an elaborate letter to Pius IX., in which he sought to persuade the
Pontiff of the sweet reasonableness of renouncing claims which, for a
very long spell, had cast nothing but discredit on religion. Ricasoli's
attitude towards the Temporal Power was unique in this century. Like
Dante's, his hatred of it was religious. He was a Catholic, not because
he had never thought or studied, but because, having thought and
studied, he assented, and from this standpoint he ascribed most of the
wounds of the Church to her subordination of her spiritual mission to
material interests. He encouraged Padre Passaglia to collect the
signatures of priests for a petition praying the Pope to cease opposing
the desires of all Italy; 8943 names were affixed in a short time. The
only result of these transactions was that Cardinal Antonelli remarked
to the French Government that the Holy See would never come to terms
with robbers, and that, although at war with the Turin Cabinet, 'the
Pope's relations with Italy were excellent.' More harmful to Ricasoli
than the fulminations of the Vatican was the veiled but determined
hostility of Napoleon III. Cavour succeeded in more or less keeping the
Emperor in ignorance of the degree to which their long partnership
resembled a duel. He made him think that he was leading while he was
being led. With Ricasoli there could be no such illusions. Napoleon
understood him to be a man whom he might break, not bend. He thought it
desirable to break him, and Imperial desires had many channels, at that
time, towards fulfilment.

The Ricasoli ministry fell in February 1862, and, as a matter of
course, Rattazzi was called to power. The new premier soon
ingratiated himself with the King, who found him easier to get on with
than the Florentine _grand seigneur_; with Garibaldi, whom he
persuaded that some great step in the national redemption was on the
eve of accomplishment; with Napoleon, who divined in him an
instrument. Meanwhile, in his own mind, he proposed to eclipse Cavour,
out-manoeuvre all parties, and make his name immortal. This remains
the most probable, as it is the most lenient interpretation to which
his strange policy is open.

Garibaldi was encouraged to visit the principal towns of North Italy
in order to institute the _Tiro Nazionale_ or Rifle Association, which
was said to be meant to form the basis of a permanent volunteer force
on the English pattern. For many reasons, such a scheme was not likely