X^' MODERN ITALY J# HUMBERT T. (From a photograph by Brogi.) THE STORY OF THE NATIONS MODERN ITALY 1 748- 1 898 BY v-- PIETRO ORSI PKOFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE R. LICEO FOSCARINI, VENICE TRANSLATED BY MARY ALICE VIALLS NEW YORK G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN 1900 PASQUALE VILLARI, FOREMOST OF LIVING ITALIAN HISTORIANS IN HARMONISING THE ART WITH THE SCIENCE OF HISTORY, I DEDICATE THIS MODEST WORK, THAT I MAY ENJOY THE PLEASURE OF PUBLICLY EXPRESSING THEREBY MY SINCERE ADMIRATION FOR HIS GENIUS TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE Although Italy is still the favoured shrine to which thousands of British and American travellers annually flock, to find in her lakes and mountains, her churches, picture-galleries and ruins, the goal of their pilgrimage, whilst the magic names of Rome, Florence and Venice c.re as household words upon their lips, yet the inner history of the peninsula — a record fraught with the profoundest human interest — has been strangely neglected, even by those who, it might be reasonably supposed, would be its closest students. But it ought not to be forgotten that the country, which we are so apt to regard as simply a paradise of nature as well as of art, has a practical demand on our sympathies quite as strong as its hold on our imaginations. Whilst the picturesque heroes of Roman story are familiar traditions of our schooldays, Charles Albert — that most noble and pathetic of kingly figures — Cavour — the pilot who steered the bark of Italian independence safely home to port, between the rocks of absolutist reaction and the whirlpool of revolu- tionary fanaticism — and many more, are, especially vi m.4XS/..-1T0A''S PREFACE to the younger generation, too often mere names. To familiarise his readers with the pioneers of modern Italy and their work, is the object of Pro- fessor Pietro Orsi who, from his distinguished academical position, commands exceptional qualifi- cations for such a task. It is to be regretted that considerations of space have forbidden the fuller treatment and more detailed development of so complex a theme as the making of the present Italian kingdom, but it is hoped that this compre- hensive resume will encourage students to explore the manifold phases of the movement for themselves and that, read in connection with this volume, the other Italian series in the "Story of the Nations," such as Sicily, Venice, and The Tuscan Republics, to say nothing of France and Austria, will acquire fresh significance as parts of a great whole. Italy has long been an inexhaustible treasury of art and literature for the English-speaking race; ought not then her political annals for the last hundred years to give her an even nobler and more strenuous claim on the Anglo-Saxon mind, with its keen bent for practical politics and unswerving devotion to constitutional freedom. Indeed, interest in Italian affairs may be said, at least, to have been a tradition in our literature during the last half century ; aroused long ago by Mr. Gladstone's eloquent protest against the Bourbon regime in Naples — in his two famous Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen — and kept alive in the impassioned verse of Mrs. Browning, it has, of late years, been stimulated by the fascinating mono- graphs of Madame Martinengo Cesaresco and Mr. TKAXSLATOR S PREFACE Vll J. W. Stillman's valuable work, The Union of Italy. Is it too much to expect that such an interest may- be further promoted by the following pages, wherein the great questions connected with the Italian Risorgimento are relegated to their proper place in the historical perspective, so that we can see them clear and undistorted in the sober light of fact ? At any rate, it is trusted that this record will form one more link in the already long and lasting chain which binds united Italy to England, and that it will likewise be a factor in ensuring for Italians Trans- atlantic suffrages, for surely America, with her own cherished traditions of liberty, will not be slow to lend a sympathetic ear to the " story " of a nation that, in her gallant struggle for independence, has won her way, in spite of internal anarchy and foreign oppression, out of the darkness and confusion of the old unhappy past, to the dawn of a new day that brings her the inestimable blessings of unity and freedom. MARY ALICE VIALLS. London, October, 1899. CONTENTS Italy after Aquisgrana 1-34 Kingdom of Sardinia — Lombardy — Republic of Venice — Republic of Genoa — Parma and Piacenza — Modena and Reggio — Grand duchy of Tuscany — States of the Church — Naples and Sicily — Poetry of Giuseppe Parini — Vittorio Alfieri and nationalist ideal. II. Italy during the French Revolution 36-48 Effect of French revolution in Italy — First campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1796-97) — Origin of the Italian tri- colour flag — Fall of the Venetian Republic — New democratic regime — Italy conquered by the French — Austro- Russian victory and triumph of reaction — Exiles of 1799 and ideal of a united Italy. III. The Napoleonic Regime 49-64 Napoleon's passage of the St. Bernard, and battle of Marengo — Convocation of Lyons and Italian Republic — Francesco Melzi — Kingdom of Italy — Eugene Beauharnais — Conquest of kingdom of Naples —Abolition o.f temporal power of the Popes —Italian provinces annexed to French ix X CONTENTS empire — Awakening of Italian life under Napoleonic regime — Kingdom of Naples under Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim Murat — Bourbon court in Sicily — Constitution of 1812 — Abdication of Napoleon — Restoration of the ancient order — The ' Hundred Days ' — Fall of Napoleon — ^Joachim Murat — His loss of the throne — Last effort and death. IV. The Restoration : Old Governments and New Peoples 65-74 Congress of Vienna and re-adjustment of Italy — Austrian predominance — \ictor Enniianuel I. returns to Piedmont — Lombardo- Venetian provinces under Austria — Condition of the duchies— Mildness of Tuscan rule — Papal States — Ferdi- nand I., King of the Two Sicilies — Holy Alliance and liberalism. Revolutionary j^eginnings .... 75-93 Carbonarism — Revolution at Naples (1820) — Expedition sent by Holy Alliance against the constitutionalists and restoration of absolutism — Revolution in Piedmont (1821) — Conduct of Charles Albert — Restoration of absolute rule with Charles Felix — Political prosecutions in the Lombardo- Venetian States — Cruelty of Francis IV. of Modena and his designs on the Sardinian succession — Congress of Verona — Charles Albert in Spain. VI. Ten Years of Reaction 94-106 Italy from 1821 to 1830 — Francis IV. of Modena and Giro Menotti — Revolution of 1831 — United Italian provinces — Austrian intervention and re-establishment of ancient governments — Memorandum of the Powers to the Pope. CONTENTS XI VII. . - ^ , PAGE Giuseppe Mazzini and 'Young Italy' . .107-121 Letter of Alazzini to Charles Albert — 'Young Italy' — Conspirators of '33— Expedition of Savoy — Stern repressions — Ferdinand II. of Naples — The Sicilian risings — Art and science as factors in the nationalist cause. VIII. The Force of Public Opinion ' . . 122-128 Death of the Bandiera brothers^Gioberti and his Primato . Degli Italiani — Balbo's Speranze D'' Italia — Pontificate of Gregory XVI. — D'Azeglio's Ultimi Cast Di Ro??iagna. IX. From Reforms to Revolution . . . 129-159 Charles Albert and Austrian tactics — Pius IX. and reforms — Sudden awakening of the national conscience — Popular agitation, and behaviour of the princes — Charles Albert's reforms — Palermo insurrection — Constitution granted in the Neapolitan States, Piedmont, Tuscany and Rome. The War of 1848 ...... 160-193 Lombardo-Venetian States at the beginning of 1848 — Sanguinary policy of Austrian government — Liberation of Venice — The ' Five Days ' at Milan — War of Indepen- dence — First successes of the Italian arms — Allocution of Pius IX. — The 15th of May at Naples, and withdrawal of the Neapolitan troops from the war — Tuscans at Curtatone and Montanara — Last victories of the Piedmontese — Defeat of Custoza — Retreat — Armistice — Vicissitudes of Italian states at the end of 1848— Heroic defence of Venice. I a Xll CONTENTS XL PAGE The War of 1849 194-215 Struggle between Piedmont and Austria resumed — Defeat of Novara and abdication of Charles Albert — The ' Ten Days ' of Brescia — Restoration of absolutism in the king- dom of Naples — Submission of Sicily — Re-establishment of grand-ducal government in Tuscany — The Roman Republic — French intervention — Garibaldi — Determined re- sistance of Venice — Daniele Manin. XII. The Beginning of Victor Emmanuel II. 's Reign 216-232 Victor Emmanuel's interview with Radetzky at Vignale— Reaction triumphant throughout Europe — Peace concluded with Austria — Massimo D'Azeglio and ' Proclamation of Moncalieri ' — Gladstone's letter on the Bourbon government — Deplorable condition of rest of Italy — Prosecutions at Mantua — 6th of February, 1853, at Milan — Memorandum of Cavour — Assassination of the Duke of Parma. XIII. The Star of Piedmont 233-245 Cavour, president of the Ministry — • Development of nationalist feeling — Part taken by Piedmont in Crimean war — Cavour at the Paris Congress — Centralisation of Italian life in Sardinian kingdom — ^Revolts in kingdom ot Naples — Expedition of Sapri — Change of Austrian policy in Lombardo- Venetian States — Bold attitude of Piedmont and speech of Cavour — Alliance with France. XIV. The V^ar of 1859 246-268 Preparation for a new war — Speech of Cavour — Austrian ultimatum — Victor Emmanuel's manifesto — Condition of rival armies — Montebello, Palestro, Magenta and Melegnano CONTENTS XI 11 PAGE — Garibaldi and his ' Cacciatori delle Alpi ' — Solferino and San Marlino — Preliminaries of Villafranca and Peace of Zurich — Cession of Savoy and Nice to France — Fusion of Parma, Modena, Romagna and Tuscany with Piedmont. XV. The March of 'the Thousand' . . . 269-284 Francis II. King of Naples — Garibaldi and 'The Thousand ' from Quarto to Marsala, Calatafimi, Palermo and Milazzo — Victor Emmanuel's army in the Marches and Umbria — Volturno — English sympathy for Italian cause — Capitulation of Gaeta — Kingdom of Italy proclaimed. XVI. The Roman Question 286-302 Cavour's speeches on the Roman question — Death of the great minister — Difficulties in new kingdom — Brigandage — Line taken by ' party of action ' — Aspromonte — Garibaldi's visit to England — Convention of September, 1864, and transference of capital from Turin to Florence. XVII. The War of 1866 303-309 Alliance of Italy and Prussia — Condition of the armies — Battle of Custoza — Garibaldi in the Trentino — Naval engagement at Lissa — Peace of Prague — Venetia annexed to kingdom of Italy. XVIII. Rome the Capital 310-316 Garibaldi and the volunteers in Papal States — Intervention of France and battle of Mentana — Neutrality of Italy during the Franco-Prussian war — Occupation of Rome by Italian troops, September 20, 1870 — ' Law of guarantees.' Xiv CONTENTS XIX. Italy AFTER 1870 318-348 Internal administration — Death of Mazzini — The ' Right ' and ' Left ' — Advent of ' Left ' to power — Death of Victor Emmanuel — Death of Pius IX. and election of Leo. XIII. — Origin of Triple Alliance— Death of Garibaldi — Internal reforrns and development of public works— Occupation of Assab and Massowah — Italian affairs in Africa — Bank prosecutions and commercial morality — The riots of May, 1898— Turin Exhibition— Italy in 1899 — Population— Royal Family — Constitution of the state — National exchequer — Army and navy — Imports and exports— Education — Chief cities. XX. Literature and Art . . . . . 349-3S4 Revival of literature and art — Eighteenth century poets — Classicism — Romantic School — Political tendencies in Italian literature — Historical research — Musicians — New epoch — Historians— J ournalism — Criticism — Later poets — NoveHsts — The drama — 1 aintingand sculpture — Music — Science, &c. — Conclusion. Appendix 385 Index . , . . . . . • . 389 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Humbert J. . . . Map of Italy The Royal Palace, Turin The Doge's Palace, Venice The Ducal Palace, Genoa The Pitti Palace, Florence The Vatican The Royal Palace, Naples VlTTORIO AlFIERI The Royal Palace, Caserta Theatre of San Carlo, Naples Arco Della Pace, Milan . Joachim Murat Gabriele Rossetti . Santorre di Santarosa Frontispiece PAGE , I • 5 • 13 17 21 25 . 29 35 • 39 47 • 55 63 • 77 85 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Ferdinand II. of Naples . . . • n? Charles Albert, King of Sardinia . . 131 Pius IX. . . . . . -135 Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany . 139 Ruggero Settimo . . , .153 Daniele Manin ..... 189 Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa . . . 199 Giuseppe Mazzini ..... 205 Giuseppe Garibaldi .... 209 Victor Emmanuel II. . . . -217 Massimo D'Azeglio . . . .221 The Carignano Palace, Turin . . . 225 Camillo Cavour .... 235 The Madama Palace, Turin . . . 247 Napoleon III. ..... 261 Nino Bixio ..... 273 Enrico Cialdini ..... 281 The Montecitorio Palace, Rome . . 285 Betting Ricasoli ..... 291 Urbano Rattazzi .... 299 Alfonso la Marmora .... 305 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XVU Alfredo Cappellini The Quirinal Marco Minghetti The Madama Palace, Rome H.R.H. THE Princess of Naples Prince Amadeo H.R.H. THE Prince of Naples LuiGi Carlo Farini PAGE 308 • 329 337 • 339 343 • 363 Modern Italy." S/ori/ of the Nations Series, ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA The traveller who enters Italy by the Mont Cenis tunnel is confronted by a race whose tempera- ment is as hard as the alpine granite and cold as the long alpine winters — a race toughened, braced and disciplined to duty by the constant exercise of arms, whose integrity is preserved and whose interests are guarded by rulers of the honoured dynasty of Savoy. From the eleventh century this princely house, originally from Maurienne, had begun to extend its dominion in Piedmont, and, by means of its ability and perseverance, had gradually succeeded in subjugating the whole of the province ; in fact, by the first half of the eighteenth century, Charles Emmanuel III. had extended the frontier of his territory on the side of the Milanese from the Sesia to the Ticino. Besides Piedmont and Savoy — the cradle of the race — this family had held for centuries the city and province of Nice, and thus possessed a maritime port which assured a free access to the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Here indeed they had obtained the sovereignt}- of an island 2 2 ITALY AFTER AQTISGRANA which brought to the House of Savoy that royal title coveted by so many generations of its princes.' It was war which had led to these results, and by war alone could they be heightened or modified. Thus, from the period extending from 1748 to 1792, during which Italy was at peace, no changes whatever affected the dominions of the House of Savoy. The territories in question contained about three million two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly two million eight hundred thousand belonged to the mainland and only four hundred and fifty thousand to Sardinia. This island had been reduced by four centuries of Spanish misrule to the most deplorable condition ; uncultivated and destitute of roads, a great part of it was almost wholly owned by feudatories, mostly of Spanish origin. Some few of the great and radical reforms that it needed were indeed introduced, but with little effect. Piedmont, on the contrary, had the appearance of a highly cultivated province, with its lowlands rich in mulberries and vines ; moreover, the land was divided to such an extent that nearly all the agri- culturists were landed proprietors as well. Industries were developing, it is true, but they were subject ' By the peace of Utrecht (1713) Victor Amadeus II. of Savoy had gained Sicily, but in consequence of the attempts of Cardinal Alberoni — the Spanish minister--to recover the lost Italian provinces, the Emperor had insisted on \'ictor Amadeus ceding Sicily to him and taking in exchange Sardinia : hence the title of the new kingdom — a title preserved by the Mouse of Savoy up till i86i, when Victor Emmanuel II. assumed that of ' King of Italy.' COURT OF TURIh 3 to a whole code of minute regulations which, although meant to foster their increase, in reality only hindered it. The capital of the kingdom — Turin — only contained seventy-five thousand inhabitants, but its clean, level streets and its wide, regular squares, gave the city a very attractive aspect, so that Montesquieu, who visited it in 1728, pronounced it " le plus beau village du inonde." The court of Turin, although free from the vices of that of Versailles, was organised on much the same basis. A retinue of fully three hundred and thirty courtiers surrounded the monarch, and the annual e.xpenditure amounted to more than two million francs — representing the tenth part of the national revenue. From these courtiers — all of whom were, naturally, nobles — were chosen the ministers and all other state functionaries. The aristocracy likewise monopolised the highest dignities in the Church, whilst no less than two thousand five hundred of its members served in the army, and it was for them that the various officers' ranks were reserved. In consideration of these privileges all the noblesse were bound by absolute obedience to the sovereign, even in matters affecting their private life ; and this rigorous dependence was all the more irksome, inasmuch that, in such a miniature kingdom, the monarch could keep himself accurately informed as to the affairs of his subjects. This must have pro- voked discontent among the more independent of the members of his entourage, whose natures must have resented such servitude : however, in view of the fact that the royal family was easy-going and 4 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA well-intentioned, such a discontent would not be likely to have any very serious results. Count Vittorio Alfieri himself, though an ardent hater of tyrants, wrote, apropos of Victor Amadeus III. (who reigned from 1773 to 1796): "Although I do not like kings in general, and still less arbitrary ones, I am bound to admit that the family of our princes is excellent, especially when you come to compare it with all the other reigning houses of Europe. And in my inmost heart I rather feel affection for them than otherwise, seeing that this king — like his predecessor Charles Emmanuel III. — has the best intentions, the most charming dis- position and exemplary temper, and has done his country a great deal more good than harm." ' Unfortunately, Victor Amadeus III., although con- scientious and upright, was deficient in strength of character and a knowledge of his times, so that it can be understood how, under a prince of such temperament, promotion was granted to the most worthless courtiers. The clergy counted as a powerful influence, at this period, in the state. Without reckoning Sar- dinia and Savoy, there were not less than twenty thousand priests and twelve thousand monks and nuns in the province of Piedmont alone. The Church possessed its own tribunals and prisons ; it claimed the exclusive right of judging cases against ecclesias- tics and sought to establish its own competency against that of the laity in all that had to do with matters of faith, questions of heresy, matrimonial ' Vita di Viltorio Alfieri. 6 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA suits, &c. The priesthood formed a wealthy, as well as a numerous body ; not so the nobles, among whom there were very few who could boast of an annual income of fifty thousand francs. Both noblesse and priesthood were, however, in a great measure exempted from taxation, the burden of which hence fell on the other classes of society. The bourgeoisie naturally viewed the privileges of the nobility as a grievance. The richer members of the middle classes tried to acquire titles and thus to become ennobled themselves. Men who had risen through wealth and education, keenly realised the odium of those social differences which were continually making themselves felt, as, for example, in the fashion of dress, and although they were devoted supporters of an ancient and glorious throne, would have welcomed many reforms had the latter been introduced. Just at this period, many men, distinguished by genius and learning, began to emerge from the ranks of the Piedmontese bourgeoisie. Seeing themselves neglected by the government, and not finding a favourable milieu, in so-far uncultured Piedmont, they sought for protection and honours elsewhere. Thus Giuseppe Baretti (1716-1789), the eminent critic, author of the Frusta Letteraria, lived for many years in England ; the illustrious historian. Carlo Denina (i 731 -18 13), the author of the Rivoluzioni Ultalia, incurred the bitter hatred of the friars on account of his book, Dell'Inipiego Delle Persone, and to avoid their persecution, took refuge in Berlin, whither Frederic II. had invited VICTOR AMADEUS III.: LOMBARDV 7 him, and thence went to Paris where he died ; whilst the great mathematician, Luigi Lagrange (1736- 181 3), also passed the most important years of his life in Berlin and Paris. Thus the influential members of the middle class who would have been most capable of initiating a movement of ideas, emigrated instead. The King, Victor Amadeus III., thought of nothing but the army, and on this he lavished all his time and attention. He adopted P>ederic II. as his model and for this reason affected Prussian uniforms, weapons, and discipline for his soldiers ; but these innovations served more for external display rather than for any practical purpose. He devoted enormous sums to the furtherance of his plans ; out of a revenue of twenty million francs, ten were mono- polised for the expenses of the army. As might have been expected, the financial administration did not prosper ; the deficit, that had begun some years before, as well as the taxes, went on continually in- creasing. But notwithstanding, he pursued his way, strangely heedless of whither it tended and abso- lutely ignoring the new order of things. * * * Passing beyond the Ticino, we reach that beautiful and fertile plain of Lombardy which was formerly the centre and living nucleus of the Italian communes: many of the magnificent buildings which now embellish its cities, as well as some of the most useful public works which make this region the true paradise of Italy, date back to that glorious 8 ITALY AFTER AQU/SGRANA epoch. This flourishing state of things had con- tinued under the Visconti and Sforza regimes, but no sooner had Spanish rule supplanted the latter, than all progress was arrested, though it is worthy of note that the decadence of Lombardy was not so rapid as that of Naples and Sicily. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Milanese had passed to Austrian rule under which it had been amalgamated with Mantua, the latter having been deprived of the Gonzaga dynasty which in the last wars had declared against the empire. Under the new order the Lombardy province began to recover from the miserable condition to which it had been reduced by Spanish mis-govern- ment. When the war of the Austrian Succession was ended and Maria Theresa's position had been established, an epoch of material and intellectual regeneration was inaugurated for Lombardy. The whole of the administration was reorganised ; the taxes were more fairly distributed ; the privileges of the clergy were reduced ; the Liquisition and right of asylum were abolished ; the streets were improved ; agriculture was assisted and an impulse was given to industry and commerce. The country, moreover, followed the initiative of the government, in spite of the latter being that of the foreigner. The leading families had a share in public affairs ; thus we can see the Belgioioso, Visconti, Serbelloni, Trivulzio, Castelbarco, D'Adda, Pallavicini, Borromeo and Litta houses represented in high offices of the state. These and other families, all very wealthy, lived in MILAN : PA VIA 9 great splendour and entertained with much mag- nificence. Indeed, at this epoch Milan could rank as the first of Italian cities. In 1778 the theatre of La Scala was opened ; it suddenly acquired fame through the wonderful stage representations there given. Learning flourished likewise : in many salons of the upper classes, literary and scientific men found a favourable reception, and the new theories of French philosophy were discussed. Milan, in fact, became a nursing-ground for these modern notions. In 1761 the Marquis Cesare Beccaria published his valuable little work Dei Delitti E Delle Pene, in which he advocated the abolition of torture and the death penalty, and suggested a more equitable adjustment of punishments to crimes. Shortly afterwards, Count Pietro Verri — one of the most worthy and zealous promoters of civil reforms — and his brother Alessandro, a man of recognised literary ability, with Beccaria and others, brought out a periodical entitled // Caffe, in which for more than a year, they treated, for the public benefit, ques- tions affecting legislation, morals, history and letters, and proclaimed unexpected truths in no uncertain voice. Milan itself then contained one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants, and those in the remainder of the province were computed at a million. Among the lesser towns, Pavia was celebrated for its university where the government had gathered together such distinguished men as the physician, Alessandro Volta, the naturalist, Spallanzani, and the mathematician lO ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA Mascheroni. In other places, as, for example, in Como, the industries were thriving. The country was admirably cultivated and provided with an organised net-work of irrigation canals, but the peasant possessed hardly anything of his own — a deprivation which forcibly aggravated the wretched- ness of his existence. There was much property in the hands of the clergy, who, in spite of all the reforms which had been made, were still flourishing and numerous ; the tale of priests, monks and nuns amounted to about eighteen thousand. Joseph II., who, after the death of his mother, Maria Theresa, in 1780, assumed the reins of power, acted with great energy in the matter of ecclesiastical administration ; he abolished convents that he judged useless and all those re- ligious communities which did not maintain schools, assist the sick, preach, hear confessions or distin- guish themselves by their learning, ruling that their existence was to depend on the bishop of the diocese, rather than on the general of the order residing at Rome ; he diminished the number of festivals and prescribed a thousand other remedies of a disciplinary character, encroaching thereby even on the pontifical jurisdiction itself At the same time he restricted the power of the nobles and issued an infinite number of decrees and laws, renewing and transforming the whole of the administration. It must be admitted, however, that he wished to assure the welfare of his subjects by 'sledge-hammer' methods, and consequently respected neither their traditions, interests nor habits. His work, drastic, hasty and REPUBLIC OF VENICE II centralising as it was, did not always give satisfaction, but nevertheless it left deep traces on the country. The latter, inured by centuries of habit to a foreign yoke, hardly resented such, but was content to make the most of a material prosperity and a flourishing condition of letters, and to ignore the development of reforms. * * * Venice, on the contrary, was uninfluenced by these new ideas ; whilst all the world around her was re- forming itself, she sought to preserve intact the edifice of the past, fearing, that were but one stone shaken, the whole might crumble. The province of about three million inhabitants was ruled by a single city, or rather by one class alone of Venetian citizens who governed by hereditary right ; the mainland — that is to say, Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia, and the small territory that the Republic still possessed in the East, had no share in the government. The sovereignty belonged to the Great Council composed of all the Venetian patricians over the age of twenty-five ; in 1780 their number amounted to a thousand and twenty-three. The Great Council, or Maggior Con- siglio, elected from its midst the Senate, which was composed of about two hundred and fifty members, and was responsible for the conduct of affairs ; but the real centre of executive authority was the Lesser Council, or Signoria, constituted by the Doge, by his six councillors, by the three chiefs of the Council of Forty {Quarantia), and by the Council of Sixteen Wise Men {Savii) who were elected by the Senate. The Doge by himself could do nothing, he was not 12 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA allowed even to read the letters addressed to him by foreign powers, but was onl)^ the apparent head of the state. Such a political order did not harmonise with the new age ; already the Veronese savant, the Marquis Scipione Maffei, had addressed, as far back as 1736, his Consiglio Politico, to the Venetian rulers, in which he pointed out the propriety of interesting the provinces in the fate of the Republic, and of giving them a share in the government, as a means beneficial to the vitality of the state, but his advice was unheeded. The nobles of the predomi- natinp" houses trusted in the unbroken continuance of o their oligarch)', and if an\- among them allowed them- selves to be influenced by the new French ideas, they ran the risk of sharing the unhappy fate which awaited Angelo Ouerini, Giorgio Pisani, and Carlo Contarini, who, in their efforts to introduce reforms into the existing system of affairs, were arrested and con- demned to many years of imprisonment. The governing authorities looked upon these proposals as the vagaries of a visionary and factious }'Outh, and imagined the perfection of political science to consist in keeping intact the normal order of things in the Republic. The same principle was also applied to external poli- tics. The last war carried on by Venice had been that against the Turks — 17 14 to 171 8 — in which she lost the Morea. Thenceforward the Republic took refuge in absolute isolation and complete inaction. She stood in fear, indeed, of the ambitious views of Austria, but dared not declare herself inimical to the latter, or 14 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA venture to ratify an alliance with France ; therefore, in the various wars waged in Italy, in the first half of the eighteenth century, she preserved a neutrality, which being, as it were, unarmed, obtained, at least, respect. Hence her power in the eyes of Europe was already rapidly on the wane. Moreover the last campaign sustained by Venice had proclaimed to the world not only her inherent weakness, but also the deficiency of her military equipment. In that arsenal — in past times so justly celebrated — there were but a few vessels in course of construction, a scant number of workmen and indifferent munitions of war. The army was in a worse condition than the fleet and consisted of barely twenty thousand ill-clad and undisciplined troops. Rightly enough did the old patrician, Francesco Pesaro, exclaim : " We live under the protection of the good faith of our friends and neighbours, and in that we put our trust ! " This perilous situation, which ought to have awakened keen anxiety, did not in the least affect the pleasure-loving and frivolous existence led by the Venetians. All the idlers of Europe willingly found their way to Venice where there existed an ample license for pleasure ; it was the custom to wear masks for a good half of the year ; manners were very free, not to say demoralised, and the passion for play was widespread. The famous adventurer, Francesco Casanova, in his Meniorie, has represented — certainly not without some exaggeration — the gay and idle life of the Venetians at this epoch. T\\€\x fetes were fre- quent and magnificent ; some few families possessed vast incomes. The clergy were likewise wealthy and DECLINE OF I'EXICE : REPUBLIC OF GENOA 1 5 numerous ; the province was reckoned to contain nearly forty thousand priests, monks and nuns. In the main, however, the country was not rich ; its industries were greatly reduced, although its inhabitants viewed the decline of its commerce with indifference. The one work of great utility achieved at this time was the long breakwater against the inroads of the sea, con- sisting of the huge marble walls called the Murazzi. Certainly the taxes were not heavy — a fact which caused the government to be favourably regarded by the majority, especially by the lower classes. Though the sun of the Republic was setting, it was sinking in a flood of gorgeous colour ; the brilliant reflection of those fine arts, represented by the music of Benedetto Marcello (1686- 1739), the paintings of G. B. Triepolo (1693- 1770) and the comedies of Carlo Goldoni, the renowned reformer of the Italian stage ( 1 707-1 793), cast, as it were, luminous rays of glory over the moribund state, suggestive though they might be of the hectic splendours of decay. * * Much less political importance had the Republic of Genoa, henceforth Reduced to the mere possession of the Ligurian coasts, with barely four hundred thousand inhabitants. Weary of the constant revolts of Corsica, it had, at length (1768), ceded to Louis XV. all its rights in this island which after an obstinate resis- tance had been obliged to submit to France. Pasquale Paoli, the hero of Corsican independence, embarked with some followers in a British vessel and sought an asylum in luigland. In the struggle against Corsica, 1 6 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA Genoa had displayed all her weakness ; neverthe- less, her people were still bold and warlike and had given striking proofs of courage in the famous days of December, 1746, when they expelled the Austrians and Russians from the city. But these transitory efforts did not suffice to imbue with energy and vitality a government with no more glorious ambition than that of living in peace and quiet. In Genoa likewise, the reins of power were in the hands of the aristocracy ; but, contrary to the Venetian custom where he was elected for life, here the Doge only remained in office two years. He was nominated by the Great Council, but the nobles drew lots for the other offices in the state, and from this custom origi- nated the lotto system, which afterwards obtained in many Italian states. The activity of the people was entirely absorbed by commerce which continued to flourish, for Genoa was, indubitably, the most im- portant of all Italian seaports. * * * The two duchies of Parma and Modena counted for very little in the political balance of Italy. The dukedoms of Parma and Piacenza had been created in 1545 by Pope Paul III., a member of the Farnese family, for the advantage of his son Pier Luigi. This house which never especially distinguished itself, be- came extinct in 173 1. The duchy, after many vicissi- tudes, finally passed in 1748 to Don Philip of Bourbon — the second son of Elizabeth, the sister of the last Farnese, who had become Queen of Spain — with 1 8 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA whom the Bourbon dynasty was initiated at Parma. Under the influence of his first minister, Guillaume Du Tillot, a Frenchman, Don PhiHp inaugurated im- portant reforms, set hmits to the privileges of the noblesse and the immunity of the priesthood, and encouraged arts and letters to such an extent that Parma became one of the most cultured cities in Italy. Du Tillot's work of reformation was carried on even after the death of Don Philip in 1765, during the minority of Duke Ferdinand, but when the latter attained his majority, Du Tillot saw his power decline and eventually retired. The young Duke, edu- cated under the influence of Condillac and Mably, became — as frequently happens in such cases — a believer, nay a devot ; he sang in the choir with the monks, embellished altars, gave audiences in the sacristy and amused himself by ringing the bells ; all these employments, however, did not prevent him from leading a dissolute life. Under such a prince, not only were further reforms hindered, but those already achieved were abolished. This state contained a little more than four hun- dred thousand inhabitants and fewer still did the adjoining duchy of Modena possess, i.e., three hundred and eighty thousand. The province was then governed by Hercules III., the last representative of that ancient house of Este which, at one time, had acquired such wide renown through the magnificence of its court and the protection it had given to arts and letters. For nearly two centuries, however, this dynasty had lost its ancient capital, Ferrara— annexed HERCULES III. : TUSCANY I9 by the pontifical government in the year 1598 — and it had been compelled to withdraw to Modena and rest content with the latter territory and Reggio : naturally, from this epoch, its histor}^ had only a restricted and local importance. Hercules III. managed to exist quietly without troubling his head about innovations or clashing with the papal court ; indeed, his one object was to make money. It is said that with three million francs of income, he found means of annually saving a third. He had only one daughter, Beatrice, given in marriage to the Arch- duke Ferdinand of Austria, a son of Maria Theresa who had gladly furthered such an alliance since it greatly served to extend Austrian influence in Italy. * * * The chief princely Italian families seemed fated to disappear nearly at the same time. In 1737, that house of Medici whose name is as intimately associated with literature and the fine arts as it is with the history of Florence, and which had represented, in truth, the sovereignty predestined for an artistic race, became extinct. Its last scions had hardly carried on worthily their ancestral traditions and had allowed Tuscany to decay rapidly ; the only notable work achieved by them had been the foundation and embellishment of Leghorn which was to become an important commercial centre. By the peace of Vienna (1738) the grand duchy of Tuscany had been assigned to Francis of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa. fie was not long in Tuscany for he found himself embroiled in the 20 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA great wars of the Austrian Succession and afterwards ascended the imperial throne. However, his ministers laid the bases of reforms to which his second son, Peter Leopold I., who succeeded him in the dukedom m 1765, subsequently gave great impetus. Even to-day the memory of Leopold L is still cherished in Tuscany with deep affection and gratitude and he is regarded, with justice, as one of the most distinguished of Italian reforming rulers. With an entourage that comprised such men as Pompeo Neri, Giulio Rucellai and others, Leopold set himself to destroy every trace of mediae- valism. Above all, he aimed at diminishing the power of the priesthood, a necessary step in Tuscany where, under the later Medici, the clergy had acquired extraordinary wealth and influence ; in a population of less than a million there were twenty-seven thousand ecclesiastics who owned, moreover, the greater part of the soil. Leopold sought to suppress their immunities and likewise protected the religious movement initiated by Scipione Ricci, the bishop of Pistoia, who desired to lead the Church back to its evangelical purity ; hence sharp contests with Rome. Leopold likewise introduced reforms in all other branches of public administration ; he abso- lutely ratified the freedom of trade in cereals ; he established the equality of all citizens in the matter of taxation and, from the first, subjected his own property thereto. He sought, by draining marshes, to better the condition of the Maremma ; he pro- tected commerce, and encouraged stud\' b}- reforming and improving the universities of Pisa and Siena, 22 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA He was also the first among the world's rulers to abolish torture and the death-penalty. In 1789 he published a statement of government accounts of the revenue and expenditure from 1765 to 1788, and it would appear, intended granting a constitution, had he not been called, through the death of his brother Joseph II. in 1790, to fill the imperial throne. His reforms however, in general, were so above the comprehension of his subjects, that the majority of the latter failed to appraise their beneficial effects. In Tuscany too, there still existed the little Republic of Lucca, a relic of the communal period, whose territory extended as far as the sea-coast of Viareggio. With her population of a hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, governed by a hundred noble families, with her noble and ecclesiastical land- owners and her garrison of soldiers maintained only for parade, Lucca was a typical miniature representa- tive of an Italian state in the eighteenth century. The popes had finally succeeded, after efforts lasting for several centuries, in rendering their temporal sovereignty indisputable and in uniting their states ; thus it was that the city of Bologna, which had always preserved something of a republican attitude and a certain amount of autonomy, had to renounce these against its will (1788). There existed, in fact, in the centre of the peninsula, a district comprising two millions and a half of inhabitants, governed by priests, with a papal ruler elected by cardinals who in their EXISTING RkoIME IN ROME 23 turn were nominated by the pontiff with ministers of religion ordained by the same functionaries and episcopal governors. Hence, if the clergy were powerful in the other Italian provinces, in the papal dominions they were omnipotent ; for the state itself came to be looked upon as an ecclesiastical benefice, to be freely exploited, without the least regard for the welfare of the people or the progress of civili- sation. It can be easily understood how, under such a government, the inhabitants became not only inert and poor, but demoralised and vicious as well. An eminent French writer, the president, Charles de Brosses, who visited Rome in 1740, has recorded his impressions of the then-existing regime in words of burning indignation : " The government is as bad as it is possible to conceive. You feel that here is realised the antithesis of the Utopias that Machiavelli and Morus delighted to construct. Imagine, if you can, a population in which one fourth is composed of priests, one fourth of statues, another fourth of idlers, and a state where neither agriculture, commerce nor mechanics exist, in spite of its people living in the midst of a fertile province, on the banks of a navig- able river ; where the ruler, always aged, with few more years to live, is, as often as not, absolutely incapable of independent action and is surrounded by relatives whose one idea is to ' make hay while the sun shines,' and where, at each change in the pontificate, fresh thieves appear on the scene to sup- plant those who are sated with plunder, for here any one may become a scourge to societ)-, provided he 24 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA be backed up by influential friends, or within reach of an asylum." ^ Francesco Becattini also, in his Storia Di Pio VI. (Venice, 1800), was compelled to admit that, with the exception of Turkey, the States of the Church were worse governed than any other part of Europe. There was an utter absence of that hard-working and enlightened middle-class who were beginning to come to the front in Northern Italy, for no bour- geoisie bridged the gulf between a proud and ignorant nobility and the proletariat. All the cities were besides inundated with an incredible number of beggars. Rome itself swarmed with ecclesiastics who had come thither, from all parts of the world, with the sole aim of making their fortune. All offices were venal, and with the revenues derived from such sales and the offerings of the faithful from all parts, the papal court had the wherewithal to draw upon, without grinding down its subjects by taxes ; but as in the country districts there was neither industry nor commerce, and agriculture was much neglected, the population suffered even by meeting such small taxation as was demanded of them. It must be owned, however, that the 'Eternal City' had been greatly improved during the three pre- ceding centuries, that is to say, after the popes had almost entirely given their attention to their tem- poral dominion, and even during these later days, had been enriched by the imposing colonnades of ' Lettres Historiqiu's El Criliqites Sur V Italic, dc Charles De Brasses. Paris, an. vii., to/n. ii..,pp. 245-246. 