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diff --git a/43607-0.txt b/43607-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..259020a --- /dev/null +++ b/43607-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7833 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43607 *** + +[Illustration: VICTOR EMMANUEL] + + + + + BUILDERS OF + UNITED ITALY + + + BY + RUPERT SARGENT HOLLAND + + + WITH EIGHT PORTRAITS + + + [Illustration printer's imprint] + + + NEW YORK + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 1908 + + + + + Copyright, 1908, + BY + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + + Published, August, 1908 + + + THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS + RAHWAY, N. J. + + + + + _To + That Spirit of Italy + Which Calls to Men in All Lands + Like the Charmed Voice of + Their Own History_ + + + + +There is no history more alternately desperate and hopeful than that of +the scattered Italian states in their efforts to form a united nation. +Many forces fuse in the progress of such a popular movement, and each +force has its own particular spokesman or leader. The prophet and the +soldier, the poet and the statesman, each gives his share of genius. +Those men who seemed to represent the most potent forces in this history +are included here. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + ALFIERI, THE POET 1 + + MANZONI, THE MAN OF LETTERS 40 + + GIOBERTI, THE PHILOSOPHER 63 + + MANIN, THE "FATHER OF VENICE" 87 + + MAZZINI, THE PROPHET 125 + + CAVOUR, THE STATESMAN 165 + + GARIBALDI, THE CRUSADER 223 + + VICTOR EMMANUEL, THE KING 283 + + + + +[Illustration: ALFIERI] + + + + +ALFIERI, THE POET + + +Alfieri was more than a great poet, he was the discoverer of a +new national life in the scattered states of Italy. Putting aside +consideration of his tragedies as literature, no student of the +eighteenth century can fail to appreciate his influence over Italian +thought. It was as though a people who had forgotten their nationality +suddenly heard anew the stories of their common folk-lore. The race of +Dante, of Petrarch, and of Tasso spoke again in the words of Alfieri. + +It was high time that disunited Italy should find a poet's voice. There +was no vigor, no resolution, no originality from Turin to Naples, people +of all classes were sunk in apathy. No wonder that foreign lovers of +mediæval Italy turned their eyes away from the seats of so much former +glory; there seemed little hope in a people given over to trivial +personal enjoyment. There was no liberty of speech or action--sentiment, +reason, passion were all measured by the grand-ducal yard-stick. + +At about the middle of this artificial eighteenth century, in 1749, +Vittorio Alfieri was born at Asti, in Piedmont. His parents were of the +upper rank in the close social order of the small kingdom, his father +Antonio Alfieri, a man of independent means, who, as one biographer +has it, "had never soiled his mind with ambition or his hands with +labor." His mother was the widow of the Marquis of Cacherano, and had +two daughters and a son before she married Antonio Alfieri. After the +latter's death, which occurred when Vittorio was scarcely a year old, +she married again, and it was this stepfather, the Chevalier Giacinto +Alfieri di Magliano, who stood in place of father to Vittorio and his +sister, as well as to their older half-brother and sisters. Although +these other children were near his own age the boy Vittorio seems to +have passed a lonely childhood, driven into unusual solitude by the +waywardness of his nature. + +While still a child, Alfieri was sent away to the Academy of Turin, the +first of those journeys in which he was later to take such delight. +He cared little for books or study of any sort, he was over-critical, +and yet without the ambition to perfect himself. He spent his time, as +he says, in his famous memoirs, in acquiring a profound ignorance of +whatever he was meant to learn; and he left the Academy not only with +no knowledge of what were termed the humanities, but with no interest +in any language, speaking a mixed jargon of French and Piedmontese, +and reading practically nothing. Knowledge was held in small esteem by +all classes at that particular time, and the priests, who formed the +teaching class, were at small pains to spread a zeal for learning which +they did not share. Alfieri says, "We translated the Lives of Cornelius +Nepos; but none of us, perhaps not even the masters, knew who these men +were whose lives we translated, nor where was their country, nor in what +times they lived, nor under what government, nor what any government +was!" + +In spite of the extraordinary incapacity of his teachers, Alfieri did +succeed in learning something, although he was always at great pains to +decry his early education. He learned sufficient Latin to translate the +Georgics of Virgil into his Italian dialect, and he was fond of reading +Goldoni and Metastasio. A little later he passed into a more advanced +grade, where he met many foreign youths who had been sent to Turin to +study, and where he was allowed some liberty in choosing his own course. +He found as much fault with these new conditions as with the old. "The +reading of many French romances," he says, "the constant association +with foreigners, and the want of all occasion to speak Italian, or +to hear it spoken, drove from my head that small amount of wretched +Tuscan which I had contrived to put there in those two or three years of +burlesque study of the humanities and asinine rhetoric." In place of it +he learned and read much French, then the language of polite society. + +In such aimless desultory fashion Alfieri passed his boyhood. He hated +all restraint, and was continually getting into difficulties with the +officers of the Academy. He had more money than was good for him, and +spent it in the wildest extravagances whenever the opportunity offered. +He bade fair to become a more or less typical member of the Piedmont +nobility, perhaps a little more of a free-thinker than most, and +considerably more restive. He chafed at the lack of freedom allowed him +at the Academy, and on the marriage of his sister to the Count Giacinto +Cumiana besought her and the Count to use their influence to have his +scholar's bonds loosened. They succeeded, and Alfieri promptly took +advantage of his liberty to join in all the dissipations of the capital, +and to gratify his passion for riding. In about a year he became the +owner of a stable of eight horses. When his older friends cautioned the +boy against his extravagance he answered that he was his own master and +intended to do as he chose. + +While still at the Academy the youth had sought a position in the +army, but very short service as ensign in a militia regiment proved to +him that he was as little fond of military restraint as of scholastic. +He traveled to Genoa with two boy friends and fell in love with their +sister-in-law, a vivacious brunette. He worshiped her from a distance, +becoming, as he writes in his ardent Italian, "a victim to all the +feelings which Petrarch has so inimitably depicted ... feelings which +few can comprehend, and which fewer still ever experienced." On his +return from Genoa he considered himself a great traveler, and spoke as +such, only to be laughed at by the English, French, and German boys who +had been his classmates. Immediately he was seized with a passion for +travel. He was only seventeen years old, and knew that he would not be +permitted to travel alone. Fortunately an English teacher was about to +set out with two scholars on a journey through Italy, and was willing to +have Alfieri join his party. So strict was the court of that day that +the King's consent had to be obtained before the youth could leave the +country. Through his brother-in-law's influence Alfieri obtained the +royal permission to go abroad. + +The travels had been looked forward to with the greatest excitement. +When they were begun Alfieri professed himself utterly bored by almost +everything he saw. As one of his biographers says, "He was driven +from place to place by a demon of unrest, and was mainly concerned, +after reaching a city, in getting away from it as soon as he could. He +gives anecdotes enough in proof of this, and he forgets nothing that +can enhance the surprise of his future literary greatness." Whether +this desire to surprise his readers is really the keynote of the first +years in his memoirs or not, it would appear that the youth was about +as restless and turbulent-minded a creature as could be met with. +The further he traveled in Italy the less he liked it; he would not +speak the language or read the literature, he looked at an autograph +manuscript of Petrarch with supreme indifference, and wished to be +mistaken for a Frenchman. Yet this boy was to become, in time, the real +reviver of Italian letters. + +After a fortnight in Milan the party traveled to Florence by way of +Parma, Modena, and Bologna. Neither people, buildings, views, pictures, +nor sculpture interested Vittorio; he no sooner reached a city than he +was eager to be posting on. Even Florence, later to be his home, did not +attract him; the only object he found to admire in the city was Michael +Angelo's tomb at Santa Croce. He must have been the worst traveling +companion possible; he hurried his friends from Florence to Rome, and +finding nothing there to interest him except St. Peter's, went on to +Naples. Naples was in the midst of a carnival, and Alfieri plunged into +its extravagances as though to distract his thoughts from some brooding +melancholy. He was presented to the King, went to all the balls and +operas, rode, gamed, made one of the fastest set, and yet in the midst +of it all was discontented. He wanted to be alone, and finally applied +to the King of Piedmont through his minister at Naples for permission +to travel by himself. His request was granted, and at nineteen he set +out to make what was then the fashionable grand tour. He traveled in +state, with plenty of money, and a body servant, and with letters of +introduction to the various courts. + +It so happened that Alfieri had met certain French actors during a +summer holiday, and from talking with them he felt a desire to see +something of the French stage. He had no wish to try his own skill +at dramatic compositions--indeed his only thought of an occupation +at this time was that he should some day enter the diplomatic +service--but he was anxious to see something different from the +absurdly conventional Italian plays produced by the school which took +its name from Metastasio. He went first to Marseilles, where he spent +his time between the theater and solitary musing on the seashore. +Thence, after a short stay, he journeyed to Paris, full of the keenest +anticipations of finding pleasure in that famous city. His memoirs tell +us his feelings there. He writes: "The mean and wretched buildings, the +contemptible ostentation displayed in a few houses dignified with the +pompous appellation of hotels and palaces, the filthiness of the Gothic +churches, the truly vandal-like construction of the public theaters at +that time, besides innumerable other disagreeable objects, of which not +the least disgusting to me was the painted countenances of many very +ugly women, far outweighed in my mind the beauty and elegance of the +public walks and gardens, the infinite variety of the carriages, the +lofty façade of the Louvre, as well as the number of spectacles and +entertainments of every kind." Verily the young Alfieri was either the +hardest of all travelers to suit, or the older man, looking back, wished +to emphasize the perverseness of his youth. + +The Piedmontese Minister presented the young traveler to Louis XV., +concerning whom Alfieri wrote, "He received with a cold and supercilious +air those who were presented to him, surveying them from head to foot. +It seemed as if on presenting a dwarf to a giant he should view him +smiling, or perhaps say, 'Ah! the little animal!' or if he remained +silent his air and manner would express the same derision." He was +not at all attracted by the French court, which he considered very +pompous, and was anxious to be out on the highroads again, driving his +post-horses. In January, 1768, he crossed the channel and landed at +Dover. + +England delighted him, he found London far more to his taste than Paris, +he was charmed with the country, the large estates, the inns, the roads, +the horses, the people, all pleased him. He was particularly struck +with the absence of poverty. For a time he even thought of settling +there permanently, and years afterwards when he had seen much of all +the European countries he said that Italy and England were the two he +infinitely preferred as residences. + +But of the pleasures of London's fashionable life the young wanderer +soon tired, and for variety turned coachman, and drove a friend with +whom he was staying through all the city streets, leaving him wherever +he wished, and waiting patiently on the box for his return. "My +amusements through the course of the winter," he wrote, "consisted in +being on horseback during five or six hours every morning, and in being +seated on the coach-box for two or three hours every evening, whatever +might be the state of the weather." His tastes at this time were +closely akin to those of many of his English friends. + +Finally he left London and went to Holland. There he met Don Joseph +d'Acunha, the Portuguese Ambassador, a man of considerable literary +taste, who induced him to read Machiavelli, and first led him to think +of trying his literary skill. At The Hague he also fell deeply in love, +and, quite according to the fashionable custom of the time, with a young +married woman. For the moment his fits of morbidness and continual +unrest left him, he contrived constantly to be with the woman he loved, +and even followed her and her husband to Spa. A short time afterwards +the husband started for Switzerland, and the young wife returned to The +Hague. For ten days Alfieri was constantly in her society, then came +a message from her husband bidding her follow him. She wrote Alfieri +a note saying farewell and sent it to him through D'Acunha after she +had left the city. The youth was prostrated and with the violence of +his nature planned to kill himself. He complained of illness and had +himself bled. When he was alone he tore off the bandages with the idea +of bleeding to death. His faithful valet, however, knew the peculiar +nature of his master, and entered Alfieri's room. The bandages were +replaced, and the incident ended, although it was long before the young +man could recover from the parting with his fair lady. He passed through +Belgium to Switzerland, and so on back to Piedmont, still wrapped in +recollections, and unable to awaken any lasting interest. + +Living with his sister, first in the country, and later in Turin, a +short term of peace succeeded in Alfieri's life. He set himself to +reading, and studied with considerable care the popular French authors, +Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire. Plutarch, however, became his chief +companion. In one of the most characteristic pages of his memoirs we +find him writing, "The book of all others which gave me most delight and +beguiled many of the tedious hours of winter, was Plutarch. I perused +five or six times the lives of Timoleon, Cæsar, Brutus, Pelopidas, and +some others. I wept, raved, and fell into such a transport of fury, that +if any one had been in the adjoining chamber they must have pronounced +me out of my senses. Every time I came to any of the great actions of +those celebrated individuals, my agitation was so extreme that I could +not remain seated. I was like one beside himself, and shed tears of +mingled grief and rage at having been born in Piedmont and at a period +and under a government where it was impossible to conceive or execute +any great design." Plutarch first set before him vividly the contrast +between the Italy of the past and of his own day. As a result he became +dissatisfied with his own inability to win any high distinction. + +The winter of his twentieth year found Alfieri still without any +definite plans, now studying astronomy, now considering a diplomatic +career. With spring he determined again to travel, and in May set +off for Vienna. The spirit of unrest had given place to a brooding +melancholy. In this sense of the times being out of joint and himself +without work to do was born the gradual desire to write something +different from and in a more heroic strain than the rigorously +conservative dramas of the day. He traveled with Montaigne's Essays in +his pockets, and Montaigne, he says, first taught him to think. He still +found difficulty in reading Italian and much preferred foreign authors +to those of his own land. + +In Vienna Alfieri had a chance to meet the most eminent of then living +Italian authors, a man much admired in his generation. The opportunity +he declined. "I had seen Metastasio," he says, "in the gardens of +Schönbrunn, perform the customary genuflection to Maria Theresa in such +a servile and adulatory manner, that I, who had my head stuffed with +Plutarch, and who embellished every theory, could not think of binding +myself, either by the ties of familiarity or friendship, with a poet +who had sold himself to a despotism which I so cordially detested." +In Berlin he was presented to Frederick the Great, and as he writes +"mentally thanked Heaven I was not born his slave. Towards the middle of +November I departed from this Prussian encampment, which I regarded with +detestation and horror." + +From Berlin the young man went to Denmark, thence to Sweden, thence to +Russia. He says, "I approached Petersburg with a mind wound up to an +extraordinary pitch of anxiety and expectation. But alas! no sooner had +I reached this Asiatic assemblage of wooden huts, than Rome, Genoa, +Venice, and Florence rose to my recollections, and I could not refrain +from laughing. What I afterwards saw of this country tended still more +strongly to confirm my first impression that it merited not to be seen. +Everything but their beards and their horses disgusted me so much, that +during the six weeks I remained among these savages I wished not to +become acquainted with any one, nor even to see the two or three youths +with whom I had associated at Turin, and who were descended from the +first families of the country. I took no measure to be presented to +the celebrated Autocratrix Catherine II., nor did I even behold the +countenance of a sovereign who in our days has out-stripped fame." + +A little later he was back in England, and now again he fell in +love, this time also with a married woman of rank. With a truly +Byronic audacity he defied all the conventions, accompanied the woman +everywhere, and became a subject of town scandal. Finally confronted by +the husband, he fought a duel with swords in a field near St. James's +Park, his left arm being in a sling at the time as the result of a +bit of too daring horsemanship. Alfieri was slightly wounded, and the +husband declared himself satisfied. Shortly after the latter sued for +divorce, bringing the Italian's name into the case. The newspapers took +up the scandal, and the matter became a cause celèbre. Alfieri was on +the point of proposing marriage, when the woman, by her own confessions, +told him that such a result was impossible. With his ardor completely +cooled and his mind given to the bitterest thoughts he left London, and +after short stays in The Hague and Paris journeyed into Spain. + +In Paris he had bought the best known Italian authors and at this time +commenced to read them, although it was not until much later that he +began to appreciate them at their real worth. He did, however, carry +them with him on his travels, and gradually learned something at first +hand of that great galaxy, Dante, Tasso, Petrarch, Ariosto, Boccaccio, +and Machiavelli. His mind was not yet ripe for any study, even as he +traveled in Spain he was still subject to those wild outbreaks of +despondency and passion which alternately seemed to seize upon him. +He became a creature of chance whims, now he was ready to yield to +the quiet contentment of a suitable marriage, now burning with rage +against all the customs of society. Morbid ideas continually pressed his +footsteps. The atmosphere of a malevolent passion seems almost always +surrounding the great tragedies he later penned, and that atmosphere was +generated by a nature which from earliest youth had been extraordinarily +violent. His temper was wholly ungovernable. One evening in Madrid, as +Alfieri's faithful valet, the companion of all his travels, was curling +his hair, he accidentally pulled it so sharply with the tongs that +Alfieri winced. Instantly he sprang from his chair, and seizing a heavy +candlestick, hurled it at the servant. It struck the man on the temple, +and instantly his face was covered with blood. He rushed at his master, +but fortunately a young Spaniard who was present came to the rescue, +and separated them. Immediately Alfieri was covered with shame. "Had +you killed me," he said to the man, "you would have acted rightly. If +you wish, kill me while I sleep to-night, for I deserve it." The valet +took no such reprisal, he had been with his young master long enough to +understand the sudden outbursts of his temper, and was content to keep +the two blood-stained handkerchiefs that had bandaged his head and show +them occasionally to Alfieri as a reminder. + +In Lisbon the traveler formed a close friendship with the Abbot of +Caluso, whom he called a "true, living Montaigne." The Abbot tried to +interest the young man in literature, induced him to write some verses, +and gave him the benefit of his criticism. For a short time the interest +in poetry lasted, then it flagged, and again Alfieri felt himself +without any purpose. He decided to return home, and in May, 1772, +arrived at Turin. + +Now he took a house for himself, furnished it elaborately, and made +it the headquarters of a youthful society that sought amusement in +various forms. Some of them wrote, and Alfieri tried his pen for their +amusement, but soon tired of writing as a sport, and gave himself up +to other occupations. Continually searching for something to still +his restlessness he again fell in love, this time with a woman of +rank, some ten years his senior, and of a most unenviable reputation. +He became absolutely her slave, worked himself into frenzies on her +account, would consider nothing but the happiness of being with her. He +fell very ill, but when he recovered found himself as much in love as +ever. For two years he lived in this state of obsession, tormented by +self-reproach, but unable to rid himself of his own yoke. + +Finally he decided to quit Turin and break his fetters. When he was +only a short distance on the road to Rome his resolution failed and +he returned. Again he resolved to leave the city for a year. The year +lasted eight days. He was thoroughly ashamed, disliked being seen in +Turin, but could not keep away. He felt finally that he must take +one last stand or lose all self-respect and control forever. He had +his hair cut so short that he dared not appear in society, and shut +himself into his house to read. He could not keep his thoughts on the +books, and tried composition. He wrote a sonnet, and sent it to a +friend, and received a reply highly praising it. Then he remembered +that a year before as he sat watching by the sick bed of the woman who +had so charmed him he had lightly outlined a tragedy on the life of +Cleopatra, taking his subject from tapestries that hung in the room. +He threw himself into the work of writing that tragedy now, and found +that interest in it drove all other thoughts away. He wrote rapidly, +continually, only stopping when he was completely tired. When those +times came, still frightened with the possibility of leaving the house, +he had himself tied into a chair. He only allowed himself freedom when +he knew he had won self-control. By that time he had finished his +tragedy in blank verse called "Cleopatra," and a short farce called "The +Poets," the latter ridiculing the former. He sent them to a theater in +Turin, where they were produced on June 16, 1775, and met with success. +The author did not value either play highly himself, and sought to have +them withdrawn. He wrote later, comparing these works with those of his +contemporaries, "The sole difference which existed between their pieces +and mine was that the former were productions of learned incapacity, +whereas mine was the premature offspring of ignorance, which promised +one day to become something." + +His battle against what he considered a highly unworthy infatuation had +restored Alfieri's self-respect and health, and out of this curious +struggle sprang his first real and lasting ambition. "A devouring fire +took possession of my soul," he says, "I thirsted one day to become +a deserving candidate for theatrical fame." The date of that first +performance marked a turning point, not only for Alfieri, but for his +country's literature. It was, said the Italian critic, Paravia, "a day +and a year of eternal memory not only for the Turinese, but for all +Italians; because it was, so to speak, the dawn of the magnificent day +which, thanks to Alfieri, was to rise upon Italian tragedy." + +The restless energy which had driven Alfieri across the various European +countries now concentrated in an all-pervading determination to become +a tragic poet. He launched into that effort with the same unbounded +ardor with which he had so frequently before launched into love. He +was twenty-seven years of age when he seriously set himself to work to +acquire command of Italian so that he might think in the language of his +native land rather than in that of France. He described his resources +as "a resolute, obstinate, and ungovernable character, susceptible of +the warmest affections, among which, by an odd kind of a combination, +predominated the most ardent love, and hatred approaching to madness +against every species of tyranny; an imperfect and vague recollection +of several French tragedies which I had seen represented several years +before, but which I had then neither read nor studied; a total ignorance +of dramatic rules, and an incapability of expressing myself with +elegance and precision in my own language." + +To accomplish his purpose Alfieri now began at the very beginning and +took up the study of Italian grammar, and thence made a first-hand +acquaintance with all the best of the early Italian writers. He would +not allow himself any longer to read French, and tried to break himself +of the habit of thinking in that tongue. He moved from town into a small +country village in order that nothing might distract him. There he +re-wrote for the third time his tragedy of "Cleopatra," and practised +turning into Italian verses the outlines of two tragedies which he had +recently written in French. He pored over Tasso, Ariosto, Petrarch, and +Dante until he felt that he at last really caught the full spirit of +each author's style, then he tried writing poetry of his own. + +His ignorance of Latin continually vexed him, and now he employed a +teacher to begin over those lessons he had so thoroughly disliked at +school. It was very hard work at first, but he would learn what he now +considered essential to his purpose, and after three months' study of +Horace he found that he could read Latin. He took up the other classics +and translated some of them into modern Italian for practice in their +varied styles. + +Turin was too near France to satisfy his new passion for only the purest +Italian and so he went to Pisa, and thence to Florence. In the latter +city he found that his ideas were at last shaping themselves in the +rich and clear Italian he was seeking, he wrote verses which critical +friends pronounced at last worthy of the name of poetry, and planned +several poetic tragedies. He had worked hard and felt that he needed a +little rest. For this purpose he returned to Turin and had the pleasure +of entertaining his old friend the Abbot of Caluso there. He, as well as +other friends, urged Alfieri to make literature his field. He decided +that it was best for him to live in Tuscany, and as he hated to have +to ask royal permission each year to allow him to remain away from +Piedmont--as was the custom with the nobility--he gave his estates at +Asti to his sister, and contented himself with half his former income. +Then he moved to Florence, which, except for intervals spent at Rome and +Naples, was for a considerable time to be his home. + +On his way to Florence Alfieri was obliged to stop at Sarzana, where +he chanced upon a copy of Livy, and was so impressed with the story +of Virginia and Icilius that he immediately planned a tragedy on the +subject. Soon after he reached Pisa, but there he did not dare stay, +fearful that he might be involved in a marriage with a young girl whom +he had met there before and with whom he says that he had almost fallen +in love. He himself contrasts his feelings at that time with those he +had entertained when he had first thought of marriage. "Eight years +afterwards, my travels through Europe, the love of glory, a passion for +study, the necessity for preserving my freedom, in order to speak and +write the truth without restraint--all these reasons powerfully warned +me that under a despotic government it is sufficiently difficult even to +live single, and that no one who reflects deeply will either become a +husband or a father; thus I crossed the Arno and arrived at Siena." + +In Siena he met a company of strongly intellectual people, and from one +of these, a friend who became a close confidant, he gained the idea of +writing a tragedy founded upon the conspiracy of the Pazzi. Here he also +wrote the first two books of an essay upon Tyranny, which was printed +several years later. Thoroughly absorbed in his literary work Alfieri +moved to Florence at the beginning of the winter, and took up his +residence there. + +At that time there were living in Florence, under the titles of Count +and Countess of Albany, Charles Edward, "the Young Pretender" to the +English throne, and his wife. The latter, who had been Louisa, Princess +of Stolbergh, had been married when nineteen to the Stuart prince, who +was considerably her elder. Charles Edward had an unsavory reputation +and knew more drunk than sober moments. As a result the young Countess, +who was very beautiful and extremely fond of the fine arts and of +society, was the object of much romantic pity. When Alfieri came to +Florence he found the entire city at the feet of the Countess. Every +one condemned the Count's quarrelsome, tyrannical, libertine nature, +every one praised the Countess's sweet and sunny disposition. Friends +offered to introduce Alfieri to the star of Florence, but he declined +on the ground that he always shunned women who were the most beautiful +and most admired. He could not avoid, however, seeing her in the park +and at the theater, and the first sight of her was destined never to be +effaced. Thus he writes of her: "The first impression she made on me +was infinitely agreeable. Large black eyes full of fire and gentleness, +joined to a fair complexion and flaxen hair, gave to her beauty a +brilliancy difficult to withstand. Twenty-five years of age, possessing +a taste for letters and the fine arts, an amiable character, an immense +fortune, and placed in domestic circumstances of a very painful nature, +how was it possible to escape where so many reasons existed for loving?" + +De Stendhal gives an account of their first meeting, which if inaccurate +(it does not appear in Alfieri's memoirs) is at least characteristic of +the man. According to this story Alfieri was presented to the Countess +in one of the galleries of Florence, and noticed at the time that the +lady was much interested in a portrait on the walls of Charles XII. She +told the poet that she admired the costume exceedingly. Two days later +Alfieri appeared in Florence dressed exactly like the portrait of the +Swedish King, and so presented himself before the Countess. The act was +quite in keeping with the poet's nature. + +Alfieri made a determined effort to fight against the passion he had +cause to fear, and made a hurried journey to Rome. He could not stay +there, and returned to Florence, stopping at Siena to see his friend +Gandellini, to whom he spoke of the Countess, and who did not counsel +him against giving way to the fascination. + +On his return to Florence he acknowledged that he was deeply in love. +This love, however, he felt ennobled him, and instead of causing him +to give up his work, continually inspired him to new literary heights. +He wrote, "I soon perceived that the object of my present attachment, +far from impeding my progress in the pursuit of useful knowledge, or +deranging my studies, like the frivolous woman with whom I was formerly +enamoured, urged me on by her example to everything dignified and +praiseworthy. Having once learned to know and appreciate so rare and +valuable a friend, I yielded myself up entirely to her influence." From +the commencement of this new affection, the best and most lasting of his +life, date the finest works of his genius. + +There had been long delays in settling Alfieri's estate in Piedmont, +and arranging that he might live in Tuscany, but the presence of the +Countess urged him imperatively to remain in Florence. When the business +arrangements were finally at an end he found it would be necessary +for him to curtail his former expensive style of living. This he did, +giving up his horses, all his servants, except a valet and cook, and +most of his personal luxuries. Books were the only expense he indulged +in, he acquired gradually a very large and choice library. He took a +small house, and devoted himself to his dramas, seeing as much as he +could in leisure moments of the beautiful Countess. During these three +quiet years he wrote his tragedies "Virginia," "Agemennone," "Don +Garzia," "Maria Stuarda," and "Oreste," a poem on the death of Duke +Alexander, killed by Lorenzino de' Medici, had rewritten his drama of +"Filippo," and partly prepared the tragedies "Timoleone," "Ottavia," +and "Rosmunda." All of these works are built on the classic Grecian +model, and flame with hatred of tyranny, and burn with civic virtue. +In that they show their kinship to the author's times. De Sanctis, +always a brilliant critic, says: "The situations that Alfieri has chosen +in his tragedies have a visible relation to the social state, to the +fears, and to the hopes of his own time. It is always resistance to +oppression, of man against man, of people against tyrant.... In the +classicism of Alfieri there is no positive side. It is an ideal Rome and +Greece, outside of time and space, floating in the vague ... which his +contemporaries filled up with their own life." + +At about the end of the dramatist's third year of residence in Florence, +the ill-treatment of the Countess of Albany by her husband caused her +friends, and chief among them Alfieri, to plan for her release from such +servitude. To this end they secured her entrance first into a convent at +Florence, and then, with the consent of the Grand Duke of Tuscany and +the Count's own brother the Cardinal of York, her removal to Rome. So +afraid were her friends lest the Count should effect a rescue that they +surrounded her carriage with a body of horsemen as she left Florence, +and Alfieri rode on the coach box until she was well on her road. + +While the Countess had been in Florence, Alfieri had worked assiduously +there; now that she was gone he found composition impossible, and after +a very short interval went to Naples, planning to wait there until +he should learn what the Countess would do. It was not long before +it became apparent that the courts of Europe had taken up the wife's +cause against her husband. The Pope gave her a pension and approved of +her taking apartments in the house of her brother-in-law. The court of +France gave her the pension which the Count had previously indignantly +declined as being insufficient for his position. Alfieri learned at last +that the Countess was living in entire independence of her husband, and +after a further stay of a month in Naples in order to avoid possible +scandal he moved to Rome, and took up his residence there. + +With this new settled existence he began to write again, and produced +at this time "Saul," his fourteenth tragedy, and one of his finest +works. He took infinite pains with all his dramas, planned them again +and again, wrote version after version, and then selected the forms he +preferred after careful judgment, polished them line by line and word +by word until he was satisfied. He wished to try the effect of his +characters upon an audience, and had himself acted, together with some +of his friends, his play of "Antigone." He found he had not mistaken his +ability as a dramatist. At about the same time he published part of his +works, sending four dramas to the printer. Their publication excited +immediate and flattering attention. His life in Rome was the most +delightful he had yet known. His house was a pleasant villa near the +Baths of Diocletian. Here he wrote and studied in the morning. Later in +the day he went for long rides through the neighboring country, and the +evenings he spent with the woman who had become his chief inspiration. + +In time, however, the poet's visits to the Countess became the subject +of unfavorable comment, and the Cardinal, her brother-in-law, brought +the matter to the attention of the Papal Court. Realizing the delicacy +of the situation, Alfieri reluctantly decided that he must quit Rome, +and in May, 1783, he set out again as a wanderer, his ambition lost, his +life offering him no further interests. + +As in early youth he now took to rapid traveling for solace, carrying on +at the same time a continual correspondence with the Countess. He wrote +a few sonnets, but found that his mind was too unsettled to allow him +to engage in any more lengthy labors. He went to France, and then to +England, and in each country visited scenes which the impetuosity of his +youth had neglected. Horses again made their appeal to him in London, +and he bought fourteen, "as many horses as he had written tragedies," +he states. With these horses he soon returned to Turin, and made a short +visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for a long time. When he left +her he went to Piacenza, and here he heard that the Countess had at last +been released from the restraint under which she had lived at Rome, and +that as her health was delicate she had gone to Baden. He was in two +minds as to his course, the thought of possible calumny to her bade him +refrain from going to Baden at once, and he tried to content himself +in Siena with his old friend Gandellini. The continual interchange of +letters gradually wore away his resolution, and at last the time came +when he could keep from her no longer. August 4, 1784, he set out to +join her and within a fortnight felt his old joy return. Immediately his +thoughts grew fertile, he began to write again as he had not done since +he had quitted her in Rome. There was no question but that her presence +acted as a continual inspiration to his genius. + +To this period of new happiness belonged the dramas of "Agide," +"Sofonisba," and "Mirra." The plot of the latter came to him as he was +reading the speech of Mirra to her nurse in the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid, +and was written in the first heat of his emotion at the woman's words. +He was somewhat in doubt as to the success of a play written on such +a subject, but it was hailed as a triumph at its first presentation +some years later, and made a remarkable impression on Byron and on +Madame de Staël, and was considered by most critics as Ristori's finest +impersonation. + +After two months the Countess had to return to Italy, and Alfieri's +gloom at the separation was further increased by the news of the death +of his friend Gandellini. He went to Siena, but found that city lonely +without his friend, and passed the winter in Pisa. He did a great amount +of reading, repolished his later dramas, and prepared new volumes of +them for the press. When winter ended he spent another two months of +summer with the Countess at Colmar, and then again they separated. This +time he resolved to work unremittingly, and did so until his health +failed and he had to rest. At about the same time the Countess decided +to leave Italy permanently, and at length Alfieri, towards the close of +1786, joined her and went with her to Paris. He writes in his memoirs +of this journey into France, "This country which had always proved +extremely disagreeable to me, as much on account of my own character, +as the manners of the people, now appeared a perfect elysium." There +are many glimpses to be had of this new life in the French capital. +Montanari recounts how the Marquis Pindemonte, himself a dramatist, +used each evening to take an omelette soufflé in the Countess's room, +while Alfieri sat in the chimney corner sipping his chocolate. Under +such peaceful auspices the poet spent many months in a critical +preparation of all his works for new publication. + +In February, 1788, word reached the Countess that her husband had died +in Rome, and it would appear that she was soon afterwards married to +Alfieri, although in the will of the latter she is referred to as the +Countess of Albany and not as his wife. His memoirs do not once speak +of her as his wife, but from the date of her husband's death their life +together was uninterrupted. It is now generally assumed that they were +privately married about this time. + +For three years the two lived quietly in Paris, spending their summers +and autumns at a new home Alfieri had acquired in Alsace. During these +years he printed two editions of his works, supervised their sales, and +wrote his remarkably entertaining memoirs, which were finished up to +May, 1790. The end of the three years found Paris on the brink of the +great Revolution. + +Alfieri saw the black clouds gathering on the French horizon, but +stayed on in the desire to complete the printing of his works. He was +in turn amazed, alarmed, and disgusted at the succeeding events in +the establishment of a republic. The principles proclaimed by these +so-called destroyers of tyrants were not the principles of his own +freedom-loving heart, nor those of any of his heroic characters. He +writes, "My heart was torn asunder on beholding the holy and sublime +cause of liberty betrayed by self-called philosophers,--so much did I +revolt at witnessing their ignorance, their folly, and their crimes; +at beholding the military power, and the insolence and licentiousness +of the civilians stupidly made the basis of what they termed political +liberty, that I henceforth desired nothing more ardently than to leave +a country which, like a lunatic hospital, contained only fools or +incurables." + +Circumstances, however, conspired to keep them in Paris, the Countess +was dependent upon France for two-thirds of her income, Alfieri was +finishing the printing of his dramas. The hour came when Alfieri +determined that further delay would be more than foolhardy, and so, on +August 18, 1792, having obtained passports with great difficulty, he +drove with the Countess to the city barrier. A dramatic scene followed. +The National Guards found the passports correct, and would have let the +travelers pass, but at the same moment a crowd of drunken revelers broke +from a neighboring cabaret, and attracted by the well-laden carriage, +proceeded to stop its passage, while they debated whether they should +stone it or set it on fire. The Guards remonstrated, but the revelers +complained bitterly that people of wealth should leave the city. Alfieri +lost all prudence, and jumping from his carriage, seized the passports +from the man who held them and, as he himself tells the incident, "Full +of disgust and rage, and not knowing at the moment, or in my passion +despising the immense peril that attended us, I thrice shook my passport +in my hand and shouted at the top of my voice, 'Look! Listen! Alfieri +is my name; Italian and not French; tall, lean, pale, red hair; I am +he; look at me; I have my passport, and I have had it legitimately from +those who could give it; we wish to pass, and by Heaven, we _will_ +pass!'" + +The crowd was surprised, and before they had recovered Alfieri and the +Countess had driven past the barriers and were safely on their way. They +had left Paris none too soon. Two days later the same authorities that +had granted the passports confiscated the horses, furniture, and books +that Alfieri had left behind in Paris and declared both the Countess and +Alfieri refugee aristocrats. The fact that they were both foreigners +appeared to be of no importance. It was well that they had gone. The +Countess was too illustrious a personage to have escaped for long the +fury of the fast-gathering mob, and had she been lost Alfieri would +have shared her fate. + +Florence thenceforth became the home of the Countess and of Alfieri. +He wrote desultorily, commenting upon what he had seen in France, +but for the most part devoted himself to a study of the classics. In +1795, when he was forty-six years of age, he started to learn Greek, +and was so fired with the desire that in a short time he had added an +intimate knowledge of Homer, Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides to that +he already had of the Latin authors. He was so much interested in the +"Alcestis" of Euripides that he wrote an original drama based on the +same theme. He was described at this time as of a tall and commanding +figure, with a face of intelligence, and the look of one born to +command, rather than obey. His forehead was broad and lofty; his red +hair fell in thick masses around it. + +The restless youth had changed to a methodical, studious man, he +arranged his day by rule, and followed that rule exactly. Only one +event disturbed him, and that was the occupation of Florence by French +troops. He had distrusted the French while he lived among them, now when +they came to hold Florence in subjection his hatred of tyranny bade him +despise them. He refused to receive the call of the French general who, +having read his works, was anxious to meet him. On the correspondence +which passed between them in reference to this matter Alfieri wrote, +"Dialogue between a lion in a cage, and his crocodile guardian." + +When he had fled from France he had been compelled to leave some +of his printed works behind him, and he was now in fear lest their +appearance and eager appeal for liberty should seem to ally him with +the Revolutionary cause. Above all things he condemned the French +Revolution. To avoid this possibility he now advertised in the Italian +papers a disclaimer, warning the public against any edition of his +writings except such as he himself issued. With this formal announcement +he had to be content. + +Alfieri had determined to write no more tragedies, and turned to +composition of comedies, of which he had six nearly completed when his +health failed. He rested for a time and then resumed his methodical life +of study and work. He was advised to give himself more recreation, but +was too obstinate to adopt any plan but his own. His health gave way +again, and neglecting the physician's advice, he tried to minister to +his own illness. Gradually he grew weaker, and on October 3, 1803, he +died. He was buried in the Florentine church of Santa Croce, and his +monument, carved by Canova, rises between the tombs of Michael Angelo +and Machiavelli. An inscription states by whom the memorial was erected. +"Louisa, Princess of Stolbergh, Countess of Albany, to Vittorio Alfieri +of Asti, 1810." In 1824 she was buried in Santa Croce. + +In his will Alfieri left everything to the Countess. Their love had +grown deeper with time. She wrote to a friend, "You know, by experience, +what it is to lose a person with whom we have lived for twenty-six +years, who has never given us a moment of displeasure, whom we have +always adored, respected, and venerated." Each, tormented alone, had +found happiness finally in their united life. + +What was Alfieri's part in the growth of that spirit which was preparing +to set Italy free? Why did Mazzini later point him out as one of the +great sources of inspiration for his "Young Italy"? We must remember +that literature and the drama are more closely related to Italian public +opinion than they are with us, that the appearance of a new book or play +is often a vital subject to a ministry. What the people read they felt, +and it was Alfieri who first showed them the immorality of national +servitude. One of his best critics has said that when Alfieri first +turned his glance toward the Italian stage, it presented anything but a +hopeful aspect. "The degradation of a people enslaved under a foreign +yoke, and without political life, could not fail to make itself felt +in the theater as in the more extended arena of public affairs. No high +effort of mind could be born amid such circumstances. A stage without +authors soon ceases to have actors. When actors and authors both are +wanting an audience will not easily be found. Thus it was, thus it had +been in Italy through many troubled years. The opera,--the seductive, +but enervating opera,--carried to great perfection by Metastasio, was +almost alone in possession of the popular taste.... Alfieri's first +thought was to improve the taste of his countrymen, by blending the +amusement they were accustomed to with something better.... Instead of +attempting reform by easy stages, he determined to attempt everything at +once.... It was something more than an improvement of the stage that he +attempted; it was the improvement of his countrymen; the regeneration of +his country!... Throughout nearly all his tragedies and his prose works, +the leading idea by which he was animated stood plainly out. Several +pieces he specially calls tragedies of liberty. They well deserve the +name. He never tired in his denunciations of tyranny, in his invectives +against oppression. These were themes upon which the more he spoke, the +more eloquent he became." + +The dramas themselves, built in strict accordance with the three +unities of classic taste, may seem strangely stiff and unemotional +to us, but they carried an immense appeal to the Italian of the last +century. They spoke a new voice and stirred a new spirit in their +hearers. The voice once heard, the spirit once born, the new idea grew +rapidly. Within a few years after Alfieri's death eighteen editions of +his works had passed through the press. Two great theaters, one at Milan +and one at Bologna, were built by men eager to present his tragedies. +The influence of his writings was tremendous; the minds of Italians from +Piedmont to Sicily were stirred to a higher pitch than they had been for +many centuries. + +Alfieri's character had many defects, at best his life was unmoral, +but having regard to the society into which he was born and the +early training he received, more was scarcely to be looked for. He +was passionate, reckless, and untutored in all self-control, yet he +harnessed himself to a work which possessed his fancy and in its service +became the devotee of study and control. Like his life his writings +lack peace and broad philosophy, but on the other hand they gain from +his peculiar nature a certain domineering force. Giuseppe Arnaud in his +criticism on the patriotic poets of Italy says, "Whoever should say that +Alfieri's tragedies, in spite of many eminent merits, were constructed +on a theory opposed to grand scenic effects and to one of the two bases +of tragedy, namely, compassion, would certainly not say what was far +from the truth. And yet, with all this, Alfieri will still remain the +dry, harsh blast which swept away the noxious miasmas with which the +Italian air was infected. He will still remain that poet who aroused +his country from its dishonorable slumber, and inspired its heart with +intolerance of servile conditions and with regard for its dignity. Up to +this time we had bleated and he roared." + +Let me only add the striking words of his fellow countryman, the gifted +poet-statesman Massimo d'Azeglio. "In fact," he wrote, "one of the +merits of that proud heart was to have found Italy Metastasian and left +it Alfierian; and his first and greatest merit was, to my thinking, that +he discovered Italy, so to speak, as Columbus discovered America, and +initiated the idea of Italy as a nation. I place this merit far beyond +that of his verses and his tragedies." + +Alfieri reminded Italians that they had a native voice. + + + + +[Illustration: MANZONI] + + + + +MANZONI, THE MAN OF LETTERS + + +The position of Manzoni in modern Italian life and literature is +doubly interesting, both because his work in poetry and the drama +marks the vital turning point in the historic battle of Classicism +with Romanticism, and because his romance "I Promessi Sposi" is the +greatest achievement in all Italian letters in the field of the novel. +Walter Scott gave the country north of Tweed a history in the "Waverley +Novels," and Alessandro Manzoni's writing a little later, at a time +when Scott's work was a great factor in European literature, gave Italy +a history in the same sense. The inestimable service that the Waverley +Novels did Scotland "I Promessi Sposi" did the disrupted states of Italy. + +The spirit of the French Revolution was all-engrossing, as subversive of +the old religions, philosophies, and literatures, as it was of the old +politics. It represented the actual thoughts of the men of that era, but +it developed so rapidly and fell into such excesses that its downfall +was sudden and complete. Then the reaction set in, which, as De Sanctis +in his history of the movement says, was "as rapid and violent as the +revolution.... The white terror succeeded to the red." + +The same critic goes on to show that there were at this period two +great philosophic principles, materialism and skepticism, and that +in opposition to them there rose a spirituality which was carried to +the heights of idealism. This spirituality approached the mysticism +of mediæval days. "To the right of nature," he says, "was opposed the +divine right, to popular sovereignty legitimacy, to individual rights +the State, to liberty authority and order. The middle ages returned in +triumph.... Christianity, hitherto the target of all offense, became the +center of every philosophical investigation, the banner of all social +and religious progress.... The criterions of art were changed. There was +a pagan art and a Christian art, where highest expression was sought in +the Gothic, in the glooms, the mysteries, the vague, the indefinite, +in a beyond which was called the ideal, in an inspiration towards the +infinite, incapable of fruition and therefore melancholy.... To Voltaire +and Rousseau succeeded Chateaubriand, De Staël, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, +Lamennais. And in 1815 appeared the Sacred Hymns of the young Manzoni." + +This spirit of idealism became the incentive for the new school +of Romance in literature and the drama, in contrast to the drab +materialism of the Revolutionary age. This school of Romance is not, +however, to be considered as diametrically opposed to the Classical +School, for they had much in common, and the contrast between them +lay not so much in the spirit which animated them as in the strict +regard of Classicism for the time-hallowed unities of time, place, and +action, and the willingness of the Romantic School to sacrifice all +these for freedom of movement and effect. The new school wished to find +its poems in the experiences of men of that day, to write its dramas +about any comedy or tragedy without regard to their classic form, it +wished freedom to grow as its own spirit might dictate. In Germany and +England great Romanticists were ripening into power, Goethe and Burger, +Scott and Byron were being widely read in Italy, and the dramas of both +Schiller and Shakespeare were continually translated and reproduced +in Italian verse. The restoration of the Austrians and Bourbons after +the Napoleonic downfall made any chance to speak political truths +impossible, even in the half-veiled militant form used earlier by +Alfieri. The Romantic School therefore, confined in its modern scope, +turned backward, became retrospective, and sought its outlet in the +glories of that mediæval world which had been so nearly akin in spirit +to the modern sentiment. It turned from recent atheistic tendencies to +a mood of great devotion, from lax morality to a high degree of upright +conduct, from the regard of liberty as the greatest good to that of +responsibility to mankind as the goal. Only distantly and secondarily +political, this Romantic movement was first of all moral, and taught +Italians that in order to be good citizens they must be good men first. +As in all literary history the movement had a deep philosophic meaning, +and this sense of moral responsibility was at the base of all Manzoni's +great creative efforts. + +First of all, then, the literary movement which succeeded the +Revolutionary era in Italy was idealistic as compared with the +materialism of the days of the Napoleonic occupation, and secondly, +it was Romantic in contradistinction to the Classicism of the earlier +times. Greek and Roman themes for artistic expression were abandoned +for the stories of national mediævalism, the