DEATH AT HAND

amelioration in the king’s State, and Prince Umberto had a long interview with him, in which he talked so clearly and calmly that his son was inspired with a hope that the case was not so bad as the doctors believed. But very soon after the miliary éruption breaking out, the physicians judged recovery impossible, and Dr. Bruno was deputed to break the fatal intelligence to the patient. With much hésitation he made the announcement, saying that the symptoms were such that he felt it his duty to warn his majesty not to lose time in fulfilling his religions obligations. The king was propped in a half-sitting posture, with his hands folded, twirling his thumbs. He looked a little surprised, but nowise disconcerted ; he did not even cease to twirl his thumbs, and never took his unfünching eye off the doctor, as he said in Piedmontese, ‘ Are we corne to that } ’ {Siamo lî ?) ‘ Very well, I will do as you say. Call the chaplain at once.’

The court chaplain having received the king’s confession, was obliged to apply to the parish priest for the sacrament, and he would not dare to give it without permission from the Vatican, which was immediately granted ; later a cardinal came with the spécial bénédiction of the Holy Father, whose good feeling at last triumphed over ecclesiastical préjudices.

As the day advanced the patient grew worse, and the time spent in obtaining the sacrament brought him very near death. He spent the interval in taking leave of his ministers and household, and then asked to be alone with his children, Umberto and Margherita. After a

private interview the attendants were recalled, and ail remained présent at the administration of the communion. When the priest entered with the Host, the king, who was suffering terribly, his right lung being quite destroyed, raised himself with a violent effort to a sitting posture, and inclined his head reverently. After this his strength sank rapidly, and his chest was so oppressed that he had no voice for further conversation.

There was no hope of the Queen of Portugal or the Princess Clotilde coming in time to receive their father’s last farewell, but Prince Amadeo and the king’s cousin, Prince Carignano, of whom he was very fond, were on their way from Turin, and expected to arrive in the evening ; death, however, travelled faster than they counted for, and they came ail too late. The king asked again to see Umberto, and when he approached the bedside weeping, he gazed long and fondly at him, put out his hand and murmured the one word 'Addio!' The prince kissed the hand, kneeling, and covered it with tears. During the day the sick man had muttered broken sentences about his beloved Turin, where he had wished to die. His last words were, ‘/ figli, ifigli! ’

At the final moment. Prince Umberto was kneeling at one side of the bed, and Count Mirafiore at the other, while the friends and attendants knelt round the chamber, and also in the anteroom, weeping silently. Dr. Bruno, who was supporting the patient’s head, bent down and put his ear to his heart ; it had ceased to beat. In a voice broken with émotion he made the announcement —

THE FIRST KING OF ITALY IS NO MORE. 22g

‘ The first King of Italy is no more ! ’

Convulsive sobs broke from ail présent ; and Umberto remained kneeling in an agony of grief for nearly half-an-hour, till one of the doctors drew his arm in his and led him out of the room.

The fatal news fell like a thunderbolt on the city, and for a moment it was not credited. Croups of people gathered in the streets with pale, frightened faces, and hundreds of others were seen rushing from ail parts to the Quirinal Palace, where a dense, agitated crowd filled the piazza from four o’clock in the afternoon till a late hour at night.

Soon, however, ail doubt was at an end, and before the winter sun had set every shop was closed, and the grand old city bore an aspect of deepest mouming as for some great public calamity.

While the poor prince was still stunned by the unexpected blow, he had to attend to public business. The diplomatie body came to offer their condolences, the ministry came to tender their résignations, and being reappointed, hastened to issue a proclamation officially announcing the death of Vittorio Emanuele IL, and the accession of Umberto I. to the throne of Italy. Late in the evening a proclamation from the new king appeared.

Italians, — An immense calamity has befallen us. Vittorio Emanuele, the founder and uniter of the kingdom of Italy, has been taken from us. I received his last sigh, which was for the nation, and his last

wishes, which were for the happiness of his people. His voice, which will always resound in my heart, imposes on me the task of vanquishing my sorrow, and points out to me my duty. At this moment there is but one consolation possible for us, that is, to show ourselves worthy of him : I, by following in his footsteps ; you, by remaining devoted to those civic virtues by the aid of which he succeeded in accomplishingthe düTicult task of rendering Italy great and united. I shall be mindful of the grand example he gave me of dévotion to our country, love of progress, and faith in Liberal institutions, which are the pride of my house. My sole ambition will be to deserve the love of my people.

Italians, — Your first king is dead. His successor will prove to you that constitutions do not die. Let us unité in this hour of great sorrow, and let us strengthen that concord which has heretofore been the salvation of Italy.

Umberto.

Victor Emmanuel’s failings are as well known as his virtues ; he was a man who scomed hypocrisy, and

That fierce light which beats upon a throne

struck with a more sinister glare on the throne of Italy than that of older monarchies, laying bare remorselessly to the eyes of the world the faults of the sovereign, faults which his clérical detractors loved to dwell on and

by CjOOglc