1 1 ' 3 1822 fnWNIA SftN iMi t 01170 1034 -'*l' ^'M'^-' m'ik < . ^^1,^^ r t i'* i tf » f-r;^ .11 •■ It,., .. . ■ t' •fv- .,, 3 1822 01170 1034 ^^■ :.•■* ''i--: ■^./- '.'•'•'-'' M.' r LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO .J /^I? / of'^ \AS2l%Lfi J^ ITALY 1815—1878. A .A ^^ ^ 4 ^ ITALY: FROM THE FALL OF NAPOLEON L, In 1815, TO THE DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL, la 1878. JOHN WEBB PROBYN, CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited: LONDON, PARIS d- NEW YORK. 1884. [all eights EESERVEn.J PREFACE. The purpose of this volume is to give a concise account of the chief causes and events which have transformed Italy from a divided into a united country. Formerly the Italian Peninsula was separated into a number of petty states whose despotic rulers were maintained almost wholly by the power or influence of foreign sovereigns ; to-day it forms a single constitutional monarchy freed from external dictation and acknowledged by every civilised government. This change is one of the most remarkable of modern times and well deserves to be studied. But it must be acknowledged that a detailed account of this revolution would occupy several volumes if a complete history were given of all the circumstances connected with it, and of the principal men who have borne a part in it. The time, however, has scarcel}' come when such a work can be written, for many details have yet to be made known, or cleared up, which vi PREFACE. will afford further and valuable information with respect to the numerous and varied causes which have trans- formed the Italy of 1815 into the Italy of to-day united under the constitutional rule of the House of Savoy. So, too, as time goes on there wdll be better means of knowing and therefore of estimating the men who had a share in bringing about this remarkable change which has substituted union for disunion, replaced foreign domination by national liberty, and bestowed on Italy a government at once orderly and i'ree. Yet it is desirable that all who are interested in the important events of our time should be able to obtain some connected account of so striking a trans- formation as that which has been effected in Italy between the years 1815 and 1878. It has been with the object of giving such an account that I have written this volume. But no one is more conscious than myself of the many and indeed unavoidable omissions which mark it. Nor can I but feel how far it falls below the subject of which it treats, for during the period which elapsed between the summer of 1859 and the commencement of 1867 I passed the greater part of each year in Italy and among Italians, as well as the memorable autumn and winter of 1870 and the sj)ring of 1871. The personal know- PREFACE. vii ledge I thereby acquired of Italian affairs makes me well aware how inadequate is the manner in which the present volume treats so great a national revolution conducted by leaders who proved themselves capable of" carrying it to a successful issue. Yet 1 trust what I have written may be of" use to those who have not had the same opportunities of studying the course of" events in Italy as I have enjoyed by staying in the country and seeing much of its people, as well as by reading the works of their best authors on the history of the Peninsula during the present century. I trust, too, that Italians, who necessarily know that history better than I can pretend to do, will deem this volume not wholly unworthy of the important subject which it has been my desire to lay truthfully, though briefly, before my readers. J. W. PEOBYN. BOOKS EEAD OR CONSULTED ON THE STATE OF ITALY DURING THE PRESENT CENTURY. " Memoires Documents et Ecrits Divers laisses, par le Priuee de Metter- uicli, Chaueelier do Cour et d'Etat." Publi(§s par sou tils, Le Priuco Richard de Mettemich, 1816—1848. " Stoi-ia di Cento Anui, 1750 — 1850." Cesare Cautu. Firenze. 3 vols. "Storia d'ltalia dal 1815—1851," di Giuseppe La Farina. Torino, 1851. 6 vols. " Lo Stato Romano, 1815—1850." Luigi Carlo Farini. Firenze, 1850. 4 vols. " I casi di Napoli dal 29 Gen. 1848 in poi, Giuseppe Massari, Deputato." Torino, 1849. " I Mici Ricordi," di Massimo d'Azeglio. Firenze, 1867. 2 vols. "Deux Ans de Revolution en Italic, 1848 — 1849," par F. T. Perreus. Paris, 1857. " Daniel Manin," par Henri Martin. Paris, 1859. " Le Comte de Cavour," par Charles Mazade. Paris, 1877. " CEuvre Parlementaire du Comte de Cavour," par I. Artom and A. Blanc. Paris, 1802. " Vita di Giuseppe Garibaldi," Narrata da Jessie W. Mario. Milano, 1882. 2 vols. " Biographic de Joseph Mazzini," par Mnie. E. Ashurst Venturi. Paris, 1881. " Abrege de I'histoire de I'ltalie," par Jules Zeller. Paris, 1865. " Pie IX. et Victor Emmanuel, 1846—1878,'" par Jules Zeller. Paris, 1879. " La Vita ed II Regno, di Vittorio Emauuele II. di Savoia Primo Re d'ltalia," per Giuseppe Massari. MUano, 1878. 2 vols. " Storia d'ltalia dal 1866 al 1880," continuazione della storia, della Idci Italiaua, per PetruceUi deUa Gattina, Deputato al Parlamento, Napoli, 1882. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Italy under Napoleon I. — Promises of the allied Generals when they wished to overthi'ow Napoleon's rule — Restoration of the royal dynasties of the Peninsula, and destruction of the old republics of Genoa and Venice — The supremacy of Austria substituted for that of the French Empire — Result of this policy — Prince Blctternich's account of the state of Italy in 1817 — M. de Chateaubriand on the condition of Italy — The existence of Secret Societies — Prince Metternich's statement of the view taken of his policy by public opinion 1 CHAPTER II. Revolution of 1820 in Naples — King Ferdinand I. grants a Constitution, and takes his oath to it — Opening of the Neapolitan Parliament in October, 1820 — Dissatisfaction of the Sicilians — Dislike of the Neapolitans to a separate Parliament for Sicily — Divisions in the Island — The Neapolitan Parliament refuses to agree to the wishes of the Sicilians — Austria protests against any changes affecting the Treaties of Vienna — King Ferdinand goes to the Conference of the allied Sovereigns at Laybach — His promises pre%'ious to his departure — Austrian troops march into the Neapolitan kingdom and overthrow the Constitution — Ferdinand returns to Naples, rules despotically, and punishes all who were favourable to free institutions — Revolution in Piedmont, in March, 1821 — Abdication of Victor Emmanuel I. — He appoints Prince Charles Albert regent — He promises a Constitution — Charles Felix repudiates this act, and calls on Prince Charles Albert to submit to him — The prince obeys the King — The Austrians enter Piedmont — Charles Felix comes to Turin — Overthrow of Liberty and triumph of Absolutism . 20 CHAPTER ni. The rule of Austria in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom — Her influence in the other Italian States — Condition of Tuscany — Death of Ferdinand I. . CONTENTS. PAGE of Naples — He is succeeded by his son Francis I. — Naples under Ms rule — His conflict with the Bey of Tripoli — Death of Francis — Pied- mont under Charles Felix — His defeat of the Bey of Tripoli — Death of Charles FeUx, who is succeeded by his cousin, Charles Albert, in 1830 — The state of Italy as described by M. de Chateaubriand and Prince Mettemich 35 CHAPTER IV. The Carbonari, the Eeformers, the Sanfedesti — Francis IV. Duke of Modena — Modcnese Eevolution, 1830— Death of Pope Pius VIII. — Election of Gregory XVI. — Revolution in Bologna, 1831 — Austria intervenes, puts down the movement in the Papal States, and restores the Duke of Modena and the Duchess of Parma — Execution of Ciro Menotti, Vincenzo Borelli, and the Cavaliere Eicci — The Austrians in Bologna, and the French in Ancona — The Sanfedesti — Joseph Mazzini and " Young Italy," 1831 — Eapid growth of Young Italy — Joseph Garibaldi enrolled among its members — Young Camillo Cavour punished for giving utterance to liberal views in 1831 . . .46 CHAPTER V. Ferdinand II. succeeds in November, 1830, to the throne of Naples — Character of his rule — Piedmont under Charles Albert — The Papal States under Gregory XVI. — Tuscany and the Austrian and Papal Governments — Antagonism of Austria and Piedmont — Massimo d'Azeglio's interview with Charles Albert on the State of Italy — The party of the Eeformers, their \dews and writings — Prince Mettemich's opinions on Italian questions — Death of Pope Gregory XVI., and election of Pope Pius IX 63 CHAPTER VI. Pope Pius IX. adopts a liberal policy — The Scientific Congress at Genoa — Eeforms in the Eoman States — The Papal Government protests against the Austrian occupation of Ferrara — Eeforms of Leopold in Tuscany — Ferdinand II. of Naples opposes aU reforms — Charles Albert's antagonism to Austria — The Agricultural Congress at Casale, and the Letter of Charles Albert — He introduces various reforms in Piedmont — Attitude of the English and of the Austrian Governments towards Italian reforms — Events in Milan and Venice — Increasing- agitation in the Neapolitan dominions — Eefusal of Ferdinand to make- concessions — Early in January, 1848, the Eevolution breaks out in CONTENTS. xiii PAGE Sicily — Ferdinand gives way and is obliged to promise a Constitution on 27th January, 1848 — On the 7th February, Charles Albert promises a Constitution, which is promulgated on the 4th March — The Grand Duke of Tuscany promises a Constitution on the 11th February, 1848 — The Pope forms a Government in which tliree Lajmien hold office — French Eevolution of February 24th, 1848 — The Pope promises a Con- stitution — Eevolution in Vienna, March, 1848 86 CHAPTER YII. Insurrection of Milan — The Austrians retire from the City — Insurrection of Venice, and re- establishment of the Republic — The Dukes of Parma and Modena obliged to quit their States — Sympathy of the Romans and Tuscans with the National movement — Ferdinand of Naples forced to support it against Austria — Events in Naples and Sicily — Ferdinand deserts the National cause — Charles Albert crosses the Ticino and attacks the Austrians — The King, after some successes, is finally defeated by Marshal Radetzky — The Pope declares on the 2Sth April, 1848, that he wiU not join in the war agaiust Austria — The vacil- lation of the Papal Government — Count Pellegrino Rossi becomes the Pope's Minister — The Count assassinated — The Pope quits Rome — Events in Tuscany after the Austrian victories — Montanelli Prime Minister at Florence — Project of an Italian Constituent — Sudden flight of the Grand Duke, who goes to Gaeta — The reaction gains continued success 116 CHAPTER YIII. Negotiations between Piedmont, France, England, and Austria — Charles Albert again attacks Austria — His defeat at No vara and abdication, March, 1849 — Tuscany a Republic — The people desire the return of the Grand Duke as a constitutional ruler— The Austrians invade Tuscany and restore the Grand Duke as an absolute sovereign — Triumph of the reaction in Naples and Sicily — Bombardment of Messina — State of Rome after the Pope's departure — Intervention of France — The Roman Republic proclaimed, February, 1849— General Oudinot's troops re- pulsed by the Romans — Negotiations—Siege and fall of Rome, 3rd July, 1849 — Venice alone continues to resist under the rule of Daniel Manin— Vigorous defence of the City— Its fall— Exile of Manin— The triumph of absolutism throughout Italy I'lQ CHAPTER IX. Condition of Piedmont at the time of Victor Emmanuel's accession in March, ' 1849— Massimo d'Azeglio becomes Prime Minister — Insurrectionary movement in Genoa put down — Negotiations with Austria — Victor Emmanuel issues a proclamation from Moncalieri and dissolves the CONTENTS. Chamber, July, 1849 — The Chamber does not approve the Government policy — Victor Emmanuel issues a second proclamation from Mon- calieri, and dissolves the Chamber in November, 1849 — The Chamber accepts the Government policy, and ratifies the peace with Austria — Complete religious toleration in Piedmont — Attempted negotiations ■with the Papal Government for carrying out ecclesiastical reforms — The Siccardine Laws — Death of Count Santa Rosa, the Minister of Commerce — Count Cavour api^ointed in his place in Novembei-, ISoO — Liberal legislation of Piedmont — Coup d'Etat by Louis Napoleon, 2nd December, 1851 — Menaces of Austria and Prussia against Piedmont — Resignation of Massimo d'Azeglio — Cavour becomes Prime Minister — Revolutionary attempt in Milan, February, 1853 — Success of Cavour's progressive and reforming policy — Crimean War — Sad family losses of Victor Emmanuel — Congress of Paris — Manin and Cavour — The con- dition of Italy condemned by the leading Plenipotentiaries at the Congress — Cavour continues his policy in Piedmont — The Mont Cenis Tunnel begun — Attempt of Felice Orsini to assassinate Napoleon III. , 14th January, 1858 — Cavour's policy and conduct — The Emperor Napoleon's views and his interview with Cavour at Plombieres in July, 1858 — Alliance formed between France and Piedmont . .193 CHAPTER X. Napoleon III.'s observation to the Austrian Ambassador on the 1st January, 1859 — Victor Emmanuel's speech at the opening of the Piedmontese Parliament — Negotiations — Austria sends an ultimatum to Turin— It is rejected — Italian war of 1859 — France and Piedmont victorious — The Allied Sovereigns enter Milan — Death of Ferdinand II. of Naples — Offers of Piedmont to his son Francis II. — Austrian troops concen- trated in Venetia and the Quadrilateral — Fall of the Governments of Florence, Parma, Modena, and Bologna — Deputations from Tuscany, the Roman Legations, Parma, and Slodena, to King Victor Emmanuel — Sudden peace of Villafranca — The Plenipotentiaries at Zurich — Coiu'sc pursued bj^ the peoples of Tuscany, Emilia, and the Roman Legations — Their final union with Piedmont and Lombardy under Victor Emmanuel —The annexation of Savoy and Nice to France — Naples, Sicily, and King Francis II. — The Revolution begins in Sicily — Garibaldi's ex- pedition to the island — His conquest of Sicily and Naples — Agitation in the- Papal pro^vinces — Interventiop of Victor Emmanuel's Govern- ment and troops — Meeting of Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi — Their entrance into Naples — Fall of Gaeta, and departure of Francis II. for Rome — New elections throughout all Italy and Sicily, excepting Venetia and Rome — Opening of the first Italian Parliament, February, 1860 — Cavour on the questions of Rome and Venice — His varied labours— His death on the 6th June, 1861. 242 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. PAOB Baron Ricasoli becomes Prime Minister — He resigns and is succeeded by Signer Rattazzi — The questions of Rome and Venice — Garibaldi's movement in Sicily — He is arrested at Aspromonte and sent to La Spezzia — Change of the Ministry — Convention of September, 1864 — Papal Policy — The Encyclique and SyUabus — The Schleswig-Holstein question— Austria and Prussia— Italy negotiates with a view of acquiring Venetia — War of 1866 — Custozza and Lissa — Peace made and Venotia ceded to Italy — The French troops are withdrawn from Rome — Gari- baldi attacks the Roman territory — -Retui-n of the French troops and defeat of Garibaldi at Montana — Austi-ia and Hungary united by con- stitutional freedom — Marriage of Prince Humbert to his cousin the Princess Margherita — Negotiations between France, Austria, and Italy — War between France and Prussia — Overthrow of Napoleon III. — Italy occupies Rome — The Powers of Europe acquiesce — Law of the Papal Guarantees — Victor Emmanuel opens the Italian Parliament in Rome on 27th November, 1871 — The King's visit to Vienna and Berlin— The 2oth anniversary of his accession — Visit of the Em- peror Francis Joseph to Venice — Visit of the Emperor William to Milan— Change of the Italian Ministry in 1876— Death of the King . 298 CONCLUSION. Progress of the country in order and liberty — Increase of the electorate — Brigandage reduced — Signer Brioschi on the former want of public instruction — Educational improvement — Commerce, resources, railways, telegraphs, post-offices — Army and Navy — Financial improvement — The past and present state of Italy ....... 3.54 V ITALY. CHAPTER I. Italy under Napoleon I. — Promises of the allied Generals when they wished to overthrow Na^ioleon's rule — Restoration of the royal dynasties of the Penin- sula, and destruction of the old republics of Genoa and Venice. The su- premacy of Austria substituted for that of the French Empire — Result of this policy — Prince Mettomich's account of the state of Italy in 1817 — M. de Chateaubriand on the condition of Italy — The existence of Secret Societies — Prince ilctternich's statement of the view taken of his policy by public opinion. No country in Europe was more completely revolu- tionised by tlie wars and policy of the first Napoleon than Ital}^ AYhen at length he had become possessed of absolute power, all the old governments of the Penin- sula had been overthrown and were replaced by those of his own creation. The greater part of the kingdom of Piedmont and of the States of the Church, the Republic of Grenoa, and the Duchies of Lucca, Parma, and Tus- can}^, were incorporated into the French Empire. Eugene Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson, was made Viceroy of a kingdom of Italy composed of the republic of Venice, the Trentino, the Milanese possessions of Austria, that portion of Piedmont lying between the rivers Dorea, Balta, and Ticino, together with the Duchy of Modena, and the Papal provinces of Romagna and the Marches. B 2 ITALY. The kingdom of Naples was placed first under the rule of Joseph Bonaparte and then of Murat, the brother-in- law and lieutenant of the French Emperor. JSTapo- leon in fact governed the whole country from the Alps to the Straits of Messina. Very different was the prospect held out to the Italians in the spring of 1796 by General Bonaparte, after his first victories. " People of Italy," said he, "the French arm}^ comes to break your chains; the French people is the friend of every people — come and welcome them. Your property, your customs, your religion shall be respected ; we make war like generous enemies — only against the tyrants who hold you en- slaved." Shortly after, a second proclamation, issued from Milan, said — " Let the people rest assured we are the friends of the people. To re-establish the Capitol, to awaken the Eoman people from centuries of servi- tude ; such will be the fruits of our victory." Doubt- less the result had been the overthrow of the old governments ; but instead of being replaced by national liberty, the Peninsula was only subjected to the rule of imperial France. That rule entailed heavy contributions and constant levies of soldiers to be used for the main- tenance of a French empire, and not for the establish- ment of a free Italy. The press was silenced, public meetings were forbidden, the police were powerful and vexatious. These and other ills were bitterly felt, for they provoked a comparison between the early promises of national freedom, and the actual result of foreign domination. Yet it would be unjust not to enumerate THE NAPOLEONIC RULE. 3 the benefits which flowed from tlie Napoleonic rule. Laws were made more uniform, and their administration was improved. Equal rights were conceded to all classes. Public offices were thrown open to the citizens of every rank. Convents, which had too often degener- ated into centres of sloth and even vice, were abolished. Schools and lyceums were opened, cities were improved, new roads were made, rivers were embanked, bridges erected, and marshes drained. The Italians themselves took an active part in these useful reforms, while their soldiers distinguished themselves in the campaigns of the great general whom they justly considered one of their own nation by family and origin. Still the fact remained that his rule was that of a despot who, in- stead of giving national liberty, had only made their country a province of France. Prince Metternich relates in his memoirs that Napoleon said to him — " Never will I give Italians a liberal system ; I have only granted them the semblance of it." This condition of Italy was duly turned to account by the enemies of Napoleon when they united for his overthrow after his retreat from Russia. On the 10th December, 1813, Count Nugent, one of the Austrian commanders, issued a proclamation from Ravenna to " The Peoples of Italy," in the following terms — " You have groaned long enough beneath the iron yoke of oppression. Our armies have come to free you com- pletely from it. A new order of things opens out to you, destined to reinvigorate and establish your happi- ness. . . . It is for your interest, courageous and B 2 4 ITALY. brave Italians, to battle yourselves for your resur- rection and your well-being. In that you will be pro- tected and helped so as to beat down the obstinate resistance of whoever attacks your welfare. You have all to become an independent nation, you have to manifest your zeal for the public good ; you will be happy if you are faithful to those who love and protect you. Soon your lot will be envied and your position will excite admiration." Then follow promises that the conscription shall be abolished and various taxes suppressed or lessened. The Austrian Greneral Belle- garde also put out the following proclamation on 3rd February, 1814 — " Italians ! of all the nations whom the ambition of Napoleon has bent beneath his yoke, you are the last for whom the hour of deliverance has struck. We have passed the Adige and entered the heart of your country. See in us your liberators who will ask of you only what is indispensable for our operations and sustenance. We have come to protect your legitimate rights, and to re-establish that which force and pride have overthrown. We call you to the common defence. The moment has arrived for Italy, like other nations, to give proof of her strength and courage. It is time that the Alps should again proudly raise their inacces- sible heights and form an insurmountable barrier ; it is time that the roads opened to introduce slavery into your country should be destroyed." In the following month, March, 1814, Greneral Ben- tinck, commanding the English and Sicilian forces, disembarked at Leghorn, and marched towards Genoa, PROCLAMATIONS OF THE ALLIES. 5 bearing a flag* on which was written, " Italian Liberty and Independence." In his proclamation, the English general said — " Portugal, Spain, Sicily, Holland, attest the liberal principles of Great ]3ritain. These nations are free, and rejoice in civil liberty. Shall Italy alone remain beneath the yoke ? Italians can no longer hesitate ; they will know how to become Italian. The soldiers of the Italian kingdom should especially re- member that the great cause of their country reposes in their hands. They should make their rights felt, and become free. Let the forces of all be united, and Italy shall again become that which in happier times she has been." These proclamations of the allied generals awoke feelings of hope throughout Italy. Her people were wearied of the endless wars of Napoleon, accompanied by a conscription which drained the country of its youth, and by taxes which drained it of its wealth. The agricultural classes saw their lands injured by the march of armies, and at the same time impover- ished by the loss of labourers carried off to swell the ranks. The continental blockade, rigorously en- forced, damaged Italian commerce and enterprise. The desire for national independence but grew under the oppressiveness of such a system, and increased with the decline of Napoleon's power. Thus discontent was rife, and change was welcome. Divided though the Italians were in their feelings and wishes, they were, however, ready to welcome any settlement which should give to their country peace, and secure to her free institutions, 6 ITALY. resting upon a national basis ; for tliey were weary of foreign rule and absolutism. A golden opportunity was thus offered to the Powers assembled at Vienna, in whose hands rested, after the overthrow of Napoleon, the future destiny of the Peninsula. Many of its people looked to them with hope, for were not some of them the very Powers whose generals had bidden the " brave and courageous Italians " to battle against the common oppressor for the deliverance of their native land, rousing them with the stirring words, " liberty," " country," " rights,'' and " independence ? " With the Congress of Vienna, then, it rested to make or mar the future of Italy, and with it, in no small degree, the future peace of Europe. The statesmen assembled in the Austrian capital determined to restore the royal dynasties of the Pen- insula, but not the ancient republics of Genoa and Venice. The Neapolitan Bourbons were replaced on the throne of Naples, retaining the island of Sicily in which they had found a refuge under the protection of England's fleet. The country received the name of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Papal authority was restored throughout the former States of the Church. The House of Hapsburg-Lorraine was reinstated in Tuscany. Parma and Modena reappeared as independ- ent duchies. The King of Piedmont had that country and Savoy restored to him, together with the territory of the old republic of Grenoa. The Genoese greatly disliked this proceeding, but in the eyes of the arbitrary statesmen of Europe it served the double purpose of THE FATE OF GENOA AND VENICE. 7 abolishing a republic, and of binding the House of Savoy more closely to arbitrary government, because any demand for greater liberty in the restored kingdom of Piedmont would probably awaken among the Genoet-e a desire for their ancient rights as an independent State. Still the Italian citizens of Genoa had the consolation of feeling that they were, at any rate, united to an Italian people ruled indeed despotically by their sovereign Victor Emmanuel I., who, however, loved and upheld his country's independence. Like all the princes of the House of Savoy he was jealous of foreign in- terference, and, while clinging to despotism, had but little real liking for despotic Austria whose power was becoming supreme in Italy. But though this consola- tion was left to Genoa, none such remained to the sister republic of Venice. It had fallen, partly through its own weakness, but yet more through the unscrupulous acts of its powerful neighbours. Despite the efforts of the old republic to remain neutral in the struggle between Austria and France at the close of the last centur}^ General Bonaparte, who commanded with brilliant success the French armies in Italy, soon found pretexts for attacking Venice, revolutionising its govern- ment, and establishing over it a French protectorate. That protectorate might have been used to reform the institutions of the republic by adapting them to the requirements of the time, and then have been with- drawn, leaving Venice to be freely governed by its own citizens. But Bonaparte preferred to destroy, by the treaty of Campo-Formio in 1797, the old republic, and 8 ITALY. hand it over to Austria. Venice had no power to resist, for the French general had himself deprived her of her arms and fleet. Luigi Manin, the last of the Doges, whose vacillation had contributed not a little to this result, fainted after resigning his high office and taking the oath to the new masters of the Queen of the Adriatic. The destruction of the Venetian republic was accomplished in spite of the instructions addressed by the French Directory to Bonaparte on the 29th September, 1797, in which it spoke of "the shame of abandoning Venice." When the Directory found that the deed was done it at first hesitated to give its assent to the treaty already signed by its general, but finally complied. Thus it was that Venice lost her ancient inde- pendence and became a province of Austria. The statesmen assembled at Vienna in 1815, when they confirmed Austria in the possession of Venice, but followed the policy of the French revolutionary chief and ratified one of his worst deeds. The Italian pro- vinces of Venetia and Lombardy, including the for- tresses of Verona, Peschiera, Legnano, and Mantua, well known as the quadrilateral, were formed into the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom and given to Austria. Her rule was not only despotic but foreign, and even more alien to Italians than the rule of France. The treaties of Vienna did then little in Italy but substitute the supremacy of Austria for that of Bona- parte. Entrenched within the quadrilateral, her will was law to the lesser Italian courts. Piedmont, al- AUSTRIAN DOMINATION SECURED. 9 thougli her government was a pure despotism, resented this overshadowing influence, and thereby awakened the suspicions of Austrian statesmen. The other govern- ments of Italy were favourable to Austria, to whom they looked as a counterpoise to France, and as a sure help in case patriotic feelings or liberal aspirations roused among their subjects dislike of foreign influence or desire for reforms. If the proclamations of General Bonaparte at the opening of his career awoke hopes in Italian hearts only to disappoint them, assuredly the appeals of the allied generals at the close of that career closely resembled those proclamations of the French commander alike in their promises and their results. The first French Eepublic and the old Legitimist Sove- reigns each in their turn allured Italy by high-sounding phrases touching national independence and libert}--, only to bind each their special yoke upon her neck in the hour of victory. Great indeed was the contrast between the procla- mations of Austrian and English generals in 1813 and 1814, calling on the people of Italy to rise against oppression and to become an independent nation when it was desired to drive out the French, and the reply of the Emperor Francis, in 1816, to the Lombardo- Venetian deputies : — " My victorious arms having con- quered Italy, there can be no question either of consti- tution or of independence." Such a policy might rear thrones maintained by external force, but could never lead to the formation of a contented and prosperous nation. Moreover, the Italians were by that very policy 10 ITALY. predisposed to rebel against the foreign settlements forced upon tliem, and were prepared to receive, as into a fruitful soil, the idea of national unity and independ- ence which later on was propagated with a zeal which nothing could abate, and, after many a defeat, at length triumphed with a completeness which has rarely been surpassed. In November, 1817, Prince Metternich laid before the Emperor Francis of Austria the result of inquiries made into the condition of Italy. The Prince says : — " Your Majesty will vouchsafe to remember that in October last year I undertook to lay before your majesty the necessity of becoming acquainted with the action of the Grovernment, and the particular causes of the general dissatisfaction of the Italian States. . . I took the liberty of getting well-informed men to go to Florence, Modena, Parma, and Rome, and to bring reports to your majesty for this purpose. Your majesty vouchsafed to look favourably on my views, and allowed me to accept from Counts Diego Gruicciardi and Tito Manzi the offer I had invited them to make. These gentlemen have now returned from their travels. Tito Manzi cannot but confess that everything which he saw and heard during his mission in Italy convinced him of the great and general dissatisfaction there prevailing. . . On closer enquiry into the particular grievances, Manzi described the attitude of the separate States given back to Italy — rulers being set against the people, as well as the latter against the governments. He began with Naples and Sicily, then came to Eome, and from thence ACCOUNT OF ITALY BY METTEBNICU'S AGENTS. 11 to Tuscany, Lucca, Modena, and Parma, concluding with Piedmont." Manzi regretted that Austria did not support the party which would have put Prince Leopold, son of Ferdinand of Naples, on the Neapolitan throne. Manzi had himself held office under Murat. Metternich's com- ment upon this idea of his envoy is as follows : — " The prejudice of the ex-Minister of an illegal Grovernment for these revolutionary notions ought not to cause surprise, and it is quite natural that he should look at Austria's advantage in this matter after the fashion of Napoleon, Murat, &c. But what would have been useful and ser- viceable to them would be prejudicial to a Legitimate Grovernment, whose policy must rest on the indestructible foundation of integrity and justice." Much undoubtedly was to be said in favour of such sentiments, nor were they altogether misplaced in the mouth of Prince Met- ternich. But if they were applicable to the rule of the House of Bourbon in Naples, were they not especially so to the far more ancient rule of the Republic of Venice ? Yet the Prince had in this latter case acted literally after " the fashion of Napoleon " — a fashion assuredly not based " on the indestructible foundations of justice and integrity." In Sicily the Neapolitan Government overthrew the Constitution drawn up by Lord William Bentinck, but did not reinstate the Sicilian nobles, as they desired, in their ancient privileges. The British Cabinet allowed with great reluctance those constitutional rights to be annulled, while Austria gave her full approbation to the 12 ITALY. deed. " But it suited," says Metternich, " our interest to enter into the designs of the Neapolitan Court, and thus prevent Sicily from serving as an example to the kingdom of Naples subsequently, and also to prevent the numerous constitutionalists of this kingdom (sup- ported by this example) from seeking to induce the Ministry to give them also a representative form of Grovernment." As Austria supported absolutism in Naples, so she also did in Rome, though wisely mode- rating, in conjunction with Cardinal Consalvi, the more repressive policy which Monsignor Pacca, the head of the policy, would have taken against the dissidents, and especially against the adherents of the last Govern- ment. The report of the condition of Tuscany is described as being unpleasant, but, adds Prince Met- ternich, " I cannot but feel it is quite a true one." Tuscan}^, however, was far more contented than any other part of Italy, being under a much milder and wiser Grovernment, as appeared when the Revolutions broke out in Naples and Piedmont, in 1820 and 1821. Piedmont gave special uneasiness to the Austrian statesman. He observed that the King, Victor Emmanuel I., constantly occupied himself with his army, which was unnecessarily large, and entertained ambitious designs which could only be gratified at the expense of Austria. But the Prince believed "that notwithstanding the widespread and well-founded grounds for dissatisfaction in the Sardinian States and even in Grenoa, which bears the yoke of this power with great impatience, and does not conceal its annoyance, a METTEBNICH'S B^SUMl^ OF THE STATE OF ITALY. 13 revolutionary movement is not to be feared in this country.'' The dissidents, or those who disliked the settlement made for Italy by the treaties of Vienna, were numer- ous ; so much was this the case that Metternich tells his sovereign that " we must not look with indifference on such a mass of individuals who, more or less ad- versaries of the existing order of things, may easily be led to disturb the public peace, especially if it is ever united by the alluring pretext of Italian independence." In the meanwhile, intrigues of various kinds were going on among the little Italian courts, who, though dreading revolution, were not altogether pleased with the overshadowing control of Austria. The " Resume " drawn up by Prince Metternich of the moral condition of all the Italian Governments with the exception of the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom gave the following results : — " That the discontent is universal. That if this discontent were a natural consequence of the sufferings engendered by the last unfavourable years, and of the political changes which have taken place since 1814 and 1815, it must also be ascribed to the bad administra- tion of the Grovernments ; that in Italy, especially in its southern regions, and in Bologna and Grenoa, there is undoubtedly a great ferment in the minds of the popu- lations supported by the different sects, the tendency of which is without doubt dangerous." . . . The want, however, of leaders, of concerted action, and of any foreign power to fan the flame, as the Austrian states- man goes on to declare, encourages him to believe that 14 ITALY. no revolutionary movement would occur. He sa3"s, when speaking of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, that even zealous adherents of the last Grovernment (that of Prince Eugene Beauharnais) admit the administration of the kingdom to be one which gives many essential ad- vantages compared with the other States of Italy. This was true, but the Prince is obliged to add — " It would, however, be a mistake to infer from this that general dissatisfaction was not prevalent in the provinces sub- jected to your majesty." The Prince goes on to pro- jDose certain changes in the proceedings and forms of administration, which he trusts will bring about a change of feeling, and cause public opinion to declare for Austria, so that Italians will regard her rule as the only one which can afford a sure support to public tranquillity. He adds — " If ever this day should come, then the influence of foreigners will cease to be feared, and we shall gain one far more essential with our neigh- bours — the influence given b}^ opinion." But the public opinion of the Lombardo-Venetians was not likely to be gained by an arbitrary system of government, whose mainspring was Austrian police and Austrian soldiers, commanded by Austrian governors in Milan, Verona, and Venice, directed by the Austrian Minister at Vienna. It was possible, for a certain number of years, to compel Italians to bear such a yoke, but it was impossible to compel them to like it even for a day. Nor were the feelings of the Aus- trian Emperor's Italian subjects soothed by such words as his Imperial Majesty addressed to the professors of M. DE CTIATEAUBBIANB ON ITALY. 15 the University of Pavia — " Know, gentlemen, that I do not desire cultured men, nor studious ones, but I wish you to form for me faithful subjects devoted to me and to my house." The independent testimony of contemporary French diplomatists of the Legitimist school, fully confirms the account given by Prince Metternich of the condition of Ital}^; nor did it improve as time went on. Thus, early in April, 1829, M. de Chateaubriand writes — " It is not some poor devils of Carbonari, excited by the manoeuvres of the police and hung without mercy, who will raise isoulevewnf) the country. The most false ideas of the true state of things are given to the Governments. They are prevented doing what they ought to do for their safet}^, by being always shown as the private conspiracies of a handful of Jacobins what is really the effect of a permanent and general cause. Such is the real position of Italy. Each one of its States, over and above the common working of all minds, is tormented by some moral ill. Piedmont is delivered up to a fanatical fac- tion, the Jesuits ; the Milanese territory is devoured by the Austrians ; the dominions of the Pope are ruined by the bad administration of the finances ; at Naples, the weakness of the Grovernment is only saved by the cowardice of the population. The antipathies created by territorial divisions add further to the difficulties of an internal movement. But if some impulse came from without, or if some prince on this (the Italian) side of the Alps gave a charter to his subjects, a revolution would take place, for everything is ripe for this revolu- 16 ITALY. tion." It is needless to add tliat tlie Italians of that period themselves fully corroborate these facts, and point to them as the result produced by the mode in which their country was treated by the Powers who drew up the treaties of 1815. Such then was the state of Italy after the settle- ment made by the Congress of Vienna according to the statements of Prince Metternich, and of those whom he had specially sent to investigate the condition of the country. It was far from fulfilling the assurance of Count Nugent (the Austrian Greneral) in December, 1813, that if the Italians would but join the allied Powers in overthrowing Napoleon and have confidence in their new friends, then the lot of Italy's people would "be envied, and their position excite admiration." Certainly the reports given by Counts Diego Gruicciardi and Tito Manzi did not excite admiration even in the breast of Prince Metternich, nor did they reveal a con- dition of things calculated to excite such a feeling in the minds of independent witnesses like M. de Chateau- briand and others who, like himself, were members, not of the revolutionary, but of the Legitimist school. It is not surprising, then, that in Italy, speaking generall3% the discontent was very widespread. But the Austrian states- man consoled himself with the hope that from the want of known leaders and of concerted action among them- selves, the disaffected, though numerous, would not be so dangerous as might be feared. It is clear, therefore, that the state of the country could not be attributed to the efforts of men of mark, who were rousing the peoj)le THE SECRET SOCIETIES. 17 to rebellion. Prince Metternich, on the contrary, speaks of the " want of known leaders," and says, " a revolu- tionary movement is not to be feared so long as it is not set on fire and maintained by some foreign power." At the same time he admits the generally prevailing discontent, and admits further that it arose, at least in part, from the bad administration of the restored Governments. It should be remembered that those Governments were sustained by Austria, whose supremacy in Italy was one of the chief causes of irritation. It soon appeared, as indeed has ever been the case, that where discontent was general, leaders soon arose who gave voice to the preva- lent feeling of the country. When such an expression of feeling is met, not by wise reforms but only by forcible repression, the hour of action is sure to follow, and those who have refused timely concessions find that they have only been preparing the w^ay for revolution. Though liberty was suppressed, secret societies, dangerous alike to order and freedom, not only existed but flourished. The Carbonari were the most numerous, but by no means the only sect. There were also those who favoured religion and royalty ; some, too, who would have excluded Austrian supremacy and supplanted it by that of the Papacy. The Carbonari desired the inde- pendence of Italy, but they were united rather by hostility to the actual governments, than by any definite idea as to what should take their place. Many members of this sect looked to foreign help, others disliked it; some preferred a federation of States, others a single republic ; some would have accepted a constitutional monarchy, c 18 ITALY. others hated the very idea of it ; all were willing to promote revolution ; some were prepared to use not only violent but criminal means. The then governments of Italy, with the exception of Tuscany, ruled by the kindly Grand Duke Ferdinand and his astute minister Fossombroni, acted after their kind. The panacea for all evils was repression accompanied by arbitrary measures. The revolutionary sects onl}' increased. They comprised generous-hearted men who abhorred the servitude of their country, brave soldiers ready to die for her liberation, priests of good life who believed in the God of the poor and the oppressed, magistrates disgusted by the daily violation of justice, ardent youths roused to fury at the sight of Italy's wrongs and degradation. But there were also to be found amongst them men of turbulent and licentious character, ac- customed to wrong and robbery, men delighting in disorder and violence, men who viewed with pleasure the troubles of their country because affording them an opportunity for gaining their own unworthy ends. Those, however, who disliked the order of things as established in Italy, grew in number and influence. A document of the Vienna Chancellery declared " the Carbonari in the Two Sicilies to be computed at 800,000, nor is there a police that can possibly repress, much less eradicate, such a deluge." Prince Metternich, writing to Count Stadion in April, 1821, after having put down the Neapolitan revolution of 1820 and while proceeding against that of Piedmont in 1821, says — " Public opinion is absolutely diseased, and since a METTEBNICH'S ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC OPINION. 19 single fact is sufficient to prove this, I will mention the state of our own capital. Be sure that at Vienna, as at Paris, Berlin, London, as in the whole of Germany, Italy, and Russia, as well as America, our triumphs are rated as so many crimes, our conceptions as so many errors, and our views as criminal follies." It never seemed to occur to the Prince that such a widespread — indeed, according to his own admission, almost universal — public opinion might after all take a truer view of absolutist rule and forcible repression than those who, like himself, were engaged in maintain- ing the one by means of the other. CHAPTER II. Revolution of 1820 in Naples — King Ferdinand I. grants a Constitution, and takes his oath to it — Opening of the Neapolitan Parliament in October, 1820 — Dissatisfaction of the Sicilians — Dislike of the Neapolitans to a separate Parliament for Sicily — Divisions in the Island — The Neapolitan Parliament refuses to agree to the wishes of the Sicilians — Austria protests against any changes affecting the Treaties of Vienna — King Ferdinand goes to the Conference of the allied Sovereigns at Laybach — His promises previous to his departure — Austrian troops march into the Neapolitan kingdom and overtkrow the Constitution — Ferdinand returns to Naples, rules despotically, and punishes all who were favourable to free institutions — Revolution in Piedmont, in March, 1821 — Abdication of Victor Emmanuel I. — He appoints Prince Charles Albert regent — He promises a Constitution — Charles Felix repudiates this act, and calls on Prince Charles Albert to submit to him — The prince obeys the King — The Austrians enter Piedmont — Charles Felix comes to Tuiin — Overthi-ow of liberty and triumph of Absolutism. It was early in tlie year 1820 that the news reached Italy of a revolntion in Spain which obliged the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII., to swear to the constitn.tion promulgated by the Cortes in 1812. This act received the approbation of Ferdinand I. of Naples in his capacity of " Infant of Spain." Thus both the Spanish and the Neapolitan branch of the Bourbons became pledged to constitutional rule. The desire for that form of govern- ment spread quickly through the Neapolitan kingdom. The army joined in the movement, and under the leadership of General Guglielmo Pepe, united in the demand for a constitution such as had been granted in Spain. The Ministers Medici, Tommasi, and Circello, FERDINAND SWEARS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 21 urged the king to yield. On tlie Gth July, 1820, he published an edict, in which he declared " that the general wish of the nation having been manifested in favour of a constitutional government, he with the utmost willingness gave his consent, and promised to publish the basis on which it should be founded within eight days." A new ministry was appointed, and the King promised the same constitution as that given to Spain in 1812. Greneral Pepe was placed in command of the army. He was received by the king, who said to him — " General, you have rendered a great service to me and to the nation, and there- fore I doubly thank you and yours. Use the supreme command of the army in carrying out this work of holy peace which will do honour to the Neapolitans. I would have granted a constitution before, if the utility of it, or the general desire for it, had been manifested. I thank God, who has permitted me in my old age to do a great good to my kingdom." Some days after- wards, on the 13tli July, King Ferdinand of Naples, having heard mass in the royal chapel, approached the altar, and in presence of the assembled Ministers, courtiers, and others, took the oath to the constitution ; then fixing his eyes on the cross, he added of his own accord — " Omnipotent God, who with infinite penetration lookest into the heart and into the future, if I lie, or if one day I should be faithless to my oath, do Thou at this instant annihilate me." He then kissed the Gospel. His sons took the oath also, and they embraced one another with tears. 22 ITALY. What had taken place in the roj3X chapel was quickly known throughout Naples and caused the utmost joy. On the 1st October the Parliament was opened in person by the king, who was accompanied by the royal princes. The whole of Naples came out to greet him. His every look and gesture expressed his pleasure. Amidst a tumult of applause he ascended the throne, and with hand out- stretched on the Gospel, took once again the oath to the constitution. In reply to an address from the President of the Parliament, the king handed to his son a paper, which the latter read in his father's name. It expressed confidence in the Parliament, and thanked God, who had in his old age surrounded him by the hest and most enlightened of his dearly loved subjects. The king finally declared the Parliament opened, and returned to his palace amidst the welcome of assembled thousands. Pestivities and illuminations closed the eventful day. Unhappily matters took a very different turn in Sicily, partly from the desire of the Sicilians for a par- liament of their own, with a more liberal constitution than that given to Naples, and partly from the dislike of the Neapolitans to allow the islanders a separate legisla- ture. Nor were the Sicilians themselves at one, for Messina was opposed to Palermo ; and while some of the towns of the island went with the first of these two cities, others sided with the second. Unfortunately, a certain General Naselli had shortly before been named governor of Sicily. He had no love for constitutional liberty, and played one party against another, until at length bloodshed had set not only Neapolitan against Sicilian, SICILY AND NAPLES. 23 but Palermo against Messina and other places, so that confusion and strife pervaded the whole island. General Florestano Pepe was sent with a Neapolitan force to reduce Palermo to obedience ; but he was obliged finally to come to terms with the city. While the troops were permitted to enter it, the representatives of Sicily were to be allowed on their side to decide the question of the legislative independence of the island. The govern- ment of Palermo was entrusted to its citizens, presided over by the Prince of Paterno, who had gained the confidence of the Palermitans, while the commander of the Neapolitan troops was also to have a voice in the government thus constituted. But when the negotia- tions were referred to the consideration of the Neapoli- tan parliament, that body unwisely refused to agree to these terms. In the meanwhile Austria was protesting against everything not strictly in accordance with the treaties of 1815. She strengthened her forces in Italy, and, with the other Powers of Europe assembled in con- ference at Laybach, invited King Ferdinand to come in person and take part in their negotiations. The Neapolitan sovereign assented, but before leaving his kingdom he sent a special message to his parliament, in which he said : — " I have resolved to accept at once the invitation to save the nation from the scourge of war. Far from me and from you be the thought that this adhesion can make me forget the good of my people. As I am leaving you, it is worthy of me to give you a new and 24 ITALY. solemn guarantee. Therefore, I declare to you and to the nation, that I will do all I can in order that my people may remain in possession of a wise and free con- stitution. Whatever may be the provisions which the actual condition of our country may lead me to adopt, I will do my utmost to secure the following basis : a fundamental law for the security of personal liberty ; no regard to be paid to privilege of birtli in the matter of State rights ; no taxes to be imposed without the consent of the nation legitimately represented, to which an account of the public expenditure must be given ; the laws must be made with the consent of the nation's representatives; the judges must be independ- ent ; the press must be free except in cases forbidden bylaw; Ministers must be responsible. Besides, I de- clare that I will never allow any of my subjects to be molested on account of any political matter which has happened. I desire that a deputation of four members should accompany me and be witnesses both of the perils to be encountered and of the efforts made to over- come them." As these words did not seem to promise quite as much as the constitution, similar to that recently granted in Spain, had conferred, the popular feeling began to run high in favour of what was then called the Spanish Constitution, to which the people loudly called upon their king to adhere. He therefore issued a second message, declaring " he had never thouo-ht of violatino^ the constitution to which he had sworn." He further promised that, if necessary, he would return to Naples to defend it by force of arms. CONDUCT OF AUSTRIA AND OF FERDINAND. 25 On leaving Naples the king appointed his eldest son as regent, to whom he said : — " I do not know the inten- tions of the assembled sovereigns, hut I know my own, which I reveal to you that you may consider them as royal commands, and as paternal precepts. I will defend in the Congress what took place last July (1820). I will firmly express my desire to apply the Spanish Constitution to my kingdom, and I will demand peace." These words became quickly known to the public, and on the 24th December, 1820, the king left for the Congress amidst the joy and confidence of his people. The monarchs, assembled at Laybach in January, 1821, totally disapproved of all that had taken place during the last seven or eight months in the kingdom of Naples. To them what had occurred was mere rebel- lion and disorder which had imposed upon Ferdinand I. that hateful thing — a constitution. If his Neapolitan majesty could not rid his dominions of such an incubus, Austria, Russia, and Prussia would do so for him. The armies of the first-named of these powers were ready to march, and the Cossacks of the second were pre- pared, if necessary, to support the movement. King Ferdinand's mode of maintaining his people's rights, and, if necessary, returning to defend them by force of arms, resolved itself into writing to his son, the regent, making known the will of the allied sovereigns ; after which the Austrian armies marched into the Neapolitan State. They defeated with ease General Pepe and the other patriot commanders who had only a compara- 26 ITALY. tively small number of soldiers, united to raw and ill-armed levies of various kinds, quite unalDle to cope with tlie seasoned troops of one of the great European powers. The Austrians took possession of Naples on 23rd March, 1821. On the 15th of the following May Ferdinand returned to his capital. He re-established despotism, then condemned all who had taken part in the movement which led to the establishment of that constitution to which he had more than once solemnly sworn, and which he had promised to defend. The greater part of the army was disbanded, its leaders were condemned to be executed, declared public enemies, and were obliged to fly in order to escape from punishment. Exile, death, and imprisonment, were the rewards meted out to those who had been instrumental in win- ning for their country constitutional liberties now over- thrown by the armies of Austria and the perjury of King Ferdinand. During the years 1821 and 1822, says the historian La Farina, " eight hundred citizens were, for the cause of liberty, condemned to death ; more than double that number were sent to prison or the galleys. Those driven into exile or obliged to fly, were so numerous that it is impossible to give their numbers ; and nearly all bore their unmerited misfortunes with admirable couragre and fortitude." It was on the 10th March, 1821, that the Pied- montese revolution broke out in Alessandria, where the cry of King and Constitution was coupled with hostility to Austria — a cry which found a speedy echo in Genoa REVOLUTION IN PIED2I0NT. 27 and Turin. King Victor Emmanuel I. came in liasto from his country-seat of Moncalieri to his capital, where, with his queen and Prince Charles Albert of Savoy- Carignan, he assembled his Ministers and other persons of authorit}^ A proclamation was issued assuring the constitutionalists and the troops who had joined them that Austria had made no hostile demands, and that the great Powers only desired to secure the independence and integrity of Piedmont. All who had taken part in the movement were requested to return to their former position, and were assured that no ill consequences would follow from what they had done. Nothing was said about granting a constitution, or about Charles Albert, Prince of Savoy-Carignan, being in favour of such a measure. The demand, however, for a constitution continued, and the attempt to stifle that demand failed. The Minister of the King of Piedmont arrived in the meanwhile from the Congress at Laybach with a de- claration from the members of the Holy Alliance, who were the sovereigns of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, that they would not allow any fresh liberty in Italy, and that they would, moreover, aid Austria in preventing any such change. Upon this. King Victor Emmanuel I. had another proclamation drawn up, in which, after addressing his people in affectionate terras, he announced the determination of the great powers, his allies, to prevent constitutional rights being granted to the Piedmontese. This proclamation was not, however, made public. The tricoloured flag was now Hying from the citadel 28 ITALY. of" Turin, and was hailed with satisfaction by the inhabi- tants. The Prince of Savoy-Carignan, upon presenting himself in the king's name before the fortress, received this reply to his question of what was wanted — " Our hearts are faithful to the king, but we wish to deliver him from perfidious counsels. War against Austria ; a constitution like that granted in Spain — such are the wishes of the people." The prince returned to the palace. The king called together the chiefs of the army, and asked if they could count on the obedience of their soldiers. One or two replied that they could, but the others answered, " They will shed their blood in defence of your majesty, but we cannot answer for their doing more than that." The Minister of Police told the king that the provinces were favourable to those who were demanding a constitution. At length Victor Em- manuel I., unwilling to concede anything, and yet more unwilling to make promises with no prospect of being able to keep his word, determined to abdicate in favour of his brother Charles Felix who was then at Modena. The king therefore did so, and retired to Nice after conferring the regency for the time being on Charles Albert, Prince of Savoy-Carignan. The abdication of the king was a great grief to the members of the con- stitutional party, v/hich had sincerely hoped to carry the king with them. Count Santa E,osa, one of its princi- pal leaders, especially lamented his sovereign's decision. ^'Oh, night of the 13th March, 1821!" he cried— " night fatal to my country, which disheartened us all ; which broke so many swords raised for the cause of FRINGE CEABLES ALBERT REGENT. 