Great indeed was the mortification of all Italy on hearing such
terms of peace announced. Cavour, who had devoted all his marvellous
talents to realizing the ideal of national redemption and had believed
his ends so nearly attained, hastened to his Prince, and, in a
melancholy interview, advised him not to accept such conditions. But
Victor Emmanuel, although it caused his very heart to bleed, signed the
treaty, adding these words: "I approve as far as I myself am concerned,"
whereupon Cavour sent in his resignation.
What was the motive that had induced Napoleon to break his lately made
promise of freeing Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic? There were many
reasons which influenced him: the sight of that immense battlefield,
strewn with the bodies of the slain, the determined resistance of the
Austrian soldiers, the difficulties which would have to be faced in the
Quadrilateral, the hostile attitude of Prussia, were all motives which
combined to sway the French Emperor's mind. But there was also another
reason which counted for much.
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