e city. He became
the intimate of Alessandro Manzoni the novelist, whose daughter he married;
thenceforth literature became his chief occupation instead of art, and he
produced two historical novels, _Niccolo dei Lapi_ and _Ettore Fieramosca_,
in imitation of Manzoni, and with pronounced political tendencies, his
object being to point out the evils of foreign domination in Italy and to
reawaken national feeling. In 1845 he visited Romagna as an unauthorized
political envoy, to report on its conditions and the troubles which he
foresaw would break out on the death of Pope Gregory XVI. The following
year he published his famous pamphlet _Degli ultimi casi di Romagna_ at
Florence, in consequence of which he was expelled from Tuscany. He spent
the next few months in Rome, sharing the general enthusiasm over the
supposed liberalism of the new pope, Pius IX.; like V. Gioberti and Balbo
he believed in an Italian confederation under papal auspices, and was
opposed to the Radical wing of the Liberal party. His political activity
increased, and he wrote various other pamphlets, among which was _I lutti
di Lombardia_ (1848).

On the outbreak of the first war of independence, d'Azeglio donned the
papal uniform and took part under General Durando in the defence of
Vicenza, where he was severely wounded. He retired to Florence to recover,
but as he opposed the democrats who ruled in Tuscany, he was expelled from
that country for the second time. He was now a famous man, and early in
1849 Charles Albert, king of Sardinia, invited him to form a cabinet. But
realizing how impossible it was to renew the campaign, and "not having the
heart to sign, in such wretched internal and external conditions, a treaty
of peace with Austria" (_Correspondance politique_, by E. Rendu), he
refused. After the defeat of Novara (23rd of March 1849), Charles Albert
abdicated and was succeeded by Victor Emmanuel II. D'Azeglio was again
called on to form a cabinet, and this time, although the situation was even
more difficult, he accepted, concluded a treaty of peace, dissolved the
Chamber, and summoned a new one to ratify it. The treaty was accepted, and
d'Azeglio continued in office for the next three years. While all the rest
of Italy was a prey to despotism, in Piedmont the king maintained the
constitution intact in the face of the general wave of reaction. D'Azeglio
conducted the affairs of the country with tact and ability, improving its
diplomatic relat