'
'And will the Pope,' I asked, 'remain?'
'Not this Pope,' said Ampere, 'but his successor. Nor do I see the great
evil of the absence of the Pope from Rome. Popes have often been absent
before, sometimes for long periods.'
'Most of my French friends,' I said, 'are opposed to Italian Unity as
mischievous to France.'
'I do not believe,' he answered, 'in the submission of Naples to this
Piedmontese dynasty, but I shall be delighted to see all Italy north of
the Neapolitan territory united.
'I do not think that we have anything to fear from the kingdom of Italy.
It is as likely to be our friend as to be our enemy. But the Neapolitans,
even if left to themselves, would not willingly give up their
independence, and _Celui-ci_ is trying to prevent their doing so.'
'What do _they_ wish,' I asked, 'and what does _he_ wish?'
'I believe,' he answered, 'that _their_ wishes are only negative.
'They do not wish to recall the Bourbons, and they are resolved not to
keep the Piedmontese. _His_ wish I believe to be to put his cousin there.
Prince Napoleon himself refused Tuscany. It is too small, but he would
like Naples, and Louis Napoleon would be glad to get rid of him.
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