26 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA the Piazza of St. Peter, the fountains of Piazza Navona and Trevi, and the facade of St. John Lateran, &c., while the splendid collection contained in the Museo Pio-Clementino had been brought together. Rome, at that time, comprised one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants. Pope Pius VI. ( 1 775-1 799) turned his attention to the country and attempted to drain the Pontine marshes, but spent vast sums thereon with but little result. This served but the better to enrich his nephew, Braschi, for whom the Pontiff built a palace in Rome. Nepotism to any great extent had indeed been abolished, but the Pope's relations were always omnipotent at court and controlled, at their own pleasure, the revenues of the state. This same Prince Braschi had for some time as his secretary the young priest, Vincenzo Monti, who was then beginning to acquire a distinguished name in the literary world b}^ his tragedy of Aristodeino. Literature and the arts were still in some measure represented at Rome ; the archaeologist, Ennio Quirino Visconti was already celebrated ; the sculptor, zAntonio Canova, who had arrived there, still young, from his native Venetian prox'ince, had even then attained distinction by his first works ; the Milanese savant, Alessandro Verri, had taken up his residence in the city, whilst Vittorio Alfieri had finished his first tragedies and had read them aloud in the salons: all this activity, however, only exer- cised a limited and nearly unapprcciable influence over a small and restricted circle of cultivated per- sons. The Roman aristocracy as well as the clergy NAPLES AND SICILY 2y neglected study, whilst the new philosophy was bit- terly detested because it had an evident tendency to abate ecclesiastical privileges.^ The largest Italian state was the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, containing about six millions of inhabitants. This unhappy country had been terribly exhausted by Spanish rule which had ruined the population without achieving anything for their good : never indeed had a government less care for its subjects. When the Spaniards had to evacuate those provinces at the commencement of the eighteenth century, they left them destitute alike of roads, industries and commerce. After a short Austrian dominion, the new Bourbon dynasty was implanted in the Neapolitan States in 1734, in the person of Charles III., eldest son of Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain. To him belongs the credit of having chosen the learned Bernardo Tanucci as his prime minister, who may be justly regarded as the inaugurator of all the reforms made in the kingdom. These were initiated by an attempt to diminish ecclesiastical immunities and privileges and to reduce the number of priests, monks and nuns which was truly astounding. On the mainland alone, in a population of less than five millions, there were one hundred thousand religious. Steps were then ' The popes at this epoch had a hard struggle to defend the Jesuits who had been expelled from Portugal, France and Spain as well as from Naples and Parma, but finally Pope Clement XIV. determined in 1773, 01^ their abolition. The Order of Jesus was afterwards re-constituted by Pius VII. in 1814. 28 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA taken to weaken and lessen feudalism, much stronger here than elsewhere in Europe, and in order to ensure this the more easily, the barons were invited to court. In the magnificence and extravagance of Neapolitan life many of them were fairly ruined, whilst this policy of absenteeism tended to lessen their power in the country districts. The city of Naples gained much from the new dynasty, not only in social brilliancy, but in beautiful buildings, such as the imposing theatre of San Carlo and the palace of Capodimonte. In a wish to imitate the splendours of Versailles, Charles III. caused the royal palace of Caserta to be built in an immense park, at the cost of six millions of ducats. Under his auspices also the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum — the two cities buried in the terrible eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79A.D. — were carried on. High roads in the vicinity of Naples were like- wise opened up, but this was more to benefit the court than the people at large. Pompous display continued to be the principal characteristic of the Neapolitan government, but it did not ameliorate the miserable condition of the country, which was aggravated by swarms of beggars. In Naples itself the laszaroni, as they were called, led an idle existence in the streets, living on the alms distributed to them at the convents. In 1759, Charles III., being called to the Spanish throne, made over his Italian possessions to his son Ferdinand, still a minor. Tanucci continued to govern the state and, by agreement with Spain, exjDclled the Jesuits in 1767. Later was abolished 30 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA the chinea — a horse richly caparisoned — which it was the annual custom to present to the Pope, together with seven thousand golden scudi, as a symbol of the vassalage of the Neapolitan kingdom to the Holy See. But Tanucci verified at Naples what Du Tillot had experienced at Parma — the influence of the minister gradually waned, till, in 1776, he received his dismissal. The direction of affairs, instead of passing into the hands of the King, was assumed by his wife, Maria Caroline of Austria, a daughter of Maria Theresa. Whilst King Ferdinand, ignorant and boorish, did not trouble his head about matters of state, Maria Caroline, a daring and ambitious woman, presided over the ministerial councils and in- troduced therein one John Acton, an Irishman, born at Besancon who, after having served in the French and Tuscan marine, had been sum- moned to Naples by Ferdinand and had obtained a high position in the navy. In a short time, Acton had become the favourite of the Queen and the most important personage in the state. He turned all his attention to the army and navy, both of which were in a truly deplorable condition ; but although he spent enormous sums — three millions of ducats in the year, out of the eleven and a half millions which represented the revenue of the kingdom — Acton did not succeed in appreciably bettering the existing state of things. On the contrar\', he retarded both civil and ecclesiastical reforms, and that, just at the time when the march of progress v.'as advancing with increased speed, owing chiefly to such writers SICILY: THE SICILIAN PARLIAMENT 3 1 of eminence as Antonio Genovesi, professor of poli- tical economy, Gaetano Filangieri, author of that Storia Delia Legislazione. \\'hich exercised so great an influence on Neapolitan thinkers, and Mario Pagano who really popularised the new philosophy, and many others. In fact, Naples was an intellectual centre, where the influence of the French encyclo- paedists was making itself felt. Far in the rear of this movement of ideas was Sicily who had always held aloof from the current of European civilisation. Severed from Naples after the famous ' Sicilian Vespers ' in 1282, she had con- sisted of a separate kingdom up to the year 1409 when the reigning Aragonese dynasty became extinct. She had then been made a direct dependency of Spain and had been governed by the latter's vice- roys up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. First relegated to Victor Amadeus II., afterwards to Austria, Sicily had finally been reunited to Naples under the Bourbons. Through all these vicissitudes of rule, however, the Sicilian parliament, which, composed of nobles, pre- lates and representatives, had been a distinct protest against feudalism, had subsisted intact ; in fact, the barons and ecclesiastics governed. In a population of one million two hundred thousand inhabitants, nearly eight hundred thousand were dependent on feudatories, and fully sixty-three thousand were priests, monks and nuns. From time to time the ignorant and famished populace revolted, as in 1773, but as these r;//^?^/£?5 had no political significance, being simply induced, for the most part, by famine, only the 32 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA lower orders were affected thereb}% and the existing rulers always succeeded in pacifying the mob by temporary concessions that did not, however, in the least ameliorate the real state of things. In 1780, the Marquis Domenico Caracciolo, formerly ambassador at Paris, was nominated viceroy. Fired by the inno- vating theories which he had imbibed in the French capital, he initiated bold reforms which the nobles and clergy, whose own interests were thereby hurt, sturdily opposed ; there was no middle class to support him and the proletariat was incapable of understanding the changes he inaugurated ; thus his work, but feebly supported by the court of Naples, was a complete failure. In 1789 Italy was still a paradise for the clergy and noblesse, but in some cities, especially in Northern Italy, the development of industries and commerce kept pace with that of the bourgeoisie, which, as it increased in numbers and wealth, began to give voice to its discontent at the social order. Amongst such a highly imaginative race as the Italians, the new notions would naturally clothe themselves in poetr}' ; thus Milan, that nursing-mother of innovating spirits, gave birth to Giuseppe Parini (1729-1799). With him, poetry renewed her mission of education ; his Giorno is a wonderful satire on the idle and empty existence led by the aristocrac}^ as well as a pas- sionate eulogy of the active good qualities of the lower classes. He proclaimed likewise in clear and lofty language the idea of social equality : VITTORIA ALFIERI 33 " Forse vero non e, ma un giorno e fama Che fur gli uomini eguali, e ignoli nomi Fur plebe e nobilta." (Perhaps it is not true, but it is said That once all men were equal, and unknown, Plebeian, even as patrician, names. Parini, // Giorno.) The verses of Parini were widely read and found a powerful echo throughout the peninsula. But the voice which rang loudest in support of liberty and sounded even , as the herald of a new Italy, was that of the Piedmontese, Vittorio Alfieri ( 1 749-1 803). At that time the stage excited uni- versal attention in Italy. Judging from appearances, it might have been thought that the Italians of the eighteenth century had no enthusiasm for anything but theatrical representations. All the richest and most magnificent theatres of Italy date from that epoch. As was natural, music was an important feature in these functions. Pergolesi, Porpora, Tar- tini and many more composers, won the cordial applause of a public that was as eager to welcome comedy as tragedy. In view of such a taste, Alfieri, a man of strong, energetic and independent character, tried to avail himself of the drama to stir his country- men — who seemed to him so irresponsive to patriotic sentiments — to nobler ambitions. One ideal in par- ticular was henceforth to be developed in Italy — that of nationality. Heretofore, political divisions had tended to alienate the inhabitants of different pro- vinces from one another. Each still had its in- dividual history and its own priwate interests, for in 4 34 ITALY AFTER AQUISGRANA every place there were only too many causes for hatred and rivalry. In such a milieu did Alfieri dare to be the first to speak aloud of Italian nationality and to bid his compatriots reflect on the ancient greatness of their country and its present decadence. He made them, too, feel the need of that re-awakening whose advent he proclaimed. He dwelt constantly on the idea of a new Italy, at a time when it was hardly thought of Hence his tragedies have an importance more political than literary, since they may really be said to have accelerated the formation of a national conscience. VITTORIO AT.FTKRI. II ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The outbreak of the French Revolution produced a twofold effect in Italy. On the one hand, it in- timidated the rulers who stopped half-way in reforms for which the people were now more eager than ever ; hence a feud which was daily aggravated by the authorities trying to stifle the revolutionary spirit now so widely spread, by a policy of arrests and punishments : on the other, it fomented in the middle class of society a faction which aimed at destroying all the ancient order of things and indemnified its numerical weakness by enthusiasm — largely profiting at the same time by the French invasion. At one time all the various Italian courts had been excited by the proposal of a general league against France ; however, mutual jealousies and rivalries had hindered the organisation of such a coalition. Pied- mont alone allied herself with Austria and, in 1792, hostilities commenced. Victory favoured the French who, in the same year, occupied Nice and Savoy, then made slow advances along the Ligurian coast and penetrated into some alpine valleys. 36 BONAPARTE IN ITALY 37 In 1796 the French government entrusted the command of their army to the young Corsican genera], Napoleon Bonaparte, who initiated that year's campaign by addressing to his men the following proclamation : " Soldiers, you are ill- nourished and ill-clad. The government is much indebted to you, but can do nothing on your behalf. Your patience and courage are a credit to you, but you win therefrom neither profit nor renown. I am about to lead you to the most fertile plains in the world ; there you will find great cities and rich pro- vinces, there honour, glory and wealth await you. Soldiers of Italy, will you be wanting in courage ? " The soldiers were not wanting in courage, neither did their general lack the necessary genius for fulfil- ling his promises. By the fighting carried on at Montenotte, Millesimo and Dego, he succeeded in separating the allied Austrian and Piedmontese armies ; the Austrians were repulsed along the valley of the Bormida, above Acqui and Alessandria, whilst the Piedmontese fell back in the Tanaro valley, above Ceva and Mondovi. Bonaparte first turned his attention to the Pied- montese and, on the 28th of April, 1796, obliged King Victor Amadeus III. to make peace: as a result of this, the Piedmontese monarch renounced his clainis to Nice and Savoy, ceded several fortresses of Piedmont to the French and granted the latter a free passage through his dominions. Having thus safeguarded his rear, Bonaparte directed his energies against the Austrian army which had now retreated into Lombardy, and on the 3o ITALY DURIXG THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 9th of AIa}\ his great victory at Lodi brought the whole of the province into his power. The Duke of Parma, taking fright, hastened to compromise matters with the invader by paying the heavy indemnity de- manded and making over to him twenty of the best pictures in his gallery.' The Duke of Modena betook himself with his treasures to Venice, and left his subjects to come to terms with the conqueror, who exacted from them vast sums of money and con- fiscated fifteen of the finest pictures in the ducal collection. The Austrians, having left a strong garrison in Mantua, withdrew to the mountains of T)'rol. Bona- parte fortifying the passages of the Adige against all imperialist attacks on that side, now concentrated his efforts against the Pope who had always strongly disapproved of the French Republic : Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna were easily occupied, and the Pontiff was compelled to sue for peace. However, Austria had, in the meantime, prepared another great army which, under the command of Marshal Wurmser, descended the valle}^ of the Adige, repulsing the French troops — who were inferior in numbers — on all sides. But Bonaparte, rapidh' gathering his forces together, succeeded in routing the Austrians both at Lonato and Castiglione delle Stiviere — to the south of the Lake of Garda. In consequence of this battle, Wurmser retreated and retraced his way up the Adige valley, but having ' Amongst these was Correggio's St. Jerome for which the duke vainly oft'eied to pa)' a milHon francs : these works of art, with the others taken by Napoleon in Italy, were nearly all restored in 1S15. 40 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION reached Trent, he fell back again on Italy by the valley of the Brenta. Bonaparte, who had meantime steadily pursued the Austrian general, kept in his rear till he overtook and defeated him at Bassano ; Wurmser, with difficulty, managed to lead a portion of his army to Mantua, and thither Bonaparte hastened to besiege him. * * The cities of Reggio and Modena now revolted against the governors left in charge by the fugitive Duke ; the French hastened to take advantage of these risings by forming a provisional government, and thus it was that these two cities, being united with Bologna and Ferrara — already wrested from the Pope — were organised into what was known as the Cispadane Republic. In this way was formed the first Italian state after the French republican inva- sion : it was the first province to adopt the tricoloured flag, comprising the white and red of the French standard, but substituting for the blue stripe of the latter, the green one that was already in local military use. The Austrians, however, would not own them- selves beaten and, assisted by English gold, raised another army under the command of Alvinzi. By this means Bonaparte found himself in a critical situation, but once more he proved himself capable of overcoming what seemed insuperable difficulties, and in a sanguinary battle at the bridge of Arcole, near Verona (November, 1796), he forced his opponents to retire. The latter, having acquired new reinforcements from Tyrol, again fell back on BONAPARTE INVADES PAPAL STATES 4I Verona, but sustained a crushing defeat at Rivoli, in January, 1797. Shortly afterwards Mantua, being sorely pressed, was compelled by the besiegers to surrender. The Pope, trusting in the ultimate triumph of the Austrian arms, had not kept his engagements with the French ; Bonaparte therefore again invaded the Papal States and victoriously entered the Marches and Umbria. The Pontiff, seeing himself thus beset, signed a treaty of peace at Tolentino in February, 1797) by which he renounced his claim to Avignon and Venaissin — occupied by the French since the end of 1 79 1 — and to the legations of Ferrara, Bologna and Romagna — which had been taken in 1796 — and at the same time paid a heavy indemnity and sur- rendered many valuable works of art to the victor. Scarcely had peace been concluded with the Pope, than Bonaparte had to return once more to Upper Italy, to confront another Austrian army under the Archduke Karl, a brother of the Emperor, Francis II. They met at Tagliamento, where the Austrians were again repulsed and pursued by the French who gained a fresh victory at the hill of Tarvisio and advanced as far as Leoben, twenty-five leagues from Vienna. Not till then did Austria condescend to treat and it was at Leoben, the i8th of April, 1797, that the preliminaries of peace were signed. At this juncture, false rumours were circulated in the province of Venetia that the French army had been defeated ; in several places, the peasantry. 42 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION invariably opposed to the new order of things, were encouraged by the priests and noblesse to arm them- selves against the French ; several of such bands entered the city of Verona and, assisted by the popu- lace, massacred all the French they found there. This insurrection, known as the Pasqiie l^eronesi, was soon quenched in blood, but Bonaparte saw in it a good pretext against the Venetian Republic and, by threatening the latter with attack, succeeded in changing the form of government. On the 12th of May, 1797, the Great Council of Venice, yielding to the pressure brought to bear upon it, renounced its authority and thus, without offering any dignified resistance, fell the oligarchy which, through long cen- turies, had ruled the glorious Republic of St. Mark. In its place, a democratic government was set up and the entry of the French into the city was secured. Before long the new-comers had rifled Venice of its wealth and works of art, treating it in every respect as the spoil of the conquered. For example, they carried off to Paris the four horses from the facade of St. Mark's, which had been taken by the Venetians at Constantinople in 1204. In Genoa, likewise, the ancient aristocratic rule was abolished by Bonaparte's orders and a ' Ligurian Republic,' on the French model, ^\■as inaugurated in its stead. Lombardy, which had been wrested from Austria, was then amalgamated with the Cispadane State, thus forming the so-called Cisalpine Republic, constituted on the lines of its French exemplar, with a directory and two councils. To celebrate the inauguration of TREATY OF CAMPO FORM 10 43 this new s\'stem of government, the 9th of July was observed as a solemn festival in Milan which thence- forth became the chief centre of Italian life. In the October of the same year (1797), a treaty of peace was signed at Campo Formio, with Austria who thereby ceded Belgium, as well as all her territory on the right bank of the Rhine, to France and recognised the Cisalpine Republic which was com- posed, for the most part, of what were formerly Aus- trian possessions, but in return received the territory of Venetia. Thus the French virtually abandoned Venice which was occupied by the imperial troops on the 8th of January, 1798. In such a humiliating fashion did the Venetian Republic perish — its fall un- redeemed by a single act of heroism which could have caused its loss to be respected or regretted.^ The cession of Venice to Austria gave the lie to those glorious promises of liberty and independence which had been held out by the French invaders, and the depredations and robberies of which they were guilty in the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics — treated almost as their vassals — was a bitter grievance to many Italians. Notwithstanding, the two years, 1796-97, marked the epoch of a great re-awakening in the life of the peninsula. * After the peace of Campo Formio, Bonaparte returned to France in order to organise his Egyptian ' Ugo Foscolo, then little more than twenty years of age, forcibly expresses in the Ultime Letiere Di Jacopo Ortis the bitter grief felt by Italian patriots at this bartering of \'enice to Austria. 44 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH RETOLUTION campaign. In the meantime, the revolutionary party — although in a minority in the various Italian states — being assured of the support and favour of the French troops already retained in the peninsula, com- menced a bold agitation which promoted fierce con- tentions. A riot broke out in Rome, during which the French embassy was attacked. The Directory made it a pretext for despatching thither an army which entered Rome, without opposition, on the iSth of February, 1798. The fall of the Pope's temporal power and the Roman Republic were proclaimed at the same time.' Shortly afterwards, King Ferdinand of Naples, inspired by the great victory gained by the English admiral, Nelson, over the French fleet at the battle of the Nile, believed that the hour had come for declar- ing war on France and set out for Rome with an army, in order to re-establish the temporal supremacy of the Pontiff The French, of whom there were only a few in Rome, retired, and the Neapolitans took possession of the city on the 27th of November, 1798. But a few days afterwards, the French general, Championnet, having concentrated his forces, assumed the offensive and obliged the King of Naples, in consequence, to beat a rapid retreat. On arriving in his capital, Ferdinand only remained long enough to invest General Pignatelli with authority and then promptly embarked for Sicily. The French now made their way into the country and, with the ' Pius VI., driven from Rome, took refuge in Tuscany ; having been arrested later, by P'rench orders, he was conducted to ^ alence, in France, where he died, 29th of August, 1799. FRENCH IN ITALY : AUSTKO-RUSSIAN VICTORIES 45 help of some of the middle-class Neapolitans, occupied the capital itself, in spite of the vigorous resistance maintained by the lower orders (January 22, 1799)- It was then that the Parthenopsean Republic — so-called from the ancient name of the city — was proclaimed at Naples. The Piedmontese king also, Charles Emmanuel IV. — who had succeeded his father Victor Amadeus III. in 1796 — had seen the French, under one pretext or another, install themselves in Piedmont and had been forced to withdraw to Sardinia. On hearing that xA.ustria, allied with England and Russia, purposed entering Italy anew, the French drove the Hapsburgh-Lorraine dynasty out of Tuscany and took possession of the latter province. Thus, in March, 1799, the whole of the Italian peninsula, with the exception of the duchy of Parma and Piacenza — still ruled by its own duke — and Venice now held by Austria — was in their power. * * * But just then the Austro-Russian army, com- manded by Suvaroff, appeared on Italian soil and gained notable victories in Upper Italy over the French. The latter had to recall their troops scattered in the rest of the peninsula, but these were also discomfited and compelled to retreat into Liguria. It was easy enough to overthrow the republican governments established by the French, considering their unstable bases in the Italian pro- vinces, and many of the citizens, who had compromised themselves by supporting the new ideas, were forced to emigrate. 46 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Meantime the members of the revolutionary party in Naples tried to defend themselves against the Bourbon troops, commanded by Cardinal Rufifo, but had to capitulate on the 20th of June, 1799. They had been promised a full amnesty, but the King and Queen had no intention of respecting the terms of this capitulation and wreaked cruel vengeance on the heads of the republican movement, who sub- mitted most heroically to their fate ; among the illus- trious men who were sent to the scaffold by the Bourbon government, were the physician, Domenico Cirillo, the eminent lawyers Mario Pagano and Fran- cesco Conforti, and Admiral Francesco Caracciolo. Horatio Nelson likewise played a part in these events at Naples. ^ The English admiral arrived in the harbour with a fleet, when the armistice had already been concluded ; he knew that King Ferdi- nand and Queen Caroline did not intend that any concessions should be granted to the rebels, therefore, when he saw the white flag floating from the fortress, he signalled his protest, then made known to Ruffo the King's intention. But the Cardinal declared that the capitulation ought to be respected. In such a case, indeed, the judgment given naturally depended on the royal decision, but at that time, the King was in Sicily. Nelson, with scanty diplomatic fore- sight, at the instigation, perhaps, of the English ambassador, Hamilton, tried to delay the carrying out of the capitulation, as far as its terms were ' Nelson's conduct at this juncture has given ground for very severe censure. Professor Villari, in an article recently pul)lished in the NuoTii Aiitologia of the 1 6th of February, 1899, there sums up the results of investigations on the subject. 48 ITALY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION favourable to the rebels and, when strict orders came from Palermo to annul such terms, he caused the republican chiefs to be imprisoned. It can be asserted, in fact, that on this occasion, he forgot he was a representative of England and instead of exercising that moderation worthy of his great nation, he made himself the instrument of Bourbon vengeance. The reason for his conduct is to be found in his blind infatuation for Lady Hamilton who had become the tool of the cruel Queen Caroline. Everywhere re-action was triumphing. The old order of things was restored : armed bands of peasants scoured the country and perpetrated terrible acts of savagery against the revolutionists, many of whom repaired to France, in the hope of a successful revenge. It was amongst these exiles from all parts of the peninsula, that the idea of Italian nationality worked most potently, and the Piedmontese, Carlo Botta — to whom, later, belonged the credit of largely diffusing it by his histories — was the first to sign a petition to the Council of Five Hundred inviting France to unify Italy. "Rome" — thus ended the document — "was never so illustrious as when she disposed of territories where the African encamped : France can ne^'er be greater than in declaring Italy to be free and independent when she is held captive by foreign troops." This petition was signed by emigrants from Piedmont, Lombardy, Venetia, Emilia, Romagna and Naples, demonstrating thereby that a common exile only served to merge their aspirations in one grand ideal : that of a free Italy ! THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME The beginning of the year 1800 saw the Austrians virtual masters of Italy : the French army, after having prolonged the campaign to the utmost of its power, was driven into Liguria and compelled to retire to Genoa which had just been blockaded by sea, by the English admiral, Keith. Napoleon Bonaparte — who by the coup d'etat of the 1 8th Bruniaire had made himself master of affairs in France by assuming the title of First Consul — already meditated the re-conquest of Italy, and whilst he ordered General Massena, commanding the French force shut up in Genoa, to maintain a stout resistance, he conceived the bold design of leading another army across the Alps. To this end in May, 1800, he secretly concentrated troops in the neighbourhood of Geneva ; then he proceeded to direct their operations in person and led his men to the pass of the great St. Bernard. The infantry found the march easy enough, but it was another matter for the cavalry ; each man had to dis- mount and lead his horse — in spite of ^\'hich pre- 5 49 50 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME caution some of the soldiers and their beasts fell over precipices by the way. The artillery pieces had to be dismounted, transported on hand barrows or on mules ; the heaviest cannons were placed in trunks of trees, hollowed out for the purpose, and dragged along by ropes. When, after this wearisome climb, the French arrived at the hospice, at the summit of the pass, its inmates, the monks of St. Bernard, whom Bonaparte had previously furnished with money to provide victuals, distributed bread, cheese and wine to each soldier ; afterwards each company began the descent which, although apparently less toilsome than the ascent, was really fraught with yet greater dangers. Having surmounted all obstacles. Napoleon's forces at length reached the valley of Aosta where, advancing into the plain, they menaced the rear of the Austrian army. The latter which had just succeeded in occupying Genoa — only surrendered by Massena under pressure of starvation, after a most valiant resistance — had to beat a hasty retreat to Lombardy, to prevent communication being cut off with Austria. A sanguinary battle took place on the 14th of June 1800, at Marengo near Alessandria, wherein the French would have been overpowered, had not General Desaix, who had been sent by Bonaparte in command of a wing of the army to recon- noitre in the direction of Novi, judged it expedient on hearing the roar of cannon, to turn back to his chiefs assistance. Desaix is reported to have said : " The battle is lost, but it is only just three o'clock, there is still time to win another." Napoleon initiated NAPOLEON RE-ESTABLISHES REPUBLICS 5 I the attack : Desaix was killed, but the day ended with a decisive victory for the French. The Austrians were now obliged to abandon all their conquests and to confirm the agreement made at Campo Formio. Napoleon re-established the Cisalpine and Ligurian republics, and France took possession of Piedmont. Other important changes took place : Parma and Piacenza were soon after ceded to France, and the Bourbon family to whom that duchy belonged, obtained instead Tuscany which was wrested from the house of Lorraine and constituted into a ' Kingdom of Etruria.' At the end of 1801, Napoleon convoked four hundred and fifty-two notables of the Cisalpine Republic at Lyons, with the intention of framing the new constitution which in essence resembled the one then possessed by France. The legislative power was divided into four assemblies and vested in a consulate, tribunate, senate and legislative body {Consulta, Censura, Consiglio and Corpo Legislativd) whilst the executive power was placed in the hands of a president, elected for ten years, who possessed the rights of initiating legislation and of nominating functionaries. The polity so formed was henceforth to be known as the ' Italian Republic' Napoleon Bonaparte was elected as president and he, in his turn, constituted Count Francesco Melzi vice-presi- dent. The evils of the military occupation of the preceding years having been diminished, this new Republic, protected by the great principles of libert)- and civil equality, was enabled to enjoy genuine prosperity : not only had the very name of ' Italian ' 52 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME a fascination for those it governed, but the absence of the president made its independence appear all the more real, whilst Melzi, by his sagacious rule, was well qualified to win the sympathies of the people. When the First Consul assumed in 1804 the title of Emperor of the French, it seemed incongruous that he should continue to be president of a republic ; consequently, the crown of the kingdom of Italy was offered him — a crown which he placed on his own head at Milan, the 26th of May, 1805, with the famous words : " God gave it me — woe to him who touches it ! " He nominated as viceroy, his step-son, Eugene Beauharnais, then only four-and-twenty years of age, but a young man of amiable and gentle disposition. The latter was anxious to show his gratitude towards the Emperor by a ready obedience ; thus it was that in deference to his chief's orders, he discontinued the convocation of the legislative body at the first opposi- tion he encountered therefrom on the question of some proposed laws. The kingdom of Italy thus fell at last under the yoke of this so-called enlightened despotism. Moreover, whilst Napoleon was at Milan, the magistrates of the Ligurian Republic had suggested an amalgamation of their government with the French Empire ; the Emperor therefore betook him- self to Genoa and formed this ancient state into three French departments. In the same }'ear, at Presburg, on the 26th of December, 1805, after the great victory of Austerlitz, FRENCH OCCUPY NAPLES AND THE PAPAL STATES 53 Napoleon imposed a peace treaty on Austria and compelled the latter to forego her claim to Venice which thus became united to the kingdom of Italy, to the great joy of the Italians who flattered them- selves that this step forwarded the unification of the entire peninsula. Whilst this campaign had been in progress, the Neapolitan Court had joined in the coalition formed by England, Austria and Russia against France. Napoleon made this a pretext for sending an army to conquer Naples, called upon his soldiers to make an end of a regime which had " neither faith, honour nor good sense," and thenceforth proudly announced that the Neapolitan dynasty was " at an end." It was indeed an easily assured victory: the Bourbon family at once took refuge in Sicily, and Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon, was pro- claimed King of Naples on the 30th of March, 1806. The year after. Napoleon inflicted another blow on the Bourbons by taking Tuscany from them and uniting it to the French empire. The Emperor now caused his troops to occupy the sea-coast of the Papal States, and when the Pontiff protested and so made common cause with the enemies of France, Napoleon declared the temporal power of the Pope to be at an end (1809), united Rome and its adjoining territory to the French empire and amalgamated the Marches with the kingdom of Italy.i In his despatch to the French Senate, con- cerning necessary legislation after the above- ' Pius VII., having Ijeen made prisoner, was conducted to Savonaand ultimately to Fontainehleau. 54 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME mentioned annexation, the Emperor wrote as follows : " The decree that we submit to you will accomplish one of the most important political events of the great times in which we live. May the words : ' policy of the Roman court ' be for ever abolished in European diplomacy ; may the narrow egoism of a prince who possesses a country without army, ports without ships, power without any means of enforcing it and neutrality without guarantee, disappear in the general prosperity of the Italian peninsula !" At this epoch, the whole of the Italian peninsula depended, either directly or indirectly, on Napoleon. Piedmont, Liguria, Parma, Piacenza, Tuscany and Rome — that is to say, nearly a third of the country — had been annexed to the French empire. Although Piedmont, and also Liguria, by their proximity to, and affinity with France, had easily adapted them- selves to French laws and institutions, it was far otherwise with those provinces which, unaccustomed to warlike exercises, only submitted with great dis- content to the military conscription imposed on them by the conqueror. Everywhere, however, was visible a great intellectual, social and material transformation. This was most of all evident in the so-called ' kingdom of Italy,' which comprised Lombardy, Venetia, Reggio, Modena, Romagna and the Marches, with a population of nearly seven million inhabitants. New roads were opened up, large canals constructed, splendid monu- ments erected, agriculture encouraged, and industry ARCO DELLA PACE, MILAN. (Begun in 1804.) 56 THE NAPOLEOXIC REGIME and commerce were developed, while art and learning were promoted in a thousand ways, and an excellent army was organised which won a new respect for the Italian name. "Of all the periods of servitude," writes the illustrious contemporary historian, Cesare Balbo, " not one was as happy, as active, perhaps as useful, none were nearly so great and glorious as this epoch. Less shame was there in serving, with half Europe, a man so powerful and illustrious — an Italian, moreover, by birth and race — in serving him, too, by actively furthering his mighty and incessantly in- creasing projects whose unforeseen results it might justly be hoped would tend to some great scheme of national reunion or liberation — less shame, I main- tain, was there in such service, than in the languid and isolated slavery that had formerly been Italy's in the midst of independence, liberty and universal activity. . . . There was not actual independence, it is true, but there were at least the forms of it in a great Italian centre ; there was not a well- guaranteed constitutional liberty, though a legal one existed, but there was that equality which indemnified so many, rightly or wrongly, for the absence of freedom. Certain it is, that from this time, the name of Italy was pronounced with in- creased love and honour." French influence in the kingdom of Naples was minimised by the actual conditions of the country which differed so greatly from that of P'rance : this may be accounted for, too, by the fact that the new regime was of shorter duration there and had, besides, to give its attention to defending itself not only against JOACHIM MURAT IN NAPLES 5/ the attempts which the Bourbons — still refugees in Sicily and backed up by England — made to recover their lost states, but also against the bands of brigands which infested Calabria. Joseph Bonaparte had no sooner begun to find his level in the new kingdom, than Napoleon, who transferred kings from one throne to another as if they had been so many einploycs, promoted him to the crown of Spain, sending his own brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, to Naples in Joseph's stead (1808). The new ruler succeeded in winning much popularity through his personal qualities, but he was more of a soldier than an administrator. At any rate, if he could not change the condition of the country, he introduced therein elements of a new life. * The Bourbon court had been strengthened in Sicily by the support of England, who had made of that island a centre for her warlike operations against the French. Notwithstanding, Queen Caroline re- sented English protection ; she was, moreover, not popular with the Sicilians, either on account of the favour she showed to the Neapolitan emigrants or through the heavy expenses that the Court had incurred in carrying on the w^ar. This opposition made itself felt in parliament and even the barons themselves refused to grant the required subsidies. The Court retaliated by ignoring the parliament, promulgating arbitrary decrees of taxation and causing five of the most recalcitrant nobles of the opposition to be arrested. But the English ambassador. Lord 58 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME William Bentinck, seeing that such a procedure would place the island at the mercy of the French invaders, brought pressure to bear upon the Bourbon government, which resulted in the immediate libera- tion of the five barons ; nay, he declared to the Queen that a constitution must be granted, uttering the famous formula : " Madame, constitution ou revolution." The Palermo court, thus coerced by English pressure, took refuge in a compromise ; King Ferdinand, under the pretext of illness, made over the conduct of affairs to his son, Francis, conferring upon him the title of Vicar-General of the kingdom, January i6, 1812, and withdrew to his country retreat at Ficuzza. The newly-ordained Prince-Vicar forthwith con- voked parliament which immediately decreed a constitution — drawn up on the English model, with an Upper and a Lower House — and abolished feudal rights. Queen Caroline who was always setting on foot fresh machinations to oppose these new political tendencies and to shake off English interference, was obliged to leave Sicily in 18 13 and return to Vienna where she died in September, 18 14. In the meantime, the fortunes of Napoleon were rapidly on the wane and he now saw himself for- saken by all his supporters. He had always exacted blind obedience, and this pronounced absolutism had alienated the devotion of his subjects. Many Italians, who were fully alive to the regenerating in- fluences infused by the new regime into all branches of their social life, felt, none the less bitterly, the AUSTRIA MENACES ITALY 59 galling" yoke of the oppressor, and showed it even in their literary taste, by applauding the burning and indignant verses of Ugo Foscolo rather than the adulatory effusions of Vincenzo Monti. The disastrous Russian campaign had provoked a genuine reaction of hatred against the man who, to glut his own ambition, had sacrificed the lives of so many thousands of his soldiers. The Powers in league against the French Emperor helped to foment this feeling and, by giving a vague encouragement to the aspirations of Italian independence, easily succeeded in winning over to their side a great part of the population. Austria now offered active menace to the kingdom of Italy ; the Viceroy, Eugene, tried to defend himself, but was compelled to fall back upon the banks of the Adige. At the same time, Joachim Murat, who, to keep his throne intact, had engaged in secret treaties with Austria, advanced with an army from Naples in the direction of Upper Italy, without Eugene knowing whether he came as a friend or an enemy : the Viceroy himself was then compelled to retreat to the Mincio. Meanwhile, the English occupied Leghorn, after- wards Genoa. Then it was that Italy received the news of the capitulation of Paris to the allied troops and of the abdication of Napoleon. Eugene, how- ever, hoped to be able to keep Lombardy for himself and, to this end, suspended hostilities with a view to appeasing the Powers. But the greater part of the Milanese population, weary of French rule, were unfriendly to his design ; some hoped to institute 6o THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME a national government, others desired the return of the Austrians ; therefore, when the senate of the kingdom, assembled at Milan, wished to send a deputation to the Powers to demonstrate their willingness to favour Eugene, an insurrection broke out in the city and Count Prina, minister of finance, was murdered by the mob, April 20, 18 14. The Viceroy, out of pique, surrendered the fortress of Mantua to the Austrians and sought the protection of his father-in-law in Bavaria. A few days after- wards, the Austrians entered Milan, and thus fell that kingdom of Italy which had boasted of so many illustrious citizens in art, science and public life, and had formed the great centre of Italian life in that momentous period of history. The former governments were now reinstated : Pius VII. who had already been liberated for some time past, re-entered Rome ; the Grand Duke, Ferdi- nand III., took possession again of Tuscany; the duchies of Parma and Modena were re-established, whilst Victor Emmanuel I. of Savoy — who, in 1802, had succeeded his brother, Charles Emmanuel IV., in Sardinia — returned to Turin. Joachim Murat alone still preserved his kingdom of Naples. Napoleon had chosen as a place of exile the island of Elba, but it was generally felt to be impossible that a man, who had led so many enterprises and won so many battles, should willingly condemn himself to inertia. There were even Italians who dreamed of making it worth his while to reconstitute THE 'HUNDRED DAYS': COXGRESS OF VIENNA 6 1 their country's unity and on May 19, 18 14, a message was sent to the exile from Turin, imploring the help of his name and sword and offering him, in exchange, the crown of Italy. Napoleon received the invitation graciously, but Paris, rather than Rome, was the goal at which he aimed. On the 26th of February, 181 5, he left the island of Elba with a thousand soldiers and sailed for France, with the intention of re- conquering the Empire. He disembarked in the Gulf of Jouan on the ist of March and in twenty days, supported by the army — always enthusi- astically devoted to its chief — repossessed himself of the throne and entered Paris amid the rejoic- ings of the people, to enjoy a brilliant but short- lived triumph of a hundred days. The sovereigns of Europe, assembled in the spring of that year at the Congress of Vienna, now decided to put an end for good and all to the power of Napoleon ; they accordingly proclaimed him " the enemy and disturber of the peace of the world," declared him to be " without the pale of civil and social relations," and at the same time, sent orders to their armies to march against France. On the 1 8th of June, 1815, on the plains of Waterloo, was fought the memorable battle which crowns the end of this epoch, so full of wars and discords ; on that day, the heroes of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Wagram were completely routed by the English veterans of Wellington and the Prussian grenadiers of Blucher. The allied armies were thus enabled to march on Paris and establish Louis XVIII. on the French throne. Napoleon, having lost all hope. 62 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME surrendered to the English, by whom he was banished to the island of St. Helena. The very day that the uncrowned Emperor arrived in sight of the rock where he was to drag out his last years, his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, after strange vicissitudes, was shot in Calabria. In 1814, by his treason towards Napoleon, the king of Naples had obtained permission from Austria to keep his states, but he soon had reason to doubt that such a concession would be long allowed and therefore had been reconciled to his brother-in-law, then in the island of Elba. When the Emperor embarked for France, Murat turned his arms against Austria, inviting the Italians to wage a war of independence. Very few, however, rallied to his standard ; he advanced as far as Emilia, but hearing the Neapolitan coast was threatened by the English, beat a retreat. Routed by the Austrians near Macerata, he re-entered his own territories where the Bourbon party was again lifting its head. Desertions became daily more numerous in his army : at last he abdicated the throne on May 20, 181 5, and the government of Ferdinand Bourbon was restored in the kingdom of Naples. Joachim Murat now repaired to France, though he dared not face Napoleon. After Waterloo, he thought of retiring to Corsica, the native country of so many of his followers. He meditated the re- conquest of Naples from that island, and on the 28th of September, weighed anchor, with two hundred and fifty adherents, at Ajaccio, but a storm dispersed his little fleet. The vessel in which Joachim sailed arrived at Pizzo in Calabria, where he attempted, but JOACHIM MURAT. (From the crayon drawing by Frangois Gerard in the Museum at Chnlon-sur-Saone.) 