98 



CAVOUE. 



by him, but the most eminent patriots of the 

 nation denounced the measure without stint 

 as tending to plunge the nation into irretrievable 

 financial ruin and calling away those troops to 

 a foreign and distant quarrel, who were wanted 

 at home to defend their own firesides. Amid 

 all these denunciations Cavour stood firm, re- 

 fusing to give up one iota of his plan, and de- 

 claring that " the independence of Italy must 

 be conquered in the Crimea." In a speech of 

 the most burning eloquence he defended his 

 course, and though not deeming it prudent to 

 lay bare the motives which prompted the meas- 

 ure, he appealed so successfully to the hearts 

 of the Deputies, that spite of the most gloomy 

 forebodings, they trusted once more their great 

 statesman, and by a small majority ratified the 

 treaty. Within a few months their fears were 

 exchanged for rejoicing, for the beneficial re- 

 sults of the treaty were so evident that even 

 those who had most vehemently opposed it, ac- 

 knowledged their error. Meanwhile the sup- 

 pression of the convents, and the applying of 

 the surplus lands to -the maintenance of the 

 parochial clergy and educational institutions, 

 a measure Cavour had long had at heart, drew 

 down upon him the denunciations of the monks 

 and the thunders of the Vatican. Here, again, 

 he was firm, and carried the bill through the 

 Chamber of Deputies triumphantly; thus rid- 

 ding the kingdom of the intolerable burden 

 which had so long paralyzed its energies. The 

 Sardinian contingent had distinguished itself by 

 its bravery in the Crimea, and Count de Cavour 

 entered heartily into the negotiations for a 

 peace. In the winter of 1856 he accompanied 

 Victor Emanuel on a visit to the courts of Eng- 

 land and France, and it was on this occasion 

 that Napoleon III. first inquired of him, " "What 

 can be done for Italy ? " a question to which he 

 replied in his celebrated memorandum of March 

 27, 1856. At the Conferences of Paris, which 

 led to the peace with Russia, and the adjust- 

 ment of some other great European questions, 

 Cavour represented Sardinia in person, and ex- 

 erted an influence so powerful that he was able 

 to announce on his return, on the 6th of May, 

 that England and France had pledged them- 

 selves to seek the solution of the Italian ques- 

 tion, and that Austria had occupied the posi- 

 tion of a culprit at those conferences. The news 

 was hailed with delight throughout Italy, and 

 from all quarters addresses of congratulation 

 and medals of honor poured in upon him who, 

 according to the legend of the Tuscan medal, 

 "had defended Italy with raised vizor." A 

 national subscription was raised, throughout 

 the peninsula, for arming the new fortifications 

 at Alessandria, and the entry of the Sardinian 

 regiments into Turin, on their return from the 

 Crimea, was everywhere celebrated as a day of 

 national festivity. This inflamed the hatred of 

 Austria to fury; and the diplomatic agents 

 and press of that country denounced, with the 

 utmost virulence, the Piedmontese Government 

 and its minister. This vituperation affected 



him as little as the praise he had just received 

 had done ; his replies to the attacks of Austria 

 were dignified and courteous, and put his enemy 

 entirely in the Avrong. For two years the crisis, 

 long delayed, was evidently drifting nearer and 

 nearer, but as yet there was no decided action. 

 In September, 1858, Count de Cavour visited 

 Napoleon III. at the baths of Plombieres ; and, 

 after long and frequent conferences with him, 

 returned apparently satisfied. The agreement 

 had been made that France should aid Sardinia 

 in expelling Austria from Lombardy and Vene- 

 tia, and receive Savoy and Nice in return ; and 

 the families of Napoleon and Victor Emanuel 

 were to be allied by marriage. The war with 

 Austria was thenceforth a fixed fact, and that 

 power, by taking the initiative, showed no dis- 

 position to protract the delay. The part taken 

 by Cavour in this war was a vital one. He 

 was president of the council and minister of 

 war, marine, foreign affairs, and the interior. 

 He rose at four, and worked almost incessantly 

 till past midnight ; and by this incessant toil 

 accomplished more in each department, than 

 any other minister with but a single portfolio 

 had been able to do. All the wants of the 

 army were instantly and abundantly supplied ; 

 the ships destined to join the French fleet in the 

 Adriatic were equipped as soon as needed ; the 

 envoys of Sardinia to foreign powers were kept 

 in a position to make all needful explanations 

 to the foreign courts to which they were ac- 

 credited ; on the death of Ferdinand of Naples, 

 an extraordinary ambassador was despatched 

 to endeavor to persuade the young king to em- 

 brace a constitutional system and the alliance 

 with Piedmont ; and as fast as Lombardy was 

 conquered, the benefits of the liberal Sardinian 

 Government were extended over it ; while 

 Tuscany and the smaller States were influenced 

 by his emissaries. The peace of Villafranca, 

 leaving the work proposed but half completed, 

 fell with stunning force on the overworked 

 minister, and, unwilling to set his hand to a 

 treaty which condemned Venetia to further 

 servitude, he resigned and retired to his coun- 

 try-seat. For six months he remained in re- 

 tirement, fretted almost into a fever at the in- 

 capacity of the ministry who had succeeded 

 him, and awaiting with deep anxiety the action 

 of the States of Central Italy. In January, 

 1860, the Rattazzi Cabinet fell under the 

 weight of its errors, and Cavour returned to 

 power. He commenced his work by dissolving 

 the old parliament and convoking a new one, 

 in which Lombardy should be represented; 

 and provided for a popular vote on the ques- 

 tion of annexation in Tuscany and the Emilian 

 provinces. The annexation of Savoy and Nice 

 to France, claimed as the reward of the an- 

 nexation of Italian territory to Sardinia made 

 through the French alliance, was a difficult 

 matter to manage, for the king was grieved at 

 it, and the parliament opposed ; but Cavour 

 saw that, once accomplished, it pledged France 

 to acknowledge the principle of Italian unity, 



