Prince Napoleon was agreed upon between Cavour and the French emperor in their now historical interview, which took place at Plombières in the autumn of 1858. Something more was agreed upon in that interview, and in substance it was to the effect that the emperor would drive Austria out of Italy by force of arms in return for the cession to the empire of two provinces belonging to the Sardinian Kingdom-Savoy and Nice. Cavour's tact, skill and eloquence convinced the emperor that success was in store for them; that the empire wanted precisely that public opinion and favor which was supporting the Italian cause, and that by freeing Italy he would acquire imperishable fame-and in this he was not mistaken, for that is the only important act of Napoleon III. which his collapse left standing. In this way it was not a onesided bargain, and Cavour thus placed himself in other than a suppliant attitude at the feet of the powerful ruler whose word or nod meant so much. When he returned home rumors of good news for Italy were speedily and secretly set afloat, and the rumors proved to be true forerunners of facts. The marriage occurred in January, 1859, and the French army, headed by the emperor, crossed the Alps in April following, and in conjunction with the Piedmontese defeated the Austrians in two battles, Magenta and Solferino, and drove them. across the Mincio into the quadrilateral fortresses. The French success was so easy and rapid that THE PRINCE OF NAPLES, ROYAL HEIR APPARENT. BREACH AT THE PORTA PIA, THROUGH WHICH THE ITALIAN TROOPS ENTERED ROME, SEPTEMBER, 1870. FROM A CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPH. Prussia, though then ruled by weak and sluggish ministers, instinctively became alarmed, and, on the strength of Austria's membership of the old German Confederation, threatened to take a hand in the war if the emperor continued it. There upon the emperor, who did not feel very well established at home or abroad, prudently concluded to stop, and cut short the high-sounding programme of freeing Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic, which he had announced when he left Paris for the seat of hostilities. Cavour felt sore over the check, but he could not help himself, and his own countrymen were so indignant and disappointed that they compelled him to resign so as to make their only possible show of resentment. The emperor returned, on his way back to Paris, through Turin, and rode through its streets, seated beside the king in the royal carriage, but the vexed and mourning citizens were chary of scattering flowers and applause as they paraded to the royal palace. The emperor was vexed, too, but he put on the look of a victor who had done Italy some service and truly he had, for he had done the most difficult job, driven Austria out of Lombardy. Later Cavour came to the understanding with him that the bargain of ceding Savoy and Nice could be justified by his allowing the Italian army to take possession of the Pope's territory (excluding Rome itself, held by French troops), and of the King of Naples's kingdom. The treaty of cession was signed in the spring of 1860, and the two provinces were duly annexed to France, to which they belong still. In this connection a very amusing occurrence took place in Turin, where Garibaldi was sojourning. He was a native of Nice, and, considering himself to be an Italian of Italians, he was enraged over the cession of his native province to the foreigner. As soon as he heard the news he became frenzically wrathful, and appealed to the United States Minister at Turin to raise the American flag over Nice in order to prevent its annexation to France! The enthusiastic warrior was so wrathful, in fact, that he could scarcely utter speech, much less weigh the preposterousness of the demand he made. Cavour, who understood and greatly admired him, quieted his anger by placing him, a month after, in command of an expedition of filibusters, "The Thousand," sent from Genoa to capture Sicily, which they did almost without striking a blow; but, subsequently, Garibaldi was unable to take the Neapolitan fortress of Gaeta, and the royal army was ordered to his assistance for the purpose of entirely crushing out the adherents of King Bomba, when this was easily done. At the same time the royal army invaded the states of the Pope, and took all his territory except the so-called "patrimony of St. Peter," the reserved district of Rome held by the French troops by way of precaution against revolutionists since the year 1848. There only now remained outside of the Italian fold Rome and Venice, two gems which the premier at once set to work to capture; but before his pians could be put into execution his career was ended by his death, which planged Turin and all Italy into despair. Thus the only substantial gains made in the cause of Italian unity were the results of Cavour's genius. The solid work he performed centred universal interest on him, and the class of enthusiasts and idealists, of whom Mazzini was the principal, were left with little to rant about, and quite neglected by the public gaze. Mazzini, however, persisted in his usual agitation, as if nothing had happened; and indeed conspiracy had become second nature to him. His sincere patriotism and high sentiments had had before the war of 1859 a limited beneficial influence; but after that year his advocacy dwindled into a smallcomedy light. He lived to see the completed unity of his beloved country, and was honored by the government and people at his death, in 1872, by a magnificent funeral and