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 http://www.archive.org/details/franceitalyOOimbe 
 
FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 I 
 
/ 
 
FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 ( 
 
 IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 ELIZABETH GILBERT MARTIN 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1899 
 
•F'^own ''oov 
 
 '■^^ SEP 201898 j 
 
 THE LIBRA lY 
 OF CONGRESS 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 42201 
 
 COPYRIGHT, l8gQ, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 
 
 
 i8B9 
 
 of 0-\ 
 
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 NorfaooU Preas 
 
 J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
 Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 
 
2, /-^ 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. The CoMMENCEiyiENT OF 1859 8 
 
 II. The Mabkiage of Pkince Napoleon 14 
 
 III. Th» Princess Clotilde 23 
 
 IV. The Anontmoos Brochure , 28 
 
 V. The Speech from the Throne 35 
 
 VI. The Partisans of Peace 42 
 
 VII. England and Piedmont 48 
 
 Vni. Prussia and the Germanic Confederation 54 
 
 IX. Eussia 61 
 
 X. The Carnival 67 
 
 XL Lent 74 
 
 XII. Holy Week 81 
 
 XIII. Easter Week 88 
 
 XIV. The Opening of the War 97 
 
 XV. The Departure of the Emperor 104 
 
 V 
 
Vi CONTENTS 
 
 OHAPTEE PAGE 
 
 XVI. Genoa and Alexandria Ill 
 
 XVII. MONTEBELLO 118 
 
 XVIII. Palestko 123 
 
 XIX. TURBIGO 131 
 
 XX. The Battle of Magenta 136 
 
 XXI. The Morrow of Magenta 148 
 
 XXII. The Entry into Milan 154 
 
 XXIII. Melegnano 162 
 
 XXIV. Before Solferino 168 
 
 XXV. The Battle of Solferino * 182 
 
 XXVI. After Solferino 195 
 
 XXVII. The Empress Regent 202 
 
 XXVIII. Prince Napoleon 211 
 
 XXIX. The Diplomatic Situation 218 
 
 XXX. The Last Days OF THE War 224 
 
 XXXI. The Armistice 230 
 
 XXXII. The Interview of Villafranoa 240 
 
 XXXIII. The Preliminaries of Peace 247 
 
 XXXIV. The Resignation of Cavour 256 
 
 XXXV. The Emperor's Return , 262 
 
 XXXVI. Saint-Cloud 271 
 
 XXXVII. The Return of the Troops 283 
 
CONTENTS Vll 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXXVIII. Tuscany 292 
 
 XXXIX. Parma 303 
 
 XL. MoDBNA 309 
 
 XLI. The Komagnas 315 
 
 XLII. Saint-Sauveur 324 
 
 XLIII. Biarritz and Bordeaux 331 
 
 XLIV. The Close of 1859 338 
 
 PORTRAITS 
 
 Victor Emmanuel Frontispiece 
 
 Marshal MacMahon Face Page 64 
 
 Francis Joseph " " 128 
 
 Count Cavoue " " 256 
 
FEANCE AND ITALY 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 /^UR misfortunes occupy our minds too much; we 
 ^^ do not think enough about our glories. Hypno- 
 tized by the memory of our disasters, we lose sight 
 of triumphs, the record of which is, nevertheless, pre- 
 eminently adapted to fortify the military sentiment 
 which is the hope and consolation of France. We 
 dwell too much on Sedan and Metz, not long enough 
 on Sebastopol, Magenta, and Solferino. What 
 would be said of the heirs of the First Empire if 
 they insisted on talking of nothing but Leipsic and 
 Waterloo ? The utility of the Italian War may be 
 disputed, but the heroism of those who took part in 
 it is beyond question. Many of them are still living. 
 With what respect we should surround them, how 
 eagerly we should beg them to relate the history of 
 their exploits ! Surely it pertains to them to give 
 important lessons to our young army. To act well 
 it would merely need to imitate them. 
 
 The historians of the wars of the First Empire 
 have been innumerable. The pens which deal with 
 those of the Second are as yet few. Nevertheless, 
 there has probably never been a siege comparable in 
 
FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 importance to that of Sebastopol, and few victories 
 have been as memorable as those of Magenta and 
 Solferino. At present I intend to give a brief ac- 
 count of these two great battles, studying, meanwhile, 
 the entire year 1859, which played so important a 
 part in the destinies of France and Italy. This study 
 may properly be included in the series by which I 
 have preceded it, since a woman of the Tuileries, the 
 Empress Eugenie, was regent during the war. At 
 that time I was attached to the political department 
 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I have since 
 re-read the despatches written before, during, and 
 after the hostilities. I have been able to follow 
 every fluctuation of public opinion, to study the 
 various ways in which the occurrences of the war were 
 at first commented on at Paris by different classes of 
 society, to note day by day the impressions, criticisms, 
 joys, and apprehensions of the public. I was present 
 at the Te Deum and the popular festivities by which 
 the troops were welcomed home. I seem still to 
 hear the trumpets blaring and the noise of the 
 acclamations. 
 
 No two wars could be more unlike than those of 
 1870 and of 1859. The one was as long and lamen- 
 table as the other was swift and joyous. Alas ! it 
 was but too brilliant. A few wholesome reverses 
 would have averted that overweening self-confidence 
 which was afterwards one of the principal causes of 
 the disasters of France. Had she experienced defeats 
 as well as victories in Italy, she would have been 
 
INTBOBUCTION 
 
 compelled to recognize that her effective forces by 
 land and sea were not such as to admit of her playing 
 that preponderating role to which she aspired through- 
 out the world, and she would not have opposed the 
 Emperor when he desired to model our military in- 
 stitutions on those of Prussia. The reminiscences of 
 the Italian War were too flattering to the national 
 vanity. People got in the way of looking only at 
 the bright side of military matters, the reverse of 
 the medal was neglected, and it was through the 
 prism of the victories of 1859 that the men of 1870 
 contemplated a disproportionate struggle. Alas ! we 
 have paid dear for our illusions ! But how seductive 
 they were ! How they made our hearts beat ! 
 France delighted in her glory like a pretty woman 
 in her mirror. She convinced herself that she was 
 the superlatively great nation, as Paris was the capi- 
 tal of capitals. Had one ventured then to hint that 
 our country was not absolutely invincible, he would 
 have been scouted as an alarmist and a coward. Now, 
 cruel experience has proved the fragility of much 
 that was then admired for its splendor. But the 
 memory of those days of enthusiasm and apotheosis 
 has still a charm. -Oldjmen like to recall their youth, 
 and in winter we dream of the radiance of spring. 
 
 The remarkable thing about the Italian War is the 
 way in which it throws up into full light the char- 
 acter of Napoleon III., bringing out both qualities 
 and defects ; his energy, his strength of will, his 
 audacity, his courage, but also his adventurous dis- 
 
FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 position, his innate tendency to conspire, and his 
 temperament as a political gamester. Such as we 
 beheld him at Strasburg, at Boulogne, and at the 
 coup cfEtat^ such we shall find him again in 1859, 
 concealing his designs even from his closest confi- 
 dants, preparing a war as one would organize a plot, 
 braving the greatest dangers with imperturbable cool- 
 ness, flinging himself headlong into enterprises whose 
 consequences nobody could foresee, restrained by no 
 objection, confiding in his star, and risking all for all 
 like a true fatalist whom nothing can trouble or 
 alarm. 
 
 Napoleon III. has been represented as a dreamer, 
 irresolute, chimerical, at the mercy of events, and 
 blindly obedient to the suggestions of his advisers. 
 Nothing could be more unlike the truth. On the con- 
 trary, until disease had impaired his forces, the Em- 
 peror was pre-eminently a man of action, relying on 
 no one but himself, and no political personage has 
 possessed to a higher degree the quality of personal 
 initiative. What other pretender has ever dreamed 
 of such bold attempts as those of Strasburg and 
 Boulogne? What coup d''Etat was ever so rash as 
 that of the Second of December? What war was 
 ever more mysteriously prepared or more imprudently 
 engaged in than that of 1859? 
 
 Documents still unpublished will permit us to deter- 
 mine in a precise manner the attitude of the different 
 powers in this European crisis. They will show the 
 extraordinary difiiculties encountered by the apostle 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 of nationalities, not merely on battlefields, but in the 
 chanceries, in attempting usefully to defend the Ital- 
 ian cause. We shall see that he stood almost alone 
 in France in desiring the war ; that he made ready for 
 it contrary to the advice of his wife, his ministers, 
 the Senate, the Corps L%islatif, and public opinion ; 
 that he cleverly contrived to make the Emperor of 
 Austria seem to be the aggressor, while in reality 
 that post was occupied by King Victor Emmanuel ; 
 that in Italy he lost control of events notwithstand- 
 ing his victories ; that he was compelled to halt after 
 Solferino, and that Russia would not have defended 
 him against Germany, which was rising en masse ; that 
 he sincerely desired the establishment of an Italian 
 Confederation, but found no one who would seri- 
 ously support such a combination ; in fine, that it 
 was against his will and after long hesitation that he 
 was induced to adopt a policy which resulted first 
 in Italian unity and afterwards in that of Germany. 
 Doubtless the Emperor did not thoroughly accom- 
 plish his task. But, in spite of many disappoint- 
 ments, it cannot be denied that but for him Milan and 
 Venice would still be under Austrian domination, nor 
 that there was something chivalrous in his policy. 
 It was the negation of the maxim: Might makes 
 right. It proclaimed the doctrine that peoples should 
 have the power to decide their own destiny. It ex- 
 tolled the forward march of civilization. Other ideas 
 have gained the ascendency since his fall, and it may 
 be that they will cause his to be longed for. Count 
 
 C- 
 
 JC 
 
6 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Albert Vandal has said so eloquently in his address 
 of reception at the French Academy: "We have 
 seen the powers which we placed in the hands of peo- 
 ples turned against us ; they have been used to strike, 
 to wound, to pierce us to the heart ; but who can say 
 that the universal conscience will not avenge us, that 
 it does not even now avenge us by remembering what 
 humanity has lost since the greatness of France has 
 diminished ? " 
 
 The war of Italy, not less important in itself than 
 in its consequences, has inaugurated a new era. It has 
 produced profound modifications in the diplomatic 
 situation and in international law. It has stated 
 problems which are still unsolved, and from the 
 triple standpoint of politics, religion, and society, it 
 remains the object of numerous controversies. We 
 must congratulate ourselves, however, that it has left 
 no trace of animosity between Austria and France. 
 Nothing separates the two nations, and if they reflect 
 on their veritable interests, they will recognize that 
 both are necessary to European equilibrium. The 
 France of 1859 saluted the heroism of the Austrian 
 army, and it may be affirmed to-day that there is not a 
 single Frenchman who does not desire the prosperity 
 of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the mainte- 
 nance of its integrity. The Emperor Francis Joseph, 
 once our brave and chivalrous adversary, is as much 
 respected by Frenchmen as by his own subjects. 
 
 On the other hand, we are convinced that a con- 
 scientious study of the events of 1859 must have the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 result of inspiring salutary reflections in the two 
 allied nations which fought heroically side by side. 
 Italy ought not to forget that in the days of her great 
 trials she had no friend but France, and it seems to be 
 time for disastrous misunderstandings to cease. In 
 March, 1871, Jules Favre wrote to M. Rotham : 
 "With the transformation of science, two peoples 
 who inhabit the shores of the same sea, who are 
 united by a common origin, the exchanges of naviga- 
 tion, and the resemblance of manners and characters, 
 can be enemies only through the criminal folly of 
 their governments." A war between France and 
 Italy would be a civil war. May such a spectacle 
 never be presented to the patriots of both nations ! 
 At present affinities of race, religion, and language 
 may get the better of erroneous calculations, and at- 
 tempts at reconciliation may be noted. And it may 
 be that the time is opportune for evoking souvenirs 
 which should be indissoluble ties of amity between 
 the two peoples. No, no ; it will not be said that so 
 much generous blood has been shed in vain, and that 
 the Latin race has made so many heroic sacrifices ab- 
 solutely without avail. 
 
 It is to the survivors of the war of Italy that we 
 dedicate these simple pages. Should any of those 
 intrepid men do us the honor of glancing over them, 
 they may find some interest in reading the story of 
 their exploits and receive the respectful homage ren- 
 dered to their courage and their patriotism ! 
 
 IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1859 
 
 /^N the morning of January 1, 1859, the year that 
 ^^^ was beginning seemed as if it must be a tran- 
 quil one. In Paris, the winter season promised to 
 be brilliant. A host of balls and soirees were in 
 preparation. Commerce and industry were in full 
 prosperity. No one suspected that any difficulty 
 whatever could occur at the Tuileries during the 
 diplomatic reception on New Year's Day. Hence, 
 the representatives of the powers were greatly amazed 
 when they heard Napoleon III. say to Baron Hiibner, 
 Austrian ambassador: "I regret that our relations 
 with your government may not be so good as they 
 have been ; but I beg you to say to the Emperor that 
 my personal sentiments have not changed." 
 
 This simple sentence, although uttered in a calm 
 and courteous tone, resounded like a clap of thunder 
 in a clear sky. 
 
 Business slackened, stocks fell, speculators were 
 seriously disturbed. But the excitement soon abated. 
 At the reception of the Empress on the following 
 day, both she and her husband paid Baron Hiibner 
 most particular attentions, as if to efface the painful 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1859 9 
 
 impressions of the day before. In his conversa- 
 tions with the representatives of the powers, Count 
 Walewski, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sought to 
 reduce the imperial remark to the proportions of an 
 incident not in the least bellicose. Optimism was the 
 fashion in official circles. No change occurred in the 
 routine of the salons. The theatres played to full 
 houses ; balls were as numerous as in previous 
 winters. The official journals took good care not to 
 arouse vain fears by sounding the alarm clock too 
 early. Anxieties were finally dispelled by the fol- 
 lowing paragraph in the Moniteur of January 7 : 
 " For several days past public opinion has been dis- 
 turbed by alarming rumors which it is the duty of 
 the government to put an end to by declaring there 
 is nothing in our diplomatic relations to authorize 
 the fears these rumors have a tendency to produce." 
 Now let us see how matters were considered in 
 Austria. The French charge d'affaires at Vienna, 
 the Marquis de Banneville, on January 8, addressed 
 the following despatch in cipher to Count Walewski: 
 " The general excitement which for some days past 
 seems to have prevailed in European circles, must be 
 felt more keenly in Vienna than elsewhere, since the 
 incidents which, rightly or wrongly, have occasioned 
 this excitement chiefly refer to the international 
 relations of Austria. A sort of panic was produced 
 which the declaration of the Moniteur has to-day 
 greatly allayed. Moreover, I know that Baron 
 Hiibner, in reporting the words addressed to him by 
 
10 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the Emperor, gave them an altogether different 
 meaning than that attributed to them for a moment 
 by public opinion, and he added that the tone and 
 accent in which they were pronounced rendered them 
 still more conciliatory and friendly." 
 
 At Turin, the Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne, 
 minister of France, had instantly appreciated the 
 gravity of the situation. January 3, he wrote to 
 Count Walewski : " Everybody is anxious, and public 
 opinion looks forward more than ever to great events 
 in a near future. The presence of the famous Gen- 
 eral Garibaldi at Turin has given rise to many com- 
 ments. I know that he had a long conference last 
 week with Count Cavour. He is said to have made a 
 formal engagement with the president of the council, 
 in presence of General La Marmora, to hold him- 
 self at the disposition of the Sardinian government 
 in case of war, renouncing all alliance with the Maz- 
 zinian party, and referring altogether, so it is affirmed, 
 to M. de Cavour, should occasion arise, the proper 
 solution of the Italian question. Nothing more was 
 required to authorize all manner of suppositions, and 
 possibly it miglit have been cleverer on the part of 
 Count Cavour, supposing it necessary to put himself 
 in relations with Garibaldi, to keep the interview 
 entirely secret." 
 
 January 10, Victor Emmanuel opened the session 
 of the Sardinian parliament. These words in the 
 royal speech produced a great impression : " Fortified 
 by the experience of the past, let us go resolutely to 
 
TEE COMMENCEMENT OF 1859 11 
 
 meet the contingencies of the future. This future 
 will be happy, our policy being founded upon love 
 of liberty and the fatherland. Our country, whose 
 territory is small, has acquired consideration in the 
 councils of Europe, because it is great by means of 
 the ideas it represents and the sympathies which it 
 inspires. This situation is not free from perils since, 
 while respecting the treaties, we are not insensible 
 to the cries of anguish arising from all parts of Italy. 
 Made strong by union, confiding in the goodness of 
 our cause, we await with prudence and resolution 
 the decrees of divine providence." 
 
 In a despatch of the same day, the Prince de La 
 Tour d'Auvergne gave the following account of the 
 session : " The latter part of the address in which 
 His Majesty alluded to the possibilities of the future 
 was received with hearty applause in which even the 
 tribunes took part. The impression produced in the 
 diplomatic body by the King's remarks, moreover, 
 seemed to me rather favorable. It was satisfactory, 
 under existing circumstances, to find His Majesty 
 talking of his respect for the treaties. My colleagues 
 of Russia and Prussia, who sat beside me, did justice 
 to the moderation of this language. The King, on 
 entering the Chamber as well as on leaving it, was 
 welcomed with much enthusiasm." 
 
 The next day, January 11, the minister of France 
 wrote another despatch : " The opinion of the mem- 
 bers of the diplomatic corps on the speech of the 
 crown is far from unanimous. If some of my col- 
 
12 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 leagues appreciated it with kindness, the larger num- 
 ber seemed much affected by the phrase in which His 
 Majesty avows that he is not insensible to the cries 
 of anguish which reach him from all parts of Italy. 
 Even public opinion, I must admit, appears to con- 
 sider the speech rather bellicose." 
 
 In Vienna likewise, stress was laid on warlike 
 ideas. The Marquis de Banneville was under no 
 illusion. He expressed himself as follows in a de- 
 spatch of January 14 : "I have good reason to believe 
 that the Austrian government has for some time been 
 familiarizing itself sufficiently with the notion of 
 a war to find relative compensations should this 
 supreme necessity actually arise. Doubtless the 
 chances of war are very uncertain for it, and it does 
 not disguise the fact that its Italian provinces are at 
 stake ; but it deems its military condition sufficiently 
 good to permit it to take these risks, without fool- 
 hardy hopes, but also without over-anxiety or dis- 
 couragement. It is sustained by confidence that a 
 war undertaken solely for the purpose of depriving 
 it of Lombardy and Venetia would certainly bring 
 it allies within a given time. In fine, between the 
 possible recurrence of the revolutionary events which 
 in 1848 menaced the Austrian monarchy with disso- 
 lution in all its provinces and an external war, it 
 would not hesitate to choose the latter extremity. 
 The first of these dangers outranks all others in its 
 estimation, and it would brave the first in order to 
 avoid the second." 
 
THE COMMENCEMENT OF 1859 13 
 
 Things were at this point when an item of news 
 became known which was considered symptomatic 
 of an approaching war in which France would be the 
 ally of Piedmont : the betrothal of Prince Napoleon 
 and the Princess Clotilde, daughter of King Victor 
 Emmanuel. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE MAREIAGE OP PRINCE NAPOLEON 
 
 ^T^HE Moniteur of January 14 announced that 
 . Prince Napoleon had set off for Turin the 
 previous day and that his absence would be short. 
 The object of this journey was already known in 
 Europe. The same day, the Marquis de Banneville, 
 charge d ^affcm-es of France at Vienna, wrote to 
 Count Walewski : " Count Buol (Austrian Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs) offered me his congratulations on 
 the subject of the marriage of Prince Napoleon with 
 the Princess Clotilde of Savoy, with a very good 
 grace and without the slightest constraint. He spoke 
 of the family ties which this union would establish 
 between the imperial houses of France and Austria. 
 'I desire sincerely,' he added, smiling, 'that this 
 alliance may prove more profitable to you than our 
 own very numerous ones with the house of Savoy 
 have been to us.' " 
 
 The betrothal was ofQcially announced by the 
 Moniteur of January 24. The government organ 
 expressed itself as follows : " The intimate relations 
 which have long existed between the Emperor and 
 King Victor Emmanuel, and the reciprocal interests 
 
 14 
 
THE MARBIAGE OF PBINCE NAPOLEON 15 
 
 of France and Savoy, have induced the two sover- 
 eigns to draw still more close the ties uniting them 
 by a family alliance. For more than a year the pre- 
 liminaries have been under discussion, but the youth 
 of the Princess has delayed until now the date of the 
 marriage." At the close of this communication, and 
 to prevent the public from considering it as a symp- 
 tom of war, the Moniteur wrote : " The Union journal 
 has not been afraid to reproduce the following lines 
 from the Independance Beige : ' It is affirmed that 
 King Victor Emmanuel gave his consent to the mar- 
 riage of the Princess Clotilde only on condition of an 
 offensive and defensive alliance between France and 
 Sardinia. It is added that the treaty between France 
 and Sardinia was signed the day before yesterday.' 
 We regret having to repeat and contradict in the 
 French press an assertion not less false than it is 
 insulting to the dignity of the sovereigns. The 
 Emperor must desire that his family alliances 
 should be in accord with the traditional policy of 
 France, but he will never make the great interests 
 of the country depend upon a family alliance." 
 
 Prince Napoleon landed at Genoa in the morning 
 of January 16. He was received there by Count 
 Nigra, minister of the household of the King, by 
 General Cialdini, aide-de-camp of His Majesty, and 
 by Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne, minister of 
 France. He left the same day for Turin, where he 
 arrived at three o'clock. 
 
 The next day, the minister of France wrote to 
 
16 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Count Walewski : " On the road from Genoa to 
 Turin, and particularly at Alessandria, the Prince 
 received the most flattering and cordial welcome; 
 but nothing can give an idea of the immense 
 throng of people, and the ardent demonstrations of 
 sympathy, which awaited His Imperial Highness at 
 Turin. All the streets from the railway to the palace 
 were filled by a crowd, who were anxious to behold 
 the Emperor's cousin, and who respectfully lifted 
 their hats as he passed by. Numerous cries of ' Long 
 live Napoleon ! ' were heard. The King received his 
 august visitor in the most cordial way. After the 
 dinner, at which the ministers of the King, the court 
 agents, and the personnel of the legation were the 
 only guests, the King, accompanied by His Imperial 
 Highness and Prince de Carignan, went to the Reggio 
 theatre, brilliantly illuminated for the occasion. The 
 house was full, and His Majesty as well as His Im- 
 perial Highness were saluted by hearty applause." 
 
 In the evening of January 17, after a family 
 dinner at the court. Prince Napoleon went to Count 
 Cavour's reception, where the assembly was very 
 large, all displaying the best sentiments for the 
 cousin of the Emperor. 
 
 January 18. — Another despatch from the Prince de 
 La Tour d'Auvergne to Count Walewski: "Prince 
 Napoleon's arrival at Turin has produced a general 
 and profound sensation. It seems to me that the 
 prevailing sentiment is one of entire confidence in 
 the Emperor's sympathies for Piedmont, and the 
 
THE MABBIAGE OF PRINCE NAPOLEON 17 
 
 assistance of his government in escaping honorably 
 from a situation whose dangers are evident to all 
 and begin to disquiet gravely even the most ardent 
 partisans of the policy of Count Cavour. The pro- 
 jected union between H. I. H. Prince Napoleon and 
 H. R. H. Madame the Princess Clotilde, now known 
 to everybody and very favorably received by public 
 opinion, with some exceptions, which are, however, 
 much less numerous than was thought at first, comes 
 to confirm these expectations. It is ta be hoped, 
 and such, Count, is the desire of all prudent minds, 
 that these motives of confidence will react in the 
 direction of calmness and patience on the attitude 
 and the projects of the cabinet of Turin. ... In 
 reality, there exists at present among the representa- 
 tives of foreign governments resident at Turin a sort 
 of uncertainty, I might even say of anxiety, concern- 
 ing the future and likewise our intentions. I feel it 
 my duty to notify Your Excellency of this sentiment, 
 which it might be well to bear in mind to some 
 extent." 
 
 January 22. — Another despatch from the Prince 
 de La Tour d'Auvergne: "The most cordial rela- 
 tions have been established between the King and 
 His Imperial Highness. The young Princess seems 
 equally satisfied with the fate in store for her. The 
 partisans of Italian independence hail the marriage 
 with joy. They consider it an assured pledge of 
 support to be given their cause by the Emperor in 
 a near future. Impressions are different and less 
 
18 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 favorable among the upper classes. The skilfully 
 fostered dread lest a war which Piedmont alone 
 would not dare to maintain against Austria may be 
 the foreseen result of the new ties by which the 
 houses of France and Savoy are to be united, is very 
 keen. . . . The Chamber will certainly not refuse 
 the means necessary to protect the country from an 
 attack by Austria, but public opinion plainly fears 
 rash and headlong enterprises more than ever, 
 and Count Cavour will act wisely if he profits by 
 the occasion to reassure it as far as lies in his 
 power." 
 
 January 23. — General Niel officially requested the 
 King to give the hand of Princess Clotilde to Prince 
 Napoleon. This request was received by the sover- 
 eign in the most cordial manner. During the day, 
 deputations from the Senate and Chamber of Depu- 
 ties came to the palace with the response to the 
 speech from the throne. His Majesty acquainted 
 them with the approaching marriage of his 
 daughter. 
 
 January 24. — Prince Napoleon dines at the 
 French legation, going afterwards to a splendid 
 court ball. The Princess Clotilde, who dances 
 with him several times, is the object of general 
 attention. Everybody notices the easy grace dis- 
 played by the young Princess throughout the even- 
 ing. Already she seems much attached to her 
 future husband. The Prince had just done some- 
 thing which had deeply affected her= He went to 
 
THE MARBIAGE OF PRINCE NAPOLEON 19 
 
 see Prince Otho, third son of the King, at the castle 
 of Moncalieri, where His Royal Highness lives. The 
 young prince, whom an infirmity of infancy had 
 always kept away from court, was deeply moved 
 by this visit. "Perhaps I shall never know my 
 brother-in-law," he had mournfully remarked a few 
 minutes before the Prince arrived. 
 
 January 25. — In concert with Count Nigra, 
 minister of the royal household, the French minister 
 signs the matrimonial agreement. By Article IH., 
 the King, conformably to the law of the country, 
 assures the Princess a dowry of 500,000 francs. 
 Article IV. mentions that the King presents the 
 Princess with a sum of 100,000 francs specially 
 intended to provide her trousseau, independently 
 of rings and jewels valued at about 245,000 
 francs. 
 
 January 28. — A deputation from the municipal 
 and communal councils of Turin present the Princess 
 with a beautifully chased silver chandelier which 
 had been admired at the last exhibition as a master- 
 piece of Piedmontese industry. 
 
 January 29. — The marriage contract is signed at 
 the palace, in presence of the ministers and the 
 whole court. Count Cavour acts as notary of the 
 crown. He reads the act by which the Princess 
 renounces all right to inherit from the royal family, 
 and the contract is signed by all present. In the 
 evening, the city is brilliantly illuminated. 
 
 Sunday^ January 30. — The marriage is celebrated 
 
20 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 at ten o'clock in the morning in the palace chapel. 
 Assisted by the Bishops of Diella, Pignerol, Casal, 
 and Savona, the Archbishop of Yercelli gives the 
 nuptial benediction. 
 
 At half -past one the married pair, the King, Prince 
 de Carignan, the entire court, the French minister, 
 and all the members of his legation, set off for 
 Genoa. The national guard and the troops in 
 garrison at Turin are under arms. The whole 
 population awaits anxiously the coming of the royal 
 procession. Victor Emmanuel, in a fine open car- 
 riage drawn by six horses, has the Princess Clotilde 
 on his right. Opposite the Princess is Prince Napo- 
 leon, Prince de Carignan sits opposite the King. 
 The sovereign and the husband and wife are touched 
 by the emotion of the crowd. There is a general 
 acclamation ; blessings, cheers, wishes for her happi- 
 ness, are incessantly addressed to the young Princess, 
 who replies by saluting with as much grace as 
 affability. The railway platform is decorated with 
 flowers. The ovation does not end until the pierc- 
 ing whistle of the locomotive is heard. 
 
 All along the road, from Turin to Genoa, the coun- 
 try people hasten to greet the King, his daughter, 
 and his son-in-law. The train stops at Monca- 
 lieri, and again at Asti, where five hundred Pied- 
 montese decorated with the Saint Helena medal 
 are assembled, and where the municipality offers 
 the Princess a bouquet and a box of candy; again 
 at Alessandria, where the crowd is immense, and at 
 
THE MABBIAGE OF PRINCE NAPOLEON 21 
 
 Novi, where there are also a great many Saint 
 Helena medallists. Everywhere Victor Emmanuel 
 receives the homage of the local authorities with 
 his usual kindliness, and everywhere the noble atti- 
 tude and gracious physiognomy of the Princess 
 excite deep sympathy. 
 
 They arrive at Genoa. On its way to the palace 
 the royal cortege is preceded by students. Eighty- 
 five deputies and twenty senators are in the city. 
 The King and the newly married pair are present 
 in the evening at the Carlo Felice theatre, where 
 the audience receive them with transports of en- 
 thusiasm. Brilliantly illuminated, Genoa the Proud, 
 with her marble palaces and her splendid roadstead, 
 presents an enchanting spectacle. 
 
 January/ SI. — The King and Their Imperial High- 
 nesses go aboard the French vessels sent to Genoa 
 to escort the spouses as far as Marseilles. The 
 ensemble and the manoeuvres of these vessels are 
 highly appreciated. In the evening, a grand ball 
 reunites the ^lite of Genoese society and the 
 diplomatic corps which has followed the court to 
 Genoa. 
 
 February 1. — Victor Emmanuel is touched when 
 parting from his cherished daughter ; he asks himself 
 what will become of her in France, a land disturbed 
 by so many revolutions, and so often fatal to its 
 princes and princesses. It wants a quarter to eleven 
 o'clock. The spouses go aboard the Heine Hortense. 
 With the Princess goes her governess, the Marquise 
 
22 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 de Villamarina del Campo, wlio is to remain with 
 her for a month. The King would not bid his 
 daughter farewell until the Heine Hortense had left 
 the harbor. He returned to Genoa in a launch, and 
 his manly face betrayed his emotion. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE PRINCESS CLOTILDB 
 
 n^HE Princess who lands at Marseilles on Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1859, will be sixteen on the second of 
 March. 
 
 Daughter of King Victor Emmanuel (born March 
 14, 1820) and of the Austrian Archduchess Adelaide 
 (born June 3, 1822, died January 20, 1855), she has 
 profited well by an excellent education. In her 
 attitude, language, and her entire person, there is a 
 blending of simplicity and nobility, of modesty and 
 dignity, which is full of charm. No sooner does she 
 touch the soil of France than this daughter of kings, 
 this descendant of saints and heroes, is saluted with 
 veneration. She inspires all French people with 
 profound respect, even those who are not in favor of 
 a war for Italy. Is it the fault of this gentle creature 
 if her marriage is linked with warlike negotiations ? 
 Can she in whose veins the blood of the Hapsburgs 
 flows with that of Savoy be reproached for a struggle 
 which will be a sort of family war between two rival 
 houses? What is there in common between the 
 horrors of the battlefield and the good Princess who, 
 true to the precepts of the Gospel, would desire that 
 
 23 
 
24 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 all peoples might dwell in fraternal and Christian 
 unity ? The crowd feels a vague presentiment that 
 the young Princess will not be happy. A trace of 
 sadness and premature melancholy is already per- 
 ceptible on her youthful features. 
 
 February 2. — On arriving at Marseilles, Prince 
 Napoleon and the Princess find there the Emperor's 
 aide-de-camp, General Fleury, and also Countess de 
 Rayneval and Madame de Saulcy, ladies of the 
 palace of the Empress, commissioned to congratulate 
 them on their arrival in France. Their Imperial 
 Highnesses, after receiving the authorities, breakfast 
 at the prefecture and start for Paris at half-past three. 
 They stop at Fontainebleau for a few hours' rest in 
 the morning, and are received there by the Princess 
 Mathilde, who embraces her new sister-in-law. 
 
 At three o'clock they arrive in Paris, where they 
 are met at the Lyons station by Marshal Magnan, 
 General de Lowoestine, the prefect of the Seine, the 
 prefect of police, the officers of the household of 
 Prince Napoleon, and the members of the Sardinian 
 legation. A regiment of the line is drawn up at 
 the entrance of the station; a squadron of cuirassiers 
 forms the escort. The streets through which the 
 cortege is to pass are hung with French and Sardinian 
 flags. The spouses and their suite get into court 
 carriages. That occupied by the Prince and Prin- 
 cess attracts all eyes. The General Prince de La 
 Moskowa, aide-de-camp of the Emperor, rides beside 
 the right-hand door, the commander of the escort of 
 
 in 
 
THE PRINCESS CLOTILDE 25 
 
 cuirassiers at the left. The procession passes through 
 the rue de Lyon, the rue de Rivoli, Place Saint-Ger- 
 main-l'Auxerrois, the court of the Louvre, and the 
 Place of the Carrousel. The national guard and the 
 light infantry of the imperial guard form the line 
 from the entrance of the Louvre to the triumphal 
 arch of the Carrousel ; the first regiment of cuiras- 
 siers of the guard and a regiment of dragoons are in 
 line of battle on this place. The line is bordered in 
 the court of the Tuileries by a battalion of light 
 infantry of the guard. 
 
 The Emperor comes to the foot of the grand stair- 
 case to receive Their Imperial Highnesses. The Em- 
 press awaits them at the top. She embraces the 
 Princess. The presentations then take place in the 
 white salon, situated between the hall of the Mar- 
 shals and that of Apollo. A few moments later, 
 Their Highnesses go with the same cortege to the 
 Palais-Royal. King Jerome, surrounded by the offi- 
 cers of his household, receives the Princess as she 
 leaves the carriage, and, after embracing her, leads 
 her to the apartments she is to occupy. In the even- 
 ing, the pair dine at the table of the former King of 
 Westphalia. 
 
 February 5. — Grand dinner at the Tuileries, in the 
 hall of the Marshals, in honor of the bride. Among 
 the guests of the Emperor and Empress are the 
 princes and princesses of the Imperial family, the 
 Princess Marie of Baden, the Duchess of Hamilton, 
 the ministers and great dignitaries of State, the for- 
 
26 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 eign ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary and 
 their wives, the entire Sardinian legation, the great 
 oflBcers of the crown, and the principal officers of the 
 households of Their Majesties and the princes. After 
 dinner a play is performed in the gallery of Diana. 
 
 The Princess Clotilde is at once appreciated at 
 Court. In spite of her extreme simplicity she has a 
 very noble bearing. Her reserve, her modesty and 
 tact, gain the good opinion of all. At the time of her 
 installation at the Palais-Royal, the sad associations 
 which might make that residence a gloomy one are 
 carefully avoided. Paris seems a magnificent city to 
 the young Princess, and one enjoying extraordinary 
 prosperity. It is still hoped that current differences 
 may find a peaceful diplomatic solution. The Aus- 
 trian ambassador, reflecting that the wife of Prince 
 Napoleon is the daughter of an archduchess, shows 
 her the greatest deference, and is present at all en- 
 tertainments given in her honor. Speaking of the 
 marriage so much commented on, Count de Buol 
 assures Marquis de Banneville that for his part he 
 is " not one of those who have found a hidden sig- 
 nificance in it, the motives of this union having 
 always appeared to him such as the Emperor Na- 
 poleon states them, natural and suitable." 
 
 Certain Viennese journals, notably the Presse, hav- 
 ing reproduced some unseemly remarks concerning 
 the marriage, attributing them to Piedmontese sources, 
 what course is taken by the royal and imperial gov- 
 ernment? It publishes in the official journal, the 
 
THE PBINCESS CLOTILBE 27 
 
 Oorrespondance Autrichienne, an article whose result 
 might be the suppression of the Presse, which had 
 already received two warnings. Concerning this, the 
 Marquis de Banneville writes to Count Walewski, 
 February 2 : " Count Buol has told me that he merely 
 acted in accordance with a due sense of propriety in 
 instigating the suppression of such sallies ; and that 
 without ascribing any merit to himself for an act of 
 simple decorum, he at least wished to show his spon- 
 taneous readiness to stigmatize and repress such un- 
 namable attacks." The French government appre- 
 ciates the kindly procedure of that of Austria, and 
 expresses its gratitude. 
 
 The Princess Clotilde will be always and every- 
 where respected. During the eleven and a half years 
 which she will spend in France, she will set there the 
 example of all the virtues. At official festivities she 
 will appear with the noble bearing of a woman born 
 on the steps of the throne, but in the palace she will 
 lead the austere life of the cloister. She will suffer 
 without ever speaking of her sufferings; she will 
 humbly offer them to God. ' Politicians of all parties 
 will pay homage to this pious and charitable princess 
 who will not be less honored in misfortune than in 
 days of prosperity, and who, compelling the admira- 
 tion of all by her resignation, tranquillity, and cour- 
 age, will depart from France with as much dignity as 
 she entered it. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ANONYMOUS BEOCHUEB 
 
 "TTICTOR EMMANUEL, after witnessing at Genoa 
 ^ the departure of his daughter for France, had 
 gone back to Turin to assent to a project for borrow- 
 ing fifty millions submitted to him by M. Lanza, his 
 Minister of Finance. It was a veritable war loan, the 
 intent of which nobody sought to disguise. The 
 minister concluded his statement of its motives by 
 these words : " You know that there are supreme 
 moments in the life of peoples when sacrifice is a 
 sacred duty, an inexorable necessity." Every one 
 anxiously wondered what part Napoleon III. would 
 play in the great crises which were in preparation. 
 
 February 3, the very day of the Princess Clotilde's 
 arrival in Paris, the Emperor announced to his 
 amazed ministers the appearance of a brochure which 
 would reflect his ideas upon the Italian question. 
 Some hours later, this pamphlet was in the windows 
 of all the bookshops. It contained sixty-four pages, 
 and was unsigned. Its title was : The Emperor Na- 
 poleon III. and Italy. 
 
 In his Souvenirs du Second Empire., M. A. Granier 
 de Cassagnac has said of the Emperor : " His throne 
 
 28 
 
THE ANONYMOUS BBOCHURE 29 
 
 turned his attention from his books ; but those who 
 have read them know that neither France nor any- 
 other country has ever had a sovereign fitted to reign 
 by a higher intellectual cultivation. That is why he 
 had so correct an idea of the action of the press on 
 modern society, and why he was so anxious to direct 
 that action. The Emperor, who was all his life a 
 journalist, was very fond of the press. As a prisoner 
 at Ham he practised journalism in the Progres du 
 Pas-de- Calais ; he did the same at the Elys^e with 
 M. de La Gu^ronnidre; at the Tuileries with M. 
 Duvernois and M. Vitu ; from 1850 he did so every- 
 where with me, even at Wilhelmshohe and at Cam- 
 den Place, where, a few months before his death, he 
 corrected the proofs of a brochure we wrote together, 
 which was published by Amyot." 
 
 The crowned journalist rated the press above 
 diplomacy; he preferred a good article to a good 
 despatch. Quite naturally, his ministers regarded 
 his passion for publicity with disfavor, and were 
 annoyed at finding themselves often less well in- 
 formed concerning their master's intentions than cer- 
 tain journalists. Napoleon III. sometimes governed 
 against his own government. He had not said a 
 single word to Count Walewski, his Minister of For- 
 eign Affairs, concerning the brochure which he was 
 preparing so mysteriously with the Viscount de La 
 Gu^ronni^re, and which was, in fact, absolutely op- 
 posed to the official policy pursued at the quai 
 d'Orsay. 
 
30 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The anonymous author of the brochure, The Em- 
 peror Napoleon III. and Italy ^ was a very charming 
 man who united real talent as a writer to exquisite 
 manners. A legitimist by origin, he had become the 
 favorite disciple of M. de Lamartine, on whose style 
 he modelled his own. In 1848 he was writing in the 
 Pays newspaper, which supported the illustrious poet 
 as a candidate for the presidency. In 1851 he pub- 
 lished a series of Political Portraits^ among which 
 figured those of the Count de Chambord and Louis 
 Napoleon. This publication had a great success. 
 The Prince-President was greatly struck by it and 
 sought to win the author. Elected deputy from 
 Cantal in 1852, La Gu^ronniere resigned his seat to 
 enter the Council of State, and was publicly known to 
 be the auxiliary and close confidant of the Emperor. 
 
 The brochure inspired by the sovereign was an 
 ardent and enthusiastic defence of the Italian cause. 
 In a style truly Lamartinian, it said : " Italy is more 
 than a sister to other nations, she is a mother. Her 
 genius, her power, her institutions, conquests, mas- 
 terpieces, and, later, her misfortunes, her ruins, her 
 troubles, in a word, everything in ancient as in mod- 
 ern times, her consuls, her tribunes, her historians, 
 emperors, popes, and martyrs, have contributed to 
 give her in some sort a generative character. In 
 politics, in war, in civil and penal legislation, in the 
 arts, in eloquence and poetry as in religion, she has 
 been the common country of all civilized States. 
 Hence, it may be said that her influence over the 
 
THE ANONYMOUS BROCHURE 31 
 
 world has never ceased. After subduing she has 
 enlightened it; when her material domination was 
 overcome, her moral domination began. Forgetful- 
 ness on the part of Europe would be ingratitude ; on 
 that of Italy, self-abnegation. Can we demand this 
 sacrifice from those to whom nothing remains of their 
 past greatness but the pride of having justified it, and 
 the hope of one day recovering some of its fragments? 
 And if we should demand it from Italy, would she 
 not have the right to answer us by this thought of 
 Tacitus in the Life of Agrieola, ' We should have lost 
 memory as well as speech could we forget as well as 
 keep silence.' " 
 
 In a masterly work entitled Napoleon III., His 
 International Design, M. Emile OUivier has very 
 judiciously remarked that a wrong has been done the 
 second Emperor in isolating him from the general 
 ideas amidst which his mind was formed, and of 
 which he was later a reflection; he ought to have 
 been connected with the movement of his times 
 rather than considered as a solitary individuality 
 deriving from himself alone. " Take the democratic 
 theses," adds M. Ollivier, "as Lamennais, Armand 
 Carrel, and finally Lamartine, our thinkers and popu- 
 lar poets, have formulated them ; blend with these 
 certain ideas of the great poet and thinker of Saint 
 Helena; re-read the agitating speeches made by 
 Thiers before 1848 in favor of Italy tinder the sword 
 of Charles-Albert and the pastoral staff of Pius IX., 
 and that of Cavaignac, May 23, 1849, calling on the 
 
82 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 ministry to safeguard the independence and liberty 
 of peoples. . . . Combine these writings, words, and 
 actions, deduce a rule of conduct from them, and 
 without losing yourself in conjectures, dissertations, 
 bewilderments, you will have an accurate definition of 
 the whole policy of Napoleon III. It may be summed 
 up in a simple formula : that of nationalities." 
 
 On the rock of Saint Helena, Napoleon had said : 
 " The first sovereign who, in the midst of the great 
 affray, will in good faith embrace the cause of 
 peoples will find himself at the head of Europe, 
 and he may venture whatever he chooses." This 
 thought, inscribed in the Memoir, was evidently the 
 inspiration of the brochure, The Emperor Napoleon 
 III. and Italy. Its fundamental idea is that peoples 
 have the right to dispose of their destiny. 
 
 What the brochure recommended for Italy was 
 not unity but a federal union with the Pope as presi- 
 dent. "Instead of governing a stationary people, 
 he extends his hand over all Italy to bless and 
 lead it; he is the irresponsible and revered chief of 
 a confederation of twenty-six millions of Christians 
 who, classified in different States, tend towards one 
 centre where the activity and greatness of Italy are 
 recapitulated." 
 
 Under a dispassionate form and conciliatory aspects, 
 the brochure developed ideas that were in the most 
 startling opposition to every tradition of ancient 
 European diplomacy. It declared that " the abso- 
 lutely clerical character of the government of the 
 
THE ANONYMOUS BBOCUUBE 33 
 
 Roman States is a misconception, an active cause of 
 discontent, and consequently an element of weakness 
 for the Pope himself, and a permanent risk of revo- 
 lution." Not contented with demanding reforms in 
 the peninsula, it made a clean sweep of the treaties. 
 "The treaties which unite governments," it said, 
 " are the international laws of peoples, and could be 
 invariable only if the world were stationary. If 
 treaties which should protect the security of Europe 
 endanger it, it is because they do not respond to the 
 needs by which they were dictated. In that case 
 political prudence counsels their substitution by some- 
 thing else. A power which should intrench itself 
 behind treaties to resist modifications universally 
 demanded by public opinion, would doubtless have 
 written law on its side, but against it would be 
 arrayed the moral law and the conscience of the 
 world." 
 
 The brochure concluded as follows : " What is to 
 be done, then? Shall appeal be made to force? 
 May Providence shield us from such an extremity ! 
 An appeal must be made to public opinion. . . . 
 Without doubt, God would reserve to those who 
 should bear the brunt of the struggle a noble share 
 of human glory. We are not tempted by that glory ; 
 we have had enough of it in days that are historic 
 as well as in contemporary events to keep us from 
 desiring more. Hence we ardently wish that diplo- 
 macy may do before a battle what it would do the 
 day after a victory. Let Europe unite energetically 
 
34 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 in this cause of peace and justice ! It should be with 
 us, because we shall always be with it in defence of 
 its honor, equilibrium, and security." 
 
 To sum up, the brochure was pacific in appearance, 
 bellicose in reality. What it asked for, namely, the 
 abolition of treaties and the enfranchisement of 
 Milan and Venice, could not be obtained except by 
 war. It recognized as much, for, after having 
 enumerated the military forces of Austria and its 
 formidable strategic positions in the north of Italy, 
 it adds : " From these facts there results for every 
 military man the incontestable truth that Italian 
 nationality will never be the result of a revolution, 
 and that it cannot succeed without foreign assist- 
 ance." This foreign assistance was that of Napoleon 
 III. and the French army. 
 
 For the first time, a sovereign was seen to lay 
 his personal programme before public opinion, and 
 transform himself, so to say, into a journalist who 
 publishes a notable article without signing it. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE 
 
 'AT'OWADAYS it would be difficult to form a just 
 ^ notion of the importance of the speeches from 
 the throne under the Second Empire. Napoleon III. 
 drew them up himself with the greatest care ; he cor- 
 rected the proofs, and he delivered them in a strong 
 and sonorous voice which made itself distinctly heard 
 by all who were present. The Emperor had the privi- 
 lege of power to raise or lower the funds in every 
 exchange throughout the world by a single phrase, 
 by a mere allusion. Telegraphed immediately to 
 all civilized countries, the imperial harangues were 
 everywhere the subject of innumerable commenta- 
 ries. Each of their phrases received minute atten- 
 tion, and contradictory conclusions were frequently 
 deduced from them. 
 
 Never had a throne speech been more impatiently 
 awaited than that by which Napoleon III. was to 
 open the session of the Senate and the Corps L^gis- 
 latif, February 7, 1859. The brochure of Viscount 
 de La Gu^ronniere had appeared three days earlier, 
 and all were anxious to know whether the ideas 
 formulated in it would be reproduced, wholly or in 
 part, by the sovereign. The public were not of one 
 
 35 
 
36 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 mind on the subject. Some regarded it as a serious 
 event, others as a simple feeler whose importance 
 they sought to diminish. In the business world, as 
 in that of diplomacy, there was uncertainty as to the 
 real intentions of the Emperor, and it was hoped that 
 the speech from the throne would dispel anxieties 
 and put an end to equivocations. 
 
 The ceremony took place in the new hall of the 
 Louvre intended for the opening of the legislative 
 sessions, and called the hall of the States. The 
 throne was placed on a platform at the back of the 
 hall. On the right of the throne was the tribune of 
 the Empress. Half an hour before the Emperor's 
 arrival, the great bodies of State, the deputations, and 
 invited guests occupied the places reserved for them. 
 On the steps of the throne, to right and left, were 
 placed the cardinals, ministers, marshals and admi- 
 rals, a deputation from the grand crosses of the 
 Legion of Honor, and the members of the Council 
 of State. Opposite the throne, on the right, the 
 senators, on the left, the deputies. In the upper 
 right-hand gallery were the members of the diplo- 
 matic body and their wives. The corresponding 
 gallery on the left was occupied by other ladies who 
 had been invited. 
 
 At one o'clock the Empress, preceded and followed 
 by great officials, officials and ladies of her household, 
 entered the hall to renewed shouts of " Long live the 
 Empress ! " Her Majesty was accompanied by the 
 Princess Clotilde, the Princess Mathilde, the Prin- 
 
THE SPEECH FROM THE THBONE 37 
 
 cess-Duchess of Hamilton, the princesses Lucien, 
 Joachim, and Anna Murat. 
 
 As soon as the Empress had taken her place in 
 her tribune, the cannon of the Invalides announced 
 the Emperor's departure from the Tuileries. Pre- 
 ceded and followed by great officers of his house- 
 hold, the sovereign repaired to the session through 
 the great picture gallery of the Louvre. He took his 
 seat on the throne, with King Jerome on his right, 
 and Prince Napoleon on his left. Then he delivered 
 his speech in a firm and emphatic tone. The first 
 part of it seemed very pacific. " One has a right to 
 be surprised," he said, " by the excitement lately pro- 
 duced when no imminent dangers were in sight, be- 
 cause it shows at once too much distrust and too 
 much alarm. On one hand, the moderation of 
 which I have given so many proofs seems to have 
 been doubted ; and on the other, the real power 
 of France. Happily the mass of the people is far 
 from experiencing such impressions." Next, the 
 Emperor recalled the declaration of Bordeaux: 
 " The Empire is peace,^^ meaning by that, he added, 
 " that if the heir of the Emperor Napoleon remounted 
 the throne, he would not renew an era of conquests, 
 but inaugurate a system of peace which could be dis- 
 turbed by nothing but the defence of great national 
 interests." This last phrase began to disseminate 
 anxiety. Would not Napoleon III. actually regard 
 a war for Italy as the defence of great national inter- 
 ests for France ? 
 
38 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The Emperor afterwards dilated on his disagree- 
 ments with Austria concerning the Danubian Prin- 
 cipalities, and added, apropos of this, that France 
 was interested wherever there was question of mak- 
 ing a just and civilizing cause prevail. In fact, he 
 talked like a sibyl. When he said : " I shall remain 
 immovable in the path of right, of justice, and of 
 national honor, and my government will not permit 
 itself either to be persuaded or intimidated, because 
 my policy will never be either provocative or pusil- 
 lanimous," no one knew whether the sovereign de- 
 sired peace or war. 
 
 While the Emperor was speaking, the attitude of 
 his audience was a curious thing to see. Senators 
 and deputies at first emphasized by their approba- 
 tion all that seemed calculated to reassure and give 
 pledges of peace ; then, when the imperial language 
 became enigmatic and obscure, they abstained from 
 all demonstration and gave none of the customary 
 applause until the close of the discourse, which ter- 
 minated as follows : " When, sustained by popular 
 sentiment and desire, one ascends the steps of a 
 throne, he rises, by the gravest of responsibilities, 
 above that meanest of regions where vulgar interests 
 are at war, and has for his initial motives as well 
 as for his final judges, God, his conscience, and 
 posterity." 
 
 The discourse when read produced a more belli- 
 cose impression than when listened to. In reading 
 between the lines, in pondering the phrases on just 
 
THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE 39 
 
 and civilizing causes which must be made to prevail, 
 on the abnormal situation of Italy, on the community 
 of interests between Piedmont and France, perspi- 
 cacious minds found the preliminary tokens of an 
 approaching war in words apparently very moderate. 
 This was the general impression at Turin, and Victor 
 Emmanuel, like Count Cavour, found encourage- 
 ment and a promise in the imperial speech. At 
 Vienna, on the other hand, people gave, or pre- 
 tended to give, a more pacific meaning to it. 
 
 We read in the official organ, the Oorrespondance 
 Autrichienne, February 8 : " The speech delivered by 
 the Emperor Napoleon at the opening of the legisla- 
 tive session, is calculated to dispel the fears of war 
 which have lately been felt in Europe. . . . The Em- 
 peror will appeal to the military forces of the nation 
 he governs only in defence of the great national 
 interests of the country, and as these great interests 
 are not menaced from any quarter, nobody dreaming 
 of endangering the position and authority of so great 
 an empire as France, we believe that we have every 
 reason to share the confidence of Europe ; peace will 
 not be disturbed." 
 
 February 11, the Marquis de Banneville wrote to 
 Count Walewski : " As the chief interest of the 
 speech of February 7 lay in the reference it would 
 make to the state of the relations of France with 
 Austria, it was awaited with more impatient anxiety 
 at Vienna than elsewhere. The sensation has been 
 profound. The authority and prestige of the Em- 
 
40 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 peror's words have never produced a more powerful 
 impression. But, as it was easy to foresee, the first 
 effects were contradictory, and according to his per- 
 sonal disposition each sought in it the confirmation 
 of his fears or the justification of his hopes. ... As 
 to the government, it has not hesitated to declare 
 that it is satisfied, having interpreted the Emperor 
 Napoleon's speech in a conciliatory sense. This 
 declaration has reacted successfully against the con- 
 trary impressions, and notably against those experi- 
 enced at first by German diplomacy, always too much 
 inclined to suspect France." 
 
 The charge d'affaires, himself ardently desirous that 
 peace should be maintained, added in the same de- 
 spatch : " Count Buol has spoken to me about the 
 speech with admiration, praising without reserve its 
 elevation, cleverness, calmness, and candor. 'The 
 Emperor Napoleon,' he said to me, ' in believing him- 
 self obliged to remind France of his force and his 
 moderation, has renewed to her his promise to per- 
 severe in his firm but conciliatory policy. It now 
 depends on Austria, at present prudent, moderate, 
 conciliatory, to bind the Emperor to Europe by the 
 same pledge.' " The Marquis de Banneville con- 
 cluded thus, "I think people feel the necessity of 
 all this here, and that they desire it." 
 
 To sum up, the Austrian government, by indicating 
 immediately through an official journal the impres- 
 sion it had itself adopted, sought to banish apprehen- 
 sion and direct public opinion. European diplomacy, 
 
THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE 41 
 
 about to undertake the work of maintaining treaties 
 and preventing war, pretended to take the pacific 
 words of Napoleon III. seriously, and to repeat with 
 him : " Far from us be false alarms, unjust suspicions, 
 selfish weaknesses ! Peace, we hope, will not be dis- 
 turbed." The optimistic note remained dominant 
 for some time longer. The Emperor took good 
 care to conceal his ulterior designs, and prudently- 
 avoided any too direct thrust at public opinion which, 
 in France as elsewhere, Piedmont excepted, was 
 strongly opposed to war. Hence it was possible for 
 some weeks longer to believe that ideas of peace and 
 conciliation would finally prevail. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PARTISANS OF PEACE 
 
 AT the beginning of the year 1859, I went almost 
 -^--^ every evening to imperialist salons. There 
 was a good deal of talk about foreign politics, and 
 the conversations were interesting. I was able to 
 ascertain how greatly peace was desired and how 
 adversely warlike tendencies were criticised, not 
 merely in the ministries, the embassies, at the presi- 
 dency of the Senate and that of the Corps L^gislatif, 
 but even at the Tuileries. With the exception of 
 certain military men, eager for adventures and glory, 
 advancement and decorations, I met nobody who 
 avowed himself in favor of a war in co-operation 
 with Italy. When the prefects came to Paris the 
 ministers personally advised them not to conceal 
 from the Emperor that their constituents earnestly 
 wished for peace. In the official world this might 
 have been called the order of the day. 
 
 A few of the Emperor's closest intimates were 
 the only ones who shared his longing for war, and 
 they were extremely careful not to own it; for, if 
 he drew the sword. Napoleon III. wished people to 
 think his hand had been forced by Austria. His 
 
 42 
 
THE PARTISANS OF PEACE 43 
 
 entire policy had a tendency to so conduct matters 
 that the Emperor Francis Joseph should appear 
 to be the aggressor. Hence he avoided all that 
 might be regarded as a provocation, and discour- 
 aged none of those who pleaded with him the 
 cause of peace. 
 
 Nearly all the members of the Corps Legislatif 
 said that, with the exception of a few advanced 
 liberals and revolutionaries, their constituents pro- 
 tested against warlike tendencies with the utmost 
 energy. Nothing but the universal obsequiousness 
 prevented the Chamber from displaying its senti- 
 ments in a striking manner, and at the houses even 
 of those who protested their devotion to the Emperor 
 most noisily, one could already discern the germs of 
 a secret opposition to the ideas of which the speech 
 from the throne had been the first symptom. The 
 deputies contrived a small manifestation, friendly 
 enough, but significant. Called upon to appoint 
 presidents and secretaries of boards, they did not 
 select a single one of their colleagues who had either 
 a military rank or a position at Court. 
 
 Count de Morny, president of the Corps Legisla- 
 tif, was one of the greatest advocates of peace. Nor 
 did he conceal it in the speech he made at the 
 opening of the session, February 8. When he said 
 that " religion, philosophy, civilization, credit, in- 
 dustry, have made peace the first essential of modern 
 societies," his words called forth unanimous applause. 
 " The blood of peoples," he added, " is no longer 
 
44 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 shed lightly. War is the last resort of disregarded 
 rights or offended honor. Most difficulties are 
 smoothed away by diplomacy, or settled by friendly 
 arbitration. Rapid international communications and 
 publicity have created a new European power with 
 which all governments are forced to reckon, and 
 this power is public opinion. It may be uncertain 
 or ignored for a moment, but in the end it ranges 
 itself on the side of justice, right, and humanity." In 
 speaking thus. Count de Morny expressed the senti- 
 ments of the entire Chamber. 
 
 In the business world, a similar disposition was 
 everywhere manifested. Financiers, speculators, 
 brokers, manufacturers, merchants, expressed the 
 same views as the peasants, the farmers, and the 
 city and country people. The wish for peace was 
 universal. 
 
 The journals, even those which professed the 
 keenest sympathy with Piedmont and the greatest 
 admiration for Count Cavour, declared against 
 war. M. Eugene Forcade, who edited at the time 
 the chronicle of the fortnight in the Revue des Deux 
 Mondes, wrote in it March 31 : " War nowadays must 
 seem an inevitable necessity in order to be accepted 
 by the conscience of peoples. Nothing which the 
 French public has been able to ascertain thus far 
 gives this character of irresistible necessity to the 
 war with which we are threatened. This war could 
 only arise out of the Italian question. Possibly war 
 may seem necessary to the Italians themselves, who 
 
THE PARTISANS OF PEACE 45 
 
 are burning to free their country from all foreign 
 domination. Personally, we feel a sincere sympathy 
 for the Italian patriots, and we recognize their right 
 to determine the moment when they should try to 
 conquer their independence by a resort to arms, but 
 on one condition, namely, that they alone shall be 
 bound by their resolve, and that they shall recognize 
 that Frenchmen have neither the same rights, the 
 same duties, nor the same interests as Italians, when 
 it is a question for them to decide whether there is 
 any reason why they should co-operate in the inde- 
 pendence of Italy by an immediate war." 
 
 In 1852, at the time when Count Cavour had just 
 been appointed Prime Minister by King Victor 
 Emmanuel, M. Thiers, then in Piedmont, wrote : " I 
 have seen a wise country, an excellent government, 
 and an admirable army. Piedmont, if it continues 
 to act well, and if France does not drag it along by 
 plunging herself into a career of mad adventures, will 
 some day become the foundation on which an Italy 
 may be constructed; but that would require many 
 years of peace and good behavior. War would ruin 
 it." In 1859, such was still the opinion, not merely 
 of M. Thiers, but of almost all French diplomatists. 
 
