On October
2, 1860, Cavour asked Parliament for full powers to annex all the new
provinces of Central and Southern Italy if they desired it. He contended
that the events which had taken place were due to the initiative of the
people, the noble audacity of General Garibaldi, and the constitutional
rule of Victor Emmanuel, united to his devotion to the cause of Italian
freedom.
Even those deputies who represented the views of the extreme Left, some
of whose members avowed a preference for Republicanism--in theory at any
rate--supported the Government. One of them, Signor Bertani, declared he
would not now raise any point of difference, and frankly acknowledged
that in reality all Italians wished the same thing--"Italy one and free,
under Victor Emmanuel." Cavour further satisfied the Chamber by saying
that Rome and Venice must in the end be united to the mother country,
though the questions involved in such union must, out of deference to
Europe and France, be postponed for the present.
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