sounded the rebels as
to their terms, some of the leaders were inclined to agree to an
armistice which would give time for the Piedmontese troops to arrive
(Piedmont had just declared war), but Cattaneo insisted on the complete
evacuation of Lombardy. Again on the 21st, Radetzky tried to obtain an
armistice, and Durini and Borromeo were ready to grant it, for it would
have enabled them to reorganize the defences and replenish the supplies
of food and ammunition, which could only last another day. But Cattaneo
replied: "The enemy having furnished us with munitions thus far, will
continue to furnish them. Twenty-four hours of victuals and twenty-four
hours of hunger will be many more hours than we shall need. This
evening, if the plans we have just arranged should succeed, the line of
the bastions will be broken. At any rate, even though we should lack
bread, it is better to die of hunger than on the gallows." On the
expulsion of the Austrians the question arose as to the future
government of Milan and Italy. Cattaneo was an uncompromising republican
and a federalist; so violent was his dislike of the Piedmontese monarchy
that when he heard that King Charles Albert had been defeated by the
Austrians, and that Radetzky was marching back to reoccupy Milan, he
exclaimed: "Good news, the Piedmontese have been beaten. Now we shall be
our own masters; we shall fight a people's war, we shall chase the
Austrians out of Italy, and set up a Federal Republic." When the
Austrians returned Cattaneo had to flee, and took refuge at Lugano,
where he gave lessons, wrote his _Storia della Rivoluzione del 1848_,
the _Archivio triennale delle cose d' Italia_ (3 vols., 1850-1855), and
then early in 1860 he started the _Politecnico_ once more. He bitterly
attacked Cavour for his unitarian views, and for the cession of Nice and
Savoy. In 1860 Garibaldi summoned him to Naples to take part in the
government of the Neapolitan provinces, but he would not agree to the
union with Piedmont without local autonomy. After the union of Italy he
was frequently asked to stand for parliament, but always refused because
he could not conscientiously take the oath of allegiance to the
monarchy. In 1868 the pressure of friends overcame his resistance, and
he agreed to stand, but at the last moment he drew back, still unable to
take the oath, and returned to Lugano, where he died in 1869. As a
writer Cattaneo was learned and brilliant, but far too bitter a partisan