Papacy became the center +of its poetic aspiration, and its spirit, though highly ardent, was far +more truly modern than that of Classicism had been. Our former critic, +De Sanctis, says that in this new movement religion "is no longer a +creed, it is an artistic motive.... It is not enough that there are +saints, they must be beautiful: the Christian idea returns as art.... +Providence comes back to the world, the miracle reappears in story, +hope and prayer revive, the heart softens, it opens itself to gentle +influences.... Manzoni reconstructs the ideal of the Christian Paradise +and reconciles it with the modern spirit. Mythology goes, the classic +remains; the eighteenth century is denied, its ideas prevail." + +Manzoni stood first for that new movement which opposed morality to +license in national development, secondly for the temper which derided +the classic limits of the three unities and held that a purely national +event was as suitable for the purpose of artistic representation as +the stories of classic history. In addition to this he first adopted +that form of the Romantic spirit which was rising so rapidly into use +in England in the novels of Walter Scott, in France in the writings +of Victor Hugo and Lamennais, and in Germany in those of Goethe and +Schiller, and gave Italy the result in his great novel of Italian life +and history. For each of these reasons Manzoni represents a force potent +in upbuilding Italian character and strengthening it at the time of its +great crisis. Though he drew suggestions from abroad, he made his work +Italian, and thoroughly Italian. "If," says De Sanctis, "the Romantic +School, by its name, its ties, its studies, its impressions, was allied +to German traditions and French fashions, it was at bottom Italian +in accent, aspiration, form, and motive.... Every one felt our hopes +palpitating under the mediæval robe; the least allusion, the remotest +meanings, were caught by the public, which was in the closest accord +with the writers. The middle ages were no longer treated with historical +and positive intention; they became the garments of our ideals, the +transparent expression of our hopes." + +Alessandro Manzoni was born in Milan, March 7, 1785, at about the time +when Alfieri was accomplishing his greatest work. His father, Pietro +Manzoni, belonged to the nobility, and bore the title of Count, a title +which Alessandro, when he inherited it at an early age, refused to +adopt, and continued to refuse to use during his whole life. His mother +was the daughter of Beccaria, a man well known throughout Europe for +his studies of political economy and criminology, and whose treatise +entitled "Crimes and Punishments" was greatly admired in the Voltairean +circles of France. Alessandro's mother was a remarkably intelligent +woman, with a fineness of nature which was inherited by her son, and +which kept him unspoiled and simple through a life unusually acclaimed +and applauded. + +His earliest youth was spent among the hills of Galbiate, according to +the custom of wealthy Lombard families, to send their children to the +mountains in order to give them rugged health. The boy was in care of +a woman who was successively his nurse and governess, and who taught +him to read and stirred his interest in the legends and history of the +neighboring countryside. When still a small boy he was sent to the +church college of the Frati Lomaschi, education being then entirely +in charge of ecclesiastics. He seems to have been in no wise an apt +student, the close confinement, the strict discipline, and the dry +manner of teaching subjects which were all of an eminently classical +nature combining to dull his spirits and interest. Stories are current +in Milan of Manzoni's inability to learn, almost bordering on stupidity, +but such stories are popular of men who have later shown great ability, +and deserve little credence. Suffice it that he showed no great aptitude +for learning at the school of the Frati Lomaschi, nor even later at +the Collegio dei Nobili. At the latter he did, however, meet the poet +Vincenzo Monti, a man well known throughout Italy, who had had for +patrons the Cardinals Borghese and Braschi, a poet and dramatist whose +pen was too apt to serve the political party in power, but who had +achieved wide popularity, and whose poems were praised by critics as +diverse-minded as Byron and Napoleon Bonaparte. Monti met the young +Manzoni when he was on a visit to the college, and took an interest in +him. Alessandro admired the poet, and it was perhaps this acquaintance +which first actively interested him in literature as a pursuit. The +meeting of the boy Walter Scott with Robert Burns is a parallel in +Scottish literary annals. + +In 1805, when he was twenty, Alessandro's father died and the youth +left the Collegio dei Nobili, and returned for a time to his mother. +After a period of home life he was sent to the University of Pavia, +the best-known of Lombard universities. His stay here was short. His +mother, now a widow for several years, was advised to go to France for +her health, and the close bonds which united mother and son would not +allow of such a distant separation. Alessandro left the University and +went with his mother to Auteuil, which was then a fashionable watering +place where the _beau monde_ of French art and letters gathered. Here +and at Paris he met the leading thinkers of the time, Volney, Cabanis, +De Tracy, Fauriel, and Condorcet, all of whom were interested in the +young man as the grandson of Beccaria and because of his own originality +of thought. These men called themselves idealogues, and claimed to +have shaken off all the conventions of the previous centuries. As a +student Manzoni had been an extremely liberal Catholic, and was usually +considered by strict critics a follower of Voltaire. At Paris and +Auteuil, however, he met so many men of the then prevalent atheistic +mode of thought that his own interest in his family religion was +quickened and he emerged from his friendship with such men as Cabanis +and Condorcet a more pronounced churchman than he had been before. It +was characteristic of him to cling tenaciously to those precedents and +standards which had so long survived in his own country. His religion, +however, was soon to become more to him than a field for philosophic +speculation, for in 1810 he married Louise Henriette Blondel, daughter +of a banker of Geneva, who, herself a convert from Protestantism to the +Church of Rome, became most ardent in the church of her adoption. She +soon brought Alessandro to her own enthusiastic view, and from the date +of his marriage his philosophy never varied. Henriette Manzoni possessed +rare beauty, and was long remembered in Milan "for her fresh blond head, +and her blue eyes, her lovely eyes," and the young husband was ideally +happy with his bride. He had by now determined to try his skill at +composition, and set himself as models the three men whose fame was then +at its height in Italy, Alfieri, Vincenzo Monti, and Ugo Foscolo. + +His bride had brought Manzoni a country seat as well as considerable +property, and so he settled in the country and studied to perfect his +style in writing. His first works were a series of Sacred Hymns, written +directly under the influence of the renewed religious faith attendant +on his marriage. These were published in 1815, and were at once noticed +as poems alike remarkable for deep religious feeling and great beauty +of expression. Appearing as they did at a time when religion was being +bitterly assailed, churchmen looked upon the young poet as a distinct +acquisition to their forces. Manzoni was not, however, even then a +believer in the temporal power of the Pope. He said to Madame Colet, the +author of "L'Italie des Italiens," "I bow humbly to the Pope, and the +Church has no more respectful son; but why confound the interests of +earth and those of heaven? The Roman people are right in asking their +freedom--there are hours for nations, as for governments, in which they +must occupy themselves, not with what is convenient, but with what is +just. Let us lay hands boldly upon the temporal power, but let us not +touch the doctrine of the Church. The one is as distinct from the other +as the immortal soul from the frail and mortal body. To believe that +the Church is attacked in taking away its earthly possessions is a real +heresy to every true Christian." + +This was the same view which Manzoni held throughout his life, and +which, stated in his quoted words, gives the position taken by the most +enlightened men of the Nationalist party in those later days when the +question of the temporal power of the Pope became vital for Italy. What +the Sacred Hymns showed was that Manzoni looked to the Church as the +center of all true aspiration and religion rather than to philosophic +theories as the safeguard of morals. + +His next production carried him a step further in advance of his +contemporaries, and marked him as the leader of the Romantic School. +In 1819 he wrote his first tragedy, published the following year under +the title "Il Conte di Carmagnola." The subject-matter was the career +of Carmagnola, a celebrated condottiere of the Middle Ages, and the +dramatic form was entirely distinct from that classic construction which +had so long tyrannized over the drama. In an introduction he explains +his departure from the classic unities of time, place, and action, and +gives his reasons for believing that the dramatist should be free to +choose his own subject and to treat it in such fashion as shall seem to +him best to express his idea. The Elizabethan dramatists had long before +discarded the law of the unities in England, and had carried their plots +over such courses of time and place as they pleased, and so had Schiller +in Germany, but in Italy the law had been absolute from the time of +Tasso to that of Alfieri. Eight years after Manzoni's "Carmagnola" +appeared, Victor Hugo brought on the great dramatic war in France with +his "Cromwell," and from the date of his ultimate triumph in Paris dates +the downfall of the Classicists and the full glory of the Romanticists. + +In Italy Manzoni's step was violently attacked and defended. +Conservatives opposed him, but the younger element immediately acclaimed +him as their leader. The following year, 1821, he wrote his great ode on +the death of Napoleon, which had occurred on May 5th, at St. Helena, and +the news of which had greatly affected all Europe. The ode, entitled "Il +Cinque Maggio," was remarkable for great dignity, a deep and profound +estimate of Napoleon's genius, and a tribute to his colossal fame which +even the French recognized as the fittest expression of poetic power. +The ode was at once translated into German by Goethe, and into English +by Gladstone and the Earl of Derby. It immediately placed him at the +head of the new school of continental poets. + +Very soon afterwards, in 1822, Manzoni wrote his second tragedy, +"Adelchi," a drama of the war between the Lombards and Charlemagne. It +followed the lines of the Carmagnola, repeating the break from classical +precedents, and establishing the value of the Romantic School. Both +dramas were acted, but without success. The Carmagnola, when it was +given at Florence in 1828, had the open support of the court to offset +the attacks of the old school, and yet did not win even a mildly +enthusiastic hearing. The Adelchi was tried with a similar result at +Turin. + +In spite of their ill reception on the stage, both of Manzoni's dramas +were immensely popular with readers, and, although based on incidents +remote in point of time, both thrilled with a patriotism that stirred +the hearts of all Italians. Mr. Howells says of the tragedies in his +"Modern Italian Poets," "The time of the Carmagnola is the fifteenth +century; that of the Adelchi the eighth century; and however strongly +marked are the characters,--and they are very strongly marked, and +differ widely from most persons of Italian classic tragedy in this +respect,--one still feels that they are subordinate to the great +contests of elements and principles for which the tragedy furnishes a +scene. In the Carmagnola the pathos is chiefly in the feeling embodied +by the magnificent chorus lamenting the slaughter of Italians by +Italians at the battle of Maclodio; in the Adelchi we are conscious of +no emotion so strong as that we experience when we hear the wail of the +Italian people, to whom the overthrow of their Longobard oppressors by +the Franks is but the signal of a new enslavement. This chorus is almost +as fine as the more famous one in the Carmagnola, both are incomparably +finer than anything else in the tragedies and are much more dramatic +than the dialogue. It is in the emotion of a spectator belonging to our +own time rather than in that of an actor of those past times that the +poet shows his dramatic strength, and whenever he speaks abstractly for +country and humanity he moves us in a way that permits no doubt of his +greatness." + +Manzoni's greatest work, however, was yet to appear, for admirable as +were his poems and inspiring as were his heroic dramas it was as a +novelist that he was to reach his pinnacle of fame. It was also as a +novelist that he was to become one of the men who directly created that +national spirit which made modern Italy. Italy had had many poets, but +no great novelist since Boccaccio. Fortunately Manzoni had not been +confined to the literature of his own land, but had studied Goethe, +Shakespeare, Voltaire, and Scott, and drew his inspiration largely from +them. He owed much to the English novel, and especially to the author +of "Waverley," a man whom he much admired, and who fully returned his +admiration. + +"I Promessi Sposi" appeared in 1825 and created a tremendous +impression. Scott said that it was the greatest historical novel ever +written, and Goethe said, "It satisfies us like perfectly ripe fruit." +It was the first and greatest Italian romance, and it awakened an +interest throughout Europe in Italian history. The scene is laid in +Milan under the harsh Spanish rule of the Seventeenth Century, and +the reader is carried through the story of war and famine, and the +great plague. Its merits are hard to exaggerate, the beauty of its +descriptions and the accuracy of its history, the intense interest of +its characters, a galaxy that embraces every walk of life, the truth +of its philosophy are equally remarkable. The universal feelings of +humanity pulse through its pages; as Dr. Garnett says of it, "as a +picture of human nature the book is above criticism; it is just the +fact, neither more nor less." + +Victor Hugo in "Les Miserables" wrote a book which appealed to the +innate democracy of man, but Manzoni in "I Promessi Sposi" made the same +appeal without having recourse to the Frenchman's use of the grotesque +and gigantic. Through the whole of the latter novel runs the note of +a profound sympathy with the poor and the unfortunate, a note which +is perhaps stronger in this book than in any romance ever written. It +is the work of a great mind, fully alive to every sensibility and +sympathy, accurate in its judgments, and to which, in the ancient words, +nothing human is foreign. + +Cardinal and priest, brigand and simple hero, grande dame and the lovely +girl whose hand promised in marriage gives part title to the book, are +each perfect in their way, and bring the characteristics of a past +century vividly before the present. Goethe pointed out the too great +prominence of the historical element, but the very careful attention +paid by Manzoni to the accuracy of his setting must add to the sense of +reality which he so completely gains. The novel was rapidly translated +into all modern languages, and at once created a school of historical +novelists in Italy. + +To us who have seen the romantic movement give place in turn to that of +realism, it is difficult to understand what Scott and Hugo, Goethe and +Manzoni did for the men of the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century. +They made people feel as they had not felt before the wide scope of +existence and the importance of the individual. Literature had been a +matter of form and convention, of classic model, of purely aristocratic +vision. The new movement was part of that same impulse which was +demanding constitutions of kings and bringing the middle classes into +political prominence. It was an awakening of public spirit which had +slept soundly through several centuries. Voltaire and Rousseau, +Alfieri and Foscolo had sounded the first notes of a new intellectual +renaissance, and now Hugo and Manzoni went further and stepped boldly +out from all classic restraints. + +Although "I Promessi Sposi" is more widely known and more highly +regarded than any Italian book, except the Divine Comedy of Dante, +Manzoni's personality impressed itself but little upon his age. He +had not the fighting nature of Victor Hugo, nor the mental unrest of +Byron, two of his great contemporaries. He preferred the retirement of +his farm to the excitements of Milan, and although he was always an +ardent advocate of Italian unity and freedom he took but small part in +the great events that soon delivered Lombardy from Austria. After the +appearance of "I Promessi Sposi" he wrote little more. "Formerly," he +said, "the muse came after me, now I should have to go after her." His +quiet life laid him open to the charge of an indifferent patriotism, but +those who knew him best understood that such an accusation was bitterly +untrue. + +When the Austrian government returned to Milan the members of the +Lombard nobility were required to write their names in an official +register or forfeit their titles. Manzoni preferred to lose his claim +as a patrician, and later refused a decoration, saying that he had +made a vow never to wear any order of knighthood. He afterwards offered +the same excuse to Victor Emmanuel when the latter wished to decorate +him. He was elected a Senator in 1860, when the first National Assembly +met, and went to Turin to take his seat, but soon after retired to the +privacy of his own home on Lake Maggiore. Here he entertained many great +guests, among them Cavour and D'Azeglio, to whom he was warmly attached. +His life flowed on an even current, the existence of a philosophic +spirit interested as an observer rather than as an actor. + +Henriette Manzoni died in 1833, and in 1837 he married Teresa Borri, +widow of Count Stampa. He saw his children grow up about him and go to +take their places in the world. Gradually he saw the cause of national +freedom win its way, and the King to whom he was so devoted unite the +scattered states under one crown. He saw the fall of the temporal power +of the Pope, and with it the consummation of his hopes. In 1873, at +the age of eighty-eight, he died, universally mourned and revered. A +Milanese journal said: "After the confessor left the room Manzoni called +his friends and said to them, 'When I am dead, do what I did every day; +pray for Italy--pray for the king and his family--so good to me!' His +country was the last thought of this great man dying, as in his whole +long life it had been his most vivid and constant affection." + +It was nearly fifty years since his last important work had appeared, +but during that long half century of inactivity Manzoni's fame had +grown steadily. His romance had passed through one hundred and eighteen +editions in Italian alone. Milan decreed him a state funeral, and +representatives of all European countries appeared at the old Lombard +capital with addresses from their sovereigns. It has been said that +Manzoni's death evoked a greater unanimity of sentiment than has been +called forth by that of any other great author of modern times, except +possibly by that of Sir Walter Scott. Even those who had criticised +Manzoni had always spoken their opinions in a spirit of reverence. +He was regarded as the great guiding figure in the course of the new +national literature. + +A singularly uneventful life for one of the great builders of a nation, +uneventful even for that of a scholar or poet. Moreover the roll of +his works is small numerically, comprising his Sacred Hymns, the two +dramas, the Ode on Napoleon, the single novel, and in addition only a +few essays, the "Innominata" or Column of Infamy, an historical note to +"I Promessi Sposi," an essay on the Romantic School, called "Letters +on Romanticism," and one entitled "Letters on the Unity of Time and +Place," the purpose of which was to show that the unity of action is the +only unity of importance to the dramatist. The bulk of his work was not +great, but each expression of it was masterful in its way, the Hymns +true poetry as well as deep religious sentiment, the Ode considered +the finest ode in all Italian poetry, the dramas pulsing with life and +feeling, the novel unsurpassed. These were the literary values of his +work, but these in themselves would not account for Manzoni's influence +on his times. He was a moral and political force, showing the men of his +day that nations can only hope for liberty and peace when the citizens +respect the law and virtue. A generation that had lived through the +French Revolution and the Napoleonic era needed some one to lead them +back to moral sanity, and this was the greatest of Manzoni's works. + +Like Gioberti, like D'Azeglio, like Victor Emmanuel, Manzoni was a +staunch Catholic as well as a true Italian. A close friend, Signor +Bonghi, said of him: "He had two faiths, one in the future of +Catholicism, another in the future of Italy, and the one, whatever was +said, whatever happened, never disturbed the other. In anxious moments, +when the harmony between the two was least visible, he expected it the +most, and never allowed his faith in one or the other to be shaken. Rome +he wished to be the abode of the King; Rome he wished also to be the +abode of the Pope. Obedient to the Divine Authority of the Pontificate, +no one passed a more correct judgment upon its civil character, or +defended with more firmness, when speaking upon the subject, the right +of the State." + +That he was the poet of resignation, as Monnier declared, is disproved +by his dramas and his novel. The martial lyrics of the plays burn with a +spirit only too evidently fired by the contemporary subjection of Italy +to Austria and France. Take for example the first and last verses of one +of the lyrics in the Adelchi, as rendered into English by Miss Ellen +Clarke: + + "From moss-covered ruin of edifice nameless, + From forests, from furnaces idle and flameless, + From furrows bedewed with the sweat of the slave, + A people dispersed doth arouse and awaken, + With senses all straining and pulses all shaken, + At a sound of strange clamor that swells like a wave. + + In visages pallid, and eyes dim and shrouded, + As blinks the pale sun through a welkin beclouded, + The might of their fathers a moment is seen; + In eye and in countenance doubtfully blending; + The shame of the present seems dumbly contending + With pride in the thought of a past that hath been. + + * * * * * + + And deem ye, poor fools! that the need and the guerdon + That lured from afar were to lighten your burden, + Your wrongs to abolish, your fate to reverse? + Go! back to the wrecks of your palaces stately, + To the forges whose glow ye extinguished so lately, + To the field ye have tilled in the sweat of your curse! + + The victor and vanquished in amity knitted, + Have doubled the yoke to your shoulders refitted; + One tyrant had quelled you, and now ye have twain: + They cast forth the lot for the serf and the cattle, + They throne on the sods that yet bleed from their battle, + And the soil and the hind are their servants again." + +Could Manzoni have meant such words to speak other than of the Austrians +and Bourbons who were grinding Italians into servitude? Could his +marvelous meter, which has been said in its "plunging" to suggest a +charge of horses, have been meant other than to drive his countrymen +to self assertion? Manzoni was patriot as well as artist, and read +his times with no unskilful eye. When Victor Emmanuel visited Milan +in 1859 he said that he should like to meet the poet, and, when told +that the latter was ill, declared that he would go to him. Manzoni, +however, would not hear of this, and as soon as he was able called +upon the King. The sovereign's marks of regard and respect overwhelmed +the poet. Later he said of the meeting, "I see in the character of the +King the intervention of Providence. He is exactly the sovereign that +circumstances require to accomplish the resurrection of Italy. He has +rectitude, courage, incorruptible honesty, and disinterestedness; he +seeks not glory or fortune for himself, but for his country. He is +so simple, never caring to appear great, that he does not meet the +admiration of those who seek to find in princes and heroes theatrical +actions and grandiloquent words. He is natural because he is true, and +this makes his enemies say that he is wanting in regal majesty. To found +Italian unity he has risked his throne, and his life." + +Manzoni's prophecies came true and he himself had no small part in +accomplishing that great end towards which so many men of diverse forces +worked. As well as king and statesman, warrior and prophet, the man of +letters taught his people how to find their independence. + + + + +[Illustration: GIOBERTI] + + + + +GIOBERTI, THE PHILOSOPHER + + +Gioberti's signal gift to his countrymen was his great book, "II Primato +d'Italia," a statement of the causes of Italy's early primacy among +European nations, and a philosophic theory for her regeneration. Like +Savonarola he flayed the vices of his time and preached redemption +through Christian living, but, unlike the great Fra, he undertook to +teach that the Church was no less fitted to be the seat of statecraft +than of religion. It was this that gained him the ear of Rome as well as +that of Piedmont, and made it seem for a moment as though he had found +the solution of Italy's troubles. + +The effect of the "Primato" was felt from Turin to Naples. "The book," +said Minghetti, the statesman of a later decade, "seemed to some an +extravagance, to others a revelation. The truth is, that while many of +its ideas were peculiar to the author, and partook of his character, +his studies, and his profession, the substance of it responded to a +sentiment still undefined, but which had been slowly developing in the +minds of Italians. The idea of nationality had, in the previous years, +spread far and wide through many channels, open and secret, and the +desire of a great and free country had taken possession of the majority +of the younger men; but the methods hitherto employed had proved so +inefficient that weariness and disgust had followed. Experience had +proved that conspiracies, secret societies, and partial insurrections +were of no utility--that they made the governments more severe, retarded +civil progress, arrested the increase of public prosperity, plunged many +families into misery, and did not even win the approbation of civilized +nations. + +"The rumors of wars and of European insurrections which were circulated +every spring time, the mystic declamations of Mazzini in the name of +God and the people, ... all these things showed that the time had come +to try another method, more serious, more practical, and surer.... +Gioberti, a Piedmontese exile for the sake of liberty, had taken part +in the earliest phases of the "Giovine Italia" or had been in relation +with its chiefs, but had wearied of that pompous and impotent society. +His intellect had anticipated that change which had been imperceptibly +operating and now began to appear widely ... but obscurely in the +consciousness of many men. This opportuneness and coincidence of +the ideas of the author with the spirit of the day gave his book +a special importance.... The purpose of the book was to prove that +Italy, although it had lost all political value for the outside world, +contained all the conditions of moral and political revival, and that +to effect this change there was no need of revolutions, invasions, or +imitations of the foreigner, since political revival is limited to three +heads--unity, independence, and liberty--the first two of which might be +obtained by a confederation of the various states under the presidency +of the Pope, and the last by means of internal reforms in each state, +effected by their respective Princes without danger or diminution of +their real power." + +Vincenzo Gioberti was born in Turin April 5, 1801, and was the only +child of parents of very moderate means. At an early age it was decided +that he should prepare for the priesthood, and his education was +entrusted to the fathers of the Oratory in Turin. His nature was more +conformable to the teaching of churchmen than was that of Alfieri or +Manzoni, and whereas both the latter had chafed under the discipline +and mental training of the Church schools the young Gioberti became a +thoughtful student. He differed from Mazzini, a contemporary studying +at Genoa, in that although he early learned that the condition of his +country was wretched, his mind could only conceive of improvement by +orderly and temperate steps. He was a brilliant scholar, and during the +years of his training for the priesthood he delved deep into the history +of philosophy, and studied closely the writings of the fathers and +doctors of the Roman Church. In 1825 he was ordained a priest. + +The young priest, a man of a serious and reflective mind, turned his +attention to the affairs of his country, and gradually entered upon a +careful study of the literature of the day, and the political theories +that were then agitating men's minds. He took part in scholastic +discussions of religious and political subjects, and in time widened his +acquaintance in Turin so that he came in contact with the leaders of +thought in the Sardinian capital. As he met men and spoke his thoughts +more freely it came to be seen that he was occupied above everything +else with the problem of freeing Italy from the foreign overlords, and +this gradually marked him as a free-thinking priest. At first, however, +he did not incur the enmity of the clerical party, for, although his +conception of Italian freedom consisted in emancipation not alone from +the arms of foreign masters, but from all modes of thought which were +alien to the nation's genius, and detrimental to its national authority, +this authority was always associated in his mind with the idea of Papal +supremacy, but a supremacy intellectual rather than political. + +The reign of Charles Albert of Piedmont was a continual battle between +the conservative party and the enlightened liberals. The leaders of the +conservatives were clerics, in large measure Jesuits, who kept in close +touch with the Court of Vienna, realizing to the full that their aims +and those of Austria were to all intents identical, the maintenance of +the _status quo_ in Italy. The young priest Gioberti was not long in +incurring the hostility of the Jesuits, because, although he sought +the ultimate supremacy of the Papal See, he desired it as a moral +rather than as a physical supremacy, and he most ardently hoped for the +expulsion of the Austrians from Lombardy and the absolute independence +of Piedmont from Viennese influence. His was, however, too brilliant a +mind to be denied, and, despite the efforts of the Court party, Charles +Albert, who was always cognizant of the abilities of other men, soon +after his accession to the throne in 1831 nominated the young priest to +be one of the royal chaplains. + +As chaplain of the court Gioberti quickly assumed prominence. His nature +was open and frank, he made friends easily, he wrote on ecclesiastical +and political subjects, and his patriotism was known to be unbounded. +He soon had gathered a party about him, and his influence over the +King grew rapidly. Charles Albert's own views on Italian policy were at +that time almost identical with Gioberti's, he would have been glad to +acknowledge a confederation of Italian states under the presidency of +the Pope, provided the foreign princelings could be disposed of without +bloodshed. This, however, the clerical party did not approve of, any +change being to their view revolutionary, and the realization that the +chaplain was gaining the private ear of the King finally compelled them +to mark him for exile. + +Aware of this disaffection in the Church party at Turin, Gioberti in +1833 asked permission of Charles Albert to resign his chaplaincy, but, +before his request was granted he was suddenly arrested one day while +walking with a friend in the public gardens of the city, and placed +in prison. The influence of the clerical party was so all-powerful in +the Piedmont of that day that no attempt to secure Gioberti's release +was effective, and no popular demonstration at such an outrage could +take place. He was given no trial, and his case was the subject of +no apparent judicial process. After four months' imprisonment he was +informed that his banishment had been decreed, and he was at once +conducted to the frontier in charge of a carabineer. At the same time +his name was stricken off the roll of the theological doctors of the +College of Turin. + +Driven into exile because of his political opinions, even as Mazzini +was exiled as a suspect rather than because of any proof against him, +Gioberti reached Paris in October, 1833. Like so many other great +Italians of that day he was destined to spend many years away from +his beloved country. Without friends, family, or money, his career +apparently ruined, his hopes shattered, Gioberti was to sound the depths +of a courageous man's despair. Mazzini took himself to London to eke +out a meager living as a teacher of Italian, and with the same thought +Gioberti went to Brussels. Here he undertook to teach philosophy, and +finally obtained employment in assisting his friend Gaggia in the +management of a small college. All his leisure time he devoted to +studying and writing on philosophy, rising early, and working the better +part of the night, and producing work after work of great value in +philosophic inquiry, all of which bore especially upon the needs of his +own countrymen. + +His stay in Brussels, which lasted from 1834 to 1845, saw the production +of his greatest books, all deeply earnest, and each one causing in +turn the greatest interest and emotion in Italy. The volume of his +work was most remarkable, treatises appearing at short intervals, +each one of which would have sufficed to represent a lifetime's study. +His first work was the result of a friendship formed in Brussels with +a young fellow-exile, Paolo Pallia, who on one occasion expressed +to Gioberti certain doubts as to the reality of revelations and a +future life. Gioberti at once commenced work upon his "La Teorica del +Sovran-naturale," which was finished and published in 1838. This was +followed in 1839 and 1840 by his three volumes called "Introduzione +allo Studio della Filosofia." In all these writings he stands apart +from his contemporary European philosophers. Method of speculation +is with him subjective and psychological. He adopts much from Plato. +Throughout all his writings religion is synonomous with civilization, +and he repeatedly states that religion is the true and only expression +of the _idea_ in this life, and is one with the real civilization of +history. Civilization is the means to perfection, of which religion is +the essence. + +These strictly philosophic works were followed by the essays "Del Bello" +and "Del Buono," and after a short interval by a magnificent exposure +of the Jesuit Order, "Il Gesuita Moderno," and his "Del Primato Morale e +Civile degli Italiani," and "Prolegomeni." + +It was the "Primato" which gave the exiled Gioberti his place as a +great factor in the struggle for Italian independence. His ideas seem +strangely archaic now, but they were compelling in 1846. He himself +says: "I intend to show ... that Italy alone has the qualities required +to become the chief of nations, and that although to-day she has almost +completely lost that chiefship, it is in her power to recover it, and +I will state the most important conditions of that renovation.... As +infant civilization was born between two rivers, so renewed and adult +civilization arose between two seas; the former in fertile Mesopotamia, +whence it easily spread over Asia, Africa and the west; the latter +in Italy, which divides the Tyrrhene and Adriatic seas, thus forming +the central promontory of Europe and placed in a position to dominate +the rest of the hemisphere.... In the Church there is neither Greek +nor Barbarian, and all nations form a cosmopolitan society, as all +the tribes of Israel a single nation. But as, in the Jewish nation, +genealogy determined the tenure of the hierarchy, and the sons of Levi +received the custody of the Law and the service of the Temple, so in +the Christian commonwealth the division of the nations is in a manner +involved in the order of the Catholic Church. And, the Church having a +supreme head, we must recognize a moral pre-eminence where Heaven has +established its seat, and where nearer, quicker, more immediate and +more uninterrupted are the in-breathings of its voice. This preeminence +certainly does not transgress the natural order of divine intentions, +real and efficient in their working and in the obligations they impose. +So that the Italians, humanly speaking, are the Levites of Christianity, +having been chosen by Providence to keep the Christian Pontificate, and +to protect with love, with veneration, and if necessary by arms, the +ark of the new covenant.... Let the nations, then, turn their eyes to +Italy, their ancient and loving mother, who holds the seeds of their +regeneration. Italy is the organ of the supreme reason and the royal and +ideal word; the fountain, rule and guardian of every other reason and +eloquence; for there resides the Head that rules, the Arm that moves, +the Tongue that commands and the Heart that animates Christianity at +large.... As Rome is the seat of Christian wisdom, Piedmont is to-day +the principal home of Italian military strength. Seated on the slopes of +the Alps, as a wedge between Austria and France, and as a guard to the +peninsula, of which it is the vestibule and peristyle, it is destined +to watch from its mountains, and crush in its ravines, every foreign +aggressor, compelling its powerful neighbors to respect the common +independence of Italy." + +Such expression will suffice to show that Gioberti was in no sense a +reliable prophet, but a philosopher of deeply religious strain who was +seeking to reconcile the political freedom of Italy with the suzerainty +of the Pope. He discountenanced all plotting and conspiracy, both of +which were being advocated by Mazzini's appeals to "Young Italy," and +built his country out of a confederation of states. Mazzini, impractical +as he was in many respects, did at least realize that no such loosely +joined federation could stand six months, and insisted above all in +actual political hegemony of the states. + +Gioberti's "Primato," deeply suggestive in itself to intellectual +Italy, was given a remarkable impetus by the election at about the +same time as its appearance of a new Pope. Pius IX., elected to the +papal chair in June, 1846, seemed the very man to bring about the +realization of Gioberti's hopes. As Cardinal Mastai Ferreti he had been +immensely popular, and he was known as a man of great amiability, keenly +interested in new ideas, and ardent in the cause of Italian unity of +action. His first act was to proclaim a general amnesty for political +offenses, by which thousands of prisoners who had spent years in Roman +prisons, or abroad in exile, many ignorant of the charges brought +against them, were allowed to return to family and friends. He visited +the poor and superintended the relief of the sick, even working among +the Jewish quarters of Rome. He favored the construction of railroads, +modified the restrictions of the press, and organized an advisory +council of leading citizens. Small wonder that a world which had been +used to the infinitely narrow-minded reactionaries Leo XII. and Gregory +XVI. hailed Pius IX. as the regenerator of both church and state. + +To a large degree Pius and Gioberti had both felt the same enthusiasms, +and believed in the same principles, the cardinal one being that society +was to be reformed by the Roman Church, and the government of society +vested in the Church as a court of highest appeal. Different desires led +the two men to this conclusion, Gioberti hoping that reform would come +by means of concessions by arbitrary powers to the rights of the people, +and the Pope believing that humanizing the form of church government +would strengthen its actual power and increase the devotion of all +nations to the Holy See. History proved that neither Gioberti nor Pius +IX. was correct, but the seeming coincidence of their views increased +the power of each. Gioberti gained the support of the liberal element +in the Church, and the Pope gained the adhesion of intellectual men +throughout Italy. + +The new Pope had read Gioberti's political writings, and had been deeply +influenced by them. The "Primato," issued at Brussels in 1842, had been +prohibited in all the Italian states except Piedmont, and this fact +added immensely to its weight with patriots. Charles Albert read it +and admired it greatly; with the advent of Pius, he as well as men so +diverse as Mazzini, Garibaldi, and D'Azeglio, looked for regeneration. +Under the influence of this new spirit Charles Albert declared an +amnesty for all exiles in 1846, and the philosopher-priest, after +thirteen years of exile, was free to return home. + +Long exile had somewhat crushed the ardent nature of the churchman, +and he waited in Brussels until he was assured by friends that his +return to Turin would be popular. Learning that his works, especially +the "Primato" and the "Gesuita Moderno," had made him a hero in the +eyes of patriots, he finally returned to Turin in 1848. His entrance +into the capital on April 29 of that year was the occasion for the +greatest outburst of enthusiasm, a welcome intensified by the thought +that this man had been banished for no other cause than the resentment +of the hated Jesuits. The city was decorated and illuminated in his +honor, deputations waited upon him, the King appointed him a Senator, +but, as he had been elected as deputy by both Turin and Genoa to the +Assembly of Representatives now to meet for the first time under the new +constitution, he chose to sit in the lower house for Turin. + +Invitations now poured in upon him from other cities, and before the +Assembly met he made a tour of the states, commencing with Milan, and +finally reaching Rome. He had three interviews with the Pope, and these +meetings led him still further to believe that Pius was the man who +should put his political philosophy into practice. He found the Romans, +who of all Italians had most cause to hate the Jesuits, overjoyed with +his work describing the modern abuses of that order, and anxious at +all hazards that their new Pontiff should follow the new spirit of +liberality. + +While he was traveling and speaking publicly to all the peoples the +Assembly met in Turin, and elected him its president. Count Balbo was +Prime Minister, and in the same Parliament sat many of the younger +element, including Cavour, and a large liberal section headed by +D'Azeglio. + +Meanwhile there had occurred the memorable battle-days of 1848, when +the February revolution in Paris set fire to the tinder that had been +preparing throughout Europe. The Milanese arose and drove out the +Austrian garrison, Venice proclaimed the republic under Daniel Manin, +and the cry of "a free Italy" rang from the Alps to Sicily. Pius IX., +who had already made serious protest to Austria when in the preceding +year that Power had garrisoned Ferrara, prepared to place himself +actively at the head of the national movement, and in Piedmont Charles +Albert took the field and went to the aid of Lombardy. At the close +of 1848 Count Balbo resigned, and a new ministry was formed, in which +Gioberti held a seat. + +Unfortunately Pius IX. lacked the courage of his convictions, and +when he heard that the Austrians were winning back their lost fields +in Lombardy, his desire to send his troops to the aid of Piedmont +cooled. The conservative elements about him gained his ear, and he +replaced Mamiani, his Prime Minister, a man who wished him to give +Rome a constitution, with Count Rossi, the French Ambassador, a man of +great ability, but ultra conservative. In November, 1848, Rossi was +assassinated, and shortly afterward the violence of the demands of the +people convinced Pius that his best course was temporary flight. Acting +upon this impulse on November 24, 1848, he escaped from Rome to Gaeta. +Italy was beginning to see to what manner of man it had looked for +deliverance. + +From Gaeta the self-exiled Pontiff issued a formal protest against +the violence to which he stated his people had subjected him, and by +which means alone his latest enactments had been extorted from him, and +declared all measures passed in Rome during his absence null and void. + +In Rome the brief Republic of Mazzini held sway, and at Gaeta France and +Austria sought to cheer the Pope. Charles Albert, his hope of Papal aid +fading rapidly, attempted for a few months to stem the tide of French +and Austrian influence over Pius. He tried to effect a reconciliation +between the Holy Father and the Romans, and Gioberti wrote to the Pope, +saying: "I hope the Court of Gaeta is about to return to sentiments +more evangelical, more worthy of Pius IX. I am sorry to have to say +that the Court of Gaeta, repudiating the doctrine of conciliation, and +adopting that of vengeance and blood, does not seem to know that it +is repudiating the maxims of Christ, and putting in their stead those +of Mahomet." In addition Gioberti did his best to gain the Pope's +concurrence in a plan for the formation of an Italian federation of +princes, but without success. The bolt was shot, Pius had had his day +as popular idol, and having proven that Italy had nothing to hope +politically from the Pope, quickly retroceded to the plane of the +Bourbon Princes and Grand Dukes. To Gioberti, who had hoped so much +from the spiritual and temporal power of Rome, the disillusionment was +terrific. + +That he was a theorist rather than a practical statesman he now showed +conclusively by advocating as minister at Turin that Piedmont should +anticipate the inevitable restoration of the rulers of central Italy +by the governments of Austria and France by restoring them itself. Had +this plan been adopted the House of Savoy would have been irretrievably +ruined in the eyes of patriotic Italy, and the country left without any +champion of freedom. Fortunately his proposal met with small favor. + +The battle of Novara ended the struggles of Charles Albert, and Victor +Emmanuel, a man of sterner make, came into control. A new ministry was +formed for the new King by General Delaunay, who included Gioberti again +in the cabinet, although he held no portfolio. He was not in touch, +however, with the new elements of government, he could not appreciate a +statecraft that was in essence radical, and after several disagreements +he was appointed on a nominal mission to Paris, which in reality removed +him from any part in the government at Turin. His best work had been +done in the service of Charles Albert, he was not in touch with the +coming policies of the adroit Cavour. + +The stirring years of 1848 and 1849 passed, the dream of the Pope's +leadership vanished, and the yoke of the foreigner seemed to have +settled as heavily as ever upon the states of Italy. Again exiles +gathered in London and Paris, Mazzini returned to his English +fogs, and we find Gioberti the confidant in Paris of many banished +fellow-countrymen. The Marquis Pallavicino, friend of Manin and many +other patriots, became his bosom friend. He was offered a pension by +his government, but declined it, and devoted himself to writing. In +1851 he published his great work, the "Rinnovamento Civile d'Italia," +in which he pointed out the mistakes made by Italians in 1848 and 1849, +acknowledged his own blunders in political sagacity, and designated +Piedmont as the leader of a great national movement, which should +ultimately end in a regenerated Italy, with its capital in a lay and +constitutional Rome. He had met and talked with Cavour in Paris during +the preparation of this book, and he had had the perspicacity to predict +that Cavour was the man who should unite his land. The statesman +was half amused, half impressed by Gioberti's words, he had always +considered him a man who just failed of being a great statesman because +he was a visionary, but he was profoundly impressed by the grasp and +depth of his new work. + +The "Rinnovamento" was indeed true prophecy, the philosopher had at +last seen the futility of a political confederation of peoples under a +religious head, he realized that Princes supported by foreign Powers +would never unite for any common end. "Except the young sovereign +who rules Piedmont," he says in the "Rinnovamento," "I see no one in +Italy who could undertake our emancipation. Instead of imitating Pius, +Ferdinand, and Leopold, who violated their sworn compacts, he maintains +his with religious observance--vulgar praise in other times, but to-day +not small, being contrary to example." Victor Emmanuel, reading the +book, was as much impressed by it as Cavour had been, and time and again +repeated, "I will do what Gioberti says." + +Pius IX., still amiable, still suave, was kept in Rome by French arms, +and was solely occupied in proving his own insufficiency as a temporal +ruler of any sort whatever. He had retracted all his liberal acts, +made friends with all his old foes, and placed entire charge of state +affairs in the hands of that most unsavory of men, Cardinal Antonelli. +Under him the Jesuits resumed their former activity, and soon had closed +completely about the Pope. Then it was that the works of Gioberti, the +"Primato" and the "Prolegomeni," which had once so greatly delighted the +Pope, were placed upon the Index Expurgatorius and publicly condemned +by the Church. The action had no other effect than to amuse the +world; Italy and all friends of Italy had read and pondered the great +treatises, and drawn their own conclusions from them irrespective of the +wishes of the Roman See. + +Gioberti died in Paris October 16, 1852, just as the new era in Italian +affairs which he had predicted in his last book was actually commencing +with the advent of Cavour as Prime Minister of Piedmont. + +When we review Gioberti's work we find that it was chiefly important as +a stimulus to Italian patriotic thought, as a threshing out of theories +and principles in preparation for a true realization of national needs +and hopes. That the philosophy, in so far as it was political, of his +"Primato" failed to prove true when attempted in practice, and must +inevitably so have failed as we see now, did not affect his influence +over his own generation. That influence was one which contrasted +sharply with Mazzini's, Gioberti always preaching orderly organization, +Mazzini daring attempts of many sorts, both alike in the ardor of their +enthusiasm. + +While Mazzini appealed to the mass, Gioberti appealed to the scholars, +the clergy, the thinking classes, and his appeal was patriotic as well +as intellectual. In his "Primato" he stirs his countrymen to consider +their country's place among the nations. "While to the north," he says, +"there is a people numbering only twenty-four millions who rule the +sea, make Europe tremble, own India, vanquish China and occupy the best +parts of Asia, Africa, America and Oceania, what great things have we +Italians done? What are our manual and intellectual exploits? Where +are our fleets and our colonies? What rank do our legates hold; what +force do they wield; what wise or authoritative influence do they exert +in foreign courts? What weight attaches to the Italian name in the +balance of European power? Foreigners, indeed, know and still visit our +country, but only for the purpose of enjoying the changeless beauty of +our skies and of looking upon the ruins of our past. But what profits +it to speak of glory, riches, and power? Can Italy say she has a place +in the world? Can she boast of a life of her own and of a political +autonomy, when she is awed by the first insolent and ambitious upstart +who tramples her under foot and galls her with his yoke? Who is there +who shudders not when he reflects that, disunited as we are, we must be +the prey of any assailant whatever, and that we owe even that wretched +fraction of independence which charters and protocols still allow us to +the compassion of our neighbors?" Then he concludes, "Although all this +has come upon us through our own fault; nevertheless, by the exercise +of a little strength of will and determination, without upheavals or +revolutions and without perpetrating injustice, we can still be one of +the first races in the world." + +With consummate skill he arranged a national program in which the Pope, +the Princes, the people, even Austria, should have a part, and it was +scarcely to be wondered that inasmuch as each interest was flattered +each thought well of the program. The clergy were no less delighted with +the eloquence of one of their own number than with his teaching that +religion and patriotism should go hand in hand, those high in power felt +that their power would be left them under his theory, and the people +were stirred by his eloquence and dreams of what Italy should become. As +a result there arose what was known as the "Neo-Guelph" party, which, +harking back to the Middle Ages, sought to place the Pope at the head of +the national movement. And, by a beautiful coincidence of history, just +at that moment a new Pontiff, one of that clergy which had so greatly +admired Gioberti's writings, ascended St. Peter's throne. In these facts +you have the cause of Gioberti's commanding position in the early years +of the great struggle. + +Unfortunately Gioberti's theories were dreams, not even so practical +as the aspirations of Mazzini's "Young Italy." He had failed utterly +to grasp the need of absolute administrative concentration and did not +accurately estimate the jealousies and prides of the petty Princes and +the churchmen. He believed that those forces which had so long destroyed +Italian unity could be made to unite to restore it, he believed that the +Roman Church could exercise a wise temporal authority. He looked back to +the Middle Ages, and spoke with some of Savonarola's words. He appealed +to his people's ancient love of art and letters, to the glories of the +mediæval cities, to the world-wide authority of Rome and St. Peter's. +The appeal stirred the imagination of the intellectual classes, and +drew the attention of other countries to the fallen estate of Italy. +Beyond that it could not be effective; the needs of State and Church, of +Princes and people, had grown too unalterably opposed. Mazzini was far +nearer right, a truer teacher, a surer guide. + +The time came when Gioberti recognized that Italy's salvation lay in +the strong hand, and this he acknowledged in his last book. It is the +truest of all his political philosophies because he had then understood +that the future belonged to men of such abilities as were possessed by +Cavour and Victor Emmanuel, and to a well-knit nation rather than to a +confraternity of ill-assorted states. + +Yet for all its fallacies Gioberti's "Primato" woke intellectual Italy +from a sleep which had lasted centuries, and made it consider the +problem of its regeneration. + + + + +[Illustration: MANIN] + + + + +MANIN, THE "FATHER OF VENICE" + + +The story of Venetian glory seemed closed with the last years of the +Eighteenth Century. The proud Queen of the Adriatic had seen her jewels +stolen one by one, and had finally become the toy of wanton powers. +Venice was no longer self-reliant, no longer coldly virtuous, her +grandeur had sunk into a memory, her civic honor been bedimmed by gross +corruption. "Venice was," said the world, and France, parceling out the +conquests of the young Napoleon, handed Venetia and the City of the +Doges to Austria. There was no opportunity for self-defense, Napoleon +had removed all military stores and confiscated the Venetian fleet, the +citizens buried the lion-banners of Saint Mark beneath their churches, +and silently watched the Austrians enter. The last Doge, aged and bent +with years, fell senseless as he opened his lips to swear allegiance to +the House of Hapsburg. Europe considered the fate of Venice sealed. + +Napoleon came and went, and men as well as maps experienced gigantic +changes, but still Venice slept. She had become a part of the Austrian +Empire, a new generation grew up who had never known Venice free, who +only learned their city's history by stealth. Among this new generation +was Daniel Manin, son of a Jew who had embraced Christianity and who +had adopted the surname of his noble patron the last Doge, according to +Venetian custom. So it happened that the last free ruler of Venice and +the man who was to raise her from sleep bore the same name. There was +also transmitted to the boy the ancient hate of Austria. + +Born in 1804 Daniel Manin early showed a strong love of learning, which +was eagerly tended by his father, a lawyer of some note. The father +taught his son the history of his city, he brought him up to see the +unjust practices of Napoleon and of Austria, he kindled in him the +passion for liberty. The boy studied jurisprudence and the growth of +Venetian dialects, at fifteen he translated the apocryphal book of +Enoch from the Hebrew, at seventeen he became a Doctor of Laws, and +had translated Pothier's great French work on Roman law before he was +twenty-one. The year he came of age he married, and a little later +settled in the small town of Maestra, which lies at the entrance to the +Lagoons, and started to practise his profession of advocate, which under +Austrian rule allowed him only to act in civil cases, and then merely +in a consulting capacity and never as a pleader in the courts. + +Even in early youth his health was poor; although his mind was unusually +active and well-balanced he was subject to frequent visitations of +great physical weariness which at times made it impossible for him to +accomplish anything. Later in life he wrote, "The act of living, in a +healthy person, considered in itself, ought to be a pleasure; but to me +from my very childhood, it has always been a painful effort. I always +feel weary." He was frequently morbid just at the time when his growing +family required all his energy for support. + +In person the young lawyer was rather striking, not tall, but spare, +with unusually animated blue eyes, thick chestnut hair, and features +full of changing expression, quick to show the temper of his mind. For +all his underlying weariness and continued depression he often appeared +gay and cheerful on the surface; it was his nature to be unselfish, and +to turn a brave face towards the world. + +Working as an advocate Manin gave up his spare hours to studying +Venetian _patois_ and to planning how in time his city might loosen +the bonds of Austrian tyranny. As early as 1830, when he was only +twenty-six, he joined with three close friends in a plot to seize the +Venetian arsenal, and drew up a proclamation intended to excite the +citizens. The movement throughout northern Italy on which the friends +relied failed to materialize, and the plan fell through. Fortunately the +authors of the proclamation were not discovered, and Manin was permitted +to continue his profession. He did not believe in secret societies, and +would not join them; he devoted himself to studying Austria's colonial +weaknesses. + +The first step which brought him seriously to the notice of the +government was his work on behalf of the Italian bankers who were +associated with some Germans in building a railway between Venice and +Milan. There had been a disagreement as to the route of the railway, and +the Austrian viceroy had sided with the Germans. Manin was engaged to +represent the Italian bankers, and conducted his side of the case with +great skill. The Austrian government finally concluded the matter by +arbitrarily dissolving the Italian Railways Association. The case had +however shown Manin a possible mode of attacking the foreign despotism, +finding flaws in its laws and concentrating on such weaknesses until +eventually its whole fabric was loosened. He did not believe that +any sudden local revolution could succeed, he saw only the loss of +valuable lives thereby, but he did believe that the way for some later +far-sweeping rising might be paved by consecutive breaches in the +enemy's legal walls. This opinion was the result of his evenly-balanced, +deliberate judgment; he could at times, as he was to show later, throw +himself passionately into a cause, without regard to consequences, but +his nature was not that of the ardent revolutionary; he relied on cool, +sober judgments, and was not readily led from them by illusions. In his +notes we find him writing, "Against disorder I feel a repulsion not +only of reason but of instinct, the same as I feel against everything +contrary to the laws of harmony, a deformed face, a discordant sound." + +His advocacy of the Italian bankers brought Manin before the Venetian +public, he was recognized as an able speaker with a deep knowledge +of law. He spoke before the Venetian Athenæum on the obligation of +thinkers to inspire and stimulate men of action. The subject gave him +a chance to draw attention to the present lethargy of Venice and to +urge consideration of new ideas affecting trade and commerce. He hoped +to unite northern Italians through the new principle of free trade. +Fortunately Cobden, the great English advocate of free trade, was +traveling in Italy; he visited Venice and met Manin and some of the +other Venetian leaders of opinion just as he had met Cavour at Turin +and Massimo d'Azeglio at Genoa. + +Various small events gave the lawyer a chance to speak publicly to his +fellow-citizens. At the Scientific Congress which met in September, +1847, he was appointed a commissioner to investigate the charitable +institutions of Venice, and in doing this work he came upon the case +of a poor infirm workman who had placed a placard upon a public wall +complaining that the government had left him to starve, and for which +action had been placed in a lunatic asylum. Manin reported the case +and wrote, "The physicians acknowledge the man is sane; but they dare +not set him at liberty, fearing it would be contrary to the views of +the police and government. For my part, I have a better opinion of the +government and the police. I do not admit that they create madmen by +decrees. If Padovini is culpable there are the laws." Count Palffy, +the Governor, was very much vexed. "We must release Padovini from the +madhouse," he said, "and put Manin in his place." + +About the same time Count Jablonski, a relation of the Venetian +Governor, wrote a paper urging the Italians to become resigned. In reply +Manin set down his thoughts in a page which seems to sum up his whole +purpose, a wonderful expression of his philosophy. It was not published +at that time, but was later found among his papers. It read: + +"It is the fashion to preach resignation. + +"I distinguish two kinds of resignation; the one virtuous and manly; the +other cowardly, and worthy only of fools. + +"The strong man, when overcome by misfortune, seeks the means of +remedying it. Does he find any? In spite of difficulties, he applies +himself to the task, excited, cheerful, and vigorous, full of energy and +pertinacity. It is only when he is certain that no remedy exists, that +he becomes resigned. This is manly resignation. + +"The coward, when misfortune overtakes him, allows himself to be cast +down, and seeks no means of remedying it. However spontaneous and easy +relief may present itself to his mind, he attempts nothing, he wishes +neither to trouble nor expose himself--he is resigned: this is the +resignation of the fool. + +"Therefore, resignation is virtuous and manly under evils manifestly +without remedy; it is cowardly and stupid when we can in any way free +ourselves from these evils. + +"In the individual, resignation may often be virtuous; in a nation +it is perhaps never so, for the misfortunes of a nation are seldom +irremediable. + +"To overcome the misfortunes of a nation, we can employ the whole +intellectual, moral, and physical power of all its citizens; and if +the generation which commences the generous task does not succeed in +accomplishing it, other generations follow, who will attain success; for +nations never die. + +"This is the reason why those who advise resignation to nations, advise +cowardice, and the nations which become resigned are cowards." + +Therein lies the whole wisdom of Manin's political philosophy, and also +that of many of the earlier Italian patriots. How could Austria hope to +keep such men forever in subjection? + +Manin's avowed purpose was to show again and again that the Austrians +were not obeying the laws which they had themselves given to the +subject provinces. One of the methods of Austrian administrative rule +was the use of supposedly representative councils called the Central +and Provincial Congregations, which were designed to communicate the +wishes of the people of Venice and Lombardy in the form of petitions +to the Imperial council, and which had failed lamentably to use even +that meager power. On December 9, 1847, Nazari, a deputy to the Lombard +Congregation, moved that the grievances of the country be represented to +the Imperial government. Not a single Venetian deputy followed his lead, +but Manin, as a private individual, signed a petition to the Venetian +Congregation calling upon them to speak for the people. His comments +were brief but vigorous. "The Congregations," he said, "have never been +the interpreters of our wants or wishes--their silence has arisen from +a fear of displeasing the government; but this fear is unjust, and +injurious: for it is unjust and injurious to suppose that the government +has granted to this kingdom a derisory national representation, that it +deceived, and still deceives, this country and Europe, in making laws +which it does not wish to be observed, and in prosecuting and punishing +those who intend observing them." The Venetians were delighted with +the petition, they were beginning to feel the first thrills of a new +civic life. On December 30, Manin and Tommaseo, a brilliant poet and +public-spirited citizen, drew up another address which in bold terms +denounced the Austrian censorship of the press contrary to a specific +clause in the law of 1815. All the members of the Ateneo, the literary +club of Venice, signed the petition that went with the address. + +The Austrians failed to see in the unrest that appeared throughout Italy +at the close of 1847 more than a series of local and widely-separated +disturbances, and made small effort to appease any of the leaders. For +their part in preparing the Venetian petition Manin and Tommaseo were +arrested and thrown into prison on January 18, 1848, charged with high +treason. The temper of the newly-aroused people was uncertain, on the +morning after the arrest the streets of Venice were seen blossoming with +signs ominous to peace and Austrian supremacy, "Viva l'Italia!" "Viva +Manin e Tommaseo!" and "Morte ai Tedeschi!" + +From the date of his imprisonment Manin underwent many sufferings, one +of the chief being his inability longer to help in nursing a daughter to +whom he was passionately devoted and who was suffering from a tedious +and most painful nervous disease. At almost the same time his younger +sister, who was ill in Trevisa, died from the shock of hearing of his +imprisonment. He had been able to save very little for dark days, now +that they were come he could do nothing to tide his little household +through them. Outwardly he was calm and strong of will, inwardly he was +tormented by a hundred fears. Yet he could write from prison to his +brave wife, saying, "If you continue to be strong and courageous, these +will be the happiest days of my life.... You will find a few pieces of +gold in one drawer, a little silver in another.... If this affair lasts +long, we must think of providing for you in some way. Love one another, +my angels: be resigned, that is sufficient." + +A valiant attempt was made by Teresa Manin to secure her husband's +release on bail, the authorities put her off continually, and finally +the Director-General replied that he did not believe himself authorized +to accede to her request. This final reply caused an outburst of popular +indignation. The Venetians dressed themselves in mourning, and with +heads bared filed slowly before the windows of the prison on the Riva +dei Schiavoni, where Manin and Tommaseo were confined. As long as he +remained in prison the other advocates united in caring for Manin's +legal practice, and high-spirited friends among all classes insisted +on providing his family with all necessities. He himself hoped to +be able to support them by reprinting a small treatise on Venetian +jurisprudence, but permission to advertise its sale was denied him by +the government. A little later, however, Austrian permissions became no +longer necessary, and Manin's family lived on the proceeds of the sale +of this work and on the small legacy left to him by his sister. He had +little time to think of self-support when he became dictator. + +The ancient spirit of Venice was slowly rising as day after day news +came that men throughout Italy were turning on their despots. The +Nicoletti and the Castellani, the two historic factions of the people, +the blacks and the reds, renounced their ancient feud and took a common +secret oath to war only with Austria until Venice was free. The young +nobles resigned their Austrian offices and ranks, they had heard what +the nobility of Milan were accomplishing. The examination into the +charges against Manin and Tommaseo continued, although nothing illegal +could be proved against them there was a prospect of their arbitrary +removal out of Venice and to that prison of Spielberg where the careers +of so many gifted Italian patriots had ended. Manin heard that the +French had driven their King from his throne, he wondered what effect +the growing tumult of that revolution year would have on Venice. He did +not have to wait long to learn. The flames of revolt had spread across +Europe even to Vienna, Metternich had fled from the city in peril of +his life, the Austrian throne was tottering. Manin saw what was coming, +and made his plans even while he was in prison to secure Venice against +anarchy. + +On the morning of March 17, 1848, the Venetians hastened to the dock +to learn the latest news of Vienna from the Trieste packet. A French +merchant on board called to the gondoliers the news, "A Constitution +at Vienna! The Recognition of Italian Independence! A Free Press! A +National Guard!" The words were sufficient, the people rushed to the +Governor's palace and demanded the immediate release of Manin and +Tommaseo. The Governor wavered, declaimed, finally yielded, saying, "I +do what I ought not to do." The people swept to the prison, and beating +down the doors, discovered the two captives. "You are free!" the leaders +shouted. Manin still chose to follow the usage of law, and asked to see +the warrant for his release. It was produced, and then he and his fellow +captive were led forth from the dreary cells with loud acclaims of joy. +Manin was raised in a chair, and so carried to the great Square of St. +Mark's, the scene of so many triumphs in Venetian history. The yellow +and black flag of Austria had in some mysterious fashion fluttered down +from the ancient flag-staves that guard the square and in its place +floated the red, white, and green emblem. "Speak!" cried the people, +and Manin, pale, infirm, and gaunt from prison life, rose and spoke +with his remarkably persuasive voice. He said he did not know to what +great events he owed his freedom, but could see clearly that nationality +and patriotic fire had grown wonderfully during the past few months. +"But forget not, I beg," he implored, "that true and lasting liberty +can only rest on order, and that you must make yourselves the emulous +guardians of order if you would show that you are worthy to be free." He +paused a moment, then added, "Yet there are times pointed out to us by +Providence when insurrection becomes not only a right, but a duty." + +Manin returned home, already intent on plans to regulate the new order +of things. Towards night the great bell in the Ducal Chapel sounded +the warning note, the people rushed to the Piazza to find a battalion +of Croats tearing down the Italian tricolor, the people resisted, the +soldiers cleared the square with a bayonet charge, but the Venetians +had tasted triumph too fully to be dismayed. Some of them went to Manin +and asked him to lead them against the Croats. "This is not the way," +he answered, "we must have a civic guard." He sent a messenger to the +Governor. "Tell him that to-day his life was in my hands, and that I +preached order, not vengeance; and now, in the interest of his own life +as well as of order, he must at once organize a civic guard." + +Again Count Palffy hesitated and put off the demand from day to day. He +sent messengers to the Viceroy at Verona, and the latter telegraphed him +permission to enroll two hundred citizens. Three thousand at once took +arms and called on Manin to give them his commands. "Let all who will +not absolutely obey me depart," he said, but no one left. At last Venice +again had an army of her own. + +There was no immediate bloodshed. The leading citizens conferred as to +what course Venice should take if the revolution in Vienna succeeded. +Some were for joining the kingdom of Charles Albert, some for uniting +with Lombardy, some for an Austrian ruler under a constitution. Manin +scattered their diverse views, he told them that their immediate need +was freedom, that their city must actually be in their own charge +before considering her destiny. Rumors came that the city was about +to be bombarded, there was danger both from the arsenal and from the +sea, and on the night of March 21 Manin laid his plans before the chief +patriots and told them that they must seize the arsenal. "The people +of Venice," he said, "can only understand one cry, 'Let the Republic +live!'" Still the others hesitated; one said, "The people are incapable +of sacrifices!" "You do not know them," cried Manin. "I know them; that +is my sole merit, you will see!" + +Newcomers arrived, and still Manin, worn with argument, pressed his +opinion. He finished, saying, "We must have the Republic, and join with +it Saint Mark. The Republic and Saint Mark will echo in Dalmatia." + +"Viva San Marco!" came an answering cry. "It is the only one, the +rallying cry of Venice!" + +The conference agreed; Manin sent for the commander-in-chief of +the civic guard. "The city is threatened with bombardment," he +said. "I wish to take the arsenal at all hazards. You must make me +commander-in-chief for a day. Form the six battalions into two brigades, +and give me their captains for eight hours." The general, astounded +at the advocate's demand, left without making a reply. Manin sent to +the other commanders making the same demand. One by one they refused, +claiming that the project was too wild. + +Meanwhile the soldiers at the arsenal were in mutiny and had killed the +second officer in command; there was danger of the spirit of anarchy +spreading. At the same time the last of the commanders, Major Olivieri, +placed his single battalion at Manin's command. The advocate seized +his sword, called his son, a boy of sixteen, to follow him, and put +himself at the head of the two hundred guards. The little band marched +on the arsenal and forced the commander to surrender; almost before the +Austrian officers knew what had happened the Venetians were distributing +the military stores among the people. At the moment of taking the +arsenal Manin had sent word to call the whole people into St. Mark's +Square. He found the ancient banner, the wingéd lion, and raising it +from the dust where it had lain for fifty years he unfurled it before +his company and led them back across the Piazzetta into the great +square. He had told the people he would meet them there at noon; now +he stood before them, bearing the emblem that proclaimed that Venice +had risen from her lengthy slumbers. He spoke to the assembled city. +"Venetians, we are free! And we are so without the shedding of blood, +either our own, or our brothers', for to me all men are brothers. But +when the old government is overturned, the new must take its place; the +best now seems to me to be the Republic which speaks of our past glory +and adds the liberty of modern times. But by this we shall not separate +from our Italian brothers, but rather form one of those centers destined +to aid in fusing our Italy into one people. Live the Republic! Live +liberty! Live Saint Mark!" + +The civic guards swore to defend with their lives the new Republic and +its founder, the aged wept, the young embraced, all raised their hands +in gratitude to heaven. The people reveled in noble delirium of joy. +Venice looked upon Manin as its deliverer; the citizens did not know the +physical anguish he had undergone. Pathetic are the words of his little +daughter Emilia as she heard her father proclaimed. "I ought," she +wrote, "to be filled with ineffable gladness, but a weight continually +presses my heart." + +Manin had scarcely closed his eyes for five days and nights. As soon as +the people would release him now he went home utterly exhausted: he said +to his friends, "Leave me at least this night to rest, or I shall die." + +The Austrian authorities saw that resistance would be of little avail, +their own forces were too small and too much in sympathy with the +people's cause to give them a sense of any real power on which to rely, +and accordingly the Governor acceded to the terms imposed upon him. All +foreign troops were to be removed, the forts and all military stores +surrendered, the government transferred to the charge of a Committee of +Venetian citizens. The demands were sweeping, the Austrian government +later regarded the Venetian capitulation as the most humiliating they +suffered in the revolutionary year of 1848. + +That same night the provisional government announced to the people the +terms of the Austrian capitulation, and the citizens were amazed to find +that neither the name of Manin nor of Tommaseo was included in the new +government. They made their dissatisfaction so apparent that friends +went to see Manin to beg him to send some message to the people. He +dictated the following lines from his bed: "Venetians! I know that you +love me, and, in the name of that love, I ask you to conduct yourselves, +during the legitimate manifestation of your joy, with that dignity +which belongs to men worthy of being free. Your friend, Manin." + +The people heard the message and quietly dispersed. Next day the +provisional government found that the new Republic would only have the +one man at its head, and so they asked Manin to form a government. He +did so immediately, taking for himself the Presidency of the Council +and Foreign Affairs. He composed his government of men of different +classes and different religions, all Venetians were assured of perfect +equality in their new state. The patriarch blessed the standard of the +Republic, and the commander of the fleet read the list of the ministry +to the people. The reading was broken by constant cries of "Viva Manin! +President of the Republic!" + +Thus Venice became free after fifty years of bondage. It was now +Manin's concern to see that she was kept free. He recognized how slight +were her resources, and he became at once an eager adherent of French +intervention in northern Italy. Charles Albert of Piedmont and Mazzini +were both acclaiming an Italy won by the Italians, but Manin foresaw, +what Cavour was later to recognize, that foreign allies were absolutely +essential. + +France, however, was in a most unsettled condition, her ministers +did not wish to see a strong state of upper Italy on their southern +borders; they were already longing to annex Savoy, and yet as good +republicans they felt themselves bound to aid the revolted states +against Austrian tyranny. Manin made overtures for an alliance, at first +merely feeling his way, but as the summer progressed, and the need +grew more and more apparent, by definite overtures. The French Consul +at Venice was most hopeful. He said to Manin, "It is well known that +the sympathy of France, when she possesses liberty of action, is never +without results." In reply Manin said that he hoped "that the united +efforts of the different Italian states, the ardor which animates the +people of the Peninsula, will suffice to expel the enemy; if not, we +shall have recourse to the generosity of France. Meanwhile, we should +be glad to see at once some French vessels in the Adriatic, and I beg +that you will lose no time in communicating our wishes to the foreign +ministry." + +Manin wished to convene a popular assembly as soon after he assumed +office as possible, and on June 3 such a deliberative body met, its +members having been elected by universal suffrage from Venice and the +free districts of the Dogado. Their first important task was to decide +whether they would join with Lombardy in union under Piedmont's King. +Manin believed that the decision as to such a step ought to be deferred +until the war was ended, but a strong party opposed his opinion. His +partisans entered into a bitter fight with the opposition, for a time +it looked as though the split in the Assembly would lead to civil war. +Manin rose and implored those who were his friends to place no further +obstacles in the path of fusion. Moved by his passionate appeal for +harmony the Assembly passed the act of fusion with few negative votes, +and at the same time resolved that "Daniel Manin had deserved well of +his country." He spoke again, saying, "While the foreigner is still in +Italy, for God's sake let there be no more talk of parties. When we are +rid of him we will discuss these matters among ourselves as brothers. +This is the only recompense I ask of you." + +The Assembly elected Manin head of the new ministry, but he declined on +the ground that he had always been a republican and would feel out of +place as a royal minister. In addition his health demanded that he seek +some rest. + +The new Venetian ministry lasted until August 7, when the Royal +Commissioners assumed office. Unfortunately Charles Albert was already +being beaten back in Lombardy, and on August 9 signed the armistice of +Salasco, by which all claims to Venice were renounced. When word came +to the city the Venetians were dumbfounded, then mad with indignation. +Finally they rushed to Manin's house, calling for him and denouncing +the Royal Commissioners. Manin told the excited people that he would +stake his head upon the Commissioners' patriotism. He went to see them +and then addressed the citizens again. "The day after tomorrow," he +said, "the Assembly will meet to appoint a new government. For these +forty-eight hours I govern." The people dispersed, satisfied now that +their idol was at their head again. The Assembly when it met wished to +make Manin dictator, but he pleaded his ignorance of military matters, +and a triumvirate was formed, made up of Admiral Graziani, Colonel +Cavedalis, and himself. + +Just when it seemed as though France was finally deciding to come to the +aid of northern Italy, England intervened and proposed a plan of joint +mediation. To add to this obstacle Charles Albert declared that Italy +would act for herself, and the chances of Venice winning a foreign ally +were reduced to practically nothing. Italians from Naples to Piedmont +were showing themselves to be individual heroes, but their efforts were +ineffectual without a general leader. The Romans were hampered by the +inaction of the Pope. Pius IX. had promised great things in the cause of +national independence, but when the German Cardinals told him that in +case he declared war against Austria he would forfeit their allegiance +his enthusiasm waned. The Austrian general, Radetzky, was slowly +winning back the fields lost in Lombardy, Vicenza fell, then Milan, and +Austria felt herself strong enough to declare a blockade of Venice. As +the summer of 1848 ended it became clear that Venice would be left to +herself, that the tide of revolution in the other states was already +ebbing, and that Piedmont had shot her bolt. Manin still hoped that some +ally would succor the small city in her war against the great empire, +but whether an ally should come or not he was determined that Venice +should set an example of resistance that would show Europe how well +freedom was deserved. + +The city, in its state of siege, stood in the greatest need of money. +Manin had only to ask, and all classes brought forth their savings, +their heirlooms, whatever they had of value, to give to the cause. The +old aristocracy, the boys in the street, every one who loved Venice, +made their sacrifices gladly, reverently. Private citizens clothed many +of the soldiers, palaces were given for public uses, Manin gave all +his family plate and would accept no salary; General Pepe, the aged +commander-in-chief, gave a picture by Leonardo da Vinci that was his +dearest possession. No one thought of his own need, all thought solely +of keeping Venice free. If she returned to bondage they cared little +what became of them. + +Ugo Bassi, the heroic priest who was later to fight with Mazzini on +the walls of Rome, and still later to die at the hands of Austrian +executioners, preached daily to the Venetians. There was no lack of +noble spirits who recalled to them the great glories of the past. But +above and beyond all the others the people loved Manin, they had come to +link his name indissolubly with that of their city, he was their father, +they his devoted children. If ever a man merited such devotion it was +Manin. With the cares of his city weighing perpetually on his mind, +planning, advising, encouraging, he fought the ravages of disease that +crippled his resources, and spent the nights watching by the bedside of +his sick child. At one time, in November, there was fear for his life, +and Venice shook with apprehension. He recovered and took up the burden +of government with his marvelous stoic calm. + +In spite of the fact that the city was besieged and money scarce, Venice +was characteristically buoyant. The theater, the Fenice, was crowded; +fêtes and carnivals, always patriotically fervent, were of daily +occurrence; processions, music, all that appealed to the eye and the ear +and the imagination fed the Venetian love of glory. Their city was free, +and the people awakened the echoes of that great life which had been +theirs before captivity, they forgot so far as they could that they +had ever slumbered. On the morning of November 17 Mass was celebrated +in memory of all the martyrs to Italian liberty, and that same night +the entire city was thrilled by a wonderful display of the Aurora +Borealis which set the snow-caps of the Alps vividly before their eyes. +They lived on faith, and hope, and trust in Daniel Manin, and found +propitious omens with sea-dwellers' skill. + +In December some Roman volunteers left Venice to join their fellow +citizens, and with them went Ugo Bassi. He bade Manin a touching +farewell, foreseeing what lay before both his own city and Venice. +He had venerated the Pope who had held out such noble hopes to all +Italians, but he could do so no more, and in his place put the hero of +Venice. As he left the city he kissed the stone plate on Manin's door, +saying, "Next to God and Italy, before the Pope--Manin." + +The Assembly which had voted for fusion with Piedmont was dissolved, +and a new one elected. Manin was determined that his government should +have the fullest power over the city. He deemed this essential to any +hopes of ultimate success. Some members of the Assembly disagreed with +him, and advocated restriction. "It is not a question of power," replied +Manin, "but of saving the country. If we are to be hampered on every +turn by forms and limitations, we cannot act with the promptitude and +vigor needful for the preservation of public order (I beg pardon of +whoever the expression may offend), and our defense depends more upon +that than upon the force of arms." + +The people got wind of the fact that certain of the Assembly were +jealous of Manin's power, and they marched to the Ducal Palace. Manin +spoke and dispersed them, but again and again they gathered, making +various demonstrations of their trust in him. At length he heard that +they had devised a plan to march into the Council Hall and coerce the +Deputies who wanted to fetter their "caro Manin." Fearful of civic +strife Manin called his son, and standing alone with him, sword in hand, +at the door of the Palace, told the people that they could only enter +after killing father and son. He bade them go quietly home, and they +obeyed. That night he issued a proclamation. "Brothers, you have caused +me great pain to-day. To show your affection for me you have risen in +tumult, yet you know how I hate tumult ... as you say you love me, I +entreat you to show it by your actions.... To-morrow let there be no +shouting, no meetings. Remain at home. Trust in the government and the +Assembly, who regard your welfare as dearer to them than life." He was +always the father speaking to his children. + +The Assembly listened to the advice of its wisest members, and +abandoning all dissension, chose Manin as President of the Republic, +giving him complete power both as to internal administration and as +to relations with foreign states. Manin spoke in reply: "In accepting +the charge which this Assembly has entrusted to me, I am conscious of +committing an act of insensate boldness. I accept it. But in order that +my good name, and, what is of more importance, your good name and that +of Venice, may not be tarnished through this transaction, it behooves +that I should be seconded and sustained in my arduous undertaking by +your co-operation, confidence, and affection. We have been strong, +respected, eulogized, up till now, because we have been united. I ask of +you virtues which, if they are not romantic, are at all events of great +practical utility. I ask of you patience, prudence, perseverance. With +these, and with concord, love, and faith, all things are overcome." + +Charles Albert again took the field and for a brief interval the +Austrians were repulsed. Brescia made a heroic stand, and the Venetians +heard the news of the little city's courage with shouts of acclamation +and an added determination to fight Austria to the uttermost. The +Venetian fleet was kept in constant readiness, the troops slept with +their arms, there was only the one thought, to keep the lion-flag of St. +Mark flying from the _pili_. + +Then on March 28, 1849, came letters from Turin telling of the utter +defeat of Novara and of Charles Albert's abdication in favor of his son. + +The first effect of the news on Venice was absolute stupefaction, then +a wild rush to the Square of St. Mark's. A tremendous crowd called, +as usual in its troubles, for its "father, Manin!" Said a foreigner +who was a witness of the scene, "The faith of Venice in this man was +inconceivable, complete, and absolute. He had never deceived, never +abused it. The people seemed to attribute to him omnipotence and +omniscience, and believed him capable of guarding Venice from every +peril, and of rescuing her from every calamity." + +The President appeared on the Palace balcony. He said that he had not +yet received official confirmation of the news from Turin, but his sad +expression and his few words showed his belief that the news might prove +only too true. Venice passed a night of bitterest gloom, more hopeless +even than in the later days when Austrian bombs exploded in the streets. +Three similar days followed, and then came official confirmation of the +news. Lombardy was Austrian once more. + +The city withstood the shock, and took up its life of outward cheer and +hope. On April 25, St. Mark's Day, there was a grand _festa_, and Manin +spoke. "Who holds out wins," he declared. "We have held out, and we +shall win. Long live St. Mark! This cry, that the seas rang with in old +days, we must raise again. Europe looks on, and will praise. We must, we +ought to win. To the Sea! To the Sea! To the Sea!" There was tremendous +thrill in his magnetic voice, in his deep blue eyes, in the glow of his +pallid face; Venice cried aloud with eager hope. + +With this spring of 1849 came the great days. When the Assembly had +voted to resist Austria at all costs, the people adopted a red ribbon +as their emblem. A historian of that time says: "From the top of the +_Campanile_ of St. Mark, far above the domes, the roofs, and the spires +of the palace and the basilica, beside the golden angel that seemed +to watch over the city, they planted a huge red banner, which stood +out like a spot of blood against the azure sky, which was seen by the +enemy's fleet afar off in the Adriatic, and by their army on the distant +mainland. It defied them both, and announced to them that Venice would +fight to the last drop of blood." + +Placards were fixed to every wall, at the corner of every street. +They read: "Venice resists! Church plate, women's golden ornaments, +bronze bells, copper cooking utensils, the iron of the enemy's cannon +balls--all will be useful. Anything rather than the Croats!" + +Night and day workmen had been building ships, now the little fleet +fought through the lagunes as had the great fleets of the olden days. +The land forces held the shore batteries, and these forces were composed +of all the city. One artillery company, famous as the Bandiera-Moro, +was made up of the patrician youth of Venice, who, with their ancient +love of splendor, wore velvet tunics, gray scarves, and caps with +plumes. When the bitter fight came at Fort Malghera they held their guns +heroically, fresh men leaping to replace the dead, cheering for Venice +as the bombs fell among them, firing and eating and carrying off the +wounded under a devastating fusillade. Venice thirsted for glory, and +she won it; there are no more stirring tales in history than that of the +brief defense of the new-born Republic. + +In July came continual bombardment, and with it cholera, and the seeds +of sedition spread by Austrian spies. Manin feared civil dissension, he +heard grumblers in the streets. No one dared accuse the man, whom the +Assembly had chosen absolute dictator, of any wavering or treasonable +thought, but some raised cries beneath his windows in the Piazzetta. +The Dictator appeared suddenly before them. "Venetians," he cried, +"is this worthy of you? You are not the people, you are only an +insignificant faction. Never will I accede to the caprices of a mob! +My acts shall be guided solely by the representatives of the people, +assembled in their Congress. I will always speak the truth to you, even +should muskets be leveled at my breast, and daggers be pointed at my +heart. And now go home, all of you--go home!" + +His words swayed even that rebellious crowd, and they cheered him. For +the time sedition was silent, but the people were losing hope. They were +a mere handful battling with the forces of an empire. Manin saw that all +he could do was to insure that his people died as heroes. + +The city was the prey of famine, pestilence, and fire when on August +13 she held her last _festa_. The Dictator spoke to the troops in the +Square of St. Mark's. His words rang like a clarion call. "A people that +have done and suffered as our people have done and suffered cannot die. +The day shall come when a splendid destiny will be your guerdon. What +time will bring that day? This rests with God. We have sown the good +seed: it will take root in good soil.... If it be not ours to ward off +these calamities, it is ours to maintain inviolate the honor of the +city.... One single day that sees Venice not worthy of herself, and all +that she has done will be lost and forgotten." He asked them if they had +still their confidence in him, if not he would resign the leadership to +another. The Square shook with the thunder of the soldiers' "Yes!" He +went on: "Your indomitable love saddens me, and makes me feel yet more +how this people suffer! On my mental and bodily faculties you must not +count, but count always on my great, tender, undying affection. And come +what may, say, 'This man was misled:' but do not ever say, 'This man +misled us.' I have deceived no one. I have never spread illusions which +were not my own. I have never said I hoped when I had no hope." + +As he finished speaking he staggered, and was barely able to get to +the Council Chamber. There his physical weakness overmastered him. +"Such a people," he cried brokenly, "for such a people to be obliged to +surrender!" + +Nevertheless each hour now brought home the conviction that the strength +of Venice was ebbing rapidly. Flames and the plague and the unremitting +Austrian attack were bringing the proud city to her knees. Manin could +only hope that he might at the last make honorable terms of surrender, +he would not sacrifice all their heroic efforts to the desire for +instant peace. On August 18 the people gathered in St. Mark's Square, +begging for some word of their President's plans. He came out before +them. "Venetians," he said, "I have already told you frankly that our +situation is a grave one, but if it be grave it is not desperate to the +degree of reducing us to cowardice ... it is an infamy to suppose that +Venice would ask of me to do what was infamous; and if she should ask it +this one sacrifice I would not make--even for Venice." + +Some one in the throng cried, "We are hungry!" + +"Let him who is hungry stand forth!" answered Manin. + +"None of us," cried the devoted people. "We are Italians! Long live +Manin!" + +Five days later the city was torn by conflicting rumors of mutiny and +surrender. Manin had not yet succeeded in winning the terms he wanted +from the Austrians. When the people called for him he came out on the +balcony as he had so often done before. He spoke a few words, and then a +sudden pain seized him and he fell fainting into a chair. A little later +he reappeared and cried to the cheering people, "Let those who are true +Venetians patrol the city to-night with me." Then he took his sword, +and at the head of a great concourse, marched to the section of the +city where the mutineers had gathered. Shots were fired. Manin stepped +forward. "If you wish my life, take it!" he said. The mutineers were +silenced. + +The following day, August 24, 1849, the city capitulated, the stock of +provisions having been absolutely exhausted that same day. The terms +were honorable, such Venetian soldiers as had been in the Austrian +service were to leave Venice. Forty civilians, headed by Manin, were +to leave. The powers of government were temporarily lodged in the +municipality. + +That same day Manin left the Doge's Palace for his own small house. All +day the people passed before the door, saying, "Here lives our poor +father! How much he has suffered for us!" He was too absolutely worn out +to see any one. At midnight he with his wife and son and invalid small +daughter went on board the French steamer _Pluton_. All but one of them +were taking their last farewell of Venice. + +The municipality, knowing that their great leader was penniless, had +gathered a small sum of money and forced him to accept it before he +left. He felt that the other exiles were in as great need of it as he, +and so quietly distributed it among them through friends on the various +ships that were bearing the exiles away. He had thought of the people as +his children for so long a time that he had still to take the care of +them upon himself. + +The little family of four felt that it was farewell as they watched the +palaces and churches, towers and pillars of the City of the Lagunes +drop beneath the horizon. The view of Venice from the sea, incomparably +beautiful, must have been unspeakably sad to Manin's eyes. + +When they arrived at Marseilles the devoted wife fell ill of cholera, +and, worn out with the long siege, was powerless to resist. She had +written on leaving Venice, "All is over, all is lost save honor! I am +going to a foreign land, where I shall hear a language not my own. My +beautiful language, I shall never hear it again; never more!" She died +soon after reaching Marseilles. + +Manin took his two children with him to Paris, and gave himself up to +nursing the little girl, who was the victim of a continual nervous +disorder. The daughter and father were united by a bond of love that was +wonderfully strong and spiritual, they seemed to understand each other +always without words. He kept a little note-book record of her illness +as an aid to the physicians, and after his death the book was found +with the touching inscription on the cover, "Alla mia Santa Martire." +Her desire to comfort her father sustained her for some years, she knew +that she had become to him in a spiritual manner the living image of +his unhappy country. She struggled with all the heroism of a remarkable +character to hide her sufferings from him even as he sought to hide from +her the anguish her illness caused him. Daniel and Emilia Manin were +worthy to be father and daughter, both were heroic souls. In 1854 Emilia +died, her last words, "My darling Venice, I shall never see you again!" + +Manin and his son stayed on in the French capital, the father giving +lessons in Italian for support. He had harbored no resentment against +France for her failure to come to the aid of Venice, he felt that +the French people were near kin to his own. He welcomed all Italians +or sympathizers with Italy, he predicted that eventually the entire +peninsula would be one in freedom. He met Cavour in Paris and talked +long about Venice with him, he was gradually becoming convinced that +Piedmont could and would lead the other states to victory. His study +was hung with portraits of the most dissimilar characters, all one in +interest for his country, Charles Albert opposite to Mazzini, Garibaldi +opposite Gioberti, Montanelli near D'Azeglio. He wrote articles on Italy +for the papers and traveled in England to arouse British interest in +his cause. It was a great day when he saw the Italian tri-color flying +beside the French and English flags to show that Piedmont had joined +the allies in the Crimean war. "In serving under the tri-colored flag +of Italian redemption," he wrote, "the soldiers who fight in the Crimea +are not the soldiers of the Piedmontese province, but the soldiers of +Italy." He understood the boldness of Cavour's great diplomatic stroke +and gave Piedmont the credit she deserved in becoming the first envoy of +a great nation. + +While his strength lasted Manin worked in the cause, but finally he +was overcome by physical sufferings. He wrote in June, 1857, to his +friend the Marquis Pallavicino, "A month's rest in the country has not +calmed the fever of my poor brain. All work, all meditation, is utterly +impossible to me. Not only cannot I think about serious things, but I +am not able to give my mind to the most unimportant matters. This will +explain my silence. I lose patience and hope. My painful and useless +life becomes intolerable. I ardently desire the end. Farewell." The +physical weariness with which he had battled all his life was at last +overpowering him. He still believed that his principles would ultimately +conquer, but knew that he should not see Venice freed. September 22, +1857, he died, at the age of fifty-three years. + +August 30, 1849, Radetzky and the Austrians had entered Venice, replaced +the Lion banner of St. Mark with the yellow and black flag of Austria, +and had expected to see the pleasure-loving city sink back into its +former quiescent indolence. What they expected did not come to pass. +Instead for seventeen years Venice mourned its lost liberty and lived +only in the thought of that day when it should rise again and finally. +There was no shame in this subjection, no happy compromise. This was +Manin's achievement, he had made his people worthy to be free. That was +the purpose of his heroic struggle, the lesson of his life. + +July 5, 1866, the yellow and black flag of Austria fell from the _pili_, +and October 18 of that same year the red, white, and green flag of +united Italy greeted a free Venice. There was one wish in the people's +heart, that only their "dear father Manin" might have lived to see that +glorious day. + +The remains of Manin, his wife and daughter, lie now close to the Church +of St. Mark, his statue looks down upon the people in the square before +his house even as he so often stood on the Palace balcony to speak to +them in the days of 1849. All through Venice there are reminders of +him, and he has taken his place among the great heroes of that historic +city--himself her greatest hero, her sincerest patriot. The simple +advocate, the great President, the "dear father" of the Venetian people. + + + + +[Illustration: MAZZINI] + + + + +MAZZINI, THE PROPHET + + +Some men become legendary during their own lives. Their personalities +have a certain detachment from the rest of the world so that common +standards have no value as applied to them. They are poets or seers or +philosophers, and often their mystic quality is of little use to the +great mass of men, and is only to be appreciated by the few. Sometimes +the whole world understands them. Mazzini had become a legend to the +people of Europe long before his death, but a legend that carried the +strongest personal appeal to every republican heart. You have only to +dip into letters of the time to realize how close he came to millions of +thinkers throughout Europe. + +It would be interesting to consider the force of popular legend in a +national movement, to weigh sentiment against statesmanship and military +prowess. The land of Dante and of Savonarola would be an especially +fertile field for such inquiry, among no people has the prophet been +held of higher value than with the Italians. To-day we find them turning +to their dramatists and novelists for help in the solution of new social +problems just as Mazzini and the youth of his day looked to Alfieri +for political guidance. There is no doubt that Mazzini believed it was +his destiny to be a poet, and that throughout his whole life he looked +forward to the day when Italy should be united and free, and he could +turn to the work of writing her dramas. + +Literary feuds play so little part in Anglo-Saxon history that we find +it difficult to understand the importance of their place in Latin +countries. Italy a century ago was the battle-ground of the Romanticists +and Classicists. The Classicists believed in a certain smug cloistered +virtue, a policy of non-resistance, and the contemplation of past +glories. It was the ambition of the Romanticists "to give Italians an +original national literature, not one that is as a sound of passing +music to tickle the ear and die, but one that will interpret to them +their aspirations, their ideas, their needs, their social movement." +Alfieri had been preaching resistance to Austrian tyranny through his +dramas, the boy Mazzini first looked to him as a political saviour of +Italy. He wrote, "these literary disputes are bound up with all that +is important in social and civil life," and again "the legislation and +literature of a people always advance on parallel lines." "Young Italy" +first hoped to win freedom through its literature. + +The ill-fated Carbonari rebellion of 1821 sent many Piedmontese patriots +flying through Genoa to Spain. Giuseppe Mazzini, then sixteen years of +age, walking from church one Sunday morning in Genoa in company with +his mother, was stopped by a tall, gaunt-featured, black-eyed man who +held out his hat asking alms for "the refugees of Italy." The scene +made a tremendous impression on the youth's mind, for the first time he +felt that the cause of freedom was not a scholastic subject, but one +demanding the height of sacrifice. He set himself to study the causes of +the failure of past uprisings, and at the same time dedicated himself to +the work of teaching his countrymen how they might succeed. + +The French Revolution had failed because it had taught men only a +knowledge of their rights, without any conception of their duties. Men +had not learned the law of self-restraint, and their ideal was the +greatest personal liberty rather than the greatest personal obligation +to their fellow-men. The revolutionists of Europe had a philosophy, +but no religion. The first great discovery that Mazzini made was that +if Italy were ever to be united, his countrymen must be fired with +faith in their own God-given destinies. They must make of their cause +a religion, they must learn, in his words, that Italy "had a strength +within her, that was arbiter of facts, mightier than destiny itself." +At the start he offered his countrymen two arguments for action, the one +that this land of theirs had twice ruled the world, that she who had +given Christianity and the Renaissance to Europe had yet to send forth +"the gospel of humanity." He wrote: "Italy has been called a graveyard; +but a graveyard peopled by our mighty dead is nearer life than a land +that teems with living weaklings and braggarts;" he showed Italians "the +vision of their country, radiant, purified by suffering, moving as an +angel of light among the nations that thought her dead." Such words rang +like an inspiration, but Mazzini, studying the men with whom he had to +work, knew that such inspiration was not enough. They struck the note of +glory, but all revolutionists had heard that note; what was needed was +the call to self-sacrifice. + +With this fundamental need firmly fixed in his mind Mazzini gave what +spare hours fell to the lot of a young Italian lawyer to the work of +writing to the independent journals. At first he leaned to the side of +caution, realizing how strict was the censorship of the Italian press, +but gradually he contrived to slip bolder and more inflammatory messages +into circulation under the censor's nose. He spoke of a new party that +should arise in a short time, and called it "Young Italy," he expressed +deep sympathy with political exiles, he turned his literary criticisms +into studies of national development. Ultimately one of the papers for +which he wrote, the "Indicatore Livornese," became too daring, and was +ended by the authorities. Mazzini then aimed higher, and gained credit +with the "Antologia," the Edinburgh Review of Italy, by a series of +articles on the historical drama. + +Meanwhile he was still studying the problem of giving a new religion +to the youth of Italy. He had joined the Society of the Carbonari, and +was learning that the plots and counter-plots of an unwieldy secret +society would accomplish no good end. There was too much ritual, too +little effort. The Carbonari had no definite plan, they were entirely +at the mercy of any chance leader of disaffection, each member only +knew one or two other members. Of a sudden the Revolution of July in +France fired liberals throughout Europe, Mazzini and his young friends +in Genoa immediately began active preparations for a military uprising. +Lead was being cast into bullets when the police of Genoa intervened and +Mazzini was placed under arrest. He had been suspected of revolutionary +sentiments for some time. The Governor of Genoa told Giuseppe's father +that he considered the son "was gifted with some talent, and too fond +of walking by himself at night absorbed in thought. What on earth +has he at his age to think about? We don't like young people thinking +without our knowing the subject of their thoughts." + +Mazzini was taken to the fortress of Savona, and there imprisoned +to await his trial. The commander of the fortress allowed the young +prisoner to keep his Bible, Tacitus, and Byron. From these hours of +solitary confinement sprang the youth's passionate regard for the +English poet, a man whose writings he later vehemently held were only to +be classed with Dante as an inspiration to Italians. + +The government could prove nothing definite against him, but he was +thought too dangerous a man to be at large, and so was finally given +his choice between nominal imprisonment in a small town and exile. +France was throbbing with a new democracy, Paris was the center of +revolutionary propaganda, and so Mazzini chose exile there. Early in +1831 he parted from his family at Savona and started north. He felt that +he had come to the parting of the ways, and that henceforth his life +was to be absolutely given to the cause. For the first time he saw the +Alps, and his nature, always strongly susceptible to heroic scenery, +was deeply stirred. He watched the sunrise from Mont Cenis and wrote, +"The first ray of light trembling on the horizon, vague and pale, like +a timid, uncertain hope, then the long line of fire cutting the blue +heaven, firm and decided as a promise;" here was the poet soul free at +last to speak its message. + +With the date of this first exile begins Mazzini's call to "Young +Italy." He had recognized that his countrymen must waken to a new +religion, that their souls must be touched rather than their ambitions. +The youth of Italy would feel the call more strongly than the +middle-aged. "Place," he said, "the young at the head of the insurgent +masses; you do not know what strength is latent in those young bands, +what magic influence the voice of the young has on the crowd; you will +find in them a host of apostles for the new religion. But youth lives +on movement, grows great in enthusiasm and faith. Consecrate them with +a lofty mission, inflame them with emulation and praise; spread through +their ranks the word of fire, the word of inspiration; speak to them of +country, of glory, of power, of great memories." "All great national +movements," he wrote later, "begin with the unknown men of the people, +without influence except for the faith and will that counts not time or +difficulties." Mazzini was not diffident with regard to his own youthful +powers, nor was Cavour, five years Mazzini's junior, who wrote to a +friend at this time prophesying that he would one morning wake up Prime +Minister of Italy. + +The most important feature of "Young Italy" was its religion, the +Carbonari had had none. Men were now told that they had a mission given +them by God, and that what had been before a mere personal right had +become a sacred duty. The second feature was the liberation of the poor, +a need which all former revolutionists had seemed to overlook. The +French Revolution had