disobeyed, and freed Naples as he had done Sicily, the king, urged by Louis Napoleon, who feared Garibaldi's attack on Rome, marched through Umbria and the Marches, annexed "Sicily and Naples," and refused to Garibaldi the lieutenancy which, for the good of the southern provinces, the donor of half Italy demanded. After waiting quietly at Caprera to see whether the king had any intention of freeing Rome and Venice, Garibaldi, believing him willing to be named king of Italy at Rome, but fettered by his alliance with France, returned to Sicily, rallied his volunteers, and proclaimed his intention of giving Rome to Italy, and of crowning Victor Emmanuel king from the capital. Whereupon the king issued a proclamation forbidding this enterprise; but Garibaldi believing that, as in 1860, if he succeeded the king would accept Rome as he had done Naples, continued the undertaking, landed on the Neapolitan shore, when the king sent orders to Cialdini to "crush, destroy, and annihilate" Garibaldi, which orders were obeyed by that general to the best of his ability. Garibaldi was wounded, his followers dispersed, the deserters from the Piedmontese army were shot by wholesale, the rest imprisoned and amnestied after a few weeks. The future alone can decide whether Victor Emmanuel II.—a brave soldier as he proved himself in the disastrous camp of Novara, in the glorious victory of San Martino—intends to drive the Austrians from Venice and the French from Rome. If he does this, then history will indeed style him the "first king of Italy;" if not, we fear he will take his place as the last monarch of the house of Savoy. In any case his reign will be remembered as fruitful in constitutional reforms, and especially by wise laws on public instruction, on the possessions of the clergy, as having freed the kingdom from the power of the priests and Jesuits, into whose keeping it had been consigned by Victor Emmanuel I.—[M.]
* VICTORIA, Alexandrina, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with all its dependencies. It is a happy thing for the subjects of Queen Victoria that the biographer of her majesty, no less than the historian of her reign, can express the profound respect and unfeigned admiration inspired by her personal character without being charged with flattery. The deep national mourning for the premature death of the Princess Charlotte Augusta had barely subsided, when a princess was born who was destined to reign for many prosperous years over a people whose social and moral improvement she has encouraged, with whose rights she has generously sympathized, and whose affectionate respect she has entirely gained. The Princess Victoria was born at Kensington palace on the 24th May, 1819. She is the only child of the duke of Kent, the fourth son of George III., and of Mary Louisa Victoria, daughter of the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and widow of Enrich Charles, prince of Leiningen. The duchess of Kent was erelong called upon to occupy that position in the eyes of the nation which her brother. Prince Leopold, seemed at one time destined to fulfil. By the death of her husband, eight months after the birth of the princess, the duchess was left sole guardian of the future queen of England. And well did she fulfil her charge. From her earliest age the young princess was taught to live simply, to practise self-denial, to cultivate her natural abilities by study, and to put her trust in God. The only recorded incident in the early life of the princess occurred when she was a few months old. The duke and duchess of Kent were at Weymouth near the close of the year 1819, when an apprentice boy fired a gun at some birds so near the royal residence, that the charge broke the nursery window, and some of the shot passed very near the head of the princess, lying in the arms of her nurse. Years of quietness and study were passed in the society of her mother and of the duchess of Northumberland, who was appointed superintendent of the education of the princess. Upon Lord Melbourne devolved the duty of instructing her in politics, and in the principles of the British constitution. The spirit in which this duty was performed, both before and after her majesty's accession, may be gathered from the anecdote which records that Lord Melbourne once read to his youthful sovereign those verses from the First Book of Kings where Solomon, being asked by God in a dream what gift he will desire, asks not "long life, nor riches, nor the lives of his enemies," but "an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad." The words of wisdom sank deep into the royal lady's mind, and have borne excellent fruit in the happiness of the people under her sway. The princess had but just attained her majority by completing the eighteenth year of her age, when on the death of her uncle, King William IV., she succeeded to the throne on the 20th of June, 1837. The king died in Windsor castle at twelve minutes past two o'clock in the morning; at five o'clock the primate, the chamberlain, and the late king's physician waited upon the princess to inform her that she was Queen, and at eleven o'clock, amid a large assembly of privy councillors, her majesty took the oath to govern the realm according to law, and made her royal declaration. With becoming self-possession, tinged by a graceful modesty, she spoke of the solemn duty that had devolved upon her owing to the loss the nation had sustained by the death of his majesty her beloved uncle. "This awful responsibility is imposed upon me so suddenly, and at so early a period of my life, that I should feel myself utterly oppressed by the burden were I not sustained by the hope that Divine Providence, which has called me to this work, will give me strength for the performance of it, and that I shall find in the purity of my intentions, and in my zeal for the public welfare, that support and those resources which usually belong to a more mature age and to long experience." Delivered in the clear well modulated-tones which have often since been heard within the walls of the house of lords, these words produced on the distinguished assembly an effect that was of happy augury for the future. The next day the queen gratified a natural feeling of her subjects by appearing at a window overlooking the courtyard of St. James' palace. Attired in black silk, with a crape scarf over her white tippet and small black chip bonnet, her majesty, with the simplicity of the honest heart of youth, shed tears as she acknowledged the plaudits of the people. On that day, the 21st of June, almost on the anniversary of the victory at Waterloo, Victoria was proclaimed Queen. The succession to the kingdom of Hanover, being restricted to males, fell to the queen's uncle, Ernest duke of Cumberland. The connection between the English crown and Hanover, after having lasted one hundred and twenty-three years, was thus severed. This is not the place for detailing at any length the political transactions of the queen's reign, which will be found recorded in the Annual Register and in the histories of England. The ministry of Lord Melbourne, which she found in office at her accession, her majesty retained, finding in the prime minister a friend and counsellor who united in his person amenity of manners, straight-forward honesty of purpose, and sound sense. The following epigram, however, expressed the feelings of the rival candidates for office. It was entitled Whiggish Presumption:—
" 'The Queen is with us,' whigs exulting say,
'For when she found us in, she let us stay.'
It may be so, but give me leave to doubt
How long she'll keep you, when she finds you out."
On the 7th July, 1837, her majesty went in state to parliament, and was received with much enthusiasm. The wise and liberal words of the speech she pronounced were indicative of the spirit that has distinguished her rule. "It will be my care," said she, "to strengthen our institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, by discreet improvement wherever improvement is required, and to do all in my power to compose and allay animosity and discord." Parliament was thereupon prorogued, and the same evening dissolved. On the Lord Mayor's day following her accession, the queen went in great pomp to the city of London, and dined at the Mansion house. On the 20th of November she opened her new parliament, calling attention in her speech to Canada, then in a state of insurrection. Her coronation took place in Westminster abbey on the 28th of June, 1838. A gorgeous cavalcade, including many distinguished visitors, proceeded from Buckingham palace up Constitution Hill, along Piccadilly and Pall Mall to Westminister, through thousands upon thousands of applauding people, who in their manifestations of joy, to use Lord Brougham's phrase, "took counsel with hope rather than experience," and who happily have not been deceived. Troubles, however, did not fail to visit the realm and disturb the queen's peace. In 1838 the fanatical impostor, John Nicholls Thom, excited some ignorant Kentish men to an absurd rising against the local authorities, which ended in bloodshed. In the following year chartism was rampant throughout the land. The ministry lost ground, and on a division in the house of commons upon the proposal for suspending the constitution of Jamaica, the majority was so small that ministers resigned. The queen was now called upon to perform the most important function belonging to a constitutional sovereign. By the advice of the duke of
