"'Chi per la patria muoja vissuto ha assai,'

("He who dies for his country has lived long enough,")

they sing. One's faith in humanity increases wonderfully

here.

"On the morning of the 11th, we passed Caprera,

Garibaldi's Island, coasted along Sardinia all the day,

and at 6, A.M., on the 12th, anchored off Cagliari.

Medici hired two brigs, and dividing the volunteers into

three portions, gave them breathing room. They looked

extremely well in their simple uniform, white trousers

and grey or blue blouse, faced with red. It is a

pity, considering the heat of Sicily, they have not

retained the regular Garibaldi hat, which would have

sheltered the face somewhat. By the way, we have the

famous Englishman, Captain Peard, on board; he missed

Garibaldi's expedition, and is now going to join him; he

is captain of the 2d Pavia brigade—a handsome man, with

long hair, beard tinged with grey; blue, English eyes,

and an honest English heart, much amused at the absurd

stories that have been told about him—a true military

man, and a worshipper of Garibaldi, intent on doing his

utmost for Italian independence.

"Captain De Rohan, too, is a character. I am not at

liberty to tell you how much we owe to him for his

exertions and pecuniary sacrifices in this expedition.

If the Neapolitans respect these 3,600 Sicilian exiles

going home, we may thank the stars and stripes under

which we sail.

"Medici would be in trouble, as he has positive orders

from Cavour not to go; and this is natural. Cavour could

not act otherwise since his advice was asked. Medici,

had he wanted to do it, should. Medici is a splendid

soldier and a good patriot.

"Before quitting Milazzo, I must tell you that I visited

the citadel, the field of battle, and other places of

interest, besides making the personal acquaintance of

Garibaldi, and all the persons of note and interest

staying here. Among others, none possess a larger share

of the latter, for our countrymen at least, than Captain

Peard, 'Garibaldi's Englishman,' a fine English

gentleman, and not the melo-dramatic hero that people at

home are fondly led to believe. I saw him for the first

time under circumstances highly contributing to enhance

the interest with which reputation and curiosity have

invested him. He had left the café where he had taken up

his quarters, and was walking quietly toward the shore,

accompanied by his friends, and a few other persons."

Captain Peard was frequently mentioned, as a volunteer in the corps of

Garibaldi, or at least in his company, during his daring and perilous,

but successful career in Lombardy in 1859. The public have never been

informed whether he was actually an officer and soldier of the

Cacciatori delle Alpi, or only accompanied that incomparable band.

Garibaldi's Englishman, Captain J. W. Peard, wrote as follows to a

friend at Florence, from Palermo, June 22d:

"Here we are, all safe, although I hear the papers say the contrary. We

left Genoa with three steamers, one of which ran on to Leghorn, to

embark laborers for the Isthmus of Suez, and after a good passage, got

into Cagliari. Not so the American clipper, wit a battalion on board,

that sailed 24 hours before us. The Neapolitans fell in with her off

Cape Corso, and captured her. She is now, with all her cargo, both alive

and dead, at Naples. Yesterday the American man-of-war on the station

sailed for that port to demand her peremptorily. She was taken on the

high seas, not in Neapolitan waters—therefore her capture is an act of

piracy by the law of nations. Notwithstanding that loss, we landed 2,500

men and large supplies of Enfield rifles and ammunition.

"Palermo is in a frightful state from the bombardment. Accounts vary as

to the number of shells thrown into the city; but the best report I can

get gives them at about 800. The Toledo is in places quite blocked up

with ruins. Near the palace nearly an entire street is burned. In other

parts ruins meet you at every step. At present the people are hard at

work removing the barricades and levelling the Castellamare, from which

the shells were thrown. All the works toward the city are to be razed to

the ground. The people are wild with joy at their deliverance. A friend

of mine asked a man yesterday if it was a festa. 'Yes, signore, every

day is a festa now,' he said, with tears rising to his eyes. Those who

were present tell me never was anything like Garibaldi's entry into the

city. He had not above 600 available men, besides the Sicilian levies,

and the enemy was 20,000 strong. Extraordinary are the ravages of the

royal troops—villas sacked and burned. I was in one yesterday that

belonged to the Neapolitan minister, Cavona. They had destroyed

everything they could not carry away. The floor was strewed with broken

mirrors, chandeliers, marbles, busts, vases, etc. His own room they had

piled up with furniture, and tried to set the building on fire. In

another villa a valuable library was totally destroyed, the torn books

being as high as a man's waist. I saw some Spanish MSS., royal decrees,

etc., which would be invaluable to Sicilian historians, torn to pieces.

After the armistice the royalists sacked upward of a thousand houses,

and committed numberless murders."

Messina, the second city in Sicily, capitulated to General Medici, on

the 28th of June. The commander, Field Marshal De Clary, stated that he

was animated by sentiments of humanity, and wished to avoid the

bloodshed which would have been caused on the one hand by the occupation

of Messina, and on the other by the defence of the town and forts. The

terms were:

"1. That the royal troops shall abandon the town of Messina, without

being disturbed, and the town shall be occupied by the Sicilian troops,

without the latter, on their part, being disturbed by the royal troops.

"2. The royal troops shall evacuate Gonzaga and Castellaccio after a

delay of two days, to commence from the date of the signature of the

present convention. Each of the two contracting parties shall appoint

two officers and a commissioner to make an inventory of the cannon,

stores and provisions; in short, of everything in the above-named forts

at the time of their evacuation.

"3. The embarkation of the royal troops shall take place without

disturbance from the Sicilians.

"4. The royal troops shall remain in possession of the citadel, and the

forts of Don Blasco, Santerna, and San Salvadore, but shalt have no

power to do damage to the town, except in the event of those works being

attacked, or of works of attack being constructed in the town itself.

"5. A strip of ground parallel and contiguous to the military zone shall

be neutralized.

"6. Communication by sea remains completely free to both sides, etc.

"In the last place, the signers of the present convention shall have the

liberty of agreeing on the subject of the inherent necessities of civil

life which will have to be satisfied and provided for in the town of

Messina, in respect of the royal troops.

"Done, read, and concluded at the house of Signor Francesco Fiorentino,

banker, at the Quattro Fontaine.

"TOMMASO DE CLARY.

"G. MEDICI."

Messina and other cities of Italy were all captured or otherwise secured

by the patriots, under various and highly interesting circumstances; but

the particulars cannot be here recounted for want of space. The

following account of Garibaldi's reception in Messina is from the pen of

an eye-witness, and contains a just description of the simple manners

and habits which he retains under all circumstances:

"At the appointed hour we went to the palace, where about forty or fifty

persons were assembled. The banquet passed off very quietly and happily.

Garibaldi, as I had noticed before, is very temperate at his meals,

drinks water only, and very quickly rises immediately after he has

finished, and returning to his office, resumes his business, which he

dispatches with remarkable promptitude and ease—no hurry, no confusion,

no excitement, even in the most pressing emergencies. On the present

occasion he spent a little more time over his dinner, and after dessert

he wrote, and chatted with those present. While at dinner a public band

of music, improvised for the occasion, playing in the street in front,

where a large number of people had assembled, who kept up a round of

cheering when anything occurred, such as an arrival of a detachment of

volunteers or some public favorite, to excite their curiosity and

interest.

"The great event of the evening, however, came off some time later, when

the palace having been illuminated, Garibaldi went on the balcony

leading out of the banqueting room, for the purpose of showing himself

to the people and addressing them. On making his appearance, a

tremendous ovation was offered to the liberator by the Messinians. The

applause, the cheering—genuine cheering—the clapping of hands, and the

manifestations of joy and approbation, were of the most hearty and

enthusiastic character. When this demonstration had quite subsided,

which required great perseverance and some time to effect, Garibaldi

proceeded to address the people. The thousands of upturned faces were

all directed toward him, and amid a silence as still as the grave he

spoke. The substance of his speech was to this effect: He said that he

presented himself to them because they wished it, but that he himself

objected to such exhibitions. He did not play the comedian; he was for

deeds, not words. They had achieved a great triumph, but the time was

come when they must achieve still greater. He thanked the Sicilians for

the courage and enthusiasm they displayed in effecting their own

deliverance, and said if they were true to themselves, not Sicily only,

but with the blessing of Providence, the whole of Italy, would be

liberated. He therefore urged upon them the necessity of still following

up the good work, and invited them to come forward and enroll themselves

in the ranks of their liberators. I need not dwell on the enthusiasm

which this address excited; it was of the most vehement character I ever

witnessed. After acknowledging its cordial reception for a few moments,

Garibaldi withdrew."

Garibaldi had various difficulties in arranging his government, the

causes of which may, perhaps, not yet have been fully explained. We

will, therefore, only mention some of the leading facts. Farina,

Grasselli, and Toti, whom Garibaldi had found very troublesome to him in

Palermo, were sent out of the island, because, according to the official

journal, they were "affiliated to the police of the continent," and had

"conspired against order." The ministry resigned in consequence, and a

new one was formed, including Messrs. Amari, the historian, Emeranti,

and the following members of the old: Logothe, Laporta, and Orsini.

Reports were published, from time to time, in Sicily, as afterward in

Naples, accusing Republicans of efforts to counteract Garibaldi: but as

the enemies of Italy have long showed their malice chiefly against the

Republicans, of whom Garibaldi has been one, and as Mazzini himself had

declared his ardent adhesion to the cause of united Italy under Victor

Emanuel, such accusations are generally suspicious.

The following letter from Victor Emanuel to Garibaldi, and the reply,

brief as they are, are two of the most important documents connected

with the war, and, indeed, with the lives of their two distinguished

writers. It is a most impressive truth, and must ever be regarded as a

proof of Garibaldi's sound judgment, independence, resolution and

impregnable firmness, in a great and glorious cause, at an epoch of his

career when nothing else gave the right turn to the results then

pending. On which side the "statesmanship" then lay, when the king wrote

such a veto, with Cavour sitting at his right hand, and Garibaldi

disobeyed it, standing alone, the world can determine, both now and

hereafter.

LETTER FROM VICTOR EMANUEL TO GARIBALDI.

"DEAR GENERAL: You know that when you started for Sicily you did not

have my approbation. To-day, considering the gravity of existing

circumstances, I decide upon giving you a warning, being aware of the

sincerity of your sentiments for me.

"In order to put an end to a war between Italians and Italians, I

counsel you to renounce the idea of passing with your valorous troops to

the Neapolitan mainland, provided that the King of Naples consents to

evacuate the whole of the island, and to leave the Sicilians free to

deliberate upon and to settle their destinies.

"I would reserve to myself full liberty of action relative to Sicily in

the event of the King of Naples being unable to accept this condition.

General, follow my advice, and you will see that it is useful to Italy,

whose power of augmenting her merits you would facilitate by showing to

Europe that even as she knows how to conquer, so does she know how to

make a good use of her victory."

Garibaldi replied to the king as follows:

SIRE: Your majesty knows the high esteem and the devotion which I feel

toward your majesty; but such is the present state of things in Italy,

that, at the present moment, I cannot obey your majesty's injunctions,

much as I should like it. I am called for and urged on by the people of

Naples. I have tried in vain, with what influence I had, to restrain

them, feeling, as I do, that a more favorable moment would be desirable.

But if I should now hesitate, I should endanger the cause of Italy, and

not fulfill my duty as an Italian. May your majesty, therefore, permit

me this time not to obey! As soon as I shall have done with the task

imposed upon me by the wishes of the people, who groan under the tyranny

of the Neapolitan Bourbon, I shall lay down my sword at your majesty's

feet, and shall obey your majesty for the remainder of my lifetime.

"GARIBALDI."

The letter is dated Milazzo, the 27th of July.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER XII.

"And with such care his busy work he plied,

That to naught else his acting thoughts he bent.

In young Rinaldo fierce desires he spied,

And noble heart of rest impatient,

To wealth or sov'reign power he naught applied

His wits, but all to virtue excellent."

_Fairfax's Tasso._

GARIBALDI'S POSITION—A PAUSE IN HOSTILITIES—A

PERIOD OF PREPARATION—PUBLIC ANXIETY—THE SICILIAN

FORTRESSES—CATANIA— MILAZZO—BOATS, MEN AND ARMS

COLLECTED AT FARO—LANDING ATTEMPTED AT SCYLLA—A

SMALL BODY SUCCEED.

Garibaldi had now been forbidden by the king to attempt any further

conquests, and warned not to attempt to dethrone the King of Naples; and

he had declared that he should do both. From that moment Victor Emanuel

was virtually proclaimed "King of Italy," in spite of his own will and

word. What induced Victor to write that letter may easily be imagined;

what induced his prime minister to dictate it, will probably be always a

matter of conjecture. Garibaldi's reply, and the measures which he

subsequently adopted, with the results to which they led, will ever

stand on record, where they can be read by the present and succeeding

generations; and the world will form their own opinions of his character

and capacity, without the aid of many comments or explanations.

