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Entw
ARTES
LIBRARY
181.7.
VERITAS
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN |
EXEFLUMITUS UNUM
TUEBOR
SCIENTIA
OF THE
SIQUERIS PENINSULAM-AMŒNAM.
CIRCUMSPICE
AZA ZA LOKALAIKINISISI,3,3)3.6 5/8/37/38/3F31473).

UNIV
OF
CH
Engraved by Smart
O
LONDON JA S VIRTUE
from a Maky
G. Garibaldi

(THE
LIBERATORS ITALY
GARIBALD
ALDY
VICTOR EMANUEL. CAYOUR NAPOLEON HIS
by
E. H. NOLAN PH.D. LL.D.
LL.D.
扫​围​:阴​而
​pppanor
Engraved by E. Brandard from a sketch taken on the spet by C. Armytage.
80
CAPRERA THE RESIDENCE OF GEN GARIBALDI
LONDON: JS. VIRTUE.
38712
THE

LIBERATORS OF ITALY:
OR,
GENERAL GARIBALDI
VICTOR EMMANUEL, KING OF ITALY;
COUNT CAVOUR;
AUTHOR OF
THE LIVES OF
"C
AND
NAPOLEON III., EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.
E. H. NOLAN, PH.D., LL.D.,
THE HISTORY OF THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA," ETC. ETC.
BY
LONDON:
JAMES S. VIRTUE, CITY ROAD AND IVY LANE.
ΤΟ
HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND,
ETC. ETC. ETC.
In dedicating this work to your Grace, I have to express my
gratitude for your kind permission to connect your name with it in this
manner.
To no other individual could it be so appropriately inscribed. As
the friend of Garibaldi, of Italy, its freedom and its Liberators, your
devotion is known to all.
Such sympathies are what might be expected from the manly and
generous principles and impulses by which you are characterised, and
which are so thoroughly appreciated by your fellow-countrymen, and by
the advocates of liberty and progress everywhere.
Trusting that you may be spared to see accomplished all that you
and your illustrious friends, Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, desire for
the independence and enlightenment of Italy,
KENSINGTON, January, 1865.
I subscribe myself,
Your Grace's obliged and
Obedient Servant,
EDWARD H. NOLAN.
·
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
CAPRERA, THE RESIDENCE OF GENERAL GARIBALDI
PORTRAIT OF GENERAL GARIBALDI
MAP OF ITALY
VIEW OF VENICE
VIEW OF LEGHORN
PORTRAIT OF MAZZINI
PORTRAIT OF MENOTTI GARIBALDI
PORTRAIT OF POPE Pius IX.
•
VIEW OF PERUGIA
ST. PETER'S, ROME
VIEW OF NAPLES FROM THE MOLE
•
•
•
PORTRAIT OF COLONEL PEARD, GARIBALDI'S ENGLISHMAN
PORTRAIT OF THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE
PORTRAIT OF VICTOR EMMANUEL II.
VIEW OF GENOA
VIEW OF ALESSANDRIA
VIEW OF MILAN
VIEW OF DESENZANO, ON THE LAGO DI GARDA
VIEW OF VERONA
•
•
•
PORTRAIT OF PRINCE NAPOLEON
VIEW OF TURIN FROM THE VIGNE DE LA REINE
VIEW OF BOLOGNA
VIEW OF FLORENCE
•
·
•
PORTRAIT OF COUNT CAVOUR
PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON III.
PORTRAIT OF THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT PALMERSTON
•
•
•
•
•
Vignette
Frontispiece
·
•
•
•
•
•
•
3
8
11
17
53
69
77
99
167
178
238
252
266
327
340
346
348
354
372
375
383
406
423
585
INTRODUCTION
ITALY.
Historical Sketch.
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
LIFE OF GARIBALDI.
CONTENTS.
•
Birthplace Parentage-Boyhood-Education-Goes to
Sea-Love of a Seafaring Life-Intrepidity and
Tenderness of Character-First sees Rome-Aspira-
tions of Patriotism-First encounters a Tempest-
Sick and a Stranger in a distant Land
C
PAGE
1
CHAPTER IV.
Garibaldi becomes a Politician-First Revolutionary
Enterprise Marvellous Escapes-Heroic Rescue of
a Student from Drowning-A Sailor once more
•
. 13
CHAPTER V.
Garibaldi as Admiral of the Republic of Rio Grande-
Victories and Vicissitudes
•
CHAPTER VII.
Fits out two small Ships-Is at one Time a Rover,
a Trooper, and a Guerilla-Idolised by his Men and
by the Inhabitants-In Love-Defends an Outhouse
alone for some time against one hundred and fifty
Austrians, and afterwards aided by a Portion of his
Men defeats them-Ordered on an Expedition-
Carries his Ships overland to the Atlantic-Ship-
wreck-Hardly escapes with Life
CHAPTER VIII.
A Soldier-Once more an Admiral-Again in Love-
Takes a Wife-Anita Garibaldi-Terrific Naval
Encounters-Anita a Heroine-Garibaldi again a
Soldier-His Skill and Daring-Encounters-Re-
treats-Hardships.
3
CHAPTER VI.
Garibaldi's first Battle and Victory-Desperately
Wounded-A Prisoner-Escape-Re-captured -
Tortured-Captivity - Liberation Once more &
Commodore
32
•
CHAPTER IX.
Anita a Captive-Escapes Her Sufferings and Success-
Rejoins her Husband-Battle of Taquarre-Storm-
ing of San José-Retreat of the Republicans-Birth
19
24
28
36
43
PAGE
of Menotti-Narrow Escape of Garibaldi from Cap-
ture by Moringue-General Retreat of the Repub-
lican Army, and Sufferings and Dangers of Anita
and Menotti-Garibaldi leaves the Service of the
Republic-Turns Drover-Reaches Monte Video-
Is a Pedlar and a Teacher of Mathematics-Again
a Sea Captain-Marvellous and heroic Escape from
Capture-Once more in Poverty with Anita at
Monte Video
. 51
CHAPTER X.
Garibaldi commands the Italian Legion-Becomes Com-
mander of a Flotilla-Successfully defends
Fortress against the Fleet of Rosas-At the Head
of his Legion surprises and defeats a Corps of
Oribes-Terrible hand-to-hand Contest—“Gari-
baldi's Englishman "-Estates offered to the Italian
Legion refused-An Ambush-Prepares to surprise
Rosas in his Capital, and bring him a Prisoner to
Monte Video-Breaks the Blockade-Monte Video
in Extremity-Help at Hand
•
CHAPTER XI.
Anglo-French Intervention-Expedition up the Uruguay
-Victory of the French and English Squadron-
Garibaldi surprises and captures a City-His ex-
traordinary Magnanimity-Innumerable Contests—
Battle of the Zapevi-Defence of Gualeguachu-
Terrible Conflict of the Salto, San Antonio
CHAPTER XII.
Garibaldi offers his Services to defend Pope Pius IX.
from the Austrians-Embarks from Monte Video
for Italy-Lands at Nice-Is received with Accla-
mations-Interview with King Charles Albert-
Garibaldi treated with Disdain by the King and his
Minister-Sets out for Milan-Lombardy commis-
sions him as a General-Raises his own Troops-
Is treated with Contumely by the Government,
which eventually betrays him to the Austrians-
His Volunteers Desert His Struggles, Vicissitudes,
Dangers, and Escapes
CHAPTER XIII.
Defends Rome-Beats the French from its Walls-Dif-
ference of Policy between Garibaldi and the Govern-
ment-An Armistice granted to the French against
Garibaldi's Advice.
CHAPTER XIV.
Defends Rome against new Enemies Expedition against
the Neapolitan Army .
56
61
69
77
84
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
The French violate the Armistice-Surprise the most
important Posts-Terrible Slaughter-Resistance
and Heroism of Garibaldi-Siege of Rome
CHAPTER XVI.
Anita joins her Husband at Rome-He abandons the City
to make War in the Provinces, and she accompanies
him-Dispersion of his Army-Sets sail for Venice
-Capture of all his Companions, except Anita, by
the Austrians---Death of Anita-Flight and Escape
of Garibaldi
•
CHAPTER XVII.
An Exile Reaches Marseilles-Denied a Refuge in
France, passes over to Tunis-Reaches the United
States of America-Enthusiastic Reception there-
His Avocations-Visits to England as a Mariner—
Settles in the Island of Caprera
•
CHAPTER XVIII.
The King of Sardinia at War with Austria-His Majesty
sends for Garibaldi- Remarkable Interview-Gari-
baldi, with the rank of Lieutenant-General, attached
to the Division Cialdini-Captures a Convoy—-Ob-
tains a separate Command-Passages of the Sessia
and Terecina-Invades Lombardy-Gains the Bat-
tles of Varese and Malnate-With three thousand
Men routs ten thousand Austrians Captures
Como-Compels Urban to flee from Camerlata
•
·
J
CHAPTER XIX.
Garibaldi advances to New Conquests-Captures Ber-
gamo and Brescia-Battle of Tre Ponti-Campaign
of the Valtellina-French Emperor proclaims Peace
-Garibaldi Resigns-The King gives him Command
of the Army of Central Italy-Is opposed by
French Diplomatists-Obtains Leave of Absence-
-His Farewell Proclamation to his Troops
✔
€ 105
•
•
CHAPTER XX.
The Expedition to Sicily-How to get Ammunition—
Pursued by a Neapolitan Naval Squadron--Lands
at Marsala--Joined by the People-Menotti Gari-
baldi in Battle-First Victory for Sicilian Liberty
The Battle of Calatafimi-Wouderful March
Storming of Palermo-More Garibaldians arrive in
Sicily-Garibaldi at Palermo-What he did and
what he ordered to be done-Enthusiasm of the
Nuns and the juvenile Population
CHAPTER XXI.
Liberation of Captives-Help for Garibaldı—Further
Conquests in Sicily-Deliverance of the whole
Island
PAGE
•
CHAPTER XXII.
Capitulation of Messina-Superstitious fears of Gari-
baldi among the Neapolitan Troops-Night after the
Battle of Melazzo-Arms and Ammunition-Letter
of Victor Emmanuel-Father Gavazzi's devotion to
the cause of the Liberators-Obstinacy of the King
of Naples prepares the Way for Garibaldi
•
90
100
112
121
130
144
151
CHAPTER XXIII.
First Invasion of Calabria-Mysterious Visitors at Mes-
sina-Sudden Disappearance of Garibaldi-Grand
Invasion of Calabria-Storming and Capitulation
of Reggio, and Retreat of the Relieving Army-
Revolutionary Preparations and Outbreaks
CHAPTER XXIV.
Advance from Reggio-A Priest and a Friar, Garibaldi's
Janitors-Conquests of Forts and Cities-Capture
of San Giovanni-Death of the gallant De Flotte
-Revolt of the Province of Basilicata-Ingenious
Capture of Salerno-English Officers
·
CHAPTER XXV.
Naples: Obstinacy of the King-Reaction, Intrigue, and
Revolutionary Movements - Popular Enthusiasm
for Garibaldi-The King leaves the City
4
•
Life in Caprera
+
CHAPTER XXVI.
Garibaldi's Entrance into Naples-Formation of a New
Government-Exultation of the Citizens - Diffi
culties in the Way of his Political Administration—
Organises an Army to drive the King from Neapo-
litan Territory
CHAPTER XXIX.
•
•
•
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Gallant Conduct of English Volunteers-King Victor
Emmanuel joins Garibaldi Reactionary Move-
ments and Cruelties-The King enters Naples with
Garibaldi―The Dictator treated Ungratefully-He
Refuses to remain in the Service of the King-Re-
tires to Caprera
CHAPTER XXVII.
The King at Gaeta-Battle of the Volturno-Brutal
Conduct of the Government of Francis II. . . 184
CHAPTER XXX.
Agitation in Italy-Garibaldi prepares for a new Expe-
dition-Arming of the People-Policy of the Italian
Cabinet Intrigues of France-Diplomatic Squab-
bles and Uncertainties - Animosity of the Reac-
tionist and French Parties at Turin to Garibaldi
PAGE
•
CHAPTER XXXI.
Garibaldi's Proclamation to the Italians-Counter Pro-
olamation of Victor Emmanuel-Garibaldi again in
the Field-Attacked by the Royal Army at Aspro-
monte-Wounded and made Prisoner-Treated as
a Culprit-Pardon and Liberation-Retires
Caprera-Long and serious Illness
to
4
156
CHAPTER XXXII.
Visit to England-Lands at Southampton-Enthusiasm
of the Public there-Guest of Mr. Seely, M.P.,
Brook House, Isle of Wight-Reception at Newport
-Invitations from the Provinces-Life at Prook
House.
162
. 197
167
178
191
203
210
218
CONTENTS.
vii
I
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Preparations in London to receive Garibaldi-Leaves the
Isle of Wight-Public Entry into London
226
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Garibaldi at Stafford House-Visits to Lord Palmerston,
to the Duchess Dowager of Sutherland, Mazzini, &c.
-The Opera-Grand Meetings at the Crystal Palace 237
PAGE
CHAPTER XXXV.
Sudden Resolution to leave England-Visits to Her
Majesty's Theatre--To the City-To the Houses of
Parliament To Fishmongers' Hall-The Reform
Club-The Tomb of Ugo Foscolo-Consul of the
United States-The Prince of Wales visits him-
Farewell before leaving London-Departure-Extra-
ordinary Scenes on his Route until his Embarkation
-Address to the People of England before leaving
their Shores
CHAPTER XXXVI.
VICTOR EMMANUEL II. OF SARDINIA, KING OF
ITALY.
His Youth-Heroism-Ascends the Throne-Swears to
the Constitution of Charles Albert-Suppresses
Revolts in Genoa-Progross of the Nation
•
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Administration of the Marquis d'Azeglio-Ecclesiastical
Reform-The King and his People Excommunicated
-Bishops Arraigned, Imprisoned, and Banished-
Death of Santa Rosa-Cavour enters the Ministry
·
244
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Victor Emmanuel at Home while his Troops were in the
Crimea-His Visits to France and England-The
Paris Conference and its Results to Sardinia.
252
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Victor Emmanuel sends out his little Army to join the
English-Its Progress to the Crimea
273
CHAPTER XLI.
Victor Emmanuel and his Kingdom, from the Peace with
Russia to the breaking out of the War against
Austria
260
291
CHAPTER XL.
The Sardinian Army in the Crimea, from the Battle of
the Tchernaya to the Peace-The Treaty of Paris-
Diplomatic Contest with Austria during the Sittings
-Extraordinary Memorial promulgated by the
Representatives of Victor Emmanuel
301
307
CHAPTER XLII.
Alliance of Piedmont with France-War against Austria
-Extraordinary Manifestoes-French Army enters
Italy-The Campaign opens-Success of the Allies. 316
CHAPTER XLIII.
Austrian Tactics-Arrival of the Fronch-Victor Em-
manuel and the Emperor at Alessandria-Retreat of
the Austrians-Battles of Montebello and Palestro 326
The Battle of Solferino.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Entrance of the Allies into Milan-Pronouncement of
the City for Victor Emmanuel-Grand Display and
Enthusiastic Welcome given by the Citizens to the
Troops-Touching Incident in connection with the
Hero of Magenta-Reception of the Wounded in
Milan-Further Movements of the Allies.
339
CHAPTER XLV.
·
•
CHAPTER XLVI.
Advance of the Allies after the Battle of Solferino-
Prince Napoleon's March from Tuscany-Sudden
change of Policy by the Emperor of the French—
Proposes an Armistice-Peace.
. 345
•
•
CHAPTER XLVIII.
The Opening of the Italian Parliament in 1860-Cession
of Savoy and Nice-The King's Journey through
the Provinces-Defective Administration in Central
Italy by the Turin Officials-Great Services of Sir
James Hudson-Secret Agreement made with the
French Emperor at Compiègne-Invasion of the
Papal Territory-Misgovernment of Naples by the
Court of Turin-Siege and Surrender of Gaeta-
Death of Count Cavour-The Ricasoli Ministry-
The Ratazzi Ministry formed .
PAGE
CHAPTER XLVII.
The Emperor and Prince Napoleon at Victor Emmanuel's
Head-quarters--Bad Feeling between Sardinians and
French-Cold Reception of Napoleon in Milan-
Magnificent Reception of Victor Emmanuel-Duchies
offer Allegiance to the King-Treaty of Zurich—
Covert Purposes of Austria-English Diplomacy in
favour of Italy-General Cost of the War
365
•
•
354
CHAPTER XLIX.
Policy of the Ratazzi Ministry -- Aspromonte
The
Minghetti-Peruzzi Ministry-Frequent Changes of
Ministerial Men and Measures-Southern Italy
discontented in 1864-A new Convention with
France Disturbances in Turin-Flight of the
Ministry-Formation of the La Marmora Ministry
Removal of the Capital from Turin to Florence
-Personal Character of Victor Emmanuel and the
Heir to the Throne-Census of United Italy-Its
Prospective Army in Peace and War
. 381
CHAPTER L.
LIFE OF THE SIEUR CAMILLE BENSO, COUNT
OF CAVOUR.
Family of Count Cavour-Birth: Early Youth-Enters
the Military Academy-Is a Page at Court-Aban-
dons the Military Profession-An Agriculturist-A
Political Student-Visits England-Long Residence
in England-Returns to Turin-A Journalist—
Member of the Legislative Chamber-Minister
372
406
Ľ
viii
CONTENTS.
J
CHAPTER LI.
Earnestness of the Cavour Administration-National
Debts and Difficulties-Diplomacy of the War in
Italy-Illness and Death of Cavour-His Personal
and Intellectual Peculiarities
. 414
•
CHAPTER LII.
LIFE OF NAPOLEON III., EMPEROR OF THE
FRENCH.
Rise of the Bonaparte Dynasty: its Founder, and his
Principles
CHAPTER LIII.
The Founder of the Bonaparte Dynasty and his Prin-
ciples (continued)
Parents of Napoleon III. .
CHAPTER LV.
CHAPTER LIV.
The Founder of the Bonaparte Dynasty and his Prin-
ciples-(continued)
•
•
CHAPTER LVI.
Birth of Charles Louis Napoleon-Education, Early
Vicissitudes, and Perils
CHAPTER LVIII.
Virtual Expulsion from Switzerland-Finds Refuge in
England - His Life there-His Expedition to
Boulogne-Defeat and Capture-Trial and Convic-
tion by the House of Peers
•
CHAPTER LIX.
Incarceration in Ham-Conduct and Opinions when
there-Escape
PAGE
423
432
440
CHAPTER LVII.
Invades France by Strasbourg-Defeated and Captured
Spared by Louis Philippe on Petition of Hortense
-Sent to America in a French Ship of War-His Life
there Returns to Switzerland-Death of Hortense 462
451
456
472
479
CHAPTER LX.
A Refugee in England-Uses the Press to create a Bona-
partist Feeling in France-Confidence in his Destiny
-Singular Anecdote connected with his London Life 487
CHAPTER LXI.
Louis Napoleon in London again-The French Revolu-
tion-Discussions in France as to the Propriety or
Safety of allowing his Return-He is elected a
Member of the New Parliamentary Chambers-As-
sumes his Place-Is elected President of the Republic 494
CHAPTER LXII.
President of the Republic-Forms a Ministry-Election
of Vice-President-Foreign Policy-Piedmont and
Rome.
. 504
CHAPTER LXIII.
The Legislative Assembly-Policy of Parties — The
Roman Invasion approved by the Representatives—
Insurrection of Red Republicans-Flight of Ledru
Rollin and others to England-Disputes between the
President of the Republic and the Legislative
Assembly-The Assembly and the President invade
the Constitution-Preparations for a Coup d'Etat
. 507
CHAPTER LXIV.
The Coup d'Etat.
CHAPTER LXV.
The Coup d'Etat—(continued)
•
•
CHAPTER LXVI.
Testimonies of Eye-witnesses to the Atrocities of the
Fourth of December
CHAPTER LXIX.
The Empire-Is it Peace?
CHAPTER LXVII.
State of the Departments after the Second of December-
The Measures of Repression-Disarming of National
Guards at Paris-Decree against the Press-Protest
of Refugees-Regulations for the Election-Inter-
ference of the Church
CHAPTER LXX.
Marriage-War with Russia.
. 521
•
. 512
•
PAGE
•
CHAPTER LXVIII.
From the Completion of the Coup d'Etat to the Empire 563
CHAPTER LXXI.
War with Russia, continued-Peace-Diplomatic Dis-
cussions-Evasion of the Treaty-France courts
Alliance with Russia
527
CHAPTER LXXII.
Visit of the Emperor to her Britannic Majesty-Visit of
her Majesty to the Emperor-Attempt to Assassinate
the Emperor The Congress of Paris-Jealousies
between France and England-The War in China-
Events of Recent years-Character of the Emperor's
Domestic and Foreign Policy.
548
. 574
.578
585
589
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY
INTRODUCTION.
"Italia! Oh Italia, thou who hast
The fatal gift of beauty-
O God, that thou wert in thy nakedness
Less lovely, or more powerful and could claim
Thy right, and awe the robbers back who press
To shed thy blood, and drink the tears of thy distress.
-Then, still untired,
Would not be seen the armed torrents poured
Down the Alps.
-Nor the stranger's sword
Be thy sad weapon of defence."-BYRON's Childe Harold.
THE recent history and present conditions of
Italy claim the attention and interest of the
world. Whatever her glory in the remote past,
or the gloom and bondage which so long hung
over the Italian land and the Italian heart,
the recent development of her vitality, moral
and political, and the course of events, partly
created by that vitality, and in part evolving
it, cannot fail to invest the Italy of the present
with an interest no way inferior to that of the
past.
But lately two mighty potentates, the Em-
peror of the French and the Emperor of Austria,
stood in the array of battle upon her plains.
Victory crowned the arms of the former, who
now holds a position at variance with Italian
liberty and honour. Italy is discontented, and
eager to make sacrifices for the consolidation
of her power, the independence of her territory,
and the universal recognition of her name as
that of a great and free nation. In presence
of these events Europe and the world are
awaiting with mingled doubt, apprehension,
and hope, the termination of these agitations,
and the appearance of the Italian kingdom
with the area of territory finally fixed as her
own; and in the relation to the European
family of states which her intelligence and re-
sources may qualify her to take. What states-
men and politicians call the balance of power
must be seriously affected by the advent of the
new kingdom among the great states, and by
the contracted or expanded range of her sove-
reign's dominions. Shall Italy have Rome for
her capital, and possess the beautiful queen of
the Adriatic-at once a source of power and a
pride? or must Venice still give out her blood
beneath the hoof of invading squadrons, and
Rome wear the pall of superstition, bondage,
and sorrow? The solution of these problems
is of deep concern to the nations, and England
must know or must learn that it concerns her.
|
B
૫
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
No great struggle can take place upon the
arena of continental Europe which Britain does
not feel. War has no thunders which do not
reverberate upon our shores, no lightnings
which are not reflected in our social and poli-
tical atmosphere. The industry of these islands
is sensitive and apprehensive. Our manufac-
turers will seldom find customers where the
ploughshare and the pruning-hook are turned
into swords and spears; for, whatever our capa-
city for producing the instruments of destruc-
tion, our manufactures will not produce what our
merchants cannot export. The money-market
becomes deranged by the vicissitudes of com-
merce, as well as by the drains of specie for
the payment of fleets and armies, and for re-
pairing the waste which they create. Even
when general revolutions or contiguous wars
compel foreign capitalists to invest in England,
there is monetary and commercial sensitiveness
from the uncertain condition of our foreign
customers. These facts always ensure the
perusal by the English public of the records
of a great revolution, or a great war wherever
the hostile flags of rival nations or empires
may be unfurled.
G
Our ideas of religious liberty plead with our
best principles and opinions for the policy of
free, constitutional Italy, and we ask ourselves,
is it for this generation to see the temporal,
and perhaps ecclesiastical power of the Pope,
perish amidst the feuds of his own subjects; or
shall the Papal chair and the triple crown rise
from amidst the flames of revolution and the
tide of battle ecclesiastically and politically
omnipotent?
A state of things which suggests and ever
constrains such questions must engage the
thoughts of intelligent men in our own and
every land. But who with sentiment, taste,
and any acquaintance with history, can regard,
unmoved, the rising glory of such a country,
connected with the greatest names and events
of the past, and the most captivating associa-
tions of classic times?
Lord Macaulay has truly and expressively
remarked, "History, when we look at it in
small portions, may be so construed as to mean
anything." Hence it is important in taking
up an historical period or incident to view it in
its consecutive relations; to trace it back to
the events in which it has had its birth, as well
as to follow it out to the consequences in which
it has found, or is likely to find its issues. It
is not always so difficult to trace the antece-
dents and sequences of current history as many
imagine. God governs the moral as well as
the physical universe by laws which it is the
province of the statesman and historian to
study, and by applying general principles to
what is passing before his eyes, the work of
Providence may be discerned, and some gleams
of the future be caught as its light approaches.
It has been also truly as strikingly said,
"A consummated era, or a completed life, pre-
sents a fair and safe field for the labours of an
annalist." In each case the facts are accom
plished, and all that can be known it is in the
power of industry to reveal. Standing far
back from the point of view, each object, each
event, assumes its true proportions in relation
to the whole; while many a tangled maze of
intention and effect, of influences impossible to
be understood at the scene and time of action,
even by the actors, grows plain to an intel-
ligent mind, revealing the finished game afar
off. Yet it cannot be denied there is a peculiar
interest attached to the lives of eminent men
who remain upon the great stage of action,
from whom still much is expected, and whose
future may affect for ever the reputations of
their past. In the case of Cavour we have to
deal with a completed life. That of Victor
Emmanuel is still before the world for judg-

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bntibes
Monace
Villafranca
Ventimiglia
Rhone
Domo d
M
Thun
Dora Baltra
Porto
18
Amilon
20
Canonano
Ta
Vercely
hirasse
TURING Chieri
Chieri Casale
Asti Alessandria
Fossano
Conifondovi
C. Argentara
C. Caccia
Ivrea
Host
Asinaro
C.Falcone
Mo
Conte
∞
C. Caprara
Biella
Novara
Pier
Pecora
C. Altan
S. Pietrog
S. Antioco
G. of
Nizz Novi
Alb
Bui
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C.S.Marcos
G.or Cristano
C. Proscap
Ajacc
C. Mannu Mil
Palmas
nai
Porto Torres
SH
R
1
Gothard
3Lt
Urticu
Vala
Savona
Voli
Finale
Albenga
Oneglia
Porte Maurizio
Remo
Po
Bethes
Iglesias
C.Teulada
¤Sassu
Ticino
www.ar
English Miles
40
60
Oristina
Mes
•Altorr
Bonifacio
Str. of Bonifacio
Calvi
Galitąż
Syring
Castel Sarda
Pula
다​.
V..di
Lecco
Varese omo
Bergayho
80
Gulf of
Manz
Freviatio
lio
Milay
EL m bar d
Ligdia
Vigevan
Pama
stridella
R
iremal
Rizigo one
Cremona
Veghera
Tortona
Genoa
Россия
Belli
orsica
(to France)
of Genoa
Chiav
T
C. Corso
A N
G.or
ITALY
IN 1860.
Cagliari
S. Donino Parma
Bobbio Paramo
Chur
100
Massiver
To
Bergotag
Guliari
C. Spartivento
eflin
Levante
Spenas
Bastia
3. Maddalena
Caprera
Gorgona
Mantua
Piacenza Casalmalviere
Borobo
Porto Vecchio
Benzert
Capraia
2 Figuri
dah
[20
ntremoli
22150
Sarzana
Mass Metrasanta
Viareggio Lucca
Tavolara
•Molara
Sette Fratelli
C. Ferrato
Bresga
•C. Carbonara
20
Castiglione
Monte Christe
„C. Còmino
Pisa Empoli
Leghorne
T
Bormio
Tunis
Piombing
Pro Ferraie
• Carrara
C.Monte Santo
C.Bellavista
C. Sterra Cavallo
C. Palmeri
N
-Arco
Rive
gogis
Elba
Pianosa
CO
cra
Tunis
Guastalla
Flappy
Monasteer
Verona
Prato
Modena
Baskalip
Colle
Trent
Brixen,
Ό
Botzen
Longitude
I
Hammamet
Vicenza
Este
Leanaho
Finafle
Siema
E
Am
Bor
Shoreo
Rovion
Bologna
Fachza
Modigliana
Fioti
C.Bon
Fiesol
Florence
нестачи
Osterial montepulle
Montepulciano Fastme
Petriolo Mo
Lercia
Grosseto
Perugia
Concoliano
Bassano
Treviso
East.
22
Brinecken
Mehediah
Taino
Me
Padua VENICE
Chioggia
Pordeno
indo
Dr
Ampezio
Ravenna
Forli
Cesena Rimini
Maritimo
Comacchio
Codro
Odorzo
12
onit
Cervia
Levansv
A
Port Anzo
Lampions
Ascoti
ievieto
Aquaperit
Todi Spoleto
Teamwo
For daa Bolsana
Terhi
Leones Morne
Orbitele Toscanella
Marni
Orted
Viterbo Magliano
Giglio
Compte Sutri Sepi
Gianutri
Civita Vecchia Bracciano
ROMEO Tivoli
0.
Ostia Velletriq
M. S. Julians 3
C.S. Vita
To
Palmarola?
mento
Pesaro
S. Marmo
Fang
Sinigaglia
Urbino ossombrone Ancona
Carinthia
Sassofe
oferater
Pantellaria
Venice
Trapanic
Ospitalett
A Cividhic
Udine
Palmanova
Frascati Palestrina
C. Circello
Tagliacozzo
S E
Matelica
Camerinos
•Spello
Fotono
Will Sibilla Montalto
Ponza
G. of Trieste
Castel
Esine.
Zannone,
or
Villach
tine
&
Favignana
C. Boco Marsala
MAY
Castel
Mazzard Veterane
C. Granitola
cla
G. of Gaeta
Vandotena,
Ustica
C.S.Marco
Linosas
Anagniora
Gariglia
Frosinone
Cisterna
Alcam
a-Mare
To Alca
Macerata
Siacca
Lampedusa
Castel a Mare
Fondi
Terracina
Gaeta
STrieste
A
t I
S
سن
14
Fermo
Seculiangs
Greenwich
LONDON JAMES S. VIRTUE.
Klagenfurt
Atri
Pescara
pAquila Chreti Ortona-a Mare
Lancianoo
N
C. di Gallo
Palermo
C.Zafferana
Sermini
Ribera Sut
Platani
Procida
Ischia
Monte
Maggiore
G. of Quarnero
Popoli
Sulmona
Fucino or
lano
Cherso
B. of Naples
MEDITERRANEAN
Laybach
Fiume
Veolia
Grossa, or Long
Harr
NAPLES
Bang
Isernia
Pontecorvo ampobasso
ar
O Telese
。Calvi
Castelamari
Sorrentos
Supra I
Caltunicetta
Gergenti
Kapris
Alicudi
Ceralu
Amali
Caserta
a
a
D
Cilly
Zengo
Laring
Tripinto
Caronia
Salso
of Salerno
Gow
174
Nola
Vesuvius
Salerno
Vasto
od Ammone
Termoli
Civita Vecchia
Carlopago
Scoglietti
Pt Spina
Palma Terry Nova
Alicata
Salina
Castro Giovanni
Lipari I
Felicudi Panaria!!
I
رع
Zara
X
Ru of Pestum
• T
Port Palinuroo/
Ragisa
Manfredonia
Lucepa
Folturara Legong
Ascoli
ovino
о
Vallo
Aulone
Calatagironeo Jentini
Blipari
Vulcano♡
C. Calava
Cumino
Valetta
Val
MALTA
Asce
Campagna Potenza
Diane
Milazzod
Patti
rea
Z
Bagny
Note
Modica
16
D
Agram
a
Sebenico
Tremiti Is
Stromboli
Mes
Lissa
Pelagosa
с
Affetti
fant
Solta
Police
Cirella
Aci Reale
Catania
C. Vaticano
Str. of Messingt
C.Passaro
Taormina
Augusta.
Siragosa
Į
Banialouka。
Marsico Novo
Scully
Regg
2.
Spalatro
Brazza
Lesing
Graving
Tricarico
Cosenza
m
Cajola
Barletta
Monteleones
Gioj
Lagosta
S
Mt St Angelo, or
Gargano
Bitonto
Tursi
Nicastro
Curzola
Cassano
~
Molfetta
Aar
a
adar
Bisignano
76
tamura
MATERIALE
Basento
ZATAUMLARN
Matera
Bari
|Rosete_
Gerace
Squillace
Trawniko
t
C.Spartivento
Rossano
Meleda
Mola
е
GIN
C. Stilo
Rocella
18
Monopoli
Cariati
Oria
Taranto
ranto
Carenzia Strongoli
Cotrone
Radisi
"Brandist &
G. of Taranto
a
Gallipoli
30. cimiti
C. Rizzuto
Leece
46
C.Nau, or Colonne
44.
42
Otranto
40
C.S.Maria di Leuca
38
36
W. Hughes.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
3
ment. While much confidence is felt in him,
he is regarded with a constitutional vigilance
by the Italian people, and by all who sympa-
thise with them. It is yet to be decided, will
he be the royal banner bearer of a free nation
in war and peace, or will he yield to the re-
actionists who creep around his throne?
Of Garibaldi all men have formed a clear
and decisive opinion. Friends or foes have no
doubts of the singleness of his purpose, and
the directness of his aim. It may be predicated
of his policy and enterprises that they will
always be in harmony with the designs and
direction of the career he has already pursued.
But of no living sovereign or statesman can
there exist so little certainty in reference to his
future political course as of the Emperor of
the French. There is speculative interest
attached to it, full of curiosity, and yet of the
most grave and earnest concern. What shall
be the future of this adventurous politician,
prince, and soldier? Is he destined to shoot
like a fiery meteor over this hemisphere, or the
world, and then perish like his predecessor? | remain for ever.
Is he to be a new apostle of nationalities, pro-
pagating at the same time novel forms of
freedom and of despotism, and leaving be-
hind no definite political system, as certain
comets, which, forming separate nuclei, cease
to be, yet multiply themselves, creating new
wonders?
CHAPTER I.
The prominent action of Italy's deliverers
began in the events which preluded and
created the events of 1848. It will be neces-
sary to glance at the state of Italy at that
period in order to understand and appreciate
the previous and subsequent career of her
liberators.
Before entering upon the biography of its
liberators, it is desirable to give a brief descrip-
tion of Italy itself. A country always main-
tains its great features, while the progress of
civilisation, the incursion of new races, and
even the change of religious opinion, will alter
the city and the landscape; the social life of
a people modifies its aspect, however distinct
and prominent its great natural features may
ITALY.
A description of Italy a few years since would
have presented Lombardy and Venice as
Austrian territory. Lombardy has been won
Lombardy has been won
"Land of the mountain and the flood."-SCOTT.
THE description of the physical peculiarities | by the Italian sword, but Austria still holds
of Scotland, given by the prince of novelists, is
applicable still more to Italy. It is a country
of striking characteristics in its general form,
its geographical situation, and its detailed
features.
Venice in her thraldom. When Austria was
driven from Italy (with the exception of Venice)
in the recent war, Nice and the Duchy of Savoy
belonged to Italy. The ally of Italy in that
struggle has wrested those two provinces from
the Piedmontese territory, as compensation for
his alliance, and as security for his own pre-
ponderance, lest the rising kingdom should
4
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
become too great. Thus the territory which
should be properly described as belonging to
Italy has been varying, as new revolutions,
invasions, wars, or settlements modified it.
Italy may be described as bounded on the
north, north-east, and north-west, by the
Alps, on the east by the Adriatic, and on the
west and south by the Mediterranean Sea. On
the north-west it has France, on the north
Switzerland, Carinthia, and the Tyrol; on the
north-east Carneo and Croatia. It requires but
a slight consideration of this position in rela-
tion to other powers and territories, to be
convinced that Italy is likely to prove an
object of jealousy to various powerful neigh-
bouring nations, and that she is herself in
danger of inroads from various directions. The
country is, in a military point of view, very
strong. The Italian may sing, as Millman
paraphrases the Psalmist—
"For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our father's God."
But Italy has seldom been united enough to
turn her military advantages to account during
centuries of misgovernment and oppressions.
The magnificent frontier of the Alps affords fine
opportunities of defence. This frontier is semi-
circular. It is divided into three great masses,
which are sub-divided into similar groups.
The Western Alps beginning at the gorge
of De Tenda in the south curve in a north-
east direction to Mont Blanc. There are
several passes through this range, namely, the
Col de Tenda, Mont Genevra, Mont Cenis,
and Little St. Bernard.
The Central Alps extend from Mont Blanc
to the peak of the Drey Herren Spitz.* Mont
St. Gothard, the Simplon, and the Great St.
Bernard, are comprehended in this segment
of the circle.
* Peak of the Three Lords.
The Eastern Alps run east and south from
Drey Herren Spitz to the Port of Fiume in
the Gulf of Guarnero.
Through the mountain frontiers the Aus-
trians have five good passes, the French but
two. Italy was far more exposed to aggression
from Austria than from France previous to the
"correction" of the French frontier by the
annexation of Savoy and Nice.
C
The sea frontiers of Italy are of course ex-
posed to the operations of naval Powers, but
various important points are defended by for-
tifications, most of them at present mounted
with good smooth-bore guns, but also bearing
a proportion of a superior modern Sardinian
rifled gun.
Having thus described the general bounda-
ries and strength of position, it is necessary,
to enable the reader to form a clear conception
of the resources and quality of a country so
often fought for during two milleniums, to
present its peculiar features more in detail.
The deeds performed by her liberators, either
when in arms for her rescue, or when in peace
administering her affairs, cannot be appre-
ciated unless the reader also has before his
mind the general conformation of the country
where the conflicts for liberty were sustained,
and the general resources which her citizens
and statesmen may employ for her prosperity
and happiness.
Italy is divided by nature into two very
dissimilar regions. The first is Lombardy or
Upper Italy, bounded on the north by the
Alps, and on the south by the Apennines.
This tract commences on the north and west
among Alpine heights and glens, whose
aspect is that of Switzerland. The mountains
then subside into broad meadow plains,
watered by large rivers. Southward of the
ridge of the Apennines is the second region,
the strictly peninsular portion of Italy. On
:
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
5
I
crossing the mountains which bound it on the
north we immediately lose the broad plains
and full rivers of Lombardy. The Apennine
accompanies us to the extremity of the penin-
sula, dividing it lengthwise, narrowing its flats,
and forming deep hollows by the promontories
which it everywhere sends out. The moun-
tains, though in many districts lofty, are
rounded in shape; and the undulating hills
which cluster around their sides sink down
into flat alluvial valleys like the deserted beds
of lakes. Woods of olive trees, not unlike in
character to the birch, cover the rising grounds
with their grey foliage. Towns and villages
on the plains, or oftener perched like castles
on the hills, peer out from amidst vineyards,
or clumps of the dark, flat-topped pine, and
the tall, pillar-like cypress; and the most
uncultivated and lonely of the vales are clothed
with a picturesque and almost tropical prodi-
gality of vegetation, in the wild trees and
shrubs, the broad leafy masses of the glossy
ilex, the rich forms and colours of the arbatus,
and the graceful outline of the fragrant myrtle.
The mineralogy of Italy, particularly its
volcanic products, would furnish a very ex-
tensive and interesting subject. The richest
region is Piedmont, which almost rivals
the Carpathian mountains in Hungary; next
to Piedmont is the Milanese territory, par-
ticularly around Sienna; but its mines have
been almost entirely neglected. Gold is found
in the superior regions near Macugnana, and
in the vale of Sesia; and the torrents of Even-
sona roll down pebbles of quartz veined with
this precious metal. Silver occurs in the
valleys of Sesia and Aosta, and between
Reggio and Scilla. There are rich iron mines
in Sessera, Susa, Tuscany, Vermenagna, and
Abruzzo-Ultra. Copper mines are very nume-
rous in the districts of Aosto, in Piedmont; it
is found also in the Milanese territory, and in
the Massa district of Tuscany. Antimony,
arsenic, and zinc occur along with copper and
lead in some of the silver mines and plum-
bago, or black lead, near the baths of Bina.
There are several mines of alum in the eccle-
siastical territory, which are generally found
near the surface, particularly in the mountains
of Tolfa. In the neighbourhood of Taranto
are two salt lakes, one of which is nearly eight
miles in circumference during winter, when
filled with water. The salt works of Volterno
produce 18,000,000 lbs. per annum. The borax
lagunes of Tuscany are spread over a surface
of thirty miles, and produce from 7,000 to
8,000 lbs. of borax per day. Beautiful marbles
of various hues are found in the Genoese and
Tuscan territories.
The productions of a country so various in
its geological and topographical peculiarities
are necessarily very diverse. Lombardy being
well supplied with lakes and rivers, and having
a rich alluvial soil, is exceedingly fertile, and
rivals in its productiveness the finest soils in
other countries. Sardinia is more celebrated
for its picturesque character than for its riches;
but although poor compared with the vast and
well watered plains of Lombardy, it possesses
great capacities for the industry of the hus-
bandman and the manufacturer.
The Duchies, as they used to be designated
before the kingdom of Italy was established,
vary in richness, and are generally suitable for
high agricultural development, but were so
misgoverned under the dominions of petty
tyrants, that they were much impoverished,
The Apennine region is for the most part
chill and barren, extending an unfavourable
influence over the territories contiguous to it.
But some of the valleys watered by winding
rivers are surpassingly luxuriant. The mea-
dows, clover fields, groves, gardens, and
orchards, which stretch away by the Arno, and
6
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
L
around Florence, are amongst the most pro-
ductive in Europe, and constitute landscapes
as beautiful as the eye can rest upon. They
are remarkable for a soft repose, and for the
vast variety of tint over field and foliage which
appear so charming in the light of the bright
and clear Italian sky.
In the old kingdom of Naples, there is all
the luxuriance of a southern clime and rich
soil, intermingled in different directions with
sterile and marshy lands.
Possessed of a fertile soil and happy climate,
Italy is adapted to almost all the productions
of Europe, and might by little pains be made
nearly independent of foreign countries; but
the state of agriculture, even in its best
provinces, is faulty in the extreme. The
implements of husbandry are everywhere of a
rude construction. In Lombardy, the waggon
is one of the clumsiest vehicles possible, being
raised like a high scaffold above four small
wheels, and drawn by means of one elevated
pole, under which the oxen are yoked in a
very uneasy manner. The plough is con-
structed in a very awkward style, and in
despite of all the known principles of me-
chanics. The handles are of unequal lengths,
and both so very short, that the ploughman
having no lever to assist him, is forced to bend
forwards, and to use all his weight to keep
the share from entering too deep into the
ground. Oxen are uniformly employed by the
farmers both in the plough and waggon;
horses are used only for riding to market and
church, or for drawing a small provision cart
or other family conveyance. In many places
most of the work is done by the spade and
hoe. The grain is separated from the straw
in many places by the trampling of cattle,
which are tied in a string, and whipped round
and round till the operation is completed. In
the Terra-di-Ottanto it is done by two oxen
dragging between them a heavy rough stone,
which breaks the sheaves and shakes out the
corn. Several districts are comparatively well
cultivated, particularly Lombardy, Venice,
Piedmont, and Tuscany; but those parts upon
which nature has scattered her richest bless-
ings, such as Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia,
formerly the storehouses of the world, still
suffer under the evils of an oppressive feudal
system. In good years Italy produces corn
enough for its own consumption, and even for
exportation; but when the harvest is not good
which happens almost every third year-the
deficit must be imported from Africa and
Hungary. De Chateauvieux divides Italy as
respects its agriculture into three regions.
The first is Lombardy, or the great plain
traversed by the Po, the fruitfulness of which
allows the crops to succeed one another in a
certain order which remains always the same.
The second region extends on the south de-
clivity of the Apennines from the frontiers of
France to the borders of Calabria. This is the
olive country. The third comprehends those
pastoral countries where animals and vege-
tables thrive, but from which man is expelled
by the malaria.
Having thus sketched the general character
of soil and scenery, it is necessary to give some
description, illustrating the political importance
of the countries united under Victor Emmanuel,
or claimed by Italy for his sovereignty, and
over which the conflicts between the oppressors
and liberators raged.
The name Lombardy is given by geographers
to that portion of North Italy which is enclosed
between the Alps and the North Apennines,
and comprises the west portion of the basin of
the Po. They sub-divide that region into
Upper or Western Lombardy, and Lower or
Eastern Lombardy. The states of Parma and
Modena, and the east part of the continental
I
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
my
~
states of Sardinia, are comprised under the
appellation Lombardy.
Venetian Lombardy comprises the whole east
quarter of Northern Italy, and is bounded by the
Sardinian dominions and the canton of Ticino
on the west, on the north-west by the Grisons,
on the north by the Tyrol and Carinthia, on the
east by Istria, Carniola, and the Adriatic, on
the south by the Po, from its confluence with.
the Ticino till it enters the Gulf of Venice. It
lies between 9° and 14° E. longitude, and 45°
and 70° N. latitude. Its greatest length from
the frontier of Carniola on the east, to the
canton of Ticino on the west, is 220 miles; its
breadth, from the Po to Mont Brenner, is 140
miles.
Lombardy is for the most part a level
country. Its north frontier is covered by
the Alps and their ramifications, amongst
which the Splugen, the Arteler, the Cloce, the
Legnone, and the Monte de l'Oro, present them-
selves; and in the east part are the Bereci
and Euganean hills. The soil of the great
plain of Lombardy is entirely alluvial, com-
posed of materials which have been deposited
by waters to an unknown depth. In the tract
nearest to the mountains, gravel of consider-
able size is mixed with earth; but it becomes
smaller and less in quantity as it recedes from
the high lands; so that the whole seems nearly
composed of a black and very fertile mould. The
high enclosing mountains afford an immense
supply of water, which the great lakes at the
foot of the Alps serve to economise, and to
discharge with regularity and steadiness. The
fields are separated by rows of poplars. Towns
and villages are numerous, the population very
dense, the atmosphere cloudless, and the beauty
of the country in general all that fertility and
cultivation can bestow.
The Po, the great river of Italy, with its
numerous arms and branches, waters this noble
region. On the left, the Po receives the Ticino,
Olona, Lambro, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio;
on the right the Secchia. The Po is by far
the most important for magnitude of length
and course, and is justly denominated the
prince of the Italian streams. On account of
its depth, it received from the Ligurians, who
dwelt in its neighbourhood, the appellation
of Bodincus, or "the bottomless." The classic
pen of Ovid has immortalised it under the name
of Eridanus, as consecrated by the fall of
Phaeton, shaded by his sister-poplars, and
enriched by their amber-tears. This magnifi-
cent stream rises in the recesses of Mount
Vesulus or Viso, at an elevation of 6,466 feet,
thirty miles to the west of Turin, on the con-
fines of France and Italy, and nearly in the
parallel of Mount Dauphine, in Dauphiné, and
of Saluzzo, in Piedmont. Descending from
the Western Alps, it passes on the north-east
of Paluzzo, by Carignan, to Turin, receiving
even in this short space many alpine streams,
as the Varila, Maira, and Grana from the
south, and the Felice, Sagon, and others from
the north. Most of these streams having had
a longer course than that which is called the
Po, might perhaps be more justly regarded as
the principal river; nay, the Tanara, which
rises in the Apennines, and flows into the Po,
some miles below Alessandria, might claim, in
the river Stura, a more remote source than the
Po itself. The comparative course of the Po
is about 300 miles. Its average breadth from
Turin, where it becomes navigable, to Arona,
where it falls into the Adriatic, is 1,200 feet.
To the north of Ferrara it is as broad as the
Rhine at Dusseldorf, and before it reaches the
Mincio it rivals the Danube at Vienna. Its
depth is everywhere great, and its current
strong and rapid. The Tagliamento, Livenza,
Piave, Brenta, Bacchiglione, and Adige, de-
At the foot
bouch immediately into the sca.
8
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
of the Alps several large lakes present them-
selves, such as the Lago Maggiore, Lago Varese,
Lago Eugano, Como, Isio, Idro, and Garda.
The principal canals are the Naviglio-Grande
on the south-west; and the Adigetto, the
Biancho, Frassine, Sartaro, and Monsclice.
-
The capital of Lombardy, the ancient Medeo-
lezun, is Milan. It is situated in a flat region,
nearly surrounded by the streams of the Olona
and Lavessa, which irrigate a rich and fertile
neighbourhood. From Milan the country ex-
tends far and wide in one vast and beautiful
region, scarcely marked by an upland. The
population of Milan is about the same as that
of Edinburgh. The cathedral is celebrated for
its beautiful Gothic architecture. Some of
the streets and public buildings command re-
spect; others, notwithstanding the climate, are
dingy and squalid. The squares have a Euro-
pean celebrity, as has also the Amphitheatre
and the Opera House, the largest and finest in
the world. This city is the seat of a university,
and its libraries have long been famous. Milan
has collections of art, particularly of sculpture,
rivalled by those of few cities. Her people
cultivate art. Several of the great masters of
Italian taste have been natives of the Lombard
capital. There is nothing, however, connected
with this city so remarkable as her fortifica-
tions, which occupy a circumference of eight
miles. Milan has suffered much in its history
from oft-repeated and terrible conquests; still, it
is the most prosperous town in Italy, excepting
Turin, and is surrounded by country the most
luxuriant of any in the Peninsula.
The city of Mantua is of great importance to
the military defence of Upper Italy. It is
situated on an island of the Mincio, and is
surrounded by marshes, artificially preserved,
and made a portion of the defences, which are
extensive and formidable. The Mincio secures
Mantua in military operations-not only secures
the province which bears its name, but holds a
position important to the rest of Italy. The
town is the seat of a bishop, has a fine cathe-
dral, and many churches, some of them deco-
rated by fine pictures and statues. Here are
also convents and monasteries, theatres and
picture galleries, all extensive, and possessing
a certain degree of magnificence. Within a
short distance of Mantua, at Ardes, Virgil was
born.
Verona is considered by many as of more
importance than Mantua, and has been called
by several military writers the key of Upper
Italy.
Venice, now under the dominion of Austria,
and for which all Italy sighs and seeks the
rescue, is situated on the Adriatic, on a gulf
which takes its name from the city. It is built
upon a closely-formed cluster of islands, said
to be seventy-two in number, separated from
one another by shallows, which vary in depth
from about five feet to more than eight feet.
It is the capital of the province of Venice,
which, united with Lombardy, has been called
the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom. After a
history of more than 1,400 years, and many
years of depression and dependence, it is again
rising into importance, and likely to form a
part of the new Kingdom of Italy when it
becomes consolidated. Since 1797, the foot of
the brutal and bigoted Austrian has been upon
the heart of the fair city, and the Queen of the
Adriatic has been a captive. If the sun of
liberty has not yet arisen, the dawn of hope
has broken through the darkness of her bond-
age, and Italy and Europe are pronouncing,
Venice will yet be free.
This city has always been considered one of
the most beautiful in Europe. The situation
for "a sea-built city" is very fine; and resting
on so many islands, the domes, spires, and
splendid buildings seem to the distant specta-

S Bradshaw
JB Pyne
VENICE.
LONDON JAMES S VIRTUE
SULAR
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
9
tor to rise from the sea itself, or, as some have
remarked, "to float upon its bosom.”
The area of Sardinia, exclusive of the island
from which the kingdom takes its name, is
estimated at 19,850 square miles, including
12,280 square miles for Piedmont. The popu-
lation of the whole kingdom, according to
the census of 1853, was 4,368,932, including
2,750,000 for Piedmont. This region, extend-
ing from Mount Cenis and the Simplon to the
maritime Alps and the Northern Apennines,
as the result of careful irrigation and high
culture, is highly prolific, and able to export a
surplus produce of grain. Sardinia, on the
Sardinia, on the
other hand, does not produce enough to supply
its own wants, the average importation of
foreign grain being estimated at 201,278
quarters of wheat, 47,398 of Indian corn;
total, 248,676 English quarters.
From its peculiar situation, Sardinia (using
the expression generally) is highly picturesque,
and the people daring, hardy, and energetic.
Here the nucleus was formed around which the
brave and free of all Italy were formed for the
deliverance of their country.
The capital is Turin. It is situated upon an
extensive plain, where the rivers Po and Doria
form their confluence, and was once the capital
of those Laurinians of Liguria who offered
such strenuous resistance to Hannibal. Dykes,
cut from the Po and Doria, intersect the
streets and the vicinity, affording water for
various purposes, but especially for cleansing
and draining. Here the King of Italy has his
palace; and until Rome be clear of the French
domination, here also the Houses of Legislature
will sit, and the offices of administration be
located. It is said that there are one hundred
and twenty churches in this city, a church for
every thousand of the inhabitants. The pic-
ture galleries of Turin are famous, containing
many chief works of the oldest and best
masters of Italian art. There is a fine public
promenade, and the town is surrounded by
beautiful and luxuriant gardens. The uni-
versity does not at present stand high in
European estimation; provision is made in it
for a considerable number of students. The
arsenal is of great extent, and contains vast
quantities of warlike material. The Accademia
Militare is one of the most remarkable and
important institutions of Turin. It is set apart
for the education of officers, and is the great
introductory college for that purpose. From it
the more advanced pupils enter the College of
Engineers and Artillery; the next class of
students entering the staff college, whence, in
the result of competitive examinations, they
pass to commissions on the staff of the army.
There are two schools for officers, besides one
at Ivrea for infantry, and one at Pineral for
cavalry.
Alessandria is the most important military
place in the old dominions of Victor Emmanuel,
although the population of the city is not
more than 40,000. The town is built on the
left bank of the Tanara, but two formidable
fortifications are on the right bank. This for-
tified place commands an extended plain, and
from its ramparts may be seen the not distant
village and battle-field of Marengo, where the
great Napoleon had one of the severest mili-
tary struggles of his career, and victory, scarcely
won, which was yet full of victory's fruits.
Alessandria stands in the centre of the upper
basin of the Po, all the roads which traverse
that plain converging upon the stronghold.
It is only sixty miles north-west of Genoa, and
within a distance of only ten additional miles,
in an opposite direction, of the capital.
Genoa is one of the most important cities of
northern Italy, and gives its name to the gulf
on the shores of which it has its site. It is
built crescent-like towards the sea, ascending
с
10
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
terrace above terrace on the first slopes of the
Apennines. This city is the naval arsenal of
the king of Italy. The city itself is not larger
than Limerick, or Newcastle-upon-Tyne; but
its commerce, maritime resources, and situa-
tion, give it great influence as a place in rela-
tion to Italy. Once the Genoese were the
merchants, and Genoa the emporium, of the
world; now, no more can be said for its com-
merce than that it is first in Italy.
The Duchy of Parma, including that of Pia-
cenza and the province of Lumigiana, has a
population of 508,784. It extends from the
Po on the north to near the Mediterranean on
the south. The whole of the public revenue
does not amount to more than £353,280 ster-
ling, which is absorbed by the expenditure.
Placentia, Pezzigluttone, and Cremorne form
the salients of a triangle, and are of great stra-
tegical importance, as will be seen in the course
of these memoirs. Placentia is the capital of
the little Duchy of Placenza, which is situated
on the right bank of the Po, and is an im-
portant point of departure for an army destined
to act upon the lines of that river. Pezzig-
luttone defends the passage of the Ada in this
direction, for, although that river is broad,
deep, and rapid, it is in some few places ford-
able by troops. Cremorne also defends the
Ada, and the three places are so located as to
defend one another.
The Duchy of Modena includes Modena,
Guastalla, Reggio, Mano, Carrara, the district
of the Apennines, and Fivizzano, and is not
much larger than Parma. Its population at
Its population at
the last census was 606,139; its annual reve-
nue was only £336,545, and its expenditure
£349,126.
These little duchies were especially notice-
able during the recent war for the character
and conduct of their princes. Parma was go-
verned by the widow (so called) of Napoleon I.,
to whom he was married after putting away
Josephine, his wife.
The Duke of Modena was amongst the most
obstinate of the Italian despots, and was a mere
protégé of the Emperor of Austria. From the
year 1815 to the year 1848, numerous treaties
were made between Austria and the Italian
States. The tenor of all, whether territorial or
political, was the aggrandizement of the im-
perial power, and the subjugation of the nomi-
nally independent Italian States eventually to
Austria.
A
By the treaty between Austria and Modena,
in 1847, the two powers bind each other to
lend help and assistance "in case of an attack
from without;" and the Emperor promised
to lend every assistance for the preservation
of "tranquillity and legal order," within the
dominion of the Duke, and in case of their
interruption to restore them by military assist-
ance. In February, 1848, just before the great
outburst of revolution in Europe, the Emperor
imposed a treaty upon Parma identical with
that imposed upon Modena.
The arrangements in 1815 for placing the
ex-Empress of France, Maria Louisa, upon
the ducal throne of Parma, Placenza, and
Lucca virtually consigned these territories to
Austrian domination, although certain stipu-
lations of a reversionary interest in favour of
Tuscany and Sardinia, gave some slight show
of independence.
Tuscany, north of the Arno, includes almost
all the territory of the ancient republics of
Lucca, Pisa, and Florence. The soil, climate,
and configuration of the country are as various
as the diversities presented by the sterile, cold,
Apennine region,-the fruitful valleys of the
Arno, of the Chiana, and Ombrone, and the
unhealthy Mavemma. The population in 1854
was 1,817,466. There has been an increasing
deficit in the finances of Tuscany of late

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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
11
years, with the necessary result of loans. The
ordinary expenditure in 1853 amounted to
£1,193,973; and the extraordinary amounted
to 8,637,940 lire; whilst the total receipts
were only £1,214,632, leaving a deficit of
£287,931, a dismal financial prospect to look
forward to by this once prosperous little state.
After the events of 1815, the Tuscan territory
and its Duke became almost as much the
property of the Austrian Emperor as Bohemia
or Vienna. A treaty between Austria and
Tuscany bound the two states to act together
for the preservation of the peace of Italy, if
disturbed either by enemies from without or
revolutionists within. For this purpose the
Emperor was to furnish 80,000 men, and the
Grand Duke 6,000.
4
Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is one of
the most beautiful cities in Italy. All Italians
are proud of Firenze, as they have been accus-
tomed to call it. It is situated in the valley
of the Arno, one of the most delightful of
Italian valleys. The city occupies both sides
of the river; it is oval in form, and protected
by fortifications. Florence has the reputation
of containing the second cathedral in Italy,
St. Peter's, at Rome, alone surpassing it.
The university and the academy have been
celebrated everywhere, and the picture gallery
is one of the wonders of continental Europe.
Here the Dukes of Tuscany held luxurious
state until Garibaldi gave freedom to Italy.
The society of Florence is very gay; in the
winter a large portion of English, Russians,
and Americans take up their residence there.
Leghorn also deserves notice in this sketch.
It is the rival of Genoa in commercial im-
portance, and possesses a population as large
as Cork, or even Bristol, if the suburbs be
included. The neighbourhood is marshy and
unhealthy. It is well fortified towards the
The natives call it Livonia.
sea.
Pisa is another city in the Tuscan territory
deserving mention.
deserving mention. It is situated a few miles.
from the mouth of the Arno, and is celebrated
for two things-its university and its leaning
tower.
The States of the Church are bounded on
the north by the Po, on the north-east by
the Adriatic, and on the south-east by the
kingdom of Naples, and on the north-west
by Tuscany and Modena. They cover an area
of 12,042 geographical miles, and according
to the census of 1853, the whole population
did not exceed 3,124,000. These numbers
were not published until 1857. The spare
character of the population is attributable
chiefly to a considerable extent of the country
being uninhabitable through the influence of
malaria.
Civita Vecchia and Ancona are the two
principal seaports. Accumulations of sand
have rendered the ancient harbours of Terra-
cina, Porto d'Anzio, Ostia, and Porto useless
to vessels of large burthen; the rapid extension
of the delta of the Tiber has had its effects.
on the latter place. Among the largest lakes
are those of Thrasmene, or Perugia, Bolsena,
and Bracciano.
The Papal States are divided into twenty
provinces. Rome, the capital, is, as all readers
know, the seat of the Papal throne; and the
Roman States were the worst governed in
the world, before Garibaldi added them to the
dominions of Victor Emmanuel. Such por-
tions as are still secured to the Papal chair
by the usurpation of the French, are as badly
governed as ever. Distress, misery, brigand-
age, assassination, religious persecution, arrest
without law, taxation without any public ac-
count of expenditure, mendicancy encouraged
by the State itself, and the grossest ignorance,
degrade the people and the Government.
To describe the city of Rome would be
12
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
impossible within the limits of these papers.
Her palaces, churches, ruins, works of art,
squalor, poverty, wretchedness; her ecclesias-
tical display and authority, and population
hostile to the Government; her schools of
painting and sculpture, and the destitution
of all solid instruction, would require volumes
to be written to pourtray them. What a con-
trast her ecclesiastical parade and weakness,
her diminished population (not reaching a
third-rate English city), and her poverty, to
the glory and power of past ages, when Rome
sat the queen of nations, the mistress of the
world!
"First of the mighty! can it be
That this is all remains of thee! ""
As a ruined pile will often throw its shadows
far, and spread by the very progress of demoli-
tion, so modern Rome throws from her ruined
greatness a shadow over Italy and the world,
and spreads and encumbers in the very pro-
cess of her desolation. This has not come by
chance.
"Est profecto Deus qui que nos gerimus audit que et videt;
Neque id verum existimo, quod vulgo dicitur
Fortuna, humana finget artatque ut lubet.” *
The kingdom of Naples is bounded on the
north-west by the Papal States, on the north-
east by the Adriatic, on the south-east by the
Ionian, and on the west by the Mediterranean
Sea. It is estimated at about 31,595 English
square miles. Its length, measured along the
chain of the Apennines, is 350 miles. The
breadth varies considerably. It is 70 miles
from the mouth of the Garigliano in the Bay
of Gaeta to the mouth of the Trigno on the
Adriatic; and about the same from Salerno to
the mouth of the Carapella. It is 112 miles
*There is certainly a God that sees and hears whatever we
do. I do not believe what is commonly spoken, that fortune
makes and unmakes human affairs at pleasure.
from Capo di Licosa to Bari, and to Brindisi
150; from the shore north of Paola to south of
the mouth of the Crati is 29 miles, and only 16
between the gulfs of Sant Euphemia and of
Squillace. The Neapolitan kingdom is divided
into fifteen provinces.
into fifteen provinces. The population bears
no proportion to the superficial extent of each
province, the natural conformation of the
country and various local circumstances com-
bining to increase it in some, and to diminish
it in others. On the 1st of January, 1853, the
number of inhabitants amounted to 6,843,355,
of whom 3,368,008 were males, and 3,475,347
were females.
the sea.
The city of Naples is beautifully situated
upon the bay to which it gives its name, and
which is supposed to be the most beautiful in
the world, although that of Dublin, and that
of Messina in Sicily, may put in rival claims.
Along the shores of the bay the city extends
itself, rising gradually in the background
among the shelving eminences which overlook
All around and above the city are
gardens and graceful plantations. A large villa
population occupies the higher ground, their
villas surrounded by the clustering vine and
all the rich foliage of that bright southern
clime. On the eastern side of the bay,
Vesuvius, mantled with verdure, crowned with
gloom or with flame, frowns, or gleams with
fitful fires. On the sides of this deceptive
mount, villas and villages, cottages and man-
sions are located, as if the people had never
heard of the ancient and far-famed cities of
Herculaneum and Pompeii, and their dark fate,
buried beneath the lava of the volcano.
The city of Naples abounds with attractions.
Its architectural glories are surpassed by those
of other Italian cities; it is, however, enriched
by a splendid cathedral of the Gothic order,
supported by one hundred pillars of granite,
which in heathen times belonged to a temple
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
13
of Apollo. Thus, classic remains decorate
and sustain a great edifice consecrated to the
Christian name. Naples is also rich in art
treasures.
The insular part of the kingdom of Naples,
or of the Two Sicilies as it is also called, has
figured prominently in the modern revolution,
and was the theatre of some of Garibaldi's
most glorious exploits. It is about the size
of the Island of Sardinia, but a far more
valuable acquisition to Victor Emmanuel. The
capital, Palermo, the cities of Messina, Syra-
cuse, and Catania, are all interesting and
important. The cathedral of Palermo is a
grand Gothic edifice. The cities of this island
filled a conspicuous place in ancient history,
and its soil is classic ground. Mount Etna
gives it a world-wide interest; but that vol-
·
In the last chapter we wrote of the country;
in this we treat of its occupants.
In order to understand the circumstances
which called the deliverers of Italy into acti-
tivity, and gave them scope for the marvellous
genius they exhibited, it is necessary to give
a brief sketch of Italian history to the year
1848. All the men whose career is about to
be placed before the reader took part in the
affairs of Italy, and exercised some influence
on its affairs previous to that time; but to
comprehend that part, and the subsequent
relation of these heroes to the course of events,
the historical outline of this chapter is essen-
tial.
cano, like its continental neighbour, Vesuvius,
has often spread death and destruction around
it. Insular Sicily has had a strangely mingled
history of glory, sorrow, shame, and crime.
Earthquake, volcanic eruption, plague, pesti-
lence, war, revolution, oppression, have cursed
it by turns.
it by turns. Still does it rise from them all,
as the verdure bursting up amidst the lava of
some recent eruption from its burning moun-
tain, when the genial climate penetrates all
obstacles, and nurtures all beauty into vigorous
life.
CHAPTER II.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
"Statesmen are not so able as they are supposed to be."-RIGHT HON. BENJAMIN DISRAELİ.
It is the opinion of eminent mineralogists,
that the unworked mines of Italy are vastly
rich, and that in this respect wealth may be
developed for the new kingdom such as never
was contemplated in the days of misgovern-
ment and darkness.
Pagan Italy is known to our educated youth.
The great episodes of Roman history, the muse
of Virgil, Horace, and Terence, and the elo-
quence of Cicero, must exercise an influence
upon all nations, lasting as time. The mili-
tary and imperial greatness of Rome are tran-
scendent in the history of war and empire, how-
ever stained with blood the wreaths of her
laurel, and capricious the acts of her despots.
When Christianity shed her light upon the
nations, Italy was still destined to be great.
She gave multitudes of her children to the
churches. Unfortunately the church learned
to seek repose upon the lap of empire, and
became corrupted by her triumphs and her
11
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
treasures. An age of ecclesiastical supremacy
and venality arrived when the chief doctors of
religion became too indolent for anything but
persecutions, except such as had a genius for
political intrigue and administration, or those
who in a wild fanaticism went out to proselyte
in other lands, where they carried the cere-
monial of the church, as well as the fire of the
persecutor. With the full Papal period came
a long season of depression for the intellect of
Italy, until the phrase, "the dark ages," has
become universally adopted to describe it.
"The slumber of the middle ages was first
broken by Italian poetry, and the clarions'
blast was given by Dante." He was born at
Florence in 1265, and died at Ravenna in
1321. Few men in any age did more to create
an intellectual revolution. When Dante died
Francesco Petrarcha was seventeen years of
age. Although his genius was of a different
order, his poetical feeling was matured by the
greater poet who preceded him. This man
also exercised upon his own day and upon
after times a great influence. He, too, was
a statesman, and had the faculty of attract-
ing to him minds of the highest order. His
writings have come down to us mellifluent of
softness and sweetness, and vocal with soft
harmonies. He did much to form the dulcet
character of the modern Italian mind, and pour
over its harsher features the mild radiance of
his own genius. While yet the fame of Petrar-
cha filled Italy, Torquato Tasso was born, and
maintained an intellectual ascendancy until
nearly the close of the fourteenth century.
One of the great epics destined to transmit
its fame to all ages-" Jerusalem Delivered"
-was the creation of his stately and fertile
mind.
It was not in poetry, philosophy, and states-
manship only, that the new era for Italy be-
came conspicuous. Painting, sculpture, and
architecture had their revival. The name of
Michael Angelo stands first among the revivers
of art. His genius encompassed all depart-
ments. A sculptor, painter, and architect, he
has left behind monuments of his conceptive
power, masterly manipulation, and exquisite
taste, which, if they may not last for ever, will
fill all times and all nations with the history
of their achievement. Raphael, a contem-
porary of Michael Angelo, introduced a new
era in painting, and stands on the scroll of
fame among the highest in all lands. Leo-
nardo da Vinci, also of that remarkable period,
was a man of more comprehensive power and
versatility than perhaps any man of his age,
fruitful as it was in men of taste and power.
Eminently a painter, he was also sculptor,
architect, poet, musician. He was known in
the world of science, having been esteemed a
good practical mathematician, mechanic, and
astronomer. He cultivated botany, and as a
florist surpassed most men of his age and
country.
As the sixteenth century opened, the atten-
tion of the Italians was attracted to mathe-
matics and astronomy. When the first half
of the sixteenth century had passed away, this
kind of learning was of more repute; and in
1564 was born a man intended by Providence
to make great discoveries, and assert important
scientific principles. That man was Galileo.
As the discoverer of the telescope and micro-
scope, and of the laws of the pendulum, he
won celebrity and rendered great service to
science. His confirmation of the Copernican
system and overthrow of the Ptolemaic won
for him the greatest fame.
The statesmen of Italy who flourished at the
period when these, her most eminent artists
and literati lived, were in some cases also re-
markable men. The Medici were truly great.
Cosmo, "the father of his country," and
T
i
I
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
15
Lorenzo, "the magnificent," illustrated this.
Machiavelli was as notorious as either, as in-
tellectual, better versed in human nature, more
especially evil human nature, more astute, and
competent to deal with the wily and treache-
rous, himself without principle or scruple. As
a man of letters, diplomatist, statesman, he
was a great man, so far as any may be deemed
so who are not guided by virtue.
The great intellect of so many of her sons
did not procure good government for Italy.
Pontiffs, princes, and ministers ruled despo-
tically; crushing beneath their feet every blos-
som of promise, persecuting her ablest and
best men, and slaying or driving into obscu-
rity all who lifted their voice in favour of
religious or moral reformation. Yet Italy pro-
duced many such men. Long before "the
Reformation," men of public impression, sin-
cere, eloquent, and earnest, arose in Italy,
proclaiming in the main the same tenets which
Luther, Melancthon, and their coadjutors after-
wards successfully propagated. Savonarola
was among the earliest of the Italian reformers
who obtained notoriety and influence. His
eloquence carried Florence captive, gained the
attention of all Italy, and shook the Vatican,
He was publicly burned as a heretic.
When the Reformation kindled in Europe,
"a fire that could never be quenched," Italy,
like Spain, saw the light, and felt the glow.
In both countries numerous churches of the
new Evangelism spread over the land, and
extended the sacred flame. In each case it
was trodden out by violence, or extinguished
in blood. As deep a gloom set upon Italy for
a time as that of the middle ages. Tyranny
in all its forms triumphed. Foreign insult
and injury were added to domestic oppression.
Often she turned hopefully to her princes and
her ministers when some show of patriotism
and ability was made by them, but nearly
always to be disappointed. She realised bit-
terly the aphorism selected as a motto for this
chapter, "Statesmen are not so able as they
are supposed to be." Down to the period of
1796, for a considerable number of years, the
provinces of Milan and Mantua were delega-
tions of Austria. Russel, in his “Modern
Europe," represents them as governed by their
Austrian satraps with "prudence and huma-
nity, a regard for justice, and a spirit of phi-
lanthropy and beneficence." The historian of
Modern Europe had no sufficient evidence of
these assertions. Austria quietly plundered
the provinces as long as they were quiet, but
upon the smallest display of resistance, relent-
less tyranny was put forth. The "delegates
of Austria" did indeed find amusements for
the people, which tended to enervate them,
and they were patrons of the Italian opera,
painting, and sculpture; but a terrible reign
of civil and sacerdotal despotism ruled these
provinces, preventing all freedom of speech,
writing, commerce, or worship. The Italian
was like the eagle, chained and fed on a gen-
tleman's lawn, an object of some interest, but
without scope for his nobler nature, which
longed to break the chain and soar. Venice
and Genoa were at that time independent re-
publics, but an irresponsible aristocracy vir-
tually, and even ostensibly, governed the people.
Sardinia and Piedmont had independence under
the government of their king, who ruled with-
out a constitution. The governments of
Southern Italy were pure despotisms; that of
Pontifical Rome, what it had been before,
what it is now, semper eadem. Such was Italy
when, like its own Vesuvius, the great French
revolution burst forth in fiery streams and
resistless impetuosity.
There can be no doubt now, as Lord
Brougham has proved, that the aim of the
French revolutionists was to secure freedom
16
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
for themselves, and to protect against foreign
interference all nations struggling for freedom
also, in whatever form, monarchical or repub-
lican.
Allied Europe made war upon them in the
hope of restoring absolute monarchy, and
France marshalled her armies and launched
them upon the territories of her enemies. Italy
was to a considerable extent prepared to receive
the new doctrines, and awaited with hope the
march of the invaders as they rushed forth to
her plains, from what she in the main con-
sidered to be regenerated France. It is not
proper or possible here to describe the strug-
gles which ensued. France found a leader in
the person of Napoleon Buonaparte, who over-
came all resistance, and in successive cam-
paigns overthrew the despotisms by which
Italy was governed. Mainly under the influ-
ence of Buonaparte, himself an Italian by
birth, although a French citizen, the French
republic held Italian lands, as conquered, or
bartered them with Austria for political ends.
When Buonaparte became Consul and Em-
peror, his Italian policy was the undisguised
conquest of the whole peninsula under the pre-
tence of deliverance. Yet Italy was freer and
happier under the régime of Buonaparte than she
had been under her own princes, and Austria.
The power of the Pontiff, the most terrible of
all to her, was held within the clutch of the
great conqueror. The changes through which
various portions of Italy passed during the long
struggle, from the first republican invasion to
the restoration of absolute monarchy in 1815,
would demand space to relate beyond that
assigned to our present purpose. When Buo-
naparte was a captive in St. Helena, the Bour-
bon was again seated on the throne of France,
and the continental allies had formed "a holy
alliance" against liberty. A congress was
called at Vienna, amongst the purposes of
-
which the re-arrangement of Italy, upon some-
thing like the basis of the pre-revolutionary
period, was considered to be pressing and im-
portant. The assignment of territory to the
different sovereigns was then made, so as sub-
stantially to be what it was on the breaking
out of the late Italian war with Austria.
In the interval Italy felt the iron of bond-
age enter into her soul; her self-respect was
wounded to the core
wounded to the core; she panted for freedom
66
as the hart panteth for the water-brook."
All reliance upon the professed attachment to
liberty by either France or England vanished,
although some few of her patriots still turned
to both countries with hope. To work out
their own salvation by their own right hand
became the political creed of the States of
Northern Italy.
The endurance of Italy from the year 1815
to 1848 was a terrible trial. In Southern
Italy the degradation became great; super-
stition, servility, highway robbery, and men-
dicity, cursed it. The lazzaroni of Naples,
the brigands of Calabria and the Marches,
were the terror of travellers, the wonder of
foreigners, the shame of the country, and the
reproach and condemnation of her statesmen,
sovereigns, and Pontiff. Italy did not, during
this long period, remain silent; her protests
were loud.
She clanked her chains in the ears
of Europe, and demanded to be free. Nor did
she sit down, and in frantic despair smite her
own bosom and mar her own beauty. She
made efforts to shake of the yoke, which were
premature and unsuccessful, but proved her
vitality. This real national life was shown in
several ways, all of which have exercised an
influence upon her present fortunes. A desire
for union sprung up, the want of which had
so long impeded the progress of the nation.
It required many years to mature that feeling,
and it has scarcely even yet borne its full ripe

Engraved by G. Stodart from a 1
Photograph
Ging. 111azzine
LONDON JAMES S.VIRTUE
obwip cam
EMBE
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
17
fruit; but the seed was sown, and year by year
the growth of Italian unity gave hope to the
friends and alarm to the foes of Italy.
The efforts of Piedmont and Sardinia to
obtain by quiet means good government, and
arrive at sound principles of economical legis-
lation, laid the foundation for the resources.
which enabled Italy ultimately to array herself
against Austria. Men high up on the roll
of fame Charles Albert, D'Azeglio, Victor
Emmanuel, and Cavour, had each a place in
this good work; and there were others of
less note, but notable, who proved useful
auxiliaries.
Joseph Mazzini, an advocate, a man pos-
sessed of great administrative talent, eloquent,
a keen observer of the peculiarities of the
Italian mind, and of inflexible determination,
became the most active leader of the people.
Immediately upon the succession of Charles
Albert to the Sardinian throne, Mazzini ad-
dressed to him a memorial, demanding the
initiation of Italian unity, independence, and
liberty. The reply of the king was a decree
of banishment. The Genoese advocate then
became the exiled conspirator. He directed
the affiliated societies which were formed of
Italian exiles in every part of Europe, and
ultimately of residents in every part of Italy.
Various desperate enterprises were undertaken
by the members of these federated clubs,
which were unsuccessful; many perished in
conflict, and many were executed. These at-
tempts trained the Italian mind for the hour
of its liberation.
Among the efforts which were made between
1815 and 1848 by portions of the Italian
people, several were crowned with temporary
success. In 1820-21 the Neapolitans rose in
revolution, and compelled the king (Ferdi-
nand I.) to acknowledge a constitution. His
Majesty promised, signed, and publicly and
solemnly swore to maintain that constitution,
and for a short time all seemed hopeful and
happy for Naples. The Austrians, however,
soon interfered, garrisoned Naples, enabled
the king with security to forswear himself,
and the régime of irresponsible tyranny was
once more established. Then followed banish-
ments, incarcerations, executions, and a war,
constant and close, against everything which
bore the slightest semblance to liberty.
Immediately upon the revolution in Naples,
the people of Piedmont demanded constitu-
tional government with a unanimity and
vehemence which proved their earnestness.
Charles Felix was then King of Sardinia,
and was absent from Turin. His cousin, the
Prince of Langnano, afterwards so well known
as King Charles Albert, favoured, or appeared
to favour, the revolution, and as Regent put
forth what was equivalent to a decree for a
constitution. The king revoked all that was
done by the prince, and by the help of Austria
soon suppressed the call for freedom. The
chief place of strength in the king's dominions
was garrisoned by the troops of the emperor.
Once more Italy was prostrate beneath the
galling bondage of the German and Croat.
The year 1830 became memorable as the
date of a renewed French revolution, by which
the elder Bourbon was driven into exile and
Louis Philippe of Orleans placed upon the
throne. Various countries caught the con-
tagion, and Italy amongst them. In 1831
the people of the Roman States and of the
Duchy of Modena rose in arms; but the
Austrian Government, more prompt than or-
dinarily, covered these provinces with troops,
and restored the reign of despotic terror. In
this effort for freedom, the present Emperor
of the French, then a mere youth, took an
active part with his elder brother, and after
undergoing various perils, escaped to other
D
}
18
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
scenes and other events. In another chapter
the part taken by young Louis Napoleon will
be more properly set forth. When the Prince
de Carignon (Charles Albert) attained the
throne of Sardinia, he played the part of a
bloody and brutal tyrant, assigning to death
or bondage every friend of liberty upon whom
he could find a pretext for fixing an impu-
tation.
It was the old story of one king as bad
as another, and of statesmen rivals in the art
of intrigue and oppression, when Pio Nono
ascended the Pontifical throne. From what-
ever motive, the new Pope commenced his
reign by a grand amnesty to all Roman sub-
jects under imputation of, or sentence for,
political offences. This was on July 18, 1846.
From that day the doom of the Italian kings
and of Austria was sealed, although many
years were still to elapse before this "be-
ginning of the end" should issue in its final
consequences. All Europe was astounded at
the spectacle of a liberal Pope. One act of
concession followed another, until at last
Pius IX. signed a constitution. The enthu-
siasm throughout Italy was exuberant, and
the Pope literally prepared the way by his
own hand for the revolution of 1848.
The year 1847 was a year of peaceful revo-
lution for some portions of Italy. Freedom
of the press was decreed in Tuscany. A
national guard was instituted, and sixty thou-
sand citizens marched in procession to thank
the Grand Duke for his concessions. The
course of the Piedmontese government and
court was time-serving, vacillating, incon-
sistent, deceitful. Concessions were made but
slowly, and not until they were likely to be
received without thanks. The people of Sicily
were subjected to persecution and outrage the
most unendurable by the Neapolitan tyrant.
The Austrians occupied Farara without asking
permission of the Pope, and thus placed him.
before the people of all Italy as persecuted
for his benevolence and liberality. Charles
Albert-to gratify his own ambition, rather
than to promote liberty-sided with the liberal
cause, and wrote to the Pope, offering him
assistance against Austria.
In August of that year of gathering storms,
insurrection broke out in Calabria and on the
opposite shores of the Island of Sicily. It
was unsuccessful in both places, and followed
by the most cruel and sanguinary barbarities
on the part of the King of Naples.
However suddenly the revolution of 1848
burst upon Paris, it was no unexpected visitant
of Italy. That country had been in a state
of chronic revolution. Some hope of success,
some encouragement afforded by any leading
power, general and desperate revolt was cer-
tain to take place from the Alps to the
Apennines. That encouragement was found
and that hope inspired by the revolution in
France in 1848, and the most notable of its
heroes was Garibaldi.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
19
CHAPTER III
LIFE OF GARIBALDI.
BIRTHPLACE.—PARENTAGE.—BOYHOOD.-EDUCATION.-GOES TO SEA.-LOVE OF A SEAFARING LIFE.
INTREPIDITY AND TENDERNESS OF CHARACTER.-FIRST SEES ROME.-ASPIRATIONS OF PATRIOTISM.
-FIRST ENCOUNTERS A TEMPEST.-SICK AND A STRANGER IN A DISTANT LAND.
"The ardent zeal of one man may reform or save a nation.”—German Biographer of Luther.
Or the family and lineage of Garibaldi little | providentially called upon to perform. Natu-
is known, but it is generally believed that rally of good constitution, frank, open and
their origin is Teuton. Garibaldi is a German daring, his boyhood was literally spent, so
name, and means "bold in war." The first far as its recreations were concerned, in seek-
part of the word is from the root of the old ing danger. He was an expei. mariner, adroit,
word for spear-Anglo-Saxon gár, Old Norse nimble, strong, and self-reliant, dauntless of
geir, Old Saxon ger. From this comes the the storm, fearing nothing but God. His
word "German," i. e. "spearman."
spearman." From it chief delight, in the way of manly exercise,
comes the French guerre, and English war. appears to have been in swimming. His own
"Bald" is "bold." There was a Duke Gari- words are "When and how I learned to
bald in Bavaria in the sixth century, and the swim I cannot at all remember; it seems to
name was known in Lombardy in the eighth. me that I must always have known how, and
It is preserved in Germany at present in the that I was born amphibious. Therefore, in
corrupted form of Gerbel. One may find in spite of the little inclination which all who
the build and complexion of Garibaldi an in- know me are aware I have to sound my own
teresting commentary on this Teutonic origin trumpet, I will simply say, without believing
of his name. Certainly the significance of
Certainly the significance of I am boasting, that I am one of the strongest
the name proves the maxim bonum nomen, swimmers in existence."
bonum omen.
The mother of our hero was named Rosa
Joseph Garibaldi, the hero and
Italy, was born in Nice the deliverer of Raguindo, and for her he entertained the most
4 M
22nd July, 1807.
The General himself takes some pleasure in
affirming that he was born in the same chamber
as the great Marshal Massena. Garibaldi was
the son of a sailor, and the grandson of one.
His grandfather owned several merchant ships,
and always held the command of one. His
father was born on board ship, brought up a
sailor, and commanded a vessel of his own.
He attained at one time considerable wealth,
but did not leave much to his children.
The physical education of our future hero
comported with the exploits he was afterwards.
intense love and veneration. She was a woman
of the rarest excellence, with supreme moral
fortitude and the tenderest parental affection.
Her influence upon her son was great. All
mothers influence the destiny of their sons.
far beyond what they suppose, but rarely has
such an influence been felt by a son from a
mother as in the case of Garibaldi. Among
the most remarkable sayings attributed to
Garibaldi are those in which he describes his
mother and his love for her. The following is
pervaded by the wild imagination and ardent
enthusiasm characteristic of the man: "One
20
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
•
T
of the bitters of my life, and not the least, has
been that I could not make her happy, but on
the contrary, have saddened her latter days.
God alone can know the anguish which my
adventurous career has given her, for He alone
can know the immensity of the affection she
bore me. It is to her pity for the unhappy
that I owe that great love-I will say more,
that profound charity for my country which has
procured me the affection and sympathy of my
unfortunate fellow-citizens. I am not super-
stitious, and yet I will affirm that in the most
terrible instances of my life, when the ocean
roared under the keel and against the sides of
my vessel, which it tossed like a cork-when
bullets whistled in my ears like the winds of
the tempest, I certainly saw her on her knees,
buried in prayer, bent at the feet of the Most
High, and for me. That which gave me that
courage at which people have sometimes been
astonished, was the conviction I felt that no
harm could happen to me while so holy a
woman-while such an angel was praying for
me!"
Alas! when the hero uttered these
words he little thought that he should tread
in vain the field of Aspromonte, and be borne
from its dishonoured soil a bleeding prisoner.
Much insight to the character of the man is
given by this romantic tenderness and lofty
conception of a mother's prayer-a mother's
blessing and a superintending Providence.
Active and daring as the early life of our
hero was, his chivalrous spirit seems not to
have been communicated by parental example,
or imbibed from instruction-it was original,
having all its springs in his own heart. His
father, Dominique Garibaldi, was quietly brave,
but so tender in his disposition, and so fond
of his son, that he discouraged his love of
danger, and was constantly apprehensive for
his safety when the ordinary duties of a sailor's
life devolved upon him. Garibaldi's own ac-
count of the cultivation of his early personal
prowess is this:-"My father did not have me
taught gymnastics, nor the use of arms, nor
horsemanship. I learned gymnastics by climb-
ing among the shrouds and in slipping along
the ropes; the use of the sword I learned in
defending my own head, and in giving my best
endeavours to split those of others; and equita-
tion by following the example of the best horse-
men in the world—the Gauchos."
He was placed early in life in as good a
school as his father could procure for him, who
was anxious to bestow upon his darling such
advantages as the education then common in
Italy could offer. Nice had some advantages
in this respect from its contiguity to France.
All the better classes in that city affected
French literature, and all classes could to a
certain extent speak the language. Garibaldi
was an apt, ready, and ingenious schoolboy,
but not much of a student. He made "trees
and running brooks" the pages of his study.
Before intrusting him to the perils of a school,
his parents engaged a priest, named Giovani,
as his governor. This man our juvenile hero
rather loved than respected. His next preceptor
commanded both feelings;-he was also a
priest. He directed his pupil's mind to the
history of his own country and the study of its
language; also to the Latin language and
Roman history. This course of study nursed
the patriotism which had already been lighted
in the ardent heart of the romantic boy. His
respect and affection for his schoolmaster, and
his love of Latin and Italian literature, did not
reconcile him to a quiet life. Thirsting for ad-
venture even then, the daring boy proposed to a
number of his school-fellows, flight to Genoa.
He longed to see that famous city in particular,
and the world in general, and to discover some
hardy pursuit in which his boyhood might en-
gage. Raffælo d' Andreis, Celestino Bumond,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
21
and Cæsar Parodi were schoolmates who readily
embraced a proposal novel and adventurous.
They seized a fishing boat and put to sea. A
priest saw them put out from shore, and, re-
cognising Garibaldi, hastened to his father,
who sent a "corsair" in pursuit. Off Monaco
the boat was overtaken, and the remarkable
crew carried back to Nice. The defeat of his
purpose produced an effect upon his mind which
he always afterwards remembered; and the cir-
cumstance of the voyage having been frustrated
by a priest, inspired him with a prejudice
against the whole order, which neither his love
for his early preceptor nor his gratitude to his
schoolmaster was sufficient to counteract.
-
Restored to study, he seems to have prose-
cuted it with ardour, notwithstanding his great
repugnance to a sedentary life. Especially he
was fond of the eloquence of old Rome, and the
soft yet brilliant Italian literature. Hence the
fitness of expression in which the hero has often
clothed his sublime thoughts, his grace and
ease of language in private intercourse, and the
flowing euphony of his periods when writing to
his friends, or advocating his country.
J
The time arrived when some calling in life
must be determined for the boy. His parents
and his eldest brother were willing to make any
sacrifices to secure him a professional career.
None of them much favoured the church, al-
though all of a religious turn. Garibaldi him-
Garibaldi him-
self had a contempt for the vocation of a lawyer,
although an intense admirer of forensic elo-
quence. Upon the medical profession he would
not bestow even a thought. He had a prefer-
ence for commercial over professional pursuits,
but above all loved the sea. He would gaze
upon it for hours in his childhood-his face
radiant with admiration of its beauty and its
glory. He would watch it when the sun threw
upon it its morning gleam, and would look to-
wards it with pensive eye when the last glories
of the day gave that rich but gloomy, that
mellow but saddening, light to its waves, which
every mind of delicate fancy has recognised.
He loved to wander by its shores in the pale
moonlight, and as it mirrored the heavens lit
up by reflections from so many distant worlds.
Had he been a heathen the sea would have
been his ever present goddess; had he been
born in polytheistical Italy, Neptune would
have been his ideal god. To be a sailor-a
wanderer in quest of unknown adventures, were
the alternatives of his taste. It became a ne-
cessary family resolve that he should go to sea.
How much this decision cost his idolising
mother! How it saddened the heart of his
calm and affectionate father! His mother
ceased not to weep while preparing the outfit
for her sailor boy, and the countenance of his
father became gravely sad. They well knew
that, eager for this species of excitement, he
would scent peril afar off, as the war-horse the
battle. The resolution of the lad was taken
too firmly to be set aside, and all else in the
loving circle of Dominique Garibaldi was made
to bend to the interests and supposed happiness
of Joseph.
Dominique committed his son to Angelo
Pesante, a friend, who commanded one of those
beautiful Italian merchantmen, then common,
and such as we even still sometimes see in our
English ports.
English ports. This man had much part in
forming, or at all events influencing, the cha-
racter of our hero, who loved and admired him
with both a personal and professional fervour.
During all the changes of his adventurous
career, Garibaldi dwelt in terms of rapturous
admiration on the skill, courage, and command-
ing influence of Captain Pesante. At that early
period of our hero's career, his mind seems to
have been filled with enthusiastic admiration
of the good and true, the brave and beautiful,
wherever he found these qualities. The name
22
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
of the vessel commanded by Pesante was the
Costanza, and when long years full of eventful
life had rolled over the head of Garibaldi, and
the name of the great and good chief vibrated
upon the ears and hears of all men, he still
remembered his favourite Costanza. In what
an interesting light it places the conqueror of
Sicilian independence, to think of him as he
stood a victor upon the shores of the far-famed
isle, exclaiming, as he discoursed with his friend
upon this first event of promising manhood,
"Beautiful Costanza! the first vessel in which
I ploughed the sea! Thy strong sides, thy
lofty light masting, thy spacious deck, all, even
to the female bust which leant over thy prow,
will remain for ever engraved in my memory
by the ineffaceable impression of my young
imagination. How gracefully, beautiful and
dear Costanza, did your crew, the true type of
our intrepid Ligurians, bend to their oars!
With what joy did I venture upon the balcony
to listen to their popular songs, and their har-
monious choruses; they sang songs of love, no
one taught them any other then; however in-
significant they might be, they affected, they
intoxicated me. Oh! if these songs had been
for our country, how they would have exalted
me; they might have made me mad! But
who could have told them at that period there
was an Italy! Who then could have taught
them that we had a country to avenge and set
free!" What a strange and beautiful blend-
ing of vivid imagination, eloquent speech, and
generous patriotism in these paragraphs! How
interesting to know how the sage regarded his
emotions when the hero-boy! Such was Gari-
baldi from the hour he first trod the deck of his
beautiful Costanza, until the hour when defeated
and an invalid he returned to his solitary rock
at Caprera, ever true, ever devoted to his country, Soon afterwards, on board another ship,
ever brave and loving and generous.
under another commander, Garibaldi encount-
Under the care of Angelo Pesante, he made ered his first storm.
ered his first storm. The vessel in which he
a voyage to Odessa, and on his return found
that his parents had been in great anxiety for
his safety; who therefore renewed their dis-
suasives of a seafaring life. Finding his reso-
lution unshaken, his father resolved to take
him a voyage with himself, on board a ship of
his own about to sail for Civita Vecchia. As
this gave the young patriot an opportunity of
visiting Rome, his joy at the prospect was
exuberant. His own account of his feelings
is: "To Rome! What joy to go to Rome!
What else was Rome to me, a fervent adept of
antiquity, but the capital of the world! A
dethroned queen, but her immense, gigantic,
sublime ruins, from which issued a luminous
spectre, the memory of all that is great in the
past.
The Rome I saw in my youth was not
only the Rome of the past, but also of the
future, bearing in its lesson the regenerating
idea of a people pursued by the jealousy of the
powers because it was born great, because it
had marched at the head of nations guided by
it to civilisation. Rome! Oh, when I thought
of her misfortunes, of her degradations, of her
martyrdom, she became dear and holy to me
above all things! I loved her above all things,
not only in the superb combats of her great-
ness during so many ages, but still in the
more recent events which I gathered into my
heart as a precious deposit. Far from being
diminished, my love for her afterwards in-
creased by distance and exile. Often, very
often, from the other side of the world, at 300
leagues from her, have I implored the All
Powerful to allow me to see her again. In
short, Rome was for me Italy, because I
viewed Italy only in the reunion of her scat-
tered members, and that Rome is for me the
simple and unique symbol of Italian unity."
-
•
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
23
.
1
was, escaped, but another ship foundered before
his eyes, exciting at once his pity for those
who perished and his admiration of the mighty
power which could thus hurl the tempest
against the massive deep and scatter its sur-
face in furious agitation. This first experience
of a tempest produced a deep impression upon
him, but did not lessen his love of his profes-
sion, nor repress that secret longing to move
amidst great dangers which was one of his
absorbing passions. Voyage succeeded voyage
in rapid succession, in which the young sailor
gathered all sorts of "salt-water experience."
Tempest, icebergs, capture by pirates, hard
work, and hair-breadth escapes marked this
portion of his career. To crown them all, he
was taken with serious illness at Constanti-
nople ; his ship sailed, and he remained with-
out money, helpless and friendless. Through
the generosity of a physician his recovery was
facilitated, and he obtained the situation of
tutor in an Italian family then resident in the
Turkish capital. As soon as he could obtain a
ship, he again launched forth upon the ele-
ment he loved so well. The name of this ship
deserves to be recorded, as it was the first he
commanded. It was the Notre Dame. He
entered as mate, but soon found his way to be
captain. In his now superior station our hero
pursued his vocation with talent, courage, and
persistence. His dream was Italy, when out
upon the silent sea, beneath the solitary
heavens; and time for reflection, and circum-
stances to invite it, were found in his lonely
hours. How was Italy to be saved? How
was the foot of the stranger to be banished
from her soil, to him hallowed as the birth-
place of mighty men and magnificent events?
Was the chain of bondage to eat into her
stricken and fettered bosom for ever? Such
were his reveries as his boat cut the ocean and
pursued its way over the world of waters.
He attributes his first clear prospects of
what a man should do for his country and for
his kind to an obscure Italian patriot, who
sailed with him to Taganrog. Further light
was thrown upon his duty as a patriot by
Emile Barrault, a Frenchman, whose subse-
quent career was not always equal to the prin-
ciples he conveyed to young Garibaldi. The
latter did not imbibe the sceptical doctrines of
the St. Simonian leader; but his theory of
patriotism and practical sympathy for the
oppressed took hold of the heroic mind of the
young captain, and held it fast, even until
now. That theory was, simply, that it was a
pious duty for every man to draw his sword in
defence of his country; that it is unjust to
assist his own country in the invasion of
another; but that he who made the oppressed
and invaded country his own, and drew his
sword to avenge its wrongs, and save its na-
tional existence, was more than a soldier or a
patriot-he was a hero. Speaking of the
change thus produced in his opinions and
aspirations, Garibaldi long afterwards said:-
"There arose then in my mind strange glim-
merings, by the light of which I saw in a ship
no longer a vehicle charged with the exchange
of the products of one country for those of
another, but a winged messenger bearing the
word of the Lord and the sword of the Arch-
angel. I became greedy for emotions, curious
for new things, asking myself if this irre-
sistible vocation, which I had at first believed
simply to be a captain of the long voyage,
had not for me horizons still unperceived. Of
those horizons I fancied I had a glimpse
through the vague and uncertain mists of the
future.
ور
*
J
24
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER IV.
GARIBALDI BECOMES A POLITICIAN.-FIRST REVOLUTIONARY ENTERPRISE.-MARVELLOUS ESCAPES.
-HEROIC RESCUE OF A STUDENT FROM DROWNING.-A SAILOR ONCE MORE.
*
"Honor to him who, self-complete and brave,
Can carve his heroic pathway to the grave;
In heeding nought of what men think and say,
Makes his own heart his world upon the way.'
-The New Timon.
""
It was in 1830, when Garibaldi was but
twenty-three years of age, that he first became
conscious that there were persons working for
the independence of Italy. The revolution of
1830, which placed Louis Philippe upon the
throne of France, awakened some hope; and
the sympathy shown in Italy created some
consciousness that there was a political life in
his country with which he was not familiar,
and the existence of which he did not suspect.
It was in 1831, when the products of the
new French revolution began to be understood
well in Italy, that these facts became clear per-
ceptions to the aspiring mariner. He landed
in Marseilles, on a return voyage from the
East, and there learned the results of the revo-
lution in Piedmont, to which reference has
been made in another chapter. He was indig-
nant at the vindictive slaughter of so many
Italians in cold blood by the king, incited by
Austria. In this frame of mind he became
acquainted with Mazzini, and a fervent friend-
ship sprung up between the two men. Mazzini
possesses the faculty of attaching to him
ardent minds, and never did a more ardent
thinker and a man of more fervid emotion link
his destinies with those of Mazzini. In 1833
the latter fled from the menaces and proscrip-
tions of Louis Philippe, and sought shelter in
that home of continental political fugitives
Switzerland. When the plans of Mazzini were
matured, another attempt was made at revolt
in Italy, of which brief notice was taken in a
previous chapter, and in this Garibaldi agreed
to bear a part, which was to enter on board the
Sardinian frigate the Eurydice, to convert as
many sailors to the national faith as possible,
to seize the ship, and place it at the service
of the Mazzinists. The labours of this new
apostle of liberty were not ineffectual; he
made proselytes, and committed to them the
execution of the project, while he proceeded to
take part in an attempt to seize the barracks
of the gendarmes at Genoa. Having waited
at the rendezvous, no gathering appeared; the
authorities had discovered the plot, and no
attempt was made to execute it. Troops
began to surround the place where the young
mariner loitered, and there was little time to
secure his safety. He entered a fruiterer's,
and informed the landlady of his position.
Either she was a partisan, or a woman of
compassionate feeling; she hid our adventurer,
provided him a disguise, as if he had brought
fruit from the country to her shop. He made
his escape. When, after his deliverance of
Naples, he related the events of that evening,
he used these touching, but, alas! prophetic
words:"In the evening, about eight o'clock,
with the pace of one who walked for pleasure,
I left Genoa, thus commencing that life of
struggle, persecution, and exile which I have
not, according to all probability, seen the end
of." This occurred on the 5th of February,
1834; for the efforts of Mazzini to bring about
a revolution in 1833, were, from various causes,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
25
ܐ܂
retarded-more especially through the deficient
enterprise of the Polish military leader. The
flight of the quasi countryman was for the
mountains, and was most embarrassing and
perilous. He had to cross orchards and gar-
dens, climb walls, gates, and fences, and at
last, foot-sore, torn, bruised, and weary, he
was free. He persevered, by night journeys,
until he reached his loved Nice. Then his
delicacy, and love of his mother prevented his
appearance at her house, and he sought rest.
and succour with an aunt. He was not, how-
ever, safe at Nice, or did not deem himself so.
He resumed his fugitive course next day, ac-
companied by two other young patriots. They
travelled until they reached the Var, which at
that period of the year, was generally swollen.
His friends could not swim, and were obliged
to remain behind. He dashed into the flood,
which he bravely breasted and crossed. He
considered himself safe, but new perils awaited
him. He most unwisely, because too trust-
ingly, approached a post of douaniers, and had
the extraordinary candour to tell them who he
was, and why he left Genoa. They arrested
him, and carried him to Dragnignan. There
he was placed in a chamber fifteen feet above
a garden. He bounded with ease from his
prison into the soft flower beds. The douaniers
dared not pursuit in that fashion, and made,
as Garibaldi wittily called it, "the grand
tour of the staircase." By the time they
reached the garden, he was far beyond its
limits, and away for the mountains, always
the hope of the fugitive. He was ignorant of
the country, but he knew the heavens, and
guided by the stars, directed his flight towards
Marseilles. Next day at evening he reached
a village, and entered the auberge. Supper
was demanded and supplied. The host waxed
familiar, and the fugitive, once more too frank,
told his whole story. The host coolly said, "I
-
feel it to be my duty to arrest you." Garibaldi
awoke to his danger, but successfully affected
to be indifferent, observing that he was still
hungry, and it would be time enough to make
him a captive after the dessert, offering double
fare. By degrees the young men of the vil-
lage, accustomed to meet there and read and
talk of the political news, arrived, and Gari-
baldi soon saw that his host had the means of
executing his threat. The young men resorted
to cards for their pastime. Garibaldi played
well-there were very few things which he
could not do well-and his compeers were
pleased. They sung, he sung. Nature, which
has bestowed so many gifts upon him, did not
stint herself in the bestowment of voice and
taste upon her favourite. He selected one of
the popular songs of Berenger, the poet of the
people. It was received with such hearty
encores, that even the stern and anti-revolu-
tionary host was delighted with the singer.
Day dawned upon the convivial party. By
this time they became aware of Garibaldi's
position, and shouted, " Vive la France! vive
l'Italia!" They had, during the song, which
was one of the sweetest of the national poet's
productions (le Dieu des bonnes gens), uttered
cries of "Vive Berenger." The French vil-
lagers took the fascinating singer under their
protection, and conducted him beyond the
reach of danger. The churlish host showed
no disposition to "stay proceedings;" he had
regard to his custom; the Italian wanderer
was a favourite. Garibaldi's own reflection
upon the incident is characteristic-" Certes,
Berenger died without knowing the service he
had rendered me.”
Our hero arrived at Marseilles, after three
weeks of toilsome journeying. On his arrival
there he congratulated himself on seeing "his
name in print for the first time;" a sort of
pleasure which most people find who appear
D
26
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
¡
before the public through the press, although
it is not in all cases a ground for gratulation.
Garibaldi read in a French paper that he was
a person sufficiently important to be pro-
nounced worthy of death in his own country.
Alas! how many heroes and benefactors have
been denounced as aliens and criminals in the
beginning of their career, and, if unfortunate,
are ever the objects of calumny and denuncia-
tion, unless life closes over their generous and
glorious deeds! Possibly this may be even yet
the fate of Garibaldi. Who that has read of
the events of Aspromonte, and of those which
succeeded, and fears not that the liberator of
Italy may yet be the doomed one of its rulers?
The fate which was thought appropriate by
the governing powers of Italy was sufficiently
serious to induce the new revolutionary aspirant
to change his name to Pane. He was sheltered
in Marseilles by one whose name deserves to
be perpetuated, Joseph Paris; and as the port
afforded facilities for employment to a sailor,
the generous host soon found for his protégé a
situation as mate on board a French merchant
ship. While preparing for his voyage, he had
an opportunity, under most difficult circum-
stances, of saving the life of a young student
who fell into the basin of the port. This
heroic action was performed in sight of a vast
crowd of persons, and among them the mother
of the youth. "Joseph Pane" became a no-
torious and favourite person in Marseilles.
The deliverer and the delivered never met
again. Garibaldi sought reward for all his
good actions, not in the approbation of men,
but of his conscience and his God.
For the third time our hero, as a sailor,
visited Odessa. Probably these trips to the
Black Sea account for the sympathy he has
ever since shown for the populations of Bessa-
rabia, Moldavia, and Wallachia. During this
voyage occurred one of the most romantic
incidents of his romantic career. On a night
of clear moonlight, as he sat on the bulwark of
his ship, looking out upon the serene waters of
the Bosphorus, he saw a boat advance with
muffled oars to mid-channel. The crew took
up a sack and cast it into the sea. Garibaldi
at once recollected that the Turks adopted this
inhuman method of punishing females of their
harems, sometimes even when there was only
suspicion of crime. He leaped into the water,
swam to the spot, and dived, and brought up the
sack. It contained a beautiful Circassian girl.
She was restored, and preserved secretly in the
vessel until opportunity was found to place
her under the care of the English consul at
Odessa, by whom she was ultimately restored
to her parents.
Returning to Marseilles, he found there a
frigate of the Bey of Tunis, and went on board.
Leaving it in the port of Gouletta, he came
back again to Marseilles in a Turkish brig.
Thus early he made himself acquainted with
many nationalities, and the marine services
of many countries.
At this juncture Marseilles was afflicted.
with cholera, and great exertions were made
to induce persons to volunteer as attendants
at the hospitals. Garibaldi offered himself
for this dreadful service, in company with
another brave man whose name deserves to be
recorded, Triestan, a Tunisian. These two
benevolent and fearless men continued their
services for a fortnight, until the rage of the
epidemic abated. It was not in the breeze or
the battle only that Garibaldi feared nothing;
whenever opportunity presented itself, to dare
anything for a cause that was good, he was
ready to make it available.
His expertness as a swimmer, and great
strength especially as a diver, gave him the
power, on many occasions, of saving lives from
drowning. While at Marseilles, a negro sailor
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
27
**
fell overboard. Garibaldi plunged into the intercourse became frequent, their friendship
water and rescued him.
His desires for a seafaring life, and the
necessities of his situation, urged him to seek
employment on board ship, and he entered as
second mate on board the brig Nantonnier, of
Nantes, about to depart for Rio Janeiro.
ardent, their opinions almost identical, and
their aspirations for the liberation of Italy,
and of all oppressed nations, pure and peren-
nial. Garibaldi and Rosetti were engaged at
Rio several months in commercial enterprises,
but they sighed for active political life, espe-
cially in those aspects of it where personal
risk and valour are required.
He arrived in safety at that port. His
admiration of the scenery and vegetation of
the southern portions of the American continent
has often been expressed with deep feeling,
refined taste, and poetical conception. Re-
ferring to this voyage, and his entrance to
Rio, once he said, "After having passed along
the granite rocks which so well conceal the
port from all eyes, that the Indians, in their
expressive language, have called it Nelhuo hy,
that is to say 'hidden water;' when after
having cleared the pass which leads into its
bay, clear and calm as a lake; when upon the
western shore of this bay I saw the city rise,
dominated by the Pas d'Annear, an immense
conic rock, which serves not as a Pharos but
as a signal shaft for the navigator; when I
saw springing around me that luxuriant vege-
tation of which neither Africa nor Asia had
given me but a weak idea,-I remained truly
astonished at the spectacle which unfolded
itself before me."
He had scarcely landed at Rio Janeiro when
an incident occurred which influenced the
future fortunes of our hero. There were, at
that time, many Italians in the place, and
among them one named Rosetti, as true, brave,
and noble-hearted a man as ever was perse-
cuted in Italy. When Garibaldi landed, he
passed Rosetti; a glance assured them mutually
of their nationality, and at the same time
with the intuitive perception of character
which both possessed, it made them friends.
They became, as Garibaldi himself described
their friendship, "brothers for life." Their
At this juncture, Rio Grande was in revolt.
against the Emperor of the Brazils, and had
declared itself a republic. Its early fortunes
were unpropitious. The Emperor made war
with superior force, and horrible cruelty. The
little republic resisted with fierce tenacity, but
unequal power. Bento Gonzales, the presi-
dent, and Zambecarri, his secretary of state,
were captured and confined in the fortress of
St. Creag, at the entrance of the port of Rio
Janeiro. Means of communication were opened
between the captives and the two Italian
patriots, who resolved to throw themselves
heart and hand into the cause of the oppressed
state. The imprisoned president issued letters
of marque to cruise against Brazil, and Gari-
baldi became the accredited commodore of this
undertaking.
When tidings of his exploits reached Europe,
he was denounced as "a corsair," "a pirate,"
and the more signal his achievements, the more
lavish was the abuse of those portions of the
European press in the interests of despotic
governments. Yet this portion of his career
may be fairly ranked with the most honourable
and heroic of his darings. He acted with
justice, mercy, and magnanimity, protecting
the weak, combating the mighty, true to his
friends, faithful to the cause he espoused, and
as generous to his foes. He sought no wealth.
by prizes, and performed no acts contrary to
fair and honourable maritime war: his moral
greatness was never more conspicuous.
:
28
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
}
**
CHAPTER V.
GARIBALDI AS ADMIRAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF RIO GRANDE.-VICTORIES AND VICISSITUDES.
"Of all that sailed on the perilous sea,
Of rovers bold, the boldest was he."-Song of the Corsair.
GARIBALDI proclaimed maritime war upon the
Brazilian empire with one vessel, a sort of
fishing smack, of thirty tons burthen, and with
a crew of sixteen men. This was the romance
of war. An enterprise more wildly daring was
never attempted; more skilfully conducted
was never performed. The vessel was named
the Mazzini. Garibaldi conferred this cog-
nomen in honour of the man under whom he
had first raised his hand for Italian freedom.
Whatever may be the divergence of opinion or
policy between these two Italian patriots,
Garibaldi regarded the name as a symbol of
nationality, and suitable as a password of war
for a people struggling to be free.
The new admiral was not a man to remain
long inactive. He had not studied in the
school of "how not to do it." His barque was
no sooner fitted out and manned, than it was
launched forth for service.
A few miles from the mouth of the roads of
Rio Janeiro are situated the Isles of Marica.
The largest of these possessed a good an-
chorage. Thither the new "Corsair " steered,
His little armament was so well concealed that
he could with impunity cast anchor. Landing,
his agility enabled him to "scramble up" to
the highest point of the overhanging heights,
and look forth upon the sea. The scene
before him, associated with the novelty of his
position, awakened the deepest emotions in
his poetic mind. His own description of those
emotions is full of his own ever overflowing
imagination. "Then I stretched forth my
arms with a feeling of happiness and pride,
and I uttered a cry, as an eagle hovering at
his highest flight. The ocean was mine, and
I took possession of my empire. I had not
long to wait for an opportunity of exercising
my power. While I was, like a sea-bird,
perched on the top of my observatory, I per-
ceived a goëlette sailing under Brazilian
colours. I made a signal for putting again to
sea, and descended to the beach.”
The Brazilian ship was made an easy cap-
ture. She was commanded and manned by
cowards; she was summoned by a resolute and
daring man. "The Corsair," as he was now
to be unjustly nick-named, had an opportunity
of showing his real character. A Portuguese
passenger, crouching with abject cowardice,
offered the captor a splendid casket of dia-
monds to spare his life. Garibaldi scornfully
closed the precious treasure, handed it back
to the suppliant, assuring him that he was
not there to plunder or to destroy, but as the
enemy of the Brazilian empire. The goëlette
was seized, the Mazzini was useless, as the
Corsair of Rio Grande commanded a ship of
more power.
Garibaldi, on taking possession of his prize,
was in circumstances of considerable peril. He
had now committed himself. If captured, his
fate would have been that of a pirate, for the
Brazilian Emperor's Government would have
paid no attention to the commission of Gon-
zales. The prize was within range of the
batteries of the port; he therefore scuttled
the Mazzini, and bore away for the open sea.
The goëlette was the property of an Austrian
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
29
merchant, and that circumstance afforded the
captor great delight. It was his first victory
over the chief enemy of his native land. He
gave to his new ship the name of Scana Pilla,
a designation given by the Brazilians to the
young Republics of South America; the mean-
ing was expressive and suitable, "people in
a rage." It was, however, the rage of those
who were willing to do and dare all things
for liberty; for whom life could offer no repose,
unless it were blessed with freedom. Gari-
baldi liked this name; for, with the exception
of Rosetti, there were none of his crew in
whom he had much confidence, and some of
them were reckless and unreliable. When
sufficiently off the bay he let down the yawl
of the captured ship, placing the prisoners and
their property in it, with sufficient supplies.
Garibaldi had on this occasion also liberated
five negro slaves whom he found on board,
but they naturally preferred staying with him
to returning to bondage. They became part
of his crew.
Thus he had his first opportunity
as a liberator, and from that hour until the
latest and most glorious of his career, he has
deeply sympathised with the oppressed negro
race, and always expressed abhorrence of their
oppressors.
His next anchorage was at Maldonato, a state
of the Eastern Republic of the Uruguay. Here
he was well received by the people and the
authorities. Rosetti set out for Monte Video
to sell the captured cargo, and arrange such
other affairs as were necessary to the prospect
of a successful cruise.
Our commodore remained more than a week
at the mouth of the Maldonato river, when a
change took place in the attitude of the autho-
rities. Oribe was president of the Monte Video
Republic, and did not recognise Rio Grande
as a free and independent State. He ordered
the authorities at Maldonato to scize Garibaldi
and his goëlette. The governor, however,
warned instead of arresting him. Our corsair
thus found time for a little exploit before
he left, characteristic of his intrepidity. A
merchant residing in the neighbourhood had
purchased a considerable portion of the coffee
which formed the cargo of the goëlette. He
could not be induced up to that moment to
pay, and there was room for suspecting that
he had influenced Oribe to order Garibaldi's
arrest that he might rob him with impunity.
Garibaldi placed his pistols in his belt, flung
his cloak over his shoulders, and proceeded
in quest of the fraudulent merchant, whom he
found enjoying the evening air before his own
door. He saw his creditor approach, and
waved his hand, implying that there was
danger in his advancing. Garibaldi walked
up, placed a pistol to his breast, quietly say-
ing, "My money." The alarmed culprit pre-
tended to offer explanation. The words were
repeated; he trembled and hesitated. A third
time, with sterner accent, the demand was
uttered, and the money was paid. Garibaldi
passed in safety to the Scana Pilla. Before
midnight he weighed anchor to ascend the
Plata. At daybreak he encountered a new
and formidable danger; the ship was amidst
the breakers of the Piedras Negras. As these
rocks were marked upon the charts and well
known to the commander himself, he could
not account for such a calamity, as he had
constantly consulted the compass during the
night. The riddle was solved when the danger,
through the coolness and skill of Garibaldi,
was averted. Before leaving Maldonato, he
had ordered the muskets and sabres to be
placed on deck; these caused the deviation of
the compass, and in this way had nearly
caused the loss of the goëlette. So imminent
was the peril that the stoutest of the crew be-
came pale, and even the most profane prayed.
30
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Garibaldi himself considered that all must
have been lost had not the ship answered to
the helm in a manner which could not be
considered otherwise than extraordinary. It
seemed as if the hand of the Almighty was
stretched forth in especial interposition to save
a life precious to human progress, liberty, and
happiness.
own.
It seemed as if danger marked him for her
When the ship reached Jesus Maria,
there was no means of landing, as he had
given his yawl to the captives of the goëlette.
He made a raft, and, attended by a single
sailor, made for a farmhouse on the coast.
This sailor was an Italian, and, singularly,
was named Garibaldi, although no relation of
his captain. Maurice Garibaldi had, like his
chief, a gallant heart. After incurring some-
thing approaching to miraculous escapes from
drowning, they got beyond the breakers, and
Joseph Garibaldi landed, while Maurice guarded
the raft.
The scene presented to the gallant corsair
was wonderful. He was on one of the most
picturesque parts of the Oriental plains, so
called because situated on the east side of the
river Uruguay. It was "a boundless prairie,
a carpet of verdure and flowers," as he him-
self described it. The hare, ostrich, antelope
traverse this rich and beautiful plain, and are
hunted by the Gaucho horsemen, whose feats
of horsemanship are as wonderful as their life
is wild. Garibaldi's courage was somewhat
tested by the fearlessness with which numerous
animals approached him, moistening his face
even with their breath! They would stand as
if stupified with astonishment, and gaze on
him; except the gazelles and ostriches, which
having, as it were, gratified curiosity, would
run with the utmost speed, occasionally turn-
ing to see if they were pursued.
Garibaldi approached the lone mansion, to
ascertain whether his desire to purchase food
could be gratified. The master of the house
was absent; his wife, a very young woman,
could not, without his permission, sell the
strange captain any supplies, but invited him
to await the return of her lord. During the
interval Garibaldi found the lady to be an
accomplished scholar and poetess; she pre-
sented him with the Spanish poems of Quin-
tana, to induce him to study the language.
Garibaldi is not generally known to be a man
His
of such refined taste as is the fact.
delight in the ancient and modern classics of
Italy is boundless, and he has studied French
and English poetical literature profoundly.
In one of his ecstasies, as they may be called,
when Dumas visited him after the war of
Italian Independence, he thus spake of him-
self:
•
C
(
"Many of my friends have told me that I
am more a poet than anything else. If one
can only be a poet upon the condition of
having written the Iliad,' 'La Divinà Co-
media,' the Meditations' of De Lamartine,
or the 'Orientales' of Victor Hugo, I am no
poet. But if it be a poet to pass hours in
seeking in the azure depths of the waters the
mysteries of submarine vegetations; if it be
a poet to remain in an ecstasy before the Bay
of Rio Janeiro, of Naples, or of Constanti-
nople; if it be a poet to dream of filial ten-
derness, childish remembrances, or early love,
amidst balls and bullets, without thinking
that your dream may terminate by having
your head broken or an arm carried away—
then I am a poet,
"I remember perfectly well that one day
in the last war, worn out with fatigue, not
having slept for two nights, having scarcely
been off my horse's back for two days,
watching Urban and his twelve thousand
men with my forty Bersaglieri, my forty
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
31
horse, and a thousand men armed in all
ways, following a little path on the other side
of Mont Orfano, with Colonel Turr and five or
six men, I stopped all on a sudden, forgetting
fear and danger, to listen to the song of a
nightingale. It was night, moonlight, and
splendid weather. The bird shook out upon
the wind his chaplet of harmonious notes, and
it appeared to me as I listened to this little
friend of my early days, that I felt a beneficent.
and regenerative dew shower down upon me.
They who surrounded me believed that I hesi-
tated as to the road we should follow, that I
was listening if there were not the grumbling
noise of distant cannon, or thought I heard
the steps of horses resounding on the high
road. No, I was listening to the song of the
nightingale, which I had not heard for perhaps
ten years, and the ecstasy lasted not only till
those who were with me had repeated, 'General,
there is the enemy!' but until the enemy him-
self, having said 'Here am I,' by firing upon
us, had put the nocturnal charmer to flight."
With such a temperament Garibaldi found
himself agreeably associated in the estancia,
as the houses in that part of South America
are designated.
On the return of the master, or capitaz, as
the owner of such a house is titled, Garibaldi
was able to transact his business; and having
enjoyed the hospitality of this half civilised
man and his poetic wife, by daybreak a bullock
1
was brought to the shore, slaughtered, cut up,
and laid upon the raft. There was a furious sea,
the breakers foamed and fretted, presenting a
scene awfully grand and perilous. To return
was a danger greater than even the adven-
turous approach. The raft itself was a table
with a cask fastened to each leg, and a pole in
the middle upon which the provisions were
hung. The raft sunk until the water reached
the knees of the daring voyagers. From the
ship anxious eyes watched the unsteady table
as it was tossed amongst the surging waters,
and between the jutting rocks, upon which
every moment it appeared as if it must be
dashed to pieces. The two Garibaldis, la-
borious and fearless, worked a passage through
the rocks, and rolled their frail support over
the swelling waves. As they passed the
breakers the danger increased. They could not
with the pole by which motion was propelled
reach the bottom, and could therefore give no
direction to the raft, which was sinking. The
current was so strong that at last it carried
them away from the ship towards the Atlantic.
Their only remaining hope of safety was in
the presence of mind of the men on board
ship. They set sail, passed the sinking raft,
threw a rope which the Garibaldis attached
firmly to their frail support, and which was
eventually hauled alongside, and the two
heroes saved. The ship remained in sight of
the port of Jesus Maria that day.
❤
32
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER VI.
BATTLE AND VICTORY.-DESPERATELY WOUNDED.-A PRISONER.
RE-CAPTURE.-TORTURED.-CAPTIVITY.-LIBERATION. -ONCE MORE A COMMODORE.
GARIBALDI'S FIRST
"The patriot's hope, the patriot's zeal,
For ever dimmed, for ever crost;
Oh! who can tell what heroes feel
When all but life and honor's lost?"-MOORE.
THE goëlette-Scana Pilla-remained all night
in the situation where she had reposed during
the previous day. Two barques appeared from
the Monte Video side, which Garibaldi per-
sisted in supposing to be friendly, until the red
flag had been displayed. This circumstance
This circumstance
caused him to set sail; yet still he waited for
them. Escape was easy, a fatal confidence
blinded him, while the vigilance of genius still
kept him on the alert. While in those oppos-
ing states of mind, one of the vessels neared
the goëlette. Our captain ordered the arms
upon deck, and the men to their quarters.
Only three sailors could be seen on board the
barque. As soon as it approached near enough,
the deck was at once covered with enemies,
who fired into the goëlette. Garibaldi re-
sorted to tactics such as an experienced sailor
would in such a case assume; but the ship did
not obey; the helmsman, Florentino, a gallant
Italian, fell dead from a musket ball. Mean-
time the ship, being well manned, fastened
itself to the goëlette in order to board, and the
crew began to mount. Shot and cutlass dis-
posed of the intruders swiftly and gallantly,
Garibaldi's sword cleaving its desperate way
foremost and truest. He then seized the helm,
by which Florentino lay a corpse. At the mo-
ment a bullet struck him between the ear and
the carotid artery, passing to the back of his
neck. He fell senseless on the deck; the
the
negroes whom he had liberated, and other
sailors with them, hid in the lower parts of
G
-ESCAPE.-
the ship, leaving the combat to the Italians
alone.
alone. Those who most valiantly fought were
Maurice Garibaldi and one Louis Carniglia,
the pilot. The enemy intimidated by the loss
of life among his crew, and the intrepid
resistance offered, shoved off.
Thus our hero fought his first battle, won
As
his first victory, received his first wound.
at Aspromonte, his last conflict, he is chief,
and amongst the first to fall; as then, his
heroic, conduct won all who could see how
nobly he dared and did.
He lay for an hour unconscious on the deck,
when life again slowly dawned upon him. His
despair may be imagined when it is stated
that no one on board was an educated seaman,
or had any experience such as would enable
them to direct the ship. Even his friend Louis,
"the pilot," was supposed to be incapable in
such an emergency. As consciousness returned,
the wounded captain called for the chart, and
pointed as distinctly as his prostration allowed
to the direction in which he wished his crew to
proceed. Louis proved more expert and able
than his want of education would have allowed
any to think, and without accident of any sort,
the ship reached the destination which Gari-
baldi desired-Santa Fe, on the river Parana.
Meanwhile the situation of all, and more
especially the wounded chief, was painful and
disheartening. The cowardly crew moved
about with the most abject terror depicted
in their countenances, except the Italians, who
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
33
dum
shared the heroism of their leader. Garibaldi
considered his wound mortal, and naturally ap-
prehended that they would be made prisoners.
With that tenderness and refinement of senti-
ment by which he is so distinguished, he longed
to reach the shore, that his final resting-place
might be marked by some human hand. He
requested Carniglia, if possible, to see him
laid in a grave, who with tears pledged him-
self to perform the request. The verses of
Foscolo haunted the mind of the stricken war-
rior, “A stone, a stone, which may distinguish
my bones from those which death sows upon
the earth or in the ocean." How affectingly
tender his reflection: "My body would then
have satisfied the voracity of some sea-wolf or
cayman of the immense Plata. I should not
then have revisited Italy. I should not have
fought for her! For her, the only hope of my
life! But then, likewise, I should not have
seen her fall back again into shame."
The fate which Garibaldi so abhorred was,
alas! reserved for the gallant Carniglia, who was
destined soon to perish amidst the fury of the
billows he often braved so well.
-
During this sad voyage, Louis Carniglia
nursed Garibaldi with a woman's care, and
comforted him with the words of manly conso-
lation. The brave can only be cheered by the
brave, when misfortune hides from his eyes the
light of hope. For this man Garibaldi cherished
an imperishable gratitude, and risked his life
at a period not far distant to bring up his corpse.
from the deep sea, that it might have at his
hand a visible resting-place. "When," said
Garibaldi after an interval of many years, "I lay
in my long struggle upon the bed of pain; when
abandoned by all, I raved in the delirium of
death, he was seated close to my pillow with
the devotedness and patience of an angel, never
leaving me for an instant but to go and weep
where he could conceal his tears. Oh, Luigi!
thy bones, scattered in the abysses of the At-
lantic, merited a monument, upon which the
grateful proscribed exile might one day pre-
sent you as an example to his fellow-citizens,
and repay you these pious tears you shed over
him!"
For nineteen days the fallen chief had no
help or consolation but that which his rough
and gallant follower afforded. The vessel thus
reached Gualeguay. A ship was met at the
mouth of the Ibiqui, commanded by one Don
Lucas Jartauls, who treated the wounded hero
with extreme kindness, furnishing the vessel
with medicines and nutritious food and drink.
*This good Samaritan was imitated by some of
his passengers, and letters of introduction were
given by them to the governor of the province
of Entra Rios. Garibaldi was well received
by this exalted personage, whose physician
extracted the ball from the sufferer's neck.
This generous professor of the healing art was
as skilful as kind, and soon restored his patient
to health. Garibaldi was treated by the inha-
bitants with generous hospitality and respect.
The governor, Don Pascal Echague, did all he
could conducive to the safety and happiness of
a man whom he could not allow to depart and
would not treat as a prisoner. Our hero was,
however, virtually a captive, for he could not.
leave until the Dictator of Monte Video, the
brutal and treacherous Rosas, so decided.
Rosas did not give any instructions, and Don
Pascal was powerless without them to order
the liberty of his quasi prisoner. Garibaldi,
tired of inaction, resolved to escape. A friend
favoured him, furnishing him with horses and
a guide. The guide apparently betrayed him.
He was pursued, fired upon, surrounded by
cavalry at a moment when he was himself on
foot; resistance was impossible, he was captured.
He was immediately subjected to cruel treat-
ment.
F
34
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
He was placed on horseback, his hands tied
behind him, his legs bound to the saddle, so as
to place him in an attitude of suffering, and
was thus brought, weary, thirsty, and in pain,
to Gualeguay again.
The person then in authority was one Don
Leonardo Milan, a name which must pass down
to posterity loaded with infamy. The tyrant
demanded the names of the accomplices of
the fugitive's escape. He refused to betray
his friend. The infamous interrogator threat-
ened the heaviest punishment. Garibaldi,
cool and calm where danger is, firmly but
respectfully refused. He was ordered to prison,
and to the torture. The form of torture adopted
was what was called in the country the strapado.
His hands had for many hours been tied behind
his back. The guards then passed another cord
round his wrists, and placed the other end round
a joist, and pulling it towards them, Garibaldi
was raised four or five feet from the ground,
suspended by the wrists.
The infamous Milan then entered the prison
chamber of his victim, and sneeringly inquired
if he would then confess. Scorning the wretch
who sought by torture to make him betray his
friend, Garibaldi spat in his face, and endured
his sufferings in silence. Milan left the prison
chamber, ordering the guards to keep the victim
suspended until he confessed. For two hours
he hung in agony, which even he, resolute
and inflexible as he is, could not endure;
unconsciousness or death must have come to
his relief. This was the greatest trial of a
personal nature which Garibaldi has been ever
called to endure. His own retrospect of that
horrible ordeal is graphic exceedingly; it is an
agony to peruse it-what must it have been to
suffer the reality!
"No one will accuse me of being too tender
to myself, and yet I confess that I shudder every
time that circumstance of my life is recalled to
my mind. All the weight of my body hung by
my bleeding wrists and my dislocated shoulders.
My whole body burned like a furnace; at every
instant I begged for water, and my guards,
more humane than my executioner, gave me
some; but the water on entering my stomach,
dried up, as if it had been thrown upon a bar
of red hot iron. No idea can be formed of
what I suffered but by reading the tortures
inflicted upon prisoners in the Middle Ages.
At the end of the two hours, my guards took
pity on me, or believed me dead, for they let
me down. I fell flat, at full length. I was
nothing but an inert mass,
nothing but an inert mass, without any feel-
ing but heavy, severe pain-a dead body, or
nearly so.
-
"In this situation, and without my being
conscious of what they were doing to me, they
put me in fetters. I had travelled fifty miles
across the marshes with my hands and feet
bound. The mosquitos, numerous and en-
raged at this season, had made my hands and
face one single sore. I had undergone two
hours of frightful torture, and when I came to
myself, I was bound, side by side, with an
assassin. Although in the midst of the most
atrocious torments I had not said a single
word, and that, besides, he had not been con-
cerned in my flight, Don Jacinto Andreas was
imprisoned; the inhabitants of the country
were quite in a state of alarm.
Pag
"As for myself, but for the cares of a
woman, who was to me an angel of charity, I
should have died. She scorned fear, and came
to the succour of the poor tortured prisoner.
Her name was Madame Alleman. Thanks to
this heavenly benefactress, I wanted for nothing
in my imprisonment.
"A few days after, the governor, finding it
was useless to endeavour to make me speak,
and convinced that I would die rather than
denounce one of my friends, did not probably
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
35
dare to take upon himself the responsibility of
that death, and caused me to be conveyed to
the capital of the province, Bajada. I re-
mained there two months in prison, after
which the governor desired me to be informed
I was at liberty to leave the province. Although
I profess opinions opposed to those of Echague,
and that I have, more than once since that
day, fought against him, I do not wish to con-
ceal the obligations I owe him; and I should
wish, even now, that I had it in my power to
prove my gratitude for all he has done for me,
particularly for my restoration to liberty. At a
later period fortune threw into my hands all
the military leaders of the province of Guale-
guay, and all were set at liberty without the
least injury to their persons or their property.
"As for Don Leonardo Milan, I would not
even see him, for fear his presence, by recalling
to me what I had suffered, should make me
commit some action unworthy of myself."
S
66
From Bagada, through the service of pro-
fessional men of his own calling, he made his
way to Monte Video. There he met "troops
of friends," most of them his fellow-country-
men, not all exiles like himself, but many of
them settlers and mercantile adventurers, who
preferred, as Italy was then situated, seeking a
home in a far-off land. Concealment was,
however, necessary; his antecedents left no
favourable impression with the government;
his exploits as a rover "the Dictator re-
garded as feats that might be renewed in
opposition to himself. After a month spent
in recruiting their resources and maturing
their plans, he and Rosetti set out for Rio
Grande. The heroes travelled, according to
the phraseology of the country, à escatero, a
mode of journeying extremely rapid. The
travellers are mounted, but attended by two
or three horses each, which are trained to
follow in such cases. When the horses upon
which they are mounted become fatigued, the
travellers throw the saddles upon some of the
horses in their train, which are not tired,
having borne no weight, and thus com-
paratively fresh horses can be perpetually ob-
tained.
ence.
Rio Grande was then in fierce insurrection
against the Brazilian Empire. The people
had endured much oppression, but were re-
solved upon a renewed struggle for independ-
The capital, Porto Allegro, was in the
hands of the Imperialists. The seat of the
insurrectionary government was Pirantinino,
which was the chief town of a province bearing
the same name, wild, picturesque, beautiful,
and fertile. With this country, as with South
America generally, Garibaldi was charmed.
Upon its rich vales and wood-clothed moun-
tains he gazed with the delight which his taste
for the beautiful in nature could not fail to in-
spire. The Republic of Rio Grande was situated
along the Lagune of Los Patos-"the Lake of
the Ducks." This lagune is little less than a
hundred miles in length. The territory extend-
ing upon its shores was not of very great
breadth. The population was then warlike, and
burning to fling off for ever the Imperial yoke.
The Italian patriots were well received by
Almeida, the financial minister of the new
State. The president was absent; he was
Bento Gonzales, with whom Garibaldi became
acquainted when the former was a prisoner,
and from whom he had received his commis-
sion as a commodore to cruise in the naval
and warlike interests of the young republic.
The president was a brave, generous, upright
man, not always fortunate as a soldier, but
always deserving well of fortune. He was
thoroughly capable of appreciating Garibaldi
and Rosetti. These heroic men were not
desirous of sharing the honours and hospi-
talities of the little capital; they requested
36
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the minister to allow them to join the expe-
dition at the head of which the president had
placed himself. Gonzales was leading the
Rio Grande cavalry to check an incursion of
Brazilian horse.
The Brazilians having retired, Gonzales and
his new allies marched to Pirantinino, where
Garibaldi was commissioned by the president
as commodore of the Republic.
CHAPTER VII
FITS OUT TWO SMALL SHIPS.-IS AT ONE TIME A ROVER, A TROOPER, AND A GUERILLO.—IDOLISED
BY HIS MEN AND BY THE INHABITANTS.-IN LOVE.-DEFENDS AN OUTHOUSE ALONE FOR SOME-
TIME AGAINST ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY AUSTRIANS, AND AFTERWARDS AIDED BY A
PORTION OF HIS MEN DEFEATS THEM. -ORDERED ON AN EXPEDITION.-CARRIES HIS SHIPS
OVERLAND TO THE ATLANTIC.-SHIPWRECK: HARDLY ESCAPES WITH LIFE.
"Chance goes for much more than genius in the events of war and the fortune of heroes."-GARIBALDI.
OUR hero's first charge was the arming of
two lancions upon the river Camacua, which
debouched into the Lagune of Los Patos. He
first recruited their crews, who numbered
thirty men, of various nations, forming a body
of men, as to their diversities of nationality,
complexion, and character, more like the crew
of a pirate, than of regularly commissioned
vessels of war. Amongst these there were
three men upon whose courage and capacity
Garibaldi placed great reliance: his friend
Louis Carniglia, whose fidelity had been so
well proved; a Breton, of colossal stature,
called Gros-Jean; and a Frenchman named
François. Rosetti remained at Pirantinino.
Garibaldi proceeded to Camacua, where he
found another important coadjutor, of more
consequence than any he possessed, in the
person of John Griggs, an American of the
United States. This man possessed the means
of completing the equipment of the two sloops,
which he supplied, and with great ability and
perseverance assisted in accomplishing,
Garibaldi, Griggs, and the crews worked
ceaselessly until this task was performed, at
the end of two months. Forty coloured men
were recruited to strengthen the crews. Each
sloop, or lancion, as the vessels were indif-
ferently called, was armed with two small
bronze cannon. One of these was about
eighteen tons burthen, the other between
eleven and twelve. Garibaldi took command
of the larger, and Griggs of the smaller.
The first was called Le Rio Pardo, the second
the Republican. The ships were launched
upon the lagune, and at once captured several
small vessels of the enemy. The Impe-
rialists were very powerful, having thirty
sailing ships of war and one steamer. With
such odds Garibaldi could have effected
nothing, but for the character of the lagune
upon which the warfare was to be conducted.
It was only navigable for large vessels on a
channel along the eastern shore; the rest of the
space, especially on the opposite shore, was
extremely shallow, so that the Brazilian fleet
could not pursue the lancions beyond a mode-
rate distance. Sandbanks advanced from the
western shore far into the lagune, like the
teeth of a comb set far apart. Garibaldi
trained his men to go into the water and
literally lift the vessels from one side of a
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
37
•
-
sandbank to the other, utterly baffling the
most persistent pursuit. The Brazilians at
first despised and sneered at "the rebel fleet,"
but they soon found that an expensive pas-
time; richly laden ships were lost, armed
boats were vanquished, and the exploits of
Garibaldi's lancions were heard of throughout
South America. He conducted a desultory
naval warfare with such skill, vigilance, ra-
pidity, and terrible daring, that the fleet of
Brazil was powerless, and its crews dreaded
the names of Garibaldi and Griggs, as of
beings supernaturally endowed. The two little
sloops appeared to possess ubiquity, and their
captains to know everything. Garibaldi pro-
vided a good uniform for his men from the
spoils of the enemy, and in this as in every
thing his genius appeared, for health, com-
fort, and convenience of movement, were
happily provided for by the clothing he de-
vised. Garibaldi once said of himself, that
had he not been a sailor, his vocation would
properly have been a singer in the Italian
opera; one might say of him, after his equip-
ment of his crews with apparel, that he would
have answered equally well as a tailor or an
outfitter. Whether in building a ship, com-
manding it, or dealing with the minutiae of its
requirements, he was, however, a sailor above
all things. Sometimes the little ships were
shut up in the recess of some shallow, out
of which they could not get, while a more
powerful flotilla guarded its opening, but into
which the enemy could not penetrate. Then,
Garibaldi, mounting his crews, would transfer
them into a body of guerilla cavalry, and
appearing where neither friends nor foes could
possibly expect him, deal a quick and decisive
blow which the astonished foe was unpre-
pared to resist. He seemed to be ubiquitous
on land as well as on water, so that the
puzzled Brazilians were stunned and power-
less. Sometimes his crew would appear as a
company of infantry, and suddenly storm a
| position held by the infantry of the enemy,
who, generally astonished and terror-struck,
were an easy conquest..
war.
On the shores of the lagune there were very
many mansions, called estancias, which were
deserted by the owners in consequence of the
In these Garibaldi quartered his men,
where they found rich gardens, orchards, and
meadows. Here he could augment the number
of his horses, and feed them, and occasionally
give repose to his band. Vast herds of cattle
occupied these estates. Our hero was never in
want of "the sinews of war. The devotion
of his band was extreme. They almost wor-
shipped their leader. They were captivated
and held in subjection by five features of his
character, rarely found combined in one man:
a valour the most heroic, manners the most
courteous and tender, an intuitive insight to
character, a perfect negation of self, and
intellectual resources ready and ample in the
most difficult and terrible emergencies.
-
In the country stretching inward from the
lagune resided numerous families of wealth,
culture, and distinction, in rebellion against the
despotism of the Brazilian Emperor. It was the
native country of the president of the young
republic, Gonzales, and he had numerous rela-
tives occupying fine estates and a vast area of
country. The family were at once concentrated
and diffused like a Scottish clan, and like it,
bound together by bonds of fervent clanship, and
animated at the same time by a glowing nation-
ality. At two estancias, belonging to this family,
Garibaldi and his followers were often guests,
according to their quality. Donna Anna and
Donna Antonia, sisters of the president, were
the owners of those mansions, and formed
a strong personal friendship for our hero.
Hither Garibaldi would hasten when events
M
38
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
left nothing to be performed in the way of
exploit, and he has always referred to this
portion of his life with a feeling of exquisite
tenderness, and grateful affectionate remem-
brance of those beautiful dwellings and their
generous and hospitable inmates, happy in
their own amiability and resources, even while
the boom of the cannon and the blast of war
were so near them. In the house of Donna
Anna the gallant commodore experienced for
the first time the passion of love. There resided
with the Donna a family of refugees, among
whom was the daughter of one Doctor Paolo
Ferrara, named Manoela. With this beautiful
South American Garibaldi fell in love, but as
66
the course of true love never did run smooth,"
our hero was not privileged to find this instance
an exception. He loved not wisely, but too
well." The young lady was engaged, and to
no less a personage than the son of the presi-
dent. She was not insensible to the handsome
person, winning manners, varied intelligence,
and gallant spirit of the enamoured hero, but
that was all the requital his love found,
sought, or hoped,
Garibaldi, musing over these scenes of his
youth when his days were entering upon "the
yellow leaf," and "the fruits and flowers of
love were gone," remarked-"Manoela was
the absolute mistress of my soul. Although
without hopes of ever possessing her, I could
not help loving her. An occasion presented
An occasion presented
itself in which, being in danger, I had reason
to suspect that I was not indifferent to the lady
of my heart, and this consciousness which I had
of her sympathy, sufficed to console me for the
reflection that she could not be mine.
""
The danger to which he referred was indeed
one of the most imminent of his perilous career.
Donna Anna's estancia was named La Bana.
During one of our hero's visits, the crews drew
their boats on shore, and were engaged in curing
meat for their provision, before an "out-house,'
set apart for that purpose. While thus engaged,
intelligence was brought that Colonel Pietro de
Albreca, surnamed Moringue (pole-cat) for his
cunning, had landed a few leagues off, with
seventy horse and eighty foot, for the purpose
of killing or capturing Garibaldi, his band, and
their hosts and friends. The troops at Pietro's
disposal were Austrians, and other German
mercenaries, and Garibaldi, ever holding the
Austrians in detestation, longed to encounter
them on that distant field.
""
seen.
Garibaldi had sixty men in all. He sent out
a dozen to reconnoitre, and placed the remainder
under cover. The reconnoitring party having
scoured the neighbourhood, returned, all bearing
the same testimony, that no enemy was to be
There was a fog, which concealed Don
Pietro's party, and of which no one knew how
better to take advantage than he did. Not
feeling quite relieved by the report of his
scouts, the commodore spread the cattle about
the neighbourhood, which are accustomed in
that country to scent strangers, and show signs
of uneasiness. They were quiet, and our hero
thought the alarm unfounded. He dispersed
his men, some to the lancions on the beach,
some to the forge, others to fish, and a party
to cut firewood. Garibaldi remained alone.
The Pole Cat, and one hundred and fifty Aus-
trians, were crouching in a wood within five
hundred paces of him, Had he advanced as
quietly as he came there, it had been all over with
our hero for ever; but the charge was sounded,
and on came cavalry and infantry in full speed,
the infantry for speed clinging to the stirrups
of the horsemen. Garibaldi and the cook had
just time to reach the "galpon" (a place for
cooking and curing meat in large quantities for
market), when their foes were at the door; a
lance thrust pierced the garments of Garibaldi
as he entered. Moringue supposed that the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
39
whole of the crews were in the galpon, and
therefore, instead of dashing in the doors at
once, took up a position. The guns of the
Garibaldians were in the galpon. Garibaldi
fired, and an Austrian fell; six successive
shots brought down as many enemies, the
cook loading as Garibaldi fired. His only
hope was, that his men, hearing the shots,
would hasten to his assistance. Through the
smoke of the terrible fusilade kept up by the
enemy, Louis Carniglia appeared, ever true to
his chief. Another musketeer now aided the
fire of the defence. Immediately after, a brave
Biscayan, one Ignace Bilboa, joined them;
and he had scarcely fired a shot, before an
Italian, named Lorenzo, was by their side.
Next, a Frenchman, named Edouard Mutru,
followed by a mulatto, and a black, and these,
again, by several Spaniards. Garibaldi had
now thirteen men, besides the cook who was
of use in loading for him. They made loop-
They made loop-
holes, and fired steadily into the mass of Aus-
trians. These, aggravated by their losses, and
maddened with shame and vengeance, mounted
the building, and removed the roofing; in
doing so, they fell dead among the defenders.
With thirteen men he maintained for three
hours a contest with one hundred and fifty
Austrians, and triumphed. Few actions as
heroic have ever been recorded. The negro
Orocope broke the arm of Colonel Moringue
himself with a musket ball, who immediately
ordered the retreat to be sounded. His flight
His flight
was so hasty, that he left fifteen Austrians
dead behind him, and a great proportion of
wounded were borne away. Towards the
close of the action more of the crew came to
Garibaldi's aid, bringing up his band to
thirty. Of these five were killed, and five
wounded, three of them mortally. The want
of surgical aid was now felt by these heroic
men; every other comfort was procured by
their hospitable entertainers. Upon the re-
treat of the Pole Cat, he came upon seve-
ral of the crew, hastening to their captain's
help; one he slew, the rest, by swimming or
flight, escaped. This cunning and desperate
man, Moringue, had never before been foiled,
and had long been the terror of the coast,
which he thoroughly knew. The result of the
victory was to give confidence to the insur-
gents and to Garibaldi's own men, while it
disheartened the German mercenaries, and the
Pole Cat himself.
It was while engaged in this terrible conflict
that the incident occurred which led Garibaldi
afterwards to believe that the lady he so hope-
lessly loved was not insensible to his merits.
The way in which the knowledge of it occurred
to our hero, and his own feeling upon the occa-
sion, can only be conveyed in his own words :
"We, however, celebrated our victory.
Donna Antonia gave us a fête at her estancia,
situated at a distance of about twelve miles.
from the galpon in which we had sustained
the fight. It was at this fête that I learnt
that a beautiful young girl, on hearing of my
danger, had turned pale, and anxiously inquired
after my life and health-a victory more sweet
to my heart than the sanguinary triumph we
had obtained. Oh! beautiful daughter of the
American continent! I was proud and happy
to belong to thee, in whatever manner it might
be, even in thought. Thou wast destined, and
thou wast forced to belong to another; and
fate reserved for me that other Brazilian flower
which I still weep for, and for which I shall
weep while I live! Sweet mother of my sons!
I knew her not in the midst of victory, but
in adversity and shipwreck, and—much more
than my youth, my face, or my merit-my
misfortunes bound me to her for life. Anita!
beloved Anita !"
His first charge after this signal defeat of
40
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the Pole Cat, was the building of two new
lancions, superior in size and strength to those
which had already performed so much. They
were finished and armed in a surprisingly short
space of time.
An expedition against St. Catherine was re-
solved upon by the government, and Garibaldi
was ordered, as commander of the flotilla, to
take part in it. It was impossible, however,
It was impossible, however,
for him to sail out of the lagune. A Brazi-
lian fleet commanded its exit, and fortified
cities in the hands of the Imperialists also
dominated it. How was this to be overcome?
Garibaldi's own reflection was, "With such
men as I commanded, nothing was impos-
sible.” Yet, brave as the motley crowd which
followed him undoubtedly were, few among
them possessed any extraordinary degree of
daring, endurance, or skill. It was the man
who commanded, not the men who obeyed,
which constituted the invincibility of the band.
Garibaldi infused his own spirit among them;
his commanding genius inspired them, his
heroism made heroes of them all.
Garibaldi's plan was to take the new lancions
by land to a rivulet which flows from the Lagune
of Los Patos into the Lake Tramandai, and
thence to pass into the ocean. With incredible
labour and ingenuity this was accomplished.
Carriages were fabricated of sufficient strength,
and the lancions were lifted upon them. Oxen
were easily procured, and vast teams caused
to draw the carriages. The population were
struck with wonder at the daring conception
of the man shown in everything, and all the
people literally came forth to behold the novel
sight of a naval squadron passing by land, a
journey of fifty miles, to the ocean. His plan
succeeded, and the little fleet emerged upon
Lake Tramandai. Here a new difficulty pre-
sented itself; the exit was all but closed by
a barrier of the most formidable breakers,
which sends inland for many miles a noise
like the roaring of thunder.
At high tide the perilous effort was made.
The crews and their commanders had much
experience of the kind of navigation required;
but Garibaldi himself attributed their success
to daring rather than skill. From four o'clock
in the evening until the shades of night were.
fast falling, did Garibaldi and his American
lieutenant struggle through the dangerous
intricacies of these rocky barriers before they
were enabled to cast anchor, the open sea and
unknown fortunes all before them. Never
before had ship sailed out of the Lake of
Tramandai.
They sailed during the night and next day
towards their destination, threatened through-
out their course with storm. The Rio Pardo,
on which Garibaldi commanded, was over-
laden, orders having been given to take large
quantities of supplies, it being uncertain how
long the squadron might be required to keep
the sea.
This circumstance made her sail
heavy, the waves washing her deck. Gari-
baldi attempted to run her inshore through
the breakers; a terrible wave struck her and
threw her over on her larboard. Garibaldi
was at the moment on the top of the fore-
mast, looking out for the most feasible passage
between the foaming breakers; he was cast
into the sea thirty paces from the ship. The
starboard side of the ship remained above
water. Garibaldi therefore, being perhaps the
best swimmer in the world, thought only how
he could save his companions. He collected
various floating articles, pushed them towards
the ship, encouraged his men to throw them-
selves into the sea upon these substances,
and, clinging to them, allow themselves to be
drifted to the shore. Several were thus saved
by his courage and presence of mind. He
looked out for his friend who nursed him so
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
41
tenderly when wounded, and who promised
that a stone should mark for him an earthly
resting-place. He saw him clinging to the
barque, but impeded by a thick jacket, which
hindered him from swimming. Garibaldi
climbed up the wreck, cut open the jacket, and
was in the act of divesting him of it, when
a wave like that which wrecked the ship
swept over it, carrying all living into the
sea. Louis Carniglia disappeared for ever.
Garibaldi was hurled, to use his own ex-
pression, "to the bottom of the sea like a
projectile." He arose stupified, but conscious
of his situation. His amazing power as a
swimmer was now proved. He passed round
and round the wreck, calling upon his friend
Louis, but in vain; he probably never came up
to the surface, loaded as he was by his rough
apparel. The tempest howled fearfully, and
the sea swelled and rolled over our unconquer-
able Garibaldi. It is impossible to describe
the scene which then took place, or to relate
adequately the events of the terrible hour in
which its realities were depicted, in other
than his own words. At Tangier, in 1859, he
thus reviewed these events, and recorded his
emotions:-
"As soon as I was forced to abandon the
hope of succouring Carniglia, I again cast my
cyes round me. It was a grace from God,
no doubt, but at that moment of agony for
others, I never had an instant doubt for my
own safety, so as to disturb my exertions for
theirs. My companions appeared scattered in
all directions, separated, and swimming towards
the shore with the skill and the strength of
which each was master. I gained them in
an instant, and giving them a cry of encour-
agement, passed them, and was one of the
first, if not the first, among the breakers,
cutting enormous waves of the height of
mountains.
"But I gained the shore; my grief for the
loss of my poor Carniglia, whilst making me
indifferent to my own fate, gave me invincible
strength. I had scarcely got footing before
I turned round, moved by a last hope. Per-
haps I might see Luigi again. I made eager
inquiries of every desolate-looking figure as
it emerged from the waves; but none had
seen Carniglia. He must be drowned; the
abysses of the ocean had not restored him
to me.
"Then I again saw Edouard Mutru, he
who, after Carniglia, was the most dear-he
to whom I had pushed the fragment of the
hatches, recommending him to cling to it with
all his strength. No doubt the violence of
the sea had torn the fragment from his hands.
He was still swimming, but exhausted, and
indicating by the convulsion of his motions
the extremity to which he was reduced. I
have said how much I loved him; he was the
second brother of my heart whom I was about
to lose in one day. I could not submit to be
made in one instant a widower of all I held
dear in the world. I pushed into the sea the
piece of the ship which had aided me in
gaining the shore, and sprang again into the
waves, returning with profound indifference to
seek again the peril I had just escaped. At
the end of a minute I was within a few strokes
of Edouard, and I cried out, 'Hold fast!
courage! here I am! I bring you life!" Vain
hopes! useless efforts! At the moment I was
pushing the protecting piece of timber towards
him, he sunk and disappeared. I uttered a
piercing cry, let go my hold, and dived. Then,
not finding him, I thought he had perhaps
returned to the surface. I rose, but there
was nothing! I dived again-again I rose.
I uttered the same cries as for Carniglia, but
all was useless-he also was engulfed in the
depths of that ocean which he had not feared
G
42
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
to cross in order to regain me, and to serve
the cause of peoples. Another martyr to Italian
liberty who will have no tomb, no cross!
"The bodies of my sixteen companions,
drowned in this disaster-faithful companions
of my adventures, engulfed in the sea, were
dashed by waves, carried away by currents
to more than thirty miles distance towards
the north. I then looked round among the
fourteen who had survived, and who had all
gained the shore, for one Italian face, for
one Italian figure. Not one! The six Italians
who had accompanied me were dead:
Carniglia, Mutru, Straderini, Navone, Gio-
vanni—I cannot recollect the name of the
sixth.
"I ask pardon of my country for having
forgotten it. I know that I write this at a
distance of twelve years; I know that during
that time many events, otherwise terrible than
that I have just related, have passed in my
life; I know that I have seen a nation fall,
and that I have vainly endeavoured to defend
a city; I know that, pursued, exiled, tracked
like a wild beast, I have deposited in the
tomb the wife who had become the heart of
my heart; I know that scarcely was the grave
closed, when I was obliged to fly like the
damned of Dante, who walk straightforward,
but whose twisted heads look behind them;
I know that I have no longer an asylum;
that from the extreme point of Africa I look
at that Europe which casts me out like a
bandit-me, who have never had but one
thought, one love, one despair-my country!
-I know perfectly well all this, but it is
not less true that I ought to remember that
name. Alas! I do not remember it!
"It was a strange thing that with the ex-
ception of myself, it was the good and strong
swimmers who had disappeared. Trusting,
doubtless, to their skill, they had neglected to
avail themselves of parts of the floating wreck,
and had hoped to sustain themselves upon
the water without that help; whilst, on the
contrary, among those whom I found safe and
sound around me, there were several young
Americans whom I had seen embarrassed in
crossing the arm of a river ten feet broad.
This seemed unaccountable, nevertheless it was
the truth. The world appeared a desert to me.
I seated myself on the beach, allowed my head
to sink into my hands-and I believe I wept.
“In the midst of my grief, I was roused by
the sound of a moaning complaint. I then
recollected that although these men were com-
paratively unknown to me, as I was their
leader, whether in fight or shipwreck, I ought
to be their father in distress."
Q
He found that the moans proceeded from
those who were most suffering from cold. Then
only was he made conscious that he also was
cold. By great exertions he succeeded in
rousing the men from the torpor that fell upon
them, and after wandering some way they
reached an estancia, "and that hospitality
which for ever waits at the door of an
American house."
The second vessel, commanded by Griggs,
combated the storm in safety. Garibaldi
attributed its success to the better build of the
ship, although a smaller one than the Rio
Pardo, and to the excellent seamanship of
Griggs. To this man Garibaldi was romanti-
cally attached. Of him he said many years
after :-
"Where have I met with a man of more
admirable courage and of a more charming
character? Born of a rich family, he had
come to offer his gold, his genius, and his
blood to the nascent republic-and he gave it
all he had offered.
"One day a letter arrived from his relations
in North America, inviting him to return to
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
43
the enjoyment of a colossal inheritance, but
he had already gathered the most splendid
inheritance reserved for a man of conviction
and good faith-the palm of martyrdom; he
had died for an unfortunate, but a generous
and valiant people. And I, who had witnessed
so many glorious deaths, I had seen the body
of my poor friend separated in two, as the
trunk of an oak is by the axe of the wood-
man; the bust remained standing upon the
deck of the Cassapara, with his intrepid
countenance still purple with the flame of
fight, but the members, broken and detached
from the body, were scattered around him. A
cannon-shot had struck him at the distance of
twenty paces, and he presented himself to me
thus mutilated the day when I and a com-
panion, setting fire to the flotilla by the order
of General Carnavarro, got on board Griggs'
ship, which had just been literally battered to
pieces by the enemy's squadron.
"O liberty! liberty! what earthly queen can
66
boast of having in her train such a host of
heroes as thou hast in heaven !”
The part of the province of St. Catherine
upon which our shipwrecked mariner found
asylum, was then in arms against the Bra-
zilian Emperor. Garibaldi expected imprison-
ment in addition to shipwreck, but found
friends only fighting for the country for which
he combated.
CHAPTER VIII
COLONEL TEXEIRAS proceeded by forced marches
to the Lagune of St. Catherine, in the hope of
taking the Imperialists by surprise. The city
of St. Catherine made no defence, not expect-
ing the approach of an enemy,—the garrison
fled. Among the spoils of war was a naval
squadron in the harbour, which Garibaldi,
who began the expedition as a soldier, seized,
St. Catherine was an extensive country,
given as a dowry by the Emperor of Brazil
to the Prince de Joinville; but the people
hated the Imperial yoke, and put forth what
efforts were at their command to shake it off.
General Carnavarro was then in command of
the native forces, and was marching upon the
Lagune of St. Catherine, in the hope of sur-
prising it. To join his forces was the next
object of Garibaldi, and to effect this, he and
his companions were well horsed by the people
of the country. They joined the advanced
guard under Colonel Texeiras,
A SOLDIER. -ONCE MORE AN ADMIRAL.-AGAIN IN LOVE.-TAKES A WIFE.-ANITA GARIBALDI.
GARIBALDI AGAIN A SOLDIER. HIS SKILL
TERRIFIC NAVAL ENCOUNTERS.-ANITA A HEROINE.
AND DARING.-ENCOUNTERS.-RETREATS.-HARDSHIPS.
Night closed around the conquerors' way,
And lightning showed the distant hill,
Where those who lost that bloody day
Stood few and faint, but fearless still."-Moore.
K
manned as he best could, and became once
more commander of the little fleet of the
republic. One of the captured ships was named
the Itaparika,—it was a goëlette, bearing seven
pieces of artillery.
There was immediate work for Admiral
Garibaldi, as the Imperialists, before they
heard of the capture of the city of St. Cathe-
44
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
rine, and that their own ships on the lagune
had become a hostile navy, sent arms, ammu-
nition, soldiers, clothing, supplies of all sort,
to strengthen the place against possible
aggression. Men and material were all cap-
tured by Garibaldi, without resistance being
possible. A provisional government was
formed, with a priest at its head, and Gari-
baldi's friend Rosetti was appointed as secre-
tary of state to the province, and established
himself in Giuliana, a little city on the lagune.
The government was utterly feeble and unfit,
except so far as the influence of Rosetti coun-
terbalanced its weakness, for as his greater
friend said of him, "Rosetti was cut out for
all kinds of employments."
Now came one of the most curious passages
in the life of our heroic adventurer. During
the shipwreck all his Italian friends were
drowned. No one remained to him with
whom he could communicate his thoughts.
His heart sickened in its solitude. For this
dreariness of soul, which was gradually un-
fitting him for his manly avocations, he could
think only of one remedy-a wife, His own
words are happily on record as explaining the
state of his mind at that momentous period of
his heart's fortunes.
"I had never thought of marriage, and con-
sidered myself perfectly incapable of becoming
a husband, from my great independence of
character, and my irresistible vocation for a
life of adventure. To have a wife and children
appeared to me a sovereign impossibility for
a man who had consecrated his life to a
principle, the success of which, however com-
plete it might be, could never leave him the
quietude necessary for the father of a family.
Destiny had decided otherwise; after the death
of Luigi, Edouard, and my other companions,
I found myself in a state of complete isolation.
It appeared to me that I was alone in the world.
I had not left a single one of those friends
of whom the heart stands as much in need as
life does of aliment. Those who had survived,
as I have already said, were strangers to me;
they were, doubtless, valiant, good-hearted
men, but I had known them too short a time
to have become intimate with any of them.
In the immense void made around me by the
terrible catastrophe, I felt the want of some
heart that would love me; without this heart,
existence was to me insupportable-almost
impossible. It is true, I had recovered
Rosetti, that is to say, a brother; but Ro-
setti, confined by the duties of his post, could
not live with me, and I scarcely saw him
once a week. I then wanted, as I have said,
some one who would love me, who would love
me without delay. Now, friendship is the fruit
of time; it requires years to ripen; whilst love
is sometimes lightning, the son of the storm.
But of what importance is that? I am one
of those who prefer the storms, whatever they
may be, to the calms of life, to the quiet
slumbers of the heart. It was, then, a wife I
wanted; a wife alone could cure me; a wife,
that is to say, the only refuge, the only con-
soling angel, the star of the tempest; a wife,
that is, the divinity who is never implored in
vain when implored by the heart, and, above
all, when implored in misfortune.
"It was in this mood of thought that from
my cabin in the Itaparika I turned my eyes
towards the land. The manse of Le Bana was
not far distant, and from my ship I could
discover pretty young girls occupied in various
domestic employments. One of them attracted
my particular attention. I was ordered on
shore, and immediately directed my steps
towards the house upon which my looks had
been so long fixed. My heart beat, but it
contained, however agitated it might be, one
of those resolutions which never know diminu-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
45
tion. A man invited me to enter. I should
have entered even if I had been forbidden. I
had seen that man once. I saw the young
girl, and said to her, 'Maiden, thou shalt be
mine!' I had by these words created a tie
which death alone could break.”
The Government ordered their naval com-
mander to cruise with his little fleet so as to
harass the commerce of the enemy and make
prizes. His ships consisted of the Rio Pardo,
on board of which he commanded; the Cassa-
para, commanded by Griggs, the American
captain; and the Seival, commanded by an
Italian named Lorenzo. A Brazilian fleet
lay at the mouth of the lagune, through
which, on a misty night, the three ships were
safely steered. Anita sailed with him. He
had now a companion of his heart, a cure for
his despondency, effectual and happy; but he
had also acquired a new care, which must
occupy his mind, and press heavily upon his
heart, when begirt with the perils of the sea
and of war. Still Anita was to him a help, and
often not only his sweetest or his only solace,
but an assistant in his enterprises, both vigi-
lant and intelligent, and even as brave as
himself. But in battle and storm his thoughts
could not fail to be distracted by the danger
to which she was exposed who was his life's
sole treasure,
-
His cruise was successful; chasing and
chased, he roved the sea, aided effectually by
his captains, and made good prizes. His
mind was, however, haunted by a presenti-
ment that the Lagune of St. Catherine was the
theatre of untoward events, and thither he
directed his course. There is something of the
prophet in the mental constitution and moral
elevation of Garibaldi. Even his head is more
like the ideal of one lifted to a high moral and
spiritual altitude from which to speak to his
fellow men, than like that of a mere warrior,
however able or successful. It is at all
events a singular psychological trait of Gari-
baldi, that he seems to have an intuitive per-
ception of coming good or evil. His hopes
are not simply born of his heart; a light from
heaven cheering them onward and upward
seems to illumine them. His foresight of evil
seems also preternatural; as though a voice
which his ears hear not whispers upon his
spirit the warning word.
In the instance before us his bodings of evil
were too true. The mercenaries of many
nations of Europe and America, who made up
a large portion of the liberating army, treated
the people of the provinces haughtily and
injuriously.
-
་
In that army also were large numbers of
Brazilian deserters, who were quite ready to
desert again to their former service if secured
from punishment, and who preferred flight to
fight where the least chance of capture was
before them. The incompetence of the govern-
ment was another cause of danger and disaf-
fection. An amiable but incapable priest,
himself not adverse to an Imperial régime,
directed civil affairs; and General Carnavarro,
a loyal man and a brave soldier, with a self-
confidence his talents did not justify, directed
the troops. Only where Garibaldi and Rosetti
could put forth their experience, ability, and
courage, were public affairs well conducted.
Off the Isle of St. Catherine the Rio Pardo
and Seival encountered a Brazilian frigate.
The Cassapara had parted company in the
darkness of a previous night. As soon as the
commanders of the prizes saw the enemy, they
became alarmed, and hauled down their flags.
One only, which was commanded by the brave
Biscayan (Gros Jean), referred to elsewhere,
was brought into a port, Kulietuba, then in
the hands of the republicans. The Seival
suffered in this encounter, having all her guns
46
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
dismounted, and being so injured that the
water made serious inroads upon her, while the
sea was rough and the weather boisterous. She
followed the prize to its harbour of refuge.
Garibaldi, not having means to keep the sea
alone, also entered Kulietuba.
This place did not promise a very secure
protection, as the Imperial fleet, blockading
the mouth of the Lagune of St. Catherine,
would be informed by the frigate of the late
conflict, and of the place of refuge taken by
the Republican squadron; pursuit was, there-
fore, certain.
Garibaldi took the guns from the Seival and
placed them on a promontory which formed
the bay of the eastern coast; here he con-
structed a gabioned battery,
At dawn of day three ships of the enemy
approached. The Rio Pardo held double
anchorage at the bottom of the bay. She was
no match for the formidable squadron sent
against her. Garibaldi had now all the bitter-
ness of that new anxiety created by having a
wife in circumstances so dangerous.
A powerful enemy approached, his means of
defence were small, and his beloved Anita was
on board, He besought her to land, but she
refused to leave his side, and thus situated the
first burst of the thunder of battle broke over
them. The wind favoured the tacking of the
enemy, so as to enable him to bring all his
force to bear upon the little goëlette, which
proved herself a sound strong ship. As they
tacked, the shore battery kept up a steady
and effective fire, doing them much damage.
Garibaldi fought the goëlette with marvellous
skill and desperate bravery, the vessels coming
close enough for a murderous carabinade, in
addition to the discharges of artillery. Anita,
carbine in hand, fought by her husband, en-
couraging the men by her voice, gesture, and
exposure to danger. The success achieved
Garibaldi always attributed to "that Brazilian
Amazon." After a fearful combat of five
hours, the goëlette and battery still uncon-
quered, the enemy sheered off.
The com-
mander was killed, and the crews became.
demoralised.
During the conflict, Garibaldi had terrible
evidence of the unsuitability of marriage to
his wild and adventurous occupations. A can-
non ball knocked down two sailors, and Anita
with them. Garibaldi saw her fall, and be-
lieved her slain; the two sailors were killed,
but she was unhurt, "the wind of the ball”
having prostrated her. Garibaldi implored
her to go below.
her to go below. She replied, "Yes, to drive
out the cowards who are skulking there."
She soon returned, driving before her three
sailors, whose shame was not concealed that
they were shrinking from the battle when a
woman braved its peril.
Next day no enemy appearing, Garibaldi
and his little squadron made for the Lagune
of St. Catherine, but were soon discovered
and pursued by the fleet, which he skilfully
eluded, and reached the lagune in safety.
Our hero proved himself a prophet. He
found the inhabitants of the province on the
point of insurrection, into which they were
driven by marauding mercenaries and deserters,
wearing the uniform of the Republic. The
city of Imbrui flew to arms and drove out the
predatory horde which occupied it. General
Carnavarro ordered Garibaldi to attack, and
give it up to punishment by the troops. For the
former design he was ready, the latter he pur-
posed to thwart. The place was well defended
against a naval attack, the only one they ap-
prehended. Garibaldi landed at a little dis-
tance, and approached from a quarter against
which no works had been thrown up. The
place was stormed, and in spite of Garibaldi's
authority, and dangerous personal efforts to
-
A
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
47
restrain the soldiery, was pillaged. Mean-
time the Imperial army was advancing in great
force, the Republicans retiring before them.
Garibaldi's next care was to conduct the
retreating troops and their baggage across the
lagune. This baggage was enormous, the
pillage of friends rather than of foes. This
was scarcely effected, when twenty-two vessels
of the enemy, their decks covered with troops,
appeared at hand to co-operate with the ad-
vancing Imperialist army, now in close pursuit.
Garibaldi climbed the nearest mountain, and
soon perceived that the plan of the naval and
military commanders was to unite their forces
at the entrance of the lagune. He informed
General Carnavarro, who gave suitable and re-
quisite orders, but did not see them carried out,
or could not constrain his troops to obey them,
for they did not arrive in time, and there was
nothing to defend the proposed point of the
enemy's junction but the half-manned ships
of Garibaldi. Our hero hastened to join his
ship, but his intrepid wife had already begun
the battle, placing herself by a gun, firing it
with her own hand, and issuing to the cowed
and drooping crew her orders with boldness
and coolness. The lost ship, under Captain
Griggs, had before this joined Garibaldi, and
was of material assistance in the fierce conflict
which ensued. In a short time all the guns on
the Rio Pardo were dismounted, and Gari-
baldi's crew kept up a terrible contest with
the carbine at close quarters, Anita bearing
her part in this fire. When the match ap-
proached the guns of the opposing ships, the
men of the Rio Pardo would crouch until the
shot passed, and then spring up and discharge
their carbines upon the gunners. Anita would
not stoop before an enemy, but proud and
erect, while the meitcail showered around her,
she delivered her carbine fire upon the foe.
Her danger nearly drove Garibaldi to distrac-
tion. It was the hardest test of his presence
of mind. He bethought him of a means to
place her beyond the rage of this horrible
destruction. He ordered her to go to General
Carnavarro to demand reinforcements, hinting
that if he sent a man he would find some
excuse not to return. His message was, that
if the General sent him men and guns he
would pursue the enemy's fleet into the lagune,
and, torch in hand, fire it. The General,
deeming the feat impossible, refused concur-
rence, and sent no reinforcements. Anita had
been ordered by Garibaldi to send the answer
by a messenger; but to his alarm and almost
despair, she came herself. The orders of the
General were, not to hang upon the enemy's
rear, but to save the hand-arms and ammu-
nition, and burn his own ships.
It was as difficult to obey this order as to
continue the fight. Every officer on board the
squadron was killed, the gallant Griggs cut in
two by a cannon ball. Garibaldi had no one
upon whose intelligence and spirit he could rely
but his Anita. She superintended the trans-
portation to land of the arms and ammunition
under a galling fire. As she passed from ship
to shore, and shore to ship again, the men
rowed with bent bodies, so as to present as
little exposure to the enemy as possible, she
stood with folded arms in the prow, fixed as a
statue, graceful as an angel, and as if endowed
with "spirit life," which no material element
could touch. Garibaldi, meanwhile, passed
from one barque to another, removing the
ammunition and arms, and disposing of the
tow, pitch, and powder by which they should
all be consumed. The carnage utterly appalled
his feeling heart: two-thirds of his men had
perished with their officers. Well might he
ask himself, at the sight of such a spectacle,
how it was that, having taken no more care of
himself than others had done, he had remained
A
X
48
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
unhurt? He had, in fact, exposed himself in
all the fury of the battle, but the hand of God
screened him, reserving him for other days
and other deeds. When the orders of General
Carnavarro had in all other respects been
complied with, Garibaldi fired the ships: "In
an instant,” he reported, "a cloud of smoke
enveloped our vessels, and our brave dead had
at least, on the decks of their own barques,
a funeral pile lighted that was worthy of
them."
The greatest loss to the cause and to the
leader was Captain Griggs-a man of superior
education, great persistence, extraordinary sea
talents, and heroic devotion to liberty. In
order to promote it in South America he had
left his home in the north, where he was
surrounded by every comfort, and a little
before he fell refused to return to receive a
very large fortune which had fallen to him.
He and Garibaldi were kindred spirits, and
thus one by one the noble hearts he trusted
and loved were broken. This saddened the
spirit of our hero, over whose noble brow all
who know him may watch to-day the shades
of those dark memories passing.
When night fell, Garibaldi gathered what
was left of his lost fleet, and joined the rear-
guard of the Republican army as it retreated
upon Rio Grande.
4
C
Now the poetic and romantic nature of this
extraordinary man found a new scope. He
was in a path of adversity, full of danger,
almost every calamity to be apprehended; how
did his spirit look through the vista of battles,
journeyings, wars, and exile, and see only the
halo of light and liberty which shone afar off;
and think of himself only as marching onward
to the destinies upon which that light and
liberty would beam in the effulgence of its
glory! Yet hear him speak as he thus fled
with a beaten army across the prairies, and
·
through the virgin forests of a wild and foreign
region
"Amidst the changes of my adventurous
existence, I have frequently had pleasant.
hours, good moments: and although that in
which I found myself may not appear at first
sight to form part of those which have left me
an agreeable remembrance, I recall it, never-
theless, as if, not full of happiness, at least
full of emotions. At the head of a few men
left of so many combatants who had justly
merited the name of brave men, I rode on
horseback, proud of the living, proud of the
dead, proud almost of myself. By my side
rode the queen of my soul, the wife worthy of
all admiration. I was launched into a career
more attractive than that of the navy. Of
what consequence was it to me that, like the
Greek philosopher, I carried all I had about
me, to save a poor republic, which paid nobody,
and by which, if she had been rich, I would
not have been paid? Had I not a sabre
beating against my thigh, and a carbine lying
across my holsters? Had I not close to me
my Anita, my treasure, with a heart burning
as warmly as my own in the cause of peoples?
Did she not mingle in fights as an amusement,
as a simple distraction in camp life? The
future smiled serenely and fortunately upon.
me; and the more wild that these American
deserts and solitudes presented themselves to
me, the more beautiful, the more delicious.
they appeared."
From these reflections he was evidently
conscious that he did not draw the sword for a
magnanimous people, but he believed that
they rose against oppression, and that their
cause was just; this sufficed for his own view
of the results to himself; his unselfish nature
cared for no interests but those of liberty,
justice, honour, and truth.
The retreat was continued until the retiring
4
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
49
army reached the limits of Rio Grande.
Finding that the enemy did not pursue, the
force was reorganised, and Garibaldi had
assigned to him the post of a subordinate
military leader in a new enterprise. Two
divisions of the enemy directed their course
against Cama da Serra, a "department of the
mountain," belonging to Rio Grande. The
mountaineers stoutly resisted the Imperialists,
but called for help. Colonel Texeiras was
ordered to render that aid, and Garibaldi
commanded a small corps of the expedition.
In this expedition he performed prodigies of
valour. The enemy was beaten, driven across
a river in which their commander perished,
and the whole region restored to freedom and
confidence. This was not to last long. Fresh
forces of the Imperialists advanced, and
Texeiras, by a series of headstrong, fool-hardy
blunders, ruined all. The enemy, commanded
by Mello, was not equal in strength to
Texeiras, but the latter, not knowing by which
of two roads he might have the best chance of
intercepting him, divided his forces between
them. The road upon which Mello did come
was that upon which the smaller detachment
was placed. It was no match for the foe, and
had no help from the larger detachment.
With the unfortunate part of the expedition
served Garibaldi. Magnanimous in success,
he was great in misfortune, which was nearly
always the work of others, or the operation of
natural causes, and in either case the superior
parts and noble nature of our hero were more
conspicuously brought forth. At a place deemed
favourable, Texeiras, who commanded this
detachment in person, took post. The enemy,
whose information was good, effected a sur-
prise which, but for the vigilance of Garibaldi,
who expected such a result, would have issued
in the annihilation of the whole. He spread a
timely alarm, called the men to arms, and
took up a favourable position. Texeiras, in-
stead of sending for the other detachment, and
manoeuvring before the enemy, at once ordered
a charge. Brave but rash, his decision was a
hazard too great to risk. He fell into an
ambush, and was disastrously repulsed. Gari-
baldi rallied the infantry, and in turn repulsed
the foe. Counting upon the well-known daring
and imprudence of Texeiras, the enemy again
skilfully caught him at a disadvantage, and
nearly annihilated his cavalry. The infantry
were in support, but were placed by Texeiras
at too great a distance for such purpose.
Garibaldi called for volunteers; twelve men
responded to the call. With these he hurried
forward, placed them on the summit of a hill,
protected by a belt of trees, fired into the
pursuing enemy, who, ignorant of their paucity
of numbers, hesitated, giving time to a few of
the bravest to rally, and finally the fugitives
and support arranged themselves upon this
little extempore citadel. As the small number
of the defenders began to be ascertained by
the reconnoitring cavalry, a general attack
was determined, and a combat ensued which
Garibaldi, no exaggerator, designated terrible
and sanguinary. The whole force left of the
Republicans when this assault commenced was
but seventy-three, the Imperialists outnumber-
ing them many times. Five hundred cavalry,
excellently appointed and led, charged the hill
desperately and repeatedly, only to be hurled
back with defeat and slaughter by the resolute
defence. A superior position presented itself
at a short distance; thither they marched,
harassed but unbroken by the cavalry. A belt
of trees protected them in this new post, which
the enemy was unable to penetrate,
When night fell the post was abandoned and
retreat commenced; but, alas! Anita remained
behind a prisoner. The distance was twenty
leagues to Lages; thither the fugitives directed
H
50
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
י
their course.
Garibaldi had much difficulty in
keeping them together, for their sufferings
from hunger, thirst, fatigue, rain, tempest,
and guerilla attacks were great. At last they
discovered a forest path, by which, approaching
in single file, they reached a house surrounded
by a large clearing. Rest, and plenty of food
were here obtained, and Lages was reached
without much further suffering, except that
they entered the place drenched thoroughly by
a tropical rain. Lages had declared for the
Emperor, having heard that this portion of the
force had been annihilated. The Imperial
party fled upon the unexpected apparition of
Garibaldi and his men, leaving behind their
goods and valuables. Supplies were in this
way obtained of everything requisite for all,
especially for the wounded, not one of whom
Garibaldi left behind. Lages had now to be
defended against a numerous foe. This was
done successfully until reinforcements arrived,
but the enemy fled without feeling the effects
of the bayonet when Garibaldi marched out
against them. Soon after, the garrison began
to desert, taking with them all the horses and
materials they could steal, until at last Gari-
baldi, with about seventy adherents, were all
that could be relied upon. This circumstance
evoked from him some remarkable observa-
tions, whether viewed in a political or military
light.
"It was in this circumstance that I verified
the defects and vices with which the republican
armies are generally reproached. These armies.
are composed of men for the most part full of
+
patriotism and courage, who only choose to
remain under their colours whilst the enemy
threatens, and depart and abandon them when
he disappears. This vice was almost our ruin;
this defect was near causing our destruction;
in the circumstance, an enemy better informed
might have annihilated us by profiting by it.
“Let this serve as an example to people who
wish to be free; let them learn that it is not
with flowers, fêtes, and illuminations that the
warlike, disciplined soldiers of a despotism are
fought, but with soldiers still more warlike
and more disciplined than they are. Let them
not, then, undertake this rude task who are
not capable of rendering a people warlike and
disciplined after having roused them. There
are also peoples who are not worth the trouble
of rousing the gangrene is not curable."
Texeiras, finding that Lages could no longer
be defended, ordered Garibaldi to retire to
Mala Cosa, the head-quarters of the president.
This could only be effected by a route similar
to that by which he reached Lages; but the
forest was cleared, and inhabited in many
places. This did not add to the security of
our hero and his little band, for these people
were hostile to the cause for which he fought.
They lay in ambush in various places on the
route, but they did not choose such positions
with skill, nor use them with courage. The
little band passed unscathed through a wild
and desultory fire, which lighted up the gloom
of the forest, and kept them constantly on the
defensive, until they reached the place of their
destination.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
51
w
CHAPTER IX.
ANITA A CAPTIVE.-ESCAPES.- —HER SUFFERINGS AND SUCCESS.-REJOINS HER HUSBAND.-BATTLE OF
TAQUARRE.-STORMING OF SAN JOSÉ.-RETREAT OF THE REPUBLICANS.-BIRTH OF MENOTTI.
NARROW ESCAPE OF GARIBALDI FROM CAPTURE BY MORINGUE.-GENERAL RETREAT OF THE
REPUBLICAN ARMY, AND SUFFERINGS AND DANGERS OF ANITA AND MENOTTI.—GARIBALDI LEAVES
THE SERVICE OF THE REPUBLIC.—TURNS DROVER.-REACHES MONTE VIDEO.- -IS A PEDLAR AND A
TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS.—AGAIN A SEA CAPTAIN.-MARVELLOUS AND HEROIC ESCAPE FROM
CAPTURE. ONCE MORE IN POVERTY WITH ANITA AT MONTE VIDEO.
"Their joys and griefs were one,
Love bound their hearts in bonds indissoluble."-The Corsair.
In the previous chapter it was related that in
the battle of Caritibani Anita was made
prisoner. She was carrying ammunition to an
advanced position, when twenty of the enemy's
cavalry surrounded her. She dashed through
them at a bound of her steed. The ruffians had
so little manhood that they fired; a ball pierced
her hat and carried away a portion of her hair
without wounding her. She gained by superior
speed a greater distance from her pursuers
who again fired; her horse fell dead, and she
was borne away a captive. The treatment she
received was rude in language, but no personal
indignity was offered. As the colonel of the
cavalry represented to her that her husband and
his company of infantry were all slaughtered,
she implored his permission to search the
field for his corpse. This was conceded, and
she performed the melancholy office unaided.
With a woman's tears and a heroine's heart
she turned over the bodies of the slain, and
rent the air with piercing calls for him she
sought, supposing that he might be lying
wounded in the vicinity. Having at last
satisfied herself that he had made good his
retreat, she resolved at all hazards to escape.
She was indifferently guarded, and found easy
opportunity to enter a house adjoining that in
which she was kept a prisoner. A woman resi-
dent there treated her with sympathy and
afforded her protection. Garibaldi's cloak had
been captured by an enemy, but restored to
Anita. This she exchanged for another be-
longing to her protector, and when night came
she passed unobserved into the forest. Her
dangers were sufficient to appal the bravest
man. A deep gloom covered the earth be-
neath the gigantic trees which were around
her. The reeds, which also grew to a great
height in the intervals, were infested by beasts
of prey and the deadliest serpents. Her hope
was to pass through this labyrinth of death to
Lages, and the distance was sixty English
miles. Where there were clearings, the in-
habitants entertained hostile feelings to the
Republican cause. They lay in wait on the
picadas (forest paths or tracks), to shoot down
any fugitive who might have straggled behind
the company which Garibaldi was then leading
so gallantly through them. Many of the
cavalry who had formed Texeiras' horse essay-
ing to pass perished. Anita providentially
found a clearing, the owner of which was
humane, and gave her a fleet horse. On this
she sped, the superstitious guerillas running
in terror from her path, supposing that they
were pursued by an apparition. It was a night
of incessant lightning, and literally
"The live thunders leapt from crag to crag."
Amidst the roar of the bursting bolts, she
52
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
galloped fearlessly forward, passing over
rocks and brushwood with desperate daring, a
terror to the living, and herself appearing as
one from the dead. At the river Canoas there
was a cavalry patrol of the enemy; they rode
away with the utmost precipitation, as an
intense flash of lightning revealed her foaming
courser, and her cloak streaming behind her,
as if the appendage of some spirit charged
with a mission of death to the war-torn land.
Anita dashed to the side of the torrent, dis-
mounted, and seizing her horse by the mane,
swam across. This was not the least of her
perils, for the waters were swollen by the
tempest. The breadth of the Canoas was there
five hundred paces. After four days without
tasting food, except a few wild berries, she
arrived at Lages, and thence, taking a cup of
coffee only, she hurried to join the corps of
Colonel Aranha at Vaccaria, as the place most
likely to find her husband. There they soon
met, each having, for an entire week of incon-
ceivable dangers, despaired of ever again be-
holding the other. During these terrible
hazards Anita was pregnant. In this state
she accompanied her husband in the retreat
(already mentioned) to the head-quarters of
the president. From Mala Cosa, the Repub-
lican army marched to the neighbourhood of
Taquare, and formed a junction with a newly
raised division commanded by General Netto.
Within a few miles of that place Bento Gon-
zales resolved to give the Imperialists battle.
The two armies were drawn up in array for a
whole day. The Imperialists numbered 4,000
foot, 3,000 horse, and a park of artillery; the
Republicans had little more than one-fourth
that number. After some skirmishing, the
Imperial troops retired upon Taquarè, whither
Bento Gonzales followed them, and attacking
them during the retreat, was repulsed with a
loss of 500 men, but inflicting an equal loss
upon the enemy. Garibaldi was at the head
of the marine force, and in the thickest of the
fight, which he described as terrible, particu-
larly in the forest, where the noise of the
shots and the breaking of the trees, amidst
the cloud of smoke, seemed like an infernal
tempest. Bento Gonzales returned to Mala
Cosa. A fortified place, called "San José of
the North," became an object for the repub-
lican army to gain. It was situated on the
northern shore of the lake Los Patos. A sur-
prise was determined. Forced marches brought
the expedition beneath the walls on a night of
pitiless storm. At one o'clock in the morning
the assault was given; the surprise was com-
plete, the trenches were won, and the forts
which guarded them. As soon, however, as
the assailants entered the streets, they lost all
discipline, and being in want of everything,
gave themselves up to plunder. The enemy,
driven to a quarter of the city well fortified,
kept up their fire, and repulsed the few troops
whom Garibaldi could keep together. In vain
the officers sought for their dispersed men,
they either could not be found, or were drunk,
disobedient, laden with booty, or without their
arms. The Imperial ships in the harbour
opened fire and raked the streets; a magazine
exploded in the chief fort which the Repub-
licans had won, blowing up many of them.
By midday the broken remnant of the assailants
were in full route. A few cavalry and Gari-
baldi's sailors covered the retreat.
His com-
pany was reduced to forty men. The fugitive
army reached Bella Vesta, Garibaldi proceed-
ing to St. Simon, a very large farm, for the
purpose of superintending the building of some
canoes. Those who were to assist in this
undertaking did not perform their task; and as
there were many colts on the estate, Garibaldi
trained his sailors as troopers. While thus
engaged, Anita was confined of her first-born,

Engraved by T. Knight. from a Drawing by C. Armytage.
MENOTTI GARIBALDI.
LONDON JAMES & VIRTUE.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
53
..
September, 1840. Of this event Garibaldi
said, "Instead of giving him the name of a
saint, I gave him the name of a martyr; he
was called Menotti." The child was born with
a cicatrice on his head, in consequence of the
fall caused to his mother when her horse was
shot at the time of her capture. Garibaldi set
out for Settembrina to purchase some neces-
saries for Anita and his little boy. On his
way he passed through a farm or estate, where
Captain Massimo was in charge of horses for
the cavalry. As Garibaldi passed on a few
miles, he heard heavy firing in the direction
of the farm he had left. He had scarcely gone,
when the "Pole Cat," whom he had once so
signally defeated, made a spring upon the
station, killing the men and capturing the
horses. Garibaldi proceeded on his route, and
accomplished his errand of love. He then
learned the sad fact that the crafty Moringue
had marched through the district, suddenly
appearing and capturing or dispersing all the
small posts of the Republicans. His sailor
band at St. Simon were obliged to take refuge
in the forest, and with them Anita and his
little boy, then only twelve days old. Gari-
baldi, in an agony of suspense, sought and
found them. He brought them back to St.
Simon, resolved to defend the place if attacked.
Thence he encamped on the left bank of the
Capinari, the river upon which he had for-
merly transported his ships with such great
labour for the expedition to St. Catherine.
Here by canoes he opened communication, and
transported his company and material.
Soon after, the Pole Cat surprised the
garrison of Settembrina, and Rosetti, refusing
to surrender, was killed. Thus the last bosom
friend of our hero had perished in this war.
A general retreat of the whole army under
Gonzales was determined. Much as Garibaldi
had known in these campaigns of painful re-
—
treat, this he described as the most terrible and
disastrous. It lasted three months, amid the
rains which in winter deluge that land. Anita
endured it and yet lived. Garibaldi carried
little Menotti through dangerous tracks, and
over rivers, suspended from his neck by a
handkerchief, so that he could warm him by
his breath. At last, passing through a forest
that seemed interminable, he found it neces-
sary to slacken his pace, in order to save two.
mules, whose use could not be dispensed with,
and sent Anita and her baby forward. When
he rejoined them, he found them by a camp
fire beyond the forest, with a picket of his
troops, the soldiers in the act of wrapping the
poor little boy in their woollen vests, and
restoring him to life, after Anita had given up
all hopes of his preservation. The lives of
both mother and babe were saved by the
tender care of these humane and gallant
fellows.
A junction was now made with Gonzales,
whose troops were decimated by fatigue and
hunger, and the harassing pursuit of the ubi-
quitous Pole Cat, joined by the mountaineers
who were loyal to the emperor. The retreating
army at last reached the place of its rendez-
vous, and took up quarters. It was now evident
that the Republican cause was lost; it was
only a question of time when surrender must
be made. Negociations were already opened by
the emperor's ministers, and there remained
no longer room for Garibaldi to serve a cause
for which he had fought and bled. Of the
people he had no hope; they were not prepared
for the destinies to which they aspired. Our
hero therefore began to think of retiring from
this service. At this time, too, he felt that
his family required repose, and to be taken
away from scenes of such distressing and
harassing vicissitude. A longing to hear of
his parents, of whom for six years he had no
C
54
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
tidings, took possession of his soul; and of
the condition of Italy, the land of his birth
and of his heart, he knew nothing, but sighed
to learn something of her fate. He resolved on
going to Monte Video, and to take up his abode
there, unless the President of Rio Grande
finding means of further resistance should
again require his aid. The president entered
into the purpose of our hero, and these two
brave men, brothers in war and misfortune,
took leave of each other.
Garibaldi was permitted to collect a drove
of cattle, by selling which one at a time he
hoped to provide the expenses of his journey.
He collected nine hundred animals, most of
them "completely wild." On the way many
were drowned in the passage of a river, many
were stolen by hired drovers, a large number
perished on the track, and finally, when he
had only five hundred left, they could not
endure the remainder of the journey, so he
killed them, and selling their skins, realised
one hundred crowns. He arrived at Monte
Video, where for his subsistence he combined
two callings which were in curious association.
He was a sort of local commercial traveller,
carrying samples of all kinds about him, from
Italian paste to Rouen stuffs; and a teacher of
mathematics in a private family. He could
scarcely find, by these means united, sufficient
support for his family.
At last the Republic of Monte Video had
need of such a man as Garibaldi, and requested
him to enter its service. He became captain
of a corvette called La Constitution.
The condition of the Monte Video republic
at this juncture was peculiar. From ignorance
of political economy on the part of a former
president, her treasury was completely ex-
hausted. Her population was not numerous,
and her power was small. Rosas was the
Dictator of Buenos Ayres, and had received a
previous president of Monte Video, then exiled,
whose name was Oribes. Rosas made war on
the republic ostensibly to re-establish Oribes,
but really to become its dictator. No man was
ever named upon the page of history so com-
pletely debased by cruelty and cowardice as the
infamous Rosas. He was probably more ignorant
than any man sustaining such high functions
was ever before known to be. This despot
sent his armies to invade the territory of the
Monte Videon, or as it was also called, Oriental
Republic. Oribes, the recusant and traitorous
ex-president of that republic, commanded the
invading army. Garibaldi drew his sword for the
invaded and oppressed. The Oriental squadron
was placed under the command of a soldier,
one Colonel Casse; another soldier, or a sailor
bearing a soldier's title, a General Brown, com-
manded the fleet of Buenos Ayres. Garibaldi
was to proceed with two ships, armed with guns
of small calibre, to assist Coriontes, which was
in arms against Rosas; but our hero believed
that the minister of Monte Video was desirous to
get rid of him, and to possess no higher object
in ordering the expedition. Had the minister
really intended the destruction of Garibaldi and
his ships, he could have devised no more likely
a scheme. The new commodore had to ascend
the Parana between two hostile shores, pursued
by a squadron fourfold the strength of his
own. Immediately upon leaving harbour he
had to pass near to a battery, which the enemy
had planted upon an island. He did not pass
it without the loss of an officer and five men
killed, and eight wounded. In ascending the
river the vessel on which he commanded ran
ashore upon an island at low water. He
transported the guns to the sister ship, the
men of which were aiding him in getting his
vessel off the ground. While thus situated
the enemy's fleet, consisting of seven ships,
appeared in sight. There was no opportunity
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
55
for flight, and a combat to any one but
Garibaldi would have been too hopeless to
attempt. The events which followed were
regarded by Garibaldi with sad, pungent feel-
ings, and remembered by him ever after with
so much emotion that we must record them in
his own words.
"Notwithstanding the imminent danger in
which I was placed, I did not give way to
despair. No, God has given me the grace in
every extreme occasion always to retain my
confidence in Him; but I leave it to others to
judge, particularly to sailors, what my situation
was. It was not only my life that was in ques-
tion,—I would willingly have given up that at
such a moment,-but my honour was at stake.
The more the people who had driven me to
this extremity believed that I should in it lose
my reputation, the more firmly I was resolved
to carry it through the ordeal, bleeding it
might be, but still pure.
"There could be no idea of avoiding the
combat; all we could do was to meet it in the
best possible situation. Consequently as my
vessels, much lighter than the enemy's, drew
less water, I made them approach close to the
shore, which presented me, should all be lost
upon the river, with a last means of safety in
landing.
"I had the deck of the goëlette cleared as
much as possible, in order that some of our
cannons might be of service, and these precau-
tions being taken I waited.
"The squadron which was about to attack
me was commanded by Admiral Brown; I was
aware, therefore, that I had to deal with one of
the bravest sailors in the world.
"The fight lasted three days without the
enemy's thinking fit to board us. Towards
the morning of the third day I had still some
powder left, but I wanted projectiles. I
ordered the chains of the vessel to be broken;
I got together nails and hammers, everything,
either iron or copper, that could take the place
of bullets or mitraille, and spat it in the face
of the enemy, and that enabled us to get
through the day.
"At length, towards the end of the third
day, having no projectiles left, and having lost
more than half of my men, I commanded fire
to be set to the three vessels; whilst, under a
heavy cannonade from the enemy, we reached
the shore, every man carrying his musket and
his share of the cartridges that were left. All
the wounded that were transportable were
carried with us; as to the others, I have
before said what took place in such circum-
stances.
“But we were a hundred and fifty, or two
hundred miles from Monte Video, and upon an
enemy's coast.
enemy's coast. It was the garrison of the
island which first undertook to molest us; but
still heated by our fight with General Brown,
we received them in such a fashion that they
repeated the attack no more.
"Then we commenced our march across the
desert, living upon the small quantity of
provisions we had been able to bring away
with us, and upon whatever we could procure
upon our route. The Orientals had just lost
the battle of Arrayo-Grande; we joined the
fugitives, whom I rallied round me, and after
five or six days of struggles, fighting, priva-
tions, and sufferings, of which no description
can give an idea, we re-entered Monte Video,
| bringing back intact that honour which it had
been so firmly believed I should leave behind
me.
"This fight, and many others which I main-
tained against Admiral Brown, made him
form so favourable an opinion of me, that
whilst the war still lasted, and he had aban-
doned the service of Rosas, he came to Monte
Video, and before seeing his family, he made
-
56
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
it his business to seek for me. He found me
at my residence of the Podone, and embraced
me again and again, as if I had been his own
son. The excellent man seemed as if he was
never tired of pressing me to his breast and
evincing his sympathy for me. And when he
had done with me, turning towards Anita,
'Madame,' said he, 'I have for a long time
fought against your husband, and that without
success; I was determined to conquer him,
and make him my prisoner; but he was
always ready to fight with me, and managed
to escape me. If I had had the good fortune
to take him, he would have learnt by the
manner in which I should have treated him
how great my respect was for him.""
Our hero was now again without a commis-
sion, or any means of livelihood.
After his victory, Oribes marched upon
Monte Video, shooting with relentless cruelty
all prisoners, and even the peaceable inhabi-
tants of the country were subjected to the
""
same fate, or beheaded, their heads in some
cases placed as an exhibition in public tho-
roughfares. Oribes, although cruel, was not so
bloodthirsty a man as Rosas, and whether
these barbarities were perpetrated under the
command of the tyrant, or in order to con-
ciliate him, and maintain his support, Oribes
went beyond the degree of vengeance which
men believed natural to himself. He ad-
vanced against Monte Video proclaiming that
neither native nor foreigner should be spared.
There was nothing to resist him. Rivera, a
former president, who commanded the lately
vanquished army, was again collecting men
and means for resistance. Whatever jealou-
sies inspired certain of the government officials,
that was no time for showing them. The aid
of Garibaldi became of consequence to the
very existence of the city, and this necessity
opened to him a new career. This shall be
reserved for a new chapter.
CHAPTER X.
GARIBALDI COMMANDS THE ITALIAN LEGION.-BECOMES COMMANDER OF A FLOTILLA. -SUCCESSFULLY
DEFENDS A FORTRESS AGAINST THE FLEET OF ROSAS.-AT THE HEAD OF HIS LEGION SUR-
PRISES AND DEFEATS A CORPS OF ORIBES. -TERRIBLE HAND-TO-HAND CONTEST. 'GARIBALDI'S
ENGLISHMAN. -ESTATES OFFERED TO THE ITALIAN LEGION REFUSED.-AN AMBUSH.-PREPARES
TO SURPRISE ROSAS IN HIS CAPITAL, AND BRING HIM A PRISONER TO MONTE VIDEO.-BREAKS
THE BLOCKADE.-MONTE VIDEO IN EXTREMITY.-HELP AT HAND.
"Friend of the brave! in peril's darkest hour,
Intrepid virtue looks to thee for power.
To thee the heart its trembling homage yields,
On stormy floods and carnage-covered fields;
When front to front the banner'd hosts combine,
Halt ere they close, and form the dreadful line."-CAMPBELL.
THE government of the Oriental Republic
gladly accepted the offers of the foreign resi-
dents at Monte Video to form legions for the
defence of the city. The French formed a body
A
MAR
66
of men chiefly composed of French Biscayans.
The Spaniards also formed one, mainly con-
sisting of Spanish Biscayans. The Italian
Legion was enrolled by the instrumentality of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
57
Garibaldi, who issued a proclamation to his
compatriots to arm and defend the homes of
a generous people who had shown them hos-
pitality. At first, between four and five
hundred men responded to his call; after-
wards they increased to eight hundred-so
many proscribed Italians constantly arrived
who hoped to find in the congenial climate
of South America a second Italy. They had
no pay, but rations were supplied to them,
and the republic promised grants of land to
the survivors of the war, and to the families
of such as should fall. Small as the number
at the highest was, the Legion was for some
reason divided into three battalions, Garibaldi
commanding in chief.
Through the tardiness of Oribes, time was
obtained to organise defence and drill the
legions. A body of liberated negroes and
coloured men, to the amount of five thousand,
was also put into some discipline. "These,"
said Garibaldi, "made excellent soldiers."
This was usually the case in South America;
a large portion of the cavalry of the Rio
Grande were sable lancers; according to
Garibaldi's testimony, the most efficient he
ever beheld. Few were armed in the service
of the Brazilian Emperor or of Rosas, and
they fought reluctantly. In Brazil the blacks
were slaves; under Rosas, all men were
situated worse than even in the compulsory
servitude of the coloured people of Brazil.
Oribes loitered within an hour's march of
the city at the head of from twelve to fourteen
thousand men. Monte Video, with her blacks
and foreign legions, mustered nine thousand
for the defence. All the legionaries were not
reliable. There were men among the French
and Italians who did not care what govern-
ment existed so long as it protected their
commercial dealings; and the Spaniards were
traitors; they thoroughly sympathised with
despotism, and as Oribes had friends within
the walls who hated liberty in every form,
these Spaniards were not without prompters
whose influence was successful, for they soon
deserted to the enemy, and fought with im-
placable fierceness against the state which had
sheltered and fostered them.
The commander of the Orientals was General
Paz, who, however, left the city to effect a
rising in Entra Rios. An Italian, named
Anzani, who had taken a heroic part in
various struggles in Europe, arrived from a
distant South American city at the request
of Garibaldi, and soon completed the organi-
sation of the Italian Legion.
A flotilla having been collected, Garibaldi
was supposed by the government as likely to
be more useful in its command than anywhere
else, and more efficient than anybody else
could be. Mancini, an Italian, took his place
as head of the Legion pro tempore.
There was a fortress, called Cerro, which
remained in the hands of the Orientals,
although thirteen or fourteen miles higher up
the river La Plata than Cerito, where Oribes
was encamped. There was close to it the
island of Los Ratos, also in a state of de-
fence. Admiral Brown prepared to attack
these places, which, being of great importance
to the Monte Videans, Garibaldi and his flotilla
were ordered to defend. After a conflict of
three days, Brown was forced to sheer off,
having suffered great loss.
The maintenance of discipline in the Italian
Legion still had Garibaldi's care.
There
were some very bad men and worse officers
in it. They conspired to assassinate Gari-
baldi and Anzani, and finding their inten-
tion discovered, twenty officers and fifty men
deserted to the enemy: the men returned
by degrees, but the officers completed their
perfidy. Thus our hero was tried in every
I
58
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
way-"in perils among false brethren," as
well as from open foes. Anzani restored
confidence by his courage, constancy, and
vigilance, in which qualities he could be
equalled by Garibaldi alone.
A sortie was made, in which the Legion
retired before the enemy without any display
of manly spirit.
Soon after, Garibaldi, anxious to restore the
character of his countrymen, offered to lead
them on an expedition of no less danger than
that of attacking the corps of Oribes before
Cerro. Pacheco, the minister of war, accom-
panied the expedition. Garibaldi led his
men on foot. A success was nobly achieved.
A body of men, numbering six hundred, were
attacked by the four hundred Italians. One
hundred and fifty of the enemy were slain,
and two hundred made prisoners, some severely
wounded. The Italians lost five or six killed,
and ten wounded. Garibaldi's heart was flushed
with this victory, for it saved the honour of
his country, so nearly compromised.
"We returned," said he, "in triumph to
Monte Video. The next day Pacheco assembled
the Legion, thanked them, praised them, and
presented Sergeant Loreto with a gun of
honour. The affair took place on the 28th of
March, 1843. From that time I was at
ease; the Legion had received its baptismal
fire.
C
“In the month of May our flag was conse-
crated. It was of black stuff, with Vesuvius
painted upon it, as emblematical of Italy, and
of the revolutions it contained within its bosom.
It was entrusted to Sacchi, a young man of
twenty, who had behaved admirably in the
fight at Cerro. He is the same man that
afterwards fought with me at Rome."
Soon after this the Italian Legion occupied
an advanced post. A Monte Videan colonel,
with a small mounted party, went beyond it
to reconnoitre, and a shot from the enemy
killed him. They were dragging his body
away, when Garibaldi, at the head of one
hundred men, by desperate fighting rescued
it. Reinforcements from Oribes surrounded
the little band, who were succoured only by
the timely aid of the whole Legion, which was
in turn charged by a larger force. The troops
in the city hastened to their relief, and a
general engagement ensued. Never did Gari-
baldi fight with firmer obstinacy; hurrying
forward as a private soldier, he dealt death.
among the enemy, who shrank appalled by his
audacious valour. Anzani showed a kindred
heroism. The chastisement received by the
enemy was terrible. Thence the army of de-
fence was respected, and the Italian Legion
feared. The names of Garibaldi and Anzani
were in all lips within the ramparts of the
city and the camp of the foe.
Some subsequent skirmishes occurred, but
the Buenos Ayreans fled whenever the Italians
prepared to charge with the bayonet.
Around Monte Video, and in the neighbour-
hoods of Cerro and Cerito, there were many
conflicts, in which the prominent part was
performed by Garibaldi. Some of them were
terrible encounters, maintained by our hero
against great odds. Excited by his voice, the
Italians performed prodigies of valour, justi-
fying what was afterwards said of them by an
eminent person, "No wonder these Italians
fight like lions; they are led by a lion." On
one occasion, placed between the fire of two
corps, each numerically far stronger than his
own, he was obliged to retire upon Cerro. Of
this conflict he thus wrote, in a journal intended
for the perusal only of his friends :—
"I took the command of the rear-guard, in
order to support the retreat as vigorously as
possible.
"There was between us and Cerro a sort of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
59
muddy river, called the Bayarda. We had to
cross this with the mud up to our middles.
In order to endeavour to throw disorder into
the passage, the enemy established upon a
hillock a battery of four pieces of cannon,
which began playing upon us at the moment.
we commenced crossing. But the Italian
Legion was becoming more warlike every day ;
they took no more notice of this shower of
mitraille than if it had been an ordinary
shower of hail. It was then I saw what brave
men our negroes were. They suffered them-
selves to be killed, awaiting the enemy one
knee on the ground. I was in the very midst
of them, and was able to see how they behaved.
The fight lasted six hours.
"There was then in the service of Monte
Video an Englishman, who had carte blanche
from Pacheco, who knew him well, to do
everything he thought would be serviceable.
He had from forty to fifty men under his
command. We called him Samuel; I don't
know whether he had any other name or not.
I never saw a braver man than he was. After
the passage of the Bayarda, I saw him coming
alone with his warrant.
"Well, Samuel,' said I, 'where is your
regiment?'
"Regiment!' cried he, 'Attention!'
"Nobody appeared, nobody answered; his
men had all been killed, from the first to the
last."
While these events were passing, the year
1845 opened upon the war-stricken republic.
Riveyra, the Oriental commander, sent a letter
addressed to "Colonel Garibaldi," thanking
him for his courage and great services to the
cause for which they both bore arms, and
also complimenting the gallant conduct of the
Italian Legion. With this letter he sent a
deed bestowing a large tract of land upon
the Legion, with cattle, and various property
necessary to the estate. This gift, however,
was not bestowed by the government, but by
the generous Riveyra from his own patrimony.
To this communication Garibaldi sent a cha-
racteristic reply :-
"Excellentissimo Signore,
"Colonel Pandi, in the presence of all the
officers of the Italian Legion, has remitted to
me, according to your desire, the letter you
have had the goodness to write to me, bearing
date the 30th of January, and with that letter
a deed by which you make a spontaneous gift
to the Italian Legion of a portion of land,
taken from your own property, and extending
between l'Arrayo de las Avenas and l'Arrayo
Grande, to the north of the Rio Negro, and,
in addition, a drove of cattle, as well as
haciendas, standing upon this land.
"You say that the gift is made by you as a
reward of our services to the republic.
"The Italian officers, after being made ac-
quainted with your letter and its contents,
have unanimously declared, in the name of
the Legion, that they did not contemplate,
when asking for arms and offering their ser-
vices to the republic, receiving any other
reward but the honour of sharing the perils
of the children of the country which had
afforded them hospitality. They obeyed, whilst
acting thus, the voice of their conscience;
having satisfied that which they consider
simply the accomplishment of a duty, they
will continue, as long as the necessities of the
siege require it, to share the toils and perils
of the noble Monte Videans, but they desire
no other price and no other recompense for
their labours.
"I have, consequently, the honour to com-
municate to your Excellency the reply of the
Legion, with which my own sentiments and
principles completely agree.
7
60
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"I therefore return you the original of the possible of execution.
donation.
66
May God grant you many days.
"GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI."
Various events occurred by which the for-
tunes of the war were affected, but as these
did not bear upon the personal career of Gari-
baldi, they are not proper to our narrative.
One of these incidents had an important
connection with a deed by which Garibaldi
distinguished himself. An Oriental officer,
General Flanos, collected together 200 men at
no great distance from the city, and suddenly
cutting his way through the army at Cerro,
entered Monte Video. This reinforcement
encouraged the garrison to make an attempt
to weaken the enemy. On the 27th of May,
under cover of night, the Italian Legion, and
some other troops, embarked, and landing near
a deserted powder mill, concealed themselves
within it. General Flanos with his two hun-
dred horse and a body of infantry came out
of the city and drew the enemy toward the
powder mill. When the moment for so doing
arrived, Garibaldi and his concealed force
charged the astonished enemy, who, thrown
into confusion, broke and fled, leaving num-
bers of their dead and wounded in the track of
their flight. Being too hotly pursued, oppor-
tunity was afforded for the corps of observation
at Cerro to fall upon the pursuers, and a mur-
derous hand-to-hand conflict ensued, which
issued in the total rout and extensive slaughter
of the enemy. General Nang, who had the
reputation of being their bravest general, was
shot by an Italian. Carrying away a great
booty in cattle and arms, Garibaldi and his
comrades entered the city "with joy and hope
in their hearts."
The success of this expedition led Garibaldi
to propose another, most daring, and not im-
possible of execution. This was "to embark
the Italian Legion on board the flotilla, to
ascend the river, concealing my men as much
as possible, as far as Buenos Ayres, and, on
arriving there, to land in the night, direct our
course to the house of Rosas, carry him off,
and bring him to Monte Video. This expedi-
tion succeeding, the war would be terminated
at a single blow." The government refused to
sanction it.
Monte Video was not only assailed by land,
but it was blockaded by sea. Garibaldi, when
not engaged in land expeditions, found occu-
pation in weakening the blockade. He would
sail out, eluding the vigilance of the enemy,
throw his grappling irons into a hostile mer-
chant ship, and carry it in a prize through the
encircling fleet. Sometimes he would make
himself known, draw away the whole of the
blockading squadron, and enable some friendly
merchantman to enter the port. In this way
the city was supplied with many things of
which it stood in need, loss was inflicted upon
the mercantile marine of the foe, and his navy
was distracted and humbled.
At last our hero resolved to attack the
squadron when a chance, however remote,
arose of victory. Three blockading ships were
stationed in the roads on a particular occasion,
their armament forty-four guns. Garibaldi
had three small and indifferent craft, carrying
eight guns of small calibre. The maintops
and masts of the shipping in Monte Video
were covered with spectators, no doubt Anita
the most interested of all. As the little
squadron of Garibaldi approached the fleet of
Rosas, it weighed anchor and sheered off. The
name and prowess of our hero alone effected
this. Men began to think that he could do as
well as dare anything. The enemy no doubt.
dreaded some novel scheme for their destruc-
tion, and feared to encounter it. They could
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
61
not conceive of such a flotilla attacking such a
squadron unless some sure but hidden means
of painful assault were borne by them. The
victor returned to port amidst the loud ap-
plause of the whole city.
At Monte Video, however, events did not
make good progress. The finance of the
government was in a deplorable condition.
Desertion had destroyed the Spanish Legion.
The French Legion did not enter very heartily
into the enterprises which were contemplated,
or attempted. Battle and sickness had dimi-
nished the invincible Italians, the native army
•
WHEN matters were at the worst in Monte
Video, the English and French fleet put an
end to the blockade, seizing the squadron, and
dividing it between them.
An expedition up the Uruguay was resolved
upon by the Monte Videan government, and
the conduct of it was given to Garibaldi. His
force consisted of his little flotilla with which
he had defied Admiral Brown, and on board
of it he placed two hundred volunteers of the
Italian Legion. Their first conquest was an
easy one, the island of St. Martin Garcia.
The enemy abandoned it without defence.
The Anglo-French squadron gave a certain
measure of support to this expedition, and as
had also declined in number, and Riveyra's
army in the field was defeated and utterly
destroyed, thousands of prisoners being, by the
orders of Rosas or Oribes, shot, decapitated,
strangled, or bayoneted. Garibaldi was the
nation's trust, the star of its hope, which alone
cheered them over field or ocean. New events
were, however, at hand favourable to the liber-
ties of the brave little city.
ties of the brave little city. New and greater
CHAPTER XI.
ANGLO-FRENCH INTERVENTION.-EXPEDITION UP THE URUGUAY.-VICTORY OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH
SQUADRON.-GARIBALDI SURPRISES AND CAPTURES A CITY. HIS EXTRAORDINARY MAGNANIMITY.
—INNUMERABLE CONTESTS.-BATTLE OF THE ZAPEVI.—DEFENCE OF GUALEGUACHU.-TERRIBLE
CONFLICT OF THE SALTO, SAN ANTONIO.
actors were approaching the arena of strife,
whose united power no foes could long resist.
These at last appeared.
""Tis strange, but true; for truth is always strange,
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange?
How differently the world would men behold !"—Byron.
soon as it appeared off the city of Colonia the
enemy fled. General Montero, however, ral-
lied the fugitives, and took up a position upon
the opposite side of the river. The naval
squadrons cannonaded the deserted city pre-
vious to landing their marines and a body of
sailors, probably fearing some ambuscade.
The Italian Legion landed and took up a posi-
tion, which Montero attacked. He was re-
pulsed. The Italians garrisoned the city. The
English and French squadrons sailed into the
Panara, and were attacked by heavy batteries
in formidable positions. After three days
fighting the allies were victorious, having sub-
dued all resistance. Garibaldi with his small
62
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
2
squadron then ascended the river, leaving the
English and French lying near the conquered
batteries. The attention of the admirals to
Garibaldi had been most courteous, especially
Admiral Lainé. These two gallant officers,
high as their rank was, might be frequently
seen by the bivouac fires of the Legion, sharing
with Garibaldi the grilled meat which con-
stituted his simple repast.
During the course of the squadron, it was
aided by volunteer cavalry, especially a party
under one Captain de la Cruz, a daring sol-
dier and expert horseman. These troopers
explored the country, provided Garibaldi with
requisite information, attacked and put to
flight detachments of the enemy, and captured
several places of some importance.
Higher up the river was a strongly fortified
place called Passandra, which our hero passed,
and took up a position in and around an
estancia, called the Herreidero.
General la Valleya made a night attack in
very superior force, assisted by artillery; he
was repulsed, losing many men. The position
was impregnable to any attack except made
in overwhelming force, and was defended with
skill and bravery.
could not hold the captured city, but he levied
in the name of his government a tribute, and
compelled the authorities to furnish his men
with abundant supplies of food and apparel.
The enemy was obstinate and persevering,
resisting our hero's progress up the river at
every spot where a position of any advantage
could be taken. The contests which occurred
were numerous, and many of them fierce. No
pen ever has done justice to the exploits of
| Garibaldi in this half naval, half military
expedition. Never did a leader expose himself
more heroically, never did Providence surround
with protection a more endangered man.
At last the squadron arrived at the Falls of
Uruguay, called the Salto. General la Valleya
and his troops fled, compelling the inhabitants
to leave their homes. Valleya chose a good
position upon an affluent of the Uruguay,
the Zapevi. Garibaldi resolved to attack him,
and marched out at night with the Legion, and
the irregular horsemen under their admiral-
captain, De la Cruz. At daybreak the camp
was in sight, and its position might well have
deterred any less adventurous leader than its
intended assailant. On the right it rested
upon the Uruguay, the left was protected by
the camp carriages, which formed an admirable
defence, behind was the affluent. In case of
attack from a superior force, the position
would not have been a safe one, but assaulted
by a body numerically so inferior as now
appeared before it, the arrangement was
judicious, and in the judgment of the com-
mander, impregnable. Forming the attack in
two small columns, with the cavalry on the
wings, Garibaldi made the assault; it was
rapid, determined, and decisive; the enemy
forded the Zapevi, leaving their dead and
wounded on the field and a hundred prisoners,
together with a piece of artillery, horses,
Many prizes were made on the river, and
the city of Gualeguachu was taken by surprise.
Here one of the most remarkable illustrations
of the noble and generous character of our
hero was afforded. The infamous Leonardo
Milan, from whom, when a prisoner in his
hands, Garibaldi suffered the vilest insult and
most excruciating torture, was among the
prisoners. Had our hero hung this man as an
enemy of the human race, the world would
pronounce the sentence just. But Garibaldi's
magnanimous nature was incapable of a vin-
dictive act; he gave the ruffian his liberty,
doing him no injury.
The small force at the disposal of our hero cattle, provisions, and munitions.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
63
It was a splendid victory, sharp, short, and
conclusive. Garibaldi comprehended at a
glance the advantages and defects of the
position, and adjusted his means to his end
with consummate wisdom and courage. His
promptitude of action facilitated his conquest.
The inhabitants of the district and of the
neighbouring city returned to their homes; the
fame of Garibaldi's clemency and tenderness
was great, even as his prowess on ship or
field.
Under the superintendence of his ingenious
and indefatigable lieutenant, Anzani, he for-
tified the public square of the city, which,
from its elevated position, commanded the
whole place. Communication was opened
with the Monte Videan refugees in Brazil to
induce their return, and to form the nucleus
of a new provincial army.
An English ship of war and a French man-
of-war arrived opportunely at Salto, and
offered their assistance. All was needed.
-
On the 6th of December, 1845, General
Urguisa advanced with 3,500 horse and 800
infantry, with a field battery, to attack the city.
Garibaldi placed the major part of his men.
behind barricades in the narrow streets, and
dominated with a small battery the principal
approach. The enemy occupied some houses,
and were advancing along the chief thorough-
fare, when they were met by a shower of
grape and canister from the battery, and by a
fusilade from the narrow streets. They were
confused and hesitated, and Garibaldi, per-
ceiving this, charged with two reserve com-
panies, driving them in disgrace before him.
They gained no advantage but a booty of some
cattle, which were guarded by some men from
the English ship, who, from carelessness or
contempt of the enemy, were not on the alert.
This English naval picket then set to work
with a will, and turned into a formidable fort
a private residence, so as to guard the cattle
committed to their charge.
The enemy, encouraged by their previous
success, directed an attack upon this point;
the marines fled, panic-stricken by the superior
numbers opposed to them, escaping by doors
and windows as they could, and leaving the
cattle under their care an easy prey to the foe.
The place was then blockaded by the enemy.
By day he made incessant attacks for more
than three weeks, by night the garrison
conducted successful sorties. Worn out by
fatigue and the dreadful sacrifice of his men,
the General retired. The garrison were at
that moment almost starving, mainly sup-
ported by eating their own horses; but
Garibaldi captured as many as supplied to his
cavalry and commissariat the number thus
disposed of.
The year 1846 had now opened upon this
struggle for liberty, and the strange career of
the hero of these memoirs. During the first
half of the year he could do no more than hold
possession of the important position he had
gained, dominate the surrounding country, and
endeavour to engage the Monte Videan refugees
in Brazil to organise and join him, so as to
form a point d'appué for more extensive
operations.
During his correspondence with the exiles,
he had arranged with General Medina, of their
number, to cross the frontier with five hundred
horse, and promised to meet him on the
heights of Zapevi, so as to cover his approach
to the city, lest he should be overwhelmed by
a superior force of the enemy. On the 8th of
July, Garibaldi marched out for this purpose at
the head of one hundred and fifty men of the
Legion, and two hundred horse which had been
added to the garrison by arrival from Brazil,
under one Colonel Baez.
In the march the Monte Video force was
64
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
watched by a body of four hundred cavalry.
Colonel Baez penetrated with his cavalry to
the rendezvous, while Garibaldi took post at a
convenient distance in the heights, in a za-
perè-a sort of sun shelter-a roof of thatch
erected on posts.
About noon a large body of hostile troopers,
each having a foot soldier mounted behind
him, advanced against this frail position.
Baez, with his cavalry, advanced to cover the
zaperè, and opened a spirited carbinade. The
enemy, confident in such greatly superior
numbers, charged and routed this squadron,
while the infantry opened fire against the open
shed. Garibaldi was with Baez when the
flight occurred. He galloped towards his brave
Italians. His horse fell just as he reached
their front. This mishap, which might have
been terrible in its consequences, only brought
out more strongly the courage and presence of
mind of the brave chief. Fearing lest his fall
should cause his men to believe he was killed,
he instantly fired a pistol, and was snatched
up and rescued from his perilous position.
With a gun in his hand he stood in the midst
of his invincible Legion, numbering officers and
men, and a few of the dismounted cavalry, one
hundred and ninety. He addressed them in
few, but spirited, stirring words, such as was
his wont:-" The enemy are numerous, we are
few; so much the better! the fewer we are
the more glorious will be the fight. Be calm!
Be calm!
do not fire until they are close upon us, and
then charge with the bayonet." His words.
quickened every heart, and were obeyed.
He ordered the Legion to load with balls and
deer-shot together. The enemy fired when
within sixty paces, and several of the Garibal-
dians fell, but the return volley, reserved to
the proper moment, was murderous; a line
of dead, including the commander of the
infantry, were strewn in front of the Legion.
Garibaldi then led them in a bayonet charge,
effecting great slaughter, and dispersing the
enemy's infantry. The cavalry then charged,
but were met by a steady and destructive fire.
A gallant officer of Baez's cavalry (which
had fled from the enemy) rallied a few men,
and cut his way through the foe, reaching
Garibaldi's side in safety. This circumstance
surprised and confused the troopers, who were
about to charge Garibaldi's infantry, by which
means our hero gained time to pour in another
volley, which emptied many saddles. Those
troopers were, however, brave; they retreated
a short distance, dismounted, and six hundred
of them, carbine in hand, surrounded the
straw-roofed shelter in which the Legion found
some little protection. A fight now ensued
more terrible than the preceding, and the
heroism of the Legion surpassed all its former
daring. The bravery of a trumpeter, a boy
of fifteen, was especially worthy of notice. He
received a wound from a lancer. Instantly
he threw away his trumpet, drew his knife,
and rushed upon the man who had wounded
him, and stabbed him. They both died
together. Garibaldi, in his report of the
engagement, said-
G
"On the side of our antagonists I must
admit there were displayed many acts of the
greatest.boldness. One of them perceiving
that the kind of shed around which we were
grouped, if it was no rampart against the
balls, was a shelter from the scorching sun,
took a lighted brand, clapped spurs to his
horse, galloped through us, and as he passed
threw the brand like lightning upon the straw
roof of the shed. The brand fell short of the
object of the horseman, but he had neverthe-
less performed a bold action. Our men were
about to fire on him, but I prevented them by
exclaiming, 'Spare brave fellows like him;
they belong to our race!' and nobody fired.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
65
"It was a miracle to see how all those
brave men listened to me. A word from me
restored strength to the wounded, courage to
the hesitating, and redoubled the ardour of the
strong.
"When I saw the enemy decimated by our
fire and fatigued by our resistance, then, and
not till then, did I say a word about retreat;
not by saying 'Let us retreat,' but, 'In re-
treating, we will not leave, I hope, a single
wounded comrade on the field of battle.'
"No! no! no!' cried every voice. By the
bye, there was scarcely one among us that was
not wounded.
"When I saw all my people calm and quite
steady, I quietly gave the order to retreat,
fighting. Fortunately I had not received even
a scratch, which permitted me to be every-
where, and when an enemy approached too
boldly, to make him repent of his rashness.
"The few that were unhurt among us sang
patriotic hymns, to which the wounded replied
in chorus. The enemy could not make out
what was going on."
The sufferings of the retreating Legion were
appalling. Thirst especially contributed to
this. Many of the men tore up roots from
the earth and chewed them, while others
sucked bullets. Night came on, and with it
a delicious coolness. Placing all the wounded
in the midst, except two who could not be
borne away, they renewed their march, making
for a belt of wood which was not far. On
arriving there they found it occupied by a por-
tion of the enemy's horse, who were promptly
expelled. While resting there the foe was
carefully reconnoitred, and were discovered
dismounted and feeding their horses, evidently
supposing that the Legion would remain in the
wood all night. Garibaldi's next care was to
supply his men with ammunition taken from
the dead bodies of the slain.
The horsemen were encamped between the
resting-place of the Legion and Salto, upon
which the retreat was directed. In the still
night Garibaldi stole his force quietly to their
camp, and then, in column, with fixed bayonet,
passed through them at double quick pace.
The enemy sounded to horse, and resumed
pursuit. Garibaldi caused his men to lie down
in the thick brushwood, and in this position
to await the enemy. The troopers dashed up,
sounding the charge, but not discovering the
position of the Legion, which awaited the
cavalry until within thirty paces, and then
fired a death-dealing volley into their midst.
The living turned and fled. The Legion gained
the banks of the river, slaked their thirst, and
renewed their strength. The enemy rallied, the
bravest of the troopers still closely pursuing,
although a number of them fell under a drop-
ping fire. The retreat was successfully con-
ducted to its destination.
Meanwhile the little garrison that had been
left behind, under the command of Anzani,
consisting of few more than forty men, chiefly
invalids and wounded, had been in the utmost
peril. A large body of the enemy had sur-
rounded the place and summoned the garrison
to surrender. Anzani replied that he would
blow up the magazine, and with it the assail-
ants and defenders together, if an assault were
made. Had not this resolute man held the
place, Garibaldi and his band would have
reached it only to incur captivity or death.
Two days after his arrival at Salto, Gari-
baldi wrote a letter to the Italian Legion at
Monte Video, giving an account of these trans-
actions in terms which show the importance
he attached to them, and which admirably
presents his own peculiar characteristics.
Every man of the Legion remaining at Monte
Video regretted that he had not shared with
Garibaldi such great peril and renown.
K
66
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"To the Commission of the Italian Legion at
Monte Video.
"Brothers!
"The day before yesterday we had, in the
plains of San Antonio, within a league and
a half of the city, the most terrible and the
most glorious of our battles. The four com-
panies of our Legion, and a score of horse,
who had taken refuge under our protection,
not only defended themselves against twelve
hundred of the men of Servando Gomez, but
entirely annihilated the enemy's infantry which
assailed them, to the number of three hundred
men. The firing commenced at midday, and
ended at midnight. Neither the numbers of
the enemy, nor their repeated charges; neither
the mass of cavalry, nor the attacks of the
fusileers on foot, could prevail over us, although
we had no other shelter but a shed in ruins,
supported by four posts. The legionaries con-
stantly repulsed the assaults of their infuriated
enemies; every officer fought like a common
soldier on this memorable day. Anzani, who
had been left at Salto, and whom the enemy
summoned to surrender, replied, match in
hand, and his foot upon the Sainte Barbe (the
powder-room) of the battery, although the
enemy had assured him that we were all either
dead or prisoners.
"We had thirty killed and fifty-three
wounded. All the officers are wounded, with
the exception of Scarone Saccarello, the major,
and Traversi; but all slightly.
"I would not give up my name of an
Italian legionary for a world of gold!
"At midnight we retreated towards Salto.
There were about a hundred left safe and
sound. Such as were only slightly wounded
marched first, repelling the enemy when they
were too troublesome.
"Ah! this affair deserves to be cast in
bronze.
"Adieu! I will write to you at greater
length another time. Your
"GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI."
The estimate formed of this victory by the
government may be seen by the following
“general order”:
"To give our chivalrous companions in
arms, who have immortalised themselves on
the plains of San Antonio, a high proof of the
esteem in which they are held by the army
they have illustrated in this memorable fight—
"The Minister of War decrees:—
"1. On the 15th current day, appointed
by authority to remit to the Italian Legion a
copy of the following decree :-
"A grand parade of the garrison will take
place; it will assemble in the Market Street,
with its right upon the little place of the same
name, and in the order which the Etat Major
will direct.
"2. The Italian Legion will meet on the
Place of the Constitution, turning its back upon
the cathedral, and then it will receive the
following copy, which will be presented to it
by a deputation, presided over by Colonel
Francesco Tages, and composed of a captain,
an officer, a sergeant, and a soldier of every
corps.
"3. The deputation, on returning to their
respective corps, will march with them towards
the place directed, defiling in a column of
honour before the Italian Legion; while the
leaders of corps shall salute with the cry of
'Vive the country! General Garibaldi and
his brave companions!'
"4. The regiments are to be in line at ten
o'clock in the morning.
"5. An authentic copy of this Order of the
day is to be given to the Italian Legion and
to General Garibaldi.
"PACHECO Y OBES.'
""
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
67
The decree directed:-
1. That the following words should be in-
scribed in letters of gold upon the banner of
the Italian Legion:
"Action of the 8th of February, 1846,
of the Italian Legion, under the orders
of Garibaldi."
2. That the Italian Legion should have the
precedence in all parades.
3. That the names of the dead who fell in
this battle should be inscribed upon a tablet
placed in the Government Hall.
as
4. That all the legionaries should wear,
a mark of distinction, on the left arm, an
escutcheon, on which a crown should be sur-
rounded by the following inscription:
"Invincibili Combatterono l'8 Febrayo, 1846."
Garibaldi, wishing to give attestation of
his sympathy and gratitude to the legionaries
who had fallen fighting by his side in the
battle of the 8th of February, caused a large
cross to be erected on the field of battle, upon
one of the faces of which was placed this
inscription:-
"To the XXXVI. Italians who died the
8th of February, MDCCCXLVI.”
And on the other side
"CLXXXIV. Italians on the Plains of
St. Antonio.”
After the battle of San Antonio, Admiral
Lainé, the French commander off La Plata,
struck with astonishment, wrote Garibaldi the
following letter :—
"I felicitate you, my dear General, upon
having so powerfully contributed by your
intelligent and intrepid conduct to the ac-
complishment of the feat of arms, of which
the soldiers of the grand army which for a
while dominated over Europe might have
been proud!
"I felicitate you equally upon the simpli-
city and modesty which render more valuable
the reading of the relation in which you have
given the most minute details of a fact of
which the whole honour may be attributed to
you, without fear of contradiction.
"This modesty has captivated the sympa-
thies of persons able to appreciate suitably
what you have done during the last six months
-persons among whom you must reckon in
the first rank our Minister Plenipotentiary,
the Honourable Baron Deffandis, who honours
your character, and in whom you have a warm
defender, particularly when writing to Paris
for the purpose of destroying unfavourable
impressions that may have been given birth
to by certain articles in journals edited by
persons little accustomed to speak the truth,
even when they are relating facts which have
happened under their own eyes.
"Receive, General, the assurance of my es-
teem,
“ LAINÉ.”
Admiral Lainé was resolved to visit the hero
whom he so much admired. He found him in
a miserable abode, the door of which would
not shut, and through which both the wind
and rain penetrated. Garibaldi described the
interview in terms at once amusing and
touching.
"It was night. Admiral Lainé pushed open
the door, and as there was no light in the
house, he ran against a chair.
6
“'Hollo!' said he, is it absolutely neces-
sary a man should break his neck when he
comes to see you, Garibaldi?'
6
"See, wife!' cried I, without recognising
the voice of the Admiral, don't you hear?
there is somebody in the ante-chamber. Light!
light!'
St
68
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
“And what am I to light?' replied Anita,
'don't you know there is not two sous in the
house to buy a candle with?'
"That is true,' replied I, and I opened the
door of the apartment in which I was.
"This way! this way!' guiding my visitor
by my voice.
"Admiral Lainé entered, but it was so dark
that he was obliged to announce his name to
inform me to whom I was speaking.
“Admiral, you will excuse me, but when I
made my agreement with the Republic of
Monte Video, I forgot among the rations to
specify candles. So, as Anita has told you,
not having two sous to buy a candle, the
house is in darkness. Fortunately, I presume
you come to speak to me, and not to see me.
27
Their interview ended, Lainé went at once to
the Minister at War, and stated what occurred.
The Minister directed a handsome sum to be
placed at the General's disposal, who, without
retaining even the two sous to buy a candle,
divided the whole among his companions in
arms.
Civil war broke out; Riveyra bid for power
with success; he returned from exile a con-
queror.
On the 20th of May a battle was fought on
the banks of the Dayman. Garibaldi and his
Legion again distinguished themselves, and
again were victors.
After this he was ordered by Riveyra, then in
supreme power, to proceed with the flotilla to
Monte Video.
Riveyra, whose personal generosity to our
hero caused him when before in power to
offer Garibaldi and his compatriots a grant of
land from his personal estate, now, in the
name of the republic, settled Garibaldi on a
farm. Here, for a short time, he was as happy
as he could be out of Italy. His love of the
country and of agriculture qualified him for
the employment of farming, and his sweetly
sensitive and amiable disposition fitted him for
the richest enjoyment of domestic life.
His home was the resort of all the good and
brave and wise in Monte Video.
English and French diplomacy now took
matters in hand, and after many mistakes
effected some good. The infamous Rosas
lived long enough to experience defeat, shame,
and exile, and when in 1864 Garibaldi was
welcomed with enthusiasm by the people of
Southampton, Rosas resided there, rich but
obscure, sulky, and scorned by all whose moral
or intellectual worth gave weight to their
opinion.
In 1847 strange tidings reached Monte Video
from Europe. Events were ripening there in
which Garibaldi was destined to act a memo-
rable part.


