. On the other hand, Ferdinand, under the
guidance of England, had given a constitution to Sicily, and promised to
extend a similar boon to the Neapolitans if they would restore him to
his continental dominions. In this promise, it is true, the patriot
party, with the horrors of 1799 fresh in their memory, placed little
confidence. General Pepe attributes much of Murat's undecided and
injudicious conduct to Napoleon's treatment of him. "The emperor," he
says, "one day exalted him to the skies, and the next would humble him
to the very dust, condemning every thing he did, not only through the
public papers, but in his private correspondence." On this head, the
general gives very curious particulars, derived from the Duke of Campo
Chiaro, chief of the police, and minister under Murat. The dilemma in
which King Joachim found himself might have perplexed a wiser man. It
was an option between turning his arms against his country and his
benefactor, and losing his crown, which he could not hope to retain if
he declared against the allies. After negotiating at one and the same
time with all parties, he finally, at the commencement of 1814,
concluded a treaty of alliance with Austria. But his mind was in an
unsettled and wavering state; and he made no secret to those French
officers who still followed his fortunes, of the good will with which he
would once more fight beside, instead of against, his old companions in
arms. "The Austrians so firmly expected this _volta-facia_, that they
attempted, with one of Nugent's regiments of hussars, to take him
prisoner at Bologna." At times, Pepe fancied that the king was about to
comply with the wishes of the patriot party, grant a liberal
constitution, and proclaim the independence of Italy. His hopes of this
were particularly strong, when he found himself appointed to organise
and command a legion, to consist of men from all the provinces of Italy,
and of whose officers he was to have the nomination. That so important a
trust as this should be confided to a man noted for his democratic
principles, of whom the king never spoke but as the tribune and the
_tete de fer_, and who had been more than once suspected of an intention
to revolt, was indeed a symptom of a change in Murat's views. But it all
ended in smoke. Pepe drew up the plan of the legion, and submitted it to
the king, who took no further notice of it. He was engrossed in watching
the final struggle between Napoleon and the allie