did much harm to the Pope’s cause by bringing home this truth once more to the minds of all.  That the corps contained some of the bluest blood of France, that there were good young men in it, who thought heaven the sure reward for death in defence of dominions painfully added in the course of centuries by devices not heavenly to the original patrimony of Peter, did not and could not reconcile the Italians to the defiance thrown down to them by a band of strangers in their own country.

Before the opening of hostilities, Victor Emmanuel offered Pius IX. to assume the administration of the Papal states (barring Rome) while leaving the nominal sovereignty to the Pope.  Nothing came of the proposal, which was followed by a formal demand for the dissolution of Lamoriciere’s army, and an intimation that the Sardinian troops would intervene were force used to put down risings within the Papal border.  On the 11th of September, symptoms of revolution having meanwhile broken out in the Marches, General Fanti in command of 35,000 men crossed the frontier.  Half these forces under Fanti himself were directed on Perugia; the other half under Cialdini marched towards Ancona.  The garrisons of Perugia and Spoleto were compelled to surrender, and Lamoriciere found his communications cut off, so that he could only reach the last fortress in the power of the Papal troops, Ancona, by fighting his way through Cialdini’s division, which by rapid marches had reached the heights of Castelfidardo.  His men passed the day of the 17th in religious exercises, and in going to confession; the vicinity of the Holy House of Loreto, brought hither by angels from Bethlehem, filled the young Breton soldiers with transports of religious fervour.  Lamoriciere had taken from the Santa Casa some of the flags of the victors of Lepanto to wave over his columns.  In the battle of the next day the French fought with the gallantry of the Vendeans whose descendants they were, and the Irish behaved as Irishmen generally behave under fire, but the Swiss and Romans mostly fought ill or not at all.  Lamoriciere excused the conduct of the latter on the ground that they were young troops; it is likely that they had but little eagerness to fire on their fellow-countrymen.  Being Italians, and above all being Romans, they assuredly were not sustained by one scrap of the mystical enthusiasm of the French:  such a state of mind would have been incomprehensible to them.  They knew that so far as dogmas went Victor Emmanuel was as good a Catholic as the Pope.  It is surprising that with part of his force demoralised Lamoriciere was still able to hold his own for three or four hours.  General Pimodan and many of the French officers were killed; Lamoriciere could say truly:  ’All the best names of France are left on the battlefield.’