Much was said and conjectured respecting the dissension which had

existed before this time, between Garibaldi and Farina, a particular

friend of Count Cavour. Garibaldi had appointed Farina counsellor at

Palermo, and afterward dismissed him. It appears, even from Farina's own

statement, that it did not arise from any disposition in Garibaldi to

establish a republic, or otherwise to prevent the final annexation of

Sicily to the kingdom of Sardinia, but was merely to postpone it for a

time which he thought more favorable. It appears from other evidence,

that Farina wished to have severe measures taken against some of the

Republicans, but that Garibaldi rejected the proposal with noble scorn;

and to prevent his further interference, banished him and two others

from Sicily, by the following decree:

"'Signor La Farina, Grasselli and Toti, are affiliated to the police of

the Continent. The three were expelled for having conspired against

order. The government, which watches over public tranquillity, could not

tolerate the presence of such individuals.'

"The 'Opinione National' of Turin, stated that Farina had full power

from the Sardinian government to assume the title of royal commissioner,

as soon as annexation was declared. Garibaldi, while advocating

annexation, thought it advisable that his dictatorship should continue

till the whole island was subjected, and finding that the presence of

Farina was detrimental to the cause, he ordered him off."

La Farina afterward published the following explanation:

"The causes of my difference with General Garibaldi were as follow: I

believed, and still believe, that the only salvation for Sicily is

immediate annexation to the constitutional kingdom of Victor Emanuel,

the most ardent wish of all the Sicilians, already manifested by the

chiefs of more than three hundred municipal bodies. General Garibaldi

believed that the annexation should be postponed till the liberation of

all Italy, including Venetia and Rome, had been effected. I believed

that it was a great act of imprudence to confide a share of authority

and of the public forces to unpopular ministers, etc."

There was now a general suspension of hostilities. The entire island of

Sicily was quiet, and none of the king's troops remained, except in a

few of the fortresses. The circumstances under which some of these had

been captured, or been forced to cease resistance, are interesting, but

with the exception of Palermo, they have not been given for want of

room.

The strait between Sicily and Calabria has been invested with peculiar

interest to readers of history from early ages. The rocks and quicksands

of Scylla and Charybdis, with the fabulous sirens of which we read in

Virgil in our youth, give us impressions which are never lost. But there

are more modern associations with that arm of the sea and its shores, of

more real importance in the view of persons acquainted with them.

American ships have long visited Palermo, Messina, Catania, and some of

the other ports of Sicily, and oranges are brought to us from that

fruitful island, many of which grow on the opposite coast of Calabria,

or Magna Grecia, as it was formerly called. Hills arise from near the

water, and mountains appear behind them, where scenes of rocky

barrenness are intermingled with valleys of verdure and fertility,

inhabited by a population in a simple state of society, the descendants

of ancient Greeks, mingled with races which at successive periods came

in from different countries. These had been for ages subject to the

degrading influences of Romish spiritual rule, and of the despots of

various countries, especially those of Spain and the Bourbons. But the

seeds of intelligence have been assiduously sown and cherished of late

years by the patriotic societies of Italy, who by their cautious, yet

often daring and hazardous efforts, have long since brought many of the

poor and rude, but brave and faithful Calabrians into the band of

Italian unity. The events of late years had proved that the people of

that part of the peninsula were to some extent connected with the great

union; but the approach of Garibaldi and his reception have since shown

that the influences so long and so secretly at work had not been justly

appreciated. There was no considerable insurrection in Calabria during

the conquest of Sicily, and it might have been presumed, from the

general quietness of the population, that they were unable or unwilling

to join with the patriots against the government of the King of Naples.

Some practised observers of Italian affairs, however, regarded that

general tranquillity as the best evidence of a general concert, and

looked for a general rising of the people when the hour should arrive,

and the signal should be given. Garibaldi, in the whole course of his

proceedings, acted as if he had information not known to others; and a

review of events, since they have passed, and are now fresh in our

memory, is calculated to confirm us in this opinion.

In the long and anxious suspense which occurred before any movement was

made against Calabria, questions were asked, how the flotilla of boats,

which Garibaldi was collecting on the coast of Sicily, could be risked

across the strait without a single ship of war to convoy them, and with

only two small steamers and one larger one to tow them, while a squadron

of the king's steamers was cruising between the shores, and the

landing-place was strongly defended by three forts, with heavy cannon,

and the whole Calabrian coast was occupied by royal troops. The

currents, so terrible to mariners in ancient times, are still violent

and irregular.

It was natural to ask, What is coming? What is about to happen? Are the

apprehensions of Victor to be realized? Has the king a clearer sight

than his gallant precursor, who has hitherto proved his prudence an

equal match with his valor? Is this famous strait to prove its fatal

character, so long ago recorded in fable; and is this passage then, so

dreadful to mariners, to be the destruction of our noble sailor? Will he

pass safely between Scylla and Charybdis, or meet his end on one or the

other? On which and how will he be wrecked; and by what unfortunate

circumstances? Not far distant from this spot, on a point on the coast

of Calabria, the two Bandieras, sons of an Austrian admiral, but true

Italian patriots, were decoyed to their death, by means of letters

violated in the British postoffice. Has Garibaldi been made a dupe, by

any artifice; and has Victor been apprised of danger? Has Louis Napoleon

once more changed his policy, and, after favoring Italy in her "latest

victories," as Garibaldi recently acknowledged, has he prepared, in

consistency with his conduct in 1849, a scheme for something on the

opposite side?

These, and many other questions, naturally disturbed the minds of the

friends of Italy, while standing in reality or in fancy on the shore of

Sicily, and looking in vain for any sign of the fate which awaited him

on the other coast? But, when we turned, even in imagination, to observe

Garibaldi, there was, as ever, something to dispel apprehension, and to

encourage the highest hopes; for, as that patriot priest-poet,

Dall'Ongaro wrote:

"O, well you might say that a saint was his mother,

For there a mild brilliancy beams in his eyes,

Which sure was sent down from Paradise."

But on the morning of the 8th of August, Garibaldi began to collect his

troops near Faro, which amounted to 15,000 or 18,000 men, without

counting the garrison of Messina. The Point of Faro had the appearance

of a vast fortified camp, being covered with cannon of all sizes, from

mountain howitzers to English 68-pounders, ready to be embarked in the

three steamers, which were under steam; while 300 boats were drawn up

ready to receive Garibaldi's troops.

About midnight twenty-five or thirty boats sailed from the coast of

Sicily. They were going to attempt a first landing. In three quarters of

an hour they crossed to the other side. Unfortunately the current did

not permit them to keep the order of their position. Some were driven

toward Faro, others swept under the forts of Scylla; some ran fast on

sandbanks further south, while others again were thrown toward Pizzo.

The soldiers, however, did not lose their courage at this misfortune.

Two or three hundred were landed in all haste, and the flotilla returned

to Faro without accident.

On the morning of the 10th a new attempt was made, under the command of

an old officer of the French marine service, M. Deflotte: but scarcely

had this expedition appeared on the coast, when the enemy rushed upon

them from a thousand ambuscades, vineyards, gardens, ditches, and

houses. A sharp firing ensued: two Garibaldians were wounded, and the

expedition was compelled to return, not, however, without having

vigorously responded to the fire of the Neapolitans.

On the night of the 10th and 11th, another landing was vainly attempted.

The Neapolitan squadron came up nearer to Faro, and watched every

movement of the Garibaldians. The day of the 11th was passed in

embarking the artillery. A desperate attempt was spoken of for the next

night. At seven o'clock in the evening the Garibaldian steamers began to

fire up, and the troops placed themselves in readiness for embarking;

but at eleven o'clock a counter-order arrived. About one o'clock in the

night was heard a loud cannonade; the firing extended from the forts of

Scylla to the fortifications of Pizzo. The squadron remained silent; the

engagement had therefore taken place on the land.

It seemed to be evident that the forts were simultaneously attacked by

the volunteers and the Calabrians. At a quarter past two the firing

ceased: it recommenced after a quarter of an hour in order to cease

again after a few minutes. At daybreak, a small boat, chased by a

Neapolitan corvette, sought protection under the guns of Faro.

The small party destined to land first in Calabria were under Major

Missori, and had been picked from the different volunteer corps. They

had been ordered to land on the opposite coast between Scylla and Forte

del Cavallo. It is on the extreme point of the Calabrian shore that

these forts are situate, at a little distance one from the other. The

castle of Scylla stands upon a rock, quite inaccessible from the

seaside. Forte del Cavallo is a little further to the left of it, and

its walls and fortifications slope gradually down toward the road which

skirts the sea, very much like that from Nice to Genoa, which is called

the Corniche Road.

On Wednesday evening, the sky so generally blue and bright in this

country, was covered with dense whitish clouds, and the night,

therefore, was very dark. Garibaldi, who knows how to take advantage

even of the smallest incident, at once ordered Missori to sail. Major

Missori, having embarked his men on board of large fishing vessels,

consequently started at half-past nine o'clock from the Sicilian shore.

The Neapolitan cruisers steaming up and down the straits, though

numerous and powerful, did not seem to possess the eyes of Argus, and

therefore the little expedition was able to land at the intended point.

Before reaching the Calabrian coast, however, one of the boats parted

company from the other, and sailed a little down toward Scylla Point,

just where a Neapolitan battery had been erected. The men on guard in

this battery gave the alarm, and the boat was fired at and one English

volunteer wounded. Garibaldi had ordered Missori to endeavor to surprise

the garrison of Fort Scylla, and to capture the fort. But on hearing the

rattling of musketry, and the report of a gun on his left, Missori

rightly thought that it would be impossible to seize Fort Scylla by

surprise. He therefore hastened to make the concerted signal, informing

the Dictator that he had safely landed, and he and his men ascended the

rough paths into the Calabrian mountains. As for his companions in the

boat which had missed its way, they returned to the Sicilian shore to

relate the cause of their failure.

Menotti, Garibaldi's eldest son, arrived at night from Palermo with 800

of the volunteers of Bertani's last expedition. The Dictator had then

20,000 or 25,000 men. His army had been formed into four divisions. That

of Medici was at Messina, watching the movements of the Neapolitans, who

still held the citadel; the other three were partly concentrated at

Faro, a brigade posted at Milazzo and Barcelona, and another, under

Bixio, was sent to Bronte, in the province of Catania.

Through the evening of August 11th, fires were seen on the Calabrian

mountains behind Pizzo. They were evidently signals made to Garibaldi by

the Calabrian bands which had joined the expedition of Major Missori.

From about half-past ten, firing was heard in the direction of Fort

Scylla; but as that place is hidden from view by the land about Torre

del Cavallo, nothing could be clearly distinguished except the heavy

boom of artillery. The Neapolitan steamers were cruizing all night, as

usual; but they did not fire, and only made signals with rockets. It is

supposed that the firing was caused by an attack made by Major Missori's

party on Fort Scylla.

The following proclamations appeared the next day:

ORDER OF THE DAY.

"FARO, AUG. 12.

"OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE LAND AND SEA FORCES: The

General Dictator having for a short time quitted

headquarters, left me the following Order:

"GENERAL SIRTORI: I leave to you the command of the land

and sea forces, being obliged to leave for a few days.

"G. GARIBALDI.

"OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS: My greatest title to your

confidence is the confidence which the man reposes in me

who represents your noblest aspirations. I trust that

you will obey me as you would obey Gen. Garibaldi.

"G. SIRTORI, Chief of the Staff."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER XIII.

"Two seas and the Alps shall Italy bound,

The oppressors no more in our land shall be found

The banner of freedom we'll spread to the air,

And from Apennines rush in a chariot of fire."

_Garibaldi's National Hymn._

THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE

PROSPECT—APPREHENSIONS—GARIBALDI'S MYSTERIOUS

DISAPPEARANCE—THE EXPEDITION PREPARED IN SARDINIA—HIS

CHANGE OF PLANS—SAILS FROM GIARDINI, AND LANDS AT

REGGIO.

A new epoch in the war had now arrived, and one of the highest interest.

What might be the results none could easily conjecture with any degree

of confidence, because the grounds of calculation were known only to

Garibaldi. His friends in America as well as in Europe were anxious,

fearing that some great disappointment might then await him, after all

his brilliant successes. He was about to land on a wild coast, lined

with strong forts, garrisoned with numerous troops, and guarded by

war-steamers, while not a sign could be discovered of any friends

prepared to join him. He, it was to be presumed, had secret information,

on which he was acting; but might not that be erroneous or deceptive?

Reliance, however, was generally placed on his prudence and skill, and

all waited impatiently to see whether he would succeed in this

independent enterprise, undertaken against the command of his friend and

king.

But, just when things appeared to be all prepared for a descent upon the

Calabrian coast, new anxiety and great surprise were caused by the

sudden disappearance of the chief. Garibaldi had disappeared, leaving

behind him the proclamation which closes the last chapter. He had left

his trusted and faithful friend Sirtori in his place; but why or whither

had he gone, or when he would return, no one could even conjecture. The

explanation is now easily given; for the facts were known after the

reasons for concealing them had ceased. Garibaldi, it now appears, had

been acting in a manner quite consistent with himself.

About the middle of August, 6,000 men were collected by Dr. Bertani,

Garibaldi's agent in Genoa, for an expedition to the states of the Pope.

They were sent in detachments to the little retired Golfo d'Orangio, on

the eastern side of the island of Sardinia. Bertani went to Messina for

orders from Garibaldi, having been urged by Farina and Major Trecchi not

to complicate matters by invading the Papal territories before the

question of Naples was settled. It was to Golfo d'Orangio that Garibaldi

went secretly on the 12th. The "chivalrous regard" which he has been

said to have for Victor Emanuel, as the head of Italian unity, seems to

have induced him to consent, and the 6,000 men were ordered to Sicily.