29 liberty, and dispersed like a dream so maDy cherished hopes ! The country did not indeed fall with the king, but that country was for us personified in the king, in Victor Emmanuel, and the youthful promoters of that military revolution exclaimed more than once, ' Perhaps, some day he will pardon us for making him king of six millions of Italians.' " Those, indeed, who were op- posed to liberal institutions, rejoiced at the abdica- tion of the sovereign, for his brother Charles Felix was well known as being devoted to despotism, and favour- able to Austria and her policy. In the meanwhile Prince Charles Albert assumed the regency in the absence of Charles Felix, who was now the sovereign of Piedmont. The Ministers of the late king counselled the regent to proclaim at once a consti- tution similar to that given in Spain. He at first hesi- tated, but finally did so. The proclamation he issued ran as follows — " In this most difficult moment it is not possible merely to consider what is usually within the faculty of a regent to perform. Our respect and sub- mission to his Majesty Charles Felix, upon whom the throne has devolved, would have counselled us to ab- stain from making any change in the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and would have led us to wait, so that we might know the intentions of the new king. But the imperious necessity of the circumstances being clearly manifest, and it especially behoving us to hand over to his majesty his people in safety and happi- ness, and not torn in pieces by factions and civil war, we have determined, having well considered all the cir- 30 ITALY. cumstances, and acting in harmony with our council, in hope that the king, moved by the same considerations, will invest this our determination with his sovereign approval — we have determined that the constitution of Spain he promulgated and observed as the law of the State, with such modifications as shall, by the national representation in concert with his majesty the king, be determined." A new ministry was formed, and a provisional council established until such time as a Parliament could be chosen. All the members of the cabinet and the council were men of position and honour. The regent hastened to inform King Charles Felix of what had been done, to which the latter replied by repudiating all changes in the form of government which had existed previous to his brother's abdication. He further denounced the proclamation of a constitution, and declared that his august allies would quickly give him aid. The king at the same time wrote and ordered Charles Albert to come at once to Novara with what troops he could collect, adding — " I shall see by the promptitude of your obedience whether you are still a Prince of the House of Savoy, or whether you have ceased to be one of them." The regent was thus placed in a cruel dilemma, for to obey was to desert the con- stitutional party to which Prince Charles Albert belonged, while to disobey was to run the risk of seeing his right to the succession taken away and given to the Duchess of Modena, the daughter of Victor Emmanuel I., and wife of the Duke of Modena. If, by CHARLES ALBERT SUBMITS TO THE KING. 31 the abolition of the Salic law, that were done, the crown of Piedmont would have passed to the Duke and Duchess of Modena, who were devoted to the policy of Austria, and abhorred constitutional government. Nor could this have been carried out without exposing the country to all the miseries of a disputed succession. Dangers and difficulties surrounded the unfortunate prince regent on all sides, while hesitation marked naturally every step taken by him and his councillors just at the time when quick and bold action was im- peratively necessary. Finally Charles Albert obeyed the king, and left Turin for Novara, accomj^anied by a few troops. He declared that he had accepted the office of regent in obedience to the wishes of Victor Emmanuel I., and now his duty was to yield obedience to King Charles Felix. After this the defeat of Count Santa Rosa and the constitutional party was certain ; in fact, they could not offer any effectual re- sistance to Charles Felix and those of their country- men favourable to absolutist principles, supported as they were by the whole force of Austria. The Pied- montese general Delia Torre, and the Austrian general Bubna, marched together from Novara to Yercelli, the former proceeding to Turin, and the latter occupying Casale, Tortona, Bobbio, and Alessandria. The pro- visional government which had been formed at Genoa, seeing the constitutional cause hopelessly defeated, surrendered to the royal authority, and thus was established throughout the country the rule of King Charles Felix, From Modena, where he 32 ITALY. still remained, he gave full powers to the Cavaliere Thaon Eevel of Pratolongo, to punish all concerned in the late movements. Numbers were condemned to death or imprisonment, to the confiscation of their property and the loss of their rank ; while still more numerous were those who went into exile for fear of punishment, or from a desire to escape from their country now curbed beneath an inexorable tyranny duly supported by Austrian armies. In October, 1821, Charles Felix came to Turin, where he issued a general pardon, having however during the preceding five months empowered his Government to punish all who had striven to overthrow absolutism in Piedmont. When Prince Charles Albert presented himself at Modena he was at once ordered by the king, who refused him a personal audience, to leave immediately for Florence, there to live in honourable exile under the protection of his brother-in-law the Grand Duke. Charles Felix desired to abrogate the Salic law, and to exclude Charles Albert from the throne of Piedmont in favour of the Duke and Duchess of Modena. The Duke was a mere satellite of Austria, devoted alike to priestly and military despotism. This scheme, however, was opposed by Louis XVIII. of France, and by the Emperor of Pussia, neither of whom wished to see the House of Hapsburg supreme throughout Italy. Austria is said at first to have favoured the idea of excluding Prince Charles Albert from the throne, but certainly she opposed it later on. When, in 1825, the prince came to Genoa and made a com^Dlete submission to King GOVERNMENT OF CHARLES FELIX. 33 Charles Felix and the Emperor Francis, the latter dissuaded the Piedmontese sovereign from taking any step for the exclusion of Charles Albert from the throne, to which he was the legitimate successor after the death of Charles Felix who had no children. This latter monarch allowed his country to be governed upon purely despotic principles both in Church and State. He had ever been devoted to them, and had never made the slightest concession to the opposing principles of liberalism. But he did not belong to that despicable class of tyrants who promise everything when they wish to conciliate or delude their subjects, and then break every promise, however solemn, when foreign armies enable them to impose upon their country a hateful yoke by such hateful means. To the Congress of Lay bach succeeded that of Verona in 1822, when stipulations were made as to the time and manner of the withdrawal of Austrian troops from Pied- mont and Naples. Charles Felix was desirous of freeing his country from their presence when once the Liberal party had been put down; but Ferdinand of Naples was much less anxious to do so. He cared nothing for the shame of reigning by such means, if only he could freely persecute, without danger to himself, all who had remained faithful to those constitutional principles to which he himself had been false. The Congress at length terminated its labours. The monarchs of Austria, Eussia, and Prussia determined that they would unite in combating what they called revolutionary principles in whatever place and under whatever form D 34 ITALY. tliey dared to show themselves. In the meanwhile, France, under the Legitimist rule of Louis XVIII., marched her armies into Spain to put an end to con- stitutional freedom in that country. England signified her dislike of these A^arious interventions, but took no further steps in the matter. CHAPTER Til. The rule of Austria in the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom — Her influence in the other Italian States — Condition of Tuscany — Death of Ferdinand I. of Naples — He is succeeded by his son Francis I. — Naples under his rule — His conflict with the Bey of Tripoli— Death of Francis — Piedmont under Charles Felix— His defeat of the Bey of Tripoli — Death of Charles Felix, who is succeeded by his cousin, Charles Albert, in 1830 — The state of Italy as described by M. de Chateaubriand and Prince Mettcrmch, The Austrian authorities in Milan set assiduously to work to find out all who had been concerned in aiding the constitutional movement. Soon the prisons were full of those suspected of being implicated in it. Many and illustrious were the victims of this period, but no one of them perhaps is better known than Silvio Pellico, whose touching book, " Le Mie Prigioni " (" My Prisons "), disclosed to the world all that he and others suffered for their country's cause. Austria was not contented with punishing her own subjects in the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom ; she also fully supported the other governments of the Penin- sula in their repressive policy. During the short remainder of the life of Pope Pius VIL, who died in August, 1823, at the age of eighty-one, some bounds, at any rate, were set to such a policy; but under his successor, Leo XII., it was carried out to the full. This Avas especially the case in the Eomagna, where the severity of Cardinal Pivarola created an intense hatred D 2 36 ITALY. both of himself and of that papal temporal government of which he was the chief in the unhappy province bowed beneath his sway. Nor were matters at all improved during the brief pontificate of Pope Pius YIII. The Duchess of Parma followed the like evil counsels, while Francis, Duke of Modena, surpassed his brother princelings in the cruelty and severity of his measures. Austria was, in fact, all-powerful in Italy, where most of the rulers were little more than lieutenants of the Austrian Emperor. His armies alone had saved the despotism of Naples and Piedmont, and were prepared to maintain the like despotic rule in every part of the Peninsula. The Italians were being taught that Austrian supremacy was incompatible with the liberty of their country — that the first step towards the latter must be the overthrow of the former, Nor was the lesson impressed upon the Italians by any one more clearly than by Austria herself. Tuscany, however, formed an exception to the general condition of Italy, The mild government of the Grrand Duke Ferdinand, who died in 1824, and of his successor, Leopold II., gave general contentment ; so that there the Carbonari and other sects were few in number, and had but little following. Foreign papers, severely repressed in other Italian States, entered Tuscany with- out hindrance. Great freedom of speech was allowed both in discussions and in the press. The Grand Duke's Minister, Fossombroni, was a cool and enlightened man, whose great object was the development of the material welfare of Tuscany, and the preservation of her mild TUSCANY— DEATH OF FERDINAND I. OF NAPLES. 37 government from the severe absolutism of Austria and Rome. He had, however, no liking for consti- tutional principles, and looked with coldness, not unmixed with disdain, upon all who favoured them. Fossombroni opposed such views, not by vexatious or harsh measures — still less by imprisonment or exile — but by good-natured ridicule and political scepticism. In the meanwhile, Tuscany was prosperous and contented in the enjoyment of a rule which the rest of Italy had cause to envy. Unlike the other States of the Peninsula, the Grand Duchy was little affected either by the revolutions of Naples and Piedmont, or by the reactionary policy which prevailed after their sup- pression. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was delivered by death from its sovereign, Perdinand I., who was found dead in his bed on 4th January, 1824. The following account of the matter is given by the historian, Griuseppe La Farina : — " In the morning his attendants, not being sum- moned at the usual hour, consulted with the physicians, who, according to the custom of the Court, were in attendance when the king got ujd. They waited for two hours more, and at length entered [the room], when they found the bedclothes all in disorder, and strangely wrapped up in them was the body of the king, as if he had been engaged in a long struggle. The head was hid, covered up beneath the pillow; when uncovered, they saw the face black and livid, the eyes staring and hideous, the white hairs all in disorder, the mouth wide 38 ITALY. open, as if calling for help, so that it was horrible to look upon." Thus died Ferdinand I. of Naples. He was suc- ceeded by his son, Francis I., one of whose first acts was to visit the Austrian Emperor at Milan, where it was arranged that his Imperial Majesty's troops should remain in the Neapolitan kingdom a year longer than was originally stij)ulated. They were indeed to be reduced in number, but Francis added another regiment of hired Swiss to those already in his pay. Under his rule corruption of the grossest kind pervaded the Court and Grovernment. The king knew it, and laughed at it. He is reported to have said to his chamberlain, Michelangelo Viglia, who though very ignorant was naturally astute and was specially devoted to corrupt practices, " Drive a thriving trade {/ate huoni affari), and be quick about it, for I shall not live long." Yet at this very time starving creatures were being condemned to the galleys for taking a fowl or stealing a piece of bread. Such was the fate of the wretchedly poor driven by misery into theft, while courtly plunderers basked in the sunshine of royal favour. What wonder that under such a system the masses looked upon law, government, and all connected with them, as the natural enemies of the people ? Nor was corruption the only vice of this degraded Court and its rulers. In the meanwhile the severest measures were taken against those who disapproved of the government of his majesty Francis I., or who showed any leanings towards constitutional liberty, an institution A RISING IN THE NEAPOLITAN DOMINIONS. 39 ever held in detestation by rulers such as the Neapolitan sovereign. In 1828 arrived the news of the battle of Navarino, wliich happily brou£>-lit about the liberation of some of the Grreeks from Turkish misrule, though unfortunate!}' only so small a territory was given to them as to make it impossible to form a really prosperous country. This was pointed out at the time by one of the most sagacious of modern statesmen — Prince Leopold, afterwards King of the Belgians, who refused the crown of Greece for the reason just mentioned. Yet even so slight a gain to the cause of freedom aroused the feeling for liberty which filled the hearts of man}'' who were subject to the yoke of the Neapolitan Bourbon. On the 28th June, 1828, a small rising occurred at a place called Cilento. The little fort of Palinuro was occupied, the tricoloured flag was hoisted, and the French Constitution was proclaimed. The movement, however, was not followed up, for the people knew well that even if the Neapolitan authorities were compelled, as before, to yield, they had behind them the armies of Austria ready to maintain — and, if necessary, to reinstate — the Bourbon Grovernment. But the oppor- tunity was too good a one to be let slip by the latter. Accordingly, Greneral Delcarretto was sent with 6,000 men against the insurgents ; not, indeed, that such a force, nor anything like it, was required; but then it served the purpose of appearing to put down a for- midable revolution, and so gave an excuse for cruel severity. Twenty persons were shot without any form 40 ITALY. of trial. Eight only, out of thirty-four condemned to death after some slight investigation, had the death- sentence commuted. The other twenty-six were executed, and their heads were displayed, by order of General Delcarretto, in the villages where they had lived, and in front of the houses inhabited by their wives, mothers, children, or other relations. Among these ghastly trojDhies were the heads of the Canon Antonio di Luca, the priest Giovanni di Luca, and of Father Carlo da Celle, of the Capucin convent of Cammorata. As to the commune of Bosco, it was literally destroyed, a royal decree appearing which said : — " The commune of Bosco is suppressed. Its name shall be struck out of the communes of the kinjjdom. Neither its inhabitants nor any other persons shall be allowed ever to reconstruct its dwellings, neither on their former site nor elsewhere within its ancient territory {ue in quel sito dove esisteva, ne in altro delV antico stio tenitnento)." Its \^Tetched inhabitants, or those who were left of them, with their women and little ones, had to find new homes for themselves as best they could. It is needless to add that all those connected with the rising were remorselessly pursued, and, if caught, remorselessly punished. General Delcarretto himself, on his return from this glorious campaign, was rewarded with the title of marquis, with the decorations of a knightly order, and with a pension. The condition of Sicily may be gathered from the fact that it was handed over to the rule of a certain Pietro Ugo, Marchese delle Favare, whose public NAPLES AND TRIVOLl. 41 tyranny and private vices would have served Manzoni as a fitting- model from which the illustrious author of the "Promessi Sposi " might have drawn the odious and despicable character of Don Rodrigo as portrayed in that most beautiful and touching of stories. During the reign of Francis I., the Bey of Tripoli and his corsairs took to pillaging and attacking ships carrying the Neapolitan flag. In consequence, three frigates, and two or three smaller vessels, were sent against Tripoli — a force fully sufficient to punish the piracies of this Turkish Pasha. But Carafa, to whom the King's Government had committed the command of the fleet, after a day or two's ineffectual fire, returned to Naples without inflicting any damage on the enem}'-, who naturally became more insolent and piratical than before. Carafa was put on his trial, but was set at liberty by the king at the suggestion of his advisers, who had good reason to dread that the investigation would bring to light the malversation and robbery going on in high quarters. In the end, a disgraceful peace was made with the Bey, to whom a large sum of money was given. It was about this time that Francis married his then young and pleasing daughter, Maria Christina, to King Ferdinand VII. of Spain, and accompanied his daughter to Madrid. This visit was marked by a characteristic incident. His Neapolitan Majesty ordered his chamberlain, Michelangelo Viglia, to purchase a number of jewels as presents for the Spanish king and Court on the auspicious occasion. The chamberlain 42 ITALY. executed liis master's orders, but the jewels, unfortu- nately for tlieir recipients, if not for their donors, turned out to be false. After the king's return from Madrid, his health rapidly declined. His bodily sufterings, his terrors, and his remorse increased together. Then came the French revolution of 1830, which only added to his fears and miseries. Delirious and desperate, he exclaimed in his last moments, " What are those cries? What are those cries ? Do the people demand a constitution ? Grive it to them ! Give it to them ! " But there were no shouting crowds in the streets nor unseemly noise in the palace, its quiet was only broken by the cries of terror and remorse proceeding from the dying lips of a conscience-stricken sinner. Charles Felix, the King of Piedmont, though dis- liking liberal principles, and willing to put them down, was far from wishing to see his country ill -governed and his Ministers corrupt. He did not, however, take much interest in the affairs of State. He preferred the gaieties of his Court to its official ceremonies, and passed much of his time in the country whose pleasures and pursuits he greatly enjoyed. Unlike most of the princes of his house, he had no love of military matters, and little personal liking for priestly influence ; yet officers and priests were favoured by his Govern- ment. His Ministers were, like himself, quite op- posed to free institutions, but not to integrity and justice. Rouget di Cholex, the Minister of the Interior, was PIEDMONT AND TRIPOLI. 43 an upright and intelligent man. He and his colleagues carried out various useful reforms, some of which were by no means to the taste of the nobility who clung to feudal rights and privileges which the Ministers wisely determined to reform or abolish. While thus ameliora- ting the condition of Piedmont itself, the Government of Charles Felix did much for the island of Sardinia by introducing new laws in the place of old customs and rights, which, however useful in their own day, were little adapted to the needs of the present century. Though the measures directed against those who had taken part in the promotion of constitutional govern- ment were severe, they were after a time relaxed. Political liberty, indeed, did not exist, but general quiet and security reigned throughout the country. Though the king had no love for military matters, he was not one to allow his country's rights to be at- tacked. It seemed good to the Bey of Tripoli to break the stipulations entered into with Piedmont in 1810, and the pirates of Tripoli began to pillage and plunder vessels carrying the Piedmontese flag. The Grovern- ment at once ordered two frigates and two corvettes to Tripoli to demand reparation. Negotiations proved vain, upon which one of the smaller vessels, under the command of Lieut. Mameli, entered the harbour at night, and, despite the fire of the enemy's forts and ships, burnt two of their smaller vessels of war. The next day Captain Sivori, who commanded the Pied- montese squadron, prepared for a general attack, but the Bey, frightened by the loss already inflicted on him, 44 ITALY. sued for peace through the English Consul, and gave full satisfaction to the Government of Piedmont. Nor did the king fail to receive with honour Prince Charles Albert upon his return from Spain, where he had been sent to fight on the side of the French, and where his courage and soldierly qualities excited the admiration of the veteran soldiers of France. But the Piedmontese people received him coldly, for the war in which the Prince had been ordered to take part was waged against the constitutional rights and liberties of the Spaniards. Sad at heart, he withdrew himself alike from the Court and the public, and took refuge in the solitudes of his country house of Eacconiggi. When the news reached Turin that Charles X. had violated the constitution of France, or her charta as it was called, the more reactionary of the Piedmontese clergy and nobility wrote to congratulate the Prince de Polignac upon his policy, which also found favour with Prince Metternich ; but the letter, unfortunately for the writers, reached Paris after the flight of Charles X. and his Ministers, and was duly published by their succes- sors. What effect the French revolution of 1830 had, or might have had, on Charles Felix, it is impossible to say, for the king had fallen ill. In the meanwhile, a petition had been addressed to him by men of high standing in the country and the army, asking for various political reforms. They openly declared their liking for Prince Charles Albert, who was known to dislike Austria, and who it was hoped still retained, despite all his inconsistencies, a leaning to constitu- STATE OF ITALY IN 1829— 183U. 45 tional principles. For these proceedings, several leading men were imprisoned and put upon their trial ; but just at this time Charles Felix died, Charles Albert became king, and the prisoners were released. If in the year 1829 Italy, as asserted by M. de Chateaubriand, the French Minister at Rome, himself a Roman Catholic and a Legitimist, was under the sway of governments, every one of which, Tuscany excepted, was harsh and despotic, while several of them were deplorably bad, it is no wonder that in the follow- ing year Prince Metternich declared Italy to be " of all European lands, the one which had the greatest tendency to revolution." Such, then, was the condition of the Peninsula when the Paris revolution of July, 1830, sent a shock of mingled hope and fear through every country in Europe. CHAPTEE IV. Tlic Cartonari, the Reformers, the Sanfedesti- — Francis IV., Duke of Modcna — Modenese Eevohition, 1830 — Death of Pope Pius VIII. — Election of Gregory XVI. — Revolution in Bologna, 1831 — Austria intervenes, puts down the movement in the Papal States, and restores the Duke of Modena and the Duchess of Panna — Execution of Giro Menotti, Vincenzo BoroUi, and the Cavaliere Ricci — The Austrians in Bologna, and the French in Ancona — The Sanfedesti — Joseph Mazziiii, and " Young Italy," 1831 — Rapid growth of Young Italy — Joseph Garibaldi enrolled among its members — Young Camillo Cavour punished for giving utterance to Liberal views in 1831. There were in Italy at this time (1829-1830) two parties, both of which disliked the ruling governments. The one was that of the Carbonari, who desired to effect a complete revolution. Bound together in secret association, they often had to obey the com- mand of unknown chiefs, and used at times, with- out scruple, the most desperate and even criminal means to gain their ends. Traitors to their cause not unfrequentl}^ joined their ranks, advocated the most extreme and violent measures, and then denounced those with whom they had been acting. There was also the party which called itself Liberal. The great desire of its members was to free Italy from the oppressive and overpowering influence of Austria, at that time the mainstay of the tyrannical governments of the Peninsula. Enlio-htened men of all shades of Liberalism desired to transform this absolutist rule into a constitutional IBANGIS ir., DUKE OF MOBENA. 47 system of some kind. Against all such changes Austria set her face. Her despotic principles were dear to the hearts of a sect called the Sanfedesti, or partisans of the holy faith. They were by no means scrupulous as to the means they used to advance their cause, and were equally averse to republicanism and to constitutional monarchy. Some of the partisans of this sect favoured the predominance of Austria, but others would have preferred the temporal supremacy of the Papacy through- out the Peninsula. As a matter of fact, this latter idea was impracticable, except by the aid of Austrian or other foreign troops. No one in Italy was at this time a more unscru- pulous intriguer than Francis IV., Duke of Modena. He had at an earlier period done all he could to secure for himself and his wife the crown of Piedmont, as the successor to Charles Felix, thereby excluding Charles Albert from the throne, who was the chief of the younger branch of the House of Savoy, which properly became the reigning branch upon the death of Charles Felix. The Duke was not without influential sup- porters in seeking to carry out his policy. But it was opposed by France and Eussia, and finally abandoned by Charles Felix. The Duke next turned for aid to the Liberals whom he had persecuted. With them he concocted a plan by which Lombardy, Parma, Piacenza, and Ferrara were to be added to his dukedom of Modena, to which new State he promised to give a constitution, and so prepare the way for Italian unit3\ This plan was adhered to by Ciro Menotti, one 48 ITALY. of tlie most influential of the Modenese Liberals, and by others of the party. That they should have trusted such a man as Francis IV. of Modena seems strange, and gives a poor idea of their judgment. The Grovern- ment of Louis Philippe, by this time installed in Paris, knew of what was going on, and the Austrian Govern- ment had reason to suspect it. The duke received sharp rebukes and warnings from Vienna. He then became frightened, fearing alike the power of Austria and the vengeance of those with whom he was conspiring if he betrayed them. Finally he drew np with Giro Menotti, who was in close relations with him, an agreement by which each was pledged to secure to the best of his ability the safety of the other. So matters stood on the 3rd February, 1831 . That evening Menotti and fifteen of his friends Avere assembled in his house to arrange for the outbreak of a revolution which was to place Francis IV. at the head of a new constitutional State in the north of Italy. Suddenly the house was surrounded by a battalion of infantry, commanded by the duke himself, who ordered Menotti and his friends to surrender. After some resistance he was wounded and captured, and his companions taken or dispersed. The duke prepared to take the severest measures against those whom he had thus traitorously seized. But towards the evening of the next day came the news of the successful rising in Bo- logna. Various other towns followed the example, while in Modena itself great sympathy was expressed for Menotti. The general excitement increased. Finally the duke fled caiTying oflt" with him the unfortunate Menotti, INSUiniEGTION IN BOLOGNA. tli who was imprisoned in the fortress of Mantua under the safe keeping of the Austrians. Then a provisional govern- ment was formed in Modena, whose members released the other political prisoners, and declared the duchy a free State. While these events were taking place in Modena, an unsuccessful attempt at revolution was made in Rome itself at the time when the conclave was sitting to elect a successor to Pius VIII., who died in November, 1830. Napoleon and Louis Bonaparte, both of whom were sons of Louis, King of Holland, and the latter of whom became Napoleon III., took an active part in the movement, which was, however, suppressed. The conclave at once completed the pontifical election, and Gregory XVI. mounted the papal throne. He made Cardinal Bernetti his Secretary of State. At Bologna a much more important rising against the Papal government occurred in February, 1831. On the 4th of that month Monsignor Clarelli, the pro- legate, was invited to place the government of the town and province in the hands of elected representatives. Either fear, or the advice of leading men in Bologna, led him to sign a decree which created a provisional commission and instituted a civic guard. The soldiers of the Pontifical army either joined in effecting this change, or offered no opposition to it. The next day the commission assumed the name of a provisional government. Its president was a well-known barrister, Giovanni Vicini, and the other members were the Marquis Bevilacqua, Count Pepoli, Count Agucci, Count Bianchetti, Professor Orioli,'.Signor Silvani, and Signor E 50 ITALY. Zanolini. The Pontifical arms were taken down, the tricoloured flag was hoisted, and the movement rapidly took possession, without violence or bloodshed, of the provinces of Romagna, Umbria, and the Marches. The citadel of Ancona surrendered at the first summoDS. Magistrates, officials, soldiers, and many of the parish clergy, adhered to this pacific revolution. The Bishop of Rimini bore public testimony to the peace and tran- quillity reigning in his diocese, as also did the Bishop of Cervia. The Pontifical soldiers in Ancona were allowed to retire, if they pleased, into the provinces of the Papal States, situated to the west of the Apennines, but they preferred quitting the service altogether, and left Suthermann, the commander of the citadel of Ancona, to betake himself, without followers, to Rome. The town of Rieti alone refused, at the instigation of Bishop Gabriello Eerretti, to join in the movement. The Italian tricolour waved over twenty cities of the Romagna, Umbria, and the Marches. Its bloodless victory spread hope and joy among a million and a half of Italians, who saw with delight the liberation of those among them who had been imprisoned for political offences. On the 8th February, 1831, the provisional government of Bologna, as the interpreter of the public wish manifested in every possible way, declared the Papal temporal power at an end. The people were at the same time called upon to assemble in their electoral colleges, to choose representatives who should form a legislative body. It was hoped that the new government would receive the protection of France, and, in order to BESTORATIOX OF THE DEPOSED RULERS BY AUSTRIA. 51 reassure King Louis Philippe, the proffered services of the two brothers, Napoleon and Louis Bonaparte, were refused. They were placed in safe keeping at Forli, where the eldest of them, Napoleon, who was in delicate health, died. The provisional government of the Ro- magnol Provinces, which sat at Bologna, expressed a hope " that the neighbouring powers would respect the sacred principle of non-intervention, and would recog- nise the justice of the cause which has moved us to undertake our regeneration." Austria, however, soon put an end to all such hopes. The Duchess of Parma, like the Duke of Modena, had fled from her capital. Both the one and the other hastened to find a refuge within the dominions of Austria. That power quickly proceeded to restore both of them to their respective principalities. In the month of March, Bologna also was occupied by the Austrians. While their forces were thus pressing forward in all directions, the pro- visional government of Ancona set Cardinal Benvenuti, the Pope's legate, at liberty, after an agreement with him that the Papal authority should be restored in that city, on condition of full pardon being granted to all those who had taken part in the recent movements, while permission was to be given to all who desired to leave the country to do so without molestation or hindrance. When, however, Ancona was again in the ]')ower of the Pontifical authorities and the Austrian forces, this agreement was at once set aside. Cardinal Benvenuti was recalled to Rome, the terms of capitula- tion and the amnesty were cancelled. The Cardinal E 2 52 ITALY. Secretary of State annulled all tlie acts of the provi- sional government of the provinces, which had thrown off the Papal temporal rule, promising at the same time to the people to inaugurate " a new era." The insurrections having been thus suppressed by Austrian intervention, the deposed authorities again resumed their sway. The Duchess of Parma contented herself with suspending for three years from all public functions those municipal authorities who had taken part in the provisional government. But Francis IV. of Modena was by no means satisfied with such mild measures. He had plotted with the Liberals when he wished to aggrandise himself, much to the displeasure of Austria, who suspected what was going on. He wished now to prove that he had given up all such designs and was faithful to absolutist principles. This the duke did not only by violent measures of repression of every kind, but also by condemning to death the unfortunate Giro Menotti with whom he had formerly been in league when the prince thought of adding to his dominions and posed as an Italian liberator. It was dangerous that such a man as Menotti should live, for it was in his power to reveal the plots in which his highness had taken part. Nor was Menotti the only victim. Vincenzo Borelli, a man of spotless life and of considerable learning, had spoken publicl}'-, after the duke's flight, in favour of releasing the political prisoners ; he had also signed the document which de- clared Modena to be a free State. For these acts he was condemned to death, and hung with Menotti. EXECUTIONS OF MENOTTI, BORELLT, AND IlICCT. 53 Nearly a thousand Modenese went into exile to escape from the duke, while more than five hundred languished in the prisons of Modena and Venice. The betra3'al of Menotti, his death, and that of Borelli, united to other measures of the severest kind, made Francis TV. so generally hated, that he lived in constant fear and suspicion of those around him. Arbitrary edicts were issued against all persons coming under suspicion. They were liable to be summarily arrested, tried, and condemned. Great was the indignation such measures aroused throughout Italy, yet greater were the opportu- nities they afforded to spies and informers for plying their hateful trade, and to unprincipled men for wreaking their vengeance on their personal enemies. In such a trap was caught the Cavaliere Giusepj)e Ricci, one of the duke's guard of honour, who had always been a faithful servant. He was, however, bitterly hated by the Minister Riccini, with whom he had had a personal quarrel. Two well-known criminals, Montanari and Tosi, were induced to accuse the Cavaliere Ricci of con- spiring to kill the duke, and further declared that they themselves were among the conspirators. Ricci, who suspected nothing, was thrown suddenly into prison, and tried before a military tribunal, who denied him the right of defending himself, and then condemned him and his two denunciators to death. Ricci was only thirt3^-six years of age, and was the father of seven childi'en. His wife, who was soon to give birth to another child, was plunged in overwhelming grief. The historian Giuseppe la Farina relates that the duke 54 ITALY. said to her, " I know the innocence of your husband, and, even if he were guilty, I know well that gratitude prevents me from punishing him." Yet, adds the historian, the duke had " already approved the fatal sentence." Eicci was shot on the 19th July, 1832, declaring to the last his complete innocence. As to the two criminals who had falsely accused him, their capital sentence was commuted into a condemnation to the galleys for life, and, after a certain time, they were liberated. Later on, the younger of them, seized by remorse, publicly confessed that he was induced, by bribes and promises of liberty, to bear false witness against the Cavaliere Eicci. Moreover, the director of police, Garofalo, after being removed from his office, wrote an account clearly proving the victim's innocence. None doubted the complicity of his highness Francis IV. in this hideous tragedy. Such was the man whom the unhappy Menotti had trusted, and such the ruler who had hoped to occupy the throne of Piedmont. The French Minister, Count Saint-Aulaire, pro- tested in March, 1831, against the intervention of the Austrians in the Eomagnol ])i'ovinces of the Papal States. Cardinal Bernetti, the Papal Secretary of State, had in his reply to make some very damaging admissions. He had to confess that in less than a month the provinces of Eomagna, Umbria, and the Marches, had thrown off the temporal rule of the Pope, that the Papal soldiers had " nearly all abandoned their flag to follow that of the rebellion," and that the capital itseK ran great peril. He further declared that the METTERNICH OX THE SUBJECT OF PAPAL RULE. 55 Pontiff had no other means of maintaining his power but that of foreign aid. It is curious to read in con- nection with such admissions the statement made by Prince Metternich as to the reason of the disturbed condition of the Pope's dominions. "Writing to Count Apponyi in Paris in May, 1832, the prince says — "The chief cause of discontent must be looked for in the aversion felt by the higher classes of the population in the Legations for the Papal rule." Again wTiting to Count Llitzow in Rome in June of the same year, the prince observes — " Among the numerous difficulties to which the countries under Papal rule give rise, there is no question that the most insuperable of all is con- nected with the fact that the Grovernment has no idea how to govern." The reforms introduced by the Papal authorities, at the reiterated request of the other powers (after those authorities were restored by the intervention of Austria) were few and insufficient. The representatives and supporters of the Papal temporal power, upon being reinstated in Bologna, the capital of the Eomagnol provinces, were publicly hooted in the streets, despite the presence of the Austrian troops. The government remained in the hands of Cardinal Albani, who was in close alliance with such men as the Duke of Modena and the Prince of Canosa. This latter, after being driven out of Naples, lived in no good repute jEirst at Pisa, and then at Grenoa ; unscrupulous, ambitious, and tyrannical, he offered his services to Francis IV. of Modena, after his restoration by the Austrians. The 56 ITALY. offer was willingly accepted, and he was finally made head of the police. The Government of King Louis Philippe, jealous of the military occupation of the Papal States by Austria alone, determined that France, too, should have a body of troops there. On the night of February 22, 1832, 1,800 French soldiers took possession of Ancona. The citadel capitulated without resistance, though furnished with 1,600 soldiers and thirty-six cannon. This pro- ceeding caused no little diplomatic controversy. It was, however, no matter of surprise to Cardinal Bernetti, the Papal Secretary of State, to whom the French Minister at Eome, Count Saint-Aulaire, had said — " We shall occupy some point of the Eoman State which suits us." The Cardinal knew full well that the French Govern- ment disliked all idea of revolution or war, and though protesting against the French occupation, he was not sorry to see France established as a counter-weight to the position and influence of Austria, who occupied Bologna. The Papal Government, on its own part, took into its pay two regiments of hired Swiss. By means of these mercenaries, united to the help of Austrian and French troops, the temporal power of the Pope main- tained itself, and managed to suppress the discontent which it naturally excited. The Papal authorities were further aided by the sect of the Sanfedesti, or supporters of the holy faith, who thus unwisely connected religion wdth a particular form of temporal government, leading the people thereby to suppose that belief in the spiritual teaching of their Church obliged them to support a ABSOLUTIST DOCTRINES. 57 temporal power which could only maintain itself by the odious means of a foreign soldiery. Such a state of things could not but damage the cause of religion, while it held up to public contempt the temporal power which existed only by such unpatriotic support. The San- fedesti held doctrines of the extreme absolutist type, and found a warm supporter in the Prince of Canosa. He loudly advocated the most tyrannical measures, invited the rulers to promote division among the people, dividing city from city, province from province, discouraging education, and declaring that men should be kept to their work without spoiling both heart and mind by teaching them to read and write. Such was the man who was the friend and councillor of the Modenese, Papal, and Neapolitan Governments, and was head of the police to his Highness of Modena. In a pamphlet entitled " Duties of Subjects towards their Sovereign," printed at Milan in 1834, by order of the Austrian Government, for the use of schools, the question is asked — ■" How should subjects behave towards their sovereign ? " The answer given is — "Subjects should behave like faithful slaves {servi) towards their master." And again — " Why should subjects behave like slaves {servi) ? " Answer — " Because the sovereign is their master, and has as much power over their possessions as over their lives." Such were the slavish doctrines beneath wdiose yoke the governments of Italy were holding down the people of Italy by the strong arm of foreign soldiers. They were the delight of men like Canosa and the 58 ITALY. Sanfedesti, The members of this sect had great inHuence with those who ruled in the duchy of Modena and in the Papal States. They gave advice to the courts of Naples and Turin ; they were devoted to the Austrian government in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom ; they began even to gain a footing in Tuscany. The French revolution of 1830 had stirred up many of the Tuscans to desire a constitution, while some of them wished to see the Grand Duke Leopold II. made a constitutional king of Central Italy; but the mass of the people looked coldly on such ideas, and remained contented with their tolerant government and material well-being. It was determined, however, to make a demonstration in the theatre of the Pergola. It proved a failure, and the Grand Duke, who was present at the representation given that evening, was well received. Unfortunately, his Minister, Ciantelli, was not satisfied with this success. In concert with the police of Modena, Milan, and Pome, he sought to introduce into Tuscany tyrannical and inquisitorial measures wholly unsuited to the customs and wishes of its people. Then the press, which had been remarkably free, was interfered with. The well-known review, entitled the Anatologia, was suppressed. Poj)ular men and writers were imprisoned. This foolish policy only led to such a strong demonstra- tion of public feeling against the Minister, Ciantelli, who was the promoter of the policy, that the Grand Duke dismissed him. This step was the occasion of a great demonstration in front of the Pitti Palace, as a mark of gratitude to Leopold II. for parting with his obnoxious Minister. MAZZINI AND "YOUNG ITALYr 59 While the Sanfedesti were aiding by every means tlio cause of despotism, and seeking to further it by sowing dissension and maintaining disunion among the people of Italy, an exactly opposite end, to be pursued by opposite means, was filling the heart and mind of a young Italian, who was at this time a member of the Car- bonari. He felt, however, but little real love for the sect, disliked its S3^mbols, its mysteries, and its absence of political faith, as well as its oath, which was but a formula of obedience without alluding to the end pro- posed. Still, for a time he acted with them, if only as a protest against the wretched condition of Italy. Soon after the French revolution of July, 1830, he was arrested as a member of the Carbonari, and im- prisoned in the fortress of Savona. There it was that this young Italian, Joseph Mazzini by name, some twenty-five years of age, conceived the idea of a new association, to be called "Young Italy," Its object was to unite all Italians in the common object of labouring to free their country from bondage to the foreigner, and making it at once free, united, and republican. After some six months of prison, Mazzini was re- leased and banished. He went to France. At Marseilles he published a paper entitled Youfir/ Italy, and began that active propagation of his views and objects which spread so rapidly among his countrymen that in less than a year — about the end of 1S31 — the society he had founded was the most important of all the Italian associations. The maintenance of oppressive governments b}' a 60 ITALY. foreign and despotic j)Ower like Austria, without wliom those governments would have crumbled into dust, had admirably prepared the way for Mazzini's propaganda, and accounted in no small degree for its rapid success. The idea, indeed, of a united and independent Italy was by no means new. It was believed in and taught by Dante, Petrarch, Machiavelli, and Alfieri ; it had been the object aimed at by more than one statesman and sovereign in days past. To Mazzini it became a politico- religious faith, which had for its motto " God and the People," and to which he consecrated with undying de- votion his talents and his life. He was from his earliest youth a man of singularly pure and moral life, and his mind was full of generous views. He possessed a mar- vellous power of personal attraction and influence. He proclaimed the necessity of individual and national self- sacrifice in carrying out the work of Italian unity and independence, repelled the idea of foreign assistance, and called upon his countrymen to rely on themselves alone. His own ardour, devotion, and ceaseless labours rallied to his cause great numbers of Italians of all classes who enrolled themselves in the ranks of " Young Italy." The unity of the country with Eome as capital of the new Italian Republic were the avowed objects of Mazzini's efforts. Nor did he conceal his aversion to all forms of monarchical government, w^hether despotic or constitutional, though it was against the despotic form that he directed his fiercest attacks. Those who had suffered, or who had gone into exile, GATnBALBT JOINS "YOUNG ITALYr \\\ owing to the insurrectionary movements of 1831-32 and their suppression, naturally joined the new asso- ciation of " Young Italy." They were, as might have been anticipated, among its most ardent promoters. One of them happened to be about this time in the Russian port of Taganrog, on the Sea of Azov, when a vessel arrived there whose second in command was an Italian some twenty- four years of age. Disgusted with the condition of his country, he eagerly accepted the idea of joining a society whose object was to put an end to Italian divisions and to unite every province and every citizen in the effort to shake off the yoke of the foreigner and to make Italy one and independent. He readily adhered to the new society, and thus it was that " Young Italy " inscribed on the roll of its members the name of Joseph Garibaldi. It was a curious coincidence that about the same time a young Piedmontese of good family was punished for giving utterance to liberal opinions by being re- moved from his work as an engineer officer at Genoa, and sent, in 1831, to do garrison duty in the fort of Bard. But such treatment was not likely to change the convictions Avhich were thus taking root in an in- tellect so powerful as that of young Camillo Cavour. Only two or three years later (1834) he again fell into disgrace from the same cause, after having left the army. When condoled with by his friend the Marchio- ness Barollo, he wrote to express his gratitude for her sympathy, and then added — " But I can assure you I shall make my way notwithstanding. I own I uui 62 ITALY. ambitious, and when I am Minister I hope to justify my ambition. In my dreams I see myself ah'eady Minister of Italy." Some years jDreviously Prince Metternich had ex- pressed his belief that Italian discontent would produce but little result, owing to the want of effective leaders. That want was now beginning to be supplied. It was in due course to be further supplemented by one who in 1831 was but a boy between eleven and twelve years of age. He was the eldest son of Charles Albert, King of Piedmont — Victor Emmanuel — at this time the 3^oung Duke of Savoy. His father, after the abortive revolution in Piedmont of 18.21, had been received by Greneral Bubna with the words, " Ecco ?l re crifalia/ " ("Behold the King of Italy!"). Little did the Austrian commander think that the words he thus sarcastically applied to the father would become literally true of the son. Ferdinand II. succeeds in Novi!inl)er, 1830, to the throne of I^a])le.s — Charactei* of his rule — Piedmont undc;r Charles Albert — The Papal States under Greg'ory XVI. — Tuscany and tlio Austrian and Papal Governments — Antagonism of Austria and Piedmont — Massimo d'Azcglio's intf^rview with Charles Albei-t on the state of Italy — The party of the Reformers, their views and writings — Prince Metternich's opinions on Italian questions — Death of Pope Gregory XVI., and election of Pope Pius IX. Francis I. of Naples died in November, 1830, and was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand IT. On coming- to the throne he excited the hopes of his people by publishing an edict in which he blamed the acts of his father's government, and declared his desire to heal the wounds of the State. His determination was to rule absolutely. The Ministers Yiglia, Caropreso, Amati, Delia Scaletta, were dismissed ; nor, indeed, were any of them worth}" to retain office. The Marquis della Favare, whose evil rule in Sicily had made him detested throughout the island, and whose assumption of almost supreme authority made him odious to the new king, was sent off within twenty- four hours. The Sicilians were over- joyed at this step. They gave full vent to their feehngs by abusing the fallen governor, and by praising the king with all the warmth of their southern natures. Ferdinand set himself especially to improve the con- dition of the army, both as regarded its pay and its discipline. 6-t ITALY. This commencement of the new reign naturally gave rise to the expectation that a better state of things was about to be introduced into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. A feeling of hope sprang up in the public mind, and with it a willingness to wait quietly and give every opportunity for the introduction of beneficial changes. Thus it was that the insurrectionary move- ments in Modena, Parma, and the Papal States, which took place in 1831, found little or no response in the Neapolitan dominions. The Minister of Police, Signor Intonti, still re- tained his place. He was a man devoid of principle and very unpopular. Thinking times were changed, he changed his line of policy by assuming liberal views. When he found that his proposed reforms were not re- ceived with favour he seems to have hit upon the device of getting up little plots to intimidate the king. The latter, however, being informed by others of what was being done, dismissed the Minister, and appointed in his place General Delcarretto. The choice was an evil one, for Delcarretto was only too famous for his brutal severity in dealing with the insurrectionary movement of Cilento, and the barbarous treatment of the commune of Bosco in 1828. Such a choice sufficiently showed what were the feelings of Ferdinand II. towards any- thing like constitutional principles or liberal counsellors. In 1832 the king went to Turin, and married the Princess Christina of Savoy, daughter of Victor Em- manuel I. She was equally excellent and charming. The Neapolitans, who soon loved her much, called her " the STATE OF AFFAIRS IN NAPLES. 65 Saint." She lived among them but a very short time, dying on the 30th January, 1833, after giving birth to a son. Some three months or so having elapsed, Ferdi- nand went to Vienna and became engaged to a daughter of the Archduke Charles. The new queen arrived in Naples at a time of great misery. The cholera was raging, disorders were taking place, and quarrels were occurring in the royal family. The king, always jealous of his own authority, was suspicious of his brother the Count of Syracuse, his lieutenant in Sicily. Another brother, the Prince of Capua, had, after a quarrel with the king, left the kingdom and settled with his wife at Malta. He declared himself favourable to popular liberties which still further displeased Ferdinand, who finally put out an edict depriving the prince of all his revenues and declaring his children illegitimate. These family quarrels, united to the king's evident dislike of all liberal views and his increasing jealousy of any power or policy but his own, was fast extinguishing that hope of better things to which the first few months of his reign had given rise. The terrible severity of the cholera had set on foot the most absurd stories of food and water being poisoned, of the disease itself being spread by poison smeared on walls, houses, and even persons. The gross ignorance of the masses made them eagerly believe these tales. .The result was a deep feel- ing of uneasiness and of hostility to the Grovernment, which thus suffered from the terrible want of anything like education amongst its people — a want arising from the gross, it may be intentional, neglect of those in F B6 TTALY. authority, who now reaped the fruit of allowing genera- tions to grow up in a condition of ignorance and superstition. The Austrian Court had hoped that its influence would be greatly increased in Naples by the marriage of Ferdinand to an Austrian princess. But the king seems, at this time at any rate, to have preferred the friendship and advice of Eussia to that of Austria. He turned a deaf ear to the suggestions of England and France that it would be well to introduce constitutional reforms into the government of the Two Sicilies. Such ideas were wholly distasteful to him ; his preferences were all in favour of the absolutist systems of Russia and Aus- tria. The Minister Dalcarretto was, of all the king's councillors, the one highest in favour ; he was obedient, audacious, clever, and cruel. Thanks to the royal con- fidence bestow^ed on him, he became both rich and powerful. He was the most influential member of Ferdinand II.'s Government, while a body of armed police {gendarmeria) numbering nearly ten thousand men were its strongest support. They bore the title of armed magistrates. Their evidence was taken as con- clusive unless the accused could prove his innocence, so that the latter had to clear himself instead of his accuser having to prove him guilty. By this union of the soldier and the magistrate, a power was created which placed the citizen at the mercy of the police. But this method of government failed to repress crime. In no country did it abound more. " The robbers," says the historian Giuseppe la Farina, "plundered with FEEDINAND II.' S METHOD OF GOVERNMENT. 