64 THE NAPOLEONIC REGIME vainly, to excite a reaction in his own favour. Having been made prisoner a few days afterwards, in pur- suance of orders sent from Naples, he was judged by a court-martial, condemned to death, and shot on the 13th of October, 181 5, at the age of forty-eight. IV THE RESTORATION: OLD GOVERNMENTS AND NEW PEOPLES It was in the midst of the brilHant fetes and splendours of the Congress of Vienna — in which the prime minister of Austria, Prince Metternich, then in the zenith of his career, had shone pre-eminent among his peers — that the re-adjustment of Italy was effected. The diplomatists in question had declared that such a re-adjustment ought to be based on the legitimist principle, that is to say that the former governments which the revolution had overthrown, ought to be restored. Such a maxim was applied to all Italy with the exception of the republics ; conse- quently, Venice, Genoa and Lucca had no place in the new states. Venetia with Lombardy reverted to Austria, Genoa was annexed to the dominions of Savoy, whilst Lucca was assigned to the Bourbon dynasty of Parma, so long as this dukedom should be governed by Marie Louise — daughter of the Emperor Francis of Austria, and wife of Napoleon I. ■ — who was to keep it during her lifetime. For the rest, the political conditions of 1789 were restored, 6 65 66 THE RESTORATION although by this arrangement the influence of Austria was augmented and she entered into possession of the richest, best fortified and — strategically — most valuable provinces in Italy ; hence she could easil}^ make her superior power felt throughout the penin- sula, especially as members of the Austrian royal family reigned in Parma, Modena and Tuscany. Austrian influence, therefore, was substituted for French, and all its efforts were promptly devoted to cancelling every trace of revolution. For the better understanding of Italian life from 1815 to 1820, let us attentively consider each state individually, beginning with Piedmont. On the 20th of May, 1 8 14, Turin, the ancient Piedmontese capital, after sixteen years of the French regime, welcomed back its Savoy rulers with true and un- affected enthusiasm. Massimo D'Azeglio, who was then sixteen years old and a member of the civil guard that was drawn up for the royal reception, describes his impressions in his Ricordi : " I found myself on parade in the Piazza Costello and very well recollect the group presented by the King and his staff. Dressed in the old-fashioned style, with powder, queue and Frederic II. hats, they must have looked quaint figures enough, but to me, as to all there, they appeared most magnificent and coinnic il faut. The oft-repeated cries of welcome that acclaimed this good prince must have assured him, beyond all possibility of doubt, of the affection and sympathy of his faithful Turinese." Thus did Pied- VICTOR EMMAXUEL I. RETURNS TO PIEDMONT 6/ mont joyously hail the end of the foreign yoke and receive King Victor Emmanuel I., the representative of that house which had always so carefully guarded the country's honour. But discontent followed hard on such joy. The King and his courtiers imagined that, during the last twenty years, the good Piedmontese had, like them- selves, been asleep, figuratively speaking, whilst in reality this space of time had meant for the people a century of progress, Victor Emmanuel said he regarded all that had happened in his absence as a "long dream," and thought he gave an ample proof of his generosity by drawing, as he said, a veil over the past. On his return to Piedmont, an old courtier had handed him the Pahnaverde alma- nack for 1798, which contained the list of state employes. In the royal mania for returning to the old order, these officials were all replaced in their posts, without any one troubling to find out whether some of them might not have died in the interval. The same system was likewise applied to the army and involved the recall of many men who had not held commissions for years. Those who had served under Napoleon, if they wished to be re-admitted, had to lose one grade, whilst quite raw youths of aristocratic families were promoted to fill up the void thus created amongst the officers. D'Azeglio, thus raised to the rank of lieutenant, wrote in after times : " Ours was a curious method of form- ing a regiment ! Those in command who had re- ceived their commissions in bygone years, had forgotten everything ; we junior officers had, as yet, 68 THE RESTORATION learnt nothing, whilst our subordinates, the scouts and underlings —soldiers who had been trained in the first military school of the world and had their duties at their fingers' ends — laughed at us in their sleeves in our presence and openly in our absence." Thus the Piedmontese government, very far from making concessions to progress, aimed at a slavish reconstruction of the past that was to affect both men and things. At one stroke, Piedmont was transplanted back into the middle of the eighteenth century and all the privileges of the nobility and clergy were restored. This return to the ancient regime dis- pleased many people, more especially the educated classes of the country, who, unable to avail them- selves of any official remedy, leagued themselves together in secret societies. Factions were also multiplying in the Lombardo- Venetian provinces where the disappearance of the kingdom of Italy had not caused the memories of that glorious epoch to be forgotten. Austria had, it is true, always increased the material welfare of the subject provinces, but this was no longer enough. Although before the French revolution, the people of Lombardy had gladly approved the government of Maria Theresa and Joseph II., they failed to do so after the formation of a kingdom of Italy had once awakened the idea of nationality in men's minds. A serious change had been wrought in the conscience of the masses, and Federico Confalonieri could justly LIBERAL PROPAGANDA IN MILAN 69 say : " We can no longer be the people of twenty years ago unless we renounce habits and sentiments already deeply-rooted in a nation full of energy, genius and passions, which has acquired during this time wider political experience, deeper patriotism and increased military aptitude." In spite of all this, the Austrian Emperor had declared to Venetia and Lombardy : " You belong to me by right of conquest and ought to forget you are Italian" — a foolish dictum, which only served the better to remind the vanquished that they were Italians and that they must prove themselves worthy of the name. An opposition to the government, therefore, now began to show itself among the most cultured and intelligent classes ; secret societies were formed, and to cope with them, a terrible police system was organised, which ever developed its menacing proportions and ulti- mately became the single prop of Austrian dominion in Italy. Whilst the Vienna cabinet aimed at keeping these provinces enslaved by means of an armed surveil- lance, some cultivated and hard-working citizens of Milan proposed to spread liberal ideas among the people and to diffuse a knowledge of the conquests of modern thought. To this end — having been un- successful in their request for permission to open popular schools — they started a paper, // Conciliatore, devoted to literary and social as well as to political ends. Among its contributors were Confalonieri, G. D. Romagnosi, Silvio Pellico, Giovanni Rasori, Filippo Ugoni, Giovanni Rerchet and many others whom exile and martyrdom were to render illustrious in the JO THE RESTORATION annals of Italian independence. Austria was not slow to suspect the existence of this liberal propa- ganda ; in October, 1819, the Conciliatore was sup- pressed, and in the October of the following year, Pellico, Gioia, Romagnosi, Maroncelli and Arrivabene were arrested and a long series of political prosecu- tions was set on foot. Austria domineered likewise in the duchy of Parma and Piacenza. On the fall of Napoleon, Francis of Austria, desiring a suitable possession for his daughter, Marie Louise, wife of the fallen Emperor, had assigned to her Parma and Piacenza. Although the ex- empress enjoyed the honours accruing to her position, the real ruling power was Austria, represented by a garrison at Piacenza. Thus, whilst the Austrian marshal, Neipperg, was endeavouring to make Marie Louise forget her exiled consort at St. Helena, the cabinet of Vienna was dictating laws to the province and hindering the development of every liberal and Italian tendency. Nor did things alter when the Duchess changed her lovers. Worse still was the condition of affairs in the neighbouring dukedom of Modena and Reggio, which had been made over to Francis IV., i\rchduke of Austria, son of Marie Beatrice, the last representative of the house of P^ste. He was both clever and ambitious, but so imbued with despotic notions and contempt for his fellow men, that he was quite unscrupulous in the means he pursued to gain his end ; moreover, he was in league with the Jesuits TUSCANY: PAPAL STATES'. NAPLES 7 1 and was remorseless in his pursuit of the leaders of political innovations. * * A happier state of things prevailed in the pleasant province of Tuscany. There, even before the French revolution, the house of Lorraine had introduced many reforms ; it had abolished the Inquisition, torture, the death penalty, and had ameliorated every phase of civic life. When the long-hoped-for return of the Grand Duke, Ferdinand III., to his duchy, took place in 1815, he immediately restored the lenient rule of his predecessors ^a rule that seemed fitly to correspond with the placid temperament of the inhabi- tants of that particular region of Italy. A worthy representative of such a government was the prime minister, Count Fossombroni, an easy-going man who had such confidence in time and chance that he used to say : // iiiondo va da se (" The world goes by itself"). Under such a regime, the Tuscan people grew enfeebled and lethargic, although the tolerant sway they enjoyed seemed like genuine liberty, in comparison with the absolutism of the other Italian states. The two worst administrations in Italy were those of the States of the Church and the kingdom of Naples. In the former, the Pope, on resuming his temporal power, had re-established a truly mediaeval government wherein the Inquisition and the order of the Jesuits were both revived. French legislation was abolished and the old obscure and confused laws J 2 THE RESTORATION were restored in its stead. The complete exclusion of the laity from offices in the state was assumed as the invariable basis of such a regime as was now instituted. Pius VII. and Cardinal Consalvi, his minister, were, it is true, full of good intentions, but they were irresistibly influenced by the reactionary Diilieu in which they lived. By the death of Joachim Murat, Ferdinand Bourbon had felt his position assured on his re-acquired throne of Naples and, like the other princes of the penin- sula, he also cherished hopes of rebuilding the fabric of the past. Everything favourable to the royal pre- rogative in the French code was not only preserved at Naples, but was likewise applied to Sicily ; all the rest was abolished. The constitution granted to Sicily in 1812 was quickly consigned to oblivion; the parliament was no longer convoked, and the Bourbon monarch assumed the title of ' Ferdinand I., King of the Two Sicilies,' abandoning the titles of 'Ferdinand IV. of Naples' and 'Ferdinand III. of Sicily,' in use up till that time.^ It was no mere alteration of name ; this re-union of the two crowns into one kingdom signified the destruction of Sicilian independence and completely discounted any differ- ence of treatment of the countries on either side of the Faro. By reason of its geographical position, the kingdom ' To understand this newly adopted title we must revert to tlie revolu- tion of ' the Vespers' (1282), which separated Sicily from Naples; in spite of this, however, the Angevin rulers of the latter kingdom had still wished to incorporate in their title the idea of Sicilian sovereignty. When, later (1442), Alfonso of Arragon re-united both kingdoms, the term ' Two Sicilies ' came officially into use. HOLY ALLIANCE AND LIBERALISM 73 of the Two Sicilies might have been considered as properly independent of the Austrian pretensions that were advanced elsewhere in Italy, all the more so, since England was secretly seeking to counter- balance the power of Austria. Notwithstanding, the King of Naples remained the humble servant of the Vienna cabinet. It was Austria's aim to keep a strict watch over Italy, and make the rebel beauty resume her inter- rupted slumber. In this work, however, she was not alone, but was able to count on the support of Russia and Prussia with whom she had organised the so- called Holy Alliance. Although this agreement between the three sovereign Powers concluded with high-sounding words of peace and justice and was cloaked under the guise of religion, it was in reality a league against the so-hated liberalism. The populations who had lived for five and twenty years under the influence of French revolutionary ideas were necessarily eager for innovations, and it was against such aspirations as these that the Holy Alliance was directed. It was desired that men's minds should lie in the same dormant quiescence as they had done before the revolution, as if indeed it had been possible to stifle human thought. But, in spite of reactionary efforts, the old world was bursting its swathing-bands and even in its outward life, signs of such a struggle were already manifest. All was changed in modes of thought, manners and customs ; differences between 74 THE RESTORATION citizens were disappearing ; the fusion of the classes was perceptible even in the fashion of dress. The abolition of privileges proclaimed by the Napoleonic code and other liberal ideas which had made strides during its regime, had been the means of planting the germ of revolution in the heart of Italy, and hence- forth the seed was to grow and prosper there. V REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS The secret society most widely diffused in Italy was that of the Carbonari. It had originated in the Neapolitan States in the first years of the century and had struck root there during the French dominion to such an extent, that it had even intimi- dated Joachim Murat himself On the return of the Bourbons, Carbonarism spread throughout the whole kingdom — and indeed beyond it — uniting all the disaffected in a common grievance. Malcontents were very numerous in the army which resented the neglect of the Bourbon government : consequently the Carbonari found many adherents in its ranks. And further to inflame men's minds, there now came the news of revolution triumphant in Spain, a country which was associated with Naples by many memories and affinities. Then it was that the instigators of the Italian movement decided to act. On the 2nd of July, 1820, two sub-lieutenants, Morelli and Silvati, with one hundred and twenty- seven men, including sergeants and mounted soldiers, proceeded from the Nola quarter, flaunting the ^6 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS black, red and blue tricoloured banner of the Carbonari to the cry of, " For God, King, and Con- stitution." From Nola, the insurgents, accompanied by the priest, Menichini, as well as other members of the league, made their way to Avellino where the governor, after some hesitation, joined their ranks ; thence they moved towards the capital, whilst several provinces declared themselves in favour of the insur- rectionary movement. Meanwhile, deliberation was the only resource of the terrified and vacillating ministers and this very irresolution furnished the constitutionalists with their opportunity. On the night of the 5-6th of July, General Guglielmo Pepe, dreading arrest on account of his liberal opinions, left Naples and placed himself at the head of the insurgents. King Ferdinand then found himself compelled to promise a constitution but, under pretence of illness, entrusted his son, Francis — with the title of Vicar — with the management of affairs. The farce played out in Sicily in 1812 was then re-enacted, but the Neapolitan population who distrusted the word of a Bourbon, insisted on the constitution being then and there conceded, and since the Spanish one was already drawn up — to which King Ferdinand, as Infante of Spain, had been obliged to take a solemn oath of allegiance — they exacted its adoption and demanded that not only the Vicar, but that the King himself, should swear to it. Thus it was that the aged Ferdi- nand was seen with his hand on the Gospels, invoking the wrath of heaven should he ever be tempted to break his oath. GABRIELE ROSSETTI. 78 REVOLUTIONARY BRGIXNINGS It was at this time that the poet, Gabriele Rossetti (born at Vasto in the Abruzzi in 1783, died in London, 1854), hailed the dawn of NeapoHtan hberty in a hymn which became very popular : — Sei pur bella cogli astri sul crine Che scintillan quai vivi zaffiri, E pur dolce quel fiato che spiri Porporina foriera del di. Col sorriso del pago desio Tu ci annunzi dal balzo vicino Che d'ltalia nell' almo giardino II servaggio per sempre fini." (Thou art fair with the stars that are wreathing With sapphire-like brightness thy hair, And fragrantly sweet is thy breathing, Of day thou'rt the harbinger fair I And thou from thy rock smilst victorious, As the message to men thou dost send : In the garden of Italy glorious Is servitude aye at an end ! ') Patriotism and intellectual activit}' alike awoke, and for some time it seemed as if Naples had been aroused from her long lethargy. All too soon, however, she encountered a serious misfortune in the separatist movement which had been set on foot in Sicih'. Up till 181 5, this island had enjoyed political privileges of its own and the ancient constitu- tion which it had succeeded in keeping intact through so many reverses of administration, had been e\-en more fully developed in 181 2, through an agitation promoted by English influence. ^ But when ' See Chap. III. /xs['/^/^/■cT/ox jy sicily 79 the Bourbon court — compelled to retire to Sicily during the Napoleonic period — re-occupied Naples, it soon consigned the Sicilian constitution to oblivion. The island became a Neapolitan province and was duly exploited by Neapolitan officials, thus foiling the aspiration which had taken root in the Sicilian mind of re-possessing its ancient constitution and of separating t'rom Naples. It was for this that, on receiving the news of the revolution on the mainland, the men of Palermo were fired to supplement the cry of " Long live the Constitution !" by that of" Indepen- dence for ever ! " The Bourbon troops were expelled from the city and the example set by Palermo was soon followed by the province of Girgenti. The other five provinces of the island, however, remained loyal to the Neapolitan government. General Florestano Pepe was despatched to suppress the insurrection, but as he was inclined to grant too easy terms, General Pietro Colletta — afterwards to become famous for his Storia Del Reame Di Napoli — was sent to supplant him and succeeded, by the employ- ment of more severity, in quelling the insurrection and in persuading the inhabitants to nominate deputies for the parliament which had already assembled at Naples. Hardly had the danger from within been averted, than a much more serious one threatened the Neapolitan kingdom from without ; she learned, to her consternation, that the sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia, intimidated by the spread of constitutional ideas throughout Europe, now intended putting down by force her so-far success- 8o REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS ful revolution. It is to this external peril that Rossetti alludes in his verses : — " Cittadini, posiamo sicuri Sotto I'ombra dei lauri mietuti, Ma coi pugni sui brandi temuti Stiamo in guardia del patrio terren . , . Che guardate, gelosi stranieri? Non uscite dai vostri burroni, Che la stirpe dei prischi leoni Piu nel sonno languente non e. Adorate le vostre catene ; Chi v'invidia cotanto tesoro ? Ma lasciate tranquilli coloro Che disdegnan sentirsele al pie." (O friends, let us rest in the shade Of the laurels we reaped in the past, But still in our hands hold we fast The swords that our guards we have made . . . Ye strangers, why jealous watch keep? Approach not, approach not our place And vex not the old lions' race — The race that no longer doth sleep. But yet hug your chains, if ye will. No envy have we of your gain, But leave those alone who disdain To feel the old fetters gall still.) King Ferdinand, on his part, secretly hastened to apprise the three monarchs that he desired nothing better than the re-establishment of despotism. Hence he received from them an in\'itation to attend the Congress which was shortly to be held at Leybach. But in accordance with a constitutional decree, the King could not leave the country without the consent of parliament ; he therefore addressed a letter to the latter — a colossal proof of his AUSTRIANS ADVANCE ON NAPLES 51 perfidy — averring that he desired to go and defend the constitution before the sovereigns of the Holy Alliance and promising that if he were unsuccessful in justifying his people's cause in their hearing, he would return to Naples in time to defend it at the head of his army. Parliament granted him the necessary permission, and Ferdinand started for the Congress, leaving the government in the hands of his son, Francis. At Leybach, the fate of Naples was decided. The Holy Alliance, after protesting that it was its prerogative and duty to guard the peace of Europe and that the condition of the Two Sicilies threatened the safety of existing governments, sent an Austrian army to Naples to re-establish order, and King Ferdinand wrote to his subjects, bidding them give his devoted allies a friendly reception. The Nea- politan parliament, though already disillusioned, declared that the King's decision, made under pressure from the allied rulers, was invalid, and accordingly resolved to act on the defensive. The Vicar, Francis, persisting in his deceitful role, for which indeed his father had given~~him the cue, posed as a most zealous supporter of the country's defence. But there were no means of resisting an invasion. General Guglielmo Pepe, at the head of an army, which was alike good-for-nothing and undisciplined, attacked the Austrians at Rieti, March 7, 1821, but was defeated, whilst the disbanding of the best part of his troops spread discouragement throughout the province. Thus the Austrian forces were 7 82 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS enabled to advance on Naples unopposed and not another blow was struck in the latter's defence. Many of the liberals fled or sought safety in con- cealment. On the 19th of March, twenty-six deputies met in the parliamentary chamber and signed an energetic protest, drawn up by the lawyer, Giuseppe Poerio, one of their most distinguished orators. It contained these words : " Chosen by electoral suf- frage, we received our orders, in accordance with the form duly prescribed by the King. We have discharged our functions conformably to our power, to the Sovereign's oath and our own. But the presence of a foreign army in the kingdom obliges us to suspend the exercise of those functions. . . . Whilst proclaiming this unfortunate circumstance, we protest against the violation of the rights of the people . . . and we place the cause of the throne and of national independence in the hands of that God who directs the destinies of rulers and nations alike." This was the last session of the Neapolitan parliament. On the 23rd of March, the Austrian troops entered Naples and re-established absolutism, whilst all opposition was quickly stifled in the provinces. Before re-entering his states, King Ferdinand went to hang a gold and silver sanctuary lamp in the Church of the Annunziata at Florence — in bittery mockery of expiation for his perjury. Whilst Bourbon false-dealing was destroying con- stitutional government in the Neapolitan and Sicilian kingdoms, a revolution broke out at the other end CHARLES ALBERT AND LIBERALISM 83 of the peninsula, in Piedmont. Even among the latter's level-headed and sober-minded people, Carbonarism had always found many adherents, especially in the ranks of the army. The Pied- montese Carbonari had set themselves the task of weaning Victor Emmanuel I. from the reactionary notions of his courtiers, by persuading him to grant a constitution and urging him to war against Austria ; in this they reckoned on the support of a prince of the blood-royal, in the person of Charles Albert of Carignan who, in view of the fact that Victor Emmanuel had no male issue and that his brother Charles Felix was childless, was heir-pre- sumptive to the throne. Charles Albert, educated in Paris, under Napo- leonic influences, had returned in 18 14 (at that time barely sixteen years old) to Piedmont. Inspired with ideas imbibed in the French capital, he had disapproved of the kingdom's return to an eighteenth-century regime and, being of an open and vivacious disposition, had not disguised his opinions. Hence he acquired a reputation for liberalism and, at the same time, great popularity in Turin ; he was even credited with being a member of the Carbonari and was certainly the intimate friend of such leaders of the revolutionary party among the haute noblesse of Piedmont, as the Marquis of San Marzano, Count Provana di Collegno, Count Moffa di Lisio and others. Highly impressionable by temperament, Charles Albert was easily swayed by the ardent enthusiasm of those surrounding him ; he also cherished the noble ambi- tion of being the destined redeemer of Italy and 84 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS perhaps in his relations with the Grr/^^z/c?/'/, let himself foster such an idea to an unreasonable extent. The Piedmontese conspirators had planned their rising to take place at the moment when the Austrian army should be distracted by the Neapolitan con- stitutionalists; thus victory would have more fully favoured the liberals at either end of the penin- sula, but they had counted, doubtless, on a stronger resistance being offered in Naples. On the iith of March, 1821, before the news of the disaster at Rieti had reached Piedmont, the garrison of Ales- sandria raised the Italian tricolour, at the same time declaring for the Spanish constitution and war with Austria — an example followed two days later by the Turin garrison — all to the cry of " God save the King ! " However, Victor iMiimanuel I., not wishing to break the promise he had given to Austria, of withholding a constitution from his subjects, and naturally averse, by reason of his kindly and gentle disposition, to shed the blood of his subjects in a fratricidal struggle, abdicated on the 13th of March, in favour of his brother, Charles Felix. The latter being then at the court of Modena, nominated Charles Albert as regent of the kingdom for the time being. Thus promoted, the }'oung prince, urged by his friends and encouraged by the progress of the revolution, proclaimed the Sjjanish constitution at Turin. Before three da)'s had passed, a decree arrived from Charles Felix, still at Modena, b)- which he declared the proclamation made without his consent to be null and void, ordered the re-establishment of an absolute PAINFUL POSITION OF THE REGENT 85 government and insisted on Charles Albert quitting the capital. The position in which the young Regent now found himself was indeed a painful one : the liberal party were desirous of dragging him into flat rebellion against Charles Felix, but he regarded the perpe- SANTORRE OX SANTAROSA. tration of such an act as treason against the chief representative of his family. Besides, all hope of suc- cess had now vanished ; Austria, victorious in the king- dom of Naples, was even then mobilising another army on the Ticino against Piedmont, and active revolt would have meant the ruin of himself and his 86 RFl'OLl'TIONARY BEGINXIXGS future, as well as of his friends. If Charles Albert had been unwise in letting himself be carried away by the revolutionary current, he was equally so in his method of extricating himself from its vortex. He left Turin furtively by night — an act which gave colour to the accusation of treason so freely hurled at him by the liberals. But the latter were deceived ; the unhappy prince had sinned through vacillation, not through treason, and the sequel proved such to have been the case. Charles Felix refused to receive him at Modena : only at Florence did he find a welcome from his father-in-law, the Grand Duke of Tuscan)-. Meanwhile, the sudden departure of the Regent had spread trouble and disorder among the revo- lutionary partisans. At this difficult juncture, Count Santorre Di Santarosa, one of the noblest figures of the Italian Risorginiento, assumed direction of the go\-ernment. But the absolute party, rejoicing in the King's support, maintained a bold front, and General De La Tour set up the royal standard at Novara, inx'iting all the troops devoted to Charles Felix, to rally thereto. The small revolutionar}- force, making their way to Lombardy, met De La Tour's soldiers below Novara (8th of xA.pril, 1821), when the latter, aided b)' a corps of Austrian troops — who had passed the Ticino — forced the constitu- tionalists to beat a retreat. The Piedmontese revo- lution can thus be said to ha\-e been all over in a month : its now scattered and fugiti\'e partisans repaired to Genoa and from thence into exile. "One Sunday in April, 1821, when I was a bo)-," PIEDMOXTESE INSURGENTS IN GENOA 8/ writes Giuseppe Mazzini, " I was walkinij along the Strada Nuova in Genoa with my mother and an old friend of the family. The Piedmontese insurrection was at an end ; treason, the incapacity of its leaders, as well as Austrian interference, had been the main factors in its failure. The insurgents flocked to Genoa in order to further their escape by sea ; they were in an impoverished condition and in search of pecuniary aid to pay their way to Spain where revo- lution reigned triumphant. Most of them were con- fined in San Pier d'Arena, awaiting a chance of embarking, but many made their way into the city, and I singled them out from amongst the natives, by the fashion of their dress, their military air and still more, by the deep and settled melancholy of their aspect. The population was strangely excited : some of the more enthusiastic spirits had pro- posed to the chiefs of the movement — like Santarosa and Ansaldi — to band themselves together, take pos.session of the city and organise a resistance, but it was said that the town was destitute of all military defence, that the forts were lacking in artillery and that the leaders refused this offer with the answer : ' Reserve yourselves for better things.' There was nothing else to be done, therefore, but to provide these noble-hearted but poverty-stricken precursors of free- dom with money and this the citizens did with great liberality. One powerful-looking bronzed and bearded man, with a stern face and flashing eye, whom I have never forgotten, suddenly stopped and accosted us ; he held out a white pocket-handkerchief, simply say- ing, ' p'or the proscribed Italians.' M)- mother and 88 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS her companion dropped some money into the ker- chief and he left us to beg of other passers-by. I found later that his name was Rini and that he was a captain of the national guard which had been formed at the commencement of the revolutionary movement. He left with the men for whom his alms had been collected and died, I believe, fighting, like so many others of our countrymen, for the liberty of Spain. This was the first occasion on which there arose a confused idea in my mind — I do not say of patriotism and liberty, but rather a dim perception that one ought to fight if one could for country and freedom." * * * The revolutions in Naples and Piedmont had both been defective in their origin ; they had not been spontaneous, popular risings, but rather purely military seditions which the mob had applauded, without taking therein an active part ; they had not either been simultaneous, for the constitution had already been annulled in the Neapolitan States when it was proclaimed in Piedmont. Now the rulers, under the powerful protection of Austria, were enabled to think about wreaking vengeance on their conquered foes. In Piedmont nearly all those compromised had been enabled to take refuge in flight and had devoted their arms to the constitutional cause in Spain or to the struggle for Greek independence — among the latter was Santorre Di Santarosa who died a hero's death fighting in the island of Sphacteria, in 1825. Two ABSOLUTISM RESTORED / CONFALONIERI 89 Piedmontese alone mounted the scaffold, Captain GarelH and the sub-lieutenant, Laneri. Not till Charles Felix had, by these examples, as he thought, secured order in his states, did he betake himself to Turin (October, 182 1), to favour his people with his august presence. But far worse than the Piedmontese monarch — who for that matter was quite a new phenomenon in the House of Savoy — was King Ferdinand I. Before entering his Neapolitan States, he despatched thither Canosa, the famous minister of police, who. by imprisonments and executions, sought to reduce the kingdom to order. Among those who paid the death penalty were the two sub-lieutenants, Morelli and Silvati, who had been the first to raise the cry of liberty at Nola. Absolutism reappeared ; corrup- tion established its reign once more ; the courtiers resumed their intrigues, and a worse government than ever was set up and supported by the Austrian troops whom the Neapolitans were obliged to main- tain in their midst. * * And now it was Austria's turn to avenge herself on the Lombardo-Venetian States. On the evening of December 31, 1821, Count Federico Confalonieri and his beautiful wife, the Countess Teresa, were discussing the late arrests as they sat alone in an apartment of their palace in Milan ; the Countess was persuading her husband to seek refuge in flight and was reminding him for the hundredth time, how, a few evenings before, at the theatre of 90 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS La Scala, the Austrian marshal, Bubna, had said to her: "Why does not Count Federico go into the countr)' ? I think the fresh air would do him a great deal of good." During this conversation, a commis- sary of police, followed by several officials, suddenly entered the room, averring, they were there simply for the purpose of making a perquisition. But Count Federico understood that the fatal hour had come ; having asked permission to change his dress, he entered his study wherein he had recently caused a secret staircase, leading to a dormer-window, to be constructed, but the noise made in opening the small door of this passage, aroused the suspicions of the agents-of-police, who were at once on his track. In a trice he reached the head of the staircase, quickly shut behind him the heavy trap-door which closed it, and rushed to unfasten the window which remained open every evening. A curse upon it ! The window was closed and it was impossible to undo it ! Whilst he vainly rattled at the bar, the trap-door was raised and his pursuers were upon him, and Confalonieri, giving his wife a last embrace, was led away to prison. Gaetano Castillia, Giorgio Pallavicino, Borsieri, Tonelli and many other Lombardo-Venetian subjects, each accused of secret complicity with the Pied- montese revolutionists, had all been previously arrested. Only in 1824 was their fate decided; Confalonieri and several more were condemned to death, but afterwards, being reprieved, were sent to languish in the fortress of Spielberg where Pellico, Maroncelli and others, condemned to imprisonment in past years, still pined in captivity. CRUELTY OF FRANCIS OF MOD EN A 9 1 In such a way was the gulf between the Austrian government and the Lombardo-Venetian populations ever widened, nor was the Emperor Francis the man to have bridged it over. He kept the plan of those prisons in his own cabinet and personally augmented or diminished the punishments of his captives. His special permit had to be obtained for Piero Maron- celli to have his leg amputated, after long months of intense suffering ; his consent had to be procured for Costantino Munari to wear a peruke ; indeed it was the Emperor who caused a pillow to be removed from under the head of Confalonieri, which had been made by poor Countess Teresa's own hands. * The example of Austria was imitated and even surpassed, by the Italian rulers themselves ; for where there had been no open manifestation of rebellion, the governments, full of dread and suspicion, resorted to arrests. Francis IV. of Modena distinguished himself among the Italian princes by his exceptional brutality. In his own small state there were no less than a hundred arrested who, bound in threes, were conducted to the Castle of Rubiera, and there one of their number, a young priest, Giuseppe Andreoli, was executed before the eyes of his companions who were placed at the windows of the prison on purpose to witness the spectacle. The Duke of Modena then sought to ingratiate himself with Austria, by procuring the latter's support to a scheme for excluding Charles Albert from the 92 REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS Sardinian throne to which he himself aspired by virtue of his marriage with the eldest daughter of Victor Emmanuel I. Francis IV., thinking to turn to his own advantage the aversion that Charles Felix, after the affair of 1821, had entertained towards Charles Albert, flattered himself that he could bring about the abolition of the Salic law in Piedmont. But the opposition of France who distrusted the presence of an Austrian archduke on her frontier, as well as the unwillingness of Charles Felix to deprive the House of Savoy of its temporal rights, rendered the design of the Modenese ruler abortive. * Charles Albert now found himself obliged to give a genuine proof of his devotion to the Holy Alliance. The latter, after having suppressed the Italian revo- lution, aimed at destroying the constitution in Spain. For this purpose, a great congress was convened at Verona, in October, 1822, at which the Emperor of Austria, the Czar of Russia, the King of Prussia and the leading Italian rulers, with a crowd of ambassadors and courtiers, were present. There, what time they listened to Rossini's operas, applauded Catalani's singing or assisted at gorgeous spectacles in the arena, the members of the Congress occupied them- selves with political affairs. Charles Felix, jealous of his own independence, obtained a concession for the Austrian troops who had entered Piedmont in 1821, to leave that province. Not so Ferdinand I. of Naples who had onl}- too much need of such a prop to keep him on his tlirone ; nay, when the various CHARLES ALBERT AV SPAIN 93 Powers, mistrustful of the predominance of Austria, wished to reduce the number of the fifty thousand Austrian soldiers in the kingdom of Naples to thirty thousand, its ruler proposed enlistino- mercenaries to fill up the gap thus left in the ranks. But the most important step talcen at the Congress was the commission given to France to demolish constitutional government in Spain, and Charles Albert was actually obliged to enrol himself in the French army sent thither, and help destroy that constitution which he had himself promulgated in Piedmont the year before. He had, moreover, to fight those Spanish patriots whose bands had been swelled by some of the Piedmontese exiles them- selves : surely his was a terribly severe punishment ! As befitted his valiant descent, the Sardinian Prince distinguished himself by characteristic bravery and in the attack on the Trocadero, well deserved from the men he commanded, the title of ' first among French grenadiers.' It was an honourable distinction, if little calculated to please the Italian liberals, but many years were }'et to pass ere his compatriots could hail him by a more glorious title — that of ' the magnanimous King.' VI TEN YEARS OF REACTION The period between 1821 and 1831 was indeed an unhappy one for Italy. Under the shadow of Austrian protection, the various rulers continued their persecu- tion of the constitutional party ; the Jesuit teaching authorities were still enervating the Italian character, whilst spies and executioners were employed to uproot the ' poisonous plant ' of liberalism. Well might Italy in those days find her interpreter in that most pessimistic of poets — Giacomo Leopardi. Many were the obstacles that hindered the de- velopment of the sacred principles of freedom and patriotism ! Not only was there no liberty of the press, but any patriotic allusion, however remote, provoked the most brutal condemnation. In an air, in the opera of Norma, the theatrical censor went so far as to cancel the word libertd (liberty) and substitute for it the word lealta (loyalty). Apro- pos of this fact, Giovanni Ruffini relates a curious occurrence which took place at Genoa. Signor Ron- coni, the famous baritone and a great public favourite, having, in the ardour of his role, forgotten the above- LEOPOLD Il!s REGIMR IN TUSCANY 95 mentioned emendation, was imprisoned for three days in order to refresh his memory. Not long after, sing- ing the hne in the Elisi?' d' Amove, describing how a peasant enlisted : " Vende la libertd, si fe soldato " (" He sold his liberty to be a soldier "), he, waggishly, altered it to, " Vef/dc la Jealtd, si fe soldato " (" He sold his loyalty to be a soldier "). This variation in the text was received with lively applause b}' the public who always warmly welcomed anything that savoured of political opposition. The next day, the poor singer was summoned by the head of the police to receive a reprimand for having said that " loyalty could be sold," to which Ronconi replied by obser- ving that, a few days before, he had been taught in a way he was not likely to forget, that lealld ought always to be substituted for libertd. The affair had no further serious consequences, but it provided all Genoa with a laugh at the expense of the government. One great impediment to the diffusion of ideas arose from the difficulty of communication, further aggravated by the numerous customs duties, so that the number of books from one end of the peninsula to the other was but small. Indeed the only state in which a little intellectual life still survived was Tuscany, where Leopold H., who had ascended the throne in 1824, appeared desirous of continuing the placid regime of his father, Ferdinand HI. and of his grandfather, Peter Leopold I. Consequently this province attracted many liberals and emigrants from other parts of Italy. For some years past, Gian Pietro Vieusseux, a Genevese, had opened a reading-room in Florence and afterwards founded She^ Antolona\^\\\c\\. 