 M. de Persigny, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, M. de 
 Morny, were partisans, the first of the English alli- 
 ance, the second of the Austrian, the third of the 
 Russian; but on one point, namely, in their opposi- 
 tion to the principle of nationalities, they were all 
 of one mind. M. de Morny thought this principle 
 
46 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 was chiefly supported by revolutionists, and he said, 
 "Revolutionists are never very sure friends; they 
 make use of the sympathies which they excite in 
 order to attain their ends, but they have neither 
 gratitude nor moderation." 
 
 Count Walewski, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 
 1859, belonged, like his predecessor, M. Drouyn de 
 Lhuys, to the school of the past. Essentially a con- 
 servative, a convinced defender of the temporal power 
 of the Pope, a personal friend of the King of Naples 
 and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he considered 
 treaties as a sacred ark, and always and everywhere 
 showed his opposition to revolution. The French 
 diplomatists nearly all shared the opinions of their 
 chief. They regarded an auxiliary like Garibaldi as 
 dangerous, and, in spite of the Memorial from Saint- 
 Helena^ they were opposed to the system of great 
 national agglomerations. To them, the unity of 
 France was what constituted its strength, and it was 
 not its interest to labor to give its neighbors a force 
 of which it had the monopoly. They thought that 
 France was great in proportion as its neighboring 
 States were small, and consequently declared them- 
 selves in favor of particularism in Germany as well 
 as in Italy. Such were notably the opinions of the 
 Due de Montebello, ambassador at Saint Petersburg, 
 of the Due de Gramont, ambassador at Rome, of the 
 Marquis de Moustier, the Prince de La Tour d'Au- 
 vergne, the Marquis de Ferri^re le Vayer, one minis- 
 ter of France at Berlin, the other at Turin, the third 
 
THE PABTI8AN8 OF PEACE 47 
 
 at Florence. Hence the imperial diplomacy was in 
 absolute opposition with the Emperor's programme. 
 He knew it very well, and far from complaining 
 of it, far from disavowing his agents, he maintained 
 all of them at their posts and made use of them the 
 better to conceal his ulterior designs and mental 
 reservations. 
 
 None the less, it was a curious spectacle to behold 
 a sovereign conspire in his foreign policy, not merely 
 against the Chambers, but against his ministers, 
 diplomats, prefects, in a word, against his entire 
 government. 
 
 Had Napoleon III. at least the moral or material 
 support of England to sustain him in his projects in 
 favor of the Italian cause? Not at all. We are 
 about to prove by means of incontestable documents 
 that, far from favoring the programme of King Victor 
 Emmanuel and Count Cavour, Queen Victoria and 
 the British government declared themselves most 
 energetically for the maintenance of treaties, and, 
 consequently, for that of the Austrian domination at 
 Milan and Venice. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 ENGLAND AND PIEDMONT 
 
 TpEBRUARY 3, 1859, Queen Victoria opened the 
 Parliament. "I receive from all the foreign 
 powers," said she in her speech from the throne, 
 " assurances of good and friendly sentiments. To 
 cultivate and consolidate these sentiments, to main- 
 tain intact the faith of public treaties, and to con- 
 tribute as far as my influence may extend to the 
 preservation of universal peace, such are the objects 
 of my incessant solicitude." The speech was dis- 
 cussed the same day by both Houses. The Tories, 
 then at the head of affairs, Lord Derby being Prime 
 Minister and Lord Malmesbury chief of the Foreign 
 Office, were entirely of one mind with the Whigs on 
 the Italian question. 
 
 In the House of Lords the Prime Minister ex- 
 pressed himself as follows : "Actuated by the most 
 sincere friendship for Sardinia, we have, nevertheless, 
 been made uneasy by the attitude which for some 
 time past she seems disposed to take. This attitude 
 is wholly opposed to her own interests, to her duties 
 towards European society, and to the duration of the 
 sympathy which her previous conduct had acquired 
 
 48 
 
ENGLAND AND PIEDMONT 49 
 
 for her in the civilized world. . . . The remarks 
 made by King Victor Emmanuel at the opening of 
 the Chambers were very ominous; but I am sure 
 that Sardinia will follow better counsels." 
 
 Lord Granville, the Whig leader, declared that in 
 virtue of treaties, Austria possessed rights over her 
 Italian provinces of which no one could despoil her 
 by any right or under any pretext, and he added that 
 the Italians must forget the lessons of history if they 
 supposed Italy could be delivered by calling on one 
 foreign nation to expel another. 
 
 Lord Brougham said that having recently arrived 
 from France, he was able to affirm that in all ranks 
 and classes of society public opinion was unanimously 
 opposed to war. " Everything inclines me to be- 
 lieve," he added, " that France will take no share in 
 the Sardinian Speculation, as it is called, and that 
 this speculation will fail completely." 
 
 In the House of Lords all the speakers expressed 
 themselves like those of the House of Commons, in 
 favor of peace and absolute respect for treaties. 
 Even Lord Palmerston, who, in 1847, had sent Lord 
 Minto to the peninsula to encourage to the utmost 
 the boldest aspirations of Charles-Albert, and who 
 wrote, October 29, 1848, to the English ambassador 
 at Vienna " that there was not the slightest chance 
 of Austria's being able to retain upper Italy in a use- 
 ful and permanent manner, since all its inhabitants 
 were profoundly imbued with an invincible hatred 
 against the Austrian army," now made no further 
 
50 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 objection to Austrian domination in Venetia and 
 Lombardy. " The treaties must be respected," said 
 he. "If the stipulations of a treaty might be set 
 aside in the name of some theoretic preference, all the 
 affairs of Europe might go to rack and ruin, and no 
 one could predict the possible consequences of such 
 a principle." 
 
 It had been announced that Lord John Russell 
 would champion the cause of Italian nationality in 
 Parliament. He did nothing of the sort. " I have 
 always," said the Liberal orator, "had a profound 
 sympathy for the independence and liberty of Italy, 
 but I find it impossible to believe that this cause 
 could ever be served by such a war as that with 
 which we are menaced. . . . The treaty which 
 gives Venetia and Lombardy to Austria is part of 
 the public law, and nobody could dream of disturb- 
 ing this territorial arrangement by force without 
 committing an offence against Europe." 
 
 Finally, Mr. Disraeli said : " I cannot believe that 
 a ruler so prudent as the Emperor of the French is 
 going out of pure good-will to disturb the peace of 
 the world and destroy forever the confidence he has 
 so justly inspired in Europe by the thorough wisdom 
 and moderation of his previous conduct." 
 
 The Court was not less uneasy than the ministers 
 and the Parliament. Prince Albert, always a German 
 at heart, shared, like his uncle the King of the Belgians, 
 all the suspicions of Germany concerning Napoleon 
 III., and was convinced that a war in Italy would 
 
ENGLAND AND PIEDMONT 51 
 
 be the prelude to a war on the Rhine. He believed 
 that Belgium was threatened, and that the Emperor 
 wished to restore her natural frontiers to France. 
 In this respect, Queen Victoria shared the apprehen- 
 sions of her husband. She thought it necessary to 
 intervene personally in the question, and on Febru- 
 ary 4 she wrote a letter to Napoleon III. which was 
 simply an ardent plea in favor of peace. " Seldom," 
 said the Queen, " has it been given a man to exercise 
 a personal influence so powerful as that of Your 
 Majesty over the tranquillity and well-being of 
 Europe." In conclusion, the Queen explicitly in- 
 formed the Emperor that if he entered into a 
 warlike career, it would be utterly impossible for 
 England to associate itself with him in such a policy. 
 
 February 14, Napoleon III. replied at length to 
 Her British Majesty's letter. He attempted to vindi- 
 cate himself from the accusations brought against 
 him, and maintained that he had made no prepara- 
 tions for war. He admitted that treaties could not 
 be altered but by general consent, but he added 
 this significant remark : " However, treaties could 
 not militate against my duty, which is to pursue 
 everywhere the policy most in harmony with the 
 honor and interests of my country." The only 
 result of this reply was to increase the anxieties felt 
 by Queen Victoria, her husband, and her government. 
 It was all over with the cordial alliance. 
 
 The cabinet of London gave a further proof of its 
 pacific sentiments by sending Lord Cowley, English 
 
52 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 ambassador at Paris, to Vienna with an official com- 
 mission to establish there, if possible, the bases of an 
 agreement between France and Austria. This diplo- 
 mat reached Vienna February 7, and was most 
 cordially received by the Emperor Francis Joseph. 
 He declared in favor of the evacuation of the Roman 
 States by the Austrian troops as well as by the 
 French, and asked for the concession of reforms in 
 Italy, but he did not say a single word about Milan 
 and Venice, where it seemed to him that the rights 
 of Austria should be considered inviolable. England 
 not merely did not encourage the designs of Victor 
 Emmanuel, but it asked him to lay down his arms. 
 Lord Cowley left Vienna March 10. Before going 
 he gave an account of his mission in a despatch ad- 
 dressed to Lord Malmesbury, in which he expressed 
 the hope that he had arranged a peaceful solution of 
 the difference. It concluded thus : " As long as 
 Piedmont is allowed to remain under arms, I doubt 
 Austria's willingness to enter into negotiations, 
 because she considers the Piedmontese army as the 
 vanguard of that of France, intended to give the 
 latter time to arm itself, and she will have no con- 
 fidence in the pacific intentions of her neighbors so 
 long as this vanguard remains. Hence, in the 
 Austrian view, the disarmament of Piedmont is the 
 pledge of the sincerity of France." 
 
 To sum up, the chief aim of English diplomacy 
 was the absolute maintenance of the territorial status 
 quo in Italy. If Lord Cowley had succeeded in his 
 
ENGLAND AND PIEDMONT 53 
 
 mission, the whole scaffolding of the plans of Victor 
 Emmanuel and Count Cavour would have tumbled 
 like a house of cards. In spite of his pro-English 
 sympathies, the Piedmontese statesman was perfectly- 
 aware that he had nothing to expect from England, 
 and that apart from the armed concurrence of France 
 the policy of nationalities in Italy had not the 
 slightest chance of success. The Italians should be 
 loyal enough to recognize this at present. But for 
 Napoleon III., Milan and Venice would still be 
 under Austrian domination. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PRUSSIA AND THE GERMANIC CONFEDERATION 
 
 TDIEDMONT had nothing to hope from England. 
 As to Prussia and the Germanic Confederation, 
 the most it could expect was that they should not 
 take up arms against it. All the suspicion, rancor, 
 wrath, of 1813 had just revived against imperial 
 France. In Germany everybody was saying that all 
 that Napoleon III. began war in Italy for was to end 
 it on the banks of the Rhine, and that the only object 
 of his policy was to reconquer what, in his view, con- 
 stituted the natural frontiers of his empire. His 
 efforts to dispel such alarms were multiplied in vain. 
 He did not succeed in this, even by making himself 
 the precursor and champion of Germanic unity. 
 
 The brochure The Emperor Napoleon III. and Italy 
 contained some very curious passages. For instance: 
 " The Germanic Confederation has not obtained a 
 single one of the guarantees of unity and freedom of 
 action which it sought ; subjected to the influence of 
 two great powers, it possibly has no hope but in their 
 necessary rivalry. . . . Prussia, which tends to be- 
 come the head of the Germanic body, has an immense 
 interest in curbing Austria. In becoming her ally 
 
 54 
 
PBUSSIA AND GERMANIC CONFEDERATION 55 
 
 she would make herself an accomplice in her own 
 abasement, and thus disavow the work of Frederic 
 the Great. . . . The solution of the Italian question, 
 were that possible, would be a new strength for the 
 German nationality. . . . Germany has nothing to 
 fear from us on the banks of the Rhine." 
 
 It was not only in the celebrated brochure, but in 
 the Moniteur that the sovereign sought to reassure 
 the Germans. The official journal thus expressed 
 itself, March 15: "A part of Germany responds to 
 the tranquil attitude of the French government by 
 the most groundless alarms. On a mere presumption 
 which nothing justifies and everything repels, preju- 
 dices rekindle, suspicions spread, passions are un- 
 leashed, a sort of crusade against France is begun in 
 the Chambers and the press of several States of the 
 Confederation. She is accused of entertaining ambi- 
 tions she has disavowed, of making ready for con- 
 quests which she does not need, and by these calumnies 
 it is sought to alarm Europe, concerning imaginary 
 aggressions of which she does not even think. Men 
 who mislead German patriotism in this fashion are 
 behind their time. Of such as they it may well be 
 said that they have forgotten nothing and learned 
 nothing. They went to sleep in 1813, and they wake 
 up after a slumber of half a century, with sentiments 
 and passions which history has buried, and which 
 are utterly absurd in relation to modern times; 
 they are visionaries who are absolutely bent upon 
 defending what no one dreams of attacking." 
 
56 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The article in the Moniteur terminated with this 
 justification of Napoleon III.: "The Emperor, who 
 has been able to overcome all prejudices, probably 
 expects that they will be rekindled against him. 
 What would have happened if, in ascending the 
 throne, he had taken thither the narrow sentiments 
 and revengeful feelings now attributed to him by 
 those who seek to make him suspected? Instead of 
 becoming the closest ally of England, and thus obey- 
 ing the interests of civilization, he would have become 
 its rival, as the ancient rivalries of the two peoples 
 might seem to have required. Instead of welcoming 
 men of all parties, he would have mistrusted and 
 repelled adherents of the elder dynasties. Instead 
 of reassuring and calming Europe, he would have 
 disturbed it by atoning for the memories of 1814 
 and 1815 at the cost of its security and indepen- 
 dence. " 
 
 The Moniteur was preaching in the desert. The 
 Germans would not allow themselves to be convinced. 
 It is curious to note that in 1859 the only German 
 who shared the views of Napoleon III. was possibly 
 Herr Bismarck. If the celebrated Prussian states- 
 man had been at the head of affairs, he would proba- 
 bly have concluded arrangements with the Emperor 
 by which Piedmont and Prussia would have simul- 
 taneously aggrandized themselves at the expense of 
 Austria. During a visit he made to Paris in Sep- 
 tember, 1855, at the time of the universal Exposition, 
 he had been presented to Napoleon III. and most 
 
PRUSSIA AND GERMANIC CONFEDERATION 57 
 
 cordially received. In April, 1857, he was sent on 
 a mission to Paris to assist the Prussian minister in 
 the conferences just opened concerning the Neuch^tel 
 affair, and it was due to the Emperor's efforts that 
 King Frederic William IV. was enabled to settle 
 his difference with Switzerland honorably and with- 
 out resort to arms. 
 
 Napoleon III. had a special liking for Bismarck. 
 He believed in the star of the Prussian statesman, and 
 fancied that he might find in him an auxiliary who 
 would aid him to destroy the treaties of 1815, to 
 complete the enfranchisement of Italy, and to estab- 
 lish the principle of nationalities. On his part, Herr 
 Bismarck, at the beginning of the Second Empire, 
 professed a great admiration for Napoleon III. In 
 a memoir intended for Frederic William IV., and 
 dated June 2, 1857, he undertook to combat one by 
 one the prejudices entertained by that prince against 
 a close union with imperial France. He said in it : 
 "The Napoleonic dynasty is reproached with its 
 illegitimate origin ; but the majority of thrones are 
 not more legitimate : a fact which does not prevent 
 the Court of Prussia from contracting political or 
 family alliances with these dynasties. . . . Louis 
 Napoleon did not arrive at the throne by means of 
 an insurrection against the established authorities, 
 and should he resign his power to-day, he would 
 probably embarrass Europe, which would entreat him 
 to retain it. And since Prussia has recognized the 
 Emperor Napoleon, how could it be contrary to its 
 
58 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 honor to contract engagements with him which would 
 command events ? " 
 
 In 1859, Herr Bismarck, who then bore the title 
 of Count, was at Frankfort, where he had represented 
 Prussia since 1854 as its minister to the Germanic 
 Confederation. There he opposed the influence of 
 Austria, tlie rival power, with all the vehemence and 
 obstinacy of his character. Had his government lis- 
 tened to him then, we believe that Prussia would not 
 have hesitated to overthrow the old fedei'al edifice, and 
 to conclude an alliance of ambition with Napoleon III. 
 
 Since October 9, 1858, King Frederic William IV., 
 on account of the poor condition of his health, had con- 
 fided the regency to his brother, the future Emperor 
 of Germany. The Prince Regent cherished very vast 
 designs but did not as yet avow them, and none but 
 his intimate friends knew how he brooded over the 
 dream of expelling the Hapsburgs from Germany in 
 order to install the Hohenzollerns in their place. But 
 this audacious policy was still in a state of latency, 
 and at that time the Prince did not think of embroil- 
 ing himself with Austria, still less of contracting an 
 alliance with Piedmont. He considered that Count 
 Bismarck was going too fast, and changed his post 
 from Frankfort to Saint Petersburg, February 29, 
 1859. The Prussian diplomat had desired to continue 
 his opposition to Austria in the German Diet. He left 
 Frankfort with regret, and not without criticising ad- 
 versely the hostility displayed by the Confederation 
 to the policy of Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon III. 
 
PBUSSIA AND GERMANIC CONFEDEBATION 59 
 
 February 5, Count Buol, Austrian Minister of For- 
 eign Affairs, had addressed a circular to the Austrian 
 agents accredited to German Courts, in which he 
 expressed the satisfaction experienced by the cabinet 
 of Vienna in consequence of the friendly manifesta- 
 tions which its cause had excited in Germany. It 
 was especially in the south, at Munich, Stuttgart, 
 Darmstadt, and Carlsruhe, that the Austrian Court 
 had been encouraged to resort to violent measures 
 against Piedmont. 
 
 The Emperor Francis Joseph sent as his envoy to 
 the Prince Regent of Prussia the Archduke Albert, 
 son of the Archduke Charles, the celebrated rival of 
 Napoleon. The Archduke Albert arrived at Berlin 
 April 14, and announced that at the earliest possible 
 moment Austria would send an ultimatum to the 
 Court of Turin, the rejection of which would at once 
 entail the occupation of Piedmontese territory by the 
 imperial troops. Austria was then under very grave 
 illusions. Considering the war of Italy a secondary 
 matter, she was chiefly occupied with the war on the 
 Rhine which seemed to her inevitable, and the brunt 
 of which she proposed to bear with two hundred and 
 sixty thousand men. This army would have been 
 placed under the command of the Archduke Albert, 
 simultaneously invested with the command of several 
 federal corps in the south. 
 
 In face of the possible complications which might 
 be entailed by the outbreak of war, M. d'Usedon, who 
 had succeeded Count Bismarck as Prussian minister 
 
60 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 at Frankfort, laid the following motion, April 23, 
 before the Diet : " The Diet resolves that it will 
 invite the Confederated States to put their prin- 
 cipal contingents in marching order ; it enjoins the 
 necessary measures for the arming of the federal for- 
 tresses." In support of this motion the cabinet of 
 Berlin declared to its confederates that it believed 
 it urgent to give Germany a defensive organization 
 in harmony with the military dispositions taken by 
 neighboring States. 
 
 The Austrian government rejoiced in all these 
 demonstrations. Count Buol said to Lord Loftus, 
 English ambassador at Vienna: "If the Emperor 
 wanted to feel the pulse of the German nation, it has 
 given him a salutary warning." 
 
 So then, in order to defend the Italian cause. Napo- 
 leon had not merely to fight with Austria. He ran 
 the risk of finding all Germany combined against 
 him, without having the least assurance that it would 
 be restrained by Russia. Seldom has any sovereign 
 incurred risks so great and embarked in so dangerous 
 an enterprise. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 RUSSIA 
 
 ^T^HE war of Italy was possible only because the 
 relations of Napoleon III. with Alexander were 
 very cordial in 1869. Had they been as cold at 
 that period as they were in 1870, France would not 
 have dared to incur the risk of meeting the ill-will of 
 Russia as well as the declared hostility of Austria 
 and all Germany. 
 
 At the beginning of 1859, the two sovereigns mu- 
 tually displayed a very lively sympathy. The Mar- 
 quis de Chateaurenard, charge d'affaires of France at 
 Saint Petersburg in the absence of the ambassador, 
 the Due de Montebello, wrote to Count Walewski, 
 January 13 : — 
 
 " The Emperor held a diplomatic reunion on the 
 occasion of the new year. His Majesty honored me 
 with a particularly cordial reception, and said to me : 
 ' Each day brings me additional proof of the confi- 
 dence which presides over the relations between 
 the Emperor Napoleon's government and mine, and 
 of the friendly sentiments which animate France in 
 reference to Russia. There is more than confidence 
 between the two Courts, there is the most intimate 
 cordiality, and I am very glad of it. I wish the Em- 
 
 61 
 
62 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 peror Napoleon to know tliat he may count on me as 
 I do upon him. Be so kind as to convey to him this 
 assurance.' I cannot too greatly insist, Monsieur le 
 Comte, on the accent of profound conviction with 
 which the language of His Majesty was impressed. 
 The bystanders could not hear the words addressed 
 to me, but they all noticed the air of satisfaction 
 and sympathy with which the Emperor approached 
 the charge d'affaires of France." 
 
 In the mind of Napoleon III, the chief object of the 
 Stuttgart interview had been to insure the moral 
 support of Russia, if not its armed assistance, in the 
 event of a war against Austria. Had Alexander II. 
 condemned this war, it is indisputable that the dif- 
 ferent German States would have risen as one man 
 to prevent it, and that Sardinia, with all the great 
 powers against her except France, would have found 
 it very difficult to continue the policy of defiance 
 against her redoubtable neighbor. But the attitude 
 of ^the cabinet of Saint Petersburg allayed the Ger- 
 manic effervescence and permitted Napoleon III. to 
 carry out his plans. 
 
 The Marquis de Chateaurenard wrote to Count 
 Walewski, January 24 : " Prince Gortchakoff told 
 Sir John Crampton, the English minister, that Russia 
 doubtless desired the maintenance of peace as much 
 as any other power, but that she would not interfere 
 in the course of events which may occur, even if they 
 were such as might lead to war. She would con- 
 fine herself to a policy of expectancy which, she 
 
BUSSIA 63 
 
 believed, became her better than any other for the 
 present. These words seem to me to express with 
 fidelity the mind of the Russian government. The re- 
 sentment inspired by the conduct of Austria during 
 the Crimean War is as acute as ever it was, although 
 it no longer translates itself on every occasion by the 
 most violent language ; it suffices to explain that 
 the cabinet of Saint Petersburg, agreeing herein with 
 the unanimous sentiments of the army and the coun- 
 try, is unwilling to lend its good offices to assist in de- 
 fending a situation which the press signalizes as likely 
 to create serious dangers for a power which is re- 
 garded here as guilty of treason and ingratitude 
 towards Russia." 
 
 Alexander II. had not consented to peace with the 
 Western powers until after the Austrian ultimatum, 
 and he was convinced that it was the Emperor Fran- 
 cis Joseph — saved in 1849 by the Emperor Nicholas, 
 at the time of the Hungarian insurrection — who 
 had prevented the testament of Peter the Great from 
 being carried out. Let us add that since the treaty 
 of Paris Russian policy and Austrian policy had been 
 continually at war in the Balkan peninsula. That is 
 why the Czar wanted to give a lesson to Austria, and 
 why the embarrassment into which that power might 
 be plunged gave such lively satisfaction to all classes 
 of Russian society. The war of Italy was, in fact, 
 a consequence of the Crimean War. Without being 
 obliged to draw the sword, Russia was about to take 
 her revenge on Austria. 
 
64 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Sir John Crampton, the English minister, solicited 
 peace in vain, Prince Gortchakoff greeting each new 
 representation with mingled pride and bitterness. 
 True, he would express some faint desire for peace, 
 but he always took care to add: "As to weighing 
 France and Austria in the same scales, we will not 
 do it. Our relations with France are cordial, with 
 Austria they are not so, nor are they tending to 
 grow better. Russia was formerly in the habit of 
 offering her friendly advice to the European cabi- 
 nets. In following that policy she has been the 
 dupe of her own disinterestedness. At present we 
 have no advice to give. Our solicitude is directed 
 just now to our internal improvements to the ex- 
 clusion of everything else, and that anxiety is great 
 enough to absorb our attention. However, it does 
 not do so to such an extent that we are willing to 
 promise neutrality. We do not say we will keep 
 out of the fight. We reserve our liberty of action 
 in the future as well as in the present." (Despatch 
 of Sir John Crampton to Lord Malmesbury, January 
 26, 1859.) 
 
 M. de La Gorce was right in saying : " The Czar's 
 complaisance was the source from which Napoleon 
 III. obtained the boldness to dare everything." The 
 support given by Russia to France was, however, 
 very limited. It was Platonic in its character, for 
 the government of the Czar confined itself to advis- 
 ing Germany to be prudent, and had not the least 
 intention of making war against her in case this 
 
^ 'M^ 
 
 MARSHAL MACMAHON 
 
EUSSIA 65 
 
 advice were not accepted. In a despatch addressed 
 to Count Walewski, February 4, the Marquis de Cha- 
 teaurenard expressed himself as follows : " Prince 
 Gortchakoff has told me that in speaking with the 
 minister of Prussia he had especially insisted on 
 the point that the cabinet of Berlin would effica- 
 ciously contribute to the peaceful solution of the 
 existing situation by firmly declaring its intention 
 to abstain from taking part in a dispute which had 
 no direct bearing on the interests of Prussia. ' By 
 so doing,' said the Prince, ' I thought I could comply 
 with the request of the Ernperor Napoleon's govern- 
 ment that I should assist him in enlightening public 
 opinion in Germany on the principles by which his 
 policy is directed ; you may assure Count Walewski 
 that I will do what lies in my power to meet his 
 wishes on this subject.' " 
 
 On the other hand, in spite of his ill-will towards 
 Austria, Alexander II. had no desire whatever for 
 the unification of Italy under the sceptre of Victor 
 Emmanuel, although such a combination entailed no 
 danger to an empire so vast and so remote as that 
 of the Czars. But the essentially conservative ideas 
 of the Russian government, its respect for the trea= 
 ties of 1815, its dread of the triumph in Italy of 
 revolutionary principles which might have their re- 
 bound in Poland, rendered it naturally hostile to the 
 intrigues of the Mazzinians and of Garibaldi. Let 
 us add that Alexander II., like his father, always 
 showed an especial sympathy for the King of Naples 
 
66 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 who had resisted the revolution so energetically, and 
 whose reactionary system pleased the cabinet of Saint 
 Petersburg. But in 1859 the government of the 
 Czar fancied that territorial changes would be con- 
 fined to the north of Italy, and that in any case the 
 Kingdom of the Two Sicilies could not incur any 
 danger. 
 
 The ideas of Russia were in flat contradiction with 
 those of the partisans of Italian unity, and, to reca- 
 pitulate, all that was needful to make the war of 
 Italy materially impossible would have been for 
 Alexander II. privately to encourage Prussia to de- 
 fend Austria. We shall see later on that the cabinets 
 of Berlin and Saint Petersburg remained on good 
 terms with each other, and that at the time when the 
 German Confederation seemed determined to march 
 to the assistance of Austria, after the battle of Sol- 
 ferino, Alexander II. did not disguise from Napoleon 
 III. that he would not take up arms to support him. 
 
 Nor should it be forgotten that before the war the 
 power that proposed a conference in the hope of 
 arriving at a peaceful solution, was Russia. For 
 the present we will not consider further the efforts 
 she made in this direction, but turn our attention to 
 the situation in Paris during the three months that 
 elapsed before the breaking out of hostilities. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE CAENIVAL 
 
 XT was not politics but pleasure that was tlie 
 great affair in Paris during the carnival of 1859. 
 Never were salons more brilliant nor entertainments 
 more numerous and splendid. The chronicler of the 
 Illustration wrote on February 12 : " God be praised ! 
 A beam from on high has dispelled the last clouds 
 which weighed upon the situation. It seemed like a 
 north wind, hut now it is only a zephyr. The carnival 
 which is beginning already seems like one that is 
 ending. It is a week full of bustle, lights, and en- 
 chantments ; nobody walks nowadays except in 
 cadence between flowery thickets and diamond 
 necklaces." On the 19th, M. Busoni added: "So 
 then, in spite of the alarmists, there will be a real 
 carnival in Paris. People are abandoning the war, 
 or rather the phantasmagoria of one, to the conjec- 
 tures of the idle and to some belated journalists. . . . 
 The situation of Italy, the obduracy of Austria in 
 its regard, the great powers in alarm and even in 
 arms, must all be provisionally forgotten. Here are 
 memorable fetes and dazzling spectacles. Beauty 
 keeps vigil six nights in the week and does not sleep 
 on Sundays." 
 
 67 
 
68 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The official world, the aristocratic society of the 
 faubourg Saint-Germain, and the moneyed society of 
 the Chauss^e-d'Antin vie with each other in luxury 
 and elegance. Soirdes and balls go on with untiring 
 emulation. Fashionable men and women seem to 
 have the gift of ubiquity. Some of them make their 
 appearance at the theatre and at three or four salons 
 during the same evening. 
 
 Everybody is tranquil. Pius IX. is under a 
 benevolent illusion, and fancies that his temporal 
 power may be preserved without recourse to either 
 French or Austrian troops. The Due de Gramont, 
 ambassador of France at Rome, writes to Count 
 Walewski, February 12 : " That passage of the 
 Emperor's speech which relates to Italy has given 
 rise on the part of Cardinal Antonelli, and even of 
 His Holiness, to certain observations which display 
 greater clearness and precision than I have met before 
 in the language of the Secretary of State. The Pope, 
 says His Eminence, had regretted to see His Majesty 
 declare that order could not be maintained in the Ro- 
 man States except by foreign troops, and that his gov- 
 ernment, by that very fact, constituted a permanent 
 source of anxiety for diplomacy. . . . The Pope has, 
 at present, sixteen thousand six hundred men under 
 his standards, and within a few weeks the figures 
 will be seventeen thousand, a number deemed suffi- 
 cient for internal service and the security of the 
 Pontifical States. ... So far as the Pope is con- 
 cerned, he is quite willing to allay the uneasiness for 
 
THE CARNIVAL 69 
 
 which he is held responsible, and if, as is said, the 
 occupation of his States by foreign troops is an 
 obstacle to the repose of Italy and the peace of the 
 world, he is ready to come to an arrangement with 
 France and Austria for their simultaneous evacua- 
 tion of his territory." 
 
 February 22, the Due de Gramont sent the follow- 
 ing telegraphic despatch to Count Walewski : " Car- 
 dinal Antonelli, by order of His Holiness, has to-day 
 made a demand of the ambassadors of France and 
 Austria for the evacuation of the Pontifical States 
 by the armies of occupation within a very near fixed 
 time. The Pope having been apprised by General 
 de Goyon of the speedy arrival of nine hundred and 
 seventy soldiers, has requested me to ask by tele- 
 graph, that they shall not be sent." 
 
 The Holy Father had reckoned without the machi- 
 nations and the incessant propaganda of the Sar- 
 dinian government. In a memorandum addressed to 
 England, March 1, M. Cavour recapitulates the 
 grievances of the Italian peoples and the remedies 
 which he considers necessary. In his view, these 
 remedies are an autonomous government for Lom- 
 bardy, Venetia, and the Pontifical provinces east 
 of the Apennines; a large regime of administrative 
 reforms throughout central Italy; and finally the 
 cancelling of the military conventions of Austria 
 with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the duchies 
 of Parma and Modena. Evidently Count Cavour 
 had enlarged his programme so as to shut the door 
 
70 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 against every policy of conciliation. From one end 
 of the kingdom to the other the journals spoke of 
 war as if it had already been declared. A law was 
 passed to increase the regimental staffs of the 
 national guard. Committees were formed for re- 
 cruiting and arming volunteers. Napoleon III. 
 was still unwilling that people should be alarmed. 
 He thought the time had come to reassure the 
 public. 
 
 The Moniteur of March 5 published a long note, in 
 which it said : " The Emperor has nothing to conceal 
 or disavow, either in his preoccupations or his alli- 
 ances. French interests predominate in his policy 
 and they justify his vigilance. In face of the anxie- 
 ties, ill founded as we like to believe, by which people 
 have been disturbed in Piedmont, the Emperor has 
 promised the King of Sardinia to defend him against 
 any aggressive act on the part of Austria ; he has 
 promised nothing more, and people know that he will 
 keep his word. Is there any hint of war in that? 
 Since when has it become contrary to prudence to 
 foresee more or less proximate difficulties and to cal- 
 culate all their consequences ? We have just pointed 
 out what there is of reality in the thoughts, duties, 
 and disposition of the Emperor ; all that has been 
 added to this by the exaggerations of the press is 
 pure imagination, falsehood, and frenzy. They say 
 that France has made considerable preparations for 
 war. That is a purely gratuitous accusation. . . . 
 Is it not time to inquire when an end will be put to 
 
THE CARNIVAL 71 
 
 these vague and absurd rumors, spread from one end 
 of Europe to the other by the press, and everywhere 
 pointing out the Emperor of the French to public 
 credulity as inciting to war, and throwing upon him 
 the sole responsibility for the disquietudes and the 
 warlike preparations of Europe ? Who has the right 
 to mislead public opinion so outrageously, to alarm 
 vested interests so gratuitously?" 
 
 The conclusion of the Moniteur^s note reads thus : 
 " To study questions is not to create them ; nor will 
 turning attention from them be to summarize or 
 settle them. For ^at matter, the examination of 
 these questions has passed into the region of diplo- 
 macy, and no one is authorized to believe that the 
 result will be unfavorable to the consolidation of the 
 public peace." 
 
 The note of March 5 reassured the alarmists. At 
 the Bourse stocks rose in a way to which people were 
 no longer accustomed. 
 
 March 7, the Emperor transmits a decree by which 
 Prince Napoleon is relieved of his ministerial func- 
 tions. The Prince turns over to M. Rouher his 
 portfolio of the ministry of Algeria and the Colonies. 
 The advocates of peace consider this demission as a 
 disgrace and rejoice over it, for by his marriage as 
 well as by his personal sentiments the Prince passes 
 as the chief supporter of the Italian cause near the 
 Emperor. 
 
 The carnival is about to close in the most brilliant 
 fashion. All Paris seems to be exclaiming : " Time 
 
72 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 enough to-morrow for serious matters ! All parties 
 and all classes amuse themselves." Listen once more 
 to the chronicler whom we have already cited : " The 
 violins make more noise than politics ; it is only fair 
 to say so, and the programme of Strauss or of Pilado 
 is more successful than that of diplomacy. The 
 carnival scatters fire and flames : balls, banquets, 
 masquerades, — one escapes from one enchantment 
 only to fall into a hundred others. . . . This carni- 
 val has miraculous effects ; it throws politics into 
 oblivion and imposes silence upon it, however little 
 part it seeks to take in conversa^on. Shall we have 
 war? The care of replying to this question is left 
 to the grave newsmongers who are reduced to put- 
 ting it for their own pleasure." 
 
 The tremblers, the mar-sports, meet a poor recep- 
 tion. If war must come, let it come ! No French- 
 man will be afraid of it. But let the orchestras keep 
 up their joyous noise while we are waiting for that 
 of bombs and cannon balls. Perhaps people are 
 dancing over a volcano! What of it? provided 
 they keep on dancing. Private persons, ministers, 
 the Emperor himself, rush into the fashionable whirl. 
 The balls given by the Baroness de Pontalba, the 
 Duchess d'lstria, the Marchiones de Pommereu, 
 the Duchess de Riario-Sforza, sister of M. Berryer, 
 the Countess Duch^tel, the Countess Lehon, the 
 Duchess d'Uz^s, are superb. But nothing can equal 
 the grand official fetes. The government says the 
 last word in matters of luxury, splendor, and mag- 
 
THE CARNIVAL 73 
 
 niiicence. The ministries are palaces. The Tuileiies * 
 
 appears in the glow of an apotheosis. 
 
 Napoleon loves pomp and considers it necessary to , 
 
 the prestige of a sovereign. He is unwilling that / 
 
 any court in Europe should be more brilliant than (i 
 
 his own. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 LENT 
 
 TDARIS is quite as lively in Lent as during the 
 carnival. Political preoccupations do not in- 
 terfere with the theatres nor with mundane vanities. 
 There is no dancing in official circles, but there are 
 balls in many salons. The aristocratic routs of the 
 faubourg Saint-Germain are numerous and brilliant. 
 At the Tuileries there are receptions and concerts. 
 Diplomatic affairs, warmly discussed on 'Change, 
 create movements in stocks which excite the gam- 
 blers. Large sums are gained and lost, but the 
 market is full of animation. Well-to-do persons 
 who are not fond of war resign their places to others, 
 and people say that should war break out it would 
 not interfere with civil careers. The number of 
 riders, men and women, and of elegant carriages that 
 go round the lake at the Bois de Boulogne daily is 
 not diminished. The toilettes are as costly, the equi- 
 pages as fine, the theatres as well filled, and the 
 evening parties as frequented. Paris has not lost 
 a jot of its brilliance and gaiety. 
 
 Count Walewski at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
 and Count de Morny at the Presidency of the Corps 
 
 74 
 
LENT 75 
 
 L^gislatif, resume their Wednesday evening recep- 
 tions on March 16. These are very elegant reunions 
 where certain Legitimists and Orleanists, personal 
 friends of the two statesmen, both very much in 
 vogue, occasionally show themselves. During his 
 embassy in Russia Count de Morny had noticed 
 among the demoiselles of honor of the Empress, 
 Mile. Sophie, Princess Troubetzkoy, a descendant of 
 one of the companions of Rurik. He fell in love 
 with and married her, and on her arrival in Paris 
 she excited universal attention. Fair, with dark 
 eyes, slender and distinguished in appearance, the 
 Countess de Morny had delicate features and a 
 sculpturesque head. The splendid salons of the 
 Presidency were a frame worthy of her. Those of 
 the mansion on quai d'Orsay — a real palace — were 
 not less magnificent. Count Walewski, a typical 
 great noble, and the Countess Walewska received 
 with exquisite courtesy. Every member of the for- 
 eign diplomatic corps was present at all the soirees 
 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 March 17. — The Piedmontese government, which, 
 on March 9, had recalled to active service all soldiers 
 dismissed or maintained in their homes from the 
 class of 1832 to that of 1828, publishes a decree 
 authorizing the creation of free companies. 
 
 March 20. — The Emperor reviews the imperial 
 guard on the Champ-de-Mars. The advocates of 
 peace had feared that the ceremony might give rise 
 to warlike demonstrations. Nothing of the kind 
 
76 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 occurs. Napoleon III. is received by tiie troops 
 with applause, but the cry of " Long live Italy ! " is 
 not raised by either the army or the people. The 
 principal object of this military f^te seems to have 
 been the presentation of the Prince Imperial to the 
 troops, his name appearing on the muster-rolls of 
 the 1st grenadiers of the guards. The child, who is 
 in an open carriage with the Empress, wears the 
 regimental uniform. The Emperor, leaving the place 
 he had occupied during the march past, and going 
 towards the Jena bridge, orders the sentries to let the 
 crowd come nearer. He is immediately surrounded 
 by an immense multitude, who fling themselves almost 
 under the feet of the horses while shouting "Long 
 live the Emperor ! " There is a moment of great 
 excitement in the cortege, but no accident happens. 
 The review is favored with splendid weather. 
 
 March 22. — The following note, which produces 
 a great effect, is published in the Moniteur : " Kussia 
 has proposed a congress with a view of preventing 
 complications which might arise from the condition 
 of Italy, and which would be likely to disturb the 
 peace of Europe. This congress, composed of pleni- 
 potentiaries from France, Austria, England, Prussia, 
 and Russia, would assemble in a neutral city. The 
 government of the Emperor has signified its adhe- 
 sion to the proposition of the cabinet of Saint Peters- 
 burg. The cabinets of London, Vienna, and Berlin 
 have not yet replied officially." 
 
 March 24. — - The Moniteur announces the adhesion 
 
LENT 77 
 
 of the cabinets of London and Berlin to the proposal 
 of a congress. 
 
 3IarcJi 25. — The Mbmteur says : " The cabinet of 
 Vienna has adhered to Russia's proposal concerning 
 a congress. Count Cavour has left Turin for Paris 
 at the invitation of the Emperor." 
 
 The first item of news has a reassuring tendency, 
 but the second is disquieting. The public at large 
 likes to believe in the efficacy of a congress as a 
 peaceful remedy. Men who know more about diplo- 
 matic matters see nothing in it but a preliminary to 
 war. It is at this moment that M. Thiers writes in 
 a private letter : " The Emperor has a fixed idea : to 
 bring about war while talking of peace." 
 
 What are the two associates of Plombieres, Napo- 
 leon III. and M. de Cavour, going to say to each 
 other? Everybody is anxiously pondering this 
 question. 
 
 Mai^eh 26. — The Piedraontese statesman arrives at 
 Paris. He goes to the Hotel de Londres, rue Cas- 
 tiglione. No. 5, and during the day has an interview 
 with the Emperor, not a word of which reaches the 
 public. 
 
 For the next two days he is not received by the 
 sovereign, who is either indisposed or pretending to 
 be so. To the anxious questions asked by financiers 
 the Piedmontese minister contents himself by reply- 
 ing : " There are chances for peace and there are 
 chances for Avar." As Baron James Rothschild 
 insists, Cavour smilingly replies : " Hold on, I will 
 
78 franc:e and italy 
 
 make you a proposition: let us buy together; bull 
 the market ; I will hand in my resignation ; there will 
 be a rise of three francs." "You are too modest, 
 Count," replies the banker; "you would fetch at 
 least six francs." 
 
 March 29. — Count Cavour has a final interview 
 with the Emperor in presence of Count Walewski. 
 In spite of the strong representations of the latter, 
 he declares that Piedmont will not disarm, and he 
 leaves the Tuileries dissatisfied with the Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs if not with the sovereign. That 
 evening he writes to General de La Marmora : " The 
 Italian question has been broached as awkwardly as 
 possible, but war is inevitable ; it will be delayed 
 for two months at least ; it will be fought on the Po 
 and on the Rhine." 
 
 March 30. — Just before leaving Paris, Cavour 
 writes a letter to Napoleon III., in which he reminds 
 the sovereign of his former sympath}^, his encourage- 
 ments and promises, and entreats him to turn a deaf 
 ear to the advice of Count Walewski, and oppose 
 a retrograde policy which would transform Italy 
 into a deadly enemy of France, and force Victor 
 Emmanuel to abdicate. 
 
 April 1. — Count Cavour returns to Turin, where 
 he is met at the railway station by a large group of 
 friends who make him a clamorous ovation. On the 
 same day, at Paris, the great Italian tragedienne, 
 Mme. Ristori, appears in Paris in Fedra, a translation 
 of the Phedre of Racine. 
 
LENT 79 
 
 Ai^ril 3. — The Emperor reviews tlie troops of the 
 army of Paris, and of the 1st military division on the 
 Charap-de-Mars. The Empress, attended on either 
 side by the Princess Mathilde and the Princess 
 Clotilde, and holding the Prince Imperial in front of 
 her, witnesses the review from the balcony of the 
 Military School. 
 
 April 10. — The Moniteur publishes an article which 
 is a vindication of the imperial policy : " One does 
 not fear the light when one seeks nothing but jus- 
 tice," says the official journal. " The French gov- 
 ernment has nothing to conceal, because it is sure 
 of having nothing to disavow. Far from authorizing 
 the suspicions of the Germanic spirit, the attitude 
 it has taken on the Italian question should inspire 
 it with the greatest security. France could not 
 attack in Germany what she wishes to protect in 
 Italy. Her policy, disowning all ambition to make 
 conquests, pursues nothing but the satisfactions and 
 guarantees demanded by international law, the wel- 
 fare of nations, and the interest of Europe. ... To 
 represent France as hostile to the German nationality 
 is not, therefore, an error, but a misapprehension. 
 The example of a national Germany which should 
 reconcile its federative organization with the unitary 
 tendencies the principle of which has already been 
 laid down in the great commercial union of the 
 Zollverein would not alarm us. All that develops 
 in neighboring countries the relations created by 
 commerce, industry, and progress is profitable to 
 
80 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 civilization, and all that increases civilization elevates 
 France." 
 
 Such was the doctrine of which Napoleon III. was 
 to be the apostle and the martyr. Alas ! what a 
 cruel awakening from this lofty dream of nationali- 
 ties was reserved for the generous and unfortunate 
 sovereign! Was not the Germanic unity to which 
 he looked forward so complacently to be the cause 
 of his final disasters and the ruin of his dynasty ? 
 
 Lent closed amidst complicated and barren nego- 
 tiations, characterized by incessant fluctuations, to 
 which even the powers engaged in the discussion 
 attached slight importance. The congress was only 
 a sort of diplomatic phantasmagoria which took seri- 
 ously neither Napoleon III. nor Victor Emmanuel,, 
 both of whom desired war, nor Francis Joseph, 
 resolved on yielding nothing to his enemies. Agree- 
 ment was impossible. Austria demanded the dis- 
 armament of Sardinia, and Sardinia refused to disarm. 
 If a congress was to be held, Sardinia was bound to 
 take her place in it at any cost, and Austria would 
 not allow her plenipotentiaries to sit beside Sar- 
 dinian plenipotentiaries. It was the intention of 
 Napoleon III. and Victor Emmanuel to wrest Milan 
 and Venice from Austrian domination. That of 
 Francis Joseph was to maintain that domination 
 against all attacks. It was plain to all perspicacious 
 minds that such questions could be settled only by 
 the sword. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 HOLY WEEK 
 
 TTTHEN Holy Week began people were still hop- 
 ing for peace. The churches were filled on 
 Palm Sunday, April 17. Those whose ideas were 
 bellicose could meditate on these words of Christ 
 in the Gospel of the Passion : " He that taketh the 
 sword shall perish by the sword." 
 
 During the day there was a religious concert at 
 the Conservatory which the Empress had resolved 
 to attend. They executed the Stabat Mater of Ros- 
 sini, who sat in Auber's box. After the Inflammatus, 
 sung by Mme. Gueymard-Lauters, all the spectators 
 turned towards the author of William Tell, and 
 saluted him with long and loud applause. The 
 master, affected even to tears, rose to thank the audi- 
 ence, who likewise rose. Men clapped their hands, 
 women waved their handkerchiefs, the musicians 
 struck their instruments with their bows. The en- 
 thusiasm of the Empress was marked and undisguised. 
 
 Monday, April 18. — It seemed possible to arrive 
 at a peaceful solution. Count Walewski despatched 
 the following telegram to Marshal P^lissier, ambas- 
 sador of France, at London : " Kindly inform Lord 
 G 81 
 
82 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Malmesbmy without delay that if England promises 
 to insist with us on the admission of the Italian 
 plenipotentiaries to the congress, I will immediately 
 pledge Piedmont, by telegraph, to adhere to the 
 principle of disarmament, the execution of which 
 will be regulated, if there is time for it, even before 
 the assembly of the congress. If you answer 2/es, 
 my telegram will be sent at once." 
 
 The English government instantly gave an affir- 
 mative response. The telegram imperatively advis- 
 ing disarmament leaves Paris for Turin. It is 
 communicated to Count Cavour in the night of 
 April 18-19. 
 
 Taesday, April 19. — M. de Cavour despairingly 
 submits. The acceptance of the Sardinian govern- 
 ment is immediately notified to Paris and London. 
 But the Piedmontese statesman does not abandon a 
 vague hope that some unexpected circumstance may 
 extricate him from the promise he has unwillingly 
 made. 
 
 He is not mistaken. That very day the Austrian 
 Court adopts ah irato a resolution which is the most 
 serious of faults. It sends two officers to Paris with 
 an ultimatum against which the great powers protest. 
 
 Nothing of the sort is as yet suspected at Paris. 
 In the morning, the Moniteur had published a note 
 on the diplomatic negotiations which concluded 
 thus : " Everything seems to authorize the belief thjit 
 if all the difficulties have not yet been smoothed 
 away, a definitive understanding will soon be arrived 
 
HOLT WEEK 83 
 
 at, and that there will be no further opposition to 
 the assembling of the congress." 
 
 During the night of April 20-21, it is learned at 
 the Tuileries that Austria has determined to send to 
 Turin the ultimatvim which will make war inevitable. 
 
 Holy Thursday, April 21. — In the morning people 
 read in the Moniteur a note which is considered 
 pacific. It is worded as follows: "The govern- 
 ment of Her Britannic Majesty has made the sub- 
 joined propositions to the four powers: (1) That a 
 general and simultaneous disarmament shall first 
 be effected ; (2) that this disarmament shall be regu- 
 lated by a military or civil commission independent 
 of the congress; this commission to be composed 
 of six commissioners, one from each of the five 
 powers, and the sixth from Sardinia; (3) that as soon 
 as this commission shall have assembled and begun 
 its task, the congress shall assemble in its turn and 
 proceed to the discussion of the political questions ; 
 (4) that the representatives of the Italian States shall 
 be invited by the congress, as soon as it assembles, 
 to sit with the representatives of the five great 
 powers, absolutely in the same manner as at the 
 congress of Laybach in 1821. France, Russia, and 
 Prussia have adhered to the propositions of the 
 government of H. M. Britannic." 
 
 Thus, at the very moment when all the chanceries 
 knew the storm was about to break, Paris still 
 deluded itself for a few moments with hopes of 
 peace. 
 
84 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The Empress knew the truth. She got into a 
 hack and went incognito to pray in five churches. 
 She was recognized under her veil. At Saint-Roch 
 she got entangled in a heavy drapery of black cloth 
 from which a stranger politely assisted to extricate 
 her. 
 
 In the evening, Rossini's Stahat was sung in the 
 chapel of the Tuileries. Afterwards there was a 
 reception in the salons of the Empress. The news 
 of the Austrian ultimatum had been confirmed. The 
 Countess Stephanie Tascher de La Pagerie, who was 
 present, thus describes it : " It meant war," she says. 
 " Everybody got that impression. ... I read it in 
 the thoughtful countenances of the ministers group- 
 ing together to discuss it ; I saw it in the confident 
 glances of the officers present, who carried their heads 
 high; I divined it still more in the anxious faces of 
 their wives, who wept in spite of themselves, and who 
 hid themselves to weep. ... I sought at the same 
 time to read in the eyes of the Emperor what he 
 experienced in presence of so serious an event, and 
 I wondered whether, at such a moment, he would 
 not depart from his habitual and impenetrable calm- 
 ness. I admit that no alteration in his impassible 
 countenance was visible. At most he seemed some- 
 what preoccupied, but content, and he chatted with 
 his ministers and showed them the latest despatches 
 which he had just received." 
 
 Giood Friday^ April 22. — The Moniteur published 
 the following note: "Austria has not given her 
 
HOLT WEEK 85 i| 
 
 auliesioQ to the proposition made by England, and 
 accepted by France, Russia, and Prussia. Moreover, 
 it would appear that the cabinet of Vienna lias re- 
 solved to address a direct communication to the 
 cabinet of Turin to obtain the disarmament of Sar- 
 dinia. In presence of these facts, the Emperor has 
 ordered the concentration of several divisions on the 
 frontier of Piedmont." 
 
 Holy Saturday^ April 23. — In the afternoon, the 
 two Austrian officers bearing the Austrian ultimatum, 
 Baron von Kellersberg and Count Ceschi de Santa- 
 Croce, arrived at Turin. At that hour the proposed 
 law which in the event of war remitted to the King, 
 during the continuance of hostilities, the plenitude 
 of civil and military powers, was under discussion in 
 the Chamber of Deputies. The law being passed, 
 Count Cavour left the Chamber. " It is," said he, 
 "the last session of the Piedmontese parliament 
 which has just ended; next year we will open the 
 first Italian parliament." He had no sooner returned 
 home than he was apprised of the presence of the two 
 Austrian messengers. He took from their hands the 
 ultimatum of Count Buol, which concluded thus : 
 "I have the honor to beg Your Excellency to tell 
 me, yes or no, whether the royal government con- 
 sents to put its army on a peace footing without 
 delay, and to disband the Italian volunteers. The 
 bearer of this, to whom you will, M. le Comte, kindly 
 remit your reply, has orders to hold himself at your 
 disposition for that purpose during three days. If, 
 
86 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 at the expiration of this term, he receives no reply, 
 or should that reply be not entirely satisfactory, the 
 responsibility for the serious consequences which this 
 refusal will entail, will rest exclusively upon the 
 government of His Sardinian Majesty. After hav- 
 ing exhausted in vain all conciliatory means of pro- 
 curing for his peoples the guaranties of peace on 
 which the Emperor has a right to insist, His Majesty, 
 to his very great regret, will be obliged to resort to 
 arms to obtain them." 
 
 Count Cavour, after reading this ultimatum slowly, 
 dismissed the messengers politely, and took good 
 care not to notify them at once of the refusal of his 
 government. He needed every moment of delay, as 
 much for completing his military preparations as in 
 order to leave time for the arrival of the French army. 
 
 The same day, in Paris, people read in the 
 Moniteur : "The Austrian government has thought 
 itself obliged to address a direct communication to 
 the Sardinian government for the purpose of request- 
 ing it to place its army on a peace footing and to 
 disband its volunteers. This communication was to 
 be transmitted to Turin by an aide-de-camp of Gen- 
 eral Giulay, commander-in-chief of the Austrian army 
 in Lombardy. This officer was to be charged to 
 declare that he would await a reply for three days, 
 and that any dilatory reply would be considered a 
 refusal. England and Russia have not hesitated 
 to protest against the conduct of Austria in this 
 circumstance." 
 
HOLY WEEK 87 
 
 The same issue of the Mofiiteur announced that 
 the great military commands had been distributed in 
 the following manner, — Army of Paris, Marshal 
 Magnan ; army of Lyons, Marshal Count de Castel- 
 lane ; army of observation at Nancy, Marshal Pdiis- 
 sier, Due de Malakoff ; 1st corps, army of the Alps, 
 Marshal Count Baraguey d'Hilliers ; 2d corps. Gen- 
 eral Count de MacMahon ; 3d corps, Marshal Can- 
 robert; 4th corps. General Niel. Prince Napoleon 
 was to have the command of a separate corps. 
 Marshal Randon was appointed general of the army 
 of the Alps. 
 
 In the course of the same day there reached the 
 Tuileries an official request from the Sardinian gov- 
 ernment for the support, already assured, of France. 
 In the evening, M. Berlioz gave a concert at the 
 Opera Oomique. Fragments from his fine work, 
 the Damnation of Faust, were successfully executed. 
 The audience was scanty. As the musical chronicler 
 of the Illustration said : " Political events begin to 
 give the public terrible distractions ; flutes, hautboys, 
 sopranos, and tenors, who can listen to you when 
 the voice of cannon serves as your accompaniment ? " 
 
 Holy Week, which had opened with hopes of 
 peace, was closing amidst warlike preoccupations. 
 The precepts of the Gospel had not been attended 
 to. Three Catholic nations were about to cut each 
 other's throats in spite of the great saying: Glory 
 to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men 
 of good will ! 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 EASTER WEEK 
 
 RASTER SUNDAY, April 24. — The day of the 
 greatest of religious joys is, this time, pro- 
 foundly troubled. The churches are raore crowded 
 than ever with the faithful. But the alleluia does 
 not ring out with its habitual gladness. " The dis- 
 ciples being assembled, Jesus appeared in the midst 
 of them, and said : Peace be with you ! " This say- 
 ing does not apply to France. France is not in 
 peace. At the very hour when the divine office is 
 celebrated, soldiers are making their preparations to 
 depart with feverish activity. Crowds swarm tow- 
 ards the barracks and the quarters. They hear the 
 trumpets and the rolling of the drums. Here come 
 regiments in campaign uniform on their way to the 
 Lyons station, followed by an enthusiastic populace, 
 and who take route for Italy. 
 
 Monday, April 25. — The entire garrison of Paris 
 has departed. Only the imperial guard remains, and 
 that, too, is preparing to start. Garrison duty, and 
 that of the staff, is performed by the Paris guard, 
 and there is such a shortage of men that at the 
 Bourse cavalrymen have to take the duty of foot- 
 soldiers. 
 
 88 
 
EASTER WEEK ' 89 
 
 Tuesday/, April 26. — The grenadiers of the im- 
 perial guard, before beginning their campaign, go to 
 receive their flag at the Tuileries. The Empress 
 and the Prince Imperial come down to the court, 
 and the sovereign embraces the flag with emotion. 
 It is on this day that the delay accorded to Piedmont 
 by the Austrian ultimatum expires. This ultimatum 
 had assumed the form of a despatch addressed by 
 Count Buol to Count Cavour, and delivered to the 
 latter by Baron Kellersberg, April 23, at half-past 
 five in the afternoon. The reply is contained in a 
 despatch addressed, on the 26th, by Count Cavour to 
 Count Buol. It ran as follows: "Your Excellency 
 has requested me to reply by a ^es or a no to the 
 invitation given us to reduce the army to a peace 
 footing and disband the Italian volunteers, adding 
 that if, at the end of three days. Your Excellency 
 receives no response, or if the response is not com- 
 pletely satisfactory, His Majesty the Emperor of 
 Austria has decided to have recourse to arms to 
 impose on us by force the measures indicated by 
 his communication. 
 
 " The question of the disarmament of Sardinia 
 has been the object of numerous negotiations be- 
 tween the great powers and the government of His 
 Majesty. These negotiations have resulted in a 
 proposition formulated by England, to which France, 
 Prussia, and Russia have adhered. Sardinia, in a 
 spirit of conciliation, has accepted it without re- 
 serve. . . . 
 
90 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 " The conduct of Sardinia in this circumstance 
 has been appreciated by Europe. Whatever conse- 
 quences it may entail, the King, my august master, 
 is convinced that the responsibility will rest upon 
 those vrho first resorted to arms, who have rejected 
 the propositions formulated by one great power and 
 recognized by the others as just and reasonable, and 
 who now substitute in place of it a menacing sum- 
 mons." 
 
 It is half-past five in the evening. Baron Kel- 
 lersberg is introduced into the apartments of Count 
 Cavour, who hands him the despatch, expresses a 
 hope of seeing him in happier days, and sends him 
 away with Colonel Govone, who is to accompanj^ 
 him to the frontier. The familiars of the Piedmontese 
 minister are waiting in the anteroom of his cabinet ; 
 he comes out to them and exclaims : " The die is " 
 cast. Aleajacta est.'''' 
 
 On that same day, April 26, a summary of the 
 situation, drawn up hj Count Walewski in accord- 
 ance with the Emperor's orders, is read at Paris to 
 the Senate and the Corps Legislatif. This document 
 represents the action of the imperial diplomacy as 
 having been invariably correct, moderate, conciliatory. 
 It says among other things : " If the reiterated efforts 
 of the four powers to preserve peace have encountered 
 obstacles, these obstacles did not proceed from France. 
 If war must be the result of existing complications, 
 the government of His Majesty will be profoundly 
 convinced that it has done all in its power to avert 
 
EASTER WEEK 91 
 
 this extremity. If in presence of this state of 
 things Sardinia is menaced, if, as everything gives 
 occasion to presume, its territory is invaded, France 
 cannot hesitate to respond to the appeal of an allied 
 nation to which it is united by common interests and 
 traditional sympathies renewed by a recent confra- 
 ternity of arms and the union contracted between 
 the two reigning families. Thus, gentlemen, the 
 government of the Emperor, strong in the constant 
 moderation and the spirit of conciliation with which 
 it has never ceased to be inspired, calml}'- awaits the 
 course of events, confident that its conduct in the 
 different vicissitudes which have just occurred will 
 meet the unanimous approbation of France and of 
 Europe." 
 
 This document is several times applauded, not 
 with long-sustained cheering, but sufficiently to give 
 the idea of approbation. The president of the 
 Council of State then offers two bills, one of which 
 raises from one hundred thousand to one hundred and 
 forty thousand men the contingent of the forthcom- 
 ing levy of troops, while the other authorizes a loan 
 of five millions. 
 
