At the time there was a general sense of relief, if not of joy, in Italy, that the national movement had reached its goal, albeit in so tame and uninspiring a manner.

Rome had long been a prey to political reaction, accompanied by police supervision of the most exasperating kind.

The _plebiscite_ as to the future government gave 133,681 votes for Victor Emmanuel's rule, and only 1507 negative votes[53].
[Footnote 53: Countess Cesaresco, _The Liberation of Italy_, p.

411.] Now, for the first time since the days of Napoleon I.and of the short-lived Republic for which Mazzini and Garibaldi worked and fought so nobly in 1849, the Eternal City began to experience the benefits of progressive rule.

The royal government soon proved to be very far from perfect.