 262 ; raises a foreign 
 legion, 277 ; relations between 
 Victor Emmanuel II. and, 278 ; 
 Lord Clarendon conveys a mes- 
 sage to, from Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 293 ; his reply thereto, 293 ; 
 calls an Ecumenical Council, 307 ; 
 letter to, from Victor Emmanuel 
 II. on his decision to annex 
 Rome, 312 ; his conversation with 
 Count .San Martino thereon, 314 ; 
 his reply to Victor Emmanuel II., 
 315 ; yields to Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 316 ; celebrates the twenty- 
 fifth year of his reign, 322 ; depu- 
 tation of the clericals to, 323 ;
 
 374 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PIS 
 
 ROM 
 
 receives greetings, January i, 
 1872, from Victor Emmanuel II., 
 325 ; his relations with \'ictor 
 Emmanuel II., 345 
 
 Pisanelli, Signer, bill for the sup- 
 pression of religious houses, 252 ; 
 remarks of Victor Emmanuel II. 
 thereon, 252 
 
 Philibert, Emmanuel, surnamed 
 Testa di Ferro, 2 ; offered the 
 hand of Elizabeth Tudor of Eng- 
 land, 3 ; marriage with Duchess 
 de Berry, 3 ; Ricotti, the histo- 
 rian, on, 4 ; Motley, the histo- 
 rian, on, 4 
 
 Plezza, Senator, anecdote of, 342 
 
 Poerio, Baron Carlo, 169 ; elected 
 a deputy, 205 ; his sufferings in 
 prison, 215 ; Victor Emmanuel 
 II. 's opinion of, 228 ; advises 
 Victor Emmanuel II. to recall 
 Cavour, 235 ; death of, 281 
 
 Popolo Romano, on the death of 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 360 
 
 Portugal, King of, marries Princess 
 Maria Pia, of Italy, 244 
 
 Prim, General, assassination of, 326 
 
 Prussia, quarrels with Austria, 266 ; 
 alliance with Italy, 267 ; victo- 
 rious over Austria, 271 ; the vic- 
 tory of Sadowa. 271 
 
 Puglia, Duke of (son of Prince 
 Amedeo), 301 
 
 Q 
 
 UIRINAL Palace bombarded, 
 62 
 
 "D ADETSKY, Marshal, head of 
 the Austrian army, 42 ; inter- 
 view with Victor Emmanuel II., 
 49 ; his offer of soldiers to, 75 
 
 Railway communication, in Sar- 
 dinia, 91 ; opening of the Novara 
 line, 91 ; objection of the Popes 
 to, 245 ; opening of the Bologna 
 and Ancona railway, 245 ; the 
 Pescara and Foggia railway 
 opened, 254 
 
 Ramirez, Cavaliere, appointed by 
 Ferdinand II. ambassador to 
 
 the court of Turin, 84 ; his in- 
 terview withV'ictor Emmanuel II., 
 84 
 
 Ramorino, General, is tried by 
 court-martial, 71 ; sentenced to 
 death and shot, 71 ; D'Azeglio's 
 comments thereon, 71 
 
 Rattazzi, his opposition to joining 
 the Anglo-French alliance, 95; 
 Minister of the Interior, April 
 1855, 104 ; his Clerical Bill, 102 ; 
 passing of the same, 104 ; forms 
 a new ministry, 174 ; forms a 
 new ministry, 246 ; unpopularity 
 of his ministry, 247 ; resigns 
 office, 250; forms a new ministry, 
 281 ; he resigns, 284; death of, 
 327 
 
 'Red Shirts,' the. Garibaldi's sol- 
 diers, 229 
 
 Ricasoli, Baron, made Dictator of 
 Tuscany, 183 ; gives up his Dic- 
 tatorship of Tuscany, 200 ; reply 
 of Victor Emmanuel II. there- 
 to, 201; receives the order of the 
 SS. Annunziata, 202 ; made Go- 
 vernor of Tuscany, 202, 205 ; 
 forms a new ministry on death of 
 Cavour, 243 ; resigns office, 246 ; 
 visited by Victor Emmanuel II., 
 253 ; appointed La Marmora's 
 deputy in the Council, 267 ; re- 
 signs office, 280 
 