 The president of the Corps Legislatif, Count 
 Morny, who has always been an ardent advocate 
 of peace, rises to speak. "If war is inevitable," he 
 says, "there is at least a reasonable certainty that 
 it will be localized and limited, especially if the 
 other Germanic powers have the wisdom to compre- 
 hend that nothing is concerned but a purely Italian 
 
92 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 question which does not cloak any scheme ol' con- 
 quest, and which cannot produce any revolution. 
 As to you, gentlemen, at the opening of this ques- 
 tion, you displayed a pacific spirit inspired by your 
 solicitude for the great interests of the country; 
 that was jouv right and your duty, and it gives 
 additional value and weight to the support you will 
 lend the Emperor. Make it evident to-day, so that 
 none may misunderstand it, either at home or 
 abroad, that when confronting foreigners, we are 
 all united in a single thought, — the success and 
 glory of our arms." 
 
 In the course of the same day the advance guard 
 of the French army is disembarked in Italy. The 
 squadron with General Bazaine's division on board, 
 coming from Toulon, arrives in the port of Genoa. 
 The landing of the troops is effected to the music 
 of the military bands. An immense concourse of 
 spectators greets the French soldiers with frenzied 
 applause. 
 
 Wednesday, April 27. — The Emperor and the 
 Empress are present at the representation of Iler- 
 culanum at the Op^ra. The audience rises spontane- 
 ously and cheers them as tliey enter. 
 
 The day goes by without the appearance of any 
 Austrian troops on the right bank of the Tessin. 
 It was generally supposed that Austria would profit 
 by her opportunities, and that she had hastened the 
 rupture merely that she might also push on the at- 
 tack. Her troops, however, remain immovable dur- 
 
EASTER WEEK 93 
 
 ing the 27th and 29th, and it is not until the 
 afternoon of the 29th that they decide to cross the 
 Tessin, which act is the commencement of hostilities. 
 This inexplicable delay is as great a blunder as the 
 ultimatum had been. 
 
 Saturday^ April 30. — The Corps L^gislatif holds 
 an interesting session in which it discusses the bill 
 authorizing the five hundred million loan. The 
 speech of M. Jules Favre is a violent accusation of 
 Austria and an enthusiastic defence of Piedmont. 
 The orator says that Austria has ruled Italy during 
 forty years by violence, proscriptions, confiscations, 
 and terror; but that violence, thank God, is always 
 transient and can never establish a durable govern- 
 ment. Piedmont has the prestige of a good and holy 
 cause, and the moral support of all generous hearts. 
 It is ruled by a young sovereign, the pride of his 
 people, a sovereign who longs to avenge the death 
 of his noble, illustrious, and unfortunate father. . . . 
 The policy of the French government has been the 
 traditional policy of France ; for the orator is con- 
 vinced that France will be powerful only when 
 Italy shall be regenerated and free. Let us break 
 the chains of the enslaved ; that is the mission of 
 France. 
 
 Jules Favre expounds the thesis of the Left. The 
 Viscount Anatole Lemercier expresses the anxieties 
 of the men of the Right, the advocates of the Papacy. 
 Before voting the loan, he asks permission to put 
 a question to the government commissioners. Ac- 
 
94 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 cording to him, Catholic consciences are disturbed 
 by the events which are preparing in Italy. To 
 be completely reassured, he would like to hear the 
 government of the Emperor declare that it has taken 
 every necessary precaution to guarantee the security 
 of the Holy Father. The orator is firmly persuaded 
 that it will never be threatened so long as our sol- 
 diers shall reside in Rome. He knows that the visi- 
 ble head of the Christian religion possesses forces 
 superior to those of all armies, the veneration of the 
 world on one hand, and on the other his own weak- 
 ness ; but it is none the less a glorious spectacle for 
 a Catholic Frenchman to see the honor of being the 
 auxiliaries of that veneration and that weakness re- 
 served to our own troops. The orator demands that 
 this rSle, so clearly assigned to France, the eldest 
 daughter of the Church, shall not be abandoned. 
 
 M. Baroche, president of the Council of State, 
 remarks that the previous speaker has just replied 
 to his own question by invoking souvenirs which the 
 government of the Emperor will take good care not 
 to foi'get. There is no room for doubt. The govern- 
 ment will take all measures necessary to ensure the 
 security and independence of the Holy Father amidst 
 the disturbances of which Italy will be the scene. 
 
 Another Catholic orator, the Viscount de La Tour, 
 succeeds the Viscount Anatole Lemercier. He says 
 that France ought to disavow in the most explicit 
 manner all alliance with the Revolution. He does 
 not admit that the fine and noble sword of France 
 
EASTER WEEK 95 
 
 may be coupled with that of General Garibaldi. He 
 does not see allies for our country in these undisci- 
 plined bands, but enemies of European order. He 
 is unwilling that we should incur, in the eyes of 
 Europe, the suspicion of setting means at work the 
 employment of which may become the germ of new 
 revolutions for Italy. 
 
 Still more characteristic is the speech of M. 
 Plichon. It is a sort of prologue to the violent and 
 excited debates of the future. The deputy from 
 the North says aloud what many of his colleagues 
 are saying in a whisper. He states with precision 
 and summarizes the criticisms passed upon the 
 Italian policy of Napoleon III. M. Plichon has voted 
 for the augmentation of the contingent, because 
 our troops have crossed the frontier and, the honor 
 of the flag being involved, there is no room for 
 deliberation. But if the question had been intact, 
 and if one could have examined the matter to find 
 out what interest France had in going to war, he 
 would have said no. He has voted in the affirmative, 
 but sadly and with pain, and above all with the pro- 
 found conviction that the government had unneces- 
 sarily involved the country in a hazardous and 
 dangerous war for results that were at least uncer- 
 tain. According to M. Plichon, it does not appear 
 from any of the governmental communications that 
 the policy of Austria in these latter times has 
 assailed either the honor or the security of France, 
 or even the equilibrium of Europe. The orator 
 
96 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 wants to know why wa,r is made and what war it is. 
 Is it to be a revolutionary or a political wa,r? will it 
 be the negation or the consecration of the Roman 
 expedition, the expulsion of the Austrians, the in- 
 dependence, the unity, or the federation of Italy ? 
 He wants to know where we are going and where 
 we are to stop. He does not see what guarantees 
 one can have against the unknown. It is impossible 
 to be revolutionary in Italy and remain conservative 
 in France and in Rome. The revolutionary spirit 
 cannot be over-excited on one point without being 
 roused upon all others. It is easy to see what France 
 can lose by a war, but it is not easy to see what she 
 can gain. 
 
 Nevertheless the five hundred million loan is unani- 
 mously voted. Yet the speech of the deputy of the 
 North, delivered in a milieu ordinarily so docile, so sub- 
 missive to every indication of the sovereign's will, so 
 receptive of all his ideas, has given rise to serious 
 reflections in the Corps Legislatif. The Emperor, in 
 fact, had always desired the war, but it had never 
 been desired by an overwhelming majority of that 
 body. All the prestige of victory would be needed 
 to efface this impression. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE OPENING OF THE WAR 
 
 jNE noticeably curious thing about all wars is 
 that until the very hour when they are declared, 
 optimists may be found who are still predicting 
 peace. Certain ingenuous souls, when they learned 
 that on April 27 and 28 the Austrian troops had not 
 yet crossed the Tessin, still insisted on believing that 
 the swords would remain in their scabbards. There 
 was a good deal of talk about a pacific article in the 
 Morning Herald and a speech by Lord Derby hint- 
 ing the possibility of a resumption of negotiations. 
 This final gleam of hope was extinguished in Paris 
 on May 1. It was learned that the Austrians had 
 crossed the Tessin on April 29. Therefore the war 
 had begun. 
 
 Criticisms and recriminations ceased at once. The 
 French nation felt its ancient warlike instincts 
 revive. Tlie journals of all parties thought of 
 nothing any longer but the honor of the flag. There 
 was not one discordant note. Even those publicists 
 who had blamed the war before it was declared, 
 spoke now in patriotic tones. In the Revue des Deux 
 Mondes, the chronicler of the fortnight, M. Eugene 
 H 97 
 
98 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Forcade, wrote : " We have got through with the 
 complex duties of the discussion it was necessary 
 to maintain so long as France seemed free to choose 
 between peace and war. Necessity has spoken. No 
 more recriminations over the irreparable and the 
 irresolvable; the era of simple dut}^ has begun. 
 France is engaged in a war against Austria for the 
 independence of Italy ; henceforward we have but 
 one opinion and one will : France must triumph and 
 Italy must be independent. Our hearts contain 
 now but a single wish, and it is that the conscien- 
 tious objections we were obliged to express during 
 the phase of public deliberation may be radically 
 and gloriously refuted by the bravery and success 
 of France." 
 
 The French troops had penetrated into Piedmont 
 even before hostilities began, some by way of the 
 Alps, some by sea. Marshal Canrobert and Gen- 
 eral Niel arrived at Suze during the night of April 
 28. They were at Turin the following day, and 
 in company with King Victor Emmanuel inspected 
 the positions of the Boire. General Baraguey 
 d'Hilliers landed at Genoa the same day, and 
 was soon rejoined there by General MacMahon and 
 General Regnaud de Saint- Jean d'Angely. Genoa 
 put on a festive air. Frenchmen and Italians 
 seemed to form but one family. As the city was 
 not provided with barracks enough for so many 
 troops, soldiers were lodged with private persons, 
 who gave them erery attention. The sumptuous 
 
THF. OPENING OF THE WAR 99 
 
 palaces of the city opened their doors to offer hos- 
 pitality to the soldiers of France. 
 
 Part of the cavalry entered Italy by the Corniche 
 road. Listen to an officer of the guides, the Marquis 
 de Massa : " Having come from Melun to Marseilles 
 by rail, we were at once sent forward by day stations 
 to Genoa, by way of Brignoles, Cannes, and the 
 bridge of Var. Being the first regiments of cavalry 
 to cross the frontier like this, we got the cream of 
 the Nicene ovations, passing over a flower-strewn 
 road where all the vehicles of the country, hired by 
 its usual tourists, were waiting to meet us in a line 
 that stretched far beyond the limits of the octroi. 
 And among them, bolt upright on their coursers, 
 were fair ladies who flung roses at us ; brown Ital- 
 ians who distributed bags of bonbons ; beautiful 
 Americans, recognizable by their carnation tints, 
 who clapped their little hands as hard as they could. 
 I recollect one old English lady from whom I re- 
 ceived a packet tied up with a string, on which was 
 written: 'Safe return with promotion.' It con- 
 tained six "cakes of chocolate. In the evening, the 
 municipality treated us to a full-dress performance 
 with a ballet, singing, and a sending up of pigeons." 
 
 At Paris things were taking a more decidedly war- 
 like turn. " Great hopes are entertained," wrote the 
 Illustration, " that the sun of May, propitious to our 
 arms, may light up a new day of Marengo. This 
 holy confidence of patriotism, the Bourse, and those 
 who live by it, cannot greatly disturb by their dis- 
 
100 FBANCE ANB ITALY 
 
 couraged attitude. Whenever ' Malbrook goes to war,'' 
 money takes the alarm. But that is a kind of panic 
 which always subsides when the cannon announce 
 the first victory. The Bourse waits for the report 
 to adore the echo." 
 
 May 3, M. Achille Fould, Minister of State, read 
 the following communication to the Senate : " So 
 long ago as the 26th of last month, His Majesty's 
 charge d'affaires at Vienna notified the Austrian 
 government that if its troops crossed the frontier of 
 Piedmont, France would be obliged to consider this 
 invasion of an allied country as a declaration of war. 
 The Court of Austria having persisted in employing 
 force, the Emperor has ordered me to bring this 
 fact, which constitutes Austria in a state of war 
 with France, to the knowledge of the Senate." 
 
 Shouts of " Long live the Emperor ! " resounded. 
 
 The president of the Senate, M. Troplong, then 
 spoke as follows : " If it is permissible for me to 
 translate into a few words the meaning of the accla- 
 mations we have just heard, I will say that while my 
 illustrious colleagues who have been given commands 
 are sustaining the glory of the French name in face 
 of the enemy, the senators who remain here will not 
 recoil from any act of civil courage and devotion to 
 the Emperor. We shall rival each other in patriot- 
 ism, because this is a just war, it is merely a response 
 to a defiance and an aggression. It is a consequence 
 of that time-honored policy which is as much excited 
 by Italian crises as if they were French emergencies." 
 
THE OPENING OF THE WAE 101 
 
 M. Troplong contrived to praise Napoleon III. and 
 Pius IX. in a single sentence. " The Emperor," he 
 added, " cannot allow Turin, which is the key of the 
 Alps, nor Rome, which holds the keys of the Church 
 by the hands of a saintly and venerated Pontiff, to 
 fall under the usurping yoke of an influence hostile 
 to France. Therefore its nationality will be re- 
 stored to Italy. It will not be revolutionized but 
 enfranchised, and that beautiful land will find a 
 liberator." 
 
 On the same day appeared the Emperor's procla- 
 mation to the French people. Dated from the palace 
 of the Tuileries, May 3, 1859, this document bears 
 to the utmost degree the peculiar stamp of the style 
 and ideas of the sovereign : " Frenchmen ! " says 
 Napoleon III., " Austria, by sending her army upon 
 the territory of the King of Sardinia, our ally, de- 
 clares war upon us. Thus she violates justice and 
 the treaties, and threatens our frontiers. All the 
 great powers have protested against this aggression. 
 Piedmont having accepted conditions which ouglit 
 to ensure peace, people ask what can be the reason 
 of this sudden invasion : the reason is that Austria 
 has brought things to an extremity where either she 
 must dominate as far as the Alps, or Italy must be 
 free as far as the Adriatic ; for, in that country, 
 every piece of ground that remains independent is a 
 danger for her power." 
 
 The Emperor declares that the natural allies of 
 France have always been those who desire the 
 
102 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 amelioration of liumanity, and that when she draws 
 the sword it is not to domineer, but to enfranchise : 
 " The object of this war," he adds, " is to restore Italy 
 to herself, not to change her master, and we shall 
 have a nation on our frontiers which owes to us its 
 independence. We are not going to Italy to foment 
 disorder nor to unsettle the power of the Holy Father, 
 whom we have replaced on his throne, but to with- 
 draw it from that foreign pressure which crushes the 
 entire peninsula, and to assist in basing order there 
 on satisfied legitimate interests. We are going, in 
 fact, to recover the traces left by our fathers upon 
 tha,t classic land, made illustrious by so many victo- 
 ries. God grant we may be worthy of them ! " 
 
 The sovereign terminates his proclamation by these 
 pathetic Vv^ords, calculated to affect the masses : " I 
 shall soon go to place myself at the head of the 
 armj^ I leave in France the Empress and my son. 
 Seconded by the experience and intelligence of the 
 last brother of the Emperor, she will be able to prove 
 herself equal to her mission. I confide them to the 
 valor of the army which remains in France to guard 
 our frontiers as well, as to protect the domestic 
 hearth ; I confide them, in fine, to the whole j)eople, 
 who will surround them with that love and devotion 
 of which I daily receive so many proofs. 
 
 " Courage, therefore, and union ! Our country is 
 going once more to demonstrate to the world that 
 it has not degenerated. Providence will bless our 
 efforts; for the cause which relies on justice, human- 
 
THE OPENING OF THE WAR 103 
 
 it}^ the love of countiy and of independence, is holy 
 in the sight of God." 
 
 Napoleon III. has attained his object. He has 
 found means to frustrate all the efforts of European 
 diplomacy, which desired peace, and to make the 
 Emperor Francis Joseph imprudently assume the 
 part of the aggressor. He has succeeded in inclining 
 the sympathies of the people to a war which is cen- 
 sured by the ruling classes. He has cleverly pre- 
 pared public opinion. He has made the national 
 fibre vibrate. Now he can depart. 
 
}: 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE DEPARTURE OP THE EMPEROR 
 
 rr^HE Emperor had witnessed already the departure 
 of his entire guard. Preceded by a band, each 
 regiment defiled on the Place du Carrousel, where it 
 halted, surrounded by an immense crowd. An officer 
 left tlie ranks and went to the palace of the Tuileries 
 for the flag which had been left there. As soon as 
 the officer had returned to his regiment, the Emperor 
 appeared at one of the windows of the Marsan pavil- 
 ion with the Empress and the Prince Imperial. The 
 soldiers presented arms ; the band played the air 
 of Queen Hortense: Partant pour la Syrie; shouts 
 resounded. 
 
 While a regiment of grenadiers was marching 
 through the rue de Rivoli, on its way to the Lyons 
 station, its vivandi^re inquired the number of the 
 house in that street where the secretary of the Em- 
 press lived. It was pointed out to her. She went 
 in, taking with her a little girl of six years, and said 
 to the secretary : " I am obliged to go with my regi- 
 ment. I beg Madame the Empress to take charge 
 of my child. I have no fear about her ; I know she 
 will bring her up well until I return." Then she 
 
 104 
 
THE DEPARTURE OF THE EMPEROR 105 
 
 vanislied, leaving the little girl behind her. On 
 being informed of this, the Empress willingly com- 
 plied with the desire of the valiant mother./ 
 
 The Emperor's preparations for departure were 
 finished. Marshal Randon, who had at first been 
 selected as major-general of the army of Italy, had 
 just replaced Marshal Vaillant as Minister of War, 
 the latter becoming a major-general. The Emperor 
 took with him all his military household, which was 
 made up as follows : — 
 
 Aides-de-camp : Generals, Count Roguet, de Cotte, 
 Count de Montebello, de Beville, Prince de La 
 Moskowa, Fleury; Colonels, de Waubert, de Genlis, 
 Marquis de Toulongeon, Count Lepic, Count Reille, 
 Fav^. 
 
 Orderly officers : Colonel Baron de Menneval ; 
 Chief of squadron Schmitz ; Captains, Brady, Count 
 d'Andlau, Klein de Kleinenberg, Viscount Friant, de 
 Tascher de La Pagerie, Prince de La Tour d'Au- 
 vergne, Eynard de Clermont-Tonnerre, Darguesse; 
 Lieutenant Prince Joachim Murat, and the Viscount 
 de Champagny Cadore, lieutenant of a man-of-war; 
 Baron Nicholas Clary, officer of the national guard. 
 Besides these, the Emperor was also attended by 
 two equerries : Baron de Bourgoing and M. Davillier ; 
 a chaplain, the Abbd Laine ; a physician. Doctor Con- 
 neau; a surgeon, Baron Larrey; and two secretaries. 
 On Sunday, May 8, two days before the departure, 
 a soiree at the Tuileries brought together the great 
 officers of the Crown, the ministers, and all those 
 
106 FBANGE AND ITALY 
 
 who formed part of the households of Their Majesties. 
 It is thus described by the Countess Stephanie de 
 Tascher de La Pagerie, who was present: "The 
 attitude of the Empress was truly admirable. One 
 felt that she had undertaken to conceal her emotion 
 and impart courage to all present. She was affable 
 to all; instead of remaining seated in the chimney 
 corner, surrounded by a small group of privileged 
 persons, she went from one to another, talking seri- 
 ously with the men, affectionately with the women. 
 My eyes followed her with satisfaction, for I love her 
 when she is like this. One feels that she is thor- 
 oughly impressed by the mission entrusted to her, 
 and that she is bent on proving herself worthy of it. 
 The Emperor talked with all the ladies, promising 
 to look after their husbands, brothers, or sons. No- 
 body wept; but hearts shed inwardly those tears 
 which are not seen, but which are only the sadder 
 and more bitter on that account." 
 
 Tuesday, May 10. — A Mass of adieu is celebrated 
 in the chapel of the Tuileries. The Cardinal Arch- 
 bishop of Paris officiates. Pale and lost in medita- 
 tion, the Empress "in prayer resembles a beautiful 
 statue of marble. 
 
 The Minister of Worship and of Public Instruc- 
 tion has addressed a circular to all the archbishops 
 and bishops of the Empire, which is thus worded: 
 " Monseigneur, the Emperor is about to place him- 
 self at the head of the army of Italy. His Majesty 
 desires that public prayers shall be ordered in all 
 
TEE DEPARTURE OF THE EMPEROR 107 
 
 the churches of the Empii-e to ask God to ensure the 
 success of our arms and protect France. I pray 
 Your Grandeur to be so good as to take the neces- 
 sary measures to comply with these pious intentions." 
 
 The hour of departure is at hand; the members 
 of the privy council, the ministers, grand officers of 
 the Crown, ladies and officers of the households of 
 the Emperor and the Empress, are waiting in the 
 salons of the Tuileries. The Princess Mathilde, 
 the Princess Marie of Baden and her husband 
 the Duke of Hamilton take leave there of the 
 sovereign. 
 
 It is half -past five in the evening. Their Majesties 
 are about to enter the carriage. Napoleon III. may 
 count on an ovation. Journals which favor the 
 Italian cause have been educating opinion. It is 
 the liberal tradition to hasten to the support of op- 
 pressed peoples. The principle of nationalities, 
 much disputed by the aristocracy and the middle 
 classes, combines the sympathies of the working- 
 men and the proletariat. It is an essentially demo- 
 cratic doctrine. All the men on the Left benches 
 and many of those on the Right have been preach- 
 ing it continually throughout the entire reign of 
 Louis Philippe and the period of the Second Republic. 
 The Emperor is taking the line of the Liberals of 
 the monarchy and the Republicans of 1848. He is 
 certain to be applauded by the crowd. 
 
 The procession moves. Large groups of the com- 
 mon people mingle with it. Preceded and followed 
 
108 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 by detachments of the hundred-guards, the Emperor 
 is in an open carriage with the Empress. Five 
 carriages follow them. The cortege starts from the 
 court of the Tuileries, passes beneath the arch of 
 triumph of the Carrousel, crosses the Louvre court, 
 and debouches on the rue de Rivoli, which is com- 
 pletely hung with flags. The windows of every 
 story in the houses are filled with spectators who 
 wave their hats and handkerchiefs. No troop had 
 been detailed for the service ; it is the population 
 which forms the line along the route to be taken by 
 the Emperor. At times, the crowd is so compact, 
 so close to the sovereign's carriage, that the horses 
 can scarcely advance. The enthusiasm continually 
 increases. In the democratic quarters, the faubourg 
 Saint-Antoine, the Place of the Bastile, the rue de 
 Lyon, it amounts to frenzy. 
 
 Men who are generally under police surveillance 
 are among those who shout Looig live the Empe7'or ! 
 most loudly. There are workingmen who address 
 him remarks like this: "Be easy, we will watch 
 over your wife and your son until you come back," 
 and women who throw rosary beads and medals of 
 Our Lady of Victories into the carriage. In spite 
 of his imperturbable phlegm. Napoleon III. is a 
 man who hungers for emotions. He loves adven- 
 tures and delights in dangers. His temperament, 
 that of a political gamester, prefers the greatest 
 risks. The more hazardous an enterprise, the more 
 attractive he finds it. The ovation of which he is 
 
THE DEPARTUBE OF THE EMPEBOR 109 
 
 the recipient at the moment of his departure fills 
 him with a joy which betrays itself on his ordina- 
 rily impassive countenance. This spontaneity of 
 acclamations as he passes, this community of ideas 
 between him and the democracy, this popular suf- 
 frage, flatters him more than the approbation of all 
 the European chanceries would have power to do. 
 
 The passage has lasted about three-quarters of an 
 hour. Their Majesties alight from the carriage and 
 find King Jerome and the Princess Clotilde at the 
 station. Prince Napoleon does not leave his old 
 father and his young wife without emotion. There 
 are tears in the eyes of the Princess, but remember- 
 ing the fearlessness of her race, she murmurs, " That 
 is enough," and ceases to weep. 
 
 It is a quarter past six. The imperial train starts, 
 as quick as lightning. The Empress is going as far 
 as Montereau with the Emperor. They stop there 
 for a few moments, and a dinner of forty covers is 
 served. Here the last farewells are spoken. The 
 Empress gives a medal to each officer of the Em- 
 peror's household. Him she embraces tenderly and 
 sets off for Paris, while he continues his route to 
 Marseilles. The inhabitants of towns and country 
 places, hastening with torches to all the way stations, 
 greet with acclamations the passing train which 
 carries Csesar and liis fortunes. 
 
 Ma?/ 11. — Quarter past eleven in the morning. 
 The train arrives at Marseilles. Napoleon HI. goes 
 directly from the railroad to the old port where the 
 
110 FRANCE ANB ITALY 
 
 imperial yacht, La Heine Hortense^ is waiting to 
 cany him to Genoa. All the streets are draped 
 with flags. The enthusiasm is as noisy as that of 
 Paris. About two o'clock, the imperial yacht, 
 followed by the Vauban^ gains the open, passing 
 between bedecked vessels and the numerous boats 
 of all descriptions which fill the harbor. One hun- 
 dred and one discharges of cannon salute the depar- 
 ture. The sky is clear. A glorious sun shines 
 down upon waves as smooth as a looking-glass, and 
 the two vessels soon vanish on the horizon. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 GENOA AND ALEXANDEIA 
 
 rr^HE city of Genoa is preparing to receive Napo- 
 leon III. May 11, a proclamation of the syndic 
 celebrates the "champion of justice and of civiliza- 
 tion, the avenger of oppressed peoples, the heir of 
 the name and the glory of Napoleon the Great," he 
 who " not content with having sent instantly a for- 
 midable army into Italy, comes himself, accompanied 
 by the good wishes of all France, to take command 
 of it." "Citizens," adds the syndic, "the Emperor 
 of the French could not give us a stronger proof of 
 sympathy, nor a surer pledge of victory. Let us 
 then, with full hearts, express our profound senti- 
 ments of admiration and gratitude for the august 
 chief of the great nation which extends a kindred 
 hand to Italy, that she may effectually assist her to 
 conquer at last the independence she has coveted so 
 long." 
 
 Genoa has been in holiday trim since morning. 
 All the city is afoot. A special train brings Count 
 Cavour, who is bound to be among the first to greet 
 Napoleon III. The Genoese national guard and a 
 regiment of the grenadiers of the imperial guard are 
 
 111 
 
112 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 drawn up in battle array to pay the usual honors to 
 the sovereign. Two steamers of the State, lying at 
 either side of the passage into the harbor, serve as 
 reserved tribunes for the higher classes of society. 
 All the places are filled by eleven o'clock, and the 
 ladies are not afraid of exposing themselves to the 
 rays of a hot sun. The Bourse closes. The shops 
 are shut. An enormous crowd gathers on the com- 
 mercial port, invades the vessels, and even climbs 
 into the yards. 
 
 Half-past twelve. — A discharge of cannon from the 
 batteries of the LantSrne announces that the impe- 
 rial yacht, La Heine Hortense^ is in sight. At this 
 signal. Prince de Carignan, Count Cavour, Count 
 Nigra, minister of the household of King Victor 
 Emmanuel, the Marquis de Breme, grand master of 
 ceremonies, the Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne, 
 minister of France, and all the members of the 
 legation, the French generals, Herbillon, military 
 commander of Genoa, Lebceuf, commander of the 
 artillery of the army, and Frossard, commander of 
 engineers, go aboard the little steamboat AmpMon, 
 and advance to meet the Emperor. More than a 
 thousand small vessels, all decked with flags, join 
 with this advice-boat to go and bid the sovereign 
 liberator welcome. 
 
 Standing on the main deck of his vessel, Napo- 
 leon III. contemplates a splendid horizon ; Genoa 
 the Superb, the nolle and royal city, made famous 
 by Tasso and Alfieri, Genoa, with its marble palaces, 
 
GENOA AND ALEXANBBIA 113 
 
 rising above each other like the seats of a vast 
 amphitheatre, its chain of lofty hills, its harbor 
 forming a semicircle nearly half a league in length, 
 and separated from the sea by tv/o immense moles. 
 
 Two o'' clock. — The camions roar, the bells ring, 
 the drums beat the general, the troops jpresent arms, 
 a loud shout issues from all throats. The imperial 
 yacht enters the basin and advances rapidly to the 
 quay. On reaching the landing-place, where he is re- 
 ceived by General RegnaucI de Saint-Jean d'Angely, 
 commander-in-chief of his guard, and by the principal 
 Genoese authorities, the Emperor goes down the side 
 into a yawl hung with the Sardinian and French 
 colors and almost concealed from view by flowers, 
 and sails slowly in the direction of the Palais-Royal 
 between the boats thronging the harbor. Hats and 
 handkerchiefs are waved. Frenzied acclamations 
 resound. 
 
 The Palais-Royal is an admirable residence bought 
 by King Charles-Felix from the Durazzo family. It 
 rises facing the sea, with which it communicates by 
 a gallery issuing in the arsenal of the port. A mar- 
 ble staircase, usually reserved to the King alone, dips 
 its lowest steps in the waters of the military basin. 
 Here the Emperor is to lodge. From here he 
 addresses his first order of the day to the army of 
 Italy : — 
 
 " Soldiers ! I come to place myself at your head 
 to lead you to the combat. We are about to second 
 the struggle of a people to revindicate its indepen- 
 
114 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 dence and withdraw it from foreign oppression. It 
 is a sacred cause which has the sympathies of the 
 civilized world. I do not need to stimulate your 
 ardor, each station will remind you of a victory. In 
 the Sacred Way of old Eome the marble was 
 crowded with inscriptions recalling to the people its 
 lofty deeds ; so, to-day, in passing by Mondovi, Ma- 
 rengo, Lodi, Castiglione, Areola, Rivoli, you will be 
 marching in another sacred way, amidst its glorious 
 memories. 
 
 " Preserve that severe discipline which is the honor 
 of the French army. Do not forget that here there 
 are no enemies but those who fight against you. In 
 battle remain compact, and do not abandon your 
 ranks to rush forward. Mistrust too great enthu- 
 siasm, it is the only thing I dread. The new 
 weapons of precision are only dangerous from a dis- 
 tance. They do not prevent the bayonet from being, 
 as of old, the terrible weapon of the French infantry. 
 
 " Soldiers ! let us all do our duty and put our 
 entire confidence in God. The country expects 
 much from you. Already these words of good omen 
 are heard from one end of France to the other, 
 ' The new army of Italy will be worthy of her elder 
 sister.' " 
 
 In the evening, the Emperor goes to the Carlo 
 Felice theatre, where a gala representation is given 
 in his honor. All along the streets through which 
 he passes — rue Balbi, Place de I'Annunziata, via 
 Nuovissima — the houses are draped and illuminated. 
 
GENOA AND ALEXANDRIA 115 
 
 When he enters the theatre there is a real frenzy. 
 Three times, after having saluted the crowd, he 
 attempts to sit down, and three times the renewal 
 of applause keeps him standing in his box. He 
 finally takes his seat, with Prince de Carignan on 
 his right and Prince Napoleon on his left. Count 
 Cavour, Count Nigra, and M. Morro, syndic of Genoa, 
 remain standing behind him. His friend. Count 
 Arese, one of the most fervent partisans of Italian 
 independence, is one of those who come to meet him. 
 "My dear Arese," the Emperor says to him, "we 
 ought to thank God for having permitted the Em- 
 peror of Austria to cross the Tessin, for otherwise 
 how could I be here ? " 
 
 The next day. May 13, at six o'clock in the 
 morning, Victor Emmanuel arrives incognito at 
 Genoa to shake hands with his ally. The King 
 places himself under the orders of the Emperor, who 
 is in command of the French and Sardinian armies. 
 The two sovereigns embrace each other warmly. 
 Some hours later Victor Emmanuel returns to his 
 own headquarters at Occimiano, between Casale and 
 Valenza. 
 
 In the course of the day the Emperor, accom- 
 panied by two officers only, makes a long excursion, 
 sometimes on foot and again in a carriage, on the 
 Alexandria roads, the faubourgs of Rivarole, rue 
 San Antonio, etc. He is received with remarkable 
 enthusiasm on his unexpected visit to these quar- 
 ters, for the most part poor ones. 
 
116 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 May 14. — At two o'clock Napoleon III. leaves 
 Genoa to go by rail to Alexandria, where he is to 
 establish his headquarters. The train crosses the 
 Bormida River, leaving to the left the celebrated 
 plain where the battle of Marengo was fought, and 
 enters the station of Alexandria at four o'clock. 
 The Emperor mounts a horse as soon as he leaves 
 the train, and goes to the Palais-Royal, escorted by 
 several squadrons of cavalry, and amidst a tumult- 
 uous ovation. At the exit of the station, on two 
 columns, is an inscription reproducing the imperial 
 words : " The object of this war is to restore Italy 
 to herself, and not to make her change masters ; we 
 shall have on our frontiers a friendly people which 
 will owe to us its independence. Let France arm 
 and resolutely say: I want no conquests, but I 
 proudly avow my sympathy for a people whose his- 
 tory is blended with my own." On the Piazzetta 
 there is a bust of Napoleon I., and at the entrance 
 of the Strada della Pierra a triumphal arch with this 
 inscription : " To the heir of the victor of Marengo ; 
 to the ally of Victor Emmanuel." The Piazza Larga^ 
 where the Palais-Royal, the dwelling of Napoleon III., 
 is situated, is thronged with people who keep up an 
 incessant shouting. In the theatre that evening, an 
 actor recites the following ode which the audience 
 oblige him to repeat : " Hymn to Napoleon III. 
 Sovereign of the greatest of peoples, valorous war- 
 rior sent by God, sublime soul, noble heart, generous 
 and pious, O great man, O powerful monarch, we 
 
GENOA AND ALEXANDRIA 117 
 
 behold thee at last among us. Thanks to thee the 
 right of peoples to independence is already recog- 
 nized, and by us the unjust treaties by which men 
 are divided into oppressors and oppressed will be 
 destroyed. Thanks to thee, the sun of liberty will 
 rise on Italy. Here, where the genius who gave 
 his laws to the world, and whose name is the pride 
 and glory of our time began to shine, within these 
 walls whence the eagle took his radiant flight, 
 France and Italy come to unite with each other in 
 a single thought." 
 
 Sunday^ May 13. — The Emperor, accompanied by 
 Marshal Vaillant, Marshal Canrobert, and some offi- 
 cers of his household, walks to Saint Peter's Cathedral. 
 The national guard forms the line along his route. 
 He is received by the clergy at the door of the 
 church, and the Mass is celebrated by his chaplain, 
 the Abbd Laine. On his exit, as on his entrance, 
 the sovereign is cheered by an enthusiastic crowd. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MONTEBELLO 
 
 TTTAR had been declared April 26, and as yet 
 ' not a shot had been fired. The first fight- 
 ing took place, May 20, at Montebello. 
 
 The allied army already occupied the entire line 
 of the Po, without giving the least indication as to 
 where it would probably cross the stream. The 1st 
 and 2d French corps were established at the two 
 extremes. General Forey, whose division formed 
 the vanguard, had been expecting an early combat 
 since the 6th of May. On that day he had addressed 
 to his troops the following order of the day from 
 Gavi : " Soldiers of the 1st division of the 1st corps, 
 to-morrow we shall find ourselves in the first line, 
 and it is probable that we shall have the honor of 
 the first engagements with the enemy. Remember 
 that yo«r fathers have always beaten this enemy, 
 and you will do as they did." 
 
 May 20, at half-past twelve. General Forey, being 
 apprised that a strong column of Austrians, with 
 cannon, had occupied Casteggio and driven back 
 from Montebello the outguards of the Piedmontese 
 cavalry, went immediately to the outposts on the 
 
 118 
 
MONTEBELLO 119 
 
 Montebello road with two battalions of the 74th. 
 Meanwhile the rest of the division got under arms. 
 An artillery battery marched at the head. 
 
 The village of Montebello is built on the first 
 eminence seen by one going from Tortona to Plai- 
 sance. This hill has always been disputed in the 
 fights which have taken place on the plains of Alex- 
 andria. In the days of antiquity it gained its name 
 — mount of war (mons belli) — from the combats 
 delivered there. It was the scene of the rencontre 
 between the Numidian cavalry of Hannibal and the 
 advance guard of Scipio which preluded the battle 
 of Trebbia. It was there, June 9, 1800, that Gen- 
 eral Lannes, going to the rendezvous of Marengo, 
 forced the passage defended by the Austrians, and 
 merited by his valor the title of Due de Montebello, 
 afterwards given him. With its natural defences, 
 the solid masonry of its houses, its fortified cemetery, 
 this famous village is a very strong position. The 
 tall crops, the trees and vines, concealed the move- 
 ments of the enemy, and had allowed him to advance 
 without being seen. 
 
 The Forey division was composed of four regi- 
 ments of infantry, the 74th, 84th, 91st, and 98th, and 
 a battalion of light infantry, the 17th, to which were 
 joined six squadrons of Sardinian light cavalry, com- 
 manded by Colonel Maurice de Sonnaz. All vied 
 with each other in courage and high spirits. In 
 spite of broken ground, cut up by ravines, obstructed 
 by vineyards, and very difficult of access by cavalry, 
 
120 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the Sardinian light-horsemen made a heroic charge. 
 On a sign from General Forey, the clarions sounded; 
 the cry " Forward ! " came from every throat ; the 
 French battalions sprang towards the heights and 
 soon attained their summits. The village of Monte- 
 bello had next to be attacked. It was not an easy 
 task. The Austrians, ambushed behind the crenel- 
 lated walls, rained a shower of balls upon the assail- 
 ants. Every window had its sharpshooters, every 
 house was a citadel to be taken. Dismounting, Gen- 
 eral Forey placed himself, sword in hand, at the head 
 of his troops. He was always seen in the most dan- 
 gerous places ; balls whistled around him ; one might 
 have thought the very grape-shot was daunted by 
 such audacity. Even when the village had been 
 surrounded, prodigies of valor were required to make 
 a successful advance. An incessant series of hand-to- 
 hand combats went on in the streets, the gardens, the 
 very houses. It was at this moment that General 
 Beuret received a glorious death. Forced to give 
 way before the ardor and impetuosity of the French 
 troops, whose bayonets were irresistible, the Aus- 
 trians fell back into the cemetery where they made 
 a fierce resistance. But this last position being 
 finally wrested from them, they beat a retreat. It 
 was half-past six o'clock. 
 
 General Forey thought it imprudent to push the 
 day's success further. He halted his troops behind 
 the undulation of ground on which the cemetery is 
 situated, protecting its crest by four pieces of artil- 
 
MONTEBELLO 121 
 
 lery and numerous sharpshooters, who forced the 
 hindmost Austrian columns into Casteggio. Soon 
 afterwards they saw them evacuate the place, leaving 
 a rear-guard, and withdrawing by the Casatisma road. 
 
 At the close of the day, when the victorious general 
 passed in front of his troops, he was received with 
 unanimous cheers. Every man wanted to touch the 
 hand of the intrepid leader who had given so noble 
 an example. 
 
 In his report to Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers, 
 commander-in-chief of the 1st corps, the general 
 wrote : " I cannot praise too highly, M. le Mar^chal, 
 the enthusiasm of our troops. . . . Nor can 1 forget 
 the officers of my staff who seconded me perfectly. 
 ... I do not know the exact figure of our losses ; 
 tliey were numerous, especially in superior officers, 
 who exposed themselves greatly. I reckon them 
 approximately at between six and seven hundred 
 men killed or wounded. Those of the enemy must 
 have been considerable, judging from the number 
 of dead found, especially in the village of Monte- 
 bello. We have made about two hundred prisoners, 
 among whom are a colonel and several officers. A 
 number of military Avagons have also fallen into our 
 hands. For myself, M. le Mar^chal, I am glad that 
 my division was the first to have an engagement 
 with the enemy. This glorious baptism, which 
 revives one of the great names of the Empire, will 
 mark, I hope, one of the halting-places referred to in 
 the order of the Emperor." 
 
122 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 General Forey added in a postscript : " From 
 what I learn from all quarters, the forces of the 
 enemy could not have been less than from fifteen 
 to eighteen thousand men ; and, if the prisoners are 
 to be believed, they went beyond that figure." To 
 contend against such forces, General Forey had had 
 only his division, composed of five thousand nine 
 hundred men, and six squadrons of Sardinian light- 
 cavalry. Great joy was caused by this admirable 
 feat of arms throughout Italy and France. This 
 first success was a good omen. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 PALESTRO 
 
 ^T^PIE war began well. At the time when the 
 battle of Montebello was going on, Garibaldi 
 and his redshirted volunteers were distinguishing 
 themselves in the neighborhood of Lake Majeur. 
 They entered Como May 29, and the city placed 
 itself under the government of King Victor Em- 
 manuel. 
 
 May 30, the King crossed the Sesia with four 
 Sardinian divisions. The Durando division went 
 in the direction of Vinzaglio, the Fanto and Cas- 
 telborgo divisions towards Casalino and from there 
 towards Confienza. The Cialdini division, which 
 had established itself on the left bank the previous 
 day, was charged with the principal attack, that on 
 Palestro. This village was difficult of access. Cut 
 into by canals and obstructed by temporary breast- 
 works of trees, the road thither presented obstacles 
 of every description. The ground on either side was 
 laid out in rice-fields and divided by innumerable 
 ditches, which rendered the attack very difficult. In 
 front of Palestro, the river, with its banks covered 
 with tall weeds, poplars, and willows ; to right and 
 
 123 
 
124 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 left of the river, wide, marshy meadows ; every 
 declivity surrounding and dominating the road up 
 to the entrance of the village supplied with troops ; 
 Tyrolese chasseurs, chosen sharpshooters, stationed 
 at regular intervals, hidden behind trees, crouching 
 in the weeds ; the bridge occupied by numerous 
 tirailleurs ; the heights forming on either side of the 
 village two sorts of natural bastions at an elevation 
 of about fifteen yards ; the first houses crenellated 
 in order to make attack more difScult and permit 
 the Austrians to send a plunging fire down upon 
 the assailants, — such were the obstacles of every kind 
 encountered by the Sardinian column detailed for 
 the taking of Palestro. Led by Victor Emmanuel 
 in person, it triumphed over all of them and seized 
 the village. The other divisions simultaneously 
 carried Vinzaglio and occupied Casalino and Con- 
 fienza without resistance. The next day, the Aus- 
 trians were to return the attack and in considerable 
 force. 
 
 When the Emperor had sent to Victor Emmanuel, 
 May 29, the order containing merely these words : 
 " The army of the King will take up its position in 
 front of Palestro," he foresaw that the Sardinian 
 sovereign would be forced to give several successive 
 battles, and he placed at his disposal the 3d regi- 
 ment of zouaves, momentarily detached from the 
 5th corps. This regiment camped at Torrione, 
 May 30. At six in the morning of May 31, it re- 
 ceived orders from the King to move ou Palestro. 
 
PALE8TB0 125 
 
 At nine o'clock it established its bivouac to the 
 right of the village, in a plain covered with ripe 
 grain and groups of trees, with the Calcina canal 
 in front. Towards ten o'clock the Austrians de- 
 bouched by the Robbio and Rozasco roads. The 
 zouaves immediately took up their arms and moved 
 some five hundred yards to their own right, where 
 brisk firing had begun. They had taken down their 
 tents and laid aside their knapsacks, and they con- 
 cealed their approach in the first place by hiding in 
 the grain and under a screen of poplars. Then, 
 making a sudden rush from the brushwood, they 
 sprang upon the enemy. 
 
 Nothing stopped them, neither ditches nor the 
 acacia thickets which scratched their faces, neither 
 the marshy ground in which they sank to their knees 
 nor the canal where they found the water up to their 
 belts and sometimes up to their shoulders. Suddenly 
 from the midst of the grain where the Tyrolese 
 chasseurs were ambuscaded came an almost point- 
 blank fusillade ; to the grape-shot, which threw their 
 first ranks into disorder, the zouaves replied by yells, 
 and without resorting to their weapons, climbed the 
 hill covered with thick mud. 
 
 " There is only a step between them and the mouth 
 of the cannons," says the historic Journal of the 3d 
 zouaves ; " the Austrian artillerymen, stupefied by 
 such audacity, have not even time to fire. In vain 
 they try to rake them down, the terrible bayonets of 
 the zouaves pin down in their places those who 
 
126 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 seek to defend themselves. The routed infantry- 
 disperse in all directions. Five pieces of cannon 
 are in our power." 
 
 The zouaves next attack the road; some rush to 
 the right, others escalade the cliffs to the left, and 
 find themselves at once in a field of ploughed ground 
 facing several Austrian battalions whom they attack 
 with the bayonet. Just then they see King Victor 
 Emmanuel galloping up, sabre in hand. The in- 
 trepid monarch, followed by Sardinian battalions 
 worthy of such a leader, plunges into the thickest of 
 the fight. Near him. General de La Marmora has a 
 horse grievously wounded. The fiery ardor of the 
 sovereign electrifies the zouaves; they hurrah for 
 him. 
 
 The Austrians, hotly pursued, are driven as far 
 as the Bridda River, traversed by a narrow bridge, 
 the entrance of which they bar with two pieces of 
 artillery. Some of the reserves are massed behind 
 this bridge, and line the steep acclivities of the bank. 
 The zouaves fling themselves on the bridge and 
 seize the two pieces. A terrible hand-to-hand fight 
 ensues. Many combatants are thrown into the 
 stream. Some are drowned, others dashed to pieces 
 in their fall. A number of Austrians save them- 
 selves by swimming. The zouaves, who pity them, 
 are seen descending the steep banks and holding 
 out their carbines like fish-poles to draw them from 
 the water. At the same time General Cialdini, who 
 has been valiantly defending the village of Palestro, 
 
PALESTBO 127 
 
 forces the enemy to retreat. They are repulsed at 
 Confienza likewise, and fall back on Robbio. The 
 victory is complete. 
 
 Napoleon III., leaving his headquarters at Verceil, 
 had followed in all haste the sound of the firing at 
 Palestro. Victor Emmanuel acquaints him with the 
 day's success. The zouaves get into line of battle 
 on both sides of the bridge which has been the scene 
 of a heroic struggle. The two monarchs pass through 
 the ranks of intrepid soldiers who, still animated by 
 the heat of combat, wave with powder-blackened 
 hands their reeking carbines and shout: "Long live 
 the Emperor ! Long live the King ! " 
 
 Finding two mortally wounded Italian volunteers 
 on the battlefield, Victor Emmanuel addressed them 
 in affectionate terms. One of them answered, " Sire, 
 I regret to die in the first battle," and the other, 
 "Sire, deliver this poor Italy." In the evening this 
 fine proclamation was issued by the King : " Soldiers, 
 to-day a new and striking feat of arms has been sig- 
 nalized by a new victory. The enemy attacked us 
 vigorously at Palestro, bringing powerful forces to 
 bear upon our right; the intention was to prevent 
 our soldiers from joining those of Marshal Canrobert. 
 The moment was supreme. Numerically our force 
 was greatly inferior to that of the adversary, but the 
 latter was confronted by the brave troops of the 4th 
 division, under General Cialdini, and the incompara- 
 ble 3d regiment of zouaves which, fighting to-day 
 with the Sardinian army, has powerfully contributed 
 
128 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 to the victory. . . . His Majesty the Emperor, on 
 yisiting the field of battle, has expressed his most 
 cordial felicitations, and he appreciates the immense 
 advantage of this victory. Soldiers ! persevere in 
 your sublime conduct, and I assure you that heaven 
 will crown the work you have so courageously 
 begun." 
 
 A singular incident occurred the following day. 
 We quote the description of it from a remarkable 
 history of the campa,ign by Baron de Bazancourt, who 
 had been summoned to the army of Italy by order 
 of the Emperor : " A young officer of Sardinian 
 cavalry, commissioned to escort the prisoners, pre- 
 sented himself before Colonel de Chabron to receive 
 those taken by the regiment of zouaves. Astonished 
 to hear this Piedmontese officer expressing himself 
 in French, with not the slightest trace of a foreign 
 accent, the colonel questioned him concerning his 
 nationalit3^ 'I am a Frenchman,' replied the sub- 
 lieutenant of Sardinian cavalry. ' Your name ? ' ' De 
 Chartres, colonel.' And, as the colonel looked at 
 him attentively on hearing that name, he added 
 simply, 'I am the son of the Duke of Orleans.' And 
 bowing to the colonel, whose orders he had received, 
 he withdrew. Colonel de Chabron, moved by this 
 chance encounter, and the touching simplicity of 
 the young man, already an orphan, and stricken by 
 many great misfortunes, followed him with his eyes 
 until he disappeared amidst the surrounding tents." 
 
 The same day Victor Emmanuel addressed this 
 
FRANCIS JOSEPH 
 
PALESTRO 129 
 
 letter to Colonel de Chabron : " From the principal 
 headquarters, Torrione, June 1, 1859 : Colonel, the 
 Emperor, in placing the 3d regiment of zouaves at 
 my orders has shown me a precious testimony of 
 friendship. It seemed to me that I could not give a 
 better reception to this choice troop than by affording 
 it an immediate occasion to add a new exploit to those 
 which rendered the name of zouaves so formidable 
 to the enemy on the battlefields of Africa and the 
 Crimea. The irresistible vehemence with which 
 your regiment marched to the attack yesterday ex- 
 cited mj utmost admiration. To fall upon the 
 enemy at the point of the bayonet, to seize a battery 
 in the face of grape-shot, was the affair of a few 
 minutes. You should be proud of commanding such 
 soldiers, and they ought to be happy to obey a leader 
 like you. I keenly appreciate the idea of your 
 zouaves in bringing to my headquarters the pieces 
 of artillery taken from the Austrians, and I beg you 
 to convey my thanks to them. I shall make haste 
 to despatch this fine trophy to H. M. the Emperor, 
 whom I have already acquainted with the matchless 
 bravery with which your regiment fought yesterday 
 at Palestro and sustained my extreme right. I shall 
 always be well satisfied to see the 3d regiment of 
 zouaves fighting beside my soldiers and winning 
 new laurels on the battlefields which still await us. 
 Kindly acquaint your zouaves, colonel, with these 
 sentiments. 
 
 "YiCTOR Emmanuel." 
 
130 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The dynasty of Savoy is a race of heroes. In 
 1823, during the Spanish War, the bravery of Charles- 
 Albert, who was serving in the French army, excited 
 the enthusiasm of the soldiers to such a point at the 
 attack of Trocadero that they conferred upon him 
 the epaulettes of a grenadier. When the battle of 
 Palestro was over, his son, Victor Emmanuel, was 
 proclaimed a corporal of zouaves by acclamation. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 TURBIGO 
 
 npHE effect of the two combats of Palestro was to 
 disguise the reverse movement of the French 
 army towards Novara, and its result to oblige the 
 Austrian army to fall back on the Tessin and evacu- 
 ate the territory of Piedmont. The allied army pur- 
 sued them and made ready to cross the Tessin. 
 
 June 2, the Emperor ordered General MacMahon 
 to send the Espinasse division to occupy Trecata, on 
 the Milan road, and General Camou, commander of 
 the light infantry division of the guard, to march 
 towards Robbio, on the left bank of the Tessin, to 
 force the passage opposite Turbigo, and protect the 
 establishment of a bridge of boats by which the 2d 
 corps could be transported to the other bank the fol- 
 lowing day. June 3, at eight o'clock in the morning, 
 the 2d corps quitted Novara for Turbigo, a Lombard 
 village nine kilometres from Buffalora, to cross the 
 Tessin on this bridge. 
 
 General MacMahon preceded his army corps with 
 the officers of his staff, in order to reconnoitre the 
 ground on which he might be called to operate. He 
 reached the encampments of the light infantry of 
 the guard detached to defend the approaches to the 
 
 131 
 
132 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 bridge at three o'clock ; then, after passing through 
 Turbigo, he went to the village of Robechetto, two 
 kilometres east of Turbigo, on the left bank of the 
 Tessin. No enemies had yet been perceived when 
 he arrived. Let us leave the tale to his chief of staff, 
 General Lebrun, who says ; " At Robechetto he found 
 out that it was difficult to get a good view of the 
 ground, on account of the neighborhood of the vil- 
 lage being covered with vines and trees. He went 
 up to the top of the church steeple." MacMahon, 
 on the platform of the steeple, had spread out a map 
 of the country, and was looking at the horizon, when 
 an Austrian column, apparently coming from Buffa- 
 lora, advanced upon the village. It was not more 
 than a few hundred yards away. 
 
 General Lebrun adds : " We rushed to the stair- 
 way of the steeple, and went down four steps at a 
 time. Those who were behind shouted to those 
 ahead of them, ' Go faster ! ' We were soon in 
 the saddle when once we got out of the church. 
 It was time ; two or three minutes more and the 
 Austrians would have made a fine haul — a com- 
 mander of a French army corps, his chief-of-staff, a 
 general of division. General Camou, and the officers 
 who accompanied them." 
 
 To prevent the enemy from installing themselves 
 at Robechetto was indispensable, both to protect the 
 bivouacs and to ensure the execution of the subse- 
 quent movement of the 2d corps on Buffalora and 
 Magenta. Not a minute was to be lost. 
 
TtittniGO 13B 
 
 MacMahon set off at full gallop and regained 
 Turbigo, where he ordered a regiment of Algerian 
 sharpshooters — the only one at his disposal for the 
 moment — to march as quickly as possible on Robe- 
 chetto, to repulse the enemy and occupy the village. 
 
 At the same instant, the Emperor, who had just 
 been visiting the great bridge of San Martino, arrived 
 at Turbigo, and in one of the houses crownijig the 
 plateau to the north of the road, gave General Camou 
 orders to march the light infantry of the guard to 
 the outlets of the canal, south of Turbigo, so as to 
 reinforce the troops of General MaclMahon. 
 
 The Algerian sharpshooters — the Turcos, as they 
 are called — are about to be launched into the fire. 
 General de La Motterouge passes in front of their 
 three battalions, and addresses them in a few ener- 
 getic words which, immediately translated into Arabic 
 by Colonel Laure, electrify them. The general him- 
 self heads the centre battalion, and gives the signal 
 of departure with his lifted sword. The point of 
 direction is the church steeple of Robechetto. Noth- 
 ing could be more impetuous than this attack made 
 on the double-quick. Uttering their war-cries in 
 their sharp and guttural voices, the Algerian sharp- 
 shooters advance to the music of the regimental air, 
 " When the Turcos march to combat." In an instant 
 they envelop Robechetto. In ten minutes the enemy, 
 dislodged from the village, beat a retreat along the 
 road by which they came. Nevertheless, they keep 
 on using their artillery as they go, sending back a 
 
134 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 dozen volleys of grape which do not abate in the 
 least the furious ardor of the Turcos. General 
 Auger comes up with four pieces of artillery, and 
 vigorously returns their fire. Thinking tliey see an 
 Austrian piece among the wheat, which seems to 
 have some difficulty in following the retreat, they 
 rush at it on the gallop, seize it and sabre the 
 artillerymen. 
 
 The head of an Austrian cavalry column, comiug 
 from Castano, simultaneously presents itself on the 
 left. A battalion of the 65th goes at once to meet 
 it with two pieces of cannon, and drives it back the 
 way it came. 
 
 The fighting was over at five o'clock. General 
 MacMahon addressed his report to the Emperor the 
 same day. " The enemy," said he, " has experienced 
 considerable losses. The battlefield is covered with 
 tlieir dead, and a considerable quantity of effects of 
 all descriptions which they have left in our hands : 
 cam}) equipages, full knapsacks thrown down on the 
 scene of combat in order to flee with greater agility. 
 We have picked up weapons, carbines, and muskets. 
 We have made few prisoners, a fact explained by the 
 nature of the ground on which the engagement took 
 place. . . . 
 
 " I cannot as yet give precise details concerning 
 this affair which has once more since the campaign 
 begun shown all that Your Majesty may expect from 
 your brave soldiers. . . . All have done their duty 
 worthily: but T will nt ont^e mention General de La 
 
TURBIGO 135 
 
 Mottei'ouge to Your Majesty as having manifested 
 irresistible impetuosity ; General Auger who, by the 
 terms of our military legislation, merits a citation 
 to the general order of the army ; Colonel Laveau- 
 coupet who, in a hand-to-hand fight with the Aus- 
 trian sharpshooters, received a bayonet wound in the 
 head ; Colonel Laure, of the Algerian sharpsliooters, 
 for the intelligent impetus with which he led his 
 battalions at the enemy." 
 
 General Lebrun saw an affecting sight after the 
 combat in the street which runs through the village 
 of Robechetto. The Abb(5 Bragier, chaplain of the 
 2d corps, was on his knees amongst the wounded, 
 attending to the duties of his ministry; among these 
 were soldiers of the 45th of tlie Line, Austrian chas- 
 seurs and Turcos, all of whom were stretching their 
 hands out to him and kissing his. The compas- 
 sionate AbbilJ lavished consolations upon all, without 
 regard to religion or nationality. Raffet had prom- 
 ised the general to take this scene as the subject of 
 one of his works, but death carried him off too soon. 
 
 The battle of Robeclietto, which afterwards took 
 the name of the neighboring locality and was called 
 the battle of Turbigo, had done great honor to Gen- 
 eral de La Motterouge and the two regiments of his 
 division, the Algerian tirailleurs and the 45th of the 
 line, which had taken part in it. It inaugurated 
 gloriously the operations which were to make the 
 2d army corps iliustiious in the sequel of the cam- 
 paign. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE BATTLE OF MAGBNTAi 
 
 n^HE 4th of June had been decided on by Na- 
 poleon III. as the day for takmg definitive 
 possession of the left bank of the Tessin. General 
 MacMahon's corps, the 2d, reinforced by the light 
 infantry division of the guard, and followed by 
 the entire army of the King of Sardinia, was to move 
 from Turbigo on Buffalora and Magenta, the divi- 
 sion of grenadiers of the guard seizing meanwhile 
 the head of the bridge of San Martino on the left 
 bank, and the 3d corps, under Marshal Canrobert, 
 advancing along the right bank so as to cross the 
 Tessin at the same point. The 4th corps, com- 
 manded by General Niel, was also to make its way 
 towards the Tessin. The 1st corps, that of Mar- 
 shal Baraguey d'Hilliers, was held in reserve. 
 
 However, on the morning of June 4, no one in 
 the French army anticipated a great battle on that 
 day. The Emperor, who was at Novara, breakfasted 
 there at his usual hour. After breakfast, he went 
 to San Martino where the grenadiers and zouaves 
 of his guard, who were to open the fight, were sta- 
 tioned. 
 
 138 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 137 
 
 At ten in the morning, the 2d corps, com- 
 manded by General MacMahon and composed of 
 two divisions, that of General de I^a Motterouge 
 and that of General Espinasse, to which was joined 
 the light infantry division of the guard, under com- 
 mand of General Camou, started from Turbigo for 
 Magenta. The La Motterouge division and the 
 Espinasse division took different routes. The first 
 collided with several Austrian detachments at Casata 
 and repulsed them. The Emperor heard the firing 
 from the bridge of San Martino, and at once ordered 
 his guard to attack the banks of the grand canal, the 
 Naviglio Cfrande. 
 
 The division of the guard, which was about to ac- 
 complish prodigies of valor, included three regiments 
 of grenadiers and a regiment of zouaves. Com- 
 manded by General Mellinet, with two brigadier 
 generals, De Wimpffen and Cler, under him, it 
 comprised but five thousand men. During five hours 
 these were to resist the attack of about forty thou- 
 sand Austrians. 
 
 Now let us glance at the scene of this heroic 
 resistance. 
 
 An army going from Piedmont into Lombardy 
 finds two redoubtable obstacles in its way, the Tessin 
 and the Naviglio G-rande. 
 
 The Tessin is a large river whose abundant waters, 
 swift as those of a torrent, are intercepted by wooded 
 islands. 
 
 The Naviglio Grrande is a very deep canal, about 
 
138 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 sixteen yards in width and situated some two or 
 three kilometers from Tessin, whose banks are lined 
 with acacia hedges. It is protected by high embank- 
 ments. 
 
