avoidable feature in the scheme. With the addition of about three
hundred men, Pisacane left Ponza for the mainland and disembarked near
the village of Sapri, in the province of Salerno. From information
received, he imagined that a revolutionary movement was on the point
of breaking out in that district. Nothing could be further from the
fact. The country people did all the harm they could to the band,
which, after making a brave stand against the local militia, was cut
to pieces by the royal troops. Pisacane fell fighting; those who were
not killed were taken, and amongst these was Nicotera, who was kept in
prison till set free by Garibaldi.

The _Cagliari_ was captured and detained with its crew. As two of the
seamen were British subjects, the English Government joined Sardinia
in demanding its restitution, which, after long delays, was conceded.

In 1857, the Emperor of Austria relieved Field-Marshal Radetsky, then
in his ninety-third year, of the burden of office. He was given the
right of living in any of the royal palaces, even in the Emperor's own
residence at Vienna, but he preferred to spend the one remaining year
of his life in Italy. At the same time, the Archduke Maximilian was
appointed Viceroy of Lombardy and Venetia. A more naturally amiable
and cultivated Prince never had the evil fate forced upon him of
attempting impossible tasks. Just married to the lovely Princess
Charlotte of Belgium, he came to Italy radiant with happiness, and
wishing to make everyone as happy as he was himself. Not even the
chilling welcome he received damped his enthusiasm, for he thought the
aversion of the population depended on undoubted wrongs, which it was
his full intention to redress. He was to learn two things; firstly,
that the day of reconciliation was past: there were too many ghosts
between the Lombards and Venetians, and the House of Hapsburg.
Secondly, that an unseen hand beyond the Brenner would diligently
thwart each one of his benevolent designs. The system was, and was to
remain, unchanged. It was not carried out quite as it was carried out
in the first years after 1849. The exiles were allowed to return and
the sequestrations were revoked. It should be said, because it shows
the one white spot in Austrian despotism, its civil administration,
that on resuming their rights of ownership the proprietors found that
their estates had not been badly managed. But the depressing and
deadening influence of an anti-nat