One thousand of them were therefore sent round the island of Sicily, to

Taormina, with the intention of invading Calabria with the brigade

Bixio, on the south coast. This was a characteristic plan of Garibaldi,

when all eyes were turned to the Straits, as he is fond of making

surprises, especially to attack in the rear.

Garibaldi therefore left Messina on the 18th of August, for Giardini, by

land, where the troops arrived before him; and the materiel and horses

were shipped at night, in the two steamers, Torino and Franklin, which

had transported thither about 2,800 soldiers. These and others—9,000 in

all—were embarked in these steamers and two sail vessels, which were

taken in tow. Garibaldi and his son accompanied this first brigade,

which was to be followed by the second, and both were to act in

combination with the expedition across the Strait.

At dawn of day the two steamers entered the harbor of Melito, without

opposition, about twelve miles south of Reggio, and east of Capo

dell'Armi. But, unfortunately on approaching the shore, one of them, the

Torino, got aground, and efforts were made in vain to get her off.

Garibaldi, seeing that the case was a serious one, said that he was

needed to examine the bottom, and began to throw off his clothes,

preparatory to diving. But his sailors were too quick, for ten or twelve

of them leaped over the side of the vessel into the sea.

As he intended to take Reggio by surprise, he hastened on shore, and

effected a landing, with three cannon, in a wonderfully short time.

Knowing that almost all the enemy's troops were down at the forts on the

west coast, from Scylla onward, he lost no time, expected no assistance,

and gave them not time to learn of his arrival in their rear, but

speedily gained the neighboring heights. A frigate and corvette in the

King of Naples' service were posted on the watch exactly off the spot at

which Garibaldi landed, but, wonderful to relate, they not only did not

sink his ship, but opposed no serious obstacle to his disembarkation,

although they fired some shots which killed a few of the Garibaldians.

Four thousand insurrectionists in the Calabrias fraternized with

Garibaldi almost on the moment of his landing. It was rumored also, that

the defection of the army of Naples was extremely probable.

We now return to Faro, where the army was left still anxiously looking

across the strait:

"Nothing was heard of Missori's expedition till it was reported in the

camp that he had established himself at Aspromonte, a small village in

the mountains near the Calabrian shore. But before reaching this place,

he had to fight a company of Neapolitan riflemen, which was dispatched

from Villa San Giovanni to stop his march. The skirmish was a sharp one,

but at last Missori had the best of it, and was enabled to make his way

through the mountains without much difficulty. In this affair, however,

he had seven men wounded, and one was made a prisoner by the

Neapolitans, as he was so severely hurt that he could not move. In spite

of the remonstrances of the surgeon, who told the Neapolitan officer

that the man would die if he were taken to Reggio, he was removed, and

died on the road. Missori held Aspromonte, and Calabrian patriots joined

him from the neighboring villages of the coast: 150 men of Villa San

Giovanni, commanded by a Calabrian baron, were among the number.

"During the course of the night, other small expeditions sailed from

Sicily, notwithstanding the shining moon which made the night as clear

and bright as the day.

"The first of them was directed to land between Azzerello and Villa San

Giovanni. The second successfully landed at Fiumara Zaccherella. The

third reached Cannamiele. In all, these three expeditions did not number

more than 300 men."

Few scenes in history can be found, to be compared with those which soon

followed the landing of Garibaldi and his troops, in the manner and at

the different points, above mentioned. His combined movements show the

wisdom, as well as the ingenuity of his plans; and the results were

probably more favorable even than his anticipations. While amusing the

enemy with his preparations, and making his repeated essays to land on

the near parts of the coast, he had suddenly got in their rear with a

powerful force; and while the line of forts along the shore were

expecting an attack in front, they suddenly discovered the hills behind

and above them covered with Garibaldi's army. Their consternation may be

imagined, and some idea may be formed, by an active fancy, of the

feelings of the soldiers of freedom, as they showed themselves on the

lofty heights, which they had attained unperceived, and from which they

now looked down into the enemy's forts, and saw what passed, being able

to distinguish minute objects and the positions and motions of the men.

Garibaldi sent a summons to the enemy, demanding an immediate surrender.

A flag of truce soon appeared, proceeding from below, with a request for

an armistice of a few hours, until orders could be received from the

commander-in-chief. "You will never receive them," replied Garibaldi. "I

have cut off all communications." "What do you require?" was the next

question. "Surrender." "On what terms? May we march out with our arms?"

"Certainly; and all the troops will be at liberty to return to their

homes."

When the messenger returned to the fortress, there was a commotion

visible—men running about to spread the news; and a moment after, a loud

shout arose, of "Viva Garibaldi!" But little time was required to

arrange the capitulation, and then Garibaldi descended the heights and

entered the place, where he was received with acclamations, and the

warmest expressions of joy. The soldiers crowded round, kissed his hands

and hailed him as their friend. Thus relieved from all their

apprehensions in a moment, and, instead of a scene of battle and

bloodshed, of which they had expectations, and the forebodings of defeat

and its consequences, they found themselves treated with the humanity

and tenderness so universally displayed by their conqueror, and at

liberty to leave their hard and miserable military life, and to return

to their homes and families. The Calabrians, who had already joined the

patriot army in great numbers, were continually pouring in from the

country; and they, being in want of arms and ammunition to equip them

for the ranks of the liberator, purchased those of the disbanded

soldiers, who having no intention of remaining in the service of the

king, were glad to sell what they no more desired to use against their

brethren.

The capture of the forts was thus a scene of peaceful jubilee, and

effected without shedding a drop of blood. The results of Garibaldi's

proceedings now showed that he must have laid his plans and pursued his

movements on information before received, and which fully justified them

at every step. His progress, from that part of Calabria toward Naples,

afforded equal evidence of his sagacity and of the preparations made to

facilitate and secure it. The people rose in his favor wherever he came,

and insurrections were made in different and some distant parts of the

country, often with a boldness and success which proved extensive and

well-laid combinations. To secret societies and the patriotism of the

people belongs the credit of that great and almost bloodless revolution.

The following brief account of proceedings in several places may serve

as a specimen of the movements in the country.

"Three thousand men, assembled from Polla, Sant'Angelo, San Rufo, and a

number of other places, marched into Sala, commanded by Colonel

Fabrizii. There, in the presence of an enthusiastic population, the

downfall of the Bourbons was declared, and the government of Victor

Emanuel established, with Garibaldi as dictator, and Giovanni Matina as

pro-dictator. A _procès verbal_ of the whole affair was made, and signed

by the authorities. In western Lucania, under the direction of Stefano

Passaro, a committee was appointed to collect arms and ammunition,

another to collect voluntary offerings, and a third to provide for

public security. Three of the four districts of the province of Salerno,

Campagna Vallo, and Sala, had already risen. Of the insurrection, or

rather of the popular festivity in Vallo, we have these details: that on

the 29th the _tambour_ was beaten at 2 P.M., when the male population

rushed in arms to the _piazza_ of the city. They were shortly after

joined by many of the youth of the neighboring communes, and, forming

themselves into a column, with music at their head, they went through

the streets, taking down the arms of the Bourbons and substituting those

of Victor Emanuel. All the women of the place accompanied them,

scattering flowers and confetti, and thus, amid tears of joy, they all

marched toward Goi.

"The scene is described as having been one of marvellous enthusiasm, and

it is added that not a single quarrel or theft took place. Life, order,

and property were religiously respected."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER XIV.

"Oh, short be his joy in our sorrow and pain,

I see his dark fate writ by destiny's pen."

_Eco di Savonarola._

THE CONDITION OF NAPLES IN PAST MONTHS—THE GOVERNMENT

CRISIS—ROYAL DECREE—HOW IT WAS RECEIVED—CRUELTIES

PRACTISED—FIRST MOVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE.

THE excitement in Naples, in consequence of the movements in Central

Italy, had been very great so early as in June, and a crisis ere long

occurred in the cabinet. At a meeting of the Council of State, the Count

of Aquila advocated liberal principles, and the Count of Frani resisted

him. Concessions were afterward agreed to, and after a conference of six

hours, between Baron Brenier and the Count of Aquila, the following

decree was published:

"SOVEREIGN ACT.

"Desiring to give to our most beloved subjects a mark of our sovereign

benevolence, we have determined to grant constitutional and

representative institutions to our kingdom, in harmony with national and

Italian principles, so as to guarantee future security and prosperity,

and to draw always closer the bonds which unite us to the people whom

Providence has called us to govern. For this object we have arrived at

the following determinations:

"1. We grant a general amnesty for all political offenders up to this

day.

"2. We have charged the Commander, Don Antonio Spinelli, with the

formation of a new ministry, who shall compile, in the shortest possible

time, the articles of the statute, on the basis of representative,

Italian, and national institutions.

"3. An agreement will be established with the King of Sardinia for the

common interests of the two crowns in Italy.

"4. Our flag shall be from this day forward adorned with the national

colors in vertical bands, preserving always the arms of our dynasty in

the centre.

"5. As regards Sicily, we will grant it analogous representative

institutions, such as to satisfy the wants of the island; and one of the

princes of our royal house shall be our viceroy.

"PORTICI, _June 25, 1860_."

A letter from Naples of that date, said:

"Wrung from the sovereign as have been these concessions, against his

inclinations and convictions, if his majesty can be said to have any,

and known as all these facts are, the decree was received with the

greatest indifference. People read it on the walls and passed on. I have

not heard one cry of pleasure raised, but I have heard official people

say. 'Too late! What a pity that it was not given six months ago.' It

was the concession of one with his back to the wall, and who may

hereafter say, as Ferdinand II. said, that he yielded on compulsion, and

it was not binding.

"An order was given for the immediate release of the political prisoners

in Santa Maria Apparente, and a steamer, hired by their friends, went to

Capri to-day to bring back the victims of a long and cruel persecution."

Everywhere this decree was regarded in the same manner. The celebrated

Poerio, who had been released from a long and cruel imprisonment a few

months before, for supporting the constitution to which the father of

the present King of Naples had himself sworn, was at this time a member

of the House of Deputies of Sardinia, and in a speech said:

"The traditions of the Neapolitan government are hereditary perjury. The

new king, almost to prove the legitimacy of his descent, is preparing to

perjure himself; and, in order to qualify himself for the task of

forswearing himself, he must first swear. It is with that view that he

declares himself ready to swear constitutions and alliances. His object

in proposing an alliance with the king's government is obvious. He is

only meditating the reconquest of Sicily. These are the old fox-like

wiles of the Neapolitan government. As these have thrice availed them,

they hope, even now, from the same arts, to attain the same results. But

if these are very clearly the intentions of the government of Naples,

there is also no doubt but the government of the king—of that king who

for the last twelve years has held aloft the banner of Italian

nationality, will never desert his post, never will associate itself

with a faith-breaking government, a government by the nature of its very

institutions an implacable foe to Italian regeneration."

The following is an extract from the letter of an English lady in

Florence:

"The details that have reached here, through both private and public

information, of the horrible sufferings endured by the Sicilians, are

enough to account for the fiendish hatred excited by the Neapolitans,

whose conduct to the unfortunate islanders is almost a repetition of the

frightful barbarities of the Indians during the late war, for neither

sex, age, nor innocence, are any protection against the perpetration of

the most awful atrocities. It is beyond belief that, in the nineteenth

century, in a Christian part of Europe, there have been scenes enacted

within the last few months that renew the days of the Inquisition. A

gentleman, residing in Florence, has received intelligence of his family

in Sicily, giving details of the sufferings of his brother, who was

subjected to a 'torture' that even surpassed all the refined cruelty

that was ever imagined by Ximenes and his inquisitorial establishment,

having been chained to a copper chair, under the seat of which was

lighted a charcoal fire! This is only one of the many incidents that

have taken place—incidents that make the cheek grow pale, even to hear

of. No wonder there has been such a burst of enthusiasm throughout all

Europe for Garibaldi and his noble expedition. Every civilized land has

echoed the bell which has been tolled in Italy for the annihilation of

despotism. There has not been raised one sympathetic voice to cry to

Francis of Naples, 'Hear it not Duncan, for it summons thee' to join the

circle of deposed tyrants that have sought asylums within such short

distances of each other, imitating the instinct of the featherly tribe,

who only seek society with companions of the same color."

The feelings of the people of Naples cannot be imagined, without some

knowledge of the cruelties of the government. The following shocking

account of the cruelty practised on a man who was called an American, by

the priests of Rome and Italy, is from a letter written in Naples, just

after the revolution, by a person who saw him and obtained from him

since his own story:

BARBAROUS TREATMENT OF A POLITICAL PRISONER.

"Amongst the many cases of brutal and illegal imprisonment which have

been brought before the public during the last ten days, none has been

worse than that of Francisco Casanova, _calling himself an American_. He

was confined in San Francisco, and some young men who had formerly been

placed in the same prison, though not in the same room, remembering his

case, went, on the amnesty being proclaimed, to deliver him; but he was

all but naked, and he could not leave until an advocate called Arene,

who has acted with great benevolence, sent him some clothes, and has

since received him in his house and fed him. Last night I went to see

him, and I cannot tell you whether indignation against this most

Christian government or compassion for the victim was the strongest

feeling. 'When he entered my house,' said Arene, 'he was supported by

two persons, for he was unable to walk. He looked like a ghost.' 'Where

am I?' he exclaimed, as he looked confusedly around; and well he might,

after six years and a half of confinement from all intercourse with man.

