Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III NAPLES, SEPTEMBER 1860 [This chapter deals almost entirely with the internal condition of the town of Naples after the entry of Garibaldi, and with the uncertainty which still prevailed in regard to the action of Sardinia; an uncertainty which did not endure long, an advance of the Piedmontese troops having become a necessity if King Francis's return to his capital was to be prevented, the forces of the " Garibaldini," in spite of the victory gained by them at the battle of the Volturno, being quite inadequate to accomplish the reduction of the fortified towns of Capua and Gaeta. The arrival of King Victor Emmanuel's army sealed the fate of the Bourbon dynasty.] September 5.—If I write every day it accumulates to such a mass, and if I put it off for a few days I am astonished to find how much has passed that I should have liked to mention; and when events are particularly stirring it is almost impossible not to begin by speaking of the last thing that has been producing a great impression on one. That last event now is that the King, having confided the care of Naples to the municipality and the National Guard, announces his own intention of retiring to Gaeta. This resolution must be an immense relief to everyone in Naples, for it gives every prospect of a quiet transition, which is the one thing that people have latterly been anxious about. As I have not yet heard of the King being actually gone, it would be rash to speak of it as a fact; but in truth he seems to have nothing else to do, for the ground is gradually giving way under his feet, and every day brings fresh accounts of defection in thearmy and navy. The latter especially has behaved in a manner so disgraceful that I don't think it could have been equalled in any other country, and its last pe... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.