 On the left bank of the Tessin there is a little 
 village containing but few houses. It is called San 
 Martino. Here is the bridge which must be crossed 
 in going to Buffalora. 
 
 Buffalora is a village of sixteen hundred inhabit- 
 ants, situated on the Naviglio Grande, twenty-seven 
 kilometers from Milan. The two parts of the village 
 are united by a bridge. On the right are two villages, 
 or rather, two groups of houses, one of which is 
 known as Ponte Nuova di Magenta, and the other as 
 Ponte Vecchio di Magenta, with two bridges across 
 the Naviglio Grande. These three bridges, the rail- 
 way station, the houses and the hills, are occupied by 
 Austrians with more than one hundred thousand 
 men to defend these formidable positions. Their 
 commander-in-chief confidently expected to cut off 
 the French army from the bridge of San Martino, 
 to isolate in this way all who had crossed the Tessin 
 and to compel the 2d corps and the King's army 
 to fall back precipitately on Turbigo in order to re- 
 new communication with the remainder of the army. 
 Such was the plan which the intrepidity of the 
 French troops was to bring to naught. 
 
 General Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, com- 
 mander-in-chief of the guard, carries the Emperor's 
 orders into execution. He sends the Wimpffen bri- 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 139 
 
 gade against Buffalora. The Cler brigade follows 
 the movement. They promptly carry Buffalora and 
 the heights bordering the Naviglio Grande. But 
 then they find themselves facing considerable masses 
 which they cannot break through and which impede 
 their progress. Chiefs and soldiers rival each other 
 in heroism. General Cler, one of the most distin- 
 guished officers of the army, meets a glorious death 
 in leading the zouaves of the guard to the charge. 
 General Mellinet has two horses killed under him. 
 General de Wirapffen is wounded in the face in con- 
 ducting the attack of the right. 
 
 Notwithstanding the sublime efforts of the guard, 
 it will end by being destroyed if reinforcements do 
 not arrive. The day does not promise well for the 
 French army. The march of the 3d and 4th corps 
 is hindered by the obstacles presented by ground 
 intersected by irrigating canals and covered by 
 mulberry trees, poplars, and willows. Their 
 columns, forced to stretch out indefinitely on the 
 causeways, the marshy state of the soil often render- 
 ing the side paths impracticable, advance with diffi- 
 culty. The army of King Victor Emmanuel is 
 delayed in its passage of the Tessin, and only one of 
 its divisions is able to follow at a distance the corps 
 of General MacMahon. 
 
 The Emperor, still at the bridge of San Martino, 
 experiences unutterable anguish. He no longer 
 hears the cannon of the 2d corps in the distance. 
 Can General MacMahon have been repulsed, and is 
 
140 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the division of tlie guard to bear the whole brunt of 
 the enemy's attack? 
 
 Colonel Raoult, chief of staff of the imperial guard, 
 comes to tell the Emperor, on behalf of General 
 Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, that the forces of 
 the enemy are momently increasing and that he can- 
 not hold out unless he receives reinforcements. "I 
 have none to send him," replies Napoleon III., with 
 calmness ; " tell him to hold on with the few he has 
 left." 
 
 " It was essential to the success of the day," the 
 commander-in-chief of the guard will say in his report 
 to the Emperor, " to protect the access to the bridge 
 over the Naviglio so as to permit the army corps of 
 General Niel and of Marshal Canrobert to fall upon 
 the enemy as soon as they should arrive. Your 
 Majesty directed an energetic defence to be made 
 while awaiting the approaching reinforcements. The 
 orders of Your Majesty were executed; the zouaves 
 and grenadiers of the 3d as well as those of the 
 1st regiment, who had come to their assistance, 
 resisted all attacks in the posts confided to them." 
 What heroism in this simple and temperate language ! 
 
 What had happened to General MacMahon, and 
 why were the guns of the 2d corps still silent? 
 At the village of Cuggione, General Lebrun, chief of 
 staff, having ascended the church steeple, observed 
 that considerable movements of Austrian troops were 
 going on between Buffalora and Magenta. He went 
 down very quickly and said to General MacMahon : 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 141 
 
 " There is a great battle in preparation just now. 
 Unless we wish to risk being thrown into the Tessin 
 by troops much superior to any we can oppose to 
 them, there is only time enough to concentrate the 
 two divisions of your army corps and the light infan- 
 try division of the guard." General MacMahon 
 replied: "I am going to look for the Espinasse 
 division myself." And he darted off like an arrow, 
 followed by only a few horsemen. At breakneck 
 speed he crossed vineyards, fields, and ditches, barely 
 escaped being taken prisoner by the enemies, thanks 
 to the speed of his horse, and at last reached General 
 Espinasse. " Make haste," said he, and the regiment 
 took the road from Buffalora to Cuggione. It re- 
 joined those of General de La Motterouge and Gen- 
 eral Camou. The concentration was effected, and 
 the three divisions advanced upon Magenta. 
 
 "The 2d army corps," General Lebrun has 
 said, " in marching resolutely but alone upon 
 Magenta, was exposing itself to the greatest 
 dangers. For, towards four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 the division of grenadiers of the imperial guard, which 
 the Emperor was near, had not yet been able, in 
 spite of its glorious and frequently renewed attacks, 
 to force the passage of the canal (the Naviglio 
 Grande) neither before the tunnel of the railway, nor 
 before the Ponte Nuova di Magenta. The Austrian 
 forces defending the crossings of the canal were 
 sufficiently numerous and strongly established to 
 keep up their resistance for a good while longer." 
 
142 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 While General MacMahon was marching on 
 Magenta with no forces but his four divisions, some 
 troops had finally come to the assistance of the 
 division of the guard. At last the dark uniforms of 
 the light infantry and the red pantaloons of the line 
 came into sight along the railway embankment. It 
 was one of the brigades of the 3d corps, the 
 Picard, which was coming in haste with Marshal 
 Canrobert. In company with the zouaves and the 
 grenadiers it performed prodigies of valor. The 
 village of Ponte di Magenta, after being taken and 
 retaken three times, had still to be defended against 
 the return of the Austrians. General Picard, Colonel 
 Bellecourt of the 85th, and many other officers, set- 
 ting an example of pluck and tenacity to the troops, 
 made them retake it once more. Marshal Canrobert 
 has written in his report to the Emperor : " The 
 enemy realized the importance of this point, which, 
 had it remained in their power, would have brought 
 them on the very flank of our line of communication 
 with the bridge of Tessin. This explains their 
 tenacity in the successive attacks, and the irresistible 
 vehemence of ours in the renewed attempts to take 
 the position." 
 
 The Marshal adds : " The Jannin brigade, led by 
 General Renault, was finally able to debouch and 
 move quickly on the Austrian line, resting on Ponte 
 di Magenta, in that part of the village which is on 
 the left bank of the Naviglio Grande canal. Several 
 times taken and retaken, this portion of the village, 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 143 
 
 isolated by the Naviglio bridge, which the enemy had 
 blown up, remains in possession of General Renault, 
 who has definitively established himself there." 
 
 Now let us return to General MacMahon. His 
 troops begin to march about four o'clock, with the 
 church steeple of Magenta as their point of direction. 
 It is on this march that the 3d zouaves seize an 
 Austrian flag, a feat which earns for this regiment 
 the pleasure of seeing their own flag decorated with 
 the cross of the Legion of Honor a few days later. 
 The moment is solemn; the fate of the battle is 
 about to be determined. Just then General Lebrun 
 says to MacMahon : " The trees and vines prevent 
 our battalions from seeing each other; but if they 
 hear the drums beating and the trumpets sounding 
 to right and left of them, they will understand that 
 they are shoulder to shoulder, and then they will 
 have no anxiety; they will go on marching with 
 entire confidence." MacMahon takes the advice of 
 his chief of staff. The drums beat, the trumpets 
 blow their warlike flourish. When the three divi- 
 sions. La Motterouge, Espinasse, and Camou, are 
 within three or four hundred yards of Magenta, 
 they are a compact mass able to defy the Austrian 
 forces who occupy the railway station, the ap- 
 proaches and the interior of the city. 
 
 On the left, the Espinasse division rushes upon 
 the street at the entry of Magenta, known as the 
 rue de Marcallo. 
 
 On the right, the La Motterouge division attacks 
 
144 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the principal entrance by which the highway of Buf- 
 falora and Magenta passes into the town. 
 
 In the centre, the Camou division attacks the ap- 
 proaches to the station. 
 
 All the houses at the entrances of Magenta and the 
 station are occupied by Austrian forces who bravely 
 resist the assailants. 
 
 The intrepid General Espinasse, trying to force the 
 entrance of rue de Marcallo, in front of him, wishes to 
 set an example to his troops. He places himself at 
 the head of the 2d zouaves and fights like a private 
 soldier. His horse stumbles in stamping on corpses 
 in a pool of blood. " One can't keep up on this shift- 
 ing soil," says he, and alights, imitated by his orderly 
 officer. Lieutenant de Froidefond, and his fanion- 
 bearer, Count Horace de Choiseul. M. de Froide- 
 fond has scarcely left his horse when he falls, 
 mortally wounded. 
 
 The most deadly firing comes from a large house of 
 several stories at the left corner of the street. It is 
 occupied by three hundred Tyrolese whose aim is won- 
 derfully correct. " Whatever it costs us, that house 
 must be taken," shouts General Espinasse. " Come 
 on, zouaves, break in the door ! " The zouaves make 
 a rush, presenting themselves as targets to the rifles 
 of the Tyrolese, who fire point-blank. The door the 
 zouaves are trying to break resists their efforts. 
 Thereupon the General strikes the blind of a window 
 on the ground floor with the pommel of his sword, 
 and cries : " Go in through there ! " At that very 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 145 
 
 instant there conies through the window against 
 which he is leaning a rifle shot which lays him dead 
 on the ground. 
 
 Roaring like lions, the zouaves rush at the window 
 and shiver it into pieces. At last they are masters of 
 the house. General de Castagny takes the place of 
 General Espinasse, and, under a rain of fire, leads the 
 zouaves to the public square. There the Castagny 
 brigade (2d zouaves, 1st and 2d foreign regiments) 
 is rejoined by the Gault brigade (11th battalion of 
 chasseurs, 71st and 72d of the line), which had made 
 its attack on the opposite side by the road from Buf- 
 falora to Milan. 
 
 While the two brigades of the Espinasse have been 
 penetrating into Magenta, the La Motterouge division 
 has carried the part of the town in front of it with no 
 less vigor. Arriving by a sunken road, enfiladed by 
 two pieces of Austrian artillery, the 65th of the line, 
 under Colonel Drouhot, debouches in front of the 
 railway station. The sharpest sort of firing from the 
 crenellated buildings occupied by thousands of Aus- 
 trian sharpshooters does not arrest its impetuous 
 march. Within a few minutes it has seized the sta- 
 tion and the two cannon intended for its defence. 
 Not contented with this first success. Colonel Drouhot 
 makes a rush for the city, followed by his flag, which 
 is floating in the front ranks. The firing is redoubled. 
 The brave colonel falls mortally wounded. The flag 
 is riddled with balls and grape-shot; the handle is 
 broken into four pieces. 
 
146 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Two French cannon arrive at this moment ; under 
 their protection, the 65th is at last able to make its 
 way into the streets opening before them. 
 
 The 70th of the line, sent to the right of Magenta, 
 after crossing the railroad finds itself confronted by 
 formidable obstacles. A number of Austrian battal- 
 ions are intrenched in the church, the neighboring 
 houses, and behind thick, crenellated walls. Two 
 battalions of the regiment Moi des Beiges occupy the 
 middle of the cemetery, whence they receive the 
 French attacks in flank. The soldiers are fighting 
 hand to hand in the courts and inside the houses ; 
 and the presbyterj^, the church, and the cemetery 
 are not taken until after a bitter contest, which is 
 prolonged until night. 
 
 The 45th of the line and the Algerian tirailleurs, 
 reaching the edge of the deep ditch beside the rail- 
 road, have rallied the 52d, crossed the obstacle, and, 
 mingling with the 65th and the 70th, assisted glori- 
 ously in the taking of the station, the church, and the 
 neighboring houses. The division of voltigeurs of 
 the guard has also lent powerful assistance. 
 
 It is eight o'clock in the evening. Some Austrian 
 detachments, intrenched and barricaded in the houses, 
 still keep up a vigorous defence. But they are soon 
 forced to lay down their arms. Thousands of prison- 
 ers and several cannon are the trophies of the 2d 
 corps. 
 
 The success is not less decisive at Ponte Vecchio, 
 at the other extremity of the battlefield. At the 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 147 
 
 head of the 86th of the line, General Vinoy has seized 
 this village, situated on the left bank of the Naviglio 
 Grande. 
 
 General Anger's artillery, established along the 
 railway tracks, decimates the Austrian columns, 
 which, unable to rally, beat a hasty retreat towards 
 Castellano and Corbetto. 
 
 The victory is complete. The enemy, whose losses 
 are estimated at twenty thousand men killed or 
 wounded, has left four cannon, two flags, and seven 
 thousand prisoners in the hands of the victors. The 
 great battles of the First Empire had not been more 
 glorious. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE MOEROW OF MAGENTA 
 
 n^HROUGHOUT the battle, Napoleon III. had 
 kept within reach of his guard, hurrying up the 
 reinforcements, and directing them in proportion to 
 their arrival at the points most severely menaced. 
 He did not hear until late in the evening of the tak- 
 ing of Magenta and the complete victory of his troops ; 
 he then established his headquarters at San Martino, 
 that little group of houses which scarcely deserves 
 the name of a village. He lodged in a wretched inn, 
 where, after a long talk with Marshal Canrobert, he 
 threw himself, all dressed, on a carter's bed for a few 
 minutes of repose. But he soon got up again. The 
 officers of his military household, who had lain down 
 in the open air, some on bundles of hay, some on 
 sacks of maize, could see him by the light of the soli- 
 tary candle burning in his chamber, sometimes walk- 
 ing up and down, sometimes leaning his elbows on 
 the wooden table to read the reports which he re- 
 ceived, and addressing to the Empress the bulletin of 
 victory. 
 
 The victor of Magenta — he deserves that title, 
 since he was the commander-in-chief — triumphed 
 
 148 
 
THE MORBOW OF MAGENTA 149 
 
 modestly, more like a philosopher than a warrior. 
 Until then, all he had known of war was its epic nar- 
 ratives. Now, he saw its horrors close at hand, and 
 his sensitive, compassionate soul suffered. On one 
 hand, he considered the cause for which he had taken 
 up arms as just and civilizing. But on the other 
 hand, he could not escape the knowledge that he was 
 largely responsible for the torrents of blood which had 
 been shed. This reflection disturbed in him the 
 friend of the people, the humanitarian sovereign, and 
 on the morrow of his triumph his countenance re- 
 tained the impress of his habitual melancholy, deep- 
 ened by the bitter remembrance of the perplexities 
 and wretchedness of the battle. He knew, moreover, 
 that the war was barely yet begun, and the existing 
 hecatombs made him forebode those which were to 
 come. He thought of all those whose death would be 
 made known at the same time as the victory ; of Gen- 
 eral Espinasse, his aide-de-camp, and friend, and con- 
 fidant; his Minister of the Interior and of Public 
 Security on the morrow of the Orsini attempt; of 
 General Cler, concerning whom Marshal Canrobert 
 said : " Cler has everything, — intelligence, audacity, 
 activity, a body of iron, an indefatigable soul, the 
 temperament, the knowledge, and the aptitudes of the 
 profession " ; of two accomplished superior officers. 
 Colonel de Senneville, Canrobert's chief of staff, and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel de La Bonniniere de Beaumont, 
 deputy chief of staff to MacMahon ; of Colonels 
 Drouhot of the 65th of the line, Charlier of the 90th, 
 
150 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 de Chabriere of the 2d foreign regiment, all of whom 
 had been gloriously slain at the head of their troops. 
 He thought of many promising officers mowed down 
 in the flower of youth. Possibly, since he loved the 
 poor and the humble, he thought still more about the 
 private soldiers, most of them absolutely without pros- 
 pect of advancement, who had sacrificed their lives 
 like heroes without other recompense than the satis- 
 faction of duty fulfilled. Occasionally a cruel doubt 
 presented itself, and the crowned thinker asked him- 
 self whether war, which Joseph de Maistre considered 
 a divine thing, is not in reality an infernal one. 
 
 At San Martino the ambulances were near the 
 Emperor's headquarters, and next door to the inn 
 where he lodged was a large house which served as a 
 depot for prisoners. At dawn on June 6, the troops 
 had ceased defiling upon the bridge. Nothing was 
 in sight but mule ambulances and carts transporting 
 the wounded. 
 
 During the morning Napoleon III. was called on by 
 Victor Emmanuel, who regretted extremely that his 
 troops had arrived too late. He afterwards examined 
 the banks of the Tessin in person so as to supervise 
 the establishment of the boat-bridges himself. The 
 commander-in-chief of the imperial guard had his 
 headquarters on the left bank of the river. As soon 
 as the Emperor caught sight of him he hastened to 
 meet him, and, shaking his hand with evident emo- 
 tion, he said: "General, yesterday you and the im- 
 perial guard deserved well of France." 
 
THE MORROW OF MAGENTA 151 
 
 June 6. — Napoleon III. transferred his headquarters 
 from San Martmo to Magenta. At seven o'clock in 
 the morning he mounted his horse and went over the 
 whole of the battlefield, followed by his entire staff. 
 The story is told by the Marquis de Massa, an eye- 
 witness: " It was easy to read on the countenance of 
 Napoleon III. the painful impression he received from 
 so dearly bought a victory. And so full of abnega- 
 tion were these chosen souls that I have heard the 
 wounded themselves, when he was expressing his in- 
 terest in them, seek to reassure him by saying : ' It 
 won't amount to anything, we shall be better ! We 
 shall come back all the same to go at it again.' 
 
 " There was a moment when the litter-bearers had 
 to stand aside to allow a vehicle to pass in which 
 were two dead bodies. Coming near it, the Emperor 
 at once took off his hat with signs of deep distress. 
 He had recognized the corpse of General Espinasse, 
 side by side with his orderly officer. Ensign Froide- 
 fond. As he contemplated the inanimate counte- 
 nance of the valiant general whom he had intended 
 to make a marshal of France, the loyal adherent who 
 had served him so well in Paris on the day of the 
 coup d^JEtat, and on African, Crimean, and Italian 
 battlefields, he murmured, ' poor Espinasse,' and his 
 eyes filled with tears." 
 
 Just as he reached the Naviglio Grande canal, on 
 either bank of which his troops had performed prodi- 
 gies of valor, the sovereign perceived General 
 MacMahon who was coming to meet him, and gave 
 
152 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 him the most flattering reception. He congratulated 
 him warmly on the taking of Magenta, which had de- 
 cided the final success of the day, and kept him at his 
 side all the rest of the way. When they had entered 
 in this manner the town which had been the scene of 
 such bloody combats two days before. Napoleon III. 
 said to MacMahon : " I make you Marshal of France 
 and Duke of Magenta." Very much affected, the 
 new marshal was overwhelmed by gratitude. 
 
 General Fleury and the other aides-de-camp of the 
 Emperor greatly regretted that he should have done 
 nothing for General Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, 
 the commander-in-chief of his guard. Fleury says : 
 " When we were installed at Magenta, His Majesty 
 was fatigued and suffering a little, and sent us word 
 that he would not come to table with us. We had 
 been sitting for some minutes in complete silence, 
 every one thinking to himself what no one dared to 
 say aloud. Convinced that I must take the initiative 
 on this occasion as on so many others, and tell my 
 sovereign the truth, I left the table without a word 
 and went upstairs to the Emperor's room : — 'I hope 
 Your Majesty will forgive me for disturbing your re- 
 pose, but I think I shall be doing my duty by laying 
 before you certain reflections suggested by the double 
 distinction just accorded to General MacMahon. 
 Sire, it was not he who gained the battle. You are 
 the victor of Magenta; you were in command. It 
 was the imperial guard, your own guard, which de- 
 cided the fate of the army by its indomitable bravery. 
 
THE MOEBOW OF MAGENTA 153 
 
 . . . Not to recompense the superior officer of the 
 guard would be to allow Europe to suppose that the 
 imperial guard did not even see the battle.' " 
 
 When General Fleury stopped talking, the Em- 
 peror replied: "You are right. I had not thought 
 of the question in that light. Go tell General 
 Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely that I appoint 
 him Marshal of France. And at the same time tell 
 General de Wimpffen that I make him general of 
 division." 
 
 A moment later, General Fleury said to an equerry 
 of the Emperor, son-in-law of the new marshal : 
 "Davillier, come with me to tell your father-in-law 
 the good news," And they both set off at full 
 gallop. 
 
 Napoleon III. had divested himself of his own vic- 
 tory to attribute the chief merit of it to MacMahon. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO MILAN 
 
 TTpROM Magenta, when the weather is fine, one 
 can see the bell-towers and steeples of the Milan 
 cathedral, the Duomo, that mass of marble white as 
 mountain snows. Throughout the battle of the 4th 
 of June, the Milanese population had listened with 
 anxiety to the noise of the cannonading. They 
 knew that the independence of Italy was then at 
 stake. Their emotion was full of anguish. Night 
 came and they were still uncertain as to the decree 
 of destiny, and the crowd thronging the streets and 
 squares awaited news with feverish impatience. At 
 a very late hour a horseman made his appearance 
 at the Vercellina gate and flung the mere words, 
 " The Austrians are beaten," into the different 
 groups. Perhaps the news was false. People hesi- 
 tated to believe it. 
 
 There was no room for doubt by daybreak. The 
 Austrians, encamped on the Castle Square, were 
 folding their tents and making ready to depart. 
 During the day they vanished. At once Italian and 
 French flags floated from the house windows, and 
 the whole population prepared to give their libera- 
 tors an enthusiastic welcome. 
 
 154 
 
TEE ENTRY INTO MILAN 155 
 
 In the evening of June 6, Marshal MacMahon 
 received the following order: "The 2d corps will 
 have the honor of entering Milan to-morrow at the 
 head of the French army. The Emperor himself 
 will lead this army corps. In execution of this 
 order, the troops of the 2d corps will quit their 
 barracks at San Pietro I'Olmo and march towards 
 Milan. They will set off early on June 7. Between 
 nine and ten o'clock in the morning they will unite 
 before Milan, their head of column established at 
 the foot of the arch of triumph erected at the 
 entrance of the capital of the kingdom of Italy in 
 honor of Napoleon I., and to the glory of his armies." 
 
 Listen to the chief of staff of the 2d corps. Gen- 
 eral Lebrun: "The monument is grandiose; the 
 sculptures decorating it are magnificent. After the 
 arch of triumph in the Place de I'Etoile at Paris, an 
 edifice resplendent with all the glories of the First 
 Empire, there is not a more imposing arch of triumph 
 in the world than that of Milan. 
 
 " On arriving at the foot of the monument, Mar- 
 shal MacMahon got off his horse and threw himself 
 down on the ground to rest and wait for the Em- 
 peror. It would not be easy to enumerate the 
 ovations given him by the inhabitants from San 
 Pietro rOlmo to Milan. When the Milanese saw 
 him lying down and looking at their glorious arch 
 of triumph, they began and kept up an incessant 
 round of applause." 
 
 Meanwhile, the marshal ordered his chief of staff, 
 
156 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 General Lebrun, to go into the city and settle upon 
 the sites where the troops should establish their 
 bivouacs in the evening. At the moment when the 
 general was passing through the largest of the 
 streets, an innumerable crowd which was waiting 
 for the Emperor took him for Napoleon III. and 
 threw down an avalanche of flowers upon him from 
 the balconies. "I saw women of the people," said 
 he, "and great ladies also, who were on the pave- 
 ments, spring towards me, and, at the risk of being 
 crushed under the feet of my horse, seize my hands 
 to press them ; some went so far, must I say it, as to 
 cover my boots with their kisses." 
 
 Towards eleven o'clock in the morning, the Em- 
 peror apprised Marshal MacMahon that as Victor 
 Emmanuel had not yet arrived, he would not make 
 his entry until the next day, with the King beside 
 him. 
 
 June 8. — The imperial guard, which camped at 
 Cava Piobetta, four kilometres from Milan, received 
 orders to march towards the Lombard capital and 
 wait for the Emperor before the outer gate, called 
 the Porta VercelUna. It was believed that the two 
 sovereigns would not arrive until eleven o'clock. 
 They came three hours sooner. 
 
 " The imperial guard, under command of Marshal 
 Kegnaud de Saint-Jean d'Ang^ly," says the Marquis 
 de Massa, " is massed upon the grand place of arms. 
 From every window lorgnettes are bent upon the 
 grenadiers whose high bearskin caps, long cloaks, 
 
THE ENTRY INTO MILAN 157 
 
 white belts crossed on the breast, recall their pred- 
 ecessors of the First Empire whose traditions they 
 have just revived. The new ones have held their 
 own at Magenta as the old ones did at Friedland. 
 In front of them the silhouette of their chief of divi- 
 sion, General Mellinet, who has had two horses killed 
 under him in the hottest of the fight, defines itself. 
 A hot sunbeam striking across his masculine profile 
 brings his cheekbone into high relief, and underneath 
 it a deep cavity marks the trace of the ball which 
 ploughed his cheek at the siege of Sebastopol. Gen- 
 eral Camou's light infantry division rests on his left. 
 Opposite this infantry deploys our brigade, guides, 
 and chasseurs." 
 
 The cortege approaches. At the head the detach- 
 ment of the hundred guards ; next Napoleon III. with 
 Victor Emmanuel on his left ; at some distance be- 
 hind them, their two staffs ; closing the march a 
 mixed escort composed of a squadron of guides 
 and a squadron of light horsemen from No vara; in 
 front of the latter the Duke of Chartres, General 
 La Marmora's orderly officer. 
 
 The cortege arrives opposite the triumphal arch of 
 Milan which is usually surrounded by enormous iron 
 chains connected by high stone pillars. Never had 
 any troop whatever passed underneath the arch, this 
 interdiction having been decided upon by the munici- 
 pality at the time of its erection. But this time the 
 authorities have made an exception to the rule, the 
 iron chains have been removed; the Emperor and 
 
158 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the King are going to pass under the arch of 
 triumph. 
 
 The two sovereigns cross the city amidst the uni- 
 versal enthusiasm. Napoleon III. goes to the Bona- 
 parte villa which is to serve as his residence, from 
 there he issues the following proclamation: — 
 
 " Italians ! the fortune of war leads me to-day into 
 the capital of Lombardy. I am going to tell you 
 why I am here. 
 
 " When Austria unjustly attacked Piedmont, I 
 resolved to support my ally, the King of Sardinia: 
 the honor and the interests of France made this 
 my duty. Your enemies, who are also mine, have 
 sought to diminish the existing sympathy in Europe 
 for your cause by seeking to make it believed that 
 I am going to war through motives of personal 
 ambition. 
 
 "If there are men who do not comprehend their 
 epoch, I am not one of them. In the enlightened 
 state of public opinion, one is greater to-day by the 
 moral influence he exerts than by barren conquests, 
 and I proudly seek this moral influence in endeav- 
 oring to free one of the most beautiful portions of 
 Europe. Your welcome has already proved that you 
 have not misapprehended me. 
 
 " I do not come here with a preconceived system 
 for dispossessing sovereigns, nor to impose my will 
 upon you ; my army will concern itself with two 
 things only: with combating your enemies and 
 
THE ENTRY INTO MILAN 159 
 
 maintaining internal order; it will put no obstacle 
 to the free manifestation of your legitimate desires. 
 
 "Providence sometimes favors peoples as well as 
 individuals by giving them an opportunity to grow 
 greater suddenly ; but on condition that they are able 
 to profit by it. Profit then by the chance presented 
 to you. Your desire for independence, disappointed 
 for so long, will be realized if you show yourselves 
 worthy of it. 
 
 " Unite, then, in a single aim : the enfranchisement 
 of your country. Organize yourselves in military 
 fashion. Make haste to enroll yourselves under the 
 standards of King Victor Emmanuel who has so nobly 
 pointed out to you the road to honor. Remember 
 that there can be no army without discipline, and, 
 animated by the sacred ardor of patriotism, be noth- 
 ing now but soldiers; to-morrow you will be free 
 citizens of a great country. 
 
 "Done at the imperial headquarters of Milan, 
 June 8, 1859. — Napoleon." 
 
 The Emperor was not without anxieties in the 
 midst of his triumph. He had just learned that at 
 Melegnano, fifteen kilometers from Milan, the Aus- 
 trians were fortifying themselves and possibly in- 
 tended to make an offensive return against the 
 Lombard capital. Consequently he had ordered the 
 1st and 2d corps to move as fast as possible upon 
 Melegnano. He had scarcely arrived at the Bona- 
 parte villa when he mounted a horse and went to 
 
160 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 assure himself that Marshal MacMahon and his 
 troops had begun to march. He reached the exte- 
 rior ramparts without being recognized, for the 
 passers-by could not suppose that this unescorted 
 horseman might be the Emperor. But, on his 
 return, the crowd had learned that it was he, and 
 gave him an indescribable ovation. 
 
 In the course of the same day. Napoleon III. 
 addressed this proclamation to his army: "Sol- 
 diers, a month ago, relying on the efforts of diplo- 
 macy, I was still hoping for peace, when the sudden 
 invasion of Piedmont by Austrian troops summoned 
 us to arms. We were not ready ; men, horses, mate- 
 rial, provisions, were lacking, and, to assist our allies, 
 we were forced to march in haste and by small instal- 
 ments beyond the Alps, to meet a redoubtable enemy 
 long in readiness. The danger was great, the energy 
 of the nation and your courage made up for every- 
 thing. France has found again her ancient virtues, 
 and, united in a single aim as in a single sentiment, 
 she has displayed the abundance of her resources and 
 the strength of her patriotism. Here it is, but ten 
 days since operations began, and Piedmontese terri- 
 tory is already freed from its invaders. The allied 
 army has given four successful battles and gained a 
 decisive victory which has opened to it the capital 
 of Lombardy. You have disabled more than thirty- 
 five thousand Austrians, taken seventeen cannon, 
 two flags, and eight thousand prisoners, but all is 
 not yet ended; we shall still have combats to main- 
 
THE ENTRY INTO MILAN 161 
 
 tain, obstacles to overcome. I rely on you, brave 
 soldiers of the army of Italy ! From the heights of 
 heaven your fathers look down on you with pride." 
 
 At that very moment when this proclamation ap- 
 peared, the troops of Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers, 
 united to those of Marshal MacMahon, were fighting 
 at Melegnano. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 MELEGNANO 
 
 ~\ /TARS HAL Baraguey d'Hilliers regretted deeply 
 that the 1st army corps, of which he was the 
 chief, had not had the honor of taking part in the 
 battle of Magenta. He made up for it, June 8, in 
 fighting that of Melegnano. 
 
 Melegnano (Marignan) is a little village of three 
 thousand souls, situated fifteen kilometers southeast 
 of Milan. It was there that in 1515, Francois Pre- 
 mier gained a memorable victory over the Swiss 
 which is known as the battle of giants. 
 
 When Napoleon III. learned that the Austrians 
 were retiring towards Lodi but still occupied Me- 
 legnano, he resolved to dislodge them, and gave the 
 job to the 1st and 2d corps. The operations were 
 to be directed by Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers, with 
 Marshal MacMahon under him. 
 
 The 1st corps left its bivouac at San Pietro I'Olmo 
 very early in the morning of June 8, to go to Me- 
 legnano, twenty-eight kilometers distant. The 1st 
 division was commanded by General Forey, the 2d 
 by General de Ladmirault, the 3d by General 
 
 162 
 
MELEGNANO 163 
 
 Bazaine. They began marching, the first at four 
 o'clock, the 2d at five, the 3d at six. 
 
 All three went first to Milan, which they crossed 
 in all haste, amidst an enthusiastic crowd who del- 
 uged them with flowers and wreaths. They left 
 the city by the Porta Romana and turned towards 
 Melegnano. Each went by a different road. It 
 was the 3d — the Bazaine division — which went 
 by the highroad, a causeway twenty meters in 
 width, bordered by ditches full of water, from eight 
 to ten meters wide, across which stone bridges with 
 parapets give at intervals access into the fields. 
 
 To right and left the ground is cut up by a large 
 number of ditches and irrigating canals. Meadows, 
 wheatfields, thick hedges, and a great many trees 
 covered its surface. 
 
 The Bazaine division, to which was reserved the 
 honor of being first to attack the positions of Me- 
 legnano, was far ahead of the other two divisions, 
 which were often halted by ditches, or retarded by 
 the windings of side roads. It reached San Giuliano 
 at five in the evening, and at a quarter of six was 
 in sight of Melegnano, about a kilometer away. 
 
 Prudence would have counselled a halt until the 
 Forey and Ladmirault divisions should come up, 
 and a combined movement with the troops of the 
 2d corps which, at no great distance, was making 
 ready to manoeuvre on the rear of the enemy. But 
 Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers was impatient to make 
 the powder talk. 
 
164 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 It is nearly six o'clock, and the Bazaine division 
 has been marching for twelve hours. The marshal 
 orders the attack to be begun. At once a company 
 of zouaves, acting as a vanguard, deploys on either 
 side of the road as tirailleurs. 
 
 The Austrians have only the Roden and the Boer 
 brigades to defend the city, but they occupy excel- 
 lent positions ; their artillery enfilades the road by 
 which the French are coming. Remnants of ancient 
 fortifications, hedges, gardens, and farms give them se- 
 cure shelter. The majority of the houses looking down 
 on the principal avenues are barricaded and supplied 
 with defenders. Braving the grape-shot, the 1st 
 zouaves, followed by the 33d and 34th of the line, 
 attack with extreme impetuosity. The Austrians 
 have furnished the houses at the entrance of the city, 
 the cutting of the road, and the cemetery with a swarm 
 of sharpshooters, but all in vain ; in vain they make 
 a valiant resistance in the streets, at the castle, be- 
 hind the hedges and the garden walls ; they cannot 
 withstand the dash of the intrepid General Bazaine 
 and his admirable division. 
 
 General Goze, commandant of the 1st brigade, and 
 Colonel Paulze d'lvoy, at the head of his regiment, 
 the 1st zouaves, precede and launch the assaulting 
 columns. All the officers, with lifted swords, march 
 in front of their soldiers. It is at the old castle that 
 the Austrians have concentrated their principal ef- 
 forts, for it is there that their movement of retreat 
 upon Lodi and Pavia might be intercepted by the 
 
MELEGNANO 165 
 
 French troops. All along the walls they have made 
 loopholes through which they rain a plunging fire. 
 
 Here come the 1st zouaves debouching on the open 
 place of the old castle. A rolling fire of musketry 
 from the windows does not daunt their ardor. While 
 some rush into the castle, chasing out the Austrians 
 and taking their places, others, led on by Colonel 
 Paulze d'lvoy, go through the gate leading to the 
 Carpiano suburb. At this moment the brave colonel, 
 who has not ceased to animate his zouaves by word, 
 gesture, and example, and whose horse has just been 
 killed under him, falls, mortally wounded by a bullet 
 in the head, close to a church which stands in a cor- 
 ner of the square. The zouaves avenge him by seiz- 
 ing the first houses of the suburb, and, being too few 
 in number to drive the enemy any further, lie in wait 
 there while expecting reinforcements. 
 
 Meanwhile, the 33d of the line is forcing the 
 enemy back. In one of the offensive returns of the 
 Austrians, its flag, in danger for an instant, but heroi- 
 cally defended, has its staff broken. 
 
 A violent storm which has long been threatening 
 breaks above the scene of combat and deluges it with 
 a torrent of rain. The roar of the thunder mingles 
 with the roar of battle. The wind howls furiously. 
 
 Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers is in the centre of the 
 action, on the church square. His flag-bearer, Quar- 
 termaster Franchetti, is wounded at his side. 
 
 The 2d division, which had rejoined the troops of 
 the 3d at the Lambro bridge, and had at first been 
 
166 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 arrested by the depth of the water and the steepness 
 of the banks, has contrived to continue its march, and 
 contributes greatly to the final success. 
 
 As to the 1st division, that of General Forey, it 
 had been unable to take part in the fight. Forming 
 a column of his first brigade, the General had pushed 
 on to Riozzo the T4th of the line, the 84th, and the 
 17th battalion of chasseurs ; but the ditches filled 
 with water, the cuttings of the roads and the storm 
 had delayed them, and they had been unable to go 
 further than the Landriano road. As they had been 
 marching since four in the morning, General Forey 
 called a halt. Shortly after he received orders from 
 Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers to enter Melegnano, 
 which his division reached at half-past ten in the 
 evening. 
 
 Now consider the part played by the 2d army 
 corps, that of Marshal MacMahon. After quitting 
 the highroad it moved upon the extreme right and 
 the rear of the enemy, as had been agreed upon by the 
 two marshals. The 2d division, commanded by 
 General Decaen, arrived at Mediglia towards four in 
 the afternoon, followed at a great distance by the 1st 
 division, that of General de La Motterouge, delayed 
 by having to ford the Lambro and by the bad roads. 
 
 The Decaen division had camped at Balbiano when 
 the cannon of the 1st corps made it resume and 
 hasten its march. Six battalions, taken by Marshal 
 MacMahon from the two brigades, were at once re- 
 united under arms, without knapsacks, and moved 
 
MELEGNANO 167 
 
 forward, followed by the artillery. This column, on 
 reaching the Mulazzano road, turned to the right, and 
 advanced in a line formed by the massed battalions, 
 across meadows difficult of access. The two batter- 
 ies of the division were then placed in position, and 
 in spite of the approaching nightfall, in spite of the 
 raging storm, they managed to send several balls after 
 the Austrian columns retreating along the Lodi road. 
 
 To sum up, the victors of Melegnano were Marshal 
 Baraguey d'Hilliers, General de Ladmirault and Gen- 
 eral Bazaine. Seldom has a battle been more bloody. 
 In his report to the Emperor the Marshal wrote : 
 " The losses of the enemy are considerable ; the 
 streets and the grounds contiguous to the city are 
 covered with their dead ; twelve hundred wounded 
 Austrians have been carried in our ambulances ; we 
 have made between eight hundred and nine hundred 
 prisoners and taken a cannon. Our losses amount to 
 nine hundred and forty-three men killed or wounded ; 
 but, as in all the previous engagements, the officers 
 have been stricken in large proportion ; General 
 Bazaine and General Goze have been bruised ; the 
 colonel of the 1st zouaves has been killed ; the colo- 
 nel and the lieutenant-colonel of the 33d have been 
 wounded ; in all there are thirteen officers killed and 
 fifty-six wounded." 
 
 Alas ! among those who had fallen never to rise 
 again, how many still carried in their caps or their 
 buttonholes the flowers which the Milanese women 
 had thrown to them that morning ! 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 BEFORE SOLFERINO 
 
 XDEAS of triumph and ideas of death met and 
 contended in the mind of Napoleon III. At nine 
 o'clock in the morning of the 9th of June he went to 
 see Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers at Melegnano, and 
 could not look without anguish at the relics of the 
 carnage of the previous day. Two hours later, he 
 was back at Milan to be present at the chanting of 
 the Te Deum in the cathedral. 
 
 It is eleven o'clock. All the church bells in the 
 city are jangling. The drums beat the general ; the 
 bugles sound. From Bonaparte villa, where the Em- 
 peror lodges, as far as the cathedral — the Duomo as 
 it is called — the imperial guard forms a double line 
 in following the Corso. Old tapestries, hangings of 
 silk and velvet, gold fringes blending with the long 
 folds of the flags, cover the walls and droop from the 
 windows. 
 
 The imperial and royal cortege approaches. At 
 the head are the hundred-guards. Napoleon III. and 
 Victor Emmanuel come into view at the extremity 
 of the Corso, followed by their brilliant staffs. A 
 rain of flowers falls upon the sovereigns. Milan has 
 
 168 
 
BEFORE SOLFEBINO 169 
 
 laid its gardens waste and robbed its parterres ; a per- 
 fumed carpet covers the pavements of the Lombard 
 city. In every window, every balcony, are green 
 branches, plaited wreaths, jflower petals massed in 
 baskets held by the young girls of Milan as if for 
 the Corpus Christi processions. At one moment the 
 Emperor's horse and that of the King, becoming the 
 target for all the flowery projectiles, begin to prance, 
 and the sovereigns signify to the fair Milanese that 
 a trifle more moderation in their transports of enthu- 
 siasm would be agreeable. 
 
 The cortege arrives in front of the white marble 
 cathedral, outlining itself majestically against the 
 blue Italian sky, with the inexhaustible wealth of 
 its sculptured ornamentation, the multitude of its 
 staircases and terraces, the audacious spring of its 
 central pyramid, around which is graduated a pro- 
 digious forest of turrets, spires, and innumerable 
 statues. 
 
 With his white mitre on, the coadjutor-archbishop, 
 M. Caccia, attended by canons, receives the sov- 
 ereigns at the threshold of the edifice. With excel- 
 lent taste, the walls of this magnificent church, next 
 to Saint Peter's at Rome the largest in the world, 
 have not been disfigured with draperies. Its mosaic 
 pavement should not be hidden by carpets, nor the 
 five naves, their pointed arches, their columns and 
 festoons of marble, by hangings. 
 
 Old inhabitants of Milan are thinking of the cere- 
 mony which took place in this very sanctuary fifty- 
 
170 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 four years ago. Napoleon was crowned here, May 
 26, 1805, with as much pomp as he had been at Notre 
 Dame of Paris six months before. After Cardinal 
 Caprara had blessed the iron crown with the sacra- 
 mental words formerly used in crowning Germanic 
 emperors as Italian kings, the great man, placing it 
 on his own head, as he had placed that of the 
 Emperor of the French, pronounced with extreme 
 energy these sacramental words : Dio me Vha data^ 
 quai a ehi la toccherd, God has given it to me, woe to 
 him who touches it. That is what these old Milan- 
 ese are thinking of as they watch the heir of the 
 victor of Austerlitz making his entry into the 
 Duomo. 
 
 All day and all the evening the city keeps holiday. 
 The Marquis de Massa, an eye-witness, thus describes 
 it: " The restaurants at dinner time would never have 
 been able to accommodate their customers if private 
 individuals, posted at their doorways, had not in- 
 vited, on the hint of the epaulette, as many guests as 
 their tables could contain. . . . Some persons — I 
 was one of them — had reserved tables in the open 
 air in the garden of the Alhergo Marino^ where we 
 met again, for the most part between habitues of the 
 Maison d'Or or the Caf6 Anglais, General de Fer- 
 ton with Artus Talon, his orderly officer ; General 
 Douay with Gallifet, lieutenant of spahis, arrived 
 from Africa the day before, spite of winds and tides ; 
 De Cools and Octave de Bastard, staff-captains ; Bor- 
 relli, ensign of chasseurs, etc. ' Hold on, what, is 
 
BEFORE SOLFERINO 171 
 
 that you ? ' — ' Does that astonish you ? ' — 'I heard 
 you were dead.' — ' Not yet, and you ? ' — ' Nor I 
 either, as you see.' — ' Here's to your health, 
 then ! ' — 'To yours ! ' And the corks of Asti 
 wine bottles flew into the air, mingling their dry 
 report with that of the fire-crackers in the street." 
 
 The war! What a medley of joys and sorrows, 
 of intoxicating thoughts and bitter ones ! While at 
 Milan officers and soldiers were in high glee, at 
 Melegnano they were making doleful reflections on 
 the possibly useless carnage of the previous day. 
 After a fight so bloody, preceded by so long a march, 
 they had not even been able to rest. " The evening 
 and night of June 8-9," writes General Lebrun, 
 " was a dreadful time for the 2d army corps. Rain 
 never stopped falling all the evening ; it did stop at 
 night ; but our wretched soldiers, wet to the bone, 
 bivouacking in fields covered with water, unable 
 either to lie down or to light fires, never rested for 
 a moment. I remember that on the narrow causeway 
 where Marshal MacMahon and I found ourselves, 
 the Marshal, like another Turenne, lay down on the 
 carriage of a cannon. The ground of the causeway 
 was covered with mud between three and four inches 
 thick. For my part, after wrapping myself in my 
 rubber cloak, I stretched myself on the mud, with 
 half the length of my legs hanging over the dike, 
 above the little canal which bordered it." 
 
 It was impossible not to think that Baraguey d'Hil- 
 liers had been in too great a hurry to attack. General 
 
172 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Fleury wrote from Milan, June 10 : " If the Marshal 
 had put off his attack until next day, he would have 
 acted with the combined column of Marshal Mac- 
 Mahon and General Niel, and would have obtained 
 as certain a success without wasting so many men. 
 It is evident that the Austrians, seeing their wings 
 threatened, would have quickly decided to retreat. 
 We were at Melegnano yesterday, and the Marshal's 
 army, though proud of its success, seemed to me, 
 nevertheless, somewhat disheartened. The Emperor 
 has strongly advised against any more of these use- 
 less feats of strength. The zouaves, for their share, 
 have thirty-eight officers disabled. Now I must 
 admit, from the strategic point of view, that the 
 object has been attained, although too violently. 
 The Austrians instantly evacuated Lodi." 
 
 Throughout the 9th of June, at the very moment 
 when religious chants were resounding at Milan 
 beneath the arches of the Duomo, where they were 
 intoning the Te Deum, the road from Melegnano 
 to the Lombard capital presented a sorry spectacle. 
 The more wealthy Milanese families had sent their 
 carriages to seek the wounded of the previous day 
 and bring them to their houses, transformed for the 
 time being into hospitals. These carriages came back 
 slowly ; on their silken cushions officers and soldiers 
 were lying whose blood-spotted uniforms were still 
 adorned with flowers. 
 
 In the evening. Napoleon III. and Victor Emman- 
 uel, acclaimed with frenzy by a crowd intoxicated 
 
BEFORE SOLFERIJSfO 173 
 
 with joy and enthusiasm, were present at a full-dress 
 representation at the Scala theatre. 
 
 The allied army remained the 9th and 10th of 
 June in the positions which they occupied the 8th : 
 the 1st, 2d and 3d corps at Melegnano and its 
 neighborhood; the imperial guard, the 3d army 
 corps, and the King's army at Milan. The troops 
 needed rest, and the Emperor time to prepare the 
 indispensable material means for overcoming the 
 obstacles which the army would encounter on its 
 route. They would have to cross successively all 
 the affluents of the left bank of the Po, descending 
 from the solid mass of the Alps : the Adda, the Serio, 
 the Oglio, the Mella, the Chiesa, before reaching the 
 banks of the Mincio, and it was certain that the 
 retreating enemy would blow up the bridges and 
 employ every effort to retard the march of the 
 allies. 
 
 Napoleon III. left Milan for Melegnano in the morn- 
 ing of June 10. He knew that the Austrians had evac- 
 uated Lodi and other important positions. The 9th, 
 the Duchess of Parma, jdelding to the force of events, 
 had been obliged to leave the duchy where she held 
 the regency in the name of her young son. The 
 10th, Plaisance was abandoned, and the Austrians, 
 blowing up the forts and block-houses, tore down with 
 their own hands the works they had accumulated 
 before this place, surrounded with a ring of ramparts, 
 and sjjiked such cannons as they could not load upon 
 barges or tow by steamers. On the 11th they burned 
 
174 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the Adda bridge and evacuated Pizzighettone. 
 The same day, the allied army started to pursue 
 them. 
 
 The imperial guard, resuming its rOle as a re- 
 serve, did not leave Milan until the next day, to 
 go to Gorgonzola, where the Emperor established 
 his headquarters. 
 
 The army corps marched at a distance of about 
 three and a half leagues from each other. The clog- 
 ging of the roads, the dust, the heat, the streams to 
 cross, rendered the march difficult and painful. It 
 was no mean enterprise to move forward, in the face 
 of the enemy, six army corps : — the 1st, 2d, 3d, 
 4th corps, the imperial guard, and the four divisions 
 of the Sardinian army, — concentrated in a restricted 
 place and ready to rejoin each other in a solid mass 
 at a given signal. 
 
 Between the 12th and the 14th of June, the allies 
 crossed the Adda, the Sardinians at Vaprio, the 
 French at Cassano, and there, as at the Sesia and 
 the Tessin, the pontoon men, under the skilful direc- 
 tion of General Lebceuf, gained new titles to the 
 gratitude of the army. 
 
 The 18th, the allied troops took their cantonments 
 around Brescia. The Emperor and the guard occu- 
 pied the city which, renowned for its patriotism and 
 courage, gave the liberating sovereign an enthusiastic 
 reception. All the streets were draped and a rain of 
 flowers descended. 
 
 The 19th and 20th of June were days of rest. The 
 
BEFOBE SOLFEBIJSfO 175 
 
 combatants of Magenta and Melegnano received the 
 rewards they had merited. 
 
 At noon on the 19th, the 2d zouaves were under 
 arms. Marshal MacMahon arrived, followed by his 
 staff, and the square was formed. " Soldiers of the 
 2d zouaves," said he, "the Emperor, desiring to 
 retain the customs of the First Empire, has decreed 
 that the eagles of a regiment which has captured an 
 enemy's flag shall be decorated with the Legion of 
 Honor. Zouaves ! you all deserve a recompense, for 
 all of you have displayed valor. Your fathers who 
 behold you are proud of you. The flag of your regi- 
 ment is the first of the army of Italy to be decorated, 
 I am glad that it should be in the 2d army corps, 
 which I command, that such an honor should be paid, 
 and I am proud that it should be you, soldiers of the 
 2d zouaves, whose reputation has not been belied 
 either in the Crimea, in Africa, or at Magenta, who 
 have deserved it." 
 
 Then advancing towards the flag, the Marshal 
 saluted it, and added : " Eagle of the 2d regiment 
 of zouaves, be proud of thy soldiers ; in the name of 
 the Emperor, and by the power devolved on me, I 
 give thee the cross of the Legion of Honor." Then 
 he fastened to the eagle the red ribbon from which 
 depended the cross, and shouts of: "Long live the 
 Emperor ! Long live the Marshal ! " resounded. 
 
 The army was rejoined the same day, at Brescia, 
 by a cavalry division of the guard, commanded by 
 General Morris, which, having come by the Corniche 
 
176 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 road, had been delayed later than the other troops. 
 It was welcome. 
 
 The army resumed its march on the 21st. On this 
 side of the Chiesa, two kilometers from Montechiaro, 
 stretches a vast, barren plain which seemed likely 
 to be a battlefield where the Austrian could easily 
 deploy their superb cavalry. This provision was not 
 realized. Continuing their retreat they recrossed the 
 Chiesa, which the allies were also able to cross with- 
 out resistance. 
 
 The decisive moment was approaching. They 
 were nearing the boundaries of Lombardy, to find 
 themselves facing the famous quadrilateral which, 
 formed by the four strongholds of Peschiera, Mantua, 
 Legnano, and Verona, is bordered on one side by an 
 important river, the Mincio, and on the other by the 
 States of the Germanic Confederation. For the Aus- 
 trians it was a formidable base of operations. 
 
 Arriving at Verona as early as the 30th of May, 
 and assisted by Baron Hess, his general chief-of-staff, 
 Francis Joseph had taken command of his reorganized 
 army. His intention in making his troops evacuate 
 Plaisance, Pizzighettone, Pavia, Cremona, Ancona, 
 Bologna, Ferrara, was to concentrate all his forces 
 on the Mincio. He had reunited them into two 
 armies, both under his own orders, but commanded, 
 the one by Count Wimpffen and the other by Count 
 Schlick. Count Giulay had been relieved of his com- 
 mand. The Emperor Francis Joseph established his 
 headquarters at Villafranca. The ensemble of his 
 
BEFORE SOLFEBINO 177 
 
 troops comprised an actual effective force of one 
 hundred and sixty thousand men, a total nearly- 
 equal to that of the Franco-Sardinian army. The 
 Austrian sovereign had thought at first of taking 
 the offensive beyond the Mincio and the Chiesa; 
 but he had given up the idea, being unwilling to 
 risk a battle with the Mincio behind him, even 
 with the great number of bridges at his disposal. 
 The recollection of 1848 decided him to follow the 
 example of Field-Marshal Radetzky, and he had just 
 ordered his troops to fall back behind the Mincio to 
 await the enemy from the centre of the quadrilateral 
 and there resume the offensive as the famous Aus- 
 trian soldier had done in other days. 
 
 Meanwhile the Franco-Sardinian army continued 
 its march, amazed at meeting no enemies on its route, 
 and wondering what the schemes of Francis Joseph 
 might be. This forward march occasioned great 
 fatigues and great difficulties. 
 
 Listen to General Fleury ; — 
 
 "The weather is very hot. The army begins to 
 dwindle greatly. The marches, short for a staff, are 
 very long for the army corps, which necessarily fol- 
 low nearly always the same route in moving to 
 right and left ; hence stoppages almost impossible to 
 avoid, needless fatigues, delays of two or three hours 
 for poor fellows loaded like donkeys, and who have 
 eaten scarcely anything. . . . The food question is 
 almost the very first, which is to say that the great 
 art of feeding an army enables one to bring more 
 
178 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 men to a given day than liis enemy, and consequently 
 to have a success. ... I think this war will end by 
 the loss of our morals. Every one profits by it : one 
 for his advancement, the other for his glory; but 
 one deplores the deaths, one regrets the soldiers sac- 
 rificed for a cause not easily comprehensible by the 
 majority of the army." 
 
 The letter written by the General to his wife on 
 the eve of the battle of Solferino is full of melan- 
 choly and sadness : " For the last two days we have 
 been at Montechiaro, very badly lodged. I have just 
 spent a frightful night. At one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing I was sleeping profoundly when Conneau, his 
 face disturbed, entered my chamber, followed by a 
 valet de chambre carrying a torch, and said to me in 
 a sepulchral tone : ' General de Cotte is dead ! ' I 
 had just left him before lying down. ... I could not 
 believe my ears. Finally the valet told me that he 
 had just taken him some despatches, and that after 
 reading two or three, De Cotte sank down saying, 
 'I see nothing more,' and that he fell back dead as 
 quickly as the extinction of a candle makes you pass 
 from light to darkness. When I apprised the Em- 
 peror of this news on his awakening, he seemed 
 thunderstruck. Truly it is a heartbreaking end for a 
 soldier to die like that, when the cannon might at 
 least have given him a glorious death ! " 
 
 During the day. Napoleon went to Lonato in a 
 carriage to see Victor Emmanuel. He visited Desen- 
 zano on Lake Garda. General Fleury says : " There 
 
BEFORE SOLFEBINO 179 
 
 is no finer sight tlian tliese mountains and this blue 
 and quiet water which seems saying to you : ' Why 
 all this destruction? Why so many dead? Come 
 rather to enjoy peacefully my lovely sights and my 
 coolness ! ' " 
 
 To this philosophic reflection the General adds : 
 "My idea is that the Emperor is already fatigued 
 by so many material difficulties, and is reconsidering 
 at a longer range the notion of commanding a great 
 army. I think the sight of the wounded and the 
 dead has been painful to him when reflecting that 
 so many heroes have allowed themselves to be killed 
 for a people which does not love us, and for a cause 
 whose future is so doubtful and impenetrable. I 
 think, in fine, that the war he had dreamed of in all 
 its glory has become so hazardous for him that he 
 knows very well that the telegraph which carried 
 you the news of the victory of Magenta narrowly 
 missed taking that of a disastrous defeat. The 
 Emperor has not reflected on all this without recog- 
 nizing that his stake is too great for the result he is 
 pursuing, and without becoming quite ready morally 
 to limit his winnings in the game he is playing on 
 the green cloth of Lombardy." 
 
 It was learned the same day, June 23, that the 
 Austrians had actually retreated beyond the Mincio, 
 abandoning the heights between Lonato and Volta. 
 Whereupon Napoleon III. resolved to take his army 
 there on the 24th. Still, no one believed that the 
 great battle would be fought on that day, and it was 
 
180 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 supposed tliat the Austrian Emperor would wait in 
 the centre of the quadrilateral for the Franco-Sar- 
 dinian army. It was not known that for the third or 
 fourth time Francis Joseph had changed his plan 
 and concluded to go to meet his enemies or else to 
 maintain a purely defensive attitude. Strategic mo- 
 tives and political considerations had brought about 
 the modification which suddenly took place in tlie 
 sovereign's resolutions. 
 
 Garibaldi and General Cialdini, with more than 
 twenty thousand men, were threatening to debouch 
 into the valley of the upper Adige, and by exciting 
 troubles in the Tyrol might make the Austrians 
 anxious about their right wing. 
 
 A flotilla of French gunboats intended to assist in 
 the siege of Peschiera was in course of construction 
 at Desenzano and might soon be launched on Lake 
 Garda. 
 
 The 5th French army corps, that of Prince Napo- 
 leon, reinforced by a Tuscan division, was advancing 
 upon the Austrian left wing. 
 
 Finally, the French fleet of the Adriatic was mak- 
 ing ready to land a corps of troops in the lagoons of 
 Venice. 
 
 The Emperor Francis Joseph feared that the quad- 
 rilateral, strong though it was, might find it difficult 
 to withstand a fourfold attack, from Garibaldi and 
 General Cialdini on the north, the Franco-Sardinian 
 grand army on the west, Prince Napoleon on the 
 south, and the French fleet on the east. 
 
BEFOBE SOLFERINO 181 
 
 On the other hand, he had received at his head- 
 quarters a Prussian note, dated June 14, which had 
 driven him to the conclusion that unless he gained 
 an immediate military success Prussia and the entire 
 Germanic Confederation would not decide in his 
 favor. These various reasons determined him to take 
 the offensive. He reflected, moreover, that in case of 
 defeat, he would always have time enough to recross 
 the Mincio and intrench himself behind the strong 
 barrier of the Adige, in the camp of Verona. He se- 
 lected troops on June 24 to occupy the positions of 
 Lonato and Castiglione, where he believed they would 
 find none but feeble French detachments. 
 
 The evening of June 23, the headquarters of the 
 first Austrian army were established at Lonato, the 
 second at Volta, and the imperial one at Valeggio. 
 
 Napoleon III. had given orders for his own troops 
 and those of the King to move between two and three 
 o'clock in the morning. Without knowing it, the 
 two armies were marching to meet each other. This 
 meeting brought about the battle of Solferino. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 
 
 ^T^HE allied army leaves its bivouacs between two 
 and three o'clock in the morning, and advances 
 in four columns to reach the positions it is to occupy 
 during the day. Its scouts will presently come into 
 collision with the enemy's outposts along the entire 
 front of the line of march. 
 
 The Emperor has spent the night at Montechiaro. 
 He had intended to leave there at seven in the morn- 
 ing. But he will go sooner. Towards half-past five, 
 just as the members of his military household have 
 assembled in the little church to pay the last honors 
 to his aide-de-camp, General de Cotte, two staff offi- 
 cers, one of them sent by Marshal Baraguey d'Hil- 
 liers and the otiier by Marshal MacMahon, come up 
 at full gallop. They announce to Napoleon III. that 
 the enemy is deploying strong columns on the heights 
 of Solferino and Cavriana, that the 1st corps (Bara- 
 guey d'Hilliers) and the 2d (MacMahon) are con- 
 fronted in the plain by considerable masses who 
 dispute the ground with them, that the 4th corps 
 (General Niel) and the 3d (Marshal Canrobert) are 
 still a long way off, but that their cannon are heard 
 in the direction of Medoli and of Castello Goffredo. 
 
