In 1840 he published a substantive essay in that discipline which had been written, in part, by Paolo Manio, a fellow student who had died aged just 24, leaving Restelli to finish the work.
[3] A couple of days later Field Marshall Radetsky withdrew the Austrian army from Milan, which left the city under the control of a hastily assembled provisional government.
Restelli's mission was to foster agreement between Lombardy and Venice, while at the same time promoting the idea of a three way anti-Austrian union that would also include Sardinia-Piedmont.
The move had been overwhelmingly endorsed by a popular referendum in Lombardy, but the territories of Venice - aside from the city itself - had been militarily retaken at the end of June by the Austrians.
The defeat was far from overwhelming, but the Sardinian king was persuaded to sign an agreement with the Austrians on 4/5 August 1848 and withdrew his armies to the western bank of the Ticino.
On 28 July 1848 Restelli joined Manfredo Fanti and Pietro Maestri[4] in the Committee of Public Defence which effectively replaced the provisional government.