diary show how Cavour chafed at what he had occasionally to defer to. Money for its own sake had no attraction for him. He had no leaning towards parsimony, still less for hoarding. Stories have been circulated as to Cavour's fondness for play. That he liked extremely his rubber of whist is indisputable; but it would be absolutely false to represent him as a gambler. At a time when master of a considerable fortune he may have staked on a particular occasion a heavy amount against Baron Rothschild. That he did not involve himself, however, habitually in large risks is proved by his diary. He once lost 8007. on the Bourse, and, small as the amount was, he had to apply to his father for help, which was granted. The misadventure made Cavour forswear the Bourse as an atrocious den.' 'I have lost twenty thousand francs, but have won experience and taken a resolution worth a million.' Cavour did, however, engage in numerous industrial enterprises, all marked by public utility. It was this feature which attracted him. For a fundamental axiom with Cavour was, that the political revival of a people could never be effected except in conjunction with its economical development. This point constituted the radical difference between his method of political treatment and those pursued by visionaries like Gioberti and Mazzini.

No better illustration of the large spirit in which Cavour judged industrial matters can be found, than the manner in which he viewed railways. On first acquaintance with these he exclaimed :

'Railways are destined to revolutionize the material world. . . . I have already travelled enough on them to make me more than ever desire their introduction on the Continent. Distances no longer exist in England.'

In 1846 he published a paper on the introduction of railways into Italy, which is a monument to his elevation of mind over prevailing prejudice and to his technical intuitiveness :

'The influence of railways will extend over the universe; but in my opinion their moral effects will exceed even their material. The steam-engine is destined, such is my firm conviction, to lessen, if not wholly to obliterate, the humiliating inferiority to which some branches of the great Christian family are reduced. No country is entitled to expect greater things from railways than Italy. The political and social results, which will flow from them in this beautiful country, will testify more than anything elsewhere to the large part these novel means of communication will play in the world's future.'

The Austrian Government had then under consideration a line to connect Vienna with Lombardy. Everything of Austrian

origin,

origin, especially everything tending to the advantage of Austrian administration, was then an object of aversion to Italian Liberals. In the face of this sentiment Cavour boldly advocated the benefit that would accrue from the contemplated work, and exposed the pettiness of the popular argument against it in truly memorable words :

'If the future harbours a happier destiny for Italy, if, as is to be hoped, this fair land is fated some day to recover its nationality, this can be only through some providential occurrence on which the more or less rapid transport of a few regiments can have no influence. The time for conspiracies is past; the emancipation of peoples can be due neither to plots nor to surprises; it has become the natural consequence of progressive Christian civilization. The way which brings Vienna nearer to Milan by afew hours will be powerless to prevent great events. Therefore this railway is one the completion of which is most desirable. If at present Italian agriculture can thrive only by new outlets, in the future, when relations involved by a state of conquest have been succeeded by those of equality and friendship, this line will render enormous service by promoting intellectual and moral relations which I desire to see, above all, established between serious and profound Germany and Italy.'

And there was another line Cavour advocated with all the force he could command, and in a tone as if he was urging something of which the feasibility was a matter of absolute certainty. This was the line it was reserved to him to initiate when Minister, but which even then was considered by many engineers a chimerical undertaking :

'A rail to connect Savoy with Piedmont, piercing the Alps a short distance from Mont Cenis, which will be the masterpiece of modern industry, the highest triumph of steam, the complement of its glory.'

When in 1849 the first distant rumble was heard of stirring incidents in the Peninsula, his friend from early days, Costa de Beauregard, urged Cavour to come out from his rural retreat. Cavour's reply is illustrative of his state of mind and of his life :

'I have devoted myself to husbandry, which I carry on upon a sufficiently large scale for it to have a real interest. I have struck out of the common rut, and have tried improvements of a novel character which have succeeded fairly well. Nor do I remain indifferent to the interests of my country; I try to be as useful to it as a private person can be. I have succeeded in establishing at Turin a Discount Bank, which I trust will prove of much benefit to commerce, to agriculture, and to manufactures. I have created a large manufacture of chemicals and manures which has no rival in Italy. Lastly, I flatter myself to have contributed more than Vol. 168.-No. 335.

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any

any one else to the erection of the splendid mill about to be set at work in the Park. It is from no wish to boast I tell you what I am doing, but to show I am no idler, who, under plea of cultivating his acres, passes his days in pleasant laziness. It is no merit that I work, idleness weighs on me. If, therefore, I continue in private life, it is because I cannot get out of it with self-respect and so as to be really useful to my country.'

tact.