But I give you his own description of his sufferings, as nearly as

possible in his own words, premising merely that there were witnesses of

all that I relate, in Arene himself, a Neapolitan friend, and a foreign

consul.

"I landed in Genoa from Boston some time in 1853, and wishing to see the

south of Italy, travelled till I came near to Viterbo, when I was

cautioned not to go to Rome; but I still persevered in my intention of

doing so, when I was arrested as not having a passport, and carried to

the Eternal City, where I was placed in the Carcere Nuova. Not satisfied

with the report I gave of myself, I was tortured for three months as

follows. My hands and arms were bound together, and then, by ropes tied

round the upper part of the arms, they were drawn back till my breast

protruded, and my bones sounded, 'crick, crick.' There was another

species of torture practised upon me, which was this: At night, whilst

sleeping, the door was secretly opened, and buckets of water were thrown

over my body. How I survived it I cannot tell; the keepers were

astonished, and said they never had such an instance; 'but you will

never get out alive,' I was told. I replied that I never expected to do

so, and prayed for the angel of death to come. The worst torture of all,

however, was the prison itself—a room into which a few rays of light

struggled from above, and the stench of which was as bad as death. For

three months I suffered thus, and then, without any reason assigned, was

taken from it and placed, always alone, in a room called 'Salon del

Preti,' a large airy room, and was well fed and well treated for

twenty-one months more. I was a prisoner of the Cardinal Secretary

Antonelli. About the middle of 1855 again, without any reason being

given, I was sent off to Naples, was placed first in the Vicaria and

afterward in San Francisco, in a small, close room, where I was detained

for four years and a half. I was questioned on several occasions, and at

last refused to answer, saying that my persecutors already knew what I

had to say, that I was unjustly and illegally confined, and nothing

could compel me to utter another word. On another occasion I was called

before Bianchini, the director of police, who interrogated me. I

appealed against my sufferings, and all the reply I received was, 'Va

bene, va bene,' from a Christian man to one suffering as I was, but my

invariable answer was, I will die first; never will I ask anything of

this government. When first I arrived here I had a little money, which

for a short time procured me better food than prison fare, and then by

degrees I sold my clothes. At last I sold my black bread to have a

little salt to sprinkle over my beans, and sometimes to procure some

incense to relieve the horrid stench of my prison. As for water for

purposes of cleanliness, it was never supplied me, and all that I could

do, was to dip one of my own rags in a jug of drinking water, and wash

some portions of my body. During the day I could repose, but at night I

was covered with black beetles, fleas, lice, and every conceivable

species of vermin. I expected death, and desired and prayed for it as a

relief, but it never came. My clothes were at last so reduced, that I

was all but naked, and so I have passed four summers and winters, pacing

up and down my narrow chamber.

"'I will show you my prison-dress,' said he; and going out, returned in

a few moments. He might have stood as a model for Lazarus risen from the

tomb. The lower part of his body was covered with a thin pair of linen

drawers, nothing more. On his feet was a pair of shoes, with soles and

upper leather all in holes. He had no shirt, but over the upper part of

his body, was thrown a rag, something like a common kitchen-towel, one

corner of which he had placed on his head, as the long elfin locks which

had not been cut, for many years hung down over his neck and shoulders.

He appeared more like a brute than a Christian man. 'See this rag,' said

he, 'how I have botched it. This was my dress, and so clad, I paced up

and down my solitary den.'

"There is much that Casanova reports of himself that I do not repeat,

for it is so mysterious that I require further evidence of its

correctness. There can, however, be no doubt of his sufferings and

imprisonment in Naples. It has long been whispered about here that an

unknown individual was lying in the prisons of San Francisco, but

nothing was known of him. He was one of the mysteries of the dungeon,

and even now there is much to unravel. Who is he?—what secret motives

led to his double confinement here and in Rome?—why was he transferred

from the hands of a Christian cardinal to the mercies of De Spagnoli?

What he said I report, and time must unravel his story; but the world

will know how to appreciate the influence of a priesthood under whose

eye such enormities have been committed."

In Naples, on the 26th of June, assemblages of the population commenced.

The populace shouted "GARIBALDI forever!" "Annexation forever!" "Death

to the police!" The following day a panic took place; the police were

maltreated, and disappeared as soon as the same cries were raised by the

populace.

The king had twice sent Signor Aquila to Baron Brenier, and had promised

to make a strict investigation.

On the 28th of June all the police stations were pillaged in open day;

forty of the agents were surprised, and either killed or wounded. The

archives were burnt. The spoils were carried about in triumph by the

populace.

The king had arrived at Naples, and had ordered the immediate formation

of a national guard.

A proclamation was issued, prohibiting seditious shouts, and

recommending the military to disperse assemblages of the population with

moderation.

As the successes of Garibaldi in Calabria became known in the city of

Naples, and his unimpeded advance toward that capital, the excitement

daily increased. A letter, dated there on the 5th of September, said:

"Seven-league boots must be in fashion again, and Garibaldi must have a

pair. It was but yesterday he was at Faro; then we find him at Pezzo,

Tiriola, Nicastro, Paolo, until, by a series of gigantic strides, by

last reports he was at Campagna, the capital of one of the four

districts of Salerno. I shall expect at any hour to meet the great

dictator in the Toledo. His march has been a continual triumph—war in

its severer aspects he has not seen in the kingdom of Naples, but

wreathed with flowers scattering confections and weeping tears of

welcome and joy. Apart from a hatred of the Bourbons, Garibaldi is

worshipped as a demi-god, and I believe that the veriest reactionist in

the kingdom would sheathe his sword to look at him. It is hero-worship

which has smoothed the passage of the dictator rather than anything more

definite or settled in principle."

The priests, the same letter declared, were much connected with the two

last revolutionary attempts:

"For that of Prince Luigi (Count of Aquila), the vicars of some

parishes, just before the outbreak was to have occurred, placarded the

doors of the houses of their faithful followers with little bills, one

of which is in my possession, bearing this inscription:

"'Viva Jesu Christo!

Viva la Madonna Immacolata!

Viva San Francesco!'

"This was to protect those houses.

"Naples is in a state of the greatest excitement. It is one great heart

without a head, and the most singular contrasts present themselves at

every step. I left a scene of wild confusion in the Toledo late last

night, when the names only of Garibaldi and Victor Emanuel were heard,

and, going down to Santa Lucia, I found every house illuminated, torches

burning, and fagots borne by a crowd of rabble, a small bell tinkling,

and a priest bearing the host, surrounded by hundreds of devotees. They

stop, and the vast crowd fall upon their knees. Silence! not a sound was

heard, except the indistinct roar of voices from the Toledo. On the

walls close behind were the cannon of the Bourbons, and in the offing

the fleets of many nations, all brought out as distinctly as possible by

the gorgeous moonlight of our southern sky. What a host of conflicting

ideas were here brought into juxtaposition and contrast!

"Last night it was decided that the king should leave immediately; at

midnight it was deferred, but _only_ deferred. The throne has well nigh

fallen."

The following Address to the Clergy of the Kingdom was issued by the

Ecclesiastical Committee of Union:

"THE CLERGY OF THE KINGDOM.

"_Viva Italian Independence!_

"_Viva Victor Emanuel!_

"_Viva Giuseppe Garibaldi!_

"PROGRAMME.

"Italianism, Activity, Catholicity—these are the duties demanded of

every good Neapolitan Christian, whether priest or layman; these he is

called upon to practise both in thought and action for the benefit of

the country. Such, in fact, is the speculative and practical principle

which in Naples animates the Union Ecclesiastical Committee in order to

arrive at the most holy object of independence, in the noble undertaking

of Italian redemption. For these reasons the committee are intent on the

union of ideas with facts; they profess it to be their indispensable

duty to labor unweariedly, so as not to go in opposition to the orthodox

faith, which rests in Christ and his vicar on earth—in Christ as

God-man, in his vicar as the first religious and the first civil power

of the world. Hence, taking its stand on these axioms, the committee

declares its intention of realizing the evangelical maxim that

spiritually the state is in the church, as temporarily the church is in

the state; and so it labors to establish the unity of Italy in the order

of religion and civilization; in the order of religion, of which the

pontiff of Rome is the œcumenical moderator; in the order of

civilization, of which Victor Emanuel is the only regulator in the

Italian kingdom."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER XV.

"Expect not, O Pope! a second retreat

To find in Gaeta, or a stool for your feet:

A worse fate than even your own may await

The felon to you who once open'd the gate."

G. ROSETTI. T. D.

THE CONDITION OF NAPLES SINCE THE REIGN OF TERROR IN

APRIL—AGITATION ON GARIBALDI'S APPROACH.

THERE was a reign of terror in Naples in April, 1860, in consequence of

numerous arrests and imprisonments of persons of all classes, many of

them on the merest suspicion. The British minister in that city, who had

repeatedly distinguished himself by his humane exposure and protest

against the cruelties of the old savage, Bomba, now made new

representations to his government, that these measures were taken by the

Intendants in compliance with a circular from the Minister of Police. On

the 1st of March they arrested numbers who were not suspected at all,

and among them several dukes, marquises, counts, and princes. Other

evidences were given by the government of their great fear of an

insurrection.

The following is from the letter addressed to the King of Naples by the

Count of Syracuse:

"Civil war, which is already spreading over the provinces of the

continent, will carry away the dynasty into that ultimate ruin which the

iniquitous arts of perverse advisers have long been preparing for the

descendants of Charles III. of Bourbon; the blood of the citizens,

uselessly spilt, will again flood the thousand towns of the kingdom, and

you, once the hope and love of the people, will be regarded with horror

as the sole cause of a fratricidal war.

"Sire, while it is yet time, save our house from the curses of all

Italy! Follow the noble example of our royal kinswoman of Parma, who, on

the breaking out of civil war, released her subjects from their

allegiance, and left them to be arbiters of their own destinies. Europe

and your subjects will take your sublime sacrifice into account, and

you, sire, will be able to raise your brow in confidence up to God, who

will reward the magnanimous act of your majesty. Your heart, tempered by

adversity, will become accessible to the noble aspirations of

patriotism, and you will bless the day when you generously sacrificed

yourself for the greatness of Italy.

"With these words, sire, I fulfill the sacred duty which my experience

imposes upon me, and I pray to God that he may enlighten you, and render

you deserving of His blessings.

"Your majesty's affectionate uncle,

"LEOPOLD, Count of Syracuse.

"NAPLES, _Aug. 24_."

In the latter part of August, reports of the nearer approach of

Garibaldi, and of risings in different parts of the country, were

multiplied daily; and the secret patriotic committee more openly and

freely circulated their publications, which were to be seen in every

house. Movements had been made, before the 25th, in Matera, the

Capitanata, Bari, Monopolo, and Sassinoro, and in Potenza and Corleta

provisional governments were formed in favor of Victor Emanuel. Indeed,

the kingdom was in a state of general revolution, and a pro-dictatorial

committee held its sessions to direct "the great Lucanian insurrection."

An order was also published in Naples, in the name of Garibaldi,

Dictator of the Two Sicilies, providing that all authorities should

remain at their posts; that acts of the government should be published

in the name of Victor Emanuel; that a committee of public security and a

commission of engineers should be formed to barricade the city; and that

all capable of bearing arms should join the National Guard. Committees

were also formed for looking after the commissariat, and attending to

the sick and wounded, on which committee were the names of seven

ecclesiastics. The headquarters of the insurrectionists were at Potenza,

in the province of Basilicata, and to this point were crowding hundreds

and thousands of volunteers. The people of the country itself had taken

up arms. All business was suspended; one thought alone occupied the

public mind. The great fear of many was of pillage; and the want of

occupation, and the almost general famine among the lower classes, gave

such a fear yet greater appearance of reasonableness.

The landing of several detachments of the Garibaldians was now a

confirmed fact.

The following account of the revolution in the Basilicata will afford an

idea of the changes then made in the country:

"The province of Basilicata had long been agitated; it is a mountainous

country, subject to earthquakes. The war of Italy, the adventures of

Garibaldi, the constitution of Francis II., precipitated the crisis. The

reactionary attempts at Matera gave the signal for the movement.

Potenza, the chief town of the province, was only defended by gendarmes.

They were apparently on good terms with the national guard, and their

chief, Captain Castagna, had given his word of honor that he would not

be the first to commence the attack.

"On the morning of the 18th of October, the gendarmes formed in column,

left the town, and took up a position within musket shot of the houses

on the Monte. Castagna removed his men in this way to tranquillize the

country, as he said. However, a picket of national guards at the Salsa

gate watched the movements of the gendarmes. It was well they did, for

Captain Castagna all at once returned with his men at double-quick pace,

dividing them into two columns, one of which was to attack the post held

by the national guard, and the other to open the prisons.

"The first discharge of the royalists took place before the men attacked

had time to cry 'To arms!' A bullet struck Captain Asselta in the

temple. He had firmly stood the charge with some fifty of the national

guardsmen. Not till then did the latter open fire, and the gendarmes

were put to flight. They disbanded about the town and the open country,

striking at random, pursued and hunted everywhere by the peasants, who

were armed with hatchets. They also lost some fifty prisoners: about

fifty were wounded, and more than twenty slain.