 Ricotti, the historian, on Emmanuel 
 Philibert, 4 
 
 Riviera, cholera epidemic in, 91 
 
 Romagnuoli, reply of Victor Em- 
 manuel II. to the, 182 
 
 Rome, 58 ; nationalist feeling in, 
 59 ; sympathy with the Pied- 
 montese troops, 60 ; the address 
 of the Consulta to the Pope, 60 ; 
 disaffection in, 61 ; bombard- 
 ment of the Quirinal Palace, 62 ; 
 Pio Nono leaves secretly, 62 ; 
 Garibaldi in, 63 ; inauguration of 
 a republic, 65 ; Galletti accepts 
 office, 65 ; abolition of the In- 
 quisition, 65 ; Garibaldi and Bar- 
 tolucci defend Rome, 67 ; capitu- 
 lation of, 68 ; to be capital of 
 Italy, 235, 238, 240 ; Francis II.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 J/D 
 
 ROS 
 
 STA 
 
 takes up his aboJe in, 240 ; the 
 French to evacuate in 1866, 257 ; 
 evacuation of the French troops, 
 275 ; conspiracy against the Pope, 
 278 ; Inquisition in, 282 ; Gari- 
 baldi threatens to invade, 283 ; 
 French troops sent to Civita- 
 vecchia, 283 ; occupation of, by 
 French soldiers, 306 ; Victor 
 Emmanuel II. decides to annex, 
 312 ; General Cadoma marches 
 on, 315 ; attack on, 315 ; Pio 
 Nono yields to Victor Emmanuel 
 II., 316; visit of Victor Em- 
 manuel II., on the inundation of 
 the Tiber, 321 ; the first Parlia- 
 ment in, November 27, 1871, 
 322 ; public entry of Victor 
 Emmanuel II. into, 322 ; royal 
 visitors to, 327 ; in mourning for 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 354 
 
 Rossi, Pellegrini, comes into office, 
 61 ; brutal murder of, 62 
 
 Ruffini's '^ Doctor Antonio,^ 216 
 
 "■ Kuk of tJu Monk,' the, by Gari- 
 baldi, 288 
 
 Russia, increasing friendship of, for 
 Piedmont, 123 
 
 Russia and Sardinia, ill feeling 
 between, 92 ; reconciliation of, 
 116 
 
 CABAUD family, introductory 
 
 •^ notice of the, i ; end of the 
 Sabaud monarchy, 2 
 
 Sadowa, battle of, 271 
 
 San Martino, battle of. 162 ; Conte 
 di, visits the Pope at Gaeta, 63 ; 
 the Austrian and Bavarian am- 
 bassadors and, 63 ; bears a letter 
 to Pio Nono from Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 312 ; his conversa- 
 tion with Pio Nono, 314 
 
 San Salvador, the Sardinian army 
 at, 151 
 
 Santa Rosa, death of, Si ; brutal 
 outrage upon, 81 
 
 Santa Rosa, Count Santorre, leader 
 of the Carbonari, 10, 1 1 ; on the 
 abdication of Victor Emmanuel I., 
 
 12 
 
 Sardinia and Austria, amicable re- 
 lations established between, 75 
 
 Sardinia, the marriage laws of, 87 ; 
 proposes to join Anglo-French 
 alliance, 92 ; ill-feeling with Rus- 
 sia, 92 ; joins the alliance, 96 ; 
 reconciliation with Russia, 1 16; 
 Sardinian army ordered to the 
 Marches and Umbria, 220 ; en- 
 gagement with the Papal troops 
 at Castelfidardo, 221 ; takes 
 Ancona, 221. See Italy. See 
 also Piedmont 
 
 Savona, a congress at, proposed to 
 Napoleon III. by Victor Em- 
 manuel II., 287 
 
 Savoy, the Dukes of, 2 
 
 Savoy and Nice, cession to France, 
 141, 203 
 
 Savoy and Piedmont, invasion of, 2 
 
 Saxony, visit of the King of, to 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 124 
 