67 impunity, and divided the gains with the police and gendarmes." The latter wholly failed to put down the brigands. Indeed, the Government itself came to terms with a famous Calabrian brigand, Talarico by name, and pensioned him off. Corruption increased, education was neglected. The army alone was cared for and improved, but its severe discipline was hated by the soldiers. The king tried to raise two regiments of Sicilians, but the attempt had to be abandoned, as neither floggings, capital punishments, nor other measures of the severest kind, could induce the islanders to submit to the military code in force at Naples. The king put all his trust in his Swiss regiments and his gendarmes, whose numbers he increased. He greatly favoured the Jesuits, and conferred on St. Ignatius military honours, and the pay of a field-marshal, " follies which future times," as the recorder of these curious facts truly remarks, " would not believe if authentic documents did not prove them." The censorship of the press was divided into two branches, the one religious, the other political. Priests, monks, and police judged the writings of the living and the dead, which w^ere cut about, maimed, altered, and suppressed without shame or respect. Political publica- tions of anything like an independent character were forbidden, writings on economical subjects were jealously watched ; those dealing with scientific subjects had to pass through the ordeal of the Sacred Congregation of the Index. Foreign papers and books were cast out as mere poison. In Sicily, the king's brother, the Count of SyrsL- 68 ITALY. cuse, continued to find favour with all classes of tlie population. It soon appeared, liowever, that the Sicilians desired a return to the constitutional rights of former days. They hoped the king's lieutenant would second their wishes and rule over them constitutionally in the king's name. But his majesty favoured no such course and watched his brother with suspicion. In 1833 the Count's authority was much diminished, and a Ministry was established in Naples especially to regu- late the affairs of Sicily. The Count of Syracuse was deeply hurt, nor did he conceal his resentment from those in his confidence ; while the Sicilians only rallied around him the more. He continued to vacillate be- tween the wishes of the islanders and the policy of the king, who finally recalled him in 1835, and then sent him to travel abroad. From that time, Ferdinand II. was determined to place Naples and Sicily under one and the same absolutist system. The result was to increase the hatred of the Sicilians against the Neapolitan Go- vernment, and strengthen their attachment to their own island. When the composer, Yincenzo Bellini, a Sicilian by birth, died, his fellow-countrymen sought to bestow on him the highest honours. The Neapolitan Grovernment had the folly to oppose such demonstrations. It refused to allow a request to be made to the French Grovernment to send over the great composer's remains from Paris ; it prohibited the raising of a monument to him by voluntary subscriptions ; it menaced the promoters of such a testimonial, and put an end to the ovations which had been prepared for the occasion. In a word. King SICILY AND NAFLES. C9 Ferdiuand and his Ministers showed themselves to he as stupid as they were tyrannicah T'he natural results followed : the Sicilians not only hated the king's govern- ment with increasing hatred, but formed conspiracies against it. There were two parties in Sicily, the one desiring free institutions with complete separation from Italy, the other equally desirous of freedom but wish- ing to maintain union with Italy. They both, however, agreed in abhorring the tyrannous government of the Nea- politan Bourbons. In addition to other evils, the whole country was visited at this time (1833) with a terrible outbreak of cholera. A general idea prevailed, as in Naples, that it arose from poisoning, and was spread by the same means. The people, who were ignorant and superstitious, fully believed this, and in their hatred of those in authority, accused them of being the authors and propagators of the malady. Misery, discontent and disease, produced tumultuous outbreaks in different parts both of the Neapolitan and Sicilian provinces. The Minister, Delcarretto, and his lieutenants, had but one remedy, which they applied without mercy, dis- cretion, or justice — namely, brutal repression. As usual in such cases, not only were those who openly revolted severely punished but also many persons who were wholly innocent. The revolutionary committees in- creased both in numbers and audacity. In April, 1831, Charles Albert had succeeded to the throne of Piedmont, on the death of his cousin Charles Felix, the last male heir of the elder branch of the Savoy family. At first great hopes were conceived of a 70 ITALY. complete reform of the political system, but these gra- dually diminished as it became more and more evident that the new king had no intention of entering upon such a course. The appointment of Count Barbaroux, a man of talent and probity, to the office of Keeper of the Seals, found great favour with the public. He introduced man}^ improvements, and instituted a com- mission to draw up a new code more worthy of a civilised nation than the one in vig-our. The chief care of the king was to ameliorate the condition of his army under the direction of Greneral Villamarina, the Minister of War. He was an able, upright, and experienced officer. The effect of these reforms was slow in developing itself, but they furthered in the long run the efficiency of the Piedmontese army, which has always held an honourable place in the estimation of Europe. In the meanwhile, Mazzini appealed to Charles Albert to put himself av^owedly at the head of the national movement. The leader of the party of " Young Italy," finding the appeal was not listened to, openly declared his hostility, and that of his followers, to the king ; nor was that hostility shown by words alone. The Piedmontese Government replied by severe measures against all who opposed, or who were suspected of being hostile to, the government of Charles Albert. As usual, many men of good cha- racter and position, who desired only constitutional reform, were driven into avowed or secret opposition or revolt, the consequence being that they were sentenced to severe punishment or death, from which they escaped only by exile. Mazzini and his friends finally CnAliLES ALBERTS GOVERNMENT. 71 directed attacks on the Government of Piedmont, by bodies of armed men coming from France and Switzer- land. They were, however^ defeated. Thus the years 1833 and 1834 were marked by conspiracies and revolts, followed by executions, imprisonments, and exile. The partisans of Austria and of reactionary measures were delighted to see Charles Albert thus forced into open war with the party of revolution ; but they overshot their mark when they began to plot against those holding high position who were faithful to the king, though avowedly hostile to Austria. Charles Albert, instead of wholly giving way to the reactionists, made changes in his Ministry which they disliked. He, however, appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Solaro della Margherita, a man of high personal cha- racter, but devoted to absolutist principles. The truth was that Charles Albert, partly from his own views and partly from circumstances, was perpetually vacillating between the liberal and clerical parties. Many of his feelings were with the latter, yet he had real sympathy with the former, especially as regarded the actual con- dition of Italy and her future aspirations. He desired honestly to rule his people not only well, but in ac- cordance with their wishes and character, while at the same time his religious scruples and ideas were constantly throwing him into the arms of that clerical and abso- lutist party which found but little favour with the bulk of the nation. He ever disliked the preponderating power of Austria. He was averse, on the other hand, to the extreme revolutionary sects. He more than once 72 ITALY. said — " Is it not true that I am an incomprehensible man?" In truth he was. Especially he seemed so to the Italians, who failed to understand how any one could hate Austrian influence and yet not adopt free institutions. The contradictory feelings which filled the king's mind marked also the character of his Government. On the one hand, the Piedmontese justly complained of the power and severity of the police, while they disliked no less that priestly influence which miposed upon them an equally galling yoke. On the other hand, the administration in Piedmont was the best and most honest in Italy. The robberies, misery, and crimes which were the plagues of Naples and the Roman States were little known in Piedmont. The Grovernment was scrupulously careful in financial affairs, the king setting the example. All this had an excellent effect upon a people so upright and sensible as the Pied- montese. The country became increasingly thriving and industrious. In the island of Sardinia certain feudal rights were abolished, much to the satisfaction of the people. Municipal government was improved, and trade was benefited by the construction of roads and bridges. After six years of work, the legislative com- mission published the new civil code, and later on the new penal code. Both were improvements upon what had gone before, though both left not a little to be desired. The new commercial code was a still greater improvement, but then it touched matters which did not affect the interests of the nobles or the priests, and therefore it had not to pass through the ordeal of their jealous scrutiny. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMAN STATES. 73 Although the Papal Government of Gregory XVI. refused all popular reforms, and was wholly adverse to liberal principles, it did its utmost to alleviate the sufferings of its subjects daring the visitations of cholera in 1833 and 1837. The mortality was especially great in Ancona and Rome. It filled the superstitious and ignorant populations of the Roman States with a terror which resulted (as among the Neapolitans), in a wild idea that the cause of the pestilence was poison, and its con- tinuance due to poison being purposely used to spread the disease. The Austrian and French troops continued to occupy Bologna and Ancona. It was not until the year 1838 that both the one and the other were withdrawn. The Papal temporal power was then left once again to its own resources, of which none was so effective as the Swiss troops in its pay. They were fine men, brave, well armed, and well cared for ; indeed, better paid than the native troops of the Pontifical army ; but they had the fatal drawback of being foreigners, and were there- fore disliked by the Roman people — a state of feeling certainly not peculiar to Italians, when, as in their case, absolutist rule is maintained by soldiers hired from foreign countries. For a short time, the Pontifical States were comparatively quiet, but as the condition of the Neapolitan kingdom became worse, the party of active opposition renewed the work of agitation. As- surances were given that a revolution would break out in that kingdom, but although small disturbances occurred in the Roman territory, the bulk of the popu- 74 ITALY. lation remained quiet. Indeed, tlie general feeling was opposed to any uprising unless one of a really important character took place in Naples or elsewhere ; for the Romagnol provinces had suffered so much at the hands of the Austrian and the restored Pontifical authorities, that the people subject to them were anxious not to be the first again to rise against the Government. The civil and military commissions, appointed after the suppression by Austria of the movements of 1831 and 1S32, had acted with an arbitrary violence which had inflicted terrible sufferings upon the citizens of those unhappy provinces in which such men as Cardinals Albani, Spinola, Brignole and Yannicelli left the evil fame of cruel and oppressive rulers. Nor did the milder policy of better men, such as Cardinals Macchi, Amat, and Grimaldi (whose kindlier rule was grate- fully acknowledged), lessen in any great degree the general dislike to that arbitrary temporal power of the Pope which Austria strenuously upheld, and which without her aid must necessarily have been at least greatly modified. Indeed, throughout Italy there was a growing feeling hostile to the existing order of things, so that the great mass of all classes sympathised either with the revolutionary party who formed an active and powerful minority inspired by Mazzini and his followers ; or else with that party of reform whose leaders were to be found amongst the most intelligent and high-minded Italians (many of whom were men of aristocratic birth and conservative feeling) who desired reasonable but really constitutional liberties promptly THE GOVERNMENT OF TUSCANY. 75 applied and honestly carried into effect. But these latter had no hope of persuading the actual Govern- ments of the Peninsula to adopt such a policy, partly because the majority of these Governments were averse to all such changes, but still more because the Austrian rulers refused even to listen to any such suggestions, ever meeting them with uncompromising opposition by their influence, and, when necessary, by their arms. This condition of Italy was only aggravated when (in 1844) the brothers Emilio and Attilio Bandiera, young men of high character and spotless reputation, were put to death because they rose in arms against an oppressive system of arbitrary rule which the vast majority of their countrymen condemned, but for which they could obtain no redress, chiefly because it was upheld by a foreign power. Tuscan}^ was taken to task both by the Austrian and Papal Governments for maintaining a certain amount of freedom both to persons and to the press. In one or two cases the Grand Duke allowed those whom the Eoman authorities had demanded should be given up to them to quit the duchy, much to the indignation of the Vatican. But gradually the Tuscan Government gave way, and in November, 1845, Ministers more favourable to Aus- trian and clerical ideas were placed in office. The Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio, one of the most cultivated and high-minded of men belonging to an aristocratic Piedmontese family, was in the early part of 1846 or- dered to leave Tuscany for having printed there a small work entitled "Dei Casi di Romagna," It set forth 76 ITALY. shortly the actual condition of the Eomagnol provinces, and the necessity of reforms. D'Azeglio was decidedly opposed to the teachings and the continual plottings of Mazzini ; he was a firm supporter of constitutional monarchy, and loyally devoted to Charles Albert de- spite all his vacillations. How admirably and faith- fully this eminent Piedmontese noble served the son and successor of Charles Albert will be shown in due course. D'Azeglio was one of the ablest leaders of that liberal school whose great desire was to reform wisely and quickly as the only means of averting those political convulsions which were sure to come if reforms were not granted. He quitted Tuscany amidst public manifestations of regard, which proved, not only the high esteem in which the Tuscans held him, but also their sympathy with those liberal and constitutional principles which were making continual progress through- out Italy. About the same time (1846) a professor of the University of Pisa, Griuseppe Montanelli, greatly looked up to on account of his personal worth, his abili- ties and learning, led the way in resisting the clerical and reactionary policy of the Tuscan Ministers. At his suggestion a memorial was drawn up, in which the Grrand Duke was entreated to save the country from such a policy, and to preserve Tuscany 's " reputation for wise government, separated so widely from exorbitant rule which, from the days of Leopold L, had made it the envy of other nations." The only reply was a warning addressed to these remonstrants by the Minister, Signor Paver, well known for his strong leaning towards THE LOMBABDO-VENETIAN KINGDOM. 77 the Austrian and Papal Governments. But the Tuscans warmly applauded Montanelli and those who had acted with him. The more the Ministers of the Grand Duke departed from the wise traditions whicli had so long been the rule in Tuscany, the more openly did its people show their hostility to Vienna and Rome ; for they knew well that it was from the ruling powers in those capitals that the influence came which was producing the unhappy change now altering the policy of their country. The Austrian Government of the Lombardo -Vene- tian kingdom was strong in its army and police. They prevented any hope of successfully rising against the rule of the Hapsburgs, while they equally prevented any re- forms being carried out in other parts of the Peninsula. But these ends were attained at the cost of drawing down on Austria the hatred of all Italians who loved their country. The Austrian system of setting spies to watch almost everybody was pushed to the extent of watching by such means their own authorities. A severe censor- ship was applied to the press, and nothing was allowed to be published without the permission of the Govern- ment. In the schools care was taken not to teach any- thing which encouraged or aroused national feeling. The rich Lombardo-Venetians who were content to live only a life of pleasure, were encouraged to do so, but those who showed any inclination for graver pursuits or studies speedily fell under suspicion. The hostility between the Austrian and Piedmontese Governments increased. In 1845 Charles Albert refused to agree to the wishes of Austria on a commercial question on whicli they differed; 78 ITALY. upon this the latter raised, in April 184G, the duty on Piedmontese wines. Instead of giving way the Official Gazette of Piedmont published an article deliberately resisting the Austrian policy. All Italy applauded this act of Charles Albert, while his own people loudly ex- pressed their approval and declared that they would rather suffer than yield. Massimo d'Azeglio, on his return to Turin towards the close of 1845, after visiting, " city by city, a great part of Italy," had a private audience (the details of which he relates in his " I Miei Eicordi ") with Charles Albert. He told the king that he should like to let him know what he had seen of the actual condition of Italy, and what conversations he had had on political subjects with men of every condition, in all parts of the country. The king readily gave his consent. D'Azeglio proceeded to remind his sovereign that all the plots and revolutionary attempts from 1814 to that time (1845) had been unsuccessful, had made the yoke of the foreigner harder, and had given rise to an increasing desire to try new means and methods for improving the unhappy condition of Italy. While latterly at Rome, he had thought and spoken much about possible remedies. Pope Gregory XVI. was old and sickly ; certainly at his death some great commotion might take place, and might only too probably end in another Austrian occupation, another series of imprisonments, banishments, executions, and their attendant miseries. It was urgent, therefore, as d'Azeglio said, to find a remedy. The great majority of those with whom he had D'AZEGLIO'S INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES ALBERT. 79 come in contact disliked perpetual plots and revolts ; yet, unless there was some force to fall back upon in the last resort, nothing could be done. Piedmont, it was felt, could supply that force, or at least be the nucleus around which it could rally. Yet everyone admitted that Piedmont must not disturb the peace of Italy. But how long would such wise and moderate ideas prevail? How long would the country wait on, despite the tyranny, violence, corruption, deceit, and suspicion which was displayed by the rulers, and pro- duced such ill effects, both moral and material, on those who were thus misgoverned? D'Azeglio admitted that it was impossible to reply with certainty. Such was the substance of his communication. He then put this final question : " Now, your majesty, will you tell me if you approve or disapprove what I have said and done ? " Then he relates how the king answered, quietly but firmly : — " Make known to those gentlemen that they must remain quiet and not move, for at present nothing can be done; but let them be certain that, if the occasion presents itself, my life, the life of my sons, my arms, my treasure, my army, all shall be devoted to the cause of Italy." The king then embraced and dismissed d'Azeglio. Early in 1846 he published in Tuscany the little work already referred to — " Degli ultimi casi di Romagna" ("Concerning the late events in the Eomagna"). He still hoped that, by plain statements of fact and sound argument, the public opinion of Italy and Europe might be so aroused as to oblige at length the various rulers of Italy to reform their governments. 80 ITALY. He was one of the increasiDgly numerous party called (riformisti) reformers who, wearied of revolutionary risings, were determined to try and introduce a better state of tilings by bringing an enlightened public opinion to bear upon all who were in authority, thus giving some hope to the mass of the people that the amelioration of their country's condition might be effected by pacific and reasonable means. To such an end this party of reformers had for some few years been working, but their wise efforts were weakened by the diversity of the plans they proposed. It was in 1843 that the Abbe Vincenzo Gioberti published his " Primato Morale e Civile degli Italiani " (" The Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians "). He com- bated the idea of republican unity, and proposed a federation of Italian States under the headship of the Pope, who, by administrative reforms, material improve- ments, and greater toleration of opinions, was to forward the progressive development of Italian liberty. But even such very moderate views found no favour with Gregory XVI. and his advisers ; they were also strongly opposed by the Jesuits whom Gioberti bitterly attacked in his later works. Count Cesare Balbo wrote his " Speranze d'ltaha " (" The Hopes of Italy "). Agree- ing with Gioberti in his federal and reforming views, Balbo, however, held out no hope that the Pope would become the guide and chief of the new order of things. He specially pressed upon the Italians to make the inde- pendence of their country their chief aim. This book, too, was disapproved of by the Italian Governments ; WRITINGS OF THE BE FORM PARTY. 81 but both the one and the other found favour with Charles Albert, as did that of Massimo d'Azeglio — " Degli nltimi casi di Eomagna." This publication created the deepest interest. It blamed the severities and absolutism of the Papal Government, but defended in principle the Papal authority, desiring only that it should favour, instead of oppose, national reform and independence. It disapproved the recent risings at Rimini and elsewhere, but confessed that to one who was thus saying " I suffer too much," none had a right to reply " You have not yet suffered enough." It nar- rated truthfully all the oppression endured by the subjects of the Pope's temporal power, while it con- demned the revolutionary sects and outbreaks as wrong means which had failed to secure the right end of changing the actual condition of Italy. It counselled the Italians to protest openly and publicly, on all avail- able occasions, against the injustice and wrongs done to them, thus rousing the public opinion of their own country and of Europe without giving, by appeals to force, an excuse to their oppressors to use force. Griacorao Durando, in his work entitled " Italian Nationality," avowed his confidence in constitutional principles, but had no faith in the temporal rule of the Papacy. He desired to see Italy divided into two limited monarchies — the northern under the House of Savoy, the southern under that of the Bourbons — leaving only the city of Rome to the Pope. Another writer — Canuti — in his " Italian Question," asked that all the reforms proposed in the " Memorandum " drawn up by G 82 ITALY. the Powers, and presented in 1831 to tlie Pontifical Government, should be carried out. Other jDublications fully set forth what the Italian provinces subjected to Austria suffered from her foreign and absolutist rule. Gino Capponi, so highly esteemed not only in his native Tuscany but throughout Italy, j)^^^ *^^^ ^ pamphlet entitled " The Actual Condition of the Eomagna." He declared himself in favour of a " Pope who should reign without governing." In other words, that, while remaining head of the Church, the Pope should, in temporal affairs, become simply a constitu- tional ruler, following the advice of responsible ministers. But such a manner of ruling necessitated, as Capponi said, another kind of ministers, institutions, and laws ; adding, " Either the Pope must give them, or at the first rising of a storm in Europe a blind force will impose them ; and here the choice must be made between soiling with blood the tiara so that it shall fall into the mire, or else render it more venerable than ever in the eyes of all by preserving it from every fault." He declares that the subjects of the Roman States are desiring to become citizens, and that the separation of the civil and ecclesiastical government can alone meet the difficulties of the situation. He added that this was the growing opinion not only " of laymen, but ecclesi- astics," and was penetrating into the very ante-chambers of the Vatican. About the same time appeared in Paris a book which was much read, entitled " Thoughts upon Italy by an Anonymous Lombard." Though declaring himself a WRITINGS OF THE REFORM PARTY. 83 disciple of Grioberti and Balbo, he went beyond their views ; he admired the idea of Italian unity, but said it could not be attained without war, and declared the independence of Italy incompatible with the temporal power of the Pope. He proposed the division of Italy into three constitutional kingdoms of Upper Italy, with Turin as capital ; Central Italy, with Florence as capital ; and Southern Italy, with Naples as capital, leaving Rome as a free city under the protection of these three governments, where the Pope was to reside. The writer further set forth the financial condition of the Lombardo -Venetian provinces, and the disproportionately heavy taxation under which they suffered, as well as the oppressive nature of Austrian rule. In the beginning of 1846 appeared the " Conforti air Italia" ("Comforts for Italy"), by Giuseppe Ric- ciardi, a Neapolitan exile ; as well as a little work entitled " Del Sentimento Nazionale in Italia, ragiona- mento di un Siciliano " (" Of the National Feeling in Italy, reasoning of a Sicilian "). Each work dwelt upon the necessity of changing the condition of the country, and propounded the writer's method of effecting the change. For some years past novels, such as those of Grossi, Guerazzi, and d'Azeglio ; the poetry of Alfieri, Nicco- lini, Rossetti, Giusti, and others had, in their various ways, stirred, and were continuing to stir, the patriotic feelings of the Italians ; while the writings of the illustrious Manzoni gave proof to the world what genius, patriotic sentiment, and religious conviction, G 2 84 ITALY. were still to be found in tlie land of Dante and of Petrarch. Thus Italy was filled more and more, throughout its whole length, with thoughts and hopes of national life and improvement. Such aspirations were indeed of the most diverse kind, but from the moderate reformers of the Grioberti and Balbo school, to the extreme members of " Young Italy," whom Mazzini himself had to dis- courage from undertaking hopeless enterprises, all agreed that the actual condition of Italy was unendur- able ; that in one way or another a change must be effected. Some might look to revolution, and others to reform ; some might believe in a Pope who would initiate a new era, and others in Charles Albert despite past inconsistency and present vacillation ; some might desire a united, and others a federal republic ; some might advocate a single, and others a dual or even a triple kingdom ; but all were bent on independence and reform. The first condition of such a change must be freedom from foreign domination. Italy must be above everything Italian. Prince Metternich was opjDosed to all such men and such views, whether those of a moder- ate or of an extreme character. He equally disliked so conservative a reformer as the Marquis d'Azeglio, and so violent a revolutionist as Mazzini, who, said the prince, " repels every protestation, except that of the musket and dagger." The Austrian statesman spoke of the unity of Italy as a " dream," and of Italy itself as merely " a geo- graphical expression." He declared that even if Italy had a prince who could range all the Italian States under METTERNICE AND ITALIAN REFORM. 85 his sceptre, " the Powers would put limits to his am- bition." He considered it, moreover, a waste of time to examine the conditions under which Italian unity could exist, and was confident that the ability to form and maintain its existence, "could not be found among the reigning houses of the Peninsula." But what Metternich declared to be impossibilities have become facts, what he considered "dreams" are to-day (1884) realities, and the union of Italy has been effected under one of the " reigning houses of the Peninsula "'■ — that of Savoy. But though the predictions of the prince have thus been falsified and his polic}^ overthrown, there is one of his statements which has proved, so far at least, nearer the truth, for he declared, " Le Pape liberal n'est pas un etre possible " ("A liberal Pope is not a possible being)." It was then, while Italian writers of all schools were quickening the hopes of every patriot, from the Alps to Cape Passaro, and while Prince Metternich and the statesmen of his school were determined to oppose them at all costs, that Pope Gregory XVI. died on the 1st June, 1846. All eyes were at once turned to Rome. The conclave was not long in making its choice. On the 15th of the month Cardinal Giovanni Mastai-Fer- retti was proclaimed with the title of Pius IX. He was less known than several other members of the sacred college ; it was, therefore, with a mingled feel- ing of hope and fear that Italians waited to see what policy the new Pope would pursue. Thus began, amidst anxious expectation, the longest and one of the most eventful pontificates in the history of Italy. CHAPTER VI. Pope Pius IX. adopts a Liberal policy — The Scientific Congi'ess at Genoa — Reforms in the Roman States — The Papal Government protests against the Austrian occupation of Ferrara — Reforms of Leopold in Tuscany — Ferdi- nand II. of Naples opposes all reforms — Charles Albert's antagonism to Austria— The Agi-icultural Congress at Casale, and the Letter of Charles Albert — He, introduces various reforms in Piedmont — Attitude of the English and of the Austrian Governments towards Italian reforms — Events in Milan and Venice — Increasing agitation in the Neapolitan dominions. Refusal of Ferdinand to make concessions — Early in January, 1848, the Revolution breaks out in Sicily — Ferdinand gives way and is obliged to promise a Constitution on 27th January, 1848 — On the 7th February, Charles Albert promises a Constitution, which is promulgated on the 4th March — The Grand Duke of Tuscany promises a Constitution on the 1 1th February, 1848. The Pope foi-msa Government in which three Laymen hold office — French Revolution of February 24th, 1848 — The Pope promises a Constitution — Revolution in Vienna, March, 1848, It was on the IGth July, 1846, just a month after his accession, that Pius IX. published a general amnesty in favour of all persons condemned for political of- fences. The people of the Roman States received the decree with the utmost joy, and everywhere acclaimed with delight the name of the new Pontiff. These feelings arose, not only on account of the amnesty liberating from prison and recalling from exile those who had withstood the oppressive measures of past Pontifical Grovernments, but also because the Romans desired to express their hope that such measures would be the inauguration of a new and more liberal policy. The great mass of the reforming party LIBERALS AND RETROGRADES. 87 received with gratitude the step thus taken by Pius IX. Most of the exiles returned, signing willingly the paper in which they thanked the Pope for his pardon of the past, and promised fidelity for the time to come. But there were some high-minded men like Mamiani, Canuti, and Pepoli, who took a different view. They were ready to promise allegiance to their new sovereign, but could not in conscience allow that their past conduct deserved condemnation or pardon, in as much as they had onl}^ resisted evil measures which undermined legiti- mate authority and oppressed the people. These men returned to their country after a time, but while acting as became good subjects they steadily refused to ack- nowledge that their conduct previous to the accession of Pius IX. was worthy of blame. The retrograde party heartily disliked the new policy and did not conceal its ill-humour ; nor were its members sparing of the censure which they passed on the policy of the newly elected ruler of the States of the Church. Such men are loud enough in proclaiming the duty of obedience when their policy is adopted by those in power, but should these latter follow a different policy they will often receive from these very same persons determined opposition and even plenty of abuse. On the 8th August, Cardinal Gizzi was appointed Secretary of State much to the satisfaction of the country, for he was considered friendly to the reforms which were being carried. Commissions were insti- tuted to consider what changes should be adopted in various branches of the administration. The provincial 88 ITALY. authorities and municipal magistrates, united to eccle- siastics and citizens of good repute, were appointed to consider the best method of promoting popular education. Night schools, infant schools, and reading rooms, were permitted and encouraged. Towards the close of 1846 changes were made among the high official of the Pontifical States. The government of Bologna was given to Cardinal Am at, that of Ra- venna to Monsignor Bofondi, that of Ferrara to Cardinal Ciacchi, that of Pesaro to Cardinal Ferretti. These changes were welcomed by the public — more especially the appointments of Cardinal Am at and Monsignor Bofondi. In the autumn of this same year (1846) the Italian Science Congress was held at Grenoa, and was very numerously attended. Those who there met together were interested not only in science, but in the political and social condition of Italy. Such matters as the reforms in the States of the Church, the more liberal views of the courts of Rome, of Turin, and of Florence ; the growing antagonism between Piedmont and Austria ; the questions affecting Italian progress, freedom, and independence, were earnestly discussed. These subjects become more and more the absorbing topics of every meeting, whether public or private ; they pervaded the exchange, the market-place, the drawing-room, the cloister, the palace, awakening, indeed, very different feelings in different quarters, but arousing every- where the profoundest interest. The opposition of the Austrian and Neapolitan Grovernments to all change ITALIAN HOSTILITY TO FOREIGN RULE. 89 no less than the reforms effected by the Papal, the Piedmontese, and the Tuscan Governments, stimulated the interest thus universally felt throughout the Pen- insula. Nowhere was the spirit of independence, and the desire for better government, stronger than in the Roman States. The harsh absolutism of their past Grovernments, the active conspiracies which had been the result, and the presence of the Austrian troops at Ferrara and Comacchio, all contributed to keep alive these feelings. So it was that when in March, 1847, some steps were taken in Eome to diminish the severity of the censorship of the press, various papers and periodicals appeared which, though very moderate in their opinions, yet did not conceal their desire for national independence and their aversion to foreign rule and influence. In no part of the Papal States were these expressions of opinion more decided than in Bologna. The general feeling was strongly favourable to the formation of a league of Italian princes which should curb the power of Austria and prepare the way for the complete emancipation of Italy from the rule of Vienna. On the 14th April, 1847, Cardinal Gizzi published an edict instituting a Council of State {Consvlta di Stato). All those who governed the Papal provinces were to pro- pose, each in his own province, three persons of good report for the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff, who was to select one of the three as an adviser in such matters as administrative and municipal affairs. These advisers were to hold their sittings in Rome for at least two 90 ITALY. years, and aid the Papal authorities in matters relating to civil government. Though this addition of a lay element was thus very limited, and wholly dependent on the Pope and his officials, yet this concession was received with gratitude throughout the Roman States. Everywhere the people expressed their satisfaction at this further innovation on the old order of things. When the IGth June arrived, the day on which Pius IX. had assumed the triple crown, numbers of the municipal authorities of town and country came to Pome, where they united with the Poman people in forming pro- cessions headed by their various civic authorities with music and banners; then they went to salute Pius IX., who appeared on the balcony of the Quirinal Palace, from which he blessed the assembled multitudes. But the Grovernment looked with suspicion on these well-organised and populous demonstrations. On the 22nd June Car- dinal Grizzi, the Secretary of State, put out an edict in the name of the Pope forbidding these assemblies. The reasons alleged were the interruption thereby made in the studies of the students, the stopping of the labour of the artisans, and the work of the public offices. The popular idea, however, was that the Pope did not approve the edict, although issued in his name, and that it was the work of the officials. Accordingly, the cry was raised of " Fiva ! Pio Nono solo " (" Long live Pius IX. alone)." Be that as it may, it was at this time that Monsignor Viale, the Apostolic Nuncio at Vienna, spoke often to Prince Metternich about the weakness of the Pontifical Government, and of the agitation which THE POSSIBILITY OF AUSTRIAN INTERVENTION. 91 menaced the throne, alluding to the probable need there would be of the Pope having recourse to Austrian assistance. In July, 1847, Lord Ponsonby, the English Minister at Vienna, wrote to Lord Palmerston, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, saying : — " I ought to tell you that the Grovernment of the Pope is so frightened that Austria has been asked to make the necessary preparations for furnishing the Pontiff with armed protection. Prince Metternich did not tell me yester- day that the Pope had asked for these preparations, but I have no doubt of the fact." These probabilities of Austrian intervention were certainly known to the members of the reactionary party in the Papal States commonly called " Sanfedesti," or " Gregoriani," because they liked the policy of the late Pope Gregory XVI., who opposed innovations, and disliked the reforms introduced by Pius IX. The partisans of reaction became bolder in their avowed opposition to all change, while some of them went so far as to enrol followers for a coming struggle, in which they expressed their hope and belief that they would have Austrian as- sistance. In the meanwhile the Pope had at length consented to the formation of a civic guard in Rome, promising the same to the provinces. This gave great satisfaction, as did also the retirement of Car- dinal Gizzi and the appointment of Cardinal Perretti in his place as Secretary of State, Monsignor Morandi being Governor of Rome. These two appointments were much liked, as both these officials were opposed to the reactionists, and quickly put an end to their 92 ITALY. hopes and plots, much to the gratification of the Eoman people, who cordially assisted in carrying out this policy. Cardinal Ferretti further protested against the occupation of Ferrara by the Austrian troops and earnestly supported the protest made against it by Cardinal Ciacchi, the papal legate in Ferrara, on the 6th of August. This, however, did not prevent the Austrian Grovernment from maintaining the occupation which Cardinal Ferretti described as a "real provocation," necessarily rousing feelings of the greatest hostility in Ferrara itself especially, and throughout the Boman States, and generally shared by the whole of Italy. In writing to the Apostolic Nuncio at Vienna, Ferretti defended the Eoman reforms, declared the formation of the civic guard to be the unanimous desire of the subjects of the papal dominions, praised the services rendered by it, severely con- demned the overbearing conduct of the Austrians in Ferrara, and warned the Imperial Grovernment of the consequences which were sure to follow. The occupa- tion of this town, far from intimidating the Italians, roused them to bitter hostility against Austria. It made it clear to all of them that the real enemy of Italian freedom and reform was the Austrian Govern- ment. The municipal authorities of the Roman State, the national guard, the press, the citizens of every rank, vied with each other in upholding the Papal Govern- ment, and in preparing to resist the pretensions of the TEE ROMANS AND THE JEWS. 93 Viennese statesmen. The Roman people hastened to the old Jewish quarter of the Ghetto, and in proof of their reforming spirit testified by festivities, illumi- nations and every kind of demonstration their good- will towards the Jews and their desire to see the hatred of the past abolished. The Roman people thus protested, as it were, against the cruelties which for long generations had oppressed the Jewish race, dis- graced the Christian name, and violated the com- mands of Him who had bidden His disciples to "love their enemies," and to " do unto all men as they would that others should do to them." The Pontifical Government, in response to the de- sire of its subject to be prepared against Austrian en- croachments, decreed the formation of a camp at Forli, but this was never actually carried into eflect. Those who were in attendance on Pius IX. reported him as having said : " My people love me, and will, if neces- sary, march with me against the barbarians." Whether such are port was true or untrue one thing was certain, that the Italians at this time rallied heartily around the Pope because he was opposing Austria, and because they hoped he would consent to their opposing her by force of arms ; feeling sure that her arbitrary sway could be put an end to only by force, for of her own free will she would neither reform nor yield. The Papal Government further proceeded to pro- pose a custom's league among the Italian Govern- ments, which was to be the first step towards a political league. The rulers as well as the people of 94 ITALY. Piedmont and Tuscany cordially welcomed the proposal, so did the people of Parma, Modena, and Naples, but their rulers, being completely under the influence of Austria, rejected it. The Grand Duke Leopold II. of Tuscany had already given greater freedom of the press, to the delight of his people. A commission was further appointed to draw up a reformed penal and civil code. An assembly of men of high character and position was summoned by the Grrand Duke for carrying out reforms and consider- ing the formation of a civic guard. All these steps were warmly applauded by the Tuscan people. On the 5th September, 1847, a vast'procession, numbering some 20,000, went to the Pitti Palace to thank Leopold, who appeared on the balcony of his palace and was greeted with shouts of applause for himself, for Pius IX., and for the cause of national independence. All this greatly displeased Austria and her reactionary sup- porters. Prince Metternich did not fail to blame severely the policy of Leopold and his Ministers. In the neighbouring little duchy of Lucca, not then united to Tuscany, Duke Charles Louis, after bitterly opposing all reforms, gave way at last to the wishes of his subjects when unable any longer to withstand them. Then he went so far as to adopt the Italian tri- coloured flag which neither the Pope nor the Grrand Duke had consented to do up to this time. His subjects believed for the moment in this sudden conversion of Duke Charles and gave him an ovation, but he secretly left his Duchy, sold his rights over it to Leopold of POLICY OF FEllBINAND II. OF NAPLES. 95 Tuscany, and for a time disappeared from public life. When the reaction triumphed, he reappeared as Duke of Parma, its duchess, Maria Louisa, having died, and there he ruled by the grace of Austria as one of her most tyrannical lieutenants. The Governments of the young Duke Francis V. of Modena, who had succeeded to his father, the unworthy and despotic Francis IV., and that of Maria Louisa, Duchess of Parma, opposed all con- cessions, and were sustained in that policy by the arms of Austria. Ferdinand 11. of Naples set himself against all reform. He ostentatiously avowed his adherence to Austrian policy, though his people as clearly avowed their dislike of it. He increased the censorship to which the press was subjected. He continued to give his confidence to such men as Greneral Delcarretto and Monsignor Code, whose names were justly held in detestation. Corruption, servility, and cruelty were the characteristics of those in authority ; hatred, suspicion, and discontent were rife throughout the nation. In Naples, Palermo, and Messina, revolution was ripening, while the secret press worked efficaciously. It published, among other matter, a pamphlet entitled " Protest of the People of the Two Sicilies," which created no little sensation, and had a wide circulation. The police were unable to suppress it and equally unable to discover the authors. Small insurrectionary movements broke out in the autumn at Reggio and Messina, which led to severe repression. Both in those places and at Na|)les various persons were imprisoned or 96 ITALY. executed, several of tliem being men of high standing who had taken no part in those movements, although detesting the oppressive and corrupt rule of Ferdinand II. So closed the year 1847 in the Neapolitan kingdom where the storm was soon to burst, whose elements were fast accumulating alike in Sicily and on the mainland of the dominions of the Bourbon sovereign. Charles Albert, King of Piedmont, had been told by the Austrian Government that it fully intended to de- fend that protectorate of Italy which it had possessed since 1815. The king's Government at once replied that it recognised no such protectorate, and would pro- test against any violation of national independence. In the matter of the occupation of Ferrara by the Austrian troops Charles Albert warmly espoused the side of the Papal Government, and spoke against the foreign inter- ference which sought to impede the changes which Italian sovereigns saw fit to carry out in their own States. Still the king hesitated himself as to the course which his own internal policy should take. At one moment he seemed to favour the jDrogressive and at another the retrograde party. Demonstrations in favour of reforms were made in many of the chief towns of Piedmont. Early in Sep- tember, 1847, the Agricultural Congress assembled in Casale Monferrato. This was made the occasion of giving public utterance to the desire for reform, while hearty sympathy was expressed in favour of its being- accorded by all the Governments of Italy. A letter from the king to the Count of Castegneto caused intense CHARLES ALBERTS REFORMS. 97 joy and interest wlien it was made known at tlie Con- gress. Charles Albert wrote : — " Austria has sent a note to all the Powers, in which she declares her wish to retain Ferrara, believing she has a right to it. On returning (to Turin) from E-ac- conigi, I found a great multitude in front of the palace ; it was a quiet demonstration without noise. If Provi- dence sends us a war of Italian independence I will mount my horse with my sons, I will place myself at the head of my army, and I will do as now Schamyl does in Russia, What a glorious day it will be in which we can raise the cry of a war for the independence •of Italy ! " It is difficult to give an idea of the effect which this letter produced. The Piedmontese are a calm rather reserved people, not easily moved, but when they are roused no sacrifice is too great for the attainment of the object they desire. The Congress of Casale replied in words of warmest devotion, offering to the king life and possessions in carrying out the generous work which it implored him to accomplish. In October and November he introduced a number ■of administrative reforms — restricted the powers of the police, enlarged the Council of State, widened the base of the provincial councils, emancipated the communes, and introduced the elective principle. Thus Piedmont had, at the close of 1847, entered heartily on that reforming path which had been adopted by the Papal and Tuscan Governments. She also united with them in the Customs League, the intended forerunner of a H 98 ITALY. political league whicli it was hoped would effectually protect Italy from foreign dictation and supremacy. In the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom the warm re- ception given by the Milanese to Archbishop RomilU on his appointment in September, by Pius IX., as a proof of their approbation of the Pope's reforming policy, roused the suspicion and ill-will of the Austrian police, leading quickly to interference, disturbance, and blood- shed. The scientific congress assembled that autumn in Venice, elected the Prince of Canino as its president, but when he had been guilty of speaking, amidst bursts of applause, in praise of Pius IX. and his re- forms, the Prince was ordered to leave the province. His departure was made the occasion of further popular ovations. Thus the Lombardo- Venetian king- dom showed itself to be in full sympathy with the rest of Italy ; nor were these Italian subjects of Austria the less so because stern repression was the only reply vouchsafed to their aspirations. It was in the autumn of 1847 that Lord Minto visited Italy, and communicated to the Courts of Turin, Florence, and Pome the interest and sympathy felt by the English Government, of which Lord John Pussell was the Prime Minister, and Lord Palmerston was the Foreign Secretary, in the reforms which these several Italian Governments were effecting. Prince Metternich wrote a despatch in which he declared Italy to be but " a geographical expression," and while opposing the changes which were being carried, asked the other Powers what their intentions were. Lord Palmerston declared ENGLISH AND AUSTRIAN VIEWS OF ITALIAN REFORMS. 99 that tlioucli the Enii'lish Government wished to main- tain existing treaties, it was also desirous that such amehorations should be made as would allay the just discontent of a great part o£ Italy. He approved the course taken by the rulers of Rome, Florence, and Turin, maintainin"" that similar reforms were needed in other states of the Peninsula, especially in that of Naples. A compromise had been at length effected between the Papal and Austrian Grovernments, with regard to the occupation of the town of Ferrara. This restored more friendly diplomatic relations between the Courts of A^ienna and Rome, but by no means quenched among Italians that longing for independence and hatred of foreign supremacy, which nothing helped more to keep alive throughout Italy than the policy of Austria herself. The installation of the new Roman municipality took place in November, 1847. Its hundred councillors went first to the Palace of tbe Quirinal to receive the Pope's blessing, and thence to the Capitol, where they entered on their functions. On the 27th December a petition was presented to the Pope, asking for freedom of the press, the expulsion of the Jesuits, an Italian League, the emancipation of the Jews, publicity of the acts of the Council of State, abolition of the State lot- teries, land reforms, and other changes. The Papal Government remained silent on all these matters, but three days after appeared the decree establishing the new Council of Ministers. The preamble announced that the attributes of each minister were to be separated from the other, and were to be clearh' defined, " in order H 2 100 ITALY. that each one of them having a proper and independent action, should assume a responsibility which, descending in like manner to the under officers (sugli impiegati subalterni) should give to the Grovernment that general guarantee to which all should be subjected to whom are confided the administration of public affiiirs." Nine ministries were formed : (1) Foreign Affairs ; (2) Home Department; (3) Public Instruction; (4) Grace and Justice ; (5) Finance ; (6) Commerce, Fine Arts, and Agriculture ; (7) Public Works ; (8) War ; (9) Police. But all these ministerial posts were to be held by eccle- siastics. This was much deplored, for so far back as 1831 the great Powers had thought it necessary to advise the Poman Government to give a share of the higher offices to laymen. Pellegrino Rossi, the French Minister at the Court of Pome, had written as follows, on the 18th December, 1847, to M. Guizot, then Prime Minister of France — " That which always frightens me more and more is the question of laymen. That is the fundamental point. I have said so again and again to the Pope and the Cardinal Secretary of State. How- ever great may be the moral authority of the Pope the clerical caste cannot stand up against the Eadical party if the moderate lay party being discontented should, I will not say unite with the Radicals, but should even only stand aloof and let matters take their course. This is a real danger. I hear bitter, very bitter, words from men who certainly are not Radicals. In the judgment of those who are thus discontented, little is to be feared even from a catastrophe, because they remember that so SECULARISATION OF THE PAPAL GOVERNMENT. 101 far back as 1831 tlie Powers counselled the partial secu- larisation of the temporal government, hence it is believed that more certainly will they insist on it in 1848. I have repeatedly urged that in the next decree which should extend the Council of Ministers and make it more perfect, a share should be given to laymen. This is in my eyes the knot of the question. By thus inviting the moderates to a share of the government, the civic guard would be attached to it, a desirable mode of action would be brought to bear on the Con- sulta, and the Eadicals would be isolated." How necessary was this change in the temporal government of the Papal States, advocated by Eossi, himself a Roman Catholic and a moderate Constitutionalist, becomes more obvious still when it is remembered that Prince Metternich, speaking of the Eoman Grovernment, at that time wholly in the hands of ecclesiastics, did not hesitate to say — "The worst of all is the Eoman Government does not know how to govern." On the 1st January, 1848, the Eoman people pre- pared to go in procession to the palace of the Quirinal to make a demonstration in honour of the Pope. The Government disliked and o^^posed it. The people, greatly disappointed, became angry. Happily, Prince Corsini, a Eoman Senator, went to the Quirinal and so arranged matters that the Pope, as a proof of confidence in his people, consented to drive the next day through the city in public, visiting at the same time some of the quarters of the newly -formed civic guard. He received a hearty welcome, but mingled with loud cheers for 102 ITALY. the head of the Church were expressions of dislike for the retrograde party, and yet stronger disapprobation of the police authorities who had opposed the intended demonstration of the preceding day. The people firmly believed that such opposition was offered without the knowledge of the Pope, and consequently cried " Evviva Pio nono solo!'' "Long live Pius IX. only.'' It ap- pears, however, from an account given by the historian Luigi Carlo Farini, a man of very moderate and consti- tutional views, that such was not the case, and that the Pope agreed with his Ministers in disliking, and wish- ing to prevent the proposed demonstration. "While matters were thus proceeding in Pome efforts were being made in Milan and Venice, to stem the tide of Austrian despotism by constitutional means. Giam- battista Nazzari, a member of the central council of Milan, proposed, in December, 1847, the appointment of a commission to examine the causes of the public discontent. The governor did all he could to persuade Nazzari to withdraw his proposal. This he refused to do, as he was only acting within his clear legal rights. He was warmly supported by all classes of his fellow citizens. To the demands, of a very explicit kind, addressed by the Milanese council to the Viennese Government, the Emperor only replied by vague pro- mises. He hoped to gain time, and trusted in the last resort, to the " valour and fidelity of his troops." In Venice Daniele Manin, a well-known citizen of high character, petitioned the central congregation to follow the example set at Milan by Nazzari. On the 30th ^[ILAN' AND VENICE. 103 December, 1847, a petition was very numerously signed by the Venetians, in which, side by side with the name of Manin, appeared that of the eminent poet and writer Niccolo Tommaseo. They justly contended that the constitutive laws given to the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom in 1815, had never been properly applied, that not only must they be put in force but that all the COD sequences contained in their germ must be allowed to bear their natural fruit. For a time the Austrian authorities in Venice hesitated and temporised, for it was no easy matter to confute legally the position thus boldly taken up by Manin and Tommaseo ; but on the 18th January, 1848, an end was put to all discussion by the arrest and imprisonment of these able defenders of their country's rights. They carried with them to their dungeons the unanimous sympathy of all their fellow-citizens in Venice. Austria now put in force her accustomed system of repression. Charles Duke of Parma, who had succeeded to the duchy on the death of Maria Louisa, and Francis V. of Modena, the succes- sor of the cruel and despotic Francis IV., made oflfensive and defensive treaties with Austria, who thus reigned as supremely in those States as in her own Lombardo- Venetian provinces. Her Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Radetzky, not satisfied with repressing liberty in these portions of Italy where his master ruled without let or hindrance, wished the Cabinet of Vienna without delay to impose the emperor's policy on the Gro- vernments of Florence and of Rome, thus isolating that of Turin and forcing it indirectly, if not directly. 104 ITALY. into an attitude in conformity with the wishes of the Imperial Court. That Court rightly judged freedom in other Italian States to he incompatible with despotism in its own Italian provinces ; while freedom in them meant freedom throughout the empire. For it would clearly be impossible to give constitutional liberties to Italian subjects, and withhold them from Grerman and Hungarian subjects. Thus curiously, and indeed justly enough, Austrians could only hold Italians in bondage by maintaining a despotic yoke upon their own necks. Both must be slaves or both free. Happily, to-day (1884), both are free. On the 10th January, 1848, a petition in the name of the Eoman j^eople was presented to the Council of State which (alluding to the Avarlike preparations of Austria, to her repressive policy, and to her dislike of the reforms carried out in E,ome, Florence, and Turin) demanded that the papal army and civic guard should be put in a condition to defend the country. The Council therefore advised the Government to select superior ofl&cers capable of directing the Pontifical forces, and also to request Charles Albert, King of Piedmont, to send experienced military advisers to assist in carry- ing out these plans. This gave great satisfaction throughout the Papal States, as did also the appoint- ment of Prince Grabrielli to be Minister of War, for by this selection a laj^man for the first time took his place among the Ministers of the Papal Cabinet. The Neapolitan Grovernment had refused all con- cessions, and did not conceal its disapprobation of the FEBBINANB OF NAPLES EFFUSES ALL REFOBMS. 