he
would take the Roman troops under his supreme command, the Papal
Government agreeing to continue the pay of such of them as belonged to
the regular army. Pius IX. made one last effort to help his
fellow-countrymen which people hardly noticed, so futile did it
appear, but which was probably made in profound seriousness. He wrote
a letter to the Emperor of Austria begging him to make all things
right and pleasant by voluntarily withdrawing from his Italian
dominions. Popes had dictated to sovereigns before now; was there not
Canossa? Besides, if a miracle was sought, why should not a miracle
happen? Pope and Emperor shaking hands over a free Italy and a world
reconciled--how delightful the prospect! Who can doubt that when the
Pope wrote that letter all the beautiful dreams of Cardinal Mastai
carried him once more away (it was the last time) in an ecstasy of
blissful hopes? 'Let not your Majesty take offence,' ran the appeal,
'if we turn to your pity and religion, exhorting you with fatherly
affection to desist from a war which, powerless to re-conquer the
hearts of the Lombards and Venetians, can only lead to a dark series
of calamities. Nor let the generous Germanic nation take offence if
we invite it to abandon old hatreds, and convert into useful relations
of friendly neighbourhood a dominion which can be neither noble nor
happy if it depend only on the sword. Thus we trust in the nation
itself, honestly proud of its own nationality, to no longer make a
point of honour of sanguinary attempts against the Italian nation, but
rather to perceive that its true honour lies in recognising Italy as a
sister.'

The Emperor received the bearer of the letter with coldness, and
referred him to his ministers, who simply called his attention to the
fact that the Pope owed the Temporal Power to the same treaties as
those which gave Austria the possession of Lombardy and Venetia.

The day after the publication of the Encyclical, that is to say, the
30th of April, the Piedmontese obtained their first important success
in the battle of Pastrengo, near Peschiera. Fighting from daybreak to
sundown, they drove the enemy back into Verona, with a loss of 1200
killed and wounded. The Austrians were in rather inferior numbers; but
the victory was highly creditable to the hitherto untried army of
Piedmont, and showed that it contained excellent fighting material. It
was not followed up, and might nearly as well have never been fought.