“ Entering the Ricasoli cabinet of 1861 as minister of marine, he held the portfolio of public works until 1864 in the succeeding Farini and Minghetti cabinets. After the war of 1866 he was chosen as Italian plenipotentiary for the negotiation of the treaty of Prague and for the transfer of Venetia to Italy. In October 1867 he succeeded Rattazzi in the premiership, and was called upon to deal with the difficult situation created by Garibaldi’s invasion of the Papal States and by the catastrophe of Mentana. ”

“ He belonged to the right centre, and until the events of 1859 he believed in the possibility of a compromise between the Vatican and the state. He was major-general and commander-in-chief of the engineers in the Lombard campaign of 1859. ”