 Sclopis on the Statiito, 77 
 
 Seven Weeks* War, 267, 268, 271 
 
 Sforzesca, battle of, 45 
 
 Siccardi, Count, and the revision of 
 the Statiito, 77 ; sent on an em- 
 bassy to Pio Nono concerning 
 the re\-ision of the Statiito, TJ ; 
 Cardinal Antonelli's reply thereto, 
 
 77 ; accompanies Victor Em- 
 manuel II. on a tour in the Alps, 
 
 78 ; death of, 126 
 
 Sicilies, the Two, rebellion in, 67 
 Sicily, rebellion in, 210, 272 
 Solferino. battle of, 162 
 Sommacampagna, battle of, 43 
 Sonnaz, General de, letter from 
 
 Victor Emmanuel to, 153 
 Spain, revolution of 1S68, 300 ; 
 Amedeo made king, 318 ; depu- 
 tation of the Cortes to Victor 
 Emmanuel II. thereon, 318 ; 
 unsettled state of, 325 ; sends an 
 ambassador to Florence, 262 
 Spezia, narrow escape of Victor 
 Emmanuel II. and his family 
 from drowning at, 91 
 Staffala, battle of, 43 
 Statiito, the, 54, 72, 74, 75 ; pro- 
 test by the clergy against the 
 revision of, 77 > Count Siccardi
 
 176 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 STE 
 
 VIC 
 
 and tlie revision of, 77 ; Count 
 Siccardi sent on an embassy to 
 Pio None concerning the revision 
 of, 77 ; the anniversary of, 237 
 
 Sterbini abolishes the Inquisition, 66 
 
 Stranicro, lo, 162 
 
 Superga, the church, 7 
 
 Sweden, Crown Prince of, visits 
 Victor Emmanuel II., 246 
 
 Syracuse, Count of. and Francis 
 II., 210 ; takes refuge with Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 218 
 
 HTHIERS, M., appeals to Victor 
 Emmanuel II. for aid in 
 Franco-Prussian War, 317 
 
 Thomas, fifth son of Charles Em- 
 manuel I., made Prince of Carig- 
 nano, 8 
 
 Tiber, inundation of the, 321 
 
 ' Tiines,^ The, on Victor Em- 
 manuePs visit to England, 109 
 
 Tommasi, Dr., accompanies Victor 
 Emmanuel II. on his southward 
 iourney, 227 ; conversation of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. with, 257 
 
 Treaty of peace of August 6, 1849, 
 
 Turin, outbreak amongst the uni- 
 versity students of, 10 ; outbreak 
 of students, the military and 
 citizens, 15 ; rebellion in, on the 
 abdication of Victor Emmanuel 
 I., 13 ; punishment of the rebels, 
 14 ; the court of, Count Appony 
 the Austrian ambassador at. 75 ; 
 put in a state of defence, 153 ; 
 consternation in, on proposed 
 removal of capital to Florence, 
 258 ; demonstrations in, 259 ; 
 inhabitants of, send an address 
 to Victor Emmanuel II., 260; 
 deputation from, askintr that 
 Victor Emmanuel II. may be 
 buried there, 354; relics of Victor 
 Emmanuel II. deposited at Turin, 
 354 ; visit of Victor Emmanuel 
 II. to, 230 
 
 Tuscany, Duke of, his proclama- 
 tion on the War of Independence, 
 40 
 
 Tuscany, the people demand a 
 constitution, 166 ; the grand duke 
 leaves the country, 166; governor 
 sent to, 167 ; the people of, re- 
 solve to become subjects of Victor 
 Emmanuel II., 179; Baron Rica- 
 soli made dictator of, 183. See 
 also Italy, Central 
 
 U 
 
 MBERTO, King, see Humbert 
 Umbria, Marquis Pepoli made 
 Governor of, 222 
 
 VAILLANT, Marshal, his re- 
 monstrance on Napoleon III. 
 demanding an armistice with 
 Austria, 170 
 
 Valerio, Signor, made Governor 
 of the Marches, 222 ; on the un- 
 just attacks of the clergy and 
 clerical press, 224 ; answer of 
 Victor Emmanuel II. thereon, 224 
 
 Venice, the impending struggle for, 
 266 ; restored to Italy by Napo- 
 leon III., 272 ; deputation from, 
 to Victor Emmanuel II., 272 ; his 
 reply thereto, 273 ; Victor Em- 
 manuel II. enters, 274 
 
