Part 17

The Jesuits at Turin, secret agents of the Austrian government, did their utmost to frighten the King with gross misrepresentations as to the liberals. When new conspiracies broke out in 1833 Charles Albert was influenced to punish the rebels severely. Gradually the popular idea concerning the King changed, and those who had thought to find in him an emancipator became slowly convinced that he was as rigid a reactionary as any of his predecessors. So the poor King, really ardent in his country's cause, played upon by his courtiers and the insidious clericals, watched his chances of leading Italy against Austria gradually dwindle.

Some men, however, still believed that Charles Albert was the only present hope for Italy, and chief among these men was Massimo d'Azeglio. He was a man of keen insight and high character, and had traveled through all the states of Italy studying the forces making towards nationality. At the end of his travels he had an audience of Charles Albert at Turin, and reported what he had found. His estimate of the King was justified by the reply Charles Albert made to him. "Let those gentlemen know," said the King, "that for the present they must remain quiet; but when the time comes, let them be certain that my life, the lives of my sons, my arms, my treasures--all shall be freely spent in the Italian cause."

Then came the election of Pius IX. to the throne of Saint Peter, and a great wave of enthusiasm swept through the liberal party throughout Italy. Pius was a great advance on the narrow, mediæval-minded Leo XII. and Gregory XVI., who had preceded him. The Romans felt new hope, and with each month the great enthusiasm spread until it culminated in the sudden Lombard expulsion of the Austrians from Milan. Charles Albert must have seen the signs that preceded the eventful years of 1848 and 1849. He had decided to grant a constitution to his people, whether Austria liked it or not, and on February 7, 1848, proclaimed the famous _Statuto_. Events hurried, a short time and Lombardy and Venice were in arms and Piedmont determined on supporting them. Charles Albert, and his eldest son, Victor Emmanuel, threw themselves utterly into the national cause.

On March 14, 1820, the Prince Victor Emmanuel was born in the Carignano Palace at Turin, his father being then simply the Prince of Savoy-Carignano. With the accession of Charles Felix the family moved to a villa near Florence, and there the young Prince spent his early boyhood. His younger brother, Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, was born in 1822. After the reconciliation between Charles Felix and the Prince of Carignano the latter took up his residence in the castle of Racconigi, in Piedmont. When Prince Victor was eleven years old his father came to the throne, and thenceforth the young Prince lived in Turin. He and his brother were inseparable, although widely different in temperament, Victor enthusiastic, impulsive, overflowing with animal spirits, Ferdinand more prudent, calm, and thoughtful, strongly resembling his father.

Charles Albert devoted the greatest care to the education and military training of his sons, and both fully repaid his care. Victor Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, was not a great student, but he was keenly interested in everything that pertained to government, sympathetic, observant, deeply imbued with the desire to see Italy free and Piedmont the leader in that cause. His manners were essentially frank and cordial, his whole bearing inspired confidence. At twenty-one he was of middle height, powerfully built, with features strong, rather than handsome, a curling mustache adding to the military aspect of his face. At twenty-two he sought the hand of his first cousin, Maria Adelaide, daughter of the Austrian Archduke Ranieri, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venice, and of Charles Albert's only sister. The chief objection to the marriage was the fact that the Princess Adelaide was partly Austrian, but Victor overcame this objection, and the marriage took place in 1842. It was not long before the young Princess had become the idol of Piedmont through her many gifts of charm.

When the news of the rising of Milan on March 18, 1848, came to Turin the Duke of Savoy was filled with joy. The King and his ministers were deliberating with deep concern the position that Piedmont should adopt, but the young Prince was concerned only with taking the field against Austria. He had that pure love for the dangers of war which had been such a marked characteristic of his ancestors, and which had made the House of Savoy famous during the Middle Ages. The biographer Massari wrote of him later, "Without using a profusion of words, it is enough to say that under the canvas or in the battle-field he showed himself worthy of his race. He who knows the story of the Savoy dynasty knows that there is no higher eulogium than this."

He was given a command in the troops that were hurried to the aid of Lombardy, and fought his first battle at Santa Lucia on May 6th. He was conspicuous for courage, and in addition to his personal power of inspiring his soldiers with enthusiasm, proved himself a careful general. At Goito, where the Austrians took the troops of Piedmont by surprise, the Duke of Savoy converted a retreat into a desperate attack by throwing himself before the troops and calling on them to save the honor of Savoy. He was wounded in the thigh, but fought on, and at length had the satisfaction of reporting to his father that Piedmont had won the day. He was awarded a medal for valor on the field of action, but he valued more the wound which he had won in fighting for Italy.