POPE PIUS IX.
ENGRAVED BY W. J. EDWARDS. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.

+
F
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XII.
GARIBALDI OFFERS HIS SERVICES TO DEFEND POPE PIUS IX. FROM THE AUSTRIANS.-EMBARKS FROM
MONTE VIDEO FOR ITALY.-LANDS AT NICE.
·LANDS AT NICE.-IS
-IS RECEIVED WITH ACCLAMATIONS.-INTERVIEW WITH
KING CHARLES ALBERT.—GARIBALDI TREATED WITH DISDAIN BY THE KING AND HIS MINISTER.
SETS OUT FOR MILAN.—LOMBARDY COMMISSIONS HIM AS A GENERAL.-RAISES HIS OWN TROOPs.
IS TREATED WITH CONTUMELY BY THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH EVENTUALLY BETRAYS HIM TO THE
AUSTRIANS.—HIS VOLUNTEERS DESERT.—HIS STRUGGLES, VICISSITUDES, DANGERS, AND ESCAPES.
*.
"How has kind Heaven adorned the happy land,
And scattered blessings with a wasteful hand!
But what avail her unexhausted stores,
Her blooming mountains, and her sunny shores,
With all the gifts that heaven and earth impart,
The smiles of Nature, and the charms of Art,
While proud oppression in her valleys reigns,
And tyranny usurps her happy plains."-ADDISON.
GARIBALDI, at this juncture, heard of the
accession of Pius IX. to the Papal throne.
The heart of the hero palpitated with joy as he
learned the events, so favourable to Italian
liberty, which ensued upon the new sacerdotal
reign being inaugurated. He believed that at
last his country would be free, and that the Pope
would prove to be the immediate instrument
of her resurrection. These opinions also pre-
vailed among the Legion, and a portion of them
resolved to offer their services to the Pontiff in
the name of Italian liberty. Garibaldi ac-
cordingly made this offer in a letter to the
Nuncio at Rio Janeiro. It is a singular and
beautiful production, showing the religious
qualities of heart and mind possessed by
Garibaldi, however war and politics might
engage is life. His friend Anzani joined him
in assning the responsibility of an applica-
tion the Nuncio.
69
"Most illustrious and respectable Seigneur,
"From the moment we received the first news
of the exaltation of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pio
Nono, and of the amnesty he granted to the
poor, we have, with increasing attention and
interest, followed the vestiges which the
supreme Head of the Church impresses upon
the route of glory and liberty. The praises,
the echo of which reaches us from the other
side of the ocean, the emotion with which
Italy welcomed the convocation of the depu-
ties, and there applauded the wise concessions
made to the press, the institution of the
civic guard, the impulsion given to popular
instruction and industry, without reckoning
so many cares all directed towards the ame-
lioration and the well-being of the poor
classes, and towards the formation of a
new administration; everything, in short,
convinced us that there at length had issued
from the bosom of our country the man
who understood the wants of his age,-had
learnt how, according to the precepts of our
august religion, always new, always immortal,
and without derogating from their authority, to
bend according to the exigencies of the time;
and, although these progresses are without
influence upon ourselves, we have, nevertheless,
followed them from afar, accompanying with
our applauses and our vows the universal con-
cert of Italy and of all Christendom. But
when, some few days since, we heard of the
sacrilegious attempt by which a faction, fo-
G
::
H
70
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
mented and supported by the foreigner, and
not yet tired, after so long a time, of rending
our poor country, was proposing to itself to
overthrow the order of things already existing,
it appeared to us that admiration and enthu-
siasm for the Sovereign Pontiff are too feeble
a tribute, and that a more imperative duty is
imposed upon us.
"We who write to you, most illustrious and
respectable Seigneur, are men who, still ani-
mated by the same spirit which made us brave
exile, have, at Monte Video, taken up arms
for a cause which appeared to us just, and
gathered together some hundreds of men, our
compatriots, who had come hither hoping to
pass less troubled days than those we were
compelled to endure in our own country.
Now, during the five years which its walls
have been besieged, every one of us, more or
less, must have given proofs more than once
of resignation and courage; and, thanks to
Providence and to that antique spirit which
still warms our Italian blood, our Legion has
had occasion to distinguish itself, and every
time that this opportunity has presented itself,
it has not allowed it to escape; so that I be-
lieve we may be permitted to say, without
vanity, it has, upon the path of honour, passed
all other corps which were its rivals and
emulators.
J
neurie thinks that our offer may be agreeable
to the Sovereign Pontiff, lay it at the foot of
his throne.
"It is not the puerile pretensions that our
arm is necessary which induces us to make this
offer. We very well know that the throne of
St. Peter reposes upon bases which human
succour can neither shake nor strengthen ;
and that, in addition, the new order of things.
reckons many defenders who would know how
to repulse vigorously the unjust aggressions of
its enemies; but as the work must be distri-
buted among the good, and the hard labour
given to the strong, do us the honour to reckon
us among the latter.
"In the meanwhile, we thank Providence
for having preserved his Holiness from the
machinations of the Tristi, and we put up our
ardent vows that it may grant him many years
for the happiness of Christendom and Italy.
"Nothing remains now but to beg your
illustrious and most venerable Seigneurie to
pardon us the trouble we give you, and to
accept the sentiments of our perfect esteem,
and of the profound respect with which we
are of his illustrious and most respectable
Seigneurie,
"The devoted servants,
"G. GARIBALDI.
66
'LEO. ANZANI.
"Monte Video, October 12, 1847."
"If, then, at the present time the men who
have some acquaintance with arms are accepted
by his Holiness, it is useless to say that more
willingly than ever we shall consecrate them to
the service of him who does everything for his
country and the Church. We shall consider.
We shall consider.
ourselves happy if we can come to the aid of
the work of redemption of Pio Nono, we and
our companions, in the name of whom we
speak to you, and we shall not consider we
pay too dearly with all our blood.
Garibaldi and Anzani waited until March,
1848, for an answer to their le ter, but neither
the Pope nor his Nuncio took any notice of
them. These exalted personages had probably
no wish to obtain the services of such allies.
The heroes resolved to undertake a voyage to
Italy, and then dare whatever might be at-
tempted for the salvation of the country.
The great difficulty was to procure pecuniary
means for this new enterprise. A fellow-
"If your illustrious and respectable Seig- countryman settled at Monte Video - one
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
71
Etienne Antonini-contributed more than all
the other donors. The government, grateful
for the long-tried services of Garibaldi and the
Legion, offered its help, but this was only to a
certain extent accepted, because of the poverty
of the public treasury. The aid obtained was
two cannons and 800 muskets.
Previous to these arrangements, Medici, an
officer of Garibaldi's, had sailed for Italy.
This man, who since has signalised himself in
the war of liberation, did not join Garibaldi in
South America until late in the summer of
1846. He preceded our hero to Italy in the
hope, and with the purpose, of recruiting men
to receive and join the expedition.
Considerable opposition was raised in Monte
Video to the departure of the Italians. The
men who were disposed to go were discouraged
by representations that it was an enterprise
too desperate to succeed, that death or dun-
geons certainly awaited them. The full course
of events in Europe was not known, and even
warm friends of the trampled land, and many
of her own patriots, regarded Garibaldi and his
Legion as sheep already doomed to the slaughter.
Accordingly, only eighty-five Italians out of
so many hundreds volunteered to accompany
him, and as soon as they embarked twenty-
nine became faint-hearted and re-landed. The
fifty-six men who remained were survivors of
the sanguinary contest of San Antonio. To
these were added several Orientals, and a black
who was much attached to Garibaldi, and re-
solved to follow his fortunes. They embarked
on the Béponte, a French brig, for Nice. Anita,
who then had three children, with her family,
accompanied them.
The Frenchman seems to have had no sym-
pathy for the expedition; he acted a part incre-
dibly base. Violating his compact, his extortions
were such that the men had to sell their clothes
to procure the means of satisfying him, so that
several were obliged to keep their bed during
the voyage from want of apparel of any sort.
When three hundred leagues at sea, a fire
broke out in the bread-room of the ship, sepa-
rated from the powder-room only by a one-inch
plank. Fire had fallen into a brandy cask, the
contents of which were streaming about in a
flood of flame. Terror seized every heart, and
no man could help. Garibaldi, cool and col-
lected even in such danger, extinguished the
conflagration.
-
At Palo, near Alicant, the expedition was
informed by the Sardinian vice-consul, that the
constitution had been proclaimed in Piedmont,
of "the five glorious days of Milan," and
that Italian vessels had passed with the tri-
coloured flag. Garibaldi hoisted that standard
at once, improvised with half a bed-sheet, a
red scarf, and the remains of the green facings
of their uniforms.
On the 24th of June, the Béponte sighted
Nice. Garibaldi was under sentence of death;
was it not possible that he might be seized on
landing, and executed? Before the ship touched
the port she was boarded by some boatmen,
who recognised him, and spread the fact of
his arrival everywhere. The whole population
rushed to welcome the adventurers, and bore
them away to hospitable quarters with accla-
mations. Immediately volunteers from all
quarters flocked to Nice.
Medici was at Via Regio, organising the
insurrection, and he had already enlisted three
hundred men. But Garibaldi, finding a state of
things which he described as "the insurrection
already organised, with King Charles Albert at
its head," he determined to offer to him the ser-
vice of his sword. He believed that the king was
a patriot, whereas, in truth, his Majesty's object
was to extend his dominions at the expense
of neighbouring sovereigns, and neither he
nor his ministers would have hesitated to use
72
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Garibaldi for their purposes, and then abandon
him to the Austrians or any other enemy.
They were not even at that time disposed to
make an instrument of him for their own aims
in any form that would be an honour to him.
Anzani and Garibaldi, men so like, and so
faithful to one another, were here destined to
part for ever. The noble soldier was in the
last stage of consumption, and in a few days
died. This was a sore trial to our hero, who
thus bitterly lamented him, and thus deeply
treasured his memory:—
。 / 1
"Among all the military men, all the soldiers,
all the combatants; in short, among all men
carrying the musket or wearing the sword, that
I have known, I have not met with one who
could equal Anzani in the gifts of nature, in
the inspirations of courage, in the applications
of science. He had the brilliant valour of
Masina, the coolness of Davesio, the serenity,
bravery, and warlike temperament of Manara.*
"The military knowledge of Anzani, his
acquaintance with everything, I never saw
equalled.
equalled. Endowed with an extraordinary
memory, he spoke with astonishing precision
of things past, even if those things past be-
longed to antiquity.
"I leave to a more skilful hand than mine
the charge of tracing the military life of Anzani,
worthy of employing the vigils of an eminent
writer. In Italy, in Greece, in Portugal, in
Spain, in America, he will find, by following
his footsteps, the documents of the life of a
hero.
-
"In him I lost the half of my heart, the
better part of my genius. Italy lost one of her
most distinguished children. Italy! Italy! un-
fortunate mother! what a day of mourning it was
for thee, when this brave among the brave, this
loyal among the loyal, closed his eyes for ever
at the sight of thy beautiful sun!
"At the death of a man like Anzani, I tell
thee, O Italy! the nation which gave him
birth ought to utter from the very depth of her
heart a cry of grief, and if she does not weep,
if she does not lament like Rachel in Rama,
that nation is worthy of neither sympathy nor
pity,—she would have neither sympathy nor
pity for the most generous martyrs.
"Oh! a martyr, a hundred times a martyr,
was our beloved Anzani! And the most cruel
torture suffered by this valiant man was to
touch his native land a poor moribund, and not
to end as he had lived, fighting for her, for her
honour, for her regeneration. Oh, Anzani!
if a genius like thine had presided over the
contests of Lombardy, at the battle of Novara,
at the siege of Rome, the footsteps of the
stranger would no longer degrade thy native
land, and insult insolently the bones of our
heroes.
enough to render the most boastful nations
jealous.
"The Italian Legion, as has been seen, had
done but little before the arrival of Anzani.
Under his auspices it ran a career of glory,
"The journal of the Italian Legion of Monte
Video, kept by Anzani, is but an episode of his
life. He was the soul of that Legion, trained,
conducted, administered by him, and with which
he had identified himself.
"Oh, Italy! when will the All-Powerful
mark the term of thy misfortunes, and give
thee Anzanis to guide thy sons against those
who villify and oppress thee?"
Garibaldi resolved to go to Roverbella, the
head-quarters of King Charles Albert, and
offer the service of his sword and the swords
of those willing to follow him as a leader.
The king received him with disdain, ordering
him to go to Turin and await the orders of the
minister of war. It is well to record this
* Three heroes who afterwards fell in the cause of Italian
liberty.
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
73
!
man's name; history should not only make its
pages monuments for the brave, and wise, and
good, but it ought also to perpetuate the
names of those who held power and wielded
authority weakly or infamously, that worthless
or wicked rulers may be warned. The minister
was Ricci. He permitted Garibaldi to wait
long before he took any notice of him, and then
insulted him. "I strongly recommend you,"
said the haughty official, "to go to Venice;
there you will get the command of a few small
vessels, and in the character of a corsair you
may be useful to the Venetians.”
Garibaldi received this recommendation with
calm and silent scorn. He remained at Turin
disconsolate at the thought that his king
valued him so little, and afforded him no op-
portunity to serve him.
He was one day pacing the Arcades when he
accidentally met Medici, his friend and col-
league, and they strengthened one another in
the purpose of going to Milan and offering
their swords to the provisional government
then established in that city. The army of
Charles Albert had just sustained its first
reverses, and the Milanese were likely to
welcome help from any quarter. On arriving
at Milan, Garibaldi was made a general, and
permission was given to him to raise a brigade
of volunteers. A battalion at once joined him
from Vicenza, which was in a state of perfect
organisation. Garibaldi raised rapidly a bat-
talion of Lombards, which he called the
"Regiment Anzani," after the name of his
deceased friend and heroic companion in arms.
Medici was ordered by Garibaldi to organise a
battalion from the youth of Milan, who in the
revolution of the city had thrown up barricades
and compelled the Austrians to leave the place.
Mazzini was its standard-bearer.
Whatever may be thought in England of the
peculiar political views of this man, he does
not deserve the calumny which portions of the
English press have circulated, that he incited
others to arms while he kept away from the
field himself. Whenever there was an oppor-
tunity for him to expose his own life, he did so.
Piedmont, Lombardy, and Rome have all wit-
nessed his courage and persistence. He was,
however, the chief organiser of those associa-
tions which fell under the displeasure of many
liberal and just men in England and Italy.
It must, however, be admitted, that the spread
of secret societies of a political nature among
the people promoted union, and prepared the
population for action. Those societies have
been denounced by friends of Italy in this
country, under misapprehension of both the
constitution and influence of those confederated
bodies of men. Some of the secret societies
were formed against liberty, under the influ-
ence of the Jesuits and other religious orders.
Those societies, both favourable and hostile to
freedom, had a common influence in giving
to the people habits of organisation and the
power of large combinations. Some of these
societies bore the name of freemasons, and
were supposed to be affiliated to the great
masonic order recognised in most countries of
Europe. This is a misapprehension. Masonic
lodges were in some instances, both in France
and Italy, carried away in the current of the
popular feeling, but generally the members of
that order abstained from all reference to
politics in their lodges, as it is contrary to
their principles and obligations to one another
to allow either political or theological contro-
versies to disturb their order. The Carbonari
were undoubtedly instrumental in fanning the
flame of Italian patriotism, and their exten-
sive organisation made them formidable to the
Italian princes and Austria. It was to Mazzini
that Italy was indebted for the formation of a
society which produced the greatest effect in
L
74
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
AL
calling forth the enthusiasm of the people,
and he organised it with such skill as to make
it a terror to all the despotic princes not only
in Italy but in Europe.
On the other hand, amongst those, especially
in the higher classes, ready to give their lives
for the unity and independence of Italy, were
many who reasonably distrusted the action of
any secretly-enrolled body, and were by this
distrust discouraged and repressed in their
efforts during the struggles of 1847-8-9. The
youth enrolled in the secret societies of northern
Italy were the most prompt to respond to the
call of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Medici, and others,
to join the ranks of the volunteers for Gari-
baldi's Lombard campaign. These explanations
as to the state of feeling in Lombardy will
account for what followed, and which otherwise
would be incomprehensible. to Englishmen.
It will, from the above exposé of Italian dis-
union, be easily understood that the provisional
government at Milan was composed of men who
had little confidence in the people. They were
anxious to conciliate the goodwill of King
Charles Albert of Piedmont, and they knew
he detested the names of Garibaldi and Maz-
zini, and looked with alarm upon all popular
movements which were not entirely under the
control of the highest classes and the autho-
rities. Accordingly the Milanese government
either affected to treat the Legion distrustfully
in order to please the king, or really distrusted
the popular element which composed it.
They actually refused muskets, one of the
ministers declaring that "it would be a waste
of arms to bestow them on such troops;" that
Garibaldi was a Sabreur and nothing more!
There were leading men in Milan patriotically
desirous to throw off the Austrian yoke, but
who would rather bow the knee to an Austrian
viceroy than see Lombardy independent, and
governed by the free voices of all her citizens.
The people of Italy were not united, and here
was the chief cause of the failure of the revo-
lution which Charles Albert so ingloriously led.
The provisional government had also the
shamelessness and audacity to offer the Legion
the uniforms of the Austrians remaining in
the magazines of Milan. This insult was
keenly felt by those brave men, a large pro-
portion of whom belonged to the first families
in Lombardy. The Legion had thus neither
uniforms nor arms. They took the linen from
the Austrian magazine, and made blouses.
Arms and ammunition were procured by the
exertions and at the expense of the Legion.
Thus clothed and armed, the Legion began
the march for Bergamo, singing patriotic songs
as they marched. On arriving at that place,
they were joined by a regiment just conscripted
there for the Piedmontese service, and two
pieces of artillery of the National Guard.
The march proved useless, for the Legion
was recalled by the committee of the Milanese
provisional government, which ordered them
to return by forced marches.
The men who issued this command were
Fanti, Maestri, and Rostelli.
The Legion had returned as far as Monza,
when information arrived that Milan had
capitulated, and that the Austrian cavalry
were in pursuit of them. Garibaldi directed a
retreat upon Como, so as to be near the Swiss
frontier in case it might prove necessary to
enter it as refugees. This was accomplished
with much fatigue and hardship, the men
suffering much from thirst and want of food.
On arrival at Como, so convinced were the
volunteers that the cause was lost, four-fifths
of them retired into Switzerland, leaving with
Garibaldi not more than eight hundred men.
He took post with this body at La Camerlata,
a well-chosen spot for the operation of so
small a force. From this place he sent to all
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
75
▸
the revolutionary leaders in northern Italy,
exhorting them to maintain their positions to
the last, and so to act as to be in communica-
tion with him for common objects, and to fall
back upon Switzerland in the last resort. His
counsels were not followed,-despair seemed to
have relaxed the hearts of all.
Garibaldi, finding that no co-operation could
be expected from the other leaders, fell back
upon San Fermo. There he harangued the
men, exhorting to fortitude and perseverance,
assuring them that by a guerilla wariare they
would render service to their country, rallying
the less brave, and gaining time for bolder and
more general plans. More than a third of his
men deserted that night.
Garibaldi ordered Medici to go out in all
directions, and win back, if possible, deserters
and stragglers. He succeeded in bringing in
three hundred men. With his small remnant
of seven hundred and fifty, our hero determined
to attack the Austrians. Such a purpose must
seem so wild, so impossible of fruitful result,
that nothing but a knowledge of the amazing
resources of this wonderful man could prevent
unqualified condemnation.
It was now the 12th of August, and Gari-
baldi, stung by the conduct of Charles Albert
and his partisans in Lombardy, issued a pro-
clamation denouncing him as a traitor to the
unity and independence of Italy; that he was
unworthy of confidence, and ought to be
dethroned. Thus a second time Garibaldi
became, in the name of Italy, a rebel against
his own prince. The victorious Austrians had
driven back all who offered them any resist-
ance; and this was the moment chosen by
Garibaldi to advance against them. He
marched upon Arona, and there taking two
steamboats, and twenty other vessels, he em-
barked his men, and arrived next day at dawn
at Serino,
Garibaldi became ill with intermittent fever.
He found the prairies and forests of South
America healthier than the marshy districts of
his native land. He was obliged to rest in a
lonely house a little distance from his troops,
leaving his friend Medici in command. That
officer had no information of the direction in
which the enemy lay, or how far they were off.
In half an hour the scouts came running in
crying, "The Austrians! the Austrians!" and
Medici rushed to Garibaldi's sick chamber
repeating the cry. He ordered the men to
arms, and springing from his bed of fever,
placed himself at the window, from which he
could survey the country for a considerable
distance. He had not long to remain at his
post of observation, for on came the enemy,
confident of slaying or capturing the whole
Garibaldian force. Our hero divided his little
band into two parties. With one he barred
the approach of the enemy, with the other he
prevented any movement in flank.
The force of the assailants was from twelve
to fourteen hundred men, who marched along
the high road and approached the position.
Garibaldi ordered the first division of his little
army to charge. The enemy were four to one,
and remained steady; Garibaldi brought up
his other division and routed them in utter
disorder.
Undoubtedly the man most exposed to
danger in this unequal conflict was the leader
himself. Colonel Medici noticed this fact in
terms which seemed to tell that the hero had
a charmed life:-" Garibaldi had directed the
attack on horseback, in front of the bridge,
within fifty paces of the auberge (occupied by
the Austrian sharpshooters), in the midst of
the fire; it was a miracle that, exposed as he
was, like a target to the enemy's guns, no ball
had struck him."
The Austrians fled in shameful panic, throw-
76
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
¡
!
:
;
..
!
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+
Garibaldi marched upon Guerla and thence
to Varesa, which he entered amidst the
triumphal demonstrations of the people.
Here an Austrian spy was taken and shot.
Instead of furnishing to the enemy informa-
tion as to the numbers and intentions of the
volunteers, his papers betrayed the plans of
the Austrians, three columns of whom were
advancing in such way as to place themselves
between Garibaldi and Switzerland, and also
prevent his retreat into Piedmont. Garibaldi
ordered his advanced guard under Medici, con-
sisting of a single company, to Viggia, and
thence to march against a body of Austrians.
The company soon came up with the Austrian
General D'Asprè, at the head of five hundred
Medici found a position capable of
defence the rock of San Masseo. Besides
being impregnable with tolerable means, it
was immediately upon the Swiss frontier.
ing away their arms, and terrified at the bare of men to occupy if attacked by a superior
idea of Garibaldi being at hand. Medici, with
force. He had, however, only five hundred
one hundred men, pursued the coward column, men, while the Austrians numbered five
thousand.
With his
adding to their confusion and their loss.
They attacked him.
heroic band he held them at bay for a whole
day, and when night came forced his way
with carnage through their lines. At a league
from Merazzone he dismissed his men, nomi-
nating Lugano as a rendezvous. He on foot,
disguised as a peasant, and with a peasant
guide, sought the confines of Switzerland.
There Medici found him in bed, exhausted,
bruised, scarcely able to speak. On the mor-
row he was again ready for new scenes and
new enterprises. His lowland campaign could
not be resumed; his bands were dispersed, and
he had only the few men of the company of
Medici which found shelter in Switzerland.
The hair-breadth escapes he had incurred, the
suffering he had endured, the ceaseless exer-
tions he had put forth were as extraordinary
as the genius and contempt of danger which
pervaded all he dared and performed.
men.
Garibaldi exhorted Medici to keep his party
together, and await events, while he, entering
Piedmont, should place himself in Genoa, and
watch the first indications that might arise of
hope for action.
Medici defended this post, several Swiss,
armed with carbines, good marksmen, coming
to his assistance. When his ammunition was
expended, these brave Swiss conducted the
force, by paths unknown to the Austrians,
safely into Switzerland. The inhabitants
showed the refugees every kindness. General
D'Asprè published a lying bulletin declaring
that he had encountered the whole "army of
Garibaldi” and dispersed it.
While Medici was so skilfully and gallantly
conducting his separate command, Garibaldi
had work of his own to perform. The Aus-
trians had so manoeuvred, and possessed such
overwhelming numbers, that the retreat of
Garibaldi upon Switzerland was rendered very
difficult. He decided to march upon Meraz-
zone, a very strong position for a small body
Anita and her children were with Garibaldi's
relations at Nice, and thus escaped the perils
of his campaign in Lombardy.
The Sardinian government had seen its error
in treating him with contempt, and now
offered him a command in the army, but
Garibaldi refused to serve under a government
which he deemed incapable and unjust.
A revolution was planned in Sicily, and a
deputation waited upon him, begging him to
embark for the island and assist the patriots.
To this he assented; but affairs at Rome pre-
sented such an aspect that our hero resolved
to go thither.

Engraved (from a Photograph,) by E. Brandard
PERUGIA.
LONDON, JAMES S.VIRTUE.
HOKILVAN
RETINOPAT
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
77
1:
F
CHAPTER XIII.
DEFENDS ROME.-BEATS THE FRENCH FROM ITS WALLS.-DIFFERENCE OF POLICY BETWEEN GARI-
BALDI AND THE GOVERNMENT.-AN ARMISTICE GRANTED TO THE FRENCH AGAINST GARIBALDI'S
ADVICE.
"O Rome! my country, city of the soul,
The orphans of the beart must turn to thee,
Lone mother of dead empires! and control
In their stout breasts their petty misery.
What are our woes and sufferance? Come and see
The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way
O'er steps of broken thrones and temples,
Ye whose agonies are evils of a day!
A world is at our feet, as fragile as our clay."—Byron,
ROME had revolted against the authority of
Pio Nono when the people became convinced
that either he had never been the sincere friend
of Italian unity and freedom, or had fallen
under the influence of the reactionists. The
Pontiff fled, and a government was formed by
the people, who proclaimed the Roman Re-
public.
The Roman States, which are now mainly
under the dominion of Victor Emmanuel, were
then under the sway of the Pope,
Of the twenty provinces into which they
were divided, Cornarca of Rome stands first;
it includes within its jurisdiction the capital
and the Agro Romano. The other nineteen
consist of two classes, Legations and Delega-
tions. The Legations are governed by cardinals,
although none have been so latterly; and the
Delegations generally by prelates, with the
title of monsignore. The Legations consist of
Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, Ravenna, Urbino,
with Peasoro and Velletri. There are thirteen
Delegations, or Provinces:-Ancona, Macerata,
Camerino, Fermo, Ascoli, Perugia, Spoleto,
Rieti, Viterbo, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, Frosi-
none, with Pontecorvo and Benevento. The
Legations and Delegations are divided into
districts, the latter into governorships, and
these again into communes. In some of the
Legations public spirit and national feeling
were less strong than in other parts, but all felt
oppressed. Garibaldi hastened to Rome, where
he eventually took his seat in the constituent
assembly as representative of Macerata.
On his route he suffered much from rheu-
matism. The hardships he had endured were
beginning to tell upon him in this form.
He was not well received by some of those
in power. A few were jealous of his influence,
others were prejudiced against him under
erroneous personal impressions. By the Ro-
man citizens he was regarded with confidence
and affection. Garibaldi did not arrive too
soon; Rome needed his aid, for she was beset
by enemies. A French intervention was the
most formidable of her alarms. The President
of the French Republic, Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte, resolved upon the occupation of
the Roman States, and a fleet and army were
sent to Civita Vecchia, the army under the
command of General Oudinot.
That place
was occupied in gross violation of the rights
of the Roman Republic.
The French advanced upon the capital. The
Assembly resolved to defend Rome, although a
party existed which was willing to open the

78
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
gates to the French, whom, they contended,
came as allies and protectors. The influence
of Mazzini, Cernushi, and others of note
induced the Assembly to pass a decree of
resistance. Cernushi, who had erected the
barricades of Milan, was appointed inspector
of the barricades of Rome. Guns were
mounted on the chief places proper for artil-
lery, and the citizens prepared for defence,
Medici observes of this juncture :—
"It was then the providential man ap-
peared. Suddenly a great cry resounded
through the streets of Rome of 'Garibaldi!
Garibaldi!' And an immense crowd cried as
they preceded him, throwing their caps in the
air, and waving their handkerchiefs- Here he
is here he is !'
"It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm
which took possession of the population at the
sight of him. He might have been thought
to be the protecting god of the Republic,
who hastened to the defence of Rome. The
courage of the people increased with their
confidence, and it appeared as if the Assembly
had not only decreed defence, but victory.”
Biagio Miraglia, who wrote a history of the
Roman Revolution, thus records the enthu-
siasm of the citizens on this occasion:-
"This mysterious conqueror, surrounded by
such a brilliant halo of glory, who, a stranger
to the discussions of the Assembly, and igno-
rant of them, entered Rome on the eye of the
very day on which the Republic was about to
be attacked, was, in the minds of the Roman
people, the only man capable of maintaining
the decree of resistance; therefore the multi-
tudes, on the very instant, united themselves
with the man who personified the wants of the
moment, and who was the hope of all."
It was at the head of his brave Legion, raised
with so much zeal and care, that Garibaldi
entered the once imperial city, making it more
illustrious by his glory. When the French
landed at Civita Vecchia, the Legion was at
Arragni, expecting to march against the
Neapolitans. When their presence was re-
quired at Rome, a stronger brigade was organ-
ised, of which they formed the nucleus. There
were two battalions of his own Legion, includ-
ing forty men who came with him from South
America, wearing the red blouse and green
facings, three hundred men from Venice, four
hundred young men of the university, three
hundred douaniers mobilisés, and three hundred
emigrants, chiefly Italians, making a total
force of two thousand five hundred. There
was added a troop of ninety lancers, armed
and clothed by their commander,
Garibaldi was charged with the defence of
the walls, from the gate Portese to the gates
San Pancracio and Cavallegieri, occupying
the most elevated and salient points without
the walls from the Villa Corsin (the four winds)
to the Villa Pamphili.
On the 27th of April the advance of the
French advanced guard marched to Palo, and
were followed next day by the command of
which they formed a part. On the 29th the
advance guard was at Castel Guido, within fif-
teen English miles of Rome. Captain Oudiņot,
brother of the general in command, passed on
towards Rome with another officer, and a small
detachment of light cavalry, for the purpose of
reconnoitring. They dashed on to within three
miles of the city, and came upon an advanced
post of the Romans, situated at the junction
of the Aurelian routes. The officer who com-
manded the Romans warned Captain Oudinot
to retire, in terms of courtesy, but also of
decision.
"What do you want here?" asked he.
"To go to Rome," replied the Frenchman.
"That cannot be allowed," said the Italian
officer.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
79
99
"We speak in the name of the French anxious to spare the blood of the brave and
Republic."
patriotic men who were defending their homes
and their country against French aggression.
"And we in the name of the Roman Re-
public; therefore turn back, Messieurs.”
"And if we are not willing to turn back?"
"Then we must endeavour to make you, in
spite of yourselves.
Eminent military men have pronounced the
plan of attack bad, and except so far as the
bravery and discipline of the French soldiers
were concerned, the execution of the plan was
equally bad. Whatever be the merits of such
military criticisms, the result appears to justify
them.
"By what means ?”
"By force."
"Then," said the French officer, turning
towards his men, "if that be the case-Fire!"
at the same time discharging a pistol he drew
from his holster.
General Oudinot had 8000 infantry, two
squadrons of cavalry, and twelve field-pieces.
For its numbers this army was one of the
"Fire!” replied the officer commanding the finest ever sent into the field by France.
Roman advanced posts.
The troops had nearly all served in Africa, and
were of well-tried discipline and courage.
The French cavalry retreated, leaving a
chasseur, whose horse was shot, a prisoner with
the Romans.
In the French press the latter were repre-
sented as having fled before the French.
Colonel Medici, in commenting up on this re-
presentation, naturally said, the Romans were
infantry, the French cavalry, if the former
fled, how came they to bring in a prisoner?
The roll of the French drums announced the
attack, and according to the plan of assault
given above, the columns advanced. They
were met instantly by a heavy fire from the
Roman guns of position. The French Vol-
tigeurs and Chasseurs de Vincennes skirmished
with the Roman light infantry, and were sub-
jected to a rifle fire from the walls.
There were very few soldiers to take part in
the defence-volunteers somewhat disciplined;
and the citizens conducted it, and with a
bravery never surpassed, seldom equalled.
General Oudinot was enraged at this proof
that he must conquer a city into which he had
been led to believe he would have been received
with acclamations. He accordingly marched
in full force against the city upon the 30th.
His plan of assault was as follows-"A double
attack must be directed against the gates
Angelica and Cavallegieri, in order to divide
the attention of the enemy. By the first the
enemy's troops, which are encamped upon
Monte Mario, will be forced, and afterwards
the Angelica gate will be occupied. When
our troops shall have occupied these two
points, we will push the enemy with all
possible force, and in all ways, and the general
rallying place shall be the Place St. Pierre.
We particularly recommend that French blood
should be spared." The General did not seem
The French columns which advanced against
the Cavallegieri gate, had to penetrate a
broken ground, wooded and unequal, present-
ing many obstacles. Accustomed to the desul-
tory warfare of Africa, they turned these
difficulties in some degree into advantages,
making of wood and inequalities ramparts,
behind which to maintain a fire of terrible
precision, and as the fire of the Romans
occasionally slackened before it, the advance
was pushed with energy and rapidity. The
French proved themselves well qualified to
fight in loose order, rallying with alacrity
when repulsed. The Chasseurs de Vincennes
l
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
rivalled the Voltigeurs in courage and effi-
ciency, proving themselves formidable marks-
men, "picking off" many officers and citizens.
The French advanced to the very wall, and by
their bearing showed that they anticipated a
speedy triumph.
Garibaldi watched the advance from the
gardens of the Pamphili Villa. He ordered
small detachments to penetrate through the
vineyard, and surprise the Chasseurs, but
these vigilant soldiers were not easily caught
unawares; they were reinforced, and sustained
their advanced position. Garibaldi sent to
the general-in-chief for a thousand men, pro-
mising victory if they arrived in time. Two
battalions were despatched at once to his post.
He arranged everything needful to secure
against reverse or accident, and with the
troops that remained after so doing, he made
a sortie; but in the progress of its execution,
his troops were mistaken by the citizens for
the enemy, and fired upon. He was obliged
to halt, and for a short time the success of his
enterprise was in peril. When the error was
seen he again advanced, charging with the
bayonet, fleet as the lightning, and as blasting.
He at once broke the French centre; but the
French rallied, and fought with the skill and
discipline of men who had been well exercised
with the bayonet. For an hour the fight
ebbed and flowed, hand to hand, Garibaldi
performing prodigies of valour. Wherever he
Wherever he
appeared all around seemed nerved with a new
inspiration of valour, and even Frenchmen
shrank from his wild but skilful daring. At
last the enemy gave way, some scattering into
the country, others turning in confusion upon
their reserves. A general rout of the attack-
ing columns ensued, and two hundred and
fifty French prisoners, with as many dead,
dying, and wounded, were left upon the field.
But the battle was not won. The French
reserves were intact. A proposal was made to
Oudinot by a gallant officer to lead a new
attack by a route which he knew, and pro-
mised that if a brigade were placed at his
disposal, he would surprise certain posts, and
all the more easily as the Romans, flushed with
victory, could not expect the like. The name
and rank of this hero was Captain Faleas of the
artillery. According to his plan, the brigade
would pass unperceived under the walls of
Rome, in front of the gardens of the Vatican.
On part of the road, at each side, there were
some houses, in which it was proposed to leave
detachments to cover a retreat if necessary,
while nearer his destination, supports could be
left concealed among the ruins.
This new column of assailants advanced un-
observed until they reached as far as the Con-
sular route of the Angelica gate. At that mo-
ment the sun flashing out from a passing cloud
with peculiar brightness, shone upon the fur-
bished arms of the brigade, and the sheen of
their bayonets was visible to the citizens posted
in the Pontifical gardens. In an instant a fire
greedy of death was poured upon the head of
the column, one of the first shots striking
down the gallant Faleas, who lead it. From
other posts a cross fire fell upon them, smiting
with terrible energy all the foremost ranks.
For a while the columns deploying carried
on a rifle combat, but the men at last gave
way, seeking shelter in the casini which
are scattered among the vines. The chastise-
ment was terrible, while the loss experienced
by the Romans was insignificant.
Had the body of men placed on Monte
Mario, which maintained a fire that smote the
rear of the column, descended and charged,
the column would never have been able to re-
gain the centre from which it was nearly cut
off. There were besides, 2,000 citizens massed
behind the Porto Angelica, who also might
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
81
have cut off the retreat of the assailants, but
no man bethought him of the attempt. Gari-
baldi could not be everywhere; had he been
there, the entire brigade would have been
swept away or captured.
While this was pending on the left, Oudinot
in person, confident of the success of Faleas,
and fearful, after the defeat of his column by
Garibaldi, that his communications would be cut
off, launched his whole force upon the right,
bringing the main shock of his power against
Garibaldi. For hours the fight raged, the
French assailing with fury, the Romans re-
sisting sternly to the death. After the fourth |
hour of this terrible conflict, Chef de bataillon |
Picard, with three hundred men of the 20th
regiment of the line, obtained a post occupied
by the battalion of the University, which was
weak in number, and consisted of mere youths.
The skill of the Frenchman turned the position
into one of great strength. With incredible
rapidity, Garibaldi, with the battalion of exiles,
some detachments of the Roman Legion, and
two companies of his own chosen troops,
stormed the place. The French sped to the
assistance of the little garrison, and crossed
bayonets with the Garibaldians, only to perish
or recede.
Nino Bexio crossed swords with
Picard, the French commander, and made
him prisoner. His men laid down their arms.
The whole detachment and their general were
slain or prisoners. The battle was won. In-
stead of entering Rome, Oudinot had scarcely
a hope of getting back to Civita Vecchia.
Garibaldi wrote on a scrap of paper, from the
field, to Avizzani, the Roman Minister of
War, "Send me fresh troops; and as I have
promised to beat the French, and have kept
my word, I promise you I will prevent any one
of them from regaining their vessels." Avizzani
was willing to send out of the city a strong
body of men to be used at Garibaldi's discre-
tion; but Mazzini, who was Triumvir of
Rome, and who did not always take the same
views as Garibaldi, opposed it. “Let us not,”
said he, "make a mortal enemy of France, by
a complete defeat; let us not expose our young
reserve troops to a close fight with a beaten
but valiant enemy." This counsel was fol-
lowed, Garibaldi was not supported, and
Oudinot escaped destruction, and retired upon
Civita Vecchia.
Several eminent writers in Europe have
doubted the power of the Romans, had they
acted on Garibaldi's advice, to annihilate the
French, and have therefore endorsed the ad-
vice given by Mazzini to the minister of war.
But all officers well acquainted with the rela-
tive positions and resources of the two armies,
concur in declaring Garibaldi's plan, in a
military point of view, perfect, and that the
resources of the Romans were adequate to
afford him the means of accomplishing it.
It should be recollected that the French had
only two squadrons of cavalry, and at that
moment these were not upon the scene of
action. The Romans had, within the city, a
considerable body of cavalry, not highly disci-
plined, it is true, but very efficient for the
pursuit of a beaten and fugitive infantry.
There were two regiments of dragoons, and
two squadrons of mounted carabineers, within
the city. There were also two good infantry
regiments of the line, fresh, and every way
competent to combat the troops of Oudinot.
Mazzini was influenced by the belief that the
democratic party in France would resist the
policy of the President as regarded Rome, and
be successful in their resistance.
He was
encouraged to believe so by Ledru Rollin, a
sincere friend to the Roman Republic; but
the indiscretions and extreme opinions of that
leader, and the worse than indiscretions of
many of his party in France, alarmed the
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82
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
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friends of order, and caused them to hesitate
in joining any opposition to Louis Napoleon
that might weaken the authority of govern-
ment, or afford an opening for the propagation
or practice of the theories which the Red
Republicans avowed. No effectual opposition
was urged to the French President; but had
the army of Oudinot been captured or destroyed,
the attention of all France would have been
called to the expedition; its objects and
character would have been discussed so
thoroughly, that it would have probably been
too hazardous for Bonaparte to send out
another so long as he did not possess imperial
authority.
Between the judgment of Mazzini and that
of Garibaldi, the fate of Rome and of Italy,
for long years of the future, rested on that
day. Mazzini's counsel triumphed, and Rome
was thereby as surely lost as if the arms of the
French Republic had borne its banners to the
Capitol.
?
The victory was, however, decisive, and to
the genius and courage of Garibaldi it was
mainly due. Colonel Medici, who took part
in the event, says, "Warlike science, disci-
pline, courage, and impetuous attacks all gave
way before our soldiers, young and inexpe-
rienced as they were. But Garibaldi was
there, erect on horseback, with his hair stream-
ing to the winds, like a statue of brass repre-
senting the god of battles. At the sight of
the invulnerable man, every one recalled to
his mind the exploits of the immortal ances-
tors, the conquerors of the world, whose graves
they trampled under feet. It might be said
that they knew that the shades of Camillus,
Cincinnatus, and Cæsar, surveyed them from
the top of the Capitol.”
In France especially, but throughout Europe
generally, the events and issues of the day
were grossly misrepresented. The French
represented themselves as betrayed; as having
made a reconnaissance, during which they
were inveigled into the city, and fallen upon
to a disadvantage; and vengeance was invoked
upon Roman treachery. The facts were, that
a great battle was fought, that after repeated
efforts to enter Rome, the French army was
repulsed, and that Garibaldi, with compara-
tively "a handful" of troops, came down and
beat them in the open field; and, finally, so
severe was the defeat, the French general was
obliged to sue for an armistice.
Another canard which the friends of the
French President set flying, presented to the
people of Europe the French as sparing the
city because of its artistic monuments. The
truth was, the French spared neither man nor
monument. The cupola of St. Peter's was
struck repeatedly by French cannon balls, and
showers of shot fell upon the Vatican. The
Pauline Chapel was especially rich in works of
art; it was cut by balls, and one of the pictures
torn across by a splinter. Similar injury was
inflicted upon the Sextine.
The loss of the French was thirteen hundred
men. Only one hundred Romans were killed
and wounded, and one prisoner was lost, but
that prisoner was a notable man; it was Ugo
Bassi. This benevolent and courageous man
was a priest who attended the field, to en-
courage the combatants and console the suffer-
ing. He bore no arms; and it spoke nothing
for French chivalry, that an unarmed clergy-
man, performing the offices of his religion,
should be made a captive of war.
Rome was a scene of gladness. Illumina-
tions blazed from villa and church, and flamed
up from graceful column and ruined pile.
Bands of music passed along the public ways,
or took their stand in open areas, while mul-
titudes joined in singing patriotic hymns.
Rome once more heard the voice of liberty,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
83
The thunder cloud of battle had burst over
her, but it broke to scatter the influences
which fructify and refresh the spirits of the
brave and true.
"C
Italy!
Time which hath wrong'd thee with ten thousand rents
Of thine imperial garment, shall deny,
And hath denied to every other sky,
Spirits which soar from ruin: thy decay
Is still impregnant with divinity,
Which gilds it with revivifying ray."
at once. Arriving at their camp he found it
deserted. They had retired upon Castel de
Guido, pursued by Massina, whose route being
shorter than that of the General, enabled him
to come up with them. Garibaldi overtook
Massina near the tratelline of Malagratta,
where the French were apparently drawing up
in line for action. Garibaldi took up an ex-
tremely advantageous position on the flank of
the French army. He was just preparing to
charge, when an officer rode forward with a
flag of truce, requesting an armistice, that
General Oudinot might have time to ascertain
if the Roman people accepted the republic and
were resolved to fight for it. This was an
unworthy artifice. Neither General Oudinot
nor his master, for such in fact the French
President was, cared whether the Romans
accepted the republic, or whether they were
willing to defend it. The object of the inva-
sion was not to ascertain the will of the people,
but to conquer them. Liberty in Rome was
liberty in Europe.
Garibaldi liberty in Europe. Napoleon knew that, and
resolved to frustrate it; for if Rome continued
unconquerable and free, France could not be-
come subject to the sceptre of a Bonaparte.
The French officer offered to surrender the
captured priest as a proof of his general's
loyalty to the terms he requested.
While yet this conversation was proceeding,
an order came from the Minister of War for
Garibaldi to return, the wise men (?) of Rome
had granted the armistice. Oudinot was left
to recruit his forces, conduct intrigues, and pre-
pare for a more certain spring upon his prey.
On the first of May, Garibaldi sought per-
mission from the minister to pursue the
French with his Legion, as he was not able to
overcome the influence wielded by the Tri-
umvir Mazzini against more effective measures.
Permission was given. The Legion only num-
bered one thousand two hundred men. Either
the request of Garibaldi should have been re-
fused, or troops should have been placed at his
disposal, to enable him to accomplish some-
thing of importance. The Roman government
appeared to be only somewhat wiser than the
provisional government of Milan. Garibaldi
went forth with two columns. Massina com-
manded one, which marched from the Caval-
legieri gate, the other issued from the gate
San Pancracio, with the General at its head.
Garibaldi intended not, as the minister and
Mazzini supposed, merely to harass the
French, and be instrumental in keeping them
at a distance: his aim was broader and more
profound. He intended to surprise the French
camp and give battle, trusting to a general
rush from Rome of the volunteers to assist
him, so as to extinguish the French invasion
84
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!
CHAPTER XIV.
DEFENDS ROME AGAINST NEW ENEMIES. EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NEAPOLITAN ARMY.
"Yet, freedom! yet thy banner torn, but flying,
Streams like the thunder-storm along the wind;
Thy trumpet-voice, though broken now and dying,
The loudest still the tempest leaves behind."-BYRON.
M
THE King of Naples had been successful in his
wars against liberty in Sicily and Calabria, and
flushed with success, he determined to do what
the French had failed to do, conquer Rome.
His Majesty, at the head of twenty thousand
men, and with thirty-five pieces of cannon,
marched against the city. Veletri, Albano,
and Frescate had surrendered, and his ad-
vanced guard was only a few leagues from
Rome, on the Tiber's left bank. Garibaldi
asked permission of the Roman minister to
measure swords with the Neapolitan tyrant.
Permission was granted, but as in a previous
case, no adequate force was placed at his dis-
posal. His Legion had been increased to two
thousand five hundred in number, and with
these he might go where he pleased, but no
other troops were placed at his command.
Garibaldi reviewed his troops on the Place of
the People. His appearance and that of his
faithful Legion, excited the greatest enthu-
siasm. Gustave de Hoffstiller, in his "Siege
of Rome," thus describes the hero and his
retinue :-
"Just as six o'clock was striking, the Gene-
ral and his staff appeared, and was received
with a thunder of vivats. I saw him for the
first time. He is a man of middle height, his
countenance scorched by the sun, but marked
with lines of antique purity. He sat his horse
as calmly and firmly as if he had been born
there; beneath his hat-broad brimmed, with
a narrow loop, and ornamented with a black
ostrich feather-was spread a forest of hair.
A red beard covered the whole of the lower
part of his face. Over his red shirt was
thrown an American puncho, white, lined with
red, like his shirt. His staff wore the red
blouse, and afterwards the whole Italian Legion
adopted that colour.
"Behind him galloped his groom, a vigorous
negro, who had followed him from America:
he was dressed in a black cloak, and bore a
lance with a red banderole. All who had
come with him from America wore pistols and
poniards of fine workmanship, in their belts,
and carried whips of buffalo skin in their
hands."
Emele Dandolo thus describes him at this
juncture :-
"Followed by their ordonnances, all the
officers who came from America separate,
unite, gallop about in disorder, go here and
there, active, watchful, indefatigable. When
the troops halt to encamp and take a little
rest, whilst the soldiers are putting their guns
in faisceaux, it is a common spectacle to see
them spring from the saddle, and provide,
every one personally, the General as well as
the rest, for the wants of their horses, which
operation being performed, the riders take no
more heed of them. If there are no provisions
at hand, three or four colonels or majors jump
again upon their horses, bare backed, and
armed with lassoes, venture out into the
country in search of sheep or oxen. When
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
85
they have collected as many as they want,
they return, driving their prize before them,
distribute a given number of them to each
company, and all, officers as well as soldiers,
set to work to slaughter, to cut into quarters,
and roast before immense fires enormous pieces
of beef, mutton, or pork, without reckoning
the smaller animals, such as turkeys, fowls,
ducks, &c.
"While this is going on, if the peril is
distant, Garibaldi rests, reclining in his tent;
if, on the contrary, the enemy is near, he does
not dismount from his horse, but gives his
orders and visits the advanced posts; fre-
quently throwing off his singular uniform,
and, dressed as a peasant, venturing upon the
most dangerous explorations. The greater part
of the time, seated upon some elevated spot
which dominates the environs, he passes whole
hours in sounding the depths of the horizon
with his glass. When the trumpet of the
General gives the signal for departure, the
same lassoes serve to catch and bring in the
horses, which are grazing about in the fields.
The order of march is settled on the evening
before, and the troops set forward without
any one knowing or heeding whither they are
going.
"The personal Legion of Garibaldi consists
of the most incongruous assortment of men
that can be imagined; people of all ranks and
all ages; of boys of from twelve to fourteen
years old, attracted to this life of independence
either by a noble enthusiasm or a natural rest-
lessness; of old soldiers brought together by
the name and the renown of the illustrious
condottieri of the New World; and among all
these, many who can only boast of the half of
Bayard's device, sans peur, and who seek in
the confusion of war license and impunity.
"The officers are chosen among the most
courageous, and raised to the superior grades
without the least attention to seniority or the
ordinary rules of advancement. To-day one
may be seen with a sabre by his side, he is a
captain; to-morrow, from a love of variety, he
will take his musket again, place himself in
the ranks, and there he is once more a soldier.
There is no want of pay; that is furnished by
the paper of the triumvirs, which only costs
the printing. Proportionally, the number of
officers is greater than that of the soldiers.
The baggage-master was a captain; the Gene-
ral's cook was a lieutenant; his orderlies
had the same rank; his staff was composed of
majors and colonels.
"From a patriarchal simplicity, which is so
great that it might be believed to be feigned,
Garibaldi resembles rather a chief of a troop
of Indians than a general; but when danger
approaches, or is come, he is wonderful for his
courage and quick-sightedness. Whatever may
be wanting in strategic science to make him a
general according to the rules of the military
art, is amply compensated for by an astound-
ing activity."
The troops marched forth late in the even-
ing, and in order to disconcert the Neapolitan
spies, of whom there were too many at Rome,
the departure was conducted as if the expedi-
tion was projected against the French. By a
detour they, at eight o'clock in the morning,
were within a league of Tivoli. Here they
halted for the day. In the evening they
marched to the Adrian Villa, which lies at the
foot of the mountain upon which Tivoli is
built. The extensive subterranean chambers,
ruins, and groves of the Adrian Villa afforded
suitable quarters, and means of defence; a
body of men such as Garibaldi commanded
might keep the place against the whole Nea-
politan army, provided he was duly supplied
with artillery. It was not Garibaldi's inten-
tion to occupy the position long. On the 6th
+
:)
86
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
of May, therefore, he set out for Palestrina,
and after a cautious but fatiguing march, in
which he preserved the spirits and bodily
strength of the men, they gained the summit
of the mountain. Thence reconnoitering
parties were sent in every direction. One of
these came upon an obscure village in which a
Neapolitan detachment was quartered, which
was instantly dislodged, and some made pri-
soners.
On the 9th of May tidings arrived that the
Neapolitan army was approaching Palestrina,
and in a few hours this news was confirmed,
as from the heights of Mount St. Peter they
were seen advancing along the two roads which
led each to the gate Del Lole. The force con-
sisted of two regiments of foot guards and a
division of horse.
The General detached four light companies
of infantry to occupy an elevated position
commanding the enemy's approach. Manara,
the Lombard leader, occupied a post from
which he could see everything, and make
known by trumpet signal what was necessary.
It was not long until the Roman bersaglieri
opened fire upon the advanced guard of the
Neapolitans. These were ordered to deploy
and skirmish in loose order, but the cowardly
troops refused to obey. An alarm at once
spread through the Neapolitan ranks that
Garibaldi was in their front, and to them the
name was a terror, as if it designated some
superhuman being.
The right of Garibaldi's advance fell upon
the enemy's left flank, which broke, the
soldiers taking to flight in a manner the most
dastardly. The left of the Roman advance
waited until their opponents came quite close,
and then discharged a terrible volley, every
shot of which answered for its missive by a
fallen foe. They then charged with the bayonet,
the terrified tirailleurs turned headlong from
1
the field, seeking shelter in some houses,
which they yielded as soon as attacked.
The Neapolitan cavalry had a good opportunity
for a charge, and with better courage than the
infantry had shown, used it. They were
received by the Roman light infantry, many
falling upon the bayonets in a useless attempt.
to penetrate the squares. This charge caused
great sacrifice of life to those who made it.
Garibaldi watched the encounter, and send-
ing to Manara a battalion of infantry, ordered
a bayonet charge. It was fierce and decisive;
the whole line of the enemy fled in disorder,
leaving many dead and wounded and three
pieces of cannon on the field. Had the Roman
government placed at the disposal of Gari-
baldi some of the good cavalry which remained
idle at Rome, the Neapolitan division would
have been cut to pieces. Garibaldi thought it
possible that so precipitate a flight might be
the prelude to an ambuscade, and as the
Romans were pursuing hotly, he recalled
them.
So eager were the Neapolitans to get away
that very few prisoners, except the wounded,
were left behind. Of these Eniele Dandolo
gives the following amusing account:—
"About twenty prisoners, almost all of the
reserve, and consequently dragged from their
families, and forced to fight for a cause which
was not their own, were brought before Gari-
baldi. Trembling, and with clasped hands,
they implored their lives. They were fine-
looking men, well clothed, but detestably
armed with heavy flint guns, with bags full of
images of saints, Madonnas, relics, and amu-
lets. They wore them round their necks, they
had them in their pockets, they had them
everywhere. They said the king was at Al-
bano, with two regiments of Swiss, three of
cavalry, and four batteries; more reinforce-
ments were expected from Naples. They had
C
į
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
87
been sent, under the orders of General Zucchi,
to take Palestrina, and secure Garibaldi, of
whom they had a terror hardly to be imagined."
Garibaldi advanced his outposts, and sent
patrols which penetrated within the enemy's
lines. He also spent a day in exercising his
men in drill, and the use of their weapons, for
his Legion was mainly composed of volunteer
recruits.
The troops were ordered to make their quar-
ters in a convent, the monks of which refused
them admission, and when force was employed,
fled. Entreaties and courtesy were in vain
expended upon the brothers before the decisive
resort was adopted. The sappers broke open the
doors. The enraged soldiery, who had suffered
under torrents of rain, and continued to endure
it for an hour at the convent's gates, while
peaceable means of obtaining an entrance were
resorted to, at last burst in, and made them-
selves comfortable with whatever good things
were left behind by the fugitive brothers.
Emele Dandolo, who was present at the scene,
thus depicts it:—
"In less than half an hour the convent was
turned upside down; there had been scarcely
time to post sentinels at the chapel, the cellar,
and the library. After all, there was little to
take; the brothers had left nothing but the
larger furniture, such as could not be put into
a havresac; but a good number of peasants,
who had excited our soldiers to this rummag-
ing, took advantage of this disorder, and like
ants, joined three and four together to carry
off things too heavy for one.
"Many of our men, not too religious, ran-
sacked the convent, happy once in their lives
to have to deal with monks. One came out of
a cell with a broad Dominican hat on his head,
another walked gravely about with a long
white robe over his uniform. All appeared at
the call of the drum with an enormous lighted
C
wax candle in their hands, and during all the
night, from the ninth to the tenth, in honour
of our victory over the Neapolitans, the con-
vent was splendidly illuminated. The corres-
pondence of the poor brothers was no more
respected than the rest, and more than one
letter was brought in triumph and read aloud
by the soldiers, that would have made the
chaste founders of the Order blush to the ears.
On the 10th of May we stopped at Palestrina,
and encamped in the meadows. The Neapo-
litans appeared to have lost all inclination to
attack us, and crowned the hills of Albano and
Frescati, drawing by degrees nearer to Rome.
Garibaldi, who feared a combined attack of
the Neapolitans and the French, set forward."
The Neapolitans, avoiding Garibaldi, drew
near to Rome, and our hero, who distrusted the
French, believed that they would break the
armistice and join the Neapolitans. He there-
fore decamped, and after a long and fatiguing
march, gained the city. Scarcely had his tired
soldiers sought repose than the alarm rang.
The French were, it was alleged, about to
attack Monte Mario. Garibaldi roused his
sleeping heroes, and marching through the
Angelica gate, found there French outposts,
with whom some shots were exchanged before
they retired. Exhausted as the Legion was, it
had no softer place of repose than the bare
earth, and beneath the serene clear sky of an
Italian night the soldiers slept, their hands
clutching their weapons.
The French gave no more trouble just then,
but the Neapolitan army drew nearer daily,
and the government of the city resolved to
attack them with a force of ten thousand men.
Garibaldi was offered the rank of General of
Division, his previous rank being that of Gene-
ral of Brigade. The chief command was given to
a Colonel Roselli, who was thus promoted over
the head of the man whose skill and heroism
88
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
had saved the city. What wonder if Rome
should fall, when her citizens conceded the
chief authority to men capable of such conduct.
Garibaldi felt the slight, but said he was
willing to serve as a common soldier. To
overlook and even affront the capacity, as well
as the susceptibility of such a man in a crisis
so terrible, showed a want of moral as well as
intellectual fitness in the men thus permitted
to govern.
When the expedition reached Zagarole, the
troops were much fatigued, and there was no
food, except such as the foresight of Garibaldi
had ensured. His division had enough and to
spare, but the general-in-chief had made no
arrangements whatever to procure supplies.
Garibaldi's men "lassoed" cattle on the road,
which, in addition to those they drove with
them, fed the army.
The Neapolitans, headed by their king, and
aided by Swiss mercenaries, occupied Velletri,
Albano, and Frascati; their advanced guard
was pushed even to Fratvecchia. They had
also reoccupied Palestrina, from which Gari-
baldi had so lately driven them; and this
circumstance interposed a great difficulty in
the way of the expedition, as that city com-
manded the only road from Rome. The
position was finely chosen; their right wing
was protected by the Apennines, their left by
the sea, and strong places protected the whole
line.
Garibaldi led the Roman advance, with the
vigilance and circumspection which have
always characterised his military undertakings.
Monte Fortino was considered by Garibaldi
the strategic point of the attack, for besides
offering other advantages, it enabled the Ro-
mans to menace the enemy's communications
with Naples. The enemy had the weakness to
abandon this post, as well as Palestrina,
leaving the way clear for their determined
ì
:
assailants. The Neapolitan detachments every
where fell back upon Velletri. Garibaldi
resolved to attack it with about one thousand
nine hundred men, horse and foot, but he had
no intention of attempting a storm; his aim
was to draw out the enemy in pursuit of him,
and give the rest of the Roman army a chance
of falling upon them on favourable ground,
This plan succeeded in bringing out the
enemy, who at first skirmished; then, reinforced
with heavy infantry and cavalry, charged the
position which Garibaldi had chosen. His fire,
steadily and closely given, repulsed them. Ą
fresh body of five hundred horse burst from
the city along the road in headlong charge.
-
Garibaldi had only sixty troopers to oppose
them. On they came with a mighty rush
upon the little band led by Garibaldi himself.
The Neapolitans literally rode over them,
Garibaldi was thrown ten paces from his
horse.
horse. The hero sprang to his feet, and fought
on foot; his horse also rose, and he managed
to remount, and rallied the men, who sup-
posed him slain. Placing his hat on his sabre,
and waving it, he was recognised and hailed
with cheers. Still on went the Neapolitan
cavalry, followed by battalion after battalion
of infantry. They rode hotly to their doom.
Garibaldi's second line and reserve, consisting
of excellent troops, but few in number, occu-
pied positions that could not be stormed, and
poured into the enemy a tempest of bullets.
Garibaldi sent to the general the sapient
government of Rome had placed over his head
for reinforcements, and received for reply,
that "the soldiers could not be sent, as they
had not eaten their soup!" Garibaldi resolved
with his hero's will to contend alone. In the
meantime the gallant Lombard, Manara, sent
to the general-in-chief, imploring him to allow
him to assist Garibaldi. After an hour's
delay permission was granted. Manara's
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
89
men did not want to eat their soup, so that
no sad pretext for allowing Garibaldi and the
Legion to be slaughtered could exist in that
case. It was treason or imbecility.
Garibaldi, unaided, opposed with one thou-
sand nine hundred men to a host, ordered a
charge along the whole line, placing his guns
in a position to rake the enemy. Manara came
to his assistance, or all might have been lost.
Garibaldi, grateful for the aid thus afforded at a
critical moment, thus reported:-"These brave
young men arrived, marching in quick time,
by the high road, under the fire of the enemy's
artillery. When they came up with our rear-
guard, the latter opened to let them pass; they
defiled by sound of trumpet, amidst the greatest
enthusiasm. At the sight of these young men,
short, brown, and vigorous-at the sight of
their black feathers floating in the wind, the
cry of 'Vivent les Bersaglieri!' burst from
every mouth.
They replied by the cry of
'Vive Garibaldi!' and fell into line." The
enemy retired fighting, until, under cover of
their cannon, they halted.
Garibaldi, in narrating the event of this
succour, told this remarkable circumstance:
"As soon as he arrived on the field of battle
Manara looked about for me. He soon recog-
nised me by my white puncho, and galloped
towards me; but on his way he was stopped.
by an incident which I relate here, because it
admirably represents the spirit of our men.
As they passed before the music, which was
playing a lively air, a score of his men could
not resist the influence of the tune, and under
the fire of the balls and mitraille of the Nea-
politans began to dance! At the moment
when Manara himself, under a shower of
bullets, was looking at them and laughing, a
cannon-ball swept away a dozen of the dancers!
This accident produced a slight pause, but
Manara cried out, Well! play on, music!'
6
The music began again, and the dance was
revived with greater spirit than ever.”
Garibaldi sent fresh messengers to the
general-in-chief, assuring him that with nine
thousand men he deemed an assault practi-
cable, but no reply was given.
The sharp-shooters of Manara kept up a
desultory fire against the gunners in the city.
The general-in-chief at last condescended to
approach the scene of conflict, but it was too
late; the enemy had not only recovered their
order, but were already adding such strength
to the place as would make assault desperate.
The king, with six thousand men, stealthily
retired from the city. Information of this
reached Garibaldi, who proposed to the com-
mander-in-chief a plan for falling upon the
enemy as they evacuated the place, which he
did not doubt from this incident they would
attempt that night. The commander was
afraid to risk it, or would not adopt the idea
because coming from Garibaldi.
The city was evacuated as our hero expected,
and with such haste and fear that the wounded
were left behind, and some of the troops, who
were all made prisoners.
Garibaldi started in pursuit, but was ordered
back to head-quarters, and a portion of the
army returned to Rome.
During the conflict Garibaldi received two
slight wounds, one in his hand and another in
the foot.
The gallant priest, Ugo Bassi, rode beside
him unarmed, but making himself an effective
aide-de-camp. During the hottest fire, he
persistently requested the General to send him
where there was the most danger, that he
might perish rather than some one more
useful.
On the 24th of May Garibaldi re-entered
Rome, amidst the acclamations of the people.
It was now found that the Austrians were
N
90
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
menacing Ancona. Four thousand Romans
were ordered to the defence of the Legations
and the Marshes. A second division was deemed
THE FRENCH
FRENCH VIOLATE
SLAUGHTER.
M
THE
CHAPTER XV.
ARMISTICE.-SURPRISE THE MOST IMPORTANT
RESISTANCE AND HEROISM OF GARIBALDI.-SIEGE OF ROME.
necessary to support the first; but before it
could be despatched, events of a new order and
of great magnitude occurred.
|
THE despatch of troops to watch the Austrians
weakened the garrison of Rome, and before a
new body should be sent to their support, it
became matter of serious apprehension how
the French would act under such circum-
stances. The commander-in-chief therefore
addressed a letter to the commander of the
French army, and received a reply, the perusal
of both which is necessary to throw light upon
the events which rapidly crowded around the
subject of our memoir. The letter of General
Roselli was as follows:-
“A general who goes to sleep upon the faith of a treaty, awakes a dupe.”—FOLARD.
"Citizen General,
"It is my perfect conviction that the army
of the Roman Republic will one day fight side
by side with the enemy of the French Republic,
to maintain the most sacred rights of peoples.
This conviction leads me to make proposals
which I hope you will accept. It is known to
me that a treaty has been signed between the
government and the plenipotentiary minister
of France-a treaty which has not received
your approbation.
“I do not enter into the mysteries of poli-
tics, but I address myself to you in quality of
General-in-Chief of the French army. The
Austrians are in march, and intend to concen-
trate their forces at Foligno; thence, with
POSTS.-TERRIBLE
their right wing inclining towards the Tuscan
territories, to advance by the valley of the
Tiber, and effect a junction with the Neapo-
litans by the Abruzzi. I cannot believe that
you would see such a plan carried out with
indifference.
"I think it my duty to communicate to you
my suppositions relative to the movements of
the Austrians, particularly at a moment when
your undecided attitude paralyses our strength,
and may assure success to the enemy. These
reasons appear sufficiently powerful to lead
me to demand of you an unlimited armistice,
with a notification of fifteen days before the
resumption of hostilities.
"I believe this armistice, General, necessary
for the safety of my country, and I demand it
in the name of the honour of the army and of
the French Republic.
"Should the Austrians present their heads
of columns at Civita Castellana, it is upon the
French army that history will throw the
responsibility of having compelled us to divide
our forces, at a moment when they were so
valuable to us, and with having thus secured
the progress of the enemies of France.
"I have the honour to request a prompt
reply, General, begging you to accept the
salutation of fraternity.
"ROSELLI."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
91
To this the French general replied:-
mander of its army. The work of dishonour
to Oudinot, and of danger to Rome, was
accomplished before Garibaldi, at three in the
morning of the 3rd, was awakened by the
booming of the cannon. Before he was able
to hurry to the point of peril, the mischief was
irretrievably accomplished, and the treachery
securely perpetrated.
Just before midnight of the 2nd of June,
a French column, covered by the darkness,
reached the Villa Pamphili. They were chal-
lenged by the sentinel, who was answered by a
single voice, "Viva l'Italia." The sentinel
allowed the speaker to approach, who instantly
stabbed him with a poignard: no shot was
fired, no alarm given. The column had only
to pass swiftly into the villa, where the small
Receive, General, the assurance of my high body of men on duty were for the most part
consideration.
captured or killed, the rest escaped by flight.
the Villa Valentini and the Villa Corsini were
surprised by the same stratagem, but some
resistance was made, in which the alarm was
spread; the slumbering gunners were aroused,
and began to play upon the Corsini and Valen-
tini. Garibaldi and Rome started from their
dream of security to the reality of a perfidy,
of base and undying infamy. Several descrip-
tions have been given of the strategical points.
to be contested, by Medici, Emele Dandolo, and
by Garibaldi himself: without such description
the events which ensued would not be intelli-
gible. Garibaldi's own portraiture of the
scene upon which the conflict passed is at once
the briefest and most vivid :-
"General,
"The orders of my government are positive.
They prescribe to me to enter Rome as soon as
possible. I have denounced to the Roman
authorities the verbal armistice, which, at the
request of M. de Lesseps, I consented for a
time to grant, and I have, in writing, sent
word to my advanced posts that the two armies
were at liberty to recommence hostilities,
"Only, in order to give your Nationals,
who would wish to leave Rome, and at the
desire of M. the Chancellor of the French
Embassy, the possibility of doing it with
facility; I defer the attack of the place until
Monday morning at least.
66
"The General-in-Chief of the Corps de
l'Armée of the Mediterranean,
"OUDINOT, DUC DE REGGIO."
This letter of General Oudinot represents
the armistice as a concession of his, whereas
he himself first sought an armistice when his
troops were first baffled and beaten before
Rome.
The letter, however, assured General Roselli
that no attack would be made before Monday,
which would be the 4th of June. The military
representative of the French Republic did not,
however, disdain to make this pledge with the
intention of basely breaking it; for on the
night of the 2nd of June, before midnight,
his troops effected a surprise by which the
most important posts of the Romans were
captured. The Romans slept serenely, except
where the solitary sentinels paced their lonely
rounds. Garibaldi was amongst the sleepers;
he, as well as others, relied on the honour of
a great nation, as pledged through the com-
"From the San Pancracio gate there is a
road leading directly to Vascello; this road is
about two hundred and fifty paces long. At
the end of that, the road divides; the principal
branch descends to the right, along the gardens
of the Villa Corsini, surrounded by walls, and
joins the high road to Civita Vecchia. The
second branch, ceasing to be a public road to
92
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
become a garden path, leads directly to the
Villa Corsini, distant about three hundred
metres. This path is flanked on each side by
high and thick hedges of myrtle. The third
turns to the left, and, like the first, keeps close
along the opposite side of the high wall of the
Corsini garden.
"The Villa Vascello is a large massive
building of three stories, surrounded by gar-
dens and walls. Within sixty paces of it is a
small house, from which firing can be directed
against the windows of the Villa Corsini,
"On the left-hand road, at a hundred paces
from its separation from the main road, there
are two other small houses, the one behind the
garden of the Villa Corsini, and the other twenty
paces forwarder. The Villa Corsini, placed upon
an eminence, dominates the whole neighbour-
hood. The position of the villa is very strong,
as, if attacked simply and without making any
works of approach, it would be necessary to
pass through the gate which is at the extremity
of the garden, and to undergo, before reach-
ing the villa, the concentrated fire which the
enemy, sheltered by the hedges, the vases, the
parapets, the statues, and by the house itself,
could make upon the point where the walls
of the garden meet at a sharp angle, leaving
no other opening between them than that of
the door.
"This ground is everywhere very uneven,
and beyond the Villa Corsini presents many
places favourable for the enemy, who, couched
in these inequalities or sheltered by clumps of
trees, can plant reserves screened from the fire
of the assailants, supposing he was forced to
leave the house.
"When I arrived at the S, Pancracio gate,
the Villa Pamphili, the Villa Corsini, and the
Villa Valentini were all taken. The Vascello |
alone remained in our hands. Now the Villa
Corsini being taken was an enormous loss to
us; for as long as we were masters of that, the
French could not draw their parallels. At any
price, then, that must be retaken; it was for
Rome a question of life and death. The firing
between the cannoneers of the ramparts, the
men of the Vascello, and the French of the
Villa Corsini and the Villa Valentini, in-
creased. But it was not a fusillade or a
cannonade that was necessary; it was an
assault, a terrible but victorious assault, which
might restore the Villa Corsini to us.”
In accordance with this view of the attack
and defence, Garibaldi, under fire of the
French tiralleurs, rallied the men. His voice
was instinct with the passion of valour, and
his mien at all times inspired heroism in
others. His most gallant Monte Videons, and
his first and bravest legionary officers, were
soon by his side, others gathered as they could,
and the Villa Corsini was stormed. The loss,
however, was so heavy, that it could only be
held for some minutes; the French, strongly
reinforced, returned. Again it was in the
hands of the French, after terrible carnage
inflicted and sustained. The Romans again
assailed, but in vain; their columns retired
broken and bleeding from the unequal struggle.
Manara, the Lombard, called to his men, and
placing them under the command of Captain
Henry Dandolo, a Venetian noble, said:
"Lombards, forward! retake that villa or lose
your lives! Remember Garibaldi is looking
at you!" Ferrari, who had led the previous
assault, stopped the onset. "General," said
Ferrari, "what I have to say is not with the
hope of diminishing the danger, but with that
of succeeding. I know the locality; I have
just come out, and you have seen that I
hesitated more at coming out than going in,
Well, then, this is what I propose. Instead
of following the garden path, and attacking in
front, we will glide, the company Dandolo on
י יד
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
93
the left, the first on the right, behind the
myrtle hedge. A stone thrown by me to the
company Dandolo, will inform him that my
men are ready; a stone thrown by him will be
understood in the same way by us. Then our
eight trumpets shall sound at once, and we
will rush to the assault from the very foot of
the terrace.'
""
This plan met Garibaldi's approval. It was
executed successfully. The heart of our hero
was gladdened when the clang of the trumpets
rose high above the booming of the battle.
The gallant assailants penetrated the villa,
which was defended everywhere, and from the
terrace of the grand salon of the first story a
murderous fire was directed upon them. The
stairs and passages were heaped with slain and
wounded men. The villa, taken and retaken,
remained, after appalling carnage, in posses-
sion of the French. What Garibaldi wanted
was men. The French before the place were
twenty thousand strong; our hero had but
two thousand. To every company of Garibaldi's
volunteers, Oudinot could oppose a battalion.
Both sides knew the value of the Villa
Corsini to the future of the siege, and both
resolved to contest it to the last.
After fruitless efforts to conquer the Villa
Corsini, Garibaldi, without hope, but under a
conscientious conviction, resolved to make one
more effort. Reinforcements had collected
around him, consisting of troops of all sorts
gathered hastily by Origone and the young
priest (Ugo Bassi). Marina arrived at the
head of twenty lancers, on horseback, and
Garibaldi left Vascello, where he had stationed
himself at the head of a small troop of dra-
goons, to lead the attack in person. The men
were inspired by extraordinary enthusiasm
when they perceived that Garibaldi himself
would conduct the attack. No order was
observed, the intention being by a hand-to-
G
hand encounter to effect an entrance as they
best could. Marina performed a daring ex-
ploit. Followed by his lancers, he cleared the
terrace of the villa, and arriving at the foot of
the stairs, charged on horseback up the flight
of steps that conducted to the principal land-
ing-place leading to the grand salon. A
volley of musketry delivered immediately near
him, swept rider and horse away. Manara, at
the head of his bersaglieri, rushed forward with
the bayonet before the enemy could reload, and
the villa was at last taken. The season of
victory could, however, be computed only by
moments, for the whole of the French reserves
charged into the house; a conflict ensued which
Garibaldi declared to be the most sanguinary
and fatal in which he ever took part. The last
to retire was the hero himself, unhurt, but his
cloak torn with bullets and bayonets. The
few that escaped reached the line of houses
still in possession of the Romans, and from
the windows maintained a fusillade upon the
enemy.
In the evening Emele Dandolo, a writer of
ability, and Gaffredo Manelli, a young Genoese
poet, begged permission to attempt the place at
the head of a hundred men. Garibaldi saw no
hope of success, but replied, "Do so; perhaps
it is God that inspires you." The storm was con-
ducted with the greatest gallantry, but in vain ;
troops of the highest discipline and in over-
whelming number kept the post. Only fifty
of the assailants returned, their leaders severely
wounded. The battle was over, the French
were masters of the villa, and were, from
their numbers and resources, invincible. The
Romans lost one hundred and eighty officers,
and men in proportion. It was a sanguinary
sacrifice, necessary but terrible.
Seldom have men braved death so resolutely,
or submitted to it with such patriotic resigna-
tion; but Garibaldi was there.
94
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
The conflict was not wholly without result;
for although the Villa Corsini was not won,
several of the other positions seized by the
French were retaken. These were made the
advance line of the defence.
The French resolved to prosecute the siege
with all the appliances of science and an army
of forty thousand men. Garibaldi knew that to
save the city was impossible; there remained
nothing but to make the glory of its fall shed
new lustre on the Roman name, and new dis-
grace upon those whose success was secured by
an infamous breach of armistice.
Garibaldi placed his head-quarters in the
Casino Savorelli, which, overlooking the ram-
parts, the S. Pancracio gate, the Vascello, the
Villa Corsini, and the Valentini, was a com-
manding position, enabling the General to
observe what was passing at the most im-
portant posts of defence. This position was,
however, exceedingly exposed to the fire of the
French sharpshooters. He placed it in good
order of defence by volunteer pioneers, and
awaited results.
The French soon found out where Garibaldi
was posted, and kept up a constant fire upon
it with shot and shell. The house was sur-
mounted by a little "belvedere," and un-
known, the General ascended to it to take
observations; the French opened fire upon it,
and with such energy that Garibaldi compared
it to a tempest. The daring chief, so regardless
of personal peril, sometimes ordered his break-
fast in this elevated spot, and the French were
not gallant enough to spare the hero, whose
life brave men might be expected to respect;
on these occasions a revengeful fire was urged
upon the spot where his morning repast was
taken. It is wonderful he escaped. He had
only a slight wooden protection, and, perched
up in the presence of the enemy, it seemed
impossible but that some missile would execute
its mission of vengeance. Probably never did
the pages of history record an instance where
God watched over the life of hero or prophet
as He shielded by his providence this man.
He reserved him for other times, more suitable
to His great purposes by whom the end is seen
from the beginning, and the instrument chosen
and preserved for its use.
From that little belvedere, while "the balls
made the house shake as if in an earthquake,"
the General watched," and hoped even against
hope."
One of the staff hoisted upon a lightning-
conductor a banner, on which, in very large
characters, the words were marked-
"Good day, Cardinal Oudinot!"
The French had the bad taste to open a
tremendous fire upon the place in answer to
this harmless banter.
General Avizzani, Minister of War, ascended
to Garibaldi's observatory, and perceiving the
danger to which he was exposed, ordered it to
be protected with sacks of earth.
The personal dangers incurred by Garibaldi
and his officers were of such a nature as one
rarely meets in the annals of war. He related
some of these with his own peculiar simplicity,
strangely pervaded by quiet humour and deep
pathos.
"This rage of the French artillerymen to
riddle my poor head-quarters with bullets,
balls, and obus, sometimes produced scenes
sufficiently amusing. One day, it was the 6th
or 7th of June, I think, my friend Vecchi,
who was at once an actor in, and the historian
of, the drama we were representing, came to see
me at our dinner-hour. As I had some people
there, I had ordered a dinner from Rome,
which was brought in a tin case. I perceived
that the sight of our little set-out tempted
Vecchi, and I in consequence asked him to
partake with us; General Avizzani and Con-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
95
stantine Rita were there likewise. We sat
down on the ground in the garden; the balls
shook the house in such a manner that if we
had attempted to eat upon the table, we must
have had one of those apparatuses that are
placed upon the tables of ships when bad
weather prevails. In the very middle of the
dinner a bomb fell within a metre of us, and
all jumped up and decamped. Vecchi was
about to act as the others had done, but I held
him by the wrist, and he being a member of
the Assembly, Conscript father,' said I,
laughing, 'do not leave your curule chair.'
The bomb burst, as I was sure it would, on
the side opposite to that on which we were
sitting. We got off with having ourselves
and our dinner covered with dust.
6
"Vecchi had done wisely in profiting by
the repast I had offered him, for we did not
dine every day. Sometimes the waiter from
the restaurant, terrified by the noise of the
French mortars, by the fusillade of the Chas-
seurs of Vincennes, but above all, by the
number of dead bodies he met with in his road,
stopped short, not daring to come further.
Then the first comer got possession of our
feast, and appropriated it to his own use.
One morning, at three o'clock, one of my
soldiers, named Cassanova, made me a macca-
roni; otherwise for forty-eight hours I had
lived upon a cup of milk coffee and two or
three bottles of beer.
"It somehow happened that all the adven-
tures of the kind I have related happened to
Vecchi. Another time, having his report of
two days to make, being of the advance guard
at the Castabili Vineyards—one of the casini
we had in the neighbourhood of the Villa
Corsini was so called-he found me at dinner
and on a table; this time the gentlemen of the
artillery having the kindness to give me a
little intermission. Before me stood a dish
with a very appetising savour. I made room
for him beside me, and invited him to partake
of it. But just as he was about to sit down,
Manara stopped him.
6
"Do nothing of the kind, Vecchi,' said
he; three days together, officers who have
partaken of the General's dinner have been
killed before they have had time to digest it.'
"And so it was; David, Roser, and Panizzi
had been killed as Manara described.
"Good!' said Vecchi; 'that squares
marvellously with a prediction made respect-
ing me.'
"What is that?' said Manara.
"In my infancy a Bohemienne drew my
horoscope. She predicted that I should die in
Rome at the age of thirty-six, and very rich.
In 1838, in a journey I took on foot from
Naples to Salerno, near Sarno I perceived a
Gitana in a field by the road side, whom I
took a fancy to kiss on account of her beautiful
eyes. She kept me off with her knife, but I
opposed to her offensive weapon a defensive
one, in the shape of a bright new crown. On
accepting the crown she took my hand and
announced to me that I should die at Rome,
at thirty-six, and very rich. I am in my
thirty-sixth year; without being rich, I am
too well off to wish to die-but I am a fatalist
-like a Mahometan; I believe that which is
written is written, so give me some of that
ricotto, General.'
"We laughed at Vecchi's story, but Manara
remained serious, saying
P
"That's all very well, Vecchi, but I shall
be uneasy till this day is over.' Then turning
to me: 'For Heaven's sake, General,' added
he, 'don't send him anywhere to-day.'
"This suited him exactly. He was terribly
fatigued with having watched the two preced-
ing nights, and after dinner requested me to
allow him to retire and have a little sleep.
96
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"You can lie down on my bed, if you like,'
said Manara, whether speaking seriously or
following up the joke; 'in God's name, don't
go out to-day.'
"Vecchi took him at his word, and threw
himself upon the bed.
upon the bed. About an hour after,
as I perceived the French officers placing
gabions in the open trenches opposite our
battery, I looked about for an officer to order
the fire of a dozen tirailleurs to be directed
against them. I don't remember where I had
sent all my people to, but I was alone. I
thought of poor Vecchi, who was sleeping
soundly. It went against me to wake him,
but the balls were making horrible havoc; so
I pulled him by the leg, and he opened his
eyes.
"Come, rouse up!' said I; 'you have
been asleep four-and-twenty hours; Manara's
prediction is no longer to be dreaded. Take a
dozen of your best marksmen, and silence
those fellows yonder.'
"Vecchi, who is very brave, did not require
a repetition; he took a dozen bersaglieri,
picked shots, and posted them behind a ga-
bioned barricade, which was raised, with the
assistance of the sappers, by an ordnance lieu-
tenant named Parzio. From that he com-
menced such a murderous fire against the
French, that they were provoked to return
cannon balls for his bullets, or rather those of
the bersaglieri. Half-an-hour after, one of
my men came to me, saying, 'Have you
heard, General, poor Vecchi is killed?' The
news went to my heart. I had been the cause
of his death, and I could not help reproaching
myself with it, but at the expiration of half-an-
hour, to my great joy I saw him coming
towards me.
G
"Oh! in God's name,' cried I, 'let me
embrace you; I thought you were dead!'
"No,' replied he, 'I was only buried.'
"What do you mean by that?' said I.
"He then related to me how a ball had cut
open a sack of earth, which emptied itself upon.
him, and that at the same time this sack, in
emptying itself, made all the other sacks give
way, so that ten or twelve of them came tumb-
ling upon his head and literally buried him.
But a more picturesque circumstance than the
death of Vecchi might have proved, was con-
nected with this affair. The same ball that
had buried Vecchi, struck against a wall, and
at its rebound broke the back of a young
soldier. The young soldier, placed upon a
gun-carriage, crossed his hands upon his breast,
raised his eyes towards heaven, and breathed
his last sigh. He was being carried to the
ambulance, when an officer threw himself upon
the body and covered it with kisses. The
officer's name was Parzio, that of the young
soldier was Colomba Antonietta. His wife
had followed him to Velletri, and had fought
by his side on the 3rd of June.
"This reminds me of my poor Anita, who
was also so calm in fire, and whom, much
against her will, I had left at Ricti. She was
in the family-way, and for the sake of the
child she bore in her bosom, I had persuaded
her to be separated from me.
“On the 7th, Corpus Christi day, there was
a truce on both sides. On the 9th I ordered a
grand sortie, to interrupt the advanced works
of the French, which were nearly carried to
the second bastion of the left. For this opera-
tion I called upon the Douaniers and a battalion
of the 9th regiment. The bersaglieri at that
moment were doing duty at the casini on the
left of the Via Vicellia, and were on guard at
the bastions. Captain Rosas, the same whom
I had seen carried away from the Villa Corsini,
and who had said to me, 'General, my account
is settled,'-Captain Rosas had only been
struck by a spent ball; and though, in good
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
gry
conscience, the contusion was severe enough to
have him placed in bed, he was up on the mor-
row, and on the day I am speaking of, absolutely
insisted upon taking the command of the 4th
Company, destined for the second bastion.
Seeing that the guard of the trenches very
much annoyed the assailants, Rosas took a car-
bine, and being an excellent marksman, he
fired fifteen shots, more than half of which told.
His men charged, and he fired.
-
6
"His skill aroused the rivalry of some
African Chasseurs, who commenced returning
him shot for shot. The first ball carried off his
hat; but picking it up, he waved it in the air,
crying Viva l'Italia!' But at that very mo-
ment a ball entered his mouth, and passing
out at the nape of his neck, extinguished the
cry. After enduring two days of agony, he
expired."
On the 10th of June, General Roselli ordered
Garibaldi, with half of the whole army, to make
a sortie. Various delays and accidents oc-
curred, and finally a panic, which all the
influence of Garibaldi in person could not
check. No military injury ensued, but the
object of the sortie was lost.
On the 13th of June the French began a
fearful bombardment, which was continued
from day to day, with little intermission.
Garibaldi's head-quarters became absolutely
untenable, and on the 20th he took post with
his staff at the Corsini Palace. Breaches were
effected, and the approaches skilfully and
bravely worked by the French. ·
On the 21st, the French executed a surprise
more remarkable than they had on the 3rd.
As Garibaldi described it, they did not come
on as men about to make an assault, but as
men relieving guard. It was his conviction,
and that of the true hearts around, there was
treachery. Upon whose head was suspicion to
alight? This could not then be answered.
When it became known that the French had
gained, without the trouble of fighting, those
posts, of which being in possession their cap-
ture of the city was easy, the tocsin was
sounded, and all Rome flew to arms. Generals
Roselli and Avizzani were of opinion that the
enemy should be attacked by the whole people.
Garibaldi, better acquainted with the art of
war, declared that an undisciplined populace
could not dislodge the French, but would in
all probability be seized by some sudden panic,
and be the victims of a massacre. When
morning dawned, Garibaldi saw that, as in the
case of the Villa Corsini, he could take the
positions, but they would be retaken by fresh
troops, he losing perhaps half his men. He
advised that Rome should be abandoned, and
the enemy be assailed from such portions of
the country as would be adapted to the sort of
guerilla warfare an army so composed was
best able to make.

At this juncture he heard of the triumph of
the reactionists in France, and the flight of
many of his friends from that country to
England. He from that moment saw no hope
for Rome.
Still he determined to sell dearly to the
enemy all further conquest, should it be
resolved to defend Rome to the last. He
ordered the ancient Aurelian enclosure to be
fortified. He so managed to erect batteries
and establish a cross fire upon the French
works, that they were unable to maintain
them, and lost many men. The French
endeavoured to erect new batteries; the Ro-
mans used every effort to prevent them. Again
Garibaldi was successful; the enemy's batteries
were dismounted. Oudinot pressed the siege,
not merely as a general who, by the art of
war and superior force, means to capture a city
which it is his duty to assail, but with vin-
dictive passion and treacherous dissimulation.
O
F
98
་
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
The brave resistance he met with, instead of
creating admiration for the heroic patriots, so
hurted his pride as to give a vengeful form
to his efforts. While the French newspapers
were publishing despatches (as in the case of
his first attack upon Rome), sent by the
general to his government, declaring his in-
ability to carry the city with the promptitude
the power at his command would justify,
because he was anxious to spare the churches
and monuments of taste, he literally spared
nothing, sacrificing life wantonly, and shower-
ing missiles of destruction where only injury
could be inflicted upon the inhabitants,
churches, and monuments. When the word
of such a man as Garibaldi is opposed to
that of General Oudinot, the public will have
no hesitation in its decision. Garibaldi's
testimony of the mode in which Oudinot
made war upon Rome is plain and explicit.
"He ordered bombs to be launched upon
all the quarters of the city. It was par-
ticularly during the night that he employed
this means of exciting terror. Many fell upon
Many fell upon
the Transtiberian quarter, many upon the|
Capitol, some upon the Quirinal, upon the
Place d'Espagne, in the Corso. One of these
bombs fell upon the little temple which covers
the Hercules of Canova, but the cupola, fortu-
nately, was strong enough to repel it. Another
burst in the Spada Palace, and damaged the
famous fresco of the Aurora of Guido Reni.
Another, more impious still, broke the capital
of a column of the marvellous little temple of
Virile Fortune, a masterpiece respected by
ages. The triumvirate offered the families of
the people whose houses were destroyed, an
asylum in the Corsini Palace.
"The conduct of the Roman people during
these days of trial was worthy of ancient
times. Whilst during the night, pursued by
the showers of projectiles which crushed in the
i
1
roofs of their hooses, mothers flew from one
place to another, pressing their children to
their breasts; whilst the streets resounded
with cries and lamentations, not a single voice
spoke of surrendering. In the midst of all
these cries, one jeering cry was frequently
heard when a ball or an obus brought down
the side of a house: A Benediction from
the Pope!""
،
Battery after battery of the French was
silenced by the steady and well-directed can-
nonade of the Romans, but still new ones
sprung up as if by magic, armed with superior
artillery, and manned as rapidly as the gun-
ners were swept away. The result was, at last,
the Roman batteries were silenced; to use
Garibaldi's own expressive phraseology, "I
never beheld such a tempest of flame, such
a torrent of mitraille; our few cannons were
in a manner stifled by it."
Two most important posts, held by Medici,
remained with the Romans, being held with
a tenacity and skill which our hero considered
miraculous; these were the Cassini and the
Vascello. All the artillerymen had been
killed, and their duty was performed by in-
fantry. Thousands had perished, not only
slain but mutilated, under "the fire infernal"
which rained upon the suffering city. Women
and children perished in numbers, and hope,
where any was cherished, sank rapidly from
their view. All the troops were required for
nightly service, the sick and wounded being
the reserve; bleeding and dying men had
themselves enrolled for duty.
On the 29th, the French had everything
prepared for an assault, and redoubled their
bombardment as a terrible preliminary. It
was a night of tempest; the thunders of Hea-
ven and of man were hurled together upon
Rome. Brighter than the fiery flashes of
the cannon the forked lightning played across


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ST PETER'S AT ROME.
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100
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
99
the arena of battle. The city amidst all this
presented a wonderful spectacle; it was the
festival of St. Peter, and the custom of illu-
minating on that night was not departed from.
A brilliant illumination brightened all, even
to the dome of St. Peter's. On Garibaldi's
own mind, a grand, a solemn impression of
that night's terrible panorama has ever re-
mained:-
·
"He who during that night had fixed his
looks upon the Eternal City, would have be-
held a spectacle which the eyes of man can
only expect to contemplate once in the course
of ages.
At his feet he would have seen
stretch out a large valley filled with churches
and palaces, cut in two by the winding of the
Tiber, which appeared a Phlegethon; on the
left of a hill the Capitol, upon the tower of
which floated to the wind the flag of the Re-
public. On the right, the dark profile of
Monte Mario, upon which, on the contrary,
floated the united flags of the French and the
Pope; in the background the cupola of Michael
Angelo, rising up amidst the night, all crowned
with light; and as a frame to the grand
picture, the janicula and the whole line of
S. Pancracio, illumined also, but by the light-
ning of cannons and muskets.
"And then, by the side of all this, something
still more grand than the shock of matter-
the struggle of good and evil-the principles
of the Lord and the principles of Satan-of
Arimanes and Oromanes-the struggle of the
sovereignty of the people against right divine
-of liberty against despotism-of the religion
of Christ against the religion of the Popes."
At midnight the scene presented a strange
contrast to this hubbub of nature and of
war. It was calm, with all the beautiful
serenity of the Italian sky. The bombardment
ceased; and all was still where hosts had con-
tended more fiercely than the warring elements.
The French were preparing for the grand
assault. Their preparations were soon made;
at two o'clock their signal guns gave the
defenders warning, and all flew to armis.
The gate of San Pancracio was the important
point of defence. Thither Garibaldi hastened;
his demeanour was that of one who sought
to die. He did seek death, for he knew vic-
tory was impossible. The French fell back
before him, but others took their places and
came on, new troops succeeding those who
fell before the steel of the Romans. Vecchia
saw Garibaldi there, and said of him, "Gari-
baldi that night was greater than I had ever
seen him—greater than any one had ever seen
him. His sword was like lightning; every
man he struck fell dead; the blood of a new
adversary washed off the blood of him who
had just fallen.
had just fallen. He might have been thought
Leonidas at Thermopylæ, Fermio at the battle
of Gavinova. I trembled, in the expectation
of seeing him fall from one instant to another.
But no he remained erect as a destiny!"
Not so his gallant negro Agayur, who came
with him from South America; while the
faithful fellow held a fresh horse for his
master, a ball struck him instantly dead.
Deeply the hero bewailed his loss, for none
that were true and brave were too humble to
be loved by him.
The Assembly was sitting, and sent for
Garibaldi, who, as he entered, found Mazzini
speaking, urging the necessity of carrying
forth beyond the city such troops as would
follow them. When our hero entered, the
deputies arose, and uttered a loud shout of
applause. The appearance of the man startled
all, even in the crisis of a debate upon the
decision of which everything depended. His
face was covered with blood-the blood of
Rome's enemies and his uniform was torn
almost to fragments. The evidence of the
100
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
ļ
desperate personal resistance he had made,
filled the senators instantaneously with awe,
amazement, and admiration. A cry came from
all, "To the tribune-to the tribune!" He
ascended, answered their questions, and thus
addressed them:
"All defence is henceforth impossible unless
we are resolved to make Rome another Sara-
gossa. On the 9th of February I proposed a
military dictatorship, that alone was able to
place on foot a hundred thousand armed men.
The living elements still subsisted; they were
to be sought for, and they would have been
found in one courageous man. At that period
audacity was repulsed, little means prevailed.
I could not urge the argument further; I
yielded, modesty restrained me, for I confess
I might have been that man. I was in this
wanting to the sacred principle which is the
idol of my heart. If I had been attended to,
the Roman eagle would again have made its
eyry upon the towers of the Capitol; and with
my brave men-and my brave men know how
to die, it is pretty well known-I might have.
changed the face of Italy. But there is no
remedy for that which is done. Let us view
with head erect the conflagration of which we
no longer are the masters. Let us take with us
from Rome all of the volunteer army who are
willing to follow us. Where we shall be, Rome
will be. I pledge myself to nothing; but all
that my men can do that I will do-and whilst
it takes refuge in us our country shall not die."
The advice of Garibaldi was not followed.
The Assembly made proclamation that the
defence had ceased.
The conduct of the victors was neither just
nor generous; they insulted the bodies of the
dead, they tyrannised over the living. The old
order of things was restored, and Rome has
ever since wept in chains. France, in the
name of religion, crushed liberty.
CHAPTER XVI.
ANITA JOINS HER HUSBAND AT ROME. .—HE ABANDONS THE CITY TO MAKE WAR IN THE PROVINCES, AND
SHE ACCOMPANIES HIM.-DISPERSION OF HIS ARMY.-SETS SAIL FOR VENICE.-CAPTURE OF ALL
HIS COMPANIONS, EXCEPT ANITA, BY THE AUSTRIANS.-DEATH OF ANITA. -FLIGHT AND ESCAPE
OF GARIBALDI.
"Then thou! whose love and life together fled,
Have left me here to love and live in vain,
Twined with my heart,-and can I deem thee dead,
When busy memory flashes on my brain?
Well, I will dream that we may meet again,
And woo the vision to my vacant breast:
M
If aught of young remembrance then remain,
Be as it may futurity's behest,
For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest!"—BYRON.
DURING the contests in Lombardy, Garibaldi's | nant, and her health betrayed unfavourable
heroic wife, Anita, and her three children,
remained with his mother at Nice. There he
desired them to remain, for Anita was preg-
symptoms. Moreover, he had reason to believe
that their enemies were plotting against her,
and he thought her safer amongst his own rela-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
101
tions at Nice than anywhere else. Her resolute
spirit would expose her, if near him, to partici-
pation of his dangers. On all these grounds
he urged her to stay at Nice. Hearing of her
husband's terrible adventures and escape to
Genoa, she hurried thither, and placed herself
by his side. Thence she proceeded to Rieta
while he defended Rome. She at last arrived
at that city, taking the General by surprise,
and was there during the most terrible events
of the siege. His own description of her
arrival is characteristic:-
"On the 14th of May, in the morning-I
think so at least, I write without anything I
can refer to for the date-we were breakfasting
at the Villa Spada, in a chamber of the third
story, with Sacchi, Bueno, and Cocculli. We
were all in our shirt sleeves-I rather thought-
ful, for I had just been obliged to condemn
one of our officers to death, a Neapolitan who,
seized with a panic, in the course of the night
had abandoned his post-when we heard quick
steps in the corridors. The door flew open-I
uttered a cry; it was Anita, come to rejoin
me, escorted by Orrigoni. The gentlemen,
on recognising my wife, put on their coats and
left us.
"Do you know how she has amused herself
in coming from the Carozze here, General?'
asked Orrigoni.
"No; how?'
"In stopping all along S. Pietro in Mon-
torio, to look at the French batteries. Look
how we are both covered with dust! that was
done by the bullets striking against the walls.
"Come along! come along!" I kept saying,
"it is of no use to get shot here.
"""
"Dear Anita! I pressed her to my heart;
it appeared that everything would now go on
according to my wish. My good angel had
returned to my side. I regretted I could not
grant Anita the first request she made me,
which was the pardon of the Neapolitan officer;
but it was necessary to make an example. I
had it not in my power to reward Medici for
his admirable conduct at Vascello; I was
obliged to bestow a punishment on a coward
for his cowardice. He was shot."
When the surrender of the city was deter-
mined, Garibaldi summoned the troops to
meet him, and demanded if they would follow
him to the Apennines, and there seek for
fresh opportunity of assailing their enemies,
French, Austrian, and Neapolitan. Two-thirds
of the defenders of Rome ranged themselves
under his
under his banner, numbering 4,900 men,
nearly all mounted.
Anita, dressed as a man, Ugo Bassi, the
pious priest, and a citizen of Rome of great
benevolence and influence named Cissamachio,
were the first to join him, as they were the
last to leave him when all was lost. In the
shadows of the evening the little army marched
out by the Tivoli gate. "My heart," said
Garibaldi, "was sad as death.” The last
news he heard before he quitted the fallen city
was the death of his friend, of gallant memory
and deathless fame, Manara. Anita might
have remained in Rome, under the rule of the
French, with comparative safety, and obviously
ought to have done so until after the birth of
her child, but her fearless spirit never shunned
the path of danger, and her loving heart would
not forsake that path when her noble husband
trod it.
His retirement from Rome was soon known
everywhere. Austrians and Neapolitans at once
put themselves in motion to prevent his sup-
posed purpose of reaching Venice. The army
of the French Republic zealously aided the
tyrants of Austria and Naples. He reached
Terni harassed by enemies, but in good order;
his troops, however, began to despair of ever
reaching Venice. He left Terni on the 11th
102
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
of July, but so begirt was he by hostile armies,
that his troops became completely demoralised.
The troopers sold their horses and deserted,
inflicting injuries upon the inhabitants which
seem incompatible with the heroism which they
had displayed at Rome. Their conduct seems to
confirm the unfavourable character given by
R. H. Wrightson in his "History of Modern
Italy," by Gretton in his "Vicissitudes of
Italy," by Patterson, Stocqueler, and others,
of the conduct of the Romans immediately
before and after the flight of Pio Nono. There
is no doubt that the inhabitants of the Roman
States, and of Southern Italy generally, had
become debased by oppression, and maddened
to revenge by the horrid and long-inflicted
cruelties to which they had been subjected.
The spread of socialist and anarchical political
opinions, under the influence of some able
but unprincipled leaders, produced this result.
From men of this stamp Garibaldi had recruits.
He was like David in the cave of Abdullah;
all that were distressed, that had an injury to
avenge, or danger to escape, if brave enough to
follow a gallant chief, flocked to his standard,
cnly in part regardful of the patriotic ends he
had in view.
The peasantry at last, incited by the priests,
armed against the Garibaldians, and blood-
hounds were set by the Austrians upon the
track of the fugitives. The brave Medici was
his chief hope and consolation; his soldiers,
and the Lombards formerly led by Manara,
generally stood true.
To reach Venice became impossible unless it
could be effected by sea, and that seemed
impracticable for his band. He marched to
San Marino, where he dismissed his men.
With a small troop of friends and faithful
adherents he valiantly broke through the Aus-
trians and reached Cisanatico, a port on the
Adriatic. A sufficient number of fishing boats
were seized, and after a night of hard labour,
the fatigued heroes got fifteen vessels ready
for sea, and departed for Venice. All things
prospered through the voyage until the little
fleet reached Mesola, little more than fifty
miles from their destination, when an Austrian
naval squadron came in sight and attacked
them; nine were captured, six eluded their
pursuers. The crews dispersed, as affording the
best chance of escaping the numerous enemies
that sought their destruction. In the boat
with Garibaldi was his Anita, the patriot
priest Ugo Bassi, Cicera Vecchia, and his
two sons.
Of all these Garibaldi alone
escaped. Ugo Bassi was probably as much
beloved by Garibaldi as any of the many brave
men whom he regarded with so much patriotic
His character
fervour and personal esteem.
and his fate Garibaldi has himself described
with vigorous and feeling language:
"He was born at Cento, of a Bolognese
father, but like André Chenier, of a Greek
mother. His name was Joseph, but on be-
coming a Barnabite he had assumed that of
Ugo, in remembrance, no doubt, of our pa-
triotic poet, Ugo Foscolo. He was thus at
once of both Latin and Hellenic race-the two
finest and most intelligent races in the world.
His hair was brown, and curled in natural
ringlets; his eyes were brilliant as the sun,
sometimes calm, sometimes exceedingly ani-
mated; his mouth smiling, his neck white
and long; his limbs agile and robust, his
heart afire for glory and danger; his instincts
mild and honest; his mind elevated, warm,
rapid; born at once for the pious contem-
plation of the anchorite and the irresistible
ardours of apostleship. His studies were not
a labour, but a conquest. He gained a know-
ledge of literature, science, and the arts, with
miraculous quickness; and as the mirror of
all knowledge, he knew the whole poem of
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
103
Dante by heart. Six months sufficed for his
learning Greek; as to Latin, he spoke it as
if it were his maternal language, and made
verses in the spirit of those of Horace. He
wrote fluently both English and French; and
when events led him into the midst of the
fire and noise of battles, he constantly carried
about him Shakspeare and Byron-the Eng-
lish tragic writer, and the poet who died at
Missolonghi, heard the patriotic pulsations of
his heart. Besides all this, he was a painter
and a musician.
"Bassi, and Gavazzi his friend, were a Pro-
vidence to the army. His powerful eloquence
not only raised the Italians to the love of Italy
and a devotion for her, but it drew from the
most rebellious coffers, numerous and rich
offerings. At Bologna he worked miracles;
the rich gave money by thousands; the women
gave their jewels, their rings, and their ear-
rings. One young girl having nothing to give
him, cut off her magnificent hair, and offered
it to him. He was present at all our battles,
and at all our acts of devotedness, at Courcida,
at Treviso, at Venice. A sister of charity, an
apostle, an intrepid soldier, it was above all
at the battle of Treviso, where his friend and
companion, General Guidotti, died, that he dis-
played all the virtues of his heart. A ball
mutilated his hand and left arm, and opened
a large wound in his chest. While still pale,
and suffering from his cruel wound, he was
seen at the fight of Mestre, a flag in his hand,
mounting first, and without arms, to the assault
of the Palace Bianchini.
"Bassi accompanied the Italian Legion in
all its peregrinations. His powerful word
fascinated the people, and if God had marked
a term to the misfortunes of Italy, the voice
of Bassi, like that of St. Bernard, might have
drawn whole populations to the field of battle.
If Italy ever comes to be united, may God
restore her the voice of a Ugo Bassi. When
Rome had fallen-when nothing was left for
me but exile, hunger, and misery, Ugo Bassi
did not hesitate a moment to accompany me.
"I received him in my bark at Cesenatro,
and he shared with me the last smile of destiny
-its farewell smile.
"In that bark, which I guided with my
own hand, were Anita, Ugo Bassi, Cicera
Vecchia, and his two sons. All are dead, and
in what a manner! O sacred dead! I will
relate your martyrdom.
"The name of Ugo Bassi will be the watch-
word of the Italians on the day of vengeance.”
When the Austrians made this priest pri-
soner, they treated him with every form of
insult and cruelty. By order of a high sacer-
dotal dignity, himself an Italian, the skin
was taken from his tonsure and from his
fingers, because it was alleged, by favouring
revolution, he had dishonoured the Host
which his hands had touched, and the sign
of his calling which his head had borne.
Bleeding from these inflictions, he was led to
execution.
Cicera Vecchia was also a remarkable man,
and he, too, perished. He had devoted all
his energies, influence, and property, and he
was rich in all these, to the defence of Rome.
So active and useful was he, that Garibaldi
called him "primus inter pares," modest,
frank, loyal, and honest. This excellent man
and his children were taken by the Austrians,
and shot.
Anita, of course, remained with Garibaldi.
She was not taken by the cruel Austrians; this
horror was at least spared both the heroine.
and the hero; but, alas! it was her destiny
to perish otherwise. Once, when recalling to
himself her search for him when she supposed
him slain on an American battle-field, he said,
"The search was useless; it was for me, on
104
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!
the contrary, that fate reserved the anguish
of bathing with my tears her icy cheeks; and
when I had endured that supreme agony,
I
was unable to cast a handful of earth or a few
flowers upon the grave of the mother of my
song!"
When they separated from Ugo Bassi and
the Vecchias, they wandered, seeking shelter
where they might hope to find it. During
these searches for temporary protection, Gari-
baldi had generally to carry her in his arms.
He at length obtained a phaton, by which he
conducted her to a farmhouse. One Dr.
Nannini was there, and pronounced her case
to be one of dangerous fever, caught by priva-
tion, fatigue, and anxiety. She asked for a
little cold water, but before the gentle hand
of the gallant man could place it to her lips,
she smiled faintly upon him, and expired with
a sigh. He burst into a paroxysm of incon-
solable grief; but the enemy was at hand; by
flight only could he hope to live for his chil-
dren and his country, or to avenge her death.
He left such injunctions for her burial as he
believed would secure her a decent grave.
The people, afraid of the Austrians, made her
that grave in a field. Anita slept not in the
precincts of a church, or where friends might
honour the place of her cold repose.
Garibaldi's account of her progress with
him from Rome to the place of her death is
succinct and tender, at once saddened and
animated by a grief which depressed, and yet
fired his memory with vivid emotion.
"I determined to try my fortune out of
Rome, when the city was forced to succumb to
the arms of Louis Napoleon, who had become
its conqueror.
Anita wished to share the
dangers of the enterprise. I objected, but
vain were all remonstrances ! Her feeble
health she treated as nothing. Had I then no
longer any desire to have her with me, and
-
endeavoured to leave her behind, under various
pretexts? She asked me whether I doubted
her courage? Had I not had proofs enough?
Oh, that delightful life in camp! The mag-
nificent cavalcade! And the combats-they
were delightful to her! And as for fatigue,
privations, and mishaps, what are they to one
whose happiness is in the heart? Anita! you
were identified in feeling with Italy, and happy
in the hope of the redemption of a people!
She did not go armed; she was not spotted
with blood; but her intrepid countenance
might put even cowards to the blush. Yet
her imposing presence did not avail at San
Angelo, in Vado, and San Marino, to stop the
fugitives; the word 'cowards!' uttered by her
in contempt, was borne away by the wind,
and no longer wounded the ears of men who
had lost their spirit,
"At San Marino she had symptoms of a
dangerous disease, and I insisted that she
should remain there. But all in vain! The
increasing dangers did not diminish her reso-
lution to go. At Cesnatico, when we laboured
all night to effect the departure of the boats,
Anita, seated on a rock, sadly contemplated
our wearisome toil.
"At the last landing on the beach of Mesola,
she was hardly able to walk.
"In vain she flattered herself that the land
would restore her to health. The land! it had
nothing to give her but a grave, Italy, re-
ceive the bones of the American Amazon, the
martyr of Italian liberty! Soil of generous
men, press lightly on the grave of the brave
daughter of America!"
He went forth alone, again a fugitive and a
wanderer. Wife and friends all torn from
him, his mother and children only compara-
tively safe at Genoa. His poetic spirit might
well murmur in the words of one whose verse
he admired so much :--

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
105
"But time shall tear thy shadow from me last!
All thou couldst have of mine, stern Death, thou hast:
The parent, friend, and now the more than friend!
Ne'er yet for one thine arrows flew so fast;
And grief with grief continuing still to blend,
Hath snatch'd the little joy that life had yet to lend."
For thirty-five days Garibaldi wandered a
sorrowful and bereaved fugitive before he was
able to reach Genoa. From thence with little
difficulty he reached Nice. He was not, how-
ever, safe even in the dominions of Sardinia,
the government of which dare not offend either
France or Austria. He was obliged, therefore,
once more to become an exile. He had, how-
ever, the satisfaction of seeing his mother,
whom he adored, and his children, dearer to
him than ever, because motherless.
CHAPTER XVII.
AN EXILE.-REACHES MARSEILLES.-DENIED A REFUGE IN FRANCE, PASSES OVER TO TUNIS.-REACHES
AVOCATIONS.-
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.-ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION THERE.-HIS
VISITS TO ENGLAND AS A MARINER.-SETTLES IN THE ISLAND OF CAPRERA.
"Farewell to the land where in childhood I wandered,
In vain is she mighty, in vain is she brave;
Unblest is the blood which for tyrants is squandered,
And fame has no wreath for the brow of the slave."-MOORE.
AT Nice his family could afford him only an
uncertain shelter. He visited the Island of
Caprera, and remained there in obscurity for a
little, watched by the government of Pied-
mont. Finding it impossible to remain, either
with personal security or usefulness to Italy,
at Nice, Caprera, or anywhere in Italy, he
went to Marseilles, where there were many
Italians, and many liberal Frenchmen.
How varied the changes which had passed
over his eventful career since he last found in
the same city safety as a refugee! Since then
he had commanded fleets, defended and be-
sieged cities, led armies in the field, resisted
and overthrown powerful tyrants, and quickened
nations with a spirit of patriotism and valour.
But now, as when he first visited Marseilles,
it was no safe place for him. The French
government would not tolerate a man who
had humiliated the French army, obstructed
and nearly defeated the French President's
design on Rome, and whose influence was so
infective that all who came into contact with
him became patriots.
He tarried only a short time in Marseilles,
and crossed to Tunis; but while circumstances
unnecessary to relate drew him thither, there
was danger to the Italian patriot also there.
Africa as well as Continental Europe rejected
him. After a short stay in Northern Africa,
he went on board a vessel for New York. He
had always been an admirer of the North
American Republic, except for the foul blot
He
upon its escutcheon-negro slavery.
hoped once more to find in the New World
a home until Providence should again make
a way for him to serve his beloved Italy. He
landed in New York in the early summer of
1850. He was received with generous enthu-
siasm. He there went into partnership with
a fellow-countryman as a soap and candle
manufacturer, at which he worked laboriously.
P
106
THE LIBERATORS OF İTALY.
A compatriot relates that during this period
he visited the hero at Staten Island, where
his soap-boiling establishment was.
"He was
greasy, grimy, and much changed since the
last time I had seen him, the day before the
capitulation of Rome. Anita's death was
written in-ploughed into his face, but the
old genial smile, although saddened and sof-
tened, mantled his face the moment he saw
me, and he accosted me thus:-'I am glad
to see you, but cannot shake hands on account
of the tallow."" His new calling was not for-
tunate. Garibaldi was often doomed to prove,
like many other men of genius, that to deserve
success is not always to attain it.
He then tried the West, and opened a cigar
store in Cincinnati. How strangely the name
stands associated with the man and his posi-
tion! Cigars did not suit his peculiar talents
any better than candles, and he left Cincinnati
for California, to work in "the diggings," or
find some employment such as those who so
wrought were creating in that rapidly peo-
pling and adventurous region. There, how-
ever, he found it most opportune and appro-
priate to his nature to embark in his old
profession of a mariner. He became captain
of a merchant ship belonging to a citizen of
the Peruvian Republic. As a mariner he
visited several of the cities on the Atlantic
and Pacific seaboards of America, and also
visited England. He was several times at
Shields and Newcastle, and the hardy and
generous sons of the Tyne proved that they
knew how to appreciate him. A public-spirited
citizen of Newcastle, Mr. Cowen, became his
host and his friend, and led his fellow-towns-
men in their manly demonstrations of respect.
A sword was given to him by the men of that
vicinity, which the hero prizes to this day.
When in 1864 he visited London, he fre-
quently spoke in public and in private of Mr.
Cowen, and of Newcastle, of the reception he
had there met, and his grateful remembrance
of it.
Early in March, 1854, the noble Italian
patriot arrived in the Tyne in command of a
fine American vessel of above one thousand
tons burthen the Commonwealth. Having
kindly but firmly declined any public demon-
stration-for, like all heroes, he is as modest
as he is brave-it was resolved, at a numer-
ously-attended meeting of the friends of
European Freedom, held in the Exhibition
Room, Nelson Street, on Tuesday, March
28th, to present him with an address of wel-
come and sympathy, accompanied with a sword
and telescope, to be purchased by a penny sub-
scription. The proposal when made public
was received with great enthusiasm, demands
for subscription-lists coming from all parts,
and the expressions of approval and sympathy
being warm and numerous. The sword, made
by Messrs. Heeley and Son, Birmingham, was
a handsome weapon with a gold hilt, on which
this inscription was engraved :-" Presented
to General Garibaldi by the People of Tyneside,
friends of European Freedom. Newcastle-on-
Tyne, April, 1854." The telescope-an ex-
cellent and elegant article made by Mr. John
English, Grey Street, Newcastle-bore the
same inscription.
M
-
-
The presentation took place on board his
ship at Shields, on Tuesday, April 11, the day
before he sailed, the deputation being intro-
duced by Joseph Cowen, jun., who delivered
an eloquent and manly speech, after which he
presented a complimentary address from the
subscribers to the fund for purchasing the
presents he bore. He then said:-
"General!-Along with this address I have
to ask you to receive this Sword and this Tele-
scope. The intrinsic value of these articles
is but small, and to a Republican Chieftain,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
107
who is accustomed to animate his compatriots
by deeds of personal prowess, such a sword
may be more ornamental than useful. But,
when I tell you that it is purchased by the
pennies of some hundreds of working men,
contributed not only voluntarily but with en-
thusiasm, and that each penny represents a
heart which beats true to European Freedom,
it will not, I think, be unworthy of your
acceptance and preservation."
The General, who was much moved by this
spontaneous expression of good-will, replied
as follows:-
"Gentlemen,-I am very weak in the Eng-
lish language, and can but imperfectly express
my acknowledgments for your over great
kindness. You honour me beyond my deserts.
My services are not worthy of all the favour
you have shown me. You more than reward
me for any sacrifices I may have made in the
cause of freedom.
"One of the people-a workman like your-
selves-I value very highly these expressions
of your esteem-the more so because you
testify thereby your sympathy for my poor,
oppressed, and down-trodden country. Speak-
ing in a strange tongue, I feel most painfully.
my inability to thank you in terms sufficiently
warm.
66
The future will alone show how soon it
will be before I am called on to unsheathe the
noble gift I have just received, and again
battle in behalf of that which lies nearest my
heart-the freedom of my native land. But
be sure of this: Italy will one day be a nation,
and its free citizens will know how to acknow-
ledge all the kindness shown her exiled sons in
the days of their darkest troubles.
"Gentlemen, I would say more, but my bad
English prevents me. You can appreciate my
feeling and understand my hesitation. Again
I thank you from my heart of hearts, and be
confident of this-that whatever vicissitudes of
fortune I may hereafter pass through, this
handsome sword shall never be drawn by me
except in the cause of liberty."
The deputation then surveyed the vessel,
exchanged friendly greetings with the patriot
crew, and, after bidding the noble captain an
affectionate farewell, left for South Shields,
three hearty cheers being given for Garibaldi
and the good ship Commonwealth as the boat
passed under her bows. The editor of the
Northern Tribune for May, 1854, remarked :—
6
"The Commonwealth is a fine clipper vessel,
and rides the water grandly, with 1,000 tons
on board. She is loaded with coals, and
bound for Genoa. Although fitted for the
merchant service, she is capable of rougher
work, should circumstances require it. She
sails under the American flag and hails from
New York, but her owners are Italians. The
crew are all exiles-most of them Italians who
have fought under Garibaldi in Rome and
Monte Video. All are intelligent and well-
educated men, and many of them of noble
families.' Though they sail under the star-
spangled banner, none are American citizens.
They cannot surrender their nationality and
forswear their allegiance to their father-
land. Some day they will form the nucleus
of a patriot legion. Headed by their heroic
chieftain, may they soon have an opportunity
of measuring swords with the heartless
oppressors of their country!
hopes of Italy centre in him, and the blessings
of every true friend of freedom follow his foot-
steps!"
The
The hardy and laborious sons of the Tyne
at all events verified these words, and have
ever since cherished the remembrance of the
hero's visit.
The accompanying letter was written just as
the vessel left the Tyne :-
108
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"Ship Commonwealth, Tynemouth,
"April 12th, 1854.
"My dear Cowen,
"The generous manifestation of sympathy
with which I have been honoured by you
and your fellow-citizens is of itself more than
enough to recompense a life of the greatest
merit.
"Born and educated, as I have been, in the
cause of humanity, my heart is entirely devoted
to liberty-universal liberty, national and world-
wide-'ora e sempre' (now and for ever).
"England is a great and powerful nation-
independent of auxiliary aid-foremost in
human progress-enemy to despotism-the
only safe refuge of the exile-friend of the
oppressed; but if ever England, your native
country, should be so circumstanced as to
require the help of an ally, cursed be that
Italian who would not step forward with me
in her defence.
"Farewell, my dear friend, but not adieu!
-make room for me in your heart.
"Yours always and everywhere,
"G. GARIBALDI.
"Your government has given the autocrat
a check, and the Austrians a lesson. The
despots of Europe are against you in con-
sequence. Should England at any time in a
just cause need my arm, I am ready to un-
sheathe in her defence the noble and splendid
sword received at your hands.
He despised no duty, however inferior. In
this respect he resembled the great Duke of
"Be the interpreter of my gratitude to your Wellington, who, after leading an army, con-
good and generous countrymen.
descended to command a brigade. So Gari-
"I regret, deeply regret, to leave without baldi, who had commanded naval squadrons,
again grasping hands with you.
would deem it no indignity at the call of duty
to sleep in a barge.
He had before this purchased the little
island of Caprera, off the Sardinian coast, in
order that he might some day retire there.
The island was the property of an English-
man, who whatever fancy value he may have
put upon it, could not estimate it at much for
its productiveness.
"Jos. Cowen, Jun., Blaydon Burn.
"P.S. At Rio de la Plata I fought in favour
of the English against the tyrant Rosas."
clear perception of his habits of feeling and of
thought.
He also frequently visited London. A
fellow-countryman relates an incident of one
These letters are very characteristic of the
man, and furnish the reader with means for a
of those visits as follows
"I was walking with him, and with a distin-
guished exiled member of the 1848 Chamber
of Deputies, when we met an English member
of Parliament of known advanced Liberal sen-
timents, who was acquainted with the French-
man. Garibaldi and myself were introduced
to the M.P. by the Frenchman. The M.P
courteously invited us all three to dinner, but
stated that he could not name a day until he
went home, as he forgot the nature of his
engagements for the next few days. He asked
us to give him each our address, so that he
could communicate with us. We did so, Gari-
baldi, with great naivete and unconsciousness,
and evidently much to the amusement and
astonishment of the wealthy M.P., giving as
his present address, 'Barge, No. —, Surrey
Canal, Rotherithe. Garibaldi was loading or
unloading, I now forget which, some goods
there, and slept on board the barge which
contained them."
Garibaldi had many temptations, both in
America and Europe, to accept the support of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
109
rich and influential men, but his independent
spirit could not brook it. To other illustrious
exiles similarly tempted, his reply was in the
spirit of the poet-
"Thou shalt prove
How salt the savour is of others' bread;
How hard the passage to descend and climb
By others' stairs. But that shall gall thee most
Will be the worthless and vile company
With whom thou must be thrown among."
In his sea-girt home he has continued ever
since his purchase of it, except when called to
arms for his country. For years it was his
destiny to occupy its wild but tranquil shore,
before the war of 1859 summoned him to the
field. When his achievements on that arena
were over, he again returned to his rock, to
dwell with his goats, the seagull, and the
petrel; fond of retirement, but ever hospi-
table, even to unseasonable visitors. In 1862,
when the events which issued in the conflict
of Aspramonte were terminated, he again
resumed his place upon this islet of rocks, only
occasionally emerging for some useful purpose,
as quickly to retire. Few readers can be
otherwise than curious to learn how the hero
spent his time during the years of his occupa-
tion of his little sovereignty, not only previous
to 1859, but in the intervals of his quiet
residence since. A personal friend of his thus
describes the home and the man as seen
there:
"I had the rare fortune to see the General in
the rocky little island of his own at different
times, in every season, on the eve of mighty
events, standing in the shade of his, to tell the
truth, not as yet very leafy fig-trees, receiving
deputations, tourists, friends of every category,
marrying his daughter and welcoming home
his son, reciting Ugo Foscolo's poetry to Mme.
Türr, and having a kind word, nay, a gift of
some sort or other a book, a likeness, or an
autograph-for the humblest of his visitors.
I have invariably found him to be the great
good man that he is, hospitable, unaffected,
cordial, and full of that human kindness which,
in him, by virtue of a voice and regard pecu-
liarly eloquent, exercises a fascination on all
who come within the circle of his magnetic
presence.
"In one of his rambles this mighty hunter
explored the narrow strip of lengthy lizard-
shaped island which forms the eastern boun-
daries of the bay, and presents a surface as
rugged and strewn over with immense blocks
of fractured granite as if part of the rocks
piled up-Pelian on Ossa-in the fabled efforts
of giants to storm the high heavens-had been
hurled down and rolled back here in shattered
confusion. The island was lonely, listless, and
wretched; but when, overcoming the difficulties
of progress on a ground torn up in all direc-
tions, so as to form a stony wilderness of
chasms and precipices, without any of the
providential branches for the adventurous way-
farer to hold on in case his head should feel
giddy or his foot should slip, our pathfinder
had reached the sharp crest of Mount Telaihne,
the view charmed his poetical and soaring
mind at once. There, indeed, a glorious sight
expands before and beneath the spectator.
Perched on that culminating point of the
granitic confusion, placed nearly in the longi-
tudinal centre of that ridge which, very abrupt
towards the open sea, but accessible and more.
amphitheatrical though precipitous enough in
all conscience also on the side facing Madda-
lena Bay, divides Caprera into two unequal
parts, running slightly curved, from north to
south, Mount Telaihne is a prominent feature
in the landscape, rendered famous by a little
white house, behind which the whole range
seems to form a massive screen of jealous
protection, rich in scraggy juttings and angular
inlets, with here and there a group of blocks
110
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
massed into lesser but distinct eminences,
standing, sentinel-like, close to the modest
dwelling-place of honest greatness. From
that mountain summit Garibaldi saw Sardinia,
Corsica, Maddalena, San Stefano, and further
on, Monte Christo, Capraja, Gorgona, Elba,
all bathing in the smiling waves of the blue
Mediterranean. Shortly afterwards he bought
a few acres of rocky ground to construct a hut
on for his home.'
6
"Still the fine view alone to be obtained from
the top of a mountain very difficult of access
can hardly account for the choice of such a
dwelling-place. Garibaldi must have been
moved by other considerations, too, which he
alone could tell us, but which I make bold to
guess, to some extent basing my conjectures on
what I have been fortunate enough to see and
know of the General's habits and predilections
in his hospitable and philanthropic hermitage.
"It was not dejection that led him there.
His is the mind that never despairs. He is
faith made man-etsi fractus illabatur orbis.
Nor was it contempt for his fellows. Dis-
appointments leave no bitterness in Garibaldi's
heart, mindful of no past offence, open to every
sentiment of generous forbearance. His trust
in the triumphs of truth and his love for the
people are inexhaustible. Failures in doing
good will never make him pusillanimous, and
however entitled he might be to feel dissatisfied
with and indignant at the ingratitude and even
insults offered to him and his by those who
plucked the first, finest, and most savoury
fruits of his heroic deeds, Garibaldi is always
ready to join them on the field of battle for
national independence and human rights. It
may be, however, that after Novara, and Rome,
and Venice in 1849, he would not be an eye-
witness of his country's renewed bondage, yet
wished to remain on Italian soil in order to be
within the circles of such eventualities as may
arise in the interests of the cause to which he
devoted his life. Thence the probable resolu-
tion not to leave Italy, but to await in retire-
ment alone, yet hopeful.
ment alone, yet hopeful. Such is likely to
have been one, if not the chief, of the reasons
which made him settle in Caprera. Another,
of less weight certainly, and figuring as a
corollary to the above rather than as a reason
of distinct influence, must have been his par-
tiality for the sea, far from which Garibaldi
could not live long at all, save if and when
engaged in liberating some land. And the
more secluded the spot whence to contemplate
the mighty freedom of his favourite element,
the better pleased he will be with it. Gari-
baldi's spirit, like Prospero's, floats over the
mystic waters.
"When he had explored Caprera, and had
reflected upon the advantages of such a place
for one who was unwilling to expatriate him-
self, but desirous of being spared the daily
sight of his country's helpless humiliation,
and when he had seen how he could live there
alone, sea-girt, rock-screened, with plenty of
fish, game, and good water, though nothing
else, at his disposal, the drawbacks from the
absolute ruggedness and sad sterility of the spot
must have crossed his unpretending mind only
to be laid at rest by the kind thought that he
would 'do something by-and-by for this poor
little island,' and be up and doing on it from
early morn till evening dusk, in order that
others after him shall find it some day less
devoid of attraction, and of an aspect more
calculated to satisfy civilised curiosity.
"One thing, at any rate, is certain, and it
is this-that he alone could have thought of
rendering this island worth living in at all;
nor can I have the least doubt about the
General's perfect faith in a future Caprera
covered with orange groves and pretty cottages,
a worthy gem in the beauteous sea, and under
7
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
111
the glorious sky of Italy, for I have seen him
smile most encouragingly to the budding fig-
trees, and show great and earnest tenderness
for the ripening grapes sheltered behind rough
walls of his own construction against the blast-
ing breath of the sea. If this dream be not
doomed to disappointment, there never was a
colony with such titles to be proud of its
founder than will be that of unpopulated
Caprera.
"Nor is probability against it. The im-
portance of Maddalena Bay is an admitted fact.
Nelson pronounced it to be a harbour of the
first rank in the Mediterranean. Let Italy
but complete her unity, and this harbour is
sure to become one of the principal stations
for the national navy. The depth of its waters,
sheltered by the barrier-like grouping of three
islands, with channels between them, one or
other of which, according to whence the wind
blows, is always sure to let ships sail in and
out freely, by whatever weather, guarantees a
future of prosperity for Maddalena. This pro-
spectus once admitted, the share of Caprera in
the coming harvest of material advancement
will be a matter of course, its situation, under
such improved circumstances, being of sufficient
inducement for speculators to render it habit-
able, fertile, and pleasant, with shady walks
leading to sandy beaches, pretty bathers from
gay villas clustered around the ancient house
to be known for all times to come, and to be
taken care of by a grateful posterity, as the
General's Hermitage.'
(
"Caprera, it must be owned, had, previously
to the glorious year of Marsala, not seconded
very energetically the kind efforts of its bene-
factors to improve it. Beyond wild goats'
skins it refused to yield anything. On one
occasion a few dozens of this article having
been shipped for the markets of Genoa, Gari-
baldi's commission agents, the Messrs. Medici
and Sacchi, now generals in the Italian army,
were instructed to sell them for his account,
and to place the money at his banker's,
deducting therefrom a balance due for goods
to be delivered at Maddalena. Affairs took,
however, another aspect after the return from
liberated Naples of this modern Cincinnatus."
Such was Caprera, and Garibaldi there, up
to the period of 1859. What it became after,
when, more than a king, he laid by power, and
again returned to his rugged home, will appear
on another page.
Thus was the hero peacefully pursuing his
work of cultivation when duty called for his
interposition in the affairs of Italy.
In that memorable year Napoleon III., who
had been gradually drawing nearer in amity to
Piedmont, resolved on interfering between her
and Austria. The events which led to such a
result form no part of the history of Garibaldi.
They belong to three other actors in the great
drama-the King of Sardinia, his minister
Cavour, and the Emperor Napoleon. It is
enough here to observe that Sardinia resolved
upon war with Austria. France had deter-
mined to be her ally. The Austrian emperor,
doubting the intentions of the French sove-
reign, and thrown off his guard by a well-
affected hesitation on the part of the latter,
assumed the offensive, invaded the Sardinian
dominions, and at the head of a numerous
army, and with an artillery of tremendous.
power, threatened the extinction of Victor
Emmanuel's reign. In these circumstances the
king and Count Cavour sent for Garibaldi to
his obscure retreat, sought his counsel and his
aid, invested him with power and authority to
render efficient service, and opened up to him
a new path of fadeless glory and immortal
renown.
112
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE KING OF SARDINIA AT WAR WITH AUSTRIA.-HIS MAJESTY SENDS FOR GARIBALDI.-REMARKABLE
INTERVIEW.-GARIBALDI, WITH THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, ATTACHED TO THE DIVI-
SION CIALDINI.-CAPTURES A CONVOY.-OBTAINS A SEPARATE COMMAND.-PASSAGES OF THE
SESSIA AND TERECINA.-INVADES LOMBARDY.-GAINS THE BATTLES OF VARESE AND MALNATE.
WITH THREE THOUSAND MEN ROUTES TEN THOUSAND AUSTRIANS.-CAPTURES COMO.-LOMPELS
URBAN TO FLEE FROM CAMERLATA.
"He holds no feeling with unmanly fears,
Where duty bids he confidently steers;
Faces a thousand dangers at a call,
And trusting in his God, surmounts them all."-Cowper.
ON the 1st of January, 1859, the language
addressed in public to the ambassador of the
Emperor of Austria left no doubt in Europe
that France would be speedily at war with
that power, but diplomacy delayed matters.
until the middle of April, when Cavour, in the
name of King Victor Emmanuel, summoned
Garibaldi to Turin. The hero was then in his
humble cottage at Caprera, but hastened to
obey the commands of his sovereign. He
arrived at Turin, and had an interview with
Count Cavour in the presence of the king.
What occurred on that important occasion
may never be known with certainty. Count
Charles Arrivabene, upon the authority of a
high personage at the court of Turin, gives the
following account of it. The authority is
generally supposed to be that of Farini
"The famous Italian leader was, as usual,
in bad humour with the prime minister of the
king. Distinguished by courage, disinterest-
edness, and public spirit,-bred to simple and
daring occupations,-endowed with an un-
bounded frankness,-Garibaldi had no great
liking for Cavour. He thought him too proud
of his descent, and of his intellectual supe-
riority. In the opinion of this honest and
fearless republican, Count Cavour bore a lively
resemblance to those noblemen of the ancien
régime who looked down with disdain on the
|
common people, and governed them accord-
ingly. But the little sympathy he felt with
Cavour did not prevent him from hastening to
his summons. Garibaldi arrived at the palace
of Piazza Castello at five o'clock in the morn-
ing. He was shown into the well-known red
room, where he found himself in the presence
of Victor Emmanuel, of his prime minister,
and of Farini.
"
"Well, General,' said Cavour, the long-
expected day is near at hand: we want you.
The patience of Count Buol is nearly ex-
hausted, and we are only awaiting the moment
when he will have lost it altogether.'
-
"I am always ready to serve my country,'
replied Garibaldi, 'and you know that I shall
put all my heart into the work. Here, in the
presence of our Re galantuomo, I must, how-
ever, be permitted to speak my mind openly.
Am I to understand that you are going to
summon all the forces of the country, and,
declaring war against Austria, to attack her
with the irresistible power of a national insur-
rection?'
Mag
"That is not precisely our plan,' answered
Count Cavour. I have not an illimitable
faith in the power of the insurrectionary
element against the well-drilled legions of
Austria. I think, moreover, our regular army
too small to match the 200,000 men our enemy
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
113
has massed on the frontier. We must there-
fore have the assistance of a powerful ally;
and this is already secured. You will now,'
added the Count, fully understand the mean-
ing of the words addressed by the French
Emperor to the Austrian ambassador on the
1st of January.'
(
"Although my principles are known both to
you and to the king,' Garibaldi is reported to
have answered, 'I feel that my first duty is
that of offering my sword to my country. My
war-cry shall therefore be, "Italian unity,
under the constitutional rule of Victor Em-
manuel!" Mind, however, what you are
about, and do not forget that the aid of foreign
armies must always be paid for dearly. As
for the man who has promised to help us, I
ardently wish he may redeem himself in the
eyes of posterity by achieving the noble task of
Italian liberation.'
"At this moment the king, who always feels.
an unbounded regard for Garibaldi, took him
by the hand, assured him that Louis Napoleon
had always desired to see Italy free and happy,
and added that he (the king) had consented to
the marriage of his daughter to Prince Napoleon
because he was certain of the Emperor's good
intentions towards Italy.”
The result of the interview was that Garibaldi
accepted the command of the Cacciatori delle
Alpi, a corps of volunteers already organised by
General Cialdini.
Volunteers flocked from northern Italy, the
Duchies, and Venice to the standards of Victor
Emmanuel, and no department of his army
was so popular as the Alpine Caccadores.
At the end of April Garibaldi placed him-
self at their head. They consisted of three
regiments of infantry; his old friend Medici,
one of the most adventurous and skilful offi-
cers that ever served under Garibaldi, com-
manded one, Cosenz and Arduino commanded
the other two. There was also a company
of Genoese sharpshooters, the Genoese being
much attached to our hero; these were mounted,
as was also a squadron of Guides, commanded
by Signor Simonetta, of Milan.
These men were not mere adventurers, as it
has been common to represent the followers of
Garibaldi; they were composed, for the most.
part, of well-born, respectable, and even
wealthy citizens of Lombardy, the Duchies,
and Romagna.
The Austrians began the invasion of Sar-
dinia in May. Bonaparte declared war against
Austria on the ostensible ground that, by this
proceeding, they violated treaties and menaced
the French frontiers.
G
Garibaldi received from Victor Emmanuel
the commission of Lieutenant-General; but as
the Italian Government seemed doomed to
slight the man to whom Italy owed so much,
and the king was soon also to be a debtor, his
commission was not published. Marmora, the
minister of war, was a strict royalist, and un-
willing to offend the bureaucratic party at
Turin, resisted the public announcement of the
new and legitimate title of him who had
proved himself a general of nature's own
making. Marmora did worse than this; he
attached Garibaldi to General Cialdini's divi-
sion, thus depriving him of any opportunity
of independent action, and of following the
bent of his own peculiar genius. This narrow
policy nearly paralysed the operations of Gari-
baldi, and for a time deprived the cause of the
king and of Italy of the full value of his
support.
On the 2nd of May Victor Emmanuel called
the nation to arms. On the 3rd of May the
Emperor Napoleon proclaimed war. His
troops marched to the assistance of the
Italians. The hostile armies made their re-
spective dispositions, and the war began with
Q
114
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
energy and determination on both sides. It is
not the purpose of this memoir to notice the
general conduct of the war, which will be
more appropriately related in the narratives of
Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon; only so far
as Garibaldi took part in it, does it here come
properly under remark.
Cialdini's Italian division occupied the left
bank of the Po, and at the commencement of
the Austrian advance was engaged in frequent
skirmishes. In one of these, on the 8th of
May, this skilful general was wounded. Gari-
baldi and his Alpine chasseurs co-operated in
these different actions, and always with glory.
-
On the 7th of May, Cialdini and Garibaldi
captured a convoy of cattle, plundered by the
Austrians from Italian farms. This was exe-
cuted by the vigilance and promptitude of the
Garibaldini chasseurs. Cialdini received in-
formation that, on the next day, Gyulai, the
Austrian general, intended to make a recon-
naissance in person on Casale. The Italian
general ordered Garibaldi to use the utmost
vigilance.
At three o'clock on the morning of the 8th,
the Austrian advanced guard, one thousand
strong, consisting of a battalion of Croats,
approached, but encountered a battalion of
Garibaldi's Chasseurs of the Alps, which were
thrown forward in expectation of the enemy.
The chasseurs fired one volley and charged
with the bayonet; the Croats turned and fled.
In the passage of the Sessia General Cial-
dini's division greatly distinguished itself. In
the morning of the 30th the passage was
effected. The Austrians, well posted, disputed
hotly the advance of the Sardinian army, led
by Cialdini; a rapid charge of the bayonet
swept the Austrians from the field, but not
without a resistance resolute and deadly.
Palestro was captured and held by the Sar-
dinians; but next day Austrian reserves en-
deavoured to retake it. The defence mainly
rested with Cialdini's division, which King
Victor Emmanuel joined, and fought with
desperate bravery at its head, meriting the
title given him by Garibaldi-Re Galantuomo.
As some of the troops properly belonging to
Garibaldi were with the division Cialdini, this
account is given of it. Garibaldi, however,
had a work all his own to perform. After the
repulse which he had, under Cialdini's orders,
given to the Austrians on the 8th, he received
an especial commission from the king. His
Majesty gave him a rescript empowering him
to raise recruits and contributions, and laid
down for him a plan of separate action, which
his Majesty, in concert with his staff and
Minister of War, had framed. The hero ob-
jected to be tied down by a prescribed plan,
and urged upon his Majesty the wisdom and
even necessity of giving him scope for the
exercise of his own peculiar aptitudes. Victor
Emmanuel at once replied, "Go where you
like, do what you like! I feel only one regret,
that I am not able to follow you." It is sup-
posed by Count Arrivabene and others, that
this desire of the king arose from the antici-
pation of the vain-glorious disposition of the
French to appropriate to themselves all the
honour of victory, stripping from the brows of
the ablest and noblest allies wreaths fairly
won. In the Crimea, British and Italians,
who were more than rivals of the French in
valour, experienced from generals and soldiers
of the French army this ungenerous emulation.
Garibaldi hastened to execute his new com-
mission.
mission. He had organised a most efficient
staff; most of the officers, his gallant com-
panions in arms in 1849, surrounded him; men
of experience in the more stern realities of
war, and men who knew and enthusiastically
loved their leader.
On the 9th of May Garibaldi's chasseurs
}

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
115
were pushed forward to Verrica. The Austrians
were within three miles. The night being
darker than usual in Italy at such a season,
Garibaldi took all precautions against surprise.
In a villa near the camp Garibaldi esta-
blished his head-quarters. While repose gave
rest to the weary soldiers, and all slumbered
save the camp officers, sentries, and patrols,
there were wakeful watchers in that villa. A
Garibaldian sergeant, a Lombard by birth, but
who had spent his early life in Vienna, came
suddenly, on a by-road, upon a man dressed
Chal-
as a peasant of the neighbourhood.
lenging him, he at once knew that he was a
German in disguise, arrested him, and brought
him before Garibaldi. When examined by the
latter, in the presence of his staff, the ser-
geant's suspicions were confirmed. Important
papers were found upon him; his mission was
to hover near the lines of Garibaldi, and re-
port to the Austrian quarters the number of
his troops, and the dispositions of his force.
Garibaldi, always merciful, would not shoot
him, but confined him. Next morning he was
found dead, having hanged himself to avert
the certainty, as he deemed it, of a public
execution. This man was a Hanoverian, many
of whom fought in the Austrian lines. Northern
Germany did not sympathise with Italian
liberty. German aggrandisement had more
charm for even the educated men and pro-
fessed patriots of the north, especially of
Prussia. Their nationality was invidious and
selfish.
The discovery of this spy was of importance,
as it prevented the enemy from receiving the
intelligence upon which he had relied.
On the 12th of May the Cacciatori were at
San Germano, in front of the enemy, whose
intention was to cross the Sessia, and proceed
to Vercelli. Garibaldi marched to Biella.
Thence to the 21st of May he constantly
skirmished with the Croats, whose numbers
encouraged them to maintain combats to which
their valour was not equal. Garibaldi marched
to Arona, and arranged as if to take up his
quarters there for some time. In the night
he stealthily marched out in the direction of
Castalleto Ticino. It was his intention to cross
the Ticino, and this he accomplished by a most
daring and skilful manoeuvre. He sent forward
the corps of Guides, which were commanded
by Major Simonetta, with orders to cross to
the Austrian side, and there collect boats
for the passage of the rest of the forces.
Austrian steamers passed up and down the
lake, and patrols of military were on the oppo-
site shore; but the brave and energetic Simo-
netta accomplished his orders, and when
Garibaldi arrived he found easy means of
passing over his whole corps. Many of our
hero's troops knew well the country, and in
this respect the Austrians were at a great
disadvantage.
Garibaldi landed near Sesto Calende on the
22nd of May, and on the evening of the 23rd
entered Varese. He was now on Lombard
soil, the invader of Austrian territory.
A small detachment was left at Sesto Ca-
lende, which the Austrians attacked. It was
brought off by the skill and courage of its
left
captain, Decristoforis. A single soldier,
wounded in a cottage by the road, was murdered
by the Austrians, who carried on the war much
in the way they, in 1864, made war upon
Denmark, vindictively and cruelly.
Garibaldi placed Varese in as good a posi-
tion of defence as possible. The people aided
with enthusiasm, all able to bear arms joining
the troops. The two chief entrances to the
place were barricaded, and the defence of one
committed to the experienced and dauntless
Medici, of the other to Cosenz. At daylight
on the 25th, General Urbau, who was de-
2

116
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!
tached for this purpose from the main Aus-
trian army, advanced to the attack. His force
was 5,000 strong, infantry, cavalry, and artil-
lery, in proper military proportion. The place
was dominated by an eminence, upon which
Urban posted his artillery, and directed a fire
much to the injury of the town and danger of
its garrison. He did not hesitate to shell the
place, irrespective of any military advantage
to be gained by so doing. His infantry were
formed in two columns, one directed against
the position held by Medici, the other against
the post occupied by Garibaldi in person-the
Esplanade of Ponti, and the Villa Bunni.
Again and again the Porta Como, where
Medici commanded, was assaulted, and as often
were the enemy repulsed. Against Garibaldi's
position the attack was comparatively weak;
he therefore descended to the Porta Como,
joined Medici, and attacked the Austrians,
routed and pursued them. At Malnate, Urban
paused in his retreat, and for an hour main-
tained a fierce conflict, but was beaten, and
driven in confused and headlong rout. The
loss of the Italians was small, that of the
Austrians very considerable, In the retreat,
when beyond the chastisements of his pur-
suers, Urban acted like a genuine Austrian,
inflicting cruelties upon the inhabitants. Whole
families of unarmed persons were butchered by
this satrap of Austrian brutality.
Urban entertained a salutary fear of volun-
teers after these disgraceful defeats. An
eminent Italian, referring to the general effect
of these operations, thus notices the value of
volunteers, and Urban's apprehensions of
them :-
A
"This contest proved how useful may be the
employment of volunteers in national wars.
The knowledge they possess of the topography
of the country, the numerous acquaintances
they have amongst its population, the influence
they exercise-all this may be turned to the
greatest advantage by the regular army. Were
I in need of arguments to prove the truth of
this, I need only quote the report of General
Urban to Count Gyulai after the defeat he had
sustained at Camerlata. In that report, the
Austrian Lieutenant-Marshal especially dwelt
on the fact that Garibaldi was at the head of
troops who, having numerous connections in
the country, were able to learn every strategic
operation of their adversary, whilst he was
generally ignorant of their movements, and not
unfrequently deceived by the false reports wil-
fully concocted by the inhabitants of the pro-
vince. I hope that God will always preserve
England from any foreign invasion; but
should an enemy be daring enough to land on
these shores, the English people will then
doubly bless the day on which the noble youth
of this country set to work, heart and soul, to
become thoroughly acquainted with the use of
the rifle."
-
Garibaldi continued a system of marching
and counter-marching which harassed and con-
fused the Austrians. The country in which
these operations were carried on is inexpres-
sibly lovely. Mountain and valley, wood and
water, picturesque villages and solitary ham-
lets surrounded with flowers and foliage, meet
the eye in every direction. The topographical
peculiarities which gave the region its love-
liness afforded Garibaldi opportunity for re-
treat or attack, for surprises, baffling the
calculations of a stranger, and for means of
suddenly disappearing from the enemy's front
and presenting himself at some point calculated
to confound the strategy of even the most
skilful foe, whose troops and whose officers
were ignorant of the locality.
At last our hero took up a position at Cavel-
lesea, a mountain village four miles from
Como. It was admirably chosen; the rear
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
117
*
afforded easy opportunity of retreat to Switzer-
land, the front was protected by lines of hills,
amongst and around which considerable streams
wound their way. His left had for support the
Lake of Como, and his right rested on a broken
and abrupt country, of difficult access. Gari-
baldi knew where to pitch his tents as well as
where to attack.
Urban took post at San Fermo, a hamlet
near Como, not daring to attack the Italians
in such a position, and hoping to draw them
prematurely from their fastness. This time it
was Garibaldi's turn to be in want of informa-
tion. While he remained upon his perch in
the mountain his opportunities of gaining any
knowledge of events passing in Sardinia or on
the great plain of Lombardy were necessarily
few. The allied generals did not trouble them-
selves about Garibaldi or his movements; they
left him to himself to get supplies and material
as best he could.
-
While in this perplexity, a beautiful young
lady dashed up a mountain path on horseback,
and arrived at the General's quarters. The
thought occurred to her that her countryman
would be at a loss for intelligence of the
enemy's numbers, and of the strength of his
position. She rode over to the lines of Urban,
incurring the risk of death, or capture worse
than death, and having scrutinised their lines,
brought to Garibaldi a reliable account. Verily
he had the faculty of attaching to his fame
and his interests the best, bravest, and truest
of women, as well as the best, bravest, and
truest of men. This Lombard heroine put the
General in possession of the facts he wanted to
learn, and determined his immediate course.
Having pointed out upon a map the exact
positions of the Austrians, and received the
thanks and benedictions of the chief, this noble
daughter of a noble realm descended by safe
paths, known to her, in security to her home.
She was an angel sent from heaven, a provi-
dence in the form of woman, to Garibaldi at
a moment so critical. He ordered his second
battalion of Cacciatori to steal down in front
of San Fermo, and another battalion to wind
round the mountain and place itself so as
to intercept Urban's retreat or advance upon
Como; for now Garibaldi was enabled to
perceive that Urban's object was to bar his
passage to that place. Urban had an army of
10,000 men with which to execute his object;
Garibaldi's entire service was but 3,000. The
second regiment having descended from its
own position, ascended unperceived the eleva-
tion on which San Fermo rested; and without
a shot being fired, their steel, like a lightning
flash, struck the enemy. The post was de-
fended by a Styrian corps, which had no heart
in the war, and finding itself thus suddenly
attacked, it knew not by what numbers, was
seized with panic and fled, throwing the whole
camp into confusion and consternation. Some
brave men resisted, but the gallant Garibal-
dians swept them with their bayonets into the
general current of the fugitives. The battalion
on the Como was too feeble a barrier to stem
such a tide of flight and panic; on rushed the
fugitives, receiving the fire of this corps, and
its close and hot pursuit with the bayonet. The
coward throng fled into and through the streets
of Como, chased by 2,000 men, for two-thirds
only of Garibaldi's force was actually engaged.
They were pursued beyond Como, and driven
headlong to Camerlata, from which in their
terror they retreated to Monza.
Their guns,
magazines, and camp equipages, and much
valuable material of various sorts, were left in
the possession of the conquerors. Beyond
Como efforts were made to rally this mob of
affrighted soldiery, and in the eagerness of
pursuit, and the determination of the Gari-
baldians to consummate their victory, a con-
I
118
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
siderable number of the bravest of the brave
fell to rise no more, and many were carried
wounded into Como, where every house was a
home for the victors, every woman a nurse,
and most men capable of bearing arms a
volunteer to replace the fallen.
Few victories on record surpass this for
secrecy and celerity of movement, skilfulness
of plan, and daring in execution. By the
instrumentality of a courageous and patriotic
woman this grand feat of arms was made
possible.
Como had suffered dreadfully from the Aus-
trian domination. Pecuniary exaction, insult,
outrage to woman, death to man, characterised
the intolerable reign of the oppressor. With
Garibaldi came liberty, order, security, peace,
and beneficence. The people were worthy of
their liberator, women as well as men. Happy
the country, however down-trodden, whose
women are patriotic! Alas for the land, how-
ever great, whose sons, however brave, have
mothers who hug their own chains, and have
no sympathy for the cause of peoples!
Garibaldi established a provisional govern-
ment, placing as its president a noble and
intelligent man, in the confidence of Count
Cavour. He also put the town in a state of
defence sufficiently strong to protect it from
a coup de main, while he transferred his ex-
ploits to other places.
His next care was to obtain some informa-
tion, if possible, of the allied armies under the
command of his fellow-liberators, King Victor
Emmanuel and the Emperor Napoleon III.
An officer of his staff informed him that the
Austrians had forgotten to break the telegra-
phic wires running to Milan. "Well then,"
said Garibaldi, "let us send a message to the
Austrian commander of the Lombard capital;
he will, perhaps, be kind enough to give us
some news." Major Corte hastened to the
-
L
telegraph office, and told the officer on duty to
telegraph-"Have the allied armies made any
offensive movement?" Message from Milan:
"Who asks the question?" Major Corte
"Lieutenant-Marshal Urban." Answer of the
Austrian commander of Milan: "No."
He also ascertained from another quarter
that the Turin government had thought it
worth while to remember him, and had sent
him a field battery, for he was now destitute of
artillery, except such as he had captured from
Urban, who, notwithstanding his panic, had
rendered some of the pieces unserviceable; the
rest were placed in position for the defence
of Como.
To protect the arrival of the cannon from
Turin, it was necessary to retrace his steps to
Varese. Before doing this he designed the
capture of a fort called Levano, on the shores
of the Lago Maggiore. The troops he detached
for that purpose found it impossible to accom-
plish the exploit without cannon, of which
they had none. Their gallant attempts were
foiled from this cause alone, Urban, hearing
that Garibaldi had divided his forces, took
heart, and also marched upon Varese, which
he entered, levying exactions upon the inhabi-
tants.
Garibaldi, by a detour, and a march won-
derful for its speed and the endurance of his
soldiers, suddenly took post on the hills of
Sant Ambrogio, by the sanctuary of Madonna
del Monte, a place of great strength. His
little army occupied two elevated summits,
which dominated the Austrian position. He
soon saw that Urban had been reinforced, so
as more than to repair the losses incurred in
his recent rout. Urban felt so sure of victory,
being again well supplied with artillery, and
strong in cavalry, that he telegraphed to
Milan, "Garibaldi is surrounded, I shall have
him, dead or alive, before the day is closed."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
119
well expressed as by the historian of "Italy
under Victor Emmanuel." His critique was
in these terms:-
He manœuvred well to effect this purpose.
Garibaldi pretended to fortify the place and
prepare for a resolute defence. Night closed
over the confronting armies. Garibaldi caused
to be lighted up a large number of bivouac
fires, and made his men pass to and fro behind
them in such a way as to be seen from the
position of Urban, and to leave with him the
impression that the post would be defended.
As the night wore on the heavens became
suddenly obscured, lightning played over the
hostile forces, and the thunder reverberating
from hill to hill, roared with incessant peals;
rain descended in torrents, causing all who
could, among the watch and pickets of the
Austrians, to seek cover. Garibaldi silently
descended, marched close to the wing of the
Austrians, nearest his route, and when morning | calculates all possible combinations of strategy
"There is something apparently super-
natural in the life of the daring Italian leader.
Few generals could have so wonderfully escaped
from the grasp of an overpowering enemy, who
felt certain of surrounding him, and indeed had
taken all the necessary measures to that end.
The ability shown by Garibaldi during the
short campaign, and in subsequent operations,
was no doubt the result of his experience, and
the successes he obtained are mainly to be
ascribed to that power of comprehensiveness
which he possesses in so high a degree. Being
an excellent mathematician, he at once studies
the ground on which he is going to operate,
dawned, Urban's promised captive was safe
away. These events brought the operations of
Garibaldi to the 5th of June.
Before Urban recovered from his astonish-
ment, Garibaldi, by one of his wondrous
marches, as strange and skilful and daring as
his battles, was in Como.
and tactics, and acts accordingly. Endowed
with the greatest determination, he never
hesitates. His plans being once settled in his
mind, he strikes instantly, dares all issues,
and succeeds. There is, besides, another con-
sideration, which may perhaps appear strange
at first sight, but which nevertheless is con-
firmed by experience. The secret of Garibaldi's
victories is to be found principally in the
system he has adopted of doing almost always
the contrary of that which is suggested by the
strict rules of war; in a word, of acting quite
in opposition to what the enemy would expect
him to do. In the campaign of Upper Lom-
bardy, Urban had always thought (and he was
right according to the principles of war) that
Garibaldi had a base of operations-a line
from which, in case of reverse, he could fall
back on the main body of the allied armies.
Hence the indecision of the Austrian general;
hence Garibaldi's marvellous escape from Villa
Medici. It is true that the Italian leader did
everything to confirm the Austrian commander
in his opinion; but the fact is, that his com-
This portion of the campaign, with all its
events, soon became known in Italy, and,
indeed, all over Europe where the press dare
record it, and the name and fame of the hero
filled all lips and all hearts which love and
honour the brave.
Victor Emmanuel, Count Cavour, Napoleon,
notwithstanding their occupation and anxieties,
gave vent to their astonishment and admira-
tion. Garibaldi had, in esteem of the French,
proved himself to be "as brave as Ney, as
vigilant and skilful as Massena." He had
performed, with a few thousand men, what
neither of these great men would have thought
of attempting.
The estimate formed of Garibaldi by this
episode of his Italian struggle was never so
-
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120
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
munications with the Sardinians were almost
always cut off without the Austrians being
aware of it. He always acted alone. His
principal aim was to spread the insurrection
amongst the Lombard population; and her
pretended to fall back upon the advancing
Franco-Sardinian army in order to advance
more rapidly. With the intuition of military
genius, he perceived that by gaining the Lake
of Garda, and occupying the mountain districts.
of Salo and Gardone, the Austrians would be
obliged to send a considerable force in pursuit
of him, and that this would help the allied
forces in case a reverse should retard their
progress towards the Mincio.
-
66 'The means resorted to by Garibaldi in
order to lead his adversary astray were no less
ingenious, and always succeeded. His plan
is to deploy as many forces as he can spare
in opposite directions. When he first ar-
rived at Como, he sent Captain Ferrari with
150 men to Leno; then he ordered Sub-
Lieutenants Cavana, Pisano, and Zeffirina, to
lead each of them twenty or thirty men on the
different roads to attack the Austrians wherever
they would meet them, without, however, en-
gaging themselves too much. He thus made
the enemy believe that he was at the head of
numerous troops; and the Austrians were
easily kept in error. This system had also
the advantage of impressing the people of the
country with his superiority in numerical
strength, and of inducing them to take up
arms against the oppressors of their country.
The effect of this skilful plan was, that when
Urban retired on Monza, he was quite con-
vinced that General Cialdini's division was
operating with Garibaldi, whilst, in fact, the
first-named general was then engaged at
Palestro with Baron Zobel. To act upon
Urban's mind, Garibaldi now and then sent
telegraphic messages to Cialdini from different
places, knowing that they would be intercepted
by the Austrians. In one, sent from Como,
he said, 'Help me. Urban will attack me
again to-morrow; I cannot resist." From
Varese he had telegraphed, 'I am obliged to
fall back on you. Send the cavalry to support.
my backward movement.' Neither Cialdini
nor any other general of the allied armies was
within the reach of such telegrams. There
was, however, a general who read them, and
who never thought they were concocted with a
view to his own deception.
"The Austrian General Urban, with a far
superior force, never succeeded in surrounding
or isolating the 3,000 Cacciatori delle Alpi,
though an opportunity presented itself at
Varese, at Como, and afterwards at Tre Ponti."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
121
CHAPTER XIX.
GARIBALDI ADVANCES TO NEW CONQUESTS.-CAPTURES BERGAMO
-CAPTURES BERGAMO AND BRESCIA.
AND BRESCIA.-BATTLE OF TRE
PONTI.-CAMPAIGN OF THE VALTELLINA.
THE VALTELLINA.-FRENCH EMPEROR PROCLAIMS PEACE.-GARIBALDI
RESIGNS. -THE KING GIVES HIM COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF CENTRAL ITALY.-IS OPPOSED BY
FRENCH DIPLOMATISTS.-OBTAINS LEAVE OF ABSENCE.-HIS FAREWELL PROCLAMATION TO HIS
TROOPS.
"The friend we've tried
Is by our side,
And the foe we hate before us."-MOORE.
men.
General Urban did not molest our hero.
A Russian prince, residing near the lake,
was joined, it is said, by an English family,
also resident there, in entreaties to do so, and
catch or slay the lion in his den; but Urban
had already felt his talons too deeply to desire
any propinquity.
WHILE Garibaldi remained at Como, the peo-Napoleon, a qualified confidence only in Cavour,
ple of that place clothed and equipped 1,400 but implicit faith, affection, and admiration
The plan our hero formed was, if pro- towards Victor Emmanuel. Upon these men,
perly supported by Cavour, to march upon whatever the successes of Garibaldi, the fate of
Milan, and fall upon the rear of the Austrian Italy must depend.
army which had been defeated at Magenta,
and by this means prevent their retreat upon
the Mincio. Cavour had promised him four
regiments of Cacciatori della Apennini, but
they never came. Colonel Baldoni had or
ganised them very imperfectly, and they were
kept lingering where they were of no use to
any of the armies in the field. The opinion
of Garibaldi was, that the military officials
of Turin were unwilling to augment his forces,
and that some of the men of highest rank in
Lombardy, in communication with the Sardi-
nian Government, were afraid of his popular
principles, and the enthusiasm entertained for
him by the masses. His followers did not
hold Cavour blameless in these matters; but,
in truth, the count had more to do than, per-
haps, any other man could have performed
in like circumstances. Garibaldi was also
haunted by apprehensions, which all his fol-
lowers shared, that Napoleon III. would turn
the defeat of Austria to his own account, and
that France would, on the whole, sustain him
in doing so, if the grandeur of their Emperor
was displayed as the protector of Italy, or the
greatness of his empire promoted by exten-
sion of territory. He had no confidence in
Volunteers from every part of Upper Lom-
bardy poured into Como, eager to be led against
the enemy by Garibaldi, and by him alone.
He left some of his officers to organise them,
while he embarked his available troops upon
the lake, and proceeded to Lecco. Thence he
proceeded
proceeded with the utmost rapidity upon
Bergamo, capturing on his way an Austrian
officer engaged in levying war contributions
upon the inhabitants; so completely were the
Austrians unaware of his approach.
That place was strong, and capable of resist-
ing a very superior force to that of its garrison.
The Commander-in-chief, Gyulai, ordered it to
be defended, but a rumour of Garibaldi's ap-
proach terrified the Croats, who abandoned the
city. Just as the Italians entered it, an officer
seized a telegram at the railway station, in-
forming the general who was supposed to be
still in command of the garrison, that a rein-
C
R
122
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
יי
forcement of 1,500 Croats would shortly arrive.
Garibaldi posted troops in ambush at the sta-
tion. The train was stopped, a fugitive shout-
ing the name of Garibaldi, and the 1,500 men
left the cars and fled in disorder, pursued by
a small body of the Italian chasseurs, who
killed and captured a considerable number.
While in Bergamo, Garibaldi was sent for
by King Victor Emmanuel, then, in conse-
quence of the recent successes of the allies, at
Milan. Thither the hero obediently repaired.
The interview, at the request of the king, was
alone. What passed remained a matter of
privacy. Garibaldi returned to his troops,
bearing decorations and honours for them, and
wearing upon his own breast the gold medal
given for valour, the most honourable deco-
ration the hand of the king could append.
On his return, he marched upon Brescia, a
well-fortified place, sanctified in Italian asso-
ciation by the blood of many martyrs to liberty,
shed in 1840 by those cruel "Tedeschi," who
were now doomed to flee as cowards from its
walls. Although Austrian troops hung upon
his flank during this march, they dared not
obstruct his progress, nor assist in defending
the city.
The garrison spiked the guns and fled in
the utmost trepidation. A deputation of
citizens came forth to meet the General. The
city was in a blaze of joy, the liberator was
welcomed with songs and flowers, and the
shouts and blessings of the liberated. The
citizens had soon an opportunity of giving
more stern proof of their patriotism. A de-
tachment of Austro-Hungarian hussars en-
tered the city, ignorant of the flight of their
brigade. The people, supposing it the advance
guard of an Austrian force, flew to arms; no
citizen remained without a weapon; old men
and boys, with knives and daggers, joined the
manhood of the city as it crowded to the
defence. Ladies of the highest quality or-
ganised impromptu companies of women to
erect barricades. The hussars fled. Gari-
baldi's composure quieted all alarm, and the
surging city was stilled in obedience to his
command.
Garibaldi was now on the high road to
Vienna, and various daring projects were
attributed to him, but a communication from
the king on the 12th of June demanded his
co-operation with the grand allied army, and
the honour was accorded to him of supporting
his movements by a powerful force of the re-
gular army.
Victor Emmanuel established his head-quar-
ters on the line of the Mela, near Brescia;
Napoleon left Milan on the day Garibaldi re-
ceived these orders, and made Gorgonzola his
head-quarters. The allies were in pursuit of
the enemy, directing their course towards the
rivers Oglio and Chiese.
Garibaldi's part was to march to the last
named river, cross it, and occupy Lonato.
The movement was good in strategy, but dan-
gerous of execution. Four regiments of Sar-
dinian lances, and two batteries of royal horse
artillery, were ordered to join him. General
Sambuy was the officer in command. At
midnight Garibaldi encamped at Sant En-
ferina, four Italian miles from Brescia.
Gay
Our hero's task was to march twelve miles
on a line parallel to that upon which the main
army of the Austrians was marching, and to
do this he must proceed over a roadless coun-
try, cut up by ditches and canals, and inter-
cepted by garden walls. The object in view
was, to hide the intention of the Sardinian
general to pass the river and with his light
cavalry and artillery dash upon the retreating
enemy.
When, on the next morning, Garibaldi was
about to perform his part of the manœuvre,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
123
the Sardinian general had not arrived, and was
three hours' march distant. Perhaps he had no
wish to be in time for co-operation with "a
guerilla chief;" at all events, he never came.
Obliged to act, Garibaldi divided his forces.
The Austrians became aware of this, as well
as of his presence in their vicinity. They
They
detached a large force through ground which
effectually covered their approach until they
attacked the battalion commanded by Cosenz,
posted at Tre Ponti. Notwithstanding the
disparity of force, after six assaults with the
bayonet the Austrians were compelled to retire;
the presence and voice of Garibaldi empowered
the heroic regiment to effect this miracle. The
loss of the Italians was severe; some of the
best and bravest of their officers perished-
men noble by birth and heroism.
The next day Garibaldi received fresh orders
from head-quarters, to march by Vabarno to-
wards the Lake of Garda. He took post at
Salo. While occupying this place, an Austrian
steamer was sent to reconnoitre it, under the
impression that the Garibaldians had no artil-
lery. In the meantime some field-pieces had
arrived, and opened fire upon the ship; its
magazine exploded, and all on board perished;
its deck was covered with Croats.
While yet Garibaldi was at Vabarno, before
reaching Salo, a messenger came from the
Emperor Napoleon III., with the congratula-
tions, salutations, and eulogies of his Majesty.
The bearer of these was a Corsican, who had
known "the tiger of Monte Video" when in
that country. The imperial messenger ex-
pressed his Majesty's surprise and regret at
the want of respect shown to the hero by the
government of Turin, and its shameful neglect
of his force as to arms, supplies, clothing, &c.,
all which the Emperor would be happy to supply,
and receive honour if he knew that the ribbon of
the Legion of Honour was upon the breast of
so brave and honourable a soldier, a distinction
which was at his command. Garibaldi coldly
replied that he wanted nothing for his soldiers
or himself, and as coldly dismissed the envoy.
Two days after he arrived at Salo he received
orders to join a portion of Cialdini's division
in the Valtellina. The object was to guard
the passes of Stelvio and Tonale, which it was
alleged there was some apprehension might
be entered by armies of the German Confede-
ration, sent to the aid of Austria as a German
power, although contending for non-German
provinces.
Garibaldi's suspicions of Napoleon were now
ripened. His own intention was to cross the
Lake Garda, to enter the Veronese mountains,
and by his presence raise insurrection in the
valley of the Adige. He saw that by binding
him down to co-operation with the main army
of Sardinia, his plans were obstructed and his
efficiency impeded. Had it been the design of
the allied commanders to place him in a trap
where he might be slain or taken, they could
hardly have accomplished it more skilfully
than by the orders which led to the battle of
Tre Ponti. He arrived at the conviction that
it did not enter into the design of Bonaparte
to free Italy from the Alps to the Apennines,
or to free Italy at all, but to wrest territory
from Austria to aggrandise himself and the
father-in-law of his cousin.
Whatever the motives of the imperial and
royal commanders, the presence of an Austrian
corps d'armée in the Valtellina gave a good
colour to the despatch of Garibaldi thither.
Had that corps pushed through the passes, the
rear of the allies would have been endangered.
Cialdini and Garibaldi were to render such an
event impossible.
On the 20th of June the latter left Salo; he
arrived at Leno, where he embarked his troops,
and made for Colico.
and made for Colico. Continuing his marches,
124
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
he on the 2nd of July approached Bormio. At
the edge of the valley in which it stands, Medici,
commanding the advanced guard, halted, and
was informed that the Austrians were posted
within two miles of that place, at Bagni Vecchi,
and Bagni Nuovi, and at the first bridge and
tunnel on the Stelvio road. Medici advanced,
attacked, beat them, and drove them into the
Tyrol. Major Bixio was not allowed to pursue
them, as the Austrians had taken refuge on
territory of the German Confederation.
The campaign in the Valtellina was a series
of skirmishes in which the Garibaldians earned
great distinction. There were no great battles,
but the most skilful strategy was developed,
and the noblest daring displayed. The scene
of action suited the romantic nature of the
poetic chief; Nature seemed to call aloud-
"This noble realm-this lovely land,
Freedom and nationhood demand!
For oh! the Great God never planned
For slumb'ring slaves, a home so grand."
He was preparing to march for Bormio,
when news reached him of the armistice con-
cluded by the French Emperor, as preliminary
to the Peace of Villafranca, and the Con-
ference of Zurich. He was ordered to halt.
His head-quarters were at Lovere, a small
town on the margin of the Lake of Iseo. At
At
this juncture Count Arrivabene visited the
General, of whose appearance he gave the
following description :—
"When, early next morning, my brother
took me to the head-quarters of Garibaldi, the
General was not dressed in the costume with
which English eyes have been made familiar,
nor did he wear the Greek cap or the round
hat with Puritan plume which the fancy of
foreign painters generally ascribes to him. He
was clad in the Piedmontese uniform of his
rank;
and the only difference between him and
any other Piedmontese officer was in the colour
of the cloth. The officers of his staff, who are
more like brothers than subordinates, were
already at their work, in spite of the early
hour. Whether in peace or in war, Garibaldi
always gets up at dawn, and, if not prevented
by duty, invariably goes to bed a little after
sunset. During the summer, he never fails to
take an hour's nap in the course of the day, to
strengthen him for his remaining work.
"On entering the room, I saw him sitting
at a small table, examining a map spread
before him.
before him. His intelligent and benevolent
face-still young, in spite of the excitement of
his hard life-was at that time saddened by
the recent turn of events. In speaking of
Villafranca, a tone of irritation was observable
in his voice, generally clear and ringing as a
bell. He did not despair, however, for Gari-
baldi never doubts the future of his country.
On hearing the news of the peace, he went to
Victor Emmanuel's head-qnarters, in order to
give up his commission, and those of all the
officers of all his corps; but his Majesty would
not accept them. 'Italy still requires the
legions you command,' answered the king;
you must remain."
And Garibaldi re-
mained."
،
The hero was deeply touched by the pressing
entreaties of the king not to forsake him; he
pitied the position to which he had been
reduced-unable to prosecute the war without
making France an enemy, and unwilling to
recognise a peace which left Italy still torn and
dismembered. On the 19th of July he thus
addressed his soldiers :-
"Whatever may be the progress of political
events under existing circumstances, the
Italians must neither lay down their arms nor
feel discouraged with disappointment. They
must hurry into the ranks, and testify to
Europe that, led by the valiant Victor Em-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
125
manuel, they are ready henceforward to meet
the vicissitudes of war, of whatever nature they
may be.
(Signed)
"GARIBALDI, General.'
The king became anxious that Garibaldi
should assume the command of the Tuscan
army, which General Ulloa, a partisan of the
Bonapartes, had done his best to disorganise.
This was opposed by the intrigues of the
French, and Garibaldi begged permission to
resign the honour. He received an unlimited
leave of absence, and addresed to his chasseurs
the following proclamation-
"My Comrades in Arms,
"I am obliged to retire at present from the
service, and General Pomoretti has been selected
by his Majesty to command the brigade. I
trust, while brave in action, you will be disci-
plined, and strive to acquire under arms the
skill which will allow you to take your proper
rank when opposed to the enemies of our
country.
6<
(Signed)
Bergamo, August 11, 1859."
"GARIBALDI.
The reader, to form a clear idea of the
circumstances which affected Garibaldi's ulti-
mate relations to the government, must be
informed more particularly of the general
situation of affairs. The details of these
belong properly to the memoir of Victor Em-
manuel, but an outline must here be given in
explanation of the position and conduct of
Garibaldi.
In the month of September the Treaty of
Zurich was made, by which Lombardy was
ceded to Victor Emmanuel. During the war
the minor states of Italy had thrown off the
yoke of their tyrants, but according to the
Zurich treaty, these tyrants were again to take
possession of their thrones. It was, however,
stipulated by the high contracting parties that
the people and princes were to be left to them-
selves. France, Austria, and Sardinia were
not to interfere,
$
Cavour had resigned the premiership of
Victor Emmanuel's cabinet, as he was dis-
gusted with the policy of the French Emperor,
In his retirement his influence was as great as
ever; he was literally still at the helm of
affairs, and by his counsels guided the men to
whom the different revolted provinces had
entrusted their administration. He recom-
mended the king to make Garibaldi the com-
mander-in-chief of central Italy, because he
knew Garibaldi would, above all things, work
for Italian unity. Deputations from the as-
semblies of the states of central Italy came to
Turin during September, and offered annexa-
tion of those states to Piedmont. Victor
Emmanuel conditionally accepted those offers.
Garibaldi took the command, and forces were
organised at Modena, Bologna, Parma, and
Florence. These organisations resulted in an
army of twenty-two regiments of infantry of
the line, eleven battalions of Cacciatori, four
regiments of cavalry, and fifteen batteries of
artillery. Garibaldi, while in command of the
central Italian army, was much harassed by
the mercenaries employed in the Papal States,
whose invasions, plunder, and assassinations
rendered it necessary, in his opinion, to take
decided steps. He had resolved upon crossing
the Tavollo, the recognised boundary between
liberated Italy and the papal dominions. The
Swiss mercenaries in the service of the pontiff
deserted daily, and Garibaldi addressed to
them the following spirit-stirring epistle :—
-
-
“Noble Sons of Helvetia,
"It is not the first time that your bro-
thers have shed their blood in behalf of the
Italian cause; as, unhapily, it is not the first
•
126
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
time you have been seen to fight for the op-
pressors of Italy. Ten years ago, our young
volunteers were taught by you how to use a
musket and to march to battle.
"At Vicenza you formed the select legions
of our army, and you then added new and
well-deserved lustre to the proverbial bravery
of Swiss warriors.
"Believe me, the Italians are decided to
maintain the most complete order, and to keep
strictly to the rules generally adopted in war.
They have proved it during recent events.
There has not been an example of an Austrian
prisoner or wounded man not being religiously
respected by us, whilst our enemies have at
all times shot our prisoners and massacred
our unfortunate wounded.
"Yes! we will not lay aside the rules of
common warfare; but if, instead of obtaining
the accomplishment of our rights, as we hope,
our enemies unite themselves again to bring
us back to a state of slavery-if the priests
think to rule us as they did for so many cen-
turies past, I cannot then say that a war of
extermination, which will be our last resource,
will not occur.
"We know that you have been deceived,
and that you are still kept under the dis-
honoured flag of the priests by vain illusions.
We also know that the Italian troops which are
now at your side, instead of fighting against
the sacred cause of their country, will turn
their arms against you in the day of battle.
Well, then, we hope that the gallant descend-
ants of Morat's heroes will never stain their
hands with the blood of a people who are
defending the same cause which was defended
by William Tell and your forefathers the
cause of the independence of the country.
"Gallant Swiss! instead of marching against
us, we expect you to join our ranks. We shall
be proud to have such fellow-warriors as you
And doggy
are in the approaching battles for liberty.
Italy, then full of gratitude, will not fail to
reward you, and your names shall be added to
the sacred list of our liberators.
"G. GARIBALDI.
"C
Rimini, 21st October, 1859."
"6
"This plan," Arrivabene says, was frus-
trated by the course of events. The remon-
strances of French diplomacy, and the deplor-
able antagonism which had arisen between
Fanti and Garibaldi, induced the latter to
resign. The withdrawal of such a man from
the army was a fact which could not fail to
excite feelings of discontent. His prestige was
so great, and his activity so wonderful, that his
departure became the signal for disorder."
It was
as impossible for Garibaldi and
Farini (the dictator of the Æmilia) to agree.
Farini was a royalist who looked upon every
one who did not entertain the theory of a
constitutional monarchy, checked and weighted
by an aristocracy, as an enemy, unless so far
as he could be used to subserve the interests of
that theory. He therefore thwarted Garibaldi
in every way, who was in all respects more
honourable and loyal than Farini, or any of his
secret coadjutors. Farini sent private orders.
to the generals under Garibaldi's command.
not to obey him. It was at his instigation
Fanti was placed above our hero in command.
Cavour, who had implicit confidence in Farini,
was influenced by underhand communications,
and Garibaldi at last could rely upon nothing
which he heard or saw. He was surrounded
by diplomatic trick and intrigue, and it ap-
peared with Farini and his school far more
important to thwart Garibaldi than the tyrants
of the Duchies, or foreign foes.
Garibaldi had given to Farini and the Turin
ministerial people mortal offence by making
military merit and patriotism the sole grounds
!
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
127
of promotions or appointments in his army.
He had no respect for the red-tape system of
the officials at Turin, and was therefore un-
popular with them, and with their instruments.
After repeated altercations with Farini, in
which our hero gave vent to indignant lan-
guage, he gave up the hope that he could be
useful in co-operation with that man. Such
were the circumstances under which he quitted
the army of central Italy. He departed for
Nice, but before he arrived there, his journey
through Italy was amidst public acclamation
and tokens of the deepest gratitude and devo-
tion. He already announced his programme
for the liberation of southern Italy. At Turin
he was welcomed by the king with fervent
manner and eulogistic words. It is alleged
that his Majesty used his best persuasions
against any aggressive movement upon the
Papal States, the two Sicilies, or Venetia.
What reply the great chief gave to his prince
is unknown, but his resolves were to strike
from those fair regions the power of the
oppressor.
Before retiring to Nice he resolved to visit
the grave of Anita. Ah! had she lived to
witness the triumphs of him she loved so
well, how proud would not her heart have
been of his glory! How happy to have beheld
his usefulness! How his own heart would
have exulted had she lived to participate his
happiness!
It will be remembered by the reader that
Anita died at a farmhouse while she and her
husband were fleeing from their pursuers.
That was in 1849. In 1859, the brave fugi-
tive revisited the spot, a victor and a liberator
in his own land. He was staying at Ravenna,
whence he made this sacred pilgrimage. He
was accompanied by Menotti his son, Teresita
his daughter, and Madame Deideri. Anita had
been buried in a field through the fears of the
peasants of their persecutors. Before the visit
of Garibaldi, the body had been removed to a
little chapel in a most solitary situation, a
mile from the farmhouse where she had sighed
her last breath.
Garibaldi trod again the tracks over
which he had borne her on his shoulders, a
fugitive, ten years before. The party arrived
at the little chapel as the shadows of evening
were drooping over it, leaving that "dim
religious light" upon its altar which so much
disposes the spirit to look into the past with a
deep and chastened sadness. Near to the
altar, reposing in this soft Italian twilight, lay
Anita, beneath a lonely tomb, over which
kind hands had arranged black drapery and
memorial flowers, showing to the hero that
there too Italian hearts thought of him, and
sympathised with him in that
"One fatal remembrance, one sorrow that throws
Its bleak shade alike o'er our joys and our woes;
To which life nothing brighter or darker can bring,
For which joy has no balm and affliction no sting."
The religious ceremonials peculiar to the
Roman Catholic religion were performed by
the priest, as the desolate hero and his children
leaned lowly over the grave of the brave and
generous wife, and tender, devoted mother.
While at Nice, tidings of the distrust and
dissatisfaction of the people with the govern-
ment of Turin, and their ally Napoleon, con-
tinually reached him.
mang
The people were led to believe that, within
the precincts of the court and the cabinet,
there was treason to the cause of Italian unity
and independence, and revolution itself was
menaced. Garibaldi resolved to quiet this
disturbed feeling, and at the same time let the
public know that intrigues were at work which
embarrassed his public services and endangered
the Italian cause. He issued for these pur-
poses the following address :-
M
128
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"TO THE ITALIAN PEOPLE.
"As underhand intrigues continually check
the liberty of action inherent in the rank I
hold in the army of central Italy, and which
I used to further that object which every good
Italian proposes to himself, I am leaving the
military service for the present.
"On the day that Victor Emmanuel once
again summons his soldiers to arms for the
redemption of the country, I shall again be at
the side of my brave companions. The mise-
rable and crafty policy which, for a time,
troubles the majestic progress of our affairs,
must persuade us that it is our duty to as-
semble around the brave and legal soldier of
independence, who is incapable of recoiling
from his sublime and generous path, and that
we should prepare, at present more than ever,
gold and iron to receive those who would gladly
plunge us again in the horrors of the past.
“G. GARIBALDI.
"Nice, 18th Nov., 1859."
Our hero had founded a great national
society for procuring arms-" a million of
muskets"-of which association he was made
president. Against this plan, and the society
which sustained it, the French, the Piedmon-
tese officials, and the reactionists everywhere
directed their energies. The government was
afraid, and the more aristrocratic circles of the
Liberals were jealous of it. Garibaldi repaired
to Turin, and was persuaded to dissolve this
association. He accordingly issued the follow-
ing manifesto :-
"TO THE ITALIANS.
"Summoned by some of my friends to try
the part of conciliator between all the factions
of the Italian liberal party, I was invited to
accept the presidency of a society to be called
the Armed Nation.
"But, as the armed Italian nation is a fact
that terrifies everything disloyal, corrupting,
and tyrannical, whether in Italy or out of it,
the crowd of modern Jesuits have become alarmed,
and cry out anathema !'
C
"The government of the gallant king has
been importuned by the alarmists, and in
order not to compromise it, I have decided
on abandoning the noble object proposed
to us.
"With the unanimous assent of all the
members of the society, I declare, then, the
Society of the Armed Nation dissolved, and I
invite every Italian that loves his country to
assist by his subscription towards the acqui-
sition of a million muskets. If, with a million
muskets, Italy, in the presence of the foreigner,
should be incapable of arming a million sol-
diers, we should have to despair of humanity.
Let Italy arm, and she will be free.
-
"G. GARIBALDI.
"Turin, Jan. 4, 1860.-5 p.m."
Ch
It was the intention of the gallant chief to
leave Nice for his island home, but events
ripened so fast, and the public mind of Italy
was so excited, that he abandoned his purpose,
and proceeded to Genoa. That place became
the focus of patriotic projects and organisations,
and it soon became obvious to every one, as to
Garibaldi, that the time was rapidly hastening
for a new appeal to arms.
An insurrection broke out in Sicily; the
insurgents implored the aid of Garibaldi, and
not in vain.
Victor Emmanuel and Cavour were opposed
to any attempt to succour the Sicilians, fearing
a new war with Austria, joined by Naples, and
perhaps abetted by France.
Garibaldi was firm in his resolution to set
out for the new theatre of action, and addressed
the following letter to the king
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
129
"Sire,
"The cry for help which reaches me
from Sicily has touched my heart, and the
hearts of some hundreds of my old soldiers.
I have not advised the insurrectionary move-
ment of my Sicilian brethren; but, as they
have risen in the name of Italian unity, per-
sonified in that of your Majesty, against the
most disgraceful tyranny of our age, I did not
hesitate to take the lead of the expedition. I
know that I am going to embark on a dan-
gerous undertaking; but I trust in God, and
in the courage and devotion of my companions.
Our war-cry will always be 'Long live the
unity of Italy! Long live Victor Emmanuel,
its first and bravest soldier!' Should we fall
in the enterprise we have undertaken, I trust
that Italy and liberal Europe will not forget
that it has been determined by the most un-
selfish sentiments of patriotism. Should we
succeed, I shall be proud to adorn the crown
of your Majesty with a new, and perhaps its
brightest jewel, on the sole condition that you
will prevent your advisers from handing it
over to foreigners, as has been done with my
native country. I have not communicated my
project to your Majesty, for I feared that the
great devotion I feel for you would have suc-
ceeded in pursuading me to abandon it.
"Your Majesty's most affectionate subject,
"G. GARIBALDI.”
Ma
ka
Notwithstanding the explicit statement of
Garibaldi that he had no hand in the Sicilian
movement, Count Charles Arrivabene, generally
so excellent an authority, affirms that Garibaldi
and the party of action had chosen this as the
first field for employing the revolutionary ele-
ment in opposition to the diplomatic and
dynastic policy of Cavour. Garibaldi did not
love the great premier, nor was he an object of
the diplomatist's partiality. He wished to use
Garibaldi as a tool, which, if need be, might be
thrown away. The revolutionary chief sought.
co-operation with all men true to the cause of
Italian unity and independence, and for that
object only. His "eye was single," and there-
fore "his whole body was full of light." What
Garibaldi wrote to the king was simply true.
His Majesty had no faith in such an expedition.
Cavour believed in its speedy and utter failure.
Garibaldi only hoped, but added daring to
hope. It was the policy of the king and the
Turin cabinet to take no notice of the contem-
plated expedition, neither to aid nor hinder it,
and remain free, or apparently free, of all
responsibility connected with it.
By the 5th of May Garibaldi had all things
ready at Genoa, and 1,080 brave men ready to
accompany him. None of his enterprises was
more worthy or more necessary. The condition
of the Sicilian people was one of supreme
suffering anguish wrung every heart. The
King of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II., was
one of the most cruel and remorseless tyrants
that ever lived. The island was drenched
in blood and tears. The administration con-
sisted in bonds, stripes, and executions for all
who dared to utter an aspiration for liberty
-for all men who withheld the sweet smile
of adulation from despotism and the king.
It was Mazzini that roused the Sicilians to
this effort to break their chains. Humanity,
patriotism, and conscience prompted Garibaldi
to vow that they should never be bound
again.
S
02
130
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
THE
CHAPTER XX.
EXPEDITION ΤΟ SICILY.-HOW TO GET AMMUNITION.-PURSUED BY A NEAPOLITAN NAVAL
SQUADRON.-LANDS AT MARSALA.-JOINED BY THE PEOPLE.-MENOTTI GARIBALDI IN BATTLE.
-FIRST VICTORY FOR SICILIAN LIBERTY.-THE BATTLE OF CALATAFIMI.-WONDERFUL MARCH.
-STORMING OF PALERMO.-MORE GARIBALDIANS ARRIVE IN SICILY.
"Could the chain for one moment be riven,
Which tyranny flung round us then,
Oh 'tis not in man nor in Heaven
To let tyranny bind it again."-MOORE.
WHEN all things were ready, two steamers
were seized, and the Legion placed on board.
The little squadron immediately set sail to
make war upon the Neapolitan Bourbons. At
sea Garibaldi put forth the following procla-
mation :-
66
"On board the Piemonte, May 7th, 1860.
"CORPS OF THE CACCIATORI DELLE ALPI!
"Your mission will be, as it always has
been, based upon complete self-denial, for the
regeneration of the common country. The
brave Cacciatori have served, and will serve,
their country with the devotion and discipline
of the best military corps, without any other
hope, without any other pretension, than that
of a stainless conscience.
"No rank, no honour, no recompense is
held out to my brave companions: when the
danger is past, they will return to a quiet
domestic life; but, now that the hour of battle
has struck, Italy sees them again in the front
rank, cheerfully volunteering to shed their
blood for her. The war-cry of the Cacciatori
delle Alpi is the same that resounded a year
since on the banks of the Ticino-' Italy and
Victor Emmanuel!'-and this cry will strike
terror into the hearts of the enemies of Italy.
ORGANISATION OF THE CORPS.
"Giuseppe Sirtori, Chief of the Staff. Staff
officers: Crispi, Manin, Calvino, Majocchi,
Graziotti, Borchetta, Bruzzesi. Türr, First
Aide-de-Camp of the General. Orderly offi-
cers: Cenni, Montanari, Bandi, Stagnetti.
Orsini, Commander of the Artillery.
" COMMANDERS OF COMPANIES.
"Nino Bixio, Commander of the 1st com-
pany; Antonio Forni, 2nd; Stocco, 3rd; La
Masa, 4th; Anfossi, 5th; Carini, 6th; Cai-
roli, 7th.
66
COMMISSARIAT.
"Acerbi, Bovi, Maestri, Rodi.
Ripari, Chief of the Medical Staff.
66
"This organisation is the same as that of
the Italian army to which we belong; and the
rank, given to merit rather than to interest, is
that already achieved on other battle-fields.
"G. GARIBALDI.”
A curious circumstance, illustrative not only
of the resources of Garibaldi, but of those of
his officers, occurred on the voyage. Garibaldi
hailed the sister ship to that in which he sailed.
It was commanded by Bixio, and was named
the Lombardo :-
"How many muskets have you on board?"
"One thousand," was Bixio's reply.
"And how many revolvers ?"
""
"Not one."
""
"How much ammunition ?
"Not any."
It was then first discovered that the boat
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
131
laden with the revolvers and ammunition had
not delivered its cargo on board the steamer.
This unsatisfactory discovery caused a cloud
to pass over the placid countenance of the
General. For one moment he seemed in doubt
as to what he should do; then again hailing
Bixio, he shouted :-
G
"Keep your vessel close alongside."
Having delivered this brief order, he appeared
absorbed in thought, but soon regained his
usual serenity. He was, however, anxiously
bent on devising some means for recovering
the lost ammunition.
He then went to the man at the helm to
direct him to steer in a certain course, merely
using these words :---
"Friend, mind you keep to this."
It would have been useless to direct the man
by the points of the compass; for, although
a very good soldier, he was no sailor at all, and
would not have understood any order delivered
to him in nautical language.
Garibaldi next summoned the officers to his
cabin, and addressed them thus:—
"Gentlemen, you have just heard that there
are neither revolvers nor ammunition on board.
The revolvers are not of much consequence,
but our muskets are of no use without car-
tridges. So we must manage in one way or
another to procure some."
"But how?" inquired the officers.
"I think I know one way. When we reach
Talamone we shall only be twelve miles distant
from Orbitello: one of us must land there,
and use his best endeavours to persuade the
governor of the fortress to supply us with
what we require.”
The officers appeared astonished.
At last one of them said, "But suppose the
governor should arrest the messenger?"
The officers again kept silence.
"Never mind," said the General, "I know
some one who will go."
"We will all go," exclaimed the officers,
speaking together. "The interest we feel in
the cause is quite sufficient to prompt us."
"I view it in that light," said the General;
"but do not give yourselves any trouble. I
know some one who will go. Where is
Türr?"
Garibaldi here left the cabin in search of
Türr, and soon recognised him by his Hun-
garian dress.
"Türr," said he, "I have a word to say to
you when we reach the land."
As soon as they reached Talamone, Türr
presented himself before the General.
"Are you ready to be shot?" inquired
Garibaldi.
"I should certainly prefer that to remaining
at sea," replied Türr.
"Well, then, take a calessino, summon to
your aid all your diplomatic eloquence, and
persuade the Governor of Orbitello to give you
the ammunition we require."
Türr began to laugh. "Do you expect that
the governor will comply with my modest
request?"
"Who knows?" replied Garibaldi. "At
any rate you can try."
"Give me an order upon him, then."
"In what capacity can I authorise you to
convey an order to the governor of a Tuscan
fortress?"
"Well, give me a letter of recommendation
to him. I'll do the rest."
"Willingly."
Garibaldi wrote—
"Believe everything that my aide-de-camp,
"That," said Garibaldi, "is certainly not Türr, will tell you, and assist him to the ut-
improbable."
most of your power in the expedition I have
132
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
undertaken for the glory of Piedmont and the
prosperity of Italy. Long live Victor Em-
manuel and Italy!
"G. GARIBALDI."
"With this," cried Türr, "I would claim
Proserpine from the hands of Pluto himself."
A quarter of an hour afterwards he was
on his road to the fortress. On his arrival
the governor hesitated. Seeing this, Türr
said:
"I expected your refusal, and consequently
made my preparations for it. Let me have a
man who can convey this despatch to the aide-
de-camp of the king. The sole question is to
get the king to give us that which he has
already bestowed on us, and which we were
stupid enough to lose. Only consider the con-
sequences of delay: it would take three days
to go to Turin, two more to get the ammuni-
tion up to Genoa, and two more before the
ammunition can reach us; thus seven days
would be lost, without considering the mischief
that might arise from these orders being trans-
mitted from one hand to another, by which
means we might compromise the king, who
cannot appear ostensibly in promoting the
cause. I will not allude to the unfortunate
Sicilians, who are now anxiously awaiting suc-
cour from us. Pray reflect on what I have
said. Here is the letter for the Marquis de
Trecchi, the king's aide-de-camp.”
"My dear Marquis,
"When embarking we had the misfortune,
by some unaccountable accident, to lose the
boat on board of which were stowed our arms
and ammunition; therefore, I beg that you
will ask his Majesty's permission for us to be
supplied with 150,000 cartridges, and, if pos-
sible, a thousand muskets and bayonets.'
"COLONEL TÜRR."
""
The manner in which Türr addressed the
king's aide-de-camp dispelled all doubt from
the governor's mind.
"Take what you require," said he to Türr;
"I know that, in a strict military point of
view, I am committing a fault, but I am will-
ing to risk the consequences, from the con-
viction that the step taken is for the advantage
of my sovereign and the welfare of the state."
Türr removed 100,000 cartridges, 300 artil-
lery charges, and four pieces of cannon. The
governor was disposed to go to Talamone and
deliver the material to Garibaldi in person.
Our hero, thus furnished with ammunition
and ordnance, adopted a ruse de guerre to
distract the attention of the King of Naples,
and lead him to believe that the expedition
was intended for the States of the Church.
*
He detached one hundred men under Colonel
Zambianchi to invade the Roman States, and
summon the people to revolt, scattering abroad
the following proclamation :-
"" ROMANS !
"To-morrow you will hear the priests of
Lamoricière say that some Mussulmans have
invaded your territory, Well, these Mus-
sulmans are the same who fought for Italy
at Monte Video, at Rome, and in Lom-
bardy; the same whom you will mention to
your children with pride when the day shall
come which, by emancipating you from the
tyranny of the stranger and the priest, will
leave you free to enjoy recollections; the same
who for a moment yielded to the numerous
and warlike soldiers of Bonaparte, but who
yielded only with their brows turned towards
the enemy, and pledging themselves to return
* Count Arrivabene asserts that he first went to Garibaldi,
who received him in the full uniform of a Piedmontese
General, and with such an air of superiority as awed the
reluctant official, who then complied with the request. The
Count was mistaken.

