Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/288

Rh 276 C A V U R conspirator, but a wise statesman, deeply read in the secrets of European politics, capable of commanding at once the confidence of Italy and the respect of Europe. What was scarcely less important was, that Napoleon and France had become interested in Italy. Certainly, if Cavour had been free to choose, he would have preferred to inaugurate the regeneration of his country under the auspices of England. Her moral weight was greater, and she was less likely to exact painful sacrifices as the price of her support. His participation in the Crimean struggle had been above all advantageous to England ; her liberal traditions and her feelings of gratitude alike led him to hope for her support. But to his chagrin, he found at the Congress that the state of European politics had made England the friend of Austria ; and that his advocacy of the union of the Danubian Principalities in opposition to her views had alienated her, he soon found out in the cold ness of the English ministers. Still he did not allow him self to be discouraged. He could count on Napoleon ; Russia was estranged from Austria, Prussia was her rival in Germany, Hungary was discontented. To isolate Austria, to make friends of her enemies and rivals, to regain the good will of England, this was now the policy of Cavour. The hostility of Sardinia to Austria became every day more apparent and more provoking. The armaments of Sardinia, far too great for the resources or the ordinary requirements of the country, pointed to war as the only solution of standing difficulties. Accordingly, at Plom- bi6res, in the autumn of 1858, the programme of the war of 1859 was made out by the French Emperor and Cavour. These were times of almost preternatural activity for Cavour. At one period or other he had filled almost every office in the administration ; but in a crisis like the present, the constitution was suspended, and the prime minister became a kind of dictator, taking upon himself the entire government of the country, home and foreign affairs, and the ministry at war, as well as finance. The crisis was worthy of such a supreme effort, for bitterly disappointed as Cavour and the Italians were at the peace of Villafranca, the power of Austria in the peninsula had been broken, and Italy thenceforward had her destiny in her own hands. On the conclusion of peace Cavour had resigned, but he returned to his post in January 1860, to resume under different conditions the work interrupted at Yillafranca. The task was a tortuous and delicate one, and required skilful managing. The possession of Lombardy and the overthrow of Austria were the tangible results of the late campaign. With regard to the rest of Italy, and in the further development of events, four influences had to be considered : France, which was bound by the treaty of Villafranca to the restoration of the old rulers of Central Italy ; Austria, which insisted on the fulfilment of this and other conditions of the treaty ; England, where in obedience to public opinion, which now began to under stand the real issues at stake in Italy, the Government inclined to let the people have their own way ; and the people of Italy itself, decidedly anxious for Italian unity, but in danger of falling into the ruinous excesses of 1848. It was now the business of Cavour so to manage the course of diplomacy, as to prevent a collision with France or Austria, to gain time for the public opinion of Central and Southern Italy to declare itself, and to avoid every thing like disunion or uproar in bringing the various provinces under the government of Victor Emmanuel. First, then, in early spring, the population of Tuscany and Emilia all but unanimously declared in favour of annexation, though this result was embittered by the consequent cession of Nice and Savoy to France, which claimed these districts as compensation and security. Cavour was severely reproached by many, and above all by Garibaldi, for this concession. But there are three con siderations, which seem entirely to clear him from any appearance of want of patriotism, the necessities of his- position as regarded France, and the facts that the Savoyards are far more French than Italian, and from a geographi cal and military point of view belong more naturally to France than to Italy. In the south, where the Pope and the king of Naples still maintained a settled govern ment, the unification of Italy seemed to meet with greater difficulties, when Garibaldi stepped forward to cut the knot. It was certainly not against the will of Cavour that the hero set out on his adventurous enterprise. He could evidently do nothing else than carefully watch the progress of the expedition, ready to own or disown it, according to the event. Accordingly, on Garibaldi s triumphant arrival at Naples, the Piedmontese army occupied the Marches and Umbria, crossed the Apennines, and on the plains of Campania shook hands with the volunteers of Garibaldi. The hero saluted Victor Emmanuel king of Italy. Next spring the first Italian Parliament met at Turin ; and Cavour saw the dream of his youth realized. He had seen a new Italy spring from the ashes of the old, an Italy of representative government and of enlightened progress, the mistress of her own destinies, and a worthy member of the commonwealth of nations. Still much remained to be done, the sores caused by centuries of misgovernment required to be healed, the finances arranged, a navy created, the relations with the church regulated, and a thousand other matters attended to, ere the new Italy could answer to the ideal in the mind of Cavour. And now he was to be taken away in the very midst of his task. For many years, and especially during the slippery and delicate events of the last year, and during the harassing debates with the Garibaldian party as to the cession of Savoy and Nice, and the treatment of the volunteers, he had been doing an amount of work which no human strength could bear. There were premonitory symptoms enough ; but the keen sense of the responsibilities weighing upon him seemed to increase as his strength declined. Medical men differed as to the precise form his disease took ; but that overwork was the cause of it, no one doubted. After some days illness, during which his feverish talk ran ever on Italy, he died on the 6th of June 1861. It is needless to describe the sensation caused by his death, and the passionate grief of every Italian patriot. It was felt by every enlightened man that a great and beneficent worker had passed away from the earth. The worthy countryman of Dante and Michelangelo, he had been privileged to achieve a mightier task than they ; the one had written a great poem, and the other had executed certain noble works of art ; Cavour recalled to life the nation they all loved so well. Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi did their part in the consummation of the great work, while without the help of France it clearly would have been impossible ; but it must be admitted that Cavour was the indispensable person who brought all the other agencies into wise and effective action. To him it is chiefly due that Italy anticipated Germany in the recovery of her national rights, and led the way in two of the most salutary revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world. He, therefore, deserves to be gratefully remembered not only as a true patriot, but aa one of the benefactors of mankind. Cavour was not eloquent in the ordinary acceptation of the word ; but if the force of words is to be measured by their influence on the will of men, he was one of the most powerful speakers that ever lived ; for he achieved what he did, not only as the adviser of the king, but as the