y to France. Napoleon's desire was that his eldest brother,
Joseph, should occupy the throne of this kingdom. But Joseph, not
caring to jeopardize his chances of succession in France, demurred, as
did also the younger brother, Louis. The upshot was that by a
constitutional statute of March 17, 1805, the Emperor caused himself
to be called to the throne of Italy, and May 26 following, in the
cathedral at Milan, he placed upon his own head the iron crown of the
old Lombard kings. The sovereign's step-son, Eugene Beauharnais, was
designated regent. In June of the same year, in response to a petition
which Napoleon himself had instigated, the Ligurian Republic was
proclaimed an integral part of the French empire. The annexation of
Parma and Piacenza promptly followed.

Against the coalition of Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Naples,
which was prompted immediately by the Ligurian annexation, Napoleon
was completely successful. By the treaty of Pressburg (December 26,
1806) Austria ceded to the Italian kingdom her portion of Venetia,
together with the provinces of Istria and Dalmatia.[523] Following a
vigorous campaign conducted by Joseph Bonaparte, the restored Bourbon
family was driven again from Naples, whereupon Joseph allowed (p. 357)
himself to be established there as king. In 1808 he was succeeded by
Napoleon's ambitious marshal and brother-in-law Murat. From Bayonne,
Joseph issued a constitution for his former subjects, providing for a
council of state of from twenty-six to thirty-six members and a single
legislative chamber of one hundred members, of whom eighty were to be
named by the king and twenty were to be chosen by electoral colleges.
Not until 1815, however, and then but during the space of a few weeks,
was this instrument actually in operation.

[Footnote 523: The incorporation of Dalmatia with
the kingdom of Italy was but temporary.]

*391. The End of French Dominance.*--Finally, there were brought under
complete control the papal territories. Following prolonged friction
with the Pope, Napoleon first of all (April 2, 1808) annexed to the
kingdom of Italy the papal march of Ancona and the duchies of Urbino,
Macerata, and Camerina, and then (by decrees of May 17, 1809, and
February 17, 1810) added to the French empire Rome itself and the
_Patrimonium Petri_. The Roman territory was divided into two
departments, and in them, as in all of the Italian provinces w