Two important institutions, directly due to Cavour's initiative, are here omitted. In 1838, after overcoming influences strongly entrenched in the Royal palace, Cavour founded at Turin the first Infant Asylum, soon followed by others in the provinces. The other institution, also sanctioned with difficulty, was the Agricultural Association. The founders were mostly men of high rank; the president being the Marchese Alfieri, Cavour himself becoming the moving spirit in its administration. The attraction of the Association was great in the then state of Piedmont. The fact of its being a tolerated association was sufficient to make its members before long amount to several thousands. It became a handy meetingplace for persons who knew not how else to come into conThis circumstance was attended by two consequences. As regards agriculture, the men practically conversant with it were outnumbered by the amateurs. Friction ensued, which was aggravated by the virtual introduction of a political element. The members from the provinces consisted largely of young lawyers, who liked to assert themselves against the old members of aristocratic birth. Controversies arose, which culminated in a contest for the presidency, when Count Salmour was fiercely opposed, to the profound displeasure of Cavour, who vigorously combated with his keen tongue unpractical suggestions advocated by fluent theorists. Conspicuous amongst these were two men, afterwards prominent Radical leaders in the Chambers, Sineo and Valerio; and it is well to note that, in the friction of these discussions on agricultural topics, was elicited the venomous animosity with which they pursued Cavour in the political arena. They stigmatized Cavour as a selfish aristocrat, and grasping monopolist, and what is more, they contrived for a while to make the charge believed. Sineo, even as late as 1850, went so far as to accuse Cavour of having framed the duties on the tariff for his own private advantage. This was one of the rare occasions on which Cavour condescended to take notice of a personal attack. The rejoinder was crushing :

The Deputy Sinco has thought proper to observe, that I possibly have been influenced by private interests in my decision as a public man. He has referred to my having an interest in a manufactory in

this city. Here I will give an explanation. Some years ago, through circumstances I need not relate, I became acquainted with a young and intelligent industrial who had not means proportionate to his chemical knowledge and capacities. I sold some investments to enable him to start a factory which, I believe, has rendered and can render great service to the country. At that time the products of this factory enjoyed a specific protection; in the reformed tariff it will be found that just on these there is the greatest reduction. This is in accordance with what I said when I advanced money, at a time I certainly could not even imagine my being called on to initiate a customs reform. I said this-I advance these funds under one condition, that you put yourself into a condition to be able to dispense with Protection; and I have kept my word. As soon as ever I was able to introduce a customs reform, it is on these articles I have brought to bear the heaviest reduction.'

Cavour wrote to Costa, in a letter already quoted :
:-

Eight years ago I was rather popular; at present I am no longer so at all. In the Agricultural Society I opposed energetically an ultra Liberal party, and I lost at once my position in the Associations and the favour of the Liberals. Nor have I done anything to regain it. As a fact, I am every whit as Liberal as I was eighteen years ago. . . . But I have become convinced that slow and well-directed progress is the only real progress. I am persuaded order is indispensable to social progress, and that of all guarantees for order, a legitimate authority, having deep roots in the country, is the very best.'

Cavour was on his farm at Leri when tidings reached him of Charles Albert's proclamation on October 30th, 1847, promising general reforms. The shock proved electrical. He instantly hurried to the capital. There chanced to be an ordinary meeting of the Agricultural Association the day of his arrival. Cavour went straight to it. On his entry a deep silence ensued, and on his rising to speak, the members, who were almost all of the Democratic party, left the room.' The affront did not make Cavour crestfallen. With a few friends, comprising for birth and intellect all that was most distinguished in Piedmont, he started a daily paper called 'Il Risorgimento.' The first number had a prospectus signed by Cesare Balbo. To the second number Cavour's name was affixed as editor, and articles of extraordinary independence appeared from his pen in almost every issue. Events marched fast. A deputation from Genoa came to demand from the King the suppression of the Jesuits, the liberation of political prisoners, and a National Guard. There was a meeting of conspicuous citizens in Turin, presided over by the Marquis Robert d'Azeglio, to consider what should be done under the circumstances. K 2

Valerio,

Valerio, the popular Radical of the hour, moved that the Genoese should be supported in the purport of their petition. Cavour, in his own name and on behalf of his partners in 'Il Risorgimento,' demurred to the proposal on the ground, that the occurrences at Genoa showed a total loss of moral influence by the Government, and that under such circumstances no concession could be of value, short of an organic Statute ensuring popular representation. Writing to Gioberti, Santa Rosa describes what passed:

'Cavour put this dilemma: the King either declines to acquiesce, or acquiesces, in the Genoese petition. In the first and most probable case no good can ensue from our having identified ourselves with the minor instead of the major; if, however, he should acquiesce, then the loss of all authority by the Government is still further proved by its seeking at the hands of the mob justification for concession. But by calling for the major, which is tantamount to a Constitution, the case is quite altered. If the King declines, we are just as we should be if we had asked for the minor; but he will know the wish and the wants of the nation. If he yields these, however, the Government is no longer weak, but becomes a new one no more affected with debility, and ipso facto the National Guard, and the expulsion of the Jesuits must be ensured.'

This view was vehemently combated by the fiery demagogue, Valerio, on the strangest of grounds for him. By calling for a Constitution, he said,

The meeting would go greatly beyond the popular wish, and probably give offence to the King, thereby causing a rebuff to the Genoese and provoking disturbances which it was desirable to avoid. Moreover, he deprecated the piling up of questions as gravely impolitic; the expulsion of the Jesuits and the National Guard being sufficient to quiet popular agitation.'

For a proposal to emanate from Cavour was enough at that moment to ensure its being condemned by Valerio. The meeting broke up without arriving at any decision; but Cavour put his opinion upon paper and transmitted it to the King. Cavour exhibited equal firmness in resisting the pretensions of King Mob.

After the crushing defeat of the Piedmontese army, some honest patriots, Alfieri and Revel being the most conspicuous, came to the rescue of the country, and formed an Administration. Gioberti, then the popular idol, denounced these men as traitors, on account of their disposition to treat with Austria. At his instigation a monster petition demanding their immediate expulsion from office was circulated for signature. As Captain of the National Guard, Cavour happened

to