"Besides the wound of Captain Asselta, the insurgents had to deplore the

loss of two young men, and count both women and children among the

wounded. Nevertheless, this strange insurrection, provoked, hastened at

least, and justified like the Italian war of last year, by the attack of

the gendarmes, was entirely successful, and it spread most rapidly.

Clouds of armed mountaineers came down from all parts of the heights to

help their brethren in the town. The wounded and royal prisoners were

not only spared, at the simple command of a chief, but received every

assistance, just as if they had been fighting for the good cause.

"On the 19th, at Tito, the national guard drove out the gendarmes; on

the 20th there were more than 10,000 armed men at Potenza; on the 22d

16,000 were mustered. All the nobility, the landowners, the chief

inhabitants, the educated citizens, even the priests, were on the side

of the insurgents. The peasants took up arms spontaneously to the cry of

'Long live Victor Emanuel.' The cross of Savoy floated everywhere on the

tri-color flag. The forces were commanded by a Neapolitan, who had

already figured in two former Italian wars—Colonel Boldoni.

Strong detachments were stationed _en échelons_ around the town and upon

the mountains. Good positions were occupied, amongst others that of

Marmo, whence a handful of men can keep in check an army, and renew the

defence of Mazagran. The insurrection assumed such proportions that it

kept the royal forces at a distance. Neapolitans and Bavarians had been

sent against it; the former stopped at Auletta, the latter at Salerno.

"Potenza was barricaded, and preparing to resist to the death. It had

already a provisional government, whose two first acts the National

Committee published, headed:

"'VICTOR EMANUEL, KING OF ITALY. GENERAL GARIBALDI,

DICTATOR OF THE TWO SICILIES.

"'A pro-dictatorial government has been formed to direct the great

Lucanian insurrection. (Basilicata is the ancient Lucania).

"'The members sit permanently in the old hall of Intendants.

"'POTENZA, _August 19, 1860_.'

"'FOR THE DICTATOR, GARIBALDI.

"'_The pro-dictators, N. Mignona, G. Albini;

the secretaries, Gaetano, Cascini, etc._

"'It is ordained: 1. That the authorities shall remain at their posts

and actively assist in maintaining order, providing for the proper

carrying on of the judicial and civil administration. 2. The acts of the

government relating to the civil and judicial administration shall be

headed: Victor Emanuel, King of Italy; Joseph Garibaldi, Dictator of the

two Sicilies. 3. A committee of public safety is established and a

committee of engineers for barricading the town.'

"The fifth article nominates the majors and captains of the national

guard. The sixth directs them to form the several corps. The seventh

appoints a deputation to see to the conveyance of provisions, etc. The

eighth appoints a deputation for providing quarters. The ninth names a

committee for attending to the sick, wounded, and prisoners.

"Rumors of the defection of the king's officers were repeated every

moment. It was asserted in Naples that General Nunziante had just gone

over to Garibaldi. The Duchess of Mignano, the wife of the exiled

general, having been ordered to quit Naples, proudly refused to go, and

defied the ministers to remove her by force."

During a few days about the beginning of September, the king's

ministers, his army and the city, were in a state of the greatest

agitation. On the 3d, General Cotrufiano sent in his resignation, but

expressed his hope that the ministry would remain in power. The National

Guard, who had before communicated with them, then told them that if

they did not remain they would commence the revolution in the city.

As circumstances, however, were, the ministers considered it impossible

to remain with dignity or advantage to the country, and, _en masse_,

again sent in their written resignation. "We have been called traitors,"

they said. "We have the troops against us, and no longer enjoy the

confidence of the sovereign; we are supported by the National Guard and

the people, it is true, and are their ministers rather than the king's;

but this is not according to the principles of the Constitution, and we

therefore earnestly beg your majesty to choose a transition ministry.

Besides, we will not undertake the responsibility of the war against

Garibaldi and his followers, for it will be altogether useless." Such,

remarks a writer who was at that time in Naples, was the manner in which

the ministers addressed his majesty, and put into plain English, it

means this: "_If your majesty will abandon all self-defence, we will

serve you, but if you are determined to risk an action, we will persist

in resigning, and then barricades will be formed directly._" The choice

left to Francis II., then, was revolution or abdication, and this is the

end of that vast structure of despotism which Ferdinand II. reared with

so much labor, and cemented with so much blood. On Sunday morning, the

ministers met in the council chamber, and waited for some decision on

the part of his majesty, but none came; but later in the day, De Martino

was sent for by the king, and requested to form an administration. This,

however, De Martino declined doing, and the king exclaimed, in great

sadness, "Then I am abandoned by all." So stood the matter on Sunday

night. It was clear that the ministers had no hopes or intentions, even

if they remained in power, of doing anything more than keep things

together till Garibaldi came. To them, as to all in Naples, it was

evident enough that the game was up, and that all they could do for the

country was to make the fall, or transition, as easy as possible. Up to

that time their conduct was beyond all praise. There was an impression

in the city that the ministerial difficulties had been arranged, and, in

consequence, on Saturday and Sunday night there was a partial

illumination of the city, and bills were placarded bearing the

inscription, "_Viva Garibaldi!_" "_Viva Romano!_"—the chief minister.

It is impossible for any generous mind to contemplate the position of

Francis II. without compassion. Not gifted by nature with much

intelligence, kept in gross ignorance, and reared in a school of

political despotism and religious bigotry by his father, misguided and

betrayed by evil counsellors in the early part of his reign, and finally

abandoned by his oldest uncle, and by the contemptible nobility and

parasites who supported or tolerated the corruptions of the government

so long as they were to their own advantage, he sat alone in his palace,

the last sovereign of his family, hesitating as to the moment when he is

to lay down both crown and sceptre. Close to his palace crowds were

reading and rejoicing in the latest dispatches from the camp of the

enemy, who was advancing by rapid marches—an enemy whom he had no force

to repel; and not much more distant resided the minister of a sovereign

who subscribed himself the "beloved cousin" (or by some similar

hypocrisy) of Francis II., at the same time that he was doing all that

in him lay to drive him from the throne. The position was a hard one,

created by the Bourbons themselves—a fulfillment of the great decree,

that the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children.

What a contrast was then presented between the cold, bloody cruelty of

the Bourbons and the noble moderation of this long oppressed people!

Thousands in the city had in some form or other been victims of revenge

or suspicion; and it is truly wonderful that not a hand, nor even a

voice, was raised against the unprotected king.

As for placing himself at the head of the army, his majesty had no army

to command. During the whole of Sunday night, boats were going backward

and forward between the land and the Spanish vessels with royal

property. The queen mother was already in Albano, near Rome.

There was in the bay a most imposing fleet, representing every nation in

Europe. Even the Pope had his flag lying off the Villa. On that side of

the city there were fourteen vessels of war, and as many off Santa

Lucia.

FLIGHT OF THE KING OF NAPLES.

"At 6 o'clock in the evening of September, his majesty went on board a

Spanish vessel, and at 8 o'clock left Neapolitan waters. Before leaving,

his majesty published his protest, which is given below.

"It would appear that the French admiral thought, with the prefect, that

some precautions were necessary, and he therefore called on the British

Admiral Mundy in the course of the evening, and announced his intention

of sending some men on shore. Admiral M. replied that he saw no

necessity for the step, as the city was perfectly tranquil."

PROTEST OF FRANCIS II.

"Since a reckless adventurer, possessing all the force of which

revolutionary Europe can dispose, has attacked our dominions, under the

name of an Italian sovereign who is both a relation and a friend, we

have striven for five months long, with all the means in our power, on

behalf of the sacred independence of our states.

"The fortune of war has proved contrary to us. The reckless enterprise

of which the above sovereign protested his ignorance in the most formal

manner, and which, nevertheless, at the moment when negotiations were

going on for an intimate alliance between us, received in his own states

its principal support and assistance, that enterprise at which the whole

of Europe assisted with indifference, after having proclaimed the

principle of non-intervention, leaving us alone to fight against the

common enemy, is now upon the point of extending its disastrous effects

to our own capital. The forces of the enemy are now approaching this

neighborhood.

"On the other hand, both Sicily and the provinces of the continent,

which for a long time have been agitated in every manner by a

revolution, rising in insurrection under so great an excitement, have

formed provisional governments under the title and nominal protection of

the above sovereign, and have confided to a pretended dictator full

authority and the decision of their destiny.

"Strong in our rights, founded upon history, in international treaty,

and in the public law of Europe, we intend to prolong our defence, while

it is possible; yet we are no less determined upon every sacrifice in

order to save this vast metropolis, the glorious home of the most

ancient memories, the birthplace of national art and civilization, from

the horrors of anarchy and civil war.

"In consequence, we shall retire beyond the walls with our army,

confiding in the loyalty and the love of our subjects for the

preservation of order and for respect being shown to authority.

"In taking this determination we are conscious of a duty which our

ancient and uncontested rights, our honor, the interest of our heirs and

successors, and more than all, the welfare of our most beloved subjects,

have imposed upon us, and therefore we protest loudly against all acts

which have been accomplished up to this time, and against the events

which are on the point of completion, or which may be accomplished in

future. We reserve, then, all our rights and privileges, arising from

the most sacred and incontestable laws of succession as well as from the

force of treaties, and we declare solemnly that all the aforesaid acts

and events are null, void, and of no effect. For what concerns us we

leave our cause, and the cause of our people, in the hands of Almighty

God, under the firm conviction that during the short space of our reign

we have not entertained a single thought that was not devoted to the

happiness and the good of our subjects. The institutions which we have

irrevocably guaranteed are the proof of this.

"This protest of ours will be transmitted to every court, and we desire

that, signed by us, provided with the seal of our royal arms, and

countersigned by our minister of foreign affairs, it should be preserved

in our royal offices of the exterior, of the privy council and of grace

of justice, as a record of our firm resolution always to oppose reason

and right to violence and usurpation.

(Signed,)

"FRANCESCO II.

"DE MARTINO.

"NAPLES, _Sept. 6, 1860_."

-------

ROYAL PROCLAMATION.

"Among the duties prescribed to kings, those of the days of misfortunes

are the grandest and the most solemn, and I intend to fulfill them with

resignation, free from weakness, and with a serene and confident heart,

as befits the descendants of so many monarchs.

"For such a purpose I once more address my voice to the people of this

metropolis, from whom I am now to depart with bitter grief.

"An unjust war, carried on in contravention to the law of nations, has

invaded my states, notwithstanding the fact that I was at peace with all

the European powers.

"The changed order of government, and my adhesion to the great

principles of Italian nationality, were not sufficient to ward off the

war; and, moreover, the necessity of defending the integrity of the

state entailed upon me the obligations of events which I have always

deplored; therefore, I solemnly protest against this indescribable

hostility, concerning which the present and future time will pronounce

their solemn verdict.

"The diplomatic corps residing at my court has known since the

commencement of this unexpected invasion, with what sentiments my heart

has been filled for all my people, as well as for this illustrious city,

with a view of securing her from ruin and war, of saving her inhabitants

and all their property, her sacred churches, her monuments, her public

buildings, her collection of art, and all that which forms the patrimony

of her civilization and of her greatness, and which being an inheritance

of future generations, is superior to the passions of a day.

"The time has now come to fulfill these professions of mine. The war is

now approaching the walls of the city, and with unutterable grief I am

now to depart with a portion of my army to betake myself whither the

defence of my rights calls me. The remainder of my army remains in

company with the honorable national guard, in order to protect the

inviolability and safety of the capitol, which I recommend as a sacred

treasure to the zeal of the ministry; and I call upon the honor and the

civic feeling of the mayor of Naples and of the commandant of the said

national guard, to spare this most beloved country of mine the horrors

of internal discord and the disasters of civil war; for which purpose I

concede to the above-named the widest powers that they may require.

"As a descendant of a dynasty that has reigned over this continent for

126 years, after having preserved it from the horrors of a long

vice-royalty, the affections of my heart are here. I am a Neapolitan,

nor could I without bitter grief address words of farewell to my most

dearly beloved people, to my fellow citizens. Whatever may be my

destiny, be it prosperous or adverse, I shall always preserve for them a

passionate and affectionate remembrance. I recommend to them concord,

peace, and a strict observance of their civic duties. Let not an

excessive zeal for my dynasty be made a pretence for disturbance.

"Whether from the fortunes of the present war I return shortly amongst

you, or whatever may be the time at which it may please the justice of

God to restore me to the throne of my ancestors, a throne made all the

more splendid by the free institutions with which I have irrevocably

surrounded it, all that I pray from this time forth is to behold again

my people united, strong and happy.

"FRANCIS II."

THE LATE KING OF NAPLES DESCRIBED BY HIMSELF.

A late number of the "Revue de Paris" publishes a curious correspondence

between Louis Philippe and Ferdinand II., the late King of Naples.