The fortunes of war soon brought a change. The other states of Italy did not come to the aid of Lombardy as Charles Albert had been given assurances that they would. Pius IX. had placed an army in the field to prevent Austrian outrages on his frontiers, but had given them orders not to attack the enemy. The King of Naples had declared his intention of siding with the other Italian states, but by deceit and treachery kept his army too far from the scene of action to be of any use. The Venetians were fully occupied with their revolution at home, the Lombards had already begun to determine what they would do when they were free, and Piedmont was left practically alone to fight the rapidly reviving army of Austria.

One more victory was won at Staffola, but the next day the Piedmontese were attacked again and defeated at Custozza. The King was advised to retreat across the Po to Piacenza, but instead felt that his duty called him to Milan. He entered that city, but his army, worn out, and attacked by a much superior force, could not defend the Lombard capital, and he was forced to capitulate. The Milanese were not grateful, they bitterly assailed the King for what they called his treachery, and he escaped from the city through the aid of a young officer, later the General La Marmora.

Still the unfortunate King would not abandon the war, although he saw the hopelessness of the situation, left as he was to fight single-handed. March 20, 1849, the fighting recommenced, and lasted for three days. At Martara the pick of the Piedmontese army were destroyed. When Charles Albert heard the news he realized that he was destined to utter defeat. Yet he took up the march to Novara, stoical as became his race. The battle of Novara, fought March 23, 1849, marked the end. The Piedmontese fought heroically, the Duke of Savoy led his men time and again to the attack, his younger brother, the Duke of Genoa, had three horses killed under him, but bravery could not overcome the disparity in strength. An armistice was asked for, but the terms of Marshal Radetsky were too hard to accept. The King said to his generals, "Gentlemen, we cannot accept these conditions. Is it possible that we can resume hostilities?" The answer was a unanimous "no." Then the unfortunate King laid down the burdens of his too heavy office in these touching words: "From eighteen years till now I have always made every effort possible for the benefit of the people. I am deeply afflicted to see that my hopes have failed, not so much for my own sake as for the country's. I have not been able to find death on the field of battle, as I had desired; perhaps my existence is now the only obstacle to obtaining from the enemy reasonable terms, and since there remains no further means of continuing hostilities, I abdicate this moment, in favor of my son Vittorio, in the hope that, renewing negotiations with Radetsky, the new King may obtain better conditions, and procure for the country an advantageous peace. Behold your King!"

The entreaties of the son and the generals were useless, Charles Albert was determined. He knew that his dream of liberating Italy was over, that he was not the man for the great work. That night he set out with one companion for Oporto in Portugal, there to live obscurely while his son took up the heavy burden of rebuilding Piedmont's hopes.

Victor Emmanuel came to the throne at a distressing moment, but from the first he showed the true metal of his nature. His father had been a dreamer, a theorist, alternating between eagerness to press forward and the desire to retain what he already had. His character, although fine, was not robust. The young King, however, was essentially robust-natured, the very type of man above all others needed at this particular crisis. He faced Marshal Radetsky fearlessly, and, when the Austrian general insisted on the same terms demanded of his father, including the immediate expulsion of all Italian exiles from the state of Piedmont, replied, "Sooner than subscribe to such conditions I would lose a hundred crowns. What my father has sworn I will maintain. If you wish a war to the death, be it so! I will call my nation to arms once more, and you will see what Piedmont is capable of in a general rising. If I must fall, it shall be without shame. My house knows the road of exile, but not of dishonor."

Finally an armistice was concluded. The King of Sardinia was to disband all the military corps composed of Lombards, Poles, Hungarians, and other foreign peoples, retaining only those who chose to remain his subjects permanently; a heavy war indemnity was to be paid to Austria, half the fortress of Alessandria was to be given up to Austria, and her troops were to be allowed to occupy Piedmontese territory between the rivers Po, Sesia, and Ticino. It was a hard bargain that Austria drove.

Victor Emmanuel returned to his capital to find many of its citizens disaffected by the appeals of the republican party. All Turin was in despair over the sad termination of a campaign that had promised so much. The King, the Queen, and their two sons, Humbert, aged five, and Amadeus, aged four, were received with the coldest regard as they appeared in public. The King issued this proclamation to his people: "Citizens,--Untoward events and the will of my most venerated parent have called me, long before my time, to the throne of my ancestors. The circumstances under which I hold the reins of government are such that nothing but the most perfect concord in all will enable me, and then with difficulty, to fulfil my only desire, the salvation of our common country. The destines of nations are matured in the designs of Providence, but man owes to his country all the service he is capable of, and in this debt we have not failed. Now all our efforts must be to maintain our honor untarnished, to heal the wounds of our country, to consolidate our constitutional institutions. To this undertaking I conjure all my people, to it I will pledge myself by a solemn oath, and I await from the nation the exchange of help, affection, and confidence.--Victor Emmanuel."