105- policy pursued by the Courts of Eome, Florence, and Turin. King Ferdinand II. turned a deaf ear to the advice given him by the representatives of England and France, who, seeing the danger incurred by the refusal to grant any reforms, had urged the ruler of Naples to pursue an opposite course. But it was not possible any longer to conceal the corruption existing in high places, so that at last the king was obliged to dismiss the Minister of the Interior, whose dishonest practices had been exposed by the Roman and Tuscan papers. The popular demonstrations of gratitude for this act were met on the part of the Government by severely repres- sive measures. An edict was put out by the police authorities stating, that " As the cries of long live the king might occasion, revolts they must not be repeated, and, in case they were, those who uttered them would be severely punished." A royal government must, indeed, be trembling at its own shadow when it fears to hear the cry of "long live the king!" Still, up to the very close of the year 1847 demonstrations in Naples and Sicily proved the desire of King Ferdinand's subjects to see him enter on that course of reform which had been adopted by Pope Pius IX., the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, and Charles Albert, King of Pied- mont. When 1848 arrived the agitation in the king- dom of the Two Sicilies had only been increased by the opposition of Ferdinand to any such policy. At last, early in January of that year, the revolution broke out in Palermo, Messina, Catania, and Trapani. In vain did the Count of Aquila, the king's brother, arrive at lOfi ITALY. the capital of Sicily, with vessels of war and 5,000 soldiers, commanded by General de Sauget, to aid in maintaining the royal authorit3^ Four committees, headed by the Marquis Spedalotto, the Prince of Pan- telleria, the Marquis Eudini, and Signor Puggiero .Settimo, divided the work of carrying on the resistance to the Bourbon Government. For several days the fighting continued, until at length the Lieutenant- Governor of Sicily demanded a parley. The General Committee of Public Defence said that it could only make known the universal wish by declaring : " That the peo^^le, having courageously taken up arms, would not lay them down and suspend hostilities until Sicily, united in a general parliament in Palermo, should adapt to the times that constitution to which the king had sworn." The Governor professed himself delighted at knowing the real desires of the Sicilians, and declared he would at once make his majesty acquainted with them. On the 34th January the four committees, in order to give greater unity to their proceedings, elected Puofo-iero Settimo as President of the Government of Do Public Defence. The fighting continued until the royal troops were driven from the interior of Palermo, and were encamped outside with their commander. General de Sauofet. He still held the forts of the Mole of Castellamare and of the Garitta, as well as the strong building which formed the new prisons. But he asked for a suspension of arms, through the mediation of the English and French Admirals, declaring that if granted he would retire from the island. The Government of SICILIAX liEVOLUTION. 107 Euggiero Settimo replied tliat the General must first deliver up the eleven hundred political prisoners who had been imprisoned, and hand over the arsenal, prisons, and fortresses, with their cannons and munitions. While these negotiations were going on the General suddenly, on the night of the 27th January, 1848, abandoned his positions, let loose some 5,000 convicts of the worst description, and retreated from Palermo. He was fol- lowed up, and sustained heavy losses before reaching Castel d'Accia with the remains of the royal forces, and then embarked for Naples during the night of the 30th January, leaving behind him a large number of arms and military accoutrements. By this time the whole island had adhered to the popular cause, and nothing- was left to Ferdinand II. in Sicily except the fortress of Messina. A messenger arrived from Naj^les on the 3rd February, 1848, bearing a decree of amnesty and the promise of a constitution. But these concessions, wrung from the king by dire necessity, arrived too late. The Provisional Government, presided over b}'' Ruggiero Settimo, replied that the Sicilians would not lay down their arms until their ancient constitutional rig-lits, reformed in 1812 under the influence of England, and confirmed by royal decree in December, 181G, were re-established, and a parliament elected which should -adapt the constitution to the necessities of the times. Ferdinand, in the meanwhile, had been seeking to quiet his Neapolitan subjects by issuing, on the 18th Januarj^, 1848, several decrees giving fresh powers to the Council of State and the provincial councils, accord- 108 ITALY. ing an amnesty, and restraining the censorship of the press. But such concessions no longer contented the nation. On the 27th January a great demonstration took place in Naples. The king, finding his own generals and ministers unwilling and unable to under- take a forcible repression of this universal but pacific expression of the national will, was finally obliged to yield. Delcarretto was dismissed from the Ministry and shipped off with all speed to Marseilles, accompanied by the same popular execration which followed the disap- pearance of Monsignor Code. Ferdinand then proceeded to announce that, " having heard the general wish of his very dear subjects to possess the guarantees and the institutions conformable to the actual state of civilisa- tion, we declare it to be our will to agree to these manifest desires by granting a constitution." Thus tho sovereign who had up to the last moment refused every concession, and had not hesitated to repress by force every j)ublic manifestation in favour of reform, was at length obliged to yield, and yielded to force alone. Lord Napier, the English Minister at Naples, writing to Lord Palmerston on 31st January, 1848, says, that the king, in replies to the entreaties of the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian Ministers not to yield to his people's wishes, declaring they would protest against such con- cessions, excused himself by alleging " the irresistible necessity of his position, producing in his own defence a species of declaration of the leading military men that the force at their disposal was not sufficient to preserve the peace in the provinces, nor even to assure the FERDINAND IS FORCED TO GIVE A CONSTITUTION. 109 obedience of the capital." That Ferdinand disliked •constitutional government quite as much as the Met- ternichs or the Nesselrodes ever did, was well known to the courts of Vienna and St. Petersburg-, nor were they deceived by his seeming adhesion to Liberal . principles. The king received with effusive expressions of pleasure the change which had been effected ; indeed, he went so ^ar as to refuse to adopt the Italian tri- colour, saying he " preferred the red cockade, as it was the colour of the heart ! " The Neapolitans were de- lighted at seeing such men as Signor Bozzelli and Baron Poerio enter the new Ministry, for they had both suffered imprisonment and exile for the cause of liberty — II cause which was now so triumphant that Ferdinand II., finding he could no longer repress it, suddenly felt for it such a deep attachment that only " red, the colour of the heart," could express the sincerity of his feelings. On the 10th February, 1848, appeared the royal decree announcing the constitution : — " In the dread name of the most Holy Omnipotent Grod, one and triune, to whom alone it is given to read the depths of the heart, and whom alone we invoke as judge of the purity of our intentions, and of the frank loyalty with which we have deliberated to enter on this new path of. political order, having heard with mature examination our Council of State, we have resolved to proclaim, and now proclaim irrevocably as sanctioned by us, the following constitution." It was certainly not without grave defects, of which one was the refusal of religious liberty. The Catholic Apostolic Roman religion was 110 ITALY. declared to be tlie only religion of the State, " nor was the exercise of any other form of worship ever to be tolerated." Still the representative institutions granted were a great improvement upon the absolutism which had so long oppressed the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Thus solemnly did Ferdinand II. of Naples, like his grandfather, Ferdinand I., pledge himself " irrevocably," as he assured his people, to those constitutional rights which were now inaugurated by words the most sacred. The news of the revolution in Sicily, and of the constitution granted by the King of Naples, was received with great delight by the Piedmontese, Tuscans, and Romans. Genoa and Turin led the way in asking for further reforms. Early in this year (1848), the Genoese had sent a petition to the Government at Turin demand- ing, amongst other things, the expulsion of the Jesuits. A number of the leading journalists of the capital met to consider what course should be taken in the matter. Count Cavour, then one of the principal writers of a paper called the Tlimr(jimento, rose, and proposed as the best course that the king should be petitioned " to transport the discussion from the perilous arena of irregular commotions to the arena of legal, pacific, solemn deliberation." In other words, he desired, with the insight of a real statesman, the substi- tution of lawful parliamentary action in place of the suppression of any alleged evil by arbitrary authority. At the very commencement of February the munici- palities of Turin and Genoa determined, by large majorities, to ask for a representative government. On CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED. Ill the 7th February, Charles Albert, King of Piedmont, called together his Ministers, and, after full deliberation, a royal decree appeared containing the basis of a representative government. On the 4th March was published the Constitution, or Statiito Fondam.entale, as it was called, in conformity with the decree of February. That constitution, while declaring the Roman Catholic faith to be the religion of the State, expressly added that all other forms of worship were to be tolerated. Both Charles Albert and his son and successor, Victor- Emmanuel II., faithfully maintained the constitutional rights thus given throughout all the chequered fortunes of a time which has included the greatest adversity, and the most marvellous success. The news of the granting of the constitution was received with every possible demonstration of delight, both public and private, throughout the kingdom of Piedmont, in town and country alike. The event was celebrated with fes- tivities in Turin and Genoa. It was not less cordially commemorated in quiet villages and retired hamlets. The first constitutional Ministry, composed of high- minded men devoted to the principles of limited monarchy, was presided over by Count Cesare Balbo. Meanwhile, events had been marching on in Tus- cany, where the news from Naples had been received with the utmost satisfaction. On the lltli February, 1848, the Grand Duke, Leopold II., promised his people- representative institutions, which were duly promulgated by the Constitution, or Statuto, of the 17th February. Te Deums, processions, illuminations, testified to the- 112 ITALY. universal satisfaction at tlie step tlms taken by tlie Prince, wlio appeared among his subjects wearing the uniform of a general of the National Gruard. He was received with the most cordial and universal delight by his people. Nowhere did the events which had taken place in Naples and Sicily give greater satisfaction than in the States of the Church. The Eoman municipality invited the people to show their approval, which they did by processions, banners, and music, with loud evvivas for Pius IX., miugled with cries against Austria and the Jesuits. The Pope promised further reforms ; though he did not grant a constitution. On the 12th February, 1848, he formed a Ministry in which no less than three lay- men of high character held portfolios — Count Pasolini, Signor Sturbinetti, and the Prince of Teano (Michele Gaetani). Then a commission was nominated for carry- ing out further changes, adapting them to the nature of the Papal Grovernment and of the times ; but this commission was formed wholly of ecclesiastics. The Government Gazette declared that progress was being made in the elaboration of reforms, and hinted at con- stitutional principles similar to those of other Italian States. Grreat was the public excitement, long were the discussions of the Papal councillors, and varied the labours of the commission. But suddenly arrived the news of the French Revolution of the 24tli February, 1848, and the establishment of the French Republic. The Papal Government, knowing that its subjects CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT IN ROME. 113 desired a constitutional system sucli as had already been conceded to tlie Neapolitans, Piedmontese, and Tuscans — feeling also that additional force had been given to these wishes by what had just occurred in France — determined to grant a constitution to the people of the Roman States. On the 10th March a new Ministry was formed, presided over by Cardinal Antonelli, with Gaetano Recchi as Minister of the Interior, Francesco Sturbinetti as Minister of Grace and Justice, Marco Minghetti as Minister of Pubhc Works, Count Pasolini as Minister of Commerce, Prince Aldobrandini as Minister of War, Cardinal Mezzofanti as Minister of Public Instruction, Doctor Galletti as Minister of Police, and Monsignor Morichini as Minister of Finance. The lay element preponderated in this new Cabinet. On the 14th March was promulgated the Eoman Constitution. It established an Upper Chamber, whose members were nominated for life by the Pope ; a Lower, whose members were to be elected in the proportion of one for every 30,000 inhabitants by a fairly large body of electors. It contained various good j^rovisions for carrying out the work of the new Government, but it contained one provision quite incompatible with repre- sentative institutions. It was especially enacted that, " when both Chambers or Councils (as they were termed) had passed a law, it was to be presented to the Pope and proposed in secret Consistory. The Pontiff, having heard the vote of the Cardinals, gave or with- held his sanction." Thus the College of Cardinals, I Hi ITALY. deliberating in secret, preserved its control over the government of the State. This purely ecclesiastical assembly, with power over ministers, parliament, and laws, may or may not have been necessary in the States of the Church ; but as- suredly such an ecclesiastical body, wielding such a power, was incompatible with any really representative and constitutional regime. However, a trial was to be made of this curious system, and the newly-formed Ministry set itself to the work of carrying out the arduous, if not impossible, task. The Ministers began by putting out a manifesto, in which they declared that they would loyally carry out the Constitution ; look to the due armament of the country ; restore good order to the finances, and unite closely the Roman States to the other constitutional governments of Italy, They appointed General Durando as Commander-in-Chief of the Papal forces, sent troops to the camp at Pesaro, and added the Italian tri-coloured cockade to the Papal standard. But scarcely had these first steps been taken when news arrived of the insurrection at Vienna (13th March, 1848), which drove Prince Metternich into exile. Im- mediately followed the risings in Milan and Venice. These events threw the question of reforms and consti- tutions into the background, while they brought to the front the great problem of national independence. That problem could only be effectually solved by freeing Italy from foreign rule — a deliverance which could be effected by force of arms alone, for there was no hope REVOLUTION IN VIENNA. 115 that Austrian statesmen would yield to any other in- fluence. The Italians knew well that they could never be really free so long as Austria remained encamped on the northern plains of Italy within those great fortresses of the Quadrilateral, from whence the Imperial Grovern- ment virtually dictated its orders to the rulers of the Peninsula. Unless Italy could be delivered from that yoke there could be no lasting security for her inde- pendence or her freedom. CHAPTEE VII. Insurrection of Milan — The Austrians retire from the city — Insurrection of Venice, and re-establiahment of the Republic — The Dukes of Parma and Modena obliged to quit their States— Synapathy of the Romans and Tuscans with the National movement — Ferdinand of Naples forced to support it against Austria — Events in Naples and Sicily — Ferdinand deserts the National cause — Chailes Albert crosses the Ticino and attacks the Aus- trians — The King, after some successes, is finally defeated by Marshal Radetzky — The Pope declares on the 29th April that he will not join in the war against Austria — The vacillation of the Papal Government — Count Pellegrino Rossi becomes the Pope's Minister — The Count assassinated — The Pope quits Rome — Events in Tuscany after the Austrian victories — Mon- tanelli Prime Minister at Florence — Project of an Italian constituent — Sudden flight of the Grand Duke who goes to Gaeta — The reaction gains continued success. The insm-rection of Vienna on 13tli March, 1848, was the signal for that conflict in which the Italians sought to throw off the rule of Austria. The news of the Viennese revolution reached Milan on the 17th. At once its citizens prepared to emancipate themselves. On the morning of the 18th, Count O'Donnell, the Vice- Governor, made known by public proclamation, the Emperor of Austria's determination to convoke on the 3rd July, the central assembly of the Lombardo- Vene- tian kingdom. But during the night a committee had been formed, which included the Mayor Count Casati, Signors Correnti, Borromeo, and Cattaneo, for the furtherance of the national cause. " II mo- mento e venuto," " The time has arrived," were the INSVUREGTION OF MILAN. 117 words wlilcli headed the public announcement calling on the Milanese to demand guarantees for their future liberty. Citizens of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, joined in the movement. They invaded the palace of the Governor, obliging Count O'Donnell, the acting Vice-Governor, to decree the armament of the National Guard, and to declare that he charged the municipality with the security of the city. Marshal Radetzky, however, who commanded the Austrian forces in Milan, determined to oppose the movement, and ordered out the troops. They took possession, after a sharp struggle, of the palace of the Governor, and the residence of the municipal authorities. When the night of the 18th arrived the Marshal was in posses- sion of various strategic points with the object of sup- pressing the insurrection. In the meanwhile the Milanese armed themselves and threw up barricades. Count Casati, the Mayor, liesitated, but already a War Committee, headed by Cattaneo and others, was organising the resistance. On the 19th, Eadetzky summoned the people to lay down their arms and threatened to bombard the town. At once the people recommenced the struggle amidst the clanging of the bells, cries of " Long live Pius IX.," and shouts against the Austrians. Eadetzky had hard work to keep open his communications between the points of the city he had occupied, the citadel, and the different barracks, for the whole population was united against him as one man, and harassed his troops at every turn. Each barricade was defended not only by 118 ITALY. those who held it, hut hy those who filled the neigh- bouring houses and crowded on the roofs. From them every kind of missile descended upon the soldiers. The fighting was vigorously maintained on both sides. On the 20th, the Austrian Marshal was forced to abandon several points ; among others, the Cathedral, or Duomo, from the highest of whose pinnacles now waved the tricoloured flag, proclaiming to all the country how well the citizens of Milan were holding their own. That evening, Radetzky demanded an armistice of fifteen days, during which negotiations were to be carried on ; if not, he would bombard the city. Count Casati, and those who agreed with him, were inclined to treat, but the War Committee, headed by CattaneOj refused ; the foreign consuls protested against any bombardment. Men and youths of every class con- tinued the fighting, manned the barricades and harassed the troops, while all citizens between the ages of twenty and sixty inscribed themselves on the roll calls. The country round was rising, balloons were sent up bearing demands for help, attacks were made upon the gates so as to wrest them from the Austrians and open up direct communication with the neighbouring villages and towns. An envoy from King Charles Albert managed to penetrate into the Lombard capital, and offered help from his master. Count Casati, who had sent Count Arese to Turin to treat with the king, wished at once to proclaim the union of the Lombardo- Venetian provinces with Piedmont ; but Cattaneo and the Eepublican party, who were the most ardent THE AU8TBIANS EVACUATE MILAN. 119 in carrying out the insurrectionary movement, desired only to express their gratitude for the king's offer of assistance without pledging themselves as to the future. When the morning of the 22nd arrived, E-adetzky found himself surrounded by increasing difficulties. His troops were losing ground in the city, the gate Tosa was in the possession of the Milanese, insurgents from the surrounding districts, from Monza, Como, and other places were fast coming to the aid of the Lombard capital. The Austrians who occupied the frontier line of the Ticino, which divides Piedmont from Lombardy, had to retire before the insurrection which was spreading on all sides. The Marshal could get no news of what was going on in the direction of Verona and Venice. He knew well that if Charles Albert should suddenly cross the Ticino the Austrian army, 15,000 strong, would be shut up in Milan without hope of escape. Eadetzky wisely determined to avert such a catastrophe. During the afternoon and evening of the 22nd, he kept up a hot fire, under cover of which he concentrated his troops in and around the citadel. Then, as night set in, he burned a quanity of straw, hay, carts, and useless bag- gage ; by the light of this conflagration he withdrew from the city. Milan was free, but the Austrian army was saved. Such was the result of the five days' struggle in March, 1848, which will ever form a memorable episode in Milanese history. The joy and pride of the citizens at having freed themselves from the yoke of the 120 ITALY. foreigner was great indeed. It was but increased as the news arrived that Monza, Como, Cremona, Brescia, and Bergamo had thrown off the rule of Austria. Her troops had to take refuge vathin the quadrilateral formed by the great fortresses of Pes- chiera, Verona, Legnago and Mantua. At the same time the citizens of Venice were rising against their Austrian masters. The Venetians, em- boldened by the news of the revolution of Vienna, asked for the release of Manin and Tommaseo, who had been imprisoned. While the governor of the city and the president of the court of appeal were hesitating what course to take the prison, was broken open and the two citizens were set free. Manin proceeded to demand of the president of the court of appeal a release in due form, which was given. To the further demand for the formation of a civic guard, the governor, Count Palffy, demurred, saying that application should be made to the viceroy, the Archduke Eegnier ; but he had already quitted Milan and taken refuge in Verona. His whole government was in fact disorganised, and, for the time at least, had nearly ceased to exist. Venice was now in arms ; her citizens barricaded the bridges, manned the housetops, and began to fight against the Croatian troops of Austria. Colonel Marinovitch, the commander of the arsenal, was killed, and the arsenal itself was taken after a vain attempt to defend it by Major Broday, whose Italian troops refused to fire and joined their countrymen. Then once again the cry of "Ev\dva San Marco," rang along the canals and streets TEI] AUSTBIANS EVACUATE VENICE. 121 of the old Queen of the Adriatic, while mingled with it were heard shouts for Manin, for Italy, and for Pio Nono. The Austrian governor, Count Palffy, resigned his powers to the military commander Count Zischy, who, seeing further resistance hopeless, signed a con- vention by which he agreed to leave Venice, taking with him all the foreign troops. The Italian soldiers and sailors, with all the war materiel and the public treasury, remained to strengthen the hands of the new provisional government, at whose head was soon placed, by universal acclamation, Daniele Mahin. The old banner of St. Mark was unfurled in the Piazza in front of the Cathedral, and Venice resumed her ancient inde- pendence. The fortress of Malghera, which commanded the railway into Venice, the citadel of Chioggia, as well as the surrounding islands and lagoons, were now in the hands of the Pepublic. The fortress of Palmanuova in the northern part of the Venetian territory was sur- rendered to the civic guard, while Treviso, Vicenza, Padua, Rovigo, were abandoned by the Austrians, and joined the national movement, Francis V. of Modena, and Charles Duke of Parma, made, when too late, a show of changing their abso- lutist rule ; but they had to leave their States, which were in consequence freed from rulers who were but Austrian lieutenants maintained on Italian soil by mere force of arms. These events aroused the greatest enthusiasm in Piedmont, the Papal States, Tuscany, "and Naples. Por a moment Charles Albert hesitated, then threw himself into the national movement. On 122 ITALY. the 23rd March, 1848, he issued a proclamation in which he promised to go to the assistance of the Lom- bards and Venetians. His troops speedily crossed the frontier, carrying on their standards the shield of Savoy united to the Italian tricolour, and so the war with Austria began. Nowhere did the victories of the Milanese and Vene- tians excite greater sympathy than in Eome. Her citizens longed to help their northern brethren in the work of driving out the foreigner. The Papal Govern- ment decreed the formation of a camp on the northern frontier of the States of the Church. The city was all astir with warlike preparations. On the 24tli March the Roman troops, under the command of General Durando, accompanied by his aides-de-camp the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio and Count Casanova, left for the Po. They were followed on the 26th by the civic guard and volunteers, under Colonel Ferrari. The Pope gave them his blessing ; but he let it be understood that he did so only as defenders of the Eoman frontier in case it was assailed. The people, however, clung to the belief that the Pope, like the great mass of Italians to whatever part of the country they belonged and in whatever class they might be found, desired the war to effect the overthrow of foreign supremacy throughout the Peninsula. The historian, Luigi Carlo Farini, him- self an active member of the Pope's Government, and personally attached to Pius IX., describes the enthusi- asm with which all ranks of the Eoman citizens united to aid by every means in their power the preparations CUABLES ALBERT JOINS THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT. 123- for the struggle, wliicli tlicy regarded as a sacred one on behalf of the independence of Ital3^ He sums up the general feeling in the following words : " Holy then was the war of independence, holy the enthusiasm with which it inspired the people of the Roman State in the spring of 1848, holy the gifts bestowed, and holy the sacrifices made." Not less strong was the feeling of the Tuscans for the same cause. The Grand Duke Leopold, yielding to the universal wish, published a proclamation in which he declared the hour of Italy's complete resurrection had arrived, and that he had given orders for the troops to be ready to march for the frontier. On the 5th of April he issued the following order — " Soldiers ! The holy cause of Italy's independence is being decided to- day on the plains of Lombardy. Already the citizens of Milan have bought with their blood, and by a heroism of which history offers but few examples, their liberties. Already the Piedmontese army goes forth to the great conflict headed by its magnanimous king, under whose command the royal princes are doing battle." The order then goes on to declare that the Tuscans must fly to the help of their Lombard brothers, and concludes with the words: — "Long live the independence of Italy ! " Just as Ferdinand II. of Naples had been compelled by his people to grant constitutional liberties which he hated, so now the force of popular feeling, not only in Naples but throughout Italy, obliged him to join in the w^ar for national independence, which he hated even 124 ITALY. more. The Neapolitans were aroused not less earnestly than the Eomans and Tuscans. At the end of March, 1848, an immense demonstration took place in favour of joining the war against Austria. The king was forced to yield. The Ministry of which Bozzelli had been the ruling spirit resigned. He had proved himself incap- able of directing the Neapolitan Government m its con- stitutional course. His views were narrow — never going beyond the limits of the kingdom so as to embrace that larger Italian question of which the Neapolitan was but a part. He had not completed the necessary measures for calling the Parliament together. The steps he had taken in that direction pointed rather to the idea of forming some kind of representation which the king and his ministers could direct, instead of one which should really represent the feelings of the country. His concessions to the public wishes came always too late, as was specially shown in the difficult and unfortunate differences which had arisen between Naples and Sicil}^ He was, in a word, quite unequal to the situation. A new Ministry was formed on 3rd April, 1848, presided over by Carlo Troia, who, with such men as Luigi Dra- gonetti, Conforti, and a little later Scialoia, were deter- mined to carry out the elections as soon as possible, to unite the forces of Naples to those of Piedmont in the war against Austria, and to combat both the reactionary party and the party of disorder by the practice of con- stitutional freedom. On the 7th April King Ferdinand addressed a proclamation to "his beloved people," in which he said: — " Your king shares with you that lively FERDINAND JOINS THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT. I2r> interest which the Italian cause awakens in all minds, and has determined to contribute to its salvation and victory by all the material forces which our special position in a part of the kingdom places at our disposal. . . . The lot of the common fatherland is being decided in the plains of Lombardy, and every prince and people of the Peninsula is bound to go and take part in the struggle which ought to secure its independence, liberty, glory. . . We intend to help with all our forces by sea and land, with the arsenals and treasures of the nation. Our brothers await us on the field of honour, and we will not be wanting there where we shall have to fight for the great cause of Italian nationality. Union, abnegation, firmness, and the freedom of our most beautiful Italy shall be accomplished. Let this be our only thought ; this generous passion shall banish every other less noble ; twenty-four millions of Italians shall assuredly have a powerful fatherland, a common and most rich patrimony of glory, and an honoured nationality, which shall weigh much in the political balance of the world. (Signed) Ferdinand." To Greneral Gruglielmo Pepe was given the command of the army ; that of the navy to Admiral De Cosa. But Pepe was ordered to await, on the right bank of the Po, for instructions as to what active part he should take in the war. The fleet carried sealed orders to be opened at Ancona. Meanwhile, Charles Albert was assured that the army and fleet of his Neapolitan majesty was sent to co-operate actively in the war for Italian independence, until Italy was freed from 126 ITALY. foreigners. Yet, before that very month of April, 1848, closed, Lord Napier, the English Minister at Naples, wrote home to his Government that the Neapolitan troops were, by orders from Naples, to be formed into a camp of observation on the southern bank of the Po, and that its further movements would depend on the course of events, while the fleet was forbidden to give any aid to Venice. The fact was that the King of Naples himself, despite the remonstrances of his Ministers, kept in his own hands all military affairs. The War-office was lodged in the royal palace, and those in authority there received all orders directly from the sovereign, as if no Cabinet and no Minister of War were in existence. Thus Ferdinand was able to carry out his double-dealing policy in the prosecution of military operations, and to betray that cause of Italian independence which he had publicly promised to aid by all the military and naval power of which he was possessed. On the 15th May the Neapolitan Parliament was to be opened. Two days before, the oath to be taken by its members was published. It imposed upon them all the profession of the Eoman Catholic religion, and a promise to observe the constitution as given by the king on the 10th February. The Deputies, disliking the religious test contained in the oath, and also the implied renunciation of being able to alter the constitution, met in the palace of Monte Oliveto to consider what course to take. They demanded the alteration of the oath ; but the king refused, while the Ministers sought to FERDINAND DESERTS THE NATIONAL CAUSE. 127 bring about an agreement. The people took the part o£ the Dej^nties. Some of the military had been called out, though no Ministerial order had been given to that effect. The king finally gave wa}'' upon the subject of the oath, but refused to order the troops to retire. This aroused suspicion and hostility. The Deputies entreated the Ministers to hasten the opening of the Parliament, but already the troops had used their arms. The Ministers implored the king not to allow the blood of the people to be shed ; but his manner and words were suddenly changed, and with a frown he bid them "Go and look after their own affairs." They resigned their offices, and left the palace amidst the jeers of the courtiers. The Deputies were obliged to disperse. A new Ministry was formed on the 16th May, of which Prince Cariati was President and Bozzelli Minister of the Interior. It at once entered on a reactionary course. It recalled, with the full consent of the king, the arrny sent under General Pepe to aid in the war against Austria, which Ferdinand had declared, in his procla- mation of the 7th April, he would carry on with "all our forces, by sea and land." Great was the conster- nation throughout Italy when this desertion of the national cause became known. Bozzelli, who threw him- self into the arms of the reaction, carried his point in favour of dissolving the Chamber, which had not even met. The suffrage granted with the king's consent on the 3rd April was declared subversive and anarchical ; a new suffrage was hastily compiled, of a less liberal character, and the elections were fixed for the 15th 128 ITALY. June; the new Parliament was to be opened on tlie 1st of July. The elections resulted in the return of the Deputies who had sat in the Parliament which had been dissolved so hastily and unwarrantably. There were also some few changes of a character decidedly adverse to the new Ministry. In the meanwhile, the Sicilian Assembly had decreed the expulsion of the House of Bourbon as unworthy of public con- fidence. Euggiero Settimo, who was honoured and trusted by all parties, was placed at the head of the Provisional Grovernment of Sicily, whose Parliament determined, after full deliberation, to offer the crown of Sicily to the Duke of Genoa, the youngest son of Charles Albert, King of Piedmont. While Ferdinand of Naples was violating his promises and proving faithless to the national cause, Charles Albert was fighting for it at the head of his ti:oops. On the 25th of March they had crossed the Ticino ; on the 29th, the king was at Pavia. Pressing on towards the river Mincio, he attacked the Austrians with success at Goito on the 8th of April, and gained possession of the bridges across the river. His enemies were thus obliged to retire, while he having occupied Valleggio and Monzambano, was master of both banks of the Mincio. Marshal Kadetzky having reinforced the garrisons of Peschiera and Mantua established his head- quarters at Verona, and held the line of the Adige. From that strong position he commanded the ap- proaches of the Tyrol, and waited for the reinforce- ments which were coming to his assistance by way of ADVANCE OF THE PIEDMONTESE. 129 that j)rovince, as well as others which were advancing across the river Isonzo on the north-eastern frontier of Venetia. On the other hand, some 8,000 Tuscans and Modenese arrived to assist the Piedmontese, and took up a position at Governolo, to the south of Mantua. General Durando at the head of the Papal troops crossed tiie Po and marched towards Padua to aid the little Venetian army under General Zucchi in opposing the Austrian forces commanded by General Nugent who had passed the Isonzo. The Neapolitan army under General Pepe v/ould have further strengthened, by 1 G,000 men, the troops of Durando and Zucchi, had not the King of Naples peremptorily ordered his army to desert the national cause and return to Naples. On the 26th April, the Piedmontese crossed the Mincio in force, leaving troops to blockade Peschiera. After various successful encounters with the enemy they attacked him on the 30th at Pastrengo, between the Mincio and the Adige. The battle began at 11 a.m. that day, and after four or five hours' fighting, during which both the Piedmontese and the Austrians displayed great determination, the former proved vic- torious and Charles Albert gained possession of the enemy's position. But though a brave soldier ever ready to head his troops and encourage them by his own example, in which he was admirably seconded by his sons, the Dukes of Savoy and Genoa, he was want- ing in audacity and quickness as a general. Instead of following u]3 his success, he contented himself with occupying the position he had gained without attempt- J 130 ITALY. ing to pursue his retreating foe. It was not until the Ctli of May that the king again attacked the Austrians at the little village of Santa Lucia. After fighting for some three hours, the Piedmontese occupied the ceme- tery, and penetrated to the centre of the village, but Marshal Eadetzky having brought up reinforcements the Piedmontese were repulsed, and towards evening the king ordered them to retire, leaving the Austrians masters of the field. After this Charles Albert re- mained inactive, continuing only the siege of Peschiera, for the success of which he had to await the arrival of heavy guns and troops. Thus time was lost on an opera- tion which could effect but little the issue of the war. Eadetzky now determined to attack in his turn. Plaving matured his plans, he marched from Verona, on the 27th May, towards Mantua with the object of freeing the lower part of the Mincio from the enemy. On the 29th, at Curtatone, the Marshal defeated the Tuscan troops, who offered, however, a brave, though ineffectual, resistance to their assailants. It was here that Gruiseppe Montanelli was wounded and taken prisoner. On the 30th Eadetzky made a determined attack on the Pied- montese at Goito, but was severely repulsed and had to take refuge under the cannons of Mantua, where he learned that the Austrians had been prevented from succouring Peschiera, and that that fortress had had to surrender to Charles .Albert. The latter, however, failed to follow up the opportunity given him by his victory at Goito, and contented himself with doing little else than maintaining his own position. But his STRATEGY OF BADETZKY. 131 adversary, wlio had now close at hand a reinforcement of 10,000 men under Greneral VVelden, determined upon a bold stroke which ended in complete success. On the 3rd June, the Austrian Marshal, having left sufficient forces in and around Verona and Mantua, crossed the Adige at Legnago, and marched witii all speed to Vicenza in his rear, with the object of bringing his in- creased strength to bear on that city, which had, under the command of General Durando and the Pontifical troops repulsed the Austrians under General Nugent. After severe fighting Eadetzky got possession of the heights above Vicenza on the 10th June, and the city was forced to capitulate. Soon followed the occupation of Palmanuova, Treviso and Padua by the Austrians. Eadetzky having thus secured his communications with Vienna, and being reinforced by the troops of Generals Welden and Nugent, returned quickly to Verona, where he found Charles Albert had failed to make any im- pression upon the Austrian lines. The Marshal con- centrated his forces chiefly in and around Verona. The king's arni}^ occupied a long stretch of country extend- ing from the plateau of Eivoli to the neighbourhood of Mantua which Charles Albert hoped to take. Towards the end of July, he sought to complete the investment of that strong fortress. Eadetzky seized the oppor- tunity of attacking the weakest part of the Pied- montese lines with heavy and numerous columns. He took possession on the 23rd of the heights of Custozza, and obliged a portion of the Piedmontese army, under General Sonnaz, to recross the Mincio ■ J 2 132 ITALY. and take up a position on the right bank of the river. On the 24th Charles Albert attacked the Austrians, and after four hours' fighting drove them from Custozza and Sommacampagna. On the 25th the fighting re- commenced by the Piedmontese seeking to gain pos- session of Sona and Monte Vento, thus hoping to possess themselves of all the heights and drive the Austrians down into the plain between the Mincio and Adige, thereby forcing them to take refuge in Verona and Mantua. But Radetzky, who had his troops well in hand, ordered a brigade from Verona to attack the Piedmontese in the flank, while he resisted their attempt on Monte Vento. The battle continued all day, but the final victory remained with the Austrians who retook Custozza and drove the Piedmontese with heavy loss down upon Villafranca. That night Charles Albert began his retreat. He recrossed the Mincio and endeavoured to hold Volta, but Radetzky following up his victory pursued the Piedmontese across the river, and, after a hard struggle, drove them from Volta. The Austrian Marshal throughout the campaign had proved himself a much better general than the king, and now gave further proof of his ability by allowing his defeated foe no repose. On the other hand, the king's two sons, the Dukes of Savoy and Genoa, who ever since the war began had led their respective troops with the utmost courage and devotion, now covered the retreat of their father's army by well directed attacks on their victorious pursuers. It was impossible, however, DEFEAT OF CHARLES ALBERT. 133 to retrieve the fortunes of war. After some four days of fighting, retreat, and pursuit, Charles Albert and the remainder of his army amounting to about 30,000 men arrived at Milan, closely followed by the victorious Austrians. Within the city all was confusion and dis- sension. Lombards and Piedmontese, Republicans and Constitutionalists, were divided and exasperated against each other. Some were for defending the city, others regarded the defence as hopeless. At one time those who felt the most exasperated surrounded the Palazzo Greppi where the king was, and shouted in their anger, "Death to the traitor." The king's troops protected their unfortunate sovereign from danger. There were in truth no traitors within the walls of the distracted city, but only hearts crushed with sorrow or furious with rage at the defeat of Italian independence. Its hour was not yet come. Nothing remained but to sur- render. On the Gth August Charles Albert capitulated, his troops retired from Milan, and Eadetzky again took possession of the city. The king signed an armistice giving up the fortress of Peschiera and recalling all his forces from Venetia, Lombardy, Parma, and Modena. He then returned to his own dominions. The Austrians established a state of siege throughout the whole of the reconquered provinces. A hopeless contest was still maintained for a time in the mountains by the volun- teers under the command of Garibaldi, in whose heart glowed the passionate resolve to resist the foreign op- pressor so long as he held sway in Italy. The courage and devotion of Garibaldi were already securing him the enthusiastic love of his countrymen. 134 ITALY. While this great conflict was going on in Lombardy and Venetia, Ferdinand of Naples and his reactionary Ministers had, as has been narrated, recalled at a most critical moment his army and fleet. General Pepe refused to return and betook himself to Venice where he joined in the defence of that city against the Austrians. Greneral Durando, who commanded the Eoman troops, was hampered throughout his opera- tions by his Grovernment's want of decision. On the 5th April he addressed a proclamation to his soldiers saying the Pope had blessed their arms, " which, united to those of Charles Albert, would move in concord with them to the extermination of the enemies of God and of Italy." But this proclamation by no means pleased the Pope, who complained of its having been issued. It was accordingly announced in the Government Gazette that this order, dated from Bologna, expressed ideas and sentiments not emanating from Pius IX. On the 25th April his Ministers begged him to decide whether or not he would sanction the war of independence, but he still hesitated. On the 29th, without consulting his Ministers, or letting them know what he was about to do, the Pope held a consistory, in which he pro- nounced an allocution declaring he would not join in the war against Austria. This decision was a severe blow to the moderate and constitutional party, while it exasperated the Republicans and strengthened the influence of the extreme revolutionists. From that day Pius IX. lost his influence with his own subjects, and THE POPE'S REFUSAL TO FIGHT AGAINST AUSTRIA. 135 with the whole Italian people. Austria alone rejoiced, and her joy was in itself sufficient to alienate Italians from the Papal policy which gave such satisfaction to their enemies alone. In vain did the Pope seek to mediate between the Emperor of Austria and the King of Piedmont. Pius IX. wrote a letter to the Emperor on the 5th May, 1848, in which the latter was invited " to change into useful relations of friendly neighbour- ship a domination which could not be noble or happy when maintained by the sword ; " this letter further alluded to " the blood-stained efforts against the Italian nation." But such mediation found no acceptance at the hands of Austria. At the same time the Piedmon- tese sovereign felt but little confidence in the well- intentioned efforts of the Pope. That he was sincere in offerino; this mediation is clear from the fact that Pisseldorf, the then Austrian Minister of the Interior, relates that a j^relate, an ambassador from the Pope, came to Vienna, and proposed at this time (May, 1848), to the Austrian Government, to " renounce all its Italian provinces as the only means Austria had of avoiding greater dangers." Such a proposal was not entertained even for a moment at Vienna. But if Austria would not listen to the Pope when advocating a peaceful solution by means of negotiation, of the vexed question of her rule over Italians, assuredly she would not listen to any other mediator. Thus it became clear that force alone could free Italy from Austrian domination. Everything which happened previous to 18.48, and everything which has happened 136 ITALY. since, proves, moreover, that domination to be absolutely incompatible with the freedom and independence of Italy. The real difficulty of the Pope's position lay in the fact that he was both temporal ruler of a portion of the Italian people, and at the same time spiritual head of the whole Roman Catholic Church. This latter office forbade him — at least according to his own conscientious views — to allow his temporal subjects to go to war with Austria. When then they saw this to be the case, and found the utmost concession of the Pope was to allow them to prevent Austria invading the Papal States, they naturally opposed the Pope's temporal policy, and adhered to that which did not hesitate to use force in order to put an end to Austrian rule in the Peninsula. Nor must it be forgotten that, in the long run, it is this latter policy which has won for Italy the victory. After the Papal Allocution of 29th April, 1848, had been made public, the Ministry resigned. It was not possible for such men as Minghetti, Pasolini, and Stur- binetti to sanction a policy which would not allow the Poman troops to unite with their brother Italians in endeavouring to free Italy from foreign domination. A new Ministry was formed, of which Cardinal Ciachi was nominated President ; but as he declined to act, Cardinal Soglia was appointed in his place, with Count Mamiani as Minister of the Interior. The Pope, seeing the displeasure created through- ont the Poman States as well as throughout Italy, by liis allocution, endeavoured to allay such feelings by publicly declaring he did not intend to injure Italy's VACILLATION OF THE PAPAL GOVERNMENT. 137 cause. He sent Signor Farini — an upright and able patriot, who was honestly striving to make Papal supremacy compatible with Italian freedom — to Charles Albert in the following month of May, that an agree- ment might be made between the two sovereigns as to the command of the Papal troops. But the truth was that the Pope became more and more vacillating in the policy he pursued, for his good intentions were power- less to overcome the difficulties created by his double office of temporal prince and spiritual chief. He was desirous of helping the cause of Italy, but was unwilling to break with Austria. He was not wholly averse to constitutional rule, but sought to control it by his College of Cardinals. He wished to nominate ecclesi- astics as provincial governors, and disliked the appoint- ments of his Minister of the Interior, Count Mamiaui, who preferred laymen — at least in many cases. The Ministry sent Count Pepoli as commissary to the camp of General Durando to strengthen the feelings of honour, duty, and discipline among the officers and soldiers ; but at the same time letters from Pome found their way among the military of all ranks, fomenting disorder and division. In a word, two currents were contending against each other in the Papal Government, the one favouring the national cause, the other favouring the reaction. Not a few faults were committed on all sides. It became more and more evident that the Pope and the Ministry'-, of which Count Mamiani was the most important member, were not of one mind. The difficulties inherent in the attempt to combine constitu- 138 ITALY. tional government with ecclesiastical rule became daily more manifest. Such a state of things paralysed the Government ; it lost influence abroad, while at home it had not the force necessary for a due vindication of its authority. The Clerical and the Republican party alike attacked the Ministry, and made more than ever difficult the work of promoting an alliance between Rome, Turin, and Florence, which Vincenzo Gioberti was seeking to bring about. "With this object he had been sent to Rome by the Piedmontese Government. He was in every way a very remarkable m.an, and laboured hard to promote an Italian League between the Tope, Charles Albert, and Leopold the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The public excitement, which was already great, was still further increased when, about the middle of July, news came that the Austrians were approaching Ferrara, and demanded that its fortress should be provisioned at the public expense, and their troops furnished with whatever they wanted. The Papal Governor protested, but was forced to yield. This proceeding of the Austrians produced intense irritation among the Romans, and the Government, with the assent of the Pope, entered a vigorous protest against the action of the Austrian commander. But there were among the Papal entourage those who did not conceal their satis- faction at this act of the foes of Italy. Quickly followed the news of the defeat and retreat of Charles Albert, upon which the Roman Chambers untreated the Pope, on the 1st August, 1848, to allow THE AU8TRIANS IN FEEBABA. 139 them to take active measures for aiding" the national •cause now so gravely imperilled. In reply the Pope asked for time to consider, fearing to be dragged into a war with Austria. But both the Deputies and the public were for the speedy measures alone fitted to meet the emergency which had arisen. On the 3rd August the Ministers, whose position had been rendered untenable, resigned. Cardinal Soglia was reappointed with Count Eabbri as Minister of the Interior. One of its first acts was to protest against the entrance into the Papal States of the Austrian troops commanded by General Welden, and accompanied by a certain dell' Alpi, Avho was one of the foremost leaders of the violent reactionary sect of the Sanfedesti. Welden menaced with death all who opposed him, while the Austrian commander of the fortress of Ferrara de- clared he would bombard the town if the Papal troops were not withdrawn from it. On the Sth August Count Fabbri published by order of the Pope a strong protest against the Austrian in- vasion, and denied General AVelden's insinuation that he was in reality acting in accordance wdth the Pope's wdsh. The Austrian general was not, however, to be repelled by even the most authoritative protest of the Papal Government. His troops encamj)ed close to Bologna, w^hile he himself and his officers went boldly into the city. As might have been expected, the Bolognese and Austrians were, before many hours had expired, engaged in a desperate fight, which ended in the expulsion and retreat of the latter. Marshal 140 ITALY. Radetzky disavowed the action of his lieutenant, and the Austrian troops were withdrawn. After this victory the mass of the Bolognese citizens returned to their usual occupations, but unhappily the turbulent and evil- disposed, to whom a number of violent men from various parts of the country united themselves, committed great disorders and perpetrated many acts of violence, which were not" put an end to until after the lapse of two or three weeks. All these events produced great agitation in Rome itself where a loud demand was raised for a declaration of war against Austria. Count Fabbri and his colleagues proved unequal to cope with all these difficulties. The Count himself asked to be relieved of the burdens of office, and on the IGth September, 1848, the Homaii Gazette announced the formation of a new Ministry, of which the ruling spirit was the well-known and unfortunate Count Pellegrino Eossi. He accepted the post of Minister of the Interior, united for a time to that of Finance. Cardinal Soglia retained the Presi- dency of the Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pellegrino Eossi was a man of high character and ability, but reserved and self-confident. He was not personally popular, though respected. The reactionists disliked his adherence to constitutional principles, the Republicans regarded him as a doctrinaire retrograde. His position was therefore one of no little difficulty. He, however, set earnestly to work, introducing various reforms both of a fiscal and of an administrative kind. He especially desired to realise the formation of an " Italian League." This seemed all the more possible ATTEMPTED FEDERATION OF ITALIAN STATES. 141 because the Government of Turin liad sent the Abbe Rosmiui to cany out the project with Rossi in con- junction with the Government of Tuscany. Rosmini was noted for his ability, liis learning, and his devotion to the Roman Church. Although disliked by the reactionary section of the Court of Rome, he was in favour with Pius IX. and with not a few of the Car- dinals and of the higher ecclesiastics. Rossi sought to establish a perpetual confederation between the Papal States, Tuscany, and Piedmont, and carried on negotia- tions to that effect with Rosmini as Special Envoy from Turin, with the Marquis Pareto the Piedmon- tese Minister, and with Signor Bargagli the Tuscan Minister. A change of Cabinet having occurred in Piedmont the new Ministry exjDressed a wish for a simple alliance offensive and defensive, w^hile the question of Italian independence remained unsolved. Rosmini resigned his post of Special Envoy, and was succeeded by the Coun- cillor De Ferrari. The negotiations were continued, but proved in the end abortive. There were difficulties arising from the Pope's double position of head of his Church and temporal ruler of an Italian State ; there were further difficulties arising from the question as to Avhat should be the limits (as recognised by the con- tracting parties) of the Piedraontese kingdom, for that question included the recognition or non-recognition of Austrian rule in Italy — a rule wholly incompatible with Italian independence and Italian freedom. Unhappily, Rossi published in the Boman Gazette of the 18th 142 ITALY. September, a statement which, while containing un- doubted truths, contained also bitter and unjust reflec- tions on Piedmont and on those whose views, with regard to the difficult questions arising out of Italy's needs and aspirations, differed from the opinions of the Eoman Minister. Rossi thus increased the unpopu- larity which attached to him, while he called forth from Turin severe strictures on the policy and pretensions of the Roman Court and Government. The result was to make more manifest than ever the discord prevailing among the Italian statesmen and governments of those unhappy days. The enemies of Italy alone profited by it and rejoiced over it. The Abbe Rosmini remained in Rome honoured by a large section of the ecclesiastical world, and by the Pope who projDOsed to make him a cardinal ; but Rosmini was not the less bitterly opposed by another section, who disliked his writings on the " Piaghe della Chiesa," " The Wounds of the Church," and especially his advocacy of the election of bishops by the clergy and the people. His publications were attacked as being heterodox, but were pronounced orthodox, and he was named " Consultore,'' or adviser of the Sacred Congre- gation of the Holy Office and Index, whose function is to watch over all publications and condemn those con- sidered unsound. In the meanwhile Rossi continued to carry out the various reforms necessary to the amelioration of the Papal Government. He sought to put the finances of the State on a sound footing, and was supported by the FELLEGBINO ROSSFS ADMINISTRATION. 143 Pope in placing a fair share of burdens on the clergy and on ecclesiastical property. He opened negotiations for the construction of railways, instituted a central office of statistics in the Ministry of Commerce, and gave the administration of hospitals and sanitary regulations to a medical man under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior. He furtlier reor- ganised the tribunals, replacing the cumbersome machinery prevalent in the Roman States, by two grades of jurisdiction with a final court of appeal. Officials and administrators of every class were severely admon- ished, and obliged to perform their work honestly and diligently. All these were good measures, but they nevertheless raised up an increasing number of enemies who disliked the earnest and reforming Minister. He was further exposed to the not less hostile attacks of those who disliked the Papal Grovernment, however much reformed, and whose engrossing thought was the deliverance of Italy from foreign rule. Every act of this latter party which went beyond the bounds of legality was severely repressed by Eossi, whose conduct in this matter incensed against him the party of action. Thus he was hated by the retrogrades who opposed all change, and he was disliked by the advanced party who made demands wholly incompatible with the actual condition of things, especially since the Austrian vic- tories in Lombardy and the triumph of the reaction in Naples under the guidance of Ferdinand II. The more moderate party, however, supported Rossi, as was proved by his election as deputy for Bologna. Still, violent 144 ITALY. passions were at work, and a feeling of great hostility to the Minister undoubtedly existed. Such was the state of things when the Eoman Parliament was opened on the 15tli November, 1848. Rossi had more than once been warned that his life was in danger ; indeed he received such a warning that very morning. A battalion of the civic guard was posted in the piazza of the palace where the Parliament met, but both the piazza and the staircase leading to the chamber were filled with people awaiting the arrival of the Deputies. At the appointed hour Rossi and one of his colleagues, Ringhetti, drove up to the palace in a carriage. Their arrival was the signal for a demonstration hostile to the leading Minister. He nevertheless descended from the carriage and proceeded to mount the staircase, when a sudden stab in the throat from an unknown hand laid him low. He was raised to his feet, but uttered not a word. His eyes closed as he was carried into the apart- ments of Cardinal Grazzoli, which were on the left at the top of the staircase, there, after a few moments, Pellegrino Rossi breathed his last. This foul deed put an end, for many a long day, to the hope of establishing any free government in Rome which had a chance of enduring ; it gave a terrible opportunity both to the extreme party of action, and to the extreme party of reaction ; the first triumphed for a few months, and the latter reaped a victory which endured for some twenty years. But throughout that period the cause of wise and reasonable reform, which alone can avert the dangers of revolution and the curse of despotism, was ASSASSINATION OF liOSSI. 