ritain. The suspicions of
the English people were verified in 1859. On the first day of that year,
at a reception in Paris, the emperor lectured the Austrian ambassador in
a manner insulting to the sovereign he represented, and which portended
war. The Austrian dominion in Italy was harsh, bigoted, and unjust. The
Germans, always so invidious in pride of race, were so in Italy to a
degree which goaded the Italians to desperation. The Austrians at last
violated the Sardinian territory, and France declared war. The French
and Italians, allies in a short campaign, drove the Austrians, with
terrible slaughter out of Lombardy, and all their Italian provinces
except Venice. The French emperor made peace as suddenly as he had made
war. A convention at Villafranca, followed by a conference and treaty
at Zurich, settled the affairs of Italy, as far as the two emperors were
concerned. The Italian people were not, however, parties to the treaty,
and would not be bound by it. They determined upon annexation to
Piedmont, whereas the emperor resolved to restore the Italian duchies
to the sovereigns. Events may here be anticipated, so far as to say
that the diplomatic interposition of England was used in favour of
the Italian people, and influenced France in favour of a policy less
concessive to Austria. Throughout the period 1858-9, the firmness
and good sense of the people of England, acting decisively upon their
government, ensured peace with France, which the intemperance, intrigue,
and arrogance of our ally made it difficult to preserve.

NAPLES.

For many years the intercourse between the governments of her majesty
and the King of Naples were unsatisfactory, for the reasons assigned in
previous chapters. During the period included in this chapter, Naples
was in a very disturbed state, and the people of Italy were desirous
to aid their brethren of that kingdom in bringing about a revolution.
A ship, called _Cagliari_, the property of Sardinian subjects, was
engaged, ostensibly for other purposes but really to land a small force
in Naples, with supplies of arms and munitions of war, and precipitate a
revolution. The captain of the ship was a Sardinian, and ignorant of the
plot. The engineers were Englishmen, and also ignorant of the plot. The
conspirators seized the ship, and compelled the captain and engineers
to direct the vessel to Naples. The government of that country had
information of the design, and sent a war vesse