 Venosta, Visconti, on removal of 
 capital to Florence, 258 
 
 Verdi, the composer, 181 
 
 Victor Amadeus, first King of 
 Savoy, 6 ; marries niece of Louis 
 XIV., 6 ; declares war with 
 France, 6 ; made king of Sicily, 
 
 6 ; erects the church of .Superga, 
 
 7 ; his war of extermination with 
 the Huguenots and Waldensians, 7 
 
 Victor Emmanuel I. succeeds 
 Charles Emmanuel IV., 7 ; per- 
 secuted by Napoleon, 7 ; exiled 
 to Sardinia, 7 ; returns to his 
 capital, 7 ; abdicates, 12 ; agita- 
 tion in Turin, 13 
 
 Victor Emmanuel II., birth and 
 eaily days, 28 ; fatality to his 
 nurse, 28 ; education, 29 ; mili- 
 tary studies of, 34 ; marries 
 Maria Adelaide, daughter of the 
 Archduke Ranieri, 32 ; anecdote
 
 INDEX. 
 
 zn 
 
 VIC 
 
 VIC 
 
 '^f) 35 ; is given a command, 36 ; 
 his first taste of war, 36 ; at the 
 victory of Goito, 43 ; made King 
 of Sardinia on the abdication of 
 his father, 47 ; his negotiations 
 for an armistice, 49 ; interview 
 with Marshal Radetsky, 49 ; con- 
 clusion of the armistice, 50 ; 
 popular indignation thereon, 5^ > i 
 reception by the citizens at Turin, ' 
 51 ; his proclamation to the 
 people, 52 ; reception of the 
 armistice by the Chamber of 
 Deputies, 52 ; deputation to, from 
 the Chamber, 53 ; narrow escape 
 from death, 53 ; takes the oath to . 
 the constitution, 54 ; his speech l 
 thereon, 54 ; dissolves Chamber [ 
 of Deputies in 1849, 55 ; inter- . 
 view with the ambassadors of 
 France and England, 56 ; inter- 
 view with D'Azeglio, 57 ; his title 
 of ^ Re Galantziomo,^ 58; his 
 envoy Conte di San Martino \'isits 
 Pio Xono at Gaeta, 63 ; sends 
 Count Cesare Balbo on a mission 
 to Pio Nono at Gaeta, 68 ; utter 
 failure of the mission, 69 ; dan- 
 gerous illness of, 69 ; General 
 Dabomiida's letter thereon, 69 ; 
 the Duke of Genoa fills his place, 
 71 ; his recovery, 71 ; issues a ; 
 proclamation to the people, 71 ; 
 his welcome at the Chamber of 
 Deputies, 72 ; death of Charles 
 Albert, his father, 73 ; his pro- 
 clamation on the dissolution of 
 the Chambers, 73 ; visits the Alps, 
 
 78 ; writes to D".\zegho, 78 ; his 
 success in the chase, 78 ; Barba 
 Vittorio (Uncle Victor), 79 ; 
 anecdotes of, and the peasantry, 
 
 79 ; tour through Savoy to meet 
 the Duke and Duchess of Genoa, 
 
 80 ; letter to Pio Nono, on the 
 insolence of the clerg5% 82 ; Pio 
 Nono's letter to, on the licence of 
 the press, 82 ; and the Lombardo- 
 Venetian pro\-inces, 83 ; enmity 
 of King Ferdinand to, 83 ; his 
 opinion of Gioberti's ^ Rhiiiozu- 
 mento Civile d'' Italia,'' 85 ; his 
 
 magnanimity, 85 ; his religious 
 belief, 85 ; memorandum to Aus- 
 tria, 88 ; his active part in the 
 cabinet, 90; narrow escape with 
 his family from drowning, 91 ; 
 death of his son Charles Albert, 
 91 ; visits Genoa during the 
 cholera epidemic, 91 ; letter to 
 the Minister of Foreign Affairs 
 concerning the Anglo-French 
 alliance, 93 ; his interview with 
 the French ambassador on the 
 Anglo-French alliance 1854, 93 ; 
 illness of his mother and his wife, 
 95) 97 j inter%aew on the treaty 
 with Cavour, 96 ; death of his 
 mother, January 12, 1S55, 98 ; 
 his connection with Countess 
 Mirafiore, 98 ; death of his wife, 
 January 20, 1855, 98 ; public 
 announcement on the loss of his 
 mother, wife, and brother, 99 ; 
 reviews troops about to leave for 
 the seat of war, 102 ; speech to 
 the troops starting for the war, 
 
