"
"And do you think that Naples would look quietly on and witness this
rapid growth of Sardinia?" said the prior, laughing.
"We will give to Naples an opportunity at the same time to enlarge
her borders the young King of Naples has energy; he has proved it.
When his father, Don Carlos, was called by right of succession to
the Spanish throne, he had himself declared King of Naples, not
regarding the right of the Duke of Parma, to whom, according to the
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Neapolitan throne rightly belonged.
King Ferdinand is already a usurper! Let him go on, even as
successfully in the same path--he has taken Naples--let him take
Tuscany and the States of the Church, and, as King of Lower Italy,
he will be as powerful as the King of Sardinia. In order that both
may obtain possession of these lands uninterrupted and uninjured,
will the King of Prussia so completely occupy the attention of
Austria and France in Germany and Flanders as to make it impossible
for them to interfere with Naples and Sardinia?" [Footnote: Preuss,
"History of Frederick the Great."]
"By Heaven! a great and bold idea; altogether in harmony with the
energetic spirit of Frederick," cried the prior.
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