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 foedera 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.