 103 ; maligned by the clergy, 
 
 104 ; illness of, 105 ; proposes to 
 visit England and France, 105 ; 
 opens the Legislative Assembly, 
 1855, 106 ; his speech, 106 ; 
 starts for Paris with Cavour and 
 D'Azeglio, 108 ; his reception by 
 the emperor and empress, 108 ; 
 arrives in England, 108 ; the 
 ' Times ' on his visit, 109 ; re- 
 ceives the order of the Garter, 
 109 ; attends a banquet at the 
 Guildhall, 109 ; returns to Turin, 
 no; addresses the troops on their 
 return from the war, 117; inter- 
 view of La Mannora, 117 ; his 
 plan for the unification of Italy, 
 119; visited by brothers of the 
 Czar of Russia, 123 ; visited by 
 the King of Saxony, 124 ; receives 
 a deputation on female education, 
 124; his speech on the opening 
 of Parliament, 125 ; conversa- 
 tion with Lanza, 126 ; his appeal 
 to Napoleon III., 128 ; is again 
 visited by the royal family of 
 Russia, 132 ; receives deputa- 
 
 C C
 
 2>7^ 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 VIC 
 
 VIC 
 
 tions on January i, 1859, 134 ; 
 his remark to the magistrates, 
 134 ; his sj^eech at the opening 
 of Parliament, January 10, 1859, 
 135, 136 ; ' Grido di dolor c,^ 135 > 
 his remark to Ciprario thereon, 
 135; Massari's remarks on his 
 speech, 138 ; proposed marriage 
 between Princess Clotilde and 
 Prince Napoleon Jerome, 139 ; 
 his repugnance thereto, 139 ; 
 his present of a ring to Count 
 Cavour, 140 ; his walks incog- 
 nito, 145 ; anecdote of, and his 
 wife, 146 ; appointed supreme 
 commander of the Italian lorces, 
 147 ; Prince Eugenio appointed 
 regent, 147 ; his proclamation to 
 the people, 147 ; his address to 
 the people, 148 ; confides his 
 children to Count Nigra, 149 ; 
 his instructions to him, 149 ; de- 
 scription of, by a French officer, 
 150 ; his friendship with Napo- 
 leon III., 152 ; letter to General 
 de Sonnaz, 153 ; Royal procla- 
 mation on the battle of Rlonte- 
 bello, 154 ; h'S gallantry at 
 Palestro, 155 ; made captain of 
 the Zouaves, 156 ; his letter to 
 Colonel de Chabron, 156 ; issues 
 another proclamation, 157 ; meet- 
 ing of, and Garibaldi, 161 ; at 
 the battles of Solferino and San 
 Martino, 162 ; his message to 
 Marshal Hilliers, 163, 164 ; 
 issues another proclamation on 
 the late victories, 164 ; receives 
 a letter from the Pope, 167 ; 
 offers his alliance to Francis II., 
 169 ; his interview with Count 
 Cavour, 172 ; returns to Turin, 
 173 ; his interview with Sir James 
 Hudson, 173; interview with the 
 Marquis Pepoli, 175; his letter 
 to Count Belgiojoso on the sei-vice 
 at Milan in memoiy of his father, 
 176; visits Lombardy privately, 
 177; visits Manzoni, 177; Man- 
 zoni's remarks on, 177 ; the in- 
 habitants of Modena resolve to 
 become subjects of, 179 ; Central 
 