Shortly after the revolution of July, Louis Philippe addressed a letter

to Ferdinand II., advising him in the government of his kingdom, to

relinquish a little so that all might not be lost, to give up his system

of compression and severity. "Imitate," said Louis Philippe, "the system

in France; you will be a gainer in every respect; for, by sacrificing a

little authority, you will insure peace to your kingdom and stability to

your house. The symptoms of agitation are so strongly pronounced and

numerous in Italy, that an outbreak may be expected sooner or later,

accordingly as the stern measures of Prince Metternich may hasten or

adjourn it. Your majesty will be drawn into the current if you are not

prepared to stem the tide, and your house will be burst in two, either

by the revolutionary stream or by the measures of repression the Vienna

Cabinet may think fit to adopt. Your majesty may save everything by

anticipating voluntarily and with prudence the wishes and wants of your

people."

To this excellent advice and very remarkable counsel, coming as it did

from a Bourbon, Ferdinand II. returned the following answer:

"To imitate France, if ever France can be imitated, I shall have to

precipitate myself into that policy of Jacobinism, for which my people

has proved feloniously guilty more than once against the house of its

kings. Liberty is fatal to the house of Bourbon; and, as regards myself,

I am resolved to avoid, at all price, the fate of Louis XVI. and Charles

X. My people obey force and bend their necks, but woe's me should they

ever raise them under the impulse of those dreams which sound so fine in

the sermons of philosophers, and which are impossible in practice. With

God's blessing, I will give prosperity to my people, and a government as

honest as they have a right to; but I will be king, and always. My

people do not want to think; I take upon myself the care of their

welfare and their dignity. I have inherited many old grudges, many mad

desires, arising from all the faults and weaknesses of the past; I must

set this to rights, and I can only do so by drawing closer to Austria

without subjecting myself to her will. We are not of this century. The

Bourbons are ancient, and if they were to try to shape themselves

according to the pattern of the new dynasties, they would be ridiculous.

We will imitate the Hapsburgs. If fortune plays us false, we shall at

least be true to ourselves. Nevertheless, your majesty may rely upon my

lively sympathy and my warmest wishes that you may succeed in mastering

that ungovernable people who make France the curse of Europe."

Here it was well remarked by a writer:

"We have the father of Francis II. exactly as he was, and exactly as his

son has been after him. Out of the lips of the Bourbon it is proved that

a Garibaldi was sadly wanted in Sicily. Well, the Garibaldi has come,

and the necks of the people bend no more; the people have begun to have

a desire to 'think;' have raised their necks 'under the impulse of those

dreams which sound so fine in the sermons of philosophers,' and the

'woe's me,' which the Bourbon Ferdinand II. feared would fall upon him

when the people did so rise, has fallen upon the head of the Bourbon

Francis II. 'The Bourbons are very ancient,' said Ferdinand, 'and if

they were to try to shape themselves according to the pattern of the new

dynasties, they would be ridiculous.' Well, Francis II., penned up there

in Gaeta, with a very small pattern of an army, strikes us as a very

ridiculous king, and ridiculous because he did not shape himself

according to the pattern of a wise and liberal monarch. This letter of

Ferdinand II. is one of the most striking lessons of history that the

present century has afforded."

CHAPTER XVI.

"Garibaldi! Garibaldi! thy glorious career

Is worthy thee and Italy: thy name to man is dear,

A brighter course has never a warrior true displayed:

Unsullied in the hour of peace, in danger undismayed,

Thy heart with every virtue warm, compassion all and love,

In war resistless as the storm, in peace a gentle dove."

_MS._

GARIBALDI'S JOURNEY THROUGH CALABRIA—REACHES PALERMO

—ENTERS NAPLES—ENTHUSIASM AND GOOD ORDER OF THE

PEOPLE—THE NEW GOVERNMENT—THE ARMY AND NAVY—VARIOUS

OCCURRENCES.

GARIBALDI, after his wonderful triumph over the royal army in Calabria,

made rapid marches through the wild regions of that part of the

peninsula toward Naples. By rising early, pressing on and resting but

little, he performed a journey of about two hundred and eighty miles to

Salerno, in a fortnight from the day of his landing at Reggio.

Before Garibaldi's entry into Naples, the Sardinian admiral had

threatened to fire upon any Neapolitan vessel which should attempt to

proceed to Gaeta.

A _Te Deum_ had been celebrated in the cathedral by Father Gavazzi, the

people shouting "Hurrah for Victor Emanuel!" "Hurrah for Garibaldi!" The

people were armed, some even with pikes and sticks.

General illuminations had taken place. The Papal Nuncio, a great part of

the ambassadors, and Count Trapani, had followed the king to Gaeta. The

king had appointed Signor Ulloa, brother of General Ulloa, as his prime

minister, and had issued a proclamation.

On the morning of the 7th of September, Garibaldi was at Salerno, a town

near the southern extremity of the vast and splendid bay of Naples, and

about thirty miles distant from the capital, preparing to proceed to it

by the railroad. The love with which he attaches his friends to him was

evident, in the manner in which his personal staff clung to him at the

station. Very few accompanied him; but 25,000 troops were to follow him

in four days.

The following account of Garibaldi in Salerno, is from a letter of Mr.

Edwin James to a friend:

"The long roll of the 'spirit-stirring drums,' the discordant noises of

the Calabrese soldiers as they were endeavoring to form their ranks, the

dashing in of carriages from Naples with their cargoes of deputations to

attend Garibaldi, roused me before four o'clock, September 7th, from my

bed, in a wretched 'albergo' in Salerno, where I had been the prey of

mosquitoes since midnight. Garibaldi was astir as early as four o'clock;

he had seen members of the committee from Naples, and was arranging his

_entrée_ into the city. At my interview with him yesterday at Eboli,

which was a hurried one, he had requested me to see him in the evening;

he was so surrounded by crowds of admirers, all anxious for a glimpse at

the 'great man,' that I delayed my interview until this morning. On

entering the large rooms of the Hôtel de Ville, or 'Intendenza,' the

throngs of people and their agitation and excitement were most striking.

"The national guard of Salerno lined the avenues; priests of every

denomination crowded to touch the 'hem of his garment.' Officers of

State of the king were in earnest conversation with him, urging his

coming without delay into Naples.

"A special train of about 20 carriages was in waiting at 10 o'clock, and

we obtained a seat in the carriage next to that in which Garibaldi was.

Throughout the journey to Naples, in every village, at every station,

the joy and enthusiasm of the people exceeded the powers of description.

Women and girls presented flags, threw flowers into the carriages,

struggled to kiss the hand of the general. Mayors and syndics ejaculated

their gratulations; priests and monks stood, surrounded by their

wretched flocks, on the hill-side, and shouted their 'Vivas,' and

holding the crucifix in one hand and the sword in the other, waved them

in the air, and bawled out their benedictions. As the train passed the

king's guard at Portici, the soldiers threw their caps into the air, and

joined lustily in the 'Viva Garibaldi!'"

It was reported in Naples, about eleven o'clock, that Garibaldi was to

arrive that day, and a great part of the inhabitants, on first hearing

the news, hastened to the station. A detachment of national guards

marched with the national colors flying, and in the yard assembled all

the leading liberals in their carriages, the secret committee, now no

longer concealed, and several foreign ministers, including the French,

M. Brenier, to do honor to the hero.

"Many ladies were in the waiting-saloon, which was crowded with national

guards and gentlemen in plain clothes and all sorts of uniforms.

"After waiting an hour (writes a spectator), shouts were heard, and the

scream of an arriving train. 'He is come!' The train steams in. In the

first carriage, standing on the roof, is a giant of a man, with a cap, a

red shirt, and the handkerchief fastened on his shoulders. The cries and

cheers increase. Suddenly all is hushed again, and we are down to zero.

It is only a train of disarmed Bavarians en route from Salerno. At last

he does come. The enthusiasm is overpowering. Surrounded by a band of

soldiers, sons of Anak as to size, and dressed in the wild and

travel-stained costumes of an irregular army on a campaign, comes

Garibaldi. The first thing that strikes you is his face, and the deep

determination of his extraordinary forehead. A face that might serve as

a model for the sculptor, is softened almost to sweetness by the

mildness of the eyes and the low tone of the most musical voice I have

ever heard. Long, grizzly curls hang from his broad hat. He wears a red

shirt with a silk handkerchief on his shoulders, like the 'panuelo' of

the South American, and grey trousers. He escapes as well and as soon as

he can from a reception, which he accepts rather than covets, and

proceeds to take possession of his new abode.

"Garibaldi entered the private carriage of the French minister, his

staff following in other carriages, and some few on horseback; the

cortége consisted of about twenty vehicles. Individually I have never

seen such men as his body-guard, and the picturesque dress sets off

their height and the squareness of their build. Compared with these

soldiers, Garibaldi is short, but very powerfully made. Along the

crowded Marinelli, the headquarters of lazzaroni, now constitutional

popolani, one of whom rode before Garibaldi's carriage, through the

Largo del Castello, the Strada di Toledo, and finally to the Palazzo

della Regina di Savoia, opposite the Palazzo Reale, which the dictator

refused to inhabit, the cortége makes its way, and Garibaldi enters into

what was once a palace of the Bourbons. The shouts of the crowd now

gathered together in the square penetrate the inmost recesses, and

presently the window opens and Garibaldi appears, followed by a large

staff of officials. The others stop, and he advances alone to the centre

of the balcony that extends along the palace, and the cheering is

deafening. It is no use for the hero to speak till the people have a

little exhausted their powers; so he stands there alone, leaning on his

hand, with his fine features in repose, and an almost melancholy

expression on his face, as if he felt that his career was a duty which

had its thorns as well as its roses; and that, though the end sanctifies

the means, yet carnage and slaughter, tottering thrones and crumbling

dynasties, leave their impression on the brow that caused them. I have

never seen so grand a study as Garibaldi, as he stood silently

speculating, perhaps, over the true value of the people whom he had just

freed. He spoke at some length, but it was impossible to distinguish

what he said, though it was easy to perceive that he speaks with great

energy. Having satisfied, for the moment at least, the desires of the

bassa-gente (the populace), it was time to re-enter the palace and

receive the welcome of the upper classes. The stair and entrée to the

dictator's levée were an extraordinary spectacle. The door leading to

the suite of apartments in which the general held his reception was kept

by the national guard, who were perpetually assailed by persons desiring

to see the dictator 'face to face.' Men of all nations and in all

costumes seemed suddenly to have started up in the heart of Naples.

"The reception was brief—even Garibaldi requires repose—and after having

appeared on both sides of the palace, and received the compliments of

all classes, including a Venetian deputy, who said, 'We are ready, and

only await Garibaldi,' to which the dictator replied, with a quiet

smile, 'Aspetta, aspetta!' (Wait, wait), he retired from the palazzo to

his quarters in the Palazzo Angri, Strada Toledo, where another ovation

awaited him. On his way he went to the cathedral, and was received with

due honors. The generality of priests have retired to their cells, but

many are still about, and I met one in the presence chambers in full

canonicals, crossed by a tri-colored scarf, and bearing an enormous

Sardinian flag—'_Tempora mutantur et nos._'"

On Saturday, the 8th, there was a sudden commotion in the Castelnovo, on

the shore, a description of which will convey a just idea of the state

of Naples and the garrison. A spectator wrote:

"One of those uproarious bursts of applause which come upon us like

hurricanes, called me to the window. The soldiers in the garrison at the

Castelnovo had just burst out, and were running, jumping, galloping past

my house like so many slaves who had burst out of the house of bondage.

Some were armed with muskets; most had their sacks full of loaves of

bread, which dropped from their wallets as they ran along, shouting,

like so many madmen, 'Viva Garibaldi!' At every step they met with

crowds of men and women, armed with naked swords, daggers, and pikes,

which they flourished in the air, uttering at the same time the usual

magic cries. Dirty-looking fellows, in the Neapolitan uniform, were

hugged and kissed by persons as dirty as themselves, and then uniting,

all surged onward to the Toledo. It was impossible to remain in the

house, and escaping from my chains, which fell from me as soon as the

post left, I hurried into the street. I turn round to Criatamone, and

just above me, peering over the walls, I see a number of soldiers in

garrison in the Pizzofalcone, and watching if the road was clear. The

people about me were waving their hands to them, and inviting them to

come down. There are iron doors at the bottom, and sentinels stand by

them. Down come the troops in a torrent—sentinels are motionless, the

doors bend, at last yield, and at length out they come like so many

madmen out of Bedlam, and run after their companions from the

Castelnovo. Sentinels still stand, 'pro formâ,' at the doors of both the

forts, but they are abandoned, and empty walls and harmless cannon alone

remain to be guarded. Meanwhile, Garibaldi is going to Pie di Grotta,

like another Emperor Carlo III., on the first day of his entry into

Naples. Carriages dash by me full of red jackets, or of men and women

brandishing swords and pikes, whilst the rain is pouring down in

torrents, and the thunder is pealing, as if it were a salute of heaven

for the liberator of the Two Sicilies. The weather prevented any grand

display, though the disposition was not wanting on the part of the

people, as the flags which hung down lank from the windows abundantly

showed. The weather brightened up toward the evening, and the town was

more brilliantly illuminated than last night. There can be no mistake

about the matter, the enthusiasm is very great. People are beside

themselves, and scenes are witnessed which, perhaps, have never been

witnessed in any other country under the sun. Two lines of carriages go

up and down the Toledo filled with persons decorated with tri-colored

ribbons and scarfs, and carrying the flag of Piedmont, or rather of

Italy. There are people of every class: there are priests and monks, as

gaily decorated as any, and some are armed; there are women in the

Garibaldian dress, and many carry daggers or pikes; there are red

jackets of Garibaldi and red jackets of England; there are people from

the provinces, who have scarcely dared to speak or breathe for twelve

long years, who are now frantic with joy. What wonder if they have lost

their senses?