145 paralysed. As the news of the assassination spread the city seemed overwhelmed with terror, though some misguided men rejoiced in the crime. Pius IX., filled with horror at the murder of his Minister, sought the advice of various public men, and finally allowed a Miiiistry to be formed, of which Signor Gralletti was the leading member. The Pope had wished Eosmini to accept the Presidency of the Council, he, however, abso- lutel}^ declined, and his place was taken by Monsignor Muzzarelli. But the Pope had lost confidence in those around him, and became more than ever inclined to leave Eome. On the night of the 24th November, 1848, he quitted the city dressed as a simple priest, and went to Mola di Gaeta, where he took up his residence under the protection and in the territory of King Ferdinand of Naples. The Pontiff was accompanied in his flight by Count Spaur, the Bavarian Minister, and his wife ; they were quickly followed by Cardinal Antonelli and Monsignori Stella and Borromeo. The victories of Austria in Lombardy, and the defeat of the Tuscans with heavy loss at Curtatone, where Montanelli, after being wounded, was made a prisoner, created throughout Tuscany that discontent with the Government, and want of confidence in the Ministers, which ill-success is sure to bring in its train. In Leghorn, especially, there occurred outbreaks and riot- ing, which were not easily appeased. Parties were divided and embittered ; the executive was weak and without influence. In the autumn Montanelli returned to Florence, having been released by the Austrians. K 146 ITALY. He was enthusiastically welcomed, and made Governor of Leghorn, where he was well received. Soon after the Grrand Duke called upon him to form an adminis- tration : this he did in conjunction with Gruerrazzi. They both desired Grino Capponi, so justly esteemed throughout the country, to accept the Presidency of the Council ; but, as he declined the post, Montanelli became President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guerrazzi taking the Ministry of the Interior. The Government thus formed was bent upon calling into existence an Italian Constituent, whose members were to be elected by universal suffrage in each Italian State, and so form an Italian Assembly in which all States of the Peninsula were to be represented, and were to settle questions relating to the deliverance of Italy from foreign rule, as well as those touching the formation of a union, federation, or league among themselves. ■ If all were not ready or willing to join in this project, then those Italian States who were both ready and willing were to do so, leaving the rest to join the Constituent at a future time. On the 10th January, 1849, Leopold, who had given his assent to this project of his Ministers, opened in Florence the Parliament which had just been elected. He was very well received, both by the public and by the Chambers. In that portion of the speech from the throne which touched upon the formation of the proposed Italian Constituent, care was taken to leave the door wide open for any suggestion or proposal which the other Italian Governments might make on the subject. This scheme of an Italian Constituent Assembly, TUSCANY AND THE GRAND DUKE LEOPOLD. 147 to wliicli Tuscany was to send thirty-seven Deputies, was agreed to with great unanimity by the Tuscan Par- liament, and caused much rejoicing in Florence. On the 30th January the Grand Duke went to Siena, where his family was residing. He received on the 7th February his Prime Minister, Montanelli, who, like his colleagues, wished Leopold to return to Florence and take up his usual residence there. The Grrand Duke welcomed his Minister courteously, talked over public matters, said he had not been well, but was feeling better and was about to take a drive, which he proceeded to do after the interview with Montanelli. The drive, however, con- sisted in Leopold's leaving Siena and going with all speed to the port of Santo Stefano, near Orbetello. He left behind him two letters for his Minister. " Signor Presidente," began one of these epistles, " in leaving Siena do not think I entertain the project of abandoning Tuscany, to which I am so much attached." It then went on to recommend his friends and attendants to his Minister's care. In the second letter the Grrand Duke stated that, having had fears lest his adhesion to the project of an Italian Constituent, to which Tuscany was to send Deputies, would bring on him and his people the censures of the Pope, he had written to ask the advice of Pius IX., who had replied from Gaeta that the Grand Ducal fears were well founded. Leopold therefore declared that he could no longer agree to the proposal of an Italian Constituent. When he reached Santo Stefano he put himself in full communication with the Papal and Neapolitan courts. Before the end K 2 148 ITALY. of February he left Tuscany altogether, and took refuge in the dominions of Ferdinand of Naples at Gaeta, where he was received with open arms by that sove- reign, by the Pope, and by their respective courtiers and advisers. Whether an Italian Constituent was, in the then condition of Italy practicable or otherwise, whether it was wise or unwise, desirable or undesirable, were no doubt matters upon which the sincerest patriots might differ ; but to allow such a temporal question to be set aside for fear of incurring the ecclesiastical cen- sures of the Pope was only to give another proof of the incompatibility of constitutional liberties with the pre- tensions of Papal rule. The state of affairs in Italy in the beginning of March, 1849, was fast tending to the complete triumph of that absolutism of which Austria was the mainstay. Lombardy and Venetia, with the exception of Venice, had been reconquered by the Austrian armies against whom Charles Albert and the Piedmontese were power- less, as was soon to be proved on the field of Novara. The reactionary policy of Ferdinand II. was triumphant in Naples, and was soon to be no less triumphant in Sicily. Tuscany and the Papal States, abandoned by their respective rulers, were pressed on one side by the victorious Austrians, and on the other by the leaders of reaction assembled at Gaeta, who were eagerly seeking foreign intervention for the restoration of the Pope and the Grand Duke Leopold. How fully the reactionary party succeeded m carrying out their policy will be shown in the following chapter. CHAPTEE YIII. Negotiations between Piedmont, Franco, England, and Austria — Charles Albert again attacks Austria — His defeat at Novara and abdication, March, 1849 — Tuscany a Eepublic — The people desii-e the retiu-n of the Grand Duke as a constitutional ruler — The Austrians invade Tuscany and restore the Grand Duke as an absolute sovereign — Triumjjh of the reaction in Naples and Sicily — Bombardment of Messina — State of Home after the Pope's departure — Intervention of France — The Roman Republic proclaimed, February, 1849 — General Oudinot's troops repulsed by the Romans — Negotiations — Siege and Fall of Rome, 3rd July, 1849 — Venice alone continues to resist under the rule of Daniel Manin — Vigorous defence of the City — Its fall — Exile of Manin — The triumph of Absolutism thi-oughout Italy. After the defeat of Charles Albert in August, 1848, his Government, of which the Marquis Aliieri di Sos- tegno was President, while respecting the armistice which had been signed, accepted the mediation of England and France in the negotiations which followed between Austria and Piedmont. But the grave question at once arose whether the basis of the negotiations was to be the freedom, in some form at any rate, of the Lombardo- Venetian provinces or their entire subjection, as of old. Austria having been victorious declared that the basis must be the submission of those provinces to her as provided in the treaties of 1815. Piedmont opposed this as incompatible with a lasting peace, accusing Austria of levying heavy contributions on the Lombards who had taken part against her despite the full amnesty promised. The Viennese ISO ITALY. statesmen desired to avoid a rupture of the negotia- tions on account of tlie Hungarian revolution and tbe disturbed condition of the whole Empire ; they therefore finally accepted the proposal of a conference at Brussels, but they were not anxious to hurry matters, desiring rather to prolong discussions and wait on events. In the meanwhile a new Cabinet took office at Turin, of which Yincenzo Gioberti was President, with Rattazzi and Sineo as colleagues. It avowed its belief that Italian independence could not be accom- plished without force, and the Government promised therefore to do its utmost for the restoration of the army to its full strength and efficiency. But Gioberti and his colleagues were in disaccord on the question of whether or not Piedmont should intervene in the affairs of Tuscany and the Roman States. Gioberti desired such an intervention so as to anticipate and prevent that of Austria. He hoped the Grand Duke Leopold would prefer the aid of Piedmont, and would agree to return to Tuscany as a constitutional monarch. He also hojoed the Pope might be induced to adopt a similar hne of conduct. But both Pius IX. and Leopold refused to lend themselves to any such policy; it was, moreover, mistrusted by Gioberti's colleagues, and disliked by the Chambers, the majority of whose members did not believe the policy to have in it the elements of success however good the intentions of its promoter. Gioberti resigned office. His resignation caused bitter discussions in Parliament and violent scenes outside its walls. In the meanwhile the negotiations between England, France, CHARLES ALBERT RENEWS WAR AGAINST AUSTRIA. 151 Austria, and Piedmont, for the conclusion of peace between the two latter powers, dragged on without producing much result. The Piedraontese people and Parliament grew more and more impatient at this delay, and more and more desirous of again appealing to arms. The Cabinet of Turin protested earnestly against a foreign intervention in the Roman and Tuscan States, which was, however, becoming daily more probable. That probability further inclined the king, the Government, and the people of Piedmont, to try again the fortune of war. Both England and France advised Charles Albert not to commit himself to this rash course. He determined, however, to do so, and on the 12th March, 1849, he denounced the armistice. His subjects approved the step. Marshal Eadetzky at once took up the challenge, reminded his soldiers of their past successes, and called on them to follow him again to victory, assuring them that the " struggle would be brief." The old veteran, now some eighty years of age, proved himself a true prophet. His movements were marked by a celerity and precision not often displayed by Austrian generals. He quickly carried the war into Piedmont itself, and on the 23rd March, 1849, gained a complete victory at No vara over Charles Albert, whose army was commanded by the Polish general Chrzanowsk3^ During this brief cam- paign the king and his two sons, the Dukes of Savoy and Genoa, displayed as usual the utmost devotion and courage. Indeed, when the fortunes of war were proving more and more adverse to their arms their 152 ITALY. unfortunate father fairly sought death on the battle- field; but though exposing himself to the utmost he escaped unwounded. So decisive was the defeat that the king abdicated that evening in favour of his eldest son, the Duke of Savoy, hoping thereby to obtain better terms for his country. He went to Oporto, the place he selected for his exile, where a few months after he died. Thus it was that Victor Emmanuel II. of Savoy succeeded his father, Charles Albert, on the throne of Piedmont amidst all the gloom and difficulties with which a terrible defeat could surround his acces- sion. Little, indeed, did either victors or vanquished imagine that he who had thus begun his reign on the disastrous field of Novara, would end it at Eome, recognised by every European Government as the king of a free and united Italy, with the eternal city as its capital. The Austrians being thus victorious, put down rigorousl}^ every effort made to throw off their rule in the Lombardo- Venetian provinces. The most notable effort was the heroic struggle of the citizens of Brescia. Their resistance was prolonged and desperate. More than once the Austrians were driven back from the town. It was only taken after great slaughter and heavy losses on both sides. At length General Haynau carried the place by storm. His victory was sullied by brutal cruelty. He would have done himself and his cause more honour by showing some magnanimity to a courageous foe, whose resistance, however fierce and hopeless, was instigated by the love of country TUSCANY AS A BEPUBLIG. 153 and hatred of her subjection to foreign rule. The conduct of the General only intensified that hatred, and was one of many causes which made it so in- veterate that it was never appeased until Italy was freed from the domination of Austria. In Tuscany changes had been effected with little or no disturbance while the Grand Duke remained at his post, which he quitted, as has been narrated, much against the wishes of his Ministers, Parliament and people. When the news reached Florence that he had really left his country altogether, and had gone off to Gaeta in the dominions of Ferdinand of Naples with whom he thus united himself, great was both the astonishment and the indignation of the Tuscans. Public affairs were thrown into no little confusion by this sud- den abandonment of his post by the head of the State. At first Montanelli, Guerrazzi, and Mazzoni were nomi- nated triumvirs. Then Montanelli went on a mission to Paris. The chief power fell to Guerrazzi, but so many were the diversities of opinion (aggravated by disturbances at Leghorn) that it was impossible to esta- blish a durable government and maintain due order in the country. The Grand Duke was invited to come back and was assured that nothing was, or ever had been, wanted of him except that he should reign as a con- stitutional prince. There was, indeed, nothing to pre- vent his return. He would have been well received by the Tuscans. They had never wished him to leave Florence for Siena, still less had they desired him to leave the latter town for Santo Stefano ; on the contrary, they 154 - ITALY. only desired liis re-establisliment in Florence, tliere ta rule as a constitutional monarch with Montanelli as his Prime Minister. His final departure for Gaeta filled them with indignation and brought on a revolution which forced upon Tuscany a temporary and unstable Eepublic. Leopold replied only by vague promises to the overtures made him to return to his Grand Duchy. He made no attempt to leave Gaeta, nor did he take any steps to prevent the now threatened invasion of Tuscany by the Austrians. That invasion restored indeed the Grand Duke, but such a restoration, effected by such means, alienated for ever the hearts of his people. The soldiers of Austria marched into Tuscany, put down by force the resistance of Leghorn, and occupied Florence before the end of May, 1849. Leopold nominated from Gaeta a Ministry which ruled by means of this foreign force. Not long after the constitution was wholly set aside. The Grand Duke returned to Tuscany, where he was sustained on his throne by an Austrian garrison. The reaction which was thus triumphant in North- ern Italy and Tuscany was not less so in Naples. As has been previously narrated the Parliament having been forcibly dispersed in the middle of May, 1848, the electoral colleges of the Neapolitan kingdom were convoked again for the 15th June. The result of the fresh elections was not only the re-election of those who had been thus illegally treated, but also of others equally opposed to the reactionary policy of King Ferdinand and his Minister Bozzelli. The new Chamber met on the 1st July. Carlo Poerio exposed the cruelties per- THE FxEAGTION IN NAPLES. 155 petratccl in suppressing the risings in Calabria, wliich had been excited by the illegal violence offered to the chamber in May. Signor Massari, another of the De- puties, eloquently demanded that the Neapolitan forces should be used to further the cause of Italian inde- pendence ; especially did he do so on the 3rd August, 1848, when the news arrived of the defeat of Charles Albert and his retreat i'roni the Mincio to Milan. The Chamber earnestly supported both these members, and those who, like them, demanded the honest application of constitutional principles in the Neapolitan kingdom, and the energetic support of Italian freedom as against the absolutism of Austria. The Government, fortified by the royal favoui* and the victories of Radetzky, oj)- posed any such course. The Ministers were sometimes arrogant, contemptuous, and bitter, at other times they simply absented themselves from the Chamber. On the 5tli September a royal decree prorogued the house until the 30th November. Bozzelli became Minister of Public Instruction, resigning the more important post of Minister of the Interior to Eaffaele Longobardi, a pupil of the cruel and tyrannical ministers of former days, Canosa and Del Carre tto. When the 28tli November arrived the Parliament was further prorogued without any reason to the 1st of February, 1849. In the mean- while the arms which King Ferdinand refused to em- ploy in aiding the cause of Italian independence he used in putting an end to the liberties of Sicily. Euggiero Settimo W'as still at the head of its Government. His high character commanded universal respect and rallied 156 ITALY. around him men of wortli and probity. Ferdinand and his Ministers, inspired by absolutism and contemptuous of Parliamentary control, determined to subdue Sicily by force of arms and to overthrow the constitutional rights of its people. How real those rights were may be gathered from the fact that in the early part of 1849 the Dulve of Wellington stated in the House of Lords that " Ferdinand I. had expressly declared in the Congress of Vienna that he would respect the ancient Sicilian liberties." On the 1st September, 1848, an expedition was sent against Messina. On the 3rd the Neapolitan forces attempted to land and take the city, but were repulsed. The city was then bombarded by the fleet, again attacked, and finally taken. But its fall was accompanied by such atrocious proceedings on the part of the victors that Europe rang with the horrors committed. Lord Temple, the English Minister at Naples, addressed a note to the Prince Cariati, the Neapolitan Minister of Foreign Affairs, which declared : " The barbarities inflicted on Messina so disgusted the French and English admirals that they could not remain passive spectators of such scenes." Lord Temple further told his own Government that the French .admiral Baudin declared that his personal observation made it evident to him that the chief destruction of life and property did not take place with the objects of legitimate war, but " with intent to exterminate the inhabitants, burn their houses, and probably also strike terror into the populations of other cities." On the «5rd February, 1849, Lord Lansdowne confirmed the REACTION IN SICILY AND NAPLES. 157 truth of tlie horrible accounts received by citing the ocular testimony of " our English officers." The corre- spondents of English and French newspapers declared these reports to have been, in their belief, under-stated rather than exaggerated. The joy of the Neapolitan Court at the fall of Mes- sina was damped by the news of the insurrection of Vienna in October, 184S. As usual in moments of fear, promises began to be made of a return to constitu- tional proceedings. But when the Viennese had been put down, and Gaeta had become the head-quarters of successful reaction, the Parliament which had been prorogued until the 30th November, was, a few days before that date, further prorogued until 1st February, 1849. After the fall of Messina, Palermo still refused to submit to King Ferdinand, who had earned for himself the nickname of King Bomba. The Sicilian Parliament assembled in that city demanded complete separation from the rule of the Neapolitan Bourbons, and desired the Duke of Genoa, second son of Charles Albert, as their king. But the defeats sustained by the Piedmontese armies, the victories of Austria, the bom- bardment and sack of Messina, rendered such a settle- ment hopeless. The battle of No vara, on the 23rd March, 1849, put an end to all such projects. After some fighting and much negotiation, during which King Ferdinand's position was continually strengthened by the course of events, Palermo surrendered to the forces of the Neapolitan sovereign, and his authority was re-established on the 15th May, 1849. 168 ITALY. The Parliament of Naples had heen allowed to meet on the 1st February of that 3- ear. During the next six weeks it continued to use every means of the most moderate and constitutional kind to induce the king and his councillors to act in accordance with the repre- sentatives of the nation, and with the princij^les of constitutional government. But Ferdinand, his Court, a,nd his Ministers contemptuously rejected all such over- tures, and finally, on the 14th March, 1849, the Parlia- ment was dissolved by order of the king, one of whose Ministers, Prince Torella, came with an armed force which carried out the decree of dissolution by expelling the Deputies. Thus ended all the promises of this Neapolitan Bourbon touching representative institu- tions and Italian independence. He resumed his abso- lutist sway, rejoiced at the overthrow of that Italian liberty which he had promised to aid " by all his forces by sea and land," and became one of the firmest supporters of Austrian influence and despotism. How Ferdinand's suppression of constitutional liberty was signalised and secured shall be recorded in the words of the Italian historian, Luigi Farini : — "Naples was the prey of furious rage ; whoever was known for his love of Italy and fidelity to the constitution, ministers, senators, deputies, magistrates, priests, w^ere either obliged to find refuge on board foreign ships from the snares of spies (sgherri), and so seek safety in exile, or afflicted with every kind of moral and physical evil were thrown into prisons with murderers (scherani) ; whoever was irksome to the infamous swarm of spies ROME AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF PIUS IX. 159 iind false witnesses who headed the police, was the object of accusation and of inquisition ; some were calumniated from private revenge, and some for gold ; there was no guarantee for civic right, no legal check, no shame in the Grovernmcnt, nothing but insolent tyranny." But an account must now be given of the events which occurred in Rome after Pius IX.'s flight from the city on the night of the 24th November, 184S. • Just before quitting the Quirinal Palace the Pontiff gave to the Marquis Sacchetti, his Maggiordomo, a letter for the chief Minister of the Grovernment, Signor Gralletti. In it the latter and his colleagues were in- formed of the Pope's departure, and were entreated to watch over those who were in the Papal service, being, as ih.ej were, wholly ignorant of the Pope's intentions and consequent departure. The letter further recom- mended the preservation of order in the capital. . This letter was dated 24th November, 1848. When it was known that the Pope had left Rome the excitement was great. The extreme party seized the occasion for pro- moting their own ends. The task of the Grovernment was made more difficult than ever. The Ministers were strengthened by Count Mamiani accepting office with Galletti, Muzzarelli, Sturbini, and Campello. They laboured with the Upper Chamber and the Lower Chamber in the work of maintaining order and carrying on the government. They drew out a project for the convocation of an Italian Constituent Assembly. What- ever may be said for or against their particular scheme, 160 ITALY. or that of the Tuscan or Piedmontese statesmen, all such projects clearly proved that, despite errors and difficulties, these men were one and all earnestly desirous of arranging the affairs of Italy by a fair consensus of Italian opinion in an assembly in which each Italian State should have its proper share. But, with the ex- ception of Charles Albert and his son, Victor Emmanuel, the Italian princes deserted the national cause, and relegated the decision of what should or should not be the condition of Italy to the will and armies of foreign potentates. The Pope, by a brief dated the 27th November from Gaeta, protested against all that was being done in Pome, and nominated, without their knowledge or consent, persons to carry on the Poman government. They, however, only complained of the task thrown upon them without their having been consulted, and did nothing. The Parliament of Pome replied by declaring its confidence in the actual Ministers, and so confirmed them in their offices. The two Chambers, in accord also with the Municipality of Pome, nominated a deputation composed of men of moderate views to wait on the Pope at Gaeta, and endeavour by conciliatory proj)Osals to induce him to return to Pome, or at least to nominate a really effective executive to exercise the sovereign authority in his name and in conformity with coustitutional principles. But this deputation was not even allowed to cross the Neapolitan frontier. Its members then wrote to Cardinal Antonelli, the Pope's chief adviser, asking to be allowed to present themselves to Pius IX., but they INTERVENTION OF FRANCE. IGl were told that such a request could not be granted. The Parliament, finding all its efforts at conciliation fail, named a supreme commission of three persons — Prince Corsini, Signor Zucchi, and Count Camerata — who should exercise all the powers of the head of the State, as by statute determined, in accordance with constitutional principles and in conjunction with Ministers possessing the confidence of Parliament. But there now occurred an event which introduced a new element into Roman affairs and changed the whole aspect of pending questions. On the 28th November, 1848, General Cavaignac, then President of the French Republic, said his Grovernment was determined to send an expedition of 3,500 men to Civita Vecchia to protect the Pope. On the 8th December the Roman Ministry, with the entire approbation of the Chambers, entered a vigorous protest against such a course, and in a State paper of no little ability combated the project of any such intervention on the part of the French. The Pope and his councillors not only took no steps to prevent foreign intervention in the Roman or Tuscan States, but were actively carrying on negotiations as to what form such intervention should take ^and what foreign Powers should have a share in it. The constitutional party in Rome, who still desired to retain the Pope as the constitutional head of a constitutional temporal government, were further embarrassed by the absence of any allusion to such a form of government in the public documents emanating from Graeta with the Pope's authority. At the same time the Pontiff con- I. 102 ITALY. demned the supreme commission formed in Eome which the constitutional party had hoped would act as a means of staving off extreme counsels and prepare the way, or at least leave it open, for the peaceable restoration of the Pope as a constitutional ruler. But the breach between him and his subjects was becoming ever wider. His position at Gaeta under the protection of Ferdinand II., who had violated all his promises, and the threatened interference of the French, only increased the gulf which separated Pius IX. from his people. The more extreme 2)arty gained the upper hand in Rome as a consequence of these circumstances. Mamiani and the other Ministers resigned. It was now determined to elect a Roman Constituent Assembly, charged with the defence of the State against foreign interference and with the main- tenance of Roman independence. On the 1st January, 1849, appeared a Papal brief forbidding the people to take part in such an election. This was another blow to the moderate party, who found in the brief " no mention of the Statuto or Constitution — no promises to maintain the liberties already given." At the same time, the Papal prohibition led many men of moderate views to abstain from taking part in the election. The natural result was the triumph of the partisans of extreme measures. On the 5th February, 1849, the newly-elected Roman Constituent met, and after two or three debates a decree was carried by a large majority which declared : — " 1 . The Papacy is fallen in fact, and in right from the temporal government of the Roman State." ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROMAN BEPUBLIC 163 " 2. The Eoman Pontiff shall have all necessary guarantees for the independent exercise of his spiritual power." "3. The form of government in the Roman State shall be a pure democracy, and shall take the glorious name of the Eoman Eepublic." "4. The Roman Republic shall have such relations with the rest of Italy as the common nationality de- mands." Thus was consummated the triumph of the Repub- lican party — a triumph by no means displeasing to the reactionists. They rightly believed it would hasten and insure the foreign intervention they desired, while the Republicans fondly imagined it would not take place. The supporters of despotism, who hated constitutional freedom, believed also that the restoration thns effected w^ould be that of a Papal temporal power of the absolutist type. They were right in their conjecture, but they did not foresee that such a restoration, carried out by such means, would be the death-warrant of that temporal power. It would then rest only on the force of foreign armSj and when deprived of their support it would surely fall. The new Roman Constituent Assembly determined to govern by means of an executive committee com- posed of three irremovable magistrates. It chose for this purpose Signors Armellini, Montecchi, and Saliceti. They were men of high character, and deserved the general esteem in which they were held. The Ministers Muzzarelli, Sterbini, and Campello, remained in office. Aurelio Saffi became Minister of the Interior, and L 2 164 ITALY. Eusconi Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Grovernment put out a manifesto wliicli was moderate in tone, and made an appeal to tolerance and concord. In tlie Con- stituent Assembly, Mazzini, who had been elected a member, was received with marked honour as one who, from his earliest days, had propagated with wonderful effect throughout Italy the idea of unity and freedom. There too sat Giuseppe Garibaldi who had fought for that cause, and continued to the last to fight for it with a pure and single-hearted devotion never quenched by years of defeat, nor tarnished by injustice or self- seeking in the hour of victory. When the news reached Eome that Piedmont had again declared war against Austria, early in March, 1849, the Roman Assembly at once put forth a spirited proclamation, calling upon all its citizens and all Italians to unite against the common foe. "When, only too soon, arrived the news of the defeat of the Piedmontese at Novara, the Eoman Assembly declared itself more than ever determined to stand or fall by the cause of Italian independence. With this object the Assembly determined to concentrate its executive power in the hands of a triumvirate composed of Mazzini, Saffi, and Armellini, with full authority to use every means for the prosecution of the war and for the salvation of Eome from foreign rule. But very different were the feelings of the re- actionists assembled at Gaeta around King Ferdinand of Naples, the Pope, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. When the news came that hostilities had been renewed NEGOTIATIONS CONCERNING ROME. 165 by Charles Albert against Austria tliey trembled lest an Italian victory should frustrate their hopes, and then openly rejoiced as they learned that Eadetzky had been victorious. More than ever was it determined to restore by foreign intervention, the Pope and the Grand Duke, not only without their being bound to maintain the constitutional rights given to their people, but also with a full determination that such rights should be for ever set aside. This evil course was firmly opposed, though in vain, by the representative of France, the Marquis d'Harcourt. He foresaw, as did wise friends of Pius IX. like Eosmini and Montanari, the evil consequences that would surely fall on the temporal power if it were restored to its old absolutist rule by the strong arm of any foreign power in opposition to the wishes of the Roman people. At length the French Minister de- clared he would proceed no further with negotiations until he had consulted afresh his Grovernment. In the meanwhile the new Roman triumvirate, the Ministers, and the Assembly, laboured hard to prepare for the defence of the country against foreign invasion. They framed a constitution and drew up an able protest, especially addressed to the Parliaments of France and England, against any attempt to force upon the Roman people a temporal rule which they disliked and which was incompatible with free institutions. The French Government was in no little perplexity what course to pursue, for it was becoming quite clear that if France did not intervene, Austria and Spain would certainly do so. The course finally adopted at Paris was that of 166 ITALY. sending 8,000 men under General Oudinot to Civita Vecchia, declaring at the same time that France would not impose any particular government on the Eomans, and expressing a desire that the Pope should, on his part, publish " a manifesto which, guaranteeing to his people liberal institutions conformable to their wishes and to the necessities of the times, would render all resistance impossible." M. Odillon Barrot, who was at the time the Prime Minister of the newly-elected President, Louis Napoleon, declared that France did not "go to Italy to impose a government on the Italians, whether Eepub- lican or of any other kind." Many members, however, of the French Assembly, saw that France, if she went to Italy at all, would find herself obliged to sujDport by arms either the Eoman Republic or the restoration of the Pope ; and they rightly believed that circumstances would in the end compel France to support the latter, so that the French Republic would be found destroying the Roman RepubHc and compelling its people to submit to an absolutist temporal rule. These French deputies, who thus so justly forecast what was com- ing, warmly opposed sending any expedition at all. They were, however, beaten in the Assembly by a vote of 325 in favour of the expedition against 283 as opposed to it. Throughout the negotiations, debates, despatches, orders, and speeches, touching this inter- vention of France in Italy, nothing comes out more clearly than the contradictory and illogical aims of French policy. It ended practically in bringing about what the very men who directed that policy expressly REPULSE OF GENERAL OUDINOT, 167 disliked, namely, the restoration of the Papal temporal power in the fulness of its old absolutism. While such was the unhappy course pursued by those at the head of the French Republic, the rulers and people alike of the Eoman Republic pursued a course as clear as it was consistent and courageous. However willing to do all they could to avert by negotiation any conflict between themselves and the French Republic, they were determined that they would oppose by force both Republican France and Imperialist Austria if either or both attempted to force back upon them the temporal power of the Pope. In vain did Greneral Oudinot threaten and cajole, now writing or saying something favourable to reaction, and now something favourable to freedom. The Roman Grovernment re- mained firm. Then the French general marched on the Eternal City, and after seven hours' fighting, on the 30th April, 1849, he was defeated and forced to retire. Many French soldiers were taken prisoners. They were treated with the greatest care and kindness. Not a few of them declared they had been deceived, having been led to believe that they were sent to Rome as friends and liberators, not as enemies and oppressors of the Romans. After a short time all those who had been taken prisoners, who were able to move, were set at liberty, and were accompanied to the gates of the city with marks of kindness and goodwill on the part of the Roman people. On the 7th May, 1849, the Austrians prepared to attack Bologna; but though their forces were very 168 ITALY. superior to those of their enemies, it was not until the 1 5th that Bologna surrendered, after much hard fighting and when further resistance was hopeless. Nor were the Austrians less warmly opposed at Ancona, which held them at bay for some three weeks. Ferdinand of Naples had taken the opportunity of invading the Roman States from the south, and got as far as Albano, but finding he was likely to be seriously attacked by forces from Rome under Eoselli and Garibaldi, the king retreated to Ariccia, and then to Velletri. At a mile from this latter place the royal troops attacked with superior numbers a portion of the little Eoman army, but were driven back with loss into the town. It was assaulted by the Eomans, but night put an end to the fighting. The next day the Roman troops entered the town without opposition, the royal forces having precipitately retreated with the king in the course of the night. So ended the campaign of Ferdinand II. of Naples. The news of General Oudinot's repulse before Eome caused an exciting debate in the French Assembly. The Government was severely taken to task for the course it had pursued. When the Minister of Foreign Affairs read the orders which had been sent to the commander of the Eoman expedition, voices were heard crying out : " It is an infamy ! You have betrayed us ! You promised that the Eoman Eepublic should be neither combated nor defended, and you have attacked it -per- fidiously ! " A motion was carried by 328 votes against 241 in accordance with the views of the commission named by the Assembly to look into the conduct of_the M. BE LESSEPS SENT AS ENVOY TO ROME. 1(J9 Grovernment. The words of the motion were : " The National Assembly invites the Government to take without delay the necessary measures to prevent the Italian expedition being turned away from the object assigned to it." The result was hailed with loud cries of " Vive la Eepublique ! " The Ministers accepted the part assigned to them, and sent M. de Lesseps to Rome armed with full powers. There was much negotiation carried on between him, General Oudinot (the com- mander of the expedition), the French representatives at Gaeta, and the Roman Government. M. de Lesseps and General Oudinot did not take the same view, or were at any rate often of different opinions ; but at length, various difficulties having been overcome, M. de Lesseps went to Rome on the 31st May, 1849, and arranged, as the accredited representative of France, the following stipulations, which received the approval of the Roman Government and Assembly : — "1. The help of France is guaranteed to the popu- lations of the Roman States. They consider the French army to be a friendly army, which comes to aid in the defence of their territory. " 2. In accord with the Roman Government, and "without mixmg itself up in any way Avith the govern- ment of the country, the French army will take such exterior quarters as may be convenient as well for the defence of the country as for the health of the troops. Communications shall be free. " 3. The French Republic guarantees against all foreign invasion the territories occupied by its troops. 170 ITALY. "4. It is agreed that the present compromise must be subjected to the ratification of the French Eepublic. " 5. In no case can the effects of the present agree- ment cease until fifteen days after the communication of the non-arrival of the ratification." General Oudinot, however, absolutely refused to agree to, or to be bound by, these stipulations, entered int6 by the representative of France. M. de Lesseps wrote on the 1st June to the Eoman Government de- claring that he maintained the stipulations which he had signed. He further wrote an able letter to the General, giving good reasons for the course he had taken as the Envoy Extraordinary of the French Eepublic. This disaccord only too faithfully repre- sented the state of things in France, where a battle w^as going on between those who honestly wished to prevent anything like compulsion being used to oblige the Eomans to adopt a temporal government they dis- liked, and those, on the other hand, who desired at all costs the restoration of the Papal temporal rule. This latter party was fast gaining the ascendancy in the councils of those who now wielded the destinies of France ; it had gained also a majority in the new Legis- lative Assembly just chosen in the recent elections. The result was that M. de Lesseps was censured, his wise and just policy was reversed, and General Oudinot was ordered to attack Eome. The reactionists in France, and the reactionists assembled at Gaeta under the pro- tection of King Ferdinand of Naples, triumphed. Eome was now regularly besieged by a French army of 35,000 FALL OF ROME. 171 men, Avith sixty cannons, nicany of wliicli were of heavy calibre. The Italians numbered 19,000 men in all — infantry, volunteers, and national guard. They had 100 cannons, but only eleven of them were heavy guns. There were but 350 foreigners in this force, and no more than 1,800 Italians who were not citizens of the Eoman States. The siege lasted a month, during which there was many a hardly contested fight. The final attack and defence was prolonged and severe. It resulted in the victory of the trained soldiers of France, who entered Eome on the 3rd July, 1849. Garibaldi had himself admitted that further resistance was hopeless. On the day preceding the entry of the French he left the city, accompanied by 4,000 men, to whom the intrepid captain addressed these words : " I can only offer you hunger and ■dansrer, the earth for a bed and the warmth of the sun for refreshment, but let whosoever does not even now despair of the fortunes of Italy follow me ! " Amidst the acclamations of the assembled people these noble patriots went forth to meet danger, exile, and death. So fell Rome ; her soldiers fighting to the last extremity; her people vying with each other in maintaining the glorious but unequal struggle ; her rulers firmly rejecting every dishonourable compromise or proposal, and as firmly declaring that Italians, and Italians only, had a right to decide what should or should not be the government under which they would live. Assuredly such men are rightly held to have deserved well of their country. Alone amidst her lagoons Venice, under the com- mand of as pure and noble a chief as ever ruled a free 172 ITALY. people, still preserved her independence and maintained tlie struggle against Austria. It lias already been briefly told how the old queen of tlie Adriatic tlirew off the yoke of the foreigner and regained the freedom of which she had been robbed, first by Bonaparte in 1797, and again by the Legitimist sovereigns in 1815. On the 24th March, 1848, the Venetians, with one consent, proclaimed Daniel Manin president of the Venetian Eepublic, and the ancient banner of the lion of St. Mark was again unfurled. The new ruler and his colleagues at once took steps both for the internal government of the city and its outlying forts and islands, as well as for their defence against foreign foes. Soldiers, sailors, civic guards, and police were enrolled and drilled. A corps of engineers and artillery- men were formed. The public treasury, and the pro- visioning of the city were among the earliest cares of the new Government. An incident which occurred only a few days after Manin was named chief of the State well depicts his character. News had reached Venice of ill-treatment inflicted in Trieste upon some Venetian sailors who were in that town. Irritated by such pro- ceedings towards their countrymen, a large number of people assembled on the piazzetta of St. Mark and de- manded that reprisals should be made on an Austrian Lloyd steamer which had just arrived at Venice. The owners of the vessel had, with the consent of the newly-formed Government, determined to continue their usual sea service along the Adriatic coast. When Manin heard what the peoxDle who had assembled MANIN AS RULER OF VENICE. 173 wished to do, he forthwith presented himself to the angry crowds and addressed them. The steamer, he said, had come into Venice under the guarantee of the Government, and nothing woukl induce him to fail in maintaining that guarantee. He was willing to abandon the power confided to him by the people, but so long as he wielded it he would be as resolute to maintain the rights of others as he had been to over- throw a powerful foe. The multitude dispersed amidst shouts of " Long live Manin," and the steamer was left unmolested to carry on her usual work. The next m.orning appeared a proclamation signed by Manin and Tommaseo. " We have not," it ran, " assumed the cares, the labours, the fearful responsibilities of government to lose the dignity we had preserved in private life, and in times of difficulty. Citizens, take from us at once your confidence, or else show respect to yourselves by respecting those who govern you." Such was the manner in which Manin ruled the Venetian people whom he deeply loved but would not flatter. They responded by unfailing devotion and obedience despite difficulties and hardships of no ordinary kind, which their chosen leader shared with them to the last. He did well in appealing to the " dignity preserved in private life ; " for he was not one whose great public services were tarnished by licentiousness in everyday conduct. On the contrary, he added to the high qualities of patriotism and statesmanship the unsullied purity with which Christian teaching bids men adorn the sacred duties of husband, relative, and friend. 174 ITALY. In the earlier stages of the conflict for national in- dependence, Manin was able to extend a helping hand to those who were striving to deliver the northern part of Italy, situated between the Isonzo and the Adige, from the armies of Austria, while he prepared with the utmost diligence for the defence of his native Venice. He heard with delight of Eadetzky being forced to abandon Milan, and retreat to Verona and Mantua ; still more welcome was the news that Charles Albert had established himself on both banks of the Mincio. AVhile the faulty generalship of the king failed to turn his advantages to the best account and to follow them up promptly, Manin was doing all he could to help General Durando and his Eoman troops; seeking thus to aid the national cause, and counteract the able strategy of Eadetzky. While Durando was hampered by the vacillating course of the Pope, and by his famous En- cyclic of the 23rd April, 1848, in which he repudiated the idea of joining in the war against Austria ; while Ferdinand of Naples was ordering his commanders by land and sea to take no offensive steps in the prosecution of the war in Northern Italy without further orders, and then recalled both army and fleet ; Manin, not content with preparing for the defence of Venice, sent what aid he could] for the protection of the Venetian territory. He saw the great importance of preventing, if possible, the junction of Greneral Nugent's forces cominc from the Isonzo with those of Marshal Ea- detzky on the Adige, to say nothing of others approach- ing from the Tyrol under the command of General EFFORTS TO SAVE THE PBOVINGE OF VENETIA. 175 Welden. On the 21st April, 1848, Manin and Tommaseo accompanied Gfeneral Antonini and 1,000 men to aid in protecting the town of Vicenza against General Nugent. After a day's fighting, during which General Durando and some of his Roman troops arrived in time to take part in the action, the enemy were forced to retreat. The next morning, Manin returned to Venice with his friend and colleague, Tommaseo. A month afterwards, on the 23rd May, Generals Nugent and La Tour and Taxis again assailed Vicenza with 42 cannons and 16,000 men, but General Durando with his Eoman and Venetian forces united to those of Vicenza itself, again drove back the assailants, and obliged them to retreat. At length, on the 10th June, Marshal Radetzky united his forces to those of General Nugent, and with 40,000 men and 118 cannon attacked the heights commanding the town. General Durando, who had not half that number of troops, fought with skill and courage, but he was finally beaten after a murderous struggle which lasted eighteen hours. The fall of Vicenza entailed that of the province of Venetia. For after the defeat of Durando and the recall of the Neapolitan army, there was no means of preventing Padua, Treviso, and other places falling into the power of Austria. Besides which, Marshal Ea- detzky had received further reinforcements, by way of the Tyrol, under General Welden. The Austrians were therefore complete masters of all the communications in their rear. Manin had at the commencement of this struggle 17G ITALY. sent Signer Paleocapa to the camp of Charles Albert to assure him that the Venetians would do all they could in prosecuting the war of independence. The Venetian envoy further told the king that there was no wish in Venice to prejudge the question as to what form Italian liberty should take when once secured ; that must be decided afterwards by the Italians themselves. Manin, though a Republican by conviction, had no wish to impose that kind of free government on Italy at all costs. He had, indeed, proclaimed the Republic in Venice, rightly judging it to be what the Venetians would, by taste and tradition, most generally welcome; but he never failed to tell Republicans and Constitutional Monarchists alike that the form of government and of union between Venetia, Lombardy, and Piedmont, must be determined by the freely chosen representatives of these provinces. To their decision he was ever willing to bow. So it was (as will hereafter be seen) that when, towards the close of his life in 1857, he saw that events pointed to a Constitu- tional Kingdom of Italy under a prince who could really be trusted, he did not hesitate to give in his adhesion to that form of government. That avowal brought •down upon Manin the censure of the more rigid, not to say bigoted, Republicans ; but he gave fuU and sound reasons for the course he then adopted, wisely holding, as he had ever done, that the one essential point was the freedom of Italy, the form of that freedom being a secondary matter to be determined according to cir- cumstances. DETERMINATION TO DEFEND VENICE. 177 When the ruler and people o£ Venice saw that the Austrian Marshal was triumphant from the Isonzo to the Adige, and was likely soon to be master of the whole of Lombardy to the Ticino itself, they determined all the more resolutely to defend their beloved city. The sons of Venice would prove to the world that it should be through no weakness or fault of theirs if the ancient capital of the Doges fell again under the yoke imposed upon her at Campo-Formio and at Vienna. Greneral Pepe and some 2,000 men were added to the defenders of Venice and received with open arms by her people. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Venetian forces. Manin and his Grovernment appealed for aid to all Italians, while preparing in every possible way for the coming siege. On the 14th June, 1848, Manin wrote to the Governments of Eome, Florence, and Turin, asking whether it would not be well to seek foreign help, guarding of course its acceptance by honourable conditions ? The idea, however, found no favour. The constitutional party disliked it, as did the republicans who followed Mazzini. No appeal was therefore made to France or to England for armed intervention. The former power would at one time have agreed to it ; the latter distinctly stated from the first that she would not enter on such a course. But the English Grovern- ment was, throughout all its negotiations, whether separately or conjointly with France, favourable to the cause of Italian independence. Lord Palmerston, who was Secretary for Foreign Affairs, used his in- M 178 ITALY. fluence to further it whenever circumstances allowed him to do so. He never hesitated to tell Austria, both when defeated and when victorious, that for her to reimpose her old rule on the Lombardo-Venetian provinces would not only be utterly opposed to their wishes, but would also be a certain source of weak- ness and danger to herself. The course of events, from 1848 to 1867, proved with what sagacity he foretold the result of that policy, which, despite his warnings, Austria pursued to the bitter end. On the 3rd July, 1848, the Venetian Assembly met in the hall of the grand council in the Ducal Palace. The chief question to be determined was whether or not to vote in favour of union mth the Constitutional Kingdom of Piedmont? After a warm debate Manin spoke. He reminded the Assembly that the enemy was at the gates; he asked his friends of the Hepublican party to sacrifice everything to union ; he begged all to bear in mind that the present decision could only be a temporary one, the final judgment must be left, in his opinion (when the cause of independence was won) to an Italian diet, which would settle all questions as to the union to be effected, and the form of freedom best suited to Italy. The Assembly then proceeded to de- clare — " That obeying the supreme need of delivering all Italy from the foreigner, and with the object of prosecuting the war of independence with the greatest possible efficiency a fusion with Piedmont should be decreed." The next day, 4th July, 1848, the members of a new provisional government were chosen. Manin was THE HOUR OF SUPREME DANGER. 179 re-elected as its chief by a large majority. But lie declined the honour despite the most earnest entreaties. He needed repose in order to recruit his overtaxed strength; he was willing, not only that those should govern whose views, touching the future form of Italian freedom, were not in complete accordance with his own, but he was also willing to give them a fair support in the arduous tasks of government and of war, still he shrunk from sharing a divided authority. But soon da,js of danger and difficulty arrived. Early in August the complete defeat of Charles Albert had put an end to all hopes of any union, even of the northern provinces of Italy. Austria was once again master. Venice would have, after all, to fight her own battle single- handed. In that moment of supreme peril it was deter- mined to resist to the very last, and immediately one name resounded throughout the city as alone worthy and capable of presiding over the destinies of the city. So it Avas that amidst universal acclamations Daniel Manin again became the head of the State. His first act was to convoke the Venetian Assembly ; his next to address a stirring proclamation to the military and naval forces at his disposal. On the 13th August, 1S48, Manin laid before the Assembly a clear statement of the actual condition of public affairs. He ended by declaring that what should now be done was to form a strong pro- visional government for the maintenance of internal order, and for the prosecution of the defence against the enemy. If, indeed, matters changed for the better, then he thought the Assembly might again take up M 2 180 ITALY. questions touching the forms of liberty and union to be adopted ; but now in the hour of defeat, when the [na- tional cause was in danger, resistance to the enemy — resistance the most effective and determined — should be the one object to which every effort should be directed. He was at once offered the dictatorship. He alleged his little knowledge of military affairs, but the objection was overruled by appointing Colonel Cavedalis and Admiral Graziani to act with him. Manin then made a frank declaration of what course he should pursue as the head of the new government instituted by the Assembly. " You declare you have confidence in me, it is well. I shall demand and exact of you proofs — the greatest proofs of your confidence. Our cause can only triumph by immense sacrifices, those sacrifices I shall impose ujDon you ; if you are unwilling to submit to them you will do well to deprive me of power at once. To save our country one must be willing to expose one- self to everything, even to the malediction of one's con- temporaries." The Assembly avowed its determination to stand by him to the last. It further acquiesced in an appeal being made to the French Republic for aid. Manin promised that throughout all such negotiations he should take his stand on the right of every people to reclaim the liberty of which they had been robbed. Tlie Assembly terminated its sitting by a vote of warmest thanks to the Piedmontese whose brave soldiers had shed their blood and endured so many sufferings for the common cause. Decrees were issued ordering all citizens to be enrolled for service between VENETIA MUST BE FREE. 181 the ages of eighteen and forty. The civic guard was mobilised and went with the utmost alacrity to man the various outlying forts, while people flocked in or- derly crowds to the Zecca, or mint, to pay the heavy contributions demanded by the Government. Manin at the same time redoubled his efforts in Paris, London, and Turin, by the instrumentality of able and honourable representatives of the Venetian Eepublic, to obtain for her material and moral suj)port. The one object he kept in view was the freedom of Northern Italy as a prelude to that of the whole nation. The form of that free- dom was, he reiterated, a secondary matter to be left to a representative Italian assembly to decide. Nor did he hesitate to declare that he would yield his own pre- ferences to that decision. But a Venetia left more or less under the dominion of Austria he would not agree to, nor would the people who had entrusted him with supreme power. Long and varied were the negotiations which took place from August, 1848, to March, 1849, when Pied- mont denounced the armistice and recommenced the war with Austria. Throughout them Manin displayed a diplomatic ability as clear-sighted as it was straight- forward and patriotic. During all this time energetic measures were being carried on for the defence of Venice. On the 10th October, 1848, Manin reported to the Assembly that the general state of affairs was better than when the triumvirate was appointed. There were provisions for several months in the city. Ad- ditional supplies were constantly coming in, despite the 182 ITALY. blockade. Internal order was complete and assured. Colonel Cavedalis and Admiral Grraziani gave an account of the military and naval defences. There were 20,000 troops, comprising 14,000 Venetians, and 6,000 Lom- bards, Eomans, and Neapolitans, besides four legions of National Guards. The active command had been given to Greneral Pepe, who was admirably seconded by another Neapolitan officer. Colonel Girolamo Ulloa. Every department of the service had been thoroughly organ- ised notwithstanding continual attacks of the enemy from the land side. On the 27th October, 1848, a successful sortie was made from the great fort of Malghera and the canal Fusina, by which the fortified station of Fusina was taken and then the little town of Mestre. The Austrians lost on this occasion 200 killed and wounded, 500 prisoners, and six pieces of cannon. The insur- rection in Vienna, which occurred in October, 1848, the Hungarian revolution, the favourable attitude of Greneral Cavaignac's Government in Paris, the able despatches of Lord Palmerston to the English Minister at Vienna (wisely counselling Austria to give up her Italian provinces) united to the vigorous defence of Venice, and the skill of her diplomatic action, seemed to give hope of better days notwithstanding the victories of Padetzky over Charles Albert and the renewed occupation of Milan by the Austrians. But gradually the outlook became more sombre, and when the new 3"ear (1849) arrived it found the hopes of Italy and Venice shrouded in gloom. Manin and his DARK DAYS APPEOACHING. 