The next few years were occupied with preparations for the liberation of Venice, and the king corresponded with Mazzini, Klapka, Tiirr and other conspirators against Austria in Venetia itself, Hungary, Poland and elsewhere, keeping his activity secret even from his own ministers. The alliance with Prussia and the war with Austria of 1866, although fortune did not favour Italian arms, added Venetia to his dominions.
The Roman question yet remained unsolved, for Napoleon, although he had assisted Piedmont in 1859 and had reluctantly consented to the annexation of the central and southern prov inces, and of part of the Papal States, would not permit Rome to be occupied, lest he should lose the support of the French cleri cals, and maintained a French garrison there to protect the pope. When war with Prussia appeared imminent Victor Emmanuel was anxious to assist the man who had helped him to expel the Austrians 'from Italy, but he could not do so unless Napoleon gave him a free hand in Rome. This the emperor refused to do until it was too late. Even after the first French defeats the chivalrous king, in spite of the advice of his more prudent coun cillors, wished to go to the rescue, and asked Thiers, the French representative who was imploring him for help, if with 100,000 Italian troops France could be saved, but Thiers could give no such assurance and Italy remained neutral. On Sept. 20, 1870, the French troops having been withdrawn, the Italian army en tered Rome, and on July 2, 1871, Victor Emmanuel made his solemn entry into the Eternal City, which then became the cap ital of Italy.
The pope refused to recognize the new kingdom even before the occupation of Rome and the latter event rendered relations between church and state for many years extremely delicate. The king himself was anxious to be reconciled with the Vatican, hut the pope, or rather his entourage, rejected all overtures, and the two sovereigns dwelt side by side in Rome until death with out ever meeting. Victor Emmanuel devoted himself to his duties as a constitutional king with great conscientiousness, but he took more interest in foreign than in domestic politics and contributed not a little to improving Italy's international posi tion. On Jan. 9, 1878, Victor Emmanuel died of fever in Rome, and was buried in the Pantheon.
Bluff, hearty, good-natured and simple in his habits, he always had a high idea of his own kingly dignity, and his really statesmanlike qualities often surprised foreign diplomats, who were deceived by his homely exterior. As a soldier he was very brave, but he did not show great qualities as a military leader. He had a great weakness for female society, and kept several mistresses; one of them, the beautiful Rosa Vercellone, he created Countess Mirafiori e Fontanafredda and married morganatically in 1869; she bore him one son.
Forester, Victor Emmanuel II. (1927). (L. V.)