96 TEN YEARS OF REACTION during the twelve years of its existence, represented all that was best in Italian life and thought. Very different was the condition of the Neapolitan States. Ferdinand I., the perjured monarch of 1821, had been succeeded in 1825, by his son, Francis I. at once a most bigoted and dissolute man who scrupulously fulfilled the most superstitious practices of devotion, only to abandon himself to the most scandalous orgies. Under his venal rule, justice, honours and the highest offices of the state were alike shamelessly sold, and the King positively used to make a joke of the traffic which his chamberlain, Viglia, carried on therein. It can be easily understood how such a regime tended more and more to deprave the minds of his subjects, Francis I. possessed the distinctive characteristic of of his race — cowardice — in its highest degree ; hence his police force was augmented and espionage became one of the chief institutions in the state. It was against this despotic government that the inhabitants of Cilento — a mountainous region in the province of Salerno — rebelled in the summer of 1828, The King despatched thither his minister, Del Carretto who put down the rising with barbarous cruelty. The heads of those who had been executed were carried in iron cages from one village to another and ex- posed to view opposite the houses where dwelt the mothers, wives and children of the martyrs. In 1830, the news of the French Revolution, which drove the chief scion of the house of Bourbon from the throne, fully intimidated Francis I. ; besides, the remembrance of his past haunted his mind with PAPAL status: reaction rampant 97 terrible vividness, and thus tormented by horrible phantoms and torn by remorse, he died on the 8th of November of that year, leaving behind him a memory universally execrated. Nor had the Neapolitans reason to envy their neigh- bours in the Papal States. Pius VII. died in 1823 and was succeeded in the pontifical office by Cardinal Delia Genga who assumed the title of Leo XII. As he owed his promotion to the reactionary party, he was an intransigent enemy of all the conquests of modern thought. Whilst brigands infested the country, the police only thought of capturing the liberals, who were arrested in such numbers that the prisons were absolutely crammed with victims. The province was literally overrun by police constables and executioners, especially the district of Romagna which writhed even more than the rest under this miserable yoke. Cardinal Rivarola, sent to pacify the country, only showed the most rigorous severity in his treatment of the people. Nor did matters mend with the death of Leo XII. in 1S29, for Pius VIII., who succeeded him, pursued a like polic}^ In short, reaction was now rampant throughout the peninsula. But imprisonments and executions, if they are successful in retarding the march of ideas, will ever be impotent in stopping it altogether. Therefore, in spite of persecutions, a strong nucleus of patriots continued to labour for the great work of Italian redemption. The French Revolution of 1830 naturally found an 8 98 TEN YEARS OF REACTION echo in Italy, but it came neither from Piedmont nor Naples, the t\vo kingdoms which had raised the con- stitutional standard in 1820-21. In both states most of the liberals were in prison or in exile ; moreover the arrest of the advocate, i\ngelo Brofferio, and the brothers Durando, hindered the outbreak of the Pied- montese conspiracy that was being hatched, whilst in the Neapolitan kingdom, Ferdinand II., who had just ascended the throne, was holding out hopes of a prompt amelioration of affairs. Hence the flame of revolution was this time kindled and fed in Central Italy. For some time past, certain Italian liberals had been in communication with an association founded in Paris, for the purpose of promulgating revolutionary ideas throughout Europe and effecting the formation of a league of constitutional states against the alliance of absolutist powers ; its members included Lafayette, the Duke of Orleans, Louis Philippe and others. These secret negotiations were well known to Francis IV., the petty tyrant of Modena, who since the recon- ciliation of Charles Felix with Charles Albert had now lost all hope of succession to the throne of Savoy. Urged by his unbridled ambition, Francis determined to profit by this liberal league, and wormed himself into the ranks of the conspirators by establishing private communications with Ciro Menotti, a rich manufacturer of Modena, who was one of the local leaders of the movement. The Duke promised his support to the scheme, with the view of obtaining for himself the crown of the future Italian kingdom, and Ciro Menotti, although knowing the Prince's perverse FRA.XCIS IV. OF MOD EN A AND GIRO MENOTTI 99 tendencies, trusted to Francis's insatiate lust of power to justify his own misplaced confidence. When the revolution established Louis Philippe on the French throne, the Modenese ruler believed he was nearing the goal of his ambition, but the new King of France, in order to get himself acknowledged as such by the absolutist monarchs of Europe, communicated to Austria the details of the Italian plot. Francis IV.; aware of this denunciation, but pretending, notwith- standing, to know nothing about it, wrote to warn the court of Vienna against Louis Philippe ; moreover, he assured them of the existence of a conspiracy in which the French king and some Italian liberals were implicated, to which he admitted having feigned adherence for his own purposes. Then, fearing this were not enough to merit the pardon of Austria, he proceeded to display a ferocious zeal against his ci-devant accomplices. On the night of the 2nd-3rd of February, 1831, the chief leaders of the plot had assembled at the house of Giro Menotti in Modena, for the purpose of making final arrangements, when a regiment of ducal troops arrived and surrounded the building. The besieged barricaded the doors and for several hours offered a vigorous resistance ; eventually, the soldiers brought up a piece of artillery by which the dwelling was almost demolished and its occupants, now nearly all wounded, were taken prisoners. Francis IV. immediately forwarded the following note to the governor of Reggio : " A terrible plot against me has been discovered this very night. The conspirators are in my hands. Send me the executioner.' L.ofC. lOO TEN YEARS OF REACTION The executioner was despatched without delay, but with his arrival at Modena came the news that a rising had broken out in the neighbourhood of Bologna. This provoked such intense excitement in the city that Francis fled terrified, taking with him Giro Menotti closely guarded, and thus pursued by the sounds of sedition, he sought and found protection in the Austrian garrison of Mantua. But how had the revolution broken out at Bologna? To understand it, we must revert to the cruel treat- ment of the Romagna provinces during the pon- tificates of Leo XII. and Pius VIII. The latter had died on the 30th of November, 1830, when the news from France was already exciting a ferment in the popular mind. The conclave was of long duration, and the interregnum thus offered appeared to the liberals a good opportunity for rising. The cardinals, scenting danger, hastened on their deliberations and on the 2nd of February, 1831, raised Brother Mauro Cappellari to the popedom under the title of Gregory XVI. But before the news of this election arrived in Romagna, the Bolognese, encouraged by the aspect of affairs in Modena, were in open insurrection. The papal legate was obliged to quit the city, and the revolution thus bloodlessly effected in so peaceable and methodical a manner, soon extended throughout Romagna, the Marches and parts of Umbria. The deputies from the freed provinces assembled in convocation at Bologna on the 26th of February, 1 83 1, declared the temporal power of the Pope to be SUCCESS OF INSUKRECTJONARY MOVEMENT lOI at an end and formed a federation of the ' United Italian Provinces,' presided over by the advocate Vicini. This political movement was abetted by the two youthful brothers Bonaparte, one of whom was shortly afterwards to die at Forli, the other to be- come Emperor of the French under the title of Napoleon III. Thus, in a few days and without bloodshed, a great transformation had taken place, and the tricoloured banner now fluttered from the banks of the lower Po to those of the upper Tiber. Nor was the revo- lution confined to the limits of the Papal States. The flight of Francis IV. had dispelled all his people's fears, and the insurrectionary movement was acclaimed throughout the province of Emilia, so that the Duchess Marie Louise left Parma to seek a refuge amid the Austrian bayonets in the citadel of Piacenza. Mean- time, provisional governments were everywhere being organised. It was now that Giovanni Berchet wrote his famous hymn of war to heighten popular en- thusiasm : — " Su, figli d'ltalia, su in armi, coraggio ! II suolo qui e nostro ; del nostro retaggio II turpe mercato finisce pei re. Un popol divlso per sette destini In sette spezzato da sette confini Si fonde in un solo, piu servo non e. Su, ttalia, su in armi ! Venuto e il tuo di ! Dei re congiurati la tresca fini. Dair Alpi alio Stretto fratel'li siam tutti ! Sui limiti schiusi, sui troni distrutti Piantiamo i comuni tre nostri color ; II verde, la speme tant' anni pasciuta, II rosso, la gioia d'averla compiuta, II bianco, la fede fraterna d'aiiior. ..." 102 T^/'.'/V ]■/■:. I A'S OF A'/'Lirr/ON (V[i, up, sons of Ital)', ciiuiago he ours ! The land is our own, and no longer let jiowers And rulers iniquitous trade in our shame ! O, seven are our jjeopies, ami se\en are tiie fates That gowan oui- destinies, seven are their slates ; lUit servitude o'er, then one is our name. To arms, scms of llal\ ! Now dawns the day ! We've done with the kin^s tliat are traitors, for a)'e. We are hretiniai ail fnmi the Alps to the sea ! Our thrones aie demohshed : our frontiers ari' free ; Our Iricoloured banner is lloalin.^; above — I\.sj,'-n'en, for the hope that has ripened throui^h years While /vtf, for the joy of fidninient appears. And Tw/^/A' is the syud)ol of brotherly love. . . .) But the illusion was all too short. The Pope, the Duke of Modcna and the Duchess of Parma, pro- tested at^aiust the acts of tlu^ provisional o(>vtM-iuncnts established in their states and implored the assistance of the imperial troops. The Vienna cabinet was equally anxious to abolish these revolutionary o()\x'in- ments south of tlu- Po, whose existence would ha\e menaced its own power on the north. I'hc Italians trusted to the obsei\ance of the principle of non- intervention proclaimed by the new French monarch)-, which had already been applied to Bels^ium, but facts soon proved that Louis Philippe was none too jealous in dclcndiiiL;- his theories against the will of Austria. In the month of I^'ebruary, the Austrian troops at Piacen/.a escorted Marie Louise back again to Parma. So far, however, the non-intervention axiom had not been violated, seeiuL;' that the Duchess was in her own territor}-, and the trcjoj^s who had reinstated her on the throne, h)- the treaty of 1815, remained in the dukedom. .■II/SVA'/.I.V I'ROOPS IN MODENA AND RO MAGNA I03 By tlic beginning of March, Austrian soldiers had likewise entered Modena and restored Francis IV. to power. The Duke was barely reinstated on his throne than he thought himself bound to give his ally a substantial pledge of his devotion, by executing vengeance on his enemies. To this end, he called to his aid the hated Canosa who had been minister of Police under Ferdinand I. of Naples. One of the tyrant's first victims was Giro Menotti whose life, at the time of the plot, he had solemnly promised to spare under all circumstances. As pretext for her interference in Modena, Austria could still claim her eventual rights of succession in the duchy, so the united Italian Provinces continued to regard them- selves as secure, and in carder not to infringe their own principle of non-intervention, disarmed the Modenese liberals who, under the leadershijj (jf General Zucchi, had ix.-lircd to Bolognese territory. However, Austria who was heedless of the open declarations of PVance, since she knew the secret in- tentions of Louis Philippe, despatched a body of troops into Romagna. The provisional government, seeing resistance to be impossible, withdrew from Bologna to Ancona. Meanwhile, a sanguinary struggle took l)lace at Rimini, in which the small Italian army — at that time directed by General Zucchi — was defeated. The provisional government then signed a treaty of capitulation (March 26, 183 i) with Cardinal Benvenuti who, sent by the Pope to the insurgents, had been treated by the latter as an hostage. But this capitula- tion was ignored both by the Pope and the Austrians: a vessel which carried a large number of the revolu- 104 TEN YEARS OF REACTION tionists was seized, as it left the port of Ancona, by the Austrian squadron, and the captured patriots were taken to the prisons of Venice. Many among them — including Terenzio Mamiani — were after a few months' imprisonment, banished to foreign lands where, by their writings, they helped to foster sym- pathy for Italian grievances. Some few, however, were kept in confinement ; among these was General Zucchi who, having once served in the Austrian army, was regarded as a traitor and condemned to death — a sentence afterwards commuted to that of life-long detention in the fortress of Palmanova, where we shall find him again in 1848. * Thus in less than two months, a revolution, begun so auspiciously, was totally suppressed ; those cities which had, only a little before, joyfully hailed the tricoloured standard, now saw the Austrian flag hoisted over their fortresses, and Austrian gibbets arising under its shadow. But the same nations which had, either directly or indirectly, contributed to the re-establishment of the Pope's temporal sway, grasped the fact that the latter stood in need of serious modifications. It was no longer possible, in the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, that a population of several millions of men should be ruled by a few thousand priests ; therefore, in the same year, 1831, the five great Powers of Europe — England, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia — presented a collective note to the Holy See, under the name of a Memorandum, in which they AUSTRIAN AND FRENCH INTERVENTION I OS insisted on some absolutely indispensable reforms. The pontifical court, as was ever its custom, pro- fessed to receive these representations with deference and promised to take them into account, but with no real intention of doing anything whatever in the matter. In short, the concessions made in response to this Memorandum were quite insignificant, and a blind des- potism continued to prevail in the Papal States. Even those liberals who had put confidence in the inter- vention of diplomacy, seeing their hopes thus blasted, determined to justify their arguments by force; agita- tions began afresh, and armed bands of men were organised with a view to active measures. As the Austrians had already retired, the papal government caused Swiss soldiers to oppose the insurgents, armed the dregs of the Romagna popula- tion and incited them against the liberals : hence the massacres of Cesena and Forli in 1832. In the face of such butcheries and pillage, the Austrians intervened a second time and installed themselves at Bologna. Then King Louis Philippe, severely blamed by his Chamber of Deputies for the base part played by France towards Italy, deemed it advisable to act and sent a French regiment to occupy the citadel of Ancona. In fact, the Austrians remained at Bologna, and the P>ench at Ancona, till the end of 1838; whilst under those two flags the wretched provinces continued to submit to the government of military commissions and exceptional tribunals. Throughout Italy the system of violent repression of all liberal manifestations continued. It was even so in Piedmont, although Charles Albert had sue- io6 TEN YEARS OF REACTION ceeded Charles Felix in 1831. The former had come into power backed by the liveliest expecta- tions of all Italian liberals who saw in him the Carbonaro of 1821. These reminiscences, however, were not altogether grateful to the new king ; rather did he seem disposed to regard the revolutionists coldly, and disinclined to draw suspicion on himself: he maintained the while an attitude of reserve, and yielded none his confidence. During the first years of his reign, indeed, he appeared to have renounced his youthful dreams of glory, to have abjured the sacred principle of national independence and to be content with the t'ole of the grenadier of the Trocadero. VII GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' Just at the commencement of Charles Albert's reign, a letter, dated from Marseilles and addressed to the new king, was circulated among Italian patriots, amongst whom it evoked universal en- thusiasm. Charles Albert also received a copy of this missive which ran as follows : — " Sire ! Have you never fixed your gaze — one of those eagle glances to which a world is revealed — ■ on this smiling Italy of ours, radiant as Nature's self, crowned with two thousand years of glorious memo- ries, the foster-mother of genius and — were she only united, and protected against foreign insult by a strong will and a (ew valiant hearts — infinitely power- ful ? And have you never said, ' Here is a country destined to glorious things ! ' Have you never contemplated the race by whom she is peopled, magnificent still, in spite of the shadow with which servitude has obscured it, great alike through vital instincts, strength of intellect and the energy of mighty, if misguided, passions — misguided, because I08 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'yOUNG ITALY' circumstances have hindered their development in the right direction, but notwithstanding, the elements out of which nations are created — a race, moreover, so great that adversity has never been able to conquer its indestructible hopes. Has this thought never come to you : ' fashion — as God did from chaos — a world out of these scattered elements ; re-unite the dispersed particles and say: "It is mine all throughout, and it is happy:'" then thou shalt be like unto the Creator Himself, and twenty millions of men will exclaim, ' God is in heaven and Charles Albert on earth ! ' " Sire, surely you once cherished these sentiments ; the blood coursed joyously in your veins, fired by illimitable hopes and dreams of glory ; you passed many sleepless nights, meditating on that unique idea, nay, you yourself plotted in its behalf And what need to blush for it, for there is no more sacred vocation in the whole world than that of the con- spirator who constitutes himself the avenger of humanity and the interpreter of the eternal laws of nature. The time was not then ripe, but why should ten years and a precarious crown have de- stroyed the ideals of your youth ? . . . " If your soul, Sire, is indeed dead to noble aspi- rations, if you have no other aim in reigning than to pursue the miserable routine of your royal predecessors, if you have the soul of a slave, then bend your neck under the Austrian yoke and be a despot ; but even then let your despotism be genuine, because a single step which you take out of the beaten track, makes }'ou an enemy of MAZZINI S ADVICE TO CHARLES ALBERT IO9 that Power whom you fear. The Austrian mistrusts you, but drag to his feet the heads of ten, yea, twenty victims ; load the captives with yet heavier fetters ; repay, with unmeasured submission, that contempt which he has poured out upon you for ten years past. Perhaps the tyrant of Italy will forget that you have conspired against him ; perhaps he will allow you to keep for some years longer the provinces which he has coveted since 1814. If, on the contrary, in reading these words, your mind reverts to those moments when you dared to look beyond the dominion of an Austrian fief, if you hear a voice within you which cries : ' Thou wert born to a great destiny ' ; — oh, follow it ; it is the voice of your good genius, the voice of Time himself who offers you his aid in climbing from century to cen- tury, till you reach eternity ; it is the voice of all Italy who only waits for a word, a single word, to become yours. " Proffer her this word ! . . . Place yourself at the head of the nation and inscribe on your banner, 'Union, Liberty, Independence!' Proclaim the sanctity of thought ; vindicate your claim to be the interpreter of popular rights ; declare yourself the regenerator of all Italy and free her from the barbarians ! Build up the future ; give your name to a century, and begin an era of your own ! , . . " Sire ! the enterprise may be regarded as very difficult by men who trust only to numerical strength, as well as by those who, in order to change empires, rely but on negotiations and em- bassies. But the way of triumph is assured, if you no GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' can thoroughly understand your position, firmly convince yourself that you are consecrated to a holy mission and proceed with frank, decisive and energetic determination. Opinion is a power which balances all others, and great things are not accomplished by protocols, but by a right under- standing of the times in which we live. The secret of power lies in the will. Choose a way which harmonises with the nation's ideal and keep to it unalterably ; be firm and seize your oppor- tunity, for you have victory in your grasp. . . . " But if you fail to accomplish the work, others will do it without an\^ help of yours and in spite of you ! Do not let yourself be deceived by the enthusiasm which greeted your accession, but seek for the ground of that enthusiasm and you will find that, in greeting you, the people greeted hope, because your name recalled the man of 1821, and if you should cheat their expectations, a spasm of rage will succeed a joy which only has reference to the future. . . " I have told you the truth. Sire, free men await your answer in deeds ! However it may be, rest assured that posterity will hail you as the first .unong ineji, or the last of Italian tyrants. Choose ! " ' An Italian.' " And who was this Itanan who thus so clearly expressed his country's ideal of unit)' and freedom? Tt was Giuseppe Mazzini, a young Genoese of twent\--six years of age, who had just come out of the prisons of Savona. From his earl}' student MAZZINIS PROJECTS FOR ITALIAN UNIFICATION III days be had been an enthusiast for the sacred principles of patriotism and Hberty but suspected of complicity with the Carbonari, he had been arrested and condemned to several months of imprisonment. During his captivity, he had thought much on the matter and had come to the conclusion that, so far, the Italian revolutionary movements had failed, because the people had been excluded from them. Hence, in his opinion, it was necessary to initiate the masses into this new idea and before all, to make it clear to them that patriot- ism implied not only love of their own particular state, but of the whole of Italy. Mazzini was, "therefore, the very first practical thinker to devise Italian unifica- tion. On his liberation from captivity, the Sardinian government had offered him the alternative of confining himself to some small city in Piedmont, or leaving the kingdom. However, during his prison solitude, Mazzini had been meditating the formation of a new secret society, and rightly imagined that he would have small chance of furthering its object in a petty Piedmontese town, under the perpetual surveillance of the police ; he therefore chose exile and repaired to Marseilles, whence he had just written the above - quoted letter to Charles Albert. Later, Mazzini owned he had done this for the purpose of undeceiving those liberals who still had confidence in the King of Sardinia, and to promote the general acceptance of ultra-republican principles. Charles Albert's answer to the letter was, indeed, just the one that Mazzini 112 GIUSEPPE MAZZLXI AND ' YOUNG ITALv' had expected ; the King ordered the writer should be arrested if ever he appeared on the frontier, and in the meantime, redoubled his severity against liberalism. * * In the meantime, Mazzini had founded, at Mar- seilles, his new society, of ' Young Italy' and, under the same title, he published a periodical for the purpose of instilling into the popular mind the idea of a united, free, independent and republican Italy. The police of the different states in the peninsula frequently arrested those persons sup- posed to be in communication with the originator of such a revolutionary publication, but this did not prevent the latter being circulated everywhere, though its readers and propagandists ran the risk of im- prisonment and even of death. A man of ardent faith, spotless life and lofty genius, as well as a writer of impassioned style and a born leader of men, Giuseppe Mazzini exercised an absolute fascination over the Italian, patriots who rallied to his standard in goodly numbers. His most attached friend and devoted follower at Genoa was Jacopo Ruffini. The latter, having been arrested, dreaded lest some of the terrible methods of the police might be successful in extorting revelations from him, and therefore deter- mined to commit suicide ; taking a small, rusty iron bar out of the prison door, he sharpened its point on the wall and, with the weapon thus fashioned, opened his veins. Thus did Jacopo FAILURE OF SAfOV EXPEDITION II3 Ruffiiii, in the Genoese prison of the Torre, win for himself an immortal name on the 19th of June, 1833. His brothers also were arrested and then banished ; one of them, Giovanni, afterwards acquired a literary reputation in England by his novels Doctor Antonio and Lorenzo Benoni. Among the exiles from the Sardinian states in the same year was a young priest, Vincenzo Gioberti, whose philosophical writings were begin- ning to make his name known. Unfortunately, the reactionary courtiers who surrounded Charles Albert insisted on urging him to bloodshed and too well succeeded in their cruel design ; several of the conspirators of 1833 were condemned to death, among whom were Francesco Miglio, Giuseppe Biglia, also Antonio Gavotti, executed in Genoa, and the attorney, Andrea Vochieri, shot at Alessandria where he had shown throughout his trial and up to his last moments, a truly heroic courage. The persecutions which the Piedmontese govern- m.ent set on foot against the party of Mazzini, incited the latter to organise a movement against Piedmont. He rallied some hundred fugitives and banded them together under the command of Colonel Ramorino who had acquired a certain military renown in the recent Polish insurrection. Early in 1834, this band of insurgents penetrated into Savo}', but they were received with indifference by the population who turned a deaf ear to the enthusiastic proclamations (jf Mazzini, so after an encounter with the royal troops, the revolutionists retired. 9 114 GIUSEPPE AL4ZZINI AXD 'VOUXG ITALY* It had been arranged that other risings in the different Piedmontese towns were to break out simul- taneously, but after the failure of the Savoy expedi- tion, they were countermanded. In the meantime, the police set about making arrests. Amongst those embroiled in this conspiracy was a young Nizzard sailor, named Giuseppe Garibaldi, who had tried to find adherents for the Mazzinian cause in the ranks of the royal navy and on this account, had been condemned to death in the same year (1834). How- ever, happily for Italy, he succeeded in making his escape. This severe repression of revolutionary enterprise in 1 833-1 834, somewhat tended to alienate the s\-mpathies of Italian patriots for Charles Albert, but did not altogether nullify them, and the few reforms he had already made in the administration of the state, sufficed to keep alive their lingering belief in his liberal tendencies. In 1835, the Emperor Francis of Austria died and his place was filled by Ferdinand I., an absolutel)' inept prince, with so mean a sense of his exalted position that he used to say : " It would be easy enough to be emperor, if it were not for the continual bother of signing decrees." It can easily be under- stood how a monarch, so constituted, relegated all power to his prime minister. Prince Metternich, at once the most violent partisan of absolutist ideas and the bitterest adversary of Italian patriotic aspirations — the author, moreover, of that famous phrase : ■' Italy is only a geographical expression." Metternich now seized the opportunit}' of taking FERDLYAND II. OF NAPLES I HIS RULING PASSIONS I I 5 the Emperor into Italy, to receive the crown of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom at Milan. The minister desired that all the princes of the peninsula should be invited to this solemn function, because, as vassals, they would thus do homage to their common tyrant. But Charles xAlbert refused to be present, and this independent attitude sufficed to re-awaken that cordiality towards him which had begun to wax faint in Italian breasts. Another Italian prince, Ferdinand II. of Naples, was, on the contrary, now rendering himself univer- sally hated. When in 1830, at little over twenty years of age, he ascended the throne, he had aroused good hopes of better things by issuing a proclama- tion, in which he declared that Providence had charged him with the duty of assuaging the griev- ances of the Neapolitan people, and that his regime would be a wise and just one. But the nomination of Del Carretto as minister of police, soon disillu- sioned the new King's subjects. Ferdinand II. was animated by two ruling passions : an insati- able thirst for power and an inordinate love of money ; the first forbade him to introduce into his states aught but the shadow of a constitutional government, and the second prevented him from troubling about the abuses fostered by his employes, provided they required but little for their work. By this means the most brazen corruption prevailed in the administration of his kingdom, and a regular system of rapine was practised by all the govern- Il6 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUNG ITALY' ment officials. Yet no one dared to protest against it since to print the least allusion to public abuses, exposed the authors guilty of such hardihood to imprisonment or exile. Any person suspected of liberal opinions was thrown into prison, without the government giving any motive for such an arrest, and to such an extent had spies wormed themselves into all ranks of society that every one hesitated to express his own opinions. Besides, King Ferdinand was wont to say : " My people have no need to think ; I am responsible for their welfare and dignity." The only person in the Neapolitan court beloved by the people, was the King's consort, Maria Christina of Savoy — daughter of Victor Emmanuel I. — called by her subjects, on account of her many virtues, ' the Saint.' Maria Christina died in 1836, and Ferdinand II. who had always treated her brutally, soon repaired to Vienna to affiance himself to an Austrian arch- duchess. In 1837, the discontent in Sicily found vent in a popular rising. There an outbreak of cholera had claimed many victims, and indignation, terror, ignor- ance and popular superstition combined to give credence to a rumour that the government were compassing the death of the citizens : hence in several places tumults broke out. The liberals wished to profit by this outburst of fury to free Sicily from the Bourbon }^oke. Syracuse rose, and thence the revolution extended to the neigh- bouring district of Catania. But Ferdinand II, sent Del Carretto thither who, followed by police-agents -fMl..' KEKDINAND II. OK NAPLES. Il8 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AXD ^ YOUXG ITALY ' and executioners, erected gibbets in all the villages, and by this means succeeded in restoring order in the island. * Meanwhile, Mazzini, expelled from France, had taken refuge in freer England where, by his writings, he was doing good service in familiarising English people with Italian literature, as well as in diffusing amongst them a strong current of sympathy for the affairs of the peninsula. Thence he boldly prose- cuted his political mission and continually aimed at arousing in the minds of his compatriots, hatred against internal and foreign tryants. But it was not only by the inflammatory writings of Mazzini that such sentiments were propagated amongst his fellow-countr}'men : all the Italian poetry and prose of that period were, so to speak, conspiring for the same end. Silvio Pellico's Le Mie Pi'igioni, that calm recital of the martyrdom endured by its author in Austrian prisons with such saint-like fortitude, injured Austrian prestige more than the loss of a battle could have done. The sentiment of his tragedy Francesca Da Rimini had also a most powerful effect on audiences, especially when they were declaimed by the actor Gustavo Modena: — " Per le, per le, che cilladini hai prodi, Italia mia, coniballer'), se oltraggio Ti moverii I'invidia, E 1 piu genlile Terren non sei di quanli scalda il sole ? D'ogni beirarte non sei madre, o Italia ? Polve di eroi non e la polve tua? . . .'" TENDENCY OF ITALIAN LITERATURE II9 (For thee, the mother of most valiant suns, For thee, my Italy, I fight, e'en though Envy may vex thee sore. But surely thou Must be the sweetest clime the sun illumes. And mistress of all arts : O Italy ! Is not thy dust ashes of heroes dead ?) But even more than those of Pellico, were the tragedies of NiccoHni on fire with hatred of tyranny and love of Hberty. At the representation of Gio- vanni Da Procida (the legendary conspirator of the Sicilian Vespers), the Austrian ambassador at Florence remarked to his French confrere, that "the play seemed like a letter addressed to Frenchmen, but that its contents were evidently meant for the Austrians," and thus did the Italian people understand it. In his Arnaldo Di Brescia — a tragedy which evoked the greatest enthusiasm — the incisive verses of Niccolini severely castigated the vices of the clergy. Side by side with Niccolini, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi quite bewitched the Italian youth. He sent word to Mazzini : " I have written this book — the Assedio Di Firenze — because I have not been able to fight a battle." Certain it is that his kindling words helped to produce heroes among the Italian people. In the romances of D'Azeglio, Grossi and Manzoni, and the histories of Balbo, Colletta, Amari and Troya, as throughout the writings of Tommaseo, Vannucci, Capponi and Cantu, and the poetry of Rossetti, Berchet, Giusti and Prati, there vibrated the patriotic note — that note which even found an echo in the music of Bellini, Rossini and later still, of I20 GIUSEPPE MAZZINI AND 'YOUXG ITALY' Verdi. All these works were most efficacious in pro- moting the idea of the regeneration of Italy, and that which for so long had been the dream of a few chosen spirits, now became a universal aspiration throughout the country. Literary men sought, indeed, for themes which should best express the national sentiment, and the least political allusions were at once eagerly seized upon by that public which felt itself in sym- pathy with the writers ; thus, when they came to these verses of Berchet in the Lega Loinbarda : — "Su, nell'irto, increscioso Alemanno Su, Lombardi, puntate la spada, Fate vostra la vostra contrada, Questa bella che il ciel vi sorti " : — (Ay, into the insolent Teuton Plunge boldly, O Lombards, your swords ! Make the beauteous land heaven awards As your portion, for ever your own) : — • every one's thoughts reverted — not to the Germans of Frederic Barbarossa — but to the Austrian troops of Ferdinand I. Even the science congresses helped to spread liberal influences. Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany, was persuaded by savants that such scien- tific conferences would enhance his prestige in that beautiful province which had always been the chosen home of learning, and the Grand Duke, touched by this adulation, allowed these assemblies to be inaugurated at Pisa in 1839. The example first given by Leopold II. who prided himself on honouring the learned men convened at Pisa, influenced the other more ambi- tious princes : Charles Albert and Ferdinand II. EFFECT OF SCIENCE CONGRESSES 121 now likewise permitted these congresses to be held in their dominions. Such gatherings gradually took place in all the Italian provinces — except in the Papal States — and though insignificant in their scientific results, they much profited the national cause, by facilitating communications between the most eminent men scattered in the different parts of Italy and by arousing the peninsula from that political torpor in which it had been, up till this time, studiously lulled by its rulers. VI II Till' i-ourK ov rriu.ir (Mmnion MazzINI iisctl to sa>- : " I\lart\Tiloin is never sterile." aiui therefore he taxoured all insurreetioiiar)- projeets set on foot In- the most ardent oi' his diseiples. llenee t"ollo\\'ei.l svinie risiiv^s, ciuiekl)- reprCvSsed, in the Abriizzi (l84i\ in Ronia^na 1,1843^ and in Calabria , iS44\ With this Calabrian move- ment is assoeiated the heroie expeilition undertaken by the Handiera brothers. Attilio and l^milio Hantliera, two youn_i.>' X'enetian ot^cers (^sons of that Austrian admiral who had captured the vessel whieh was earrx-ini;' the insuri^ents of iS^^i from the jiort of Ancona^, had been firetl by the writins^s of IMa/.zini with the determination to eon- seerate their lives to the redemption o( Ital}'. In 184J they re\'ealed their piojeet to Ma/.zini and theneeforward ke|U up with him an unbroken eorre- spondenee. They sueeeeded in induein^; another Venetian na\al offieer, l>i>menieo Moro, to share their uiulertakini;, abandoned the Austrian \essels under their command and repaired to Corfu, there to await the news oi any outlnwd^ in Ital)', which 7//A i:\\hll'k\ /:ko7'///:kS : I'l \c l:N/.() ClnlU-UTI I 23 iiiij^lit give \.\\v\\\ an ofjpoi-tiniily of riMhtiii!.f for the sacred cause-. Then cainc llic revolt in f'alaljiia, wliii.li lia'l no soDHcr broken out than it was qiu-lled. A false reporl, however, was circulat :il at rorfii tliat the insiirreetion was being kepi ah've in the- nioinifain districts. The Hanfhc;ra brrjthers decided to carry aid to the insurgents and ralh'ed other patriots to their standard. A band of only nineteen, they arrived at (^olrone, in ('alabria, aiul thence made for Co.sen/.a. Hut, betrayerl by a traitor in their ranks, tliey were (|uickly sin'ronnded by a considerable number of .