183 colleagues ordered fresh elections. Amidst perfect order they took place on the 20th January, 1849. The newly-elected Assembly confirmed Manin and his col- leagues in office. More than 20,000 men and 550 cannon in the various forts and islands were reported as available for the defence. They were none too many, for all hope of exterior help became less and less probable. The English Cabinet was very favourable to Venice but kept to its policy of not drawing the sword. The Cabinet of the newly-elected Erench President, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, was not so likely as the preceding one to intervene materially. Early in March came the news that Piedmont had recommenced the war. The Venetian soldiers and people received the intelligence with delight and prepared with redoubled earnestness to continue the defence, only too glad if the opportunity should occur of aiding even more actively the attack upon Austria. But Manin himself was under no illusion as to the terrible risk which Piedmont and her king were running ; still every possible preparation was made to take advantage of any success which might favour the national cause. On the 22nd March, 1849, the Venetians celebrated the liberation of their city from Austrian rule. Manin tempered the joy of his fellow- citizens with weighty and solemn words. " At the moment," he said, "in which we are celebrating this patriotic fete, elsewhere they are fighting for the holy cause which fills our hearts. Our joy should be serious and calm, as becomes a people which recalls a glorious deed in order to prepare itself for deeds yet more 181 ITALY. glorious. Be ready for all the cliances of war ; do not let yourselves be carried away by childish bravado in good fortune, nor be cast down by evil fortune. War demands sacrifices ; it demands internal tranquillity, reciprocal confidence, entire concord, absolute silence as regards military operations. The offices for enrolment are open ; you cannot better fete the 22nd March than by enrolling yourselves for the defence of your country." Scarcely had a week elapsed before the Venetians, from their devoted chief to the poorest gondolier, were over- whelmed with grief by the announcement of the com- plete defeat of Charles Albert at Novara. Soon followed a letter from Admiral Albini, the commander of the Piedmontese squadron in the Adriatic, addressed to the President of the Venetian Republic, fully confirming, with expressions of profound grief, the terrible truth. The Assembly was called together on the 2nd April in the old palace of the Doges. Manin made a simple statement of the news he had received. " Will you resist ? " he asked. " At all costs " was the unanimous rej^ly. Then a resolution was passed, without a dis- sentient voice, to the follow^ing effect : — " The Assembly of the representatives of the Venetian State, in the name of God and the people, unanimously decrees that Venice shall resist the Austrian at whatever cost. To this end President Manin is invested with unlimited powers." As the members left the great hall in which this high resolve had been taken they were received by shouts of applause by the throngs which had been gathered to receive them. Quickly appeared at the corners of the RESISTANCE TO THE LAST. 185 streets bills announcing that Venice was determined not to yield — that the silver of the churches, the bronze of the bells, the gold and jewels of the wealthy, the copper vessels of the kitchen, the very bullets and balls of the enemy, must serve in the defence of the city. Nor were these vain words. An additional 3,000,000 of francs was levied by the Government and paid with- out a murmur. M. Vasseur, the French Consul, who was an eye-witness of all that took place in Venice throughout the siege, says that the rich, upon whom fell the chief burden of this forced loan, " were the first to m'ge on the resistance." Nor were the poorer classes behind-hand in making and enduring sacrifices for the common cause. The Piedmontese fleet was now with- drawn and the Austrian appeared before Malamocco efiectually blockading Venice by sea, for the small number of her little vessels of war could not contend against the enemy. The great operations of the siege were begun and carried forward vigorously ; they were as vigorously opposed. Greneral Pepe and Colonel Ulloa concentrated the defence as much as possible. The batteries of the lagoons, close to Venice, with the gun-boats of the canals, the -fortifications of Chioggia, Pellestrina, and Malamocco, were made as efficient as circumstances allowed. The fortress of Malghera, some four miles to the west of Venice, was held by 2,500 men with 130 cannon, under the command of Colonel Ulloa, who determined to maintain this position to the last extremity. The Austrians commenced their attack on Malghera 1«6 ITALY. the 29tli April, 1849, on tlie 3rd May Marshal Eadetzky arrived with three archdukes, on the 4th seven new batteries were unmasked and poured a furious storm of shot and shell into the fortress. It was hoped that the garrison would be terrified, if not forced into surrender. The only effect produced was a fire from the besieged as effective as that of the be- siegers. Towards evening the attack slackened. On the 5th May the bearer of a flag of truce brought to the commander of the fort a letter addressed by the Marshal to the " President of the actual Grovernment of Venice." The letter demanded absolute submission and the immediate surrender of all the forts and arsenals. Manin, to whom the letter was duly for- warded, replied by sending the Marshal a copy of the decree voted by the Venetian Assembly on the 2nd April, announcing the determination to " resist at all cost." The President of the Eepublic further added, that on the 4th of that month (April) he had written to ask the French and English Cabinets to continue the work of mediation so as to procure for Venice a suitable position ; this circumstance, however, he observed, would not prevent his entering into direct communications with the Austrian Ministry for the same object, in case the Marshal thought such was the best method of pro- cedure. This reply was received by Eadetzky on the 6th May, 1849, but he refused to listen to anything of the kind, broke off all further communications, and declared he could only deplore that Venice must now submit to the decision of the sword. But that decision MALGHEEA AGAIN ATTACKED. 187 was not so easily or so immediately given as the Marshal hoped when he arrived a few days before on the scene of action. The Austrians were not yet able even to take the fortress of Malghera, so E-adetzky and the archdukes went away leaving Count Thurn to continue the siege operations. He had recently suc- ceeded Greneral Haynau who had been sent to Hungary, where his cruelties and severities increased yet more the evil fame he had already won by his savage treatment of Brescia. It was not without great difficulties and heavy losses that the Austrians recommenced and continued their siege operations. Soon after, on the 14tli May, 1849, Manin received from Lord Palmerston and from M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the Foreign Secretaries of the English and French Grovernments, replies full of sym- pathy to his letter of the 4th April ; but declaring they could do nothing and recommending the Venetian (rovernment to treat directly with Austria. The block- ade had now begun to tell on the resources of the city, although small boats laden with provisions contrived not unfrequently to bring in much needed help. But the ample provisions carefully stored up before the siege began still prevented actual famine. On the 24th May the steady perseverance of the Austrians, despite great difficulties arising from heavy rains, the ravages of cholera, and the attacks of their enemy, enabled them again to undertake the bombardment of Malghera in good earnest. This time, instead of some sixty cannons tiring at the distance of^ one thousand metres, they now 188 ITALY. opened upon the fortress with one hundred and fifty heavy pieces at a distance of five hundred metres. The Venetian garrison repHed vigorously, but soon the fort was little more than a mass of ruins, and by the 27th it was ren- dered untenable. A few hours' repose were given to the Austrians by their general before making the final assault. The Venetians took the opportunity of withdrawing. The retreat was so well timed and carried out that it was effected without loss to the garrison. With the fall of Malghera it became evident that the final struggle was at hand. Would Venice still resist ? The people replied by deeds which spoke more forcibly than any words. They worked hard at the des- truction of eight more of the arches of the long bridge which united Venice !to the mainland ; so cutting off effectually all access to the city from the direction in which the fortress just abandoned was situated. Colonel Ulloa and the elite of his officers and men guarded the batteries and manned the gunboats which formed on the western side the last defences of Venice. On the 31st May the Assembly, having heard from Manin an account of the actual condition of affairs, declared that it would maintain the decree of the 2nd April, which pledged it to resist to the last extremity. On the 1st June the troops who had garrisoned Mal- ghera were reviewed in the Piazza San Marco and were received with the greatest enthusiasm. Attacks were now made upon the Venetians along the southern line of their defence near the mouths of the^Adige and Brenta, and by sea in the direction of FAMINE, DISEASE, AND FEESH ATTACKS. 189 Chioggia and Brondolo, but tlie enemy was repulsed. By the 13tli June the Austrians had, despite continual attacks and heavy losses both through fighting and by disease, established themselves firmly on the end of the bridge on the land side, and also in the fort of San Guiliano which they had repaired. This fort commanded the line of the bridge, but the distance which separated the besiegers from the besieged was too great to allow the fire of the former to have much efiect. But in Venice, want and hardship, scarcity of provisions and scarcity of money, added their scourges to those of cholera and other diseases. Still all classes bore up with wonderful firmness against these accumulated ills, and relaxed no- thing in the work of defence. On the 20th July Mar- shal Eadetzky again visited the camp of the besiegers. He ordered the erection of new batteries, and prepared new means of attack. The effect of these measures was quickly and unexpectedly felt on the night of the 29th July, when a mass of projectiles suddenly poured down on the western part of the city. Means had been found to send them over the lines of the defence into the town itself. The people left that quarter and took refuge in the more central portion of Venice. All classes ofi'ered shel- ter to those thus driven from their homes, many of whom were received into the Doge's palace. An attempt was made to break through the blockade by sea, but it failed. Famine, disease, the losses of the brave defenders, the terrible bombardment, which the utmost efforts of the besieged failed to silence, were fast bringing matters to an end. The month of August beheld the last meeting 190 ITATjT. of the Assembly, the last muster of the civic guard, the last efforts of a devoted people, headed by a noble chief, to preserve the ancient rights and independence of Venice. On the 24th of August, 1849, the Grovern- ment issued its last decree as follows : — " The Provisional Government of Venice consider- ing that an imperious necessity imposes acts in which neither the representative Assembly nor the executive power emanating from it, can participate, declares : — "1. The Provisional GrovCrnment has ceased its functions. "2. The attributions of government have j)assed into the hands of the municipality. " 3. Public order, the safety of persons and pro- perties are confided to the concord of the people, the patriotism of the civic guard, and the honour of the military corps." The municipality proceeded to ratify and execute the hard conditions of the conqueror. They were car- ried into effect without unseemly and useless oj^position, Manin retired to his modest house in the Piazza San Paterniano, under the windows of which the people passed and re-passed, saying softly one to the other : — " It is there where our poor father is ; how much he has suffered for us ! " On the 27th August, 1849, as the Austrian soldiers defiled past the closed houses and along the deserted streets of Venice, Manin and the principal civil and military leaders who had acted with him went into exile. They were followed next day by 600 others who were enabled to leave by the care and forethought TRIUMPH OF DESPOTISM. 191 of M. Yasseur, the French Consul, who had been an eye- witness of all that the citizens of Venice had done and suffered during eighteen months of freedom. Thus it was that the ancient queen of the Adriatic fell once again under the dominion of the foreigner. With her fell, as the foes of Italy thought, the last hope of Italian liberty. The triumj^h of absolutism seemed assured once for all throughout the whole Peninsula. Austria was victorious from Venice to Alessandria ; she held, too, Parma, Modena, Florence, and the princes who ruled there ruled by her grace. She upheld in Bologna and Ancona, as did France in Eome, that Papal temporal power which could now only exist by means of foreign armies. The Neapolitan Bourbon tyrannised without let or hindrance in the Two Sicilies. He had no fear of consequences, for if discontent became dangerous he had, like his predecessors, only to give the signal and the legions of Austria would come to his aid. He ruled then after his own heart, glorying in the success of his perjuries and in the strength of his prisons. The friends of despotism could now look in every direction, from Mont Cenis to the Adriatic, from the Alps to the furthest shores of Sicily, without seeing a vestige of freedom in all the land, save indeed in that little kingdom of Piedmont, where a young and un- tried prince had succeeded, on No vara' s fatal field, to the heritage of a defeated and exiled father. But little did these victors care for so puny an obstacle, easily, as they thought, to be brushed aside by cajolery or force. It was but a speck on their horizon, a little 192 ITALY. cloud no larger than a man's hand. Yet as in ancient, so in modern, times such little clouds have spread and spread until they covered the whole heavens and poured down upon the thirsty land the fertilising rain so greatly needed and so ardently desired. How ardently desired was only known to Him who could see into the heart of many an exiled jDatriot who still clung to the hope of Italy's deliverance, still waited, watched, and prayed through the midnight gloom unlit as yet by the faintest streak of coming dawn. None among the many sons of Italy who had so nobly borne their part in her struggle for freedom clung more firmly to his country in the hour of disaster and defeat, or to the hope of brighter days, than the pure and devoted ruler of Venice, Daniel Manin. So, too, it was that the popular chief Giuseppe Garibaldi could, even after the fall of Eome, instantly rally around him some thousands who, like himself, did not even then despair of the fortunes of Italy. So, again, Charles Albert, once King of Piedmont, now dying and dis- crowned, could write in the last days of his life, from his place of exile : — " If Divine Providence has not permitted that the regeneration of Italy should be accomplished, I have confidence that at least it is only deferred ; that so many examples of virtue, so many acts of courage and generosity, emanating from the nation, will not remain sterile, and that past adversities will only engage the peoples of Italy to be another time more united in order to be invincible." CHAPTER IX. Condition of Piedmont at the time of Victor Emmanuel's accession in March, 1849 — Massimo d'Azeglio becomes Prime Minister — Insurrectionary move- ment in Genoa put down — Negotiations with Austria — A'"ictor Emmanuel issues a proclamation fi-om Moncalieri and dissolves the Chamber, July, 1849 — The Chamber does not approve the Government policy — Victor Emmanuel issues a second proclamation from Moncalieri, and dissolves the Chamber in November, 1849 — The Chamber accepts the Government poHcy and ratifies the peace with Austria — Complete religious toleration in Piedmont — Attempted negotiations with the Papal Government for carrying out ecclesiastical reforms — The Siccardine Laws — Death of Count Santa Rosa, the Mini ster of Commerce — Count Cavour appointed in his place in November, 18.50 — Liberal legislation of Piedmont — Coup d'Etat by Louis Napoleon, 2nd December, 1851 — Menaces of Austria and Prussia against Piedmont — Resignation of Massimo d'Azeglio — Cavour becomes Prime ]\Iinister — Revolutionary attempt in Milan February, 1853 — Success of Cavom-'s progressive and reforming policy — Crimean War — Sad family losses of Victor Emmanuel — Congi-ess of Paris — Man in and Cavour— The condition of Italy condemned by the leading plenipotentiaries at the Congress — Cavour continues his policy in Piedmont — The Mont Cenis Tunnel begun— Attempt of Felice Orsini to assassinate Napoleon III., 14th January, 1858 — Cavom-'s pohcy and conduct — The Emperor Napoleon's views and his interview with Cavour at Plombieres in July, 1858 — Alliance formed between France and Piedmont. Seldom has any sovereign mounted his throne in a darker hour than that in which Victor Emmanuel ascended the throne of Piedmont. The military strength of the country had been broken by the defeat of Novara. Her finances had been disordered by two unsuccessful wars. A portion of her territory and the half of her chief fortress, Alessandria, were occupied by the enemy, whose demands there was no power to resist. The nation, irritated by disasters, was inclined to listen to even the rashest N 194 ITALY. counsels. An implacable enemy was at the very gates of tlie capital ; within were a distracted parliament, an exhausted treasury, and an angry people. Such were the dangers and difficulties which the young king had to confront and, if possible, overcome. His first step was to meet his victorious adversary and learn what terms were demanded, and what amelioration of them, if any, could be obtained. He was received with cour- tesy and respect by Marshal Eadetzky, who led the king to hope that, if the constitution were set aside and a return made to absolute monarchy, the kingdom of Piedmont might even be enlarged and the war indem- nity certainly lessened. His Majesty politely but resolutely refused all such offers. The king told one of his Ministers, Signor Carlo Cadorna, the next day, that it required his utmost efforts to obtain the exclusion of whatever was inconsistent with the principles of constitutional government from the terms of the armistice to which he had to agree. He refused, however, to yield the point and so took the first step in maintaining those free institutions of his country which he never failed to uphold throughout his reign. Just a quarter of a century afterwards, Count Vimercati, a devoted servant of Victor Em- manuel, sent his congratulations to his sovereign at Kome, on the anniversary of his accession. Speaking of that event the Count said : — " Twenty-five years ago, after a disastrous campaign which brought aboat the abdication of your august father, on the sad night after the battle of Novara, I had the honour of gathering the riGTOB EMMANUEL'S RETURN TO TURIN. 195 first tliouglits of the king. . . You said — ' I must preserve intact the institutions which my father has given ; I must maintain firmly aloft the tricoloured flag, symbol of Italian nationality, which has to-day been vanquished, but which will triumph one day. That triumph shall henceforth be the object of my efforts.' " The king returned immediately to Turin after his interview with Marshal Radetzky, but he would not accept any of the military honours with which the Austrians courteously desired to compliment him as he set out for his capital. On the 26th March, 1849, Victor Emmanuel arrived at Turin without any public parade. The next day appeared the following pro- clamation bearing his signature : — " Citizens ! fatal events and the will of my most venerated father have called me far too soon to the throne of my ancestors. The circumstances amidst which I take the reins of government are such, that unless I have the most efficacious help from all I shall find it difficult indeed to fulfil my one desire — the salvation of our common country. The destinies of the nation are maturing themselves in the designs of God ; man must do his part, and in it we have not failed. Now our work must be to preserve honour unsullied, to heal the wounds of the public fortune, to consolidate constitutional institutions. To this work I call all my people. I am myself going to take a solemn oath thus to act, and I expect from the nation in exchange help, affection, and confidence. "(Signed) VICTOR EMMANUEL. " Turin, 27th March, 18-19." Two days afterwards the king met the Parliament assembled in the hall of the Palace Madama. There he N 2 196 ITALY. publicly swore to faithfully observe the constitution. The Parliament had already shown itself strongly opposed to the terms of the armistice just concluded. Exception was especially taken to the third article, which allowed 18,000 Austrian infantry and 2,000 cavalry to occupy, until the arrangement of a definite peace, the portion of Piedmont lying between the rivers Po, Sesia, and Ticino, as well as one-half of the fortress of Alessandria. So strong was the feeling on this subject that a deputation of six members was appointed to wait upon the king and represent to him the opinion of the Chamber. The deputation declared that the House did not separate the interests of the country from those of the dynasty, and implored his majesty to stand firmly by the cause of Italy. Victor Emmanuel received the deputation with kindness and dignity, without attempting to conceal his grief at the hard circumstances in which his country was placed. He declared his determination to be faithful to the Italian cause ; then, in plain and simple language, while rendering justice to the courage of his soldiers, he set forth the impossibility of doing otherwise than he had done in the terrible difficulties which surrounded Piedmont. He truly affirmed that the stipulations first presented by the conqueror were harder than those finally agreed upon, and ended with saying he would leave nothing undone to obtain, if possible, a further mitigation of the terms. The sincerity and frankness of the young sovereign's words, the unaffected sorrow he displayed at the suff'erings of his country and the down- MASSIMO B'AZEGLIO PRIME MINISTER. 197 fall of Italian liberty, produced a great effect upon those whom he thus addressed. But the difficulty of per- suading the Parliament to sanction the armistice was still far from being overcome. A Ministry of upright and capable men, presided over by General Delaunay, and of which Gioberti was a member without portfolio, had only just been formed. It was determined to dis- solve the Chamber and appeal to the constituencies. At the same time a commission was nominated to inquire into the causes of the late military disasters. It was composed of men who commanded public confidence, and resulted in a decision which silenced once for all the foolish accusations of treason and treachery which had, as is usual in the case of similar misfortunes, for a time abused the public mind. Nor did the king and his Government fail to solicit the good offices of France and England while carrying on the negotiations with Austria relative to the conclusion of peace. With the object of furthering these matters Gioberti was sent on a diplomatic mission to Paris. But the Ministry formed in haste needed at this time, when difficulties of every kind beset the country, a chief who commanded more general confidence than was possessed by any one of the men who actually composed the Cabinet, upright and capable though they were. It was therefore early in May that the king sent for the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio, who became President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affiiirs. It was a wise choice, for d'Azeglio's high character, his varied abilities, his loyalty to his sovereign, his devotion not only to his 1S8 ITALY. native Piedmont, but to Italy, in whose cause he had been wounded when joining in the hard struggle to pre- vent the fall of Vicenza, had won for him the confidence and love not only of the little sub- Alpine kingdom, but of the whole Peninsula. To the difficulties of forming a Ministry, of directing parliamentary institutions, and of carrying on negotiations with a victorious and power- ful foe, was added (in these early days of Victor Em- manuel's reign) the far sadder task of repressing an overt attack upon the government of the country. Nowhere was the armistice which we concluded after the defeat of Novara more deeply resented than in Genoa. There the public mind was especially embittered, and was further excited by all sorts of wild rumours. A report was spread that a united force of Austrians and Piedmontese was approaching the city. Popular meetings and tumults followed. The municipality gave in its resignation. The people took possession of the harbour and docks. The commander. General De Aserta, was compelled to come to terms and withdraw from the city with his troops. One of the agreements was, " that Genoa will remain unalterably united to Piedmont." But if those who were acting in opposition to the Govern- ment were thus determined not to allow disunion, what object had they in rising at all ? No separate action of Genoa could reverse the calamities which had befallen the country, though it might well aggravate them. The truth was that the movement had no definite object, but was only an outburst of anger and grief at the misfortunes which had befallen Italy. Still, it was not IXSUBHECTION IN GENOA SUPPRESSED. 199 j)0ssible to permit such a state of things to endure, if for no other reason, because unless put an end to it might lead to Austrian intervention in Genoa — an intervention by no means distasteful to the Government of Vienna. The king and his Ministers, therefore, rightly determined, while upholding the cause of liberty, to maintain also that of order. General Lamarmora was accordingly despatched with a body of troops to put down the insurrection and to re-establish the royal authority. He performed the work without serious difficulty, chiefly through the swiftness, skill, and firm- ness with which he performed the unwelcome task. The exceptional laws, necessary for ^. time, were so applied that the many exiles from other parts of Italy who had taken refuge in Genoa acknowledged how greatly the leniency used in the application of such laws contrasted with the harshness, and not unfrequently the cruelty, which marked the return of the other rulers of Italy to a system of permanent tyranny. Massimo d'Azeglio and his colleagues were resolved, like their sovereign, to uphold Constitutional Govern- ment, to maintain order, and to hasten the conclusion of a peace absolutely necessary to the country, though the terms were hard indeed. The government of Pied- mont also sought to make its voice heard in favour of greater freedom in the other States of the Peninsula. With this object Count Balbo was sent to Gaeta, in the name of the king, with respectful messages to Pius IX., and with instructions to try and persuade the Pontiff to restore a liberal rule to the States of the Church. Nor 200 ITALY. did the Piedmontese envoy fail to impress upon the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, and King Ferdinand of Naples, the desirability of pursuing a like policy, so good an example of which was being set by the King of Piedmont and his Ministers. The Count, however, wholly failed to induce the sovereigns, whose head- quarters were still at Gaeta, to follow his counsels. These rulers seemed bent on proving to the people ot Italy that one, and only one, of the Italian princes would remain true to the constitutional liberties which had been given to their respective subjects ; while, at the same time, he alone held out against the influence of Austria, and was deaf to her repeated inducements in favour of a return to absolutism. Thus it was that these rulers sowed from the first that seed from which they reached an abundant harvest, richly deserved indeed, but so little to their taste. In the meanwhile negotiations were being carried on at Milan for the re-establishment of peace. Baron Bruck was assisted by Marshal Radetzky ; the Piedmon- tese plenipotentiaries were General Dabormida and Signor Boncompagni. The Austrian negotiators were courteous, and the old Marshal constantly affirmed his liking for Victor Emmanuel, of whom he said : " We love him much ; we are his best friends ; we have always forty thousand baj^onets at his service." It was a goodly number, and moreover sufficient, no doubt, for getting rid of the " Constitution." But his majesty of Piedmont preferred maintaining the latter and keeping his word ; the result being that he won the confidence FIRST FBOCLAMATION FROM MONGALIEUI. 201 of the five millions of his Piedmontese subjects, and ultimately that of twenty-six million Italians. The king followed with keenest interest the various phases through which the negotiations passed. He went often to the room of his Prime Minister, d'Azeglio, who was obliged to remain stretched on his sofa from the effects of the wound he had received at Vicenza. Many were the consultations, the hopes, and the fears which marked these meetings of the sovereign and his chief adviser. At length, after long discussions between the envoys of the two States, and various references to their governments, the treaty of peace was signed on the 6th August, 1849. But the consent of the Piedmontese Parliament was necessary to its ratification on the part of Piedmont if constitutional principles were to be preserved intact. On the 3rd July the king, who had been very seriously ill, but was now recovering, addressed from his country residence at Moncalieri a proclamation to his people, in which he pointed out the dangers which threatened the free institutions given by his father — institutions which he was determined to uphold ; he called upon his subjects to bring to the judgment of public aifairs not passion, but good sense and a due reali- sation of facts ; thus, as he said, sovereign, parliament, and people, might repair the disasters of the past, and prepare the way for a brighter future. The elections took place on the 15th July, and, as the state of siege at Genoa was definitely terminated, the choice of deputies was made in perfect freedom throughout the 202 ITALY. country. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on the 30th July. It was opened in person by the king. The speech from the throne was outspoken, and gave utterance to sentiments already set forth by the king and his advisers. It was not, however, until November that the Chamber took into consideration the treaty of peace. The debate lasted several days, and ended in a motion declaring that the confirmation of the treaty should be suspended until a law had been passed which guaranteed the position of those Italians who had emigrated from other States of Italy into Piedmont. The Ministers, while giving ample assurances that Piedmont would offer a safe asylum to such immigrants, refused to consent to any further delay in the ratification of the treaty. The Govern- ment, however, was beaten on a division. It was impossible to leave matters in this condition. Austria, and indeed other Powers, were urgent that peace should be fully re-established. The enemies of liberty, and especially of liberty in the only Italian State in which it still survived, exulted in the new difficulty. They fondly hoped it might be the means of breaking down constitutional freedom, which they hated, and of sub- stituting for it the arbitrary rule which they loved. Most happily, not only for Piedmont, but for Italy, the sovereig^n and statesmen at the head of affairs at Turin were honest men bent on preserving the nation's free institutions, instead of dishonest men seeking only an occasion to overthrow them. The king and his advisers resolved to take a bold step as the best means SECOND PliOCLAMATION FEOM JSIOKGALIEEI. 203 of averting greater difficulties and evils. On the 20th of November, 1849, the country was informed of the dissolution of the Chamber so recently elected, and new elections were ordered to take place on the lOtli Decem- ber. At the same time the king issued a proclamation, dated Moncalieri, 20tli November, 1 849, and signed by his Prime Minister, d'Azeglio. Once again Victor Emmanuel appealed, " in these grave circumstances," to his people. He assured them of his fidelity to their free rights, and implored them not to impede their operation by a useless opposition to the sad necessities of the times. He had signed a treaty of peace with Austria which, however onerous, was net dishonouring or ruinous. He implored his subjects to help and not to hinder him and his Ministers in their arduous work. He had dissolved the late Chamber in order to throw liimseK upon the country. Never had the House of Savoy appealed in vain to the confidence, good sense, and affection of its people. " Therefore," he concluded, " I have a right to confide in them on the present occasion, and to feel assured that united we shall save the constitution and the country from the perils which menace them.'' Thousands of copies of this address were sent into all parts of the country. The public mind was deeply impressed. The address was attacked b}^ the extreme radicals, and the extreme reactionists ; the former, not without some show of reason, declared it to be a viola- tion of constitutional usage ; the latter saw an opportu- nity, not to be lost, of embarrassing the Government, 204 ITALY. and with it the hope of impeding, if not breaking down, the machinery of free government. Under ordinary circumstances, such a direct appeal on the part of the Crown would have been, to say the least, most question- able, but the good sense of the Piedmontese told them that the circumstances were not ordinary, and led them to see that whatever might be said touching the letter of the constitution, their honest sovereign was only seeking to rescue the last refuge of Italian freedom from the greatest possible danger. It was, indeed, a moment of no little peril and anxiety. No one felt it more acutely than the king ; knowing, as he did, the absolute necessity of ratifying the treaty with Austria, and desiring, as he did most earnestly, that his Parlia- ment should give its sanction, and so prevent that wrench to constitutional principles which would be in- flicted on them if the treaty had to be carried out without the consent of the nation's representatives. The electors showed their appreciation of the crisis by flocking in large numbers to the poll. The new Parliament was opened by the king on the 20th December. He was cordially received by the public and the chambers. The latter at once took into consideration the treaty with Austria, which was confirmed by a large majority. Thus was terminated a danger of no ordinary kind to Piedmont and its con- stitution. The ratification of the treaty led to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Austria. They were necessarily of a delicate nature, but they were rendered less difficult hy the selection of Count DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH AUSTRIA. 205 Appony, a Hungarian nobleman both able and courteous, to fill the post of Austrian Minister at Turin. It was a choice that did honour to the good sense and feeling of the Emperor Francis Joseph. The Count was re- ceived in a like spirit by Victor Emmanuel. In all his communications with the representative of Austria he showed no little skill in avoiding everything that was unpleasant, while never concealing his own sentiments as a constitutional sovereign. A diplomatist of that time said of him — " There is a great charm about the young king ; he has the tact of always letting us see his thought without ever rousing our susceptibilities." The ablest member of the diplomatic service in Europe might have been proud of the compliment. Tlie rela- tions existing between England and Piedmont at this time were very cordial. Those between the latter and France were also friendly, but it was more especially Louis Napoleon, the President of the French Eepublic, who was favourable to the king and his (Government. The Prussian Prime Minister, Manteuffel, could not understand how the kingdom of Piedmont had stood out against the influence of Austria, which, in union with that of Russia, was all powerful at Berlin. The Prussian envoy at the Piedmontese capital did not fail to let the sentiments of his Grovernment be known at Turin, but they produced not the slightest effect on the king or his Ministers. The Emperor Nicholas would not renew the diplomatic relations with Piedmont which had been broken off in 1848. He did not even take the least notice of the notification sent to him of the 206 ITALY. accession of Victor Emmanuel in March, 1849. These two sovereigns were respectively the representatives of unmitigated despotism and of constitutional liberty. What the results have been to their sons and successors is a matter of history ; but those who wish to see what absolutism can do for one country, and liberty for another, will do well to compare to-day (1884) the actual condition of Russia and of Italy. By the Parliamentary sanction given to the final treaty of peace with Austria, not only was it ratified in accordance with constitutional principles, but an im- mense danger and difficulty was removed from the path of free government in Piedmont. The public mind was tranquillised, and the way was opened for the intro- duction of reforms, the restoration of the finances, and the practical working of those constitutional principles which had been driven out of every other Italian State. Peligious toleration was recognised by the statute or written constitution, but in order to secure the fullest religious liberty the Parliament voted a resolution to the eff'ect that every citizen, not convicted of crime, should be capable of holding any civil, legal, or military office. The terms of the oath read to members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, were as follows — " I swear to be faithful to the king, loyally to obey the constitution and laws of the State, and to perform my functions with a view to the inseparable welfare of the king and country." Upon hearing them read, the senator or deputy, stretching out the right hand, replied — " I swear it." The same form is still used in the Italian BELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN PIEDMONT. 207 Parliament. Thus every duly elected citizen could take his seat without any reference to his opinions on religious questions. He might be the most extreme sceptic, or the most devout believer, an avowed atheist or an avowed Christian. It is interesting to remember that Piedmont had thus, in 1849, firmly taken her stand on the prin- ciple of complete religious liberty, while even in England, every member of the legislature was still bound either to make oath " on the true faith of a Christian," or if he refused to do so, was prohibited from taking that seat in Parliament to which the constituency he repre- sented had duly elected him. Among the reforms which were now proposed was that of bringing the civil and penal codes into con- formity with the free political institutions of Piedmont, so that the legal and political equality of all citizens in the eye of the law might become a reality. It was there- fore necessary to change the old relations still existing between the civil and the ecclesiastical authorities. The Government of Victor Emmanuel was desirous to bring about this change in accord, if possible, with the Papal Court. Count Siccardi was therefore sent, in the latter part of 1849, to have a personal interview with Pius IX. and treat of those matters which involved ecclesi- astical questions. The Pope received the Piedmontese envoy courteously, and several conferences took place between him and the Secretary of State, Cardinal An- tonelli. But the Pope would not consent to any transaction which changed the actual relations of the civil and ecclesiastical powers in Piedmont. Count 208 ITALY. Siccardi returned to Turin without, tlierefore, having accomplished anything towards the object he had in view. The king and his Ministers, convinced of the ability and knowledge shown by the Count in the treat- ment of these difficult questions, offered him the post of Minister of Grace and Justice which he accepted. In February, 1850, Count Siccardi laid a Bill before Par- liament for the abolition of the " f oro ecclesiastico " — that is, the special ecclesiastical jurisdiction to which alone the clergy were amenable, both in civil and criminal cases. The object of the measure was to place ecclesiastics upon exactly the same footing as all other classes of citizens. This measure was opposed by the more conservative party, not so much as being unjust in itself as because it might open the door to other and larger reforms. The Reactionists and Clericals offered a bitter resistance to this and all changes of a similar kind. The Liberals of all shades sup- ported these proposals, which came to be known as the Siccardine Laws from Count Siccardi the Min- ister especially charged with carrying them through the House. He and his colleagues, of whom the Marquis d'Azeglio was the chief, were powerfully sup- ported in this policy by Count Camillo Cavour, the Member for Turin. He had already urged the Grovern- ment to take this course, and during the Parhamentary debates he vindicated with great force the rights of the civil power as against ecclesiastical privilege. He ably combated those who opposed such reforms. Sometimes these opponents did so because all was quiet and therefore CAVOUB SUPPORTS THE SICGABDINE PROPOSALS. 209 no change was needed, and at other times because there was agitation, and agitation ought not to be encouraged by concession. Cavour reminded the Chamber that only by timely reform could revolution be avoided. He bade the Ministers follow the example of such men as the Duke of Wellington in 1829, Lord Grey in 1832, and Sir Eobert Peel in 1846. "Do not think," he said, " that the constitutional throne will be weakened ; it will, on the contrary, be strengthened, and it will implant roots so profound in our soil that when revolution again threatens us, not only will the consti- tutional throne direct it, but that throne will group around itself all the living forces of Italy, and con- duct the nation to the destinies which yet await it." Cavour thus indicated, with the clearness of a far-sighted statesman, the policy that should be pursued, not only as right in itself, but also as a preliminary step to far greater and more beneficial changes. In doing so he produced a profound impression upon the Parliament and the country. An instinctive feeling arose that the right policy had been entered upon, and that the man capable of directing and carrying it through was forth- coming. The law in question was passed, but it aroused such fierce hostility on the part of a large section of the clergy that, when Santa Eosa, the Minister of Commerce, died soon after, he was refused the last sacraments. Indignant at this act of clerical bigotry, the great mass of the Turinese of all classes attended the funeral not only as a mark of their regard for the deceased, who was a man of unblemished character in agreement with the Roman 210 ITALY. Church in matters spiritual, but also as a protest on the part of his fellow-citizens against the treatment he had received at the hands of the clerical authorities of their Church. The vacant portfolio was offered by d'Azeglio to Count Cavour with the approbation of the king, who shrewdly remarked with a smile to his Prime Minister : "Look out what you are doing; Cavour will soon be master of you all." D'Azeglio was fully aware of the power and abilitj^ of the man whom he was intro- ducing to office ; but the chief adviser of the Crown was guided only by what he rightly believed to be for the public good. He was willing enough that another should hold the first place if he were worthy of it. The truth is that d'Azeglio was a man not only of great and varied talent, but singularly pure and high-minded, free from petty jealousy, and devoted alike to his sovereign and his country ; they ever came first with him, nor was there any sacrifice that he would not have made for their good. In sanctioning the proposals of Count Siccardi, after their passage through the two Houses, Victor Emmanuel gave another proof, if indeed another had been wanting, that neither difficulties nor threats, from whatever quarter they might come, would prevent his being true to that part of constitutional ruler which he had marked out for himself, and from which nothing ever turned him. It was at this time that the simple but honourable title originated which was ever after applied to him, and in which he greatly delighted, " II re galantuomo " (The honest king, or the king who could always be trusted). CAVOUE inmSTEB OF COMMERCE. 211 The Pope had returned to Eome on the 14th April, 1850. But though his temporal power rested on the arms of Prance, he and his advisers showed no intention of following the advice given them hy the President of the French Republic, Louis Napoleon, who had, in his letter to Edgar Ney, said : " I thus summarise the temporal power of the Pope : a general amnesty, the secularisation of the administration, the Code Napo- leon, and a liberal government." This policy was recommended by Louis Napoleon to the Papal rulers as far back as August, 1849, but neither then nor at any subsequent date was it followed. In vain were they warned and advised ; they were deaf to everything but the counsels of absolutism, which they consistently followed to the end, with what result to the temporal power is now a matter of history. On the 23rd November, 1850, the session opened in which Cavour first appeared as a Minister of the Crown. The speech from the throne referred especially to financial and economical questions as those which should especially occupy the attention of Parliament. It was frankly admitted that the Grovernment had not been able to adjust matters with the Roman Court in " conse- quence of laws which the State could not refuse to adopt in its new political and legal conditions." The speech, while expressing reverence for the Holy See, pledged the Grovernment " to maintain inviolate the independence of our legislation." It was also truly declared that on the constitutional basis laid by Charles Albert, " the edifice of our institutions already rises and consolidates o 2 212 ITALY. itself." Great was the satisfaction given by tliis speech, both to the Chambers and to the country at large, as well as to the many Italians who had found a refuge and a welcome in Piedmont from all the other States of Italy. The debates of this session of 1851 were marked by the inauguration of a free trade policy, ably directed by Cavour as Minister of Commerce, and soon after as Minister of Finance. But an event occurred at the close of the year which made it necessary to pursue with caution the Liberal direction which had been now so strongly given to the policy of Piedmont. On the 2nd December, 1851, was effected in Paris that coup-d'etat which annihilated by criminal violence the liberties of France. It caused great satisfaction to the reactionists throughout Europe, and as greatly did it discourage the friends of liberty and progress. It carried home to France the sad lesson that those who trample on the liberties of others run a risk of having their own trampled down. Little more than two years had elapsed since French troops had re-established temporal despotism in Rome, where the influence of Austria had become paramount. Now Frenchmen beheld clerical and military reactionists rejoicing at the sight of France deprived of all liberty. The Courts of Naples, Florence, Parma, and Modena cordially followed the policy of Vienna, and welcomed the triumph of Napoleonic absolutism. But Victor Emmanuel and his Ministers held steadily, though cautiously, on their way. Neither the overthrow of liberty in Paris, nor the remonstrances, not to say AUSTRIAN AND PRUSSIAN THREATS. 213 inenaces, of Austria and Prussia, induced the king and his advisers to swerve from the constitutional path they had dehberately chosen. How threatening was the attitude of those two powers may be gathered from the following extract taken from a despatch of the Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio, dated 10th December, 1851, and directed to the Piedmontese Ministers accredited to London and Paris : — " The sovereisrus of Austria and Prussia have given, by an indirect but highly respectable channel, to the king, our august sovereign, the counsel to put him- self, as regards his government, in unison with that of the other States of Italy, leading him to understand under the form of a kind of menace, that otherwise he might have cause to repent of his persistence in follow- ing his actual system of policy. " The observations, of which the person who spoke in the name of the two sovereigns made himself the mouthpiece, referred to the inconveniences of the too extensive liberty that the constitutional system has established among us, to those connected with the press, and in general to those of many other kinds which have often been the object of recriminations on the part of Cabinets hostile to those liberties which they wished to destroy in Piedmont, as they have already done, or wished to do, in their own country. " The king, with that dignity, that firmness, and that nobility of character which so highly distinguish him, replied to the person from whom he received this communication, by op^DOsing to his observations 214 ITALY. and complaints touching the press and our other liberties, such arguments as I have often had occasion to develop in my despatches, and which are so well known to you, that I may dispense with repeating them here. He (the king) further declared that the course of policy which he had adopted and followed, had been dictated to him since he came to the throne by the feeling of duty, and by profound conviction ; that his conscience testified that it was wise, moderate, and such as it ought to be for the interests of his country, and for the happiness of his subjects ; that he was well aware of the gravity of his position, and of that in which Em^ope was actually placed ; that he should use every effort to har- monise his policy with the exigencies of the situation ; and that he was confident that in persisting in the wise and moderate path which he had traced out for himself (as he was determined to do) he was assuring to his country the tranquillity and happiness which was the object of his desires, while giving to the States of Europe guarantees, which from his heart he offered them. " His majesty was unable to forbear observing that the political condition of the two countries governed by the two sovereigns who addressed to him this species of ultimatum {cfitie espece de sommation), appeared to him to stand much more in need of advice, than to give them any right to offer their advice to others. The king added that he was master in his own house, that he in no way interfered with what other sovereigns thought fit to do, and that he desired, on his part, per- fect liberty of action ; he again expressed his perfect FIRMNESS OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. 215 confidence in the efforts by which he continued to sup- port the wise and moderate course of his Grovernment." A more admirable and dignified reply could not have been given. The final reproof to Francis Joseph of Austria, and Frederick William of Prussia was richly deserved. The throne of the one had recently been saved by the armies of the Russian despot, and the con- sequent overthrow of the ancient liberties of Hungary ; while the other had not long before been forced to un- dergo that surrender at Olmutz, which had obliged Frederick William and his Government to succumb to the absolutist policy of the Emperor Nicholas and of Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, and had brought a flush of angry shame to every Prussian cheek. Such was the position of these rulers who thought fit to lecture and menace the constitutional sovereign of Piedmont ; but they lectured and menaced in vain. At this critical juncture Count Cavour lent more and more to a decidedly liberal, though prudent, policy, and showed a marked difference of views from some of his colleagues. The result was the resignation of the Ministry in 1852, and the formation of another Cabinet under the Marquis d'Azeglio in which Count Cavour did not hold office. He took the opportunity of visit- ing England and France, where he saw the leading statesmen of both countries. He was able to enlighten them as to the real course of affairs in Piedmont, and had no difficulty in showing them that almost all her leading politicians, as well as the bulk of the nation, despite various shades of difference, were bent on 216 ITALY. following that reforming and constitutional policy which would surely preserve the country from revolutionary violence, and from reactionary intrigues. A law in favour of civil marriage had passed the Lower House, and had further to be discussed in the Senate, but the legislative session having come to an end, the Prime Minister, d'Azeglio, determined once again to bring these matters affecting the relations of Church and State under the notice of the Papal Grovern- ment with the object of effecting, if possible, some agreement. The king himself wrote a frank and respectful letter to Pius IX., which was delivered to him by a special envoy. Count Manfredo di Sambry. But the Papal rulers were immovable in their opposition. These and other difficulties led the Marquis d'Azeglio to press his resignation, which was accepted. The king first turned to the leaders of the Conservative Opposition, Count Balbo and M. de Revel, men of high principle and ability. But they were unable to form a Govern- ment, partly because it was found impossible to persuade the rulers of the Vatican to agree even to the most moderate change in the matter of ecclesiastical juris- diction, and partly because the great majority of the parliament and the country were in favour of a decidedly reforming policy in these as well as in all other matters. Victor Emmanuel then called upon Count Cavour to form a Ministry. Cavour became President of the Council and Minister of Finance in November, 1852. Soon after, Signor Rattazzi, the leader of the Left, took office under him and thus was formed a CAVOUB PRIME MINISTER. 217 strong Liberal Grovernment. Though Cavour had separated himself in some degree from the more Con- servative members of the part}^ with which he had up to this time acted, and had formed a union with the more distinctly progressive and Liberal party, he had no intention of giving way to the extreme Radical sec- tion of the Chamber. Its members were without doubt devoted to their country and loyal to their constitutional sovereign, but they would too often have adopted a policy likely to provoke powerful neighbours hostile to freedom, thereby putting in jeopardy the liberty committed to the care of Piedmont. It was ever neces- sary to bear in mind that she was weak materially as compared with Austria or France, though morally strong with an ever-increasing strength from the happy union of order and liberty which was not to be found in either of those countries, nor in any portion of Italy, save in that which was under the constitutional rule of Victor Emmanuel. It was this very form of rule which the Austrian statesmen of that day especially disliked and would gladly have helped to overthrow. They were, like all the other European despots, glad to see the coifp- d'etat of the 2nd December, 1851, sweep away national liberties in Erance, however little they may have liked the probable re-establishment of a military empire. Under such circumstances it was of the utmost import- ance that Piedmont should be guided by a statesman at once firm yet pliable, cautious yet progressive ; one who could adapt the policy of the hour to its necessities, without ever losing sight of the goal to which all his 218 ITALY. efforts were directed — namely, the preservation and extension of the liberties and influence of Piedmont — so pa\dng the way for that emancipation of Italy, the form of which, however, and the manner of efiecting it, had to be left in a great measure to the course of future events. Such a work demanded a rare union of far-sighted statesmanship and of diplomatic skill in the conduct alike of home and foreign affairs. Happily for Pied- mont these high qualities were found in Camillo Cavour, and have won for him a foremost place among the greatest statesmen of modern times. His own words clearly expressed the ministerial policy, which he pursued by varying methods with a dexterity that delighted his supporters and bafiled his opponents both at home and abroad. " It is impossible," he said," for the Government to have a national and an Italian policy in face oi' the foreigner without being Liberal and reforming at home ; in like manner it is impossible for us to be Liberals at home without being national and Italian in our inter- course with foreign powers." He set himself at once to carry out financial, military, and ecclesiastical reforms. The war had cost Piedmont 300,000,000 of francs, or about £12,000,000 sterling. The interest on her debt before the war was about 5,000,000 francs ; it had now risen to 30,000,000 francs. Her population was about 5,000,000, her resources limited and but little developed, her yearly expenditure nearly doubled. Cavour met these difficulties by re- organising the old taxes, so that their pressure bore more equally and justly ; he imposed a certain number of new CAVOUB'S COMMERCIAL POLICY. 