had no such substructure, the poets and dramatists +had idealized national rather than social liberty, but Mazzini saw that +the time had come for a further step, that Austria was not the only +enemy his people had to fear. He wrote, "I see the people pass before my +eyes in the livery of wretchedness and political subjection, ragged and +hungry, painfully gathering the crumbs that wealth tosses insultingly +to it, or lost and wandering in riot and the intoxication of a brutish, +angry, savage joy; and I remember that these brutalized faces bear the +finger-print of God, the mark of the same mission as my own. I lift +myself to the vision of the future and behold the people rising in its +majesty, brothers in one faith, one bond of equality and love, one ideal +of citizen virtue that ever grows in beauty and might; the people of +the future, unspoilt by luxury, ungoaded by wretchedness, awed by the +consciousness of its rights and duties, and in the presence of that +vision my heart beats with anguish for the present and glorying for +the future." Mazzini gave "Young Italy" as its watchword "God and the +People." + +There can be no question but that "Young Italy" was strong where the +Carbonari had been weak, but both movements had of necessity many of +the same defects. Government espionage forced the new movement like +its predecessors to choose the devious courses of a secret society. +The restlessness of the age caused the new movement to take each +fitful start as a momentous signal. The strength of Austria was not +underestimated, but the weakness of the disunited Italian states was. +Diplomacy was disregarded; it was only many years later that Mazzini +the prophet learned the value of Cavour the statesman. "Young Italy" +was launched in a troublous sea, destined to encounter many storms, but +fated ultimately to spread abroad the seeds of the hope that was to +awaken republicans throughout all European countries. + +Mazzini no sooner arrived in Lyons than he found himself in the center +of plots. The French government, still fresh from the days of July, was +in two minds; first they aided a band of Italian refugees who were +planning a raid into Savoy, then they faced about and scattered the +conspirators. Another plan was for a trip to Corsica, there to gather +arms to aid the insurgents in Romagna, but the funds for this attempt +were lacking. Mazzini gave up immediate action for the moment, and +locating at Marseilles started with a few youthful friends to organize +his great concerted movement. They had nothing but youth and audacity. A +contemporary (probably Enrico Mayer) described Mazzini at this time as +"about 5 feet 8 inches high, and slightly made; he was dressed in black +Genoa velvet, with a large 'republican' hat; his long, curling black +hair, which fell upon his shoulders, the extreme freshness of his clear +olive complexion, the chiseled delicacy of his regular and beautiful +features, aided by his very youthful look and sweetness and openness of +expression, would have made his appearance almost too feminine, if it +had not been for his noble forehead, the power of firmness and decision +that was mingled with their gaiety and sweetness in the bright flashes +of his dark eyes and in the varying expression of his mouth, together +with his small and beautiful mustachios and beard. Altogether he was +at that time the most beautiful being, male or female, that I had ever +seen, and I have not since seen his equal." + +Mazzini was proud of these early days when he looked back upon them +later. He wrote, "We had no office, no helpers. All day, and a great +part of the night, we were buried in our work, writing articles and +letters, getting information from travelers, enlisting seamen, folding +papers, fastening envelopes, dividing our time between literary and +manual work. La Cecilia was compositor; Lamberti corrected the proofs; +another of us made himself literally porter, to save the expense of +distributing papers. We lived as equals and brothers; we had but one +thought, one hope, one ideal to reverence. The foreign republicans loved +and admired us for our tenacity and unflagging industry; we were often +in real want, but we were light-hearted in a way, and smiling because we +believed in the future." It was Mazzini's period of boundless hope. + +Much of this hope throbbed through the literature that the small +Marseilles press scattered throughout Europe, men were in such a +state of unrest that the burning words became to them a prophetic +writing on the wall. In a hundred ways the contraband pamphlets were +smuggled across frontiers, all classes sent assurances of support +and aid to the young men in Marseilles, everywhere lodges of "Young +Italy" were started, and local editors scattered Mazzini's doctrines +through their immediate territories. Priests, attracted by the strong +religious tenor, professional and business men, many of the nobility +even joined the new movement. Garibaldi, a young officer in the Genoese +merchant service, Gioberti, then a teacher at Vercelli, Ruffini, and +his fellow-conspirators working under the very shadow of destruction +at Genoa, enrolled under the new standard of "God and the People." The +old members of the Carbonari, the followers of Buonarotti and his "veri +Italiani" joined the ranks, within two years "Young Italy" counted +its members by the tens of thousands. Not since the era of the great +Crusades had there been any simultaneous rising to compare with it. + +All men who hoped for the coming of a united Italy looked towards +Piedmont as the state by which the first step must be taken. Piedmont +had great military traditions. It supported an efficient army, it was +so situated that it held the key of entrance into Lombardy, and had +the Alps and the Apennines as a base of retreat. In Piedmont there was +moreover an intense national feeling, the House of Savoy was deeply +rooted in the affections of the people, and almost alone among the +Italian sovereignties that House was practically indigenous to the +soil. In Charles Albert Piedmont had just received a king who was an +intense nationalist, to whom the name of "Italia" was sacred, and who, +at certain times, seems to have felt that he was destined to drive the +foreigner beyond the Alps. He was no liberal, both his nature and his +priestly advisers counseled him against revolutionary measures, he +had not the sanguine temper of the leader, he was more the theorist +than the actor. Yet with all his temperamental defects the men of +the new generation looked on him as a possible saviour, he had given +countenance to the Carbonari in his youth, and had led the conspirators +of 1821 to believe that he would side with them in any war for Lombard +independence. He had not given such aid as they expected, but he was +still the one sovereign to whom "Young Italy" could look with any +measure of hope. Mazzini was never an ardent believer in monarchies, +but now, when his new party was growing with tremendous leaps and +bounds, he felt that even the leadership of a king was better than no +leadership at all. He was ready at this time to sacrifice republicanism +for nationalism; how far he would then have followed a monarchy, if +successful, is a difficult question to decide. He was so much in earnest +that he could not always critically balance the means and the end. + +Early in 1831 Mazzini published his famous letter to Charles Albert. It +was the cry of a prophet to a later generation. He pointed out that the +King of Piedmont needed no aid from Austria or France. "There is a crown +more brilliant and sublime than that of Piedmont, a crown that waits the +man who dares to think of it, who dedicates his life to winning it, and +scorns to dull the splendor with thoughts of petty tyranny. Sire, have +you ever cast an eagle glance upon this Italy, so fair with nature's +smile, crowned by twenty centuries of noble memory, the land of genius, +strong in the infinite resources that only want a common purpose, girt +round with barriers so impregnable, that it needs but a firm will and +a few brave breasts to shelter it from foreign insult? Place yourself +at the head of the nation, write on your flag, 'Union, Liberty, +Independence.' Free Italy from the barbarian, build up the future, be +the Napoleon of Italian freedom. Do this and we will gather round you, +we will give our lives for you, we will bring the little states of Italy +under your flag. Your safety lies on the sword's point, draw it and +throw away the scabbard. But remember, if you do it not, others will do +it without you and against you." + +Charles Albert had moments of heroism, but they were only too often +followed by moments of overwhelming caution. If he ever read Mazzini's +letter he must have thrilled at the call to save a country he loved +with the whole ardor of his nature. After that first thrill had passed +he must have realized that the time to take such a supreme step had not +come, or that he had not the will to lead it. Once harboring such a +doubt the King became a battle-ground for advisers, and when the short +fight for control of the King's mind was won, the reactionaries proved +themselves the victors. The unfortunate King allowed others to act +against his better judgment; when the fire of revolt next blazed up in +Piedmont the government turned a savage face towards the conspirators. +The little band of revolutionists was hounded without mercy, terror +reigned in Genoa, and the only choice offered the rebels was between +betrayal of their friends and execution. Jacopo Ruffini, one of +Mazzini's dearest boyhood friends, killed himself in prison when offered +such an alternative. The pendulum swung back, gaining momentum thereby +for its coming flight. "Ideas," wrote Mazzini, "ripen quickly when +nourished by the blood of martyrs." + +At twenty-eight Mazzini found himself an outcast, hunted at last +from France as he had been before from Italy, living in the closest +concealment in Switzerland, all his hopes tumbling about him. He +tried to organize a band of raiders who should enter Savoy from the +Swiss frontier; they were disrupted by treachery and distrust before +the first shot was fired. Mazzini's health broke under the endless +strain, there were nights when he never went to bed, days when he had +to lie concealed in a goatherd's hut. At times he seemed to find his +only consolation in the white-capped mountains, them he passionately +worshiped, the Alps were always nearest to him after Italy. He had very +few friends, almost no books; there were no presses now to speak his +words to the young hearts of Europe, only occasionally word came to him +that his great idea was growing in the outer world. + +In those dark days in Switzerland Mazzini suffered most from the thought +that he had entailed all his family and friends in his vain sacrifice. +His boyhood confidants were dead or in exile, families he loved were +scattered over many countries, the few women he knew well were left +solitary in their homes. The woman he loved he felt he could not ask to +marry him, he had no home to give her, and scarcely knew whether his +next day's food would be forthcoming. He wrote to a friend, "I wanted to +do good, but I have always done harm to everybody, and the thought grows +and grows until I think I shall go mad. Sometimes I fancy I am hated +by those I love most." In all his letters of this period we catch the +note of a spirit torn between pity for sufferings he thinks himself to +have caused, and the stern sense of a duty given him by God. They are +wonderful letters, the thoughts of a man who could put no limits to his +own self-sacrifice nor value too highly the sacrifices of others. In one +letter he wrote: "I think over it from morning to night, and ask pardon +of my God for having been a conspirator; not that I in the least repent +the reasons for it, or recant a single one of my beliefs, which were and +are and will be a religion to me, but because I ought to have seen that +there are times when a believer should only sacrifice himself to his +belief. I have sacrificed everybody." + +A great heroic spirit was trying to justify, not its own aims, but the +sorrows it had brought upon others. Mazzini could never have seemed hard +and cold, but in those dark days in Switzerland, and in those later to +come in London, the gentle, humble spirit of him was pre-eminent. He +loved friendship, home life, the arts; he had met his ideal woman; and +yet each and every joy life had to offer him he gave up on the altar of +his duty. "Duty," he said, "an arid, bare religion, which does not save +my heart a single atom of unhappiness, but still the only one that can +save me from suicide;" and again he wrote, "When a man has once said to +himself in all seriousness of thought and feeling, I believe in liberty +and country and humanity, he is bound to fight for liberty and country +and humanity--fight while life lasts, fight always, fight with every +weapon, face all from death to ridicule, face hatred and contempt, work +on because it is his duty, and for no other reason." + +In 1837 Mazzini gave up the heights of Switzerland for the fogs of +London, moved largely to this change by the fact that in England +he need no longer live in hiding. He did not look forward with any +eagerness to life in England; if the English cared little what political +beliefs refugees brought with them, they were not the people to flame +with interest in a cause. Byron, Mazzini considered more Italian than +English; he could not conceive of poetry as stirring the British blood. +He took cheap lodgings, and set himself to writing for support, finding +time to keep up his correspondence with members of "Young Italy" +scattered over Europe, and also time to look after such Italians in +London as were in greater straits than he. The Ruffini family were with +him for a time, then misunderstandings separated them, and the last +tie that bound him to Genoa was gone. He lived the pathetic life of a +literary hack, spending his days working in the British Museum, and his +nights writing in his own small room. The one charm he found about +London was its fog. "The whole city," he wrote, "seems under a kind of +spell, and reminds me of the witches' scene in Macbeth or the Brocksberg +or the Witch of Endor. The passers-by look like ghosts--one feels almost +a ghost oneself." + +The lack of money oppressed him sorely; he would give to every Italian +who begged of him on the score of universal brotherhood, gradually his +few possessions went their way to the pawnshop. He said that he needed +only a place to write and a few pennies to buy cigars. Then by one of +those curious chances of fate he met the Carlyles, and his life became +a little less cramped and lonely, although perhaps more tempestuous. +There are a score of accounts of evenings Mazzini spent with these new +friends, the one of whom he admired as a great thinker, the other as a +truly noble woman. In time Carlyle tried the gentle Italian sorely; the +story goes that the philosopher would rage at all human institutions +with the violence of a hurricane and then turn to his guest with the +words, "You have not succeeded yet because you have talked too much." We +can picture the boisterous, stormy Englishman thundering at those ideals +which the sensitive, passionate Italian was trying to defend. It speaks +well for Mazzini that he said of Carlyle, "He is good, good, good; and +still, I think in spite of his great reputation, unhappy." Carlyle's +estimate of Mazzini was that he was "by nature a little lyrical poet." +This opposition of ideas did not, however, keep him from defending his +Italian friend when others attacked him. The London _Times_ saw fit to +speak slightingly of Mazzini, and Carlyle wrote the editors in noble +indignation. "Whatever I may think of his practical insight and skill +in worldly affairs," he said, "I can with great freedom testify to all +men that he, if I have ever seen such, is a man of genius and virtue, a +man of sterling veracity, humanity, and nobleness of mind, one of those +rare men, numerable, unfortunately, but as units in this world, who are +worthy to be called martyr souls; who in silence, piously in their daily +life, understand and practise what is meant by that." These were glowing +words, and thrilled Mazzini as he read them. They were a tribute to +Carlyle's justice, but it is doubtful if he ever really understood the +Italian. He would have found it difficult to discover a prophet living +in lodgings so near to his own house. + +Gradually Mazzini made other English friends, and he worked his way into +the pages of the best reviews. In time also his political efforts were +revived; he never let any temporary interest dim his goal. He started a +society of Italian workmen in London, and edited a paper for them, and +opened an evening school where poor Italian boys were taught to read and +write and learn something of Italian history. This school was very near +his heart, he was always devoted to children. + +During Mazzini's exiled years in London, "Young Italy" had spread over +Europe, and through countless secret channels was gradually making its +strength felt. Outside circumstances were needed to bring its forces +to a head, but there was no doubt that Mazzini's words had called a +power into being that must in time inevitably come to a life and death +struggle with the Austrians. It is difficult to point out the exact +minor causes of each fluctuation in Italian opinion, it is certain +that the new popular literature called readers to take account of the +words of Dante, and that the more they read the great poet the more +they longed for liberty from the foreigner. Charles Albert, it was +felt, was again dreaming of heroic measures, and something of the old, +almost legendary faith in the house of Savoy as a national deliverer, +re-awakened. Manzoni and Gioberti were prophesying a great Catholic +revival, and the election of Pius the Ninth seemed for the moment to +justify the hope. The half-pitiful words of Pius, "They want to make a +Napoleon of me who am only a poor country parson," was a more correct +estimate of the Pontiff than the glowing words of his contemporaries; he +was no more in accord with the spirit of his time than was Metternich. +Still his election marked the swing of the pendulum in the liberal +direction, and "Young Italy" was quick to take notice of such a fact. + +The year 1848 was remarkable for concerted social movements throughout +Europe. In France the Second Republic overthrew the monarchy, and +throughout the Italian states an electric current shocked the people +into revolution. Leghorn revolted and made Guerrazzi its chief, Milan +fell easy victim to the Tobacco rioters, Sicily sent its Bourbon king +flying, and Naples wrested a popular constitution from the greedy hand +of Ferdinand. Piedmont and Tuscany followed soon, demanded and obtained +constitutions, and the Pope, alarmed at the sudden spread of liberalism, +granted a constitution to Rome. The moment seemed ripe to throw off the +Austrian overlords. + +There are few more tangled histories than the record of the next few +months in Italy. It is a drama filled with heroic figures, but one +through which runs the current of continual misunderstandings. Was +Italy to be a kingdom or a republic? Was the Pope a menace or a help? +Was French aid to be courted or rejected? These were only a few of the +questions on which men split. The one glorious fact was the burning +patriotic ardor of Italians in each state from Sicily to Savoy, their +actual belief in the religion of duty Mazzini had been preaching to them. + +Word came to Milan that there was revolution in Vienna, and the +Five Days drove the Austrian garrison from their stronghold. Como, +Brescia, Venice, all the northern cities that had so long loathed the +white-coated overlords, won freedom; Metternich's puppet-princes of +Modena and Parma fled. Piedmont declared war, Tuscany declared war, +volunteers of all ranks and ages poured from Umbria to help the northern +armies. Mazzini, hearing the news in London, sped to Milan, and was +received as the prophet of the new day. Italy had its prophet, but the +statesman and the soldier were not yet recognized. + +The new provisional government in Milan had no fixed policy, Charles +Albert's advisers still clogged his steps, the volunteers were ready, +but they had neither the arms nor the training to compete with the +war-worn Austrians. While there was discussion and dissension in +Lombardy, the enemy recuperated and returned to besiege the cities they +had lost. By July the Italian army was driven into Milan, there the +spirit of the earlier Five Days revived, but victory appeared hopeless, +and finally Charles Albert, torn and distracted, surrendered the city. +Mazzini passed to Lugano, thence to Leghorn, thence to Florence; in each +city the situation was practically the same, the people were aflame with +devotion to Italy, the leaders had as many plans as there were men. + +Rome had driven out the Pope and proclaimed the Republic. The call of +Rome was the call direct to Mazzini's soul, he turned there to find a +solution of all difficulties. Simultaneously the newly formed Roman +Assembly turned to him, and bade him welcome as a citizen of Rome. He +believed that Dante's vision and his own were coming true, and hurried +to the Eternal City. His first work there was to raise ten thousand +troops and send them north. They had scarcely started when the crushing +news of the defeat at Novara stunned all patriots. Rome had to look to +herself, and made Mazzini Triumvir and practically dictator of the city. + +The little Roman Republic of 1849 had an inspiring history. Mazzini had +written and spoken, now it became his turn to act. He was set at the +head of a city from which its spiritual as well as its temporal head had +fled. Priests and protesting laymen were all about him, it would have +been easy for him to scorn the power that scoffed at him. He did not, +he himself doubted the strength of the Catholic Church to survive, he +dreamed of a new church which should speak to the world from the seven +hills of Rome, but he would not take a single step to destroy one man's +religion. More than that he made it his special duty to see that the +priests were not disturbed in their work. He wanted the Republic to be +based on the love of God. He hoped that the Church would aid the Italian +cause for the love of man. He would allow the Pope to reign as spiritual +Prince, if he would only be content with his own noble sphere. + +Rome won back something of its historic ardor under Mazzini's call. The +Republic was planned on lines of great proportions, steps were actually +taken to make it a republic wherein each man had a worthy share. The +foundations were laid with the greatest patience and zeal, the Triumvir +gave the last ounce of his strength to building truly, he lived as he +had always lived, for others, and took nothing for himself. Margaret +Fuller said that at this time his face, haggard and worn, seemed to her +"more divine than ever." The poorest citizen could find him as readily +as the richest, he was the same to all, he gave away his small salary of +office as entirely as in his London days he had dispersed his earnings. +If ever man's rule was noble, if ever it was spiritual, that of Rome's +Triumvir was, in the weeks when he faced treachery both from without and +within. + +It is scarcely possible that Mazzini could have expected his city to +stand against the armies that were marching towards it. At most he could +only hope to show the Romans of what great self-sacrifice they were +capable. He probably hoped that the Republic would convince Italians +that the spirit of "Young Italy" was not a mere prophet's dream. That he +did; he could not fight Austria and France single-handed. + +Louis Napoleon had evolved one of his great ideas, he would win both the +French army and the French clergy by a strategic move. He sent Oudinot +into Italy, blinding the Romans with various subtleties, waiting until +the propitious hour to strike. The Romans understood, the Assembly +voted to resist to the end, and Garibaldi led the troops to their first +victory. De Lesseps was appointed peace negotiator for the French, and +he and Mazzini met, and for a time it seemed as though there might be a +reconciliation. Mazzini strove with the greatest tact and patience to +win the French, but De Lesseps was nothing more than Napoleon's dupe, +and as soon as Garibaldi had advanced to meet the Neapolitan king's +army, Napoleon removed his envoy and showed his hand. + +The truce had been virtually agreed on when Oudinot suddenly attacked +and placed Rome in a state of siege. For almost a month the citizens +fought with unfailing courage. Mazzini, Garibaldi, Mameli, the martyr +war-poet, Bassi, the great preacher, republicans and royalists, princes +and peasants, all within Rome's walls fought for freedom from the +foreigner. There could be but one end, and it came when starvation and +losses had weakened the defenders so that they could no longer hold +their posts. Mazzini would have fought hand-to-hand in the streets, the +army was with him, but the Assembly voted to surrender. The besiegers +entered, Garibaldi led his Three Thousand in their great retreat, +Mazzini stayed on in Rome uttering such protest as he could, unharmed +by the French troops who dared not touch him, through knowledge of the +people's love for him. + +The downfall of the Republic must have been a terrible blow to Mazzini, +probable as it is that he foresaw the city could not long last by +itself. Physical force and treachery had overwhelmed the noblest +concepts of government. Temporary disappointment, however, could not +dull his spirit, the prophet of United Italy proved himself a true +prophet. He went on with his work, at first in Switzerland, then again +driven away by foreign influence, in London. + +He took up his life there, much older, much more worn and scarred, +but with the same indomitable spirit. "His face in repose," wrote a +contemporary of this time, "was grave, even sad, but it lit up with a +smile of wonderful sweetness as he greeted a friend with a pressure +rather than a shake of the thin hand," and again his piercing black +eyes were described as "of luminous depth, full of sadness, tenderness +and courage, of purity and fire, readily flashing into indignation or +humor, always with the latent expression of exhaustless resolution." His +pictures are familiar, the high straight forehead, the strong nose, the +curving lips, the scant gray, then almost white, mustache and beard, the +high-buttoned frock coat and the silk handkerchief wound like a stock +about his throat. + +London had grown kinder to him than at first, he had many good friends, +and he could understand better the English point of view. He lodged as +humbly as before, and again took up his writing, his correspondence, and +his ceaseless care for his poor countrymen. One of his best biographers +gives us this sketch of him, a picture that portrays the man, "in his +small room, every piece of furniture littered with books and papers, +the air thick with smoke of cheap Swiss cigars (except when friends sent +Havanas), brightened only by his tame canaries and carefully-tended +plants, he was generally writing at his desk until evening, always with +more work in hand than he could cope with, carrying on the usual mass +of correspondence, writing articles for his Italian papers, raising +public funds with infinite labor, stirring his English friends to help +the cause, finding money and work for the poor refugees, or organizing +concerts in their interest." With what infinite reverence must the men +he helped have looked on him! + +The prophet is not a statesman; he can show the road, but rarely +follow it. Mazzini's life had reached its climax when as Triumvir he +had started to practise his own precepts, his work had been to scatter +seed for the crop which other men should reap at harvest. He could +not understand the dissimulations of diplomacy, he could not tolerate +compromise, he could not now sacrifice his dreams of a republic for +liberty and union. These qualities were not in his character; if they +had been he could not have led men's minds by his words and actions; he +could not be both a prophet and an opportunist; the need of the former +was passing, and that of the latter at hand. + +Few men understood the twists and turns of Cavour's policy as Prime +Minister of Piedmont, and Mazzini not at all. After the battle of Novara +Charles Albert had abdicated in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel, and +a new order had come to pass in Piedmont. Cavour had a definite goal, +the unity of Italy under the leadership of his king; and he never +forgot that goal. To win it, he realized that he needed more than the +raw volunteer forces of 1848, more than mere enthusiasm, no matter how +heroic; he needed efficient troops, he needed a foreign ally, he needed +a moment when Austria should be at a disadvantage, above all he needed +one leader instead of a dozen to determine on any action. To accomplish +these ends he gave republicans little sympathy, and centered the +national movement about his king, he treated with Louis Napoleon, and +did his utmost to win his favor, he discountenanced secret half-prepared +revolts against the Austrians, he drilled and multiplied the troops, +and harbored the finances. At all these measures Mazzini instinctively +revolted; he wanted a republic, he loathed Napoleon as the betrayer of +Rome, he was ever eager for any sincere demonstration against Austria. +He only learned half-truths in London, but those half-truths did not +inspire him to trust Cavour. Neither of these men understood the other; +to Cavour Mazzini was the fanatic who would destroy any cause by lack +of temperance, to Mazzini Cavour was the aristocrat who would inflict +upon the poor of Italy simply a new yoke in place of the old. They could +not work together, and so Mazzini publicly denounced Cavour, and the +latter declared Mazzini an exile from his home. + +Meantime, while Piedmont was playing a wary game, and all the Italian +states were making ready for the next great attempt, Mazzini took part +in two small insurrections, one near Como, and the other at Genoa, both +of which failed disastrously. The latter was the more serious, the +government was tired of these perennial conspiracies, and denounced the +revolt as anarchistic. Mazzini and five other leaders were sentenced to +death, and many to long terms of imprisonment. Mazzini hid in the house +of the Marquis Pareto, and was undiscovered, although the police made a +prolonged search for him. It is said that Mazzini himself, dressed as a +footman, opened the door to the officer, who recognized him as an old +schoolmate, and had mercy. Some days later he escaped from the house, +undisguised, walking arm-in-arm with a lady of Genoa, and reaching +a carriage, was driven to Quarto, and thence went to England. There +were many curious turns and twists in this conspiracy in which both +conspirators and government were working for the same great end, but +with widely different means, and with avowed enmity between them. + +It was not long until Cavour and Napoleon met at Plombières and made +their famous compact, after that events hastened forward. By the spring +of 1859 Cavour had prepared both royalists and republicans for war. +With his ally he felt that the Italian cause must now triumph, and at a +given signal the conflict began. The Princes were driven from Tuscany, +Romagna, Parma, and Modena, and all those states declared for Victor +Emmanuel. Much as Mazzini hated Cavour's French ally, he could no longer +stay his enthusiasm. He saw unity at last almost come, after Solferino +he declared that the Austrian domination was at an end. Without warning +Napoleon met the Emperor Francis Joseph at Villafranca and betrayed the +cause. He abandoned Venetia to Austria, and central Italy to the Bourbon +Princes. Cavour, wild with indignation, spoke his feelings and resigned, +the Italians were again left to their own divided efforts. + +Mazzini, his fears of Napoleon now justified, went to Florence and +declared that the people of central Italy must stake all for their +briefly-won freedom, he gave up his republican protests, and advocated +annexation with Piedmont so they might have unity. He wrote to friends +in Sicily and Rome, he begged Garibaldi to lead his troops into Umbria. +All this time he had to live virtually in hiding, the ban against him +had not been raised, and the thought that he, whose every emotion was +for Italy, should not be trusted at all among his countrymen galled him +to the quick. He wrote: "To be a prisoner among our own people is too +much to bear." + +Gradually the troubled situation cleared, Cavour returned to power, +and by temporizing held both the French support and the enthusiasm of +the native troops. Mazzini still advocated immediate warfare, Cavour +waited, and in the end the latter's policy was proved correct. In the +interval the disheartened Mazzini had gone back to England, and again, +on hearing that Garibaldi and his famous legion had started for Sicily, +returned in haste to Genoa. There followed Garibaldi's victories, then +the Piedmontese declaration of war against the Pope, then only Rome +and Venice were lacking to the cause. Mazzini went to Naples to be +nearer the heart of the struggle; he urged the Neapolitans to demand a +constitution, and they, filled with the one thought of unity, berated +him as a republican. His friends urged him to leave the city. "Even +against your wish," said one of them, "you divide us." He could not +leave Italy at that hour of her fate, but he felt that he was cruelly +misunderstood. He wrote, "I am worn out morally and physically; for +myself the only really good thing would be to have unity achieved +quickly through Garibaldi, and one year, before dying, of Walham Green +or Eastbourne, long silences, a few affectionate words to smooth the +ways, plenty of sea-gulls, and sad dozing." + +Some of those things he was to know, for during the next few years +he lived again in England, writing and reading, and continually +engaged in plans for the final capture of Venetia and Rome. Victor +Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and Mazzini were each devising means to gain this +long-hoped-for end, but the position and peculiar characteristics of +each made co-operation almost impossible. The wise Cavour had been +succeeded by vacillating ministers who were a continual drag upon +the King, Garibaldi would not consent to adopting any of Mazzini's +suggestions (the latter once said that "if Garibaldi has to choose +between two proposals, he is sure to accept the one that isn't mine"), +and Mazzini found it ever difficult to sacrifice his republican ideals +to the needs of the moment. Ultimately, however, the Italian troops, +this time with the aid of Prussia, recommenced war with Austria to win +Venetia, Istria, and the Tyrol. The spirit of 1866 was not the spirit +of 1860, the mythical valor of the Garibaldian army seemed to have +evaporated in the passes of the Tyrol. Prussia won, but Italy met defeat +at Custozza. Again Napoleon took a hand in the country's destiny. To the +surprise of Europe, he intervened and stated that Austria had offered to +cede Venetia to him, and that he would give it to Italy if the latter +would come to an immediate agreement for peace. There seemed little else +to be done, and Mazzini saw the campaign, that had begun in the highest +hopes of complete national independence, end in the acceptance of the +gift of a single province from the foreigner. + +Thenceforth Mazzini's work lost all accord with that of the monarchy. +He had not lost his faith in the great destiny of Italy, but he +despaired of seeing that destiny fulfilled as he might wish within his +lifetime. Forty thousand persons signed the petition for his amnesty, +he was elected again and again by Messina as its deputy, but the +party of the Moderates would not have him in the Chamber. Continued +opposition made his fame only the greater among the people, he assumed +the proportions of a national myth, to many he had become an actual +demi-god. Secretly he traveled about Italy, working, with an energy +altogether disproportionate to his strength, in the cause of a republic. +He had many followers in Genoa, and one of them has left a picture of +Mazzini's entrance to a meeting. "A low knock was heard at the door, +and there he was in body and soul, the great magician, who struck the +fancy of the people like a mythical hero. Our hearts leaped, and we +went reverently to meet that great soul. He advanced with a child's +frank courtesy and a divine smile, shaking hands like an Englishman, +and addressing each of us by name, as if our names were written on our +foreheads. He was not disguised; he wore cloth shoes, and a capote, and +with his middle, upright stature, he looked like a philosopher straight +from his study, who never dreamed of troubling any police in the world." + +He found time to write his remarkable treatise on religion, "From the +Council to God," while he prepared plans for a new revolution. This +time he intended to land in Sicily. The attempt was foolhardy, he was +arrested at Palermo, and confined at Gaeta, where the Bourbons had +not long before made their last stand. Almost forty years before, at +the outset of his career, he had watched the Mediterranean from his +prison at Savona, now he watched the same deep blue sea from Gaeta. +He wrote here, "The nights are very beautiful; the stars shine with a +luster one sees only in Italy. I love them like sisters, and link them +to the future in a thousand ways. If I could choose I should like to +live in almost absolute solitude, working at my historical book or at +some other, just from a feeling of duty, and only wishing to see for a +moment, now and then, some one I did not know, some poor woman that I +could help, some workingmen I could advise, the doves of Zurich, and +nothing else." + +Rome fell, and Mazzini's captivity came to an end. He passed through the +city where twenty-one years before he had been Triumvir, and, seeking +to avoid all popular demonstrations, went to Genoa. There he fell ill, +and his failing strength made successive attacks more and more frequent. +He traveled a little more, and then in March, 1872, died at a friend's +house in Pisa. He had lived to see Italy united, but in a very different +manner from that of which he had dreamed. + +To the republicans of Europe, Mazzini's voice was that of a great +prophet for half the Nineteenth Century, to the Italians he was the +voice of Italy itself. He was the precursor of unity, of independence, +of courageous self-denial, without him Cavour might have planned in +vain, and Garibaldi been no more than an inconspicuous lieutenant. He +had the two greatest of gifts, an ideal and the faith that knows no +defeat, yet he was not simply the idealist nor the devotee, for he could +stir other men to action through his own belief. A friend, comparing +him with Kossuth, said: "Now I write of him who seems to my judgment to +be, like Saul, above all his fellows ... the one man needed excitement +to stir his spirit ... the soul of the other was as an inner lamp +shining through him always. The strength of Mazzini's personal influence +lay here. You could not doubt his glance." + +There was a certain kinship between Mazzini and Lincoln, simplicity and +a boundless love of the weak and the oppressed was the keynote of both +lives. Both were emancipators, but both were infinitely more, men whose +whole lives bore eloquent testimony of their noble spirits. Lincoln +loved men as Mazzini loved them, Mazzini and Lincoln both knew the +suffering that comes from being continually misunderstood. When Lincoln +was assassinated, the great Italian envied the man who had died knowing +that his life's cause had been accomplished. + +Throughout one of the most tangled and turbulent epochs of history, +Mazzini's ideals never changed; the principles of "Young Italy" were the +principles of his Triumvirate and of his prison life at Gaeta. He was +for a United Italy and a republic. At times he could postpone the latter +aim for the former, but never disregard it. And what he was for Italy, +he was for the whole world. He insisted on the brotherhood of nations, +on the paramount duty of all nations toward humanity. Whosoever, he +believed, separates families from families, and nations from nations, +divides what God meant to be indissoluble. He looked to Italy to show +the other nations how to live in freedom and equality, and to Rome to +pronounce a new and greater religion of majestic tolerance. Had Italy +been freed early in his career, he must have become a great religious +teacher; even as it was, his power was that of an apostle, and his +appeal to the soul as well as to the mind. Men who knew him loved him +as something finer than themselves, a man closer to God, one of His +disciples. + +His personal life was one long record of self-sacrifice, his home, his +family, his love, his comfort, even the most meager necessities of life +were given to the cause, nothing was too much for him to do, nothing too +trivial for him to undertake, could he help his country or one of his +countrymen an iota thereby. He could appreciate other men's happiness +and in a way share it with them; he knew little or nothing of envy, +vanity, or malice; he would let any leader have the glory of helping +Italy, so long as the result was gained. More than that, he could +bear the continual undervaluation of the English among whom he lived, +he could read what Carlyle wrote, "Of Italian democracies and Young +Italy's sorrows, of extraneous Austrian emperors in Milan, or poor old +chimerical Popes in Bologna, I know nothing and desire to know nothing," +and yet continue Carlyle's friend; he could bear the sting of having +his name coupled with every attempt at assassination, when there were +few things he abhorred more than secret violence. His idea of duty was +so high, and had so absorbed all the petty spirits of his nature, that +he could endure anything for that cause, and indeed embraced eagerly +whatever came to him under that banner. + +The great authority on heroes says of the hero as prophet: "The great +man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the rest of men waited for +him like fuel, and then they too would flame." So the world had waited +for Giuseppe Mazzini. Other men bore much and labored much for the sake +of a united fatherland, but none other gave such lightning to their +world. The prophet may not actually lay the stones of history, but he +breathes the spirit of life into the builders. He is mankind's greatest +friend and hope, who points out the road human souls would take. Mazzini +stands with Dante and Savonarola as the third great prophet of Italian +history who spoke with a world voice. + + + + +[Illustration: CAVOUR] + + + + +CAVOUR, THE STATESMAN + + +Cavour planned united Italy; his career is a shining example of what may +be done by a man with one definite purpose to which he adheres without +digression. Just as Disraeli seems from his early manhood to have aimed +at becoming Prime Minister of England so Cavour appears to have aimed +at the union of Italy under the leadership of Piedmont. There were a +thousand and one points at which he could have turned aside, a dozen +times when a brilliant temporary success was held before him, but he +preferred to sacrifice no atom of energy or influence which might in +time help in his fundamental purpose. He preferred obscurity to the +danger of being too well known, and the coldness of contemporaries +to the burden of relations with them which might tend to shackle his +own independence. He read his time and countrymen with extraordinary +accuracy, and foresaw that what was left of the old régime was tottering +and that to attempt to bolster it up was absurd. He preferred to let +the old conventions of a departed feudalism go their way in peace while +he prepared himself for the day when the new statecraft should be +recognized. + +The Piedmont of 1810, the year of Cavour's birth, was singularly +mediæval. The militant strength and daring of the small states of +the Middle Ages had departed, but the point of view remained. The +aristocracy was narrow, bigoted, and overbearing, they were intolerant +of the new discoveries of science and the useful arts, they devoted +themselves exclusively to the trivial entertainments of the Eighteenth +Century. Napoleon spread above them like a storm cloud; they wrapped +themselves as well as they could in their ancestral cloaks and waited, +confident that the gale could not last long. The majority of them could +not believe that the French Revolution was more than an accident, but +there were a few, and those almost entirely men and women who had lived +abroad, who saw further. One of these latter was Cavour's grandmother, +the Marquise Philippine di Cavour, from whom he seems to have inherited +his breadth of view. + +The family of Benso belonged to the old nobility of Piedmont, and in +time came into possession of the fief of Santena and the fastness +of Cavour in the province of Pignerolo. A member of the family who +became distinguished for military services was made Marquis of Cavour +by Charles Emmanuel III., and the eldest son of Marquis Benso di +Cavour married Philippine, daughter of the Marquis de Sales, a girl +brought up in a château on the Lake of Annecy. The Marquise Philippine +immediately became the controlling factor in the Cavour household; +she strove to lighten the heavy somberness of her husband's family in +Turin, and at the trying time of the French occupation sold much of the +family plate and furnishings, and finally certain priceless religious +relics, in order to provide for her son, a boy of sixteen, when he was +ordered to join General Berthier's corps of the French army. Later she +was commanded to become one of the household of the Princess Camillo +Borghese, sister of Napoleon, and wife of his governor of Piedmont, +who, better known as Pauline Bonaparte, figures as one of the most +beautiful as well as one of the liveliest women of that age. The +Marquise Philippine acquitted herself so well and so graciously that +the Princess became one of her staunchest friends, and with the Prince +acted as sponsor at the christening of the Marquise's second grandchild, +Camille di Cavour. The Marquise's son, Michele Benso, had married Adèle, +daughter of the Count de Sellon of Geneva, and had two sons, Gustave +and Camille. Michele Benso had profited greatly by his mother's tact, +but he was still the unbending reactionary in nature. So was his eldest +son Gustave. It was the younger boy who received the adaptable genius +of the Marquise Philippine, and who seems to have been best able to +appreciate her. On one occasion he said to her, "Marina" (a Piedmontese +term for grandmother), "we get on capitally, you and I; you were always +a little bit of a Jacobin." When, as the boy grew older, his family and +friends reproached him with being a fanatical liberal, he turned to the +Marquise, confident that she understood him. Cavour had few confidants +during his whole life, few friends from whom he drew inspiration, but +his grandmother had so trained him in the light of her own self-reliant +spirit that he rarely seems to have felt the need of any outside aid. + +The feudal system had scant respect for younger sons. Gustave was +carefully educated for his proud position, Camille was largely left to +grow up by chance. He was sent to the Military Academy at Turin, and +became a page at the court of Charles Albert. With both the social and +military life about him he found himself out of temper, his views were +too liberal for the narrowness he met on every hand, he was hoping for +events which most of his companions could only have regarded at that +time as tragedies. His restlessness was noted, and he was sent to the +lonely Alpine fortress of Bard. There the soul-wearying inertia of the +military life of a small state grew to typify to him the condition of +his land. At the age of twenty-one, he wrote to the Count de Sellon, +"The Italians need regeneration; their morale, which was completely +corrupted under the ignoble dominion of Spaniards and Austrians, +regained a little energy under the French régime, and the ardent youth +of the country sighs for a nationality, but to break entirely with the +past, to be born anew to a better state, great efforts are necessary and +sacrifices of all kinds must remould the Italian character. An Italian +war would be a sure pledge that we were going to become again a nation, +that we were rising from the mud in which we have been trampled for so +many centuries." + +Such ideas found no sympathy at the court of Piedmont, and Cavour, +confident that the army could offer him no opportunity to use his +talents, resigned his commission, and induced his father to buy him +a small estate at Leri. There, in the middle of the rice-fields of +Piedmont, Cavour settled down to the life of a farmer, experimenting +with new steam machinery, canal irrigation, artificial fertilizers, +studying books on government and agriculture, seeing something of his +country neighbors, waiting for the gradual breakdown of the old régime. +His family were quite content to let him vegetate on his far-off estate, +he had no position in the family household in Turin, his father and +brother were busy with details of court life, and after the death of +his grandmother his combined family regarded him as lacking in normal +balance. Without becoming actually melancholy the youth was continually +dejected, he saw no place waiting to be filled by him, he wished that +he had been born into another nation, and sighed, "Ah! if I were an +Englishman, by this time I should be something, and my name would not be +wholly unknown!" Yet, indifferent as he seemed to comradeship, he had +at this time one strong friend, a woman of high birth, "L'Inconnue," +as he called her in his journal. She summoned him to her at Turin, and +he obeyed her call; she was unhappy and ardently patriotic, with the +visions of Mazzini, he admired her and was filled with remorse at the +thought of a love so constant and disinterested. They corresponded for +over a year, and then Cavour's ardor faded. He had never been in love +with her, but she had loved him devotedly. A few years later she died, +and left him a last letter ending, "the woman who loved you is dead.... +No one ever loved you as she did, no one! For, O Camille, you never +fathomed the extent of her love." She had at least succeeded in drawing +him out of his lonely despair; platonic as his regard for her seems to +have been, it was the nearest approach to love that entered his life. + +For fifteen years Cavour lived as a farmer at Leri, breaking the +monotony of that existence by occasional visits to England and +France. The former country always exerted great influence over him; +he considered the life of the English country gentleman the ideal +existence; he was a great admirer of Pitt and Sir Robert Peel (and said +of Peel that he was "the statesman who more than any other had the +instinct of the necessity of the moment," words prophetic of his own +career!), and was always a reader of Shakespeare, who among all writers +he held had the deepest insight into the human heart. In Paris Cavour +saw much of society through the influence of his French relations, +and made the most of his opportunity to study the young rising men. +He was frequently blamed by the men and women he met for leading such +an aimless life, and was urged to enter the fields of literature or +diplomacy. For the former he said he had no taste, for the latter he was +too much out of sympathy with the government of his own country, and +he could not enter the service of any other. He had the reputation of +being a man of great wit and intelligence, gifted with gay and winning +manners, interested to a certain extent in all concerns of the day, +but unwilling to sacrifice himself to a constant devotion to any one +pursuit. The women of the leading salons found his light hair, blue +eyes, and happy temper charming, the men of the time valued his keen +insight into contemporary questions. He played cards frequently for +high stakes, but never allowed himself to become an habitual gambler. +Later in life it is said that he indulged in playing for high stakes +with politicians in order to gain an insight into their characters. His +visits to Paris undoubtedly taught him much concerning the men with whom +he was later to have so much to do, and his stays in England showed him +the strength of Parliamentary government. He took vivid impressions back +with him to Leri, and used his mental energy in adapting English ideas +on agriculture to the needs of his farm. + +With the governing world of Piedmont Cavour was undeniably unpopular. +The antiquated leaders of public life considered him perilously liberal, +and no party or clique found him really in accord with its views. He had +written some articles for foreign newspapers, and had openly advocated +the need of railways in Italy, but such of his countrymen as undertook +to learn his views held him a dangerous fanatic. Singularly enough, +without having made any attempt to place himself before the public, +he was an object of popular distrust. He counted this rather an item +in his favor, he was in no wise indebted to any man or any cause. He +preferred to wait until the day of petty reactionaries should give place +to serious popular movements, and by 1847 he saw that such a crisis +was not far distant. Charles Albert, by nature always an enigma, was +moving forward faster than his government, and was suspected of strong +independent tendencies. + +Charles Albert would have loomed larger in history if he had been +born into either an earlier or a later age. He was not the man to +direct a political crisis, he would have done well as the magnanimous +sovereign of an Eighteenth Century state or as the intellectual head +of a constitutional nation, but it was his misfortune to lack those +vigorous robust qualities which Italians later found in his son. He was +an ardent patriot, he earnestly desired to free the Italian states from +foreign rule, he was zealous that Piedmont should lead in such a cause, +but he was continually afraid that independence would lead directly to +popular liberty under a constitution. "I desire as much as you do," he +said to Roberto d'Azeglio, "the enfranchisement of Italy, and it is +for that reason, remember well, that I will never give a constitution +to my people." His advisers, who were largely clericals, and almost +always reactionaries, lost no chance to impress upon his mind the +impossibility of the consummation he desired. Start the new order, they +said, and no man knows how far it will go. He was in fear of loosing a +spirit which he could never cage. Yet his honest desire for national +independence made him hearken at times to more liberal voices. In one of +these moments he revoked the censorship of the press. + +Cavour, primed with the history of England, saw what a free press +meant, and instantly left his retirement at Leri to seize the golden +opportunity. He founded a newspaper and gave it a name destined to stand +for the whole movement towards nationalism, "_Il Risorgimento_." The +prospectus of the paper stated its aims as independence, union between +the Princes and the people, and reforms. Cavour was now prepared to +speak his mind. + +He did not have long to wait. The people of Genoa announced that they +were preparing to send a committee to the capital to ask for the +expulsion of the Jesuits and the organization of a national guard. The +principal editors of Turin met to consider what stand they should take +in reference to these demands. The suggestion to support the Genoese +petitions was meeting with general approval when Cavour rose to speak. +His words fell like a bomb, he said that the demands were far too +small, that the only prudence lay in asking for much more. The statement +was the keynote to all his later statecraft. "Of what use," he asked, +"are reforms which have nothing definite, and lead to nothing? Where +is the good of asking for that which, whether granted or not, equally +disturbs the State, and weakens the moral authority of the government? +Since the government can no longer be maintained on its former basis, +let us ask for a constitution, and substitute for that basis another +more conformable to the spirit of the times, and to the progress of +civilization. Let us do this before it is too late, and before the +authority which keeps society together is dissolved by popular clamor." + +Cavour's proposal precipitated a violent contest. Both moderates and +liberals thought that he was asking far too much; Valerio, the leader +of the better element, declared that in asking for a constitution the +meeting went far beyond the wishes of the people. The meeting broke +up without reaching a decision, but the reports of it scattered with +lightning-like rapidity. Valerio ridiculed the proposal to his friends +and called Cavour an aper of English customs. He said, "Don't you know +my Lord Camille?