\ea|jolitan troops and, after a short struggle, were taken prisoners and eondiicted to Cosen/.a where they were condemned to death. Nine of them paid the extreme penalty on the- 25th of Jidy, 1^44, in the valley of Rovito : /Xttilio and lunilio Handiera, Domenico Moro, Nicola Ricciotti of hVosinone, IvUpatelli of Perugia, Rr^cco of Lugo, Venerucci fjf Forli, lierti (jf Ravenna and Nardi of M(jdena tranquilly faced the lV)inbon bullets with the cry of " Italy for ever!" for the last time on their lips. The death of the Handiera brothers sent a thrill of hfjrror throughout the pein'nsula but, while fle- ploring the fate of these jiatriots, the majority of Italians well understood that such isolat^i-d move- ments and agitations could produce n(j satisfactory results, that (;ther means must be found, another order of ideas ftjllowed, to attain their ends a theory pursued by Vinren/.o (iioberti, a priest of Tuiin, and 124 ^^-^ FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION a number of Piedmontese writers. Gioberti, who had been exiled from Piedmont in 1833, had taken refuge in Brussels where he had acquired considerable reputation by his philosophical works. In that city, he published a book in 1843, which bore the title // Primato Morale E Civile Dcgli Italiani. The Italians, indeed, could ill boast of any primacy at that epoch, rather were they plunged in the lowest depths of misery and humiliation, and Gioberti himself was not slow to recognise the fact when he wrote as follows : — " While, to the north, there is a people number- ing only twenty-four millions who rule the sea, make Europe tremble, own India, vanquish China and occupy the best ports of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania, what great things have we Italians done? What are our manual and intellectual exploits? Where are our fleets and our colonies? What rank do our legates hold ; what force do they wield ; what wise or authoritative influence do they exert in foreign courts ? What weight attaches to the Italian name in the balance of European power? Foreigners, indeed, know and still visit our countr}', but only for the purpose of enjoying the changeless beauty of our skies and of looking upon the ruins of our past. But what profits it to speak of glor}', riches and power ? Can Ital\' sa\' she has a place in the world ? Can she boast of a life of her own and of a political autonomj-, when she is awed by the first insolent and ambitious upstart who tramples her under foot and galls her with his yoke? Who is there who shudders not when he reflects that. EFFECTS OF GIOBEKTl S BOOK 125 disunited as we are, we must be the prey of any assailant whatever, and that we owe even that wretched fraction of independence which charters and protocols still allow us, to the compassion of our neighbours." " Although," he adds in conclusion, " all this has come upon us through our own fault ; nevertheless, by the exercise of a little strength of will and determination, without upheavals or revolutions and without perpe- trating injustice, we can still be one of the first races in the world." It was, indeed, a seductive programme, and Gioberti rendered it yet more so by his fervently enthusiastic style which was combined with a singularly temperate judgment. He awarded praise to princes and peoples alike, endeavouring to establish concord between them, and especially extolled the papacy which he called " the glory of Italy " and manifested his desire that " a pacific and lasting confederation of Italian princes, commanded and protected by the Pope," might be organised — a scheme in which Austria was also to find her place. The effects of his book were extraordinary. The rulers, flattered by its eulogies, permitted its free circulation in Italy ; the people, proudly realising in these eloquent pages that they had once had pre- eminence in the world and ought to regain it, warmly applauded the author ; while the clergy, attracted by the eloquence of one of their own body who taught that religion and patriotism ought to be associated, ardently welcomed the ideals presented by Gioberti. His sentiments in fact found so much favour with the public, that they directly gave rise to the ' Neo- I2t) THE FORCE OF PUBLIC OPINION Guelph ' party, so-called because it wished to place the Pontiff at the head of the national movement. The Jesuits alone, foreseeing the far-reaching effects of such ideals in the future, fiercely attacked the book and its writer, but Gioberti retorted, in 1845, by / Prolegoineni, and later by his Gesnita Moderno. Another book, which appeared in 1844, had also excited much attention — Cesare Balbo's Speranze Ultalia. This author likewise extolled the papacy, propounded very moderate ideas and aimed at forming a union of Italian states, only stipulating that Charles x'Xlbert, King of Sardinia, as the only Italian ruler who possessed a strong arm}", should be the protector of such a confederation. Balbo main- tained that Austria ought to be excluded from this league, but he deprecated the enforcing of such exclu- sion by a war ; counting, moreover, on the fall of the Ottoman Empire, he imagined that xA.ustria, thus en- larging her possessions towards the east, would be ready to cede Lombardy and Venetia to Italy. Such strikingly moderate proposals were expressed in the reasonable hope that the books which contained them would meet with no opposition from the governments. * It was indeed a strange phenomenon that the papacy should be acclaimed as a blessing" to Italy by writers, who flourished under the pontificate of Gregory XVI. — certainl\' not one of the best of popes. Originally a monk of _the Camaldoli order he had been famous for his intense devotion to theological studies, in which he had found a collabo- EPISODE OE RIMINI : MASSIMO D AZEGLIO I 27 rateur in his barber, Gaetano Moroni. The Pontiff had, besides, a very pronounced weakness for the wine of Orvieto, and left the care of poHtical affairs to his secretaries of state — first Cardinal Bernetti, afterwards Cardinal Lambruschini. The population of the Papal States still lived in the most absolute ignorance and miserable squalor ; brigandage de- vastated the country districts, and the pontifical court actually came to terms with robbers. In short, the inhabitants of these provinces paid for the honour of being ruled by the successor of ~ St. Peter, by exclusion from all the advantages of modern civilisation. Now came the episode of Rimini. Gregory XVI. (1845) had responded to Gioberti's glowing pages by persecuting the liberals more furiously than ever. Those patriots, however, before rising against the pontifical government, felt the need of justifying their insurrection in the eyes of Europe and, to this end, published a proclamation, drawn up by Luigi Carlo Farini, wherein were set forth the just reforms demanded for popular grievances^ — a docu- ment which proved what headway the moderate idea had already made at this period. The insurgents occupied the city of Rimini, but retreated before the advance of the Swiss troops and withdrew into Tuscany. Living there at that time, was Massimo D'Azeglio who had not only already acquired a reputation as a romancist and landscape-painter, but had, in the course of his travels, won the sympathies of his fellow-countr)'men by his distinguished personal qualities. On seeing these unhappy fugi- 128 THE FORCE OF PUBLIC OPIXION tives, he wrote the famous poHtical bj'ochure^ Gli Ultinii Casi Di Roinagna. Whilst deprecating, in this tract, all conspiracy and violence, he ex- pressed fiery indignation against the papal govern- ment and concluded by saying : " No, we must no longer plot, but we must openly protest in the full light of day, against all the iniquities that have been perpetrated." This work found also a deep and prolonged echo throughout all Italy. Everywhere, in fact, the Italian question was discussed, and the moderate writers — that is, those who sought to harmonise revolutionary theories with existing facts — enjoyed the greatest popularity. Among the more notable publications of that time is Giacomo Durando's work, Delia Nazionalitct Italiana wherein is propounded the theory that Italy ought to form two great friendly and confederate states — the northern one, under Charles Albert, the southern, under the Bourbons — and to allow the temporal power, restricted to its narrowest limits, to continue in Central Italy. There was no agree- ment, it is true, among these writers, as to the new order to be set up in the peninsula, but all were at one in declaring that Italy could not exist in her present state, for all saw it was impossible that such a condition of affairs should last. But meantime, like the molten lava in the abyss of Etna, the revo- lutionary flood was secretly seething in the inmost heart of the nation. IX FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION Charles Albert, who hitherto had displayed a somewhat vacillating ^ policy, owing perhaps to his being, as he used to say, between the dagger of the Carbonari and the chocolate of the Jesuits, now began to manifest the deep hatred which he secretly cherished against Austria. The public gladly saw Cesare Balbo, author oi th& Speranze DVta/ia, welcomed as an intimate friend by the King, and noted with satisfaction that several of their monarch's associates showed patriotic tendencies. In a conversation held with Charles Albert in 1845, Massimo D'Azeglio had been commissioned by the King to tell the liberals that, when the hour for action arrived, they might reckon on the royal support. It was an auspicious omen for the constitutionalist party when, in 1846, a chance was offered Charles Albert of making known his anti-Austrian sentiments in a public and official manner, and this through a question connected with the customs. Since 1843, Piedmont had granted the Canton of Ticino a free transit for the salt that its Swiss inhabitants procured 10 129 130 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION at Marseilles or at the free port of Genoa. Austria, who up till then had supplied this part of Switzerland with salt from Venice, resented such an arrangement, and maintained that the concession thus made by the Piedmontese government was contrary to treaties existing between the two nations. Diplomatic notes were interchanged in succession by both parties, with the usual result of diplomacy — that of passing the time without coming to any decision. Finally, Austria, piqued by the new attitude of the Sardinian monarch towards the liberal movement, adopted a bold coup to make him change his tactics and on the 20th of April, 1846, without any previous warning to the Piedmontese government, redoubled the duties on the wine of Piedmont. This blow severely injured the commercial interests of the latter which found in Lombardy the principal egress for its wine exports ; hence, Austria thought that Charles Albert would be obliged to submit. But he not only indignantly refused to bow to the imperial decree, but caused an account of the affair to be printed in the Gazzetta Ufficiale Piedmontese of the 2nd of May, which concluded by asserting that Austria, in taking such a step, had committed an act of reprisals. In view of the servile attitude preserved by the other Italian States towards Austria, this fearless action on the part of Piedmont appeared nearl}' a declaration of war, and evoked great enthusiasm among the Turinese. Such a feeling was intensified by a current rumour which reported that, during a ministerial council, the Count De La Tour had said CHARLES ALBERT, KING OF SARDINIA. 132 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION to the King : " But what will Piedmont do if Austria, hitherto friendly to us, should become hostile?" to which Charles Albert had answered : " If Piedmont loses Austria she will gain Italy, and then Italy will be able to manage her own affairs " — words which found a sympathetic echo throughout the whole community. The heads of the liberal party determined to profit by this enthusiasm and to organise a demonstration, in order to show the King how strongly the country desired he should persevere in the new way he had struck out. Every Thursday, Charles Albert used to be present at military manoeuvres in the public square. About ten o'clock on the first Thursday morning, imme- diately after the publication of the article in the Gazsetta (May 7, 1846) an immense crowd as- sembled in the Piazzo Castello, before the royal palace, with the intention of greeting their monarch's appearance by a tremendous ovation. This people which, for fifteen years, had shown itself most cold and reserved towards its sovereign, now wished to fire his soul by its own enthusiasm. Behind a window of the palace stood Charles Albert, in a general's uniform, watching the throng in the square, his eyes shining with joyful anticipation at the thought of being hailed with such un- accustomed applause. Alas ! for him the hour of bold decision had not yet come : his reactionary ministers exerted their pressure moreover to prevent him yielding to the popular fervour. He was still vacillating when De La Tour, anxious, as he said, POLITICS IN THE SACRED COLLEGE 1 33 to save the monarchy, arrived, and represented to the King that, as the Austrian ambassador knew that during the demonstration cries would be raised hostile to Austria, the latter would regard such utter- ances as a provocation on the part of Piedmont. Intimidated by this warning and fearful of precipi- tating matters, Charles Albert decided not to show himself to the crowd, so the demonstration was nipped in the bud, and the discontented people retired to their own homes. Dark clouds were now gathering over the penin- sula, when a light, that was the harbinger of belter days, suddenly shone out of the obscurity and, this time, from Rome itself New ideas are like very pungent perfumes which filter out, however closely they are secreted. Far enough removed from new ideas had been the papal court, during the fifteen years' pontificate of Gregory XVI. However, no sooner was the latter dead (ist of June, 1846), than the same faction which was dividing the Italian world — conservatives and liberals, the men of the past and those of the future — sprang up in the Sacred College itself The reactionary cardinals had already fixed upon their candidate in the person of the Genoese, Lam- bruschini, who, as secretary of state, had hitherto directed papal politics. During the preceding ten years, the other side had had no champion in particular, neither had the)' formulated ?a\y definite theory of action. The liberal cardinals now con- 134 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION tented themselves with a general declaration that the introduction of state reforms, based on the principles of a progressive civilisation, was necessary, and the man who appeared to them pre-eminently adapted to carry out their ideas, was Cardinal Giovanni Mastai Ferretti, of Senigallia. At first, however, the party which favoured his election appeared much weaker than the opposition, but it gained influence through two convictions which always powerfully actuate all conclaves — the one was that the new Pontiff ought to be of different tendencies to his predecessor, the other that he ought to be a native of the Roman States. After the first polling, some of the partisans of Lambrus- chini, seeing the doubtful success of their candi- date, determined to support Mastai, because, reckon- ing on the latter's yielding disposition, they hoped under his regime, to preserve the influence they had already acquired ; thus, after only a three days' conclave, on the i6th of June, 1846, Giovanni Mastai was elected to fill the throne of St. Peter, under the title of Pius IX. The new Pope was fifty-four years of age and, as governor of Imola, had given evidence of a kindly and lenient temper. At Imola he had lived on friendly terms with Count Giuseppe Pasolini, an enthusiastic liberal, and with him had also read and approved the Primato of Gioberti, the Speranse U Italia of Balbo and the Utiiiii Cast Di Roiiiagna of D'Azeglio : indeed it was said that Cardinal Mastai, when starting for the conclave, had carried these three books with him, as an offering to the PIUS IX. (From a painting by Metzmach.) 136 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION new successor to the popedom. His benevolent, smiling and open countenance, as well as his affable and courteous manners, immediately won all suffrages, and such popularity was well deserved, endowed as he was with great natural goodness of heart and animated by the best intentions. But good inten- tions are not a sufficient equipment for the man who is at the head of a state, especially at a momentous crisis. Successfully to face the condition of affairs just then, in the pontifical kingdom and in Italy generally, required a mental grasp and strength of will to which Pius IX. was quite a stranger, nor had he a clear notion of the very complicated political situation. One of the most insistent and general demands that the various cities of the Papal States had pressed upon the late conclave by means of petitions, was that for an amnesty for political prisoners. A progressive step that had been taken throughout all Italy, in which the pontifical provinces alone had not shared, was the construction of railways. These points were the key to the programme which the new Pope had traced out, so that in an assembly of diplomatists, held during the first days of his new rule, Cardinal Ferretti, his cousin and mouthpiece, is reported to have said, to the then French ambassador, Pellegrino Rossi, " We shall have the amnesty and railways and all will be well." On the i6th of July, 1846, just a month after his election, Pius IX. inaugurated his political career by granting a general amnesty to the condemned political prisoners. To the minds of Italians already GREAT POPULARITY OF PIUS IX. 1 37 prepared for such ideas by the ' Neo-Guelph ' party it suddenly seemed as if Gioberti's ideal pontiff — the restorer of Italian liberty and greatness — had arisen. The nomination of a body of men commissioned to seek for and study the reforms needful in the States of the Church, gave some ground for the applause which the new Pope evoked ; every time he went into the city, he was carried in triumph by a rejoicing crowd which, in the cry of " Long live Pius IX.," did but express the hopes and aspirations of all Italy. Fetes succeeded one another on the smallest pretext and the people evinced their delight by con- stantly assembling in the public square and giving vent to their feelings by processions, shoutings and songs. These demonstrations found an enthusiastic leader in a citizen, named Angelo Brunetti, popu- larly nicknamed ' Ciceruacchio,' who exercised a very great ascendency over the Roman mob. At the same time, a Sicilian friar. Father Ventura, hymned from the pulpit the alliance between the priesthood and the democracy. The excitement in the capital spread to the country districts ; a new tremor thrilled men's hearts and minds, like that by which all nature is stirred when the sun appears on the horizon. Pius IX. delightedly surrendered himself to the sweets of popularity, but he was heard to observe that the people daily proffered some new request, and by degrees, the populace, rather than he, took the initiative in reforms. The liberty of the press, for instance, was usurped rather than conceded : from the January of 1H47, political papers began to appear 138 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION in Rome and Bologna — the two chief cities in the Papal States — and following closely on these, were founded clubs which instigated and regulated public demonstrations. Whilst the routes for railway lines were being studied, the Pope, in April, 1847, announced the formation of a ' Council of State,' with a deliberate vote on taxation ; it was to be composed of four-and- twenty lay councillors chosen by the Pontiff out of ternes or lists of three persons, presented by the pro- vincial assemblies. This was a great step in advance, since, up till then, the laity had taken no part in state administration ; indeed, Pius IX. probably thought, by this means, that he had now achieved the maximum of reforms. * The popularity of the new Pontiff was soon general throughout the peninsula ; every one declared that a new era was dawning for Italy. But this movement which seemed to have originated in Rome, had, in reality, its roots in the conscience of the nation ; it was the voice of all Italy that now surged like the noise of the long pent-up waters of a mighty river which has burst its dams. The first province to feel the effects of this upheaval was Tuscany. There it found chief ex- pression in public demonstrations in the Pope's honour ; then the passing of the great English economist, Richard Cobdcn, through Florence, was made a pretext for ostentatiously acclaiming the liberal principles he represented. Taking advantage LEOPOLD II. (Grand Duke of Tuscany.) 140 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION of the leniency of the existing government, the advo- cates of the new ideas actually ventured on openly inviting the Grand Duke to follow the example of the Pope. Leopold II., weary of these ceaseless importunities and disgusted by the clandestine circulations of the press, decided, in the May of 1847, to promulgate a new and more comprehensive law in relation to the censorship-^a concession that was the signal for the immediate appearance of important journalistic publications at Florence, Pisa and Leghorn. In Tuscany, by reason of the country's superior standard of culture and the exist- ence of a more numerous bourgeoisie, journalism flourished much more than in Rome and rallied to its ranks the distinguished talents of such eminent men as the Sicilian, Giuseppe La Farina, the Tuscans, Atto Vannucci, Bettino Ricasoli, Vincenzo Salvagnoli, Giuseppe Montanelli, Domenico Guer- razzi, Mazzoni, Centofanti, Giorgini and many others. Spurred on by the press, the Tuscan government was rapidly impelled to introduce important judicial and administrative reforms. Charles Albert in the meantime had been, so far, checked in his patriotic propensities by the fear of ecclesiastical censure ; now he saw the Head of the Church outstripping him on the path of liberalism. Hence, he found in these same religious sentiments — which up till then had been regarded as obstacles in his course — a stimulus to pursue without hesi- tation that road wherein he had already taken some few and uncertain steps. However, in this revival of new life in Ital)', lie sought to divert the attention of SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS AT GENOA I4I his subjects from questions relating to political free- dom, in order to turn and concentrate the whole force of public opinion against Austria. In September, 1846, the eighth Scientific Congress was held at Genoa. In those days, when the excite- ment had mastered every one, this assembly aroused the keenest interest ; all the most learned men of the peninsula hastened to take part in it and indeed it was rightly called by Balbo " the first Italian parliament." Politics were discussed rather than science, and vent was given to earnest patriotic aspirations. The political question was all the more opportunely raised by the speakers, inasmuch as just a century had elapsed since the Genoese had revolted and driven the Austrians from the city. The members of the Congress paid a visit to the place where the insurrec- tion had first broken out, and the Genoese citizens were inspired to keep a solemn celebration of the anniversary of the expulsion of the Austrians. This demonstration took place on the 5th of December and had a vociferous success, but strangely enough, on this occasion, the Piedmontese police seemed to have become suddenly afflicted with deafness. By the delirium of this fever which had attacked Italy, could be gauged the intensity of Italian hatred against Austria, and its development much alarmed Prince Metternich. The latter who declared a liberal pope to be an impossibilit\', made strenuous endeavours to check the pontifical court in its new career of reform, and gave hints to the governments 142 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION of Florence and Turin to the same effect. However, the Austrian minister, seeing that the Grand Duke had unreservedly submitted to the guidance of the people's will and that his own friendly exhortations were unheeded both at Turin and Rome, had recourse to a bold threat. By the treaties of 1815, a body of Austrian troops had been quartered in the citadel of Ferrara— in papal territory ; now, in the August of 1847, these troops, fully equipped for war, occupied the whole of the city. Against this abuse of power, which aroused a torrent of indignation throughout the country, Pius IX. was urged by public opinion to an energetic protest, wherein he was supported by Charles Albert who was only too glad to find in the Pope an ally against their common oppressor. The effect of the Austrian policy on the Italian population was that of the lash on a restive horse, that is to say, the people became more intractable than ever. The excitement was simply indescribable ; the Pope himself was expected to pro- claim a holy war and to utter the cry of Julius II.: "Away with the barbarians ! " The civic guard which had already been peremptorily demanded by the Roman and Tuscan press, was immediately organised in both states. The university students, only just home for the vacation, spread the patriotic contagion throughout the most remote country places. Long- standing feuds were made up between families and districts ; on all sides was felt the need of forging a chain of brotherly lo\'e to bind men in a common cause, and everywhere were celebrated the fetes of federation. PATRIOTIC SENTIMEXTS OF CHARLES ALBERT I43 Charles Albert now resolved on giving more decisive expression to his sentiments. Early in September, 1847, an Agrarian Congress was held at Casale where such bold political speeches were made that the Piedmontese police feigned not to hear them. The last session of this assembly was marked by a memorable occurrence : the Count Di Castagneto, an intimate friend of Charles Albert, rose and read a letter that he had just received from the King, which ran as follows : " If ever God allows us to proclaim a war of independence, it is I alone who will take com- mand of the army, and I have resolved to do in the Guelph cause that which Schamyl is doing against the great Russian Empire . . . Ah ! what a blessed day will that be when we can raise the cry of national independence ! " Thus did Charles Albert at last open his heart and mark out his life-programme. The enthusiastic acclamations of members of the Casale Congress understood it as well as all the inhabitants of Piedmont who, on the occasion of the the King going to lay the first stone of a bridge over the Bormida, near Acqui, flocked around the monarch and greeted him with an extraordinary ovation. But at Genoa the demonstrations did not end in mere applause ; rather were substantial hopes raised, although Turin still kept silent. It is true the capital also had warmly welcomed the patriotic words of the King, but now it wanted something more and looked for the latter to inaugurate such reforms as those already adopted by Pius IX. and the Grand Duke of Tuscan}'. Success was hoped for b)' adopting tlie means used by the Romans and Florentines 144 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION to put pressure on their rulers — that is, popular demonstrations. On the evening of October i, 1847, the eve of the King's birthday, a large crowd gathered in the Ripari promenade to sing the hymn of Pius IX., cry " God save the King ! " and call for reforms, but they were suddenly interrupted by a body of guards and carabineers who attacked the mob and arrested the ringleaders. It was a miserable surprise for the whole com- munity. Had the King then repented of his liberal tendencies, and was he going back from his promised line of action ? Was he indeed // Re Tentenna ('King Waverer'), as the young poet, Domenico Carbone, dubbed him, in some verses written on that very October night ? This little poem had immediate popularity and was a jesting comment on the per- petual inconsistency evident in Charles Albert's conduct — an inconsistency which led him to retain at the same time Count Solaro Delia Margherita, the most distinguished champion of reactionary ideas in Piedmont, as his minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Marquis Di Villamarina, who was credited with being a liberal, as his minister of War. Charles Albert, too, read this unflattering effusion, and perhaps it inspired him to act with decision. Diplomacy, as well as popular manifestations, tended to free the King from vacillation. At this juncture. Lord Minto, ostensibly travelling in Italy for amusement, but in reality as a secret emis- sary of the English government, arrived in Turin. He frankly counselled the Piedmontese monarch to have done with delays, to concede important reforms ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION OF REFORMS I45 and to get rid of his reactionary advisers. A few days afterwards, Charles x'Vlbert dismissed both Delia Margherita and Villamarina, and caused a scheme of reforms to be drawn up, which appeared in the Gazzetta Ufficiale of the 30th of October. Whoever to-day chances to read those four closely printed columns can hardly understand what an immense outburst of joy they called forth from the Piedmontese. They were, in fact, restricted enough innovations ; the free election of com_munal and provincial councillors was decreed ; the police- regulations and the administration of justice were improved and a limit was imposed on the censorship of the press. But, compared with the absolutism of the past, they represented a forward step in liberalism ; besides, the bulk of the people had regarded the con- cession of reforms in itself as a universal panacea. Now they had the satisfaction of their desires, they looked for the inauguration of that golden age of which they had dreamed so long. To greet the auspicious event came an influx of illuminations, music, banners, Te Deunis, inscriptions and the in- evitable sonnets, songs and hymns. A few days later, when Charles Albert left Turin to stay a month, as was his custom, at Genoa, he was hailed throughout his journey by enthusiastic ovations, and even the Genoese who had always resented the domination of Piedmont and seemed to hanker after their ancient republic, awarded him a triumphal reception. Very differently did things progress in the kingdom II 146 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION of Naples. The election of Pius IX. had there, as elsewhere in Italy, awakened earnest hopes and aspirations, but King Ferdinand II. suddenly opposed the new tendencies, and made his subjects understand that he did not mean to bow down to the idol of the hour. Then the impatient and furious imprecations of the bourgeoisie found vent in an anonymous publi- cation of which the police, luckily, failed to discover the author — Luigi Settembrini. In that tract, en- titled Protesta Del Popolo Delle Due Sicilie, the shame- less existing regime was thus set forth : " This government is an immense pyramid whose base is composed of police-agents and priests and whose apex is the King. Every employe, from the soldier to the general, from the gendarme to the minister of police, from the priest to the King's confessor, every petty clerk even, is a cruel despot and worse, over his inferiors, and a mean sycophant towards his superiors. Whence it happens that whosoever is not among the oppressors feels himself crushed on all sides by the vile tyranny of countless knaves, and the peace of mind, freedom and possessions of honest men are made to depend on the caprice — I will not even say of a prince or a minister — but of every subordinate official, of a courtesan, of a spy, or of a Jesuit. Oh, my brothers and compatriots, deem not this language is too strong ; do not assert in the press that we ought to speak with more prudence and moderation, but come amongst us and feel as we feel this wrong that, like a red-hot iron, .sears and eats into our hearts ; sympathise with our sufferings and write and advise us." Numerous enough were such anon}'mous REVOLT AT REGGIO AND MESSINA SUPPRESSED I47 protests against the existing order of things, but all voiced the widespread tendency towards revolution and it was felt that the suppression of such long-endured wrongs could only be accomplished by violent means. On the 1st of September, 1847, the revolt broke out simultaneously at Reggio and Messina. At the latter place, towards evening, about fifty resolute, daring spirits raised the cry of " Italy, Pius IX., and the Constitution for ever ! " and determined on sur- prising the officials — assembled at a banquet — but the latter had already taken refuge in the citadel. The troops pursued through the streets the handful of insurgents who, after a desperate resistance, dispersed, and sought safety in flight. At Reggio di Calabria, victory had favoured the rebels from the outset. Headed by Domenico Romeo, they obliged the fortress to surrender and formed a provisional government, but soon came the discouraging news of the unsuccessful movement at Messina. Then two royal vessels from Naples appeared on the scene, bombarded the city and disembarked soldiers. The revolutionists were obliged to abandon Reggio and take refuge in the mountains of Aspromonte where they persisted in the struggle for nearly a month, but, having been tracked to their last remaining defences, the majority were arrested. Domenico Romeo being wounded, had sheltered himself in a straw-rick, but was dislodged and killed. Thus these revolts had no other result than the initiation of fresh and fiercer persecutions, such as the Neapolitan princes of the House of Bourbon knew too well how to plan, and their agents, to carry out. 148 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION Meantime, the reforms granted by the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Charles Albert were but feeding the flame already kindled in men's minds, and in November demonstrations took place at Naples and Palermo. In the following month, the most distinguished Piedmontese and Romagnol liberals thought of addressing a petition to Ferdi- nand II. to induce him to pursue the policy of Pius IX., Leopold II. and Charles Albert. The demands of such signatories would to-day be re- garded as anything but exacting, but at least they showed to the world that Italy had recourse to the moderate policy of persuasion before resorting to that of violence. Ferdinand II. must indeed have smiled with contempt at this document, so little calculated to appeal to him, but to quench effectually all further agitation, he forbade the cry " Long live Pius the Ninth ! " to be raised in his dominions, for this magic watchword which not only repre- sented, but was a factor in developing the future, was naturally considered seditious in all places where the regime of the past was to be preserved intact. * * * At Modena, Francis IV., the betrayer of Ciro Menotti, had been dead since January, 1846, but the wretched government of this duchy was hardly ameliorated under his son and successor, Francis V. At the first demonstrations in the Pope's favour, the ducal troops used arms against the crowd, and Francis V. made known to his subjects that if his bullies were not enough to keep the liberals in PARMA AND LOMBARDO-VEXP.TIAN AFFAIRS I4g check, he had beyond the Po an entire army at his beck and call. In fact, shortly afterwards, at the Duke's own request, Austrian soldiers entered his states in order to prevent any manifestations of liberalism. Much the same deplorable condition of affairs pre- vailed in Parma and Piacenza. Advancing age had impressed Maria Louise, Napoleon's widow, with the necessity of doing penance for her many sins ; she therefore allowed friars and priests to hold unlimited sway in the dukedom. On her death in December, 1847, her successor, Charles Ludovic of^ Bourbon, already Duke of Lucca, immediately invited a body of Austrian troops to enter his territory, in order clearly to show his subjects his intentions. As to the Lombardo- Venetian States, Austria had set herself to 'germanise' them in vain. There two elements existed which could never amalgamate, in the Austrian oppressors and the Italian oppressed and, by degrees, the latter allowed their bitter feelings to find vent. At Milan the most complete repre- sentative of this epoch was Cesare Correnti, whilst the heart and soul of all patriotic aspirations in Venice was Daniele Manin. The enthusiasm for Pius IX. had naturally obtained also in the Austrian subject-provinces who seized every possible occasion of making pacific protests against the foreign yoke, in the expectancy that new developments would admit of a more strenuous line of action. The first Milanese demonstration of the kind took place on the occasion of the funeral of Count Federico Confalonieri, who had died in a Swiss 150 FROM REFORMS TO REJ'OLUTION village, December lo, 1846, eight years after his release from Spielberg. In 1847, the ninth scientific congress was held at Venice, and Daniele Manin profited by the occasion to fan the flame of indepen- dence throughout Venetia and to strengthen the ties which bound her to the other provinces. On the 5th of September of the same year, the new archbishop of Milan, Count Romilli, made his solemn entry into the city. An Italian by birth, he had succeeded the Austrian prelate, Gaisruch, and had been nominated by Pius IX. — a fact which sufficed to make his recep- tion the occasion for great y^V^j- and popular rejoicings. Three days later, on the festival of Madonna, the illu- minations were repeated amid the renewed enthusiasm of the populace and frequent cries of " Long live Pius the Ninth ! " but, at a given signal, pre-instructed gendaruies attacked the crowd with drawn sabres and dealt blows among them, by which one person was killed and several wounded. This tyrannous action of the authorities and the police helped much to unite all classes of society in closer bonds of sympathy, so that now against Austria there was a universally agreed enmit}-. The Austrian government had caused two Central Congregations to be formed, one for Lombardy and the other for Venice, empowered to present petitions to the administration. Nx)w in December, 1847, Councillor Nazzari, a native of Bergamo, preferred a request to the Lombardy Congregation, urging the nomination of a commission for drawing up a report on the condition of the country and the causes of popular discontent, and this proposal was approved POLITICAL parties: REVOLT IN SICILY I5I by the Congregation. No sooner had Daniele Manin procured a copy than he caused it to be printed and circulated in the province of Venetia, and himself presented an analogous one to the Venetian Central Congregation. At the same time, the distinguished litterateur, Niccolo Tommaseo, made a speech at the Ateneo of Venice, expressing the wish for a more comprehensive legislation on the censorship. Con- fronted by these agitations which continually in- creased, the Austrian governor redoubled his vigilance and severity. In a word, Italy, at the beginning of 1848, seemed divided into two parties who were proceeding on widely diverse methods. In the Pontifical States, Tuscany and Piedmont, the carrying out of reforms was accompanied by festivals, demonstrations and popular rejoicings — nay, it became possible to initiate a customs league between these three states which was in itself the first step towards a political federation. But in the kingdom of Naples, the Lombardo- Venetian States and the duchies of Modena and Parma, the most severe reactionary policy was maintained. It can thus be easily understood how these provinces would form the hot-bed of the revo- lution. Singularly enough the first shock of revolt pro- ceeded from the volcanic soil of Sicily. In the beginning of January, 1848, a bold proclamation was posted up at all the street-corners and public places in Palermo, asserting that the time for entreaties and 152 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION pacific demonstrations was at an end and embodying an invitation to all Sicilians to arm on the 12th of January, the birthday of the 'King of the Two Sicilies.' This manifesto was, needless to say, anonymous ; only after the outbreak of the revolution, was it known to be the work of a young sculptor, Francesco Bagnasco. At first the police derided the movement as mere brag. However, on the night of the 9-ioth of January, they adopted the precaution of arresting eleven of the most prominent liberals, including Francesco Perez, Gabriele and Emerico Amari and Francesco Ferrara. The military also took what they deemed necessary measures in the matter. It is wonderful that it should have been possible not only for the rising to break out, but for it to become irrepressible and end in victory, after so much careful prevision on the part of the govern- ment, whilst there was hardly any serious prepara- tion on the side of the revolutionists who reckoned chiefly on the prevailing state of feeling and on what chance, which so often develops isolated emeutes into gigantic revolutions, held in store. Besides, it was under just such conditions, without any pre- conceived plan, that the famous revolt of the Sicilian Vespers had taken place, as indeed the distinguished historian, Michele Amari, in writing of that period — proving the legend of Giovanni Da Procida to be groundless — has very justly pointed out. When revolution germinates in the conscience of the people, it breaks forth spontaneously. No one, however, would ha\c ho))ed ft)r such a RUGGERO SETTIMO. 154 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION result on that January morning. The citizens thronged the public ways ; the police had verified their precautions, but vainly sought for the expected armed bands and the heads of the revolutionary movement. The anxiety was painfully intense, but about eight a.m., a young man, who had gone out alone, but furnished with weapons, into one of the most frequented thoroughfares of Palermo, called out ' Treason ! ' and nearly desperate, discharged his musket into the air. Then the most courageous citizens poured, ready armed, into the streets, whilst others began to ring the bells as a signal for the fighting to begin. The Bourbon military commanders did not dare let the troops out of the fortresses and barracks, and decided to restrict themselves to defensive action. During the night, other revolu- tionary bands came in from the country districts and neighbouring communes to the aid of the insurgents. The Neapolitan troops bombarded the city from the forts ; the citizens, in their turn, attacked and con- quered several barracks, then, inspirited by success, organised a provisional government under the presi- dency of the venerable admiral, Ruggero Settimo. The fighting was prolonged throughout the follow- ing days, and with ever-growing victory for the revo- lutionists whose ranks were hourly strengthened. Neither the men-of-war sent from Naples nor the continued bombardment from the fortresses could subdue Palermo. Hence, after a fortnight's sanguinary struggle, the Bourbon soldiers were compelled to abandon the city. The other Sicilian towns now ff)llowed the example of Palermo so that at the REFORAfS DEMANDED IN NAPLES AND PIEDMONT I 55 begiiininc; (if February, the whole island, with the exception of a few strongholds, had shaken off the yoke of despotism. Encouraged by the news from Sicily, Naples now began to move ; a petition for the concession of a constitution, drawn up by Ruggero Bonghi, was circulated among the Neapolitans, and on the 27th of January, in spite of all police precautions, a great demonstration boldly perambulated the city thorough- fares. Then Ferdinand II., seeing his crown in danger, pretended to grant of his own free will that which he dared not refuse any longer and promised his subjects the desired constitution (January 28th). The vicissitudes of Southern Italy precipitated matters in the other Italian provinces, notably in Piedmont, where early in January, new and more explicit demands had been urged at the palace. Gioberti had, by this time, published his scathing book entitled // Gesnita Moderno and his words immediately found an echo in the hearts of all Italian liberals. Indeed, there was a universal desire for the expulsion of the Jesuits and their affiliated religious houses — in particular, that community of the ' Ladies of the Sacred Heart,' whose members the Tuscans used playfully to call the 'Jesuit swallows.' At Genoa, a public petition was set on foot to implore Charles Albert to expel the Order and to allow the institution of a civic guard, such as had already been doing duty, for some months past, in Tuscany and Rome : to this end, a commission was sent to prefer 156 FROM REFORMS TO REVOTJJTION these requests to the King. Then the Turhiese journahsts convened a meeting to consider a means of backing up the Genoese claims. The splendid roll of names which distinguished that assembly of January 7, 1848, included those of Camillo Cavour, Michelangelo Castelli, Pietro Derossi Di Santarosa, Carlo Boncompagni, Ercole Ricotti, Lorenzo Valerio, Riccardo Sineo, Angelo Brofferio, Giacomo Durando, Predari, Montezemolo, Galvagno and Cornero. Whilst the majority of those present only spoke of expressing their solidarity with the Genoese com- mission, the editor of the Risorgimento openly declared that henceforth something more must be asked for and that was — the constitution. This bold proposal which demonstrated its author's profound knowledge of the serious condition of exis- ting affairs, emanated from a man of thirty-eight years of age, belonging to the ancient aristocracy of Piedmont, who, in his )'outh, had been a sub-lieutenant in the corps of engineers and, after his resignation of that post, had travelled in France and England and was now devoted to journalistic pursuits — no other, in fact, than Count Camillo Benso Di Cavour. Among his hearers were men who, either, through instinct, education or by their position in journalism, were of pronounced liberal tendencies, but they looked at one another in amazement at hearing this propo- sition. A few indeed offered objections, and the assembly was prorogued till the following evening. Meantime, an important event had happened : the King had refused to receive the Genoese deputation. But none the less, the journalists who had approved of CHARLES ALBERT GRANTS THE STATUTE 1 57 Cavour's idea, adhered to their resolution and, at the second meeting, signed a memorial to this intent, which the Marquis Roberto D'Azeglio, an elder brother of Massimo and an equally conspicuous champion of liberalism, undertook to present to the King in person. Charles Albert read the document and pondered its candid yet loyal tenor, but replied that, for the liberation of Italy, soldiers, not lawyers, were needful and that, in the interests of Italian independence which he now had most nearly at heart, he would never grant a constitution. But at this juncture came the news of the revolt at Palermo on the 12th of January, then that of the King of Naples' promised constitution. Whereupon, great demonstrations were held at Turin, and on the 5th of February, the municipality itself, instigated by Pietro Derossi Di Santarosa, the -tried friend of Cavour, deliberated on asking the King for a constitution. Meanwhile, Charles Albert, after having confessed and communicated, unburdened his mind to Monsignor D'Angennes, Archbishop of Vercelli. This ecclesi- astic who was a very holy man, overcame the religious scruples of the monarch, and on the 8th of February, 1848, Charles Albert promised the Statute and fixed its main lines. From the 8th of February till the 4tli of March, the day on which the Statute was promul- gated, there was little else in Piedmont but a con- tinual succession of fervent demonstrations in the King's favour. And richly did Charles Albert merit his people's affection, because, unlike the other princes who promised with mental reservations, he, liaviiig once conquered his wavering tendency and set his 158 FROM REFORMS TO REVOLUTION foot upon the path of constitutionalism, pursued it thenceforward with the utmost loyalty to the end. It was a strange game of battledore and shuttle- cock to which public opinion in Italy abandoned itself in the first months of 1848. The news from Naples and Piedmont called forth imposing demon- strations in Tuscany, and the Florentine munici- pality, at that time presided over by Bettino RicasoH, immediately decreed a laudatory address to Charles Albert. All the most eminent Tuscan liberals now insisted on the Grand Duke granting a constitution, and this, on the nth of February, Leopold II. pro- mised to do. Henceforth, Rome, who had given the first impetus to this movement, found herself quickly outstripped by the other states. Pius IX. was very far from being the ideal pontiff that the Italians had imagined. He had simply wished to better the condition of his subjects and had never dreamed of becoming the herald of a revolution, and now that he saw the progress affairs were making, he would have gladly turned back, but he was irresistibly drawn on by the very stream he had himself set free. The people who had become aware of their ruler's vacillation, affected to cast the blame on his entourage and the Jesuits, and now cried, " Long live Pius IX. only!" On the 1st of January, 1848, a great crowd assembled at the Quirinal where the Pope then resided, in order to give him a new year's greeting, but finding the gates barricaded and the palace surrounded b\' guards. FIRST LAY-MINISTRY IN PAPAL STATES 159 they were not slow to vent their ill-humour. On the morrow, Pius IX. appeared in the city once more, for the purpose of appeasing this mistrust, and met with a most enthusiastic reception. The 1 2th of February saw the formation of the first la}'-ministry in the Papal States. Nor did this suffice ; in these provinces also the idea of a consti- tution liad taken root, and the communal council of Bologna went so far as to demand the concession openly. To fix the limitations between ecclesiastical and secular affairs was certainly a matter of diffi- culty, but all considerations, debates and delays thereon were suddenly cut short by the news of the outbreak of the Paris revolution which had at one blow, despoiled Louis Philippe of his throne. So it was that on the 14th of March, 1848, Pius IX. granted a constitution to his subjects. Thus all Italy, except the territory ruled by Austria, now found herself on the way to freedom.