On March 29 the new King took the oath to the constitution which had so recently been granted by his father. General Delaunay formed the new ministry, which almost immediately decided to dissolve Parliament and call a general election. Meanwhile Victor Emmanuel was wholly engaged with the peace negotiations, and tried to enlist the influence of England and France in Sardinia's behalf. The Delaunay ministry divided on the terms of peace, and the King was in despair as to whom he should call upon as steersman in such troubled seas. He finally turned to Massimo d'Azeglio, who was suffering from a wound he had received at Vicenza, and who had little taste at any time for the burdens of premiership. He found it impossible, however, to refuse his young sovereign at this hour. He accepted the post, although reluctantly. Fortunately the views of the King and those of D'Azeglio coincided on almost all matters. The King was charmed with D'Azeglio's polish and talents in so many diverse lines; the Minister, much older than the King, was delighted with Victor Emmanuel's frank enthusiasms. It was he who gave the King his proudest title. One day he remarked, "There have been so few honest kings in the world that it would be a splendid thing to begin the series." "And am I to play the part of that honest king?" asked Victor Emmanuel. "Your majesty has sworn to the constitution," was the answer, "and has taken thought not alone of Piedmont, but of all Italy. Let us continue in this path, and hold that a king as well as a private individual has only one word, and must stand by that."

"That," replied the King, "seems easy to me."

"Behold then," said D'Azeglio, "we have the Rè galantuomo!"

And "Rè galantuomo" was the name Victor Emmanuel wrote in the register of the Turin census, and the title his people were most glad to give him.

The first months were very troubled, the second Assembly was captious, and continually in opposition to the King and his ministers. There were too many hot-headed representatives of Mazzini's "Young Italy," which, as D'Azeglio said, "Being young cannot be expected to have much sense, and certainly has little." The King fell ill of a fever, and for a time it seemed possible he might not recover and that the country would have to endure a regency during his son's minority. Most providentially for Italy he did recover, and shortly after the National Assembly was again dissolved, and a popular appeal made to the people. The King issued a royal proclamation which was heeded by the electors, and as a result of which more moderate men were sent to the succeeding Parliament.

The new government boldly took up the question of whether the clergy were entitled to special ecclesiastical tribunals under the constitution to which Victor Emmanuel had just sworn. The ministers proposed to do away with such courts as unconstitutional. Immediately the bishops were up in arms, and a conflict between State and Church began. The King was besought by his mother not to oppose the Church, to be a true son of the Church as his ancestors had been, but Victor Emmanuel, although always grieved at the need to oppose the clergy, stood by his ministers. The Church courts were abolished, and the people, long tired of ecclesiastical overlorddom, acclaimed King and ministry as true lovers of liberty.

This firm stand of the new government immediately caused the greatest ill-will on the part of the Catholic Church, an ill-will which was shown in a multitude of ways. A member of the ministry, the Cavalier Santa Rosa, a devout Roman Catholic, became very ill, and asked his confessor to administer the sacrament to him. The priest was forbidden to do this at the express command of the bishop, and although every effort was made by Santa Rosa's friends to obtain for him what he wished, not only did the bishop remain obdurate, but the curate in attendance actually insulted the dying man until he was forced to leave the house. Santa Rosa died without having received the sacrament, and the history of the event inflamed the minds of Piedmont more than ever against the narrowness of the Church. The offending bishop was imprisoned, and an exchange of notes followed between Victor Emmanuel and the Pope. The latter complained of the freedom of speech allowed by the Sardinian King to his people, and in reply D'Azeglio issued a pamphlet setting forth his views of the unwarranted assumption of civil authority by the Church. The death of Santa Rosa left a vacancy in the ministry which D'Azeglio filled by inviting the Count Camille Cavour to take the portfolio of Agriculture and Commerce. It was known that the new man was bold and original, but not even D'Azeglio realized what a commanding spirit he had invited into his official family. The King alone seems to have gauged Cavour correctly. "Take care," he said to D'Azeglio, "this Cavour will rule you all, he will dispose of you; he must become Prime Minister." Fortunate it was for Italy that the King's prediction was to be fulfilled.

Meanwhile Victor Emmanuel, the only constitutional sovereign in Italy, was bitterly assailed by the Bourbon rulers. Ferdinand, King of Naples, once more secure upon his throne, lost no opportunity to express his disapproval of a king who was both a nationalist and a liberal. There was continual friction between Turin and Vienna, largely because of the outspoken views of the Piedmontese press with regard to the Austrian treatment of Lombardy. The European Powers, with the exception of England, looked upon Piedmont as an unruly child continually making trouble. England alone was sincerely friendly to the House of Savoy, and keenly interested in Victor Emmanuel's hopes for a united country.