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
133
to the fight, and not to leave their children
any other legacy than that of hatred to op-
pressors. Yes, these companions of mine
fought outside your walls, by the side of
Manara, Melana, Masina, Mameli, Daverio,
Peralla, Panizzi, Remorino, Daniell, Montaldi,
and so many other brave Romans who now
sleep near your catacombs, and whom you
buried yourselves, because wounded in front.
Our enemies are both astute and powerful;
but we tread the land of the Scævolas, the
Horatii, and the Ferruccios: our cause is the
cause of all Italians. Our war-cry is the same
which was heard at Varese and Como-Italy
and Victor Emmanuel! '—and you know that
with us, whether defeated or victorious, Italian
honour is safe.
'April 30."
64
" GARIBALDI."
Count Arrivabene, apparently on no better
evidence than the date, thinks that Garibaldi
originally intended the expedition against the
Papal States. There is no reasonable grounds
for this belief, and the evidence to the contrary
was absolutely conclusive when the historian
wrote.
As the two ships glided over the deep, the
question became pressing for decision, where
should the landing be attempted?
"I think," suddenly broke out Garibaldi,
in his ringing voice," I think that we must
make for Porto Palo. It is not far from
Menfi, and I consider it a good place for land-
ing. What is your opinion, Castiglia ?
""
66
"I should agree with you," answered the
commander, "were this map correct; but from
what I recollect, I am certain that the entrance
to the small harbour of Palo is not deep enough
to afford our steamers a secure landing. I
should recommend Marsala."
Garibaldi, after remaining silent for a few
minutes, said:-
"You are right, Castiglia. To get to Mar-
sala, we must pass between the small islands
of Maretimo and Favignana, which will afford
an excellent shelter to our vessels. Were the
Neapolitan ships to discover our expedition, we
might easily escape by steaming either in the
direction of Sardinia or towards Africa. This,
however, I would never do, unless the enemy
were in great force. Should we encounter only
two frigates, our guns are ready; and I will
also show our Cacciatori how to board the
enemy's vessels."
After various doubts and dangers the vessels
reached their destination, but not without being
pursued by a Neapolitan squadron, which was
too late, for the men had landed, and the
vessels were unloaded before the Neapolitans
could open fire. Finding that the invaders
were beyond the reach of shot and shell, the
cruel and cowardly Bourbon who commanded
the squadron bombarded the dwellings of the
inhabitants.
As soon as Garibaldi landed, he issued two
proclamations-one to the people, and one to
the Neapolitan army. These were calculated
to produce a powerful effect upon the minds
of both. Citizens were stirred up to arms by
these enkindling words; and soldiers of the
Bourbon, on reading the heart-touching appeal,
seized the first opportunity to desert.
“ SICILIANS !
"I have brought you a body of brave
men, who have hastened to reply to the
heroic cry of Sicily. We, the remains of
the battles of Lombardy, are with you; all
we ask is the freedom of our land. United,
the work will be easy and short. To arms,
then! He who does not snatch up a weapon
is a coward or a traitor to his country. Want
of arms is no excuse. We shall get muskets,
but for the present any weapon will do in the
134
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
hands of a brave man. The municipalities
will provide for the children, women, and old
men deprived of their support. To arms, all
of you! Sicily shall once more teach the
world how a country can be freed from its
oppressors by the powerful will of a united
people.
"GARIBALDI."
"TO THE NEAPOLITAN ARMY.
"Foreign insolence reigns over Italian
ground in consequence of Italian discord. But
on the day that the sons of the Samnites and
Martii, united with their brethren of Sicily,
shall join the Italians of the North, on that
day our nation, of which you are the finest
part, shall resume its place, as in former
times, among the first nations of Europe. I,
I,
an Italian soldier, only aspire to see you
drawn up side by side with these soldiers of
Varese and San Martino, in order jointly to
fight against the enemies of Italy.
"G. GARIBALDI."
The invading chief proceeded to Salemi,
where he halted on the 13th and 14th, to
organise the bands of volunteers, designated
squadre, which flocked to his standard. Thence
he marched to Calatafimi. The utmost enthu-
siasm animated the whole Sicilian people.
Meanwhile the Neapolitan General Landi
marched through the pass of Monte del Pianto
dei Romani, at the head of four battalions of
infantry, a squadron of cavalry, and four
mountain howitzers. He made proclamation
that he came "to crush the firebrand of Italy,
the outlawed fillibuster of South America."
Battle was now imminent. Garibaldi's
1,080 Cacciatori were joined by 1,200 Sicilian
peasants, nearly all of whom had fire-arms of
some kind, and knew how to use them. On the
morning of the 15th, Garibaldi, not waiting to
severe.
be attacked, assaulted the force of Landi.
He ordered the squadre to outflank the
enemy, which they bravely did, while he,
by a series of manoeuvres which were too
much for the skill of the Bourbon general,
puzzled and confused him, and in the midst
of his hesitation the Cacciatori charged with
the bayonet. The enemy gave way, a desul-
tory fire from the squadre pouring upon his
flanks; and, as many of the Sicilian peasants
were good marksmen, the execution done was
The fight lasted three hours, and
Garibaldi lost 200 men. Several of his best
officers were wounded. Baron Stocco Manu,
son of the eminent Italian of that name,
and his own gallant boy, Menotti, were
wounded. These noble young men behaved
with great distinction, and none with more
than Menotti Garibaldi. He was shot down
while carrying a flag before the troops in a
terrible charge. Thus Anita lived again in
the person of him whom she bequeathed to
the hero, beside whom she had often faced
unblanched the storm of battle.
Garibaldi did not rest long to contemplate
his laurels. The retreating enemy resisted at
intervals, only to be driven back with renewed
disgrace. The strategy of Garibaldi dazzled
and distracted his opponents. His troops, and,
occasionally, the Sicilian volunteers, fought
heroically. In this career of victory they
Garibaldi had in the
approached Palermo.
mean time proclaimed himself Dictator of
Sicily, ruling in the name of Victor Em-
manuel:-
"Salemi, 14th of May, 1860.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, commander-in-chief
of the national forces in Sicily, at the invi-
tation of the principal citizens, and on the
deliberation of the free communes of the island,
considering that in time of war it is necessary
66
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
135
that the civil and military power should be
concentrated in one man, decrees that he as-
sumes, in the name of Victor Emmanuel,
King of Italy, the dictatorship in Sicily.
"G. GARIBALDI.
"Stef. Türr, Adjutant-General."
The march upon Palermo was one of the
boldest strategy, as it was one of the greatest
difficulty. To advance by the way most fea-
sible would have been to hazard the destruc-
tion of his small force, for Palermo was
defensible against even a strong army ap-
proaching by the ordinary route, and the
troops, Neapolitan and Bavarian, were nume-
rous, and well appointed. Garibaldi made
his way by the mountains, over places which
neither goatherd nor traveller had ever trod.
His few guns were at times dragged along by
his men, and not unfrequently actually carried
by them.
A
His plan was to enter Palermo by the
southern side, passing the line of Neapolitans
which were massed at Monreale and Parco.
When he appeared upon the opposite slopes of
the hills the Neapolitans retired to the plains,
but reinforced by Colonel Bosco with a strong
column, they again advanced, throwing them-
selves across the path of the intruder. By
admirable strategy Garibaldi succeeded in
deceiving and eluding them. He pretended
to menace Parco, then affected to retreat on
Corleone, placing Colonel Carini with a small
force on the road, as if the rear-guard of his
little army; he then crossed the mountains in
the direction of Milismeri, upon which place
he came on the 25th. He there collected the
Sicilian squadre, and sent them, under the
command of La Masa, to seize the heights
between Parco and Palermo. The Neapolitan
commander was taken by surprise. The squa-
dre were attacked, but held their advantageous
1
position, and, on the 27th, Garibaldi and his
volunteers appeared on the outskirts of Paler-
mo, his riflemen occupying the Termini gate.
Thither the Neapolitan General Lanza hastened
with his troops, only to be repulsed and driven
from post to post, until Garibaldi established
himself in the city, showing as much skill in
his choice of positions as he had in his extra-
ordinary march upon the place. The Neapo-
litan squadron bombarded the city, causing
the destruction of property, and sacrificing
the lives of many women and children. The
British Admiral Munday commanded a naval
squadron in the harbour, and in vain pro-
tested against this barbarity.
The garrison still held the royal palace, the
streets in its neighbourhood, and the forts,
from which it might well be considered impos-
sible that such a force as Garibaldi had at his
command could ever dislodge them. Several
days and nights of struggle and carnage en-
sued. Barricades were taken and re-taken.
Repulses, with terrible slaughter, were made
by the Garibaldians against the columns of
Neapolitans which were
which were launched against
them. Street-fighting, with all its horrible
accessories, raged. The Bourbonists mur-
dered men, women, and children, in the
houses. Plunder, massacre, and rape, all at-
tended by new, ingenious, and atrocious cruel-
ties, were perpetrated in the names of the
king and of religion. Still Garibaldi fought
and conquered; the enraged citizens struggled
with every weapon they could collect; blood
streamed through the streets of the stricken
and shattered city. Amidst smoking ruins and
bursting shells, the cry of the sufferers arose,
"Long live Garibaldi, our Liberator!" "Long
live Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel!” “Gari-
baldi has come, we shall be free!"
"Down
with Francis of Naples!" "Death to the
Bourbons?" Sometimes the hero of this ter-
-
136
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
rible scene, surrounded by a few officers, with-
out soldiers, defended a barricade, in hand-
to-hand encounter, shooting down with their
revolvers the assailants, or, sword in hand,
stretching them lifeless on the barriers which
interposed between them and a host. Never
did ancient Romans achieve by personal valour
so great a glory. Never did so few conquer so
many.
It would only be suitable to professional
readers to detail the skilful operations by
which this noble struggle was sustained by
Garibaldi. The popular reader, unless ac-
quainted with the locality, its net-work of
narrow streets, its salient points, its public
buildings, their capacity for defence, their re-
lative importance in military strategy, could
form no conception of the genius displayed
by Garibaldi, and the incredible audacity with
which he pursued the plans he adopted. It
would require a large volume to describe mi-
nutely the storming of Palermo.
Kha
General Lanza, disheartened and defeated,
thought that, while he yet occupied the palace
and forts, he might, through Admiral Munday,
negotiate a surrender. He asked for an armis-
tice of twenty-four hours, and a conference in
the mean time on board the British flag-ship.
On the 30th of May the conference took
place. Garibaldi's men needed repose; their
hardships were intolerable, and many were
sick and wounded; all were borne down by
fatigue. The hero has ever since spoken with
gratitude of Admiral Munday, and to the Eng-
lish nation, for the services then rendered by
its representative. The gallant sailor's sym-
pathies were with Garibaldi and the Paler-
mitans, and he showed considerable tact in the
management of the negotiations, proving him-
self a skilful and merciful umpire.
The French, American, and Sardinian naval
commanders were present. Two Neapolitan
generals, and Garibaldi, conducted the con-
ference in their respective interests. An
amusing incident excited the merriment of
the English, French, American, and Sardinian
officers. One of the Neapolitan generals, desi-
rous to make good terms, by impressing a
sense of his own consequence upon Garibaldi,
observed to him, haughtily:
"You must know that I am an old officer,
that I have been through a great many cam-
paigns, and that it has been the occupation
of the greater part of my life to make war.”
ade
"If that be so, I congratulate you," an-
swered Garibaldi, in a quiet and dignified
manner. "For myself, I have only once seen
military service in a regular army, and cannot
therefore boast of possessing your experience
in the art of making war.”
All present, except the Neapolitan general
himself, relished the suaviter in modo of this
reply; the other Neapolitan officer's cheeks
were mantled with shame. Garibaldi could
give "the retort courteous" in conference, as
well as the repulse in arms.
A second armistice was resolved upon for
further negotiation, and, finally, a convention
was signed on the 6th of June, by which the
Neapolitans engaged to abandon Palermo, and
all the rest of the island, except Messina,
Melazzo, and some minor places deemed neces-
sary to their support.
Whether Garibaldi's force could have ever
driven them out it is impossible to say-
probabilities are against it. If, however, he
could hold his positions until Medici arrived
from Genoa with 2,500 men, the reinforce-
ments expected thence, there is no doubt he
would have captured the city and the garrison.
Probably this was what Lanza apprehended,
for the words, "They come, they come!"
echoed through Sicily, and friends and foes
looked forth for the new Legion by which
A
ཐ –
Sa
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
137
G
But for the humanity, energy, vigilance, and
influence of the British admiral, there would
have been no city to conquer; the bombs of the
Neapolitan squadron would have reduced it to
a mass of smouldering ruins, but even upon
the charred heaps of its desolations Garibaldi
would have planted the Italian tricolour. Alas!
it would have floated over piles of innocent dead.
Nuns, monks, mothers, maids, children, babies
upon the breast, remorselessly slaughtered by
the hands of those calling themselves men,
soldiers, and Christians! Dumas says:—
“A Frenchman, living in Palermo, brought
a poor man to me who had been put under
torture. The mildest of the punishments to
which he had been condemned was, to tie his
body and limbs together in the form of a ball,
and then to let him roll down the whole length
of the stairs of the royal palace. These stairs
These stairs
had been previously fitted with sharp nails
and fragments of knife-blades. The other tor-
tures he had to undergo were too horrible to
relate. The sister of this poor man was vio-
lated by the Neapolitan soldiers at the period
of their retreat. These monsters then cut off
her head, and threw both head and body naked
into the street, where some of our carabineers
found them and humanely buried them.
the army of Garibaldi would be so seriously | Neapolitan bayonets, not one was touched by
augmented.
the balls of the carabineers; and so it befel
that, notwithstanding this living rampart, the
Neapolitans were put to flight."
The butcheries of the Neapolitan troops and
Bavarian mercenaries were as indiscriminate
as they were sanguinary. The following letter
to General Lanza by the representative of the
Swiss government confirms this:-
"When the royalists were ordered to face
the carabineers of Genoa-all good shots, who
killed a man every time they fired they
rushed into several houses, and seizing all the
women and girls they could find, forced them
to march in front, and, with fixed bayonets
closely pointed at their backs, drove them on-
ward. But the carabineers, sure of their mark,
were not baffled by this cowardly device, and
took such steady aim at the intervals between |
the poor women, and over their heads, that,
although some of them were wounded by the
J
"To his Excellency, Marshal Lanza, clothed
with full powers by his Sicilian Majesty.
"Palermo, 2nd June, 1860.
"Your Excellency,
"Acting upon information received from
various persons, to the effect that Alberto Tich
Holzer, a native of Switzerland, husband of
Donna Rosa Bevilacqua, living at No. 778, in the
Grande Piazzetta, and shop No. 22 in the street
leading from the Piazza Ballero to the Castro
gate, had the misfortune to be pillaged and his
house burnt; that his shop and warehouse
were both plundered, and that his son, a boy
of twelve years old, on endeavouring to escape
from the flames, was shot by a soldier; inas-
much as no one was able to state what had
become of the rest of the family, I thought
it my duty to apply personally to his neigh-
bours for some information that might assist
me in my search, but none could give me any.
Some supposed that the rest of the family had
been arrested by the soldiers, and this was all
I could gather on the subject, except that it
might be possible that this numerous family
had been taken to the convent of the White
Benedictines, and confined in the refectory
there, and there burnt when the soldiers set
fire to the convent before retreating to the
royal palace.
"As I could not possibly believe in the
truth of such a report, I instantly repaired to
T
138
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the above-mentioned convent to learn what I damage my countryman may have received
could on the spot.
from the Neapolitan soldiers.
66
(Signed) "G. C. HIRZEL,
Agent of the Swiss Confederation."
Making my way through a totally ruined
part of the town, and amongst burnt houses,
from which issued a pestilential odour, I asked
every one I met what was the cause of such
horrors, and from each of the few survivors in
this quarter I received the same answer, namely,
that all the marks of ruin I beheld had been
caused by the troops, who, during their retreat
towards the palace, after being repulsed from
their defensive post at the Montalto gate, had
slain every person they came in contact with.
As soon as I arrived at the convent of the
White Benedictines, I was shown a large space
which I was told was the spot where the refec-
tory had stood; there I found men busily
engaged in bearing away burnt corpses, which
I was told were the bodies of the people who
lived in that part of the town, who had been
arrested by the soldiers and locked up in the
large dining-hall, and that, having done this,
the soldiers had sacked the convent and then
set fire to it.
"I then inquired of these grave-diggers how
many dead bodies they had carried away; they
said forty.' I next asked them how many
they thought still remained, and they answered
'twenty.' Thus, there were no less than sixty
persons slain in this convent alone. I there-
fore, with feelings of the greatest anxiety,
turn to your Excellency to obtain some infor-
mation with regard to the fate of my country-
man; whether he is actually a prisoner with
the rest of his family, or not; and trust you
will give me any clue in your power as to the
fate of these unfortunate people.
6
"I present my demand to your Excellency
in the name of humanity and justice; and,
in the event of their being prisoners, claim an
order from your Excellency for their immediate
deliverance, and for compensation for all the
،،
Truly the hand of despotism is red with the
blood of the innocent, as well as of the brave
who have fallen in conflict with it. He that
concedes anything to irresponsible government
concedes all. Liberty must be held by the
citizen's own hand, tempered and directed by
his own honesty and wisdom, and guarded by
his own sword.
There were many episodes in the capture of
Palermo, curious, interesting, and touching.
During the hottest part of the conflict, a
priest, styled Father John, an abettor of Gari-
baldi, advanced close to the enemy's line and
preached a sermon upon union, fraternity,
and liberty. A Bourbon officer snatched a
musket from a soldier, fired, and broke in two
the large crucifix carried by the benevolent,
patriotic, and gallant priest. A Garibaldian
instantly shot the officer dead, and springing
forward, carried off his sword as a trophy.
Father John demanded the scabbard as his
share, on receiving which he placed it in his
girdle, fixing his broken crucifix in the entrance,
considering himself more than compensated.
The incident had its effect on both sides; they
regarded the whole in their superstitious
habits of thought as a Divine interposition
in favour of the priest, and the cause he
advocated.
It will interest the reader to learn something
of this Father John, Garibaldi's Sicilian chap-
lain, the successor of his beloved Ugo Bassi.
On landing at Marsala, he presented himself
to Garibaldi and offered his services, refusing
to carry any weapon, but bearing a crucifix.
In this mode he was in the front of every
contest until the Italian flag floated over the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
139
palace and forts of Palermo. Dumas, who
visited Garibaldi in Sicily, relates the following
amusing yet serious instance of the earnestness
and patriotism of this good priest :—
"At Calatafimi, while the troops were rest-
ing after the battle, Brother John arrived with
150 men from his own parish, whom he had
induced to follow him.
66
Early on the following day the Italian
army arrived at Alcamo; on approaching which
place, Brother John, who rode at Garibaldi's
side, whispered to him these words: General,
you must not forget that you are excommuni-
cated.'
6
"I do not forget it, brother,' replied the
General; but what am I to do?"
"This is what you must do, General: we
are here in the midst of a religious people
more than religious, indeed-superstitious ;
therefore I am anxious that when you pass the
church of Alcamo you would enter it for the
purpose of receiving the benediction."
"Garibaldi reflected for an instant; then
making a sign in the affirmative, said, 'Well,
I will do as you wish.'
"Delighted with this concession, which he
anticipated would be demurred to, Brother
John galloped off to the church, there sought
for a cushion for Garibaldi to kneel upon,
endued himself in canonicals, and awaited the
arrival of the General.
6
"But Garibaldi, either forgetting the promise
he had made, or else, on further reflection,
wishing to evade its performance, passed by
the church without going in. Brother John
noticed this evasive movement, and by no
means relished it; so hastening out of the
church, he seized Garibaldi by the arm and
said, What does this mean? Is this the
way you keep your promise?'
<
"Garibaldi replied with a smile: You are
right, Brother John; I am wrong, and am
perfectly willing to make the amende honorable.'
"Come into the church, then.'
"Yes, I will, Brother John.'
"And this redoubtable man (who, it would
seem, by what the Neapolitan journals say, has
received power from the Devil to emit fire from
his eyes and mouth) not only allowed himself
to be led by the priest like a child, but, actuated
by a religious feeling that can never be wholly
suppressed, knelt down on the outer step of
the church before the eyes of the assembled
population, the peasants, and the army.
"This was really going beyond what he had
promised Brother John to do; who, seeing the
good turn matters were taking, rushed into the
church with that Italian vivacity which will
burst forth even under priestly raiment, and,
after taking possession of the holy sacrament,
hastened back, exclaiming, 'Let all behold;
here is the victor humbling himself before Him
who alone giveth victory!
"Proud of this fresh triumph of religion
over arms, he then proceeded to bless Garibaldi
in the name of God, of Italy, and of Liberty.
*
*
*
*
*
"The present extraordinary change of affairs
seems almost to stupify this superstitious
population, which was nearly starved under a
Catholic viceroy, and is now fed by an excom-
municated general. Brother John, indeed, does
his best to explain this to them in his own
way, by telling them that Pius. IX. is the
Antichrist, and Garibaldi the Messiah !
?
In accordance with the convention, the Nea-
politans withdrew by sea. There were 27,000
men thus removed, who were unable to hold
the city against 3,000, most of whom had
recently been armed peasants.
*
*
140
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XX.
GARIBALDI AT PALERMO.-WHAT HE DID AND WHAT HE ORDERED TO BE DONE.-ENTHUSIASM OF THE
NUNS AND THE JUVENILE POPULATION.
"Nil actum reputans, dum quid superesset agentum."
THE Occupations of Garibaldi when master of
Palermo have been exquisitely described in an
article in the Cornhill Magazine (May, 1864),
by a gentleman who was with him. These
sketches are the only sources from which one
can glean some of the incidents of that time.
They are too touching and illustrative of the
man to be omitted.
"Among the pleasant memories of personal
contact with Garibaldi, none rise so vividly
before my mind as the early morning rides
about Palermo and its neighbourhood during
the month that elapsed between the taking of
that city and the battle of Milazzo.
66
Frequent were the morning visits paid to
the convents, in which the city and its en-
virons abound. The nuns had been severe
sufferers by the bombardment; the convents
of St. Catherine and of Martorana were one
mass of ruins, and several others were very
much damaged. Nevertheless the romantic
figure of Garibaldi had turned the heads of
the saintly sisterhood, who were one and
all piously enamoured of him. Not a day
passed but offerings of candied fruits, pre-
serves, syrups, sweetmeats, cotognate bocche di
dama, arrived at the Dictator's residence,
arranged in curiously-wrought baskets, inter-
spersed with artificial flowers, filigree work,
embroidered handkerchiefs and banners, ac-
companied by an inscription in gold letters.
on white satin, of which the following is a
specimen :-
"To thee, Giuseppe! Saint and hero!
Mighty as St. George! Beautiful as the sera-
phim! Forget not the nuns of, who
love thee tenderly; who pray hourly to Santa
Rosalia that she may watch over thee in thy
sleeping and thy waking hours!*
2
"One morning, in accordance with a pre-
vious invitation, we visited the famous convent
of
outside the Porta
The lady
abbess met us at the vestibule, and taking
the General by the hand, led the way to the
refectory, where the tables spread for break-
fast resembled a fancy fair-sugar castles,
cupolas, temples, palaces, and domes; and in
the centre a statue of Garibaldi, in sugar. The
patient ingenuity of the nuns must have ex-
hausted itself in the ornamental department of
that sumptuous repast. With the exception of
one or two venerables, and a few middle-aged,
all the nuns were young, most of them of
noble birth. As the General entered, the tress-
shorn maidens clustered round him with
timorous and agitated mien; but the benign
and smiling countenance of the far-famed
captain, the manners of the perfect gentleman,
which are so essentially his, reassured them at
once.
“How beautiful,' exclaimed one. 'He is
the image of Nostro Signore,' whispered an-
other; while a third, in the heat of her enthu-
siasm, seized his hand and kissed it; he
withdrew it, and she, springing on his neck,
impressed a fervent kiss upon his lips. Her
audacity proved contagious; it spread first to
her young companions, then to the middle-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
141
aged, to the venerables, and finally to the
abbess, who at first seemed scandalised.
We
stood by, spectators!
"In the course of a month the General had
visited nearly all the convents and charitable
establishments. But it was not always an
affair of kisses and sugar-plums. His aim
was to penetrate the hitherto inviolable mys-
teries of those anti-social institutions; to
discover and punish peculation, redress hidden
wrongs, soothe misery, and by a stroke of the
dictatorial pen put an end to abuses which
long years of oppression had sanctioned.
Many a victim of parental avarice or ambition
found in him an instrument of providential
justice.
|
"I think I have never seen him more deeply
moved than during a visit to a female found-
ling hospital, where several hundred children
were immured. From their own lips he heard
the piteous story of their daily sufferings,
tasted the mouldy bread, the yet more loath-
some soup; while the foul odour that pervaded
the rooms, the filthy rags that hung on the
emaciated frames of the helpless creatures
whose misfortune was visited on them as a
crime, their haggard faces, the dilated pupils
of their eyes, set the seal of truth on their
harrowing stories. I saw the General's eye
fill with tears as he stood in the midst of that
group of misery, clinging to his knees, to his
sword, to his hands; and when the brutal
guardians attempted to explain or excuse their
conduct, one glance of terrible scorn flashed
upon the speaker silenced him more effectually
than any spoken words.
66
Leaving two of his aides to purchase food
for the day, then to investigate and report,
Garibaldi mounted his horse in silence, and we
in silence followed. As we neared the Porta
Nuova, he turned to the left, and keeping on
the outside of the city wall we crossed the
"
spacious Piazza d'Arme, which extends from
the eastern side of the city up to the foot of
Mount San Pellegrino, and entered the shady
avenue of the royal gardens-della Favorita.
The roll of drums, and a cry of Galibardo !
Galibardo!' echoed from the underwood,
whence issued helter-skelter a swarm of boys
in red cotton shirts, out at elbow, barefoot,
and for the most part bareheaded. It should
be said that as soon as he entered Palermo, the
General ordered one of his old comrades of
Monte Video to collect as many boys as he
could, and drill them. The piazza was the
theatre of their daily manoeuvres, the ex-royal
gardens serving as a cool retreat for their hours
of repose.
"Major Rodi, whose left hand lost in the
Monte Videan campaign was replaced by a
wooden one, now came galloping along the
front of his impish legion, shouting, ' Eyes
right! dress!' then reining up his horse, he
said— General! at dawn a hundred barbers,
got together with no small difficulty, came
down to the sea-shore and shaved the boys'
heads; then I had them well soaped and
dipped-they swim like fishes. Now, one can
approach them without danger,'
66
At this piece of information Garibaldi
burst out laughing. 'How many boys have
you collected?' he asked.
"Nearly two thousand. With the help of
the three taris [about one shilling], we shall
have all the progeny of Palermo.'
66
My commissary-general grumbles sadly
at the three taris, but I tell him that no
benefit we can confer on these brave islanders
can equal that of making soldiers of their
sons.'
"And soldiers they will make, General!
and we shall have a regiment fit for fighting in
a trice.' So saying, the major galloped off to
incite his boys to a further exhibition of their
142
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
attainments, while the General, turning to me,
said-
"None of these poor children can either
read or write; I wish you would set on foot a
school for them.'
"With all my heart, General!'
"Think over it, and come up to the
Pavilion with the plan.'
"On the morrow, having completed a rough
plan for a military college, I went to the
Pavilion to submit it to the General.
“I found him on my return stretched on his
little iron bed, his elbow on the pillow, his
head upon his hand, evidently lost in thought.
At the foot of the bed stood a small table,
covered with papers, which served as his desk;
in the opposite corner a basin and ewer; on the
drawers a whip, or rather a slip of black
leather, rolled up at one end to form a bundle,
a wide-awake, a bandanna, a sword, and a box
of cigars. A Mexican saddle, which served
for a bed in the camp, hung over the back of
a chair; a second chair completed the furni-
ture of the carpetless room.
"Sit down and smoke,' said the General;
'that box contains cigars from Nice; they are
all that remain to me of my poor country.
Then with true Ligurian economy, he broke
one in halves and began to whiff in silence.
“I handed him my rough plan of a military
college for the whole of Sicily, capable of re-
ceiving three thousand pupils, to be boarded,
lodged, and educated gratuitously. He ap-
proved the project, but wished that the college
should be adapted to six thousand pupils.
666
'Organise it immediately-don't lose a
moment,' he said with animation.
"Very good, General; but remember that
I came to fight. Will you allow me to do this
work gratuitously, and to follow you when you
march?'
"Yes; but you must work vigorously.'
"In order to do that, I must depend on
you alone; if each step must await ministerial
approbation, work that could be done in days.
will take as many months.'
"Without replying, he took up a sheet of
and wrote as follows:
paper
“❝ COMMAND-IN-CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL ARMY.
"Palermo, June 24, 1860.
Signor
is by me authorised and
ordered to organise the military college. For
said organisation he is to be supplied with all
necessary means.
66 6
"G. GARIBALDI."
"Furnished with this mandate, I took my
leave."
The writer persisted in overcoming the various
obstacles which presented themselves, and
wonderful progress was made with the college.
The boys, however, escaped in considerable
numbers, having a desire to go to the wars.
"On the morrow the foundling hospital for
male children outside the Porta Macqueda,
endowed with an annual income of seventeen
thousand ducats, was, by a dictatorial decree,
turned into a military college, to the delight of
the sixty boys, who found themselves trans-
formed into little soldiers.
"From the raw material collected by Major
Rodi, I chose my first battalion of boys, vary-
ing from fourteen to seventeen years of age;
these I clothed, fed, and lodged in the ex-
hospital. So enthusiastic was the General
about the boy-college, that assistance poured
in on every side. Officers from the famous
thousand of Marsala, doctors, lawyers, judges,
and students who had enlisted as volunteers in
the bands that now swarmed down on Sicily
from Upper Italy, proffered their services as
teachers, or as non-commissioned officers. This
educated intelligence, combined with energy,
was precisely adapted to tame the vivacious,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
143
impetuous, semi-barbarous elements with which
we had to deal.
"I contented myself with a complete course
of elementary military education, reserving the
superior branches for a later period. The course
concluded, it would depend on the way in which
the pupils passed their examinations whether
they left the college with commissions. The
only terms of entrance were the birth registers
and medical certificate. The schools were soon
opened by competent masters, and in less than
a month proceeded with all the regularity of
old establishments. Drill, gymnastics, fenc-
ing, and target-shooting, kept the boys em-
ployed from dawn to sunset, and it was wonder-
ful how soon the gamins of Palermo, many of
them corrupt, all impatient of rule, were trans-
formed into orderly and intelligent scholars.
"I appointed Major Rodi commander of the
first battalion. During his long residence in
the backwoods of America, ever at war with
nature or the soldiers of Rosas, he had acquired
certain looks, gestures, and movements sug-
gestive of wild Indians. Some of his cries
during drill, resembling the cries of certain
animals, used to set my teeth on edge. His
paternal tenderness for his piccoli diavoli, as
he called the boys, was exceedingly touching,
though, once off parade, by no means conducive
to discipline.
"In order to deliver them from temptation,
I gathered the remaining thousand into the
convent of S. Pol, which by another dictatorial
decree had been annexed to the college, and
hurried on the organisation of the second bat-
talion. With the aid of a corporal's guard,
kindly furnished by Colonel D, placed at
the gate and at the four angles of the college,
I hoped to have put a stop to further desertions.
Colonel Dwas empowered by the General
to form a brigade of Sicilians, and anticipating
a speedy renewal of hostilities, he was straining
every nerve to fill up the vacancies. Seated
in a chair in the middle of the esplanade
adjoining the college, dressed in a suit of
Indian silk, he drilled his troops with admirable
patience and energy. They were all dressed
in white, he having persuaded the head of the
commissariat to purchase a magazine full of
ex-Bourbon uniforms at the modest price of
eight piastres per soldier. His admiration for
my first battalion was unbounded; the martial
aspect, the precise movements, the precocious
physical development of those "dear boys
was wonderful;' he was delighted that his
men should assist in guarding that 'gem of a
college.'
6
"To Garibaldi, who was the true founder, it
was as the apple of his eye. Accompanied by
his staff, he visited the institute frequently,
and was present every morning on parade.
Dismounting, he would review each company
separately, give invaluable advice to the officials,
and animate the little soldiers by his presence.
""
“The fame of the college, the enthusiasm of
the time, the increasing tendency towards
equality which invariably follows on a revolu-
tion, the seductions of a military career during
a time of war, and last, not least, the item
gratis, caused application for admittance to
pour in from all classes of Sicilians, and many
were the demands from Upper Italy."
The conduct of these boys, some mere chil-
dren, at the battle of Melazzo, was truly won-
derful. The narrator already quoted had an
opportunity of testing this, of which he gives a
pathetic yet animated description.
"I arrived at 8p.m.; the General was already
in bed. As I came out of the palace, where he
had taken up his quarters, I heard my own
name called from the opposite balcony by Major
M. Entering the large gateway, and
crossing a grass-grown, cloistered square, I
found myself in a quondam monastery, now
144
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
converted into a hospital. In the long cor-
ridors lay the wounded of both camps, some on
straw, but by far the greater number stretched
on their cloaks, with their knapsacks for
pillows. Major M looked pale and worn-
literally broken down by fatigue. I asked him
how the day had gone?
"It is ours! but the victory was dearly
bought; my corps is decimated as usual.'
"As I passed down the left corridor, I heard
a young voice crying, 'Signor Comandante,'
and saw three lads lying on the straw, their
once white uniforms stained with blood and mire.
"They are your boys; they deserted to
Dunne,' said my wife. Come and see another,'
and she led me into a room opening out of the
corridor, where, on one of the beds abandoned
by the monks, lay a little fellow asleep, an ice-
bladder on the stump of his lost left arm.
6
"It was amputated this afternoon,' said
CHAPTER XXI.
my wife. 'Poor little mite, he is only twelve.
He said, "I'll be good if you'll hold me,
signora; if it hurts I won't scream.
I'll only
cry a little." I held him on my lap; he kept
his word, and told me afterwards that I cried
more than he did, which was quite true. Then
he went fast asleep, as they nearly all do after
an operation.'
UPON the departure of the Neapolitan and
Bavarian troops, the prisoners held by them
were of course liberated; they consisted of
men of the highest families in Sicily, princes
and nobles. The authorities did not trouble
themselves to retain men of little note for any
length of time in the gaols; they soon consigned
such to death.
1
"Are you angry with us, Signor Coman-
dante?' asked one of the elder lads, taking my
hand and stroking it as I returned to them.
'Such lots of our brigade are wounded or killed;
our colonel says that after the battle of Melazzo,
no one can say again that the Sicilians never
fight.'
"I felt choking, I could not speak. I kissed
their pale brows, put some money into their
hands, and rushed out into the open air. Sad,
indeed, is the night of a victory to one who has
not shared the battle!'
""
LIBERATION OF CAPTIVES.-HELP FOR GARIBALDI.—FURTHER CONQUESTS IN SICILY.—DELIVERANCE OF
THE WHOLE ISLAND.
"Palmam qui meruit feram."
The liberation of the captives was a great
day for Palermo. They were escorted with
their families in five carriages. The town was
gaily decorated with flags; the tricolour waved
from every window in the line of procession;
the Garibaldian Legion, and the volunteers of
Sicily, lined the streets, and the air was rent
with the acclamations of the people. The
liberated captives, their families, and the car-
riages which bore them, were covered with
flowers and tricoloured ribbons cast from
windows and balconies. Garibaldi was deeply
affected by the scene, the substantial blessings
which it celebrated, and the dearest of all
these-Liberty.
Messina having become the head-quarters of
-
ALONG I Wanna
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
145
the Bourbons, and Palermo that of the Libe-
rators, it was obvious that one or other of these
places must become the centre of victorious
operations, and the means of conquest or re-
conquest be organised at either. Garibaldi's
activity soon decided this. Having pushed on
a portion of his troops, he organised means of
procuring accurate intelligence, in which he
had the co-operation of the people. A despatch
arrived from one of his advanced posts, as
follows:-
6
"We have received the following from Mes-
sina, dated 12th June. The royal garrisons of
Trapani, Termini, Agosta, Girgenti, Catania,
and a part of that of Palermo, have arrived at
Messina, which now contains in addition to
these a great number of wounded, sbirri, police
agents, and civil employés. There are now at
least 15,000 men there, either soldiers or aux-
iliaries of the government.'
"The following proclamation was immedi-
ately distributed among the royal troops, in the
name of the people of Messina :—
Neapolitans !-You are the children of
Italy; Italy! that land which stretches from
Mount Cenis to the waters of Sicily, now red
with blood.
KAD
"Italy says to you, "What have you done
to your brothers? You accursed ones!"
“Every drop of blood spilt in Sicily draws
down a curse on your heads, on the heads of
your sons, and your sons' sons!
"Neapolitans! Italy pardons you; but rise
with the fire of your own volcanoes against
those who bear no goodwill to Italy.'
!
"""
"Rise then in the name of Italy, in the word,' said I to Türr, 'these fellows are not
name of Liberty!
likely to starve.'
"The brave men of Varese and Como are
with you and for you; and yet you fight against
them! God said to Cain, "What hast thou
done to thy brother?-now thou art cursed
from the earth!"
Agents were found who devised means of
scattering this both in Messina and Calabria.
The government of the Dictator was greatly
disturbed and scandalised by the banditti at-
tacking and robbing innocent persons under
pretence that they were Bourbonists, and
assassinations and incendiarism were perpe-
trated in the name of liberty. A singular
story is told, illustrating this, by the author of
"The Garibaldians in Sicily." He was at
Villafrati with Colonel Türr, who was ill :-
"I heard the steps of several horses ap-
proaching, which induced me to rise up and
look out of the window.
"I then found that the party consisted of
seven horsemen armed with guns and pistols,
and that the two last men were mounted on
the same horse. At the head of the troop rode
a man who looked like the chief; he wore on
his head a Neapolitan kepi with four braidings,
indicative of the rank of captain, and by his
side was suspended a dragoon's sabre with a
silver knot. There was nothing in all this
to attract my attention, but for a fact that I
could not help noticing, namely, that half-a-
dozen chickens were poking out of the saddle-
bow of one of the horsemen. 'Upon my
"Türr made an effort to rise for a moment,
glanced at them hastily, and fell back on his
bed without saying a word.
"What are these men?' said I.
"Some of La Masa's guerillas, I should say,'
replied he.
"Then turning to me in a moment after,
he continued, 'Just observe where they are
going.'
"After watching them from the window, I
informed him that they appeared to be taking
the road towards Palermo.
"Major Spangaro then coming into the room,
U
146
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Türr said to him, 'Major, see who those men
are who have just gone by.'
"They are some distance off by this time,'
remarked I; 'I can just see them winding
round the other side of the village.'
،
"General,' asked a young officer who
watched at Türr's bedside, shall I take a
horse and bring back their captain to you?'
“Take four men and bring the whole body
of them; do you hear, Carbone?'
6
"Oh, there's no need for that,' replied the
officer; why disturb four men for them?—
I'll go alone.' He then left the room, and
mounting a horse without a saddle, galloped
after them.
“Türr began talking with the major, while I
went to the balcony and followed the move-
ments of the young officer. In less than ten
minutes he came up with the little troop. The
captain had turned his head several times
already; but as he only saw one man follow-
ing them, he did not trouble himself about
him. From the window where I was I could
see everything, and guess, from their gestures,
what was passing, although I could not, of
course, hear a word they said.
"Well,' exclaimed Türr, can you see
them?'
-
"Perfectly.'
"What are they doing?'
"Nothing yet; they appear to be chatting
together in a friendly manner. But stay-
what's going on now? The captain has this
moment sprung off his horse, and is clutching
his gun, whilst Carbone, having drawn his
revolver, is placing it against the other's
breast.'
666 'Quick!' shouted Türr; 'send off four men
instantly to assist Carbone.'
"It is needless; the chief of the troop has
remounted his horse, and is obediently turning
his head this way, followed by his seven men,
evidently by Carbone's orders, who brings up
the rear with his revolver in his hand.'
"At the end of five minutes the head of the
little column appeared in the street approach-
ing the general's quarters, and not long after
they halted at the door.
"Tell Carbone to come up to me alone,'
said Türr; and--but, before he comes, to
place these fellows in charge of his comrades.'
"I accordingly summoned Carbone, but there
was no need to caution the Garibaldians to
keep watch over the seven horsemen, as they
had already formed a pretty secure living
barrier round them.
6
"Well,' said Türr to Carbone, as he entered
the room, 'it appears they made a show of
fighting?
“Yes, general; but, as you see, it ended
better than I had at first anticipated.'
"Well, now tell me all that happened.
Do not omit the least detail. Before I see
their chief I want to know what sort of a man
he is.'
"General, I came up with them about fifteen
hundred paces from here; and feeling then
that I was engaged on a more difficult mission
than I had anticipated, I addressed their chief
first in a polite manner.'
"'Quite right,' said Türr laughing, 'always
be polite, Carbone; and pray what did you say
so politely??
"""Noble captain," said I to him, "the
general has sent me to inquire where you are
going." "I am going to Palermo," he replied.
"I am glad of it," I rejoined, " for the general
has despatches and a sum of money to send to
Palermo, and wishes you to take charge of
them."
"What, I?" "Yes, you; he there-
fore desires you to come to his lodgings, so
that he may intrust them to you." "I am
very sorry," replied the chief, "but I have no
time——” “Oh, if that is the case, a different
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
147
""
turn must be given to the matter; instead of
making a request, I must desire you to obey
his order." "By what authority? "By his
authority, as your superior officer. If you are
an officer, as your kepi and sabre denote, you
must obey him; but if you are not an officer,
I must arrest you for wearing those things
which you have no right to assume." Then,'
continued Carbone, he made a quick move-
ment indicative of an intention to dismount
and make use of his gun, but I promptly drew
forth my revolver, and, pointing it to his
breast, said, “I'll kill you instantly if you do
not follow me. ""
This he made up his mind to
do, and we have got him.'
6
6
"Very good, indeed,' said Türr; now let
him come up.'
not in the face of the enemy that you received
that ball.'
"General, indeed--
"It was when you tried to rob the treasury
of Santa Margarita. Yes, I know you,—you
are Santo Meli. I had you in my hands at
Rena; and you would have been shot then and
there if we had not been forced to march on
hastily to Parco. I then delivered you over to
Santa Anna, who did not guard you well; but
I will take good care now not to transfer you
to any one's charge, and you will be the better
guarded, I warrant.' Then turning to Major
Spangaro, he said, 'Major, to-morrow you
will hold a court-martial, of which you are to
be the president, on this man. Now disarm
him, some of you, and take him to prison.'
"An officer advanced and took away the
prisoner's sabre, while two soldiers, taking
their places, the one on his right, the other on
his left hand, led him out of the room.
'Well,' said I to Türr, 'you are getting on
briskly, my dear fellow!'
"That is how we must deal, in such a
troublesome time, with those who are robbers,
murderers, and incendiaries.'
"I was about to leave the room, when Türr
called out to me, 'Stop; he is most likely
some sort of bandit, so there is no harm in
your witnessing what may take place. More-
over, you have a special right to be here: it
was through you we were led to arrest him.'
"It was, I found, of no use demurring, so I
agreed to remain. Soon after, the door opened,
when a man, between twenty-five and twenty-
eight, of fair complexion, with blue eyes, and
rather tall, entered, with an air of remarkable
assurance; but seeing Türr lying on his couch,
he stopped short and turned pale.
"But are you sure all the time that this man
comes under this threefold category?"
"Yes; for he has robbed the treasury of
Santa Margarita, assassinated a goldsmith at
"Türr, on his part, fixed his truthful eye Carleone, and burnt the village of Calaminia;
firmly on him, but without showing any signs but he shall be tried, and all this will come
of astonishment beyond a curl of his mousta-out, you will see. He shall not be shot with-
chioed lip.
out good reason.'
“Oh,' said Türr, it's you, is it?
6
"You think, then, that he will be shot?'
"Excuse me, general,' replied the prisoner,
'but I do not know you!'
"I feel pretty sure of that. We were
only just before talking about the diligence
"Well, then, I know you! Try to march being stopped. Well, if two or three more
without limping.'
"I cannot, general; I am wounded in the
leg.'
affairs of this sort should happen, they will
say in our reactionary papers that, since the
Bourbons have been driven out of Sicily, no
one can be safe in moving out of his house
"Yes, by a ball above the knee; but it was
-
148
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
alone. My friend Garibaldi, in his Roman
campaign, ordered one of his soldiers to be
shot for stealing thirty sous from an old
woman. Garibaldi possesses no other pro-
perty than two pairs of trousers, two red
shirts, two neckties, a sabre, a revolver, and
an old felt hat. Garibaldi must needs borrow
a carlin in order to give alms to some poor
creature, for the simple reason that he has
never such a coin in his own pocket; but
this self-denial does not prevent the Neapoli-
tan papers from calling him a fillibuster, or
the French papers from designating him as
a pirate. In the times in which we live one
must be trebly brave, pure, and just, not to
be calumniated to some extent. With such
claims, one may hope to be appreciated at
the end of a dozen years by one's enemies;
but it takes nearly double that time to receive
that justice from those whom one has served.
Now, pray go to breakfast, for it is high time;
and send me some broth made by yourself,
and a spoonful of some preserved fruit if you
can find any.'
999
case.
The brigand was tried; but doubts of his
object in perpetrating the alleged crimes
arising, he was sent to head-quarters at
Palermo for the further investigation of his
Thus, with care, prudence, lenity, yet with
impartial justice, the officers and agents of
the Dictator conducted the military and civil
government of the portion of the island
under his control, as afterwards when he was
supreme in every part.
Soon after this, tidings arrived from Genoa
that 40,000 muskets and a steam-ship had
been purchased for the expedition, and that
45,000 men in Italy had enrolled their names
as volunteers.
Arms, ammunition, a ship, and a number
of English and a few Irish volunteers arrived.
Several British officers of ability and energy
joined our hero at this juncture.
Colonel Medici (who was amongst the recent
arrivals) was ordered to occupy Barcellona
and Miri preparatory to an advance against
Messina. Colonel Fabrizzi was directed to
hold the heights commanding the road to
that city which leads from Melazzo.
About the middle of July an intercepted
letter from the general commanding at
Messina to Colonel Bosco, commanding at
Melazzo fell into the hands of the ever
vigilant and active Medici. The purport of
the letter was that in a few days he would
join Bosco with 8,000 men, and so overwhelm
the Garibaldians with a force they could find
no means to resist. Medici telegraphed to
Garibaldi, who was at Palermo, who had just
been reinforced by 900 men, under Major
Corte, from Gaeta. The Dictator embarked
these troops on the City of Edinburgh steamer
on the 17th, and arrived at Patti next night.
A Neapolitan man-of-war was on the watch to
prevent any maritime operations, but a Sar-
dinian man-of-war became the escort of the
City of Edinburgh, and ensured its safety.
The troops at once marched to the assistance
of Medici. Upon Garibaldi's arrival he de-
termined to attack Bosco on the 20th, then
strongly posted at Melazzo.
The town of Melazzo is built on a promon-
tory, near where it joins the mainland. From
the elevated ground towards the sea, a castle
with a powerful armament of guns overlooked
the place. The Neapolitans garrisoned this
castle and occupied the approaches to the
town, and the farmhouses, gardens, and some
marshy and wooded land in its vicinity.
They consisted of four battalions of rifles, the
15th regiment of the line, two squadrons of
dragoons, and 500 artillerymen, and small
detachments of scientific corps. The regiment
Agr
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
149
of the line was Neapolitan, the rifles were
Swiss and German Jagers, the cavalry were
Bavarians, and the remainder of the force
were of all these, but especially Neapolitans.
Garibaldi's little army consisted of 4,400
men, disciplined and irregular. He had but
three pieces of cannon, old, and of inferior
calibre. The Neapolitan force was well equipped
and organised, and their commander, Bosco,
had boasted that he "would drive the ragged
Garibaldians off the island." He was not,
however, destined to effect this by the battle
of Melazzo, although the escape of Garibaldi
from death or capture was narrow.
Garibaldi resolved, as usual, to assume the
offensive. He placed on his left the battalions
commanded by Mallenchini. His right lay
along the Miri road to Melazzo, and consisted
of a few companies of Cosenz' infantry and the
900 men, newly arrived from Italy, under Corte.
The centre and reserves consisted of the bat-
talions of Corras and Vacchieri, chiefly Sicilian
volunteers, and the battalions of the British
colonel, Dunne, which was composed of Sicilian
peasants-men not of a brave temperament,
nor disposed to endure with tenacity. Dunne
Dunne
was just the man to command them. He was
resolute and competent.
At 7 o'clock in the morning of the 20th
the attack commenced. The Neapolitans had
plenty of cover; they fought behind trees and
shrubs, garden walls and embankments, and
after a contest of three hours, when all Gari-
baldi's reserves were brought up, no impression
had been made upon the Neapolitan position.
Garibaldi became convinced that only by
manœuvres, at once skilful and daring, could
victory be obtained. He selected fifty men of
Dunne's Sicilians, and attended by his gallant
aides-de-camp, Missori and Statella, he turned
Bosco's right.
Just at this moment Colonel Dunne, with
his picciotti debouched on the high road skirt-
ing the walls of a garden defended by a com-
pany of the enemy's Jagers. Dunne ordered
a detachment of his men to climb the wall
and dislodge the enemy. The men were
cowards, and in vain did the gallant colonel
use his sword to keep them in front; the most
they could be got to perform was to keep up
a skulking fire near the garden wall. A
writer who was on the field of battle soon
after the event, and who talked with those
who served,* relates what then occurred in a
manner which, were not the honesty of the
writer unquestionable, should be regarded as
incredible. He states that the colonel (who
must indeed be a strong man to perform the
feat), seizing one of his men by the shirt,
threw him over the wall, and repeated this
exploit, until the Neapolitans seeing them
descend into the garden, as if from the air,
fled crying, “A malora! Volano! volano!”
("They fly they fly!")
9
At this juncture, Garibaldi, having with his
small band turned Bosco's flank, was placed
in circumstances of extraordinary peril ; it was,
indeed, one of the greatest dangers of his life
of hazard. His small party had been strength-
ened by some of the Guides and a small de-
tachment of the Genoese carabineers, and the
whole emerged upon the road, Garibaldi
mounted. They sought at once to make avail-
able the advantage they had gained, having
completely turned the enemy's right. They
rushed to a charge, and were met by a fire of
grape and canister so terrible, that only the
Dictator himself, his aides-de-camp, and six or
seven men, remained erect; all the rest were
killed, or lay wounded upon the road. Gari-
baldi's stirrup and boot were partly carried
away; his horse was wounded, and he was
4
*Count Arrivabene.
150
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
i
obliged to dismount. Missori's horse was
killed. A reinforcement from Dunne's irre-
gulars arrived, but Garibaldi did not enter-
tain the hope of capturing the battery which
had inflicted such loss upon him, with men of
that stamp. He placed himself at their head,
and charged through the reeds of a marshy
piece of ground, where the riflemen of the
enemy were posted, as well as in the skirts of
an orchard of Indian figs. He cleared these
coverts of their crouching occupants, and or-
dered Missori and Statella, by climbing a wall
close to the dangerous battery already referred
to, to endeavour to carry it in that way. At the
head of fifty men they executed the movement,
but, to their amazement, and almost to their
horror, saw Garibaldi on the road, standing
alone, with his sword in his hand. Just as
the gun was captured, a charge of Neapolitan
cavalry was made upon the victors. The Gari-
baldians being Dunne's Sicilians, did not know
how to receive a charge of cavalry, and broke
away to the right and left, on the one side
against the garden wall, on the other along
the thick plantation of fig-trees. They opened
fire upon the careering horsemen, bringing
down numbers as they passed, Had these
troopers been well commanded they might
have sabred the Sicilians, but they were sur-
prised and alarmed by the reception they had
met with, so contrary to the practice of in-
fantry when receiving cavalry. It was, how-
ever, necessary to get back, and they again
charged along the road. Garibaldi, his aides-
de-camp, and a few men, barred the way.
Garibaldi seized the bridle of the Bourbon
commander's horse, and demanded that the
officer should surrender. "Rather," was the
reply, "it is you that must surrender," ac-
companying his bold words with a sabre cut
at Garibaldi, who, parrying the blow, gave a
back cut upon the horseman's cheek, by which
it was laid open. The hero was surrounded
by several troopers; he wounded one with a
sword-thrust, and defended himself against the
others. His pistols he had, unfortunately,
left in his holsters when his wounded horse
became unmanageable. Missori, his aide-de-
camp, shot two of them with his revolver, and
the horse of a third; the dismounted trooper
rushed upon Missori, who, by the butt of his
revolver, fractured his skull. Statella also
shot one of Garibaldi's assailants. Dunne's
soldiery gradually closed in, and, headed by
Garibaldi and his dashing aides-de-camp, cap-
tured or slew the greater part of the cavalry.
Medici, by skilful movements and great
audacity, having rallied the discouraged and
embarrassed troops on the left, forced himself
upon the narrow slip of land which lies be-
tween the mainland and Melazzo, and seized
a bridge. This was decisive of the battle.
Garibaldi immediately joined Medici at that
point; the enemy retreated to the city. Gari-
baldi ordered Medici to hold the bridge, while
he repaired on board the Veloce (the Bourbon
ship of war, the crew of which having seized
it, brought it over to the patriots), and, climb-
ing the shrouds, he could see the precise atti-
tude of Bosco's force. Then, directing the
guns of the ship with great precision, he pre-
vented the retreat from being covered; and
throwing shells into the city, most of the
Neapolitans were compelled to take shelter in
the fort. Garibaldi left the ship, and directed
a musketry fire in the streets to dislodge the
enemy occupying any position there. Next
day Bosco capitulated.
During this conflict the Bavarians fought
better than the Neapolitans, and the Swiss
mercenaries better than either. The loss of
Garibaldi was terrible, one fourth of his whole
force was hors de combat. A large proportion
of his bravest officers was wounded.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
151
The terms of capitulation were, that Bosco
and his men should be allowed to embark for
Naples, under parole, not to be in arms against
Garibaldi for three months. Arms, ammu-
nition, and all material of war, as well as
horses and provisions, to remain with the
conquerors. The beaten forces sought to take
K
CHAPTER XXII.
CAPITULATION OF MESSINA. -SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS OF GARIBALDI AMONG THE NEAPOLITAN TROOPS.-
NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE OF MALAZZO.—ARMS AND AMMUNITION.-LETTER OF VICTOR EMMANUEL.
-FATHER GAVAZZI'S DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF THE LIBERATORS. -OBSTINACY OF THE KING OF
NAPLES PREPARES THE WAY FOR GARIBALDI.
"The rugged foremost, that with grave foresight
Wields kingdoms, causes, and affairs of state."—SPENSER.
SCARCELY had the garrison of Melazzo got to
sea, than another letter from the commander
at Messina was intercepted, in which he in-
formed the commander at Melazzo, that he
was ordered to send the greater portion of his
troops to Naples. Garibaldi knowing the inde-
cision of General Clary, and rightly concluding
that his troops were demoralised, resolved to
prevent their departure, except under terms
such as those submitted to by Bosco. Accord-
ingly the Dictator ordered Medici to march
upon Gesso and thence to Messina. General
Clary at once entered into a convention to
surrender the city and its forts, retaining the
citadel; the city and harbour not to be bom-
barded from the citadel unless under provoca-
tion by some breach of the convention.
Thus these troops were detained while our
hero prepared for his continental enterprise.
The moral effect of his victories preceded
his continental expedition. The superstitious
soldiers who had fought against him circulated
in Naples upon their return thither the wildest
away
with them various matters upon which
they had set their hearts; and Bosco himself
desired to bring his steed with him, but Gari-
baldi was inexorable; the garrison was per-
mitted to leave, but all the valuables remained
with the conquerors.
-
stories, such as that Garibaldi was eight feet
high; that with a single blow of his sword
he could cut a man in two; that fire escaped
from his nostrils; that he purchased im-
punity in danger by selling his soul to the
devil; that at Calatafimi he received 150
musket balls in his red shirt, and after the
battle shook them all out, he escaping un-
harmed.
Alexander Dumas gives the following inte-
resting account of Garibaldi and his soldiers
after the conflict at Melazzo:
"I had witnessed all the movements of the
battle from the deck of my yacht, and now
longed to rejoin Garibaldi and hail him as the
victor. I accordingly proceeded to land, and
in the midst of the last musket-shots entered
Melazzo.
"It is difficult to give any idea of the dis-
order and terror which prevailed in the town,
never very patriotic in feeling, it is said. The
dead and the wounded were lying in the streets,
and the house of the French consul was full of
152
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
arms. The weapons with which his troops had
fought were very inferior. The muskets, of
an old and clumsy pattern, and although often
borne by good marksmen, could with difficulty
be made serviceable. Alexander Dumas under-
took to go to France, purchase, and carry back
a large number of the best arms. Garibaldi
gave him a letter of credit upon the Munici-
pality of Palermo, but forgot to sign "Dicta-
tor" after his name. The Duke de la Verdura,
who officiated as syndic, refused the money,
obeserving that Garibaldi might be killed, and
then the municipality would have to pay it.
When he heard this, Garibaldi wept at the
ingratitude of those whom he daily risked his
life to serve. He had rescued the people
of Palermo from bondage, liberating their
noblest families from cruel incarceration here
was one of these nobles, even holding rank and
office at the Dictator's will, refusing to assist
the arming of his troops for the rescue of a
"I was prompted by a feeling of curiosity to sister land. The order was not for quite the
see how his orders had been carried out, and sum of £5,000. Dumas obtained 1,000 mus-
therefore proceeded to the gates of the town,❘kets, 550 rifles, 10,000 cartridges, and 50,000
where I found one solitary sentinel, almost
dead with fatigue, on the watch, in the midst
of fifteen of his comrades fast asleep. The
sentinel was obliged to walk about briskly in
order to avoid falling asleep too, and even then
found it very difficult to keep his eyes open.
With respect to the barricades, they were
formed of a few tables, chairs, and planks,
over which a child could easily jump; those
who had undertaken their construction had
fallen asleep very soon after they had com-
menced their work. These brave fellows, like
the Spartans of Leonidas, considered their
breasts sufficient ramparts to resist the enemy.
As I left the town, I prayed to Heaven that
Bosco might not be prompted to make a breach
through these unyielding living ramparts.
"The General soon opened his eyes, and on
recognising me, desired me to keep by his side
the whole of the following day."
percussion caps. These were safely delivered
in Messina before the close of August.
While Garibaldi remained in Sicily he had
much to trouble him. The government of the
French Emperor showed, in various ways,
hostility to his enterprises, and a certain
amount of sympathy with the Neapolitan
Bourbons. There were various opportunities
for these displays in Sicily, but from the
court of Turin they were still more obvious.
French agents did much to bias the court and
cabinet of Victor Emmanuel to the prejudice
of Garibaldi. Unhappily the exertion of such
influences was not confined to French emis-
saries; other European governments did their
best to separate Victor Emmanuel from his
most loyal and useful subject, and Italy's most
noble and magnanimous citizen. One Count
""
One of Garibaldi's chief cares was to obtain
dying men.
wounded.
General Cosenz was amongst the
"None could tell me where Medici and
Garibaldi were to be found, until I perceived
Major Cenni in the midst of a group of officers,
when he volunteered to take me to the General;
and after considerable difficulty we found him
lying under the porch of the church, with his
staff asleep around him. He was lying on the
pavement with his saddle for a pillow, quite
worn out and fast asleep. Near him stood his
supper—a bit of bread and a jug of water. The
sight threw me in imagination 2,500 years
back: it seemed to me as if I stood before
Cincinnatus. May God preserve him to you,
my
dear Sicilian friends! Should you lose him,
the whole world will never be able to provide
you with such another.
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
153
Giulio Litta arrived in the island in July,
upon a diplomatic errand. The count was
the bearer of a letter from the King of Sar-
dinia, or King of Italy, as he was even then
frequently designated. The letter was as
follows:-
"General,
"You know that I did not approve of
your expedition, and that I was entirely
foreign to it; but to-day the very grave cir-
cumstances in which Italy is placed make it
a duty to enter into direct communication with
you.
"In the event of the King of Naples con-
senting to evacuate the whole of Sicily,
voluntarily abandoning all sort of action, and
formally pledging himself to exercise no pres-
sure whatsoever upon the Sicilians, so that the
latter may freely pronounce their will, and
choose the mode of government which they
may prefer, I believe it will be wise in you
to renounce altogether any further enterprise
against the kingdom of Naples. In the con-
In the con-
trary event, I expressly reserve my entire
liberty of action, and relieve myself from
comment in regard to your projects.
"Your affectionate
"VICTOR EMMANUEL."
The policy of the Sardinian court was to
profit by Garibaldi's exploits whenever success
attended them; to neglect and disown him in
his enterprises, the success of which they
desired; and, as afterwards at Aspromonte, to
slay him, if necessary, for attempting objects
which, by indirect and underhand means, the
promoters of that policy had incited him to
undertake.
Garibaldi, with all his loyalty and affection
towards the king, respectfully conveyed, through
the count, his resolution if possible to deliver
Naples from its present oppressions and degra-
dation.
At the moment that Count Litta presented
his credentials to Garibaldi as a messenger
from Victor Emmanuel, several British officers
were with Garibaldi, and a scene arose very
flattering to the English nation. An Italian
nobleman,* also present on the occasion, thus
describes it :-
"Carressimi and Missori, the hero of Me-
lazzo, who wore the insignia of a major,
introduced us to Garibaldi's apartments. It
was swarming with officers and private soldiers,
busily at work, and talking with all the force
of their lungs. Padre Gavazzi was also there.
He had exchanged the gown of the Barnabite
monks for the red shirt of the Garibaldians,
and was to be the Peter the Hermit of the
National Crusade.
"When we were ushered into the room of
Garibaldi, he was writing despatches at a
small table, for he intended to start in a few
hours for Gesso, where Colonel Medici had
preceded him. His manners were, as usual,
very cordial and kind, and he said that he was
most grateful to the English people for all
they had done to help the cause.
،
"I am very proud,' he proceeded, address-
ing Count Litta, of having some English
officers and soldiers amongst my troops. They
represent that great nation which will always
be the defender of freedom in Europe.'
"Colonels Peard and Dunne were present,
and they naturally thanked the General.
"I am not flattering either your country-
men or you, gentlemen,' said the Liberator,
turning towards the two English officers. 'I
am satisfied with you and your companions;
and I mean exactly what I say.'
"How strange a spectacle did that army
"""
*Count Charles Arrivabene.
X
154
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Į
present! What a variety of uniforms did it
exhibit-flannel shirts of every colour, white
bournouses, and feathered Puritan hats! Here
comes by a well-known countess in a half-
hussar, half-amazonian dress; there, the
sharpshooters of Colonel Peard are parading
in their brown blouses. Down below, several of
Dunne's regiment are being drilled by their
English officers, the elegance of whose red
jackets contrasts with the rougher costume of
their comrades. On the left of a dirty osteria,
towards the beach, a hut has been constructed;
and a large inscription tells the passer-by that
the Albion Club' has been established there.
British activity is never at fault; where there
are ten Englishmen there must be a club. It
is true that the Albion Club at Faro was only
a poor hut, the floor of which was covered with a
mat, while two rough wooden benches served for
divans. But there was always a glass of wine to
be had there, and a sausage and crust of bread
were never wanting. Towards noon, you had
also a chance of securing what at Faro in those.
days was called a dinner-i.e., an omelet,
plenty of fried fish, and excellent figs."
،
Deputations from all the continental Neapo-
litan provinces began to arrive at Messina,
urging upon Garibaldi a descent upon the coast.
These delegates were composed of all ranks
in society, from the nobleman to the peasant,
many of the latter class wearing singularly pic-
turesque dresses, and showing an acquaintance
with the political situation not to be expected
from them. Continental Naples was ripe for
revolt, and all who were discontented looked to
Garibaldi as their destined liberator.
The expedition was determined upon; the
organisation of the liberating army proceeded
with efficiency and rapidity; national guards
were enrolled in all the cities and many of the
rural districts of the island, to protect it from
reactionary plots or foreign attack.
The King of Naples prepared for the coming
event. He granted a constitution, which came
too late; the people received it without thanks,
and used it to acquire more facility for military
preparation to aid Garibaldi. The king sent
an emissary to him, proposing to place 50,000
men and a fleet at his disposal for the invasion
of Venice. Either this was a ruse, to trap the
Dictator, or, willing even to do this to save
himself, the Bourbon was as unfaithful to
Austrian and Papal policy as he was to his
oath, sworn to his own subjects. The Dictator
refused any terms with so false a man. The
king sent an envoy to Turin to propose a treaty
offensive and defensive with Victor Emmanuel,
who declined any political connection. Nothing
remained for the Bourbon dynasty but to meet
by force the impending crisis of its fate. The
king's stubbornness, and high sense of prero-
gative, impeded the ministers who were willing
to aid him.
By the ninth article of the constitution, he
was to disband the Bavarians, with whom the
liberal royalists, and even the more moderate
native advocates of absolute royalty, were un-
willing to co-operate. The king violated this
article.
His ministers required to be consulted in the
conduct of the war; they received an arrogant
reply, that to make peace or war remained with
the sovereign, and he would forego none of his
rights. One of his generals, whom he relied
much upon, and who had fought in Sicily,
declared he could not command the same men,
as they acted more like brigands than soldiers ;
many of them were Bavarians and Swiss mer-
cenaries. The king consigned the officer to a
dungeon. Proud and impracticable, he pushed
aside with iron sceptre all proffered services,
and frowned upon all wise and moderate coun-
sels. The entreaties of his ministry, and the
citizens of Naples, that he would conduct the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
155
war on a plan which, whether successful or
otherwise, would spare the capital from bom-
bardment or storm, he treated as if he felt the
matter only so far as regarded his own conve-
nience.
Even when his states were in open revolt,
and the Garibaldians were in Calabria, he
remained deaf to counsel and remonstrances,
as obstinate as he was cruel.
Probably he relied upon the promises which
he alleged both the governments of Piedmont
and France made to him, that Garibaldi should
not be permitted to pass the straits of Messina;
but his ministry could place no faith in either
country, the policy of both Cavour and Napo-
leon having been so clearly proved to be
unscrupulous in the attainment of any end.
Whatever sincerity the French Emperor might
have felt in wishing to keep Garibaldi out of
Naples, his desire was only partly entertained
by Cavour, The latter actually urged the
Neapolitan liberals to revolt in favour of
Victor Emmanuel, but pressed them to make
the attempt without accepting assistance from
Garibaldi, whose honesty and moral exaltation
Cavour constantly feared. The Neapolitan
leaders showed how hopeless such an attempt
must prove, and Cavour was not unwilling to
accept for his master so splendid a prize at any
cost.
The Bourbon king constantly received intel-
ligence which he concealed from his ministers,
pursued a furtive policy, and issued military
directions at variance with the judgment of his
constitutional advisers and his most skilful
military friends.
He was not unwilling to abandon the island
of Sicily to Victor Emmanuel, or to recognise
its independence, provided Garibaldi was not
its ruler, and that the government of Turin
guaranteed the integrity of his continental
dominions.
When he knew that a few Garibaldians under
Missori (the hero of Melazzo) had landed in
Calabria (as will be shown in another chapter),
he sent for M. Brenier, the French minister,
requesting him to use the naval resources in
the bay to prevent the main body of Garibaldi's
army from crossing the straits, and pleading
his right to this demand from the promise
which he affirmed was made by the French
government. The minister declared that he
officially knew nothing of such a pledge, and
dare not take upon himself so great a respon-
sibility. In fact, the understanding in Italy,
France, and Austria, among all concerned, was
that the Treaty of Zurich had established the
principle of non-intervention between princes
and peoples in the peninsula. The French
minister therefore could not interfere unless
the commands laid upon him by his court were
imperative. Besides, England had protested
against intervention, and the British admiral
had shown unmistakable symptoms of a dis-
position to prevent it.
The king then inquired, "Will you advise
me what to do?
""
"Sire," replied M. Brenier, "since your
Majesty does me the honour of asking my
advice, I beg to state that, were I in your
place, I would place myself at the head of my
army, and march out against Garibaldi, leaving
the province of Salerno in charge of General
Pianelli, and the town of Naples under the
protection of the national guard. The presence
of your Majesty in Calabria would prevent any
attempt at defection in your army, and would
also tend to encourage the troops to fight. In
case of defeat the town of Naples would be
spared, and the king could then proceed either
to Trieste or to Vienna; thus leaving on the
last page of his history a just claim to the
gratitude of the Neapolitan people."
The king continued to reflect a little longer,
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and then said, "After the first success that I
may gain, I will do what you advise; but that
is an essential preliminary."
At length the period approached for the
expedition. Garibaldi had collected 12,000
men, and 6,000 more were expected to join
him in Calabria from northern Italy. His
troops were impatient for action, and filled
with patriotic enthusiasm for the liberation of
another, and one of the fairest portions of their
glorious Italy. Still they awaited with subor-
dination the hour when their far-seeing chief
would give the signal for embarkation. They
looked forth with longing eyes upon the sea
from their rude camp, which, with its red-
shirted occupants, as one described it, looked
"like a cornfield sprinkled over with poppies."
Various attempts at embarkation failed from
the vigilance of the Neapolitan ships of war;
but the troops were gaining in these adventures,
as well as preparing, by improved discipline on
shore, for the great and glorious enterprise
which was to add new power and lustre to
Italian unity and independence.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FIRST INVASION OF CALABRIA.-MYSTERIOUS VISITORS AT MESSINA.-SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF
GARIBALDI.-GRAND INVASION OF CALABRIA.- -STORMING AND CAPITULATION OF REGGIO, AND
RETREAT OF THE RELIEVING ARMY.-REVOLUTIONARY PREPARATIONS AND OUTBREAKS.
"O Freedom!-
'Tis sweeter to bleed for an age at thy shrine,
Than to sleep for one moment in chains."-Moore.
WHEN the fulness of time arrived, Garibaldi | benediction uttered, and cheers and adieus
resolved to throw a small body of men upon
the coast of Calabria for the purpose of sur-
prising a place of some strength, so as to form
a base of operations, facilitate the landing of
the main body, and quicken the people to
insurrection. The officer upon whom the
honour of this forlorn hope was conferred was
the intrepid Major Missori, to whom Garibaldi
was mainly indebted for the preservation of
his life at the terrible battle of Melazzo. It
was indeed a forlorn hope; 200 men, but all
picked from the old Cacciatori of the Alps, who
fought under Garibaldi in Lombardy.
were shouted by their fellow braves. The night
was dark but still, just such as Garibaldi de-
sired. It gave security to the passage and the
landing, and hope of effecting the surprise. The
signal of their success was to be a flame of fire
sent up from the conquered fort. The gloom
which obscured the heavens had its disadvan-
tages as well as its facilities. Six of the
fishing boats lost company with the rest of the
flotilla, and unable to regain it, returned. This
circumstance very much weakened the number
of the little band. The obscurity also pre-
vented those who gained the shore from land-
ing at the spot most likely to give security to
their advance. On the coast they lost their
way, and were encountered by Neapolitan
patrols. The ringing clangour of the mus-
Deep was the sensation in camp and city
when the little squadron of boats received their
freight of heroes. Many a prayer was breathed
for their safety and their success, many a
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
157
ketry was heard distinctly at Messina, and
told the sad truth that the object of the expe-
dition had not been obtained. The sound of
musketry died away, and no signal fires pierced
the gloom of the horizon. Suspense and grief
rested upon the heart of Messina. The daunt-
less chief still hoped; he knew Missori well.
Time rolled on, when slender streaks of fire
flashed up the dark distance. What could it
mean? This was not the beacon of victory; it
was not over the locality of the fort that
was to be the fruit of the surprise. Higher
and broader the flame ascended, until it
assumed the form of a glowing pillar sur-
mounted by the density of a preternatural
darkness. A Calabrian in Messina at once ex-
claimed, "They are safe! they have taken to
the hills; that flame shoots up from my native
village; they are in the midst of friends and
allies!" Joy and hope were again ascendant in
camp and city, which retired to repose, be-
lieving that Missori and his faithful few had
toiled up the steeps, and found shelter at a
distance from their foes.
Such was the fact: the pickets of the enemy,
believing that Garibaldi and his army were
there, fired and fled. Thoughts of their own
safety occupied the garrison too much to allow
of the idea of pursuit. Missori passing unob-
served between the enemy's outposts, gained
the hills, and found friends and asylum. He
discovered means next morning to communicate
with Garibaldi. Missori passed from village
to village, raising insurrection, until, by the
middle of August, his band had increased to a
brigade of 2,000 men. Every night Garibaldi
knew the position of his lieutenant by the signal
fires lighted on the heights.
A circumstance now occurred which delayed
the expedition. Doctor Bertani, Garibaldi's
agent at Genoa, and the Marquis Trecchi, an
orderly officer of Victor Emmanuel, arrived at
the island, and had an interview with Gari-
baldi. Its object did not then transpire, and
all the quidnuncs of camp and city were highly
excited on the subject. This excitement be-
came general when Garibaldi suddenly left the
island, leaving orders with Cosenz to help
Missori by fresh bands. Several attempts were
made, some only with success, while Garibaldi
was absent. The cause of that absence was
the facts communicated to him by the king's
messenger and his own agent. Bertani and
his colleagues had raised 5,000 men for the
invasion of Rome. This expedition sailed; the
fleet of Victor Emmanuel stopped it, and the
admiral assured the leaders that the Emperor
of the French had resolved with all his resources
to make war upon any invaders of the Papal
States, and had intimated that resolution to
the Sardinian cabinet. The admiral would,
however, allow those troops to be brought to
Sicily. Garibaldi's sudden departure was for
Aranei, and connected with arrangements to
bring this new force into the field with his
own troops.
On his return to Sicily, August 18th, he found
the first portion of the troops, with which he
intended a serious demonstration, already
nearly embarked. His whole force was divided
into four divisions, and to place them in accord
with the army of Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi
gave them the numbers which followed those
of the Sardinian army, which then consisted
of fourteen divisions. The first brigade, under
General Eber, a Hungarian of great literary
and military merit, was about 2,000 strong;
the second, commanded by Bixio, numbered
2,500. These brigades were commanded by
General Türr, the well-known Hungarian
officer, as chief of the fifteenth division. The
second division (numbered 16) was under
Cosenz, a Neapolitan of distinction, and pos-
sessing great military knowledge. Count
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Milbitz, an old Polish officer, who had made
himself famous at Warsaw in 1830, and at
Rome in 1849; Sacchi, a Genoese exile, who
had risen from the ranks to the post of major
in the Spanish army; and Eberhart, a Prus-
sian officer, were the three brigadier-generals
of the sixteenth division, which was 8,000
strong. Medici, the Lombard, the best general
of the army, was in command of the seven-
teenth division. Its first brigade was under
the orders of Simonetta, a countryman of
Medici, a man endowed with all the qualities
which make a good superior commander. The
second brigade of this division had for its chief
Nicola Fabrizzi, a Modenese by birth, and a
staunch patriot. This division numbered 4,800
men. To these three divisions was to be added
that which Colonel Pianciani intended to take
into the Papal States, but which afterwards
joined the army in Sicily; 500 hussars, under
the command of Carissimi; 300 Guides, com-
manded by Missori; 450 artillerymen, under
Orsini and Scalia, and 160 engineers.
The navy was composed of the steam sloop
Veloce and eleven steam transports. (The
Marquis Anguissola, the Neapolitan com-
mander of the Veloce, had passed over with
his vessel to the National cause, and the name
Veloce was changed into that of Tuckori, from
the Hungarian officer who was killed at the
taking of Palermo.)
On the 18th of August the embarkation on
board the Torino and Franklin was completed.
Bixio's brigade, 2,500 strong, 1,000 volunteers
of Colonel Pianciani's division, and Eberhart's
brigade, numbering about 700 men. At ten
o'clock, the Torino, under the command of
Bixio, and the Franklin, on board of which
was Garibaldi, steamed towards Capo d'Armi.
The Franklin sprung a leak, the Torino ran on
a sand-bank, but the troops were landed.
Garibaldi had instructed Missori to make his
way towards Capo d'Armi with his Guides and
Picciotti. This the hero could not accomplish,
as a force of the Neapolitan army hung on his
flank. Garibaldi directed him to march along
the flank of Aspromonte, which overhangs
Reggio. The troops lay down for rest on the
beach; but were not left long to enjoy it, for
the Neapolitan squadron, which was not vigi-
lant enough to intercept the landing, ap-
proached, pitching shot and shell into the
camp. As soon as the troops withdrew from
this cannonade, the ship of war which had
"run aground" was attacked and burned.
It was a moonlight night in a soft Calabrian
summer, when the order of march for Reggio
was given by the chief.
was given by the chief. When the night
was far advanced, the troops passing along
the bridle-path of Aspromonte, reached a
little hamlet above the cape. An emissary
from the revolutionary committee of Reggio
had just arrived with information that 12,000
Neapolitan troops were echeloned along the
road from Bagnara to Reggio. These troops
were the advanced column of the grand army
of 30,000 men sent to conquer and capture the
Dictator of Sicily. Another important piece
of intelligence reached him from the same
source-that the corps which harassed Missori
had been called in. This left the gallant
Garibaldian better chance of co-operating
with his chief against Reggio, or rather against
the Neapolitan garrison. That body was not
large, only 1,500 men, but the castle was
strong, the city afforded good points of defence,
and a powerful artillery aided it. In the
neighbourhood several brigades of Neapolitans
were placed so as to give prompt succour to
the garrison.
On the evening of the 20th the chief was
within eight miles of his destination, and
there made preparations for attacking the gar-
rison before daylight on the 21st. He had
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
159
ordered Cosenz to embark a force at Faro,
land on the Calabrian coast, and effect a
diversion. This was accomplished. Garibaldi,
dividing his force into two columns, arrived in
the suburbs of the city unperceived. It is
here necessary to observe that it is built upon
a hill side, sloping to the sea somewhat pre-
cipitously. The chief streets run parallel with
the coast, and are intersected by other streets
descending to it. A strongly-built castle and
a neighbouring fort dominate coast and city,
but the city itself is commanded by the hills,
which group as its background. The whole
vicinage is a chain of elevated hills.
Garibaldi's approach took the Neapolitan.
general (Gallotti) by surprise. He expected
that an attack would come some time, but
from the sea, and felt confident of his power
to repel it.
W
At half-past two in the morning the ad-
vanced guard of Bixio silently crept through
the streets to the Piazza; the commander was
Menotti Garibaldi. He had before shown his
father's daring, he now displayed something of
his skill. The rest of the column, with two
companies of Sacchi's brigade, followed, and
without a shot being fired, the Piazza was
occupied. The other attacking column was
commanded by Garibaldi in person. Menotti
Garibaldi was ordered to take up a position in
the lowest of the three streets lying parallel to
the shore. The first exchange of fire was
between the two companies of Sacchi's bri-
gade and a patrol coming up from the coast.
The whole garrison was immediately under
arms, and the clangour of battle filled the
streets. Just then the moon set. The panic-
stricken Neapolitans fled to the castle and the
fört, calling on the saints for protection from
the terrible Garibaldi.
Major Baldimi rushed into the fort by the
rear, the soldiers shouting the name of Gari-
baldi; the unresisting Neapolitans crouched in
terror before the assailants, begging for mercy.
The General of Reggio had now concentrated
all his troops in the strong castle, and barri-
caded the approaches, which he swept with
grape and canister, while he pitched balls and
shells into the city. The defence was formid-
able. Bixio was wounded, the men of his
company were falling, when from the heights
in the rear a fierce roll of musketry was
directed against the castle. Missori had
arrived with his squadre. The gunners in the
castle fell fast under the galling fire of
his riflemen.
Garibaldi had personally other work of im-
portance. The Neapolitan General Brigante
advanced to assist the garrison of Reggio.
Garibaldi threw himself in his path-Brigante
retreated. Garibaldi returned to Reggio. It
was now mid-day; the town was in the hands
of the patriots, but those who wore the uniform
of the tyrant still held the castle. Garibaldi
knowing the terror which prevailed among
them, notwithstanding the strength of the
place resolved to storm it.
On the first symp-
toms of this, a flag of truce was hoisted, and
the commander proposed to capitulate. Gari-
baldi allowed the troops to go by sea to
Naples without disarming them. General
Gallotti justified his easy surrender by assur-
ing the Garibaldian officers that he had sworn
to his wife to preserve his own life, if possible.
The lady stood with him among the astonished
Garibaldians, exulting in his escape, without
appearing to have any juster views of his honour
than he had himself.
Apropos of the gallant conduct of Garibaldi's
firstborn, the following lines by Walter Savage
Landor, addressed to the hero's children, have
an especial interest :-
"Children! be not too proud, although the man
Whom Ocean smiles on with parental love,
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
And Earth from every coast with loud applause
Hails a deliverer, children! is your sire.
Oh, what vast empire have ye to defend !
A name so high, so inaccessible,
Virtues so pure, and courage so humane,
All are your heritage; by liveried serfs,
On right and left, will these be long assail'd:
March ever onward, but march watchfully,
Follow his steps, and ye are safe; depart
One furlong from them and ye sink beneath
The vilest head that ever dozed on throne
Or ever bow'd to it: be true to Faith,
Not Faith recumbent upon downy lies,
But Faith that grasps the hand of Providence
And Justice in this darken'd world of ours,
And bends to One above, to none below.”
Tidings of this victory sped everywhere
through Calabria and the Island of Sicily:
the town, the heights, the shore of Sicily
blazed with illumination, and the many hued
phases of pyrotechnical display. The sea
shone afar off in the glow of those lambent
displays of a people's joy and confidence.
Such rejoicings discouraged the enemy, who
could not but perceive that when the troops
failed the Bourbon, all was lost, for the hearts
of the people were far from him.
to conquer one man. The whole population
turned out, and shouts rent the air of "Gari-
baldi and Victor Emmanuel for ever.
99
Meanwhile, a deputation of the municipality
made its way to the Emma to declare its
unanimity in the cause of Italy; and Salerno
was soon after illuminated like a fairy palace,
General Romano lighting up his house like the
others; the government offices occupied by the
troops alone remaining dark. Dumas says:-
"I procured from my powder-magazine
some Bengal lights and Roman candles, in
three colours, and with these the Emma was
illuminated in her turn. This was loudly
applauded by the Salernitans.
6
"The fête lasted till midnight. Ices and
cakes were sent on board the Emma, and, on
my part, I ordered up some champagne from
my cellar; and the shouts of Viva l'Italia!
viva Garibaldi!' must have quite deafened
the Neapolitan soldiers, who looked on quite
astounded and scared at these demonstrations.”
General Florès wrote from Bari, saying,
that on the 18th August the inhabitants of
Proggia, and the 120 dragoons belonging to
the garrison, had together raised the cry of
He sent
"Long live Victor Emmanuel!"
two companies of the 13th regiment against
them, but they also joined the insurgents.
General Salazar, commandant of the mari-
time station of Messina, also wrote to the
government, stating that Garibaldi had just
been joined by the steamer Queen of England,
with eighteen guns, and 18,000 rifled muskets.
He, therefore, demanded speedy assistance
and orders were consequently given to despatch
to his aid the frigate, the Borbona : but just as
they were about getting up steam, the engineer
disappeared. Thus, on all sides, it was evident
that the fall of the Bourbons was being accom-
plished. The following official news from
Speedily tokens of this were given every-
where as the news of the capture of Reggio
flew from place to place. It would be impos-
sible, within the limits assigned to this work,
to develop the progress of the national rising;
the following instances in which hope and
courage burst forth after the first victory of
Garibaldi will enable the reader to account for
the possibility of many of his exploits, and to
perceive that his audacity, strange and terrible
as it was, was also wisdom. Just at this
juncture, Garibaldi's friend Dumas was in his
own yacht, the Emma, in the bay of Salerno,
and an impression was circulated in the town
and along the shore that Garibaldi was on
board the yacht. In spite of assurances to the
contrary, the general commanding drew out
his whole force in battle array a mile and a
quarter in extent, as if a host were necessary Potenza became widely circulated:
$
;
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
161
"TO THE COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL UNITY
AT NAPLES.
Potenza, 18th August.
"This morning the gendarmes, in number
about 400, led by Captain Castagna, assembled
on the Great Square of Potenza, and were
compelled by the people to shout for Garibaldi
and United Italy.
"The men who formed the front rank at
once responded to the cry: but the captain
shouted 'The King for ever! death to the
nation!' and ordered his men to fire on the
people and the national guard. The two latter,
although not very numerous, at once returned
the fire, and, in the most gallant manner,
compelled the gendarmes to fly, after leaving
behind them on the field of battle, seven
killed, three wounded, and fifteen prisoners.
The rest of the gendarmes are giving them-
selves up by degrees.
"Three of the national guards were slightly
wounded in the skirmish, one of them being
the brave Dominico Alcesta, who was struck
on the temple. During the contest, some
gendarmes entered the house of a poor couple,
killed a child, and wounded both the father
and mother.
“The arms we expected have not yet arrived;
this culpable delay appears to me inexplicable.
I do not attribute the blame to you, but to
those who promised so much; luckily, how-
ever, sporting-guns, poniards, knives, and nails
can be readily made use of as arms by a people
resolved to conquer its liberty.
"What, may I ask, are you doing mean-
while at Naples? What is going on at Avel-
lino, in the Abruzzi, at Campo Basso, and at
Salerno? Rise up boldly; imitate us; the
propitious hour has arrived! To arms in the
name of Italy!
(Signed) "COLONEL BOLDONI.
"MAGNANA, Barrister."
While the cities were thus preparing for
revolution, or in its first stages, the moun-
taineers were in arms, only waiting for leaders.
The royal army was embarrassed by this state
of things, while Garibaldi took it into account
in all his calculations, movements, and con-
tests.
It was one of the striking peculiarities of his
military qualifications, that he possessed some-
thing like an intuitive power to estimate the
relative force of all difficulties and advantages.
His memory also was wonderful. The Con-
queror of Waterloo sadly remarked, when
reviewing the conflict, "I could not remember
everything." Garibaldi, without any such
"The revolution is now in full operation
here, and masses of men are continually pour-
ing in from all parts of the country.
"A provisional government will be pro- experience of large commands, really appeared
claimed this evening.
as if he could "remember everything," and
that, too, in the midst of uttermost peril to
his person and his army.
Ja sam na
Y
P
་
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ADVANCE FROM REGGIO.-A PRIEST AND A FRIAR, GARIBALDI'S JANITORS.-CONQUESTS OF FORTS
AND CITIES.-CAPTURE OF SAN GIOVANNI.-DEATH OF THE GALLANT DE FLOTTE.—REVOLT OF THE
PROVINCE OF BASILICATA.-INGENIOUS CAPTURE OF SALERNO.-ENGLISH OFFICERS.
Alençon." One to ten
Lean, raw-boned rascals. Who would e'er suppose
They had such courage and audacity."-SHAKSPEARE, Henry V.
GARIBALDI did not allow the festivities and
rejoicings of Reggio to detain him, nor did he
tarry because of the grateful homage of the
people to his person. He put himself at once
upon the trail of the enemy. On the 22nd
of August he was ready to proceed from his
advanced position at Accellero. Here a Nea-
politan parlementaire arrived, and sought the
General's quarters. The Austrian general, Bri-
gante, attended by an officer, and preceded by
a trumpeter, arrived very early in the morning.
An interview was granted by the conqueror.
After half an hour's private discussion, Bri-
gante demanded the safe retreat of the column
he commanded, which Garibaldi refused, and
gave orders for the troops to advance.
It is a curious circumstance that in almost
every step of our hero's career in Italy he
had the assistance of some good priest. Ugo
Bassi was the friend, companion, and, in a
sense, aide-de-camp of the hero in his Roman
campaign; Father John and Father Gavazzi
were his most useful helpers in the island of
Sicily; and now, in his campaign of conti-
nental Sicily, two other priests were his con-
stant attendants, and shared very largely his
confidence. One was named Gusmaroli, a
secular clergyman, and the other a Capuchin
friar, named Froscianti.
The life of the former of these priests was
one of great devotion to liberty rather than
to rcligion. He was animated by a deep
hatred of the enemies of his country, espe-
cially of the Austrian invader, and he suffered
accordingly.
The friar was not so prominent a person as
the secular, but both were remarkable men.
Garibaldi was more open to the influence of
ecclesiastics whom he supposed to be sincere
than his officers were. By the army generally,
perhaps none of the priests who attached
themselves to it at any time were thoroughly
trusted, except Ugo Bassi and Gavazzi.
Don Gusmaroli had been the curate of a
hamlet near Mantua. In 1848 he was the
chaplain of the Mantuan volunteers. Soon
after the armistice of Milan, this corps went.
to Rome, and became a part of the army
under the leadership of Garibaldi. Gusmaroli
went through that short but glorious cam-
paign, caring little for the excommunication
of the Pope. At the restoration of Pius IX.,
being impoverished, he returned to his parish.
Watched by the Austrian police, he passed, at
intervals, several months in prison, charged
either with having spread Mazzini's procla-
mations, or with having helped peasants to
pass the frontier in order to escape the
Austrian conscription. At the breaking out.
of the war in 1859, he raised a band of a
hundred volunteers, and joined the Cacciatori,
then organised at Biella by Garibaldi. The
priest became a lieutenant, but was allowed
to follow the staff of Garibaldi more in the
quality of a useful man than in that of an
officer. Though ignorant, Gusmaroli was
-
C
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
163
1
shrewd; and "he knew so well how to obtain
the sympathy of the General, that in a few
months he became one of his favourite attend-
ants. He and the Capuchin were the two
janitors who, night and day, guarded the inner
apartments of the General, anticipating all his
desires, and providing for all his wants."
It was also arranged that messengers should
be sent to Garibaldi to ask for terms. While
this was transacting the inhabitants hoisted
the tricolour, filled the air with shouts for
Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, and made
themselves masters of the place under Nullo's
guidance. Garibaldi approached at dusk, and
took up a position within gun-shot of General
Melendis's quarters.
This Gusmaroli was a valuable man; and so
was the friar, in a lesser degree, to the cor-
respondents of the English and French press,
who were able to glean from him much infor-
mation as to the inner life of Garibaldi in tent
and bivouac, in the barrack of the soldier and
the palace of the Dictator.
Garibaldi, by one of those dexterous ma-
noeuvres for which he is so famous, outflanked
the Austrian brigadier, separated him from
the force under his superior officer, and sum
moned him to surrender. This, after some
Garibaldi's line of march was along the evasion and treachery, was complied with
ridge facing the Straits.
He sent forward an intelligent officer with
six Guides to reconnoitre the road of Villa San
Giovanni. This gentleman (Nullo) was also
attended by a British officer, named Forbes.
No enemy was seen, and the party pushed on
with some precipitation until reaching the
suburb of the town, when suddenly they were
in presence of two squadrons of lancers.
As soon as the capitulation was made, the
Neapolitan soldiers, and most of the officers,
showed the most abject fear, as their superior
officers had given out that Garibaldi would
show no quarter, and the men themselves
being persuaded that both he and his troops
were in league with the devil. Their alarm
was such that they prostrated themselves, and
kissed the feet of the Garibaldians. Some of
the Neapolitan troops were, however, intelli-
gent enough to understand the merits of the
case at issue, and were desirous of an oppor-
tunity of practically proving their patriotism.
Nullo boldly galloped up to the Neapolitan
commander and demanded his surrender.
The surrender of General Melendis was fol-
lowed by that of his superior officer, General
Brigante. According to the terms of the capi-
tulation, the Neapolitan troops were permitted
to embark for Naples.
While Garibaldi was conducting his flank
movement against San Giovanni, two officers
arrived from Cosenz, and gave the following
account of his movements since setting sail
from Faro, in Sicily. The senior of these
gentlemen thus addressed some superior officers
of Garibaldi's staff:-
"Surrender to you!" was the contemptuous.
reply, followed by the question, "where are
your troops?"
To this the reply was given, "Garibaldi will
be here in ten minutes, and I advise you to
spare useless bloodshed, which can neither
benefit your lancers nor the troops of your
general, for they are already outflanked by
General Cosenz,"
The commander hesitated, and then mildly
requested Nullo to speak to General Melendis,
who was with a battalion of light infantry at
the other extremity of the town. Nullo did
so, and demanded that the lancers should be
marched back beyond the bridge which crossed
a river bounding the opposite end of the place.
"Whilst you were engaged in the attack on
Reggio, our expedition left Faro, caring but
164
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
$
little for the Neapolitan cruisers which were
in sight.
Having safely landed our troops
between Scylla and Altafiumara, we took the
mountain tracks, and ascended the high lands
according to the orders received from Garibaldi.
Our march was not much interfered with by the
enemy; for the small body of Neapolitan troops
we met now and then do not deserve to be
noticed, inasmuch as they fled as fast as they
could whenever they saw us.
The advanced
guard of our column, however, was getting
near the village of Solino, when it was met by
some Calabrian volunteers, who told Colonel
De Flotte, under whose orders the guard was
placed, that the village was then occupied by
the 5th battalion of the Neapolitan Cacciatori.
De Flotte was not the officer to wait for rein-
forcements, and he knew, besides, that the two
small companies of Frenchmen and Englishmen
he had with him were quite strong enough to
meet and rout a battalion of Francis II. On
entering the village, they were attacked by the
enemy, whom they repulsed after a short com-
bat. The positions had just been carried at the
point of the bayonet, when poor Colonel De
Flotte, anxious to make prisoners of a few
Neapolitans, ran towards a lane of the village,
sword in hand, summoning them to surrender;
but at the corner of the lane one of the Neapo-
litan Cacciatori, who was concealed in a house,
shot him dead on the spot. You may take my
word for it that the French fully revenged the
death of their brave commander. As soon as
Solino was occupied by our troops (who, after
De Flotte's death, were led by Captain Good-
all, a dashing young Englishman), the Neapo-
litan sharp-shooter fell into their hands, and
was shot on the ground, without the benefit of
a court-martial.
"We were allowed to follow our march with-
out being further molested, and I have been
sent with my comrade to inform Garibaldi that
we are occupying a position above Villa San
Giovanni, whose church you can distinguish
amidst the grove of orange trees below.
"We buried the body of De Flotte in the
churchyard of the village, and a subscription
has been opened amongst the officers of our
brigade to erect a monument worthy of him.”
The gallant French officer, De Flotte, who
fell on this occasion, was a warm friend of
Garibaldi's,—a burning enthusiast,—his whole
soul devoted to the liberty of mankind of what-
ever colour, nation, race, or creed. His cha-
racter was singular, and his idiosyncrasies were
always excellencies. Garibaldi deemed that his
name was worthy of being perpetuated, and
held in esteem by the brave and free. Ac-
cordingly, in his order of the day of the 26th
of August, he thus made mention of him :-
"We have lost De Flotte.
"The epithets of a brave, honest, and true
democrat are insufficient to represent all the
heroism of one who possessed so incomparable
a spirit.
"De Flotte, a noble son of France, was one
of those privileged beings whom no one country
has the right of exclusively claiming. M. de
Flotte belongs to the whole of mankind: for
that country was his wherever a suffering people
was struggling for liberty. De Flotte died for
Italy, and fought for it as he would have fought
for France, This illustrious man has given a
precious pledge to that fraternising of nations,
the development of which is the cherished object
of humanity. Slain in the ranks of the Chas-
seurs des Alpes, he was, together with many of
his brave fellow-countrymen, a fit representa-
tive of that generous nation which, although it
may halt for a moment in its progress, is, never-
theless, destined by Providence to form the van-
guard of peoples, and of the civilisation of the
world.
"G. GARIBALDI."
A
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
165
He was the friend of Alexander Dumas, who thing, he would not only, as they say in Eng-
thus notices him :-
land, cut me off with a shilling, but have me
imprisoned at once. So I was compelled to
remain, and to go through many hard trials;
for, my liberal opinions having been detected,
I was looked upon as one of the black sheep of
the flock. Although I am grieved to see an
army disband in this shameful manner, yet I
assure you that this is the happiest day of my
life."
"It was at the fight of Solino that De Flotte,
for the first time in his life, wielded a deadly
weapon. In all the previous battles he had
been engaged in, he stood with his arms crossed
in the midst of the fire, watching and encourag-
ing his men. I had offered him a rifle as well
as a revolver, but he refused them both, with
these prophetic words :- On the day that I
shall kill, on that day shall I be killed myself!'
"At the attack of Solino, however, he was
armed with a rifle, with which he shot two
Neapolitans, and was himself mortally wounded
on the field of battle by the large ball of a
musketoon."
Garibaldi marched upon the fort of Altafiu-
mara. It surrendered without a struggle.
The next advance was upon Scylla, which
fell also without a conflict; fear of Garibaldi
paralysed generals and troops to such a degree
that resistance was impossible.
On the march to Scylla, a young Neapolitan
officer of distinction, a prisoner, gave the fol-
lowing singular account to the officers of Gari-
baldi's staff, of the spirit and condition of the
army in which he was a captain :—
"I am the only son of a general who was
an intimate friend of Ferdinand II. Brought
up at the military school of the Annunziatella,
I was compelled by my father to follow the
career of a soldier. Having joined my regiment,
it was not long before I discovered that many
of my brother officers were secret agents of the
king's police, continually bent on eliciting the
liberal feelings of their comrades, in order to
denounce them. I was so disgusted at finding
that the military uniform covered such degraded
beings, that I wrote to my father to say I
was determined to resign my commission. At
this intimation he fell into a violent passion,
and wrote back that, if I dared to do such a
This noble young soldier enlisted on the
march in one of the patriot battalions, and
soon after perished before Capua.
Garibaldi prosecuted his march through
Calabria. His enemy, General Brigante, after
the capitulation (already recorded), was mur-
dered at Melito by his own soldiers, who after-
wards buried his dead body with his horse.
•
General Ghio, who was the next officer of
importance likely to cross our hero's way,
retired before him, and Garibaldi permitted
him to do so unmolested, although the guerillas
of Calabria would have cut off his corps had
Garibaldi permitted. The General was of
opinion that all these Bourbon soldiers might
be gained for the national cause, and with this
opinion he justified that indisposition to shed
blood which he always displayed when the
emergencies of the occasion did not overrule
his wishes. Garibaldi's object was not to slay
the corps of Ghio, but to compel it to capitu-
late. He therefore with a small body of Cac-
ciatori and National Guards pursued, ordering
Türr and his corps to follow as quickly as pos-
sible to his support. So great was the audacity
of Garibaldi and the cowardice of Ghio, that
the latter with his corps retired, when he might
easily have turned and captured the pursuer.
At last the fugitive Neapolitan made a stand
at Savoria Manelli, which is upon the high
road from Catanzaro to Naples. Garibaldi
and a body of Calabrese turned upon the hills
166
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
;
1
1
in flank of the town, where the troops of Ghio,
amounting to 7,000 infantry and about 2,000
cavalry and artillery, were partly in an en-
trenched camp before the town and partly in the
town itself. Not fearing any attack from the
quarter from which it came, he had formed no
outposts, sent forth no pickets, and even esta-
blished no suburban sentries. The Calabrese,
dispersing, opened a destructive fire upon the
aggregated mass of troops. Colonel Peard, at
the head of a few mountaineers, entered the
town, and found every one ready to submit.
Peard advanced to the general, and demanded
his surrender. The coward chief seemed glad
to be able to do so without fighting. He had
then the meanness and presumption to ask
Garibaldi for his arrears of pay, and money to
pay his expenses to Naples, whither he was to
be permitted to depart.
On the 30th of August, at this place, Gari-
baldi received intelligence of what had passed
in Naples up to the 25th, and sent by sea
despatches to Liborio Romano, the minister,
stating that whatever policy that official pur-
sued, it must have regard to the safety of the
city. He further urged the importance of pre-
venting any outbreak of the people until he
appeared before the place,
On the 31st the march was resumed, and
rapidly executed until the force reached Co-
senza. At this place the revolution had been
consummated. General Calandrelli had capi-
tulated to the people, and was permitted to
depart for Naples. Garibaldi was resolved to
prevent his arrival there, and ordered Türr to
intercept him with a considerable body of
troops lately landed as auxiliaries.
Garibaldi himself, attended by a small
retinue of officers, and with a few light troops,
pressed on with extraordinary rapidity to over-
take the retreating general, who, whatever his
other talents may have been, possessed a capa-
:
city for flight which showed him to be a man
of energy in one direction at least. In the
pursuit our hero entered the province of Basili-
cata (ancient Lucania).
General Calandrelli had surrendered to Cosenz.
A deputation from Naples reached Garibaldi, to
inform him that Count Cavour had ordered them
to have a Sardinian provisional government
proclaimed in Naples before Garibaldi should
arrive. These gentlemen seemed to think that
the Dictator should acquiesce in this plan, the
object of which was to make it appear that
Naples had been liberated without any help
from him, and that a spontaneous desire to
unite with Piedmont, irrespective of Garibaldi
or his coadjutors, made Naples free. Thus at
every point intrigue in the court and cabinet
of Turin thwarted Garibaldi. Cavour was
willing to use him as an instrument that could
be at any time thrown away, but could not
endure that the hero should wear the laurels he
won, or gather any that Cavour could pluck
from his grasp, without, in doing so, impeding
his own policy. Garibaldi sent back this
deputation with disdain. They did not express
the mind of the people of Naples, but only of
the emissaries of Count Cavour and a certain
very limited circle.
Garibaldi pushed on for Naples with re-
doubled activity, notwithstanding that he
showed repeatedly indications of fatigue. He
received intelligence from Salerno that the
enemy had abandoned that place, and directed
his retreat upon Capua by way of Nocera.
This force of the enemy consisted of 12,000
infantry, a proportionate force of well-dis-
ciplined cavalry, and 30 pieces of artillery.
Had they chosen to act on the defensive with
courage and address, they could only have
been conquered after much sacrifice of life by
the Garibaldians. A singular scheme, effected
by a few officers of a reconnoitring party sent
辈子
​
OUTTON
Dumala
1877
ENEW
CHATO
NAPLES.
From the Mole.
LONDON JAMES AND
MALLUNYED
****
TEED
EMON
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
167
out by the General, occasioned the retreat of political enemy, to abandon a sinking cause,
the Neapolitans.
which must be your ruin."
On the 4th of September the English Colonel
Peard, the English naval officer, Commander
Forbes, and Gallenga, arrived in the town of
Eboli. The inhabitants and the chief magis-
trate mistook Peard for Garibaldi. At first
this was denied, but perceiving that the mistake
might be made advantageous, they resolved
to gain by it whatever might prove useful.
They proceeded to the telegraph-office. In
1859, Gallenga had followed the march of the
Tuscan army, then commanded by Ulloa, and
was therefore on good terms with that general,
who was supposed to have succeeded General
Pianelli as Francis II.'s Minister of War. On
entering the office, Gallenga, having exchanged
a few words in English with Colonel Peard,
thus telegraphed to General Ulloa :-
"Eboli, 11.30 p.m.-Garibaldi has arrived
with 5,000 men, and 5,000 Calabrese are
momentarily expected. Disembarkations are
anticipated in the Bay of Naples and the Gulf
of Salerno to-night. I strongly advise you to
withdraw the garrison from the latter place
without delay, or they will be cut off; and let
me beg of you, as a personal friend, but a
The minister telegraphed to Eboli, "Any
news of the division of Calandrelli ?" To this
Peard and Gallenga answered, "General
Calandrelli and his division passed yesterday
under the orders of Garibaldi at Lagonegro,
and now form a portion of the National Army."
Other telegrams were sent by these two officers
to the Sindaco of Salerno, ordering him to
prepare many thousand rations for the next
day. Thus completely deceived, the minister
at Naples and the general at Salerno were
equally anxious to bring off the troops in
safety.
WHILE Garibaldi was marching, a conqueror,
obtaining laurels so easily won, Naples and its
king was in a state of great agitation, and the
court full of vindictive rage. His Majesty
Garibaldi soon entered the place amidst
popular acclamations. A deputation from
| Naples, not of intriguers under the influence
of the Turin ministry, but of prominent
citizens, came to our hero at Salerno, urging
his immediate march upon Naples. Garibaldi,
accompanied by only thirteen officers of his staff,
and several English gentlemen, set off for that
city. Before, however, relating the facts of
his triumphant entry, it is necessary to state
the events which had transpired in the great
city since Garibaldi's landing in Calabria.
CHAPTER XXV.
NAPLES : OBSTINACY OF THE KING.-REACTION, INTRIGUE, AND REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS.
POPULAR ENTHUSIASM FOR GARIBALDI.-THE KING LEAVES THE CITY.
"On all sides, from innumerable tongues,
A dismal, universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn.”—MILTON.
G
attributed all his misfortunes to the wiles of
the Emperor Napoleon. This appears from a
letter which he wrote to that potentate :-
"You have advised me to grant constitu-
168
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
tional institutions to a people that has not
asked for them, and I acceded to your request.
You have caused me to abandon Sicily without
fighting, promising that, by so doing, the pos-
session of my kingdom should be guaranteed
to me.
Hitherto the Great Powers seemed to
have persisted in their idea of abandoning me.
But I must warn your Majesty that I have
resolved not to abdicate my throne without fight-
ing for it. I shall make an appeal to the justice
of Europe, which must know that I will de-
fend Naples whenever I may be attacked.”
It is surprising that, possessing any intelli-
gence, the king could address such false state-
ments to the emperor, as that he had aban-
doned Sicily without fighting. Certainly his
troops fought badly, and were beaten by infe-
rior numbers; but they did all their capacity
allowed, not only to resist in the field and the
fortress, but to inspire terror by the most atro-
cious and cowardly cruelties.
It would appear that when statesmen or
princes acquire the habit of lying to those who
dare not contradict them, they also become
possessed of an audacity which emboldens them
to assert the most glaring falsehoods, where
they are sure to be discredited.
The generals of the king imposed upon him, as
he so long imposed upon others. The vanquished
commander of Reggio assured him that he only
surrendered from want of food; and similarly
weak and false reasons were assigned by the
officers in command of the other strong places
surrendered to General Garibaldi, to account
for their capitulations.
Carisilas arrived at the office of the Neapo-
litan Minister for War, informing him that
Basilicata had revolted, and proclaimed Gari-
baldi dictator. The minister immediately pro-
posed that the king should abandon Naples,
and allow the revolution to take its course.
His Majesty refused, expecting aid from the
Emperor Napoleon, who having advised him
so far, would, he thought, be compelled in
honour to send him help.
A newspaper, called The Garibaldi, was
published in Naples, which, with wonderful
temerity, advocated the cause of the revolution.
The committee at Naples sent forth agents
and money to assist the organisation of revolt
in the provinces, and 100,000 muskets, many
it is true not of a very good description, were
sent from various quarters into Calabria.
At this juncture, the king's uncle, who had
before given him liberal counsel, which he had
rejected under the influence of his chosen
clique of advisers, clerical and lay, once more
offered his advice. It was contained in a letter,
which is one of the most remarkable documents
connected with the struggle:
“Sire,
"Although, when I formerly warned you of
the dangers which threatened our house, my
words were not listened to; yet, at the present
moment, when my voice is raised to forbode
greater evils, let me entreat that you will
listen to my advice and not be led to reject
it by evil counsellors.
"The change which has just come over
Italy, and the craving for national unity, so
decidedly manifested within the few months-
since the capture of Palermo-have deprivedl
your Majesty's government of that power which
is indispensable to the support of a state, and
have rendered an alliance with Piedmont utterly
impracticable.
"The people of Upper Italy, horrified at
the cruelties perpetrated in Sicily, have repelled
by their avowed sympathy the ambassadors
from Naples; and we are now reduced to the
sad extremity of testing our fate by an appeal
to arms, unsupported by any alliance, and
exposed to the resentment of the masses, who,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
169
throughout Italy, have risen at the cry of ex-
termination, levelled at our house, which has,
alas! become the object of universal reproba-
tion.
"The civil war, already raging on the
peninsula of Italy, will inevitably drag down
this dynasty into that abyss which the intrigues
of perverse advisers have for a long time past
prepared for the posterity of Charles III. of
Bourbon.
"The blood of citizens, uselessly shed, will
again inundate the thousand cities of your
kingdom; and you, sire, in whom once centered
the hope and love of your people, will be re-
garded with horror, as the sole cause of a fratri-
cidal war.
While there is yet time, sire, save
our house from the maledictions of all Italy.
"Follow the noble example of our royal
kinsman at Parma, who, at the moment when
civil war broke out, released his subjects from
their allegiance, and allowed them to be the
arbiters of their own destiny.
"Europe and your own subjects will know
how to appreciate so sublime a sacrifice, and
you will then be able to look confidently up
to the Almighty, who will recompense the
magnanimous act performed by your Majesty.
"Your heart, after having been steeped in
misfortune, will expand with the noble aspira-
tions of patriotism, and you will bless the day
in which you so generously sacrificed yourself
to the grandeur of Italy.
"In addressing you, sire, in these terms, I
only fulfil the sacred obligation which my
experience imposes on me, and I pray that
Heaven may direct you in the right course and
render you worthy of its blessings.
"Your Majesty's affectionate uncle,
"LEOPOLD, Count of Syracuse."
This produced no effect. His Majesty per-
sisted in expressing his surprise that all should
forsake him; he could not understand why the
persecutions, repressions, incarcerations, and
murders perpetrated by his dynasty should
make it the subject of universal malediction.
Shortly after the solemn warning of the
Count of Syracuse, troops were sent in several
directions to suppress provincial revolt, and
the sack and pillage of the revolted towns
promised to the soldiery as the reward of
success"Quem Deus vult perdere prius
dementat."
The most influential minister of the king,
Liborio Romano, endeavoured to preserve the
liberties of the Neapolitans, although a state
of siege was declared; but the king, deaf to
all advice except it came from the reactionists,
invaded these immunities, and added fresh
exasperations to the public hatred against him.
The queen's mother was obliged to reside at
Gaeta, the influence of Romano having secured
her banishment thither. The brothers and
uncles of the king, with the exception of the
Count of Syracuse, counselled the king to his
irreparable ruin.
Count Trani, Count Aquila, Prince Charles,
and Prince Louis considered that the honour
of the dynasty could only be consulted by
suppressing the revolution and the constitu-
tion together by arms.
Nevertheless, the king dreaded the approach
of Garibaldi, and caused his plate, jewels, and
treasures to a vast amount to be sent away by
sea. He then opposed Liborio Romano openly,
and frustrated every measure of conciliation
adopted by that minister.
Some singular circumstances, the authen-
ticity of which depend altogether upon the
testimony of Alexander Dumas, now occurred.
Dumas had written to the minister, informing
him that he "considered it impossible for an
intelligent man like himself to entertain any
hope of preserving the dynasty of the Bour-
Z
170
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
bons in Naples; and I pointed out to him the
advantages that would accrue to him as a
statesman, the honour he would acquire as a
patriot, if he would consent to withdraw from
Francis II. the support of his own popular
name, and, by declaring himself his enemy
thereby, become one of the elements of his fall.
"Liborio Romano stated, by way of reply,
that he should expect to see me the same
evening at his own house. In return, I urged
that a description of my person had been
officially published at Naples, and that, if I
went to his house, he would be himself thereby
seriously compromised, and that, in our re-
spective situations, it would be more proper for
him to address me than for me to address him.
"Muratori conveyed my answer to him. Two
hours afterwards, when it was quite dark, a
boat came alongside of my yacht, containing
two men and two women; one of the former
wore a cloak and a hat with a wide brim,
which shrouded his face. This was no other
than Liborio Romano. Our mutual introduc-
tion was short; we shook hands and embraced
each other.
“I then drew him to a corner in the after
part of the yacht, and we entered into con-
versation together.
Alex. Dumas the First by Emile de Girardin.
As the General's friend, I thus stood alone,
and held no direct power from him, but only
two letters from him to serve as my credentials
amongst the patriots.
"That may explain why Liborio addressed
himself to me. He proceeded to say: 'I will
struggle for the constitutional cause as well as
I can. When, however, I find that a struggle
on my part is no longer of any avail, I will
send in my resignation, then retire to your
yacht; and, according to the state of affairs at
Naples, either join Garibaldi, or declare the
king a traitor to the constitution before the
national guard and the people.'
<
"Do you really mean to do that?' said I.
"I give you my word of honour I will.'
"I take your word for it,' continued I.
But, after what I was told on board the flag-
ship of Admiral Le Barbier de Tinan, I find
that my flag is not sure of meeting with pro-
tection. Allow me, therefore, to make an
approach to the English admiral with the view
of securing that refuge for you on board his
ship which you would not meet with on my
boat, as M. de Missiessi is pleased to call it.'
"Do this as you propose; but matters may
come to such a crisis this evening that I may
have to retire from the ministry to-morrow.'
"Such was the state of political circum-
stances when Liborio Romano, knowing that
I was Garibaldi's intimate friend, came to
explain his position to me.
“There was no one then at Naples specially "Either through the instrumentality of
accredited on the part of Garibaldi. Car- Madame, one of the two ladies who
|
bonelli and Mignona, his two agents, had have accompanied me here, and to whom I
already proceeded to Basilicata, to stir up a will introduce you; or else through that of
revolt in that province. On the departure of Cozzolongo, my secretary. Moreover, my
the former, I gave him a revolver which had intimate friend Muratori will always be ready
been presented to me by Madame Ristori. to act as a medium of communication between
Brother John, too, Garibaldi's chaplain, had us, when practicable.'
gone to I Vallo with two hundred francs I
had given him, and the revolver presented to
"This concluded our discussion, and when
Liborio Romano had introduced me to Ma-
"When you shall have left I shall go too;
but by what medium can we then communicate
with each other?"

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
171
dame and her companion, they left the
yacht together. I then repaired on board the
Hannibal, and inquired for the admiral. He
then happened to be ashore, but was expected
to return shortly; so, in his absence I was
received by the commander. Within ten
minutes' time, however, the admiral made his
appearance on board. I explained my situa-
tion to him, and pointed out to his attention
that through the conversation I had had with
two French naval officers, I learned that my
yacht could not be regarded as a safe refuge
for a dismissed minister. I therefore requested
him to give an asylum to Liborio Romano on
board the Hannibal, in case of need.
"The admiral, in that cordial spirit which
is so characteristic of the English navy, sent
immediately for the commander. 'Captain,'
said he, 'have your cabin in readiness after
this evening to receive Liborio Romano, in
case he may desire to withdraw from the town
and come on board the Hannibal.' The com-
mander bowed in acquiescence, and left the
room. I thanked the admiral for his courtesy,
and returned to my yacht.
"The next day, Madame brought
me a portrait, and the following brief note
from Liborio Romano :-'I beg of you to
write underneath this likeness, "the portrait
of a coward," should I fail to keep the pro-
mise I made to you last night.
"""
One reactionary attempt after another quickly
followed, and it was even contemplated by the
absolutist party to make away with Romano.
The chief of all the plots for reaction, and of
all the measures which were disastrous to the
dynasty, were organised by the king himself,
or when suggested to him, espoused with all
his authority and influence. The nuncio and
bishops were his principal coadjutors.
Soon after the visit paid by Romano to
Dumas, he was honoured by a visit from the
Count of Syracuse, which was as remarkable as
that of the minister. Dumas, our authority,
alone sustains this relation also :-
"The day before that on which a small
reactionary conspiracy was to break out, the
very day when the letter of the Count of
Syracuse appeared, that prince sent M. Testa,
his physician, to tell me that he had not for-
gotten our acquaintance made in 1835, and to
add that he should be delighted to see me
again. I sent him word, in reply, that if he
would do me the honour to come on board the
Emma, he should be doubly welcome, both as
a friend and as a patriot.
"The very next day he came on board.
"After cordial salutations had been ex-
changed between us, the prince looked up at
me, and began to laugh. 'Well,' said he,
'what do you think of the present posture of
affairs?"
"I think that if your highness had ac-
cepted the proposition I made to you fifteen
years ago, you would have spared Naples and
Sicily a great deal of blood, and your house
many misfortunes.'
"That is very true,' said he; but who
could have foretold all that has happened?'
“Either a prophet or a poet.'
“Well, then, as prophet or poet, what do
you advise me to do?'
"I advise your highness-
666
-
""
"Here he interrupted me by a shrug of the
shoulders, and went on to say, 'At the present
day, where are the "princes" and "high-
nesses of the house of Bourbon? We are
all condemned, my dear Dumas, and are
irresistibly impelled down a declivity. Louis
XVI. showed us the road to the scaffold;
Charles X. the way to exile; and happy are
those who will be quit of their troubles with
exile.'
"Well, then, my dear prince, as you have
S
172
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
reachel this degree of historical philosophy,
why do you still remain at Naples ?'
"Because, until to-day, I thought I could
struggle successfully against reaction; now I
feel my inability and retire.'
the prisoners taken in the various conflicts
and capitulations already related. On one of
these occasions the Garibaldian in charge was
Orrigini. He had thirty officers and some
hundred soldiers as captives, to be landed in
“Well, what do you say to my letter?'
"I find it to be the more cruel on account
of its implacable truth.'
"You know Liborio Romano, don't you?'
"Only within the last three days; but that
interval has sufficed to make him my friend.'
"That you may well do, now that you have Naples. Orrigini was a man of rare qualities,
shot off your arrow.'
and one of those men of singular capacity and
purity of motive who held a deep place in
Garibaldi's heart. He had been with the hero
in all his fields of action-Monte Video, Lom-
| bardy, Rome, Sicily; and then in Calabria.
When Garibaldi was an exile and a wanderer,
after the fall of Rome, Orrigini shared his
exile and his wanderings. He was as if the
echo of the great leader's footstep, and the
voice of his lips. Where the fragrance is,
the flower is near; Orrigini was seldom seen,
that Garibaldi was not at hand.
"You choose your friends well. He is the
man--the only man in Naples. But warn him
to be on his guard.'
“On your part?'
"Yes; if you like.'
The arrival of this man was of great
importance to the cause of Naples. He was
competent to communicate the views of Gari-
baldi to the patriots. Romano was able to
gather from him the real prospects of Gari-
baldi's campaign, as seen from his point of
view, and thus informed, the minister could
advise the king for the best, whom, it is
generally believed, he was really desirous to
save, if he would govern constitutionally. Still
"Yes, prince, I do.'
“You think I can do no good by staying the situation of the minister was itself most
here?"
"Your longer stay would only cause dis-
trust to all parties.'
hazardous. His life was in danger from the
Bourbonists. Spies were hired by the royalist
party, who made offers to various persons in
“Well; I will come and see you again the liberal interest to assassinate the king, in
to-morrow.
order that, if such a sham attempt were made,
discredit might be thrown upon the cause of
freedom. Some of these spies were arrested
by the instrumentality of Romano, and others.
were denounced by Dumas as having made
diabolical overtures to him.
At this period great sensation was produced
at Naples by the frequent arrivals of Gari-
baldian steamers, under flag of truce, bearing | lation, brought fresh intelligence of Garibaldi
The arrival of another Garibaldian flag of
truce, covering more prisoners under a capitu-
"We then chatted about Paris, where we
had seen each other five or six times between
our two political interviews, and about the
bygone days of our youth, and various topics.
"The prince, after an interval of mental
abstraction, tinged with sadness, suddenly
returned to our original subject.
"You, then, as well as others, advise me.
to leave?'
"He rose up, and, after renewed mutual
salutations, got into his boat, and went on
board the Sardinian admiral's ship. On the
following night the royalist conspiracy broke
out."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
173
and his triumphs. Captain Orlandini, who
commanded, while performing the duties im-
mediately assigned to him, had opportunities
of serving the general cause. Dumas relates :—
“Just about this time, Romano sent his
secretary, Cozzolongo, over to me, and I
availed myself of the opportunity of trans-
mitting to him the Count of Syracuse's warn-
ing, that he should take care of himself. I
also added some details about Garibaldi's
movements, which I stated I had obtained
from the vessel bearing the flag of truce. An
hour after Cozzolongo had left, Romano told
Muratori to bring the Garibaldian captain to
him. He also asked me to accompany him,
notifying to me that as he was minister of
police, I could not possibly run any risk by
landing. I replied to him that I was not
deterred from landing through any risk I
might thereby incur, but by the promise I
had made to Garibaldi not to re-enter Naples
but with him; and that therefore Muratori
must be content with the company of Captain
Orlandini only, in returning to the palace of
Riviera-Chiaia.
"At the appointed hour, Orlandini came
on board the Emma. My yacht, as I have
already stated, was moored at the distance of
only two hundred yards from the king's win-
dows, which were easily recognisable by the
strips of cloth hanging before them, to keep
off the sun's rays.
"For the last two days I had had fourteen
tailors on deck, making red shirts in readiness
for some of the Neapolitan insurgents to put
on at the proper moment. The day before, I
had forwarded a hundred of these shirts to
Salerno by four persons, each of whom wore
twenty-five of them. As may be supposed,
the thinnest of the four appeared of awful
size; as for the others, they were scarcely
human in form-luckily, it was night-time.
66
Orlandini was greatly astonished at what
he had witnessed. He had gone into the
town, and had seen everywhere portraits of
Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel. A crowd
of bathers near the Emma shouted 'Garibaldi
for ever!' and a party of young people in
a boat sang the 'Marseillaise' in their own
dialect.
"I had ordered up my best champagne,
my Follet-Louis, and my Greno, and about
fifty young men belonging to Naples, whom
we could not accommodate at dinner in con-
sequence of the small size of the table, drank
to the Dictator's health with the wine placed
before them.
"All this, I repeat, took place within two
hundred yards of the king's palace, who could
not look out on the bay without his eyes being
tormented at the sight of the two masts of my
yacht.
"Eight o'clock was the hour fixed upon for
M. Orlandini to go to Liborio Romano's house.
Just as he was about to leave, I ordered the
crew to display some green, red, and white
Bengal lights, Roman candles, and other fire-
works. So the captain stepped into the yawl
in the midst of a fiery eruption from the
Emma, which seemed as if she were inclined
to defy Vesuvius. Two of these Roman
candles were borne by two commissioners of
police.
66
Thus, you see, it is impossible to conspire
more openly than we do.
“Two hours afterwards, Orlandini returned.
Romano had repeated to him the promises
he had before made to me, that he might
convey them to Garibaldi. The chief source
of anxiety and care now left for the ministry
was to spare Naples, if possible, the horror of
a bombardment.
"As Romano shrewdly suspected something
would occur during the night, he left his
174
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
house with the intention of not returning
before the next morning.
"Orlandini, feeling on his part anxious to
know what was going to happen, promised me
that he would not leave Naples until the next
day, at noon, and that he would breakfast with
me on board my yacht.
"What did occur was the attempt at a
reaction, or rather, the reactionary movement
in earnest.
"Towards nine o'clock in the evening, a
youth employed at Ferrante's printing-office,
named Francesco Diana, presented himself
before the commissioner, Antonio Davino,
telling him that an hour before a Frenchman,
named Hercule de Souchères, had directed to
be taken to his lodging, No. 6, Largo Santa
Teresa, a quantity of printed papers, which
he, Diana, thought likely to compromise the
security of the state; but as the commissioner
did not attach much importance to his decla-
ration, he insisted that they should take pos-
session of these papers by forthwith searching
Souchères' house, where they would certainly
be found..
He declared at the same
time, that, before withdrawing the copies of
the manifestoes printed by Carlo Zumachi, he
had gathered, from some observations made
by Souchères in a confidential chat, on the
occasion of his delivering up the MS. copy
to be printed, that their aim was to stir up
a bloody reactionary movement, at the head
of which persons of the highest importance
would figure, and which was to break out on
the following day, 30th August, at noon. A
formal declaration to the above effect was then
drawn up and signed by Diana. At midnight,
Bardari, the prefect of police, proceeded to
M. Souchères' house, arrested him, and found
there fifty-five proclamations.
"Besides these proclamations, various papers
were found, but the only one among them of
any importance was a letter, written by M. de
Souchères, indicating the respective parts that
the king, the royal family, and the clergy were
to play in this conspiracy.
"At midnight, the minister went to the
king to inform him of the attempted reac-
tionary movement, with which his Majesty was
perfectly well acquainted. Francis II. listened
to the recital, not without showing some bitter-
ness; then, addressing the minister of police,
he tartly observed: 'Don Liborio, you seem
more skilful in discovering royalist plots than
liberal conspiracies.'
(
"Sire,' replied Don Liborio, that is
because royalist plots are hatched at night,
and by very few persons; whereas liberal con-
spiracies are hatched in the day-time, and by
the whole body of the people.'
"Besides,' said the king, without appear-
ing to heed Romano's rejoinder, 'I knew of
a French priest who did conspire in a reac-
tionary sense, but he got away.'
"Your Majesty is mistaken,' replied Ro-
mano; 'he is now under arrest.'
66 6
Well, then,' said the king, with some
impatience, 'let him be sent to the criminal
court, and be put upon his trial.'
"The minister then took his leave. The
next day, M. Brenier* called upon Romano to
demand the liberation of M. de Souchères,
saying, deprecatingly, 'Of what use is it to
keep a poor wretched priest in prison?'
"Oh, indeed,' said Romano, if he be a
priest he must be all the more dangerous.'
So the minister kept M. de Souchères in prison,
notwithstanding the pressing solicitations of
M. Brenier. The affair was, indeed, of the
most serious kind, for it compromised the
Count of Trani and the Count of Caserta, who
had dictated the proclamation. As for General
* French minister at Rome.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
175
Cutrofiano, he had contented himself with cor-
recting the proofs. The same day I received
a message from Romano, which ran thus:
There is war now between the king and
myself; either he shall quit Naples, or I shall
quit the ministry.'
"The next morning the Count of Syracuse
came on board the Emma. He knew all that
had taken place during the night-the nomi-
nation of Cutrofiano to the chief command of
the place, and that of Prince Ischitella to the
command of the national guard. He asked
me if I had had any news from Romano. He
had been told that minister had been arrested
during the night while in bed. I reassured
him on that point, by telling him that Romano
had not slept at home. The prince left me
in a state of great agitation, and told me that
he should start to-morrow, at the latest."
His royal highness took refuge on board a
Sardinian frigate.
Count Arrivabene draws from this relation
of Dumas inferences as unjust as they are
unfavourable to the Count of Syracuse. He
describes his conduct as heartless, but does
not quote the records Dumas gave of these
interviews to prove his allegation. The quo-
tations we have given confute Arrivabene's
assertion. The count clung to the positive
and perverse king until all hope of utility in
doing so expired in the midst of renewed
reactionary plots.
Arrivabene affects a sympathy for the royal
family which has a sentimental and fashion-
able air about it, while he asserts the right-
eousness of the popular cause. Never did
prince less deserve sympathy in his fall.
The people of Naples were deeply agitated
when the king, by a coup d'état, dismissed his
ministry and his acknowledged constitutional
obligations together, and it soon became
obvious to the reactionists that either the
-
king must leave Naples, or it must become
The
a scene of revolution and bloodshed.
citizens petitioned his Majesty to leave, and
thereby save the city from destruction. On
the 4th of September he sent for Romano,
and gave his consent to have the city spared
by taking his own departure. On the 5th he
had interviews with the French and other
ambassadors, and prepared to depart. Spinelli,
the minister, was ordered to write the king's
farewell to his people, and not Liborio Romano,
as alleged by Arrivabene, although it was
actually written by him. It was as follows
66
Amongst the duties prescribed to kings,
those that belong to the days of misfortune are
the greatest and the most solemn, and these
I intend to fulfil with resignation, free from
weakness, and with a serene and confident
heart, as befits the descendant of so many
monarchs.
"Thus actuated, I once more address my
voice to the people of my kingdom, from
whom I am now about to depart with bitter
grief.
"An unjust war, carried on in contraven-
tion of the law of nations, has invaded my
states, notwithstanding that I was at peace
with all the European powers.
"The important changes which led to my
adhesion to great national principles, were not
sufficient to ward off the mischief; moreover,
the necessity of defending the integrity of the
estate entailed upon me the obligations of
events which I have always deplored; there-
fore I solemnly protest against this invasion,
and confidently appeal from it to the justice
of all civilised nations.
"The diplomatic corps residing at my court
has all along known the sentiments of my
heart in favour of my people generally, as
well as for this illustrious city. My anxious
176
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
war,
desire to secure this metropolis from ruin and
to save her inhabitants and all their
property, her sacred churches, her monuments,
her public buildings, her collections of art,
and all that which forms the patrimony of
her civilisation and of her greatness, and an
inheritance to future generations, is a senti-
ment that should soar above the influence of
temporary passions.
"The time has now come for me to act up
to these professions. The war is now ap-
proaching the walls of the city, and with
unutterable grief I am now about to depart
with a portion of my army, to betake myself
whither the defence of my rights calls me.
The remainder of my army will remain, in
order to protect the inviolability and safety
of the capital, which I recommend as a sacred
treasure to the zealous care of the ministry;
and I call upon the honour and the civic
feeling of the mayor of Naples and of the
commandant of the national guard, to spare
our most beloved country the horrors of in-
ternal discord and the disasters of civil war.
For this purpose I concede to the above-
named functionaries the fullest powers that
they may require.
"As a descendant of a dynasty that has
reigned over this country for one hundred and
twenty-six years, the affections of my heart
are rooted here. I am a Neapolitan, and
cannot, without bitter grief, address the words
of farewell to my dearly beloved people.
Whatever may be my destiny, be it pros-
perous or adverse, I shall always preserve for
them an affectionate remembrance. I recom-
mend to them concord, peace, and a strict
observance of their civic duties. Let not an
excessive zeal for my fate be made a pretence
for turbulent proceedings.
"Whether it may please the justice of God.
to restore me to the throne of my ancestors or
not, all that I pray for from this time forth is
to behold again my people united, strong, and
happy.
"FRANCIS II.”
"On the morning of the 6th the king
signed a great many decrees; at two o'clock
in the afternoon he received the ministers, and
bade them adieu in the following terms:-
'Gentlemen, I am compelled to depart; but
I leave in a calm spirit, because my fall is not
the result of my own fault, but must be regarded
as one of the decrees of Providence. Whatever
my destiny may be, I will courageously endure
it. The only thing that wounds my heart is,
that Naples should abandon the cause of its
king without striking a blow in his favour. I
thank you all for what you have done on behalf
of the country and for me.""
At about four o'clock the king quitted
the palace. He embarked on the Sajetta. The
vessel sailed at six for Gaëta.
On the evening of the 6th of September,
news of Garibaldi's arrival at Salerno reached
Naples, as will be seen in another page. The
ministers anxiously met at about nine o'clock
that same evening at the house of Spinelli, the
president, and resolved to depute the Syndiac
of Naples, the Prince of Alessandria, and the
General di Sazepono, to wait upon Garibaldi,
and confer with him as to his entrance into the
capital. They also determined to send the
advocate Emilio Civitta. Cozzolongo, then
commissioner of police, was directed to accom-
pany him; these were to set out before the
principal deputation.
The next morning, at six o'clock, Romana,
Lancilli, and the Directors di Cesare, Carafa,
Giacchi, and Miragglioi, assembled. After wait-
ing in vain for the arrival of Spinelli, the presi-
dent, Di Martino, and Pianelli, they resolved
to draw up an address to Garibaldi; then Ro-
mano produced one already written by himself.
*
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
177
1
It was approved of by all, but signed only by
Romano, di Cesare, and di Giacchi :-
"General,
"You have before you a ministry whose
power was conferred on them by King
Francis II. We accepted the trust as a sacri-
fice due to our country, we accepted it at a
difficult period: when the thought of the unity
of Italy under the sceptre of Victor Emmanuel,
for a long period cherished by the Neapolitans,
and which-sustained by your sword, and pro-
claimed in Sicily-had become irresistible in
its influence; when all confidence between the
government and the governed was destroyed;
when old wrongs, and long-suppressed hatred
had come to light, thanks to recent constitu-
tional liberties; when the country was disturbed
and agitated, owing to the fear of a violent re-
action,—such was the condition of affairs when
we accepted power in order to maintain public
tranquillity and to save the state from anarchy
and civil war. This was the aim of all our
efforts. The country understood our motives,
and how to appreciate our conduct.
The con-
fidence of our fellow-citizens has never deserted
us, and it is to their efficacious zeal that we owe
that tranquillity which has preserved the city
in the midst of so many contending parties.
"General, all the populations of the king-
dom have manifested their desires, either by
open insurrection, or through the medium of
the press, or by other demonstrations. They,
too, are all anxious to form a part of one great
united Italy under the constitutional sceptre
of Victor Emmanuel. You, General, offer in
yourself the highest expression of this thought.
All eyes are turned towards you; the hopes of
all rest on you. And we, the trustees of the
national power-we, who are also Italian
citizens—we deliver up that power into your
hands, in the full confidence that you will
make a worthy use of it, and that you will
lead the country to attain the noble object you
have constantly had in view, and which is
inscribed equally on your standards, and in the
hearts of all-ITALY AND VICTOR EMMANUEL!"
The two preceding envoys, Emilio Civitta
and Cozzolongo, found that Garibaldi had
already been informed of what had taken place.
He sent the following telegram to Don Liborio
Romano, minister of the interior and of police:
"ITALY AND VICTOR EMMANUEL !
"To the People of Naples.
"As soon as the syndic and the commander
of the national guard of Naples, whom I am
expecting, shall arrive, I will promptly present
myself amongst you.
"At this solemn moment I recommend you
to preserve that order and tranquillity which so
much conduce to the dignity of a people about
to resume the exercise of their own rights.
"GARIBALDI,
"Dictator of the Two Sicilies.
((
Salerno, 7th of September."
Liborio Romano replied to the above by
the following telegram:-
"From Liborio Romano, Minister of the In-
terior and Police, to the invincible General
Garibaldi, Dictator of the Two Sicilies.
"With the greatest impatience Naples is
awaiting your arrival, that it may hail the
redeemer of Italy, and place in his hands the
powers of the state and its own destiny.'
"With this in view, I shall remain respon-
sible for the maintenance of order and public
tranquillity. Your own words, which I have
already made known to the people, offer the
greatest pledge for the success of these efforts.
"Awaiting your further orders, I remain,
with profound respect,
"LIBORIO ROMANO."
A A
178
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
$
}
It does not redound to the honour of Romano
that while denouncing the king's conduct in
his correspondence with the Garibaldians, he
should be preparing a royal farewell in terms
so highly flattering to the royal purpose, policy,
and feelings; for Romano did prepare that
document for the contingency, so that when
Spinelli applied to him for assistance and
advice in its composition, Romano was already
prepared. Whatever may have been his pa-
triotism or his loyalty, he did not perfectly
reconcile them, nor either, with the candour
which is demanded in an honourable cause.
At all events, by such a document he rendered
the king a substantial service, and caused his
departure to bear about it the semblance of a
dignity it could not otherwise have borne.
It is astonishing that while Count Arriva-
bene, and most writers worthy of respect,
denounce the conduct of Romano, who literally
acted at the same time as the minister of
Francis II. and of Garibaldi, Dumas, who
participated, saw no wrong in his procedure,
but loaded him and it with unqualified eulogy.
With politicians as well as priests, the end too
often sanctifies the deed.
CHAPTER XXVI.
GARIBALDI'S ENTRANCE INTO NAPLES.-FORMATION OF A NEW GOVERNMENT.-EXULTATION OF THE
CITIZENS.DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF HIS POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION. -ORGANISES AN
ARMY TO DRIVE THE KING FROM NEAPOLITAN TERRITORY.
"Alack! what mischief might be set abroad
In shadow of such greatness."-SHAKSPEARE, Henry IV.
M
|
march upon Palermo, who officiated in all the
pomp and ceremony of the Roman Catholic
worship. He gave, not for the first time, his
benediction to the Dictator, now indeed of both
Sicilies.
WHEN the hero of these great transactions
arrived at Naples, the city was garrisoned by
the royal troops. As he entered, one detach-
ment prepared to fire upon him. Standing
erect, with folded arms, he looked sternly
towards them, and the soldiers instantly pre-
sented the military salute. Passing another
post, the officer commanding ordered his men
to fire; they refused. Had these detachments
delivered their volleys, and the Dictator had
fallen, all the elements of conflict pent up by
his mighty influence would have burst forth
and exhausted themselves in sanguinary col-
lision. Garibaldi, as was the custom with
great personages entering that city, first drove
to the Bishop's Palace. There he was received
by Father John, the ecclesiastical hero of the
The whole population of Naples crowded to
the streets, balconies, and windows, waving
scarfs and handkerchiefs, casting flowers forth,
and mingling with their shouts of triumph
songs of patriotism; but above all the sounds
of joy arose the continuous peal, "Long live
Garibaldi our Liberator!"
Our hero's indefatigable friend, Dunas, ar-
rived at Naples, and was appointed "Director
of Museums and Excavations," an honorary
office, which nevertheless excited Neapolitan
envy and ill-will, so jealous were the people

ARUSIAN
Eng by G.IStodart from a
Photograph
COLONEL PEARD.
Garibaldis Englishman
LONDON JAMES S VIRTUE
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
179
of any office being held by foreigners, even
although in the persons of men who had
expended fortunes, and risked life to secure
the liberties of Naples.
Garibaldi conferred the general direction of
affairs to Cosenz, one of his officers, a Neapo-
litan, and well acquainted with those of his
countrymen able and willing to serve the state.
Garibaldi put forth a proclamation, reflecting
his own spirit. All his public documents
were the work of his own mind; he allowed
none other to interpret his to the people.
"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, nor induced to bow the knee 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 that harmony through the sublime
unanimity of all our provinces for the recon-
stitution of the nation; and, for unity, the
same Providence has given to our country
Victor Emmanuel, whom we from this moment
may call the true father of our Italian land.
Victor Emmanuel, 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 guarantee of the respect with which they
will be treated, the ardour, the patriotism,
and the truly Christian conduct of their
numerous fellow ecclesiastics, who, from the
highly praiseworthy monks of Lagrancia to
the noble-hearted priests of the Neapolitan
continent, one and all, in the sight and at the
K
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 who
now sincerely wish to bring their stone to raise
up the monument of our country. Finally,
respecting other people's houses, we are re-
solved to be masters in our own house, whether
the powerful of the earth like it or not.
"GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI,"
General Cosenz formed a ministry. Liborio
Romano retained the office he held-Minister
of the Interior. Dr. Bertani was made Secre-
tary General, a post equivalent to Premier.
Cosenz retained for himself the ministry of
War, Pisanelli was charged with the portfolio
of Justice, and the Marquis d'Aflitto accepted
that of Public Works. These appointments.
were more than mortifying to the Cavour
party.
Garibaldi decreed that the Neapolitan navy
should form part of the Sardinian, under the
orders of Admiral Persano. The Dictator then
asked his ministers where he should fix his
residence.
“Here, in the Palace of the Foresteria,"
answered one of them.
"No," rejoined Garibaldi; "I have not
come to Naples to dwell in royal residences.
Is there any house in the city belonging to a
Genoese family?"
"Yes, there is the d'Angri d'Oria Palace,
which is just empty, the prince having gone
to Paris with his family," answered one of the
bystanders.
"Very well," said the Dictator, "we will
proceed to the Palazzo d'Angri after we have
shown the Neapolitans that we are Christians.
Let us first go to the cathedral, to hear the
Te Deum."
Thus ended the first day of the Dictator's
180
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
•
reign. Night came, and with it the illumi-
nations. The people of the nearest villages
flocked into the city, and some of the Gari-
baldian troops also came up from Salerno.
The population of Naples was consequently
considerably increased.
The city was in a blaze of lustre; the pyro-
technical tendencies of the southern Italians
found full scope. Palace and civic dome
streamed with light. Variegated lamps wound
round every column, and hung in graceful and
brilliant festoons from many a balcony. The
still hostile king was made the subject of male-
dictions written in fire, while compliment and
praise for Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi,
the deliverers of Italy, shone out in jets of
flame over the thronging multitudes, who re-
peated those inscriptions in shouts of almost
frantic joy. The Dictator appeared on the
balcony of the palace several times, and with
his far-piercing voice, which was so often
heard above the thunder of battle, warned and
encouraged the multitudes-exhorting them to
heroic courage, manly forbearance, unity, and
a love of liberty to be quenched only in death,
if death indeed can quench so pure a flame,
At last the wearied chief sought repose;
and when this was understood, the vast but
orderly multitude became still, and the foot-
fall of the moving throngs alone was heard.
In the remoter parts of the city-the noise of
which could not disturb the slumbering con-
queror-the roar of exultation was continued,
as Bengal lights, tricoloured garlands of lamps,
rockets, and torch processions attested the
unabated enthusiasm and joy of the people.
Among the beautiful sights of the lighted
city and suburbs, none were more attractive
than the lamp decorations of the trees-tree
connected with tree, and branch with branch,
by lines of lamps formed in intelligible cha-
racters or significant symbols. The ships in
the harbour also bore similar decorations,
which were reflected again by the water, as
if the sea itself, proud of its own freedom,
exulted in the new-born liberties of those who
dwelt upon its shores.
Day succeeded day; the people still stirred
with an unbounded fervour wherever Garibaldi
appeared.
The Dictator did not, however, allow public
affairs to be neglected. The king, at the head
of an army, was still on Neapolitan soil. The
troops left in garrison in Naples had orders
from the king to hold their positions to the
last. They nevertheless surrendered without
condition. The volunteers quartered at Salerno
were marched into the city, and sent forth
to the Volturno, to watch the king's forces.
Garibaldi's government, although supported
by the great mass of the people, and successful
in everything, was much disturbed by intrigue.
The chief inconvenience arose from the Pied-
montese party. They were jealous of the
Garibaldians being in power, forgetting who
fought, and bled, and conquered, to make
Naples free. Most of the officers and friends
of Garibaldi were either republicans or men
of extremely liberal views. The Piedmontese
party were all constitutional monarchists, but
differed among themselves as to the amount
of political privilege to be conceded to the
people. They preferred an aristocratic régime,
or at all events a limitation of popular rights
and franchises, extensive and decided. Some
of them were mere place-hunters, and supposed
that they would gain influence with the court
and cabinet of Turin by thwarting Garibaldi.
To such an extent did these persons endea-
vour to embarrass him, that the Dictator sent
away their leader, or at all events the most
efficient and dangerous man of the party.
Garibaldi could adopt no measure, however
simply useful, that this party did not denounce,

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
181
the press in their interests questioned its
advantage, misrepresented its character, and
hinted at some ulterior object.
This party numbered within it correspon-
dents of the press in other parts of Europe,
but especially of the periodicals published at
Turin, Paris, and London, who directly, or
more generally indirectly, represented Gari-
baldi as a mere soldier, incapable of sustaining
the responsibilities of government; as a good,
but weak man, except in the field; and under
the influence of a knot of Red Republicans
and socialists, who would speedily initiate a
state of things worse than the despotism of
Francis II.
These murmurs became an outcry when
Mazzini made his appearance in Naples, and
was received by Garibaldi with tokens of
confidence and respect. Mazzini was then
represented by the Piedmont party as the
virtual ruler of the Two Sicilies, and it was
declared that his extreme opinions and im-
practicable counsels would lead to a restora-
tion. The only hope, these persons assured
Europe, for Naples and Italy, was for King
Victor Emmanuel to set aside Garibaldi at
once, and place a Sardinian nobleman at the
head of affairs, who would nominate a ministry
from the Piedmont party, to the exclusion of
all Garibaldians whatever, They might indeed
be allowed to fight, if need for them arose, at
all events in irregular bands.
There was no justice or force in these mur-
murs and this outcry, Garibaldi, every one
knew, had no notion of making Naples a
republic, and the focus of a new and republi-
can revolution in Italy. He had seldom agreed
with Mazzini as to policy, and sometimes dif-
fered with him as to principle. "Italy united
under Victor Emmanuel" as a constitutional
king, was the programme of Garibaldi, from
which none could turn him. There had been
nothing in his conduct to create a suspicion of
his purpose, nothing in his history to cause
a doubt of his sincerity. Mazzini's party
professed, whatever might be their wishes,
to accept "Italy united under Victor Em-
manuel," as the only possible way of uniting
Italy at all, and recognised it as the inflexible
rule of the Dictator's political arrangements.
Garibaldi consulted not only the general
interest as it appeared to him, but the public
opinion. Bertani, whose exertions for the
salvation of the Two Sicilies so ably seconded
those of Garibaldi, was requested by the Dic-
tator to resign, because he was regarded by
large classes as openly a republican partisan.
The Marquis Pallavicini was nominated in his
place; a person less objectionable to those
whose leanings were aristocratic. Pallavicini,
with the permission of Garibaldi, as pro-
Dictator, published a paternal appeal to
Mazzini to leave the Neapolitan provinces,
The latter refused to do so, alleging his right
as an Italian citizen, but protesting that he
accepted, contrary to his own opinion, but in
deference to the majority, the national pur-
pose of unity under Victor Emmanuel.
The anti-republican party would not credit
these assertions, and the agents of Cavour
fostered their incredulity.
Cavour was, however, a man of intellect
and energy, and zealous for the unity of Italy
under the sceptre of his prince, and with free
institutions. He perceived that the best way of
correcting any undue influence of "the party
of progress" in Naples, was by initiating some
decisive measure of progress himself. He ac-
cordingly resolved to send an army into the
Papal territory, and measure swords with
Lamoricière and his mercenary legions. Cavour
justified this step on the pleas that the position
of Lamoricière was menacing, the outrages
of his legions intolerable, the people of the
182
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY,
Pontifical States unanimously in favour of
intervention, and that if some bold for-
ward steps were not taken, the republicans
would gain an ascendency in Italy fatal to
constitutional monarchy. Upon these repre-
sentations Napoleon promised that he would
not oppose.
When this should be accom-
plished, it was the intention to form a junction
on the Volturno with Garibaldi, and thus
secure the annexation of the Two Sicilies to the
dominions of Victor Emmanuel.
Garibaldi experienced other annoyances than
those which arose from the anti-republican or
republican parties, in their separate actions or
mutual conflicts.
The Pope's Nuncio remained in Naples with
the purpose of creating reaction, until finding
his intentions thwarted, he retired to Gaeta
with the king's army.
Baron Brenier, the French ambassador,
showed hostility in every way, and the com-
mander of the French fleet was not less
hostile. Every occasion was chosen by these
officials to show some petty insolence, or more
serious slight.
The British Admiral Munday lost no oppor-
tunity of showing Garibaldi and his officers
respect; but the English minister, Elliot, was
cold, hesitating, and timid. Even when the
admiral was openly demonstrative in his
respect for Garibaldi, his officers, and his
government, the English minister "fought
shy" of any supposed participation.
Notwithstanding all his difficulties, the Dic-
tator secured liberty and happiness to the
people, and infused a desire for unity and free-
dom with and for all their Italian brethren.
The king's forces at Gaeta were increased,
and tidings came from day to day that he con-
sidered his resources sufficient for the recon-
quest of the Two Sicilies, if no foreign aid
were given to Garibaldi.
The Dictator resolved to set these aspira-
tions at rest by an attempt to expel the king
He induced
from the Neapolitan borders.
Admiral Persano to land a regiment of ber-
saglieri and a force of artillery, which was on
board his fleet. With this the admiral com-
plied, notwithstanding the indignation and
protests of the French minister,
Volunteers arrived from various cities of
"the Duchies," and a considerable number of
Garibaldi's own gallant Ligurians. The Cac-
ciotti of Calabria, the volunteers of Basilicata,
and many of the national guard and lazzaroni
of Naples, were enrolled as regular soldiers
and subjected to strict discipline.
The Calabrese were 10,000 in number,
the Basilicani were
under Baron Stocco;
2,200, under Corte; the rest of the forces
numbered not far short of 30,000 men.
With all his other cares, he had to concern
himself constantly with the affairs of the
Island of Sicily. Depretis, the pro-dictator
of that province, resigned in consequence of a
quarrel with Crispi. During the autumn,
and even when before the enemy, Garibaldi
had to cross the Straits, and reduce to har-
mony the concussing elements in the political
life of Palermo and Messina.
It cannot be denied by any impartial person,
that so far from Garibaldi displaying political
weakness, or an incompetency to deal with the
great affairs of government, at this juncture
his sagacity was almost prescient, his discri-
mination of character keen and refined, and
his penetration of the means, ends, and mo-
tives of entangled and treacherous diplomacy
profound and rapid. He dealt wisely, not
only with the intricate skein of politics which
no one else could have unravelled, but even
with ecclesiastical matters of moment, and
sometimes of danger. An American gentleman
who saw and spoke to him at this juncture of
!
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
183
his history, very well describes his intellectual
power, and gives a description of his person
and manner, which is also worth inserting, as
the reader cannot but feel interested in his
appearance and bearing at different stages of
his career:
"He had a broad and round forehead ;
a straight and almost perpendicular nose, not
too small, but of a delicate form; heavy brown
moustaches and beard, which conceal the
lower part of his face; a full, round chest;
free and athletic movements, notwithstanding
ill health, and a rheumatism which disables
his right arm; a full, dark eye, steady, pene-
trating, and pensive, but mild and friendly;
an easy, natural, frank, and unassuming car-
riage, with a courteous nod and a ready grasp
of the hand, as a recognition of one intro-
duced by his friend. Such was Garibaldi, as
he appeared at the first glance, and before he
had time to speak. His first words were
uttered in a tone corresponding with the
courtesy of his movements and the glance of
his eye; while the freedom of his utterance,
and the propriety and beauty of his language,
drew all my attention from his form and
features, to the sentiments he expressed and
the facts he mentioned. To my surprise, I
found my thoughts turned, in part, from the
fields of battles, the siege of Rome, and the
sortie of San Marino, to the principles of the
Italian Revolution, and the true doctrines of
Christianity, perverted by the enemies of
Italian liberty. The cruelties of Popery-its
degrading tendency-its duplicity, hypocrisy,
idolatry, and atrocities-its history, desperate
condition, and inevitable ruin-were treated
by him in rapid succession, with the clearness
of a theologian and a statesman combined,
and in language which united, in a peculiar
degree, propriety, beauty, and force. And all
this was done without an appearance of the
slightest effort. He did not hesitate for an
instant for an idea or for a word; and it was
self-evident that he spoke under the com-
bined influence of feelings fully decided, a clear
judgment fully convinced, and both in perfect
harmony. No man, I thought, could listen
to him, even for a few moments, without the
certain conviction, not only that he spoke in
accordance with his convictions, but under the
direct, imperative, and solemn direction of his
conscience."
It must not be supposed from this account
of his ecclesiastical views, that he felt disposed
to espouse any particular form of Protes-
tantism. He had no predilection then for any
ecclesiastical system or form of worship, al-
though believing in the great fundamental
doctrines of the Scriptures, after the interpre-
tation of the Protestant evangelical school.
That this view of his theological and ecclesi-
astical opinions is correct, as explaining his
policy when Dictator of the Sicilies, the fol-
lowing letter of a gentleman who knew him in
China, a few years before, will confirm :—
"I am reminded of the very strong feeling
of hatred to Papal rule which is entertained
by that large body of Italians of whom Gari-
baldi is the life and soul. It appeared when
that hero was in China two or three years after
his last expatriation, that in conversation he
evinced much more hatred of Papal than he
did of Austrian domination,- denouncing his
Holiness, in no measured language, as the
arch-leader of the greatest system of delusion
ever enthralling the senses of man.
K
"We have sworn,' he said emphatically,
'to crush that tyranny, and though the
chances appear small now, they will come.'
It was only natural that we should ask him
in reply to this, with what established form of
religion the Papacy would be replaced; and
those who know the emphatic and somewhat
2
184
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
romantic manner in which Garibaldi is wont
to express himself, may imagine the solemnity
of his answer. Lifting up his hand to heaven,
and waving it round to the hills, he rejoined
-There, above, around, we see the works of
an almighty, ever-blessed God! It is enough
for us to worship Him in our hearts; we want
no form; we scout tradition!' This, he said,
was the religion-the religion of nature-of
the thousands who, secretly with himself,
have sworn to drive from the fair field of
Italy every vestige of Papal superstition.
motive, and guided by no narrow view. He
had studied politics and peoples from his
youth; he had gathered experience by inter-
course with statesmen, and by having been
himself a power upon which the safety or
welfare of states depended. He was therefore
not the dauntless simpleton which it suited
portions of the Paris and London press to
represent him, but the able as well as fearless,
the informed as well as resolute, man, both of
counsel and action; as sagacious as Cavour,
without his intrigue; as persistent as Mazzini,
and more practicable; as fearless as the Apostle
Paul, and as pure in motive.
"Whether Garibaldi eventually is to be
more than the simple fisherman general,
remains to be seen.
|
,,
Thus Garibaldi ruled well in spite of all the
obstacles that obstructed his benign and wise
purposes; as the sun passing across the heavens
penetrates the obscuring clouds, sheds its ray
in some moment in the depths of the forest or
the ravine, bathes the open field in fertilising
light, and covers all things rude or beautiful
with its own glory.
It is not proper in these pages to discuss
how far the views of Garibaldi were adapted
to his position, or right in themselves; but to
present them as facts, which bore upon his
theories and practices of government, is im-
portant to a correct estimate of the man and his
administration. He was actuated by no selfish
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE KING AT GAETA.—BATTLE OF THE VOLTURNO.—BRUTAL CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
FRANCIS II.
"I am arm'd,
And dangers are to me indifferent."-SHAKSPEARE, Julius Cæsar.
MEANWHILE the army of Piedmont, under | Volturno of the troops of Sardinia in co-
Cialdini, the old comrade in arms of Gari- operation with those of the Dictator of the Two
baldi, crossed the Papal frontier, and defeating Sicilies.
Lamoricière in several actions, wrested the
Papal States from the Pope with the exception
of Rome, Civita Vecchia, and some other posts
occupied by the French. An account of these
events would not properly belong to a memoir
of Garibaldi, but they are here noticed as neces-
sary to explain the early appearance on the
Early in September the positions of the
army on the Volturno confronting those of the
king were occupied, and the forces were con-
tinually increased until they assumed imposing
numbers. The king on his part had rallied
all the reactionary forces of the country, and
many of the soldiers and officers who had capi-
·
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
185
tulated to Garibaldi, in Calabria and Basili-
cata, broke their parole, and for the sake of pay
were enrolled in the king's service again. His
Majesty also had recruited his army with Ba-
varian, Austrian, and Swiss mercenaries.
The advance of Cialdini's army in the rear of
the Neapolitans was a military event of great
importance to both the armies contending on the
Volturno. It placed the Neapolitan troops in
an unfavourable strategical position, and it
brought to the aid of the patriots new forces,
well disciplined, with engineers and artillery
of a superior order. The volunteer army was
numerically and in equipment very inferior to
their foes; the language of the great dramatist
might be applied to them—
'Oh, such a tattered host of mounted scarecrows!
So poor, so famished; their executors,
The greedy crows, hovering over their heads,
Impatient for their lean inheritance."
They were wretchedly deficient in artillery, and
in the other scientific branches of the military
profession, although commanded by men skil-
ful as generals, as well as of undoubted heroism.
The Neapolitans, who were disposed to act
on the defensive notwithstanding the inferiority
of Garibaldi's forces, were now strangely enough
compelled to adopt the offensive, from the very
fact that their enemies had increased in number
and efficiency. To dislodge Garibaldi's army
from its positions became absolutely necessary
to the safety of Francis II. and his followers.
Unless that could be effected, and speedily,
there was no apparent hope for the royal cause.
If Garibaldi were driven back, and pursued into
Naples, he would probably be obliged to abandon
that city, and the king once again in possession
of his capital, the minister of France would
have interfered; that must have proved the
signal for other diplomatic intervention, which
would be sure to issue in the restoration to the
king of at least his continental dominions,
***
upon constitutional conditions, which he would
eagerly assume, and afterwards as eagerly
violate.
A council of war was held by the king with
all his generals, the members of his family,
and those persons upon whose political capacity
he relied most, and it was resolved that upon
the 1st of October, the sovereign's birthday,
a grand attack should be made upon the Gari-
baldians. Every effort to awaken the loyalty,
rouse the bravery, and stimulate the bigotry of
the royal army was put forth. Generals, priests,
the gentlemen and ladies of the royal family,
and the king himself, resorted to every means
they could conceive as applicable to the circum-
stances, to kindle enthusiasm among the royal
troops.
Accordingly on the 1st of October, 40,000
men, thoroughly disciplined, supported by a
numerous and well-appointed artillery, werc
concentrated between Capua and Cajazzo, for
the purpose of passing the Volturno. It seemed
beyond human calculation to expect that such
an army as Garibaldi commanded, considering
its inferior discipline and appliances, could
contend against such overwhelming odds.
Garibaldi, from his head-quarters at Caserta,
organised a skilful defence, for although not
acquainted with the immediate purpose of his
Majesty, he divined with his usual foresight
the policy which events would constrain.
The head-quarters of the king were at Capua.
It was a town and fortress, the latter of great
strength and advantageous position.
A ridge from the Abruzzi chain of hills.
stretches towards the left of the town: the
Volturno runs in the opposite direction into
the Tyrhenian Sea, with another chain of
eminences along its left bank. Along the foct
of these hills there was a road parallel with
the river, from Santa Maria through Formicola,
whence bending to the right, through a moun-
B B

