British admiral. He was covered with decorations and attended by his
brilliant personal staff. There, in the beautiful bay, lay the ship on
board which he was to sail at sunset, and twenty-four steam transports
were also there, each filled with Neapolitan troops. The defeated
general was deeply moved as he walked on to the quarter-deck. 'We have
been unfortunate,' he said--words never spoken by one officer of
unquestioned personal courage to another without striking a responsive
chord. When he quitted the _Hannibal_, the English admiral ordered the
White Flag of the King of the Two Sicilies to be hoisted at the
foretop-gallant masthead for the last time in Sicilian waters; and a
salute of nineteen guns, the salute due to the direct representative or
_alter ego_ of a sovereign, speeded the parting guest. Thus, wrapped in
the dignity of misfortune, vanished the last semblance of the graceless
and treacherous thraldom of the Spanish Bourbons in the capital of
Sicily. The flag of Italy was run up on the tower of the Semaphore.
Everywhere the revolution triumphed except at Messina, Milazzo and
Syracuse. Even Catania, where a rising had been put down after a
sanguinary struggle, was now evacuated and left to itself.

So the 20th of June dawned, and the Queen's ships in the harbour put
forth all their bravery of flags in commemoration of her accession,
which display was naturally interpreted by the Palermitans as a
compliment to the Dictator, who had fixed that day for calling on the
British, French and Sardinian admirals and on the captain of the
United States frigate _Iroquois_. With what honours the American
captain received him is not recorded; for certain it was with cordial
goodwill; of the others, Admiral Mundy treated him as on the previous
occasion; the French admiral affected to consider him a 'simple
monsieur' who had unexpectedly come to call, whilst Admiral Persano,
on board the _Maria Adelaide_, gave him a salute of nineteen guns,
which formed a virtual recognition on the part of Piedmont of his
assumption of the dictatorship. Cavour had ordered Persano to act on
his own responsibility as the exigencies of the hour demanded, and the
admiral knew that these vague instructions assigned him a more
vigorous policy than the other ministers would have agreed to
officially. His bold initiative was therefore justified. As some
severe words will have to be said of Persano in a later chapter, it is
well to remark here that