 182 
 
TRE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 183 
 
 The Emperor at once sends orders to the infantry 
 of the guard to accelerate its movement on Castigli- 
 one, to the cavalry of the guard to go at a trot to the 
 field of battle and deploy in the plain between the 
 2d and the 4th corps. Then he enters a postchaise 
 with Generals de Martimprey, de Montebello, and 
 Fleury. His military household and his escort fol- 
 low him at a gallop. Arriving at half-past seven at 
 Castiglione, which is built on an eminence, he goes 
 up to the top of the church steeple whence he can 
 take in the horizon at a glance. " It is a general 
 battle," he exclaims. Then he goes, at the utmost 
 speed of his horse, to give his orders in person to 
 Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers and the Duke of 
 Magenta. 
 
 It is the 1st corps, commanded by Marshal Bara- 
 guey d'Hilliers, which, with its three divisions of 
 infantry (1st, General Forey ; 2d, General de Lad- 
 mirault; 3d, General Bazaine), is ordered to attack 
 the village of Solferino. 
 
 Solferino is a market-town of Lombardy, situated 
 near the right bank of the Mincio, hard by Peschiera 
 to the north and Mantua on the south, and four kilo- 
 meters to the southeast of Castiglione. From the 
 latter city a considerable chain of hills carries several 
 hamlets on its flanks, then undergoes a slight depres- 
 sion, and presently rises in two mamelons. One is 
 called the mamelon of Cypresses, and the other makes 
 room on its summit for a cemetery, a church, and an 
 old chateau. Between the two, on an eminence, rises 
 
184 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the celebrated tower called the tS'jjia d' Italia, the 
 Hope of Italy. 
 
 The Forey and Ladmirault divisions advance in 
 parallel lines on Solferino : the first on the right, at- 
 tacking Mount F^nile, the second on the left, 
 taking away from the enemy the first hills of his 
 position. 
 
 The occupation of Mount F^nile by the 84th of the 
 line permits a battery to establish itself there and pro- 
 tect the movement of General Dieu's brigade which 
 descends the rear slope of Mount F^nile and goes 
 towards Solferino, chasing from crest to crest the 
 troops of the enemy, whose numbers incessantl}'" in- 
 crease. This brigade takes position in face of supe- 
 rior forces, and directs the fire of its artillery upon the 
 mamelon of Cypresses and the height crowned by the 
 tSpia d' Italia. While the cannonading is in progress, 
 General Dieu receives a wound which will be mortal, 
 and resigns the command of his brigade to Colonel 
 de Cambriels, of the 84th. 
 
 On the left. General Ladmirault has succeeded in 
 placing his four pieces of cannon in battery, and 
 their firing facilitates the combined attack of Gen- 
 erals F^lix Douay and de Negrier. 
 
 General Ladmirault leads the assault himself. 
 Touched in the shoulder by a bullet, he withdraws 
 for a moment to have his wound attended to : then 
 he resumes command and sends forward his four 
 battalions of reserve. Struck by another shot, he is 
 obliged to yield his command to General de Ndgrier. 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOLFEBINO 185 
 
 The Emperor arrives at the summit of Mount 
 Fdnile. Thence embracing the whole extent of the 
 battlefield, he sees that on the right, in the plain ^ the 
 3d and 4th corps cannot overcome the obstacles to 
 their march, and learns that, on the left, a portion 
 of the Piedmontese army is retreating before an 
 Austrian army corps which occupies in force the 
 position of San Martino, not far from Lake Garda. 
 
 It is half-past ten. The result of the battle is 
 altogether uncertain. The 1st corps, under Marshal 
 Baraguey d'Hilliers, is fighting furiously in the plain. 
 His three divisions of infantry (1st, General de 
 Luzy; 2d, General Vinoy; 3d, General de Faill}^) 
 ai^e stubbornly contesting possession with the 
 enemy of a farm called Casa-Nuova, on the right- 
 hand side of the Gaito highroad, two kilometres 
 from Guidizzolo. A fierce struggle, which is going 
 to last all day, has begun around this farm, at the 
 hamlet of Baite and the village of Rebecco. 
 
 Between the 4th corps (General Niel) and the 2d 
 (Marshal MacMahon) there is a wide solution of 
 continuity. Fortunately the interval has been filled 
 by three divisions of cavalry : the Partouneaux di- 
 vision (3d corps), the Desvaux division (1st corps), 
 and the division of the imperial guai-d, commanded 
 by General Morris. But will not these three divi- 
 sions be powerless to arrest the masses of Austrian 
 troops which are incessantly renewed ? General Niel 
 ardently desires to be supported b}"- IMarshal Canro- 
 bert's corps, the 3d. But this corps is the farthest 
 
186 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 back of all, because it is the only one which was 
 obliged to cross the Chiesa in the morning. On 
 the other hand, Marshal Canrobert has been notified 
 by the Emperor that a corps of from twenty to 
 twenty-five thousand Austrians, issuing from Man- 
 tua, is moving toward Acqua-Negro. Therefore he 
 has been requested to keep watch in that direction 
 while supporting the right of the 4th corps in 
 another. 
 
 As to Marshal MacMahon, who has seized Casa- 
 Marino, he guards provisionally his position on the 
 Mantua road, between the 1st and 4tli corps. 
 
 The Emperor, on the summit of Mount Fenile, de- 
 cides to direct his greatest efforts towards the centre 
 of the positions whose key is the heights dominating 
 Solferino. 
 
 He orders the D 'Alton brigade (2d of the Forey 
 division of the 1st corps), which has not yet been 
 engaged, to go forward, and supports it by four 
 pieces of artillery. General Forey places himself 
 at the head of this brigade, which rushes upon the 
 right of the tower (the Hope of Italy). As it cannot 
 unaided overcome superior forces, the Emperor sends 
 the division of voltigeurs of the guard to its assist- 
 ance. 
 
 This division, commanded by General Camou, and 
 comprising, besides the four regiments of voltigeurs, 
 a battalion of foot chasseurs, is composed of the 
 Maneque and the Picard brigades. The first, sup- 
 porting the D'Alton brigade, goes to meet the Aus- 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 187 
 
 trian columns which are coming down from Casa del 
 Monte. The Picard brigade turns towards the heights 
 on the left. 
 
 The battalion of chasseurs of the guard skirts the 
 village of Solferino, and some of its companies get 
 to fighting in the streets and seize a flag and eight 
 pieces of cannon. 
 
 General Forej, supported by the voltigeurs of the 
 guard, resumes the offensive with vigor. At the 
 same time, two batteries of artillery of the guard, 
 under General Lebceuf, come up at a gallop; they 
 take a position which allows them to cover the vil- 
 lage of Solferino with a rain of projectiles. General 
 Forey drives the enemy from the hilltops and takes 
 possession of them, while the D'Alton brigade is seiz- 
 ing the tower heights and the tower itself, that famous 
 iSpia d' Italia which dominates all the Lombard plains, 
 and whence the eye embraces the horizon from the 
 banks of the Mincio to those of the Po. It is two 
 o'clock in the afternoon when the tricolor floats from 
 the summit of this tower. 
 
 The cemetery is carried by assault at the same 
 moment. Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers has ordered a 
 breach in the walls, and for that purpose has sent an 
 exposed battery of artillery to a most dangerous posi- 
 tion some three hundred yards from the wall. After 
 a well-aimed and continuous fire a sufficient gap is 
 made, and General Bazaine takes the cemetery with 
 a rush. The village and the chateau likewise suc- 
 cumb to the victors. 
 
188 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Now is the time when the 2d corps (MacMa- 
 hon) is about to take an important part in the con- 
 test. Solferino and the surrounding heights are in 
 the hands of the 1st corps. It is essential that the 
 2d corps shoukl seize the heights and the village of 
 Cavriana. If the attack succeeds, the Austrian army- 
 will have to beat a retreat in order to recross the 
 Mincio. The two divisions of infantry, those of Gen- 
 eral de La Motterouge and General Decaen, rush off 
 impetuously in the direction of Solferino and Cavri- 
 ana. Simultaneously the Marshal orders the chief 
 of the cavalry of the guard. General Morris, whose 
 twenty-four squadrons have been placed under the 
 Marshal's command by the Emperor, to occupy the 
 interval about to separate the Desvaux division from 
 the 2d corps, whose right flank it will shield by 
 forming in echelons. 
 
 The regiment of Algerian tirailleurs, which holds 
 the left of the La Motterouge division, takes the vil- 
 lage of San Casciano and scales the very steep cliffs 
 at whose summit lies Cavriana. 
 
 Let us listen to Marshal MacMahon's chief of staff, 
 General Lebrun : " We saw our Algerian tirailleurs 
 bound like panthers from summit to summit, halting 
 behind every projection of ground to take breath and 
 discharge a gun, then once more springing farther up. 
 The sight presented to our eyes by this manoeuvre, 
 not until then employed in our army, is one never to 
 be forgotten. We admired it for half an hour." 
 
 In its ascending movement the regiment of tira- 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOLFEBINO 189 
 
 illeurs is followed by the 70 th of the line. The colo- 
 nels of both regiments, Laure in command of the 
 first and Douay of the second, are killed. 
 
 Now the mounted artillery of the guard comes on 
 the scene, placing itself at the entrance of the valley 
 whose further end is covered by the village of Cav- 
 riana. Four pieces are simultaneously despatched to 
 the ridge of Mount Fontana. The teams find diffi- 
 culty in dragging the cannons, and the gunners sup- 
 port the wheels and push them forward. Moreover, 
 several pieces have to be carried up to a very lofty 
 plateau from which they would be able to give pow- 
 erful assistance to the other battery. But the slopes 
 are too steep for horses. Whereupon the grenadiers 
 of the guard come to the rescue, and, harnessing 
 themselves to four rifled cannon, succeed in hoisting 
 them to the crest of the hill. 
 
 General Morris is impatiently awaiting a chance to 
 set the cavalry of the guard at work. It comes at 
 about half-past three. A column of Austrian cavalry 
 makes its appearance, and he sends General Cassai- 
 gnoles and the regiment of mounted chasseurs to 
 charge them in flank. The Austrians are driven 
 back. 
 
 The Emperor has ordered the Man^que brigade, of 
 the voltigeurs of the guard, supported by General 
 Mellinet's grenadiers, to move from Solferino against 
 Cavriana and support the 2d corps. The enemy can 
 not long resist this double attack, sustained by the 
 fire of the artillery of the guard, and towards five 
 
190 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 o'clock in the evening, the Mandque brigade and the 
 Algerian tirailleurs enter the village of Cavriana at 
 the same time. 
 
 This success coincides with that of the 4th corps. 
 For more than twelve hours its troops have been 
 marching and fighting, without having eaten, on 
 ground completely without water, and in one of those 
 stifling heats which foretell a terrible storm. Worn 
 out by fatigue, they would end by giving in but for 
 the timely assistance of General Trochu, comman- 
 dant of the 2d division of the 3d corps, who, placing 
 himself at the head of the Bataille brigade, arrives 
 with fresh troops, and, as General Niel afterwards 
 writes, leads them to the enemy in squares, the right 
 wing in front, with as much order and coolness as if 
 on a drill ground. After depriving the Austrians of 
 a company of infantry and two pieces of cannon, he 
 arrives midway between Casa-Nuova and Guidizzolo. 
 
 All of a sudden the sky clouds over. A furious 
 wind raises whirlwinds of dust. A formidable storm 
 breaks. The roar of thunder replaces that of cannon. 
 A deluge of rain paralyses all movement and com- 
 pletely suspends fighting. The day has become 
 blacker than night. At ten paces one can distinguish 
 neither men, horses, nor vehicles. " The spectacle," 
 says General Lebrun, "was one of those which are 
 not witnessed twice in a lifetime, and it lasted for 
 more than half an hour. In presence of an atmos- 
 pheric phenomenon which had made night on the 
 banks of the Mincio, could the Emperor order his 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 191 
 
 army to go in pursuit of the Austrians ? I do not 
 think so." 
 
 Francis Joseph, whose headquarters had been at 
 Cavriana all day, has just ordered a general retreat 
 of all his troops behind the Mincio. For an instant. 
 Napoleon III. is inclined to pursue them, but Marshal 
 MacMahon calls his attention to the fact that the in- 
 fantry has not eaten since morning, that most of the 
 knapsacks had been put down on the ground at the 
 time of the different attacks, and that the foot-sol- 
 diers would be incapable of supporting the cavalry 
 should it set off in pursuit of the enemy. 
 
 When the storm ceased, the Austrian centre had 
 in great part abandoned the field, and was retiring in 
 deep columns towards the points where it had crossed 
 the Mincio the day before. A battery of the French 
 imperial guard, led by Lieutenant-Colonel de Berck- 
 heim, on the crest of the last hill taken, opened fire 
 on the flying columns with its long-range guns. In 
 his Souvenirs et Impressions, the Marquis de Massa 
 has written : " In the midst of a group of officers who 
 were seeking to open a passage for their generals, 
 Francis Joseph himself, who had been among the 
 last to leave the bravely contested battlefield, was be- 
 lieved to be recognized. At this moment. Napoleon 
 III., coming up at a gallop close to the battery to es- 
 timate its terrible effects, seeing the terrible personal 
 risk incurred by his unfortunate adversary, and cer- 
 tain that no offensive return was to be dreaded, 
 ordered the gunners to stop firing. This act of gener- 
 
192 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 osity cannot be called in question; I had it from 
 Prince Murat, in whose presence it occurred." 
 
 Since that time, France and Austria have never 
 fought against each other. They learned mutual 
 esteem and honor at Solferino and Magenta. Their 
 interests are not antagonistic. Let us hope that the 
 two powers will always comprehend it. 
 
 As to the Piedmontese and the Austrians, they 
 were fated to measure swords again. The storm had 
 put an end to the strife between the troops of the two 
 emperors. Those of Victor Emmanuel renewed the 
 combat. 
 
 One may say that two distinct battles were deliv- 
 ered simultaneously, the French one at Solferino, 
 and the Piedmontese at San Martino. The five 
 infantry divisions of the royal army, commanded by 
 Generals Durando, Fanti, Mollard, Cialdini, and Cuc- 
 chiari, were held in check by superior forces, and their 
 situation, not far from Lake Garda, had been critical. 
 The fighting lasted fifteen consecutive hours. In 
 spite of all their valor, the Piedmontese troops had 
 been unable to lend any assistance to the 1st corps 
 of the French army. Nor had they themselves re- 
 ceived any except that of a cannonade coming from 
 the French positions, which took momentary effect 
 on the rear of the Austrian columns as the}^ were 
 trying to outflank the right wing of the royal army. 
 
 When the storm ended, four Piedmontese batteries 
 opened fire again and prepared the attack of the in- 
 fantry, which assaulted the positions of San Martino 
 
THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO 193 
 
 and ended by seizing them. The enemy attempted 
 another offensive return; but a charge of the light- 
 horsemen of Montferrat repulsed them for the last 
 time, and at night the plateau of San Martino 
 remained definitively in the power of Victor Em- 
 manuel's army. General Benedek, who had occu- 
 pied it throughout the day, had, for that matter, just 
 received orders from the Emperor Francis Joseph to 
 participate in the general retreat. Hence the Aus- 
 trians claim that the Tiedmontese conquered only 
 what they had themselves abandoned. The hero- 
 ism of the royal troops is none the less incontest- 
 able for that. They deserved this eulogy of their 
 brave sovereign : " Soldiers, in previous battles I 
 have frequently had occasion to mention the names 
 of many among you in the order of the day. To-day, 
 I shall mention the entire army." 
 
 Napoleon III. had just gained one of the greatest 
 victories of modern times. He had directed all the 
 operations, and, paying bravely with his person, 
 had exposed himself, in the midst of the action, on 
 the different heights visible from Solferino. In the 
 gallery of Versailles, a large canvas by Yvon repre- 
 sents him on Mount F^nile, surrounded by his staff, at 
 the moment when he is sending the voltigeurs of the 
 imperial guard against the tower which dominates 
 the village from which the battle takes its name. 
 Victor all along the line, he gave orders for his 
 troops to bivouac on the conquered positions and 
 take at last a well-earned repose. Then, going to 
 
194 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Cavriana, he established his headquarters in the very 
 house where the Austrian. Emperor had had his 
 throughout the day. To the horrors and tumult 
 of war succeeded profound tranquillity and the 
 silence of death. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 AFTBB SOLFEKINO 
 
 rpHERE are military men who are as accustomed 
 -^ to the sight of human bloodshed as butchers to 
 that of animals, and who view the horrors of war dry- 
 eyed and without a sentiment of compassion for its vic- 
 tims. Napoleon III. bore not the slightest resemblance 
 to such men as these. A philosopher and humanitarian, 
 he did not behold a battle without profound sadness. 
 Baron de Bazancourt has terminated his fine account 
 of the battle of Solf erino with this sentence : " When 
 all had become quiet around him, into what a happy 
 slumber must the victor have fallen while thinking 
 that, the next day, France on its awakening would 
 salute with joyous acclamations this new and glorious 
 triumph ! " We do not believe that the slumber of 
 Napoleon was " happy." The victory had been pur- 
 chased by too costly sacrifices. The compassionate 
 sovereign thought he still heard the cries of : ' Long 
 live the Emperor ! " coming from the wounded and 
 the dying. 
 
 At daybreak on the 25th of June a lamentable 
 spectacle displayed itself before the eyes of the vic- 
 torious army. Two days before, from the summit 
 
 195 
 
196 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 of these now dismal and bloody hills, the Austrians 
 had beheld smiling fields, a plain filled with superb 
 harvests, fine trees, vineyards loaded with grapes. 
 Now, all was crushed, trampled, sacked. Nothing 
 was in sight but trees torn up by the roots, rows of 
 mulberries levelled to the ground, farms, outhouses, 
 enclosures riddled with balls ; the soil kneaded by 
 the feet of horses and the wheels of gun-carriages. 
 How many farmers and peasants regretted their 
 ruined harvests, their destroyed houses and cabins? 
 Heaps of dead bodies encumbered certain places on 
 the battlefield where the fighting had been especially 
 heavy : the plateau of San Martino, which the Pied- 
 montese and Austrians had furiously disputed; Re- 
 becco and Casa-Nuova, where the 1st French army 
 corps had fought with such violence; the mamelon 
 of the Cypresses, which, to quote M. de La Gorce, 
 seemed to come forward draped in mourning for all 
 the tombs which it would shelter. The cemetery 
 of Solferino was especially provocative of melancholy 
 reflections. Why do not men, in their fratricidal 
 struggles, respect at least the asylum of the eternal 
 slumber? Why do the cries of war disturb the 
 repose of graves? 
 
 " To lead our horses to water," says the Marquis 
 de Massa, " we had to cross, between Solferino and 
 Cavriana, one of those furrows of earth where the 
 attack and defence had been most deadly. There 
 lay, extended pell-mell, the enemies of yesterday, 
 united now in the pale fraternity of death : our foot- 
 
AFTER SOLFEBINO 197 
 
 soldiers and voltigeurs, their long capotes and white 
 gaiters emerging from the red trousers : the Tyrolese 
 and Croatians, with their sky-blue breeches outlining 
 the contours of their sinewy legs, their leather boots 
 laced just above the ankle, some on their backs, 
 others face to the ground, according to the stroke 
 which had mowed them down ; most of them bare- 
 headed ; the victorious imperial eagle and the double- 
 headed vanquished eagle seemed to be extending 
 their wings sadly on the dinted stars of their helmets 
 or shakos which had rolled to a little distance. Our 
 horses, led by their bridles, distended their nostrils 
 and breathed hard, and seemed unwilling to step 
 over all these corpses, as if conscious of committing 
 a sacrilege." 
 
 The churches, public buildings, houses, and silk- 
 worm nurseries had been converted into hospitals. 
 But everything was lacking ; medicines, stores, even 
 doctors. The Ited Cross was not then in existence. 
 Philanthropists, acting on their own initiative, came 
 to the battlefield. There they conceived the humani- 
 tarian project afterwards realized by the " Society for 
 the help of the wounded." 
 
 From an Austrian army comprising not less than 
 one hundred and fifty thousand combatants, and 
 occupying formidable positions, the French army had 
 taken three flags, thirty cannon, and made six thou- 
 sand prisoners. But at the cost of what a slaughter ! 
 Sixteen hundred killed, eighty-five hundred wounded, 
 fifteen hundred men missing, — such was the sched- 
 
198 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 ule of its losses. Generals Dieu, Auger, Ladmirault, 
 Forey, Douay, were among the wounded; tlie first 
 two afterwards died in consequence. Seven colonels 
 and nine lieutenant-colonels had been killed: Col- 
 onels Laure, of the Algerian tirailleurs ; Waubert de 
 Genlis, of the 8th of the line ; Lacroix, of the 30th ; 
 Capri, of the 53d ; Douay, of the 70th ; Broutta, of 
 the 43d ; Jourjon, of the engineers ; Lieutenant- 
 Colonels Campagnon, of the 2d of the line ; Bigot, 
 of the 85th ; Herment, of the Algerian tii'ailleurs ; 
 Ducoir, of the 3d grenadiers of the guard ; Neu- 
 cheze, of the 8th of the line; Vallet, of the 91st; 
 Hemard, of the 61st ; Laurans des Ondes, of the 5th 
 hussars ; d'Albrantes, chief of staff of the Failly 
 division. 
 
 The Piedmontese army had seven hundred dead, 
 thirty-five hundred wounded, twelve hundred miss- 
 ing. 
 
 On learning successively of the loss of so many 
 officers apparently destined to a brilliant future, and 
 who had shown such loyalty to him and to France, 
 Napoleon III. was sincerely afflicted. From Cavri- 
 ana he addressed to his army the following procla- 
 mation, which seems to breathe sadness rather than 
 pride : — 
 
 " Soldiers ! The enemy expected to surprise and 
 fling us back beyond the Chiesa ; it is they who have 
 recrossed the Mincio instead. You have worthily 
 sustained the honor of France, and the battle of 
 
AFTER SOLFBRINO 199 
 
 Solferino equals and even surpasses the memories 
 of Lonato and Castiglione. 
 
 "During twelve hours you have repelled the des- 
 perate efforts of one hundred and fifty thousand men. 
 Neither the numerous cannon of the enemy, nor the 
 formidable positions they occupied over an extent 
 of three leagues, nor the distressing heat, have dimin- 
 ished your ardor. The grateful fatherland thanks 
 you through my lips for such perseverance and cour- 
 age ; but it weeps with me over those who are dead 
 on the field of honor. We have taken three flags, 
 thirty cannon, and six thousand prisoners. The 
 Sardinian army has fought with like bravery against 
 superior forces ; it is well worthy to march beside 
 you. Soldiers, so much spilled blood will not be 
 unavailing for the glory of France and the welfare 
 
 peop es. ^^ Napoleon." 
 
 All who saw the Emperor the day after the battle 
 of Solferino, agree in saying that his usually imjpas- 
 sive face betrayed sadness and moral lassitude. He 
 may already have foreseen the catastrophes to be 
 originated by the war of Italy, and had a presenti- 
 ment that the Italians would not always behave as 
 brethren to the French. He had probably arrived at 
 the point of wondering whether this war, contrived 
 and prepared for by himself, was in reality as indis- 
 pensable as he had imagined. One of his most 
 devoted adherents, General Fleury, expressed this 
 anxiety and doubt at Cavriana, June 25 : " War is 
 
200 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 fine at a distance," lie wrote on that day. "It is 
 profitable to the commanders-in-chief, it glorifies the 
 country, when there is need of it, but it costs many 
 tears, it makes tears of blood to flow. No war but 
 that of national independence has a right to impose 
 such painful sacrifices. War for influence is not 
 enough to impassion for long even the ambitious men 
 of the army; they fear being unable in their turn 
 to enjoy the promotions made possible by the death 
 of their brethren in arms." And the General added 
 with easily comprehensible melancholy : " Battles 
 excite me, they leave me calm and free to act while 
 they are sporting with corpses; but afterwards, my 
 nerves relax. I reflect on the anguish they leave 
 behind when the fighting is over, and I tell myself 
 that these butcheries are not in keeping with our 
 times." 
 
 The fatigue corps grew weary of digging graves. 
 The 25th of June was spent by the allied army in 
 burying the dead and collecting the wounded. On 
 that day, the Emperor appointed General Niel a 
 marshal of France. The commander of the 4th 
 corps, every regiment of which had taken so active 
 a part in the fighting, well deserved this reward. 
 Magenta had made two marshals : MacMahon and 
 Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely ; Solferino made a 
 third. Hence a marshal of France found himself at 
 the head of each of the four army corps and of the 
 imperial guard. 
 
 During the same day, the Fiench army approached 
 
AFTER 80LFERIN0 201 
 
 the Mincio and established itself in the following 
 positions : the 1st corps in the environs of Pozzo- 
 longo; the 2d at Cavriana; the 3d at Solferino, j 
 
 leaving one division of infantry at Guidizzolo, with f 
 
 the Desvaux and Partouneaux divisions of cavalry ; 
 the 4th at Volta. The Emperor had remained 
 with the guard at Cavriana, and Victor Emmanuel 
 at San Martino. By evening of that day, almost the 
 whole of the Austrian army had recrossed the Mincio, 
 and Francis Joseph had taken up his imperial head- 
 quarters at Verona. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 THE EMPEESS BEGENT 
 
 "n^rOTHING occurred to disturb the Empress in 
 -^^ her functions as regent while Napoleon III. was 
 in Italy. The different parties ceased wrangling and 
 had no intention of playing the foreigner's game. 
 
 The Chamber separated at the end of May. On 
 the 26th, the sovereign received at the Tuileries the 
 members of the Senate, the Corps Legislatif, and the 
 Council of State. The president of the Senate said 
 to her : " The Senate thanks Your Majesty for the 
 affectionate audience which gives it an opportunity 
 to see this beloved Child, the hope of France. In 
 the absence of the Emperor, each of us experi- 
 ences a more active devotion towards the cherished 
 persons whom he has confided to the patriotism of 
 the French." The Empress replied : " Messieurs les 
 Senateurs, you have desired, before separating, to 
 give a new proof of loyalty to the Emperor by ask- 
 ing to see the Prince Imperial. I am not in the least 
 surprised by this evidence of the solicitude with which 
 I am surrounded ; but I am none the less profoundly 
 affected by it; this proceeding, like the counsels of 
 my beloved uncle, gives me precious encouragement 
 and strength." 
 
 202 
 
THE EMPRESS REGENT 203 
 
 Count de Morny, president of the Corps L^gislatif, 
 spoke next : " We are all going back to our depart- 
 ments," said he ; " there we shall cultivate the patriot- 
 ism demanded by existing circumstances ; but it will 
 not require much exertion to do that where the hearts 
 of the people always vibrate at the mention of glory 
 and honor. The absence of the Emperor may have 
 caused some anxiety to those who do not know France, 
 but this generous and sensitive nation understands all 
 the delicate sentiments, and when it sees the Emperor 
 departing in order to share the danger of his soldiers 
 and defend the honor of the flag, it displays still more 
 respect, if that were possible, for your authority, and 
 affection and devotion for your person. Rely, then, 
 Madame, on the concurrence of all, and on the senti- 
 ments to which you are entitled as regent and as 
 mother." 
 
 The Empress replied : " Gentlemen, I am touched 
 by the desire you have expressed to see the Prince 
 Imperial before returning to your departments. I 
 rely upon your enlightened patriotism to cultivate 
 the faith we all ought to have in the energy of the 
 army, and, when the day shall arrive, in the modera- 
 tion of the Emperor. For me, however heavy my 
 task may be, I shall find in my wholly French heart 
 the necessary courage to accomplish it. I depend, 
 therefore, gentlemen, on your loyal concurrence and 
 the support of the nation which, in the absence of 
 the chief it has chosen, will never be lacking to a 
 woman and a child." 
 
204 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Alas ! on September 4, 1870, the Empress will 
 perhaps remember the words she uttered May 26, 
 1859! 
 
 The war which had taken place on the other side 
 of the Alps wrought no change in the appearance 
 of Paris. As usual, the fashionable season did not 
 continue beyond Easter, but the theatres were filled, 
 and every day one saw, at the famous " tour of the 
 lake," a crowd of elegant cavaliers and brilliant 
 equipages. War is as splendid at a distance as it is 
 horrible close at hand. In 1859, it gave Parisians 
 more diversion than anxiety. It recalled celebrated 
 places and the names of victories. Its scene was 
 that poetic and illustrious Italy which has played so 
 great a part in the annals of French glory. People 
 bought maps on which they stuck pins surmounted 
 by tiny French, Piedmontese, and Austrian flags 
 which indicated the positions of the three armies. 
 There were t)ptimists then in all classes of society. 
 The thought of a disaster never occurred to anybody. 
 Even the enemies of Napoleon III. believed in his 
 luck, in his fortunate star. The French nation, 
 infatuated with itself since its successes in the 
 Crimea, considered itself invincible. 
 
 The Empress fulfilled her duties as regent very 
 conscientiously. Her ministers were in raptures over 
 her zeal, her intelligence, her aptitude to comprehend 
 difficult questions. She had installed herself in the 
 chSiteau of Saint-Cloud, and was living there in seclu- 
 sion, engrossed in studying the most arduous of 
 
THE EMPBESS REGENT 205 
 
 political subjects. The Countess Stephanie de La 
 Pagerie summarizes thus the life led by the sovereign 
 at this time : " She presides over three ministerial 
 councils every week, two of which are at the Tuile- 
 ries; she supports valiantly the emotions of the 
 situation. She even adapts herself so well to this 
 grave and serious work that she sometimes says that 
 when the regency is over she is afraid she shall be 
 very dull, so captivated is she with these interesting 
 and important occupations. In the evening she 
 assembles a few persons, the Count and Countess 
 Walewski, the Marquis de Cadore, and several ladies 
 of the palace. They chat while making lint and 
 drinking tea. Minds are in Italy, at the scene of 
 war, and there is a lack of news." 
 
 The people of Paris do not hear of the victory of 
 Magenta until the evening of June 5. The same 
 day, at a quarter past four in the afternoon, the 
 Emperor had sent the Empress the following tele- 
 gram : " This is the summary, so far as known, of the 
 battle of Magenta: seven thousand prisoners at 
 least; twenty thousand Austrians disabled; three 
 cannon and two flags taken. To-day the army is 
 resting and reorganizing. Our losses amount to 
 about three thousand men killed and one cannon 
 taken by the enemy." 
 
 Salvos of artillery from the Invalides announced 
 the victory to the Parisians at eight o'clock in the 
 evening. Between nine and ten, the Empress and 
 the Princess Clotilde passed through the boulevards 
 
206 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 and the rue de Rivoli in an open carriage. They 
 were everywhere greeted by shouts of : " Long live 
 the Emperor ! Long live the Empress ! Long live 
 the Princess Clotilde ! " Public buildings and many 
 private houses were illuminated. 
 
 A Te Deum was chanted at Notre Dame, June 7, 
 in presence of the Regent, King Jerome, the Prin- 
 cess Clotilde, and the Princess Mathilde. The streets 
 and squares through which the cortege of the 
 sovereign passed were draped with French and Sar- 
 dinian flags. The line was formed by the national 
 guard and the troops of the line. Received under 
 the dais by the clergy of Notre Dame, the Empress 
 was conducted processionally to the estrade pre- 
 pared for her in the choir. At her entry as at her 
 exit from the church she was greeted by the liveliest 
 applause. 
 
 Before leaving Milan, Napoleon III. raised one of 
 his orderlies. Commandant Schmitz, to the rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel, and sent him to the Empress with 
 the two Austrian flags taken at Magenta. This 
 oflicer reached Saint-Cloud June 13. The sovereign 
 gave him the accolade, and after receiving the glo- 
 rious gift with profound emotion, she asked the 
 messenger many questions about the great events 
 he had just witnessed. 
 
 June 24, Napoleon III. addressed a telegram to the 
 Empress worded as follows : " Cavriana, June 24, 
 9.15 P.M. Great battle and great victory. All the 
 Austrian army has given in. The line of battle was 
 
THE EMPRESS REGENT 207 
 
 five leagues in length. We have carried all the posi- 
 tions, taken many cannon, flags, and prisoners. The 
 battle lasted from four in the morning until eight in 
 the evening." 
 
 The Empress was in bed at the chateau of Saint- 
 Cloud when the despatch arrived during the night. 
 She rose at once, dressed as quickly as possible, 
 went down into the garden and announced the 
 victory herself to the sentries and soldiers of the 
 guard. 
 
 I remember the morning of June 25 at Paris. I 
 had just arrived at the boulevard des Capucines 
 when I saw the shops and houses being draped with 
 flags. That was how I learned the news of the vic- 
 tory. The superb weather was in harmony with the 
 patriotic joy with which all hearts were throbbing. 
 In the evening the streets and public places were 
 filled with countless crowds. 
 
 July 1, the Minister of Worship and Public In- 
 struction addressed the following circular to the 
 rectors of academies : " I think myself bound to 
 express the desire that all the bulletins of the army 
 of Italy published in the Moniteur shall be read be- 
 fore the pupils of lyceums and colleges, and posted 
 up in the interior of these establishments. Youth 
 responds quickly to noble sentiments; its heart is 
 touched by great things and devoted to the dynasties 
 which know how to comprehend them ; it will rejoice 
 in the new glories of the imperial standard ; it will 
 learn also, in listening to the daily history of this 
 
208 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 heroic campaign of Italy, how well labor and study- 
 form intelligent and strong generations." 
 
 July 2, at the Tuileries, Commandant d'Andlau, 
 one of the Emperor's orderlies, presented to the 
 Empress the Austrian flags taken at the battle of 
 Solferino. 
 
 Enthusiasm was general. The Crimean War, 
 fought on a distant scene, and for little known and 
 ill-defined diplomatic interests, had not so greatly 
 excited public imagination. There is no resemblance 
 between the monotony of a long siege and a series 
 of swift battles like those of the war of Italy. 
 
 The telegraph brought none but good news. All 
 letters from officers or soldiers breathed enthusiasm, 
 gaiety, confidence. All the bulletins were tales of 
 victories. Lugubrious, lamentable, horrible when 
 its sufferings are not compensated for by victories, 
 war assumes an aspect of continual gladness when 
 it is merely a succession of triumphs. Even mothers 
 hardly dare to weep. 
 
 July 3 had been fixed on for the chanting of the 
 Te Deum at Notre Dame in celebration of the vic- 
 tory of Solferino and in thanksgiving to the God 
 of armies. The Empress Regent, who had gone 
 without her son to the Te Deum chanted for Ma- 
 genta, concluded to take him to that of July 3. 
 When the child was told this good news he was 
 delighted, and asked many questions about the fine 
 ceremony in course of preparation. Favored by 
 fine weather, it was magnificent. The procession 
 
THE EMPRESS BEGENT 209 
 
 left the Tuileries at eleven o'clock in the morning, 
 the Empress having with her, in an open carriage, 
 the Prince Imperial, the Princess Clotilde, and the 
 Princess Mathilde. She was met at the thresh- 
 old of the cathedral by the Cardinal Archbishop 
 of Paris, grand almoner to the Emperor, and by the 
 metropolitan chapter, and, leading her son by the 
 hand, was conducted processionally under a canopy 
 to the estrade prepared for her in the middle of the 
 choir. The ancient basilica was magnificently dec- 
 orated. The escutcheons of France and Sardinia 
 were visible on pillars draped with red velvet and 
 gold fringe ; from the vaulted roof hung flags, ori- 
 flammes, and banners. I was present at this solemnity. 
 I seem still to hear the chants of the Church, the 
 cries of: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the 
 Empress ! Long live the Prince Imperial !" Standing 
 in the choir, a few steps behind the Empress, I was 
 looking at the little Prince, who, paying great atten- 
 tion to all the movements of his mother, sat, stood 
 up, and kneeled down whenever she did. Nothing 
 could be more gracious than this child of three years 
 in his white pique dress and his belt of blue watered 
 silk. " This was the first time," said the Moniteur^ 
 "that the Emperor's son united officially with the 
 nation. God has permitted him to do so under the 
 auspices of victory." On leaving the cathedral, 
 General de Lawoestine, commander-in-chief of the 
 national guard of the Seine, offered the Empress a 
 superb bouquet, and the cavalry of the same troops 
 
210 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 presented her with a wreath of golden laurels with 
 clasps of real pearls. The ovation on the return of 
 the procession was still more cordial than that which 
 greeted it as it went. The applauded sovereign 
 saluted the crowd with emotion and the little Prince 
 threw kisses to it. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 PRINCE NAPOLEON 
 
 /^N the day when the Te Deum for the victory of 
 ^■^^ Solferino was beiug chanted at Notre Dame, 
 the Emperor, who was continuing his forward march 
 and had just crossed the Mincio, was rejoined by 
 Prince Napoleon. The Prince brought with him the 
 5th corps, comprising the d'Autemarre and UMch 
 infantry divisions, the brigade of light cavalry 
 commanded by General de Lap^rouse, and the 
 Tuscan division under General Ulloa. The total 
 effective was about thirty thousand men and two 
 thousand horses. 
 
 Prince Napoleon, commander of the 5th corps, had 
 landed at Genoa, May 12, with the Emperor. One 
 of his divisions, the d'Autemarre, was detached from 
 the corps and placed under the orders of Marshal 
 Baraguey d'Hilliers, commander of the 1st corps, 
 and two of its regiments, the 93d of the line and 
 the 3d zouaves, took part respectively in the battle 
 of Montebello and that of Palestro. All that re- 
 mained with the Prince was the Ulrich division and 
 the Laperouse brigade of cavalry, with which the 
 Emperor directed him to embark for Leghorn and 
 occupy Tuscany. 
 
 211 
 
212 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 X/ [A revolution had broken out in Florence as far 
 back as April 27. The train for it having been 
 laid even more remotely by the Sardinian minister 
 in that city, M. de Buoncampagni, it was effected 
 without violence or bloodshed. During the night 
 the Tuscan troops had assumed the Italian cockade, 
 and at seven in the evening the Grand Duke Leopold 
 had quitted his capital in the midst of a crowd that 
 seemed more indifferent than hostile to him. Each 
 of the foreign ministries sent one of its secretaries to 
 escort him and his family as far as the frontier, and 
 the municipality offered him a guard of honor. Be- 
 fore leaving, the Grand Duchess said to Count de Ray- 
 neval, secretary of the French legation : " I hope that 
 the Emperor of the French will protect us ; I have 
 the letters he wrote me in 1848, and they testify 
 his friendly sentiments for our family." Not a 
 threat, not an insult was uttered against the Grand 
 Duke during his journey. At the frontier, when M. 
 de Rayneval came up to take leave of the Grand 
 Duchess, she repeated that she relied on the Em- 
 peror's protection, and the hereditary Prince, who 
 had been the guest of Their Imperial Majesties at 
 Compi^gne, in 1856, expressed his desire to be 
 remembered to them. 
 
 The very day of the Grand Duke's departure from 
 his States, M. Buoncampagni had assumed power, 
 with the title of commissioner of King Victor Em- 
 manuel, and the tri-colored Italian flag had been 
 run up. 
 
PRINCE NAPOLEON 213 
 
 Prince Napoleon landed at Leghorn, May 23. His 
 antagonism with the Marquis de Ferriere-le-Vayer, 
 minister of France in Tuscany, became evident as soon 
 as he reached the city. The French diplomat showed 
 himself as averse to the annexation of the grand duchy 
 to Sardinia as the Prince was in favor of it. The 
 former wrote to Count Walewski, May 24 : " Prince 
 Napoleon arrived at Leghorn yesterday with part of 
 his army corps, and has been received with the 
 utmost enthusiasm. I had been invited by His 
 Imperial Highness to call upon him, and M. Buon- 
 campagni having received a similar invitation, we 
 went together. The Prince told both of us that 
 the annexation of this country to Sardinia had been 
 decided on at headquarters, and that we must pre- 
 pare people's minds for it ; that it was necessary to 
 have done with a would-be ambition to reign at Flor- 
 ence, and that the best way to accomplish this was to 
 destroy the autonomy of Tuscany by handing it over 
 to Piedmont. I ventured to defend the cause of Tus- 
 can autonomy against Prince Napoleon. I said that 
 the opinion of all the aristocratic nobilities, scien- 
 tists, literary men, and politicians of the country, 
 was arrayed more than ever on its side, and would 
 be increasingly so if it were seriously threatened." 
 
 The Marquis de Ferri^re-le-Vayer added in the same 
 despatch: "If the annexation must be consummated 
 — and I ask myself by what right — I do not see what 
 claim a minister of the Emperor could have to remain 
 here ; and, if this minister must remain for the pur- 
 
214 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 pose of accustoming minds to this measure, it is evi- 
 dent that I would be quite incapable of executing, 
 with propriety or success, instructions contrary to 
 opinions which everybody here knows me to hold. 
 Hence I would beg Your Excellency, if this thing 
 must be, to authorize my return to France as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 Count Walewski had been the Emperor's minister at 
 Florence, and, like the Marquis de Ferri^re-le-Vayer, 
 he was a convinced partisan of Tuscan autonomy. 
 May 25, he sent the latter this telegram in cipher: 
 " I made haste to acquaint the Emperor that Prince 
 Napoleon declared that His Majesty had decided on 
 the annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont. The Em- 
 peror replied this morning that if his cousin had 
 employed such language, it was contrary to his 
 instructions. Tell Prince Napoleon so. It is all 
 the more essential that no misunderstanding should 
 exist on this head since the despatches I have sent 
 you within the last few days are contradictory of 
 what the Prince has said." 
 
 We reproduce some extracts from two despatches 
 addressed to Count Walewski by the Marquis de 
 Ferri^re le-Vayer : — 
 
 " Florence, June 9, 1859. — Prince Napoleon's pres- 
 ence has done much harm. It has been made use of 
 by the Sardinian party. . . . Baron Ricasoli and 
 the advocate Salvagnoli have each told me within a 
 few days that the temporal sovereignty of the Pope 
 must be radically abolished. It really is a little 
 
PRINCE NAPOLEON 215 
 
 too strong to see these persons, puffed up by their 
 chance functions, settling in this way one of the 
 greatest questions that can present itself before the 
 victorious sword and lofty intelligence of the Em- 
 peror. ... I repeat it. Count, if the question of 
 Tuscany is to be kept intact, it is not a prince with 
 an army corps, but five or six hundred Frenchmen 
 who should be sent here, expressly charged to main- 
 tain substantial order, and the royal commissioner 
 and his ministers should be enjoined to await the 
 definitive arrangements which will be adopted after 
 the war, without pretending to prejudge them." 
 
 The second despatch, dated June 14, was an actual 
 plea against Italian unity. Among other things, it 
 said: "The unity of Italy would entail the fall of 
 the temporal sovereignty of the Popes, linked so 
 closely with the traditions of our country since the 
 origin of its monarchy, that, without mentioning the 
 consequences to the Catholic world, this fall would 
 at once open an abyss in front of France ; and, more- 
 over, it would create a first-class power on the Medi- 
 terranean which, once constituted, would be more 
 inclined to become England's ally than ours should 
 war break out between us, were it only to resume 
 possession of Corsica, as is demanded by MM. 
 Guerrazzi and Salvagnoli in their novels and bro- 
 chures." 
 
 The despatch concluded thus : " It would be better 
 for us to give up the prospect of gaining Savoy, and 
 thus by our disinterestedness acquire the right to 
 
216 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 impose moderation on Sardinia, than to procure for 
 it an increase of territory which might introduce 
 such serious disturbances in our political and reli- 
 gious sphere. Henry IV. and Richelieu, whose au- 
 thority has so often been evoked within the last few 
 months, dreamed of dismembering the great powers 
 neighboring to France and not of reuniting their 
 scattered fragments in order to constitute another 
 State on our frontier." 
 
 Meanwhile, unitary ideas were making rapid prog- 
 ress, not merely in Tuscany, but in Parma, Modena, 
 and the Romagna. 
 
 The Duchess of Parma, sister of the Count de 
 Chambord, liad vainly tried to save her son's throne 
 by observing strict neutrality between Austria and 
 Sardinia. The Austrians having evacuated Plaisance, 
 June 10, she felt that she was ruined. June 16, M. 
 Pallieri was appointed governor of the duchy of 
 Parma by the Piedmontese government. The 27th, 
 the Duchess left for Switzerland after announcing in 
 a proclamation that, placed under the necessity of 
 taking part in a war said to be one of nationality 
 or else violating her pledges to Austria, she with- 
 drew to avoid the alternative of acting contrary to 
 the wishes of Italy, or of failing in her engagements. 
 
 Francis, Duke of Modena, had not been more for- 
 tunate. The provinces of Massa and Carrara had 
 declared against him as early as April 27. He with- 
 drew into his fortress of Brescello, and caused 
 Modena and Reggio to be occupied by the Austrians. 
 
PRINCE NAPOLEON 217 
 
 They having evacuated the two cities, June 12, he 
 took refuge in Austria, and on the 19th M. Farini 
 installed himself at Modena as Piedmontese commis- 
 sioner. 
 
 The Romagnas had a similar fate. The Austrians 
 left there June 11-12. Bologna at once elected a 
 junta one of whose members was Marquis Joachim 
 Popoli, grandson of King Murat, cousin of Napoleon 
 III., and husband of a princess of the blood-royal of 
 Prussia, the daughter of Prince Hohenzollern, then 
 president of the Ministerial Council of Berlin. The 
 first act of this junta was to proclaim the dictator- 
 ship of Victor Emmanuel, who made haste to send 
 M. d'Azeglio into the Romagna as commissioner ex- 
 traordinary. June 15, Cardinal Antonelli protested 
 against what he called " a felony which horrifies 
 eveiybody." 
 
 Prince Napoleon's policy triumphed, and the Em- 
 peror, though desiring the federation of Italy, took 
 no steps to oppose that unity for which the signal 
 was boldly given by the attitude of the Piedmontese 
 government in Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the 
 Romagna. 
 
 All central Italy having been evacuated by the 
 Austrians, Prince Napoleon was ordered to reas- 
 semble all the troops of the 5th corps and rejoin with 
 them the army commanded by the Emperor. He 
 arrived at Goito on the 30th. The junction being 
 made, the concentration of the 5th army corps with 
 the imperial guard was effected. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE DIPLOMATIC SITUATION" 
 
 TDRINCE NAPOLEON, who had been so urgent 
 for war, suddenly became the impassioned advo- 
 cate of peace. General Fleury wrote to his wife June 
 30 : " What a changeable mind ours is ! Prince 
 Napoleon is the exaggerated type of it. He says 
 quite frankly that the Emperor is as much bound to 
 return to Paris as the Austrian Emperor to Vienna, 
 and that the time to negotiate has come." 
 
 Another letter of July 1 : "I have talked much 
 and at length with Prince Napoleon. He seemed to 
 me not merely reasonable, anxious to see the Em- 
 peror profit by his victory in order to assure the basis 
 of peace, but singularly alarmed by the gravity and 
 extent which the war must inevitably assume if a 
 timely end is not put to it. . . . From all of which 
 it results that the Prince is not a bad adviser /or the 
 moment."^, 
 
 C It was no longer possible to delude one's self. All 
 Germany was about to declare against France, and 
 Russia would not take up arms against Germany. 
 The Prussian army was in movement to concentrate 
 itself upon the Rhine, lending a hand meanwhile to 
 
 218 
 
THE DIPLOMATIC SITUATION 219 
 
 several other corps of the federal army, and the corps 
 of observation, reunited at Nancy under Marshal 
 Pdlissier, was not large enough to withstand an 
 attack from Prussia and the other States of the Ger- 
 manic Confederation.J) 
 
 Napoleon III. has been often reproached for halt- 
 ing in the midst of the struggle, and it has been 
 asserted that if he had kept on, he might have 
 counted on the assured support of Russia. We are 
 about to reproduce a despatch which proves this to ^ 
 be a capital error. M.s early as June 25, the Duke of 
 Montebello, ambassador of France at Saint Peters- 
 burg, wrote to Count Walewski : " The news of the 
 mobilization of six corps of the Prussian army has pro- 
 duced the most unpleasant impression on the Russian 
 cabinet. Prince Gortchakoff has not concealed his 
 uneasiness from me. Prussia intends to send an 
 army to the Rhine and another to the Main. The 
 Prince concludes that in order to avert the terrible 
 extremity of a war with Germany, we should make 
 haste to come to negotiations. He is extremely 
 desirous that these may be based on just foundations, 
 such as may assure a lasting peace, and in conformity 
 with the legitimate wishes of Italy, the interest of 
 Europe, and the situation of the belligerent parties. 
 He is intimately persuaded that the war will become 
 general if it is prolonged ; he foresees that in our 
 ulterior operations it will be difficult for us not to 
 borrow German territory. In this situation full of 
 incalculable dangers, the cabinet of Saint Petersburg 
 
220 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 places its confidence in the moderation of whicli the 
 Emperor has given so many proofs, and which should 
 be easy after victory. Prince Gortchakoff has said 
 to me that if France agrees to negotiate, its views 
 will be upheld by Russia ; if it refuses, all that Rus- 
 sia can do is to reconcile itself sadly to resignation 
 and abstention.'') 
 
 The Emperor Alexander acted with frankness and 
 loyalty. He sent Count Schouvaloff to Napoleon III. 
 with a letter in which he described the situation 
 with the utmost precision. General Fleury wrote 
 from Valeggio, July 1 : " We have a newcomer to 
 the general staff, the young Count Schouvaloff, aide- 
 de-camp of the Russian Emperor, who is going to 
 follow the operations of the campaign. He is a very 
 nice and intelligent young colonel, and one can get 
 something out of him. He told me that in passing 
 through Berlin he had seen the Grand Duchess 
 H^l^ne, and learned from her that the Prince of 
 Prussia was positively jealous of the laurels and 
 influence of the Emperor Napoleon; that he spent 
 his time in studying his map, sticking pins in it, and 
 in getting ready to play the part of a great warrior 
 in his turn. . . . As to the effective and immediate 
 assistance against Austria which the public for an 
 instant believed would be given by Russia, all hope 
 of it must be abandoned. . . . Beware of a general 
 war; then beware the desertion of England, and beware 
 above all the revolution and the desertion of France ! " 
 
 ICount Walewski had been always opposed to the 
 
THE DIPLOMATIC SITUATION 221 
 
 war, and did all in his power to induce the Emperor 
 to cut it short by sending him the most alarming 
 reports. All the representatives of France at Berlin, 
 Frankfort, and in the secondary States of Germany 
 were unanimous in considering the situation as very 
 menacing. The passions of 1813 were reviving. 
 All the efforts made by Napoleon III. to reassure 
 the Germans had been useless. The Prince of 
 Prussia persisted in saying that the Emperor was 
 deceiving everybody, and that it was the duty of 
 Prussia, and of all Germans, to get ready to face 
 the danger. All the States of the Confederation de- 
 clared against France, and it would have been im- 
 possible to find one among them with the slightest 
 sympathy for the Italian causeA 
 
 (In the general crisis which seemed impending, 
 could the Italians count at least upon the English? 
 Not in the least. The Tory ministry led by Lord 
 Derby had been overthrown by a parliamentary vote 
 June 10, and replaced by a Whig ministry in which 
 Lord Palmerston was Prime Minister, and Lord John 
 Russell chief of the foreign office. On seeing these 
 two former champions of their cause arrive at power, 
 the Italians cherished great illusions and hoped that 
 English fleets might perhaps assist to deliver Venice. 
 At the moment when the vote of the Commons, 
 which overthrew the Tory ministry, was announced. 
 Marquis Emmanuel d'Azeglio, who was in the lobby, 
 was seen to toss his hat up and utter cries of joy. 
 "Never," said Lord Malmesbury, "could one have 
 
222 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 imagined an ambassador, even an Italian one, aban- 
 doning himself to such extravagant actions."} A 
 few days later, the Marquis, still full of confidence, 
 laid before Lord Palmerston the plan of a kingdom 
 of Italy which should include Lombardy, Venetia, 
 the Romagna, and the duchies. The Prime Minister 
 contented himself with replying : ^' The question is 
 to know whether France would like to establish a 
 second Prussia on her flank." 
 
 (Menaced by Germany, Napoleon III. and Victor 
 Emmanuel had not for a single moment the idea of 
 relying on the armed assistance of England. Could 
 they at least count upon her moral support? Not 
 the least in the world. The war once over, Italian 
 demonstrations in London were noisy enough. But 
 during and before it, not a single voice was raised 
 in England to favor the abolition of the treaties of 
 1815, the maintenance of which was demanded by 
 the Queen, Prince Albert, and the Whigs as well as 
 by the Tories. It never occurred to any one to dream 
 of seeing the English flag in the Adriatic as an ally 
 in the deliverance of Venice^,--' 
 
 (^Napoleon III., too much inclined to believe in the 
 friendly intentions of England, fancied that she 
 would assist him, if not to continue the war, at least 
 in making peace. He hoped that his old friend. 
 Lord Palmerston, would lend his good offices to ex- 
 tricate him from a situation which daily grew more 
 critical. He had his ambassador. Count de Persigny, 
 try the ground. The latter hinted, as a personal 
 
THE DIPLOMATIC SITUATION 223 
 
 suggestion, at an arrangement which should assign 
 Lombardy to Piedmont, and create for one of the 
 archdukes a separate kingdom comprising Venetia 
 and the duchy of Modena. "Those," replied Lord 
 Palmerston, " are propositions which would displease 
 both sides. The Austrians would not cede Venetia 
 which they still occupy. As to the Italians, they 
 are hoping for the liberty of their whole country, 
 and they will not believe they have got it so long 
 as an archduke reigns over Venice and Modena." J^ll 
 hope of English mediation was quickly dispelled.-^ 
 
 (Lord Palmerston, once a great admirer of Napo- 
 leon Ill.^had arrived at sharing the suspicions of 
 Germany in his regard, and at speaking disdain- 
 fully of his policy. "His head," said he, "is like 
 a warren, ideas swarm in it like rabbits." (He re- 
 sponded in no kindly tone to the applications of 
 Count Persigny. "If the Emperor thinks the war 
 has lasted long enough," said he, " or finds the task too 
 difficult, let him make explicit personal offers to the 
 Emperor of Austria, and not ask us to take his sug- 
 gestions under our responsibility." This advice was 
 to be followed more expeditiously than the English 
 statesman could have believed. Seeing that he had 
 nothing to hope from London, Napoleon III. re- 
 solved to address himself directly to the Emperor 
 of Austria, and to make peace suddenly at the very 
 moment when everybody looked forward to a con- 
 tinuation of the war. He liked unexpected things. 
 Dramatic strokes pleased him. ; 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE LAST DAYS OF THE WAR 
 
 ( "VTAPOLEON III. put in practice the old adage: 
 -'^^ If you want peace, prepare for war. (At the 
 very time when he desired a peaceful solution, he 
 took care to conceal his innermost thoughts, and to 
 show increasing activity in his bellicose prepara- 
 tions. Far from diminishing his effective forces, he 
 enlarged them. His army on the Mincio received 
 daily reinforcements. Besides the corps of Prince 
 Napoleon, which had lately joined it, a division from 
 France was expected. July 1, the Minister of War 
 had sent an order in this sense to Marshal de Cas- 
 tellane, who designated the division of General 
 d'Hugues to leave the army of Lyons and rejoin 
 the army of Italy at Brescia, its mission being to 
 cover the outlets of the Alps, while acting as reserves 
 for Garibaldi and General Cialdini. 
 (^ The allied army was convinced that it was about 
 to attack in front the formidable quadrilateral which, 
 formed by the four cities of Peschiera, Mantua, 
 Verona, and Legnano, constituted one of the strong- 
 est strategic situations in the world. They had al- 
 ready begun the siege of Peschiera, situated on the 
 
 224 
 
THE LAST BATS OF THE WAR 225 
 
 Mincio, at the point where that stream issues from 
 Lake Garda, twenty-four kilometers from Verona. 
 On the left bank the investment was complete, and 
 on the right bank the work of countervallation had 
 been started. 
 
 ( The Emperor spent his days in visiting the most 
 advanced positions occupied by his troops, and in 
 superintending the engineering and artillery works 
 on the Mincio. He was seen everywhere, making 
 personal investigation of the least details. y Through- 
 out the campaign he displayed perfect evenness of 
 temper, the utmost kindliness towards the chiefs of 
 the army, and an incessant solicitude for the condi- 
 tion of officers and soldiers. Enduring fatigue very 
 well, he set a good example to all. His gentleness 
 and courtesy inspired affection. Still, the sanitary 
 conditions continued to disturb him. At the begin- 
 ning of July there were twenty-five thousand sick 
 men in the hospitals or infirmaries. A rather large 
 number of Austrian prisoners had been transferred 
 to Genoa. Napoleon HI. had given orders that they 
 should be well treated and advances of money made 
 to officers who needed it. The pain caused him by 
 the calamities of war and his desire to lessen them 
 was shown on every occasion. A messenger from 
 the Emperor of Austria having come to reclaim 
 the body of Prince Windischgratz, gloriously slain 
 at Solferino, he received him with extreme kindness, 
 and asked him to thank the Emperor Francis Joseph 
 for his good treatment of the French prisoners. 
 
 Q 
 
226 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 However, no one as yet believed that the humane 
 sentiments of Napoleon III. would make him lay 
 down his arms before he had executed his pro- 
 gramme : Italy free from the Alps to the Adriatic. 
 {The moment seemed approaching when, according to 
 all previsions, Austria would be attacked at once by 
 land and sea, and the navy men believed that they, 
 too, would have a great part to play. In the Adri- 
 atic, a blockading fleet, composed of six ships of the 
 line, two screw-frigates, two corvettes, and several 
 transports, had been placed under the orders of Vice- 
 Admiral Romain-Desfoss^s, and, since June 1, Rear- 
 Admiral Jurien de La Gravi^re had been blockading 
 Venice with four vessels. } Moreover, the Emperor 
 had decided that the blockading fleet should be 
 assisted by a besieging one composed of three float- 
 ing batteries and twenty-one gunboats, under com- 
 mand of Rear-Admiral Bouet-Willaumez. 
 
 As a base of operations for the fleet. Napoleon III. 
 had designated the island of Lossini, whose port, be- 
 striding the two shores of the Adriatic, is an excellent 
 shelter for vessels. Situated some twenty leagues 
 from Venice, at the extremity of the archipelago of 
 Quarnero, the island of Lossini is very nearly the 
 central point^between Venice, Trieste, Pola, Fiume, 
 and Zora, which are the principal maritime establish- 
 ments on the Adriatic. July 3, the French squadron, 
 commanded by Vice-Admiral Romain-Desfosses, occu- 
 pied the island of Lossini. The Austrians had not 
 offered the slightest resistance. ' 
 
THE LAST BAYS OF THE WAR 227 
 
 Full of ardor and self-reliance, the fleet believed 
 itself about to force the canals of Venice, enter the 
 lagoons, and seize the forts dominating the city. Of 
 the three principal entries which give access to the 
 city of the doges from the sea, the Lido, Malamacco, 
 and Chioggia, the latter had already been fixed upon 
 as the point of attack. General de Wimpffen, made 
 general of division after the battle of Magenta, had 
 been selected as commander of a corps of all arms in- 
 tended to effect a landing on the shores of the Adri- 
 atic. Arriving at Rimini by way of Leghorn and 
 Florence, he had at once placed himself in relations 
 with the fleet, which merely awaited a signal to open 
 the attack. The Venetian partisans of Victor Em- 
 manuel were trembling with joy and expectation. 
 
 I All seemed in readiness for a general and decisive 
 aciion. j The park of artillery, intended to operate 
 against the quadrilateral, was completed. Since July 
 3, the first pieces had been at Pozzolongo. At the 
 same time, the railway brought to Desenzano the 
 unshipped gunboats which were to assist in the siege 
 of Peschiera. 
 