^ ' For the Statute of Charles Albert, see Appendix. X THE WAR OF 1848 The inhabitants of the Lnmbardo-Venetian States intended keeping the new year with demonstrations of their own ; on the ist of January, 1848, all citizens were invited to abstain from smoking and thus to damage the interests of the Austrian government which possessed a tobacco monopoly. The warm response which this invitation met with at Milan pro- voked the unbounded wrath of the Austrian police ; on the 2nd of January, their disguised agents paraded the streets with lighted cigars, blowing mouthfuls of smoke in the faces of the passers-by and otherwise annoying them. Such proceedings were naturally resented by the Milanese and led to disputes and arrests. But the affair assumed a far more serious aspect on the morrow, when brandy and cigars were liberally distributed to the soldiers who were then despatched through the public thoroughfares, with orders to enforce smoking among the citizens by threats and, if necessary, by use of arms. The evening of the 3rd of January was a terrible one in Milan : quarrels had been fomented in ever}^ quarter AUSTRIA AND LOMBARDO-VEXETIAN STATES l6l of the city by drunken soldiers and, as if this were not enough, mounted troops continually galloped to and fro, trampling on the fallen and prodding with lances all those who did not take to flight — slaughter- ing in this way no less than fifty-nine persons. Whilst all Italy stood aghast at the news of such a massacre, the /\ustrian government boldly pursued its way and initiated similar scenes of bloodshed at Pavia and Padua, refused to nominate the commis- sions demanded by the Lombard and Venetian Con- gregations and, at Venice, effected the arrest of Daniele Manin and Niccolo Tommaseo, thus adding fresh fuel to the flame of popular indignation. To increase the ferment, came sundry startling pieces of news — first that of the Sicilian revolt, then that of the constitution granted by Ferdinand II. and the Statute of Charles Albert. Hereupon Austria, proceeding to extremities, proclaimed a state of siege in the Lombardo- Venetian States and set up sanguinary tribunals, by which the authorities could condemn without appeal and inflict the death-penalty on their own responsibility. The citizens, on their part, pre- pared for revolution by collecting money and arms and by establishing closer connections with Charles Albert and the Piedmontese liberals. It can indeed be said that in Lombardy and Venetia, governors and governed stood confronting each other, as enemies awaiting the signal for the fray. The French revolution precipitated matters ; its vibrations awoke faith in the irresistible force of the barricade, and struck a responsive chord in all Italian hearts which were electrified by the brilliant victor)- 12 1 62 THE WAR OF 1 848 gained in Paris. But the decisive blow which hurried on the revolt came whence it was least expected. Vienna itself, that rock of absolutism, had not been able to escape the revolutionary throes which were convulsing all Europe; on the 13th of March, the Viennese populace rose and demanded the constitution, and Prince Metternich was obliged to take flight. By the 17th of March, the news of this revolution had reached Venice where it produced a remarkable outburst of enthusiasm : the people repaired en masse to the piazza of St. Mark, loudly clamouring for the liberation of the political prisoners, especially of Manin and Tommaseo, then, without waiting for the authorities' answer, rushed to the prisons and trium- phantly released the two patriots. On the morrow feeling had risen still higher, tricoloured banners were raised amid the loud ringing of tocsins, and the struggle was actually about to break out between the soldiers and the crowd when the municipality, to prevent bloodshed, begged permission from the government representatives to organise a civic guard. To this request, Palffy, the civil governor, and Zichy, the military commandant, consented. Meantime, it was made known that the Emperor had granted a constitution in Vienna, the announcement of which Palffy himself read to the crowd from the balcony of his palace, declaring, at the same time, his satisfaction at being the first constitutional governor of Venice. Thereupon the tumult was appeased and the city resumed its wonted aspect; it seemed indeed as if all fear of disturbance was at an end. REVOLT IN MILAN 1 63 Affairs were taking a very different turn in Milan. On hearing of the Viennese revolution, a nucleus of patriots had, on the afternoon of the 1 8th of March, combined to form a municipal deputation which, fol- lowed by a great crowd, proceeded to the governor's palace to beg for urgent reforms. The Viceroy, Reinier, had fled, but O'Donnell, the vice-president, signed, in the presence of the enraged mob, the desired decrees, by which the civic guard was to be formed and the municipality commissioned with providing for the public safety. However, whilst this deputa- tion was returning to the municipal palace, a volley from a troop of soldiers killed one of the crowd, and the sight of blood was the signal for the outbreak of the already hatched revolt which now spread through- out the length and breadth of the city. Barricades were everywhere erected — to the number, it is said, of five hundred and twenty-three — tables, chairs, vehicles, even the very paving-stones of the streets, were utilised for the defence ; all had recourse to arms, and one idea only possessed Milan — and that was the expulsion of the Austrians. It is impossible to describe that feverish contest, maintained simultaneously in every quarter of the city during those ever-memorable days ; it may truly be said that every street had its own heroic episode, as every house had its own hero. Youths, old men and children, all did their share : women encouraged the combatants and succoured the wounded ; the clergy, too, took their part in the struggle. With the rattle of the musketry and the thunder of the artillery mingled the incessant tolling of the bells which, for l64 THE WAR OF 1 848' five days and five nights in succession, clanged threateningly over the heads of the enemy, as if voicing the popular fury. On the 20th of March, Radetzky, the Austrian general in command, proposed an armistice which was refused ; on the 2 ist, his troops were expelled from all their posts within the city, but the fortress and walls were still in their hands ; on the 22nd, it was decided to break through the enemy's cordon in order to establish communication with the country districts and the other revolted cities. To this end, the com- batants engaged at Porta Tosa — now called Porta Vittoria. The fighting was prolonged and desperate, but when the young Luciano Manara set fire to the gate, Milan had won her freedom. From the highest spire of the cathedral floated the Italian tricolour, and it was now that the great poet, Alessandro Manzoni, flushed with the enthusiasm of the hour, added this final strophe to his ode, Marso, 1821 : — " O giornate del nostra riscatto ! O dolente per sempre colui, Che da lunge, dal labbro d'altrui, Come un uomo straniera le udra ! Che ai suoi figli narrandole un giorno Dovra dir sospirando ; ' io non c'era,' Che la santa, I'invitta bandieia Salutata in quel di non avra." (O day of Italians glory ! Unhappy for aye is the brother Who e'en from the lips of another, As an alien, lists to that tale ; Who, telling his sons the glad story, Shall say, with a sigh, " not for me, Alas ! 'mongst that cohort to be, Who saw the blest standard prevail.") VICTORY OF MILANESE: PROGRESS OF REVOLUTION IG5 Who can express the joy that , was experienced on that memorable day by the citizens of Milan at expelling from their midst an army of fourteen thousand well-armed and thoroughly-disciplined men ? And theirs was a glorious and untarnished triumph, for whilst the Austrians had been guilty of much barbarity, their foes, on the contrary, had behaved with the utmost generosity — a fact that one episode alone will prove. On the 20th of March, when the struggle was raging most fiercely, Count Bolza, head of the police, was hiding in an attic. Well must he have recalled how, many years before, he had arrested Count Confalonieri under almost identical circumstances : at any rate, the people who hated this contemptible satellite of Austria, were not slow to remember the fact and forthwith arrested him. The unhappy man believed his hour had come, but Carlo Cattaneo, a distinguished Milanese, being consulted by the crowd as to their victim's fate, answered : " If you kill him, you will do a just act ; if you spare him, you will do a holy one " — a recommendation to mercy which prevailed with the mob. Meantime, the revolution did not stop at Milan, but quickly spread throughout Lombardy, so that the Austrian troops, threatened on all sides, had to abandon their positions and fall back on the Mincio. At Venice, after two days of tranquillity, it was suspected that the governor had been profuse in fair speeches to gain time to prepare for the city's bombardment— a suspicion which was further inflamed by the news of the insurrection at Milan. Now 1 66 THE WAR OF 1 848 began a new hneiite in which the commandant of the arsenal, Marinovich, unpopular with the workmen on account of his severity, was killed. Daniele Manin, followed by a numerous crowd, repaired to the arsenal, and by moral force alone effected its sur- render to Admiral Martini. At the same time, the municipality, grasping the seriousness of the situation, sent a deputation to treat with the two Austrian governors. The civil governor, Palffy, handed over his authority to the military comman- dant, Zichy ; the latter, intimidated by the resolute utterances of the advocate, Avesani, consented to evacuate the city, invest the municipality with his own powers and relinquish his claim to all munitions of war. So on the 22nd of March, 1848, the fall of Austrian dominion and the Venetian Republic were proclaimed together on St. Mark's piazza, whilst the presidency of the provisional government was entrusted to Daniele Manin. Nearly the same thing happened in the other Venetian towns. The military commanders of Treviso and Udine capitulated as Zichy had done ; those of the fortresses of Osoppo and Palmanova did likewise, and in the last-named place, the veteran General Zucchi, now set at liberty, was entrusted with the command. Other cities, like Padua, abandoned by their garrisons who went to join Radetzky's troops in the Quadrilateral, found them- selves free, and only one Venetian city — Verona — remained under Austrian rule ; the rest gave in their adliesion to the provisional government of Venice. The Italian territory between the Mincio and the EXCITEMENT IN TURIN'. ENTHUSIASM FOR WAR 1 67 Adige, with the fortifications of Mantua, Peschiera, Verona and Legnago, was now all that remained to the Austrians who, hemmed in by the insurrection, had no other way open but to retreat to the narrow valley of the Adige where they found themselves confronted by the Piedmontese army. * Hardly was it known at Turin that Milan had revolted against the oppressor, than the Piedmontese were consumed by a fever of patriotism ; people abandoned their dwellings, to live in the streets and market-places ; schools, offices and business-houses were deserted, whilst a crowd assembled in front of the royal and ministerial palaces, demanding arms and clamouring for war. The bolder spirits equipped themselves for action and set off in the direction of the Ticino ; on the 22nd of March, a large band of university students, organised into companies of ber- saglieri, left for the frontier amid the acclamations of the crowd. On the afternoon of the 23rd, came, like a thunderbolt, the news that Milan was free, that the discomfited Austrians had retreated in the direction of the Quadrilateral, and that a Milanese messenger had reached Charles Albert to implore him to allow Piedmontese troops to enter Lombard territory. The papers instantly began publishing suggestive supplements on the situation. In the Risorgiuiento appeared a forcible article by Camillo Cavour, which commenced in these terms : " The decisive hour for the monarchy has arrived — the hour of momentous decisions, on which hang an empire's fate and a 1 68 THE WAR OF 1 848 people's destiny. In the face of what has happened in Lombardy and at Vienna, doubt, hesitation and delay are no longer possible for they would mean the most fatal policy. We men of phlegmatic tem- perament, who are accustomed to listen to the dictates of reason rather than to those of sentiment, have duly considered our determination and are in duty bound to declare it : only one way is open for the nation, the government and the King, and that is war — war, immediately and without delay." The mob surrounded the royal palace in expecta- tion of hearing the decision of the council of ministers which, it was well known, was engaged in deliberation. Hours passed and the crowd, instead of diminishing, became more and more dense. It was midnight when there appeared, on the famous balcony of the royal armoury, in a halo of light shed from the illuminated saloon beyond, the tall figure of Charles Albert. Over the tremulous and silent concourse of people he waved a scarf; it was the Italian tricolour! The enthusiasm of that moment can never be described : then it was that the dynast}' of Savoy and t3ie Piedmontese were indissolubly knit together by a solemn vow — that of mutual consecration to the liberation of Italy. On the morrow, the following proclamation was published, which had been drawn up the preceding evening in the name of the King, by Federico Sclopis, minister of Grace and Justice : " People of Lombardy and Venetia ! The destinies of Itah'' are ripe; happier omens favour the intrepid defenders of trampled rights. P"or the sake of our race, our knowledge of WIDESPREAD ENTHUSIASM FOR WAR 1 69 the times in which we Hve, and our community of interests, we would first of all associate ourselves in that unanimous tribute of admiration which Italy awards you. Our arms which were already concentrated on your frontier, when you anticipated the glorious liberation of Milan, are now in readiness to afford you that aid which brother expects from brother and friend from friend. Let us act in accordance with your praiseworthy desire, relying on the help of that God who is plainly with us — that God who has given to Italians a Pius IX. and has so truly inspired Italy to work out her own redemption. And the better to show by outward acts how deeply we share the sentiment of Italian unity, we command that when our troops enter Lombard and Venetian territory, they bear the .Italian tricolour with the escutcheon of Savoy. '"Charles Albert.'" A few days later the Piedmontese army crossed the Ticino and triumphantly traversed Lombardy in the direction of the Mincio. Meanwhile, a loud cry wherein freedom, joy, and battle were mingled, resounded throughout the peninsula. Modena and Reggio, Parma and Piacenza immediately all threw off the yoke of their princelings and despatched troops to the help of their brethren in Lombardy and Venetia. The Grand Dulite3.vA Loinlhirdo—noh\Q\'essQ\so{ 3. yet nobler crew ! History will surely commemorate }'our illus- trious names, yea, even though calumny may do its worst! And when the remnant of 'the Thousand,' that Time's scythe may spare to hoary age, shall sit b\- the domestic hearth and tell their grandchildren the wondrous story of those deeds in which they played an honoured part, well will their youthful listeners remember the names of those who shared in that most gallant enterprise." In that valiant company of brave men, figured NINO BIXIO. 274 THR MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' Nino Bixio — according to Garibaldi, the principal actor in this bold undertaking — Crispi, Tlirr, La Masa, the brothers Cairoli, Sirtori, Mosto and Ippolito Nievo, a young Paduan poet, who met a tragic death in the following year by shipwreck. The Lonibardo and the Pienionte cast anchor at the promontory of Telamone where the Piedmontese commandant of the fortress provided 'the Thousand' with some rifles and a small cannon. Garibaldi deemed this a good opportunity for despatching sixty men to the Papal States, with the object of diverting the attention of the Powers and making believe that the expedition was organised against the Pontiff himself Then the two vessels headed for Sicily. On the nth of May, they came in sight of Marsala, in whose harbour were two English men-of-war — the Argus, stationed there to protect British interests, and the Intrepid, bound for Malta. Two Neapolitan cruisers had left the port a little before to reconnoitre the coast. In less than two hours, the majority of Garibaldi's men, under the sagacious direction of Tlirr, had landed, but just then, up came the two Neapolitan cruisers which were scarcely within range of fire, before they began to bombard the Garibaldian ships, as vvell as that part of the shore chosen as a landing-place by the volunteers. The captain of one of the English vessels now boarded one of the Bourbon warships, to beg the commander to spare the magazines and the buildings protected by the British flag. Meantime the last of the volunteers disembarked and landed their munitions of war. GARIBALDI AT SALEMI : CALATAFIMI 2^5 and the Bourbon sailors retired in indignation, towing the empty Pienionte in their wake and leaving the Lombardo submerged in the harbour. A few of the volunteers at once betook themselves to the telegraph-office, to prevent any transmission of messages to the Bourbon government, and arrived there just as the employe was sending a telegram to the effect that two Sardinian vessels had arrived and were disembarking troops. One of the party, with a practical knowledge of telegraphy, continued the message thus : " Have made a mistake — are only two trading vessels : " on receiving the answer — which consisted of the one word, " Idiot!" — he promptly cut the wire. From Marsala ' the Thousand ' proceeded to Salemi where Garibaldi issued a manifesto, assum- ing, in Victor Emmanuel's name, the dictatorship of Sicily. The Neapolitan government, thus unsuccess- ful in preventing these ' filibusters ' — as they stig- matised them — from landing, now began to realise the gravity of the situation and to flood the Euro- pean cabinets with protests against Piedmontese perfidy, whilst it sent orders to Palermo to despatch General Landi, with a strong body of troops, against Garibaldi. The two armies encountered one another on the 15th of May, at Calatafimi, on a spot called ' Pianto dei Romani.' Landi had taken up his position on a ridged height and there awaited the Garibaldian onset. The struggle was desperate : the volunteers, though badly armed and much outnumbered by the enemy's numerous battalions, rushed with such deter- 276 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' mination to the attack, that the Bourbons, after prolonged resistance, had to beat a retreat. Garibaldi then marched on to Palermo and on the 20th of May came in sight of the city. Here he resorted to a very adroit manoeuvre ; skirting the hills which surround Palermo, he proposed to effect a more easy entrance into the city by enticing a great portion of the garrison on his track. He succeeded, in fact, in luring them to follow him on the Corleone road; then, leaving a few soldiers there, he led some of his chosen troops on to Palermo by a steep and circuitous route, and boldly charging with the bayonet, victoriously entered the city on the 27th of May. But Bourbon troops yet held the fortress and a Bourbon fleet still occupied the har- bour ; hence, Palermo was bombarded from both sides. During the night, the volunteers, aided by the citizens, erected barricades and thus organised a resistance to the enemy's forces who after some days of fierce fighting, were compelled to sue for an armistice and, on the 6th of June, had to abandon their positions. In the meantime, as the revolution was spreading throughout the island, the Piedmontese government could adopt a bolder policy ; consequently, new vessels were sent from Genoa, carr}'ing reinforce- ments of volunteers to the Garibaldians, headed by Medici and Cosenz. The Bourbon troops were concentrated at Milazzo, and there Garibaldi proceeded to give them battle. At first, victory favoured the Neapolitans ; only towards evening, did it revert to their opponents. By the 20th EMBARRASSMENT OF PIEDMONT 2/7 of July, the date of the engagement at Milazzo, the whole island could be said to have defeated the Bourbon power, to which the citadel of Messina alone remained faithful, but the garrison was compelled to refrain from bombarding the city. Francis II., having thus far warded off disaster, thought well to grant a constitution and to promise an alliance with Piedmont, but it was now too late. The Piedmontese government, however, was seriously embarrassed, since all the European Powers, except England, evinced disapproval of its policy ; in fact, Victor Emmanuel was obliged to write to Garibaldi, begging him not to cross the Straits. But at the same time, Cavour also sent word to him, by Admiral Persano, that it was no use to leave the enterprise half fulfilled. Hence, Garibaldi, ignoring Victor Emmanuel's public declaration, crossed the Straits on the night of the i9-20th of August. Meanwhile, Cavour was seeking for every possible means to foment the outbreak of a revolt at Naples, mainly through the agency of the Marquis Di Villa- marina, the resident Piedmontese ambassador. The expected rising did not take place at Naples, however, but in the Basilicata, and on the i6th of August, the city of Potenza hoisted the tricoloured flag to the cry of" Italy and Victor Emmanuel!" The Bourbon troops, who were stationed in Calabria, lost heart at the news of this insurrection breaking out right in then- midst, and several thousand men, under the command of General Briganti, refused to fight ; their leader, accused of treason, was murdered a few days after, by the very soldiers who had deserted him. 278 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' The revolution now became general throughout all the Neapolitan provinces. Garibaldi, leaving his troops behind and followed only by a few officers, now took the road to Naples, amidst the acclamations of the people who hailed him as a deliverer ; from Reggio Di Calabria to the capital, his march was one grand triumphal progress. On the 6th of September, Francis II. quitted Naples and invited the sailors of his navy to follow him to Gaeta, but instead of obeying him, they promptly joined the Piedmontese fleet already in the harbour. The following day. Garibaldi made his entry into Naples, amid the ovations of a people mad with joy. * * However, the work was not easy to fulfil ; fifty thousand picked troops, loyal to the Bourbon dynasty, were still concentrated in the fortresses of Gaeta and Capua, protected by the line of the Volturno ; nearly the whole of Europe was inimical to the revolution, whilst the Marches and Umbria were agitating for freedom. As if all this were not enough to intensify the difficulties of the situation, Garibaldi, whose im- pressionable temperament caused him to be easily influenced by those around him, now began to lend a willing ear to the headstrong counsels of Mazzini who had suddenly made his appearance at Naples. Piedmont desired the immediate annexation of the Neapolitan provinces, in order to show the PZuropean Powers an accomplished fact. Garibaldi, on the con- trary, wanted first to liberate Rome, then Venetia and finally wrest Nice from P^rance ; only then, in the EXPEDITION INTO UMBRIA AND MARCHES 2/9 Capitol itself, would he have been ready to place his sword in Victor Emmanuel's hand. Cavour was no less bold or resolute than Garibaldi, but the former well understood the impossibility of achieving such ends at the present juncture ; hence, arose a feud between these two great men, which much aggravated their mutual relations — already embittered by the cession of Nice to France. Under existing circumstances, Cavour thought that the King ought to assume the leadership of the national movement, and therefore decided on the bold initiative of an expedition into Umbria and the Marches, which would not only serve to unite Romagna with the Neapolitan States, but would also give the King a chance of curbing the head- strong impetus of the revolution and guiding it more safely to its goal. On the 7th of September — the same day on which Garibaldi entered Naples — an ambassador was despatched to Rome, to represent to the Pope that Victor Emmanuel's feelings were deeply hurt by the news of the massacres which were being daily committed in the Marches and Umbria by General Lamoriciere's mercenary troops and to announce further, that if the latter were not disbanded, the Sardinian monarch would feel bound to intervene for the purpose of protecting the popu- lation. On the iith of September, even before re- ceiving the Pontiffs reply — which was a very sharp one — the Italian soldiers crossed the frontier. It was necessary to act with great promptitude in order to nullify the opposition of the Powers who had all recalled their ambassadors from Turin — for 28o THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' England alone favoured the idea of a united Italy. The two able generals, Cialdini and Fanti, who commanded the Italian forces, therefore prepared for immediate action. On the i8th of September, the papal army was discomfited at Castelfidardo : Lamo- riciere then retired to Ancona where, besieged by land and blockaded by sea, he was obliged to capitulate on the 26th. Victor Emmanuel then put himself at the head of his troops and marched into Neapolitan territory. Whilst these events were taking place, the Bourbon staff, with fifty thousand men massed on the banks of the Volturno, was meditating the bold manoeuvre of breaking through the line of Garibaldi's army and thus opening up the road to Naples, where a counter-revolution was being hatched. The assault on the Garibaldian camp took place on the ist of October and occasioned the most sanguinary battle in the whole of the campaign of i860. Towards two o'clock in the afternoon, the nationalist sol- diers seemed routed, but finally, Garibaldi, from the high ground where he was stationed, carried the situation and disposed his forces so satisfactorily, that at five o'clock he was able to telegraph the mes- sage to Naples : " Victory all along the line." His joy at this success, however, was sadly damped by the loss of many of his best men, more particularly that of Pilade Bronzetti who, with three hundred com- rades, had devoted himself to certain death for the good of the cause. On the morrow, the Bourbons again returned to tlic charge, but the result was a decisive triumph for the nationalists. ENRICO CIALDINI. 282 THE MARCH OF ' THE THOUSAND Meanwhile, Garibaldi's political views had under- gone an important modification, owing to the in- fluence of Giorgio Pallavicino — now nominated pro- dictator of Naples — who succeeded in weaning the great leader from republican tendencies and in convincing him of the necessity of annexation. A plebiscite of the inhabitants of the Neapolitan and Sicilian States having been convoked, they thereby unanimously declared their wish to support the monarchy as represented by Victor Emmanuel. Thus fell at last the Bourbon regime ; only England, amid the prevailing distrust of Europe, applauded its fall. Lord John Russell, in a note, dated the 27th of October, written in French to Hudson, the English ambassador at Turin, after re- calling the Neapolitan revolutions of 1820 and 1848, commented in strong terms on the justice of the Bourbons' expulsion, comparing it to the English revolution against the Stuarts in 1688, and he concluded his letter in the following terms : " We must admit that the Italian revolution has been effected with singular moderation and tolerance. The downfall of the existing regime has not been followed, as is so often the case, by outbreaks of popular ven- geance, and nowhere have extreme democratic notions obtained. Public opinion has neutralised all excesses of part}'-triumph, whilst the orinciples respected by a constitutional monarchy have been associated with the name of a prince who is the representative of an ancient and glorious dynasty. In view of the causes and conditions which have determined the Italian revolution, her Majesty's Government cannot GARIBALDI RESIGNS COMMAND I SIEGE OF G A ETA 283 see sufficient reasons to justify the severe blame that Austria, France, Russia and Prussia have attached to the action of the King of Sardinia. Her Majesty's Government would prefer to contemplate the pleasing spectacle of a people building up their liberties and consolidating their independence, amid the sympathies and the good wishes of Europe." On the 26th of October, Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi met on the Teano road, when the popular hero hastened to hail the monarch as ' King of Italy.' A few days later. Garibaldi, with exemplary mag- nanimity, resigned his leadership to Victor Emmanuel and retired to the isle of Caprera. These two noble and high-souled men were bound together by the closest sympathies ; both possessed the same open- ness of disposition, the same readiness for enterprise, the same ardent love for Italy ; indeed, they well typify the full and complete harmony existing be- tween the Italian people and the dynasty of Savoy. Now, the duty of accomplishing the work so gloriously begun by the volunteers, devolved on the regular army. On the 2nd of November, the fortress of Capua was taken and Gaeta was besieged. The difficulty of this investment was increased through the obstacles offered by the French fleet to the blockade by sea. Victor Emmanuel, thereupon, remonstrated with Napoleon III., pointing out that this was a violation of the Emperor's own principle of non-inter- vention, so, in the January of 1861, France withdrew her fleet. Gaeta, hemmed in by land and water, was soon reduced to extremities and, on the 12th of February, Francis II. embarked on a French vessel 284 THE MARCH OF 'THE THOUSAND' to take refuge in the Papal States, and the following day, the fortress surrendered. Later on, the garrisons of Messina and Civitella Del Tronto laid down their arms, and thus Victor Emmanuel's power was now recognised throughout the whole kingdom.^ In February, 1861, the first Italian parliament met in Turin. In his inaugural address, the King made special mention of his gratitude to the English : " The government and people of England — that ancient home of liberty — have stoutly affirmed our right to be the arbiters of our own destinies, and of that ready sympathy, so freely bestowed, we shall always cherish a grateful memory." Although Victor Emmanuel was now reigning over the greater part of the peninsula, nominally he was simply ' King of Sardinia.' On celebrating his birth- day, on the 14th of March, parliament unanimously voted in favour of declaring him ' King of Italy,' and, on the 17th of March, i86i,this proposal was ratified by the law of the realm. In this same month, the new kingdom of Italy was formally recognised by England and, in the following April, by Switzerland and the United States of America. ' Francis II. died on the 27th of December, 1894, without leaving descendants ; his claims were then supported by his brother Alfonso, Count of Caserta, who lives at Cannes. O o £: e XVI THE ROMAN QUESTION Great events had happened in a very short time, but two momentous difficulties still demanded solution — Rome and Venice. Cavour, whose courage and strength of mind were rather increased than daunted by overwhelming perplexities, now resolutely set him- self to solve the Roman question. On the nth of October, i860 — that is to say, at a time when the Bourbon army was still being actively mobilised, when nearly all the representatives of the Powers had been recalled from Turin, and the Emperors of Austria and Russia, as well as the King of Prussia, were assembling in congress at Warsaw to concert action against Piedmont — Cavour made a speech in the Chamber on the necessity of Rome becoming the capital of Italy. His remarks ran as follows : "For a minister to have to express an opinion on the great questions of the future is a serious matter. However, I maintain that a statesman, in order to be worthy of the name, ought to have certain fixed points, which should be, so to speak, the pole-stars to guide his course, and although he mu}' reserve CAVOlfR PJWPOSF.S ROME AS CAPITAL 28/ to himself the option of changing such, as events shall dictate, he should none the less keep his eyes fixed on the beacon which, for the time being, happens to be his chosen one. During the last twelve years. King Victor Emmanuel has been the pole-star which has led us to the ideal of national independence ; how will this affect Rome ? (Signs of marked attention.) Our star, gentlemen, I frankly avow, points to that Eternal City which is clothed with the accumulated renown of twenty-five centuries, as the glorious capital of the kingdom of Italy. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) " But perhaps such an assertion will not fully satisfy the honourable member who has asked what means we have of attaining this end. I might answer him thus : ' I will reply to you, provided you first tell me what will be the state of Italy and Europe in six months' time ; but if you cannot furnish me with the data for the solution of this problem, I fear that neither I, nor any of the calculations of diplomacy, can give you the unknown quantity you seek for.' (Laughter.) However, gentlemen, if I cannot indicate the particular means, I can point out what seem to me to be the great factors which will enable us to attain our end. . . . " I believe that the solution of tlie Roman question ought to be the outcome of that conviction which is ever deepening in modern society — above all, in the minds of the Catholic community — namely, that liberty is highly favourable to the development of genuine religious feeling. (Bravo ! hear, hear !) When this opinion shall be generally held, gentle- 288 THE ROMAN QUESTION men — and the behaviour of our arm}^, as well as the action of our gracious King", alike tend to show it will not be long first — when this opinion shall have acquired force in the minds of other populations and shall have taken firm root in men's minds, then, I unhesitatingl}' affirm, will the great majority of sincere and enlightened Catholics recognise that the august Pontiff, who is our Church's Head, will be enabled to exercise his sublime functions far more freely and independently, when supported by the affection and respect of twenty-two millions of Italians, than if defended by twent}'-five thousand ba}'onets." Shortly after the annexation of the kingdom of Naples, the fixing of the capital became a burning question. Turin, situated as it is on the furthest frontier of Italy, could not be the most important city of a kingdom that reached to the outermost limits of Sicil}'. In March, 1861, the Roman question was submitted to parliament, and on the 25th of the same month Cayour uttered these memorable words : — " The question of the capital, gentlemen, is not determined either by climatic, topographical or even strategic reasons ; if such as these had weight, it is certain that London would not be the capital of Great Britain, nor, perhaps, would Paris be that of France. The choice of a capital is influenced rather b}- great moral reasons, and it is popular feeling which decides such questions. Now Rome combines all the historical, intellectual and moral conditions which ought to hold sway in the capital of a great state ; she is the only one among the cities of Ital)' that has not exclusively municipal traditions ; her whole record. CAVOUR SEEKS TO CONVINCE CATHOLICS 28'/ from the time of the Caesars down to the present, is the history of a city whose importance infinitely transcends that of her own territory and is, therefore, pre-destined to be the capital of a great state. Convinced, nay, profoundly convinced as I am of this truth, I feel compelled to publish it to you, as well as to the nations, in the most solemn terms, and, under such circumstances, feel bound to appeal to the patriotism of all Italians and those who are the representatives of Italy's most illustrious cities. Therefore, let discussion on the subject be at an end, so that we ourselves, as well as those who have the honour of being our country's envoys to foreign Powers, may be able to declare to Europe : ' The necessity of making Rome the capital is recog- nised and proclaimed by the entire kingdom.' (Cheers.)." The debate on the Roman question lasted till the 27th of March : on that day, Cavour concluded his arguments thus : — " The Ministry has shown you that it hopes to solve the Roman question by convincing sincere Catholics that the Church's independence is not in the least prejudiced by amalgamating Rome with Italy ; that, if such a principle were admitted by the faithful themselves, agreement with France — who in this matter represents, and holds she ought to represent, Catholic society — would be facilitated ; that, if good Catholics were thus convinced, and agreement with France were established, we should have grounds for hoping that the Pontiff himself would recognise the soundness of our contention, but that, 20 290 THE ROMAN QUESTION if he did not do so, the responsibihty of what might afterwards happen would not rest with us. " It appears to me impossible to formulate in more precise terms this programme, of which an adequate resume has been made from the order of the day by the deputy, Buoncompagni. Nor, gentlemen, let it be said that I am deceiving myself. It appears to me that the question of the independence of the Sovereign Pontiff being made to hinge on the tem- poral power, is an error which can be mathematically demonstrated to good Catholics. With the latter we would thus reason : the temporal power is a guarantee of independence when it furnishes its possessor with arms and money to defend the same, but when these temporalities of a prince, instead of supplying him with arms and money, oblige him to go and beg both from other governments, it is evident that such a temporal power as this is an argument not for independence, but for absolute dependence. (Bravo !) The man who lives quietly at home, with no debts and no enemies, seems to me a thousand times more independent than the wealthy owner of vast possessions, who has provoked the resentment of his fellow-citizens and can only go out protected by bersaglieri and soldiers. (Bravo ! hear, hear !) Hence it appears to me we ought to reckon on the support of good Catholics in this matter. " It only remains to persuade the Pontiff himself that the Church can yet be independent, though deprived of her temporalities, and to him I think we ought to make some such representations as the lollowing : ' Holy Father, the temporal power is CAVOUR APPEALS TO THE PONT/EF 29 1 no longer a guarantee of your independence ; renounce it, and we will give you that liberty which, for three centuries, you have vainly sought from the great Catholic Powers, and of which you tried to snatch some vestige by means of concordats. By BETTING RICASOLI. these same concordats you, Holy Father, were obliged to concede — -in return for privileges, nay, less than privileges — the use of spiritual arms to secular governments who granted you some scanty measure of freedom : well, we are ready to offer n'ou, in all its fulness, that which you have never been able 292 THE ROMAN QUESTION to obtain from those who boasted, nevertheless, of being your allies and devout sons ; we are ready to proclaim this great principle throughout Italy : " A free Church in a free State ! " (Hear, hear !) " ' Your partisans among the faithful recognise, as we do, the existing state of affairs, that is to say, they see that the temporal power can no longer exist on its present footing. They suggest reforms to you which you, as Pontiff, are unable to carry out ; they propose the promulgation of laws based on principles which are at variance with the majority of those you are bound to defend. These friends of yours are always insisting on rebuking you for your obstinacy, but you maintain a stout resistance — and rightly so. We do not blame you when, to those who wish you to enforce 'conscription in the army, you answer that you will not impose compulsory celibacy on young men from the ages of twenty to twenty-five, that is to say, the age when the passions are strongest. We do not reproach you for objecting to a proclama- tion of religious liberty and educational freedom, for we comprehend your standpoint in the matter : you are bound to teach certain doctrines, hence, you cannot allow the right of teaching all kinds. It is impossible for you to accept the advice of your Catholic partisans, because they ask what is not in your power to give ; thus you are constrained to occupy an abnormal position as Father of the faith- ful and are now compelled either to keep the people under the yoke by the aid of foreign bayonets, or to assent to the principle of liberty and its consti- tutional and widespread application in the foremost PLEA FOR FREEDOM AV CHURCH AND STATE 293 of the Latin nations — in the country which is, more- over, the natural home of CathoHcism.' " In my opinion, gentlemen, it is impossible that such a proposition as this, made in all sincerity and loyalty, should meet with any but a favourable reception. . , . " In proof of the sincerity of our proposals, I would remind you that these are conformable to the whole of our system. We believe that the principle of liberty should dominate all phases of society, whether religious or civil ; we would have it in economics as well as in the administration ; we want full and absolute freedom of conscience ; we desire all the political liberty compatible with the mainte- nance of public order, and hence, as necessary con- sequences of such a condition of things, we believe it needful to the harmony of the edifice we are raising, that this principle be likewise applied to the relations of Church and State. (Hear, hear.) . . . "In time, this truth will be endorsed by public opinion, and although I am unable to prophesy when it will be thus accepted — for by time alone do opinions acquire irresistible force — I do not think I shall be far wrong in predicting that, in a century which has been invaded by the locomotive, it will not be long before these ideas are generally received. When that happens, as I have already said, the concert with France will be easy. " I hope that, given these two conditions, that is to say, Catholics having been convinced, and the concert with France accomplished, we may come to an under- standing with the Holy Father. I do not wish to 294 THE ROMAN QUESTION face the idea of such an agreement being impracticable, but I think that if we, on our part, offer no hind- rance to it, blame will not attach to us ; moreover, even supposing such agreement were not forthcoming, Rome could be united to Italy without fatal conse- quences, either to ourselves or to the Church. ..." The debate closed with the following motion — pro- posed by the deputy Buoncompagni — -being unani- mously carried : " The Chamber, having listened to the ministerial declarations, having ascertained that the dignity, decorum and independence of the Pontiff and the full liberty of the Church are secured, having agreed with France as to the application of the principle of non-intervention, and having desired that Rome, being chosen as the capital by universal suffrage, should be united to Italy, passes to the order of the day." After this, Cavour immediately proceeded to treat with Rome on the separation of the spiritual and temporal powers. But just at this time, an un- fortunate occurrence took place which was a source of keen vexation to the great minister. Whilst a discussion was going on as to the rank of the Garibaldian officers who had entered the regular army, some of the soldiers in question, imagining that the government did not justly estimate their services, incensed Garibaldi against Cavour, and stirred up afresh the memory of the former's bitter grievance occasioned by the cession of Nice to France. Garibaldi hastened to Turin and, in a painful scene in the Chamber, declared he would ne\'er shake hands with the man who had made him a foreigner ILLNESS A XD DEATH OE CAVOUR 295 in Italy. The King was much hurt at this dissension breaking out between his two most eminent subjects, and tried to bring about a reconcihation. Finally, the disputants shook hands in the Armoury, of the royal palace at Turin. We have an eloquent proof that this reconciliation had been a sincere one, in a letter written by Garibaldi to Cavour on the 1 8th of May, 1 86 1, which contains these words: "Trusting in your superior capacity and strength of will to work the country's good, I shall await the voice of happy omen that shall summon me once more to the field of action." But now the health of Cavour, worn out by the labours of these last years and by the prolonged mental strain they involved, began to fail. He was struck down by fever on the 29th of May, 1861 ; on the 2nd of June, he was up and at work all day, but in the evening had a relapse and, on the 6th of June, he died. Victor Emmanuel, who went in person to visit the great statesman on his death-bed, wished that his remains should repose in the Superga, near the resting- place of the members of the House of Savoy. It was a noble and kindly thought on the King's part, but Cavour had left instructions that his body should lie in the family grave in the village of Santena, near Chieri ; consequently, his wish was respected. Differences had often arisen between Victor Emmanuel and Cavour, but they were invariably made up, because both felt that concord in their relations was necessary to the country's welfare. Cavour always said that Ital>' could never have been united without Victor Emmanuel, but well did the latter understand 296 THE ROMAN QUESTION that the exceptionally intricate difficuhies of Pied- montese pohtics had never been surmounted except for the powerful genius of his renowned minister. Lord Palmerston spoke of Count Cavour as one "whose memory will live embalmed in the grateful recollection of his countrymen and in the admiration of mankind, so long as history records his deeds : " Lord Russell alluded to him " as a man destined to stand conspicuous in history," whilst Sir Robert Peel declared him to be " the most conspicuous statesman that ever directed the destinies of any nation on the Continent in the path of constitutional liberty." And the estimates of these three great Englishmen who had such an excellent grasp of politics, have been ratified by posterity : already an entire generation has passed, yet the name of Cavour, instead of being obscured, becomes daily more illustrious, and the work he achieved seems more and more wonderful. With Cavour's death, the most glorious chapters of the story of Italian unification are brought to a close. The ministers who, in turns, succeeded him — Ricasoli, Minghetti, Rattazzi, Farini, La Marmora, Lanza, &c. — proposed to continue his methods and traditions, but none of them could mount to the heights he had scaled, or even approach them. It is true that the disadvantages under which the new kingdom laboured were immense ; the four dynasties of Naples, Tuscany, Modena and Parma were all aiming at recovering lost thrones ; Austria, from the fortresses of the Quadrilateral, was watch- DIFFICULTIES IN NEW KINGDOM '. BRIGANDAGE 297 ing the growing nation with a suspicious eye and threatened invasion ; the thunderbolts of papal ex- communication were hurled against the lately-erected edifice, with intent to blast it ; Napoleon's policy of favouring Italian aspirations towards unity had been arrested by the clericalism which was now the para- mount influence in his viilieu, and, whilst nearly all the European Powers were mistrustful of Italy's resur- rection to an awakened life, the Garibaldian party was manifesting its impatience to wrest Rome from the Pope, and Venice from Austria. The populations of the various provinces, accustomed for centuries past to live divided, failed to amalgamate ; some of them, oppressed till now by tyrants who were the enemies of all progress, found themselves far in the rear of the march of civilisation ; the finances were exhausted ; the army was yet only in course of formation ; the administration was disorganised and as if that was not enough, brigands swarmed in the southern pro- vinces. Brigandage was the constant scourge of the south of Italy, in consequence of the feeble governments hitherto existing there, and now, between the dis- appearance of the ancient order and the establish- ment of the new, it rose again in all its evil strength and even assumed a political importance. The pro- scribed King, Francis II., who was then at Rome, sent arms and money as well as colonels' and generals' commissions to the most infamous malefactors, such as Cipriano La Gala, Crocco, Caruso and many others who infested the Abruzzi, the Basilicata and Calabria, Several thousand brigands rallied round these chiefs, 298 THE ROMAN QUESTION and in 1861, a band actually succeeded in taking possession of the little town of Melfi. A short time after, in September of the same year, Don Jose Borjes, a Spanish adventurer and an en- thusiast for the legitimist cause, thought to reinstate the Bourbon sovereignty in the Two Sicilies, and to this end, disembarked on the Calabrian coast, put himself at the head of the brigands and, with them, occupied many villages of Calabria and the Basilicata. His troops preceded him, devastating, sacking and mxurdering as they went, but their leader soon per- ceived the Bourbon cause was but ill-served by wretches only animated by a greed for rapine. He decided therefore to renounce such followers, but before he could do this, the brigands, after having despoiled him of all he possessed, deserted him. With nineteen companions, he tried to reach the frontier of the Papal States in order to let Francis H. know by what depraved villains his cause was supported, but falling into the hands of the Italian troops, he was shot before he could fulfil his purpose. However, brigandage did not cease with the death of Borjes, but rather de- veloped in ferocity, though it lost, by degrees, its political character. To extirpate it, the government had to employ both arms and money, and also to enact and enforce with inexorable rigour, terribly severe laws ; but in fulfilling these functions, inglorious and painful as they were, the Italian army gave magnificent proofs of patriotic devotion. Meantime, the 'party of action ' — so called because it wished to take bold measures for the occupation of Rome and Venice — was promoting an agitation and, URBANO RATTAZZI. 