The
insurrection against the Bourbon dynasty was now rapidly spreading.
At Cosenza in Calabria, and at Potenza in the Basilicata, provisional
governments were proclaimed and were hailing with delight the progress
of Garibaldi. The forces of Francis were disappearing from those
provinces and leaving the road to Naples unprotected. The fleet was as
little to be counted on as the army.
In Naples itself all was confusion and contradiction in the Government.
None of its members trusted the others or believed in the duration of
the Bourbon dynasty. Years of corruption, tyranny, falsehood, and
cruelty had undermined the whole system, and it fell before the storm as
if by magic. Francis II determined to leave his capital. When he ordered
the troops which still remained faithful to him to retreat upon Capua
and Gaeta, two-thirds of the staff sent in their resignation, as did
many of the officers of the Neapolitan fleet. The King addressed a
protest to the foreign powers in which he declared he only quitted his
capital to save it from the horrors of a siege.
Pages:
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751