219 taxes, and built his whole financial system on a Free Trade basis, of which he was an avowed advocate. He concluded commercial treaties of a very liberal character with England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and France. Nor did he hesitate, even in the case of this last country, then extremely Protectionst, to act on the principle to which Sir Eobert Peel had become a convert — that the best way to meet hostile tariffs was by Free Trade legislation. This far-sighted policy brought Piedmont not only into commercial, but into close diplomatic, contact with the countries mentioned, and united her to them alike by sympathy and interest. Cavour greatly valued this result, especially as regarded England and France ; for though the latter country had become, since November, 1852, a purely, despotic mili- tary empire, he well knew that its chief had, despite his autocratic rule at home, a great liking for Piedmont and its constitutional sovereign. Nor did the new Emperor of the French, Napoleon III., conceal his personal sympathy with Italy, deploring her internal condition as bad in itself, and as a source of constant danger from the hatred felt by the bulk of Italians against their sovereigns, who, with one exception, did whatever was ordered by those who ruled at Vienna. Napoleon was, too, becoming more and more displeased with the Papal Grovernment ; for though his soldiers upheld it in Pome, his advice was little heeded in the Vatican, where a ready ear was ever given to the counsels of Austria. Cavour, while pursuing his policy of fiscal reform. 220 ITALY. favoured in every way tbe spirit of individual and asso- ciated enterprise. He pushed on the railway communi- cation of the kingdom, and by it united Turin and Genoa, thereby giving an impulse to the commercial prosperity of the latter city, which still continues to increase. He no less eagerly advanced the ordinary communications of one part of the country with an- other. He was already busy in consultation with eminent engineers touching the project of a tunnel under the Mont Cenis, to the great amazement of incredulous friends. He was revolving also other pro- jects touching the future of Italy far more difficult of realisation, but which, like the Mont Cenis Tunnel, are now among the ordinary facts of European existence. But Cavour did not carry out his financial reforms without duly considering the practical details and methods of applying them. He aided national enter- prise by lowering the duties on articles of first necessity to manufacturers and agriculturists, while further stimu- lating them to exertion by a healthy foreign competition. He favoured the commercial marine by the repeal of antiquated restrictions, and by lowering the duties on materials of the greatest importance to the modern construction of vessels. His commercial treaties were framed with the object of obtaining the freest inter- course with other countries which he could possibly obtain from their respective Governments. The more free that intercourse the better he was pleased. Military reforms were left to the Minister of War, General Lamarmora, who proved himself an organiser ECGLESIASTIGAL BEF0B2IS. 221 and administrator of no ordinary skill. In tliis work, which was especially arduous after the disorganised con- dition into which defeat and heavy losses had thrown the army, the Greneral was cordially supported by the Prime Minister. The king and his brother, the Duke of Genoa, who were as devoted to their soldiers as their soldiers were to them, co-operated earnestly with Lamarmora in placing the army on the best possible footing. Ecclesiastical reforms offered a yet harder task, which was not less resolutely undertaken and performed. The special privileges of ecclesiastics were finally abolished, and the clergy, like all other citizens, were made amenable to the ordinary tribunals with their juries and improved methods of procedure. Civil mar- riasre was established. Mendicant and other orders were suppressed or their numbers lessened, due care being taken to provide for individuals during their lives. Exemptions from military service were lessened. A special fund was created out of the revenues of the orders abolished, and was employed for the benefit of the parochial clergy, of those engaged in education, of the sisters of charity, and of other religious bodies who were rendering really useful service. Cavour desired to make his reforms in these matters of a practical and moderate character with the object of bringing the condition of the people, in matters ecclesiastical, as much as possible into harmony with the feelings of the country and the spirit of the age. He was actuated by no sentiment of hostility towards the clergy. But 222 ITALY. he saw tlie necessity of their conforming themselves to the times in which they lived, not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their country and their faith. So far from being one of those who think they show superiority by trampling on the religious feelings and convictions of others, he was careful in all he said to respect their sentiments. Instead of professing philoso- phical scepticism, he had arranged beforehand that a priest of sincere piety, who shared his political views, and to whom he was attached, should come to him if ill, receive his confession, and administer, if satisfied with it, the last sacraments of their Church. Cavour was anxious in all he did to prove to his countrymen that he was actuated by a spirit of wise reform, mingled with attachment to tlie religion of his forefathers, and not by revolutionary or persecuting fanaticism united to a hatred of all priests. Many were the ecclesiastics of various ranks with whom he was thrown into communi- cation, and to all of them he was courteous, conciliatory, and kind. Not a few among the poorer of their num- ber received from him more substantial proofs of his liberality than mere words. Well would it have been for their Church if its highest authorities had judged him more wisely, and aided instead of opposing the far-sighted policy of this great statesmen. There were indeed some few, like Monseigneur Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, afterwards murdered by the Commune, who took a true view of Cavour's char- acter. " Oh ! that man,'' said the Archbishop, speaking of Cavour, " was one far above the com- TX8UBRECTI0NABY ATTEMPT AT MILAN. 223 mon, he had not the least feeling of hatred in his heart." Such views were, however, very rare among the Roman clergy who, as a rule, stupidly looked on the great Minister as a revolutionist, if not an infidel, whose policy was one of anarchy in the State and destruction to the Church. But, unhappily for the cause of religion, it is only too often the case that a large numher of the clergy of all countries, despite their many useful and excellent qualities, are singularly in- capable of reading the signs of the times. Only too frequently do they denounce, with short-sighted pre- judice, necessary changes instead of aiding those who are wisely preparing the way for their adoption. In February, 1853, a body of a hundred or more armed men tried to set on foot a revolution planned by Mazzini and others. Austrian soldiers and sentinels were attacked and killed in Milan, while at the same moment an attempt was made to produce an insur- rectionary movement. But the affair failed, as no one responded to it either on the part of the people or the wealthier classes. They all knew that such an attempt was hopeless and would only lead to severe repression. Had the Austrian authorities been content to put down and punish, even severely, those who had actually taken part in this movement, they would have been at any rate within their legal right; but when they pro- ceeded to accuse the Piedmontese Government of being- privy to the matter, and then went on to seques- trate the property of the Casati, Arese, Arconati, and Torelli, who were living in Piedmont, the rulers of 224 ITALY. of Lonibardy took a very different course of action, which only injured themselves. The Piedmontese Government, after taking care that its police promptly performed their work in accordance with international engagements, laid before the Cabinets of Europe proofs not only of its innocence, but also of the injustice of seizing the goods of men who, being Lombards by birth but Piedmontese by naturalisation, had still pos- sessions in Lombardy which the Austrian Government now sequestrated, although the owners were wholly un- connected with the late revolutionary attempts at Milan. The representatives not only of France and England, but also of other Powers, at Turin admitted that the Government of the king had proved its case. Indeed, Massari in his Life of Victor Emmanuel asserts, and the statement has received no contradiction, " That the Austrian Minister, Count Appony, did not fail to give his Government an exact account of the true condition of things, and exhorted it not to persevere in acts which encountered universal blame, and which must end in hurting, not the person struck at, but the striker." The Austrian Cabinet, however, would listen to no such advice, and very soon the Ministers of the two countries were withdrawn from Vienna and Turin, the regular diplomatic relations between Austria and Pied- mont being thus suspended. This result only added to the prestige of Piedmont among Italians and all who sympathised with them. Cavour did not carry his financial, military, and ecclesiastical reforms without encountering criticism OPPOSITION TO GAVOUE. 225 and opposition. Strong Protectionists and economical theorists united in assailing his practical application of Free Trade principles ; military men of the old school found fault with the new army arrangements ; priests anathematised the ecclesiastical reforms, which were denounced in man}^ cases as spoliation, while the more extreme Eadicals blamed the Government for not de- stroying priestly tyranny root and branch. But Cavour, by a masterly union of argument, tact, and skill, by his growing ascendancy and his unrivalled abilities, gradually triumphed over every obstacle. The general elections of December, 1853, secured him and his colleagues in office, thereby proving that the electors of Piedmont knew the destinies of their country to be in the keeping of no ordinary statesmen, and were determined that in that keeping they should remain. The power and influence of Cavour were now begin- ning to make themselves felt among the leading men of Europe. Although deeply engaged in the reforming policy he was carrying out in his own country, he kept well in view the great and difficult task which lay beyond. So it was that in 1854 he wrote, in a letter to a friend : — " Events have led Piedmont to take a clear and decided position in Italy. That position is not, I am well aware, without danger, and I feel all the weight of the responsibility that in consequence presses on me, but duty and honour alike impose it upon us. As Pro- vidence has willed that, in Italy, Piedmont alone should be free and independent, Piedmont ought to use her liberty and her independence to plead before Europe the 226 ITALY. cause of the unliappy Peninsula. We sliall not recoil from this perilous task ; the king and the country are decided to go through with it to the end." Austria instinctively knew it. She accordingly dreaded and dis- liked Victor Emmanuel and Cavour. She rightly judged that they were a greater danger to her than Mazzini and the revolutionary party. The violence of these often repelled the sympathies of Europe, true though it was that the real cause of that violence was, the condition, as Cavour expressed it, of "the unhappy Peninsula." But the freedom and order of Piedmont, her progressive yet stable Grovernment, rallied to her side all the best minds of the old world and the new. It was impossible not to contrast such a condition as that of the little sub- Alpine kingdom with the tyranny and degradation to be seen in all the other States of Italy. Nor was it less plain that it was the arm of Austria which maintained things as they were in the Peninsula ; for without her aid the lesser tyrants, some of whom were worse rulers than any Austrian governor, would not have been able to retain their crowns for a day. But great European events were now taking place, which in the end brought Piedmont more prominently than ever before the eyes of the world. A dispute about the holy places at Jerusalem had, in the year 1853, led to difficulties between France and Eussia, the former being the principal champion of the Poman, and the latter of the Eastern, Church m Palestine. These difficulties were in the way of being settled when the THE CRIMEAN WAB. 227 Emperor Nicholas sought to obtain from the Govern- ment of the Sultan the sole protectorate of all the Eastern Christians who had the misfortune to live under the rule of the Porte. England and France were de- termined that such a policy should not prevail. They were quite agreed that these Christians (who formed in Europe the great majority of those under the Sultan's sway), as well as all others, should be duly protected, but that protection, the Western Powers maintained, must be afforded not by any one of the leading Christian Powers alone, but by all of them united. To have allowed the Czar alone to exercise such a protectorate was virtually to place at his mercy the deca3dng govern- ment of the Porte, and thereby strengthen the most despotic ruler in Europe, who had sent his armies to crush, only two or three years before, the ancient liberties of Hungary. The Emperor Nicholas had been the most determined foe of liberty in Europe, and the great supporter of that Austrian despotism which had rooted out liberty not onh^ within its own dominions, but throughout Italy, with the single exception of Piedmont. The origin, then, of the Crimean War was not the uprising of this or that Turkish province against the corrupt and oppressive rule of its Ottoman Pashas, but the determination of the Emperor Nicholas to obtain the sole protectorate of a great majority of the Christian subjects of the Porte. England and France made war rather than yield to such an aggrandisement of the emperor's autocratic power. Having been successful. 228 ITALY. they honestly endeavoured to persuade Turkish rulers to enter on a course of real reform and economy ; but in this they have utterly failed, from the Peace of Paris in 1856 to the present hour. That failure has been wholly due to the folly, perversity, and corruption which are to be found in the Ottoman government and its officials almost without exception ; hence all the woes which have justly fallen upon them since the close of the Crimean War. Cavour was satisfied that the Western Powers were right. Neither did he forget that the Emperor Nicholas, who had been the mainstay of Austria and the warmest supporter of her despotism, had not even deigned to acknowledge the announcement sent to him in due form of the accession of Victor Emmanuel ; nor had the Czar re-established, since 1848, diplomatic relations with the Court and Grovernment of Turin. No doubt the haughty northern autocrat thought these were admirable methods of showing his dislike of the constitutional kingdom of Piedmont, while they were pleasing at the same time to the despotic rulers of Austria. But the Piedmontese sovereign and his able Minister saw at once that the conflict between the Western Powers and the Emperor Nicholas, offered Piedmont an opportunity of effecting one of those bold strokes of policy which would probably be of great importance to their country and to Italy. It was in January, 1854, that Cavour asked the king if they ought not to participate in the war which seemed then so likely to break out between England and Erance on the one side and Eussia on the other. PIEDMONT JOINS THE WESTERN POWERS. 229 " I£ I cannot go myself I will send my brotlier," was the unhesitating reply. But the Prime Minister, in carrying out this policy of active alliance with England and Prance, had diplomatic and Parliamentary diffi- culties to overcome. General Dabormida, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, did not entirely agree with the policy of Cavour, who had, much to his regret, to part with an honourable colleague whom he sincerely respected. Cavour himself assumed the Ministry thus left vacant. In the Parliament the alliance with the Western Powers was opposed by the strong Conserva- tives, and also by the strong Radicals, but the Govern- ment were sustained by a decided majority of the Chamber. At length, after months of negotiation and the re- moval of many a difficulty, the treaty which admitted Piedmont on equal terms as the ally of the Western Powers was signed on the 10th January, 1855. Her contingent of 18,000 men, commanded by General Lamarmora, proved by their good conduct and their discij^line, as well as by the courage and skill displayed by all the branches of their service, that they were worthy to fight side by side with the armies of Prance and England. Notably did the Piedmontese bear their full share, on the 16th August, 1855, in winning the battle of the Tchernaya. I^or were their high military qualities less frankly acknowledged by the Eussians, whose prolonged and intrepid defence of Sebastopol, though in the end unsuccessful, confirmed their right to that foremost place among the military powers of Europe which they have long and justly held. 230 ITALY. The commencement of tlie year 1855 was marked by sorrows which cut King Victor Emmanuel to the heart. In the course of a single month — between the 12th January and the 10th February — he lost his mother, his wife, and his only brother, the Duke of Genoa, to whom he was most tenderly attached, as his brother was to him. The duke had been designated to command the Piedmontese forces in the Crimea, to his great satisfaction — a satisfaction fully shared by the army. His sudden illness and death put an end to the project. His place was taken by General Lamarmora, who was succeeded at the War-office by General Durando. The king had also to face the difficulties connected with the Bill affecting religious corporations, which suppressed some and reformed others of these bodies. There were not wanting reactionary acquaint- ances of the king, both clerical and lay, who assured his Majesty that his sad family bereavements, the cholera among his troops, the disease in the vines, and the various sufferings which war ever brings in its train, were j udgments meant to warn him against Liberalism in general and the Eeligious Corporations Bill in par- ticular. It was a moment of great trial to the honest sovereisrn who desired to be true to the constitutional principles which he loved, without offending the rehgious feelings of those who were members of the same Churcli as himself. Cavour went so far as to place his resig- nation at his sovereign's disposal, thus enabling the latter to consult with leading statesmen of other views ; but having done this, the king, after careful consideration. CONGRESS OF PABIS. 231 begged Cavour to continue in office. The latter accepted certain modifications in the proposed Beligious Corpora- tions Bill which the Upper House or Senate desired ; the Chamber agreed to them, the king gave his consent, and the Bill became law. The year 1856 brought an armistice between the contending powers, followed by the Congress of Paris, which settled the terms of peace. At that Congress Count Cavour and the Marquis Villamarina, represented their country side by side with the envoys of the great European States. The Prime Minister of Piedmont, while taking his part in the re-establishment of the general peace with a skill and tact which won him the favour of his brother plenipotentiaries, never lost sight of the further object he had in view, namely, that of laying before the Congress the condition of Italy. He had private interviews, not only wdth the Emperor of the French and his Ministers, but with the representatives of other powers ; he took besides every opportunity of placing his ideas before the leading men of France and other countries to whatever political party they might belong. His efforts were rewarded with success. On the 30th March, 1856, the treaty of peace was signed, and on the 8th April Count Walewski called the attention of the members of the Congress to the state of Italy. He admitted that the presence of French troops in Borne, and of Austrian troops in the Legations, was a wholly abnormal condition of things ; he further spoke with great severity of the system pur- sued by King Ferdinand of Naples. Lord Clarendon 232 ITALY. said lie fully concurred in the views expressed by tlie first plenipotentiary of France, and went on to criticise even more severely the misgovernment of Naples. The representative of England added, that what with the Austrian state of siege and the brigandage, the condi- tion of the Romagnol provinces was frightful ; declaring, moreover, that the only remedy was secularisation of the administration, liberal reforms, and a rule in conformity with the spirit of the age. Count Cavonr confirmed all that the representatives of France and England had said, and added, that the fact that Austria was in possession, not only of Lombardy and Venetia, but also of Eerrara, Bologna, Piacenza, and Parma, utterly destroyed the political equilibrium of the Peninsula, and constituted a real danger to Piedmont ; while the op- pressive mode of governing Italy provoked disturbance, revolution, and crime, — nor could any other results be expected while that system continued. Such a state of things was past endurance and was a sure source of danger to Europe. Count Orlof, the Russian Minister, admitted that the state of Italy was insupportable. His friendly attitude towards Piedmont was confirmed by the speedy re-estabhshment of ofiicial, and indeed very cordial, relations between that kingdom and Russia. The Emperor Alexander II. sent a special assurance of kindly feelings towards Victor Emmanuel and of the pleasure with which he saw friendship restored between the two countries. The Prussian Minister had nothing to say in defence of the state to which Italy was reduced. Count Buol, the Austrian plenipotentiary, TEE CONGRESS AND ITALY. 233 would not admit that the Congress had any right to deal with the Italian question at all ; he declined courteously, but firmly, to discuss the matter. It was evident that the Government of Vienna would listen to no advice. Her short-sighted statesmen did not per- ceive that the time was fast approaching Avhen she would have to listen to something sterner than mere words. But although Austria refused to entertain the question, the fact remained that the condition of Italy now stood condemned, not by revolutionary chiefs, nor by the rulers of Piedmont alone, but by the envoys of some of the leading powers of Europe speaking offici- ally in the name of their respective sovereigns. It was in truth a great diplomatic victory for Italy ; won not only by the skill of Cavour, but by the free and orderly government of Piedmont, in the consolidation of which her constitutional sovereign had born so large a part. If advice were unavailing to ameliorate the condition of Italy, it was becoming evident that the necessary change would have to be effected by a resort to arms. Despite the criticisms of strong Con- servatives and of strong Radicals, both in and out of Parliament at Turin, the great majority of Italians felt how real a triumph had been won for their cause by the official condemnation of the actual state of Italy by some of the leading powers of Europe. No one acknowledged it more frankly or hailed it more cordially than the former ruler of Venice, Daniel Manin, whose exile in Paris was soon to end in death. He was visited by Cavour at the time of the Congress of Paris, 234 ' ITALY. and fully approved his policy. Manin declared that the first tiling to be aimed at was the deliverance of Italy from the foreigner, while it was but a secondary matter what form of liberty she chose. He declared that if the House of Savoy was true to Italian liberty he would, though a Republican, willingly give his allegiance to Victor Emmanuel if Italy desired to place herself beneath his constitutional rule. " I accept the mon- archy of Savoy," said he, " provided that it concurs loyally and efficaciously to make Italy. The Piedmon- tese monarchy, if faithful to its mission, ought always to keep before its eyes the independence and unification of Italy. It should turn to account every occasion which allows of taking a step towards this end. It should remain the kernel, the centre of attraction of Italian unity." Manin rightly pressed Mazzini to renounce his plottings, and wrote three admirable letters to him in June, 185G, in which political assassination was ener- getically condemned, and the use of the dagger attacked from every point of view. The statesman of Venice, a Republican by preference, and the statesman of Pied- mont, a constitutional monarchist, were at one not only in their object of freeing Italy, but also as to the means to be employed for that end. It was no slight help to Cavour to have thus the avowed approval of so great a man and so devoted a patriot as the pure and high-minded Daniel Manin. In August, 1857, he signed, with a feeble hand, the circular of " The National Italian Association," which declared itself " for the DEATH OF DANIEL MANIN. 235. House of Savoy so long as the House of Savoy was for the cause of Italy in the measure of what was reason- able and possible." On the 22nd September he breathed his last, leaving behind him a name as spotless, both in public and in private life, as any which adorns the pages either of ancient or of modern history. The contrast between Piedmont and all the other States of the Italian Peninsula became greater every day. In the former, order and liberty were to be seen united Avith loyalty to the sovereign and love of constitutional freedom ; in the latter there were to be found, on the part of the rulers, absolutism and military law ; on the part of the people, hatred of the rulers and their govern- ments ; while over all was to be seen the overshadowing power of Austria prepared to uphold despotism at all times by force of arms. The hopes of Italians turned more and more to the House of Savoy and its trusted chief, " il re galantuomo." In every part of the Penin- sula subscriptions were made for the hundred cannons necessary to complete the full armament of the fortress of Alessandria. The Milanese ordered a statue to be executed by the sculptor Vela in commemoration of the Piedmontese army in the Crimea. The Grovernment of Turin pressed forward the fortifications of Casale,Valenza, and Alessandria. It determined to create a large naval arsenal at La Spezzia. The first mine for piercing the Mont Cenis by a tunnel was fired by Victor Emmanuel himself. This great work was duly inaugurated on the 30th August, 1857. Cavour, Lamarmora, and their colleagues threw their whole energy into all these 23G ITALY. undertakings while continuing their progressive policy in various other ways. Just in proportion as this course attracted the great mass of Italians to Pied- mont and her constitutional sovereign, it aroused the hatred of the other Italian courts, which were com- pletely under the influence of Austria. The diplomatic relations between Vienna and Turin, which had been renewed after the peace of 1856, were again broken off by the withdrawal of the Austrian Minister from the latter capital in March, 1857. The Piedmontese Minister was therefore recalled from Vienna. In the meanwhile the Russian Grovernment had become more and more friendly towards that of Victor Emmanuel. The Emperor Alexander was specially cordial to the Piedmontese Minister at St. Petersburg. The Grand Dukes Michael and Constantino paid the king a visit at Turin. Twice in the course of the winter the latter paid a visit to the Dowager Empress of Eussia at Nice. France and England continued to be on the best possi- ble terms with Piedmont, whose general condition and policy won more and more the sympathy of the Western Powers. They remonstrated in vain with Ferdinand II, of Naples on account of his cruel and arbitrary rule, and finally withdrew their representatives from his court. This, however, by no means displeased his majesty, who only pursued his course the more unchecked, and there- by secured in the end the expulsion of his family from the throne of Naples. But Count Cavour did not carry out his policy with- out being harassed both by the party of action and by THE OVPOSITION AND CAVOUR. 237 tlie reactionists. The former excited revolutionary move- ments. One of these w^as attempted at Genoa but wholly failed, owing* to the good sense of the Genoese popula- tion. The reactionists took advantage of these attempts to denounce the Liberalism of the Government, and de- clared that the undertakings of the Executive imposed burdens too heavy for a State so small as Piedmont. The general election, at the close of 1857 showed that the efforts of these opposite parties were not without effect, inasmuch as the ministerial majority was sensibly lessened. Cavour met the difficulty by redoubling his activity and by defending with more than his usual vigour the policy of the last eight years, which he con- tinued firmly to pursue. He denounced and repudiated the plots of the revolutionists ; he refuted the argu- ments of the reactionists, and defended with consj^icuous ability and tact the liberal and progressive policy of the Government. In his diplomatic intercourse with other nations he displayed no less skill. So ably did he con- duct this portion of his many labours that old Prince Metternich, who was still alive, is reported to have said : " Diplomacy is passing away, there is only now one diplomatist in Europe, and unfortunately he is against us, he is M. de Cavour." But suddenly Europe was startled by the attempt of Orsini to assassinate the Emperor of the French, on 14th January, 1858. Orsini himself was one of the Roman emigrants who had contrived to escape from an Austrian prison and was affiliated to a secret society. When the news reached Turin it aroused feelings of 238 ITALY. execration against political assassination and fears of tlie ill effect it would produce on tlie minds of the Frencli and on that of their ruler. For the moment great irritation prevailed against the Italians. Count Walewski wrote a sharp note to the Piedmontese Government, and asked for such a modification of their laws as would afford a better protection of foreign rulers against criminal plots. Cavour replied verbally to the French Minister at Turin, declaring the attachment felt by the king and the country to France and her ruler, and promising that every means should be used to secure the lives of sovereigns against the wicked attempts of assassins. Victor Emmanuel wrote a long letter to the Emperor of the French in which the king expressed himself with his usual frankness. He assured Napoleon of the friendship and confidence he felt towards him, and the detestation excited by the attempt on the Emperor's life. The king declared that both he and his Government were ready, without even being asked, to do all that lay in their power to prevent such crimes as that of the 14th January, but that he must preserve unsullied the dignity of his crown and the freedom of action which every State guarded with jealousy. He further added that, like his ancestors, he should prefer exile itself to dishonour. Napoleon III. received with marked cordiality General della Rocca, the bearer of this letter, to whom he expressed the satisfaction he felt at receiving it and his confidence in the words and action of the king and his Government. Cavour asked the Parliament to pass a law visiting with further THE OESINI INCIDENT. 239 penalties those who conspired against the lives of foreign sovereigns. By this means he gave satisfaction to France and severed his country from all complicity with those who were ready to sully the cause of Italy with crime. He seized upon this occasion for the delivery of a powerful vindication of the policy pursued by Pied- mont ever since the defeat of No vara, in March, 1849; he attacked alike the despotisms which produced in Italy misery and despair, as well as the crimes of violence by which it was sought to overthrow despotic rule. Speaking of those who lent themselves to the perpetration of such crimes he said : — " It is sad beyond expression to see an Italian faction professing and prac- tising such horrible maxims. ... In view of such facts we have thought it absolutely necessary for the good of Italy that the single Italian State which is governed freely should solemnly and energetically protest, not only by its Government but by its repre- sentatives, against the criminal doctrines of political assassination." When the Prime Minister of Piedmont spoke in this strain he re-echoed the sentiments already expressed by Daniel Manin. The proposed law passed both Chambers and received the royal assent. No one in Europe was more thoroughly convinced than ISTapoleon III. that the discontent of Italy and the plots of a section of Italians had their origin in the despotism which annihilated all national hfe in the Peninsula with the single exception of Piedmont. He felt keenly, also, how false was his own position at E,ome — where he had been wholly unable to prevail on 240 ITALY. the Papal Government to modify the character of its temporal rule. His soldiers maintained that rule, but his counsels were disregarded. France upheld the Pope as a temporal sovereign, but, nevertheless, the latter ruled in a manner which pleased Austria and which displeased France. The Vatican gave Napoleon cour- teous words and paid him outward respect, but the influence of the Tuileries was nothing as compared with the influence of Vienna. The situation was becoming more and more intolerable to the French Emperor, and he felt it to be unworthy of his position as head of the French nation. The short-sighted rulers of Eome, like the other despots of Italy, either did not see this or were foolish enough to rejoice at the displeasure and annoyance thus occasioned to the then powerful ruler of France. They imagined that because he was himself a military autocrat he must necessarily be on the side ot despotism in Italy, although it made her a hotbed of revolution dangerous alike to his life and his throne. They had not the wit to perceive that their tyrannical rule and marked preference for Austrian counsels were driving Napoleon into the arms of Victor Emmanuel and Cavour. But the Piedmontese sovereign and his able Minister were fully alive to the situation and determined to profit by it to the utmost. With the greatest readiness Count Cavour went privately to meet the French Emperor at Plombieres in July, 1858. During that interview it was arranged that France should ally herself actively with Piedmont against Austria, the French Emperor reserving to himself the ALLIANCE OF FRANCE AND PIEDMONT. 241 selection of the time when action should be taken and the manner in which it should be carried out. The decision was a momentous one to Italy ; it was pregnant, too, with consequences that far exceeded the expectations either of the friends or foes of this new alliance. Its ultimate result was freedom to Italians, while, curiously enough, it was the first of a series of events which issued finally in the establishment of constitutional liberty in Austria and Hungary. CHAPTEE X. Napoleon III.'s observation to the Austrian Ambassador on the 1st January, 1859 — Victor Emmanuel's speech at the opening of the Piedmontcso Parliament — Negotiations — Austria sends an ultimatum to Turin — It is rejected — Italian war of 1859 — France and Piedmont victorious — The Allied Sovereigns enter Milan — Death of Ferdinand II. of Naples — Offers of Piedmont to his son Francis II. — Austrian troojDS concentrated in Venetia and the Quadrilateral — Fall of the governments of Florence, Parma, IModena, and Bologna — Deputations from Tuscany, the Roman Legations, Parma, and Modena, to King Victor Emmanuel — Sudden peace of Villafianca — The Plenipotentiaries at Zurich — Course pursued by the peoples of Tuscany, Emilia, and the Roman Legations — Their final union with Piedmont and Lombardy under Victor Emmanuel — The annexation of Savoy and Kice to France — Naples, Sicily, and King Francis II. — The revolution begins in Sicily — Garibaldi's expedition to the island — ^His conquest of Sicily and Naples — Agitation in the Papal provinces — Intervention of Victor Em- manuel's Government and troops — Meeting of Victor Emmanuel and Gari- baldi — Their entrance into Naples — Fall of Gaeta, and departure of Francis II. for Rome — New elections throughout all Italy and Sicily, excepting Venetia and Rome — Opening of the first Italian Parliament, February, I860 — Cavoirr on the questions of Rome and Venice — His varied labours — His death on the 6th June, 1861. The first public indication of the attitude taken up by France with regard to Austria and Italy was given on the 1st January, 1859, when Napoleon III. received the diplomatic corps at the Tuileries. Addressing Baron Hubner, the Austrian Ambassador, the French Emperor said : "I regret that the relations between us are bad ; tell your sovereign, however, that my sentiments to- wards him are not changed." These words were pro- nounced in the hearing of the representatives of the other Powers, who communicated what had occurred SPEECH FROM THE THRONE AT TURIN. 243 to their respective Grovernments. The significance of the remark made by the Emperor was accentuated by the speech delivered ten days after by Victor Emmanuel at the opening of the Piedmontese Parliament. It declared that the j)olicy pursued hitherto had over- come external and internal difficulties, so rendering more solid those enlarged principles of nationality and progress on which the free institutions of the country reposed. Peferences to further reforms called forth the applause with which it is customary in Italy to greet any parts of the royal speech especially approved by the assembled Senators and Deputies of the two Houses of Parliament. But the concluding sentences were those which clearly indicated the momentous events now rapidly approaching. " Our country, though small in territory, has acquired credit in the councils of Europe because it is great by the ideas it represents and by the sympathies it inspires. This state of things is not devoid of perils, for while we respect treaties we are not insensible to the cry of grief which comes up to us from so many parts of Italy. Strong in union, trusting in our good right, we await, alike prudent and decided, the decrees of Divine Providence." When these words were uttered with impressive accent by the sovereign, the whole assembly, senators, deputies, spectators, leapt to their feet, and with reiterated shouts of, " Long live the king ! " testified their unanimous determination to stand by their sovereign, whom they felt assured was prepared to risk life and crown in the cause of Italy. Among those present were refugees from the various Q 2 244 ITALY. parts of the Peninsula wlio had found a home in Piedmont beneath the constitutional rule of Victor Emmanuel. They had been driven into exile for seeking to establish a similarly free government in the different States into which Italy was then divided. How deeply such men were touched by the expressions of the royal speech is shown by the words of one amongst them who was present at its delivery. " We poor exiles," he writes, " did not even attempt to restrain our tears, which streamed from our eyes uncontrolled and uncontrollable, while our hands clapped wildly in honour of that king who thought of om' griefs and promised us a country. Be- fore victories, annexations, plebiscites conferred on him the crown of Italy he reigned in our hearts and we hailed him as our king." The Ministers of Prance, England, Eussia, and Prussia who witnessed this remarkable scene were both moved and astonished at all they saw and heard. Trusty messengers quickly carried an account of what had happened, together with the text of the royal speech, both into the Lombardo -Venetian provinces of Austria, as well as into the other States of Italy whose rulers reigned, as events soon proved, by the help of foreign support and not by the will of their Italian subjects. The ties which united France to Piedmont were strengthened by the marriage, in the end of January, 1859, of the Princess Clotilde, the eldest daughter of Victor Emmanuel, with Prince Napoleon, the first cousin of the French Emperor. Nor was the surmise WARLIKE PBEPARATIONS. 245 unfounded that the marriage was accompanied with distinct political stipulations between the two Grovern- ments ; for an agreement was made by which the Emperor Napoleon promised to give armed assistance to Piedmont if she were attacked by Austria. The result, in case the allies were successful, was to be the forma- tion of a northern kingdom of Italy, described as one possessed of about eleven millions of inhabitants. This agreement was not made public, but was signed on the 18th January, 1859, by Prince Napoleon and General (afterwards Marshal) Niel, on the part of the Emperor of the French, and by Cavour and General Lamarmora, on the part of Victor Emmanuel. Both Austria and Piedmont increased their armaments and raised loans in preparation for war. Men of all ranks and conditions of life flocked to Turin from the other States of Italy to join the Piedmontese army or enrol themselves among the volunteers of Garibaldi, who had hastened to offer his services to the king against Austria. Instead of the confusion and division which marked and marred the uprising of Italy in 1848, there were now to be seen union and devotion under the command of that Italian prince, who had, ever since he mounted the throne of Piedmont on the field of Novara, remained faithful to the constitutional liberties of his own people, and opened his country as a refuge to all Italians driven into exile for the cause of liberty. Meanwhile diplomacy made continual efforts to avert war by endeavouring to find some solution of the difficulties and differences to which the Italian problem gave rise. In vain did other 246 ITALY. Powers seek to bring the views of the Cabinets of Vienna and Turin into agreement by means of various compromises. The gulf separating these two Govern- ments was far too wide to be thus bridged over. Then the idea of a European Congress was started. Questions at once arose as to whether Piedmont was to have a seat at the Congress, and if Piedmont, whether the other Italian States were to be admitted ; again, were they to have a full or only a consultative voice in the arrangements made ? Innumerable were the points of discussion which arose between Paris, London, Turin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Berlin, not to mention the views expressed by the various little courts of the Italian Peninsula. Then came the proposition of a general disarmament by way of staying the warlike preparations which were taking ever enlarged propor- tions. On the 18th April, 1859, the Cabinet of Turin agreed to the principle of disarmament at the special request of England and France on the condition that Piedmont took her seat at the Congress. The Cabinet of Vienna had made no reply to this proposition. Then suddenly it addressed, on the 23rd April, an ultimatum to the Cabinet- of Turin demanding the instant dis- armament of Piedmont, to which a categorical reply was asked for within three days. At the expiration of the three days Count Cavour, who was delighted at this hasty step of his opponent, remitted to Baron Keller- berg, the Austrian envoy, a refusal to comply with the request made. War was now inevitable. Victor Emmanuel addressed a stirring proclamation to his army THE FRANCO-ITALIAN WAR OF 1859. 247 on the 27th April, and two days afterwards another to the people of his own kingdom and to the people of Italy. When he left his capital to put himself at the head of his troops he was accompanied by the earnest goodwill of his own subjects and of the vast majority of Italians. The Emperor of the Prench who had promised to aid Piedmont if Austria were the first to take an aggressive step was faithful to his engagement. On the 30th April some French troops arrived at Turin. On the 13th May Napoleon III. disembarked at Genoa, where an enthusiastic welcome was given him by the immense concourse of people assembled to witness his meeting with Victor Emmanuel, who came to receive his powerful ally. During the diplomatic campaign, which lasted through the first four months of 1859, Count Cavour, and those who represented his sovereign abroad, played their difficult game with consummate skill ; yielding when- ever circumstances made it necessary to do so, however hazardous it might be ; standing firm just at the moment when such a course approved itself to some, if not all, the great Powers ; losing no occasion to further the cause of Piedmont, never losing sight of the end at which they aimed — that not only of securing the influence of Piedmont, but of advancing the cause of constitutional freedom which she championed throughout Italy, so far as circumstances permitted. The despotic rulers of Austria, baffled and annoyed, at last lost patience and sent that ultimatum to Turin which gave Count Cavour the opportunity of refusing their demands with dignity, 248 ITALY. while enabling liim at once to claim the assistance which the Emperor of the French had promised if Austria were the first to take a step which made war inevitable. The real difficulty of Austria arose from her ultra- despotic system which had received its crowning touch in the concordat concluded with the Papal See in 1855 — a concordat to which no former ruler of Austria would have consented, so greatly did it fetter and restrict the imperial power. The Italian subjects of Austria hated her rule, as did the subjects of those Italian princes whom she upheld. Hungary had never ceased to desire the restoration of her ancient constitutional rights. The freedom and order of Piedmont only increased the dis- like felt by Italians to Austria, and so enhanced her difficulties. The Grovernment of Vienna thought to cut the Gordian knot of its perplexities by war. It had just committed, by its precipitous ultimatum, a diplo- matic blunder which its able adversary availed himself of without delay. It now went on to commit a military blunder ; for although the Austrian armies proceeded to cross the Ticino and invade the Piedmontese territory, they failed to make a decisive march on Turin. Had Count Giiday, the Austrian commander, done so with- out hesitation he might well have reached the capital of Piedmont before the French had arrived in sufficient force to enable the little Piedmontese army to arrest the invasion. As it was, the opportunity was lost never to occur again. In the first engagements at Montebello and Palestro the advantage rested decidedly with the allies. It was at this last-named battle that Victor TEE ALLIED SOVEREIGNS ENTER MILAN. 249 Emmanuel by his bold bearing and courage excited the admiration not only of his own soldiers, but also of the French Zouaves, who were among the best troops of France. On the 4th June the French fought the battle of Magenta, which ended, though not without a hard struggle, in the defeat of the Austrians. On the 8th the Emperor Napoleon and King Victor Emmanuel entered Milan, where they were received with a welcome as sincere as it was enthusiastic. The rich Lombard capital hastened to recognise the king as its sovereign. While there he met in person, Garibaldi, who was in command of the volunteer corps, whose members had flocked from all parts of Italy to carry on under his command the war in the mountainous districts of the north against Austria. The cordial and frank bearing of the monarch and his single-hearted devotion to the national cause made the deepest impression on the Italian patriot. Indeed Garibaldi felt from that mo- ment the utmost confidence in the king, nor was it ever shaken throughout the difficulties, dangers, and trials which beset the progress of Italian freedom until its final victory in Kome. The allied troops pursued their march onwards to- wards the River Mincio, upon whose banks two of the fortresses of the famous Quadrilateral are situated. On the 24th June they encountered the Austrian army at Solferino and San Martino. French, Piedmontese, and Austrians fought with courage and determination. ISTor was it until after ten or eleven hours' of hard fig-htina: that the allies forced their enemy to retreat and took 260 ITALY. possession of the positions they had occupied in the morning. While victory thus crowned the efforts of France and Piedmont in battle, events of no little importance were taking- place in Italy. Ferdinand II. of Naples died on the 22nd May, just after he had received the news of the successes of the allies at Montebello and Palestro. He was succeeded by his son, Francis II. Victor Emmanuel and Cavour thought that an effort should at once be made to induce the new king to follow the same home and foreign policy as that which Piedmont had adopted. Not only did the French Emperor concur in that view, but it had the cordial support of Poerio, Scialoia, Massari, and other eminent Neapolitan exiles who were living in Piedmont. They were willing to forgive and forget the cruelty with which Ferdinand II. had treated them, if his son Francis would but give constitutional freedom to his subjects as honestly as Victor Emmanuel had given it to his, while uniting at the same time with the latter in main- taining the cause of Italy against Austria. Count Salmour was at once despatched by the Piedmontese Grovernment in the name of its sovereign to carry out this policy, with the offer of a full and fair alliance between Turin and Naples. The offer was rejected. Francis determined to follow his father's example of absolutism at home while giving all his influence to Austria. Thus it was that the young Neapolitan king sowed, and as he sowed so he reaped. Leopold, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, had in April refused the NAPLES, TUSCANY AND BOLOGNA, 251 proffered alliance of Piedmont. He opposed, until it was too late, the efforts of sucli eminent Tuscans as Count Gino Capponi and Baron Ricasoli, who did their best to persuade him to unite with his people in favour of the national cause. Finally he left Florence and took refuge in the Austrian camp. A provisional Grovern- ment was formed, which placed the Tuscan forces at the disposal of Victor Emmanuel. This change was effected in a few hours without bloodshed or violence. The Duchess of Parma went away to Switzerland with her young son, Duke Robert. Francis, Duke of Modena, betook himself, with what treasures he had time to lay his hands on, to the more congenial atmosphere of the headquarters of the Austrian army. Its commander had recalled all his troops from the northern portions of the States of the Church that he might concentrate his forces in the Quadrilateral and on the left bank of the Po. When the Austrians were on the point of quitting Bologna the Cardinal Legate sent for the municipal authorities and asked them if they would be responsible for the order of the city. They replied that they would not. " In that case," said his Eminence, " I cannot rest at my post." The Austrian troops had left Bologna at ten o'clock in the morning of the 12th June; the Cardinal left either that evening or the following day. So it was that when Austria could no longer maintain the rulers of Florence, Parma, Modena, and Bologna, they fell instantly and hopelessly, without even a .struggle. Provisional Governments were formed at once, which 252 ITALY. adopted, amidst universal approval, tlie Liberal and national policy which these fallen Italian rulers and their Austrian supporters abhorred. Not only from those cities and the surrounding countries, but also from Perrara, Ravenna, Ancona, the Marches, Perugia, and Umbria, volunteers were flocking to fight for Italy's freedom from foreign domination; while from town, hamlet, and country went forth shouts of " Evviva Vittorio Emanuele ! " " Evviva Garibaldi ! " " Evviva ritalia ! " Napoleon III. in his proclamation addressed on the 8th June, 1859, to the Italians, had said :". . . . Be to-day soldiers ; to-morrow you will be the citizens of a great country." He had thus evoked the national spirit and it at once replied with force and unanimity. Men of aU ranks and ages were pressing into the service of Italy, and while the allied sovereigns were being enthusiastically received at Milan, they learned that Graribaldi, at the head of 3,000 volunteers, was being no less enthusiastically received at Bergamo. The deputations which hastened from Tuscany, Parma, and Modena to offer their allegiance to Victor Emmanuel were received without difficulty. It was agreed that their complete annexation should be deferred until after the conclusion of peace. In the meanwhile the Piedmontese Government was to assume the respon- sibility of maintaining order and providing for military action. Yictor Emmanuel therefore sent Signor Bon- compagni to Florence, Signor Parini to Modena, and Count Pallieri to Parma, as commissioners on behalf of the king. But a more difficult question arose when the THE SOMAN LEGATIONS. 253 deputation from Bologna arrived and desired tliat what Lad been done for Tuscany, Parma, and Modena should be done for the Eoman Legations. Italian aspirations and Papal possessions were thus brought into sharp and hostile contact. The provisional Government of Bologna sent a deputation composed of the Marquis Gioacchino Pepoli (himself the head of a great Bolognese family- related to the Bonapartes) ; Count Rusponi, of Eavenna ; Signor Gherardi, of Ferrara ; Count Cesare Albicini, of Forli ; and Signor Casarini, of Bologna — all men of position and influence — to wait on King Victor Em- manuel, tender to him their allegiance, and ask to be placed under his government. Early on the 23rd June — the day before the battle of Solferino — the king received them at the Piedmontese headquarters. He replied to the address read to him by thanking the populations who had, by the deputation, expressed such confidence in him, adding that he was desirous of doing all he could for Italy. As to assuming the government of the Legations, he could not act only in accordance with his own wishes. Finally he advised them to go and see the Emperor Napoleon without delay, and tell him frankly all they had said to himself. Acting on this suggestion the deputation went away and were received that evening by the Emperor at Montechiari. He showed himself well disposed towards those who thus waited on him. After hearing their wishes he pointed out the difficulties which the design of pro- claiming Victor Emmanuel as dictator involved. He advised the deputation to provide quickly and thoroughly 254 ITALY. for the arming of the country, and then the audience came to an end. It was determined by the Emperor, the King, and Cavour to avoid the words " dictatorship " or " pro- tectorate ; " and it was agreed that Victor Emmanuel should send a " commissioner " to Bologna, with the object of maintaining public order and organising the forces of the country so that they might aid in the war. The Marquis Massimo d'Azeglio was appointed to the post. On the 3rd July, 1859, the Official Gazette of Piedmont announced the fact, and on that same day the Official Journal of Eome reached Turin with the text of a Pontifical allocution denouncing the conduct of the Piedmontese Government. These two acts may be con- sidered as the commencement of overt hostilities between the Italian national cause and that of the Papal temporal power. That power had just put down, with a severity which made it odious to the people, a demon- stration by which the inhabitants of Perugia declared themselves in favour of the former of these causes as against the latter. No wonder that Sir James Hudson, the able representative of England at Turin, who knew thoroughly the Italian question in all its bearings, wrote to Lord Eussell, then Minister of Foreign Affiiirs, and said: "Atrocious facts like that of Perugia, and menaces like that of the allocution, ought to persuade sincere Catholics of the decline and approaching fall of the temporal government of the Popes." The French and Piedmontese armies had won the battle of Solferino, and driven the enemy across the PEACE OF VILLAFBANGA. 255 Mincio ; tlieir fleets were off the lagoons of Venice, and were even visible from the lofty Campanile of St. Mark. Italy was throbbing with a movement of national life daily gathering volume and force. Europe was impa- tiently expecting the next move. It took the unexpected form of an armistice, which the Emperor of the French proposed, on his sole responsibility, to the Emperor Francis Joseph on the 8th July. On the 12th the preliminaries of peace were signed at Yillafranca. Victor Emmanuel was opposed to this act of his ally but was unable to prevent it. The Italians were bitterly disappointed, and their auger was only too faithfully represented by Cavour himself. He hastened to the headquarters of the king, denounced in vehement lan- guage the whole proceeding, advised his majesty not to sign the armistice, not to accept Lombardy, and to withdraw his troops from the Mincio to the Ticino. But Victor Emmanuel, though sympathising with the feelings of Italy and of his Minister, took a wiser and more judicious coarse than the one thus recommended. He accepted Cavour's resignation and signed the ar- mistice, appending to his signature these words : — " J'accepte pour ce qui me concerne." He reserved hi& liberty of action for the future and refused to pledge himself to anything more than a cessation of hostilities. It was a crisis full of danger to Italy, and during that crisis the king displayed a sure judgment and a power of selecting the best course in the midst of great diffi- culties which proved in the end of the utmost service to the Italian cause. In his proclamation to his soldiers 256 ITALY. he addressed to them words of highest praise, then told them that, peace having been made, important duties called him to Turin, adding only that if war broke out afresh he would again be with them. He left General Lamarmora in command of the army. The king accepted the union of Lombardy to his kingdom, but in doing so uttered no useless complaint at the course which events had taken and to which he was obliged to submit. His language and his whole bearing were politic, self-restrained, and dignified. The ablest statesman in Europe could not have advised him to act more wisely than he did ; and in justice to him it must be added that one of the very ablest among them, his own great Minis- ter, actually advised a course both less judicious and less dignified. Victor Emmanuel was received with every mark of cordial afiection at Milan and Turin ; nor did the people of those cities, though bitterly disappointed that the Emperor of the French had not fulfilled his j)romise of freeing Italy "from the Alps to the Adriatic," show the latter any want of courtesy as he returned to France. But if it be easy to understand the resentment so gene- rally felt by the Italians at this juncture, it is difiicult to give an idea of the grief which filled the hearts of the Venetians. Their hope and joy had increased with each fresh success of the allies. These feelings gave way to full assurance when, from the top of the Campanile of St. Mark, the masts of the allied fleets could be descried. Already the citizens of Venice began to count the weeks, it might be only days, when they would be free to choose their own ruler, and VENIGE LEFT UNDER TEE RULE OF AUSTRIA. 