 Italy offers itself to him, 179;. 
 his reply to the Tuscans, 180 ; 
 to Modena, 181 ; to the Ro- 
 magnuoli, 182 ; sends for Count 
 Cavour, 187 ; visits Lombardy, 
 Februaiy i860, 188 ; letter to 
 Pio Nono, 189 ; letter from Pio 
 Nono, 193 ; letter to Pio Nono 
 on annexation of Central Italy, 
 194 ; is excommunicated by Pio 
 Nono, 196 ; letter from Pio 
 Nono, 197 ; efforts for recon- 
 ciliation with Pio Nono, 199 ; 
 address to Signor P'arini on giving 
 up the dictatorship of Emilia, 
 200 ; address to Baron Ricasoli 
 on giving up the dictatorship of 
 Tuscany, 201 ; address to the 
 people of Central Italy, 202 ; 
 cddress to inhabitants of Nice 
 and Savoy on their cession to 
 France, 204 ; speech at the 
 opening of Parliament, April 2, 
 i860, 205 ; makes a tour through 
 his new dominions accompanied 
 by Count Mamiani, 207 ; is wel- 
 comed to Florence by Capponi, 
 208 ; address of Niccolini the 
 poet to, 209 ; message from, to 
 Garibaldi, 217 ; Count of Syra- 
 cuse takes refuge with, 218 ; is 
 appealed to by P'rancis II., 218 ; 
 his address to the soldiers on 
 leaving for the Marches, 220 ; 
 commands his soldiers to be con- 
 siderate with the Clerical! and the 
 prisoners, 222 ; and the foreign 
 powers, 223 ; visits new pro- 
 vinces, 223 ; enthusiastic recep- 
 tion at Ancona, 223 ; address to 
 the soldiers, 223 ; address to the 
 marines, 224 ; answer to .Signor 
 Valerio on clerical complaints, 
 224 ; visits the Holy House of 
 Loreto, 225 ; visits the Jesuits' 
 College, 225 ; his tenderness for 
 the wounded, 225 ; anecdotes 
 thereon, 225 ; his address to the 
 people of South Italy, 226 ; his 
 journey through the Southern 
 States, 227 ; is called to Naples, 
 227 ; his daily routine of work,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 379 
 
 VIC 
 
 VIC 
 
 227 ; his opinion of Poerio, 228 ; 
 his opinion of Ferdinand II., 
 
 228 ; meeting with Garibaldi in 
 Naples, 229 ; his reception in 
 Naples, 230 ; arrives in Turin, 
 December 29, i860, 231 ; his 
 proclamation on Prince of Carig- 
 nano as Viceroy of Naples, 231 ; 
 his speech at opening of Parlia- 
 ment, February 1S61, 232; pro- 
 claimed King of Italy, 234 ; pre- 
 sents new banners to the army 
 through General Fanti, 237 ; his 
 address thereon, 237 ; his notes 
 for the use of the Paris envoy, 
 243 ; his letter to Count San 
 Martino, 244 ; visited by Crown 
 Prince of Sweden, 246 ; visits 
 Naples, 246 ; receives a visit 
 from Prince Napoleon, 246 ; tele- 
 gram to Napoleon III. thereon, 
 246 ; proclamation on the crisis 
 in Rome, 248 ; his grief on the 
 battle of Aspromonte, 249 ; letter 
 to Minghetti on finance, 250 ; 
 his remarks on the bill for sup- 
 pression of religious houses, 252 ; 
 and the Republican writers, 253 ; 
 anecdote thereon, 253 ; travels 
 through the central provinces, 
 253 ; visits Ricasoli at Broglio, 
 253 ; opens a railway between 
 Pescara and Foggia, 253 ; his 
 remarks on proposed removal of 
 capital to Florence, 257 ; his 
 conversation with Dr. Tommasi, 
 257 ; sets out for Florence, 
 Januar}' 31, 1865, 259 ; his re- 
 ception, 259 ; retires to Villa 
 San Rossore, near Pisa, 259 ; 
 receives an address from Turin, 
 260 ; surrenders a fifth of his 
 civil list to avoid taxing the 
 country, 261 ; the Clericals and 
 the Liberals on, 261 ; receives 
 letter from Pio Nono concerning 
 certain bishoprics, 262 ; visits 
 Naples, 262 ; opens the first 
 Florence Parliament, 262 ; his 
 speech thereat, 262 ; death of 
 his third son Odone, the Duke 
 of Monferrat, 265 ; anecdote 
 
