The wolf is not perhaps the beast by which one would most wish one’s
country to be represented. But the wolf, like every animal when
defending its dearest, and when assailed with treachery, has its
nobility. And the Roman she-wolf certainly has had in all ages her
dignity and her force.
“Thy nurse will hear no master,
Thy nurse will bear no load,
And woe to them that spear her,
And woe to them that goad.
When all the pack loud baying
Her bloody lair surrounds,
She dies in silence biting hard
Amidst the dying hounds.”
Italy certainly calls not only for our sympathy, but for our
admiration. She has had a very difficult course to steer. The ally for
so long of Germany and Austria, if owing them less and less as time
went on, it was difficult for her to break with them. But the day came
when she had to break with them, and once again “act for herself.” She
told them a year ago she would be a party to no aggressive or selfish
war, she would be no bully’s accomplice. She “denounced”--it is a good
word--such a compact. _Non haec in fœdera veni._
Then it was, when the she-wolf showed her teeth, that they offered
to give her what was her own. But what would the Trentino be worth
if Germany and Austria were victorious? No, the wolf is right, “she
must fight for it,” and behind Austria’s underhanded treachery stands
Germany’s open violence and guns.
And Italy loves freedom. This war is a war made by her people. As of
old her King and her diplomats go with them in this new _Resorgimento_.
And the she-wolf must beware the trap. She needs the spirit again not
only of her people and of Garibaldi and of Victor Emmanuel, but of
Cavour. And she has it.
The cartoon suggests all the elements of the situation. The wolf
ponders with turned head, half doubtful, half desperate. The poor
little cub whimpers pitifully. The hunters dissemble their craft, the
trap waits in the path ready to spring. It is not even concealed. Is
that the irony of the artist, or is it only due to the necessity of
making his meaning plain? Whichever it is, it is justified.