lying-in-state in the Capitol at Rome. Certainly Mazzini and Garibaldi, who was similarly honored upon his death a few years later, were factors in gaining the independence of Italy, but comparatively minor factors, by no means necessary not to their minute, fragmentary exertions was it due, but alone to the brilliant genius and solid labor of Camillo Benso di Cavour. His plan, so far built upon by himself, was rounded out to a finish quite accidentally, indirectly and easily, through the uprising of another genius in a foreign land, Bismarck, to whom Germany and Italy are so much indebted. In promoting his own ambitious scheme of unifying the Fatherland he sent the German army in 1866 to attack Austria on its northern frontier, and, by treaty of alliance, induced the Italians to attack at the same time the Austrian army ensconced in Venice and the quadrilateral fortresses, on the empire's southern frontier. Victor Emmanuel was counseled to seize this extraordinary chance by Rattazzi, a man of ability, and the cleverest of Cavour's successors. The attack was made, and substantially resulted in keeping Austria's armies widely separated from each other, though, while the Germans succeeded splendidly at Sadowa, the Italians were defeated at Custozza. Bismarck then had Austria crushed at his feet, and could have annexed it save for the trick which Napoleon III. played upon Prussia-the same, in fact, that the latter had played against him in the campaign of 1859-by declaring that he would interfere if Austria should be unduly punished. Bismarck announced that he would let go his hold provided the cabinet of Vienna would cede Venice to his Italian allies. This Francis Joseph consented to do, and ceded it nominally to the interference made in his behalf by the Emperor Napoleon III., for him to dispose of it at his will and pleasure. Venice was thus secured through and by Napoleon III., secondarily acting. It was he also who at last added Rome, indirectly and involuntarily, by being compelled to withdraw his soldiers who were protecting the Pope during the war of 1870, when the Italian troops under Generals Cadorna and Bixio battered down the Porta Pia, entered through the breach, and took the city, that became from that instant the capital of the united peninsula. Since its union Italy has leaned upon Germany by preference and of necessity, and readily helped to form the Triple Alliance for the special overawing of France. This is why the French unanimously and loudly proclaim Italy to be the most ungrateful of nations, and manifest on all occasions a bitter opposition against Italians, individually and collectively. Indeed, riots are frequently raised in France against Italian laborers, and they are forced to leave the country. Italy replies that Napoleon III. was paid with Savoy and Nice, and that her feelings are as ever kindly toward France, but that these cannot be allowed to go so far as to let her have her own way just now, because she might, and probably would, restore Rome to the Pope and pull to pieces the unity that Cavour built up. This is why the Papacy, also, has been compelled to lean upon France, even under partially hostile republicanism; and besides, France has ever been the strongest, as she is to-day the only strong, Catholic nation of the world. There has been substantial improvement in Italy since attaining its independence. The political condition is fairly good, though bereft of any original, powerful guidance such as Cavour gave. Its politics are carried on with the momentum acquired under him, and it is as much as his very ordinary successors can do to keep them running in the set routine. In the last few years Prime Minister Crispi, alone, gained some notoriety on account of his efforts in promoting the Triple Alliance, and the reigning king, Humbert, continuing his father's example of ready acquiescence in ministerial decisions, remains its steadfast friend, in spite of all the manœuvres made by the Vatican to detach him. This policy has produced excessive burdens in the way of taxation, quite setting at naught true economy, and hence the material suffering of the people has been, and is still, keenly felt. Some alleviation has been obtained through emigration to the New World, generally of the poorest and worst, ay, criminal, elements of the population, nearly doubled in the last three decades and now over thirty millions; and it is truly and openly proclaimed that the country could spare ten millions and be the stronger. The social status is altogether higher, owing to the influence of education and the increased interprovincial intercourse. In science, literature and art, however, there has been greater barrenness than under the old régimes, as attention has been more strictly confined to material development. The Italian character in itself was too fixed under the degradation of so many centuries to have perceptibly altered. Subjection to a lengthened train of peculiar if not unique surroundings, resulting in highly detrimental developments, yielded its originally wretched and enduring outgrowth. It has terrible defects, plainly due to the prolific soil and easy climate, which have always bred an excessive sensualism leading directly to the nourishment of passions based upon violent, unhealthy action. There is reason to believe that the changed national condition may in the long run bring about in this respect a betterment, and that the race, certainly gifted with the "prime-sautier" order of mind, may again afford the world valuable contributions, as it undeniably did in former ages. |