THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 2g 



Indeed, more than thirty years ago, this housfe of Savoy had 

 accomplished much of this task, for in i860 it had acquired Naples, 

 Tuscany, and other minor states ; and, in the war of 1859, it had 

 wrested from Italy's hereditary foe, Austria, the rich plains of 

 Lombardy, with its capital Milan. But there were two important 

 divisions to be gained : the Pontifical States, /. e. the city of, and the 

 country round about Rome ; and Venetia, the land of Venice and 

 her lagoons, of Padua, "whence Portia came," and of " fair Verona." 

 The latter of these, Venetia, Italy obtained, as we have seen, 

 from Austria, as a result of the war of 1866. But it was felt that 

 there could be no real national unity so long as the Pontifical States 

 were not sharers therein. Turin was only a provincial capital — the 

 real capital must be Rome. It was deemed necessary, therefore, 

 that the Pope should yield up his temporal sovereignty, and that his 

 States should be added to the Italian Kingdom. Whether the Pope 

 was entitled to such secular sovereignty or not is a disputed question, 

 into a discussion of which I shall not enter. It was decided in Italy 

 by the sword. Notwithstanding aid given to the pontifical cause by 

 various organizations, e. g., the Canadian Papal Zouaves, Rome 

 opened her gates to the Italian army, and the City of Tiber became 

 the capital of a United Italy. The year 1870 was a memorable year 

 in Papal annals. It saw the assembling of the Oecumenical Council, 

 which proclaimed the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope when 

 speaking " ex cathedra ;" it saw the withdrawal of the French troops 

 from Rome, which withdrawal led to the fall of the Pope's temporal 

 power ; and it saw the defeat of France, the eldest daughter of the 

 church. The changes which the last thirty years have accomplished 

 in Italy are incredible. Commerce has gone forward by leaps and 

 bounds ; a Colonial Empire has been founded in Africa ; the 

 navy is large and well equipped ; the army large and well drilled ; 

 the cities have made wonderful progress in sanitary and municipal 

 matters, and many of them have grown with great rapidity, Rome's 

 growth offering a parallel to that of the western cities of this con- 

 tinent ; the Italian people have become accustomed to constitutional 

 government ; and an excellent educational system has been established. 

 In a word, Italy, which, 30 years ago, was regarded somewhat as 

 Portugal or Greece is now, to-day ranks among the great powers of 

 Europe. It is true, this has not been brought about without great 