257 well had they determined whom that ruler should be. Already had they planned how, when once their freedom was secured, the remains of their beloved and honoured Manin should be brought from the land of his exile and reverently laid within their own Venice which he had served so faithfully and loved so well. It was precisely when such feelings filled every heart and seemed of certain fulfilment that the news of the armistice came and dissipated them like a dream. Suddenly Venice was confronted with the dread reality that she was to continue beneath the old leaden, hated, yoke. For the time no other feeling showed itself save that of deep dull despair. To enter into a Venetian family in those days was like entering where death or mortal sickness had struck down some member especially beloved. Venice now awoke in every Italian heart peculiar sympathy, for each one knew how bitter was her disappointment. Nowhere was this feeling stronger than in Milan. The two cities had been linked together in all the changes, hopes, and trials of the last sixty years ; now one was free and the other was left beneath the dominion of the foreigner. But the rich capital of Lombardy did not forget the ancient city of the Doges. No Milanese — indeed no Italian — desired any settle- ment of Italy that did not include within it the freedom of Venice. As soon as the king returned to Turin he had to re- constitute the Ministry in consequence of the resignation of Count Cavour. Gleneral Lamarmora was appointed President of the Council and Minister of War, Signor R 258 ITALY. Eatazzi became Minister of tlie Interior, General Dabormida Minister of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile the preliminaries of peace bad been duly drawn up, discussed and signed. There was to be an Italian Confederation, of whicli the Pope was to be honorary president; Lombardy was to be united to Piedmont; Austria was to retain the Quadrilateral and Venetia. This latter province was, however, to form a part of the new Confederation, so were the duchies to which their respective rulers were to be restored. Such were the leading features of the preliminaries of peace signed at Villafranca. They were to be discussed in detail and embodied in a regular treaty at Zurich, where the pleni- potentiaries of France, Austria, and Piedmont were to meet for that purpose. While these dignitaries were at work, Italy, whose affairs they were arranging, was at work also. The French Emperor, in his address to his soldiers at the close of the war, had said among other things : " Italy, henceforth mistress of her destinies, will only have herself to blame if she does not make regular progress in order and liberty." Italy pro- ceeded forthwith to act on the imperial statement that she was to be " mistress of her destinies," and it soon became evident that she was bent upon un- doing, at least in great part, the confederation scheme which the plenipotentiaries at Zurich were so sedu- lously wea\T.ng. Napoleon had made it clearly under- stood that he would not by force restore the rulers of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the Eoman Legations, nor would he allow others to use force for that purpose. PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENTS FORMED. 259 The matter was to be left to the free choice of the citizens of those States. The Piedmontese Commis- sioners resigned, therefore, their several posts by order of Victor Emmanuel. As soon as this was done the people of these various provinces proceeded at once, without hesitation or disorder, to form provisional Governments. Baron Ricasoli was placed at the head of affairs in Tuscany ; Signor Parini in Parma and Modena, united under the old name of Emilia ; and Colonel Cipriani in the Roman Legations, of which Bologna is the capital. Then each of these provinces proceeded to elect representative assemblies, which after meeting and discussion voted with complete unanimity against the restoration of their old rulers, and in favour of union with Piedmont and Lombardy under the con- stitutional government of Victor Emmanuel. Deputa- tions were at once sent to acquaint the king with these decisions, and tender to him the allegiance of Tuscany, of the Emilian Provinces, and of the Eoman Legations. They were assured by his majesty that he would do his utmost to further their wishes, and obtain for them the sanction of Europe. There was still an idea that a European Congress might assemble before which the king promised his representative should plead for the ac- complishment of the desires thus clearly expressed by the populations of central Italy. Their unanimity of feeling arose from two very obvious reasons : the one was the necessity of forming as large and strong a kingdom of Italy as possible, in opposition to Austria, still mistress of Venetia and of the formidable Quadrilateral ; the other R 2 2C0 ITALY. the absolute confidence felt in Victor Emmanuel as a sovereign who would reign constitutionally and be faith- ful under all circumstances to the cause of Italy. The provisional Governments of Tuscany, Emilia, and the Legations sent also able men to plead their cause, both in Paris and in London. The Emperor of the French received them kindly, but tried in vain to persuade them that it would be best to restore the old rulers. In London, the Cabinet of Lord Palmerstoa (which in- cluded among its members such tried friends of Italy as himself, Lord Eussell and Mr. Gladstone), declared very decidedly in favour of carrying out the wishes so clearly expressed by the populations of central Italy. Lord Pal- merston and his colleagues warmly espoused their cause, believing it to be just in itself, and much the best solu tion of the question. But while the provisional Govern- ments were working diplomatically, they were also actively engaged in enrolling men for their country's defence. The chief command was given to General Fanti, with General Garibaldi, who had done such good service in the late w^ar at Varese, Como and Bergamo, as second in command. This course was rendered the more necessary because both Francis of Naples and the Duke of Modena showed evident signs of hostility to- wards the new order of things in these central provinces. , But not only did their citizens flock to the ranks com- manded by Fanti and Garibaldi, numbers also came from Venetia, the Marches, and the Neapolitan terri- tory. Impatient at the delays of diplomacy, Garibaldi did THE BETEBMINATION OF CENTRAL ITALY. 261 not conceal his purpose, if only lie could carry it out, of attacking those who threatened to assail the provisional Governments of Central Ital3^ Happily he was dis- suaded from such a course by Victor Emmanuel, with whom he had a long interview at Turin, But while fully trusting the king the ardent chief could not endure a merely passive role. He therefore resigned his command and retired to Caprera, leaving General Fanti to continue the work of forming an army of some 30,000 men. In the meanwhile diplomacy was making all sorts of efforts, proposals, counter-proposals, compromises, and plans, but nothing moved the Italians of Tuscany, Emilia, and the Legations from their purpose. They on their part evinced the utmost determination. Their Parliaments named, on the 7th November, 1859, Prince Eugene of Savoy-Carignano, the king's cousin, regent of all these provinces in the name of the king. The prince declined to act personally but so far acceded to the wishes of the provisional Governments as to name some one to act for him. He selected Signor Boncompagni who commanded general confidence. It was, however, now becoming evident to all Europe that, in the face of so clear an expression of what Italians desired, this merely provisional state of things could not be allowed to continue. Again towards the close of 1859 the idea of a European Congress was brought forward. The Piedmontese Government indicated that it would choose as its representative Count Cavour, But owing to a variety of causes no Congress ever assembled. In Italy the feeling was growing daily 262 ITALY. stronger that lier policy must once more be directed by her greatest statesman. The actual Ministers were no doubt upright and capable men, but what was wanted was a chief who commanded full and general confidence. Moreover, Cavour was in favour of a speedy assembling of Parliament, while the Ministers seemed still inclined to delay it; nor did he think they were sufficiently determined in upholding the cause of the central pro- vinces, whose wishes had been so unmistakably declared. The country was clearly of his opinion, and the Cabinet finally resigned office on the 16th January, 1860. The king, knowing what the nation really desired, sent for Cavour, who formed a Ministry. The announcement that he was again at the head of affairs gave great satis- faction throughout Italy, and nowhere was it hailed with greater pleasure than in the central provinces. A change, too, was evident in the policy of the French Emperor, as was shown both by the publication of a pamphlet entitled " Le Pape et le Congres," evidently under the inspiration of Napoleon, and also by the substitution of M. Thouvenel for M. Walewski at the Foreign Office. The pamphlet argued that a Congress should agree to the incorporation of Central Italy, in- cluding the Papal provinces of the Legations, with Piedmont and Lombardy, while guaranteeing a certain territory to the Pope, declaring such an arrangement to be for the good of the Papal See itself. M. Thouvenel approved this policy, which had not found favour with his predecessor. The official journal of the Eoman States, " II Giornale di Eoma," denounced the pamphlet TEE VATICAN REFUSES EVERY COMPROMISE. 263 in tlie strongest terms. " This production," cried the organ of the Vatican, "is a veritable homage to the revolution, and a subject of grief to all good Catholics. It reproduces the errors and outrages so often produced against the Holy See. The author of the writing may rest assured that he who is sustained by the King of kings has nothing to fear from the snares of men." The Pope and his advisers refused to listen to any com- promise whatever. They demanded the restoration of the provinces which had thrown off the Papal temporal rule, and they would accept nothing less than the main- tenance of that rule in all its former integrity. In vain did the French Emperor seek to obtain some modifica- tion of these ideas. Not only did Pius IX. refuse, but when Greneral Count Gruyon, the commander of the French troops in Rome (without whom the temporal power would have fallen as surely there as it had fallen in Bologna), presented his respects to the Pope, at the beginning of 1860, the latter spoke to the French commander in terms which could not be mistaken in presence of the whole diplomatic corps. On that occa- sion the Roman Pontiff declared the pamphlet lately issued in Paris to be " an arrant monument of hypocrisy and a shameful tissue of contradictions." In vain did Victor Emmanuel write letters of dutiful devotion to Pius IX. entreating him to agree at least to some change in his temporal policy, urging with respectful arguments the reasons for such a course. The Pope was immovable, and only replied by denouncing and condemning such a policy, alike in his private letters 2Gi ITALY. and in liis public acts. Undoubtedly tlie Papal See and its advisers had the most perfect legal right to pursue the course they thought best, and they pursued it with- out flinching to the very end. "Whatever praise is due to firmness and consistency, that praise they deserve. Their jjolicy consisted then of the most strenuous resistance to all and every change ; it was summed up in the well-known phrase with which they met every proposal of the kind — " Non possumus." But it must at the same time be observed that this policy of the Roman Curia was of the greatest j)ossible benefit to the cause of Italy, and a prime factor in the complete over- throw of the temporal power. Every well-wisher of Italian unity and independence rejoiced as he saw the more extreme Eomanists throughout Europe maintain in the press and in the tribune the policy of " non pos- sumus." It meant that the Vatican would accept of no compromise, and compromise at that time would have been dangerous to Italy. But so long as the question of the temporal power took the shape of " all or nothing," the immense majority of the Italians remained perfectly united in the determination that it should not be " all," and therefore equally determined that the temporal power should obtain only the other alternative, " nothing." Einding there was no hope of making any impres- sion on the Papal Government, the Cabinets of Paris and Turin carried on their negotiations with all the more alacrity. Cavour was bent upon giving full play to the wishes of the people in Tuscany, the Emilian provinces and the Legations. Their elected representa- THE POPULAR VOTE IN CENTRAL ITALY. 265 tives had clearly expressed their wish, after free discus- sion, both in their representative assemblies and in the press, to be united to Piedmont and Lombardy under Victor Emmanuel. Both he and his Ministers were anxious to give full effect to their desire. The English Government, of which Lord Palmerston was the head, entirely concurred. The French Emperor was favour- able, but was undecided as to what method of pro- cedure should be taken to bring about the result. Oavour, ever fertile in resource, made a suggestion which he knew would find favour with l^apoleon III. ; it was that the Italians of Central Italy should express their wishes by a plebiscite or popular vote. His Imperial Majesty approved of the design. It was carried into effect early in March, 1860. The result was completely favourable to annexation. Deputations from each of the provinces then waited on King Victor Emmanuel, presented him with the official returns and offered him their allegiance, which he accepted. Austria protested, so did the princes of Parma, Modena, and Tuscany. The Pope launched an excommunication. Francis of Naples on this, as on all similar occasions, sided with them, refused all concessions to his own subjects and maintained absolutism throughout his dominions. Cavour at once promulgated by royal decree the same electoral law in the newly annexed provinces as was in force in Piedmont. On the 25th March, 1860, the election of members to the new Parlia- ment took place. They were unanimously favour- able to the annexations which had at length been 266 ITALY. accomplislied. No less than eight constituencies chose Count Cavour. The Parliament which met on the 2nd April, 1860, was no longer a Piedmontese, but an Italian Parliament, elected by the constituencies of an Italian kingdom now numbering eleven millions of in- habitants, and stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic. The closing sentence of the speech from the tlirone was received with special applause, for in it the king spoke of the country as being, " Not the Italy of the Eomans, nor that of the Middle Ages, nor must it remain any longer a field open to foreign ambition ; but rather must it be the Italy of the Italians." When the Emperor of the French saw that the formation of such a kingdom was inevitable he declared such an extension of territory made it incumbent on him to ask, on behalf of France, for the French slopes of the Alps, thereby adding to her territory Savoy and Nice. He was willing that the people of those pro- vinces should be asked whether or not they would agree to the annexation proposed. Victor Emmanuel felt especially sorry at the prosjDect of losing the country which had been the cradle of his race and to whose inhabitants he was much attached. Cavour, too, would willingly have avoided the sacrifice. But both the king and his Minister believed it to be necessary in the interests of Italy. They consented, therefore, to the demands of the Emperor, provided the vote of the two provinces was favourable to annexation, and that the new Italian Parliament gave its consent. The popular vote was for union with France, and the matter SAVOY AND NICE ANNEXED TO FRANCE. 267 was therefore laid before the two Chambers assembled at Turin. The debates gave rise to keen discussion. Guerazzi, the fiery Tuscan orator and writer, attacked Cavour bitterly ; Eattazzi, with more polished sarcasm, was scarcely less bitter ; Garibaldi protested vehemently and indignantly. But there was no withstanding the force with which the Minister demonstrated the ne- cessity and the wisdom of the sacrifice — a sacrifice he fully admitted it to be, but one which was called for on behalf of the cause the dearest and the most sacred to every Italian heart — the cause of Italy. The vote of the House was favourable to the proposed annexation by a majority of 229 against 33, while twenty-three deputies abstained with Eattazzi from taking any part in the division. England disliked this annexation of Savoy and Nice. Eussia and Prussia remained indifierent. Austria rather enjoyed the sacrifice which Victor Emmanuel had to make. France was satisfied and pleased. But what would be her position if those parts of Italy still dissevered from the new kingdom should, not only like the central provinces of the country but also like Savoy and Nice, declare by a popular vote to what State they wished to be annexed ? The question calls to mind a story told of old M. Guizot, who from his quiet retreat watched all these events. " There are," said he one day about this time, " two men upon whom the eyes of Europe are fixed, the Emperor Napoleon and M. de Cavour. The game is being played. I back M. de Cavour." On the 15th April, 1860, Victor Emmanuel left 268 ITALY. Genoa for Legliorn on a tour tlirougli the new provinces of his kingdom. The journey was one prolonged scene of enthusiastic welcome. Elorence and her sister cities of Tuscany; the Emilian towns of Piacenza, Parma, Eeggio, and Modena ; Bologna, the capital of the Legations ; together with lesser towns and country districts, vied with each other in the welcome they gave to their new sovereign and his able Minister. It seemed almost in- credible that so great an advance had really been made in the work of Italian independence. But great though it was, yet greater was that which was soon to be accomplished. Francis II. of Naples had not only refused the alliance offered by Piedmont as soon as he came to his throne in May, 1859, but he also followed the evil advice of those about him by maintaining, like his father, a system of pure absolutism. Every mani- festation made in favour of freer institutions was simply repressed. He and his advisers openly abetted Austria and showed a determined hostility to Italian freedom. They refused to entertain the idea of any modification of the state of the Peninsula as it existed according to the treaties of Vienna. This short-sighted policy was opposed to the advice of both the French and English Ministers accredited to Naples. In vain did the latter — Sir Henry Elliot — point out to his Majesty the folly and danger of the course he was pursuing. The warnings thus given by these representatives of France and England were natural and disinterested. They saw clearly that if Francis would only do for his people FRANCIS 11. OF NAPLES. 269 of Naples and Sicily all that Victor Emmanuel had ilone for his people of Piedmont ; if, like the latter, the Neapolitan king would hut carry out such a policy with honest firmness, and favour, instead of opposing, the cause of Italy's deliverance from Austrian domina- tion, he would probably save his throne. They also hoped to reach by such means a less radical, and at that time a less difficult, solution of the Italian question, by the formation of a northern and a southern kingdom of Italy, both endowed with free institutions, leaving to the Papal See a small territory for the main- tenance of its temporal power, which it might be hoped would be exercised in conformity with the freedom existing in the constitutional monarchies of the north and south. But Francis of Naples refused to lend him- self to any such course. It does not fall within the scope of this volume to discuss the merits or demerits of such a solution of the Italian question, but it may safely be affirmed that the adoption of such a policy by Francis II. could not have proved more disastrous to the Neapolitan Bourbons than the despotic and anti- national policy which, after the fashion of his fore- fathers, he actually pursued. One of the members of his family — Count Leopold of Syracuse — saw this, and used, but in vain, his utmost influence to turn the young king from his evil and fatal course. The victories of France and Piedmont, the cession of Lombardy to the latter, the determination of the central provinces not again to submit to the old yoke, but to unite themselves with Piedmont, and the victory 270 ITALY. whicli crowned tlieir prolonged efforts, produced the strongest effect throughout Naples and Sicily. That effect was only augmented by the contrast which those events in Northern Italy presented to the Bourbon tyranny still existing in Southern Italy, and which the young Bourbon king refused even to modify. In the spring of 1860 insurrectionary movements began in Sicily. Force was used to repress them. It became more and more difficult to hold down Palermo and Messina, and impossible successfully to oppose the risings in the country districts. This news reached Turin while the newly-assembled Parliament was dis- pily the king acted without hesitation and in full accordance with constitutional principles. He showed no signs whatever of that false Conservatism which has sometimes led the chief of the State either to give his confidence only to men of one particular party, or else to intrigue in their favour as against men of other views. Such conduct only stultifies and imperils representative institutions. It is dangerous alike to order and liberty, but it is well adapted to further the ends of revolutionists who like an appeal to 350 ITALY. barricades, and of traitors who like an appeal to conps- d'etat. Victor Emmanuel was too true to constitutional government, and too w^ise in the practice of it, to follow any such e^al course. His oath to the constitution was in his eyes no empty phrase to be twisted by party tricks to party ends. On the contrary, it was a pledge to give full and fair play to representative institutions ; in accordance with which he took his responsible ad- visers from among those who commanded the confidence of Parliament, whether they belonged to the " right " or to the " left." To a grave foreign personage who with much concern asked his majesty if his new Ministers were really Eadicals ! the king laughingly replied to the effect that if they were a ministry of Radicals, or a ministry of cardinals, what did that matter ? The good sense of Victor Emmanuel was right. Whoever was in office — men of the left or men of the right, Eadical excellencies or cardinal eminences — they would all have to do one and the same thing, either secure the con- fidence of the country or quit office. The general election which followed in the autumn gave a large majority to the new Grovernment formed by Signor Depretis, who was President of the Council. In the speech from the throne, on .■^Otli November, 1876, the king, alluding to the change, spoke of the new Ministers as those whom he, "following the indication given by the votes of the House, had called with full and complete confidence to govern the State." The speech also said : — " The financial equilibrium is no longer a distant aim, but a benefit on the point of being attained, FINAXCIAL EQUILIBRIUM. 351 of wliicli we are already beginning to enjoy the effects." A good deal of discussion had taken place between Signor Minghetti and his opponents as to whether or not he had really effected a balance between income and expenditure, but this statement of the royal speech, uttered on the responsibility of the ministry which had succeeded his own, seems to show pretty clearly that Signor Minghetti was substantially justified in his as- sertion. Happily the succeeding j^ears have ph\ced the matter of Italy's financial equilibrium beyond doubt. This important result has, with other fiscal reforms such as the abolition of the grist tax and the return to specie payments, greatly and justly augmented the credit of Italy in the markets of the world. The great financial difficulties which at one time so seriously threatened the kingdom have been overcome. This success is due first to the Italian people, who have endured very burdensome taxation and made heavy pecuniary sacri- fices in order to maintain the credit of the country and place its finances on a sound footing. It is onlj'- just to statesmen like Signors Minghetti and Sella to say that they prepared the way, amidst much difficulty and by necessary though unpopular measures, for the great financial triumph which has at length been achieved ; while to their successors in office, Signors Depretis and Magliani, belongs the merit of the abolition of the grist tax, and the successful carrying out of the plans which effected the withdrawal of the forced paper currency and a return to specie paj^ment. The festival by which it was customary to com- 352 ITALY. memorate the giving of the constitution was duly observed in the following June, 1877, nor did any of those wdio took part in it suspect that it was the last which the " honest king " would live to see. The usual receptions marked the opening of the year 1878, nor was it until the 4th January that the first symptoms of illness showed themselves. On that day the king received the news of the death of his tried and faithful subject, General Lamarmora. He at once dispatched a telegraphic message expressive of his sorrow, and of his sympathy with the bereaved famil3^ It was the last dispatch he ever sent. That evening his own illness increased. The sorrow and anxiety of those around him grew stronger as time went on, but the king remained calm. On the morning of the 9th his physician announced to him that his recovery was hope- less. His Majesty expressed surprise, unmixed with fear. He asked for and received the last consolations of religion as prescribed by his Church, then took affectionate leave of his sons, bade farewell to those who stood weeping round his bed, and died with quiet dignity before the day closed. The news of Victor Emmanuel's death followed so quickly upon his ill- ness, that the nation seemed almost stunned by the unexpected blow. Then followed from end to end of Italy that poignant grief which comes from the loss of one trusted and beloved in no common degree by all orders and conditions of men. On the 17th January took place the royal funeral. In great cities, provincial towns, and humble villages, citizens of all ranks flocked DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL. 353 to the churches to pay their sorrowing tribute of love and respect to the memory of the king whom they had so fully trusted, and who had so well repaid that trust. In the capital itself nothing, either of stately ceremony or popular feeling, ^vas wanting to give peculiar im- pressiveness to the last sad rites. At early dawn masses of the population were pouring down all the streets of E-ome towards the centre of the city and ranging themselves along the line of the procession. Imperial princes, royal dukes, special ambassadors, represented on the occasion their respective sovereigns and countries. Tlie young King Humbert and his Queen Consort, the members of the royal family, the representatives of the nation, the ci\41 and military authorities, office-bearers of every degree and profession from all parts of the kingdom, citizens of every age and rank from the highest to the lowest, were united, not only in their tribute of outward respect, but also in one universal feeling of mingled grief and love. So amidst the tears and gratitude of a w^hole nation the first King of Italy was laid in the tomb prepared for him within the walls of the Eternal City beneath the stately dome of the Pantheon — his life-work done, his country free. CONCLUSION. Progress of the country in order and liboity — Increase of the electorate — Brigandage reduced — Signer Brioschi on the foiTner want of public instruc- tion — Educational improvement — Commerce, resoui'ces, railways, telegraphs, post-offices — Army and Na%y — Financial improvement — The past and present state of Italy. The actual condition of Italy presents proofs that order and liberty are taking* continually firmer root in the land, while moral and material progress are benefiting its people and raising them gradually from the low state into which the tyranny and divisions of the past had plunged them. No sovereign ever mounted his throne amidst signs of more universal good-will on the part of the nation, than did King Humbert I. when he succeeded his father King Victor Emmanuel. Nor has the reigning sovereign failed to act in perfect accordance with those principles of constitu- tional liberty which have delivered Italy both from despotism and from revolution. He has thereby j)laced himself above party strife, and taken his rightful position as the chief, not of this or that section, but of the nation itself exercising the rights secured to it by free institutions. Parliamentary government presents in Italy, as elsewhere, that chequered play of party conflict which, in spite of defects and incon- veniences, benefits order and freedom alike and INCREASE OF TEE ELECTORATE. 355 therefore conduces to the general good of the country if only full and fair play be allowed to the representa- tive system. In the year 18S2 the basis of that system was widened by an addition of a million and a half of voters to the electoral rolls, so bringing up the actual number of those possessing the suffrage to rather more than 2,100,000, whereas, previous to that date, it had barely reached 000,000. The elections held under this enlarged suffrage were chiefly remarkable for the check they gave to those who seemed more anxious to make Italy occupy a showy place in the eyes of the world than wisely to husband her resources, relieve the burdens of the people, and so prepare for her a posi- tion, possibly less conspicuous, but certainly more solid and beneficial both in the present and in the future. Every one who is in favour of orderly government combined with liberty must desire free Italy to have her fair weight and voice in European affairs ; but this she may do without so burdening herself as to waste and cripple the resources from which even her material strength must take its rise. The administrative unification of the country has been effected with success, and with greater rapidity than could have been expected, while some of the greatest evils which afflicted the land are nearly if not wholly overcome. Thus brigandage has been reduced within very narrow limits ; and though it may still appear now and again, it is inevitably doomed to disappear before the moral and material advancement now taking place throughout the country. This is a great gain, when it is remembered tliat for generations x2 350 ITALY. past brigandage had been so common and so rife as to have become one of the institutions of not a few of the provinces of Southern Italy and parts of the old Papal States, as well as of Sicily. Closely connected with it, and with the low moral condition of the people, was that state of ignorance disclosed by the investigations touch- ing the education of the people which were made public in 1863. Something like 77 per cent, of the popu- lation could not read nor write, and in the southern provinces the percentage rose to 85, and even 90. Some idea of the terrible neglect in which the Italian people had been allowed to grow up may be gathered from the statements of Signor Brioschi, who published in December, 1870, a report of the exami- nations he had made in Rome for the admission of pupils into the educational institutions just set on foot by the royal government which had taken possession of the city in the autumn of that year. " We have examined," he writes, " not unfrequently, youths of fifteen, sixteen, and even eighteen years of age who could not tell the different parts of speech and did not know the conjugation of the verbs. Some ex- cused themselves by saying that the Italian language had not been taught in the schools ; others, that it ought only to be learned after Latin. So it was useless to examine them as to syntax, etymology, orthography^, &c. The pupils examined had not the most elemen- tary knowledge of the earth ; they were even ignorant of Italy, of its seas, mountains, rivers, even of its most populous and celebrated cities. After this it is un- EDUCATION. 357 necessary to speak of history." Though Signor Brioschi kneAv that great ignorance existed among the people of Rome, yet such was its depth when he came to look into it that he says : "I remained, I confess, over- powered with astonishment." That he had good reason for such a feeling the following extract from his report will show : — " I perceived that the Italian language was so neglected in all the schools that, with very few exceptions, the youths could not distinguish pronouns from nouns or give any account of the irregular verbs. As to geography and history it would be better not to men- tion them, if it were not necessary to bring to light the dejtth of ignorance in which the Roman youth is plunged respecting them. When the young lads were asked by me if they knew anything about geography some did not understand the meaning of the word ; others, after assuring me that they had studied it for a year or two, told me that the Adriatic was a mountain, Sardinia a city, Milan the capital of Sicily. Very many did not know the number of Italy's population ; many took the name of the Peninsula for that of a town ; and there were those who said to me that, if they were unable to reply, I must remember that they were Romans and not Italians. When asked about well-known facts of Italian history there were, with but rare exceptions, none who could state anything. One said Brutus was a despot ; another that Dante was a French poet, Petrarch an illus- trious poetess. Of Columbus I was told by one that he was an Apostle, and by another that he was the Holy Spirit." Signor Brioschi mentions, when speaking of the subject of arithmetic, that there was " great inability to write from dictation the simplest numbers — such as 70, 298. These numbers were only written after repeated changes, corrections, and alterations." He further says of Eome and its provinces, that " of a system of 358 ITALY. popular instruction, adapted to the wants of all, good as a pre]3aration for further studies, but good also in itself as serving to awaken the intelligence — fit, in a word, to educate a w^hole people — there was not even an idea." Such was the official account sent to the Italian Minister of Public Instruction as to the condition of the Eoman people in 1870, wdien the Grovernment of King Victor Emmanuel finally took possession of Rome and made it the capital of the kingdom of Italy. The state of edu- cation, or rather the want of it, in the Neapolitan and Sicilian provinces was even worse when, in 1860, they were annexed to the king's dominions and became a part of the Italian monarchy. The Constitutional Grovernment of Italy has diligently laboured to purify this Augean stable of ignorance and has effected much good. The average of those who can neither read nor write has been reduced from 77, 80, 85, and even 90 per cent, in the most neglected provinces, to about 50 per cent, for the whole kingdom, leaving therefore still much to be done. A Government primary school is now established in nearly every commune, and over two millions of children are attending these schools regularly. Parliament is ex- pending annually about one million and a quarter sterling on national . education. Twelve thousand evening classes collect together 600,000 pupils. The state of higher education is becoming more and more satisfactory. The licei, or public schools, number over 36,000 pupils. Art and technical schools are frequented by nearly ."20,000, and every town of importance has one such school established in it. There are 12,700 C02IMEBCE. 359 students in the twenty-six universities of Italy. The puhlic libraries were attended in 18S1 by 778,619 readers, who, judging by the list of works consulted, showed a marked preference for scientific studies. Italians are developing their home industries and resources, working the iron of their own mines, and building their own railway carriages. Native manu- facturers produce silks which are cheaper and more popular than those of Lyons, while gloves, artificial flowers, upholstery, and the knick-knacks known as " Articles de Paris," are being made in Italy itself. The foreign trade of the country increases, therefore, less than it would otherwise have done, but still it increases, while the development of the general industry of the country is very marked. If the onerous taxes which still press so heavily on all classes, more especially on those connected with agriculture, were lightened, the resources of the country would develop much more than is actually the case, thereby greatly add- ing to the prosperity, and also to the real strength of the Peninsula. There is still extreme poverty amidst the poorest classes in many parts of the Penin- sula. This has given rise to disease, discontent, and the spread of socialistic views. Were taxation less heavy these evils would be diminished. It may well be asked whether the real strength of the country would not be more increased by lessening the burdens now weighing it down, than by the maintenance of such enormous armaments and the costly experiments of hundred-ton guns and huge ironclads ? A contented 360 ITALY. and prosperous people is, after all, tlie surest foundation of national greatness and strength. Though various financial reforms have been carried out there still remains one which should be effected as soon as possible, namely the abolition of the public lotteries, which yield a considerable revenue to the State. The spirit of gambling which they produce and foster is bad in every way. It is not from such a source that a good govern- ment should derive any part of its revenue. In 1861 only 820 miles of railway were open in Italy; by 1871 they had increased to 4,340; by 1881 they had reached some 5,500 miles ; and 2,000 more will be completed in a few years. The post-offices and telegraphs bear also their testimony to the growing magnitude of business transactions. In 1869 there had been an increase of post-offices, which had raised the number of them to 1,250, and the telegraph stations had reached to 610. In 1882 the number of the former was 4,002, and of the latter 1,928, besides those in rail- way stations. These establishments had received and forwarded respectively 344,000,000 letters, post-cards, and newspapers, and 7,500,000 telegrams. The savings' banks in 1863 held sums amounting to 188,000,000 of francs, the number of depositors being 385,000 ; in 1879 the deposits had reached 656,000,000 francs, and the number of investors was over 925,000. The sailing vessels of the Italian mercantile marine have diminished, while those propelled by steam have much increased, a proof of the great transformation taking place in favour of steam. In 1861 the arrivals AEMY AND NAVY. 361 and departures of steam vessels engaged in international commerce in the Italian ports reached a tonnage of 1,848,8.23 ; in 1879 they had risen to 0,297,017. The coasting trade carried on by vessels propelled by steam power showed a tonnage of 2,358,760 in 1861 ; it had risen to 13,330,952 in 1879. The improvement of the cities and towns of the kingdom, with their new streets and buildings, the increase of ordinary' roads with their greater facilities for locomotion and for bringing produce to market, are also important branches of national progress. The army and navy of Italy are in an efiicient state and have been made the means of educating those who joined these services, many of whom were found to be in a condition of gross ignorance. This has been a great boon to the country as well as to the men themselves. At the same time it cannot be denied that the large military and naval expenditure is a heavy drag on the resources of the country, and impedes that development of them which is of vital importance to its strength and well-being. It must, however, be admitted that those resources unquestionably increase. This is proved by the ability which the country displays in bearing the heavy taxation imposed upon it. For several years the budget has shown an excess of revenue over expenditure ; while the abolition of the grist tax, and the ease with which a return has been made to specie payments, are further proofs of the improved financial condition of Italy. A very few years back her public securities only commanded a price of sixty-eight to seventy for every 362 ITALY. £100 of stock ; they are now quoted at ninety-two. Italy is thus reaping the reward due to the persevering efforts of her statesmen to establish an equilibrium between the receipts and expenses of the treasury, in which they have been supported by the wise deter- mination of her people to meet the pecuniary obligations of the country and endure very severe taxation rather than fail in doing so. Hence the increasing confi- dence justly felt in the government funds of Italy. In no other country, perhaps, are the statistics relating to all branches of its moral and material condition more carefully compiled, so affording valuable information, laying bare defects, and keeping alive the attention of those who interest themselves in the public wel- fare. This is a very wise course, for though much has been effected, much yet remains to be done. Crimes of violence are still numerous, though the Italians may be congratulated on no longer suffering under such a state of things as that which existed for instance in 1858, when the camorra, or secret association of crimi- nals, was carrying on its nefarious operations almost unchecked, and no less than six hundred and twenty- three assassinations took place in the island of Sicily alone. In days gone by Italy was divided into a number of little states full of rivalries and jealousies, often at war with one another, constantly subject to revolutions, and incessantly domineered over by foreigners. Sometimes Germans, and sometimes Spaniards, sometimes France, and sometimes Austria, ruled the Peninsula. They P.LST AND PRESENT. 363 quarrelled over or divided their Italian spoils, each in turn placing their heel on the neck of Italy and claim- ing her as their lawful prey. It was a pitiable record of intrigue, strife, revolution, and alien domination, re- calling the bitter reproach of Dante : — "Ahi, serva Italia, di dolore ostello, Nave senza noccliiero in gran tempesta, Non donna di provincie, ma bordello. " Ed ora in te non stanno senza guerra Li vivi tuoi, e Fun I'altro si rode Di quei, cli'un muro, ed una fossa serra." "Alas! enslaved Italy, abode of grief, Ship without pilot in a mighty tempest, No lady of high position, but brothel-house impure. "And now within thee rest not without strife Thy living sons, and one the other mangles Of those whom one wall and one defence encloses." To-day, on the contrary, Italy is free, independent, and united. She enjoys internal order untroubled by foreign rule and unsullied by civil war. She possesses constitutional freedom established on a large basis beneath the sway of a native prince true to his coun- try's liberties, which form the security of his throne. He is the son and successor of that first King of Italy who has left behind him a bright example of devotion to the nation's independence and of fidelity to its free institutions. To-day is reahsed the prophetic aspiration written 304 ITALY. some fifty years ago by one of tlie most gifted of the sons of modern Italy — Alessandro Manzoni : — " Non fia loco ove sorgan barriere Tra ritalia e I'ltalia, mai piu !" " No more shall place be found where barriex^s lise to sever Italian from Italian soil, henceforth for ever ! " As this striking contrast between the past and present is contemplated, every friend of order, peace, and liberty may well rejoice that to-day there exists among the nations of Europe a free and united Italy. THE END. Cassell & Company, Limited, Belle Salvage Works, London, E.G. GENERAL INDEX. Albani, Cardinal, as Governor of Bologna, 66 ; his cruelty, 74. Albert, ArcMuke, at Custozza, 317. Alessandria, Piedmontese revolution breaks out at, 26. Alfieri ; influence of his poetry, 83. Amadeus, Prince, at Custozza, 316. Ancona taken by the French, 56. Antonelli, Cardinal, 145, 295. Appony, Count, Austrian Minister at Tm-in, 205. Armellini, Member of the Roman Con- stituent Assembly, 163. Army in Italy, Present state of, 360. Aspromonte, Garibaldi captured at, 303. Austria, overtures to Italy, 4 ; supre- macy of, 9 ; strengthens her forces in Italy, 23 ; her repressive policy, 35 ; puts down insurrection at Bologna, 62 ; war with Prussia, 316; increasing friendly relations with Italy, 327 ; peace signed with Italy, 321. Austrians, The, driven from Milan, 119; driven from Venice, 121; victory of, at Custozza, 318; de- feat of, at Sadowa, 319. B. Bandiera, Emilio and Attilio, Execu- tion of, 75. BaroUo, Marchioness of, 61. Belgium, Policy of, on tho Roman question, 334. Bentinck, General, Proclamation of, 5 ; overthrow of his Sicilian Consti- tution, 11. Benvenuti, Cardinal, set at liberty, 61. Berlin, Visit of Victor Emmanuel to, 345, Bemetti, Cardinal, 66. Bismarck, Prince, approves conduct of Italy, 320. Bixio, General, 293. Bologna, Insurrection at, 49 ; sur- renders to Austrians, 168. Bonaparte, Joseph, 2. Boncompagni, envoy to Florence, 262. Borelli, Execution of, 53. Bosco, Commune of, suppressed, 40. Bozzelli, Minister at Naples, 165. Brescia, Town of, taken by Haynau, 152. Brigandage, 291, 300. Brignole, Cardinal, 74. Brindisi, Railway to, opened, 299. Bubna, General, occupies Alessandi-ia, 31. C. Cadoma, General, takes Rome, 330. Caiazzo, Town of, captured by Gari. baldi, 284. Camerata, Count, 161. Campaign of 1866, 315—323. Campello, Minister at Rome, 159. Oampo Formio, Treaty of, 7. Canosa, Prince of, offers his ser^dces to the Duke of Modena, 55 ; his ab- solutist opinions, 57. 36G ITALY. Canuti, his hook, " The Italian Ques- tion,;' 81. Caprcra, Garihaldi at, 288, 293, 324. Carafa sails against Tripoli, 41. Carhonari, Principles of the, 17, 46 ; their numher, 18. Castelfidardo, Defeat gf Papal troops at, 281. Cavour, Count, Liheral opinions of, 61 ; his opinion of Neapolitan re- form, 110; general policy of, 208 — 296 ; appointed Minister of Commerce, 211 ; visits England and France, 215 ; Prime Minister of Piedmont, 217 ; his reforms in Piedmont, 219 — 222 ; his resigna- tion after the peace of Villafranca, 255 ; again Prime Minister, 262 ; proposes a plebiscite, 265 ; Prime Minister of Italy, 290 ; his Ve- netian policy, 295 ; his death, 297. Central Italy, United action of, 261 ; amalgamates with Piedniont, 265. Cesare Balbo, Count, his book " Spe- ranze d'ltalia," 80. Charles Albert, as Regent of Piedmont, 29 ; proclaims a constitution, 29 ; submits to Charles Felix, 21 ; his soldierly qualities, 44 ; succeeds to the throne of Piedmont, 69 ; his government, 71 ; his hostility to Austria, 78 ; his reforms in Pied- mont, 97 ; grants constitutional government in Piedmont, 111 > joins the Revolution, 122 ; defeats the Austrians at Pastrengo, 129 ; defeated at Custozza, 133; his ab- dication, 152. Charles, Duke of Parma, his treaty ■with Austria, 103 ; driven from his State, 121. Charles Felix, King of Piedmont, 29, 32, 42. Charles Louis, Duke of Lucca, 94. Chateaubriand, his opinion of the state of Italy, 15. Christina of Savo)', Princess, married to Ferdinand II., of Naples, 64. Church and State, Relations between, 341. Ciachi, Cardinal, 136. Cialdini, General, 281, 316. Ciantclli, 58. Cilento, Outbreak at, 30. Cijiriani, President of the Roman Legations, 259. ^ Civil Code, The, 307. Clotilde, Princess, man'ied to Prince Napoleon, 245. Commerce, Dcjvelojjment of, 359. Congress of Paris, 231. Consalvi, Cardinal, his policy at Rome, 12. Constituent Roman Assembly, The, 164. Convention of 1864, The, 309 Corsini, Prince, 161. Cosenz, General, 293. Crimean War, Outbreak of, 227 ; value of Piedmontese assistance, 229. Custozza, Victory of Radetzky at, 132. Custozza, Victory of Austrians at, 317. D. Dabormida, General, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 258. D'Azegiio, ISIarquis Massimo, exiled from Tuscany, 75 ; his book, "Degli ultimi casi di Romagna," 79 ; Prime Minister of Piedmont, 197; his despatch to Ministers in London and Paris, 213; Com- missioner at Bologna, 254. Delia Minerva, Count, 280. Delia Torre, General, 31. Delcarretto, General, Minister of Police at Naples, 64 ; his dismissal, 108. De Lesseps, M., Envoy to Rome, 169. Depretis, Signer, Prime ilinister, 349. De Sauget, 107. Despotism, Triumph of, 191. GENERAL INDEX. 367 Diego Guicciardi, quoted l>y Llctter- nich) 10. Dui'ando, General, 122. E. Education in Italy, 356. Encycliciuc, The Papal, 312. England, Sympathy of, with the Italian cause, 99, 282 ; mediates between Austria and I'iedmont, 149. Fanti, General, 260 ; Minister of War, 291. Farini, Envoy to IModena, 252 ; Pre- sident of Parma, 259 ; Prime Minister of Italy, 304; resigna- tion of, 305. Favare, Marquis della, 63. Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 18. Ferdinand I., King of Naples, grants a constitution, 20 ; his messages to his Parliament, 23, 24; death of, 37- Ferdinand II., King of Naples, suc- ceeds to the throne, 63 ; his mar- riage, 65 ; bad gOTernment of, 67 his opposition to reform, 95, 105 forced to give a constitution, 109 joins the national movement, 125 his double dealing policy, 126 deserts the national cause, 128 triumph of his reactionary policy, . 148 ; defeated by the Komans 168 ; death of, 250. Ferretti, Cardinal, 91, 92. Finances, Italian, 351. Florence, occupied by the Austrians, 154 ; decreed capital of Italy, 310. Foggia, Opening of railway at, 306. France mediates between Austria and Piedmont, 149 ; intervention of, at Rome, 161 ; Italian policy of, 167 ; alliance of, with Piedmont, 241. Francis, Emperor of Austria, 9. Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, visits Venice, 347. Francis I., King of Naples, Corrupt practices of, 38 ; his death, 63. Francis II., King of Naples, Suc- cession of, 250 ; his policy, 268 ; flies from Naples, 277 ; takes re- fuge at Rome, 288. Francis IV., Duke of Modena, 31, 47, 48. Francis v., Duke of Modena, 95, 103, 121, 251. Franco-Italian war. Outbreak of, 247. Franco-Prussian war, 329. Frederick William, Emperor of Prus- sia, 215. G. Gaeta, Pius IX. at, 160. Galletti, Minister at Rome, 159. Garibaldi joins " Young Italy," 61 ; his volunteers, 133 ; as a member of the Roman Constituent Assem- bl}'-, 164 ; leaves Romes to the French, 171; joins Victor Em- manuel at ]\Iilan, 249 ; retires to Caprera, 261 ; protests against the annexation of Savoy and Nice to France, 267 ; sails for Sicily, 272 ; takes Palenno and Messina, 273 ; lands in Calabria, 276 ; enters Naples, 277 ; his proclama- tion at Naples, 278 ; meeting of, with Victor Emmanuel at Teano, 285 ; his jealousy of Cavoiu", 287, 293 ; arrested at Aspromonte, 303 ; defeat of, at Montana, 324. Genoa, Union of, with Piedmont, 6 ; insurrection at, 199. Genoa, Duke of. Crown of Sicily offered to, 128. Germany, Emperor of, visits Milan, 348. Gioberti, Abbe Vincenzo, 80, 138, 150. Gino Capponi, Count, 251. Giusti, influence of his poetry, 83. 368 ITALY. Gizzi, Cardinal, Secretary of State at Eome, 87 ; his retirement, 91. Goito, Battle of, 130. Gregory XVI., Pope, Government of, 73 ; his death, 85. Guerrazzi, Triimivir of Tuscany, 153. Guizot, M., his opinion of Cavour, 267. H. Holy Alliance, The, 27. Hostility to foreign rule, 89. Humbert, Prince, commands a division at Custozza, 316 ; his marriage, 327 ; accession of, to the throne, 354. I. " II re galantuomo," title of Victor Emmanuel, 210. Intonti, Signer, Minister of Police at Naples, 64. Italian Parliament, First Assembly of, 289. Italian Science Congress, The, at Genoa, 88. K. Kanzler, General, 322. Lamarraora, General, War Minister of Piedmont, 221 ; commands Italian contingent in the Crimea, 229 ; settles affairs in Sicily, 303 ; Prime Minister of Italy, 310; commands the army of the Mincio, 315 ; his defeat at Custozza, 318 ; death ofj 352. Lamoriciere, General, 280. Lanza, Signer, 310, 328. La Spezzia, Naval Arsenal at, 235. Laybach, Conference of, 23. Leo XII., Policy of, 35. Leopold II., Duke of Tuscany, his reforms, 94 ; grants constitutional government. 111 ; joins the revo- lution, 123; flies from Siena, 147; sustained by the Austrians, 154 ; leaves Florence, 251. Liberal Party, The, 46. Lissa, Austrian victory at, 321. Lombardo- Venetian Kingdom, Forma- tion of, 8 ; harshness of the government of, 77 ; joins the reform movement, 98. Lombardy joined to Piedmont, 256. Louis XVIII., King of France, 34. M. Macchi, Cardinal, 74. Magenta, Battle of, 249. ]\ralghora. Fortress of, 185, 188. Mamiani, Count, 137. Manin, Daniele, Imprisonment of, 103 ; head of the government of Venice, 121, 173; his speech in the Assem- bly, 179, 180; exile of, 190; visited by Cavour in Paris, 233 ; his death, 235. Manin, Luigi, last of the Doges, 8, Manzoni, Influence of his writings, 83. Menabrea, General, 322. Maria Christina, Marriage of, 41. Margherita, Princess, married to Prince Humbert, 327. Mazeini, founds "Young Italy," 59; appeals to Charles Albert to head " Young Italy," 70 ; his attacks on Piedmont, 71 ; influence of his followers, 74 ; elected member of the Roman Constituent Assembly, 164; heads insurrection at MUan, 223. Menotti, his conspiracy, 48 ; execution of, 63. Montana, Garibaldi defeated at, 324. Messina, Outbreaks at, 95 ; taken by the Neapolitans, 166. Metternich, Prince, Report of, to the Emperor, 10 — 13; his opinion of GENERAL INDEX. 369 the state of Italy, 45 ; his opinion of Papal rule, 55 ; his opinion on Italian reform, 86 ; his opinion of the Roman Government, 101 ; exile of, 114; his opinion of Cavour, 237. Milan, Council of, 102 ; insurrection at, 117. Minghetti, Prime Minister, 305 ; re- signation of, 349. Modena, Duke of, 31, 47, 48, 54, 251. ]\Iont Cenis Tunnel, The, proposed by Cavour, 220. Montanelli, Giuseppe, 76 ; imprison- ment of , 1 45 ; forms ministry of Tus- cany, 146; chosen Triumvir, 153. Montebello, Battle of, 248. Montecchi, Signor, 163. Morandi, Monsignor,Governor of Eome, 91. Murat, as King of Naples, 2. Muzzarelli, Minister at Rome, 159. N. Naples, Revolution in, 21 ; cholera at, 65 ; discontent, 95 ; reaction at, 155; parliament dissolved, 158. Napoleon I., Proclamation of, 2 ; his general policy, 3. Napoleon III. joins Menotti's con- spiracy, 49 ; his sympathy with Italy, 219 ; attempted assassination of, 237 ; enters Milan, 249 ; secures Eome to the Pope, 281 ; his al- liance with Italy against Austria, 247 ; policy of, 258 ; overthrow of, 329. Naselli, Governor of Sicily, 22. Navarino, Battle of, 39. Navy, Present state of the Itahan, 360. Nazzari, Giambattista, 102. NeapoUtan Bourbons, The, 6. Niccolini, Influence of his poetry, 83. Nice, Annexation of, to France, 267. No vara, Battle of, 151. Nugent, Count, Proclamation of, 3. Orsini, 237. Oudinot, General, 167. Pacca, Monsignor, his policy in Rome, 12. Palenno, strife with Messina, 23 ; out- breaks at, 95 ; surrender of, to the Neapolitans, 157. Palestro, Battle of, 248. PalUeri, Count, 252. Palmei'ston, Lord, his influence on Italian indeijendence, 178, 260. Papal Guarantees, Law of the, 236. Pasolini, Count, 304, 306. Pastrengo, Battle of, 129. Paterno, Prince of, 23. Pepe, General, commander-in-chief at Naples, 21 ; defeat of, 25 ; sent against the Austrians, 125; re- called, 127 ; joins the Venetians, 1 34 ; commands the Venetian army, 177. Persano, Admu-al, 321. Perugia, Town of, captured by the Italians, 280. Pia, Princess, 301. Pianell, General, 317. Piedmont gives uneasiness to Austria » 12; revolution in, 27; govern- ment of, 72 ; constitution pro- claimed in, 111 ; treaty with Austria, 203 ; religious liberty in, 207 ; alliance with France, 241, 245. Pius VII., Pope, Death of, 35. Pius VIII., Pope, his pohcy, 36. Pius IX. proclaimed Pope, 85 ; his policy, 86 ; refuses to fight against Austria, 135; flies from Rome, 145 ; his opposition to reform, 216, 313. Plebiscite, The, 265. Polignac, Prince de, 44. Ponsonby, Lord, 91. 370 ITALY. Prussia, war with Austria, 315; vic- tory of, at iSadowa, 315. R. lliidctzky, Marslial, Harsh measures of, 103; evacuates Milan, 119; defeated at Goito, 130; victory of, ' at Norara, 151 ; takes Vicenza, 175. Ratazzi, Signor, as Minister in Pied- mont, 258 ; as Prime Minister of Italy, 300 ; resignation of, 304 ; again Prime Minister, 324. Reggio, Town of, capitulates to Gari- baldi, 276. Eegnier, Archduke, 120. Ricci, Execution of, 53. Ricasoli, Baron, 251, 259, 299, 323. Rivarola, Cardinal, 35. Roman Legations, The, 253. Roman Republic, Establishment of the, 163. Roman Question, The, 301, 308. Rome, Demonstration at, 102 ; consti- tutional government granted, 113 captured by the French, 171 evacuated by the French, 322 taken by Cadorna, 330 ; made capital of Italy, 331 ; public entry into, by Victor Emmanuel, 342 ; Italian Parliament assembles in, 342. Rosmini, Abbe, Writings of, 142. Rossi appointed Minister of Finance, 140 ; his attempt to form an Italian league, 141 ; his reforms, 143 ; his assassination, 144. Ruggiero, Settimo, 107. Russia, compared with Italy, 206. S. Sadowa, Battle of, 319. Saint Aulaii-e, Coimt, 56. Saliceti, Signor, 163. Sunfedesti, Society of the, 56. San Martino, Battle of, 249. Savoy annexed to France, 267. Sclilcswig-Holstein Question, The, 313. Sclopis, Count, 344. Secret Societies, 17. Sella, Signor, 310. Siccardi, his policy, 208 ; envoy to Pius IX., 207. Sicilians, Hati-ed of Ferdinand II. by the, 69. Sicily, Revolution in, 105. Soglia, Cardinal, 139. Solferino, Battle of, 249. Spinola, Cardinal, 74. Sturbini, Signor, 159. Swiss Troops, The, 73. Syllabus of Pius IX., 312. Syracuse, Count of, 68. T. Tegethoff, Victory of, at Lissa, 321. Thouvenel, M., 262, 301, 304. Tito Manzi, quoted by Metternich, 10. Tonello, Signor, 323. Trentino, District of ; its retentign by Austria, 322. Tripoli, The Bey of ; his piratical prac- tices, 41. Turin, Tumult at, 309. Tuscany, its contentment imder Austria, 12, 36 ; comparative freedom of, 75 ; constitutional government proclaimed in, 111 ; as a Republic, 153 ; united to Piedmont, 253. Two Sicilies, Kingdom, of the, 6. U. Ugo, Pietro, 41. Ulloa, General, 182. V. VanniceUi, Cardinal, 74. Venetian Republic, The, 7. GENEnAL INDEX. 371 Venice, Revolution in, 120 ; its strug- gles for freedom, 181 ; defence of, 187; submits to the Austrians, 190 ;■ left to Austrian rule, 257 ; ceded to Italy, 322 ; visited by the Emperor Francis Joseph, 347. Verona, Congress of, 33. Vicenza, Capitulation of, 131, 175. Victor Emmanuel I., 7, 27. 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