final accomplishment of Italian unity and the establishment of
the court at Rome, there began a new life for the whole country, wherein
the position of the ruling family was decidedly difficult. At the outset
there was the opposition of the Vatican, for the pope was unwilling to
accept the inevitable and relinquish his temporal power with good grace;
and there was the greater problem, perhaps, of moulding into one
nationality the various peoples of the peninsula. Neapolitans and
Milanese, Venetians and Romans, were all so many different races, so far
as their history and traditions were concerned, and the task of making
them all Italians--which had been put upon the house of Savoy--was
fraught with much danger. It is too early yet to know with what complete
success this work will be crowned, but it may be safely said that Queen
Margharita, wife of Humbert I., did much to bring about that general
spirit of good will which has thus far been characteristic of united
Italy. Owing to the peculiar conditions of the situation, and the strong
local spirit which still endures everywhere, it was soon found that all
Italy would be slow in coming to the court at Rome, and so the court
decided to go to the country. Royal villas are scattered through the
different provinces, and it is customary for the king and his suite to
visit them with some frequency. During all this perambulating court
life, Queen Margharita became a popular favorite, in no less degree than
the king, and their democratic ways soon gained the love and esteem of
the people in general. The following incident will show to what extent
the queen was interested in the welfare of her subjects and what she was
able to accomplish by means of her ready wit. Certain towns along the
coast had become very prosperous through the manufacture of coral
ornaments of various kinds, and large numbers of women were given
lucrative employment in this work until, slowly, coral began to go out
of fashion, and then the industry commenced to diminish in importance.
It became, in fact, practically extinct, and so great was the misery
caused by the lack of work that the attention of the queen was called to
this pitiful situation. Instantly, by personal gifts, she relieved the
pressure of the moment, and then by deliberately wearing coral ornaments
in a most conspicuous way she restored their popularity and at the same
time brought back prosperity to the stricken villages. Since the death
of