and made themselves masters of the military hospital of San Francesco Saverio; the soldiers who remained prisoners were embraced as brothers, and provided with every accommodation which they needed." Brilliant as these successes sound, the victory was not yet complete; and to diplomatists, at any rate, the result seemed still uncertain. The Consuls of Austria, France, and Sardinia tried to persuade the insurgents even now to yield, on condition of obtaining a pardon. An attack made by La Masa on the Royalist forces was repelled, and several of the revolutionary committees fled from Palermo. But many of the leaders stood firm, and Mariano Stabile declared that Sicily should recover her ancient liberties, and that Ferdinand and not the people was the rebel. At the same moment the bells sounded, and the Royalist artillery was brought to bear upon the city. For three hours the struggle lasted; but at the end of that time the Royalists were driven back. The Neapolitan soldiers, grown savage by their defeats, began to sack private houses and commit various acts of cruelty; and when the foreign Consuls went again to the Governor's palace to ask for mercy to the insurgents, they were fired upon. In the meantime new insurgents were pouring in from the country districts, and the revolution was developing a government. Mariano Stabile was made secretary of the Governing Committee, and Ruggiero Settimo, an old man of seventy who had held office under the original Constitution of 1812, and who had helped to proclaim the Spanish Constitution in Sicily in 1820, was chosen President. Nor was the movement any longer confined to Sicily. The Neapolitans had risen in Salerno. The King, in a panic, had dismissed Del Caretto, the head of the police, from office; and General Ruberti, the Commandant of the fortress of St. Elmo, had told the King that he would not fire upon the people. A demonstration in favour of the Constitution of 1820 had taken place; and when the rain threatened to disperse the people, the umbrellas which were opened displayed the Italian colours.