 To sum up, the Emperor had arranged the follow- 
 ing combinations for attacking Venice : 1. On the 
 left wing, to menace the Austrian right and disturb 
 the line of the upper Adige by the operations of 
 Garibaldi and General Cialdini in the mountains; 
 2, on the right wing, to take Venice by the fleet 
 and throw into it a strong detachment which, under 
 
 cover of the fort of Malghera and the French vessels. 
 
228 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 might undertake incursions on the Austrian line of 
 retreat ; 3, at the centre, with Peschiera as a base of 
 operations and the intervention of three hundred 
 siege guns, to begin the siege of Verona. 
 (^On July 6, all the commanders-in-chief of army 
 corps, as well as those of the artillery and engineers, 
 had received a precise and detailed order of move- 
 ment from the Emperor. Everything was minutely 
 provided for. Never had the sovereign fulfilled more 
 zealously and conscientiously his r61e as commander- 
 in-chief. J 
 
 Dated from Valeggio, the order of movement 
 began as follows : " The siege of Peschiera is an 
 operation to which I attach great importance ; but 
 it is clear that we cannot perform it with safety 
 until after we have repelled an attack of the Aus- 
 trians. According to the information I have received, 
 it seems very probable that we shall be attacked to- 
 morrow, in front and in flank, by the army from 
 Verona and by another from the upper Adige. The 
 Austrians occupied Pastrengo this morning. It is 
 expedient, therefore, that to-morrow morning at 
 daybreak the troops should take their position." 
 Nest the Emperor indicated the place assigned to 
 each army corps. The order of movement termi- 
 nated as follows : "No baggage to be taken. The 
 canteens to be filled with brandy and water; a 
 light battalion to be left in charge of the camps. 
 The men to take their knapsacks, containing noth- 
 ing but biscuits and cartridges. All to leave their 
 
THE LAST BAYS OF THE WAR 229 
 
 coats in camp and wear only their jackets. As soon 
 as the enemy is in sight, artillery firing to begin. 
 When the ground will admit of it, the infantry lines 
 to be drawn up alternately in deployed battalions 
 and double columned battalions. Useless skirmishes 
 to be avoided, and, while the deployed battalions 
 are making a file fire, the others will sound the 
 charge and attack the enemy with the bayonet." 
 (a great battle seemed imminent and certain.^ 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE AEMISTICB 
 
 "^TAPOLEON III. had made a long reconnois- 
 sance on the heights of Somma-Compagna, 
 July 6. Listen to General Fleuiy who accompanied 
 him : " The heat was horrible ; the Emperor seemed 
 anxious and preoccupied. We met several bands of 
 soldiers on fatigue duty marching painfully. The 
 atmosphere was heavy, and everything seemed omi- 
 nous of great difficulties for the long sieges await- 
 ing us. . . . Hardly had we re-entered Valeggio 
 and alighted from our horses when the major-gen- 
 eral, Marshal Vaillant, summoned me. ' There is a 
 delicate mission to perform,' he said to me, ' and a 
 man of initiative is needed to perform it. The Em- 
 peror sends you to Verona ; be ready to start in ten 
 minutes, order the carriage, and go to the Emperor 
 who is waiting for you.' " 
 
 The General at once ordered a postchaise, a 
 mounted postilion to conduct it, and a trumpeter 
 of guides who would sound the call to a parley at 
 the outposts. Then, going upstairs to the Emperor, 
 whom he found with Victor Emmanuel, he told them 
 he was ready to set off. Napoleon III. said, " Here 
 
 230 
 
THE ahmistice 231 
 
 is a letter you are to carry to the Emperor of Austria. 
 ... I am appealing to his sentiments of humanity 
 and proposing a cessation of hostilities in order to 
 leave time for diplomacy to negotiate conditions of 
 peace." He added: "I needed an ambassador who 
 would be amiable and intelligent. I have chosen 
 you." 
 
 General Fleury had all the needful qualities for 
 accomplishing the mission entrusted to him. Cour- 
 teous, attractive, full of tact, better adapted to the 
 diplomatic than the military career, he was a cour- 
 tier in the best sense of the word. He pleased every 
 sovereign with whom he came into relations. Per- 
 sonally he might possibly have had something to 
 gain by the continuation of the war. But, like all 
 who were acquainted with the diplomatic situation, 
 he understood the danger, and knew very well that 
 if Napoleon III. should engage in a struggle with 
 Austria backed by all Germany, in case of defeat he 
 would be likely to lose his crown. Hence the Gen- 
 eral ardently desired his mission to be successful. We 
 learn its details from the letters he sent to his wife. 
 
 He left Valeggio, July 6, at seven o'clock in the 
 evening, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, M. de 
 Verdiere, in an imperial post carriage. On the seat 
 behind were a courier and a trumpeter of guides car- 
 rying a flag of truce. As soon as he had left the 
 French outguards behind him, he was escorted by 
 Austrian foot-soldiers, and then by uhlans. In a few 
 minutes the carriage rolled across the drawbridge 
 
232 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 of Verona and entered the city, whose gaslighted 
 streets contained promenaders and officers, all much 
 surprised by the sight of a carriage bearing the arms 
 of the Emperor of the French. On arriving at the 
 palace occupied by Francis Joseph, the General was 
 courteously received by Field-Marshal Hesse and 
 Count Griinne, first aide-de-camp and grand equerry 
 of the sovereign. The Emperor had already gone 
 to bed, but he sent word that he would get up and 
 receive him in an instant. In fact, at the end of a 
 quarter of an hour Francis Joseph appeared. 
 
 The letter of Napoleon III., written in lofty and 
 chivalrous terms, was calculated to please the young 
 monarch. After reading it, he said : " My dear Gen- 
 eral, this is a very serious matter that you have 
 brought me. I cannot give you a reply at once. I 
 must reflect ; be good enough to wait until eight o'clock 
 to-morrow morning, I must collect my thoughts." 
 First replying that he was at His Majesty's orders, 
 the General went on to urge the considerations mili- 
 tating in favor of the armistice, concluding as follows: 
 " Whatever may be the decision of Your Majesty, 
 permit me to say that it is urgent that the answer 
 should be prompt, since, as you perhaps are not 
 aware, the French fleet is at present occupying the 
 island of Lossini. At the first signal the attacks on 
 the littoral of Venetia will commence. An expedi- 
 tionary corps of four thousand men, under General 
 Wimpffen, has rejoined Vice-Adniiral Romain- 
 Desfosses." 
 
THE ARMISTICE 233 
 
 " In fact," replied the Emperor, " I have just 
 learned of the occupation of Lossini by French 
 troops. But I have received nothing official from 
 the courts, and I need to reflect. To-morrow morn- 
 ing. General, I will give you my answer." 
 
 In reality, Francis Joseph incurred fewer risks 
 from a continuation of the war than Napoleon III., 
 for even if he were completely vanquished, the sov- 
 ereign of an old monarchy like Austria was not in 
 danger of losing his throne, while the Emperor of the 
 French, the chief of a young dynasty, needed to be 
 always successful in order to maintain his position. 
 If Francis Joseph inclined to peace, that was doubt- 
 less on account of his repugnance to the policy of 
 the cabinet of Berlin. He felt on one hand that the 
 assistance of Prussia would be indispensable if he 
 were to succeed, and on the other he disliked to owe 
 anything to this rival power whose greed he dreaded. 
 All that might augment the influence and favor 
 the ambition of the HohenzoUerns awakened the 
 instinctive suspicion of the head of the house of 
 Hapsburg. 
 
 Let us add that, like Napoleon III., the Austrian 
 monarch had been deeply affected by the lamentable 
 aspect of battlefields, and that his essentially hu- 
 mane and generous character made him ardently 
 desire the cessation of such calamities. 
 
 It is curious to observe that the war which had 
 just caused such torrents of blood to flow had created 
 no personal animosity between the two sovereigns, 
 
234 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 and even in the thickest of the struggle, neither had 
 said a bitter word against the other ! 
 
 General Fleury anxiously awaited the reply of the 
 Emperor Francis. Treated with much attention by 
 Marshal Hesse and the officers of the military house- 
 hold, he passed the night in the chamber of Count 
 Griinne, courteously ceded to him by the latter. 
 At five o'clock in the morning, Prince Richard 
 Metternich, son of the illustrious chancellor, came 
 to him there. The Prince was then thirty years old. 
 In great favor with Francis Joseph, he acted as 
 intermediary between the sovereign and the Minis- 
 ter of Foreign Affairs. He had formed part of the 
 Austrian embassy to Paris, and, during that time, 
 had maintained very cordial relations with General 
 Fleury. " If peace is the result of the armistice," 
 said the General to him, " as I hope it may be, the 
 only thing I desire is to see you ambassador in 
 France." This wish was to be realized. 
 
 Towards eight o'clock in the morning, Francis 
 Joseph sent for the envoy of Napoleon III., and read 
 him his very noble and dignified reply. He accepted 
 the armistice and begged the Emperor of the French 
 to name the place where conditions of peace might be 
 discussed. Then, after sealing the letter, he expressed 
 his wish that the French fleet might be notified at 
 once of the cessation of hostilities just agreed upon. 
 Having already received from Napoleon III. the nec- 
 essary authorization, General Fleury complied with 
 the Emperor's desire, and wrote on the sovereign's 
 
THE ARMISTICE 235 
 
 own table to Vice-Admiral Romain-Desfoss^s that he 
 was obliged to countermand his orders. This letter, 
 forwarded immediately to the governor-general of 
 Venetia, at Venice, was sent the same day to Rear- 
 Admiral Jurien de La Gravie^re, then cruising on 
 the Venetian coast, and transmitted to Vice-Admiral 
 Romain-Desfosses, who was much amazed the next 
 morning by receiving it at the very moment when 
 he was expecting to quit the isle of Lossini and 
 attack Venice with the whole fleet. 
 
 General Fleury is again the narrator: "Another 
 word about the Emperor of Austria, whose attitude 
 and bearing completely won me. Knowing how 
 devoted I am to the Emperor, he entered into the 
 most intimate details, asking about his health and 
 habits, all with an air of deference which greatly 
 pleased me. We had afterwards a rather long talk 
 about the battle, and I took my leave. Some min- 
 utes later, one of the aides-de-camp came and told 
 me that, knowing that my aide-de-camp was with 
 me, His Majesty desired to see him, and Verdiere 
 had the honor of being presented." Much flattered 
 by this attention, and retaining a most respectful 
 and gratefal souvenir of Francis Joseph, General 
 Fleury set out for Valeggio, no longer as a pro- 
 tected envoy to an enemy, but as a messenger of 
 his sovereign, his carriage with its windows open 
 and blinds raised, and the uhlans acting as an es- 
 cort of honor. At the village of Santa-Lucia he 
 drank with an Austrian general to the approaching 
 
236 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 peace and the glory of both nations. At eleven 
 o'clock in the morning he passed the French out- 
 posts. 
 
 All the troops had been under arms since day- 
 break. At four o'clock in the morning Napoleon III. 
 had passed through the different lines with his staff 
 on his way to the left of the 2d corps, commanded 
 by Marshal Canrobert and occupying the space be- 
 tween Valeggio and the slopes of Venturelli. Then, 
 surveying in person the execution of the orders he 
 had given the day before, he had followed at the head 
 of the line of battle all the crests occupied by the dif- 
 ferent army corps. 
 
 Neither on June 4, the day of the battle of Magenta, 
 nor on the 24th, that of Solferino, had the troops on 
 rising in the morning suspected that a general battle 
 would be fought before night. On July 8, on the 
 contrary, every member of the army believed that a 
 great battle would take place. No one suspected the 
 pacific mission of General Fleury, and at half-past 
 eleven, the moment when he returned to Valeggio, 
 the troops could not understand why they had not 
 yet encountered the enemy. 
 
 General Fleury thus describes his arrival at the 
 Emperor's headquarters at Valeggio : " I was ex- 
 pected with great impatience. ... So when I said 
 the words, Good news, and when I made the mo- 
 tion of taking from my pocket the letter which I 
 carried, before speaking, I saw what pleasure the 
 certainty of a response already gave the Emperor. 
 
THE ARMISTICE 237 
 
 It was all very well for him to resume his usual 
 tranquillity after this first emotion which he had 
 been unable to control, but I had surprised on his 
 features, in a flash as it were, the impression of a 
 great relief and a real satisfaction. ... I handed 
 him the letter of the Emperor of Austria, which he 
 read with eagerness, and gave him all the details of 
 my mission. Kind and affectionate, as he always is, he 
 rewarded me with the most flattering compliments." 
 
 Towards one o'clock, to its great astonishment, 
 the army received orders to leave its fighting posi- 
 tions and go back to its cantonments. The taking 
 of arms that morning had been its last warlike ser- 
 vice in this campaign. 
 
 The village of Villafranca, midway between Va- 
 leggio and Verona, was named as the meeting place 
 for the delegates commissioned to settle the condi- 
 tions of the armistice. For Austria these were 
 Field-Marshal Baron Hesse, chief of staff of the Aus- 
 trian army, and General Count de Mensdorf-Pouilly ; 
 for France, Marshal Vaillant, major-general of the 
 French army, and General de Martimprey, assis- 
 tant major-general ; for Sardinia, Lieutenant-General 
 Count dolla llocca, first aide-de-camp of Victor Em- 
 manuel and major-general of the Sardinian army. 
 
 The delegates met at Villafranca, July 8, and 
 settled tlie conditions of the armistice. Article 1 of 
 the convention stipulated the suspension of arms. 
 Article 2 provided that this suspension should last 
 until August 15, without notice, and that in conse- 
 
238 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 quence the hostilities, should occasion arise, would 
 recommence without previous warning at noon on 
 AuQ-ust 16. The works of attack and defence of 
 Peschiera would remain during the suspension of 
 
 « 
 
 arms in their present condition. The arrangement 
 indicated lines of demarkation to be strictly ob- 
 served by the armies. Hostilities would cease at 
 once by sea and land, and merchant vessels, with- 
 out distinction of flags, might circulate freely in 
 the Adriatic. 
 
 The convention, signed July 8 by the delegates 
 of the three powers, was ratified the same day by the 
 three sovereigns. 
 
 The next day, Napoleon HI, announced the armis- 
 tice to the troops by the following order of the day, 
 dated from his imperial headquarters of Valeggio : 
 
 "Soldiers, — A suspension of arms was con- 
 cluded, July 8, between the belligerent parties until 
 the fifteenth of next August. This truce will per- 
 mit you to rest from your glorious labors and, if 
 needful, to imbibe new strength to renew the work 
 you have so brilliantly inaugurated by your cour- 
 age and devotion. I return to Paris, leaving the 
 provisional command of my army to Marshal Vail- 
 lant, major-general ; but, when the hour of combat 
 sounds, you will again see me among you to share 
 your dangers." 
 
 At Paris, people read in the Moniteur : " There 
 must be no misunderstanding of the meaning of the 
 
THE ARMISTICE 239 
 
 suspension of arms agreed upon by the Emperor 
 of the French and the Emperor of Austria. It is 
 simply a truce between the belligerent armies, a truce 
 which in clearing the ground for negotiations does 
 not as yet permit the end of the war to be antici- 
 pated." 
 
 j^or the French the armistice was a surprise, and ^ 
 for the Italians, a disappointment. Venice, which 
 had believed the hour of her deliverance was about 
 to strike, was inconsolable, and Count Cavour 
 trembled with rage. Victor Emmanuel, more poli- 
 tic, concealed his discontent^ Napoleon III., to con- 
 sole him, told him at Valeggio that it was only a 
 question of a truce, and that Austria would doubtless 
 refuse the propositions that would be made to her. 
 The King assembled his generals at his headquarters 
 in Monzambano, and repeated the words of Napoleon 
 III. However, Victor Emmanuel was under no 
 illusion ; he was convinced that a peaceful solution 
 would result from the interview which his powerful 
 ally was about to have with the Emperor Francis 
 Joseph. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 THE INTERVIEW OP VILLAFRANCA 
 
 TDRINCE ALEXANDER of Hesse having come 
 to the grand headquarters of the French army 
 to confer with Napoleon III., it was learned that the 
 two monarchs would meet during the morning of 
 July 11. 
 
 On the 10th, General Fleury wrote to his wife: 
 "I think the young Emperor of Austria has con- 
 sented to the interview only because he accepts the 
 bases of the negotiations. That means peace, and 
 the return of the army from here before very long. 
 This is enormous news ; it is the dramatic stroke of 
 moderation. . . . The Emperor seems enraptured, 
 and so does everybody else. We shall not disturb 
 ourselves any more for politics. The main thing 
 is accomplished, and we have no further concern 
 with it. I will describe to-morrow's interview for 
 you as best I can. We are all going, the entire mili- 
 tary household, with two squadrons, one of hundred- 
 guards and one of guides. You may fancy whether 
 we are getting ready to look fine." The General, 
 who had been colonel of the regiment of guides, 
 added : " My poor guides who have not had a chance 
 
 240 
 
TRE INTERVIEW OF VILLAFBANGA 241 
 
 to make a charge ! I am doubly sorry for it, first 
 because I cannot have Mirandole made a general, 
 and then on account of the regret I feel in not seeing 
 my children able to brag a little." 
 
 During the night of July 10-11, Francis Joseph 
 sent one of his aides-de-camp, young Prince Hohen- 
 lohe, to Valeggio to ask Napoleon III. to settle the 
 question of the uniform in which Their Majesties 
 and the two staffs should present themselves at the 
 interview, and also the number and composition of 
 the escorts. It was agreed that the sovereigns and 
 their military households should be in field uniform 
 and the escorts in full dress. The Emperors met 
 at Villafranca at ten o'clock in the morning of 
 July 11. 
 
 July 11, 7.15 A. M. — Napoleon III. leaves Valeg- 
 gio on horseback, with Marshal Vaillant on his left. 
 Like all his staff, he wears the kepi. His military 
 household is behind him. Thirty paces in the rear 
 follow the hundred-guards. 
 
 9 A. M. — Napoleon III. reaches Villafranca. 
 Francis Joseph, a trifle late, not having arrived as 
 yet, the Emperor of the French goes on towards 
 Verona, intending, as an act of courtesy, to leave 
 the place of rendezvous behind him and go to meet 
 the Emperor of Austria. After covering in this way 
 about the space of a kilometer, he perceives Francis 
 Joseph, riding, like himself, at full gallop. The 
 sovereigns stop, salute in military fashion, and then 
 shake hands. With his usual tact. Napoleon III. 
 
242 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 rides at the left of the Emperor of Austria, and they 
 move towards Villafranca, accompanied by the mili- 
 tary households and escorts. Arriving in the princi- 
 pal street, they alight and go up to the first story of 
 a house belonging to M. Gaudini-Morelli. A small 
 salon has been made ready for them. The escorts get 
 into line of battle in the street to left and right of 
 the doorway. In front of this door all the aides-de- 
 camp smoke and chat. 
 
 The two monarchs are in presence of each other. 
 Never, perhaps, has there been so important a meet- 
 ing of sovereigns since that of Tilsit between the 
 Emperors Napoleon I. and Alexander. On what 
 Francis Joseph and Napoleon III. are going to 
 say, on the mutual impression which they produce, 
 depends peace or renewed slaughters, possibly a 
 general conflagration extending over the greater 
 part of Europe. The emperors open the conver- 
 sation with perfect courtesy and calmness, like two 
 accomplished gentlemen. One of them will be 
 twenty-nine on the 18th of the following August; 
 the other had been fifty-one the 20th of April. They 
 had come to power in the same month of the same 
 year, one having ascended the throne December 2, 
 1848, the other elected president of the Republic on 
 the 10th. Both have had an experience of men and 
 things which is already long, and at certain moments 
 painful ; both have made disagreeable reflections on 
 the caprices of fortune and the responsibilities of 
 supreme rank. Napoleon III. does not in the least 
 
THE INTERVIEW OF VILLAFBANCA 243 
 
 assume tlie tone and manners of a victor. His lan- 
 guage gives no suggestion of an ultimatum or a 
 menace. He is touched by the youth, the misfor- 
 tunes, and the dignity of his interlocutor, who must, 
 at this moment, find the weight of a sceptre very 
 heavy. On his side Francis Joseph is affected by the 
 softness of Napoleon's voice, and by the affability 
 and kindness depicted on his countenance. The 
 Emperor of the French does not dictate conditions ; 
 contenting himself with expressing wishes, he pro- 
 poses the cession of Lombardy to Sardinia, the 
 creation of a kingdom of Venetia under an Austrian 
 prince, the establishment of an Italian Confederation 
 under the presidency of the Pope, the concession of 
 reforms in the Pontifical States, and, lastly, a Con- 
 gress to settle the details of questions. Whereupon 
 the Austrian monarch says : " I wish for peace, and 
 I am about to give Your Majesty a proof of confi- 
 dence by indicating the extent of the concessions I 
 can make. ... I have lost Lombardy, but I will not 
 give it to Sardinia. The utmost I can do is to cede 
 it to France, which will do what she pleases with it. 
 As to Venice, I still occupy it, and I cannot abandon 
 what has not yet been conquered. Still, I feel that 
 great changes there are necessary ; I will accomplish 
 them, and Venice will be not merely satisfied but 
 happy under my sceptre." 
 
 Napoleon IH. has not conquered Venetia ; he has 
 not even invaded it. Hence he cannot insist. He 
 limits himself to assuming that Venetia will form 
 
244 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 part of the Italian Confederation under the domin- 
 ion of the Emperor of Austria. To this confedera- 
 tion, of which the Holy Father would have the 
 presidency, Francis Joseph makes no absolute objec- 
 tion, but the details of its organization remain in 
 the air. He also agrees to join France in asking 
 the Pope for reforms, expressing, however, some 
 doubts as to their urgency and also concerning the 
 means of putting them into execution. The point 
 he has most at heart is the restoration to their states 
 of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Mo- 
 dena, both of whom have associated themselves with 
 his fortune, and who are both Archdukes of Austria. 
 This for His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty 
 is a question of honor. Napoleon III. seems to com- 
 prehend it, and promises to do all in his power to 
 reinstate the two princes in their dominions, while 
 granting a general amnesty and a Constitution. 
 But what form shall the intervention of the two 
 emperors take ? Ought it to be purely platonic, or, 
 in case of need, a resort to force ? To insist on this 
 point might endanger the result of the interview. 
 Hence nothing is defined. The sovereigns declare 
 themselves satisfied to have traced the great lines 
 of their agreement. For the moment they demand 
 nothing further. There is a table with pens, ink, 
 and paper in front of them. They do not use it, 
 but confine themselves to speech. They mutually 
 confide in their good faith and their memory. The 
 interview has lasted a little less than an hour. 
 
THE INTERVIEW OF VILLAFEANOA 245 
 
 After coining out of the house where their inter- 
 view has taken place, Napoleon III. and Francis 
 Joseph present to each other by name the members 
 of their military households. The French monarch 
 is extremely amiable to Field-Marshal Baron Hesse, 
 who, born in 1788, is the veteran of the Austrian 
 army. 
 
 " Sir Marshal," he says, " I am proud of having 
 been able to make war in face of a glorious 
 soldier of Wagram." The valiant warrior has re- 
 tained the bearing of a young man. The fifty years 
 which have elapsed between Wagram and Solferino 
 seem barely to have touched him. 
 
 Like Napoleon III. Francis Joseph has brought 
 as escort only two squadrons, one of Court gen- 
 darmes and the other of uhlans. The Emperor of 
 the French passes them in review and declares they 
 are magnificent. The Emperor of Austria, after 
 inspecting the squadron of hundred-guards and that 
 of guides, eulogizes them as highly. 
 
 General Fleury writes in his Souvenirs : " I greatly 
 fear that such fine troops will never be seen in France 
 again. All the army uniforms have been reduced to 
 a democratic level. Infantry, cavalry, wagon-trains, 
 all look alike. It is scarcely observed that, under 
 pretext of simplifying the provision of clothing, our 
 War Ministers — who are changed every year — are 
 in this way destroying the esprit de corps, that self- 
 love of a regiment which, at a given moment, en- 
 genders extraordinary feats." 
 
246 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Wishing to return the politeness shown by Napo- 
 leon III. in going beyond Villafranca to meet him, 
 Francis Joseph rides about a kilometer on the road 
 from Villafranca to Valeggio with the French sov- 
 ereign. The emperors take friendly leave of each 
 other. Thus, at the very moment when so many 
 victims have just been flung into the graves com- 
 mon to the combatants of the three armies, at the 
 moment when a great number of sick and wounded 
 are suffering and dying in the hospitals where they 
 have been huddled, the two sovereigns who caused 
 the war, are amicably shaking hands. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 THE PEELIMINARIES OF PEACE 
 
 /~\N his return to Valeggio, Napoleon III. found 
 ^■^"^ Victor Emmanuel, to whom he related all that 
 had just taken place. The abrupt solution, which 
 did not more than half realize his expectations, was 
 a great disappointment to the King. But this 
 monarch, very shrewd and subtle under his rude 
 exterior, was too politic to endeavor to shun the 
 inevitable. He offered neither objection nor re- 
 crimination to his powerful ally, and contented him- 
 self with saying: "Whatever may be the decision 
 of Your Majesty, I shall be eternally grateful for 
 what you have done for the cause of Italian inde- 
 pendence, and you may rely in all circumstances on 
 my entire fidelity." 
 
 Nothing had been written at Villafranca. At 
 Valeggio, Napoleon III. took a paper on which he 
 put the conditions which, if his memory were faith- 
 ful, had been agreed upon between him and the 
 Emperor of Austria. He charged Prince Napoleon 
 to carry this to Francis Joseph at Verona, and 
 return with the signature of the sovereign. This 
 
 was not a mere formality, and Napoleon III. dreaded 
 
 247 
 
248 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 lest difficulties miglit arise when there was no 
 longer question of a conversation, but of a written 
 agreement. 
 
 At Paris, the cousin of the Emperor was often 
 accused of too democratic manners. Abroad, he was 
 always very correct, and whenever he found him- 
 self in relations with sovereigns or princes, there 
 was nothing to criticise in his bearing or his lan- 
 guage. Moreover, he was very intelligent, very 
 apt, extremely conversant with diplomatic affairs 
 and the usages of courts. In designating him for 
 this delicate and important mission, the Emperor 
 did something that pleased Victor Emmanuel, who, 
 knowing the ideas and sentiments of his son-in-law 
 concerning Italy, was well aware that the Prince 
 would do all he could for her. 
 
 There was no time to be lost. As Marshal Moltke 
 has written in his history of the Italian campaign 
 of 1859, "Prussia was completely armed. The 
 mobilization of two-thirds of her military forces was 
 completed. The rest was on a war footing. The 
 troops were already on the march towards the first 
 places of assembly. It was no longer a secret that 
 the transport of soldiers by railway towards the 
 Rhine was to begin on July 15, and that within 
 a very short time an army of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand men would be gathered there, which the 
 contingents of other German States were ready to 
 join." 
 
 French and Bonaparte on his father's side, but 
 
THE PRELIMIN ABIES OF PEACE 249 
 
 German through his mother, the daughter of the 
 first King of Wiirtemberg, Prince Napoleon knew 
 Germany perfectly. He had been brought up there, 
 and knew all that might be dreaded from it. The 
 extent and gravity of the danger did not escape him ; 
 he desired to make every effort to dispel it without 
 losing a minute. 
 
 Napoleon III. had re-entered Valeggio at one 
 o'clock in the afternoon. At half-past two, a post- 
 chaise with four horses took Prince Napoleon to 
 Verona, which he reached two hours later, and 
 presented himself at the imperial headquarters. 
 Francis Joseph affably extended his hand and led 
 him into his study. The Prince gave the details to 
 Baron de Bazancourt, who has introduced them into 
 his remarkable history of the campaign of Italy. 
 
 The Austrian Emperor expressed himself as fol- 
 lows : " I set the example of frankness this morning 
 by telling the Emperor Napoleon explicitly what 
 were the limits of the concessions I could make 
 consistently with my honor and the interests of my 
 crown. But, be well assured that if you have a 
 public opinion to conciliate, I have one also, and it 
 is all the more exacting because it is I who am 
 making all the sacrifices." 
 
 The paper drawn up by Napoleon III. contained 
 seven paragraphs. Francis Joseph and Prince Na- 
 poleon examined them one by one. 
 
 1. The two sovereigns will favor the formation of 
 an Italian Confederation. 
 
250 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 This paragraph roused no objection. The Con- 
 federation was established in principle. Its organi- 
 zation was to be regulated by a Congress. 
 
 2. This Confederation will be under the honorary 
 presidency of the Pope. 
 
 Francis Joseph desired the word honorary to be 
 expunged. The Prince persuaded him to allow it 
 to stand. 
 
 3. The Mmperor of Austria cedes his rights over 
 Lomhardy to the Emperor of the French, who, in 
 accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, ivill 
 resign them to the King of Sardinia. 
 
 This paragraph gave rise to grave disputes. 
 Francis Joseph would not accept the words : in 
 accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants. " For 
 my part," said he, " I know no rights but those 
 written in the treaties. According to those, Lom- 
 bardy is mine. The fortune of war being against 
 me, I agree to cede that province to the Emperor 
 Napoleon, but I do not recognize the ' wishes of 
 the inhabitants,' which, to my mind, means the 
 right of revolution. If you choose to employ that 
 expression in addressing the King of Sardinia, it 
 is no affair of mine, but you can understand that 
 the Emperor of Austria is unable to accept such 
 language." 
 
 Prince Napoleon did not insist, and the words 
 were suppressed. 
 
 A still more serious question came up. The 
 Emperor of Austria declared in peremptory terms 
 
THE PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE 251 
 
 that the two fortified cities of Peschiera and Mantua 
 were not included in the cession of Lombardy. He 
 said: "I cannot oblige my army to evacuate forti- 
 fied towns which it occupies and retains possession 
 of; honor forbids me. I could understand the 
 Emperor's demanding to keep Peschiera if the 
 allied army had seized it ; but my troops are there 
 still. Make it plain to him that, even if such were 
 my personal wish, it would be impossible for me to 
 cede any of my fortresses." || 
 
 4. Venetia forms part of the Italian Confederation^ 
 remaining^ however^ under the crown of the Emperor of 
 Austria. 
 
 This paragraph was adopted without discussion. 
 
 5. The two sovereigns will make every effo7't, re- 
 course to arms excepted, to maintain the Grrand-Duke 
 of Tuscany and the Duke of Modena in their domin- 
 ions, they giving a Constitution and a general aynnesty. 
 
 This was the delicate point, and unless something 
 were clearly specified, no mutual understanding 
 could be arrived at. 
 
 The words, recourse to arms excepted, were not 
 admitted by Francis Joseph. He saw in them an 
 indirect apjjeal to insurrection and an encourage- 
 ment to the people to persevere in the path of revo- 
 lution. On the other hand, he knew that nothing 
 would induce Napoleon III. to resort to force for the 
 sake of reinstating the two princes. How then could 
 it be accomplished ? The difficulty was insurmount- 
 able. 
 
252 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The Emperor of Austria did not go so far as io 
 require that the two relatives in whom he was so 
 greatly interested, and who, in their quality as arch- 
 dukes, were considered as actually his lieutenants, 
 should be reinstated by either Austrian or French 
 bayonets. But he said that the Duke of Modena 
 hoped to be able to re-establish himself in his duchy 
 by means of the battalions which had remained loyal 
 to him, and that the Grand-Duke of Tuscany was not 
 far from arriving at an understanding with his sub- 
 jects. For the moment the emperors must confine 
 themselves to recognizing the principle of the restora- 
 tion of the princes. 
 
 6. The two sovereigns will ask the Holy Father to 
 introduce the necessary reforms in his States, and to 
 separate the Legations administratively from the rest of . 
 the States of the Church. 
 
 Francis Joseph admitted the reforms, and even 
 substituted the word indispensable for necessary, but 
 he requested the suppression of the second part of 
 the sentence, on the ground that only a Congress 
 could decide whether the Legation must be separated 
 administratively from the rest of the Pontifical 
 dominions. 
 
 7. Full and complete amnesty is accorded on both 
 sides to persons compromised by recent events in the 
 territories of the belligerent parties. 
 
 This final paragraph was in accordance with the 
 general sentiments of both emperors, and was ac- 
 cepted without the slightest hesitation. 
 
THE PRELIMINABIES OF PEACE 253 
 
 No mention, it will be observed, was made of the 
 duchy of Parma in either paragraph. As the duchess- 
 regent, the sister of the Count of Chambord, had 
 never been willing to submit herself to Austrian 
 policy, Francis Joseph did not feel bound to defend 
 the rights of her son. Hence Prince Napoleon 
 sought to induce him to recognize the annexation of 
 the duchy to Sardinia, but the Emperor of Austria 
 would have nothing to do with it. All he said was : 
 " There must be no question of the duchy of Parma 
 in these preliminaries. The duchess-regent is not a 
 princess of my family. But I cannot cede States 
 which do not belong to me." 
 
 Meanwhile, the interview had already lasted more 
 than two hours without an agreement having been 
 reached on several of the essential points. Prince 
 Napoleon remarked that his sovereign had ordered 
 him to be back at Valeggio by ten o'clock at latest. 
 "Very well," said the Emperor, rising, "you shall 
 have my answer presently." And he showed his 
 interlocutor to the apartment that had been made 
 ready for him. A dinner was served to His Imperial 
 Highness, at which two officers of the military house- 
 hold of the Emperor bore him company. 
 
 The sovereign came to the Prince at half-past 
 seven in the evening. " Here is my written reply," 
 said he ; " you may carry it to the Emperor Napo- 
 leon." The text of it was as follows : — 
 
 1. The two sovereigns will favor the creation of 
 an Italian Confederation ; 
 
254 FBANGE AND ITALY 
 
 2. This Confederation will be under the honorary 
 presidency of the Holy Father ; 
 
 3. The Emperor of Austria cedes his rights over 
 Lombardy to the Emperor of the French, with the 
 exception of the fortresses of Mantua and Peschiera, 
 so that the frontier of the Austrian possessions shall 
 start from the extremity of the fortress of Peschiera 
 and extend in a straight line along the Mincio as far 
 as Grazie; from there to Scarzarola and Suzana on 
 the Po, whence the existing frontiers will continue 
 to form the boundaries of Austria. The Emperor of 
 the French will remit the ceded territory to the King 
 of Sardinia ; 
 
 4. Venetia will form part of the Italian Confed- 
 eration, remaining, however, under the Austrian 
 crown ; 
 
 5. The Grand-Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of 
 Modena will return to their States, giving a general 
 amnesty ; 
 
 6. The two emperors will ask the Holy Father to 
 introduce the indispensable reforms in his States ; 
 
 7. Full and complete amnesty is accorded on both 
 sides to persons compromised on account of recent 
 events in the territories of the belligerent parties. 
 
 Prince Napoleon perceived that this was Francis 
 Joseph's last word, and that he would accept no 
 modification of his text. Hence he asked him to sign 
 it. The sovereign replied : " I cannot pledge myself 
 if the Emperor Napoleon does not do the same. It 
 is impossible for me to sign such conditions without 
 
THE PBELIMINARIES OF PEACE 255 
 
 being certain that they will be accepted by him." 
 Prince Napoleon replied: "Sire, I give Your Maj- 
 esty my word of honor as an honest man, that you 
 will receive this very paper to-morrow morning with 
 the signature of the Emperor Napoleon." 
 
 Francis Joseph then concluded to sign. After- 
 wards he said : " I am making a great sacrifice in 
 ceding one of my finest provinces like this. But, if 
 we can come to an understanding about Italian affairs 
 with the Emperor Napoleon, there will be no further 
 cause of dissension between us." 
 
 The clock struck eight. The sovereign and the 
 Prince remained together for some moments longer, 
 but without exchanging a further word on politics. 
 Then Francis Joseph went to the head of the stairs 
 with the cousin of Napoleon III. and held out his 
 hand, saying : " Till we meet, Prince ; I hope it will 
 be no longer as enemies." 
 
 Prince Napoleon was back at Valeggio at ten 
 o'clock. As soon as the Emperor had read the paper 
 signed by Francis Joseph, his face lighted up with 
 joy, and he embraced his cousin warmly. The next 
 day he signed the paper and sent it to the Emperor 
 of Austria with an autograph letter. The prelimina- 
 ries of peace were definitively concluded. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE KESIGNATIOK OF CAVOUR 
 
 ^ I ^HE man who had most ardently desired the con- 
 tinuation of the war was Count Cavour. His 
 revolutionary policy was roundly blamed by the 
 minister of France at Turin, Prince de La Tour 
 d'Auvergne. This essentially conservative diploma- 
 tist, extremely hostile to the project of Italian unity, 
 wrote to Count Walewski, July 8, 1859, concerning 
 the Piedmontese minister, who was already making 
 open preparations for annexations : " The devouring 
 activity of his mind, his ambition, the adventurous 
 character of his genius, nearly always get the better 
 of his reason. Hence, whatever appearances may 
 be, it would be a singular delusion to fancy that 
 M. Cavour is sincerely abandoning the more or less 
 loyal and regular methods to which he has too often 
 resorted, and which, one must admit, have sometimes 
 been successful. For my part, I am under no man- 
 ner of illusion. I have made frequent experience of 
 my powerlessness, and I know of but one really se- 
 rious means of opposing the impatiences and whims 
 of M. de Cavour, and that is the firm and categorical 
 will of the Emperor. With that exception, I see 
 no remedy." 
 
 256 
 
COUNT CAVOUR 
 
THE RESIGNATION OF CAVOUR *257 
 
 No sooner had the Prime Minister learned by a let- 
 ter from General de La Marmora that the armistice 
 just concluded was a long truce which might lead to 
 peace, than, concealing neither his vexation nor his 
 anger, he set off for the camp, hoping to induce the 
 King and the Emperor to abandon all pacific inten- 
 tions. At daybreak, July 10, he arrived from Turin 
 at Desenzano, and during the day at Mozambano, 
 headquarters of the Sardinian army. Victor Em- 
 manuel was at the Melchiarri villa, where he received 
 the minister, but was not in the least affected by his 
 rage. Cavour vainly entreated his master to refuse 
 incomplete enfranchisement, to summon all Italy to 
 his aid, and to go on with the war even without the 
 support of Napoleon III. Victor Emmanuel took 
 good care not to accept such bad advice. The same 
 day the foolhardy minister saw Prince Napoleon, 
 who gave him no hope, but he was not admitted to 
 an audience with the Emperor. The next day, July 
 11, he tried to see Prince Napoleon again ; but the 
 Piince had gone to Verona to arrive at an under- 
 standing with Francis Joseph on the preliminaries of 
 peace. Cavour knew the text of these in the even- 
 ing, and the morning of July 12, after handing in 
 his resignation, he departed in great exasperation. 
 The violence of the minister had ended by making 
 the sovereign weary. He said to him, " Peace is 
 being made without me ; I am not the strongest ; do 
 not bother me." 
 
 Victor Emmanuel frequently needed Cavour, but 
 
258 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 did not really like him. Very jealous of his author- 
 ity and proud of his race, the head of the house of 
 Savoy could not accustom himself to the presum- 
 ing manners and dominating tone of his ambitious 
 minister, and was unwilling to seem a new Louis 
 XIII. obliged to wear the yoke of a Richelieu. Vic- 
 tor Emmanuel was a sovereign who allowed no one 
 to lead him. When he thought it necessary, he was 
 able to make his subjects take his own view, and to 
 prove to all men the strength of his will. Moreover, 
 the King was in the right, for nothing could have 
 been more fatal to Piedmont than a broil with Napo- 
 leon III. 
 
 Cavour was doubtless a clever statesman ; never- 
 theless, as a disciple of Machiavelli he was inferior 
 to Victor Emmanuel, who, the day after the prelimi- 
 naries of Villafranca, comprehended the situation 
 far better than his minister. He remembered that 
 " Patience and delay do more than force or fury." 
 Instead of facing great difficulties, he eluded them, 
 he put them off. Forced to bow to accomplished 
 facts, he was careful, even while giving his adhe- 
 sion to the preliminaries of Villafranca, to stipulate 
 to his advantage his future freedom of action, liberta 
 d'operare, as he called it. " I approve as far as I 
 am concerned," was his reply to the Emperor. This 
 meant that he reserved to the Tuscans, Modenese, 
 Parmesans, and Romagnols the faculty of disposing 
 of their destiny. If, instead of confining himself to 
 this mental reservation, he had broken violently 
 
THE RESIGNATION OF CAVOUB 259 
 
 with Napoleon III. as Count Cavour advised, he 
 would have placed his kingdom between the ham- 
 mer and anvil of France and Austria. 
 
 The King made a formal entry into Milan by the 
 eastern gate and the Corso, July 13, towards five 
 o'clock in the afternoon. The division of French 
 infantry, under General d'Hugues, had just arrived 
 from Lyons. Its troops formed the line on the 
 Duomo square. Entering the palace, Victor Em- 
 manuel received the French generals d' Hugues, de 
 Bailliencourt, de Bdville, and Suau. In an interest- 
 ing volume entitled: Military/ Leaves, General de 
 Bailliencourt has given some curious details concern- 
 ing this reception. He says : " The King, still cov- 
 ered with noble dust, in a very untidy uniform, 
 affected the attitudes of a captain of hussars of the 
 First Empire. . . . Raising his eyes to the ceiling, 
 holding his head absurdly high, he said to us : 
 ' Well ! gentlemen, I am not content, and you ought 
 not to be so either, for all you have done is to come 
 here, and the peace deprives you of all hope of wit- 
 nessing such victories as we have gained ! Your 
 army has rendered us great service ; . . . yours and 
 mine have fought like two sisters ; . . . I am only a 
 soldier ; I do not like lawyers, I do not care much 
 about my kingdom, all I like is battles. I had built 
 castles in the air ; I expected to make war for two 
 years, and I have only been allowed to do so for two 
 months ; I hoped to go round the world with the 
 French soldiers. I would have been willing to have 
 
260 FRANCE AND ITALY ' 
 
 several ribs broken on condition of being able to go 
 on fighting. ... At the battle of Solferino, it was 
 I who had them fire the last guns of the day, with 
 thirty-eight pieces in battery." 
 
 Reverting finally to the idea he had first expressed, 
 the valiant monarch said : " I do not like lawyers. 
 Do you, General ? " addressing himself to General 
 d'Hugues. The latter replied, "Your Majesty is 
 right, lawyers belong to a degenerate age." Victor 
 Emmanuel returned : "And yet I am going to have 
 a new affair with them. All the same, I shall be 
 able to put them in their place. . . . That Cavour, 
 I made him, and now he comes here with his resigna- 
 tion ! I gave him a very bad reception. Better still, 
 he is going to make speeches in a caf^ to increase his 
 popularity ! What would you have me do with such 
 a lawyer as that ? . . . All the same, he had better 
 be careful, I shall keep my eyes open. . . . He 
 won't lose anything by waiting. I will contrive 
 something for him." 
 
 To this story, which one would scarcely believe to 
 be authentic but for the perfect respectability of its 
 narrator, General de Bailliencourt adds : " We went 
 out, unable to believe either our eyes or our ears. . . 
 I made a note of it at once, and so did my compan- 
 ions, wishing to keep exact the memory of this very 
 original interview, and to preserve its every feature 
 with scrupulous care." On returning to Turin, 
 Cavour said that he was not merely no longer presi- 
 dent of the Council, but that he would sooner become 
 
THE RESIGNATION OF CAVOUB 261 
 
 a conspirator than lend a hand to such a bargain as 
 had just been concluded. However, his compatriots 
 put no faith in his definitive retirement. " Cavour 
 is going away," said they, " but he has a return 
 ticket in his pocket." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 ^ THE EMPEEOE's EETUEN 
 
 ■^MTAPOLEON III. made ready to go back to 
 France. July 12, he resigned the chief com- 
 mand of the army of Italy to Marshal Vaillant and 
 issued the following proclamation to the troops from 
 the imperial headquarters of Valeggio : — 
 
 " Soldiers ! 
 
 "The bases of peace are agreed upon with the 
 Emperor of Austria ; the chief object of the war has 
 been attained. For the first time Italy is about to 
 become a nation. 
 
 " A Confederation of all the States of Italy, under 
 the honorary presidency of the Holy Father, will 
 reunite in group the members of a single family. 
 Venetia remains, it is true, under the Austrian 
 sceptre ; nevertheless it will be an Italian province 
 and form part of the Confederation. 
 
 " The reunion of Lombardy to Piedmont creates 
 for us on this side of the Alps a powerful ally which 
 will be our debtor for its independence ; govern- 
 ments remaining outside of the movement, or rein- 
 stated in their possessions, will comprehend the 
 necessity of salutary reforms. 
 
 262 
 
THE empeeob's betubn 263 
 
 "A general amnesty will remove the traces of 
 civil discords. Mistress henceforward of her own 
 destiny, Italy will have no one but herself to blame 
 if she does not make uniform progress in order and 
 liberty. 
 
 "You will soon return to France; the grateful 
 country will receive with transports the soldiers who 
 have carried so high the glory of our arms at Mon- 
 tebello, Palestro, Turbigo, Magenta, Marignan, and 
 Solferino; who in two months have liberated Pied- 
 mont and Lombardy, and who have halted only 
 because the war was about to assume proportions no 
 longer in relation with the interests which France 
 had in this formidable struggle. 
 
 "Be proud, then, of your success, proud of the 
 results obtained, proud above all of being the beloved 
 children of that France which will always be the 
 great nation so long as she has a heart that can un- 
 derstand great causes and men like you to defend 
 
 them.^^ 
 
 The Emperor left his headquarters at Valeggio 
 the same day. The guard was ordered to go into its 
 first encampments at Desenzano, and the different 
 army corps began leaving the banks of the Mincio, 
 where their concentration was no longer useful, in 
 order to be distributed in the great centres of Lom- 
 bardy. 
 
 Napoleon III. made a halt at Desenzano. The tran- 
 quil beauty of the place seemed grateful to him after 
 the painful emotions awakened by the horrid sights 
 
264 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 of war. On the shore of Lake Garda were the now 
 useless gunboats prepared at great expense for the 
 siege of Peschiera. These he presented to Victor 
 Emmanuel. 
 
 July 14, the Emperor made an entry at Milan 
 which was not less brilliant than that of June 8. The 
 railway station was adorned as for a fete. At a little 
 after five o'clock, Prince Carignan arrived there to 
 meet the two sovereigns. The French and Pied- 
 montese troops made the line with the national 
 militia. On their way to the Royal Palace Their 
 Majesties, riding in an open carriage, were vehe- 
 mently applauded by a crowd whose enthusiasm 
 amounted to frenzy. " The Emperor seemed calm," 
 writes General de Bailliencourt, an eye-witness, 
 " and it pleased me to see once more on his counte- 
 nance that poetic expression which is peculiarly his 
 own." 
 
 On reaching the Royal Palace, Napoleon III. im- 
 mediately received the generals who came to escort 
 him. As they were expressing their admiration for 
 his triumphs, he answered with profound sadness : 
 " But what losses ! What bloodshed ! " 
 
 A dinner of one hundred covers was served at 
 half-past six in the magnificent gallery of the palace. 
 " Seated almost opposite the Emperor," adds General 
 de Bailliencourt, " I did not lose a movement of the 
 principal actors in the great drama just enacted. 
 Napoleon III. had Victor Emmanuel on his right and 
 Prince Napoleon on his left. He seemed visibly 
 
TEE empebob's betubn 265 
 
 preoccupied. The King, always unreserved and 
 petulant, loudly regretted the two years of campaign- 
 ing he had been counting on. War is a game for him, 
 on much the same footing as the chase. . . . The 
 Emperor, addressing himself to all, inquired with 
 great interest for news of Marshal de Castellane 
 (commander-in-chief of the army of Lyons), quoting 
 for us several passages from the admirable letter he 
 had received from him, requesting to be allowed to 
 march under no matter what command. " 
 
 The generals quitted the palace at half-past eight. 
 The city was splendid. The illuminated houses, the 
 thousands of parti-colored lanterns waving in the 
 breeze, produced a magical effect. " A curious, enor- 
 mous crowd," says General de Bailliencourt again, 
 "encumbers the square through which we pass. 
 People throng about us ; children cling to the tails 
 of our coats ; women hang on our arms and kiss our 
 hands, while men want to carry us in triumph." 
 
 Milan has retained an affectionate and grateful 
 memory of Napoleon III. and of France. The same 
 has not always been true of other great Italian cities. 
 
 On returning to the Gonfalonieri palace where 
 he lodged. General de Bailliencourt learned that 
 a despatch from Turin, which came that evening, 
 announced that the turbulent disposition of the 
 population was displaying hostility to the Emperor, 
 who was expected there. Angry demonstrations 
 had occurred. Portraits of His Majesty in the 
 shops had been torn down by a crowd who substi- 
 
266 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 tuted those of Mazzini and Orsini in their stead. 
 Apprised of these details, Napoleon III. had just 
 ordered General de Bailliencourt's brigade to start 
 for Turin at once. 
 
 The same day, July 14, Prince de La Tour d'Au- 
 vergne, minister of France in that city, wrote to 
 Count Walewski : " The news that peace has been 
 signed has caused a profound sensation at Turin. 
 The clauses relating to Venetia have created especial 
 dissatisfaction. Austria's possession of this province 
 and the fortresses of Mantua, Peschiera, Verona, and 
 Legnano is considered as a continual menace for 
 the security and independence of Piedmont. Nor 
 do people entertain more favorably the idea of an 
 Italian Confederation which obliges Piedmont to live 
 in close alliance with Austria. ... A rumor is being 
 circulated that England will refuse to recognize a 
 state of things in the arrangement of which she has 
 not intervened. Count Cavour's resignation has 
 been the cap sheaf. The disturbance is greater 
 to-day than it was yesterday. Orsini's portrait has 
 been substituted for that of the Emperor in every 
 picture-shop in the city. The attitude of the press 
 is equally hostile. It should be the part of the 
 Government under such circumstances to tranquil- 
 lize public opinion by enlightening it, but it has 
 abstained from intervention. It is greatly to be 
 desired that Count Arese, who has agreed to accept 
 Cavour's place, may succeed in recalling to order 
 the evidently distracted public mind." 
 
THE emperor's return 267 
 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon of July 15, 
 Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne sent this telegraphic 
 despatch to Count Walewski : " The Emperor is to 
 arrive at Turin about five o'clock. The people are 
 in a better humor. A notification of the syndic 
 inviting the inhabitants to illuminate their houses 
 in honor of the coming of Their Majesties is read 
 quietly. The portraits of Orsini have been with- 
 drawn. M. Irvoy (chief of police charged to secure 
 the Emperor's safety) begs you to communicate this 
 despatch to the Minister of the Interior." 
 
 Meanwhile Napoleon III. and Victor Emmanuel 
 were on the way to Turin by rail. The train passed 
 Magenta. The Emperor, much affected, glanced at 
 the city station and the Naviglio Grande. He re- 
 called the prodigies of valor performed by his guard 
 at this spot, and the cruel perplexities, the anguish 
 he had himself endured at the moment when victory 
 seemed so doubtful, even so improbable. It is a 
 striking spectacle to find a battlefield calm and 
 empty which one has seen in the midst of all the 
 agitations and horrors of carnage. Impassible and 
 serene, nature has forgotten it all. The song of 
 birds has replaced the noise of cannon, shells, and 
 bullets. Grass has covered over the trenches where 
 the victims of war are sleeping their last slumber. 
 What a contrast between two aspects of a single 
 place ! 
 
 Towards four o'clock in the afternoon of July 15, 
 the troops formed the line in the principal streets 
 
268 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 of Turin. A number of Piedmontese generals, 
 under command of old General de Sonnaz, were 
 awaiting the two sovereigns. Cavour, in an elegant 
 carriage drawn by fine English horses, had also gone 
 to the station. One of his horses was seized with 
 vertigo and fell, nearly upsetting the carriage. Cavour 
 had to go a little way on foot, and more than one 
 superstitious Italian saw a bad omen in this slight 
 accident. 
 
 The clocks were striking five when the imperial 
 and royal train arrived. Napoleon III. shook hands 
 with the ex-Prime Minister, but without speaking. 
 A rumor had been spread that there would be 
 national guards along the route taken by the sover- 
 eigns, who would lower their arms and utter offen- 
 sive cries. Nothing of the kind occurred, but it 
 was undeniable that the crowd cheered the King 
 much more than the Emperor. The procession 
 halted in the second court of the palace, and 
 Napoleon III. occupied the fine apartments on the 
 ground floor formerly inhabited by King Charles 
 Albert. There was a grand dinner at which Cavour 
 was not present. But the Emperor had him sum- 
 moned during the evening and conversed very 
 kindly with him. 
 
 " I am unwilling," he said to him, " that we should 
 part on ill terms. It is not strictly true that I may 
 have refused to receive you. Only, what could I 
 have said to you? ... It would have taken three 
 hundred thousand men to go on with the campaign, 
 
THE emperor's RETURN 269 
 
 and I did not have them." Cavour having laid 
 stress on the forlorn situation of the abandoned 
 provinces, Napoleon III. replied, "I will have their 
 cause pleaded in the Congress." Then the two 
 former associates of Plombi^res separated, never 
 again to meet. 
 
 The Emperor left the Piedmontese capital at six 
 o'clock the next morning. Possibly he had selected 
 this early hour because he had no confidence in the 
 good dispositions of the inhabitants so far as he 
 was concerned. Not a flag was in any window. 
 The streets were almost empty. Acclamations were 
 very few. Victor Emmanuel, his staff. Prince de 
 Carignan, and the members of the French legation 
 accompanied the Emperor to Suse, where the mac- 
 adamized road ended. There, after cordially em- 
 bracing Victor Emmanuel and Prince Carignan, 
 and shaking hands with those surrounding them. 
 Napoleon III. entered a travelling carriage which 
 ascended Mont Cenis and redescended towards 
 Saint- Jean de Maurienne, where he boarded a train. 
 His passage through Chamb^ry gave occasion for 
 manifestations which seemed like a first omen of 
 the annexation of Savoy to France. M. Grand 
 Thorane, French consul at Chambdry, Avrote to 
 Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne : " The Emperor has 
 been received here with enthusiasm by all that is 
 good in the population, which is certainly the im- 
 mense majority, and it is certain that there would have 
 been a much larger crowd had the intendant-general 
 
270 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 taken care to apprise the people of the time of his 
 arrival. If it had been known in the neighboring 
 communes, there would have been a still greater 
 throng on the roads by which he came. The syndic 
 would not permit the firemen to go to the station, 
 because the corps is composed of orderly men whose 
 sentiments towards the Emperor are well known, 
 and he was not anxious for him to hear their unani- 
 mous acclamations. The archbishop and the first 
 president of the court of appeals, who went to the 
 station, had not been notified." 
 
 Napoleon III. noticed that Savoy was well-inclined 
 towards him and his empire. Perhaps, after having 
 done a great deal for Italy, he was now thinking of 
 doing something for France. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 SAINT-CLOUD 
 
 A FTER passing through Savoy, which he was 
 to annex to France the following year, the 
 Emperor went on to Saint-Cloud without further 
 delay, ^n spite of the incognito he preserved on 
 his rapid journey, the people assembled at the rail- 
 way stations and acclaimed the victorious sovereign 
 as he passed. July 17, at ten in the morning, he 
 arrived by the enclosed railway at the palace of 
 Saint-Cloud, where he was received on alighting 
 from the train by the Empress and the Prince 
 Imperial, whom he embraced with much affection. 
 When the Emperor asked the little Prince if he 
 recognized his father, the child seemed rather humil- 
 iated by such a doubt. There were tears of joy in 
 the eyes of all present^ 
 
 Napoleon III. possessed the family feelings in a 
 very high degree. Under a cold exterior and a mask 
 of absolute impassibility, he concealed an almost 
 womanly sensitiveness and a very affectionate na- 
 ture. A melancholy impression blended with his 
 happiness. He was thinking of so many others, less 
 fortunate than he, who would never return, and 
 
 271 
 
272 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 whose mothers, wives, and children were even now 
 weeping for them. The ch§;teau of Saint-Cloud, 
 with the sweet coolness of its venerable shades, 
 its cascades, and its fountains, did not make him 
 forget the prostrating heat of the Italian battlefields, 
 the clouds of dust, the agonies of the fight, the 
 horrors of the carnage, (^t noon he heard Mass 
 in the chapel in thanksgiving to God. He after- 
 wards received the imperial family, the members of 
 the privy council, the ministers, the persons of his 
 household and that of the Empress. 
 
 Countess Stephanie de Tascher de La Pagerie was 
 present at this reception. " The Emperor," she says, 
 " was calm, content, unaffected as usual. He looked 
 well, his tanned complexion showed that he had 
 been exposed to the ardors of the sun of Italy. He 
 went from one to another, kindly, affectionate, and 
 while moving about told us certain details. But he 
 insisted on one point, namely, that on finding himself 
 here again, it seemed that all this campaign, so rich 
 in incidents, in episodes of all descriptions, had been 
 a dream. . . . What a dream ! " ) 
 
 All the news the Emperor received, all the reflec- 
 tions he made upon the situation of Europe, inclined 
 him to congratulate himself on having tempted for- 
 tune no further. He knew that if he had not made 
 haste to sign the preliminaries of peace, the entrance 
 of Prussia and all the other States of the Germanic 
 Confederation upon the scene would have been 
 merely a question of days, of hours. The French 
 
SAINT- CLOUD 273 
 
 generals surrounding him criticised the Prussian 
 landwehr, some of them going so far as to compare it 
 with the national guard. Napoleon III., who had 
 been brought up in Germany, knew how erroneous 
 such an appreciation was. He was aware that the 
 landwehr was a real army, and he recognized that 
 the present effective forces of the French troops 
 were not large enough to permit them to triumph 
 simultaneously on the Adige and the Rhine. When 
 he closely considered the matter, he was amazed that 
 the Emperor of Austria, who occupied formidable 
 positions in the quadrilateral, should have given up 
 the struggle. (Despatclies from Saint Petersburg 
 proved that in spite of his sympathies for France, 
 the Czar would not have gone to the length of draw- 
 ing the sword in her defence. The pleasure with 
 which the Russian government learned that prelimi- 
 naries of peace had been concluded, confirmed Na- 
 poleon III. in the conviction that he had done well 
 in halting midway. ^^ 
 
 The Duke of Montebello, ambassador of France at 
 Saint Petersburg, wrote to Count Walewski, July 14 : 
 " The telegraphic despatches of Your Excellency, 
 dated the 12th of this month, brought news that 
 peace had been signed between the Emperor Napo- 
 leon and the Emperor of Austria, and I hastened to 
 announce it at Peterhof, where the Emperor Alex- 
 ander and Prince Gortchakoff are at present. The 
 satisfaction displayed by the Prince was sincere and 
 complete. Above all, he expressed most warmly his 
 
274 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 admiration for the profound sagacity of His Imperial 
 Majesty's policy. As soon as it was known at Saint 
 Petersburg that an armistice had been concluded, 
 to expire the 15th of August, the Russian Cabinet 
 began to hope that hostilities would not be renewed, 
 and that a definitive arrangement would be the conse- 
 quence of the suspension of arms. But it had not 
 expected that the two sovereigns would bring about 
 so quickly the realization of its hopes. The surprise 
 has merely augmented its satisfaction. The Em- 
 peror Alexander, to whom Prince Gortchakoff trans- 
 mitted the news immediately, sent me word that he 
 desired to see me at once, and His Majesty displayed 
 with equal vivacity the sentiments by which his min- 
 ister had just shown himself to be animated. . . . 
 The bases agreed upon are considered by the Russian 
 government well adapted to serve as the foundation 
 of a lasting peace. The Emperor Alexander and 
 Prince Gortchakoff recognize that in confining to 
 these limits the sacrifices which the success of his 
 arms might have imposed upon the Court of Vienna, 
 the Emperor has shown himself as profound a politi- 
 cian in negotiation as he has proved himself a great 
 captain on fields of battle." 
 