186
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
which post was commanded by Medici, one of
the bravest and most skilful of the Garibaldian
commanders; indeed, this officer had fre-
quently commanded a corps of Garibaldi's
little army, and in feats of courage and
generalship he almost rivalled his great chief.
The battle began by a skirmish upon the chief
point of the defence, the Neapolitans feeling
their way by a feigned attack, the experience
obtained in which was not favourable to their
hopes for the general result. Nevertheless,
they were sanguine of success, so many ele-
ments of superior strength were possessed by
them, and so intoxicated with fervour for the
royal cause had the royal troops been made by
sacerdotal influence, appeals to their loyalty,
Arrivabene
and large promises of reward.
says that Medici was almost unrivalled in
defending entrenched positions; but the evi-
dence afforded by his exploits does not dis-
tinguish him in this respect more than in his
operations in the open field, in attack, pursuit,
retreat, or in storming entrenchments.
This brief and plain description will give the
non-military reader a facility for perceiving the
characters of the attack and defence. The
popular reader will also perceive that such an
unequal and rugged country, intercepting by
so many obstructions the advance of artillery
and cavalry, constituted especial difficulties in
the way of the attack.
The chief portion of Garibaldi's line was
stretched along the country from Sant' Angelo
to Santa Maria, and there the onslaught of the
enemy must be made. It was necessary in
order to break this line that it should be
stormed by heavy columns of infantry, under
the cover of powerful artillery. Numerous
guns of heavy calibre, excellently appointed
and numerously manned, were, with vast
labour, surmounting all obstacles, brought up
for this purpose.
At last the brunt of battle came, and Medici
was the first to feel it. A strong battalion of
grenadiers crossed the river, forcing its way
through Medici's outposts, by paths through
woods familiar to the assailants. This bat-
talion was followed by others of well-dis-
ciplined infantry, and the first entrenchments
of Medici, and others extending along the line
nearest to him, were carried by a sudden and
impetuous rush. The royalists even passed
the lines of the patriots and ascended Mount
Tifata. A barricade had been erected at the
foot of Sant' Angelo, under Garibaldi's own
Colonel
superintendence; it was stormed.
Dunne gallantly defended another barricade
in front of a post called Casa Bruciata. This
Another
was also assaulted with success.
strong post, comprising the battery of the
The key of the defence was Sant' Angelo, railway and the barricade of Porta Capua, was
tain defile, it leads to San Leucio and Caserta
(where Garibaldi took up his own quarters).
The road described passes the foot of Mount
Tifata before reaching Formicola. On the
slopes of the mount, the picturesque little
town of Sant' Angelo (the post of Medici) is
situated. At Formicola there was a ferry, by
which might be reached the town of Cajazzo.
There are besides the road many mountain
tracks along the left of the river. By these
paths, Ponte de Valle and Maddaloni are easily
approached.
The town of Santa Maria is but three miles
from Capua, on the road to Naples. That
little place has its site in a large plain, ex-
tending from the western skirts of the moun-
tains to Naples.
-
The road from Santa Maria to Capua was
parallel with a railway.
Close by the Volturno to the sea extends the
canal of Lagna Regii; it connects the towns of
Aversa and Santa Maria.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
187
|
assaulted with great fury.
Milbitz, who
defended, repulsed the enemy, although all
his outposts were driven in and some of his
entrenchments stormed. In front of the rail-
way Malenchini's brigade was driven in, and
with difficulty regained its lost ground. Thus
the left and centre of Garibaldi's lines were
all but conquered. Meanwhile Ponte di Valle
and Maddaloni, on the extreme right, defended
by Bixio, were assaulted by one-fourth of the
whole attacking force.
Garibaldi was equal to the terrible emer-
gency: his plan was clear, bold, and decisive.
He hastened from Caserta to Santa Maria, and
thence directed the movements of his supports
and reserves. Eber's brigade he ordered to
support Bixio; the brigade of Türr, with such
desultory aid as it could find, to march in the
direction of Capua. Assanti's brigade was to
march at once upon the general field of action,
and deploy as circumstances might demand.
After all these arrangements, a few troops
remained as a dernier reserve. The General
then, in a carriage, directed his course to Sant'
Angelo. He did not know that the enemy had
just crossed his line of route. Before he and
his staff could reach their destination, a bat-
talion of royalist sharpshooters opened fire
upon them at a distance of fifty yards. One
of the horses of the General's carriage was
killed. Missori rode on the box of another
carriage; the coachman fell dead beside him.
In all probability the whole party would
have been captured, at least such as escaped
being killed, had not a single company of
Medici's infantry come to the rescue. The
sharpshooters turned upon the assailants, al-
lowing the escape of Garibaldi and his staff
across the fields and in the by-paths which
conducted to Sant' Angelo. This escape was
not the most wonderful part of our hero's
good fortune on the occasion. His danger,
had he advanced along the direct route unim-
peded by the riflemen, would have been still
greater; in fact, his fate would have been
inevitably sealed. Had he reached Sant'
Angelo by the road, he would have come upon
the enemy, who had won that part of it by
Sant' Angelo, and had captured the battery.
The detour he was obliged to make brought
him upon the upper part of the town where
Medici was posted. He instantly ascended the
mountain, surveyed the whole field of battle,
and perceived that the enemy were everywhere
more or less successful. Sant' Angelo was
about to be taken in the rear, and the prospect
was, that surrounded, the garrison would be
slain or made prisoners. In all probability
no quarter would have been given, and Gari-
baldi, Medici, and their heroic followers would
all have perished.
nacy.
Medici defended his post in front with a
calm, resolute, persistent, and effectual obsti-
Garibaldi ordered some troops and
mountain howitzers up to the height above
the line of the Neapolitan troops advancing
against Medici's rear. Not expecting to be
assailed from that quarter, the enemy were
taken by surprise, and precipitated into the
plain. Then joining Medici, Garibaldi or-
dered a bayonet charge of his whole disposable
force at a moment most favourable for such
an operation. The conflict was sharp, short,
and decisive. He was recognised by the
enemy, and filled with their old fear of him,
they turned and fled. Sant' Angelo, after four
hours of terrible battle, was safe.
What a
series of wonderful providences preceded this
result. The best officer defended the point
where the contest was severest. Garibaldi,
in his attempt to reach it, was saved from
capture or death only by the opportune arrival
of a single company of infantry whose pre-
sence was not expected, and who had no
GARAN
188
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
notion of the importance of the service they
were about to render. He was turned by his
enemies themselves from the very route, by
allowing him to proceed upon which, they
could have captured him. He arrived at the
juncture most important by a way the safest,
into which he was driven, and leading to a
position which gave him instant opportunity
of scanning the whole field of battle, and
determining the means conducive to victory!
Surely it seemed as if unseen angels trod with
him his path of storms, and guided his spirit
and his footsteps.
At Santa Maria, Milbitz contrived to fortify
the place so as to enable him to defend that
part of the line with very inferior forces, not-
withstanding his first reverses.
The enemy,
unacquainted with the artificial strength of
the position, spread to the right and left,
exposing themselves to effectual attack upon
the weakest part of their line. This Malenchini
effected by a brilliant charge under the orders
of Milbitz. The surprised and confused
Neapolitans were broken against one another,
driven upon their supports and reserves, en-
tangled battalion with battalion inextricably,
until the huddled masses reeled in crowded
disorder from the field.
The battalions of the left wing of the royal
army had penetrated the town of Santa Maria
from Porta Capua to the Amphitheatre; but
a single company of Garibaldians, all French-
men, behaved with a gallantry and military
intelligence which set all efforts to dislodge
them from their position at defiance.
The repulse of the royalists was general,
but not so decisive as to deprive them of hopes
of final victory by renewed assault.
The enemy, therefore, again advanced under
the eyes of the king himself, and immediately
directed by his lieutenant, Retucci. The
railway battery (reconquered) and Porta
!
Capua were attacked fiercely and persistently;
shot and shell were hurled as if showered
from heaven, and bayonet charges were again
and again repeated, but the gallant Gari-
baldians withstood all as if the shield of the
archangel covered them.
The magazine of Porta Capua exploded,
destroying men and defences; the enemy took
advantage of the disaster, burst through the
burning ruins, and struggled amidst the flam-
ing timbers and fragments of the shattered
battery to gain a footing, in vain. Breast to
breast, men encountered each other over the
débris of the battered and broken defences,
until Victory gave her wreath to Freedom.
The enemy were chased out of the shattered
lines, and two of their guns were captured.
The captors had not strength to secure their
prize. A crowd of British sailors, spectators
of the fight, were at Porta Capua. "Bear a
hand, lads!" cried an English Garibaldian.
The sailors, as if touched by magic at this
call in their own tongue, rushed forward, and
bore in the guns with enthusiastic alacrity.
Francis II. and Retucci, with the despe-
ration of despair, resolved to bring their
whole strength forward. Fresh regiments
were ordered to the front, and their field
batteries advanced in great numbers to within
three hundred yards of the walls of Santa
Maria.
Between the town and the railway station a
force of Garibaldians occupied an open space
where cavalry might attack. Three thousand
horse were directed against that position.
Thus, Santa Maria was attacked on all
sides, and with all arms of military power,
and with fury as fierce as if hell poured up
its own appliances of destruction, and the
appropriate agents to wield them. The cavalry
onslaughts were bravely made; the Neapoli-
tans in the king's service seemed resolved to
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
189
redeem themselves from the disgraces of
Sicily and Calabria. In vain, however, were
the charges of the fiery horsemen, as, with
fetlock deep in blood, their war-steeds were
goaded to the very precincts of the battery.
Compact and fearless, the noble infantry of
Garibaldi checked the hot war-horse and its
rider, scattering them, slain and wounded,
upon the open ground, and at last hurling
them, with well-aimed volleys, from the field.
The cavalry rode back, crestfallen, to Capua.
The efforts of the royal infantry and artillery
were not more successful. While the fight
raged at Santa Maria, it was also furious at
Sant' Angelo, where Garibaldi, Medici, and
Colonel Pace were themselves equal to a host.
There, and on the road between those two
points where Assanti's troops had ranged
themselves, victory also declared for the
patriots. The difficulty which Assanti had
to keep open the communications between
these two posts, with so small a body of men
as he commanded, was surmounted by bravery
and military intelligence.
Bixio was hotly assailed at Ponte di Valle,
and while the events recorded were passing
on the other portions of the line. The bad
generalship of the assailants gave Bixio such
advantage that he repulsed them effectually
by noon. This enabled him to send a brigade
to the aid of Santa Maria, which, without
such assistance, would have probably fallen.
Garibaldi, perceiving that the attack was
strongest there, gave his presence to the
defence during the latter portion of its opera-
tions.
The Neapolitan general advised his Majesty
to make one more grand effort, directing it
upon Sant' Angelo. While preparations were
making to execute it, the king and his lieu-
tenant were deterred by the appearance of a
body of troops on the roads of Corditello and
-
San Tamaro. These troops were merely ad-
vanced parties, very few in number, thrown
forward by Brigadier-General Corte from his
detachment posted in defence of the line of
the canal Lagni Regii. Corte had not the
means of making any important demonstra-
tion; but he so manoeuvred as to deceive the
stupid royalist generals as to his strength,
and without knowing their intentions, frus-
trated them, answering not only the purpose
for which he so intelligently operated, but
accomplishing more important effects.
Garibaldi never gives an enemy much time
to think; the electric spark flies quickly
through his own brain, and his deed is as
swift as his resolve. Perceiving the hesita-
tion of the enemy, and trusting to the moral
influence that would ensue from becoming the
assailant along his whole line, he ordered a
general advance.
Eber, who had been sent with his brigade
so called, numbering 200-by Bixio, to
assist in the defence of Santa Maria, was
the first to attack. He rushed from the Porta
Capua (already so terribly contested), and
pierced the Neapolitan lines rapidly and
keenly as an arrow the heart of him against
whom the archer directs it. It was upon the
success of this assault that Garibaldi relied
in the first instance, although, to confuse the
enemy, another brigade was sent from the
opposite end of the line, which, making its
exit from Porta Sant' Angelo, drew off the
attention of a large body of the enemy.
Eber was expected to perform a single
object, not easily accomplished. He was to
penetrate to the Capuchin convent and the
cemetery of Capua, and retake them. These
posts were occupied by the royal guards, under
the command of his Majesty. Eber's rapid
advance had to contend with a hurricane of
artillery; and then, a body of cavalry, superior
***
190
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
in number, was placed across their path.
Garibaldi's Hungarian Hussars, only sixty-
nine in number, charged these cavalry, routed
them, and captured their guns. Eber's little
band, which could not but have felt a moment
before that its task was impossible, dashed
on with enthusiasm, charged into the coveted
positions, and carried them; the royal guard
fled before the king's presence, and could not
be rallied.
The Garibaldian army had no need to ad-
vance; the Neapolitans fled for shelter under
the bulwarks of the fortress of Capua.
The British in Garibaldi's army covered
themselves with immortal honour. Brigadier-
General Dunne, Colonels Peard, Dowling, and
Pace, and Major Wyndham, fought with the
utmost bravery, and honoured the cause by their
competent knowledge as well as by their skill.
Notwithstanding the brilliant victory, the
successes of the royal army in the early part
of the day enabled them to make a considerable
number of prisoners, who were hurried to the
rear,
and treated with horrible barbarity, not-
withstanding the notorious fact that Garibaldi
treated his prisoners with the utmost gene-
rosity, generally giving them their liberty
on parole, and very often unconditionally.
The royal soldiery endeavoured to massacre
the prisoners, and were only prevented by the
officers, who knew that such a course would
endanger a terrible retaliation. English and
French influence were in vain wielded to
procure for the captives moderate treatment.
They were cast into dungeons filled with
vermin, without ventilation, robbed of their
clothes and money, left in a state of disgust-
ing filth, and supplied with food inadequate in
quantity, and in quality even offensive, while
threats of murder were constantly offered.
Lord Palmerston seems to have been the
bugbear of the royalists. They at once hated
and feared him, loaded his name with curses
and reproaches, and menaced the prisoners
with sanguinary retaliation for his lordship's
supposed ingenuities in opposing the cause of
despotism.
It is not too much to aver that civilised
nations have no records so shameful, dastardly,
and cruel as those which would simply and
truly disclose the treatment of prisoners of
war and prisoners of policy under the authority
of the Neapolitan tyrant, unless, perhaps, in
the annals of similar crimes and atrocities
perpetrated by his predecessor.
The language of our great English dramatic
writer may be here well applied-
Tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin, and kind with kind confound ;
Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny
Shall here inhabit; and this land be called
The field of Golgotha, and dead men's bones."
(6
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
191
!
CHAPTER XXVIII.
GALLANT CONDUCT OF ENGLISH VOLUNTEERS.-KING VICTOR EMMANUEL JOINS GARIBALDI.—RE-
ACTIONARY MOVEMENTS AND CRUELTIES.-THE KING ENTERS NAPLES WITH GARIBALDI.—THE
DICTATOR TREATED UNGRATEFULLY.—HE REFUSES TO REMAIN IN THE SERVICE OF THE KING.-
RETIRES TO CAPRERA.
“Messenger.—West of this, scarcely off half a mile,
In goodly form comes on the enemy ;
And by the ground they hide, I judge their number
Upon, or near, the rate of thirty thousand.
"
Mowbray.—The just proportions that we gave them out.
Let us sway on and face them in the field."-SHAKSPEARE, Henry IV.
THE Neapolitan army, weakened by losses on
the Volturno, desertions and prisoners, was
not in number much beyond 30,000 men, at
all events did not amount to 40,000. It be-
came important therefore to the king to prevent
the advance of Cialdini, and a junction of his
army with that of Garibaldi.
The object of the two chiefs, on the other
hand, was to "sway on and face them in the
field."
A Sardinian brigade, which had arrived in
Naples, was sent to the front, and the English
Legion, under Colonel Peard, was sent to the
outposts. These were attacked by a large force
of the enemy, and with every indication of an
especial national hostility. In the centre of
the positions occupied by the English there
was a battery, in support of which Peard placed
one company. In front there was a farmhouse
where another company was posted, with direc-
tions to turn the building to the best defensive
purposes which its construction allowed. Two
companies were placed in support of the ad-
vance, and two were thrown out to the left.
The farmhouse was attacked by very superior
numbers, and Peard himself hurried forward
with supports. On an adjoining hill there
were detachments of bersaglieri, who were
outnumbered, but, reinforced by some reserves
of the English, were enabled to hold their
ground.
C
The whole Legion then advanced, led by the
gallant Peard, who was accompanied by Lord
Seymour. The advance was steadily made, the
men formed in line making an appearance as
if veteran troops, although none of them were
ever before in front of an enemy. So heavy
and precise was their fire, that the Neapolitans
severely suffered. The first man to fall on the
side of the English was Mr. Tucker, an artist.
on the staff of the Illustrated London News;
he acted as interpreter, and behaved with the
greatest gallantry in the conflict. He was
shot in advance of the line of skirmishers, and
had the honour of falling nearest to the enemy.
The firing increased in range and rapidity, but
the Neapolitans were repulsed. The English
reserve companies arriving in the field, the
royalist forces were driven within their lines.
This was a brilliant combat, and won the
highest renown for the English. Garibaldi,
with whom the British as sailors and soldiers
were favourites, expressed his warm approba-
tion. The loss of the English was very small,
considering that they exposed themselves with
the utmost audacity; two were killed, eight
wounded more or less severely, and a consider-
able number very slightly. In all probability
the smallness of their loss may be accounted
for by the boldness of their advance, pressing
on rapidly and fearlessly, but with the greatest
coolness and steadiness.
192
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
About this time a reactionary movement was
executed at Isernia. Garibaldi sent 800 men
thither, commanded by Nullo, Caldesi, and
Mario. The expedition was unfortunate, a
large number of the men having been assassi-
nated by the peasantry; even women perpe-
trated the most dreadful cruelties; some of the
prisoners were buried alive, and others torn
limb from limb. A spirit of bigotry makes
people blood-thirsty-" The dark places of the
earth are the abodes of cruelty."
The Sardinians on the Volturno advanced with
sure and rapid march, the Neapolitans retiring
before them until they placed the river between
the two armies, and found security, as they
hoped, under the guns of Gaeta.
On the 10th of October, Garibaldi called
upon the people to vote by universal suffrage
whether they would have Victor Emmanuel for
their king. The voting was fixed for the 21st,
and Victor Emmanuel became the elect of the
people, 1,300,000 voting for, 10,000 against
him. On the 11th, the Sardinian king entered
the Neapolitan territory, establishing military
co-operation with the Dictator of the Two
Sicilies, who on the previous day issued one of
his characteristic spirit-stirring proclamations.
"TO THE CITIZENS OF NAPLES.
"To-morrow, Victor Emmanuel, King of
Italy, the elect of the nation, will break down
the frontier which has divided us for so many
centuries from the rest of our country, and,
listening to the unanimous voice of this brave
people, will appear among us.
"Let us worthily receive the sent of Provi-
dence, and scatter in his path, as the pledge of
our redemption and our affection, the flowers of
concord—to him so grateful, to us so necessary.
"No more political colours, no more parties,
no more discords! Italy one (as the people of
this metropolis wisely determine), and the
W
King Galantuomo, are the eternal symbols of
our regeneration, and of the grandeur and
prosperity of the country.
"G. GARIBALDI."
On the 23rd our hero concentrated his
forces at Calvi. On the 25th he sent Colonel
Missori with his respects to Victor Emmanuel
at Teano, and to inform his Majesty of the
movements which had taken place. The king
complimented the hero of Melazzo, and ex-
pressed his unbounded admiration of Garibaldi
and his gallant volunteers,
-
ance.
It was arranged that a meeting of the king and
now ex-Dictator should take place next day at
the foot of Santa Maria della Croce, and that the
king should review Bixio's division and Eber's
brigade. At eight o'clock next morning, the
Garibaldians, ragged and battle-stained, were
drawn up to receive the king; they were mostly
young men, but veterans in soldierly appear-
The king arrived; Garibaldi advanced
to meet the monarch, who was attended by his
brilliantly-equipped staff. The republican
chief was dressed in the ordinary red shirt of the
Garibaldians, over which hung his American
blue-grey cloak; his head was covered with a
"wide-awake,” bearing a single plume; a pair
of black trousers and very heavy boots com-
pleted his uniform. At his side hung the
sword which was given him by Mr. Cowan, of
Newcastle, on behalf of the working-men of
that place, the same with which he struck for
liberty and victory at Calatafimi and Melazzo-
"A sword," says Arrivabene, worth all the
embroidered uniforms in the world." The
heroes rode out from their respective staffs and
cordially grasped hands, "General," said
his Majesty, "but for your daring and enter-
prise the unity of Italy could not have taken
place for ten years yet." Garibaldi replied,
"It may be, sire, but I could not have attempted
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
193
my expedition had not Victor Emmanuel been
the most noble and generous of kings." The
Garibaldian soldiers shouted with 12,000 voices,
"Long live Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy!"
the king replying with loud voice, "Long live
Garibaldi and his noble army!" Alas! that
Alas! that
noble army was poorly requited for its services,
when Italy-Rome and Venice excepted-was
one, and the sceptre of him for whom they bled
and conquered, and won kingdoms, swayed in
peaceful power.
When the review passed, the two heroes
rode together to Bellona, their staffs attending
them. They journeyed for nearly an hour, and
conversed on the position and prospects of the
country. Immediately after the interview,
Garibaldi said to one of his generals, "I did
not shrink from telling the king that he is
surrounded by a set of men who are not the
warmest friends of Italy. I tried to persuade
him that what has been said about the influence
which Mazzini and his friends exercised over
me is a mere calumny. How could I have
insisted upon sending Mazzini into exile, when
he has done so much for Italian unity?' said
I to Victor Emmanuel; and his Majesty
agreed that I was right."
From the hour when the king and the greater
chief met, the bearing of the Piedmontese
officers was offensive. Indirectly, but not less
really, they showed an indisposition to fight
beside the Garibaldians, and assumed airs of
superior consequence, which would have been
amusing, or simply ridiculous, if it had not
been disgusting, because impolitic, ungrateful,
and unjust.
""
The Neapolitans occupied the right bank of
the Garigliano, and the king ordered the Gari-
baldians to besiege Capua, while his army con-
tested with the Neapolitans in the field. This
arrangement gave umbrage to the Garibaldian
soldiers, and the impression spread among
them that a policy existed at the court of
Turin to use them and their chief as long as
necessary, and then cast off both.
The Piedmontese army drove that of Francis
II. from the field. The Piedmontese admiral
blockaded the gulf; the French admiral would
not recognise the blockade, and made many
demonstrations against the fleet of the Sar-
dinian admiral. The French Emperor declared
to his Sardinian Majesty, through their re-
spective ministers, that his admiral had ex-
ceeded his authority. This declaration was
never believed in Southern Italy, either by
Sardinians, Garibaldians, Royalists, or French-
men. The incidents of the Sardinian operations,
as far as they require notice, belong rather to
the life of Victor Emmanuel than of Garibaldi.
The 1st of November was a great day at
Naples. Garibaldi distributed medals to his
braves. To the Hungarian Legion, ever true
to him, he presented colours. The occasion
was festive and joyful; and Garibaldi was
blessed, as if he had that day won a new
victory. The General delivered the following
extraordinary address:-
"This is a memorable day for us, for it
cements the alliance of two nations, and esta-
blishes the fraternity of the people. To-day
you have destroyed that principle of egotism
which has kept the nations separated, and
thus has facilitated the servitude of all. The
people with whom you have fraternised to-day
have the same enemies who threaten you.
Your cause is theirs, and theirs is yours.
"But, before fighting against this external
enemy, you have internal enemies to beat
down; and I will tell you that the chief of
them is the Pope. If I have acquired any
merit with you, it is that of telling you the
truth frankly and without a veil. In using
this privilege, I tell you that your chief enemy
is the Pope.
CC
194
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"I am a Christian as you are; yes, I am
of that religion which has broken the bonds.
of slavery, and has proclaimed the freedom of
The Pope, who oppresses his subjects,
and is an enemy of Italian independence, is no
Christian; he denies the very principle of
Christianity; he is Antichrist.
men.
"This truth you must spread among those
who are near to you; for it is only when all
Italians shall be thoroughly convinced of the
fact, that Italy will be really free and united." |
On the 7th of November Victor Emmanuel
made his public entry into Naples. It was
indeed a winter's day, darkness hung over the
fair city as if portentous of political gloom
and social trouble. Garibaldi proceeded to
Santa Maria to meet his Majesty. The two
gallant men met as hitherto, cordially and as
personal friends; one ready to do homage to
the chosen sovereign of his country, the other
to do the homage of a king to a man, the
greatness of whose deeds and virtues raised
him above all rank, the man who conquered
and gave away kingdoms in the interest of
justice and liberty. Happily, Fanti and Farini
were not in the king's retinue; the hero de-
tested their policy, opinions, and character.
The king took his seat in the royal carriage
with Garibaldi by his side, the two pro-
dictators of Sicily sitting opposite. The pub-
lic would have preferred the absence of the
latter; courtesy, policy, or etiquette, or all
three together, ruled in the programme. The
streets of Naples were thronged with its own
inhabitants, and the people from far and near;
even from the coasts of Sicily men came
to witness this auspicious wonder. Victor
Emmanuel was received with demonstrations
loyal and hearty; but Garibaldi with greater
enthusiasm. It was the old Scripture event
realised as truly as if the people shouted,
"Saul has slain his thousands and David his
tens of thousands." To detail the demonstra-
tions of the people of Naples, will be unne-
cessary; the public reception of the monarch
passed over joyously. The king then sought
Garibaldi alone, to persuade him to remain in
Naples and assist in the government of Southern
Italy. This Garibaldi would have done for the
public benefit and that of his sovereign if his
principles and truth allowed; but he had no
confidence in the honour or patriotism of the
king's chief advisers.
Garibaldi demanded that he should be for
three years constituted governor of Southern
Italy with very great powers. He believed
that without time and such powers he could
never appease discontents and cause the severed
elements of social and political life to cohere.
This demand was refused. His second re-
quirement was, that the decrees he had signed
during his dictatorship should be recog-
nised, except where from the necessity of
the occasion they were at variance with consti-
tutional law. This was conceded partially, but
so clogged with conditions that it appeared as
if the royal government was intent upon blot-
ting out from Naples all traces of the dicta-
torial régime. The third requisition was that
the rank conferred by him upon his followers
should be recognised. This was also made the
subject of a conditional concession, which Gari-
baldi could not with honour accept. It was
plain that the royal government was willing to
employ him as a well paid official, civil or
military, or in both capacities, as any ordinary
servant of the crown, but that they had resolved
to ignore the extraordinary position which, as
the conqueror of the Sicilies, he had a right to
claim, and that, with some few exceptions, the
government was desirous to escape any con-
nection with the radical followers of Garibaldi,
civil and military. It was true that those men
had rendered immortal services to their king
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
195
*
h
and country, unbidden by the monarch or his
ministry; so much the better for those who
reaped the advantage; but the duty of showing
public gratitude to those heroic men was not
deemed either necessary or advantageous, except
in some way which would go off in mere flash
and parade, or confer some trifling pension.
The king was perhaps obliged to do as his
premier advised. Garibaldi would not see
Cavour; he believed the minister sought solely
the aggrandisement of Piedmont, not the
good or the glory of Italy. He considered that
he had bartered away its provinces simply to
extend the dominions of Victor Emmanuel.
Garibaldi's policy was Italy free and united;
he considered Cavour's to be the extension of
the dominions of the Piedmontese monarchy,
and that he would sell one part of Italy to
Austria if he could thereby make a good
bargain for Piedmont. Garibaldi sought for
union and Victor Emmanuel king of the
Italians; he believed that Cavour sought only
Sardinian ascendancy in the peninsula. It
was impossible to reconcile those opposing
views, and almost as impossible to believe that
while Victor Emmanuel desired to reign over a
united Italy only as a constitutional monarch,
the chosen of the people, he was not free from
the hereditary ambition of his house, nor un-
willing to profit by the mere dynastic schemes
of his minister. At all events, with such
views Garibaldi could not co-operate in the
government of Southern Italy. It was unfor-
tunate for that fair region that his services
could not be secured; years of social shame
and obstruction would have been spared it.
Whatever Garibaldi advised was rejected;
whoever had opposed, thwarted, insulted Gari-
baldi was lifted to power. Farini, whom
he had expelled from Naples as dangerous to
its peace, the king's government had already
sent to Sicily, which Garibaldi's unaided arm
He was-
had won for the Sardinian crown.
not simply insulted, he was calumniated by
the king's ministers.
His Majesty pro-
fessed loud and enthusiastic admiration for the
hero who had placed so many millions of
men beneath the constitutional sway of his
sceptre; but his Majesty surrounded himself
with Garibaldi's calumniators and enemies-
not simply political opponents; and he allowed
to be nominated, as his representatives in the
provinces conquered by Garibaldi, the most
notoriously hostile persons to the conqueror.
There was no necessity for this; there were
many men able and willing to serve; but those
men were the creatures of Count Cavour, and
no part of his policy was more resolutely pur-
sued than that of rooting out of Italy the in-
fluence of Garibaldi. Garibaldi might well
expect that as he had promoted his Majesty's
glory and dominions, and also served Italy at
the risk of all things, the king might incur
some inconvenience in conceding something
to him-
"A man that all his time
Hath founded his good fortune on your love,
Shared dangers with you."
The personal enemy of Garibaldi, Farini,
was sent by Cavour to take the reins of power
from the quondam Dictator, who at once
resolved to seek his island retreat. On the
9th of November he bid farewell to his brave
comrades, in an address full of tenderness and
patriotism, but fired with indignation at the
treatment he had received:
"We must consider the period which is
just drawing to a conclusion as almost the
last stage of our national resurrection, and
must prepare ourselves to finish worthily the
marvellous design of the Elect of twenty gene-
rations, the completion of which Providence
has reserved for this fortunate age.
196
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
E
!
"Yes, young men! Italy owes to you an
undertaking which has merited the applause
of the universe. You have conquered, and
you will conquer still, because you are pre-
pared for the tactics that decide the fate of
battles. You are worthy of the men who
pierced the serried ranks of a Macedonian
phalanx, and who contended, not in vain, with
the proud conquerors of Asia. To this won-
derful page in our country's history, another
more glorious still will be added, and the slave
shall show at last to his free brethren a
sharpened sword, forged from the links of his
fetters. To arms, then, all of you! all of you!
and the oppressors and the mighty will dis-
appear like dust. You, too, women, cast
away all cowards from your embraces, they
will give you only cowards for children ;
and you, who are the daughters of the land
of beauty, must bear children who are noble
and brave. Let timid doctrinaires depart
from among us, to carry their servility and
their miserable fears elsewhere. This people
is its own master. It wishes to be the brother
of other people, but to look on the insolent
with a proud glance: not to grovel before
them, imploring its own freedom. It will
no longer follow in the trail of men whose
hearts are foul. No! no! no! Providence
has presented Italy with Victor Emmanuel.
Every Italian should rally round him. By the
side of Victor Emmanuel every quarrel should
be forgotten, all rancour should disappear.
Once more I repeat my battle-cry—‘To arms,
all-all of you!' If March, 1861, does not
find 1,000,000 of Italians in arms, then alas
for liberty! alas for the life of Italy! Ah,
no! far be from me a thought which I
loathe like poison. March, 1861, or, if need
be, February, will find us all at our posts-
Italians of Calatafimi, Palermo, Ancona, Vol-
turno, Castelfidardo, and Isernia; and with us
every man of this land who is not a coward
or a slave. Let all of us, rallying round the
glorious hero of Palestro, give the last blow
to the crumbling edifice of tyranny. Receive,
then, my gallant young volunteers, at the
honoured conclusion of ten battles, one word
of farewell from me. I utter that word with
the deepest affection, and from the very bottom
of my heart. To-day I am obliged to retire,
but for a few days only. The hour of battle
will find me with you again, by the side of the
champions of Italian liberty. Let those only
return to their homes who are called by the
imperative duties which they owe to their
families, and those who by their glorious
wounds have deserved the gratitude of their
country. These, indeed, will serve Italy in
their homes by their counsel, by the very
aspect of the noble wounds which adorn their
noble and youthful brows. Apart from these,
let all others remain to guard our glorious
banners. We shall meet again before long, to
march together to the redemption of our
brethren who are still the slaves of the
stranger. We shall meet again before long,
and march together to new triumphs.
"G. GARIBALDI."
When Garibaldi was informed that only
£30 sterling was in the hands of his private
secretary, which by desperate economy had
been saved, he smilingly replied, "Never
mind, Basso, we have at Caprera plenty of
wood and corn, which we will send to Madda-
lena for sale."
Before the hero left Naples he visited his
friend, Admiral Munday, who fired the salute
due to a general officer-an honour not
bestowed upon him by his sovereign when
he quitted the realm which he had placed
at that monarch's feet. On the same day
he went on board the Washington, in which
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
197
he sailed for Caprera. Before leaving, he
sent a despatch to the king, resigning his rank
of general, and returning the grand collar of
knighthood of the Annunciation which had
been conferred upon him. This grieved his
Majesty, who would have bestowed any rank or
pecuniary reward within the power of his
sovereignty, but Garibaldi resolutely refused
all distinctions and all pecuniary recompense.
*
The Washington bore the hero home to his
sea-girt rock.
It appeared then as if the political life of
Garibaldi had closed. His noble soldiers might
use the language of one of our own poets-
"That star of the field, which so often had poured
Its rays on the battle, is set;
But enough of its glory remains on our swords,
To light us to victory yet.”
CHAPTER XXIX.
THIS chapter might have been headed "Gari-
baldi at home;" but Caprera was regarded by
him rather as his dwelling-place. Nice, his
beloved Nice! bartered away to an ally, he
alone regarded as his legitimate home. As
he sighed for the restoration of Rome, its
great capital, to Italy, and the rescue of
Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, so did
his heart long to see the tricolour of Italy,
instead of that of France, wave once more over
the place of his birth. He is an exile still,
even at Caprera, for Nice is ruled by the
sceptre of the stranger.
He arrived safely at the island, and while
his envious opponent, Farini, and his rival
in the king's esteem, Cavour, were failing
utterly in the moral and social cultivation of
Southern Italy, he was successful in the
material cultivation of his rude estate.. He
LIFE IN CAPRERA.
"Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumour of oppression, and deceit,
Of unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more. My ear is pain'd,
My soul is sick, with every day's report
Of wrong, and outrage, with which earth is fill'd."-CowPer.
1
was visited in the spring of 1861 by a friend,
who thus describes what he saw :--
"During the winter and spring of 1861
a great deal had been done to find out and
fence in some grounds that would admit of
cultivation. On my first trip to Caprera, in
March, 1861, I saw there already much that
promised well. 'The garden,' with here and
there some picturesque blocks of granite firmly
set, presented an aspect decidedly vegetarian,
and the gardener now lived in a new little
house of pleasant exterior, the old wooden
hut having been given up to the horses
During my subsequent visits I saw still more
progress made. The white cottage had been
enlarged by a wing that domineers over the
original body, above which it rises one story
high, with apartments quite comfortable,
and a flower garden of its own, walled in,
198
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
forming a sheltered corner, full of pretty
colours and sweet scents, in the capacious
courtyard, overrun by chickens, guinea fowls,
ducks, and three domesticated gulls. A wind-
mill, too, has been erected close to the house,
on the side which faces the bay.
"From the new establishment in Caprera-
flanked by an iron cottage, a gift from English
friends—various roads have been made to the
boathouse, the landing-place, and the garden.
In this last-mentioned enclosure wells have
been dug, reservoirs made, and an effective
system of irrigation introduced; the trees and
vegetables of all kinds, thus provided with
plenty of water, being protected also against
the withering breezes of the sea by rocky
walls, of which the General himself built up a
line two thousand five hundred feet long.
"One is almost inclined to fancy that Caprera
was waiting for Italy's flourishing up again
before it would consent to be made productive
in the least. Now it bears fruits of various
kinds and good, thanks to the hand that knew
how to clear the meridional gardens of his
country from Bourbon weeds and priestly
parasites.
"The bloodless victories in this campaign
against sterility have been marked by many
incidents more or less interesting. I shall
select a few, in which pars minima fui.
"The sea having too much water for driving
a mill, and there being no streams on these
islands—though of fountains there are many
and good ones-the General's flour had to be
made daily like his coffee-in fact, by means
of a coffee-mill. Garibaldi wanted to cure
this defect, and at the same time to add an
ornament to his island, by the erection of a
windmill, there being plenty and to spare of
the atmospheric currents to keep it in motion
-indeed, the place is so perfectly 'ventilated'
that there was some chance of solving at last,
··
by that mill, the dream of perpetuum mobile.
Accordingly a solid tower was built up, of the
approved round form, and the wings were
lifted up just during my second visit there
on the 25th day of May, 1861-a date I here
put down, since on its morrow it was that the
General gave away his only daughter, Teresita,
in marriage to Major Canzio, one of the mille,
and son of a Genoese merchant.
"The work was no joke at all, and I, too, had
the honour of having put a helping hand to it.
There being no machinery or contrivance of any
kind beyond a ricketty ladder of the smallest
size to stand upon, as a basis of operations we
stood, three of us, on the unequal ground, and
did our best to lift the substantial heavy arms
of the Quixotic giant up to within the reach of a
working man, who, bent forward and downward
from the top of that monument, tried hard to
seize it and drag it up, at the risk of being
dragged down himself headlong by the ponde-
rous windcatcher, and upon our devoted heads.
It was, I repeat it, no joke at all to stand there
exposed to being crushed, or at least maimed,
any moment; but we stood our ground, and no
one thought of escaping from the perilous
work, because Garibaldi was there too, aud
gave an occasional lift, and shared our risks.
This little picture may, in its miniature form,
show the readiness, or, at any rate, the resig-
nation of Garibaldi's followers to die rather
than fly from any mortal post, in his presence,
with his wondrous regard fixed upon you. It
is true that he is the last man to provide for
his own security, and if he does not spare any
one, least of all does he spare himself in the
encounter of fatigue, danger, and death for a
good purpose. General Türr, on a former
occasion, when the first stone was laid' for
that mill, allowed himself some sceptical
banter respecting the future movements of the
machinery in the very teeth of the restless
6
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
199
I
There was
breezes. When, therefore, the mystic wings-
which may now and then make you fancy you
see a couple of gigantic birds perched cross-
wise on a post, or see turkeys tied to a pole,
which has evidently taken firm hold of their
legs, considering that with all their incessant
flappings in contrary directions they can't fly
away—were seen turning round and round
with cat-like noiselessness, the General, recol-
lecting the joking doubts expressed about the
practicability of his aerial undertaking, turned
towards me, and while pointing to the rotatory
novelty, said, 'You must tell Türr that you
have seen it move.' While he gave that
commission a pleasant smile rested on his
countenance, but there was in his voice and
regard also a shade of serious satisfaction at
being enabled to prove the justness of his
useful scheme by the success of the mill which
-whatever that Inquisitor-General Türr may
have told to the contrary-eppur si muove."
spoken to by him in English.
Teresita, too, with her husband, the Major
Canzio, not in the army, he having retired
from it into private life, Dictatoris ad exem-
plum, after the annexation of Naples to the
Kingdom of Italy. This was the first visit
paid to Caprera by the General's daughter in
her new quality of bride. Menotti, of course,
was near, though absent on a fishing excursion,
so that he could not arrive in time for our
dinner, and only joined the party in its post-
prandial siesta in the court-yard behind the
house, and at once began to take a leading
part in a game of Italian bowling, known by
the name of boccie. The dinner was good and
copious, though plain. The company drank
wine of Sardinian growth, the General keeping
to his favourite beverage, water, though he has
taken no pledge, and does not think of his
abstinence from the use of fermented liquors in
the light of a virtue to be forced upon others
whether they like it or not. Wine, beer, and
spirits of any kind he takes only on special
occasions to please others, but his sobriety is
equally proof against the not unfrequent
intolerance of people intoxicated by water.
For dessert, a number of grapes have been cut
down from their festooned places over the
dining-room table. They were the first grapes
of the island produced by the vintages from
Marsala. The beautiful fruit, white and black,
was unanimously pronounced and proved to be
excellent, a praise that warmed the well-pleased
producer into a generous eulogy of poor
Caprera's undeveloped capabilities for bringing
forth something besides stones and spare
weed. That our praise was prompted by no
Interesting as the above description is of
life in Caprera, the same gentleman, in another
letter, places it in a still more delightful point
of view, socially, although it does not appear
that all the material enterprises of Farmer
Garibaldi were successful, any more than all
the more adventurous exploits of his mysterious
history.
"I have given you an instance of a success-
ful experiment in Caprera's industrial opera-
tions. But I saw the reverse of this medal
during a third visit, on the 27th of September,
1861. —a date memorable, too, in the annals of
poor Caprera, from the first wine ever grown
and pressed there having been tasted there on
that day. The General had then his whole |
family around him. Ricciotti had just come mere wish to flatter the General's decided
home from England after an educational
absence of seven years, during which he had
unlearnt his native tongue so completely as
not to understand his own father, except when
| zeal, never exaggerating, and certainly very
amiable, nay, at times, when taking apologetic
forms, even very touching partiality, or, let us
call it, foible for all that relates to his insular
;
200
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
pet, will be evident from the verdict pro-
nounced directly after the grapes had been
adjudged their finishing award against the
first wine.
<
"A bottle of white Caprera having been
uncorked by order of the master, our host
poured out, with his own hand, a small glass-
ful for every one of the company, eight to ten
persons, and then, as the French would say,
'a promené ses regards' all round in placid
expectation of the sentence to come. But no one
would drink. All had the same thought, which
some one interpreted by the question whether
the General would not taste even his own
wine, the produce of his own labours. I shall
taste this one certainly,' replied he, in a half
serious tone, and at the same time poured out
a little also for himself. Now the glasses went
up and they went down again. The wine was
undrinkable. It had a suspicious smell for the
nostrils, it tasted like liquefied sulphur to the
palate. With the best will to swallow it, the
boldest could not get it down. The spectacle
was decidedly humorous. Significant glances
were exchanged across the table and between
neighbours, but no one seemed inclined to say
the first word of condemnation. I must own
it, I felt some curiosity to see whether there
were any courtier among us bold enough to
praise that wine. There was none; there
could not have been one; a very Dangeau
would not have dared to go in his flattery be-
yond the limits of eloquent silence. I sat next
to Colonel Missori (he who saved Garibaldi's
life at Melazzo, and the only one of the me-
ridional army who has been decorated with the
gold medal of valour; he may have been seen
lately in England, a very fine-looking and
thorough gentleman), and we looked at one
another for a moment inquiringly, and then
whispered, loud enough to be heard, the fatal
word, ‘Bad, too bad!' There was no with-
·
standing evidence of such sulphuric kind, and
all joined us in the painful declaration of our
lamentable opinion. The General said nothing
at all. He may have felt real pain—no vexation,
a sentiment too paltry for his mind-at the
failure of his first year's vintage, as far as the
wine went. A bottle of red was tried with no
better result, and so we missed the pleasure of
seeing Garibaldi's noble face brighten up with
that peculiarly charming smile of contentedness
which makes him radiant with delight at the
sight of honest success from a work of his own.
There is, however, no doubt but that the wine
of Caprera may turn out excellent. It may
have even been so since. The first vintage was
spoilt-probably by some mistake in manipu-
lation, a mystery which I don't profess to
fathom. Certain it is that the grapes were
splendid, both for appearance and taste. The
figs, too, are fine and luscious. The kitchen-
garden is well able to furnish the household
with vegetables of every sort. Still, a great
deal of the necessaries of life must, I suppose,
be imported,' the free commonwealth of
Caprera hardly ever being without visitors,
and the General is so very hospitable. Indeed,
he shares his all with everybody. As to him-
self personally, he has but few needs. Coffee
and cigars, especially the last, are the only
luxuries he indulges in. Nizza and Vevey
very kindly pander to this smoking propensity
by occasional presents of a few boxes of the
favourite 'weed,' a sign of remembrance par-
ticularly agreeable to him. On one occasion
he gave his photograph and two such nice
cigars to every member-thirty persons—of a
deputation of working men. And there is such
a hearty readiness in his manner of antici-
pating unspoken desires for such small gifts,
to be treasured up as souvenirs. You see that
he does not do it with a bad grace, or in the
meaningless way of mechanical politeness, nor
|
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
201
·
yet from vanity or condescension, but from a
genial willingness to oblige you. 'Ask some-
thing from me; do, I shall be very happy to
comply with your wishes.' These words of
exquisite kindness were addressed to me, and
moved me almost to tears, such was their
tone of touching spontaneity and cordial
benevolence. I begged of him the favour of
two portraits, with his sign manual, one for
my mother and one for myself. Come, let
me give them to you at once,' was his reply,
'lest I should not remember it before you
leave,' and stepping down from the hillock of
the mill, where our conversation took place,
he called me into his room, and gave me three
photographs, writing his name under every
one of them, adding to the one especially
destined for myself a few words of such good-
ness as would, in themselves, be sufficient
to strengthen a man's character against any
faltering on the path of patriotic duties and
consistency. This is for your mother, this
one is for yourself, and this here you may
like, perhaps, to give to some friend of
yours.' Can there be anything kinder than
the thought of this additional favour granted
unasked?
،
“And all this takes place naturally without
any affectation of whatsoever kind. In him
the public character, just because it is an
assumed one, has not effaced the private man.
Garibaldi has never been seen attitudinising,
and this is the reason of the great impression
his appearance always produces even on such
as are very unwilling to undergo it. He never
acts a part, never studies his movements, is
always at ease, a very embodiment of simple
majesty.
“As during his previous residence in Caprera,
the hero was tormented by tourists and auto-
graph seekers, to the great torment of his
family, and, however resigned and benevolent,
to the great torment of himself. Once, indeed,
but only in one singular instance, he made a
remark which, both by its form of pathetic
suddenness and the melancholy of its humour,
gave clear testimony how very tired and worn
down he must feel, now and then, by that
solutionless continuity of, at times very trying,
visitors. Menotti, with Basso I think, and
somebody else, having returned from a boating
excursion along the east coast of Sardinia,
gave an account of their day's work and
pleasure, and spoke of an island they had dis-
covered, smaller, but wilder than Caprera, and
inaccessible for steamers. I wish I had known
that before we settled down here!' said or
sighed the General, quietly, pensively, and
then he smiled. This is the only instance I
know or have heard of in which anything
like even a melodious groan escaped him at
being admired and loved so unwisely, though
so well. The fact is that it were better for his
peace of mind and body, and even for his
finances, to live in the busy world than in that
island solitude, where he can't help receiving
the swarm of visitors landed by every succes-
sive boat, with a cargo of petty grievances,
one-sided information, teasing reports, accusa-
tions, jealousies, calumnies, hatreds, and such
other amenities dished up in so many courses
for his particular digestion. How his temper
could have escaped being soured, and his mind
being poisoned, is to me a mystery, but at the
same time an irrefragable evidence in favour
of an extraordinary healthfulness of both his
heart and soul; he is always ready to sacrifice
his own comfort if by that he can be of any
help to, or simply please, others. And this
holds good with him in matters small or great.
What he is chiefly prompted by is an un-
bounded sympathy for such as are engaged in
an unequal struggle against adversity. He is
even more humane than patriotic, and he could
D D
1
202
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:.
:
I
!
not see any one suffer without doing his best to
relieve him. Hence the deus-ex-machina-like
appearance of some of his rescuing exploits,
ranging between the fabulous and the homely,
since he does not mete out the quickness and
degree of his help according to the rank and
chances of the distressed, but according to
the imminence and grandeur of the danger
that menaces him.
،
"A bark tossed about by an angry sea be-
tween rocky shallows in one of the channels
to Maddalena Bay is about to be wrecked.
The crew-strangers unacquainted with these
coasts-stand helpless, in momentary expecta-
tion of their fate, when lo! they see a boat,
rowed by two men in red shirts, come on
shooting over the furious waves, and the bark,
under the guidance of this providential cap-
tain, is led out of the deadly maze into safe
waters, and the lifeboat' is rowed back again
to Caprera by Giuseppe and Menotti Gari-
baldi. A little girl, left alone for a little while
in the General's court-yard, sets up a most
pitiable crying for her 'ma.' He goes to
comfort her, but his kind efforts and soothing
words are of no avail; the child's heart is too
full of mysterious panic and unreasoning grief
to be quieted by any one but the mother's
caressing hand; yet the General does not tire
of keeping company with the poor woman's
daughter till the mother returned to stay her
tears. This scene I saw. Others of a similar
character I heard narrated in Maddalena,
where, by-the-bye, the General is
spoken of in any but in language of deep
respect and warm devotion.
never
"The ex-Dictator of the Two Sicilies is an
elector inscribed on the franchise rolls of Mad-
dalena, and I was amused to find that on the
lists stuck up for general information in the
market-place, his name is followed by the
sacramental alfabetico. The General, it seems,
is reputed to have learnt his A B C, and is not
set down for an analfabetico, like some of his
brother electors."
He did not, however, so confine himself to
his rock, as to take no interest in the affairs of
the peninsula and its varying politics. He
appeared at the court of Turin, sat in the
Parliament, and presided on some public oc-
casions over assemblies which were likely to
influence the future of Italy. He repaired to
Turin repeatedly after the death of Cavour,
and had long and important interviews with
Ratazzi and Ricasoli; but he invariably hur-
ried back to his garden and his windmill from
the entanglements which politicians sought to
throw around him. Such was life at Caprera,
and such the course of him who has given
to its name memorable associations for all
time to come, until the cry of Italy again
called him to arms
i
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
203
८८
CHAPTER XXX.
AGITATION IN ITALY.-GARIBALDI PREPARES FOR A NEW EXPEDITION.-ARMING OF THE PEOPLE.
POLICY OF THE ITALIAN CABINET.-INTRIGUES OF FRANCE.-DIPLOMATIC SQUABBLES AND UNCER-
TAINTIES.-ANIMOSITY OF THE REACTIONIST AND FRENCH PARTIES AT TURIN TO GARIBALDI.
Everybody is mystified, and drearily does his best to mystify his neighbour; and it must be admitted that everybody succeeds
pretty unsatisfactorily."-ROVING ENGLISHMAN.
DURING 1862, the agitation of the Italian | proval.
people was profound. The desire to liberate
Rome and Venice was universal, "the party
of action" urging immediate war for those
purposes; the conservatives and the moderate
classes (such as correspond to the Whigs in
England) hoped to effect them by diplomacy.
The King of Italy, in various ways, direct and
indirect, sought to bring about some under-
standing with the Pope, by which his temporal
power should be surrendered to Victor Em-
manuel, the monarch in return undertaking to
support the Pontiff in a degree of splendour
and ecclesiastical authority such as might
satisfy the ambition of even a high priest.
It was also urged upon the Pontiff that, in
case of refusal, the king would be compelled
to avert a revolution, by sending troops to
Rome, if by convention with the Emperor
Napoleon the army of the latter should be
withdrawn. At the beginning of February it
became necessary for the Pope to make some
formal decision.
The Gazetta di Torino published a letter
from Rome, which stated that an extraordinary
consistory was held at the Vatican, at which
not only the cardinals, but also the ministers,
and among them Mgr. de Mérode, were con-
voked, in order to decide whether it would be
more dignified in the Pope to resist or not, in
case the Italian troops should advance. Mgr.
de Mérode alone spoke, declaring for resistance,
a counsel which was received with loud ap-
The Pope then announced that he
would act according as he might think best.
Italian diplomacy was directed also to Paris,
and especially through Prince Napoleon, the
Emperor's cousin, and the king's son-in-law.
The Emperor was desirous that the Pope
would mitigate the severities of his reign, and
withdraw his support from the system of
brigandage, which the ex-King of Naples
organised in Rome, under the auspices of the
Roman Government. Those brigands were
rarely natives of the Roman States; some of
them were Neapolitans; almost all the Italians
among them were natives of continental Sicily,
the rest were Austrians, Bavarians, Swiss,
Belgians, and Spaniards. They professed
themselves to be engaged in a holy war, for
Church and King, and with this ostensible
purpose they passed the frontiers, and com-
mitted excesses, terrible beyond precedent,
even upon Neapolitan soil. Incendiarism,
rapine, sacrilege, murder, rape, mutilation,
and torture, were the ordinary acts of these
ruffians. The French troops did not effectually
interfere; but the Emperor advised the Pope
to put an end to these things, and by good
government render it unnecessary for a foreign
army to remain at Rome. These counsels were
met by the ever-recurring "non possumus.
Early in the year, Prince Napoleon put
forth an energetic influence in Paris for Italian
unity. An amendment was presented by Prince
Napoleon, to be introduced into the address of
204
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY,
the Senate. It was couched in the following
terms "The Senate profoundly regrets that
the Court of Rome has not given a more
favourable reception to the propositions made
by France in the despatch of the 18th of
January." The withdrawal of this amendment
was insisted upon, M. Troplong having con-
sented to insert in the address a clause giving
å very mild expression to a regret, which would
have had the character of blame had it been
adopted as proposed by the prince.
It soon became obvious that nothing decided
would be either undertaken or permitted by
the Government of the Tuileries. Cardinal
Antonelli, at this juncture, made the astound-
ing assertion that "the Holy See was on the
best terms with the Italian people." This
produced great indignation in Italy, especially
in the north; according to the Lombardio, of
Milan, a protest against that declaration was
signed by 24,000 citizens of the capital of
Lombardy. Thus every occurrence, whether in
Rome, Turin, or Paris, complicated affairs,
exasperated the Italians, and provoked a re-
sort to arms on the part of those who im-
patiently, but patriotically, longed for the
unification of all parts of the peninsula.
Indeed, a report prevailed in Europe that
France would withdraw from Rome, and assist
Victor Emmanuel to conquer Venice, if further
compensation were made to France from Italian
territory. About midsummer, these reports
were extended and more fully believed, as the
French press published many ominous articles
and paragraphs about the necessity of checking
the party of action in Italy, and curbing the
national ambition of the new kingdom. The
Pays especially referred to Genoa as a place
which must be purged of its ultra-liberal ideas,
as a stronghold of Mazzinians, that must be
suppressed." At the end of July, the same
journal began an article in a similar spirit
66
with the words, " Rome must be watched, but
Genoa must be disarmed and reduced to impo-
tence." At the same time other papers were
allowed by the French Government to throw
out encouragement, that provided Garibaldi
did not again and prematurely raise the
standard of war, France would either assist, or
not prevent, the great object so dear to him.
Thus the Indépendance was allowed by the
censor to publish with impunity the following:-
"What will Garibaldi do? Censured by
the king, by the government, by the legal
representation of the country, will he resign
himself to a further adjournment of his dearest
hopes? We think he will. Not that these
censures can deprive him of power; but he
must understand that the more popular he is,
and the more his intentions are seconded by
the masses, the more the interests of Italy
require him to be prudent, and not to expose the
destinies of the country, now so promising, to
founder altogether in a horrible civil war. We
therefore do not doubt that the victory, this
time, will remain with the constituted autho-
rities. But such victories are not to be gained
twice, and if M. Ratazzi hopes to exercise any
influence upon public opinion much longer, he
must make up his mind to extract from the
very agitation which he is now opposing a
moral force, sufficient to enable him to conduct
the Italian movement, by legal means, to its
necessary end. He must either persuade
France to join him in solving the interminable
Roman question, or he must solve it without,
and, if need be, against her; otherwise he
will be hurled from power with contumely, as
having been nothing else than the servant
of foreign and preponderant influences. The
choice of a minister placed at the head of a
nation of 25,000,000 of men can scarcely be
doubtful in this triple alternative."
Matters had now ripened in Italy, or, at all
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
205
events, in the mind of Garibaldi and those
most attached to him, for another effort to
rescue Italian provinces from bondage. He
wrote addresses, made speeches, visited dif-
ferent parts of Italy, and the whole people
appeared to be so roused that it was generally
believed in Europe they would rise en masse,
and follow him. Cavour was dead; Ratazzi
was Victor Emmanuel's premier, without the
tact, the resolution, or the intellectual and
political resources of the deceased statesman,
and was regarded by Garibaldi and many
Italians as a tool of the Emperor Napoleon.
It was alleged and credited that Ratazzi pro-
posed to Victor Emmanuel to confine Gari-
baldi in Caprera, as a prisoner on parole, at
the bidding of the French Emperor, and that
the King wrote to Garibaldi, entreating him
to modify his plans, and intimating that, in
case of refusal, Ratazzi would confine him
in Caprera. Whatever might be the exag-
geration in this rumour, which first found
public expression in the Cologne Gazette,
Garibaldi did receive some official communica-
tions which wounded his dignity and his
honour, and which he thought humiliating to
Italy. He resolved to carry out his plans, and
sound the tocsin of war once more.
A certain class of writers complain that feats
of arms needlessly fill the historical page. One
of this school has written-
"Your orthodox historian puts
In foremost rank your soldier thus:
The redcoat bully in his boots,
That hides the march of men from us.
He puts him there in foremost rank;
You wonder at his cap of hair;
You hear his sabre's cursed clank-
His spurs are jingling everywhere.”
The soldier, however, legitimately occupies a
prominent place in history, for he has influenced
the actual life of nations to a great extent in
every age. What would Italy be now had not
Garibaldi as a soldier animated the enthusiasm
of her sons to achievements in the field? An
oppressed nation that will not fight cannot
expect to be free; a free nation which despises
military virtue will become the prey of the
invader. It was Italy's destiny in modern as
in ancient times to be a grand theatre of battle,
and whoever writes her history, or the history
of either her oppressors or liberators, must
relate the deeds of soldiers.
In the summer of 1862, the "advanced
party" in Italy, especially in the north, made
preparations for a struggle, the issue of which
it was believed would prove successful.
"The Italian Emancipation Society
" had
ramifications over all Italy, and was a formid-
able instrument of power with the popular
party. The executive committee issued the
following address to the affiliated associa-
tions:
G
"Whilst we are engaged in organising a
financial committee to appeal to the wealthy
classes to form a fund for the democracy of
Italy, we are under the necessity of applying
to the associations to request them to raise the
sum of 1 fr. from each member, in addition to
the usual subscription fixed by Art. 17 of the
statute, an offering which will be required once
only. This money will form a supplement to
the sacred fund destined. for the deliverance of
Rome and Venetia. We trust the above will
sufficiently explain the object to which it will
be exclusively applied by us. If the associa-
tions desire the realisation of what holds the
first place in their thoughts, it is necessary for
them to submit to this sacrifice. We ask it in
the name of our country. To do it immediately
is the only way to render it beneficial. We
urge the directing committee to take whatever
measures they may think most speedy and
effective: We have too much confidence in
1
206
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
their patriotism to think there is any need of
pressing them further. As soon as the money
is collected, each directing committee will
please to remit it to M. Antonio Mosto at
Genoa. Fraternal salutations !-The Execu-
tive committee-A. BERTANI, B. CAIROLI, A.
MARIO, LUIGI DI CELLI, ANTONIO MOSTO.”
}
opposition to him at Turin is unjustly de-
nounced. Did space allow, a multitude of
unexceptionable authorities might be quoted,
English and foreign, to prove that Garibaldi
was ever willing to defer to the king and his
cabinet in any prudent reticence or delay,
provided only that their policy was clear and
persistent—all Italy, from the Alps to the
Apennines free, and its people, whether Roman,
Sicilian, Tuscan, Modenese, Lombard, Vene-
tian, or Piedmontese, citizens of the kingdom,
ruled by Victor Emmanuel.
A gentleman,* conversant with the events
of the time, wrote what was true, and the
truth of which many witnesses could prove,
when he thus expressed himself as to the king's
refusal to allow the hero a year to restore order
At this juncture, the press of Paris, the
ministerial organs at Turin, and some of the
London newspapers, daily abused Garibaldi.
He was represented as a warrior but no states-
man; a weak and vacillating person, so amiable
as to be under the influence by turns of men
the most adverse in their views and characters.
The newspapers of all the German capitals
copied this abuse, and abundantly added to it.
He was represented as a restless and imprac-in Naples; in reference to Garibaldi's reception
ticable man, because he would not endorse
the policy of Ratazzi, whom the king under
French influence supported. These imputations
were unmerited. All Garibaldi desired was a
definite and clear policy on. the part of the
Turin cabinet, based upon the principle of his
old war-cry, "Italy united under Victor Em-
manuel." Rightly or wrongly, he favoured no
republican schemes. Italy was not republican,
and Garibaldi knew that; he loved and trusted
Mazzini, but, as often before, differed with him
in opinion, and especially as to the practica-
bility of his plans. The hero cherished both
love and loyalty to his sovereign, but his great❘
and true heart loathed the clique of reaction-
aries, schemers, and mercenaries or sycophants
of France by whom his Majesty was surrounded.
He had no confidence in any of the political
agents at Turin, except in the representative of
England, a country for which he bore a love
next to that which he felt for his native Italy.
by the ministerial party at Turin when he left
Caprera and assumed his place in parliament;
and of the general conduct of the anti-liberal
advisers of the king towards the hero subse-
quent to that time, and up to the period the
occurrences of which these pages narrate :-
M
"The king, I believe, would of himself have
cheerfully granted Garibaldi's wish, but the
counsels and wire-pullings of schemers and
aspirants after political place and notoriety over-
came his better judgment, and on the 8th of
November, 1860, the spectacle was presented
to the world of a man at whose call the whole
of Italy would have risen (excepting the afore-
said politicians and non-combatants) quietly
and unobservedly, before sunrise, leaving with
three or four attached friends, for his home-a
barren, sun-scorched rock, that more than one
of his assailants would like to make his prison-
house, or even his grave, did they dare!
It may be that some readers may imagine that
the errors of Garibaldi are ignored improperly
in this work, and that the policy and spirit of
"Six months after, he unwillingly left his
home to appear in parliament as a people's
representative, and how was he received?
* William de Rohan.
GROS
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"I will not now answer this question, as I
dislike recrimination or acrimonious words on
any subject. But having had opportunities
and means, such as very few have, of knowing
what really passed behind the curtain, I will
content myself with saying that were I at
liberty, as a man of honour, to produce such
documentary and other evidence as is within
my possession and grasp, I am sure that public
opinion, so far from expressing itself against
him for what he is doing now, as some do, or
hesitating what to think, as others do, would
speak with one voice of stern and uncompro-
mising reprobation of the manner in which
Garibaldi has by turns been cajoled, deceived,
and betrayed by the very men who now would
deliver him over to imprisonment, exile, not to
'say death on the scaffold.
"I again repeat that it would be painful to
me to speak more plainly, but if called on to
substantiate my words I will not delay an
instant in doing so, and the world shall then
judge.
..
6
"It is idle to assert, as is every day done,
that Garibaldi is under the influence' of
this one or of that one, swinging like a pen-
dulum betwixt monarchists and republicans,
betwixt extreme and moderate parties, and
Heaven only knows what else; for such is not
now, nor was it ever the case; he has his own
views, his own thoughts, and adheres to these,
but to none other; thus he ever does and ever
has done, so long as I have known him; and
whether he do right or wrong, the merit or
fault is entirely his own. I utterly deny that
any one living can make him swerve a hair's
breadth from the course he has once determined
on; and whatever that course be, he considers
it well before acting, and makes no one his
confidant until the hour arrives. As is natural,
and indeed inseparable from his mild character
and unambitious views, he is approached by
}
207
many who often succeed in making him a
victim to misplaced good feeling, or who, if de-
feated in their schemes, afterwards turn round
to calumniate one whom they cannot dupe.
"Much has been said to the effect that
Garibaldi is a soldier but no politician. Now,
let me ask any one of these quid-nuncs one
question-When has he ever had a fair oppor-
tunity of proving his capacity for governing?
"To instantaneously organise disjointed.
materials, and blend together in one mass of
harmonious action the discordant habits,
opinions, and interests, private and public,
which the successive foreign tyrants of eight
centuries have been sedulously, and only too
successfully, labouring to create and foster,
was a work that the most able man who ever
lived would have found difficult, if not impos-
sible; why, then, should Giuseppe Garibaldi,
who claims not any of the advantages which
position, education, or wealth are admitted to
give a man, but says bluntly, 'I am honest
and love my country,' and who indulges un-
fortunately only too much in the belief that
others are like him-why, then, should such a
man be stigmatised or upbraided for complain-
ing of those whom he has for two years been
patiently watching in their game of delusion,
petty vanity, perhaps treachery-as if his right
could be for one moment questioned to be
styled 'Liberator of Italy'?
"I may be allowed to say, without vanity,
or violating confidence, that having been
honoured with the kind, and even friendly,
notice of King Victor Emmanuel, I have ever
found him a plain, unassuming, and straight-
forward man, a genuinely' galant' uomo,' but
unfortunately, like Garibaldi, much too trust-
ing in some who are not worthy of it.
I speak
advisedly in saying that I well know his Ma-
jesty's sentiments on many points, and conse-
quently lament his having allowed things to go
208
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
፡
on in the way they have done for some time. I
hope, however, that the hour is approaching
when he will act for himself, and be rather
'King of the Italians' than King of Italy.
Most certainly, be it as it may, no sovereign ever
had a more honest, faithful, and abiding ser-
vant and friend than Garibaldi, nor was ever a
gallant soldier and monarch worse served than
he is by some of his ministers."
There are grounds for believing that in the
summer of 1862 the policy of France was so
to influence the government of Turin, in its
general measures and its conduct to Garibaldi,
that the party of action would enter upon
some rash enterprise. If the government of
Turin failed to prevent the like, or to suppress
it when entered upon, the necessity of leaning
upon French protection would be obvious, and
the influence of the Emperor in Italy would be
increased. If the government of Turin should
succeed in intercepting any bold enterprise to
rescue Rome or Venice, or in putting down
the movement, then it would compromise
itself with the party of action, and so in that
case also be obliged to rest for support upon
the government of the Tuileries.
At this juncture Russia and Prussia were
induced by France to recognise Victor Em-
manuel as King of Italy. The quid pro quo
was an understanding that the king of the
newly recognised dominion would discounte-
nance revolutionary proceedings, and all mea-
sures on the part of the Garibaldini, which
might involve another European war.
The policy of France was successful. Italy
became, as it were, bound to the triumphal
car of the French Emperor.
Garibaldi believed that England would take
advantage of his projected enterprise to use
all her influence at Paris to induce the French
Emperor to abandon Rome, in which case his
Imperial Majesty would be certain to unite
with England in pressing upon Austria the
surrender of Venice. So curiously combined
and intricate were the political facts and the
motives of governments and parties, that
Garibaldi could not be censured for hoping
that the time had arrived for solving the
enigma of the general situation.
Probably in no European journal or peri-
odical, and in none of the orations made in the
parliaments of London, Turin, and Paris, was
there expressed so clear and fair an estimate
of the status quo ante bellum, as was put forth
in an article of the London Review, just as
Garibaldi had cast the die, and gone forth
once more to battle for Italian liberty.
"Garibaldi has become one of the powers
and one of the representative men of Europe.
To such men nothing is absolutely impossible.
It is not as if some reckless and unknown ad-
venturer were leading a forlorn storming party
against the armies of France. The Bayard of
Revolution carries with him, wherever he goes,
a charmed life and a magic influence. To sup-
pose him capable of beating the French gar-
rison at Rome would be to suppose him
capable of miracles. It would be a great
disaster if the French arms were to come into
collision with the arms of Italian Revolution ;
still greater a disaster, perhaps, if Italy suc-
ceeded in inflicting even a temporary blow on
the vanity of the French people. But there
are many chapters in the book of the future
which have to be turned before the time comes
for Garibaldi to encounter the French eagles
within gunshot of the Vatican. We have not
now to consider what would be the effect
of an encounter between the raw levies of the
Liberator of Sicily and the disciplined legions
of Napoleon. The question as yet is only this
What may be the effect upon Italy and on
Europe of Garibaldi once more in arms, and
crying Rome or death'?
6
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
209
"The French Emperor is himself too com-
pletely the child and champion of democracy
not to appreciate the possible effect of a
stormy and sudden movement beyond the
Alps. He has no personal interest to serve
by withdrawing his flag from Rome. It is
his business to keep well with the Catholic
party, and to preserve peace in Europe. But
if once the national will of Italy is loudly
spoken, it remains to be seen whether he can
afford to neglect it altogether. Democracy in
France would have a word to whisper in such
a case into its Imperial bondsman's ear. The
French Emperor may silence the educated and
crush the middle classes. The masses who
form the staple of the French empire and
republic know that he is their representative
and champion. The championship of demo-
cracy has its perils and responsibilities as well
as its pleasures and its privileges. We do not
believe the Emperor of the French can safely
break with the Italian nation, and again brave
the daggers of a hundred new Orsinis. Hitherto
the Italian nation has been tolerant of his
intervention. Garibaldi now appeals to them,
and demands in their name that it shall cease.
The scandal of a rupture with the nation he
has helped to make is the last thing a man so
wise and so cautious as Napoleon would wish
to entail upon himself. He has had an excuse
till now for maintaining his position on the
Tiber. His choice is now limited to one of
two alternatives. He must accept civil war
and anarchy in Italy, or else abandon Italy to
its natural protectors. He may, perhaps, not
fear to accept even the former. We think,
however, that it will be a fatal error if he
does. At any rate, at all hazards, Garibaldi
is willing to cross the rubicon-to cast the
die, and to stake life and reputation on the
risk.
"We do not pretend to predict the issue of
the Garibaldian plan. But if France is ever to
be moved from Rome, we believe that it will
not be at the sight of Italy sitting like Patience,
and turning her eyes upon the capitol; but
from the imminent apprehension of foreign
disturbance, and perhaps European commo-
tion. Time enough has been given to
Napoleon III. to consult his dignity, and the
dignity of the French flag. It is now time
that he should consult the peace of Europe,
which he is imperilling every hour that he
remains at Rome. We reproach him with no
sinister motive for protracting the occupation.
He is merely refusing to abandon an old poli-
tical idea of his own. Surely he must at least
abandon it, or else upon his head must be the
guilt of the bloodshed and trouble that may
ensue. Rome is kept back from the Italians,
and they have an abstract right, at all events,
to clamour till it is restored. In hoisting the
flag of independence, Garibaldi is doing what
may be extremely distasteful to Europe and
to France. For all that, it is natural that
Italians should view the matter in a different
light. As for the charge of disloyalty and
piracy, it may be left unanswered till we see
what is the upshot of the affair. Italy is not
in a normal state. Constitutional niceties have
not been so eagerly observed the last few years
in Europe, that minute objections to the for-
malities of his proceeding can be sustained.
If unsuccessful, he compromises nobody-
certainly not the obsequious cabinet of M.
Ratazzi. If he succeeds, the voice of Europe
will proclaim him a hero and a patriot. The
government of Turin cannot now be squeamish
as to forms, after accepting the consequences
of his irregular enterprise of two years back.
If in his own name Garibaldi is to annex king-
doms, he surely may raise in his own name
the standard of national independence. It
would be much better for Italy if so anoma-
E E
210
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
heard amidst the noise of conflicting interests.
We cannot abdicate our position as one of the
Eng-leading Powers of Europe. The time has come
for us to speak out. The French occupation.
is endangering the peace of the world and the
future liberties of Italy. It is not too much
to say that those liberties now depend very
mainly on the line taken on this exceed-
ingly important occasion by the English
government."
lous a state of things were past and done with.
So long as it lasts it must be endured. It will
never cease till the French leave Rome.
land has abstained long enough from inter-
fering, from a proper sense of what was due to
French honour and susceptibilities. What-
ever is done by us should be done in a friendly
and courteous spirit. But if Lord Palmerston
has at heart the interests of freedom and peace,
it is his business to make England's voice
CHAPTER XXXI.
GARIBALDI'S PROCLAMATION TO THE ITALIANS.-COUNTER PROCLAMATION OF VICTOR EMMANUEL.-
GARIBALDI AGAIN IN THE FIELD.-ATTACKED BY THE ROYAL ARMY AT ASPROMONTE. -WOUNDED
AND MADE PRISONER.-TREATED AS A CULPRIT.—PARDON AND LIBERATION.-RETIRES
CAPRERA.-LONG AND SERIOUS ILLNESS.
"Oh, forget not the field where they perished,
The truest and best of the brave!
They are gone, and the bright hope we cherished
Gone with them, and sunk in the grave."-Moore.
GARIBALDI having left Caprera was active in
his proceedings. He directed his course to
Sicily, the scene of some of his greatest ex-
ploits. There he was ostensibly discounte-
nanced by the prefect of Palermo; but the
government had shown so many symptoms of
secret approval, that he paid no attention to
the warnings and prohibitions of the royal
authorities.
The prefect of Palermo at length issued the
following proclamation :-
"Fermentation has agitated the public mind
for some time past. A report has been spread
that the government does not disapprove the
events which have occurred. Respect for the
laws has alone prevented its opposing them by
force. Now, however, that the meetings, by
taking up arms, have assumed a military cha-
p
M
TO
racter, they are forbidden by the laws of the
government. Citizens are warned to beware of
this. Let those who have yielded to delusion
return to their homes. The government can-
not renounce its mission, cannot permit any
name, however dear to the country, to usurp
the prerogatives of Victor Emmanuel, the king
chosen by the nation."
The prefect, however, took no step to stop
the expedition.
Garibaldi issued a proclamation to the young
men of Italy, dated from Bois Firenzzi, in the
province of Corleone, in Sicily, August 2 :—
"Young comrades, the holy cause of our
country unites us again to-day. Without ask-
ing where we are going, with smiles upon your
lips, you have hastened hither to fight against
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
211
arrogant foreign rulers. I ask only of Provi-
dence to preserve me your confidence. I can
promise nothing but toils and troubles, but
confidently rely upon your self-denial; for
well do I know you, O mutilated remnant of
glorious battles! It is unnecessary to ask of
you bravery in the fight, but I must ask you
to preserve discipline, without which no army
can exist. The Romans by their discipline
were enabled to become the masters of the
world. Strive to gain the affections of the
people, as you knew how to do in 1860, as well
as the esteem of our valiant army, in order to
bring about the unity of the country. Upon
this occasion, also, the brave Sicilians will be
the forerunners of the great destinies to which
the country is called.
"GARIBALDI."
The King of Italy issued a proclamation,
dated Turin, August 3 :—
"TO MY PEOPLE!
"At the time when Europe is rendering
homage to the wisdom of the nation, it is
painful to see young people, carried away by
illusions, and forgetful of the duty of grati-
tude due to our best allies, make of the name
of Rome, that name which is the desire of all,
the signal for war. When the hour for the
accomplishment of the enterprise shall arrive,
the voice of the king will make itself heard.
Every other summons is that of rebellion and
of civil war. The responsibility and the rigour
of the law will fall upon those who will not
listen to my words. I shall know how to pre-
serve the dignity of the crown and of parlia-
ment, in order to have the right of demanding
from the whole of Europe justice for Italy."
The proclamation of Garibaldi, and the
counter proclamation of Victor Emmanuel,
produced a profound sensation throughout
Europe, in Italy especially. They became the
subjects of interrogation and debate in the
parliament at Turin.
Ferrari, a deputy, demanded of the Minister
Ratazzi an account of the policy which the
government intended to pursue in referènce to
Garibaldi's expedition. The premier imme-
diately said-
66
'My reply to M. Ferrari shall be short.
The facts which have led to the king's pro-
clamation are known to the public; namely,
that enrolments were becoming daily more.
considerable, and effected by agents who had
no right to make any. It was, therefore,
indispensable and urgent that all doubts should
cease, to let the nation hear the voice of its
king and government. To M. Ferrari's second
question, I reply that it is the intention of the
crown to warn the imprudent. Before having
recourse to those extreme means which the
government has at its disposal, we have con-
sidered it our duty to warn those who might
declare themselves against the laws, or place
themselves above them. We have taken the
oath to the constitution, and no prudential
reasons can induce us either to forget it or not
to cause it to be respected. The king, elected
by the suffrages of 22,000,000, is the most
powerful king on earth, and has nothing to
fear. If, upholding the constitution, we have
arrived at the point where we are, we have
resolved, under the same banner, to maintain
the principle which has made Italy what it is.
General Garibaldi has not given the kingdom
of Italy to the house of Savoy; he does not
represent Italy; he has only powerfully
contributed towards its formation, and he
has done so by his programme-'Italy and
Victor Emmanuel!' But it is precisely in
virtue of this merit of his that Garibaldi must
If the
prove himself obedient to the laws.
212
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
;
support Garibaldi's expedition, relying upon
promises, or quasi promises, or at least implied
permissions, on the part of the French
Emperor. There was proof enough ultimately
afforded that Ratazzi believed in his own
power to influence the judgment of the
Emperor, and that the latter played with him,
being desirous of seeing the party of action
suppressed by means of the royal government,
or that, the latter failing to accomplish this from
want of will or of power, its safety might appear
to be dependent upon the Emperor. When
Ratazzi was on the eve of being hurled from
office, he pleaded the promises of the French
minister, who disclaimed ever having said or
written anything which could afford encourage-
ment that Rome would be surrendered to the
King of Italy; and expressing the Emperor's
firm resolution to hold Rome with all his means
against any power that might assail it. The
French press and the French Assembly, at the
same time, justified and praised the Imperial
policy, declaring that France was the natural
supporter of the Church, and guardian of its
sacerdotal chief. That Ratazzi did give
Garibaldi some countenance in the projected
The reply of Ratazzi to Ferrari was received
by the chamber with applause. A short dis-
cussion ensued, during which the king was
praised for "his firm and noble words," after
which the Chamber proceeded to the order of
the day. That the representatives of the nation
should show such unbounded faith in the
government while Garibaldi was in the field
in consequence of its failure, surprised persons
throughout Europe, even those who thought | expedition, is as certain as that he believed
Garibaldi's proceedings rash, and the time-
serving of the ministry excusable, or even
absolutely necessary, while the French Em-
peror maintained the attitude he did.
he had some encouragement himself from the
French minister in the name of his Imperial
master. During the great debate in the Italian
parliament in the following November, Signore
Massari, a Neapolitan deputy, and a disciple
of Ricasoli, declared that the minister and the
court had been accomplices in the enterprise,
which they afterwards betrayed and put down,
with a severity which was at once impolitic
and cruel. As for the affair of Sicily, the
people saw Pallavicini, the constant friend of
Garibaldi, appointed prefect; they saw the
reception of Garibaldi himself by the sons of
the King of Italy, with whom he went about
publicly; they saw arms landed, volunteers
|
General quits the path of legality, if he wants
to speak in the name of the country, and
endanger by his acts the fate of the nation,
then General Garibaldi will become amenable
to the law. For my part, I am convinced that
the words of the king, whom he has always
respected, will convince him that he has not
the right to do what he does. I am therefore
fully confident that civil war will be avoided.
I repel the idea of a coup d'état; we must
govern according to law, and never shall a
proposal of a coup d'état cross my lips. I
express a hope that the voice of the sovereign
will not be raised in vain ; but if it were, does
M. Ferrari wish the fate of Italy to be left in
the hands of a single man, however great he
may be ?"
Had Garibaldi reason to suppose that the
king and his ministers indirectly encouraged
him? If so, then his conduct was as justifiable
as in his first expedition to Sicily, and even more
so than when he crossed to continental Sicily
to march upon Naples. After the issue of the
campaign the ministry were openly charged by
the press and in parliament with having en-
couraged Garibaldi for the purpose of entrap-
ping and destroying him. Other accusers
believed that the government intended to
i
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
213
collected; they watched the march to Ficuzza,
the entry into Catania, and the departure from
that city; and what could they believe, but
that all was a comedy? Signor Massari then
ridiculed the hesitation and changes of opinion
in the ministry after the fatal affair of Aspro-
monte, and warned them that, instead of
destroying the prestige of Garibaldi, as they
hoped, they had invested him with a popu-
larity exceeding even that of 1860. The
minister of course denied that he had ever
promised Garibaldi support, or given per-
mission to the enterprise; but no deputy
accused him of direct promise or a written
permission. To the accusation of having
connived at the expedition for some purpose
friendly to it, or hostile to Garibaldi and his
party, no satisfactory answer was given; no
explanation consistent in itself, or with the
minister's position, of the open way in which
Garibaldi was allowed for months to prepare
his warlike means, and raise recruits, was
offered to the Assembly.
The most remarkable confirmation of the
duplicity and criminality of the government,
was presented by the letter of a deputy, M.
Crispi, to the Diritto of Genoa :—
famous Troglia, of the Acerbi cause notoriety,
who unceasingly asked me to get them enrolled
for Garibaldi. These cowards seemed to desist
from their malpractices, after I had recourse,
on the 5th of August, to the Questor Chiapupi,
and charged this magistrate to turn his atten-
tion to the discovery of all these proceedings.
After a stop was put to the attempts of these
pretended partisans, and of those who feigned
a wish to enlist, another and not less immoral
plot was laid to entrap me. On the 10th of
August, a captain in the army came and asked
me for some money, that he might desert and
join Garibaldi; and on the 30th of the same
month, the morrow of the massacre of Aspro-
monte, a workman, who said he belonged to
the printing-office of the Espero (a govern-
ment or moderate paper), came to ask my
advice for organising a popular demonstration
in Turin. Faithful to the plébiscite of Oc-
tober 21, 1860, of which I was one of the
authors, my enemies should have known that
my loyalty and my duty forbid my offending
the law, and, therefore, that their foul con-
trivances have been and ever will be ineffectual.
Nevertheless, they return to the charge; and
to-day they have given me notice that the
police intends to arrest me, of its own special
will (suo motu proprio), in contempt of the
26th and 45th articles of the statute, which, as
a citizen and a deputy, I shall still and can
invoke, in the defence of the freedom and of
the inviolability of my person. I can under-
stand that Commendatore Ratazzi, in order to
get rid of my importunate presence in the
Chamber, may be willing to violate in me the
parliamentary guarantee, violated in my col-
leagues and friends the Deputies Mordini and
Fabrizi. I defy him and his lawyers, how-
ever, to take criminal proceedings against me,
that will not prove at least as clumsy and
ill-founded as those taken against Colonel
"Sir,
“As the tribune of the nation is now silent,
I avail myself of your paper to denounce
to the country the machinations of a political
party that purposes to govern Italy with the
violence of a state of siege. In the month of
June, unknown persons, having all the ap-
pearance of provocative agents, presented
themselves to me with offers of service for
political ends of a nature that no honest man
would listen to. From the beginning of July
I was continually accosted in the Carignano
Palace, in the streets, at my own house, by
young men much of the same stamp as the
-
K
214
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Acerbi. In any case, I shall remain at my
post ready to combat, by all legal means, and
to disclose to the nation the Decembrist
designs and deeds of an anti-national govern-
ment.
"Believe me, &c.,
"F. CRISPI,
"Deputy to the Parliament."
Whether covertly encouraged by the king
and the royal princes, Garibaldi is too loyal,
and too much attached to Victor Emmanuel,
ever to divulge; but his opinion has often been
given that he was ensnared and betrayed, and
his language generally pointed to ministerial
intrigue and treachery.
Whatever might be the hopes which Garibaldi
entertained of help from Turin, or at least of
not being hindered by the government, he
organised his force, proceeded to Catania, and
made his war-cry, "Rome or death."
The government, who had allowed him to
proceed thus far, ordered a large body of troops,
under Colonel Pallavicini, to intercept and dis-
arm him. The Turin party were loud in their
exclamations that he should be "taken dead or
alive."
It was the object of our hero to avoid collision
with the royal troops, and for that purpose he
led his small band of 2,000 men up the goat
paths of Aspromonte, along which the reader
will remember he marched when intending to
attack Regio. On the 29th of August, he had
reached the table land, and directed his troops
to rest. Pallavicini, well knowing Garibaldi's
habits in the field, saw the necessity of pressing
close upon him with picked troops in such supe-
rior numbers as to ensure success. Some of the
best light infantry in Victor Emmanuel's service
were engaged in this pursuit. Garibaldi was
resolved in no case to give battle to the soldiers
of his sovereign, or he would by his extraor-
dinary resources, so often displayed, have de-
feated even a greater number of such adversaries.
He could have chosen positions from which a
far greater number could not have dislodged
him, and he might have manoeuvred in the
mountain range, nearly every crag and track
of which was known to him. While he slept
Pallavicini arrived, and at once attacked the
Garibaldians. Garibaldi hastened to the post
to order his men not to fire upon their brethren,
subjects of the same sovereign. In thus acting,
he placed himself in a situation of great expo-
sure, and received two balls, one which slightly
wounded the right leg, the second striking the
foot. Notwithstanding his wound, he tried to
rush between the opposing lines, and after a
few paces forward, fell. He was borne by his
staff to the edge of a wood close to the place of
combat. The Sicilian picciotti fled. The re-
maining forces, about 350 volunteers, fought
around their fallen chief with the noblest gal-
lantry. Notwithstanding the numbers opposed
to them, they sustained the action for more
than two hours. Garibaldi called out to the men
to desist from their efforts, but in vain; their
grief and rage for his fall were uncontrollable,
and they fought with the utmost fury. They
were also indignant at the treachery of Palla-
vicini, who sent forward his bersaglieri close
to the Garibaldian line, shouting, as if frater-
nising with the volunteers, "Viva Vitorio
Emmanuelle ! Viva Garibaldi!" The volun-
teers received them with similar demonstrations
of patriotism, until the bersaglieri, arriving
within a short distance, raised their pieces,
and with close and deadly aim, fired, and con-
summated their treachery. The defeat of the
volunteers was, under all the circumstances of
the case, inevitable. The wounded hero was at
last surrounded and made prisoner. He was
laid upon a litter, and in great agony, from
the nature of the wound, was borne from the
K
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
215
▸
field. When the firing terminated, he became
calm, and even serene. A shepherd, named
Vincenzo, who had been guide to Missori in
1860, had a cottage on the mountain, to which
Garibaldi was carried.
The sun was just sinking behind Etna as the
suffering hero was borne beneath the humble
shed. Next morning, as soon as the sun
appeared above the horizon, the sad procession
of prisoners and victors proceeded towards the
coast. Arriving at Lylla, Garibaldi was placed
on board the royal frigate, the Duca di Genova.
Thence he was taken to Spezzia. The surgeon
The surgeon
of the steamer endeavoured to extract the ball,
which was lodged in the foot, but the pain was
so excruciating that whenever the attempt was
made the sufferer fainted. Menotti, his son,
was with him, also wounded, in the thigh.
An officer on board the Duke of Genoa frigate,
wrote to the Diritto a touching letter relating
what he witnessed on that unhappy day :-
"When the General received the bullet he was
passing along our front of defence, outside the
first line, situated on the slope of the undulat-
ing ground which formed a little hill close to a
wood of fir trees. He was there ordering the
men not to fire. I saw a slight shiver of his
body. He took two or three steps and began to
stagger. We ran to him, and, holding him up,
placed him upon the narrow border of the wood.
It would be impossible to describe to you the
scene at this moment. The wounded lion,
regardless of his sufferings, was truly great in
his indignation and superb anger. Raising
his cap on the back of his hand, he cried,
'Viva Italia! Viva Italia!' It was a sonorous,
profound, Titanic cry, which came from his
heart. I had his poor foot resting on my thigh;
and when in his exaltation he apostrophised
the assailants, and as he cried out to them, and
as he looked at the guard and asked them what
they did with his followers, I felt a shivering
}
in all his limbs, and, reminding him of his
wound, I implored him to be quiet. They
constructed, as well as possible, a sort of hand-
barrow, and the same evening at sunset the
sad convoy commenced to defile from the
Casina dei Forestali, which is in the middle of
the plain of Aspromonte, to the hut of a shep-
herd named Vincenzo, whom I have known
since 1860. If you had seen Garibaldi carried
on to the frigate; if you had seen him hoisted
in his litter upon the deck, half raising his body,
with his serene forehead, with his fascinating
eye, speaking in his favourite Genoese dialect
to the commander and the officers, advising
them himself as to the movements of the litter!
It was a magnificent spectacle, and we ourselves,
despite the grief of seeing him wounded, could
not escape the effect. All this seems to me a
dream. I cannot realise the idea that the
General is with us, that the lion of a hundred
battles lies there bleeding, unable to move.”
On arriving at Spezzia, he requested that a
telegram should be sent to Doctor Bertani, in
whose skill he had great confidence, and who
was his friend. The government had the
cruelty to prevent the doctor's arrival.
At Spezzia, Garibaldi was made to feel that
he was a prisoner. No person was allowed to
hold any communication with him, but his
daughter and her husband, his son Ricciotti,
and his cousin Colonel Deideri.
The presence of the ball in the wound caused
the illustrious sufferer poignant and continued
pain. Surgeons of high reputation, Italian
and English, differed in opinion as to whether
the ball was in the foot, but ultimately a French
surgeon succeeded in extracting it.
While in this condition he was incarcerated,
and his accommodation was such, according to
the accounts published in Italy, as must for
ever disgrace the government of the king, nor
can his Majesty himself escape the odium of
216
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
permitting to be thus treated, one who had won
kingdoms for him, and was ever loyal and
attached.
The Movimento of Genoa gave the following
particulars as to the place in which Garibaldi
was confined :-"The building, which contains
six rooms, has no furniture whatever, with the
exception of some mattresses stretched on the
ground for prisoners. The kitchen contains no
other articles than two magpies, which often
hop over the whole house. The food is not bad,
but it is served without any tablecloth. The
General's chamber alone presents any appear-
ance of furniture. It is not very large. The
walls have been at one time covered with velvet
paper, which now hangs down in shreds. There
are two great cupboards of wretched appear-
ance, and painted yellow, four or five chairs, a
little table, on which stands a brass candlestick
with a tallow candle, and the bed where Gari-
baldi is lying. This bed is worth notice. The
mattress is of doubtful thickness. There are
four bolsters, but two are without cases. We
ought to add that M. Ansaldo, the commander
of the fort, and Colonel Santa Rosa try to
mitigate by their manner the harshness of the
orders of the Ratazzi ministry."
The government were slow to publish the
official report of Pallavicini. This exasperated
the public, as it was believed that the report
contained passages damaging to the govern-
ment. At last a report or abstract appeared,
which agreed with no other account ever given
of these transactions. Pallavicini represented
the combat as a regular attack, in which he
was the conqueror of Garibaldi. He concealed
the treachery to which he had resorted, and the
fact that Garibaldi never encountered him, but
fell while interposing to prevent resistance.
He affirmed that he twice summoned Garibaldi
to surrender, who refused, and detained the
officer in each instance, whereas Garibaldi
<
received no warning, and detained no officer.
There are few things more false in their spirit
and expression than a military despatch, unless
the writer be, like Garibaldi, a man of singularly
scrupulous honour.
It was much to the scandal of King Victor
Emmanuel and his government, that Gari-
baldi should receive such cruel contumely at
Spezzio, and that the comforts necessary to
the wounded general should be supplied by
Englishmen. The king was, however, in the
hands of his government and parliament, and
more in the power of his great ally, the
Emperor of the French, than under the con-
stitutional influence of his ministry and the
legislature. Happily, the French people
raised the cry of amnesty, or in all proba-
bility the time-serving ministry at Turin
would have brought Garibaldi to a shameful
public trial and severe punishment, perhaps
death. The French Emperor foresaw that
instead of allaying the revolutionary and
democratic fervour in Italy, the defence of
such a prisoner would involve the enunciation
of principles and the revelation of facts
which would kindle a fire in Italy that no
government could quench. Notwithstanding
that the public feeling of France and England
and the governments of both countries were
shocked by the idea of holding incarcerated,
or punishing, the man who had won kingdoms
for his sovereign, the Ratazzi ministry showed
the utmost reluctance to forego the oppor-
tunity of inflicting the worst which their
vindictive policy might safely dare. Their
hostility to Garibaldi personally, jealousy of
his influence, and apprehensions of his bold
ideas and policy, were all aggravated by the
last proclamation he had issued. It was a
declaration of war in the king's interests,
against the king's ministers. Its perusal will
convince the reader that the hour had then
i
CH
4
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
217
arrived when the power of the ministry or of
Garibaldi must be at once overthrown.
" ITALIANS !
"My programme is always the same.
I
wish, as much as it depends upon me, that
the plébiscite of the 21st of October, 1860,
shall be ratified-that the pact signed between
the people and the king shall be carried out
to the letter.
"I bow to his Majesty Victor Emmanuel, a
king elected by the nation, but I am hostile to
the government, which is only Italian in name
—to a government which, to please diplomacy,
ordered in the month of May arrests and trials
at Sarnico, as it now provokes civil war in
the South, to curry favour with the Emperor
Napoleon.
"Such a ministry cannot, must not, be
longer supported. It deceives the king; it
compromises him as it did in the proclamation
of the 3rd of August last. By its obstinacy
it drives the Southern provinces to separation,
it betrays the nation.
"The livery of a foreign master can never
be regarded as a mark of honour or esteem by
any government of our own.
"When I reached Sicily, that generous isle
was at the point of despair. The Neapolitan
provinces-no one is ignorant of the fact-
cannot be kept down by any amount of troops.
"Love and good government must be the
foundation of Italian unity. The civic autho-
rities have preferred a different line. They
have sown hatred broadcast, and they reap
hatred in return.
"Madmen! They wish for civil war, the
more easily to drown in blood the future of
Italy, and to offer up acceptable victims to the
altar of despotism.
"For my part, I cannot allow these cul-
pable designs to be carried out. Let the for-
mula of the plébiscite once more save Italy.
Let all local petty interests give way to the
great idea of Italian unity.
"Let all the hearts, all the intellect of Italy,
join to achieve the great end of our resurrec-
tion. Let the thoughts and ideas of all be
exclusively directed to the liberation of Rome.
Leave the rest to the future.
"To Rome, then! to Rome! Rise, brave
men of 1848 and 1849! Up, generous youth
of 1859 and 1860. Come to this holy crusade !
We shall be victorious because our motto is:
'Reason, national right, and the approval of
the world!'
"Our revolution has engendered great hopes.
in the world. We must justify those hopes.
"I am sure that the Italian people will not
be wanting in its duty. May it please God
that our victorious army will be with us.
"If I have at any time rendered service to
our country, believe in my words. I am deter-
mined to enter Rome as a conqueror, or to die
under its walls. But if I die, I am convinced
that you will nobly avenge my death, and
carry out the work I have taken in hand.
Hail to Victor Em-
"GARIBALDI.
"Long live Italy!
manuel in the Capitol!
Catania, August 24, 1862.”
At last it was announced to the world, after
many of the Garibaldians had been bitterly
and cruelly punished, that an amnesty would
be granted, and the indignity of a formal
pardon was extended by the king to Garibaldi
and his immediate followers.
#i
The wounded lion slowly retired to his lair.
The grey rocks of Caprera once more depicted
his shadow; and the vineyard and the garden
which his hands had formed were again to be
subject to his culture. English physicians,
and aid in other forms, assisted his recovery;
and the presence of his family and a circle of
F F
218
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
faithful friends, made cheerful his otherwise
solitary home.
But the health of the mighty man had
received a shock from which it will probably
never recover. The wound inflicted, and
eagerly inflicted, by Italian hands, deprived
him of the power of locomotion, and impaired,
perhaps for ever, his ability to lead troops in
the field as a guerilla chief. In 1864, at
Ischia, after his visit to England, he observed
to a French gentleman, "My health is good,
the trunk is sound, but the limbs are a wreck;
I must make haste if I am to deliver Rome
and Venice, or my legs may refuse to serve
me.” The impediment of French domination,
policy, and power, proves, and is likely yet
to prove, a still more serious obstacle. It is
more than probable that his career of military
usefulness and achievement is over, even
although his purposes may still be again to
raise the standard of liberty on behalf of
Italy, or some other oppressed land. No one
can, of course, foretell what may arise to facili-
tate the hero's future usefulness, and cover him
with even a greater glory than all the past
for if the Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli's re-
mark, "the unforeseen always comes to pass,"
is not strictly true, there is in the expression
much that experience justifies. The present
aspect of political affairs on the continent of
Europe, the physical condition of Garibaldi,
and his advancing years, seem to preclude the
expectation of any scope for the hero's further
efforts. The state of feeling amongst profes-
sional politicians in Piedmont, and within the
circle of men from whom the king is likely to
choose his cabinets, also renders it unlikely that
Victor Emmanuel will summon Garibaldi to
his aid to rescue Rome or Venice.
Whether he will again march to battle, and
bear upon his sword the liberty of peoples, or
remain in his dignified and illustrious retire-
ment, we must ever think as a very gifted
and genial-hearted English woman (Eliza
Cook) has sung of him, with more of hearty
feeling than poetry in her strains :—
"Say, where is the Victor whose triumphs outshine
The bright halo that circles his crest?
Rare fields has he won, and great work has he done,
But no star do we see on his breast.
And no star does he need; for his Soul is a gem
That proclaims him the high-born and rare;
Let him live with the few-' GARIBALDI THE TRUE,'
"Tis the title such Soldier should wear."
CHAPTER XXXII.
prera, after the unfortunate affair of Aspro-
monte, he was an object of excessive jealousy
and uneasiness to the cabinet at Turin. No
VISIT TO ENGLAND.-LANDS AT SOUTHAMPTON.-ENTHUSIASM OF THE PUBLIC THERE.-GUEST OF
MR. SEELY, M.P., BROOK HOUSE, ISLE OF WIGHT.-RECEPTION AT NEWPORT.-INVITATIONS FROM
THE PROVINCES. -LIFE AT BROOK HOUSE.
"ITe is dear to our land-to our homes, to our hearts,
With a fame that shall never grow dim:
And Old England ne'er gave such a cheer for the brave
As her trumpet-tongue echoes for him."-ELIZA Cook.
DURING the residence of Garibaldi in Ca- | ministerial changes made any, or made but
slight, alteration in this respect. The king, by
common consent, was exonerated from any
participation in this unworthy feeling; but he
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
219
$
was kept in a constant state of alarm lest
Garibaldi should organise some movement to
be put in action when his wound was healed,
which might commit his Majesty to a war with
Austria, or a breach with France. It was the
opinion of the Turin politicians and the mili-
tary authorities, that Italy could not cope with
Austria, and that a war with the Kaiser for the
possession of Venice would issue only in ruin
to the kingdom of Victor Emmanuel, unless
his Majesty were supported by France or Eng-
land. The Emperor Napoleon feared to give
countenance to such an undertaking, lest all
Germany should side with Austria, and Russia
ultimately aid the arms of the Confederation.
The intimate connection of the English court
with that of Prussia, and with several of the
royal families of the minor German States,
also influenced the policy of the French Em-
peror. He knew that in a war against united
Germany and Russia, containing 130 millions
of persons, England would render no aid, and
it was not impossible that some difference of
opinion with the British Government, or the
influence of the German courts over the court
of her Britannic Majesty, might place Eng-
land, so far as France was concerned, on the
side of her enemies. The civil war in America
had several aspects in which a probability was
indicated that difference with the Northern
States might arise, and leave the Emperor in
no condition to aid Italy. His project of over-
throwing a republican form of government in
Mexico, as he did in Rome, led to more
friendly relations with Austria, and the placing
of the Archduke Maximilian on the ancient
throne of the Montezumas. Italy, under all
these circumstances, could expect no help from
France, and Victor Emmanuel honestly be-
lieved that it was his policy and that of his
people to wait patiently, but in readiness,
until new European combinations and events
M
gave a hope that France would aid in the con-
quest of Venetia, or at least protect the
throne of Victor Emmanuel from any disas-
trous result upon his attempt to rescue that
glorious province from the domination of the
Croat.
C
P
It was also King Victor Emmanuel's opinion
that all the power of Italy was insufficient to
wrest Rome from the French; whereas the
voluntary surrender of his position by the
Emperor to the king, was within the scope of
diplomacy, especially as the daughter of the
king was married to the cousin of the Em-
peror. Hence the coldness of the king to
Garibaldi, and his concurrence in the watch-
fulness that was kept by the Italian govern-
ment over Caprera, its lord, and his followers.
The English people did not generally make
allowance for King Victor Emmanuel, nor for
the difficulties with which his government con-
stantly found the situation beset. They were
indignant at the seeming ingratitude of the
monarch, and the real pettiness and mean
party invidiousness of the official classes at
Turin. The more Garibaldi was sneered at in
those directions, the more he was honoured in
England. The speeches of certain orators in
the British parliament, the allies of despotism
everywhere, against Garibaldi, his motives,
and his measures, increased the generous
fervour of the English nation for the hero.
The wise and liberal policy of the Palmerston
cabinet towards Italy met with the support of
the British people to so vast an extent, that
its opponents were without influence. Such
was the public temper when the announcement
was made that Garibaldi would come to Eng-
land. Many persons of great importance and
notoriety had been public guests in London
within a few years previous to the visit of
the Italian hero, but the presence of none
produced anything like the same degree of
220
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
excitement. Napoleon III. and his beautiful
Empress, Victor Emmanuel, and other great
personages, came, and were well received, but
no such enthusiasm as that which surrounded
Garibaldi greeted them.
"He came not a conqueror, tyrant, or king,
But a Patriot loyal and brave."
As soon as it was known that the great
Liberator would visit England, societies and
public bodies of all sorts prepared to do him
homage. All classes and communities were
in rivalry to show him how Britons appreciated
a pure and honest patriot-a pure and honest
man.
The hurrahs of London were likely to
compensate for the ungrateful sneers of Turin.
The prisoner of Spezzio would find a welcome
no crowned king or emperor could expect.
England was about to pronounce her verdict
upon the policy of Piedmont, and to do so
not obtrusively, but appropriately and oppor-
tunely.
There was an intense desire to see what sort
of person he could be who had done and suf-
fered so much with such disinterestedness-to
look upon the face and form of such a man,
and see if any harmony existed between his
appearance and a character so marked; to
ascertain if he were, in the language of the
poet-
"In dimension and the shape of nature
A gracious person.”
The hero was invited by the working men of
London, in co-operation with their brethren,
the children of labour, all over the land. The
invitation was theirs; he was in an especial
sense to be their guest. He loved the workers.
He was a son of honest toil-a worker true
and righteous.
Southampton was the town in England
which had first the honour of welcoming him.
It was arranged that he should land there,
↓
and become the guest of Mr. Seely, M.P., at
his mansion in the Isle of Wight.
The intention of the Southampton people
was to welcome his landing with a salute of
guns, hoisting of flags, processions, and such
other demonstrations on a grand scale as might
be deemed fit for the occasion. The town was
crowded on Saturday, April 2, 1864, persons
having arrived from all the country round,
from London, and even from the north, to
behold the face of the man who had liberated
peoples and given away kingdoms. The vessel
(the Ripon) which bore the precious freight
did not arrive on the 2nd. On the 3rd,
Sunday, the event took place, a day upon
which the religious proprieties of the English
people would not allow of political or festal
rejoicings. The day was moreover gloomy,
the sky piled with clouds, and rain falling at
intervals. At half-past twelve o'clock, while
the people of Southampton generally were in
church, a telegram was received from Hurst
Castle, informing the mayor that the Ripon
had arrived there. Captain Engledue, of the
Oriental Steam Navigation Company, placed a
steamer at the disposal of a select party of the
General's friends, and the reporters for the
public press. Mr. Seely, M.P., the Duke of
Sutherland, General Eber, who so often be-
haved gloriously under Garibaldi's command,
especially on the Volturno, a deputation from
the Italian Committee of London, consisting of
Signori Semenza (vice-president), Negretti,
Serena, and Vivante; Mr. John Richardson,
Treasurer of the London Garibaldi Reception
Committee; and Mr. Joseph Cowen, jun., an
especial friend of the General, deputed from
Newcastle, were on board. The mayor and
corporation remained on shore, to give an offi-
cial reception.
The party sent out boarded the Ripon. Mr.
Seely and the Duke of Sutherland were at
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
221
once admitted to the General's cabin. The
Duke invited the latter to be his guest during
some portion of his stay in England. The
invitation was accepted. Garibaldi then
entered the saloon, where he received his
visitors with that genial smile and affable
bearing so characteristic of him.
It was at once noticed with sorrow that his
noble countenance bore deep marks of grief
and care; his hair was tinged with the snows
of life's winter, and he was lame, limping as if
in pain, while he rested on a stick.
Besides his two sons, his suite consisted of
five persons:-His son, Menotti, who was
twenty-two years of age, Ricciotti was in his
eighteenth year. The elder, who has often
been wounded while fighting by his father's
side, was a young man of extremely well-
proportioned and muscular build; and the
appearance of both was highly intelligent and
engaging. Signor Guerzoni, his secretary,
who was lately a member of the Italian
Chamber of Deputies, and had long been asso-
ciated with the General. He is an active
politician, and is said to exercise great influence
over the man to whom he has devoted himself.
Basso, who is better known as "Garibaldi's
chaplain," who has served with him through all
his Italian campaigns. He is a native of Nice,
and has been acquainted with the hero whose
fortunes he follows for thirty years. Colonel
Chambers, who was Garibaldi's English secre-
tary, was a deputy-lieutenant of Lancashire, a
lieutenant-colonel of the Liverpool Volunteers,
and a magistrate of that town.
A correspondent of the Daily News gave the
following graphic description of the arrival of
the deputations on board the Ripon:—
"The General is in his cabin,' says a
steward; and in a moment that cabin is full.
The Duke of Sutherland, General Eber, and Mr.
Seely are the first to greet him. Mr. Dolmage
-
considerately stands at the door to prevent any
undue crowding; and the rest of us stand as
near to it as we conveniently can, anxiously
waiting our turns for introduction. I hear a
full-toned but sweet voice saying, 'Better,
better, I thank you much,' in reply to in-
quiries as to his foot, some minutes before
that voice's owner is visible to me. The
natural eagerness of those yet outside is so far
unallayed, when by a change of positions I
obtain my first glimpse of the General. He is
seated on his couch, with sling cigar-case and
courier's bag hung up over his head, is
shaking hands warmly with Friend Joseph
Cowen,' is asking after the town of Newcastle,
and gracefully acknowledging to all around
the many kindnesses he has reecived. Leaning
on his walking-stick, and limping slightly, he
proceeds, accompanied by all of us, to the
cushioned seat at the end of the saloon. In
truth, a kingly-looking man, some five feet
eight inches in height, he is broadly built,
and his presence is pre-eminently command-
ing; he has a broad and lofty brow, soft and
gentle eyes, which sparkle with humour and
playfulness, a full-size well-shaped nose, a
massive jaw indicative of power, and a smile
which a woman might envy.
which a woman might envy. He wore light
and thin trousers, smartly made, patent
leather boots, a silver grey gabardine with a
scarlet lining or hood, and an embroidered
smoking cap, which looked as if it had been
worked by some fair admirer. A black silk
handkerchief round the neck-of course no
collar and a light crimson bandana thrown
loosely over the shoulders, completed a cos-
tume which, for picturesqueness, it would be
difficult to equal. He understands English
perfectly, but speaks it with a slightly foreign
accent, and it may interest some readers to
know that on my shaking hands with him
we reciprocated right heartily the peculiar
a
222
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
6
grip only known to brethren of the mystic
tie.'"
But the vessel approached the dock where
Garibaldi was to land. The quays were lined
with a dense concourse of spectators, who, as
the steamer entered the dock, gave a loud and
reverberating cheer, which became tenfold
more vociferous when the General appeared on
the deck and ascended the paddle-box. In
order that all might have an opportunity of
seeing him, he stood for some time on each
paddle-box alternately and also on the cap-
tain's bridge. Immediately after the ship had
been moored alongside the pier, the mayor
and principal members of the corporation
ascended the paddle-box, and were introduced
to their distinguished guest. The mayor then
addressed Garibaldi in a brief but felicitous
speech. He said that he welcomed him not
only to the heart of Southampton, but to the
heart of England. He would not attempt to
describe in words what were the feelings
entertained. towards him by the English people.
His name had been made illustrious by the
most noble deeds, and was a household word
throughout the country and the world. In the
name of the town of Southampton he welcomed
him to the shores of England, and, as the
chief magistrate of the port at which he landed,
he invited him to receive his hospitality. To
To
this Garibaldi replied, "I am grateful for
your welcome, and accept your hospitality."
The General, while still standing on the paddle-
box, wrote a brief letter to the Italian Com-
mittee. The following is a copy of the
original :-"Desidero non avere demonstra-
zioni politice-sopra tutto non eccitare dei
tumulti." The translation being :-"I desire
to have no political demonstrations—above all,
not to excite tumult.' After writing this
missive, Garibaldi descended to the deck amid
renewed plaudits. Among the gentlemen who
""
c
were introduced to him there were two who
wore Garibaldian uniforms, and to whom
he laughingly said, "Oh, you wear the red
shirts, do you?" Several ladies were then
presented, and he received them with almost
paternal tenderness. One of them, at once
youthful and charming, delivered to the
General her message of congratulation in
Italian, and then stooped to kiss his hand,
which, his face all the time being lighted up
with pleasure, he made a feint of attempting
to withdraw. The spectators could not but be
touched with this graceful expression of sym-
pathy on the part of a fair countrywoman, who,
for a moment, might be said to embody the
feeling which is entertained towards Garibaldi
by millions of the women of England. Mr.
Arthur Andrew he immediately recognised as
the son of Richard Andrew, who was mayor
when Kossuth visited Southampton. Mr.
Joseph Cowen he received as one of the eldest
of his English friends. Garibaldi then left
the ship, and entered the mayor's carriage,
drawn by four greys. All along the line of
route there was an immense assemblage, who
received him with the utmost enthusiasm. On
arriving at the mayor's residence, on the
summit of which was hoisted the Italian flag
with the cross of Savoy, the General was con-
ducted to his private apartments, and repeatedly
responded to the acclamations of the people
by showing himself at the windows.
•
The passengers by the Ripon spoke warmly
of Garibaldi's gentleness of manner and of his
There
demonstrative affection for his sons.
was scarcely one of the passengers to whom he
did not address a friendly word, and exhibit
the unreserved kindliness of his nature. No
one, in fact, could have become more popular
on board, and this remark applies equally to
his sons.
The next day was a gala day for Southampton;
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
223
flags fluttered over the house tops, spires, and
domes, and from the masts of the shipping in
the port. A general holiday to landsmen and
seamen permitted all to enjoy the festival of
generous sympathy. The heavens looked
down upon this banquet of freedom, and
smiled serenely and brightly. Early in the
morning the General received deputations and
addresses. His friend, Joseph Cowen, of
Newcastle, had quite a number to present from
the north of England and Scotland. Invita-
tions were presented from many great pro-
vincial towns and cities, indeed from nearly all
the most important, that the General would
visit them, and he at once consented to do so
upon a plan which seemed to admit of the
possibility of many, if not all, of the projected
visits being paid.
About eleven o'clock, a civic procession was
formed, and proceeded to the residence of the
mayor. The streets were so crowded, that
great difficulty was found in getting the
procession through.
The band of the 1st Hampshire Engineers
took up position on the lawn in front of the
mayor's house, and played the Garibaldi
Hymn, and various pieces associated with the
reminiscences of the hero's feats of arms.
At the mayor's house the procession was
reformed, and proceeded to the Council
Chamber. A carriage drawn by four greys
headed the procession; in it were seated Gari-
baldi and the mayor. The reception was
popular in the fullest sense, the people shout-
ing in the streets below and waving their hats,
the windows filled with elegantly dressed
ladies, waving handkerchiefs and Italian tri-
colours. Bands of music essayed to pierce the
acclamations of the populace, and the church
steeples sent forth the clangour of their pealing
bells. Southampton was glad. Simplicity,
heartiness, and unity characterised the expres-
sion of its gladness. Garibaldi wore a red
Garibaldian shirt and grey cloak. Arrived at
the Council Chamber, the Mayor, attired in
robes of office, introduced his guest "to the
men and women of England." With his own
characteristic grace and dignity, the General
rose and bowed his thanks. His countenance
wore an expression of gravity relieved fre-
quently by a sweet smile, and brightened by
the quick expression of his flashing eye.
The address of the Mayor was appropriate,
full of feeling, and pervaded by a tone of
eulogy modestly expressed, but into which the
speaker threw the earnestness of one who felt
that it was deserved.
The address of the corporation was also
singularly apposite.
Probably there was not a public man, what-
ever his nationality, in Southampton, who did
not volunteer some demonstration of respect
for the great man of the day; unless one ex-
ception, as signal as solitary, may be men-
tioned. Rosas, the ex-dictator of Buenos
Ayres, the cruel and atrocious tyrant whom
Garibaldi had baffled and chastised on behalf
of the oppressed and suffering, was then
residing at Southampton. Possessed of im-
mense wealth, acquired in the worst way, he
enjoys it, after his manner, in that salubrious
and picturesque neighbourhood. He of course
was not numbered among those who had any
desire to welcome the hero of Monte Video.
Had he come out from his obscurity, the con-
trast of the two men, their characters, his-
tories, and situations, would have exposed him
to execration on the part of even those who
desire to forget him.
After the reception of the illustrious visitor
by the corporation, he proceeded to the Royal
Pier, where he embarked on board the Sap-
phire for Cowes, Isle of Wight. The embarka-
tion was as much a great scene as the pro-
224
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
cession and the reception at the town hall.
Southampton Water was covered with yachts,
boats, and steamers, crowded with persons
anxious to get a near and complete view of
the eminent stranger. Such vessels as were
passed hoisted the Italian tricolor, and their
crews loudly cheered, with the exception of a
British man-of-war, from the crowded decks
of which no huzza came, and over which no
ensign was dipped. Some stern and absurd
Admiralty order had bound the hands and lips
of the English sailors.
Arrived at Cowes, the reception was similar
to that at Southampton. Mr. Seely's carriage
bore away his glorious prize to Brook House,
amidst the hearty plaudits of the people, and
the music of popular bands.
Mr. Seely took his guest by the most retired
route, the latter saluting the poor people that
were collected on the road with his usual
bland and captivating style. His younger son,
Ricciotti, noticed with delight the primroses
and violets on the green banks which skirted
the road. The next day Garibaldi was not
fatigued, and met with pleasure the poet
laureate and distinguished friends of his host.
Unfortunately, a bad feeling sprung up
be-
tween the representatives of the working-
classes and the persons most about Garibaldi's
person. The deputations from the London
working-men's committees, reported in London
their dissatisfaction with the bearing of certain
persons constantly near the General, and de-
clared their conviction that a coterie were
already conspiring to prevent Garibaldi's visit
from being what it was intended to be-a visit
to the working-classes. No blame was attri-
buted to Mr. Seely. Much of the suspicion
was groundless, but there were a few persons
desirous that matters should be so conducted
as not to wound the susceptibilities of the
French and Italian governments.
While Garibaldi remained at Brook House,
he met many, a meeting with whom gave him
pleasure.
pleasure. Herzen, the Russian exile, went
down from London to see him. The Earl of
Shaftesbury, the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, the
Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P., and a goodly
gathering of the more liberal M.P.'s were
favoured with interviews, or enjoyed his
society.
During his brief stay in the Isle of Wight,
the little capital of Newport gave him a public
reception. This small town is noted for the
Conservative tendencies of its corporation, but
the most Radical population in the kingdom
could not show more zeal to honour Garibaldi.
An address from the corporation and a grand
banquet afforded opportunity for this. At the
banquet, when the Queen's health was given,
the guest cheered, his voice piercing the loud
"hip, hip, hurrahs " of the loyal assembly.
It was an interesting incident in his visit to
Newport, that nearly all the inhabitants wore
Garibaldian favours. A juvenile band was
dressed in Garibaldian military costume.
The way in which Garibaldi spent his time
at Brook House cannot fail to be of interest
to all who see in the minute incidents of habit,
and the traits and manners of domestic life,
the truest indications of the man. A gentle-
man who had opportunity of observing the
hero in this phase of his existence, thus de-
scribed the daily doings at Brook House.
The visitor had observed a deep shade of
melancholy upon the countenance of the guest,
one of those seasons of sadness which, in the
midst of exciting scenes and public events,
come so often upon the heart and countenance
of him whose life has been tinged with so
many sorrows. Referring to this expression of
Garibaldi's countenance at Newport, the writer,
on Friday, the 8th of April, observed :-
"Obviously Garibaldi was moved by some
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
225
6
deep emotion. His manner was as gracious
but he wore a pensive expression which he
never shook off. Did a glance at Menotti,
looking so bright and brave, remind him of
some sad day when his mother died in that
dreadful wood where the brutal Austrians
chased him? At the banquet the General's
mind wandered to other scenes-to sterner
duties and sacred hopes. The shade was there.
His great heart seemed nerving itself for other
scenes than festive ones, or was dwelling on
the fate of those yet in prisons. Mr. Kennard,
M.P., spoke of prisons which he had opened.
He seemed to be thinking of prisons yet
barred. To-day he has recovered his sweet
playfulness of smile. Residing within two
hundred yards of his house, and knowing his
habits, I stepped down early this morning and
found him giving a sitting to Mr. Dowling, of
London, who has come down to paint his por-
trait for the Mayor of Southampton. When
you want me,' he said to Mr. Dowling, tell
me so, and I will attend you;' and then he
sat down to read letters I handed to him. On
reading the letter of Mr. Cowen, senior, he
said, turning to Colonel Chambers, who stood
near, This is from Mr. Cowen's father.
will accept his invitation to Stella Hall;'
adding, with cordial emphasis, 'He received
me ten years ago. I was there ten years ago.'
When told that Mr. Cowen invited him in the
name of the population of both shores of the
Tyne to go down the river, he, smiling, said,
'Well, I shall be glad.' Mr. Taylor, M.P.,
who visited him on his landing at South-
ampton, had sent him an earnest request to
visit Leicester, where the whole population
desired to see and greet the General, for whom
they have a most enthusiastic regard. 'This
request is from my friend, Mr. Taylor,' Gari-
baldi said; the member of Parliament and
chairman of the Italian Committee. Yes,
tell him I will visit Leicester. It will give me
great pleasure. I will go to Lei-ces-ter,' said
the General, making three syllables of the
word. Then, you will go to Leicester,' ob-
served Colonel Chambers, giving it the usual
pronunciation. 'Ah, you call it Lester, do
you; we call it Lee-ces-ter,' said the General,
laughing. 'You English are very good for to
pronounce not the words.' He was interested
to hear that Colonel Chambers had a farm at
Leicester or adjoining. Mentioning to him
the desire felt in York to know if he would
visit the famous city, where, as he said, he
went once with Mr. Cowen to see the Minster,
he answered that he would call at York. I
telegrammed that the General's intention
might be communicated to the Mayor, from
whom a most influentially-signed address was
presented at Southampton to the General. As
Signor Guerzoni, the General's Italian secre-
tary, who has charge of it, was not at Brook
at that moment, it could not be referred to
but the General answered he would call, on
appealing to Colonel Chambers to be sure that
it lay on his route to the north. I discharged
the duty entrusted to me by Sir John Bowring
of offering Claremont House to the General
and his suite, did it meet his convenience and
pleasure to spend a quiet day at Exeter. "It
would give me pleasure,' said the General.
Tell Sir John-but recalling the routes on
the map, he added, 'I fear it will not be in
my power to go so far as Exeter.' On mention-
ing, at the request of Mr. Robert Mills, of
Rochdale, that there was a strong desire for
him to visit that energetic town, he was
pleased to hear that Mr. Bright resided there,
and observed that his opinions were the same
as Mr. Cobden's. He was sorry he could not
say whether he should be able to go. He
seemed to be aware of the last great speech
Mr. Bright delivered in the House of Com-
C
|
6
I
،
G G
-
226
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
mons. But the requirements of Mr. Dowling's
pencil abridged our conversation. Before
going to Newport yesterday, the General
planted a tree at Brook House, and the poet-
CHAPTER XXXIII.
PREPARATIONS IN LONDON TO RECEIVE GARIBALDI.-LEAVES THE ISLE OF WIGHT.-PUBLIC ENTRY INTO
laureate planted another in commemoration of
the General's visit. The General does not leave
here till Monday. This day is one of undimmed.
splendour and brightness, but it is cold."
LONDON.
"If he had been forgotten,
It had been as a gap in our great feast,
And all things unbecoming."-SHAKSPEARE.
DURING Garibaldi's stay at the Isle of Wight,
extensive preparations were made in London.
for his public reception. Some general notice
of these is necessary to enable the English
reader, especially at a distance, to comprehend
fully the magnitude and popular grandeur of
the great event. Whatever interest the people
of England may take in his career of enter-
prise and danger, they will naturally turn with
pride and pleasure to the incident of the
generous and enthusiastic reception given to
him in their great metropolis.
Although only six months previous to the
publication of these pages which record it in
this history, the event has, in the relations given
of it, become confused. Varying and some-
times contradictory accounts of the different
episodes and incidents of the great historical
fact were given in the daily and weekly jour-
nals, arising from the necessary haste with
which they were written. By a close com-
parison and collation of all these, an exami-
nation of numerous documents, and conver-
sation with some of the chief actors, an
account may be presented in these pages cor-
rect in detail, and expressive of the facts and
B
feelings of the hour as they impressed them-
selves upon an observer.
A committee was formed consisting of mem-
bers of Parliament and gentlemen accustomed
to take part in the public business of the
metropolis, for the purpose of raising a fund
to bear the expense of the General's visit, and
of presenting him with a public testimonial.
This committee, in the main, took charge of
the arrangements for his being brought to
London, and his procession through it, until
his arrival at the Duke of Sutherland's house,
whose guest he was to be.
A working-men's committee, composed of
delegates from various operative associations,
was formed for co-operation with the general
committee.
An Italian committee was formed of the
General's compatriots, for the purposes of
making a demonstration of their attachment
to his person and principles, and of raising a
fund to present testimonials to him and his
son Menotti.
The society of total abstainers from alco-
holic drinks, under the erroneous impression
that Garibaldi was a total abstainer also, pre-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
227
pared means of a great demonstration in his
favour. The General, although he has always
occasionally used beer and wine, except at
intervals when he drank only water, is so ab-
stemious in his habits, and so much opposed
to the habitual use of intoxicating beverages
on the part of all about him, that he might
be reasonably set down by the total abstainers
as a friend to their principles, by which so
much good to individuals and the country have
been produced.
Various trades, fraternal, co-operative,
friendly, benefit, and charitable associations
organised themselves to make suitable demon-
strations.
my
It was remarked that while all these bodies
were so forward in zeal, the society of Free-
masons, numbering so many of the nobles
and literati of the land within its pale, offered
no indication of a desire to honour Gari-
baldi, although he was the grand master of
masons in the Two Sicilies. This was the
more remarkable, as when foreigners of dis-
tinction who are freemasons arrive in this
country, especially in any public capacity,
the craft confers upon them many distinctions
which its usages allow. The Prince of Prussia
was thus honoured, although he had rendered
no services to mankind, and has since showed
as little disposition to be just, as to be humane
or generous. As the husband of the Princess
Royal, it was proper and loyal to render him
all respect; as the guest of the English people
"brother Garibaldi" was equally entitled to
some public recognition by his brethren.
The corporation of London voted an address
and the freedom of the city, but unfortunately
not unanimously. There were two dissentients.
The Germans held meetings in which they
agreed to present Garibaldi with an address,
to give him a serenade and fackle-zug. The
two latter the General declined, to the former
he consented. As Garibaldi had made war all
his life against German influence in Italy,
there was something graceful and generous in
the conduct of the London Germans, who were
led in the affair by a country man of intense
nationality, Karl Blind.
The Poles in London organised in great
strength to form a part in the procession, and
present an address.
It was arranged by the general committee of
sub-committees, that the addresses should not
be presented on the day of the public entry
but on a day set apart for that purpose and
other objects at the Crystal Palace.
Sir Richard Mayne, director in chief of the
Metropolitan Police, offered his aid in pre-
serving order; and the Home Office gave its
sanction to every measure which was possible,
and which the working-classes desired.
The London and South-Western Railway
Company offered to place a special train of ten
carriages at the service of the General, his
suite, and their friends, when ready to leave
the Isle of Wight for London. They appointed
Nine Elms station, Wandsworth Road, as the
terminus for the special train, and the place of
assemblage for the deputations and public
bodies to meet the visitor upon his arrival. At
great inconvenience and expense, the company
placed their vast premises at Nine Elms at the
disposal of "the reception committee."
C
On Saturday, April the 9th, the final ar-
rangements for the reception and procession
were published. Their detail here will enable
the reader to follow the order of the procession,
and to account for various occurrences.
"OFFICIAL PROGRAMME.
"The special train placed at the disposal of
General Garibaldi and his suite by the South
Western Railway Company will leave South-
ampton for London at twelve o'clock, arriving
228
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
}
at the Nine Elms station at half-past two. The
General will be met at the station by the
reception committee and the parties authorised
to present addresses. A limited number of
persons will be admitted to the station to be
present at the reception of the General.
"The admission to the station will be by
tickets only; these will be restricted to the
subscribers of the Garibaldi Fund and the
members of the committees. No persons
without tickets can be admitted under any
circumstances whatever.
"The holders of white tickets will take their
places on the platform on the left side; those
holding green tickets on the platform at the
upper end facing the door; the holders of red
tickets will occupy the platform on the right;
and the holders of blue tickets will take their
places in the area between the two side plat-
forms. The direction of the arrangements
within the station will be under the control of
Mr. George Potter.
"The gate of the station yard leading into
the Wandsworth Road will be opened at half-
past twelve, and will be closed at two o'clock
precisely, after which hour no admission will
be granted under any circumstances whatever.
"The carriages intended to fall into the
procession, if occupied by ticket-holders, will
be admitted into the station yard at the gate
leading into Nine Elms Lane before two
o'clock, and will take their places in the
order assigned to them on the right hand side
of the carriers' shed. After the addresses have
been presented, the visitors are particularly
requested to remain in the station until the
General, his suite, and the committee have
taken their seats in the carriages assigned to
them, which will be marshalled in order by
Mr. Hornsby, under whose control the general
arrangements within the station yard will be
placed.
"The gate leading into the Wandsworth
Road will be opened immediately after the
General has entered his carriage, which will be
drawn up in the gateway, whilst the procession.
marches past him, the carriages of the com-
mittee and others joining the procession
according to the directions of the gentleman
to whom the procession arrangements have
been entrusted.
"The carriage of General Garibaldi will fall
in nearly at the end of the cavalcade, and will
be followed by his suite and the members of
the committee. Mr. J. Baxter Langley will
superintend and direct the arrangements of the
procession.
"The route of the procession will be as
follows-namely, Wandsworth Road, Miles
Street, Bond Street, New Bridge Street,
Upper Kennington Lane, Kennington Road,
Westminster Road, Westminster Bridge,
Parliament Street, and Pall Mall. At the end
of Pall Mall the carriages and the procession
will turn up St. James's Street and disperse,
the marshals of the procession only going
forward to conduct the General into the court-
yard before Stafford House, where he will be
received by his Grace the Duke of Sutherland.
"The management and direction of the
flags and decorations in the procession will be
under the control of Mr. Davis, who has full
authority to suppress any banner, or flag, or
emblem calculated to excite tumult or create
annoyance to the procession.
"It is earnestly requested that all parties
intending to occupy places in the procession,
will be in the places allotted to them as soon
after one o'clock as possible, and to enter
Wandsworth Road (along the north side of
which the procession will be massed) by side
streets further west than Miles Street, which
must be closed at an early hour. A certain
number of gentlemen have consented to co-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
229
operate with Mr. Baxter Langley in the arrange-
ment of the procession, and all persons having
a respect for the character of General Gari-
baldi are earnestly solicited to give these gen-
tlemen (who will be distinguished by an
official badge) their firm support in the fulfil-
ment of their duties, so as to secure a great
popular demonstration from the reproach of
irregularity or disorder.
"By order.
-
"JOHN ROBERT TAYLOR,
"JOHN RICHARDSON,
"Hon. Secretaries of City Committee.
"ROBERT HARTWELL,
"Hon. Sec. Working Men's Committee.
On Monday morning, April 11th, at eight
o'clock, Garibaldi left Brook House, Isle of
Wight, in company with his hosts and fellow
guests, Mr. Chambers, Mr. Foster, M.P., Mr.
Caird, M.P., and Mr. Dunlop, M.P.
Mr. Dunlop, M.P. The
reception at Cowes, and on board the Medina
steamer, was similar to the other displays of
affection and admiration made by the people of
the Isle of Wight. A delay occurred in con-
sequence of the tardy arrival of the baggage,
and this was only the first of a series of
hindrances to punctuality, which, to some
extent, impaired the great effect of the metro-
politan demonstration.
On arriving at Southampton, the scenes of
previous welcome were renewed; carriages
were in waiting to conduct the hero to the rail-
way, and the authorities of the town were in
attendance.
The railway station was tastefully decorated
by the company, and a vast number of ladies
were accommodated with seats, who gave the
General a most enthusiastic reception.
The special train, consisting of twelve car-
riages, decorated with flowers, evergreens,
and emblems of Garibaldi, his principles, and
achievements, was not permitted to leave until
a quarter past twelve o'clock-another delay in
the arrangements which affected the general
result; it then started amidst the ringing
cheers of the populace, and the waved adieus
of the concourse of ladies. At Bishopstoke
the train passed slowly, in deference to the
wishes of the people at that station, who
had assembled in all their force and with all
their capacity of demonstration.
At Winchester the progress was stopped,
while an address was presented by the Corpo-
ration at the carriage window, the bands of the
town playing "See the conquering hero
comes.' He, however, came to go away
quickly, for, the ceremony over, the train
renewed its speed. At Basingstoke and Woking
scenes essentially the same were presented.
All along the rail from Southampton to London
wherever a group of persons could find an
eligible standing place, and a chance of seeing
the great Captain, men, women, and children
had assembled.
At last, considerably after two o'clock, the
train arrived at the great goods station of the
company, and even the practised ears of those
who, like Garibaldi himself, had often heard
the shout of a great people, were astonished at
the huzzas which burst forth on every side,
not only from the multitude which was within
sight, but from the masses which stretched
away where a glimpse of the train could not be
obtained. Trucks, carriages, piles of timber,
stones, railway material, walls, house tops,
and places which might have been supposed
inaccessible, were covered with persons who
seemed to lose all concern for their safety in
the effort to catch a sight of the hero of the
occasion.
The preparations made to receive the General
were in character with all the other concomi-
tants of the event. London had been all day
230
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
thronged with multitudes pouring in living
tides in the various directions leading to the
line of the projected procession.
The various public bodies took up their
positions early in the day, each procession
having a separate rendezvous, whence, when
collected and arranged, its members marched,
generally headed by bands of music, to the
positions assigned in the grand programme.
Among the earliest which arrived on the
Wandsworth Road was "the Polish Legion,"
500 strong, a fine-looking body of men, whose
sympathy, the
appearance excited general sympathy, the
people uncovering and cheering for Poland.
This Legion had no band, but their march was
measured by part singing, which had a peculiar
and touching effect. They especially sang the
national martial tune, "Poland is not yet
forlorn." A number of distinguished Polish
officers was in this procession, and were hailed
with sympathetic plaudits.
From various parts of the country trades'
societies had arrived, amongst which the most
noticeable was "the Society of Cordwainers
of Stafford."
The station of Nine Elms, generally dark
and dingy, wore a bright aspect. Its exterior
everywhere was covered with decorations,
flags floated from every prominent position,
devices and emblems innumerable expressed
the homage by which the great guest of the
day was greeted. "Welcome Garibaldi ;"
"Welcome the Hero of Italy; ""The Man
of the People; ""The Pure Patriot;" "The
Bravest of the Brave;""Garibaldi the Great
and Good;" "The Liberator of Italy," were
the chief sentences which, printed or formed
of wreaths and flowers, were in every direction
displayed. The interior was not over-crowded,
care having been taken by the committee that
tickets should be administered within strict
limitation. The great majority of the privi-
leged persons were ladies, many of high rank;
they were nearly all dressed in some manner
complimentary to their guest, their apparel
presenting a combination of the three Italian
national colours, or tricolour rosettes, and
baskets of flowers were borne in their hands.
While waiting for the arrival of the train,
all were much moved by the entrance of the
guard of honour of the Garibaldian Legion,
the remains of those gallant young English-
men who had volunteered to assist Garibaldi's
Neapolitan campaign, and who fought so
nobly on the Volturno. It was a sad cir-
cumstance that, during the passage through
the streets of the great procession, several of
these brave fellows were seriously injured, some
nearly fatally, in their efforts to protect the
carriage in which Garibaldi was seated from
the impetuous rush of the multitude to accom-
plish the infatuated desire that possessed them,
of shaking hands with him. The band of the
Italian Union also enlivened the hours of delay,
by the performance of various beautiful and
appropriate pieces in a most artistic manner.
When the train arrived, the members of the
different committees proceeded to receive the
General and his party, but owing to an unfore-
seen defect in the organisation, order was not
preserved, and a considerable amount of time
was lost in conducting those who accompanied
him to their places on the platform, which was
erected within what may be called the recep-
tion pavilion. As soon as he entered, the
enthusiasm of the assemblage burst forth, and
for a long time the cheers and waving of hats
and handkerchiefs continued. When silence
was at last restored, the orderly part of the
reception was taken up. The Committee of
the Italian Union naturally had preference,
and delivered an address through their presi-
dent. It is neither possible nor desirable to
lay before the reader all the addresses pre-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
231
sented to the General during his visit. Some
of these were, however, so striking in their
spirit and language, and evoked from Garibaldi
replies so characteristic, that their perusal will
have an interest as permanent as general,
"Amidst the applause of the first city of
the world, which proclaims you the great
benefactor of humanity, will sound grateful to
you the voice of your countrymen who come
here to receive you. We have followed you
We have followed you
with palpitating hearts in all your enterprises,
in the darkest year of our native country.
We have always put our trust in you. We
are proud to receive amongst us the glory and
hope of Italy, and we shall unite ourselves
unanimously to the free people of this great
country in recognising in you the first cham-
pion of modern civilisation. Under the
imposing circumstances, we beg of you to
allow us to unite with you in thanking the
great people, both for the hospitality with
which it has always received us as refugees,
and of the sympathy and help which they have
always given us when aiming at the accom-
plishment of our freedom."
""
There were two other addresses for presenta-
tion, one from the City Committee, the other
from the Working Men's Committee. Both
were very beautiful specimens of writing and
decoration—the former, especially so, was the
work of Mr. J. R. Taylor, the law stationer,
one of the secretaries. It was read by Mr.
Councillor Richardson, and was as follows:-
"To GENERAL GARIBALDI.
“Sir,
"The inhabitants of the British metropolis.
rejoice to welcome you among them; rejoice in
the opportunity thus afforded them of testify-
ing their enthusiastic admiration for the first
of living patriots-the undaunted and disin-
terested champion of not only the freedom and
independence of his own beloved and classic
land, but of civil and religious freedom
throughout the world.
"Free England welcomes with affectionate
and heartfelt respect the great apostle of
liberty; the heroic and chivalrous soldier,
whose sword is never drawn but in a just
cause; the conqueror of a kingdom, that he
might deliver its people from oppression-poor
himself whilst making others rich; the self-
devoted, self-denying citizen, loving the rights
and welfare of his own country and of the
whole human race better than his own life;
the truly good, pure-hearted, and upright man,
whose private worth is only surpassed by his
public virtues, and more than Spartan and
Roman magnanimity.
66 We thank you, General, for thus honour-
ing us by becoming for a time our guest, and
we sincerely and profoundly trust and pray
that the same merciful and Almighty power
which has hitherto, and in a marvellous
manner, preserved, amidst the greatest perils
and dangers, a life so precious to Christendom
and mankind, will complete your restoration
to perfect health and strength, and enable you
yet to accomplish all that your heart desires
for the future, making that future even more
glorious than the past, more fruitful in great
and good works, more beneficial to Italy and
all other oppressed Nationalities.
"By order of the committee,
"JOHN RICHARDSON,
"JOHN ROBT. TAYLOR,
"Honorary Secretaries.
"London, April 11th, 1864.'
-
Nearly every sentence was followed by a
burst of applause; especially that which ex-
pressed the hope of future achievements, to
the fulfilment of all the hero's wishes. With
232
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
difficulty silence was restored, and then with expressing the fervent desire for the full
strong emotion Garibaldi said :-
realisation of our hopes-viz., your country's
and the world's freedom-once more, in the
unbounded fulness of our love for you and
liberty, we welcome you.
"I am very happy to be enabled to-day to
give my thanks to this noble nation for its
general sympathy for the cause of my country
and for the cause of mankind. Long ago I
wished for this day, and I am very happy
to-day to express to you all my gratitude."
"Signed on behalf of the working men of
Great Britain's metropolis.
"ROBERT HARTWELL,
"Secretary of the Working Men's
“Committee.
After another interval of tumultuous enthu-
siasm, Mr. Hartwell, one of the secretaries of
the Working Men's Committee, read the
following address :-
"TO GENERAL GARIBALDI.
"Illustrious Chief,
"In the name of Briton's sons and daughters
of toil we bid you welcome to this metropolis.
We hail you as the representative of a regene-
rated and united Italy; and for the love we
bear to that beautiful land and its noble people,
so long oppressed, but now, thanks to your
devoted patriotism and indomitable courage,
almost freed from the foreign oppressors, we
hail you! Your name is to us a household
word, the symbol of liberty, associated with
lofty daring, bold enterprise, and unselfish
devotion to the cause of human progress. For
your noble deeds we thank, love, and welcome
you; and in the name, the sacred name of
that liberty for which you have fought, bled,
and which you have won for the oppressed
peoples, we give you a place-a first place-
in our hearts; and while doing so we cannot
forget that there are men who have been
associated with you in your glorious enterprise,
who are also deserving of our admiration and
esteem-especially the illustrious Joseph Maz-
zini, who has done so much for Italy, Freedom,
and Humanity. We therefore hope soon to
be able to show our love for your co-workers.
Accept, then, dear brother, our heartfelt
delight at seeing you in our midst; and,
"
London, April 11, 1864.”
The reception of this bold and out-spoken
recognition of the fullest significance of Gari-
baldi's career was enthusiastic in the extreme.
The mention of Mazzini's name evoked a
manifestation exceeding great. It was not
perfectly unanimous. There were a few ex-
pressions of dissent, but the display of enthu-
siasm was utterly overwhelming. As the
hurrahs seemed about to die away, they were
revived and prolonged, the determination being
to make a vehement protest against the recent
slander of Mazzini at Paris, and in the English
House of Commons, in connection with Mr.
Stansfield. Garibaldi's emotion was more mani-
fest than at any other moment, and it was perhaps
fortunate that an unexpected utterance gave
him a little time for reflection on his answer. An
Italian lady, occupying a seat immediately in
front of the platform, arrested his attention,
and addressed to him, with earnest but grace-
ful gesture, a speech, in which she said :—
"General,
"You cannot but rejoice at the great de-
monstration which you have here witnessed
to-day-coming from the heart of the most
powerful nation in the world. This nation has
proved herself to be the friend of our country,
and I am overpowered with joy at witnessing
this moving scene the more so as I am a
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
233
countrywoman of the hero whom we so heartily
greet. I wish to raise my voice to the English
people, to thank them for the honours heaped
upon General Garibaldi for his defence of
Italian liberty against despotism. General,
General,
may at last your noble example kindle all
hearts to support you, and enable you to
establish that civilisation in Italy which will
unite all humanity like a happy family."
The sensation produced by this startling
incident was intense, and the ladies in the
assembly showed heartily their sympathy.
Garibaldi simply bowed his acquiescence.
When general quiet was again restored, the
reply to the working men's address was given by
the great working man of Nice, Genoa, Monte
Video, Cincinnati, and Caprera, in all which
places he had, as the Apostle Paul described
himself as having done, "laboured working
with his own hands."
my
“I like to see the working men particularly.
I am very grateful, and will forget not in all
life this welcome of that class I have the
honour to belong to. They like to call me the
brother of the working man of every part of
the world!"
The General was of the same spirit as the
late Mr. Fielding, M.P. for Oldham, when he
told the House of Commons he had been a
factory child, and would "stand by his order."
The working men present accepted the
General's reply in this sense, and appreciated
the stern energy of his utterance, showing how
his heart beat to them.
It was three o'clock before these imposing
ceremonies terminated, and Garibaldi and his
retinue left the building.
He then proceeded to the Duke of Suther-
land's carriage, in which the Duke, Mr. Seely,
M.P., and Signor Negretti, also seated them-
selves. A rush to shake hands with him,
which act he graciously accorded as far as
possible, created delay, and impeded the
orderly execution of the programme. The car-
riage was eventually drawn up by the kerb in
the Wandsworth Road, in order that the pro-
cession of the various trades might pass it.
Immediately behind the General's carriage was
that in which sat the intrepid Menotti Gari-
baldi and his younger brother, who were
objects of deep interest to the public, espe-
cially Menotti, who had fought and bled so
often by his father's side. It required the most
strenuous efforts, both persuasive and physical,
on the part of the committees, the body guard
of the English Legion, and the police, to keep
back the crowds from the carriage, the whole
multitude being eager to stand in the closest
proximity to him, and even to grasp his hands
or touch his cloak. Alas! that his faithful
heroine, Anita, had not lived to see those who
were her life's pride and treasure so honoured
by the vast population of the most populous,
wealthy, and powerful city in the world. How
must the hearts of those who had so often
followed him to the battle have bounded, as
they witnessed his glory! Their blood and
tears had mingled with his, the light of their
swords had blended with the light of his. For
Menotti, Eber, Missori, the day was a proud
one, for he their chief, and the pride of their
heroic hearts, received due honour.
The different public bodies who had inscribed
their purpose of taking a place in the proces-
sion then marched past, and saluted the
General. This part of the programme was
admirably arranged by J. Baxter Langley, a
gentleman of singular energy, prompt adapta-
tion to circumstance, and possessing a generous.
and manly sympathy for the unhappy, slighted,
slandered, or oppressed. His zeal on this
occasion was rewarded with success; the pro-
cession of the trades, fellowships, and societies.
H H
·
234
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
marched past, maintaining order and precision vailed. When the Italian band struck up
in all the part allotted to them.
Garibaldi's Hymn, one of the horses in a car-
riage, then at the corner of Miles Street, took
fright, reared, plunged, and fell, throwing the
postilion. The animal was quickly got up,
but was again restive, and broke the pole of
the carriage. This stopped for the time the
progress of the last part of the procession,
while the forward part of it got far in advance.
Assistance was, however, speedily rendered,
and the broken carriage having been removed,
the cortège was again able to proceed.
Then commenced the grandest scene ever
witnessed in London on the reception of a man
by a people, or probably in the world. Never
was so vast a concourse crowded together in
the thoroughfares of a city; and never did
even the peoples liberated by the hero's own
hand receive him with more enthusiasm.
First to pass was the Cordwainers' Company
of Stafford, headed by a band, and bearing an
immense banner. Then came the band of the
10th Tower Hamlets Volunteers, leading the
way for the Farriers' Company, in their white
kid leather aprons, and bearing the insignia of
their craft. Immediately afterwards came the
Memphis Lodge of Freemasons,* with a most
beautiful banner borne before them-a carriage
containing the four principal officers of the
Lodge bringing up the rear. Next came the
Temperance societies, the Foresters in their
official costume, the Odd Fellows, and all the
Friendly societies. Almost every one had a
band accompanying it. Some of the societies
had tall wands, on the top of which hung
festoons of laurel, while one or two had the
classic victor's wreath, in which were entwined
the Garibaldian colours. For three-quarters
of an hour there was a constant succession of
Friendly and Temperance societies passing. At
last the carriages in the station-yard fell into
the procession. Following them came the Poles
and members of the Polish Legion in London,
and next the Hungarians and Germans. The
Italian committee's and other carriages next
fell into the line, and close behind them came
a small detachment of the Notting Hill volun-
teer fire brigade in their uniform. Finally the
band of the Italian Union of London took up
position immediately before the carriage of
General Garibaldi, on either side of which
marched a guard of honour of members of the
old English Garibaldian Legion. The last of
the procession had moved when an accident
occurred which marred the order that pre-
-
* This Lodge has no connection with the Grand Lodge of
English Freemasons, of which the Earl of Zetland is Grand
Master.
All the streets were crowded with people. All
the windows, and even the house-tops, covered
with eager expectants; and as the cortége
advanced, and the object of all eyes and hearts
appeared, shouts were raised by the multitudes,
such as their great numbers and great hearti-
ness must have made astonishing to him who
had so often witnessed the applause and grati-
tude of delivered cities. The procession reached
Westminster Bridge by half-past six o'clock. It
was difficult to pass, so dense were the crowds
of people. It was sunset; the sight was
beautiful, and Garibaldi caught its inspiration.
There was very little that was artistic in
the displays from the windows and public
buildings; flags and inscriptions of welcome
generally constituted the decorative attempts.
There was an exception in Bridge Street,
Westminster, at the house of Mr. Cremer, the
celebrated manufacturer and vendor of toys.
He had suspended a number of elegant me-
dallions, with a great variety of well-conceived
decorations. The house front was covered
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
235
F
with most tasteful ornaments and devices com-
plimentary of the approaching guest. The
Italians burst into an enthusiastic cheer as
they came in front of Mr. Cremer's house, and
continued waving their hats until they had
passed. Indeed, the whole procession and
cavalcade saluted the spirited and tasteful
proprietor of that house. The sons of Gari-
baldi waved their hats in token of acknow-
ledgment. But the writer of these lines was
most struck by the manner of Garibaldi at this
spot. He seldom raised his hat during the
procession, but remained standing in the open
carriage, supported by the hands of the Duke of
Buckingham, Mr. Seely, and Signor Negretti.
When, however, he came opposite Mr.
Cremer's, he raised his hat, and with a move-
ment expressively indicating gratitude and
respect, bowed his uncovered head in acknow-
ledgment. He paid a similar compliment to
the occupants of the undecorated windows in
the rear portion of the premises of Findon's
Hotel, occupied by Mr. Bromfit, from which he
received so hearty a greeting, that he felt and
acknowledged it. Many of the gentlemen who
thus cordially received the hero, differed with
him in political opinion, and in some of his
measures adopted by him for the best of ends,
but all felt that his motives were disinterested
as his conduct was heroic, and that he had
effected a greater amount of practical good
than any other living man.
4
S
As the cortége turned out of Bridge Street
into Parliament Street, the concourse of people
was wonderful; far up George Street a sea of
heads could be seen from the carriages of the
procession, and as far back as Poet's Corner,
and more especially around the statue of
Canning, the people seemed piled on plat-
forms rising one above another. The pro-
gress up Parliament Street and Whitehall
was of imposing grandeur. The crowds in-
creased, if possible, in density to Trafalgar
Square, where the most closely-packed multi-
tude in all the line of procession awaited its
arrival. The windows and even roof of the
Treasury in Whitehall were occupied to the
uttermost by ladies and gentlemen. The
Horse Guards was decorated and crowded in
a manner which showed that the officers of
the British army did homage to the irregular
warrior; and that the princely chief of that
army knew how to do honour to the brave in
any army or in any service. The Admiralty,
over which the Duke of Sutherland presided,
was, as might be expected, covered with Gari-
baldian emblems, and every spot in and on the
building which could afford space for a human
being was occupied. At both the Horse Guards
and Admiralty, ladies were extensively accom-
modated. They were nearly all dressed in Gari-
baldian costume, and stripes of cloth tricolor, of
the Italian order, draped the entire front of the
building. Yes, it is true, that along that way,
over which princes have proceeded in rich and
courtly show, princes by whom peoples were
despised and down-trodden, there passed on
the 11th of April, 1864, the chief of revolu-
tionists, supported by a member of each branch
of the British senate, and welcomed by the
whole people, and by the authorities of the
land!
land! Yes, it is true! the tricolor floated
above the official buildings of Whitehall, and
the fair and noble of the land stood in the
historic banqueting room, the abettors and
admirers of him who taught nations to revolt
against tyrants, and to conduct revolt with a
clemency and justice which tyrants knew not.
There was no other country in Europe where
so noble a homage would be paid to liberty, no
other country the sovereign of which would
feel proud that the sympathies of her people
surrounded the heroic organiser of just and
righteous revolutions. Garibaldi passed, the
236
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
›
riage entered Old Stable Yard, St. James's.
From the palace itself could be seen through
the dim twilight flags waving, and voices of
welcome pealed out from its ancient pile.
friend of freedom without anarchy, along the
great historic way of the metropolis, in which
a queen reigned, also the friend of freedom
without anarchy. The revolutionist effected
by the sword what the sovereign whose people
received him maintained by the sceptre. No
wonder that the same lips which so often and
so heartily exclaimed "God save the Queen,"
should be ready to shout the welcome "Long
live Garibaldi." Who would have thought that
over the equestrian statue of Charles I., the
enemy of English liberty, the tricolor standard
of successful revolution would ever have been
seen to float! Who could have supposed that
in such a situation a flag should wave, emblem
of the deeds of him who should lead nations.
against despotic princes, and a despotic Pon-
tiff! Yet all this came to pass; perched on
the statue of King Charles, at Charing Cross,
an adventurous Garibaldian bore aloft in
triumph the Garibaldian flag.
The emotion of the General was visible to
every person acquainted with his countenance.
When arriving at Charing Cross, all that vast
area, its paths, spaces, monuments, and house-
tops, and summits of public buildings, were
darkened by men, vociferous in their wel-
come to the hero of truth and freedom, the
General's face repeatedly changed colour and
expression, and moved as if convulsively as he
approached this great and magnificent sight.
""
Along Pall Mall he was greeted from the
clubs as warmly as if all "the loungers
there had suddenly became enamoured of
liberty. Had Mars, the god of war, passed
through Rome on a triumphal car in the days
of her greatest military glory, he could not
have been received with more ardent homage
than was Garibaldi from the humble suburb
of Lambeth to the gates of St. James's Palace.
The shades of evening had almost passed
into the gloom of night, when the ducal car-length dispersed.
"Well may the people shout to-day,
Well may the frequent banners fly-
A conqueror comes along the way,
A hero-king is passing by!
No captives droop behind his car,
No bloody trophies flaunt above;
His sword was drawn in freedom's war,
His conquest every freeman's love.
Too often while a victor passed,
Has freedom wept and turned away;
Her hour of pride has come at last,
She clasps the conqueror's hand to-day."
The General entered Stafford House leaning
on the arm of the Duke of Sutherland. Red
cloth had been laid down from the door to the
entrance of the grand staircase, at which point
the Duchess of Sutherland advanced and cor-
dially welcomed the illustrious guest. The
Duchess Dowager of Sutherland also came
forward to welcome him, and after an inter-
change of compliments the Duke conducted
the General to his quarters. He appeared
greatly fatigued by the excitement of the day.
The Duke and Duchess of Argyle, the Earl
of Shaftesbury, the Marchioness of Ely,
Viscountess Jocelyn, the Hon. Leopold Agar
Ellis, Lady Blantyre, and the Hon. Misses
Stuart, the youthful Marquis of Lorne, Lords
Albert and Ronald Leveson Gower, Lord
Richard Grosvenor, General Ebor, Hon. Henry
Howard, &c., came on the grand staircase to
witness the arrival of the General, but they
took no part in the welcome, which was con-
fined to the noble host and hostess, and the
Dowager Duchess. The crowd still persisted
in surrounding the house and cheering voci-
ferously, as if expecting that the General
would come out on the balcony and address
them. He did not do so, and the crowd at
A
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
237
CHAPTER XXXIV.
DUCHESS DOWAGER OF
GARIBALDI AT STAFFORD HOUSE.-VISITS TO LORD PALMERSTON, TO THE
SUTHERLAND, MAZZINI, ETC.-THE OPERA.—GRAND MEETINGS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
"Welcome, because the glory of thy wreath
Had never shade nor stain,
Because thy sword sprung never from its sheath
Except to cleave a chain;
Because thy hands, outstretched to all who live,
Armed not for thine own sake,
So strong to save, opened so wide to give,
Do not know how to take;
Because thy foes can reckon to thy charge
Only the noble crime
Of faith too liberal and love too large
For this unworthy time."
1
ON Wednesday, the 13th of April, the pro-
gramme which the patriotic Duke of Suther-
land laid down for his guest was such as to
spare his physical powers, tried so much by
the previous day. The General was at home
in Stafford House. Between him and the
Duke of Sutherland a friendship had sprung
up in the winter of 1862. The duke then
visited Naples, and from all he saw and heard,
conceived an intense sympathy for the slighted
and invalid chief, then suffering from his
wound in Caprera. The duke called at the
island and made the General's acquaintance.
Two men so liberal and frank, and filled with
such generous instincts, could not but love one
another.
The Duchess Dowager of Sutherland, the
friend of the Queen, the supporter of every
religious institution, the abettor of liberty,
the ardent apostle of the anti-slavery cause,
had invited the General to her beautiful place
at Chiswick. As this became generally known,
the route thither from St. James's was
thronged from an early hour on Tuesday, and
the greetings of the day before were repeated
wherever the duke's carriage was seen. En
route, his grace conducted his guest to pay a
visit to Lord Palmerston. The great states-
man and the great warrior remained an hour
together.*
From Cambridge House the duke's carriage
proceeded along Piccadilly and through Hyde
Park, where Rotten Row was crowded with
a grand equestrian concourse of fashionable
persons. The carriage roads were also com-
pletely filled with equipages. As the General
| passed all riders were stationary, and saluta-
tions were offered with that courtesy which
the highly cultivated can offer, and that
respect which one so good and great must
ever command. The course of the General
was through Kensington, Hammersmith, and
Turnham Green; and notwithstanding the
distance, the whole way was lined with people,
who greeted the guest of England as he
passed, and the windows, especially of the
fashionable neighbourhood of Kensington,
were thronged with ladies, as on the previous
day, wearing Garibaldian favours.
* It is alleged on authority most respectable that Lord
Palmerston eagerly seized the General's hand, and shook it as
if it belonged to an old friend after a long absence. Garibaldi,
ever sensitive, said, "I am grateful for such a kind reception
from so powerful a friend of Italy." To which his lordship
replied, "I am happy to shake the hand of so gallant a man."
!
:
#
.
238
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Arrived at Chiswick, the duchess received
her guest with courtly but warm welcome.
Earl Russell, the Earl of Shaftesbury, Earl
Granville, the Right Hon. W. Gladstone, and
other eminent persons, arrived. The visit was
a short one. In the evening there was a grand
entertainment at Stafford House, comprising
many of the nobility and members of Parlia-
ment. The company were generally on the
Liberal side of politics, but the Earl of Derby
and a few other Conservative noblemen were
present. Before returning to Stafford House
from Chiswick, he paid a visit to Mr. Stans-
field, and addressed a large crowd from the
balconies.
On this day an address was presented to
him by the Poles, one of the most affecting
incidents of his visit.
A deputation of the Polish Committee of
London waited on General Garibaldi at Staf-
ford House in the morning. Three little girls,
in Polish costume, presented the General
with bouquets in the name of Poland. They
were rewarded by a kiss each from Garibaldi.
The address was delivered in the French
language, and is translated as follows:
"General,-The population of the free
country of England is stirred with joy at the
news of your arrival on her soil. Her compact
and enthusiastic crowds hurry to meet you,
and hail you as the most illustrious repre-
sentative of the vindication of the sacred right
of the peoples to liberty and independence.
They greet you with acclamation, not because
you are a hero, but because, above all, they
see in you the incarnation of the greatest
human principle. In the midst of this crowd
transported with joy, you perceive, General, a
group of men whose sorrowful countenances
and preoccupied minds contrast with the spon-
taneous and general joy of which you are the
object. The hospitable and generous multitude
G
enjoy all the rights of free citizens; but this
group of men, a mere handful of Poles, who
have come from the land of martyrdom, in the
fullest sense of the term, desire to pay to you,
in the name of their country and of their
cause, the homage of their utmost veneration
and devotedness.
and devotedness. Poland has heard the noble
words in which you recently accorded your
support. She sees in that support another
powerful guarantee of her resurrection, an in-
vincible proof of the solidarity which still
unites them with the peoples, the harbinger of
the ultimate victory of liberty over the tyranny
that yet oppresses the earth. Poland thanks
you for having with your brave hand unfurled
her standard and associated it with those of
the Italian and Hungarian nations, of which
you are now the hope and will be the liberator.
Poland expects no less from the great soul of
Garibaldi. Welcome, then, General, to the
free soil of Great Britain, and may the
Almighty, the God of justice and liberty, long
preserve you to aid in accomplishing His reign
on earth!"
Garibaldi replied as follows:-
"Thanks! many thanks to you. Tell your
brothers in Poland that although I have yet
done nothing for Poland, certainly not what
I should desire, still I hold the cause of
Poland as that of my own country, Italy-as
the cause of liberty, and I am ready to sacri-
fice my life for that cause. If I pray to God
for strength, it is that I may be able to devote
myself to your cause and to the cause of Italy,
and to the emancipation of the peoples.'
""
On the Tuesday evening he paid a short
visit to Earl Russell, which was followed by a
longer one the next day. It was rumoured
that important topics connected with Italy
were discussed in that interview. He also
visited his friend Mr. Seely.
He paid a visit to Woolwich, to inspect
.

Eng by Edwa Stodart, from a Photograph
200 CAKE
Malewistone
LONDON JAMES S.VIRTUE
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
239
·
the Dockyard and Arsenal, returning home by
London Bridge and through the City, which
was crowded, as it usually is in the hours of
business. The unexpected arrival of Garibaldi
produced an
an excitement which suspended
business, and directed the vast commercial
throng to the route along which the carriage
proceeded, where the usual enthusiasm was
evinced. The same evening a grand dinner
was given by the Duke of Sutherland, in
honour of his guest; among the nobility and
eminent persons present were the Earl and
Countess of Malmesbury. That noble lord had
been no friend to Italy any more than the
Earl of Derby, who had declared, in the House
of Peers, that he was unable to comprehend
for what the war of 1859 in Italy was waged.
There was a strange incongruity in inviting such
men to meet Garibaldi, however graceful it
might have been on their part to call upon
him, or volunteer any act of respect. The
General retired early in the evening, his early
morning hours rendering it impossible that
he could endure the late sittings of English
fashionable life.
On Thursday he visited Mr. Taylor, M.P.
for Leicester, at his house, Camden Hill, Ken-
sington, and also some prominent Italians
resident in London.
That was the evening appointed for going to
the Italian Opera House, Covent Garden; his
visit to which formed one of the most interest-
ing episodes of his stay in London. Four car-
riages left the Duke of Sutherland's house, con-
veying the General, his suite, and the Duke's
other guests. The streets were crowded, as the
intention of the General was known. He entered
by the Floral Hall; as he arrived, the band of
the Coldstream Guards played "See the Con-
quering Hero comes." He was greeted by
a brilliant assembly in the hall, which was
lighted up, and decorated with exquisite taste.
When Garibaldi appeared in his box, the
house resounded with plaudits, which were
continued until the time for commencing the
performance had considerably passed. It was a
brilliant scene, and the grandest feature of it
was the General himself, as he stood in manly
and soldierly dignity while he bowed his
acknowledgments to the élite of the land. The
performance consisted of "Norma," and the
second and third acts of "Masaniello." The
latter were of course selected because of the
affinity of the Neapolitan insurrection to a
portion of Garibaldi's own career. So the
audience took it, and every allusive sentence
brought a storm of applause. Garibaldi's
interest seemed deeply excited, and he remained
until the close.
Before going to the opera, the hero and his
sons visited Mazzini.
The United Service Club elected the General
and his sons honorary members.
On Friday he visited Bedford, his chief
object being to see some steam ploughs in
operation, as everything connected with farm-
ing has his concern. The corporation and
people of the town received him with the
same cordiality as all other English commu-
nities received him.
Saturday, the 16th of April, was fixed upon
for a grand Italian concert in the Crystal
Palace, and the presentation of swords to the
General and his soldier son, exclusively the
testimonials of Italian patriotism. A vast
concourse assembled of over twenty-four
thousand persons.
An address was presented, in harmony with
previous addresses, but pointing to Rome and
Venice as still oppressed.
The General replied at greater length than
in any of his other speeches, reiterating his
purpose, and urging that purpose upon his
compatriots, of ailing England should any
240
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
combination of continental tyrants attack her.
He alluded in grateful terms to the Queen,
whom he called Cara Regina. This allusion
awakened the utmost enthusiasm in the
assembly, which rose and cheered again and
again, repeatedly resuming fresh series of cheers
when the demonstrations began to subside.
After the addresses luncheon was served, and
the General was wheeled slowly along to the
canopy, beneath which he was to take his seat.
As he approached, he was met by four Italian
young ladies-Alessandra Zuccani, Daria
Zuccani (her sister), Angelina Carozzi, and
Madeline Cetti-all dressed in white, with fairy-
like elegance, and each carrying a beautiful
bouquet. When the General came up, the
eldest of the four young ladies stepped forward
and presented him with her bouquet, accom-
panied with an address in Italian to the effect
that amidst the universal exultation and joy at
the presence of Garibaldi in England, they
wished to raise their voices, and salute the
Chieftain of the Thousand. Garibaldi accepted
the bouquet, thanked the young ladies for their
address, shook hands with many ladies, kissed
some of the younger ones, and slowly made his
way to the place in which he was so eagerly
expected. Immediately that he was seen there
arose the same loud long shout which charac-
terised all the greetings he received. He
seemed almost to hesitate when advancing to
his seat in the presence of so overwhelming an
assembly of delighted friends. Still more
reluctantly Menotti and Ricciotti were per-
suaded to seat themselves on his right and
left; the Duke of Sutherland taking the fourth
seat. In the adjoining gallery were Mrs.
Craufurd, wife of the member for Ayr, and her
sister, Madame Saffi, wife of the Roman
triumvir. For the Dowager Duchess of Suther-
land and the ladies of her party seats had been
reserved in the front of the orchestra.
use.
The concert began with the first piece upon
the programme, "Inno di Garibaldi," at the
very instant when the hero of the day made
his appearance in the gallery set apart for his
The inspiring strains of this chorus
accordingly mingled with the shout that arose
from the expectant multitude upon the first
intimation that the General was drawing near,
and lent additional vigour no less than melody
to the welcome uttered by twenty thousand
English voices.
The pieces were all selected in the spirit of
the occasion, and the performance was all that
Italian art could make it. The enthusiasm
excited by the concert reached its height at the
chorus "La Garibaldina," and especially when
the last verse was sung, of which the following
is a translation :—
"Hail! oh, leader, from darkness and sorrow
Fame hath woven a wreath for thy brow;
Bright be the dawning of Italy's morrow-
Dawn it shall, for the herald art thou.
O Garibaldi! true and noble heart,
Lead on, we are thine
Until our latest breath;
From hearths and homes, and loved ones we depart,
To battle, to glory, to death."
A person well situated for witnessing the
scene which then occurred thus depicted it :-
"No words can describe the scene which
took place during the singing of these lines.
The principal vocalists, all eminent, and
popular in their profession, turned towards
the balcony which contained Garibaldi, and
with every gesture and look of which the
Italian frame is capable, signified their enthu-
siastic concurrence in the sentiments to the
utterance of which they lent every power with
which nature had gifted them. The choir and
orchestra, inspired by the fervid action of their
excellent conductor, who, with his national
colours tastefully displayed upon his breast,
threw himself with all the ardour of a loving
..
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
241
compatriot into his work, seconded their efforts
nobly, and thus a chorus was produced such as
can never be forgotten by the least susceptible
individual who was privileged to hear the
strain, and see under what circumstances it
was sung. At the first line of the refrain,
"O Garibaldi, nostro salvatore," the audience,
moved by one impulse, rose up, and remained
standing, turned towards the Italian hero,
during the remainder of the piece. When all
was ended, the voice of the multitude found
scope, and men and women, artists and con-
ductor, laid down their respective functions to
join in one overpowering demonstration of
enthusiastic devotion to the serene-looking
and noble man, who looked down in a sort of
glad yet quiet wonder, too great to be con-
fused by this tumultuous homage; and replied
better by his sympathetic eyes, moved lips,
and very simple gestures, than by any amount.
of actions such as are associated with heroes of
a smaller kind."
A sword was then presented to the General
by Signor Serena, an exile of Venice, who
delivered an appropriate address. This was
followed by an address from the Italians resi-
dent in London.
A deputation, consisting of the Italian
Committee, presented a small picture, in an
elegant frame, the subject being “The Italian
Colours." It represented a very beautiful
Italian girl, with a bouquet of flowers in her
hand, the colours being red, white, and green.
Signor Vivanti presented the picture, and said,
in Italian : "General, Signor Succoli, an
Italian artist, hopes you will accept this pic-
ture, which he has called 'The Italian Colours'
(La Cocarda Italiana). These noble colours, |
once trampled in the dust by the enemies of
Italy, now raised by your hand, wave high
from the Alps to the Strait of Sicily. The
Italians see in these colours the emblem of
Italy and of yourself, her liberator. The red
reminds them of your blood generously shed
in the cause of liberty-the white is an emblem
of the purity of your soul-the green, of the
hope with which your name inspires the op-
pressed." Garibaldi accepted the picture
"with thanks.”
Signor Serena then presented Menotti Gari-
baldi with a sword, saying, as he did so,
"Accept, Menotti, this sword, given to you
by the Italians of London, and use it, as you
have commenced, fighting by the side of your
father, as a worthy son of Garibaldi.” The
young hero gracefully, and with unaffected
Garibaldi
simplicity, expressed his thanks.
looked on with mingled love and pride, and,
with a grateful expression of countenance,
turned again and again to the deputation
during the short ceremony.
Soon after the heroes and their escort retired
from the building.
In the evening they dined with Lord Palmer-
ston at Cambridge House, and met a brilliant
reception.
On Sunday, Garibaldi lunched with his friend
Alexander Herzen, the celebrated Russian
liberal, at his house in Teddington. It was
one of the most remarkable incidents of Gari-
baldi's English visit, taking into consideration
the peculiar position of the host, the character
of the guest, and the interchange of opinions
between Garibaldi and Mazzini, who had so
often agreed and so often differed in their
strange careers.
A select party of English and foreign friends
were assembled to meet the General, amongst
whom were Signor Saffi, Prince Dolgoroukou,
Signor Mordini, a member of the Italian par-
liament, &c. As usual, crowds had assembled
to greet the General, who was enthusiastically
cheered on his arrival and on his departure.
M. Herzen, accompanied by his friend and
II
242
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
fellow-editor of the Russian democratic journal,
La Cloche, M. N. Ogareff and Mdme. Ogareff,
received the General at the garden gate and
led him into the house; but the cheering
outside was so vehement that the General
was compelled to return for a moment to the
garden, where he good-humouredly waved his
hand in acknowledgment of the applause of
the crowd. He had scarcely entered the house
again before another carriage drove up, and
MM. Herzen and Ogareff welcomed with equal
honours their old and esteemed friend, Joseph
Mazzini, between whom and Garibaldi the
greeting was warm
A magnificent luncheon had been prepared,
at the conclusion of which Mazzini rose and
proposed the health of General Garibaldi in
the following words :-" My toast will include
all that is most dear to us all, those things for
which we have fought and striven. I drink to
the Liberty of the Peoples; to the Association
of the Peoples; to the man who is the living
incarnation of these great ideas, Joseph Gari-
baldi; to that poor sacred heroic Poland,
whose sons have been silently fighting and
dying for liberty for more than a year; to that
young Russia, whose device is land and liberty
new Russia that will at no distant day hold
out a sister's hand to Poland, acknowledge her
equality and independence, and cancel the
remembrance of the Russia of the Czar; to
those Russians who, with our friend Herzen at
their head, have most wrought and laboured
towards the creation of this new Russia; to
that religion of duty which will give us
strength to strive, and to devote ourselves, even
unto death, for the realisation of these ideas."
The toast having been drank with enthu-
siasm, Garibaldi rose and said: "I am about
to make a declaration which I ought to have
made long ago. There is a man amongst us
here who has rendered the greatest services to
our country, and to the cause of liberty. When
I was a young man, having nought but aspi-
rations towards the good, I sought for one able
to act as the guide and counsellor of my young
years. I sought such a man even as he who is
athirst seeking the spring. I found this man.
He alone watched when all around him slept.
He alone fed the sacred flame. He has ever
remained my friend, ever as full of love for his
country and of devotion to the cause of liberty.
This man is Joseph Mazzini. To my friend and
teacher!"
The General afterwards rose a second time
and said: "Mazzini has uttered some words
with regard to unhappy Poland, to which I
adhere with all my heart. Now let us drink
to that young Russia, that suffers, struggles,
and shall triumph like ourselves, and is des-
tined to play a noble and important part in
Europe."
After this, raising his glass for the last time,
Garibaldi drank "To that free England whose
generous hospitality and noble and fruitful
sympathy have won from all oppressed peoples
so large a debt of gratitude and affection.'
The early portion of Monday, the 17th, was
spent in the usual way, visits and the recep-
tion of deputations engrossing the General's
time. A detailed account of these, however
invested with a temporary interest in the
metropolis, are not of sufficient importance to
detain the attention of the distant reader.
In the evening the General paid his second
visit to the Crystal Palace, for the purpose of
receiving the addresses of the numerous bodies,
metropolitan and provincial, which had sent
deputations to present them. So great were
the numbers constituting these deputations,
that the Crystal Palace was chosen as the
fittest place for their reception.
J
At five minutes past three o'clock the en-
gagements of the occasion began.
}
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
243
The first presentation made was two beau-
tiful bouquets, borne by two very pretty little
girls; one of them was Louisa, daughter of
D. Chinnery, Esq., of Dulwich Manor House;
and the other, Edith, daughter of Professor
Falding, D.D., of Rotherham College. After
this, the deputations which followed were, in
each case, restricted to six in number.
The first of these that approached was the
mayor, town clerk, and four counsellors of the
Dover Corporation, in their robes of office. As-
cending the dais from the right, the deputation
moved to the centre of the platform, presented
its address, shook hands with the General, de-
scended on the opposite side, and subsided
into seats strictly reserved for their accommo-
dation just before the orchestra. Brighton
followed Dover, and a hearty cheer marked
the recognition among the deputation of Mr.
White and Mr. Coningham, two of Italy's
oldest and truest English friends. The ad-
dress concluded with a pressing invitation to
Garibaldi to visit "the queen of watering-
places," if only for one day. A deputation
from Woolwich was the third in order. It
was followed by deputations appointed by
public meetings in Norwich, Marylebone,
Lambeth, the West Cliff, (Brighton,) the
Brighton Working Men's Club, the Southwark
Temperance Society, temperance societies in
Bishopsgate, Clapham, and Chelsea, and the
Surrey Chapel Band of Hope (headed by the
Rev. Newman Hall and Mr. Murphy). The
Friends of Fatherland, a society of German
workmen in London, attracted special atten-
tion and applause by the elegant emblazon-
ment of their address, and its presentation
upon a crimson velvet cushion, decked with
the Italian colours and bearing a laurel weath.
The Working Men's Institutes of Upper and
Lower Norwood and of Hastings, the working
men of Brentford, one of whose representa-
tives, named Alexander Hodgman, made a
little speech, telling the General that he had
served under him in America, and mentioning
the name of General Castella. "Castella!"
said Garibaldi; "yes, I know him well; God
bless him, and you too." The Brighton Young
Men's Christian Association, the Maidstone Re-
form Association, the Streatham and Clapham
Temperance Societies, the Shoreditch Working
Men's Club, the Brighton Abstinence Society,
passed without special notice.
Not so the Central Horticultural Society.
Claiming Garibaldi as "a fellow-labourer in
the field and in the garden," they tendered
him an offering of fruit and flowers by the
hands of a little boy and girl, Master Chute
and Miss Ellen Tanton. The General was
evidently much pleased by the incident, kissed
the children, and took their baskets with
thanks.
A Bible Society, by its deputation, pre-
sented the General and his sons with a copy
of the Holy Scriptures each, most elegantly
bound. They were accepted with grateful and
reverential expressions.
Then followed deputations from the Loyal
Orange Institute, the London Unity of Odd
Fellows, the Welsh Congregational Dissenters
in London, the Finsbury Collegiate School,
the London Mechanics' Institute, and the
Memphis Lodge of Freemasons. The Memphis
is the Lodge to which Garibaldi belongs, and
its address, written in French, hailed him as
"Dear and very illustrious brother." This
deputation was followed by one whose appear-
ance created profound enthusiasm. It bore
the flag of Poland. The General rose to meet
it, and clasped warmly the hands of the
deputies. Colonel L. Oborski said, "that
while Poland is struggling for liberty, Italy
and Hungary are expected to fulfil their duties
towards the liberation of Europe." Count
244
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.

Albin Potoski presented a medal struck in
commemoration of the insurrection of 1863,
declaring that it represented the real desire of
the Polish nation-the political and religious
freedom of every inhabitant of Poland. He
assured the General of the earnest hopes of
Poland, that Providence will give him good
health for the sake of Italy and all the op-
pressed nations. The General resumed his
seat, and the deputation passed on amid great
cheering. Then, suddenly, he rose and advanced
to the front of the dais, and exclaimed twice,
"I beg of the generous English nation not to
abandon Poland." The enthusiasm enkindled
by this appeal was indeed intense; English
cheers and foreign voices made the palace
vibrate. To the Swiss residents, carrying the
flag of Helvetia, the General said, "Of you
also I beg you will not allow Poland to die."
Next came a deputation from his own British
Legion, wearing their uniform, and headed by
Captain Styles. They greeted him as
" Most
noble and beloved General;" and he an-
swered, “I am proud again to see my brothers
in arms.' The presentations concluded with
addresses from the various Garibaldian com-
mittees in London. The ceremony occupied
altogether about an hour.
-
""
Garibaldi left the platform amid the strains
of the Garibaldi Hymn, performed by the band
below, but remained some time on the grounds
with the people.
CHAPTER XXXV.
SUDDEN RESOLUTION TO LEAVE ENGLAND.-VISITS TO HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE-TO THE CITY-
TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT—TO FISHMONGERS' HALL-THE REFORM CLUB-THE TOMB OF
UGO FOSCOLO-CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES.
STATES. THE
THE PRINCE OF WALES VISITS HIM.
FAREWELL BEFORE LEAVING LONDON.—DEPARTURE.-EXTRAORDINARY SCENES ON HIS ROUTE
UNTIL HIS EMBARKATION.-ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE
-ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND BEFORE LEAVING THEIR
SHORES.
"He has proved what a welcome the Britons can give;
He has heard what a sound we can raise;
While our maidens have shed crowning bloom on his head
And our mothers poured blessings and praise.
Our children have prattled and laughed in his arms;
Our old men have gone forth in the crowd;
Our young manhood in pride, has kept guard by his side,
Our great war-kings have seen him-and bowed."-ELIZA COOK.
THE happiness of the people was clouded, as
the multitude left the last meeting at the
Crystal Palace, by the rumour that Garibaldi
was about suddenly to return to Caprera, and
that his departure was the result of some in-
timations made by the government of the ne-
cessity of his doing so, in consequence of some
G
diplomatic occurrences. The Emperor Napoleon,
the Emperor of Austria, and the King of Italy
were blamed each by numerous classes. Some
attributed it to their joint action, and all
blamed our own government for acting upon
the suggestions of foreign courts.
All these impressions were erroneous; but
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
245
1
|
the suspicion of the people was excited by the
efforts of Garibaldi's ministerial friends to repre-
sent his health as the reason of his purposed
withdrawal, while Garibaldi himself, and his
non-governmental friends, declared his health
to be excellent. The English surgeon employed
by his English friends pronounced him to be an
invalid in a condition so dangerous, that only
immediate withdrawal from scenes of such
labour and excitement could be relied on for his
security. His Italian physician declared him
perfectly able to go through his projected
series of visits, as improved in health, and
showing no indications of failing power or
injurious fatigue. These rumours and con-
flicting opinions filled the whole country, and
produced much angry discussion.
had been given to him.
had been given to him. It was not doubted
by thoughtful and moderate persons, that Lord
Palmerston, Mr. Gladstone, Earl Russell, and
the Duke of Sutherland, were sincerely con-
cerned for the General's health, and anxious
not to incur the heavy responsibility of giving
their countenance to exertions on his part
which were sufficient to try the strongest con-
stitution; but still suspicion lurked in the
mind of the whole public that some foreign
political influence was employed, and that the
members of her Majesty's government were
unable to escape its force. It was some time
before anything which even approached a satis-
factory solution of the mystery was arrived
at, and in the meantime insinuations were
circulated by the press, the gossips of the
clubs, and the talk of the general public.
On the night of the 19th, Lord Clarendon,
in his place in the House of Lords, denied on
behalf of the government that any concession
had been made by it to that of France in con-
nection with the departure of Garibaldi, and
that any concession had been required by that
government from the government of England.
In the House of Commons Lord Palmerston
made a similar denial.
The report of his speedy departure increased
the number of addresses and deputations,
among all which none were so interesting or
so much engaged his sympathy as those con-
nected with the "Emancipation Society."
On Tuesday night he, accompanied by his
sons and several other eminent Italians, went
to her Majesty's Theatre, where even a more
enthusiastic reception was given to him than
had been accorded at the Italian Opera House,
Covent Garden.
On Wednesday, April 20th, the City of
London conferred the intended honour upon
the guest of the nation.
The Guildhall being under repair, means
were resorted to of attaching to it temporary
accommodation for the guests and spectators.
The General had ceased to be the guest of
the Duke of Sutherland, and had become the
guest of Mr. Seely (his quondam host in the
Isle of Wight), at his town mansion, Princes
Gate, Kensington. At twelve o'clock he de-
scended to the carriage through an avenue of
ladies, who had assembled to do him honour.
From the provinces expressions of the
keenest disappointment mingled with indig-
nation arrived in town; and notwithstanding
the denials made in both Houses, the state-
ment was persisted in, that Mr. Ferguson,
while stating what was true, that too much
toil was exacted from the General, had gone
beyond what it was necessary to say, under the
influence of high personages, real friends of
the General, but embarrassed politically by the
whirlwind of enthusiasm with which the public
had received him. No one doubted that the
statement of any of her Majesty's Ministers.
was worthy of the utmost reliance; but it was
suspected that some hints, the least of which
would be sufficient to influence the General,
246
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
probably the happiest ever made of this
extraordinary man.
"Illustrious Sir,
The arrangements were nearly as bad as any
capacity for creating confusion could make
them. Only one of Garibaldi's sons occupied
the same carriage with himself, and he the
younger. Of the eight or ten carriages that
composed the cortege, several never reached
the Guildhall, possibly through being unfur-
nished with tickets, and among the excluded
was the gallant Menotti. The foremost car-
riages drove through Hyde Park and Picca-
dilly. So great was the crowd that they could
not move at more than a walking pace; they
were separated before they reached St. James's
Street. There and in Pall Mall the balconies
and windows of the clubs and of many of
the houses were filled with applauding spec-
tators. Charing Cross was again the scene of
a vast and excited concourse, covering the
steps of the National Gallery and St. Martin's
Church, the edges of the basins, and the
pedestal of Nelson's column. Along the
Strand and Fleet Street the road was kept
clear by a powerful body of police, allowing
no carriages to pass but those whose occupants
could show tickets for the Guildhall. Quicker
progress was now made, and the procession
kept better in hand. It was fifteen or twenty
minutes past the time fixed, when the General's
carriage arrived at the Guildhall.
"The city of London invites you to-day to
accept the highest honour at her disposal,
placing your distinguished name upon the list
of worthies inscribed upon the roll of honorary
citizenship. It becomes my duty accordingly
to address to you in her name a few words,
however inadequate, of thanks, congratulation,
and hearty welcome. We a
We are well aware that
no one shrinks more sensitively than yourself
from the voice of eulogy, and yet, living as
you do to please, not yourself alone, you will
feel that there are occasions-and this would
appear to be one of them—when, for the sake
of others, truth, though flattering, should be
listened to. Bear with me, then, while I
attempt to give feeble expression to the feel-
ings of unbounded admiration and affection
entertained towards you by the citizens of
London. I am not called to dilate upon the
marvellous incidents of your eventful career,
rivalling in interest the wildest romance, be-
cause the resolution of this Honourable Court,
devised so as to secure a perfect unanimity of
welcome, directs my remarks rather to your
character than to the political events of your
life. History, it has been said, usually repro-
duces herself at intervals more or less frequent,
but we turn her pages in vain to meet with
the prototype of Giuseppe Garibaldi; 'none
but himself can be his parallel!' We find,
sir, no counterpart to your career even among
When the usual preliminary proceedings the fabled legends of the early periods of that
were gone through, the city chamberlain de-
city with which your name is henceforth im-
livered the city address, by far the most in-perishably associated, when Romans in the
teresting which the hero had received since
landing upon our shores. The introductory
portion of it was a philosophical estimate of
his character, most eloquently expressed, and
When the General entered, he and his son
Ricciotti occupied two of the chairs set apart
to the right of the civic throne; a third chair
was vacant-it had been destined for Menotti,
who, from the mal-arrangements referred to,
was unable to gain admission.
interest of their country
'Spared neither lands nor gold,
Nor son, nor wife, nor limb, nor life,
In those brave times of old.'
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
247
1
In your person that primitive spirit of self-
sacrifice is reproduced, in combination with
characteristics and qualifications hitherto
deemed incompatible. The genius of an ac-
complished general, associated with the in-
stincts and daring of one of the old sea-kings;
valour which liberated kingdoms and placed
them at your feet, combined with the stern
incorruptibility of a Dentatus and the severe.
simplicity of a Cincinnatus; a heart in which |
the boldness of a Leonidas dwells compatibly
with the tenderness of a woman and the trust
and truthfulness of a child. The whole
strangely tempered and elevated by an earnest
craving for the reign of peace, brotherhood,
and freedom, manifesting faith in the world's
future, in humanity, and in God.”
The remainder of the address was a reca-
pitulation of the more salient events in the
hero's career.
At the termination of this oration, the gold
box was handed to him, in which the document
conferring the freedom of the city was inclosed.
He received it, bowing, and handed it to his
son Ricciotti, as a souvenir of his visit to
the city of London. Menotti could not gain
admission.
The General's reply was characterised by
his usual feeling and felicity of expression.
The Guildhall ceremonial was marked by
probably greater enthusiasm than had ever
before attested public approbation upon the
bestowment of the city's freedom.
From the Guildhall the party proceeded to
the Mansion House, where a déjeuner was pre-
pared. Garibaldi was much puzzled and
amused by the mysteries of the loving cup.
At four o'clock he took his departure. The
crowds were as dense as on the occasion of
the Princess Alexandra of Denmark entering
London. Bands were stationed in various
places along the route, and every demonstra-
tion which popular enthusiasm could offer was
displayed.
The procession passed along the City Road,
where a body of City Militia and the Honour-
able Artillery Company were drawn up.
The Euston and Marylebone Roads, Oxford
Street to the Marble Arch, were crowded with
delighted multitudes. From that point across
Hyde Park to Apsley House, the road was
lined with the carriages of the nobility and
gentry, mostly filled with ladies, many of
whom wore the Garibaldian jacket, and were
decorated with the Italian tricolour; even the
rosettes on the horses' heads were very gene-
rally composed of ribbons of those hues.
After nearly two hours from the time of
leaving the Mansion House, the procession
arrived at Mr. Seely's house. The whole lines
on the route to and from the Guildhall were
overhung by flags, and at intervals by tri-
umphal arches. The demonstration rivalled
that of his entry into London the first day of
his visit.
Early on Thursday evening the General, his
sons, and suite visited the Houses of Parlia-
ment, and for a short time listened to the
debates. Before his arrival, and while his sons
and suite occupied places in the gallery appro-
priated to ambassadors and distinguished
strangers, Mr. Gladstone explained to the
House the circumstances of Garibaldi's sudden
departure. Mr. Gladstone declared that he,
at the request of several of Garibaldi's friends,
English and Italian, suggested to the General
the impossibility of his visiting such a long
list of provincial towns within the space of
time prescribed, and begged him for the sake
of his health to curtail the list. The General
replied that he could not draw a satisfactory
line of distinction between towns to be visited,
and such as should be excluded from his list,
248
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and resolved to return to Caprera. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer assured the House that
no political motive existed in dissuading the
General from the vast undertaking before him,
but a consideration for his health alone led to
the step taken.
In the evening after leaving the Houses of
Parliament, the General dined with the Fish-
mongers' Company, and received the freedom
of the guild in a gold box value one hundred
guineas.
In the early part of the day the General
had a brilliant reception at the Reform Club.
A breakfast was given to him by the mem-
bers of the club at half-past eleven o'clock.
Nowhere could he have been received more
heartily.
Earlier still on Thursday, the General paid
a sad, but dignified tribute of respect to the
memory of a deceased fellow-countryman, Ugo
Foscolo, who was buried at Chiswick Ceme-
tery. The General, accompanied by Signor
Panizzi, of the British Museum, Signor Saffi,
Sernenza, Zanzi, Serena, Vivante, and his
secretary Guerzoni, and Doctor Basile, left
Mr. Seely's house at seven o'clock, and arrived
soon after at the cemetery. He entered it
with all his followers, and with profound
respect and sympathy approached the tomb,
which was originally erected by Mr. Hudson
Gurney, and was restored in the year 1861.
The scene was very touching, the General
having always had the greatest admiration for
the great patriot Ugo Foscolo. The news of
the General's arrival soon became known in
the neighbourhood. People surrounded him
by hundreds, shaking hands with him, and, in
fact, repeating those ovations so well-known
to everybody. A gentleman connected with
the family of Mr. Hudson Gurney, after pay-❘
ing his respects to the General and conversing
with him, made an appropriate speech to the
multitude, to the effect that the General came
to pay a tribute to the tomb of "Ugo Foscolo,"
the great Italian poet and patriot, whose suc-
cessor and representative was at present the
General Garibaldi.
The General, with his usual benignity,
thanked everybody, and, turning to his Italian
friends and admirers, told them that his wish
was to put on the tomb a laurel crown in
bronze, with the following inscription :
Ai generosi,
"Giusto di gloria dispensiera, è morte."
Deposta oggi 21 Aprile, 1864, dal Generale Giuseppe
Garibaldi.
Friday, April 22nd, the last of Garibaldi's
stay in London, was like all that preceded it
during his visit, one of activity for him.
-
In the morning he breakfasted at the house
of the American consul, 2, Kensington Gate,
where a numerous party of Americans, resident
in London, were present. The meeting was
most cordial. The speech of the General was
closed by some remarkable sentences. He ex-
pressed himself warmly enlisted in favour of
the United States in the struggle with the
Slave Power, and said he would go there at
once and tender his services if they were
needed, but he was glad to know they were
not. Having expressed his strong condemna-
tion of negro slavery, he said he was proud to
acknowledge himself a citizen of the United
States, which he could claim as his adopted
country, as they were the great bulwark of
human liberty, England and America united
in sentiment would keep the peace of the
world.
He then proceeded to Stafford House to
take leave of its generous master. There the
Prince of Wales visited him, and had a long
private interview.
At a quarter to three o'clock the General
took his departure, the leading Italians of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
249
London arranging themselves at both sides of
the entrance. He was accompanied by the
Duke and Duchess of Sutherland and Mr. Seely.
The carriages proceeded directly to Cliefden
Park, Marden Head, Berks, one of the seats
of the Duchess Dowager of Sutherland. The
party arrived safely.
Before his departure he wrote the following
farewell to the people of England:
"I offer my heartfelt gratitude and thanks
to the English nation and their Government
for the reception I have met with in this free
land.
"I came here with the primitive object of
thanking them for their sympathy for me and
for my country; and this my first object is
accomplished.
“I have desired to be altogether at the dis-
posal of my English friends, and to go to every
place where I might be wished to go, but I
find that I cannot now fulfil all these engage-
ments of my heart.
"If I have caused some trouble and disap-
pointment to many friends, I ask their pardon;
but I cannot draw the line between where I
could and where I could not go, and, there-
fore, for the present, these are my thanks and
my farewell.
"Still I hope, perhaps at no distant time,
to return to see my friends in the domestic
life of England, and to redeem some of my
engagements with the generous people of this
country, which, with deep regret, I feel that I
cannot now fulfil.
(Signed) "G. GARIBALDI.
26, Princes Gate, London, April 22.”
"L
On Saturday, accompanied by the Duke
and Duchess and Duchess Dowager of Suther-
land, he drove to Windsor, to inspect the
model farm.
On Monday the 25th, he visited Eton Col-
lege; proceeded thence to Slough, and took
the train for Devonshire. Along the whole line
the greatest excitement prevailed. At Didcot,
Chippenham, Bath, and Bristol, the popula-
tions turned out with cheers, music, flowers,
and public addresses.
The General turned off at Durston through
Yeovil to visit the fleet in Portland Roads.
He was received on board the flag-ship Edgar
by Admiral Dacres, and afterwards witnessed
gun practice on board the Warrior. At eight
P.M. he proceeded by special train for Ply-
mouth to visit Colonel Peard.
At one o'clock A.M. on Tuesday he arrived
at Plymouth. At Yeovil, Exeter, Taunton,
Newton, &c., there was an extraordinary suc-
cession of scenes. At Bristol, the multitude
expressed a purpose to carry him off, and not
allow him to be taken from England, as they
conceived, against his will. At Plymouth,
late as was the hour at which he arrived, one
hundred thousand persons were computed to
be in the streets. He proceeded thence to
Penquite, to be for a short time the guest of
his old comrade in arms, Garibaldi's English-
man, Colonel Peard. He passed Tuesday
night at his house, and on Wednesday, April
27th, embarked at Fowey. The vessel was,
however, driven back to St. Mawe's Bay,
where he was detained until Thursday by the
unfavourable state of the weather.
Before his embarkation he addressed a brief
letter to the public press of England, thanking
it for its liberality and industry in interpreting
his wishes to the people.
His final leave-taking was by a letter ad-
dressed to the whole nation, one which shows
the soldier to be a statesman. It is the most
remarkable political manifesto of modern
times, and one of the most remarkable in
history.
K K
250
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE!
“Illustrious cities, highly-reputed corpora-
tions, representative bodies from every class of
citizens, have honoured me with countless ad-
dresses, to which my heart would have desired,
but time is wanting, to answer worthily. I
hope, however, to be allowed to partly fulfil
my debt by this special farewell of affection
and gratitude to all.
"On this occasion I cannot, however, speak
of myself alone, because I must not interpret
the many eloquent and generous words that
have been addressed to me, as a mere personal
honour, which is of little importance beside the
greatness of the cause for which in these days
the hearts of the English people and mine
have throbbed in unison, but as a fresh proof
of that sympathising solicitude that the richest,
the most prosperous, and the freest nation of
the world nourishes towards another nation,
which, twice recognised as the mother of civi-
lisation, has, through martyrdom, through
persevering struggles carried on with daring
and with wisdom, become worthy of reassum-
ing her place in the world, and proclaiming,
'I am risen.' For this reason I believe I can
reveal the thought of Italy to England, as I
believe I may hold up England as an example
and a hope to Italy. The two nations are
already sisters; they may speak together in
sincerity and confidence. In England the
institutions of the country, the respect for the
laws, all that prodigious contexture of autono-
mous and yet organised forces, of order true
and lawful, not vulgar or violent, combined
with absolute individual freedom, freedom of
conscience, freedom of domicile, freedom of
the press, of speech, and of association; the
right of national defence, not the privilege of
a special body, but recognised to all; an army
bright in glory, yet untainted with that disease
of modern times, known under the sinister
name of militarism-the rifle volunteers-
England's pride and my dream; the strength,
the decorum, the activity, the perseverance,
the perseverance above all by which when once
a position or an institution is conquered retreat
is never known ;-all these things, which form
the admiration of civilised peoples from afar,
and excite an intense desire to emulate, I would
almost say to envy, on a nearer view, may and
should be proposed as an example to Italy.
"For myself, it was impossible to live a few
days in this land without doing homage to
these many truths, and, still more, without
freely recording them to my fellow-countrymen,
not so much in testimony of the deep impres-
sion England has left on my own mind, as for
a lesson and incitement to them.
"To the English people I have nothing to
recall which they do not know. They know
what Italy desires. Italy has made up her
mind to exist; she has the right to do so;
and, if any should doubt, suffice, I would add,
that she already exists, in fact, and that
nothing will prevent her completing herself.
Italy desires but to break the yokes of the two
adverse powers that oppress her, and let the
world hear it-she can never rest until she
shall have accomplished this aim, which is for
her a question of life or death.
"The English people, who would rather dis-
appear under their ocean than allow the sacred
soil of their country to be violated by the
foreigner, will comprehend how legitimate are
the aspirations and how immovable the resolves
of my country.
"England knows that by disinterestedly
co-operating in favour of the destinies of Italy
in 1860, she contributed to further establish
order and peace in Europe-to that peace and
that order which alone are durable and bene-
ficent, because founded on justice and on pro-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
251
gress. England will, I am convinced, become
more and more confirmed in this view-that if
it is for Italy to show herself strong, and really
to be strong and independent of servile alli-
ances, in order to induce confidence from her
true friends-amongst whom the first place is
due to England-England herself will see in
how much the alliance of a young, civilised,
and free nation, like Italy, is preferable to
the heterogeneous and insecure connubium
with despotic powers.
"Yet I cannot hope-I say it with grief-
that Italy will be able to accomplish her
destiny without again encountering the direful
proof of arms. England's voice is listened to
and respected. She is, in a great degree,
arbitress of the fate of Europe, but let her be
fully persuaded that she can never solve the
Italian question, or that of the other nation-
alities, by any contrivance of compensations
and diplomatic exchanges.
"But in the face of the great principle of
the solidarity of peoples, proclaimed and sanc-
tioned by universal conscience, I cannot speak
of Italy alone, still less at a time when the
omen and the promise of this true holy alli-
ance have been irrevocably confirmed when
lately I pressed the hands of proscribed men
from every part of Europe.
"On quitting this hospitable shore I can no
longer conceal the secret wish of my heart-
in recommending the cause of oppressed peo-
ples to the most generous and sagacious of
nations.
"Since their arising is certain and their
triumph fated, England will know how to
spread over them the powerful shield of her
name, and to sustain them, if need be, with
her strong arm.
"England knows that she will not be alone
in this great mission. Across the Straits there
lives another gigantic people that has been
ofttimes impelled by the acts of despotism to
be the rival and the enemy of this country,
but which freedom will be the means of turn-
ing into a peaceful competitor and friend.
"Freedom! This is the sun that would
fructify the sincere and formidable alliance
of the two peoples-of civilisation against
savagery; and by which, without unsheathing
the sword, the great work of the world's peace
be installed.
<<
"G. GARIBALDI.
Penquite, Par, Cornwall, April 26."
Garibaldi is said to have dictated this letter
to his secretary with deep emotion and earnest-
ness.
The weather cleared, the yacht sailed for
Caprera, where the hero landed, and resumed
the quiet labours of the farm and the vine-
yard; but his thoughts are still of the des-
tinies of nations; of those who are encircled.
by the chains of the oppressor; of those who
aspire and resolve to be free; and while his
heart turns back in grateful and loving me-
mories to England, it looks forward with
glowing ardour and patient hope, and who can
tell with what unrevealed purposes, to Venice
and to Rome.
1
252
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XXXVI,
VICTOR EMMANUEL II. OF SARDINIA, KING OF ITALY.
-SWEARS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF CHARLES ALBERT.
-SUPPRESSES REVOLTS IN GENOA.-PROGRESS OF THE NATION.
HIS YOUTH.—HEROISM.-ASCENDS THE THRONE.
G
"Foremost and greatest in the ranks of kings,
Thy march hath trod a host of fictions down:
Honour upbears thee on her proud-spread wings,
And on thy brow sits wisdom as a crown.
Oh where is chivalry, if not in thee?
Thou art as one who, in an earlier day,
Through lone, dark midnights, upon reverent knee,
Did watch his arms beside some altar grey,
Thence to ride forth and champion the world!
First in the noble struggle of the free,
No lagging banner hath thy hand unfurled:
Here, planted fast, and rooted as a tree
In the strong heart of nations, let it stand,
Victorious ensign of a glorious land!"-E. L. HERVEY.
VICTOR EMMANUEL II. of Sardinia, King of
Italy, is the eldest son of Charles Albert,
King of Sardinia, and was born at Turin in
the year 1820, March 14th,
The youth of Victor Emmanuel does not
appear to have been particularly distinguished.
He did not display any ardent love for litera-
ture or great aptitude for acquiring learning.
His intellectual powers were respectable, but
evinced nothing original or brilliant. Athletic
exercises and games, manly sports, and mili-
tary occupation, had the chief charms for him.
He was "a mighty hunter," a good shot, a
daring rider, and a heroic soldier. It is not
necessary nor desirable in a work like this to
enter into his domestic character, or private
personal qualifications, as these had little
connection with his public work as one of
the liberators of Italy. The private life, pecu-
liar habits, and domestic events of eminent
persons, always draw out the interest of the
popular reader, but it is only when these are
interwoven with the public life of the man.
In the case of Garibaldi, all his habits of life
enter into his public character; his loves and
marriage and family adventures are portions
of his mysteriously eventful public life. So it
is in the case of Napoleon III. But in the
life of Victor Emmanuel and Count Cavour,
the private and the public history are not
blended; they are as distinct as two separate
careers. We have to do with their memoirs
as Liberators of Italy, and shall therefore pass
by lightly their interests and proceedings,
private and domestic, and regard them mainly
as they passed over the great stage of political
performance.
The father of Victor Emmanuel had two sons;
the subject of this memoir was Duke of Savoy,
his brother Duke of Genoa. Neither was dis-
tinguished in the affairs of Italy, previous to
the fatal wars of Charles Albert against the
Austrians. Both the young princes showed
themselves worthy of the royal house from which
they sprung, fighting with determined valour
in the field, and pursuing a course of unwearied
soldiership in camp. Their courage in battle
made them favourites with the troops, and

561-1
VICTOR EMANUEL I.
King of Italy
LONDON, JAMES S VIRTUE
We
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
253
•
their manly bearing at all times gave them
popularity with every class.
The defeat of Charles Albert at the battle of
Novara led to his abdication in favour of his
son. The young prince had behaved nobly in
that conflict, and as nobly sustained defeat;
his accession to the throne was therefore at-
tended by the sympathy and approval of all
his father's subjects, and was generally accept-
able in Europe.
Immediately after Charles Albert incurred
the defeat, March 23, 1849, he called a council,
and embracing the Duke of Savoy in the midst
of his officers, he presented him to them as
King Victor Emmanuel II. He then dismissed
the council, and remained for a short time in
private conversation with the two princes, to
whom he offered such advice as the occasion.
demanded. Without returning to Turin, or
taking leave of any other member of his
family, he hastened away with a single atten-
dant, embarked for Oporto, and remained in that
town in entire seclusion, given up to austerities
and devotions, until at the end of three months
he died of a broken heart.
Thus the reign of the young monarch com-
menced in gloom. His father was a fugitive,
and in a short time became a victim to his
misfortunes, even in death. The armies of
Piedmont had been defeated and demoralised;
the fine dreams of Piedmontese ambition were
swept away by the realities of battle and con-
quest. The little kingdom was involved in
debt and discredit, and but for English and
French diplomacy would probably have become
a province of Austria.
Victor Emmanuel, immediately on ascending
the throne, swore to the constitution which
his father had conceded to his people. Six
days after the conflict at Novara, the senators.
and deputies assembled at Turin, and Victor
Emmanuel took the oath.
There was a strong party among the clergy
and the nobles, who were desirous that the young
king should refuse the obligation, declare the
constitution no longer binding, and by favouring
a reactionary feeling, secure his throne from
aggression by Austria, or any combination of
Italian sovereigns. True to his own honour,
the interests of his people, and the cause of
civil and religious liberty, he rejected all such
advice, and declared that he would reign only
as a constitutional sovereign.
This resolution was the first step in that
career of success which has been so wisely
and bravely followed. He won by his frank-
ness the confidence of many of the Mazzinians,
and his people generally rallied round him.
It is necessary to place before the reader an
outline of the constitution of the Piedmontese
kingdom, in order that the conduct of both
monarchs may be fairly judged, and that the
system of Piedmontese liberty, afterwards ex-
tended throughout Italy, may be probably
appreciated.
It was in February, 1848, that Charles
Albert, discussing "the signs of the times,"
addressed himself thus to his people :—
"Now, therefore, that the times are ripe for
greater things, and in the midst of the changes
which have occurred in Italy, we hesitate no
longer to give our people the most solemn
proof that we are able to give of the faith
which we venture to repose in their devotion
and discretion.
66
Prepared in tranquillity, the political insti-
tutions, which will form the completion of the
reforms which we have already effected, are
being matured in our council, and will consoli-
date the benefit in a manner conformable with
the state of the country."
Then followed the Articles.of the Constitu-
tion, which proclaimed the Catholic religion
that of the state, with toleration to the other
""
254
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
forms of public worship existing; the inviola-
bility of the person of the sovereign; the
responsibility of ministers; the deposit in the
king's hands of the executive power, the com-
mand of the naval and military forces, the
sanction and promulgation of the laws, the
administration, by deputy, of justice, and the
power of granting mercy and commuting
punishment; the exercise of the legislative
power, in conjunction with two chambers-the
members of one to be nominated by the king,
and the other to be elective. It was further
decreed that no tax should be levied without
the consent of the chambers, that the press
should be free, the liberty of individuals
guaranteed, and the judges be irremovable;
finally, the king reserved to himself the power
of levying and disbanding the militia.
The treaty of peace with Austria made the
line of the Sesia the boundary between the
territories of the emperor and the king. As
soon as the convention was ratified, the king
began to disband his army, and introduce
economy in all branches of the state finances.
An event of a painful kind impeded
the execution of his intentions in these
respects. A formidable revolt broke out in
Genoa. The people were not satisfied with
the constitution, nor could they believe that
Italy would refuse co-operation with Piedmont
in driving the Austrians from Italian soil.
The experience of 1848 and 1849, bitterly and
dearly bought as it was, had not taught the
Genoese that the time was not come for a
united Italian republic.
The king was compelled to suppress the
Genoese revolution by force. An army, con-
sisting of 36,000 men, under General La
Marmora, was employed for the accomplish-
ment of this purpose, with success. The king
was merciful to the vanquished. Partly by
superior force, partly by firm administration,
and in a great degree by clemency, the spirit
of revolt was conquered in Genoa, and the
city served the sovereign obediently, and even
loyally.
One of the wisest measures of the king was
the appointment of the Marquis Massimo
D'Azeglio as his prime minister. That noble-
man was renowned for his moderation, and
was regarded by his country, and abroad, as
a discreet, consistent, and honest statesman.
He became not only the minister of Victor
Emmanuel, but his private counsellor and
personal friend. D'Azeglio set to work with
resolution and industry, introducing adminis-
trative reform into the various branches of the
government where it was required, and those
were many. The Piedmontese constitution-
alists now held the balance between the
visionaries of the Left, and the less noisy, but
more insidious attacks of the Codini, while
they applied themselves to stanch their coun-
try's wounds, husband her resources, and
amidst the surrounding triumph of absolutism,
prepare for the day when they might point to
Piedmont to refute the assertion that Italians
were not fit for representative institutions.
Apart from this gallant little state, free at
home, though conquered in the field, the
records of Italy, subsequent to the battle of
Novara, are a dreary catalogue of evils. Like
unto the roll of Ezekiel, lamentations, and
mourning, and woe, are stamped on every
page,* until the war of 1859 drove out the
Austrian, and the native tyrants who were
the satraps of the Austrian, from all but Rome
and Venice.
G
The progress of free Sardinia in every re-
spect was remarkable. Commerce revived,
agriculture was fostered, and modern British
implements and principles of cultivation were
* "Vicissitudes of Italy," by A. L. V. Gretton.
: ཞེ
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
255
introduced. This was especially the case under
the administration of Count Cavour, and by
that statesman's example and influence when
not serving in the ministry as its chief. The
taxes were necessarily heavy, for the Austrians
insisted upon Piedmont paying the expenses
of the late war, 75 millions of francs, and
occupied Alessandria and other important
military positions until they were liquidated.
But the public burdens were adjusted with
skill and justice, although Sardinia was not
remarkable for her attainments in political
It was im-
economy or financial science.
portant that both the navy and army should
be reorganised, and this was gradually and
wisely effected. The advantage of her naval
reform and reconstruction was seen when the
war of 1859 broke out, and the fleet of Victor
Emmanuel rendered such important service in
the Bay of Naples and the Straits of Sicily.
The importance of the military reforms was sig-
nally shown when in 1855 Victor Emmanuel
joined the allies in the war against Russia, and
his splendid little army fought in the Crimea.
The vices of the military system when Victor
Emmanuel ascended the throne were nume-
rous, and to them must be attributed mainly
the signal defeat at Novara. The selection
and education of the officers were the promi-
nent defects. The aristocracy and the wealthy
classes regarded the army as a pleasant and
rather idle profession; one in which military
rank and decorations might be easily won or
bought, and in which glittering uniforms
might set off the persons of the wearers.
Hence the number of officers was out of pro-
portion to the requirements of the troops and
the financial resources of the state.
By the
time the Crimean expedition, was resolved
upon, the improvements were such as to give
the army very great efficiency. The author of
this work, in his "History of the War against
*
Russia," gave the following account of the
state of the Piedmontese military resources
and organisation* as then existing.
The peace standard of the army was 41,647
soldiers, classed in this way :-
10 brigades of Infantry of the Line.
10 battalions of Rifles
10 regiments of Cavalry
3 regiments of Artillery
1 battalion of Sappers and Miners
1 Waggon-train Corps
1 battalion of Chasseurs Francs
•
·
To which must be added Gens-d'armes
Making in all
Men.
26,470
3,637
5,221
4,162
1,049
464
644
41,647
3,904
45,551
In time of peace the Gens-d'armes, or Carabi-
neers, as they are called here, are employed as
police, but in war they form a royal body-
guard, and in that capacity a portion served
with Charles Albert in the last war. The war
establishment of the Sardinian army is 85,000
men, but this may easily be increased to 100,000
by an extraordinary levy.
Under the influence of the reforms which
of late years have been carried out by the
enlightened supervision of the premier and the
war minister, professional education is provided
for the officers. At Turin there is a military
college, where boys are admitted from fourteen
to sixteen years of age upon passing an exami-
nation in reading, writing, arithmetic, Italian,
and the principles of religion. The standard
of admission is miserably beneath what it
ought to be, nor is the curriculum such as to
make up for that defect. The term of study
is five years. The examinations are in modern
languages, but only French and German are
studied, except in exceptional cases; in his-
tory, which is very imperfectly pursued; and
in mathematics and fortification, which are
* Nolan's "History of the War against Russia," vol. ii. p.
77. J. S. Virtue, London.
256
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
studied within narrow limits. If, however, a
student desires to enter the staff corps, engi- | ranks.
neers, or artillery, he must remain two years
more, during which he has to read hard, and
make very respectable progress in chemistry
and gunnery. The former is studied more ex-
tensively than in English military colleges,
but in every other respect the English and
French standards of acquisition, especially the
latter, are superior. There is a college at
Ivrea (established 1850), which tends to make
up for the deficiencies of the military colleges,
for there subalterns must pass a year, and
stand important examinations before they can
obtain ordinary promotion. There is a college
for cavalry at Pinerolo (established 1849),
where every pupil who has studied at Turin
must remain for two years before being gazetted
(as we say) to a cavalry regiment. This in-
stitution is in principle similar to the other
Italian and Austrian schools for cavalry in-
struction, and they are well fitted to turn out
good cavalry officers. The late Captain Nolan,
whose death at the battle of Balaklava was so
much regretted by the British army-to the
cavalry service of which he was so useful—
received the elements of his knowledge of
cavalry tactics in an Italian school.
The poor are not neglected in the means
adopted for military education in Sardinia.
At Raccrigi there is a school for the education.
of soldiers' sons; boys enter at twelve, and
remain four years, when, if they pass their
examination, they join the line with the rank
of sergeant or corporal, according to the pro-
gress they have made at school. This supplies
the army with intelligent non-commissioned
officers, who have all the buoyancy of youth-
unlike the British system, which necessarily
takes the non-commissioned officers for the
most part from among the old soldiers. The
Sardinian plan has the disadvantage of im-
peding the promotion of soldiers from the
This system is borrowed from the
Russians. At Asti there is a school of mili-
tary music, which may account for the supe-
riority of the bands of the Sardinian regiments.
Besides all these means of instruction, there
are regimental, and even brigade schools, where
the elements of geography, topography, geo-
metry, and algebra are taught; and where such
of the privates as cannot read or write are
instructed in these educational preliminaries.
Probably more progress is made in these schools
than in the colleges. It is singular that, with
so elaborate a system of military colleges, there
is no school of military surgery; * but the go-
vernment affords many facilities for improve-
ment during the practice of the profession.
Promotion goes by seniority, and this is as
rigid as in the service of the Hon. East
India Company; but there is a reserve of a
certain proportion, amounting practically to
nearly one-third, for merit. A tenth of the
sub-lieutenancies are reserved for non-com-
missioned officers. It is on the whole a more
liberal system of promotion than that of the
army of England, but not so liberal as that of
France. On service, when an officer falls, his
next in regimental service takes his place, and
all regimental promotion is made in the regi-
ment-this promotes a fine esprit de corps.
The army is under the immediate command
of the minister of war, who is always a mili-
tary man; he is assisted by a board of superior
officers, forming what is called "the permanent
consultative council of war." To this all im-
portant business is referred; this board per-
forms all the duties of what we call the quar-
termaster-general's and adjutant-general's
departments.. The late Duke of Genoa,† and
* This want has been since supplied.
+ Brother to the king.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
257
the minister of war (Marmora), used great
exertions to bring the artillery service up to
the standards of England and France. Per-
haps those and the Prussian are alone superior
to that of Sardinia. The gun-carriages are,
for lightness and solidity, better than any other
in the world, and they have this peculiarity,
that the same carriage will suit a gun of six
pound or sixteen pound metal, or a howitzer
of thirty-two pound. The whole matériel
of the artillery is unsurpassed, perhaps un-
equalled, by that of any other army. The de-
fect is slowness of movement in everything;
there is too much of the German element in
the system? The horses are heavy German,
strong in draught, and hardy, but slow. The
rapidity of the British or French artillery
movements could not be performed by the
Sardinian. There are twenty field batteries
in that arm of the service, each containing
eight guns, of which two are served as flying
artillery, and these in the field are most useful.
The light cavalry are armed with carbine.
and sword like our own, but they also carry
pistols similar to our old "horse pistols," now
disused. The heavy cavalry are also armed
with carbine, pistols, and sword, but carry
lances, contrary to our practice of arming with
that weapon only the light cavalry. The light
horse carry their carbines slung across the
shoulder; the heavy, whose carbine is of shorter
range, sling it across the saddle in front of the
rider. The cavalry horses are nearly all Ger-
man, and nearly all too heavy; the Island of
Sardinia furnishes a few, they are lighter and
better adapted to light cavalry. The Sardinian
rifles are very superior; it was upon their
model the French Chasseurs de Vincennes were
formed. The country is indebted to General
la Marmora (not the war minister) for the
organisation of these troops. "No light troops
can excel the Bersaglieri for quickness, pre-
-
cision, and endurance, but they have not had
such advantages in arms as the Chasseurs de
Vincennes, though new rifles are now being
made for them.
made for them. The ten battalions are com-
posed of four companies each." The infantry
is divided into brigades of two regiments each;
each regiment into four battalions; and each
battalion into four companies. They are short,
thickset men, resembling the Dutch in form,
but not in countenance, and are far more
active, hardy, and enduring. They are patient,
laborious, and brave, and remarkable for
strength. The transport and commissariat is
imperfect, but both were improved when the
army took the field in the Crimea.*
It was essential to Piedmont that her army,
if not great numerically, should be thoroughly
disciplined, national, well officered, and com-
posed of intelligent and healthy troops, for the
Austrians regarded Victor Emmanuel and his
kingdom with the keenest jealousy, and most
malicious hatred. The Austrian government
press ceased not to vituperate the monarch
and his subjects, and to declare the little
kingdom to be a nucleus of revolution, and a
danger to Austria and to all the Italian States.
It was in fact a danger to the despots of all
of them; but it was the hope of the peoples
who still burned to throw off the galling yoke
under which their proud spirits chafed.
All eyes throughout the peninsula were
turned in hope to Victor Emmanuel and his
free people. The author of these memoirs
in another work thus described the state of
Italy during the first five years of Victor Em-
manuel's reign :—
While the admiration of Europe was di-
rected to these events, and to the chief actors
in them, there was also much gratulation at
the indication given by these circumstances
of the working of principles and feelings in
* Further improvement has been since introduced.
L L

258
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the heart of Italian society, which were likely
to produce still greater things for rejoicing
and hope. Although Sardinia was in advance
of Italy generally, yet her voice was that of
the great majority of the Italian people. Lom-
bardy burned to be free. At Milan, the city
of the Iron Crown, there were hearts true and
stern as that emblem, and who hailed what
was done at Turin as the mariner beholds
the star which guides his bark when the storm
and the cloud are passing away. Florence
was not a city of willing slaves; for the petty
despot of Tuscany sat upon a throne built
of Austrian bullets, and encircled by Austrian
bayonets. The people of the Tuscan state
neither sympathised with the native tyrant,
nor the foreign masters to whom that tyrant
was himself a slave. Naples, with her lazza-
roni, her Swiss guards (volunteers from the
cantons of the Sonderbund), the truest tools
of royal oppression, was not a city of unaspir-
ing bondsmen; her people did not forget the
struggle of "'48," nor the treachery which re-
bound their yet heaving breasts, filled with the
fresh inspirations of liberty. All above the
police agents and street vagabonds sighed to
be free. Their mournful hope was, that some
day the bright sun of their beloved Italy would
"rise and give them light to die," if liberty
was not to be their inheritance. From the
smouldering ruins of Brescia, where the bloody
captain of despotism, the Austrian O'Donnel,
paid the penalty of his oppression, the chain
was clanked by hands ready, at the first hour
of hope, to bear the brand or wield the sword.
And Venice, fair queen of the Adriatic,
though still sleeping in thy fetters, thy dream
was of liberty! Beautiful captive! for thee,
too, as for all Italy there was hope. There was
one prince beneath the azure skies of the
classic realm who scorned to be chained to a
pontiff's chair or a kaiser's throne. There was
"9
one free nation within the confines of long-lost
but glorious Italy which had the opportunity,
without which even the brave must stand in
silence and in gloom. And Rome, although
thou art not eternal, as thy parasites proclaim
thee, thy people are worthy of a better destiny.
While from thy half-buried temples, and from
beneath the shadows of those broken columns.
which tell of a glory which cannot be revived,
thou hearest the edicts of oppression, and
lookest upon the blood of persecution, thy love
of freedom is not quenched; for "one bleeding
moment thy sons were free, and used well
their liberty, and again long for the hour
when slaves may snap their manacles. Thy
Romans are Romans still-the lincaments of
their proud race linger on their manly counte-
nance; sons of fathers who, as heroes, con-
quered the world, and as martyrs to a purer
cause conquered death and torment, they only
need the dawn of the "good time coming,
the sound of the glad trumpet which shall
soon speak to the nations that their time to be
men has once more returned, and they will
rather see the monuments of thy fame broken
by bombardment, and piled up in the ram-
parts of popular defence, than linger among
those monuments as shadows of what Romans
Even the Roman, with his strength of
will and still indomitable courage, may look to
Piedmont as the schoolmaster of Italian liberty,
as in the dark centuries of the middle ages
Piedmont was a light to the nations. Great
was the mission of the little kingdom of Sar-
dinia. Countrymen of Cromwell and of Milton,
who sympathised with and protected the fathers
of those who now inhabit a portion of that
realm, welcome this new ally, and stand by
her, although Austria fulminates and intrigues,
until Piedmont is the centre of a wider do-
minion and the glory of a regenerated Italy.*
were.
* Nolan's "History of the War against Russia," vol. ii. p. 79.
""
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
259
The Marquis Massimo D'Azeglio laid the
foundations of much of the good effected in
Piedmont in every way, although Marmora
and the Duke of Genoa might justly claim the
honour of the military organisation and re-
forms which were of such vital importance.
Cavour, in these respects, built chiefly on other
men's foundations; but he built as a skilful
architect and a persistent workman.
The name of D'Azeglio was a watchword of
hope and expectation to all the intellect of Italy.
To the country he governed so discreetly the
refugees from all the enthralled states of Italy
fled, and were there safe and free. For the
practical illustration of the great principle of
representative government, all Italians looked
to Piedmont next to Great Britain. If liberty
without anarchy could be enjoyed in Piedmont,
why not everywhere in Italy? was the question
which Italians put to their fellow-countrymen,
their oppressors, and those in Europe who
sympathised with them everywhere. D'Azeglio
had gained a great experience of his country-
men throughout all Italy. His father had been
Sardinian envoy to Rome, and he, when only
fifteen years of age, accompanied that states-
man. He entered the army, and studied the
principles and details of the military profes-
sion. As an artist he was very distinguished,
having given up the prospects opened to him
by his rank and influence in the military
career, to follow the bent of his inclination for
artistic pursuits. After a study of ten years.
at Rome, he acquired the reputation of being
the best landscape painter in Italy. He be-
came also famed for literature. Having left
Rome and taken up his residence at Milan, he
married the daughter of the Sardinian minister
there, Alessandro Manzoni. There he wrote
his historical romance "Ettore Fierramosca.'
This work, in a literary point of view, was of
much excellence; but the spirit of patriotism
""
which pervaded it drew attention to its author
from all Italians who aspired to be free. The
Austrian police made his residence in Milan
unsafe. The political atmosphere of Turin
was not then such as the generous and gifted
young Piedmontese noble could endure; he
therefore settled in the neighbourhood of
Florence, where a milder political administra-
tion then prevailed. He there resided ten
years, devoting himself to works of art; but at
the expiration of that period again resumed
the pen, which he knew so well how to wield,
and produced a romance called "Nicolò dé
Lapi." The national spirit which pervaded
the work gave it a popular reception all over
Italy. In 1846 he published a pamphlet
bearing the title "Casi di Romagna." The
subject at the time was sure to excite interest,
not only in Italy, but in France and England,
if treated with ability. It made a great sen-
sation, especially in Piedmont, where probably
To this
every man able to read perused it.
pamphlet the liberal tendencies of Pio Nono
were attributed, when the pontiff's mitre sur-
mounted his brow. The Tuscan government
had ceased to be tolerant, and D'Azeglio was
ordered to leave the Grand Ducal dominions.
He returned to his native Turin, where he
was cordially welcomed by the king; but the
minister of Charles Albert, the notorious
Solaro della Margheritta, insisted upon his
retirement from the capital. O Italy! how
thou hast persecuted, or rather thy rulers
have persecuted, the best and bravest of thy
children! How thou hast stricken the hands
that were outstretched to save thee! How
thou hast heaped oppression upon the hearts
that bled for thy redemption!
When Pius the Ninth proclaimed the cele-
brated amnesty, D'Azeglio proceeded to Rome.
He there wielded his pen in favour of what in
England we would call Whig principles. He

260
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
also wrote the only fierce, and by far the most
eloquent, effusion of his pen, the "Lutti di
Lombardio,” denouncing the atrocities of Aus-
tria at Milan. This work did much to hasten
the appeal to arms. Brave as he was tasteful,
Brave as he was tasteful,
refined, and talented, at the first call of his
country he girded on the sword, and rushed to
assist in her liberation, and at the memorable
defence of Vicenza, consecrated his patriotism
by his blood; he fell desperately wounded in
the conflict. After a long illness his life was
saved. He was elected a deputy to the Par-
liament of Piedmont, and soon nominated by
Victor Emmanuel to the high post of premier.
The king had read and studied his writings,
admired his character, loved him for his ami-
able and generous spirit, trusted his integrity,
and committed the administration of his
government to his wisdom.
Such were the circumstances which gave
D'Azeglio to the counsels of Victor Em-
manuel and the aid of Piedmont,
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE MARQUIS D'AZEGLIO.
OF THE MARQUIS D'AZEGLIO.—ECCLESIASTICAL REFORM.-THE KING AND IIS
PEOPLE EXCOMMUNICATED.-BISHOPS ARRAIGNED, IMPRISONED, AND BANISHED.-DEATH OF
SANTA ROSA.-CAVOUR ENTERS THE MINISTRY.
"Under the freest governments the many are ruled by the wisdom and boldness of the few."-Italian Pamphlet.
THE political difficulties of D'Azeglio were
almost appalling. It seemed as if, circum-
stantially, everything was against him. The
ultramontane party, led by priests and
monks, was powerful, and used its power
mischievously. The ultra-liberal party were
loyal at heart, but very few of its members
had experience in government, and it num-
bered amongst its votaries no great statesmen.
It had the merit of possessing great princi-
ples, and relying upon them; it had the mis-
fortune of seldom perceiving when a measure
was practicable, or when for a great principle,
an opportunity for its application might be
found. It required from the government what
was impossible, and expected it to ignore
great parties, that of the retrogrades and that
of the juste milieu, and listen only to its own
arguments and inspirations. No government
could do so, at all events in Sardinia, without
frightful civil war.
The impracticability of the "Left," or ex-
treme liberal section of the parliament, was
exemplified as soon as D'Azeglio assumed the
reins of power. It was necessary under the
constitution to which Victor Emmanuel had
sworn, to submit the treaty with Austria to
his parliament. The Left denounced it as
humiliating to Piedmont, and insisted upon
its rejection. The retrograde party played a
doubtful game, siding alternately with the
government and the Left, in such a manner
as to frustrate the policy of both, and to
commit them to mutual hostility. To such
an extent were these intrigues successful, that
they openly boasted that Victor Emmanuel to
preserve his throne must abolish the constitu-
tion. He did not "abolish the constitution,"
and he did preserve his throne. He dissolved
parliament and appealed to the good sense and
justice of his people, and not in vain. Imme-
diately upon the dissolution, the king put forth
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
261
醬
​a frank, manly, and spirited manifesto, in
which he declared that he was resolved to
maintain the liberties of the nation, adding,
"Shielded by the memory of my father, con-
fided to the honour of the House of Savoy,
protected by the sacredness of my oath, they can
run no risk. Who could fear for them ?
I am authorised in calling that assembly to a
strict account of their proceedings, and I ap-
peal with confidence to the judgment of Italy
and of Europe. I signed a treaty of peace
with the Emperor of Austria; it was necessary
for the public good, and was neither dishonour-
able nor ruinous. The honour of the country
and the sacredness of my word alike required
the fulfilment of its stipulations without du-
plicity or quibbling. But the Chamber, when
applied to for its ratification, by insisting upon
terms which it knew to be unattainable, de-
stroyed the reciprocal liberty of the three
estates, and thus violated the statute of the
realm. I have sworn to maintain justice and
liberty. I have promised to save the nation
from the tyranny of factions, whatever be the
name, the rank, or the aim of those composing
them. This vow, this promise, I have main-
tained in the dissolution of a parliament be-
come utterly impracticable, and in the imme-
diate convocation of a new one. But if the
nation and the electors deny me their support,
not upon me will fall the blame of future
calamities; they, and they only, will be held
responsible.'
""
The elections were favourable to the govern-
ment. The most violent leaders of the
Left" were thrown out, and the majority of
"that side of the house" were informed by
their constituents that the treaty must be ful-
filled, the honour of Piedmont and of the king
requiring that it should. When parliament
assembled, the opposition and noise of the Left
had vanished, and there was instead a general
quiet but mournful acquiescence with the terms
to which Charles Albert and Victor Emmanuel
were obliged to submit,
The most difficult of all the hard tasks
which the premier had allotted to him, was
that of reconciling the immunities and privi-
leges of the Church with the new constitu-
tion. The latter provided that "justice was
to be administered by the crown," but the
ecclesiastical courts claimed an independent
jurisdiction. The constitution provided for the
appointment of judges by the sovereign, irre-
movable except for crime; but the Church
declared that the king's judges had no power
to try a priest. As there had been a concordat
signed by Charles Albert in 1841 conceding all
that the Church claimed, the king's govern-
ment sought the consent of the Pope for the
modification of that agreement, so as to place
"the rights of the Church," as they were called,
and the prerogatives of the state, in harmony.
Count Lucardi was sent to Rome to bring
about such a state of things by negotiation.
Pius the Ninth received him arrogantly and
angrily, declaring with violence," that he re-
garded the proposals to modify the ecclesias-
tical privileges as so many stabs directed to
his back and to that of the Church.” He at
last consented to refer the ambassador to
Monsignor Cattarini for negotiation. This
haughty prelate acted as if there had been no
constitution in Piedmont and no revolutions in
Italy. He insisted upon "the Pope's exclusive
right of trying a bishop, whatever his offence,
and wherever it might have been committed,
wholly independent of civil magistrates, even
should the authority of the laws, or the security
of the state, be endangered thereby.
""
Lucardi sought for concessions in vain; he
returned to Turin the bearer of proud and
haughty messages from the Pontiff and the
Monsignor. Victor Emmanuel met this dis-
T
262
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
play of insolence by nominating him Minister
of Justice.
In February, 1850, he brought a bill before
parliament which produced a great sensation
in Italy. The following were its chief points:
-the clergy, for offences against the civil law,
to be rendered amenable to the ordinary tri-
bunals; religious corporations to lose the right
of receiving dotations or bequests; the extra-
ordinary number of Church festivals to be
abridged, as tending to foster idleness and
debauchery; and lastly, marriages to come
under civil regulation, as in France and
Belgium.
The bill was carried after a vigorous opposi-
tion from the high church party. The Pope
remonstrated, and denounced Piedmont as a
prey to all licentiousness. The bishops de-
clared the bill "heretical and pestilential
towards the salvation of souls."
The Nuncio was recalled from Turin. The
bishops directed their clergy to refuse "the
last rites of the Church" to all persons who
had in any way supported the bill, unless they
repented of their deadly sin. The Archbishop
of Turin, Monsignor Franzoni, enjoined his
clergy not to obey the new law. The bishop
was cited before the High Court of Justice,
declared contumacious, and sentenced to fine
and imprisonment.
The Archbishop of Sassari, in the Island of
Sardinia, absolved his diocese from all obliga-
tion to obey the act thus promulgated. He
He
also was cited, declared refractory, and sen-
tenced to fine and imprisonment.
The whole kingdom was thrown into a ter-
rible state of agitation. The nobility sided
with the clergy; many of the military, espe-
cially the Savoy regiments, were expected to
throw down their arms; they declared that
they would not make war against the Church.
The people took part with the government
and parliament. The widow of Charles Albert
and the wife of Victor Emmanuel were on the
Pope's side. All depended upon the honour
of the king. He passed through the fire un-
scathed. The king and his people were excom-
municated by the Pope. Seldom have a prince
and people passed through such an ordeal,
united on behalf of civil and religious liberty.
The extreme measures adopted by the clerical
party roused public indignation, and did more
to serve the king and the government than
any efforts of their friends.
Santa Rosa, the member of the cabinet
who supported this ecclesiastical reform, be-
came ill, and on his deathbed was refused
"the sacraments," unless he repented of his
part in passing "this law against the interests
of the Church." He declared himself a Ca-
tholic, that he had meditated no wrong against
the Church, and could not violate his con-
science. His family implored that the conso-
lation reserved for a dying Catholic might be
given to him, and they were refused. He died
imploring God to accept him, and refusing to
violate his conscience. These circumstances
produced wild excitement among the people.
The bishop was compelled to give the rites of
sepulture. He withdrew from Turin to avoid
public indignation. The deceased member of the
cabinet was buried with extraordinary honours;
multitudes from all parts of Italy attending
the funeral. The two chambers, the municipal
authorities, the students of the universities,
and the National Guard formed part of the
funeral procession, and from the balconies as
it passed flowers were thrown, and other em-
blems of respect.
G
The people and parliament did not allow
their indignation to escape in mere manifesta-
tions. The religious order to which the priest
who refused the sacraments belonged, the
Padri Lerviti, was suppressed. The Arch-
;
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
bishop was proceeded against a second time; a
sentence of two months' imprisonment was
inflicted, and he was banished the kingdom.
Nevertheless, the ministry, dreading the
power of the priests, sent another envoy to
Rome to negotiate. This weakness increased
the Pope's arrogance and obstinacy. He
refused to receive an ambassador from Victor
Emmanuel; but when admitted to an audi-
ence in his private capacity, was informed that
the repeal of the Lucardian law, and the
restoration to all his privileges of the refrac-
tory archbishop, were preliminary to any
negotiations whatever.
Santa Rosa's successor in the cabinet was
Count Cavour. He was selected by the cabi-
net, backed by public opinion, and recom-
mended to the king by the ministry. It is
alleged that his Majesty smiled and said,
"Do you not perceive that he will end by
supplanting you all?" There was more saga-
city in the remark than Victor Emmanuel
was supposed to possess, for if Camillo di
Cavour was a Jacob in no other respect, he
was undoubtedly a supplanter.
The appointment of Cavour to a place in
the ministry gave it some moral force, and a
great increase of intellectual strength. His
counsels were generally sagacious, and his
strong will bore down all competition for
power on the part of his colleagues, while he
offered cordial support and deference to the
chief of the cabinet. The accession of Cavour,
however, did not lessen Victor Emmanuel's
difficulties, although it increased his power to
encounter them. The opening of the Sardinian
parliamentary session in 1851 proved both
these statements. Cavour's official support
was very effective, and the difficulties which
the king encountered were all but overwhelm-
ing. The "party of action " necessarily urged
the government to bolder measures, and to
:
263
steps which the other Italian powers, and
especially the Pope, would consider aggressive.
The reactionary party was fierce in spirit,
compact in organisation, and very numerous :
priests, nobles, and country gentlemen in the
main constituted it, but some men of every
class, and a vast number of women of every
class, were attached to it.
H
One of the first events of 1851, which
brought the hostile parties into battle array,
was a request by the Vaudois, Protestant in-
habitants of the Alpine districts, for permis-
sion to build a church in Turin, where many of
their brethren resided. Their petition was
granted by the government. The high church
party filled the land with their reclamations
and protests. Toleration to heretics they pro-
claimed to be treason to the Church, and
destruction to the state.
D'Azeglio was alarmed, and to conciliate
the party withheld the application of the law
on civil marriages. This act on his part was
scarcely constitutional, and it would be diffi-
cult to prove that the hostility of the ultra-
montanes was lessened by the timidity dis-
played. Count Lucardi consistently retired
from the situation of minister of justice, but it
was obvious that the cabinet was desirous of
casting him into the sea of tumults, as Jonah
was thrown overboard in order to allay the
tempest. Farini, a Roman exile, celebrated
as an historical writer, succeeded him. He
was then a man after Cavour's heart, attached
to royalty, jealous for its prestige, an advocate
for constitutional forms of government, and
cautious in yielding to popular demands. As
Farini had aided Count Mamiani in upholding
the Pope as a constitutional sovereign, his
appointment was not so bitterly opposed by
the high church party, as that of almost any
other of the prominent men, recognised at,
Turin as competent to fill the office, probably
S
264
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
}
5
:
would have been. The influence of the govern-
ment and the king's authority were much
aided by the countenance given to expatriated
men of distinction, the natives of other Italian
states. There was no part of Italy from which
numbers of excellent men, some of them illus-
trious for their talents or their virtues, were
not chased by persecution; upon many sen-
tence of death had been pronounced. Thus
Piedmont became the home of Italian fugitives,
and an object of regard in all the territory of
the peninsula. Not only did the government
afford protection to the emigrants, but public
situations of emolument were thrown open to
them, and sums voted for the support of the
necessitous.
In the course of this session, Cavour ac-
cepted the ministry of finance, in addition to
that of justice, and became a very powerful
person in Piedmontese politics. The narrative
of his particular services and policy belongs to
the memoir to be given of him in future pages
of this work. It is here necessary, as depicting
the progress of Victor Emmanuel's reign, to
point out the effects of Cavour's policy. His
ministry of finance was a great success. Pied-
mont prospered, the monetary affairs were well
managed, and treaties of commerce brought
her into new and more intimate relations with
England and Belgium; she not only survived
her defeats, but gathered strength; and if she
did not retain the laurels of victory, she was
successful in prosecuting the pursuits and
gaining the prosperity of peace.
A good opinion prevailed throughout Europe,
among statesmen and constitutional princes,
as well as free peoples, in favour of Victor
Emmanuel, his ministers, and his kingdom.
The princes and governments of the other
Italian states, and the Emperor of Austria,
showed jealousy and dislike of his Majesty and
his measures. The liberty of the press allowed
in Sardinia was a subject of bitter complaint,
as the condition of all the Italian governments
and peoples, and of those of Austria, were the
subjects of critique.
At the close of the year, murmurs gave
place to menace. When Napoleon III. effected
the coup d'etat, the Emperor of Austria and
all the Italian sovereigns assumed that his
new imperial majesty would be of their mind,
and frown upon the constitutionalism of Sar-
dinia, and the consequences that attended it.
The kaiser and his satrap princes made haste
to threaten Victor Emmanuel; they could not
exercise sufficient self-control or policy to
await the development of events in France;
they at once informed Victor Emmanuel that
he must conform to their modes of govern-
ment, or expect their hostility. Tuscany and
Naples were the most prominent in joining
Austria in these demonstrations.
The king met these demands with dignity
and firmness, yet also with conciliation. He
declared that he would stand by the consti-
tution to which he had sworn, but would give
no offence to his neighbours, and allow none
to be given which he could by constitutional
means prevent. It was soon seen that the
French Emperor was as jealous of a free press
in his neighbourhood as the kaiser, "Bomba,"
or the petty princes and dukes, and Victor Em-
manuel seemed begirt with enemies. D'Azeglio
proposed measures for punishing press attacks
upon sovereigns with whom Sardinia was at
peace. He again temporised on the marriage
law. Cavour formed a more or less ostensible
alliance with Ratazzi, who held in hand a
small party, the views of which were liberal,
but nearer to those of the government than
the programme of the party of action. D'Azeglio
disapproved of this coalition, but allowed him-
self to be drawn along by Cavour to a certain
extent. Ultimately he considered the course
""
i
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
265
taken by Cavour deficient in caution, and
somewhat defiant. The former was person-
ally less conservative than his rival, for such
Cavour had then become; but fear of the
reactionaries, backed by the crowned heads of
continental Europe, caused him to hesitate
and compromise. Cavour believed that it was
necessary to make use of the less extreme of
the radical parties, gain in that way a hold
upon the peoples of Italy, and thereby deter
the monarchs of the peninsula and their abet-
tors from violence. The king had to decide
between these two statesmen. He believed
Cavour to be ambitious, and, politically, some-
what unscrupulous; he considered D'Azeglio
to be the more prudent politician, and withal
a man of a refined and delicate sense of honour
politically as well as personally. He decided in
his favour. This decision was reasonable and
just. Cavour was more ambitious for Piedmont
and its king than for himself; but the king
could not then descry the far-seeing policy of
that minister, while he was able to appreciate
the liberal and prudent measures by which
D'Azeglio served him so well in seasons of trial
and misfortune. Cavour and Farini retired
from the cabinet, but the Count contrived.
before his retirement to have Ratazzi made
President of the Chamber. Cavour was re-
placed by the Cavaliere Cibrario, who in the
estimation of his countrymen was not only
inferior in capacity to his predecessor, but
whatever his personal excellence, quite un-
equal to the post. Meanwhile D'Azeglio pur-
sued a course of liberality and of wisdom, but
for the occasion too timid. He considered that
the king and state would be ruined if Sardinia
became the focus of Italian agitation. A single
happy paragraph from one of his speeches will
illustrate the bent of his mind, and the policy
in which the king gave him his support.
"We have all of us to traverse a region
infested by wild beasts, and are obliged to pass
close by a cave in which a fierce lion sleeps.
If our guides, knowing our dangerous vicinity,
warned us not to speak and not to make a
noise lest he should be roused; and, never-
theless, one of the party persisted in exerting
his lungs to the uttermost, I think the most
natural impulse of the rest would be to put
their hands on his mouth and say,
• If you
wish to be devoured, we are not of the same
mind." Let us, however, presume that in
spite of all our precautions, the lion awakes
and rushes out upon us; then, of course, we
would defend ourselves to the last."
During the early portion of 1852, D'Azeglio
served Victor Emmanuel to the best of his
ability, and on the whole wisely; but feelings,
opinions, and events were in progress which
demanded a firmer hand at the helm, and the
patriotic statesman advised the monarch that
Cavour was the man for the time. Accord-
ingly the formation of a new ministry was
confided to the Count, who reconstituted that
to which he had himself belonged under
D'Azeglio, with such changes simply as his
own position as chief required. The king,
with that brusque frankness which is charac-
teristic of him, promised the new premier
his support, which was cordially given. It
was then November, and nothing could be
effected that year in parliament, either to
dominate or conciliate parties.
In 1853 the premier had opportunity of
proving his great qualifications for a post
which became, every year that he held it,
more responsible and important.
With the assistance of his chief functionary
of state, the king promoted further improve-
ments in all branches of state affairs. The
material interests of the country were care-
fully studied and wisely promoted, and the
popularity of the sovereign probably exceeded
M M
266
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
I
that of any other in Europe, Queen Victoria
of England excepted.
In 1853 a rupture with Austria tested the
firmness and courage of Victor Emmanuel.
An insurrection broke out in Milan, which
was subdued. The viceroy, iron-handed Ra-high conservative purposes, and then treat
detzky, sequestrated the property of all
Lombards residing in the dominions of the
King of Sardinia. This was a breach of good
faith, for Austria had consented that those
Lombards should become naturalised in Sar-
dinia, and hold their Lombard estates as any
other foreigners holding property in the terri-
tories of the kaiser. Victor Emmanuel, sup-
ported by England and France, remonstrated
and protested in vain. The king then took
the bold step of recalling his minister from
the court of Vienna, and dismissing the
Austrian minister from Turin.
them with irony and contempt. Truly or
falsely such were the views entertained by the
Genoese; and the fact that they so thought,
and not any disloyalty to the sovereign, caused
them to receive his visit with stern silence.
When the parliamentary session of 1854
opened, the king's position was scarcely on the
whole encouraging, but he met the prospects
of the situation with hope. The diplomatic
rupture with Austria was formidable, for the
king had not adequate means to meet that
power in the field; but on the other hand the
resources of Sardinia were increasing, and all
Italy regarded it as the home of the free.
The king's speech was bold without being
defiant, sanguine without being boastful. His
assurances that he would uphold the liberties
his father planted, were made with solemnity,
and without any affectation or sanctimonious
phraseology.
Soon after the court visited Genoa to cele-
brate the inauguration of the railway connect-
ing that city with the capital. Genoa is a
republican city, attached on principle to that
form of government, the birthplace of Maz-
zini, and for years the home of the Garibaldi
family. The people received the court coldly,
which Cavour dexterously laid to the account
of their republican opir ons, but the intention
was rather to show their indifferent confidence
in Count Cavour himself, whom they regarded
as an enemy to all who held their opinions, and
as anxious to use the ultra-liberal party for
Ecclesiastical distractions again disturbed
the peace of the country. The religious houses.
were numerous and rich, and their inmates
idle. The government desired to apply a large
portion of their funds to the support of the
inferior clergy. The superior clergy resisted it,
and their influence was great. The Pope also
bitterly opposed, and the year 1854 passed
away without this great reform having been
effected.
The year 1855 was signalised in the king's
history by several events of the most important
nature. The cholera smote portions of his
dominions with great severity, more particu-
larly Genoa. The king, notwithstanding the
cold reception he met with on his previous
visit, one of mutual congratulation to monarch
and people, hastened to the pestilence stricken
city, and behaved with a generosity and
courage, which, had he no other claim from
fame, would merit her proud rehearsal of his
deeds. He visited the cholera hospitals,
encouraged the doctors and nurses, took in his
hands the cold blue hands of the suffering and
dying, rivalled Garibaldi himself in the manly
generosity and courage which that hero showed
in like circumstances. He roused the almost
paralysed municipality by his advice, expostu-
tation, and example, and from his private
purse dealt out largely the means of procuring
necessary supplies.

Vacher.
RORVE
4
번호
​GENOA.
For minutant mabad
EJ Roberts
마
​THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
267
desire of Sardinia to enter the alliance against
Russia assumed a practical shape, and it was
proclaimed to the world that her army would
be united to the armies of the allies against
the common foe. On the 26th of January,
Some supposed that the king wished to die,
and sought to perish in so noble a cause, for
his domestic griefs had been heavy; sorrow
after sorrow had shadowed his path from the
beginning of the year. In the month of
January the king's mother died.
Ten days
subsequently he buried his wife. A month |
after he was made a widower he was bereft of
his only brother, the Duke of Genoa, to whom
he was tenderly attached, who had fought
beside him in the battles of King Charles
Albert, and whom Victor Emmanuel declared
to be the best soldier in Piedmont.
|
"the act of acceptation," on the accession of his
Majesty the King of Sardinia to the convention
of the 10th of April, 1854, was signed and
ratified on the 4th of March. The basis of the
alliance of the Western Powers with Sardinia
was not the treaty of the 2nd of December, in
which Austria principally figured, but the
convention of the 10th of the preceding April.
The fifth article of the convention is so short,
and so necessary to the clearness of the nar-
rative, that it is here subjoined :-" Their
Majesties the Queen of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland and the Emperor
of the French, will readily admit into their
alliance, in order to co-operate for the pro-
posed object, such of the other powers of
Europe as may be desirous of becoming parties
to it," In the Moniteur of the 13th of March
the following appeared:-" His Majesty the
King of Sardinia having acceded to the con-
vention concluded at London on the 10th of
April, 1854, and our envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary to his said Majesty
having, in virtue of our full powers and in our
name, accepted the said accession, the respec-
tive ratifications were exchanged at Turin on
the 4th of the present month of March; and,
in consequence, the said act of acceptation of
the accession and the military convention con-
cluded between France and Great Britain and
Sardinia will receive full and entire execution."
The minister of the French marine addressed
at the same time the following circular to all
the commanders-in-chief of the French naval
forces, and to the captains of ships of war at
sea" Sardinia, by a treaty signed on the
26th ult., having acceded to the treaty of
At the opening of this, to the king, eventful
year, and, as it afterwards proved, a year
eventful to his dominions and to Italy, the
king's government entered into treaties with
the governments of Great Britain and France,
then at war with Russia, to send a force to
co-operate with those powers before Sebastopol.
The diplomatic proceedings by which this
was brought about, and the policy which ruled
the different powers respectively are interest-
ing, and especially so to England, who was
aided in her struggle by the gallant Italian
band of Victor Emmanuel.
The author of this work gave, in his history
of the war against Russia,* a brief but com-
plete account of the alliance thus formed and
the conduct of Piedmont in the whole transac-
tion. It would be impossible for him to convey
anything more full in the same compass.
In the diplomacy of the early months of
1855 the conduct and policy of Sardinia was
not marked by the tricks to which Russia and
the German powers resorted. There was a
frankness and nobleness about it to the lasting
honour of that gallant little kingdom. Imme-
diately upon the opening of the new year, the
"History of the War against Russia," by E. H. Nolan,
Ph.D., LL.D. Virtue and Co., Ivy Lane and City Road,
London.
268
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
alliance concluded on the 10th of April, 1854,
between France and Great Britain for the pro-
tection of the Ottoman empire, now finds
herself at war with Russia. You will con-
sequently have to extend in future to the Sar-
dinian navy the support and kind offices you
are bound to render the French and English
navies; and when you chance to meet ships of
war of his Majesty the King of Sardinia, you
will concert measures, and establish with their
commanders the same relations of intimacy as
with the commanders of the ships of war
of her Majesty the Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain. Please to acknow-
ledge the receipt of this circular."
The English government published docu-
ments so similar that their quotation is unne-
cessary. The Sardinian government issued
two state papers in connection with these
transactions remarkable for their perspicacity,
and a certain exalted tone of feeling. On
the 4th of March the Piedmontese Gazette,
in an extraordinary number of the day, pub-
lished the manifesto of his Majesty Victor
Emmanuel II. :—
"Turin, March 4, 1855.
"For a long time Europe has regarded
with just and jealous suspicion the continual
aggrandisement of Russia, the progressive
application of that system which Peter the
Great inaugurated, more naturalised in the
nation perhaps than in the Muscovite sove-
reigns, and tending with all the forces, visible
and invisible, to the conquest of Constanti-
nople, not as a final end, but as a beginning
and step to new and more unmeasured
ambitions.
"These projects of Russia, subversive of the
equilibrium of Europe, threatening to the
liberties of peoples and the independence of
nations, never revealed themselves, perhaps, so
clearly as in the unjust invasion of the Danu-
bian provinces, and in the diplomatic acts
preceding and following it. It is with good
right, then, that France and England, after a
long and useless attempt at means of concilia-
tion, had recourse to arms to support the
Ottoman empire against the aggressions of its
powerful neighbour.
"On the solution of the Oriental question
depend the destinies, not immediate, but
future, of Europe, and of Asia, and, more
directly and proximately, of those states
bordering the Mediterranean Sea, which cannot
therefore remain indifferent spectators of a
struggle in which their own vital interests are
concerned, which will determine whether they
remain free and independent, or become
vassals, in fact if not in name, of the colossal
Russian empire.
"The justice of the cause espoused by the
generous defenders of the Sublime Porte, the
considerations which tell so powerfully always
on the heart of the king, of the dignity and of
the national independence, have determined his
Majesty the King of Sardinia, after the formal
invitation which he has received from the two
great Western powers, to accede, by the act of
the 12th of last January, to the alliance,
offensive and defensive, stipulated on the 10th
of April, 1854, between their Majesties the
Emperor of the French and the Queen of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
But before that act received the indispensable
completion by the exchange of ratifications—
before, therefore, it could in any way be put
in execution, the Emperor Nicholas, lamenting,
with language not devoid of bitterness, that
the rights of nations had been violated by us
by having (as he supposed) without previous
declaration of war sent an expedition to the
Crimea—accusing the king, besides, of ingrati-
tude in having forgotten the ancient proofs of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
269
friendship and sympathy given by Russia to
Sardinia-hastens himself to declare war.
"Without stopping at the supposed violation
of the rights of nations, which could only be
an error of the Chancery, we will observe that,
with the ancient memories of friendly corre-
spondence passed between the predecessors of
his imperial Majesty and those of his Sar-
dinian Majesty, the Emperor might have
compared other more recent and personal
recollections of his own behaviour for the last
cight years towards the kings Carlo Alberto and
Vittorio Emanuele Secondo. But, first of all,
he should have persuaded himself that his
Majesty approached this alliance not through
forgetfulness of ancient friendships, nor through
resentment for recent offences, but from the
firm conviction of being imperiously driven to
it, both by the general interests of Europe and
the particular interests of that nation whose
destinies Divine Providence has committed to
him; and it is therefore that, in taking part
in a serious war, the king never doubts the
answer to his appeal from the old faith of his
beloved people, the bravery of his soldiers,
confiding, as he confides, in the protection of
that God who in the course of eight centuries
has so often supported the monarchy of Savoy
in severe trials, and guided it to glorious suc-
cesses. His Majesty is secure in the conviction
of having done his duty, nor will so many
severe and cruel afflictions diminish his resolu-
tion and constancy in the defence, with all his
power, against all aggressions whatsoever on
the sacred interests of the people and the
imprescriptible rights of the crown.
"While the king desires that the negotia-
tions for peace already initiated in the city of
Vienna may be successful, in fulfilment, how-
ever, of the obligations contracted towards
France, England, and Turkey, he has ordered
the undersigned minister to declare, in virtue
of the above-mentioned act of accession, his
land and sea forces to be in a state of war with
the Russian empire.
"The undersigned declares, besides, the
orders of his Majesty that the exequatur accorded
to the Russian consuls in the royal states
should be revoked; the property and persons
of Russian subjects nevertheless to be scru-
pulously respected, and a competent term
accorded to Russian ships to leave Sardinian
ports.
"C. CAVOUR,
"The President of the Council,
"Minister of Foreign Affairs.'
At the same time, the Sardinian govern-
ment issued the following circular to the
foreign ministers accredited to its own court,
and to its own agents abroad :—
“SIR,
"I have the honour to transmit here-
with some copies of the manifesto by which
the government of his Majesty the King of
Sardinia, in the name of the king, declares war
to his Majesty the Emperor of Russia.
"When the treaty of alliance of the 10th of
April, 1854, between France and England was
officially communicated to Sardinia, the govern-
ment of the king, while recognising the right
and duty of the great Western powers to oppose
the invasions of Russia, and to defend the
Ottoman empire against unjust aggression-
while openly declaring that its most lively
sympathies were with the cause which France
and England had generously undertaken to
defend thought it right, nevertheless, to
abstain for the moment from availing itself of
the stipulated reserve in the 5th article of the
treaty.
"Now, however, the war has taken such
considerable proportions in the East and in the
Baltic, and the whole world has been able to
>
270
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
convince itself that the question which agitates
the East is a European question, all agree in
recognising that if the Great Powers have a
more direct interest in it, the states of the
second order are no less menaced in their
commerce, and, what is more, in their inde-
pendence, by the ambitious projects of Russia.
The moment is arrived, then, to oppose to
those vast means of action of which she can
dispose, and to the enormous advantages of her
geographical position, the united efforts of the
Powers who, devoid of all ambitious thoughts,
only aspire to ward off dangers which later
might be unavoidable, and to assure the
triumph of the eternal principles of justice and
equity.
"These considerations have determined his
Majesty the King of Sardinia to accept the
invitation addressed to him by their Majesties
the Emperor of the French and the Queen of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, to accede to the treaty of the 10th of
April, 1854. The act of accession, as well as
the two conventions referring to it, having been
signed on the 26th of January last, and rati-
fied this day, his Majesty, in consequence of
the stipulations therein contained, now declares
war to Russia.
"His Majesty has not seen without painful
surprise that while the act of accession,
unratified, had not yet any absolute legal value,
and was in no ways executory, the Emperor
Nicholas, by a note of Count Nesselrode's, and
in language full of bitterness, taking the
initiative in hostilities, has accused him of
violating the rights of nations, by sending an
expedition to the Crimea without a previous
declaration of war, and reproached him with
forgetfulness of the marks of friendship shown
in past times by Russia to Sardinia.
"Concerning the pretended violation of the
rights of nations, it is sufficient to compare the
T
"
date of Count Nesselrode's circular (5th [17th]
of January last) with that of the ratification of
the act of accession (4th of March), to be con-
vinced of the astonishing flippancy with which
the chancellor of the Russian empire has
advanced so grave an accusation, and which is
so inappropriate to the princes of Savoy, and,
above all, to a monarch to whom the voice of
the whole people has accorded the title of loyal.
"As to the reproach of ingratitude, the Em-
peror Nicholas, instead of recalling the marks
of friendship which two of his predecessors
formerly showed towards Sardinia, ought to
have recollected that in 1848, without any per-
sonal motive, he withdrew his minister from
the court of Turin, and hastily sent the Sar-
dinian representative at St. Petersburg his
passports; that in 1849 he refused to receive
the letter of notification of the accession to
the throne of King Victor Emmanuel II., a
refusal highly injurious, which finds few pre-
cedents in the history of diplomacy, and which
appears to indicate, on the part of the Czar,
the strange pretension to interfere in our
interior affairs, affecting not to recognise
the transformation, not revolutionary, but
legal, which had been made in our political
institutions.
"After having added these short explana-
tions, in order to place the conduct of the
king our august sovereign in its true light,
and on referring to the motives exhibited in
the accompanying manifesto, I beg you to
transmit a copy of the present despatch to the
minister of foreign affairs of the government
to which you are accredited; and I beg you to
receive, sir, the renewed assurances of my
very distinguished consideration."
"C. CAVOUR."
Almost contemporaneous with those publi-
cations by the cabinet of Turin, the court of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
271
Russia issued the following declaration of war
in the form of a circular to other courts :-
St. Petersburg, Feb. 17.
"The court of
will, we doubt not,
share the opinion of the Emperor upon the
policy of his Majesty the King of Sardinia, at
a moment when that sovereign, without any
ostensible motive, without any legitimate cause
or complaint, and without even the shadow of
the smallest infringement upon the direct
interests of his country, has placed at the dis-
posal of England a corps d'armée of 15,000
men for the invasion of the Crimea. In tak-
ing this step the Sardinian government
appears to have left it the care of the public
journals to warn us of an aggression which it
has not thought fit to justify by a declaration
of war.
We understand the motive of this
silence.
"The court of Turin, we admit it, would
have had some difficulty in conciliating its
policy with the national sentiment of its
country; it would have experienced equal diffi-
culty in making its present conduct harmonise
with the ancient souvenirs of the house of
Savoy. In consulting the annals of its his-
tory, it might cite the incident of a Russian
army crossing the Alps; but, it is true, it
was to defend Piedmont, and not to invade
it. In the councils of the cabinets of
Europe, in the reign of the Emperor Alex-
ander, of glorious memory, it is again Russia
who lent her faithful support to the inde-
pendence of Sardinia, when the house of Savoy
was reinstated on the throne of its ancestors.
Must we finally recall to mind that, at the
same period, if Genoa was reunited to the
kingdom of Sardinia, it is because the im-
perial cabinet recognised the necessity of
assuring at the same time the commercial
prosperity and the greatness of the country
-
-
which the arms of Russia had contributed to
deliver from a foreign yoke? To-day, sinking
in oblivion the lessons of the past, the court
of Turin is about to direct against us, from
that self-same port of Genoa, a hostile enter-
prise, which Russia has the conscientious satis-
faction of knowing was not provoked by her.
"The attitude thus assumed by Sardinia,
without a formal declaration of war, as we
have stated, would make us doubt what name
we ought to give to the auxiliary troops des-
tined to invade our frontiers under the flag of
a country with which we have hitherto been
living in peace. However, if the court of
Turin loses sight of the principles and customs
consecrated by the law of nations, as the im-
mutable rule of the international relations of
states; the Emperor, for his part, is resolved
to observe them. With this intention, his
imperial Majesty feels it incumbent upon him
to declare that peace is de jure and de facto
broken by this flagrant act of hostility, the
whole blame of which recoils upon the Sar-
dinian government. We leave it to bear the
entire responsibility thereof, in the face of the
opinion of its country, and of all Europe.
"It behoves especially the allied Powers to
appreciate the conduct of the court of Sardinia,
when it has deemed it opportune and loyal to
turn its arms against us at the very moment.
when the imperial cabinet entered into a deli-
beration at Vienna, destined to open the path
to the re-establishment of peace.
"The wishes which tend towards the ac-
complishment of that work of pacification
seem to have been strangely misunderstood
by the cabinet of Turin. In fact, whilst the
governments of Central Europe wisely inter-
posed their legitimate authority to prevent one
of the belligerent powers from recruiting its
legions in the states who insist on having
their neutrality respected, the Sardinian go-
C
272
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
vernment, less chary of the blood of Italy,
consents to pour it out for a cause foreign to
the political and religious interests of its
nation. For, in good faith, it cannot be pre-
tended that by unfolding her banner by the
side of the Crescent, Sardinia fancies she at
all serves the cause of Christianity. Nor can
it be affirmed that she seeks to defend the
weak against the strong when she joins her
arms to those of France and England.
"It is this latter power, if we are rightly
informed, which takes the Sardinian troops
under its command-we will not say in its
pay, as we wish to abstain from wounding the
national feelings of a country with which to
our regret, we are about to be at war.
"Notwithstanding this necessity, the Em-
peror will still afford protection to the private
interests of Sardinian subjects, who entertain
ancient commercial relations with Russia.
They shall not suffer from the errors of their
government. They are at liberty to remain in
the empire in all security, under the protection
of our laws, as long as they do not infringe
them. But the Sardinian flag will henceforth
cease to enjoy the prerogatives accorded solely
to the mercantile navy of neutral states. A
term shall be fixed for the departure of Sar-
dinian vessels that may be actually in Russian
ports. The exequator will be at once with-
drawn from Sardinian consuls in Russia. The
Russian agents at Genoa and Nice will also
receive orders to suspend the exercise of their
functions, peace between the two countries
having been broken by the court of Sardinia
from the moment it acceded to the treaty
of alliance concluded on the 10th of April,
1854, between Great Britain and France.
"The Emperor has deigned to charge me
to communicate these determinations to all
friendly powers.
“NESSELRODE.”
The motive of Sardinia in entering into
the anti-Russian alliance, there is every reason
to believe, was unselfish. The character of
Victor Emmanuel and of Count Cavour prove
as much. The men by whom the prince and
his chief minister surrounded themselves were
of a similar stamp. Throne and ministry
sympathised on principle with liberal govern-
ment, and equitable international relations.
Yet it admirably suited the policy of Sardinia
to join the coalition. Austria and France had
been gradually drawing closer, and it was
rumoured all over Europe that a secret treaty
was concluded between the Emperor and the
Kaiser on the 24th of December, by which the
former pledged himself to the integrity of the
Austrian dominions in Italy, and, in alliance
with Austria, to preserve the then existing
territorial circumscription of all the Italian
states. That the French policy was misled by
a strong pro-Austrian bias could not be con-
cealed from Victor Emmanuel, nor be a sub-
This was the
ject of indifference to him.
more alarming as the policy of the Bona-
partists in Italy from 1848 up to 1853, and
even up to the time when the convention with
England was signed in the spring of 1854,
was bitterly anti-Austrian. It had necessarily
been so, for Austria did her best to thwart
and humiliate Louis Napoleon. She prevented
his recognition by Russia, and his forming a
German marriage alliance; while the press of
Vienna was perpetually repeating the epithet
parvenu, which Louis Napoleon, by a happy
audacity, had applied to himself. Accordingly,
French agents had been at work all through
Italy abusing Austria, forming French con-
nections, proclaiming that France was the
natural protector of Italian liberty, and the
natural avenger of Italian wrongs, and that
between the two empires there could be no
alliance. The name of Murat was evoked in
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
273
Naples; the king of Rome was talked of in
Romagna; and the kingdom of Italy was a
pet phrase at Milan in the mouth of every
Frenchman. Italy was assured by every form
of persuasive that she had no hope but in
France, and that she must look to the magna-
nimity of a Bonaparte, whose heart was filled
from Italian fountains, for her rescue and her
future glory. All this suddenly ceased when
the English alliance came into being. The
Aberdeen ministry was Austrian in its sympa-
thies as much as the pure Whig ministry that
preceded it was the reverse. Lord Aberdeen
was just what he described, in the House of
Lords, as being very amusing, that he should
be thought "a sort of an Austro-Russian."
Louis Napoleon followed the track of the
English policy in his pro-Austrian proceed-
ings, but he went further than the Aberdeen
government, as a whole, intended-the Whig
portion of it being adverse to the degree of
favour shown by the Peelites to Austria. The
game played by the French Emperor obviously
was, to adopt only such a line of policy as
England would initate, or at least approve,
but to cut out a path for himself in that road,
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
and work with agency peculiar to his own aims
and objects—the establishment of his dynasty,
the conciliation of the despotic courts, and the
consolidation of his influence in Europe. It
was therefore wise for the Sardinian king not
to look on quietly while the bonds of Austrian
amity were drawn tighter by the hands of
France, feeling, as Sardinia ever must feel,
that Austria is the deadly enemy of her inde-
pendence and prosperity. To anticipate Aus-
tria, and step further into the alliance was a
wise and bold policy, and was crowned with
success. She agreed to keep up a force of
15,000 men in the field, under the command
of the British chief; and a loan of one million
sterling was to be afforded to her by the allies,
to enable her to keep up that army. She
vigorously carried out her obligations, and the
allies honourably executed theirs; while Aus-
tria was enraged to perceive, as a consequence
of this movement, that the allies guaranteed
the independence of Sardinia while the war
continued, making it impossible for Austria
to take any advantage of the occupation
of the Western Powers, to precipitate herself
as a spoiler upon the Piedmontese kingdom.
VICTOR EMMANUEL SENDS OUT HIS LITTLE ARMY TO JOIN THE ENGLISH. ITS PROGRESS TO THE
CRIMEA.
"The king can make a belted knight,
A lord and duke, and a' that;
An honest man's a'boon his might—
A man's a man for a' that."-BURNS,
PROBABLY the motto selected for this chapter
was never before applied to a royal personage.
Burns meant it for the honest folk who come
not in the way of kings. But the natural
24
character of Victor Emmanuel was frank,
straightforward, and honest. He was a king,
surrounded by diplomatic intrigue, and not
strong enough, or acute enough, always to resist
NN
274
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
it; but "for a' that," he was a man of the true,
bold, honest, chivalrous type, and sometimes
baffled the cliques of political intriguants by
his brusque, direct assertion of his own honour.
In his engagement with the Western Powers
he fulfilled all that he undertook, and performed
more. Although having engaged to send but
15,000 men to join the forces in the Crimea,
he sent 18,000, and these were selected from
the choicest of his troops.
view taken in these pages of the spirit of the
Sardinian policy is correct. The opposition
from the two extremes was animated and pro-
tracted. The "Right" of the Chamber described
the project as one of servile compliance with
foreign dictation; the "Left" represented it as
impolitic to mingle in a quarrel where Sardinia
had no interests at stake, and out of which
might arise ultimate dangers. Cavour, speak-
ing in the name of the sovereign, of the nation,
and of the cabinet, quelled all opposition by
the deep earnestness of his manner, and the
force of authority with which he spoke.
Struggling as was the condition of the little
realm that thus came to the aid of her more
potent allies, it was only what might have been
expected from the generosity of the monarch,
and the spirit of his subjects.
Many deeds of heroism have been achieved
within the vales of Piedmont, upon her moun-
tain slopes, and beyond their precincts, by the
children of these hills and valleys, when free-
dom to worship God summoned their honour
and their energy to the deed. While Spain, for
which England shed so much blood and spent
so much treasure, shrank with her charac-known form of government; secondly, that the
military valour of her people is equal to that of
their forefathers.
"I hold it as indispensable to the improve-
ment of the actual state of Italy, and exceed-
ing all other considerations in importance, to
raise up her reputation, so that all the people
of the world, rulers and ruled, shall be compelled
to do her justice. For this, two things are
necessary to prove to Europe, first, that Italy
has sufficient sense and moderation to sustain
free institutions, and to adopt the most perfect
teristic cowardice from even an expression of
sympathy with the sister nations of Western
Europe,-while Portugal, bound to England
as her oldest ally, and whom, in case of any
aggression upon her, we are bound by treaty
to protect, skulked from the duty and obliga-
tion which fairly rested upon her, of garrison-
ing our military stations in the Mediterranean,
—while even Northern Europe, having so much
to gain by our alliance, and so much to
apprehend from the continued encroachments
of Russia, would not strike a blow nor man a
gunboat in her own defence,--Sardinia signed
the protest against invasion and plunder, which
we, with our allies, have published to the world,
and threw down her gauntlet beside ours against
the gigantic champion of modern despotism.
The speech of the Sardinian minister, Count
Cavour, made to the Chambers, shows that the
da
"You have, as yet, done Italy good service
by the conduct you have pursued during seven
years, proving, in the most conspicuous manner
that Italians can govern themselves with wis-
dom, prudence, and loyalty. It is now your
privilege to render her an equal, if not greater,
service;-it is given to our country to demon-
strate how the sons of Italy can bear their part
in fields of glory. And I am certain that the
laurels reaped by our soldiers in the East will
do more for the future fate of the Peninsula
than all that has been effected by those who
thought to achieve her regeneration by their
eloquence or their pen."
The king was anxious to lead his army in
person, but the advice of his ministers over-
ruled the purpose. This was a great disap-
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
275
pointment to the "Galantuomo Re," but the
safety of the state was the first question.
The king longed, in a good cause, to lead an
Italian army upon a foreign field, but Pro-
vidence ordered that his sword should sleep
until the great awakening of Italy for liberty
and independence.
On the 14th of April the king reviewed his
troops. It was his intention to address them,
but the deep sorrows he had experienced, the
struggles of faction in his little state, and the
repugnance he felt to allow a Piedmontese
army to depart on a warlike expedition with-
out him, so preyed upon his feelings that he
was unable to speak. Durando, the minister of
war,
read the address which his Majesty had
prepared. It was simple and inspiriting;
appealing to the patriotism and loyalty of the
soldiers, and expressing his own confidence and
admiration in them, and his deep interest in
their fortunes. The enthusiasm of the army,
and the vast concourse of civilians assembled,
was a sight of grandeur, and calculated to give
hope to prince and people.
In the "History of the War against Russia,"
a succinct but amply descriptive account of
the whole transaction was given by the author
of this work; it was as follows:*-
|
A considerable number of the officers de-
parted before the bulk of the little army set
sail. These officers embarked at Genoa during
the month of March. Early in April a fleet of
British steamers arrived at Genoa, but the
accommodation afforded by it only extended to
about half the expeditionary army. The king,
being desirous to see the whole of the troops
assembled before any embarked, detained the
transports, so that a fresh accession of vessels
arrived, and the entire transport fleet became
so large that the harbour of Genoa was not
* "IIistory of the War against Russia," vol. ii. p. 414.
extensive enough for their accommodation, and
some found shelter in Spezzio. It was looked
upon as significant that the place of review
was the plain of Marengo, immortal in history
as the site of Napoleon's hardest fought and
least likely victory over the Austrians. The
troops were arranged in the form of a crescent;
altars were erected for the benediction of the
flags; a vast concourse assembled to witness
the scene, and an amphitheatre of seats accom-
modated an immense number of the notabilities
and gentry of the provinces now subject to the
old dukedom of Savoy. The appearance of the
king was welcomed by a loud shout from the
He
great concourse of citizens and soldiers.
was attended by a cortège of the principal
As he
officers and nobility of his realm.
passed each regiment, the band played the Sar-
dinian national tune. Immediately by his side
were the two brothers Marmora, one of whom
had served him so well as minister of war, and
had resigned his post to command the expedi-
tionary force. It was the first time the king
had made any public appearance since his
overwhelming domestic afflictions had nearly
borne him to the earth. The Archbishop of
Tortona appeared, to give the sanction of, the
church to the policy of the king. Mass was
celebrated along the lines, the troops present-
ing arms, and the spectators uncovering. As
soon as the religious ceremony terminated, the
profound and solemn silence which rested upon
the multitude was succeeded by the roar of
cannon, and the huzzas of excited patriotism
and loyalty, while, rising above all the sounds
of enthusiasm, the fine military bands of the
Piedmontese regiments could be heard pouring
forth their martial strains. The king presented
personally the flags to the regiments appointed
to receive them, while he assured the officers
in brief, pithy, and feeling addresses that
nothing but the stern necessities of the state
276
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
C
S
powerful enemy; but by our side will stand
brave armies, which have already consigned to
history the celebrated names of Silistria, Alma,
Balaklava, and Inkerman. We shall arrive in a
few days at the seat of war, and vieing with
our allies in courage, firmness, and discipline,
we will endeavour to imitate the constancy of
which they have given such heroic proofs. . . .
A cruel and premature death has deprived us
of a prince who was to guide us in that glorious
enterprise. You followed him with alacrity
in the fields of Lombardy, and admired him at
the fatal battle of Novara. He expired, re-
gretting his inability to lead you to victory.
May the name of the Duke of Genoa remain
The 23rd of April witnessed the departure
of the first division of the expeditionary army.
Seven thousand men, with all the necessary
material of war, embarked. The embarkation
was delayed by the defective state of the Sar-engraved on our hearts. Soldiers! let us
dinian commissariat, and a painful accident swear not to disappoint those expectations, and
added to that delay. The Screw Steamship pledge ourselves to demonstrate that an Italian
Company's vessel Cræsus sailed from Genoa on army is worthy to co-operate in this gigantic
the 24th of April, with 400 men on board, and struggle."
a heavy freight of provisions, having in tow a
sailing transport loaded with guns, munitions,
and stores. She had not been many hours at
sea when fire was discovered in the hold, all
efforts to extinguish which proved abortive.
When taking to the boats the Sardinians, brave
although they are in battle, did not show the
steadiness and discipline which the English
have always shown in like circumstances; a
rush was made for the boats, some of which
were soon upset, and many men perished.
The soldiers of the expedition betrayed more
superstitious feeling in connection with this
accident than would have been expected among
so free and gallant a people, and a depression
fell upon the whole force.
|
Some of the officers had occasion to travel
by way of Naples, where the authorities
treated them with the most pointed incivi-
lities. It did not need Austrian instigation to
induce "King Bomba" to act in this spirit of
mean and petty malevolence; but it was cur-
rently believed, and not without foundation,
that these discourtesies received additional
venom from the sting of that power. At
Constantinople the Turkish government gave
a generous reception to their new ally, and the
French there made many demonstrations of
goodwill and fraternity. At Balaklava and
Kamiesch the displays of friendship on the
part of English and French were very grate-
ful to the contingent. There was a confidence
in it felt by the allies, and the reception was
such as the brave meet from the brave. When
they landed, they marched up the Balaklava
valley by Kadikoi, and took up their position
Previous to the embarkation of the divi-
sion, General Alfonsa Della Marmora, the
commander-in-chief, delivered an address to
the soldiers, which was received by them with
pleasure, patriotic feeling, and military pride:
"We shall have before us a strong and
prevented him from leading his army. As the
personal courage of the king was well known,
and it was also well known how important his
presence was in his kingdom, considering its
relations to Austria, Rome, and the various
Italian states, this assurance was well received.
The close of this eventful day was attended by
military and civil pageant, and every heart felt
the glow of a patriotic fire, destined, we trust,
long to burn for the light and glory of Sardinia
and of Italy.
*
* The Duke of Genoa.
K
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
277
near the left of the French army. The British
and French commanders soon perceived that
in General Marmora they acquired an auxiliary
of intimate practical acquaintance with all
military detail, and scientific acquaintance
with the theories of armies and of war. The
personal appearance of the men, their pic-
turesque uniform, their polite bearing, and
their heartiness to the cause of the allies, soon
won for them the respect, good feeling, and
good opinion of the whole host.
It was on the 8th of May that the Sardi-
nians landed at Balaklava; and on the 9th
they sent up their advanced guard to the front,
Scarcely had they set foot upon the shores of
the Crimea than cholera appeared among
them, and many officers and men soon
perished. This army was hardly entirely free
from the pestilence while in the Crimea.
When the tidings arrived in Italy of this
sacrifice of life, not in gallant deeds before the
common enemy of free Europe, but uselessly
and wretchedly, Italy literally wept. Every-
where, from the court of Turin to the limits on
all sides of the Peninsula, there were lamen-
tations and woe. The anguish of Victor Em-
manuel was great. The dead were honoured,
the living were comforted, as far as the sym-
pathy and aid of their countrymen could miti-
gate their condition. The priests declared that
these calamities were God's judgments upon |
the king and the nation on account of the
favour shown to liberal political opinions, the
toleration of heretics, and the circumscription
of the authority of the Church, and this
tended to fill the more ignorant classes with
awe, and to damage the prestige of the mon-
arch and his ministry: the army in the
Crimea was destined to sustain it by its for-
titude and fighting qualities.
The Sardinians in the Crimea were posted on
the Tchernaya, with a French corps, although
originally intended to act with the British por-
tions of the allied armies. Early in July the
cholera disappeared, but broke out again in
August with somewhat less virulence than
before, but became at times as severe as it had
been. The battle of the Tchernaya was one of
the grandest of the war, and the only one in
which the Russians acknowledged themselves
completely and signally defeated. To the
reverse inflicted, the Sardinians nobly contri-
buted. This will be a convenient place to give
such a description of the battle * as will bring
out fairly the part taken in it by the gallant
little army of Victor Emmanuel.
J
The object for which the Russians initiated
the battle, was to dislodge the allies from their
posts, and, in case of success, to make a
general attack along the whole of the allied
positions, from Balaklava round to the Quaran-
tine, driving the allies in every direction across
the plateau upon Kamiesch.
For several weeks prior to the attack
Prince Gortschakoff had been uneasy for his
supplies, both of food and munitions of war;
the horses and oxen by which they had been
hitherto conveyed had to a great extent
perished, and the resources of the provinces
which supplied them did not allow of their
being speedily replaced. Besides, the opera-
tions of the allied squadrons in the Sea of
Azoff, in the latter end of May, the early part
of June, and the whole of July, had greatly
lessened the stores of fish and corn, upon
which the garrison had drawn for its wants.
Representations to this effect had been made
by Prince Gortschakoff to the government of
St. Petersburg, and in reply to them reinforce-
ments were poured in with all possible rapidity,
* This battle was called by the French the battle of Tractar
Bridge, and our other allies followed their example. The
Russians and British called it the battle of Tchernaya.
i
:
!
278
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and orders were issued that, with a force of be-
tween 50,000 and 60,000 men, an attack along
the line of the Tchernaya should be made.
Various representations have been given of the
opinions of the Russian commander-in-chief
as to the expediency of this experiment. The
impression in well-informed military circles in
England is that Gortschakoff was more anxious
for supplies than reinforcements, although de-
sirous of both, and that he was by no means
confident of the policy of forcing a battle upon
the Tchernaya and its confluent streams. There
is little doubt that Osten-Sacken disapproved
of the enterprise, but that all the inferior
generals were clamorous for the speedy accom-
plishment of the attempt, in concurrence with
the desire of the government.
The plan of action in its general features
and leading detail became known to the allies
after the battle was over. General Read, a
Russian officer, of Scottish parentage, being
slain, the plan was found in the breast of his
coat. It will throw a clearer light upon the
actual progress of the battle to present the
reader with this plan :-
"The following is a disposition of the corps
d'armée of the right flank (General Aide-de-
camp Read) :-
"1. Composition of troops.—Seventh divi-
sion of infantry, twelve battalions, 8th artil-
lery brigade.-Battery of position, No. 3,
twelve guns; battery of light, No. 3, six guns;
battery of light, No. 4, eight guns; battery
of light, No. 5, eight guns; three regiments
of the twelfth division of infantry, twelve
battalions. 14th artillery brigade.-Battery of
position, No. 3, twelve guns; light, No. 3, six
guns; light, No. 4, six guns; 2nd battalion
of rifles, one battalion; 1st company of 2nd
battalion of sappers, quarter of a battalion;
one regiment of lancers, eight squadrons;
horse-battery, No. 26, four guns; one regi-
ment Don Cossacks, No. 37, six sotnias: total,
twenty-five battalions and a quarter, eight
squadrons, six sotnias, and sixty-two guns.
"On the 3rd (15th) of August, at night-
fall, General Aide-de-camp Read will descend
M'Kenzie Heights with all his troops, in the
steps of Lieutenant-General Liprandi, and will
form his two divisions into columns on the
height of the new redoubt, near the high road,
having to his left the seventeenth division,
commanded by General Liprandi.
"He will leave all his baggage at the
camp, and form a waggon-stand, where the in-
fantry will deposit their sacks. In this wag-
gon-camp large boilers for cooking, and brandy,
are to be ready on the 4th (16th) of August;
the men are to be provided with four days'
rations, one pound of meat, their canteens full
of water, and with the requisite camp utensils.
Each regiment to be provided with a case of
ammunition and two ambulance carts. The
other ambulance carts to remain under the
orders of General of brigade Zouroff, who is
charged with the conveyance of the wounded.
The cavalry and artillery are to take with them
as much provender as possible, such provender
to be placed on some suitable spot.
"4. The head-quarters for the day of the
3rd (15th) will be at M'Kenzie Heights.
General Read having concentrated his troops
on M'Kenzie Heights, will immediately send
an officer to the commander-in-chief, to inform
him of his arrival and of his arrangements.
On the 4th (16th) during the attack, the com-
mander-in-chief will take up a position on the
slope of M'Kenzie Heights, near the new
redoubt. At 4 a.m., at the same moment as
the movement of the seventeenth division
takes place at Telegraph Height, General
Aide-de-camp Read will advance, form the
seventh and twelfth divisions of infantry into
order of battle beyond the enemy's range, and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
279
will place in the rear, as a reserve, the regi- | Mount Gasforte should be thought absolutely
ment of lancers, supported by Cossacks. He
will continue his movement with that of
General Liprandi, and will advance towards
the Tchernaya in such manner as to be able
to cannonade the enemy on the Heights of Fe-
dukhine, when orders shall have been issued
to that effect. With this view, detachments of
sappers are to be attached to the seventh and
twelfth infantry divisions, and also detach-
ments of regiments accustomed to handle fly-
ing bridges, and to throw them promptly over
the canal, so as to offer a road to the infantry
and artillery.
"5. When the order of the commander-in-
chief to advance on the Fedukhine Hills shall
have been received, the troops are to cross the
Tchernaya, to the right and left, by the means
of passage prepared; the damage done by the
artillery will be immediately repaired by the
sappers. The bridges will be thrown over under
the orders of superior officers commanding the
detachments.
"6. Having occupied the hills to the left
and centre, General Read will form in order of
battle there, with his front turned partially
towards Mount Sapoune, partially towards the
enemy, covering himself in both directions by
his guns in position. As regards the hills on
the right, having driven back the enemy, he
will occupy them with troops of the first
line.
"7. One of the principal cares of General
Read will be to see that the irrigations of the
Tchernaya are let out by the sappers, and that
the bridges are thrown over as speedily as pos-
sible, to carry over with every possible speed
the artillery and cavalry to the other side.
"8. After taking the Heights of Fedu-
khine, General Read will remain there, and
await special orders from the commander-in-|
chief, in case an attack on the south side of
necessary.
"9. After the battle General Read will take
measures to fortify the Fedukhine Heights.
"Quartermaster-general,
"MAJOR-GENERAL GROTENFELD.””
Such was the plan contemplated; and its
early execution became desirable, as the Rus-
sian army in the field, especially when so
largely increased by the recently-arrived rein-
forcements, was suffering from want of water.
Had not the summer been one in which an
unusual quantity of rain fell, the sufferings of
the Russian soldiery would have been still
greater, as the allies commanded the whole
line of the Tchernaya, and, to some small
extent, its tributaries.
The ground on each side of the river
ascends in unequal and broken slopes to a
range of hills or hillocks, on which plateaux
are formed of very unequal dimensions, and at
varied distances from each other. These ranges
of heights approach nearer to one another,
because nearer to the river in the vicinity of
Inkerman, and they separate more and more
widely as the distance from Inkerman in-
creases. They are variously designated as
hills, heights, and mountains, the last being
the name given by the Russians. But their
elevation is greatly inferior to the ranges of
hills by which, looking from the plateau before
Sebastopol, the scene is bounded. The high
knolls which are formed on the opposite sides
of the river on the acclivities from its banks
are called by various names, such as plateaux,
mamelons, knolls, heights, hillocks, &c. It is
especially necessary to keep this in view in
reading the despatches and the reports of the
generals, to avoid confusion arising from this
diversity of terms.
Descending from their extreme right on
280
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
:
:
:
in face of the Sardinian army. The stream of
the Tchouliou rising in these hills, or at all
events winding its course among them, de-
scends to Tchorgoum, and there pours itself
into the Tchernaya. The Sardinians crossed
the river at this confluence, and occupied both
banks of the stream. Farther to the right and
to the rear, Generals Scarlett and d'Allonville
occupied the entrance to the valley of Baidar;
the Turks were more to the rear-towards
Balaklava-than the cavalry. The chief autho-
Far-rity along the whole line of the Tchernaya was
in the hands of Pelissier, as his forces were
numerically superior to those of the other
allies. The command of the French lines was
entrusted to General Herbillon, with the
cavalry general, Morris, as second in com-
mand. General della Marmora commanded
the Sardinians. Osman Pasha was in com-
munication with both Herbillon and Marmora.
The lines were beyond the limits of Sir Colin
Campbell's command; the English officer
having chief authority was General Scarlett.
Captain Mowbray, of the artillery, was the
principal British officer having post within the
lines. The forces of our French ally, with
their arrangement, is given from an official
authority; some slight discrepancies between
it and the despatch of General Pelissier will
be found, but the general-in-chief is, in such
cases, to be corrected by this detail. It must
be borne in mind that along the French front
ran the aqueduct by which the Karabelnaia
portion of Sebastopol was fed with water from
the Tchernaya. This constituted an additional ·
line of defence after the enemy should cross
the river, and made the position extremely
strong, rendering it exceedingly difficult for
any large force to ascend, unbroken, with suffi-
cient celerity the range of plateaux occupied
by our ally.
"On the right of the ravine, and facing the
the plateau before Sebastopol, where Bosquet's
forces were posted by Inkerman, the French
occupied positions along the elevations on the
left bank of the river to the Bridge of Trak-
tar, at the other end of which, on the right
bank, they formed a tête de pont, well de-
fended, and detached their outposts upon the
acclivities ascending from the vicinity of the
bridge on the right bank.
Beyond the bridge, still farther up the
river, the French line was extended, so that
the bridge was opposite to the centre.
ther to the right were posted the Sardinians,
on the elevated grounds, with their advanced
detachments thrown across the Tchernaya,
occupying the banks of two tributary streams
of inconsiderable size. Both the French and
Sardinians were supported by cavalry, and
guns of position occupied commanding points.
On the Sardinian line a powerful English
battery was planted.
Farther still to the right, beyond the lines
of the Sardinians, and somewhat in their rear,
were placed the forces of Osman Pasha, who
commanded the Turkish troops in the Crimea
in the absence of Omar Pasha, who was per-
petually sailing about between Balaklava and
Eupatoria, Eupatoria and Kamiesch, and all
these places and Constantinople, sulky and
chagrined at the duties assigned to him in the
arrangements of the allied generals. A con-
siderable force of English cavalry were upon
the extreme right, and in support.
This general view of the positions in which
the allied troops were placed will prepare the
reader for a detailed account.
From the Traktar Bridge, which was op-
posite the right centre of the French, an excel-
lent road led to the M'Kenzie Heights, which
was the head-quarters of the enemy. The
Tchouliou Heights were opposite the right
wing of the French, and their range extended
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
281
Russian army, was encamped the first brigade
of Faucheux's division (2nd Zouaves and 19th
battalion of Foot Chasseurs), with the 6th
battalion of the 13th artillery. This hill is
strongly commanded by the crest of the plateau
of Tchouliou. On the second hill, much higher
than the first, were, on the right, the second
brigade of General Faucheux's division (Gene-
ral Failly, with the 95th and 97th), two regi-
ments of the first brigade of General Camou
(50th and 3rd Zouaves), and the 3rd battery of
the 2nd artillery. Lastly, at the extreme left,
on the third hill, the rest of the division of
General Camou (a regiment of African Rifles,
6th and 82nd), and Generals Wimpffen and
Vergé, with the first battery of the 13th regi-
ment. Behind these hills, forming the reserve,
was General Cler, with the 62nd and 73rd, and
five mounted batteries, of which two were of
the Guard.
"The first brigade of Herbillon's division
(14th battalion of Foot Chasseurs, 47th and
53rd of the line) was placed midway on the
plateau of Inkerman, under the telegraph, and
near the Canrobert Redoubt.
advantages by too much precipitation. It is
necessary to study the movements that the
enemy may make, and to profit by the moment
that may appear the most propitious to attack
vigorously. The generals of division who are
in positions of which they have a knowledge,
will be in a measure able to judge of this
opportunity. They will be supported by the
general commanding the lines of the Tchernaya.
979
On the night of the 15th, the Russian army
was moved down from the M'Kenzie Heights,
and took post silently along the range of hills
which confronted the French and Sardinian
positions. In order to prevent any suspicion
of such a movement, demonstrations had been
made in the direction of the Baidar Valley,
where General d'Allonville watched the lower
part of that gorge. On the evening of the
15th, especially, D'Allonville was made anxious
by these demonstrations, and telegraphed to
General Herbillon accordingly. The telegraph
was interrupted by the darkness, as the French
used the semaphore system. Whether from
this cause or some other, Herbillon does not
appear to have used any extraordinary precau-
tions, nor to have put Marmora on the qui
vive, who was a very diligent and vigilant
general.
The
Two divisions of the Russian army had
arrived late on the evening of the 15th, and
were only allowed a short time for rest and
refreshment, when they were put in motion
towards the intended points of attack.
Emperor's orders to drive the allies from the
Tchernaya was read at the head of every regi-
ment, and his Majesty's appeals to Russian
patriotism and heroism produced an exciting
effect upon the men. The general-in-chief did
not, however, trust to this excitement alone-
as usual, drunkenness was added to religious
and national fanaticism, the men being largely
supplied with alcohol. The stimulus of rack
"The division of cavalry commanded by
General Morris (four regiments of African
Chasseurs) bivouacked on the plain of Balaklava,
behind the right of the Fedukhine* Mountains.
The Turks occupied the mountainous ground of
Balaklava, against which, however, there could
be no occasion to apprehend an attack; for it
is a broken region, that renders any manœuvre
of masses totally impossible. Whatever the
intention of the enemy, he could not, in any
case, do more there than make false demon-
strations. 'The positions we hold being very
favourable for the defensive,' said General
Herbillon, in his instructions to the generals
under his orders, we must not lose their
* "The Russians gave this name to the heights which they
attempted to storm by the Traktar Bridge.
A
00
282
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
was only given to the infantry, in order to
sustain their fury in the assault: the artillery-
men who cannonaded the allied positions, and
the cavalry who were held in reserve, were
preserved in sobriety, as the part they were
expected to perform required coolness in those
to whom it was assigned.
On the morning of the 16th, before dawn,
the attacking columns were put in motion: on
their right, where the French were to be
assailed, General Read commanded; on the
left, against the Sardinians, the command
devolved upon Liprandi. The morning was
misty-a circumstance the advantage of which
frequently fell to the Russians in their attacks,
and on this occasion they made it available for
a furtive advance upon the allies.
Liprandi's force descended the Tchouliou
Heights upon Tchorgoum; the advanced post
of the Sardinians was held by 200 men, who
were stationed above the right bank of the
stream, which fell into the Tchernaya there.
These 200 men were supported by a rifle
battalion, who took post on the left bank of
the stream. The Sardinians did not expect an
attack, and no preparations more than ordinary
were made to receive one. The sentries beyond
the outpost heard the tramp of a large body of
men, and discharged their muskets. The
picket advanced, and fired; and the 200 men
who occupied the advanced position were
instantly engaged with a large body of the
advanced guard of the enemy. These 200 men
fought with the coolest gallantry. They knew
that the only way to prevent the main body
from being surprised in the obscurity of the
morning mist was by maintaining a prolonged
contest, however unequal their force to that of
the enemy. Nobly did they fulfil this duty, a
fourth of the entire Sardinian loss being sus-
tained by that small body of men. So steady
was the fire of these companies, that the Rus-
sians were kept in check for many minutes.
Nor did the little band retire as the enemy
came on increasing in force; they, with in-
trepid resolution, crossed bayonets with the
advancing ranks, and were engaged in a fierce
hand-to-hand struggle when the rifle battalions
in support arrived, and covered their retreat.
This was effected with masterly skill, doing
credit alike to the discipline and bravery of
the Piedmontese. When the sharpshooters
arrived, the Russians were leaping from the
parapet of the epaulement-behind which the
advanced companies were placed-among its
gallant defenders, who made no movement
in retreat until ordered by the commanding
officer of the supports to do so. They crossed
the stream, fighting as they retired; and,
receiving further supports, fell slowly and
securely back upon the main defence, which
was, in consequence of the enemy having been
kept so well at bay, ready for the coming
assault. The flying batteries of the Russians
discharged an eager fire on the retiring
Savoyards; but so badly was that fire directed,
that little loss was inflicted. The mist which
rose from the river prevented the enemy from
directing with effect the fire of his artillery;
and the same cause, together with the smoke
from the cannon and musketry, which hung
densely over the scene of contest, rendered it
difficult for the English and Piedmontese guns.
to find the range of the advancing foe.
While this was going on in front and on the
flank of the Sardinians, the French were also
attacked. Their first intimation of battle was
the sound of musketry, opened by the Pied-
montese advanced companies when they dis-
cerned the descending corps of the enemy.
The French stood to their arms, but before
they had time to muster, the balls from the
Russian heights, which were crowned with
artillery, scattered the dying watch-fires, and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
283
broke in among the tents. A moment after,
the French advanced posts on the other side of
the Tchernaya were assailed. They did not
hold their positions with as much tenacity as
their Piedmontese brothers-in-arms; they re-
tired quickly, but with that address so peculiar
to the French, rapidly followed by the enemy,
who manifested at once resolution and activity.
It was on the extreme left of the French,
below the Traktar Bridge, that the Russians
first gained access to the left bank of the river.
The defence was commanded by General Camou.
He was fiercely assailed by probably the whole
of the seventh division. His skirmishers were
swept back after a brief and desultory resist-
ance, the enemy dashing into the water, and
forcing the passage manfully. The officer in
command was the first to leap into the flood,
and was
"Bravely followed by his grenadiers,
Tho' bullets flew like hail about their ears."
The left bank was gained almost instanta-
neously, and, with a celerity for which Russian
troops had not the credit, they formed, and
ascended the slopes. The French poured a
deadly fire from the margin of the aqueduct;
but the Russians crossed that line of defence
also, undismayed by the increasing roll of
musketry, and gained the summit of the
plateau, where the main body of Camou's
division rested, and whence his artillery played
with murderous effect upon the advancing host.
Here, before there was time for the assailing
column to deploy, the 50th regiment of the line
and the 3rd Zouaves poured in a close volley,
beneath which it was broken. Before any
attempt at formation could be made-the
assailing force being, properly, neither in line
nor in column, but confused and crowded on
the upper portion of the acclivity-the two
French corps charged with the bayonet, and
rolled the disorderly mass of troops into the
aqueduct beneath. The conduct of the Russian
officers was worthy of all praise. They endea-
voured to rally and re-form their men at the
aqueduct, but the 82nd regiment of the line
charged them in flank, and they were hurled
down upon the Tchernaya. As they passed
through the river, and clambered up the oppo-
site banks, the French batteries played upon
them with grape and canister, strewing the
water's brink and the hill-side with the slain.
Thus, the attack on the extreme left of the
allied line was signally repulsed; and on the
extreme right the obstinacy and skill of the
Sardinian outpost and supports rendering a
surprise impossible, caused the enemy to hesi-
tate upon the expediency of attacking so strong
a position, manned by soldiers so resolute.
Liprandi ordered a heavy cannonade, which
was answered with superior skill and spirit by
the Sardinians; while loud above all the
booming of the battle the English battery of
heavy guns could be heard, as by its sure and
terrible fire Liprandi's artillery was shattered,
and lanes swept through the columns of his
infantry.
While the Sardinians were contesting the
banks of the Tchouliou, and General Camou so
effectually defended the Lower Tchernaya,
General Read, in person, precipitated himself
upon the French centre, by way of the Traktar
Bridge. After the battle, Gortschakoff ac-
counted for his defeat by alleging that these
movements on the allied left and centre were
premature-that Read was ordered first to
ascertain the success of Liprandi at the wooden
bridge of Tchorgoum before either the stone
bridge of Traktar was stormed, or the Tcher-
naya below the bridge was crossed. The direc-
tions found on the person of General Read do
not bear out that criticism, which seems to
have been an after-thought on the part of the
prince; besides, Liprandi acted in the early
284
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
*
part of the combat as if his part were only a
feint, and that the key of the allied positions
was the Traktar Bridge. Liprandi pushed
down his troops in pursuit of the retiring
Piedmontese until they reached the wooden
bridge which crosses the Tchernaya above the
junction of the Tchouliou; but there the defence
of the gallant mountain-men was so tenacious,
that if he designed anything more than a
diversion for Read, his conduct was pusillani-
mous, or utterly unaccountable. If there were
blame to be cast anywhere for the defeat, it
should be upon the living Liprandi, or Gorts-
chakoff himself, and not upon the slain Read;
in fact, the Russians came on in the same way
as at Inkerman, were defeated much in the
same way, and endeavoured by a similar pre-
text-the slander of a fallen general-to
account for their repulse.
Whatever might have been the orders given
to Read as to making his attack dependent
upon the success of Liprandi, he did not wait
for a result, of which the conduct of that
general gave no promise, but launched his
seventh division against Camou, and was beaten
back signally, as we have seen, while he
personally superintended the charge upon the
Traktar Bridge. The French fled across the
bridge and the river after a feeble resistance:
in some ambuscades on the bank a show of
determination was made, but they were soon
driven out. Crossing the bridge, and at various
portions of the river, where, despising the
pontoons which they brought for the occasion,
the Muscovites boldly rushed through the
water, wading to their middle, and gained the
bank and the gorges which opened from the
bridge with the most daring courage and dash-
ing celerity. Such prompt action on the part
of Russian infantry had not before been wit-
nessed by the French, and was not supposed
to be characteristic of the troops of that nation.
The twelfth Russian division, supported by
the fifth, made good the passage of the bridge,
and of the river above the bridge, in spite of
the skilful dispositions and intrepid fighting of
General of brigade De Failly. To the left and
right of the bridge were the batteries of Cap-
tains Vautré and Sailly, and these made havoc
among such of the enemy as used the planks
and flying bridges. Those who rushed into
the water were beneath the range of shot, and
were more concealed by the mist. The flying
bridges and heavy planks were struck by the
cannon-balls, and broken, or thrown into the
river, and many of the assailants perished in
that manner; but on so many points was a
passage sought, and by methods so independent
of one another, that the arrangements of De
Failly proved utterly inadequate, and the Rus-
sians swarmed up the slopes. The French
literally ran up the heights, and had no time
to spare in their efforts to escape their deter-
mined pursuers. Although (as already re-
marked) the width between the heights above
the Tchernaya increases up the river from
Inkerman, yet where the action was fought
was an exception, so that the enemy had a
steep ascent.
steep ascent. The regiments intended to act
in support arrived opportunely, as the heavy
masses of the enemy directed their surging
advance against De Failly to their right, and
Herbillon to their left. A battalion of the 73rd
regiment of the line strengthened the position
of De Failly; while General Cler debouched
with three battalions—one of that regiment,
and two of the 62nd-upon the hill, to the
right of the Traktar gorge. There a terrible
contest had made progress before the supports
were fairly brought into action.
"General Faucheux, aided by Commanders
Darbois and Algeo, at the head of two batta-
lions of Zouaves, and one of Chasseurs, had
withstood a host. Both commanders had fallen
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
285
1
and 400 of their brave soldiers lay around.
them, when Cler arrested the impetuosity of
the enemy by a volley discharged at once into
their compact mass.
At this moment the
Zouaves had given way; but falling into line
with Cler's battalions, they joined in a bloody
bayonet charge, which swept the enemy more
rapidly down than he had ascended, until the
river for a moment impeded his course. The
French, halting, opened a steady and deliberate
fusillade upon the defeated soldiers as they
pushed through the stream, and struggled up
Here they found the
the opposite banks.
ladders which they had cast away in their
advance, of use to them in a mode they little
calculated when they carried them into action
as accessories of their attack.
De Failly's reinforcements proved equally
efficient. This intrepid officer advanced before
his men, his sword gleaming in the light,
which now began to conquer the morning
mist. He was gallantly followed; the brigade
delivered one volley, and a bayonet charge,
after the manner of the British, which sent the
enemy in flight back upon the Tchernaya.
These brilliant charges very much resembled
that executed at Busaco by Colonel Wallace,
when, with four companies of the Connaught
Rangers, he precipitated a French column
down from the heights, just as they were about
to deploy, and attack in flank the Hon. Colonel
King and his Fusileers (the 5th).
The Russians, baffled and repulsed at all
points, did not yet despair of victory. The
seventeenth division, which was with Liprandi
on the heights above the Tchouliou, was pushed
down against the French right under Fau-
cheux; the twelfth and fifth divisions immedi-
ately re-forming, divided themselves into three
columns, and once more assaulted the bridge
of Traktar.
away, and the appearance of the attack was
beautiful as seen from the Fedukhine Heights;
the glittering helmets of the Russians and the
sheen of their bayonets seemed like waves suc-
ceeding waves, rolling onward as they reflected
the sun's rays. They did not advance like
troops which had experienced defeat. The
seventeenth division had not been in very severe
action, although for some time previously they
had been kept in check above Tchorgoum by a
Turkish column, moved over by General Mar-
mora, and some companies of his bersaglieri
The French made
(riflemen of Piedmont).
suitable dispositions to arrest the new danger.
Colonel Forgeot, who commanded the horse
artillery, and had not come into action until
the Russians were retreating after the failure
of their first assault, now placed seven batteries
of his force along the front of the French line,
more especially to the right below the positions.
occupied by Faucheux, where the ground being
undulated rather than steep, favoured his
dispositions. General Pelissier himself now
arrived upon the scene of action, speedily fol-
lowed by General Simpson, the latter rather
as an observer. Pelissier brought up the
reserves,-Levaillant's division of the 1st
corps, Dulac's division of the 2nd, and the
Imperial Guard.
Liprandi commanded the Russians, where
the assault was in the direction of the division
of Faucheux and the right of Herbillon's
division; Prince Gortschakoff in person di-
rected the assault against the left of Herbillon's
division and the division of De Failly, General
Read having fallen in the previous attack.
S
The attempt to cross the bridge and to
ford the river was not found so easy of accom-
plishment as when Read directed the previous
passage. The tête de pont on the Russian side
was defended for a short time fiercely; but
At this juncture the mist entirely cleared the enemy pressed on in such overwhelming
286
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
numbers that it could not be retained. Colonel
Danner, at the head of the 95th, threw himself
upon the bridge and defended it, foot to foot,
while the French batteries at either side sup-
ported him, sweeping the farther end of the
bridge with a mitraille, before which great num-
bers of the assailants fell. Still the river was
forded in several places, and the heights
ascended; but the left wing of Herbillon's
division, and the supports under Cler, repulsed
the assailants with a fatally precise fire, and
once more a bayonet charge pushed them back
upon the Tchernaya. The right of Herbillon's
division and the division of Faucheux were not
approached by the bayonet on this occasion;
the batteries of Forgeot's horse artillery poured
forth so destructive a fire, that the Russians
hesitated, wavered, and fled, before they felt
the touch of French steel. Thus, once more,
the left bank of the river was clear of the
enemy; but this immunity did not continue
long, for the seventeenth division, as if
ashamed of its repulse, rallied with alacrity,
and, reinforced by the regiment of Odessa,
composed of several battalions, made a more
determined charge than ever, and this time
upon the extreme right of the French. The
object of Liprandi seemed to be to pierce
between the French right and the Sardinians;
this would open for them a passage to the
plain of Balaklava. General Marmora per-
ceived the intention of Liprandi before the
attempt was developed, and sent the second
Piedmontese division, under General Trott, to
form along the aqueduct. This division he
supported by Sardinian and English cavalry,
in case opportunity should be afforded for
their action. Besides these excellent disposi-
tions, he directed several batteries upon the
flank of the Russian column. Rightly judging
that he had little to fear from the enemy
in front of him while so large a force was
/
directed against the French right, and knowing
that if any attempt were made his Turks and
bersaglieri would keep them at bay until rein-
forced, he thus detached a large amount of his
troops against the flank of the enemy. Before
Trotti had time to deploy on the extreme of
the hill occupied by the French, the battle
there had raged with great fury. Some writers
represent Trotti's division as only arriving
when the enemy was repulsed, and the guns of
the Sardinians as playing upon the flank of
the flying Russians; but French officers of the
highest authority, who were present at the
action, and Sardinians, who were also engaged,
represent the discomfiture of the assault as
due in great part to the heavy fire of Trotti's
batteries and the guns of position, which were
turned upon their exposed flank. This was the
circumstance which really prevented the exe-
cution of the out-flanking movement, for the
troops who sought to effect it, taken in front
and flank by cannon and musketry at close
range (the mists no longer present to cover
their advance), were sacrificed in prodigious
numbers, and staggered back to the aqueduct,
falling in lines beneath the fire of their
triumphant foes. Yet this bleeding, stricken
mass rallied upon the aqueduct, and opened a
formidable fire of musketry upon the French,
taking little or no heed to the Piedmontese
upon their flank. The Odessa regiment, which
had hitherto remained in support, and in ob-
servation of which the Sardinians were obliged
to manœuvre with circumspection, now madę
its way through the shattered but obstinate
remnant of the seventeenth division, and
ascending the hill in close column, preserving
its order under a most galling fire, and moving
with the most steady and perfect discipline.
This fine body of men directed its way to the
extreme right of the French, where a battery
had been placed, and behind the battery
+
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
287
General Cler, with two battalions, was conccaled
on a slight declivity. His orders were that
not a shot should be fired until the drums beat
the charge. The Russians advanced with the
greatest audacity, charging the battery with
the bayonet; the gunners, having given a
terrible salvo, sought shelter. The drums
instantly beat the charge; the two battalions
sprang forth and fired; a sudden flash from
the long line of bayonets gleaming in the
morning sun-a a cheer—a shock-another
cheer, and the proud brave regiment of Odessa
fell as the ripe leaves cut by the blast of an
autumnal storm. Many perished on the slope,
many in the aqueduct and in the space where
it joins the Tchernaya. The avenging French
pressed on with order but rapidity, and smote
with terrible energy, as if a winged sword
flashed from heaven upon the vanquished.
Trotti poured in his fusilade along the flank,
and the guns from the Sardinian batteries
showered death upon the doomed battalions.
The colonel and nearly all the officers were
among the slain. One-third of that fine body
of men were seen clambering up the sides of
the Tchouliou, or seeking shelter where any
projecting crag afforded them a partial cover.
The battle was over-the victory was won; but
the punishment to be visited upon the enemy
was not even yet exhausted. They had brought
over three field-pieces in the last attempt near
the stone bridge, which were well placed and.
well served. In the Russian eagerness never
to lose a gun, many men were lost in their
efforts, which were successful, to carry the
pieces away. Their sufferings were very con-
siderable in front of the Sardinians, for as
Gortschakoff collected and deployed his beaten
battalions upon the heights, the English bat-
tery, composed of guns of tremendous power,
threw its missiles upon them. The loud roar
of the English artillery, which smote the ear
above all the din of battle, now seemed to
break out with redoubled fury, as Captain
Mowbray cannonaded the enemy, who formed
his lines upon the opposite plateaux, the left
resting on the Telegraph Hill-or, as General
Marmora designated it, the Tchorgoum Mame-
lon—and the right resting on the lower slopes
of the M'Kenzie.
|
Considerable discussion has been raised as
to the possibility or propriety of a cavalry
charge upon the flying enemy, and Mr. Russell
says that if a Murat had commanded the
cavalry, thousands of the enemy would have
been made prisoners and their batteries cap-
tured. This, however, is by no means certain.
A cavalry pursuit on such ground would pro-
bably have been, in some respects, a repetition
of the scene at Balaklava when the light
cavalry were slaughtered. The Russian bat-
teries on the heights would have mowed down
their fellow-soldiers of the retreating infantry,
according to their custom, in order to reach
the victorious cavalry. Marmora did order
forward the Sardinian and English cavalry
immediately at his disposal, and prisoners
were made and fugitives cut down, but
General Pelissier would not support that
movement, for the reasons alleged above. Some
French officers gave out that Pelissier would
have pursued the Russians with the whole
cavalry force, had not General Scarlett refused
to expose his troopers to so great a risk; but
there was no truth in this. The English
general was not only ready to act, but he
and his horsemen were burning for a charge.
Pelissier was actuated by a prudent and just
reluctance to sacrifice the gallant soldiers of an
allied nation where the issue was so uncertain;
and the results did not promise that the prize
would compensate for the hazard of the under-
taking. Sir Edward Colebrook, who paid a
second visit to the Crimea immediately after
*
STAT
288
卧
​THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
く
​long range, and unable to advance as the
troops moved forward, their attack on this
occasion was rash in the extreme. Some guns
were brought down in the plain, a short dis-
tance from the river, but they were too few in
number and unable to hold their ground.
this battle was fought, kept a journal of what
fell under his observation, which was after-
wards privately circulated among his friends.
Sir Edward favoured the author of this his-
tory with a copy, from which the following
extract is pertinent to the discussion as to the
propriety of a cavalry charge. The whole of
Sir Edward's sketch of the scene of conflict is
extremely interesting, as well as correct, we
therefore give it entire :-
"The 22nd (August) we started with
Major Tupper for the Tchernaya and scene of
the Russian attack; we passed over the field
of the light cavalry charge of last October,
and ascended the opposite heights, now occu-
pied by the French. As Tupper was present
in the action with the horse artillery, and had
been over the field afterwards, I could not
have had a better guide. I was struck by
some points of resemblance to the position
occupied by the Russians before the Alma, and
carried by the British. A river winding slug-
gishly in front, between steep banks, here and
there fordable, but full of holes; the artillery
placed on the side of a gently rising hill,
forming a natural glacis, sweeping the plain lery were well placed for defensive operations
by which the Russians advanced. The French
position was, however, much stronger than the
Alma. Our troops were able to form under
cover of the hill, after crossing the river,
though some were unfortunately pushed for-
ward in confusion, which occasioned severe
loss. The Russians, on the other hand, were
exposed during the whole of their advance.
The Tchernaya besides was a more difficult
river to pass than the Alma, and, moreover,
the French position was defended by a second
water-course, viz., the aqueduct, which, though
little more than a ditch, was a deep one, with
high banks, and they were lined by troops.
When we add to this that the Russian artillery
were placed on the spur of the opposite hill at
"This attack may be said to have been a
fight for water; the white cliffs opposite are
said to be very deficient, and the mass of the
Russian troops are kept on the Lelbek. Had
they carried the heights, they would have occu-
pied a strong position with a river in their
rear, and been ready to move offensively at any
time, while our large force would have been
hemmed into a narrow space and starved for
want of water, or, in spreading to obtain it,
they would have been open to attack. Some
impatience has been expressed at the French
success not having been followed up, and it is
said that our cavalry were invited to pursue
the retreating Russians and declined. I feel
bold to say, if the inspection of the ground
by an idle amateur is worth anything, that an
attempt to follow the enemy with cavalry alone
would have been madness. The Russian artil-
* "Major-General Sir J. Scarlett has pointed out to me that
this is incorrect. What really took place is described in the
following passage of Marshal Pelissier's despatch on the
occasion:- For a moment I felt inclined to order a portion
of the cavalry to charge, and cut down the remnant of the
17th Russian division between Tchouliou and Traktar Bridge;
with this object in view I had prepared some squadrons of
Chasseurs d'Afrique, who were joined by some Sardinian
squadrons, and by one of General Scarlett's regiments, the
12th Lancers, from India; but the retreat of the Russians
was so prompt that we could only have made a small number
of prisoners, and this fine cavalry might have been reached by
the enemy's batteries still in position. I deemed it preferable
not to expose it for so small a result.' So far from declining
to advance, part of the British cavalry had been put in motion
to support the French squadrons when the order to advance
was countermanded. As the report in the text was current in
camp after the action, and it has received countenance from
my journal, which has been already privately circulated, I am
glad to have the opportunity of inserting this correction in
the note."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
289
though not for attack, and the cavalry, even if
it crossed the river (which was not very easy
in face of an enemy), would have met with
destruction. It would have been, in fact,
another Balaklava. If any pursuit was at-
tempted, it should have been by the whole
force, but allied movements cannot, from their
nature, be as rapid as bystanders would wish;
and pursuit to any distance was out of the
question, as the position the Russians fell back
upon was of immense strength. The Russians
besides, though beaten, fell back in good order,
and their retreat was covered by both cavalry
and guns.
"We followed the course of the Tchernaya
to the ford in front of the Sardinian position,
and rode to their outposts on the hill occupied
by the Russian artillery on the 16th. I had a
double object in this-I was able to view the
field of battle from the Russian side, and
reconnoitre the white cliffs that bar our pas-
sage to the north. They look like white walls,
stretching for miles to the east without a
break, and any attempt to carry them by
direct assault would be, I should think, per-
fectly hopeless.
66 This was to me a day of much interest.
It wanted the excitement of the sight of actual
conflict, but I was spared the horrors of a
battle-field when the strife is over. The dead
were removed, but the field bore abundant
traces of the struggle, remains of accoutre-
ments, cartridges, and Russian bread in great
quantities."
If the appearance of the field, as seen by
Sir Edward Colebrook six days after the battle,
gave evidences of a fearful struggle, what must
have been the exhibition of horror presented
there when in the bright noon and afternoon
of an August day the wounded were collected,
and the narrow sphere of the conflict was
wholly open to view? The dead lay in heaps
on both sides of the river, especially where
the most desperate efforts were made, and
where the regiment of Odessa was cut to
pieces on the French right. The bridge of
Traktar was choked with the dead and
wounded: the river flowed reddened with
blood-the allies could not even water their
horses in it for several days. The French
loss was only 19 subaltern officers killed and
53 wounded; 152 sub-officers and soldiers
killed, 146 missing, and 1,163 wounded. The
Sardinians lost only 250 men. The Russian
sacrifice to this sanguinary enterprise it is
impossible to estimate with accuracy. The
French buried 2,129; the Russians buried
1,200: making the number certainly slain
3,329. There were 1,664 wounded Russians
carried by the French ambulances from the
field, and 400 prisoners were taken uninjured.
The wounded borne away by the enemy were
very numerous, and many perished during
their retreat in the evening, whose bones were
left to whiten on the slopes of the M'Kenzie.
It is probable that 10,000 were lost to the
Russian army altogether, for it was believed
that the numbers they buried on the right
bank of the Tchernaya were greater than
announced in their report; besides, they dug
deep graves on the heights, to which, for hours
after the battle was over, they were busied in
carrying those who, borne to their hospital
accommodation in the rear, had proved mor-
tally wounded. It may be easily conceived
that the slaughter was immense from such
numerous assaults made by compact bodies of
men, and continued without intermission for
five hours.
An armistice for the burial of the dead
took place; but in consequence of the Rus-
sians barbarously firing on the French ambu-
lance parties, who were carrying away the
Russian wounded from the field, by which
PP
290
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
many of those poor wretches were mutilated
or killed, Pelissier refused to bury their dead;
Gortschakoff, without any apology for the
barbarity thus practised by his soldiers and
sanctioned by his officers, sent down 2,000
unarmed men to aid in the work of burial.
They were attended by a Cossack guard, to
prevent their deserting.
Probably the Russians never fought with
a greater contempt of death-not even at
Inkerman-which was attributed to the ex-
citement of intoxication infuriating their com-
bativeness, intensifying their fanaticism, and
stupefying them to a sense of danger. The
regiment of Odessa behaved best where all
behaved well. Their skill did not equal their
vigilance, alertness, and caution in making the
surprise, nor their courage in executing the
duty imposed upon them. It became obvious
that the Muscovite army was no match for the
allies in the field.
The French and British commanders, in
their despatches to their respective govern-
ments, lauded the intelligent generalship of
Marmora, and the heroism of himself and his
gallant Italians.
The report of Marmora to the English
general, Simpson, was enclosed in that officer's
despatch. Marmora, in his preliminary re-
marks, refers to the positions taken up, and
the initiation of the fight, already sufficiently
described, and thus portrays his own active
part in the fray :-
"I begged his Excellency Osman Pasha to
bring up the Turkish troops which were sta-
tioned furthest off; and I ordered the fourth
battalion of riflemen (bersaglieri) to the sup-
port of our outposts, which only consisted of
three companies, in order that these latter
might be enabled to hold their ground as long
as possible, and thus give us time to complete
our arrangements.
"Attacked in the rear by the enemy's artil-
lery, and charged by three columns of infantry,
the outposts, after an hour's firing, fell back,
the reinforcements I had sent to them greatly
At the same time
facilitating their retreat.
I made every effort to silence the enemy's
guns. In this endeavour I was assisted by the
Turkish field-pieces from Alsou, and by the
English battery, with which you were good
Several of the enemy's
enough to reinforce us.
ammunition waggons exploded between seven
and eight o'clock.
"In the mean time the Russians had stationed
fresh batteries near the centre of their position,
and had opened a most effective fire of artillery
on the tête de pont at Traktar, and on the
French positions on our left. A column of
infantry, under cover of this fire, attacked the
Mamelon, which formed the extreme right
The first
of General Herbillon's division.
column had crossed the Tchernaya, and sur-
mounted the steep ascent of the Mamelon, in
spite of the fire of the tirailleurs, when it was
vigorously attacked by the French troops in
support, and hurled back, broken and dis-
ordered, into the Tchernaya.
"As I considered, from the subsequent dis-
positions of the enemy's forces, that he only
intended to make a demonstration of artillery
before our position, while he concentrated his
infantry chiefly on the extreme right of the
third division (Faucheux), on which point a
second column was now advancing, I ordered
a portion of my fifth brigade, under the com-
mand of General Mallard, to march to the sup-
port of the right wing of the French, and I
posted two of our batteries in a position from
whence they could obtain an oblique fire upon
the Russians. At the same time I requested
the English cavalry to move down into the
plain to be in readiness to charge. I had given
similar orders to my own cavalry.
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
291
"When the soldiers of my fifth brigade
arrived at the Mamelon, they found that the
enemy's attack had been already repulsed; but
the fire of the two batteries of the second di-
vision (Trotti) appeared to do great execution
on the second Russian column, which, checked
in front by the French troops, and harassed in
the rear by the fire of our batteries and the
musketry of our battalions, fell back in the
greatest disorder. I then ordered some of our
battalions to advance under cover of the rifle-
men (bersaglieri), but I was requested to coun-
termand this movement.
"The enemy, repulsed at all points, com-
menced his retreat. One column, which ap-
peared to me to consist of a division, retreated
by the Valley of the Tchouliou. Another divi-
sion, the one which had attacked our outposts
and the French right in the morning, fell back
upon the zigzag mamelon; while a third
division followed the road which leads to
M'Kenzie's farm. I took advantage of this
state of things to re-occupy with my troops the
zigzag mamelon, in which design I succeeded
perfectly, in spite of the imposing force which
the enemy still retained on that point. In the
mean time, three battalions of Turkish troops.
advanced into the Valley of Tchorgoum, to
replace the battalion of Cialdini's brigade,
which was occupying the Heights of Karlooka.
Later in the day I crossed the Tchernaya with
four squadrons, and marching in a parallel line
with the zigzag mamelon, came upon the old
Russian redoubt, whence I could easily discern,
at a little distance before us, a very fine array
of regular cavalry, supported by horse artillery.
It was distributed in twelve separate bodies,
and must have been composed of at least fifty
squadrons. This cavalry did not fall back on
M'Kenzie's road till the whole of the infantry
and artillery had effected their retreat.
WHILE the eyes and hearts of the Sardinian
monarch and people were turned to their braves
on the shores of the Black Sea, there was much
to give concern at home. The cholera had
reappeared, making sad havoc, and, as on
former occasions, Genoa sustained the heaviest
measures of affliction.
"The losses sustained by our troops, a por-
tion only of whom was engaged, were very
inconsiderable. They amount to about 200
men placed hors de combat; and I impute the
fact of our not having lost more men mainly to
the works with which we fortified our position,
and to the batteries of heavy guns which you
were so obliging as to lend us for their defence.
It is, however, my painful duty to announce
to your excellency that Count Montevecchio,
the general commanding the fourth brigade, is
mortally wounded; a ball passed through his
chest."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
VICTOR EMMANUEL AT HOME WHILE HIS TROOPS WERE IN THE CRIMEA.-HIS VISITS TO FRANCE
AND ENGLAND.-THE PARIS CONFERENCE AND ITS RESULTS TO SARDINIA.
"The hubbub of certain sounds, the watchword of factions."-SOUTHEY.
Commercial distress was created by the
paralysing presence of the terrible Asiatic
disease, and by other causes, among which was
political discontent, which was itself intensified
and extended by the general distress. The
grape disease seemed to make a climax to
these evils, ruining many, and discouraging
1
1
1
292
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the government, the landed, and the com-
mercial classes.
These gloomy circumstances, and the gloomy
feelings they created, were cheered by the
advent of a good harvest, and scarcely was the
land gladdened by the ripened grain, than
tidings rolled over the wave that a great battle
had been fought upon the heights of the
Tchernaya, that the Sardinians, supported by
British artillery and cavalry, had occupied an
important post, in conjunction with a French
corps d'armée, and had repulsed masses of
Russians with the coolest determination, sus-
taining small loss, and gaining a great victory.
Thus did the balance tremble in the hands of
fortune as evil and good were dealt out to the
brave little state.
The government put forth its utmost strength
to promote public improvement, and restore
the financial and commercial prosperity, which
had been impaired by religious feud, and
political faction injuring public confidence, by
increased taxes, pestilence, great fiscal and
ecclesiastical changes, and the vine blight.
The government proceeded with care and
caution, so as not to infringe the principles of
political economy, and yet encourage the
development of industry. To put obstacles
out of the way, and prevent certain feudal and
ccclesiastical privileges from obstructing, was
their chief work, and it was onerous and deli-
cate. The fruit of this policy was that manu-
factories sprung up in many directions, which
proved productive. The most important of
these generally were, silk, soap, wax, jewellery,
firearms, cabinet making, and wood carving;
but there were very important factories erected
for woollen stuffs, linen, composite candles,
glass, and china, The watchmaking trade of
Savoy became formidably competitive to that
of Geneva.
The railroads were improved, and new
K
schemes laid down and discussed, which after-
wards were completed.
The navy was the object of great care, and
means were efficiently put in force to protect
Sardinian commerce against any ships of
Russia in any quarter of the world, or of any
ally of that power that might spring up.
The organisation of the army went on, and
subscriptions were raised for the sick and
wounded in the Crimea. Men and women of
gentle blood volunteered as nurses; food,
clothes, medicines, medical instruments, ban-
dages, ointments, and appliances, were re-
ceived by the army department; and every
city and large district were equally prominent
in providing some honours and tokens of admi
ration and gratitude for the absent brave.
Victor Emmanuel was the patron and muni-
ficent contributor to every good work. Not-
withstanding his constitutional gaiety and love
of pleasure, he gave himself up to counsel, and
to work-hard and stern work—and studied
the welfare of his people in every conceivable
manner. His popularity spread all over Europe.
He became the object of a sort of enthusiasm
among the populations of all free countries,
but of bitter hatred to the reactionists every-
where, except perhaps in his own kingdom,
where, however opposed to him, there was pro-
bably no personal animosity on the part of the
old nobles and high priests of reaction. The
clergy generally, however, represented him as
a very irreligious king, and, in truth, it would
be difficult to say that this was altogether a
calumny. His personal life was marked by many
bold irregularities, which had been a source of
distress to those members of his family who
had been so suddenly and signally called away
from his side. But it was not because of any
immoralities that he was really thus denounced.
The press and the orators in the interests of
the reactionaries proved this at the time. It
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
293
was his toleration of free thought and free
religion which offended the party, which, had
he been a bigot and a despot, would have
treated as "venial sins," the "mortal sins"
with which they charged him. There was much
room for scandal in the Church on account of
the sovereign's conduct to the sectaries. He
not only let them alone himself, but he com-
pelled others to let them alone. If they were
stoned, smitten, or insulted, "the king's jus-
tice" pursued the aggressor, and the fortunate
heretic found some succour and protection.
Alas for orthodoxy! his Majesty went on from
bad to worse in the priests' esteem, for he
actually subscribed his money, and used his
influence on behalf of distressed Protestant
pastors, and replaced their dilapidated and
inadequate churches by buildings that were
"decent and devout to seem," and kept out
the rain and snow of the rude Alpine storm,
This conduct drove the clergy of the upper
ranks into paroxysms of opposition and wrath,
which were frequent, for the king's sins in
these directions were neither few nor far be-
tween. Three churches were erected at Nice,
Genoa, and Pignerol, for the Valdese worship.
"The Free Italian Church" opened places for
prayer, lecture, or exposition of the Scriptures
in all chief places of the king's dominions,
"none daring to make them afraid." The
poor historic Protestants of Piedmont might
well say, "he loved our nation and built us a
synagogue." There would be far more chance
of a scripture-reader or itinerant preacher being
arrested in Ireland, upon information sworn
by the priest that the religious itinerant would
create a breach of the peace, than that any
power the priesthood could employ would be
sufficient to raise the slightest obstructions to
the "colporteur," or Evangelist, who made
Sardinia the field of his sacred enterprise.
Victor Emmanuel's government endeavoured
A
to make education the base of his reforming
work. The people were ignorant; schools,
lyceums, athenæums, colleges, lectures, "in-
fant preparatories," asylum for orphans, were
established with an energy and enterprise
wonderful, when the resources of the embar-
rassed little state are at the same time con-
sidered. The priests made a terrible struggle
to get the exclusive possession of the schools,
or at least the teaching, but Victor Emmanuel
would not let them. The success of the
government in appropriating the riches of the
luxurious religious houses to the augmentation
of the incomes of poor priests assisted all his
reformations, for a great number of the country
clergy derived great advantage from the changes,
and could not, with any grace, oppose or thwart
the efforts to instruct the people which were
put forth. Some, indeed, were hostile even
in proportion to the benefits they received,
and withal slanderous and vituperative--in
only a few cases were they made amenable to
the laws.
* 10
The politic alliance with England and
France brought Victor Emmanuel into closer
alliance with the monarchs of those countries,
and he resolved to visit them, giving to the
occasion as much of a public character as
possible, The first visit was paid to his
Imperial Majesty.
The visit of Victor Emmanuel was well
known to be in the interests of the alliance;
but, at the same time, prompted by the aspect
which affairs began to take between the allies
and Russia, through the officiousness of
Austria. The Sardinian court perceived that
Austria was desirous of bringing on a peace
that she might herself take advantage of "the
situation," and therefore determined to cement
the alliance between the court of Savoy and
the courts of France and England; or at
all events to sound their intentions towards
294
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Sardinia, as her interests might be affected by
a closer alliance of the Western Powers with
Austria. It was hoped also by the Sardinian
cabinet that such a demonstration of good-will
would be made by the French and English
people, particularly the latter, as would give a
decided tone to the friendship professed by
their governments for the only free Italian
state. The policy of this movement was attri-
buted to Count Cavour, but by whomsoever
originated it was wise, and crowned by com-
plete success. The Piémonte, a Sardinian
journal, reputed to be semi-official (at least,
so the Vienna press represented it), declared
that the visit of Victor Emmanuel was not to
form any new treaty, nor for any real or osten-
sible political business, but nevertheless it had
a political signification, and was intended at
once as a demonstration of the policy of Sar-
dinia, and as a means of evoking the feeling
of the Western governments and peoples.
Perhaps ambition had some part in the breast
of the royal tourist upon this occasion, for the
Piémonte ended an article on the subject of his
journey by the significant declaration: "Italy
and her future destinies will be solemnly
honoured in his person, in the face of all
Europe.'
""
On the 20th of November his Sardinian
Majesty left Turin for Genoa. His departure
was regarded with deep interest by the citizens
of the metropolis, who offered to his Majesty
every token of respect which might be expected
from their well-known good taste, loyalty, and
patriotism. At Genoa, the debarkation of the
sovereign was regarded with deep interest by
all classes, and by foreigners, who, in so large
a proportion reside in that far-famed city.
Prayers and blessings followed the sovereign,
and he had reason to be proud of the devotion
of his people. He set sail in the Carlo Alberto
frigate, and on the 22nd arrived in the port of
Marseilles. The frigate and the forts exchanged
salutes, which circumstance gave the signal for
the people and officials of Marseilles to throng
forth to honour the royal guest. He landed
dressed in the uniform of the royal regiment
of Sardinian Hussars; the prefect and the
general commanding the garrison received him
with the formalities usual on such occasions;
the people with respect and enthusiasm. The
crowd remained uncovered while the staff
passed along the lines, and loud vivas greeted
his approach; the ships in the harbour were
covered with flags, and many also floated from
the windows of the principal streets of the
city. Notwithstanding the satisfaction which
so hospitable a reception must have afforded
his Majesty, that of his own subjects resident
in Marseilles, where they were numerous, must
have been much more so. They thronged
around his carriage, and offered the warmest
tributes of devoted loyalty which the occasion
permitted. His Majesty left the same day for
Paris, visiting Lyons en route, where his recep-
tion was equally agreeable to him and to his
nation.
my
On the 23rd he arrived in Paris. At
the station of the Lyons railway, he passed
under a gay profusion of Sardinian, French,
British, and Turkish flags, arranged with that
artistic faculty which in so high a degree
characterises our Parisian neighbours. The
decorations of the waiting-room and its ap-
proaches were truly elegant, especially a
canopy of crimson velvet, fringed with gold,
over the door of the waiting-room. The Im-
perial Guards and the Cent Guards (the latter
a cavalry escort employed on all state occa-
sions), and seven of the imperial carriages,
were ready to conduct his Majesty and suite
to the palace of the Tuileries. As soon as his
Majesty alighted at the railway terminus,
Prince Napoleon received him, while the band
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
295
of the Guides played the "Marche de Savoie."
As the cortège proceeded to the Tuileries, the
eagerness of the multitudes to get a glimpse at
his Majesty was manifested, and acclamations,
hearty and continuous, resounded along the
line of his progress. At the foot of the grand
staircase of the palace he was received by the
Emperor, and, at the top of the staircase, the
Empress and her suite awaited him. Apart-
ments had been prepared for him at the
Pavillon Marsan, whither he retired after his
reception. The king remained six days in
Paris, where festivities and entertainments of
various descriptions, in the elegant and hos-
pitable style always maintained by Frenchmen,
did him honour. On the evening of the 29th
of November, he left for London, viâ Calais.
His reception at Calais was very cordial, but
he merely passed through. The British
steamer, Vivid, and the yachts, Firefly and
Osborne, were his naval escort. His Majesty
was accompanied by his celebrated minister,
Cavour, and an illustrious suite. At half-past
seven o'clock on the morning of the 30th the
little squadron reached Dover; the Blenheim
(a line-of-battle ship) fired a royal salute, and
the Drop Redoubt, on the heights, discharged
a salvo of artillery. The troops, consisting of
the Lincolnshire Militia and the Swiss Legion,
were drawn out as a guard of honour for his
Majesty. General Grey, Lord Byron, Lord
Chelsea, Mr. Rice, M.P. for Dover, the naval
and military authorities, the mayor and chief
citizens, were in attendance, with the Sar-
dinian minister and his secretary, Baron
Marochetti (better known by his eminence in
sculpture). His Majesty proceeded to the
Ship Hotel, where the mayor and corporation
waited upon him. Mr. Bodkin, the recorder,
presented him with an address. The reply of
his Majesty was delivered through the Sar-
dinian minister. As the first public words.
-
addressed by the king to the English people,
they are worthy of record :
"Gentlemen,
"You are the first who have offered to me,
on landing on the hospitable soil of England,
words of congratulation and of welcome.
Those words are more highly appreciated by
me on that account; and I am most happy to
receive through you the first marks of sym-
pathy at the moment I am realising a wish,
long entertained by me, of visiting the
sovereign of this great country. The expres-
sions you have adopted in pronouncing an
eulogium on the Sardinian army in the Crimea
are most grateful to my ears, and I am sure
the approbation of the countrymen of those
who combated so well at Alma and Inkerman
will be highly valued by our soldiers. I accept
the expression of your good wishes as a happy
omen of my journey, and I beg that you will
convey to your fellow-citizens, whom you
represent, my most sincere sentiments of
gratitude."
-
At ten o'clock his Majesty left for London,
and reached the Bricklayers' Arms Station
soon after twelve o'clock, where Prince Albert
and an escort of cavalry awaited him. The
Lord Mayor of London and the sheriffs, with
many military officers of distinction, were pre-
sented to his Majesty at the station. The
royal carriages conducted the party to the
railway station at Paddington. The morning、
was piercingly cold, and the carriage in which
his Majesty was seated was an open one, yet
the king persisted for some time in sitting un-
covered, but the prince succeeded in inducing
him to put on his hat, and to wrap himself in
a warm fur coat. He looked pale, and traces of
both sickness and care were on his counte-
nance. His reception by the people must
296
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
have been gratifying to him in the extreme,
for it could not have been more cordial. The
day was as clear as cold; and all the profusion
of decoration to be seen in western London on
occasions of public pageant met the eye of
the visitors. The journey by railway from
Paddington to Windsor was rapidly performed.
The queen received her royal guest at the
grand entrance of the castle. In the afternoon
he accompanied her Majesty on a visit to her
royal mother's residence at Frogmore. At
half-past four the Lord Mayor and sheriffs of
London arrived at the castle to pay their
respects, and invite his Majesty to visit the
city. A grand dinner-party in St. George's
Hall closed the occupations of the day. On
the following day the king visited Woolwich,
inspected the Arsenal and Dockyard, and
reviewed the artillery on the common. The
next day being Sunday, his Majesty and suite
attended worship in the Sardinian Chapel,
Lincoln's Inn Fields. Cardinal Wiseman
received him there. On Monday the king
went to Portsmouth to inspect the dockyard
and fleet at Spithead. Six hundred marines,
who had only arrived from the Crimea two
days before, were drawn up to honour the
royal suite. These bearded war-worn veterans.
attracted the king's notice greatly, who
seemed to gaze on them with most profound
interest. The naval display also deeply im-
pressed him, so large a fleet having never
before been seen by his Majesty. One incident,
more than any other, afforded pleasure to all
present, British and Sardinians. A visit was
paid to the new screw steamship Repulse, 91
guns, which much pleased his Majesty. Prince
Albert gracefully told the first lord of the
Admiralty as they retired, that it was her
Majesty's pleasure that the ship should hence-
forth bear the name of Victor Emmanuel II.
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, the mayor
of Portsmouth, on behalf of the corporation,
presented to the king an address, and received
a gracious reply. During his Majesty's stay
in England most of the principal cities sent
deputations and addresses.
On the 4th of December he left Windsor,
and arrived early at Buckingham Palace, where
various addresses were presented to him by
civil and ecclesiastical bodies. Among these
some were of a very peculiar character. That
from the Protestant dissenting deputies of
"the three denominations" - Presbyterian,
Independent, and Baptist-in and around
London was very striking, and the reply of his
Majesty by his ambassador still more so.
Address of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers
to the King of Sardinia.
"TO HIS MAJESTY VICTOR EMMANUEL II.,
KING OF SARDINIA.
"May it please your Majesty,
"The general body of Protestant dissenting
ministers of the three denominations (Presby-
terian, Independent, and Baptist), residing in
and around the cities of London and West-
minster-a body from its earliest origin
identified with the maintenance and progress
of religious liberty, and enjoying the privilege
of admission to the presence of the successive
sovereigns of these realms-hail the visit of
your Majesty to this metropolis as the honoured
guest and ally of our sovereign, her Majesty
Queen Victoria, and regard it as an assurance
of continued amity and the free intercourse of
the people of both nations in promoting com-
merce, liberty, and the best interests of society.
"We have been warmly interested in the
recent history of the kingdom over which your
Majesty has been called to reign. To Italy,
her kingdoms and republics, has the civilised
world looked as the early homes of learning,
refinement, and liberty; but Sardinia, under
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
297
your Majesty's reign, has alone generously
responded to the expectations and necessities
of the times. Her people and her rulers have,
with a calm moderation, sought her prosperity.
The establishment and administration of con-
stitutional government, the recognition of the
independence of the churches of the Waldenses,
and of the freedom of conscience and worship
of all your subjects,-the emancipation of
your people from the wide-spread influence of
monastic establishments, and the maintenance
of civil government unrestricted by ecclesias-
tical domination,-have been regarded by the
members of this body as auguries of the highest
good for all Italy and Europe; and they would
thus express their admiration and gratitude
for the noble and persevering adherence to
the principles of liberty evinced by your
Majesty.
"We have not been unmoved by the severe
afflictions which, under the providence of a
gracious God, your Majesty has been called to
endure, and our prayer is that prolonged life
may be granted to your Majesty, for the wel-
fare of your people and the prosperity of your
kingdom,—that your Majesty's reign may be
prosperous,—and that your heart may be cheered
by the purest consolations of true religion as
revealed in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
66
Signed by order and on behalf of the
general body, this 3rd day of December, 1855.
"J. HOWARD HINTON, M.A., Chairman.
"JOHN KENNEDY, M.A., Secretary."
Reply of the Sardinian Ambassador to the
Chairman of the general body of Dissenting
Ministers, &c.
"Mr. Chairman,
"In granting to his states constitutional
government, King Charles Albert intendend to
establish the perfect equality and the civil
emancipation of all religious professions.
"His successor has worthily followed his
example. I am satisfied, consequently, that I
convey to you the sentiments of the king in
thanking you for the congratulations and good
wishes which you have addressed to him on
the occasion of his visit to England; and I am
confident that it is with great satisfaction that
his Majesty has seen the course of impartial
toleration which, from the commencement of
his reign, he has proposed to himself, so per-
fectly approved by the public opinion of this
country.
"Be pleased to accept, Mr. Chairman, the
assurance of my high consideration.
"MARQUIS D'AZEGLIO,
"The Minister of Sardinia.'
""
The lord provost of Edinburgh presented an
address, as the representative of that commu-
nity. For bad taste, impolicy, and sectarian
folly, this composition could scarcely be ex-
ceeded; it drew from his Majesty a just and
indignant rebuke. They are documents too
remarkable to exclude from any history of
those events. The address was as follows:
"In common with the enlightened millions
of Europe and of the civilised world, we have
contemplated with admiration the magnani-
mous efforts made by your Majesty to establish
the great blessings of civil and religious liberty in
your own dominions. In particular, as Scotch-
men, we cannot fail to regard with peculiar
interest and satisfaction the freedom of worship.
so fully accorded to our brethren of the Wal-
densian Church-a freedom which we fondly
trust will be extended to all your Majesty's
subjects; and we are convinced that the bless-
ings thus extended to them will be returned
a thousand-fold in the increasing temporal
Q Q
298
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and spiritual prosperity of your Majesty's
dominions. From the past history of the
world, we were quite prepared for the kind of
resistance to which your Majesty's enlightened
efforts would be exposed; and the mimic
thunders of the Vatican did not in the least
take us by surprise. But, holding as we do,
that every kingdom is entitled to the exclusive
management of its own internal affairs, and to
repudiate all interference from without, we
could not contemplate without admiration the
merited contempt with which your Majesty
treated an uncalled-for effort to arrest the
progress of improvement on the part of a power
whose right to dictate in such a manner is not
only unfounded but preposterous. Your Ma-
jesty may find abundant encouragement to
pursue your noble course in the approval of
your own conscience-in the support of a brave
people—in the enlightened public opinion of
Europe-and in the certainty that 'the curse,
causeless, shall not come.'
"Your Majesty is now cordially welcomed
to a land whose rulers and inhabitants have
passed through precisely similar struggles to
those in which Sardinia is now engaged, and
which has prospered just in proportion as those
struggles have been successful. Great Britain
has risen from comparative insignificance to
occupy the foremost rank amongst the nations
of the earth, in consequence of the blessing of
the Most High upon the energy of our ancestors
in throwing off the yoke of ignorance and
superstition, establishing civil and religious
liberty, introducing an open Bible, and the
universal preaching of the glorious Gospel of
the grace of God. All this has been done,
also, in opposition to the strenuous resistance
and hearty denunciations of the same papal
power.
Our monarchs, too, have been excom-
municated, and those excommunications have
never been withdrawn. But ample experience
has proved, not only that they are utterly
powerless for evil, but that the blessing of God
has descended upon Britain just in proportion.
as, by her fidelity to truth and liberty, she
has been found worthy of the curses of the
pope.
"We earnestly trust that our own rulers
will learn an important lesson, in reference to
the unaltered intolerance of the papal system,
by the presence of your Majesty among them ;
and that the measures of improvement so hap-
pily introduced into Italy under your Majesty's
prosperous reign, may not only be maintained
and extended, but may spread until the whole
Italian peninsula has been restored to the
possession of the same privileges in which
your Majesty's subjects so happily rejoice.
"Signed in name and by appointment of
this meeting, this 3rd day of December,
1855, by
"JOHN MELVILLE, Lord Provost."
When it is remembered that the King of
Sardinia is a Roman Catholic, and that nine-
tenths of his people are of that communion,
the impropriety of such an address is at once.
obvious. Its impolicy was also clear; for had
his Majesty passed over without some expres-
sion of disapproval the attack upon the Church
of Rome, which, whether true or otherwise,
was not called for on such an occasion, he
would have involved his kingdom and himself
in political trouble, and fierce ecclesiastical
agitation would have raged through his domi-
nions. As it was, advantage was taken of the
occurrence, and the press of Italy, Austria,
Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, in the Roman
Catholic interest, poured forth columns of fierce
invective against the king and his entertainers
for weeks after. The following was the reply,
given through the ambassador:-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
299
"Gentlemen,
"The king could not but be very happy to
learn, by the address which you have sent to
him, the wishes that you entertain for the
prosperity of his reign, and his alliance with
England and France for the defence of Euro-
pean liberties. His Majesty could not but feel
deeply gratified by the manner in which you
have praised the Sardinian troops who share in
the Crimea the common dangers of the allies,
and, happily, also the laurels which are their
reward. I cannot, however, dissemble that
it is with extreme regret his Majesty has
learned the expressions of contempt with
which your address stigmatises the Court of
Rome. The king, like his ancestors, has con-
sidered it a duty to maintain in his hands
intact the civil power. He has deeply deplored
the line of conduct which the Holy See has
believed it its duty to adopt these last years
towards him; but the descendant of a long
line of Catholic princes, the sovereign of
subjects almost entirely Roman Catholics, he
cannot admit words of reprobation so severe,
and especially so hurtful, to the chief of that
Church upon earth. He cannot share in those
sentiments of contempt, which not only could
never find an entrance into his heart, but,
above all, could never find their place in a
reply such as that which I have the honour
to address to you. Your address expresses
further the hope that his Majesty may extend
to his subjects of every creed the same privi-
leges conceded to the Vaudois. I am happy
to inform you that your wishes are already
accomplished. The king, Charles Albert, in
emancipating the Vaudois, wished to extend
this measure, not only to the Protestants of all
nations, but even to the Jews, who, in the
states, enjoy in common the same civil and
religious rights. In rehearsing thus the well-
known sentiments of the king, I do not doubt
Jami
that I have secured to him a further title to
your esteem; for, a Roman Catholic sovereign,
he has proved that in his eyes religion was
a symbol of tolerance, of union, and of freedom,
and that one of the principles which formed
the basis of his government was liberty of
conscience..
"Accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my
high consideration.
“MARQUIS V. E. d'AzegLIO.”
When the addresses were all delivered, and
the deputations withdrawn, his Majesty held a
diplomatic levée. That terminated, he pro-
ceeded to Guildhall, to meet the citizens of
London. On the line of route he was received
with acclamations. At the Guildhall, a superb
throne was erected upon a dais covered with
blue velvet, with the Sardinian knot, and the
initials F. E. R. T. (Fœdere et religione tenemur)
embroidered on it, after the fashion of the
imperial bee in France. Various other emblems
and mottoes afforded gratification to the spec-
tators, and proved the skill and good taste
with which the whole was designed.
The recorder, aldermen, and common council.
advanced to the foot of the throne, and the
recorder read the following address :—
"May it please your Majesty,
"We, the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and com-
mons of the City of London, in common council
assembled, desire to offer to your Majesty our
grateful congratulations on your Majesty's
arrival in this country, as the honoured guest
of our beloved and most gracious queen; and
on behalf of our fellow-citizens, and for our-
selves, we humbly tender to your Majesty the
warmest expression of our gratitude for the
welcome visit to our city with which you have
deigned to honour us this day.
"We hail the arrival of your Majesty as a

