United States or Bulgaria ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Afterwards Napoleon again placed a French garrison in Rome. Ratazzi, whose scheme of capturing Rome by non-interference was balked, had to lay down his office. The next step towards Italian unity was to be a result of the Austro-Prussian war.
From the disorder that reigned at Rome, Pius IX. escaped in the dress of a common priest to Gaeta. The extreme democrats in Tuscany got the upper hand, and set up a provisional government. In Piedmont, Gioberti, the minister, gave way to Ratazzi, who was of the democratic school. The broken-hearted king resigned his crown to his son, Victor Emmanuel.
Even had he known that the guerilla general had been arrested at Sinalunga and put in confinement as soon as the proclamation had appeared, the prince would have foreseen clearly enough that the prisoner's escape would be only a question of a few days, since there were manifold evidences that an understanding existed between Ratazzi and Garibaldi of much the same nature as that which in 1860 had been maintained between Garibaldi and Cavour during the advance upon Naples.
After the withdrawal of the French troops in 1866, Garibaldi, with the connivance of the Italian government, in which Ratazzi, who had been obliged to leave his office, was again the ruling spirit, once more gathered a force for the capture of Rome ; but France interfered, and the advance of Garibaldi was checked at Mentana by French troops.
The police arrested Madame Limouzin, her accomplice, Madame Ratazzi, and several other persons. The public grew very much excited. It was said that state secrets were given over to pillage, that they were sold to the Germans, that the Government was at the mercy of thieves and jobbers. "One figure," wrote M. Monod, "stood out from the rest as a mark for suspicion. It was that of M. Daniel Wilson.
After Cavour's death, Ricasoli, the head of the ministry, led the constitutional party; and Ratazzi, who succeeded him and had been more in sympathy with the Garibaldians, did not deviate from his predecessor's cautious policy. The relations of the Italian government to France, even obliged the king to interfere to put down a rising, set on foot by Garibaldi, for driving the French out of Rome.
The Duchess of Mouchy, whose name continually appears, received 2,000,000fr. as a marriage portion. The son of the American Bonaparte had a pension of 30,000fr.; Madame Ratazzi of 24,000fr.; her sister, Madame Turr, the same; Marquis Pepoli, 25,000fr. As for Prince Achille Murat, the Emperor paid his debts a dozen times.
A counter-order was given, and the embarkation suspended. Victor Emmanuel and his minister, Ratazzi, thought they understood the secret meaning of this counter-order. They remembered the past, and the troops of Cialdini boldly crossed the Pontifical frontier. They who were indifferent, even, became indignant. The enemies of the Pope, who were equally hostile to the Emperor, rejoiced, but secretly.
Word Of The Day