300 TilE ROMAS^ QUESTION in 1862, profiting" by the access to power of Urbane Rattazzi, a man of democratic tendencies, decided on initiating" the contest. Garibaldi himself organised armaments, but the government, iiitimidated by the attitude of Austria, was obliged to sequestrate a con- signment of arms at Sarnico and to arrest those who, in Brescia and Bergamo, were inciting the population to war. Just then, three hundred bishops, assembled at Rome from all parts of the world, presented a memorial to Pius IX., maintaining the necessity of upholding the temporal power. As if in response to this challenge, Garibaldi went into Sicily and to the cr)' of " Rome or death," began to enrol volun- teers. The government was seriousl}- embarrassed : Rome was still occupied b)' French soldiers, and Napoleon III., urged thereto b)' the clerical party, gave out that the entrance of Garibaldians into the Pontifical States would be considered b}- him as a declaration of war on the part of the Italian govern- ment. Rattazzi thus saw himself obliged to hinder any attempt that might be made b\' Garibaldi. The latter, with two thousand five hundred volunteers, arrived in Calabria from Catania, and took up a posi- tion on the heights of Aspromonte. There he found himself surrounded by a corps of hcrsaglieri, com- manded by Colonel Pallavicini. It was generally hoped among the Italians that no blood would be shed ; a few shots, however, were fired on either side, and Garibaldi was wounded (August 29, 1862). He was conducted to the fortress of Varignano, on the Gulf of Spezia, and being set a liberty a few months later, returned to Caprera. CAPITAL TRANSFERRED TO FLORENCE 3OI In the September of that year, there was a mass- meethig in London convened in Garibaldi's honour. British sympathies were cordially extended towards Italy, and Garibaldi, under the pretext of consulting celebrated English surgeons about his wound, started for London in March, 1864. He hoped, in reality, to induce the British government to concede him sup- port, as well as money, to carry on a war against Austria. All classes of society rivalled one another in showing their admiration ; never had Londoners received any guest with such intense and universal demonstrations of enthusiasm (April 11, 1864), but the government, although distinctly manifesting its good will, managed to divest this visit of any political character. All this time, the question of the capital had daily become a more pressing one ; even Napoleon saw that he must soothe the feelings of the Italians who fiercely resented the presence of French troops in Rome, and to this end, induced the minister, Minghetti, to assent to a convention, on September 15, 1864. By this argument France promised to withdraw her troops from Rome, but the Italian government was compelled to respect, and ensure respect for the frontier of the Papal States, and as a pledge that it had re- nounced the idea of making Rome the capital, the latter was to be transferred from Turin to Florence. Those Turinese, who in 1860-61 had loudly ap- plauded Cavour's plea for making Rome the capital, were much chagrined at the idea of the Savoy eagle abandoning the shores of the Po, to settle, not on the banks of the Tiber, but on those of the Arno. Riots 302 THE ROM 4 A QUESTION even, inimical to the ministry, broke out in Turin, and blood was shed. But, notwithstanding, the capital was transferred to Florence in 1865 — a year that happened to be the sixth centenary of the birth of Dante, when from all parts of the country, spon- taneous homage was offered to the birthplace of Italy's most illustrious poet. XVII THE "WAR OF 1 866 From the beginning of 1861, Cavour had meditated an alHance with Prussia. When, on the accession of King William, General Alfonso La Marmora had been sent to congratulate the latter, he was instructed to represent to the Prussian government that, " in view of the analogy existing between the historical traditions of Prussia and Piedmont, Italians were wont to regard the former as a natural ally " — words which were to bear fruit in the future, although the time was not then ripe. When the first signs of enmity began to arise between Prussia and Austria, La Marmora happened to be at the head of the Italian ministry, and, at the instance of Bismarck, gladly carried this formerly- made suggestion into effect. Thus it was that, on the 8th of x\pril, 1866, a secret treaty was signed at Berlin, by which Prussia and Italy bound themselves to give reciprocal aid in an offensive and defensive war against Austria. The last- named power, seeing herself menaced on both sides, offered, through the mediation of Napoleon III., to cede Venetia to Italy, if the latter would abandon 304 THE WAR OF 1 866 the Prussian alliance, but Victor Emmanuel, always loyal to his promises, refused to accept such terms. On the 20th of June, war was declared against Austria. The command of the Italian army was vested in the King who chose General Alfonso La Marmora as the head of his staff, whilst to Garibaldi he entrusted the leadership of the numerous volunteers assembled from all parts. The King cherished the enterprising notion of sending Garibaldi to the Dal- matian coast where the valiant general might have successfully stirred up the people, and, by marching in the direction of Vienna, would have compelled a great part of the Austrian troops to have met him. Garibaldi was enthusiastic for this plan, but it was not followed, because in Victor Emmanuel's entourage, it was feared that the popular hero might thus acquire too much prestige, so the volunteers were consequently only despatched to the mountains of Tyrol. The Italian army, including the Garibaldians, con- tained mobilised forces to the number of more than two hundred and twenty thousand men, the greater part of whom were concentrated on the banks of the Mincio ; but a strong body, commanded by General Cialdini, was massed in the province of Ferrara, on the lower Po. The Austrian army was inferior in numbers, and comprised about one hundred and fifty thousand men, but it had the advantage of a strong position in the fortresses of the Quadrilateral, and was commanded by the Archduke Albert, Ai'AA. ^1 i',»i y/}y- ALFONSO LA MARMORA. 306 THE WAR OF 1 866 On the 23rd of June, the Itahans crossed the Mincio ; on the 24th they encountered the Austrian soldiers on those same heights of Custoza which had been so fatal to the Piedmontese forces in 1848. The battle was stoutly and valiantly waged, but through lack of skilful direction, hardly a third of the Italian army assembled on the Mincio, was enabled to fight. La Marmora gave proof of much personal courage by galloping through the hottest of the fight, and him- self leading the various divisions to take up their positions, but he also displayed, at this crisis, his lack of the qualifications necessary to a commander-in-chief. The heroism of individual companies, acting con- fusedly and without unity of direction, as well as the valour of the King's two sons, the Princes Humbert and Amedeo — who received their baptism of fire in this campaign — all availed nothing : the Italian army, after a terrible struggle, had to beat a retreat and re-cross the Mincio. After the certain expectation of victory that had been cherished in Italy, the news of this engagement appeared a twofold disaster ; the losses of the army were greatly exaggerated, and terrible discouragement prevailed. Happily, affairs went better in Germany : on the 3rd of July, Prussia dispersed the Austrian army at Sadowa. Then Austria, desirous of recalling her troops from Italy to defend her now apparently threatened capital, renewed her proposals — again through Napoleon — to cede Venice to Victor Emmanuel, but this time also, the King refused what seemed to all, a humiliating agreement. Hence it was decided on rigidly maintaining the PERSAXO : ATTACK OX LISSA 307 offensive, and General Cialdini received orders to cross the Po and make his way into Venetia, whilst a great part of the Austrian troops had now left for Vienna. The Italian advance, therefore, was made comparatively easy ; by the 20th of July, Cialdini had reached the Piave. At the same time. Gari- baldi at the head of his volunteers, marched into the Trentino, overcame a desperate resistance at Bezzecca, and arrived within a few miles of the city of Trent itself The Italians trusted implicitly in the strength of their fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, a man who had won a reputation far in excess of his deserts. During the first days of the war, he had remained absolutely inactive in the harbour of Ancona, whilst the Austrian admiral, Teghetoff, had displayed great audacity and resolution by boldly challenging his opponent to give battle. Finally, indignant public opinion coerced the government to give Persano orders to act at once on the offensive, or else to resign his command. On the i6th of July, Persano weighed anchor at Ancona and proceeded to attack the island of Lissa ; the assault was still being carried on when, on the 20th of July, the Austrian fleet appeared and at once engaged the Italian vessels. At this juncture, Persano left the flagship, the Re d' Italia, for the Affondatore which he kept out of the line of battle — an unpardonable act which being unknown, moreover, to the rest of the fleet, resulted in the latter being without any leadership whatever. In the meantime, Teghetoff, from his admiral's \essel, was directing an assault on the Re d'ltalia 308 THE WAR OF 1 866 which suddenly sank with its commander, Faa Di Bruno, and six hundred men, of whom hardly a third were saved. Another Italian gunboat, the Paiestro, took fire, and Alfredo Cappellini who was in com- mand, seeing that a powder explosion was inevitable, had the wounded lowered on to other vessels, but ALFREDO CAPPELLINI. himself refused to quit his post ; a short time after, he and his three hundred sailors, to the cry of " Italy for ever ! " were blown into the air. The Austrian fleet thereupon retired in good order, without being molested by Persano who withdrew to Ancona The disaster at Lissa was a cruel blow to the Italians who had been so convinced of the superiority CESS /ON OF VENETIA TO ITALY 309 of their own fleet to the Austrian. Admiral Persano, at first charged with treason, was afterwards deprived of his command for incapacity and neghgence. On the 22nd of July, Prussia concluded an armistice with Austria, without any preconcerted agreement thereon with Italy. Acutely anxious times were these for the Italian government ; for it well knew that Austrian forces, emboldened by their lately gained victories, might at any moment swoop down upon the peninsula. But necessity dictated an immediate suspension of arms which led to the armistice of Cormons (August 12th), and, ultimately, to the peace of Prague. By the terms of the latter, Austria ceded Venetia to Napoleon III. who made it over to Victor Emmanuel, after a local plebiscite had proved the inhabitants of that province unanimously in favour of annexation to the kingdom of Italy. At Vienna, a treaty relating more particularly to various Italian and Austrian interests, was concluded, and now it was that the Emperor of Austria restored to Italy her famous 'iron crown' which, in 1859, had been taken from Monza to Vienna. Certainly, the method by which Venetia had been acquired, was a humbling reflection for Italians, but when, on the 7th of November, 1 866, Victor Emmanuel made his entry into the beautiful city of the sea, as splendid in her festal adornment as in the glorious days of her prosperity, such reflections were forgotten in the absolute thrill of exultation that her people felt at being free from the foreigners' yoke, whilst they raised the joyful cry of " Italy for ever ! Long live the Kino; ! " XVIII ROME THE CAPITAL The Roman question still awaited solution. Napoleon III., in pursuance of the convention of 1864, had, by degrees, withdrawn his troops from Rome : thus, by the end of 1 866, the seventeen years of foreign occupation were at an end. The Pontifical government now found itself face to face alone with its subjects. Thereupon, whilst some secret societies in Rome were seeking to foment an insurrection, the 'party of action ' determined to interfere, and with the greater readiness, since Urbano Rattazzi was again at the head of the Italian ministry. Garibaldi traversed several provinces of the kingdom to incite the citizens to war. By September, 1867, the pre- parations for the rising were well matured, but on the 23rd of that month, the Italian government who, up till then had allowed them to go forward, was sufficiently influenced by the attitude of Napoleon III., now posing as the defender of the Pope, to have Garibaldi arrested and sent to Caprera where his movements were watched b)' four vessels. Notwithstanding the absence of Garibaldi, however, EXPEDITION OF CAIROLI BROTHERS 3II bands of volunteers were organised and marched into the Pontifical States. On the evening of the 22nd of October, an abortive attempt at revolt was made in Rome by Monti and Tognetti, two masons, who tried by means of a mine, to blow up the Serristori barracks, whilst a hundred young men took posses- sion of Porta San Paolo ; but this movement had scarcely broken out before it was quenched in blood. Hoping to find the city still in insurrection, the brothers Enrico and Giovanni Cairoli, with seventy followers, passed the frontier of the Papal States, to hasten to the aid of the insurgents : they descended the Tiber to within two miles of Rome, and there took up a position on the Monte Parioli, near a villa called Glori, in expectation of receiving news of the rising. They were surprised instead by a strong body of the papal police, and a hand-to-hand struggle rather than a battle ensued wherein seventy in all fell dead or wounded. Enrico Cairoli died on the spot : Giovanni, after receiving serious wounds, was made prisoner, but obtained his liberty through the mediation of an English bishop, only to drag out, for little more than another year, an existence full of suffering, caused by the wounds he had sustained. Thus, this valiant family, of which one had already fallen gloriously at Varese in the campaign of 1859, and another had died in Sicily of exhaustion during the toilsome march of 'the Thousand,' now yielded a fresh contingent to the band of Italian martyrs in the cause of freedom. A few days later, the papal troops surrounded a factory in the Trastevere quarter of Rome, wherein several patriots \\crc engaged in 312 • ROME THE CAPITAL making cartridges. The besieged retorted on their assailants by fusillades and bombs, but were van- quished and in great part massacred. Among the dead was Giuditta Tavani-i\rquati who, in spite of her sex, had courageously assisted in the defence. Napoleon III., indignant at the aspect events had assumed in Italy, prepared a fleet at Toulon to go to the aid of the Pontiff: such a step was all the more promptly taken, seeing that Garibaldi had effected his escape from Caprera. On the night of the i6th ol October, the veteran hero had put out alone in a small boat, managed to evade the surveillance of the watchful crews, and had reached Maddalena whence he made for Tuscany. Meantime, Rattazzi, feeling himself incapable of coping with the existing state of affairs, resigned. During this ministerial crisis, no one had the courage to take decisive steps, and thus the Garibaldian movement made progress. Garibaldi, having arrived at Florence, publicly incited the population to war, and then went to put himself at the head of the armed bands already assembled. Having passed the frontier, he encountered and defeated the papal troops at Monterotondo, on the 26th of October. But although a French division had disembarked at Civita-Vecchia, Garibaldi pre- vailed on his men to continue the struggle. On the 3rd of November, there was another engagement at Mentana, where at first the old hero succeeded in routing the papal troops, but in the rear came the French soldiers. The volunteers, armed with bad muskets, could not hold out for long against the chassepots of the French, which, according to the ESTRANGEiMENT BETWEEN ITALY AND FRANCE 313 opinion expressed in such mal-apropos terms by General De Failly, the commander of the expedi- tion, " worked wonders." Garibaldi, having retreated, disbanded his men, and, re-crossing the frontier, was once more sent back to Caprera by order of the Italian government. Thus failed the Garibaldian expedition of 1867. As if to emphasise the estrangement which these events produced between Italy and France, Rouher, the president of the French ministry, uttered the following words in the Chamber : " In the name of the French Government, we declare that Italy shall never take possession of Rome ; never will France tolerate such violence done to her honour and to Catholicism. If Italy marches on Rome, she will again find France blocking the way." However, the thoughts of all Italians were now fixed on Rome, and even in the December of that same year (1867), Giovanni Lanza, on assuming the office of speaker in the Chamber, announced " that all unanimously desired the accomplishment of the national unity," and that " Rome, through the very nature of things and the exigencies of the times, must, sooner or later, be the capital of Italy." Later on, when the growing animosity be- tween France and Prussia had caused Napoleon III. to desire a more close alliance with Italy and Austria, the government of the former stipulated, as a condition of such an alliance, that Rome should be evacuated by the French troops who 314 ROME THE CAPITAL had returned there in 1867. Napoleon, still swayed b\' the clerical party, would not hear of this, so the plan fell through. After the first defeat sustained by the French in 1870, Napoleon asked help from Victor Emmanuel, without fixing any terms whatever. The King would gladly have gone to the assistance of his old ally of 1859, but public opinion in Italy was unfavourable to Napoleon III. ; besides, the Italians, although they had fought side by side with the French, in '59, had been allies of the Prussians in '66. Thus it was that, on the night of the 6th-7th of August, the council of ministers voted for neutrality. On the 24th of August, Prince Napoleon, the King's son-in-law, arrived in Florence to beg for the support of Italy, leaving the latter free to solve the Roman question as she would, but it was now too late. When, after the disaster of Sedan, the Parisian population rose and proclaimed the Republic, the Italian government felt itself absolved from the observance of the agreement made with the French Emperor in 1864 ; hence, the question of intervention in the Papal States could now be debated. Victor Emmanuel wrote a letter to Pius IX., in which he implored him, with filial affection, to consider the state of Italy and to renounce the temporal power, but the Pontiff replied that only violence would compel him to do the latter. On the 19th of September, the Italian troops, under General Raffaele Cadorna, arrived at the gates of Rome; on the 20th, after a short encounter at Porta Pia, they made a breach in the walls. Pius IX., who had merely wished to demonstrate the employ- J'ICTOR EMMANUEL'S SPEECH 315 ment of armed force by the government, then gave orders to his soldiers to withdraw. Thus was effected one of the most important facts in modern history — the abohtion of that temporal power which, originally given by Pepin, had lasted for eleven centuries and had always hindered the unification of Italy. On the occasion of the opening of the new parlia- ment in Florence, on the 5th of December, 1870, Victor Emmanuel could, with just pride, exclaim : "With Rome as the capital of Italy, I have fulfilled my promise and crowned the enterprise that, twenty- three years ago, was initiated under the auspices of my magnanimous father. Both as a monarch and as a son, my heart thrills with a solemn joy as I salute all the representatives of our beloved country, gathered here together for the first time, and pro- nounce the words : ' Italy is free and united, it only depends on us to make her great and happy.' " The Italian parliament, before transferring its sessions to Rome, passed a law — known as the ' Law of Guarantees ' — by which the Pope was ensured the enjoyment of all his prerogatives and honours as a sovereign, was awarded the palaces of the Vatican and the Lateran, as well as the villa of Castel Gandolfo— all exempt from any tax or duty — and was assigned an annual income of three million two hundred and twenty-five thousand Italian lire. The Pontiff refused to recognise this law or to accept the allowance, and still persisted in maintaining his unavailing protest against the Italian government. On the 2nd of July, 1871, Victor lunmanuel entered Rome in state, and took up his abode in the palace 3i6 ROME THE CAPITAL of the Ouirinal — uttering the famous words : " We are at Rome and here we remain." The Chamber of Deputies monopohsed for its sittings the Monteci- torio palace, whilst the Senate took possession of the Madama palace — so called from Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Charles V., who formerly lived there. XIX ITALY AFTER 1870 Italy, now finally made a nation, could turn all her resources to the development of interior progress. There was indeed much to be done, especially in Southern Italy and in Sicily, where the wretched systems of government had never aimed at pro- moting the welfare of the population. As an example, it will suffice to mention that, in 1859, the railroads in Piedmont and Liguria extended a distance of seven hundred and forty- four, in Lom- bardy, one hundred and eighty-four, and in Tuscany, two hundred and eighty-four miles ; in the Neapolitan provinces — an area corresponding to all the above- named districts taken together — they only covered one hundred and fourteen miles ; whilst in Sicily, whose area is as large as that of Piedmont, none whatever existed. Similar observations would tell with regard to the ordinary roads, postal and tele- graphic services, &c. : in Lower Italy, such a thing as trade hardly existed ; there were scarcely any industries to speak of and agriculture itself was much neglected, whilst as far as public education 3iS INTERXAL PROGRESS 319 was concerned, the prominent fact connected with it was an absolute ignorance of reading. Hence, those provinces had to be raised to the level of others, and every effort had to be made in order to keep up with the most civilised European nations : in this respect, it is only just to add that much has been alread)' done. As far back as 1871, five thousand eight hundred and eighty-six miles of railway lines had been laid, whose construction often involved the surmounting of great natural difficulties ; in this field, Italians had already highly distinguished themselves, considering that the year 1871 saw the completion of the Mont Cenis tunnel — the longest up till that time made, i.e., eleven miles.^ Many ordinary roads too were made; commerce received a remarkable impulse ; industries began to develop ; above all, schools were established. Naturally these internal improvements and the ex- penses incurred during the late wars had exhausted the finances of the state which had to exact heavy sacrifices from the taxpa}^ers, and here it is but just to recall the name of the minister, Quintino Sella, who chaillenged unpopularity for the sake of bettering the condition of the national exchequer. * Meanwhile, the generation which had accomplished the great work of the unification of Italy was gradually disappearing from the scene of its earthly ' The St. Gothard tunnel through the Alps was constructed later ; it is nine and a quarter miles long : the works for the construction of the Simplon tunnel which will be more than seventeen miles in lengt'.i, are already on foot. 320 ITALY AFTER 187O labours. On the loth of March, 1872, Giuseppe Mazzini, the man who had devoted his whole soul to forwarding the Italian revolution, died at Pisa. The fact that he had disapproved of the monarchical form assumed by the constitution, did not prevent him being justly venerated by all Italians as the first and most ardent champion of the unity and independence of their country. His remains rest in the Canipo Santo of his native Genoa. Among the deaths that occurred during these years must also be recorded that of Urbano Rattazzi who might have been called the head of the parlia- mentary party known as the ' Left,' otherwise the progressive. After Cavour's death, the power had nearly always been vested in the hands of the ' Right,' that is to say, with the conservatives, but through always having been the party of the government, it even- tually acquired decided unpopularity. The blunders made by its supporters and the excessive short- sightedness of their fiscal policy, provoked keen discontent throughout the country, so that in the very year in which, after long efforts, a balance was finally effected in the exchequer, the opposition was in the majority. On the 18th of March, 1876, the ministry, headed by Minghetti, resigned, and with the latter, the policy of the ' Right ' ceased to hold sway. Victor Emmanuel, as a good constitutional king, entrusted Agostino Depretis — then the leader of the 'Left' — with the formation of a new ministry. This statesman, in a speech made a little before, at the college of Stradella, had traced out the main lines of the new DEATH OF VICTOR EMMANUEL AND PIUS IX. 32 1 policy to be inaugurated ; it comprised the extension of the electoral franchise, the abolition of the grist- tax, reforms in communal and provincial legislation, as well as compulsory and free education, &c. The general election which took place soon after gave the ' Left ' an overwhelming majority, but innova- tions were gradually introduced and all violent upheavals were avoided. On the 5th of January, 1878, General Alfonso La Marmora died at Florence, and four days later, Victor Emmanuel — that valiant and loyal monarch who had, so to speak, personified the glory of the Italian Risorgimento — breathed his last at Rome after a short illness. Never were more imposing funeral obsequies rendered by a people to their ruler than those now celebrated in honour of the deceased king. He was buried at Rome, in the Pantheon — one of the few antique edifices preserved nearly intact until the present day — and over his tomb is the inscription : ' To the Father of his Country.' Victor Emmanuel was succeeded by his eldest son, Humbert I., then thirty-four years of age — ^married, ten years previously, to his cousin, Margherita, daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa — who, on assuming power, declared that his one ambition was to follo\\' worthily in his father's footsteps. A month afterwards, on the 7th of February, 1878, died Pope Pius IX. who had not only furthered the Italian cause by supporting the national movement at the outset, but, by his subsequent withdrawal from it and obstinate refusal to compromise, had materially paved the wa\' for accomplishing Italian unit)- which 22 322 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 thus iiu'oh'ctl in its consummation no concessions to the Pontiff other than those affecting; the spiritual rights of the Church. Directly after the death of Tins IX. a conclave was held at Rome — now the capital of Ital}' — which will be ever memorable in the history of the Church for the absolutel)' complete liberty with which its func- tions proceeded ; it was quite the largest that had ever taken place : sixty-one cardinals were present, three alone being absent on this occasion. In only thirty-six hours, with marvellous unanimit)' and independcnth' of all difficulties involved by secular considerations, the man deemed most fitted to govern the Church — Cardinal Gioachino Pecci, then sixty- eight }'ears old, was elected to the papac)-. He assumed the title of Leo XIII. and continued, though with much greater intellect and ability, to pursue the polic}' of his predecessor. This s\'stema- tised opposition to the kingdom of Italy has often created serious embarrassments through the confusion thus wrt)ught in the consciences of many of the faithful, by the clashing" of the political interests of the papacy with their religious convictions. The standing quarrel between the kingdom of Italy and the Pontiff contributed to intensify the opposition of France who, after 1 870, had never ceased to evince her ill-feeling against ltal\- for the latter's failure to support her in the war against Germany. The Italian go\'ernment had sought to maintain friendly relations with all the Powers, without allying itself with any, but at the Berlin Congress of 1878, it had an opportun-it\' of verif)'ing the evil ct)nscc[uences of DEATH OF GARlIiALDI : liULOGY OF CARDUCCI 323 this isolation. Italy had hoped, indeed, that Austria, on occupying Bosnia and Herzegovina, would have renounced her claims to the Trentino, one of the Italian provinces still subject to Austria, but these anticipations nmv proved futile. Later, the I'^'cnch occupied Tunis, a regi(jn regarding which Italy also had views. On the estrangement between the two Latin nations becoming more pronounced, the Italian government made (overtures to Germany who, in her turn, drew Austria into the league, and thus was formed that Trijjle Alliance which, cemented in 1882, was renewed in '87, '91 and '96, anfl still exists. Italy, in the meantime, had hjst her greatest hero : on the 2nd of June, 1882, Giuseppe Garibaldi, the most popular man of his time, died in his hermit-island of Caprera. " The gloritjus apparition," said Giosue Carducci, one of the most eminent Italian writers of to-day, in a speech made at Bologna, " the glorious apparition revealed to our childh(jod, the epopee of our youth, the vision of the ideal vouchsafed to our maturer years, has disappeared for ever, and the best part of our life is at an end. That blond, lion- like head, glorious as an archangel's, which, as it flashed along the shores of the Lombard lakes or under the Aurelian walls, recalled the old Roman triumphs, and struck fear and dismay into the heart of the enemy, now lies cold and motionless on a bed of death. That noble right hand which guided the helm of the Piemonte through Sicilian waters to fresh Italian victories, and, in its invincible might, struck down the enemy at Calatafimi with the steadfast valour of a paladin, is now lifeless. Eternally closed are those 324 ITALY AFTER 187O eyes which sighted Palermo from the mountains of Gibibrossa — the eyes of the hero who estabhshed victory at Capua and made Italy one. The voice which rang out so clearly at Varese and at Santa Maria with the cry, ' On, on, my sons, on with the butt-ends of your muskets ! ' and from the conquered rocks of the Trentino, answered, ' I obey,' is for ever dumb. No longer beats that noble heart which neither despaired at Aspromonte nor broke at Men- tana, for Giuseppe Garibaldi has yielded to the fate which overtakes us all." * * * The various ministries of the ' Left ' which suc- ceeded one another after 1876, established compulsory elementary education, abolished the grist-tax, and reformed electoral legislation by granting a great extension of the franchise. The establishment of these reforms tended to minimise the differences between the two parties of ' Right ' and ' Left,' and Depretis, in order to keep himself in power, favoured the so-called Trasforniismo party, thus getting a majority of all shades of opinion which, not being committed to a formal programme that would have held it together, initiated a rapid decline in political morals. At the same time, in order to satisfy all the small local interests which had now become the sole guide of parliamentary policy, a perfect mania was developed for expending money on public works, especially on railways. LTnfortunately, this 'fad' coincided with the increased outlay on armaments — necessitated by Italy's more active participation in MARCO MINGHETTI. 326 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 European affairs — so that hardly ten years after a balance had been effected in the exchequer, a deficit was manifest, whilst to make matters worse came the additional expense of a colonial war. Since 1870, the Rubattino Navigation Company had established in the bay of Assab, on the Red Sea, a coaling-station for their steamers, which, ten years later, they ceded to the Italian government. The latter took possession of this roadstead without any primary intention of annexation or self-aggrandise- ment, but later let itself be carried away by the tendency — now^ so widespread throughout Europe — to colonial development, and early in 1885, with the idea of pleasing and perhaps of assisting England, then planning the conquest of the Soudan, sent troops to occupy Massowah. Frustrated in their design of aiding the English expedition, by the fall of Khartoum and the Mahdist victory, the Italian con- tingent now set about establishing friendly relations with John, the Negus of Abyssinia, in the hope of attracting the commerce of the interior to the port of Massowah, but failed nevertheless to propitiate that suspicious prince. One of the Abyssinian chiefs, Ras Alula, with an enormous army, now repaired to Dogali where he surprised and sur- rounded a column of five hundred Italians who, after fighting for eight hours, using all their am- munition and killing a great number of the enemy, were nearly all massacred (January 26, 1887). Preparations were then made on both sides for war. Having delayed operations till a favourable time of year (January, 1888), the A^egi/s arrived with a large CJ?