New troubles arose between the Papacy and Piedmont over the latter's advocacy of a civil marriage law. D'Azeglio and Cavour disagreed, and the ministry resigned. The King asked D'Azeglio to form a new Cabinet, leaving out Cavour, whom, he said, "we will want later, but not yet." The new ministry was formed, but only a few months later D'Azeglio, harassed by the trouble with Rome, and still suffering from his old wound, resigned, and advised the King to summon Cavour. Victor Emmanuel hesitated, fearing that Cavour would push matters forward too fast. When finally approached, Cavour said that he could not take office in view of the Church's exorbitant demands, but he at last consented. The King had relegated his personal desire not to antagonize the clergy farther, to his conviction that his country needed a strong hand at the helm, and, the decision once made, trusted his new minister completely.

There were many difficulties to be met. Austria accused Piedmont of fostering the small revolts which were continually breaking out in Lombardy, the war indemnity--eighty million francs--was heavy and had to be raised by new taxation which was of course universally unpopular. Both at home and abroad the time was trying, but Victor Emmanuel found that in Cavour he had a man who was not afraid of unpopularity, who knew the art of steering between the radicals and the conservatives, and who could make use of the politicians of all the different schools. In Parliament he could more than hold his own with any opponent, in his management of foreign affairs he already showed that extraordinary diplomatic skill which at no late day was to win him the reputation of the first statesman in Europe. Both King and Minister were imperious by nature, but both also wise enough to sink their individual wills when they realized that the cause which they had so much at heart required it of them. So events led to the outbreak of the Crimean War.

The steps which led up to Sardinia's alliance with England and France against Russia belong to the story of Cavour's diplomacy. Sufficient it is to say here that Victor Emmanuel was heartily in favor of the alliance, and would, if he could, have proceeded to it by more direct means than Cavour deemed essential. The King was anxious to redeem the glory of Piedmont's arms, but the Minister, with his cabinet opposed to him on the ground that the war was a purely foreign one, had to consider popular sentiment. Finally, however, Cavour gave the word that the treaty might be signed in safety, and the King, his mind made up long in advance, set his name to the important document that was to send his army to foreign battle-fields. The instance was one in which Victor Emmanuel's firmness of purpose aided and abetted Cavour's diplomacy. Dabormida resigned as Foreign Minister, and Cavour immediately took his post.

At the same time the King had heavy burdens to bear in his immediate family. His mother, to whom he was devoted, died, bidding him stand fast by the conservative traditions of his father. His wife, the beautiful Queen Adelaide, died shortly afterwards, and the King lost an adviser who had always counseled him wisely and helpfully, and whom he had worshiped as an ideal wife and mother of his sons. Less than a month later his brother Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, died, a man intensely high-spirited and brave, the constant companion of Victor Emmanuel's youth. No wonder that the King felt that he was left solitary. He had small time to give to his feelings, however. "They tell me," he said, "that God has struck me with a judgment, and has torn from me my mother, my wife, and my brother, because I consented to those laws, and they threaten me with greater punishments. But do they not know that a sovereign who wishes to secure his own happiness in the other world ought to labor for the happiness of his people on this earth?"

There were more trials immediately in store. The Church owned more than a tenth part of the landed property of Piedmont, and the religious houses were extravagantly wealthy. The government, planning reforms, decided that some modification of this condition must be made, and so Rattazzi, then Minister of Grace and Justice, introduced his bill for the suppression of certain of the religious houses and other similar reforms. Immediately the bishops and the conservatives were up in arms, and Victor Emmanuel had to bear the brunt of an attack which proclaimed him an infidel, an enemy of religion, and which predicted the direst punishments to him should he persist in his course. The ministry were firm, however, and the people were with them. Certain bishops offered to pay over the amount which would be derived from the suppression of the religious houses, and the offer was tempting to the King, who could not forget his mother's wishes, and the close ties that bound his house to Rome. A breach with his ministers followed, and the King sought counsel of his own subjects and of the French and English envoys. All advised him to trust the decision to Cavour. Finally he did so, and the Rattazzi measure, somewhat modified, became law.

The Sardinian army meantime was winning victories in the Crimea, and La Marmora was proving himself a match for the great generals of the allied Powers. The thought of his troops was the King's one solace at this time, which was so trying to him both personally and politically. He was passionately fond of military glory, and would have preferred the opportunity to lead his soldiers to any gift fortune could have bestowed. The soldiers knew this, the people were growing more and more attached to their "Rè galantuomo," and the King, always quickly touched by the affection of his people, grew stronger in his resolve never to dim their hopes of him. He said of his uncle, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was ruling according to the accepted code of an Austrian Prince, "How could he, by his own act, sacrifice the affections of his people? If I reigned over not a little state like Piedmont, but over an empire vast as America, and had to do what he has done to preserve the little throne of Tuscany, I would not hesitate a moment, I would renounce the empire."