300
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
happy proof of the extension of those friendly
and intimate relations which it is the wish of
this people to cultivate with all nations, and
which are daily drawn closer by the cordial
intercourse of sovereigns, the interchange of
mutual courtesies, and the progress of unre-
stricted commerce.
"We see in your Majesty the representative
of a long line of illustrious sovereigns, and
rejoice to find the throne filled by one who, in
the present momentous epoch, has joined his
armies to those of France, Turkey, and Eng-
land; and who has not only avowed his desire
to participate in the triumph of the principles
for which the allied Powers are now resolutely
contending, but, animated by the generous
sentiments of the Sub-Alpine people, and the
tradition of the house of Savoy, has heroically
thrown himself into the cause of justice and
civilisation, with a resolution to persevere until
a durable peace, guaranteeing to every nation
its legitimate rights, shall be obtained.
"It is with solemn gratitude to the Almighty
Disposer of events, that we reflect upon the
unbroken success which has proved the superior
power and bravery of the allied armies and
fleets, supported as they have been under
almost incredible privations by a lofty sense of
the righteous cause in which they are engaged,
and in which the arms of Sardinia have borne
so generous a part.
"Our most gracious sovereign, and her illus-
trious allies, undazzled by the splendour of
repeated triumphs, and the continued progress
of victory, seek no more than to vindicate the
rights of nations, and secure a lasting and
honourable peace.
66 'In the contest for this high purpose, our
beloved queen, acting in concert with her
allies, may firmly rely upon the strongest and
most cheerful efforts of the loyal citizens of
London, and of all her people, united as they
are in duty and affection to her Majesty's per-
son and government, and in a determination to
defend the cause of national independence and
of civil and religious liberty.”
-
His Majesty the king read his reply in
Italian. The following is a translation :-
"My Lord Mayor,
"I offer my heartfelt thanks to you, to the
aldermen, and to the commons of the city of
London, for the cordial congratulations which
you present to me on the occasion of my visit.
to her Majesty the queen, and to the British
nation.
"The reception that I meet with in this
ancient land of constitutional liberty, of which
your address is a confirmation, is to me a proof
of the sympathy inspired by the policy I have
hitherto pursued-a policy in which it is my
intention constantly to persevere.
"The close alliance existing between the
two most powerful nations of the earth is
honourable alike to the wisdom of the sovereigns
who govern them, and to the character of their
people. They have understood how preferable
is a mutual advantageous friendship to ancient
and ill-defined rivalry. This alliance is a new
fact in history, and is the triumph of civilisa-
tion. Notwithstanding the misfortunes which
have weighed upon my kingdom, I have en-
tered into this alliance, because the house of
Savoy ever deemed it to be its duty to draw
the sword when the combat was for justice and
for independence.
"If the forces which I bring to the allies are
those of a state not vast, I bring with them,
nevertheless, the influence of a loyalty never
doubted, and supported by the valour of an
army always faithful to the banners of its
kings.
"We cannot lay down our arms until an
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
301
honourable, and therefore durable, peace has
been secured. This we shall accomplish by
seeking unanimously the triumph of true right,
and the just desire of each nation.
"I thank you for the good wishes you this
day express for my future happiness, and for
that of my kingdom.
"While you thus express yourselves with
respect to the future, it gives me pleasure to
speak of the present, and to congratulate you
on the high position attained by Great Britain.
This is to be attributed to the free and noble
character of that nation, and also to the virtues.
of your queen."
In returning from the city, the king paid a
token of respect to Lord Palmerston, for he
proceeded to the mansion of the noble premier,
I
THE incidents in the allied armies from the
proclamation of the armistice to the announce-
ment of peace only require a brief notice.
When the tidings arrived on the 2nd of
April that peace was indeed established, spring
had scattered her floral profusion around the
camps, and the graves of the gallant men who
had died for honour and country were covered
with the bright Crimean verdure. Nature
seemed to rejoice at the prospect of peace, and
to offer her own beautiful tribute to the
remains of the fallen brave. The electric
and held an interview with him before return-
ing to Windsor.
On the 5th her Majesty held a Chapter of
the order of the Garter, for the purpose of
investing the king with that insignia. In the
evening a grand banquet was given to the
knights in St. George's Hall.
On the morning of the 6th, at five o'clock,
the king left Windsor, her Majesty rising to
bid him adieu at that early hour. Many of the
people of Windsor assembled in front of the
palace, to pay their parting respects, although
the morning was cold and dark, notwithstand-
ing that the stars shone out clear. The king
returned to his dominions via France, embark-
ing at Folkestone for Boulogne. Prince Albert
and the Duke of Cambridge accompanied him
to the place of his embarkation.
"The battles, sieges
ortunes
That I have past., SHAKSPEARE (Othello).
"Numberless mouths which were filled with lies as with arrows."-SOUTHEY.
CHAPTER XL.
THE SARDINIAN ARMY IN THE CRIMEA, FROM THE BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA TO THE PEACE.-
-EXTRA-
THE TREATY OF PARIS.-DIPLOMATIC CONTEST WITH AUSTRIA DURING THE SITTINGS.
ORDINARY MEMORIAL PROMULGATED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF VICTOR EMMANUEL.
S
G
telegraph had scarcely conveyed the tidings
that the war was over, when the guns of the
allied armies thundered their salutes, and the
rocks echoed the jubilee of these rude instru-
ments of joy, so lately the implements of
carnage and woe. Each of the allied armies
fired a salute of 101 guns, but all was silent in
the camp of the Muscovs and in the northern
forts: the tidings had not yet reached those
who had so much cause to rejoice in their
relief from unparalleled privations and pros-
pective defeat-perhaps entire destruction. On
CARA
302
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the same day that these joyous tidings arrived
Pelissier put forth a characteristic address to
his army, which is not pertinent to the purpose
of these pages.
In a few days after, having waited in the
vain expectation that the English general
would put forth an order of the day, congratu-
lating his army, the Sardinian commander
addressed his troops :-
"SOLDIERS!
"The peace signed at Paris on the 30th of
March last puts an end to the hopes each
of us entertained for the glory of our arms.
This feeling is more keenly felt by those who
know the important task which was reserved
to us had hostilities continued. But the object
for which the sword was drawn having been
attained, we ought not to desire the prolonga-
tion of the calamities which are inseparable
from war.
Let us console ourselves with the
thought that what we have done, and what
we were ready to do, is appreciated by our
generous allies, and will not be lost for the
future of our country.
"I owe you praises and thanks for your
constant self-denial, for your exemplary disci-
pline, for your ingenious activity, and for your
bravery; but you will hear them with greater
pleasure from the mouth of our beloved mon-
arch, whom we hope shortly to behold again.
"Whatever may be the post in which the
sovereign will may place me, I shall never
forget how, on the 16th of August, after
having contributed in driving back the formid-
able attacks of the enemy, you all eagerly
desired to follow the flag which crossed the
Tchernaya. I shall always remember with
what ardour, on the 8th of September, each of
you was desirous of taking part in the assault,
one of the most murderous recorded in history.
"And should fate hereafter lead us to other
-
battle-fields, I shall esteem myself happy to be
with you, my present comrades in this memo-
rable war of the Crimea.
"The Commander-in-chief,
"DELLA MARMORA."
On all occasions of public assemblage Sir
William Codrington and the English were
characterised by the absence of display and the
possession of gentlemanly dignity in appearance
and manners. The Russians also avoided
display, unless where it could be made
with substantial and distinguished advantage,
then they were proud of it. Marshal Pelissier
and his officers neglected no opportunity to
exhibit their rank and honours, and show off
their finest uniforms. The Sardinians were
modest and retiring in their deportment, as
unassuming in friendly intercourse as they had
been unconquerable in combat.
About the middle of May the British army
was actively withdrawing from the Crimea.
The third division was the first to move, and
all its regiments were speedily embarked.
The departure of General della Marmora and
his staff was the signal for a general manifesta-
tion of respect on the part of the British,
between whom and the Sardinians the warmest
cordiality existed throughout the occupation.
The British commander-in-chief issued
"general after-order," dated Sebastopol, May
17th, and signed by General Windham, as
chief of the staff:-
a
"The greater part of the Sardinian army has
quitted the Crimea, and General della Marmora
himself will soon embark.
"A guard of honour, with artillery, will be
held in readiness for the departure of the
Sardinian commander-in-chief.
"The commander of the forces trusts that
General della Marmora will himself receive,
ا:
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
303
and convey to those whom he has commanded
in the Crimea, the good wishes of the English
army for their future prosperity.
"With steadiness, with discipline, with
resource, the Sardinian army has long main-
tained and efficiently guarded the advanced
position entrusted to it; and it bore its honour-
able share, with the troops of France, in the
battle of the Tchernaya.
"In our intercourse there has been neither
difficulty nor difference, and this good feeling
between all the armies of the alliance has had
a very important influence in determining the
peace of Europe."
S
The efforts and losses of the Sardinian army
were, perhaps, most correctly stated by the
author of "The Camp and the Cutter" (Mr.
Edwin Galt) :-
"The Piedmontese army of the East attained
a maximum of 17,584 men. Up to October
31, 1855, it lost 1,632 men, of whom 1,211
died of cholera, 170 of typhus fever, and 251
from wounds and other causes. In this number
there were 56 officers, 1,563 non-commissioned
officers and soldiers, and 13 belonging to the
commissariat. From October 31 to the evacua-
tion, though the official returns are not com-
plete, the losses of the Sardinian army may be
estimated at 900, making a total of 2,532.
The Piedmontese government also sent to
the East 3,659 horses and mules, 48 pieces
of cannon, 52 carriages for fieldpieces, 310
caissons, 1,190 chests of arms and tools, 200
tents, bought at Marseilles, and 200 cast-iron
stoves."
The Sardinian army was gradually and safely
removed by the extensive transport power of
the English.
While these events were passing the work
of pacification was proceeding in Paris.
There the representatives of the interested
Powers assembled. On the 30th of March the
treaty of peace was finally agreed upon and
signed, and on the 27th of April ratifications
were exchanged. Amongst the plenipoten-
tiaries, those who took their place in the name
of the King of Sardinia, were the Sieur Camille
Benso, Count of Cavour, Grand Cross of the
Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, Knight
of the Order of Civil Merit of Savoy, Grand
Cross of the Imperial Order of the Legion of
Honour, decorated with the Imperial Order of
the Medjidié of the first class, Grand Cross of
several other foreign Orders, President of the
Council of Ministers, and Minister Secretary of
State for the Finances; and the Sieur Salvator
Marquis de Villa-Marina, Grand Cross of the
Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, Grand
Officer of the Imperial Order of the Legion of
Honour, &c. &c. &c., Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of the King of Sar-
dinia to the court of France.
On the 8th of April there was a sitting in
which questions were raised of vital interest to
Victor Emmanuel and to Italy. Count Wa-
lewski initiated this discussion, and the follow-
ing remarks were addressed by him to the
ministers. The language is quoted from the
report of the proceedings taken for the British
Government:-
"The first plenipotentiary of France observes
that the Pontifical States are in an abnormal
state; that the necessity for not leaving the
country to anarchy had decided France as well
as Austria to comply with the demand of the
Holy See by causing Rome to be occupied by
her troops, while the Austrian troops occupied
the Legations.
"He states that France had a twofold
motive for complying, without hesitation, with
the demand of the Holy See-as a Catholic
Power and as an European Power. The title of
the Eldest Son of the Church, which is the boast
◄
304
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Li
of the sovereign of France, makes it a duty for
the Emperor to afford aid and support to
the sovereign Pontiff; the tranquillity of the
Roman States, and that of the whole of Italy,
affects too closely the maintenance of social
order in Europe for France not to have an
overbearing interest in securing it by all the
means in her power. But, on the other hand,
it is impossible to overlook the abnormal con-
dition of a Power which, in order to maintain
itself, requires to be supported by foreign
troops.
G
"Count Walewski does not hesitate to de-
clare, and he trusts that Count Buol will join
in the declaration, that not only is France
ready to withdraw her troops, but that she
earnestly desires to recall them so soon as that
can be done without inconvenience as regards
the internal tranquillity of the country and the
authority of the pontifical government, in the
prosperity of which the Emperor, his august
sovereign, takes the most lively interest.
"The first plenipotentiary of France repre-
sents how desirable it is for the balance of
power in Europe that the Roman government
should be consolidated in sufficient strength
for the French and Austrian troops to be able,
without inconvenience, to evacuate the Pon-
tifical States, and he considers that a wish
expressed in this sense might not be without
advantage. In any case, he does not doubt
that the assurances which might be given by
France and Austria as to their real inten-
tions in this respect would have a salutary
influence.
"Following up the same order of ideas,
Count Walewski asks himself if it is not to be
desired that certain governments of the Italian
peninsula, by well-devised acts of clemency,
and by rallying to themselves minds gone
astray and not perverted, should put an end to
a system which is directly opposed to its object,
and which, instead of reaching the enemies of
public order, has the effect of weakening the
governments, and of furnishing partisans to
popular faction. In his opinion, it would
render a signal service to the government of
the Two Sicilies, as well as to the cause of
order in the Italian peninsula, to enlighten that
government as to the false course in which it
is engaged. He is of opinion that warnings
conceived in this sense, and proceeding from
the Powers represented in the congress, would
be the better received by the Neapolitan
government, as that government could not
doubt the motives which dictated them.'
""
This speech threw the assembly into a state
of excitement approaching disorder. The
Austrian plenipotentiaries literally raved with
wrath, and protested against the advantage
taken of a conference for a special purpose, for
the general views and policy of France. Prussia
sided with Austria. Russia slyly fomented
the dispute among the ostensible allies. Lord
Clarendon, as the representative of her Bri-
tannic Majesty, made a long and eloquent
speech in support of Count Walewski's views,
but went far more deeply into the justice and
policy of the French minister's suggestions,
and treated the whole subject in a more liberal
point of view.
point of view. Count Cavour, on behalf of
Victor Emmanuel, expressed a full concurrence
with the address of the Earl of Clarendon, and
going beyond that, boldly denounced Austrian
interference and oppression as the cause of all
the troubles and misfortunes of Italy. The
sitting ended with these general expressions of
opinion, and with a mutual distrust and even
hostility which could scarcely be disguised by
official etiquette and personal courtesy. The
policy of England, France, and Sardinia, was
irreconcilably opposed to that of Austria,
Prussia, and Russia. The latter, however,
pretended to favour whatever seemed to cou-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
305
travene the interests of Austria. The plenipo-
tentiaries of Victor Emmanuel, finding that
they could not pledge the conference to any
course tending to the liberation of Italy, pre-
sented a memorial addressed to the plenipo-
tentiaries of France and England, on April
16th. This document had a powerful effect
upon those to whom it was addressed, and
produced a great sensation in Europe. It did
much to prepare the public opinion of Europe
for the complete emancipation of Italy.
"The undersigned, plenipotentiaries of his
Majesty the King of Sardinia, full of confidence
in the just sentiments of the governments of
France and England, and in the friendship
which they profess for Piedmont, have never
ceased, since the opening of the conferences,
to hope that the congress of Paris would not
separate without taking into serious considera-
tion the state of Italy, and deliberating on
the means to be adopted for the re-establish-
ment of its political equilibrium, disturbed at
present by the occupation of a great part of
the peninsula by foreign troops. Certain of
the concurrence of their allies, they could not
think that any other power, after having
testified so lively and so generous an interest
in the fate of the Eastern Christians of the
Slavonic and Greek races, would refuse to
interest themselves in the people of the Latin
race, who are still more unhappy by reason
that the advanced degree of civilisation which
they have attained makes them feel more
acutely the effects of bad government.-This
hope has been disappointed.
"Notwithstanding the good-will of France
and England,-notwithstanding their well-
intended efforts,-the persistence of Austria
obliged the discussions of the congress to be
strictly bounded within the sphere of the ques-
tions marked out before its meeting, and is the
cause of this assembly, on which the eyes of
Europe are fixed, being about to dissolve, not
only without having effected the least amelio-
ration for the ills of Italy, but without giving
a ray of hope for the future to the nations on
the other side of the Alps, calculated to calm
their minds and to make them bear the present
with resignation.
"The peculiar position occupied by Austria
in the congress, perhaps rendered this deplor-
able result inevitable. The undersigned are
forced to acknowledge this. Nevertheless,
without addressing the least reproach to their
allies, they believe it a duty to call their serious
attention to the sad consequences that this
may have for Europe, for Italy, and especially
for Sardinia.
7"It would be superfluous to trace here an
exact picture of the state of Italy. What has
taken place in those countries is only too
notorious. The system of repression and
violent reaction commenced in 1848 and 1849
justified in its origin, perhaps, by the
revolutionary disturbances which had shortly
before been suppressed-continues without the
smallest relaxation. It may even be said that,
with few exceptions, it is exercised with re-
doubled rigour. Never were the prisons and
dungeons more full of persons condemned for
political causes; never has the number of
exiles been greater; never has the police been
more vexatious, nor martial law more severely
applied. What is taking place at Parma only
proves this too clearly. Such a system of
government must necessarily keep the popula-
tions in a constant state of irritation and
revolutionary ferment.) This has been the state
of Italy for seven years. Nevertheless, the
popular agitation appeared recently to be
calmed. Italians, seeing one of their national
princes coalesced with the great Western
Powers for the support of the principles of right
R R
{
306
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!

**
and justice, and for the amelioration of the fate Italy. Called by the sovereigns of the small
of their co-religionists in the East, conceived a states of Italy, who are powerless, to repress
hope that peace would not be made without the discontent of their subjects, this power
some relief for their misfortunes. This hope occupies militarily the greater part of the valley
kept them calm and resigned. But when they of the Po and of Central Italy, and makes its
know the negative results of the congress of influence felt in an irresistible manner, even in
Paris; when they learn that Austria, notwith- the countries where she has no soldiers. Rest-
standing the good offices and benevolent inter-ing on one side on Ferrara and Bologna, her
vention of France and England, refused all
discussion-that she would not even enter into
an examination of the means proper for
remedying such a sad state of things-there
can be no doubt that the dormant irritation
will be awakened among them more violently
than ever.
Convinced that they have nothing
to expect from diplomacy and the efforts of the
Powers which take an interest in their fate,
they will throw themselves with southern
ardour into the ranks of the revolutionary and
subversive party; and Italy will again become
a hotbed of conspiracies and tumults, which
may perhaps be suppressed by redoubled rigour,
but which the least European commotion may
cause to burst forth in the most violent manner.
So sad a state of things, if it merits the atten-
tion of the government of France and England,
equally interested in the maintenance of order
and the regular development of civilisation,
must naturally pre-occupy the government of
the King of Sardinia in the highest degree.
The awakening of revolutionary passions in all
the countries surrounding Piedmont, by the
effect of causes calculated to excite the most
lively popular sympathies, exposes it to dangers
of excessive gravity, such as to compromise
that firm and moderate policy which has had
such happy results for the interior, and gained
it the sympathy and esteem of enlightened
Europe. But this is not the only danger
threatening Sardinia. A still greater is the
consequence of the
means employed by
Austria to repress the revolutionary ferment in
troops extend themselves to Ancona, the length
of the Adriatic, which has become, in a manner,
an Austrian lake; on the other, mistress of
Piacenza, which, contrary to the spirit, if not
to the letter, of the treaties of Vienna, she
labours to transform into a first-class fortress ;
she has a garrison at Parma, and makes dispo-
sitions to deploy her forces all along the Sar-
dinian frontier, from the Po to the summit of
the Appennines. This permanent occupation
by Austria, of territories which do not belong
to her, renders her absolute mistress of nearly
all Italy, destroys the equilibrium established
by the Treaty of Vienna (1815), and is a con-
tinual menace to Piedmont. Bounded thus on
so many sides by Austrian influence-seeing
developed on her eastern frontier, completely
open, the forces of a power which she knows
to be animated by unfriendly feelings towards
her-this country is held in a state of constant
apprehension, which obliges her to remain
armed, and to take defensive measures exces-
sively burdensome to her finances, already
tasked by the events of 1848 and 1849, and by
the war in which she has just participated. The
facts thus indicated by the undersigned suffice
to render evident the dangers of the position in
which the government of the King of Sardinia
finds itself placed. Disturbed within by the
action of revolutionary passions; excited all
round by a system of violent repression and
foreign occupation; threatened by the exten-
sion of Austrian power-it may at any moment
be forced, by an inevitable necessity, to adopt
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
307
extreme measures of which it is impossible to
calculate the consequences.
"The undersigned do not doubt but that such
a state of things will excite the solicitude
of the governments of France and England,
not only on account of the sincere friendship
and real sympathies that these Powers profess
for the sovereign who, alone among all, at the
moment when their success was most uncertain,
declared himself openly in their favour; but,
above all, because it constitutes a real danger
for Europe. Sardinia is the only state in Italy
that has been able to raise an impassable bar-
rier to the revolutionary spirit, and at the same
time remain independent of Austria. It is the
If
counterpoise to her invading influence.
Sardinia succumbed, exhausted of power, aban-
doned by her allies-if she also was obliged to
THE motto selected for this chapter expresses
the condition of Sardinia, as a whole, and the
feelings with which its monarch regarded it
after the peace of Paris, until Austria threw
down the gauntlet in 1859.
submit to Austrian domination, then the
conquest of Italy, by this Power, would be
achieved; and Austria, after having obtained,
without its costing her the least sacrifice, the
immense benefit of the free navigation of the
Danube, and the neutralisation of the Black
Sea, would acquire a preponderating influence
in the West. This is what France and England
would never wish-this they will never permit.
"In conclusion, the undersigned are con-
vinced that the cabinets of Paris and London,
taking into consideration the state of Italy,
will decide, in concert with Sardinia, on the
means for applying an efficacious remedy.
"C. CAVOUR.
"DE VILLA-MARINA.
"Paris, April 16th, 1856."
CHAPTER XLI
VICTOR EMMANUEL AND HIS KINGDOM, FROM THE PEACE WITH RUSSIA TO THE BREAKING OUT OF
THE WAR AGAINST AUSTRIA.
"I saw my sons resume their ancient fire,
I saw fair freedom's blossoms richly blow."-Burns.
The main element of disturbance in Victor
Emmanuel's mind, was an apprehension of
Mazzini, his plots, and his party. Victor
Emmanuel seemed moved by a morbid appre-
hension of this redoubtable champion of
Italian liberty. He regarded the patriot with
something of hereditary animosity, as the
enemy of his father, Charles Albert, whom, he
believed, Mazzini was willing to give over to
the stroke of the assassin. If any tendency to
disturbance showed itself anywhere in Sardinia,
Mazzini was made responsible for it; if in all
Italy any mob outrage took place, or any con-
spiracy was discovered, it was attributed to
Mazzini, no matter how contrary its objects or
proceedings to his known principles and plans.
No doubt the great Roman Triumvir was busy
during those years, as in the quarter of a cen-
tury that preceded them, and that his efforts.
were influencing Italy for the exertions she was
to put forth; but he had no designs against
the personal safety of Victor Emmanuel or his
ministers.
<
S
1

303
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
The exact relation of Mazzini at that time to
Italian politics, and the views with which
different Italian and European parties regarded
it, are problems of some difficulty. By many
it is believed that Mazzini retarded the advance
of Italy to unity and liberty, by his extreme
opinions, abortive schemes, and reckless enter-
prises; by a large class of Italy's best and
bravest, he is considered to have been the soul
of Italian earnestness, as he was the father of
Italian unity.
Since the issue of this work commenced in
numbers the author has received a communi-
cation from one who is deserving of the grati-
tude of Italy, and the respect of all men con-
cerned for her happiness, Il Capitano De Rohan
Aintante Navale dal Generale Garibaldi, com-
modore of the second expedition to Sicily,
1860, in which he complains that Mazzini
is not ranked in these pages among Italy's
Liberators. As no doubt a similar complaint.
will be made by other gallant men who justly
love and revere Mazzini, it is proper to remark
here, that whatever the services rendered by
Mazzini to Italy, he is not one of its liberators.
He is a Liberator of Italy in the same way
Il Capitano De Rohan himself may have
that rank assigned to him, inasmuch as both
men, with Missori, Menotti Garibaldi, and a
host of others, have taken distinguished parts
in the struggles which freed their country from
the oppressors; but they are not the men
whose policy, power, or leadership in chief
drove out the Austrian, subdued the Bourbon,
and consolidated the principalities.
Garibaldi subdued kingdoms. Victor Em-
manuel staked his all, and won. Cavour
conducted the diplomacy which precipitated
Victor Emmanuel upon the field, and drew the
French Emperor to his assistance. Napoleon
III. passed his armies beyond the Alps, and
contested the plains of Lombardy with the
hosts of Austria. These were the men who
actually achieved the liberation of Italy.
Mazzini wrote, worked, toiled, made expedi-
tions, and did not accomplish the deliverance
of his country, nor any portion of it, either by
the sword, or guiding, directing, or originating
the plans and policy of those who did. As a
patriot, the most disinterested, one who, in
the language of Captain De Rohan to the
author of these pages, "sacrificed everything
but life for the liberation of Italy," he
deserves the immortal honours of the Italy
of the future, as well as the love and confi-
dence of the Italy of the present; but it is
impossible to award to him practical success.
Morally, he influenced the youth of Italy as
no other man did. He inspired hope when all
was shrouded in despair; he urged to action
when lethargy had fallen upon the national
spirit. He organised patriotic conspiracies,
and found resources when apathy left few to
help him; but his expeditions failed, his
schemes were abortive; his doctrines, ethical
and political, not always beyond question; anl
finally, no one plan of his, and no one effort
of his to promote Italian unity and liberty
succeeded. This work is designed to record
the history of the actual liberators, the men
whose diplomacy or sword, or both, actually
struck off the chains of the enthralled, and
not the history of those who, with Mazzini,
wrote and kept alive Italian thought and
patriotism by whatever means.
It is necessary now to offer to the reader
some judgment upon the genius and character
of Mazzini, in his relation to the Italian
struggle. In Great Britain and the United
States of America, where this work is likely to
be most read, much diversity of opinion exists
concerning Mazzini. By a large class he is
regarded as the true hero of the Italian
revolution, as he whose word produced the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
309
resurrection of Italy, and as the truest,
bravest, best, most generous, and disinterested
of patriots. In these strong opinions there is
much truth. Mazzini is a great man, a true
patriot, as disinterested and heroic as he is
persevering and enthusiastic. But there is
another large class who accuse Mazzini of
having, through error of judgment, matured
conspiracies, and contrived headlong expedi-
tions, which could issue in nothing but ruin to
all who participated in them, and injury to the
Italian cause. They consider him as influenced
in his policy by speculative crotchets and
doctrines, which, with some show of philo-
sophy, are full of fallacy. It is also alleged
that he is not scrupulous as to the means he
employs to overthrow despots, and that tyran-
nicide itself, odious to the public feeling of
England, forms a part of the instrumentality
to which his countenance is given.
A publication of the events of his life by
Mazzini himself, accompanied by a sort of
glossary, showing the circumstances under
which they occurred, has just issued from
the press.* This work has been extensively
reviewed in the most eminent literary and
political organs. By selecting a specimen
from one of the periodicals most opposed to
him, and another from an eminent political
journal sympathising with him, the reader
will have, in a brief compass, material for
forming a clear judgment.
"Throughout this volume there shines the
character of a high-minded, energetic, resolute
man, true to his principles and his friends,
believing himself set apart for the service of
his country, and ready to sacrifice everything
and to bear anything in order to fulfil his
mission. But, at the same time, there is
* "Life and Writings of Joseph Mazzini." Autobio-
graphical and Political. London: Smith, Elder, and Co.
1861.
apparent throughout the character of a man
utterly unable to understand those differing
from himself, ignorant of the diversity and
complexity of the political world, and account-
ing all divergence from himself and his views
as the result of an innate baseness and blind-
ness of mind. It is easy to see that such a
man may have charmed and endeared those
who did not presume to differ from him, and
to whom daily intimacy gave an insight into
his nobler and loftier qualities. It is also
easy to see how such a man may have rendered
Italy the greatest of services by imparting to
the revolutionary element a higher and wider
spirit than it had in the old days of the
Carbonari. But it is equally easy to see why
his voice is little listened to since Italy has
| been successful, and why the leading Italians
think it much better he should write books in
England than come to guide and rule in Italy.
"The only clear political fact which we can
gather from this hopeless jumble of dates,
documents, figures, theories, and manifestoes,
is that Mazzini joined in a Carbonari outbreak
when quite a young man, found that it failed,
speculated on the causes of its failure, and
came to the conclusion that an Italian revolu-
tion, to be successful, must be got up in quite
a different way, and by quite a different set of
men. The Carbonari had, he conceived, no
political principles. All they aimed at was
rebellion, and all their machinery consisted in
the formation of secret societies, with all kinds
of oaths, mysteries, symbols, and hierarchies.
The leaders were good men in their way, but
of very narrow views, and merely plotting
little local revolutions. Mazzini conceived
the idea of appealing to a new generation on
new principles. He invented Young Italy,
with the programme of national unity in one
great republic. It was to the conversion of
the eager, the young, and the untried, of men
310
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
to whom Carbonarism was unknown, that he
directed his efforts, and what he taught them
was to aspire to realise the great and glorious
dream of a united Italy, governed by the
best and wisest of its citizens. He also
invested his political project with a religious
character, and, recoiling in horror from the
materialism of the eighteenth century, he
exhorted his disciples to look upon devotion
to the cause of Young Italy as a sacred duty
to God. He also thought that he had got hold
of a new philosophical truth, which consisted
in abandoning the rights of man, as
savouring of the promotion of the individual,
and substituting for them the rights or duties
of association. It was not the right of the
individual that he contended for, but the right
of a perfect society to exist. It is highly
illustrative both of the man and of the period
of Continental thought to which he belonged
that, having got thus far, he proceeded to
frame what he called a law of history. This
law consisted in the purely arbitrary assump-
tion that each nation in turn is called on to
assert and work out some one philosophical
truth or doctrine, and that no nation can work
out two. France had worked out with great
success the doctrine of the rights of the
individual man, the emancipation of the
private citizen from the fetters of feudal
tyranny and feudal law, and the establishment
of civic equality. But the days of this philo-
sophical triumph were over. Something new
in the history of the world was wanted, and
the theory of a perfect society constituting
itself as an instrument of the perfect man
required to be developed and realised. But
the law of history forbade France to satisfy
this want, for France had already had its turn
and embodied a philosophical truth. It was,
therefore, hopeless for Italy, which required
the establishment of the new doctrine, to look
to France for help. Any connection with
France was to be deprecated, for it was the
fate of France to be constantly upholding a
truth that was worn out. And if, in deference
to the law of history, France, under whatever
government it may be, is to be avoided by
Italians, much more is it to be avoided when
under the government of a Bonaparte. For
the first Napoleon was the typical Frenchman,
the highest embodiment of the self-assertion
of the individual, and the summit of contrast
to the association of free citizens in a perfect
system. It is, therefore, on the very highest
ground, and in obedience to a first-rate law of
history of his own discovery, that M. Mazzini
had always been so bitterly opposed to that
political alliance between Italy and the 'Man
of the Second of December,' to which the
Italy of fact owes its existence and its duration.
"Unquestionably the new form given to the
Italian revolution by M. Mazzini did much to
ennoble its character, prepared his countrymen
for great events, and imbued them with those
larger views which it is so difficult for the
At
inhabitants of small states to conceive.
the same time, it must be remembered that
the Italian revolution was by no means the
work of Young Italy alone. It, like the
English revolution of 1688, was the work, not
only of revolutionary writers and thinkers, but
of wealthy and respectable citizens, of trained
diplomatists, of regular disciplined troops.
M. Mazzini has, as he says, unlimited faith in
revolutions, and thinks that all these con-
current elements of success were perfectly
unnecessary. Revolutions, in his opinion, are
sure to succeed if they are rightly con-
ducted and led by the right men. In face of
the recent history of Poland, he considers that
guerilla bands can safely oppose such troops
as those of Russia and Austria. Directly, in
fact, he speculates about anything away from
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
311
his own province, he goes so far from real life
and real experience that he ceases to be
interesting. But in his own province-that of
warming up the youth of Italy to something
more than little local outbreaks, and of imbu-
ing them with general principles of political
duty-he was a remarkable, a successful, and
a very valuable man. Perhaps he succeeded,
not only through the intrinsic merits of his
thoughts and writings, but on account of the
very difficulties with which he had to contend.
No one can doubt that he was a first-rate
conspirator, full of ingenuity, resources, and
boldness, and the effect of his manifestoes
must have been greatly enhanced by the
mysterious manner in which they came into
the hands of their readers. The documents
which he issued to explain what Young
Italy meant, and was meant to do, seem to us
wearisome, monotonous, and prolix in the
extreme. But it is always necessary to repeat
over and over again the same proposition in
order to arrest the attention of an uneducated
public, and the sympathisers with Young
Italy probably thought that it would have
been scarcely worth while to set in motion the
elaborate machinery by which these documents
were forwarded to their destination if they had
been shorter and simpler.
"The recent accusations made against him
by the French Government, and the notoriety
which was given to these accusations by the
attack on Mr. Stansfeld in the House of
Commons, will make many Englishmen more
anxious to know how M. Mazzini in this
volume speaks of assassination than to know
anything else about him. The truth appears
to be that he has always disapproved theo-
retically of assassination. He regards it as
useless and as opposed to his principles, inas-
much as it gives prominence to individuals.
It leads people into the fatal error of thinking
that the history of nations depends on the
course taken by this or that man. According
to M. Mazzini, this is a palpable mistake, and
any impartial reader would allow that, if a
man is to be judged by the general principles
to which he clings, there is an obvious incon-
sistency between the views of M. Mazzini and
the assassination of a single man. He is
equally explicit in disclaiming any theory of
the lawfulness of putting to death those who
prove false to secret societies or to associations
like that of Young Italy. He leaves traitors
to the shame of treason, and observes that to
assassinate those who reveal the secrets of an
association was one of the prevailing practices
of the Carbonari, from whose ways he was so
anxious to separate himself. He also asks us
to observe that no honest man can suffer him-
self to be guided by the assertions of such a
government as the French; and he refers with
triumph to the case of an Italian who was
killed by two of his countrymen while M.
| Mazzini was at Marseilles. The Moniteur
inserted a paragraph saying that the deed had
been instigated by M. Mazzini to avenge a
treason to his association. Some time after-
wards a French tribunal inquired into the
facts, and held it to be clearly established that
the assassination had nothing to do with M.
Mazzini. In the recent case, no one acquainted
with the ways of the French police or the
forms of French law attached any importance
to the revelations of Greco, or the assertions
of the official prosecutor. But then there
was the undeniable fact that on one occasion
M. Mazzini had been privy to a plot to assas-
sinate Charles Albert. He gives, or rather
reprints, a full and candid account of the
affair in this volume, and he owns that he was
over-persuaded by Gallenga, who, he says,
proposed to commit the murder. He at first
strongly opposed the project, and showed its
312
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
*
folly and uselessness. But Gallenga was so
unalterable in his determination, and so fixed
and terrible in his language, that M. Mazzini
thought he was one of those inscrutable beings
who are chosen by Heaven to deal out a signal
vengeance. He was overawed, and assented.
Such, at least, is his account; and it does not
the less commend itself to us as in all proba-
bility an accurate version of what took place,
because it exhibits M. Mazzini as combining
high principles, absurd misconceptions, and
hearty love of a plot."
This estimate of the works and character
of Mazzini was given by the Saturday Review,
one of the ablest of the London periodicals,
and one of the most opposed to Mazzini, his
proceedings, and his party.
The reader will now observe the testimony
borne by a friendly witness, the Daily News:
"The time has not yet come for the formation
of a just judgment upon the character of Maz-
zini. He has not yet fully emerged from the
storm clouds in which his spirit has been ma-
tured. Like all men who have taken a leading
part in national revolutions, he has for years
been the subject of violent opinions directly
contradictory one of another. By some he is
regarded as a dangerous conspirator against
legitimate authority, a leader of assassins, a
cold-hearted homicide, in whose eyes human
life is of no value compared with the realisation
of a favourite scheme. By others he is held in
fervent esteem, little short of worship, as a
man of antique virtue, who has devoted his
life, his affections, his property, and his very
reputation to the noblest cause that can inspire
the human breast. They look upon his whole
life as a consistent and heroic protest against
the worst forms of tyranny, and as an effort
unparalleled in constancy under the bitterest
trials to vindicate human freedom. Which of
these is the true sentence? Which of them
will be accepted by posterity? It is not for
us to decide a matter which still occupies the
minds of men inflamed by the passing interests
of the day and the passions which they gene-
rate; but there are certain facts connected with
this conflict of opinions which cannot be omitted
in any judicial view which may be taken of it
hereafter. The most furious opponents of
Mazzini are evidently those who know nothing
of him personally, but are content to take their
views of him from second-hand sources, whilst
his most ardent admirers are those who have
known him intimately and long. This is an
important fact, and should have its weight in
the formation of a final judgment. The cha-
racter and position of his friends and of his
enemies should also be taken into considera-
tion, for it may depend much upon this whether
their opinions are impartial or not. Now it
must be admitted that Mazzini's enemies in
every land, not excepting our own, are also the
foes of freedom and progress, persons who have
everything to fear from the final success of
efforts to emancipate mankind; but his friends
are men of all ranks and conditions in life,
many of them distinguished for philanthropy
and high principle, men who have nothing to
gain by his success, and nothing of a material
kind to lose by his failure. From these cir-
cumstances we think it impossible for any
candid and judicious mind to concur in the
base representations of Mazzini which have
been made current by his avowed enemies. To
agree with his most ardent friends may not be
altogether so easy as to reject the calumnies of
his opponents. There are many things said of
him which arrest even a favourably disposed
mind."
-
There is one element of judgment of great
importance, which shall be laid before the
reader to enable him to form an opinion for
himself on this vexata quæstio, namely,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
313
Mazzini's own avowed theory of government,
and of the principles upon which it rests:—
"The nation is the sole sovereign.
"The vote of every citizen is required to
constitute a truly national representation. The
man who does not exercise the right of election
"All power not issuing from the nation is in any form is no longer a citizen. The pact
usurped.
of association is broken in regard to him by
the fact that it has not included the expression
of his will, and every law is therefore to him
tyrannous.
“The objection to universal suffrage, arising
from inequality of capacity or education, will
be met by a double system of election, in which
the electors, having first been chosen by uni-
versal suffrage, will proceed to elect the repre-
scntatives.
"Every individual who oversteps the powers
with which he has been invested by the nation
is an unfaithful servant.
"The nation alone possesses the inviolable.
right of choosing her own institutions, and of
improving or altering them when no longer in
accordance with her wants, and with the pro-
gress of the social intellect.
"But as the whole nation cannot meet in
assembly to discuss and decree its institutions,
it acts by means of delegation; elects a certain
number of men in whom it has confidence, and
deputes them to receive the expression of the
national wants and the national will, and to
represent and constitute that will in the form
of law.
'The will of the nation, expressed by dele-
gates chosen by the nation to represent it, will
be law to her citizens.
"The nation being one, the national repre-
sentation must be one. The unity of the first
involves the unity of the second.
"The vast association of the nation includes
all the social elements and all the social forces.
A truly national system of representation must
therefore be the expression of the will of all
these elements, and of all these forces.
“Whenever a single one of these forces is
neglected there exists no national represen-
tation, and the tendency and desire of that
force to be represented will create the necessity
of radical change. Hence strife and revolution
take the place of tranquil and pacific progress.
""
"National representation is not founded
upon any description of property qualification,
but upon the basis of the population.
"The representatives of the nation will be
paid by the nation, and every other public
office will be forbidden them during the exer-
cise of their representative functions.
"The number of representatives to be as
large as possible. A great obstacle is thus
offered to corruption. The decrease of liberty
in France has always corresponded to the
diminution in the number of deputies.
"The electors, when gathered together,
The
perform the functions of the nation.
power of the nation is unlimited, and hence all
restrictions placed upon the exercise of this
power, in the choice of representatives, are
opposed to the principle of national sove-
reignty."
This was the man who was the bugbear of
the court of Turin, and also of those of Rome,
Naples, Florence, Vienna, and Paris. No man
in Europe was ever probably so much hated
and feared by the powerful, who were oppres-
sors, as Joseph Mazzini. It was the hard fate
of Victor Emmanuel, although no oppressor,
to be in danger from the intrigues of the great
conspirator, and the principles of the ubiquitous
republican propagandist.
A conspiracy, discovered at Genoa, on the
29th of June, 1857, was, of course, attributed to
SS
314
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
Mazzini. The plot appeared at all events to
have been purely republican, and if successful
at Genoa, that city was to be made the base of
operations against Naples. The Turin govern-
ment received warning from Paris, where more
accurate information of the doings of the Italian
revolutionists appears to have been obtained
than in Italy itself. The suppression of the
revolt was easy, and the punishment of the
offenders was light. A circumstance arose out
of the affair which led to formidable diplomacy
between Austria and Naples. Shortly before
the projected revolution was to break out, a
vessel, sailing between Genoa and Turin, was
seized on the high seas by Colonel Pisacane,
and others who had embarked with him belong-
ing to the revolutionary party. They altered
the vessel's course, landed at Ponga, in the
kingdom of Naples, liberated 300 political
prisoners, armed them, and receiving them on
board, directed the vessel's course to the pro-
vince of Salerno, and to the port of Sapri. There
they were intercepted by Neapolitan troops,
the colonel mortally wounded, and the whole
band killed or captured. The crew of the
captured steamer, which was named Cagliari,
were thrown into prison, and the ship retained
as a prize.
The King of Sardinia demanded the restitu-
tion of the vessel, of which its owners had
been despoiled, and the liberation of the crew,
which had no part in the conspiracy.
The Neapolitan government, unaccustomed
to justice in any form, refused these reasonable
demands; diplomacy failed, and only under the
threat of war were they surrendered.
The attitude of Sardinia was bold and manly,
and the moral influence of the king, the go-
vernment, and the state was greatly extended
throughout Europe.
The influence of the Paris congress upon
Sardinia was important. It brought the go-
vernment into much more intimate communi-
cation with France and England, and inspired
hopes of a new alliance for the liberation of
Italy. When the Sardinian plenipotentiaries
returned to Turin, Count Cavour met the
Chambers, and addressed to them remarkable
words.
"The opposition of Austria prevented the
passing of any resolutions on our behalf, but
warm wishes were expressed, to which the
plenipotentiaries gave their adhesion. I can-
not believe that wishes expressed by two such
great powers as France and England will prove
fruitless; I hope, on the contrary, their effects
will soon be apparent in the peninsula. It
must be owned, however, that the conferences
of Paris have certainly not tended to ameliorate
our relations with Austria. The Sardinian and
Austrian plenipotentiaries separated without
personal rancour, but, and I say it with regret,
with the growing conviction that the policy of
the two nations is further than ever from
approximating. This is the inevitable conse-
quence of our sovereign's straightforwardness,
of his firmness in maintaining the independence
and liberties of our country.
"This situation is, I admit, not without its
difficulties and dangers; but I am convinced.
that neither difficulties nor dangers will ever
induce this assembly to recommend a change
of policy to the cabinet. Meantime we may
claim your applause for a great result. The
Italian question has now become a European
question. The cause of Italy has not been
advocated by demagogues, revolutionists, and
sectaries. It has been carried before the con-
gress by the plenipotentiaries of the great
powers of Europe, England and France. From
the congress it has now passed to the tribunal
of public opinion.
The struggle may
be long; it will demand prudence and reflcc-
tion; it will be subject to fluctuations and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
315
difficulties; but I have the firm conviction our
cause will ultimately triumph."
All Italy was moved by this speech, a sub-
scription was set on foot to procure 100 pieces
of cannon for the fortifications of Alessandria,
and the subscribers were scattered over the
entire peninsula. From every part of the
glorious realm addresses to Victor Emmanuel
were poured forth, notwithstanding the most
vigorous efforts on the part of the Austrian
and Bourbon spies, detectives, and informers.
Victor Emmanuel, amidst all this turmoil
of diplomatic contention, domestic revolt, and
foreign quarrel, paid-profound attention to the
material development of his kingdom. The
iron mines of Savoy, and the island of Sar-
dinia, were thrown open to general enterprise.
Factories for the construction of railway plant
and locomotives were established. Agriculture
received all the encouragement the state could
give in harmony with the principles of political
economy.
As time wore on it became evident that a
quarrel between Sardinia and Austria could
not possibly be prevented.
In 1857 the Emperor visited Milan, and all
the crowned heads of Italy sent compliments to
him except Victor Emmanuel. When, in 1855,
that prince lost, by death, within a short period,
all his nearest and dearest, the Austrian Em-
peror returned no answer to the official notifi-
cation of these deaths. This so hurt Victor
Emmanuel that he marked the slight by refus-
ing to the Emperor the customary compliments
J
upon the Emperor's visits to the capital of
Lombardy. So great was the demonstration
of hostility to the Emperor in Milan, that he
attributed it to the popularity of Victor Em-
manuel, and could scarcely be restrained from
invading that monarch's dominions.
In the spring of 1857, the first act of the
great drama may be said to have opened. The
Emperor remonstrated upon the offensive tone
of the Turin press, the sanction of the Pied-
montese government to the subscription for
the 100 pieces of cannon, and the reception of
Lombard deputations and addresses contrary
to the will of the Austrian government, which
claimed the loyalty of these provinces. The
reply did not please the kaiser-it was cool,
temperate, yet daring.
Meanwhile all Italy was ready for outbreak
against its tyrants, so that Victor Emmanuel
opened the session of 1858 with the remarkable
expression-"We are not insensible to the cry
of anguish which reaches us from all parts of
Italy.'
""
Such was the state of things when' the ever-
memorable year of 1859 opened upon Italy;
there was then every indication that the mo-
ment could not be long deferred, when the
surging fires pent up within her bosom would
burst forth in floods of vengeance and destruc-
tion. Quem deus vult perdere prius dementat
was written by unseen hand under the arms of
every potentate or power that deferred the
adjustment of Italian policy, and the redress
of Italian wrongs.
+
3
A
316
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER XLIL
ALLIANCE OF PIEDMONT WITH FRANCE.-WAR AGAINST AUSTRIA.-EXTRAORDINARY MANIFESTOES.-
FRENCH ARMY ENTERS ITALY.-THE CAMPAIGN OPENS.-SUCCESS OF THE ALLIES.
"Strike boldly, York, 'tis for a crown."-SHAKSPEARE,
As the year 1858 closed and 1859 opened, the
grievances of Italy were intolerable from the
oppressions of Austria, the Neapolitan Bourbon,
the petty princes, and the Pope. The Emperor
of the French had resolved to aid Piedmont
in driving out the Austrians. The policy by
which he was influenced is not a subject so
suitable to a memoir of Victor Emmanuel as
it is to the pages that will hereafter, in this
work, be given to the records of the life of his
Imperial Majesty. It is, however, necessary
to set forth some of the preliminary incidents
and documents, without which the story of the
campaign of 1859 would be unintelligible.
The French Emperor, from whatsoever mo-
tive, and with whatsoever aim, resolved upon
war, in alliance with Piedmont, against
Austria, and all Europe was startled by the
first decisive indications of the fact on the 1st
of January.
On that day the Emperor received the foreign
ambassadors, as is the custom in France, and
addressed them. To the Austrian ambassador
he expressed himself in terms of intense dis-
satisfaction, on the ground of his master's
Italian policy, rendering Italy revolutionary, to
the danger of peace in the French Emperor's
dominions, and menacing to Piedmont, so as
to endanger the balance of power in Europe,
or at all events in that part of Europe, and
thus indirectly prove a menace to France.
It was clear, from the tone and manner of
the Emperor, that he was resolved upon war,
but as yet his language did not amount to a
declaration, and Austria hoped by her diplo-
macy to divert his purpose. The entente
cordiale which had appeared to exist between
France and Austria during the war against
Russia, led the court of Vienna to believe that
every difference would be adjusted, that France
would be alienated from Piedmont, and that
Austria would be allowed to glut her vengeance
upon the daring little state. Austria also
calculated upon the assistance of the German
confederation, and at least the moral support
of Russia, perhaps the material support. In
all these respects the kaiser was under a delu-
sion fatal to himself. There probably existed
a written agreement of some kind between
France and Russia, at all events a tacit under-
standing subsisted that Russia would not
interfere; the Czar was not unwilling to see
the kaiser humiliated, as he failed to assist
and somewhat obstructed the arms of Russia
during the campaign of the Crimea. Prussia
was too apprehensive for the safety of the
Rhine provinces, to join Austria against France
unless backed by Russia. The Russian people
were uneasy and exhausted after the formidable
struggle with England, France, Turkey, and
Sardinia, and had no disposition to make
sacrifices to be avenged on so small a state as
Sardinia, or to rescue so faithless an empire as
Austria. England was in favour of Italian
independence, although doubtful of the policy
of Sardinia; but she in vain used her influence
with Austria to avert a quarrel by generous.
concession.
m
Thus the French Emperor had his way
cleared, and after his New Year's Day philippic
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
317
against the government of the kaiser; he
bided his time, watched events, misled Aus-
tria, assured Sardinia, and professing peace,
and a hope of adjusting national differences by
diplomacy, made ready for war.
66
"Though war nor no known quarrel are in question,
Defences, musters, preparations,
Should be maintained, assembled and collected
As were a war in expectation."
England looked upon the formidable prepa-
rations of France with great jealousy. She
suspected that some pretext would be made to
gain territory at the expense of Italy. The
public opinion of England could endure no
hope that the French Emperor or French
arms would introduce, promote, or secure real
liberty in Italy. Indeed strong apprehensions
existed in Great Britain that any interference
by France would in the long run prove adverse
to the freedom of the Italian people. The lan-
guage of Byron thrilled through the public
judgment and conscience of England—
"France got drunk with blood to vomit crime,
And fatal has her Saturnalia been
In Freedom's cause in every age and clime."
-
Thus matters progressed, Sardinia adopting
a cool, cautious, and unerring policy—that of
quietly provoking and irritating Austria with-
out committing any overt act. This succeeded.
The haughty kaiser, chafed in presence of the
calm, silent, fearless demonstrations of Pied-
mont, and became desperate, as throughout
Italy the voices of the people arose in a hubbub
of murmur and expectation, and every hand
was ready to lift a weapon for Sardinia. Out-
witted by his opponents, and driven to mad-
ness by the public feeling displayed in Italy,
and the prevailing contempt shown by Sar-
dinia, the kaiser burst the bands of policy
and prudence, and rushed upon his doom. He
marched his army into the territories of Victor
Emmanuel, issuing a manifesto which gave no
satisfactory reason for so extreme a measure,
and leaving himself without justification before
neutral nations, while a casus belli was afforded
to the French Emperor, on the ground that
treaties were broken, and the armies of a
powerful empire, in violation of such treaties,
approached his territory.
"TO MY PEOPLE !
"I have commanded my faithful and gallant
army to step in and terminate the hostile pro-
ceedings emanating for years from Sardinia-
proceedings by which the indisputable right of
my crown, and the inviolate existence of the
empire entrusted to me by God, have been of
late most violently attacked.
66
"I by this step have satisfied a grave but
unavoidable duty of my imperial office.
66
I feel quiet in my conscience, and, looking
up to God Almighty, confidently subject my
undertaking to His judgment.
"I likewise confidently submit my resolu-
tion to the impartial verdict of my contempo-
raries and of succeeding ages.
As to my
faithful people, I am assured of their co-
operation.
"Ten years ago the same enemy, violating
every clause of international law and martial
right, and being prompted by no other motive
than a desire of conquest, invaded the kingdom
of Lombardo-Venetia. After glorious battles
he was twice beaten by my army, and de-
livered up to the arbitrary will of the victor.
Obedient, however, to the dictates of generosity,
I tendered a conciliatory hand to him.
“I have not appropriated to myself as much
as an inch of his territory, nor have I laid my
hand on any of the rights belonging to the
crown of Sardinia in the assembly of European
nations. Amongst the conditions of peace I
prescribed none preventing a repetition of
318
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
similar events, believing that I should find a
guarantee in the tender of reconciliation I
sincerely made, and which was accepted.
"The blood shed by my army for the honour
and right of Austria I sacrificed to peace.
The answer to this forbearance—a for-
bearance unexampled perhaps in the annals of
history-was an immediate renewal of the
former enmity, and an ever-increasing agita-
tion, supported by all the resources of dis-
loyalty, against the tranquillity and welfare of
my Lombardo-Venetian kingdom.
•
66 Being fully conscious of what I owed to
the precious treasure of peace for my people,
as well as for Europe, I met the course of
these new hostilities by patience only.
"The very measures I, in order to counteract
the manifold incitements to rebellion, had to
carry out for the security of my Italian coun-
tries, and the protection of their confines
against revolutionary agencies, were latterly
made a reason for an augmentation of hostile
preparations on the part of Sardinia. But even
then my patience was not exhausted.
"Giving due credit to the well-intentioned
mediation undertaken by certain great powers
friendly to Austria, I consented to take part
in a congress of the five great Powers of
Europe.
"The four points proposed by the royal
government of Great Britain as a basis for the
discussions of the congress, and communicated
to my government, were accepted by me. In
so doing, I added a few conditions tending
greatly to the promotion of a true, sincere, and
lasting peace.
66
Being, however, conscious that on the part
of my government no step had been taken
conducive in the least degree to a disturbance
of peace, I at the same time demanded that
that power guilty of the whole complication,
and which was the moving cause of the
endangering of the public tranquillity, should
effect a preliminary disarmament.
"Yielding to the urgent requests of the
friendly Powers, I at length gave my consent
to the proposal of a universal disarmament.
"The mediation was broken off owing to the
non-acceptance of the conditions put forward
by Sardinia.
"After this, one step only remained for the
maintenance of peace. I ordered the royal
government of Sardinia to be immediately
requested to put its army on a peace footing,
and disband the free corps.
"Sardinia did not respond to this request.
Thus, the time has come when we are neces-
sitated to compel the acknowledgment of our
right by an appeal to arms.
"I have commanded my army to march into
Sardinia.
"I am fully aware of the grave import of
this step. If there was ever a moment when
the cares of the imperial office pressed heavily
upon me it is the present. War is a scourge
of humanity. I am deeply moved to see the
lives and fortunes of thousands of my faithful
subjects threatened by it. I am fully sensible
to the fact, that war is a trial of more than
usual severity at a time when my empire is
progressing on the path of internal develop-
ment, and consequently requires the con-
tinuance of peace.
"But the heart of the monarch ought to be
silenced when honour and duty alone are
allowed to speak.
"On the frontiers stands an armed foc,
allied to the party of universal revolution, and
openly avowing the plan of forcibly appropriat-
ing to himself Austria's possession in Italy.
To assist this enemy, the ruler of France-
interfering, under the mask of trivial pre-
tences, in the internal arrangements, formally
ratified, of the Italian peninsula-moves his
&
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
319
Į
troops onwards. Some of the French detach-
ments have already passed the frontiers of
Sardinia.
"Serious times have passed over that crown
handed down to me by my ancestors in im-
maculate purity. But the glorious history of
our fatherland bears testimony to the fact
that, when the sombre shadows of revolution
menacing the highest possessions of humanity
with destruction seemed to spread over this
quarter of the world, Providence invariably
availed itself of the sword of Austria to scatter
by its shining blade the gathering spirits of
darkness.
"We again are on the eve of a time when
the destruction of every established power is to
become the watchword, not only of parties, but
of monarchs.
"The sword I am compelled to take up is
hallowed by the sacred end for which it is
unsheathed. I have drawn the sword in de-
fence of the honour and right of Austria, in
defence of the rights of all peoples and
states, and for the most sacred possessions of
humanity.
"I now turn to you, my people—to you
who, by preserving unshaken fidelity to your
hereditary dynasty, have become an example
to the nations of the globe. I call upon you,
my people, to stand by me with your old
fidelity, devotion, and readiness for every
sacrifice, in the strife now broken out. I, their
supreme commander and Lord of War,' send
my military salute to your sons called into the
ranks of my army. Proudly you may point to
them, from whose hands the eagle of Austria
will rise to new honours.
(
We enter upon
"Our contest is a just one.
it full of courage and confidence.
"We hope not to stand alone in this
conflict.
"The soil on which we battle has been
enriched by the blood of our brothers, the
German nation. It has been conquered and,
up to this day, maintained as one of the
defences of Germany. On that soil the ran-
corous enemies of Germany were generally
wont to commence the manoeuvres, whenever
the breaking of its internal force was their
ultimate end. The foreboding of such a danger
is now pervading the German countries,
making itself perceptible from the palace to
the cottage, and from one frontier to the
other.
"I speak in my capacity as a prince of the
German confederation, when I point to the
common danger, and call back to memory
those glorious days of universal enthusiasm
that restored to Europe its liberty by the fiery
power of national excitement.
• With God for the Fatherland !'
"Given at my palace and first imperial
metropolis of Vienna, the twenty-eighth day of
April, in the year 1859.
"FRANCIS-JOSEPH."
The following communication was presented
to the Corps Legislatif, after the appearance
of the Austrian proclamation:-
"Austria, by ordering the entry of her army
into the territories of the King of Sardinia,
our ally, has declared war against us. She
thus violates treaties and justice, and menaces
our frontiers. All the great Powers have pro-
tested against this act of aggression. Piedmont
having accepted the conditions which ought to
have ensured peace, one asks what can be the
reason of this sudden invasion? It is because
Austria has driven matters to such an extremity
that her dominion must either extend to the
Alps, or Italy must be free to the shores of
the Adriatic, for every corner of Italy which
320
ין
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"Hitherto moderation has been the rule of
my conduct, but now energy becomes my first
duty. France must now to arms, and reso-
lutely tell Europe :-'I wish not for conquest,
but I am determined firmly to maintain my
national and traditional policy. I observe
treaties on condition that they are not violated
against me. I respect the territories and
rights of neutral powers, but I boldly avow
my sympathies with a people whose history is
mingled with our own, and who now groan
under foreign oppression.'
"France has shown her hatred of anarchy.
Her will was to give me power sufficiently
strong to reduce into subjection abettors of
disorder and the incorrigible members of old
factions, who are incessantly seen concluding
compacts with our enemies; but she has not.
for that purpose abandoned her civilising
character. Her natural allies have always
been those who desire the amelioration of the
human race, and when she draws the sword it
is not to govern, but to free. The object of
this war is to restore Italy to herself, not to
impose upon her a change of masters; and we
shall then have upon our frontiers a friendly
people, who will owe to us their independence.
We do not enter Italy to foment disorder, or
to disturb the power of the Holy Father, whom
we replaced upon his throne, but to remove
from him this foreign pressure, which burdens
the whole peninsula, and to help to esta-
blish there order based upon lawful satisfied
interests. In fine, then, we enter this classic
ground, rendered illustrious by so many vic-
tories, to seek the footsteps of our fathers.
God grant that we may be worthy of them!
I am about to place myself at the head of the
army. I leave in France the Empress and my
Seconded by the experience and the
son.
1
remains independent endangers the power of enlightenment of the Emperor's last surviving
Austria.
brother, she will understand how to show her-
self worthy of the grandeur of her mission.
I confide them to the valour of the army which
remains in France to keep watch upon our
frontiers and to protect our homes. I confide
them to the patriotism of the National Guard.
I confide them, in a word, to the entire people,
who will encircle them with that affection and
devotedness of which I daily receive so many
proofs. Courage, then, and union! Our
country is again about to show the world that
she has not degenerated. Providence will
bless our efforts; for that cause is holy in the
eyes of God which rests on justice, humanity,
love of country, and independence.
""
The proclamation of the King of Sardinia
to his troops completes the manifestoes of the
three Powers.
"VICTOR EMMANUEL'S ADDRESS TO HIS TROOPS.
"Soldiers !—Austria, who is increasing her
armies on our frontier, and threatens to invade
our territory because here liberty reigns with
order,-because, not might, but concord and
affection between the people and the sovereign
here govern the State, because the groans
of oppressed Italy here find an echo,—Austria
dares to ask us, who are only armed in self-
defence, to lay down our arms and submit to
her clemency.
"That insulting demand received the reply
it deserved. I rejected it with contempt.
Soldiers, I tell it to you, convinced that you
will take an insult to your king and to your
nation as an insult to yourselves. The an-
nouncement I make to you is the announce-
ment of war! Soldiers, to arms!
"You will have to face an enemy not new
to you. But, if brave and disciplined, you
need not fear the comparison; and you may
KA
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
321
quote with pride the battles of Goito,
Pastrenga, Santa Lucia, Somma-Compagna,
and even Custozza, where four brigades alone
struggled for three days against five corps
d'armée.
"I will lead you. We have made each
other's acquaintance before this, on more than
one occasion, in the heat of battle, when,
fighting by the side of my magnanimous
father, I had opportunity to admire your
courage.
"I am sure that on the field of honour and
of glory you will maintain, even add to, your
reputation for bravery. You will also have for
companions those intrepid soldiers of France,
conquerors in so many noted battles, who were
your brethren-in-arms on the Tchernaya, and
whom Napoleon III., who is always to be
found where there is a just cause to defend or
civilisation to promote, sends generously to
our assistance in numerous battalions.
"March, then, confident in victory, and
twine new laurels round your flag, that tri-
colour under the folds of which the élite of the
youth of Italy is collected, and which indicates
to you that the task before you is the inde-
pendence of Italy-that just and holy work
which will be your battle-cry.
"VICTOR EMMANUEL.
"Turin, April 27."
Upon the publication of the manifesto the
Austrians moved across the Ticino and the
Sesia, establishing military positions, raising
contributions, and laying waste the country.
These violations of the usages of European
warfare were permitted under the pretext of
punishing revolutionists; but the brutality
was indiscriminate. General Gyulai, the com-
mander of the Austrian troops, put forth the
following address to the subjects of Victor
Emmanuel :-
"SARDINIAN PEOPLE!
"Although we pass over into your territory,
we have not directed our weapons against you.
"Our weapons are destined to oppose a
revolutionary party, who are weak in numbers,
but are mighty in their audacity—who vio-
lently suppress each word of peace which is
raised, and encroach on the rights of other
Italian States, as well as on those of Austria.
"If the imperial eagle is received by you
without hatred and without opposition, so
shall order, tranquillity, and moderation come
with it, and peaceable citizens can reckon with
security upon peace, happiness, laws, and
property being held inviolable.
"My word is your surety for that discipline
which goes hand in hand with the imperial
troops.
"As organ of the magnanimous sentiments.
of my enlightened king and master, I pro-
claim and repeat to you at the moment I enter
your territory, this only-that our war is not a
war against peoples and nations, but against
aggressors who, under the hypocritical cloak of
freedom, would rob every one of that blessing
if the God of Armies were not also the God of
Justice.
"If once again your opponents and our
opponents are subdued-if again order and
peace be restored, so will you, who now call
us enemies, in a short time call us liberators
and friends.
A
"FRANCIS COUNT GYULAI,
"Field Marshal to His Imperial and
Apostolic Majesty, Commandant
of the Second Army Corps, and
General Military Governor of the
Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom."
An order of the day, addressed by the
Emperor of Austria to his army, was issued
at the same time, and was followed by an
T T
322
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.

J
address of the King of Sardinia to the Italian
people :-
"PEOPLE OF THE KINGDOM !
"Austria assails us with the powerful army
which, with a pretended love of peace, she
assembled to our injury in the unhappy pro-
vinces subject to her dominion.
"Unable to bear the example of our poli-
tical organisation, and unwilling to submit to
the judgment of a European Congress as to
the evils and dangers which she alone entailed
upon Italy, Austria now violates the promise
given to Great Britain, and makes a point of
honour a casus belli.
"Austria dares bid us to lessen our troops,
to disarm, and give into her power those brave
youths who, from all parts of Italy, have come
forward to defend the sacred banner of national
independence.
“A jealous guardian of our common heritage
of honour and glory, I give up the government
of the state to my beloved cousin, Prince
Eugene, and once more draw my sword.
"Together with my soldiers, the brave troops
of the Emperor Napoleon, my generous ally,
will fight the battles of freedom and justice.
"People of Italy! Austria assails Piedmont
because I have advocated the cause of our
common country before the councils of Europe,
because I was not insensible to your cry of
distress. She thus breaks violently those
treaties which she has never respected. Thus
the right of the nation is restored to its
integrity, and I can with full conscience fulfil
the vow I made on the grave of my high-
souled father. While I take arms to defend
my throne, the freedom of my people, and the
honour of the Italian name, I fight for the
rights of the whole nation.
"Let us put our trust in God, and in our
concord; let us put our trust in the valour of
the Italian soldiers-in the alliance of the
noble French nation-in the justice of public
opinion.
"I have no other ambition than that of
being the first soldier of Italian independence.
God save Italy!
"VICTOR EMMANUEL.
"C. CAVOUR.
"Turin, April 29, 1859.”
Immediately upon the publication of this
appeal Tuscany rose in revolt: the Grand
Duke fled. The King of Sardinia put himself
at the head of his army. France sent 120,000
men across the Alps and round by Genoa.
The Emperor of the French took the command
of the "Army of Italy," leaving the Empress
to act as Regent, supported by his uncle Prince
Jerome. Prussia ordered six corps d'armée of
the Federal Contingent to be placed on the
war footing. The Wurtemberg Chambers
called out the Landwehr, made a forced levy
of horses, and opened a war-credit of seven
millions of florins. The King of Saxony con-
voked the Chambers. Rastadt, in the Grand
Duchy of Baden, was put upon a war-footing
and provisioned for eight months. England
resolved upon neutrality, but reinforced heavily
her fleet and garrisons in the Mediterranean.
Russia remained perfectly passive. The minor
states of Europe and the Transatlantic states,
looked on with silent but profound interest,
while the gathering storms of war were pre-
paring to burst in fury over the Italian
peninsula.
There existed throughout Europe, from the
moment the French Emperor's New Year's
Day harangue became known, intense anxiety
to ascertain what policy the Pope would
pursue; whether he would stand by the Eldest
Son of the Church, whose troops guarded his
capital, or by his "Apostolic Majesty," who
JUN
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
323
had done so much to keep down liberalism in
Italy, prevent the invasion of heresy, and con-
firm the authority of the Pope in the Austrian
Empire by a concordat after the Pontiff's own
heart. When affairs ripened, all the accredited
foreign ministers at Rome received the fol-
lowing:-
H
"The hopes entertained of maintaining
peace in
Europe have not been fulfilled.
According to the announcements in the official
journals, and from the formidable preparations
for war made by the two nations, it is clear
that hostilities will soon commence.
"Such a state of things seriously affects the
heart of the Holy Father, who, invested with
the sublime character of the common Father
of the Faithful, and as the Vicar of Him who
is the Author of Peace, as likewise in accord-
ance with the duties of his Apostolic ministry,
desires nothing, nor does he demand anything
of God in his present prayers, but to behold
so dear and precious a blessing as peace
prevail over the whole earth.
}
"Yet, amid the sadness which fills his heart,
his Holiness loves to trust in the good feeling
of the powers to arrest, or at least diminish,
the dangers which menace Europe, if it be
impossible to avert them. Whatever course
events may take, his Holiness demands, with
reason, that in case of war, the neutrality shall
be respected which the Pontifical Government
intends to maintain as suitable to its character
-a neutrality from which it can never deviate,
as it declared under other circumstances, and
as it now declares for good reasons.
"His Holiness expects, therefore, that during
the present war his neutrality will be respected,
and that any collision will be avoided which
might inflict injury on the Roman States and
the subjects of the Holy See. Although the
Holy Father is full of confidence in the reasons
already expressed, yet on so important a ques-
tion he thought it his duty to give to the
undersigned Cardinal Secretary of State the
special charge to address to your Excellency
the present note, with a request to commu-
nicate it to your government, and to give it to
understand of how much consequence it is to
leave the Pontifical Government and its states
in a condition which alters in no respect the
neutrality which is peculiar to it by reason of
its exceptional character-a neutrality which
the public law acknowledges, and which the
great Powers have all admitted under similar
circumstances. In expectation that your Ex-
cellency will make an affirmative reply to this
communication, the undersigned has the
honour to renew the sentiment of his high
consideration.
"JAMES CARDINAL ANTONELLI.
"Palace of the Vatican, May 3."
K
France accepted the neutrality of the Papal
States; but Piedmont did not. The French
police, by order of General Goyon, imprisoned
the following public men at Civita Vecchia:
-Ciro Lupi, Secretary of the Chamber of
Commerce; Felix Aviani, Charles Berlingeri,
Giachetti Sestrai, inspector of the arsenal, anl
three other persons. They were arrested on
suspicion of being warm partisans of Austria.
The Pope's circular was followed by a rush
of volunteers from the States of the Church to
join Garibaldi or Victor Emmanuel. The Papal
government dared not interfere, as the
dominant interests of the French forbade it;
and the excitement in Romagna, Bologna, and
Ferrara was intense. Groups of volunteers
departed from Rome, or arrived there to be
sent forward by the secret committee, and
the population greeted them with boundless
enthusiasm.
It is here desirable to afford the reader some
324
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
A
information as to the numerical strength and
constitution of the armies of France and
Austria at this juncture. The quality and
numbers of the Sardinian army were stated
when relating the preparations made by Victor
Emmanuel to enter the alliance against Russia.
The Austrian army available for service out.
of Austria amounted to about 400,000 men of
all arms. The discipline and education were
careful. The cavalry bore a larger proportion
to the infantry than in other European armies,
excepting the army of Russia, where the
Cossacks increase the cavalry to considerably
above a quarter of a million. There were
65,000 cavalry in Austria, of whom one-third
were heavy. The artillery comprised nearly
1,400 guns, including those upon the fortresses
scattered over the empire; the men and officers
of this arm were 70,000 in number. No fewer
than 11,000 officers and men composed the
engineer-force, exclusive of the pontoon and
pioneer corps, 5,000 strong. The infantry
consisted of 62 regiments of the line, guards,
&c., each regiment containing six battalions,
four of which were "service-battalions," each
1,324 strong. There were 20,000 gend'armes,
and a reserve of discharged soldiers, which
amounted to 100,000. The necessity which
Austria was under of keeping all her fortresses
well-manned, and her cities well-garrisoned, re-
duced the number of troops disposable for field-
service, to about 400,000 men. Five thousand
seven hundred pupils received an education,
more than half the number free, to fit them
to become non-commissioned officers. This
education began at the age of seven, and ter-
minated at eighteen; it was conducted in three
successive schools, and the most deserving
pupils in the highest schools were sent to the
Academies, whence they obtained commissions
as officers. At least fifty or sixty young men of
humble birth obtained commissions yearly in
-
4
this manner, in various parts of the Austrian
service. The education given was of a very
efficient character in military subjects. These
favours were bestowed entirely on the ground
of the father's service in a military or official
capacity, and not as the reward of success in
open competitive examination.
The schools for officers were also efficient.
Thus in the Artillery and Engineer Academics
the subjects were high, and the amount of time
devoted very great. A large number of pupils
obtained high marks. The same character
applied to Wiener Neustadt, the school for the
infantry and cavalry. The pupils of Wiener
Neustadt only furnished about one-twentieth of
the officers of the whole army. The rest entered
with scarcely any examination.
The studies of the Staff School were few in
number, but select. There was open compe-
tition for entrance. On leaving, the students
were placed in the order of merit, and each
entered the staff accordingly. Encouragement
was offered for success in the Staff School by
immediate promotion being given to the second
lieutenant, and the prospective promotion of
lieutenants to the rank of captain, after three
years' more service, was also secured.
The French army, when the war establish-
ment was complete, numbered 580,000 men.
Of these, nearly 400,000 were infantry. From
the scarcity of horses the light cavalry in
France was not more than 30,000 in number,
exclusive of the Chasseurs d'Afrique. The
heavy artillery was inferior to that of Austria
as to the number of guns, but far superior
in every way in field artillery. France had
fewer forts to protect, and the Emperor had
bestowed a great deal of attention upon the
improvement of field-guns. Rifled cannon
(4-pounders) were sent into Piedmont. There
were three regiments of Engineers, of 2,500
men each, and a Pontoon train. The
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
325
!
Chasseurs, or riflemen of the French army,
were trained to the use of the Minié and the
carabine-à-tige. But in this respect the Aus-
trians were scarcely their inferiors: the Jagers
and Borderers were very expert marksmen.
The French military colleges were models
for Europe. The armies were composed of
soldiers levied by yearly conscription for a
service of seven years. Substitutes were
allowed, but under the second empire they
were selected by the state. A fixed sum was
paid over to the authorities, and the choice of
the substitutes made by them. In this respect
the military policy of Austria was similar.
2nd Lieut. cannot be promoted to Lieut. under 2 years' service.
Lieut.
Captain 2
Major 4
Lieut.-Col. 3
Colonel 2
Captain
Major
Lieut.-Col.
The troops were officered partly from the
military schools and partly by promotion from
the ranks. The proportions were established
by law. One-third of the commissions are
reserved for the military schools, and one one-
third left for promotion from the ranks. The
disposal of the remaining third was left to the
Emperor. In actual practice, it is said that
two-thirds of the officers in the artillery and
engineers are taken from the pupils of the
Polytechnic, and one-third only from the
ranks in the line, on the other hand, about
two-thirds are promoted from the ranks, and
one-third only have gone through St. Cyr.
Only a small proportion of those promoted |
from the ranks rise above the rank of captain
in any of the services.
The promotion was partly by seniority and absorbed.
partly by selection.
The following regulations existed as to the
length of service in each rank before promotion
would be given during a period of peace:-
"1
19
19
""
""
""
""
""
""
""
""
"}
19
99
"3
Thus the youngest lieutenant-colonel must
have been in the army thirteen years.
But in time of war these regulations were
not in force.
Up to the rank of captain, two-thirds of the
promotion was according to seniority, and the
other one-third by selection.
From the rank of captain to that of major
(chef de bataillon ou d'escadron) half of the
promotion was by seniority, and the other half
by selection, and from major upwards it is
entirely by selection.
The mode of selection was as follows:-The
general officers appointed by the minister-at-
war to make the annual inspections of the
several divisions of the army of France, when
they have completed their tours of inspection,
assemble together for the purpose of com-
paring notes respecting the officers they have
each seen, and to prepare a list arranged
in the order in which they recommend that
the selection for promotion should be made.
The principal military schools then existing
in France were :—
1. The Polytechnic School at Paris (Ecole
Impériale Polytechnique) preparatory to―
2. The Artillery and Engineers' School of
Application at Metz (Ecole Impériale d'Appli-
cation de l'Artillerie et du Génie).
3. The Military School at St. Cyr (Ecole Im-
périale Spéciale Militaire), for the infantry and
| cavalry, into which the officers' department of
the Cavalry School at Saumur has lately been
4. The Staff School at Paris (Ecole Impériale
d'Application d'Etat Major).
5. The Military Orphan School (Prytanée
Impériale Militaire) at La Flèche.
6. The Medical School (Ecole Impériale
de Médecine et de Pharmacie Militaires) in
connection with the Hospital of Val-de-
Grâce.
7. The School of Musketry (Ecole Normale
de Tir) at Vincennes, founded in 1842.
326
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
8. The Gymnastic School (Ecole Normale de
Gymnastique) near Vincennes.
9. The Music School (Gymnase Musical).
10. The Regimental Schools (Ecoles Régi-
mentaires.)*
The military schools were under the charge
of the minister-of-war, the authorities of the
schools communicated directly with his Excel-
lency on all matters under their direction.
Such was the state of the armies of the
contending nations when Austria "let slip the
dogs of war," and truly her cry was "havoc ;
""
(
CHAPTER XLIII.
for her troops entered the Sardinian dominions.
urged by a vindictive spirit on the part of
those who directed them from Vienna, and of
their own officers, especially those of superior
rank, which it is to be hoped Europe will
never again witness, whatever the cause which
may engage her chief states in hostilities.
Sardinia bravely accepted the challenge.
Victor Emmanuel struck boldly-it was "for
a crown;" and, as the issue proved, for
crowns, as the ultimate fortunes of the war
placed in his hands all the diadems of Italy.
AUSTRIAN TACTICS.-ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH.-VICTOR EMMANUEL AND THE EMPEROR AT ALES-
SANDRIA.—RETREAT OF THE AUSTRIANS.—BATTLES OF MONTEBELLO AND PALESTRO.
"By our camp fires rose a murmur
At the dawning of the day,
And the tread of many footsteps
Spoke the advent of the fray;
And as we took our places,
Few and stern were our words,
While some were tight'ning horse-girths,
And some were girding swords."-Ballads of Ireland.
FROM all parts of Italy bands of volunteers
made their way to Turin, many joined the
forces under Garibaldi, and many also were
enrolled in the regular army. Old grey-headed
men, and boys, gathered in groups in the
streets of the capital eager to be counted off
into the battalions ordered to the front, or the
reserves which were destined to augment their
strength. Turin resounded to the stroke of
hammers, the rumble of artillery, and of the
heavy cars bearing material and munitions of
war to the points of defence.
* The same military colleges still exist, and all the military
regulations are substantially the same. The cavalry is in-
creased, and the supply of horses good.
The Sardinian regular expeditionary army
contained five excellent infantry divisions, of
about 13,000 men each. Every division had
two battalions of bersaglieri, a regiment of
cavalry, three batteries of artillery of six guns,
and a company of sappers. There was a division
of cavalry under General Sambuy, numbering
sixteen squadrons, to which two batteries of
horse artillery were attached. The numerical
strength of this division was 2,200 horse, and
twelve pieces of artillery.
The five infantry divisions were under the
orders of Generals Durando, Fanti, Mollard,
Cialdini, and Cucchiari. The king was com-
mander-in-chief, with General Morozzo della

S Bradshaw.
THXXXXXEY
122
S.Read
MOULAY
ALESSANDRIA.
LONDON JAMES S VIRTUE.
Pag
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MAR
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
327
Rocca as chief of the staff, and General La
Marmora commander ad latus.
When the campaign opened, the Sardinian
army was echeloned on the line which runs
from Casale to Alessandria, and thence to
Tortona and Novi. The division of cavalry on
the left bank of the Po slowly retired from the
Ticino towards the Sesia; while the division
commanded by Cialdini occupied the line of
the Dora-Battea, which had been fortified by
General Menabrea, commander of the royal
engineers.
The Austrian general invaded Piedmont on
both banks of the Po. He sent two corps
d'armée across the Ticino to occupy the provinces
of Novaro and Somellina, and at the same
time crossed the Sesia, and occupied the town
of Vercelli. The Ticino formed the boundaries
of Piedmont and Austrian Lombardy. It was
a very imperfect defence to the former. The
passage at Pavia, near the confluence of the
Po and Ticino, enabled the Austrians to turn
the position of the Sardinian army, so as to
separate it from its fortified post at Alessandria.
The country is level and open, offering fine
opportunity for the action of cavalry, in which
the Austrians were numerically so superior.
The Sesia was of less strategical importance to
the invader, but it was necessary to pass both
rivers. Had the kaiser's general been prompt,
the Sardinian arms might have suffered
serious and even disastrous reverses before the
French came to their help. Gyulai, although a
Hungarian by birth, was nurtured in Austria,
and was as tardy as Austrian generals in
Italy had proved themselves to be in the wars
with the first Napoleon, drawing from that
master in strategy the censure- "the Austrian
generals never know the value of time."
While the German accomplished those move-
ments, he also crossed the Po, and overran
nearly the whole province of Voghera.
The French hurried forward with their usual
rapidity, descending from Mont Cenis and
Mont Genêvre, through the valley of Dora
Ripana upon Turin.
The first and second French corps, the
Imperial Guard, and the matériel of the army,
had sailed from Toulon to Genoa, crossed the
Appenines, and spread themselves in the valley
of the Serivia.
On the 12th of May the French Emperor
entered Genoa.
The Emperor and his legions did not arrive
too soon, and but for German tardiness, they
would have been too late, for Gyulai, some
days before the Emperor's reception at Genoa,
concentrated a powerful force at Vercelli on
the right bank of the Sesia, threatening the
line of the Dora-Battea, and the town of Torea.
On the right of the Austrian line, Trino and Gat-
tinara were seized. These dispositions indicated
an intention to march at once upon Turin.
The concentration of the allies frustrated
such a purpose if it existed, and compelled
a retrograde movement of the enemy as a
strategical necessity. His delays had already
rendered his plans abortive; it was no longer
possible to take the allies in detail, and seize,
by a coup de main, Turin or Alessandria. The
French Emperor entered the latter place amidst
acclamations of the citizens and garrison. Over
the Porta Marengo, which leads from the for-
tress to the celebrated battle-field so hardly
won by the first Napoleon, and so disastrously
lost by Austria, was emblazoned in tricolor
letters-To the descendant of the conqueror
of Mareng," The Emperor was met by Victor
Emmanuel, mounted on a charger of extraor-
dinary power, and was conducted to the palace
of the Sardinian king. On his arrival, the
Emperor was astonished and delighted to find
the very map on which Napoleon I. had traced
the plan of his movements before the battle of
1
328
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Marengo. The map was offered to the Emperor,
and gladly and thankfully accepted.
If the soldiers of kaiser or Emperor were
tardy or late in their movements, not so the
gallant Garibaldi, who had already fought and
discomfited the Austrians, baffled their general,
disconcerted his movements, and so puzzled
and bewildered them by his sagacity, activity,
and courage, that, slow as Gyulai was, he
now hesitated more than ever, and Garibaldi
allowed him no rest, and little time to think.
In fact, the movements of Garibaldi and Cial-
dini, with whom he co-operated, so confused
the Austrian marshal, that he seemed to have
lost himself, not knowing what to do. As he
retired, the Sardinians placed their head-
quarters at Occimiano, covering the passage
of the Po at Casale, and of the Sesia at
Vercelli, which place the Austrians literally
robbed before abandoning it. The French
threw themselves along the line of the Po,
confronting the positions which the Austrians
took up after their retreat. The dispositions
of Gyulai showed that he could not divine the
purpose of his opponents, and that his own
resolutions were far from being clear and
determinate.
The Franco-Sardinian army formed in shape
of a crescent sweeping from Vercelli to Voghera.
The first and second French corps was at one
extreme of the crescent, opposite to the Aus-
trian fifth corps. It was the eve of the battle
of Montebello.
BATTLE OF MONTEBELLO.
The conflict known to history as the battle
of Montebello, began at Genestrello at half-
past one o'clock in the afternoon of the 20th
of May. The Austrians were the assailants.
The position occupied by the allies, and espe-
cially by the French at the post named, was
so menacing that it became necessary for the
Austrians to make an attempt to dislodge
them.
There were a railway and a post-road run-
ning through the position, and both were
skirted by hills. In these rising grounds the
Austrian sharpshooters found cover. Braune's
brigade was on the railway, and two battalions.
of Schaafgottsche were on the carriage road.
General Gall was posted at Rabeco, Bils at
Cassatisma, Prince Von Hess at Branduzzo,
and Boer at Barbaniello. The Austrians
advanced from Genestrello against Cascina
Nuova, which was defended by the French
colonel, Cambriels, with a single battalion of
the 74th regiment of the line. For two hours
he kept his position against the superior force
brought against him, until General Forey
came to his assistance, who repulsed the Aus-
trians and drove them out of Genestrello.
They retired upon Montebello, where, fifty-
nine years before, Lannes, a lieutenant of the
first class, had beaten an Austrian army.
Forey was a general of division, and had the
first of the corps of Baraguay d'Hilliers under
his command. He was supported gallantly
by a Sardinian battalion, under Colonel
Maurice de Sonnaz. The fight at Montebello
was fierce, and lasted several hours. There
was little of the art of war displayed, and
little occasion for strategy; it was a close and
energetic conflict. The infantry under Forey
scarcely exceeded 6,000 men; but he was ably
sustained by six full squadrons of "crack"
Sardinian cavalry. Victory rested with the
allies, although Montebello was defended by
20,000 men under Field-marshal Stadion.
The division of General Forey lost 500 men
in killed and wounded
in killed and wounded; the Austrian loss did
not much exceed this, but 200 of the kaiser's
soldiers were left prisoners with the conqueror.
The battle was not one of magnitude, nor
of great strategic importance, but became
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
329
noticeable as the first of the campaign, and
the first victory of the allies, gained with
singular disparity of numbers.
On the 21st, General Cialdini, aided by
Garibaldians, decided a sharp action at Vercelli,
driving the enemy across the Sesia.
On the 24th, Gyulai showed the effect of
these actions by retiring his head-quarters
from Mortara to Garlasco.
On the 30th, Napoleon established his head-
quarters at Casale.
The inhabitants of the Valteline rose in
insurrection in favour of Garibaldi.
The Austrian Emperor received, on the
same day, the reserves of his army at Verona.
This day of the campaign was distinguished
by a glorious combat, and victory for Victor
Emmanuel. The opportunity for this exploit
was afforded him by the mistaken tactics of
his adversary. After the battle of Montebello,
Gyulai informed the Emperor that the move-
ments of the allies betrayed their intention.
He considered that they had been massed
between Alessandria and Voghera for the pur-
pose of advancing towards Pavia, and threaten-
ing Piacenza. This delusion was fatal to the
Austrian commander and to his master. It
was, however, the interest of the allies to keep
up and increase the general's confidence in this
error by whatever movements would blind him
to their real intentions. For this purpose the
Emperor directed General MacMahon, whose
head-quarters were at Voghera, to make a
show of crossing the Po near the village of
Corvisina. MacMahon pretended an attempt
to throw a bridge of boats across the river at
that place. Meanwhile, the whole army was
commanded by the Emperor to change front.
This movement began on the 28th; but the
army was ignorant of the nature of the evolu-
tion in which it was participating until the
night of the 29th, so well did the Emperor
keep his own counsels and prevent informa-
tion from reaching the enemy. On the 30th
the movement was completed, to the astonish-
ment of the Austrians, who had no conception
of the stratagem. The Sardinian army was
ordered to mask the proceedings of the French
by a demonstration opposite the village of
Palestro. When the movement was executed,
the army formed from Cameriano to Casale,
with Palestro for its centre. The railway
system, which Count Cavour had created, en-
abled this mighty movement to be made with
celerity, and the safety which celerity so often
secures in military operations before an enemy.
The army took post parallel to the Sesia, and
by thus out-manoeuvering the enemy, com-
pelled him to retreat on its left bank.
K
BATTLES OF PALESTRO.
Victor Emmanuel's part was to force the
passage of the Sesia, and drive the Austrians
out of Palestro. On the 29th the king's
head-quarters were moved to Vercelli. On the
morning of the 30th Cialdini, with a brigade,
boldly crossed the river. The king, at the
head of his army, crossed at Pezzano, opposite,
or nearly opposite, Castelnovello. The first
Austrian position at Palestro was elevated
and fortified. The Sardinians stormed it.
Cialdini made the assault with numbers totally
inadequate to the task. He was, however,
after performing prodigies of valour, reinforced,
and again reinforced, until he overbore the
enemy, and with the bayonet drove him out of
his defences. The Austrians were well sup-
ported; and the Bohemian and Tyrolese troops,
which occupied the post, fought with un-
daunted resolution. Many prisoners, of whom
a large proportion were wounded, and many
stands of arms, were captured by the victors.
The troops which crossed the river were also
engaged at Vinzaglio and Casalino, and the
U U
1
Moški
330
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
conflict at the latter village was fierce. The
Bohemians and Tyrolese showed the same
bravery as at Palestro, but were defeated by
the desperate perseverance and self-sacrifice of
the Italians. At the close of the day, Victor
Emmanuel addressed the following proclama-
tion to his army :-
"Chief Head-quarters at Torrione,
· May 30, 1859.
(6
"Soldiers !-Our first battle has been our
first victory. Your heroic courage, the ad-
mirable order of your ranks, and the valour
and sagacity of your chiefs, have this day
triumphed at Palestro, Vinzaglio, and Casa-
lino. The enemy, repeatedly attacked, has,
after an obstinate defence, left his strong posi-
tions in your hands. This campaign could not
commence under more favourable auspices.
The triumph of this day is a sure pledge that
you have other victories in reserve for the
glory of your King and the fame of the brave
Piedmontese army. Soldiers! the country
exultingly expresses its gratitude to you
through me, and already points out to history
the names of its heroic sons, who for the
second time have bravely fought for it on the
memorable 30th of May.
"VICTOR EMMANUEL."
The battle of Palestro was not, however, yet
over; or, rather, the village was destined to
be the theatre of another battle the next day.
General Zobel was ordered, with fresh troops,
to retake it. He commanded four brigades,
and holding one in reserve launched the other
three against the place. The troops did not
show the alacrity or rapid action of the assail-
ing Italians the day before, but they came on
with firmness and steadiness, and fought with
bravery and pertinacity. Cialdini's division,
aided by a French regiment of Zouaves, main-
-
tained the post, and the king placed himself
at its head, leading it, and with an intrepidity
which surprised all who beheld it, exposing
himself to the greatest dangers. Garibaldi
could not more fearlessly seek the path of
danger than did Victor Emmanuel on the me-
morable day of the second battle of Palestro,
"the second
or, as some would describe it,
day of that battle." Several of the officers of
his staff were wounded, and General La Mar-
mora, who kept by his Majesty's side, had his
horse shot dead. The French Zouaves (the
3rd regiment), at the close of the day, elected
the king their corporal, as the 73rd demi-
brigade of the French Republican army elected
General Bonaparte after the battle of Mon-
tenotte.
The Austrians lost 500 men killed or
drowned in the Brida, and 1,000 prisoners.
The Italians lost nearly 1,000 men. The
French Zouaves also lost heavily, as they
behaved with the utmost gallantry, capturing
a considerable proportion of the cannon which
fell into the hands of the conqueror.
This ended the contest in the provinces of
Voghera and Somellina.
Count Arrivabene relates an anecdote, with-
out giving his authority, which is interesting
and striking, showing how the fortunes of
war and revolution change the fate of princes:
"A sub-lieutenant of the Nizza cavalry
regiment presented himself to the French
Colonel Chabron, having been directed to
escort the Austrian prisoners to Vercelli. The
young officer was tall and slight, of fair com-
plexion, and of elegant bearing. He addressed
the colonel with so pure a French accent, that
the superior officer could not help saying,
'Surely your pronunciation is too good for
you to be a Savoyard. To what country do
you belong?' 'I am a Frenchman,' answered
the cavalry officer; 'I am De Chartres.' 'You
;
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
331
come from Chartres? How does it happen,
then, that you are in the Sardinian service?'
asked the colonel. The young man rejoined,
'I do not come from Chartres, but my name is
De Chartres. I am the second son of the Duke
of Orleans.' Before Colonel Chabron could
say anything in reply, the young prince, whose
father he had loved and admired in Africa, had
galloped away to join his men."
On the 1st of June, General Niel entered
Novara, drove out the enemy, and occupied
the city. The Austrians at last became con-
vinced that they had mistaken the plans of the
allies; but it was too late to repair the mis-
chief which this misapprehension had entailed.
The allied scheme of campaign was so well
laid and so far developed that it was impos-
sible to frustrate it.
The Austrians now occupied positions which
were evidently taken up by constraint, the
movements of the allies, not their own policy
or strategy, determining the course of the
Austrian generals. The first corps, under
The first corps, under
Clam, was at Buffalora; the second, under
Liechtenstein, at Mortara; Schwartzenberg's
at Terpolata; and the 7th, under Zobel, at
Robbio.
The utter abandonment of the Sardinian
territory was now an absolute necessity for
the Austrians. Accordingly, the retreat of
the whole army began after the second day's
unsuccessful fight at Palestro.
On the morning of the 2nd of June, Zobel
was ordered to retire his corps on Castel
Agogna and Mortara, and pass Vigevano. He
was closely followed by the advance guard
of the French. He nevertheless arrived at
Vigevano at midnight.
On the morning of the 3rd he received a
letter from Liechtenstein, announcing that the
French had passed the Ticino at Turbigo Buffa-
lora, where Clam was posted near Magenta,
which formed part of that battle-field so soon to
be contested. Schwartzenberg, Liechtenstein,
and Zobel hastened to Magenta on the 3rd to
strengthen Clam, who it was supposed must
soon be attacked by the allies. At 2 p.m.
Zobel arrived at Abbiate Grasso, another
important point in connection with the en-
suing battle of Magenta. Gyulai came upon
Zobel when the latter halted, and ordered him
to remain where he was; similar orders were
sent to Schwartzenberg. Reischach, with his
division of the 2nd corps, was in advance of
that body three-quarters of an hour's march ;
orders were sent by Gyulai for him to discon-
tinue his route. These orders were all unfor-
tunate for the cause of the kaiser and his army,
and were not understood by the generals of
corps; indeed, they were unanimously de-
nounced by the army. The 3rd of June was
wasted by the Austrian general, and a con-
siderable portion of the 4th, when time was
still more precious. It was not when contend-
ing with the ubiquitous Garibaldi only that
Gyulai was tardy and too late; before the more
powerful armies of the Emperor and King he
was equally characterised by the same fatality.
On the 3rd of June the allies were success-
ful in two contests, which may be represented
as resolving themselves into one-Robechetto
and Ponte Patriana. The French general, Le-
fèvre, was the hero of these encounters, and the
famous Turcoes the soldiers by whom victory
was achieved. All minor contests, however,
were subsidiary to the great battle of Magenta,
which destiny had reserved for the morrow.
I
Gal
BATTLE OF MAGENTA.
On the morning of the 4th of June the
Austrians numbered in a line equal in length to
that of the allies, 90,000 men, at some distance
in their front, by whom they were far out-num-
B
Nganti về n
332
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
bered, the allied force amounting to more than
130,000 men. The positions of the inferior
force perhaps balanced the disparity of num-
bers, for the French had to cross a river in
front before they could assail the Austrian
lincs.
Gyulai established his head-quarters at
Abbiate Grasso. His right wing rested on
the village of Magenta. His centre lay along
the acclivities between Abbiate Grasso and
the village of Rebecco. He took post himself
on the extreme right of his left.
The object of the kaiser's general was to
cover his line of operations from Mortara to
Vigevano, and the two roads which led from
the Ticino to Milan, one by Magenta, the
other by Abbiate Grasso and Giugano. On
the line of defence, as it was contested in the
approaching battle, there were about 60,000
troops; but it is a fact omitted both in French
and Italian accounts, that a large proportion
of these men did not arrive until late on the day
of the battle, in consequence of Gyulai having
countermanded their march the day before.
The purpose of that general was to cut off
the French army from the bridges of San
Martino and Buffalora, thus isolating the
troops which had crossed the river. This
would have compelled the Italians and the
2nd corps of the French to fall back upon
Turbigo, under peril of being severed from the
other portion of the allied army.
The Austrians occupied a ridge, the village
of Magenta being the key of the whole posi-
tion. The surrounding country was covered
with groves, vineyards, small farms, gardens,
and rice-fields. The neighbourhood was richly
picturesque, the spires of the village churches
rising prettily above the orchards and woods,
and the edifices also seen peeping through the
foliage or reposing upon the more open, verdant,
and cultivated undulations. In the distance could
be seen the glorious Alps. The soft and ripe
Italian summer covered with lustre the bloom-
ing products of the fertile soil of Lombardy,
and all nature smiled where hosts were tramp-
ing in the hot haste of war, and the mustering
of mighty men was preparing for the wild
harvest of destruction and death.
Along the front of the Austrian position ran
the Ticino, and nearly parallel with it flowed
the waters of the Naviglio Grande. A rail-
road and a post-road, raised high above the
level of the neighbouring rice-fields, converge
upon the plateau, along which and the slopes
descending from it the Austrians were posted.
On the morning of the battle the allies were
literally looking for the Austrians, and were in
much doubt where to find them. The Emperor
resolved upon hot pursuit and attack, wher-
ever they might be met with, so as to effect
the demoralisation of the troops, confuse the
slow generals, and produce a moral effect upon
the population of Lombardy, which would
influence it in obstructing the retreat and
injuring the resources of the common foe.
General MacMahon, with his own corps,
supported by the Voltigeurs of the Guard and
all of the Sardinian army ready for an advance,
marched in the direction of Buffalora and
Magenta, not knowing that the enemy was
posted there. The 2nd and 3rd divisions were
the only portions of Victor Emmanuel's army
which followed MacMahon; General Fanti's
indecision and dilatoriness prevented the rest
of the army from being in time. There was a
temper among the generals and officers of the
Sardinian army, which was nearly as pro-
ductive of tardiness and cold routine as a
similar tone of thought and feeling in the
Austrian army. The personal influence of
Victor Emmanuel, Cavour, Cialdini, and some
other officers and civilians of note, and the
general zeal of the Italian people, corrected
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
333
this evil. Fanti was able and ambitious, but
one of the patrons of routine, and very jealous
for the high tone and respectability of the
army. Victor Emmanuel was intensely dis-
appointed that the glory of his army should be
sacrificed to the whims of any of his generals;
his hasty spirit chafed at the mal-arrange-
ments which left to the French an undue share
of the glory of Magenta.
While MacMahon took the direction indi-
cated, Canrobert advanced along the right
bank of the Ticino. Niel held his troops in
hand at Trecate, and there awaited the imperial
commands.
A portion of the French stealthily crept
forward to the bridge of Buffalora, which had
been injured as the Austrians retreated across
it, and was unfit for the passage of an army.
The engineers laid down a pontoon bridge by
its side, across which General Wimpffen,
with the 2nd and 3rd regiments of Grenadiers.
of the Guard, passed and reconnoitered the
enemy's positions with great circumspection.
He even approached the heights, bringing two
picces of cannon, carried on the shoulders of
his grenadiers.
While Wimpffen was doing this important
service, the Emperor arrived at the bridge.
From this point, as from a centre, his Ma-
jesty could survey the positions of the enemy.
From the Lombard side the village or hamlet
of Buffalora was to the left, the new bridge of
Magenta in the centre, and the old bridge to
the right; the ridge forming a bow, the arrow
of which was the elevated post-road running
above the rice-fields. The Emperor viewed
the picturesque scene, rendered still more so
by the presence of a brilliant army, with pro-
found and earnest interest. It is said that,
with quick sagacity, he at once mastered the
strategic points, and saw some of the most.
important movements by which the field could
be won. The plan of the battle was not, how-
ever, his, nor was the execution of it the result
of his will or prevision, the glory in these
respects belonged exclusively to MacMahon,
although the presence, firmness, and intelli-
gence of Bonaparte conduced much to the
issue of the day.
The Emperor's first orders were that
Wimpffen should retire from his reconnais-
sance upon the bridge of Buffalora.
Before his Majesty could decide upon any-
thing, the roar of artillery was heard in front
of Magenta. MacMahon had arrived, and had
determined to attack the enemy, and with his
characteristic promptitude at once resolved the
method by which the attack might be made
successful. He ordered General Espinasse,
with his Imperial Guards, to storm the hamlet
of Marcallo, and thence to march directly upon
Magenta. He proceeded with his own corps to
Buffalora, to cross the bridge, and thence
march also upon Magenta, which MacMahon,
as it proved rightly, believed to be the key of
the position.
Napoleon was not made acquainted with
the details of MacMahon's plan, who con-
sidered that all depended upon the prompt use
of time. The imperial confidence was such
that the Emperor yielded to his general the
conduct of the day, himself supporting the
movement by Buffalora with such portions of
his Guard as he had with him; they did not
exceed 5,000 men. The whole numerical
strength of the allies on the field did not equal
that which the Austrians eventually brought
up; and their positions were equivalent to a
third of the numbers of their assailants. The
Austrians, however, began the battle with
inferior numbers. Count Arrivabene says:-
C
"The position occupied by the Austrians at
noon on the 4th extended itself along a semi-
circular chain of heights, with its right bending
334
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
I
""
on Buffalora, its main body at Magenta, and its
left at Abbiate-Grasso. The Naviglio Grande,
running between two steep banks, covered
the whole of that formidable line. Before and
behind the bridge of Magenta, there are two
strong and lofty buildings-the railroad station
and the custom-house; and the greater part
of the corps d'armée of Clam, Zobel, Schwart-
zenberg, and Liechtenstein, had been brought
up during the day to defend these positions.'
The Count is an impartial and honest writer,
but he is at the same time an ardent patriot,
and is naturally led with some facility to place
his countrymen and their allies in a most
favourable light. From the above extract, it
might be inferred that by noon, on the day of
battle, the corps named, or the greater part of
them, were massed around Magenta. The
Count is probably misled by Major Miller,
but the facts are at variance with the state-
ment. It will be recollected by the reader,
that in the retreat of the Austrians on the 3rd,
Gyulai stopped the corps of Zobel, Liechten-
stein and Schwartzenberg, which day was
passed uselessly. Zobel's corps had indeed
approached the head-quarters of Gyulai. It
was three o'clock on the afternoon of the 4th,
when Zobel received orders to leave the place
where on the previous day he had been halted.
He did not arrive until half-past four (a slow
march) to the support of Clam, who held the
village of Magenta, and ordered him to march
to the left wing and attack; Reischach, com-
manding the right wing of the corps, was left
to his discretion. It was still later when other
detachments arrived upon the field. Had all
that fought in defence of Magenta been
there opportunely, the allies must have paid
a much dearer price for this victory. When
Count Arrivabene says,* that at two o'clock
*"Italy under Victor Emmanuel."
the Austrians had 60,000 men massed within
the relatively narrow compass of the field of
Magenta, the error is obvious, as the entire
amount at the disposal of Gyulai for that
battle did not much exceed that number, and
a very large proportion of them did not arrive
upon the ridge until long after that hour.
This mismanagement was one of the causes
why Gyulai was ultimately superseded by the
kaiser. On the moment of the allied attack,
Count Clam sent to his commander-in-chief
for assistance, alleging that the force of the
enemy was overwhelming, and Clam knew
that there was a large body of men at his
commander's disposal. It is said, that so
urgent was this demand, that the aide-de-
camp, who carried the letter, rode the ten
miles which separated the commander-in-
chief and his subordinate, in twenty minutes.
Gyulai read the letter, remarking, "I shall
proceed at once to dinner, and then give the
necessary orders: you shall also dine." The
chief of command did dine, while Clam and
his exhausted troops resisted their impetuous
assailants at Magenta; when the reinforce-
ments were sent they were too late.
As the plan of MacMahon was put in execu-
tion, so was it conducted, with great vigour
and undaunted courage.
Espinasse stormed with desperate celerity
the positions which lay between him and the
village of Magenta. MacMahon having crossed
the bridge of Buffalora, bent his way to form
the junction with Espinasse, which formed the
vital part of the scheme of battle. While
MacMahon was doing this, the Emperor sup-
ported him from Buffalora with the small
resources at his disposal. The Guards crossed
the bridge, following Wimpffen's advance.
Long and terrible was the conflict here.
Wimpffen was beaten back again and again
by superior force, only yet again to advance.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
335
Destructive bayonet charges sent the Austrians
rceling back whenever the moment appeared
to have arrived that Wimpffen might be cer-
tainly overwhelmed. The Imperial Guards,
under Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angely, were
involved in the conflagration of fire with
which the Austrian arms surrounded these
supports, so that D'Angely's aide-de-camp at
last informed the Emperor that the Imperial
Guard could no longer hold the ground upon
which they had advanced, and where their
valour and sufferings were rendering such
signal service in supporting MacMahon's effort
to join Espinasse. "Tell him," was the reply
of the Emperor, "they must keep their ground."
They obeyed, many died, but the survivors
conquered.
The artillery of Espinasse had been silenced,
and he was merely able to keep his position in
front of Magenta, while the battle was raging
under the eye of the Emperor. This was the
case for two hours, when suddenly the boom-
ing of artillery was again heard from the
position of Espinasse. MacMahon had joined
him; his plan was so far carried out. They
were marching on the village of Magenta, and
attacking the front of the Austrian positions
between it and the Ponte Nuovo. MacMahon
had swept along with irresistible energy, carry-
ing confusion into the Austrian lines, where
no conception had been formed of so daring a
movement, and now the pressure ceases upon
Saint-Jean d'Angely and Espinasse, and the
latter advances with MacMahon upon the
grand position of the Austrian army.
The village of Magenta was reached. There
was, as already noticed, a large building in its
front and another in its rear; these had been
fortified and garrisoned with the best Tyrolese
sharp-shooters. The storm was perilous, and
was fiercely and impetuously made. The build-
ings were gallantly defended, and many a
Frenchman and Italian fell beneath the fire of
the riflemen who manned their roofs, chambers,
walls, and approaches. The Austrians fought
obstinately, and the arrival of reinforcements
at the last moment enabled them to prolong a
defence which might possibly have been effec-
tual had Gyulai sent forward those troops in
time. The determination of the resistance
only inflamed the courage of the assailants,
who charged, surmounting every obstacle, and
over piles of the dying and the dead strode
on to victory. The railway station and other
buildings fell in rubbish under the crushing
weight of a well-directed artillery fire; village
dwellings, farm-houses, barns, workshops,
railway-sheds, were on fire; and amidst all
this flame and blood MacMahon effected his
conquest.
While he was thus personally and by his
troops performing feats of valour never sur-
passed by a French general or his soldiers,
Canrobert and Niel, acting under the Emperor's
orders, arrived with their corps, crossing the
river at Buffalora. Had there been any doubt
of MacMahon's success, it would have been
removed by these powerful and numerous
reinforcements. Saint-Jean d'Angely im-
mediately assumed the offensive under the
eye and orders of the Emperor. He poured
in his fresh troops upon that part of the
Austrian line which faced the position which
he held, rendering it impossible for Clam to
move troops to his right to save Magenta,
which lost all was lost. Gyulai had himself
arrived upon the field of battle, his first act of
folly being to telegraph to Vienna that he was
gaining a great victory. Although the troops
driven out of Magenta were smitten by the
cannon of the Imperial Guard advanced by
General Sévelinges, Gyulai ordered an attack
on Ponte Vecchio, with the object of gaining
the bridge of Buffalora, holding it, and sepa-
ang
I
336
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
ام
rating the French corps at either side. Just
as the troops advanced, gallantly, notwith-
standing all their disasters, beating the charge
upon their drums, General Trochu and his
French division arrived upon the field. Can-
robert ordered them to charge the advancing
Austrians, which they did with a bearing so
soldierly and dashing that the enemy fell back,
Trochu pushing on until he passed a thousand
yards or more beyond the line of Magenta.
Gyulai ordered the regiment of the Grand
Duke of Hesse to cover the retreat, and with-
drew his army from the field. The regiment
made a splendid effort to perform this duty,
but was swept along broken and bleeding
before the torrent of fire and bayonet that
advanced along the route of the fugitive
Austrians. The battle was won. MacMahon
had crowned his brow with unfading laurels,
and had proved himself one of the bravest
men and most skilful generals in Europe.
The Austrians, beside the dead and wounded
they sent to the rear in the progress of the
battle, left 6,000 dead upon the field, and
4,000 prisoners. The French also lost heavily;
General Espinasse, whose part in the battle
was so signal, perished; the gallant and
skilful General Cler, who behaved so well in
the Crimea, was also killed. How MacMahon
escaped is beyond conception, for he spurred
his horse into the thickest of the fight, and
was seen amidst the flame and ruins of Ma-
genta, urging on his troops from one desperate
bayonet charge to another. There were 4,250
French killed, wounded, or missing.
The Emperor met MacMahon in the village
of Magenta next day, and, taking him by the
hand, said, "MacMahon, you did wonders
yesterday. To-day you are a Marshal of
France, and Duke of Magenta." Verily France
knows how to reward her brave and her able
men.
G
Seldom has a field of battle presented more
palpable traces of sanguinary struggle. The
dead lay in piles, friends and foes
"In one red burial blent.”
The wounded were lying helplessly entangled
with the dead, with broken guns and wheels,
amidst the débris of ammunition waggons and
the smouldering ruins of burned homesteads.
Many were wounded among the conquerors
who were able themselves to seek the surgeons'
quarters, or were found by the hospital patrols.
sitting or standing upon the field, having
staunched their wounds. In many cases the
wounded and dying, and even the dead, clung
to the trophies they had won in the conflict, or
to the weapons they had wielded so well.
Many among the sufferers were young
soldiers-mere boys, conscripts-nor were they
the least brave among the conquerors. Old
soldiers presented themselves at the surgeons'
tents for amputation of arms, hands, or fingers,
smoking their pipes, and making merry with
their misfortunes. Fortitude in suffering was
displayed, even as valour in combat.
Seldom has a French general or a French
army distinguished itself as much as at Ma-
genta, and perhaps never was any more worthy
of encomium.
The night after the battle was sad, brilliant,
and joyous. Men mourned their friends and
brothers. Comrades sought for comrades
amidst the dead. Dying soldiers were borne
in the arms of those who knew where they
had fallen. Officers were sought out by their
faithful soldiers, and reserved from the fate of
the undiscovered wounded, or honoured among
the noble slain. Women wept over their fallen
husbands, and especially numbers of Italian
women who hung about the camp of the Sar-
dinians, if haply husband, son, or brother.
might find succour from their gentle hand.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
337
Alas, that man should slay his brother! That
the differences of nations should be submitted
to the cruel arbitrament of war! That prin-
ciples, policies, interests, should need to be
maintained where the cannon vomits forth its
destructive charge, the well-aimed rifle sends
its swift missive to the unsheltered breast, and
the pointed steel pierces the heart it seeks.
Amongst all the promises of God to this blood-
stained world, few are more cheering and hope
inspiring than that which foretells a really
"good time coming," when nation shall not
only cease to lift the hand against nation, but
when they shall learn the art of war no more,
when peace and liberty shall smile upon a war-
stricken and oppressed world.
"Haste happy day, which we so long to see,
When every son of Adam shall be free."
-
If there was sorrow on the conquered field of
Magenta, so was there also joy. The victors
exulted in their hard won laurels; promotions,
honours, were before them; and the glory of
France and the unity of Italy absorbed the
thought of the allies. France had added new
lustre to the halo of her warlike renown, and
Italy saw from the shattered ruins of Magenta
her reconstruction and freedom nearer than
she had ever descried it through the gloom of
the past. Well might the air resound with
"Vive la Italia!" "Vive l'Empereur!"
"Vive Victor Emanuele!' The sun sunk,
and as its last oblique rays faded over the
battle-field of Magenta, one of the loveliest of
Italian nights was revealed. The stars shone
out as if in honour of the victors, and as if
they "fought in their courses " against Gyulai.
""
"Saw ye yon blazing star?
The heavens look down on Freedom's war,
And light her torch on high!"
The serene night fell calmly on the sleeping
dead, on the languid forms of the living but
stricken, on the silent sentry as he paced his
lonely rounds, on the watchful patrol, as the
cry of que vive rose up into its stillness, on
the gathered groups which crowded around the
watch-fires and the bivouac, carousing in the
soldiers' carelessness, talking of home and
what France and what Italy would say of
Magenta, and singing the songs, the refrains
of which awakened some patriotic thought or
feeling, and which was caught up again and
again, until the air was filled with the clamour
of their enthusiasm. There slumbered the
grenadiers of Wimpffen; there again Saint Jean
d'Angely's light imperial guardsmen; yonder
reposed the artillerymen whose thunder shook
the field; here caroused and sang the light-
hearted voltigeur and chasseur, as the pleasant
tripping vivandière supplied them with the
wines of Italy and France. Amidst that host
there were two men, thoughtful yet trium-
phant, MacMahon and Napoleon. They were
victors. To MacMahon's fine intellect and
noble courage all was to be attributed. He
knew not what illustrious reward awaited him
on the morrow. His thoughts for that mor-
row were of new plans of victory. The imperial
winner in the movements of war which had
just closed, had yet a long game to play as far
as human foresight could pronounce, and he
no doubt counted the cost and the peril, and
wished that events might speedily give him an
opportunity of putting an end to the carnage,
of making the war short but glorious, "always
the best for France, which does not endure
long wars."
Victor Emmanuel undoubtedly felt sore dis-
appointment that his noble soldiers should
have had so little opportunity of proving that
the heroes of Palestro rivalled their imperial
allies. Indeed it is alleged that after this
battle some discontents and envies sprung up
between the allies, the Sardinians complaining
X X
338
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
རྩྭ-
that the French arrogated to themselves all
the glory, while much of the fighting and the
heaviest outpost duty devolved upon the
soldiers of Victor Emmanuel. These murmurs
and envies were, however, hushed before the
great interests at stake and the dangers to be
encountered.
The beaten Austrians were in a very demo-
ralised condition, officers and soldiers mur-
muring at the manner in which the army had
been handled. Gyulai was cursed in his camp,
the defeat being attributed to his slowness,
coldness, contempt to his commanders of
corps, obstinacy, conceit, and incompetency.
Although he knew that Canrobert and Niel
had reinforced with their whole corps the
French army, he ordered General Clam to
have his corps in readiness to renew the action
on the morrow. "Tell his excellency," said
Clam, "that I shall be too happy to take a
musket in my hand and fight as a private
soldier, if the army can be brought together;
but as for my corps, it is in no state to do any-
thing at present."
Gyulai was deposed when the news of his
conduct reached Vienna. He was, however,
He was, however,
a favourite at court, and was consequently
offered the Banship of Croatia. He had the
patriotism and spirit, notwithstanding all his
folly, to refuse it, and go back to the army as
colonel of his own regiment, at its head, to
redeem his honour. This gallant conduct, in
the view of the Austrian army, covered a
multitude of sins.
At nine o'clock, on the night of the 4th,
the Austrian general determined upon a
decided retrograde movement. He ordered
Zobel to hold the village of Corbetto at all
hazards, so as to gain time for the retreat. On
the right of the Austrians Mensdorf and
Prince August of Holstein kept the high road
with their cavalry, an arm of the service in
which Austria was strong, but which it had
little opportunity of employing upon the field
throughout the day.
The French kept up a cannonade and fusilade
during the few hours of night upon the village
of Corbetto, so as to keep the wearied garrison
on the alert, and cause considerable loss
among them, and at five o'clock in the morn-
ing of the 5th, strong columns of French
advanced. Zobel was obliged to draw back
his right wing, and the retreat became preci-
pitate, the troops halting only occasionally to
keep their persistent pursuers at bay, until
they reached Castelletto, where they crossed
the Naviglia, and the pursuit ceased.
An Austrian officer in this retreat, writing
to a friend in England, gives the following
glimpse of the fear and despondency which
fell upon the army in which he served :—
"The enemy has ceased to pursue us since
we passed the Naviglia. Since yesterday we
have come up with Benedek's corps, and hope
we shall be able to keep off the enemy. The
seventh corps is fearfully cut up. The regi-
ment Kaiser has 41 officers killed and wounded;
the regiment Gruber, 36; of the Chasseurs,
there is not a single officer who is not wounded!
so you may form an idea of the loss among
the men. Benedek's corps is intact; as he
said yesterday, 'I have not had the good
fortune to hear a ball whistle this campaign.'
You can imagine the feeling in the army
against Gyulai; he is perfectly unfit for
commanding. The troops fight like lions,
but their general must know how to lead
them.
"Lodi, June 9.-Benedek has engaged
Zobel to stay with him and keep back the
enemy. Mensdorf has joined us. Unfor-
tunately the cavalry is of little use in this
bout. I interrupt this to see about a can-
nonade. It arose from the enemy having
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
339
attacked Benedek's advanced posts; our poor
friend Boer (General) is killed.
"June 11.-Benedek has told Zobel he
must retire on Crema, and he will follow us,
as he finds we have no hope of success against
the strong force of the enemy.
66
Ciginone, June 12.—I do not speak of my
health; as to feelings, you may imagine what
they have been since Magenta. We have only
one hope, a battle, to re-establish the honour
of the army, compromised by an incapable
commander-in-chief. We hope the Emperor
will place himself at our head."
Alas, for Austria! she had her wishes gra-
tified; but battle did not redeem her honour,
or restore her military prestige.
CHAPTER XLIV.
ENTRANCE OF THE ALLIES INTO MILAN.-PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE CITY FOR VICTOR EMMANUEL.
GRAND DISPLAY AND ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME GIVEN BY THE CITIZENS TO THE TROOPS.—
TOUCHING INCIDENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE HERO OF MAGENTA.-RECEPTION OF THE
WOUNDED IN MILAN.-FURTHER MOVEMENTS OF THE ALLIES.
"Take up the child, MacMahon, though
Thy hand be red
From Magenta's dead;
And riding on, in front of the troop,
In the dust of the whirlwind of war,
Through the gate of the city of Milan, stoop,
And take up the child to thy saddle-bow,
Nor fear the touch, as soft as a flower,
Of his smile, as clear as a star!
Thou hast a right to the child, we say,
Since the women are weeping for joy, as those
Who, by thy help, and from this day,
Shall be happy mothers indeed.
They are raining flowers from terrace and roof:
Take up the flower in the child,
While the shout goes up of a nation freed
And heroically self-reconciled."-MRS. BROWNING.
Ar the meeting between the Emperor and
General MacMahon, it was arranged that the
allied sovereigns should make a public and
triumphant entry of Milan. This purpose the
Emperor suddenly altered; it was his custom
thus, at a moment, without giving any intima-
tion that such a change was probable, to ignore
his expressed resolves.
The garrison of Milan was commanded by
General Kellerman, whose first intimation of
defeat was the shattered and demoralised con-
dition of several regiments which had retired
from the field and entered Milan. The same
means afforded intelligence to the citizens,
who at once prepared to raise barricades and
attack the Austrians. Kellerman perceiving
the determined attitude of the people, and the
utterly disheartened state of his troops, evacu-
ated the city on the morning of the 6th.
The people met on the Piazzi Broletto, and
demanded the proclamation of the Act of
1848, which united Lombardy to Piedmont.
1
340
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
The municipal assessors proceeded to the bal-
cony of the palace, and proclaimed Victor
Emmanuel King of Lombardy. A deputation
from the municipality and the most influential
citizens, comprising some of the most respect-
able names in Lombardy, was sent to the
allied camp, announcing these proceedings.
The deputation was received by the allied
sovereigns.
On the 7th, the Emperor removed his head-
quarters from Magenta to a village called
Quarto Cagnino, about a mile from Milan.
Thence he immediately sent orders to General
Baraguay d'Hilliers, who reached Buffalora
the day after the battle, to pursue the enemy,
marching to Melegnano, and occupying that
place if the enemy were encountered. This
was to be effected under the directions of the
new marshal, with whose corps he was to
place his own.
At ten o'clock, on the 7th, Marshal Mac-
Mahon, at the head of his second corps, entered
Milan by the Porte Vercellina. He was ex-
pected by the people. The royal allies, with
good taste, left the glory of the occasion to
the man whose genius and determination had
liberated Milan. The decorations of the city
surpassed anything previously known in its
history. The richest silks, for which Milan
has been for ages famous, draped the balconies
and piazzas; folds of heavy damask, em-
broidered with gold and silver, fell from the
chief public edifices; constructions of artistic
taste arose as if by magic in the great tho-
roughfares; fresh camellias and lilacs were
entwined around the columns which supported
the entrances to the churches; roses and nar-
cissus buds covered the new palace Pecinini.
From the arches of the Piazza Mercanti hung
festoons of white camellias, red tulips, and
green laurel-leaves, forming the Italian tri-
colour; French and Sardinian flags floated
above churches, towers, domes, steeples, arches,
public buildings, and private houses. In the
windows of every dwelling were heaped bou-
quets, bunches of May roses, and sprigs of
laurel, to cast upon the conquerors as offerings
of gratitude. The streets were crowded with
all classes clothed in their best costumes, their
countenances radiant with joy and triumph.
Bands of young girls and children attired in
white, and carrying red aprons full of laurels
and flowers, were placed along the streets to
strew the path of the conquerors with the
beautiful summer offerings of floral Lombardy.
Moving amidst these scenes were the men
who had thrown up the barricades, still armed
with whatever weapons could at the time be
seized.
The Duke of Magenta rode in front of his
Chasseurs, and was received by acclamations
from every balcony and piazza; and from the
multitudes which filled the streets, while the
flowers, treasured for the purpose, fell in blos-
soming showers upon him and his noble sol-
diers. When he reached Santa Margherita, it
was almost impossible to pass through the
dense crowds without wounding the people. A
cry of wild distress arose close to the Marshal's
horse. A poor woman was struggling to save
her child from being rode over, and was herself
entangled by the dress with the accoutrements
of the marshal's horse. She was falling, still
clasping the child in her arms, when Mac-
Mahon stooped swiftly and placed the little
one on his saddle bow. A loud shout from
street and windows marked the public sym-
pathy, approval, and gratitude. “The Austrian
generals," wrote one who had felt their scourge
in Venetia, "had not accustomed the people
to such human feeling." The mother was
released from her peril, and the gallant Mac-
Mahon bore forward the child as a fresh
trophy, but gained bloodlessly in the cause of
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WOMEN DIFOSTER
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SWAN
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THE
CAPTEUL D
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY,
341
humanity. The well-known tender character
of the hero made the whole scene one of most
appropriate occurrence, which is beautifully
expressed in the language of the poetess, whose
celebration of the incident is made the motto
of this chapter. Indeed, it was a day of strange
and touching scenes for Milan. Scarcely had
the 2nd corps d'armée passed through the gates,
when the carts loaded with the wounded entered
the town. Long was the train of the vehicles
which bore the maimed and unhappy warriors,
French and Austrians mingled together; and
piercing were the cries wrung from them in
their agonies as the motion of the rough cars
disturbed their bandages and irritated their
wounds. The people crowded around, offering
gifts of fruit and flowers and cordials, which
the Austrian enemies, now bleeding and fallen,
shared. The whole population sought for litters
and private carriages to bear to their homes
some of the patients. Never was generosity
more simultaneous, prompt, and effective.
Many a splendid equipage was that night
stained with the blood of friend or foe, borne
away to hospitable shelter. The Austrian press
spread a report that the Milanese treated the
wounded prisoners with neglect and even
cruelty. This was a wilful and ungrateful
calumny.
Next day was also auspicious for Milan.
The allied sovereigns, who had left the glory
of the previous day exclusively to the real con-
queror of Magenta, prepared to enter the city
early the following morning. The fatigue of
the past evening had caused nearly the whole
population to remain unusually long upon
their pillows; but the royal visitors were very
early, so that there were few to receive them.
This was probably "accidentally on purpose,'
so as to allow MacMahon's public entry to be
the exclusive day of festivity and gladness.
Accordingly, only a portion of the corporate
body and those who of necessity rose early,
were at hand to meet the imperial and royal
conquerors. An escort of the imperial Cent
Garde led the procession, the Emperor, with
Victor Emmanuel on his left, followed, attended
by brilliant French and Sardinian lines of
staff officers. Then followed the Imperial
Guard, with their commander in the late
battle, Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angely, at
their head. Flags and flowers still hung over
the silent city while it slept, and a grand cor-
tége, which it saluted not, proceeded along its
nearly empty streets. The rumour, however,
spread, and groups, dressed anyhow, collected
in the windows and by the doors, shouting,
"Vivano i nostri Liberatori." When the
cavalcade arrived at the Villa Buonaparte,
the Emperor entered, that place having been
appropriately chosen for his residence. Its
name seemed properly to designate it for the
purpose; it was also beautifully situated in the
groves of the public gardens. The Emperor's
uncle, Napoleon I., had inhabited this villa
when at Milan; so had another uncle, Eugène
Beauharnois. His mother, when Queen of
Holland, and he was but a child, had been a
temporary and delighted resident of the villa.
In 1813 the Emperor himself was there; he
pointed out to his suite the room which he
had then occupied.
It was arranged that the king should stay in
the court apartments; but he had a repugnance
to do so, as the Archduke Maximilian had left
behind him much property on the occasion of
his flight. Who would have then thought that,
a few years later, Victor Emmanuel, as King
of Italy, should be requested by the ambas-
sador of that same Maximilian, to recognise
him as Emperor of Mexico-a throne for which
he should be indebted to the victorious arms
of Napoleon III.?
"O tempora mutantur et mutamur cum illos."
342
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
66
The king took up his abode at the palace of
the Marquis Busca, a very vain and wealthy
noble, a pro-Austrian, who, however, knew
how to sail with the wind," and welcome an
Italian king and conqueror. On the same day
the Emperor, attended only by an aide-de-camp,
and therefore not recognised, rode out; but
on his return he was known, and the wildest
demonstrations of gratitude and respect were
made by the people. They stopped his horse,
shook hands with him, threw flowers in his
path, and shouted with all their ardour.
The city poured out its glad multitudes:
there was a general fête. As the evening came
illuminations sprang forth as if by magic.
The night was a rich mellow Italian moonlight,
showing the heavens above, while church and
tower, colonnade, piazza, palace, and monu-
ment blazed with encircling lamps, woven in
French and Italian tricolours. A grand torch-
light procession, of great length, marched past
the temporary palaces of the imperial and
royal chiefs.
Well might Bonaparte say,
"The joy of these people shows how much
they must have suffered.”
Count Cavour arrived at Milan and was
made an object of lavish enthusiasm.
Amidst these wonderful ovations there was
one man only who dared to frown or to op-
pose, that was Monsignor Cascia, Archbishop
of Milan. He would not give his assent to
the Te Deum or any other of the religious
ceremonials by which some patriotic priests,
and the citizens generally, desired to celebrate
their deliverance.
their plan of assault. When the sound of
battle reached Milan, the excitement was
boundless; anxiety, hope, confidence, were
portrayed on the countenances where exu-
berant rejoicing and triumph had alone been
seen. What tidings the good citizens of Milan
received in explanation, and as the result of
the hoarse voice of war which had broken
upon their ears, will be seen by the issue of
the conflict.
BATTLE OF MELEGNANO.
The plan arranged between the two French
generals was, that the Duke of Magenta should
direct his corps d'armée on San Giuliano, and
then, turning to the left, flank the right of
Melegnano, and by placing himself on the
road from Cassano to Lodi, cut off the retreat
of the enemy. Forey's division was to proceed
on the right, taking the road from Noseda to
Pedriano, turning Melegnano in that direction;
this was, in fact, the principal point of attack,
and was to be supported by powerful artillery.
The division of Ladmirault was to make a
movement to the left, similar to that of Forey
on the right. A brigade of General Bazaine's
division was to attack Melegnano in front.
The plan of MacMahon was admirably adapted
to his purpose, and gave additional proof of
his genius.
The site of Melegnano is on level ground.
Its houses are high and strong, its streets
narrow, and its cemetery so situated as to
serve as a fortification. The place was very
defensible. On the 1st of September, 1515,
the French won a victory at this place.
While festive scenes were passing in Milan,
the booming sound of cannon was borne from At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th
the direction of Melegnano, whither Baraguay of June, MacMahon put his plans in execution.
d'Hilliers had been ordered by the Emperor He was not able, from various obstructions,
to dislodge the Austrians in position there. to occupy the position he assigned to his own
MacMahon had marched to San Martino, corps until six o'clock in the evening. General
where the two marshals met, and arranged | Bazaine arrived in front of Melegnano half an
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
343
hour sooner.
He found the houses and farm
buildings at each side of the road fortified,
the entrance to the town barricaded and de-
fended with artillery. Bazaine's advance was
under a heavy cross fire from the houses, loop-
holed, and in some cases having guns mounted,
while the cannon at the entrance to the town
played along the road. Bazaine brought up
his artillery, and fire was kept up at very close
quarters. The attempts of Bazaine's Zouaves
to storm were defeated, one bloody repulse
followed another. At this juncture, Forey
arrived with his division at the point assigned
to him, and opened a terrible artillery fire.
Bazaine ceased his fire and assaulted the
barricades. The Austrians behaved not only
with bravery but devotion. The first line of
defence consisted solely of officers who had
volunteered for that purpose. They did all
men could do but conquer. The active Zouaves
overcame the barriers, and being well sup-
ported by troops of the line, poured into the
main thoroughfare. The sappers had then no
difficulty in removing the barricades for the
passage of field artillery, which raked the
streets, enabling the Zouaves to advance with
facility. Forey's troops were equally suc-
cessful. Ladmirault, guided by the fire,
directed Courreck and Niol to march with
their battalions au pas de course on Melegnano.
The Austrians were, by these combinations,
driven in upon the centre of the town, where
in the main streets and the piazza they de-
fended themselves bayonet to bayonet, and
sword to sword, with obstinate resistance.
Barricades, porticoes, churches, had to be
carried by storm. The Zouaves gained the
very centre of the town; but from windows
and streets a fire was directed upon them close
and deadly. French officers fell fast, and the
Zouaves lay in heaps. There was an old
castle where the defenders had entrenched
·
themselves, and were reinforced by a brigade
which had been on the left bank of the river
Sambro. It was in vain for a long time the
French rushed on, unmindful of difficulties or
death; but they at length conquered. The
last position of defence was the post-office,
which was stormed by the French infantry of
the line, but even after the Austrians were
driven out, they attempted to storm the place.
in turn, and the 30th regiment, which had so
gallantly conquered, lost a large number of its
remaining men. It was now late in the
evening, thunder burst over the shattered and
blood-stained town, and rapid and vivid flashes
of lightning presented the combatants in
ghastly clearness to one another. A regiment
of Ladmirault's now arrived at the post-office,
turning the scale in favour of the regiment of
Bazaine's brigade, which had won and kept it.
It was then nine o'clock; the Austrians had
lost every position and retreated. Now was
the time for MacMahon to intercept and
capture them. Forey was unable to make his
way, in consequence of the obstructions of the
country, until half an hour after the proper
time. MacMahon occupied positions facing
Lodi, where it was expected the Austrians
would attempt the passage of the Adda.
The battle of Melegnano, one of the bloodiest
ever contested for the numbers engaged, was
fought and won by French valour. These
tidings soon reached Milan, dispelling all the
alarm of cannon sounds which had interrupted
the popular festivities. The Austrians re-
treated with admirable order and celerity.
They betrayed none of the tardiness which
robbed them of all hope of victory in the
invasion of Piedmont. They crossed the Adda
in spite of the French, destroyed the bridges
of Lodi, Paullo, and Pizzighettone, and pur-
sued the route towards the Chiese, the Oglio,
and the Mincio, with a rapidity of flight which
344
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
**
rivalled an advance of French Turcos or
Zouaves. The Piedmontese were in active
pursuit of the division of Urban, which halted
at Cassano, unable to proceed farther from
the excess of its fatigue. The Piedmontese
were about to attack when a French officer
interfered, and went forward to demand a
capitulation. Urban amused him for two
hours with negotiations, by which time he
and his corps slipped away, breaking the
bridge behind them. The Austrians were very
clever in retreat, more especially their Croat
battalions,
Marshal MacMahon, with the 2nd corps
d'armée, advanced to Castiglione. The move-
ments of the Austrians could not be ascer-
tained with safety. M. Godard, the aeronaut,
was with the Emperor, and was ordered by
his Majesty to report himself at MacMahon's
head-quarters for the purpose of an aerial
reconnaissance. He ascended, and sailed in
the direction of Pozzalengo and Peschiera, but
was unable to discover anything except a few
cavalry in the neighbourhood of the former
place. This ascent was contemporaneous with
a reconnaissance under the direction of General
Niel with the like result. MacMahon and
Niel both came to the conclusion that the
enemy had crossed the Mincio. They had
previously thought it probable that battle
would be offered on the great plains of Medole,
or the broken country extending from the clear
Lake of Garda to Monzambano, Valezzio,
Volta, and Goito.
The Austrians had crossed the Mincio, but
recrossed, and, to some extent, took up the
very positions upon which MacMahon and
Niel had originally supposed they would give
battle. It is not clear whether they had
passed the Mincio in the first instance, intend-
ing to continue their retreat to the strongholds
of the quadrilateral, or merely to deceive the
allies, and lead them to a fast and imprudent
pursuit, all the while resolving to contest a
battle on the side of the river where the allies
were still advancing.
When the Austrians were already on the
heights of Solferino, and in the plain of Merode,
the French generals supposed that only strong
reconnoitring parties remained on their side of
the river.
The Emperor of Austria had joined his army,
assuming the supreme command, although
General Hess was the virtual commander.
The Austrian generals were unable to ascertain
the precise positions of the allies or to divine
their plans. The kaiser had greatly augmented
his army in the field by the garrisons of
Piacenza, Pizzighettone, Cremona, Ancona,
Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, Verona, Peschiera,
and other cities; so that he numbered, for
field operations, 140,000 men, for the most
part fresh troops. The allies could not bring
forward quite so many, and their troops were
fatigued by the battles and marches they had
undergone. The ground occupied was well
known to the Austrians.
The kaiser's staff consisted of a brilliant suite
of princes, archdukes, and generals, and all
were confident that the army, fighting under
the eye of their sovereign, would retrieve pre-
vious disasters and gain a great victory. Such
were the preliminaries of the terrible contest
at Solferino and its neighbourhood.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
345
CHAPTER XLV.
THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO.
"When all is still on death's devoted soil,
The march-worn soldier mingles with the toil;
As rings his glittering tube, he lifts on high
The dauntless brow and spirit-speaking eye;
Hails in his heart the triumph yet to come,
And hears thy stormy music in the drum."-CAMPBELL'S Pleasures of Hope.
THE ground on which the terrible battle of
Solferino was fought was extended in area,
and complicated exceedingly. The French
came upon the scene of contest in detached
corps, and from different directions.
These circumstances render an account of
the dispositions of both armies, and the pro-
gress of the conflict, difficult to a degree
beyond what is usual in narratives of battles.
Count Arrivabene visited the field immediately
after the struggle, and has given the clearest
and plainest account of the character of the
ground occupied by the contending armies.
The despatches of the commanders engaged,
although too technical for the general reader,
give a tolerably lucid relation of the various
stages of the battle. These guides shall be
followed, as the writer attempts to elucidate
the character of this wonderful contest of arms,
so glorious to the fame of Bonaparte and
Victor Emmanuel, so important to the power
of both, and so happy in its effects upon the
liberation of Italy.
On the morning of the 24th of June the
Austrian army covered a part of that hilly
ground, about twelve miles in length and nine
in width, which presents nearly the form of a
parallelogram, the four angles of which are
Lonato, Peschiera, Volta, and Castiglione
delle Stiviere. The left side of the parallelo-
gram declines from Volta to Castiglione to-
wards the south-west, opposite the flat country
through which runs the main road from Cas-
tiglione to Mantua. The ground thus circum-
scribed is partly severed in the middle by a
little stream, tributary to the Mincio. At the
source of this stream the hills attain their
highest elevation, and begin to bend towards
the Mincio. This point may be considered as
about the centre of the parallelogram; Sol-
ferino and Cavriana were on the right bank of
the stream; Rondotto, Monte San Giovanni,
and Pozzolengo, on its left. The extreme
right of the Austrian line sloped down from
Peschiera into the plain of the Mincio, passing
through the open country which formed its
pivot.
The length of the line, which is intersected
by the main road of Goito, was not less
than twelve Italian miles. The key of the
Austrian position was the village of Solferino.
Cavriana was its centre. The Mincio, running
from the Lake of Garda at Peschiera, passes
south, with numerous curves, as far as Rivalta,
where it assumes the form of a lake. The hills
which comprise the parallelogram range on
both banks at almost right angles towards the
river.
The line of battle of the two armies was
drawn on the right bank of the hills which,
sloping from the north-west towards the south
and Castiglione, here make a bend, and touch the
Mincio in a line to the south-east. The ground
of the parallelogram was intersected by small
valleys, approached by gentle slopes or steep
declivities, and occasionally cultivated, accord-
Y Y
316
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
ing to the quality of the soil, the most stony
in Lombardy. The descents of the hills, and
the fields into which the valleys are divided,
abounded in corn, vineyards, and mulberry
trees, and were fenced by low walls of large
stones, separating the luoghi, or small holdings
of the numerous landowners. The tableland
of the higher ridges was covered with reddish
heath or oak woods.
The allied armies, the day previous to the
battle of Solferino, extended from the edge of
the Lake of Garda, at Desenzano, all along
the western edge of the hilly country, from
Lonato down to Castiglione, and, bending back
towards Carpenedolo, touched there the Chiese.
From the imperial head-quarters of Monte-
chiaro, a general order had been issued on the
23rd, regulating the advance of the allied armies,
which was to commence at two o'clock on the
following morning. This order prescribed the
action of Victor Emmanuel's army, of which the
first and second divisions at that time occupied
the hills surrounding Lonato; the third,
Desenzano and Rivoltella; the fourth, a posi-
tion in advance of Lonato towards Peschiera;
and the cavalry, Biddizole. According to the
arrangements of the French Emperor, his
Sardinian Majesty was to advance on Pozzo-
lengo. Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, whose
left wing was in communication with the
Piedmontese army, was to march from Esenta
on Solferino, and Marshal MacMahon from
Castiglione on Cavriana. Niel and Canrobert's
corps were to proceed through the plain: the
first from Carpenedolo on Guidizzuolo, the
second from Mezzano on Medole. The Im-
The Im-
perial Guard was to move forward from
Montechiaro on Castiglione; and two divisions
of cavalry of the line were to take a position in
the plain between Solferino and Medole.
During the night, the Austrians advanced
their outposts as far as Le Fontane and Grole,
in the vicinity of Castiglione. The corps under
the command of Baraguay d'Hilliers and
MacMahon were the first to come upon the
enemy. Baraguay d'Hilliers' corps came from
Esenta in two columns. The first of these,
formed by the second division, under the com-
mand of General Ladmirault, marched on
Solferino through Santa Maria, Barche di
Castiglione, and Barche di Solferino. The
second, led by General Forey of the first
division, left Esenta later, and marched on
Grole and Le Fontane, passing through Cas-
tiglione; the third division followed the second
at five o'clock.
-
The commander of the second column found
the Austrians strongly entrenched in the posi-
tions which overloooked the hamlet of Grole.
This hamlet, and those of Fontane and Fenili,
were carried by Forey's troops. Marshal
Baraguay d'Hilliers was therefore enabled to
despatch a message to the Emperor Napoleon.
at Montechiaro, informing him that he was
pursuing the troops of the enemy, who fell
back towards Solferino. Whilst the first
French corps d'armée had thus engaged the
enemy on that side, Marshal MacMahon had
also encountered him on the road to Guidiz-
zuolo, along which he was to march, and then
bend to the left, and march on Cavriana by
San Cassiano.
General Niel's advance had been much
impeded by the conformation of the country.
He did not reach the village of Medole until
six o'clock, which he found occupied by the
Austrians, whom he drove out, capturing
several guns and many prisoners.
Marshal Canrobert was still slower in his
advance than Niel, although he had not such
difficult obstructions. On his arrival at Castel
Gaffredo, he found it occupied by the Austrians
who had turned its natural advantages for de-
fence to good account. His success was as

C. Cousen
Vacher.
DESENZANO, ON
THE LAGO DI
Peschiera in the Distance
LONDON JAMES S. VIRTUE.
GARDA.
V
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
347
brilliant as that of Niel at the village of Merode,
upon which Canrobert, after his victory,
directed his march.
For the clearer arrangement of the narrative
it is now desirable to describe the attack of
the allies, beginning from their extreme left.
The left of the French was the corps of d'Hil-
liers opposite Solferino, but the left of the
allied army was occupied by King Victor
Emmanuel and his Italians, whose position was
almost isolated, and who had to fight almost a
separate battle. Victor Emmanuel's position
centred at San Martino, upon which point his
divisions arrived slowly, obstructed by the
enemy. They endeavoured to push on so as to
form a junction with the left of d'Hilliers, but
were confronted by 20,000 Austrians, under
Benedek, one of the best of their generals.
The Austrians captured San Martino, and only
by desperate efforts were they held in check;
Benedek endeavouring to cut off the retreat of
the Savoyards, and separate them from their
communications with the French. A small
body of d'Hilliers' cavalry was manoeuvred in
the undulated ground with such skill as to
leave the enemy under the impression that it
was numerically formidable, and chiefly by
this means the communications were kept
open, the Sardinians at the same time doing
their part with chivalrous courage. Some of
the buildings and farm-houses for which the
opposing armies contended were captured and
recaptured four times, and nearly all changed
occupants several times during the day.
Through many hours of fierce slaughter this
sort of warfare went on, but the Austrians
reinforced made a more determined onslaught
than ever.
The farm of Contracania, one of
the chief points of the contest, was forced for
the fourth time, the positions of the Rocolo
and the church of San Martino, which the
Sardinians had retaken, again fell to the
""
enemy. Everything seemed against the
gallant Piedmontese when their hero-king
galloped through their lines, crying out to his
troops, "My children, we must take San Mar-
tino and hold it, or the enemy will compel us
to make San Martino." The significance of
this expression can only be understood by a
reference to the custom of the Lombards to
remove, when they change their residences, on
the feast of San Martino; hence "to flit," as
the English say, is in Lombard parlance, "to
make San Martino.' "Long live the king!
The
Long live Italy!" was the response.
appeal of the monarch had roused the troops
to a very frenzy of patriotism and courage.
The charge was beaten upon the drums of the
infantry, and for the fifth time the important
They
post was conquered by the Sardinians.
did not long hold it. Fresh masses of
Austrians regained it over slaughtered piles of
the soldiers of both armies. The Piedmontese
already counted their losses by thousands.
Fanti's division of the Savoy army had been
occupied in keeping open the communications
with d'Hilliers at Solferino. Victor Emmanuel
countermanded it, and brought up some other
troops which had been similarly employed.
With Fanti's division came the tidings that
d'Hilliers had. stormed the height of Solferino,
and this inspired the wearied and decimated
Piedmontese with new hope and ardour. At
the moment Fanti was turning to the assist-
ance of the hardly pressed troops, an Austrian
column pressed forward to turn the right of
the Sardinians, which movement, if successful,
would probably have issued in driving them
into the Lake of Garda. Fortunately d'Hil-
liers was enabled to see what was occurring,
and to help the defence. He sent the artillery
of General Forgeat, which shelled the ad-
vancing column, broke it, and compelled it to
recede. Fanti was able to proceed unmolested.
་
348
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
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b_datang pinat q
|
Scarcely had the division reached the lines of
the Italian army, when a darkness, which
seemed preternatural, lowered over the em-
battled hills and plains. Then the heavens
were rent by the lightning, and loud thunder
rolled over the heads of the astonished troops.
Scarcely had the echoes of these peals died
amongst the hills, when large hail fell, cover-
ing the whole scene of battle. This was
succeeded by tempest, and finally a deluge of
rain burst upon the amazed armies. So rapid
and extraordinary was the succession of these
phenomena, that both armies paused as if
awed by the interposition of a superior power.
The loud voice of Victor Emmanuel startled
his soldiers with the cry, "Avanti alla carica,"
and the fresh troops, supported by the rest of
the army, launched themselves against the
Austrian positions. At this moment the
Austrian general was ordered to hold his
ground at all costs, to cover the retreat of the
army whose centre had been penetrated by
MacMahon at Cavriana. The battle had raged
for fourteen hours, still in front of the Sardinian
army everything appeared yet to be done.
The cannon of the king was brought so close
to the enemy that it must be captured or do
deadly execution; it did do execution, swift
and mortal. On sped the infantry and cavalry,
now hurled back and then again advancing,
their gallant king foremost among the brave,
the troops, especially the volunteers, shouting,
"Long live Italy! Long live our king!" How
it would have issued it is impossible to con-
jecture, so fierce was the mutual enmity and
determination to conquer; but Benedek received
orders to follow and cover the retreat, which
he did, pursued by the advancing waves of the
army of Sardinia. The work of the Italians
was accomplished. All had been brave, the
king bravest of the brave. He had in this
action shown skill as well as courage, and
1
megane panna pea mą
Jogja m

proved himself a good officer as well as a
dauntless soldier.
Dead, wounded, and missing, the little army
of Sardinia lost more than 5,000 men, one-
third of the entire loss of the allies.
On no
part of the field did the Austrians fight so
well, nor were they anywhere on the line of
battle so skilfully commanded. Their loss must
have been equal to that of the Sardinians.
Such was the character and result of the
contest on the extreme left of the allied army.
Passing further right to the left of the French
line of battle, d'Hilliers combated before Sol-
ferino long and valiantly ere victory crowned his
efforts. The hill of Solferino was higher than
any other portion of the ridge occupied by the
Austrian army. The highest portion of the
eminence called Solferino, is called "La Rocco
di Solferino." The tower of the village is also
called "La Spia d'Italia" (the watch-tower of
Italy). So extensive is the view commanded
that the beholder may see from the Alps to the
Appenines. Mantua, Verona, Ceresara, Boz-
zolo, Cremona, are visible. The Lake of
Garda is also seen nearly to its termination in
the heart of the Tyrolese Alps.
When Louis Napoleon arrived at Castiglione,
the whole French line was engaged, and the
left very fiercely. He ascended the church
steeple, from whence the theatre of battle was
spread before him. The smoke of the guns,
and the swayings to and fro of the various
opposing bodies, enabled him to see at a glance
the state of the contest.
On his left he could perceive that d'Hilliers
had posted four guns on the top of Monterasso
to cover the approach of the divisions Ladmi-
rault and Forey. The troops of the former
faced the vicinity of the Solferino cemetery,
and held their ground in a position which
seriously menaced the enemy, notwithstanding
his fierce and well-directed fire.


A Willmore.
W: Callow
VERONA.
LONDON JAMES S.VIRTUE.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
349
,
To the right the Emperor could see Mac-
Mahon pushing his way through the fields
bordering the stradone of Mantua, his left
approaching the position of d'Hilliers, his
right facing the plain, along which he expected
the march of Niel. At this juncture, Niel
having driven the Austrians out of Merode,
was advancing from Robecco and Ceresara.
The enemy, perceiving this, endeavoured to
prevent the junction, and Niel was hastening
forward rapidly to frustrate their purposes.
Beyond Niel's line of march the smoke of guns
could be seen, and their report heard. These
tokens came from Canrobert, whose corps had
conquered Castel Goffredo, and was marching
upon the common rendezvous of MacMahon,
Niel, and Canrobert-Merode. Nearer to Cas-
tiglione than the course of any of the corps to
its right, d'Angely and the Imperial Guard
were pressing along the main road towards
Guidizzuolo.
Such was the scene presented to Louis
Napoleon. He at once formed a judgment as
to the designs of the enemy, and gave to his
chiefs of corps the orders he thought neces-
sary. He considered that the Austrians,
knowing that Solferino was the key of their
position, were desirous of (in military phrase)
diverting the attack. This they hoped to
effect by operating upon the French right,
separating the second and fourth corps, and
thus severing the Gallic line.
Louis Napoleon resolved to baffle this de-
sign, and at the same time press on the assault
upon Solferino, by wresting which from the
enemy he could be driven upon his centre at
Cavriana, where his line might be penetrated
by MacMahon and a retreat compelled, or a
destructive rout effected. Bonaparte ordered
General Morriss, commanding the cavalry of
the Imperial Guard, to join MacMahon, whose
care, in the first instance, was to drive out the
enemy from a farm, where they were strongly
posted, called Morino. Saint-Jean d'Angely
was ordered, with the infantry of the Guard, to
the support of the first corps attacking Sol-
ferino. Thus MacMahon was enabled to hold
his line of communication with Niel, and
d'Hilliers to press on more confidently against
the key of the Austrian defence.
open
All these orders were executed with ra-
pidity. and discipline, and the artillery told
fearfully upon the Austrians in the plain,
whose smooth-bore guns could not carry shot
to the distance of the French batteries, the
large range and more effective fire of which
dismounted the Austrian guns rapidly, and
mowed down the heavy cavalry which were
curiously placed so as to draw off the French
fire in the hope of saving the guns. The
destruction of artillery and cavalry in this
manner conduced much to the success of Mac-
Mahon's corps.
As soon as his orders were executed, Bona-
parte rode over to the Duke of Magenta, and
unfolded his plan, who appears to have ap-
proved of it, as it was carried out, and decided
the action.
While d'Hilliers was approaching nearer
and nearer to the masses he had cooped up in
the village, and on the heights of Solferino,
MacMahon steadily performed his part of the
operations. He held the plains of Merdoe,
gradually turning his course upon Cavriana,
which he was to assault, as soon as d'Hilliers
conquered the Solferino heights, should he
prove so fortunate. MacMahon was also to
watch his line of connection with d'Hilliers, in
which he was assisted by the Imperial Guard
supporting the latter. Besides these duties, the
Duke of Magenta was obliged to keep a vigi-
lant eye upon his communication on the other
wing of his corps, until Niel and Canrobert
could arrive to his assistance. To aid him in
**
350
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
lines of the enemy, when the bayonets of a
long column of infantry were seen flashing
as lightning from cloud to cloud. The troops
above whom these ranks of steel were gleam-
ing, were concealed by foliage. They soon be-
came visible; and pressed on in a dense column,
with the obvious intention of charging and
rending the French line. A brigade of Forey's
division, then posted at the foot of the hill,
where the Emperor stood, essayed to stop their
progress, and with success, but suffering ter-
rible slaughter. They stood within range of a
powerful artillery, which planted showers of
destroying missiles on their flank. Never-
theless, they stirred not; the men fell without
murmur, none flinched. Forey ordered a
regiment to carry the position on which the
Austrian guns were planted. It failed, being
out-numbered five to one. A fresh column of
Stadion's infantry issued from the Austrian
heights, which must have overthrown Forey's
division and swept away everything then
opposed to it. The moment was full of peril,
the fate of Italy trembled in the balance, but
the Emperor remained cool, collected, and reso-
lute. He had provided against such contin-
gencies earlier in the day, as the reader will
remember, by placing the infantry of his
Guard in support. He ordered them up; the
sudden appearance of such a fine body of men
checked the impetuosity of the Austrians. A
few volleys from the Guards, a brilliant charge
with the bayonet, and the routed Austrians
were chased back until they passed Castel del
Monte, and rested upon their reserves at Monte
Sano. Ladmirault, under the eye of d'Hilliers
himself, performed prodigies of valour, occu-
pying the surrounding heights, and supported
by reserves, forced back the Austrians step by
step. Although he received a musket ball in
the shoulder, he pressed forward on foot, lead-
The Emperor mounted his horse and made
to the point of most consequence. He gave
some orders and ascended the Monte Fenile,
where Forey's artillery was playing upon some
Austrian infantry, massed in the little valley
below the right declivity of Solferino. The
Emperor had scarcely cast his eye upon the ing his men from charge to charge, until, at
this respect the cavalry of Morriss formed
into line upon his extreme right.
Niel came on slowly, and Canrobert more
slowly still; the former had to fight inter-
cepting bodies of Austrians, whom he gradually
vanquished. Canrobert thought he would have
to fight them, believed that they would
intercept him, heard the like from various
informants, hesitated, and did not come on.
This hesitation might have lost the battle; as
it was, it prevented the destruction of the
Austrian army, and caused Bonaparte to be
more eager for peace than he would have been
had the Austrian retreat been cut off, and a
more deadly blow struck at the kaiser's power
in Italy.
Such were the combinations, inefficient only
as depended upon Canrobert, at the period of
the contest which had arrived.
On the left of the French line, Baraguay
d'Hilliers now made prodigious efforts to
accomplish his part of the scheme. His troops
had suffered severely. He expected aid on his
extreme left from the Sardinians, but although
the division Fanti approached, it was wanting
elsewhere, as has been already shown, to sus-
tain the shock of battle upon the Sardinian
lines, and aid in the bloody struggle around
San Martino. The arrangements of the day
for success now depended upon the power of
d'Hilliers to force Solferino; until that was
effected, all that MacMahon could do was to
watch his own flanks, hold his position on the
plain, and approach Cavriana gradually and
cautiously.
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
351
*
last, faint from loss of blood, and again
wounded, he was obliged to resign the com-
mand to General Negrier, in the acme of the
conflict. Bazaine's brigade, with Negrier,
and a body of Zouaves, ascended the slopes of
Solferino under a terrible cross fire, only to be
hurled down by the close musketry volleys and
bayonets of the stubborn Austrians. Again,
and again, did Negrier attempt to storm the
cemetery, which both parties regarded as an
important conquest. Assisted by some of
Bazaine's troops, his last effort was desperate,
but in vain. The cemetery building was loop-
holed, and the best marksmen of Tyrol made
sure aim upon the assailants. Negrier drew
back, but did not abandon his purpose. He
knew that the cemetery lost, all was lost to
the enemy, as far as the post of Solferino was
concerned; but he also perceived that his
compatriots were making their way up the
hills called the Tower and Cypress, which,
once possessed, a fire could be opened upon
the cemetery in the rear, and aid him effectu-
ally in again advancing in front.
-
At this juncture the Austrians opened fire
from a powerful and very numerous artillery
upon Monte Fenile, where the Emperor's head-
quarters were established. Shot and shell
rained around him without drawing his atten-
tion for a moment from the sanguinary events
passing beneath him. His Cent Garde closed
around him, many paying the forfeit of limb
or life. His Majesty's physician, Baron Larrey,
had his horse killed a little in the rear of the
Emperor.
The Austrian positions were strengthened by
reinforcements, nearly all the Emperor Napo-
leon's supports and reserves had been brought
into action, his troops were fast falling, yet he
believed in victory, and little by little, step by
step, his battalions were gaining upon the
foe. The French artillery and guards just
❤
1
then broke the opposing flank. The Tower
Hill of Solferino was beset by the bruised but
still determined brigades which had fought
their way thither. The Cypress Mount, after
a bloody struggle, was carried, and with it all
the Austrian guns upon its summit. Forey
now gave orders to storm the Tower Hill of
Solferino, and take it at all costs. The French
prepared for an effort which must be final or
fatal. Amidst the beating of the charge, the
clangour of the light infantry bugles, and
shouts of "Vive l'Empereur !" the whole force
that could be collected charged up the hill,
crowded its summit, captured the guns, and
bayoneted or hurled down its steeps those who
had so long and so resolutely defended it.
The Austrians fled into the narrow streets of
the village of Solferino, which were raked by
a fire from their own guns so lately captured,
and by the shrapnel of the French artillery.
Forey at once led his victorious men against
the cemetery and the fortified convent in its
front. It was now Negrier's turn to seize the
occasion he had waited for. Attacked in front
and rear, the gates of the convent, its roofs
and walls, pounded by artillery, the defence
was ineffectual although stubborn.
From the cemetery the victors crossed the
paths and fields which separated it from the
village; every wall and farm was defended by
Austrians, and the village itself whither the
troops driven headlong down from Solferino
had fled was also held by portions of bat-
talions dislodged from other places. A street
fight took place in the village similar to
that at Melegnano, the Austrian artillery was
captured, and they were soon in full retreat
upon Cavriana, pursued by General Manèque.
They retreated in order, slowly, and fighting as
they receded. On Monte Lacara a whole
division of Croats was posted which had not
come into action, and Casal del Monte was
".
352
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Į
held by German battalions. From these posi-
tions Manèque received a fire which checked
his advance, and laid low many of his ardent
soldiers. Leboeuf opened upon them with his
artillery, but the Austrians, increasing in con-
fidence, became assailants, and would have
been victors had not the Grenadiers of the
Guard come up at the crisis of the conflict.
The Emperor, who seemed that day to think of
everything, saw the peril, and sent the relief.
This was the time for MacMahon to advance
upon Cavriana, and so co-operate with d’Hil-
liers advancing thither along the ridge from
Solferino; the enemy, beaten at Cavriana,
would no longer be able effectually to hold any
part of the field.
munication between him and the cavalry
echeloned on the plain protecting his right,
now more than ever necessary.
S
MacMahon's advance was obstructed by
charges of cavalry, in which arm the Austrians
were powerful, and the ground gave them good
opportunity for its use. Nevertheless, with
his usual bravery and pertinacity, he drove all
before him. It is needless to give the details
of every combat which was conducted before
the grand point of attack was reached.
Meanwhile Niel was advancing, resisting
desperate efforts on the plain of Merode to
separate him from MacMahon, or rather to
render their junction impossible. Niel in-
tended to march upon Guidizzuolo, as soon as
the duke should storm Cavriana.
His design
was to cut off the Austrians from retreating
on the road of Volta and Goita, not doubting
that MacMahon would make a conquest of the
great central position of the enemy. Niel,
however, was waiting for Canrobert, and Can-
robert was waiting for a supposed advance of
Austrians upon his line of march, and those
delays marred the glory of the result. Niel
dare not advance in the full execution of his
purpose unless some of Canrobert's troops
should occupy Robecco and other parts left
behind in his advance. At half-past two
o'clock a division of Canrobert arrived at
Robecco. This enabled Niel to conduct the
offensive with effect.
The Emperor accordingly rode over to Monte
Fontana, where an aide-de-camp of MacMahon
requested succour, as neither Niel nor Canro-
bert had helped him at all, and his corps had
to contend with the whole Austrian army
except those portions which had confronted
Victor Emmanuel and d'Hilliers. Thus, in
consequence of the absence of the two fine
corps, upon the co-operation of which the
Emperor had calculated, he had to fight with
greatly inferior numbers, against, for the most
part, fresh and veteran troops.
He had no means of helping MacMahon,
whose aid must come from Niel and Canrobert,
and yet Cavriana must be taken, or all might
still be lost. The conquest of Solferino was
half the battle, but the other half might never
be won.
The French had been struggling
nine hours; it was two in the afternoon; the
troops were weary; what was to be done? So
early as twelve MacMahon had heard from
Niel that he was ready to move in the direc-
tion of Cavriana. MacMahon felt that then
or never the blow must be struck. Turning
to his left, he fiercely assaulted Cavriana, and
MacMahon attacked Cavriana, the troops
advancing along the ridge from Solferino also
assailing it. Niel penetrated between Cavriana
and the left wing of the enemy, to whom all
was thus lost. The only hope for the kaiser
was in an orderly retreat. Had Canrobert
showed proper decision, such a retreat would
have been impossible; as it was, the Austrian
army escaped destruction.
gloriously carried it. Morriss secured com- It will be recollected that Baron Benedek,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
353
who had been engaged against Victor Em-
manuel, was ordered to hold his ground so as
to cover the retreat; this he performed, and
eventually he placed his own corps under cover
of the guns of Peschiera, The retreat was
skilfully conducted; it was rapid, but orderly.
Two hours after Cavriana was conquered the
Emperor of the French occupied the head-
quarters, from which the kaiser had fled accom-
panied by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and a
group of princes, marshals, and generals. It
was just as the Austrians turned from the field
that the first gusts of the tempests howled and
dashed over the still raging battle between
Benedek and Victor Emmanuel. The Em-
peror Francis Joseph wept, as he turned from
the field and fled. The Austrians protected
the backward movement of their army from
the Campo di Medole, by reinforcing their
positions at Guidizzuolo, on its verge. When
the storm, which swept so fleetly and fiercely
over the country, had passed off, the French
under Canrobert at last advanced, just too
late for the battle, and only in time for a por-
tion of the pursuit; and even then only one
division of his corps was ready for this opera-
tion. This division passed between Cavriana
and the village of Guidizzuolo, where the Aus-
trians were most in strength.
At Cassanova they were in some force, and
there Prince Windischgratz fell, fighting, re-
fusing to surrender. When the day closed the
Austrians still held Guidizzuolo. During the
night Canrobert himself, with the remainder of
his corps, arrived; but the Austrians retired
before dawn, directing their course upon Gaz-
zaldo and Rodigo, and towards the right bank
of the Mincio in the direction of Goito.
Probably the last man who left the field was
the venerable Field-marshal Count Nugent.
This brave old man endeavoured to prevent
the precipitate flight of the Croat regiments,
striking them with his whip, and calling them
cowards. They fled, leaving him behind, and
he narrowly escaped capture.
The loss of the French was 12,000 men,
besides 150 officers killed and 570 wounded,
including five general officers. The total loss
of the Austrians was probably 23,000.
The Austrian soldiers and regimental officers
behaved splendidly, but the generals, with the
exception of Hess and Nugent, were indifferent
officers, and some of the chief were altogether
incompetent. Clam Gallas, Prince Leichten-
stein, Baron Zobel, Lannegen, and Zedwittz
were worse than useless.
Prince Napoleon, at the head of a corps,
was supposed by Leichtenstein to be marching
upon Mantua; this paralysed his services. It
was an error similar to that of Canrobert, on
the side of the French.
The day after the battle presented the usual
scenes, but far more intensified; the number
of dead and wounded must have appalled the
stoutest and even the hardest heart. But the
Lombardy was con-
prize repaid the cost.
This was the
quered from the Austrians.
grand result of the battle of Solferino.
2 7
354
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
4
CHAPTER XLVI.
ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES AFTER THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO.-PRINCE NAPOLEON'S MARCH FROM
TUSCANY.-SUDDEN CHANGE OF POLICY BY THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.-PROPOSES AN ARMIS-
TICE.—PEACE.
Respice finem.
Ir did not suit the purposes of the allies to
remain any longer inactive than the exigencies
consequent upon a conflict so terrible as that
of Solferino required. Indeed the pursuit by
portions of the allied armies commenced with
the retreat of the Austrians.
On the 10th of June the latter abandoned
Piacenza; the upper valley of the Po was
thus cleared of the oppressor.
The French corps d'armée, under the com-
mand of Prince Napoleon, was now enabled
to support efficiently the troops which had
conquered Solferino. That prince was placed
in command of a corps originally numbered
the fifth, and a separate line of progress
assigned to it. Thus there were in fact four
separate armies acting against the Austrians—
those under the French Emperor, the King
of Sardinia, Prince Napoleon, and Garibaldi.
Twelve days before the event of Solferino,
the Emperor Napoleon ordered Prince Na-
poleon to leave Tuscany, whither his corps
had marched, and form a junction with the
allied armies near Mantua.
On the 19th of June the Prince reached
Massa, and divided his corps into two divi-
sions, or rather two corps. At the same
time the Tuscans, who had thrown off the
yoke of the Grand Duke and declared for
Victor Emmanuel, advanced under General
Ulloa, a man in the confidence of Cavour,
but who subsequently, in 1861, fought, happily
in vain, for the Neapolitan Bourbon. Cavour's
confidential administrators and generals were
not always as faithful to Italian unity and
liberty as the great Count himself, and Ulloa
was a specimen of the class. Prince Napoleon
ordered that general to proceed to Parma by
way of Modena. Thither the Prince also
directed his course, leading the division Ulrich.
<
On the 13th the first division of the Prince's
corps had entered Piacenza. On the 19th
it rested on the Ogli; on the 26th it reached
Sabionetta, while the battle of Solferino was
raging. This advance had an important in-
fluence upon the battle, for it paralysed the
corps of Prince Leichtenstein. The latter
prince, was directing his march upon Ceresara,
a very important strategic point in reference
to the events passing at Solferino; but the
appearance of General D'Autemarre's division
at Piodena, led Leichtenstein to believe that
the corps of Prince Napoleon and the Tuscan
army were in strength in his neighbourhood,
and he did not dare to advance to Ceresara.
The day after the battle another division
of Prince Napoleon's corps and the whole of
the Tuscans arrived at Fornova, where the
Prince heard of the terrible but glorious events
of the preceding day.
During the 28th of June and the two
following days, Prince Napoleon crossed the
Po at Cassal Maggiore. There he received
an imperial message to hasten by forced
marches to Goito. On the 3rd of July, the
division Ulrich marched from Gazzaldo to
Gioto, Ulloa and D'Autemarre following
closely.