"But many adjourn to San Carlo,[3] for Garibaldi is to be there, and,

indeed, one of our autumnal hurricanes of rain is coming down. I was

there when he arrived, and we knew of his approach from the shouts of

the populace outside. Every one is standing and craning over his seat to

catch a view of the great man, and at last he enters the stage box,

while many of his followers take possession of the neighboring boxes,

and a storm of applause greets him, and calls him to the front. There

are few spectacles so brilliant as San Carlo when lighted up in gala

fashion; and this evening particularly, with the banners waving from the

boxes, and from above the stage, it showed better than I have ever

before seen it; but altogether the demonstration was a failure. The

theatre was not two-thirds full, and when those two magnificent pieces

of music were performed, the 'Hymn of Garibaldi' and 'The Chorus of the

Lombardi,' not a voice joined in. I wanted, together with my friends, to

raise a chorus on our own account, for it was irritating enough to

witness a number of people sitting and fanning themselves, as though

they came to be amused, instead of pouring out their very souls in honor

of the great man who had liberated them. I shall not say anything more

of San Carlo. On my road home, a poor fellow was found not far from my

door with a dagger in his body. I regret to say that several, if not

many, cases of assassination have occurred during the last three days.

Political fanatics have stopped every one, and threatened them with the

knife if they were not prompt in crying out 'Viva Garibaldi;' and

private vengeance has demanded its victims too, perhaps. But, take it

altogether, the people have not been sanguinary, and, considering the

immense provocation which they have received, order has been wonderfully

preserved, and little blood shed."

-----

Footnote 3:

This theatre is one of the most splendid in Europe, and has five

galleries, all entirely covered with gilding.

-----

Garibaldi, from the first, gratified the Neapolitans, by appointing

natives to office. All public officers were, for the moment, retained in

their old stations. The holding of several offices by one and the same

person was forbidden, and pluralists were to select, within five days,

which office they would retain.

All military men willing to serve were ordered to present themselves at

the nearest station, give in their adhesion to the actual government,

and take their certificate of it.

Those officers who presented themselves with their troops were retained

in their positions in full activity; those who presented themselves

alone were placed in the second class, to be employed when the army is

reformed; those who did not send in their adhesion in ten days were

excluded.

The "Official Journal" of Naples of Sept. 9th, published a series of

decrees, of which the following are the most important: All the acts of

public authority and of administration are to be issued in the name of

His Majesty Victor Emanuel, King of Italy, and all the seals of state,

of public administration, and of the public offices, are to bear the

arms of the Royal House of Savoy, with the legend, "Victor Emanuel, King

of Italy." The public debt of the Neapolitan state was recognized; the

public banks were to continue their payments, as also the Discount Bank,

according to existing laws and regulations. Passports for the United

Italian States were abolished; those for foreign states and Italian

states not united were to be signed by the Director of Police. The

following address to the army was published:

"If you do not disdain Garibaldi for your companion in arms, he only

desires to fight by your side the enemies of the country. Truce, then,

to discord—the chronic misfortune of our land. Italy, trampling on the

fragments of her chains, points to the north—the path of honor, toward

the last lurking-place of tyrants. I promise you nothing more than to

make you fight.

"G. GARIBALDI.

"NAPLES, _Sept. 10_."

A series of dispatches was published from Nola, Benevento, Aquila, and a

host of other places, expressive of the public joy at the arrival of the

Dictator in the capital. In Arriano and Avellino there had been a

reactionary movement among the liberals. Some disturbances also took

place in Canosa, and in the island of Ischia.

In Naples, the castles had all capitulated, and were in the hands of the

National Guard. The population gradually settled down into its usual

sober state, which had recently been disturbed by the madness of

exultation, and before that by apprehension.

Naples continued tranquil on the 11th of July, to the surprise of

everybody; and the means by which the public peace was preserved at that

time and afterward, may well be a subject of curious inquiry. The public

anticipations of mobs, violence, robbery and bloodshed were as much and

as agreeably disappointed, as when the "_levée en masse_" in Turkey was

disbanded after the Russian war, and the soldiers went home joyfully and

peaceably. The truth is, that men who desire power, wealth, and

undeserved honors, have too long accused their less ambitious or vicious

fellow-beings of needing their government. Naples with her 70,000

lazzaroni, who are destitute even of shelter at night, remained quiet

during and subsequently to one of the most peaceful revolutions on

record.

The following accounts were reported on the 11th of September:

The tranquillity of the town had not been disturbed, and the same

enthusiasm still prevailed. The Elmo and the other forts have

surrendered. The English admiral paid a visit to Garibaldi, who

afterward went on board the Hannibal, the English ambassador being

present. On that occasion the Sardinian fleet fired a salute of

seventeen guns in honor of the dictator. The Sardinian troops

disembarked by order of the Dictator. It was said that the king, in

leaving Naples, ordered the bombardment of the town and the burning of

the royal castle, and that the original of the order has been found. The

king had formed a new royalist ministry, the members of which are

Caselli, Canofini, Girolamo, and Ulloa. The Austrian, Russian, Prussian,

and Spanish ministers, and Papal nuncio, had followed the king to Gaeta.

The whole army of Garibaldi was to arrive at Naples in four days, and,

with the revolutionary bands, the total force was 20,000 or 30,000 men.

The revolution was everywhere triumphant. The Bixio and Medici brigades

had just arrived in port. The entrance of Garibaldi into Naples was

celebrated at Milan in the most enthusiastic manner. The whole city was

illuminated and decorated with flags. The very name of the dictator

inspired electric enthusiasm. A number of illuminated drums, fixed on

long poles, were carried through the streets. The drums bore significant

inscriptions, as follow: "To Rome!" "To Venice!" "Rome, the capital!"

Most cities of Italy celebrated the annexation of Naples.

The Neapolitan navy, which had deserted, all together, to Garibaldi, he

delivered to the Sardinian admiral. The Neapolitan navy is of very

respectable size, taking a place in respect to materiel at least above

the second rank in Europe. It does not fall much below that of the

United States. The whole number of vessels amounts to ninety, carrying

786 guns, with a complement of upward of 7,000 sailors and officers of

all sorts. Of the vessels, 27 are propelled by steam. Of these, one is

of large size, carrying 60 guns; 11 are frigates, armed with 10 guns

each; 8 corvettes, with 8 guns each, besides seven smaller vessels, each

with four guns. Of the sixty or more sailing vessels, the largest is

armed with 80 guns. There are five frigates, carrying an aggregate of

252 guns, or about 50 each. Among the rest are bomb and mortar boats in

considerable number, and others armed with Paixhan guns. These latter

have been found useful by the king, when he has felt inclined to indulge

his propensity of knocking down the palaces and cities of his

disobedient subjects.

GARIBALDI'S PROCLAMATION TO THE CITIZENS OF NAPLES.

"To the beloved population of Naples, offspring of the people! It is

with true respect and love that I present myself to this noble and

imposing centre of the Italian population, which many centuries of

despotism have not been able to humiliate or to induce to bow their

knees at the sight of tyranny.

"The first necessity of Italy was harmony, in order to unite the great

Italian family; to-day Providence has created harmony through the

sublime unanimity of all our provinces for the reconstitution of the

nation, and for unity, the same Providence has given to our country

Victor Emanuel, whom we from this moment may call the true father of our

Italian land.

"Victor Emanuel, the model of all sovereigns, will impress upon his

descendants the duty that they owe to the prosperity of a people which

has elected him for their chief with enthusiastic devotion. The Italian

priests, who are conscious of their true mission, have, as a guaranty of

the respect with which they will be treated, the ardor, the patriotism,

and the truly Christian conduct of their numerous fellow ecclesiastics,

who, from the highly to be praised monks of Lagracia to the

noble-hearted priests of the Neapolitan continent, one and all, in the

sight and at the head of our soldiers, defied the gravest dangers of

battle. I repeat it, concord is the first want of Italy, so we will

welcome as brothers those who once disagreed with us, but now sincerely

wish to bring their stone to raise up the monument of our country.

Finally, respecting other people's houses: we are resolved to be masters

in our own house, whether the powerful of the earth like it or not.

"GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI."

The following were some of the occurrences in Naples immediately after

the entrance of Garibaldi.

The four battalions of chasseurs whom the king had left behind in his

flight, quartered here and there about the town, disbanded. Many of the

soldiers went home; those who wished to remain at Naples, secure from

harm, did obeisance to the new powers, by wearing a small badge with the

Savoy cross on their breasts. The fortress of St. Elmo followed the

example of the fleet. It fired a thundering salvo in honor of Garibaldi,

hoisted the Sardinian colors, and admitted the national guards within

its walls. The other forts were garrisoned by this same burgher militia.

Naples, in short, was now wholly in the hands of the patriots, and

Garibaldi had already pushed forward one or two brigades, which gained

possession of the royal palace of Caserta. The king had shut the gates

of Capua. There and at Gaeta he was to abide till his enemies should

come on. Meanwhile Garibaldi, master of the seas, sent his steamers to

Paola, to Sapri, to all the small ports near which his overtasked

legions lingered behind. Every morning were shouts of a joyous landing

and a triumphant march of those several brigades. The whole force was

soon brought together, and the respite allowed to the king at Gaeta was

of no long duration.

The joy of the good Neapolitans at their cheaply-gotten emancipation,

became daily more noisy and frantic. Every evening the Toledo was all

alive with banners and torches, with thronged masses of possessed

people, all shouting out with all the might of their southern throats,

that favorite cry, "_Una! Una! Una!_" —conveying their desire that all

Italy should be made _one_ country. There was a grand gala night at San

Carlo, when the proscenium, the pit, and the boxes became one vast

stage. The whole performance consisted of _Io Pæans_ to Garibaldi, who,

calm and serene in his homely garb, had a pleasant word for all the

friends who surrounded him in his box, and was, in fact, less insensible

to that popular demonstration than he might have wished to avow.

One of the greatest objects of interest was the easily-won castle St.

Elmo. The whole population of Naples, male and female, seemed bent on

performing a pilgrimage to that shrine of their patriot martyrs.

One of Garibaldi's soldiers thus described it:

"Yesterday I went up myself with a party of friends. We first walked

through St. Martin's marble church and monastery, where our Garibaldian

red shirts, I dare say, boded little good to the white-cowled monks, who

gazed at us as we passed, tall, stately, and motionless, so that we at

first mistook them for statues;—good Carthusian monks, doing penance in

a marble paradise, bound by vow to perpetual silence, and affecting an

easy, unconcerned air, though in their heart of hearts, probably,

trembling not a little for the visible and invisible treasures of which

their sanctuary has been, time out of mind, the repository.

"From the marble cells of the monks to the iron dungeons of the victims

of Castle St. Elmo the transition is but short, but the contrast is

appalling. The stone steps wind down six floors, and at every floor room

was made for about half a score of victims. Some of the miserable cells

had windows; but, as the view from the hill over the loveliest panorama

of land and sea would have been too great a solace to the lonely

captive, the window was latticed over by thick wooden bars, not intended

to prevent escape—for from that height only a bird could attempt it—but

simply to rob the poor recluse of the distant view of his familiar

scenes. In the lowest floor there is no window to the dungeons—only a

little wicket in the door, opening outwardly, for the gaoler to

communicate with the prisoner if he has a mind. That wicket would be

opened one moment in the morning to let in a little bread and water;

then the wicket would fall to, and for twenty-four hours all would be

darkness inside.

"I do not like to witness horrors, much less to dwell upon them, else I

could tell you of the loopholes we were shown, through which the

sentries could shoot the prisoners in their cells and their beds. I

could repeat the instances of wholesale executions of Swiss and Sicilian

mutineers of which St. Elmo has been the theatre, and of which the world

never knew anything. The caitiffs who were but yesterday in the king's

pay are eager to promulgate abroad the infamy of his doings, and I have

no doubt St. Elmo will soon become the subject of books or pamphlets,

yielding but little in interest to the stories of La Bastille, of which

it will soon share the fate.

"The good people of Naples are bent upon demolishing St. Elmo, and are

only awaiting the dictator's bidding to lay hand to the work. A tough

job they will find it, I am sure. As I was walking yesterday along the

upper battlements the impatient citizens were already busy pulling back

the huge brass guns, each of which was most offensively pointed at some

of the most densely crowded quarters of the town, and turning their

muzzles inward. What a fortress that was, and what a protection to the

city! It was no bad emblem of the whole sea and land might of the

Bourbon—worse than useless against foreign aggression, wholly and

exclusively directed to crush internal commotion."