--the greatest reactionist of the kingdom; the greatest +enemy of the revolution, an Anglomane of the purest breed." Cavour was +nicknamed "Milord Camillo" and "Milord Risorgimento," he was continually +asked if he desired to erect an English House of Lords. + +The ridicule passed, but the suggestion remained. Charles Albert heard +of Cavour's speech to the editors, and he had already lived through the +first two months of that electrifying year of 1848. Constitution-making +was in the air, Louis Philippe was falling, the little Italian Princes +were throwing promises to their waking people. He hesitated, he was +under a secret pledge to continue the government of his country in +the same form in which it had come to him, he thought seriously of +abdicating, but his son, Victor Emmanuel, opposed the idea vigorously. +Finally, after much anxious thought and many family consultations, he +decided to grant a constitution, and the famous Statute was given to the +Sardinian kingdom. It is interesting to note that fifty years later the +King's grandson celebrated the date of the promulgation of what was to +become the charter of Italian independence. + +Raised temporarily to a pinnacle of popular applause, the fickle gusts +of an excitable public opinion soon blew Cavour down to his former +standing. No one really agreed with his opinions, to the moderates +he was still alarmingly audacious, to the liberals too deeply imbued +with the spirit of English aristocracy. He stood for election under +the new constitution at Turin, and was defeated; shortly afterwards, +however, he was elected to fill an unexpected vacancy. Count Balbo, the +first Prime Minister under the constitution, and Cavour's co-editor of +the _Risorgimento_, did not ask him to join the cabinet, and openly +expressed his disapproval of his fellow-journalist's ideas. The truth +of the matter was that men were afraid of Cavour, they distrusted him +partly because they did not understand him, and partly because it was +only too evident that if he were given the chance he would drive the car +of state to suit himself. + +The new cabinet had no sooner assumed office than Milan revolted against +the Austrians. Charles Albert hesitated, he was heart and soul with +the Milanese, but England and Russia both warned him against war with +Austria. His cabinet was divided, half feared to stake too much, half +were for wagering all. Cavour printed hot words in the _Risorgimento_: +"We, men of calm minds, accustomed to listen more to the dictates of +reason than to the impulses of the heart, after deliberately weighing +each word we utter, are bound in conscience to declare that only one +path is open to the nation, the government, the King: war, immediate +war!" The evening of the day of publication the King decided on war, +and Piedmont rushed to the aid of newly-arisen Lombardy. + +The story of that campaign is briefly told, great confidence, heroic +sacrifices, a few victorious battles, and then the re-enforcement of +Radetsky's army and the retreat to Milan. Sardinia had brave soldiers, +but no great generals, the victories were not followed up as Napoleon +had done on the same fields. At the battle of Goito Cavour's nephew, +Augusto di Cavour, a boy of twenty, was killed. On his body was found +a last letter from his uncle encouraging him to do his duty; the blow +was a terrible one for Cavour; he had predicted the noblest future for +Augusto. It is said that he ever afterward kept the shot-riddled uniform +of the boy in a glass case in his bedroom, a relic and reminder of +heroism. + +The war soon came to the tragic climax of Novara, the ministers +were perpetually undecided, men were thinking more of the possible +results of independence than of the fact itself. There were a thousand +theorists, a thousand phrase-makers, and in the midst of them all the +King, alternately hopeful and despairing, heroic in his devotion, but +confident that he should never weld Italy together. Cavour had not been +re-elected to the Parliament of this crucial time, he was outside the +battle proper, striving to direct public sentiment through his paper, +and watching and studying the strength and weakness of the cause. The +battle of Novara ended the war, Charles Albert abdicated, and Victor +Emmanuel came to the Sardinian throne. The natures of father and son +were almost diametrically opposed, the new King was the born leader, his +people could not doubt the temper of his resolution, and it was upon +that implicit trust that Cavour, determined on one and only one adviser, +was to build a state that should be firm and enduring. In a sense +failure had cleared the field for greater achievement as success could +never have done. + +The new King, having sworn allegiance to the constitution, cast about +him for a prime minister who could bring order out of seeming chaos, +and chose Massimo d'Azeglio, then and for long afterwards the best +beloved man in Piedmont. D'Azeglio was a painter, a poet, a warrior, +and an accomplished man of the world, devoted to his country, liberal +without being radical. He was the one man to restore popular confidence +in the Sardinian kingdom, Cavour was glad that the King's favor had +fallen on such a man, and, knowing that his own assistance at that +time would only serve to embarrass the new Premier, he retired to the +leisure he enjoyed so thoroughly on his farm at Leri. Here he rested +and recovered some of the confidence which had been shaken by the +unfortunate trend of events. He was by nature optimistic, and knew +the value of gradual development, the hours he spent in farming he +considered most valuably employed. A friend described him about this +time as having a very fresh-colored complexion, and blue eyes, which +although still exceedingly bright, had a changeful expression. He was +stout, but not ungainly as he became later. He stooped slightly, but +when he stopped to speak to any one held himself erect in an attentive +attitude. His forehead, large and solid, gave strength to a face which +was not distinguished by striking features; on either side of his mouth, +which was rather cold and contained, were two lines which, by trembling +or contracting, gave the only sign of any emotion to an observer. His +voice was low, and not remarkably inspiring, he never had the orator's +fluent tongue with which to sway his auditors. He was always courteous +and at his ease, easily approachable and interested in whatever might be +said to him. He belonged to the class of statesmen who tell very little +of their thoughts. When he visited Manzoni on Lake Maggiore, and the +latter poured out to him his dreams of a united Italy, which as he said +he usually kept to himself for secret fear of being thought a madman, +Cavour answered simply by rubbing his hands, and with a slow smile +saying, "We shall do something." The act and the words bespoke his +character. + +Cavour's holiday in the country was not to last long, the King dissolved +his first Parliament, and in the second Cavour was re-elected to his +former seat. Now for the first time he made his real power felt in the +Chamber, on the question of the abolition of those special courts which +had formerly existed for the trial of ecclesiastic offenders against the +common law. The struggle between the clericals and liberals was bitter. +Cavour spoke on March 7, 1850, and advocated strong measures. He was not +anxious to force the Church into a position hostile to the State, but he +feared peace purchased at a heavy sacrifice. He knew that reforms must +be full and sweeping if they were to stem the rising tide of European +discontent. The wisest statesmen were those who, like Lord Grey and +Sir Robert Peel in England, had granted fully when they recognized the +temper of the time. Revolutions were only to be stayed by real reforms. +If real reforms were granted, the government of Piedmont, he concluded, +would not only be strong among its own people, but "gathering to itself +all the living forces in Italy, it would be in a position to lead our +mother-country to those high destinies whereunto she is called." + +It was the first speech which had thrilled with hope since the +lamentable downfall of Novara. The audience in the galleries caught the +prophetic note and cheered it to the echo. The ministers were eager to +shake hands with the speaker. The people were stirred, although not +yet convinced that Cavour was what he seemed to be, but public men +throughout Italy recognized that here was a strong man with potent +forces soon to be considered. + +Soon after the passage of the bill Cavour had advocated, one of +D'Azeglio's ministers, Count Pietro di Santa Rosa, died. Immediate +pressure was brought to bear to make Cavour his successor, but for a +long time D'Azeglio, although friendly to Cavour, hesitated to take such +an extremist into his cabinet. Finally he offered Cavour the post of +Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Cavour accepted, but only after +making certain terms, one of which was that a certain minister whom he +considered over-timorous should be asked to resign. D'Azeglio agreed, +though with ill grace, and in consequence was shortly after told by the +King, "Don't you see that this man will turn you all out?" + +On taking office Cavour gave up his connection with the _Risorgimento_, +a paper which he considered had helped the liberal projects +immeasurably. As Minister of Commerce he negotiated trade treaties +with England, France, and Belgium. He took to work so readily that very +shortly he was made Minister of Marine in addition to his original post. +Gradually he won his way to the leadership in Parliament, speaking +for himself rather than for the cabinet, and having small regard for +the professed opinions of his own or any other party. When a deputy +would ask him for information in the Chamber he would state his own +opinion, and where that differed from opinions already expressed by his +colleagues he would make his favorite reply, that he spoke "less as a +minister than as a politician." + +Cavour's many-sided nature rapidly showed itself in his stand on +religious and educational measures, on trade and commerce, on theories +of government and practical applications. There seemed to be no field +with which he was not conversant, and which he could not straighten of +tangles less thoughtful ministers had made. In April, 1851, he became +Minister of Finance, having insisted that Nigra, his predecessor, should +resign if he were to remain. The Minister of Public Instruction had +a disagreement with Cavour, and was replaced by one of the latter's +friends, Farini, the Romagnol exile, a strong nationalist writer. These +changes greatly strengthened Cavour's position and were all in line +with his policy of making Piedmont a strong constitutional state, its +people imbued with the thought of leadership in any struggle for Italian +unity. Abroad he was endeavoring in every way to excite interest in +Italian conditions, he was an enthusiastic admirer of Mr. Gladstone, he +studied Louis Napoleon's giant strides to power, not for their effect +upon liberty, but in search of indications that the new French régime +would listen to the voice of Victor Emmanuel. He had come to realize +that foreign aid was essential to ultimate victory, and looked to +France as the most probable ally. That this ally was likely to appear +in the garb of a political adventurer did not disturb him; as he said, +"Franklin sought the help of the most despotic monarch in Europe." + +To insure that when Piedmont should succeed in enlisting foreign aid +the country might be consolidated and ready, Cavour planned a great +stroke, to combine his own party in Parliament with that of the Moderate +Liberals, or Left Center, as it was called. None of the four parties was +sufficiently strong in itself to insure any permanent success, but a +combination of the two Center parties would allow for plans of certain +durability. Rattazzi, probably the most brilliant speaker in the House, +and a man of much popularity, was leader of the Left Center, and to +him Cavour broached his plans. The alliance was concluded in January, +1852, and kept a secret for some time. Finally, in a debate on a bill +aimed to moderate newspaper attacks on foreign sovereigns, the ministry +was violently attacked, and Rattazzi announced his compact with Cavour +by stating that he intended generally to support the ministry in the +present session unless there should be some decided change in its +policy. Cavour, speaking in reply, acknowledged the alliance between the +two parties. + +D'Azeglio and the other ministers had been kept in the dark, and were +as much surprised as was the general public. Cavour had feared that +a discussion of the wisdom of such an alliance might have ended in +disagreement, and he was determined that the plan should be put through. +That seems to have been the only excuse for keeping the plan secret +from his colleagues. The Prime Minister was highly indignant, but would +not disown Cavour's act; he merely intimated to him that he would never +sit in the same cabinet with Rattazzi. Shortly afterward Cavour lent +his support to electing Rattazzi President of the Chamber. D'Azeglio +was again indignant, and Cavour felt that it was best that he should +leave the ministry. He resigned, and was followed by all the other +ministers. Their act, however, was purely a matter of sentiment, and +the King commanded them to remain at their posts. Cavour endorsed this +command, he saw no reason why D'Azeglio's ministry should not continue +for a time without him. He parted on the best of terms with the Premier, +and in order that his presence might cause no embarrassment to the +reconstructed ministry started on a journey to France and England. + +This trip abroad came at a most opportune time. It gave Cavour a chance +to meet French and English statesmen and learn their views of his policy +of allying Rattazzi's party with his own in order to obtain a working +majority. He knew that Rattazzi was generally regarded as a reckless +revolutionary, but he found that the necessity of using his aid was +generally acknowledged. Cavour talked with the leaders of each party +in England; he found Lord Palmerston then as always his ardent friend +and admirer. Palmerston saw that the overthrow of the Italian tyrannies +must depend upon the home strength of the Sardinian government, and that +if that government were once firmly established on a constitutional +basis it could not be long before Austria would be driven out of Italy. +Palmerston promised Cavour the moral support of England, and the Italian +left London delighted at what he had learned there. + +In Paris Cavour met Thiers, who bade him be of good courage, and the +Prince President. To the latter he devoted much time, and succeeded in +making a deep impression upon the astute Napoleon. "Whether we like it +or not," the Italian wrote from Paris, "our destinies depend on France; +we must be her partner in the great game which will be played sooner or +later in Europe." In the French capital Cavour found several leaders +of Italian life who were living in exile; he visited Daniel Manin, the +great Venetian, the idol of his city, and learned from him something of +Venetian hopes. He also saw the many-sided Gioberti, "the same child of +genius, who would have been a great man had he had common-sense," said +Cavour, the man who had once dreamt of a free Italy under the leadership +of a great liberal Pope, and who was now in a book about to be published +to show his gift of prescience by fixing on Cavour as the one man who +understood the essentials of the new Italian civilization. + +D'Azeglio was facing a ministerial crisis when Cavour returned to +his home, and, ill with the wound he had received in the last war, +besought the King to let him retire from office. He suggested that +Victor Emmanuel summon Cavour, "who," he wrote at this time, "you know +is diabolically active, and fit in body and soul, and then, he enjoys +it so much!" The King asked Cavour to form a ministry, naming certain +restrictions, the chief one being to come to a friendly agreement with +the Pope on the matter of civil marriage, but Cavour felt that to do +this would be to start his work under a handicap. He suggested Count +Balbo as Premier, but the latter had too small a following, and the +King, judging that his country needed the strong hand of Cavour at the +helm more than the friendship of Rome, asked him to form his cabinet +without imposing any conditions whatever. + +So came into existence what was to be known in Italian history as the +"_Gran Ministero_," the first in which Cavour was openly to proclaim +his plans. It is curious to note that even now, when he had become the +most considerable figure in Piedmont, he was not generally popular. +The King did not altogether like him, the public men could not even +now understand him, the people scarcely knew the real man at all. What +King, public men, and people did know was that Cavour was a man of +tremendous force, and a man destined to lead other men. At this time +there commenced to grow up in Piedmont that blind faith in Cavour which +later assumed such great proportions that the people felt that he must +have his own way no matter what they might think of it, because Cavour's +way meant victory, no matter how little they might anticipate it. + +Cavour chose to be President of the Council and Minister of Finance, +and at once set to work to increase the resources of the country. The +history of his work at this time is that of an administrator preparing +with scrupulous care each detail against a coming need. He strengthened +fortifications, he allowed La Marmora a free hand in the development of +the army, he completed the railway system, he used all possible means +to stimulate industry and increase agricultural output. He instituted +new taxes, cut down the salt tax, and introduced certain free-trade +measures. He followed a definite plan of preparation, regardless of +popular opinion, which at one time turned so fiercely against him on the +ground that he was a monopolist who was robbing the poor of bread, that +his life was in danger at the hands of a mob. + +Cavour had one concern, to strengthen the central government of his +country, and he labored for that with little regard for other things. +He was accused, particularly after Rattazzi had joined his cabinet, of +seeking to win certain constituencies by promises of local aid if they +would return his candidate. He understood too well the uncertain temper +of the people to take any unnecessary risks, he knew that the work he +was doing was essential for Italian independence, and he was willing to +obtain his support as best he could. What concerned him was the fact of +support, not the reason. His ultimate purpose required that the country +be kept at peace until it should have reached full strength, and for +this end Cavour tried to make friends with Austria, dissembling his real +feelings as cleverly as he could, and sought confidence and friendly +offices. To this end he discountenanced Mazzini's attempt at revolution +in Milan in February, 1853; he knew that conditions were not ready for +success; he regarded Mazzini's faith in blind outbreaks of the people as +a deterrent factor in his preparation for ultimate success. + +Western Europe was making ready for war in the Crimea, England and +France were aligning themselves against Russia. Cavour felt what +was coming, and conceived a step of marvelous daring. With his old +belief in the prudence of audacity he determined to join Sardinia to +France and England, to stake the future of his little kingdom on an +alliance with the two great western Powers. He felt that Sardinia must +now step forward as a nation or retire to the great group of little +principalities. He could not tell what position Austria would take, but +he resolved no matter how that country might side, to cast his lot with +the west. When one recalls the size of Victor Emmanuel's kingdom and +its resources Cavour's audacity becomes well-nigh inconceivable. When +his intention was made known to the people they gaped in amazement, +after these years of preparation why should they hazard all on a purely +foreign war, why leave their borders unguarded to the Austrians? Cavour +stood firm and unshaken, Victor Emmanuel, trusting to his minister's +star of destiny, stood by him, the people stormed, protested, besought, +but all without avail. Cavour had decided that it was time to act, and +so it must be time, the people had learned that there was no use in +arguing with him, what he must do he must, they became fatalists under +his colossal will. A demand of a guarantee of certain restrictions +against Austria was sought by Cavour's ministry, but the western +Powers would not give it. England and France would both be glad to +have Sardinia as an ally, but would make no promises of future help. +The Sardinian Foreign Minister resigned when the attempt to obtain a +guarantee failed. Cavour offered the position to D'Azeglio, but he +declined it, and so, on January 10, 1855, Cavour assumed the portfolio +of Foreign Affairs himself, and on the same day signed the agreement +binding Sardinia to an offensive and defensive alliance with France and +England. It was the first step towards making Italy again a world power. + +Cavour had decided to show Europe that an Italian government could live +under a liberal constitution, and that an Italian army could fight. He +believed that both Lord Palmerston and the French Emperor were convinced +of the former fact; he was now anxious to convince them of the latter. +As matters fell out Austria remained neutral, and the allies opposed +Russia alone. Napoleon, thirsting for glory for French arms, was little +disposed to give the Sardinian forces a chance, and wished to keep them +as a reserve at Constantinople. It required the greatest diplomacy on +Cavour's part to obtain opportunities for his troops, but when he did +they more than justified him. Their spirit and powers of endurance were +admirable, they seemed consciously to feel that they were being made +ready for a greater and more sacred combat. In August the Piedmontese +troops won a victory on the Tchernaia, Turin was delighted, and Cavour +felt that his great step was being justified. The King wrote to General +La Marmora, "Next year we shall have war where we had it before." + +It was at this time that Victor Emmanuel visited England and France. +Cavour accompanied him, and, as always, made a close study of opinions +in both those countries. He found Queen Victoria and Prince Albert +deeply interested in Italian affairs, and strongly favorable to +Piedmont's hopes. Napoleon, he found, was determined to end the war in +the Crimea. + +In February, 1856, peace was declared. Austria, which had remained +neutral, was apparently the greatest gainer by the war. At home the +Sardinian government had been seriously disturbed over the question +of suppression of the religious houses, a measure which Cavour and +a majority of the people favored, but which the King was very loath +to accept. After the Chamber of Deputies had passed the measure by +an overwhelming majority, and it was being considered by the Senate, +two ecclesiastics wrote to the King, promising to pay into the +national treasury the sum the government expected to realize from the +suppressions. Victor Emmanuel, who was an ardent Churchman, conceived +that this would be a most satisfactory settlement of the whole matter, +and suggested to Cavour that he agree. Cavour saw the impossibility of +compromise at that hour, and declined, offering at the same time his +resignation. The King, who was never quite at his ease with Cavour, and +who thought he was now in a position to dispense with his services, +accepted the resignation. + +When the people heard of the proposed compromise they were brought to +an angry crisis, and for a moment it looked as though all the past +careful efforts to establish a stable government might go for nothing. +Then D'Azeglio, with rare courage, wrote to the King, and pointed out +the dangers that lay in his new course. He entreated him not to align +himself with the reactionaries, he pointed out how such a step had +caused the downfall of both Stuart and Bourbon thrones. The people +desired the measure, it was too late now to withdraw it from the Senate. +Victor Emmanuel heeded the words of his old counselor, recalled Cavour +to office, and allowed the bill, practically as at first presented, +to become law. This was the next great step in the progress towards a +united Italy. + +At the time of his last visit to Paris Cavour had been asked by Napoleon +to submit a note of what France could do for Italy. This Cavour now +prepared, asking little at this time, the main object being the Austrian +evacuation of Bologna. Cavour found himself in a very difficult +position, the war had closed before Austria had been drawn into it, +and Sardinia was not in a sufficiently strong position to make many +requests. Both the King and Cavour had confidently hoped that Austria +would be forced to side with Russia. Now it was extremely doubtful what +decisions the coming Congress of Paris would make, and Cavour had been +privately given to understand that the Sardinian envoy to the Congress +would only be allowed to attend those sessions which concerned Sardinia, +and not to take his place with the envoys of the great Powers. He was +exceedingly anxious that D'Azeglio should attend, but the latter refused +point-blank when he learned of the subservient position he would in +all probability have to take. Under these circumstances Cavour saw no +alternative but to go himself, and so with considerable misgiving he set +out for Paris, intent on observing and planning rather than on asking +favors that might be unceremoniously refused. + +The Congress of Paris of 1856 produced results far different from +those the various plenipotentiaries intended. Austria came to Paris in +the enviable position of the great European peace-maker, she left as +tyrannical upholder of the old régime. Cavour came as the representative +of a small state with interests far inferior to those of the other +nations, he left as the moral champion of the much abused peninsula of +Italy. Austria actually conceded no territory and Sardinia gained none, +but Austria was discredited in the eyes of England and France, and +Sardinia more than justified. Cavour achieved a great moral victory, +perhaps the greatest result any statesman can gain from a treaty of +peace. He did not take a very prominent part in the actual meetings, +he was very reserved, a good listener, a courteous and always affable +companion. He was loyal to both his English and his French allies, he +won over the Russian Count Orloff, and contrived to keep on good terms +with the Austrian Count Buol, whom he had formerly known at Turin. He +waited with indomitable patience until the major matters of the Congress +had been discussed and disposed of, then he addressed a note to the +English and French envoys inquiring into the rights of Austria to remain +in occupation of the Roman Legations. The question was most important, +it struck at the discussion of the temporal power of the Pope, inasmuch +as that power in Romagna was dependent upon Austrian support. Moreover +it gave notice that Sardinia was concerning itself with the affairs of +the other Italian states. + +Cavour had other projects, he was anxious to reunite Parma and Modena +with Piedmont, he was eager to have their Lombard estates returned +to those Italians concerned in the last revolt against Austria. He +planned and plotted to accomplish both these ends, and waited. The +treaty of peace was signed on March 30, and then the French President +of the Congress, Count Walewski, called another session by order of +the Emperor. This session was to deal with the Austrian and French +occupation of Naples. The difficulty with regard to Cavour's original +note was that in questioning Austria's right to uphold the Pope in +Romagna it also questioned France's right to occupy Rome for the same +purpose. Cavour spoke on the Austrian occupation, but passed over the +French. It seems, however, that Napoleon, who had originally taken Rome +to please the clerical party, was now willing to withdraw from Rome +if he could do so without offending that party, and at the same time +cause Austria to withdraw. Lord Clarendon, the British plenipotentiary, +urged the withdrawal of both Powers, which he claimed stood on the same +footing. He objected to both occupations as disturbing to the balance +of power, he denounced the government of the King of Naples, he found +occasion to say what the most ardent Italian would have liked to say, +and his unreserved ardor gained added force from the caution of Cavour. +The effect of the Englishman's speech was striking, he put into words +all Cavour's contentions, and left the Italian in the enviable position +of having demanded nothing, but of having all the claims of justice on +his side. The Austrian envoy was indignant, and the session adjourned +without tangible result. The impression left upon every one's mind, +however, was that Sardinia had championed Italy against Austria, and +that it intended to prepare to make its championship more definite than +by diplomatic notes. + +Cavour returned to Turin with the satisfaction of having placed Italy's +wrongs openly before the world. The redress of these wrongs was now +matter for European consideration, no longer the mere object of secret +society plots. Patriots in all the Italian states were quick to realize +this, they saw that at last their national rights had been forced into +attention, Cavour's note had cemented all their local causes. There were +still many in Piedmont who did not understand his policy, and many who +would have preferred his winning of a single duchy to Sardinia rather +than urging the withdrawal of Austria from the Papal States, but in +spite of these doubters the great majority acclaimed his cause, and +felt that, whether they understood him or not, he was the one man who +could lead them to deliverance. On his return his policy became more +clear, he was aiming at an Italian nation under one king, he was looking +far ahead, and the other great nationalists who had been puzzled by +his conflicting declarations in the past saw that his goal was theirs. +The goal had unquestionably been in his thoughts throughout all his +political career, now he came out frankly, no longer simply Prime +Minister of Sardinia, but spokesman for Italy. + +War must come as the next step. Cavour now for the first time took +account of the practical use to be made of those great waves of popular +feeling that were continually recurring, those heroic forces Mazzini had +been calling into being. He met Garibaldi, and found that he was a great +practical man, likely to be of infinite value to the country. He went +among the people and studied how their enthusiasms could be turned to +best account, he planned with leaders of earlier revolts and convinced +them that he was simply patient until the time came to strike, no more a +reactionary than they. + +In addition to the Foreign Office Cavour assumed the Ministry of +Finance. He was unwilling to trust too much to other men, he was anxious +to know exactly how all the affairs of the nation stood. The army +he knew was rapidly improving, he studied how he might increase the +finances without imposing too heavy taxes. He moved the arsenal from +Genoa to Spezia, he insisted on completing the tunneling of Mont Cenis, +and all these steps showed that he was concerned now with the affairs of +the whole peninsula rather than with the guidance of one small state. As +one of his political opponents said of him in detraction at this time, +"the Prime Minister had all Italy in view, and was preparing for the +future kingdom." He had made himself practically the entire government, +from King to peasant all classes followed him with a blind faith in his +triumphant destiny as a leader. Still he waited, preparing for the hour +to strike. + +On the evening of January 14, 1858, Felice Orsini, a Romagnol +revolutionist, attempted to assassinate the French Emperor with a bomb +as he was driving to the opera. It was expected that this act would +cause a bitter estrangement between France and Italy, but, although for +a short time there was a considerable diplomatic interchange of notes, +the ultimate result was quite the reverse. We must remember that the +wrongs under which Italy labored were in reality always on Napoleon's +mind, that he sincerely desired to free and reunite the Italian nation, +although at times his ideas of expediency made him appear more of an +enemy than a friend. As a young man he had himself been a revolutionary, +probably at one time a member of the Carbonari, he had thrilled long +ago at Mazzini's call, and he was an ardent nationalist. When he heard +Orsini's last words to him, "Free my country, and the blessings of +twenty-five million Italians will go with you!" he knew that it was +not hatred of himself, but the desire in some way to bring about +Italian independence that had inspired the assassin. The words and acts +of Napoleon wind in and out of this story of Italian liberation in a +manner only too often difficult to reconcile, but it would seem that his +interest was in reality sincere, and that he wished to help Italy as +much as he could without jeopardizing the interests of France. + +Events began to march, certain ideas were exchanged between influential +persons at Paris and Turin; in June Dr. Conneau, an intimate of the +Emperor, happened to visit Turin, and saw Victor Emmanuel and Cavour. It +was stated that Napoleon intended to make a private visit to Plombières. +Shortly after Cavour announced that his health required a change of +scene and that he should go away into the mountains. By a strange +coincidence he also went to Plombières. Napoleon saw him, they spent two +days closeted together; when Cavour left the two men understood each +other. The details of what was known as the Pact of Plombières are not +positive, the understanding appears to have been that a rising in Massa +and Carrara should give a pretext for a war to expel the Austrians. +After such expulsion the country in the valley of the Po, the Roman +Legations, and the Ancona Marches were to be united in a kingdom of +Upper Italy. Savoy was to be given to France, possession of Nice was +left unsettled, Victor Emmanuel's daughter, the Princess Clotilde, was +to be given in marriage to Prince Napoleon. + +Napoleon had shown his interest in Italy, but Cavour left Plombières +fully alive to the fact that actual help was still far distant. Austria +would be hard to defeat, and Cavour did not wish France to provide all +the forces for war. He already foresaw that it might be difficult to +insure France's withdrawal after victory. Furthermore he realized that +England, to which he was always looking, was well content with the +present peaceful situation of affairs, and would regard any offensive +step by France or Sardinia as unwarrantable. He saw that Prussia and +Russia held the same view. No country wanted war except his own, and +possibly France, provided it could be made to appear that Austria +and not France was the attacking party. It seemed very certain that +Austria would stand much before putting herself in the false position +of wantonly opening war. Again Cavour had to be patient and plan how +Austria might be made to take that step. + +While he waited Cavour organized a volunteer Italian army under the +name of the Hunters of the Alps, he laid campaign plans with Garibaldi, +he knit all the patriots of Italy into one common cause. Even the old +conservative leaders came over to him, D'Azeglio wrote him, "To-day +it is no longer a question of discussing your policy, but of making +it succeed." The King supported him magnificently, Cavour found that +his hardest work now was to hold King and people back. Still he would +not open war, he knew too well that he must have the support of other +countries than his own. + +At the New Year's Day reception in Paris, 1859, Napoleon made his famous +comment to the Austrian Ambassador, "I regret that relations between +us are so strained; tell your sovereign, however, that my sentiments +for him are still the same." The words created a sensation, no one was +certain what lay back of them in the French Emperor's mind. Cavour heard +them and they gave him hope. When the time came for Victor Emmanuel to +open Parliament Cavour prepared the speech from the Throne with the +greatest care and had a copy submitted in advance to Napoleon. Napoleon +strengthened it, and Victor Emmanuel changed it still further for the +better. When the King read it the effect upon his hearers was that of +a call to arms in an heroic cause. "If Piedmont, small in territory, +yet counts for something in the councils of Europe, it is because +it is great by reason of the ideas it represents and the sympathies +it inspires. This position doubtless creates for us many dangers; +nevertheless, while respecting treaties, we cannot remain insensible +to the cry of grief that reaches us from so many parts of Italy." The +European Powers saw that the old treaties of 1815 were in imminent +danger. None of them realized who had in reality penned these words. + +Cavour was now at one of the great crises of his life work, and bending +every effort to secure Napoleon's consent to a definite treaty. He +succeeded in that the Emperor, delighted at the marriage of Prince +Napoleon to a princess of one of the oldest houses in Europe, directed +the bridegroom to sign an agreement obligating France to come to +Piedmont's aid should the latter nation be subjected to any overt act +of aggression on the part of Austria. This agreement was intended to be +kept altogether secret, but rumors that a treaty had been signed crept +abroad. Cavour now waited for Austria's aggressive act, and sought to +gain national loans at home, and to arouse interest on Piedmont's behalf +abroad. The English government would not enthuse over Italian wrongs, +they were zealous to maintain the present footing, but Cavour maintained +his diplomatic suavity and kept the English friendship against the day +when he might need it against France. + +The spring of 1859 saw the natural crisis rapidly approaching, +Mazzini's world forces again ready to break loose. Into Piedmont swarmed +the youth of all northern Italy, girt with sword and gun, palpitant +for strife. The government could not hold the rising tide much longer. +Cavour exclaimed, "They may throw me into the Po, but I will not stop +it!" And yet he had to wait. Austria must first act on the offensive. +The last week of Lent came and Cavour stood face to face with the climax +that was to make or mar his plans. + +The story of those two weeks is tremendously dramatic. The Russian +government proposed a Congress of the Powers at Paris to adjust the +disordered state of Italy. England and Prussia agreed, Austria accepted +subject to the two conditions that Piedmont should disarm and that +she should be excluded from the Congress. The French Minister, Count +Walewski, said for Napoleon that France could not plunge into war on +Piedmont's account, and that Piedmont was not entitled to a voice in +the Congress. Napoleon seemed to have listened to the counsels of the +Empress and his ministers, who were opposed to war, and Cavour found +himself without a spokesman. It was a black hour when he wrote to the +Emperor that Italy was desperate; in reply he was called to Paris. He +saw Napoleon, but obtained no promise of help. He threatened that Victor +Emmanuel would abdicate, he himself go to America and publish all the +correspondence between Napoleon and himself. He used every entreaty, but +to no effect. He returned to Turin, where he was met with the wildest +demonstrations of regard. + +Now England made a suggestion, the government proposed that all the +Italian states should be admitted to the proposed Congress, and that +Austria as well as Piedmont should disarm. The French government +considered this a happy proposal, and wrote to Cavour strongly +recommending consent. The Minister understood what the disbanding of +all his volunteers, the reduction of his army, would mean to Italy, but +he saw no choice but to submit. All the Powers were against him, either +course seemed to presage absolute defeat. On April 17 he sent a note +agreeing to the disarming, and gave himself up to despair. History says +that he was on the point of committing suicide, and was only saved by a +devoted friend who pleaded with him. At the end of a long stormy scene +Cavour controlled himself. "Be tranquil; we will face it together," he +said. + +Fortune changed; the very day on which Cavour submitted, the Austrian +government replied slightingly to the English proposal and stated that +Austria would itself call upon Piedmont to disarm. It was an error of +the first magnitude, the act of aggression for which Cavour had so long +waited. At the time Austria was probably ignorant of Napoleon's secret +agreement with Piedmont, and also that Cavour had consented to disarm. +The fact of Piedmont's submission to the wishes of France and England, +and Austria's arbitrary note, revolutionized the situation. Piedmont was +saved by a marvelous turn of fortune. + +April 25, while the Piedmont Chamber was conferring absolute powers on +the King, Cavour was handed a note, on which was written: "They are +here. I have seen them." "They" meant the Austrian envoys. Cavour left +the Chamber, saying, "It is the last Piedmontese parliament which has +just ended; next year we will open the first Italian parliament." He met +the envoys and read their message, the Sardinian army to be put on a +peace footing, the Italian volunteers to be disbanded; an answer, yes or +no, to be given within three days. If that answer is unsatisfactory to +Austria a resort to arms. + +Cavour accepted the three days allowed him in order to push his +preparations, then he replied to the Austrian note, saying that Piedmont +had agreed to the English proposals with the assent of Prussia, Russia, +and France, and that he had nothing further to add. He took leave of +the Austrian envoys courteously, and then, radiantly happy, joined his +colleagues, saying, "The die is cast." Fortune had stood by him and had +placed Piedmont in the most enviable position he could have wished. He +had staked everything on his acquiescing, with scarcely one chance of +success, but that chance had come and he had won. + +The war opened with the victory of the allies at Magenta, Milan was +free, and at Solferino the Italians and French gained Lombardy. The +Sardinian army won its spurs gloriously. Cavour, who had sent La Marmora +to lead the troops, and had himself become Minister of War, showed the +greatest skill in attending to his army's commissariat. At the same time +he was watching the rest of Italy, Parma and Modena returned to the +old alliance of 1848, and Cavour sent special commissioners to control +them. He was anxious that all the states should unite. He was constantly +afraid that one of the Powers would step in and seize Tuscany. He kept +his eye on Florence and supported the efficient dictatorship of Ricasoli. + +Mazzini had prophesied to Cavour some months earlier: "You will be +in the camp in some corner of Lombardy when the peace which betrays +Venice will be signed without your knowledge." That was exactly what +happened. On July 6 Napoleon opened negotiations at Villafranca with +Austria for peace. Perhaps he had learned that the French people were +no longer enthusiastic over the war and wished to devote himself to his +own defense, perhaps he saw that victories were building up a stronger +Italy than he cared to have, perhaps he feared a possible intervention +by Prussia. His whole conduct towards Italy was one of most perplexing +changes, certain it is that he now deliberately threw away all the +advantages of victory and made every loyal Italian his enemy. Had he +been more of a statesman he would have foreseen the consequences of his +acts. The terms of the peace were that Venice should be left to Austria, +Modena, Tuscany, and Romagna given back to their petty Princes, the Pope +made president of a league in which Austria was to be a party. It was +the basest betrayal of Italian hopes. Cavour was absolutely prostrated, +he saw all his wonderful plans shattered beyond redemption, he saw +himself totally dishonored in the sight of the people he had led into +war. He rushed to the camp of Victor Emmanuel and advised him either to +abdicate or fight on alone. In that moment the King rose superior to +his great Minister, he decided to sign the treaty and to wait. Victor +Emmanuel, more bitterly disappointed than on the battlefield of Novara, +showed that he was as great a statesman as he was a leader of his people. + +Cavour thought of plunging into battle in the hope of being killed, +he thought of joining Mazzini in extreme revolutionary measures, but +meanwhile until a new ministry could be formed he was compelled to +continue his government at Turin. It became his duty to notify the +commissioners he had appointed for Florence, Parma, and Modena to +abandon those charges, and he did so, but wrote them privately to stay +where they were. Farini wrote him from Modena that he should treat the +returning Duke as an enemy of Italy, and Cavour replied, "The Minister +is dead; the friend applauds your decision." He had thrown off his old +mask of diplomacy and become for the moment one with the revolutionaries. + +Succeeded by Rattazzi as Prime Minister, Cavour went to stay for a short +period of rest with his relatives in Switzerland. He expected to see +Napoleon seize Savoy and Nice, although he had not performed his part +in the Pact of Plombières. Again Napoleon surprised him, he returned to +Paris without pressing any claim to new territory. Meanwhile the people +of central Italy were asking for union with Piedmont, and all the Powers +were much concerned with their disposition, particularly England, which +under the ministry of Lord Palmerston, an old and warm friend of Cavour, +was now commencing openly to champion Italian independence. Palmerston +did not trust Napoleon and regretted that the only Italian statesman +whom he considered able to cope with the French was out of office. The +British Premier wrote at this time, "They talk a great deal in Paris +of Cavour's intrigues. This seems to me unjust. If they mean that he +has worked for the aggrandisement and for the emancipation of Italy +from foreign yoke and Austrian domination, this is true, and he will be +called a patriot in history. The means he has employed may be good or +bad. I do not know what they have been, but the object in view is, I am +sure, the good of Italy. The people of the Duchies have as much right +to change their sovereigns as the English people, or the French, or the +Belgian, or the Swedish." + +Napoleon still had five divisions of his army in Lombardy and his +attitude toward the annexation of the central states was most important. +No one knew exactly what that attitude was. He told the Piedmontese +that he could not allow the union of Tuscany, but at the same time he +told Austrian and Papal sympathizers that he was too deeply attached to +the principle of Italian independence to allow him to make war on the +nationalists. Rattazzi did not know which course to adopt, although the +King was quite willing to risk everything in succoring Tuscany. Then +Napoleon suddenly proposed another of his Paris Congresses to settle +the difficulty, and Piedmont turned to Cavour to speak its claims. + +The Congress never met, but Cavour's appointment as envoy and the +zealous support of the English government caused the downfall of the +ministry, and in January, 1860, Cavour again took command of the state. +His policy now was plain, "Let the people of central Italy declare +themselves what they want," he said, "and we will stand by their +decisions, come what may." The people of central Italy wanted union and +Cavour turned again to see what Napoleon would do. What he would do +was gradually becoming plainer. He would only sell his assent to the +annexation of the states in return for Savoy and Nice. They were the old +stakes of the Pact of Plombières, and Cavour had to decide whether they +should go. + +His decision to sacrifice Savoy and Nice for the peaceful annexation +of central Italy has been the most bitterly criticised act in Cavour's +life. It can never be determined whether the sacrifice was absolutely +essential, or whether in time Italy might not have been united without +that step. In that day the judgment of the best-informed was that +Napoleon would have sent his army into Tuscany unless his desire was +met. Cavour had only agreed to consider the sacrifice at Plombières +because he was willing to go to any length to secure Italy from +foreign domination. He was willing to pay the same price now although +he realized what the cost would be to his name. The King had given his +daughter as the price of the French alliance. He sadly agreed to the +further sacrifice. Both Victor Emmanuel and Cavour were looking towards +their ultimate goal. + +It was a tremendous responsibility. Napoleon insisted that the treaty +should be secret and should not be submitted to the Piedmont Parliament. +He knew that England would be indignant when the news became known. So +Cavour was forced to keep the decision secret and to prepare to shoulder +by himself all the wrath of his people. On March 24, 1860, after hours +of consideration, Cavour signed. Then he prepared to summon a Parliament +which might as he foresaw indict him on a charge of high treason for his +unconstitutional act. + +The Parliament which for the first time represented Piedmont, Lombardy, +Parma, Modena, and Romagna, met on April 2. Guerrazzi made a most bitter +attack on the ministry, in which he likened Cavour to the Earl of +Clarendon under Charles the Second, "hard towards the King, truculent to +Parliament, who thought in his pride that he could do anything." Cavour +replied with a stinging description of the men with whom he had had to +contend, and avowed his complete responsibility for the treaty. A large +majority of the Parliament voted with him, but it was a severe test of +his power and popularity. Garibaldi, born in Nice, never forgave him, +many of his countrymen considered his act absolutely unwarrantable, a +monstrous piece of base ingratitude; he himself knew the price he had +paid only too well, but he believed that it was a price he was forced to +pay if Italy were ever to be free. + +The next step in the dramatic history followed almost immediately, and +although it took place without the open approval of Cavour there is no +question but that he was secretly hoping for its success. The King of +Naples and Sicily was in hard straits, his people were now continually +fomenting revolutions, Austria no longer came to his aid as she had +formerly. The feeling throughout Europe was so general that Francis II. +stood on the edge of the precipice that on April 15 Victor Emmanuel +wrote him and told him that his only hope of safety lay in granting +his subjects an immediate constitution. Francis, like a true Bourbon, +postponed action until it was too late. Meantime northern revolutionists +were waking to the idea of sending an expedition south to free Sicily, +and Garibaldi's name was on every tongue. Cavour did not wish Garibaldi +to go, he knew the tremendous odds against his succeeding, and he +realized that in case of success serious difficulties must at once +arise. He was tempted to keep Garibaldi at home by force, but the King +would not listen to such action. On May 5 Garibaldi and his famous +Legion sailed from Quarto, and with their sailing an accomplished fact +Cavour gave them such help as he could. + +Good fortune tended on Garibaldi and the Thousand, they made their +landing on the Sicilian coast and swept the royal troops before them. +The English fleet did not actually aid them, but were not sorry for +their happy progress. The rest of the world looked on and wondered if +this sudden attack on southern Italy was another of Cavour's coups. Most +observers considered that it was. The King of Naples said that Garibaldi +was a blind; behind him was ranged Piedmont, intent on the fall of his +dynasty. + +Garibaldi was hailed at Palermo as dictator and his victory over Sicily +was complete. He had always acted in Victor Emmanuel's name, but +Cavour feared that his followers were too deeply imbued with Mazzini's +republican ideas to be eager to join with Piedmont. He was mistaken, he +did not then altogether understand Garibaldi, and he never did entire +justice to Mazzini's principles. + +If the European Powers had protested, Garibaldi could not have crossed +to the mainland, but England would not accept Napoleon's proposal +to intervene, and Naples was left to itself. Cavour understood that +the Kingdom of Francis must fall, and only hoped that it might be by +diplomacy rather than at the hands of Garibaldi's troops. His plans to +this end failed, Garibaldi reached Calabria and began his triumphal +march to Naples. He had become a name with which to conjure all classes +of the people, victory over every evil must follow his footsteps, the +Kingdom of Naples, wretchedly weak, fell before him. Garibaldi became a +hero throughout Europe, it was now Cavour's task to treat diplomatically +with such a victorious force. + +In order that Garibaldi might not attempt to sweep north through Papal +territory Cavour determined to send the army of northern Italy down +into Umbria and the Marches of Ancona. It was a direct defiance of the +temporal power of the Pope, but all discerning men had seen that the +step must soon come. Moreover it was the desire now of practically +all Italy to be united, the flood had swept so far that they would be +content with nothing but the whole peninsula. Again Europe made no +effectual protest, Napoleon was as usual undetermined, Lord Palmerston +eager for Italy's success. Ancona fell, and Victor Emmanuel marched on +into Neapolitan territory, delivering the last central provinces from +Austrian influence. The Austrian government did not declare war, perhaps +they realized at last that the world was moving forward, not backward, +and that they had had their day. + +Garibaldi's last victory occurred on the Volturno on October 1. The +royal forces and the victorious Legion had practically met. Cavour was +strongly tempted to declare Victor Emmanuel dictator, but his belief +in constitutional methods triumphed. He would not bedim one ray of +Garibaldi's glory, but he wanted to cement the constitutional monarchy. +Disputes arose between the royal generals and the revolutionists, Cavour +insisted that the Garibaldian troops should be honorably treated. He +knew that Garibaldi had not forgiven him for the sacrifice of Nice, but +he could place higher his own admiration for the hero. "Garibaldi," he +wrote to the King, "has become my most violent enemy, but I desire for +the good of Italy, and the honor of your Majesty, that he should retire +entirely satisfied." + +Tremendous popular influences were at work to have a dictator appointed +to govern southern Italy for at least a year. Cavour might have +consented to the popular acclaim for Garibaldi, or have compelled +the appointment of one of his own party. He did neither, instead +he appealed to the Parliament. He introduced a bill authorizing the +Government to accept the immediate annexation of such provinces of +central and southern Italy as expressed by universal suffrage their +desire to become a part of the constitutional Kingdom of Victor +Emmanuel. Parliament passed this bill on October 11. It was still in +doubt whether the Garibaldians would agree. On October 13 Garibaldi +called his followers together, and declared that if the people voted +for annexation they should have it. Then he issued the order that "the +two Sicilies form an integral part of Italy, one and indivisible under +the constitutional King, Victor Emmanuel, and his successors." He had +made the King a present of his conquests. It is probable that Cavour had +truly estimated Garibaldi's depths of patriotism. + +Napoleon still kept his troops at Gaeta, but was finally brought to +see that the conflict could only end in the one way. The French fleet +withdrew, and the city surrendered February 13, 1861. Francis II. went +into exile. Rome still held out, but Cavour was determined that the +Pope's temporal power must end and that city become the capital of the +new kingdom. A general election to the new Parliament took place, and +the returns showed a large majority pledged to Cavour's views. When the +new Chamber met their first act was to vote Victor Emmanuel's assumption +of the title of King of Italy. It had been proposed by some that the +title be King of the Italians, but Cavour insisted that only King of +Italy spoke of the accomplished fact of the new nation. + +On March 25, 1861, Cavour stated in Parliament that Italy must have +Rome as its capital, but on the distinct understanding that this act +should in no sense denote the servitude of the Church. He proclaimed a +free church in a free state as the solution of the historic problem, +events had shown that a power which could only be sustained by means of +foreign support was not destined to last. Parliament voted for Rome as +the capital, and Cavour opened negotiations with the Vatican. He found +argument there vain, and turned to France in the hope of securing an +ally who could conciliate the Pope. Meanwhile he was busied with the +disposition of Garibaldi's troops, which were persistently disregarded +by the regular army. Garibaldi was indignant and stated in Parliament +that Cavour was "driving the country into civil war." Cavour, stung by +the words, nevertheless held his peace and replied calmly. The breach +between the two men was made up, they met as friends a little later at +the King's desire. + +In May, 1861, it was seen that Cavour was ailing, he had worked too +hard and given