Pric
TW. Knight.
THE PRINCE NAPOLEON.
LONDON JAMES S.VIRTUE
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
355
The fact of Prince Napoleon at such a
critical juncture being able to march from Tus-
cany, and form junction with the united army
of the allies, without having to undergo an
encounter, or overcome a single obstruction,
proves the deficiency of Austrian generalship,
and revealed an amount of ability and officer-
like promptitude, for which the censors and
critics of the illustrious Prince did not give
him credit.
The Austrians were pressed so closely, that
they fled from the allies, and crossed the
Adige.
The French in pursuit, under D'Hilliers,
crossed the Mincio, at Salionze, on the 30th
of June.
The corps of MacMahon took post along
the ridgy country between Monzambano and
Custoza.
Canrobert was posted at Valeggio, except
one division and Desveaux's cavalry which
were left at Goito.
On the 1st of July the bulk of the allies
followed the first corps across the Mincio,
and extended themselves from Goito on the
right to Peschiera on the left. The Sardinians,
as at Solferino, were on the extreme left, their
right connecting itself with the left of the
corps of Baraguay d'Hilliers; their line passed
through Castel Nuovo and San Gieorgia. The
first division formed communication with Niel's
corps, which was in position at Somma Com-
pagna. The vale of Villafranca was occupied
by the second corps. The imperial head-
quarters were established at Valeggio.
The allied armies were thus drawn up in
line for a battle, which was eagerly expected
by the allies.
During the evening a division of the first
corps was ordered upon Palazza Valceria, the
fourth corps was moved nearer to Oliozi, and
the second was moved from Villafranca to
Santa Luisa, occupying the line of the river
Tione.
On the 3rd of July a skirmish occurred
between some French arriving from Mantua
and a detachment of Austrian hussars, com-
manded by a German prince. The French
were victors after a severe contest, in which
Lieutenant Juvat was wounded; the Austrian
prince was made prisoner, mortally wounded,
and soon died. He fought with the utmost
gallantry and devotion until his leg was broken,
and at the same time he was cut with a sabre
across the forehead.
The weather was now splendid, days rather
warm, followed by nights balmy, bright, and
calm, favoured the encampers, and the con-
templated operations of the allies.
The Emperor Napoleon, anxious to gain
intelligence as to the movements of his army,
had recourse to the balloon. The aeronaut's
information was only of negative value; he
was able to say with certainty where the Aus-
trians were not, and that they had not done,
or attempted to do what had been deemed
probable.
Count Cavour hung about the camps, in-
spiring, or endeavouring to inspire, the allied
sovereigns with renewed vigour in the prosecu-
tion of the war. Two days after the battle of
Solferino, Count Cavour and his secretary,
Nigre, had an interview with the French
Emperor, and were struck by certain pecu-
liarities in the tone of his mind. He appeared
to be disgusted with the differences of feeling
and opinions among his generals, was im-
pressed with horror at the carnage he had
witnessed, and was so elated with victory as to
appear satisfied-for the time at all events—
with glory, for himself, the French army, and
the grand nation.
Still he appeared resolved to carry the war
to its proposed conclusion-" Italy free from
}
1
1
!
356
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
}
!
•
""
the Alps to the Adriatic.' He intimated to
Cavour his intention of fostering a revolution
in Hungary, and Kossuth had actually arrived
in Italy, and was in communication with
Napoleon and his agents. The Sardinian camp
and court, although startled by the indications
of feeling above referred to, on the part of his
Imperial Majesty, had no doubt of his warlike
resolves, and no suspicion that peace was pos-
sible until Austria was humiliated, and her
power to persecute Italy or embarrass France
for many years broken.
Yet, besides the state of mind indicated by
the Emperor, shrewd observers were impressed
with a great change in the character of his
movements; the Austrians were not pressed as
their demoralised condition would have justi-
fied, and the allies seemed to linger in their
positions, in contrast to the rapid, energetic
action which had hitherto characterised the
proceedings of their chief.
On the morning of the 6th of July signs of
life were shown at head-quarters, and orders
were given which appeared as if a battle was
intended on the following day.
At daybreak the allied armies had taken up
positions prescribed to them the previous
evening. Marshal Canrobert had formed his
line of battle in the plain, his right wing
resting on Valeggic, and his left towards the
hill near Venturelli. The Imperial Guard, in
reserve, was placed behind the advanced corps,
its right bending in the same direction as that
of Canrobert; its left towards Fornelli. The
cavalry of Desveaux was behind the right wing
of Canrobert's first line of infantry. The Duke
occupied with his corps the hills which rose
before him at Santa Lucia; while Niel with
his troops crowned the heights of Olioso. The
corps of Baraguay d'Hilliers, and the two
Italian divisions attached to it, were drawn in
line of battle at Castel Nuovo, opposite the
village of Pastrengo; and Prince Napoleon
had been directed to take up a position behind
the main road which leads from Salionze to
Castel Nuovo, and to move either to the right
or the left, or be ready to advance, accord-
ing to the necessities of the day.
Either these grand preparations for a battle
were made to menace the enemy, and cause
him to be more favourable to a truce, or for
the purpose of deceiving Victor Emmanuel, so
as more furtively and rapidly to carry out
private negotiations with the kaiser for a ces-
sation of hostilities. At all events such were
opened, and resulted in the armistice of Villa-
franca and the treaty of Zurich.
Up to this time nothing of consequence had
happened in any of the armies. Some skir-
mishing, in which the Austrians lost officers
of rank, the fortunate march of the corps
Prince Napoleon, and the siege of Peschiera,
conducted entirely by the army of Victor
Emmanuel, alone enlivened the action of the
allies. The siege had not, of course, advanced
beyond the merest preliminaries.
The habits and manners of the occupants
of the allied head-quarters were very charac-
teristic, and throw an interesting light upon
the spirit of the time, and the temper and
tastes of the rulers of France and Italy.
The French head-quarters had been esta-
blished at Valeggio, at the country seat of the
Marchioness Maffei (then the residence of the
Countess Maffei Negronni), one of the most
distinguished of the Italian aristocracy. The
villa was magnificent, and its situation ex-
ceedingly picturesque. The kaiser had occu-
pied the same elegant mansion as his head-
quarters before the defeat of Solferino.
In this mansion the French Emperor was
accompanied by eleven generals, who acted as
his aides-de-camp, and fourteen orderly officers.
Besides this numerous staff, there were, at the
HOM
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
357
Emperor's quarters, foreign ministers, com-
missioners, secretaries, some maîtres des
requêtes of the council of state, physicians,
surgeons, chemists, messengers, grooms, order-
lies, police, &c. The Marshal Vaillant, as head
of the Emperor's staff, gave orders to all these
attendants, except the detectives and police,
who were under the control of the Marquis of
Cadorre.
The Emperor, notwithstanding this large
train of attendants, and the pomp which
generals usually assume in war, lived with
great plainness personally. He wrote at his
desk many hours each day, and generally in
his shirt sleeves. Like his uncle, he made
himself felt everywhere and in everything.
His kindness to the poor was unbounded,
presenting a striking contrast to the kaiser,
whose haughty and stern bearing and callous
indifference to the wrongs and sufferings of the
people, provoked their bitterest resentment.
The Emperor's table was spread with sim-
plicity, and temperance in every respect was
observed there.
So early as three o'clock in the morning the
staff was summoned to his presence. During
the day he frequently showed himself to his
troops, and inspected their positions, attended
by a few officers and Cent Gardes.
It would seem as if the Emperor or his
government had some misgiving that an
attempt would be made upon his life by
Austrian agents, for the force of detectives
that watched his going in and out, and every
approach to head-quarters, was enormous.
These men were under the secret discipline of
Inspector Hyrvois, an experienced adept in
the kind of vigilance required. Italians, Cor-
sicans, Poles, English, and French constituted
this secret body-guard, especially the first two
of those nationalities, as they were supposed
to be more generally acquainted with the
French and Italian emigrants of London,
Paris, and Brussels. No person could ap-
proach the Emperor in camp or quarters
without being observed, and well scanned by
these emissaries; and if the faintest suspi-
cion of the stranger's purpose existed, means
were at once brought into requisition to satisfy
the observers, or arrest the intruder.
Victor Emmanuel's quarters at Monzam-
bano were more open and lively. He had no
military body-guard, no detectives, no police
of any sort. He lived in the small house of a
private gentleman, Signor Melchiori. General
La Marmora, and two or three other generals,
resided with him, and no other persons what-
ever, except a few servants. The royal staff,
with General Morozzo della Rocca, were
quartered in a large private house in Monzam-
bano. The king dined there every day, Count
Nigra acting as steward of the household.
To this place the ministers, who frequently
arrived from Turin, military commissioners
from other armies, and the agents of foreign
governments repaired for interviews with the
king, or to transact business. The officiers
d'état major, five generals, and ten orderly
officers constituted the general staff at Mon-
zambano. At this place the most influential
and frequent visitor was the Count Cavour.
On the evening of the 6th of July, the
camps and the inhabitants of their neighbour-
hood were on the qui vive, a report having
found circulation that the French Emperor
had sent a parlementaire to the head-quarters
of the kaiser. The departure of the mes-
senger to Verona had been observed at the
French head-quarters by the military persons
there, and by some of the people of Valeggio.
General Fleury was the person entrusted by
the Emperor with the important mission. He
departed from Valeggio at seven o'clock, P.M.,
July 6th, on the eve, as now supposed, of a
358
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
great battle. At ten o'clock General Fleury
presented to the kaiser a letter from the Em-
peror of the French proposing an armistice.
Early on the morning of the 7th the kaiser
accepted the armistice; and at eleven o'clock
in the forenoon General Fleury brought back
the Austrian Emperor's reply. A month's
armistice had been agreed upon to give time
for arranging the basis of a treaty of peace.
These tidings spread consternation in the
court and camp of Victor Emmanuel, to whom
public rumour, in the first instance, bore the
tidings. The Emperor neither consulted his
royal ally, nor even intimated his purpose.
Had the Austrian Emperor refused the armis-
tice, it is probable Victor Emmanuel would
never have known it had been proposed, unless
through the press of Vienna, or the corre-
spondence of the Turin government with foreign
courts. The motives, whether selfish or pru-
dential, of the Emperor's proceeding in such
a furtive and unfair manner, cannot here be
discussed; if made the subject of investigation,
it must be in the pages given to his personal
history, but here it is necessary to notice all
the broad facts of the French Emperor's pro-
ceedings during the campaign, as they are so
bound up with the fortunes and history of the
King of Sardinia.
Victor Emmanuel felt insulted and betrayed;
this was the feeling also of his army and his
nation, his cabinet, and of all friendly courts,
cabinets, and peoples. Count Cavour lost all
self-control; according to the testimony of
eye-witnesses, he raved and stormed like a
maniac. Victor Emmanuel, as in other
instances of severe trial and profound emer-
gency, maintained a self-possession and dis-
played a good sense for which even his most
ardent admirers hardly gave him credit. He
restrained the rage of his followers, and wisely
laid himself out to make the best of events as
G
they ripened. Cavour resigned his office as
head of the ministry, but was still consulted
on all great occasions.
The language of Victor Emmanuel to his
powerful but uncertain ally, when the latter
condescended to inform him of his purpose of
effecting a peace, was full of dignity, and per-
vaded by a tone of pathetic resignation.
"Whatever may be the decision of your
Majesty, I shall feel an eternal gratitude for
what you have done for the independence of
Italy; and I beg you to believe that under all
circumstances, you may reckon on my com-
plete fidelity.
The French Emperor, upon the acceptance
of the armistice by his enemy, sought a per-
sonal interview, which Francis Joseph was
exceedingly unwilling to grant, desiring that
negotiations might be carried on by General
Prince Alexander of Hesse, brother-in-law of
the Emperor Alexander. Napoleon, however,
was persistent in his request for a personal
interview, and it was finally arranged that the
two Emperors should meet on the 11th. This
was also kept secret from Victor Emmanuel
and his minister. Count Cavour heard of it
at Turin on the 10th, a messenger of the
French government having, at the railway
station, been more open than his superiors
desired. Cavour hurried off to Monzambano,
expressed his indignation against Napoleon,
and then resigned. It is alleged, however,
that he offered the king very violent counsels,
which his Majesty had too much sense to
follow: amongst the unwise acts urged upon
the king by his minister, who appeared to be
nearly insane with passion and exasperated
pride, was the rejection of peace, and the with-
drawal of his army from Lombardy, leaving
the two Emperors to deal with one another.
Such a course would have been Victor Em-
manuel's destruction: had he pursued it he
""
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
359
would not now have been King of Italy, but
like his father, he would have been obliged to
abdicate, and to mourn in his exile over the
wounds his precipitation had inflicted upon his
country, and the ruin brought upon his family,
perhaps his dynasty. Cavour, however, cun-
ning of fence, astute in. intrigue, and far-
seeing in policy, did not always advise his
king with prudence, nor judiciously and fairly
administer his sovereign's government.
It is generally accepted as true, however
incredible in itself, that while the king was
perfectly calm, Cavour so far gave way to his
rage as to insult his Majesty, and incur the
dishonour of being ordered from his presence
and his service. If this be correct, and it has
never received an authentic contradiction,
Cavour did not resign his post as premier until
it was intimated to him that he had presumed
upon his services and the confidence reposed
in him, and was no longer a servant of the
crown. Incidents like these are interesting in
the history of the reconstruction of Italy, as
well as in that of the individuals who had the
genius to deliver her, and the honour especially
to rank as her liberators.
The interview of the Emperor and Kaiser
took place at Villafranca, which was neutral
ground, for the purposes of negotiation. They
met at seven o'clock, July 11th, in a private
house in the Contrada Cappuccini. The inter-
view did not last an hour. Their Majesties
conversed in Italian and German, Napoleon
picking to pieces the flowers in a vase, either
from an effort to conceal his anxiety, or from
the easy confidence he felt throwing an air of
recklessness over his manner. When they
descended to the street, and presented to each
other the officers of their staffs, Francis Joseph
was pale and embarrassed, and seemed to
suffer under a sense of discomfiture and
humiliation, while Napoleon bore himself
#
easily, and as if nothing uncommon had
occurred. Those who knew him best felt
assured that his gratification at having nego-
tiated in person with a legitimate Emperor
whom he had defeated on the field of battle,
was unbounded.
Nothing was written at this secret meeting,
all that was agreed upon was verbal.
The Emperor Napoleon, on arriving at his
head-quarters, at once sent for his cousin,
without any previous communication with the
Sardinian court, and despatched him to Verona,
with powers plenipotentiary to arrange pre-
liminaries of peace.
These events, which passed as rapidly as
(according to some who knew him) the Em-
peror's mind changes, produced the greatest
sensation in Europe, and many and strange
versions of them were generally credited. The
circumstances which led to the imperial inter-
view, were subjects of curiosity everywhere.
Probably the most correct relation of them
ever given, was in the Trieste Zeitung:—
"Up to the moment of the signature of
the armistice by Marshall Vaillant and Baron
von Hess there had never been any question
of peace, but almost immediately afterwards
the Emperor Napoleon made direct propo-
sitions, in writing, to the Austrian monarch,
and requested him to send a person who
enjoyed his confidence to Valeggio. His
Majesty's choice fell on Prince Alexander of
Hesse, who brought about the meeting between
the Emperors Alexander and Francis Joseph
at Weimar about thirteen or fourteen months
ago, and so distinguished himself at Monte-
bello, Magenta, and Solferino that he got the
Cross of Maria Theresa. The Prince, who was
already acquainted with the Emperor Napo-
leon, was extremely well received by his
Majesty, who candidly told him that he
'ardently wished' for peace.
In the course
I
1
360
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
of conversation the French monarch ex-
pressed a desire to have an interview with
his imperial adversary, 'whose personal ac-
quaintance he was very desirous of making,
as he felt assured he should have little diffi-
culty in coming to an understanding with
him.' At first the Emperor Francis Joseph
declined the proposed interview, on the plea
that it would be painful to his feelings should
he be obliged to meet as an enemy a monarch
whose acquaintance he had just made, which
would certainly be the case if more favourable
conditions were not offered by France. The
negotiations were continued, the Emperor of
the French displaying from beginning to end
an extraordinary 'pliability.' On the 10th
the Prince of Hesse received from the Emperor
of the French a long letter (it is said to have
covered two sheets of paper), in which the
military and political reasons why the Emperor
of Austria ought to conclude peace were given
with equal force and lucidity. After having
communicated some curious information rela-
tive to the policy of the neutral Powers, the
Emperor declared that if his propositions were
refused, 'he would wage a war of life and
death, and would not hesitate to have recourse
to any means which would enable him to
obtain his ends.' At the same time his
Majesty again expressed a wish to treat in
person with his imperial adversary. The im-
pression produced by the letter in question,
which is said to bear the date of July 10th, There are reliable grounds for believing that
3 a.m., was such, that the Emperor Francis these representations, coming from an inde-
Joseph at once agreed to the proposed inter-pendent source, were substantially true.
Prince Windischgratz, who was killed at Sol-
ferino, the Emperor Napoleon caused them to
be sought for, and they were recognised,
partly by his uniform, and partly by some
letters from his newly-married wife, which he
had about him. The corpse was placed in an
artillery waggon, and conveyed, accompanied
by an officer of the staff and an escort, to the
Austrian head-quarters. The officer expressed
to the Emperor the condolence of the Emperor
of the French, and his Austrian Majesty (who
was just recovering from a somewhat severe
indisposition) begged, not without emotion,
the officer to convey his thanks to the Em-
peror Napoleon, and to express his sorrow at
the death of so many brave men in the French
army. This led to some remarks on the cruel
necessity of war, and from what was said, the
Emperor Francis Joseph was able to perceive
that those necessities were regretted as much
by his opponent as by himself. The Emperor
Francis Joseph afterwards sent the son of
General Urban with a flag of truce to the
French camp, as is known, and the Emperor
Napoleon, by an autograph letter, proposed a
suspension of arms. It is added, that the
latter has carried his courtesy to the extent of
neutralising, for the signing of the prelimi-
naries of a truce, the town of Villafranca,
although the usages of war would have justi-
fied him in requiring those formalities to take
place at his own head-quarters.
|
""
view."
There existed, however, a strong desire, both
in Italy and in England, to learn what the
organs of the French government would de-
clare upon the subject, and that was satisfied,
even before the two Emperors met at Villa-
franca. The Moniteur, on the 10th of July,
contained the following:
The Indépendance of Brussels gave the fol-
lowing account of the circumstances which
preceded the armistice :—
"The Emperor of Austria having caused a
demand to be made in the French camp, if it
were not possible to obtain the remains of
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
361
"We hasten to make known the circum-
stances in which the suspension of hostilities,
just concluded between the Emperor of the
French and the Emperor of Austria took
place. Communications were exchanged be-
tween the three great neutral powers, with a
view to come to an understanding, for the
purpose of offering their mediation to the
belligerents. The first act of that mediation
was to tend to the conclusion of an armistice;
but, in spite of the rapidity of telegraphic
transmissions, the accord to be established
between the cabinets would not allow this
result to be obtained for some days. However,
the hostilities of the French fleet against
Venice were about to commence, and a fresh
struggle between the armies before Verona
might take place at any moment. In presence
of that state of things, the Emperor, always
faithful to the sentiments of moderation which
have constantly directed his policy, and more-
over, being pre-occupied, before all things,
with the desire of preventing any useless
bloodshed, did not hesitate to ascertain, di-
rectly, the disposition of the Emperor Francis
Joseph, with the idea that, if those feelings
were in conformity with his own, it was a
sacred duty for the two sovereigns to suspend
at once hostilities, which might become without
object from the fact of the mediation. The
Emperor of Austria having manifested similar
intentions, commissioners named on either side
met to decide on the terms of the armistice,
which was definitely concluded on the 8th
inst., and the duration of which was fixed at
five weeks."
"Vallegio, July 12.-The Emperor to the
Empress.-A treaty of peace has been signed
between the Emperor of Austria and myself.
The conditions of peace are the following:-
An Italian Confederation under the honorary
presidency of the Pope. The Emperor of
Austria gives up his rights over Lombardy
to the Emperor of the French, who remits
them to the King of Sardinia. The Emperor
of Austria keeps Venetia, but it is to form
part of the Italian Confederation. A general
amnesty is to be granted."
The French Emperor immediately issued a
proclamation to his army, informed them that
the principal aim of the war was obtained,
and that Italy would, for the first time, be-
come a nation. Venetia would remain to
Austria, but would form an integral part of a
new Italian Confederation.
The public feeling in France was one of
unbounded satisfaction, even the Univers, the
organ of the ultramontane party, thus expressed
its contentment:-
"The joy felt at the peace is doubled by the
manner in which the Emperor has concluded
it, quite independently of those prudential
counsels that were preparing to profit by the
blood they had allowed to be shed. As the
Emperor of Austria will have a voice in the
Italian Confederation, the States of the Church
will be properly protected. Glory to the two
Roman Catholic Emperors who have concluded
between themselves the peace of the world,
and who take the Church under their own
protection."
The arrangement regarding Venice did not
in France meet with universal approval; but
on the whole the French people thought that
the Emperor made the best arrangement pos-
sible on its behalf. M. Prevost Paradol repre-
up
The following official despatch was posted sented public opinion in France fairly when he
at the Paris Bourse on the 13th:-
wrote "We need not say that the war once
begun, the complete enfranchisement of Venice
was in the number of our dearest wishes,
though we should have thought it too much to
pay for such a result, if it had been necessary
P
3 A
362
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
to pursue it through a general war. But the
modification of the legal situation of Venetia
has none the less a great importance. The
mere fact of the entrance of Venetia into the
Italian Confederation renders impossible the
design, sometimes attributed to Germany, of
incorporating that portion of the Italian terri-
tory in the Germanic Confederation. It is
useless to add that Venetia, henceforth united
to the common destiny of Italy, will probably
enjoy liberal institutions, which it will be the
mission of the Italian Confederation to uphold
and guarantee in case of need, as the Germanic
Confederation has just done for the German
Duchies submitted to the crown of Denmark. |
It may be less easy to sketch in anticipation
what that Italian Confederation will be under
the honorary presidence of the Pope; but if
these questions still present some difficulties
to be solved, they rather, perhaps, regard Italy
herself and the organisers of the new system,
than the rest of Europe."
The Patrie stated the gain of Sardinia as
follows:-"Lombardy, which in virtue of the
Peace of Villafranca, has just fallen to the
King of Sardinia, counts a population of
2,800,000 souls on a superficies of about
22,000 kilometres square. Up to the present
time Lombardy has been divided, administra-
tively, into nine provinces or delegations, viz.,
Milan, Pavia, Lodi-Crema, Cremona, Como,
Mantua, Sondrio, Brescia, and Bergamo. The
fortresses of Mantua and Pavia form a part of
the province of Mantua: and the fortress of
Pizzighettone is included in the province of
Cremona. After the annexation of Lombardy
to Piedmont, that kingdom will comprise a
superficies of 99,280 kilometres square, with
a population of 7,800,000 inhabitants. In a
territorial respect, it will take the tenth rank
in Europe, coming immediately after the Two
Sicilies, and surpassing Portugal and Bavaria.
Under the head of population, Sardinia will
occupy the ninth rank, coming after Naples,
and standing higher than the united kingdom
of Sweden and Norway, Belgium, and Bavaria."
The Patrie then proceeded to argue that
Victor Emmanuel ought to be satisfied with
such results, and that Europe, for the sake of
peace and order, should recognise them.
All these plans of the French Emperor
were doomed to disappointment, the policy of
Cavour, and the heroic enterprises of Garibaldi
frustrated them, and created for Italy a better
status among the nations, and a wider area of
freedom than entered into the purposes of her
imperial ally.
It is interesting to study the feelings and
purposes of the great enemy of Italy under
these circumstances. They are best ascer-
tained by looking into the documentary
evidence the court and accredited journals of
Vienna put forth.
The following is a translation of the mani-
festo of the Emperor of Austria :—
"When all concessions that were allowable,
and compatible with the dignity of the crown
and the honour and welfare of the country
have been exhausted, and when all attempts
at a pacific arrangement have miscarried, there
is no room for choice, and what cannot be
avoided becomes a duty. This duty placed me
under the stern necessity of demanding from
my people new and painful sacrifices, in order
to place in a state of defence their most sacred
interests. My faithful people have responded
to my appeal; they have pressed forward
unanimously in defence of the throne, and
they have made the sacrifices of every kind
demanded by circumstances with an eagerness
which merits my gratitude-which augments,
if possible, the profound affection which I feel
for them; and which was adapted to inspire
the assurance that the just cause in defence.
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
363
of which my brave armies went forth with
enthusiasm to the contest would be victorious.
Unhappily, the result has not corresponded
with the general effort, and the fortune of war
has not been favourable to us.
•
"The valiant army of Austria has in this
instance again given proofs of its tried heroism
and its incomparable perseverance so brilliant,
that it has commanded the admiration of all,
even of its enemies. I experienced a legiti-
mate pride in being the chief of such an army,
and the country ought to feel indebted to it
for having maintained vigorously, in all its
purity, the honour of the Austrian flag. It is
not less perfectly established that our enemies,
in spite of the greatest efforts, in spite of the
superior forces which they had for a long
period been preparing for the conflict, have
been able, even by making the greatest sacri-
fices, to obtain only advantages, not a decisive
victory; while the Austrian army, still ani-
mated by the same ardour, and full of the
same courage, maintained a position, the pos-
session of which left, perhaps, a possibility of
recovering from the enemy all the advantages
he had gained. But for this purpose it would
have been necessary to make new sacrifices,
which certainly would not have been less
bloody than those which have been made
already, and which have deeply afflicted my
heart.
"Under these conditions it was my duty,
as a sovereign, to take into serious considera-
tion the propositions of peace which had been
made to me. The consequences of this con-
tinuance of the war would have been so much
the heavier, because I should have been obliged
to demand from the faithful people of my
dominions new sacrifices of blood and money,
much more considerable even than those which
had been made up to that time. And, not-
And, not-
withstanding, success would have remained
A
doubtful, since I have been so bitterly deceived
in my well-founded hopes that this contest not
having been entered into for the defence of the
rights of Austria only, I should not be left
alone in it. In spite of the ardent sympathy,
worthy of acknowledgment, which the justice
of our cause has inspired, for the most part,
in the journals and peoples of Germany, our
national allies, our most ancient allies, have
obstinately refused to recognise the great im-
portance of the grand question of the day.
Consequently, Austria would have been obliged
all alone to face the events which were being
prepared for, and which every day might have
rendered more grave.
"The honour of Austria coming intact out
of this war, thanks to the heroic efforts of her
valiant army, I have resolved, yielding to poli-
tical considerations, to make a sacrifice for the
re-establishment of peace, and to accept the
preliminaries which ought to lead to its con-
clusion; for I have acquired the conviction
that I should obtain, in any event, conditions
less unfavourable in coming to a direct under-
standing with the Emperor of the French,
without the blending of any third party what-
soever, than in causing to participate in the
negotiations the three great Powers which have
taken no part in the struggle. Unhappily, I have
been unable to escape the separation from the
rest of the empire of the greater part of Lom-
bardy. On the other hand, it must be agree-
able to my heart to see the blessings of peace
assured afresh to my beloved people, and these
blessings are doubly precious to me, because
they will give me the necessary leisure for
bestowing henceforth, without distraction, all
my attention and solicitude on the fruitful task
that I propose to accomplish-that is to say,
to found in a durable manner the internal well-
being and the external power of Austria by
the happy development of her moral and ma-
-
361
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
terial forces, and by ameliorations conformable
to the spirit of the time in legislation and
administration. As in these days of serious
trials and sacrifices my people have shown
themselves faithful to my person, so now by
the confidence with which they respond to me,
they will aid in accomplishing works of peace,
and in attaining the realisation of my benevo-
lent intentions. As chief of the army, I have
already expressed to it, in a special order of
the day, my acknowledgments of its bravery.
To-day, I renew the expression of these senti-
ments. While I speak to my people I thank
those of their children who have fought for
God, their Emperor, and their country. I
thank them for the heroism of which they
have given proof, and I shall always remember
with grief those of our brave companions in
arms who have not, alas! returned from the
combat.
(C
(Signed), "FRANCIS JOSEPH.
Laxenbourgh, 19th July, 1859.”
The government press of Vienna, anxious to
justify the submissions of the kaiser, its lead-
ing organ put forth the following reason and
apology for his conduct:
"Amongst the motives which have influ-
enced the Emperor of Austria in seizing on
the first occasion for concluding a peace as
honourable as circumstances would permit, is,
no doubt, the situation more and more dis-
quieting which events have made for Hungary.
All the news that reaches Vienna from that
kingdom, which is without troops whose fide-
lity can be counted on, is exceedingly bad.
Public opinion, it appears, pronounces in a
certain number of comitats against the system
of absolute centralisation introduced since
1856 into all parts of the Austrian empire.
The Hungarian populations desire to preserve
their old nationality, and to regain possession
of the rights and privileges which the Em-
perors of Austria, in their days of danger,
accorded or confirmed. It is believed at
Vienna, that the government will hence-
forth pay the most serious attention to Hun-
gary, and that after the conclusion of a
definitive peace, it will employ all its efforts
in the moral and material improvement of
that kingdom."
M
This representation of the kaiser's policy
was undoubtedly true. It has been shown in
previous pages that Bonaparte was intriguing
in Hungary, and making overtures to Kossuth
and the revolutionary party. As soon as he
saw that a cessation of arms was in his
interest, he threw over his revolutionary allies,
Kossuth was neglected, and the imperial press
only referred to the Hungarians at all in
terms which implied the hopelessness of their
cause.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
365
CHAPTER XLVII.
THE EMPEROR AND PRINCE NAPOLEON AT VICTOR EMMANUEL'S HEAD-QUARTERS.—BAD FEELING
BETWEEN SARDINIANS AND FRENCH.-COLD RECEPTION OF NAPOLEON IN MILAN.-MAGNIFICENT
RECEPTION OF VICTOR EMMANUEL.-DUCHIES OFFER ALLEGIANCE TO THE KING. -TREATY OF
ZURICH.-COVERT PURPOSES OF AUSTRIA.-ENGLISH DIPLOMACY IN FAVOUR OF ITALY.-GENERAL
COST OF THE WAR.
Mag
si
Enough of his glory remains on our swords
To light us to victory yet."-Moore.
THE gallant Sardinian army might adopt the
language of our motto as they rested upon
their arms during the armistice, or quitted the
field in consequence of the peace. They had
followed their king as heroes; he had led them
as a hero. They did not despair of Italy, and
believed the occasion would come for wielding
the brand on behalf of Italian unity and
liberty. There was also one other man whose
glory remained on the swords of Italian
soldiers-
"Above all Greek, above all Roman fame."
the illustrious and magnanimous Garibaldi.
The soldiers of Italy therefore, at first disposed
to set the armistice at nought, were guided
and governed by the counsels of their king,
and submitted with what patience they could
command for the time, to the half-measures
with Austria. Meanwhile, other scenes must
pass before their eyes in the great drama.
*
On the 12th of July the Emperor Napoleon
and the Prince Napoleon dined with Victor
Emmanuel at his head-quarters. Cavour was
there, but hurried away, having offended his
king by the license of his speech. An eye-
witness gave the following account of that
dinner-party :-"The king received his guests
at the door of the house, and they went up to
the room where the royal table had been laid.
The physiognomies of the three personages
were exceedingly curious. The stern, bronzed
face of the Emperor betrayed emotion of no
* The Count Arrivabene.
C
sort. His eyes, as usual, scarcely moved in
their sockets, and, judging by his countenance,
he seemed almost as unconcerned as if
nothing had been changed since the great
battle of Solferino. The Prince, on the con-
trary, attempted to disguise his embarrassment
by speaking to the Sardinian general. Victor
Emmanuel was silent; but his soldier-like
countenance could scarcely conceal the efforts
he made to preserve the semblance of com-
posure. His eyes restlessly wandered about, as
if desirous to escape from the scrutinising
glance of his companions. It was indeed a sad
party, in harmony with the occasion. When
dinner was over, the king walked with his
guests to Casa Melchiori, hardly exchanging a
word with either the one or the other.
"The manners of the Sardinian officers were
not a whit more gay; a polite coldness was
observable in their demeanour whenever they
asked or answered a question of their French
comrades; but of cordiality there was abso-
lutely none. These feelings of unmistakable
coolness were so much increased at a later
period, that the French and Piedmontese
officers scarcely saluted each other."
A
The same evening the Emperor left for
Milan, en route to France. The city was
crowded with silent multitudes, who offered the
Emperor no salute as he passed. They regarded
him as only a qualified friend to Italian
freedom, and an enemy to Italian unity. His
Majesty felt this, and complained that the
Italians were ungrateful. They complained

366
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
that he was uncertain and insincere, and
believed that he had never intended to set
Italy "free from the Alps to the Adriatic."
On the 10th of August, Victor Emmanuel
made a public entry to Milan, as the capital of
his newly-acquired province. Before entering
it he issued the following proclamation :-
"THE KING TO THE PEOPLE OF LOMBARDY.
"Heaven has blessed our arms. With the
powerful aid of our magnanimous and valiant
ally, the Emperor Napoleon, we arrived, in a
few days, after victory upon victory, at the
banks of the Mincio. To-day, I come back
among you, to tell you the happy news, that
Heaven has granted your wishes; an armistice,
followed by the preliminaries of peace, assures
to the people of Lombardy their independence.
According to your desire, so many times
expressed, you will henceforth form, with our
ancient states, one single and free family. I
will take your destiny under my direction, and
hope to find in you that concurrence which the
chief of a state needs, in order to create a new
administration. I tell you, people of Lom-
bardy, trust to your king. Established on solid
and imperishable basis, he will procure happi-
ness for the new countries which Heaven has
entrusted to his government."
.
It would, perhaps, be scarcely possible for
Milan to wear more splendid decorations, or
abound in more exuberant joy, than she did
when MacMahon was welcomed after his
victory of Magenta. Such scenes were revived;
and this time shouts of Viva il Ré ascended
from the whole population. The emotion of
the king was very great. Sovereign and sub-
jects exulted in the independence and mutual
relations, which their own swords had done so.
much to win. The king remained a week,
during which joy and pleasure reigned at Milan.
On the king's reappearance in Turin, de-
monstrations of loyalty, true and enthusiastic,
awaited him.
The Italians of all ranks and classes were
proud of their noble army, and the gallant
volunteers who had been led by Garibaldi.
Events in the Duchies hastened on the way
the king wished them. The people refused to
receive back the runaway princes, and tendered
This the
allegiance to Victor Emmanuel.
stipulations of Villafranca, afterwards consoli-
dated into a treaty at Zurich, could not
prohibit, for the people were by these com-
pacts left to themselves.
The arrangements for a conference to be held
at Zurich were made during the armistice; but
it is neither necessary nor interesting to enter
into the details of the various events and
intrigues connected with it. The treaty itself
can in summary be presented to the readers;
that is instructive as explaining the French
Emperor's policy, and as revealing the starting-
point from which the reconstruction of Italy
so rapidly proceeded.
-
"His Majesty the Emperor of the French
and his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, de-
sirous of putting an end to the calamities of
war, and to prevent the renewal of the com-
plications which give rise to it, by contributing
to erect on solid and durable foundations the
internal and external independence of Italy,
have resolved to convert into a definitive
treaty of peace the preliminaries signed by
their hand at Villafranca.
[Here follow the names and titles of the
Zurich plenipotentiaries.]
"Art. 1. There shall be in future peace and
friendship between his Majesty the Emperor of
the French and his Majesty the Emperor of
Austria, as also between their heirs and suc-
cessors, their respective states and subjects, for
ever.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
367
"Art. 2. All prisoners of war shall be im-
mediately returned on both sides.
"Art. 3. To attenuate the evils of war, an
exception is made to the general law, and all
Austrian vessels captured, not yet condemned
as prizes, shall be restored.
"The vessels and cargoes shall be restored
in the same state as when taken, after pay-
ment of all expenses, charges, &c., incurred by
their capture, and on payment of the usual
allowance to the captors (fret acquis aux cap-
teurs); no indemnity can be claimed on
account of prizes sunk or destroyed, nor for
the loss of merchandise, even not condemned
as prize property.
[Art. 4 declares the cession of Lombardy to
his Majesty the Emperor of the French.]
"Art. 5. His Majesty the Emperor of the
French declares his intention of handing over
(remettre) to his Majesty the King of Sardinia
the territories ceded by the preceding article.
"Art. 6. The territories still occupied in
virtue of the armistice of the 8th of July last
shall be reciprocally evacuated by the belli-
gerent powers, the troops of which will retire
immediately beyond the frontier line stipulated
in Art. 4.
"Art. 19. As the territorial deliminations
(circonscriptions) of the independent States of
"It is also understood distinctly that all Italy which took no part in the late war cannot
decisions given hold good.
be changed except with the sanction of the
Powers that presided at their formation and
acknowledged their existence, the rights of the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, of the Duke of Modena,
and of the Duke of Parma, are expressly
reserved between the high contracting parties.
“Art. 20. Desirous of seeing the tranquillity
of the States of the Church and the power of
the Holy Father assured, convinced that such
object could not be more efficaciously attained
than by the adoption of a system suited to the
wants of the populations and conformable to
the generous intentions already manifested
by the Sovereign Pontiff, his Majesty the
Emperor of the French and his Majesty the
Emperor of Austria will unite their efforts to
obtain from his Holiness that the necessity of
introducing into the administration of his States.
the reforms admitted as indispensable shall be
taken into serious consideration by his Govern-
ment.
Articles 7 to 17 inclusive recapitulate a
treaty between France and Sardinia relative
to the settlement of the financial points be-
tween the two countries, and the money in-
demnity to be paid to Austria and France.
"Art. 18. His Majesty the Emperor of the
French and his Majesty the Emperor of Aus-
tria engage themselves to favour with all their
efforts the creation of a Confederation between
the Italian States, to be placed under the hon-
orary presidency of the Holy Father, and the
object of which would be to maintain the inde-
pendence and the inviolability of the Confede-
rated States, to assure the development of
their moral and material interests, and to
guarantee the internal and external safety of
Italy by the existence of a federal army.
“Venetia, which remains placed under the
crown of his Imperial, Royal, and Apostolic
Majesty, will form one of the States of this
Confederation, and will participate in the obli-
gations as well as in the privileges (droits)
resulting from the federal pact, the clauses of
which shall be determined by an assembly
consisting of representatives of all Italian
States.
"Art. 21. With a view to contribute by
every effort to quiet the public mind, the high
contracting parties declare and promise that in
their respective territories, and in the lands
restored or ceded, no individual compromised
368
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
by the recent events in the Peninsula, no
matter what his rank or position in society,
shall be prosecuted, annoyed, or troubled, in
person or property, on account of his conduct
or political opinions.
"Art. 22. The present treaty shall be rati-
fied, and the ratifications exchanged within
one fortnight, or earlier if possible. In faith
of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed it, and fixed their seals thereunto.
"Done at Zurich on the 10th day of the
month of November, of the year of grace 1859.
BOURQUENEY.
"BANNEVILLE.
"KAROLYI.
“MEYSENBUG.'
""
"ADDITIONAL ARTICLE TO THE TREATY SIGNED
BETWEEN FRANCE AND AUSTRIA AT ZURICH
ON THE 10TH OF NOVEMBER, 1859.
"The Government of his Majesty the Em-
peror of the French engages itself towards the
Government of his Imperial, Royal, and Apos-
tolic Majesty to make, on account of the new
Government of Lombardy, which will guarantee
its repayment, to pay to it 40,000,000 florins
(conventions-münz), stipulated by the 7th
article of the present treaty, in instalments,
as follows
"Eight millions of florins shall be paid cash,
by a bill on Paris, without interest, on the
expiration of the third month, dating from the
day on which the present treaty was signed,
and which will be handed to the Plenipoten-
tiaries of his Imperial, Royal, and Apostolic
Majesty when the exchange of ratifications
takes place.
"The payment of the remaining 32,000,000
florins shall take place at Vienna, cash, in ten
successive instalments, to be made every two
months, by bills on Paris, each of 3,200,000
florins. The first of these payments will be
made two months after the payment of the bill
of 8,000,000 florins above stipulated. For
that date, as for the other following, the
interest will be reckoned at 5 per cent., dating
from the first day of the month which will
follow the exchange of the ratifications of the
present treaty.
"The present additional article shall have
the same force and value as if inserted verbatim
in the treaty of this day.
"It shall be ratified in one single act, and
the ratifications exchanged at the same time.
“In faith of which the respective Plenipo-
tentiaries have signed the present additional
article, and affixed their seals thereunto.
"Done at Zurich on the 10th day of the
month of November, of the year of grace 1859.
"BOURQUENEY.
“ BANNEVILLE.
"KAROLYI.
"MEYSENBUG.
"Art. 2. Our Minister and Secretary of
State in the Department of Foreign Affairs is
charged with the execution of the present
decree.
"Done at Compiègne, the 27th of November,
1859.
"Seen, and sealed with the Seal of State,
❝ NAPOLEON.
"DELANGLE,
Minister of Justice.
"A. WALEWSKI,
"Minister of Foreign Affairs.'
(Countersigned)
"Keeper of the Seals,
""
The pecuniary indemnities fell heavily upon
Sardinia, but the rich province of Lombardy
| compensated for all.
The reader will naturally inquire with what
purpose did Austria enter into this treaty.
This question can be answered upon authority
indisputable.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
369
A curious article appeared in the Verona
Gazette of the 14th, that is two days after the
meeting at Villafranca. As the article is
headed, "Quartiere Superno" it has all the
authority of a communicated article. After
stating that the Emperor of Austria has con-
cluded peace in order to put a stop to the
scourge of war, the writer alludes to the
Emperor's complaint that he had been aban-
doned by his old allies, and remarks as
follows:
"The sacrifice of Lombardy is great, no
doubt, but we find consolation in the reflection
that what is momentarily ceded is not always
lost. Influences change; fortune will not
always be against us. Sooner or later we
shall cross the Mincio in order to reconquer
the tombs of the heroes of Somma and Cus-
toza. That land-soaked with our blood-shall |
still be ours. God promises it to us from the
heavenly regions, through the voice of the
white-haired Radetzky. Austria is obliged to
make peace; but we must not forget that
while she retains the Quadrilateral of the
fortresses she may still consider herself, in a
military point of view, as the mistress of the
whole valley of the Po. She only leaves the
Lombards to the intemperance of their political
feelings: the end of the drama we shall see at
another time.”
It was in this spirit that the Austrian
plenipotentiaries signed this treaty of Zurich,
and the Austrian court and government have
regarded Italy ever since.
It has been constantly said upon the Conti-
nent, especially in France, that England did
nothing for the salvation of Italy. The Italians
themselves think differently. But for the in-
fluence of Great Britain the German confede-
ration would, in all probability, have aided
Austria in the war. Austria, for a number of
years, had sought to have Venetia included in
the Germanic confederation, so that in case
any war with France or Sardinia threatened
to deprive her of it, all Germany might be
pledged to maintain the Austrian dominion
there. When the war broke out in 1859,
Austria again urged this policy. The German
governments and people were on the whole
willing to enter into the engagement, and
most especially the government of Prussia.
The remonstrances of England undoubtedly
had the effect of deterring Prussia, and with
Prussia the rest of Germany, from interfering.
There is a fine spirit breathed throughout, and
without any menace the implication is plain,
that should Germany interfere in favour of
Austria, Great Britain may feel herself free to
abandon her neutrality.
The following despatch, which was made the
subject of inquiry in both Houses, will be read
with some interest. It is a re-translation from
a German version of the original : —
Foreign Office, 22nd June, 1859.
("
"My Lord,
"Her Majesty's Government sees with great
concern an indication manifesting itself in
Germany to take part in the war which
has broken out between France and Sar-
dinia on one side and Austria on the other.
It depends chiefly upon the moderate and
sagacious behaviour of Prussia whether the
present war is to be confined to Italy or
extend to German territory, and perhaps to
other parts of Europe. The Emperor Napoleon
has declared that it is not his wish to attack
Germany. It is hoped and believed that the
Prince Regent of Prussia will not take part
But it has been
in an attack upon France.
maintained that Germany is, if not directly, at
least indirectly, threatened; that if she did
not take part in a war on the Po, she would
soon have to defend herself on the Rhine; that
the Austrian fortresses on the Mincio and the
3 B
370
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
-
Adige were in reality the bulwarks of Germany
against France. There is much loose and un-
proved assertion in this statement. The war
between Austria and Sardinia has undoubtedly
-perhaps inevitably-sprung from the state
of things in Italy. Since 1815, Austria has
exercised a supremacy in facto over the Italian
states; in the course of the last few years,
Sardinia has favoured and fostered the passions
of the Italians for independence. When Lord
Loftus demanded from Count Buol a pledge
that Austria would in no case order her army
to cross her frontier in Italy without having
previously come to an understanding with
France, the reply was: 'No, I cannot give
you that assurance, for it would be a surrender
of our sovereign power. We shall not intervene
in any state unless our aid is asked for, and in
that case it will be granted, and the know-
ledge that it will be granted is the best pre-
servative of order.' Consequently, Austria was
not prepared to give up the claim to a right of
intervention, in case she was appealed to for
the latter, and Sardinia, on the other hand,
would not give up the pretension to represent
the sorrows and aspirations of Italy; but, in-
asmuch as the King of Sardinia was not able
to carry through such a dispute with his own
force, he has demanded the assistance of the
Emperor of the French, and it has been
granted to him. I do not speak here of the
immediate cause of the war-on this point my
predecessor has already very completely de-
veloped her Majesty's views. But from the
statement just made it is evident that the fun-
damental origin of the war is to be sought for
in the diametrically opposite pretensions put
up by Austria and Sardinia. This war has
broken out without any reference to Germany.
The assertion that France, when successful on
the Po and the Brenta, will prove to be aggres-
sive on the Rhine, is a perfectly arbitrary as-
***
T
CAND
sertion. The momentous question of involving
the Continent in war should not be decided on
the ground of vague hypothesis and exaggerated
apprehensions. Nor is it a tenable statement,
that the fortresses on the Mincio and on the
Adige are bulwarks of Germany. It must be
borne in mind that the fortresses of Peschiera,
Verona, and Mantua do not fall within the
ancient limits of Germany; that, on the con-
trary, the whole territory from Verona to the
Adriatic, in the year 1792, formed part of a
weak, unwarlike, and decaying Italian state.
The utmost that can be said is, that while
many Germans look upon these fortresses as a
bulwark of Germany, many Italians look upon
them as a menace to Italy. The treaty of
peace must decide about their future fate. The
reasons adduced in favour of a war on the part
of the German States thus being insufficient,
very strongly resist so precipitate a course.
The Prince Regent of Prussia will, in his
wisdom, weigh the impolicy of exposing his
country to be considered the champion of the
maladministration of Italy. It cannot be ne-
cessary for the safety of Berlin and Magdeburg
that the government in Milan and Bologna
should be bad. But in the eyes of the Italians,
Prussia, should she appear in arms by the side
of Austria, would be considered as a defender
of everything Austria has committed and
omitted. There is still another consideration of
the utmost importance. Hitherto the war hast
produced but little excitement in France. As
soon as the question of superiority in the field
shall have been decided, the two belligerent.
Powers will probably be strongly inclined to
put a stop to this exhausting war. But should
France, by a German attack, be called upon to
defend her own frontiers, it is impossible to
foretell to what pitch the passions of interna-
tional hatred might not be inflamed, and for
what space of time the continent of Europe
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
371
might not have to suffer the desolations of war.
You are already sufficiently informed of her
Majesty's resolve, supported by the unanimous
feeling of her people, to observe a strict neu-
trality. Her Majesty has kept this country
free from all and every obligation which might
interfere with her freedom of action. Her
Majesty's government entertains the hope that
Prussia will adopt a course as nearly similar
as the circumstances of Germany will permit.
Possibly the time is very near when the voice
of mediating friendly Powers will be able to
make itself successfully heard, and when re-
presentations in favour of peace will no longer
be without effect. Pray read this despatch to
Baron Schleinitz, and leave a copy with him.
"I am, &c.,
"JOHN RUSSELL.
"To Lord Bloomfield."
The din of arms and diplomacy at last died
away together, and Italy had time to reflect
upon the cost of the undoubtedly great advan-
tages acquired, and the other belligerents
might also profit by the retrospect. The
Allgemeine Zeitung, soon after the peace, thus
estimated the cost to Europe at large:
"It is impossible to estimate the absolute
cost of a war, since its influence on trade and
industry, though immense, is indefinite. Con-
sidering only the sum sactually expended in sup-
porting the campaign, it seems that Austria,
without reckoning the loan she raised in Eng-
and at the beginning of 1859, has expended
200,000,000 gulden for the purposes of war.
France has applied 500,000,000f. to the same
purpose. Piedmont, it is known, had access to
the French military chest; but, besides this, she
increased her loan by 50,000,000f., and her
debt to the Turin Bank by 33,000,000f. The
exact sums spent by the other Italian States
cannot be ascertained with precision, but,
reckoning the 5,000,000f. added to the Bo-
lognese loans, 20,000,000f. cannot be an over
estimate. With regard now to the neutral
Powers, Russia gives us no means of making
an accurate estimate, but considering the addi-
tions to her various army corps, the cost to her
must have been 15,000,000 thalers. Finally,
the sums raised by the German States for the
purpose of putting their forces on a war foot-
ing may be taken together at 90,000,000
gulden, about a third of which remains still
unspent." These conclusions the German paper
arranges in a table as follows. We translate
francs into pounds :—
Austria
France.
Piedmont
•
Other Italian States
Russia.
England
Germany
about £20,000,000
20,000,000
4,000,000
800,000
1,200,000
880,000
5,120,000
£52,000,000
19.
33
33
39
""
""
-

372
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
L
+
|
CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE OPENING OF THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT IN 1860.-CESSION OF SAVOY AND NICE. THE KING'S
JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCES.-DEFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN CENTRAL ITALY BY THE
TURIN OFFICIALS.-GREAT SERVICES OF SIR JAMES HUDSON.-SECRET AGREEMENT MADE WITH
THE FRENCH EMPEROR AT COMPIEGNE.-INVASION OF THE PAPAL TERRITORY.-MISGOVERNMENT
OF NAPLES BY THE COURT OF TURIN.-SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF GAETA. -DEATH OF COUNT
CAVOUR. THE RICASOLI MINISTRY.-THE RATAZZI MINISTRY FORMED.
"Let the Italians concentrate the moral forces of the nation in Piedmont. Let them wait, and be ready
for the commencement of the new struggle."-MASSIMO D'AZEGLIO.
THE opening of the Italian Parliament at
Turin in 1860, was an occasion of the deepest
public interest throughout the whole peninsula,
and among the friends of liberty everywhere.
There, for the first time, the representatives of
United Italy assembled in Senate.
In
Various important incidents occurred in
connection with the auspicious event.
every city and district from which a deputy
proceeded, the circumstance of his departure
excited enthusiasm, and he was attended by the
prayers and blessings of the people. At Turin,
multitudes were congregated from all parts
of Italy, to witness this glorious proof of the
political reconstruction and new-born liberty
and unity of the peninsula. The demonstra-
tions of joy were boundless; the shouts of
triumph rose up from the vast throngs as
the voice of many waters. Joy lit up every
face, as the rising sun covers with glory the
silver sea.
M
Still there were troubles to be met; and the
chief of these was the cession of Savoy and
Nice to the French Emperor. The discussions
on this subject were opened by Garibaldi, in a
tone of eloquent and indignant patriotism,
which not only thrilled upon the ear of the
assembly, but also upon the heart of the
Italian people. Cavour defended the policy of
the painful sacrifice, regretting bitterly that it
should ever have been a necessity. Yet it was
not Cavour's work; the new parliament did not
open under his ministerial auspices, but he
soon came into power, and the burden of
defence rested upon him. The facts were, that
the French Emperor refused to recognise the
annexation of the Æmilian and the other Italian
provinces, under the pretence that Italy, under
Victor Emmanuel, would prove too strong a
neighbour. He finally consented to give the
recognition, provided "compensation" were
made to France by "a rectification" of
boundaries. Savoy and Nice were the price of
that recognition. It was undoubtedly wise to
pay it, especially as the territories were not to
be annexed unless a majority voted in favour
of the measure.
of the measure. Such a majority did vote
whether cajolery or menace, or both, were em-
ployed to effect such a result, or the unbiassed
opinion of the people were given. The whole
world believed that the means taken to secure
the vote were as dishonest as the reasons
assigned for demanding the annexation. It
cannot, however, be denied, that many of the
Savoyards were desirous of being connected
with France. It suited them commercially;
they hoped, in a great number of instances,
to profit permanently, if ingloriously, by the
vote they gave; they were ardent Roman
Catholics, and Victor Emmanuel was under
papal denunciation, while the Emperor of the
French was the Pope's protector. France was
the only country upon which the Roman
Church could lean for active propagandism,

S. Fisher.
Feb
W. Bartlett.
TURIN.
(From the Vigne de la Reine.)
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
373
'.
where wealth and the sword would be required
as its chief instruments; the priests were
fervid in their zeal to connect Savoy with that
great country which was ambitious to be
known as the protector, not only of the Pope,
but of "the Church," and the poor Savoyards
voted, to a great extent, under their dictation.
In Nice there can be no question that corrupt
means were resorted to for the purpose of
securing an ostensible assent. Members op-
posed to political separation from Italy took
no part in the public demonstrations, knowing
that the Emperor had the power as well as the
will to secure the province to himself. To
England, which regarded the whole affair as
fraudulent and scandalous, neither the French
Emperor nor the Italian ministry behaved
with truth or honour. There can be no doubt
that the seizure of these two provinces, for
such it virtually was, affected the entente
cordiule between France and the United King-
dom. Lord Russell spoke the public feeling
of Great Britain when he denounced the
conduct of the Emperor, and declared that
England must look for other allies. No united
action between the two countries was likely to
take place for many years, so strong was the
conviction that separate and selfish, under the
ostensible appearance of united, objects, would
be followed by his Imperial Majesty.
king made a tour through the country. From
city to city, from province to province, he
passed through triumphal arches, under flags
and banners and garlands. Cities were illu-
minated, and territories, but lately independent,
cast offerings in homage at his feet. The
people arose at his approach to welcome a king
and a conqueror, the royal champion of Italian
unity and liberty, the benevolent and bene-
ficent father of his people. Politically, and as
a patriot and a king, he was not unmindful of
the significant language of his long-tried
friend and counsellor D'Azeglio, who, when he
was premier, once said in his place in parlia-
ment, in reply to an opponent, "Much has
been said in these days of the rights of the
people; there is one, however, and the greatest
of all, of which we have never heard their
right to the good example of their rulers."
During the occurrences of 1859, 1860, and
1861, which so beset the king and his people
with difficulties, and at the same time sur-
prised them by conquests in war and diplomacy,
one of the wisest and best of the advisers of
Victor Emmanuel and his ministers was Sir
James Hudson, the English minister. A dis-
tinguished Italian litterateur has said of him,
"A man who has done more for my country
than any other foreign friend of Italy."
The administration of government in the
various provinces annexed to the older domi-
nions of Victor Emmanuel, caused considerable
discussion in the Italian Parliament and much
difficulty in the cabinet. It cannot justly be
demanded for Count Cavour that he managed
this part of the king's business well. Dis-military sentiment in favour of the duchess,
union was created by his measures, which the that in 1859, soon after her flight, it effected
patriotism and benevolent temper of Garibaldi her restoration; nor was she driven out by
did much to heal. Yet, perhaps, it was im- force, but retired from the conviction that her
possible to govern Italy from Turin.
subjects were resolved to do their part on the
It became exceedingly important to preserve
order in the newly-annexed provinces, where
many elements of anarchy existed. There was
in all these provinces a reactionary faction;
and the superior clergy were ceaselessly occu-
pied in bringing discredit upon the king and
his ministers. In Parma, so strong was the
When the cares of parliament allowed, the first opportunity in favour of a united Italy.
374
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
In Tuscany also, abundant proof was given
that the embers of faction had not expired.
The enemies of liberty everywhere cherished
the hope that the dominions of Victor Em-
manuel would fall to pieces from anarchy
before the year 1860 expired; nor was that
hope given up when the triumphs of 1861 were
achieved, nor for years after, for it was confi-
dently predicted, especially in Vienna, Berlin,
and London, that the annexations of 1860-
61, would complete the mass of combustible
elements which would explode the political
cohesion of Italy. It was in circumstances
like these that Sir James Hudson rendered
the king and the country he ruled the most
signal services. His despatches to the British
government were wise and prescient, and per-
vaded by a generous desire for the welfare
of the Italian Peninsula. His communications
with the government of Victor Emmanuel
were made in such a temper and spirit, so
well-timed and statesmanlike, that the Italian
sovereign and ministry were much guided by
his advice, not only on every foreign question,
but even on matters connected with provincial
policy, his thorough knowledge of Italy, and
his penetration of the Italian character under
all its provincial diversities, qualifying him to
offer such counsels.
Italy was agitated not only by her own reac-
tionists, but by foreign emissaries. Austro-
Italians, friends of the deposed petty princes,
Bonapartists, French legitimists, Spaniards
and Belgians, priests and laymen, infested the
chief cities, towns, villages, and even the
quietest districts, sowing dissensions, and
endeavouring to inspire alarm by attempts
at conspiracy. The French Emperor was
anxious to appease his brother of Austria by
carrying out the arrangement of Villafranca,
and the agents of his government were utterly
unscrupulous in their efforts to restore Tuscany
to the dynasty of Lorraine. The last provision
of the preliminaries of peace at Villafranca
regarded "the rights" of the house of Lor-
raine, and the French agents at Florence
seemed as regardless as the two Emperors of
the wrongs of the Tuscan people.
In the early part of 1859 the Tuscans.
resolved to take up arms, and resist whatever
forces might be brought against them, French,
Austrian, or Italian, and they nobly proved
their persistence.
The government of Tuscany, by Baron
Ricasoli, was unjust and tyrannical; Protes-
tantism was put down by force, the Protestant
church being closed, and all missionary efforts.
stopped. Ricasoli was no devotee, but his
disposition was despotic, and to be earnest
about religion he regarded as a folly to which
no indulgence should be shown. An ardent
nationalist, zealous for Italian unity and inde-
pendence, he hated religious liberty, except
when it meant the right to neglect religion
altogether, to disobey priests, and mock the
ceremonials of Christianity. Punishment was
not, in his judgment, due to the mobs who
assailed the "evangelicals," but was properly
reserved, in the interests of liberty and order,
for those who had dared to assert "freedom to
worship God." Yet, irritating as the admi-
nistration of this haughty and insolent perse-
cutor was, the Tuscans forgave all in view of
his zeal for a united Italy under Victor Em-
manuel; they believed that when that should
be accomplished, all other privileges and
advantages would ensue.
In the Legations there were also troubles
enough to make the royal head uneasy on the
pillow. The emissaries of the Pope possessed
opportunities there which they had not any-
where else in Italy, and whatever advantages
they might possess for reactionary purposes
elsewhere, existed in the Legations in a degree

REKI SPEE
J. Saddler
00
BOLOGNA.
LONDON JAMES & VIRTUE
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
375
more efficient and available. These provinces
of the papal dominions had been wasted,
enervated, and degraded, possibly more than
any part of Italy, and their sense of wrong and
misery made the people vindictive and fierce,
when the hour at last came to rouse them
from their stupor and hopelessness. In 1848
they had nobly asserted their independence, but
after the sanguinary days of the reaction they
sunk into political torpor, although there were
always among them faithful and fearless souls
in which the love of liberty thrilled, and in
whom the aspirations of national independence
could not be quenched by civil or ecclesiastical
oppression. Farini, the dictator, who acted in
Victor Emmanuel's name, was neither much
better nor much worse than the other satraps
of the Turin Government. He was insincere,
harsh, and impolitic; but like Ricasoli, he was
for Italian unity, which idea was worshipped
by the Bolognese with a fanaticism as fervent
as that of a Romish devotee before a Madonna.
During the whole of 1860, 1861, 1862, there
were murmurs in Parma, Modena, Florence,
and Bologna, chiefly created by the jealous
temper of the agents and confidants of the
Turinese government. Various official changes,
however, favourably modifying this aspect of
affairs, only brought out more fully the fact
that Turin could only govern Italy in a pro-
vincial spirit. Many whose dissatisfaction
with this state of things, and who would have
perilled much to resist it, were restrained by
loyalty to the person of Victor Emmanuel, by
their devotion to Italian nationality and unity,
and by the sanguine hope that Rome was soon
destined to be the capital, where Sardinians,
Tuscans, Lombards, and Emilians would all
merge their provincial partialities in the grand
and glorious Italy over which Rome would
cast the halo of past and future glory.
Amongst the most important events to Italy
in 1860, was the resignation of the Ratazzi
cabinet, which had not proved itself equal to
the great occasion which brought it into
existence, and the reappointment of Cavour as
chief adviser of the crown. At the close of
January this change took place. The king has
never been hasty in dismissing his ministers;
he has constitutionally left the displacement
of cabinets to the action of parliament, which,
since the reconstruction of the Italian States,
has never proved itself expert in exercising its
parliamentary prerogatives in this respect.
The great European Powers were disposed to
interfere by a congress in the affairs of Italy;
and England had intimated her wish that
Cavour should represent Victor Emmanuel¨at
that congress. Ratazzi, as chief of the cabinet,
sent a Piedmontese general officer to the
Count's country-house, to ascertain if he would
take this diplomatic post. The Count would
only accept it on one condition, dictated by
patriotism and wisdom, that the dictatorial
power of the executive, conferred by the Pied-
montese Chambers at the opening of the war,
should cease by the action of parliament within
a week. Ratazzi, much more illiberal than
Ricasoli, if not more despotic, did not relish
this condition, and while yet he deliberated
upon it, Cavour, leaving his retirement at
Seri, went to Turin, and consulted Sir James
Hudson, the British envoy. This was an addi-
tional offence to Ratazzi, who hoped to thwart
Cavour by raising the cry of English dicta-
tion. Ratazzi behaved conceitedly, rashly,
and unpatriotically, and with a mighty show
of wounded dignity and indignation resigned
office, and the king recalled Cavour to power.
As soon as the Count was in his proper posi-
tion, he arranged to fulfil his own programme.
No congress, however, was destined to influ-
ence the progress of Italian liberty.
There were few incidents in the career of the
376
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
new king of Italy beyond those already related,
until the ever memorable enterprises of Gari-
baldi in the Two Sicilies became a source of con-
cern, and ultimately of triumph and advantage.
The policy dictated by Garibaldi's successes,
on the part of the Sardinian court and ministry,
was (as shown in the life of Garibaldi) to
enter the States of the Church, further abridge
the temporal power of the Pope, and assist in
driving the Neapolitan army from the Volturno.
The King of Sardinia had a good reason, or
a good pretext (however it may be viewed),
for entering the Papal States. The French
general, Lamoricière, was engaged in the papal
service to command legions raised for the pur-
pose ostensibly of protecting the Pope, but
with the additional purpose of invading Victor
Emmanuel's dominions, in conjunction with the
armies of Naples and Austria, when oppor-
tunity should present itself. The legions of
Lamoricière were a menace to Italy, and a
source of constant annoyance and alarm to the
territories of Victor Emmanuel contiguous to
the papal dominions. Before venturing upon
the bold step which Cavour advised, and which
so well suited the king, the Piedmontese
government secured a pledge from the French
Emperor that he would not interfere. The repre-
sentations of Farini were, that unless the royal
troops put an end to the army of Lamoricière,
the Garibaldians would enter the territories of
the Church and be hailed by the people as
deliverers. His Imperial Majesty of all things
deprecated such a result, and wished his Royal
Majesty to prevent it by force; but the reply,
that a general revolution in Italy-Mazzinist
in character-might ensue, swayed the mind
of the Emperor, and when at Chambery, he
gave the Sardinian general, Cialdini, the
advice, "whatever you do, do quickly."
Cavour, assured, was left free to his
left free to his
purposes, and a campaign in Umbria was
1.
determined upon. On the night of the 10th,
or rather morning of the 11th, of September,
a corps of the Sardinian royal army, under
Cialdini, crossed the frontier at Saludeccio,
and another corps, under Fanti, marched on
Foligno. Cialdini was bold, skilful, and im-
petuous; in less than a week he was enabled
to write from Osimo to General Cucchiari, then
at Turin:-
September 18.
"This morning, at ten o'clock, General
Lamoricière attacked my extreme positions on
the counterfort which extends from Castel-
fidardo, by Crocetta, to the sea. All the
prisoners affirm that he had with him 11,000
men and 14 pieces of artillery, having rein-
forced the troops at Foligno with all that he
had at Terni, Oscali, and elsewhere. He sup-
ported his attack by a sortie of 4,000 men
from the garrison of Ancona. These troops
assailed us in a really furious manner. The
combat was short, but violent and bloody.
We had to storm several positions successively.
and after a simulated surrender, the defenders
of these positions assassinated our soldiers
with poniards. Several of the wounded
stabbed our men as they were coming up to
succour them. The results of the day are as
follows:-We have prevented the junction of
Lamoricière's corps with the garrison; we
have taken 600 prisoners, among whom are 30
officers, some of them of high rank; we have
also taken six pieces of artillery, and among
them those given by Charles Albert to Pope
Pius IX. in 1848; a great many ammunition-
waggons and baggage-waggons, one flag, an
infinity of arms, and many knapsacks left
behind by the routed men. All the enemy's
wounded, including General De Pimodan,
who led the attacking column, are in my
power, as also a considerable number of dead.
The column which sallied forth from Ancona
|
(C
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
377
was compelled to retreat; but I have hopes
that I shall capture a large part of it this
night. Prisoners and deserters are coming in
every moment in great numbers. The fleet
has arrived, and is opening fire upon Ancona.
"CIALDINI, the General Commanding
"3rd corps d'armée."
Lamoricière succeeded in retiring upon An-
cona, where he capitulated after cleven days.
When Ancona was surrendered, the royal
army marched upon the Abruzzi, and soon
after formed the junction with Garibaldi, pre-
viously arranged between that general and
Victor Emmanuel; the events connected with
which have been related on previous pages, in
connection with the life of Garibaldi, as also
the incidents which happened up to the period
of the retirement of the ill-requited hero to
his sea-girt domain at Caprera.
On the departure of Garibaldi, the king
could be hardly said to be popular at Naples,
and he did not make much endeavour to regain
the goodwill of the Neapolitans. Farini was
made his lieutenant, who placed in offices of
power or emolument, men who had notoriously
thwarted Garibaldi in all his most useful and
beneficent measures. The attempt to govern
Naples through his protégé, Farini, was one of
the most perverse of all Cavour's least for-
tunate measures, and the king, so far from
interfering, either by advice or authority,
seemed to concur in Cavour's policy. Ratazzi,
Minghetti, Nigra, Romano, Poerio, Spanneta,
Peruzzi, and all the leading persons who then
or subsequently, either in Naples or Turin, had
any influence in the administration of affairs
in the Sicilies, were as unfortunate as Cavour
himself. Naples would not be governed in the
spirit of Turin; the king and the class of men
from whom cabinets and high administrators
were taken would govern it in no other way;
the result was discontent, even disaffection,
while progress, moral and material, was
retarded. Garibaldi foresaw this, and pre-
dicted it; he understood the Sicilians on both
sides of the straits, and his measures while
Dictator, if not faultless, were on the whole
wise, humane, and equitable. Farini soon
abandoned Naples in despair; Nigra suc-
ceeded him, and he began his career with the
same errors which had frustrated and disap-
pointed his predecessor. There was confusion
under Farina; confusion worse confounded
under Nigra. The king and Cavour would do
nothing to remedy this state of affairs, because
they did not study the genius of the southern
people, nor sufficiently respect popular feel-
ings, nor prudently indulge popular prejudices
which might harmlessly have been conciliated.
There was, however, after Garibaldi left, much
to be performed besides domestic administra-
tion. Gaeta was unconquered; the King of
Naples and his army were there; and the
French Emperor, annoyed at the policy he
was obliged so recently to adopt in reference
to the Papal States, was desirous to thwart the
Italians in their efforts to expel King Francis.
The presence of the French fleet was some-
thing more than a moral support to the
Bourbon, and French agents did their best to
encourage him, as did others to discourage the
Sardinians. King Bomba made sure that as
the French favoured him, and the Pope was
on his side, the Austrian Empire would take
heart and assist him. It was even rumoured
that the Empress of the French cherished
unbounded sympathy for the queen of Naples,
and showed it so demonstratively as to inspire
hope at Gaeta. At all events, Bomba shut
himself up in the fortress with 16,000 of his
best troops. Cialdini fixed his head-quarters
at Mola, in the Villa Caposelle, the gardens of
which were situated above the Formiana Villa,
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3 C
378
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
once the favourite residence of the great
Roman orator Cicero. The principal street of
the town runs parallel with the Gulf, and con-
ducted to a road which led towards the fortress.
Half a mile from Mola this road divided into
two; one along the shore, the other in the
direction of the mountains. For some dis-
tance it skirted the foot of Monte Conca, and
then curved through the defiles of the moun-
tains, at the end of which was the town of
Itri. Where the main road to Gaeta turned
towards Itri, Monte Conca stood on the left
in the direction of the Gulf, screening a
narrow valley with its flank. There were no
roads, but paths skirted the base of the moun-
tain. From the foot of Monte Conca two
other eminences would be reached, called the
Cappucini and Monte Sant' Agata, which com-
manded the round hill at the bottom of which
stood Gaeta. This hill was called the Torre
d'Orlando, and formed a separate part of the
fortress. Batteries ranged its flank, so that
their occupants could dominate the narrow
defiles of Monte Conca and the sea-shore.
The right side of the fortress could not be
approached by a besieging force until these
batteries were silenced. To effect this, other
batteries had to be erected on the heights of
the Cappucini and Monte Sant' Agata, for
which purpose the besiegers made roads to
them. The work was performed by parties of
soldiers of the line, after encountering enor-
mous difficulty. The fortress was defended by
800 guns, which were increased during the pro-
gress of the siege. These guns were mounted
on numerous batteries, chosen according to
the judgment of the best officers available.
There were the Trinity bastion, with five
tiers of guns; that of the Queen, with sixty
60-pounders; then those of St. Andrew, of
Breccia, of Philipstadt, of Capelletti, and of
the citadel, where there were shut up very
many prisoners.
Besides these, there were
the Annunziata, Favorita, Ferdinanda, San
Giuseppe, Santa Maria, Del Porto, Guasta-
ferro, Torrione Francese, Trabacco, Carolina,
Duca Calabria, Fico, Conca, Falsa Bracca,
Gran Guardia, Poterna, Contro Guardia, and,
lastly, four more, called the Trinceramento of
Porta di Terra.
Some of these batteries were mounted by
guns of very large calibre and excellent con-
struction; but those of the besiegers gene-
rally sustained superior ordnance. Here the
Cavelli gun, invented by the Piedmontese
general of that name, was first brought into
use by Cialdini, and with success; it proved
to be a powerful instrument in reducing the
defences. The Marquis Persano commanded
the Sardinian fleet, and was much obstructed
by the French admiral; a small Spanish
squadron also put forth its best efforts with
the same intent. As the Sardinians could not
effectually use the sea, the siege made slow
progress, defenders and assailants keeping up
a cannonade from day to day.
In January, 1861, the Emperor of the
French withdrew his opposition, and the fleet
of Admiral Persano soon brought matters to
a close. A terrible naval bombardment was
opened on the 22nd of January.
The war
steamer Garibaldi was, by a singular coinci-
dence, the first to open fire, aided soon after
by two smaller vessels; finally the Charles
Albert, Maria Adelaide, and Victor Emmanuel
poured in their fire, closely followed by the
rest of the fleet. The effect of this fire was
soon seen upon the defences, which were exten-
sively shattered. The Cavelli guns, at the
same time, played from the land batteries
with destructive force and precision, and it
became evident that the fate of the fortress
and its royal owner were sealed.
Early in February the place capitulated, and

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
379
King Ferdinand lost his last foothold upon his much greater number loathe that war in secret.
former dominions.
|
The multitude see with indignation ministers
of the sanctuary mixing in conspiracies against
the state, and refusing to the public voice the
prayers which are asked of them by the autho-
rities. They groan with impatience when they
hear the Divine Word abused from the pulpit,
so as to make it an instrument of censure and
malediction against all that the Italians have
learnt to admire and bless. The multitude, little
accustomed to subtle distinctions, may in the
end be led to impute to religion that which is
but the act of men who are its ministers, and
to separate from that communion to which
for eighteen centuries the Italians have had
the glory and happiness to belong.
The details are too similar to others which
have been given in these pages in connection
with the havoc of war, to require their relation
here;
suffice it to say, the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies became irrevocably annexed to the
other dominions of King Victor Emmanuel.
The year 1861 was not only signalised by
the capitulation of Gaeta; the death of Count
Cavour also made it memorable in the history
of Victor Emmanuel. On the 6th of June in
that year the great statesman expired. Three
days before his death he named Ricasoli as the
most suitable man for principal adviser of the
crown, and remarked that Ratazzi also pos-
sessed qualities which made him valuable as
a servant to the king. Possibly these remarks,
said to be made to Commendatore Nigra, had
some influence upon the king's selection, for
Ratazzi was nominated premier a few days
after the great Count's decease.
Ricasoli, ever resolute, self-reliant, bold, self-
willed, and impetuous, determined to carry all
before him—to have Venetia from the Austrians
and Rome from the Pope. He was not long
in office before he addressed to that sovereign
a singular letter, in which, " as a Catholic
and an Italian," he urged his views upon the
Pontiff. The letter was of great length, and
the views of the writer were urged with con-
siderable ability and power. It was intended
to induce the Pope to co-operate with the idea
of Italian unity and independence, and sur-
render his temporal power. The latter portion
of this epistle is too remarkable not to place
it before the reader
CA
"The clergy are already divided; the flock
is separated from its pastors. There are pre-
lates, bishops, and priests who openly refuse
to take part in the war which is being waged
from Rome against the kingdom of Italy; a
"Do not, Holy Father, cast into the abyss
of doubt an entire people who sincerely desire
to be able to believe and to venerate you. The
Church needs to be free; we will give it its
entire liberty. More than any one we wish
that the Church may be free; for its liberty is
the guarantee of ours. But to be free it must
disentangle itself from the ties of politics,
which have hitherto made it an instrument of
war against us in the hands of this or that
power. The Church has the eternal truth to
teach, with the authority of its Divine founder,
whose assistance is never wanting to it. It
should be the mediator between combatants,
the protectress of the feeble and the oppressed.
But how much more reverently will its voice
be listened to when not open to the suspicion
that worldly interests inspire it!
"You can, Holy Father, once more change
the face of the world; you can raise the
Apostolic See to a height unknown to the
Church during past ages. If you wish to be
greater than the kings of the earth, free your-
self from the miseries of this royalty which
makes you only their equal. Italy will give
you a secure see, an entire liberty, a new

380
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
grandeur. She venerates the Pontiff, but she
cannot arrest her march before the Prince;
she wishes to remain Catholic, but she wishes
to be a nation free and independent. If you
listen to the prayer of this favourite daughter,
you will gain in souls more power than you
have lost as a prince; and from the height of
the Vatican, when stretching your hand over
Rome and the world to bless them, you will
see the nations, re-established in their rights,
bending before you, their defender and their
protector.
This letter was dated Turin, August, 1861.
The following articles were proposed for the
acceptance of the Pope, and were transmitted
with this letter, half appeal, half manifesto:
""
"Article 1. The sovereign Pontiff preserves
the dignity, the inviolability, and all the other
prerogatives of the sovereignty, and, in addi-
tion, the precedence established by custom
over the king and other sovereigns. The
cardinals of the Holy Church shall retain the
title of Prince, and the honours which are
attached to it.
"Art. 2. The government of his Majesty the
King of Italy pledges itself not to interpose
an obstacle on any occasion to the acts per-
formed by the sovereign Pontiff in virtue of his
divine right as chief of the Church, and of the
canonical law, as Patriarch of the West and
Primate of Italy.
66
Art. 3. The same government recognises
the right of the sovereign Pontiff to send
nuncios abroad, and undertakes to protect
them so long as they shall be in the territory
of the state.
"Art. 4. The sovereign Pontiff shall have
full liberty of communication with the bishops
and all the faithful, and, reciprocally, without
interference on the part of the government.
He shall also be able to convoke, in the places
and in the forms that he shall judge expedient,
the councils and the ecclesiastical synods.
"Art. 5. The bishops in their dioceses, and
the curates in their parishes, shall be exempt
from all governmental interference in the exer-
cise of their ministry.
Spin
66
'Art. 6. They shall live, notwithstanding,
in subjection to the common law in regard to
offences punished by the laws of the kingdom.
'Art. 7. His Majesty renounces entirely the
right of patronage as respects ecclesiastical
benefices.
66
"Art. 8. The Italian government renounces
all interference in the nomination of bishops.
"Art. 9. The same government undertakes
to furnish to the Holy See a fixed and irrevo-
cable dotation, the amount of which shall be
regulated by mutual consent.
"Art. 10. The government of his Majesty
the King of Italy, in order that all the Powers
and all the Catholic nations may contribute to
the maintenance of the Holy See, will open
with those Powers the proper negotiations for
determining the quota of each of them in the
dotation spoken of in the preceding article.
"Art. 11. The negotiations shall also be
directed towards obtaining guarantees for what
is established in the preceding articles.
"Art. 12. In accordance with these condi-
tions, the sovereign Pontiff and the govern-
ment of his Majesty the King of Italy shall
come to an agreement by means of commis-
sioners delegated for that purpose.”
ang
The letter and the articles were sent through
the French government, which had no indis-
position, or at all events, showed no unwilling-
ness to support them. The Pope treated them
with indignant silence. M. Flanneur, the
French minister, wrote to Ricasoli that the
Pope did not receive them well, and was not
in a temper to consider such proposals.

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
381
These proceedings on the part of the new
premier were opposed in the chambers both by
the ultramontanists and the radicals; but a
majority approved of the policy.
The overbearing, haughty, and self-confi-
dent spirit of Ricasoli offended both his own
sovereign and that of France, and tended
much to disorganise his own party in and out
of Parliament. His general administration
was not more happy than his local govern-
ment of Tuscany. Cavour had proved himself
in designating Ricasoli for the first office in
the ministry, as defective in judgment as he
had often proved himself in selecting men to
carry out his views in the provinces. Indeed,
it is alleged on good authority, that the great
man became convinced of his error in this
respect, and had resolved upon a new course,
had continuance of life been vouchsafed to him.
THE change from Ricasoli to a Ratazzi cabinet
was not favourable for the wisdom or strength
of Italy. Ricasoli was a more liberal man
than Ratazzi, and was patriotically intent
upon the perfect unification of Italy. Ratazzi
was time-serving, uncertain, and treacherous.
Here again Cavour's judgment as to the fittest
men to administer Italian affairs was at fault.
Ratazzi not only opposed Ricasoli in fair par-
liamentary opposition, but he set on foot
intrigues with his own and with a foreign
court to embarrass his more straightforward
opponent. He had private interviews on
political affairs with the king, and in Paris
Mazzini formed a society called the "Com-
mitati di Provvedimento," which elected an
assembly appointed to meet in Genoa, in
February, 1862. The conservative portion of
the parliament demanded the suppression
of this society; Ricasoli boldly and sternly
refused, unless the society, or its repre-
sentatives at Genoa, violated the law. A
parliamentary vote, by implication at least, of
censure was passed, the premier resigned, and
Ratazzi was nominated first minister.
CHAPTER XLIX.
POLICY OF THE RATAZZI MINISTRY.-ASPROMONTE. -THE MINGHETTI-PERUZZI MINISTRY.-FREQUENT
CHANGES OF MINISTERIAL MEN AND MEASURES.-SOUTHERN ITALY DISCONTENTED IN 1864.-A NEW
CONVENTION WITH FRANCE.-DISTURBANCES IN TURIN.-FLIGHT OF THE MINISTRY.-FORMATION
OF THE LA MARMORA MINISTRY.-REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL FROM TURIN TO FLORENCE.-PERSONAL
CHARACTER OF VICTOR EMMANUEL AND THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.-CENSUS OF UNITED ITALY.
-ITS PROSPECTIVE ARMY IN PEACE AND WAR.
The rights of nationality are imperishable."-BARON RICASOLI to Pius IX.
with the French Emperor, when Ricasoli was
but a few months in office. One of his first
acts in power was to appoint Marquis Pepoli,
a cousin of the Bonapartes, to the high office
of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce.
During a considerable portion of 1862, it was
necessary for Ratazzi to keep an army of
80,000 men in the south, to suppress brigan-
dage, and guard against the consequences of
the public discontent.
Very soon the sly and indirect policy of the
expert courtier brought him into collision with
Garibaldi, whose support he at first did all he
could to obtain.
382
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
between the French Emperor and the King of
Sardinia, by which the former agrees that his
troops shall evacuate Rome within two years,
and the king undertakes not to invade, or suffer
to be invaded, the territories of the Pope, to
transfer a portion of the public debt of Rome
to the government of Italy, and to remove the
seat of the Italian government from Turin to
Florence. This agreement came out suddenly, no
Italian or French party, and no foreign govern-
ment, suspected that such a movement was
in contemplation by the imperial conjuror.
France received the tidings with acclamation,
except indeed the ultramontane party. Austria
received them with rage and alarm, as a me-
nace to herself, and a violation of the treaty of
Zurich. If the French remove from Rome
the Austrians will have an argument the less,
and lose all pretext for usurpation at Venice.
The name of the minister upon whom the
responsibility of the incarceration and affront
of Garibaldi lies will go down to posterity,
not only in Italy but in the whole civilised
world, with the brand of shame upon it.
Germany sympathised with Austria, as she
did in 1859, especially Prussia, the court and
government of which, although hating Austria,
hated liberty, and the independence of op-
pressed nationalities more. England received
the startling tidings with approbation. Roman
Catholic governments sympathised with Aus-
tria and the Pope. The latter showed an
ostentatious reserve, but indicated plainly
intense anger and resentment. The French
government informed the Pontiff that within
two years he must raise an army for his own
protection if he required military force to de-
fend himself against his own subjects.
The circumstances of Garibaldi's expedition,
which ended so unhappily at Aspromonte, have
been related in the memoir of that hero in-
cluded in this work; it would therefore be an
unnecessary repetition to do more here than
refer to it as a sad episode of the history of
the gallant and patriotic king.
The citizens of Turin heard the news with
pain and wrath, because the transfer of the
capital was not to Rome, for which they would
willingly make the sacrifice, but to Florence, a
In 1864 Italy is still discontented, although city of less pretension to such an honour than
somewhat better governed.
that of the old Sardinian capital. Disturbances
broke out in the streets; the Peruzzi-Minghetti-
Spaventa ministry ordered the carbineers (the
gendarmes of Turin) to fire on the people,
Finally, Ratazzi's ministry broke down, to
be succeeded by a worse. The old adherents
of Cavour generally shared power among them,
and nearly always used it badly.
Between the period of the conquest of Gaeta
and the Paris Convention of September, 1864,
there was an episode in the life of Victor
Emmanuel which probably proved to be one of
the most painful and regretful seasons of his
career. The capture of Garibaldi at Aspro-
monte, desperately wounded by Sardinian
weapons, is a blot upon the page of Italy's
history, and by many it is regarded as a stain
upon the escutcheon of Victor Emmanuel.
Wherever the guilt of that transaction and of
the subsequent treatment of Garibaldi may
rest, Italy looks back to the event with shame
and sorrow, but with not less pride to her
uncrowned king;" she might take up her
dirge in the language of a poet of another
land-
"C
'My patriot falls, but shall he be unsung
While empty greatness saves a worthless name?
No! ev'ry muse shall join her tuneful tongue,
And future ages hear his growing fame."
September, 1864, was a period of new hope
and strange occurrence for all Italy. On the
15th of that month a Convention was made

E. Brandard
w Callow
00
FLORENCE.
LONDON JAMES S VIRTUR
1000
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
383
•

which was murderously and treacherously
· executed, and the event raised such a storm of
indignation in Italy that the ministry had to
resign.
Seldom did a more corrupt and incapable
cabinet administer the affairs of any country in
or out of Italy, and it is wonderful the king
could tolerate them in power for an hour.
True to his maxim, however, he left the origin
of constitutional action with his parliament.
Public indignation would not wait for this,
the ministry fled from Turin to escape popular
retribution. A new ministry, under the veteran
General La Marmora, was formed, and the
public of Piedmont was appeased. On the
formation of the Marmora ministry the docu-
ments became known in connection with the
Convention, the facts of which had only recently
transpired, and Italy at large rejoiced, believ-
ing that the protection of France withdrawn,
the Roman people will never submit to the old
tyranny maintained by new bands of merce-
naries. Meantime, Florence is in a military
sense a more important metropolis in view of
a war with Austria for Venice, and from its
central situation a more convenient capital
from which to administer Italian affairs. It is
believed that the south of Italy will thence be
righteously governed, as it was not, so long as
the seat of power was within the circle of the
prejudice, pride, and haughty temper of Turin.
As the spirit and intention of the Convention
is much discussed while these pages are issuing
from the press, it is just to the governments of
Paris and Turin, and desirable for the reader's
more complete information, to give the text of
the Convention, and the exposition made by
the French government of its own views.
The following is the text of the Franco-
Italian Convention :-
present territory of the Pope, and even to pre-
vent by force any attack proceeding from the
exterior.
"Art. 2. France will withdraw her troops
gradually as the army of the Pope becomes
organised. The evacuation will nevertheless
be accomplished within two years.
"Art. 3. The Italian government will make
no protest against the organisation of a Papal
army, even composed of foreign Catholic
volunteers, sufficient to maintain the authority
of the Pope and tranquillity both at home and
on the frontier of the Papal States; provided,
however, that this force does not degenerate
into a means of attack against the Italian
| Government.
"Art. 4. Italy declares herself ready to enter
into an arrangement for assuming a propor-
tional part of the debt of the former States of
the Church.
"Art. 5. The present Convention will be
ratified, and the ratifications exchanged within
a fortnight or earlier if possible.
(Signed) "DROUYN DE L'HUYS.
"DI NIGRA.
"PEPOLI."
-
A protocol following the Convention says:-
"The Convention will only become executive
when the King of Italy shall have decreed the
transfer of the capital of the kingdom to a
place to be subsequently determined upon by
his Majesty.
"The transfer to be effected within a term of
six months from the date of the Convention.
"The present protocol will have the same
force and value as the Convention, and the
ratifications will be exchanged at the same time
as those of the Convention."
"Art. 1. Italy undertakes not to attack the October, says:
A declaration signed by M. Drouyn de
l'Huys and the Chevalier di Nigra, dated 3rd
G
384
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
I
"According to the terms of the Convention
of the 15th September and the protocol |
appended thereto, the delay for the transfer of
the capital is fixed at six months from the date
of the Convention; and the evacuation of the
Roman States is to be effected within the term
of two years, dated from the decree ordering
the transfer of the capital. The Italian pleni-
potentiaries supposed therefore that the latter
measure might be taken by virtue of a decree
to be immediately issued by the King of Italy.
This hypothesis would make the periods from
which the two measures were to date almost
simultaneous.
"But while, on the one hand, the Turin
cabinet considered that so important a measure
demanded the concurrence of the Chambers
and the introduction of a bill, on the other the
change in the Italian ministry caused the
reopening of Parliament to be adjourned until
the 24th October.
"Under these circumstances, the point of
departure originally fixed would no longer
allow a sufficient delay for the transfer of the
capital.
"The Government of the Emperor, desirous
of favouring any plan, which, without altering
the arrangements of the 15th September,
would tend to facilitate its execution, consents
that the delay of six months for the removal
of the Italian capital, as well as the term of
two years for the evacuation of the Pontifical
territory, shall commence from the date of the
royal decree sanctioning the bill which will be
presented to the Italian Parliament."
The circumstances and discussions which led
to the conclusion of the Convention have been
condensed, and are to be found in three pro-
tocols, the first of which dates from July, and
contains the essence of a query of much in-
terest, "What if the Pope should decline the
facilities offered to him for the organisation of
an army ?" This was Nigra's question.
Drouyn de l'Huys was somewhat perplexed,
but replied, however, at once, that "in such a
case his Holiness must abide by the conse-
quences of the refusal, the Government of the
Emperor declining to assume any responsi-
bilities on the matter." The Italian minister
was delighted to hear that, and when the Con-
vention was drawn up he proposed an article
embodying the above declaration.
To this,
however, the Foreign Secretary of Napoleon
demurred as unnecessary, and likely to raise.
additional hostility to the stipulations. Nigra,
seeing that the point could not be carried, gave
it up at once.
The Gazette de la Croix gives the following
analysis of a note said to have been transmitted
to the nuncio in Paris by Cardinal Antonelli:-
"The Cardinal complains that the Imperial
Government kept him in ignorance as to their
intentions previous to the 15th September.
He insists that the Pope, in his quality of
independent sovereign, can call in, when cir-
cumstances render needful, the aid of a foreign
army to replace that of France. His Holiness
does not mistrust the loyalty of his actual
subjects as he formerly mistrusted the loyalty
of those provinces torn from him by Piedmont.
But he is convinced that the subalpine king-
dom will do secretly all it can to shake the
fidelity of the Romans. He therefore fails to
see in the Convention anything but a guarantee
given by France to revolutionary ideas, of
which Piedmont will inevitably take advantage.
If France shall continue to disturb the Pope
in the exercise of his sovereign power, and con-
test his right to defend himself as he thinks
fit, he will be obliged to protest against such
an abuse of force, and assume the attitude
which his duties as Pope and sovereign point
out."
By order of the Emperor, the French mi-
2
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
385
nister for foreign affairs addressed the follow-
ing despatch to Count de Sartiges, ambassador
of France at Rome:
"Paris, Sept. 12.
"M. le Comte,-The position we occupy at
Rome has long been the subject of the most
serious pre-occupations on the part of the
Emperor's government. Circumstances have
seemed to us favourable to examine anew the
real position of affairs, and we believe it useful
to communicate to the Holy See the result of
our reflections.
66 I have no occasion to recall the considera-
tions which have led the flag of France to
Rome, and which have hitherto determined us
to retain it there. We were resolved not to
abandon this post of honour as long as the
object of the occupation should not be attained.
Yet we have never thought that this situation
ought to be permanent; we have always con-
sidered it as abnormal and temporary. It is
in these terms that the first plenipotentiary of
the Emperor characterised it eight years ago.
He added, conformably to his Majesty's orders,
that we heartily desired the moment when we
should be able to withdraw our troops from
Rome without compromising the internal tran-
quillity of the country and the authority of the
Pontifical Government. We have renewed
the same declaration upon every occasion.
At the commencement of 1859, the Holy
Father had made upon his part the proposition
to fix the evacuation of the territory guarded
by our troops for the end of that year. The
war which then broke out in Italy having
decided the Emperor to renounce their recall,
the same idea was again taken up as soon as
events appeared to authorise the hope that the
Pontifical government would be in a position
to provide for its security with its own forces.
Thence arose the agreement established in
1860, in virtue of which the departure of the
French troops was to be carried out in the
month of August. The agitations which
ensued at that same period again prevented
the execution of a measure which the Holy
See desired as we did. But the Emperor's
government has none the less continued to see
an exceptional and transitory fact in the
presence of our troops at Rome, to which, in
mutual interest, we ought to put a stop as
soon as the security and independence of the
Holy See should be placed out of reach of new
perils.
"How many reasons, indeed, had we not to
wish that the occupation should not be inde-
finitely prolonged? It constitutes an act of
intervention contrary to one of the funda-
mental principles of our public law, and one
so much the more difficult for us to justify, as
our object in lending to Piedmont the support
of our arms has been to liberate Italy from
foreign intervention.
“This situation has besides the consequence
of placing two distinct sovereignties face to
face upon the same ground, and of thus being
a frequent cause of grave difficulties. The
nature of things is here stronger than the
good will of men.
good will of men. Numerous changes have
taken place in the chief command of the
French army, and the same disagreements, the
same conflicts of jurisdiction have been repro-
duced, at every period, between our generals-
in-chief, whose first duty is clearly to watch
over the safety of their army, and the repre-
sentatives of the Pontifical authority, jealous
of maintaining the independence of the
territorial sovereign in acts of internal admi-
nistration.
"To these inevitable inconveniences which
the French agents most sincerely devoted to
the Holy See have not succeeded in removing,
were joined those which fatally result from the
3 D
386
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
difference of political points in view. The
two governments do not obey the same inspi-
rations, and do not proceed according to the
same principles. Our conscience, too, often
compels us to give advice which the conscience
of the Court of Rome too often also believes
itself forced to decline. If our persistence took
too marked a character we should seem to
abuse the strength of our position, and in that
case the Pontifical government would lose in
public opinion the merit of the wisest reso-
lutions. Upon the other hand, in assisting
at acts in discord with our social condition
and with the maxims of our legislation, we
can hardly escape the responsibility of a policy
we are unable to approve. The Holy See, by
reason of its own nature, has its particular
codes and laws, which, upon many occasions,
are in unfortunate opposition to the ideas of
the present day. Distant from Rome we
should still certainly regret to see it apply
them rigorously, and, guided by filial devotion,
we should undoubtedly not believe ourselves
able to keep silence when similar facts should
happen to give pretexts to the accusations of
its adversaries; but our presence at Rome,
which creates for us more imperious obliga-
tions in this respect, also, under the circum-
stances, renders the relations of the two
governments more delicate, and brings their
reciprocal susceptibilities the more in conflict.
claimed as the capital of Italy. So long as
the cabinet of Turin was possessed with these
views we could not but fear that if our troops
were recalled the territory of the Holy See
would be exposed to attacks which the Ponti-
fical government would not have been in a
position to repel.
"We desired to afford it our armed support
until the danger of these unreflecting move-
ments appeared to have passed away.
"We are now impressed, M. le Comte, by
the happy changes manifest in this regard in
the general condition of the Peninsula. The
Italian government has exerted itself for the
last two years to disperse the last relicts of
those formidable associations which, favoured
by circumstances, were formed beyond its
action, and whose projects were principally
directed against Rome. After contending
with them openly, it has succeeded in dis-
solving them, and each time they have essayed
to effect a reconstruction has easily defeated
their plots.
|
"That government has not confined itself
to preventing the organisation of any irregular
force on its territory for attacking the provinces
under Pontifical sovereignty-it has given its
policy towards the Holy See a tendency more
in harmony with its international duties. It
has ceased to put before the Chambers the
absolute programme which proclaimed Rome
as the capital of Italy, and to address to us
peremptory declarations on the subject, formerly
so frequent.
so frequent. Other ideas have made their way
in the best minds, and tend to prevail more
and more. Renouncing the pursuit by force of
a project which we were determined to oppose,
and being unable on the other hand to main-
tain at Turin the seat of an authority whose
presence is necessary at a more central point
of the new state, the Turin cabinet itself in-
tended to transfer its capital to another city.
"Manifest as these inconveniences might be
we were careful not to allow ourselves to be
diverted from the mission we had accepted. |
The Holy Father had no army to protect his
authority in the interior against the projects
of the revolutionary party. On the other
hand, the most inquiet disposition prevailed in
the peninsula on the subject of the possession
of Rome, which the Italian government itself
by the mouth of its ministers in parliament,
as well as by diplomatic communications,
147
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
387
"To us, M. le Comte, this eventuality is of
the highest importance, for the Holy See as for
the Emperor's Government, for, when realised,
it would constitute a new state of things no
longer offering the same dangers. After
having obtained from Italy the guarantees we
should feel bound to stipulate in favour of the
Holy See against foreign attacks, it would
only remain for us to aid the Pontifical
government in forming an army sufficiently
well organised and numerous enough to make
its authority respected at home. It would find
us disposed to second the recruiting of this
army by every means in our power. Its present
resources, we are aware, would not enable it to
support the maintenance of a considerable
effective force, but certain arrangements in
view would acquit the Holy See of a portion of
the debt, the interest of which it considered its
dignity required it to meet. Being thus placed
in possession of important sums, defended at
home by a devoted army, protected without its
territory by the engagements we should have
demanded from Italy, the Pontifical govern-
ment would be placed in a situation which, in
ensuring its independence and security, would
enable us to assign a term to the presence of
our troops in the Roman States. Thus would
be verified the words addressed by the Emperor
to the King of Italy, in a letter dated 12th
July, 1861-'I shall leave my troops at
Rome so long as your Majesty shall not be
reconciled with the Pope, or that the Holy
Father shall be menaced with seeing the States
remaining to him invaded by a regular or
irregular force."
"Such, M. le Comte, are the observations
suggested by an attentive and conscientious.
study of present circumstances, and which the
Emperor's government deems expedient to
communicate to the Court of Rome. The Holy
See, as we ourselves, certainly most sincerely
G
desires that moment when the protection of
our arms will be no longer necessary for its
security, and when it will be able, without
peril to the great interest which it represents,
to return to the normal situation of an inde-
pendent government. We are confident, there-
fore, that it will render full justice to the
sentiments which guide us, and it is with this
persuasion that I authorise you to draw the
attention of Cardinal Antonelli to the con-
siderations I have just laid before you.
"You will read this despatch to his Emi-
nence.-Receive, &c.,
"DROUYN DE L'HUYS."
The Neue Freie Presse, of October 2, pub-
lishes the following details of the interview of
the Duke de Grammont, the French ambas-
sador, with Count Rechberg, at Vienna, on
the 29th September:-
"The Duke de Grammont first read to Count
Rechberg the text of a despatch from M.
Drouyn de l'Huys. This note informed the
Austrian Cabinet of the conclusion of the
Franco-Italian Convention. The text of the
Convention was not contained in the note, and
its tenour was only indicated by a few general
phrases. The French ambassador accom-
panied the note with a few explanatory remarks
of an extremely friendly character. But the
Duke de Grammont, with that finesse of sar-
casm by which he is distinguished, having
probably remarked a certain expression of sur-
prise upon the usually undecipherable features
of our Minister for Foreign Affairs, added, in
reply thereto, that Count Rechberg would
assuredly not consider it astonishing that
France had laboured at her project in perfect
silence, and now caused a little surprise to the
world. Austria herself, to judge from her
behaviour in the Dano-German question, had
exercised jealous care that no person should.
388
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
T
interfere in that matter, as even at present
the Vienna Peace Conference excluded the
participation of all great Powers except those
of Germany. In speaking of Germany, the
French ambassador allowed the displeasure of
the cabinet of the Tuileries at the treatment of
the Danish question very plainly to appear,
and ignored the Austro-Prussian alliance with
unmistakable intention.
"Count Rechberg now apparently expected
the delivery of the text of the Convention, but
the Duke de Grammont stated that he was not
yet in a position to make more detailed commu-
nications, by reason of the Convention of the
15th September not being actually completed,
as, to become valid, it required the assent of
the Pope and the Italian Parliament. Rapidly
availing himself of the opening given by the
French diplomatist, Count Rechberg replied
that as that was the case, as the Convention could
not yet be communicated, and as it was only
considered by the French cabinet itself as in a
preliminary step, he was relieved of the neces-
sity of giving an immediate reply. Count
Count
Rechberg added, that in a matter of such great
range, the Duke de Grammont could not
expect from him on this occasion any expres-
sion of opinion. He recalled to the French
ambassador the sentiments of the Sovereign
and the representatives of Austria upon the
Italian question, and appealed in that respect
to the thorough knowledge the ambassador
possessed of the situation of affairs at Vienna."
The Mémorial Diplomatique gave the follow-
ing particulars respecting the manner in which
the Pope received the notification of the
Franco-Italian Treaty :—
"We learn that the ambassador of France
has had an audience of Pius IX., of which he
gives an account in a despatch dated 24th
September, and received in Paris on Wednesday
last. That report confirms the conciliatory
-
dispositions of the Sovereign Pontiff, who
especially charged Count de Sartiges to express
to the Emperor of the French his sentiments
of gratitude for the protection which his
Majesty has never ceased to afford to the
Church. It is true that, on the present occa-
sion, the Holy Father thought proper to allude
to the spoliations of which he had been the
victim, as well as to the sacred obligation to
safeguard the spiritual and temporal interests
of the Holy See. He nevertheless retained
unlimited confidence in the assurances and
protestations of France, and in the engage-
ments which she appeared disposed to take
towards the Roman Court for the faithful
accomplishment of the promises made by Pied-
mont. The Pope especially testifies his satis-
faction that a term of two years had been
stipulated to facilitate the realisation of the
Convention of the 15th September. With the
help of the Almighty, who never abandons the
Church, the Sovereign Pontiff hoped to be able,
within the interval, to conciliate the high in-
terests entrusted to him with the respect due to
France."
A communication from Rome, in the Patrie,
says
"The evening before last Pius IX. invited
the members of the Sacred College to assemble
at the Vatican, to deliberate on the conduct
which the Roman Government should have to
follow under existing circumstances. That
meeting was caused by the official communi-
cation which Count de Sartiges had made to
the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Franco-
Italian Convention. All opinions were ex-
amined and discussed at length. A great
number of cardinals formally declared against
the Convention; they expressed their opinion
that the withdrawal of the French troops from
Rome must be considered as a benefit to the
Holy See, and that the answer to be given to
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
389
}
the French diplomatist ought to be that his
Holiness placed all his confidence in the other
Catholic Powers, and still more in the assist-
ance of the Almighty. The discussion then
became more animated, and the latter propo-
sition was about to triumph, when Cardinals
Antonelli and Sacconi spoke against it. Those
two members exercised a very decisive influence
on the meeting, and their good-sense views.
prevailed over all other counsels. According
to their advice a decision was come to that
it was proper and useful that the proposed
reply should be postponed, and that it was
better to wait for events before coming to any
final resolution. That opinion prevailed, the
more readily that temporisation is the old
system of the Roman Court, for which it has
frequently had reason to congratulate itself.
The news of the departure of the French army-universal suffrage. However, remember that
years' time. The principle of non-intervention
has won the day in our case also. The enor-
mities of the Court of Rome and the legitimate
aspirations of a people have put an end to that
immobility which left the Roman question
without solution. The king's government has
not fettered itself by any condition which
would deprive us Romans of the right to annex
ourselves to the kingdom of Italy and the king
from accepting that annexation. In stipulating
for respect of the frontiers on the part of the
Italian troops, it was desired to leave Rome to
the Romans, who, far from being a mortmain
of catholicity, are the absolute arbiters of their
own destiny.
"Romans, you have then your fate in your
own hands. You will be able to exercise that
right which is no longer refused to any people
from Rome at a more or less distant time has
caused great delight among the cosmopolitan
officers of the Papal army. As that force is
about to be increased, every one hopes for
promotion.
""
However the citizens of Turin, no longer to
be the metropolis, or of Florence, to be in
future, or for a time, the metropolitan city,
might regard the change, or whatever the
inhabitants of Milan or of Naples, of cities
north or south might think, or the Pope him-
self might determine, the opinion of the citizens
of Rome and the people of the Papal territory
is most to be considered by Great Britain in
forming a judgment of the case.
The National Committee of Rome issued
the following proclamation to the denizens.
of Rome on the subject, which was heartily
responded to:-
"ROMANS!
"France has at length decided on with-
drawing her troops from Rome within two
you have still to struggle against clerical
tyranny which cannot be destroyed like any
other tyranny. For a long time we persuaded
ourselves that in order to maintain the tem-
poral, the Court of Rome had made inroads on
the spiritual power. We ought to get rid of
this abuse of conflicting powers which exclude
one another, and which threaten to involve the
Papacy in their ruin. We have the twofold
duty of restoring Rome to the Romans, and of
giving the Church that liberty which she now
wants. But to succeed we must be strong,
moderate, united, and we will be. Romans,
Europe has her eyes fixed upon us, and all the
reactionary party which has established its
head-quarters in the Rome of the Popes will
press upon us with its entire force. Let us
solemnly prepare ourselves, and give occa-
sion for no interference. We shall respect the
Bishop of Rome whilst we get rid of the most.
ferocious of governments, whose actions may
be summed up in the massacre of the people,
the taking away of children, hospitality
390
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
→
afforded to assassins, prisons, and exile.
Romans, let us be strong, and the future will
belong to us. Let us be strong, because the
sbirri of all countries will shortly swarm around
the Pontifical flag. We ought to have but one
will and one arm to destroy this last refuge of
the reaction-that constant menace to Italy
and civilised Europe. Romans, let us prove
ourselves to be on a level with our destiny.
We have a great mission-that of preserving
the Church to the Papacy, of restoring Rome
to the Romans, and accomplishing the great
regeneration of Italy. We will not fail in our
duty.
"Rome, Sept. 21, 1864."
The important subject of the Convention
would be imperfectly treated if the opinions
of Garibaldi and Mazzini, expressed when that
agreement was maturely considered by them,
were omitted. Garibaldi was urged to go to
Turin; but he remained at Caprera, "monarch
of all he surveyed," in the society of his sons,
daughter, daughter's husband, and a little
grandson, son of his daughter Teresita. His
island estate had increased in productiveness,
and it was believed that the king regarded
him as not only his greatest, but his best
beloved subject.
The "Lord of the Isle " in the Sardinian
Archipelago was not in favour of the Conven-
tion, but he was inclined to give it a trial.
"Whatever that man (Napoleon III.) says or
does (said the General) is in the Sybilline
style, and produces impressions the most
antagonistic. Some will exult in joy, while
others will be downcast with sorrow. Credulous
admirers feel a thrill of unreasonable confidence
pervade their whole beings, while sceptical
opponents shudder with the wonted terror of a
systematic pessimism: here it will be all
smiles, trust, and brightness; there all scowl,
suspicion, and night."
"They have done enough for Pope, kaiser,
and the devil-it was fully time to get rid of
them. People will wonder by-and-by how
Italy could tolerate to be misgoverned so long
by such a lot of vulgar schemers.”
In this Garibaldi's views were a faithful
reflection of what the country felt at large.
For Turin he expressed much sympathy:-
"They are not less selfish, probably, in the
question than any other cities similarly situated
would have proved themselves to be; but the
people of Turin have rendered important
services to our cause, and have not deserved
the revolting treatment to which they have
been subjected by the late ministry."
At a later period Garibaldi, in a private
letter, remarked, "Two years! we ought to
turn Bonaparte out of Italy in two days."
Mazzini published his views in the Diritti.
After an eloquent and cordial testimony to the
merits of Turin the Italian exile continues
thus:-
"The Convention gives up Rome; the trans-
location of the capital is the seal put to the
Convention. The Italians may deceive them-
selves as they please; but they cannot deny a
fact, and the fact is this-that they obey a
foreign master, who, almost with a sneer, says
to us, 'I entered Rome, against the will of
the people, across the corpses of those who
defended her. I remained there by the mere
right of the sword, and for no other purpose
than the one of making it impossible for you
to become a united nation. Do you wish me
to go away? Well, promise me to assume my
part, and I will depart on the condition that
you shall not enter.' The fact is a solemn
promise from the Italian Government to keep
out of Rome, and to prevent, by the force of
Italian arms, that anybody should enter there
in the name of Italy. The fact is a promise to
wound Garibaldi, and to perpetrate five or ten
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
391
more Aspromontes, if needs be. The fact is a
financial help to the Pope for an easier organi-
sation of an army of mercenaries, who will
have to stay the Romans when they, in the
name of Italy, shall rise against him. This
fact is the negation of the nation which it
dishonours. And you, Italians, applaud such
a fact, and blame those who protest against
it! I know, alas! but too well what is
answered by many among you, in an under-
tone, the voice of slaves :-'Let it pass; it is
after all a change, and fact generates fact, and
if the soldiers of the empire leave Rome there
will arise opportunities for us to violate our
promises.' What an answer to make the
ashes of your martyrs, if they hear it, shudder,
and to fill with a supreme bitterness the heart
of an exile who worshipped for thirty-five
years an image of Italy, grand, moral, vir-
tuous, a pattern for nations! What! are
you then so spoilt by long servitude and recent
materialism as not to start back from the
cross-way where you have to decree an Italy
acephalous and federalist, or an Italy dishonest
on purpose? Fools and cowards! This
policy of windings, tortuous ways, traps, will
be, as it has been, the ruin of Italy. It dis-
honours, corrupts, and kills. The great nations
are founded on principles openly proclaimed."
Whatever influence the opinions of Gari-
baldi and Mazzini may have had, no document,
no matter from what source proceeding, excited
so much doubt, apprehension, and pain in the
Italian mind, as a sarcastic letter to the editor
of a public journal from an old ex-minister
and able naval administrator :—
"The capital question sixteen years hence
will be more fatal still. The very moment the
papers first spoke of the Convention of Sep-
tember 15th, I openly said that it reveals the
rest of what manet altâ mente repostum on the
part of the Gallican Jupiter-nay, that the
decree is already virtually signed by him to
create the 28th and 29th Military Division
du Grande Empire.' Nor must there be
any secret clauses in the treaty or verbal
accommodations either to that effect; the
thing will be accomplished by the mere force
of time and the human passions. Let us fancy
a gentle and peaceable government established
in Florence. From Sparta we are gone to
Athens. But Piedmont suffers in honour,
interests, and secular traditions. The present
generation cannot forget all that they have
lost. This province will continue morally
unquiet, with deputies and senators malcon-
tent, oppositional, raising difficulties to the
government. Piedmont will become Poland,
Hungary, Ireland. After a time, more or less
long, it will be evident to the men of tranquil
politics that, since it is impossible to pacify
Piedmont for the damage sustained, the best
thing is to rid oneself of such turbulent people
by handing them over to France: In short,
the Savoy business and its 'mutual repulsion'
will be repeated, with the difference which
obtains between old reminiscences of supre-
macy and the passions that are fresh, vigorous,
and exasperated by hatreds truly Italian. For
me this is of a certainty, and I almost fancy
I hear the Perruzzi of that year demonstrate
from his seat in parliament how by cutting off
this restless limb the rest of Italy is sure to
obtain peace and homogeneousness. And the
prostituted sciences will rise in his support.
Ethnography will show that, whether you take
them by their race, which is quite Celtic, or
by the prevalence of oil as their linguistical
basis, the Subalpine Ligurians are not an
Etruscan or Italic family, but a true barbarian
brood. Moreover, was not Rome powerful
without possessing the Cisalpine Gallia? I
see in Florence for a seat (abstractedly even
392
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
from the Roman question) the partition of
Italy prepared in a manner irreparable. Add
to this that men are subject to modify their
customs and ideas, and to assume new ones,
in all sincerity, according to the temperature
and situation in which they move. I won't
insist on this point, you need it not, but it
would be easy to prove it from history. Save
in the old provinces, there is in all families a
sincere wish for quietude, peace, and mild
taxes. The conscription is truly the torment
of all mothers. A ministry of Etruscan resi-
dence could never be a heartless cabinet like,
for instance, the one which plunged into the
abyss of the Crimean war for a mere hope,
distant and dubious. The first benefit to Italy
from Florence will be the abolition of the
army, and hence the conscription. Italy will
proclaim her neutrality for ever, like Switzer-
land. The 300,000 consumers now torn away
from their families are turned into excellent
producers, and lo! the finances are restored.
All the conservative cabinets applaud at seeing
the state of impotence to which this den of
agitators who menaced the quietude of Europe
has been reduced. Nay, more than this, Aus-
tria, seeing our army systematically abolished,
will dismantle the Quadrilateral, and will be
ready to cede Venetia and the rest of the
Lombard plains, retaining for herself not only
the mountain summits, but also the mouths of
all the valleys. Not for nothing, of course,
but for a small quota from the Austrian debt,
say a milliad, ceded to Italy. To conclude, Italy
being seen to have abdicated any meddling
whatever in Europe, it will be very rational
to imagine our being in a veritable Eldorado,
about which the gentle Tuscans and all the
molles Campani will go into hysterics for
ecstacy. It will be the delights of Sybaris
and Capua over again. But is there any
chance for the consummation of such a dream?
Decidedly not, since the party of action is not
dead, and will acquire in Florence the possi-
bility, nay, the facility, for carrying out that
which it well knows by experience to be
impossible in Turin. Hence, it now argues
calmly, but smiles at the going to Florence,
and there it awaits you and will show you its
might. A friend of mine said to me the other
day, The House of Savoy is an old oak, still
robust, but it has only one vital root left in the
Piedmontese soil. Let that be injected with a
solution of mercury, and you shall see how
soon it will die. Out of the old provinces,
indeed, all conservatives have more or less
sympathy for their old dynasties and govern-
ments, and many of them hold Victor Em-
manuel in hatred personal as a usurper. The
youthful generation, the liberal associations,
and their secret affiliations look upon him as
a momentary necessity, but they are far from
believing that monarchy is the best of govern-
ments. Let a difficulty arise, a desire go
unsatisfied, and you shall see how efficient a
single voice will prove to popularise the idea
that the office of the king is an office too
costly, and might be suppressed for the sake
of economy.' A thousand other considerations
of every kind rise before me. For Florence
herself, since she is not to remain the capital
for ever, but merely for a time—let it be ten,
fifteen years—the gain will result in certain
ruin. Now, the value of house property is
being tripled, the building trade thriving
immensely, for a repetition of the identical
catastrophe that now befalls Turin. Unless
guaranteed for a perpetuity, the Florentines
ought, in their own well-weighed interest, to
oppose the temporary transfer.
"(
Genoa, Sept. 30, 1864."
"VINCENZO RICCI
In view of all these difficulties a decree was
issued convoking the Italian parliament.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
393
This decree was accompanied by a report,
dated 19th September, addressed to the king
by the former Italian ministry, which says:-
"At the moment we assumed the reins of
government the Roman question was in such a
condition that it would have been unworthy
and useless to immediately commence fresh
negotiations. The government waited an
opportunity, and hastened to take advantage
of it when it considered the general state of
affairs in Europe to be favourable. After the
deliberations of parliament which were to
guide the government, the Roman question
could only be solved by moral means. To
obtain the application of the principle of non-
intervention it was necessary to proceed in
accord with France.
become a menace under circumstances to be
foreseen. The principal idea of the king was
always the organisation of a system of defence
necessitating the transfer of the seat of govern-
ment to a locality more favourably situated
than the present capital. Military considera-
tions caused Florence to be selected. This
transfer, although essentially a home question,
is connected with the Franco-Italian treaty,
the conclusion of which it has facilitated, from
having been regarded by France as a guarantee
that Italy had renounced the use of violent
measures towards the Papacy."
The report then proceeds to speak of the
sacrifices made by Turin, and acknowledges its
merits. In conclusion, it expresses confidence
that Turin will follow the example of its king,
who has devoted himself entirely to Italy.
|
"The Emperor of the French has always
desired to be able to withdraw his troops from
Rome, not only from this act being in con-
formity with the principles and public rights
whereon the Empire and its policy are based,
but also because the resurrection of Italy will
be one of the principal glories of his reign.
But the Emperor considered that he could not,
by suddenly withdrawing his troops in a body,
abandon the power that he had protected
during fifteen years with his arms.
The Salut Public of Lyons published an
article on the Roman debt. The Ponti-
fical debt amounts in round numbers to
407,134,144f.; of which 230,967,061f. form
what is called the redeemable debt, and in-
clude the foreign loans, and 176,167,082f. the
perpetual debt, including the consolidated
stock. According to the calculation of the
Salut Public, which is based on the popula-
tion of the annexed provinces, the share of
this debt which, under the Convention, Italy
would take charge of, amounts to-capital,
315,925,044f.; interest, 24,030,523f.; thus
leaving to charge of the Pontifical treasury-
capital, 91,209,100f.
capital, 91,209,100f.; interest, 6,952,020f.
In other words the Italian government would
undertake the burthen of seven-ninths of the
Papal debt. The Lyons journal warns Roman
stockholders that the conversion is decided on,
and that if they refuse to agree to the terms
they will only have themselves to blame. The
exchange will be made scrip against scrip, and
no allowance will be made for the difference
in the market value of the Pontifical and
"In order to reassure the Catholic senti-
ment, the Italian government could not but
promise not to attack the Pontifical territory,
and to prevent any attack being made by irre-
gular bands from the frontiers of the Italian
kingdom. This promise, loyally given and
firmly kept, neither destroys nor diminishes
the rights or the aspirations of the nation,
but rather confirms the necessity of operating
solely by moral force to obtain the triumph of
the national ideas. Nevertheless, whilst the
government was engaged with the Roman
question it did not forget the Venetian ques-
tion. Austria encamped in Venetia might
GRAD
3 E
394
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Italian securities-a difference which is con-
siderable, the Papal stock being much higher.
On the 6th of October the La Marmora
ministry was on the point of expiring in the
financial vacuum which Minghetti left for
them. Signor Sella declared to his colleagues
in council assembled, and to their chairman,
the king, that he could not endure the troubles
and confusion that closed in upon him from
all quarters, unless he effect a saving by dis-
armament. There was great consternation
at this information. La Marmora, Petitti,
and Lanza rose against the motion at once, his
Majesty supporting them most energetically.
Sella did not deny the force of the arguments
urged against his proposal; he admitted all
that was said about the disastrous effect it
might produce; he acknowledged that the
Convention would appear by it more vulner-
able, and that a reduction of the army was
altogether a measure the most unpopular of
all in Italy; yet, having endorsed the correct-
ness of all the arguments in opposition to his
motion, he concluded by renewing it as the
only means for the government to get on at
all, and, at the same time, as the sine qua non
of his continuing in office. After a lengthy
discussion, Signor Sella assented to the fol-
lowing compromise-a provisional reduction in
the army, by sending home 50,000 men till
the end of February or March, 1865. All
public works on either land or sea of a mili-
tary character to be discontinued unless they
be near completion. The state railways and
crown lands to be sold at once, and a loan of
500,000,000f. to be made. Such was the com-
promise by which Sella was induced to remain
in office, and to bind himself to the presenta-
tion of a well-balanced budget. In the same
council all ministers promised to observe the
greatest possible economy in their several
departments.
Having given to the reader the nature of the
Convention, and the way in which it was
regarded by all parties, it will complete the
account of that remarkable episode in the
reconstruction of Italy to present the secret
history of the transaction, as far as that was
made public by the chief actors. When the
despatches came to light, which revealed the
negotiations of the Imperial and Royal govern-
ments, it was made plain that the Convention
did not originate with the French Emperor,
as had been generally supposed throughout
Europe, but with the government of Victor
Emmanuel.
The following is a translation of the principal
despatches respecting the Franco-Italian Con-
vention, which were presented to the Italian
parliament by General La Marmora, the head
of the new Cabinet :-
"SIGNOR VISCONTI VENOSTA TO CAVALIERE
NIGRA, IN PARIS.
"Turin, June 17, 1864.
"Signore Ministro,
"Baron Malaret has called on me, and read
a despatch, in which M. Drouyn de Lhuys
replies to the different communications which
you, on my part, have made to him on the
Roman question. In this paper the Imperial
minister allows that the king's government
has done all in its power to pacify men's
minds, and smooth down existing difficulties.
In thus rendering justice to our intentions,
the Imperial minister declares that the French
government, on its side, also desires ardently
a reconciliation between the king's govern-
ment and the Court of Rome; and that its
best wish is to arrive at the time when France
shall be able to withdraw her troops from
Rome without injury to those interests which
she is there to protect. Further, he asserts
that the honour of France is pledged to main-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
395
6
tain that occupation as long as the safety of
the Pontiff is without sufficient guarantees.
In the meantime M. Drouyn de Lhuys points
out that hitherto my despatches have contained
no formal proposition, and he concludes by
stating once again that the French government
will ever be disposed to receive proposals
which it can consider of such a nature as to
solve the great problem of the relations of the
Holy See with Italy. I hastened to thank
M. de Malaret for these communications, and
I profit by the presence in Paris of the Mar-
chese Pepoli to beg him to join his efforts to
yours and to complete verbally the propositions
which the king's government desires to bring
before the Imperial cabinet. In my despatch
of July 9, 1863, I indicated, as a basis of
agreement, the stipulation of the application
to Rome as well as to the rest of Italy of the
principle of non-intervention.' The mainte-
nance of non-intervention is, indeed, one of the
political principles common to Italy and to
France. This principle can the better be taken
as a starting-point for these delicate negotia-
tions, inasmuch as the Emperor, first in his
letter to M. Thouvenel, and then in his letter
to Count Cavour, has recognised its appli-
cability to the Roman territory. In making
the recall of the French troops the main
object of the transaction, we are guided by no
ambitious or interested pre-occupations. As I
have often had the honour to declare, Italy
sees in an agreement with the Holy See the
best means of satisfying the aspirations of
the nation. This agreement, which has been
the lofty aim of the Emperor's policy, and
for which France has spared no cost, we are
determined to pursue, and we do not yet
despair of obtaining it. Therefore, we are
prepared to give to the Holy See the guarantees
necessary to replace it in those conditions of
peace and tranquillity which are indispensable
الله
to the dignity and independence of its delibera-
tions, so that, with the aid of time and circum-
stances, it may become more accessible to those
ideas of reconciliation to which we have never
ceased to appeal. These guarantees should, in
my opinion, consist in an engagement—which
the king's government is inclined to undertake
that the Roman territory shall be attacked
neither by a regular nor irregular force; and,
further, in a promise to raise no objection to
the formation of a regular army, provided it is
recruited by the papal government purely as a
means of defence. Further, in order to demon-
strate that, in our opinion, a direct agreement
with the Holy See is the surest way of solving
existing difficulties, the Italian government
will undertake to assume the liability of a part
of the Roman debt proportioned to the pro-
vinces annexed to Italy. In laying before you
these final considerations, I repeat almost ver-
bally the tenor of articles of which you will
find a copy annexed, and to which you will
direct the attention of M. Drouyn de Lhuys.
These propositions are, moreover, perfectly
familiar to the Emperor and to his ministers.
As you are aware, they formed the basis of the
confidential negotiations commenced by Count
Cavour a short time previous to his death.
The events of late years have only, in our
opinion, rendered more manifest the necessity
and opportunity of this basis of a compromise.
"According to the solemn declaration of the
Emperor and his ministers, the object of the
occupation of Rome by French troops was to
bring about a reconciliation between Italy and
Rome. This object not having up to this time
been obtained, it becomes necessary to replace
the guarantees with which France has till now
surrounded the Holy See by other material and
moral securities which will not irritate Italian
susceptibilities, and which at the same time
will not be a flagrant violation of the principles
396
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
f
of the basis of public right of Italy and France. history, preferred risking their popularity to
We should be pleased to learn that the Em-giving hopes the realisation of which seemed
peror had accepted the proposal, which we to them far distant. It preferred turning all
submit to his serious consideration. If this the attention of the country towards questions
proposal does not attain to the immediate of internal organisation, and let the difficult
solution of the problem of the relations of the problems, which the position of Rome towards
Holy See with Italy, it reaches, in our opinion, Italy advances, become matured in the calm
a more practical end. In a word, it offers the which suits such important topics. In Paris
only means of arriving gradually at a solution they might say that at Turin they did not talk
of the Roman question by the slow and infal- of Rome; but certainly they could not with
lible triumph of that moral force to which the truth say that the Roman question was no longer
Italian parliament has appealed by its votes- the first pre-occupation of her ministers. Then
that is to say, the progressive application of we were blamed for not at once opening nego-
the principles of right and religious liberty. tiations with France. 'However little the
"VISCONTI VENOSTA." chance of success,' they said, 'you should have
tried it, so as not to compromise by your
reserve the right of nations.' But on this
point, also, the Chamber showed itself of our
opinion. After the affairs of Ficuzza and
Aspromonte, Europe might believe that the
tranquillity which Italy enjoyed was the effect
of the reaction consequent on a great crisis,
rather than of the admirable instinct of the
peoples who were the true creators of Italian
unity, and who, seeing their end, also perceive
the means of gaining it. We considered that
a few months were not too long to prove the
contrary. Strong in the proof of the truth of
our convictions, we could at the proper time
convince Europe that there is no difficulty
which cannot be surmounted-no problem,
however abstruse, which cannot be solved when
the good sense of the country can be so relied
upon. After the introductory discussion the
debates entered on fundamental questions.
Signor Buoncompagni-one of the most ac-
credited organs of the majority-recalled the
vote of the Chamber, 27th April, 1861, and
explained its true meaning. He called atten-
tion to the fact that the Chamber, in declaring
Rome capital of Italy, had only proclaimed the
state of opinion on that subject, and given a
"SIGNOR VISCONTI VENOSTA TO CAVALIERE
NIGRA, IN PARIS.
"Turin, July 9, 1864.
"Monsignore,
"The last discussions in the Chamber of
Deputies have enabled you to explain the views
of the government on the Roman question. The
most distinguished speakers of all parties have
taken part in these debates, and expressions
have emanated alike from ministers and repre-
sentatives, which it is not idle to point out to
the Imperial government. The Roman ques-
tion—a question essentially moral-can only
advance to its solution in proportion as public
opinion is enlightened on the real basis of the
problem. The President of the Council and
myself have therefore made great efforts to
place the question in its true light, and we
own to great satisfaction at seeing the Chamber
accept our ideas with moderation and common
First, we had to defend ourselves
against an accusation of which you, sir, better
than any other, know the import. We were
accused of deliberate silence on the Roman
question. The ministers, entering on office
after one of the most painful episodes of Italian
sense.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
397
legal sanction to the verdict of the people.
But from the very formula which Count Cavour
had adopted, that vote excluded all preten-
sions of solving by force the difficulties of the
question.
|
"The Chamber of Deputies, far from neglect-
ing the international and religious elements,
had expressly imposed on the king's govern-
ment the propriety of paying the greatest
respect to them, by declaring that they ought
to go to Rome, in accordance with France, and
after having given to the Holy See the most
complete and formal. guarantees for the
Spiritual Power. Signori Allieri and La Fa-
rina, two other deputies of the majority,
confirmed the declarations of Signor Buon-
compagni. The President of the Council then
recalled the principle of non-intervention in
the Roman territory, recognised by Count
Cavour just before his death. Her great
minister, struck down in his grand career at
the moment when he perceived the most
favourable chances of a solution, Italy has
never ceased to regard the Roman question
from the same point de vue. Unluckily our
enemies seized on the loss of this great indi-
vidual to assert that, deprived of him, Italian
unity must fall to pieces. These predictions
have been entirely controverted!
?
-
6
"In spite of events regrettable, but after all
only fugitive episodes in the life of a great
nation, Italy has never ceased to march in the
path traced out by Count Cavour. Now as
then she proclaims the formula, a Free
Church in a Free State,' and while ever retain-
ing her fundamental declaration respecting
Rome, she limits herself to requiring that the
principle of non-intervention be applied to the
Roman territory. Thus, far from the question
being retarded, we may assert that the trials to
which Italy has been subjected have not been
without their use. In spite of the hostility
|
shown her by the Holy See and a part of the
clergy, she has never been drawn into an act of
religious persecution. Italy has now liberty
in all and for all. Lately, too, she rejected
the proposition of a deputy, eminent in the
Church, tending to force the priests to take an
oath of obedience to the civil authorities.
The fête of Italian unity was celebrated every-
where without the clergy being invited to
attend; in more than a thousand communes
they spontaneously associated themselves with
the public joy, which was not less sincere
where they were than where there was no
religious ceremony. On the other hand-in
spite of the innumerable embarrassments which
the attitude of the Roman government causes
to that of Italy, in spite of the Bourbon com-
mittees, which foster brigandage and retard
the pacific development of the resources of the
South-the unity of Italy has been effected
more quickly and with less obstacles than ever
happened in any other country.
"Finally, in spite of the abnormal character
of the French occupation of Rome-a charac-
ter often admitted by the Emperor himself—
Italy has maintained with France ties both of
| gratitude and friendship. No attempt of the
extreme parties could prevail against our
feelings of gratitude. Italy, then, has given
such great proofs of wisdom and modera-
tion that she may well be allowed for herself
that confidence with which Count Cavour was
able to inspire all Europe. The Italians have
kept the promises which he made in their
name; they accept the engagements which he
was about to contract for them. In asking
the Emperor to reopen the negotiations at the
point which they had reached in 1861, hist
Majesty's ministers do not only offer the
guarantee of their responsibility; it is after
assuring themselves that Italy will accept a
practical solution that they declare their readi-
་
398
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
I
I
'
i
ness to negotiate. The vote of the Chamber
(on 20th June), after the formal declaration of
the President of the Council, is an incontest-
able proof of this. A year ago, in his famous
letter to M. Thouvenel, the Emperor said, 'It
is urgent that the Roman question be defi-
nitively settled, for it is not only Italy that is
troubled by it; everywhere it creates the same
moral disorder, because it touches everything
religious and political which man holds most
dear.' At the same time he made proposals
to Rome, to which Cardinal Antonelli returned.
a categorical refusal. With unbounded gene-
rosity, however, the Emperor still continued
his protection to the Roman Court, and he
limited his requests to some reforms which
should render less intolerable the condition
of the subjects of the Holy Father.
66
'Solemnly pronounced and paraded by all
the reactionary papers, these reforms are,
nevertheless, far from being realised. Yester-
day, as on the morrow of the return from
Gaeta, the court of Rome pretends that, in
sending her troops to Rome, France had for
exclusive end and aim the re-establishment, in
the most absolute conditions, of the temporal
power. It rejects altogether the great mission
of conciliation between Catholicism and the
principles of 1789, which the Emperor so
patiently pursues. While the temporal power
proves, by its inaptitude for reform, that the
vital principle is extinct in it, and that it
exists by the support given to it, Italy marches
in an exactly opposite direction. Without
renouncing one of her great political principles,
she proclaims, by the voice of her ministers,
and by the legal representatives of the country,
that she esteems the high considerations of the
Emperor. It is to this contrast that I wish to
call attention. In another document, dated
July 12, 1861, and quoted by M. Drouyn de
Lhuys in his despatch of October 28, 1862,
---
the Emperor addressed these memorable words.
to our august master: 'I must frankly declare
to your Majesty that, while recognising Italy,
I shall leave my troops in Rome till your
Majesty is reconciled with the Pope, or so long
as his Holiness is threatened with the pros-
pect of seeing his possessions assailed either
by a regular or irregular force.'
"The Court of Rome repels all ideas of
reconciliation. Italy, on the other hand, is
prepared to fulfil the conditions for the recall
of the French troops imposed by the Emperor
himself. After the vote of 29th June no
doubt of the feeling of the Chamber, as
regards the engagement undertaken by the
king that no regular nor irregular force should
attack Rome, can exist. Nothing then, on
our part, remains to prevent the Roman ques-
tion being solved by the application of non-
intervention. This principle, the necessity of
which France has admitted in Italy, and which
is stated in the two letters of the Emperor,
forms the ground of a definite agreement
between France and Italy.
"VISCONTI VENOSTA."
“CAVALIERE NIGRA, AMBASSADOR IN FRANCE,
TO CAVALIERE VISCONTI VENOSTA.
"Paris, September 15, 1864.
"Signor Ministro,
"Annexed I have the honour to send you
the original of the Convention relative to the
cessation of the occupation by the French
troops of the Pontifical territories, signed to-
day at 3 p.m., at the Imperial Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, by M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the
Marchese Pepoli, and myself. I will briefly
recapitulate the negotiations which preceded
this act. A few days before the death of
Count Cavour, there was some discussion on
the project of a treaty between Italy and
France, the substance of which was:
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
399
"That France should recall her troops from opinion of the French government, not suffi-
Rome.
ciently to render possible the reopening of this
question. It was thus necessary to wait and
prepare gradually the way to a happier issue.
It was only in June last that M. Drouyn de
Lhuys replied officially to the repeated appli-
cations which I had been instructed to make
to him. He addressed a letter to the Baron
Malaret, which was read to your Excellency.
"By a despatch dated the 17th of that
month, your Excellency, while informing me
of the communication made to you by Baron
Malaret, called my attention to the more
favourable disposition of the imperial govern-
ment, and sent me the outlines of a project
conforming in substance to that of Count
Cavour. Your Excellency added that you took
advantage of the presence in Paris of the
Marchese Pepoli, to beg him to join his efforts
to mine, and to fully explain, verbally, the
propositions which the king's government
desired to lay before the imperial government.
The Marchese Pepoli and myself then presented
to the French government the plan of the
Convention. We explained, repeatedly, the
arguments by which your Excellency supported
the proposition. The imperial foreign minister
replied by assuring us that the French govern-
ment had always
ment had always desired to withdraw its
troops from Rome, but that it was impossible
to do so until the king's government had
offered guarantees of a nature to fully reassure
the Holy See from all fear of attempted inva-
sion. According to the French government,
it was necessary that the promise made by the
Italian government not to attack or permit to
be attacked the Papal territory, should have in
addition some material guarantee of a nature
to assure Catholic opinion that the projected
Convention would be respected. In examining
guarantees of that order, the Italian nego-
tiators had been formally instructed to reject
"That Italy should undertake not to attack
the existing Pontifical territory, and to prevent,
even by force, every attack from without on
that territory.
"That the Italian government should for-
bid all protest against the organisation of a
Pontifical army of a fixed strength-that
army even being composed of foreign Catholic
volunteers.
"That Italy should declare herself prepared
to enter into an engagement to take on herself
a proportion of the debts of the old States of
the Church'
"The death of Count Cavour put an end to
these negotiations. The cabinets which suc-
ceeded that illustrious statesman did all in their
power to resume these transactions, but the
imperial government did not consider that the
proper time had come. It is not necessary
for me here to retrace this phase of the
negotiations, which is well known from the
publication of the official documents thereto
relating, and from the debates to which they
gave rise in the parliaments of Italy and
France.
"On July 9, 1863, your Excellency, apropos
of recent parliamentary discussions, addressed
to me a note, in which you requested that the
negotiations might be resumed at the point at
which Count Cavour had left them, and that
they might be based on the principles of non-
intervention further asserting that the king's
government was prepared to undertake that no
force, regular or irregular, should invade the
Pontifical territory.
"This despatch is the starting-point of the
last phase of the negotiations which are now.
terminated. I communicated it to M. Drouyn
de Lhuys on the 16th of the same month. The
political situation was improved, but, in the
C
400
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
every proposition which might be contrary to
the law of nations. Therefore, there could be
Therefore, there could be
no question either of an abandonment of
the national aspirations, or of a collective
guarantee of the Catholic Powers, or of the
occupation of a yard of Roman territory by
the French troops as a gage of the fulfilment
of our undertakings. For us the Roman
question was a moral question, which we were
resolved to settle by moral force. We accept,
then, seriously and loyally, the engagement
not to apply those violent means which cannot
solve questions of that class. But we cannot
give up our reliance on the force of civilisation
and progress to assist us to arrive at the union
of Italy and the Papacy-a union which the
intervention of France only makes more diffi-
cult and more distant. The French govern-
ment, while admitting the weight of these
considerations, insisted that it was impossible
to accept the proposal unaccompanied by the
material guarantee. It was then that the
Marchese Pepoli, looking at the home situation
of Italy, with reference to Rome, said to the
Emperor that he knew that, independently of
the question actually under discussion, and for
political, strategical, and administrative reasons,
the government was occupied with the ques-
tion of the propriety of removing the seat of
government from Turin to some other city.
"So long as the question of Rome remained
in a phase of doubt, without advancing towards
a settlement, that phase of doubt prevented a
proper study of this question. But if the Con-
vention was signed, he knew that the ministry,
in consideration of the internal political con-
dition created by such a treaty, intended to
propose this measure to the king, the want of
more efficacious action in all parts of the
kingdom, and even our position with regard
to Rome, joining with strategic reasons to
strengthen the proposal. It struck the Em-
peror that this decision, once taken, might
fulfil the required conditions. His Majesty,
speaking of the change of capital, said that if
such were the idea of the king's government—
if such were the desire of Italy-many of the
serious difficulties which separated our views
on the grave question of Rome were smoothed
down. I observed that the change of a seat of
government presented the greatest difficulties;
that the centre of gravity of a government
could not be displaced and removed from the
middle of an element essentially monarchical,
solid, and sure, without danger; that the mere
material difficulties would be serious and
numerous; that, at all events, such a measure
required a considerable period of time in order
to diminish and render less evident the injury
to local interests. I added that we could only
accept ad referendum the progress of arrange-
ments if the change of capital were one of its
conditions. Further, we insisted that beyond
this point, which might be more specially
argued as being a home question, the French
government should accept the project as it
stood. But the imperial government repeated
the answer given to the Marchese Pepoli, and
declared that in the case of the king's govern-
ment determining to remove the capital, there
would no longer exist any obstacle to the
signing of the treaty.
"The Marchese Pepoli returned to Turin,
and submitted the affair to the king. In order
that the king's government could come to a
decision, it was necessary to name a term in
which the French occupation should cease.
The Imperial government declared that such a
term could not be fixed at less than two years.
The endeavours of the Italian negotiators to
reduce this period were fruitless. After de-
liberate reflection, the king's government,
having decided to accept the Convention with
the clause of the transfer of the capital, charged
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
401
us, the Marchese Pepoli and myself, to con-
clude the engagement, and we were furnished
with full powers to that effect.
"The Marchese Pepoli arrived in Paris on
the 13th of the current month; on the 14th
the articles were concluded; to-day, 15th, the
Convention is signed. The first clause remains
as in the original project of Count Cavour.
The second contains the engagement of France
to withdraw her troops from the Papal States
gradually and in proportion as the Pontifical
army shall be organised, but the extreme term
of the occupation is fixed at two years. The
third clause is such as it would have been
in the project of Count Cavour, excepting that
instead of fixing the numerical strength of the
Papal army, it is established that such force
must not become a means of attacking the
king's government. These words are added,
'the tranquillity of the frontier,' to indicate the
obligation of the Pontifical government to
hinder its frontier from becoming a shelter for
brigandage. Clause No. 4 is also similar to
that of Count Cavour.
6
say, that by the Convention Italy binds herself
to renounce all violent measures. We have
also equally insisted that this Convention is
the consequence of non-intervention; so that
the future policy of Italy as regards Rome will
for the future consist in observing and causing
to be observed the principle of non-interven-
tion, and in employing all the influences of
moral force to arrive at a reconciliation between
Italy and the Papacy on the basis proclaimed
by Count Cavour, a Free Church in a Free
State.' Thus have been concluded those long
and difficult negotiations which have never,
from the constitution of the kingdom till
to-day, ceased to occupy the successive govern-
ments of his Majesty. If we consider the
actual condition of politics, the state of public
opinion in France and Catholic Europe-if we
recall the excitement which the Roman ques-
tion has raised in the world, and the difficulties
which it has created in Italy, both in home
politics and in her foreign relations, especially
with France-it will be evident that the king's
government would have incurred the gravest
responsibility in the face of the nation and of
history if it had refused an arrangement which
has for its aim the cessation of foreign occupa-
tion, and which only requires from us the
renunciation of those violent measures already
"NIGRA.”
rejected by parliament.
|
"As to the clause changing the capital, as
in the opinion of the king's government it
could not form an integral part of the Conven-
tion, it was arranged to insert it in a separate
protocol, the original of which is annexed. In
adopting this form, it was desired to show that
in our opinion such an act was a measure purely
national, which could have no connection with
the Convention, excepting in so far as it
created a new situation, in which France per-
ceived a guarantee which would permit the
withdrawal of her troops, and a gage that
Italy renounced the idea of employing force to
cccupy Rome.
"It was fully understood in our conferences
with the French plenipotentiaries that the
Convention neither ought nor could signify
more nor less than therein appears-that is to
C
C
Thus another episode is completed, not only
in the life of Victor Emmanuel, but in the
history of his kingdom and the construction of
a united Italy.
Before concluding this memoir, a sketch of
the personal and political character of the
king, from the testimony of two acute wit-
nesses, will give completeness to the whole.
The habits and character of Victor Emmanuel
have been thus described by one who had
opportunity of personally observing them.
3 F

402
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
After explaining why Turin is a dull city,
without brilliant scenes of public amusement,
the writer observes:
"The want of court patronage is another
cause of this decline in the theatres of Turin
from the position they occupied a few years
ago. The Duchess of Genoa lives a retired
life, and the king is fonder of military occu-
pations and of country life than of operas and
comedies. It can hardly be said that Victor
Emmanuel lives at Turin at all. As soon as
he can get rid of the cares of state, his Majesty
goes to the Veneria, or to some other royal villa,
for the purpose of hunting or shooting with a
few intimate friends. The habits of the king are
in truth rather those of a country squire than
of a sovereign. If any stranger were to meet
him at the Veneria, he would scarcely believe
that the man dressed in a velvet suit with a
'wide-awake' on his head is the chief of the
state. When in the country, Victor Em-
manuel rises at four o'clock in the morning,
and goes to the mountains with the few friends
who always accompany him.
"His three sons, Princes Umberto, Amadeo,
and Otone, have been brought up in the same
simple habits. The first is fond of military
life, and has shown so much skill as a marks-
man as to have been appointed President of
the National Rifle Association; but he is said
to have made great progress in his more
scholastic studies, which begin at six in the
morning, and last eight hours. The second
son, although only sixteen,* has devoted him-
self to scientific inquiries, with an earnestness
rarely seen in youths belonging to princely
houses. The youngest son was born a cripple;
but he was so well nurtured in childhood that
he is now quite straight, and is being educated
for the navy, where his pleasant manners are
Written in 1862.
already making him very popular. Victor
Emmanuel takes great care of the education of
his sons, whom he loves tenderly. Even when
he is obliged to leave Piedmont, he receives
almost daily the reports of their tutors.
"Mind,' he said to Commendatore Buon-
compagni, who had been appointed teacher of
constitutional laws, 'what I want from you
above all else is, that you should make good
citizens of my children.'
"The Sardinian court, in matters of etiquette,
has always been considered one of the strictest
in Europe; but it has been greatly modified
by recent events. There was a time-and by
no means long ago-in which no one would
have been admitted to the balls of the court
had he not been able to show at least two
centuries of nobility. Even foreign ladies
were obliged to submit in the minutest par-
ticulars to the strict rules of the court.
"The king, however, is not endowed by
nature with those qualities which are almost
necessary to a sovereign. Court etiquette and
incessant official receptions do not agree with
his rough and vigorous tastes. He is a sort of
Nimrod, to whom the free air of the country,
the hard chase across mountains and marshes,
are indispensable. To the great popularity which
surrounds him personally, and to his duty as
chief of the state, he may sacrifice his quiet,
unobtrusive life for a week; but when the
week is over, he must return to more con-
genial ways. This love of simple habits would
increase the popularity of a northern prince,
but cannot fail to have a contrary effect in a
southern land."
The following, from the pen of one who,
although not familiar with his person, studied
his character and history, is strikingly correct :-
"He makes no pretence to be a statesman,
or a reformer of the Church, as the religious
world supposed when he visited England.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
403
He is a plain, blunt, rather coarse soldier,
generous and brave, but decidedly of the Esau
type. We do not believe that even now he
has any partiality for constitutional govern-
ment in the abstract; he likes it because it
gives him less trouble, and more time for hist
hunting and his pleasures; but the cause of
Italian independence is with him a passion,
and all the more because it gives him oppor-
tunity for hard fighting. Not very high
qualities, some will say; but they are qualities
which have been scarce in Italy, and worth all
the world to a constitutional monarch at the
present crisis; for these, after all, are the
qualities which gather round a monarch manly
hearts like his own. There is not a soldier in
his army whose heart is not stirred as by the
sound of a trumpet when he hears of his
deeds at Palestro; there are none who know
not his courage and his truth; and these
soldiers have borne his fame to their humble
homes; they may not understand the value of
the constitution which he has observed so
faithfully, but they understand his worth; and
hence it is that his name is a symbol of union
throughout North Italy and Tuscany. And if
danger to his throne did not at first turn him
from his faithfulness, so neither since have the
arguments or the threats of the priests. They
have dwelt upon the peace of mind which good
princes enjoy when they are at amity with the
Holy Father, in spite of their pleasant sins.
They have more than hinted that family
bereavements following in rapid succession are
evidence of Divine displeasure against one who
allows sacrilegious hands to be laid upon the
property of the Church. They have told him
of the sweets of the despotic power that others
hold and he has sacrificed, and tried to make
him feel that all this may yet be his, as it was
his ancestors'. They have warned him of the
dangers of constitutional monarchies not more
free from revolutionary attack than those of
Naples or Vienna, and exposed besides to the
insiduous attempts of pretended friends. Once
only did he waver, perplexed, but not con-
vinced; nearly yielding to a plausible proposal,
of which he saw neither the motive nor the
consequences; but a few simple, manly words
from Azeglio, his fellow-soldier and his friend,
convinced him that he was being misled, that a
blow was aimed at the constitution to which he
had sworn; and he stood firm, being above all
things an observer of the religion of an oath.”
J
During the autumn of 1864 the eldest son
of the King of Italy visited Paris and London.
He was the object of much curiosity, as all
political persons were desirous to see what was
the promise for Italy afforded by the prospect
of his attaining the Italian throne. Many
pen-and-ink sketches of the appearance,
manners, and attainments of the prince were
circulated in the periodicals of the time. The
following is at once graphic and faithful,
written by a gentleman who, upon the prince's
departure, passed with him in the vessel from
Folkestone to Bologne.
"Victor Emmanuel's heir-apparent was
attended by five Italian gentlemen. The half
of the raised deck amidships was assigned to
him, and a slovenly sailor, with an Esau-like
chest, disclosed by an unbuttoned shirt, acted
as guard of honour, keeping off the other pas-
sengers from the division allotted by the captain
to the royal traveller.
to the royal traveller. While Prince Humbert
sat on one gunnel of the longboat running
along the middle deck, I sat on the other, and
had an opportunity of closely observing him.
He is below the middle height, but remarkably
well built, and, I should say, conceals a good
deal of strength in limbs that do not make an
ostentatious display of muscle. I do not be-
lieve that any princess aspiring to the throne
of Italy could be blind to the fact that he has

404
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
themselves they were not recognised in the
streets, and when on board very few of the
passengers had any idea that they were travel-
6
as little pretension to personal beauty as any
prince who ever lived. Prince Humbert is, in
many respects, a miniature of his father. But
he lacks the bluff, open manners of the Kingling with one probably destined before many
of Italy.
He is also of a darker complexion. years elapse to reign in the Quirinal, and be
Had he been born in the Southern States of received in the Vatican as King of Italy."
America, he must have incurred the chance of
being excluded from society as a young gen-
tleman over whom the tar-brush had been
passed,' for his eyes roll like Othello's in a
fourth-rate theatre. His nose is not quite a
snub nose, but has a narrow escape of being
one. The cheeks are heavy, and grow heavier
towards the jawbone, and the lips are thick and
prominent, more especially the nether one,
which shows the Austrian blood inherited from
the prince's mother and grandmother. I was
greatly struck with the air of good-fellowship
which existed between Prince Humbert and
the gentlemen in attendance on him. They did
not in any single respect act as courtiers, did
not uncover themselves in his presence, wait to
be addressed by him, or step back when he
wanted to go forward. They laughed, chatted,
and smoked away in such a manner as no
attendant of the little Prince Imperial could
have done without losing his place. I did not
either once, in the course of a long conversation
carried on both in French and Italian, hear him
addressed as 'Altesse." I should say that
Prince Humbert is full of fun, and can enjoy a
practical joke as well as any other gentleman
of his age.
The power and importance of the kingdom over
which Victor Emmanuel rules may be judged
by the most recent statistics, military, commer-
cial, and popular, issued since the introductory
pages
of this work passed through the press.
The Italian Government has just published
the result of a census taken since the annexa-
tions which constituted it as it is at present.
It contains some curious facts of which the
accuracy cannot be doubted. The kingdom of
Italy contains a population of 21,777,334
souls. It is, consequently, the fifth Power
in Europe as regards its inhabitants; superior
to Spain, of which the territory is twice as
extensive, and to Prussia, of which the area is
likewise greater. Were the unity of Italy
accomplished its population would amount to
27,000,000. The average population of a
commune in Italy is 2,821 inhabitants, while
this average in France is only 978 inhabitants.
There are nine communes in 300 square kilo-
metres. In France, on the contrary, there are
eighteen in a similar space. The population is
most crowded in the south of the island of Sar-
dinia; it is least numerous in the Marches and in
the Emilia. Italy contains on an average 84
inhabitants to the square kilometre-a figure
higher than that of France or Prussia, but
lower than that of England, Holland, or
Belgium. Lombardy and Sicily are the pro-
vinces in which the population has increased
most rapidly of late years. Sardinia and the
Neapolitan provinces come next. The increase
of population has been much slower in Pied-
mont. The wars of 1849 and 1859 have tended
to that consequence.
"On his arrival at Boulogne, the prince
received a telegram from Paris, which he read
before setting out for that city. Mr. Bernard,
the packet agent of the South-Eastern line, on
being presented by the captain, handed it to
him, and had a cordial shake of the hand on
leaving. The prince and his suite walked
through the town on their way to the Boulogne
and Paris Railway Company. Fortunately for
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
405
The condition of the Piedmontese army, when
Victor Emmanuel became the ally of Victoria of
England against Russia, was stated on the pages
which referred to that alliance. The following
is the present constitution and numerical force
of "the army of Italy”.
The land forces, including veterans, invalids,
&c., on the peace footing, number 240,000
men, and in time of war the strength of the
Italian army is fixed at 400,000 men, without
including the mobilised national guard.
The infantry is at present composed of 144,113 men.
Riflemen (bersaglieri)
19,131
19,140
19,689
18,516
Cavalry
•
Artillery
Carabineers (gendarmerie)
Engineers
Military Train
Administrative Department
Free corps
Different other forces
4,930
2,666
2,755
1,023
9,816
""
""
""
""
""
"9
99
""
242,784 men.
Together
The infantry consists of 84 regiments, each of
which has 16 active and one depôt company;
each company numbers 90 men, and the depôt
company 84; so that each regiment has 1,596
soldiers, and staff officers included, 1,691. To
these 84 regiments must be added two depôt
battalions in the island of Sardinia, forming
together a force of 2,000 men.
The rifles (bersaglieri) have 910 officers and
18,221 non-commissioned officers and privates.
They are divided into seven regiments, each
having six battalions. Each battalion has four
active companies and one depôt company;
each company has 102 men; so that each
regiment, officers included, numbers 2,733
men, and without them 2,603.
The cavalry is divided into 26 regiments,
namely, four of the line (heavy), 20 regiments
of light cavalry, and two regiments of guides.
The four cavalry regiments of the line are each
composed of six active and one depôt squadron ;
the other regiments have four active squadrons
&
and one depôt squadron; each squadron con-
sists of 141 soldiers and 112 horses. Altogether
the cavalry numbers 1,210 officers of different
ranks with 2,623 horses, and 17,930 soldiers
with 13,316 horses.
The artillery is composed of 11 regiments,
including a regiment of workmen, and one
for the service of the pontoon train. Of the
six regiments of field artillery one has three
mounted batteries, and 12 of foot artillery,
besides a depôt battery with 81 officers and
1,697 men. The other five regiments have,
however, 15 batteries and one depôt battery,
and 405 officers with 8,155 artillerymen; each
battery has six guns. Thus the 90 active
batteries have together 540 field-pieces. Al-
together the artillery is composed of 1,647
officers with 1,430 horses, and 18,042 artillery-
men with 4,984 horses.
C
In conformity with the royal decree of June
18, 1862, the corps of carabineers (gendarmerie)
was to be reduced to 533 officers and 19,363
non-commissioned officers and privates; it,
however, still continues at a strength of 512
officers with 1,226 horses, and 18,004 non-
commissioned officers and privates with 4,297
horses. In time of peace the army has 157
generals; field, staff, and other officers, 15,377;
non-commissioned officers and privates, 227,250
-together, 242,784 men; and if accountants.
and other non-combatant officers and men
are added, whose number is 2,742, the whole
army on the peace footing numbers 245,526
men with 33,728 horses, of which 7838 are for
the service of officers, and 25,890 for the men.
According to the projected budget of 1863, the
army is to be raised to 54,694 men above the
peace footing, and will therefore be brought to
297,478 men. The total expenditure for the
army on the peace footing amounts to the
annual sum of 197,000,000 lire [the same
francs-25 to the pound sterling],
as
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406
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
71,000,000 of this sum for the infantry,
9,500,000 for the rifles, upwards of 20,000,000
for the cavalry, 16,000,000 for the artillery,
and 18,000,000 for the carabineers. The
pay of a general is 15,000 lire per annum,
lieutenant-general 12,000, major-general 9,000,
with forage, and an indemnity for table-money,
according to circumstances. A colonel of the
infantry or rifles draws 6,000 lire a year, a
lieutenant-colonel 5,000, a major 4,000, a
captain on an average 2,850, a lieutenant
1,800, and an ensign 1,600 lire.
B
In the cavalry and artillery the pay is some-
what better, and the carabinieri are the best
paid of all. The infantry soldier of the first
class receives daily 45 centimes, the second
class soldier 40 centimes, besides bread and
wood. The cavalry soldier and artilleryman
receives 45 centimes as his daily pay. A
mounted carabineer is paid 2 lire 45 centimes,
and a foot carabineer 1 lira 55 centimes per
diem.
The annual contingent for recruits in the
Kingdom of Italy is fixed at 45,000.
CHAPTER XLIX.
LIFE OF THE SIEUR CAMILLE BENSO, COUNT OF CAVOUR.
FAMILY OF COUNT CAVOUR. -BIRTH: EARLY YOUTH. -ENTERS THE MILITARY ACADEMY.-IS A PAGE AT
COURT.-ABANDONS THE MILITARY PROFESSION.-AN AGRICULTURIST.-A POLITICAL STUDENT.
VISITS ENGLAND.-LONG RESIDENCE IN ENGLAND.-RETURNS TO TURIN.-A JOURNALIST.-
MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER.-MINISTER.
THIS memoir of Count Cavour must, as a
matter of course, be brief in proportion to the
memoirs given in the pages of this work of
the other Liberators of Italy, because his
public administrative career was of short dura-
tion, and his acts do not admit of the detail,
nor involve the startling and exciting inci-
dents which fill up the life of the sovereign
and the soldier; besides, in writing the life
of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel, the most
remarkable of Cavour's services to Italy were
necessarily noticed.
Count Cavour inherited his name and title
from one of the proudest and most illiberal
families of the Sardinian aristocracy. The
family was held in profound dislike by the mass
"With large thoughts humane
To help a people's need."-MRS. Barrett Browning.
of the people. The Cavours were Piedmontese
of considerable antiquity, but were probably of
Savoyard descent. With a high and proud
pedigree, the father of the great Cavour in-
herited much wealth, and set his son an
example of haughtiness, reserve, and aristo-
cratic contempt for all who were not of noble
lineage; and to the end of his days the great
statesman retained these qualities, in a suffi-
cient degree at all events to appear through
the learning, experience, and knowledge of
mankind, and the large and liberal views
which he had acquired.
-
The subject of our memoir was born in
1810, on the 10th of August. The Princess
Maria Paulo Borghese, sister to the Emperor

Metzmacher.del 1860
wwww****
COUNT CAVOUR.
LONDON JAMES S VIRTUE
E. Stodart, sculp
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
407
1
I
Napoleon, was his godmother.
second son.
The education of his childhood was com-
mitted to the Abbé Frézet, known to literature
in France and Italy, and was intended for the
profession of arms. His aristocratic ten-
dencies, and his devotion to the house of
Savoy, were fostered by his tutor.
At fourteen years of age he was placed in
the Royal Military Academy at Turin, which
he reluctantly entered, having no disposition
for military studies. Nevertheless, he attracted
the notice of professors and pupils by his dili-
gence and ability. It does not appear, how-
ever, that they formed any high estimate of his
qualifications for military life, for the superiors
of the academy recommended him to the court
as a page. At court he was deemed unsuitable
for the office, and ultimately dismissed, a
striking illustration of how little the future
great man may be valued in his youth. Who
would have thought that the little page, too
proudly erect in thought and manner for the
post, would become the wily diplomatist, mov-
ing great alliances and revolutions, and the
able minister directing the destinies of the
very court from which he was dismissed?
Probably at few periods of his after life did
Cavour feel so happy as when dismissed from
attendance upon the court. He loved it not;
he regarded it as an idleness and a sort of
ignominy. He lost the countenance of the
king, the respect of the high aristocracy, and the
confidence and approval of his family. Young
as he was he proved that he had a mind of his
own, for his exclamation upon leaving the court
was, "I deem myself a lucky fellow in having
shaken off my mule's burden." He became an
earnest and active student, especially selecting
for pursuit, history, ethnography, etymology,
mathematics, and general literature. The
astronomer Plana took much pains in direct-
,
He was a
ing his mathematical studies, and gave him
credit for having a better talent for mathe-
matics than any other of his pupils.
His attainments, and the proofs of genius
afforded by him, did not conciliate his family
and connections; they believed that he would
never shine as a courtier or dazzle as a
cavalier; they despised his inferior tastes, as
they regarded them, and lamented the gloom
which had fallen upon his prospects.
Before he attained the age of twenty he left
the military academy where his studies had
been conducted, obtaining rank as a lieutenant
of engineers. In his new position his reading
was kept up with zest and industry. The more
extended were his attainments the less he
liked the military profession. He regarded it
as narrow, tending to limit his scope of action.
and contract his mind. The authority of his
father was sternly wielded, and the young
engineer was obliged to wear the gay trappings
which he loathed. As, however, it became
noised abroad that young Cavour was a liberal,
his father became convinced that there was no
hope for him in the army, and allowed him to
give up a calling to which his distaste was so
strong.
He now added agriculture to the number of
his studies, and another to the previously
existing grounds of contempt entertained for
him. The farmers, labourers, and gentry all
laughed at his agricultural experiments, which
they considered to be the whims of an odd
and eccentric young man.
Experiencing obstructions in his agricultural
reforms, he directed his study to political
economy, eagerly reading the treatises and
speeches of the leading members of the
English school. Politics, and especially the
politics of Italy, and the political relations of
Italy to Europe, next engrossed his mind.
It was for a third time his painful fate to
408
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
7
thwart his father, who had an insurmountable taking. The count's pen was also brought
objection to his son's going abroad. Young into requisition for the national advancement
Cavour determined upon seeing England, and
of his country. His contributions to the press
studying her literature, science, history, and on agricultural and economical subjects were
institutions. He succeeded in thoroughly very valuable. He found something better to
understanding a country which so few gifted do than court attendance or military display.
foreigners comprehend. Probably no man in He had the happy faculty of knowing what
England in his day was more conversant with he could do, and the courage and energy to
English history, the history of English politics, do it.
the genius of English poetry, and the habits
and individual characteristics of English public
men, than young Cavour became while living
in London. His life in the British capital was
marked by his old studious ways; he resisted
temptations to pleasure, valued time as the
greatest treasure, and set himself with prompt
and eager industry to complete his purpose
of knowing England and the English. He
remained nearly ten years in this country,
returning to Turin in 1842. He had witnessed
great changes, material and legislative, during
his residence in the British metropolis.
Various great reforms had been effected under
his eyes without bloodshed, and were matured
by the moral resolution and persistence of the
people. He learned lessons from these facts
which he never forgot, and which Italy will
have good cause for ever to remember.
The Societa Agraria, of which Cavour was
the mainspring, soon became a centre of useful
action for all the enlightened and liberal men
of eminence in Piedmont; its influence ex-
tended to all social questions, and eventually
to those which were political. Hence the
feudalists and the clericals thwarted the
society, and assailed with vituperation its
leading members. Cavour wrote powerful
articles in the public journals, influencing
public opinion.
On his return to Piedmont, the future pre-
mier found that the great events which had
transpired out of Italy had acted upon the
heart and mind of the Italian people. The
upper classes had become more concerned for
the lower, and all classes were more national,
and had acquired a more independent spirit.
The government and the Jesuits made war
against all freedom of thought and progress;
but nevertheless, the mind of Italy was moving
onward. One of his first objects was to found
a great agricultural society, and the king was
so influenced by the intelligence shown by the
young reformer, that he facilitated his under-
-
Charles Albert was now king; and as events.
in Italy ripened for revolution, he thought it
expedient to make concessions, or was per-
suaded to do so; his previous conduct and
temper were not such as to inspire the hope
that he had either enlarged his views or acquired
a love of freedom. As a policy by which Sar-
dinia might acquire territory in Italy, Charles
Albert favoured constitutionalism. Cavour
always kept in view his English studies and
experiences. He might at that time be called
a moderate Tory, or perhaps a high Whig; but
for absolute government on the one hand, or
democracy on the other, he had no favour.
He identified himself in journalistic labours,
especially in the columns of Il Risorgimento,
with several men who afterwards became his
colleagues and instruments in official life,
such as the Chevalier Buoncompagni, Count
Santa Rosa, &c., &c. In Il Risorgimento,
the English constitution was constantly held
up to the Italians as a model, and the healthy
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
409
When the events of 1848 burst upon Europe
and Italy, King Charles Albert was in doubt
what course to adopt. Cavour was the first
man of note in Turin who boldly took up the
word Constitution, then supposed to be only a
cry of the democrats of Genoa and other pro-
vincial cities of radical character. Count Santa
Rosa, it is alleged at Cavour's instance, urged
upon the civic body of Turin to petition for a
constitution. Men of high rank were mem-
bers of that body, and it was thus regarded as
very conservative in its spirit; nevertheless,
by a large majority, its members resolved on
the petition. This resolution of the muni-
cipality took place February 5; in two days
afterwards Charles Albert proclaimed the con-
stitution. The course taken by Cavour greatly
extended his influence among the people, and
made his power felt in the highest places in
the land.
spirit, as it was represented, of English poli- and Italy, and he foretold probable ruin as
tical parties was commended.
ance.
the result. He urged that no movement
should be made until an alliance with one of '
the great Powers was formed, and that all
sacrifices should be made to secure that alli-
England was the nation to which he
pointed.
He exclaimed on one occasion, "My
confidence in England rests on the honourable
character of the statesmen to whose hands the
helm of government is entrusted-on Lord
John Russell, the Premier-on Lord Palmer-
ston, the Foreign Minister. Lord John Russell,
I say it without reserve, at the risk of being
charged with Anglomania, is the most liberal
minister in Europe.
""
The "war of Independence" followed, fatal to
Charles Albert, and, for a time, fatal to Pied-
mont and to Italy. At this juncture, the first
electoral college of Turin chose Cavour to
represent it in the Chamber of Deputies, an
honour due to his exertions to obtain the con-
stitution. This enabled him to offer, in his
place as a legislator, his opinions on the
grave events of the day. His speeches were
remarkable for wisdom, energy of thought,
and precision of expression. He was, however,
regarded by the people as less liberal in the
Chamber of Deputies than he had been in the
columns of Il Risorgimento.
It is remarkable that Cavour then recom-
mended the very policy by which, ten years
later, he took so important a part in Italian
liberation. He declared that Charles Albert,
by placing himself at the head of the Italian
movement, endangered the safety of Piedmont
In proportion as the Chamber and the nation
became vehemently democratic and bent on
war, Cavour took a conservative position; the
former ringleader of the liberals was now the
constant and determined resister of the policy
of the "Left."
of the "Left." Accordingly, in 1849, the
electoral college which he had represented
rejected him, and in his stead a professor of
the university, a member of the party of action,
returned in his place.
Gioberti, a popular leader, was borne into
the chief position in the ministry. Cavour
wrote against him and his administration
continually, denouncing democracy with a
violence which it might have been supposed
would have endangered his life.
Novara came, and with it the ruin of Charles
Albert. Victor Emmanuel reigned in his stead.
As shown on former pages the Marquis
d'Azeglio became the minister, eventually to
be joined and supplanted by Cavour. At the
close of 1849 he was, on the dissolution of the
Chamber, re-elected by his former constituency
as a ministerial candidate.
In March, his speech upon the Licardi Bill
(referred to in the Life of Victor Emmanuel)
restored the count, in some measure, to his
*
3 G
410
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
}
?
former popularity. Released from his previous
apprehensions of the democratic tendencies of
the Chamber, his conservatism again abated,
and he became a sort of Russell Whig. He
was accused by every party except the extreme
democratic as a tergiversator and apostate, as
having sided with each party only to abandon
it in the crisis of his fortunes. In his defences
he constantly had the examples of English
party leaders before his mind, and urged them
upon the assembly, which was only indifferently
acquainted with what he so well knew. On one
occasion he thus repelled such an accusation :-
100
"The Duke of Wellington," said he, in an
improvised speech, "whose energy and decision
of character nobody will deny, parted company
with his political friends in 1829, that he
might carry the emancipation of the Catholics,
which was resisted by the whole Anglican
Church as inopportune, and by means of this
reform, he avoided, in 1830, a religious war in
Ireland. Lord Grey, in 1832, broke with a
great number of his adherents, and had suffi-
cient address to persuade both the Crown and
the aristocracy to concede parliamentary re-
form, which was deemed by many not only
inopportune, but even revolutionary. But by
means of this reform Lord Grey saved England
from all sorts of political agitation in subse-
quent years. A still more modern and more
splendid example, lastly, is that furnished us
by Sir Robert Peel in 1846. He succeeded in
bringing about a great economical reform, in
spite of the resistance of the entire landed
aristocracy. That he might complete this
reform, Sir Robert Peel had the courage to
estrange himself from his former political
friends, and to lay himself open to an accusa-
tion which may well wound to the quick a
high-minded statesman-viz., the charge of
apostacy and betrayal of his party. Yet Sir
Robert Peel was richly compensated by the
-
consciousness that the repeal of the Corn
Laws had saved England from the socialist
movement which was then beginning to spread
all over Europe, and which was hoping to find
the most inflammable materials for its purpose
upon English soil."
The death of Santa Rosa brought Cavour
into D'Azeglio's ministry, as was necessarily
recorded in the foregoing pages on the life of
Victor Emmanuel, where the progress of Cavour
as a minister has of course, to some extent,
been before the reader.
As an administrator he was more noticeable
than as a debater, although in some of his
speeches he showed marvellous judgment of
character, and especially of the character of
English politicians. The following sketch by
him of the political and intellectual character of
Sir Robert Peel is a masterpiece. It was uttered
in a speech during a sitting of the Sardinian
senate, in the year 1857, when sufficient time
had elapsed for foreign statesmen, at all events,
to form a fair judgment of the man, unbiassed
by the interests of their respective states. Count
Cavour had been taunted with having expressed
himself in very high terms of Sir Robert's
commercial and financial policy, while he at the
same time refused, in many respects, to accept
him as an exemplar. He, consequently ad-
dressed to the senate the following remarkable
speech:-
"I entertain the highest admiration for that
statesman; I believe that few men have ren-
dered greater services to mankind than he has.
Yet I do not believe that Sir Robert Peel was
always infallible in his political career. It is
my opinion that Sir Robert Peel would have
left a much more illustrious name behind him,
if, instead of having been compelled by circum-
stances to introduce reforms, he himself had
originated them. I think that Sir Robert
Peel would have left behind him a fame

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
411
•
unequalled in history, if, instead of proposing
the emancipation of the Catholics in 1829, he
had proposed it in 1825. I think that his
name would have eclipsed all those of ancient
and modern statesmen if the reform of the
corn laws had been initiated in 1840-a good
harvest year-instead of being passed in con-
sequence of the famine which desolated Ireland,
and instead of being in some measure a conse-
quence of the potato disease. In fact, if Sir
Robert Peel had been the originator of reforms,
he would at his death have left to his friends a
political inheritance far different from that
which he bequeathed to them. If Sir Robert
Peel had associated his name and his whole.
career with successive reforms, there would be
no need of recording at the present time a
strange fact which has taken place in England
-namely, that a party, consisting of eminent
men, including the most eloquent speaker in
parliament, and the most able legislators, has
been completely routed at the late elections.
And this, gentlemen, is the fate of parties who
allow themselves to be led by public opinion,
and who wait to the last moment to carry out
reforms which they have not the courage to
introduce. I trust that the senate, convinced
of this truth, will give its support to the
present government, which, while following
the example of Sir Robert Peel, nevertheless
deviates from the course he adopted by making
itself the originator of reforms, not waiting to
grant them to any popular pressure, nor to the
pressure of unforeseen circumstances.
As an administrative reformer he was pro-
minent, and he invigorated the timid although
enlightened government of D'Azeglio in every
department.
His next course of usefulness was in favour
of free trade. He determined to adopt the
policy of Sir Robert Peel, avoiding those errors
already referred to in the speech by which
1
Cavour has left on record his analysis of Peel's
character and policy.
The free trade proposals of Cavour were
opposed as bitterly as the like measures were
in England, and the count had to maintain an
arduous struggle, at which he gained at in-
tervals a series of parliamentary victories. He
proposed treaties of commerce with England,
France, the Zollverein, and Belgium. The
dominions of Victor Emmanuel were nearly
convulsed by the agitation which the feudal
party, the priests, and portions of the trades
raised on these commercial treaties.
At the close of the session of 1851, Sar-
dinia's credit was greatly improved through the
reforms which were mainly carried by the tact
and statesmanship of Cavour, so that a loan of
three millions sterling was obtained.
In 1852 a treaty of commerce was established
with Austria, in pursuance of the stipulations
of Novara, which had not been carried out.
The protectionists offered violent resistance,
which found support in the hatred to Austria
which pervaded the Piedmontese nation.
The coup d'état of Louis Napoleon in France.
excited great indignation in Piedmont, and the
press abused Louis Napoleon in a manner
which it was unlikely so powerful a person
would overlook. Cavour introduced laws of
repression which were so unpopular as nearly
to drive him from power. His object simply
was to ward off from Sardinia the responsibility
and danger which a free press might bring
upon it by daily and bitter abuse of neigh-
bouring and powerful rulers and nations.
Cavour now seemed to seek the popular
element, and to oppose and confront the
"Right," or reactionists, who, encouraged by
events in Paris, boldly denounced the consti-
tution, and demanded its overthrow. These
demands were supported with marvellous
unanimity by the clergy.
412
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
During the session of 1852 it became obvious
that Cavour and D'Azeglio could not agree;
the cabinet was broken up, and for five months
the count was out of office.
During the period of his official retirement
he visited Paris, and long conferences took
place between him and Napoleon, in which it
is believed the latter received impressions
favourable to Cavour and to his country,
which proved of lasting advantage.
On the 4th of November, a new ministry
was formed under the leadership of Cavour.
From the time Cavour became the head of the
government until he resigned office, in 1859,
he was compelled to sustain continued party
conflicts in the assembly. On the one hand
the reactionists attacked him, and on the other
the ultra liberals. After the French coup d'état
he was far more liberal in political creed, and far
more concessive to the extreme "Left" than he
had ever before been in or out of office. This
caused great offence, and bitter reclamations
on the part of the reactionists; his former
speeches were quoted as inconsistent with
those which he then uttered, and he was
denounced in the Chamber by the leaders of
the opposition as a man without political
principle. The way in which he answered
these attacks, and defended his own con-
sistency, discloses the peculiar character of his
mind, and offers an explanation of his con-
duct not otherwise conjecturable. The junction
between the Right centre of the chamber, to
which Cavour belonged, and the Left centre,
which was led by Ratazzi, was the subject of
animadversion on the part of Count Revel,
leader of the Right (or, as in England it would
be described, Tory party) :-
"I declare emphatically, before the whole
country, that there is no act of my political
life, which has now lasted many years, which
I recall with greater satisfaction than that so
severely censured by Signor Revel. I may be
deceiving myself; but I cherish the settled
conviction that this act has had for its result
the safe and sure progress of our government
in that path of well-ordered freedom on which
we entered when our brave king, Victor
Without
Emmanuel, ascended the throne.
entering into the details of that transaction, I
will make the chevalier acquainted with the
real motives which impelled me at that period
to bring about a change in the position of
parties. As long as the republican government
in France remained standing, as long as the
fate of that nation seemed dubious, and the
spectre of the revolution had to be encountered,
I could safely take for granted that the reaction
at home would not attempt to disturb our
constitutional liberty. But when, after the
2nd of December, the cause of order seemed
no longer in danger in France, when the red
ghost had vanished, I then thought it my
duty to open my eyes to the fact, that from
that day the life of our constitution was in
worse peril from the reactionary party, than it
had previously been in from the revolutionary
faction. For this reason I deemed the erection
of a great liberal party not only quite proper,
but even necessary, indispensable; and for
this purpose I appealed to the patriotic feel-
ings of all those who are agreed as to the
great principles of liberty and progress, and
only differ from one another in regard to
subordinate questions. And I think that by
so acting-my opponents compel me to speak
out-I deserved well of my country; for I
succeeded in planting our constitutional
standard too high for the reaction ever to hope
to be able to surmount it."
It is not necessary to enter minutely into
the political proceedings of Cavour during the
period which intervened to the proclamation of
war against Russia. The policy the noble
I
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
413
premier intended to pursue on any given ques-
tion, domestic or foreign, financial, educational,
commercial, or ecclesiastical, could be foreseen
by the changes he made in his cabinet, and
the arrangements in the exterior ministry,
which introduced men whose political faith
and practice were well known to the country,
or at all events to the Chamber. Many of these
men were destined to render great services to
Italy, and many of them proved to be little
better than mere instruments, which even the
count did not find it always possible to use
efficiently.
The ministry of the 4th of November, 1852,
was thus constituted :-Count Cavour took,
together with the premiership, finance, com-
merce, and agriculture; La Marmora, war;
Paleocapa, public works; Count San Martino,
the interior; Buoncompagni, justice; Cibrario,
education and General Dabormida, foreign
affairs. All of them enjoyed the confidence of
the moderate liberals. Their names were in
themselves a ministerial programme. Modifi-
cations of various kinds were afterwards made
in this cabinet. They were, for the most part,
caused by personal reasons only. On the 27th
of October, 1853, Count Cavour, in order to
consolidate the fusion of the Right and Left
centres, entrusted the President of the Chamber,
Urbano Ratazzi, with the department of jus-
tice, in Buoncompagni's place. On the 10th
of January, 1855, Count Cavour himself took
the foreign department, instead of Dabormida,
and at the same time retained for awhile the
portfolio of finance. By this act he wished to
make known that he took upon himself the
entire responsibility of Sardinia's joining the
Anglo-French alliance. In April, 1855, in
consequence of the opposition offered by the
bishops to the law for the dissolution of con-
vents, the ministry resigned. The Sardinian
Expedition Corps was then preparing to set sail
for the Crimea. The king charged General
Durando with the formation of a new cabinet,
but he failed; and on the 31st of May, 1855,
Count Cavour was again premier. The Count
took, together with the premiership, the
finances; Cibrario, foreign affairs; Ratazzi,
the interior; Durando, war and the navy;
Deforesta, justice; Lanza, education; the
engineer Paleocapa, public works. Cibrario,
unequal to his post, retired, and the premier
took, in addition to the portfolio of finance,
that of foreign affairs as well. In June, 1856,
General Durando was replaced by General
La Marmora in the administration of the war
department, and at the end of 1857 Bartolomeo
Bona received the portfolio of public works in
place of Paleocapa, who resigned on account
of disease of the eyes. On the 16th of Jan-
uary, 1858, Ratazzi relinquished the ministry
of the interior, having by his imprudence
repeatedly put the existence of the cabinet in
peril. He still retained the confidence of his
former colleagues. Count Cavour, who had
held the portfolios of finance and foreign
affairs, now took the interior in Ratazzi's
place, and gave finance to Lanza, the minister
of education, who held it until October, 1858,
when it was assumed by Cadorna. The premier
now held the two great branches of admi-
nistration, home and foreign affairs.
The great difficulty of the government was
the regulation of the finance. So many dis-
turbing causes affected the income and expen-
diture, that it may be truly said Cavour was
often at his wits' end. Loans would only
increase the national burden without any relief
to its difficulties. Taxation alone afforded hope
of relief, and that the people could ill bear.
The resource, however, was new and increased
taxes, to which the people submitted with
patriotism and cheerfulness. The Sardinians
are the most tax-paying people in all Italy,
¡
414
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and if patriotism is to be judged by the
willingness with which heavy exactions for the
good of the state are borne, Piedmont must
stand high up on the roll amongst the various
provincial sections of Italy. It required all
Cavour's genius to surmount the financial
obstructions to his sovereign's glory and the
people's good. His genius equalled the occa-
sion; but, after all, the weak point of Victor
CHAPTER L.
•
EARNESTNESS OF THE CAVOUR ADMINISTRATION.-NATIONAL DEBTS AND DIFFICULTIES.-DIPLOMACY
OF THE WAR IN ITALY.-ILLNESS AND DEATH OF CAVOUR.-HIS PERSONAL AND INTELLECTUAL
PECULIARITIES.
"Colui che la (l'Italia) difese con viso aperto." *—Inscription on a Medallion presented to Count Cavour
THE vast public works and improvements, the
cholera, the vine disease, and other calamities,
caused Piedmont to be burdened heavily, nor
could the fiscal talents of Cavour prevent such
a result. When the war with Russia began,
a system of borrowing was initiated, which has
obstructed the progress of Victor Emmanuel's
people. Cavour commenced this system in
order to promote the ambitious projects which
he cherished for his sovereign and his native
country. The revenue of Piedmont, however,
considerably increased, apart from any aug-
mentations of taxes, arising from the develop-
ment of the resources of the country, brought
about by Cavour's free trade policy.
Emmanuel's government, not only during
Cavour's lifetime, but ever since, has been the
disproportion between the resources of his
dominions, upon whatever system made avail-
able, and the public expenditure. Whatever
may have been the moral effect of the alliance
with France and England against Russia, that,
with every other change, brought new respon-
| sibilities and burdens upon the nation.
One measure was a pet project with the
Count, which he found of difficult execution-
that of making Spezzio the naval depôt of the
kingdom instead of Genoa. This offended the
* To him who defends the cause of Italy with open face.
-
Genoese and excited some foreign jealousy.
Spezzio was regarded as likely to become the
Sebastopol of the Mediterranean. Napoleon I.
regarded it as a place of the greatest import-
ance, and at one time purposed to make it one of
the strongest naval places in the world. It was
not until May, 1857, that he succeeded in bring-
ing his bill through the Legislative Assembly,
and soon after the works were begun.
The alliance with England and France
against Russia was successively noticed in its
details and results in the Life of Victor Em-
manuel. It is, therefore, here only requisite
to remark, that Count Cavour was the soul of
that alliance, although the idea arose with the
British government.
After the peace with Russia, the breach
between Sardinia and Austria continued to
widen (as has been shown on former pages),
until at last it became evident that there must
be war.
Count Cavour conducted, as Foreign
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
415
Minister, all the diplomatic correspondence,
and directed, as premier and chief adviser of
the crown, the royal decisions. Meanwhile,
the count lost no chance of courting the
favour of Napoleon III.
During the various complications which
arose out of the terms of peace with Russia,
such as the "navigation of the Danube," the
"rectification of the Russian frontier," the
"Principalities," &c., &c., Austria was almost
always opposed to the policy of France,
whereas Cavour backed the French Emperor
against the Kaiser invariably, and with address.
In the summer of 1858, Napoleon and
Cavour met at the baths of Plombières, and
there established a compact to adopt a com-
mon policy towards Austria. Russia certainly
afforded a moral support.
The year 1859 opened upon the hostile pur-
poses and words of the Emperor Napoleon
towards Austria. Hostilities soon began; and
Sardinia was ready, through the sagacious
policy, pertinacious resolution, and indefati-
gable industry of Cavour, to take her part in
the struggle.
The world was startled by another develop-
ment of Count Cavour's policy-the marriage
of the king's youthful daughter, Clotilda, to
Prince Napoleon, cousin of the Emperor. On
the 23rd of January General Niel went through
the formality of betrothal as the prince's repre-
sentative, and on the 30th the marriage was
solemnised at Turin amidst great splendour.
On the 24th the Moniteur contained the state-
ment that the engagement had lasted a year,
but it is certain that the matter was first
broached at Plombières.
On the 4th of February Cavour directed a
despatch to the Sardinian representatives in
foreign states, declaring the necessity of Pied-
mont arming in self-defence, and appealing to
the justice of Europe for a favourable judg-
ment upon the course his Sardinian Majesty
was about to take.
As war was resolved upon, various measures
had to be submitted by Count Cavour to the
Sardinian Chambers. The reactionists there
favoured Austria and opposed the policy of
their own government. The English cabinet
of the day was favourable to Austria, and
jealous of the close alliance of France and
Sardinia. This circumstance was used with
much effect by the opponents of Cavour. His
power in debate was exemplified on the occa-
sion. The following translation of his reply
will enable the readers to form their own
opinions of the parliamentary abilities of
Cavour :-
"Our policy, gentlemen," said Count de
Cavour, "has never been provocative, but it
has always been national and Italian. We
have never arrogated to ourselves the right of
inciting to war, but we have always thought
we have a right, not only to develop in the
country the principles of liberty and nationality
on which the institutions given by Charles
Albert repose, but also to make ourselves in
the face of the whole of Europe the inter-
preters of the wants, the sufferings, and the
hopes of Italy. Our policy has not changed
since the congress of Paris; it has not become
more aggressive, and I may dare my honour-
able opponents to bring forward any instance
to the contrary. We certainly, on our return
from Paris, thought it necessary to provide in
a more effectual manner for the defence of the
state, and we called for the erection of the
fortifications of Alessandria. This was done
because everything that had taken place in
Paris convinced us of the impossibility of
obtaining, by pacific and diplomatic means,
the complete solution of the difficulties of the
Italian question. In doing that, gentlemen,
we did not depart from the path of legality,
416
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
nor were we guilty of a really provocative act.
Diplomatic relations with Austria were after-
wards broken off. I shall not remind you of
the motives which led to that act; it will be
sufficient to say that the initiative did not pro-
ceed from us. We cannot, I repeat, there-
fore be accused of being either inconsiderate
or provocative. I must also be allowed to say
that our conduct has never been regarded in
that light by the other Powers of Europe. As
my colleague, the Minister of Finance, pointed
out in his report, without any fact having
taken place, either with us or in any other
part of Europe, the Austrian government
announced that it should send a fresh corps
d'armée into Italy, and that announcement
was followed by the execution of it with a
rapidity and determination which seemed to
remind us of the warlike movements of the
first Empire. For several days all the ordinary
transports of the railway were monopolised by
the government; the regular traffic was sus-
pended on the lines from Vienna to Trieste,
and from Venice to Milan, and nothing was
seen on them but soldiers, horses, and military
stores of all kinds. Those troops were not
stationed in the large cities, where the possi-
bility of popular movements might have been
anticipated; but, on the contrary, along our
frontier, and in towns where no popular tumult
was to be dreaded. In a word, Austria as-
sumed, with regard to us, an attitude not
defensive, but truly offensive, whilst, I repeat,
nothing had taken place with us; whilst we had
made no movement of troops, and whilst there
was a complete truce in diplomacy, as some
time had elapsed since Piedmont had occasion
to call the attention of Europe to the affairs of
Italy. It appears to me, therefore, that we
are authorised in loudly proclaiming before
parliament, in the face of the country and of
Europe, that if there has been any provoca-
tion, it is not on the part of Piedmont, but on
that of Austria. I certainly am not ignorant
that Austria, in her secret communications to
the various cabinets, and in her diplomatic
statements, protested her love for peace, and
her respect for the institutions of Piedmont.
But, gentlemen, would it be the first time that
warlike intentions have been concealed under
pacific professions? Every one who hears me
is too well versed in history to entertain such
an opinion. Prudence, therefore, requires that
we should provide energetically for every
eventuality.
eventuality. The ministry did all that was
within the limits of the executive power, and
concentrated on the frontiers of the state all
the forces that were disposable, and it now
comes to request from you the means of pre-
paring effectually for the defence of the
country, according to the exigencies of its
honour and of its most sacred interests.
Against these arguments may be objected the
opinion manifested by the English government,
and the fact that the English ministers, and
the principal speakers who took part in the
discussion on the address, expressed opinions
favourable to peace, and contrary to the pre-
tended projects of Piedmont to enter on
an aggressive war. I do not conceal from
myself the bearing of this argument. No one
attaches greater weight than I to the opinions
of the statesmen of England.
From my
infancy I have respected that country, and it
is, perhaps, from it that I have drawn the
greater part of the political ideas which have
guided me in my career. I esteem and respect.
England, which I consider as one of the first
Powers in the world, and I love her because I
think her to be the fortress where liberty has
found and may still find an impregnable asylum.
I have always entertained every possible predi-
lection for the alliance with that country, and
I have been even reproached with Anglomania.
I
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
417
Let the acts of our policy be examined, and
you will
see how dear the alliance with
England has been to us; and if you look at
our commercial policy, you will see that it is
to our interest to cultivate the friendship of
that great and noble nation. At the Congress
of Paris, England gave us her powerful sup-
port, and manifested the same views as our-
selves with regard to several points of the
Italian question; and even now, if she does
not quite share our opinions, she expresses
herself in a manner which shows her friend-
ship for us. Unfortunately, since 1856, Eng-
land has considered it for the interest of her
policy to draw towards Austria. This fact
will, perhaps, modify her tendencies on the
Italian question, at least as regards Northern
Italy. The cries of suffering which are raised
at Naples, at Rome, and at Bologna will, how
ever, still be heard with equal sympathy on
the Thames; unfortunately, the cries and
groans which come from Milan and Venice are
intercepted by the Austrian Alps. This is, I
do not deny, very serious, but I am not dis-
couraged by it. I have confidence in the good
sense and in the generous sentiments of the
English nation. I know by experience, that
with the English public the cause of justice
and of truth always triumphs. I know that
principles of liberty always find in that great
country ardent and eloquent defenders, and
that when a cause is clearly and candidly laid
before that great nation, the probability of a
good result is on the side of reason, progress,
and civilisation. The struggle may at times
be long, but success is certain in the end. I
cannot believe that the illustrious statesman
who is now at the head of the councils of the
crown in England, he who had the good
fortune of associating his illustrious name in
the cause of the emancipation of the negroes,
would close his brilliant career by rendering
*
himself the accomplice of those who would
condemn Italy to eternal slavery. I think,
gentlemen, I have now clearly shown you that
our policy has not been inconsiderate, nor our
acts provocative. In asking you for the means
of resistance, we have no intention of changing
that policy, nor do we wish to proceed to any
acts of provocation; but neither will we be
silent when Austria threatens, and when she
assembles armies on our frontiers. That policy,
I trust, when proclaimed in a frank and candid
manner, will receive not only your approba-
tion, but that of every man of proper feeling
in Europe. I therefore hope, gentlemen, that,
satisfied with these explanations, you will not
hesitate to give a favourable reply to our appli-
cation, and that the urn now placed on the
table of the President will prove to Europe
that, in spite of any internal dissensions, we
are unanimous when the question is to defend
not only the safety and the independence, but
also the honour of the nation."
These bold avowals of policy were received
with unbounded applause, and every friendly
allusion to England was answered by the House
in cheers, after the English fashion.
The interference of the British government
to prevent a war in Italy was persistent; and
the Italians generally supposed that the policy
of England, jealous of French arms, was to
serve Austria, and to restrain the demands of
Italy for redress of grievances and for unity.
The tone and temper of the British and Sar-
dinian governments may be learned from a
single despatch of Count Cavour's, one of the
ablest which he wrote. Lord Malmesbury, the
English minister for foreign affairs, undoubt-
edly sympathised with Austria, and Earl
Derby, his chief in the English cabinet, said
that no one could tell on what account the war
was waged. In this spirit Lord Malmesbury
requested the count to give the Sardinian case
叠
​3 H
418
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
L
+
at length in a despatch. This Cavour did,
dated the 1st of March, and addressed to the
Marquis d'Azeglio, the Sardinian represen-
tative in London. On the 14th of March Lord
Malmesbury made certain demands. The fol-
lowing despatch, dated the 17th of the same
month, was the Count's reply. The chief
purpose of Lord Malmesbury was, that Pied-
mont, after the example of Austria, should
give an engagement not to be the aggressive
party :-
"Turin, March 17, 1859.
"M. le Marquis,
"Sir James Hudson, in a note dated the
14th of this month, a copy of which you will
find enclosed, has asked me, in the name of
his government, if Sardinia would be disposed
to follow the example of Austria, and to
declare in a formal manner (as Count Buol,
on his part, declared Austria's intention not to
attack Piedmont, in his despatch to Count
Apponyi of the 25th January) that Sardinia
has no intention of attacking her powerful
neighbour.
"Appreciating the motives which have in-
spired such a course on the part of the cabinet
of St. James's, we do not hesitate to answer
him with the most perfect frankness, as we
have done a few days since when he asked us
to draw up a memorandum, clear and precise,
of the complaints of Italy against Austria, and
to indicate the means of applying a remedy.
"In pursuance of aggressive acts (what
other name can we give them?) committed by
Austria by the concentration of imposing
forces on the Sardinian frontier; by placing on
a war footing the army of Italy; by the con-
struction and occupation of new fortifications
on territory which does not belong to her; by
the occupation of the Legations; and by the
violation of treaties, the government of the
king, according to the law of nations, has a
right to prepare to defend herself against
Austria even by means of arms. England
implicitly acknowledged such a right when, a
short time since, through the medium of her
Minister of Foreign Affairs-by the weight of
her great authority, by the solemn means of
diplomatic action-she condemned the unjust
measures employed by Austria in sequestering
the estates of Sardinian subjects; and agreed
that, if under such circumstances the dangers
of war were prevented, it resulted from the great
moderation of the Sardinian government.*
"Accordingly, as her Britannic Majesty's
government has acknowledged the abnormal
state of Italy, and promised to Sardinia that
England would endeavour to find a remedy for
the evils complained of, the Sardinian govern-
ment, availing itself of such promises, and
reserving its liberty of action in case Austria
should abstain for the future from committing
aggressive acts, Sardinia is ready to give her
assurance that it is not her intention to attack
Austria. And she agrees on this subject to
make a declaration the same as that contained
in the despatch of Count Buol, which, in
reality, is nothing but a long and bitter accu-
sation against Sardinia and the politics of
the cabinet over which I have the honour to
preside.
**
"The speeches delivered in Parliament
explaining our policy, the despatches and cir-
culars which have been communicated to the
cabinet of St. James's, and particularly the
memorandum addressed to England and
Prussia, in the justice of which Lord Malmes-
bury entirely agrees, explain and justify our
conduct most completely. I think, therefore,
I need not on the present occasion refute one
by one the arguments which Count Buol
* In a despatch of Lord Clarendon to the Marquis d'Azeglio.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
419
employs in his despatch, wherein he represents
Sardinia as the real cause of the abnormal
condition of Italy.
"Such arguments cannot have any value.
with any impartial person who remembers the
events which have succeeded each other from
the commencement of the present year.
"The military preparations continually taken
by Austria, and pointed out in my despatch of
the 1st instant, have all preceded the justifi-
able action of the Sardinian government. The
speech from the throne at the opening of the
Sardinian parliament was only pronounced on
the 10th of January, and yet on the 3rd of the
same month a new corps d'armée was suddenly
sent to Austrian Italy.
"Our loan did not take place until after
Austria had endeavoured to negotiate a much
larger loan in London.
"Finally, if we have called out our con-
tingent, leaving our reserves at their homes, it
was not until Austria had ordered her Italian
army to be placed on a complete war footing
that we were convinced that we should find
ourselves ere long in the face of one of the
largest armies that ever crowded the soil of
Italy.
"These facts form a strange commentary
on the pacific protestations which close the
Austrian despatch, and it would be difficult to
reconcile them if, in the diplomatic note in
question, we did not find the intimate ideas of
Austria on the Italian question.
"Count Buol, after having rapidly examined,
from his point of view, the events which have
succeeded each other since 1848, finishes by
declaring that if Italy is profoundly agitated,
if the people are discontented, if the govern-
ments have done nothing to satisfy the legiti-
mate desires of their subjects, this all origi-
nates in the views and spirit of turbulence
which liberty has developed in Piedmont; in
fact, availing myself of Count Buol's words,
Through the introduction into that country
(Piedmont) of institutions which work well
when they have been developed and matured
by ages, but which do not seem to be in
accordance with the genius, traditions, and
social condition of Italy.'
"Count Buol also points out, as a principal
remedy to such a state of things (the gravity
of which he does not attempt to hide), the
united action of the great Powers, to be exer-
cised with the object of modifying the institu-
tions of Piedmont; in fact, by stifling the
liberty of Piedmont-Lombardy, Venice, and
the other States of the Peninsula would
become again tranquil.
-
"Without admitting such a conclusion, and
being convinced that the destruction of the
liberal institutions of Piedmont, instead of
assuring peace, would-the Italians being re-
duced to despair-result in revolution, still we
do not hesitate to acknowledge there is much
truth in the thought which inspired this part
of the despatch of the Austrian minister.
"The contrast presented by Piedmont with
the provinces under the dominion of Austria
is too striking not to produce a profound irri-
tation in Austria. The example of Piedmont
proving, contrary to the assertion of Count
Buol, that the Italians are susceptible of a
liberal and progressive régime, makes the mili-
tary system of Austria more hateful to the
people of the Italian peninsula. The corporal
punishments, the ever augmenting taxation,
the fatal financial measures, and the abandon-
ment to the clergy of the rights of the state,
make the contrast more obvious.
GA
-
66 'We acknowledge, therefore, that the liberty
of Piedmont is a danger and menace for
Austria. According to Austria, there are
only two things to do-to destroy the liberal
institutions of Italy, or to keep up her domi-
420
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY
nion over all Italy to prevent contagion from
spreading over the other states of the penin-
sula which have not enough strength at their
disposal for suppressing the voice of the people.
It is the second alternative which Austria has
embraced, waiting the later arrival, and by
indirect action, the realisation of the first
indicated means.
"Austria, up to the present moment, has
succeeded, by secret treaties with Parma,
Modena, and Tuscany, and by the indefinite
occupation of the Romagna (which is not now
about to cease, according to the declarations of
Vienna and Rome), and by the considerable
fortifications she has so constructed, in making
herself mistress of Central Italy, and thus
binding Piedmont with a circle of iron.
"It is against such a state of things, which
is not justified by the treaties of Vienna, that
Sardinia has not ceased to protest for many
years, calling for the intervention and support
of the great Powers who signed the treaties
of 1815.
"Such a state of things has for a long time
constituted a threatening danger to Piedmont,
aggravated of late by extraordinary armaments
and other aggressive acts on the part of
Austria, which have forced the government of
the king to adopt defensive measures, and call
the contingents under arms.
"It is proposed that this state of things
should cease, that Austrian dominion in Italy
should enter within the limits formally stipu-
lated by treaties; that Austria should disarm,
and that Sardinia, whilst deploring the
unhappy fate of the population on the other
side of the Ticino, should confine her efforts,
as England has often recommended her to do,
towards a pacific propaganda calculated more
and more to enlighten public opinion in Europe
on the Italian question and to prepare the
elements for a future solution.
ت.
"But so long as our neighbours group round
them and against us all the States of Italy
which border on us, and whilst they can freely
march their troops on the banks of the Po and
up to the Apennines; so long as they can hold
Piacenza (transformed into a fortress of the
first order), continually threatening our fron-
tier, it will be impossible for us to remain
defenceless in the face of the provoking and
armed attitude of Austria.
“The government of her Britannic Majesty
is too enlightened and too loyal not to admit
that we cannot pursue any other line of conduct
without betraying our rights, without offending
ou
our honour, whatever may be our desires to
dissipate the clouds which threaten the peace
of the world.
"I request you, M. le Marquis, to read and
give a copy of this despatch to Lord Malmes-
bury, and I avail myself, &c. &c.
(Signed)
"CAVOUR."
On the day upon which this despatch was
written, Count Balabine, the Russian ambas-
sador at Vienna, made a proposal for a Euro-
pean congress, to which a preliminary assent
was given by the Powers. Count Cavour
claimed for Sardinia a seat in this assembly as
the representative of Italy.
Austria was not sincere, and indeed France
and Italy preferred the appeal to arms.
Before the month of March expired Cavour
had a personal interview with the Emperor at
Paris, and returned to Turin the most popular
man in Italy, excepting Garibaldi and also the
king. That Cavour had resolved on war
before his interview with the Emperor is proved
by the executive orders he gave before setting
out upon his journey, and the fact that he
signed the commissions of various agents and
generals. Conspicuous among the latter were
Garibaldi, Medici, and Cosenz.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
421
England proposed (at Austrian suggestion)
that Piedmont should disarm, France and
England guaranteeing her against invasion,
while the congress was sitting. This France,
however, did not think just, and Piedmont
spurned the idea of lying disarmed at the feet
of armed Austria, owing independence and
liberty to the protection of foreign states,
which might adopt a policy eventually hostile
to Sardinian freedom. It is wonderful that
Lord Malmesbury could ever give his sanction
to such a proposal, or that any statesmen with
English manliness could expect a brave and
noble race to submit to the like.
Cavour assembled the Chambers, and de-
manded that, during the war, the king should
have extraordinary powers. The Count pro-
vided by bill-
"Art. 1. In case of war with the Austrian
empire, the king shall be invested with all
legislative and executive powers, and shall be
able, under the ministerial responsibility, to
perform by simple royal decrees all the acts
necessary to the defence of the country and of
our institutions.
66 'Art. 2. The constitutional institutions re-
maining intangible, the king's government,
during the war, shall have the faculty to make
dispositions for the temporary limitation of
the liberty of the press and of individual
liberty."
When the war was over, the successor of
Cavour was in no hurry to return to the con-
stitutional status quo, and in consequence of
Cavour's consistent demand that it should be
restored, that ministry was broken up. The
king himself did not appear to care how the
matter went, but left his statesmen to battle
it out among themselves.
After the presentation by Austria of an
ultimatum, and its rejection by Sardinia, war
began. How it was conducted, and with what
result, have been related in the history of
Victor Emmanuel on preceding pages. The
course of Cavour himself in those transactions
was necessarily only incidentally introduced.
The purpose of Cavour, who was really the
author of that great war, was never publicly
avowed until after the battle of Magenta. Then
he put forth a diplomatic circular, boldly
claiming the deliverance of all Italy from
foreign or native tyranny. The English
government, through Lord Malmesbury, used
all its influence to prevent the union of the
duchies with the dominions of Victor Em-
manuel. Cavour maintained a controversy
with the English minister full of ready re-
source. So energetic was Lord Malmesbury's
sympathy in favour of the petty despots of
the duchies, that it became the universal
opinion in Italy, that but for English public
opinion the Derby government would have
used heavier mettle than arguments against
Victor Emmanuel.
The political circumstances after the peace
of Villafranca were related with much fulness
in our Life of Victor Emmanuel. There was
little in the personal career of Cavour during
the events which were rolled on with such
astonishing rapidity by the hand of Garibaldi,
that was not related either in the Life of Victor
Emmanuel or of the General. The least suc-
cessful portion of all Cavour's public life was
his management of the affairs of Southern
Italy after the conquest. Naples killed him.
Had he dealt fairly with Garibaldi, trusted the
honour of the hero, entered into close counsel
establishing co-operation and concord with
him, Naples would have risen from her chaos,
as the sun when it ascends above a troubled
horizon. Cavour (humanly speaking) would
have lived to serve Italy, and secure for her a
422
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!
¡
E
L
confidence in Europe, which his successors
have so nearly destroyed.
At the period of his death the state of
Naples, and the antagonism of its deputies
with Cavour and his ministry, puzzled and
intensely mortified him. He meant well to
Naples, but not so well as to Sardinia.
On the 30th May, 1861, he was seized with
a fit of shivering while dressing. He appre-
hended apoplexy, and sending for his physician,
insisted on being bled. Next day he again
insisted upon blood-letting. The following
night the bandages loosened, and he lost much
blood. Yet in the morning he transacted
business. Nigra had returned from Naples,
and he had little to communicate that tended
to soothe the mortified feelings of the great
statesman, foiled only there. His excitement
brought on a relapse. The fever did its deadly
work. He was conscious of his coming end,
and bore himself to the king, who visited him,
and to his relations and friends, with extraor-
dinary composure. Having been an excom-
municated Roman Catholic, there was some
apprehension that "the rites of the Church"
would be refused; but a friendly priest ad-
ministered those consolations so prized by
members of the Church of Rome.
•

"The crucifix was placed between the lighted
tapers, and the other mournful preparations
were made in the sick chamber for the last
religious rites. It was soon known abroad
that the solemn ceremony was about to be
performed. When the tinkling bell which
announces the approach of the Host was heard,
a murmur of uncontrolled grief rose from the
throng in the streets. The friar ascended the
broad stairs amid the chants of the attendants.
The room in which the Count lay was open, as
is the custom in Italy, to those who followed
the priest. A few of the relatives and friends
of the dying man entered. As they stood
around his bed a feeling of unutterable sorrow
came over them at the calamity about to fall
upon them and upon their country. Cavour
himself was calm and collected. Addressing
Fra Giacomo, he said in a strong voice, 'The
time for departure is come;' using the words
of one going on a journey.”
His thoughts continually wandered to Naples.
"As for the Neapolitans, purify them, purify
them!" he exclaimed. "No state of siege;
anyone could govern by a state of siege.'
"Italy," "Rome," "Venice," "Napoleon,"
were his last articulate words, before he sunk
into the lethargy which preceded the deeper
lethargy of death. On the 6th of June, sup-
ported in the arms of his niece, the Countess
Alfieri, his decease took place. A great man
had fallen in Italy, and the people mourned.
|
""
Cavour possessed great physical strength
and endurance; and he was of middle stature,
and corpulent. His gait and mien were culti-
vated and graceful, notwithstanding his heavy
frame and full appearance. His temper was
naturally irritable and violent, obstinate and
overbearing. His intellect, keen, penetrating,
restless, far-reaching, and politic. His infor-
mation was extensive on subjects not political.
He was not properly an orator. He did not
possess the glowing eloquence of a Curran,
Sheridan, or Canning, or the rhetorical artifice
and easy flowing speech of Sir Robert Peel.
It was his purpose, policy, and well-known
persistence which secured the profound atten-
tion of all whom he addressed.
His talent for business was extraordinary;
he looked after all the affairs of the state, and
the smallest details of the management of his
own vast private fortune.
-
He never married; a nephew inherits his
estates.

NAPOLEON I
LONDON VIRTUE & 0°
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
423
CHAPTER LI.
LIFE OF NAPOLEON III., EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.
RISE OF THE BONAPARTE DYNASTY: ITS FOUNDER, AND HIS PRINCIPLES.
"He that did make the earth to tremble-that did shake kingdoms."-ISAIAI.
WHATEVER may be the difficulties in doing | Rome was necessary to grace the roll of con-
justice to current history, they are much quest and give scope to the system of Napoleon.
facilitated when the event treated is obviously It is true the great Emperor declared that
a consequence of anterior times and deeds. Europe never would submit to see Russia or
This is the case in writing of the policy of any other chief European power hold Con-
Louis Napoleon. His previous history might stantinople, the key of both continents, the
have enabled the politician to predict it. The focus where eastern and western influence
history of the Bonaparte dynasty furnished should find their common centre; but it was
still more ample materials for predicting also his belief that he could effect what to
aggrandisement and war as a consequence of a others was impossible, and that such an
new French empire under the sceptre of a achievement was a part of his destiny, or, as
Bonaparte. Napoleon III. is the rebound of a still more favourite phrase of his expressed
Napoleon I. The policy of the First Napoleon it, his glory.
must necessarily be that of the Second, or, as
he calls himself, the Third. There can be no
empire of a Bonaparte in France, unless by
the recognition on the part of him who holds
the sceptre, of the origin and aims of the
founder of the dynasty. That origin was
popular suffrage and military force blended in
a manner before unknown. Those aims were
the aggrandisement of French glory, and the
revival of the Roman empire with Paris as its
capital. Not merely the empire of the west-
Europe did not bound the ambition of the
First Napoleon; he believed that the glory of a
conqueror could not be satiated by victories in
the western world; Asia was in his esteem the
grand theatre for exploit, and the gorgeous
realm of empire. He would have been willing
to divide the world for a time with Alexander
of Russia, but only for a time. He would give
up the sovereignty of the East to another,
until able to take it. Byzantium as well as
With the origin and principles of the dynasty
before us, there can be no rashness in specu-
lating upon the prospective policy of Napo-
leon III. The designation which he thought
proper to assume, "The Napoleon of Peace,”
was simply a ruse de guerre. Peace was at first
necessary to the consolidation of his throne,
but is not his policy. He has originated two
of the most terrible conflicts that have cursed
Christendom. "The empire is peace," was
an expression well adapted to lull Europe
while the Emperor prepared for war.
In the principles and policy of the first
Napoleon we must look for the solution of
whatever appears an enigma in the conduct of
the present holder of the Imperial dignity. A
sketch of his career will, therefore, aid our
readers in studying the character and pro-
ceedings of the present ruler of France, and
the wars he has waged, or may hereafter
make.
J
424
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
F
1
F
1
I
The history of the great Napoleon is familiar
to our readers in its leading features. A glance
at his career is all that is here necessary in
order to trace the main principles of his
political life, to ascertain how far France has
adopted them, and to what extend the present
Emperor represents France, or the founder of
the dynasty. It was written by one who knew
the first Emperor better than, probably,
any one else knew him, not even excepting
Josephine :-
“Posterity will not be divided in their judg-
ment of Napoleon, as his contemporaries have
been. In a future age the recollection of his
triumph will have been very much weakened,
but at the same time the evils which his sixty
victories have brought upon the great European
family will have been forgotten. His wars
and his conquests will be estimated solely by
their results; his policy, by the utility and
permanency of the institutions which he created,
and their harmony with the age in which he
lived."
.
Thus wrote Bourrienne, private secretary to
Napoleon, and a man thoroughly cognizant of
French politics and the character of the French
people. He had been Minister of State under
the Directory, the Consulate, the Empire, and
the Restorations. We can now judge of the
First Napoleon by the way in which the prin-
ciples he propounded are applied to the Euro-
pean system by his successor. We can judge
of the present Napoleon by the principles of
him whose throne he inherits, whose "star"
he affects to worship, and whose policy he
believes it is his destiny to work out.
All the world knows that the First Emperor
was a Corsican. Attempts have been made to
fix the date of his birth earlier for various
reasons, religious and political. It is scarcely
possible to obtain any authority on this point
superior to that of Bourrienne, who says:-
"Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio,
in Corsica, on the 15th of August, 1769. The
name was originally written Buonaparte; but
during the first campaign in Italy he dropped
the "u," merely to render the spelling conform-
able with the pronunciation, and to abridge his
signature. It has been stated that he sup-
pressed a year in his age, and that he was
born in 1768; but this is untrue. He always
told me that the 15th of August, 1769, was
his birthday; and as I was born on the 9th of
July in that
July in that year, our proximity of age seemed
to strengthen our union and friendships when
at the military school of Brienne.” *
The father of Napoleon I. was Charles Marie
de Buonaparte, a noble, deputy of the noblesse
of Corsica. His mother's name was Lætitia
Ramolina. The family consisted of eight
children; five of these were sons, and named
(in order of birth) Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien,
Louis, and Jerome. Three of the children
were daughters-Eliza, Caroline, and Pauline.
Madame Buonaparte had thirteen children,
but these eight alone arrived at the age of
maturity.
W
Napoleon I. always attributed his greatness
to the tone of mind inspired by his mother;
and he laid it down as a maxim, that the
"good or bad conduct of a child depends
entirely on the mother." Bonaparte was un-
doubtedly wrong in both these opinions. If his
greatness were the work of his mother, it is
surprising that none of his brothers or sisters
became great. The maternal example and
character has a powerful influence, moral and
intellectual, in forming the mind of the child;
but so has the father who is much with his
children; and so has every one, down to the
pedagogue and menial, with whose mind that
* "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte," from the French
of M. de Bourrienne.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
425
of the child is, in early life, placed en rapport.
The great Napoleon had too many maxims
which he accepted as axioms, drawn either
from a bad school of ethics, or formed without
any ethical system at all. The great fault
of this great man's intellectual character and
habit was, that his inductions were imperfect.
In political economy, politics, morals, religion,
and even in war-his own profession, and
where his genius shone with a lustre almost
unrivalled-this tendency to deduce a con-
clusion from facts not sufficiently numerous to
sustain it, is apparent to the close observer.
The family of the Bonapartes were originally
Tuscans, and were noble; their genealogy is a
long and lustrous one. The civil dissensions
of Italy drove the family to Corsica. Napoleon's
father was a gentleman by education and habit,
as well as by birth; but he was poor. This
circumstance rendered it important to obtain
the patronage of the French Government for
the education of some of his children; suc-
ceeding in this, Napoleon was sent to be
educated at the public school of Brienne, a
place which, as Emperor, he afterwards in vain,
but with wondrous skill and heroism, defended |
against the advance of the triumphant allies.
The poverty of the Bonaparte family Charles
Bonaparte himself attributed to two causes-
an attempt to drain the salt-marshes, and the
injustice of the Jesuits. So he stated in his
memorial on behalf of his second son Napoleon,
and his third, Lucien, to M. de Segur, Minister
of War.
The boyhood of Napoleon was singular and
striking; to some extent verifying the trite
saying, "The boy is father to the man."
He was stern, severe, reserved, retired,
meditative, original, daring, haughty. His
general demeanour at school and college were
not agreeable to his companions; such attri-
butes neither make boy nor man popular.
-
He did not shine in general literature; yet
he loved poetry, and all his life was fond
of Ossian. He literally hated the study of
languages, failed in acquiring Latin, but, from
some cause, probably the necessity of the case,
he acquired French with rapidity and accuracy.
As a mathematician, he was first where many
were good. His genius in this department of
study, astonished the whole college of Brienne
and the professors, none of whom, except the
Professor of Mathematics, gave him credit for
talent. The grand passion of the boy Napoleon
was patriotism, a feeling which he so little
encouraged or honoured in others in after life.
He did not love France; he loved Italy, and
especially Corsica, and used to express the
purpose of doing France all the mischief he
could for subjugating his country. He, on one
occasion, in the presence of all the professors
of the college, said of Paoli, the Corsican
leader:-" Paoli was a great man; he loved
his country; and I never shall forgive my
father, who was his adjutant, for consenting to
the union of Corsica with France. He ought
to have followed Paoli's fortunes, and to have
fallen with him." If the boy was the father of
the man in disposition and mental habits, it
was otherwise where opinions were concerned.
This love for Corsica, this reverence for nation-
alities, this ardent patriotism, and homage to
it in others as a virtue, were all lost with him
in the vortex of ambition which in after years
swallowed up his soul. The early life of the
great Napoleon throws some light upon the
epoch of history which he created, as it enables
one to judge how far the events which he made
and the opinions he propounded resulted from
his peculiar temperament, or from principles
deliberately formed. At the age of fifteen
years and two months, he was sent from
Brienne to the Military College at Paris; thence
he went into the artillery as a sub-lieutenant.
$
ܫܤܘܐ ܪܢ.
31
426
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
It is not here necessary or appropriate to dwell
upon the first stages of his military career.
During the early period of the French Revo-
lution, Bonaparte had no sympathy with it,
nor did he pretend to have any until it became
his interest to do so. His leanings were
despotic, and his haughty spirit contemned
the democracy. Immediately after the French
Revolution, he repaired to his native island, of
which, when he left it as a boy, he was so
immoderately fond; Paoli was soon after at
the head of a party formed to effect Corsican
independence. Napoleon, who had visited his
own father's memory with such indignant
censure for not persisting to the last in the
former revolt, received the overtures of his
patriotic countrymen with the greatest cold-
ness; his patriotism had evaporated. He
considered Corsica too small a country to pre-
serve, even if it gained, independence; and,
at all events, it did not furnish him with scope
for his personal advantage and glory. The
animation of patriotism and freedom was feeble
in his mind, even then, compared with interest
and ambition. This was in 1793. He not
only refused to join his countrymen, but
offered his sword to their oppressors, and
assisted in the reduction of Torre di Capitello,
near Ajaccio. His family were ultimately
banished from Corsica, and took up their
residence in Italy, at Nice; subsequently they
went to Marseilles. Thus the earliest associa-
tions of the great Napoleon were with Italy,
yet he had so little of the permanent feeling of
nationality, that he made France the country
of his adoption, and cared little or nothing for
the land of his fathers. His studies at Brienne
and Paris seem effectually to have extinguished
all love of freedom and of native land. This
could hardly have been the case with so young
a man if his character had not been essentially
selfish. The feeling of his family was more
generous; the aspirations of his father were
for liberty; he imbibed those sentiments, and
brought them with him to Brienne; but as
views of his own prospects opened, and he
formed clearer convictions of the direction in
which his own interests lay, his natural selfish-
ness conquered emotions which were imparted
to him by the force of example and associa-
tion, and were not germane to his own nature.
He returned to France, and found an oppor-
tunity for a career of arms as immortal as the
muse of history.
He was, however, destined to visit Italy, as
much in a civil as a military character. He
was sent on a special mission to Genoa, to
confer, in conjunction with the Chargé d'Affaires
of the Genoese Government, in the matters
comprised in his instructions; he was also to
inform himself of the conduct of Tilly, the
French ambassador, and ascertain the military
defences of Genoa and the neighbouring
country. Thus early in life he was employed
in a diplomatic mission of an important nature
in connection with Italy. This circumstance
in the life of the First Napoleon has been
very generally overlooked by writers of his
history. His mission did not prosper. He
became an object of suspicion to the French
Government, and his name was struck from
the list of general officers. It was at that
time he first indicated the longing for military
employment in the East, which never left
him. He conceived the notion of offering his
sword in the service of the Sultan. The
Bonapartes have ever since made a policy of
interfering in the affairs of Turkey, and
preaching that the East was a fitting theatre
for the display of " French glory.”
Napoleon married Josephine, Viscountess
Beauharnais, on the 9th of March, 1796. She
was the widow of the count whose name she
bore, but whose title it was not safe in those
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
427
days to take. She was attractive in every
way; graceful exceedingly; accustomed to
move in the highest circles of Paris, and gifted
with an engaging, winning manner in social
intercourse, which fascinated the young general.
It is, however, unquestionable that he did not
overlook in his marriage with Josephine those
considerations which were less to his honour
than the surrender of his heart to her beauty
and elegant vivacity. Her connections were
high and influential, and he did not conceal
from his private friends how much he was
influenced by the probable effect of this cir-
cumstance upon his fortunes. The marriage
answered the ends he proposed to himself.
When years had rolled by and he wore the
imperial purple, and she could no longer gerve
the ends of his ambition, she was thrust aside
to make room for one who could; and the
Church sanctioned the foul crime to secure
the aid of the mighty transgressor. Josephine
had two children by her first husband-
Eugene, so well known to history for his
bravery and fidelity to his father-in-law; and
Hortense, afterwards Queen of Holland, and
mother of Napoleon III.
On the 17th of March, 1796, General Bona-
parte left Paris to take the command of the
army of Italy; after visiting his mother en
route, at Marseilles, he proceeded rapidly to
Nice, the head-quarters of the army.
The military exploits of that army, and its
young chief, are subjects foreign to these
pages. The political objects of the army were,
to compel the King of Sardinia to abandon the
alliance of-Austria; to constrain the Emperor
to draw away his forces from the Rhine, for
the purpose of defending Lombardy; and to
awe the Pope, so as to deter him from using
the influence of the clergy to stir up intrigues
in France against the Revolution.
Now,
Sardinia is the ally of imperial France, French
troops occupy Rome for the protection of the
Pontiff, and Austria is ostensibly friendly.
The task of Bonaparte was far more formidable
than that of the Emperor Louis Napoleon in
Italy; his enemies were more numerous, rela-
tively more powerful, and his success superior
proportion to his enterprise.
The world knows the wonderful story of
victory which followed, until the treaty of
Tallentino crowned Napoleon with laurels, and
filled Europe with astonishment. Naples sued
for peace, and forsook Austria. Rome bought
an inglorious immunity, and surrendered An-
cona, Ferrara, and Bologna. Tuscany was
paralysed, and Leghorn, its emporium, became
the prey of the conqueror, who seized vast
stores of English merchandise. Possibly the
Franco-Italian campaign, ending in the treaty
of Tallentino, was the most splendid ever
conducted by a general. Bonaparte displayed
more genius when he had worse fortune,
towards the close of his career; but never
was the campaign of a general or of an army
more brilliant.
Still victory after victory crowned the con-
queror with great glory, and treaties favour-
able to France ensued. The policy of the
young general was, however, temporising and
untrue. He intrigued against the potentates
with whom he treated-cajoled and deceived
the people whom he professed to liberate. He
was desirous of humbling Austria, but not of
serving Italy. The government at Paris urged
that Northern Italy should be made free and
republican. Napoleon sneered at their incom-
petency, called them incapables sotto voce, and
relying on his fame, the necessity of his genius
to the French government, and the devotion
of his soldiers, he rendered a very imperfect
obedience to his employers. His policy was
not sound. That of the Parisian government
was best for the permanent interests of France.
$
428
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Bonaparte, while professing to be a republican,
cared nothing for the principle so designated,
nor for any theory of government. His grand
instrument of legislation was expediency. He
would have governments rule for the advantage
of those in power, not for the welfare of the
governed, except so far as neglect of the
popular interests might be itself injurious to
authority. These views tinctured all his
actions and all his reasonings when the fruits
of his victories brought him into correspon- ried to her brother-in-law, Louis Bonaparte, in
him, that they might possess the entire control
of his mind. They conspired to ruin Josephine.
They suggested to him the infidelity of his
wife. It was false, and he had the sagacity
to perceive it; his confidence in Josephine
remained unabated. His affection for his own
family was, however, so great, that he did not
rebuke this cruel persecution of his wife as he
ought to have done. Josephine formed the
notion of having her daughter Hortense mar-
dence with the administration, and into contact
with the institutions civil and ecclesiastical of
the peoples over whose realms he swept as the
lightning along the conducting rod. Already
Bonaparte conceived the idea of using the
French government, whatever form it took,
for his own purposes. His treaty of Campo
Formio was more in his own interest than in
that of the country whose army he commanded.
As to Italy, his concern for it was no more
than for the French Directory, as his own
words sufficiently disclosed, when he came to
the resolution of treating. "It is settled-
I will make peace. Venice shall pay for the
expense of the war, and our boundary shall be
the Rhine. The Directory and the lawyers may
say what they please."
France and Austria made peace; the Re-
public of Venice was plundered under the
forms of a treaty.
The Rhine became the limit of France, in
its direction. It has been the aim of France
and of the Bonapartes ever since, to have the
Rhine a French boundary, as well as France
a Bonapartist empire.
On the return of the conqueror from Italy,
domestic incidents occurred, in which Napo-
leon III. must always have an interest.
Bonaparte was much attached to Josephine,
who was ardently devoted to him. His brothers
were anxious to weaken her influence over
CA
order to strengthen her position in the family.
This she ultimately accomplished, but not for
the happiness of her daughter. Napoleon III.
was the fruit of this marriage.
In pursuance of his favourite idea, one
cherished with romantic feeling, Napoleon
attempted to wound England where he con-
ceived she was most vulnerable-in her
Oriental possessions. He had previously made
a show of invading England from the coasts
of Normandy, but Bourrienne avers that he
never intended to execute so hazardous an
undertaking. This the celebrated secretary
alleges on the authority of the great captain
himself. While England was fixing her atten-
tion on the Norman coast, and upon the
encampment on the heights of Boulogne,
Bonaparte sailed for Egypt. The French
Directory, through him, and by other media,
opened a correspondence with the Sultan of
Mysore, through whose instrumentality it was
hoped by the Directory that a French force
might be made effective in India. Bonaparte
believed that, upon the conquest of Egypt, a way
by Suez would be opened for French troops to
pass the Indian ocean, and co-operating with
the Sultan and Mysorean troops, operate on
the coasts of the Bombay and Madras presi-
dencies. It was not to injure England as the
enemy of France that their enterprising general
led his troops to Egypt, but in his ever-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
429
success;
thirsting ambition he believed that he would
carve out for himself a name of glory on
the pyramids, and passing over India, as well
as Egypt in victory, make himself an Oriental
renown equal to that which the long-cherished
dream of his ambition had presented to his
ever-active imagination. On the 12th of April,
1798, he was appointed General-in-Chief of
the Army of "the East." Probably the title
of First Consul, or even of Emperor, did not
give greater satisfaction to Napoleon. It is a
circumstance made curious and suggestive by
the events of the present time, that the British
fleet under Nelson, which was in observation
off Toulon, and was driven from its place by a
storm, found shelter in the ports of Sardinia.
Bonaparte's career in Egypt was not a
at all events, the army, after his
departure, was unable to cope with its diffi-
culties. Nelson conquered the French fleet in
the bay of Aboukir. Sydney Smith defeated
Napoleon at Acre. Bourrienne attributes the
failure of the French expedition mainly to
Sydney Smith. His words are, "Ten days
"Ten days
before the departure of General Bonaparte for
the conquest of Egypt and Syria, a prisoner,
Sir Sydney Smith, escaped from the Temple,
who was destined to contribute most materially
to the failure of an expedition, which had been
conceived with the greatest boldness. This
escape was pregnant with future events; a
forged order of the minister of police prevented
the revolution of the East." What Bourrienne
calls "the revolution of the East," never had
a chance, at all events, so far as the British
dominions were concerned. Independent of
the enterprise of the British under the gallant
and skilful Abercrombie, India contributed a
powerful force for the liberation of Egypt,
under General Baird; the Mysoreans were
vanquished by British arms, under the leader-
ship of Harris; and the Marquis Wellesley,
then governor of British India, had, with com-
prehensive capacity, provided against every
Had the French landed on the
contingency.*
shores of India, a new revolution in France
would more probably be produced than revo-
lutions of any kind there. Such an army as
Napoleon could have launched against the
Eastern possessions of England would have
been of necessity defeated and destroyed by
the over-matching force which Lord Wellesley
could have brought against it. The "Napo-
leonic idea," however, of humbling England,
by depriving her of her Eastern conquests,
was never abandoned. He subsequently drew
up a plan for Alexander of Russia, as a scheme
practicable for that object by Russian arms,
operating from a basis on the confines of
Asiatic Russia. There are already indications
that Napoleon III. has taken up this, with all
the other political conceptions of his great
Time alone can unravel his
predecessor.
intent.
The infamous proclamation of Napoleon to
the people of Egypt is well known to readers
of all classes; the most significant portion of
it was that in which he announced, "I respect
more than the Mamelukes, God, his prophet,
and the Alcoran." It was part of Napoleon's
policy to make use of religion as an instrument
of statecraft, and to adopt any religion, or
throw it off, as such a purpose was served!
Bonaparte had previously indicated this charac-
after
teristic of his opinions and policy, when,
his return from Radstadt, he appeared at the
Luxembourg, and was presented by Talleyrand
to the Directory as the conqueror of Italy. On
that occasion he represented a new era as
having dawned upon Europe, in which repre-
sentative government superseded that which
* See the "History of the British Empire in India and the
East," by the author of this Work. London: Virtue and Co.
430
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
the prejudices of eighteen centuries had main-
tained-government based on "religion,
feudalism, and royalty." There was the same
insincerity in the mind of the orator at the
Luxembourg, and the invader of Egypt; the
speech and the proclamation were alike
designed to appeal to existing prejudices, by
one whose prejudices were simply personal,
and who was unfettered by any principle. In
1859 a proclamation of Napoleon III., pro-
fessing zeal for the integrity of the "Holy
Father's" dominions, might be compared with
some of his speeches to the like effect before
the assembly of the French Republic of 1848,
and with the same insincerity apparent in each
case as to any zeal for the "Church." It is
the old Napoleonic policy of making religion
an instrument of government, without any
concern for the instrument itself.
On the return of Napoleon from Egypt,
events, made available by his own genius,
created a fresh revolution, and in his favour.
The constitution of the year III. perished
through the folly and corruption of the Direc-
tory and the Councils; and by the intrigues of
the Bonaparte family and their friends and
abettors, Napoleon became First Consul. Few
then foresaw the imperial sceptre in his hand,
not a few perceived that the exigencies of
France and the genius of the man would con-
spire to preserve in that hand the supreme
power. Many believed that his mission was
to consolidate liberty as well as to maintain
law and order. M. Thiers has written in
his "History of the French Revolution "-
"He did not come to continue liberty, for
it could not yet exist: he came to continue
under monarchic forms the revolution in the
world; he came to continue it by setting him-
self, a plebeian, on the throne; by bringing
the Pontiff to Paris to pour the anointing oil
upon a plebeian brow; by creating an aristo-
*
cracy with plebeians; by obliging the ancient
aristocracy to associate with his plebeian aristo-
cracy; by making kings with plebeians; by
receiving into his bed a daughter of all the
Cæsars, and by mingling a plebeian blood with
the blood of one of the oldest races of Europe;
by mingling, finally, all people; by spreading
the French laws into Germany, into Italy,
into Spain; by giving the lie to so many
prestiges; by shaking and confounding so
many things. Such was the task he had to
perform, and in the meantime, new society
would be condensing itself under the shadow
of his sword, and liberty would one day come.
It is not come, it will come." There is some
eloquence, and not a little rhapsody in this
description, but it aptly expresses the gene-
rally received views of Bonaparte and his
mission. He was not a plebeian, nor did he
place only plebeians upon thrones. The blood
of the Bonapartes was noble, and a long line
of ancestry consecrated their claim to distinc-
tion of birth, M. Thiers overrates the influence
of the personal achievements of Napoleon;
he could hardly overrate the effect of his
policy and prestige upon France, and through
France upon the destinies of nations, even
now. Bourrienne estimated the man and his
deeds more accurately than M. Thiers did when
writing of the same period.-"Who could
have supposed
have supposed that, having obtained the
supreme power, he would have availed himself
of it to trample under foot all the principles
he had so long professed, and to which he
owed his elevation? Who could have believed
that he would have superseded, by the most
absolute despotism, those forms of constitu-
tional liberty for which France had so long
sighed, and for the peaceable enjoyment of
which she had made so many sacrifices? But
so it is! When his ambition had been granted
-when he had sacrificed everything to gain
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
431
!
his point, we see him re-establishing the leon arose from the surging sea of blood and
principles which he had combated, and defend- | flame-the giant genius of the storm. He
ing them with equal energy. . . .
Did he still lives in his dynasty, and wars for the
consider that when a man is in himself all, aggrandisement of his name and the glory of
all must fall with him; and that the destiny France, as surely as the French Republic
of a nation which depends upon the gain crossed the Alps and the Rhine to fight for its
or loss of a battle, is based upon nothing?" own existence within these boundaries.
The remarks of both the eminent persons
just quoted were appropriately made in refer-
ence to a period of Napoleon's fortunes, when
at one grasp he obtained supreme political
power, which he never let go until armed
Europe went up against him into the field of
war; for when he became First Consul, he❘
virtually assumed the sovereignty of France.
Whatever he became to Europe beyond France,
the great despotisms themselves made him,
and whatever they suffered was from a reaction
(directed by the hand of Providence) of their
own designs against the liberties of France.
The Republic would have preferred peace and
liberty, the only propagandism it desired was
that of moral suasion. The despotic thrones
hated and feared the new-born liberty, and
sought to quench it in blood. It became
necessary, therefore, for the Republic to revo-
lutionise other countries, if possible, to gain
support, and draw a cordon of free states
around itself. The war thus necessitated gave
scope to whatever military genius France pos-
sessed, and thus formed the elements of a
danger to European independence, which still
exists. A new, a military dynasty was created,
indirectly, but certainly and efficiently, by the
wars waged against liberty in France: Napo-
From the Consulate to the Empire there
were but a few stages-they were taken cir-
cumspectly and boldly. Napoleon approached
the throne with a steady pace, and occupied
it with resolution: he clutched the sceptre as
he wielded the sword, with decision and genius.
He loved France simply as ministering to his
own glory. He felt no patriotism, for he was
not born a Frenchman. Recent discoveries
have, it is alleged, demonstrated that he post-
dated his birth two years, in order to make it
appear that he had been born not an Italian
but a Frenchman. He would have been as
ready to ante-date his birth, or assert its
correct date to prove himself an Italian, and
not a Frenchman, if Italy, rather than France,
could have subserved his personal ambition.
His own words are sufficient confirmation of
this feature of his character, and of his real
designs on ascending the steps of the Consulate
"All that I wish, all that I desire, the
object of all my labours is, that my name
shall be for ever connected with the name of
France."*
* "Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte," from the French of
M. de Bourrienne, private Secretary to Napoleon, and Minister
of State under the Directory, the Empire, and the Restoration.
432
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER LIL
THE FOUNDER OF THE BONAPARTE DYNASTY AND HIS PRINCIPLES (continued).
"And his is henceforth an established sway—
Consul for life."-WORDSWORTH.
THE Consulate of Napoleon was glorious, both
in a civil and military point of view, but he
and his friends were always tormented with
apprehensions as to the fate of France, when
he should be removed by death. The con-
viction that anarchy would ensue, led even
Josephine to wish for the return of the Bour-
bons. He on one occasion, at an early period
of his fame as Consul, said, "If I do not live
for thirty years, to finish my works, you will,
when I am dead, have long civil wars: my
brothers do not suit France." This was a
remarkable saying; he could not have then
foreseen that a son of that one of his brothers
with whom he agreed least should ascend the
imperial throne, to which he was himself
already aspiring. It remains to be seen
whether his brother's son will suit France.
So far he appears to have managed the French
people as well as his uncle, whatever the dis-
parity of the prowess or genius of the two
rulers.
Early in his Consulate a friendship sprung
up between Napoleon and the Russian Em-
peror, Paul I. Both men and both nations
earnestly desired the humiliation of England.
Paul initiated a correspondence with Napoleon
in this spirit. He hated England on the
alleged ground of her egotism, selfishness,
and violation of treaties; but in reality, he,
in common with the more influential party of
the government which served him, hated her
for her constitutionalism. Paul felt what was
afterwards expressed by the Emperor Nicholas,
"I can understand royal or imperial govern-
“I
ment, such as my own, or democratic govern-
ment, such as that of the United States, but
I cannot comprehend a theory of government
which professes to unite different and con-
flicting elements, royal, aristocratic, and
popular." Peter the Great did comprehend
it, and while his ambition for Russia contem-
plated the means of successive aggression
upon all continental states, his policy made
alliance with England essential to the welfare
of Russia. Napoleon could as little compre-
hend the mixed government of England as
could Paul, and regarded it as a theoretic
monster among governments, which could not
propagate itself, however tenacious its own
As the rival of France-as the
existence.
champion of a form of liberty opposed to the
democratic, and a form of royalty opposed to
the absolute-Napoleon could not sympathise
with it either as a student of politics, a
General of the Directory, First Consul, Em-
peror, or exile. The aggressive interests of
both France and Russia required an alliance:
for no other objects could any special alliance
between these nations be of any use. For the
purpose of dominating eastern and western
Europe they coalesced as far as other circum-
stances and rapidly succeeding events, which
neither Power could control, permitted.
This is very instructive to the student of
European affairs. The French and Russian
Emperors of the present time are brought
together by dominant sympathies and objects,
as the Consul Napoleon and Paul I., as the
Emperor Napoleon and Alexander I.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
433
The glory of the Consul was to find sources
of military glory in Italy, such as the General
Bonaparte) had found before.
The various negotiations for peace proved
abortive; war again ravaged the plains and
cities of Italy, and, at Marengo, Bonaparte
decided once more the political rivalry of
France and Austria in that fair land.
The Consul's aim in his new Italian cam-
paign was not so much the honour and security
of France as his own position and power. His
victories in a distant field he knew would
dazzle French vanity and ambition, and bring
all the honour which the people could confer,
upon a general who asserted the supremacy of
La belle France. He never doubted that he
should achieve success; he trusted to his
genius, but yet more to his "star." His plans
for the conduct of the campaign, in pursuance
of which he passed the Great St. Bernard, fell
upon the army of Melas, cut off the communi-
cation of that general with Austria, and by
his marches, as much as by his battles, ruined
the cause of Austria, were more like those of
a prophet than an uninspired man. Who can
doubt that the aims and plans of Napoleon III.
are the inheritance of Napoleon I., as much
as the throne of France? Napoleon I. was
baffled in his object to obtain all that his arms
entitled him to demand from Austria, by the
interposition of England. To secure Genoa,
lest English troops should take possession,
while the French prosecuted the war with
Austria to extremes, compelled the conqueror
to moderate his terms. England is not likely
a second time to save Austria from humilia-
tion, and check the tide of French glory while
overflowing Italy? These passages in the life
and deeds of the elder Napoleon run so
strikingly parallel with the events of our
own day, that there is, in speculating upon
the future, an irresistible desire to continue
the parallel beyond the limit to which it has
extended.
The First Consul returned from Italy to
Paris to be received by the mass of the people
with joy. His whole route was one of enthu-
siastic gratulation; an Io triumphe followed
his onward progress from the cities and
fields of Italy and France to Paris. Yet the
friends of liberty were alarmed; and extreme
and desperate men sought his life, as the
only obstacle to that license and anarchy
which they called liberty. These plots did not
terminate with the Consulate; the Emperor as
well as the Consul Napoleon was endangered
by them. History runs here another parallel
between the two Napoleons, in whose hands
the sceptre of imperial France has been
placed. It would be well for France, for
Europe, and mankind, if another parallel,
partly arising out of such criminal attempts
did not also present itself: the words of
Bourrienne, no very steady friend of liberty,
suggest it: "The First Consul manifested.
the most violent hatred of the Jacobins; for
this he could not have been blamed, if under
the title of Jacobins he had not comprised
every friend of public liberty. Their oppo-
sition annoyed him, and he could never pardon
them for having presumed to condemn his
tyrannical acts, and to resist the destruction of
the freedom which he had himself sworn to
defend, but which he was incessantly endeavouring
to overturn. These were the true motives of
his conduct; and conscious of his own faults,
he regarded with dislike those who saw and
disapproved of them. For this reason he was
more afraid of those he called Jacobins than
of the Royalists." The proscription without
trial, of men of courage and virtue who had
committed no crime, but were true to their
oath and to liberty, was one of the means
most relied on by the First Consul for pro-
I
3 K
434
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
!
1
moting his own ambition, and giving France
happiness, the pretext generally employed for
acts of an illegal and tyrannical nature. Per-
jury and illegal prosecutions are heir-looms of
the dynasty. The decree of the First Consul,
January 6th, 1801, confirmed by a senatus
consultum, inflicting banishment upon persons
supposed to be true to the constitution to
which the First Consul had sworn, and arbi-
trarily selected as the objects of personal
vengeance, was not the last deed of the same
nature perpetrated to uphold the power of the
Bonapartes over France.
Among the acts of the First Consul which
exercised a powerful influence over his own
times and over those in which we live, was the
Concordat with Rome. Napoleon's reasonings
on this subject of religion, so much admired
by M. Thiers, were neither logical nor scrip-
tural. They prove that whatever his power of
quick penetration, and his habit of mature
reflection, he had not studied the Bible, nor
accustomed himself to reason clearly where
moral evidence was concerned. Familiar with
mathematical science, he looked too much for
demonstrations in all inquiries after truth.
He neglected the study of both branches of
metaphysics, the ethical and the intellectual.
Matter, and man as an instrument and object
of government, were the subjects that occupied
his thoughts. Hence we find such strange
reasoning as he adopted to justify himself in
bringing about the Concordat. He expressed
his belief that all religions must be true,
because they differed from one another mainly
in proscribing one another,* an assertion which
proved how little he knew about the leading
beliefs of mankind. He deemed it proper to
tolerate all religions, but to promote the
ascendency of the religion of Rome, for the
* "The History of the Consulate and the Empire of Napo-
leon," by M. A. Thiers, formerly Chief Minister of France.
odd reason that Frenchmen were born in that
religion, and it was besides that of the
country.* To these absurd notions, pompously
delivered, and repeated by Thiers, Bourrienne,
Rapp, Bertrand, &c., as if the words of an
oracle, he added as a ground of promoting
the ascendency of the Church of Rome, that
it had a government wisely conceived, which
hinders disputes as much as it is possible to
do so under the disputing temper of man.† To
stop discussion, written or vivâ voce, he knew
was necessary to despotism. The Church of
Rome he considered a good instrument for
effecting that object; and he supposed it pos-
sible to use it for the desired end in such way
that the supreme ruler of France should not
have to divide political power with the priest-
hood. His view of it in that light filled him
with admiration of the Papacy. In one of his
conversations with Monge, he said, "If, since
the institution of the Papacy there be anything
equally perfect, it is the relation of the Gallican
Church with the Holy See, submissive and
independent at the same time; submissive in
matters of faith, independent in the policy of
worship. The Catholic Unity and the articles
of Bossuet show the true form of religious
government. It is that we must re-establish.'
By the "true form of religious government,'
Napoleon evidently did not mean that which
was true in itself, true according to Divine
standard, but the thing that truly answered
his policy and objects; that which exactly met
his programme for France, and his own rela-
tions to France. The context determines in
the plainest manner that this is the correct
interpretation of his words. The policy of
the French ruler of 1864 is in this matter
identical with that of him who as First Consul
"The Consulate and the Empire," vol. i. c. xii. p. 289.
Bohn's Edition.
† Ibid.
‡ Ibid.

THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
435
"]
ruled France in 1801. The advent of Napo-
leon III. to power was the second advent of
the principles of government which guided
Napoleon I. on the subject of religion, and of
religion in connection with national policy and
social order. The First. Consul went so far as
to believe, that if by the re-establishment of
the Roman Church, schism could be checked,
and uniformity of religious opinions, or at all
events, religious profession and communion
could be obtained, France had nothing to fear
from the hostility of all Europe. The priests
and Napoleon in alliance, France could be kept
quiet, and the action of the government in
foreign affairs would not be impeded by reli-
gious feuds, and by those political discords at
the root of which religious opinion so fre-
quently lay. "Peace with Europe," said the
First Consul to Monge, "is concluded, let us
maintain it as long as we can, but religious
peace is the most pressing of all.”
In harmony with the expediency irrespective
of truth and principle which ruled all the
Emperor's policy, he would secure general
religious peace by a sectarian religious ascen-
dency. By this he hoped that the Vendéans
and the Bretons, so zealously attached to Rome,
would march in his armies with the Burgun-
dians, Lorrainese, and the Franche-Comptois,
whose loyalty to the Pontiff had not given
them celebrity.
The First Consul's plan of reconciliation with
the Pope was to endow the clergy, directly
from the treasury, but not with lands as in
the feudal times of France; and in return for
this the clergy should be nominated by the
Government, the Pope confirming such nomi-
nations. Few things gave Bonaparte so much
trouble as the Concordat, and in few things
did he display so much patience and perse-
verance. The negotiations with Rome were
unparalleled in the length of time they
occupied and the intensity of the pendant
discussions. The First Consul never obtained
from the Church, even when Emperor, all the
concessions he desired, and he conceded more
to it than he had contemplated, or had accorded
with his theory; he however effected a con-
cordat in the spirit of his plans, and re-esta-
blished the Roman Catholic religion in France,
the ascendency of which had been abolished by
the revolution.
The career of Napoleon up to the period of
the peace of Amiens was one of splendour at
home and abroad. That treaty was a hollow
truce; no one was deceived by it at the time;
its first consequences were easily foreseen, but
the torrent of mighty events which rolled
forth over Europe could have been conceived
by none.
During the interval before the treaty of
Amiens, the First Consul's mind underwent
various changes of opinion as to the best policy
to be pursued towards Russia. The Emperor
Paul died, and Alexander I. assumed the
Imperial sceptre.
Imperial sceptre. Bonaparte's good feeling
towards the Government of St. Petersburg
was less friendly after the decease of his friend
Paul. At that time there was no likelihood
that he and Alexander should agree, even
temporarily, on any scheme of European
policy: the rapid passage of events brought
them together at length, as allies and even
friends; when both, surrounded by imperial
glory, and wielding despotic power, balanced
the world in their hands.
While Bonaparte was negotiating the terms
of the peace which was signed at Amiens, he
had other negotiations of a domestic kind still
more delicate, and in some respects more
difficult to conduct, or at all events to decide,
in the circle of his own family; and one of
these more especially affects our present his-
tory-the marriage of his daughter-in-law,
:
436
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Hortense, with his brother Louis; which took
place on the 7th* of January, 1802. As these
distinguished personages were the parents of
the present Emperor of France, an account of
their marriage will be more appropriate to
another chapter.
From the period of the peace of Amiens,
the design of Napoleon to assume the purple
became amusingly evident. All the forms of
monarchy were renewed in what might be called
the court of the First Consul. During 1802,
Napoleon developed many plans which were
beneficial to France, and displayed the capacity
of their originator for civil government. The
Code Napoleon was one of these; it required a
long time for manipulation under the hands of
the jurists, but at that date the task began,
which the genius and will of Napoleon also
caused to be completed. A system of educa-
tion for France, adapted to the ideas and habits
of the people, was one of the great tasks which
the First Consul accomplished. Public works
of almost every conceivable kind were pro-
jected, and many accomplished with almost
incredible rapidity.
The mingled contempt and hatred which the
First Consul held for democracy, and for all
liberty, civil and religious, became more
obvious, and appeared to grow in intensity;
scarcely any of the men who have recorded
their conversations with Napoleon at that
period but have noticed this scorn and hostility
to popular freedom. His contempt of the
French people, whom he professed to honour
and magnify in a manner so ostentatious and
extravagant, was also indicated. The institu-
tion of the Legion of Honour, of which French-
men are so proud, brought out some display of
the real feelings and opinions of the Consul,
and the occasion is remarkable as forming an
* Bourrienne.
epoch from which the genuine republicans
became confirmed in their dislike and opposi-
tion to the Bonaparte family. Up to that
period he had the support of the republicans,
more or less qualified. The tone of mind
betrayed, and the general character of the
circumstances attending the institution of this
order, proved to the genuine republicans that
the Bonapartes, especially their chief, was the
implacable foe, not only of republicanism, but
of all constitutional government. Sir Walter
Scott has proved from these sources the utter
repugnance of Napoleon then to all popular
forms of government.
"Berthier had called ribbons and crosses
'the playthings of monarchy,' and cited the
Romans of old as 'having no system of honorary
rewards.' 'They are always talking to us of
the Romans,' said Bonaparte. The Romans
had patricians, knights, citizens, and slaves—
for each class different dresses and different
manners-honorary recompenses for every
species of merit-mural crowns-civic crowns
―ovations—triumphs-titles. When the noble
band of patricians lost its influence, Rome fell
to pieces-the people were vile rabble. It was
then that you saw the fury of Marius, the
proscriptions of Sylla, and afterwards of the
emperors. In like manner Brutus is talked
of as the enemy of tyrants: he was an aris-
tocrat, who stabbed Cæsar, because Cæsar
wished to lower the authority of the noble
senate. You talk of child's rattles-be it so:
it is with such rattles that men are led. I
would not say that to the multitude; but in a
council of statesmen one may speak the truth.
I do not believe that the French people love
liberty and equality. Their character has not
been changed in ten years: they are still what
their ancestors, the Gauls, were-vain and light.
They are susceptible but of one sentiment-
honour. It is right to afford nourishment to
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
437
this sentiment: and to allow of distinctions.
Observe how the people bow before the decora-
tions of foreigners. Voltaire calls the common
soldiers Alexanders at five sous a day. He was
right: it is just so. Do you imagine that
can make men fight by reasoning?
You must bribe them with glory, distinctions,
rewards. To come to the point; during ten
years there has been a talk of institutions.
Where are they? All has been overturned:
our business is to build up. There is a govern-
ment with certain powers: as to the rest of
the nation, what is it but grains of sand?
Before the Republic can be definitely esta-
blished, we must, as a foundation, cast some
blocks of granite on the soil of France. In
fine, it is agreed that we have need of some
kind of institutions."
It is impossible for any partisan of the
Bonapartes not to see the hypocrisy of the
declaration, "Before the Republic can be
established we must," &c. The object of the
speaker was to overturn the Republic already
established, Bourbons and Bonapartists being
alike its enemies.
you
Never.
The statements were in some instance as
untrue in fact, as they were in others hypo-
critical in profession. Men did often fight by
reasoning, in spite of the dictum of Napoleon
to the contrary. The soldiers of Oliver Crom-
well and of Wellington were not animated by
vain glory, their heroic achievements were the
result of a high moral standard produced by
reasoning. The poor British soldier who, in
the words of Sir Robert Peel, "rolled back
the tide of French glory from the heights of
Busaco to the gates of Toulouse," was valiant
in a sense of duty, and with patriotism; his
heroism was unpurchased by pomp and trinkets.
The sagacity of Napoleon was often blinded by
his ambition. Dicta of his that have passed
among many for the enunciations of wisdom,
have often proved, as in the above instance,
only expert and plausible pretences for wrong
deeds or wrong purposes. Where his own
motives or objects were concerned, the mind of
the First Consul was influenced by no con-
straining principle, no philanthropic emotion,
no sacred reverence, no inspiration of patrio-
tism, no religious faith; a cold calculating
ambition, to promote which he could dissemble,
betray, cut off human life, and blaspheme God
whose being and moral government he acknow-
ledged, was the grand characteristic of the
foundation of the Bonaparte dynasty.
It is impossible for the reader to judge
accurately of the causes and motives of the
recent struggle in Italy, and of the character,
and probable influence upon France and Italy
of him who waged this war, without studying
the founder of the dynasty in the light which
his own professed expediencies throws around
him. Napoleon III. is an imperial photograph
of the first man of the dynasty.
On the 2nd of January, 1802, the First
Consul of France became president of the Cis-
Alpine republic, not in virtue of his French
office, but on account of his individual fitness
and sympathy. It is needless to say, that
intrigue and the power which he already
wielded from the Tuileries accomplished his
election to that high honour. It must be
admitted, however, that his Corsican birth, his
command of the Italian language, and his
professed desire for Italian liberty, led many
patriotic Italians to favour the new constitution
for their country. He, the professed Italian
patriot, was willing to chain his country at the
footstool of France, provided only he was
seated upon the throne. History does not
present many parallels of an ambition so
selfish and egotistical, with one possessing
similar intellectual greatness. Napoleon III.
has hitherto treated France as his great pre-
Ma

138
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
decessor treated it-played with it, baffled its
liberties, and clutched in his own hands its
power; why should men expect that he could
be more zealous for the liberties of Italians, than
of Frenchmen? His uncle proclaimed their
freedom, and then made himself their master;
he did so by modes of procedure so similar to
those which the present Emperor adopts, that
it would be credulity, not faith, which expected
the parallel to fall short. Why should not the
iron crown rest on the brow of the Third
Napoleon? and why should not the Fourth
Napoleon bear upon his escutcheon in infancy
the arms of the King of Rome? The reply is
in the unconquerable purpose of the Italian
people.
In 1802 the Senate proposed to confer upon
Napoleon the First Consulate for a renewed
period of ten years. He declined the favour
unless conferred by the suffrages of the people.
Preparations were made for the purpose of a
popular ballot. The Second and Third Consuls
altered the terms of the ballot paper, and
placed the question before the people whether
the Consulate should be conferred for life. The
reply of the constituencies was in the affirma-
tive. The popular mind of France was in
favour of the man who brought so much glory
to French arms. The Concordat smoothed the
way for this election, the priests were all with
the First Consul. Bonaparte was known by
them to be in favour of priestcraft, unless
directed against himself, and in favour also of
the Popedom, although determined that he who
wore the tiara should not impede his schemes
of ambition; otherwise he regarded the office
of the Pontiff as that which, more than any
other instrumentality, assisted in keeping
down democracy, and therefore to be upheld
at all risks. So strongly was he in favour of
preserving this institution, that he afterwards
said at St. Helena, had there been no Pope, one
S
should have been made, so necessary was the
Popedom to European order, and to his designs
for France and Europe. The next step of the
Consul in his strides towards empire was the
assumption of the right to appoint his suc-
cessor in the Consulate. His creatures in the
Senate decreed that the First Consul by testa-
ment might nominate his successor. No books
were opened in the departments to collect the
suffrages of the people. He accepted the decree
of the Senate, and immediately ordered that
the words Liberty, Equality, and Sovereignty of
the people should be omitted from all public
documents.
The Church favoured this change. The doc-
trines expressed by these three words, which
had so powerful effect upon the French mind,
were hateful to a clergy who ruled in eccle-
siastical matters by absolute authority, the
very constitution of whose hierarchy was
opposed to all ideas of equality. The plan the
clergy adopted, in this new advance to royalty,
in the principle of governing France, was to
avoid all reference to the change, and to treat
it as a matter of course, and of little importance
when obliged to refer to it.
The deed of the Senate conferring this new
and extraordinary power upon Napoleon was
dated August 2, 1802, only eleven weeks and two
days after the election of a First Consul for life.
The people showed no joy, no satisfaction
in these changes. They appeared to have
made up their mind to them as to a great
necessity; they saw that the clergy now, in
greater numbers than a few years formerly,
favoured these mutations.
favoured these mutations. Bonaparte was ac-
cepted as indispensable, but he was not the
object of enthusiasm which he had been when
fresh from the victories of Italy, nor such as
he became when the pomp and glory of the
Empire, and of the imperial victories dazzled
France.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
439
The poet Wordsworth was in Calais, when,
in 1802, the birthday of the First Consul was
celebrated, and he has left on record his im-
pressions of the temper of the people then, as
compared with that which they displayed when
the revolution intoxicated them with freedom.
The lines of the poet were written on the 15th
of August, 1802.
"Festivals have I seen that were not names:-
This is young Bonaparte's natal day;
And his is henceforth an established sway,
Consul for life. With worship France proclaims
Her approbation, and with pomps and games.
Heaven grant that other cities may be gay!
Calais is not: and I have bent my way
To the sea coast, noting that each man frames
His business as he likes. Another time
That was, when I was here long years ago:
The senselessness of joy was then sublime.”
After the peace of Amiens, Bonaparte found
means to encroach upon the liberty of nearly
every state contiguous to France. England
resented these encroachments, and through the
medium of her public press inveighed against
the ambitious projects of the Usurper, as the
English invariably called him. He was ex-
ceedingly vain of his title of Consul, and
resented more the application of such terms as
Monsieur and General, than a positive injury
to France. While at peace with England, he
sent over Engineer officers to examine and
sketch the ports and arsenals of England.
This was detected by the English government,
and the agents sent back to France. To all
the remonstrances of the English Court and
Cabinet, he replied in recriminatory language.
The government press of France abused, and
even public documents abused the English
people and government violently and inces-
santly. When the English ministers de-
manded explanations, he justified himself by
the license of the English press. The British
government retorted, that the press in England
was free, and that the law was open to him as
it was to the English crown, or Court, or
Cabinet. He prosecuted the editor of a French
paper, published by an exiled French royalist:
Mr. Mackintosh, afterwards Sir James, being
counsel for the defence, delivered a philippic.
the most terrible against the First Consul.
The defendant lost the suit, and redress was
thus afforded to Napoleon; but the Moniteur
still continued its attacks upon the British
name and government, and for these no redress
was possible. Thus a state of popular hostility
sprung up between the two countries in a time
of peace, more acrimonious than had existed
during the war. The reader of this history
cannot fail to trace a curious parallel between
those events and some that have happened in
our own times. A newspaper war between two
countries in a time of peace; French officials
and official organs abusing England day by
day, while the head of the French government
pursued vindictively those who used the press
gainst himself in a country where that press
was free.
Probably Bonaparte was exasperated more
by one of the eloquent orations of Sheridan,
than by all the attacks, newspaper and parlia-
mentary, directed against him. In that oration
it was said, "The destruction of this country
is the first vision that breaks on the French
Consul through the gleam of the morning, this
is his last prayer at night, to whatever Deity he
may address it; whether to Jupiter or Mahomet,
to the Goddess of Battles, or the Goddess of
Reason. Look at the map of Europe from
which France was said to be expunged, and
now see nothing but France. If the ambition
of Bonaparte be immeasurable, there are
abundant reasons why it should be progressive.
""
Such was the position of the founder of the
French empire, at the period when the peace of
Amiens gave the world a short reprieve from
the ravages of war.
:
440
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER LIII.
THE FOUNDER OF THE BONAPARTE DYNASTY AND HIS PRINCIPLES—(continued).
"With worship France proclaims
Her approbation."-WORDSWORth.
"A heap of dust alone remains of thee;
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud must be."-POPE.
SOON after the peace of Amiens was ratified
various treaties into which the First Consul
had entered with Spain, Portugal, Turkey, &c.,
which in their spirit were considered hostile to
Europe, were made public. These had been
carefully concealed until the ratification of the
treaty made it certain that they could not
interrupt the negotiations which led to it.
When the secrets of these different treaties
came out, the effect upon the mind of England
and Germany was instantaneous, and the trick
and cunning amounting to treachery displayed
in such transactions, armed England and the
great Powers of the Continent with strong
resentment.
War between England and France was soon
resumed. The conduct of the First Consul
was utterly at variance with the law of nations
and those rights of men, about which he had
been so bombastic a declaimer when it suited
his purpose to be so. He invaded Holland;
seized Hanover because it was connected with
England by the crown, although a part of the
Germanic confederation, with which he was at
peace. French troops were marched into the
south of Italy, and Naples was overrun. The
seizure of Hanover was followed by exactions
the most heavy, and these were extended to
Bremen, Hamburgh, and the Hanse towns
generally. All the free cities contiguous to
Hanover were literally plundered to supply
the French exchequer. He who boasted him-
self as the champion of European liberty,
became a sort of political burglar, robbing free
L
cities and independent states as suited the
need or greed of his government. The soldiers
of the Consul had free quarters upon countries
which had offered no provocations to the great
political highwayman by whom they were
plundered.
Flushed with the success of such inglorious
warfare, he again meditated the invasion of
England, and crowded the coasts of France
and Holland with his armies to menace the
shores of Great Britain. England gave a
characteristic response, her people flew to arms,
her fleets scoured the seas, blockading the
harbours which Bonaparte had seized, and
cutting out ships from the ports of France;
550,000 soldiers and volunteers in Great
Britain defied France. Pitt, who had retired
from the councils of the king, was again
restored to power. He was nominated to the
head of the government, March, 1804. The
advent of Pitt to the chief authority in the
ministry, inspired the whole country with
enthusiasm, and England resembled one vast
camp. It was universally believed that Pitt
was the man for the emergency; that he was
superior to Napoleon as a politician and states-
man, and equalled him in vigour of admi-
nistration. His patriotism was believed to be
disinterested and pure. Probably, the effect
produced upon the enthusiasm of the people of
England by the restoration of Pitt to the
British Cabinet, was one of the most potential
influences in undermining the power of Napo-
leon, ere yet that power had attained its
:
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
supreme elevation. Aspice finem is a good
guide in politics, and those who lived at the
time when the First Consul roused the full
might of England might have foreseen the
issue. Those who live in the present day can
entertain no surprise at the potential influence
of Pitt upon the patriotism of the English,
and upon the destinies of Bonaparte, who have
read Lord Macaulay's character of the great
minister. The Titian of English prose, as
Bulwer styles his lordship, thus characterises
Pitt, and the delineation, which is faithful,
accounts for his power
"Pitt was proud, but his pride, though it
made him bitterly disliked by individuals,
inspired the great body of his followers in
parliament and throughout the country with
respect and confidence. They took him at his
own valuation. They saw that his self-esteem
was not that of an upstart who was drunk
with good luck and with applause, and who, if
fortune turned, would sink from arrogance into
abject humility. It was that of the magnani-
mous man, so finely described by Aristotle in
his Ethics, of the man who thinks himself
worthy of great things, being in truth worthy.
It sprang from a consciousness of great powers
and great virtues, and was never so conspicu-
ously displayed as in the midst of difficulties
and dangers, which would have unnerved and
bowed down any ordinary mind. It was
closely connected, too, with an ambition which
had no mixture of low cupidity. There was
something noble in the cynical disdain with
which the mighty minister scattered riches and
titles to right and left amongst those who
valued them, while he spurned them out of his
own way. Poor himself, he was surrounded
by friends on whom he had bestowed three
thousand, six thousand, ten thousand a year.
Plain Mister himself, he had made more lords
than any three ministers who had preceded
1
((
}
him. The Garter, for which the first dukes in
the kingdom were contending, was repeatedly
offered to him, and offered in vain."
The invasion of England occupied the mind
of France, and indeed of all Europe up to the
period when Bonaparte became Emperor. In
his conversations with Barry O'Meara, the
captive of St. Helena always affirmed that he
was only prevented from invading England by
unforeseen accidents. God had, however,
raised up Nelson as an instrument to thwart
the efforts of the Consul. The skill of the
great English sailor prevented the would-be
invader from obtaining the forty-eight hours'
command of the channel, which O'Meara says
was all Bonaparte required to conduct his
flotilla in safety to our shores. According to
the same authority, one victory, which the
Consul considered himself sure of, would have
enabled him to march from the coast of Kent
to London, where he would have proclaimed a
Convention, set the poor against the rich, and
yet by promising security to the property of
the latter, have obtained the submission of
such of them as had not by timely flight
made it otherwise safe. That contempt for
principle which animated himself led him to
disbelieve the existence of faith, honour, and
patriotism in the minds of others. He treated
all men on the supposition that "every man
had his price." Napoleon I. probably did not
assure himself that a landing on the Kent
coast would lead so certainly and speedily
to victory. In case of an invasion by this
daring adventurer he would have met with a
resistance, in the first instance, skilful and
intrepid. The language of Wordsworth was
justified by the spirit of the people :-
Vanguard of liberty! ye men of Kent,
Ye children of a soil that doth advance
441
Its haughty brow against the coast of France,
Now is the time to prove your hardiment.”
·
•
3 L
442
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
4
Nor could the enemy of national liberty
have landed on any other part of the shores of
Great Britain with any hope that a less deter-
mined resistance would be offered to him. Sir
Walter Scott's song to the volunteers of Edin-
burgh, uttered the feelings which prevailed
everywhere in North Britain. Probably there
was not a man in Scotland whose heart did
not respond to the sentiment of Sir Walter, as
he sang :-
"If ever breath of British gale
Shall fan the tricolor,
Or footsteps of invader rude,
With rapine foul and red with blood,
Pollute our happy shore-
Then farewell home! and farewell friends!
Adieu each tender tie!
Resolved, we mingle in the tide
Where charging squadrons furious ride,
To conquer or to die."
Breath of British gale did fan the tricolor
in our day, as the symbol of a great people in
alliance with us, but no Frenchman has
planted it in hostility upon our shores.
Even in Ireland, where the French effected
repeated partial landings without success, they
would have been encountered with an ardent
loyalty by a large section of the community;
and among those in that country who sympa-
thised in French principles, the reception of the
invader would have been cool, if not hostile.
Robert Emmett, the celebrated Irish patriot,
who sealed with his life the sincerity of his
opinions, in the year 1803, when all Europe
rang with the boasts of Bonaparte and the
tidings of the projected invasion, spoke from
the footsteps of the tribunal which pro-
nounced his death sentence, the following
burning words to his country :-
"Oh my countrymen! if the French land
upon your shores, meet them with the sword
in one hand and the torch in the other.
molate them in their boats before they land,
and your country be polluted by the footsteps
of a foreign foe. But if you must retire
before superior numbers, dispute every inch of
ground; burn every blade of grass as you
recede; place your wives and children upon
the funeral pile of your country; fight until
the last man falls, having first set fire to that
pile upon which your dearest and your last
hopes shall perish with you.'
""
With such a spirit animating the three king-
doms, Napoleon would have invaded any of
them only to be ruined in the undertaking.
This subject has obtained a new importance in
our own times. Previous to the breaking out
of the war in Italy, rumours of French pre-
parations for an English invasion were almost
as rife upon the Continent and in England, as
they had been in the last years of the Con-
sulate and the first of the Empire. Genoa,
where French fleets and armies formed a place
of support for operations in Italy, was one of the
alleged points of debarkation for the invaders.
Nelson watched Genoa when Napoleon I.
threatened England: who can yet tell whether
British admirals may not have a similar duty
when Napoleon III. is the conqueror of Italy?
This also can only be answered by Italian free-
dom and valour.
In tracing the rise of the Bonaparte dynasty
a period is now reached to which all before
pointed, and to which all subsequent history
in France points back.
On the 30th of April, 1804, Curée moved in
the tribunate, "That it was time to bid adieu
to political illusions-that victory had brought
back tranquillity-the finances of the country.
had been restored, and the laws renovated-
and that it was a matter of duty to secure
those blessings to the nation in future, by
rendering the supreme power hereditary in the
Im-person and family of Napoleon." The reso-
lution was carried in the tribunate, only one
voice, that of Carnot, being against it. He,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
443
in a speech of singular wisdom, eloquence,
truth, patriotism, and courage, denounced the
proceeding.
The legislative body adopted the resolution
of the tribunate. A senatus consultum
declared the First Consul Emperor of the
French, the Empire to descend in the male
line of his descendants: in case of having no
son, Napoleon might adopt any son or grand-
son of his brothers as his heir: in default of
such adoption, Joseph and Louis Bonaparte
were named as the next heirs of the crown
(Lucien and Jerome being passed over, as they
had both given offence to Napoleon by their
marriages). The members of Napoleon's family
were declared princes of the blood of France.
""
Curée had, in a phrase, described the whole
conduct of Napoleon during his previous
public life, when he said, "It is time to bid
adieu to political illusions. Such were the
professions of principle, the promises, and the
public oaths of Napoleon-"Political illu-
sions !" He never intended a policy based
upon the liberties of France when he swore to
maintain them; he never contemplated the
freedom of nations when he went forth as their
armed liberator. What did Napoleon III.
purpose when he swore to be true to the
Republic of 1848? What did he intend in
1859, when he flaunted the tricolour over
the plains of Italy as their liberator? The
history of the dynasty must be studied to
guide the opinions of the reader, and the policy
of England in the present and the future.
The decree of the Senate in favour of Napo-
leon I. was sent for confirmation to the
departments, to be confirmed by universal
suffrage. France was nearly as populous then
as now; half a century has only added a few
millions to the numbers of her people, although
that of England has advanced in an extra-
ordinary manner. Of the thirty millions of
French, more than three millions voted for the
Empire, more
more than three thousand voted
against it. The report of the prefects was
made on the 1st of December. Napoleon,
however, treated universal suffrage as he did
all other forms of liberty-as a "political
illusion." He did not wait for so slow a
decision. He foresaw that the great mass of
the people would not vote at all, that they
were indifferent by what title the dictator, as
Carnot termed him, should be called. The First
Consul, therefore, put off his consular robes
on the 18th of May, and assumed the purple.
The grand ceremony was received by the
people with a coldness which must have
chilled the Bonapartes and their adherents.
His brothers and partisans received eagerly
from the autocrat the glittering baubles by
which their servitude and their official stations.
near the throne were to be distinguished.
There were men of talent among the new
functionaries; but, as among those of the
second empire, political morality was scarce.
The court was made up of adventurers, who
sought their own selfish and vainglorious ends;
not freedom or good government for France,
not peace on earth, nor good will to men.
The assumption of the title of Emperor
rather than King disclosed fully the aims of
the Usurper. His wish was to put out of
sight the royalty of the Bourbons, and to
revive the reign and glory of Charlemagne.
Bonaparte, like his great exemplar, aspired to
the empire of the West. He determined to
complete the parallel, and as Charlemagne was
crowned by Pope Leo, so he resolved to be
crowned by Pope Pius. The Pontiff had a
great aversion to inaugurate Napoleon. M.
Thiers, in his work on the Consulate and the
Empire, represents this high-priest as SO
amiable that it was not difficult to persuade
him, especially when such powers of per-
444
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
suasion as those possessed by Napoleon were
employed in the task. It does not appear that
the Emperor was especially gifted in that way,
or that he ever himself relied upon the exer-
cise of such qualities as the partiality of M.
Thiers attributes to him. In his court he was
not courtly, and depended upon the suasive
and elegant Josephine to regulate matters in a
manner suitable to the dignity and demeanour
of elevated life. M. Thiers also describes the
Pope as very much influenced by the views and
policy of Napoleon, which, when as General
Bonaparte his sword opened for him a way of
audience, he had opportunity of revealing to
the College of Cardinals. The discussions
connected with the Concordat led the chief
priest to believe that the young General and
Consul was not an enemy to the Church, and
might eventually be brought to do more
for it than the inane kings who bowed sub-
missively to him whom they considered to be
God's vicegerent. M. Thiers has given in this
latter view the true interpretation of the policy
of the Vatican. Pius was anxious to put an
end to the revolutions in France, and to con-
ciliate the great victor who ruled its destinies
and those of Italy, and who also seemed likely
to give laws to the world. It was not honest
policy; it was doing what Pius himself con-
sidered evil, that good might come. The
Emperor was as dishonest as the Pope; he
cared nothing for his benediction, but desired
to conciliate the priests and the Powers of
Christendom, and to appear with all the
acknowledged sanctions of Empire, as did
Charlemagne. The Pope saw an opening for
making use of the usurper, the Emperor made
occasion for turning to his own account the
official influence of the chief priest of the
Roman Catholic world. Both used corrupt
means to accomplish an illicit end, neither
gained by it in the long run; on the whole,
the advantage lay rather with the Pope than
the Emperor, except for the occasion itself
and the short time its influence lasted.
On the 2nd of December, Napoleon and
Josephine were crowned at Notre Dame. The
Pope consecrated the imperial diadems, and
blessed the imperial pair. Napoleon did not
concede to him the privilege of placing these
emblems of power on the heads upon which
the papal benediction was pronounced. The
great king-maker raised with his own hands
the diadem and placed it on his own brow, and
then placed upon the brow of Josephine that
intended for her. There appeared no exulta-
tion in the manner of the new Emperor.
While the Pontiff's manner was timid and
hesitating, Napoleon's bearing was resolute
and haughty, but also thoughtful, and even
gloomy, as if the boom of the cannon
of Waterloo was heard by him afar off, and
St. Helena threw forward its shadow upon
all that imperial pomp.
If, after the 2nd of December, 1804, there
were any politicians in Europe who doubted
that the aspirations of Napoleon were to the
empire of the West, he soon changed their
doubts into belief. Bonaparte was President
of the Italian Republic while he had been
First Consul of France. His agents were set
to work immediately upon the proclamation
of the Empire to induce the Italian senators
to invite him to accept the sovereignty of
Italy. Their intrigues were successful, backed
as they were by the fear which the name
and power of Bonaparte inspired: the hour
approached for the dissolution of that freedom
which had already been infringed. At the
mock request of the Italian deputies, Bona-
parte proceeded to Milan, and on the 26th of
May, 1805, placed on his head with his own
hands the iron crown said to be worn by the
Lombard kings. As he did so he uttered the
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
445
words of the ceremony adopted by the old
kings of Lombardy, "God hath given it to
me; beware who touches it." He could not
have believed that God had given it to him,
except by inferring the Divine will from a
permissive Providence. The blasphemy of the
form in his lips did not perturb a conscience
which could sustain him in gaining power
in France by professing infidelity, assuming
empire with the sanction of the Pope, and
invading Egypt in the name of Mahomet.
His titles after May, 1805, were, Emperor of
the French and King of Italy.
The Ligurian Republic, then an Italian
State, separate from Venetian Lombardy, im-
mediately offered their country as "a depart-
ment of the French Empire." Bonaparte was
not reluctant to accept an offer, brought about
by the promises and threats of his own
creatures, and by the fears of a people struck
with awe by such rapid accession of authority
and power.
Having shown how the founder of the Bona-
parte dynasty rose to empire, it is not necessary
for the purpose of this history to relate the
progress of the Emperor in glory and majesty.
His name had already filled the world. He
"made the earth to tremble, and did shake
kingdoms." It is necessary, however, to
notice a few points in his remaining career,
politic and domestic, because they are con-
nected with the history of Napoleon III., and
throw light upon the policy which, in 1859,
stained Italy with gore, and opened up so
many questions concerning the future of
Europe.
The ambition of Napoleon in seizing empire
in Italy alarmed all Germany, just as in 1859
we saw the whole German population excited
by the Italian progress of Napoleon III.
England, Russia, Sweden, and Austria pre-
pared for renewed hostile exertions. Prussia
could not be induced to join the alliance; that
power temporised; and ever eager, like all the
German governments, to grasp territory, she
eventually allowed Napoleon to place in her
possession, as the reward of neutrality, the
Hanoverian territory of the King of England.
Admitted to a participation of the plunder,
Prussia was willing, and even eager, to sanc-
tion the raids of Napoleon upon the lands of
his neighbours. England and Prussia had
been old allies, the two courts were friendly;
but nevertheless Prussia accepted Hanover,
and held the plunder with a grasp, the tenacity
of which became at last as absurd and con-
temptible as it was obstinate. The Prussian
aristocracy were greedy, corrupt, and arrogant
in the extreme, having no other policy than
the oppression of the Prussian people, and the
aggrandisement of Prussia, which was in effect
that of their own order.
The courts of London, St. Petersburg,
Stockholm, and eventually that of Vienna,
joined in the alliance for the purpose of com-
pelling French troops to retire from Germany,
Holland, Switzerland, and Italy; of, in fact,
restoring the independence of Europe, without
interfering with the government of France.
This object was just; it was also necessary to
the balance of European power. In the war
which immediately ensued Bonaparte was tri-
umphant. His career of victory brought him
to the palace of the Kaisers, and Russia was
obliged to sue for permission for her beaten
troops to retire unmolested from Germany to
her own confines.
During this war Austria acted with a pride,
arrogance, insolence, and injustice which
Napoleon in his worst moments of impolicy
never attained. The military incapacity of
Austria was as signal as her political pride
and folly. Prussia, finding that Napoleon was
willing to give back Hanover to the King of
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England, or at least connive at his taking it,
as a condition to negotiations for peace,
became enraged, and precipitated herself into
a war in which her honour and independence
were lost.
The political folly and military
incapacity of Prussia were as signal as those
of Austria had been just before. Napoleon
prosecuted the war against Prussia into the
territory of her ally Russia. Poland was
speedily conquered, and the Poles were taught
to regard the Emperor as a liberator, precisely
as the Italians were, and as the Italians are
now, by Napoleon III. The Emperor avoided
committing himself to the independence of
Poland by any state document, but his agents
were permitted to use every means, even
forgery of letters from eminent Poles in Paris,
to make the people of Poland sure of the
intervention of the Emperor. The result was,
that multitudes of Poles enrolled themselves
in his army, and fought with an efficiency
against the Russians much superior to that of
the French. He betrayed Poland cruelly and
basely-not more so than his previous policy of
selfishness might have led that gallant people
to expect; but his own interests and theirs
seemed to be so identical, that few among
them suspected treachery. His objects were
to hold the prospect of a reversal of the par-
tition of Poland in terrorem over those who
had accomplished that scandalous project; to
compel the Emperor of Russia, in order to
save his Polish dominions, to become the ally
of France; to form a Franco-Russian league
subversive of the Anglo-Russian league then
existing; and, by a division of empire, for
both Emperors to control Europe, until Napo-
leon himself was in a condition to wave his
sword and sceptre over West and East. By
uniting Prussia to himself he would compel
the Baltic nations to join the league, and the
only conceivable means would then be open to
him for disputing the naval supremacy of
England. Until that were accomplished, the
empire of West and East was impossible to
either Emperor or Czar, and by the coalition
he believed it was possible. The Czar, beaten
by the military skill of Napoleon aided by the
enthusiasm of the Poles, felt compelled to
negotiate. He was willing to prolong the war
at the expense of England, but England con-
sidered that the independence and influence of
Russia ought to be sufficiently important to
that power for her to maintain it at her own
pecuniary cost, while England at her own
charge was waging war against Napoleon in
various other directions. The two Emperors
met at Tilsit. A peace followed. The two
autocrats became as brothers. Napoleon
cheated Alexander. He led the vain, ambi-
tious, and weak although crafty young Czar
to believe that the empire of the East was
properly his, that of the West, Napoleon's.
There was a show of sincerity in giving back
Poland to her bondage and reinvesting the
King of Prussia with his royal authority, or
a quasi-royal authority. The "Continental
system "
was, as Napoleon thought, firmly
established. All nations were forbidden to
trade with England. Napoleon I. was not so
good a political economist as Napoleon III.,
although neither has proved himself a master
in that science. The first Napoleon in vain
essayed to overturn laws which, like the laws
of every other science, are founded in the
nature of things. His "Continental system"
was one of the elements of his ruin. It
created a terrible reaction against him, and it
needed but that, in addition to his insolent,
haughty, morose, and absolute dictation in
Germany, to convince Europe that his reign,
at all events out of France, was an intolerable
tyranny. The brave Poles found in the horrors
of their despair his real character. They fought
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447
I
and bled for him freely, nobly; he ignobly
and faithlessly consigned them to the ven-
geance of the Czar, who never forgot or for-
gave their heroic effort to shake off the yoke.
There is now an alliance between a French and
a Russian autocrat. This alliance, like that
concluded at the peace of Tilsit, sprung up
out of a war waged by France against the
influence of the Czar. Europe is now filled
with rumours and discussions as to the great
naval preparations of the same powers, under
another Napoleon and another Alexander.
While Napoleon I. warred with such triumph
against the independence of nations, he made
as successful assaults upon the democratic
liberties of France. His assumption of empire
was ostensibly based on universal suffrage.
There was a quasi recognition still of the
French democracy. He, however, soon swept
away every vestige of popular power. He
established a new aristocracy; princes, dukes,
and counts of the empire were created, and
with every title a new hostage, as it were, was
taken among the gifted men of France, for the
maintenance of his dynasty. His brothers and
sisters he made kings and queens, no matter
where for our present purpose; royal, arch-
ducal, and ducal thrones were filled by Bona-
partes in every direction. No royal house in
Europe, not even the Bourbons, had so many
royalties as the house of Bonaparte. Corsica
had become a nursery for kings and queens,
such as even Saxe Coburg and Gotha has not
rivalled. Napoleon was supreme on conti-
nental Europe. The Britons from their island
homes defied his power, captured his ships,
invaded his territories or those of his satellites,
blockaded his ports, ridiculed his pretensions,
and kept alive the spark of national liberty in
Europe; while they gained far wider conquests
in that gorgeous East, to which Napoleon's
ambition was ever turned, than Napoleon could
obtain had all Europe acknowledged a sove-
reign only in him. From Calcutta to the
Sutlej, from Bombay to the Indus, from Cape
Comorin to Delhi, the antique and picturesque
capital of the Moguls, England reigned.
Moreover, she acquired colonies and strong
military stations in every sea: France and
England ran a race of glory and conquest:
England won. England nearly always retained
what she conquered. Her conquests were
forced upon her by the necessity of protecting
territory previously acquired. France rolled
forth her prowess and her power like the
mighty, but not always resistless sea, and, like
it as it recedes, fell back, from the operation of
a necessity of its own nature. The power of
England was stable, and the glory of England
was not tarnished by the infringement of
European national independence, or the viola-
tion of the European compact.
The ambition of Napoleon led him to the
conquest of the Iberian peninsula. Chiefly
through the genius of the Duke of Wellington
and by British blood and British treasure, the
ungrateful nations of that peninsula were
restored to independence. The exhaustion of
the French Empire in every way by that con-
test precipitated its downfall. The two
empires, that of Britain and France, were
matched in arms in the struggle which raged
from Gibraltar and Oporto to Toulouse, and
Britain triumphed,
While this great conflict proceeded, fresh
wars raged elsewhere. Russia seized Finland
from her ally Sweden-as nefarious a plunder
as any projected by Napoleon. Austria went
to war once more, and once more the French
Emperor sat as victor in the palaces on the
Danube. Russia and Prussia again allied
themselves against France.
The victories of Wellington in Spain en-
couraged every nation which had any strength
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
left to put forth another effort against the
usurper. The allies were successful, chiefly
because the veteran soldiers of France were
called away from Germany to serve in Spain.
Before the allies were able to accomplish the
liberation of Germany they had to encounter
great perils.. New French armies swept over the
whole of Germany and invaded Russia; their
proud chief gave orders of the day from the
Kremlin at Moscow, while Wellington, like a
whirlwind, swept away his hosts from the
heights of Salamanca and the fastnesses of
northern Spain. Few historical facts are better
known than the history of the Russian expedi-
tion of Napoleon. The disaster and sufferings
of the vast and heterogeneous army with which
he retreated from the old capital of the Mus-
covites, will be held up as warnings against
ambition and the vanity of military glory until
nations cease to learn the art of war any more.
The frosts and snows of Russia conquered the
grand army of European conscripts. Wel-
lington and British valour conquered the old
legions of the Republic, the Consulate, and the
Empire, in the Spanish peninsula. France
was invaded from both sides, and Wellington
was fighting the battle of Toulouse, when the
allies had already conquered eastern France,
and compelled the abdication of Napoleon. The
autocrat of France became the exile of Elba,
and Europe had for a time repose.
Napoleon in capitulating was far more
anxious for the continuance of his dynasty
than the prosperity of France, or of her glory,
about which he perpetually made such mag-
niloquent orations and despatches.
Leaving the founder of the Bonaparte
dynasty at Elba, it is requisite, in order to
understand his dynastic ambition as cherished
by himself and transmitted to his successor, to
return to the scenes of his imperial greatness,
and examine some passages in his life which
were partly of domestic and partly of political
interest, but which show the policy and aims
of the dynasty as fully as do other political
and personal episodes of his career already
related. Scarcely had Napoleon placed the
crown of empire upon his head, than his heart
seemed to harden down into a selfishness more
obdurate than ever. For riches he never
cared; for power, authority, glory, he was
insatiably greedy. For these he could sacri-
fice honour, affection-everything. A sense
of duty-that sterling and prevailing charac-
teristic of both Nelson and Wellington-seems
to have been altogether a stranger to his
breast. The more his mind became dazzled
and intoxicated with victory and conquest, the
more indurated his heart became, until at last
he sacrificed the beautiful, gentle, loving,
generous, faithful Josephine upon the altar of
ambition. He resolved to divorce her. After
various false-hearted manoeuvres to induce her
to accede to this wish, he pronounced with his
own lips the decree of separation. It is not
the province of this history to record the par-
ticulars of scenes in which Josephine appears
to so much advantage, and Bonaparte with so
much infamy. His ambition was proved once
more to be mean in its nature. The glory of
victorious battle, the renown of genius, the
everlasting reputation of able and beneficent
legislation, the possession of arbitrary power
and wide-spread empire, were with him nothing
compared to being a king, recognised as such by
the old royal houses of Europe. The happiest
moments of his life, at all events after the first
flush of his military successes, were probably
at Tilsit, when recognised by the Emperor of
Russia as a friend and a brother potentate,
and when by an adulterous marriage with an
arch-duchess of Austria, he was recognised by
that imperial house. The man who preferred
being acknowledged as a king by kings whom
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449
he personally despised, to have virtue, genius,
power, glory, and the welfare of mankind, had
a soul essentially mean, whatever the great-
ness of its powers. Such was Napoleon Bona-
parte.
On the 5th of December, 1809, five years
after she became Empress, he announced to
Josephine that the separation was determined.
Ten days afterwards he called together his
council, and in terms of specious hypocrisy
declared that he was about to make this great
sacrifice for the welfare of the State. Poor
Josephine was compelled to appear before
the council, and with loud sobs-her heart
breaking with grief—to signify verbally her
acquiescence.
Handsome provision was made for her, and
the Emperor treated her personally with
respect. Although beloved by all, yet Savary,
Bourienne, and others inform us, that as soon
as her fallen estate became known, the minions
of the court treated her with coldness; French
courtiers did not worship the setting sun..
She survived some years to witness the
fallen fortunes of him whom she loved, and
who so cruelly wronged her. Shortly after
Napoleon's first abdication she died. As the
grandmother of the present Emperor of the
French, her name rises again to the page of
history with renewed interest. On the 28th of
May, 1814, she died, and was buried with
some pomp and many tokens of respect on the
2nd of June. Her two grandsons attended the
funeral as chief mourners. Her place of sepul-
ture was the parish church of Ruel. Her
children, Eugene and Hortense (mother of the
present Emperor), erected over her remains
a magnificent tomb of white marble, bearing
the simple, but appropriate and tasteful
inscription, Eugène et Hortense à Josephine.
When Napoleon cast off his wife he found
no difficulty in obtaining the approval of his
brothers, his courtiers, and the Imperial
Council. When he took another wife, they
were equally ready to do homage to his will.
The Church made no remonstrances against
the crime of repudiating Josephine, and too
readily consented to recognise the espousal of
her successor. All alike studied their personal
and party concerns, in spite of the claims of
justice, humanity, and religion.
Napoleon waited little more than a month
after the dishonour done to Josephine before
he summoned his ready tools together, which
he called "a grand council," to assist him in
selecting a new wife. It was resolved that the
Emperor should seek an alliance with the
House of Austria. The Kaiser had been
already prepared for such a proposal. The
formal negotiations lasted twenty-four hours!
Maria Louisa, Arch-duchess of Austria, was
plighted to the French Emperor, as a pledge
of the eternal alliance between the two states.
Napoleon was sincere in wishing by this alli-
ance to ensure peace with the Austrian empire,
so long as it would not impede his designs
elsewhere, and he had not leisure to dictate
more thoroughly its affairs. It was not, how-
ever, policy merely, nor chiefly, which animated
the Emperor, it was the desire to be married
into a kingly family, and be recognised as one
of the legitimate royalties of Europe. The
vanity of kingship was apparent. For this
mean passion he would forego all other things.
On the 27th of February, the French Senate
was informed of the will of its master.
On the 11th of March the espousals of
Napoleon and Maria Louisa were celebrated in
Vienna. Napoleon proceeded to meet her
Imperial Majesty, and spent the first night of
their union at Compiegne; Napoleon desiring
in doing so to gratify his morbid vanity for
following royal precedent, in imitation of
Henry IV. and Mary de Medicis.
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On the 1st of April, 1810, the imperial pair
made their public entry into Paris. The even-
ing of that day gave the Emperor an oppor-
tunity for studying royal precedents, not at all
to his taste, nor even contributing to his
vanity. The civil ceremony of the marriage
took place at St. Cloud. He had gone through
the same ceremony with his wife Josephine; she
was still living. Balls, fêtes, illuminations,
followed; Paris did not go into mourning for
the degradation thus brought upon the nation
in the crime and dishonour of its chief. At
the fête given by the Austrian ambassador,
the ball-room took fire and several persons
perished. Here a royal precedent, instead of
gratifying, awed him, and filled him with
gloomy and superstitious prognostications, for
he was reminded of the catastrophe which
marked the celebrated fête given on occasion
of the marriage of Louis XVI. with Marie
Antoinette.
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-
On the 20th of March an imperial heir was
born, and was hailed as King of Rome. The
The
dream of Napoleon's ambition, to restore in
his dynasty the empire of the West, seemed at
last realised.
Napoleon fell, as a former page reminded
the reader, and in the manner so well known
to the world. Maria Louisa, escorted by
Austrian guards, was taken back to her
father's palace. Josephine, who sought no
vengeance, who wept in secret the ruin of him
she loved, was avenged. The queenly woman,
for whom the husband of Josephine had repu-
diated her, was now borne away from him a
captive, and he was exiled from empire by the
kings, to be one among whom he bartered
honour, trampled upon principle, and severed
the dearest ties. He had banished Josephine
from his court; her successor was compelled
to swear (according to the statement of
Fleury de Chaboulon) that she would maintain
no correspondence with her husband. Seldom
does history disclose a providential retribution
so signal. Yet, it did not end there-the King
of Rome, the son of Maria Louisa, was not
destined to reign in Rome or Paris, or even
in Parma, the archduchy assigned to Maria
Louisa; he died young. The son of Hortense,
the grandson of Josephine, is Emperor of the
French in 1864. The language of the pious
poet is exemplified in these strikingly judicial
and retributive providences :-
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sca
And rides upon the storm."
With the fortunes of the first Napoleon our
history does not require us to conduct the
reader further. No portion of the events of
the present century is better known than that
the exile from Elba burst from his solitude;
alighted with the swiftness of an eagle upon
France; found Frenchmen as eager for mili-
tary glory as when "the sun of Austerlitz
rose and set upon their armies; once more
occupied the palaces of the Bourbons, who fled
before his terrible name; organised a new
army; waged war for a hundred days; encoun-
tered the power and chivalry of England on
the plains of Waterloo; was hurled back in
disordered flight by the genius of Wellington
and the valour of the British soldiery; became
a captive on the wildest rock of the ocean;
and, vanquished, helpless, hopeless, miserably
perished. Sic transit gloria mundi.
To all human cognition the Bonaparte
dynasty was extinguished at St. Helena; but
as the fabled phoenix arising with renewed
plumage and vigour from the consuming
flames, so the Bonaparte dynasty has been
restored in the extraordinary fortunes of
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew
of Napoleon I.
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451.
CHAPTER LV.
PARENTS OF NAPOLEON III.
"Marriages are oftener unhappy amongst princes than amongst their humblest subjects."-ESSAYS.
IN previous chapters, a history, brief but com-
prehensive, was given of the rise, and the
founder, of the Bonaparte dynasty, and inci-
dentally the principles of his policy werc
developed. Such an account enables the
writer to give at once a more complete and
succinct history of Napoleon III. He pro-
fesses to rule in the light of his uncle's
legislation. His domestic and foreign policy
alike rest upon that of the founder of the
dynasty. The objects of Napoleon I. are
obviously taken up and prosecuted by his
successor. The fuller the sketch given of the
one, the more facile it is to make complete
that of the other.
The maternal parent of the present French
Emperor, the reader has learned from the fore-
going chapters, was Hortense, daughter of
Josephine by the Count de Beauharnais. The
father of Napoleon III. was Louis, third
brother of Napoleon I. Louis was born at
Ajaccio, the 2nd of September, 1778. When
fourteen years of age, he was sent to the
school of Chalons, to undergo the examina-
tions necessary as preliminary to his becoming
an officer of artillery. At that time Napoleon
was engaged in the siege of Toulon, and visit-
ing his parents, who then resided at Marseilles,
he induced them to allow Louis to enter the
military profession.
After the re-conquest of Toulon by the
French, Napoleon attached Louis to his person
as aide-de-camp, and as a sub-lieutenant.
Louis was very brave, and devotedly fond
of his brother Napoleon. The first time they
met together in battle, the heroic boy placed
himself between his brother and the enemy's
fire. He on several occasions emulated the
courage of Napoleon, even when the latter
showed the most cool and impassive bravery.
In the army of Italy commanded by Napo-
leon, young Louis acted as his aide-de-camp.
He showed courage whenever it appeared to
him necessary; but it might be said of him, as
Sir Walter Scott said of Louis XI., "he neither
sought nor shunned danger." He took a dis-
like to the military profession, and if he did
not despise military glory, he was indifferent
to it for himself. He preferred retirement
and study. According to his own account,
the victories of the armies of Italy afforded
him no personal exultation, but he "felt a
vacuity of heart, and a sentiment of deep regret,
at seeing himself impelled into a career of
troublesome ambition." The courage of Louis
has been underrated by historians, as well as
the services he rendered to Napoleon, and the
risks he encountered in his brother's defence.
Probably in no author has a better summary
appeared of the earlier military dangers and
enterprises of Louis than the following
"He and the brave Lannes, afterwards Duke
of Montebello, were the first who, in May,
1796, passed the Po.
1796, passed the Po. At the taking of Piz-
zighitone, Louis entered the breach, with
Dommartin, the general of artillery. He was
present at the driving in of the gates of
Pavia, and the reduction and partial pillage
of that city. At this horrible spectacle, he
says he was greatly shocked, and became
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:
thenceforward still more cold and taciturn.
He was present at the battle of Valeggio,
after which the Mincio was forcibly passed,
with the Austrian army in front. He pre-
sented to the Directory the colours taken at
the battle of Castiglione, and had the rank
of captain conferred on him as a mark of
their satisfaction. He was also at the battles
of Brenta, Coldiero, and Rivoli; and at the
memorable one of Arcola, which lasted three
days, he was exposed, during the hottest
period of the attack, to imminent peril. The
brave Lannes fell wounded by his side; and
Napoleon's horse having sunk with him in a
morass, Louis succeeded in getting hold of
one of his brother's hands; but, not being
sufficiently strong, he was drawn along with
him, and both must have perished, had not
Marmont, with two subalterns, extricated
them from their perilous situation. This took
place on the first day. On the second, Louis
was charged with important orders from the
General-in-chief to General Robert, and, being
the only person on horseback, he was marked
out by the tirailleurs of the enemy, and ex-
posed for a long time to their fire. On
On
regaining his brother, Napoleon expressed a
feeling of surprise and joy at seeing him:
'I believed you dead,' said he; and his death
had been actually announced to him by some
of the grenadiers."*
In 1797, previous to the treaty of Campo
Formio, he showed military virtues of a high
order while reconnoitring the enemy's out-
posts during eight days of incessant active
duty. He was also one of Napoleon's aides-
de-camp in the expedition to Egypt.
Few enterprises were more full of peril in
connection with that expedition than the return
of Louis in a gun-boat to France. English,
* "The Court and Camp of Bonaparte."
Portuguese, and even Russian cruisers, were
on the watch; but after evading them for two
months, often upon the point of being cap-
tured, he reached France in safety.
On the elevation of Napoleon to the consul-
ship, Louis was made a colonel of dragoons, and
sent to Normandy to suppress the symptoms
of royalist disaffection to the Republic. Four
Chouan leaders were tried by court-martial.
Louis was ordered to preside at the court-
martial, but refused. The Chouans were shot;
but Louis shut himself
but Louis shut himself up, and spent the day
as one of mourning. He afterwards protested
against the sentence of death. He used all
his influence to make his officers join in these
demonstrations of dissatisfaction. The fact
was, Louis was a royalist in his heart; he
sympathised with the Bourbons. Napoleon
seems to have thought so, for he never after
placed full confidence in Louis.
It has been already shown in this history
that Josephine was bent upon having Louis
for a son-in-law, and her motives have been
pointed out. Three times he refused the hand
of Hortense. He describes his own feelings,
in this refusal, as being very favourable to the
young lady; but he had a conviction that their
characters were unsuitable. The fact was, that
Louis' heart was elsewhere.
He had met,
whilst visiting his sister at school, a young
royalist lady, who won his affections, and nearly
turned his head. This was before the expe-
dition to Egypt, and was one of the causes of
his brother hurrying him away thither. Louis
never seems to have lost his first love; he had
not a heart to give to Hortense. Nevertheless
they were married. Josephine and Napoleon,
on the occasion of a ball at Malmaison, drew
him aside, and made him give his consent;
such was his own account of the interview and
its result. "On lui fit donner son consente-
ment," says a French writer who knew the
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453
mind of Louis and the incident itself. On the
4th of January, 1802, the contract, the civil
marriage, and the religious ceremony took
place at the First Consul's private residence
in the Rue de la Victoire.
The agony of Louis on this occasion seems
to have been intense. He afterwards described
the occasion in language full of poignant grief:
"Never was there a more gloomy ceremony!
never had husband and wife a stronger pre-
sentiment of the horrors of a reluctant and
ill-assorted union." He became dejected and
melancholy; nor did these evidences of his
unhappiness ever disappear.
Hortense was equally unhappy; at least
she, according to Bourrienne, loved Duroc, the
favourite of Napoleon, but her love was not
requited. She could not endure the idea of
marriage with Louis, for the same reason that
he also was repugnant to the union-discre-
pancy of character. Some persons represent
her as the more reluctant victim in the mutual
sacrifice; Bourrienne, however, places the
darker wreath on the brow of Louis. Madame
de Montessor gave a ball in honour of the
occasion, where it was represented every
countenance beamed with satisfaction, save
that of the bride, whose profound melancholy
formed a sad contrast to the happiness which
she might have been expected to evince; she
seemed to shun her husband's very looks, lest.
he should read in hers the indifference she
felt towards him."
-66
tion for love of retirement and indifference to
glory caused surprise in the army and among
the Parisians, when he displayed, in his new
capacity, the very qualities requisite for it.
He partook of that peculiarity of his son Louis
which is so well known; he surprised men by
his fitness for undertakings for which no one
expected the development of any particular
capacity.
During the campaign of Austerlitz, Napo-
leon conceived the intention to make Louis
King of Holland, where Louis commanded a
corps of the French army of occupation. The
Emperor was delighted with the military skill
shown by his brother in protecting the frontier.
Louis treated this great prize as he had that
of military glory and the hand of Hortense-
shunned it as much as possible.
In 1806 Holland ceased to be a republic, at
the will of the Emperor, and by the same fiat
Louis became its sovereign. His efforts had
been unremitting to escape the honour, and he
finally declared that the climate of Holland
would kill him. Bonaparte showed his usual
passion for kingship by his reply, "Better to
die a king than live only a prince." Finally,
Louis was informed that, as an imperial sub-
ject, he must obey.
On the 5th of June, 1806, Louis Bonaparte
and Hortense were proclaimed King and Queen
of Holland.
From his marriage until the Empire, he
served with his regiment, a part of the time
only as General of Brigade, for Napoleon pro-
moted him slowly, even when the public voice
was in favour of the gallant Louis obtaining
higher rank in the army. Upon the corona-
tion he was made a General of Division.
During Napoleon's absence in Germany, Louis
commanded the garrison of Paris; his reputa- | Europe. Louis considered it an infraction of
The new king at once determined to set
himself to the conscientious and capable dis-
charge of his regal duties, as he would have
done if appointed to command an army, or do
anything else for which he had no taste. He
found that the French government owed the
Dutch treasury three millions of florins (a
quarter of a million sterling). He demanded
the money and offended France and the Em-
peror, as both throve upon the plunder of
454
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
>
4
:
1
his personal dignity not to assert the rights
of the country over which he ruled. He
reigned righteously, administering justice with
a steady hand, promoting merit, and protect-
ing religious liberty. He came to the con-
clusion that the bane of Holland was the
domination of France. He found a French
army subsisting upon the revenue of Holland,
which did not require their protection. He
found commerce restricted by the continental
system, and Holland could not exist without
commerce. He reduced all sinecures, and all
French or sectional interests, and demanded,
again and again, the repayment by France
of money removed from the Dutch treasury.
None of these things suited the imperial
tyrant, and Louis fell under his severe dis-
pleasure.
There was no branch of the State into which
he did not introduce reforms. Nothing escaped
him-legal, educational, social, sanitary, com-
mercial, scientific, literary. He displayed great
powers of administration, and very compre-
hensive abilities. If Louis Napoleon, in France,
follows the example of his father in Holland,
his empire will be a blessing. The policy of
his sire, rather than of his predecessor, would
give peace to France and Europe, and pros-
perity to the French people.
Finding that Holland increased in wealth and
happiness under Louis, his imperial brother
thought him and his rising kingdom fit objects
for plunder. Several provinces were wrested
from Holland and added to the French
empire.
When Napoleon desired, in the case of
Spain, to go through the usual preliminaries,
in making independent countries provinces of
his empire, he proposed to Louis to make him
King of Spain. He was happy in Holland,
and refused. The magnificent honour was
conferred on Joseph.
The policy of Louis towards his brother was
unwise.
unwise. His sympathies were not loyal to
France. There was more truth in the sneer
of Napoleon than the great man intended or
supposed, when he called his brother "the
ally of King George." Louis detested tho-
roughly the opinions of his brother on
government, and on expediency in general.
Napoleon, wearied out with fraternal endea-
vours to obtain the co-operation of Louis,
treated him coarsely and sternly, and at length
coerced him. In 1810 the quarrel between
the two brothers became open and violent.
Napoleon had invited Louis to reign over Hol-
land for him. Louis seemed to forget how he
came by his throne, paid no reasonable defer-
ence to his brother's vast power and capacity,
and treated his advice even as an interference
with his prerogative. Had Louis ascended
the throne of Holland by legitimate succession
he could not have resented more warmly, he
would not have dared to resent so warmly, the
dictation of the conqueror. It was evident in
the beginning of 1810 that a breach between
the Emperor and Louis must take place.
The latter believed that Napoleon sought an
occasion to deprive him of his kingdom, in
order to annex the Netherlands to France;
he therefore determined to abdicate in favour
of his son-not the present Emperor of the
French, who, the youngest of three brothers,
was then but two years old. The language
used by Louis when he came to this deter-
mination was petulant and suspicious; he
placed the conduct and motives of his imperial
brother before his eyes in a worse light than
they deserved. Napoleon was fond of Louis,
and desired to promote his renown, so far as
it did not interfere with his own glory, and
especially with his pride of kingship.
On the 1st of July, 1810, Louis abdicated
in favour of his son. Napoleon published a
S
g
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
455
decree declaring the act a nullity, although it
was precisely what he afterwards did himself
in favour of the King of Rome, and bitterly
complained that "the powers" did not recog-
" did not recog-
nise it. Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp for the
heir of the King of Holland, ordered him to
remain at a residence set apart for him in the
palace of St. Cloud, and in a fortnight after
proclaimed that Holland was annexed to the
French empire.
The Duc de Rovigo represents Napoleon as
more astonished and grieved at this act of
Louis than by any other distressing incident
which had befallen him. After a temporary
stupor, he uttered, with much emotion, "Was
it possible to suspect conduct so mischievous.
from the brother most indebted to me! When
I was a mere lieutenant of artillery I brought
him up with my scanty means; I divided my
bread with him, and this is the return he
makes me!"
The ex-king of Holland took the title of
Count de St. Leu, from an estate which he
possessed near Paris. The French senate
decreed him an appanage of £80,000, but he
refused it, on the ground that he might
appear to have had it in view in his abdica-
tion. He acted with great disinterestedness;
but his pride was stronger than his ambi-
tion, his wisdom larger than his prudence,
his sense of obligation to an assumed duty
stronger than his view of its nature and
origin was either comprehensive or sagacious.
He was wilful and capricious, like all the
family; but he was just and conscientious.
He had no sympathy at all with the aims
of Napoleon, military, political, or regal;
and he took no part in them, except as
compelled by his brother's superior autho-
rity. He retired to Gratz, and afterwards
was received by Napoleon at Paris, through
the intercession of Maria Louisa. When he
heard of Napoleon's first reverse, he endea-
voured to regain possession of the throne of
Holland, but the Dutch knew well that to
receive him would embroil them with the
allies. After all his reluctance to be a king
by the will of his brother, he sought, with
pertinacity, to regain his throne when his
brother was humiliated. One can hardly avoid
thinking that he was not quite so devoid of
ambition, after he had tasted the sweets of
royalty, as in his earlier years. An utter
dislike of his brother's policy, perhaps dashed
with some envy of his success a sort of
success which he nevertheless desired not for
himself-appears to have influenced his reserve.
He never had the same intimacy with Napo-
leon, nor appeared to have the same love for
him, after the marriage of Hortense had been
forced upon him.
When the allies entered Paris and Napoleon
abdicated, Louis received the permission of the
Pope to reside in Rome, where he spent his
leisure in the cultivation of literature. He at
all times wrote well when describing scenery
and the transactions of men. His description
of the battle of the Nile, which he witnessed,
was very good. His descriptions of the Mame-
lukes and Bedouins, while in the expedition to
| Egypt, were graphic, and his reflections showed
ethnological reading and observation, and con-
siderable philosophical discrimination. He wrote
a bad novel, and a good politico-historical
disquisition, entitled, "Documens Historiques
et Reflexions sur le Gouvernement de la Hol-
lande." This latter work has been translated
into most of the languages spoken by large com-
munities in Europe. Napoleon had some taste
for writing, but no leisure, being altogether a
man of action. Napoleon III. is also an author.
Authorship is one of the talents of the family.
The marriage with Hortense exercised an
unhappy influence, morally and politically,
-
456
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
over Louis, although they lived but little
together. In September, 1807, they finally
separated, and that circumstance had an un-
favourable effect upon the mind of Napoleon
towards his brother. Scarcely four months of
the five years and eight months that intervened
between the marriage and the separation were
they resident together. They spent these few
months with one another at intervals of long
periods. There were three sons born to them:
Napoleon Charles, who died in Holland in
1807; Napoleon Louis, made Grand Duke of
Berg in 1809; and Charles Louis Napoleon,
now Emperor of the French.
The memory of Hortense has been blackened
by the infamous Fouché, at the expense also
of Napoleon's character. For this aspersion
there is not a tittle of proof, and there is every
conceivable presumption that the allegation is
as great a lie as the whole life of Fouché him-
self. Victor Hugo has of late years indecently,
intemperately, and vindictively tried to revive
this calumny and some others. Louis Bona-
parte always recognised and loved his children.
CHAPTER LVI.
CHARLES LOUIS NAPOLEON was born 20th April,
1808. His birth was announced with military
and imperial honours; Church and State
announced his nativity with rejoicing. He
was-as he himself is represented as fond of
repeating" born upon the steps of a throne."
He was not baptised until 1810. The cere-
mony took place at Fontainbleau; the Emperor
and his new Empress (Josephine having then
been repudiated) stood sponsors for him. There
was something peculiarly heartless in this
public sponsorship of Maria Louisa for the son
of Hortense, the grandson of Josephine
Josephine yet living.
In the year 1816, Hortense (Duchess of St.
Leu, under which title she had resided in great
splendour in Paris) retired with her sons to
Bavaria. The jealousy of the allies, in which
Bavaria bitterly partook, compelled her to seek
BIRTH OF CHARLES LOUIS NAPOLEON.-EDUCATION, EARLY VICISSITUDES, AND PERILS.
"A man who loves his mother can never be wholly a bad man, and most men who have become great have traced the first
Bright,
springs of their greatness to the thoughts and precepts of a mother."-JOHN BRIGHT, M.P.
refuge in Switzerland, the land of the free;
but preferring Rome, and wishing to avoid too
close a propinquity to French territory, such
as might give umbrage to the Bourbons, she
took up her residence in that city. M. Lebas,
son of a companion of Robespierre, received
the charge of educating the children.
Hortense and her children remained Roman
citizens until 1830, when the revolution broke
out in Paris which placed the crafty and
treacherous Louis Philippe upon the throne.
In the December of that year the Bonapartes
assembled at Rome to confer concerning the
family prospects. Those who were thus
brought together were Madame Mère, Jerome,
Hortense and her sons, and Cardinal Fesch.
The Pope hearing of this meeting, intimated
his desire that Hortense and her family should
leave Rome. The family not accepting the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
457
hint, Louis Bonaparte was conducted to the
frontier by a troop of horse, and ordered not
to repass it. The general agitation of Europe
resulting from the successful revolution of
Paris affected the Roman States, which burst
into partial insurrection. The two sons of
Hortense, Louis and his elder brother, joined
the patriots both at the council board and in
the field. This may now seem incredible,
considering that by the intervention of Louis
Napoleon the Pope has been kept upon his
throne for years. No one believes that his
views are changed; but whether the part
played in 1830-1, or that since he became
President of the French Republic, be the
false one, who can tell? It served the Bona-
parte interest to make war against the Pope
in 1830. It serves the same interest to make
war for the Pope after 1848. This is the
probable way to reconcile the opposite lines of
conduct pursued. Acting with General Ser-
cognani, the insurgents repulsed the Pope's
troops repeatedly, the young Bonapartes be-
having with a courage worthy of their name.
Louis Philippe by a fleet, the Austrian em-
peror by an army, interfered to protect the
Pope against the Bonapartes. An edict of
banishment from the Roman States was issued
against both the sons of Hortense. The elder
was seized with illness at Faenza, and died
March 27, 1831. Charles Louis Napoleon, an
exile from France and Rome, a wanderer on
the earth, was the head of the house of Bona-
parte, and the only hope of a dynasty for which
none but he had any hope.
|
The Duchess de St. Leu, aware that her sons
were engaged in a dangerous enterprise, from
which it appears she did not expect success,
had made preparations for flight. She was
therefore ready to depart on the defeat of her
sons. Louis, the survivor, disguised as her
servant, fled with her to Cannes, where Napo-
leon, sixteen years before, had landed from
Elba with more auspicious fortunes.
Louis Philippe, who had aided the Pope and
the Austrians in suppressing liberty in Italy,
then reigned in France. He had been much
indebted to Hortense for offices of generosity
in the days of her power and his depression;
the time had arrived to test his gratitude.
Hortense and her son, all that now remained
to her of the powerful connections she once
had, hurried to Paris to throw themselves
upon the generosity of the king. Hortense
had induced the Emperor to allow the mother
and aunt of Louis Philippe to remain in
France during the exile of the Bourbons: he
had now an opportunity to return the favour
bestowed upon him. Louis Philippe could not
forget that to the influence of Hortense it was
also chiefly due that 600,000 francs per annum
(nearly £30,000 sterling) had been allowed
them to maintain their dignity.
The citizen king could do nothing in a direct
manner. He endeavoured to induce them to
leave France. Finding that he could not pre-
vail in this way, he peremptorily ordered them
to leave the kingdom, having first refused
Louis Napoleon permission to enter the French
army as a private soldier. Louis Philippe
drove them out of his dominions without ren-
dering a single act of courtesy or kindness in
return for the lavish favours heaped upon his
nearest and dearest relatives by Hortense,
Josephine, and Napoleon. The miserly king
could not part with money for any object but
that of corrupting those who, by corruption,
he intended to minister to his greater wealth
and power.
and power. Such was his timidity while Hor-
tense and her son remained, that, in spite of
his constitutional reserve, he made himself
openly ridiculous. Of course, England, the
asylum of the unfortunate, first afforded them
a refuge. The climate did not suit Hortense,
+
卤
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458
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and they were not welcomed with that consi-
deration and distinction which they felt they
had a right to receive; moreover, they pre-
ferred living nearer to France, and where the
manners of the people were more French. On
the 31st of August they returned to Switzer-
land, and took up their abode at Arenemberg.
In April of the following year Louis Napoleon
was elected by the canton of Thurgovia to the
rights of citizenship. This boon the canton
conferred "in gratitude for the many favours
bestowed upon the canton by the Duchess de
St. Leu's family since her residence at Arenem-
berg." In another clause of the letter, written
by the authorities, they declare themselves
actuated by a desire to prove their "esteem
for the generous character of the family,
and the preference they have given to the
canton."
What a contrast this conduct to that of
Louis Philippe ! Switzerland, except for a
few courtesies shown by an exiled lady in a
particular canton, had received no favours, but
many injuries from the Bonapartes. The
Emperor Napoleon had trampled down the
liberties of the federation, yet they hospitably
and generously welcomed the heir of Napo-
leon's house in the hour of affliction. Louis
Philippe, for the most noble forbearance, and
most liberal provision for his family, rendered
an inhospitable, mean, and cruel return.
Louis Napoleon's reply to the canton of
Thurgovia was wise and appropriate :-" In all
the changes of my future career as a French-
man and a Bonaparte, I shall be proud of
being the citizen of a free nation." However
becoming such a response, events have given
it an air of bombast and hypocrisy. Was
Louis Napoleon sincere? Did his young heart
yearn for freedom when he joined the ranks of
the Roman patriots, or boasted of his enrol-
ment as a free citizen among a free people?
Or was he already so well versed in arts of
personal and political hypocrisy, that in these
demonstrations, whether life was perilled, or
satisfaction in the possession of the enfran-
chisement of a free country expressed, he was
only "taking up men and laying them down
at his pleasure?"
At Arenemberg he pursued a course of his-
torical study, and turned his attention more to
the political principles of his uncle. As he
showed less a love of national independence
and more personal ambition from that time, it
is but charitable to hope that it was the study
of the views and objects of the Empire that
corrupted the sincere aspirations of his own
He also directed his studies to
young heart.
military affairs. He became a student of the
military school of Thun, and so prosecuted the
study of artillery, that he published a work on
the history and application of that arm of war.
The publication of the book made such an
impression in his favour, that the canton of
Berne nominated him captain of artillery.
Upon receipt of his commission he addressed
a letter to M. Favel, vice-president of the
government, asserting the doctrine of the
sovereignty of the people :-
Cla
"Monsieur le President,
"I have this moment received the warrant
informing me that the executive council of the
city of Berne, has appointed me to the office
of captain of artillery. I hasten to return my
acknowledgments, for you have realised my
utmost wishes. My own country, or rather
the government of France, repulses me because
I am the nephew of a great man.
You are
more just.
"I am proud of being ranked among the
defenders of a state where the sovereignty of
the people is recognised as the basis of the
constitution, and whose every citizen is ready
A
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
459
to sacrifice his life for the liberty and inde-
pendence of his country.
"Receive the assurance, &c.,
"NAPOLEON-LOUIS BONAPARTE."
It will be observed that, in attaching his name,
the usual style of his signature was changed.
He did not sign the letter "Charles Louis
Napoleon," his real name. The reason of the
alteration was, that his uncle had expressed a
desire that the representative of the family
should always prefix Napoleon to the other
terms of his name. On the death of his
elder brother, Charles Louis Napoleon adopted
the style employed in his letter to M. Favel.
At the elections in France, consequent upon
the revolution of 1848, confusion arose from
this double mode of signing his name, upon
which he returned to its own proper form; but
on ascending the throne of the empire, he
adopted the manner of the first Emperor,
signing all decrees "Napoleon."
The letter to the Bernese vice-president was,
with all its brevity, full of significancy. Its
terms were conceived, not certainly from love
of liberty, not merely in compliment to the
institutions of Switzerland, but to impress
France with the idea that he would be the
advocate of a measure of liberty which was
not secured to her by the revolution of 1830.
When the letter was written, Louis Philippe
was pursuing a career of corruption and
treachery which ultimately undermined his
power.
Louis Napoleon continued to pursue his
military studies without any notable event
occurring until the year 1835, when it became
rumoured all over Europe, that he was about
to marry his cousin, the Duke of Leuchten-
berg's widow, the Queen of Portugal. He
artfully took occasion of this wide-spread
report to indicate his claims upon France, and
his belief that France would one day recognise
them. This he did in a letter published in the
journals of the day, which carefully avoided
expressing too much, yet conveyed his ambi-
tion, and intimated what he held to be the
duty of France. The letter is too remarkable
not to give it in full to our readers. It oracu-
larly foreshadowed the future.
66
Arenemberg, Dec. 14, 1835.
"Several journals have announced my de-
parture for Portugal, as though I pretended to
However
the hand of Queen Donna Maria.
pleasing might be the idea of a union with a
youthful, beautiful, and virtuous queen, the
widow of a cousin who was dear to me, it is
nevertheless incumbent upon me to contradict
such rumour, being unaware of anything that
should have occasioned it.
"To myself it is due to add that, not-
withstanding the lively interest which must
attach to the destinies of a people who have
so recently acquired their liberties, I should
decline the honour of sharing the throne of
Portugal, were attention directed to me with
such a view.
"The noble conduct of my father, who, in
1810, abdicated because he could not reconcile
the interests of France with those of Holland,
I have not forgotten. By his great example,
my father proved to me how the claims of
one's native land should be preferred to a
Indeed, habituated from
foreign throne.
infancy to cherish the thought of my native
country beyond all other considerations, I
should be unable to regard anything as more
important than the interests of France.
"Assured that my countrymen will not
always regard the great name I bear as a
ground of exclusion, since that name recalls
fifteen years of glory, I calmly await, in a
hospitable and free country, the arrival of the
460
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
time when France shall restore to her bosom
those who, in 1815, were exiled by two hun-
dred thousand strangers.
"This hope of one day serving France, both
as citizen and soldier, animates my mind, and
in my eyes, is worth all the thrones in the
world."
In six months after writing that letter he
was engaged in an attempt to subvert the
French monarchy, and ascend the throne.
A gentleman known to the author of this
history, who served on the staff of the federal
army, in the war of the Sonderbund, knew
Louis Napoleon well during his residence in
Switzerland, up to the period of the enter-
prise of Strasburg (to be related in another
page). That gentleman often met Louis Na-
poleon, and was always favourably impressed
with his courtesy and personal generosity. He
was then very notorious for his gallantry, his
taciturnity on politics, his love of pleasure,
his pursuit of objects of study and inquiry,
and his complete identification of himself with
the Swiss people. The gentleman, whose
opportunities of observing Louis Napoleon
were thus competent, has given to the author
of this history the following account of the
refugee's Swiss residence and adventures :-
"It was in January, 1835, when I saw
Prince Louis Napoleon for the first time; he
then resided at Geneva, in Switzerland, with
his mother Hortense, ex-queen of Holland,
who accompanied him daily, at eleven o'clock
in the morning, to his tutor, now General
Dufour, a native of that place. There never
was a better tutor; never a man more uni-
versally esteemed. His personal appearance
is very much like that of Frederick the Great
of Prussia. His character is extremely mild
and amiable, but firm and energetic, and as he
was undoubtedly the best tutor Louis Napoleon
ever had, I may say here something more
about him. At the time Geneva belonged to
the French Empire, William Henry Dufour
served in the great army in the engineers,
distinguishing himself on several occasions
and when Geneva was annexed to Switzerland
he offered his services to his own country as
commanding instructor of the engineers at the
central military school at Thun. In 1847,
when the so-called Sonderbund war broke out,
he was elected commander-in-chief of the
federal army, and Switzerland is highly in-
debted to him for the way in which he soon
brought that serious religious struggle to an
end, with comparatively very little loss on
either side. The old gentleman has now once
more the satisfaction of serving his country, he
having been appointed commander of the corps
d'armée which Switzerland has despatched to
the Italian frontier to maintain her neutrality.
Dufour has also made himself a name as an
author of some very valuable military works.
"This is the man under whose care the
young prince was placed, and he could not
have been in better hands. Louis Napoleon
entered the Swiss army, and soon gained the
friendship and respect of his brother officers
by his gentlemanly, amiable, and straight-
forward conduct. He was for some consider-
able time at the School of Instruction at Thun,
which was governed by his old friend Dufour;
and at that time he published a work on mili-
tary science, which surprised everybody by its
depth and correctness; but although Lieu-
tenant Louis was considered to be very clever,
his old master's pen had undoubtedly much,
or perhaps all, the merit of the produc-
tion which brought so much credit to the
Prince. Still in company with his mother,
Louis Napoleon then took up his abode at the
castle of Arenemberg, on the border of the
lake of Constance, in the canton of Thurgovia,
|
;
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
461
where he soon became
day.
+
"After several years' hard work and deep
studies, he chose to amuse himself for some
time. He visited all the neighbouring places,
made himself quite familiar with the natives,
and to his credit it must be said that he never
boasted of his imperial descent. However, on
one occasion he could not help showing his
aristocratic and princely feelings. A certain
parish in the neighbourhood of Zurich having
resolved to present him with the rights of their
citizenship, which they considered the highest
honour they could bestow even on a French
prince, sent a deputation in grand gala to
Arenemberg, in order to deliver to him the
charter of his enfranchisement. At their
arrival they were informed that the Prince
was at dinner, and could not receive them;
but they might go down into the kitchen if
they wanted some refreshments. Indignant
at the insult, the deputation at once withdrew;
but Louis called them back, and graciously
condescended to accept the proffered gift. He
lived but for a short time in any one place,
but Arenemberg was his chief residence. He
tried to make himself very popular, attended
political meetings, joined many jovial associ-
ations, and marched at the head of a Thur-
govian rifle club, himself carrying their banner,
to the great federal rifle-match at St. Gall,
where he distinguished himself, not as a sharp-
shooter, but by some very democratic speeches.
The general opinion of the Swiss people during
that time was, that he was a rich and fast
young man, up to every requirement of such
a character, but that his intellectual faculties
were not such as to enable him to work his
way to the French throne. During all this time
he prepared, in greatest silence, his attempt
to enter France for the purpose of proclaiming
himself Emperor. With a handful of men he
the lion of the attacked the town and formidable fortress of
Strasburg, with the firm conviction that the
mere name, Napoleon, would induce the gar-
rison to stand at his side. But he was mis-
taken, and taken prisoner. He was tried for
high treason, and found 'not guilty;' but he
had to leave France, and was sent to the
United States. After some time, Napoleon,
against his promise, returned to Switzerland,
whereupon the King of the French, Louis
Philippe, insisted upon his being delivered to
France as an usurper. Switzerland refused,
pleading that he was only a political refugee.
France despatched an army, under the com-
mand of General Aymar, to the Swiss fron-
tier, and Switzerland likewise took to arms,
when Louis Napoleon had the good sense to
save his Swiss friends from all further trouble
by leaving at once for England. Since that
period he never visited Arenemberg again,
which is still his private property.'
The above account of Louis Napoleon's con-
nection with Switzerland, by a Swiss gentleman,
is as correct and graphic as it is brief. The
Strasburg adventure, however, requires a more
detailed account; the materials for supplying
it are ample-the public trials and Louis
Napoleon's own letters.
"
In July, 1836, Louis Napoleon set out for
Baden, to prepare for an invasion of France.
At that place he made an acquaintance, who
was destined to play an important part in the
transaction-Colonel Vaudrey, who commanded
the 4th Regiment of Artillery, then at Stras-
burg, the regiment which Napoleon the First
had entered as a lieutenant, and in which he
gained his first renown; Colonel Vaudrey was
a veteran officer. He had fought at Waterloo,
and was, like every Frenchman who had fought
there, anxious to avenge it. M. de Persigny,
afterwards an imperial minister and an ambas-
sador to the English court, joined his counsels
•

462
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
to those of Colonel Vaudrey, Lieutenant Laity,
the Count de Gricour, M. de Quérelles, M. de
Briec, and other French and some German
gentlemen who were privy to the plot and had
their part in it. A Mrs. Gordon, a lady much
given to political intrigue, took a great interest
in the scheme, and assisted its maturity.
Poor Hortense was all this time ignorant of
the danger which her darling was incurring,
and only learned the hopes and expectations
in which he had dared the event, by a letter
written by himself when the enterprise was
frustrated. He wrote to her on the passage
to New York, when deported thither, and
expounded his motives and his expectations.
The letter obtained publicity, and displays a
tone of candour and ingenuousness which he
appears always to have adopted to his mother.
He was a good son, alike in boyhood and
manhood, and, during the life of Hortense,
his chief concern in the perilous enterprises in
which he engaged arose from the uneasiness
they might occasion her. As we have now
arrived at a period in the life of Louis Napo-
leon when his direct efforts, by policy and
force, to obtain the throne of France com-
menced, a new chapter is demanded for their
development.
CHAPTER LVII.
INVADES FRANCE BY STRASBURG.-DEFEATED AND CAPTURED.-SPARED BY LOUIS PHILIPPE ON
PETITION OF HORTENSE.-SENT TO AMERICA IN A FRENCH SHIP OF WAR.-HIS LIFE THERE.
-RETURNS TO SWITZERLAND.-DEATH OF HORTENSE.
"
Scarcely dared
On expectation's strongest wing to soar
High as the consulate, that empty shade
Of long-forgotten liberty: when I
Oped his young eye to bear the blaze of greatness;
Showed him where empire towered, and bade him strike
The noble quarry.”—GRAY.
express-
THE opinion has been hazarded on a former | Gray, quoted in the motto for this chapter,
page, that the early aspirations of Charles
Louis Napoleon may have been for liberty-
that his conduct at Rome, and, during his
early life, in Switzerland, favours that idea.
His dream then appears, from some indica-
tions, to have been to promote democratic
liberty in France, and through France in
Europe at large. To be a French citizen
or soldier, or member of a representative
assembly based upon universal suffrage, was
his professed desire, and, as the words of
"Scarcely dared
On expectation's strongest wing to soar
High as the consulate.”
The opinion has also been ventured, that the
study of his uncle's policy and opinions changed
the spirit of his dream. The tuition of such
teacher, as he perused his letters, manuscripts,
and family records,
"Oped his young eye to bear the blaze of greatness ;
Showed him where empire towered, and bade him strike
The noble quarry."
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
463
So sudden and complete was the change in his
expectations and hopes, from the period when
it is said he really studied and comprehended
the opinions, aims, and policy of his uncle,
that this theory of the progress of his thoughts,
and his political education, is too specious to
be readily rejected. The attempt at Strasburg
was, at all events, the first practical issue of
the study of his uncle's theories, and of his
own attempts to gain the mastery of France.
It also impressed his faults and follies more
strongly upon the minds of both the friends
and enemies of the Bonapartes. It was after
the failure of Strasburg, not when Victor
Hugo penned his virulent denunciation, that
he was first termed "Napoleon le Petit."
When all his arrangements with his accom-
plices were prepared, he started from Arenem-
berg on the 26th of October, 1836. The next
day he arrived at Lahr, a little town in the
grand duchy of Baden. The axle of his car-
riage having broken down, he remained there
all night, and next morning proceeded to
Strasburg by a route which would prevent
any notice being taken of his journey, or any
suspicion of his intention to enter France
being suspected. He arrived at Strasburg
at eleven o'clock the same night, in a disguise
which was effectual. He was at once conveyed
by one of the confederates in waiting to the
Rue de la Fontaine, where an obscure but
decent apartment had been prepared for him.
On the 29th he called upon Colonel Vaudrey.
The Prince did not wait to hear what plan the
colonel had for their attempt to take Stras-
burg and revolutionise France. His Highness
did not even give the colonel opportunity for
any opinion, political or military, in connection
with the situation, but at once propounded his
own views. They were in some respects neither
clear nor clever, and in other respects both. The
plan itself was, in the main, that which he
C
attempted to carry out. Louis Napoleon him-
self has narrated the reception it met with
from the brave and stupid old veteran of
Waterloo, and the effect of this reception on
his own mind. Colonel Vaudrey is described
by Louis Napoleon as saying-"It is not a
question of strife; your cause is too French, it
is too pure to be sullied by the blood of
Frenchmen. One course alone is worthy of
you, because by it conflicts will be avoided.
When you are placed at the head of my regi-
ment, we will march together to the residence
of General Voirol; an old soldier, he will not
be able to resist the sight of you and the
imperial eagle, especially when he knows that
the garrison supports you." "I approved his
arguments, and everything was arranged for
the following morning."
It was deemed important to secure a safe
rendezvous for the chief movers in the enter-
prise; this was selected in the Rue des Or-
phelins, near the Quartier d'Austerlitz. The
last man of the conspirators who arrived at
this rendezvous was Louis Napoleon, at eleven
o'clock, the 29th. Upon his entrance a scene
was made, peculiarly French. One of the
conspirators had procured an old eagle from
one of the standards of the 7th regiment of
the line. This was clasped to the breasts of
the adventurous band with every demonstra-
tion of enthusiasm. The officers of the party
wore their uniforms; Prince Louis selected an
artillery uniform for himself, and placed upon
his head the hat of a general officer.
The whole party remained at the rendezvous
until six o'clock in the morning of the 30th,
Colonel Vaudrey, whose summons to action
they were to await, not being of the party. The
prince spent the whole night writing proclama-
tions. A few minutes after six Colonel Vaudrey
sent his demand for the party to begin the
active operations of their scheme.
464
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
As the adventurer hastened to join Colonel
Vaudrey, his mind was worked up to a high
pitch of enthusiasm; his own account of his
feelings and of the scene in which he took the
chief part, was given afterwards in the follow-
ing terms:-" Full of hope, I rushed into the
street. On each side of me were M. Pasquin,
wearing the uniform of a general of brigade,
and M. de Quérelles, a chief of battalion,
carrying the eagle in his hand; about a dozen
officers followed." In this order the party
reached the barracks, and entering the court-
yard, they found Colonel Vaudrey standing
alone in its centre; the regiment he com-
manded was drawn up at a little distance, and
a troop of horse artillery.
Colonel Vaudrey drew his sword, and point-
ing to Louis Napoleon, exclaimed to the
soldiers, "Behold, the nephew of the Emperor
Napoleon!" After a moment's pause, during
which the troops remained in silent astonish-
ment, the colonel harangued them on the
glory of Napoleon, and the grandeur of the
empire. At last, raising h's voice, the colonel
demanded if the Emperor's nephew could rely
upon them to gain the throne from which
foreigners had thrust, in an hour of disaster,
the monarch of the soldiers' choice. The
demand was responded to with loud cries of
"Vive Napoleon! Vive l'Empereur !
""
Louis himself then addressed the troops.
He reminded the regiment that in it his uncle
had first been captain, that by its aid he had
recaptured Toulon, and that it opened to him
the gates of Grenoble on his return from Elba.
The prince wound up his harangue by saying,
"Soldiers, new destinies are reserved for you.
To you is accorded the glory of commencing a
great enterprise-to you is it given first to
salute the eagle of Austerlitz and Wagram!"
He then took the eagle from the hands of
M. de Quérelles, and presented it to the regi-
:
ment, as the emblem of past and future glory,
and then exclaimed in a manner intensely
excited, "Soldiers! will you not rally round
this noble standard, which I confide to your
honour and your courage? Will you refuse to
march with me against the betrayers and
oppressors of our country, to the cry of ' Vive
la France. Vive la libertié!""
The regiment was traditionally devoted to
the Bonapartes, and they gave vent to their
loyalty to that dynasty by shouts, brandishing
of swords, and renewed cries of “ Vive Napo-
leon! Vive l'Empereur !"
66
The leaders marched, followed by the troops,
the band playing, to the quarters of General
Voirol, the commander of the garrison. Before
taking this step two precautionary measures
were adopted, files of men were sent to arrest
the prefect, and to compel the government
printer to issue proclamations in the name of
Napoleon. As the troops marched along, the
whole population was aroused, and made every
demonstration of sympathy with his cause.
Louis Napoleon himself described his recep-
tion as one of unbounded enthusiasm. The
terms he employed, and the representations he
made must have been exaggerated, for in the
hour of trial the populace failed him.
When the party arrived at the hotel of the
general, Louis Napoleon, accompanied by
Colonel Vaudrey, M. Pasquin, and two officers,
ascended to his room; the eagle was borne
into his presence. He pleaded his oath to
Louis Philippe as obligatory upon him. Colonel
Vaudrey appealed to Napoleon's star, in terms
of fanatical excitement; but the general
thought that "the star" could not absolve
him from his oath. The Prince talked of the
eagle and the tricolour, and was astonished.
how the oath of General Voirol could be
allowed by that veteran to interpose when the
call of a Bonaparte and "his destiny" required
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
465
the violation. The old general warned the
Prince that his enterprise would fail, that the
officers of the army would hold by their oath,
and that the privates had no longer such an
enthusiasm for the name of Napoleon as the
particular regiment then in revolt displayed.
The decided opposition of the general, and his
threat that he would call out the garrison,
astonished and discouraged the whole party.
It was a moment of irresolution and suspense
on the part of the Prince, of the most painful
and perilous nature. If he took any severe
measure against the general, the infantry in
garrison might resent it; if he allowed the
general to call out the garrison, they might
yield to the voice of discipline, and obey the
command of their superior officer. What was
to be done in a moment of so much danger?
He had bravely and resolutely met all the
difficulties of the enterprise, when its pre-
liminary perils were before him, now the
decisive moment had arrived when all must be
won or lost; yet fortune raised a barrier-
"How, then, when all
Lay in the far off distance--when the road
Stretched out before thine eyes interminably,
Then hadst thou courage and resolve; and now-
Now that the dream is being realised,
The purpose ripe, the issue ascertained,
Dost thou begin to play the dastard now?
Planned merely, 'tis a common felony—
Accomplished, an immortal undertaking;
And with success comes pardon hand in hand,
For all event is God's arbitrament."
Louis Napoleon, with unflinching courage
but abated hope, pursued his ambitious
scheme. He placed a guard over the general,
and proceeded to the barrack. While on
his march thither events occurred of an
adverse character. The captive general ap-
pealed to the soldiers in whose custody he had
been placed to remember their oath; they
answered him with vociferations of attachment
to the name of Napoleon. The old veteran
succeeded in eluding their vigilance, and
escaped from his durance. This was a turning-
point in the transactions of the day. Louis
Napoleon advanced to the barrack, which lay
at the end of a narrow alley, from which there
was no egress but by the way he entered. The
space before the barrack was very limited, and,
consequently, Louis Napoleon and his band
were hemmed in, as he himself expressed it,
"between the rampart and the soldiers'
quarters." The soldiers came out in crowds to
see what was the matter, the Prince addressed
them, and the majority replied by shouts of
"Vive l'Empereur." He requested them to
return for their arms, but, as they did so, the
officers insinuated that it was not Napoleon,
but some adventurer who assumed his name ;
the men consequently hesitated, and the hesi-
tation was fatal to the adventurer. He was
the first of his party to perceive the true state
of the case, and he counselled retreat while
there was yet time, as there were other regi-
ments awaiting the opportunity of joining
his standard. That opportunity never came.
Colonel Vaudrey insisted upon remaining in
the barrack until the soldiers decided what
course to take, which the brave and obstinate
fanatic believed would be on his master's side.
Some officers arrived, and ordered the gates to
be closed. The Prince ordered these officers to
be arrested. This bold but foolish step decided
the issue of the enterprise. The soldiers were
still in doubt of Louis Napoleon's identity, and
were therefore not prepared to see their officers
made prisoners; they rescued them. Some
conflict and much confusion immediately en-
sued. There was no room for any operations
of a military nature; there occurred a squabble,
stones were thrown, bayonets were pointed,
and, finally, the infantry effected the arrest of
the chief actors in the attempt.
When General Voirol escaped from his
3 0
466
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
guard, he took measures with the officers,
and thus frustrated the attempt to seduce
the infantry. The conduct of Louis Napoleon
was courageous in the extreme, and full of
dignity in his misfortune. He and his col-
He and his col-
leagues were sent as prisoners to the new
prison of Strasburg. At that place the pri-
At that place the pri-
soners were subjected to the interrogatories
usual in French criminal procedure. Louis
Napoleon's own account of the questions
directed to himself, and the answers he
returned, is as follows:-
"What induced you to this step?"
"My political opinions, and my desire to
see my country again free, which foreign in-
vaders have prevented. In 1830 I asked to
be treated as a citizen, but was rejected as a
pretender. Well, I have behaved as a pre-
tender!"
the interposition of General Voirol. On the
9th of November that officer took the Prince
to the prefecture, where carriages were in
waiting, and he was hurried away he knew
not whither. He was given in charge of two
officers who were friendly to his person (and
even to his cause), and were personally inti-
mate with M. Pasquin.
On the 11th the cortège reached Paris,
where M. Delesart, a personal friend of Louis
Napoleon, informed him that the king had
extended his clemency; that in a few hours
he would be sent to l'Orient, whence a French
frigate would bear him to the United States
of America. While in Paris, he addressed a
letter to the celebrated advocate, M. O'Dillon
Barrot, soliciting him to defend all the pri-
soners, but more especially Colonel Vaudrey.
This letter does credit to the head and heart
"You aimed to establish a military govern- of Louis Napoleon. He in every way ex-
tenuated the complicity of his fellow-prisoners,
ment?"
"I wished to establish a government founded declaring that they were induced by him to
upon the suffrages of the people."
enter into the conspiracy, and that they were
"What would have been your course had carried away by the grandeur of this under-
you succeeded?"
taking and the excitement of the occasion.
It is difficult to reconcile with truth many
of the statements of the document, but the
intense anxiety to save his partisans at his
own peril is obvious throughout. He politely
acknowledged the king's clemency, but pro-
tested against being debarred from appearing
with his fellow-prisoners to answer for himself.
There was a great deal in this extraordinary
letter which was evidently intended as popular
clap-trap. He well knew that no arguments
or statements of his would save his com-
panions, and that any mis-statements to screen
them would be soon found out. His defence
of himself was intended to commend his cause
to France. The letter was generous in tone
and statement, but so cunning, and withal
so obviously a trick to catch popularity, that
“To convoke a congress of the nation.”
At the same time the Prince declared that
he alone had organised the attempt, and
claimed the whole responsibility.
After the usual preliminary questions, Louis
Napoleon was remanded to prison. Imme-
Imme-
diately after, he and Colonel Vaudrey were
taken out of the hands of the civil power,
and confined in the citadel. The magistrates,
eager to show their zeal for the throne of
Louis Philippe, demanded and obtained the
custody of the illustrious prisoner. These
magistrates behaved barbarously. One, Lebel,
superintended the custody of the captives,
offering them unmanly insults, and precluding
the admission of either light or air to their
cell. This barbarity was put an end to by
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
467
it failed to gain for the author all the credit
which its ability and high tone of generosity
would have otherwise acquired for it.
The Prince was hurried away to l'Orient,
and borne thence in a frigate to the United
States. This sentence, it is alleged, was the
suggestion of his mother, as the only method
of saving him from the guillotine or perpetual
imprisonment. At all events she accepted it
as a boon, and pledged herself in his name
that he should not return to Europe. This
pledge satisfied the fears of Louis Philippe,
and hence the clemency of that monarch to
his rival and foe. It is universally credited
that the fate of Louis Napoleon would have
been a hard one, had not his mother hurried
to Paris and besought the king to spare her
only surviving child. Louis Philippe believed
Louis Philippe believed
that the affair of Strasburg would deprive
Louis Napoleon of all prestige derived from
his name, and that he might safely let him
go. The king was, in this instance, as on
so many occasions when he was regarded as
acting cunningly and cleverly, at fault. The
judgment of very cunning persons is seldom
clear, and Louis Philippe was a remarkable
exemplification of the fact.
On his way to the United States, the un-
fortunate Prince wrote to his mother a long
account of his aims, hopes, and means of
carrying out the attempt at Strasburg. He
also gives in that letter a narrative which is
truthful in its air, and tolerably consistent
in its statements of the events of his failure
to revolutionise France from a remote pro-
vincial barrack.
In his letter to Hortense there are several
touches of sentiment and feeling, which relieve
the harder features of the Prince's character;
from among them may be selected the follow-
ing:
"This is New Year's Day.. ..I am
1,500 leagues from you, in another hemi-
sphere; but, happily, thought travels over
all this space in less than a moment. At
half-past four we dined. As we were at that
time in 170° longitude west of Constance, it
was seven o'clock at Arenemberg. You were
then at dinner also, probably; and I drank
to your health, pleasing myself with the
thought that you were at the same time,
perhaps, drinking to me.
99
It would appear that love, in its purer
flame, warmed the breast of the calculating
and plotting conspirator, which Louis Napo-
leon then was; for in the letter from which
the above extract is taken, he refers to his
betrothed cousin, Matilda, and details to his
mother an incident which occurred when he
went to bring home Matilda, which made a
superstitious impression upon his mind :
"When, on re-entering the park, I found
a tree which had been levelled by a storm ;
and I said to myself, 'Our marriage is fated
to be broken off.' What I vaguely guessed
at is now realised; and now, in 1836, is all
the happiness which was destined for me
exhausted?”
He
On his arrival in the United States, he
engaged himself in study. His inquiries at
that time referred to political and social
questions, such as were suggested by the
condition, government, laws, and policy of
the American people of the federation.
also found leisure for the study of natural
philosophy. He had only been three months
in the States when he made ready for a
journey of science and inquiry in Central
America. It is possible that he also intended
his visit to that part of the American conti-
nent for political study, as already the Central
American question was agitated, and he could
not but have foreseen that such a subject of
debate between nations might some day create
468
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
complications in Western Europe, and between
Western Europe and the United States, of a
nature which, if his "star" ruled well, it
might happen for him to solve. His exploits in
America, whatever they were, or were likely
to become, were suddenly terminated by a
letter from his loved mother, informing him
that she was about to undergo a surgical
operation which might possibly prove fatal,
and requiring him to hasten to her side.
This letter was dated the 3rd of April, and
on receipt of it he embarked for Europe, and
once more returned to Switzerland, and took
up his abode at Arenemberg.
During his residence in the United States
he was an object of much curiosity to the
American citizens, but refused, with uniform
good taste and much resolution, to be "made
a lion of." During his residence of a few
months' duration in the cities of the American
Union, he was much calumniated in Europe
by the emissaries of Louis Philippe, who,
-resorting to his favourite methods of war-
fare, corruption and detraction-sent his hired
minions about, representing Louis Napoleon
as living a life so immoral and degrading as
to preclude him from ever obtaining the con-
fidence of Frenchmen. The object of Louis
Philippe, his ministers, and partisans, was to
disgust the respectable classes in France with
Louis Napoleon's character, and in this way
lessen the hopes of his abettors, and at the
same time prove to the country that the only
hope of good government and a moral court
lay in the rule of the Orleans dynasty. That
Louis Napoleon's character suffered severely
from the efforts of his political opponents to
defame him, is beyond question, and that such
efforts were attended by sufficient success to
influence the French people against his pre-
tensions, no one can doubt who remembers
the tone of French society twenty years ago.
A confutation of the allegations of low and
disreputable living on the part of Louis Na-
poleon has been given by one of the most
eminent officers of the American navy-a
gentleman in whose word the citizens of the
United States place entire confidence. The
following extracts from a letter written by
that officer will satisfy the readers of this
history as to the portions of Louis Napo-
leon's life to which they refer. The letter
was written by Captain Stewart during the
Crimean war, and appeared for the first time
in any book, in a work written by the author
of this work, entitled "A History of the War
against Russia."
"His favourite topics, when we were alone,
were his uncle the Emperor, his mother, and
others of his immediate family in whom he
had been deeply interested; his own relations
to France by birth and imperial registry; the
inducements which led to the attempted revo-
lution at Strasburg; the causes of its failure;
and his chief support under the mortification
of the result: The will of God,' to use his
own words, ‘through a direct interposition of
his Providence; the time had not yet come.'
6
"He seemed ever to feel that his personal
destiny was indissolubly linked with France;
or, as his mother, Hortense, expressed it in
her will, 'to know his position;' and the
enthusiasm with which at times he gave
utterance to his aspirations for the prosperity,
the happiness, and the honour of his country,
and to the high purposes which he designed
to accomplish for her as a ruler, amounted,
in words, voice, and manner, to positive
eloquence. Had I taken notes of some of
these conversations, they would be considered
now, when his visions of power and earthly
glory are realised, scarcely less epigrammatic
and elevated in thought, or, as related to
himself, less prophetic, than many which have
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
469
been recorded from the lips of the exile of emperor, representations in the public journals
St. Helena.
of his life in New York (and New Orleans
too, though he was never there) which would
induce a belief that he had been, when here,
little better than a vagabond-low in his
associations, intemperate in his indulgences,
and dissipated in his habits. In both eating
and drinking he was, so far as I observed,
I
abstemious rather than self-indulgent.
repeatedly breakfasted, dined, and supped in
his company, and never knew him to partake
of anything stronger in drink than the light
wines of France and Germany, and of these in
great moderation. I have been with him early
and late, unexpectedly as well as by appoint-
ment, and never saw reason for the slightest
suspicion of any irregularity in his habits.
"Louis Napoleon may have had some asso-
ciations in New York of which I was ignorant;
and he, like Dickens, and other distinguished
foreigners, may have carried his observations,
under the protection of the police, to scenes in
which I would not have accompanied him. If
he did, I never heard of it, and have now no
reason to suppose that such was the fact. But
that he was an habitué, as has been publicly
reported, of drinking saloons and oyster cellars,
gambling houses, and places of worse repute,
I do not believe. I can recall to my recollec-
tion no young man of the world whom I have
ever met, who, in what seemed an habitual
elevation of mind, and an invariable dignity of
bearing, would have been less at home than he
was in such associations.
"He was winning in the invariableness of
his amiability, often playful in spirits and
manner, and warm in his affections. He was
a most fondly attached son, and seemed to
idolise his mother. When speaking of her,
the intonation of his voice and his whole
manner were often as gentle and feminine as
those of a woman. It had been his purpose
to spend a year in making a tour of the
United States, that he might have a better
knowledge of our institutions, and observe
for himself the practical workings of our
political system. With this expectation, he
consulted me and others as to the arrange-
ment of the route of travel, so as to visit
the different sections of the Union at the
most desirable seasons. But his plans were
suddenly changed by intelligence of the serious
illness of Queen Hortense, or, as then styled,
the Duchess of St. Leu, at her castle in
Switzerland. I was dining with him the
day the letter conveying this information was
received. Recognising the writing on the
envelope as it was handed to him at table,
he hastily broke the seal, and scarce glanced
over half a page before he exclaimed, 'My
mother is ill! I must see her. Instead of a
tour of the States, I shall take the next
packet for England. I will apply for pass-
ports to the Continent at every embassy in
London, and, if unsuccessful, will make my
way to her without them.' This he did, and
reached Arenemberg in time to console by his
presence the dying hours of the ex-queen, and
to receive in his bosom her last sigh.
"After such opportunities of knowing much
of the mind, and heart, and general character
of Louis Napoleon, it was with great surprise
that I for the first time read, in a distant
part of the world, when he had become an
1
"There was, however, in New York, at the
same time, and for the same period, a Prince
Bonaparte, who was, I have reason to think,
of a very different character. His antecedents
in Europe had not been favourable, and his
reputation here was not good. He, too, was
in exile, but not for a political offence.
He
may not have been received in society, and
470
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
C
may have had low associations. I met him,
but from this impression, formed no acquain-
tance with him. For the same reason the
intercourse between him and his cousin was
infrequent and formal. All that has been
said and published of the one may be true of
the other; and in search for the reminis-
cences of the sojourn in New York of Louis
Napoleon, on his elevation to a throne fifteen
years afterwards, it is not difficult to believe
that those ignorant of the presence here, at
the same time, of two persons of the same
name and the same title, may have confounded
the acts and character of the one with the
other. This, I doubt not, is the fact; and that
however general and firmly established the im-
pression to the contrary may be, the reproach
of a disreputable life here does not justly
attach itself to him who is now confessedly
the most able, the most fortunate, and the
most remarkable sovereign in Europe.
"C. S. STEWART, U.S. Navy."
Louis Napoleon remained in Arenemberg
until his mother's death, which took place on
the 5th of October. He was much affected by
her death, manifesting most bitter grief on
occasion of her obsequies. The French govern-
ment supposed that he would return to the
United States, according to the pledge made
to Louis Philippe by Hortense. It is possible
that so long as she lived he would have felt
himself bound by her word, but he averred,
that having been no party to the promise she
made, he was not bound in honour to abide by
it at all, nor by filial duty after her decease, if
at any time. He accordingly remained in Swit-
zerland, publishing manifestoes, and acting
generally in a way which irritated the French
government, but which well enough answered
his policy of keeping up his name before the
public of Europe, more especially France.
K
In 1838 Lieutenant Laity, one of the adven-
turers at Strasburg, published a pamphlet
justifying that enterprise. The French govern-
ment prosecuted the lieutenant. While under
prosecution, Louis Napoleon directed a letter
to him, ostensibly one of sympathy, but, as it
was addressed to the sufferer through the public
prints, it of course still further exasperated the
French government, and ensured the convic-
tion and heavier punishment of Laity. That
it would have such an effect was obvious to
every one who perused it. Louis Napoleon,
however, found it an excellent occasion for a
political manifesto, that was sure to be read
because of the interest attached to the trial,
and he did not scruple to sacrifice the brave
and faithful follower to expediency. The letter
itself is ably written for its real purpose, and
has become an historical document of great
importance from the prophetic language em-
ployed in it. It is impossible to read the asser-
tions made as to the extensive ramifications
of the Napoleon party, without perceiving that
Louis Napoleon thoroughly understood France,
its conditions, principles, parties, modes of poli-
tical thought, and prospects. Louis Philippe
was then in the height of his power.
He
believed, and the great mass of men all over
Europe believed, that "the Citizen King"
had founded a dynasty, and that his power
and authority were lasting as the resources
and energies of France. Louis Napoleon knew
better; he saw what other men, politicians and
statesmen, failed to see-that "the cause" of
Napoleon was deeply rooted in the minds of
Frenchmen, and that, even the men who
waited in the chambers of the king, numbered
among them adherents to the ideas of govern-
ment and foreign policy propagated by Napo-
leon I. The following is a correct translation
of the letter which produced such sensation at
the time, and which seems like the writing of
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
471
a seer, when read in the light of the events
which have since occurred :—
"Arenemberg, July 2, 1838.
"My Dear Laity,
"You are going, then, to appear before the
Court of Peers, because you had the generous
devotion to reproduce the details of my enter-
prise, to justify my intentions, and to repel
the accusations to which I have been sub-
jected. I do not understand what importance
the government can attach to the publication of
this brochure. You know that, in authorising
you to publish it, my only object was to rebut
the base calumnies with which the organs of
the ministry have covered me during the five
months I was in prison or at sea. It concerned
my honour, and that of my friends, to prove
that it was not a foolish ambition that led me
to Strasburg in 1836. They say that your
book is evidence of a new conspiracy, while,
on the contrary, it defends me from the charge
of having ever conspired; and it is stated in
its earlier pages that we waited nearly two
years before we published the details which
related to me, when men's minds might be
calmed, and capable of judging the matter
without animosity or prejudice.
66
If, as I would fain believe, a spirit of
justice animates the Court of Peers—if it is as
independent of the executive power as by the
constitution it should be-there is no possi-
bility that it will condemn you; for, as I can-
not too often repeat, your pamphlet is not a
new call to revolt, but a true and simple
explanation of a matter which has been mis-
represented. I have no dependence in the
world but public opinion-nothing to sustain
me but the esteem of my fellow-countrymen.
If I am not allowed to defend myself, nor my
friends allowed to defend me against unjust
calumnies, my fate must be most cruel. You
know my friendship for you well enough to
feel how much I am pained at the idea that
you should become the victim of your devo-
tion; but I also know that, with your noble
character, you suffer in a popular cause with
resignation. You will be asked, as certain
journals have already asked, Where is the
Napoleonic party? The party is nowhere, but
the cause everywhere. The party is nowhere,
because my friends are nowhere organised; but
the cause everywhere has partisans, from the
workshop of the artisan to the council-chamber
of the king-from the barrack of the soldier
to the palace of the marshal of France. Re-
publicans, juste milieu, Legitimists-all who
wish for a strong government, real liberty,
and dignity in the executive power—all these,
I say, are Napoleonists, whether they avow it
or not; for the imperial system is not a bas-
tard imitation of the English or the American
constitutions, but a formula of government
founded on the principles of the Revolution;
it is a hierarchy in democracy, it is equality in
law, the recompense of merit; it is, in fine,
a colossal pyramid, with broad base and lofty
head.
66
Say, then, that in authorising you to
issue this publication, my object was not now
to disturb the tranquillity of France, nor to
revive ill-suppressed passions, but to show
myself to my countrymen such as I am, and
not as interested enmity has pictured me.
But if, one day, the conflicts of parties should
overturn the powers that be (the experience of
fifty years past allows of such a supposition),
and if, accustomed as for the last three-and-
twenty years they have been to set all autho-
rity at nought, they sap the foundations of
the social edifice-then, perhaps, the name
of Napoleon may prove an anchor of safety
for all that is generous and truly patriotic in
France.
|
472
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"For this reason I hold, as you are aware,
that the honour of the eagle of the 30th of
October should remain intact; notwithstand-
ing its defeat, and that people should not take
the nephew of the Emperor for an ordinary
adventurer. You will be asked, no doubt,
what authority you have for the assertions
you will advance; you may reply, that you
derive them from me, and that I declare, upon
my honour, that they were guaranteed to me
by credible men.
"Adieu, my dear Laity. I would still hope
in justice, if present interest were not the
exclusive morale of parties.
66
Receive, &c.,
LOUIS PHILIPPE became alarmed, or pretended
to be so, in order to find a pretext for insult-
ing Swiss liberty, for never could tyrant endure
freedom less than "the Citizen King." His
Majesty demanded the expulsion of Louis
Napoleon from the cantons. The Swiss as-
serted the right of asylum, and with the
heroism so characteristic of that gallant little
nation, prepared for war. Louis Napoleon
was unwilling to allow matters to pass to
such an extremity, and addressed a public
letter to M. Landaman, the President of the
Diet, expressing his intention immediately to
leave Switzerland. This letter gave him a
new opportunity for a Napoleonist manifesto,
and he made it available cleverly. He and
his friends took great credit for the generosity
and disinterestedness displayed in foregoing
the rights of Swiss citizenship rather than
involve in war the country to whose hos-
pitality he was so much indebted. It would,
however, have been more generous and just
if he had withdrawn from Switzerland before
"NAPOLEON-LOUIS."
Laity was condemned; the letter was his ruin.
A
CHAPTER LVIII.
VIRTUAL EXPULSION FROM SWITZERLAND.-FINDS REFUGE IN ENGLAND.-HIS LIFE THERE.-EX-
PEDITION TO BOULOGNE.-DEFEAT AND CAPTURE.-TRIAL AND CONVICTION BY THE HOUSE OF
PEERS.
"The prize is worth the hazard of the undertaking."-NAPOLEON I., on the policy of invading England.
he had put the country to so much cost in
preparing for an unequal contest. It was im-
proper in every way to have caused a whole
nation anxiety and danger on his account;
but the greater the hubbub, the more it suited
his policy of keeping himself notorious, and
so engaging the attention of France.
In September, 1838, "the Pretender," as
the Orleanists called him, sought and found a
refuge in England. This was the second time
he had found safety there when persecuted by
his enemies. It suited his turn to be very
complimentary to the nation which afforded
him the last hope of refuge in Europe from the
arms of his powerful antagonist. He called
England "the grand asylum of Europe." He
was not well received but by a few persons,
some of whom were persons of note. The
court affected to know nothing of him-he was
treated by the higher classes as a " scape-
grace," who deserved any trouble that befell
him, rather than as an unfortunate prince, or
an unfortunate man. The influence of Louis
1
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
473
Philippe pursued him, although his arms could
not. The Citizen King was the idol of the
court, and, in the esteem of the English people,
was the beau ideal of a sagacious and sensible
monarch. The good citizens of London, espe-
cially, regarded him as a marvellously proper
king. He was, all the while, full of envy and
enmity towards England-hated her foreign
policy and domestic institutions, and sought,
in every underhand and disreputable way, to
thwart her influence all over the world. Not
that his policy was essentially French; he had
little nationality; his policy was more selfish
and personal than that of Napoleon I. in the
worst days of his pride, ambition, and aggran-
disement. Louis Philippe sought no glory for
France or for himself, although vain of the
reputation of a diplomatist, and of being able to
outwit friends, enemies, and competitors. Louis
Napoleon was, through the intrigues of this
monarch, and in consequence of the unpopu-
larity of the name of Bonaparte in England,
shunned by the fashionable world; his posi-
tion became obscure, and his circumstances
straitened. His advent to England, however,
created some stir. He courted publicity, and
affected the greatest admiration of English
institutions and the English people. He had
not long taken up his abode in London, when
disturbance broke out in Barbes, which was
exceedingly sanguinary in its consequences.
Louis Philippe suppressed it cruelly and
relentlessly. The revolt was attributed to
Louis Napoleon, who wrote several letters to
the Times newspaper, full of noble sentiments,
denying all complicity in the affair. He pro-
tested that if men took up arms in his cause, at
his instigation, he would be at their head. He
denounced with scorn men who incite others
►
-
to take up arms and risk all, while the pro-
moters of the struggle shrink from its dangers
and its consequences. The whole life of Louis
Napoleon confirms this declaration. Of his
personal valour none who know his character
or history have any doubt. In this respect he
was a striking contrast to his then successful
competitor for the French throne.
For two years he continued to live in
London, and it was undoubtedly the worst-
spent portion of his life, unless, indeed, when
on the throne of empire since, his intrigues
and dynastic selfishness have created so much
carnage. There were no dens in London too
infamous for him to make places of resort, and
very low and debauched characters were his
companions. The gaming-table and the turf
afforded him his chief amusements, and he
was very well known in houses of infamous note
as a man of desperate debauch. All that was
calumniously said of his conduct at New York
was unhappily too true as to his habits in
London. This has been denied by some of
his partisans, and admitted by many of his
political friends. No person possessing the
opportunities of information, to which gentle-
men connected with the public press and
general literature in London have access, enter-
tain any doubts that the life of Louis Napo-
leon Bonapatre in London was very scandalous,
although many anecdotes are related of him too
shockingly bad to be simply true.
In 1840 he engaged in a new invasion of
France, more perilous and more unfortunate
than even that of Strasburg. With a few
friends of his dynasty and Bonapartist officers,
he resolved upon effecting a landing at
Boulogne, which, until he became President
of the republic, brought down more ridicule
than has probably ever been heaped upon a
man capable of such great successes, and
destined to wield effectually so powerful a
sceptre. He and his friends hired a steam-
boat in London called the City of Edinburgh,
for the ostensible purpose of a pleasure trip to
3 P
474
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Hamburgh. He and his fellow-adventurers
embarked at Ramsgate. Generals Montholon
Generals Montholon
and Voison, M. de Conneau, Mesonau, Bac-
ciocchi, and about sixty others, mostly cooks
and valets, formed his army of invasion. This
band, with the exception of the five gentlemen,
his dynastic friends, were ignorant of the
destination he intended for them, believing
that they were hired to promote the comfort,
as servitors, of a number of very rich gentle-spirited peace in Italy, by the allegation that,
omen of the success of the revolution." But
his feathered majesty was too tame an eagle
for the occasion, and would not soar.
It is a
curious illustration of the inconsistency of the
opinions, principles, or policy of Napoleon III.
(whichever be the appropriate term), that
while so anxious to begin a revolution at
Boulogne, "under a favourable omen," he
accounted, in 1859, for his sudden and tame-
had he prosecuted the war, France would have
been obliged to "ally herself with revolu-
tions! " Is revolution to be encouraged or
discouraged, just as it may serve the turn of
the Bonaparte dynasty? Napoleon III. not
only appears to "take up men and lay them
down at his pleasure," but to take up and lay
down opinions and principles with the same
facility.
men on a pleasure tour. Captain James Crow
and his crew were equally in ignorance. When
the City of Edinburgh was fairly out to sea,
Louis Napoleon mounted a carriage and ad-
dressed the party, announcing the glory
designed for them in restoring the Bonaparte
dynasty. One hundred francs was distributed
to each. The Prince possessed on board a
treasury of half a million of francs. The next
step was to feast the recipients of the coins,
and to make them drunk. For this purpose
ample provision had been made. When, after
the failure of the enterprise, Captain Crow,
who commanded the steamer, was examined,
he bore a very strong testimony as to the
means employed for securing the military
co-operation of the cooks and valets.
"They
drank enormously-I never saw such a thing."
The steward of the steamer, one Hobbs, bore
similar testimony on the same occasion:-
66 They passed the night in eating and drink-
ing. I did nothing else but uncork bottles
and replenish the table." Evidence was also
given as to the venal character of the harangues
delivered to the men, and the actual reliance
placed upon the distribution of money.
On the 6th of August the party landed in
France. The Prince bore a flag with a gilt
eagle on the top, and a living eagle was carried
in a cage, to be let loose as the party landed,
in the hope that it would fly to the Colonne de
Napoleon, and "be hailed by the people as an
From Venereaux, the spot where the party
disembarked, proclamations were distributed,
declaring that the Bourbons had ceased to
reign, and that Napoleon had named M. Thiers
President of the Council, and Marshal Clausel
Minister of War. With the proclamations
franc pieces were scattered among the fisher-
men and peasants, showing that the faith of
Louis Napoleon and Louis Philippe were much
the same in the power of corruption with all
classes of the French people. In harmony
with such a belief the invader offered a large
sum (an annuity of 1,200 francs) to the lieu-
tenant of the guard. He was in hopes, not
only of corrupting the commandant, but also
the general. That general was Magnan, a
name which Louis Napoleon has since made
better known. The commandant received a
letter from the Prince, endeavouring to make
him the medium of corrupting the superior
officer. General Magnan appeared at the Court
of Peers, and produced the letter, the perusal
of which excited great indignation. It is a
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
475
brief, business-like piece of corruption, such as
no one out of France would suppose a French
prince could ever mean for the eye of a French
general:-
"My dear Commandant,
"It is most essential that you should im-
mediately see the general in question; you
know he is a man of resolution, and on whom
one may rely. You know also that he is a
man whom I have put down to be one day a
marshal of France. You will offer him, from
me, 100,000 francs; and you will ask him into
what banker's or notary's hands I shall pay
300,000 francs for him, in the event of his
losing his command."
66
"I stopped here," said the commandant,
❝ overcome with indignation: I turned over the
leaf, and I saw that the letter was signed
"Louis Napoleon.""
Truly Napoleon le Petit adopted the opinion
of his uncle, that "every man has his price,"
as servilely as the other Napoleonic ideas.
In the streets of Boulogne money was the
chief reliance of this revolutionist. The 42nd
Regiment was quartered at Boulogne, as it
had been at Strasburg when his dynastic
revolution was attempted there. The soldiers,
however, were not invoked at Boulogne so
much in the name of Napoleon as by the
power of five-franc pieces. "You shall be
"You shall be
well paid " occurs so frequently in the addresses
of Napoleon and his escort, to individual
soldiers, in the evidence given by these war-
riors themselves on the trial at Paris, as to
strike the reader as at once ludicrous and dis-
gusting. One cannot fail to perceive, when
the affairs at Strasburg and Boulogne are
compared, how each expedition was in keeping,
as to its character, with the mode of life just
previously followed by its hero. At Strasburg
there was dignity, and a reliance upon the
-
enthusiasm which Frenchmen feel for a cause:
at Boulogne, bribery and stage-trick were the
resources. At Strasburg there was concert,
a consecutive plan, and a reasonable hope of
success; at Boulogne it was the cast of a die
by the hand of a reckless gamester.
It is unnecessary to detail the events of the
unsuccessful enterprise at Boulogne. It was
similar to that of Strasburg. The soldiers in
the barrack were disposed to join the invader,
and some of the officers; but the majority of
the officers at first hesitated, and doubted, and
finally gained sufficient influence over their
men to repel the adventurer's advances. It
was the same regiment in which he found
willing followers at Strasburg. The troops
and National Guard increased in number, and
the Prince and his party were not only driven
back but pursued. In the moment of hesita-
tion at the barrack a pistol in the. Prince's
hand accidentally went off, wounding a grena-
dier. This was the only shot fired by his party,
not so on the part of the Orleanists, who killed
and wounded by their fire many of the adven-
turers. The Prince was compelled by his
party to retire to the shore in order to regain
the ship. He refused to leave France, resolv-
ing to die, but force constrained him along
the route of the fugitives. They reached the
shore, seized a boat, and put to sea. Scarcely
had they left the strand, when a body of 2,000
men arriving fired upon them. Count Dunin
and M. Faure, two faithful adherents, were
killed by the Prince's side, he received three
balls through his clothing, one of which grazed
his arm.
The capsizing of the boat left no
hope for the remainder, some were drowned, the
rest were saved by the crews of boats sent in
pursuit. The Prince, General Voisin, Colonel
Bouffé-Montaubon, M. de Persigny, and all or
nearly all of those of inferior note attached
to the enterprise, were taken to the castle
1.
g
.
476
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
and incarcerated. The City of Edinburgh steamer
was seized, and its stores and armainent.
At Paris great excitement was produced,
and the government showed the most undig-
nified agitation. Orders were given to arrest
all who had been in any way connected with
the affair of Strasburg.
The Prince was ordered from Boulogne to
Ham; thence, after a short confinement, he
was borne to Paris. In the interval he was shut
up in a cell which had been occupied by the
notorious assassin, Fieschi. This circumstance
created sympathy in his favour, and was most
impolitic on the part of the government.
The Court of Peers was convoked, and the
Prince was arraigned before it, September
the 28th.
The defence was 'eloquent. The speech of
the Prince was a masterpiece of oratory and
policy-not of mere rhetorical artifice, framed
for the purpose of inflaming discontent in
France. After an exordium, which was firm
but courteous, somewhat haughty yet modest
in form, he proceeded thus:-
"Since when, fifty years ago, the principle
of the sovereignty of the people was conse-
crated in France by the mightiest revolution
which ever occurred in the history of the
world, never was the national will so solemnly
proclaimed, never was it asserted by suffrages
so numerous and so free, as on the adoption
of the constitutions of the Empire.
|
"The nation has never revoked that grand
act of its sovereignty; and the Emperor de-
clared, 'Whatever has been done without that
authority is illegal.' At the same time, do
not allow yourselves to believe that, led away
by the impulses of personal ambition, I may
have wished to attempt a restoration of the
Empire. Too lofty were the lessons by which
I have been trained-too noble the examples
I have had before me.
"I am the son of one who descended with-
out regret from a throne when he believed
that it was no longer possible to reconcile the
interests of France with those of the people
whom he had been called to govern. The
Emperor, my uncle, preferred to abdicate
the Empire rather than accept by treaty the
restricted frontiers which would expose France
to the insults and menaces in which foreign
nations to this day indulge. I have not lived
a single day forgetful of such lessons. The
unmerited and cruel act of proscription which
for twenty years has dragged upon my exist-
ence, from the steps of the throne, where I
was born, to the dungeon whence I have just
emerged, has been powerless alike to irritate
or to fatigue my heart; it has not been able
for a single day to estrange me from the
glory, the rights, and the interests of France.
My conduct and my convictions explain the
fact.
"When, in 1830, the people re-conquered
their sovereignty, I believed that that con-
quest would prove as loyal in its sequences
as in itself, and that the destinies of France
were established for ever. Instead of this,
the country has undergone the melancholy
experiences of the last ten years.
"I considered, then, that the vote of
4,000,000 citizens, which exalted my family,
imposed upon us at least the duty of making
an appeal to the nation and to seek its will.
I thought also that if, in the midst of that
national congress which I intended to con-
vene, certain pretensions should have made
themselves heard, I should have had the right
to re-awaken the glorious souvenirs of the
Empire, to speak of the elder brother of the
Emperor-of that virtuous man who, before
me, is deservedly his heir; and to contrast,
face to face, France as she now is, enfeebled
and passed over in silence in the congress
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
477
of kings, and that France of a past time,
so strong at home, so powerful and respected
abroad. The nation would then have replied
to the question - Republic or Monarchy,
Empire or Kingdom? And upon its un-
coerced decision depends the termination of
our sorrows and dissensions.
"As to my enterprise, I repeat it, I had
no accomplice. I alone determined every-
thing; nobody knew beforehand my plans,
nor my resources, nor my hopes. If I am
guilty towards any, it is toward my friends
alone. They alone, however, do not accuse
me of having wantonly trifled with courage
and devotion such as theirs; and they will
understand those motives of honour and pru-
dence which prevent me from revealing, even
to them, how broad and how powerful were
my reasons for hoping for success.
"One word in conclusion, gentlemen. I
represent before you a principle, a cause, and
a defeat. The principle-it is the sovereignty
of the people; the cause-it is that of the
Empire; the defeat-Waterloo! You have
recognised the principle-you have served the
cause you would avenge the defeat! No,
there is no disaccord between you and me,
and I will not believe that I can be destined
to be grieved by the defection of others.
"Representing a political cause, I cannot
accept as the judge of my intentions and
of my acts a political tribunal. Your for-
malities deceive no one. In the struggle
which now commences there is only one con-
queror and one conquered. If you are in the
ranks of the victor I cannot expect justice
at your hands, and I will not accept of your
generosity."
It would be impossible to exaggerate the
importance of that speech, seen from an
English point of view, if it may be believed
that the opinions of the unsuccessful adven-
-
turer of Boulogne were those which are now
entertained by Napoleon III. The Prince
declared that he represented a principle-the
sovereignty of the people; a cause the
Empire; but that cause involves the reversal
of the treaty of Vienna, and the use of armed
force to accomplish that reversal. For that
treaty England can never sacrifice anything;
but to reverse it, the Empire must risk every-
thing, and despotic Europe will maintain it,
unless overpowered. It is, however, the last
item in the Bonapartist programme which
menaces England. The Prince, in declaring
that the defeat was Waterloo, and proclaim-
ing that it remained to be avenged, issued
a manifesto which he can never erase. How
is Waterloo to be avenged? Will the recog-
nition of the Emperor suffice? If so, England
has done her part to satisfy the wounded
honour of the French Imperialists; she has
even added amity and alliance to that re-
cognition. Is the humiliation of England,
effected by force of arms, the meaning of the
expression? If so, then one can understand
why the power of Napoleon
III.'s reign
should be devoted to the increase of the
French navy, the preparation of transports
for expeditions by sea, and the organisation
of so numerous an army. If the tone of
public opinion in France be taken as an ex-
ponent, to avenge Waterloo means to invade
England. What else could it mean in the
mind of the Prince in 1840? The consent
of the people made Louis Philippe king; his
throne rested at the time upon the popular
suffrage; the elder branch of the Bourbons,
which Waterloo had placed there, had been
swept away by a popular revolution, and
those who effected the change hailed the chief
of the house of Orleans as Sovereign of
France. How, then, did Waterloo remain to
be avenged? The royalty imposed by that
478
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
event had been removed by the people with
arms in their hands, and the conquerors pro-
claimed another king, and might, had they
chosen, have proclaimed Louis Napoleon him-
self. In what way did it remain possible to
avenge Waterloo except by repaying invasion
with invasion, and by a French army, with
a Bonaparte at its head, conquering Eng-
land? Louis Napoleon uttered these memo-
rable words after a residence in England,
when fully conversant with her spirit and
her institutions: it must therefore be taken
as a deliberate idea Napoleonic, and be set
down as a part of the policy of the Bonaparte
family. If France maintain armaments, espe-
cially of a naval character and for the pur-
poses of transport, under a Bonaparte, it is
time for England to beware. The words so
boldly uttered before the peers of France may
be uttered before the despotic sovereigns of
Europe allied in an anti-English policy, "You
would avenge Waterloo."
It is curious that in the speech upon which
these comments are made the Prince asserted
that the brother of the Emperor had claims
prior to the nephew; yet when opportunity
arrived of putting to the test such an opinion,
"the brother of the Emperor" was not anointed
to empire. It was pretended that the expedi-
tion to Boulogne was undertaken for the Im-
perial brother; it is clear that the coup d'état,
a lustrum later, was made for the Imperial
nephew.
It was on the 6th of October the court pro-
nounced sentence. The heaviest punishment
inflicted upon any of the party was that of
Lieutenant Aladenise, who deserted to Napo-
leon; it was transportation for life. Louis
Napoleon himself received the sentence next
in severity-imprisonment for life. The other
prisoners were sentenced to terms of imprison-
ment varying according to their participation
in the expedition.
When the Prince heard his sentence he
exclaimed, "At any rate I shall have the
happiness of dying in France." It was cer-
tainly the wish of the Government that he
should die in France, and very soon. The
effect of the Boulogne expedition was not con-
fined to those personally concerned in it, or
to France; it became a subject of discussion
all over continental and even insular Europe,
and men everywhere thought of the possibility
of France again deciding in favour of a Bona-
parte, notwithstanding Louis Napoleon's defeat.
In England the high conservative press mocked
the failure; the leaders of the party privately
lamented the attempt as indicative of the
existence still of elements of danger in France.
In the Duke of Wellington's correspondence
there are sentences which confirm this:-
"Since I wrote to you last a terrible event has
taken place; I mean the expedition of Louis
Napoleon to Boulogne. Those desirous of
fomenting the existing differences and jealousies
between the two countries will avail them-
selves of this event to promote their objects.
In another letter he laid down an opinion which
events have belied in the person of Louis Na-
poleon. "A failure in France," he wrote, "is
much more fatal than such a misfortune ever
is here. In France ridicule always attaches
to failure; and that, no affair in France ever
recovers from." The Duke lived to see the
hero of this "terrible event" recover from its
failure.
99
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479
CHAPTER LIX.
INCARCERATION IN HAM.-CONDUCT AND OPINIONS WHEN THERE.-
"The caged bird may fly away."—Old Proverb.
LOUIS NAPOLEON was consigned to the fortress
of Ham, the most gloomy and dismal prison of
France, and there tormented nearly a year in
every way calculated to prey upon his spirit
and wear him down from hope and life. The
conduct of Louis Philippe to his captive was
that of one who wished to murder an enemy by
a miserable incarceration. For nine months
Louis Napoleon bore all this without repining,
but at last, in language of indignant complaint
he addressed the government, demanding that
whatever might be the chances of policy, the
rights of humanity and of honour forbid that
he, the son of a king, the nephew of an em-
peror, allied by relationship with all the courts
in Europe, and "born on the steps of a throne,"
should be treated as a common malefactor.
This letter obtained publicity, and the Govern-
ment alarmed by its effect upon public opinion
softened the rigour of the sufferer's lot.
G
It displays the true character of Louis
Philippe to make known that Prince Louis Na-
poleon was confined in the apartments assigned
to Prince Polignac and the other abettors of
the unconstitutional measures which drove
Charles X. from his throne in 1830; but
Polignac and his fellows, who committed a
cruel, sanguinary, and despotic crime against
the nation, were, during their brief period of
punishment, treated with every indulgence,
and led a sumptuous and honoured captivity.
The men who offended against France, who
sought to crush all liberty, were imprisoned by
the law, and patronised by the king; the man
who offended against Louis Philippe himself
was surrounded by such circumstances of con-
straint as turned his prison into a dungeon.
Montholon and Conneau shared the Prince's
incarceration; their companionship was to him.
a consolation, and as they were sincere to his
cause, they were in their own minds com-
pensated for their exclusion from the world by
partaking of that exclusion with their chief.
The influence of public opinion caused a
relaxation in the treatment of the illustrious
captive; his physician was allowed more con-
stant intercourse with him, his servant was
allowed more freely to pass into the neigh-
bouring tavern, and purchase necessaries or
luxuries; the prisoner's correspondence was not
placed under such rigid inspection. It suited
the Prince after these mitigations of his lot to
affect contentment, or perhaps he really felt it.
His imprisonment in France directed the minds
of all Frenchmen to him. It was their feeling
that but for his energy and courage he would
not have risked such hardships. The Bona-
partists made the imprisonment of the Em-
peror's nephew a ground of constant agitation,
which aided other causes in making the Govern-
ment of Louis Philippe unpopular. The people
at large wondered how it could ever come to
pass that the heir of that great Emperor who
had made France so mighty and glorious, in
their esteem, should suffer as a malefactor for
no other reason than loving France too well,
and risking life to carry out the principles of
the deceased Emperor. Gloomy rumours were
circulated in all the remoter departments of the
treatment the prisoner received. The audacity
of the attempts at Strasburg and Boulogne was
the theme of admiration even in Paris. Stories
of impossible feats of courage, never attempted
and for which no occasion offered, were repeated
J
k
480
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
among the workmen in the great towns, and a
feeling sprung up that this heroic adventurer
was the man for France; that Napoleon the
Great had a successor ardent for the glory of
France, and willing to dare all things on its
behalf. Thus the imprisonment of the Prince at
Ham was causing quietly but surely throughout
France a strong feeling in behalf both of him-
self and the Empire. France longed for glory,
and had already arrived at the conviction that
it was not to be obtained through the House of
Orleans. That family kept alive some interest
on its behalf by affecting to work out a counter-
policy to that of England; perhaps a real desire
to do so was ungratefully and unjustly felt.
The royal princes were constantly parading
their anti-English feeling, and in this way
became centres of applause. The people, how-
ever, gradually saw that in counteracting the
influence of England, Louis Philippe was
merely consulting personal, family, and dynastic
interests; that his aims and ends were simply
venal, and his ways and means, treachery,
intrigue, corruption, and delusion. The public
mind step by step settled down into the con-
viction that there was nothing for France but a
republic or the empire, and if the empire, it
must be the empire of a Bonaparte. From
the time when Louis Napoleon was cast into
the prison of Ham, this feeling grew rapidly;
he knew that, and found his imprisoment the
very thing that suited his policy, and best
promoted his hopes. He however adopted a
course calculated to hide from the Orleanists
his real feelings and expectations. He pre-
tended to be quite happy, in simply living in
France, even within the gloomy and guarded
walls of a fortress. This pleased the French
people, and the court felt that as the prisoner
was contented, and found means of so giving
utterance to his contentment as that the public
were apprised of it, Louis Philippe had cleverly
•
solved the enigma of how best to dispose of his
rival. The king had craft without wisdom,
and cunning without foresight. So advan-
tageous did the Prince find his position as a
state prisoner that he did not hesitate even,
before there was much mitigation of the rigour
of his incarceration, to declare that a dungeon
in France was in his opinion at that time the
only alternative to a throne.
When the Prince lived in London he formed
friendships with a few eminent persons; among
these was the Countess of Blessington. To her
he addressed the following letter:-
"Ham, January 13, 1841.
“MY LADY,
"I have only this day received your letter
dated 1st of January, because being written in
English, it was sent to the Ministry at Paris,
that it might be read there. I am very sen-
sible of your kind remembrance of me, and
it grieves me to think that no letters from
you previously have ever reached me.
I re-
ceived from Gore House but one letter from
Count D'Orsay, which I hastened to reply to
when in the Conciergerie. I regret deeply that
it was intercepted, for I therein expressed all
the gratitude I felt for the interest he took in
my misfortunes. I will not repeat to you all I
have suffered. Your poetic and noble heart
will have anticipated all the cruelty of a posi-
tion where my defence is bounded by insur-
mountable barriers, and my justification re-
strained by necessary reserve. In this case,
the only consolation for every calumny, and
for the hardships of my fate, is to feel at the
bottom of my heart a voice which absolves me ;
to receive marks of sympathy from superior
minds, which, like yours, madam, are sepa-
rated from the common herd by the eleva-
tion of their sentiments, by the independence
of their character, and whose affections and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
481
opinions are not made subservient to the
caprices of fortune or the fatality of destiny.
"I have been some three months in the
castle of Ham, with General Montholon and
Dr. Conneau, but all external communication
is forbidden. No one, as yet, has been able to
obtain permission to see me. One of these
days I will send you a sketch of the citadel
which I copied from a little print: for you may
imagine that I knew nothing of the fortress
from the outside. I often think of the spot
you inhabit, and I recall with pleasure the
moments passed in your amiable society, which
the Count D'Orsay rendered still more de-
lightful by his wit and natural gaiety.
"However, I have no wish to leave my
present abode, for here I am in my place.
With the name I bear, I must have either the
obscurity of a dungeon. or the light of power.
"If you condescend, madam, to write to me
sometimes, and to give me some details of
London life, and of a country where I have
been too happy not to love it, you will confer
on me a great pleasure, &c., &c.
"NAPOLEON-LOUIS."
Louis Napoleon was a remarkable letter-
writer. His letters are singularly characteris-
tic of the man; and no one has more reason
to be afraid of the meaning implied in the
words, litera scripta manet. Who would have
supposed, after these affectionate expressions
concerning Count D'Orsay, that he would be
left to penury and neglect when his admiring
friend scattered millions from a throne upon
subjects unworthy of royal or public favour!
Yet such, to the lasting discredit of Louis
Napoleon, was the fact. It is likely that the
admiration and gratitude expressed in that
letter concerning England may be placed in
the category of politic sentences, in which that
panegyrising Count D'Orsay may be placed.
At all events, it is very difficult to reconcile
the passage in the speech before the Court of
Peers, whose judgment consigned him to Ham,
that he represented a defeat to be avenged-
that defeat, Waterloo-with the profession of
love to England addressed to Lady Blessing-
ton. That the desire to avenge Waterloo,
rather than love of England, was the real
feeling of Napoleon-Louis, is made plain by
a subsequent letter, written also from Ham,
in which no purpose could be served by good
words about England. When, in 1843, an
amnesty was talked of for all political pri-
soners, he indicated some alarm. There was
a journal entitled the Progrès du Pas de
Calais. Its editor, M. Frederic De George,
was a personal friend of Louis Napoleon, and
a Bonapartist, although ostensibly professing
to be a Republican. The Progrès du Pas de
Calais might be considered the organ of the
prisoner of Ham; all his lucubrations on
politics and social theories found a place in
the columns of that very peculiar journal.
Apropos of the rumours of an amnesty, Louis
Napoleon wrote to M. De George, and the
letter was forthwith committed to the journal,
and was read by the public with intense eager-
ness. The following extract from it will
account for its popularity and throw light now
upon the view which Louis Napoleon took of
his residence within the battlements of a
French fortress:-
Gang
"You tell me that they talk a good deal in
Paris about an amnesty, and you inquire what
are the impressions produced upon me by the
news. I reply frankly to your question.
"If to-morrow the doors of my prison
were to be opened to me, and I were told,
'You are free! come and seat yourself as a
citizen at the hearth of the nation-France no
longer repudiates any of her children!' then,
indeed, a lively feeling of joy would seize my
3 Q
482
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
soul. But if, on the contrary, they were to
come and offer the alternative of exile or my
present position, I should reject such a pro-
position; for in my eyes it would be an
aggravation of punishment. I prefer cap-
tivity upon the soil of France to freedom
in a foreign land. Moreover, I know the
value of an amnesty granted by the existing
authorities.
"In banishment for twenty-five years, twice
betrayed by Fate, I have experienced all the
vicissitudes and sorrows of this life; and
having got the better of the illusions of youth,
I find in the native air I breathe, in study, in
the quietude of my prison, a charm which I
never experienced when I participated in the
pleasures of a strange people, when, the con-
quered, I had to drink out of the same cup
with the conqueror of Waterloo.
"In a word, I should repeat, if the neces-
sity presented itself, that which I declared
before the Court of Peers: I will not accept
your generosity, because I know what it
costs.'
999
It must be admitted that when a prisoner he
often expressed admiration of English liberty.
Taking one specimen from many instances, he
thus wrote:-"It is not only his laws which
protect the (English) citizen; it is also the
manner in which they are executed; it is the
manner in which the Government exercises
its power. In England authority is never
impassioned; it is moderate, and always in
conformity with the law. For this reason you
never know in England the violation of the
citizen's home which is so common in France,
under the name of domiciliary visits. The
secrets of families are respected, by leaving
correspondence untampered with. The first of
all liberties, that of going where you please,
is never interfered with, for from no one are
passports required-passports, that oppressive
invention of the Committee of Public Safety,
which are an embarrassment and an obstacle to
the peaceful citizen only, but which in no way
impede those who wish to baffle the vigilance
of authority."
How this epistle to the Bonapartist editor
contrasts with the letter to the British countess!
To the lady he avowed that he had been too
happy in England not to love the country. To
the revolutionary editor he described his abode
in England as inflicting that pain which he,
the vanquished, felt when drinking from the
same cup with the conqueror of Waterloo.
Had any doubt existed before of the reference
of the expression that he represented a defeat
to be avenged-the defeat of Waterloo-the
letter of the prisoner of Ham left hesitation
no longer possible. His real feelings as ex-
pounded to France were that the asylum he
met in England increased his resentment, for
by her hospitalities he, the vanquished, drank
from the same cup with the conqueror of
Waterloo.
While the amnesty was talked of, the Con-
seil-Général of Corsica unanimously invoked
the king to recall from exile the family of the
Bonapartes, and especially desired that the
grandson of Josephine should be restored to
the citizenship of France. The press took up
the subject, and Louis Napoleon used his own
organ, as it might be called, for declaring his
assent to the political doctrine of universal
suffrage. An article was published in the
paper referred to, headed Profession de foi De-
mocratique de Prince Napoleon-Louis Bonaparte.
This article was attributed to the Prince him-
self, and was transferred to the columns of
most of the journals. One of these publica-
tions, the Journal du Loiret, addressed the
Prince, demanding of him with what views he
would become a citizen-whether to grasp
empire if he could, or to act loyally as a citizen
|
|
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
483
of France. Louis Napoleon, always glad of an
occasion for publicity, and always prompt to
use it adroitly, addressed a letter to the editor,
repeating that universal suffrage was the funda-
mental article of his political faith. The letter
is among the most remarkable which have come
from the same hand:-
Fortress of Ham, October 21st, 1843.
"SIR,
"I reply without hesitation to the friendly
question which you address to me in your
number of the 18th instant.
"I have never believed, and I never can be-
lieve, that France is the appanage of any man
or of any family. I have never pretended to
any rights but those of a French citizen, and
never shall have any other desire than to see
the whole people, legally convened, choosing
freely that government which they deem best.
"A member of a family which owes its ele-
vation to the suffrages of the nation, I should
belie my origin, my nature, and what is more,
should violate common-sense, if I did not admit
the sovereignty of the people as the foundation
of all political organisation. My past actions
and declarations accord with this opinion. If
I have been misunderstood, it is because
the world does not explain defeats-it only
condemns them.
"I claimed, it is true, a foremost place that
is, to stand in the breach. I had a high ambi-
tion, but one which might boldly be avowed;
an ambition to gather round my plebeian name
all the friends of national sovereignty, all those
who longed for glory and liberty. If I have
been mistaken, is it for those of democratic
opinions to blame me- is it for France to
punish me?
“Believe, sir, that whatever the fate which
the future may have in store for me, it shall
never be said that, in exile or in captivity, I
have ‘learned nothing and forgotten nothing.'
Receive the assurance, &c.
"NAPOLEON-LOUIS BONAPARTE."
The publication of this and similar letters
fastened the idea in the public mind of France
that Louis Napoleon was the friend of demo-
cratic liberty.
From that time Louis Philippe's throne
began to totter. The king was the advocate
of a form of constitutional government which
should rest on a very narrow suffrage. His
constitutional edifice was made to fall-the
apex was broader than the base. The French
people demanded a broad foundation for the
political fabric; reform began to be agitated,
and Louis Philippe resisted it to the utter-
most.
He had long before thrown off the
disguise of such phrases as the Citizen King.
Instead of cringing and crawling to the end as
he had done at the beginning of his reign, and
as no French monarch had ever done before,
he was reserved, haughty, and despotic; using
his cabinet merely as a formality, and vesting
all power in his own hands. The agitation for
universal suffrage thus set on foot by Louis
Napoleon dethroned the Citizen, or rather the
anti-Citizen King. He ultimately fell before
an agitation for a reform in the represen-
tation. It must be said for Louis Napoleon
that he has remained true to his doctrine of
universal suffrage whatever other doctrines
or practices he may entertain inconsistent with
it. After the revolution of 1848, the Assembly
abrogated universal suffrage, by which they
had been elected, and which they had been
returned to the legislature to maintain. One of
the first acts of Louis Napoleon's power was
to restore it. This doctrine proved the lever
to raise him to empire; it is the prop of his
imperial throne. Whether France or the Em-
peror be consistent in their relations to these
HOM
484
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
.
facts, they are facts, and among the political
phenomena of an age demanding the study
of the historian and statesman. Had Louis
Philippe used universal suffrage as a doctrine
and a practical instrument, he would have
found himself better acquainted with France,
and very probably have saved his throne.
Up to the close of 1845, the imprisoned
Prince found no new events of importance to
diversify the monotony of his prison. He en-
gaged himself as an author, and wrote several
works which display moderate ability. One of
these was on the sugar question, a subject at
that time of some importance, as questions
arose between the growers of beet-root in
France, and the producers of the cane in the
French colonies. Louis Napoleon took the
popular side, and wrote not to settle the sugar
question, but to help that of a Bonaparte
dynasty. An essay on "The Extinction of
Pauperism" came from his pen, and a work
entitled "Historical Fragments." He was
also a contributor of leading articles and
political letters for the newspapers. In his
private correspondence he betrays the motives
of his authorship, by inquiries as to how far
his political publications served his political
objects.
In the winter of 1845 the Comte de St.
Leu entertained fears that his end was ap-
proaching, and became desirous to see his only
surviving son. Louis Napoleon addressed the
king, asking permission to visit his father,
and promising on his honour to return to hist
prison when his filial duties were performed.
The French king affected to be friendly to the
subject, and with his usual craft and dissimu-
lation made a condition for the Prince's depar-
ture a renunciation of all pretensions to the
throne of France. This was done in a way
utterly disingenuous, and without a touch of
generosity. All the juste milieu party, and such
Napoleonists as sympathised with that school,
urged the Prince to accept the terms. His own
advocates besought him to take that course. To
his lasting honour be it said, he refused to accept
liberty by recanting his political principles, and
he made the refusal in terms as much to his
credit as the refusal itself. Whatever be the
fate or fortunes of Louis Napoleon, whatever
his sins, his errors, or his virtues, his manly
letter to M. Odillon Barrot will ever constitute
a prominent incident in the events of his life
favourable to his character. Odillon Barrot,
the celebrated deputy, who oscillated between
the Orleanists and Bonapartists, was made the
medium by the cunning king of tempting
Louis Napoleon to sign the letter of sub-
mission; to him, therefore, the Prince thus
replied:-
"I will now tell you why I do not consider
it my duty to sign the letter of which you have
sent me a draft. The brave man who finds
himself face to face with adversity, alone in
the presence of enemies interested in disgracing
him, ought to avoid all subterfuge, all equivo-
cation, and to proceed with the greatest clear-
ness and precision. Like Cæsar's wife, he ought
not to be suspected. If I signed the letter,
as you and many other deputies would induce
me to do, I should, in fact, ask for pardon
without daring openly to avow the petition. I
should take shelter behind the request of my
father, like the coward who covers himself with
a tree to escape the enemy's shot. I consider
such a course unworthy of me. If I thought it
honourable and becoming simply to invoke
the royal clemency, I should write thus to the
king: 'Sire, I ask pardon.' Such, however,
is not my intention. . . . . I should not have
sought to disturb the calm of my conscience
or the repose of my life, had not my father
signified an earnest desire to have me near
him again in his declining days. My filial