 On the other hand, Napoleon III. foreboded the 
 difiiculties originated hj the war, and their future 
 developments incessantly disquieted him. He was 
 under no illusion as to the obscurities of the prelimi- 
 naries of peace and the obstacles to be encountered 
 before it could be rendered final. Questions pertain- 
 
SAINT-CLOUD 275 
 
 ing to the central Italian States, especially to those 
 of the Holy Father, were far from being settled, and 
 the Emperor was well aware that one of the most 
 arduous problems would be to establish any sort of 
 harmony between the clerical and the revolutionary 
 parties, the one as ardent and as ultra as the other. 
 Anxieties for the future mingled therefore in the 
 sovereign's mind with the gladness of present 
 supcess. 
 
 i July 19, at half-past eight in the evening, at Saint- 
 Cloud, the great bodies of State entered the salon of 
 Mars to congratulate the victorious monarch. M. 
 Troplong, Count Morny, and M. Baroche, the first of 
 whom was president of the Senate, the second of the 
 Corps L^gislatif, the third of the Council of State, 
 vied with each other in protestations and praiseA 
 
 According to M. Troplong, " When Scipio had van- 
 quished Hannibal at Zama, he might have destroyed 
 Carthage ; he would not do it, although he had 
 pledged himself to subvert the Carthaginian power. 
 Prudent politician as well as skilful general, he 
 knew that to ruin an enemy too completely is often 
 equivalent to ruining one's self." Napoleon IH. was 
 rather surprised at finding himself thus compared to 
 Scipio. 
 
 " Sire," said M. de Morny, " what prodigies in 
 three months ! . . . But the finest of all the vic- 
 tories is the one you have gained over yourself. In 
 the intoxication of triumph you have shown yourself 
 to be as generous an enemy as you are a faitliful and 
 
276 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 disinterested ally. Surrounded by victorious and 
 ardent soldiers, you thought of nothing but how to 
 spare their precious blood. You have given true 
 liberty to Italy by freeing it from despotism and re- 
 straining it from revolutionary proceedings. In fine, 
 with that marvellous moderation which characterizes 
 you, you have gone as far as the honor of France re- 
 quired, no farther than her interests demanded." 
 
 " God be thanked," said M. Baroche, " for bring- 
 ing you back safe and sound to this France of which 
 you are the saviour and the hope, to this august wife 
 whose firm courage and lofty intelligence we have 
 tested during your absence, and to this noble child 
 who is already learning to thank Heaven for the 
 triumphs of his father." 
 CJhe Emperor replied : — 
 
 " Gentlemen, in finding myself once more amongst 
 you who have surrounded the Empress and my son 
 with so much devotion during my absence, I feel the 
 necessity of thanking you in the first place, and then 
 of explaining to you the motive of my conduct.j 
 
 " When after a two months' fortunate campaign, 
 the French and Sardinian armies found themselves 
 under the walls of Verona, the struggle was about 
 inevitably to change its character, both with respect 
 to military matters and to politics. 
 
 " I had no choice but to attack in front an enemy 
 entrenched behind great fortresses, and protected 
 against all flank movements by the neutrality of sur- 
 rounding territories ; and in commencing the long 
 
SAINT-CLOUD 277 
 
 and fruitless war of sieges I was confronted by 
 Europe in arms, and ready either to dispute our suc- 
 cess or to aggravate our reverses. 
 
 "Yet the difficulties of the enterprise would not 
 have shaken my resolution or the enthusiasm of my 
 army, if the means had not been disproportionate 
 with the results to be expected. 
 
 " It was necessary to determine on breaking 
 through the obstacles opposed by the neutral terri- 
 tories, and then to accept war on the Rhine as well | 
 as on the Adige. It was necessary, above all, to avail 
 one's self frankly of the support of the revolution. 
 It was necessary to shed more precious blood when 
 too much had been spilled already. In a word, in 
 order to succeed, it was necessary to risk what it is 
 not permissible for a sovereign to put at stake for 
 anything but the independence of his country. 
 
 " If I stayed my hand, it was not, therefore, 
 through lassitude or exhaustion, nor through deser- 
 tion of the noble cause I had desired to serve, but 
 because there was something in my heart which 
 spoke more loudly still — the interest of France." 
 /Thus the Emperor sought to justify rather than to 
 glorify himself. His speech was a sort of public con- 
 fession, a skilful plea to prove that he was right in 
 laying down arms. 
 
 On the other hand, he was fully aware that Venice 
 had been cruelly disappointed at the moment when 
 she thought the hour of her deliverance had come. 
 He knew Italian passions too well and in youth had 
 
278 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 shared them too profoundly not to be extremely 
 afflicted at his failure to realize more than half of his 
 liberating programme, _J 
 
 v' Can you believe," continued the crowned orator, 
 " that it has cost me nothing to bridle the ardor of 
 soldiers excited by victory and merely asking per- 
 mission to go on ? Can you believe it has cost me 
 nothing to eliminate openly from my programme, in 
 the face of Europe, the territory extending from the 
 Mincio to the Adriatic ? Can you believe it has cost 
 me nothing to behold the wreck of noble illusions 
 and patriotic hopes in honest hearts ? 
 
 " I made war against the will of Europe in order 
 to aid Italian independence ; as soon as t]je destinies 
 of my own country were endangered, I made peace.''y) 
 
 The Emperor ended his speech as follows, as if 
 seeking to console and reassure himself : — 
 
 " Can it now be said that our efforts and sacrifices 
 have been totally wasted ? No. As I said in tak- 
 ing leave of our soldiers, we have a right to be proud 
 of this brief campaign. In four combats and two 
 battles, a numerous army, second to none in organi- 
 zation and bravery, has been vanquished. The King 
 of Piedmont, formerly styled the guardian of the 
 Alps, has seen his frontiers extended from the Tes- 
 sin to the Mincio. The idea of an Italian nationality 
 is admitted by those who antagonize it. All the 
 sovereigns of the peninsula finally comprehend the 
 imperious necessity of salutary reforms. 
 
 " Thus, after having given a new proof of the 
 
SAINT-CLOUD 279 
 
 military strength of France, the peace I have just 
 concluded will be fruitful in fortunate results ; the 
 future will reveal them more fully day by day, for 
 the welfare of Italy, the influence of France, and the 
 repose of Europe." 
 
 The diplomatic corps having signified its desire 
 for an audience, it was received by the Emperor at 
 Saint-Cloud, July 21. " Sire," said the Nuncio, " the 
 diplomatic corps experienced the necessity of asking 
 Your Majesty to receive its cordial and sincere felici- 
 tations on your happy return and the prompt conclu- 
 sion of peace." 
 
 Napoleon III. replied, but, in spite of his habitual 
 courtesy, without wholly concealing a certain feeling 
 of bitterness. " Europe in general," he said, " was 
 so unjust to me at the beginning of the war, that as 
 soon as the honor and interests of France had been 
 secured, I was glad to be able to conclude peace, and 
 to prove that I had entertained no intention of con- 
 vulsing Europe and stirring up a general war. I 
 hope that now all causes of dissension will vanish, 
 and the peace be of long duration. I thank the dip- 
 lomatic corps for its congratulations." 
 
 The impressions of the public had been complex, 
 and at first the tidings of peace caused only moderate 
 satisfaction. Countess Stephanie de Tascher de La 
 Pagerie remarked this. " Such a notion," she says, 
 " had been formed of this war, which had flattered 
 our national pride in many ways, that people almost 
 regretted so speedy a denouement. In general, these 
 
280 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 strokes of see-saw policy wliich bewilder public opin- 
 ion and bring about solutions different from what 
 had been expected, are not much liked." 
 
 \At the first moment, there had been perhaps more 
 surprise than satisfaction. But a little reflection 
 sufficed to put things in their proper light. It seems 
 to us that M. Eugene Fourcade, the chronicler of the 
 fortnight in the Revue des Deux Moncles of July 15, 
 was a faithful interpreter of the prevailing senti- 
 ment. " The war," said he, " has just given the 
 world a proof of French power which assuredly was 
 not needed, since foreigners are perhaps even more 
 keenly alive to our strength than we ourselves, but 
 which has been singularly agreeable to our national 
 pride. Thus far, all we have tasted of war appears 
 to be the sweetness of its honeymoon, the marvellous 
 and swift successes obtained by our soldiers, with 
 wonderful enthusiasm and contagious good humor, 
 over enemies worthy of esteem. But the shortness 
 of a war is its greatest charm, and thanks to the 
 peace which has had for France almost the delight of 
 a surprise, it is, at this moment, the one she seems 
 to relish with most pleasure. However, we must be- 
 ware of accepting war and peace in this way with 
 epicurean carelessness. In addition to the precious 
 lives sacrificed, war entails charges and responsibili- 
 ties which stretch far into the future." , 
 
 ( Diplomatists and politicians already foresaw ap- 
 proaching difficulties and complications. But the 
 general public abandoned itself to a perfectly natu- 
 
SAINT-CLOUD 281 
 
 ral joy. Business men were so quickly reassured 
 that within a few days public funds went up five 
 francs. The Catholics, lately so alarmed, resumed 
 confidence. At that time there existed in the Re- 
 publican party, and even in that of the Orleanists 
 as well, very pronounced Italian sympathies. It was 
 the Duke of Aumale who had obtained from Victor 
 Emmanuel an authorization for the Duke of Chartres 
 to serve under the Piedmontese flag at the side of 
 the French army. Many men who were afterwards 
 hostile to Italian unity beheld the deliverance of 
 Milan with pleasure. M. de La Gorce was right in 
 saying, "France, afterwards so pitiless towards Na- 
 poleon III., was at this time more indulgent to him 
 than he was to himself." France loves its leaders 
 only so long as they are fortunate. At the conclu- 
 sion of the Italian War, the Emperor had had nothing 
 but successes since his accession to the throne. He 
 was popular. \ 
 
 Sunday, August 7, the victor of Magenta and Sol- 
 ferino left Saint-Cloud to spend some days at the 
 camp of Chalons, where he was received by General 
 Schramm, commanding officer of the camp. The 
 following morning, at seven o'clock, he witnessed 
 the manoeuvres. In the afternoon he visited the 
 agricultural establishments constructed by the en- 
 gineers. Surprising the soldiers in their ordinary 
 tasks or while resting, he was everywhere received 
 with spontaneous ovations which deeply affected 
 him. Napoleon III. loved the army and acknowl- 
 
282 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 edged himself its debtor for his prestige and his 
 throne. Never did he feel himself better understood 
 and served than by his troops. When he returned 
 to headquarters from the left wing of the camp that 
 evening at half -past six, soldiers were seen running 
 across the fields at the double-quick to reach the 
 road and form in ranks in order to acclaim their 
 Emperor once more. On August 11 he instituted 
 the medal of Italy, intended for officers and soldiers 
 who had made the Italian campaign. Surrounded 
 by a laurel wreath, this medal bore on one side an 
 effigy of the sovereign, with the words: Napoleon 
 III., Emperor ; and on the other the titles of the six 
 victories : Montebello, Palestro, Turbigo, Magenta, 
 Marignau, Solferino. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 THE EETURN OF THE TROOPS 
 
 ""VTAPOLEON III. had determined to postpone his 
 triumph until his troops should return from 
 Italy. He knew how much he owed them. His own 
 glory was not so near his heart as that of his army. 
 
 July 23, all the troops who had made the cam- 
 paign, with the exception of five divisions of infantry 
 and two brigades of cavalry which were to remain 
 until peace was finally concluded, were ordered home 
 from Italy. On their arrival they went into camp at 
 Saint-Maurice, where they were constantly visited 
 by Parisians anxious to see them under their tents, 
 until Sunday, August 14, the day fixed on for their 
 ceremonious entrance into the capital. It was to be 
 the happiest day of the Second Empire. 
 
 The troops were to time their departure from 
 Camp Saint-Maur so that the head of the column, 
 passing through the faubourg Saint- Antoine, would 
 reach Bastille Place at nine in the morning. Thence 
 the procession would begin to move in the following 
 order : — 
 
 The Emperor with his military household, and his 
 suite ; 
 
 283 
 
284 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 The four Austrian flags, the first carried by a light- 
 infantry man of the imperial guard and escorted by 
 two soldiers from each regiment of the guard, and 
 the three others by soldiers of the 1st, 3d, and 4th 
 corps ; 
 
 The forty Austrian cannons ; 
 
 Marshal Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Ang^ly, at the 
 head of the infantry of the guard, foot chasseurs, 
 voltigeurs, zouaves, grenadiers, and the foot and 
 mounted artillery ; 
 
 Marshal Baraguey d'Hilliers and the 1st corps ; 
 
 Marshal MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, and the 
 2d; 
 
 Marshal Canrobert and the 3d ; 
 
 Marshal Niel and the 4th. 
 
 The cavalry of the guard were to close the 
 procession. 
 
 The Emperor advances at the head of his army. 
 A truce to party spirit ! There are none but French- 
 men now, joyful, enthusiastic, frenzied in the applause 
 they give to other Frenchmen who are conquerors. 
 Even those who yesterday were blaming the war of 
 Italy, think of nothing to-day but the delight of 
 victory. The crowd is transported, electrified. A 
 cloud of flowers falls from windows and balconies ; 
 the streets are strewn with wreaths. The triumphal 
 procession advances under a rain of roses, over a 
 carpet of foliage. Bouquets are stuck on the points 
 of bayonets ; the horses are loaded with garlands. 
 
THE RETURN OF THE TROOPS 285 
 
 There are persons who force their way through the 
 standing lines, glide up to the soldiers and offer them 
 cigars, tobacco, glasses of beer and wine. 
 
 In order to afford the wounded who are marching 
 a little rest, the Emperor orders a halt of a few 
 minutes near rue Peletier, after which the cortege 
 goes on again. They pass beneath the windows of 
 the Jockey Club, then occupying a house on the 
 boulevard des Italiens, at the corner of rue Gramont. 
 The Marquis de Massa says : " The military element 
 was already numerous in it, some forty of its members 
 having made this short but decisive campaign. Every 
 time one of these passed under the club balcony at 
 the head of his command, he was welcomed with 
 hearty cheers. Among its dead, the club reckoned 
 Colonel Paulze d'lvoy, of the 1st zouaves, killed glo- 
 riously at Marignan; among the severely wounded, 
 Staff-Captain de Champlouis, Count Alfred de 
 Gramont, commander of an infantry battalion, and 
 Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Duke de Liancourt, 
 appointed two years afterwards lieutenant-colonel 
 of the Empress's dragoons. The majority of the 
 members of the Jockey Club were legitimists rather 
 than imperialists, but they were too patriotic not 
 to rejoice over the success of our armies." 
 
 In front of the ministry of Justice, opposite the 
 VendSme column, had been erected a tribune sup- 
 ported by an architectural projection in the Tuscan 
 style, which was intended for the Empress. At 
 a quarter of ten, four gala carriages, preceded by 
 
286 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 outriders in the imperial livery, enter the square. 
 They contain the sovereign, the young Prince, and 
 their suite. Radiant with beauty, the Empress wears 
 a white robe and a black mantle with blue embroid- 
 eries, caught up by a spray of diamonds. The little 
 Prince is in the uniform of the grenadiers of the 
 guard, with a blue and red police helmet. Greeted 
 with universal applause, the mother and child leave 
 the carriage and take their places in the tribune. 
 
 All eyes turn towards rue de la Paix, where the 
 Emperor and his army are to debouch. Presently 
 the hundred-guards, with drums and trumpets, make 
 their appearance between columns surmounted with 
 golden victories. They precede by a few paces 
 the sovereign, who comes forward on a magnificent 
 chestnut horse. He wears the uniform of a general 
 of division with the white-plumed chapeau and 
 broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor. All the 
 spectators are on their feet. An immense cry of: 
 " Long live the Emperor ! " resounds. They are 
 saluting the commander-in-chief as well as the 
 sovereign. 
 
 Napoleon III. halts, still on horseback, under the 
 balcony where the Empress is. The troops are 
 going to march past him. As soon as the Prince 
 Imperial sees them, he rises, draws his little sword 
 out of its scabbard, and brandishing it, salutes them. 
 The infantile gesture is received with a long round 
 of applause. 
 
 Here come the four Austrian standards, borne by 
 
THE RETURN OF THE TROOPS 287 
 
 the soldiers who took them. The crowd respects 
 these noble trophies, defended and seized so bravely. 
 It remembers what was said by Napoleon I., after the 
 battle of Austerlitz: "Honor to unfortunate cour- 
 age ! " And here, the forty Austrian cannons with 
 their teams. Next, after a platoon of sunburnt 
 guides, and preceded by three chaplains, come those 
 of the wounded who have been able to march from 
 Bastille Place. They stretch their legs, trying to 
 keep step. Their mutilate(^ hands can scarcely hold 
 the wreaths and bouquets which the crowd flings at 
 their heads. One pale young ofiBcer has both arms 
 in a sling. These wounded, how pleased the people 
 are to see them marching like this in spite of their 
 sufferings ! How they admire, how they love them ! 
 How they would like to ease their pains ! When 
 they are passing a long murmur of compassion and 
 tenderness can be heard ! For their part, they seem 
 amazed by the ovation they receive. Heroes think 
 nothing more simple and natural than heroism. 
 
 Here comes the commander-in-chief of the imperial 
 guard, Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, who owes 
 his marshal's baton to the battle of Magenta; here 
 are the two divisions of the infantry of the guard : 
 Mellinet, whose grenadiers and zouaves, to the num- 
 ber of four thousand, resisted for more than three 
 hours forty thousand Austrians on the banks of the 
 Naviglio Grande ; Camou, whose voltigeurs and foot 
 chasseurs carried the tower of Solferino and the sur- 
 rounding heights. How beautiful they are, these 
 
288 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 choice troops, and how proud the Emperor must be 
 of his guard! Each of the regiments composing it 
 returns its flag to him as it goes by, the bands play- 
 ing meanwhile at the foot of the column. 
 
 Now comes Baraguey d'Hilliers, marshal since the 
 taking of Bomarsund, who is marching at the head 
 of the 1st corps. Then the 2d corps, with its com- 
 mander-in-chief, MacMahon, whom victory has made 
 marshal of France, and Duke of Magenta ; among his 
 troops, look at the Algerian tirailleurs, the Turcos, 
 marching behind the chaplains, three Catholic priests, 
 respected by them in spite of the difference of reli- 
 gion; here they come in sky-blue uniforms braided 
 with yellow, their types including all the races of 
 northern Africa, from the negro to the Arab ; on their 
 guidons you may see the crescent of Islam and the 
 open hand, that preservative against the evil eye still 
 scuptured on the keystone of the arch of the first 
 door of the Alhambra. 
 
 Here comes Marshal Canrobert, marshal since the 
 Crimean War, with the 3d corps. And here the 4th 
 corps, commanded by Niel, who gained his marshal's 
 baton at Solferino, where his regiments, without ex- 
 ception, fought in a heroic manner throughout the 
 day. 
 
 The march by is about to close. The Prince Im- 
 perial, who had incessantly clapped his hands, is taken 
 down from the tribune by his equerry, M. Bachon, 
 and carried to Napoleon III., who embraces his son 
 and sets him for a few minutes in front of him on the 
 
THE RETURN OF THE TROOPS 289 
 
 saddle, to repeated cries of: "Long live the Em- 
 peror ! Long live the Empress ! Long live the 
 Prince Imperial ! " 
 
 In the evening, the Emperor gives a dinner at the 
 Louvre in honor of the army of Italy, and afterwards 
 makes a speech. His very strong and sonorous voice 
 resounds through the vaulted Hall of States, and not 
 a syllable of his harangue is lost. " Gentlemen," he 
 says, " the joy I feel in meeting again the majority of 
 the leaders of the army of Italy would be complete 
 if it were not mingled with regret because the ele- 
 ments of so well-organized and redoubtable a force 
 are to separate so soon. As sovereign and as com- 
 mander-in-chief, I once more thank you for your con- 
 fidence. It was flattering for me, who had never 
 commanded an army, to find such obedience on the 
 part of those who had had such large experience of 
 war. If success has crowned our efforts, it pleases 
 me to attribute the greater part of it to the skilful 
 and devoted generals who rendered command easy for 
 me, because, animated by the sacred fire, they always 
 set the example of duty and of contempt for death." 
 
 To these simple and modest words, Napoleon III. 
 added : " Part of our soldiers are about returning to 
 their homes ; you yourselves will resume the occupa- 
 tions of peace. But let us not forget what we have 
 done together. May the recollection of obstacles 
 surmounted, of perils averted, of imperfections 
 pointed out, recur often to your memory; for, to 
 every military man, memory is science itself. 
 
290 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 "In commemoration of the Italian campaign, I am 
 going to distribute a medal to all who have taken 
 part in it, and I wish you to be to-day the first to 
 wear it. May it remind you of me sometimes, and 
 in reading the glorious names inscribed upon it, may 
 each say, ' If France has done so much for a friendly 
 people, what will she not do for her independence ? ' " 
 
 The following day, August 15, was the Emperor's 
 fete, and it was celebrated with unparalleled splendor. 
 In addition to the usual religious ceremonies in the 
 churches, there were free spectacles at all the thea- 
 tres, fireworks, and illuminations on a grand scale. 
 Nor were the rejoicings confined to Paris. The 
 Italians still required the assistance of the victor of 
 Solferino, and Milan and Turin united in the cele- 
 bration of his f^te. The advocates of Italian unity 
 were bent on making use of him, with his will or 
 against it, in the realization of their programme, and 
 they were not slow to recognize that in France lay 
 their only safeguard against an offensive return from 
 Austria. Lombards and Piedmontese were as zeal- 
 ous on August 15 as if they had been the subjects 
 of Napoleon III. One might have fancied himself 
 back in the days when his uncle was at once Em- 
 peror of the French and King of Italy. 
 
 On reaching the summit of his fortune. Napoleon 
 III. sought to efface all remaining traces of the civil 
 wars. He remembered the unlucky citizens who 
 were victims of the insurrections of 1848, 1849, and 
 the coup cfEtat of 1851. Eighteen hundred of these 
 
THE RETUBN OF TEE TROOPS 291 I 
 
 were still undergoing such penalties as police surveil- i 
 
 lance, exile or confinement, in the prisons of Algeria 
 and Guiana. The Emperor resolved to restore to 
 liberty and their country even those who were un- i 
 
 willing to ask pardon, and who had irrevocably || 
 
 determined to abate neither their passions nor their 
 grudges. August 16 he signed a decree worded as 
 follows : " Full and complete amnesty is granted to 
 all individuals who have been condemned for politi- 
 cal crimes and misdemeanors, or who have been the 
 object of measures of public security." To judge 
 only by the surface, one might have fancied that all 
 parties in France were reconciled. Unhappily, while 
 the exiled Republicans were coming back from Bel- 
 gium, Switzerland, and England, the doors of the 
 fatherland still remained closed against the princes 
 and princesses of both branches of the Bourbon fam- 
 ily. There were proscripts still. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 TUSCANY 
 
 n^HE war was gloriously ended, but the era of 
 political difficulties was only just begun, and 
 the situation of Italy was still in utter confusion and 
 obscurity. Were the arrangements of Villafrauca to 
 be put into execution, or were they a dead letter? 
 Would there be an Italian Confederation ? Were the 
 sovereigns of central Italy to be restored to their 
 thrones ? Would the Pope preserve the integrity of 
 his States? Were the partisans of Italian unity to 
 be forced to renounce their plans, or would they 
 be found continuing successfully their propaganda ? 
 Would a congress assemble, or would European diplo- 
 macy be left to say the last word ? Such were the 
 questions which presented themselves and which were 
 to cause Napoleon III. the most serious preoccupations. 
 The Emperor has been accused of duplicity with 
 regard to Italian affairs. Still, he may have been 
 sincere in expressing his desire to keep the promises 
 he had made to Francis Joseph. But it was under- 
 stood that the people were not to be forced, and that 
 their right to dispose of their destiny should be re- 
 spected. The dogma of national sovereignty was the 
 basis of the doctrines of Napoleon III., and he was 
 
 292 
 
TUSCANY 293 
 
 resolutely determined to defend it against all comers. 
 This reservation made, he was bound to put no hin- 
 drance in the way of the restoration of the dispos- 
 sessed princes. Italian unity did not enter into his 
 views, and he particularly desired the maintenance 
 of Tuscan autonomy. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel, pretending at first to wish for 
 the scrupulous performance of the stipulations of 
 Villafranca, recalled the four Piedmontese commis- 
 sioners, Buoncampagni, Pallieri, Farini, and d'Aze- 
 glio, from Florence, Parma, Modena, and Bologna. 
 At Florence, the partisans of Piedmont were at first 
 very much alarmed. A grand-ducal restoration 
 seemed impending. There was some disturbance at 
 the Palazzo Vecchio and under the porticos. Gen- 
 eral de La Marmora having sent from the Piedmon- 
 tese camp a hint to Baron Ricasoli that silence and 
 resignation were in order, the latter exclaimed, ad- 
 dressing the bearer of the message : " Tell La Mar- 
 mora that I tore his letter to pieces." But the 
 partisans of Victor Emmanuel soon regained cour- 
 age. It having been rumored that Napoleon III. 
 had said: "The treaty sanctions the restoration of 
 the princes, but not by force," all friends of Pied- 
 mont felt reassured. As to the adherents of the 
 dynasty of Lorraine, they had induced the Grand 
 Duke Leopold to abdicate, July 21, in favor of his 
 son. Prince Ferdinand, who had been the guest of 
 Napoleon III. at Compi^gne, and they hoped he 
 would ascend the Tuscan throne. 
 
294 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 This combination was cordially supported by the 
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Paris. The husband 
 of a Florentine, and formerly minister of France at 
 Florence, Count Walewski was keenly interested in 
 the dynasty of Lorraine and in Tuscan autonomy. 
 July 23, he sent the following telegraphic despatch 
 to the Marquis de Ferri^re-le-Vayer, minister of 
 France at Florence : " The Grand Duke has just 
 abdicated in his son's favor. We all hope that the 
 latter will give a constitution, and perhaps that he 
 will even take the Italian flag. The Emperor thinks 
 the Tuscans, in their own interest, should make 
 haste to assume the initiative in recalling the heredi- 
 tary Grand Duke themselves. Annexation to Pied- 
 mont is an impossibility ; I have reason to believe 
 that the Sardinian government will not delay in 
 making this understood in Florence. Do your ut- 
 most to promote explicitly the intentions of the 
 Emperor." 
 
 The Marquis de Ferriere-le-Vayer desired the 
 maintenance of the Lorraine dynasty as keenly as 
 Count Walewski, but he was under no illusion. He 
 replied by telegraph, July 24 : "I have tried the 
 ground. Impossible to obtain from Tuscany the 
 recall of the young Grand Duke. The revolutionary 
 spring is too tense, and the national -sentiment too 
 much offended. A restoration would be impossible 
 without the presence of French troops, but what a 
 complication ! The hereditary Grand Duke would 
 have had some chance if Prince Napoleon had not 
 
TUSCANY 295 
 
 stopped in Florence, if Tuscany had not been aban- 
 doned two months ago under intimidation from the 
 clubs and the pressure of an annexationist govern- 
 ment, and if the princes had not been in the enemy's 
 camp ; they have no more use for the son than for 
 the father ; they would admit anything rather than 
 the dynasty." 
 
 Tuscan autonomy, if not the dynasty of Lorraine, 
 had numerous partisans still, but they were intimi- 
 dated by a Florentine, Baron Ricasoli, who was 
 more Piedmontese than the Piedmontese themselves. 
 Bearing an illustrious name, and possessing a consid- 
 erable fortune, this democratic noble, a fanatical ad- 
 vocate of Italian unity, was ready to sacrifice all to 
 the triumph of his ideas, and to solicit the aid of the 
 boldest and most advanced revolutionists for their 
 realization. With his rigid countenance, his sharp 
 features, his austere and ardent eloquence, he had 
 the physiognomy and the temperament of a dissenter. 
 He was one of those men whom nothing frightens or 
 discourages, and who, in spite of every obstacle, pur- 
 sue their object with indomitable energy and tena- 
 city. After the departure of M. Buoncompagni, he 
 proclaimed himself president of the Council of min- 
 isters on his own authority, and got into working 
 order a government whose only programme was the 
 annexation of Tuscany to Piedmont. The Marquis 
 de Ferri^re-le-Vayer well knew that such a man 
 would yield to nothing but force. 
 
 The young Grand Duke had hastened to make a 
 
296 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 proclamation to the Tuscans in which he declared 
 that he would adopt the Italian colors, grant a con- 
 stitution, and recognize the rights of the nation. 
 Baron Ricasoli replied by calling the people to arms 
 against the vanquished man of Solferino, as he styled 
 the young Prince. 
 
 The Marquis de Ferri^re-le-Vayer wrote to Count 
 Walewski, July 26 : "To give you an idea of public 
 opinion, I will say that the Marquis Ginori has read 
 me two letters, one from Prince Strozzo, and the 
 other from Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, both 
 of whom, notwithstanding they have always pro- 
 fessed the most monarchical sentiments, now declare 
 that no one should try to bring back the dynasty of 
 Lorraine." This dynasty, therefore, could no longer 
 count on the great families which had so long sup- 
 ported it. The French minister added: "If the 
 means employed are condemnable, the result has 
 none the less been what was desired, the tension of 
 the revolutionary spring and the increase of the an- 
 nexation party, to which the conduct of the arch- 
 dukes, their presence in the Austrian army, and the 
 uncontradicted report of their participation in the 
 battle of Solferino, have added all those who natu- 
 rally dislike to witness the return to Florence of 
 princes who have been fighting in the camp of the 
 enemies of Italy. If there had only been a French 
 battalion at Florence, which was what I expressed a 
 wish for, nothing of this kind would have occurred. 
 Of course the unionists, and the impression produced 
 
TTISGANY 297 
 
 by the regrettable attitude of the archdukes, would 
 still have to be reckoned with ; but there would not 
 have been this general rout of the timid and the un- 
 certain, produced by the peculiar moral state of a 
 society, probably the most impressionable and peace- 
 ful in the world, abandoned without defence to a 
 party which has the revolution for its auxiliary." 
 
 The revolution ! Every day it was making a 
 wholly unimpeded progress. In another despatch, 
 dated August 10, the Marquis de Ferridre-le-Vayer 
 thus expressed himself: "The partisans of the 
 dynasty serve it very little since its fall, after serv- 
 ing it very badly before. They speak of nothing 
 but their alarms, when they might talk about their 
 plans, and come to see me only to ask for passports 
 which I pitilessly refuse. When they tell me they 
 are threatened with imprisonment and being killed, 
 I tell them that a party which keeps quiet under 
 menaces of that sort scarcely deserves attention, and 
 that if some of them should allow themselves to 
 be put to death for their princes it would make their 
 cause more interesting, but they prefer to fold their 
 arms and rely on Austria or France, groaning 
 meanwhile in the privacy of their villas or in the 
 letters they write me, and getting more frightened 
 by words and articles than people anywhere else 
 would be by the bayonets of soldiers or the execu- 
 tioner's axe. Singular country, where thrones are 
 upset with ribbons and music, and where a reign 
 of terror is no longer inaugurated by the guillotine 
 
298 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 but by a newspaper article and three words : Morte 
 ai codini ! charcoaled on a wall ! Singular country, 
 but very soft and very tame to resist the contact 
 of Sardinia without foreign aid ! And yet I think 
 that from the French, the Italian, and the Catholic 
 point of view, reasons of state demand, — especially 
 if we do not have Savoy, — that we should not 
 allow Piedmont to seize Tuscany and arrive at the 
 Pontifical and Neapolitan frontiers, emboldened to 
 dare anything by the success of its policy." 
 
 Count Walewski fancied that persuasion, friendly 
 advice, and semi-ofScial missions might exert some 
 influence. Count Walewski was under a delusion. 
 At intervals of several days he sent two emissaries 
 to Florence, Count de Reiset and Prince Joseph 
 Poniatowski, whose mission it was, as the minister 
 said, to assist in bringing public opinion back to 
 views more in conformity with those of the govern- 
 ment of the Emperor. 
 
 As men of the world, the two messengers were 
 received most courteously in Florence, but, as their 
 mission was merely semi-official, no one affected to 
 attach the slightest diplomatic importance to it. 
 With a politeness slightly sarcastic, they were in- 
 vited to travel through the country, question the 
 inhabitants, test public opinion, and thus enable 
 themselves to estimate the sympathies which the 
 princes of the house of Lorraine had left behind 
 them. 
 
 I knew Prince Joseph Poniatowski. He was 
 
TUSCANY 299 
 
 one of the most amiable and attractive men that 
 I have ever met. An accomplished gentleman, by- 
 turns soldier, diplomat, singer, and composer of 
 music, he had everywhere and always achieved suc- 
 cess. He was the nephew of the celebrated Prince 
 Poniatowski, the hero of the imperial epic, the 
 Polish Bayard who was made marshal of France 
 on the Leipsic battlefield, and was drowned three 
 days afterwards in the river Elster. Like his uncle*. 
 Prince Joseph Poniatowski had served under the 
 banners of France. After distinguishing himself 
 in several Algerian campaigns, he entered Tuscan 
 diplomacy and had been the Grand Duke Leopold's 
 minister at Paris. Then naturalized a Frenchman, 
 he had been made a senator by Napoleon III. at the 
 close of 1854. When, in August, 1859, he arrived 
 at Florence, where he had none but friends, the 
 society man was greeted with great cordiality, but 
 no account was made of the diplomat. And yet to 
 strengthen this mission and increase its chances of 
 success. Count Walewski had written, August 10, 
 to the Marquis de Ferridre-le-Vayer : " The Emperor 
 authorizes you to deliver a copy of a despatch advis- 
 ing the recall of the hereditary Grand Duke, who 
 will give, on his part, all desirable guarantees." 
 
 The next day, August 11, the Tuscan Assembly, 
 convoked by the government of Baron Ricasoli, met 
 at Florence. Out of a population of one million 
 eight hundred thousand souls, Tuscany had sixty- 
 seven thousand electors, forty-five thousand of 
 
300 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 whom had voted. Their choice fell upon the most 
 notable men in the country, without distinction of 
 origin, providing only that they should have signi- 
 fied their intention to reject the Lorraine dynasty. 
 On August 16, its downfall was pronounced by all 
 the members present. Four days later, by a vote 
 which lacked only three of being unanimous, the 
 Assembly decreed the annexation of Tuscany to 
 Piedmont. 
 
 But all was not yet done. It remained to be 
 known whether Victor Emmanuel would accept 
 this vote, and especially whether Napoleon III. and 
 the great powers would permit its realization. 
 
 Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne, minister of France 
 at Turin, wrote to Count Walewski, August 30 : " The 
 unanimous vote of the Tuscan Assembly in favor 
 of annexation to Piedmont, an example which will 
 inevitably be followed by the duchies of Parma and 
 Modena, and the Legations, singularly complicates 
 the situation and greatly embarrasses the government 
 of King Victor Emmanuel. His Majesty's first 
 impulse was flatly to refuse compliance with the 
 vote of the Tuscan Assembly, but this way of con- 
 sidering the question was speedily modified by 
 earnest solicitations, to which ambition and self- 
 love naturally added further weight." 
 
 The Tuscan delegates arrived at Turin, September 
 3. The municipal body and a large number of sena- 
 tors and deputies went to the station to receive them. 
 The four legions of the national guard formed the 
 
TUSCANY 301 
 
 line through which they passed. All the streets 
 were draped with the national colors. The delegates 
 went to the royal palace and formally presented Vic- 
 tor Emmanuel with the minutes of the deliberations 
 of the Assembly. In his reply, the King vaunted the 
 necessity of a strong realm which would assure na- 
 tional independence, and openly expressed his desire 
 to group all the populations of Tuscany under his 
 sceptre. But, having many things to consider, he 
 prudently added: "The realization of my wishes 
 cannot be effected except by means of the nego- 
 tiations which are to take place concerning the 
 affairs of Italy. Strong in the rights conferred on 
 me by your resolution, I shall support your cause 
 with the powers, and above all with the magnani- 
 mous Emperor of the French, who has done so much 
 for the Italian nation. I hope Europe will not refuse 
 to accomplish that reparatory work for Tuscany, 
 which, under less favorable circumstances, she ac- 
 complished not long ago for Greece, Belgium, and 
 the Principalities." 
 
 Two days later, September 5, Prince de La Tour 
 d'Auvergne wrote to Count Walewski : " The form 
 and signification of the King's reply, modified as 
 much as possible in the sense of our observations by 
 the Minister of Foreign Affairs, General Dabormida, 
 have in general obtained the approval of moderate 
 people and those of such of my diplomatic colleagues 
 as I have been able to exchange opinions with ; but 
 the liberal press can hardly conceal its disappoint- 
 
302 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 ment, and I am assured that even the Tuscan dele- 
 gation, in spite of the many marks of sympathy it 
 has received, is far from being satisfied." 
 
 In a word, all was still in suspense. Everybody 
 was wondering what would be decided on by the 
 Congress, the assembling of which was then con- 
 sidered near and inevitable. Napoleon III. had not 
 spoken his last word. All eyes turned towards him. 
 It was perfectly well recognized that he was in real- 
 ity master of the situation. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 PAEMA 
 
 rriHERE was one throne in Italy, that of the 
 Duke of Parma, which Napoleon III. and 
 the Empress Eugenie would have greatly liked 
 to see respected. Born July 9, 1848, the Duke was 
 not quite eleven years old when the war of Italy 
 broke out. His mother, Louise of France, grand- 
 daughter of Charles X., daughter of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Berry, widow of Duke Charles III., had 
 governed as regent since March 27, 1854, on which 
 day that Prince had been assassinated. 
 
 In our volume entitled : Last Years of the Duchess 
 of Berry ^ we have spoken at length of this amiable 
 and attractive Princess who had remained so French 
 in mind and heart. She was born September 21, 1819, 
 a year before her brother, the Count of Chambord. 
 Old residents of Paris remembered seeing her as a 
 child, when she was called Mademoiselle and attracted 
 all eyes by her prettiness. Napoleon III., who like- 
 wise felt himself threatened by assassins, had been 
 impressed by the fate of Charles III., and took real 
 interest in a princess who had had a grandfather 
 dethroned, a brother deprived of his heritage, a 
 
 303 
 
304 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 father and a husband assassinated. The Empress 
 Eugenie, possibly foreboding that she might have 
 to exercise the regency under painful circumstances, 
 felt the sympathy of a woman and a sovereign for 
 the Duchess. She admired her virtues, her intelli- 
 gence, and her courage. The ministers of France in 
 Tuscany were likewise accredited to Parma, and 
 none of them had anything but praise for the regent, 
 whose government, as was said by Lord Clarendon, 
 "was a mild, moderate power, characterized by in- 
 dulgence and good sense." The Empress Eugenie 
 interested herself in the Princess, at first through 
 generosity of feeling, and then because she compre- 
 hended what the gratitude of the French legitimists 
 would be if the Emperor should lend his support to 
 the sister of the Count of Chambord. 
 
 Moreover, the policy of the Duchess of Parma 
 was in conformity with the views of Napoleon III. 
 What she desired in Italy was the establishment of 
 a Confederation independent of all foreign influence. 
 Since she had been regent she had sought every 
 occasion of being agreeable to France and its sover- 
 eign. She had been complained of more than once 
 at Vienna for being too liberal, too French, and too 
 Italian. 
 
 June 9, 1859, when the Duchess quitted Parma, 
 never to see it again, her departure was full of dig- 
 nity, as all her regency had been. After bidding her 
 people and her soldiers a noble and affecting fare- 
 well, she quietly left her palace in a carriage, as if 
 
PABMA 305 
 
 she were going on an ordinary excursion, and de- 
 parted, saluted and respected by all. 
 
 A few days later, — June 23, — a secretary of the 
 French legation, Count de Mosbourg, who had just 
 been through central Italy to get an idea of the 
 situation, wrote to Count Walewski : "Arriving June 
 17, at Milan, I left there on the 20th , for Plaisance 
 and Parma. The population had a sincere liking for 
 the Duchess. I was easily convinced of this by the 
 manner in which they speak of her in this country 
 which has not driven her away, but which she has 
 quitted, terminating her government by acts whose 
 wisdom and moderation are praised by everybody. 
 The Duchess of Parma went away leaving a million 
 and a half in the State treasury, and without taking 
 with her a single one of the objects, even the most 
 personal, which filled the elegant palace in which 
 she lived. She departed, leaving numerous and keen 
 regrets, and surrounded as she went by marks of 
 affection and esteem. Chance has permitted me to 
 collect some interesting details of her journey. She 
 stopped at Verona, where the Emperor of Austria 
 called upon and spent several minutes alone with 
 her. Immediately after this visit she wished to go 
 on, and as no train was near, she declared to her 
 suite that she would not spend the night in Verona, 
 and took a special train to continue her route. This 
 detail I have from a Spanish diplomat who was 
 my colleague at Vienna, and who accompanied the 
 Duchess as far as Switzerland." 
 
306 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 In the same report, Count de Mosbourg remarked 
 that, unlike the Duchess of Parma, the Duke of 
 Modena had taken all he could possibly carry ; leav- 
 ing nothing behind but the four walls of his palace, 
 and bringing fifty political prisoners in his suite to 
 Mantua. 
 
 The attitude of the Duke of Modena and that of 
 the Duchess of Parma were completely different. 
 The Duke established himself on Austrian terri- 
 tory ; the Duchess took refuge in Switzerland. The 
 Duke sought to draw more close the already binding 
 ties which united his duchy to Austria ; the Duchess 
 would have liked that of her son to be entirely inde- 
 pendent. This was why the Emperor Francis Joseph, 
 who took such pains to plead the cause of his rela- 
 tives, the Grand-Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of 
 Modena, did not concern himself with Parma, and 
 passed over in silence the young sovereign of that 
 duchy. 
 
 The Duchess Regent might have hoped to find 
 Victor Emmanuel favorably disposed towards her. 
 Brought up with the King, Duke Charles III., 
 her husband, had spent his youth at Turin and 
 served in the Piedmontese army. She herself was 
 closely connected with the King's wife, Queen Ade- 
 laide, Archduchess of Austria, who died in January, 
 1855. But the Duchess of Parma was soon to recog- 
 nize that politics has no pity on the widow and the 
 orphan. 
 
 Meanwhile, the unhappy mother relied on France, 
 
 _i 
 
PARMA 307 
 
 and perhaps more still on Russia. The Duke of 
 Montebello, ambassador of Napoleon III. at Saint 
 Petersburg, had written to Count Walewski, July 29 : 
 " The fate of the duchy of Parma, not mentioned in the 
 preliminaries of Villafranca, greatly preoccupies the 
 cabinet of Saint Petersburg. The Duchess of Parma 
 has written to the Emperor of Russia recommending 
 to him the cause of her son. Prince Gortchakoff has 
 no doubt that the sovereignty of the young Prince 
 will be maintained. He has told me that he knows 
 the Emperor to be most favorably disposed towards 
 him. He thinks, also, that Europe could not recog- 
 nize the right of the belligerent powers to dispose 
 of an Italian sovereignty." 
 
 Meanwhile the Piedmontese government had de- 
 cided to consider the sympathies which Napoleon III. 
 and Alexander II. might express in favor of the 
 young Duke of Parma as null and void. As early 
 as June 16 it had appointed M. Pallieri governor of 
 the duchy in the name of King Victor Emmanuel, and 
 M. Pallieri did at Parma what Baron Ricasoli and 
 M. Farini were doing in Florence and Modena. As the 
 preliminaries of Villafranca made no mention of the 
 Parmesan duchy, it seemed to be believed at Turin 
 that this silence signified annexation. Count Cavour 
 telegraphed to M. Pallieri July 13 : " Parma must 
 remain annexed to Sardinia. Have the oath to the 
 king taken, and act with the greatest energy." But 
 Cavour having resigned, the Piedmontese govern- 
 ment, not yet daring to throw off the mask, was 
 
308 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 obliged to take down the escutcheon of Savoy from 
 the public buildings of Parma and recall M. Pallieri 
 to Turin. Before departing, under pretext of main- 
 taining order, the latter left a substitute in the 
 duchy, M. Manfredi, whose only care was to prepare 
 it for annexation to Sardinia. The sole remaining 
 hope of the Duchess of Parma lay in the Congress. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 MODENA 
 
 "TF Napoleon III. had sympathies for the young 
 Duke of Parma, and especially for his mother, 
 he had none at all for Francis V., Duke of Modena. 
 
 Of all European dynasties the most reactionary, 
 most intransigent, most opposed to the Napoleonic 
 ideas, liberalism, and parliamentary institutions was 
 the dynasty of Modena. It held the Italian and 
 the French tricolor in equal abhorrence. When 
 Francis IV., father of Francis V., ascended the ducal 
 throne in July, 1814, his first care was to abolish 
 the Code Napoleon in his duchy. The Parisian 
 revolution of 1830 had inspired him with boundless 
 wrath and indignation. While the Courts of Turin, 
 Florence, and Naples felt obliged to use circumspec- 
 tion in their dealings with Louis Philippe, the Duke 
 of Modena gloried in defying him, and was the sole 
 European sovereign who refused to recognize the 
 King of the French, whom he persisted in consider- 
 ing a mere usurper. He had offered the Duchess of 
 Berry an asylum in his ducal chateau of Massa, where, 
 surrounded by a little court of the most ardent and 
 fanatical legitimists, she openly prepared the Vendean 
 rising of 1832. 
 
 309 
 
310 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Francis V., who ascended the throne in January, 
 1846, had followed the paternal footsteps in every 
 point. His sister was married to the Count of 
 Chambord ; but the Duke was infinitely more ab- 
 solutist than his brother-in-law, the head of the 
 elder branch of the Bourbons. While all the Courts 
 of Europe were lavish of advances to Napoleon III., 
 he maintained the most frigid and reserved attitude 
 toward the Emperor of the French. He went so far 
 as to refuse to those of his subjects who had served 
 under Napoleon I. the authorization to wear the 
 Saint Helena medal. 
 
 Francis V. felt in honor bound to act under all 
 circumstances as a good archduke, a lieutenant de- 
 voted to the head of his family, the Emperor of 
 Austria, a general of the imperial and royal family. 
 As soon as the war of Italy broke out, he made haste 
 to have Modena and Reggio occupied by the Aus- 
 trians, shutting himself up meanwhile, with a small 
 army on which he thought he might rely, in his 
 fortress of Brescella, whither he had carried, and 
 whence he afterwards transported to Venetia, sixty 
 thousand livres of treasure, the crown jewels, the 
 medals from the museums, and the precious manu- 
 scripts from the libraries. When the news of the 
 battle of Magenta came he no longer considered him- 
 self safe in his fortress, and took refuge on Austrian 
 territory, M. Farini arriving meanwhile at Modena in 
 the capacity of Piedmontese commissioner. 
 
 M. Farini was a pupil of Cavour ; but, coming of 
 
MOBENA 311 
 
 an obscure stock, necessitous even to poverty, an 
 ardent and fanatical sectary, he was further advanced 
 in demagogy than his master. There were few revo- 
 lutionists in Europe as fiery and impetuous as this 
 conspirator, to whom politics was both a passion and 
 a means of livelihood. The news of the preliminaries 
 of Villafranca threw him literally into a fury. " Do 
 not leave me without instructions," he wrote by tele- 
 graph to Count Cavour. " Know that if, in conse- 
 quence of some agreement unknown to me, the Duke 
 makes any attempt, I will treat him as an enemy 
 of the King and the country." When this telegram 
 reached him Cavour had already resigned. He re- 
 plied in a single sentence : " The minister is dead ; 
 the friend applauds your decision." Shortly after- 
 wards M. Farini received his order of recall from the 
 government of Turin. He paid no attention to it, 
 and after taking off his uniform as a Piedmontese 
 commissioner, he went up to the balcony of the Este 
 palace and proclaimed himself dictator before the 
 assembled crowd. 
 
 The Austrians, however, could not easily antici- 
 pate that Napoleon would support in good earnest 
 the cause of a prince whose antecedents and princi- 
 ples were those of the Duke of Modena. To ask 
 that prince to enter into an Italian confederation 
 founded on liberal and parliamentary principles was 
 to ask an impossibility. Posing as a victim of Sol- 
 ferino, he had decided never to come to terms with 
 the conquerors. 
 
312 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 On the other hand, if Napoleon III. had retained 
 no disagreeable memories of Tuscany, where his 
 father and his eldest brother, exiled from France, 
 had received generous hospitality, and where the 
 grand-ducal family had treated them with kindness, 
 it was also true that the duchy of Modena awakened 
 none but unpleasant impressions in his mind. He 
 had not forgotten the apprehensions, the anguish he 
 had endured in passing through the territory with 
 his mother, by means of forged passports, when he 
 was escaping after his lamentable participation in the 
 insurrection of the Romagnas in 1831. Francis IV. 
 had just delivered several Italian patriots to the 
 executioners, and Louis Napoleon, their accomplice, 
 had every reason to fear that if he were recognized 
 and arrested he would share their fate. 
 
 French sympathies seeming so alienated from 
 Francis V., those of the Emperor of Austria should 
 have been inclined to lay greater stress on the rights 
 of a relative who in time of trial had shown him such 
 confidence, devotion, and fidelity. It is even surpris- 
 ing that Francis Joseph was not more persistent in 
 supporting a sovereign in whom he found rather a 
 subject than an ally. 
 
 If the Emperor had been as hardy a conservative 
 as M. Farini was a revolutionist, he would have as- 
 sisted the Duke of Modena to equip several trusty 
 foreign regiments by whose means he might have 
 regained his duchy. M. Farini acted rashly in brav- 
 ing this Prince, for Francis V. kept close to the 
 
MOBENA 313 
 
 frontier, anxiously awaiting an opportunity to re- 
 enter his dominions, and relying on the assistance 
 of Austria ; but Austria lent him no assistance. 
 
 Possibly the Emperor Francis Joseph believed that 
 the French troops left in Lombardy would oppose all 
 attempts at restoration. Still, it was not certain that 
 Napoleon III., once more very peacefully inclined, 
 would incur the risk of renewing war in order to 
 maintain the dictatorship of M. Farini. The latter, 
 finding that he could tranquilly continue his work, 
 convoked an assembly at Modena, which decreed the 
 downfall of the Duke and annexation to Sardinia by 
 a unanimous vote on the 16th of August. 
 
 Napoleon III. did not in the least desire the resto- 
 ration of Francis V., but he recommended the pres- 
 ervation of Modenese autonomy. There was even 
 question for a moment of annexing the dominions 
 of the Duke of Parma to Sardinia, and giving tlie 
 duchy of Modena to the young sovereign by way of 
 compensation. Such an arrangement had very little 
 chance of success. Austria might think, in fact, 
 that nothing could be more contrary to its legitimist 
 principles than such a substitution. In accepting it 
 for her son would not the Duchess Regent have made 
 herself jointly responsible for the Piedmontese usur- 
 pations and placed revolutionary right above divine 
 right. Although the Duchess of Parma was the 
 sister of the Count of Chambord, she could not for- 
 get that this Prince was the brother-in-law of the 
 Duke of Modena. Moreover, she remembered all 
 
314 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the services rendered to her mother, the Duchess of 
 Berry, by the father of the Duke, Francis IV. The 
 combination could not succeed ; it was soon aban- 
 doned, and M. Farini, more audacious than before, 
 encountered no further obstacles on his path. 
 
XLI 
 
 THE ROMAGNAS 
 
 ^nHE name of Romagnas is given to those terri- 
 tories in the States of the Church comprising 
 the six Legations : Velletri, Urbino-and-Pesaro, Forli, 
 Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara. At the time when war 
 broke out, Rome was occupied by a French corps, 
 and the Austrians were garrisoned in the Romagnas. 
 The States of the Church were a neutral ground 
 where the Austrian, French, and Piedmontese armies 
 were not to enter into contest. Throughout the 
 duration of the war, no manifestation or trouble of 
 any kind occurred in the Eternal City. Order was 
 maintained under the shadow of the flag of France, 
 and Pius IX. had absolutely nothing to fear. The 
 Romagnas would also have remained tranquil had 
 the Austrians continued to occupy them, as was 
 their undoubted right. 
 
 Napoleon III. has often been accused of being the 
 author of the annexation of the Romagnas to the 
 kingdom of Victor Emmanuel. He certainly did 
 contribute to it; but we believe the Emperor of 
 Austria possibly contributed still more. In causing 
 his troops to evacuate the six Legations, June 11-12, 
 
 315 
 
316 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 which he was not in the least obliged to do, he left 
 the ground open to the revolution and put an end 
 himself to Austrian influence, not simply in the 
 States of the Church but throughout central Italy. 
 It was evident, in fact, that if the Pope lost the 
 Romagnas, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Duke 
 of Parma, and the Duke of Modena would be 
 dispossessed. 
 
 IsTo sooner had the Austrian troops evacuated 
 Bologna than the pontifical escutcheons were torn 
 down, and a junta in which figured the Marquis 
 Joachim Pepoli, grandson of Murat and cousin of 
 Napoleon III., proclaimed the dictatorship of Victor 
 Emmanuel. Imola, Faenza, Ferrara, and Ravenna 
 followed the example of Bologna, and the Pope lost 
 all the Romagnas. He never regained them. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel did not dare at first to assume 
 the dictatorship. He contented himself with resort- 
 ing to an expedient, appointing as commissioner the 
 Marquis d'Azeglio, who in 1845 had published the 
 famous brochure entitled, I Cast delle Romagne. 
 The King felt obliged to recall him after the pre- 
 liminaries of Villafranca. But this recall was only 
 a feint. Instead of concentrating his troops for the 
 evacuation, as his official instructions prescribed, M. 
 d'Azeglio divided them among the former Austrian 
 garrisons, occupied Bologna in force, and then dele- 
 gated his powers to his chief of staff. Colonel Falicon, 
 who governed in his room and stead. On returning 
 to Turin he said to the King : " Sire, I have disobeyed 
 
THE EOMAGNAS 317 
 
 Your Majesty. Have me brouglit before a council of 
 war ! " Victor Emmanuel replied, " You have done 
 very well." In spite of the contrary advice of Napo- 
 leon III., the Piedmontese troops were maintained at 
 Bologna, and the King's minister of finances, by large 
 and secretly granted subsidies, enabled the Romagnol 
 authorities to provide for public services. This as- 
 sistance, denied at first, was afterwards openly pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 However, the Emperor of Austria and the Em- 
 peror of the French had declared that the Pope 
 would be the honorary president of the Italian Con- 
 federation, and people were wondering what would 
 be the practical result of such a combination. It is 
 permissible to believe that if the chair of Saint Peter 
 had then been occupied by a diplomatist as skilful 
 as Leo XIII., the Holy See, placing itself frankly at 
 the head of the Confederation, might possibly have 
 overcome the political difficulties and saved the whole 
 of its temporal power. But Pius IX., disgusted with 
 liberal ideas by bitter experience, considered the title 
 of honorary president of a Confederation a snare, and 
 made no effort to enter into the views of Napoleon 
 III. Influences opposed to France, and especially to 
 the Emperor, were in the ascendant at Rome, and 
 rendered all agreement impossible, to the great dis- 
 tress of a Catholic so fervent as the Empress Eugenie. 
 
 Pius IX. was displeased with Napoleon III. for hav- 
 ing demanded of Francis Joseph, at the interview of 
 Villafranca, the administrative separation of the Lega- 
 
318 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 tions from the States of the Church. He was equally 
 displeased at his giving the epithet of honorary, — 
 which Francis Joseph had also wished to suppress, — 
 to the presidency of the Italian Confederation, and 
 he concluded that this honorariat was merely a flat- 
 tering appearance which cloaked evil designs. Yet 
 it may be affirmed that Napoleon III., averse to Ital- 
 ian unity, desired in principle the maintenance of the 
 pontifical power. But, on the other hand, he was 
 convinced that Pius IX. could not keep possession of 
 the Romagnas without secularizing the government. 
 
 Count de Sainte-Aulaire, Louis Philippe's ambas- 
 sador at Rome, had criticised as follows the situation 
 of these territories in a despatch dated March 6, 
 1831 : " Withdrawn from pontifical authority for 
 nearly twenty years, the Legations found themselves 
 under a government based upon the great principles 
 of modern civilization. The Vienna Congress re- 
 placed them under Roman domination. An enlight- 
 ened policy would have taken account of the situation 
 which had lasted for so considerable a space of time, 
 and circumspectly granted institutions which should 
 resemble as closely as possible those they had just 
 lost. Far from this, they were not even granted the 
 privileges they had been enjoying down to 1797. In 
 1828, the French government, in the instructions 
 given to M. de Chateaubriand, pointed out the dan- 
 gers of such a fatal system in energetic terms." 
 
 In the question of the Romagnas Napoleon III. was 
 hampered by his youthful antecedents. Although 
 
THE BOMAGNAS 319 
 
 not literally affiliated to the sect of the Carbonari, he 
 had shared in 1831 the passions of the Italian patriots, 
 and taken part in the insurrection of the Roraagnas. 
 But he could say that even then, what he had desired 
 was not the suppression of the power of the popes, 
 but the secularization of their government. What he 
 aimed at was a reforming and anti-Austrian papacy 
 which should place itself at the head of ideas of 
 emancipation. Such was likewise the idea of his 
 mother, Queen Hortense, who wrote in 1831 : " If 
 the Pope were capable of making suitable conces- 
 sions, he would be the leader of all Italy to-morrow. 
 He might possibly dictate the laws in Europe, and 
 restore to religion, allied to liberty, the splendor it 
 had of old." 
 
 Napoleon III. was still cherishing this dream when 
 in 1859 he tried to place the Italian Confederation 
 under the invocation, so to say, of the Sovereign Pon- 
 tiff. But the scheme was purely chimerical, and Pius 
 IX. absolutely refused to secularize the whole or any 
 part of his States. 
 
 On the other hand, the Emperor had not changed 
 in any way the ideas expressed by him in a letter, 
 written August 18, 1849, to his orderly officer. Colonel 
 Edgard Ney, who formed part of the Roman expedi- 
 tion : " The French Republic has not sent an army to 
 Rome to stifle Italian liberty, but on the contrary to 
 regulate by preserving it from its own excesses, and 
 to give it a stable foundation by restoring to the 
 pontifical throne the Prince who was the first to place 
 
320 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 himself boldly at the head of all useful reforms. . . . 
 I summarize as follows the re-establishment of the 
 Pope's temporal power: general amity. Seculariza- 
 tion of the administration. The Code Napoleon and 
 a liberal government." The conclusion of this famous 
 letter ran as follows: "When our armies made the 
 tour of Europe, they left everywhere, in token of 
 their passage, destruction of the abuses of feudality 
 and the germs of liberty ; it shall not be said that in 
 1849 a French army could have acted in a contrary 
 sense and to bring about different results." Ten 
 years later, the Emperor had absolutely the same 
 programme as the President of the French Republic. 
 The divergency of views existing between Pius IX. 
 and Napoleon III. could not be other than favorable 
 to the progress of the revolution in the Romagnas. 
 The principal act of Colonel Falicon's government 
 was to put the Code Napoleon in force. After hav- 
 ing emitted a national loan of six million lira and 
 created a court of accounts, he retired August 1, and 
 a man who was supposed to enjoy the Emperor's 
 good will, M. Cipriani, was made governor-general. 
 He decreed equality of religious, civil, and political 
 rights. August 6, the electors were summoned to 
 the colleges. The Assembly was opened September 1. 
 Among its one hundred and twenty-four members 
 were two princes, seven marquises, thirty counts, three 
 knights, twenty-seven physicians, seventeen lawyers, 
 twelve professors, and three military men, the rest 
 being merchants or men of independent means. 
 