/SP/'S COLONIAL POLICY 327 army in sight of the fortresses occupied by the Itahan troops, but fearing to give battle, retired. Meantime, MeneHk, king of Shoa, one of his vassals, had rebelled against the Negus who was thus threatened on both sides, and it was while fight- ing this new enemy that he received the wound from which he soon after died (March, 1889). There were several pretenders to the Abyssinian crown, and for some time the country was a prey to civil war. The Italian government, headed by Francesco Crispi — who had succeeded Depretis on the latter's death in 1887, thought to profit by this state of affairs, and whilst it extended its possessions in the highlands, by occupying Keren and Asmara, allied itself with Menelik who, to triumph the easier over his rivals, made them the most ample promises. It seemed as if an era of prosperity might now be dawning for the new colony, to which Crispi gave the name of Erythrea. At the same time, an Italian protectorate was established over a vast zone of the Somali peninsula. Swayed by the now generally-felt enthusiasm, Crispi fondly imagined that he had laid the basis of a glorious future for Italy's colonial ambitions. But that year of 1889 presented a terrible deficit in the country's finances — amounting, in fact, to more than two hundred million lire. To rectify it, new taxes, little relished by the country, had to be levied, espe- cially as, owing to the impossibility of renewing the commercial treaty with France who was piqued by the too Germanophile policy of Crispi, one of the 328 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 principal cmtlets for the export of Italian products was now closed. Besides, the system of excessive and fruitless expenditure initiated by the state, had unhappily been adopted by the communes and provinces, and brought about a serious economic crisis. In January, 1891, Crispi fell from power, and was first succeeded by the Marquis Di Rudini and afterwards by Giolitti, who both managed by the pursuit of a more prudent policy, to reduce some- what the deficit. Meanwhile, the news from Africa was anything but satisfactory. Menelik had no sooner ensured the sub- mission of all Abyssinia, than he gave out that he had no intention of recognising the Italian protectorate. The dervishes also were a fresh source of annoyance ; they had been irritated by the Italian advance and, in the December of 1893, attacked the fort of Agordat, but were defeated, leaving a thousand of their dead and seventy-two standards behind them on the field. At this juncture, Crispi returned to the head of the government, and after suppressing the Sicilian risings which had broken out from purely economic causes a little while before, urged General Baratieri, governor of Erythrea, to further action in Abyssinia. Baratieri, in consequence, organised an advance against the dervishes, and in the July of '94, succeeded in expelling them from Kassala and in mastering this most important position which effectually secured the safety of the Italian colony on that side. In the meantime, the strained diplomatic relations between Italy and Abyssinia had resolved themselves into an open rupture. In view of the suspicious attitude 330 ITALY AFTER 187O assumed by Ras Mangascia in the Tigre, Baratieri thought it well to anticipate the Abyssinian leader's movements and succeeded, by forced marches, in surprising and defeating him at Coatit and Senafeh in January, 1895, and hence was enabled without much opposition, to occupy all the Tigre. However, that this was only the beginning of the war, was hardly realised by the Italians. Ras Man- gascia implored the intervention of Menelik who managed to carry all Abyssinia with him in this struggle against Italy. Biding his time till the season was favourable, the Negus advanced with an army of more than one hundred thousand men, against whom the governor of Erythrea, insufficiently equipped, could only oppose a few thousand troops. This poverty of Italian resources was, in a great measure, due to the carelessness of the Ministry at home who lacked proper information in the matter, and pursued a bold policy of expansion without saying anything to the country or asking parlia- ment for the necessary means to prosecute it. Baratieri, flattered on all sides for his preceding victories, grew, at last, quite accustomed to a posi- tion that was, in reality, bristling with dangers. On the 7th of December, 1895, Major Toselli, at the head of only two thousand men, was attacked at Amba-Alagi by a numerous host of the enemy, and, after a long and heroic resistance, was, with the greater part of his men, killed. The Abyssinians now advanced and surrounded the fort of Makaleh whose small garrison, under Major Galliano, maintained a gallant defence for nearly MAKALEH CAPITULATES l BATTLE OF ADOWA 331 a month, for General Baratieri found it impossible to venture on their relief The besieged, reduced to extremity through lack of water — the nearest supplies having fallen into the enemy's hands — had hero- ically decided to blow up the fort and fight their way through the Ab}'ssinian ranks, when Menelik, impressed by their bold resistance or by the memory of the heavy losses he had lately sustained, sent word to Baratieri that he would readily allow the garrison of Makaleh to march out with the honours of war, so they might rejoin the rest of the Italian troops con- centrated at Adigrat. It was under such conditions that, on the 26th of January, 1896, Makaleh capitu- lated. During this time, reinforcements had arrived from Italy, but the lack of proper commissariat organisation increased the difficulty of providing for the needs of the soldiers among those arid mountains so far from the coast. General Baratieri continued to act on the defensive, contenting himself, however, with preserving a vigilant attitude in face of the Abyssinians who, leaving Adigrat, now took the direction of Adowa. But eventually, impressed by the emphatic representa- tions of the Ministry — which desired to satisfy public opinion by reprisals — and judging that an advance would probably decide the foe either to attack the Italians in their entrenched positions or to retreat, Baratieri, on the ist of March, 1896, led his fourteen thousand men into action. The Abyssinians were encamped in the environs of Adowa. Either through their opponents' ignorance of the ground, or through the unmeasured impetuosity 332 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 of the first column, the wings of the Italian army divided, and the vanguard, instead of assuming a position wherein to wait the assault of the enemy, advanced as far as the latter's camp itself. The Ab3^ssinian troops, far outnumbering their anta- gonists, easily routed the first Italian column before the second could appear on the scene, and afterwards defeated, in turn, the second and third bodies of troops as they came up. Nearly a third of the Italian army was killed in this engagement — among the dead were Generals Dabormida and Arimondi as well as Galliano, the gallant defender of Makaleh, who had, just before, been promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy for distinguished merit — whilst another third, which in- cluded General Albertone, was taken prisoner. In spite of his victory, Menelik dared not advance further, and General Baldissera, who had just arrived at Massowah to supplant Baratieri ^ in the supreme command, proved himself apt in re-organising the troops of the colony and in minimising the con- sequences of the defeat. The news of the disaster at Adowa provoked keen indignation among the Italian people who, not unreasonably, accused the government of having failed, through want of knowledge, in the manage- ment of a difficult undertaking, and this feeling was generally approved by the nation. On the 5th of March, 1896, the Crispi ministry fell, without so much as venturing to challenge a vote of the Chamber. ' Although General Baratieri was tried by court-martial for his part in the affair, he was acquitted. PEACE-TREATY CONCLUDED l BANK-SCANDALS 333 Its colonial policy had never been popular in Italy, for the country was not rich enough to cope adequately with such undertakings, and the terri- tory to be annexed promised no great resources. The unfortunate issue of the African campaign went to prove that the nation at large had more good sense in this matter than the government which now had been much discredited in public opinion. The new ministry, directed by the Marquis Di Rudini, openly declared its desire to abandon Crispi's colonial policy, and set on foot negotiations for peace as well as for the release of the Italian prisoners in Abyssinia. After long and wearisome discussions, the captives were liberated, and a peace treaty was concluded, by which Italy renounced her claim to the Tigre and confined herself to the territory bounded on the south by the Mareb-Belesa-Muna line. Later, the fortress of Kassala was ceded by the Italian government to the English, as useful to the latter for their Soudanese expedition. For some time past the state of internal affairs in Italy had been such as to warrant much popular discontent. Serious abuses had been discovered in the administration of some of the principal banks — especially in the Roman Bank — and evidence had come to light of the excessive favouritism shown to many politicians. Thence had arisen prosecutions which had served to convince the general public of the corruption that existed in certain political spheres, and although these trials 334 ITALY AFTER 1 87O had ended in acquittals, they hardly served to allay the disgust generally felt. Felice Cavallotti, the leader of the extreme ' Left,' had carried on, by means of his speeches in parliament and his published writings on the subject, a regular campaign on this so-called ' moral question,' and had attempted, at the same time, to bring about the downfall of Crispi who was then in power. As we have seen, the Crispi ministry actually fell, owing to the turn taken by African affairs, but all that had been said and written on the bank-scandals had created such an unpleasant impression on the public, that the extreme parties in the state — the repub- licans and socialists on the one hand and the clericals on the other — found ample opportunity for their propagandist designs. Whilst the Hberals — who had been in power for so long and were flattering themselves, perhaps, that they were to stay there for ever — abandoned themselves to the most absolute inertia, the clericals and socialists alike displayed a political activity truly marvellous. At such a crisis, embittered by the universal dis- content provoked by the African campaign and the bank-scandals, came the rise in the price of bread — owing to the Hispano-xA.merican war. In some provinces of Southern Italy where, owing to specially aggravating conditions in the past, the hardships of the people are undoubted, the prevailing distress caused riots to break out, as they had done a few years before in Sicily. This time, owing to the political reasons mentioned above, the movement found an echo in Upper Italy, and especially at Milan where the extreme parties were carrying on an TURIN ExiiiBirio\ : cEXSus o/' 1881 335 active propaganda. The rising was promptly sup- pressed (May, 1898), but the nation at large was much grieved at seeing this attempt to destroy the great work of Italian unity that, only a few years before, had been achieved by such sacrifices. Happily, a cheering distraction to these sad thoughts was now afforded by the splendid spectacle offered by the Turin Exhibition. The vigorous Piedmontese city — which instead of giving way to depression when reft of its proud position as capital, had but steadily increased its prosperity by centring its powers in the development of trade and industry — now invited Italians to celebrate the jubilee of the Statute by an industrial exhibition. For six months (May-October, 1898), crowds of visitors were at- tracted by the exhibits which amply showed the magnificent progress achieved by Italy during the last half-century, and served, likewise, to demon- strate how great were the improvements made, how enormous the advantages gained, not only by the acquisition of freedom, but by concentrated, steady and serious application to work. Thus, that city which had been the cradle of the Italian Risorgimento was now the first to cheer the hearts of the people and raise their drooping spirits by its stirring example. The last Italian census took place on the 31st of December, 1881, and the result gave a population of twenty-eight million four hundred and fifty-nine thousand six hundred and twenty-eight inhabitants. As the extent of the kin^flom is one hunch^ed and 336 ITALY AFTER 187O ten thousand six hundred and seventy-five square miles, tliis gave two hundred and fifty-seven persons to a square mile. In 1900, a new census will be taken : from mathematical calculations made as to the estimated increase of inhabitants, it can be fairly affirmed that to-day their number amounts to about thirty-one million and a half, namely, two hundred and eighty-five to a square mile — nearly double what it was in 1748.^ Some cities, in particular, have developed an extraordinary increase in their populations during the last few years and, above all, Rome. In 1871, the inhabitants were reckoned at two hundred and forty- five thousand ; to-day, that number is doubled, and they amount to nearly half a million. Naturally, such an increase in the population presupposes a proportionate development in buildings ; thus, Rome, from a material point of view, is no longer what she was thirty years ago, but has begun to assume the aspect of a great modern city that boldly rises beside the ruins of the Forum and the Basilica of St. Peter. The Holy Father still persists in his disapproval of the Italian revolution, and lives secluded in the huge palace of the Vatican. The Cardinals however and ' The calculation of the number of inhabitants by the Director- General of Statistics, on the 30th of June, 1897, would give a population of 31,384,853 inhabitants, divided as follows: Piedmont, 3,353,162; Liguria, 985,685 ; Lombard}', 4,070, 149 ; Venetia, 3,108,669; Emilia, 2,302,981 ; Tuscany, 2,321,369 ; Marches, 977,506 ; Umbria, 608,515 ; Latium, 1,031,598; Abruzzi and JMolise, 1,391,551; Campania, 3,153,003; Apulia, 1,882,412; Basilicata, 548,981 ; Calabria, 1,346,880; Sicily, 3,543,71^ ; Sardinia, 758,674. — Miiiisfero di Agriailtitra, fiidiistria e CoiiDiiercio. Movimento Dello Stalo Civile DelF Anno 1897. Roma, 1898. H. R. H. THE PRINCESS OF NAPLES. 338 ITALY AFTER 1 87O ' other functionaries of the papal court fully appreciate the increased moral and material advantages of the city; respected by all classes, they develop their reli- gious, political, social and inner life, unhindered by any difficulties whatever, and maintain relations both public and private, direct and indirect, with the repre- sentatives of Italian liberalism, including ministers, senators, deputies and functionaries of the state. The same liberty is extended to the celebration of religious festivals in Rome, as to those national /i'/^j- observed by the liberals. Thus do facts themselves prove that there is room in Rome itself both for the Head of Catholicism and the King of Italy. In time, the papacy will no doubt be gradually persuaded that it is only despoiled of its temporalities the better to fulfil its spiritual mission, and thus it will eventually be reconciled to new Italy. The Italian throne is hereditary in the house of Savoy, according to the Salic law — that is to say, female succession is excluded. The present sovereigns, King Humbert I. and Queen Margherita, have only one son, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, born in 1869 and married in 1896, to Princess Helene of Montenegro. Prince Amedeo however — King Hum- bert's brother — who was King of Spain from 1871 to 1873, and died at Turin in 1890, has left four sons : Itmanuele, Duke of Aosta, married to the Princess Helene of Orleans — b}- whom he has one son, Amedeo, 2 1 St of October, 1898 — Vittorio, Count of Turin; Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, who has latel)' started on an expedition to the North Pole, and Umberto, Count of Salemi, \-(l«^^ ^ PRINCE AMADEO. 340 ITALY AFTER 1 87O The King receives an annual allowance from the state-exchequer of fifteen million lire. He wields the executive power by means of ministers of his own nomination, and shareswith the Chamber in the making of the laws. There are two Chambers : (i) the Senate, composed of an unlimited number of members — never amounting, however, to four hundred — nominated for life by the King and chosen from an established category of notables ; at the present time, the barris- ter, Giuseppe Saracco, who has been in the ministry several times, is president of the same ; (2) the Chamber of Deputies, composed of-five hundred and eight members, elected in as many electoral centres, for five years, with a correspondingly wide suffrage ; the president of the Chamber is now the barrister, Giuseppe Zanardelli, who has likewise filled ministerial functions.^ There are actually eleven ministerial offices in Italy, comprising those of the Interior, of Foreign Affairs, of Grace and Justice, of the Treasury, of Finance, of War, of the Marine, of Public In- struction, of Public Works, of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, as well as that of Posts and Tele- graphs, The balance sheet,during the last few years, approxi- mates to the figure of one thousand seven hundred million lire^ in which receipts are about equalled by the expenditure.- The principal incomes are derived ' In May, 1899, in consequence of a ministerial crisis, the President, Zanardelli thought fit to tender his resignation : the barrister, Luigi Chinaglia, was then nominated President of the Chaml)er. '^ The receipt and expenditure accounts of the financial year, from tlie TAXES : THE ARMY 34I from the land-tax of one hundred and six million lire ; from that on buildings, eighty-eight million ; that on movable property, two hundred and eighty- six million ; on the rights of succession, forty million ; on registration and stamp duties, one hundred and twenty-five million ; on customs, two hundred and forty-five million ; on the tobacco monopoly, one hundred and eighty-eight million; on that of salt, seventy-four million ; from lotteries, sixty-five million, &c. Naturally, in expenditure, the highest sum is absorbed in the interest of the public debt — amount- ing to about six hundred million — and by the mili- tary exchequers — that of war, absorbing two hundred and thirty-six million, that of Marine, one hundred million lire. The Italian army is based on the theory of military service being obligatory on all citizens : at the age of twenty, all young men whose physique warrants them to be capable of serving in the army, inscribe their names on the army list, and have to serve two or three years ; those who have a superior education and pay a tax of twelve hundred ItJ-e, only remain one year under arms. Thus, every year there is a force of about two hundred and fifty thousand men ready for service, but as they may also be bound to serve, after they have received instruction, till the age of forty, an army of nearly a million and a half of 1st of July, '96, to the 30th of June, '97, gave, on the side of income: 1,745,497,676 lire, and on that of expenditure, 1,745,370,744. The estimated balance from the ist of July, '97, to the 30th of June, '98 : income, 1,685,273,752, and expenditure, 1,677,654,347 ; the estimated balance from the ist of July, '98, to the 30th of June, '99 : income, 1,696,791,355 ; and expenditure, 1,686,793,409. 342 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 men would thus be mobilised in time of war. All the latest inventions of science and industry have been applied in the army, such as new repeating rifles, cannon and smokeless powder. The navy has also been largely developed within the last few years, more especially through the efforts of the ministers Brin and Saint-Bon, and it is as well it should be cared for, considering the conformation of the peninsula. Long ago. Napoleon I., speaking of the future unity of Italy, declared that to realise " the first condition of existence," Italy ought to " become a great maritime power, so as to dominate her islands and defend her coasts." The glorious traditions of the Italian marine republics were worthily represented in those colossal warships of which Italy gave the first exemplars to the world, and in her arsenals at Spezia, Venice, Taranto, Naples and Castellamare, she carries on her shipbuilding with indefatigable zeal. After the record of military expenditure comes next in importance, by reason of the sums disbursed, that of public works on which, reckoning ordinary and extra expenses, are laid out nearly one hundred million lire. Certainly much has been done, especially as regards railroads, so that in twenty years alone, the total distance covered by railway lines has been doubled, and to-day amounts to more than fourteen thousand four hundred and ninety - two miles. Everywhere, too, good carriage roads have been constructed; the harbour conditions have been bet- tered ; marsh lands ha\'e been vast!)- improved, and other important public works have been set on foot. * * * H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF NAPLES. 344 ITALY AFTER 187O The country has received a beneficent impulse from these ameliorations in its condition, and the industrial movement has become a powerful one, especially in Lombardy and Piedmont. Agriculture has indeed made strides, so that the great disparity existing between the total of Italian imports and exports is now sensibly if gradually diminishing ; the difference during the last few years is a little over a hundred million lire — a very considerable figure.^ The principal exports of Italy are silk, wine, olives, hemp, fruit, eggs, sulphur, &c. ; but she has to import grain — of which she does not herself produce enough for home consumption — coal — of which she is desti- tute — and iron, &c. At this very time (January, 1899), a treaty of commerce has been concluded with France and those relations re-established which, for ten years, were almost entirely interrupted, to the mutual loss and detriment of both countries. Not only have the hygienic conditions of Italy been distinctly improved by the introduction of waterworks throughout the towns — great and small — and by the wholesale demolition of insanitary quarters, but every- where, even in the most remote districts and insignifi- cant villages, elementary schools have been instituted to combat that lamentable ignorance of letters, so pre- valent under the old regimes. With regard to these establishments, much yet remains to be done, since, although in Piedmont nearly every one can read, and ' In '95 the total of imports was 1,187 niilHon litr and the total of exports 1,037 niilHon ; in '96 the imports were 1,173 million and the exports 1,052 million ; in '97 the imports amounted to 1,192 million, but the exports rose to 1,092 million. ITALIAN LIFE AND THOUGHT 345 in the rest of Upper Italy there are only a few persons who cannot do so, the numbers of the illiterate in- crease continually towards the south, till, in Calabria, the percentage of the absolutely unlettered almost amounts to seventy-five in a hundred ; this explains why the average percentage of the uneducated is still so high in Italy; in 1895, out of one hundred con- scripts, thirty-eight could not read, although, whilst serving their term in the army, they nearly all learned to read and write.^ The secondary schools are very numerous through- out the kingdom, as also are the universities, seven- teen of which are dependent on the government, four being free. Naturally, the most frequented is that of Naples — as the only one in Southern Italy — which numbers more than five thousand students. Next in order come the universities of Turin, Rome, Bologna, Padua, Pavia, Genoa, Palermo, Pisa, &c. There are also higher grade schools, such as those of Florence and Milan. It must always be borne in mind that all the different phases of Italian life and thought have so ' With regard to this question every year sees an improvement ; for example, in 1890, the average number of husbands unable to sign the marriage register was 41 out of 100 ; in 1897, 36 ; the average of the women in '90 was 60 in 100; and in '97, 52. The disparity existing between different regions in this respect is truly enormous ; from a minimum of 4 per 100 furnished by the province of Turin, it mounts to 14 in the province of Milan, to 33 in that of Bologna, to 39 in that of Florence, to 41 in that of Rome, to 49 in that of Naples, to 62 in that of Salerno, to 66 in that of Messina, to 69 in that of Cagliari, to 77 in that of Reggio-Calabria and to 78 in that of Cosenza. — See Movimento Dello Stato Civile DeWAmio {rSgy), published under the auspices of the Director- General of Statistics. 346 ITALY AFTER 1 87O many centres of development, in the chief towns of the different provinces, for deeply-rooted local traditions have prevented a very pronounced centrali- sation. Thus Piedmontese life is moulded by Turin — with three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants — the city of even and regular streets which corresponds, as it were, with the character of its people. The delightful Ligurian coast, fringed with villages em- bosomed in olive-groves, fitly harmonises with the life around Genoa the Magnificent — with a population of two hundred and twenty-five thousand — famous for her marble palaces and stirring maritime activities which render her the first commercial port of Italy. The fertile Lombard region has its focus in busy, hardworking Milan — through the number of inhabitants which amounts to four hundred and seventy thousand, the third city in the kingdom — whose glorious cathedral over- shadows a great part of Italian commercial enter- prise. Venice, that magic city of the lagoons — which contains one hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants — continues to be one of the essentially artistic centres of the peninsula. Emilia and the Romagna provinces, from Parma to Ravenna — the former capital of the Ostrogoths and the venerated burial-place of Dante — recognise as their chief city time-worn Bologna, the oldest university town in Italy, with a population of one hundred and fifty thousand. Florence, with her placid traditions — her glorious ' humanities,' and her two hundred and ten thousand citizens, reflects, in the ' even tenor ' of her existence, as well as in her outward surroundings, the NAPOLEON I. ON CONFIGURATION OF ITALY 347 whole of Tuscan life and temperament. Only Rome has, in a great measure, exchanged her local character for a cosmopolitan one. Naples, the most thickly populated of Italian cities — reckoning as she does five hundred and thirty-six thousand inhabitants — possesses quite distinct characteristics of her own ; there the pleasure-loving, gay and noisy life of the children of the south finds a fitting milieu; there are formulated the dictates of fashion and the verdicts of criticism which are unhesitatingly accepted by all the small provincial towns of Southern Italy. And the like characteristics may be applied to Palermo, with her population of two hundred and ninety thousand, in her relation to Sicily. Napoleon I., accustomed to the centralisation of French life, declared that the configuration of Italy had one fundamental defect, in the fact of its length being in nowise proportioned to its breadth, and he averred that " if Italy had had Monte Velino — nearly the height of Rome — for frontier, and all the territory situated between the hill in question and the Ionian Sea, Sicily included, had been placed between Sardinia, Corsica, Genoa and Tuscany, a unity of influences, manners, climate and local interests might have been hers." It must be owned that Napoleon's observation is in every respect just ; certain it is that the great obstacle which Italy found in reconstituting herself into a nation — an obstacle, vastly greater, for instance, than any France and Spain had to confront — was this very geographical configuration. Indeed, it is this very physical defect which, up till now, has hindered the formation of one single great 348 ITALY AFTER 1 8/0 centre of Italian life, capable of giving a more pro- nounced impetus to the nation's activity, but although in one sense disadvantageous, it is, in another, distinctly beneficial, since it has called forth a noble rivalry amongst the various cities, and has largely promoted that great diversity of ideas which has been so fruitful in the spheres of literature and art. XX LITERATURE AND ART Although during the last hundred and fifty years, Italy has, through countless difficulties and incredible efforts, succeeded in attaining to the dignity of a great nation, achieved a unity befitting the same, and worked miracles in the area of politics, she can boast yet more justly of those great conquests which have made her name illustrious in the intellectual history of Europe. Her political regeneration was, in fact, preceded and accompanied by a renaissance in litera- ture and art, of which the second half of the last century saw the beginning ; allusion has already been made to it in the first chapter of this work in mentioning the most distinguished geniuses of that age. During the course of this narrative, it has often been necessary, in view of the essentially patriotic tendency and scope of all Italian literature, to refer more or less indirectly to many of its productions. It only remains to gather up here the scattered threads of its history in a coherent form. The poetic record of the eighteenth century had honourably closed with the illustrious names of Farini, 350 LITERATURE AND ART Alfieri. INIonti and Foscolo. Parini died just at the end of the century (August 15, 1799), whilst Alfieri hardl}- saw the beginning of a new age, since he died at Florence on the 8th of October, 1S03, but the wide fame of \"incen/.o Monti 1^1734-1828) lasted for the first quarter of the nineteenth century. He was the leader, /^(V excellence, of the classic school in poetr)- which preponderated throughout the Napoleonic period. Having become the poet-laureate, he cele- brated the coronation, wars and marriage of Bonaparte, as well as the birth of the King- of Rome, in verse, all of which effusions did not prevent him, on the return of the Austrians, from h\-mning the new conquerors. Though gifted with a mar\ellous poetic insight, Monti cared chiefl}' for form, and enriched his work with an incomparable harmon\- and grace, but as regarded sentiments, he onl\- reproduced the trend of public opinion and timidly and cautiousl}- followed its stream — at that time rapidly changing. Of a ver\- different t\-pe was Ugo Foscolo (1778- 1827) who, o\\ the return of the Austrians to Milan, retired first to Switzerland and afterwards to Fngland (1 8 16), where he passed his later years in teaching the British public to form a more just appreciation of Italian literature.^ A man, as he said of himself, " of many vices and virtues," of impetuous temperament and endowed with a vivid and robust imagination, he was certainly one of the most influential of Italian • Ugo FdscoIo died al Tiunliam C'licen, loih ofOctober, 1S27, and was l5urie 396 INDEX La Cava, 196 La Farina, Giuseppe, 140, 239, 270, 362 Lafayette, 98 La Gala, Cipriano, 297 La Gancia, convent of, 270 La Grange, Luigi, 7 La Mandriola, 211 La Marmora, Alfonso, 226, 234, 296, 303, 304, 321 La Masa, 274 Lambruschini, Cardinal, 127, 133 Lamoriciere, General, 270, 279, 280 Lancerotto, Egisto, 378 Lanciani, Rodolfo, 364 Landi, General, 275 Laneri, 89 Lansdowne, Lord, 229 Lanza, 296, 313 Lateran, 315 Lateran, St. John, facjade of, 26 Latium, 208, 336 note Laurenti, Cesare, 378 Legations, 188. 237 Leggiero, 210, 211 Leghorn, 19, 59, 203, 265 Legnago, 167, 172 Leiglieb, Claudio, 372 Leo XII., 97, 100 Leo XIII., 322 Leoben, treaty of, 41 Leoncavallo, Ruggero, 382 Leopardi, Giacomo, 94, 352 ; philosophy of, 353 Leopold, Peter, I., his reforms, 20 ; called to imperial throne, 22 ; regime of, 95 Leopold 11. of Tuscany, 95, 120, 140, 148, 158, 203, 264 note Lesseps, Ferdinand De, 206 Lessi, Tito, 379 Lessona, Michele, 383 Leva, Giuseppe, 362 Leybach Congress, 80, 81 Ligornetto, 375 Liguria, 49, 54, 212, 218, 318, 336 jzofc, 379 Lioy, Paolo, 383 Lisio, Count Moffa Di, 83 Lissa, 307, 308 Litta, house of, 8 Lodi, victory at, 38 Lojacono, Francesco, 381 Lombardo-Venetian provinces, 68, 89, 160, 161, 230, 240, 241 Lombardy, 7, 8, 39, 42, 54, 65, 150, 168, 169, 192, 196, 197, 241, 260, 263, 268, 318, 336 note, 344, 377 Lombroso, Cesare, 382 Lonato, 38 London, 236, 288, 301, 369 Lorenzetti, Carlo, 378 Lorenzini, Carlo, 373 Lorraine, Francis of, 19 ; house of, 51, 203 Louis XV., 15 Louis XVIIl., 61 Louis Philippe, 98, 99, 102, 103, 105, 159 Lucca, 65 ; Republic of, 22 Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, 338 Lungo, Isidore Del, 367 Lupatelli of Perugia, 123 Lyons, Convocation of, 51 M Mably, 18 Maccagnani, Eugenic, 380 Maccari, Cesare, 379 Macerata, 62 Machiavelli, 23, 360 Madama palace, 246 and note^ 316 Maddalena, 312 Maffei, Marquis Scipione,address to Venetians, 12 Magenta, 197 ; battle of, 260, 261 Maggiore, Lake, 187, 196, 260 Magni, 378 Magra, 242 Makaleh, 330, 331, 332 Malatesta, Adeodato, 379 Malghera, 213, 214 Malta, 274 Mameli, Goffredo, 207, 355 ; quoted, 170-171 Mamiani, Terenzio, 104, 253, 356 INDEX 397 Manara Luciano, at Milan, 164 ; at Rome, 207 Mancini, Antonio, 380 Manin, Daniele, 149, 150, 151, 161, 162, 166, 181, 188, 192, 213, 215, 239, 241 and note Manno, Antonio, 362 Manno, Giuseppe, 356 Mantegazza, Paolo, 383 Mantovani, Dino, 374 Mantua, 8, 38, 41, 60, 100, 167, 172, 173, 180, 181, 182, 231 Manzoni,'ii9, 353, 354, 370 ; his Pro;;;cssi S/)asz, 352 ; quoted, 164 Marcello, Benedetto, music of, 15 Marches, 5, 53, 54, 100, 208, 265, 269, 278, 279, 336 note Marchesi, Salvatore, 381 Mareb-Belesa-Muna line, 333 Maremma, 20 Marengo, battle of, 50 ; heroes of, 61 Margherita, Count Solaro Delia, 144, 145, 242, 249 note, 250, 251, 253, 255 Margherita, Queen, 321, 338 Margotti, Don, 365 Maria Christina of Savoy, 116, 269 Maria Theresa of Austria, 8, 10, 19, 30, 68 Maria Theresa of Savoy, 236 Mariani, Pompeo, 377 Marie Adelaide, 218, 236 Marie Louise, Archduchess, 65, 70, loi, 102, 149 Marie Louise of Bourbon, 232 Marinovich at Arsenal, 166 Mark's, St., horses, 42, 215 ; Piazza, 162, 166 ; Republic, 179 ; Standard, 193 Marochetti, Carlo, 358 Maroncelli, 70, 90, 91 Marradi, Giovanni, 368 Marsala, 274, 275 Marseilles, 107, ill, 112, 130 Marsili, Emilio, 378 Martini, Admiral, 166 Martini, Ferdinando, 373 Marzano, Marquis of San, 83 Mascagni, Pietro, 382 Mascheroni, mathematician, 10 Massarani, Tullo, 361 Massari, Giuseppe, 362 Massena, General, 49, 50 Massowah, 326, 332 Maurienne, i Maximilian, 241 Mazzini, Giuseppe, 1 10, iii, 113, 118, 122, 196, 203, 204, 320; adherents, 239 ; ideal, 230 ; letter to Charles Albert, 107- lio ; quoted, 87 Mazzoni, 140, 192 Mazzoni, Guido, 368 Medici, 19, 20 Medici, Giacomo, 207, 276 Melegnano, 260 Mem, 298 Melzi, Francesco, 51, 52 Menelik, 327, 328, 330, 331,332 Menichini, 76 Menotti,Ciro, 98, 99, 100, 103, 148 Mentana, 312, 324 Mentessi, Giuseppe, 378 Mercadante, Saverio, 357 Mercantini, quoted, 244-245 Messina, 147, 190, 202, 277, 284, 345 note Mestre, 193, 213 Metternich, Prince, 65, 114, 141, 152 Michetti, P'rancesco Paolo, 380 Michis, Pietro, 377 Miglio, Francesco, 113 Milan, 9, 32, 43, 52, 60, 69, 89, 160, 167, 179 ; revolt in, 163- 165, 183, 184, 185, 187, 230, 241, 254, 260, 334, 345 and note, 346, 350, 351, 362, 374, 375, 377 Milanese, the, i ; under Austrian rule, 8 Milano, Agesilao, 239 Milazzo, 276, 277 Milesi, Alessandro, 378 Millesimo, fighting at, 37 Milli, Giannina, 368 Mincio, 59, 165, 172, 174, 175, 180, 181, 182, 184, 262, 263, 304, 306 Minghetti, 296, 301, 320 398 INDEX IMinto, Lord, 144 Miola, Camillo, 380 Modena, 16, 18, 19, 60, 70, 84, 102, 148, 151, 169, 192, 230, 265, 267, 296 ; Duke of, 38, 102 Modena, Gustavo, 118, 372 Molise, 336 note Molmenti, Pompeo, 362 Monaci, Ernesto, 367 Moncalieri, Proclamation of, 220 Mondovi, 37 Mont Cenis Tunnel, i, 319 Montanara, 180, 182 Montanari, Count Carlo, 231 Montanelli, Giuseppe, 100, 192 Montebello, 259 Montecitorio palace, 316 Montefeltro, Padre Agostino Da, 383 Montenotte, fighting at, y; Monterotondo, 312 Montesquieu, quoted, 3 Monte Velino, 347 Monteverde, Giulio, 375 Monte-Video, 187 Montezemolo, 156 Monti, mason, 311 Monti, Vincenzo, 26, 59, 350, 351 Monza, 309, 351 Moradei, Arturo, 379 Moravia, prisons of, 231 Morazzone, 210 Morea, loss of, 12 Morelli, Domenico, 375, 380 Morelli, Giovanni, 374 Morelli, sub-lieutenant, 75, 89 Moro, Domenico, 122, 123 Morocco, 369 Moroni, Gaetano, 127 Morosini, Emilio, 207 Mortara, 197, 198 Morus, 23 Mosso, Angelo, 382 Mosto, 274 Munari, Costantino, 91 Murat, Joachim, 57, 59, 60, 62, 7^, 75 Muzzioli, Giovanni, 379 N Naples, 8, 28, 30, 31, 32, 48, 53, 56, 71, 78, 79, 81,82, 147, 151, 154, 158, 171, 182, 190, 194, 202, 227, 228, 269, 277, 278, 279, 240, 282, 288, 296, 342, 345, and note, 347, 356, 370, 375 Naples and Sicily, kingdom of, 27 ; reunion of two crowns of, by Ferdinand Bourbon, 72 and note Napoleon Bonaparte, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 49, 50, 51, 52, 58, 60, 61, 62, 65, 259 ; remarks on Italy, 342, 347 Napoleon Prince Jerome, 248, 265, 314 Napoleon, Louis (Napoleon IIL), 204, 207, 242, 244, 246, 256, 258, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 283, 297, 300, 301, 303, 306, 309, 310, 312, 313, 314 Nardi of Modena, 123 Navona, Piazza, fountain of, 26 Nazzari, Councillor, 150 . Neapolitan States, 27, 75, 279, 2'i,2 Negri, Ada, 369 Negri, Gaetano, 364 Neipperg, Marshal, 70 Nelson, 44, 46 Nencioni, Enrico, 373 Neo-Guelph party, 137 Neri, Pompeo, 20 Netti, Francesco, 380 Niccolini, tragedian, 119, 355 Nice, I, 37, 36, 200, 267, 278, 294 Nicotera, Giovanni, 240 Nietzsche's theory, 371 Nievo, Ippolito, 274 Nile, battle of the, 44 Nitti, Francesco, 362 Nittis, Giuseppe De, 380 Nola quarter, 75, 76, 89 Nono, Luigi, 378 Nono, Urbano, 378 Novara, 86, 197, 198, 200, 201, 202, 213, 215, 216, 219, 236, 242, 250, 259 ; railway, 260 INDEX 399 Novati, Francesco, 367 Novelli, Ermete, 372 Novi, 50 Nugent, General, 175, 176 O O'Donnell, 163 Oglio, 184 Oietti, Ugo, 374 Oliva, Domenico, 366 Oporto, 20I Orleans, Duke of, 98 Orsi, Dellino, 366 Orsini, Felice, 242 Osoppo, fortress of, 166, 181, 187 Ostrogoths, 346 Oudinot, General, 206, 207 Pacini, Giovanni, 357 Padua, 161, 166, 181, 345 Padula, 240 Pagano, Mario, 31, 46 Pagliano, Eleuterio, 377 Pais, Ettore, 364 Paisiello, 351 Palermo, 48, 58, 148, 202, 270, 275, 276, 345,3 47 ; revolutions in, 79, 154, 157 Palestro, 259 Palffy, 162, 166 Palizzi, Filippo, 374, 375, 380 Pallavicini, house of, 8 Pallavicini, Colonel, 300 Pallavicino, Giorgio, 90, 239, 282 Palmanova, 104, 166, 175, 181 Palmerston, Lord, 296 Pantheon, 311 Panzacchi, Enrico, 368 Paoli, Pasquale, Corsican hero, 15 Papal States, 53, 97, loi, 105, 138, 159, 176, 203, 206, 236, 274, 284, 298, 311, 314 Parini, Giuseppe, 32, 349; quoted, 33 ' Parioli, Monte, 311 Paris, 7, 32, 59, 6l, 159, 233, 236, 256, 369 ; Congress of, 236, 237, 238, 240, 251, 252, 288 Parma, 66, 70, 149, 169, 179, 192, 230, 232, 265, 267, 296, 346 ; Bourbon dynasty at, 18 ; ceded to France, 51 ; duchy of, 16, 60, 65, 151 ; Duke of, 38 ; Marie Louise leaves, loi ; re- instated in, 102 Parthenopccan Republic, 45 Pascoli, Giovanni, 368 Pasini, Alberto, 376 Pasolani, Count, 134 Pasque Veronesi, 42 Passalacqua, 200 Pastrengo, 175, 257 Paul IIL, Pope, 16 Pavia, 161, 196, 345 ; university of, 9 Pecci, Cardinal Gioachino, 322 Peel, Sir Robert, 296 Pellico, Silvio, 69, 70, 90 ; quoted, ii«. 119,353 Pepe, General Florestano, 79 Pepe, General Guglielmo, 76, 81, 178, 179, 193, 215 Pepm, 315 Perez, Francesco, 364 ; arrest of, 152 Pergolesi, 33 Perosi, Lorenzo, 382 Perrone, 200 Persano, Admiral, 277, 307, 308, 309 Peruzzi, 202 Pesaro, Francesco, 14 Peschiera, 167, 172, 173, 175, 180, 181 Peter, St., basilica of, 336 ; Piazza of, 26 ; successor of, 127 ; throne of, 134 Petra, Giulio De, 364 Petrarca, 367 Petrella, Enrico, 357 Philip of Bourbon, Don, 16 ; death of, 1 8 Piacenza, 169, 183, 238, 253, 259 ; ceded to France, 51 ; duke- dom of, 16, 70 Piave, 176, 307 400 INDEX Piazza Castello, 241 Pica, Vittorio, 374 Piccini, Giulio, 366 Piedmont, i, 6, 36, 48, 66, 83, 84, 85, 88, 92, 93, III, 105, 113, 129, 130, 132, 158, 173, 179, 181, 188, 193, 194, 195, 196, 200, 201, 212, 215, 216, 218, 219, 226, 230, 231, 233, 234, 237, 239, 240, 242, 244, 248, 252, 254, 255, 256, 263, 265, 266, 269, 277, 278, 286, 303, 318, 336 noie, 344, 356, 376, 377 ; clergy in, number of, 4, 6 ; re-action in, 69 ; revolution in, 88 Piedmontese bourgoisie, 6 ; gov- ernment, 68 Pier, Luigi, 16 Pignatelli, General, 44 Pigorini, Luigi, 364 Pilo, Rosalino, 270 Pio-Clementino, Museo, 26 Pisa, 320, 345 ; university of, 20, 180, 367 ; science congresses inaugurated at, 120 Pisacane, Carlo, 240 Pisani, Carlo, 365 Pisani, Giorgio, imprisoned, 12 Pittara, Carlo, 376 Pius VI., Pope, 26 Pius VII., 27, 53 note^ 72, 60, 97 Pius VIII., 97, 100 Pius IX., 134, 136, 137, 138, 142, 143, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 158, 159, 172, 176, 177, 191, 204, 230, 269, 300, 314, 321, 322 Pizzo, 62 Plombieres, 244, 267 Po, loi, 174, 179, 183, 196, 208, 212, 253, 259, 301, 304, 309 Podesti, Francesco, 380 Poerio, Alessandro, 193, 355 Poerio, Carlo, 202, 228-229 Poerio, Giuseppe, 82 Poland, 195, 197 Poma, Carlo, 231 Pompeii, 28 Ponchielli, Amilcare, 382 Pontine marshes, 26 Porpora, 33 Porta Pia, 314 Porta San Paolo, 311 Porta Tosa, fighting at, 164 Porta Vittoria, 164 Portugal, 200 Postiglione, Salvatore, 380 Potenza, 2-;^ Praga, Emilio, 368 Praga, Marco, 373 Prague, 309 Prati, 119, 355 Predari, 156 Presburg, peace of, 52, 53 Procida, Giovanni Da, 152 Prussia, 73, 79, i04, 264, 283, 303, 306, 309, 313 ; king of, 92, 286 Puccini, Giacomo, 382 Pugliese-Levi, Clemente, 376 Q Quadrelli, Emilio, y]% Quadrilateral, 166, 167, 172, 263, 264, 296, 304 Quadrilateral fortresses, 175 Quadrone, Giovan Battista, 376 Quarto, village of, 271 Querini, Angelo, imprisoned, 12 Quirinal, 158, 191, 316 R Radetsky, 164, 166, 174, 175, 180, 181, 183, 188, 196, 197, 200 213, 215, 216, 258 Ragusa, Vincenzo, 381 Rajna, Pio, 367 Ramorino, Colonel, 113, 196, 197 Ranalli, Ferdinando, 362 Rapisardi, Mario, 368 Ras Alula, 326 Ras Mangascia, 330 Rasoni, Giovanni, 69 Rattazzi, 296, 300, 310, 312, 320 Ravenna, 38, 346 Recanati, 352 Reggio, 19, 40, 54, 70, 99, 147, 169 Reggio Di Calabria, 278, 345 note Reinier, 163, 218 INDEX 401 Renier, Rodolfo, 367 Renzis, Baron Franccscu De, 373 Rhine, 43 Ricasoli, Bettino, 140, 158, 202, 265, 266, 296 Ricci brothers, 357 Ricci, Corrado, 374 Ricci, Scipione, bishop of Pistoia, 20 Riciotti, Nicola, 123 Ricotti, Ercole, 15^1, 356 Rieti, Austrians at, 81, 84 Rimini, battle of, 103 ; episode of, 127 Rinaudo. Costanzo, 362 Rini, 88 Ristolti, Leonardo, 377 Ristori, Adelaide, 372 Rivalta, Augusto, 379 Rivarola, Cardinal, 97 Rivoli, 41, 183 Robert of Parma, 232, 265 // )tc Rocca, General Morozz.) Delia, 366 Rocco of Lugo, 123 Romagna, 41, 48, 54, 100, 103, 122, 265, 266, 267, 269, 279, 346 Romagnuli, Giuseppe, 379 Romagnosi, 69, 70 Rome, 10, 20, 2^, 24, 26, 44, 155, 158, 171, 176, 203, 204, 200, 207, 210, 211, 224, 278, 286, 287, 288, 289, 294, 297, 298, 300, 301, 310, 311, 313, 3i5> 321, 336, 338, 345 and note, 347> 35^^ 380, 381, 383 Romeo, Domenijo, 147 Romilli, Count, 150 Ronconi, 94, 95 R(jsa, Ercole, 380 Roselli, 207 Rosmini, Antonio, 355, 356 Rossaroll, Cesare, 214 Rossetti, Gabriele, 119, 355 ; quoted, 78, 80 Rossi, Ernesto, 372 Rossi, Giovan Battista De, 364 Rossi, Pellegrino, 136, 191 Rossini, 119, 357 and nok\ 358 Rotta, Silvio, 378 Rouher, 313 Rovetta, Gerolamo, 371 Rubattino company, 271, 326 Rubiera, Castle of, 91 Rucillai, Giulio, 20 Rudini, Marquis Di, }^2'6, 333 Ruffini, Giovanni, 94, 113, 353 Ruffini, Jacopo, 112, 113 Ruffo, Cardinal, 46 Ruggero, Ettore De, 364 Russell, Lord, 229, 296 ; letter of, quoted, 282-283 Russia, 45, Ti, 79, 104, 256, 283, 286 ; Czar of, 9 : Rutelli, Mario, 381 Sadowa, 306 Saffi, 204 Saint-Bon, 342 Salasco, General Di, 173 Salemi, 2']~^ Salerno, 96, 240, 343 note Salvagnoli, Vincenzo, 140 Salvini, Tommaso, 372 San Carlo, theatre of, 28 San Fermo, 260 San Marino republic, 208 San Martino, 262, 269 San Stefano, 152 Sanctis, Francesco De, 367 Sant' Alberto, 212 Santa Lucia, 175, 180, 257 Santa Maria, 324 Santarosa, Pietro Derossi Di, 156, 157 Santarosa, Santorre Di, 86, 88 ; son of, 201 Santena, 295 Santoro, Rubens, 380 Sapri, 240, 270 Saracco, Giuseppe, 340 Sardinia, 2 and notc^ 4, 252, 231, 238, 284, 336 note, 347 ^ Sarnico, 300 Sarti, Diego, 379 Sartorio, Aristide, 380 Savona, no Savonarola, 369 27 402 INDEX 5-'avoy, 4, 37, 36, 65, 113, 196, 2(3"] ; crown of, 215 Savoy dynasty, i, 168, 220, 283 Savoy expedition, 113, 114 Savoy, House of, 2 and note, 190, 218, 220, 223, 243, 267, 295 Savoy monai^chy, 264 Savoy rulers, 66 Scala, La, Confalonieri at, 90 Scala, La, theatre of, 9 Scarfoglio, Edoardo, 366, 370 Scarsellini, Angelo, 231 Schamyl, 143 ScheriUo, Michele, 367 Schiaparelli, Giovanni, 382 Scialoia, Antonio, 202 Sciesa, 230 Sclopis, Federico, 168 Scott, Sir Walter, 352 Sciuti, Giuseppe, 381 Sedan, 314 Segantini, Giovanni, 378 Sella, Quintino, 319 Selvatico, Riccardo, 378 Senafeh, 330 Serao, Matilde, 370 Serbelloni, house of, 8 Serristori barracks, 311 Sesia, i, 197, 258 Settimo, Ruggero, 154 Settembrini, Luigi, 202, 366 ; quoted, 146 Sforza regime, 8 Sforzesca, 197 Shoa, 327 Siccardi, Count, 224 Siccardi law, 226 Sicilian Vespers, 31, 72 note, 152 Sicilies, Two, 72 and uoU\ 81, 238 Sicily, 8, 31, 53, 57 72 and note, 73> 79, 116, i5"i, 171, 182, 194, 201, 239, 270, 274, 275, 288, 300, 311,318, 334> 336 note, 347, 357, 381 Siena, 192 Siena, university of, 20, 180 Signorini, Telemaco, 379 Siivati, 75, 89 Simplon, 318 note Sineo, Riccardo, 156 Sirtori, 214, 274 Solferino, 262, 269 Somali peninsula, 327 Sommacampagna, 257 Soudan, 326 South America, 186, 369 Spain, 16, 27, 28, 3 1, 88, 93, 201, 204, 347, 369 Spallanzani, naturalist, 9 Spaventa, Silvio, 202 Speraz, Beatrice, 370 note Speri, Tito, 231 Spezia, 242, 342 ; gulf of, 300 Spielberg, fortress of, 90 ' Stecchetti, Lorenzo,' 368 Stefani, Vincenzo De, 378 Sterbino, Gulf of, 212 Stoppani, Antonio, 383 Stradella, college of, 320 Stratta, Carlo, 377 Superga, 201 }iotc, 295 Suvaroff, 45 Switzerland, 130, 187, 210, 284 350 Syracuse, Ii6 Tabacchi, Odoardo, 377 Tabarrini, Marco, 364 Tagliamento, 41, 187 Tanaro, 259 Tanucci, Bernardo, 27, 28, 30 Taormina, 202 Taranto, 342 Tarchetti^ Iginio Ugo, 368 Tartini, 33 Tarvisio, victory at, 41 Tavani-Arquati, Giuditta, 312 Tavern ier, Andrea, 376 Tazzoli, Enrico, 231 Tchernaya, 236, 258 Teano road, 283 Teghetoff, 307 Telamone, 274 Tenca, Carlo, 361 Termini, 239 'Thousand, The,' 271, 272, 274, 275,311 INDEX 46S Tiber, loi, 301, 311 Ticino, i, 7, 85, 86, 129, 167, 185, 196, 197, 242, 258, 259, 260, 374 Tigre, 330, 333 Tillot, Guillaume Du, 18, 30 Tito, Ettore, 378 Tognetti, 311 Tolentino, treaty of, 41 Toma, Giovacchino, 380 Tommaseo, 119, 151, 161, 162, 215, 355 Tommasi, Adoifo, 379 Tommasi, Angelo, 379 Tommasini, Oreste, 362 Tonelli, 90 Torelli, Achille, 373 Torraca, Francesco, 367 Torre, prison of the, 113 Torriani, Maria, 370 note Toselli, Major, 330 Tosti, Luigi, 361 ■Toulon, 312 Tour, Count De La, 130, 132 Tour, General De La, 86 Trastevere quarter, 311 Traversi Brothers, 373 Tre Porti, 213 Trent, 40, 307 Trentacoste, Domenico, 381 Trentino, 260, 307, 323, 324 Treves, Virginia, 370 note Trevi, fountain of, 26 Treviso, 166, 181 Triepoli, painting of, 15 Trieste, 254 Trinacria, 272 Trivulzio, house of, 8 Trocadero, 93, 106 'Troubetzkoyj 378 Troya, 119, 357 Tunis, 240, 323 • Turin, 3, 61, 66, 84, 142, 143, 157) 197) 19^! 201 note, 216, 218, 224, 239, 241, 246, 248, 258, 266, 279, 284, 286, 288, 294, 295, 301, 302, 345 and note, 346, 375 Turin Exhibition, 335 Turkey, 24 Turletti, 377 Tiirr, 274 Tuscany, 19, 22, 51, 53, 71, 127, 138, 144, 151, 155) 202, 265, 266, 296, 312, 318, 336 note, 347- 356, 359, 373, 374 Tyrol, 38, 40, 174, 182, 304 Tyrrhenian Sea, i, 272 U Udine, 176 ; capitulation of, 166 Ugoni, Filippo, 69 Umberto, Count of Salemi, 338 Umbria, 41, 100, 265, 269, 278, 279, 336 note United States, 284 Ussi, Stefano, 379 Utopias, 23 Utrecht, peace of, 2 note V Valence, 44 note Vannucci, 119, 140, 356 Vannutelli, Scipione, 380 Varese, 260, 311, 324 Varignano, 300 Vassallo, Luigi Arnaldo, 366 Vasto, 78 Vatican, 315, 336 Vela, Vincenzo, 375 Velletri, 207 Venaissin, 41 Venerucci of Forli, 123 Venetia, 11, 41, 43, 48, 54. 65, 161, 169, 179, 181, 194, 196, 230, 241, 267, 303, 307, 309, 336 note, 356 Venice. 11, 12, 13, 14, 65, 104, 150, 151, 161, 162, 165, 166, 179, x8i, 182, 192, 193, 194, 208, 212, 213, 214, 215, 231, 241, 254, 297, 298, 306, 342, 346, 362, 378 Ventura, 137 Venturi, Adoifo, 374 Vercelli, 259 Verdi, 120, 381-382 Verga, Giovanni, 370 Verona, 40, 41, 42, 166, 167, 172, 17^, 176, 180; Congress of, ■}2\ y3 404 INDEX Veni, Alessandio, 9, 26 Verri, counf Pietro, 26 Versailles, court of, 3 ; splen- dours of, 28 Vertunni, Achille, 380 Vesuvius, 28 Viareggio, 22 Vicenza, 176, 18 r, 182 Vicini, Luigi, $cc Da Montefeltro Victor Amadeus, II., 2 note, 31 Victor Amadeus, III., 4, 7, 37 Victor Emmanuel I., 60, 83, 116 ; abdicates, 84 ; returns to Pied- mont, 67 Victor Emmanuel II., 2 note, 200, 215, 216, 218, 219, 236, 246, 248, 259, 260, 262, 263, 266, 267, 269, 270, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 283, 284, 287, 295, 304, 306, 309, 314, 315, 320, 321, 365 ; proclama- tions of, 220-223, 257-258 Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, 338 Vienna, 41, 58, 70, 73, 99, 102, 162, 168, 304, 307, 309 ; Con- gress of, 6r, 65 ; peace of, 19 Vieusseux, 95, 356 Vigevano, 197 Viglia, 96 Vignale, 216 Villa Marina, Marquis Di, 144, 145, 277 Villafranca, 263 ; treaty of, 265, 267 Villari, Pasquale, 360 and note, 361 ; on Nelson, 46 note ; on Morelli, 375 Vinea, Francesco, 379 Visconti, Ennio Quirino, 26 Visconti, house of, 8 Vittorio, Count of Turin, 338 Vochieri, Andrea, 113 Volta, Alessandro, physician 9 Volturno, 278, 280 W Wagram, 61 Warsaw, 286 Waterloo, 62 ; battle of, 61 Walewski, 236, 238 Wellington, veterans of, 61 William, King (of Prussia), 303 Wurmser, retreat of, 38 ; be- sieged at Mantua, 40 X Ximenes, Ettore, 381 Y 'Young Italy,' Society of, founded, 112 Zacconi, Ermete, 372 Zambelli, Giovanni, 231 Zanardelli, Giuseppe, 340 and note Zanetti-Miti, 378 Zannini, Dr., 212 Zezzos, Alessandro, 378 Zichy, military commandant, 162, 166 Zocchi, Emilio, 379 Zotto, Antonio Dal, 378 Zuccari, Anna Radius, 370 note Zucchi, General, 103, 104, 176 ; set at liberty, 166 Zumbini, Bonaventura, 367 Zurich, peace concluded at, 265 The Story of the Nations. 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