pect of affairs, and especially the
presence of the French in Rome, provoked a general sense of
instability which was contrary to the organisation of the new state
and the development of its resources. The ministers sought remedies or
palliatives for these several evils, and to meet the last they opened
negotiations with France, which resulted in the compromise known as
the September Convention. It was long before the treaty was concluded,
as for more than a year the French Government refused to remove the
garrison on any terms; but in the autumn of 1864 the following
arrangement was signed by both parties: that Italy should protect the
Papal frontier from all attack from the outside; that France should
gradually withdraw her troops, the complete evacuation to take place
within two years; that Italy should waive the right of protest against
the internal organisation of the Papal army unless its proportions
became such as to be a manifest threat to the Italian kingdom; that
the Italian capital should be moved to Florence within six months of
the approval of the Convention by Parliament.

These terms were in part the same as those proposed by Prince Napoleon
to Cavour shortly before the death of that statesman, who had promised
to support them as a temporary makeshift, and in order to get the
French out of Italy. But they were in part different, and they
contained two new provisions which it is morally certain that Cavour
would never have agreed to--the prolongation of the French occupation
for two years (Cavour had insisted that it should cease in a
fortnight), and the transfer of the capital, which was now made a
_sine qua non_ by Napoleon, for evident reasons. While it was clear
that Turin could not be the permanent capital of a kingdom that
stretched to AEtna, if once the seat of government were removed to
Florence a thousand arguments and interests would spring up in favour
of keeping it there. So, at least, it was sure to seem to a foreigner.
As a matter of fact, the solution was no solution; the Italians could
not be reconciled to the loss of Rome either by the beauty and
historic splendour of the city on the Arno, or by its immunity from
malaria, which was then feared as a serious drawback, though Rome has
become, under its present rulers, the healthiest capital in Europe.
But Napoleon thought that he was playing a trump card when he dictated
the sacrifice of Turin.

The patriotic Turinese were unprepared for th