and seemed to hazard a doubt of their devotion to the royal cause-and concluded, by declaring, that even if the revolt was suppressed, the suppression would be but momentary that it would arise with redoubled force, to conquer the conqueror. The other generals, either from a disinclination of the danger, or from personal considerations, sided with the opinion expressed by the governor of Naples. But there was one who dared to oppose this weakness of determination; and that man was General Saluzzo, one of the king's aides-de-camp, and without contradiction the most loyal and most valiant of his servants. 'It appears to me,' he said, 'inexplicable, that with fourteen battalions of troops in the capital, with all the strong positions, not only fortified but occupied, and with an army that has shown no signs of insubordination or disloyalty, we cannot hold in subjection an undisciplined rabble, more noisy than numerous.'

"The king seemed overpowered by the temerity of his aide-de-camp, and asked him if he dared to reduce his words to writing; upon which Saluzzo unhesitatingly replied in the affirmative, and did it.

"I saw the demonstration of the 27th of January myself-it dispersed the instant that the Castle of St. Elmo gave the alarm-about one hundred persons alone remained stationary in the Largo de Castello, in front of the guns loaded and pointed at them by the artillery on guard. Two days after this innocent event, in which not a life was lost, the king solemnly promised a constitution, and gave directions to the leaders of the liberal movement, to suggest the basis of a new government; but before the proclamation of this promise by the king, his minister, Deliaretto, made a precipitate retreat, leaving his majesty to flounder in his difficult position. Although I have far more interesting subjects for your consideration, I cannot refrain from some remarks, more especially as this man is now endeavouring to breathe again the atmosphere of power.

"In his blindness, and in his eagerness to obtain the dismissal of his adversary, Deliaretto never dreamt of the revolution. He believed, in getting rid of his rival, he should obtain absolute power over the king, and rule the nation; or, in the event of a revolution, he had suggested to himself a counter revolution in the numerous corps of gendarm

erie which he had organised with such tact and care. It was a corps well arranged, perfectly equipped and disciplined; and, moreover, devoted to Deliaretto and to his government. This was the nucleus, round which he grouped vast hordes of the lower classes, who, by their attachment to the king, by their religious enthusiasm, and, what was strange, their long-preserved antipathy to the middle classes, not to mention a certain disposition to plunder, might have counteracted the revolution. Deliaretto made no secret of his plan; nay, he confided it to the king, who, in return, presented his dangerous rival in power with a diplomatic mission to a foreign power, which the minister, after balancing between acceptation and refusal, thought it wisest and safest to become his excellency' elsewhere. The king, having determined to grant the constitution, saw the necessity of dismissing Deliaretto by a surprize from all power, more especially as the minister had barracked a vast number of his gendarmerie under his own windows. The minister was sent for to the palace, the case being one of declared emergency; he went without the slightest suspicion; on his entering, two aides

de-camp placed themselves on each side of him, desiring him to follow them by a back stair-case, which leads to a place of embarcation immediately beneath the palace. He was instantly placed on board a steamer, without being allowed an interview with his family. A sum of money was placed in his hands by order of the king, and the minister, Deliaretto, in ten minutes, was ploughing his way out of the Bay of Naples. Thus, this proud man, who one hour before believed himself more powerful than the king, was conducted to the different ports of Italy where his character and intentions had preceded him. The revolutionary population hearing of his arrival, saluted him with groans and hisses, and threatening to burn the steamer, made the coast of France a desirable haven. In Naples the minister's character for honesty was assailed in the government journal; he was accused of having stolen the money from the caisse de gendarmerie, and when his reputation was sufficiently blackened to insure disgust, the ministerial journal, the same which had accused him, contradicted the statement !

CHAPTER XV.

NAPLES-THE CONSTITUTION.

"THE king, having promised the constitution nearly similar to that of France in 1830, confided the drawing up of the same to the acknowledged leader of the liberal party in Naples; thus Ferdinand II. became the first to break the secret treaty with Austria, and place himself, de facto, at the head of the Italian revolution, having taken the initiative of all the other princes, at the same time avoiding the horrors of a civil war.

"The same day of the proclamation of his Majesty's determination, the king, to test his popularity, or to repossess what previously he had lost, mounted his horse, and, accompanied by his Gardes du Corps and his etat-major, rode through the principal streets; he was