The condition of Naples on the 12th of September was thus described in a

private letter of that date:

"There is much to be done here, and Garibaldi is doing it well. It is

impossible to take up a journal, or move about in the midst of the vast

crowds which throng the capital, without feeling that a master-spirit is

here. Long before the city has shaken off its slumber, the dictator is

up and driving about. Yesterday he went to visit Nisida, and surprised

the British library, on his return, with a visit at half-past six

o'clock A.M, wishing to purchase some books. During the day he was hard

at work receiving visitors and legislating, and the following are some

of the fruits of his labors:

"All political prisoners are to be liberated immediately. All

custom-house barriers between Sicily and the Neapolitan continent are

abolished. Twelve infant asylums, one for each quarter, are to be

established in the capital at the public expense, and are to be

municipal institutions. Secret ministerial funds are abolished. The

trial by jury in criminal cases is to be established. The order of

Jesuits, with all their dependencies, is abolished in the territory. Two

Sicilies, and their property declared national. All contracts on

property for the benefit of the order are annulled. Considering that

religious fanaticism and aristocratic pride induced the late government

to make distinctions even between the dead, the burial of the dead is

henceforward absolutely forbidden within the walls of a city. The

traffic in grain and flour with Ancona is prohibited.

"All these decrees have a history attached to them, which, if narrated,

would tell of sufferings and persecutions almost incredible. They are

admirable, and in themselves amount to a beneficial revolution; but the

better and the more sweeping the changes that are introduced, the

greater the necessity for some established government.

"His majesty, Francis II. has already formed his ministry, and placed at

the head of it Gen. Cotruffiano; and among his colleagues are Caselli,

Ulloa—not the general—and Canofari, all of the legal profession.

"MM. Maniscalchi, father and son, notorious for having been the most

active agents of the late king's tyranny at Palermo, were arrested on

the 7th, at Caserta, and taken under escort to Naples."

Another letter, written on the same day, gave the following additional

particulars:

"Troops are continually coming in and marching to the frontier. The

Piedmontese admiral, with another steam frigate and the ex-Neapolitan

ships, is in the harbor.

"I hear the sound of cracked trumpets, and, looking out, see the first

ranks of a Garibaldi division coming down the Santa Lucia. I am struck

by the youthful appearance of some, certainly not more than twelve, or

at the furthest fourteen years old—fair, pretty-looking boys, who might

have had a satchel instead of a knapsack on their backs. There were,

however, some glorious-looking fellows, and all, whether men or boys,

seemed to be animated by a spirit little known to the Neapolitan troops.

The latter were a sect to defend a vile political creed, and inflict

chastisement on those who opposed it; but the former are banded together

to assert the sacred rights of liberty. I saw it in their march; there

was an elasticity about it which denoted what was passing within. I

cannot say much for their uniforms; they were very dirty, out of order,

and irregular, and I have no doubt but that so eminent a general officer

as Ferdinand II. would have been much scandalized; but they were

evidently working men, had an object in view, and were not going to

fight for money. I have seen hundreds of them about the town to-day;

they are billeted about in the hotels and lodging-houses, while the

Piedmontese troops are in Castel-Ovo.

"The city is in immense confusion—crowded, picturesque, almost mad.

Foreigners seem to outnumber the Neapolitans, and the red jacket every

other colored cloth. Such a Babel is every public place that I imagine

myself to be living some thousand years back—Englishmen just arrived,

hob-nobbing with Italians, whose only common lingo is that of the

fingers. Many of our countrymen came on Tuesday, and I watched some of

them carrying on a most animated, though purely gesticulatory,

conversation with Frenchmen yesterday morning."

After the peaceful and triumphal entry of Garibaldi into Naples, new

rumors were put into circulation of a pretended disagreement between him

and the King of Sardinia. These were most satisfactorily refuted by the

measures which the victorious general adopted immediately afterward. On

the 14th of July, he proclaimed the government of Victor Emanuel, placed

all the ships of war and commerce, the arsenals and materials of marine,

by decree, at the disposal of Sardinia, and put them into the hands of

Admiral Persaro; the portfolio of the interior was confirmed to Liborio

Romano, the only member of the late ministry who enjoyed the confidence

of the people. The choice of Scialoia, who had already left Genoa to

assume the ministry of finance, was very generally applauded. Two

battalions of genuine Piedmontese Bersaglieri were landed from the

Sardinian men-of-war, and took possession of the Darsena. Telegraphic

orders were sent for two more Piedmontese regiments to garrison the

Neapolitan forts. By taking the Neapolitan marine under its command, and

occupying the strongholds, dockyards and arsenals about this place, the

Sardinian government committed itself more openly to the annexation of

these kingdoms than it ever dared to do in the case of Tuscany or

Romagna last year. And all these measures were taken not only with the

consent but by the express desire of Garibaldi, who certainly exhibited

no apprehension that the king's government would interfere with his vast

undertakings.

The extreme joy with which the news of Garibaldi's entrance into Naples

was received by all classes and parties, from Messina to the Alps, can

be best understood by those who know the detestation with which the

oppression and vindictive cruelty of the late government were

universally regarded. This feeling was greatly increased by the

disappointment of the nation in all those hopes to which the death of

Ferdinand had given birth, and the conviction that his successor was

determined to tread in his father's steps rather than enter sincerely on

any new course. When Francis II. ascended the throne, it was felt that a

young monarch, above all, one educated as he had been, had every claim

to public consideration, and very sincere hopes were for the time

entertained, that he would cease to follow the beaten track of Bourbon

perjury and despotism, and frankly identify himself with the wants and

aspirations of his country. Possessing, through his mother, a

considerable hold on the affections of his subjects, and succeeding a

sovereign who was detested by his people, he had an excellent position,

and by a judicious system of even moderate reforms, might have

conciliated all parties and opposed a successful barrier to the tide of

revolution that was soon to sweep over the landmarks of Italy.

The amnesty was followed by a "circular" which struck at its very root

and replaced thousands under the surveillance of the police. Then came

the infamous and illegal deportation to Capri of men who had never been

put upon their trial, and upon whose liberation England had insisted,

through her minister, in the strongest terms. A system was pursued that

has been characterized as a perpetual violation of all law, and a

practical denial of Christianity.

The general satisfaction felt by the people of Naples after Garibaldi's

arrival amounted to enthusiasm. An Englishman, writing from that city on

the 14th of July, thus described the aspect of the people:

"I do not know Naples now, so changed is its aspect. Faces that I have

not seen for twelve years appear in every street and square. They have

come from foreign exile; from confinement in some frontier town or

village; from some voluntary lurking place, the retirement to which was

their only security from persecution; from the prison and the bagnio;

all have met together again, by hundreds and thousands, in the capital

of what was once the two Sicilies. Revolution is said to turn the dregs

uppermost; yet the appearance and manner of those who now appear on the

scene contradict the common proverb. In their very attitude, there is an

air of self-respect and independence to which I have long been a

stranger. I do not see the assumption or the swagger of the overbearing,

or the timidity of the man who leaves his friend, and walks on before,

because a spy is coming, or whispers and looks over his shoulder for

fear that such a person is listening. No; all this has passed away, and

I meet erect, independent men. My life here has brought me, too, into

frequent intercourse with them; and, accustomed as I have been to the

trivialities and the nullities rendered at first necessary, and

afterward habitual, by despotism, I have been astonished at the new tone

of thought and conversation. The Neapolitans now reason and talk like

men, and there is a degree of self-restraint about them which is in the

highest degree creditable after the sufferings to which they have been

so long exposed. It is clear that the intellect of the country has for

years been out of it, or in seclusion, or in imprisonment. Nor is this

to be wondered at, when ignorance was rewarded and learning discouraged

by those twins of darkness, the sovereign and the clergy, and the only

hopes of the Bourbons and the Vatican depend upon brutalizing the

national mind. Ferdinand II. it was who interrupted a father describing

the acquirements of his son by saying, 'Better he had a stone round his

neck, and be thrown into the sea;' and it was a priest who held a high

public office, who checked a person indulging in a similar style of

speaking by saying that it would be well for the rising generation to be

'little asses and little saints.' These times are, however, passing

away; heaven grant that the light of freedom and intelligence may not

dazzle the as yet unaccustomed vision of the natives.

"We have likenesses of Victor Emanuel and of Garibaldi in every shop

window, and multitudes crowd around them to admire; in short, there is

at present a _furia_ for the _Re Galantuomo_ and the Hero of Sicily."

The prisons of the police were thus described by the same writer:

"I yesterday saw some of them. Several members of the commission

appointed to close them—themselves once prisoners here—accompanied me. A

grated door led down to an ante-chamber, which was lighted only through

these bars. Stone walls, stone floor—stone everywhere, except the

ground, which was covered over with burnt fragments of books, that had

been taken in domiciliary visits and destroyed here. 'Here one

breathes,' said a pardoned prisoner; 'but bring a light,' he said to a

jailer, and we descended from this twilight room into another which

received the reflection of the twilight through a hole in the door. It

was small and of stone—nothing but stone—and on the right I observed a

stone bed three feet high from the ground, with an elevation of stone

called a pillow. A door is opened and leads into another room, where no

twilight, no reflected twilight, nor a ray of light nor a breath of air

can penetrate. 'I was imprisoned here,' said one of my conductors. I

looked at him as if expecting to find that he was turned into a brute

beast, for it was a den for a wild animal, not a chamber for a Christian

man, in a country teeming with Christ's ministers, and where the holy

Apostolic Catholic religion is the only one permitted to be professed.

In some parts a man could not stand upright, so that there he lay in

Stygian darkness, without any change of air, 'and on bare ground,' said

my friend, 'unless he could afford to pay an extortionate price for a

mattress, to a licensed spy and denouncer, who drove a good trade in

human misery.' 'Let us leave this den,' I said, and so we groped back

into the chamber where the reflection of twilight penetrated. 'Take

care,' cried the jailer, as I stumbled over a mountain of old books and

papers. On the opposite side was another _criminale_ about eleven by

five palms, where five or six persons were at times confined. The smell

of the prison was insufferable. Now mark, who were the men confined in

these places not fit for beasts? Not condemned criminals; no! but men

arrested on suspicion and waiting for an order for their committal—men

of rank and education accustomed to the comforts of a home."

The following passages from a letter written at Florence, are very

appropriate in this place:

"The ministry appointed by the Dictator is a liberal but moderate one.

Garibaldi is in earnest in his devotion to the King of Sardinia, and in

his determination to unite Italy under his rule. It is to be hoped that

he will, as soon as may be, commence the work of raising the Neapolitan

people out of some of the absurd superstitions which have always kept

them in ignorance, and made them the serfs of juggling priests. He has

not yet countenanced, by his presence at the operation, the ridiculous

juggle of the liquefaction of the blood of Saint Januarius, which is

held in such high esteem by the Neapolitans, that all the conquerors of

the city have heretofore been obliged to respect it. Saint Januarius,

according to tradition, was exposed to be devoured by lions in the

amphitheatre of Pozzuoli, when the animals, instead of devouring him,

prostrated themselves before him, and immediately became tame. So many

persons were converted to Christianity by this miracle, that the saint

was ordered to be decapitated, which was done at Solfatara, in the year

305, and the body was buried at Pozzuoli, until the time of Constantine,

when it was removed by St. Severus, the Bishop of Naples, and deposited

in the church of St. Gennaro. When this removal was made, the woman who

is said to have collected the blood at the time of the execution, took

it in two small bottles to St. Severus, in whose hands it is said to

have immediately melted. After undergoing several removals, the body of

the saint was brought back to Naples in 1497, and deposited with great

pomp in the cathedral, and the phials containing the blood secured in a

tabernacle kept securely locked with two keys, one of which is kept by

the archbishop and the other by the municipal authorities. Twice a year,

and at other times, on extraordinary occasions, the phials are brought

out, and the clots of dried blood, by some chemical process which has

been secretly preserved among the priesthood and handed down for four

centuries, made to liquefy and run in the phials. Can a people

appreciate and derive much benefit from free institutions so long as

they permit their senses to be cheated by such a palpable swindle as

this?

"But if detestation for young Bomba and his government have been

heightened by his flight, how much more grandly than ever Garibaldi

looms up in the light of a brave, noble, disinterested, patriotic man.

Three months from the day when he left Genoa with a handful of

adventurers, denounced as a filibuster and a pirate by the lovers of

legitimacy and tyranny, he enters Naples with but five of his staff,

knowing that his deeds had made him a home in the hearts of the people

there, who welcome him as their angel of deliverance. Naples lights up

with joy—the free flag of Italy waves from her windows, her long

oppressed citizens shout exultingly, and crown the hero with wreaths of

laurel, and fill his ears with glad cries of 'Long live Garibaldi.' Well

does he deserve them. Five marvellous stages mark the progress of the

hero, Marsala, Palermo, Malazzo, Reggio, and Naples, all passed over in

the short space of three months—and this has been all the time which

Garibaldi required, supported as he was by the national sentiment, to

overthrow a monarchy deemed immovable, which, not four years since,

defied France and England, and which in the face of the naval

preparations of the two greatest powers of the world, had determined to

persevere in its resistance. Such triumphs, such ovations, would have

turned the brain of a weaker or more ambitious man, and Garibaldi has

given the lie to those adherents of tyranny who have charged him with

personal ambition, by immediately, upon taking possession of the capital

of the Two Sicilies, proclaiming the territory and himself under the

reign and rule of Victor Emanuel. In future ages, when the deeds of the

Cæsars and the Alexanders and the Napoleons shall be appreciated as they

deserve, according to their merits, how high above them all will rise

the memory of the two greatest of the world's heroes, of the two men

whose personal ambition was merged and forgotten in the welfare of their

country, of two men worthy to stand ever side by side and hand in

hand—Washington and Garibaldi."