Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/616

 578 Readings in European History Accession of William as king of Prussia. Appreciative allusion to Garibaldi's band. The emperor of the French, firmly upholding the maxim of non-intervention, — a maxim eminently beneficial to us, — nevertheless deemed it proper to recall his envoy. If this fact was a cause of chagrin to us, it did not change our sen- timents of gratitude toward him or diminish our confidence in his affection for the Italian cause. France and Italy, with their common origin, traditions, and customs, formed on the plains of Magenta and Solferino a bond that will prove indissoluble. The government and people of England, that ancient country of freedom, warmly sanction our right to be the arbi- ters of our own destinies ; and they have lavishly bestowed upon us their good offices, the grateful remembrances of which will be imperishable. A loyal and illustrious prince having ascended the throne of Prussia, I dispatched to him an ambassador in token of respect for him personally and of sympathy with the noble German nation, which I hope will become more and more secure in the conviction that Italy, being established in her natural unity, cannot offend the rights or interests of other nations. . . . Valiant youths, led on by a captain who has filled with his name the most distant countries, have made it evident that neither servitude nor long misfortune has been able to weaken the fiber of the Italian peoples. These facts have inspired the nation with great confidence in its own desti- nies. I take pleasure in manifesting to the first parliament of Italy the joy that fills my heart as king and soldier. The first measure proposed was a bill declaring Vic- tor Emmanuel king of Italy ; this passed almost unani- mously, with but two votes in the negative. Against this act the papal government protested. A Catholic king, forgetful of every religious principle, despising every right, trampling upon every law, after hav- ing, little by little, despoiled the august head of the Catho- lic Church of the greatest and most flourishing portion of