The republican dreams of Mazzini were, it is true, at an end.

But Piedmont had stepped into Mazzini's shoes; she had championed the cause of freedom against Austria; and, when the latter reasserted her sway, she alone of the various States refused to abrogate the newly-acquired constitution.
Thus began the third period in the emancipation of Italy, the period of Cavour, who became head of the Piedmontese cabinet in 1850.

His aim was first to make Piedmont the model State and champion of all Italy.

He believed fervently in liberty--"Italy," he said, "must make herself by means of liberty, or we must give up trying to make her"-- and he was at the same time one of the ablest and most practical statesmen who have ever guided the destinies of a nation.

In ten years he made the State of the north-west an oasis of freedom and good government which attracted the best intellects of Italy to its service, and henceforth Piedmont became the centre of Italian aspirations.