 thereon, 265 ; goes to seat of 
 war of 1866 with his sons, 268 ; 
 his addresses to the people, 
 national guards, and soldiers, 
 268, 269 ; his letter to Napoleon 
 III. on the war, 269 ; the em- 
 peror's reply thereto, 269 ; his 
 son Amedeo wounded, 270 ; re- 
 solves on an armistice with 
 Austria, 271 ; deputation to, 
 from Venice, 272 ; his reply to 
 the Venetians, 273 ; entry into 
 Venice, 274 ; returns to Florence, 
 November 21, 1866, 274 ; his 
 speech to the Chamber, Decem- 
 ber 15, 1866, 275 ; letter to 
 General Pettinengo on his resig- 
 nation as Minister of War, 276 ; 
 relations between, and Pio Nono, 
 278 ; address to new Parliament, 
 March 22, 1867, 279 ; procla- 
 mation on the insurrection in 
 Rome, 285 ; telegram to Marquis 
 Pepoli on the crisis, 286 ; pro- 
 poses to Napoleon III. a con- 
 gress at Savona, 287 ; on the 
 chassepots at Mentana, 289 ; a 
 message conveyed from, to Pio 
 Nono, by Lord Clarendon, 293 ; 
 institutes a new order of knight- 
 hood, la Corona d^ Italia, 296 ; 
 anecdotes of his deeds of charity, 
 297 ; presented with a cushion, 
 299 ; address to, on birth of 
 Amedeo's son, 301 ; his reply 
 thereto, 301 ; receives visits from 
 Russians and Austrian s, 302 ; 
 receives Empress of French at 
 Venice, 302 ; growing friendship 
 between, and Emperor of Austria, 
 302 ; severe illness of, 303 ; 
 marries Countess Mirafiore, 304 ; 
 his recovery, 304 ; and the 
 Clericals, 305 ; decides to annex 
 Rome, 311 ; his letter to Pio 
 Nono thereon, 312 ; Thiers ap- 
 peals for aid in Franco-Prussian 
 war, 317 ; deputation from the 
 Cortes on Amedeo becoming 
 King of Spain, 31S ; his reply 
 thereto, 318 ; hi.-, speech at the 
 last Florence Parliament, 319;
 
 3So 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 VIC 
 
 ■ ^ -Rome on inundation of 
 
 entry into ^<ome]nnc 2 7^, 
 33a; attends ope^nng 
 
 Vsits Germany 3 9, -« J, 
 
 ^''V'fifthVear of his reign, 
 ^t'aigenintfromLaMar 
 3^0', esua t, ^^^^ ^.^^^ f 
 
 mora, 3j1 > '^ . . yigit 
 
 SriST^ech in Pa^^-nt, 
 333,, ^ private hfe^^34, an- 
 dotes about ^^^^ d^^^^' f^^,.^ of 
 
 horses, o37, n^ t^ ^^^ y,om 
 
 ^^1? h?s love of hunting, 34X 5 
 ^tiastiUness, 3485 tnsdymg 
 
 ZOR 
 
 words, 349;'thefctlsa.rgof 
 Italy is no more 35° ; ^f ^^l^. 
 nnnounced in Parhamcnt 352. 
 sneechofSigi^orDepretis thereon, 
 
 3^5? hisfSreral, 354; de-r- 
 •■' „f thp Pantheon at nis 
 
 z:j! 3*8 ■. ' '*»« " "^ 
 
 memory 361 „,,„,„,,„dum 
 
 ^"?r %"c""r Emmanuel .o S^, 
 
 Sardmian ambassado. lea«s, 
 
 ~73fSerS;f^^r^ 
 for^tmai settlement of the Peac. 
 
 ViSamlrina, Marquis, appointed 
 ^''^Svoienil^rjioi^e Congress, 
 
 Vittoria, Duchess of Aosta, death 
 of, 333 
 
 . ' •? ' x...\T\ntr>r Amadeus, 
 
 ons 
 
 - » ot 3 ; wa. ^. extermination 
 
 againsUhe, by Victor Amadeus, 7 
 
 yORILLA, Senor, 318 
 
 5S 
 
 THE END. 
 
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