He sent Durando to fight the Austrians, and
disavowed him after the battle.

He quitted the ministry as soon as he found there were dangers to be
encountered, but assisted the Pope in his secret opposition to his
ministers. The murder of Count Rossi gave him serious cause for
reflection. A man don't take the trouble to be born at Sonnino, in
order to let himself be assassinated: quite the contrary. He placed
the Pope--and himself--in safety, and then went to Gaeta to play the
part of Secretary of State _in partibus_.

From this exile dates his omnipotence over the will of the Holy
Father, his reinstatement in the esteem of the Austrians, and the
consistency in his whole conduct. Since then no more contradictions in
his political life. They who formally accused him of hesitating
between the welfare of the nation and his own personal interest are
reduced to silence. He wishes to restore the absolute power of the
Pope, in order that he may dispose of it at his ease. He prevents all
reconciliation between Pius IX. and his subjects; he summons the
cannon of Catholicism to effect the conquest of Rome. He ill-uses the
French, who are willing to die for him; he turns a deaf ear to the
liberal counsels of Napoleon III.; he designedly prolongs the exile of
his master; he draws up the promises of the _Motu Proprio_, while
devising means to elude them. At length, he returns to Rome, and for
ten years continues to reign over a timid old man and an enslaved
people, opposing a passive resistance to all the counsels of diplomacy
and all the demands of Europe. Clinging tenaciously to power, reckless
as to the future, misusing present opportunities, and day by day
increasing his fortune--after the manner of Sonnino.

In this year of grace 1859, he is fifty-three years of age. He
presents the appearance of a well-preserved man. His frame is slight
and robust, and his constitution is that of a mountaineer. The breadth
of his forehead, the brilliancy of his eyes, his beak-like nose, and
all the upper part of his face inspire a certain awe. His countenance,
of almost Moorish hue, is at times lit up by flashes of intellect. But
his heavy jaw, his long fang-like teeth, and his thick lips express
the grossest appetites. He gives you the idea of a minister grafted on
a savage. When he assists the Pope in the ceremonies of the Holy Week
he is magnificently disdainful and impertinent. He turns from time to
time in the direction of the diplomat