 J 
 
THE BOMAGNAS 321 
 
 Hence the aristocracy constituted nearly half of this 
 Assembly. Nevertheless, it cast one hundred and 
 twenty-one votes in favor of deposing the govern- 
 ment of the Holy See and annexing the Romagnas 
 to Sardinia. 
 
 People wondered anxiously whether Victor Em- 
 manuel would dare to accept this annexation. 
 September 15, deputations from Parma and Modena 
 came to notify him of the annexationist votes cast 
 by the Assemblies of those two duchies. Count 
 San Vitali was at the head of the Parmesan depu- 
 tation, and the celebrated composer Verdi among 
 its members. Counsellor Muratori led the deputies 
 of Modena. The King's reply to the two addresses 
 produced very little sensation, because it scarcely 
 differed from that given to the Tuscan deputation. 
 Great anxiety was felt, however, as to what he would 
 say to the Romagnols. He received them at Monza, 
 September 24 : "I am grateful," said he, " for the 
 wishes formed by the inhabitants of the Romagnas, 
 of which you are the interpreters. As a Catholic 
 Prince I shall always preserve the most profound 
 and unalterable respect for the supreme hierarchy 
 of the Church. As an Italian Prince I must re- 
 member that Europe, considering that the existing 
 condition of the Romagnas demands prompt and 
 efficacious measures, has contracted formal obliga- 
 tions with your country. I welcome these desires, 
 and, strong in the rights conferred upon me, I will 
 maintain your cause before the great powers. Con- 
 
322 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 fide in their justice, coiiiide in the generous patriot- 
 ism of the Emperor, who will complete the great 
 work of reparation which he has so powerfully 
 begun, and which will assure to him the gratitude 
 of Italy. Europe will recognize that it is a common 
 interest and duty to prevent disorder by granting 
 satisfaction to the legitimate desires of peoples." 
 Hence Victor Emmanuel admitted that it belonged 
 to Europe to settle the question beyond appeal. 
 
 Two days later. Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne 
 wrote to Count Walewski : " The deputation from 
 the Romagnas, guided doubtless by the advice of 
 General Dabormida, has refused the invitation of 
 the municipality of Turin to visit that capital before 
 returning to Bologna. It seems they have also 
 given up the notion of going to France to present 
 the Emperor with the vote of the Bolognese 
 Assembly. They will confine themselves to send- 
 ing a person to the Emperor who will submit the 
 result of the deliberations of that Assembly to His 
 Majesty in an entirely private manner. General 
 Dabormida has expressed to me his satisfaction in 
 having succeeded in dissuading the Romagnese 
 envoys from a proceeding which would have caused 
 too great a commotion and certainly have given 
 rise, under existing circumstances, to unpleasant 
 interpretations." 
 
 Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon III. had already 
 a presentiment of the difficulties of every kind 
 which would be created for them by the Roman 
 
THE BOM AG N AS 323 
 
 question. They were well aware that it would be 
 difficult, if not impossible, to solve the problems 
 presented by this most difficult of subjects from 
 the religious, political, and social points of view. 
 To both of them the controversies and passions it 
 excited must have been a perpetual cause of sadness 
 and preoccupation. Throughout the entire reign 
 of the two monarchs there was not one hour in 
 which the affairs of Rome did not nourish and 
 maintain a troubled condition of interests and con- 
 sciences which, after thirty-nine years, is existing 
 still. 
 
CHAPTER XLII 
 
 SAINT-SAUVETTR 
 
 "VTAPOLEON III. did not allow tlie flatteries 
 -^ of his courtiers to make him lose his head. 
 The ovations awarded him and his troops had not 
 cast into oblivion either the horrible side that war 
 presents even to the conquerors, or the almost 
 insoluble problems raised by recent events. His 
 humanitarian sentiments had suggested more than 
 one painful reflection. His imagination continued 
 to be haunted by the scenes of carnage he had 
 witnessed, and he began to be doubtful of the 
 gratitude of Italy. His moral lassitude was greater 
 than his physical fatigue. He needed repose and 
 self-concentration and wished to meditate in peace 
 upon the difiicult questions which Providence had 
 made it incumbent on him to study. He thought 
 that mountain air would be good, not merely for 
 him but for the Empress, who had also experienced 
 many emotions, and he resolved to spend some 
 weeks in the Pyrenees, first at Saint-Sauveur and 
 afterwards at Biarritz. 
 
 Saint-Sauveur is a very tiny village in the depart- 
 ment of the Upper Pyrenees. It consists of a single 
 
 324 
 
SAINT- SAUVEUB 325 
 
 street ascending the slope of the Som de Laze, above 
 the gorge in which boil the waters of the mountain 
 stream of Gavarnie. Here the sovereigns lived as 
 private persons, enjoying the beauties of nature and 
 making daily excursions in the vicinity. Neverthe- 
 less Napoleon III. sought in vain to escape from his 
 absorbing preoccupations. While at Saint-Sauveur 
 he received, at an interval of a few days, two visits 
 which disturbed him. One of these was from Count 
 Arese, the other from Prince Metternich, the first 
 being the advocate of the Italian cause, the second 
 of that of Austria, and it was not an easy task to be 
 agreeable to both. The Emperor contrived to dis- 
 courage neither. 
 
 To Napoleon III. Count Arese had been a youthful 
 companion, a friend in exile, and a courtier in mis- 
 fortune. This great Milanese noble, who asked 
 nothing for himself but all for Italy, had given Louis 
 Bonaparte proofs of loyalty which Napoleon III. by 
 no means forgot. In 1836, the Prince being trans- 
 ported to the United States after the fiasco of Stras- 
 burg, Arese had gone to Liverpool in all haste, 
 taken ship, and, unknown to the Prince, had reached 
 America before him, so that on landing the first 
 countenance the Prince beheld was that of a friend. 
 
 The Italian cause could have no better advocate 
 than Count Arese. As early as July he had written 
 to the Emperor : " Sire, authorized and encouraged 
 by your kindness, I come to rob you of a few mo- 
 ments and speak to you as unreservedly as in the 
 
326 FRANCE ANB ITALY 
 
 days of Arenenberg and New York. In the first 
 place, I want to be reassured concerning your health 
 after such fatigue of body and mind, and also about 
 that of the Empress, whose affection has made her a 
 sharer in all the chances of the campaign." Count 
 Arese tried as follows to prove that Italy would not 
 be ungrateful : " Rely on my frankness, with which 
 you are well acquainted. After the first astonish- 
 ment felt by all on hearing of the unexpected peace 
 which mutilated so many brilliant hopes, people 
 have made an evident return to the reality of the 
 situation and comprehended all you have done, all 
 that you may still do for this unhappy Italy, which 
 since your early youth has counted you among its 
 most sincere and devoted friends. ... I adjure you, 
 Sire, take our cause into your own hands and it will 
 succeed. You will acquire new glory, and new 
 titles to the admiration and gratitude of Italy and 
 of posterity." 
 
 The Empress was greatly attached to Count Arese, 
 but he found it more difficult to convince her than 
 her husband. Not yet knowing that he was coming 
 to Saint-Sauveur, she had written him, August 26 : 
 " I am trying as hard as I can to become an Italian. 
 . . . Are you not afraid of convincing Europe that 
 the r61e of redeemer is the trade of fools ? . . . The 
 Emperor himself has been for an instant against the 
 sentiment of his own country, and he has been obliged 
 to revive the sentiment of generosity and glory in 
 order to make this country, fatigued already by the 
 
SAINT- SAUVEUE 327 
 
 hard trials it has undergone, accept a struggle in 
 which all it had to expect was gratitude, and in which 
 a reverse might have proved a cruel blow." 
 
 Count Arese arrived at Saint-Sauveur August 30. 
 The chief object of his mission was the reply which 
 Victor Emmanuel would have to make to the Tuscan 
 delegates. He tried to prove that the annexations 
 of central Italy were inevitable, and he went away 
 the bearer of certain encouragements, if not of prom- 
 ises. But he had scarcely quitted Saint-Sauveur 
 when Prince Metternich arrived as the envoy of the 
 Emperor Francis Joseph, and strongly insisted on 
 the maintenance of the arrangements of Villafranca, 
 adding that any derogation from them would result 
 in an indefinite adjournment of his master's generous 
 intentions relative to Venetia. 
 
 Greatly embarrassed. Napoleon III. hesitated be- 
 tween the two roads that he might take. Septem- 
 ber 5 he wrote to Count Arese : " My dear Arese, 
 since your departure I have seen Prince Metternich. 
 I was very well satisfied with his conversation, and I 
 wish to tell you the result in confidence, so that you 
 can impart it to the King. However, I must repeat, 
 it is necessary that it should remain very confidential 
 for the present. 
 
 " I think that if Tuscany recalled the Grand Duke 
 we might reunite Parma and Plaisance to Piedmont, 
 place the Duchess of Parma at Modena, and obtain 
 for the Venetians an Italian administration, an Italian 
 army, and a provincial council. The Austrians, as a 
 
328 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 result, would be relegated to the other side of the 
 Alps. Such advantages deserve, I think, to be ex- 
 amined ; this is why I have written the King to be 
 very prudent in his language to the Tuscan deputa- 
 tion. I saw the deputation from Modena to-day. I 
 spoke to them in that sense. I hope that as a final 
 result the peace of Villafranca will have enfranchised 
 Italy. It is my dearest wish. I am getting up an 
 article for the Mo7iiteur which will explain clearly, I 
 hope, the motives of my conduct." 
 
 This article, which appeared in the Moniteur of 
 September 9, is very curious. It proves that Napo- 
 leon III. had been sincere in signing the treaty of 
 Villafranca, and that he continued to aim at the 
 establishment of the Italian Confederation, in which 
 Venetia would form a part. The Emperor thus ex- 
 pressed himself in the article, his personal work: 
 " If the treaty were sincerely executed, Austria 
 would no longer be a power inimical to the Penin- 
 sula, opposing all the national aspirations from 
 Parma to Rome, and from Florence to Naples ; but 
 would, on the contrary, become a friendly power, 
 having consented of its own free will to cease to be 
 a German power on this side of the Alps, and to 
 develop Italian nationality as far as the shores of the 
 Adriatic." 
 
 The note, after blaming the men who, " more pre- 
 occupied with small and partial successes than with 
 the future of the common country," were hindering 
 the consequences of the treaty of Villafranca, went 
 
SAINT-SAUVEUR 329 
 
 on to say : " What could be simpler and more patri- 
 otic than to say to Austria : ' You desire the return 
 of the archdukes ? Well, have it so ! But then you 
 must loyally carry out your promises concerning 
 Venetia. Let her receive a life of her own ; let her 
 have an Italian army and administration ; in a Avord, 
 let the Emperor of Austria be simply the Grand 
 Duke of Venetia, just as the King of the Low Coun- 
 tries is only the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.' The 
 French government has declared that the archdukes 
 shall not be restored to their dominions by force 
 of arms, but if a part of the conditions of the peace 
 of Villafranca remains unexecuted, the Emperor of 
 Austria will think himself discharged from all the 
 pledges given in favor of Venetia. Disturbed by 
 hostile demonstrations on the right bank of the Po, 
 he will remain in a state of war on the left bank, 
 and we shall find a policy of distrust and hatred re- 
 viving, which will bring about new troubles and mis- 
 fortunes." 
 
 Broaching afterwards the question of the Congress, 
 the author thus expressed himself : " People seem 
 to hope much from a European Congress ; we also 
 heartily desire it ; but we greatly doubt whether a 
 Congress could obtain better conditions for Italy. 
 A Congress will only demand what is just, and would 
 it be just to ask a great power for important conces- 
 sions without offering it equitable concessions in ex- 
 change ? The only means would be war ; but Italy 
 must not deceive herself, France is the only power in 
 
830 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 Europe which makes war for an idea, and France 
 has fulfilled her task." 
 
 The victor of Magenta and Solferino seemed to 
 doubt sometimes the results of his victories. The 
 note we have just reproduced gives an inkling of the 
 perplexities and anxieties which preoccupied him 
 during his stay at Saint-Sauveur. This document, 
 stamped to the utmost with the impress of his style 
 and character, allows one to read a sentiment of sad- 
 ness and almost of discouragement between its lines. 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XLIII 
 
 BIAERITZ AND BORDEAUX 
 
 ^T^HE Emperor and Empress left Saiiit-Sauveur, 
 September 12, spent the night at Tarbes, and 
 arrived the 13th at Biarritz, where they gladly found 
 the Prince Imperial. September 18th they received 
 the King of the Belgians and the Grand Duke of 
 Oldenburg in their villa, as well as many foreigners 
 of distinction, Russian and Spanish. The 19th they 
 made an excursion on board the Aig/le, a new impe- 
 rial yacht constructed with all the modern improve- 
 ments. They landed towards six o'clock at Cape 
 Breton, where the population came en masse to thank 
 the sovereign for the improvements he had ordered 
 and which would ensure the future of the port. 
 
 Their stay at Biarritz gave great pleasure to Their 
 Majesties, who had been there already in 1857. But 
 the Emperor continued to be disturbed by Italian 
 affairs. He was dissatisfied with the obstacles op- 
 posed by the Piedmontese government to the execu- 
 tion of the treaty of Villafranca, and it vexed him to 
 find that government apparently resolved not merely 
 to annex central Italy but to refuse, as a compensa- 
 tion in this hypothesis, to annex Savoy and Nice to 
 
 331 
 
332 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 France. Napoleon III. did not conceal from Count 
 Arese the painful impression produced on him by 
 such a state of things. He sent him from Biarritz 
 the following letter, dated October 3 : " I write you 
 to-day to communicate one of the many reports I am 
 receiving from Italy, all of which denote the lack of 
 firmness in the Piedmontese government. A people 
 is not regenerated with lanterns and flowers ; that 
 demands firmness and justice. How do you explain 
 the fact that the government, so patient when France 
 and its chief are insulted, is so decided in Savoy 
 against the press when it asks for annexation to 
 France ? I beg you to remonstrate seriously with 
 the ministry. I shall soon write to the King on the 
 subject of the great affairs which must be brought to 
 a conclusion." 
 
 The next day, October 4, a second letter, still 
 more severe : " My dear Arese, I write you again to- 
 day to communicate another note which I have re- 
 ceived from Milan. I repeat that it pains me to see 
 the heedlessness of the Sardinian government, be- 
 cause it must necessarily lead to a coolness between 
 us, and I say it to you without presumption, but there 
 is not a soul here except myself who is devoted to 
 the Italian cause. 
 
 " The Sardinian government cannot allege its im- 
 potence where the press is concerned, since in Savoy 
 it is quite able to suppress the journals which do not 
 agree with it. 
 
 " It is sad to think that while I am constantly 
 
BIARRITZ AND BORDEAUX 333 
 
 laboring here in favor of Piedmont, they allow me to 
 be insulted in every way on the other side of the 
 Alps." 
 
 Napoleon III. was not better pleased with Rome 
 than with Turin. The Pope declared that he would 
 not hear of an Italian Confederation so long as he 
 remained dispossessed of the Romagnas, and relations 
 between the Vatican and the French government 
 were becoming still more strained. On his return 
 from Biarritz, the Emperor stopped at Bordeaux, 
 where the discourses exchanged between him and 
 the Cardinal-archbishop of the city brought into clear 
 light all the difficulties of the question. 
 
 Their Majesties arrived at Bordeaux with the 
 Prince Imperial, October 10. In spite of the bad 
 weather, the inhabitants of the city and the surround- 
 ing country thronged around them with hearty ac- 
 clamations. The next day, the Emperor received the 
 authorities. The Cardinal-archbishop, Mgr. Donnet, 
 a prelate very popular in his diocese and in great 
 favor at the Tuileries, delivered an address which 
 attested the fears of the Catholic world even while 
 expressing profound loyalty to the sovereign. 
 
 " Sire," said the Cardinal, " eight years ago, when 
 the city of Bordeaux welcomed you with such en- 
 thusiasm that the arches of our old basilica shook 
 with the acclamations of the crowd, my priests and 
 I beheld with joy what seemed to us like the bap- 
 tism of the new Empire. At that time we prayed 
 for him who had arrested the ever rising flood of the 
 
334 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 revolution, who had renewed the aureole of honor 
 on the forehead of the Church and her clergy of 
 which others had sought to deprive them, and who 
 had inaugurated his great destiny by restoring to the 
 Vicar of Jesus Christ his city, his people, and the in- 
 tegrity of his dominions. To-day we are still pray- 
 ing, Sire, that God may furnish you with the means, 
 as He has given you the will, to remain faithful to 
 this Christian policy which calls blessings on your 
 name, and which is perhaps the secret of the pros- 
 perity and the source of the glories of your reign. 
 We pray with a persistent confidence, a hope which 
 deplorable events and brutal sacrileges cannot dis- 
 courage, and the motive of this hope whose realiza- 
 tion now seems so difficult, after God, is you. Sire, 
 who have been, and who still wish to be, the eldest 
 son of the Church, who have uttered these memo- 
 rable words : ' The temporal sovereignty of the head 
 of the Church is bound up with the splendor of 
 Catholicism, as with the liberty and independence of 
 Italy.' " 
 
 In concluding, the Cardinal entreated the Emperor 
 to assure the triumph of Christ in the person of His 
 Vicar, and added that " this triumph would put an 
 end to the anxieties of the Catholic world, who would 
 salute him with transport." 
 
 Napoleon III. replied: "I thank Your Eminence 
 for the sentiments you have just expressed. You 
 render justice to my sentiments, yet without mis- 
 understanding the difficulties which hamper them. 
 
BIABEITZ AND BORDEAUX 335 
 
 and you seem to me to comprehend your lofty mis- 
 sion well when you seek to strengthen confidence 
 rather than to spread alarms. I thank you for recall- 
 ing my words, for it is my firm hope that a new era 
 of glory for the Church will begin on the day when 
 the whole world shares my conviction that the tem- 
 poral power of the Holy Father is not opposed to the 
 independence of Italy." 
 
 After this optimistic beginning, the response of 
 the Emperor left an opening for the greatest fears. 
 "The Holy Father," said he, "has reason to be 
 anxious about the day, which cannot be far distant, 
 when Rome will be evacuated by our troops. For 
 Europe cannot permit the occupation which has 
 lasted for ten years to be prolonged indefinitely, 
 and when our army withdraws, what will it leave 
 behind it, anarchy, terror, or peace ? These are ques- 
 tions to whose importance nobody is blind. But, be 
 very sure that at the epoch in which we live, in order 
 to solve them, it is necessary to seek truth with calm- 
 ness and to entreat Providence to enlighten peoples 
 and kings concerning the wise exercise of their rights 
 as well as the extent of their duties, and not to make 
 an appeal to ardent passions. I have no doubt that 
 the prayers of Your Eminence and of your clergy 
 will continue to draw down the blessings of heaven 
 upon the Empress, my son, and me." 
 
 The Emperor received an excellent welcome at 
 Bordeaux, as he had in 1852. But the situation was 
 felt to be less favorable, and the harmony between 
 
336 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 the throne and the altar had not the same solidity. 
 It was certain that to the Italian question, already 
 so perplexing, was added the Roman question, more 
 grave and arduous still. The reply of the Emperor 
 to the discourse of the Archbishop was, in fine^ very 
 disquieting. An era of difficulties was beginning 
 which was to continue to the end of the reign, and 
 which has survived it. Napoleon III. had a presenti- 
 ment of this. 
 
 On returning to Saint-Cloud, October 12, the 
 Emperor found there a sort of congress of Italian 
 notables, as they were then called, who sought to 
 make the sphinx talk. He gave them audience on 
 the 16th. He expressed his wish to see Parma 
 annexed to Piedmont, and the young sovereign of 
 that duchy transferred to Modena and later on affi- 
 anced to a niece of Duke Francis V. As to Tuscany, 
 he declared that the restoration of the Grand Duke 
 was obligatory, with the grant of a constitution and 
 the adoption of the national flag. October 20 he 
 addressed a letter to Victor Emmanuel which did 
 not appear in the Moniteur but was published in the 
 Times^ and then by the Oonstitutionnel, a semi-official 
 sheet. In this letter he maintained the stipulations 
 of Villafranca, except on one point, the duchy of 
 Modena, which should be given to the Duke of 
 Parma as compensation for the loss of his duchy, 
 annexed to Piedmont. He manifested his hope that, 
 if Italian pretensions were thus limited, the Emperor 
 Francis Joseph would accord a large autonomy to 
 
BIARRITZ AND BORDEAUX 337 
 
 Venetia. Things stood at this point when Napoleon 
 left Saint-Cloud for the chateau of Compi^gne, where 
 a series of brilliant receptions took place, which lasted 
 until the Imperial family returned to Paris on De- 
 cember 4. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV 
 
 THE CLOSE OF 1859 
 
 TTTHILE the Emperor was at Compi^gne the 
 ^ ^ definitive treaty of peace had been signed 
 at Zurich, November 10, by Austria, France, and 
 Sardinia. The signers for Austria were Count 
 Kariloji and Baron de Meysenberg ; for France, 
 Baron de Bourqueney and Marquis de Banneville; 
 for Sardinia, MM. des Ambrois and Jacteau. The 
 three powers pledged themselves to "favor with 
 all their efforts the creation of a Confederation 
 between the Italian States, which should be placed 
 under the honorary presidency of the Holy Father, 
 and whose object should be to maintain the indepen- 
 dence and inviolability of the confederated States, to 
 assure the development of their moral and material 
 interests, and to guarantee the interior and exterior 
 security of Italy by the existence of a federal army. 
 Venetia, which remains under the crown of His 
 Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, will form 
 one of the States of this Confederation and partici- 
 pate in the obligations as well as in the rights 
 resulting from the federal pact, the clauses of which 
 will be determined by an assembly composed of 
 representatives from all the Italian States." 
 
 338 
 
THE CLOSE OF 1859 339 
 
 The article relating to the dispossessed princes 
 ran as follows : " The territorial boundaries of the 
 independent States of Italy which were not parties 
 to the late war, not being liable to change except 
 with the concurrence of the powers which presided 
 at their formation, the rights of the Grand Duke of 
 Tuscany and of the Duke of Parma are expressly 
 reserved between the high contracting parties." 
 
 The peace signed at Zurich resulted in the ap- 
 pointment of Prince Metternich as ambassador of 
 Francis Joseph at the court of Napoleon III. The 
 new ambassador presented his credentials Decem- 
 ber 14. The Emperor said : " I firmly hope that 
 the relations happily re-established between the 
 Emperor of Austria and myself cannot but become 
 more friendly by an attentive examination of the 
 interests of the two countries. For my part, since I 
 have seen the Emperor, I attach great value to his 
 personal friendship." 
 
 Prince Metternich was thirty years old ; the Prin- 
 cess, twenty-three. They were bound to shine at 
 court in virtue of their youth, lofty position, and 
 personal charm. Napoleon III. was seeking a diffi- 
 cult thing: to stand well at the same time with 
 Vienna and Turin. 
 
 In reality, the treaty of Zurich left everything 
 at loose ends. One of the signers, Baron de Bour- 
 queney, said on returning to Paris : " I bring back 
 a peace, but not peace." Emboldened by the 
 impunity accorded to its actions, the Piedmontese 
 
340 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 government had placed all the central Italian States 
 and the Legations under the authority of its com- 
 missioner, M. Buoncompagni. The partisans of the 
 former legal title had but one hope remaining : the 
 Congress. Napoleon III. had written from Com- 
 pidgne, November 9, to Victor Emmanuel: "The 
 Congress is going to be convoked ; nothing else can 
 settle existing difficulties. . . . Show some energy 
 and prove that the peace signed is a serious matter. 
 By acting in any other way you will lose Italy." 
 It was believed that the Congress would meet at 
 Paris in January. The great powers, the Pope, and 
 all the Italian sovereigns were to be represented 
 in it. 
 
 Count Cavour was getting ready to go to Paris 
 as Victor Emmanuel's first plenipotentiary. He 
 wrote to one of his friends, M. de La Rive : " If you 
 come to Paris this winter you will find me at the 
 Hotel Bristol; I have taken the same apartment 
 occupied in 1856 by Count Buol, for you know I 
 have always liked to invade Austrian territory." 
 
 In a despatch addressed to Count Walewski, 
 Prince de La Tour d'Auvergne, minister of France 
 at Turin, said : " The appointment of Count Cavour 
 as plenipotentiary, greatly desired by liberal opinion 
 in Italy, has been not less favorably received by 
 moderate men. The Whist Society of Turin, most 
 of whose members belong to the higher aristocracy 
 of Piedmont, and which has until now been ex- 
 tremely averse to his policy, has just elected him 
 
THE CLOSE OF 1859 341 
 
 its president. ... In talking with me, he has not 
 concealed his satisfaction at having to represent 
 Italy in a European Congress. He told me that 
 his confidence in the Emperor was entire, that he 
 was persuaded that His Majesty would finish the 
 work he had begun, and defend the cause of Italy 
 to the very end before the Congress. Alluding 
 subsequently to his personal relations with the 
 Emperor at a former period, he assured me that he 
 retained sentiments of most respectful gratitude 
 towards His Majesty, and denied energetically the 
 violent remarks attributed to him after the peace 
 of Villafranca. . . . He said a few days ago, to 
 General de La Marmora, that if at that time he 
 had thought for a moment that things were going 
 as they have done, he would not have thought it 
 necessary to resign." 
 
 At the very time when all Europe believed in 
 the near convocation of the Congress, Napoleon had 
 become convinced that this diplomatic assemblage 
 would put him into a very embarrassing position 
 and oblige him to break with either Austria or Pied- 
 mont. According to the cabinet of Vienna, the pro- 
 gramme must be laid down in advance, and no one 
 could diverge from it under any pretext ; its object 
 would be to confirm the former agreements, not to 
 destroy them. 
 
 The Prussian government made it plainly evident 
 that the Prince Regent's attachment to legitimist 
 principles would not permit approbation of the re- 
 
342 FBANCE AND ITALY 
 
 cent enterprises. As to Russia, in the name of the 
 solidarity of crowned heads it stood out against an- 
 nexations contrary to international law. 
 
 All the Italian sovereigns, with the exception of 
 Victor Emmanuel, considered by them an usurper, 
 were on the side of Austria. Since May 22, Francis 
 II., a young sovereign attached to the Court of 
 Vienna by every sympathetic tie, had been reigning 
 at Naples. He had married a sister of the wife of 
 Francis Joseph. Threatened by the revolution, he 
 held the Piedmontese policy in horror, and regarded 
 Victor Emmanuel as an adept and an accomplice of 
 Mazzini. Special bonds of amity existed between 
 the Courts of Russia and Naples. The Emperor 
 Nicholas had been the friend of King Ferdinand, 
 father of Francis II., and the Emperor Alexander 
 showed great interest in the 3'"0ung sovereign. Up- 
 held by Russia and by Austria, the King of Naples 
 would inevitably make common cause with the 
 princes of central Italy and with the Pope. As to 
 Pius IX., he demanded first of all that the Legations 
 should be given back to him, and recognized neither 
 in a Congress nor in any human power the right to 
 despoil him of his States. 
 
 Hampered by the promises made to Francis Joseph 
 at the interview of Villafranca, and by the quite re- 
 cent stipulations of the Zurich treaty, Napoleon III. 
 could not have supported the ambitions of Victor 
 Emmanuel in a Congress without being accused of 
 double dealing. As to England, she seemed to sup- 
 
THE CLOSE OF 1859 343 
 
 port Italian aspirations ; but when the day came to 
 proceed from words to acts and lend effective con- 
 currence to Piedmont, she would be certain to find 
 no more pressing business than to get out of the way 
 as soon as possible. Certainly she would favor the 
 Italian cause, but on condition that she herself should 
 have no sacrifices to make, and no risks to run. To 
 hold the balance equal between reaction and revolu- 
 tion in a Congress was impossible. Determined not 
 to renew the war, Napoleon III. had now but one 
 idea : to prevent the assembling of a Congress which 
 could have no result but the check of the Italian 
 cause or the resumption of hostilities. 
 
 An anonymous brochure entitled : The Pope and 
 the Congress^ published in Paris, December 22, was 
 about to change the face of things. Announced to 
 the sound of trumpets by the semi-official journals, 
 this sensational brochure was plainly instigated by 
 Napoleon III., even if he were not its author. "I 
 did not write it," he said to vorrious persons, " but I 
 approve of all its ideas." 
 
 Nothing could be more disagreeable to Pius IX. 
 than this publication which paid him abundant hom- 
 age but demanded that the Romagnas should be 
 taken from him, and which said concerning the tem- 
 poral power : " The smaller the territory, the greater 
 will be the sovereign. . . . The power of the Pope 
 will result less from his strength than from his weak- 
 ness." Cries of wrath were uttered. Mgr. Dupan- 
 loup, Bishop of Orleans, published an indignant 
 
344 FRANCE AND ITALY 
 
 refutation of the brochure. December 30, the Journal 
 de Home, organ of the Vatican, declared that it " was 
 a veritable homage to the Revolution, an insidious 
 thesis for weak minds incapable of recognizing its 
 hidden poison, a cause of pain to all good Catholics." 
 The Congress had become impossible. The Pope 
 could not be asked to send a representative to a dip- 
 lomatic assembly where there was question of record- 
 ing his expropriation as an accomplished fact. With 
 the exception of England, the non-Catholic powers 
 themselves blamed the pamphlet which brought the 
 whole question up again. 
 
 The Duke of Montebello, ambassador of France 
 at Saint Petersburg, wrote to Count Walewski, De- 
 cember 31 : " The brochure The Pope and the Con- 
 gress is producing a deplorable effect. Prince 
 Gortchakoff said to me last evening : ' I do not 
 understand your hesitating to disavow it explicitly 
 in the Moniteur. It is a friend who says to you : 
 Europe needs repose ; if you trouble it in this way 
 periodically, you will inspire apprehensions in every- 
 body and end by alienating your best friends ! ' " 
 
 The brochure had been published without the 
 knowledge of Count Walewski, all of whose ideas 
 it shocked. The Emperor was governing against 
 his own government. The Ministry of Foreign 
 Affairs was no longer more than a faQade, an optical 
 illusion. Unwilling to be the instrument of a policy 
 he disapproved, the minister was about to be forced 
 to hand in his resignation. 
 
THE CLOSE OF 1859 345 
 
 After long tergiversation, Napoleon III. had made 
 up his mind. He gave up the notion of an Italian 
 Confederation which nobody wanted, and he de- 
 spaired of obtaining for Venetia an autonomous 
 Italian regime. Convinced that the dispossessed 
 princes could be restored only by force, he con- 
 cluded to permit Piedmont to annex their States, 
 but on one condition, namely, that the compensation 
 for this aggrandizement should be the annexation 
 of Savoy and Nice to France. The jealousies of 
 the powers, of England especially, were to render 
 very difficult this combination without which France 
 would rightly regard herself as having been duped 
 and mystified. The task of diplomacy was to be as 
 difficult as that of the army had been, and the 
 realization of the new imperial programme was to 
 encounter obstacles of every sort, not merely abroad, 
 but in the interior of France. 
 
 The year 1859 had commenced by the alarms 
 arising from the remarks addressed to the Austrian 
 ambassador by the Emperor. It was closing amidst 
 the anxieties and controversies caused by the Italian 
 question, and chiefly by the Roman question. 
 Minds were greatly disturbed by indecision. Many 
 were asking whether the victories of Magenta and 
 Solferino had not been sterile ones for France. 
 Disconcerted by the problems still remaining to be 
 solved, public opinion continued in a state of be- 
 wilderment and trouble. The Emperor did not fail 
 to appreciate the difficulty of satisfying it. He 
 
346 FBANCU AND ITALY 
 
 comprehended that France would not forgive him 
 for the blood shed in a war so violently criticised 
 unless, in return for her efforts and sacrifices, she 
 received an enlargement of territory which might 
 flatter her self love. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Alexander II. of Russia, in 1859 
 his relations with Napoleon III. 
 very cordial, p. 61 ; why he 
 wished to give Austria a les- 
 son, p. 63; did not desire the 
 unification of Italy, p. 65; de- 
 lighted by the peace of Villa- 
 franca, p. 274; recognizes that 
 Napoleon III. has been a pro- 
 found politician as well as a 
 great captain, p. 274. 
 
 Antonelli, Cardinal, on behalf of 
 the Pope, demands the evacua- 
 tion of the Pontifical States by 
 the armies of occupation, p. 69 ; 
 protests against the seizure of 
 the Romagna, p. 217. 
 
 Arese, Count, meets Napoleon III. 
 in Genoa, p. 115 ; his early 
 friendship for him, p. 325 ; meets 
 him at Saint-Sauveur, p. 327. 
 
 Auvergne, Prince de La Tour d', 
 minister of France at Turin ; 
 his despatches concerning the 
 Hiibner incident, pp. 10, 11, 
 12; concerning Prince Napo- 
 leon's arrival, pp. 16, 17; op- 
 posed to the Italian War, p. 46 ; 
 his opinion of Cavour, pp. 256- 
 57 ; on the sensation created at 
 Turin by the peace of Villa- 
 franca, pp. 266-67 ; on Tuscan 
 sentiment, pp. 301, 302; on the 
 appointment of Cavour as pleni- 
 potentiary, pp. 340, 341. 
 
 Bailliencourt, General de, his 
 curious account of Victor Em- 
 manuel's talk after Cavour's 
 resignation, p. 259 et seq. ; de- 
 
 scribes the dinner given at Mi- 
 lan to Napoleon III. and Victor 
 Emmanuel, pp. 264-65. 
 
 Banneville, Marquis de, charge 
 d'affaires of France at Turin; 
 his despatches, pp. 9, 10, 12, 14, 
 27, 39. 
 
 Baroche, president of French 
 Council of State ; his speech 
 after the Emperor's return from 
 Italy, p. 276. 
 
 Bismarck, possibly the only Ger- 
 man who in 1859 shared the 
 views of Napoleon III., p. 56; 
 defends him against the preju- 
 dices of Frederick William IV., 
 p. 57 ; Napoleon III. believed in 
 his star. 
 
 BuoL, Count, Austrian Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, p. 14; praises 
 Napoleon's speech from the 
 throne, p. 40. 
 
 BuoNCAMPAGNi, M. de, Sardinian 
 minister at Florence, lays the 
 train for the revolution in that 
 city, p. 212. 
 
 Canrobert, Marshal, describes 
 the taking of Ponte di Magenta, 
 pp. 142-43. 
 
 Cassagnac, a. G. de, describes Na- 
 poleon III. as a journalist, p. 29. 
 
 Cavour, Count, addresses a 
 memorandum to England, p. 
 69 ; interviews Napoleon III. by 
 appointment, p. 77 ; writes the 
 Emperor a letter, eutreating him 
 not to adopt a retrograde policy, 
 p. 78 ; resigns his office after the 
 peace of Villafranca, p. 257 ; what 
 
 347 
 
848 
 
 INDEX 
 
 his compatriots said of his resig- 
 nation, p. 261 ; sees Napoleon III. 
 for the last time at Turin, p. 
 269; appointed Victor Emman- 
 uel's plenipotentiary at the Con- 
 gress, p. 340. 
 
 Chartres, Due de, acts as a Sar- 
 dinian cavalry officer during the 
 war of Italy, p. 128; La Mar- 
 mora's orderly officer, p. 167. 
 
 Chatbaurenard, Marquis de, 
 charg4 d'affaires of France at 
 Saint Petersburg ; despatches to 
 Walewski, pp. 61, 62, 65. 
 
 Clotildb, Princess, her betrothal 
 announced, p. 14 ; renounces her 
 inheritance, p. 19 ; her marriage 
 to Prince Napoleon, p. 20; char- 
 acteristics of, p. 23 et seq. 
 
 CoTTE, General de, his death de- 
 scribed, p. 178. 
 
 Derby, Lord, English Prime Min- 
 ister, quoted, pp. 148, 149. 
 
 DoNNET, Cardinal, Archbishop of 
 Bordeaux, his address to the Em- 
 peror, pp. 333, 334. 
 
 DUPANLOUP, Bishop of Orleans, 
 makes an indignant reply to the 
 brochure : The Fope and the Con- 
 gress, p. 344. 
 
 England, opinions of her public 
 men on the Italian question, p. 
 48 et seq. 
 
 EspiNASSB, General, killed at Ma- 
 genta, p. 145 ; the Emi^eror's 
 emotion on recognizing his body, 
 p. 151. 
 
 Eugenie, the Empress, regent 
 during the war, p. 202 et seq. ; 
 witnesses the return of the 
 troops with the Prince Imperial, 
 pp. 286, 288; deeply interested 
 in the Duchess of Parma, p. 304 ; 
 writes to Arese about the Italian 
 question, p. 326. 
 
 Farini, Piedmontese commission- 
 er at Modeua, described, j). 311. 
 
 Favre, Jules, extract of letter to 
 M. Rothan, p. 7; defends Pied- 
 mont and denounces Austria, p. 
 93. 
 
 Flbury, General, aide-de-camp of 
 Napoleon III., acquaints him 
 with the dissatisfaction of his 
 officers after the battle of Ma- 
 genta, p. 152 ; criticises the hasty 
 attack at Melegnano, p. 172; 
 letters to his wife before Solfer- 
 ino, p. 177 et seq. ; describes the 
 attitude of Prince Napoleon after 
 Solferino, p. 218 ; sent with a 
 letter to Francis Joseph propos- 
 ing a cessation of hostilities, 
 p. 230 et seq. ; regrets changes 
 wrought by a democratic gov- 
 ernment in the appearance of 
 the French army, p. 245. 
 
 FouRCADB, editorial writer in the 
 Revue des Deux Mondes, quoted 
 pp. 44, 45, 280. 
 
 Francis Joseph, Emperor of Aus- 
 tria, sends the Archduke Albert 
 on a mission to the Prince Re- 
 gent of Prussia, p. 69; estab- 
 lishes his headquarters at Villa- 
 franca, p. 176; receives a Prus- 
 sian note which determines him 
 to take the offensive, p. 180 ; or- 
 ders a retreat beyond the Mincio, 
 p. 191; receives a letter from 
 Napoleon III. proposing an armis- 
 tice, p. 232 ; incurred fewer risks 
 than Napoleon III. from a con- 
 tinuation of the war, p. 233 ; ac- 
 cepts armistice, p. 234; meets 
 the French Emperor at Villa- 
 franca, p. 242; refuses to cede 
 Lombardy to Sardinia and to 
 abandon Venice, p. 243; agrees 
 to join France in asking the Pope 
 for reforms in his states, p. 244; 
 discusses the conditions of peace 
 with Prince Napoleon, p. 249 et 
 seq. ; text of his reply to Napo- 
 leon III., p. 253 et seq. 
 
 Garibaldi, Giuseppe, said to have 
 
INDEX 
 
 349 
 
 placed himself at the disposition 
 of the Sardinian government and 
 renounced all alliance with the 
 Mazzinians in case of war, p. 10 ; 
 enters Como with his volunteers 
 after the battle of Montebello, 
 p. 123. 
 
 Gorge, M. de La, quoted, pp. 64, 
 281. 
 
 GoRTCHAKOFF, PrincB, admires 
 the French Emperor's sagacity 
 in concluding the Italian War, 
 pp. 273-74. 
 
 Gramont, Due de, ambassador of 
 France at Rome, opposed to the 
 war, p. 46 ; despatch concerning 
 the Emperor's speech from the 
 throne, pp. 68-69. 
 
 GuERONNiERE, Vlscount de La, 
 anonymous author of the bro- 
 chure. The Emperor Napoleon 
 III. and Italy, p. 29 et seq. 
 
 Hesse, Field Marshal Baron, Aus- 
 trian chief of staff, peace com- 
 missioner at Villafranca, p. 237. 
 
 Htlliers, Marshal Baraguey d', 
 commander of 1st army corps, p. 
 162 ; reports the losses after bat- 
 tle of Melegnano, p. 167 ; criti- 
 cised by Fleury for precipitating 
 the attack, p. 172. 
 
 HoHENLOHB, Princc, his errand to 
 Napoleon III. at Valeggio, p. 
 241. 
 
 HtJBNER, Baron, Austrian ambas- 
 sador at Paris, the effect pro- 
 duced by the Emperor's remark 
 to him on New Year's Day, p. 8 
 et seq. 
 
 Italy, the War of, inaugurated a 
 new era, p. 6; the attitude of 
 French parties after it began, p. 
 97 et seq. 
 
 IvoY, Colonel Paulze d', killed at 
 Melegnano, p. 165. 
 
 La GRAvikRB, Bear-Admiral Jur- 
 ien de, p. 226. 
 
 La Marmora, General de, writes 
 Cavour that the armistice may 
 lead to peace, p. 257. 
 
 Lanza, Sardinian Minister of Fi- 
 nance, proposes a war loan, p. 28. 
 
 La Tour, Viscount de, speech in 
 the Corps Le'gislatif, pp. 94-95. 
 
 Lebrun, General, describes the 
 sufferings of the troops after 
 battle of Melegnano, p. 171. 
 
 Lemercier, Viscount Anatole, ex- 
 presses the anxieties of France 
 concerning the Pa^^acy, pp. 93-94. 
 
 Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
 abdicates in favor of his son, p. 
 293. 
 
 Lhuys, Drouyn de, favors Aus- 
 trian alliance, opposes the prin- 
 ciple of nationalities, p. 45. 
 
 MacMahon, commander of 2d 
 army corps; report to the Em- 
 peror after the battle of Tur- 
 bigo, p. 134; created Marshal of 
 France and Duke of Magenta 
 after the battle of Magenta, p. 
 152. 
 
 Magenta, battle of, p. 136 et seq. 
 
 Mantua, not included in the ces- 
 sion of Lombardy, pp. 251, 254. 
 
 Martimprey, General de, second 
 French peace commissioner, at 
 Villafranca, p. 237. 
 
 Massa, Marquis de, describes 
 scenes at Milan after the battle 
 of Melegnano, pp. 170, 171; 
 scenes of the triumph on the re- 
 turn of the troops, p. 285. 
 
 Melegnano, battle of, p. 162 et 
 seq. 
 
 Mensdorf - PouiLLY, General 
 Count de, second Austrian peace 
 commissioner at Villafranca, p. 
 237. 
 
 Metternich, Prince, his visit to 
 Napoleon III. at Saint-Sauveur, 
 pp. 327-28 ; made ambassador to 
 France, p. 339. 
 
 Modena, Duke Francis of, shuts 
 himself up in his fortress of 
 
350 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Brescello, p. 216 ; his conduct 
 unfavorably compared with that 
 of the Duchess of Parma, p. 306. 
 
 MoLTKE, Marshal, states the mili- 
 tary condition of Prussia, in 
 1859, p. 248. 
 
 MoNTEBBLLO, the battle of, de- 
 scribed, p. 118 et seq. 
 
 MoNTEBELLO, Duc dc, Frcuch am- 
 bassador to Russia, p. 46 ; noti- 
 fies Walewski that the Russian 
 Cabinet thinks negotiations for 
 peace should begin, p. 219 ; that 
 Russia favors the cause of the 
 young Duke of Parma, p. 307 ; 
 describes the satisfaction of 
 Alexander II. and Prince Gort- 
 chakofE at the conclusion of the 
 war, pp. 273-74; despatch con- 
 cerning The Pope and the Con- 
 gress, p. 344. 
 
 MoRNT, Count de, an advocate of 
 peace, p. 43; favors the Russian 
 alliance, p. 46; thinks the princi- 
 ple of nationalities is chiefly 
 supported by revolutionists, p. 
 46; praises Napoleon III. when 
 he returns from the war, pp. 
 275-76. 
 
 MosBOURG, Count de, describes 
 the Duchess of Parma's depar- 
 ture from her dominions, p. 305. 
 
 MousTiER, Marquis de, minister 
 of France at Berlin, p. 46. 
 
 Napoleon HI., full light thrown 
 on him by the Italian War, p. 3 
 etseq.; the anonymous brochure, 
 p. 28 et seq. ; speech from the 
 throne, p. 35 et seq. ; replies to 
 Victoria's letter, p. 51; special 
 liking for Bismarck, p. 57; goes 
 to war, p. 109; first order of the 
 day, p. 113 ; proclamations at 
 Milan, pp. 158-60; directs all 
 military operations at Solferino, 
 p. 193; proclamation after the 
 battle, pp. 198, 199; prepares for 
 war while intending peace, p. 
 224 et seq. ; proclamation from 
 
 Valeggio, p. 238 ; to the army 
 after the peace of Villafranca, 
 pp. 262-63; reception at Milan, 
 pp. 264, 265; meets Cavour at 
 Turin, pp. 268-69 ; disagrees with 
 the French estimate of the Ger- 
 man Imidwehr, p. 273; replies to 
 address of the great bodies of 
 state, p. 276 et seq. ; his reply 
 to the Nuncio, p. 279 ; speech at 
 the Louvre dinner, pp. 289-90; 
 political amnesty extended to 
 all but the Bourbons, p. 291 ; 
 recommends Modenese autono- 
 my, p. 313 ; hampered by his an- 
 tecedents, p. 319 ; quoted on the 
 attitude of the French Republic 
 in Rome, pp. 319-20; forebodes 
 the difSculties of the Roman 
 question, pp. 322-23; meets 
 Arese and Metternich, p. 327; 
 his article in the Moniteur, pp. 
 328-29; dissatisfied with the 
 Pope, p. 333 ; his reply to Cardi- 
 nal Donnet, pp. 334-35; con- 
 vinced that a European Con- 
 gress would embarrass him and 
 concludes to dispense with it, 
 p. 341 et seq. ; instigates the 
 brochure which makes it im- 
 possible, p. 343 et seq. ; abandons 
 the notion of an Italian Confed- 
 eration and demands the an- 
 nexation of Savoy and Nice, p. 
 345. 
 Napoleon, Prince, marries Prin- 
 cess Clotilde of Savoy, p. 20 ; re- 
 lieved of ministerial functions, 
 p. 71 ; commands 5th army 
 corps during the war, p. 211 ; 
 antagonizes in Leghorn the 
 minister of France, p. 213; the 
 bearer of the conditions of 
 peace, p. 249; discusses the sepa- 
 rate paragraphs with Francis 
 Joseph, p. 249 et seq. 
 
 Ollivier, M. Emile, quoted on 
 the policy of Napoleon III., pp. 
 31-32. 
 
INDEX 
 
 351 
 
 Pagerib, Countess Stephanie de 
 Tasclier de La, quoted on the 
 impression produced in France 
 by the ultimatum, p. 84; the 
 Empress on the eve of war, p. 
 106 ; the Emperor on his return 
 from Italy, p. 272; the impres- 
 sion produced by the peace, pp. 
 279-80. 
 
 Palestro, battle of, p. 123 et seq. 
 
 Palmeri, governor of Parma 
 luader Victor Emmanuel, p. 307. 
 
 Parma, Duchess of, sister of Count 
 of Chambord, p. 216 ; why Fran- 
 cis Joseph did not defend her 
 rights at Villafranca, p. 253; 
 leaves Parma, pp. 304-5; her 
 cause favored by Napoleon III. 
 and Alexander II., but disre- 
 garded by Piedmontese govern- 
 ment, p. 307. 
 
 Persignt, Count, ambassador of 
 France at London, favors English 
 alliance but opposes principle of 
 nationalities, p. 15 ; repulsed by 
 Palmerston when he urges him 
 to assist Napoleon III. in making 
 peace, p. 223. 
 
 Peschiera, fortress of, not in- 
 cluded in the cession of Lom- 
 bardy, pp. 251, 254. 
 
 Pius IX., under an illusion con- 
 cerning his temporal power, p. 
 68 ; proposed as honorary presi- 
 dent of an Italian Confederation, 
 pp. 243, 250 ; will not consider it 
 unless the Romagna is first re- 
 stored to him, p. 333. 
 
 Plichon, speech before the Corps 
 Legislatif, pp. 94-95. 
 
 PoNiATOwsKi, Prince Joseph, pp. 
 298-99. 
 
 RiCASOLi, Baron, pp. 293, 295. 
 
 RoccA, Count della, Sardinian 
 peace commissioner at Villa- 
 franca, p. 237. 
 
 RoMAiN-DESFOSSES,Vice- Admiral, 
 pp. 226, 235. 
 
 Russia, its attitude toward Italy 
 
 in 1859, p. 61 et seq. ; its moral 
 support the chief object of Napo- 
 leon III. in the Stuttgart inter- 
 view, p. 62; flatly opposed to 
 Italian unity, p. 66 ; diplomatic 
 situation in, after Solferino, p. 
 219. 
 
 Saintb-Aulaire, Count de, criti- 
 cises the political condition of 
 the Romagna in 1831, p. 318. 
 
 Saint-Jean d'Angely, Regnaud, 
 created marshal of France after 
 battle of Magenta, p. 153. 
 
 ScHouvALOFF, Couut, scut by 
 Alexander 11. to follow the 
 operations of the Italian cam- 
 paign, p. 220. 
 
 Solferino, battle of, p. 182 et seq. 
 
 Thiers, M., describes Piedmont 
 
 in 1852, p. 45. 
 Thorane, Grand, French consul 
 
 at Chambery, describes the 
 
 Emperor's reception there, pp. 
 
 269-70. 
 Troplong, President of French 
 
 Senate, compares Napoleon III. 
 
 to Scipio, p. 275. 
 Troubetzkot, Princess, wife of 
 
 Count de Morny, p. 75. 
 TuRBiGO, battle of, p. 131 et seq. 
 Turin, angry demonstrations after 
 
 peace of Villafranca, pp. 265- 
 
 66. 
 
 Ultimatum, the Austrian, p. 82 
 et seq. 
 
 UsBDON, M. d', Prussian minister 
 at Frankfort, p. 59 ; his motion 
 in the Diet that the German 
 army contingent should be put 
 into marching order, p. 60. 
 
 Vaillant, Marshal, French peace 
 commissioner at Villafranca, p. 
 237. 
 
 Vanoal, Count Albert, extract 
 from speech when received into 
 the French Academy, p. 6. 
 
352 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Vaybb, Marquis de Ferriere le, 
 minister of France at Turin, p. 
 46 ; despatches concerning Prince 
 Napoleon, p. 213 et seq./ con- 
 cerning Tuscany, pp. 294r-97. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel, aggressor in 
 the Italian War, p. 5 ; makes a 
 war loan, p. 28 ; letter of, after 
 battle of Palestro, p. 129; fights 
 at San Martino during battle 
 of Solferino, p. 192; proclaimed 
 dictator of the Romagna, p. 217 ; 
 disappointed by the peace of 
 Villafranca, p. 247 ; did not like 
 Cavour, p. 258 ; curious remarks 
 after Cavour resigns, pp. 259-60 ; 
 replies to Tuscan delegation, p. 
 301 ; forebodes the difficulties of 
 the Roman question, pp. 323-25. 
 
 Victoria, Queen, extract from 
 speech from the throne in Feb., 
 1859, p. 48; writes to Napoleon 
 III., pleading for peace, and 
 
 warning him that England will 
 not assist him, p. 51. 
 
 Villafranca, armistice of, pp. 
 237-38 ; interview of the French 
 and Austrian emperors at, p. 
 240 et seq. ," text of the articles of 
 peace of, pp. 253-54; articles of, 
 signed by both sovereigns, p. 255. 
 
 ViTU, M., journalistic collaborator 
 of Napoleon III., p. 29. 
 
 Walewski, Count, Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, seeks to lessen 
 the importance of the Hiibner 
 incident, p. 9; opposed on prin- 
 ciple to the Italian War, p. 46 ; 
 telegraphs Pelissier, pp. 81, 82 ; 
 a convinced partisan of Tuscan 
 autonomy, p. 214; sends Napo- 
 leon III. alarming reports to in- 
 duce discontinuance of the war, 
 p. 221 ; despatch concerning Tus- 
 cany, p. 294. 
 
THE SECOND FRENCH EMPIRE. 
 
 By IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND. 
 
 Volume ly. of the Series just ready. 
 FRANCE AND ITALY. 
 
 With Portraits, \2mo, $1.50. 
 
 This is the fourth volume in the series devoted to the Court of the 
 Second Empire, and records the history of the v^far with Austria for the 
 hberation of Italy in the author's well-known intimate and popular 
 manner. The period here covered is that at which Napoleon III. 
 touched the height of his career, and figured as the real arbiter of 
 Europe. 
 
 The author is very exceptionally equipped for writing the history 
 of his country during the reign of Napoleon III. He witnessed the 
 ovation given the Emperor after Pianori's attempt to assassinate him, 
 started his diplomatic career under M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs, and witnessed the reviews of the returning Crimean 
 troops after the fall of Sebastopol. This personal knowledge is com- 
 bined with the author's acquaintance with every possible source of 
 information to make his presentation singularly complete and rounded. 
 
 Already Published, 
 
 Each with Portraits, iimo, $1.50. 
 
 Vol. I. — LOUIS NAPOLEON AND MADEMOISELLE 
 DE MONTIJO. 
 II. — NAPOLEON III. AND HIS COURT. 
 III. — THE COURT OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 
 (1856-58). 
 
 "M. de Saint-Amand," says the New York Times, "has a graceful 
 and fluent pen, and just the qualities of mind and temper suited to his 
 task." 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers, 
 
 153-157 FiFfH Avenue, New York. 
 1 
 
FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE FRENCH COURT. 
 
 " In these translations of this interesting series of sketches, we have 
 found an unexpected a^nount of pleasure and prof t. The author cites 
 for us passages from forgotten diaries, hitherto unearthed letters, extracts 
 from public proceedings, and the like, and contrives to combine and 
 arrange his material so as to make a great many very vivid and pleas- 
 ing pictures. Nor is this all. The material he lays before us is of real 
 value, and much, if not most of it, must be unknown save to the special 
 students of the period. We can, therefore, cordially commend these 
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 their arrangement, never dull, with much variety of scene and incident, 
 and admirably translated" — The Nation, 
 
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 to Legitimist and Imperialist, to the old world that came to an end with 
 the Revolution and to the new world that sprang from the old world'' s 
 ashes. Nor do his qualifications as a popular historian end here. He 
 has the gift of so marshalling his facts as to leave a definite impression. 
 These are but short books on great subjects ; for M. de Saint- Amand is 
 not at all content to chronicle the court life of his three heroines, and 
 writes almost more fully about their times than he does about themselves ; 
 but yet comparatively short as the books may be, they tell their story, in 
 many respects, better than some histories of greater pretensions" — The 
 Academy, London. 
 
 FOUR VOLUMES ON WOMEN OF WE VALOIS AND VERSAILLES COURTS. 
 
 Each with Portraits, $1.25. Price per set, in box, cloth, $5.00; half calf, $10.00. 
 
 WOMEN OF THE VALOIS COURT. 
 THE COURT OF LOUIS XIV. 
 THE COURT OF LOUIS XV. 
 THE LAST YEARS OF LOUIS XV. 
 
 The splendid pageantry of the court over which Catherine de' Medici presided 
 and in which she intrigued, and the contrasting glories and shames of the long reigns 
 of the " Sun King" and of Louis XV. are the subjects of these four volumes which 
 depict the most brilliant days of the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. 
 
FAMOUS WOMEN OF THE FRENCH COURT 
 
 THREE VOLUMES ON MARIE ANTOINETTE. 
 
 Each with Portrait, $1.25. Price per set, in box, cloth, $3.75; half calf, $7.50. 
 
 MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE END OF THE OLD REGIME. 
 
 MARIE ANTOINETTE AT THE TUILERIES. 
 
 MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE DOWNFALL OF ROYALTY. 
 
 In this series is unfolded the tremendous panorama of political events in which 
 the unfortunate Queen had so influential a share, beginning with the days imme- 
 diately preceding the Revolution, when court life at Versailles was so gay and unsus- 
 pecting, continuing with the enforced journey of the royal family to Paris, and the 
 agitating months passed in the Tuileries, together with the ill-starred and unsuccess- 
 ful attempt to escape from French territory, and concluding with the abolition of 
 royalty. th<? proclamation of the Republic, and the imprisonment of the royal family, 
 — the initial stage of their progress to the guillotine. 
 
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 CITIZENESS BONAPARTE. 
 
 THE WIFE OF THE FIRST CONSUL. 
 
 THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 
 
 The romantic and eventful period beginning with Josephine's marriage to the 
 young commander whose " whiff of grapeshot " had just saved France from anarchy, 
 and whose wonderful career was about to begin, comprises the astonishing Italian 
 campaign, in which the power of Austria was so unexpectedly and completely hum- 
 bled, the Egyptian expedition, the coup d'etat of Brumaire, and is described in the 
 first of the above volumes ; while the second treats of the brilliant society which issued 
 from the chaos of the Revolution, and over which Madame Bonaparte presided so 
 'charmingly ; and the third, of the events between the assumption of the imperial title 
 by Napoleon and the end of 1807, including, of course, the Austerlitz campaign. 
 
 FOUR VOLUMES ON THE EMPRESS MARIE LOUISE. 
 
 Each with Portrait, $1.25. Price per set, in box, cloth, $5.00; half calf, $10.00. 
 
 THE HAPPY DAYS OF MARIE LOUISE. 
 
 MARIE LOUISE AND THE DECADENCE OF THE EMPIRE. 
 
 MARIE LOUISE AND THE INVASION OF 1814. 
 
 MARIE LOUISE. THE RETURN FROM ELBA, AND THE HUNDRED DAYS. 
 
 The auspicious marriage of the Archduchess Marie Louise to the master of 
 Europe; the Russian invasion, with its disastrous conclusion a few years later; the 
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 to Elba; his life in his little principality; his romantic escape and dramatic return to 
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 tion of Louis XVIII , closing the era begun in 1789, with "The End of the Old 
 Regime," — are the subjects of the four volumes grouped around the personality of 
 Marie Louise. 
 
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 TWO VOLUMES ON THE DUCHESS OF ANGOULEME. 
 
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 THE YOUTH OF THE DUCHESS OF ANGOULEME. 
 THE DUCHESS OF ANGOULEME AND THE TWO RESTORATIONS. 
 
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 daughter of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette imprisoned in the Temple after the 
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 tion of Napoleon at Fontainebleau. The first Restoration, its illusions, the characters 
 of Louis XVIIL, of his brother, afterwards Charles X., of the Dukes of Angouleme 
 and Berry, sons of the latter, the life of the Court, the feeling of the city, Napoleon's 
 sudden return from Elba, the Hundred Days from the Royalist side, the second 
 Restoration, and the vengeance taken by the new government on the Imperialists, 
 form the subject-matter of the second volume. 
 
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 THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE COURT OF LOUIS XVIII. 
 THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE COURT OF CHARLES X. 
 THE DUCHESS OF BERRY AND THE REVOLUTION OF JULY, 1830 
 
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 Duke of Berry, the central figure of the French Court during the reigns of both 
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 the latter was from the first marked by those reactionary tendencies which resulted 
 in the dethronement and exile of the Bourbons. The dramatic Revolution which 
 brought about the July monarchy of Louis Philippe has never been more vividly 
 and intelligently described than in the last volume devoted to the Duchess of Berry. 
 
 THE REVOLUTION OF 1848. 
 
 With Four Portraits. Price $1.25. 
 
 M. Imbert de Saint-Amand's volume on " The Duchess of Berry and the Revo- 
 lution of 1830," which described the turbulent accession of Louis Philippe to the 
 throne of France, is followed by the account of the Citizen King's equally agitated 
 abdication and exile during the Revolution of 1848. As always, the historian writes 
 from the inside, and his description of the exciting events of the February days that 
 led to the overthrow of the Orleanist dynasty, the flight of the last king France has 
 had, and the dramatically sudden establishment of the Second Republic is familiar 
 and intimate rather than formal, and the reader gets a view of what passed behind 
 the scenes as well as on the stage, at that interesting and fateful moment. 
 
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 153-157 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 4 
 
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