Chapter LV, of Cassells Illustrated History of England, Volume 8 page 4

"Be proud, then," he concludes, "of your success; proud of the results obtained; proud, above all, of being the beloved sons of France, which will always be a great nation as long as she has the heart to comprehend noble causes, and men like you to defend them."

The Emperor of Austria soon after published an address to his people, in which he spoke of having exhausted all efforts to preserve peace without sacrificing his rights or his dignity, stating that he was consequently under the painful necessity of requiring from his people new and heavy sacrifices to enable him to take the field in defence of their most sacred rights. He acknowledges the alacrity with which they responded to his summons, which inspired him with confidence that the cause in which his gallant army was prepared to do battle would triumph.

But the fortune of war was not favourable, although the enemy, who made tremendous sacrifices, did not obtain a decisive victory. They had acquired advantages, however, of which they could not be deprived without new sacrifices, on the part of Austria, not less bloody than those which had already filled the heart with sorrow, nor without further and greater demands upon the faithful provinces of the empire for additional supplies of men and money.

Then the Emperor adds - "The result of renewed exertions would, besides, have been doubtful, as I was bitterly deceived in my well-founded hope that I should not stand alone in a war which was not undertaken for the rights of Austria exclusively. Notwithstanding the warm and gratefully to be acknowledged sympathy felt for our just cause in the greater part of Germany, by the governments as well as by the people, our oldest and most natural allies obstinately refused to take cognisance of the high importance of the great question of the day." The Emperor laments the unavoidable loss of Lombardy, but still it gives him heartfelt pleasure to restore to his beloved people the blessings of peace; and he says he will now direct his whole and uninterrupted attention to the development of the rich moral and material strength of Austria, and to the making of such improvements in legislation and administration as are in accordance with the spirit of the age. He concluded by thanking his people for the heroism of their sons, "who went to battle for God, their Emperor, and their country."