himself no chance to rest. The last day he sat in +Parliament he fell ill with fever, and from that he never recovered. +Unto the very end he was deep in plans for the new nation; on June 6 he +died. + +The tale of the birth of the Italian nation reads like a romance, +barrier after barrier, seemingly insurmountable, fell at the touch of +a wand, and the wand was ever in Cavour's hand. Mazzini had breathed a +new hope into Italy, Victor Emmanuel had given a noble leader to the +cause, Garibaldi had fought and conquered, but it was Cavour who had so +fused their efforts that they led to the single goal. He was always the +Italian first, the Minister of Piedmont afterwards. In history he will +figure as a great patriot, in his lifetime he was recognized throughout +Europe as the great statesman. + +It is reported that Metternich in his old age said, "There is only +one diplomatist in Europe, but he is against us; it is M. de Cavour." +Palmerston always recognized him as the one man who could unite his +country and foil Napoleon, Bismarck studied him as a pattern for his +own later efforts, and Napoleon, his lifelong ally and opponent, +conceded that Cavour alone impressed him as a genius of the first rank +in statecraft. His contemporaries could not always understand him, he +had so often to give up the immediate advantage for the future gain, he +had to wear his mask so frequently even among his own people that men +grew to believe he preferred the circuitous to the straight path. From +the vantage point of a later day it is possible to see how frail was +the skiff he navigated and how perilous the seas. It was so easy for +the Powers of Europe, secure themselves, to prefer peace to any fresh +disturbance. What did the welfare of a few small states matter to them? +Italy was chronically misgoverned. Cavour had to take each forward step +in fear that he might call down upon Piedmont the avalanche of Europe; +his one ally, the French Emperor, was as stable as quicksilver, never +two days the same. It almost passes belief that Cavour did manage to +sail his skiff into port, he could only have done it by alternate +patience and audacity. + +Cavour did not live to see Rome or Venice become part of the Kingdom, +but it was his work that made those later triumphs possible. He had +foreseen their coming, he had a genius for foresight, even in the early +days when he seemed speaking only for Piedmont he was planning for +Italy. But in his planning for the great goal he never forgot to make +certain of each step, his diplomacy was a logical sequence of accepted +opportunities, he believed in taking the straight path if that were +possible, if not in circling the obstacle that blocked his way. + +The story is told that when the wife of the Russian Minister at Turin +was shopping in that city the clerk suddenly left her and ran to the +door. When he returned he said, "I saw Count Cavour passing, and wishing +to know how our affairs are going on, I wanted to see how he looked. +He looks in good spirits, so everything is going right." The story +illustrates how, after Cavour had once taken the helm, the people of +Piedmont trusted him, growing more and more confident that he would lead +them aright although they could not always see the logic of his steps. +Few statesmen have received more complete allegiance from a people than +Cavour ultimately won, but no statesman ever deserved the gratitude of +his countrymen more unreservedly. + + + + +[Illustration: GARIBALDI] + + + + +GARIBALDI, THE CRUSADER + + +When Mazzini had stirred men's minds to fever-heat in the great cause +of Italian liberty, and Cavour had so manipulated events that political +progress was possible, came Garibaldi, to lead with all the fire of a +crusader the new race of Italian patriots. He was a hero of legends as +soon as he took the field. He cannot be compared to any modern general, +nor his army to any other army of recent centuries; he was the personal +hero whose red shirt and slouch hat became symbols of liberty, and whose +name was sufficient to work miracles of faith. Many a Calabrian peasant +confidently expected the millennium to follow in Garibaldi's footsteps, +and this faith, spreading as all great popular emotions do, swept him +and his ragged volunteers to victory after victory that a less legendary +but vastly more experienced general never would have known. He was +always the pure-hearted crusader with the single goal. + +Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice in the year 1807, two years the +junior of Mazzini, three years the senior of Cavour. His parents, who +were in very modest circumstances, wished him to enter the priesthood, +but his nature was too adventurous to suit him for the religious life. +Even as a boy he craved action and wanted to share his father's life on +the sea. Father and grandfather had been sailors, and the boy Giuseppe +could not be kept from boats. Realizing this inheritance, the father +took him with him on his voyages. His second voyage was made to Rome, +and the sight of that city stirred the boy to the foundations of his +nature. Years later he wrote of this first boyhood impression, "Rome, +which I had before admired and thought of frequently, I ever since have +loved. It has been dear to me beyond all things. I not only admired her +for her former power and the remains of antiquity, but even the smallest +thing connected with her was precious to me." + +Very early, on a voyage to Russia, a young Ligurian mate told the youth +something of the plans of the scattered Italian patriots, and, once +conscious that there was a movement on foot to liberate his beloved +country, Garibaldi sought all people and writings which could enlighten +him on that score. Thus he came almost immediately under the influence +of Mazzini's work and joined his new movement of "Young Italy." From +the moment of this association his life held the single purpose, he was +ready to make any sacrifice in this cause. In 1834 he joined in the +ill-fated expedition to Savoy, and as a consequence found himself on +February 5, of that year, flying from Genoa as a proscript. A few days +later he learned from a newspaper that he had been condemned to death by +the government. Shortly afterwards he sailed from Marseilles for Brazil. + +For the next fourteen years Garibaldi led the life of a guerilla +leader, fighting the battles of Montevideo, and taking a chief part in +the innumerable wars for independence which served to keep the South +American states in constant upheaval during the first half of the +Nineteenth Century. The various states were full of French, Spanish, +and Italian adventurers, and Garibaldi contrived, with that intuitive +insight into character which was one of the chief characteristics of +his genius, to choose certain of the Italians who were as intense +partisans of liberty as he, and form them into a legion, destined to be +the nucleus of that famous Italian "Legion" which was later to win its +victories on the other side of the world. The South American adventures +of the young general read like a story from the romantic pages of a +novelist, they are a perpetual record of battles, sieges, and alarms. +Through their turbulent course Garibaldi learned experience of rough, +irregular fighting, which was later to prove invaluable. To add to the +romance of these years Garibaldi met at a small town in the district of +Laguna, in Brazil, the woman who so charmed him at first sight that he +immediately wooed her and won her for his wife, the dearly beloved Anita +who accompanied him afterwards on all his military expeditions, both by +land and sea, and proved herself the equal of any of his men in devotion +and the most intrepid courage in the face of extreme peril. + +In 1847 Pius IX., the new Pontiff, stirred all Italian patriots with the +brave words he uttered in behalf of a new and free Italy. To men who +had waited long for a leader who should unite all the small states the +Pope appeared as a real deliverer, and for a few short months he did +indeed stand at the head of a movement closely allied to the Guelphic +policies of the Middle Ages. The news of the Pope's call to all Italians +reached Garibaldi and his friends in Montevideo, and immediately the +former and his friend, Colonel Anzani, wrote to Pius IX. tendering +him their allegiance, and offering the assistance of their swords. +Lines throughout the letter show the self-abnegating, single-hearted +devotion of Garibaldi to Italy's cause, the one sacred service of his +life. "If then to-day our arms, which are not strangers to fighting, +are acceptable to your Holiness, we need not say how willingly we shall +offer them in the service of one who has done so much for our country +and our church. We shall count ourselves happy if we can but come to +aid Pius IX. in his work of redemption.... We shall consider ourselves +privileged if we are allowed to show our devotedness by offering our +blood." Unfortunately the Pope was not made of the same heroic fiber +as the South American soldier. No answer was made to the letter, but +Garibaldi was so eager to be on the scene of action and learn conditions +for himself that he immediately sailed, although still under sentence of +death, for Italy with fifty members of his Legion. + +They landed at Nice on June 24, 1848. Already they had learned at +Alicante the stirring events of that memorable spring, and were burning +to take the field against the Austrians. The leader and his handful +of men hastened to Lombardy to offer their services to the Sardinian +King, Charles Albert. The King received the offer very coldly, but, +his ardor undaunted, Garibaldi pushed on to Milan. The latter city had +learned of his many battles in South America and hailed him with great +enthusiasm. From the country volunteers came pouring to his standard, +and in an incredibly short time at least 30,000 men had joined the +remnant of the legion. They were most of them wild with the desire to +drive the Austrians from Lombardy. Charles Albert was defeated and +signed an armistice by which Milan was given back to the Empire, but +the Garibaldian army paid no heed to the formal terms of peace, and +continued a guerilla warfare wherever white-coated Austrians were to be +found. + +An eye-witness, Giulio Dandolo, thus describes the appearance of +Garibaldi's troops: "Picture to yourself," he says, "an incongruous +assemblage of individuals of all descriptions, boys of twelve or +fourteen, veteran soldiers attracted by the fame of the celebrated +chieftain of Montevideo, some stimulated by ambition, others seeking +for impunity and license in the confusion of war, yet so restrained by +the inflexible severity of their leader that courage and daring alone +could find a vent, whilst more lawless passions were curbed beneath +his will. The general and his staff all rode on American saddles, wore +scarlet blouses, with hats of every possible form, without distinction +of any kind, or pretension to military ornament.... Garibaldi, if the +encampment was far from the scene of danger, would stretch himself +under his tent; if on the contrary the enemy were near at hand he +remained constantly on horseback giving orders and visiting the +outposts. Often disguised as a peasant, he risked his own safety in +daring reconnaissances, but most frequently, seated on some commanding +elevation, he would pass whole hours examining the surrounding country +with his telescope. When the general's trumpet gave the signal to +prepare for departure lassoes secured the horses which had been left +to graze in the meadows. The order of march was always arranged on the +preceding day, and the corps set out without so much as knowing where +the evening would find them. Owing to this patriarchal simplicity, +pushed sometimes too far, Garibaldi appeared more like the chief of a +tribe of Indians than a general, but at the approach of danger and in +the heat of combat, his presence of mind was admirable; and then by the +astonishing rapidity of his movements he made up in a great measure for +his deficiency in those qualities which are generally supposed to be +absolutely essential to a military commander." + +Speed and audacity constituted the two main elements of the leader's +tactics. One day when on Lake Maggiore Garibaldi managed to take two +Austrian steamers by surprise, and placing 1500 men upon them, suddenly +appeared at Luino. From there he planned an attack on 10,000 Austrians +encamped nearby, but news of his intentions reached the enemy, and he +was obliged to scatter his small force in a skilfully contrived retreat. +The actual result of such a campaign was small, but the extreme skill +of his sudden advances and retreats won him a European prestige as +a master of light warfare, and continually brought soldiers to his +standard. When the regular armies ceased fighting ardent patriots turned +to Garibaldi as the last remaining hope. + +While in Switzerland he was seized with marsh fever and became +dangerously ill. When he recovered he joined his family at Nice and +there spent the autumn. Charles Albert had by now repented his cold +treatment of the young man's offer of service and tendered him a high +rank in the Sardinian army. Garibaldi, however, wished more immediate +action than such a position offered, and had moreover been fired with +hope at the reports of Daniel Manin's heroic defense of Venice against +the Austrians. He determined to go to Venice, and started with two +hundred and fifty volunteer companions. At Ravenna he learned of the +revolution at Rome, and then, as always in his life, could not resist +the call of the Eternal City. He changed his course towards Rome, and +as he traveled his followers increased to 1500 men. With this band he +approached the city, which had been deserted by that Pope of noble +impulses but timid resolution to whom Garibaldi had written offering his +services the previous year. + +Pius IX. executed a complete volte-face. Terrified at the assassination +of his Prime Minister Rossi, and worked on by his clerical ministers of +State and foreign diplomatists, he withdrew the liberal concessions he +had just granted his Roman subjects, declared the notoriously vicious +King Bomba of Naples a model monarch and fled to Gaeta, leaving Rome to +the revolutionists. At the same time Mazzini the arch idealist appeared +among them, and he and Garibaldi, both hailed as pre-eminent leaders in +their respective fields, were elected members of the new Roman Assembly. +Mazzini was in charge of the civil government, Garibaldi of the army now +rapidly gathering from all parts of Italy. He took his position on the +frontier menaced by the Neapolitan army, and fortified the stronghold of +Rieti. + +Meanwhile in northern Italy Charles Albert had again taken the field, +had lost the battle of Novara, and had abdicated. The Roman Republic +immediately found itself beset by great European Powers, Austria, +Spain, and Naples, eager to restore the Pontiff and teach his audacious +subjects a salutary lesson. As Manin in Venice, so Mazzini in Rome +looked to France for succor, or at least to uphold the policy of +non-intervention. Did not the constitution of the then existing French +Republic specifically state that that nation "would never employ her +arms against the liberty of any people"? Acting on this assumption +the Roman Assembly voted for the perpetual abolition of the temporal +power of the Pope, and on April 18, 1849, addressed a manifesto to the +governments of England and France, setting forth "that the Roman people +had the right to give themselves the form of government which pleased +them, that they had sanctioned the independence and free exercise of +the spiritual authority of the Pope, and that they trusted that England +and France would not assist in restoring a government irreconcilable by +its nature with liberty and civilization, and morally destitute of all +authority for many years past, and materially so during the previous +five months." + +Nevertheless, Louis Napoleon, president of the French Republic, sent +an army under General Oudinot to Civita Vecchia, declaring that his +purpose was simply to maintain order. The Triumvirs, Mazzini, Armellini, +and Saffi, thought it wisest to prepare Rome for possible defense, +and called Garibaldi from the Neapolitan frontier. The Roman Republic +hailed him as its defender. "This mysterious conqueror," says Miraglia, +"surrounded by a brilliant halo of glory, who entered Rome on the eve +of the very day on which the Republic was about to be attacked, was in +the minds of the Roman people the only man capable of maintaining the +'decree of resistance;' therefore the multitudes on the very instant +united themselves with the man who personified the wants of the moment +and who was the hope of all." + +April 30 was the date of the first French attack, an assault so +violently resisted that 7000 picked troops were disastrously routed by +a much smaller number of Garibaldi's volunteers. Oudinot was amazed, +and sought an armistice, while Louis Napoleon, in order to hurry +re-enforcements to Civita Vecchia, sent De Lesseps to open negotiations +for peace. Garibaldi desired no armistice, he feared delay, but the +Triumvirs still hoped to obtain France's assistance ultimately and so +checked his pursuing the first advantage. It was a contest between the +principles of diplomacy and warfare. + +The negotiations with the French envoy dragged, but meanwhile Garibaldi +was not idle. On May 4, with 4000 light troops, he secretly left Rome. +On the 8th they reached Palestrina, and on the following day met the +Neapolitan army, some 7000 strong. Three hours of fighting put the +latter troops to ignominious flight. Later their general attributed the +overwhelming defeat to the superstitious terror inspired in his men +by the very name of Garibaldi, and the remarkable appearance of his +red-shirted troops. They were convinced that Garibaldi was the devil, +for they found that even holy silver bullets failed to strike him down. + +Fearing lest the French might attack Rome in his absence Garibaldi now +returned there, making a rapid retreat and passing within two miles of +the enemy. De Lesseps and the Triumvirs were still conferring. Then for +some unaccountable reason a Colonel Roselli was placed over Garibaldi's +head, and the famous commander, probably the victim of malicious envy, +was only second in command. He did not complain. "Some of my friends," +he wrote characteristically, "urged me not to accept a secondary +position, under a man who, only the day before, was my inferior, but +I confess these questions of self-love never yet troubled me; whoever +gives me a chance of fighting, if only as a common soldier, against the +enemy of my country, him will I thank." + +The army of King Bomba now rallied, and took certain strongholds on +the road to Rome. Garibaldi was sent out to dislodge them, and met and +put to flight a large Neapolitan column near Velletri. The latter took +refuge in that city, but when the Roman volunteers made a reconnaissance +of the place in the morning they found the army had fled panic-stricken +during the night. Again the name of Garibaldi and the magic of his red +shirt, or famous "camicia rossa," had been too much for them. The only +credit the Neapolitan general could contrive to take to himself was +a statement in the official report of the extraordinary rapidity and +safety of his retreat. + +A few days later General Roselli ordered Garibaldi to carry the war into +Neapolitan territory, and he had proceeded along the ancient Samnite +road as far as the banks of the Volturno when messengers called him in +all haste back to Rome to be present at the final negotiations with +the French. He returned to Rome on May 24, to be hailed again as the +invincible defender of the Republic. + +The French Commissioner De Lesseps signed certain agreements with the +Roman Assembly and then referred these agreements to General Oudinot +for ratification. The General, however, had by this time received his +long-desired re-enforcements, and, stating that De Lesseps had exceeded +his authority, prepared for an immediate attack. He said, however, that +he would postpone the actual assault until Monday, June 4, but did +actually commence operations on Sunday the 3d, taking the Romans off +their guard and capturing the outposts and the Ponte Molle. + +So soon as the treacherous attack was known the bells of the Capitol +gave the alarm, and Garibaldi's Legion, together with the Lombard +volunteers, rushed to the defense. The fighting in the entire circuit +of the city's walls was desperate, but the soldiers of the Legion were +no longer opposed to Austrians or superstitious Neapolitans, but to +veteran French troops, so numerous that losses meant little to them. +Nevertheless the city held out while De Lesseps pleaded for the terms +of his agreement at Paris. Garibaldi tried every device to dislodge the +French batteries which were shattering the Roman walls, but all to no +avail. It was clear that the siege would be only a matter of days before +news came that the French government disavowed any part in the agreement +signed by De Lesseps. Mazzini still urged resistance to the end, but the +disparity in forces was so overwhelming that Garibaldi could not agree +with him. This difference of opinion tended to widen still further the +gulf which already existed between the theorist and the soldier. + +On June 21 the French succeeded in planting a battery within the city +walls, and from that time the work of destruction progressed more +rapidly. The defense was intensely dramatic, demagogues mixing with +the purest natured patriots, the popular orator Ciceruacchio, with +bloody shirt and sword, pouring forth his burning words on the spirit +of ancient Roman independence, Ugo Bassi, the monk, going about among +the dying, holding the crucifix before their eyes, utterly regardless +of the storm of bullets all around him. It was a noble defense, but it +could have only one end, and so finally on June 30, at the advice of +Garibaldi, who appeared before the Triumvirs, his clothing shot into +ribbons, the Government issued the order that "The Roman Republic in +the name of God and the people gives up a defense which has become +impossible." + +On that same day the Triumvirs resigned, and the Assembly appointed +Garibaldi dictator. For a few days negotiations looking to an armistice +were conducted between the French and the Roman lines. Finally, on July +3, the negotiations came to an end. Garibaldi called the troops into +the great square before St. Peter's. "Soldiers!" he declared, "that +which I have to offer you is this; hunger, thirst, cold, heat; no pay, +no barracks, no rations, but frequent alarms, forced marches, charges +at the point of the bayonet. Whoever loves our country and glory may +follow me!" About four thousand men instantly volunteered, and at almost +the same hour when the French entered the city the little Legion left, +taking the road to Tivoli, with the purpose of gaining the broken Tuscan +mountain country. The leader's devoted wife Anita went with him, as +patiently his companion in adventures in Italy as in her native South +America. + +The Papal banner was flung from the Castle of St. Angelo, and the Roman +Republic came to an end. Its story is almost as eventful, almost as +heroic as Manin's defense of the Venetian Republic during practically +the same time. In both cases the cities fell, but as Manin at Venice so +Mazzini and Garibaldi at Rome had taught their people that they were +capable of the greatest sacrifices in the cause of that liberty of which +all Italy was dreaming. + +Long pages would be needed to tell of the excitements and dangers which +befell Garibaldi and his army as they threaded their way northward, +their ultimate destination Venice, which had not yet surrendered. +The French and Austrians were always at their heels, and the troop +must inevitably have been captured but for the masterly skill of the +general in such guerilla warfare. Swift night marches, daytime lying +in wait, sudden attacks and equally sudden retreats, served to carry +them gradually away from Rome. They left Orvieto one hour before the +French troops entered. Thence the route lay by Arezzo and Montepulciano +to the little republic of San Marino, close to Rimini. By this time +the army was sadly reduced in size and strength, the Austrians were +pressing close upon their heels, and Garibaldi saw that escape could +only lie in scattering his men. He released all the volunteers, bidding +them farewell, reminding them that it was better to die than to live as +slaves to the foreigner. + +The Austrians threatened an immediate attack on San Marino, and +Garibaldi with a few companions fled secretly at night. Anita, although +utterly worn out by illness, would not leave him. The little band +reached the port of Cesenatico and embarked on the Adriatic in thirteen +small boats. The Austrian fire forced nine of the boats to surrender, +the remaining four, in one of which was the general, his wife, +Ciceruacchio, the Roman orator, and the priest Ugo Bassi, succeeded in +escaping and landing near the mouth of the Po. + +The fugitives had barely landed when they were surrounded by Austrian +scouts. Anita became desperately ill, and was forced to hide with her +husband in a cornfield, an old comrade of Garibaldi's in South America +keeping watch over them. The general was beside himself with grief as +he tended his rapidly failing wife. Ugo Bassi, afraid to stay with them +lest his presence should lead to their discovery, was shortly captured +by Austrians, and Ciceruacchio and the nine others were soon after +taken prisoners. All but the orator and the priest were immediately +shot. Bassi and Ciceruacchio were taken to Bologna, and there ordered +executed by Bedini, the Papal Legate, a man of infamous memory, who +commanded that Bassi be tortured before execution. The heroic priest +must always stand forth as one of the rarest martyr-spirits produced by +the great struggle for Italian liberty. + +Garibaldi succeeded in finding some kind-hearted peasants who carried +Anita to a cottage. Not long after she reached its shelter she died. The +general, broken-hearted, was forced by the approach of Austrian soldiers +to go to Ravenna, thence in disguise he went to Florence and finally +to Genoa. Here he visited his mother and his three children, who had +been left by Anita with their grandmother. His presence in Genoa was an +embarrassment to the Government at Turin, and they courteously asked him +to leave Italy. Instead of doing so he went to Sardinia, much to the +uneasiness of the French, who wished him farther away. In this mountain +island he lived a life, half that of a hermit, and half of a bandit, +continually hunted as an outlaw, and finding entire safety only on the +small island rock of Caprera. This tiny island, destined to become +famous as his home, abounded in natural beauty of a wild and desolate +type, and made a deep impression on the refugee, whose mind was always +peculiarly open to the spell of majestic scenery. + +Finally, to the great relief of both France and Piedmont, Garibaldi was +induced to leave Sardinian territory. He went to Gibraltar, but was only +allowed to stay twenty-four hours. No European country was anxious to +harbor a man whose name had become a watchword for revolutionary zeal. +Finding this to be the case the general sailed for New York, and spent +about a year and a half engaged in making tallow candles in a small back +street. He was not alone in his exile, the disturbing years of 1848 and +1849 had sent many a revolutionary exile across the seas, and at one +time in New York Lamartine, Louis Blanc, Ledru Rollin, and three or four +others almost equally prominent were supporting themselves there by +manual labor. + +When he left New York Garibaldi went again to South America, and became +captain of a merchant vessel trading between Peru and Hong Kong. Again +he returned to New York and commanded a trader flying the American flag +but sailed by Italians, who like himself were awaiting a new tide in +affairs before returning home. The many ups and downs of these roving +years abounded with adventures, but even here Garibaldi's life was no +more thrilling than when he was at the head of his irregular troops in +Italy. + +After four years of wandering he returned to Genoa, stopping for a +short stay at Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he was enthusiastically greeted +by English admirers, and given a presentation sword. When he reached +Genoa he found that his mother had died, and that his three children +were living with his cousins. A few short trips at sea succeeded in +earning him sufficient money to buy part of the little island of +Caprera, of which he was so fond. Here he established himself to await +events. Europe had grown more peaceful, but Garibaldi, hot-headed as +he was, could see that Piedmont was slowly but surely widening the +breach between herself and Austria. He began to look to Piedmont as the +hope of Italy, and little by little to understand, especially when the +small kingdom allied itself with France and England against Russia, +that Piedmont meant Cavour, and that the latter was the match of any +diplomatic strategist in Europe. + +Garibaldi purchased half of the island of Caprera in 1855, and +immediately took possession. Working with his own hands he built first a +log hut and then a more pretentious villa, to which in time he brought +his cousins, the Deideris, and his children, Theresita, who was rapidly +becoming a very beautiful girl, and the boys Menotti and Ricciotti. +The general called himself the "recluse of Caprera," and worked hard +to cultivate a soil naturally barren and difficult. He was glad of the +opportunity to rest after so many years of stirring action, and day by +day grew more enamoured of the wild vegetation of his island home and +the steep cliffs that bordered it against the sea. Often he had visitors +from nearby Sardinia, simple enthusiastic folk who were delighted to +look upon him as a national hero, and confidently expected that some +day he would lead an Italian army to the greatest victories. In such +patriarchal simplicity he spent the years until 1859, hearing from time +to time news of Cavour's policies at Turin, always eager in hope that +his sword might soon be drawn in conjunction with that of a national +army. + +Ten years of patient waiting and subtle diplomacy mark the decade +between the siege of Rome and 1859. In that time Cavour, by the +successive steps of the Crimean War, the Congress of Paris, and the +secret Pact of Plombières, had succeeded in isolating Austria from the +other Powers, and in allying Louis Napoleon with Piedmont. His next +step was to prepare actively for war, and with this purpose he called +Garibaldi to see him at Turin. Garibaldi went to the Minister's house, +dressed in his usual campaign clothes, wearing a loose red blouse +and broad-brimmed hat, and refused to give his name to the servant. +On Cavour's hearing of the presence of such a disreputable appearing +stranger, he said, "Let the poor devil in, he probably has some petition +to ask of me." + +The meeting was most amicable, Cavour asked Garibaldi to command the new +volunteer army known as the "Hunters of the Alps," and Garibaldi was +delighted to accept. Immediately he began recruiting his forces, and so +spontaneous was the rising throughout northern and central Italy that +by May of that year he was at the head of three regiments of infantry +well-equipped for instant service. Austria was dismayed, and demanded +that Cavour dismiss the men, but by what was probably the most fortunate +coup in his whole career Cavour was able to appear willing to have +peace, and yet force Austria to war. Napoleon stood by Piedmont, and +in May, 1859, the campaign that was to redeem the inglorious field of +Novara commenced. + +Garibaldi's great reputation caused friction between him and the +officers of the regular army, and he who had been used to the greatest +freedom of action found himself seriously hampered by directions from +headquarters. He hailed with delight King Victor Emmanuel's permission +to separate from the regular army and fight as he pleased, accompanied +as it was with the King's remark, "Go where you like, do what you like; +I feel only one regret, that I am not able to follow you." + +The resulting campaign showed the great guerilla warrior at his best. +As with the Neapolitans in 1849, so with the Croats in 1859, Garibaldi +was credited with superhuman powers. At times the success attending his +sheer effrontery seemed almost to justify such a conclusion. Time and +again he placed himself in positions so desperate that it was only his +quickness of wit in seizing at a possible chance that saved him. Had he +failed he would have been rated as a bungler, but as he succeeded the +desperation of each chance served only to magnify his strategy. He was +a remarkable mathematician, able to estimate all possible combinations +adroitly and quickly, he never despaired, and never hesitated when +he had decided on a plan. As a result the "Hunters of the Alps," or +_Garibaldini_, as the volunteers were called, hung on the Austrian +troops all through Lombardy and the Lake country, driving them from town +after town by sudden assaults, continually tricking much larger forces +by clever misrepresentations of their own strength. Garibaldi entered +Lombard territory and took Varese. After defeating the Austrians near +there in the battle of Malnate he swept up to Cavallesca, near Como, +and, attacking a much larger force than his own, drove the enemy through +Como towards Monza. Como received the Hunters with open arms, Garibaldi +telegraphed to Milan, using the Austrian General's name, and so gained +information of the Allies. Soon afterwards he stationed his advance +guard at the Villa Medici, looking down over lake after lake, and with a +panoramic view of the Alps. Here the Austrians thought to surround him, +but by means of sending false messages planned to fall into the enemy's +hands, and by taking advantage of a heavy storm at night, he succeeded +in escaping them and regaining Como. + +Meanwhile the regular army was winning victories, Montebello, Magenta, +Solferino, and San Martino were falling to the glory of French and +Italian arms. The Austrians were steadily being driven back, Garibaldi +left Como and took Bergamo, then Brescia. As he advanced the men of +the land he crossed joined his army, Brescia set to work to fortify +its walls at his command. He was ordered to follow the Austrians, and +pursued them to Tre Ponti, which he won, although at such a cost he was +obliged to fall back on the main army. + +Napoleon the Third had no intention of winning too many victories for +Italy, nor of allowing the Garibaldian troops to gain unseemly power. +The plans of the general were therefore interfered with, his recruits +diverted into other channels, and the Hunters sent into the passes of +the Stelvio on the pretext of preventing an attack from Germany, but +in reality to prevent Garibaldi from crossing Lake Garda and gaining +the valley of the Adige and the Veronese mountains. The general obeyed, +and conducted a markedly successful campaign near Sondrio and Bormio, +finding himself in his true element among the Alps. + +Then came the stupefying news that Napoleon had made the peace of +Villafranca. The rage of the _Garibaldini_ knew no bounds, their general +hurried to Victor Emmanuel's camp to tender his resignation. The King +would not accept it. "Italy still requires the legions you command," he +said, "you must remain!" Garibaldi returned to his troops, his hatred +for Louis Napoleon more intense than ever, but convinced that the peace +only marked a short pause in the great forward movement. + +Too much credit cannot be given Victor Emmanuel for his resolution at +this time. Bitterly disappointed as he must have been at such an abrupt +end to a campaign that had promised to open Italy from the Alps to the +Adriatic, he yet managed to hide his chagrin, and held Garibaldi, even +as he a little later induced Cavour to resume the post which he had +in a burst of rage resigned. Fortunately also the formal statement of +the peace-makers that the Princes should be restored to their thrones +in Florence, Modena, and Parma, and the Pope's legates at Bologna, +Ferrara, Forli, and Ravenna was simply a statement, the people of those +cities had quite different views. They had tasted of liberty and of the +victories of a national army, and one city after another announced that +it would have no more of its foreign rulers, that its people wished to +become citizens of Italy and subjects of Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi +heard this and was convinced that it no longer lay in the power of his +arch enemy, Louis Napoleon, to keep Italians separated. "Whatever may +be the march of existing circumstances," he said to his men, "Italians +must neither lay aside their arms, nor be discouraged. They ought on +the contrary to increase in number in their ranks, to testify to Europe +that, guided by their King, Victor Emmanuel, they are ready to face +again the vicissitudes of war, whatever they may be. Perhaps at the +moment we least expect it the signal of alarm may again be sounded!" + +He was sent into central Italy, and at Florence, at Bologna, at +Rimini, he had only to appear to have volunteers crowd about him. +Napoleon learned of this and remonstrated to the government at Turin, +which attempted to check the ardor of its great general, and yet keep +him for further use. It was a time when Cavour's skill was taxed to +the uttermost to avoid a break either with the French or with the +Garibaldians. + +The news of Cavour's decision to cede Savoy and Nice to France, a +decision only reached when it became evident that it was the price +Napoleon demanded for allowing central Italy to unite with Piedmont, +came like a thunder clap to Garibaldi. Born in Nice he declared that +the act made him "a stranger in his own country." He was immediately +returned to Parliament for Nice and bitterly attacked Cavour's policy +in the Chamber. He spoke at length, claiming that the cession was +both an infraction of the original charter by which Nice had become +a part of the Sardinian kingdom, and a violation of the fundamental +law of nationality. Cavour, however, carried the Parliament with him, +and Garibaldi left for Nice to take farewell of it, for he refused to +remain there and become a citizen of France. He was disgusted with the +compromises of diplomacy. "I have nothing to do with men or political +parties," he declared, "my country, and nothing but my country, is my +object." + +Two other incidents of the campaign of 1859 must be mentioned, the one +Garibaldi's visit to Anita's grave near Ravenna, the scene of those +bitter days immediately after the fall of Rome, to which he now returned +as a conqueror. The other was his marriage at Como during his fighting +in the Lakes to Giuseppina Raymondi, the adventurous daughter of the +Marquis Raymondi, who persuaded the general that she was deeply in love +with him, in order that marriage might shield her sadly tarnished name. +Garibaldi would not hear of the marriage at first, and declared that +since Anita's death his heart was withered. The Marquis answered, "It +is with freedom, and with Italian unity that my daughter is enamoured, +and with you as the embodiment of it in Italy." The general could not +withstand that appeal, and consented to the marriage. The depths of the +treachery were revealed to him immediately afterwards, and he left his +new wife at once. It was years, however, before he was granted a divorce +from her. + +Mazzini, Cavour, and Garibaldi each played an important part in the next +act of the great drama of Italy, but Garibaldi unquestionably held the +center of the stage. The act was the famous expedition of the Thousand +to Sicily, a performance foolhardy and rash in the extreme, which was, +however, destined to bring to a speedy fruition the long-deferred hopes +of all Italians patriots. Mazzini's part was to prepare the field, he +had early chosen Sicily as a most favorable scene for revolutionary +action, and had sent agents to smuggle arms into the island, to hold +meetings and generally to arouse the people. Cavour's part was to play +the double game of protesting against the expedition in the eyes of +the Powers, and of aiding it as best he could secretly. He foresaw the +risks that would beset it, and the even greater risk to his King of +having such a dictator as Garibaldi win many victories, yet he could +not absolutely prevent a scheme devised in all patriotic fervor. He +gave public orders to the Sardinian admiral to capture Garibaldi and +bring him back, but with a secret message which the admiral rightly +understood as meaning that Cavour wished no such event to happen. In +much the same manner the British ambassador at Turin, Sir James Hudson, +and the British fleet in the Mediterranean, although ostensibly strictly +neutral, contrived not to embarrass Garibaldi, and the fleet even went +so far as to appear inadvertently between the Neapolitan ships and +those that bore the Thousand, thereby preventing what might have been +an untimely cannonade. Though few in official places therefore openly +countenanced the expedition, many hoped that it would succeed. Under +such circumstances the general sailed from Genoa on May 5, 1860, with +some 1067 picked men, many recruited from the "Hunters of the Alps," +henceforth to be known as the "Mille," and destined to make one of the +greatest expeditions in history, and eventually to give two crowns to +the house of Savoy. + +It was an historic day when the "great filibuster," as Garibaldi was +called, sailed from Genoa. Parents, wives, and children bade the +Thousand a tearful farewell in the rocky bay of Quarto, where to-day +a marble star upon the cliff commemorates the event. At Talamone they +landed to seize some arms and to send a force of one hundred men into +the Papal States to incite rebellion. Then they set sail fairly out +to sea, and Garibaldi and his chiefs planned the Sicilian campaign. +May 11 the two shiploads reached Marsala, hotly pursued by Neapolitan +cruisers. The Thousand took possession of the town, the general issued +glowing proclamations to the citizens, and quickly recruited a corps +of over a thousand Sicilian scouts. From Marsala they went to Salemi, +a march triumphantly acclaimed by monks, priests, women, and children +who lined the roads, and with Sicilian impetuosity were carried away by +the sudden appearance of an Italian army. At Salemi Garibaldi issued +this pronunciamento: "Garibaldi, commander-in-chief of the national +forces in Sicily, on the invitation of the principal citizens, and on +the deliberation of the free communes of the island, considering that in +time of war it is necessary that the civil and military power should be +united in one person, assumes, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, King of +Italy, the Dictatorship in Sicily." + +The first battle was fought in the heart of the mountains, at +Calatafimi, where numbers of ancient ruins gave Garibaldi opportunity +to use his skill in irregular fighting. The battle lasted three hours, +both Garibaldi's son Menotti, and the son of Daniel Manin of Venice, +were wounded; in the end the conflict was a victory for the Thousand. +The Neapolitans fell back on Palermo, and Garibaldi planned to take the +Sicilian capital. + +Throughout the campaign the officers of the King of Naples showed the +same sublime incompetence which characterized their sovereign. Palermo +should have been easy to defend, and with this knowledge, and misled +by Garibaldi's tactics into believing him in retreat, the Neapolitan +general gave a great dinner at the capital and proceeded to forget the +war altogether. As a result, by a remarkably swift march, Garibaldi +appeared at the gates of Palermo, carried them, swept through street +after street of the city, and drove the enemy into the castle and +palace. For a few days the city was laid waste by bombs from the two +latter positions, and from the fleet in the harbor, then the Neapolitan +general asked for an armistice, which eventually ended in the evacuation +of Sicily, except at Messina and a few forts, by the army of the King +of Naples. As most of the soldiers were Austrians, they left without +any deep regret, in fact with almost as much rejoicing as though they +had been victors. Free from the foreigners, Palermo gave itself up to +rejoicing, men and women donned red shirts and acclaimed Garibaldi as a +second Cincinnatus and new Washington. All relics of the former rulers +were destroyed, Sicily felt itself at last free to join the other states +of Italy. Immediately Cavour sent agents to urge annexation to Piedmont, +but Garibaldi was not yet ready for that step. He planned to win Naples +and Rome before he gave over his independent dictatorship. + +The scene now changes to Milazzo. Thither Garibaldi's army, composed +of the Thousand, of many Palermitans, of an English brigade, and of +Hungarians, Frenchmen, Italians of all ranks, all drawn to the great +general whose fame had now spread from end to end of Europe, proceeded. +There was hard fighting at Milazzo, but in time the city fell, and +Messina lay practically open to the invaders. A few more days and +Garibaldi was encamped there, resting and recuperating after the entire +liberation of Sicily. + +It is no exaggeration to say that fortune had showered her richest gifts +on Garibaldi during this campaign. In a few short weeks he had driven +all the Neapolitan forces out of the island with little loss of life to +his own men, had come into possession of money, arms, boats, stores of +all kinds, had increased his army to some 25,000 men, had become the +idol of all Sicily, to whom the red shirt became the proudest badge of +man or woman, had so thoroughly frightened King Francis II. that he was +unwilling to join his own army of defense, and had so completely aroused +Italy that from each town young and old poured forth to make their +way to his invincible standard. Through it all, he, whom fortune was +doing everything to spoil, remained as simple, as unmindful of personal +comfort or aggrandizement, as in his early days. He was at his best when +he won Sicily and planned his march on Naples, it was unfortunate that +the warrior should ever have attempted to become the statesman. + +Garibaldi's army remained at Messina for twenty-three days. During +part of that time the general was engaged in assuring the Sardinian +government that he had no interest in a revolutionary expedition which +was attempting to march into the Papal States. The rest of the time was +given to perfecting his plans for a descent on Calabria. + +August 19 the first detachment of the army sailed from Taormina in the +_Torino_ and the _Franklin_. The Neapolitan fleet was led into the +belief that the embarkation would be at Messina, and by this ruse the +ships succeeded in crossing to the mainland unmolested. They landed +at Melito, and early the next morning Garibaldi prepared to march on +Reggio. Again speed stood him in good stead. The new Army of the South, +as the Thousand with its recruits was now called, took the Neapolitan +general by surprise. At two in the morning Garibaldi's army marched +into the city to find the garrison asleep. The Neapolitan soldiers, +thoroughly alarmed at the appearance of the devil, as they named +Garibaldi, so suddenly among them, paid no heed to their officers and +rushed to a nearby fortress. There severe fighting occurred during +the afternoon and night, but finally the stronghold capitulated, and +the Garibaldians had won an important base on the mainland. He sent +to Messina for the remainder of his troops, and on August 22 began +that celebrated "promenade militaire" from Reggio to Naples, which +bore little resemblance to warfare, as the enemy fled as fast as he +approached, and the countrymen, as well as deserters from the army of +Naples, flocked to join his march. + +Matters had now come to such a pass that it was only necessary for +Garibaldi to appear before a town for it to capitulate; at Villa +San Giovanni, Garibaldi with a few hundred men back of him, ordered +12,000 Neapolitans to surrender, and they immediately did so. Again +at Soveria he ordered 1500 of the enemy to surrender and was obeyed. +It was enough for a red shirt to appear to cause the enemy to fly or +surrender, at certain parts of the march the Neapolitan soldiers walked +side by side with the Garibaldians. Town after town welcomed the great +general as the Liberator, as a second John the Baptist. Both natives +and Austrians looked upon him with religious awe. He had only to appear +to be surrounded with ecstatic multitudes, his scouts had merely to say +that Garibaldi was coming to send the enemy flying in all haste. In one +case it was enough to telegraph he was near the town of Salerno, the +defenders immediately decamped. + +The road to Naples lay open, the citizens of that easily-excited capital +were fairly beside themselves in eagerness to welcome the Liberator. +The general left Salerno by train on September 7, but as far as speed +was concerned he might almost as well have walked. The people of all +the towns on the route, Torre del Greco, Resina, Portici, turned out, +covered the railroad tracks, boarded the train, climbed on the engine, +shouting with joy, singing the Garibaldi hymn, frantic with enthusiasm +as they hailed the man who they believed brought with him the millennium. + +In Naples it was the same, there was no end to the uproar, to the +enthusiasm, to the adulation. Every one wore red, every one cheered, +even the troops of King Francis, who had retired to the castle and +fortress, could not resist the enthusiasm, and flung up their caps and +cheered for Garibaldi. + +Naples had no government, Garibaldi appointed a temporary governor, and +issued a proclamation glowing with patriotic fervor. + +"People of Naples-- + +"It is with feelings of the profoundest respect and love that I present +myself before you in this center of a noble and long-suffering people, +whom four centuries of tyranny have not been able to humiliate, and +whose spirit could never be broken by a ruthless despotism. The first +necessity of Italy is harmony and social order, without which the unity +of Italy is impossible. This day Providence has conferred that blessing +upon you, and has made me its minister. The same Providence has also +given you Victor Emmanuel, whom from this moment I will designate the +father of our country. + +"The model of all sovereigns, he will impress upon his posterity the +duty that they owe to a people, who have with so much enthusiasm chosen +him for their king. You are supported by the clergy, who, conscious +of their true mission, have with patriotic ardor and truly Christian +conduct, braved the gravest dangers of battle at the head of our Italian +soldiers. The good Monks of La Gancia, and the noble-hearted priests of +the Neapolitan continent have one and all assisted us in the good fight. + +"I repeat that harmony is the one essential thing for Italy, and let us +freely forgive those who, having disagreed with us, are now repentant, +and are willing to contribute their mite to build up the monument of our +national glory. + +"Lastly, we must make it apparent to all that, while we respect the +houses of other people, we are determined to be masters in our own +house, whether the powers of the earth like it or not.