It was no secret when these words were spoken, as it was to Lamoriciere
and his brave army, that the government of the French Emperor encouraged
and patronized the iniquitous aggressions of Piedmont, whilst it
pretended, in the face of Europe, to support the Holy See.
(M77) “It was not Garibaldi and his volunteers,” said the Revue des deux
Mondes, “that General Lamoriciere had to fight; the odds in that case
would not have been so unequal. But he had the regular army of Piedmont
before him—an army six times more numerous than his own. Nor was it the
attack merely of a revolutionary party which was now directed against the
temporal power of the Papacy. It was a government incomparably more
powerful than the Pope’s, which decreed arbitrarily itself alone, and in
the face of the other nations of the world, the suppression of this power,
and which accomplished that suppression by the irresistible force of its
arms, and under the eyes of our garrison in Rome.” Whilst Austria, not
from any want of sympathy with the Holy See, but from the dread her
cautious ministry, who had penetrated the designs of France, entertained
of a new French invasion, looked tamely on from the heights of her
quadrilateral, the French Emperor secretly expressed his approval of the
Piedmontese attack on the Papal States, and at the same time publicly
withdrew his ambassador at Turin, as a protest in the face of mankind
against this unprovoked and unjustifiable attack. England, which could not
be supposed to have much sympathy with the Holy See, notwithstanding the
declarations of her best statesmen in support of the temporal sovereignty,
openly pronounced in favor of the Piedmontese aggression on the Pope, who,
in trying times, had been her most faithful ally. But the days of the
elder Bonaparte were forgotten, and too much could not be done to
conciliate the new ally whom the English had found in the second
Bonaparte. So their representative, Sir John Hudson, remained at Turin,
and was the confidential adviser there of Count de Cavour, while Sir Henry
Elliot continued to reside at Naples after that city had become the
headquarters of Garibaldi. The great Northern Powers, Russia and Prussia,
acted a more honorable part. Even before the fall of Ancona was known,
they both withdrew their ambassadors from Turin. Von Schleinitz, the
Prussian Prime Minister, protested energetically against the unwarrantable
aggression of Piedmont. M. de Cavour, who understood the tendencies of the
time, replied to Von Schleinitz, as if uttering a prophecy: “I regret that
the Court of Berlin should judge so severely the conduct of the king and
his government. I am conscious of acting in the interests of my sovereign
and my country. I might reply successfully to what M. Von Schleinitz says.
But, be that as it may, I console myself with the thought that, on the
present occasion, I am setting an example which Prussia, within a short
time probably, will be happy to follow.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account