112 



ITALY. 



upheld their faith in the destinies of the coun- 

 try by every kind of sacrifice, and by their 

 blood. To-day foreign domination ceases for- 

 ever. Italy is constituted if not accomplished. 

 Italians must now defend and make her great. 

 The iron crown is also restored to Italy, but to 

 that crown I prefer the one, which is dearer to 

 me, made by the love of my people." 



On November 5th a royal decree was issued, 

 declaring that the provinces of Venetia shall 

 henceforth form an integral part of the king- 

 dom of Italy. The government also appointed 

 sixteen senators for Venetia, and ordered the 

 election of deputies. 



On December 15th the Italian Parliament 

 was opened by the king, who delivered the fol- 

 lowing address from the throne : 



SIGNOIIS SENATORS, SIGNORS DEPUTIES : Our country 

 is henceforth free from all foreign domination. It is 

 with profound joy that I declare this to the repre- 

 sentatives of 25,000,000 Italians. The nation had 

 faith in me, and I in them. This great event, by 

 crowning our common efforts, gives a fresh impulse 

 to the work of civilization, and renders more stable 

 the political equilibrium of Europe. By her promp- 

 titude in military organization, and by the rapid 

 union of her people, Italy has acquired the credit 

 which was necessary to enable her to attain inde- 

 pendence by herself; and with the aid of efficacious 

 alliances, Italy has found encouragement and sup- 

 port in this laborious work in the sympathy of civil- 

 ized governments and peoples, and has been further 

 sustained and strengthened by the courageous per- 

 severance of the Venetian provinces in the common 

 enterprise of national emancipation. The treaty of 

 peace with the empire of Austria, which will be laid 

 before you, will be followed by negotiations which 

 will facilitate exchanges of prisoners between the 

 two states. The French Government, faithful to 

 the obligations which it contracted by the Septem- 

 ber convention, has withdrawn its troops from Rome. 

 On its side, the Italian Government, observant of its 

 engagements, has respected, and will respect, the 

 Pontifical territory. Our good understanding with 

 the French emperor, to whom we are bound by 

 friendship and gratitude, the moderation of the Ro- 

 mans, the wisdom of the Pontiff, and the religious 

 sentiment and right feeling of the Italian people, 

 will aid us to distinguish and conciliate the Catholic 

 interests ; and national aspirations, which are inter- 

 woven and contending with each other at Rome, at- 

 tach to the religion of our ancestors, which is also 

 that of the great majority of Italians. I neverthe- 

 less respect the principle of liberty, which breathes 

 through our institutions, and which, broadly and 

 sincerely applied, will remove the causes of the old 

 differences between Church and State. This dispo- 

 sition on our part, by reassuring Catholic conscience, 

 will accomplish, I hope, the wishes which I form, 

 that the Sovereign Pontiff may remain independent 

 at Rome. Italy is secure now that ; besides the valor 

 of her sons, which through all the changes of for- 

 tune has never belied itself either by land or sea, 

 nor in the ranks of the army or the volunteers, she 

 possesses, as the ramparts of her independence, the 

 very bulwarks which served to oppress her. Italy 

 can therefore, and now ought, to turn her efforts to 

 increasing her prosperity. As Italians have shown 

 admirable concord in the affirmation of their inde- 

 pendence, so now let aH devote themselves with in- 

 telligence, ardor, and indomitable constancy to the 

 development of the economic resources of the penin- 

 sula. Several bills will be laid before you with this 

 object. In the midst of the labors of peace, favored 

 by a secure future, we shall not neglect, following 

 the lessons of experience, to perfect our military or- 



ganization, in order that with the least possible out- 

 lay Italy may not be destitute of the forces necessary 

 to maintain her in the place which belongs to her 

 among great nations. The measures recently taken 

 relative to the administration of the kingdom, and 

 those which will be proposed to you, above all re- 

 specting the collection of the taxes and the account- 

 ability of the state, will contribute to ameliorate the 

 management of public affairs. My government has 

 provided in advance for the expenditure for the year 

 afiout to open, and for extraordinary payments of 

 every kind. They will ask of you the continuation 

 in 1867 of the financial measures voted for 1866. The 

 legislative bodies will also maturely discuss the bills 

 which will be laid before them to ameliorate the as- 

 sessment of the taxes, and to equalize them among 

 the different provinces of the kingdom. If, as I am 

 fully confident, the people of Italj will not fail in 

 that activity which created the wealth and power of 

 our ancestors, it will not be long before the public ex- 

 chequer will reach its definitive equilibrium, Italy- 

 is now rendered to herself. Her responsibility is 

 equal to the power she has acquired, and the full 

 liberty she enjoys in the use of her strength. The 

 great things we have done in a short space of time 

 increase our obligation not to fail in our task, which 

 is to know how to govern ourselves with the vigor 

 required by the social condition of the kingdom and 

 the liberality demanded by our institutions. Liberty 

 in our political institutions, authority in the govern- 

 ment, activity in the citizens, and the empire of law 

 upon all and over all, will carry Italy to the height 

 of her destiny, and fulfil what the world expects 

 from her. 



One of the main questions to be solved by 

 Parliament was the relation of the state to the 

 church. The government was determined to 

 propose a solution of all the pending difficulties 

 by a complete separation between the church 

 and state. Before the meeting of Parliament 

 on October 22d, the prime minister, Eicasoli, 

 addressed a circular to the prefects, permitting 

 the return of all the bishops to their sees, ex- 

 cluding those residing in Eome. This circular 

 was followed by another, dated November 

 15th, and likewise addressed to the prefects, in 

 which he said : " The government believes it ex- 

 pedient to withdraw from this moment any res- 

 ervation made in the first measure, by ordering 

 that all the other bishops still absent from their 

 sees, either from Rome or elsewhere, Avhatever 

 may be their residence, shall be authorized to 

 return to their respective dioceses. In com- 

 municating to your excellency the present reso- 

 lution of the government, serving as the com- 

 plement of the measure explained in the circu- 

 lar of the 22d October, the minister refers to 

 the instructions already given in the circular, 

 and it is Confident that the local authorities will 

 accurately second all its intentions." 



The views of the prime minister, concerning 

 the relations between church and state, were 

 still more fully developed in a letter to the ex- 

 iled bishops living in Rome. 



The bishops, who were exiled from their 

 sees by decree of the Italian Government, and 

 subsequently took up their residence at Rome, 

 addressed a letter to Baron RicasoH, after the 

 issue of his circular of October 22d. The bishops 

 were under the impression that the permission 

 to return, announced in the ministerial circular, 