--G. Garibaldi." + +No sooner was the need for actual warfare at an end than countless +difficulties arose in the liberated city. Garibaldi was no +disciplinarian, he had always entrusted all harsh measures to others, +he refused to harbor suspicion or ill-will, his nature was patient and +simple and confiding. His sole concern was to drive the foreigners +out of Italy, beyond that he had few plans. But as soon as Naples was +free scores of theorists in government arose. Mazzini appeared, and +his followers tried to win Garibaldi over to their ideal republic, the +clerical party had another plan, the secret societies still another, +and the brigands who infested the country about Naples were already +intriguing for the return of the Bourbons, who had allowed them free +sway. Cavour sent his agents hurrying to Naples to keep the people quiet +and to urge them to advocate immediate annexation with Piedmont. He had, +however, a more difficult task on his hands at the same time. He feared +that Garibaldi would immediately march on Rome, and Cavour knew that +the Papal question could not be settled in any such summary fashion. +Napoleon would immediately intervene, and the Army of the South would +find itself fighting France. That was his great fear, and to prevent +the event if possible he sent the Army of Piedmont, of Lombardy, of +Tuscany south at the double quick. Victor Emmanuel must meet Garibaldi +before the latter crossed the Volturno if trouble with France were to be +avoided. + +Garibaldi, however, cared very little for diplomacy, his object was +to take Rome with all speed, and he refused to heed Cavour's agents. +Fortunately Francis II. of Naples finally decided to make a stand, and +so detained Garibaldi until the northern army could arrive. Mazzini had +said to Garibaldi, "If you are not on your way towards Rome or Venice +before three weeks are over, your initiative will be at an end." The +prophecy, like so many of Mazzini's, proved true. Garibaldi had to fight +several battles on the Volturno and besiege Capua before he could turn +towards Rome, and by that time Victor Emmanuel had reached the scene of +action. + +The last battles were the hardest fought of the campaign, but were +ultimately won by the Army of the South. Capua held out a little longer, +but finally fell, and Francis II. took himself safely to Gaeta. + +On October 10 Garibaldi had called for a popular vote in the Two +Sicilies for or against their annexation to Piedmont. The vote was +overwhelmingly for annexation. Garibaldi issued a final proclamation, +ending, "Italy one (as the metropolis has wisely determined she +shall be), under the King, _galantuomo_, who is the symbol of our +regeneration, and the prosperity of our country." He met the King, +and handed over to him his dictatorship of the kingdom of Naples and +Sicily. This moment, which was the climax of his great expedition, was +the proudest of his career. + +The general was still eager for an immediate march on Rome, but the King +would not have it. It was arranged that the Army of the South should be +incorporated with the royal army, and Garibaldi left Naples for Caprera. +He borrowed $100 to pay certain debts, and in the same meager state in +which he had set out he returned to his rock of Caprera to wait until he +should be needed. + +At Caprera the general, now become the most romantic figure in Europe, +received countless deputations of admirers from all nations. For a short +time he was content to resume his farm labors, but the thought of Rome +loomed ever larger in his mind. He had not the gift of patience now, he +was convinced that his army of volunteers could fight and overcome both +France and Austria. The delays of Cavour's policy irritated him, and +finally he went in April, 1861, to the Parliament at Turin to speak his +mind. He made a violent attack on Cavour, to which the latter would not +reply in kind. A few days later the two men met at the King's request +and pretended a reconciliation. Garibaldi could not appreciate Cavour's +temperate statecraft, Cavour realized that Garibaldi was becoming the +most difficult problem Italy had to face. Unfortunately for Garibaldi, +and doubly unfortunately for Italy, Cavour was failing in strength, and +only a short time after the scene in Turin the great Minister died. If +he had lived Italy would have been spared much that followed. + +Garibaldi returned to Caprera and watched from afar the policies of +the new premiers, first Ricasoli, then Rattazzi. The latter was always +suspected of French leanings, and the extremists were bitterly opposed +to him. He was a brilliant man, fated to meet disasters, as day after +day passed he found that the Garibaldian problem called ever louder +for solution. He saw that Genoa, Sicily, and Naples were hotbeds of +turbulence, he knew that the people of the last-named city had made +a god of Garibaldi, had built altars to him, and were imploring him +to lead them against the Pope, he knew that even in the Eternal City +hundreds were calling to him to deliver them. Yet Rattazzi also knew +that the problem of the temporal power of the Pope was one of concern +to all Europe, and that Italy was not ready to fight both France and +Austria. His final solution was this, one which must not be judged +too harshly when all the circumstances are considered, to encourage +Garibaldi to start a popular campaign against the Pope, and then send +the royal army to arrest him as fomenting civil strife. The plan +succeeded. In the spring of 1862 Garibaldi could restrain his eagerness +no longer. He announced to his delighted followers that he would lead +them to Rome. He was given to understand the government would not +actively interfere. So, two years after his first expedition, we find +him again arriving triumphantly in Sicily, again we find men of all +classes flocking to him, again by strategy he crossed the straits to +Calabria and took up his northward march. He had not gone far when he +found that the royal army was marching against him. He became convinced +of this when he bivouacked on the famous hill of Aspromonte and saw the +royal general, Pallavicini, camped opposite him. The next day he tried +to lead his soldiers past the other army, but they were stopped by the +regular troops. Both generals affirmed that they gave no orders to fire, +but nevertheless shots were exchanged, and both Garibaldi and his son +Menotti were wounded. A truce was agreed upon, and the volunteers were +placed under the charge of the royal army. Garibaldi became a state +prisoner, perhaps the most difficult prisoner any government ever had +to take upon its hands. All Italy was devoted to him, but found that +it could not control him. The government had been placed in the most +embarrassing situation conceivable, it had been obliged to disarm the +man who had just given the King two crowns. Aspromonte remains one of +the most unfortunate events in the great battle for Italian unity, but +it was in a large measure inevitable. Cavour might have contrived an +escape from it, but Garibaldi was too big a problem for his successors +to handle diplomatically. + +The wounded general was taken by slow conveyances to Scylla, and thence +to the fort of Varignano in the Gulf of Spezia. The wound was painful, +it was difficult to locate the bullet, for a long time he was obliged +to keep to his bed and postpone further political action. His illness, +however, gave his friends a golden opportunity to show their devotion; +women of all ranks fought for the chance to nurse the hero, delegations +from England, from Germany, from all parts of Italy made pilgrimages to +his prison, the hotels at Spezia, the nearest town to the fortress, were +continually crowded by Garibaldi worshipers. It seemed that what he had +suffered at Aspromonte had actually canonized him in the eyes of the +world. + +His imprisonment could not last long; October 5, 1862, the government +declared an amnesty covering all participators in the late expedition +against Rome except those soldiers who had left the regular army to +join the volunteers. Garibaldi was now moved to Spezia, thence after a +time to Pisa. Each city he passed greeted him tumultuously; in Pisa, the +night of his arrival, the Garibaldi hymn was cheered so loudly at the +theater that the manager abandoned the play and had nothing but the hymn +rendered all the evening, which pleased the audience greatly. At Pisa +the bullet was extracted from Garibaldi's foot, and his recovery became +more rapid. On December 20 he started for Caprera, giving a chance for +Leghorn to welcome him as he embarked for his island home. Once there +he found the rest of which he was so much in need, although visitors +continually besieged his little farm. The kindly instincts of his nature +showed in full flower, he gave whatever his children or his friends +asked of him, sacrificing his own comforts continually for their sake, +and continually being imposed upon. He wrote to the patriots suffering +in Poland and Denmark, and wished that he might go to aid them. Wherever +men were in trouble he sympathized, he could even find it in his heart +to contribute to the poor of Austria. + +There were friends of the national cause who feared that the affair +of Aspromonte had injured Garibaldi's prestige, and to revive it +in full glory they planned his triumphal visit to England in the +spring of 1863. Garibaldi had always admired the English, and there +was no question but that the people of England had always zealously +sided with Italy against France and Austria, no matter how strongly +their government might feel that diplomacy required a middle course. +The general went from Caprera to Southampton, and thence to London, +acclaimed by thousands, who rivaled the warm-spirited Neapolitans in +their heights of enthusiasm. The modest, benign-faced warrior was +fêted as a national deliverer, the streets of London rang with his +hymn, women adopted the famous red Garibaldi shirt as the latest +fashion, aristocrats and working people fought for the opportunity of +entertaining him. Before he could take up his northern tour, however, it +was announced that he was overtired and would have to leave the country +for rest. His physicians denied this, and it appears as most probable +that Louis Napoleon was so much displeased and even alarmed at the +popular acclaim given the general that he made his wish known to Lord +Palmerston that the guest leave English shores. Again Garibaldi proved a +serious burden to diplomacy, his very fame made him the more difficult +to deal with. So rather than cause further international trouble the +general bade England an affectionate farewell and returned to Caprera. + +The campaign of 1866, which won Venetia for the kingdom of Victor +Emmanuel, is not a glorious page in Italian history. Venice was freed +from Austria's rule because the Prussians won the battles of Sadowa and +Königgratz. What victories Italy won fell to the score of the volunteers +fighting with Garibaldi in the Lakes rather than to the regular army of +the new nation. From the date of the Liberator's return from England up +to the spring of 1866 he lived in comparative quiet, spending most of +his time at Caprera, and only making occasional visits to the mainland. +Meanwhile events were rapidly showing that Prussia and Austria must +soon fight for the supremacy in Germany, and Victor Emmanuel concluded +an alliance with Berlin. Then, in May, 1866, Garibaldi was asked by the +Italian Minister of War to take command of the volunteer forces. He +accepted gladly, and, as so often before, the news that he was about to +take the field was sufficient to gather innumerable patriots about him. +Unfortunately the generals of the regular army were again jealous of +Garibaldi, and continual obstacles were placed in his way, even his own +officers speedily formed cliques and wrought dissension in his command. +He was ordered to attack Austria from Como, and so through the Lakes +rather than from Hungary as he would have preferred. + +Yet, with all these obstacles the campaign started at Como with much +of the old spirit. Again the veterans of 1859 and 1860, many of the +famous Thousand, many who had fought at Messala and on the Volturno, +gathered, clad in red shirts, on the banks of Lake Como, and raised the +Garibaldi hymn. Scores of enthusiastic Englishmen could not keep away +from the Lakes, an Englishwoman and her husband followed the general all +through the campaign, carrying a cooking-stove and store of provisions +for their idol. But notwithstanding all the enthusiasm the efforts to +dislodge the enemy were not very successful. The Austrians were not as +easily frightened or defeated as had been the soldiers of the King of +Naples, and the people of the Tyrol did not rise and join Garibaldi's +ranks as had the Sicilians and Calabrians. The commissariat service +was wretched, time and again the troops bivouacked without shelter +or food, conflicting orders were given, and but for their remarkable +light-heartedness and faith in their general the men would have been +in very bad shape for any manner of combat. On the first day of real +fighting, at Rocca d'Anfo, Garibaldi was wounded in the thigh, and after +that had to direct operations from a carriage. Nevertheless, he lost +nothing of his confidence, and planned his successive moves through +the mountains and lakes with his old skill in this form of irregular +warfare. + +The actual military operations were of no permanent importance, +the volunteers were sent down the beautiful Lake of Como to Lecco +accompanied by a fleet of private boats filled with admiring friends. +From Lecco they went to Bergamo and thence to Brescia, and then for +a time their headquarters were at Salò, on the Lake of Garda. An +eye-witness contrasts their informal style of marching with that of the +regulars: "Some of them were lying at full length on bullock wagons, +with their rifles decorated with roses at their sides, others were +trudging sturdily along in the loosest manner, smoking, with their +shirts open, and their rugs rolled across their bodies." + +When Garibaldi had completed his plans for marching north he received +word from General La Marmora to take Lonato, and turned there from +Salò. The Austrians withdrew before the Italian advance, and the +latter army was free to enter the Trentino. Their first step in this +direction was to take the rocky fort of Rocca d'Anfo, and after that +they marched on Darzo, which was the scene of much fighting, and then +on to the fort of Ampola. On July 16 the volunteers dragged their +cannon into position on the mountains, and on the 17th the real attack +began. Ampola capitulated, and the march to Riva began through the +Ledro valley. At a village near Bizecca they were attacked early in the +morning. The Austrians opened fire from the village houses. Chiassi, +one of Garibaldi's veterans, was killed, and for a time the volunteers +made little headway. Garibaldi's two sons and his son-in-law Canzio +did their utmost to encourage the men behind them, and gradually what +had threatened to be a rout was turned into a victory. Bizecca was +immediately captured, and the troops had started their march to Lardaro +when news came that an armistice was being arranged, and orders were +brought to Garibaldi bidding him leave the Trentino. + +The Italian army had met with a reverse at the battle of Custozza, +but fortunately their Prussian allies had already won the two great +victories of Königgratz and Sadowa and were in a position to dictate +terms to Austria. The oft-fought-over Venetian provinces became at last +part of the kingdom of Italy. Venice was added to her sister cities, +which now only lacked Rome. The Tyrol, however, was left with Austria, +and so Garibaldi viewed the peace with disappointment. He was confident +that his volunteers could have won it, and found this another instance +of the mistakes of statesmanship. + +As after the expedition of the Thousand, so after the campaign in the +Lakes, Garibaldi found that he could not rest quietly with Rome in Papal +hands. Italy was bound by agreement with France to leave Pius IX. in +temporary possession of the Eternal City, but Garibaldi cared little +or nothing for his country's obligations. He showed in a hundred ways +that he was unwilling that the kingdom should have rest or a chance to +recuperate until the city on the Tiber was won, and so again in 1867, as +in 1862, he became a tremendously difficult problem to the government, +the seat of which had been moved from Turin to Florence, and of which +Rattazzi was again the head. + +As soon as the French left Rome a number of revolutionary societies +commenced operations in that city, and Garibaldi was asked to act in +conjunction with them. He made an electioneering tour in the spring +of 1867, and was received at Venice, at Verona, and at Legnano with a +veneration that partook of religious awe. He was elected deputy in the +new Parliament from four districts. He next appeared at the meeting +of the Universal Peace Congress at Geneva, and spoke against the +priesthood, denouncing the Papacy with his accustomed ardor. He then +returned to Italy and in a fiery speech at the Villa Cairoli called on +his countrymen to march on Rome. He started for the Papal frontier, +and the volunteers collected about him so rapidly that Rattazzi was +again obliged to arrange for his arrest. At Sinalunga he was taken +prisoner, and conveyed to Alessandria, and there arrangements were made +to take him to his home at Caprera and keep him virtually imprisoned +there. Unfortunately Garibaldi could not be kept quiet; even when his +island was guarded by four steamers and a frigate he managed to send +appeals to the mainland and keep the revolutionary party alert. Other +leaders were attacking Rome by now, Nicotera was advancing from Naples, +Menotti Garibaldi was waging guerilla warfare near Tivoli, the brothers +Cairoli--name famous in Italian annals--made their daring attack at the +Vigna Glori. Pius IX. and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Antonelli, +were not having a pleasant time in Rome. Barracks were blown up, bombs +were discovered, petitions were presented from his subjects urging him +to call in the army of Victor Emmanuel. + +Meanwhile Garibaldi planned and executed his daring escape from Caprera. +He pretended to be ill, and then one dark night set off in a small boat +for Sardinia. He lay hidden until he could get horses to take him to +Porta Prudenza, and from there sailed with his son-in-law Canzio to +the mainland. A day or two later he was brazenly haranguing the people +from the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The government learned that +they could not control him, and now concluded to repeat the tactics of +Aspromonte, and allow him to bring about his own destruction. + +At Terni Garibaldi began active campaigning. He met his troops, and +planned an immediate attack on the town of Monte Rotondo, which crowns +a hill overlooking the Tiber and the roads to Rome. The hill town was +hotly defended, but the volunteers finally took it. From there, after +a short stay, Garibaldi moved his army, now numbering 15,000 men, on +towards the Ponte della Mentana, some four and a half miles from Rome. +It is said that an agreement had been made by which the Papal governor +of the castle of St. Angelo was to surrender his post for a sum of +money, and that this sum was raised by Garibaldi's English friends, but +through treachery was not properly used. This occasioned some delay, and +by that time French troops had been landed and were marching to the aid +of their allies, the Papal guards. + +The general was obliged to retreat temporarily to Monte Rotondo, and +there he issued a public address. He relied on the fact that the Roman +Republic of 1849 had made him a Roman general. After rehearsing the +facts of the Italian government's position he said, "Then will I let +the world know that I alone, a Roman general, with full power, elected +by the universal suffrage of the only legal government in Rome, the +Republic, have the right to maintain myself armed in this, the territory +under my jurisdiction; and then if these my volunteers, champions of +liberty and Italian unity, wish to have Rome as the capital of Italy, +fulfilling the vote of Parliament and of the nation, they must not put +down their arms until Italy shall have acquired liberty of conscience +and worship, built upon the ruin of Jesuitism, and until the soldiers of +tyrants shall be banished from our land." + +The French had now joined the Papal army, and the Italian troops were +massing in Garibaldi's rear. On November 3 he started towards Tivoli, +but had to fall back on Mentana, and there occurred the battle which +decided the fate of the expedition. The volunteers fought with the +greatest courage and enthusiasm, but their arms were no match for the +new chassepots of the French. Garibaldi had to fall back on Monte +Rotondo, and there, on discovering that his men had scarcely a cartridge +left, he was forced to order a further retreat. The expedition was at +an end, the volunteers were disbanded, and Garibaldi took train to +Florence. There he was arrested and conveyed a prisoner to the fort of +Varignano. + +The battle of Mentana had cost many Italian lives. Victor Emmanuel +was deeply grieved and had a message sent to the French Emperor: "The +last events have suffocated every remembrance of gratitude in the heart +of Italy. It is no longer in the power of the government to maintain +an alliance with France, the chassepot gun at Mentana has given it a +fatal blow." The battle therefore had the result of severing the tacit +alliance between Italy and France, and henceforth the problem of Roman +occupation became simpler to the King's government. + +In 1870 the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war compelled Napoleon to +defend his own borders, and no longer to support a Papal government in +a foreign land. When the French and Germans were fighting the question +of the temporal power of the Church was quietly settled, with almost no +fighting and little outside attention, by the entrance of the King of +Italy into Rome. At last Italy was united. Garibaldi had nothing to do +with this final occupation, for which he had laid plans since his early +South American days. + +When Napoleon was eliminated from French politics Garibaldi could +no longer restrain his ardor for the republican government. He took +sword, and left Caprera to volunteer for service with France. He was +given command of the army of the Vosges, and his campaign against the +Prussians at Autun and Dijon was at least as successful as that of the +regular French generals. The Prussians were too strong, the Army of the +East gave way before them, and Garibaldi's brief campaign was at an +end. After the peace he was elected deputy from Paris, Dijon, and Nice, +but was not allowed to sit in the Assembly on the ground that he was a +foreigner. He received the official thanks of the French government and +returned home. + +There remained a somewhat turbulent old age for Garibaldi. Italy was +united and rapidly growing stronger under the happy influence of +continued peace. Garibaldi, however, could not remain quiet, and when +he appeared in public he was publicly worshiped and privately feared. +He became more and more ardently a republican as time went on, and his +republicanism was only too apt to take the color of the last man with +whom he had talked. He was not an able original thinker, and except in +military manoeuvers had always been too much inclined to lean on the +advice of others. + +In the elections of 1874 the general was chosen by several districts, +among others the city of Rome, to sit in the Senate. He made a triumphal +progress from Caprera to the capital, and when he was sworn in as a +Senator the members forgot all past and present difficulties and +cheered to the echo the man who had led the Thousand from Genoa to +Naples. He went to the Quirinal to see the King, a sovereign whom he had +ardently admired since the time when he had first seen him in battle. +A little later we find him a member of a committee with the King and +Prince Torlonia to divert the course of the Tiber and improve the +Campagna. + +Meanwhile at Caprera Francesca, the devoted woman who had first gone +there to nurse Garibaldi's daughter, had taken Anita's position, and +become the mother of the general's youngest children, Manlio and Clelia. +In 1880 the Court of Appeal at Rome declared Garibaldi's marriage to +Giuseppina Raymondi, the adventuress who had taken advantage of him long +before, null and void. Fortunately the marriage had been contracted +under Austrian and not Italian jurisdiction. Had it been otherwise the +annulment would not have been allowed. Immediately on receipt of the +news Garibaldi and Francesca were married. At Caprera Garibaldi lived +like an island prince, continually receiving visits and presents from +admirers of all nations. + +Yet, for all his domestic happiness, the old warrior would mix in public +affairs, and almost always as an opponent of the existing government. +Even when his old friend and comrade-in-arms, Benedetto Cairoli, fourth +of the famous brothers, became Prime Minister, he was not content with +his policies. He embarrassed the government by continually writing +ultra-radical letters to the newspapers. Two or three times more he +appeared in public, became again an active figure when his son-in-law +Canzio was arrested at a turbulent meeting in Genoa, and resigned his +seat in the National Chambers. He was, however, too worn out physically +to make further dangerous expeditions, and was persuaded to leave the +more active part to younger men. In 1882 he died at Caprera. + +Neither the character nor the achievements of Garibaldi are difficult +to estimate. His character was simple, he was ingenuously frank and +open-minded, absolutely sincere, warm-hearted, and forgiving to a fault. +His whole career is filled with instances in which his generosity was +traded on, notably the case of his second marriage. He was always +frugal, unostentatious, unselfish, never did a breath of public scandal +sully his name. Although he had many opportunities to gain wealth he +was always poor. During the last days of his life he enjoyed a pension +from the government, but the most of that was given to his children or +dispensed in charity. + +Given this true, straightforward nature, we find that from his boyhood +he had above everything desired a free united Italy, with Rome as +its capital. The name Rome never failed to thrill him. So long as +the master-hand of Cavour was ready to guide him Garibaldi proceeded +gloriously forward, the crusader who could lead men into battle and fill +them with a great enthusiasm. Cavour could fight against the Mazzinian +theories of a republic, he had to fight hard to keep the soldier in +the straight path, particularly in those early days in Naples, but he +succeeded, and saw Garibaldi proudly deliver Naples and Sicily into the +care of his King. How great was Cavour's steering hand we find in later +years; without that powerful mind to control him, Garibaldi fell under +the influence of many different types of men, and his simple confiding +nature found it easy to trust each seeming friend in turn. The very +virtue of his nature acted against him then, he became a tool for men +to use, his great name a flag for any new quixotic idea. It was only +when he was fighting that he was his own commander, at other times he +was ever ready to sink his own opinions in those of others. The latter +part of his life was therefore continually stormy, he had not the art to +weather varying changes in national sentiment. + +Almost as easy to estimate as his character were his achievements. They +were superlatively great for Italy. Nobody can tell whether Cavour's +diplomacy alone would ever have won the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. +Garibaldi started from Genoa on an expedition that seemed doomed +to disaster, but which, successfully begun, carried all opposition +before it. It is true that the army of Francis II. was poor, and that +the battles, with the exception of Calatafimi in Sicily, are not to +be classed as great conflicts, but Garibaldi did much more than win +battles, he roused the people to a pitch of fighting spirit they had +never known before. The fame of the Thousand spread across Europe, and +with it rose European admiration and interest in the Italian cause. +Foreigners joined his army, and when the great general met Victor +Emmanuel and gave over the two crowns he had won the eyes of the whole +world were focused on the sovereign and the hero. The glory of that +expedition could not fade, whatever Garibaldi did later could not efface +the memory of those great days; even the governments that found him +rebelling against the laws and treaties they had made could not but +thrill at the recollection of the days of 1860 and 1861. The red shirt +became an oriflamme to lovers of liberty in all lands, the Garibaldian +hymn set hearts to dancing with pride and exultation, the simple soldier +with his dramatic effects of life and bearing became an Italian national +hero with all the mythical charm of a Cid Campeador or a William Tell. +He will take a place in Italian legendary history that was empty until +his day. + +This atmosphere of romance that surrounded him was of his nature. He +wrote two books, one, "The Rule of the Monk," which appeared after his +imprisonment at Varignano, the other, "The Thousand," after the Vosges +campaign. They were both extravagant, artificial, as wildly eventful +as any novels ever penned. Yet in a sense they catch the flavor of +his own career. When he describes the monks he pictures them as they +actually seemed to him, agents of the power which had so hounded him +after the siege of Rome, and which had executed his friend Ugo Bassi. +When he writes of "The Thousand" he shows his followers as men capable +of any heroism, and the expedition becomes one series of marvellous +adventures. He saw that intensely dramatic side of the struggle, and he +became the symbol of that dramatic element in the eyes of the world. His +country needed that symbol, the glory of a crusader was as essential to +Italian redemption as the soul-stirring fanaticism of a Mazzini, the +statecraft of a Cavour, or the kingship of a Victor Emmanuel. He was +the living personification of the great fight for liberty; that was his +contribution to the cause. + + + + +VICTOR EMMANUEL, THE KING + + +Few royal families in Europe possess as proud a record as the House +of Savoy. Legend carries their race as Princes back to 998, when an +exiled noble of Saxon birth settled in Burgundy, and ultimately built +a family stronghold at the pass of Moriana on the frontier of Savoy. +This prince was known as Humbert of the White Hand. He was followed by +a series of fighting, ambitious, able descendants, who gradually carved +for themselves the Dukedom of Savoy, and married into the most powerful +of contemporary royal families. Their small state was so centrally +placed that it early became a storm-center, and for centuries the Dukes +were famous as warrior-adventurers, fighting now under the banner of +the Empire, now under that of Spain or of France. Happily the Dukes of +Savoy shared little of the tyrannical natures of their neighbors, they +were not altogether saintly, but they were surprisingly merciful and +just in an age famous for cruel bigotry. Emmanuel Philibert, better +known as "Testa di Ferro," or "Head of Iron," one of the most popular of +Piedmont's heroes, became a great favorite with the Emperor Charles V., +was a general of renown, and secured firm possession of his Savoy lands. +From his time the position of the family became more assured. + +In 1703, Victor Amadeus, fifteenth Duke of Savoy, assumed the title +of King of Sicily, as a result of a treaty following his defense of +Turin and overturning of the Bourbon power in Italy. Shortly thereafter +Sicily was exchanged for Sardinia and certain territories adjoining his +frontiers, and the title of the head of the house of Savoy became King +of Sardinia. + +Victor Emmanuel I. of Sardinia, who succeeded his brother Charles +Emmanuel IV., was a brave, thoroughly good-hearted man, whose nature +was, however, absolutely mediæval. He was much under the influence of +Austria, to whose Emperor he had given a promise that he would never +grant his people a free constitution. He finally abdicated in favor of +his brother Charles Felix, a man of a much narrower nature, who did all +in his power to check the free-thinking sentiments rapidly spreading +through his people as a result of the Revolution in France. When he +died in 1831 the elder branch of the House of Savoy came to an end, +but fortunately there was a distantly related younger branch, known as +the Princes of Carignano and Savoy. The seventh Prince of this line, +Charles Albert, born in 1798, had married a daughter of the Grand Duke +of Tuscany, and had been a great favorite with Victor Emmanuel I. On the +death of that King he had acted for a short time as regent for Charles +Felix, and had then served in the war between France and Spain, winning +a great reputation for bravery. When Charles Felix died he succeeded him +as King of Sardinia in 1831. + +Charles Albert was one of the most interesting characters of the early +Nineteenth Century, a man of the noblest character, burning with the +desire to free Italy from the foreigner, but always suspicious that he +was not the man to do it. This suspicion was continually played upon by +the clerical party at the court of Turin, and with the result that the +King, as firm a Roman Catholic as his ancestors, and by nature devout +almost to mysticism, was the continual battle-field of the warring +sentiments of love of liberty and love of the Church. During the reign +of Victor Emmanuel I. the liberal party in Piedmont looked upon Charles +Albert as their natural leader. He often spoke of his desire to see +Italy united, and made little concealment of his hostility to Austria +and the Bourbon princes. Yet, when he was actually invited to lead the +Piedmont "Federates" as they were called, whose object was simply the +confederation of Italy, he could not make up his mind to accept. As +Santa Rosa, the leader of the party, said, "He both would, and would +not." + +Victor Emmanuel I., bound by his promise to the house of Austria, had +yet seen that his people were bent on reforms, and rather than break +his word and grant a constitution he had abdicated in favor of Charles +Felix. Immediately the liberals had besieged the regent, Charles Albert, +with petitions and a show of force which could not be denied. He had +then proclaimed the constitution, accompanying it with this declaration: +"Our respect and submission to his majesty Charles Felix, to whom the +throne belongs, would have hindered us making any fundamental change in +the laws of the realm until the sovereign's intentions were known; but +as the force of circumstances is manifest, and we desire to render to +the new King his people safe, uninjured, and happy, and not in a civil +war, having maturely considered everything, and with the advice of our +council, we have decided, in the hope that his majesty, moved by the +same considerations, will give his approval, that the constitution of +Spain shall be promulgated." + +But Charles Felix, when he came to Turin, would have none of this +constitution, and Charles Albert left Piedmont under the shadow of his +kinsman's displeasure. When a few years later he himself ascended the +throne the popular idea of him as an advocate of liberalism was still +current, and it was this idea which led Mazzini to write to the new +sovereign that remarkable letter on behalf of "Young Italy," commencing, +"All Italy waits for one word--one only--to make herself yours." But +Charles Albert was at that crucial moment under priestly influence, +and he paid no heed to the letter, as a result of which the growing +Mazzinian party, which might have been attached to the interests of the +House of Savoy, became strongly republican. + +The Jesuits at Turin, secret agents of the Austrian government, did +their utmost to frighten the King with gross misrepresentations as to +the liberals. When new conspiracies broke out in 1833 Charles Albert +was influenced to punish the rebels severely. Gradually the popular +idea concerning the King changed, and those who had thought to find +in him an emancipator became slowly convinced that he was as rigid a +reactionary as any of his predecessors. So the poor King, really ardent +in his country's cause, played upon by his courtiers and the insidious +clericals, watched his chances of leading Italy against Austria +gradually dwindle. + +Some men, however, still believed that Charles Albert was the only +present hope for Italy, and chief among these men was Massimo +d'Azeglio. He was a man of keen insight and high character, and had +traveled through all the states of Italy studying the forces making +towards nationality. At the end of his travels he had an audience of +Charles Albert at Turin, and reported what he had found. His estimate +of the King was justified by the reply Charles Albert made to him. "Let +those gentlemen know," said the King, "that for the present they must +remain quiet; but when the time comes, let them be certain that my life, +the lives of my sons, my arms, my treasures--all shall be freely spent +in the Italian cause." + +Then came the election of Pius IX. to the throne of Saint Peter, and +a great wave of enthusiasm swept through the liberal party throughout +Italy. Pius was a great advance on the narrow, mediæval-minded Leo XII. +and Gregory XVI., who had preceded him. The Romans felt new hope, and +with each month the great enthusiasm spread until it culminated in the +sudden Lombard expulsion of the Austrians from Milan. Charles Albert +must have seen the signs that preceded the eventful years of 1848 and +1849. He had decided to grant a constitution to his people, whether +Austria liked it or not, and on February 7, 1848, proclaimed the famous +_Statuto_. Events hurried, a short time and Lombardy and Venice were +in arms and Piedmont determined on supporting them. Charles Albert, +and his eldest son, Victor Emmanuel, threw themselves utterly into the +national cause. + +On March 14, 1820, the Prince Victor Emmanuel was born in the +Carignano Palace at Turin, his father being then simply the Prince of +Savoy-Carignano. With the accession of Charles Felix the family moved +to a villa near Florence, and there the young Prince spent his early +boyhood. His younger brother, Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, was born in +1822. After the reconciliation between Charles Felix and the Prince of +Carignano the latter took up his residence in the castle of Racconigi, +in Piedmont. When Prince Victor was eleven years old his father came +to the throne, and thenceforth the young Prince lived in Turin. He and +his brother were inseparable, although widely different in temperament, +Victor enthusiastic, impulsive, overflowing with animal spirits, +Ferdinand more prudent, calm, and thoughtful, strongly resembling his +father. + +Charles Albert devoted the greatest care to the education and military +training of his sons, and both fully repaid his care. Victor Emmanuel, +Duke of Savoy, was not a great student, but he was keenly interested in +everything that pertained to government, sympathetic, observant, deeply +imbued with the desire to see Italy free and Piedmont the leader in +that cause. His manners were essentially frank and cordial, his whole +bearing inspired confidence. At twenty-one he was of middle height, +powerfully built, with features strong, rather than handsome, a curling +mustache adding to the military aspect of his face. At twenty-two he +sought the hand of his first cousin, Maria Adelaide, daughter of the +Austrian Archduke Ranieri, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venice, and of Charles +Albert's only sister. The chief objection to the marriage was the fact +that the Princess Adelaide was partly Austrian, but Victor overcame this +objection, and the marriage took place in 1842. It was not long before +the young Princess had become the idol of Piedmont through her many +gifts of charm. + +When the news of the rising of Milan on March 18, 1848, came to Turin +the Duke of Savoy was filled with joy. The King and his ministers were +deliberating with deep concern the position that Piedmont should adopt, +but the young Prince was concerned only with taking the field against +Austria. He had that pure love for the dangers of war which had been +such a marked characteristic of his ancestors, and which had made the +House of Savoy famous during the Middle Ages. The biographer Massari +wrote of him later, "Without using a profusion of words, it is enough +to say that under the canvas or in the battle-field he showed himself +worthy of his race. He who knows the story of the Savoy dynasty knows +that there is no higher eulogium than this." + +He was given a command in the troops that were hurried to the aid of +Lombardy, and fought his first battle at Santa Lucia on May 6th. He +was conspicuous for courage, and in addition to his personal power +of inspiring his soldiers with enthusiasm, proved himself a careful +general. At Goito, where the Austrians took the troops of Piedmont by +surprise, the Duke of Savoy converted a retreat into a desperate attack +by throwing himself before the troops and calling on them to save the +honor of Savoy. He was wounded in the thigh, but fought on, and at +length had the satisfaction of reporting to his father that Piedmont had +won the day. He was awarded a medal for valor on the field of action, +but he valued more the wound which he had won in fighting for Italy. + +The fortunes of war soon brought a change. The other states of Italy +did not come to the aid of Lombardy as Charles Albert had been given +assurances that they would. Pius IX. had placed an army in the field +to prevent Austrian outrages on his frontiers, but had given them +orders not to attack the enemy. The King of Naples had declared his +intention of siding with the other Italian states, but by deceit and +treachery kept his army too far from the scene of action to be of any +use. The Venetians were fully occupied with their revolution at home, +the Lombards had already begun to determine what they would do when they +were free, and Piedmont was left practically alone to fight the rapidly +reviving army of Austria. + +One more victory was won at Staffola, but the next day the Piedmontese +were attacked again and defeated at Custozza. The King was advised to +retreat across the Po to Piacenza, but instead felt that his duty called +him to Milan. He entered that city, but his army, worn out, and attacked +by a much superior force, could not defend the Lombard capital, and he +was forced to capitulate. The Milanese were not grateful, they bitterly +assailed the King for what they called his treachery, and he escaped +from the city through the aid of a young officer, later the General La +Marmora. + +Still the unfortunate King would not abandon the war, although he +saw the hopelessness of the situation, left as he was to fight +single-handed. March 20, 1849, the fighting recommenced, and lasted for +three days. At Martara the pick of the Piedmontese army were destroyed. +When Charles Albert heard the news he realized that he was destined to +utter defeat. Yet he took up the march to Novara, stoical as became his +race. The battle of Novara, fought March 23, 1849, marked the end. The +Piedmontese fought heroically, the Duke of Savoy led his men time and +again to the attack, his younger brother, the Duke of Genoa, had three +horses killed under him, but bravery could not overcome the disparity in +strength. An armistice was asked for, but the terms of Marshal Radetsky +were too hard to accept. The King said to his generals, "Gentlemen, +we cannot accept these conditions. Is it possible that we can resume +hostilities?" The answer was a unanimous "no." Then the unfortunate King +laid down the burdens of his too heavy office in these touching words: +"From eighteen years till now I have always made every effort possible +for the benefit of the people. I am deeply afflicted to see that my +hopes have failed, not so much for my own sake as for the country's. +I have not been able to find death on the field of battle, as I had +desired; perhaps my existence is now the only obstacle to obtaining from +the enemy reasonable terms, and since there remains no further means +of continuing hostilities, I abdicate this moment, in favor of my son +Vittorio, in the hope that, renewing negotiations with Radetsky, the +new King may obtain better conditions, and procure for the country an +advantageous peace. Behold your King!" + +The entreaties of the son and the generals were useless, Charles Albert +was determined. He knew that his dream of liberating Italy was over, +that he was not the man for the great work. That night he set out with +one companion for Oporto in Portugal, there to live obscurely while his +son took up the heavy burden of rebuilding Piedmont's hopes. + +Victor Emmanuel came to the throne at a distressing moment, but from +the first he showed the true metal of his nature. His father had been a +dreamer, a theorist, alternating between eagerness to press forward and +the desire to retain what he already had. His character, although fine, +was not robust. The young King, however, was essentially robust-natured, +the very type of man above all others needed at this particular crisis. +He faced Marshal Radetsky fearlessly, and, when the Austrian general +insisted on the same terms demanded of his father, including the +immediate expulsion of all Italian exiles from the state of Piedmont, +replied, "Sooner than subscribe to such conditions I would lose a +hundred crowns. What my father has sworn I will maintain. If you wish a +war to the death, be it so! I will call my nation to arms once more, and +you will see what Piedmont is capable of in a general rising. If I must +fall, it shall be without shame. My house knows the road of exile, but +not of dishonor." + +Finally an armistice was concluded. The King of Sardinia was to disband +all the military corps composed of Lombards, Poles, Hungarians, and +other foreign peoples, retaining only those who chose to remain his +subjects permanently; a heavy war indemnity was to be paid to Austria, +half the fortress of Alessandria was to be given up to Austria, and her +troops were to be allowed to occupy Piedmontese territory between the +rivers Po, Sesia, and Ticino. It was a hard bargain that Austria drove. + +Victor Emmanuel returned to his capital to find many of its citizens +disaffected by the appeals of the republican party. All Turin was in +despair over the sad termination of a campaign that had promised so +much. The King, the Queen, and their two sons, Humbert, aged five, +and Amadeus, aged four, were received with the coldest regard as they +appeared in public. The King issued this proclamation to his people: +"Citizens,--Untoward events and the will of my most venerated parent +have called me, long before my time, to the throne of my ancestors. +The circumstances under which I hold the reins of government are such +that nothing but the most perfect concord in all will enable me, and +then with difficulty, to fulfil my only desire, the salvation of our +common country. The destines of nations are matured in the designs of +Providence, but man owes to his country all the service he is capable +of, and in this debt we have not failed. Now all our efforts must be +to maintain our honor untarnished, to heal the wounds of our country, +to consolidate our constitutional institutions. To this undertaking I +conjure all my people, to it I will pledge myself by a solemn oath, +and I await from the nation the exchange of help, affection, and +confidence.--Victor Emmanuel." + +On March 29 the new King took the oath to the constitution which had so +recently been granted by his father. General Delaunay formed the new +ministry, which almost immediately decided to dissolve Parliament and +call a general election. Meanwhile Victor Emmanuel was wholly engaged +with the peace negotiations, and tried to enlist the influence of +England and France in Sardinia's behalf. The Delaunay ministry divided +on the terms of peace, and the King was in despair as to whom he +should call upon as steersman in such troubled seas. He finally turned +to Massimo d'Azeglio, who was suffering from a wound he had received +at Vicenza, and who had little taste at any time for the burdens of +premiership. He found it impossible, however, to refuse his young +sovereign at this hour. He accepted the post, although reluctantly. +Fortunately the views of the King and those of D'Azeglio coincided on +almost all matters. The King was charmed with D'Azeglio's polish and +talents in so many diverse lines; the Minister, much older than the +King, was delighted with Victor Emmanuel's frank enthusiasms. It was he +who gave the King his proudest title. One day he remarked, "There have +been so few honest kings in the world that it would be a splendid thing +to begin the series." "And am I to play the part of that honest king?" +asked Victor Emmanuel. "Your majesty has sworn to the constitution," was +the answer, "and has taken thought not alone of Piedmont, but of all +Italy. Let us continue in this path, and hold that a king as well as a +private individual has only one word, and must stand by that." + +"That," replied the King, "seems easy to me." + +"Behold then," said D'Azeglio, "we have the Rè galantuomo!" + +And "Rè galantuomo" was the name Victor Emmanuel wrote in the register +of the Turin census, and the title his people were most glad to give him. + +The first months were very troubled, the second Assembly was captious, +and continually in opposition to the King and his ministers. There were +too many hot-headed representatives of Mazzini's "Young Italy," which, +as D'Azeglio said, "Being young cannot be expected to have much sense, +and certainly has little." The King fell ill of a fever, and for a time +it seemed possible he might not recover and that the country would have +to endure a regency during his son's minority. Most providentially for +Italy he did recover, and shortly after the National Assembly was again +dissolved, and a popular appeal made to the people. The King issued a +royal proclamation which was heeded by the electors, and as a result of +which more moderate men were sent to the succeeding Parliament. + +The new government boldly took up the question of whether the clergy +were entitled to special ecclesiastical tribunals under the constitution +to which Victor Emmanuel had just sworn. The ministers proposed to do +away with such courts as unconstitutional. Immediately the bishops were +up in arms, and a conflict between State and Church began. The King +was besought by his mother not to oppose the Church, to be a true son +of the Church as his ancestors had been, but Victor Emmanuel, although +always grieved at the need to oppose the clergy, stood by his ministers. +The Church courts were abolished, and the people, long tired of +ecclesiastical overlorddom, acclaimed King and ministry as true lovers +of liberty. + +This firm stand of the new government immediately caused the greatest +ill-will on the part of the Catholic Church, an ill-will which was shown +in a multitude of ways. A member of the ministry, the Cavalier Santa +Rosa, a devout Roman Catholic, became very ill, and asked his confessor +to administer the sacrament to him. The priest was forbidden to do this +at the express command of the bishop, and although every effort was +made by Santa Rosa's friends to obtain for him what he wished, not only +did the bishop remain obdurate, but the curate in attendance actually +insulted the dying man until he was forced to leave the house. Santa +Rosa died without having received the sacrament, and the history of +the event inflamed the minds of Piedmont more than ever against the +narrowness of the Church. The offending bishop was imprisoned, and an +exchange of notes followed between Victor Emmanuel and the Pope. The +latter complained of the freedom of speech allowed by the Sardinian +King to his people, and in reply D'Azeglio issued a pamphlet setting +forth his views of the unwarranted assumption of civil authority by +the Church. The death of Santa Rosa left a vacancy in the ministry +which D'Azeglio filled by inviting the Count Camille Cavour to take the +portfolio of Agriculture and Commerce. It was known that the new man was +bold and original, but not even D'Azeglio realized what a commanding +spirit he had invited into his official family. The King alone seems to +have gauged Cavour correctly. "Take care," he said to D'Azeglio, "this +Cavour will rule you all, he will dispose of you; he must become Prime +Minister." Fortunate it was for Italy that the King's prediction was to +be fulfilled. + +Meanwhile Victor Emmanuel, the only constitutional sovereign in Italy, +was bitterly assailed by the Bourbon rulers. Ferdinand, King of Naples, +once more secure upon his throne, lost no opportunity to express his +disapproval of a king who was both a nationalist and a liberal. There +was continual friction between Turin and Vienna, largely because of the +outspoken views of the Piedmontese press with regard to the Austrian +treatment of Lombardy. The European Powers, with the exception of +England, looked upon Piedmont as an unruly child continually making +trouble. England alone was sincerely friendly to the House of Savoy, and +keenly interested in Victor Emmanuel's hopes for a united country. + +New troubles arose between the Papacy and Piedmont over the latter's +advocacy of a civil marriage law. D'Azeglio and Cavour disagreed, and +the ministry resigned. The King asked D'Azeglio to form a new Cabinet, +leaving out Cavour, whom, he said, "we will want later, but not yet." +The new ministry was formed, but only a few months later D'Azeglio, +harassed by the trouble with Rome, and still suffering from his old +wound, resigned, and advised the King to summon Cavour. Victor Emmanuel +hesitated, fearing that Cavour would push matters forward too fast. When +finally approached, Cavour said that he could not take office in view of +the Church's exorbitant demands, but he at last consented. The King had +relegated his personal desire not to antagonize the clergy farther, to +his conviction that his country needed a strong hand at the helm, and, +the decision once made, trusted his new minister completely. + +There were many difficulties to be met. Austria accused Piedmont of +fostering the small revolts which were continually breaking out in +Lombardy, the war indemnity--eighty million francs--was heavy and had +to be raised by new taxation which was of course universally unpopular. +Both at home and abroad the time was trying, but Victor Emmanuel found +that in Cavour he had a man who was not afraid of unpopularity, who +knew the art of steering between the radicals and the conservatives, +and who could make use of the politicians of all the different schools. +In Parliament he could more than hold his own with any opponent, in his +management of foreign affairs he already showed that extraordinary +diplomatic skill which at no late day was to win him the reputation of +the first statesman in Europe. Both King and Minister were imperious by +nature, but both also wise enough to sink their individual wills when +they realized that the cause which they had so much at heart required it +of them. So events led to the outbreak of the Crimean War. + +The steps which led up to Sardinia's alliance with England and France +against Russia belong to the story of Cavour's diplomacy. Sufficient +it is to say here that Victor Emmanuel was heartily in favor of the +alliance, and would, if he could, have proceeded to it by more direct +means than Cavour deemed essential. The King was anxious to redeem the +glory of Piedmont's arms, but the Minister, with his cabinet opposed +to him on the ground that the war was a purely foreign one, had to +consider popular sentiment. Finally, however, Cavour gave the word that +the treaty might be signed in safety, and the King, his mind made up +long in advance, set his name to the important document that was to send +his army to foreign battle-fields. The instance was one in which Victor +Emmanuel's firmness of purpose aided and abetted Cavour's diplomacy. +Dabormida resigned as Foreign Minister, and Cavour immediately took his +post. + +At the same time the King had heavy burdens to bear in his immediate +family. His mother, to whom he was devoted, died, bidding him stand fast +by the conservative traditions of his father. His wife, the beautiful +Queen Adelaide, died shortly afterwards, and the King lost an adviser +who had always counseled him wisely and helpfully, and whom he had +worshiped as an ideal wife and mother of his sons. Less than a month +later his brother Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, died, a man intensely +high-spirited and brave, the constant companion of Victor Emmanuel's +youth. No wonder that the King felt that he was left solitary. He +had small time to give to his feelings, however. "They tell me," he +said, "that God has struck me with a judgment, and has torn from me my +mother, my wife, and my brother, because I consented to those laws, and +they threaten me with greater punishments. But do they not know that +a sovereign who wishes to secure his own happiness in the other world +ought to labor for the happiness of his people on this earth?" + +There were more trials immediately in store. The Church owned more than +a tenth part of the landed property of Piedmont, and the religious +houses were extravagantly wealthy. The government, planning reforms, +decided that some modification of this condition must be made, and so +Rattazzi, then Minister of Grace and Justice, introduced his bill for +the suppression of certain of the religious houses and other similar +reforms. Immediately the bishops and the conservatives were up in arms, +and Victor Emmanuel had to bear the brunt of an attack which proclaimed +him an infidel, an enemy of religion, and which predicted the direst +punishments to him should he persist in his course. The ministry were +firm, however, and the people were with them. Certain bishops offered to +pay over the amount which would be derived from the suppression of the +religious houses, and the offer was tempting to the King, who could not +forget his mother's wishes, and the close ties that bound his house to +Rome. A breach with his ministers followed, and the King sought counsel +of his own subjects and of the French and English envoys. All advised +him to trust the decision to Cavour. Finally he did so, and the Rattazzi +measure, somewhat modified, became law. + +The Sardinian army meantime was winning victories in the Crimea, and +La Marmora was proving himself a match for the great generals of the +allied Powers. The thought of his troops was the King's one solace at +this time, which was so trying to him both personally and politically. +He was passionately fond of military glory, and would have preferred +the opportunity to lead his soldiers to any gift fortune could have +bestowed. The soldiers knew this, the people were growing more and more +attached to their "Rè galantuomo," and the King, always quickly touched +by the affection of his people, grew stronger in his resolve never to +dim their hopes of him. He said of his uncle, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, +who was ruling according to the accepted code of an Austrian Prince, +"How could he, by his own act, sacrifice the affections of his people? +If I reigned over not a little state like Piedmont, but over an empire +vast as America, and had to do what he has done to preserve the little +throne of Tuscany, I would not hesitate a moment, I would renounce the +empire." + +In order that France and England might learn to know the true Victor +Emmanuel from the false one created by the slanders of the clerical +party, the King, accompanied by Cavour and D'Azeglio, in December, 1855, +visited Paris and London. In both cities he was warmly greeted, and made +much of, and as he was about to leave the French capital Napoleon asked +the significant question, "What can I do for Italy?" England gave the +King the welcome she has always in store for the hero who is fighting +despotic claims, and the brief visit gave the statesmen and people +the opportunity to show openly the warmth of their regard for Italy. +Victor Emmanuel and Cavour were both known to have great admiration +for the English government, and a liking for English characteristics +which was common to most leading Italians of the time. December 11 the +King returned to Turin, to be welcomed by his people with the warmest +expressions of affectionate regard. + +The fall of Sebastopol brought the war in the Crimea to a close, and +led to the Congress at Paris in 1856. The result of that Congress was +one of the signal triumphs of Cavour. He succeeded in introducing a +general discussion of Italian affairs, and in placing Victor Emmanuel in +the position of champion of all the subject Italian states, a position +which, once so publicly assumed, he never afterwards gave over. The +King showed the deepest gratitude to his great Minister on the latter's +return from the Congress, and realized that through his diplomacy +affairs were rapidly being shaped towards a new conclusion of strength +with Austria. Soon afterwards the Sardinian army returned from the +Crimea, and the King welcomed them home as heroes who had yet greater +triumphs in store for them, and linked the general who had led them, +Alfonzo La Marmora, with Cavour as the two chief agents in his rising +hopes. + +King and Minister had many obstacles to overcome during those years +of waiting that were more difficult to surmount successfully than +actual battles of armies or statesmen. Austria and the Church lost +no opportunity to direct public sentiment against Sardinia, the +revolutionary element, led by men whose fiery ardor never cooled, were +continually urging the government at Turin to attack the Austrians in +Lombardy, the other states were turbulent and continually in trouble +with their Princes, and the people looked to Victor Emmanuel as their +preserver and the Princes upon him as their arch enemy. Moreover at this +time England, doubtful of French sincerity, entered into an alliance +with Austria, and shortly after the Italian, Felice Orsini, made an +attempt on the life of Louis Napoleon. Fortunately neither event had +as disastrous results to Piedmont's hopes as many predicted, the +Anglo-Austrian alliance proved lukewarm, and Orsini's appeal to Napoleon +to succor Italy touched a responsive chord in the French Emperor's heart. + +As the ten years' armistice with Austria drew to a close, Victor +Emmanuel found reason to believe that the day was not far distant when +he should have his chance to redeem Novara. Napoleon and Cavour had +reached a tacit agreement in July, 1858, at Plombières. When Parliament +opened in 1859 the King made his memorable speech from the throne, +including in it the words long and carefully considered by Cavour, +"While we respect treaties, we are not insensible to the cry of anguish +that comes up to us from many parts of Italy." The words "_grido di +dolore_," cry of anguish, became famous forthwith. An eye-witness of the +scene, the Neapolitan Massari, thus describes it: "At every period the +speech was interrupted by clamorous applause, and cries of 'Viva il Rè!' +But when he came to the words _grido di dolore_, there was an enthusiasm +quite indescribable. Senators, deputies, spectators, all sprang to their +feet with a bound, and broke into passionate acclamations. The ministers +of France, Russia, Prussia, and England were utterly astonished and +carried away by the marvelous spectacle. The face of the Ambassador of +Naples was covered with a gloomy pallor. We poor exiles did not even +attempt to wipe away the tears that flowed copiously, unrestrainedly +from our eyes, as we frantically clapped our hands in applause of that +King who had remembered our sorrows, who had promised us a country. +Before the victories, the plebiscites, and the annexations conferred on +him the crown of Italy, he reigned in our hearts; he was our King!" + +The speech was like a war-cry to patriots throughout Italy, and no +sooner were its tidings known than men of all ranks flocked to +Piedmont, weapons in hand, in order to be ready when the great hour +should strike. Meantime Victor Emmanuel had to make two sacrifices as +the price of French alliance in case of an Austrian war, he had to +consent to the marriage of his daughter Clotilde, then about sixteen, +with the French Emperor's cousin, Prince Napoleon Jerome, a man more +than twice her age. The King was very loath to agree to the marriage, it +required the strongest of Cavour's arguments to induce him to consent. +Finally, however, he did. "You have convinced me of the political +reasons which render this marriage useful and necessary to our cause. I +yield to your arguments, but I make a sacrifice in so doing. My consent +is subject to the condition that my daughter gives hers freely." Having +won over the father, Cavour succeeded in winning over the daughter, and +the marriage was solemnized on January 29, 1859. + +The second sacrifice to France, one which was considered at this time +but not made until later, was the cession of Nice and Savoy. This was +a hard concession for the King to make, for Savoy was the first home +of his family, and linked by the closest ties to the traditions of his +house. He was willing, however, to make even this sacrifice for the +liberation of northern Italy, all he wanted now was the chance to +loose his soldiers and place himself at their head. Still his advisers +counseled patience. "We must wait, sire," said General Neil. "I have +been waiting for ten years, general," was the King's reply. + +Fortunately for the King's spirits, he was not to be forced to wait much +longer. A European Congress for the adjustment of Italian difficulties +was planned, and the notes of the various governments in reference +thereto gave Cavour the chance he wanted. He insisted that Sardinia +should be admitted to the Congress on an equal footing with the Powers, +but this Austria opposed. The Court of Vienna insisted that Sardinia +should only be allowed to treat of the question of disarmament. Then +Austria insisted that Sardinia be made to disarm immediately. This would +have caused the gravest setback to Piedmont's hopes, but when England +came forward with the suggestion that Austria as well as Sardinia +disarm, the King at Turin and his minister felt that they must consent. +Fortune favored them, they had no sooner agreed to the English proposals +than Austrian envoys arrived at Turin with an ultimatum, immediate +disarmament or war, a decision to be given in three days. Thus Austria +became the aggressor, and Napoleon's promise to aid Piedmont in such +case fell due. + +A refusal to accept the Austrian terms was given to the envoys, and on +April 23 the Sardinian Parliament ordered that the troops start for +Lombardy and confided the supreme command to Victor Emmanuel. He issued +a royal proclamation, commencing, "Austria assails us with a powerful +army, which, while simulating a desire for peace, she had collected +for our injury in the unhappy provinces subject to her domination," +and concluding, "We confide in God and in our concord; we confide in +the valor of the Italian soldiers, in the alliance of the noble French +nation; we confide in the justice of public opinion. I have no other +ambition than to be the first soldier of Italian Independence. Viva l' +Italia!