he
honour of his client, and still more Orsini's own letter to the
Emperor, produced a powerful impression; there was a dramatic interest
in the man who, disdaining to crave clemency for himself, tried a last
supreme effort in the service of the country he had loved too well.
'Deliver my fatherland, and the blessings of twenty-five million
citizens will be with you.' So concluded the letter in which Orsini
told Napoleon, that till Italy was free there would be no peace for
Europe--nor for him. It was whispered that the Emperor had a secret
interview with the condemned man at the Mazas prison; at any rate,
when Orsini mounted the scaffold, he was borne up, not only by his
invincible courage, but by the strongest hope, if not the certainty
that his last prayer would have only a short time to wait for
fulfilment.

Though persons who were able to read the signs of the times no longer
doubted that Napoleon had resolved to solve the Italian question by
force of arms, it suited his purpose to occupy the public mind for the
moment with the furious agitation against England and Piedmont as
'dens of assassins,' which led to the fall of the Palmerston
administration on the Conspiracy Bill, and seemed to almost place in
jeopardy the throne of Victor Emmanuel. Napoleon sent the King of
Sardinia demands so sweeping in language so threatening, that the old
Savoy blood was fired, and Victor Emmanuel returned the answer: 'Tell
the Emperor in whatever terms you think best that this is not the way
to treat a faithful ally; that I have never tolerated violence from
anyone; that I follow the path of unstained honour, and for that
honour I am only answerable to God and to my people. That we have
carried our head high for 850 years, and no one will make me lower it;
and that, nevertheless, I desire nothing better than to remain his
friend.' This reply was benevolently received; Cavour passed through
the Chambers a bill which, though not corresponding to the extravagant
pretensions of the French Government, gave reasonable security against
the concoction of plots of a criminal nature; Napoleon expressed
himself satisfied, and three months after, despatched Dr Conneau to
Turin, to mention, quite by the way, to the Piedmontese minister, that
he would be glad to have a conversation with him on Italian affairs.
This was the preliminary of the interview of Plombieres.

Plombieres is a watering-place in the Vosges, which became famous on
the 20th