Had he not joined the conclave of autocrats at Gaeta, and, above all, had he not summoned Austrian assistance while denying that he had done so, in 1849, he might yet have preserved his throne, and even changed the whole course of Italian history.
Even benefit societies were feared and forbidden by the Roman autocrats, and the " dominical suppers " of the Christians were not likely to be spared.
The British commissioners, who were practically autocrats in spite of the retention of the native senate and assembly, introduced a strict method of government which brought about a decided improvement in the material prosperity of the island, but by its very strictness displeased the natives.
The French crown was willing to sacrifice the Jansenists, who disturbed that dead level of uniformity so grateful to autocrats; but Gallicanism touched its very prerogatives, and was a point of honour which could never be abandoned outright.
With her love of General Pinochet and his defense of the Chinese, maybe they swapped tales of the aging autocrats they had befriended?