He, meanwhile, had inclined his head and smiled when the empress had
interrupted him. She ceased, and after a short pause, Kaunitz resumed,
with unaltered equanimity: "Your majesty has been graciously pleased to
testify, in your own sovereign person, to the tyranny of our two
northern allies. It remains, therefore, to speak of Sardinia
alone--Sardinia, who HELD LOMBARDY IN CHECK. No sooner had Victor
Amadeus put his royal signature to the treaty made by him with Austria,
than he turned to his confidants and said (loud enough for us to hear
him in Vienna): 'Lombardy is mine. I will take it, but I shall eat it
up, leaf by leaf, like an artichoke.' And methinks his majesty of
Sardinia has proved himself to be a good trencherman. He has already
swallowed several leaves of his artichoke, in that he is master of
several of the fairest provinces of Lombardy. It is true that this royal
gourmand has laid aside his crown; and that in his place reigns Victor
Emanuel, of whom Lord Chesterfield, in a burst of enthusiasm, has said,
that `he never did and never will commit an act of injustice.' Concede
that Victor Emanuel is the soul of honor; still," added Kaunitz with a
shake of the head, and an incredulous smile "still--the Italian princes
are abominable geographers--and they are inordinately fond of
artichokes. [Footnote: Kaunitz's own words. Kotmayr, "Austrian
Plutarch," vol. xi.] Now their fondness for this vegetable is as
dangerous to Austria as the too loving grasp of her northern allies, who
with their friendly hands not only close their ports against us, but lay
the weight of their favors so heavily upon our heads as to force us
down upon our knees before them. What have we from England and Holland
but their subsidies? And Austria can now afford to relinquish them--
Austria is rich, powerful, prosperous enough to be allowed to proffer
her friendship where it will be honorably returned. Austria, then, must
be freed from her oppressive alliance with the maritime powers. She has
youth and vitality enough to shake off this bondage, and strike for the