--Victor Emmanuel." + +"Italy shall be!" Victor Emmanuel had sworn on the field of Novara ten +years before; now, with all the ardor restrained during those long +years of waiting, he flamed to make his promise true. He was an heroic +figure as he reviewed his troops at Alessandria, he was some king of +the Middle Ages to whom horse and arms were incomparably dearer than +pomp and ease at home. He said that he should lead his troops in battle, +and he did, proving himself so absolutely reckless of safety that both +generals and soldiers were constantly alarmed. Yet it was that same wild +recklessness of his which made his soldiers fight as they did; they saw +that their King was never afraid to face what he commanded them to face. + +The French Emperor landed at Genoa May 13, 1859, amid loud Italian +plaudits, and the two sovereigns set out together for the field of war. +Napoleon the Third had many shortcomings, and Italians scarcely knew +whether to bless or curse him in those years when he played so large a +part in their history, but he did have the art of inspiring warm and +lasting friendships, and Victor Emmanuel, whose nature was always open +to admiration for those about him, had known him but a short time before +he gave him the deepest and sincerest personal trust. + +The war opened auspiciously for Piedmont, the people of Lombardy were +all in arms, Garibaldi was waging irregular warfare through the Lakes +with his band of volunteers called the "Hunters of the Alps," and the +allied Italian and French armies carried off their first battles with +the Austrians. May 20 was fought the battle of Montebello, and shortly +afterwards the battle of Palestro, long drawn out, but ultimately +victorious for the allies. On the last day of the battle it seemed +that the Austrians must win; the Italian troops, fighting desperately +and falling in numbers, were almost outflanked and surrounded when the +French Zouaves suddenly appeared, and with terrific fire drove the +Austrians back and seized their cannon. Victor Emmanuel led the furious +charge that followed, and was so impetuous that both Italians and +Zouaves were continually alarmed lest he should be cut off from them. +When the battle ended the Zouaves elected King Victor their captain, +declaring that he was the first of all true Zouaves because he would not +listen to reason. + +On June 4 the great battle of Magenta was won by the allies, and the +memory of Novara was obliterated in this overwhelming triumph which +freed Lombardy from Austria. Immediately a Lombard delegation came to +the King of Sardinia and offered him the fealty of their state and asked +for its union with Piedmont. Thus came the first new state into united +Italy. + +On June 8 the allies entered Milan, the Lombard capital, and celebrated +their victories with a splendid service at the cathedral. Meanwhile news +arrived of a French victory at Melegnano, and of Garibaldi's daring +movements among the Alps. The Lombards were beside themselves with +delight, the Austrians, so long their overlords, had at last withdrawn +across the Mincio into Venetia. Victor Emmanuel issued a proclamation +in Milan on June 9 in which occurred the stirring words of praise for +his ally so often quoted, "The Emperor of the French, our generous +ally, worthy of the name and genius of Napoleon, putting himself at the +head of the heroic army of that great nation, wishes _to liberate Italy +from the Alps to the Adriatic_. In a rivalry of sacrifices you will +second these magnanimous proposals on the field of battle, you will show +yourselves worthy of the destinies to which Italy is now called after so +many centuries of suffering." + +In Milan the King first met Garibaldi, whose reputation for striking +audacity and no less remarkable simplicity had made a strong appeal to +a sovereign who could appreciate those qualities. Here their friendship +began, a mutual admiration which was to be the strongest link to bind +the general, growing yearly more and more a republican, to the future +Kingdom of Italy. + +Austria was now ready for a new attack, and appeared suddenly in front +of the allied armies. The latter met them, and fought on June 24 the +great battle called Solferino by the French, and San Martino by the +Italians. San Martino is the name of a hill which commands the roads +to the Lake of Garda. The Piedmontese had held it at first, but were +dislodged by the Austrians. Then re-enforcements arrived, and the +height was retaken, but at great cost. The King sent an officer to the +general in command, saying, "Our allies are winning a great battle at +Solferino; it is the King's wish that his soldiers should win one at San +Martino." "Say to the King that his orders shall be executed," replied +General Mollard. The King succeeded in capturing Sonato, and then +went to the defense of San Martino, which was finally won after most +desperate fighting. The Italians had equaled the proud record of their +allies on that day. Between them the two armies had driven the Austrians +completely out of Lombardy. That night it did not seem unlikely that +a few more weeks would indeed see Italy free from the Alps to the +Adriatic, and Venice united to her sister cities of the north. + +Napoleon, having met with the most unqualified success in Italy, +suddenly stopped short, and proceeded, almost as though panic-stricken, +to ask Austria for an armistice, as though he were the vanquished, not +the victor. Both Italians and Frenchmen heard of this determination +of the Emperor first with incredulity, then with amazement, then with +indignation. Victor Emmanuel did his utmost to induce his ally to change +his intention, but Napoleon was obdurate. Then the King, who realized to +the full what a crushing blow this step would be to the soaring hopes +of the Italian cities, resigned himself to the situation as best he +could. "Poor Italy!" he said to the French Emperor. "Whatever shall be +your Majesty's decision I shall always feel grateful for what you have +done for Italian independence, and you may count on me as a friend." It +must have been hard for a king who saw his victorious army checked in +mid-career to have spoken such dignified words. + +Other men did not take Napoleon's action with any such restraint. +The men of the provinces who had seen themselves almost free of the +yoke they so deeply hated were indescribably bitter at this outcome, +Garibaldi and his volunteers felt themselves confirmed in that antipathy +to Napoleon they had been at small pains to conceal, and the general was +only calmed by the personal appeal of his King. But the effect was most +disastrous upon Cavour, who had labored to bring about this war as no +other man in Italy had done, and who now believed that the tremendous +efforts of his life had gone for nothing. He had shouldered tremendous +responsibility, now he felt the disaster overwhelmingly. He hurried to +the King's camp, and making small effort to conceal his anger, denounced +the Emperor and counseled the King to refuse to accept Lombardy under +the terms of peace. Positions were reversed, for the moment Victor +Emmanuel was the calm statesman looking to the future, Cavour the man +of fiery impulse who would accept no compromise. The meeting was long +and difficult, and when Cavour left, having placed his resignation in +the King's hands, there was a deep breach between the two men. Cavour +returned to Turin, "in the space of three days grown older by many +years." + +The Treaty of Villafranca was signed July 12, 1859, and by it Lombardy +was joined to Piedmont. The Cavour ministry only held office until their +successors could be appointed. Rattazzi at last agreed to accept the +helm. + +The high contracting parties to the treaty had thought that they could +dispose of the small Italian states as they pleased, and return them to +the dominion of their Grand Dukes and Princes by a stroke of the pen. +It proved, however, quite otherwise. Modena, Parma, the provinces of +Bologna, Ferrara, Umbria, Perugia, and the Marches, had been too near +freedom to suffer the peaceful return of their old overlords. State +after state had sent deputations to the Sardinian King during the war +asking for annexation to Piedmont, and some of them had provisional +governments with Piedmontese deputies at their head. The ministry +at Turin gave orders in pursuance of the terms of peace withdrawing +the royal commissioners, but the men in charge felt that they could +not abandon their posts and leave the people in a state bordering on +anarchy, and the people stated decisively that they would not allow +their fugitive Princes to return. So the Treaty of Villafranca was not +as effective as its makers had intended it to be. + +The central Italian states proceeded to take affairs into their own +hands, and sent envoys to the different courts of Europe to represent +the true conditions in their respective cities and their ardent desire +for annexation to Piedmont. In Florence Ricasoli, in Modena Farini +took positive stands, and led in the calling of an Assembly of all the +smaller states, which resolved that they would become subjects of the +Sardinian King. Deputation after deputation came to the King at Turin, +composed of the best known men of the states, and besought him to accept +their allegiance. It was a difficult position for the King. He could not +refuse requests so ardently made, and which represented the dearest wish +of people he had so often declared he would protect, yet he could not +easily accept in view of the position of Austria and France. He welcomed +the envoys warmly, entertained them at his capital, and spoke to them +freely, assuring them of the warmth of his desires and asking them to +be patient only a little time longer. In November, 1859, the Powers saw +that a conference must meet to consider this problem of Italy. Piedmont +looked about for the man to speak her voice, and only one man was +thought of. The King had felt Cavour's anger deeply, and could hardly +find it in him to call him out of his retirement. He saw, however, that +any Congress would be useless without the great statesman, and so he +finally consented, and nominated him as first Sardinian plenipotentiary. + +Although the King could bring himself to appoint Cavour, the Rattazzi +ministry were unwilling to have him act, and it seemed as though no +compromise could be effected. Cavour was asked to put his conditions of +acceptance in writing, and by chance happened to dictate them to Sir +James Hudson, the British Minister at Turin, with whom he was staying. +When the conditions were received by the cabinet the ministers did +not favor them, and La Marmora, discovering them to be in Sir James +Hudson's handwriting, was offended at what he chose to consider foreign +interference, and resigned. The cabinet, never very strong, could not +stand, and the King at once pocketed his last dislike, and summoned +Cavour to form a new ministry. This the Count consented to do. + +The Pope was much alarmed at the condition of the Papal States and +began publicly to denounce Victor Emmanuel for encouraging both those +and the other states in their desire for annexation. The correspondence +between Pope and King was most remarkable, always dignified, and on the +King's part breathing the desire for reconciliation, but on the Pope's +indignant and alarming. The proposed European Congress did not meet, and +as month after month passed events showed that the central states would +have their way. At length these states took a formal vote in popular +assemblies, and declared unanimously for annexation with Piedmont. The +King could withstand them no longer, and the annexation was agreed to. +Immediately Pius IX. issued a bull of excommunication against Victor +Emmanuel, his ministers, soldiers, and subjects, and proclaimed him no +better than a sacrilegious robber. This act, formerly so terrifying, had +no effect, the people had made up their minds, and in the spring of 1860 +the King received Farini, Dictator of Emilia, and Ricasoli, Dictator of +Tuscany, and accepted from them the allegiance of central Italy. + +That France might take no untoward step at sight of a kingdom growing so +rapidly on her southern border Victor Emmanuel had to make the second +concession to Napoleon, and cede Savoy and Nice. It was a bitter step +for the head of the House of Savoy to take, but he felt that the need of +Italy required it of him, and, as with every other sacrifice that need +required of him, he met it resolutely. Not so Garibaldi, who saw his +birthplace given to a foreign Power; he never forgave Cavour that act, +and it widened the gulf already separating them. + +The new Parliament met on April 2, 1860, numbering among its members the +greatest names of Piedmont, Lombardy, Tuscany, and Emilia. Ricasoli, +Farini, Capponi, Manzoni, Mamiani, Poerio, all had seats. The King, in +his speech from the throne, dwelt upon the accession of central Italy, +and briefly but with infinite pathos stated that he had made a treaty +for the reunion of Savoy and Nice to France. Then he called his hearers' +minds to the work that lay before them. "In turning our attention," he +concluded, "to the new ordering of affairs, not seeking in old parties +other than the memory of the services rendered to the common cause, we +invite all sincere opinions to a noble emulation that we may attain the +grand end of the greatness of the country. It is no longer the Italy +of the Romans, nor that of the Middle Ages; it must no longer be the +battle-field of ambitious foreigners, but it must be rather the Italy of +the Italians." + +How many patriots had voiced that cry "the Italy of the Italians" +through the long centuries when Goth and Vandal, Guelph and Ghibelline, +Pope and Emperor, France and Austria, had striven to gain the upper hand +in the Peninsula! + +Soon after Parliament opened the King made a tour of his new +possessions, and was hailed in each city as deliverer. The joy of the +people in the thought that at last they had an Italian prince in place +of the fickle, foreign-bred Bourbons, was wonderful to behold: "At last +we are eleven million Italians!" was their proud cry. Florence received +the King with decorations of every fashion, arches of triumph, houses +draped with the tricolor and rich brocades, streets carpeted with +laurels, a rain of roses as he rode from the railway station to the +Palazzo Vecchio. The greatest men of Tuscany, poets, artists, musicians, +scholars, came to greet him, and with one accord proclaimed him the hero +who had brought to fruition the dreams of their lives. His visit to +Florence was a memorable one. + +We must now glance for a moment at the remarkable events which General +Garibaldi was bringing to pass in Sicily and Calabria. The expedition +of the Thousand had started from Genoa, openly disavowed by that astute +diplomat Cavour, secretly encouraged by him. The hero of the magic Red +Shirt had swept over Sicily and crossed thence to the mainland. Men +of all classes were speeding from every part of Italy to fight under +such a glorious leader, the triumphal march from Reggio to Naples had +begun, and the troops of Francis II. of Naples were proving how very +little they had the interest of their sovereign's cause at heart. But +with Garibaldi in possession of Naples serious questions arose. The +victorious general wished to march immediately on Rome, and to hold the +dictatorship of southern Italy until he could unite it in one gift to +Victor Emmanuel. It was an heroic desire, worthy of its great inventor, +but Victor Emmanuel and Cavour both realized that a march on Rome at +that time meant the active intervention of French troops, and that a +prolonged dictatorship might give the republican element an opportunity +to change Garibaldi's plans and destroy the hope of national unity. +There were numbers of Mazzinians in Naples and Cavour feared their +influence over the great crusader. He appealed to Parliament, and it +voted for the immediate annexation of Naples and Sicily. Then the royal +army was sent at the double quick to meet Garibaldi before he should +start for Rome. When the army was well on its march Cavour gave this +note to the foreign ambassadors in explanation: "If we do not arrive +on the Volturno before Garibaldi arrives at Cattolica, the monarchy is +lost--Italy remains a prey to revolution." + +The King led the royal army south and the progress through the Papal +States was one continual triumph; General Cialdini met the Papal army at +Castelfidardo and defeated them, soon after he took Ancona, and Victor +Emmanuel was in possession of Umbria, the Marches, and Perugia, all +taken as Cavour diplomatically explained, to save Italy from revolution. + +Garibaldi generously acquiesced in the decision of the Parliament at +Turin, and prepared to surrender his conquests to the King. As Victor +Emmanuel started from Ancona on the last stage of his progress to Naples +he issued an address to the people of southern Italy, which concluded, +"My troops advance among you to maintain order; I do not come to impose +my will upon you, but to see that yours is respected. You will be able +to manifest it freely. That Providence which protects just causes will +guide the vote which you will place upon the urn. Whatever be the +gravity of the events which may arise, I await tranquilly the judgment +of civilized Europe and of history, because I have the consciousness of +having fulfilled my duty as King and as an Italian. In Europe my policy +perhaps will not be without effect in helping to reconcile the progress +of the people with the stability of the monarchy. In Italy I know that I +close the era of revolutions." + +Outside of Naples the King at the head of his troops was met by +Garibaldi, riding with some of his red-shirted officers. Garibaldi +saluted Victor Emmanuel as "King of Italy," and the King thanked him +with simple words. Then they clasped hands and rode side by side towards +the capital, which the general was giving to the King. Each of the men +was then and always, even in the dismal days of Aspromonte and Mentana, +a warm admirer of the other. November 7, 1860, Victor Emmanuel entered +Naples, which was given over to triumphal acclamations of King and +general. They reigned side by side as popular idols for some days, and +then Garibaldi, refusing all gifts and honors, returned to his island of +Caprera, and Victor Emmanuel soon afterwards returned to his capital of +Turin. + +The last strongholds of the Bourbons in Italy fell early in the new +year, and the nation lacked only Rome and Venetia for completion. A new +Parliament was called at Turin to mark the transition from the Kingdom +of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Italy. Representatives of all the new +provinces appeared, and Parliament was opened on February 18, 1861. The +King, in his speech from the throne, reviewed the great events of the +past year, and declared that the valor of the great mediæval cities of +Italy had been shown to survive in the sons of the modern kingdom. He +was proclaimed the sovereign by the title of Victor Emmanuel II., by the +Grace of God and by the will of the nation, King of Italy. He chose that +his predecessor of the same name should bear the title of the first +Victor Emmanuel, but he was only King of Sardinia, and this sovereign +was in fact Victor Emmanuel the First of Italy. + +Cavour decided to resign and so allow the new King the opportunity to +appoint a new Premier. The will of the King had occasionally clashed +with the will of the statesman, and the former now hesitated in the +matter of choosing his new Prime Minister. He conferred with the leaders +of the various provinces, and found them all in one accord, Cavour must +be the first minister of Italy. He was invited to form a new ministry, +and agreed to do so. Attacked at home by Garibaldi and those who wished +to take Rome by the sword, and vilified abroad by Papal emissaries, the +great Minister heeded neither party, but proceeded quietly to lay his +plans for the ultimate acquisition of Rome as the national capital. As +always, he believed in alternating audacity with patience, and believed +that this was the time for the exercise of the latter virtue. + +Unfortunately for the course of Italian history, Cavour's labors to +induce the Catholic world to have faith in his belief that a free church +in a free state was best for civilization were brought to a close that +spring. He died June 6, 1861, having worked so hard in Parliament that +he had brought upon himself a violent fever. The King had visited him +on June 5, and the sick man had roused sufficiently to speak to him. +"Ah, Maestà!" murmured the man, to whom Victor Emmanuel represented the +central figure of his career. At Cavour's death Victor Emmanuel was +prostrated. "Better for Italy if it were I who had died!" he exclaimed, +with full consciousness that it had been Cavour who alone of all +Italians had possessed the greatness of intellect to raise the throne of +Piedmont to an equality among the Powers. + +All Italians felt that their greatest guide was lost to them in Cavour's +death. Only at this time did they fully realize how monumental had been +his force of character, how simple and endearing his nature. For years +he had silently shouldered burdens of inestimable weight, and followed +his course in the face of attack both at home and abroad. Massimo +d'Azeglio wrote to Farini, "Poor Cavour. It is only now I know how much +I loved him. I am no longer good for anything, but I have prayed to +heaven for our country, and a gleam of comfort has come to me. If God +_will_ He _can_ save Italy even without Cavour." There were many men +in Italy who felt that only by miracle now could their fragile ship be +brought safely into port. + +From the date of Cavour's death Victor Emmanuel gave more personal +concern to the foreign affairs of his country, he felt that his +responsibilities had tremendously increased. Ricasoli, who had been +dictator of Florence, became Prime Minister. England and France had +acknowledged the new Kingdom of Italy, and now Prussia and Russia did +likewise. A marriage was arranged between Victor Emmanuel's youngest +daughter Maria Pia and the King of Portugal, and the various countries +of Europe all turned with a new interest to the romantic history of the +fast-spreading House of Savoy. + +The burdens that Cavour had borne so long soon proved too heavy for +his successor Ricasoli, and after nine months' service he resigned +his office. Rattazzi, Cavour's old ally in the early days of Victor +Emmanuel's reign, succeeded him as Prime Minister. He it was who now +had to face the increasing complications of the Roman question brought +about by the determination of Garibaldi and the ardent spirits of "Young +Italy" to take the Papal capital by storm. Cavour had been able, in +part at least, to prevent friction between the regular army and the +Garibaldians, and to guide the impulsive general. Whether he could have +prevented Garibaldi from embarking again from Sicily, this time headed +for Rome, no one can say. Rattazzi found the task beyond him. + +In midsummer of 1862 Garibaldi and his volunteers crossed from Sicily +and took up their march through Calabria with the motto of their +endeavor, "Rome or death." The Italian government felt that the advance +must be stopped at all costs, or they would be involved in foreign +warfare. General Cialdini was sent to oppose Garibaldi, and did so +at Aspromonte, where, after a very short resistance, the volunteers +surrendered. Unfortunately Garibaldi was wounded in the foot, and the +illness that followed was long and trying both to the general and to +the Italian government. The wounded hero was lionized and acclaimed, +and treated more like a martyr than an insurgent. The King was bitterly +grieved at the tragedy of Aspromonte, and the necessity of taking +prisoner a man who had labored so valiantly for Italian freedom. + +The Rattazzi Ministry could not withstand the loss of popular support +after Aspromonte, and resigned. Farini, who had been dictator of Emilia +in the days following the last Austrian war, succeeded Rattazzi as +Premier, but he in turn was soon forced by ill-health to surrender +the control. Minghetti then became Prime Minister. Meantime the Roman +question was as far from being settled as ever; Napoleon, protesting +that he was the friend of Italian independence, yet in the same +breath insisting on the temporal dominion of the Pope, proving an +insurmountable obstacle. Fortunately for Italy the time was to come +when Napoleon's attention would be wholly directed elsewhere. In these +days of indecision and waiting Victor Emmanuel traveled extensively +through all parts of the kingdom, and was everywhere greeted with the +warmest evidence of gratitude and affection. Italians were not used to a +sovereign who was glad to meet all classes of his people, and not afraid +to hear their views of his government. His fearlessness, his devotion, +his bonhomie all endeared him to the people, and the Rè Galantuomo +became indeed a very honest king to all men who had only known Austrian +and clerical governors. + +Victor Emmanuel expected that Venice would be added to the Kingdom of +Italy before Rome was, but the immediate annexation of neither seemed +probable. The French government became gradually more conciliatory, +but the changes were very gradual. Napoleon foresaw that Rome must +inevitably become Italy's capital, and the French minister, Druyn de +Lhuys, said, "Of course in the end you will go to Rome. But it is +important that between our evacuation and your going there, such an +interval of time elapse as to prevent people establishing any connection +between the two facts; France must not have any responsibility." +Napoleon proposed that the Italian capital be moved from Turin to a +southern and more central city, and the Minghetti Ministry accepted +the suggestion and proposed to the King that the seat of government +be transferred to Florence. The thought of leaving Turin, for so many +centuries the home of his family, caused Victor Emmanuel the greatest +distress. "You know I am a true Turinese," he said, "and no one can +understand what a wrench it is to my heart to think that I must abandon +this city where I have so many affections, where there is such a feeling +of fidelity to my family, where the bones of my fathers and all my dear +ones repose." It appeared, however, that the change must be made if the +advantages of the new agreement with France, according to which the +French troops were to evacuate Rome in two years, were to be obtained. +"Since the cession of Savoy and Nice," said the King, "no public event +has cost me such bitter regret. If I were not persuaded that this +sacrifice is necessary to the unity of Italy I would refuse." + +Turin, when it heard of the determination of the government, gave itself +over to consternation of the wildest type. The Minghetti Ministry had +to resign, and even the beloved King was not spared open demonstration +of his people's disapproval. He summoned General La Marmora to become +Premier, and the new minister carried the change through in spite of +Turinese disapproval. The change was made early in 1865, and Florence +welcomed the King with every tribute of honor. It was some time, +however, before Victor Emmanuel could forget the injustice done him by +the people of his own city, although they later proved their regret for +their unkind treatment by asking forgiveness and celebrating his visits +to them with unwonted joy. + +Early in 1866 the King's third son, Otto, Duke of Monferrat, who had +long been an invalid, died, and at very nearly the same time died that +remarkable man, Massimo d'Azeglio. From the days of his early youth the +King had relied on the counsels and wise judgment of this man, who was +alternately artist, poet, statesman, soldier, and who had the gift of +making friends to a greater degree than any Italian in public life. He +had sacrificed his own interests time and again at the request of his +King or of Cavour, he had traveled throughout Italy studying conditions +in the days of Charles Albert, and recording them in his books, he had +been honored by almost all the sovereigns of Europe as a man of the +noblest character and highest talents. His death was a great loss to +Italy. + +The clouds of war were gathering abroad in that same year. Prussia +and Austria were quarreling, and the Italian government concluded an +alliance with Prussia on April 8, 1866. Austria, realizing that she +would have sufficient difficulty in holding her own against Prussia +without having to guard against her southern neighbor also, made +overtures through Napoleon agreeing to cede Venetia to Italy if that +country would dissolve its alliance with Prussia. The temptation was +strong, but the King and his Prime Minister refused to break their +engagements, and on June 20, 1866, declared war against Austria. Victor +Emmanuel appointed his cousin Regent, and took command of his troops. +The two young Princes, Humbert and Amadeus, went with him. + +On that same field of Custozza, where the Italians had lost in 1849, +the armies met, and after a long and bloody battle the army of Italy +was again worsted. At the same time the Italian fleet was beaten at +Lissa in the Adriatic. Even Garibaldi's volunteers in the Lakes were not +meeting with their former successes, and the campaign would have been +disastrous to Italian hopes had not their ally, Prussia, forced Austria +to immediate terms by the two great victories of Königgratz and Sadowa. +An armistice followed, and Napoleon, to whom Austria ceded Venetia, gave +that province to Italy with the approval of Prussia. The Italians were +dejected by their losses, but at least Venice was finally free from the +foreigner. + +The beautiful city of the Adriatic was no sooner free than she sent her +foremost citizens to Victor Emmanuel to ask for immediate annexation +to the Italian kingdom. It was a glorious day when the red, white, and +green flag was raised in Saint Mark's Square, and the Venetian heroes, +exiled with their great leader, Daniel Manin, almost two decades +earlier, could return to breathe the air of their beloved home. Victor +Emmanuel received the citizens of Venice at Turin, and answered their +eager desire with stirring words. "Citizens of Venice," so ran his +answer, "this is the most beautiful day of my life. It is now nineteen +years since my father proclaimed from this city the war of national +independence. To-day, his birthday, you, gentlemen, bring me the +evidence of the popular will of the Venetian provinces, which we now +unite to the great Italian nation, declaring as an accomplished fact +the desire of my august parent. You confirm by this solemn act that +which Venetia did in 1848, and which she maintained with such admirable +constancy and self-abnegation. Let me here pay a tribute to those brave +men who with their blood, and with sacrifices of every sort, kept +undiminished faith to their country and to her destinies. With this day +shall disappear from the Peninsula every vestige of foreign domination. +Italy is made, if not completed; it now rests with the Italians to make +her great and prosperous. + +"Gentlemen, the Iron Crown is also restored in this solemn day to Italy. +But above this crown I place that which to me is dearer--the crown of my +people's love." + +November 7, 1866, the King made his formal entry into that most +beautiful of the rare group of Italy's cities, and the one which had +belonged most absolutely to the foreigner. + +Rome alone now remained outside the nation, and it was plainly only +a matter of time before Pius IX. would have to submit to his evident +destiny. The French had kept their agreement, and were leaving Rome, the +call of the Romans to Victor Emmanuel to come and free them grew ever +louder, and the wish of the Italian people grew daily more pronounced. +It was Victor Emmanuel himself who would not force the Church's hand, he +was content to wait, knowing how events were gradually shaping, and this +patience of his in the end proved its wisdom. + +There were others, however, who would not wait, and these were the +Garibaldians. When the Romans found that the King would not draw sword +to free them, they turned to the crusader whose hand was always on his +sword hilt at the call of Rome. He heard the call now, took the field +again, and placed his King a second time in the same unenviable position. + +One ministry resigned, no statesman seemed competent to cope with the +situation which Garibaldi was bringing on his country, the King saw +Italy on the brink of civil war, and was at the same time fearful lest +the French troops return and destroy the volunteers. It was the most +trying time in his career as King of Italy. + +Garibaldi was arrested, imprisoned at Caprera, escaped, and joined the +now rapidly increasing volunteers in the country about Rome. He met with +success at the battle of Monte Rotondo, but a few days later found his +army opposed at Mentana by French troops which Napoleon had hurriedly +sent to protect the Papal temporal power. The French were armed with +the new chassepot gun, and the Garibaldians were defeated with terrible +loss. They could not renew the unequal struggle, and the brief campaign +came to an untimely end. + +Victor Emmanuel was heart-broken at the news of the frightful havoc +at Mentana and the Garibaldian losses. "Ah, those chassepots!" he +exclaimed. "They have mortally wounded my heart as father and king. I +feel as if the balls had torn my flesh. It is one of the greatest griefs +that I have ever known in all my life." + +After the short campaign the reckless patriot Garibaldi was again +imprisoned, but soon released. He had proved a tremendous problem to +all the successors of Cavour. He returned to Caprera, and gradually +the agitation of the Roman question subsided into its former slow and +diplomatic course. + +The Crown Prince Humbert, who was twenty-four years old, was now married +to his first cousin the Princess Margherita, daughter of the Duke of +Genoa, and the marriage proved immensely popular, for the Princess +possessed unusual charm, and as soon as she was known, was beloved by +the people. The King's second son, Amadeus, soon to be offered the crown +of Spain, had already married the daughter of the Prince della Cisterna, +the head of an old and devotedly loyal Piedmont family. In the year 1869 +Victor Emmanuel, who had been seized with a severe fever in his villa +near Pisa, married the Countess Mirafiore, according to the rites of the +Church. + +The year 1870 saw Napoleon drawn into the war with Prussia which was +to cost him his crown. The French troops could no longer remain abroad +to support the Pope and were withdrawn from Italy. Although Napoleon +had sacrificed his alliance with Victor Emmanuel the latter would even +now have gone to his aid, but his ministers would not permit him to +take such a step. The rapid disasters that befell French arms and the +surrender of the Emperor at Sedan caused the Romans to make another +appeal to Victor Emmanuel to come to their aid before they should be +altogether abandoned. The time was now ripe when the appeal could be +answered. A message containing the King's resolution was sent to the +provisional government at Paris, which replied that it had no power now +to oppose Italy. Yet, even now, before sending his troops to Rome, the +King tried again to effect some pacific adjustment with the Pope, and +it was only when the latter showed again his unaltered determination to +insist on the temporal power of the Church that the Italian army crossed +the Papal frontier. + +September 20, 1870, is the date on which the temporal power of the +Roman Church, after many centuries of vicissitudes, came to an end. The +Pope, although eighty years old, determined on final resistance, and +the invading army was met at the Leonine Gate with fire from the city +bastions. The fight did not last long, the foreign ambassadors in Rome +entreated the Pope to capitulate, but he would not do so until he heard +that the royal army was actually within the city. Then a white flag was +raised on Saint Peter's, and an hour later the last Papal Zouaves were +surrendering their arms. All Rome rushed to the Capitol and burst into +ecstatic acclaim as the Italian tri-color was flung out to the breezes +from the palace. The fortress of Saint Angelo was opened and scores +of political prisoners released. Meanwhile the Pope and the Cardinals +withdrew into the Vatican, and proclaimed to the world that they were +kept there as prisoners against their will. A popular vote of the Romans +was taken and resulted overwhelmingly in favor of union with the Kingdom. + +The long struggle which had begun for Victor Emmanuel on that far-off +day of Novara, was ended. To Piedmont had been added Lombardy, Tuscany, +Emilia, the Papal States, Sicily, Naples, Venetia, and now Rome. The vow +of the King was accomplished, Italy was complete. The last Parliament in +Florence met December 5, 1870, and the King in opening it said, "With +Rome the capital of Italy I have fulfilled my promise, and crowned the +undertaking which twenty-three years ago was initiated by my great +father. As a king and as a son, I feel in my heart a solemn joy in +saluting here assembled the representatives of our beloved country, and +in pronouncing these words--Italy is free and one. Now it depends on us +to make her free and happy." + +Florence had rejoiced at being the capital of Italy, but now she +surrendered that proud position to Rome, which all Italians felt must +be the capital of the new nation. The King had no wish to offend the +Pope, indeed he and his ministers were untiring in their efforts to +effect a reconciliation with the head of the Church, and the public +entry into Rome was delayed for almost nine months. Meanwhile the King +had entered the city privately at a time when the Tiber had flooded +its banks and caused much distress, and had done all that he could to +relieve the needs of the poor and homeless. On June 2, 1871, Victor +Emmanuel made his formal entry into his new capital, and took possession +of the Quirinal. On November 27 of that same year the first Parliament +representing united Italy met. + +A little earlier Spain, rid of Isabella, and in the hands of a +provisional government, sought a king from Italy, and found one in +Victor Emmanuel's son, Amadeus, who went to Madrid, and reigned there +for a few troubled years, until another revolution released him from a +position which he had never sought or desired. + +For seven years Victor Emmanuel reigned in Rome, and they were years of +great strides in progress and in national unity. He visited foreign +sovereigns, and they in turn visited him; in 1873 he went to Vienna +as the guest of the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph, and in 1876 the +latter visited him at Venice. The King of Italy, always open-hearted and +simple by nature, was glad to forget the days when Austria had ruled in +Italy, and to form ties of friendship between the Houses of Savoy and of +Hapsburg, ties which Francis Joseph was equally glad to make. + +The Pope continued publicly to resent the presence of the King in Rome, +but privately he stated his admiration for him. Pius IX. was two men +in one, delightful as a private character, but narrow and bigoted in +his public views. He still held to his claim to temporal power over the +States of the Church, but gradually the claim ceased to be other than an +echo of history. + +In those seven years between 1871 and 1878 the King knit his people +together, met Garibaldi, now the arch republican, and brought him to +terms of reason, concerned himself with scores of plans for bettering +the material welfare of his people, draining the Campagna, tunneling +Mont Cenis and the St. Gothard, and building up commerce with the East. +He was always the idol of his people, the Rè Galantuomo, in whatever +part of the country he visited. On January 9, 1878, he died, being +fifty-eight years of age, and having reigned twenty-nine years. + +Thousands of stories are told of Victor Emmanuel's frankness and +independence, of his love of mixing with his people, and doing little +acts of kindness and charity. He was a great hunter, never happier than +when in the Alps, free as the meanest goatherd, and forgetful of all +his cares. He had a most magnetic personality, a certain ruggedness of +character that led men to trust him implicitly and follow him without +debate. He was the very man for his time, a leader who could accomplish +what Charles Albert could never have done, because he was first and +foremost a fighter and never the scholastic theorist. Grouped about +him were men of the greatest ability and devotion, such patriots as +D'Azeglio, Cavour, La Marmora, who could do for him what they could +never have done for his father, because Victor Emmanuel knew when to +give others a free rein, and having once given them that rein, did not +immediately jerk them back. He understood the delicate position of a +constitutional sovereign almost by instinct, time and again he might +have forced his wish upon his country, but he understood that it was +Parliament and not he that should be supreme. Yet, on the other hand, he +did not shirk responsibility, he was ready to assume any burden which +would aid in delivering Italy from foreign domination. + +Events in the lives of nations, such as the union of the disordered +states of Italy, are greater than any man, but often such events seem +to await the coming of a certain man who shall collect within himself +the spirit of his time, and personify its impulse in his nature. Reading +this history, one feels as though the men of the Peninsula had waited +the coming of a King of Piedmont who should throw everything he had +into the common cause, and, without counting any cost or pain, fight to +the goal. When such a man came, then and then only, could the forces +that were preparing reach their full growth and opportunity, then and +then only could Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour put into operation the +energies for which they severally stood. + +In Italy to-day the memory of Victor Emmanuel meets one on every hand, +it was his fortunate fate to rise to every opportunity, and to grow in +his people's affection with each step he took. + + + + +INDEX + + + "Adelchi," appearance of, 51; + stanzas from, 60, 61 + + Albany, Count and Countess of, 22 + + Alfieri, Vittorio, 1-39; + birth and parentage, 1, 2; + education, 2, 3; + early travels, 5-7; + opinion of Paris, 8; + travels in England, 9, 14; + travels in Holland, 10; + in Vienna and Berlin, 12, 13; + travels in Russia, 13; + in Spain, 14, 15; + first plays, 17, 18; + moves to Florence, 20-22; + meeting with the Countess of Albany, 23, 24; + "Virginia," "Agemennone," "Don Garzia," "Maria Stuarda," "Oreste," + "Filippo," "Timoleone," "Ottavia," "Rosmunda," 25; + in Rome, 27, 28; + "Saul," "Antigone," 27; + later travels, 28; + "Agide," "Sofonisba," "Mirra," 29; + life in Paris, 30, 31; + memoirs, 31; + French Revolution, 31-33; + French occupation of Florence, 34; + comedies, 35; + death, 35; + influence on Italy, 36-39 + + Amadeus, King of Spain, 340 + + America, Garibaldi in, 225, 241 + + Arnaud, Giuseppe, quoted (of Alfieri), 38 + + Aspromonte, 264, 329 + + + Balbo, Count, 177 + + Bandiera-Moro, The, 116 + + Bassi, Ugo, in Venice, 110, 111; + tribute to Manin, 111; + at siege of Rome, 237; + death of, 240 + + Beccaria, treatise on "Crimes and Punishments," 45 + + Benso, family of, 166 + + Bonghi, quoted (of Manzoni), 59 + + + Caprera, Island of, 240, 242 + + Carbonari, The, 127, 129, 133 + + Carlyle, Thomas, and Mazzini, 143, 144 + + Castellani, The Nicoletti and, 97 + + Cavour, Camille di, 165-222; + birth, youth, and education, 167-169; + life as a farmer at Leri, 169; + travels in England and France, 171, 172; + founds "Il Risorgimento," 174; + speech to the editors, 174, 175; + election to Parliament, 177; + campaign of 1848-49, 177-179; + personal appearance, 180; + member of D'Azeglio's cabinet, 182; + the "Connubio" with Rattazzi, 184, 185; + the "Gran Ministero," 188; + policies, 189; + alliance with England and France, 190, 191; + resignation as Premier and recall, 193, 194; + Congress of Paris of 1856, 195-198; + Pact of Plombières, 201; + crisis of 1859, 204-208; + war of 1859, 208; + treaty of Villafranca, 208, 209; + cession of Savoy and Nice, 212-214; + views on Garibaldi's expedition, 214; + sends Royal army south, 216; + "A Free Church in a Free State," 219; + death, 220; + his statesmanship, 220-222; + reliance of the people, 222; + relations with Mazzini, 154, 155, 215 + + Cavour, Marquise Philippine di, 166-168 + + Charles Albert, character of, 136-139, 173-174, 285; + as regent, 286; + reign of, 67, 286-288; + abdication of, 293, 294; + and Gioberti, 67, 68; + Mazzini's letter to, 137, 138 + + Charles Felix, King of Sardinia, 284, 286 + + Ciceruacchio, 236, 239, 240 + + Clarendon, Lord, at Congress of Paris, 197 + + Classicists and Romanticists, 41-44, 126 + + Cobden, visit to Venice, 91 + + Congregations, Central and Provincial, 94 + + "Connubio," The, 184, 185 + + Crimean War, 190-192 + + + Dandolo, Giulio, quoted (of Garibaldi's troops), 228, 229 + + D'Azeglio, Massimo, 179; + and Charles Albert, 287, 288; + ministry of, 182, 185, 187, 296; + character of, 332; + death of, 332; + quoted (of Alfieri), 39 + + De Lesseps, Ferdinand, at Rome, 150, 235 + + De Sanctis, quoted (of Alfieri), 26; + (of the reaction from the French Revolution), 40; + (of the Romantic movement), 41, 43, 44 + + + Emmanuel Philibert, of Savoy, 283 + + + Farini, 183, 318, 320, 329 + + "Father of Venice, The," 87-124 + + "Five Days of Milan, The," 147 + + French Revolution, failure of, 40, 127; + Alfieri and the, 31-33 + + + Gaeta, Mazzini at, 160 + + Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 223-282; + birth and boyhood, 223, 224; + life in South America, 225, 226; + offer to serve Pius IX., 226, 227; + campaign of 1848, 227-230; + defense of Rome, 231-237; + retreat of the Legion, 237-239; + death of Anita, 240; + leaves Italy, 241; + purchase of Caprera, 242; + commands the "Hunters of the Alps," 244; + campaign of 1859, 244-247; + attacks Cavour, 249; + expedition to Sicily, 214-216, 250-255; + victories in Calabria, 256; + capture of Naples, 257, 258; + returns to Caprera, 262; + march on Rome, and Aspromonte, 264; + triumphal visit to England, 266, 267; + campaign of 1866, 267-271; + plans to take Rome, Mentana, 273-275; + serves France against Prussia, 276; + old age and death, 277-279; + estimate of character and achievements, 279-282 + + Garibaldi, Anita, 226, 239, 240 + + Garibaldi, Francesca, 278 + + Garibaldi, Menotti, 253, 264, 273 + + Garibaldian army, description of, 228, 229, 270 + + Gioberti, Vincenzo, 63-86; + birth and education, 65, 66; + priesthood, 66; + chaplain to Charles Albert, 67; + arrest and exile, 68, 69; + life in Brussels, 69, 70; + "La Teorica del Sovran-naturale," 70; + "Introduzione della Filosofia," 70; + other writings, 70; + "Il Gesuita Moderno," 70; + "Il Primato d'Italia," 70-73, 83, 84; + returns to Piedmont, 75; + revolutions of 1848, 76, 77; + letter to Pius IX., 78; + "Rinnovamento Civile d'Italia," 80, 81; + death, 82; + comparison of, with Mazzini, 82 + + "Gran Ministero," The, 188 + + Guerrazzi, attack on Cavour, 213 + + + Howells, William Dean, quoted (of Manzoni's dramas), 52, 53 + + Hugo, Victor, and the Romantic movement, 54 + + Humbert, Prince, marriage of, 337 + + "Hunters of the Alps," The, 202, 244 + + + "I Promessi Sposi," appearance of, 53; + opinions of, 54; + compared with "Les Miserables," 54 + + "Il Risorgimento," the newspaper, 174, 182 + + + Kossuth, Mazzini compared with, 161 + + + La Marmora, Alfonso, 292, 304, 332 + + Lincoln, Mazzini compared with, 162 + + + Magenta, battle of, 313 + + Manin, Daniel, 87-124; + birth and education, 88; + professional work, 90, 91; + views on national resignation, 92-94; + arrest and imprisonment, 95-99; + triumphal release, 98, 99; + forms a Venetian government, 105; + member of the Triumvirate, 108; + president of the Republic, 113; + Dictator, 116; + departure from Venice, 120; + life in Paris, 121, 122; + death, 123; + results of his work, 124 + + Manin, Emilia, 103, 121, 122 + + Manzoni, Alessandro, 40-62; + birth and parentage, 45; + youth and education, 45-47; + stay in France, 47; + religious views, 48, 49; + marriage, 48; + "Sacred Hymns," 49; + view of Pope's temporal power, 49; + "Il Conte di Carmagnola," 50; + "Il Cinque Maggio," 51; + "Adelchi," 51; + "I Promessi Sposi," 53-55; + personality, 56; + old age and death, 57; + position, 44, 59; + miscellaneous writings, 58, 59 + + Manzoni, Henriette, 48 + + Mazzini, Giuseppe, 125-164; + youth, 127; + early writings, 128, 129; + arrest and imprisonment, 129, 130; + "Young Italy," 131-133; + life in Switzerland and London, 139-145; + returns to Italy, 147; + Triumvir of Rome, 148-151; + in London, 152, 153; + personal appearance, 152; + in Italy, 155; + disagreement with the monarchy, 155-157; + appearance in Genoa, 159; + plans to take Sicily, 160; + confinement at Gaeta, 160, 161; + death, 161; + position in his century, 161; + spirit of self-sacrifice, 163 + + Mentana, 275, 336 + + "Mille," expedition of the, 250-256 + + Minghetti, 329; + quoted (of Gioberti), 63-65 + + Monti, Vincenzo, 46 + + + Naples, welcome to Garibaldi, 258 + + Napoleon, Manzoni's Ode on Death of, 51 + + Napoleon III, 150, 200, 312, 315 + + Nazari, 94 + + Neo-Guelph party, 84 + + Nice, cession of, 212-214, 249, 309, 320 + + Nicoletti and Castellani, The, 97 + + Novara, battle of, 292, 293 + + + Orsini, Felice, 200 + + + Palermo, capture of, 253, 254 + + Palffy, Count, 92, 99, 100 + + Palmerston, Lord, views on Italy, 186, 210, 211 + + Paravia, quoted (of Alfieri), 18, 19 + + Paris, Congress of, in 1856, 195-198 + + Piedmont, its mediævalism, 166 + + Pius IX., accession of, 73, 145; + Garibaldi's letter to, 226, 227; + flight from Rome of, 77 + + Plombières, Pact of, 201 + + "Primato d'Italia, II," 70-73, 83, 84; + quoted from, 71-73, 83, 84 + + "Promessi Sposi, I," 53, 54 + + + Rattazzi, 184, 185, 210, 263,317, 328 + + Raymondi, Giuseppina, 250 + + Ricasoli, 318, 320, 328 + + "Risorgimento, Il," the newspaper, 174, 182 + + Roman Republic, The, 148-151, 233-237; + Garibaldi's part in, 231-237; + manifesto of, 232 + + Romanticists and Classicists, 41-44, 126 + + Rome, taken by Victor Emmanuel, 338, 339; + capital moved to, 340 + + + Salasco, armistice of, 107 + + San Martino, battle of, 314, 315 + + Santa Rosa, 299 + + Sardinia, Kingdom of, 284 + + Savoy, history of house of, 283, 284; + cession of, 212-214, 309, 320 + + Sicily, Garibaldi's campaign in, 252-255 + + Solferino, battle of, 314, 315 + + Statute, the Sardinian, 176 + + + Tommaseo, 95 + + Turin, removal of capital from, 331, 332 + + + Unities, law of the three, 50 + + + Valerio, attacks on Cavour, 175 + + Venice, the "Father of Venice," 87-124; + under Austrian rule, 87; + siege of, 109-120; + capitulation of, 120; + union with Italian kingdom, 334, 335 + + Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, 284 + + Victor Emmanuel I., of Italy, 283-343; + ancestry, 283, 284; + birth, youth, and education, 289; + marriage, 290; + first battles, 291; + becomes king, 293, 294; + difficulties with the Church, 298, 299; + marriage of his daughter, 309; + speech from the throne in 1859, 203; + war with Austria in 1859, 311-315; + treaty of Villafranca, 315-317; + union of northern and central states, 318-321; + marches to meet Garibaldi, 323-325; + Naples and Sicily united to his crown, 324, 325; + proclaimed King of Italy, 325; + moves his capital to Florence, 331; + campaign of 1866, 333, 334; + Venetia united to the kingdom, 334, 335; + entry into Rome, 338-340; + King of United Italy, 341; + death, 342; + fitness for his work, 342-343; + Gioberti's opinion of, 81; + Manzoni's opinion of, 61, 62 + + Villafranca, treaty of, 208, 317 + + + "Young Italy," 126, 128, 131-133, 135, 136, 145, 146 + + + + + _A Great Italian Romance_ + + THE GADFLY + + By E. L. VOYNICH. 12mo. $1.25 + + An intense romance of the Italian rising against the Austrians + early in the nineteenth century. It has gone through over twenty + impressions. + + +"She shows us the veritable conspirator of history, who plotted like +a human being, and not like an operatic bandit, ... it is a thrilling +book and absolutely sober.... 'The Gadfly' is an original and impressive +being; ... a story to remember. It is nothing more or less than one of +the most powerful novels of the decade."--_New York Tribune._ + +"One of the most interesting phases of the history of nineteenth-century +Europe. The story of the Italian revolutionary movement ... is full of +such incidents as the novelist most desires.... 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Large 12mo. +$2.50 + + +If the reader will send his name and address the publishers will send +information about their new books as issued. + + + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 34 W. 33d St. NEW YORK + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +Obvious printer errors, inconsistent hyphenation, spelling and +punctuation have been fixed. Content has been left as found. Some +examples of incosistencies are noted below. + + Radetsky versus Radetzky + tricolor versus tri-color + D'Acunha versus d'Acunha + D'Azeglio versus d'Azeglio + preeminence versus pre-eminence + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Builders of United Italy, by Rupert Sargent Holland + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43607 *** |