Eng by TW Hunt. from a Photograph
RT HONBLE VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, K.G.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
485
duty roused me from resignation. . . . . I
wrote to the head of the State-to him who
alone had the legal right to alter my position.
I asked to be allowed to visit my father, and
spoke to the king of favours, humanity, grati-
tude, because I am not afraid of calling things
by their right names. The king appeared to
be satisfied with my letter, and said to the
worthy son of Marshal Ney, who was good
enough to charge himself with its delivery,
that the guarantee I offered was sufficient; but
he has not yet made known his decision. His
Ministers, on the contrary, have transmitted
to me an answer, which is merely an insult to
misfortune.
"Under the blow of such a refusal, and still
unacquainted with the decision of the king,
my duty is to abstain from all proceedings,
and above all not to subscribe a request for
pardon under the disguise of filial piety. I
still maintain all that I said in my letter to
the king, because the sentiments I then ex-
pressed were deeply felt, and were such as
appeared to me becoming, but I will not
advance a line further. The path of honour
is narrow and slippery, and there is but a
hair's breadth between the firm ground and
the abyss.'
S
When Louis Philippe saw that he could not
dishonour his prisoner, he refused the indul-
gence sought, and the year 1845 closed over
the Prince within the sullen bastions of Ham.
this world made me attempt the boldest enter-
prise I ever engaged in. It required more
resolution and courage on my part than at
Strasburg and Boulogne, for I was deter-
mined not to submit to the ridicule that
attaches to those who are arrested escaping in
disguise, and a failure I could not have
endured. The following are the particulars of
my escape.
"You know that the fort was garrisoned by
four hundred men, who furnished daily sixty
soldiers, placed as sentries outside the walls.
Moreover, the principal gate of the prison was
guarded by three jailers, two of whom were
constantly on duty. It was necessary that I
should first elude their vigilance, afterwards
traverse the inner court before the windows of
the commandant's residence; and, arriving
there, I should be obliged to pass through a
gate guarded by soldiers.
"Not wishing to make known my design to
any one, it was necessary to disguise myself.
As several rooms in the part of the building I
occupied were undergoing repairs, it was not
difficult to assume the dress. of a workman.
My good and faithful valet, Charles Thélin,
procured a blouse and a pair of sabots; and,
after shaving off my moustaches, I took a
plank upon my shoulders.
"On Monday morning [25th May, 1846],
at half-past eight o'clock, I saw the workmen
enter. Charles took them some drink, in order
that I might not meet any of them on my
passage. He was also to call one of the jailers,
while Dr. Conneau conversed with the others.
Nevertheless, I had scarcely left my room
before I was accosted by a workman who took
me for one of his fellows, and at the bottom of
the stairs I found myself face to face with the
keeper. Fortunately, I placed the plank I
was carrying before my face, and succeeded in
Early in 1846 he determined on attempting
an escape, which he affected on the 25th of
May. An account of this transaction, written
by himself, is extant; it is addressed to his
friend, M. De George, who had ceased to con-
duct the paper in which the lucubrations of
the Prince had generally appeared, and was
then editor of the Journal de la Somme. In
that periodical the letter appeared.
66
My desire to see my father once more in reaching the yard. Whenever I passed a sen-
A progr
+
486
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
tinel or any other person I always kept the of course called to account for the part he took,
plank before my face.
and he frankly admitted his acts and motives
before the correctional tribune of Peronne. The
Doctor had been condemned for his part in
the affair of Boulogne, for a term of five years.
That period was about to expire, but the brave
and generous man risked a fresh term of incar-
ceration, or heavier punishment, to serve his
friend, his cause, and the representative of that
cause.
"Passing before the first sentinel, I let my
pipe fall, and stopped to pick up the pieces.
Here I met the officer on duty; but as he was
reading a letter, he paid no attention to me.
The soldiers at the guard-house appeared sur-
prised at my dress, and a drummer turned
round several times to look at me. I next
met some workmen, who looked very atten-
tively at me. I placed the plank before
my face, but they appeared to be so curious
that I thought I should never escape them,
until I heard them cry, 'Oh, it is Bernard!'
“Once outside, I walked quickly towards
the road of St. Quentin. Charles, who the day
before had engaged a carriage, shortly over-
took me, and we arrived at St. Quentin. I
passed through the town on foot, having
thrown off my blouse. Charles procured a
post-chaise under pretence of going to Cambrai.
We arrived without detention of any kind at
Valenciennes, where I took the railway. I had
procured a Belgian passport, but it was no-
where demanded.
-
"During my escape, Dr. Conneau, always
so devoted to me, remained in prison, and
caused them to believe that I was ill, in order
to give me time to reach the frontier. It was
necessary to be convinced that the government
would never set me at liberty before I could
be persuaded to quit France, and I would not
consent to dishonour myself. It was also a
matter of duty that I should exert all my
powers to be able to console my father in his
old age.
"Adieu, my dear M. De George. Although
free, I feel myself to be most unhappy. Re-
ceive the assurance of my sincere friendship,
and endeavour to be useful to my kind Conneau
if you can.'
When the Prince escaped, Dr. Conneau was
""
When he found that the Prince had got clear
of the prison, Dr. Conneau set himself to con-
ceal the departure as long as possible. He
shut the door of the Prince's chamber which
opened into a saloon, and although the weather
was warm he lit a fire, so as to confirm the
statement he was prepared to make to the
jailer, that the prisoner was ill. He placed a
coffee-pot on the fire, and observed to one of
the jail attendants that the Prince was very
unwell. At eight o'clock some violet plants
arrived for the Prince by the diligence. The
Doctor, as though by the Prince's orders,
requested the keeper to fill some flower-pots
with earth so as to receive the new plants.
Various little incidents tested the Doctor's
ingenuity, but he succeeded in preventing the
least suspicion, acting in all respects in a way
natural to a physician whose patient required
repose.
As messengers or officers arrived the Doctor
feigned to talk with the Prince, and to order
repose; medicine was ordered, and the Doctor
by ingenious chemical contrivances succeeded
in creating such odours as are attendant upon
a sick chamber.
C
In the evening, at seven o'clock, the com-
mandant of the fortress paid a visit to the
Prince. Dr. Conneau apologised for his pa-
tient's inability to see any one, but declared
that he was much better. The commandant
said that his duty compelled him to see the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
487
Prince before he retired. Conneau had a
stuffed figure laid upon the bed, and softly
pushing the door open so as that the com-
mandant could see it, he addressed it in a
gentle voice. No reply being given, the Doctor
remonstrated against awakening him. The
commandant had some suspicion, which had
been created in his mind by the non-arrival
of the Prince's valet by the diligence. He
expressed his surprise at that circumstance,
for which the Doctor had a plausible reason.
The commandant refused to retire, he would
await the time when the Prince would awake.
At last the drums of the fortress beat at the
customary hour. The commandant rose, be-
lieving that he had heard the prince move.
On approaching the room all was still, and
M
(6
the Doctor again remonstrated on the unreason-
ableness of disturbing his patient. The com-
mandant approached the bed, and detected the
imposition practised upon him. The Doctor
was sentenced to three months imprisonment,
Thélin, the valet, to six months. The time
gained before the discovery of the escape
enabled the Prince to pass beyond the power
of pursuit.
CHAPTER IX.
A REFUGEE IN ENGLAND.-USES THE PRESS TO CREATE A BONAPARTIST FEELING IN FRANCE.-
CONFIDENCE IN HIS DESTINY.-SINGULAR ANECDOTE CONNECTED WITH HIS LONDON LIFE.
IN London the Prince wrote to the French
ambassador, assuring him that he had not
effected his escape for the purpose of renewing
his attacks on the French government, but to
attend his dying father. He also addressed
the English Home and Foreign Ministers.
He was assured that he was at liberty to reside
in England as long as he pleased. The
Austrian ambassador at the Court of St.
James's exerted himself to prevent the Prince
from receiving a passport, and of course he was
able effectually to hinder the fugitive from
entering Italy. The Comte de St. Leu died
in July, before his son could devise any means
of reaching his bedside.
In 1859 he entered Italy without leave of
He once more reached London, to “drink
out of the same cup with the conqueror of
Waterloo," and study how he might best
avenge the injury inflicted upon him, the
vanquished, by such hospitalities.
It was
well for him that the conquerors of Waterloo
were more generous to him than the rulers of
France.
England is the asylum of the unhappy and oppressed."-GARIBALDI.
the Austrians, and avenged the impediment
thrown in the way of soothing his father's
last illness in a manner which Austria will
remember for ever; for however policy and
ambition may have had their parts in the
Italian war, it is well known that to the House
of Austria the French Emperor has borne a
personal hostility throughout his career.
After the death of his father he continued
to watch the state of affairs in France, to plot,
and correspond, and to disseminate through-
out the press of Europe opinions hostile to
the House of Orleans, and favourable to that of
Bonaparte. Much as the Bonapartists have
hated and dreaded the press, they have never
disdained to use it for their purposes. Napo-
488
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
in the land of their adoption. Much of the
aggressive temper of the French people has
its source in this notion, that there is no real
civilisation out of France. It is the kernel
thought of the French mind when comparing
the social state of their country with that of
others. The Prince believed himself to be the
chosen child of destiny, ordained by God or
fate (it is not clear to which he attributed the
power) to accomplish the Empire in France,
and then to extend, à la Napoleon, French
civilisation to the rest of Europe. That this
was his idea of himself and his mission his
own language places beyond doubt.
"I may
be asked what induced me to abandon a happy
existence, to run all the risks of an enterprise
so hazardous. I reply, a secret voice led me
on." Thus the opinions or principles of the
man are not simply to be considered by
those who have political relations with him;
he believes that a secret voice leads him
on. Whether "a spirit of health or goblin
damned," can only be judged by results, for
spirits, like men, can only be known by their
fruits.
39
leon I., when he reviewed the fine army by
which he intended to invade Russia, is repre-
sented to have exclaimed, "The French are a
fine people; they deserve freedom, and they
shall have it; but no liberty of the press.'
On another occasion he is represented as
having said, "Freedom of the press and the
Empire cannot co-exist." Still he employed
eagerly opportunities of appealing to the public
opinion of Europe through the agency of a
free press wherever it existed. Louis Napo-
leon followed his uncle in this as in all other
things; he would make use of a free press as
he would of universal suffrage, to lift himself
to power, and then destroy the instruments of
his aggrandisement. The opinions of the
The opinions of the
Prince concerning the Bonaparte cause were
so absurd that it is astonishing men could be
found anywhere to promote his views. Thus,
for instance, he affirmed that "the cause of
Napoleonism was the only national one in
France-the only civilising agency in Europe."
A man who could adopt such an opinion could
not rule France on peaceful principles. He
must consider himself as having a mission to
make France the seat of an empire of civilisa-
tion, which by France had been imposed upon
uncivilised Europe. According to the Napo-
leonic idea, Europe is a region subject to
despotisms, constitutional monarchies, and free
republics, all uncivilised. It was the work
of France to become national by adopting
a new Imperial regime, and by it to put forth
the hand of a new civilisation over bar-
barous Europe. This work was not to be
performed by free schools, free churches, or a
free press, but by the sword of France, the
authority of the Pope, and the edicts of the
Tuilleries. The insolence that France alone
is civilised is, however, not an idea communi-
cated to France by the Bonapartes; it is
French, and was imbibed by the Bonapartes | the hour. Frequenters of these champêtres
The Prince led a strange life in London.
Sometimes he appeared as a man of fashion
and of means, but for a portion at least of the
time of his residence there he seemed to be in
poverty. A curious notice is taken of him in
a work where a reader would scarcely expect to
find any notice of him at all, “Lumley's
Reminiscences of the Opera: "—
"With the future Emperor of France, when
an exile in England, I had been well ac-
quainted. He had been a constant subscriber
to Her Majesty's Theatre, was a frequent guest
at my house, and had assisted' at the after-
noon fêtes given by me at my residence, "The
Chancellor's,' at Fulham, where he had
entered heart and soul into the amusements of
(
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
489
entertainments may remember one occasion
when Prince Louis Napoleon figured in the
same quadrille with Taglioni, Cerito, and
Carlotta Grisi, having the director of Her
Majesty's Theatre as his vis-à-vis. The Prince
and I frequently dined in company at Gore
House, the residence of the late Countess of
Blessington, where all that was distinguished
in literature and art was constantly assembled;
and it may be worth recording, in connection
with the Prince's known firm reliance on his
destiny, that at one of these dinners, when
Count D'Orsay was expatiating on the evidences
that had come before him of the popularity of
the Prince in France (although at that time
the law forbidding any member of the Bona-
parte family to enter the country was still in-active, young, intelligent, clever, reminding
force), the future Emperor sat silent, with a one of his uncle in his features-the living
significant smile upon his face, the meaning image of that historical countenance which is
of which none could fail to interpret. On
engraven on more hearts than medals. Who,
another occasion, when I was alluding to the then, cared to recognise these representatives
part played by General Cavaignac, in June,
1848, in firing upon the people after the emeute
had been quelled, the Prince drily, but in an
earnest manner, remarked, 'That man is clear-
ing the way for me.""
these heirs of an heroic epoch? What
recollection went back to them? What hopes
were founded on their names? What promise
was imprinted on their brows? They passed
by, unknown and unnoticed by the people,
from whom nothing escapes, and who sees
everything.
They had not appeared
either at Boulogne or Strasburg! Let Reason
humiliate herself before such a result!
The policy of the Strasburg and Boulogne
expeditions have been much discussed, many
covering the subject with ridicule, and most
men regarding the attempts as such affronts
to fortune that their hero did not deserve to
win. Some men, however, who know French
character, will affirm that these abortive efforts
laid the foundation of future empire.
La Guéronnière, excusing himself from
denying the absurdity of the Strasburg and
Boulogne adventures, by casting them on
Providence, asserts that they were the direct
means of the Prince's after-fortune.
"Stras-
burg and Boulogne! Two names which make
the hand tremble and the conscience shudder!
True, 'tis strange-strange, 'tis true.
During his captivity the Prince not only
occupied himself with writing letters and
articles on various political and social subjects
for some of the provincial periodicals of
France; he wrote several works, "Extinction
of Pauperism," "The Analogies of the Sugar
Question," and appeared very creditably as an
author. Previous to his confinement in Ham
he wrote several other books and papers, such
as "Political Reviews," issued in 1832. The
Idées Napoléon was a paper, the first of an
intended series, but no other number ever
Strasburg and Boulogne were the causes of
the election of the 10th December.
"Had not Louis Napoleon Bonaparte put
himself forward as Pretender for the Empire,
he would probably never have become Presi-
dent of the French Republic. Is it a matter
of doubt? Here is a fact which will dissipate
all uncertainty on that head. The Bonaparte
family did not await a signal from the prisoner
of Ham to appear in France upon the stage of
the new Republic. The very day after the
revolution two young men of the family
hastened to take their part in the victory. One,
the son of Lucien, a republican like his father,
uniting the Corsican intrepidity to a patriotism
almost Roman; the other, the son of Jerome
""
3 R
490
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
has used the Bonapartes generally, and the
Emperor in particular, as helps to his purpose.”
appeared. It was issued shortly before the
expedition to Boulogne.. In his "Fragments
Historiques,"* written at Ham in 1841,
he
enunciated an opinion which has been quoted
more than any other which as Prince or
Emperor he ever used, unless possibly some
passages in his celebrated imperial speech at
Bordeaux be excepted. Limiting his remarks
to France, he thus expressed himself in the
"Fragments:"-" There never has been a Go-pared for it, and that the Empire with the
In his work, "Political Reviews," he pro-
claimed himself a Republican. This has often
been brought against him as inconsistent with
his attempts to revive the Empire. It is but
just to him, however, to recall his own declara-
tion, that in theory he preferred the Republican
form of government, but France was not pre-
Napoleon regime alone suited France.
vernment strong enough to keep down liberty
at home without giving it glory abroad."
During the Prince's captivity and second
residence in England, after his escape, these
words were often quoted, as indicating the
course he was likely to pursue if ever elevated
to the throne of France.
66
In the "Historical Fragments" there occurs.
another sentence often brought up in the
imperial and constitutional controversies: "I
am a citizen before being a Bonaparte." This
sentiment does not accord with an exhortation
said to have been given to him when a child
by his great uncle. According to Alison,
When, or sometime after, the Emperor
quarrelled with his brother, and virtually com-
pelled him to abandon the throne of Holland,
which he had never desired, he still affected
to caress his nephew (now the Emperor). For
on his visit to Paris, immediately after this
event, the conqueror of Marengo, never very
eclectic in his morals, told the youth, 'Come,
my son, I will be your father; you will lose
nothing by the exchange. The conduct of
your father has wounded my heart. When
you are grown up you will discharge his debt
and your own. Never forget, in whatever
It was undoubtedly the sentence of public
opinion in Europe, and more especially in
England, that the aim of Louis Napoleon was
not the liberty of France, but the gratification
of his own ambition; that for this he had dared
all the perils of Strasburg and Boulogne, and
not for France or liberty. The judgment
expressed in an eminent London periodical
was that of nearly the whole British public:-
"He was the youngest of three brothers; and
he had many cousins-five in one family-
who stood nearer to their uncle's throne than
himself. The eldest of his brothers died in
infancy; but till he was twenty-three he had
an elder brother; and his early-planted ambi-position you may be placed by my policy and
the interest of my empire, that your first duties
are towards me; your second towards France.
All your other duties, even to the people whom.
I confide to your care, must be postponed to
these.'"
tion was altogether of a personal character.
He was not in the first rank of the Bonapartes
by birth; he is unlike them in the whole cast
of his character and quality of his genius, and
he evidently used his ostensible relationship to
the first Emperor as a mere charm over the
imagination of his more noisy and excitable
subjects. It is for himself and by himself that
he has been the Monarch-Adventurer; and he
* Vol. i. p. 334.
It is difficult also to reconcile the professed
republicanism of the Prince with his opinions
of his uncle's political achievements, whom he
described as having "purified the revolution,
established kings, and ennobled nations."
#
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
491
The recorded opinions of Louis Napoleon,
the exiled or incarcerated Prince, are the best
guides to a correct judgment upon the pro-
bable policy, and the best interpretation of the
acts, of Louis Napoleon the Emperor.
To the English nation, but more especially
to its aristocracy, Louis Napoleon was very
complimentary, although he justified France
in the wars in which she was engaged against
England, from the great Revolution to the
catastrophe of Waterloo. The following pas-
sage is remarkable:-
"It would be too painful to think that the
war was prolonged only because of the hateful
passions or interest of parties. If a struggle
so desperate had such a lengthy duration, it is
doubtless because the two peoples had too little
knowledge of each other, and that each govern-
ment was in error with respect to the condition
of its neighbour. England, perhaps, saw in
Napoleon only a despot oppressing his country,
exhausting its resources to satisfy his ambition
as a warrior; she knew not how to believe that
the Emperor was the elect of the people, and
that he represented all the material and moral
interests for which France had fought ever
since 1789. In the same way it might be
advanced that the French government, con-
founding the enlightened aristocracy of England
with the feudal aristocracy which lay so heavily
on France before the Revolution, believed that
it had to deal with an oppressive government.
But the aristocracy of England is like the
Briareus of fable: it holds to the people by a
hundred thousand roots; from the people it
has obtained as many sacrifices as Napoleon
obtained efforts from the French nation. And,
what is worth remarking in the strife between
these two countries, the rivalry of England put
Napoleon in a position to realise against that
power a European project similar to that which
Henri IV. would have carried out against
|
C
Spain, in concert with Elizabeth, if the dagger
of an assassin had not torn away that great
monarch from France and from Europe.'
In the following singular terms he invokes
the causes of order and liberty on behalf of his
uncle's policy, and denounces the policy which
prevailed at the Treaty of Vienna :—
"It is with a feeling like that left by an
enchanting dream that one dwells upon the
picture of happiness and stability which
Europe would have presented had the vast
projects of the Emperor been accomplished.
Each country, confined within its natural
bounds, united to its neighbour by the ties of
interest and of friendship, would have enjoyed
in its interior the benefits of independence, of
peace, and liberty. The sovereigns, exempt
from fear and suspicion, would have applied
themselves seriously to making better the
condition of their peoples, and would have
striven to bring home all the advantages of
civilisation.
""
"Instead of that, what have we now in
Europe? Every one as he falls asleep at
night dreads the awakening of the morrow;
for the germ of evil is everywhere, and every
honest soul almost doubts as to what is good,
because of the sacrifices which its attainment
would demand.
“Men of liberty, who rejoiced over the fall
of Napoleon, your error has been fatal! How
many years must yet elapse, what combats and
sacrifices must there be before you reach the
point to which Napoleon had conducted you!
"And you, statesmen of the Congress of
Vienna, who were masters of the world, stand-
ing over the ruins of the Empire, how grand
a rôle you might have played, but you compre-
hended it not! In the name of liberty, carried
even to excess, you raised the peoples against
Napoleon; you placed him under the ban of
Europe as a despot and a tyrant; you declared
492
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
*
•
*
that you had delivered the nations and secured
their repose! They believed you at the mo-
ment; but nothing solid can be built upon a
lie and on a mistaken principle! Napoleon
had closed the gulf of revolutions: you re-
opened it by overthrowing him. Take care
that the gulf does not close upon yourselves!”
The following opinion of the English Con-
servative party is at once interesting and
amusing:-
“There is in France a political fraction which
gives itself the pompous title of Conservative!
Is it not ridiculous to call themselves thus in
a country where nothing is where it should be,
and where everything ought to be changed?
In England, on the contrary, one can easily
understand this party denomination, because
society reposes upon bases which have endured
through ages.
"We do not agree with the opinions of the
Tory party, but we admit that it might say to
the English people-' We call ourselves Con-
servatives because we wish to preserve a
political system which has made England to
be one of the first powers of the world; be-
cause with this system, perseveringly following
during more than a century, we have covered
the land with works of every description,
raised our industry and our commerce to the
highest degree, and carried the glory of our
arms from one end of the world to the other.
We are proud of our ancient system, because
we have governed all the time maintaining
individual liberty and freedom of the press;
because we have served but one dynasty, taken
but one oath, and never made common cause
with the enemy of our country. We are proud
of our past history, we have doubts as to the
future; that is the reason why we are Con-
servatives." "
J
The following brief statement of his views
of English liberty are amongst the most
remarkable put forth by Louis Napoleon.
The comparison with France, or rather contrast
to that country, in which he presents England,
must strike even the most unreflecting reader.
When Emperor of the French he carried out his
views as to passports, but up to the year
1865 he did nothing for that personal liberty
of French citizens for which in the following
paragraph he exhibits so much ardour:-
"In general, it is correct to say that there
is more freedom in England and greater
equality in France. This results from the
different organisations of the two societies.
In those countries where there exists a power-
ful aristocracy, the great families were always
zealous defenders of freedom, because they
stood in need of it for themselves, as a
guarantee against the power of the monarch,
whilst they always arrayed themselves against
any approach to equality, because it attacks
their own privileges.”
The writer then proceeds to the Magna
Charta wrested from King John in 1215; to
the Petition of Right in the third year of the
reign of Charles I.; to the definitive vote of
the Habeas Corpus, in the thirty-first year of
the reign of Charles II. (Charles II. reckoned
the years of exile as years of his reign.) The
statute of Habeas Corpus principally applied
to those who were accused of criminal mis-
doings; but, by another statute, in 1816, it
was extended to all cases of illegal detention.
"There is no public accuser in England;
for the attorney-general interferes only in
extraordinary cases. There is no doubt but
that many guilty persons escape justice through
the want of a public functionary; but, again,
personal liberty runs less chance of being
violated.
"But it is not the laws only which protect
the citizens; it is also the manner in which
they are executed; it is the way in which the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
493
government exercises its power. In England,
authority never is exerted in a passionate
spirit: its proceedings are moderate, and
always in accordance with law; therefore, such
a thing is never heard of as violation of a
citizen's house—a proceeding rather common
in France, under the name of domiciliary
visits; family secrets are respected, because
correspondence is never subjected to inspec-
tion; no restraint is laid upon that first of
all liberties, the right to go wherever you
like, for no one is required to have a pass-
port-an invention injurious to the well-being
of the public, for it is an encumbrance and
an obstacle to a peaceful citizen, without
checking, in any way whatever, those who
wish to avoid the vigilance of the authorities.
"Another guarantee of liberty is the or-
ganisation of the police; for, instead of pro-
voking, in order to punish, this body prevents
the commission of crime, and thus diminishes
the number of punishments.
*
*
*
"The accused can appeal to a power which
has never failed in England when it has been
invoked for the protection of liberty: that
power is public opinion.
*
*
*
"In France, where people are so jealous
of anything which concerns equality and the
national honour, there is no strong conscien-
tious regard for the liberty of the individual.
You may trouble the tranquillity of her
citizens; you may violate their homes; you
may make them undergo, during entire
months, a precautionary imprisonment; you
may despise personal securities; a few gene-
rous men will raise their voices, but public
opinion will remain calm and unmoved, so
long as you do not rouse any political passion.
"Therein lies the great cause of the violence
of power: it can be arbitrary, because it finds
no restraint. In England, on the contrary,
political passions subside when there is a
violation of a common right.”
In a French paper, entitled Progrès du
Pas-de-Calais, issued February 4th, 1843,
the prisoner of Ham gave his idea of American
slavery and British philanthropists who had
taken up the anti-slavery question. The phi-
lanthropists he represented as amiable, erring,
weak men, who did much more harm than
good. Slavery, or something very like it, he
deemed necessary to the cultivation and pros-
perity of America; but in deference to the
amiable, although erring, enemies of that
system, he would gradually, very gradually
indeed, abolish it. Attempts to suppress
the slave-trade, he condemned as useless and
cruel; he would regulate the trade so as to
tolerate it and make it milder in character.
On the whole, the Prince shows more sym-
pathy for the slave-owner and slave-dealer
than the slave or the philanthropist.
The foreign powers of France and England
were thus compared by the Prince in the same
newspaper, in March of the same year
"France is, by her geographical situation,
the richness of her soil, and the intelligent
energy of her inhabitants, the arbiter of
European society; she steps out of the rôle
which nature assigns her when she becomes
a conqueror; she fails in it when she obeys
the obligations of any alliance whatsoever.
She is to the nations of Europe what the
lion is to the animals which surround him.
She cannot move without being either a pro-
tector or a destroyer; she lends the aid of
her power, but she never exchanges it, in her
own interest, for any help that can be neces-
sary for her own defence. Her own power
is always sufficient for her, even when she
finds herself for the time being weakened by
that sickness of nations-internal divisions.
$
491
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
For she requires but one convulsive effort
to punish her enemies for having dared to
challenge her to fight.
"England, all-powerful as she is, cannot
by herself interfere in the affairs of the Con-
tinent, and play the first role; she must,
from sheer necessity, lean upon Vienna, Paris,
or St. Petersburg, and, aware of this, Lord
Castlereagh decorated with the pompous title
of kingdom the territories of Hanover, in
order to secure a royal entry into the Ger-
manic diet."
Louis Napoleon seemed forced in this less
REPUBLIC.
CHAPTER LXI.
LOUIS NAPOLEON IN LONDON AGAIN.-THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.-DISCUSSIONS IN FRANCE AS TO
THE PROPRIETY OR SAFETY OF ALLOWING HIS RETURN. HE IS
HE IS ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE
NEW PARLIAMENTARY CHAMBERS. -ASSUMES HIS PLACE.-IS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE
fortunate part of his career, to philosophise
on English history, but he did not prove
himself profound as a historian or philosopher.
He obviously was unwilling to write in a
vein which would offend the English people,
and was desirous to leave the impression upon
Frenchmen that he was master of the foreign
as well as domestic policy of France.
The extracts given from Louis Napoleon's
writings will suffice to show his general
opinions and sympathies, to which passing
reference may be made in other chapters of
this narrative.
"These are the records, half effaced,
Which, with the hand of youth, he traced
On history's page;
But with fresh victories he drew
Each fading character anew,
In his ripe age."-LONGFELLOW.
BETWEEN the escape of the prisoner of Ham
and the return of the fugitive with all the
rights of citizenship and high honour to
France, was but a short time. During that
period he lived in London a very gay life,
but there were few events in connection with
him to throw around it any especial interest.
The year 1848 brought a revolution in
France, followed by many other revolutions
in Europe, and the minds of men everywhere
were unsettled. Louis Philippe was the first
European sovereign whose throne was shaken
down by the great earthquake. It is unne-
cessary to enter into the causes of his destruc-
tion ;
suffice it to observe that in February of
that year he fled from France, and the French
people proclaimed the Republic. Louis Na-
polcon sought, at first in vain, for the privilege
of residing in France; ultimately, he obtained
not only the rights of a French citizen, but
the power
power of a French Emperor. Before
relating the steps which led to such a finale,
it is in our power to throw some light upon
the last months of the Prince's residence
in London. A literary gentleman, in Man-
chester,* investigated a story current in that
place, and pledges himself for its authority.
In January, 1848, Louis Napoleon took
-
* Mr. Smith, sub-editor of the Manchester Examiner and
Times, and editor of a weekly journal there.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
495
lodgings in a small eating-house, in an
obscure street. He was residing there when,
on the 10th of April, all London was in alarm
from an expected invasion of the Chartists,
who, under the leadership of Fergus O'Con-
nor, assembled at Kennington Common, and
threatened to burn down London. The moral
and physical resources of the inhabitants were
called into requisition by government, and
among those who volunteered to preserve the
peace was Louis Napoleon. He acted on the
eventful day as a "special constable." It
special constable." It
appears that his landlady was a native of
Manchester; Louis Napoleon passed with her,
while under her roof, by the name of Rouher.
""
A few mornings before the 10th of April, a
postman threw a letter on the counter in the
shop, bearing the official head-line, "On her
Majesty's Service," and addressed to "Prince
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The old
lady looked at the letter, and called to the
departing postman to stop, adding, "There is
no such person staying here as this. I have
a foreign gentleman lodging with me, but this
is not his name; his name is M. Rouher."
But," replied the postman, "you see this
you see this
is the right street and the right number. Be-
sides the letter is 'On Her Majesty's Service,'
it seems, and is not, one would think, a mis-
direction. To be sure, I wish you would just
ask the gentleman if it is for him or not."
""
The old landlady took it into the room
where Napoleon was seated eating his break-
fast, and asked if he knew him to whom it was
addressed. He replied that it was for himself.
Returning again into the parlour soon after,
she found Napoleon perusing the letter, which
simply requested him to attend at Scotland
Yard to receive his staff and instructions.
When this grand discovery of who and what
he was was thus made, although he was con-
siderably her debtor, having been for several
weeks unable to pay for his board and lodgings,
and having, in addition, borrowed money of
her, she was anxious to apologise for some
hard words that she had, in his presence, made
use of with regard to the rumoured pretensions
of "that rascal, Napoleon, and them as was
with him, for causing such ill-feeling to arise in
other countries, and for getting up that Char-
tist meeting on Kennington Common." Before
this she had frequently asked him for money,
but the only response she could extort was,
that he was expecting remittances, and the
moment they arrived all would be paid. But
now she had learnt his real name what could
she do? She could have no doubt he spoke
the truth.
A conversation then ensued touching the
future prospect of the then poverty-stricken,
almost penniless, exile, in which he briefly
narrated the eventful history of his life, win-
ning, as he went along, more and more of the
old lady's sympathy and kindly feeling. He
wound up by saying that, at a day not far
distant, he expected to return to France, and
there to rise to eminence and power, when he
would pay her all he owed, with more than
double interest.
double interest. He did not expect to remain
long in England; and if she would allow him
to stay with her until he departed, he would
not forget her kindness in the hour of his
prosperity. It was true, he said, that he was
expecting a remittance, and then he could pay
her, but he could employ the money he owed
her vastly to his advantage, if she would lend
it him.
The old lady told him he was welcome to it,
if it would at all aid him, although she herself
was much in need of it. He thanked her, and
requested that, now she knew who he was,
she would keep her knowledge a secret. She
promised to do so. He drew from his pocket
a piece of fifty cents, and presented it to her,
496
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
as a pledge from him, that, whenever and
under whatever circumstances it was produced,
the person producing it should have admission
to him. It was a coin found by the Great
Napoleon, his uncle, in 1815, and given to the
Prince as a souvenir,
Not long after this-only a few days-
Napoleon became quite a different man. He
dressed better, and his half anxious, half de-
spairing look gave place to one of life and
vigour; and one day he startled the old lady
not a little, by telling her he had taken Lord
C's house, near St. James's Street, and
that he wanted her to give up shop and to be
his housekeeper. The same day she was duly
installed in her new and aristocratic domicile
she, Louis Napoleon, and a boy being the only
inmates: the only visitors of importance were
foreigners. One morning he left the house as
usual; but he had scarcely been absent half an
hour, when he returned, almost breathless, and
told his old housekeeper that she would have
to leave that day, as he was off to France,
whither his destiny called him, in three hours
from that moment. Both packed up their
few clothes-Napoleon's, without difficulty,
being crammed into a trunk or two. While
While
the packing operation was going on, Napoleon
asked the old woman where she proposed to go,
and what she proposed to do. She replied she
should go to Manchester, where she had some
friends.
On leaving London, she proceeded direct to
Manchester, and there, in half sadness, sorrow,
and entire silence, she lived upon her small
means until she found that the end must soon
come. Therefore, some three months after the
coup d'état, she wrote to Napoleon asking him
to pay her the money he owed her, reminding
him that she had refrained from asking him
to do her the favour until such time as he was
wealthy, and adding that she was on the verge
of pauperism. To that letter she received not
reply. She again wrote, and the result was
the same no answer, no acknowledgment.
Angry beyond measure, and remembering the
tears that he shed and the protestations he
made when they separated, she vowed there
was no truth extant, and that all men were
liars and deceivers. Nay, further, she vowed
that she would "put him into the court-a
scoundrel." The coin he gave her she dare not
part with; and yet, if she sent it in a registered
letter, it might reach him. She asked advice
on the question, and was encouraged to send
the coin; and accordingly the letter was duly
written and duly registered at one of the
branch receiving-houses in Manchester; and,
which is more, it duly and safely reached-if
not Napoleon himself-some one who had the
courtesy to acknowledge the receipt of both
letter and coin. The following is a translation
of the acknowledgment:-
"MADAM,
"The Prince President has received the
letter by which you offer to give him the piece
of fifty centimes, that the Emperor found in
the year 1815.
"S. A. S. has been much affected by the
sentiments which have inspired you to do him
the honour of such a gift, and has charged me
to express to you his gratitude; but the Prince
would not deprive you of the token of his re-
membrance, and I am charged to return it to
you.
"Accept, madam, the assurance of my dis-
tinguished consideration,”
The old woman on receiving this letter was
highly incensed, but she felt sure there must
be some mistake, or that the Emperor was
alike ignorant of her letter and the reply.
Some months after this she bordered on star-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
497
vation, and in her despair told her romantic
story to a gentleman, who, after satisfying
himself as to its truth, and hearing the san-
guine old woman express herself in terms of
the strongest faith and confidence in Napoleon's
honour and word, asked her if she would go to
Paris to see him if she had the means. Her
answer was "certainly," notwithstanding that
she was bowed down by age, infirmities, and
scanty food. Through that gentleman a suffi-
cient sum to take her to Paris and back was
given to her, on the understanding that it was
to be repaid if she succeeded in seeing Napoleon
and receiving from him that for which she held
him indebted; if not, she would not be expected
to repay the loan. Immediately everything
could be prepared, the old woman started for
Paris, and in a few days arrived at her desti-
nation, a stranger in a strange city, whose
people spoke to her an unknown tongue. She
proceeded to the house to which she had been
told to go, and where the inmates spoke her
native tongue. After she had recovered from
the fatigue occasioned by travelling, she started
for the palace, at which Napoleon was then re-
siding. On attempting to pass through the
gateway the sentry on duty challenged her,
but of course she understood him not; she
ventured a vacant stare at him, and would
have continued her course had he not stopped
and turned her back. By the gates (as near
as she was allowed to approach) she remained
some time, and was regarded by the sentry
with more curiosity than suspicion. Finding
that all renewed attempts to get through the
gateway would, for that day at least, prove as
futile as her first, she returned to her lodgings
disconsolate enough, for the sentry was a diffi-
culty of which she had never thought; how-
ever, she determined to try again the following
day. Accordingly, next morning she set out
for the palace, and at the gateway she found
|
not the sentry of the previous day, but one
who turned her back quite as unceremoniously
as he did, and in vain she appealed to him in
English. He understood her not, and in
polite French told her so.
Thus several days passed over, each succeed-
ing attempt to obtain an interview with the
Emperor (for such Napoleon then was), being
attended with precisely the same result as the
preceding days, and time went fast, but her
money went faster. Whatever she now did
must be done quickly. Goaded on by almost
maddening desperation, which settled down
into a stern resolve to present in person the
coin which was to be her "open sesame" to
Napoleon's residence, if not his pocket, she
again left her lodgings and proceeded direct to
the palace gates. But alas! the sentry turned
her back, and it seemed clear that she must
give up all thoughts of ever seeing her debtor.
Some distance from the gates she sat down in
silent sorrow and sadness, as she had done
many a morning before, in the hope (always a
forlorn one) that she might perchance see the
Emperor pass either to or from the palace;
but in that too she was doomed to disappoint-
ment. Thus sitting abstracted in mind, and
the day rapidly fleeting away, she was at
length aroused to a state of consciousness and
her forlorn situation by the approaching rattle
of carriage wheels, and the sound of horses'
hoofs. It was a close carriage, and was rapidly
approaching the palace gates. A moment's
thought, a moment's hesitation, and as quick
as possible she stood right in the midst of the
carriage-way, spreading her arms wide, and
signalling the driver to stop. Not under-
standing a word of English, that functionary
(in French) requested her to get out of the
way; but the old woman neither understood
nor heeded him, and whenever he attempted
to pass her she always placed herself so that
|
-
-
*'
3 s
498
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
}
he could only proceed by running over her.
Anxious to know the cause of the unseemly
delay, the occupant of the carriage—a French
gentleman, and no doubt a state functionary-
put his head out of the window and inquired
why the driver did not proceed, and was
pointed to the old woman. The gentleman
spoke to her in French (a language, as we
have said, of which she did not understand a
word), and she in her turn spoke to him in
English, whereupon he asked her in that
tongue what she meant by stopping the car-
riage, and what it was she wanted. The old
woman replied that she was wishful to see the
Emperor on a matter of business which alone
related to themselves; that she had for several
days endeavoured to pass the sentry on duty,
but had as frequently been turned back; that
the cause on which she wanted to see the Em-
peror arose in London in 1848; that at that
time he promised her admission to his presence
whenever she might desire it; and that, finally,
he gave her a coin, not only as a token of grati-
tude for what she had done for him, but which
was on production to gain her admission to him
at any time and place. Struck by the strange-
ness of this story, as well as by its simplicity,
the gentleman asked her if she had got the
coin she spoke of then in her possession. The
reply being in the affirmative, he said he was
then going to the palace, and should see the
Emperor; if she would entrust the coin to his
keeping, he would show it to the Emperor, and
mention to him her name. To this proposal
the old woman agreed, and in a short time
afterwards the carriage of the gentleman
-returned to fetch her to the palace. On her
arrival there, no sooner was she admitted to
the presence of Napoleon than he most ten-
derly and affectionately embraced her, calling
her his guardian, friend, and preserver in a
country where he was an exile and without a
home. The sentiments and wishes he ex-
pressed for her welfare and happiness were
as abundant as they were devoted and ardent,
and tears of joy started from his eyes more
than once on beholding her again, mingled,
perhaps, with tears of sorrow that time-a
short period of four years should have
worked such a change in her appearance as
to render her half unrecognisable. He in-
quired how she had lived, and where, since
they parted in London streets, and she told
him all. On hearing from her that she had
written to him for pecuniary aid the moment
her money began to fail her, and on hearing
that her letter was not in the first instance
answered at all; that in the second it was
not; and that in the third the answer was
that of which we have given the translation,
he declared that he had not only not seen
any of the letters, but had never even heard
of them. He had often thought of her, but
knew not where to find her; and as he never
heard from her, he had given up all hope
of ever being able to tell her and show her
how deeply and sincerely the remembrance
of her kindnesses and friendship and love was
engraven on his heart.
The rest of the story is soon told. At the
request of Napoleon the old woman, who
had already been in Paris a week, consented
to remain another fortnight, in order that
she might witness his marriage ceremony
with the Countess de Theba. But, previous
to the celebration of the rites, his Imperial
Majesty took the opportunity of presenting
to Eugénie, at St. Cloud, her whom he called
his English foster-mother, guardian, friend,
and preserver during the last days of his exile
from his hopes, his home, and his country.
It were unnecessary to speak of the wonder
with which
with which the old lady gazed upon all
the grandeur and magnificence which every-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
499
where surrounded her, as also to relate how
anxious she was to return to England. In
vain did Napoleon solicit her to stay in
France. Living in a land where she saw
nobody but strangers and heard nothing but
a tongue which she could not understand,
was as much beyond her conception and ideas,
as it was opposed to her feelings and wishes.
And ultimately, as she desired, she took an
affectionate and final leave of Napoleon and
Eugénie, giving and receiving blessings; and
in safety, and well contented, she returned
to Manchester, joyous and happy, for she was
not now a pauper, but a woman of means
amply sufficient to entitle her to the courteous
appellation of an "independent old lady."
The relation of the foregoing incidents
necessarily compelled an anticipation of the
narrative introducing Napoleon as exile and
Emperor in the story. The steps by which
he arrived at the power and grandeur of that
dignity shall now be detailed.
The government of Louis Philippe fell in
February, 1848. The 22nd of that month
had been appointed by those who sought a
more liberal elective franchise, and the re-
moval of electoral corruption, for a grand
reform banquet. On the evening of the 21st
a proclamation by the prefect of police for-
bade the meditated assemblage. The result
was a revolution on the 22nd, the formation.
of a provisional government on the 23rd,
and a new order of government on the
27th: France declared herself a Democratic
Republic.
The establishment of the Republic resulted
to Louis Napoleon in restoring him to France.
He was elected for five different places, but
chose Paris, as the place of his birth, but as
much, probably, from the conviction that it
aided his views to sit as a representative of
the capital. This was on 8th of October.
1
On the 11th, the Assembly passed the fol-
lowing resolution:-"The sixth clause of the
law of the 10th of April, 1832, relative to
the banishment of the Bonaparte family, is
abrogated." Probably this was the result of
proceedings in the Chamber on the 9th. On
that day discussions took place in reference
to the clection of a President of the Republic,
and questions arose as to who was eligible.
It was proposed that members of all families
who had reigned in France should be ex-
cluded. This resolution was directly pointed
at Louis Napoleon. He made a brief but
remarkable address, in which he disclaimed
being a pretender to the throne of France,
in terms of well-assumed indignant innocence
and patriotism, declaring himself satisfied
with the recompense for all his suffering
afforded by his being permitted to return to
France as a citizen, and declaring, with a
tone and manner that impressed the Assembly
with convictions of his sincerity, that he
"cherished no other ambition." The effect
of his speech was to disarm his opponents
and awaken for him a great sympathy out
of doors. The proposed exclusion was not
carried, the originator of the motion with-
drawing it.
On the 25th October, a colleague of Bona-
parte's in the representation of Paris attacked
him in his absence of designing to become
President of the Republic. The absent repre-
sentative was defended ably by Jerome Bona-
parte; but the next day Louis Napoleon made
a reply which excited the attention of the
Assembly and of all France. In that reply
the Prince especially noticed certain accusa-
tions made against him in the Assembly in
relation to his abstaining from voting, and
from giving an opinion upon the subjects
which came under discussion. When the
citizen Louis Napoleon rose to address the
4
H
}
500
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
I
house, he was received with profound and
silent attention, and thus addressed the
Chamber :-
"Citizen Representatives,―The much-to-
be-regretted incident relating to me, which
took place yesterday, will not allow me to
remain silent. I deeply deplore being again
obliged to speak of myself, for it annoys me
to see personal questions continually brought
before the Assembly, when there is not a
moment to be lost in occupying ourselves
with the grave interests of the country. I
shall not speak of either my sentiments or
my opinions. These I have already shown
you, and no one has hitherto been able to
doubt my word. As to my parliamentary
conduct, since I never permit myself to
demand from any of my colleagues an account
of the opinions they think fit to hold, I in
like manner refuse to recognise the right of
any among them to question me upon my own,
or the motives of my actions. It is sufficient
to render an account of these to my consti-
tuents, to whom alone it is due.
"Of what am I accused? Of accepting
from popular feeling a post which I did not
solicit? Yes, I have accepted a post which
confers honour on me. I have accepted it,
I say, because three successive elections, and
the unanimous decree of the Assembly against
the proscription of my family, authorises me
in believing that France regards the name
I bear as being able to assist in the consolida-
tion of society, which is now shaken to its
very basis, to the strengthening and prosperity
of the Republic. How little those who accuse
me of ambition really know of my heart! If
an imperious duty did not detain me here—
if the sympathy of my fellow-citizens did not
console me for the animosity of the attacks
of some, and even the impetuosity of others in
my defence-I should long ago have regretted
exile. I am reproached for my silence.
"Few persons here are gifted with the
power of clothing just and moderate ideas in
eloquent language; but is there, then, but
one method of serving one's country? What
is required is a wise, firm, and intelligent
government, who think more of remedying
the ills of society than avenging them; a
government who would frankly place them-
selves at the head of a train of true and
rational ideas, and thus repulse, far better
than at the point of the bayonet, those
theories which are founded upon neither ex-
perience nor reason. I know the endeavours
that are made to strew my path with rocks
and pitfalls, but I shall not fall into them. I
shall continue to follow, according to my own
conviction, without pause or disquietude, the
path I have traced out. Nothing shall disturb
my serenity; nothing make me oblivious of
my duty. I have but one end in view, that
of meriting the esteem of the Assembly; and
with this esteem, that of all right-thinking
men, and the confidence of the magnanimous.
people, which was yesterday so lightly treated.
I therefore declare to those who wish to
organise a system of provocation against me,
that henceforth I will not reply to any sum-
mons, any irritating speech tending to induce
me to speak when I would fain be silent
and that, firm in my own conscious recti-
tude, I will remain unmoved by all attacks,
impassable under all calumnies.'
;;
""
-
On the 4th of November the constitution
was agreed upon, and on the 12th, a day of
ominously severe weather, it was proclaimed
upon the Place de Concorde, and read in all
the communes of France.
The grand event of the election of President
of the Republic was soon to be decided.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
501
Ledru Rollin was one of the candidates-
a leader of the Democratic party, which
favoured Socialism. The leaders of this seg-
ment of the Republic, sitting on the highest
benches on the left of the Chamber, were
from that circumstance called Montagnards.
The extreme Socialists chose Raspail for their
candidate; the working classes of Paris and
of the larger provincial cities preferred Louis
Blanc. The true Republican party was very
powerful, but was not united, one section
being for Lamartine, and another for General
Cavaignac. These divisions favoured Louis
Napoleon, and encouraged his friends to make
every exertion in his behalf. Many who were
in any way connected with the army were
enthusiastic on his behalf. The clergy, and
the vast numbers of the peasantry under
their control, were likewise on his side. The
respectability of France was for Lamartine
and Cavaignac; Louis Napoleon relied upon
the army, the priests, and the peasantry.
Before the period arrived in which this
great question was to be decided, Louis
Napoleon put forth what might be called a
manifesto. As this document is more fre-
quently referred to than any other in con-
nection with the subject of our memoir, it is
presented in extenso.
G
"Fellow-Citizens,
"In order to recall me from exile, you
have named me a representative of the people.
On the eve of electing the first magistrate
of the Republic, my name recurred to you
as the symbol of order and security. These
tokens of so honourable a confidence are, I
am aware, addressed far more to my name
than myself, who, as yet, have done nothing
for my country; but the more the memory
of the Emperor protects me, and inspires
you to grant me your suffrages, the more I
feel myself under the obligation of making
you acquainted with my sentiments and prin-
ciples. No disguise must exist between you
and myself. I am not an ambitious man-
now dreaming of war and empire, now of the
application of subversive theories. Brought
up in a land of freedom, and in the school
of misfortune, I shall ever remain faithful
to the duties imposed on me by your suffrages
and the will of the Assembly. If I am named
President, I will shrink from no danger, no
sacrifice, needed in defence of the society;
I will devote myself, without reservation, to
the consolidation of a Republic wise in its
laws, honest in its intentions, great and strong
by its deeds.
"I pledge my honour to leave, at the end of
four years, established power, intact liberty, and
real progress accomplished, to my successor.
Whatever may be the result of the election,
I bow before the will of the people, and
express my concurrence beforehand with any
just and firm government which will restore
order to minds as well as things; which will
effectually protect religion, property, and the
domestic hearth-the eternal basis of all social
weal; which will encourage all needful reform,
soothe all feelings of hatred, reconcile con-
tending parties, and thus permit the agitated
country to look forward to a brighter morrow.
To re-establish order is to restore confidence;
to provide, through credit, against the tem-
porary insufficiency of resources, is to restore
finance; to protect religion and the domestic
hearth, is to assure liberty of conscience and
liberty of worship; to protect property is to
maintain the inviolability of the produce of
all kinds of labour, to guarantee the inde-
pendence and security of possession-a basis
indispensable to civil liberty.
"As to possible reforms, these are those
which appear to me to be the most urgent.
502
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
To make use of all the economies which,
without disorganising the public services, will
permit the diminution of the taxes weighing
most heavily upon the people; to encourage
all enterprises which, by developing the riches
of agriculture, might, in either France or
Algeria, give occupation to unoccupied hands;
to provide by provident institutions for the
old age of our working-classes; to introduce
into our industrial laws those ameliorations
which tend not to ruin the rich for the profit
of the poor, but to found the welfare of each
on the prosperity of all; to restrain within
just limits those employments depending on
power, and which too often make a free people
a nation of solicitors; to avoid the disastrous
tendency of the state to perform herself what
others could do as well, or even better. The
centralisation of interests and enterprises par-
takes of the nature of despotism; the nature
of the Republic rejects all monopoly. Lastly,
to preserve the liberty of the press from the
two evils by which it is always compromised,
viz., excess of licence or excessive restriction.
War would bring with it no remedy for the
ills that oppress us; therefore peace will be my
dearest desire. France, at the time of the first
Revolution, drew her sword because obliged to
do so.
To invasion, she replied by conquest.
Now that she is unprovoked, she can con-
secrate her resources to pacific amelioration,
without renouncing her loyal and resolute
policy. A great nation should either keep
silence or never let her voice be vainly heard.
To think of the national dignity is to con-
sider the army, whose noble and disinterested
patriotism has often been misunderstood. It
is necessary, whilst maintaining the funda-
mental laws which form the strength of our
military organisation, to lighten, and not
aggravate, the burden of conscription.
"It is necessary to watch over the present
and future, of not only the officers, but also
their subordinates and men, and provide for
those who have long fought beneath our flag
an assured subsistence.
"The Republic ought to be generous, and
have faith in its future. For myself, who
have known exile and captivity, I ardently
long for the day to arrive when the country
can, without danger to herself, cause all pro-
scriptions to cease, and efface the last traces
of our civil discord. Such, my dear fellow-
citizens, are the ideas by which I should be
guided in the exercise of power, were I ap-
pointed by you to the Presidency of the
Republic. I know that the task is difficult;
the mission immense! but I do not despair of
being able to accomplish it by associating in
the work, without distinction of party, those
men recommended to public opinion by their
high intelligence and probity. Besides, when
one has the honour of being at the head of the
French people, there is an infallible means of
doing good-that of resolving to do so.
"27th November, 1848."
This address the writer submitted to M.
Thiers and M. Girardin. The former strongly
disapproved of it, especially of the sentence,
"I pledge my honour to leave at the end of
four years, established power, intact liberty,
and real progress accomplished, to my suc-
cessor," and advised Louis Napoleon not to
enter into engagements of any kind. The
latter, on the contrary, remarked, "Prince,
this is serious. Do you really intend to fulfil
this pledge? If so, let the sentence remain as
it is; if not, erase it." He let it remain.
It is sufficiently well known these pledges
were never redeemed, and few believe that
Louis Napoleon intended to observe them.
The preparation for the election, its pro-
gress, and the result, were successively causes.
of great excitement, not only throughout
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
503
France, but throughout also a great part of enemies to the country all those who attempt
Europe.
to change by illegal means what entire France
has established. Between you and myself,
citizen representatives, no real difference can
exist. Our wishes, our desires, are the same.
I wish, like you, to settle society firmly on its
basis, to strengthen all democratic institutions,
and to search out all suitable means of solacing
the wants of this generous and intelligent
people, who have just given me so startling
a proof of their confidence. The majority I
have obtained, not only fills me with gratitude,
but gives to the new government that morai
force without which there is no real authority.
With peace and concord our country will be
able to recover herself, cure her wounds, call
back her scattered children, and calm down all
passions. Animated by this spirit of concilia-
tion, I have summoned around me honest men,
capable, and devoted to the country, assured
that, in spite of the diversity of their original
politics, they will, with one accord, unite with
you in the application of the constitution, the
perfecting of the laws, and the glory of the
Republic.
"The new administration, on taking office,
ought to thank the one preceding it for the
efforts it has made to transmit the power
intact, and to maintain public tranquillity.
The conduct of the honourable General Ca-
vaignac has been worthy of the loyalty of his
character and that feeling of duty which is the
first quality of a statesman.
General Cavaignac had suffered from attacks
which had been recently made upon him, as
chief of the executive power, even in the
National Assembly, where he, however, had
the majority of numbers in his favour. On
December 10th the election took place.
A committee of thirty representatives of the
people received the votes-7,327,245 votes were
given; 5,434,226 were in favour of Louis
Napoleon; 1,444,107 for General Cavaignac;
370,119 for Ledru Rollin; 36,920 for Raspail;
17,219 for De Lamartine; 4,690 for General
Changarnier.
The President of the Assembly, Armand
Marrast, then rose and proclaimed Louis.
Napoleon, by virtue of the majority in his
favour, President of the Republic, until the
second Sunday in the month of May, 1852.
He then administered the following oath to the
President elect:-"In the presence of God,
and before the French people, represented by
the National Assembly, I swear to remain
faithful to the Democratic Republic, and to
defend the Constitution." He had scarcely
taken it, when the President said, "I call
God, and all men present, to witness the oath
which has just been taken. It shall be in-
serted in the Procès-verbal, the Moniteur, and
published in the prescribed form for public
acts." The speech of the President of the
Assembly caused great sensation, but the
Prince President feigned not to hear it, and,
drawing a paper from his pocket, read as
follows:-
"Citizen Representatives,
"The suffrages of the nation and the oath I
have just taken will order my future conduct.
My duty is traced out, and I will fulfil it like
an honourable man. I shall look upon as
"We have, citizen representatives, a great
mission to fulfil, that of founding a Republic
to the interest of all, and a just and firm
Government, animated with a sincere love of
progress, without being Utopian. Let us be
the members of a country, not of a party, and,
God aiding, we shall at least achieve good, if
we cannot succeed in accomplishing great
works."
504
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
H
J
The Prince then returned to his seat. The
President of the Assembly invited the Bureau
to reconduct the President of the Republic to
the threshold of the palace, and to give orders
that the honours due to his rank should be.
paid him. Before quitting the salle, the
Prince President went up to General Ca-
vaignac, and shook him by the hand. Having
entered his carriage, he was escorted by
General Changarnier and General Lamoricière
to L'Elysée National, which had been assigned
him as a residence.
CHAPTER LXIL
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC.-FORMS A MINISTRY.-ELECTION
-ELECTION OF VICE-PRESIDENT.-FOREIGN
POLICY.-PIEDMONT AND ROME.
"He takes up and lets down men at his pleasure."-GUERRONIERE.
THE National Assembly had but little confi-
dence in Bonaparte, and against any abuse of
power on his part they adopted in the consti-
tution many precautions. It is not suitable
to place that constitution before our readers,
as this is not a history of France at that time,
or of the Republic, but of Louis Napoleon.
The Assembly hedged up the power of the
President of the Republic by such clauses as
45th, which forbade the re-election of Presi-
dent before an interval of four years had
elapsed; 48th, which obliged him alone to
take the oath, whilst all the other functionaries
were exempt from it; 50th, which forbade
his commanding the army in person; 55th,
which limited his right of pardon.
The Prince President chose his ministers
from all ranks of the majority. His first cabinet
was thus composed :-M. Odillon Barrot,
Minister of Justice, and charged with presid-
ing over the Council in the absence of the
Prince President; M. Drouin de Lhuys,
Minister of Foreign Affairs; M. Léon de
Malleville, those of the Interior; M. Ruiluères,
Minister of War; M. de Tracy, of Maritime
Affairs and the Colonies; M. de Falloux, of
Public Instruction; M. Léon Faucher, of the
Public Works; M. Bixo, of Agriculture and
Commerce; and M. Passy, of Finance. Be-
sides this, the command of the army of Paris
was confided to General Changarnier, already
Commandant-in-Chief of the National Guards
of the Seine. On the 24th of December the
President reviewed the National Guard and a
part of the troops forming the army of Paris,
and met with an enthusiastic reception.
On the 26th, the ministry, by the mouth of
M. Odillon Barrot, presented to the Assembly
the programme they proposed to follow. To
support and strengthen authority, to re-
establish and maintain order, to restore to the
country that security which can alone enable
the Republic to devote itself to the develop-
ment of the general weal, morally and politically
-such was the task undertaken by the cabinet.
"The election of the 10th of December," said
the minister, "has placed immense power in
the hands of the Government; it is our duty
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
505
:
to prevent this power from being wasted or
wrongly applied." The cabinet, however, soon
afterwards underwent some modifications,
owing to some dissatisfaction being given to
the President by the Minister of the Interior,
who was replaced by M. Léon Faucher, M.
Lacrosse taking his former office. M. Bixo
also profited by the occasion to resign, and
was succeeded by M. Buffet.
January, 1849, opened favourably in many
respects for the new order of things. It was,
however, signalised by an event of importance
to the Republic, and to the views and pros-
pects of its President. It was necessary for
the Assembly to elect a Vice-President, and
according to the constitution the President of
the Republic was to present to the President
of the Assembly three names, one of which it
was the duty of the members to elect. The
first name was that of a personal friend of the
Prince, and a partisan of the Bonaparte
Bonaparte
dynasty, M. Boulay (de la Meurthe). In a
work published in 1860, called "The Early
Life of Louis Napoleon," M. Boulay is repre-
sented as having his name placed by the Prince
before the Assembly, because he was known
to be a sincere but moderate Republican.
Louis Napoleon knew well that Boulay cared
nothing for the Republic as a form of
govern-
ment, was a firm Imperialist, and less likely
to obstruct the Prince President's designs
than any one else whom there was the slightest
chance of the Assembly receiving. The second
name was that of Baraguay d'Hilliers, who
was regarded as a Legitimist, but who was in
fact quite willing to serve either in a military
or political capacity under any government,
Orleanist or Napoleonic, so as it was not
democratic. The third name was that of
M. Vivier, a former member of the Cavaignac
ministry. It was not likely that any of
these men would prove acceptable to the
—
Assembly. Vivier was too feeble and unim-
portant a person, d'Hilliers was not suffi-
ciently liberal for the Assembly, while M.
Boulay was less likely to be objectionable than
any man else selected from the Bonapartist
party.
The war of Charles Albert against the
Austrians in Italy attracted the attention of
France in 1849, and the President was willing
to co-operate with that monarch for the
deliverance of Italy; but Charles Albert, over
confident in the patriotism of the Italians,
did not adopt the necessary means to secure
the aid of the French Republic; he was more-
over afraid that French intervention might
prove as dangerous as Austrian invasion. The
fate of the unfortunate king has been referred
to in the Life of Victor Emmanuel in other
pages of this work, and requires no further
reference here than to express the probability
that had Charles Albert pursued a different
policy towards the French Republic, the troops
of that Power would never have occupied
Rome.
The history of the siege of Rome, and its
occupation by the army of the French Re-
public, has been traced out in the Life of
Garibaldi given in this work. A brief notice
here is alone required.
The Republic reigned at Rome, the Pope's
temporal power was abolished; but he, from
Gaeta, fulminated his excommunications
against the revolutionists, while the armies of
Naples and Austria prepared to assist his
temporal sovereignty, and by force to restore
him to his dominions. The President of the
French Republic was not wholly moved by
improper or impolitic motives in resolving
upon interference. There can be no doubt
that his chief motives were to gain for himself
the confidence and esteem of the Roman
Catholic Church, to secure the favour of the
3 T
506
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
great high priest of that Church for future
emergencies in the Napoleon career, and to
prevent Austria from gaining too great an
ascendency in Europe and in Italy, especially
by entering Rome bearing the Pontiff to
power. It is probable also that Louis Napo-
leon regarded with jealousy and alarm the
founding of republics in Italy, as he designed
the overthrow of that of which he had been
elected the chief. The constitution of France,
to which he had sworn, declared, that "The
Republic respected all foreign nationalities in
the same manner in which she expected her
own nationality to be respected; that she
undertook no wars with the idea of aggran-
disement, and would never employ her strength
against the liberties of any nation." The
liberties of the Roman people were undoubtedly
assailed and conquered by the strength of
France, the republican constitution of France
was thereby violated, through the instrumen-
tality of the executive, at the head of which
was Louis Napoleon. In spite of their oaths,
of the rights of the Roman people, and of the
noble earnestness shown by the Romans in
defence of their liberties, war was made upon
them relentless and faithless. Louis Napoleon
was the chief cause of this perfidy on the part
of France to her own principles. His con-
stitutional power in the state enabled him to
keep his own oath and prevent the war, while
the sacredness of his obligation ought to have
deterred him from adopting a policy which,
however it may have answered his personal
ambition, was never of use, and was much
to the dishonour, of his country. To use
the Pope, the priests, the Legitimists, the
Orleanists, the Republicans, for his own
aggrandisement was his aim-"to take up
men and lay them down at his pleasure."
French authors and English translators have
alleged that the people of the Roman States,
·
in a majority, was in favour of French inter-
ference; for such assertions there was no
foundation, and the pages of this work dedi-
cated to the defence of Rome, and the military
operations of Garibaldi in the provinces, abun-
dantly disprove such allegations.
The British section of politicians led by
Lord Palmerston were, on the whole, in favour
of French intervention. They believed that
the presence of a liberal power would prevent
Austrian despotism overshadowing Southern
Italy, and check any attempt of the kaiser
to follow up for ambitious or vindictive pur-
poses his victories over Northern Italy. Thus
England would see her own liberal desires
for Italy carried out, without any intervention
on her part.
The school of British statesmen referred to
had no wish to see Italy, or any province of it,
republican; no wish to see the Pope again
absolute; and had strong objections to see
Italy subverted to the kaiser, Piedmont con-
quered or dismembered, or Naples extending
her influence or her territory beyond her own
boundaries.
There is thus every excuse for the Palmer-
ston policy in looking with some approbation
upon the professed policy of Bonaparte, namely,
to restore the Pope, with constitutional
guarantees for the Roman people, to prevent
Neapolitan or Austrian interference, and to
save the dominions of Charles Albert (Victor
Emmanuel) from Austrian occupation.
When the arms of France were ascendant in
Rome, it appeared as if the English policy
dictated by Lord Palmerston had obtained a
triumph, and would answer its expectation in
all completeness, for when the Roman govern-
ment pursued a despotic course, and one
unfaithful to France, the President of the
French Republic thus addressed it :-
"The French Republic has not sent an army
C
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
507
to Rome for the purpose of stifling Italian
liberty, but, on the contrary, to regulate, by
preserving it against its own excesses, and to
give it a solid basis, by replacing on the pon-
tifical throne the prince, who was the first to
place himself at the head of all useful reforms.
I learn with regret that the benevolent inten-
tions of the Holy Father, as well as our own
actions, remain fruitless through the effect of
hostile passions and influences, which would
base the Pope's return on proscription and
tyranny. Tell General Rostolan from me that
he ought not to allow any action, calculated to
cause the character of our intervention to be
misrepresented, to be committed beneath the
shadow of the tricoloured flag. I thus sum up
in a few words the effects of the re-establish-
ment of the temporal power of the Pope.
General amnesty, secularisation of the admi-
nistration, code Napoleon, and liberal govern-
ment."
THE Constitutional Assembly of France had
fulfilled its term at the close of 1848.
On Monday, May 28th, 1849, the Legisla-
tive Assembly was inaugurated. It numbered
750 members. There were amongst them
Legitimists, Orleanists, Bonapartists, Red
Republicans, Republicans "pure and simple,"
and a large number whose politics were unde-
fined. Some were eloquent and experienced
Judging from the subsequent proceedings of
Louis Napoleon, and long-continued occupa-
tion of Rome, his only object in this despatch.
was to conciliate England, and to disarm the
hostility of the French Assembly, the closing
act of which soon after was, to protest against
"the direction given to the Roman expedi-
tion." The whole Italian people regarded the
policy of Louis Napoleon as the tyrannical
interference of a stranger with their national
rights; they in effect said, and will continue
to say, while a French soldier is in garrison at
Rome:
ag
CHAPTER LXIII.
!
"This man is not of us; his ways are strange,
And his looks stranger. Wherefore does he come--
What are his labours here, his name, his purpose,
And who are they that know and speak for him?"
"To be, or not to be-that's the question."-SHAKESPEARE.
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.-POLICY OF PARTIES.-THE ROMAN INVASION APPROVED BY THE
REPRESENTATIVES.-INSURRECTION
-INSURRECTION OF RED REPUBLICANS.
OF RED REPUBLICANS.-FLIGHT OF LEDRU ROLLIN AND
THE
BETWEEN THE
OTHERS TO ENGLAND.-DISPUTES
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC AND
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.-THE ASSEMBLY AND THE PRESIDENT INVADE THE CONSTITUTION.-
PREPARATIONS FOR A COUP D'ETAT.
ཟ་
in administration, or parliamentary tactics,
but an overwhelming majority were new men,
sent in from the departments mainly through
the influence of the priests, or the officials
nominated by the Napoleon administration.
The army had much aided the vote for the
This sketch of the
Napoleonic members.
moral and intellectual composition of the
Assembly is necessary to understand the
508
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
tactics it pursued, and how the policy of Louis
Napoleon was influenced by its spirit and acts.
The Assembly was, on the whole, in favour
of the ancient monarchies, men who professed
to their constituents thorough democratic
opinions, but called themselves the party of
order in contradistinction to the Bonapartists
and Republicans. The policy of these repre-
sentatives was a restoration of either the elder
Bourbons or the Orleanists; the policy of
Bonaparte was the Empire in his own person;
the Church party preferred the elder Bourbons,
although the Cis-Montane party of the Church
was generally for the house of Orleans. All
these factions dissimulated and violated the
obligations they had taken except the pure
Republicans, who had no ambition but the
Republic, and the Red Republicans, who
openly avowed communism in its worst forms.
At the second sitting of the Assembly, the
hypocrisy that pervaded it was shameless;
they shouted "Vive la Republique" with simu-
lated fervour.
ciliate the monarchical party, and it succeeded
for the time.
|
A resolution was passed approving of the
course adopted in the invasion and occupation
of Rome. France, by her representatives,
endorsed that scheme; it could not any longer
be described as the mere act of the Prince
President.
President. The Left of the house, led by the
Montagnards," assailed the whole course of
the President's conduct towards Rome with
fierce invective; the vote of the monarchical
and imperialist parties united, answered these
invectives. The Red Republicans in Paris were
furious, and many of them flew to arms, and
erected barricades; the troops, true to the
President of the Republic, soon suppressed an
insurrection which was only the partial revolt
of a single faction. It was generally believed
that the Bourbon party sent agents among the
people, inciting to an émeute, in the hope of
evoking from the Chambers some acts of a
stringently anti-popular nature. The national
guard were en masse against this disturbance.
Ledru Rollin, Consederant, and others of the
extreme democratic sections, held a meeting at
the Conservatoire of Arts and Trades, for the
purpose of organising an opposition to the
policy of the President of the Republic aud
the Chamber; it was alleged that they were
placing themselves at the head of an insur-
rection, the place was approached by an armed
force, and the leaders were obliged to make
their escape, and ultimately became refugees
in England, the one powerful country in
Europe where the political fugitive, of what-
ever creed, might find a shelter.
At the third sitting the mask was almost
removed, and the Monarchists assailed the
Republicans as "the enemies of order," of
good government, and of peace.
Louis Napoleon saw that to meet such an
assembly, so as to conduct the government, he
must modify his ministry. M. Drouyn de
Lhuys, a Protestant conservative, M. de
Tocqueville, an able and moderate man, with
others of less note, were introduced to the
ministry, to conciliate the monarchical majority.
|
M. Dupin, sen., who had been President of
the Chamber of Deputies under the monarchy,
was elected President of the Assembly, a bold
declaration against the Republic.
The President of the Republic directed an
address to the Assembly, expounding his past
policy, and that by which he proposed to guide
his future; it was artfully concocted to con-
66
During the summer and autumn the Prince
President visited the provinces and delivered
addresses, all of which had for their aim to
conciliate popular favour to Bonapartism,
which, it was indirectly insinuated, was the
Republic without anarchy."
66
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
509
The cholera raged in Paris, and so many
members of the Assembly fell victims to it, that
the sittings were prorogued from the 11th of
August to the 1st of October: this enabled the
President of the Republic to mature his plans
and serve the interests of his power. Accord-
ingly, on the re-opening of the Assembly it
was announced by the Prince that discussions
had arisen in his ministry. Such was the case,
but it arose mainly from the heterogeneous
elements of which, for a time, he deemed it
necessary a cabinet should be composed, and
for the gradual assumption on his part of
monarchical, and more than monarchical,
authority over the councils. He thus ad-
dressed the Assembly:—
"In order to strengthen the Republic,
menaced as it is on all sides by anarchy, to
restore order more thoroughly than has yet
been done, to maintain the name of France at
the height of its renown, it is necessary to
have men animated by feelings of patriotism,
understanding the necessity of one firm di-
rector, and one prescribed form of politics,
who, without compromising power by irresolu-
tion, will feel my responsibility as much as
their own, as well in words as in actions."
It was too true that the Republic was menaced
on all sides by anarchy. Monarchists, Impe-
rialists, and Socialists were alike struggling to
produce confusion, in the hope that ascendency
would be their respective reward. To pre-
serve order without violating the constitution,
or exceeding in the popular esteem his admi-
nistrative authority, and yet gradually under
constitutional force to secure all authority in
his own hands, was really the new policy.
The Assembly saw this, and received the mes-
sage coldly. The factions out of doors saw it,
but each was so anxious to see all the rest
thwarted, or put down anyhow, that satis-
faction, rather than discontent was manifested
towards the bold tone assumed by the Pre-
sident. Each party thought that something
would turn up in its own favour, from the new
spirit evinced by the President.
A new ministry was appointed, more effectu-
ally to carry out the President's avowed policy.
The Assembly received its members with dis-
trust.
In November, 1849, the leaders of the late
conspiracy were arraigned before the High
Court of Justice, they were convicted and
sentenced to imprisonment or exile. About
thirty members of the Assembly were con-
victed and sentenced, chiefly Red Republicans.
The spirit of "the party of order" was vin-
dictive; the President saw that, and placed
himself in popular contrast to them, by libe-
rating 1,341, merely of the lower class of
insurgents, chiefly those who had participated
in an émeute in June, 1848.
The elections to replace the condemned
representatives led to vast excitement; many
were replaced by men of extreme opinions, as
ardent as their predecessors; on this account,
the Right of the Assembly, the monarchical
party, attacked the principle of universal suf-
frage, by which they were themselves elected,
and it became evident that the majority, for
the Right of the Chamber had the majority,
intended a legislative revolution against uni-
versal suffrage, without appealing to their con-
stituencies. Napoleon rejoiced at this circum-
stance, for he knew that it delivered the
Assembly into his hands. He, however, deemed
it politic to appear to conciliate them, and his
ministry proposed what was called "The Law
of the 31st of May," exacting from electors a
residence of three years. This, however, acted
against large classes who are not bound to the
land, or to large towns, as shopkeepers and
traders. It affected what is called in Great
Britain and Ireland the villa population, com-
C
-
K
510
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
posed of professional men, artists, and persons
of moderately independent means, constituting
a very intelligent section of the community,
and generally liberal.
The opinions of the more enlightened and
liberal sections of the Assembly of this law was
very unfavourable. M. de Lamartine said,
"This law may be interpreted as a coup
d'état." General Cavaignac called it "a ruth-
lessly devised violation of the constitution.”
"It is a mutilation of universal suffrage."
"No one," replied M. Thiers, "thinks of
attacking universal suffrage, or keeping the
people from the electoral urn; it is only the
vile multitude the law wishes to scatter-the
mass of nondescript workmen, ever ready to
be led away."
God.
It is suspicious that after this concession to
the majority of the Assembly, the President
demanded, or rather his ministry for him, a
credit of 2,400,000 francs, to meet the ex-
penses of his office. The Left, or republican
party, were rather favourable, because of the
personal benevolence, and generosity to the
poor and unhappy, by which the President
was undoubtedly distinguished. Whether a
poor exile in London, or a President, or an
Emperor, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has ever
been ready to succour the unfortunate, and
show himself sensible of even the smallest
acts of kindess.
ww
The Right of the Assembly assailed the ex-
travagance of the President; and although
they were monarchists to a man, affected such
zeal for the Republic that they were indignant
at this demand for a civil list. As each of
As each of
them received twenty-five francs a day, the
mob discussed in the streets whether any of
them were worth it.
The Assembly prorogued its sittings from
August the 11th to November the 11th. They
appointed a Committee of Surveillance, the
real object of which was to watch Louis
Napoleon; the number was twenty-five, of
whom twenty-two were old Bourbons or abet-
tors of the house of Orleans.
The reserve,
circumspection, silence, or studied speech of
the President baffled the Assembly's spies.
The year 1850 was one of importance for
France. The President of the Republic spent.
the early part of it in reviewing the dif-
ferent divisions of the army, and delivering
addresses to them full of Bonapartist excite-
ment. The army became intensely devoted
to "the Prince," as he was always called by
the military. This devotion was not only the
result of the glory which the first Napoleon
shed upon the soldiers of France, but was
created by the suspicions and conduct of the
majority of the Assembly. The members
were continually discussing in and out of the
Chamber questions concerning the loyalty and
the rights of the soldiers. A few insisted that
the first duty of the French military man was
passive obedience to the Assembly; others
arraigned the propriety of a soldier voting;
and such doubts were expressed of the loyalty
of the soldiers to the Republic, or any form
of government but the imperial, that the
feeling infected the army and ended in pro-
ducing the condition of mind of which it was so
suspicious. At a review held by the President
at Sartory, cries of "Vive l'Empereur" were
raised by the troops. The incident was followed
by similar occurrences at other reviews; the
Assembly was alarmed, but the more it raged,
the more the feeling spread, that the imposi-
tions practised at the elections by the mem-
bers of the Right, and the alteration of the
electoral law, absolved the people from allegi-
ance to the Assembly, and that the Empire
could alone save the country from a Bourbon
coup d'état by the majority of the Chamber.
Meanwhile the Assembly appointed General
G
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
511
Changarnier to the command of the army in
Paris, who as a Legitimist concerted with the
Bourbonists in the Assembly how best to
thwart the President. He became as it were
under military surveillance by the orders of
the Bourbon members of the Chamber. Louis
Napoleon now determined to accept the gauge
of battle; he issued a decree depriving Chan-
garnier of his authority, and he demanded
of the Assembly the revision of the electoral
law restricting universal suffrage. He also
required a revision of that clause in the consti-
tution which prevented the re-election of the
President after his term of office expired.
When the Chamber met after the prorogation.
on the 11th of November, the President's
message was read, in which the following
passages occurred :-"The General Councils
have, for the most part, given their votes for
a revision of the constitution. This wish,
however, only regards the legislative power.
For myself, elected by the people, and raised
by them alone to my present position, I shall
always conform to the legal expression of the
nation's wishes. . . . . If, during this session,
you vote for revision, a constitution will be
formed, re-organising our fundamental laws,
and regulating executive power.
If you
do not vote, the people in 1852 will openly
manifest their expressed desires. But, what-
ever may be the course of future events, let
us so act, that the fate of a great nation shall
never be decided by passion, surprise, and
violence." A demand for 4,800,000 francs for
the President made by the ministry, excited
much exasperation, being double the amount
of the previous year-it was refused.
Petitions flowed in upon the Assembly to
propose a modification of the constitution as
to the President's re-election. This they had
really no right to do without an appeal to
the people by whom they were elected, and
that was impossible, as universal suffrage had
been curtailed.
The President, in fact, openly accused
the Assembly of opposing all constitutional
and useful administrative measures. Thus at
Dijon, June 1, 1851, when inaugurating the
opening of a railway, he said, "If my govern-
ment have been unable to carry out all the
ameliorations they had in view, it is owing
to the National Assembly, whom I have
always found ready to aid me in framing
laws of restriction, but whose concurrence has
always been found wanting in those of ame-
lioration and progress."
At Beauvais, at the inauguration of the
statue of Jeanne Hachette, he said, "It is
encouraging to think that often, in moments
of extreme danger, Providence allows one
person to be the instrument of safety for all
the rest."
The majority of the Assembly hoped by the
assistance of the clergy, and renewed profes-
sions of liberalism, to procure the election of
General Changarnier to the presidency of the
Republic in 1852, and through his instrumen-
tality to effect a restoration of the Bourbon
dynasty in either the older or younger branch.
It was also rumoured that a further restric-
tion of the suffrage was meditated. It was
also alleged that a coup d'état against the
President was in progress, which was deterred
by fear that the army would revolt in his
favour. To seize and try him for treason
against the Republic, would infallibly lead to
a military revolt.
Thus civil war might be said virtually if
not actually to exist already.
On the 4th of November the Assembly pro-
posed to appoint its President commander-in-
chief of the army in Paris, and thus deprive
the President of the Republic of all military
authority there. This was the concluding
512
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
3
blow; it now only remained for Louis Napo-
leon to allow the Assembly to take its course,
or to strike in return. He summoned more
troops to Paris and harangued them, declaring
that he relied upon them in the crisis which
appeared to be approaching. The army showed
increased enthusiasm for him. A man was
placed at the head of the police of great
energy and decision, and in the interest of the
President. He collected his most intimate
and trustworthy friends around him, and every-
thing seemed to portend civil war between the
President of the Republic and the Assembly.
The Assembly proceeded to amend the con-
stitution, increasing the responsibility of the
President by new and stringent clauses, and
-
issued certain papers to instruct the army in
their duties. This spread the spirit of military
hostility to the Assembly itself; the Minister
of War, St. Arnaud, tore down the papers
from the barrack-room, which were posted
there for the constitutional enlightenment of
the troops. The Assembly ordered his arrest,
but did not dare to have their order enforced.
The President placed General Magnan, he
who defeated the expedition at Boulogne, in
command of the army of Paris, that general
having, since the revolution of February, 1848,
shewn Bonapartist predilections. Every-
thing was now ripe for a coup d'état, at one
side or the other; how it happened another
chapter shall relate.
CHAPTER LXIV.
THE COUP D'ÉTAT.
"In great undertakings he dares too little that does not dare all.”
On the evening of the 1st of December, 1851,
the President of the Republic had a grand
reception at the Elysée, at which the members
of the Assembly presented themselves in con-
siderable numbers. The President was affable
to all, and especially to his opponents. He
had already resolved that in the course of a
few hours he would destroy their power or lose
his own. Nothing in his manner betrayed
the great purpose upon which he was bent;
cool, collected, and even buoyant in manner,
he disarmed suspicion. Many who were in
expectation of some attempt on his part to
wrest power from his opponents, were relieved
from their apprehensions by the ease and
cordiality of manner shown by their host. No
man, it was believed, could have any imme-
ease.
diate intentions of risking a revolution, or
perilling his own life before the law, and main-
tain so well the appearance of a conscience at
The representatives retired from the
Elysée to their hotels; the company of all
orders passed to their pleasant Parisian homes,
without the slightest fear of arbitrary power or
popular revolt.
Some four or five hours after the dispersion
of that brilliant assemblage, Paris was at the
feet of a military revolution. Yet it is remark-
able that many men of sagacity in the French
metropolis, citizens and foreigners, foresaw
that such an event was immediately probable.
It was a remarkable circumstance, that on
the morning of the 2nd of December, the
Morning Advertiser newspaper, of London,
:
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
513
published a letter from its Paris correspondent,
predicting the event. This letter contained
the following startling passages :—
"I have reason to believe, and I speak
advisedly, that the President will not allow
many days, perhaps hours, to elapse, before he
carries out his long meditated project of a coup
de main; from the information which I have
received from the highest possible authority,
I believe that he will, without further delay,
carry his well-matured and well-digested plans
into operation, and attempt a dix-huit Bru-
maire, after the old Napoleon and Cromwell
fashion, send his parliament to the right-
about, and appeal to the people. That he will
make this attempt, and speedily, you may
rely upon, as I have it from sources which
have never failed me, even in the stormiest
phases of revolution. His appeal to the
country will probably be favourably responded
to, and I much question whether the parlia-
ment will not display its usual pusillanimity,
and eat the leek which the Pistol President
will so unceremoniously present to it. The
Assembly will not, however, probably lay down
its arms without a struggle; but I believe,
and with good reason, that Louis Napoleon
meditates the proclamation of martial law,
and the still more audacious project of depriv-
ing Generals Changarnier, Cavaignac, Lamo-
riciere, and some other of his military oppo-
nents, of their commissions. I believe also
that he has it in contemplation to consign
these officers to the dungeons of Vincennes."
All the prognostications of this letter were
being fulfilled while the printers were trans-
ferring it to the columns of the journal.
The night of the 1st, or rather the dark
hours of the morning of the 2nd, were spent
by Louis Napoleon in such manner as he sup-
posed would best bring his plot to maturity.
His coadjutors were few; M. Maupas and
M. de Morny were the most intelligent and
efficient of the conspirators; it is generally cre-
dited that these eminent men are the natural
brothers of Louis Napoleon. Devotion might
be expected from them, and it was freely given.
De Morny acted as the President's minister;
Maupas, in the responsible office of chief of
the police. The President's faithful friend,
M. Persigny, who risked his life in the expe-
ditions of Strasburg and Boulogne, was con-
stantly by the side of his chief, as fervent as
ever in his zeal as a partisan of the Bona-
partes. The army had been secured, and two
of its most distinguished chiefs were placed in
positions affording them complete power to
secure the success of the meditated exploit.
St. Arnaud was Minister of War and Com-
mander-in-chief, and military adviser; Magnan
commanded the troops in Paris. Bonaparte
had gradually brought troops into Paris and
near it, so that a strong military force was
at the beck of the great revolutionist.
The following were the forces at his dis-
posal, and the names of the generals who
commanded them, many of whom have since
distinguished themselves in the Crimea, Italy,
Mexico, or China, and have attained to the
highest honours France could bestow. Forey
and Canrobert, then only generals of brigade,
were destined to command armies when a few
more years should roll over their heads.
This army comprised eleven brigades, viz. :-
These five
division.
Cotte's Brigade.
Bourgon's brigade.
Dulac's brigade.
Reybell's cavalry brigade.
Canrobert's brigade.
brigades constituted Carrelet's
Sauboul's brigade.
Ribert's brigade.
Forey's brigade.
-
These three brigades constituted Renauld's
division.
3 U
514
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
b
Herbillon's brigade.
Marulaz' brigade.
Courtigis' brigade.
These three brigades constituted Levasseur's
division.
The component parts of these brigades in-
cluded:
18 Regiments of infantry of the line.
3 Regiments of light infantry.
4 Battalions of chasseurs à pied.
2 Battalions of the Republican Guard.
2 Battalions of gendarmerie mobile.
4 Companies of engineers.
1 Company of miners.
2 Regiments of lancers.
2 Squadrons of guides.
2 Squadrons of the Republican Guard.
2 Squadrons of gendarmerie mobile.
9 Batteries of brigaded artillery.
10 Batteries of artillery not brigaded.
Such was the effective strength of the actual
army of Paris, exclusive of regiments quartered
in the garrisons surrounding the town, which,
within a few hours, could double its numbers.
The only outlying corps called in during the
days of December was the division of the
heavy cavalry from Versailles, under the com-
mand of General Korte, comprising the 1st
and 2nd Regiments of Carbineers, the 6th and
7th Regiments of Cuirassiers, and the 12th
Regiment of Dragoons.
To secure the support of the army the Pre-
sident spared no pains. On the Sunday before
his grand venture was made, he called together
the officers of the Army of Paris at the Elysée,
and delivered to them the following address:
"Gentlemen,
"Receiving the officers of the various regi-
ments of the army which succeed each other
in the garrison of Paris, I congratulate myself
on seeing them animated by that military
spirit which constituted our glory, and which
renders us now secure. I shall not, therefore,
speak to you either of duties or of discipline.
.
As for your duties, you have always fulfilled
them with honour, whether on the soil of
France or in Africa, and your discipline has
been perfectly maintained through the most
arduous trials. I trust that these trials will
not return; but should grave events bring
them back, and oblige me to appeal to your
fidelity, I am sure it will not desert me;
because you know I would ask nothing but
what consists with right as acknowledged
by the constitution, with military honour, and
with the interests of our country; because I
placed at your head men who enjoyed my con-
fidence, and deserved yours; and because if
ever the day of peril should come, I will not
act like the governments which have preceded
me: I will not say, 'March, and I will follow
you!' but, 'I will march, follow me!
"""
This address was ingeniously adapted to his
audience, and produced a powerful effect. It
alarmed the Assembly, increasing their fury,
which seemed to deprive them of all the pru-
dence requisite at such a crisis.
It is probable that the President had taken
his resolves and matured his plans for a fort-
night before they were executed. During that
time he was constantly in consultation with
De Morny, Maupas, Persigny, St. Arnaud,
and Magnan.
The great necessity was to make the mea-
sures relied upon, sudden, swift, and simul-
taneous, so as to leave no room to think before
the blow was struck. The next thing of
importance was to carry out every measure
effectually at whatever cost, so as to leave no
hope of reversal. It was therefore arranged
that the members of the National Assembly
should be arrested, and all other persons likely
to exercise any influence over the public in
opposition to the President; that the National
Assembly should be occupied so as to prevent
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
515
any convocation or sitting; the proclamation
of the President's purposes; and the distribu-
tion of troops with such strategy as would
completely dominate Paris.
The first of these measures which had to be
provided for was the means of immediate pub-
lication. This was accomplished by the troops
surrounding a printing office, and compelling
the printing at once of the official documents to
be placed on the walls of Paris. The second
measure was the distribution of the troops,
which under the able generals in command
was accomplished with celerity. The fear of
the plot being discovered by the execution of
any one of its four parts prematurely, caused
the conspirators to take care that the public
should be struck at once by the ensemble.
Soon after six o'clock in the morning the
troops were at their posts, the arrests were
made. M. de Morny took possession of the
Hotel of the Minister of the Interior, politely
dismissing its occupant, and the Palace of the
Assembly was garrisoned with troops.
It was designed to make arrests of the lead-
ing captains of barricades, and of the chiefs of
secret clubs, as well as the more formidable
of the members of the Assembly, and this
was accomplished with swiftness and simulta-
neousness.
Before examining any of the details of these
events, it is necessary to bring before the
reader the last of the four points of the plan,
in the order of execution, the proclamations,
and official papers, because these expounded
the professed motives of the coup d'état itself,
appealed to the French people to support the
President, and revealed his policy; they will
also account for the measure and kind of
resistance offered, and the sources and amount
of the support which the President received.
At dawn on the morning of the 2nd, the
walls and convenient public places were every-
where covered with the following proclama-
tions and addresses:
"IN THE NAME OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE,
"The President of the Republic decrees:
"Art. 1. The National Assembly is dis-
solved.
"Art. 2. Universal Suffrage is restored.
The law of the 31st May is annulled.
"Art. 3. The French people are to assemble
in their comitia from the 14th December to the
21st of the same month.
"Art. 4. Martial law is proclaimed within
the limits of the first military division.
"Art. 5. The Council of State is dissolved.
"Art. 6. The Minister of the Interior is
charged with the execution of the present
decree.
"LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE,
"M. DE MORNY,
"Minister of the Interior.
"Palace of the Elysée, Dec. 2.”
"Frenchmen,
"The present state of things can no longer
continue. Every succeeding day aggravates
the dangers of the country. The Assembly,
which ought to be the most strenuous support
of order, is become a focus of conspiracies.
Three hundred patriotic members have not
been able to stop its destructive career. Instead
of making laws for the common good, it forges
arms for civil war; it molests the power which
I hold directly of the people; it encourages
every bad passion; it endangers the peace of
France. I have dissolved it; and I make the
whole people a judge between it and myself.
"The constitution, you are aware, had been
framed with the design of weakening before-
hand the power you have entrusted to me.
Six millions of votes were a splendid protest
against it, and yet I conformed to it faithfully.
}
516
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
I was provoked, I was calumniated, I was
insulted, without complaining. But now that
the fundamental compact is no longer re-
spected, even by those who continually appeal
to it; and that the men who have already
ruined two monarchies would bind my hands
in order to destroy the Republic, it becomes
my duty to baffle their perfidious projects, to
support the Republic, and to rescue the
country, by invoking the solemn judgment of
the only sovereign which I acknowledge in
France—the People.
你
​"I therefore appeal frankly to the whole
nation, and I say to you, if you wish to con-
tinue in the unsettled state which now degrades
us, and is prejudicial to the future, elect
another in my room, for I scorn to hold a
power which is impotent to do good, which
renders me responsible for acts which I cannot
prevent, and chains me to the helm whilst I
see the ship drifting towards the rocks. If, on
the contrary, you still feel confidence in me,
give me the means of accomplishing the great
mission with which you have entrusted me.
The object of this mission is to close the
era of revolutions, by satisfying the legiti-
mate wants of the people, and by protecting
them from corrupt and subversive passions.
Its principal duty is to create institutions that
will outlive us, and which at last will become
the foundations whereon something enduring
may be erected.
"Convinced that an unstable Government,
and the preponderance of a single Assembly,
are permanent causes of discord and confusion,
I submit to your votes the following funda-
mental principles of a constitution, which the
Assemblies may hereafter develop :-
66
1st. A responsible Chief, appointed for
ten years.
"2nd. Ministers solely dependent on the
Executive Power.
"3rd. A Council of State, composed of the
ablest men, to devise laws and discuss them
before the Legislative Body.
"4th. A Legislative Body to discuss the
laws and vote upon them, to be elected by
Universal Suffrage, without the list of votes
being examined to annul the election.
"5th. A second Assembly, composed from
the most eminent men in the country: an
equiponderant power to guard the fundamental
compact, and the liberties of the people.
"This system, conceived by the First Consul,
at the opening of the century, has already
given peace and prosperity to France; it would
secure them once more.
"Such is my deep conviction. If you think
as I do, let it appear in your votes. If, on the
other hand, you prefer a Government without
strength, monarchical or republican, borrowed
from some visionary past, or some chimerical
future, answer by a negative vote.
"Thus, then, for the first time since 1804,
you will vote with full intelligence of the
matter, well knowing for whom and for what.
"If I do not obtain a majority of your votes,
I shall summon a new Assembly to meet, and
deliver to that body the mandate I have
received from you.
"But if you think that the cause which my
name represents-that is to say, France re-
generated by the Revolution of '89, and
organised by the Emperor-is still yours, you
will declare it by confirming the powers I ask
of you.
"Then will France and Europe be preserved
from anarchy, obstacles will be removed, party
contests will disappear, for all men will respect
the verdict of the people as the decree of
Providence.
"LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.”
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
517
"THE PREFECT OF POLICE TO THE INHABITANTS
OF PARIS.
"Parisians,
“The President of the Republic, by a cou-
rageous initiative, has baffled the machinations
of parties, and put an end to the anguish of
the country. It is in the name of the people,
in its interest, and for the maintenance of the
press, that the event is accomplished.
"It is to the judgment of the people that
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte submits his con-
duct.
-
"The greatness of the act makes you under-
stand with what imposing and solemn silence
the free exercise of the popular sovereignty
ought to be manifested. To-day, as yesterday,
let order be our watch-word; let all good
citizens, animated as I am by the love of the
country, aid me in my unalterable resolution.
|
“Have confidence in him whom 6,000,000
of votes have raised to the first dignity of the
country. When he summons the entire people
to express their will, the factious alone would
place obstacles in the way. Any attempt at dis-
order shall be promptly and inflexibly repressed!
"DE MAUPAS, Prefect of Police.
"December 2, 1851."
"PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE
REPUBLIC TO THE ARMY.
"Soldiers! Be proud of your mission; you
will save the country. I rely upon you not to
violate the laws, but to command respect for
the first law of the country-national sove-
reignty—of which I am the legitimate repre-
sentative.
"You long suffered, like me, from the
obstacles that prevented me doing you all the
good I intended, and opposed the demonstra-
tions of your sympathy in my favour. Those
obstacles are removed. The Assembly sought
to impair the authority which I derive from
the entire nation: it has ceased to exist!
"I make a loyal appeal to the people and
the army, and I tell them-Either give me the
means of ensuring your prosperity, or choose
another in my place.
"In 1830, as well as in 1848, you were treated
as a vanquished army. After having branded
your heroical disinterestedness, they dis-
dained to consult your sympathies and wishes,
and, nevertheless, you are the élite of the
nation. To-day, at this solemn moment, I
wish the voice of the army to be heard.
66 Vote, then, freely as citizens; but, as
soldiers, do not forget that passive obedience
to the orders of the chief of the government is
the rigorous duty of the army, from the general
down to the soldier. It is for me, who am
responsible for my actions before the people
and posterity, to adopt the measures most
conducive to the public welfare.
"As for you, maintain entire the rules of
discipline and honour. By your imposing
attitude assist the country in manifesting its
will with calmness and reflection. Be ready to
repress all attempt against the free exercise of
the sovereignty of the people.
"Soldiers! I do not speak to you of the
recollections attached to my name. They are
engraved on your hearts. We are united by
indissoluble ties. Your hisfory is mine. There
is between us in the past a community of
glory and misfortunes. There shall be in the
future a community of sentiments and resolu-
tions for the repose and grandeur of France!
(Signed) "LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
"Palace of the Elysée, December 2."
LIST OF THE NEW MINISTRY.
"Paris, December 3, 9 A.M.
"The new Ministry is composed of M. de
Morny, Interior; Fould, Finance; Rouher,
Justice; Magne, Public Works; Le Rouche,
518
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
C
Marine; Casabianca, Commerce; St. Arnaud,
War; Fortoul, Public Instruction; Turgot,
Foreign Affairs.”
On the same morning M. de Morny sent a
circular to the juges de paix and to the pro-
cureurs of the Republic, directing them to
provide means for taking the suffrages of the
people, between Sunday the 7th, and Sunday
the 14th, on the points put before them by the
President.
General St. Arnaud sent circulars, as
Minister of War, to the generals in the pro-
vinces, commanding them to give protection
and support to the authorities.
It is now proper to turn to another part
of the general scheme of action-the occu-
pation of the House of Representatives.
At six o'clock Ripert's brigade occupied the
National Assembly and its approaches.
When the news of the coup d'état spread,
the members hastened to the Assembly, but
were refused admission. Some of them en-
deavoured to force their way in by a small
door opening upon the Rue de Lille, but were
arrested or driven back at the point of the
bayonet.
The members, finding that they could not
obtain admission to their proper place of
assemblage, retired to the Mairie of the 10th
arrondissement, where they held a sitting.
They had collected to the number of three
hundred, when troops arrived, and allowed
no more to enter; for some time, however,
they did not permit exit. The Assembly took
very decided steps, decreeing as follows:-
"In pursuance of Article 68 of the con-
stitution-viz., the President of the Republic,
the ministers, the agents, and depositaries of
public authority are responsible, each in what
concerns themselves respectively, for all the
acts of the Government and the Administra-
1
tion-any measure by which the President of
the Republic dissolves the National Assembly,
prorogues it, or places obstacles in the exercise
of its powers, is a crime of high treason.
"By this act merely the President is de-
prived of all authority, the citizens are bound
to withhold their obedience, the executive
power passes in full to the National Assembly.
The Judges of the High Court of Justice will
meet immediately under pain of forfeiture;
they will convoke the juries in the place which
they will select to proceed to the judgment of
the President and his accomplices; they will
nominate the magistrates charged to fulfil the
duties of public ministers.
"And seeing that the National Assembly
is prevented by violence from exercising its
powers, it decrees as follows, viz. :—
"Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is deprived of
all authority as President of the Republic.
The citizens are enjoined to withhold their
obedience. The executive power has passed
in full right to the National Assembly. The
Judges of the High Court of Justice are
enjoined to meet immediately, under pain of
forfeiture, to proceed to the judgment of the
President and his accomplices; consequently,
all the officers and functionaries of power
and of public authority are bound to obey
all requisitions made in the name of the
National Assembly, under pain of forfeiture
and of high treason.
"Done and decreed unanimously in public
sitting, this 2nd of December, 1851.
(Signed) "BENOIST D'AZY, President,
VITET, Vice-President.
MOULIN,
CHAPOT,
Secretaries."
Then follow the names of all the members
present.
When this decree was voted, another was
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
519
unanimously passed, appointing General Oudi-
not commander of the army.
The High Court of Justice obeyed the
decree of the representatives. The five judges
were assembled at the Palace of Justice, and
at once proceeded against the President.
"DECREE OF THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.
"Considering the 68th article of the con-
stitution, considering that printed placards,
commencing with the words 'the President
of the Republic,' and bearing at the end the
signature of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and
De Morny, Minister of the Interior, which
placards announce, among other things, the
dissolution of the National Assembly, have
this day been affixed to the walls of Paris;
that this fact of the dissolution of the
Assembly by the President of the Republic
would fall under the case provided for by the
68th article of the constitution, and render
the convocation of the High Court of Justice
imperative, by the terms of that article
declares, that the High Court is constituted,
and names M. Renouard, counsellor of the
Court of Cassation, to fill the duties of public
accuser, and to fill those of Greffier, M. Ber-
nard, Greffier in Chief to the Court of Cas-
sation; and to proceed further in pursuance
of the terms of the said 68th article of the
constitution, adjourns until to-morrow, the
3rd of December, at the hour of noon.
"Done and deliberated in the Council
Chamber. Present M. Hardouin, president;
M. Pataille, M. Moreau, M. de la Palme,
and M. Cauchy, judges, this 2nd day of
December, 1851.”
S
a Commissaire de Police, who called upon
the High Court to separate.
"2. A procès-verbal of a second sitting,
held on the morrow, the 3rd day of December
(when the Assembly was in prison), at which
M. Renouard accepts the functions of public
prosecutor, charged to proceed against Louis
Napoleon, after which the High Court, being
no longer able to sit, adjourned to a day to be
fixed hereafter."
Meanwhile, the members of the Assembly
were soon disturbed in their manufacture of
decrees, arrested, and sent to prison. M. de
Casaignac declares that they were conducted
there, and were consigned to the places finally
arranged for their incarceration under very
slender escorts, and without any sympathy
having been shown by the people or the
troops. Other writers describe them as the
objects of much commiseration, and the spec-
tacle as exciting the indignation of the people.
Two hundred and eighteen deputies were con-
veyed on foot to a barrack where no provision
had been made for their suitable reception,
and many therefore suffered much, especially
the aged and invalid. They were next day
sent to different prisons. At first their con-
finement was solitary, but after a short time
they were allowed to associate; and when the
new régime of the President was established,
they were set at liberty, and some of them
became active servants of the Empire.
The arrests made in private were numerous,
and under distressing circumstances; the case
of the good and great General Cavaignac
exemplified this. Some of the captives
behaved with great dignity, and others in
such a manner that their situation, while
After this textual extract from the Minutes
of the High Court of Justice, there is the exciting sympathy, provoked laughter. The
following entry :—
redoubtable M. Thiers, who is such a thun-
"1. A procès-verbal stating the arrival of derer in the press, behaved with as little
520
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
dignity as any of them. M. Casaignac thus given to me, as I should execute yours if
describes his capture:-
you were Minister of the Interior.' The
search made in the cabinet of M. Thiers did
not lead to the discovery of any political cor-
respondence. On the commissary expressing
his astonishment at that fact, M. Thiers replied
that he had long since sent all his political
correspondence to England, and that nothing
would be found at his house. On being re-
quested to go, M. Thièrs appeared timid and
full of hesitation. He was allowed to fancy
that he was to be taken before the Prefect
of Police. The direction which the carriage
took increased his apprehensions, and he en-
deavoured by every argument to turn the
agent from the accomplishment of his duties.
On reaching the prison Mazas, he asked
whether he could have his café au lait as
usual, and every attention was shown him.
His courage completely abandoned him while
in prison, and he showed no more firmness
than M. Greppo, who fut saisi d'un dérange-
ment auquel il dût satisfaire. M. Thiers was
afterwards taken provisionally back to his
own house by a fresh decision, after which
he was taken to the bridge of Kehl, on the
right bank of the Rhine. At the moment
of leaving his home, M. Thiers wept abun-
dantly, and appeared dreadfully cast down.
"General Leflo was in bed in his apart-
ment at the Legislative Palace. The com-
missary, Bertoglio, woke him and showed
him his warrant. He dressed himself, utter-
ing threats against the commissary and the
President, Napoleon,' said he, 'wants to
have a coup d'état; we will shoot him at
Vincennes. As to you, we will not send you
to Nouka-Hiva, but shoot you with him.'
When getting into the carriage, he wanted to
harangue the soldiers, but Colonel Espinasse
ordered him to be silent, and the soldiers
at once levelled their bayonets against him.
"When the commissary of police, M. Hu-
bertson, entered the bedroom of M. Thiers,
in the Place St. George, that gentleman was
sound asleep. The commissary drew aside the
curtains, which were of scarlet damask lined
with white muslin, awoke M. Thiers, and in-
formed him of his business. M. Thiers rose up
hastily, rubbed his eyes, over which his white
cotton nightcap was drawn down, and said,
'What is all this about?' 'I have come
down to search your house,' replied the com-
missary; but do not be alarmed, no harm
will be done you, your life is in no danger.'
This last assurance appeared necessary, as
M. Thiers was thunderstruck. 'But what are
you going to do? Do you know that I am
a representative?' 'Yes, but I cannot dis-
cuss that point with you; I must execute
the orders I have received.' 'But what you
are doing may bring your head to the scaf-
fold!' Nothing will deter me from the
execution of my duties.' 'But it is a coup
d'état that you are making.' 'I cannot reply
to your questions; I beg you will get up.'
'Do you know whether I am alone in this
matter, or have some of my colleagues been
served the same?' 'I cannot tell you, sir.'
M. Thiers then rose, and dressed himself
very leisurely, refusing the assistance of the
agents. Suddenly he said to the commissary,
'But, sir, suppose I should blow your brains
out?' 'I do not think you would be guilty
of such an act, M. Thiers; but I have taken
all my measures, and should know how to
prevent your doing so.' 'But do you under-
stand the law? Are you aware that you are
violating the constitution?' 'It is not my
business to discuss with you, and, besides,
your knowledge is far superior to mine. I
have only to execute the orders which are
"
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
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From that moment, to the prison Mazas, he
never uttered a word.
“General Bedeau inhabited part of a large
hotel in the Rue de l'Université, No. 50. The
porter at first refused to indicate the part of the
house in which he lived, but afterwards com-
plied. When the bell was rung, the General's
servant half opened the door, and was about
to close it abruptly, when he was pushed back
by the commissary of police, who, the moment
after, entered the General's bedroom, and
informed him of the warrant against him.
The General appeared thunderstruck. Arrest
'Arrest
me!' he cried, 'why such an act is a viola-
tion of the constitution. I am Vice-president
of the Assembly.' He then resisted violently,
shouting treason; and had to be carried out,
and placed in a carriage, and held there."
-
No movement of moment was made by any
portion of the populace in resistance to the
measures taken by the President.
The regiments from the three divisions of
Paris were drawn up in brigades, and occupied
the Quai d'Orsay, the Carrousal, the garden of
the Tuileries, the Place de la Concorde, and
the Champs Elysées. All the barracks were
garrisoned by reserves.
At half-past eight in the morning the
Minister of War rode in front of the different
detachments, receiving the plaudits of the
troops.
Victor Hugo describes the President as
hiding himself in the recesses of the Elysée
awaiting the success or failure of his agents;
this, however, is not true. At twelve o'clock
he mounted his horse, accompanied by Jerome
Bonaparte, Marshal Excelmans, the Minister
of War, the General-in-Chief, the General
Commanding the National Guards, General
Count de Flahault, General Lehramm, and a
number of other general officers, deputies, and
partisans, and was received with enthusiasm
by the troops and by the crowds in the streets.
At four o'clock he reviewed the heavy cavalry
on the Champs Elysées, and was received by
them with cries of adherence, and shouts of
"Long live the President of the Republic!'
Night closed over astonished and jaded
Paris. Tranquillity was maintained; the troops
retired to their quarters, leaving connected
chains of small patrols as a measure of vigi-
lance. It seemed then as if this great revolu-
tion was to be effected without bloodshed; but
the morrow showed a different result.
CHAPTER LXV.
THE COUP D'ETAT—(continued).
"The prize is worth the hazard of the undertaking."—NAPOLEON I.
GREAT was the anxiety of the people of Paris | liberty, would resist the coup d'état. Barricades
on the morning of the 3rd of December. Men
knew not what might have occurred during
the night, so great had been the events of the
night which introduced the morning of the
2nd. It soon became evident that the "Reds,"
incited by such of the Montagnards as were at
were erected, and combats ensued; many
perished under the stroke of bullet and sabre,
and the army also had its casualties.
The best way to obtain a connected account
of these sad events is to peruse the report of
the general commanding the army of Paris,
1
3 x
522
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:
:
mapada p
and then to examine his alleged facts in the
light of such evidence as has been furnished
by independent sources.
GENERAL MAGNAN'S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE
EVENTS IN PARIS.
"Monsieur le Ministre,
"I have already had the honour to address
to you a summary report on the events of the
3rd and 4th instant, and to render you an
account of the results obtained from the
arrangements made in anticipation of those
events. Now that the partial reports of the
generals commanding divisions under my
orders have reached me, I hasten to send you
the details which complete my former reports.
On the morning of the 3rd numerous and
threatening assemblages took place on different
points, and the various corps of the army of
Paris marched to take up their position for
combat. General Marulaz, who, with his
brigade, occupied the Place de la Bastille, on
being informed that a barricade had been
raised at the corners of the Rue de Faubourg
St. Antoine, and the Rues de Cotte and Ste.
Marguerite, sent to that spot three companies
of the 19th light infantry, under the orders of
Commandant Pujol, and supported the move-
ment by advancing himself at double quick
time at the head of a battalion of the 44th
into the Rue de Charonne, so as to advance to
the barricade by the Rue de Cotte. The
assemblage, at the head of which were three
Montagnard representatives, seeing the troops
advancing, fired, and mortally wounded a
soldier of the 44th, named Sirlan. The first
The first
platoon returned the fire, and the repre-
sentative Baudin was killed on the barricade.
In the afternoon General Herbillon, who had
taken up a position on the Place de l'Hotel de
Ville, being informed that barricades were
being raised in the Rues du Temple, Rambu-
teau, Beaubourg, &c., marched immediately to
the spot, at the head of a column formed of
the 9th battalion of foot chasseurs and a piece.
of artillery, and overthrew all the obstacles
which he met with in his passage, whilst a
battalion of the 6th light infantry destroyed,
in the Rue du Temple, the barricades which
had been commenced. In the evening fresh
barricades having been raised in the Rue
Beaubourg, Colonel Chapuis, of the 3rd
regiment of the line, taking with him a
battalion of his regiment and a company of
engineers, again went through that quarter,
where he was received with a very warm fire,
which did not, however, stop the advance of
his column. All the obstacles were carried,
and those who defended them were shot.
Assemblages which were formed in other
quarters were dispersed by the energy and the
attitude of the troops. Seeing that the day
was passing in insignificant skirmishes, and
without any decisive result, and suspecting
that the intention of the chiefs of the rioters
was to fatigue the troops by carrying the
agitation in succession into different quarters,
I resolved to leave the insurrection for somc
time to itself, in order to give it the facility of
choosing its ground, of establishing itself, and,
in short, of forming a compact mass against
which I could act. For this purpose, I with-
drew all the small posts, ordered the troops
back to their barracks, and waited. In the
morning of the 4th, the report of the Prefect
of Police, and my own reconnaissances, made
aware that several assemblages were
formed in the Quartiers St. Antoine, St. Denis,
and St. Martin, and they were beginning to
raise barricades there. The insurrection ap-
peared to have its focus in the space comprised
between the Boulevards and the Rues du
Temple, Rambuteau, and Montmartre. At
noon I learned that the barricades were becom-
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
523
ing formidable, and that the insurgents were
entrenching themselves; but, I had decided on
not attacking before two o'clock, and, firm in
my resolution, I did not hasten the move-
ment, notwithstanding all the entreaties that
were made to me to the contrary. I knew the
ardour of my troops, and their impatience for
the combat, and I was sure of overpowering
the insurrection in two hours, if it would
accept the conflict. Success justified my be-
lief. The attack, ordered for two o'clock, was
to commence with a convergent movement of
the divisions of Generals Carrelet and Levas-
seur.
In consequence, the brigade Bourdon
took up a position between the Porte St. Denis
and the Porte St. Martin. The brigades of
Cotte and Canrobert occupied Boulevard des
Italiens, whilst General Dulac occupied the
Pointe St. Eustache, and the brigade of General
Reibell took up its position in the Rue de la
Paix. General Levasseur formed his column
to support the movement of the division of
General Carrelet. At two o'clock in the
afternoon all the troops moved forward. The
Bourgon brigade cleared the Boulevards to the
Rue du Temple, and went down that street as
far as the Rue Rambuteau, carrying all the
barricades on its passage. The brigade of
General Cotte was engaged in the Rue St.
Denis, whilst a battalion of the 15th light
infantry proceeded to the Rue du Petit Carreau,
which was already barricaded. General Can-
robert, taking a position at the Porte St.
Martin, went through the Rue du Faubourg
of that name and the adjacent streets, ob-
structed by strong barricades, which the 5th
battalion of foot chasseurs, under the orders of
Commandant Levasson Sorval, carried with
rare intrepidity. General Dulac sent to attack
the barricade of the Rue Rambuteau, and the
adjacent streets, columns formed of three
battalions of the 51st of the line, commanded
་
by Colonel de Lourmel, and two other bat-
talions, one of the 19th of the line, the other
of the 43rd, supported by a battery of artillery.
At the same time, the brigade of General
Herbillon, formed of two columns, one of
which was directed by General Levasseur in
person, penetrated into the focus of the insur-
rection by the Rues du Temple, Rambuteau,
and St. Martin. General Marulaz operated
in the same sense by the Rue St. Denis, and
threw into the transversal streets a light column,
under the orders of Colonel de la Motterouge,
of the 10th light infantry. General Courtigis,
on his side, arriving from Vincennes, at the
head of his brigade, swept the Faubourg St.
Antoine, in which several barricades had been
constructed. These different operations were
performed, under the fire of the insurgents,
with a skill and zeal which could not for one
instant leave a doubt of success. The barri-
cades, attacked in the first instance by artillery,
were carried at the point of the bayonet. All
that part of the town between the Faubourgs
St. Antoine and St. Martin, the Pointe St.
Eustache and the Hotel de Ville, was covered
in every sense by our infantry columns; the
barricades were carried and destroyed, and the
insurgents dispersed or killed. The crowds
who endeavoured to form themselves again on
the Boulevards, were charged by the cavalry
of General Reibell, who sustained a sharp fire
at the top of the Rue Montmartre. Attacked
on all sides at the same time, disconcerted by
the irresistible ardour of our troops, and by
that ensemble of arrangements, enveloping, as
in a network of iron, the whole quarter where
they had waited for us, the insurgents no longer
dared to undertake anything serious. At five
o'clock in the evening, the troops of the division
of General Carrelet came, and again took up
a position on the Boulevards. Thus the attack,
which had commenced at two o'clock in the
A
•
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
:
afternoon, was terminated at five. The insur-
rection was vanquished on the ground that it
had chosen. Some partial combats, however,
took place in other parts, which I think it my
duty to point out to you. On the 4th, about
seven o'clock in the evening, some bands of
the insurgents, who had been dispersed by the
different columns, united at the upper end of
the Rues St. Honore, des Poulies, and other
small streets adjacent, and commenced to raise
barricades. Other assemblages took place at
the same time in the Rues Montmartre and
Montorgueil, the lamps in which had been
extinguished, and where the insurgents, under
favour of the darkness, had been able to erect
fresh barricades. About eight o'clock, Colonel
de Lourmel, of the 51st of the line, who had
remained in position near the Pointe St.
Eustache, although well understanding all
the difficulties of a night attack, decided on
making one immediately with the 2nd battalion
of his regiment. The first four barricades.
were immediately carried at the point of the
bayonet, with the greatest ardour, by the grena-
diers and the voltigeurs of that battalion. A
fifth barricade still remained, higher and better
defended than the others. In spite of the
darkness, Colonel de Lourmel hesitated not to
make arrangements for its attack. Fifteen
Fifteen
grenadiers, under the orders of Sergeant
Pitrois, first advanced, closely followed by the
other grenadiers and voltigeurs of the bat-
talion, led on by Commandant Jeannin.
Nothing could resist the ardour of those brave
soldiers. The barricade was carried in spite of
a desperate resistance. It was defended by
about one hundred insurgents. Forty of them
were killed on the spot, and the others were
made prisoners. About a hundred muskets
and other weapons, and abundant ammunition,
fell into the hands of our soldiers. Colonel
Courant, of the 19th of the line, who, with his
!
1
regiment, occupied the Palais National, learn-
ing that a considerable number of insurgents,
who had been driven from the Carre St.
Martin, had rallied on the Place des Victoires,
and threatened the Bank of France and the
neighbouring quarters, proceeded thither at
double-quick time with his regiment, carried
the barricades in the Rues Pagevin and des
Fosses Montmartre, and then returned and
established himself at the Bank, whence he
could maintain the tranquillity of the quarters
of the Bank and the Bourse. I should never
finish were I to begin to mention particular
names, but I cannot hower, refrain from doing
justice to the energetic skill with which Cap-
tain de la Roche d'Oisy, commandant of the
4th company of the 1st battalion of the Gen-
darmerie Mobile, protected through the whole
period of the insurrection the National Print-
ing Office, which was constantly surrounded
by threatening groups. Several barricades
were constructed in the neighbouring streets,
for the purpose of cutting off communication
with that establishment. Lieut. Fabre, of that
company, at the head of twenty-five men,
carried the stronger of these barricades, formed
with over-turned diligences, barrels, and pieces
of wood, and the others being successively
destroyed, the circulation was kept open by
the means of frequent patrols. At La Chapelle
St. Denis, some companies of the 28th regi-
ment of the line carried a number of barri-
cades, and maintained tranquillity in those
populous quarters, which the secret societies
had deeply agitated.
"Whilst these events were taking place on
the right bank of the Seine, General Renault,
commanding the 2nd division, occupied the
left bank, and by the able arrangements which
he made, and the firm demeanour of his
troops, was able to guarantee from all agita-
tion the working population of the 11th and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
525
12th arrondissements, in which, at other periods,
insurrection could boast of such numerous pro-
selytes. The reserve division of cavalry, under
the orders of General Korte, summoned in
from Versailles, took up position, at first in
the Champs Elysées, and afterwards in the
Boulevards, and contributed powerfully, by
numerous patrols, to the arrest of a great
number of insurgents, and to the complete
re-establishment of tranquillity. As the
reports sent in to me the night of the 4th, on
the state of Paris, gave me almost a certitude
that the insurrection would not venture to
again raise its head, I withdrew at midnight a
part of the troops from their positions, to give
them that repose they so well merited. The
next day, December 5th, I determined to make
a display of all the army of Paris to the
population, intending by that demonstration to
reassure the good and intimidate the evil dis-
posed. I gave orders that the brigades of
infantry, with their artillery, and their com-
panies of engineers, should proceed through
the city in movable columns, to march on the
insurgents wherever they should show them-
selves, and to destroy all the obstacles which
might impede the circulation. To that effect,
General Carrelet, at the head of a column
of his division, proceeded about nine in the
morning to the Barrière Rochechouart, where
a formidable barricade existed. But the insur-
gents, terrified by the results of the preceding
day, did not venture to defend their entrench-
ments, and abandoned them at the approach
of the troops. Another barricade, raised in
the Faubourg Poissonnière, was likewise de-
serted by its defenders before the arrival of the
column under the orders of General Canrobert,
charged to carry it. From that moment tran-
quillity was no more troubled in Paris, and the
circulation was fully re-established on every
point. The army returned to its quarters, and
•
the next day, the 6th, Paris, no longer behold-
ing in the streets that unusual display of
troops, was restored to its activity, movement,
and life of every day. I know not how,
Monsieur le Ministre, to render to the troops
who fought on those two days all the justice
which is due to them for the firmness, spirit,
and discipline which they constantly displayed.
Officers and soldiers, they all comprehended
what the country and society expected from
them at that solemn moment, and all nobly
did their duty. I have, in particular, to praise
the energetic co-operation of the general offi-
cers under my orders. All followed my in-
structions with an intelligence and devotedness
which penetrate me with the liveliest grati-
tude; everywhere they showed to the troops
the way which they so nobly followed. Un-
fortunately, operations so complicated could
not be executed without sensible loss. We
had, in these two days, 25 men killed, of
whom one was an officer; and 184 wounded,
of whom 17 were officers; of this number,
was Colonel Quilico, of the 72nd regiment of
the line, who had his arm transpierced by a
ball, at the same time as his Lieut.-Colonel,
M. Loubeau, fell at his side mortally wounded.
The whole army joined in the regret which the
loss of this superior officer, of the greatest
distinction, caused in the 72nd. The nume-
rical smallness of our loss, compared to that
of the insurgents, is owing to the energy with
which all the obstacles were attacked by our
men, and the determination with which the
insurrection was put down. In two hours of
combat the army obtained the result which it
desired; it worthily justified the confidence of
the President of the Republic, and it must
feel satisfied that it has nobly aided in saving
society in France, and perhaps in Europe. I
shall, before long, have the honour of sending
in to you a statement respecting the men of
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all grades, who appear to me to have the
greatest claim to recompense, and to whom
I shall pray you to direct the kind interest
of the President of the Republic. Receive,
Monsieur le Ministre, the assurance of my
respect and devotedness.
"MAGNAN, Commander-in-Chief."
Early on the morning of the 3rd the insur-
rection was organised, and led by several of
the representatives of the party of the Moun-
tain.
Barricades were first erected at the Faubourg
St. Antoine; these and a number in neigh-
bouring streets were carried by the infantry,
but not without loss. From St. Antoine, the
revolt extended to the quarter St. Martin. The
bulk of the insurgents moved along the left
of the Seine to the Faubourgs St. Jacques and
St. Marceau. Several of the Republican repre-
sentatives were killed and wounded in these
operations, and a number of names, eminent
in politics and literature, were compromised as
leaders or instigators of the revolt. At last
the conflict extended along the entire course
of the Boulevards; very many of the police
and the people fell, and several soldiers were
killed and wounded, wherever a barricade was
defended against them. The centre of Paris
was a network of barricades, the success of the
Republicans was increasing hour by hour, and
alarm took possession of many; even Malpas,
the director of police, quailed before the in-
creasing storm. The chief personages in the
plot of the President showed indomitable
courage. The President himself was inflex-
ible and calm. De Morny was also resolute;
the Minister of War and General Magnan felt
confident, but there was danger of failure. To
all the tidings of evil brought to Louis Napo-
leon, he replied, "Let St. Arnaud execute my
orders." What these orders were it is impos-
sible to conjecture; Victor Hugo suggests, or
rather affirms, that the massacre of the 4th
explains the mystery. There is no doubt the
insurrection was, on the 3rd, directed by some
of the most able and notable citizens.
The second day closed in gloom and doubt,
such as could not be conceived from the dry
military report of General Magnan; and the
morning of the 3rd dawned upon renewed
conflict.
The 4th of December was a terrible day for
Paris and for the reputation of the Presi-
dent. The resistance to the coup d'état of the
previous day had not been suppressed. The
account given by General Magnan was partial
and incomplete; he did not report anything
that was unfavourable to the soldiery or the
President, their chosen chief. Early on the
4th, notices were seen on the walls of Paris
that all assemblages of the people, no matter
of what character or for what purpose brought
together, would be dispersed by armed force.
without warning. These placards were re-
garded by the citizens as merely in terrorem
for the men of the barricades, and therefore
little regard was paid to them.
The barricades were manned by men wretch-
edly armed, nor were their numbers great, nor
even in good proportion to the vast body of
troops employed against them.
It was observable on this day that the
soldiers did not press against the barricades
with as much energy as might be supposed;
they were mainly massed and arrayed on the
Boulevards and as if with some purpose dif-
ferent from that of storming the citizens'
defences. In fact, a sanguinary massacre
was effected upon unoffending persons. The
soldiery were made drunk, money was freely
given them, and, either at a preconcerted
signal or by a simultaneous impulse, they fell
upon the people in the streets, without regard
•
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
527
to age, sex, or class of life; they fired into the
houses, and stormed many of them, bayonet-
ing or shooting the inmates. Even cannon
were turned upon the people, sweeping with
case shot the streets, and battering with balls
the doors and walls of houses. One of the
bloodiest tragedies ever perpetrated in the
world's history, stained with gore and strewed
with dead an elegant and peaceable portion
of Paris, and covered the coup d'état with an
infamy which cannot die. Whether this was
done with the consent, or actually by the
orders, as Victor Hugo affirms, of the Pre-
sident, or whether St. Arnaud, or Magnan, or
De Morny be responsible, singly or together,
a crime was committed which will stain the
official robes of Napoleon for ever.
Victor Hugo has given the most detailed
account of the proceedings of this day. He
“One word on what is about to be the
stage for the unheard-of drama, prepared and
perpetrated by the man of December.
"From the Madeleine to the Faubourg
Poissonnière the Boulevard was unobstructed;
from the theatre of the Gymnase to the
theatre of the Porte Saint-Martin it was barri-
caded. This was the case with the Rue de
la Lune and all the streets which bound, or
participated in the armed resistance to the
blow which Napoleon struck; he was a member
of the committee by which the resistance was
organised; in fact, a leader of the armed
people. His eloquent pen has given a
description which is written as in lines of
fire. The position he occupied, his subse-
quent proscription, his exile when he wrote,
must all have tended to impede impartiality
in the account which he gives; it is there-
fore judicious to give also the relation of
English eye-witnesses, who regarded the facts
as they fell under their observation, and
were viewed with no party preference or pre-
judice. The impartiality of this work, and
the justice due to one who is now a great
sovereign, and the ally of our Queen, demands
from the author this delicacy and care. These
accounts will occupy a separate chapter.
CHAPTER LXVI.
TESTIMONIES OF EYE-WITNESSES TO THE ATROCITIES OF THE FOURTH OF DECEMBER.
"No state of siege! Any one could govern by a state of siege.”—Dying words of COUNT CAVOUR.
THE narratives of eye-witnesses to this dreadful
tragedy cannot fail to afford one of the most.
powerfully interesting chapters in this work.
The following is the narrative of Victor
Hugo:
debouch upon, the Porte Saint-Denis and
the Porte Saint-Martin. Beyond the Porte
Saint-Martin the Boulevard was again free
as far as the Bastile, with the exception of
a single barricade, which had been begun
opposite the Château d'Eau. Between the
Porte Saint-Denis and the Porte Saint-Martin
seven or eight redoubts crossed the road at
a certain distance from each other. A square
of four barricades shut in the Porte Saint-
Denis. Of these four barricades, that one
which looked towards the Madeleine, and
which was destined to receive the first shock
of the troops, had been constructed at the
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THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
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culminating point of the Boulevard, with its
left extremity resting on the angle of the
Rue de la Lune, and its right upon the Rue
Mazagran. Four omnibuses, five waggons for
removing furniture, the little house of the
inspector of hackney coaches, which had been
thrown down, the Vespasian columns, which
had been broken up, the public seats of the
Boulevards, the flag-stones of the steps of the
Rue de la Lune, the entire iron balustrade
of the pavements, which had been wrenched
from its place at a single effort by the
formidable hand of the crowd- such were
the objects heaped together, but which were
hardly sufficient to block up the Boulevard,
which at this point is very broad. There
were no paving-stones, as the road is mac-
adamised. The barricade did not even extend
from one side of the Boulevard to the other,
but left a large open space near the Rue de
Mazagran, where there was a house in course
of erection. Observing this gap, a well-
dressed young man got upon the scaffolding,
and, quite unaided, without the least hurry,
or even taking the cigar from his mouth,
cut the cords of the scaffolding. The people
at the surrounding windows laughed and
applauded him. An instant afterwards the
scaffolding gave way in a single mass, and with
a loud noise. This completed the barricade.
"While this redoubt was being completed,
some twenty persons entered the theatre of
the Gymnase by the stage-door. A few
moments afterwards they came out again with
some muskets and a drum, which they had
found in the wardrobe, and which were a part
of what, in the theatrical language, is termed
'the properties.' One of the men took the
drum, and commenced beating to arms. The
others, throwing down the Vespasian columns,
tilting up carriages on one side, tearing blinds
and shutters off their hinges, and heaping a
number of old scenes upon each other, con-
structed, opposite the guard-house of the
Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, a little barricade,
as a sort of advanced post, or rather a lunet,
which commanded the Boulevards Poissonnière
and Montmartre, as well as the Rue Haute-
ville. The military had already evacuated
the guard-house in the morning; the flag
was taken from it and planted upon the bar-
ricade. It is this same flag which was after-
wards declared by the newspapers of the coup
d'état to have been a 'red flag.'
|
"Some fifteen men took up their position
at this advanced post. They had muskets,
but no cartridges, or at most, very few. Be-
hind them, the large barricade, which covered
the Porte Saint-Martin, was held by about a
hundred combatants, in the midst of whom
were observed two women and an old man with
white hair. In his left hand he held a stick,
on which he supported himself, and in his right
he grasped a musket. One of the two women
wore a sabre suspended to a cross-belt. While
helping to tear up the railing that ran along
the side of the pavement, she severed three
fingers of her right hand with the sharp edge
of an iron bar. She showed the wound to the
crowd, and as she did so, cried ‘Vive la Repub-
lique!' The other woman had ascended to
the top of the barricade, whence, leaning on
the flagstaff, and escorted by two men in
blouses, who were armed with muskets and
presented arms, she read aloud the call to
arms issued by the representatives of the Left.
The crowd clapped their hands.
"All this occurred between twelve and one
o'clock in the day. An immense number of
people on this side the barricades covered the
pavement on both sides the Boulevards; in
some places they were silent, in others they
cried 'Down with Soulouque! Down with the
traitor!"
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
529
"From time to time, some mournful proces-
sions traversed the multitude; they consisted
of files of closed litters carried along by hos-
pital men and soldiers. At their head marched
men, holding in their hands long poles, at the
end of which hung blue placards, on which
was inscribed in large letters, Service of the
Military Hospitals. On the curtains of the
litters, Wounded. Ambulance. The weather
was gloomy and wet.
|
"At this time there was a great number of
persons at the Bourse. On all the walls bill-
stickers were posting up bills, announcing the
adhesion of the departments to the coup d'état.
Even the stockbrokers, while trying to bull
the market, laughed and shrugged up their
shoulders at these bills. Suddenly, a well-
known speculator, who had for two days been
a great admirer of the coup d'état, made his
appearance, pale and breathless, like a fugitive,
and exclaimed, "They are firing grape on the
Boulevards."
"We will now describe what was going on
there.
"A little after one o'clock, a quarter of an
hour after the last order given by Louis Bona-
parte to General Roguet, the whole length
of the Boulevards, from the Madeleine, was
suddenly covered with cavalry and infantry.
Almost the whole of Carrelet's division, com-
posed of the five brigades of Cotte, Bourgon,
Canrobert, Dulac, and Reibell, and presenting
a total of 16,410 men, had taken up their posi-
tion, and extended themselves in echelons from
the Rue de la Paix to the Faubourg Poisson-
nière. Each brigade had its artillery with it.
Eleven pieces of cannon were counted on the
Boulevard Poissonnière alone. Two of the
cannons, with their muzzles turned different
ways, had been pointed at the ends of the Rue
Montmartre and Faubourg Montmartre re-
spectively; no one knew why, as neither the
street nor the faubourg presented even the
appearance of a barricade. The spectators,
who crowded the pavement and the windows,
looked with affright at all these cannons,
sabres, and bayonets, which thus blocked up
the street.
"The troops were laughing and chatting,'
says one witness. Another witness says, 'The
soldiers had a strange look about them.' Most
of them were leaning upon their muskets, with
the butt-end upon the ground, and seemed
nearly falling from fatigue, or something else.
One of those old officers who are accustomed
to read a soldier's thoughts in his eyes, General
said, as he passed the Café Frascati,
"They are drunk.'
"
"There were now some indications of what
was about to happen.
"At one moment, when the crowd was cry-
ing to the troops-Vive la République!'
'Down with Louis Bonaparte !' one of the
officers was heard to say, in a low voice-Ceci
va tourner à la charcuterie!' (we shall soon have
a little to do in the pork-butchering line).
6
"A battalion of infantry debouches from
the Rue Richelieu. Before the Café Cardinal
it is greeted by a unanimous cry of Vive la
République!' A literary man, the editor of a
Conservative paper, who happened to be on
the spot, adds the words 'Down with Sou-
louque!' The officer of the staff, who com-
manded the detachment, makes a blow at him
with his sabre. The journalist avoided the
blow, and the sabre cuts in two one of the
small trees on the Boulevards.
"As the 1st regiment of Lancers, com-
manded by Colonel Rochefort, came up oppo-
site the Rue Taitbout, a numerous crowd
covered the pavement of the Boulevards. This
crowd was composed of some of the inhabi-
tants of that quarter of the town, of mer-
chants, artists, journalists, and even several
3 Y
530
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
E.
(
young mothers leading their children by the
hand. As the regiment was passing by, men
and women-every one, in fact-cried, 'Vive
la Constitution!' 'Vive la Loi!' 'Vive la Ré-
publique!' Colonel Rochefort, the same person
who had presided at the banquet given on the
31st October, 1851, at the Ecole Militaire,
by the 1st regiment of Lancers to the 7th
regiment of Lancers, and who, at this banquet,
had proposed as a toast, Prince Louis Napo-
leon, the chief of the state, the personification
of that order of which we are the defenders!'
this colonel, on hearing the crowd utter the
above cry, which was perfectly legal, spurred
his horse into the midst of the crowd, through
all the chairs on the pavement, while the
lancers precipitated themselves after him, and
men,women, and children were indiscriminately
cut down. 'A great number remained dead on
the spot,' says a defender of the coup d'état;
and then adds, 'It was done in a moment.'*
"About two o'clock, two howitzers were
pointed at the extremity of the Boulevard
Poissonnière, at a hundred and fifty paces
from the little advanced barricade of the
guard-house on the Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle.
While placing the guns in their proper position,
two of the artillerymen, who are not often
guilty of a false manoeuvre, broke the pole of
a caisson. 'Don't you see they are drunk??
exclaimed a man of the lower classes.
"At half-past two, for it is necessary to
follow the progress of this hideous drama
minute by minute, and step by step, the firing
commenced before the barricade, but it was
languid and almost seemed as if done for
amusement only. The chief officers appeared
to be thinking of anything but a combat. We
shall soon see, however, of what they were
thinking.
K
* Captain Mauduit, "Revolution Militaire du Decembre,"
p. 217.
"The first cannon ball, badly aimed, passed
above the barricades, and killed a little boy at
the Château d'Eau, as he was procuring water
from the basin.
"The shops were shut, as were also almost all
the windows. There was, however, one win-
dow left open on an upper story in the house
at the corner of the Rue du Sentier. The prin-
cipal mass of mere spectators were still on the
southern side of the street. It was an ordi-
nary crowd and nothing more-men, women,
children, and old people who looked upon the
languid attack and defence of the barricade as
a sort of sham fight.
"This barricade served as a spectacle until
the moment arrived for making it a pretext.
"The soldiers had been skirmishing in this
manner, and the defenders of the barricade
returning their fire, for about a quarter of an
hour, without any one being wounded on either
side, when suddenly, as if by the agency of
electricity, an extraordinary and terrible move-
ment was observed in the infantry first, and
then in the cavalry. The troops suddenly faced
about.
"The historiographers of the coup d'état
have asserted that a shot, directed against the
soldiers, was fired from the window which had
remained open at the corner of the Rue du
Sentier. Others say that it was fired from the
top of the house at the corner of the Rue
Notre-Dame de Recouvrance and the Boule-
vard Poissonnière. According to others, it was
merely a pistol shot fired from the roof of the
lofty house at the corner of the Rue de Maza-
gran. The shot is contested; but what can-
not be contested is, that—for having fired this
problematical shot which, after all, was per-
haps nothing more than the noise occasioned
by some door slammed-to violently-a dentist,
who inhabited the next house, was killed by a
musket ball. The question resolves itself into
-
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
531
this: Did any one hear a pistol or musket shot
fired from one of the houses on the Boulevard?
Is this the fact, or is it not? a host of wit-
nesses deny it.
"If the shot was really fired there still
remains one point that requires to be cleared
up. Was it a cause, or was it a signal?
"However this may be, all of a sudden, as
we have said before, the cavalry, infantry, and
artillery faced towards the dense crowd upon
the pavement, and then, without any one being
able to assign a reason for it, unexpectedly,
without any motive, without any previous
warning, as the infamous proclamations of the
morning had announced, the butchery com-
menced from the Theatre of the Gymnase to
the Bains Chinois, that is to say, the whole
length of the richest, the most frequented,
and the most joyous Boulevard of Paris.
"The army commenced shooting down the
people, with the muzzles of their muskets
actually touching them.
"It was a horrible moment; it would be
impossible to describe the cries, the arms of
the people raised towards heaven, their sur-
prise, their horror; the crowd flying in all
directions, the shower of balls falling on the
pavement and bounding to the roofs of the
houses, corpses covering the road in a single
moment, young men falling with their cigars
still in their mouths, women in velvet gowns
shot down dead by the long rifles, two book-
sellers killed on their own thresholds without
their having known what offence they had
committed, shots fired down the cellar-holes
and killing any one, no matter who happened
to be below, the bazaar riddled with shells and
balls, the Hotel Sallandrouze bombarded, Tor-
toni's carried by assault, hundreds of corpses
stretched upon the Boulevard, and a torrent of
blood in the gutters of the Rue de Richelieu.
"A witness says:
'The first cannon-
W
shots fired against the barricade Bonne-Nou-
velle, served as a signal to the rest of the
troops, who fired almost simultaneously at
every one within the range of their muskets.'
"Another witness says: 'No words are
powerful enough to describe such an act of
barbarity. A person must himself have seen
in order to be bold enough to speak of it, and
attest the truth of a fact which nothing can
palliate. The soldiers fired volleys of thousands
and thousands of shots-the number is inap-
preciable *-on the unoffending crowd, and
without having the slightest reason for doing so.
There was a desire to produce a deep impres-
sion. That was the whole secret of the matter.'
"Another witness says: "The troops of the
line, followed by the cavalry and the artillery,
arrived on the Boulevard at a time that the
general agitation was very great. A musket
shot was fired from the midst of the troops,
and it was easy to perceive that it had been
fired in the air, from the smoke which rose
perpendicularly. This was the signal for firing
on and bayoneting the people without any
previous warning. This is a significant fact,
and proves that the military wanted the appear-
ance of a motive for beginning the massacre
which followed."
"Another witness tells the following tale:
. . . The cannon, loaded with grape-shot,
cut up all the shop-fronts from the establish-
ment known as the Prophète to the Rue
Montmartre.'
"On Thursday, the 4th December, 1851,
the unoffending inhabitants of Paris, the inha-
bitants who were not in any way mixed up
with the fighting, were mown down without
warning, and massacred merely for the sake of
intimidation, and that it is not possible to
attach any other intention to Monsieur Bona-
"The witness means incalculable, but we would change
nothing in the original depositions."
532
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
24
5
parte's mysterious command:-'Let them
execute my orders.'
"This execution lasted until night set in.
For more than an hour, there was, as it were,
an orgy of musketry and artillery. The can-
nonade and the platoon firing crossed each
other indiscriminately ; at one particular
period the soldiers were killing each other.
The battery of the 6th regiment of Artillery,
which composed part of Canrobert's brigade
was dismounted; the horses, rearing up in the
midst of the balls, broke the fore-carriages,
the wheels, and the poles; of all the battery,
in less than a minute, there only remained one
gun fit for service. A whole squadron of the
1st Lancers was obliged to seek refuge in a
shed in the Rue Saint-Fiacre. Seventy
bullet-holes were counted the next day in the
pennons of the lances. The soldiers had be-
come wild with excitement. At the corner of
the Rue Rougement, in the midst of the
smoke, one general was waving his arms as if
to restrain them; a medical officer of the 27th
was nearly killed by the soldiers whom he was
endeavouring to check. A sergeant said to an
officer who stopped his arm: 'Lieutenant, you
are betraying us.' The soldiers did not know
any longer what they were about; they had,
as it were, gone mad with the crime they were
ordered to commit. There is a certain moment
when the disgust a man feels for what he is
doing, makes him redouble his blows. Blood
is a kind of horrible wine; men get drunk
with carnage.
"It seemed as if some invisible hand were
launching death from the midst of a cloud.
The soldiers were no longer aught but mere
projectiles.
"Two guns in the road of the Boulevard
were pointed at the front of a single house,
that of M. Sallandrouze, and with their
muzzles almost touching it, or only a few
paces removed, kept firing volley after volley
as fast as it was possible to fire. This house,
which is an old stone mansion, remarkable for
the almost monumental flight of steps leading
up to it, was split by the balls as if by so
many iron wedges. It opened, gaped, and
separated from top to bottom, while the
soldiers redoubled their efforts. At every dis-
charge the walls cracked again. All of a
sudden, an officer of artillery galloped up, and
exclaimed, Stop, stop!'
6
The house was
bending forwards; another ball, and it would
have fallen on the guns and the gunners.
"The artillerymen were so drunk, that
many of them, not knowing what they were
doing, allowed themselves to be killed by the
rebound of their guns. The balls came simul-
taneously from the Porte Saint-Martin, the
Boulevard Poissonnière, and the Boulevard
Montmartre. The drivers hearing them whiz-
zing past their ears in every direction, lay
down upon their horses, while the gunners hid
underneath the caissons and behind the
waggons; soldiers were seen, with their caps
falling off their heads, to fly in dismay to the
Rue Notre Dame Recouvrance; troopers, in a
state of unconsciousness, fired their carbines.
in the air, while others dismounted and sought
shelter behind their horses. Two or three of
the latter, without riders, ran about here and
there in the greatest state of terror.
"The most horrible amusements were mixed
up with the massacre. The Tirailleurs de
Vincennes had established themselves at one
of the barricades on the Boulevard that they
had carried by assult, and from thence they
exercised themselves in shooting at persons who
were passing at a distance. From the neigh-
bouring houses such hideous dialogues as the
following were heard: 'I bet I will bring that
fellow down.' 'I bet you won't.' 'I bet you
will.' And then the shot followed. It was
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
533
easy to know if the person fell, by the roar of
laughter which accompanied his fall. When-
ever a woman passed, the officers cried out:
'Fire at that woman; give her a touch!'
"This was one of the orders. On the
Boulevard Montmartre, where the bayonet was
greatly in requisition, a young captain of the
staff cried out: 'Prick up the women!
"One woman, with a loaf under her arm,
thought she might cross the Rue Saint-Fiacre.
A tirailleur shot her down.
"Matters were not so bad as this in the
Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A woman cried,
"Vive la République !' she was merely whipped
by the soldiers. But let us return to the
Boulevards.
* "We may name the witness who saw this, as he is pro-
scribed; it is M. Versigny, a representative of the people.
teen, a saddler's apprentice, was passing on
the Boulevard opposite the Café Vachette.
The soldiers pointed their muskets at him.
He uttered the most heartrending cries, and,
holding up a bridle which he had in his hand,
waved it in the air, exclaiming, 'I am sent on
an errand!' He was killed. Three balls per-
forated his breast. All along the Boulevards
were heard the shrieks of the wounded, as
they fell heavily upon the pavement, while the
soldiers pierced them with their bayonets, and
then left, without taking the trouble to de-
spatch them.
"One of the passers-by, a huissier, was
struck by a ball aimed at his forehead; he fell
upon his hands and knees, imploring mercy!
He received thirteen more balls in his body.
He survived: by a miraculous chance, not one
of his wounds was mortal. The ball which
struck his forehead tore the skin, and then
passed round his skull without fracturing it.
"An old man of eighty-four years of age
was found concealed somewhere or other,
brought before the steps of the Prophète, and
shot: he fell. He will have no bump on
his head,' said a soldier; the old man had gutter.
the old man had
fallen upon a heap of dead bodies. Two young
men from Issy, who had been married only a
month to two sisters, were crossing the Boule-
vard on their way from their business. They
saw the muskets levelled at them, and threw
themselves on their knees, exclaiming, 'We
have married two sisters!' They were killed.
A dealer in cocoa, named Robert, residing in
the Faubourg Poissonnière, was flying, with
his cocoa-machine on his back, down the Rue
Montmartre; he was killed. A boy of thir-
*
"Some villains seized the opportunity for
stealing. The treasurer of a company, whose
offices are in the Rue de la Banque, left at
two o'clock to receive a bill of exchange in the
Rue Bergère. As he was returning with the
money he was killed on the Boulevard. When
his body was removed, he had neither ring,
watch, nor the money he was taking to his
office.
"On the pretence that shots had been fired
at the troops, the latter entered ten or twelve
houses, at hazard, and despatched with their
bayonets every one they found. In all the
houses on the Boulevard, there are metal pipes
by which the dirty water runs out into the
gutter. The soldiers, without knowing where-
fore, took a feeling of mistrust and dislike to
such and such a house, closed from top to
bottom, silent and sad, and which, like all the
houses on the Boulevard, seemed uninhabited,
so silent was it. They knocked at the door;
the door was opened, and they entered. An
He says:-'I can still see, opposite the Rue du Croissant, an
unfortunate itinerant vendor of cocoa, with his tin can on his
back, stagger, and gradually sinking down, fall dead before a
shop. He alone, armed only with his bell, had received the
honour of being fired at by a whole platoon.'
"The same witness adds:The soldiers swept the streets
with their guns, even where there was not a paving stone
moved from its place, nor a single combatant.'
534
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
instant afterwards there was seen to flow from
the mouth of the metal pipes a red, smoking
stream. It was blood.
"A captain, with his eyes starting from
their sockets, cried out to the soldiers, 'No
quarter!' A chief of battalion vociferated:
'Enter the houses and kill every one!'
"
"Some sergeants were heard to say: 'Pitch
into the Bedouins; hit them hard!' 'In the
writer's time,' says a witness, the soldiers
used to call the civilians pekins. At present
we are Bedouins. The soldiers massacred the
people to the cry of "Give it the Bedouins!
"At the Circle Frascati, where many of the
regular frequenters of the place were assembled,
and among them an old general, they heard
the thunder of musketry and artillery, and
could not believe that the troops were firing
ball. They laughed, and said to one another:
'It is blank cartridge. What a mise en scene!
What an actor is this Bonaparte!' They
thought they were at the Circus. Suddenly
the soldiers entered, mad with rage, and were
about to shoot every one. The persons present
had no idea of the danger they were running.
They still continued to laugh. One of the
eye-witnesses said to us: We thought that this
'We thought that this
was part of the buffoonery.' However, seeing
the soldiers continue to threaten them they at
last understood the true state of matters. 'Kill
them all!' cried the soldiers. A lieutenant, who
recognised the old general, prevented them
from carrying out their threats. In spite of
this a sergeant said, 'D—-n you, lieutenant, hold
your tongue, can't you; it is not your business,
but ours.'
and children, who were already drawn up
in a heap before a platoon, when the colonel
arrived. He stopped the massacre, and pent
up these poor trembling creatures in the Pas-
sage des Panoramas. A celebrated writer,
Monsieur Lireux, after having escaped the
first balls, was led about, during an hour,
from one guard-house to the other, in order to
be shot. The most miraculous efforts had to
be made to save him. The celebrated artist,
Sax, who happened to be in the musical
establishment of M. Brandus, was about to
be shot, when a general recognised him.
Everywhere else the people were killed in-
discriminately.
"The first person killed in this butchery-
history has also preserved the name of the first
person killed at the massacre of Saint Bartho-
lomew-was named Theodore Debaecque, and
lived in the house at the corner of the Rue
du Sentier, where the carnage began.
|
-
"When the butchery was ended—that is to
say, when night had completely set in, and it
had begun in the middle of the day-the dead
bodies were not removed; they were so nu-
merous that thirty-three of them were counted
before a single shop, that of M. Barbedienne.
Every space of ground left open in the asphalte
at the foot of the trees on the Boulevards was
a reservoir of blood. The dead bodies,' says
a witness, 'were piled up in heaps, one upon
the other-old men, children, persons in
blouses and paletots, all collected pell-mell
in one indescribable mass of heads, arms, and
legs.'
6
6
"The troops killed for the mere sake of
killing. In the courtyards of certain houses,
even the horses and dogs were shot.
"Another witness describes a group of three
individuals in the following terms: Two had
fallen upon their backs; and the third, having
become entangled under their feet, had fallen
upon them.' The isolated corpses were rare
and were more remarkable than the others.
"In the house next to Frascati's, at the
corner of the Rue Richelieu, the soldiers were
very quietly going to shoot even the women | One young man, well dressed, was seated
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
535
against a wall, with his legs separated, and
his arms half folded on his breast. He held
in his hand one of Verdier's canes, and seemed
to be looking at what was going on around
him. He was dead. A little farther on, a
poor old man, with white hair, was stretched
with his umbrella in his hand.
The
"About eleven o'clock at night, when the
fires of the bivouacs were everywhere lighted
up,
M. Bonaparte allowed the troops to amuse
themselves. It seemed as if some Fête-de-Nuit
were being given on the Boulevards.
soldiers were laughing and singing, as they
threw into the fire the fragments of the bar-
ricades. After this, as was the case at Stras-
burg and Boulogne, money was distributed
among them.
Let us hear what a witness
says: 'I saw, at the Porte Saint-Denis, an
officer of the staff give two hundred francs to
the chief of a detachment of twenty men, with
these words, "The Prince ordered me to give
you this money to be distributed among your
brave soldiers! The marks of his satisfaction
will not be confined to this." Each soldier
received ten francs.'
"Another person adds: The soldiers, with
cigars in their mouths, twitted the passers-by
and sounded the money in their pockets.'
Another witness says: 'The officers broke the
rolls of louis d'or as if they had been so many
sticks of chocolate."
"The sentinels only allowed women to pass;
whenever a man made his appearance, they
cried out, ‘Au large!' Tables were laid out in
the bivouacs, and officers and soldiers were
drinking round them. The flames from the
braziers were reflected upon all these joyous
countenances. The corks and the tin-foil off
the champagne bottles floated on the top of
torrents of blood. From one bivouac to the
other the soldiers exchanged loud cries and
obscene jokes. They saluted each other with
exclamations of, 'Long live the grenadiers!'
Long live the lancers!' and then added, 'Long
live Louis Napoleon!' During all this time
the ear was struck with the clinking of glasses
and the crash of broken bottles. Here and
there in the shade might be seen women,
with a taper of yellow wax or a lantern
in their hands, wandering among the dead
bodies, contemplating one after the other their
pale faces, and seeking a son, a father, or a
husband.
"Let us hasten to get clear of these horrible
details.
"The next day, the fifth, something terrible
was seen in the cemetery of Montmartre.
“An immense space that, up to that time,
had remained unoccupied, was 'turned to
account,' for the temporary interment of some
of those who had been massacred. They were
buried with their heads above ground, in order
that their relations might recognise them.
Most of them had also their feet above ground,
with only a little earth upon their breasts.
The crowd flocked to the spot, the sightseers
pushed you about as you walked in the midst.
of the graves, and, at times, you felt the earth
giving way beneath your feet: you were walk-
ing on the stomach of some corpse. You
turned round and beheld a pair of boots, of
sabots, or of women's shoes; while, on the
other side of you was the head, which the
pressure of your weight on the body caused to
move.
"An illustrious witness, the great sculptor
David, who is now proscribed and wandering
far from France, says:
far from France, says: "In the cemetery of
Montmartre I saw about forty bodies with
their clothes still on them; they had been
placed side by side and a few shovelsfull of
earth hid all except their heads, which had
been left uncovered in order that they might
be recognised by their relations.
There was
536
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
;
6th December, the public excitement was
calmed. Paris was stupefied. The voice of
indignation which had been raised at the coup
d'état was suddenly hushed at the carnage.
Matters had assumed an appearance completely
unknown in history. People felt that they
had to deal with one whose nature was un-
known.
|
so little earth that their feet were still visible;
the crowd, horrible to say, was walking on
their bodies. Among others, there were some
young men with noble features, bearing the
stamp of courage; in the middle was a poor
woman, a baker's servant, who had been killed
while she was carrying round the bread to her
master's customers, and, near her, a young
girl who sold flowers on the Boulevards.
Those persons who were looking for the
corpses that had disappeared, were obliged to
trample their bodies under foot in order to
gain a near view of their faces. I heard a
man of the lower classes say, with an expres-
sion of horror, "It is like walking on a spring-
board.”
"The crowd continued to flock to the various
spots where the victims had been placed, espe-
cially to the Cité Bergère, so that, on this day,
the fifth, the numbers increased to such an
extent as to become troublesome.
It was
necessary, therefore, to get rid of them, and in
consequence, the following words written in
capital letters, on a large placard, were to be
seen at the entrance of the Cité Bergère:
'There are no more dead bodies here.'
"The three naked corpses in the Rue Grange-
Batelière were not removed until the evening
of the fifth.
"It is evident, and we particularly direct
the reader's attention to this point, that at
first, and for the advantage which it wished to
derive from its crime, the coup d'état did not
make the least endeavour to conceal it; the
first day, on the contrary, it exposed it to all
eyes. It was not contented with atrocity-it
must needs add shameless impudence. The
massacre was but a means; the end was inti-
midation.
"Was this end attained?
"Yes.
"This massacre ended the struggle. There
are times when what should exasperate a
people, strikes them with terror. The popu-
lation of Paris felt that a ruffian had his foot
upon its throat. The people no longer offered
any resistance. That same evening Mathieu
(de la Drôme) entered the place where the
Committee of Resistance was sitting, and said
to us, 'We are no longer at Paris, we are no
longer under the Republic; we are at Naples
under the sway of King Bomba.'
"From this moment, in spite of all the
efforts of the committees, of the Republican
representatives, and of their courageous allies,
there was, save at certain points only, such as
the barricade of the Petit Carreau, for instance,
where Denis Dussoubs, the brother of the
representative, fell so heroically, nought but a
slight effort of resistance, which more re-
sembled the convulsions of despair than a
combat. All was finished,
"It was by this wolf-like proceeding that
the coup d'état conquered France and over-
came Paris."
An examination having taken place by
authority, various testimony was given, from
which Victor Hugo selects the following:-
The question having been raised as to whether
the troops were fired upon, some asserted and
others denied it.
"A witness, one of those who deny the shot
alleged to have been fired at the troops, says:
'People have endeavoured to excuse this dis-
"Immediately afterwards, as early as the charge of musketry and these murders, by pre-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
537
tending that the troops had been fired on from
the windows of some of the houses. Not only
does General Magnan's official report seem to
deny the truth of this rumour, but I here
assert that the discharge was instantaneous
from the Porte Saint-Denis to the Porte Mont-
martre, and that there was not, previously to
the general discharge, a single shot fired sepa-
rately, either by persons at the windows or by
the soldiers, from the Faubourg Saint-Denis.
to the Boulevard des Italiens.'
6
"Another witness, who is also one of those
who did not hear the shot, says: The troops
had been defiling for about twenty minutes
before the steps of the Café Tortoni, where I
myself was, when, before any report of fire-
arms had reached us, an extraordinary commo-
tion manifests itself among them; the cavalry
go off at a gallop and the infantry at double-
quick. All of a sudden we see, coming down
from the direction of the Boulevard Poisson-
nière, a sheet of fire, which gains ground and
extends rapidly. I can vouch for the fact that,
before this discharge commenced, it had not
been preceded by any report of fire-arms, and
that not a single shot had been fired from any
of the houses between the Café Frascati and
the spot where I stood. At last we saw the
soldiers before us level their muskets in a
menacing manner. We take refuge in the
Rue Taitbout, under a large gateway. At the
same moment the balls fly over our heads, and
all around us. A woman is killed ten paces
from me at the very instant I was hiding my-
self under the gateway. I can swear that,
up to that time, there was neither a barricade
nor an insurgent; there were sportsmen, and
there was game flying from them; that is
all.'
"
"This image, sportsmen and game,' is the
one which immediately suggests itself to the
mind of all those who beheld this horrible pro-
ceeding. We meet with the same simile in
the testimony of another witness :
'At the end of my street, and I know that the
same thing was observed in the neighbouring
ones as well, we saw the Gendarmes Mobiles
with their muskets, and themselves in the
position of sportsmen waiting for the game to
rise, that is to say, with their muskets at their
shoulders, in order that they might take aim
and fire more quickly.
"In order that those persons who had
fallen wounded near the doors in the Rue
Montmartre might receive the first necessary
attentions, we could see the doors opened from
time to time down the street, while an arm
would be stretched out, and then hastily draw
in the corpse, or the dying man, whom the
balls were striving to claim as their own.'
"Another witness hits upon the same image:
'The soldiers stationed at the corners of the
streets awaited the inhabitants as they passed
along, like sportsmen lying in wait for their
game, and directly they saw them in the street
they fired at them as they would do at a target.
A great many persons were killed in this
manner in the Rue du Sentier, Rue Rouge-
mont, and the Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière.
*
*
*
*
"Go on,' said the officers to the unoffending
citizen who demanded their protection. At
these words people went their way quietly and
with confidence; but it was merely a form of
expression already agreed on, and which meant
death; for hardly had they gone a few steps
before they fell.
666
6
'At the moment the firing began on the
Boulevard,' says another witness, a book-
seller, who lived near the carpet warehouse,
was hastily shutting up his shop, when a
number of fugitives, who were striving to
obtain admittance, were suspected by the
3 Z
538
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
::
troops of the line, or the Gendarmerie Mobile,
I do not know which, of having fired upon
them. The soldiers enter the bookseller's
house. The bookseller endeavours to explain
matters; he alone is led out before his own
door, and his wife and daughters have only
time to throw themselves between him and the
soldiers as he falls dead. His wife had her
thigh traversed by a ball, while his daughter
was saved by the steel busk of her stays. I
have been informed that his wife has since
gone mad.'
"Another witness say:
'The soldiers
entered the two booksellers' shops, which are
situated between the establishment of the
Prophète and that belonging to M. Sallan-
drouze. The murders committed there have
been proved. The two booksellers were
massacred on the pavement. The other pri- |
soners were put to death in the shops.'
6
6
"Let us terminate this list by three extracts,
which it is impossible to transcribe without a
shudder: For the first quarter of an hour of
this deed of horror,' says a witness, the
firing, which for a moment became less sharp,
caused some persons who were merely wounded,
to suppose that they might get up again. Of
those who were lying stretched on the ground
before the Prophète, two rose. One of them
fled in the direction of the Rue du Sentier,
from which he was only the distance of a few
yards off. He reached it in the midst of a
shower of balls which carried away his cap.
The other could only succeed in raising him-
self on his knees, in which position, with
his hands clasped together, he besought the
soldiers to spare his life, but he immediately
fell down shot dead. The day afterwards there
was one spot to be seen near the steps leading
into the show-rooms of the Prophète, scarcely
a few feet in extent, into which more than a
hundred balls had been fired.'
"Another witness says: "At the end of the
Rue Montmartre, as far as the fountain, a
space of about sixty paces, there were sixty,
bodies of men and women, both of the upper
and lower classes, children and young girls.
All these unfortunate creatures had fallen
victims to the first volley fired by the troops.
and the gendarmerie, who were stationed on
the opposite side of the Boulevard. They all
fled at the first discharge, and proceeding a
few paces, sank down to rise no more. One
young man had taken refuge in a gateway, and
tried to shelter himself behind the projection
of the wall on the side of the Boulevards.
After ten minutes of badly aimed shots he
was hit, in spite of all his efforts to render
himself as small as possible by drawing him-
self up to his full height; he was then seen to
sink down and rise no more.'
"Another witness says: The plate-glass
and the windows in the house of the Pont de
Fer were all shattered. One man, who was in
the court-yard, went mad with fright. The
cellars were filled with women who had sought
refuge there, but in vain. The soldiers fired
through the shops and the cellar holes. From
Tortoni's to the theatre of the Gymnase
similar things took place. This lasted more
than an hour.'”
A few more of these extracts will terminate
this mournful inquest.
A single scene taken at any one spot was a
spectacle of horrors. In one place, within a
few yards, "transfixed against a shop, was a
youth in velveteen trousers, who had got some
proof-sheets in his hand. The wind agitated
these proofs covered with blood, on which the
fingers of the corpse were still closed. A poor
old man, with white hair, was lying stretched
in the middle of the road with his umbrella at
his side. His elbow almost touched a young
man in patent leather boots and yellow gloves,
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
539
who lay extended with his eye-glass still in
his eye. At a few paces' distance, with her
head upon the pavement and her feet in the
road, lay a woman of the lower classes, who
had attempted to escape, with her child in her
arms. Both were dead; but the mother still
tightly grasped her child. . . .
bullets for its own share. There was not a
window that had not a ball. People breathed
an atmosphere of saltpetre.' Thirty-seven
corpses were heaped up in the Cité Bergère ;
the passers-by could count them through the
iron railings. A woman was standing at the
corner of the Rue Richelieu. She was looking
on. All of a sudden she felt that her feet were
wet. 'Why it must have been raining here,'
she said, 'my shoes are full of water.' 'No,
madam,' replied a person who was passing,
Louis Napoleonit is not water.' Her feet were in a pool of
blood.
"When all was finished, Paris came to sce
the sight. The people flocked in crowds to the
scenes of these terrible occurrences; no one
offered them the least obstruction. This was
what the butcher wanted.
had not done all this to hide it afterwards.
"The southern side of the Boulevard was
covered with fragments of cartridge paper;
the northern side of the pavement disappeared
under the mass of masonry and mortar, which
had been torn from the fronts of the houses by
the balls, and was as white as if a snow-storm
had fallen on it; while pools of blood left large
dark patches on the snow-like ruins. The foot
of the passer-by only avoided a corpse to tread
upon fragments of broken glass, plaster, or
stone. There were some houses so cut to
pieces by the grape shot and the cannon balls,
that they seemed on the point of tumbling
down; this was the case with M. Sallan-
drouze's, which we have already mentioned,
and the mourning warehouse at the corner
of the Faubourg Montmartre. The house of
Billecoq and Co., says a witness, 'is at the
present moment still propped up by beams of
wood, and the front will have to be partly
rebuilt. The balls have traversed the carpet
warehouse, through and through, in several
places.' Another witness says: 'All the
houses, from the Cercle des Etrangers to the
Rue Poissonnière, were literally riddled with
balls, especially on the right-hand side of the
Boulevard. One of the large sheets of plate
glass in the warehouses of the Petite Jeannette,
received most certainly more than two hundred
"In the Rue Grange Batelière three corpses
were seen quite naked.
"During the butchery, the barricades on the
Boulevards had been carried by Bourgon's
brigade. The corpses of those who had de-
fended the barricade of the Porte Saint-Denis,
of which we have already spoken at the begin-
ning of our narration, were piled up before the
door of the Maison Jouvin. 'But,' says a
witness, they were nothing compared to the
heaps which covered the Boulevards.'
6
"At two paces distance from the Théâtre
des Variétés, the crowd stopped to look at a
cap full of brains and blood hung upon a tree.
"A witness says: 'A little beyond the
Variétés, I came to a corpse lying on the
ground with its face downwards. I tried to
raise it, aided by others, but we were repelled
by the soldiers. A little farther on, there
were two bodies-those of a man and a woman.
Near them, that of a workman (we abridge the
account). From the Rue Montmartre to the
Rue du Sentier, people literally walked in blood;
at certain spots it covered the pavement some
inches deep, and, without any exaggeration
whatever, you were obliged to use the greatest
caution not to step into it. I here counted
thirty-three corpses. The sight was too much
for me, and I felt large tears rolling down my
540
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
cheeks. I asked leave to cross the road, in
order to enter my own house, and my request
was granted as a favour!'
"Another witness says: "The Boulevards
presented a horrible sight. We were literally
walking in blood. We counted eighteen corpses
in about five-and-twenty paces.'
"Another witness, the keeper of a wine-
shop in the Rue du Sentier, says: 'I came
along the Boulevard du Temple to my house.
When I got home, I had an inch of blood
around the bottom of my trousers.'
"The representative, Versigny, speaks as
follows:-' We could see, in the distance,
almost as far as the Porte Saint-Denis, the
immense bivouac fires of the infantry. The
light from them, with the exception of that
from a few rare lamps, was all we had to guide
us in this horrible carnage. The combat in the
daytime was nothing compared to these corpses
and this silence. R. and I were half dead with
horror. A man was passing us; hearing one of
my expressions, he came up to me, and, taking
my hand, said "You are a Republican and
I was what is called a friend of order, a
reactionary, but I must have lost all sense of
respect for the Almighty if I did not curse
this horrible orgy.
France is dishonoured,"
When he had said this, he went on, sobbing
violently.'
:
"Another witness, who has allowed us to
name him, a Legitimist, the Honourable
Monsieur de Cherville, deposes as follows:-
'In the evening, I determined on
continuing my sad inspection. In the Rue
Lepelletier I met Messieurs Bouillon and
Gervais (of Caen). We walked a few steps
together, when my foot slipped. I supported
myself by catching hold of M. Bouillon's arm.
I looked down, and found that I had walked
into a large pool of blood. M. Bouillon then
informed me, that, being at his window, in the
morning, he saw a druggist, whose shop he
pointed out to me, shutting his door. A
woman fell; the druggist rushed forward to
raise her; when, at the same moment, a
soldier, ten paces off, aimed at him, and
lodged a bullet in his head.'
"What was the number of the dead? Louis
Bonaparte, conscious of the advent of history,
and imagining that a Charles IX. can extenuate
a Saint Bartholomew, has published as a docu-
ment of vindication, a statement which is called
'official' of the deceased persons. The func-
tionary who drew up this list, is, we know, a
learned and accurate statistician; he prepared
this statement honestly, we have no doubt of
it. He has publicly stated what was shown to
him, and what he was permitted to see, but
what was concealed from him was beyond his
reach. The field for conjecture was left open.
"Louis Bonaparte confesses, in this state
paper, one hundred and ninety-one murders.
"Now after enrolling this document for what
it is worth, the question is, what is the number?
What is the exact amount of his victims?
How many corpses bestrew the deed of De-
cember? Who can tell? Who knows? Who
will ever know it? As we have already seen,
one witness deposed, 'I counted in that place
| thirty-three bodies;' another, at a different
part of the Boulevard, said, 'we counted
eighteen bodies within a space of between
twenty and twenty-five yards;' a third person,
speaking of another spot, said, 'there were
upwards of sixty bodies within a distance of
sixty yards.' The author, so long threatened
with death, told us ourselves, 'I saw myself,
upwards of eight hundred dead bodies lying
along the Boulevards.'
“Now think, compute how many you require
of battered brains, of breasts shattered by
case-shot, literally to cover with blood half a
mile of Boulevards. Go you, as went the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
541
wives, the sisters, the daughters, the wailing
mothers, take a torch with you, plunge into
that dark night, feel on that ground, feel along
those walls, pick up the corpses, interrogate
the phantoms, and then reckon if you can.
"The number of his victims! We are left to
our conjectures. This question must be solved
by history. As for us, it is a question which
we pledge ourselves to examine and explore
hereafter.
"On the first day, Louis Bonaparte made a
display of his slaughter. We have told the
reason why. It suited his purpose. After
that, having derived from the deed all the
required advantage, he concealed it. Orders
were communicated to the Elyséan journals to
be silent; Magnan was to suppress; the his-
toriographers were to ignore. They buried the
slain after midnight, without lights, without
funerals, without prayers, without priests, by
stealth. Families were enjoined not to weep
aloud.
"The massacre along the Boulevards was
only a part, it was followed by the summary
fusillades, and secret executions.
"One of the witnesses, whom we have ques-
tioned, said to a major in the Gendarmerie
Mobile, who had distinguished himself in
these butcheries, 'Come, tell us the figure?
Was it four hundred?' The man shook his
head. Was it eight hundred?' 'Say
twelve hundred,' said the officer, and you
will still fall short.'
(
"At this present hour, nobody knows exactly
what the 2nd December was, what it did,
what it dared, whom it killed, whom it buried.
The very morning of the crime, the newspaper
offices were sealed up, and their liberty sup-
pressed by Louis Napoleon, that man of silence
and darkness. On the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th,
the 5th, and ever since, Truth was taken by
the throat and strangled just as she was about
to speak. Not even a cry could escape her.
He has deepened the gloom above his snare,
and in part he has succeeded. Let history
strive as she may, the 2nd December will,
perhaps, continue involved, for a long time to
come, in dismal obscurity.”
Having placed before the readers the descrip-
tion of the coup d'état from a French Repub-
lican point of view, the following is from the
pen of an impartial Englishman and officer,
Captain Jesse, in a letter addressed to a literary
publication. As this was the most important
episode in the life of Louis Napoleon, a con-
siderable amount of space is necessarily and
appropriately given to it :-
"Thursday. Before proceeding to relate the
details of the events of this day, I will endea-
vour to explain the exact position of the apart-
ments I occupied, and the extent of ground
comprised within my view, and state the dis-
tances between the extreme points. From the
northern extremity of the Rue de Richelieu to
the Boulevard du Temple, the several Boule-
vards Montmartre, Poissonnière, Bonne Nou-
velle, St. Denis, and St. Martin, form one un-
broken line of about 2,000 yards running nearly
east and west. The Boulevards westward of
the Rue de Richelieu turn from that point to
the south-west, and the Boulevard Italien with
that of Montmartre, form at that point an
obtuse angle, so that a person in the Café Car-
dinal, at the west corner of the Rue Richelieu,
could only see a very few houses, and those on
the north side, on the last-mentioned Boule-
vard. From this café to my apartments on the
south side of the Boulevard, three doors from
the Rue Montmartre, the distance is rather
more than 200 yards, and from this spot I had
an uninterrupted view eastward, for almost
800 yards-in short, nearly as far as the Porte
St. Denis, where the more distant Boulevards
542
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
---
retire a little from the direct line. It is there-
fore with these 1,000 yards-that is to say,
from the Rue Richelieu to the eastern extremity
of the Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle-that my
remarks apply.
"Opposite my apartment is the Restaurant
Bonnefoy, and leaving this about half-past ten,
a countryman on a cart-horse was pointed out
to me as having just had his waggon taken
from him to help to form a barricade near
Porte St. Denis. The circulation of carriages
in that direction very soon ceased, and at eleven
the shopkeepers commenced putting up their
shutters. Between this hour and one o'clock I
was at the Minister of the Interior's, Rue de
Grenelle, and both going there and returning,
everything seemed quiet; there was no appa-
rent movement amongst the troops within the
iron railings of the Tuileries, or on the Car-
rousel; the shops, however, were closed in
the Rue Richelieu. At two o'clock, when
approaching the extremity of the Rue Vivienne,
I observed the troops passing along the Boule-
vard, which they cleared, driving the people
into the side streets, who ran down it crying,
'Sauvez-vous!? I sought refuge with my wife
in a shop, and subsequently reached my own
house. At three o'clock, returning from the
Place de la Bourse, it was with the greatest
difficulty I got back again. The guns had
been distinctly heard for some time in the
direction of the Faubourg St. Denis, and the
passage of troops that way continued for a
quarter of an hour after I came back. Having
written a note, I went to the balcony at which
my wife was standing, and remained there
watching the troops. The whole Boulevard,
The whole Boulevard,
as far as the eye could reach, was crowded with
them, principally infantry, in sub-divisions at
quarter distance, with here and there a batch
of 12-pounders and howitzers, some of which
occupied the rising ground on the Boulevard
Poissonnière. The windows were crowded with
people, principally women, tradesmen, servants,
and children, or, like ourselves, the occupants
of apartments. The mounted officers were
smoking their cigars-a custom introduced
into the army, as I have understood, by the
princes of the Orleans family-not a very
soldierlike one, but at such a moment, parti-
cularly reassuring, as it forbad the idea that
their services were likely to be called into
immediate requisition. Of the Boulevard des
Italiens, I could see but little, on account of
the angle I have mentioned, but in the direc-
tion of the Porte St. Denis, I could see dis-
tinctly as far as the end of the Boulevard
Bonne Nouvelle. Suddenly, and while I was
intently looking with my glass at the troops
in the distance eastward, a few musket shots
were fired at the head of the column, which
consisted of about 3,000 men. In a few
moments it spread, and after hanging a
little came down the Boulevard in a waving
sheet of flame. So regular, however, was the
fire, that at first I thought it was a feu-de-joie
for some barricade taken in advance, or to
signal their position to some other division,
and it was not till it came within fifty yards of
me that I recognised the sharp ringing report
of ball-cartridge; but even then I could scarcely
believe the evidence of my ears, for as to my
eyes, I could not discover any enemy to fire at,
and I continued looking at the men until the
company below me were actually raising their
firelocks, and one vagabond, sharper than the
rest—a mere lad, without either whisker or
moustache-had covered me. In an instant
I dashed my wife, who had just stepped back,
against the pier between the windows, when
a shot struck the ceiling immediately over our
heads, and covered us with dust and broken
plaster. In a second after I placed her upon
the floor, and in another a vclley came against
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
543
the whole front of the house, the balcony, and
windows; one shot broke the mirror over the
chimney-piece, another the shade of the clock;
every pane of glass but one was smashed, the
curtains and window frames cut; the room, in
short, was riddled. The iron balcony, though
rather low, was a great protection, still five
balls entered the room, and in the pause for
re-loading I drew my wife to the door, and
took refuge in the back rooms of the house.
The rattle of musketry was incessant for more
than a quarter of an hour after this, and in a
very few minutes the guns were unlimbered
and pointed at the magasin of M. Salandrouze,
five houses on our right. What the object or
meaning of all this might be, was a perfect
enigma to every individual in the house—
French or foreigner; some thought the troops
had turned round and joined the Reds, others
suggested that they must have been fired upon
somewhere, though they certainly had not from
our house, or any other on the Boulevard
Montmartre, or we must have seen it from the
balcony. Besides which, in the temper in
which the soldiers proved themselves to be,
had that been the case, they would never have
waited for any signal from the head of the
column eight hundred yards off. This wanton
fusillade must have been the result of a panic,
lest the windows should have been lined with
concealed enemies, and they wanted to secure
their skins by the first fire, or it was a san-
guinary impulse-either motive being equally
discreditable to them as soldiers, in the one
case, or citizens in the other. As a military
man, it is with the deepest regret that I feel
compelled to entertain the latter opinion. The
men, as I have already stated, fired volley upon
volley for more than a quarter of an hour with-
out any return; they shot down many of the
unhappy individuals who remained on the
Boulevard and could not obtain an entrance
into any house. Some persons were killed
close to our door, and their blood lay in the
hollows round the trees the next morning when
we passed at twelve o'clock. The soldiers
entered houses whence no shots ever came, and
though La Patrie, the newspaper of the Elysée,
pretended to specify them by name, it was, in
a subsequent number, obliged to deny its own
scandalous imputations.
"But let us admit that a few shots were fired
from two or three houses on the other Boule-
vards-that a few French soldiers were killed-
was that a reason for this murderous onslaught
on the houses and persons of their fellow-
citizens, to the extent of nearly a mile of one
of their most populous thoroughfares? The
loss of innocent life must have been great, very
great, more than ever will be known, for the
press is more free now in Russia than in France.
The Boulevards and the adjacent streets were
at some points a perfect shamble, but I do not
mean to state what I have heard and ascer-
tained of that loss, for I do not wish to make
the picture darker than it need be; it has been
engraved by the bayonet in the minds of the
people inhabiting this quarter of Paris, who
cannot but dread for the future, the protection
of their own soldiers. I say for the future;
but the very Frenchmen in the house we were
in, had then so little opinion of their humanity,
that when I proposed to call one of the officers
to search the hotel, and thereby remove the
suspicion that any of us had fired, they re-
sisted and prevented me, saying that I did not
know French soldiers, and that if any of them
ever got in they would put every soul to death,
as they had done in the Rue Transnonain in
June, 1848, and as they did in several houses
on the present occasion, from which shots were
fired, or said to have been so. The anxieties
of the night that followed the afternoon and
evening of Thursday, destitute of any assurance
-
1
544
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
from without or protection, may be more readily
imagined than described. Your correspondent
appears to have a favourable impression of the
conduct of the troops; they deserved it, no
doubt, in carrying the barricades, but on the
Boulevards it was a disgrace to the French
army. Their discipline, however, was unques-
tionably bad, for I never heard any order given
to fire, though standing where I could not
have failed to hear it had it been so; and if
the fire was impromptu, had the officers no
power to check it after the first volley? If
they had, and did not use it, what was the
reason of this strange indifference to the whole-
sale shedding of innocent blood? and if they
could not restrain their men, what is their dis-
cipline worth? Certainly, within the range of
my vision, no officer's hand or voice was raised
to check them, or warn the confiding lookers-on
from the windows, as described in the columns
of your paper. Whether the foregoing opinions
are just or not, the appalling facts cannot be
denied, and the President's most partial ad-
mirers must, perforce, admit that his military
supporters will not be restrained by any sense
of mercy or discretion from carrying his wishes
into effect. I left Paris yesterday, when all
was for the present quiet. I am, Sir, your
obedient servant,
66 'WILLIAM JESSE,
"Late Captain Unattached."
SARA
So important is the coup d'état in the life of
Louis Napoleon and the history of France,
that the experience of one observer more is
added, and that a man remarkable in litera-
ture-Mr. Gooderich, so well known under
his nom de plume of "Peter Parley."
"It was the 2nd of December, of the year
1851, I had arisen at my usual hour, break-
fasted, read Galignani and the Constitutionnel,
my morning papers, without finding an item
.
:
1
of interest; and, as the morning was sombre,
had prepared myself for a day of more than
ordinary quiet. Towards one o'clock a French
lady dropped in. She was somewhat excited,
and I inquired the reason. "What!' said she,
'have you not heard the news? There is a
revolution. Paris is in a state of siege. The
troops are all in the streets; the National
Assembly is dissolved; most of the members
are imprisoned; the railroad tracks are torn
up, to prevent the provinces from marching
upon the city; Louis Napoleon is Emperor.'
And thus she rattled off a volley of news, that
was genuine news indeed. I immediately
went out. The good citizens of Paris, who
had gone to bed under a Republic, were just
leaving their breakfast-tables to read the pro-
clamations which announced to them it had
suddenly departed this life, forgetting to add,
however, leaving a numerous and afflicted
family. Those who had most at stake in this
violent change knew nothing about it, until it
had been old news by some hours in London.
I passed along the Boulevards and the usual
resorts of business. All the shops were closed.
Groups read in silence the notices, and quietly
dispersed. This part of the city, usually so
rife with life, appeared as if stunned by a
violent blow; men held their breath. It was
not the settled composure with which the
seaman looks upon the coming storm, but the
anxiety and terror with which it awaited an
expected earthquake. The public gardens and
the Palais Royal were closed. There was no
thought of amusement. The Champs Elysées,
Place Madeleine, and every avenue leading to
the Palais Bourbon, and residence of Louis
Napoleon, were filled with dense masses of
troops in fighting order. More than 50,000
were under arms. They, too, were awaiting,
they knew not what; but ready, at the order
of their chiefs, to rise and slay. Certain streets
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
545
were closed; those who had homes therein
found no little difficulty in reaching them.
That evening, the celebrated Jesuit, Le Ven-
tura, was to preach at Notre Dame. I started
early to obtain admission, as he always draws
a multitude. By this time, six o'clock, the
troops had returned to their barracks, and
Paris looked as gay and busy as on the pre-
ceding evening. The church was closed;
nothing was permitted at this juncture that
would attract the people to one spot. News-
boys were crying at every corner the dissolu-
tion of the National Assembly, and the other
stringent measures of the President. The
people had begun to discuss them. The first
sentiments were admiration at the cleverness
with which it had been done. The President
had conversed, even till midnight, in the most
friendly manner, at the Elysée, with his oppo-
nents. No agitation announced the desperate
throw he had then resolved to make of his
political dice. Yet his head was upon the
cast, and if successful, he foresaw that blood
was to be shed. In four hours the deed was
done. Every printing press, not his own,
seized. The Assembly dissolved. The Legis-
lative halls closed. Those in whose hands the
grasp of his own was scarcely cold, arrested
and in prison. Thiers wept, and was alter-
nately fool and coward. Cavaignac dignified.
Changarnier haughty, and Lamoricière pugna-
cious. The selection was admirable. In
twelve hours the bourgeoisie exclaimed, 'C'est
bien fait!' and were ready to go on with their
amusements.
S
"On the 3rd there was more excitement.
The secret societies were at work. The Reds
were recovering from their astonishment; ex-
members of the National Assembly harangued
the multitude, and circulated addresses to
arouse the people to resistance. The result
was several barricades, which were speedily
carried by the troops, with some loss on both
sides. On the part of the government, the
proclamations became more stringent. Car-
riages were forbidden to circulate, or the inha-
| bitants to appear in the streets. Those taken
near any barricade with arms about them were
to be put to death. In the evening there was
shouting, inflammatory speeches, the rallying
cries of parties. Immense human masses on the
boulevards and the quays heaved to and fro in
silent anger. Some said that the excitement
would spend itself in words; others, that Louis
Napoleon would be killed within forty-eight
hours.
"The next morning was the 4th. There
was not much stirring; the shops were gene-
rally closed. I went to the Rue de Jenneurs,
where I had business. This was before mid-
day. As I approached this street, I saw crowds
running through it, panic struck, whilst the
residents were barring their windows and clos-
ing their doors. I asked the reason, but all
were too much frightened to speak intelli-
gently. Some thought the faubourgs were
rising, and others, that the troops were ap-
proaching; each added to the alarm of his
neighbour. At last I heard that barricades
were being erected at the Port St. Denis, on
the boulevard of that name. Being curious to
see a barricade, I pushed directly for the spot.
On arrival, I found the work going bravely on.
Four were already commenced, at different
intervals in the boulevard. Stagings had been
torn from unfinished houses; iron railings
from the magnificent gateway; trees cut
down; carts, carriages, and omnibuses tri-
umphantly dragged from hiding places amid
shouts of exultation, and added to the monster
piles. The stout iron railing and massive
stone wall which protects the side walk from
the street, long resisted the efforts of destruc-
tion. Crowbars, and the united strength of
4 A
546
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
several hundred men, at last brought it down.
Pavements were torn up and shaped into
breastworks.
"The barricades soon began to assume a
formidable appearance, and to any force but
artillery were well-nigh impregnable. They
were further strengthened by ropes, which
bound firmly together the disjointed parts.
There were not very many at work, but those
who were laboured like beavers, and evidently
knew their trade. Blouses and broadcloth were
about equally mixed. Neither were there many
spectators. All sorts of rumours were in cir-
culation. The army, it was said, had left
Paris, to defend the city against the troops
coming in from the neighbouring cities; such
a regiment had revolted; the National Guards
were arming; in short, every species of tale
to encourage and exasperate the enemies of
the President was circulated by agents of the
political parties of the late Assembly. Having
completed the barricades, the mob burst into
the nearest guardhouse with wild shouts,
sacked it, placed its flag on their most formid-
able fortification, and used the materials to
further strengthen their quarters. The small
force usually there had been withdrawn, or it❘
would have been massacred. Sinister indi-
viduals in blouses, armed with cutlasses, mus-
kets and pistols, began to appear; these acted
as leaders. They broke into all the neighbour-
ing shops, and searched the houses for arms.
When any were found, they marked in chalk
on the building, 'Arms given; death to rob-
hers.' From one of the theatres they pro-
cured a few muskets and a drum. These were
hailed with shouts of joy, and a party began
beating the rappel through the adjacent streets.
The comments of the spectators varied,
some said, 'Let the rascals go a-head, they
wish to plunder and kill; they will soon be
taught a good lesson;' others encouraged. A
•
rough-looking fellow, armed with a musket,
who seemed to have authority, came up to me
and said, 'If you are one of the curious you
had better be off.' I thought so too, as ap-
pearances began to wear a serious aspect. The
houses overlooking the barricades were taken
possession of and garrisoned; sentinels were
placed at the principal points; the non-com-
batants were mostly gone, and few but fighters
left.
6
"I had been there less than two hours, yet
so rapidly had the mob worked, that all the
streets opening on this vicinity were already
fortified. I was forced to climb three barri-
cades, politely assisted over one by an armed
lad in a blouse, before getting clear of their
line of operations. I found the boulevards
below almost deserted. A brigade of infantry
and artillery were just turning the corner of
the street, marching without music, slowly,
towards the first barricade. Before reaching
it they halted. One half of the artillery passed
in front, and was pointed towards the breast-
works; the other was loaded with grape, and
pointed in the other direction. The few persons
about saluted the troops with Vive la Re-
publique.' The commanding officer ordered
the boulevard to be cleared. The troops
charged upon us, and we slipped out of the
way by the side streets. I then walked down
the Rue Montmartre, where I saw similar
scenes. Coming out again upon the Boule-
vard des Italiens, I found the entire length of
the boulevard, from the spot I first left, filled
with troops, in order of battle. The line ex-
tended into the Rue de la Paix. It was a
stirring spectacle to witness regiment after
regiment of artillery, cavalry, and infantry
pass up this noble avenue to take their stations.
In the novelty and beauty of their array, I quite
lost sight of the fact that they were ordered
out to slaughter those misguided people I had
·
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
547
7
so recently left. At one time they cleared the
side walks, and allowed no one to approach
their lines. The sentinels, however, from some
inexplicable cause, were shortly removed, and
those of the populace who had more curiosity
than fear, allowed to pass along as far as the
Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. This led to the
melancholy slaughter of thirty-five individuals
and the wounding of a large number, soon
after, on the Boulevard Montmartre, just above
where I was. Opposite me was the 7th Lancers,
a fine corps, recently arrived in Paris.
6
"I stood talking with a friend, when from
the upper end of the line the discharge of
cannon was heard, followed by a blaze of
musketry, and a general charge.
Suddenly, there was a louder and nearer crash,
the cavalry in front of me wavered, and then,
as if struck with panic, turned, and rushed in
disorder down the street, making the ground
tremble under their tread. What could have
occurred? The first supposition was, that the
different regiments had turned their arms upon
each other; another, that the Reds' had
proved too strong for the troops. In a few
minutes the horsemen came charging back,
firing their pistols on all sides. Then came in
quick succession the order, 'To shut all win-
dows; to keep out of sight; to open the
blinds,' &c. It seemed, an unexpected fire had
been opened upon the soldiers from some of the
houses above, by which they at first suffered
so severely as to cause a recoil. The roar of
firearms was now tremendous. Mortars and
cannon were directed point blank against the
suspicious houses, within a few roods' dis-
tance, and fired. They were then carried by
assault. Of the hair-breadth escapes of the
inhabitants, and the general destruction of
property, I need not speak. The Govern-
ment afterwards footed all the bills for the
last. The firing continued for nearly an
hour, and then receded to more distant parts
of the city.
"The soldiers have been justly blamed for
firing on the unarmed. Those who fought at
the barricades knew the penalty of defeat. The
inhabitants had been ordered not to appear in
the streets. Those who suffered, forgot the
danger in their curiosity. One gentleman met
his death by standing at a distant corner, and
looking at the troops with a spyglass. It was
mistaken for a musket, and he fell, pierced
with several balls. Those who were killed on
the Boulevard Montmartre were non-com-
batants, but suffered from their rashness.
The public feeling in such cases is ever severe
on the soldier. But in extenuation it should
be remembered that his exposed position in a
street, fired upon from houses on both sides,
is by no means calculated to insure coolness
and judgment. His enemies are unseen, and
he knows, from fatal experience, that a Socialist
gives no quarter. Several of his comrades
had been basely assassinated in the public
ways. Numbers had already fallen from the
fire of his ambushed foes. In the heat of
revenge, he believes every citizen's coat to
cover an assassin, and kills without pity.
"In the evening I again attempted to go up
the boulevards. Squadrons of lancers were on
guard, and brigades of infantry bivouacked
on the side walks. The public were permitted
to go as far as the Rue Lafitte, but obliged to
walk quickly, and not allowed to stop for an
instant. Horsemen, with loaded pistols, stood
at each corner, and if there was the slightest
hesitation, or if two individuals spoke to each
other, they pointed them directly upon the
delinquents, and ordered them to pass on.
The cavalry, with their lances in rest, charged
repeatedly upon groups accidentally formed.
These charges were simply intended to intimi-
date and prevent collections of people. The
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1
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548
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
French rule is, to run at the sight of a soldier.
There is more danger from the panic of the
crowd than from the military. I concluded
an accident was as likely to happen to me as
any one else, and returned home, fully satisfied
by what I had seen during the day, that street
fighting in Paris is a serious matter.
Louis Napoleon proclaimed himself master
The 4th
of France on the 2nd of December.
of December made him master. It was a
terrible lesson, deliberately planned, and in-
tended as such by him."
CHAPTER LXVII.
STATE OF THE DEPARTMENTS AFTER THE SECOND OF DECEMBER.-THE MEASURES OF REPRESSION.
-DISARMING OF NATIONAL GUARDS AT PARIS.-DECREE AGAINST THE PRESS.-PROTEST OF
REFUGEES.-REGULATIONS FOR THE ELECTION.-INTERFERENCE OF THE CHURCH.
"Homines
Torquere leges ut torquant."-BACON.
THE first great anxiety of the French public, | other crimes of the coup d'état, the numberless
after order was restored in the capital, was the incarcerations, the overgorged prisons, the
probable conduct of the Departments. On sequestration of property * belonging to the
the 4th of December the chiefs of the secret exiles in ten departments, particularly in the
societies in Paris sent missives to their brethren Nièvre, the Allier, and the Lower Alps; add
throughout the provinces, directing them to thereto the confiscation of the Orleans pro-
rise and arm in the name of the Republic perty, with the slice allotted to the clergy—
against the attempt of Louis Napoleon Bona- Schinderhannes never forgot to share with the
parte to obtain absolute power. The greater Church; add the united commissions, and
number of the Departments were either favour- the commission, so called, of clemency; † the
able to an Empire, or opposed to the anti-
popular theories of the dissolved Assembly, or,
stunned by the suddenness of the coup d'état,
were unable to make any armed movement.
The author of " Napoleon the Little" thus
describes the way in which in the provinces
the armed resistance was overcome, and un-
fortunately not only conquered, but vindic-
tively and cruelly punished. The author of
the work quoted is a bitter anti-Napoleonist,
therefore may have exaggerated, and was
likely to do so; but separating the facts from
the invective, the reader has still a painful
picture. Add,” says this author, "to the
66
* "Digne, the 5th January, 1852.
"The Colonel commanding the state of siege in the depart-
ment of the Lower Alps,
"Decrees:-
"Within the course of ten days the property of the fugi-
tives from the law will be sequestrated, and appropriated by
the land director in the Lower Alps, according to civil and
military laws, &c.
"FRIRION."
(Ten similar decrees, emanating from the commanders of
states of siege, might be quoted.)
†The number of convictions collectively considered (the
greater part of them consists of transportations), at the date
of the reports, was thus declared:-
By M. Canrobert
Espinasse
Quentin, Bauchart
Total
•
3,876
3,625
1,634
9,135
♣
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
549
councils of war blended with the judges of the
bench; and, multiplying the instances of abomi-
nation, the batches of exiles, the expulsion of
a part of France out of France (the department
of the Herault alone furnishing 3,200 persons,
either banished or transported); add this dismal
proscription--worthy of being compared to the
most cruel desolations in history-which for a
tendency, an opinion, an honest dissent from
that government, for the mere word of a free-
man, uttered too before the 2nd December,
takes, seizes, apprehends, tears away the
labourer from the field, the working man from
his tools, the landlord from his house, the
physician from his patients, the notary from
his office, the councillor-general from his
clients, the judge from his court, the husband
from his wife, the brother from his brother,
the father from his children, the child from
his parents, and marks its ominous cross on
every head, from the highest to the lowest.
Nobody escapes. A man in tatters, wearing a
long beard, came into my room one morning
at Brussels:-'I have just arrived,' said he;
I have travelled on foot, and have had
nothing to eat for two days.' Some bread
was brought in, which he partook of. 'Where
do you come from?' said I to him. 6 • From
Limoges.' 'Why are you here?' 'I don't
know; they drove me away from my home.'
'What are you?' " A maker of wooden
shoes.'
6
“Add to this, Africa; add Guyane; add the
atrocities of Bertrand, of Canrobert, of Espi-
nasse, of Martinprey; the shiploads of women
sent off by General Guyon; the representative
Miot dragged from casemate to casemate;
huts choked with a hundred and fifty captives,
beneath a tropical sun, with confusion of
ranks, with filth, vermin, and where all these
innocent patriots, these honest people perish,
far from their homes, in fever, in misery, in
horror, in despair, and wringing their hands.
Behold all these unhappy men handed over
to gendarmes, bound two by two, piled up
together in the lower decks of the Magellan,
the Canada, the Duguesclin, cast among the
convicts of Lambessa and Cayenne, not
knowing what is intended them, and ignorant
of what they have done. One of them,
Alphonse Lambert, from Indre, snatched from
his bed when dying; another, Patureau Fran-
cœur, a vintner, transported, because at his
village they wanted to make him a President
of the Republic; a third, Valette, a carpenter
at Châteauroux, transported for having, six
months previously to the 2nd December, on
the day of an execution, refused to erect the
guillotine.
"Add to these the hunting after men
among the villages, the battue of Viroy, in
the mountains of Lure; Pellion's battue in the
woods of Clamecy, with his 1,500 men ; order
restored at Crest-out of 2,000 insurgents, 300
slain; columns moving in all drections. Who-
ever stands up for the law, sabred and shot. At
Marseilles, Charles Sauvan exclaims, Long
live the Republic!' a grenadier of the 54th
fires at him; the ball enters his side and
comes out of his belly. Vincent, of Bourges,
is assistant to the mayor as a magistrate
he protests against the coup d'état; they
track him through the village-he escapes—
he is pursued-a horse soldier cuts off two
of his fingers with his sword-another cleaves
his head-he falls-they remove him to Fort
Ivry before dressing his wounds. He is an
old man of seventy-six.
6
"Add to these the summary fusillades in
twenty departments: All who resist,' writes
Saint-Arnaud, minister of war, are to be
shot, in the name of society defending itself.'
Six days have sufficed to crush the insur-
rection,' states General Levaillant, who com-
Jan
I
1
550
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
(
،
manded the state of siege in the Var. I
made some good captures,' writes Commandant
Viroy from Saint-Etienne; I have shot,
without stirring, eight persons, and am now
in pursuit of the leaders in the woods."* At
At
Bordeaux, General Bourjoly enjoins the chiefs
of the mobile columns to have immediately
shot every person caught with arms in his
hands.' At Forcalquier, the case was still
more flagrant; the proclamation declaring the
state of siege publishes :- The town of For-
calquier is in a state of siege. Those citizens
who took no part in the day's events, and who
have arms in their possession, are summoned
to give them up on pain of being shot.' The
mobile column of Pézénas arrives at Servian;
a man tries to escape from a house sur-
rounded by soldiers; he is shot at and killed.
At Entrains, eighty prisoners are taken; one
of them escapes by the river; he is fired at,
struck by a ball, and sinks under the water;
the rest are shot. To these execrable deeds
add the following, which are infamous-At
Brioud, in Upper Loire, a man and woman
are thrown into prison for having ploughed
the field of one of the exiles; at Loriol, in the
Drôme, Astier, a forest-keeper, is condemned
to twenty years' hard labour for having shel-
tered some fugitives. Add too, and my pen
shakes as I write it, the punishment of death
revived, the political guillotine re-erected, and
sentences which horrify; citizens condemned to
-
"All who resist must be shot, in the name of society de-
fending itself."
death on the scaffold by the judicial janissaries
of the courts martial:―at Clamecy, it was
Millelot, Jouanin, Guillemot, Sabatier, and
Four; at Lyons, it was Courty, Romegal,
Bressieux, Fauritz, Julien, Roustain, and
Garan, assistant to the Mayor of Cliouscat ;
at Montpellier, seventeen were left to suffer
for the affair of Bédarrieux- these were
Mercadier, Delpech, Denis, André, Barthez,
Triadou, Pierre Carrière, Galzy, Calas (called
the cowkeeper), Gardy, Jacques Pagès, Michel
Hercule, Mar, Vène, Frié, Malaterre, Beau-
mont, Pradal, the six last being luckily con-
tumacious; and at Montpellier four more,
Choumac, Vidal, Cadelard, and Pagès. What
was the crime of these men? Their crime?
Why, it is yours, if you are a good subject;
it is mine, I, who write these lines; it is
that of obedience to the 110th article in the
Constitution; it is an armed resistance to
Louis Bonaparte's outrage; and the court
orders that the execution shall take place
in the usual way on one of the public squares
of Béziers, with respect to the four last, and,
in the case of the other seventeen, in one of
the squares of Bédarrieux. The Moniteur
announces it; but the Moniteur, it is true,
announces, at the same time, that the service
of the last ball at the Tuileries was per-
formed by three hundred stewards, habited
in the liveries prescribed by the ceremonial
of the old imperial house.
* Read the despatch, copied verbatim from the Moniteur :
"The armed insurrection has been totally suppressed in
Paris by vigorous measures. The same energy will produce
the same effect everywhere else.
"Bands of people, carrying pillage, rape, and fire along just occurred at Belley.
with them, are outlaws. With them you must not argue; you
must attack and scatter them.
The men who offered armed resistance in the provinces did
not merit this brand of criminality.
"Unless a universal cry of horror should
stop this man in time, all these heads will
fall.
"Whilst we are writing, this is what has
"A native of Bugez, near Belley, a work-
ing man, named Charlet, had warmly ad-
vocated, on the 10th December, 1848, the
election of Louis Bonaparte. He had cir-
culated bulletins, supported, propagated, and
•
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
551
hawked them; he exulted in the election
when over; his hopes were based on Louis
Napoleon; he believed in the Socialist writings
of the prisoner of Ham, and his philanthro-
pical and republican programmes. On the
10th December there were many such honest
dupes; these are now the most indignant.
When Louis Bonaparte was in power, when
they saw the man at work, these illusions
vanished. Charlet, a man of intelligent
mind, was one of those whose republican
probity was outraged, and gradually, as
Louis Bonaparte continued to sink deeper
and deeper into reactive measures, Charlet
shook himself free; thus did he pass from
the most confiding partisanship to the most
open and zealous opposition. The same
story would apply to many other right noble
hearts.
"On the 2nd December Charlet did not
hesitate. When he witnessed the many
crimes included in the infamous deed of Louis
Bonaparte, Charlet felt the law stirring within
him; he reflected that he ought to be the
more severe, because he was one of those
whose trust had been most misplaced. He
clearly understood that there no longer re-
mained but one duty to the citizen-a strict
duty, inseparable from law, to defend the
Republic and the Constitution, and to resist
by every means the man whom the Left, but
still more his own crime, had justly outlawed.
The refugees from Switzerland crossed the
frontier in arms, passed over the Rhône, near
Anglefort, and entered the department of Ain.
Charlet joined their ranks.
"At Seyssel, the little troop fell in with
some custom-house officers. The latter, volun-
tary or misled accomplices of the coup d'état,
offered to resist their passage. A conflict
ensued, one of the officers was killed, and
Charlet was made prisoner.
"The coup d'état brought Charlet to a
court-martial. He was charged with the death
of the custom-house officer, which, after all,
was but an incident of war. At all events
Charlet was innocent of that death, since the
officer had fallen by a shot, and Charlet had
no weapon but a sharpened file.
"Charlet would not recognise as a lawful
bench the body of men who pretended to sit
in judgment on him. He said to them, 'You
are no judges; where is the law? The law is
on my side.' He refused to answer them.
"Questioned as to the fact of the officer
killed, he could have cleared up the whole
matter by a single word; but to descend to
an explanation would, to a certain extent,
have been a recognition of that bench. He
would not do this, so he was silent.
"These men condemned him to die, 'accord-
ing to the usual mode of criminal executions.'
"The conviction over, he seemed to have
been forgotten; days, weeks, mouths elapsed.
Everybody about the prison said to Charlet,
'You are saved.'
"On the 29th June last, at break of day,
the town of Belley saw a dismal sight. The
scaffold had started up out of the earth at
night, and stood in the middle of the public
square.
"The inhabitants when they met looked
pale, and asked each other-Have you seen
what there is in the square?' 'Yes.' 'Who
is it for?'
"It was for Charlet.
"The sentence of death had been deferred
to M. Bonaparte; it had slumbered a long
time at the Elysée; there was other business
to attend to; but one fine morning, after a
lapse of seven months, all the world having
forgotten the conflict at Seyssel, the custom-
house officer who had been killed, and Charlet
himself, M. Bonaparte, wanting most likely
I
552
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I
A
*
i
to put some event between the festival of the
10th May and the festival of the 15th August,
had signed the warrant of execution.
"On the 29th June, therefore, Charlet was
removed from his prison. They told him he
was about to die. He continued calm. A man
who has justice on his side does not fear death,
for he feels that he possesses two things: one
of which, his body-may be killed; the other,
justice which can have neither its arms
pinioned, nor its head cut off.
6
"They wanted to make Charlet seat himself
in a cart. No,' said he to the gendarmes,
'I will go on foot, I can walk, I am not afraid.'
“There was a great crowd lining his passage.
Every eye in the town knew him and loved.
him; his friends sought his eyes. Charlet,
his arms fastened behind his back, bowed his
head right and left. 'Farewell, James! fare-
well, Peter!' said he smiling. Farewell,
Charlet!' answered they, and all of them
wept. The gendarmerie and the troops of the
line surrounded the scaffold. He ascended it
with slow and steady steps. When they saw
him standing on the scaffold, a shudder ran
through the crowd; the women uttered cries,
the men clenched their hands.
and sets the seal to them-a sad and gloomy
seal.
acts.'
'Farewell,
"Whilst they were strapping him to the
plank, he looked up at the knife, saying:—
'When I reflect that I was once a Bonapartist!'
Then, raising his eyes to heaven, he exclaimed,
'Long live the Republic!'
"This is more than the complement; it is the
crowning act.
"One feels that M. Bonaparte must be satis-
fied! To have shot down the people by night,
in the dark, in solitude, at the Champ-de-Mars,
under the arches of the bridges, behind a lonely
wall; no matter who, at random, hap-hazard,
unknown persons, shadows, the very number
of whom none can tell, to have the anonymous
shot by the anonymous, and all these tossed
into obscurity, into blank forgetfulness. In
the aggregate there is little to satisfy self-
love; it looks like hiding one's self, and truly
the hiding is effective; it is vulgar. Scrupulous
men have a right to say to you:- You know
you are afraid; you would not dare to do these
things publicly; you shrink from your own
acts.' And, to a certain extent, they seem to
be right. To shoot down people by night is a
violation of every law, both human and divine,
but it still lacks insolence. There is nothing
in it to exult in. Something better yet remains
to be done.
"The open day, the public place, the judicial
scaffold, the regular apparatus of social ven-
geance-to hand the innocent over to these,
to put them to death in this manner! Ah!
what a difference is here! this will suit me!
To commit a murder in the noontide day, in
the heart of the town, by means of one machine.
called a court-martial, and another machine
slowly erected by a carpenter, adjusted, fixed
together, screwed on and greased at leisure;
to say it shall be at such an hour; then to
display two baskets, and say this one is for
the body, that other for the head; at the
appointed time to bring up your victim bound
with ropes, attended by a priest, to progress
calmly with your murder, to charge a registrar
"This crime being added to the rest completes to report upon it, to surround the murdered
"The next moment his head fell.
"It was a day of mourning at Belley and
through all the villages of Ain. How did
he die?' they inquired. 'Bravely, God be
praised!
"In this manner, then, a man has been killed.
"The mind sinks and is swallowed up in
horror at the contemplation of a deed so
damnable.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
553
victim with gendarmes and naked swords, so
that the people there may shudder, and not
know what it is they behold, and wonder
whether these men in uniform are a brigade
of gendarmerie or a band of robbers, asking
each other as the knife falls down, whether it
is an executioner or an assassin they see before
them. This is bold and resolute, this is a
parody of the law, most shameless and allur-
ing, and one full worthy of accomplishment;
this is a great and magnificent blow dealt on
the cheek of justice. Commend us to this!
"To do this, seven months after the strife,
coolly, without necessity, as an omission you
atone for, as a duty you fulfil, this is terrible,
this is the perfect thing; it carries along with
it a look of equity which perplexes the con-
science and makes honesty shudder.
"Look at this terrible picture, which com-
prehends the whole case: here are two men
a working man and a prince. The prince com-
mits a crime and is borne into the Tuileries;
the working man does his duty, and he ascends
the scaffold. Who set up the working man's
scaffold? It was the prince!
"Yes, this man who, had he been conquered
in December, could only have escaped the
punishment of death by the omnipotence of
progress, and by an enlargement, too liberal
certainly, of the principle that human life is
sacred; this man, this Louis Bonaparte, this
prince who transfers the manners of Poulmann
and Soufflard to politics, he it is who rebuilds
the scaffold! Nor does he tremble! Nor does
he look pale! Nor does he feel that it is an
ominous step, that it depends on ourselves not
to raise up the scaffold; but when once it is
up we cannot throw it down, and that he who
sets it up for another afterwards finds it for
himself. It knows him again, and says to
him, 'Thou didst place me here, and I waited
for thee.""
The President and his party entertained
doubts of the National Guards of Paris, and
he was desirous to find some good reason or
decent pretext to dissolve them by degrees,
so as not to outrage public opinion or provoke
armed opposition; accordingly, M. de Morny
issued the following :
"Paris, December 7, 1851.
"General,
"In several quarters of Paris some persons
belonging to the better classes have been bare-
faced enough to put upon their door, 'Arms
given away.' One might easily understand a
National Guardsman to write, 'Arms seized
by force,' in order to shield his responsibility
towards the State and vindicate his honour
before his fellow-citizens; but to inscribe his
own shame on the door of his own house is an
insult to the French character.
"I have ordered the Prefect of Police to
see that these inscriptions are erased, and I
request you to forward the names of those
legions by whom such acts were perpetrated,
in order that I may submit a proposition to
the President of the Republic, having in view
a decree for their dissolution.
"To General Lavæstine, Commander-in-chief of the
National Guards of Paris."
The general replied thus:-
"Paris, December 7, 1851.
"Monsieur le Ministre,
"The entire National Guard will applaud
the sentiments expressed in the letter you
have done me the honour to write to me.
"One of the legions of Paris has undergone
the twofold affront of being disarmed whilst in
their own abode, and of the shameful inscrip-
tions to which you allude. The mayoralty,
spite of the presence of upwards of sixty men,
was taken by the insurgents. The 5th is the
legion in question.
4 B
554
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
"I haste to report its behaviour to you, and
request it may be disbanded. I am, however,
on the other side, happy to be in the pos-
session of several circumstances which attest
the spirit of order and obedience that never
ceased to prevail among the other legions."
The 5th legion was immediately dissolved.
M. de Morny issued a circular addressed to the
prefects, couched in these terms:-
'Paris, the 7th December, 1851.
"Monsieur le Prefet,
"You were empowered by my circular bear-
ing date the 3rd December to suspend and
even to replace forthwith any functionary on
whose co-operation you could not calculate
with certainty.
"It was expedient to confer these powers
on you so long as there existed any necessity
for at once crushing any resistance of a nature
likely to compromise the success of the great
measures for public safety decreed by Prince
Louis Napoleon.
"These powers authorised you to exercise
control over the juges de paix; now that
government has mastered the situation, they
must cease. The interval that will precede
the opening of the scrutin leaves you, more-
over, at liberty to follow the ordinary course
of nomination.
G
“You will, therefore, Monsieur le Prefet,
henceforth leave to the heads of the Court of
Appeal the free, full, and uncontrolled exercise
of their judicial rights, and to the Minister
of Justice the exercise of the right which is
equally his of seeing that all the functions of
the magistrature are well provided for. In
conclusion, I have to inform you that the
Minister of Justice requests the procureurs
généraux to consult you as to the dismissals
and replacings which it is requisite to effect."
Next day, on the 8th of December, such
confidence was excited by this proclamation
that the funds rose, and the masses believed
that the President was about to inaugurate a
régime of freedom and order.
Various decrees were issued which left the
liberties of the people at the will of the
President; yet they were agreeable to the
trading and speculative portions of the com-
munity, for the funds rapidly rose. The
5 per Cents., which on the 1st of December
were 91 fr. 60, were on the 16th 100 fr. 90.
Probably not less than 4,000 men were
penally expatriated by these decrees, sanc-
tioned by no law, but made in virtue of the
authority acquired by force.
It is remarkable that the Prince President
could, with such a bold defiance of all law,
overthrow the Constitution, and extinguish it
in the blood of the citizens, when so recently
as 1849 he had himself solemnly condemned
his own previous attempts upon the monarchy
and the constitution under Louis Philippe.
When in the autumn of that year he visited
Ham, where for so many years he had been
a prisoner for his escapade at Boulogne, he
received an address from the mayor and
citizens, and in his reply assured them that
he had no satisfaction in recalling to memory
the conduct which led to his imprisonment
in the neighbouring fortress, because his effort
at Boulogne was to overthrow a legally con-
stituted government, and expressed astonish-
ment at the criminal audacity which then
influenced him. As there can now be no doubt
that at the very time he thus spoke he con-
templated the overthrow of the Constitution
under which he was President, and the ac-
complishment of the coup d'état and the
Empire, the speech throws a flood of light
upon the character of him by whom it was
spoken. Yet after such a speech he seems to
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
555
have felt no shame or compunction in shooting
down his fellow-citizens and trampling out
their liberties.
Enemy of Louis Napoleon as Victor Hugo
was when he wrote the following words, it is
impossible, with any desire to be impartial,
and also just to the French Emperor, not to
feel their force:-
"The boulevards of Paris, the streets of
Paris, the towns and the country of the
twenty departments of France, were strewed,
on the 2nd December, with the dead and
dying bodies of citizens. There were seen,
before the thresholds, fathers and mothers
slaughtered, children sabred, women dis-
hevelled and ensanguined, even terated by
grape-shot; there were seen, in the houses,
suppliants massacred-some shot in heaps in
the cellars, others despatched by the bayonet
under their beds, others prostrated by a bullet
on their own hearths. The impress of blood-
stained hands is still visible on many a wall,
many a door, many a recess; for three days
after the victory of Louis Bonaparte, Paris
walked in mud red with gore; a cap full of
human brains was hanging on a tree in the
Boulevard des Italiens. I, who write this, saw,
among other victims, near the barricade Mau-
conseil, an old, white-haired man, stretched
on the pavement, his bosom pierced with a
bayonet, his collar-bone broken; the gutter that
ran beneath him bore away his blood. I saw,
I touched with my hands, I helped to undress
a child of seven years of age, killed, they
told me, in the Rue Tiquetonne; he was pale,
his head fell from one shoulder to the other
whilst they were taking off his clothes; his
half-closed eyes were fixed, and as I leant
over his open mouth, he seemed to make a
feeble effort to murmur' My mother!'
"Well, there is something more heart-
rending than that murdered child; more
lamentable than that old man, shot dead;
more horrible than that cap full of human
brains; more frightful than those pavements,
red with carnage; more irreparable than those
men and those women, than those fathers and
those brothers, slaughtered and assassinated-
'tis the departing honour of a great people!
"Assuredly, those pyramids of dead bodies.
which one saw in the cemeteries, after the
waggons from the Champ-de-Mars had
emptied their contents; those immense open
trenches, which they filled in the night with
human bodies, making speed to have done
before the light of dawn; all this was fright-
ful: but that which is still more frightful is
to think that, at this hour, the people doubt;
and that, for them, France, that great moral
splendour, has disappeared!
"That which is more heart-rending than
skulls cleft by the sabre, than breasts laid
open by bullets, more disastrous than houses
profaned, than murder filling the streets,
than blood flowing down the gutters, is to
think that now, among the people of the
earth, you see this nation of nations, this
people of the 14th July, this people of the
10th August, this people of 1830, this people
of 1848, this race of giants, which broke down
the Bastile, this race of men, whose faces
shone full of fire-this country of the human
race, which produced heroes and thinkers-
those heroes who created all revolutions, and
gave birth to all great thoughts-that France,
whose name meant liberty, that soul of the
world, which shone over Europe, that light...
Well! some one has walked upon it, and put
it out. There is no longer France. It is at
an end. Look! Everywhere 'tis darkness-
the world is groping about.
"Ah! it was so grand! Where are those
times, those fine times, interspersed with

556
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#
storms, but splendid; when all was life, when
all was liberty, when all was glory?—those
times when the French people, awake before
any others, up before the light, its brows
blanched by the dawn of the future
already risen for them said to the other
nations, still sleeping, still weighed down,
and scarcely able to shake their chains in
their sleep, 'Be at ease. I work for all!
I dig the earth for all! I am the workman
of the Almighty!'
"What profound grief! Regard that torpor
where formerly there was power-that shame,
where formerly existed pride — that noble
people, that once raised its head erect, and
now bows it down! Alas! Louis Bonaparte
has done more than kill persons, he has
harrowed souls, he has shrunk the heart of
the citizen. One must belong to the race
of the invincible and the indomitable, to per-
severe now in the rugged path of renunciation
and duty.
“A gangrene of material prosperity threatens
to wear away public honesty into corruption.
Oh, what happiness to be banished, to be
fallen, to be ruined! Is it not, brave work-
men, fellow-labourers? Is it not, worthy
peasants, driven from France, who have no
home and no shoes to your feet? What hap-
piness to eat black bread, to lie down on a
mattrass thrown on the ground, to be out at
elbows, to be indifferent to all that, and to
answer to those who say to you
• You are
French,' 'I am proscribed!'
"""
The following article was published on the
25th September, 1849, in the Bulletin de Paris,
by M. de Latour-Dumoulin, under the inspira-
tion of the President. Fifteen months before
the event, it correctly expressed the views and
purposes of Louis Napoleon as far as he then
wished them known:
“WHAT THE PRESIDENT INTENDS.
"Public opinion has been excited in Paris,
and in the Departments, by the threatening
attitude which the monarchical parties have
assumed for two months.
"The country alarmed has a right to know
what would be the intentions of Louis Napo-
leon in case the royalists, of the two branches,
whether separate or united, attempted to pre-
vent the necessary prolongation of the Presi-
dent's authority.
"These projects, which we think we divine,
we will expose in a few words.
"Louis Napoleon loudly disclaims any dy-
nastic after-thought; he does not covet any
other prerogatives than those he now enjoys.
His exclusive aim is the re-establishment of
order, security, and credit; it is, in a word, to
close the era of revolutions.
"But, to discharge the pacific commission
reserved to him by Providence, the power of
the President must needs be firm and lasting.
"Louis Napoleon would not be responding
to the wishes of six millions of citizens, who
have elected him as the representative of the
principles of order and sound progress, inaugu-
rated in '89, were he to bow with humility
before the royalist coalition which recklessly
disturbs the country.
"Louis Napoleon hopes, therefore, that as
soon as the time comes to discuss once more
the future fate of France-that is to say, either
to place the power of the state on a solid basis,
or to decree anarchy-the National Assembly
will understand the duties which circumstances
impose upon it, and the great responsibility it
would assume before posterity, were it to hesi-
tate to vote for the immediate revisal of the
Constitution.
"So that if the National Assembly, for-
getting that France wishes above all to be
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
557
saved, shall refuse to adopt a measure impera-
tively required for the public security, Louis
Napoleon would not hesitate to make an appeal
to that entire people whose mandate he has
received.
"And the people would determine whether
the President of the Republic must take for
his device-ABDICATION or PERSEVERANCE!"
It is astonishing that, from the position and
character of Dumoulin, the public did not.
infer the real object for which this article was
published, namely, to prepare the public mind
for a coup d'état ostensibly to save the Re-
public, really to destroy it.
Amidst all these conflicts and high-handed
proceedings, the Prince President was anxious
to conciliate certain portions of the public
whose moral influence he feared. One of his
devices was to form a consultative council,* and
to place on the list certain men of eminence as
a decoy, while those whom he knew were his
own followers constituted the working force.
A decree to this effect was posted on the
walls of Paris as early as the 4th of December.
The names were given, because many of
them held a place in European reputation.
"IN THE NAME OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE.
"The President of the Republic being
desirous, even in the re-organisation of the
legislative body and of the Council of State, to
surround himself with men deservedly enjoying
the esteem and confidence of the country, has
formed a consultative commission, composed
of the following persons."
""
(Then follow the list of names.) Léon
Foucher was one of the persons named to the
consultative commission, and he replied to the
announcement of his appointment as follows:-
* Alluded to on a previous page.
"M. le President,
"It is with astonishment, mingled with
pain, that I see my name inserted amongst
those of the members of an administrative
commission which you have just constituted.
I did not think I had given you the right
to do me such an injury. The services
which I have rendered to you, believing I
rendered them to the country, authorise me,
perhaps, to expect from you a different return.
My character, in every instance, merited more
respect. You know that in my career, already
long, I have neither belied the principles of
liberty nor my devotedness to order. I have
never participated, either directly or indirectly,
in the violation of the laws; and in refusing
the mission you confer on me, I have only to
remember that which I hold from the people,
and which I still hold.
"Please to accept, M. le President, the
expression of my respect.
(Signed)
"LEON FAUCHER."
M. Truman Staler remarks upon this letter:
"Other protests equally indignant would
doubtless have exposed the mendacious auda-
city of the concoctor of this consultative com-
mission; but the press was forthwith gagged,
and he who reported even a mere rumour,
directly or indirectly adverse to the dictator,
rendered himself liable to the bullet or trans-
portation.
"On the following day, finding that, out of
the eighty members of the consultative com-
mittee he had appointed, forty-one had indig-
nantly rejected his overtures, the President
privately sent to some of the representatives.
whom he had imprisoned, and asked their
co-operation and assistance, as members of
the consultative committee. For the honour
of human nature, we are happy to say that
those proposals were rejected with disdain.
-
558
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.

..
!
#
We may rely on the authenticity of this infor-
mation, as we received it from one of the
liberated representatives.”
The great danger to the new order of things,
was the hostility of the press, which represented
every section of the community influentially.
The Ultramontanists had their organs, and if
they were not very able, they were certainly
very bold. Closely allied with that party was
one which, while blending with it, was distinct
-the old Bourbon. The press, like the party,
was haughty and sneering, assuming an in-
difference to the younger branch of the
Bourbons, hostility to the Bonapartes, contempt
for the Republicans, "pure and simple," and
horror of the "Reds."
The Orleanists were well represented by the
press, both in Paris and the provinces, and
its hope was chiefly directed to the interference
of the European Powers, whom it was sup-
posed, for sake of peace, would be glad to see
the heir of the Duke of Orleans on the throne
of France. But no ruler of the French caused
more trouble and alarm to Europe than Louis
Philippe. His conduct in Algiers showed
him to be as eager to conciliate French vanity
by conquest as any of his predecessors, had
his genius been able to grasp the situation
and shape it to his ends. His conquest of
Tahiti was of such a character in its relation
to England, that a body of English clergymen
and gentlemen characterised it, in a memorial
to the Earl of Aberdeen, as "the grossest
outrage ever offered by one nation to another
in a time of peace;" while his treachery in the
case of the Spanish marriage was a breach of
international honour, which the house of Bona-
parte had scarcely equalled in its worst times.
The Republican press represented two hostile
sections of the party, that of Cavaignac and
Ledru Rollin; the former being constitutional
and advocating civil and religious liberty,
•
the latter socialist and anarchical. The Bona-
partists had their own representation in Paris
and the Departments.
It was the policy of the coup d'état to give
all possible scope to the last named, and to
silence all the rest. He suppressed seventy-
three newspapers in and near Paris by decree.
An eye-witness thus relates the mode :—
"I may tell you what I saw on the morning
of the 2nd of December, before the fatal ordi-
nances had more than been read by a few
of the early risers in Paris. A detachment of
the Civic Guard, on foot, with some agents
of the police in plain clothes, and others in
uniform, went from one newspaper office to
another, leaving at each a military and police
guard. From the editor of one of these papers,
whose name, for obvious reasons, I must not
mention, I heard that the orders were, that no
article should be published but such as ema-
nated from official quarters, or were approved
of by the Government. At a later period of
the day an agent came to the office of my
informant, who luckily was absent, but two
of his co-editors being present, were asked
why they had not begun to publish their paper.
On answering that they declined doing so
under existing circumstances, they were taken
off to prison.
"On purchasing a newspaper of an agent
on the Boulevards, on the morning of the
4th instant, I was making my selection, but
the dealer's observation was, 'They are all
written with one pen, and the pen is of steel!'"
Scarcely had the news of the coup d'état
and of these decrees reached the different cities
of Europe, where Frenchmen resided, and
whither those fled most obnoxious to the
vengeance of the Bonapartists, when protests
were published in the face of Europe against
this revolution. The most remarkable docu-
ment of this nature was issued in London; in
ww
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
559
a short compass it presents the views enter-
tained by a large and respectable body of
Frenchmen, chiefly Republicans, but many
of them not of that political school, of the
coup d'état and its attendant deeds.
“Manifesto of French Refugees.
"TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE, THE REFUGEES IN
LONDON, WHOSE NAMES ARE SUBSCRIBED.
"Will you be debased? Will you be
enslaved? Will you become henceforth an
object of eternal contempt and ridicule to the
oppressed peoples who awaited their deliver-
ance at your hands?
"Louis Bonaparte has just crowded into a
few hours more crimes than it would have been
thought possible to include in the life of man.
"Like a thief, he has seized upon the
liberties of his country by a nocturnal surprise
-a vulgar artifice, which certain people have
been rash enough to call courage.
"He has audaciously trifled with the sanc-
tity of the domestic hearth.
66
By the help of his swaggering soldiery
and police he has silenced every voice in Paris
except his own.
"At one blow he has suppressed all the
journals, and has cast forth into the streets
of Paris, without bread, those of your brethren
whom the press supported.
"He has outraged, stricken down, and
trampled under foot the national representa-
tion, not only in the persons of your enemies,
but also in that of Greppo, the energetic and
loyal representative of the workmen of Lyons,
and in that of Nadaud, the mason, who has so
often and so nobly defended your interests in
the tribune.
"Do you want to have a master? And do you
wish that that master should be Louis Bona-
parte? You have seen the air with which he
traversed the streets of Paris, hedged in by
soldiers, covered by cannon, and causing him-
self to be borne in triumph by his staff, adding
to the crime of high treason the insolence of a
conqueror, and treating France as a conquered
country—he whose military annals can boast
of nothing except the opprobrium of the Roman
exhibition!
"That the members of the majority are
expiating the ill which they have done—that
the Constitution which they have violated in
you is violated in them-that they are under-
going the chastisement through that universal
suffrage which they have destroyed—that they
who have made a portion of France pass under
the yoke in the state of siege that they
who have sanctioned the transportation of our
brethren en masse without judgment, now find
force where they sought justice, is a lesson not
more hard than merited. It is the penalty of
retribution which is inflicted on them, and it
is not for us to complain.
"But what it concerns us to understand now
is, whether you are in the mood for a change
of tyrants?
"For does this crime belong to that As-
sembly of which he was the inspirer and accom-
plice?
"Was it not he who, by his ministers,
proposed and passed that odious law of May,
against which he now rises up, because the
candidature of Joinville has made him afraid?
"Is not he, still more than the Assembly,
charged with the responsibility of having
drowned the Italian Republic in the blood of
the Romans, mingled with that of the French
soldiers ?
"Among so many shameful and liberticide
measures, let one be mentioned, a single one,
which did not exhibit Louis Bonaparte acting
in concert with the Assembly.
"As soon as his ambition was threatened
by the Assembly, he became the enemy of that
*
560
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
body. But forget not that he has been its
accomplice, so long as it acted to oppress you.
"He now comes forward to tell you that the
people is sovereign, and at the same time he
dares to demand ten years of power-that is,
the abdication of that sovereignty for ten
years.
"He sets himself up as the man of the
Republic, of that Republic which is the
government of equality; and at the same
time he proposes the establishment of a
senate—that is, an assembly of dukes, counts,
barons, and marquises. Come, let us hasten,
debased and clownish as we are-let us hasten,
in virtue of our sovereignty, once more to
install an aristocracy, after so many battles
fought and so much blood shed to put down
the aristocracy for ever! It is the man of the
Republic that invites us!
"He boasts of restoring to you universal
suffrage, but on condition that it be worked
for his private advantage, and not for yours,
since he is going for ten years to be your
master. 'No scrutiny of the list,' he says.
Do you quite understand what that means?
It means that the elections are to be made by
registers lodged in the offices of the mayor.
The great swindling manœuvre which has been
practised upon France once in her history is to
be renewed. Will you permit, precisely when
it is pretended to restore your right, that it
shall be filched from you?
“Moreover, to exercise the right of the
suffrage you must be free. Let him begin,
then, by restoring free speech to the journals;
let the doors be flung wide open to popular
meetings; let every man speak his mind and
learn that of others. Why those bayonets?
Why those cannon? To restore universal
suffrage with the state of siege is to add
mockery to falsehood. A people proclaimed
sovereign—it is the mantle of slavery thrown
over your shoulders, even as the barbarian
chief, in the time of the Lower Empire, threw
the purple over the Roman emperors in placing
them among his camp followers. Do you wish
to be enslaved? Do you wish to be debased?
Such is the cry wrung from us by an indigna-
tion impossible to be restrained. We who, in
our exile, can at least speak, do speak. But
we owe more than speech to the Republic-our
blood belongs to it. We know it, and shall
not forget it.
Berdard le Clubiste
Louis Blanc
Landolphe Lyonne
Robillart Suireau
Lemard
Percy
Lyaz Boncoeur
Le Capitaine Nemont
Cadet
Meteyer Colin
Shaney
Paget Lupian
Baron Mercier
Nerzey
"Dec. 3, 1851."
Cachet
Philippe Pathey
Boura
Subit
Rotillon Mangenet
Languedoc
Florentin
Rousseau
.Frossard
Bauer
Auroy
Daranchi
Michon
Bartholome Charles.
Several of these signatures are of men who,
by their Socialist and Red Republican opinions
and acts, produced confusion in France, and
prepared the way for the despotism against
which they protested by a policy and conduct
as despotic. Others are of men who deserved
better of their country.
M. de Morny was prompt in the use of his
power, for as the Minister of the Interior,
he issued a circular to the prefects of Depart-
ments, containing instructions relative to the
taking of votes in the appeal to the people.
The following are the principal points :-
"The votes are to be taken on the 20th
and 21st instant. The electors are to be the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
561
persons who would be entitled to vote in virtue
of the electoral law of the 15th March, 1849-
that is to say, all those not labouring under cer-
tain specified disqualifications, who are twenty-
one years of age, and have resided six months,
at least, in a commune. The lists are to be
The lists are to be
published, at the latest, on the 16th, and are
to be definitively closed on the 19th. Citizens
whose names are omitted may call on the
mayors or juges de paix to insert them. The
voting is to be continued each day from eight
o'clock to four. Where the population is too
large to vote entirely in one place, sections
may be established.
The presidency of the
bureau of the voting places is to be occupied
by mayors, deputy-mayors, and municipal
councillors, or, in their absence, by persons
delegated by juges de paix. Each bureau is
to consist of a president, four assessors, and a
secretary, chosen by them from amongst the
electors. The assessors are to be taken from
amongst the municipal councillors, in the
order of inscription, unless the juges de paix
shall have directly proceeded to designate
them. Electors are to bring their voting
papers ready prepared. They are to contain
the word yes or no, as an answer to the pro-
position submitted to the people by the Presi-
dent of the Republic. They may be printed
or written, and are to be on white paper,
without exterior marks. When his name is
called, the elector is to present his voting-
paper closed; and the president is to deposit
it in the ballot-box. This box is to have two,
locks, the key of one of which is to be kept
by the president, the other by the senior
assessor. The vote of each elector is to be
recorded by the signature or mark of one of
the members of the bureau in the margin of
the list. The names of the electors who may
not have voted are to be called over. The
ballot-boxes are to be sealed up, and deposited |
during the night at the Mairie, and be protected
by a post of the National Guard or the army.
The room containing these boxes is to be
sealed up. The counting of the votes is thus
to be proceeded to:-The boxes are to be
opened, and the number of votes to be verified.
If this number be greater or less than that of
the voters, the fact is to be mentioned in the
minutes. The counting of the votes is to be
made by the members of the bureau. The
tables on which this is to be done are to be
ranged in such a way that electors may walk
round them. Blank voting papers, together
with those in which it may be impossible to
recognise either adhesion or refusal, are not
to be counted, but are to be annexed to the
minutes. Immediately after the counting of
the votes, the result of the ballot to be
published, and the voting papers, with the
exception of those annexed to the minutes,
are to be burned in presence of the electors.
In the communes divided into sections, the
result of the votes expressed in each section is
to be settled and signed by the bureau, and
afterwards be conveyed by the president to the
bureau of the first section, who is to make the
addition. The examination of votes for all the
Departments is to be made by a commission of
three councillors-general to be named by the
Prefect."
As the President had appointed his own
friends to the office of assessors, he was able
to assure himself of his election.
In order to appease some portions of the
public, and conciliate others, the President
issued a decree in the name of religion.
“In the name of the French people,—the
President of the Republic, on the report of
the Minister of Public Instruction,
"Having considered the law of the 4-10
April, 1791,
40
562
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
+
"Having considered the decree of the
20th February, 1806,
66 Having considered the ordonnance of the
26th August, 1830,
“Decrees :—
"Art. 1. The ancient church of St. Gene-
viève is restored to public worship con-
formably to the intention of its founder,
under the invocation of St. Geneviève, the
patron of Paris.
decides the question whose consequences are
infinite. Influenced by your own views, and
still more by the love of country, of which
Jesus Christ has given you the example, you
will, I doubt not, sign 'Yes.' Providence
gives us at this moment only this means of
safety. It is evident that if Bonaparte be
rejected, France has no one to put in his
place. The people, deceived by intrigues and
false suggestions, might make a detestable
choice, which would plunge our country into
new and unparalleled calamities. We have
escaped the 2nd of May, 1852, which was
"Measures shall be taken at a later period
to regulate the permanent exercise of the
Catholic worship in that church.
"Art. 2. The ordonnance of the 26th August, opening for France a frightful abyss. It
1830, is revoked.
would be madness to bring back this chance
of ruin and of death. All that we have
learned for days past of the abominations,
the horrors, and the most savage excesses
that have just taken place, are but the speci-
men, or the anticipated sketch, of the mon-
strous crimes that would be perpetrated on
a larger scale, and throughout all France, if
God had permitted the triumph of Socialism.
You will feel, M. le Curé, the irresistible force
of those reflections, which must strike every
thinking man, and in which, I believe, they
will hasten to agree.
"Art. 3. The Minister of Public Instruction
and of Religious Worship, and the Minister
of Public Works are charged, each as far
as concerns him, with the execution of the
present decree, which shall be inserted in the
Bulletin des lois.
"LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
"Paris, Dec. 6th.
"The Minister of Public Instruction and
Worship,
"H. FORTOUL.”
This had the desired effect, for it was soon
followed by an episcopal injunction to elect
the President for ten years. The Bishop of
Chartres addressed the following circular to
the clergy of his diocese:-
-:
Chartres, Dec. 12th, 1851.
"M. le Curé,
"Understand fully the counsel communi-
cated in this letter. I beg you earnestly to
conform to it. The 20th or 21st of the pre-
sent month the French people are to decide
whether Louis Bonaparte shall be elected for
ten years President of our country. 'Yes' or
'No,' inscribed on tickets by all the citizens,
"I have the honour to be, &c.,
66
+CL. HIP., Bishop of Chartres."
The conduct of the Roman Catholic clergy
proved to be very versatile in the recent
revolutions in France. They upheld Charles X.
in the measures which cost him his crown.
Louis Philippe received their support when
his power became established. In March, 1848,
they made haste to patronise the Republic.
They were the instruments of the majority
of the Assembly in their intrigues to bring
back the Bourbons. As soon as the President
overthrew the Assembly, the clergy aban-
doned their cause, and aided his election.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
563
THE plébiscite was given, and stood thus:-
affirmative, 7,439,219; negative, 640,737.
The army contributed largely in proportion
to this result, but the troops stationed in
Algiers recorded a majority for the negative.
On the 1st of January the event of the
President's election was celebrated by a
religious fête at Notre Dame. No labour or
expense was spared to make it a grand
manifestation. Napoleon was henceforward
to use pomp, parade, and religious display
as his instruments. The pageant was thus
described by an eye-witness :-
•
CHAPTER LXVIII.
FROM THE COMPLETION OF THE COUP D'ÉTAT TO THE EMPIRE.
"The man of honour who finds himself in the presence of foes interested in reviling him, ought to avoid every
subterfuge, all equivocation, and put the greatest simplicity in his proceedings, and, as the wife of Cæsar, ought not
even to be suspected."-Extract from a letter of Louis Napoleon, when a prisoner at Ham, in 1846.
،
"The coup d'œil presented on entering the
Cathedral of Notre Dame was somewhat de-
teriorated by the effect of a dense fog, which,
throwing a veil of mist over all that passed
outside, penetrated to the innermost recesses
of the building, and mocked the dazzling
brilliancy of nearly a thousand wax lights,
suspended in clusters from the roof. In the
course of a short time, however, when the
chant d'appel of the tambours, accompanied
by the cries of Vive Napoléon!' which re-
verberated from without, and were re-echoed
through the lofty nave and aisles, announced
the arrival of the President, this had par-
tially died away, and a better opportunity
was afforded of appreciating the splendour
of the scene which stretched in gorgeous hues
and glittering disarray before the astonished
sight. The pillars of the great nave, adorned
with purple-coloured banners, sprinkled with
stars of gold; the velvet draperies and enor-
mous garlands of foliage and flowers, which
covered and fell from the galleries; the richly-
decorated flags, carrying the arms and names.
of the chief cities of the Empire; the columns
of the sanctuary, covered from base to capital
with silk brocade of crimson and gold; the
altar in the choir, with its rich and gaudy
ornaments; the benches for the authorities
and the constituted bodies; and the galleries
on either side, crowded with persons en grande
tenue; the orchestra of five hundred execu-
tants, vocal and instrumental, disposed in the
galleries at the extremity of the choir; and,
the principal feature of all, the lofty dais,
with hangings of crimson and gold, doubled
with white, surmounting the estrade, which
faced the altar and supported the siége d'hon-
neur, whereon sat Louis Napoleon with his
'prie Dieu,' the Archbishop of Paris (who
officiated in the service) to his right, and the
attendant bishops to his left; these, and other
objects too numerous to specify, all glitter-
ing in the light of the countless wax candles,
which pained the eye to look upon, gave to
the ancient cathedral, one of the architectural
glories of Paris and the world, a strange and
fantastic aspect, which made it difficult to
believe oneself in a place of worship. The
general effect, indeed, was quite as theatrical
as it was brilliant. It was, nevertheless, a
surprising and intoxicating spectacle.
"The President arrived exactly at noon, and
the orchestra performed, while he entered the
cathedral and took his place, the march and Vivat
in æternum, by Lesueur, a quaint and pompous
strain. The orchestra, directed by M. Girard,
564
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
of the Grand Opera, selected from the vocal
and instrumental corps of that establishment,
the Conservatoire (Societé des Concerts), the
Opera Comique, the Opera Italien, and the
Opera National, was magnificent. The band
was like one instrument, so perfect was its
precision, and so marked and decided in its
accent. The Te Deum, which Lesueur (who
was the Emperor Napoleon's Maitre de
Chapelle) composed for the Battle of Auster-
litz, and which was afterwards peformed in
celebration of the taking of Algiers, was the
capital morceau, and displayed the strength
and number of the executants to the highest
advantage. Some of the phrases of unison,
alternately for male and female voices, in this
fine, solemn, but somewhat formal composi-
tion-which French critics regard as the
master-piece of Lesueur, and of their school
of sacred music, of which he was decidedly
the greatest ornament-came out with a com-
bined force and simplicity in thorough conso-
nance with the text and the occasion. It was
superbly executed. The voices and instru-
ments were equally well in tune, and the
measure was so intelligibly indicated by the
conductor and his assistants (stationed at each
alternate column), that not a flaw could be
detected in the performance by the nicest ear.
The Sanctus, by M. Adolphe Adam, modern in
form and trivial in style, was heard to great
disadvantage in such fellowship, and was felt
to be altogether out of place. The hymn to
St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, and
the Offertory, which followed the Sanctus of
M. Adam, are both favourable specimens of
Lesueur's manner, and exhibit all his pecu-
liarities. These and the Domine Salvam, which
terminated the ceremony in a highly effective
manner, were executed to perfection. Among
the chorus were observed the most noted
singers of the lyrical establishments of Paris,
whose assistance was of infinite value both in
strengthening the various choral parts, and in
giving due efficiency to the solos. In short,
nothing could be more admirable than the
musical arrangements, which were carried out
in a manner that was to be expected from so
eminent a musician as M. Auber, who had the
responsibility of their superintendence. The
whole was over a little before one o'clock, and
the President immediately retired, with the
same manifestations that attended his arrival.
"A solemn Te Deum d'actions de grace was
performed at the same hour at every cathedral
church of France; the blessing of Heaven was
invoked upon the country, and upon that great
mission which the people have conferred upon
the man who has been appointed to sway its
destinies for the term of ten years. The
service concluded with the Domine Salvam,
thus worded: Domine salvam fac Rempubli-
can-salvum fac Napoleonem, et exaudi nos in
die quâ invocaverimus.” ”
On the 14th of January, 1852, the new
Constitution was promulgated, the President
prefixing an address to the French people. In
this Constitution the reader can study the
theory, and in his address the spirit, of the
government of France under Napoleon.
"THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION.
"Frenchmen,
"In my Proclamation of the 2nd of Decem-
ber, when I loyally explained to you what,
according to my ideas, were the vital condi-
tions of government in France, I had not the
pretension, so common in these days, of sub-
stituting a personal theory for the experience
of centuries. On the contrary, I sought in
the past the examples that might best be
followed, what men had given them, and what
benefits had resulted.
"I have thought it reasonable to prefer the
-
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
565
precepts of genius to the specious doctrines of
men of abstract ideas. I have taken as models
the political institutions which already, at
the commencement of this century, under
analogous circumstances, have strengthened
tottering society and raised France to a lofty
degree of prosperity and grandeur.
"I have taken as models those institutions,
which, instead of vanishing at the first breath
of popular agitation, were only overturned by
the might of all Europe coalesced against us.
"In one word, I said to myself, since France
makes progress during the last fifty years, in
virtue alone of the administrative, military,
judicial, religious, and financial organisation of
the Consulate and the Empire, why should we
not also adopt the political institutions of that
epoch? Created by the same thought, they
must bear the same character of nationality
and practical utility.
“In effect, as I recalled to mind in my pro-
clamation, it is essential to aver that our
present state of society is nought else than
France regenerate by the Revolution of '89,
and organised by the Emperor. Nothing re-
mains of the old régime but great souvenirs and
benefits; all that was organised under it was
destroyed by the Revolution, and all that since
the Revolution has been organised, and that
still exists, has been the work of Napoleon.
"We no longer possess provinces, or states,
or parliaments, or intendants, or farmers-
general, or various customs, or feudal rights,
or privileged classes holding exclusive posses-
sion of civil and military employments, or
different religious jurisdictions.
"To all these things, so incompatible with
its spirit, the Revolution applied a thorough
reform; but it founded nothing definitive.
The First Consul, alone, re-established unity,
hierarchy, and the true principles of govern-
ment. They are still in vigour.
"Thus the administration of France, intrusted
to prefects, sub-prefects, and mayors, who
substitute unity in the place of directing com-
missions (the decision of affairs, on the contrary,
being confided to councils-from that of the
commune to that of the department) : thus the
magistracy, rendered firm by the immovability
of the judges, and by the hierarchy of the
tribunals-justice rendered more easy by the
clear definition of attributions, from those of
the justice of the peace up to those of the
Court of Cassation-all this is still standing.
!
"In the same manner our admirable finan-
cial system, the Bank of France, the esta-
blishment of the Budget, the Court of Ac-
counts, the organisation of the police and our
military statutes, date from the above-men-
tioned epoch.
"For the last fifty years it is the Code
Napoleon that has adjusted the reciprocal
interests of citizens; it is still the concordat
that regulates the relations of the State with
the Church.
"Lastly, the greater portion of the measures
which concern the progress of industry, of
commerce, of literature, of science, and of the
arts, from the statutes of the Théâtre Fran-
çais to those of the Institute of France, from
the institution of prud'hommes to the creation
of the Legion of Honour, have been fixed by
the decrees of that time.
"It may then be affirmed that the frame of
our social edifice is the work of the Emperor-
which has stood firm, resisting his fall and
the shocks of three revolutions.
"Wherefore, since they have the same.
origin, should not his political institutions
have the same chance of duration?
"My own conviction has been formed for a
long time; and, therefore, it was that I sub-
mitted to your judgment the principal basis
of a Constitution borrowed from that of the
J
566
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
year VIII. Approved of by you, they are to be-
come the foundation of our political constitution.
“Let us now examine its spirit.
"In our country-for the last 800 years
monarchical-the central power has existed by
increasing―royalty destroyed the great vassals
-the revolutions themselves caused the obsta-
cles to disappear which opposed the rapid and
uniform exercise of authority. In this country
of centralisation public opinion has invariably
referred everything, good and evil, to the chief
of the government; so that to write at the
head of a charter, that the chief is irrespon-
sible, is to lie (mentir) to public feeling. It
is to endeavour to establish a fiction which
has three times disappeared at the sound of
revolution.
"The present Constitution, on the contrary,
proclaims that the chief whom you have
elected is responsible to you. That he has the
right of appeal to your sovereign judgment, in
order that in grave (solennelles) circumstances
you may always be able to continue your con-
fidence in him, or to withdraw it.
"Being responsible, his actions must be
free and without hinderance. Hence arises
the obligation of his having ministers who
may be honoured and powerful auxiliaries.
of his thought, but who no longer form a
responsible council composed of jointly respon-
sible members (membres solidaires), a daily
obstacle to the special influence of the chief of
the state—a council, the expression of a policy
emanating from the chambers, and, for that
very reason, exposed to frequent changes,
which render impossible a continuous policy
(esprit de suite) or the application of a regular
system.
"Nevertheless, in proportion to the lofti-
ness of the position in which a man is placed,
and in proportion to his independence and to
the confidence that the people place in him, is
his need of enlightened and conscientious
counsel. Hence the creation of a council of
state, for the future, the real (véritable) council
of the government, the first wheelwork of our
new organisation-a réunion of practical men
elaborating projects of law in special com-
mittees, then discussing them with closed
doors, and without oratorical ostentations in
general assembly, next presenting them to the
acceptation of the legislative body.
"Thus the government (pouvoir) is free in
its movements and enlightened in its progress.
Now, what will be the control exercised
over the assemblies?
66
"A chamber which bears the title of the
Legislative body' votes the laws and the taxes.
It is elected by universal suffrage (sans scrutin
de liste). The people choosing each candidate
singly can the more easily appreciate his merit.
"The chamber is composed of about 260
members—a first guarantee of the calmness of
its deliberations; for too often it has been
seen that in assemblies the mobility and ardour
of passions increase in proportion to the num-
ber of members.
"The account of the deliberations which is
to inform the nation of its affairs is no longer,
as formerly, abandoned to the party spirit of
each journal. An official journal, drawn up
under the surveillance of the President of the
Chamber, will alone be authorised.
"The Legislative body freely discusses the
laws, adopts or rejects them, but does not
introduce those unforeseen amendments which
often derange the whole economy of a system
and the ensemble of the primitive project; and,
for still stronger reasons, it does not possess
that parliamentary initiative which was the
source of such grave abuse, and which per-
mitted every deputy to substitute himself at
every turn in place of the government, and to
present projects, however uustudied or shallow.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
567
"The Chamber being no longer in presence
of the Ministers, and projects of laws being
advocated by the orators of the Council of State,
time will not be lost in vain interpellations,
in frivolous accusations, and in passionate
struggles, whose sole object was to upset
ministries in order to replace them.
"Thus, then, the deliberations of the Legis-
lative body will be independent, but the causes
of sterile agitations will have been suppressed,
and salutary delays introduced into any modi-
cation of the law. The deputies (mandataires)
of the nation will maturely accomplish things
of importance.
"Another assembly bears the name of
Senate. It will be composed of those ele-
ments which in every country create a legiti-
mate influence; such as an illustrious name,
wealth, talent, and services rendered to the
country.
"The Senate is not-what the Chamber of
Peers was a pale reflection of the Chamber
of Deputies, repeating, at a few days' interval,
the same discussions in another tone. It is the
depository of the fundamental compact, and
the public liberties, compatible with the Con-
stitution, and it is solely with regard to the
great principles on which our society is based
that it examines all laws, and that it proposes
new ones to the executive power. It inter-
venes either to resolve any grave difficulty
which might arise during the absence of the
Legislative body, or to explain the text of
the Constitution, and to secure whatever may
be necessary to its progress. It has the right
to annul any illegal or arbitrary act. And thus,
enjoying the consideration which attaches to a
body exclusively occupied with the examina-
tion of great interests or the application of
great principles, it fills in the state the in-
dependent, salutary, and conservative office
of the ancient parliaments.
A
"The Senate will not be, like the Chamber
of Peers, transformed into a court of justice.
It will preserve its character of supreme
moderator; for disrepute always falls on po-
litical bodies when the sanctuary of legislation
becomes a criminal tribunal. The impartiality
of the judge is too often questioned, and it
loses all prestige with public opinion, which
sometimes goes so far as to accuse it of being
the instrument of passion or of hatred.
"A High Court of Justice, chosen from
among the high magistracy, and having, as
a jury, members of the Councils-General of all
France, will alone repress all attempts against
the chief of state and the public safety.
"The Emperor said to the Council of State,
-'A Constitution is the work of time. It is
impossible to leave it in too large a margin for
ameliorations.' Accordingly, the present Con-
stitution has only settled that which it was
impossible to leave uncertain. It has not
shut up, within insurmountable barriers, the
destinies of a great people. It has left for
change a margin sufficiently large to allow, in
great crises, of other means of safety than the
disastrous expedient of revolution.
"The Senate can, in concert with the govern-
ment, modify all that is not fundamental in
the Constitution; but as to any modifications
of the fundamental bases sanctioned by your
suffrages, they can only become definitive
after having received your ratification.
M
"Thus, the people remains master of its
destiny. Nothing fundamental is effected
without its will.
“Such are the ideas, such the principles
that you have authorised me to apply. May
this Constitution give to our country calm and
prosperous days; may it prevent the return
of those intestine struggles in which victory,
however legitimate, is always dearly bought.
May the sanction which you have given to my
568
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
.
:
1
efforts be blessed by Heaven. Then peace will
be assured at home and abroad-my ardent
hopes will be fulfilled-my mission will be
accomplished.
"LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
"Palace of the Tuileries, Jan. 14, 1852."
"THE CONSTITUTION.
ww
"The President of the Republic, consider-
ing that the French people has been called to
pronounce on the following resolution, viz.
'The people wishes the maintenance of the
authority of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and
gives him the necessary powers to make a
constitution on the bases established in his
•
66
"" SECTION I.
"Art. 1. The Constitution recognises, con-
firms, and guarantees the great principles
proclaimed in 1789, and which form the basis
of the public rights of the French people.
SECTION II.-FORMS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
THE REPUBLIC.
"Art. 2. The government of the French
Republic is entrusted to Prince Louis Na-
poleon Bonaparte, actual President of the
Republic for ten years.
(6 Art. 3. The President of the Republic
governs by means of the Ministers, the Council
of State, the Senate, and the Legislative body.
"Art. 4. The legislative power is exercised,
collectively, by the President of the Republic,
the Senate, and the Legislative body.
66 SECTION III.—OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE
REPUBLIC.
"Art. 5. The President of the Republic is
responsible to the French people, to whom
he has always a right to appeal.
"Art. 6. The President of the Republic is
chief of the state. He commands the land
and sea forces, declares war, concludes treaties
of peace, political and commercial alliance, and
makes the rules and decrees for the execution
of the laws.
"Art. 7. Justice is rendered in his name.
"Art. 8. He alone has the initiative of the
laws.
proclamation of the 2nd of December;'-con-
sidering that the bases proposed for the accept-
ance of the people were—(1) A responsible
chief named for ten years; (2) Ministers
dependent on the executive power alone;
(3) A council of state formed of the most
distinguished men, preparing the laws and
maintaining the discussion on them in the
legislative corps; (4) A legislative corps,
discussing and voting the laws named by
universal suffrage without the scrutin de liste,
which falsifies the election; (5) A second
assembly, formed of all the distinguished
men of the country, a balancing power,
guardian of the fundamental pact and of
the public interests ;-and considering that
the people have answered affirmatively by Legislative body by a message.
7,500,000 suffrages, he promulgates the Con-
stitution, the tenor of which is as follows:-
"Art. 9. He has the right to pardon.
the laws and the Sénatus-Consultes.
"Art. 10. He sanctions and promulgates
"Art. 11. He presents the state of affairs of
the Republic every year to the Senate and
"Art. 12. He has a right to declare the
state of siege in one or several departments,
on the condition of referring to the Senate
with the shortest delay. The consequences of
the state of siege are regulated by the law.
"Art. 13. The ministers depend solely on
the chief of the state. Each is responsible
only as far as the acts of the government
regard him. There is no solidarity between
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
569
them. They can only be impeached (mis en
accusation) by the Senate.
"Art. 14. The Ministers, members of the
Senate, the Legislative body, and the Council
of State, the officers of the land and sea forces,
the magistrates, and the public functionaries,
take the following oath :-
"I swear obedience to the Constitution and
fidelity to the President.'
"Art. 15. A Sénatus-Consulte fixes the sum
allowed annually to the President of the
Republic for the entire duration of his
functions.
"Art. 16. Should the President of the Re-
public die before the expiration of his office
(mandat) the Senate convokes the nation to
proceed to a new election.
"Art. 17. The chief of the state has a right
by a secret act, deposited in the archives of the
state, to point out to the people the name of
the citizen he recommends in the interest
of France to the confidence of the people and
to its suffrages.
"Art. 18. Until the election of the new
President of the Republic, the President of
the Senate governs with the concurrence of
the Ministers in office, who form themselves
into a Government council, and deliberate by
a majority of votes.
66 SECTION IV.—OF THE SENATE.
"Art. 19. The number of the Senators can-
not exceed 150. It is fixed at 80 for the first
year.
tuitous; nevertheless, the President of the
Republic may accord the Senators, by reason
of the services rendered and of their position
as respects fortune, a personal dotation, which
shall not exceed 30,000f. yearly.
"Art. 23. The President and Vice-Presi-
dents of the Senate are named by the President
of the Republic, and chosen amongst the Sena-
tors. They are named for one year. The
salary of the President of the Senate is fixed
by a decree.
(6
'Art. 24. The President of the Republic
convokes and prorogues the Senate. He fixes
the duration of its session by a decree. The
sittings of the Senate are not public.
"Art. 25. The Senate is the guardian of the
fundamental pact and of the public liberties.
No law can be published before being sub-
mitted to it.
“Art. 26. The Senate opposes the publica-
tion-1st, of laws which may be contrary to
or affect the Constitution, religion, morals, the
liberty of worship, the liberty of persons,
equality of citizens before the laws, inviola-
bility of property, and the principle of the
inamovibilité of the magistracy; 2nd, of those
who may endanger the safety of the territory.
"Art. 27. The Senate regulates by a Sénatus-
Consulte:-1st, the constitution of the colonies
and of Algeria; 2nd, all that has not been pro-
vided for the Constitution, and which is neces-
sary to its maintenance; 3rd, the signification
of articles of the Constitution which may give
rise to various interpretations.
"Art. 20. The Senate is composed, 1st, of
the Cardinals, Marshals, Admirals; 2nd, of
the citizens whom the President of the Re-
public deems fit to elevate to the dignity of
Senator.
"Art. 28. Those Sénatus-Consultes shall be
submitted to the sanction of the President of
the Republic, and promulgated by him.
"Art. 29. The Senate maintains or annuls
all the acts which may be submitted to it as
"Art. 21. The Senators are not removable, unconstitutional by the government, or de-
and are for life.
nounced from the same cause in petitions from
the citizens.
"Art. 22. The functions of Senator are gra-
W
4 D
570
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
public, but the demand of five members is
sufficient for its resolving itself into a secret
committee.
"Art. 42. The account of the proceedings of
the sitting of the Legislative Corps given by
the journals, or any other channel of publica-
tion, shall consist only of the reproduction of
the minutes (procès verbal) drawn out at the
close of each sitting by the care of the Presi-
dent of the Legislative Corps.
"Art. 43. The President and Vice-Presi-
dents of the Legislative Corps are named by
the President of the Republic for one year;
they are chosen from amongst the deputies.
The salary of the President of the Legislative
Corps is fixed by a decree.
"Art. 44. The Ministers cannot be members
of the Legislative Corps.
"Art. 45. The right of petition is exercised
as regards the Senate. No petition can be
addressed to the Legislative Corps.
"Art. 46. The President of the Republic
66 SECTION V.—OF THE LEGISLATIVE CORPS.
"Art. 34. The election has the population convokes, adjourns, prorogues, and dissolves
for basis.
"Art. 35. There will be one deputy to the
Legislative Corps for every 35,000 electors.
the Legislative Corps. In case of dissolution,
the President of the Republic is bound to
convoke a new one within the terms of six
months.
"Art. 36. The deputies are elected by uni-
versal suffrage, without the scrutin de liste.
"Art. 37. They do not receive any salary.
"Art. 38. They are named for six years.
"Art. 39. The Legislative Corps discusses
and votes the projects of law and the imposts.
"Art. 40. Every amendment adopted by the
commission charged with the examination of a
project of law, shall be sent, without discussion,
to the Council of State by the President of the
Legislative Corps. If the amendment be not
adopted by the Council of State it cannot be
submitted to the deliberation of the Legislative
Corps.
"Art. 30. The Senate can, in a report ad-
dressed to the President of the Republic, fix
the bases of projects of law of great national
interest.
“Art. 31. It can also propose modifications
to the Constitution. If the proposition is
adopted by the executive power, it is stated
so by a Sénatus-Consulte.
"Art. 32. Nevertheless, all modifications of
the fundamental bases of the Constitution shall
be submitted to universal suffrage, such as
they have been enunciated in the proclamation
of the 2nd of December, and adopted by the
French people.
"Art. 33. In case of the dissolution of the
Legislative Corps, and till another convocation,
the Senate, on the proposition of the President
of the Republic, provides by measures of
urgency for all that is necessary for carrying
on the government.
"Art. 41. The ordinary sitting of the Legis-
lative Corps lasts three months; its sittings are
66
SECTION VI.—OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE.
"Art. 47. The number of the Councillors of
State in ordinary service is from forty to fifty.
"Art. 48. The Councillors of State are
named by the President of the Republic, and
are liable to removal by him.
“Art. 49. The Council of State is presided
over by the President of the Republic, and in
his absence, by the person whom he indicates
as Vice-President of the Council of State.
"Art. 50. The Council of State is charged,
under the direction of the President of the
Republic, to draw up projects of law and regu-
lations of public administration, and to obviate
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
571
the difficulties that may arise in matters of 2nd of December to the present period, shall
administration.
have all the force of law.
“Done at the Palace of the Tuileries, the
14th of January, 1852.
"Art. 51. It maintains, in the name of the
government, the discussion of the projects of
law before the Senate and Legislative Corps.
The Councillors of State, charged to speak in
the name of the government, are appointed by
the President of the Republic.
"Art. 52. The salary of each Councillor of
State is 25,000 francs.
"Art. 53. The Ministers have rank, right of
sitting, and a deliberative voice in the Council
of State.
66
SECTION VII. -OF THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.
"Art. 54. A High Court of Justice judges
without appeal, or recourse to cassation, all
who shall be sent before it as accused
persons
of crimes, attempts or plots against the Presi-
dent of the Republic, and against the internal
and external safety of the state. It cannot be
convened but in virtue of a decree of the Presi-
dent of the Republic.
"Art. 55. A Sénatus-Consulte shall deter-
mine the organisation of that High Court.
66
SECTION VIII.-GENERAL AND TRANSITORY
PROVISIONS.
"Art. 56. The provisions of the codes, rules,
and regulations now existing which are not
opposed to the present Constitution, remain in
vigour until they be legally abrogated.
"Art. 57. A law shall determine the muni-
cipal organisation. The mayor shall be named
by the executive power, and need not be a
member of the municipal council.
"Art. 58. The present Constitution shall be
in vigour to date from the day when the great
powers of the state organised by it shall be
constituted. The decrees issued by the Presi-
dent of the Republic, to commence with the
"LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE,
"Seen and signed with the Great Seal,
"The Keeper of the Seals,
"E. ROUHER.'
""
Thus Louis Napoleon Bonaparte had over-
thrown the Constitution, violated the law,
made himself the source of law, that he might
slay, incarcerate, deport, or make fugitives of
all whom he knew or believed would resist his
design to assume the Imperial purple.
He had now fulfilled his remarkable predic-
tion of himself, that destiny had marked him
out for "the light of power or the obscurity of
a dungeon."
But the great and good Lamartine, review-
ing all that happened, in his paper, the Pays,
thus expressed himself:-
"The civil war has been put down. After
so many emotions and surprises, the country
returns to calm, to reflection, to the habits and
wants of social life, to the attentive observa-
tion of the events which have just been accom-
plished, and to the impartial examination of
the causes which led to these events, and of
the results which are to follow them. It is the
hour to resume our pen. When a great country
like France has the liberty to think, a journal
like ours, independent, honest, and moderate,
is bound to speak. We were bound at first to
be silent, as every person has comprehended.
Our silence was neither an abdication nor a
desertion. It was imposed on us at that
solemn hour, not only by the state of siege.
which did not allow us to speak, but also by
the trouble of our mind, which did not permit
us to regard with coolness a situation which
we had neither foreseen nor called for. At
572
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Ma
present we raise our voice neither to approve
nor protest. We feel that all discussion is
impossible, not only because the government
would not permit it, but because our own
conscience would prevent us. Why, in fact,
should we discuss? To raise the cry of ven-
geance of the vanquished? No: all vengeance
would be odious and impious, for it could only
lead to the shedding of blood. To raise the
cry of triumph of the conquerors? No: for
we are not conquerors. What we every day
asked for was, that France should be saved
from the crisis which awaited her in 1852.
What prayers did we not address to the various
parties? But all was in vain, for passions
stifled reason. The Assembly clung with
obstinacy to the fatal law of May 31st, and
that body has ceased to exist. God forbid that
we should insult it; if we are not amongst the
courtiers of the victors, we are still less
amongst the insulters of the vanquished. But
we must be permitted to say, that the As-
sembly perished precisely from two causes, the
disastrous effects of which we had in vain
attempted to paralyse; the law of May 31st
destroyed the majority, and Socialism de-
stroyed the minority. Between the law of
May 31st and Socialism, there were the Re-
public and Universal Suffrage, and it is
precisely these two words which were invoked
by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte to dissolve the
Assembly, and thus to destroy the Constitu-
tion. We were marching forward to catas-
trophes amidst those two currents of passions,
ambitions, rancours, and hatreds, the bellow-
ing of which scarcely permitted some inde-
pendent voices to make the cry of alarm
heard which France was raising. If these
voices had been heard, if the law of May 31st
had been repealed, if the revision of the Con-
stitution had been accepted by the minority,
if all the parties had consented to do what
•
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte has just done him-
self, that is, to allow the people to decide, we
are convinced that what has happened would
never have occurred. But this is not the hour
to complain, and still less to accuse. We
accuse no one, for, were we to commence, we
should be obliged, perhaps, to accuse every
one. The present situation is not our work.
We have not desired it, but we take it as it is,
and with the desire, as political men, to fulfil
all the duties which it imposes. It would, no
doubt, suit better our interests and our senti-
ments to persevere in our resolution, to fold
our arms, to weep over many things which we
loved, and which now do not exist. But it
better suits our patriotism to resume our task,
to aid good intentions, to encourage toleration,
and to speak as often as we can without
betraying our convictions and aggravating the
perils of the situation. The Assembly is dis-
solved, and the Constitution has disappeared.
But there remain two great things, the Re-
public and Universal Suffrage. There remains
also what we desire to preserve and defend
above all things-namely, France. As long
as she remains, we shall not consider ourselves
at liberty to wrap ourselves up in sorrow for
our disappointed hopes, and regret them eter-
nally. No; there can be no eternal ruins for
us but those of our country-when we shall
behold it fall to pieces at our feet, let us fall
also, and then believe in God alone. Until
then, we will believe that God is just, and
France great."
It soon became obvious to all thinking
persons in and out of France, that the object
of Louis Napoleon was the restoration of the
Empire. The accomplishment of this object
was surrounded by difficulties. An attempt
to assume the imperial title might alarm
foreign Powers, lest the aggressive policy of
the old Empire should be resumed. There were
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
573
internal obstructions to such an assumption;
but so acute was the policy preserved, so pru-
dently was that policy wrought out, that in
the course of twelve months, this, the one
great object of Louis Napoleon's ambition, was
obtained. The question of the restoration of
the empire was submitted to a plébiscite,
decided in the affirmative, and Louis Napoleon
mounted the throne of France.
Dazzled by the glories of the first Empire,
vast numbers desired its revival, especially in
the person of a Bonaparte, the heir, and bear-
ing the name, of the great conqueror. The
Ultramontane party was favourable on the
whole to this movement, their object being to
overturn the Republic under whatever phase it
existed. Indeed, Count Montalembert, the
great organ of the party, recommended the
people to vote for the President, alleging that
'there was no other alternative to a Socialist or
Red Republican régime, by which all religious
observances, and all rights of property, would
be annihilated. The reasonable alarm felt by all
lovers of order and all who respected the rights
of property, from the possible ascendency of
the Socialists, caused the very general adhe-
sion of these classes to the proposal for a
strong government under another Emperor
Napoleon.
Great pains had been taken by the press in
the President's pay, and by his legislative
abettors, to show that he was the legitimate
heir of the Emperor Napoleon I. They and
he were anxious to make legitimacy and
universal suffrage join hands. The sovereignty
of the people and Divine right were to con-
verge in the person and sceptre of the new
CA NA AKAN KE
Napoleon. It was not simply that the vox
populi was the vox Dei, he rested not only
upon that, he professed to inherit the throne in
virtue of the decrees of the Senate, which
vested it in the heirs of Napoleon I.
The votes were 7,824,189 for, and 253,143
against, the proposition.
As on the occasion of the previous plébiscite,
the Government resorted to every means which
corruption and tyranny could supply to have
the Prince's object accomplished.
Had these means not been employed, he
would probably have been elected; their un-
sparing use was a great political scandal, and
a personal reflection upon the Prince himself,
pointing him out as ready to oppress all who
refused him the Imperial sceptre.
On the 1st of December, 1852, the Senate
and Legislative corps met and proceeded to
St. Cloud, to announce to the President of the
Republic that he had been elected sovereign of
the French nation. He accepted the title of
"Emperor of the French," and assumed the
style of Napoleon III. The son of his uncle
was computed II., although he did not live to
the age of manhood, and was not likely, if he
had, to mount a throne, fettered as he was in
the court of the kaiser.
The British government promptly recognised
the title. Lord Palmerston's influence was
exercised to this end, the astute minister be-
lieving that it would strengthen the alliance
between the United Kingdom and France, and
thereby tend to secure the peace of Europe,
or, at all events, strengthen Western Europe
against the growing power and pretensions of
Russia.
that went w
Planta de mant
Pappa A
7
574
Į
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
Ir appears that in his early studies and writings
the future Emperor pondered great revolu-
tions and historical events, rather with a view
to study what was good for kings than for
peoples. The matter selected for this chapter
is his own programme of royal conduct; how
far the events in which we now record him as
participating, illustrate his opinions by his
conduct the world must judge. While only
on the steps of the Imperial throne, prudence
was necessary, for by ascending too rapidly,
his foot might slip, and the seat of power
remain unoccupied.
!
CHAPTER LXX.
THE EMPIRE-IS IT PEACE ?
"The History of England speaks loudly to kings:-Walk at the head of the ideas of your age, those ideas will
follow and will sustain you. Walk behind them, they will drag you along. Walk in opposition to them, they will
overthrow you."—Historical Sketches by CHARLES LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, Prisoner at Ham.
Thus after all his solemn disclaimers of
ambition, and especially of this form of ambi-
tion, he proved that he made protestations
with the greater solemnity in order to find the
better facility to deceive. Assurances so often
given, with an affectation of so much sim-
plicity and frankness, with the warmth at the
same time of injured and indignant innocence,
and with appeals to God and his country, were
likely to set aside suspicion, and were by him
intended to do so while he advanced upon his
object with more stealthy pace.
When on
the 28th of September, 1840, he delivered
his speech in the Court of Peers, while under
The issue of the election day would raise
the veil which still covered his future pro-arraignment for his conduct at Boulogne, he
made the following appeal, and not without
leaving some impression in his favour :-
spects. Once elected Emperor everything he
desired would be easily attained. He would
be free to walk in the light of his own philo-
sophy, and read lectures to kings from an
Imperial chair, instead of from his prison
chamber at Ham. It would soon be seen how
he would interpret "the ideas of the age,"
and what sort of pace he would keep with
them to lead or to follow, or whether he
would not after all his philosophising stand
athwart their path.
"Devoid of pride as well as weakness, if I
remind you of the rights deposited in the hands
of my family by the French people, I do so to
declare the duties which these rights impose
upon all.
The Emperor at once set about conforming
the institutions of France to an Imperial
régime. He seemed especially anxious to
found an aristocracy resembling that of the
first Empire, and to dazzle France by the
splendour of his court. The extravagance of
the President was deplorable: that of the
Emperor became alarming.
"For fifty years that the principle of the
people's sovereignty has been formally esta-
blished in France, by the most powerful revolu-
tion the world has ever seen, the will of the
nation has never been so solemnly proclaimed,
nor ratified by so large a number of indepen-
dent votes, as for the adoption of the consti-
tutions of the Empire.
"The nation has never abolished this great
act of its supremacy, and, as the Emperor
said :—' Whatever is done without her con-
currence is unlawful.'
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
575
"However, beware how you believe that,
yielding to the impulse of personal ambition,
I wished to attempt the restoration of the
Empire in France. The lessons I have been
taught were too exalted; the examples amongst
which I have lived have been too noble for this.
"I am the son of a father who came down
from the throne, without regret, the day he
considered it hopeless to reconcile the interests
of France with those of the people he had been
called upon to govern.
"The Emperor, my uncle, abdicated the
Empire rather than acknowledge by treaty
the restricted frontiers, which have exposed
France to those contemptuous threats which
the foreigner now indulges in. Not a day
have I lived without remembering the lessons
thus taught. The unreserved and cruel pro-
scription which, for twenty-five years, has
banded me about from the steps of the throne
on which I was born to the prison I have this
moment quitted, has failed either to provoke
or to weary me; it could not make me a
stranger a single day to the glory, the rights,
the interests of France. My conduct as well
as my principles testify to this."
Soon after his assumption of the Imperial
title he made a speech at Bourdeaux in
which occurred the remarkable expression,-
"The Empire is peace." Within ten years
after, five costly wars were waged, some of
them of vast magnitude, and at enormous
cost. A war with Russia, another with Austria,
a third in China, a fourth in Cochin China,
and a fifth in Mexico; and while these pages
pass through the press, the French navy is
engaged in hostile operations at Japan. But
for the British Government the Emperor
would have recently interfered in the North
American civil strife; so far the Empire is
war.
At this period of time, after the embroil-
ment of England in a war about "the Holy
Places
Places" at Jerusalem, after the encroach-
ments upon Swiss territory, since the seizure
of Savoy and Nice from Italy, taking into
account the attempts upon Egypt, under the
pretence of the Suez Canal scheme, and, above
all, the unprincipled aggression upon Mexico,
every reader must be prepared to regard the
advocacy of La Guerronnière and others, who
proclaimed that the Empire is peace, to be
mere clap-trap and deceit. All these pro-
fessions about "the Napoleon of Peace,"
and the impossibility of that olive-crowned
Emperor, or the France he represented, going
to war, were intended to blind Europe to
his real objects, and thereby gain time. He
deceived few governments by these specious
pretences, and few persons in Europe of
average intelligence.
In 1851, an Industrial Exhibition of all
Nations was inaugurated in London, the great
centre of the world's mercantile operations.
To this illustration of the progress of art,
manufacture, and commerce France contri-
buted largely and creditably, and the ruler
of that great country espoused the object
cordially and patiently. No ruler of France
has ever been so much alive to the progress
of its industry. The second Napoleon, in this
respect, deserves the appellation which La
Guerronnière applied to him, "the Napoleon
of Peace." The first Emperor did nothing
for the productive interests of France; the
second has already done much, in a spirit at
once just and enlightened, and there is every
reason to believe it is his purpose and in his
power to do more. Victor Hugo, notwith-
standing his personal animosity to the hero
of the coup d'état, admits this, but unfairly
turns it into an accusation against people and
ruler, by alleging that France is bribed by
the improvements in her material prosperity
576
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
זי
to forego her moral status. Much of what
the new Emperor has done for France in the
advancement of her commercial and manu-
facturing prosperity has been coldly supported,
and sometimes very much opposed, by the
French people. To his own enlightened views,
desire for the weal of the country he rules,
the experience gathered by him during his
residence in England, the influence of English
example, and the persuasions of English
political economists, such as Mr. Cobden and
Mr. Gladstone, the important results achieved
in this direction are to be attributed.
Still, with all the good intentions of the
Emperor in this respect, it is open to question
whether benefits secured already, or which
he may desire to see attained, would not be
hazarded in his attempts to carry out some
dynastic interest, and make practical some
Napoleonic idea. Animating, as it were, his
dead uncle, condensing the theories of that
great man, applying them to this age as far
as he can see it possible to apply them, may
he not involve France in conflicts by which
the tide of affluence flowing in upon her by
his commercial legislation shall be rolled
back? The following address, delivered by
him to those who took part in the London
Exhibition, is some guide in the decision of
the question. He had not then assumed the
Imperial purple, but he delivered the address
on the eve of that great revolution, and it
foreshadowed his policy, while it assisted his
dissimulation.
•
SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC TO
THE REPRESENTATIVES OF FRENCH INDUSTRY.
"Gentlemen,
"There are formalities which, owing to the
feelings they elicit, and the reflections they
produce, are something better than empty
show. I cannot but feel a certain pleasure,
and a certain pride as a Frenchman, when I
see before me the honourable men who, at
the cost of so many pains and so much ex-
pense, have creditably maintained abroad the
reputation of our arts, our manufactures, and
our science.
"I have already paid a just tribute to the
great idea which presided over the Great
Exhibition in London; yet when about to
crown your success with a national reward,
how can I forget that all these many marvels
of industry were begun amidst a continual
social agitation, caused by fear for the present,
and by sinister signs of the future? And,
whilst I reflected on the obstacles you had
to surmount, I said to myself, 'How great
this nation would be, if they would but let
her live in quiet!
66
And, truly, it was when our credit had
scarcely begun to revive; it was when, deluded
by a hell-born error, our working-men were
continually goaded to dry up the very springs
of labour; it was when a sort of insanity,
under the cloak of philanthropy, actually
diverted men's minds from their regular em-
ployments, to plunge them into speculative
theories; then it was you showed the world
those productions which, one would have
thought, could have been created only amidst
a calm and durable state of things.
✩
"In presence, therefore, of these unhoped
for results, I cannot help repeating: How
great the French Republic would be if she
were allowed to mind her own affairs, and to
reform her institutions, instead of being con-
tinually agitated, on one side by the false
notions of demagogues, on the other by
monarchical illusions!
>
“Do the notions of demagogues promulgate
a truth? No; they diffuse nothing through-
out the land but error and falsehood. Alarm
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
577
precedes, deception follows them; and what it
costs to suppress them has to be withdrawn
from the most urgent improvements for the
relief of poverty.
"As for monarchical illusions, if they do
not expose us to the same perils, they equally
impede our progress and all serious occupation.
Instead of advancing, we contend. We meet
with men, once the sanguine supporters of the
royal prerogative, who turn conventionists in
order to thwart the power proceeding from
popular election. We meet with those who
have most suffered by, and most deplored,
revolutions, urging on another, merely to
escape from obeying the national will, and
prevent that movement, which is a social
transformation, from taking its peaceful
course.
Legion of Honour, which by the great idea
of its founder, are designed to honour industry
as much as valour, and valour as much as
science.
"Before we separate, gentlemen, let me
stimulate you to new endeavours. Be fearless
in your enterprises; they will prevent a want
of employment during winter. Fear not for
the future. Happen what may, peace shall be
maintained. A government resting for support
on the whole mass of the nation, having no
other purpose than the public welfare, and
animated by that fervent faith which assuredly
must be your own guide, even where no road
has yet been opened to your skill,—this go-
vernment, I say, will know how to fulfil its
duty, for it comprehends both the right which
comes from the people, and the power which
emanates from God."
"These efforts will be fruitless. Whatever
is blended with the necessity of the time must
be accomplished. The useless, alone, cannot
survive. This ceremony is another proof that,
although certain institutions perish for ever,
those, on the other hand, which agree with the
manners, the opinions, and the requirements of
the age, defy alike the assaults of the envious
and the obloquy of the morose.
"Sons of that regenerated society which
destroyed old privileges, and declared civil
and political equality as their fundamental
principle, you all of you feel nevertheless,
proper pride in being appointed Knights of
the Legion of Honour. The reason is, that,
like all created at that period, this was an
institution adapted to the opinions of the
country, and in harmony with the spirit of
the age. Far from serving, like others, to
deepen the lines of demarcation, it obliterates
them, by placing all men who distinguish
themselves on the same line, whatever their
rank or profession may be.
"Receive, therefore, these crosses of the sceptre was sharpened into a sword.
Some passages in this remarkable address
are ominous, but the prevailing form and
spirit of the speech is a tribute to the bless-
ings of peace. Who could then have sup-
posed, whatever he might think of the pro-
pinquity of the Empire, that a policy of
interference with other nations, and of ad-
vancing French glory by remote foreign enter-
prises, could possibly exist in the views and
projects of this peace-speaking ruler?
"Fear
not for the future; happen what may, peace
shall be maintained," were words likely to
inspire towards him who had uttered them,
the confidence of the industrious and enter-
prising men to whom they were addressed.
No wonder that they should pave the way by
which he should approach to empire. Who
then would have listened to the reproach often
cast upon Louis Napoleon, "When he pro-
claims peace most loudly, it is a cover to some
purpose of aggression?" Empire secured, the
¿
4 E
578
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
CHAPTER LXXI.
MARRIAGE.-WAR WITH RUSSIA.
"All went merry as a marriage bell."-BYRON.
"I well might lodge a fear
To be again displac'd: which to avoid,
I cut some off; and had a purpose now
To lead out many to the Holy Land;
Lest rest, and lying still, might make them look
Too near unto my state. Therefore,
Be it my course to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days."-SHAKSPEARE, Henry IV.
THE Emperor had scarcely placed himself on
the throne, or been placed there by the
suffrages of France, than he sought a matri-
monial alliance. He was solicitous to find
one in some royal or imperial house, and
especially in that of Austria. All his over-
tures were repulsed. He was regarded by
crowned heads as a parvenu, and hated as the
representative of universal suffrage in oppo-
sition to legitimacy. Baffled in his efforts to
form a diplomatic marriage, he resolved upon
one according to his own tastes, and selected
a Spanish lady, Mdlle. Eugénie Montijo,
Countess Teba, a person of surpassing beauty
and grace of manners. She is reputed to be
extremely benevolent, amiable, and gentle,
and is said to be a very resolute Roman
Catholic of the Ultramontane type. It is
alleged that she exercises much influence over
the Emperor, his ministry, and his court on
political questions, and always with a view to
check liberal and popular measures, and to
promote the ascendency of the Church, both
in France and abroad, but most especially at
Rome, in the person of the Pope and the
office of the Papacy.
On the 29th of January, 1853, the Emperor
sent a message to the Senate announcing his
intention to marry.
It is a document very
remarkable for its tone and expression, espe-
cially after the fact of his rejected overtures
by various European courts :—
"The alliance which I contract," said he,
"is not in accordance with the traditions of
ancient policy, and therein is its advantage.
The example of the past has left in the
mind of the people superstitious feelings. It
has not forgotten that for seventy years foreign
princesses have mounted the throne only to
behold their race dispossessed and proscribed
by war or by revolution. One woman alone
seemed to bring happiness and to live more
than the others in the memory of the people—
and that woman, the modest and good wife of
General Bonaparte, was not the issue of royal
blood. It must, however, be admitted that, in
1810, the marriage of Napoleon I. with Marie
Louise was a great event. It was a pledge
for the future, a real satisfaction to the
national pride; as the ancient and illustrious
branch of the house of Austria, who had been
so long at war with us, was seen to intrigue
for the alliance of the elected chief of a new
empire. . . . .
"When in presence of old Europe, one is
borne on by the force of a new principle to
the height of ancient dynasties, it is not by
giving an ancient character to one's escutcheon
•
7
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
579
(envieillissant son blason), and by seeking to
introduce oneself at all costs into a family,
that one is accepted. It is rather by ever
remembering one's origin, by preserving one's
character, and by adopting frankly, in presence
of Europe, the position of parvenu: a glorious
title when one obtains it by the free suffrages
of a great people. Thus obliged to depart
from precedents followed to the present day,
my marriage became a private affair, and
there remained only the choice of the person.
"She who has been the object of my pre-
ference is of distinguished birth. French in
heart, by education, by the recollection of the
blood shed by her father in the cause of the
Empire, she has, as a Spaniard, the advantage
of not having in France a family to whom it
might be necessary to give honours and for-
tune. Endowed with all the qualities of the
mind, she will be the ornament of the throne;
in the day of danger she will be one of its
courageous supporters. A Catholic, she will
address to Heaven the same prayers with me
for the happiness of France. In fine, by
her grace and her goodness, she will, I have
the firm hope, endeavour to receive in the
same position the virtues of the Empress
Josephine."
The civil service was enacted on the 29th
at the Tuileries, and was next day ratified
by the Church with great ecclesiastical and
courtly splendour.
The marriage was popular amongst the
French people, although some have taken
offence at the extreme gaiety of her Imperial
Majesty's court. Sometimes the Emperor's
enemies have contrasted him with his Em-
press, much to his disparagement.
During his first year of empire he was
engaged in an alliance with England and
Turkey, at war with Russia. This was a war
which he had himself provoked. It originated
in the jealousies of the Greek and Latin
Churches, and their contentions for the holy
places in Jerusalem.* The Emperor put him-
self forth as the defender and protector of the
Latin Church. The origin of the Russian
war, however, requires some particular notice.
The Emperor had scarcely ascended the
throne than he displayed a disposition to
imitate his uncle in two departments of his
foreign policy-first, hostility to Russia for
the purpose of compelling her to an alliance,
or a friendship, or at least neutrality where
the foreign policy of France was concerned; the
second, at all costs to obtain influence in the
East. The first Emperor, in the earlier stages
of his progress and power, would gladly have
allied himself to England, doubtless in order to
use her as an instrument of his own ambition
until he could conveniently cast her away.
Whether Napoleon III. contemplated the
latter, his conduct at the close of the Russian
war led to the suspicion; but at all events, he
courted the alliance of England in order to
humble Russia. That once effected, the Em-
peror seemed to sympathise with Russia rather
than England on all Oriental, and nearly all
European, questions.
After England had caused the French Em-
peror to moderate his demands, she united
with him in vain efforts to moderate those of
the Emperor with whom he had ostentatiously
and unnecessarily picked the quarrel. The
Russian Emperor, moved by mingled hatred
and contempt for Napoleon, and intensely
jealous of the influence of the British Ambas-
sador at Constantinople, resolved to stake his
empire upon one desperate effort to humble
Europe, and grasp from Turkey some of her
richest provinces, or compel the formal admis-
sion of her vassallage.
* "War against Russia," by E. H. Nolan, Ph.D., LL.D.
580
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
L
The Turkish Government aroused itself from
its normal lethargy, and appealed to its troops
and people.
A large portion of the first year of the war
was wasted by the feeble efforts and hesitating
policy of the Western Powers. Turkey was
left to fight alone, or nearly so.
The troops
of the allies occupied successively Roumalia
and Bulgaria, great numbers of them perishing
from cholera and dysentery before a blow was
struck. Nevertheless, the presence of these
troops prevented Turkey from being invaded
by Russia.
The Turks had to contest the possession of
the Danubian frontiers, which they did with
great gallantry. Many British officers were
enrolled in the Turkish service, and showed
skill and valour of a high order. Among
these, none were so much distinguished as
General Cannon, afterwards Behram Pasha.
He, at the head of the Turkish light division,
relieved Silistria, and thereby mainly contri-
buted to the results which compelled the
Russians to raise the siege. The defence of
Silistria by the Turks was one of the most
gallant exploits of modern times. The battles
fought at and near Oltenatzo were won by the
superior courage and persistence of the Turks.
Finally, the troops of the Sultan, under the
command of Omar Pasha, entered Moldavia
and Wallachia, driving the Russians before
them.
The Austrians here interfered, and occupied
the Principalities, preventing the march of the
allied armies upon Russian territory in that
direction.
The policy of Austria was not faithful to
the Western Powers, nor sincere towards
Russia, nor expert nor potent as an umpire.
To the Turks she was insolent, and to the
people of the Principalities oppressive; yet
the protests of British ministers and consuls
were generally resisted by the French envoys
and agents, who co-operated with the Austrians,
nearly always countenancing their misdeeds.
Then, for the first time after the war broke
out, the sincerity of the French Emperor as
an ally was suspected.
The Western Powers resolved to transfer the
war from the Danubian provinces to the Crimea
and the Sea of Azoff. The main bodies of their
armies were at Varna where they embarked,
and ultimately landed at Old Fort in the
Crimea. The Russians took post on the
heights of the Alma, whence they were driven.
by a grand battle. In that engagement the
officers and men of the allied armies showed
distinguished bravery, and several of the
general officers showed skill and heroism.
The Prince Napoleon, cousin of the Emperor,
was especially forward in combat on the side
of the French imperial army, and on the
British side, the Duke of Cambridge, Sir
Colin Campbell, Sir De Lacy Evans, and Sir
Richard England rendered good service, and
displayed their heroic qualities. Wherever
De Lacy Evans is on the field, there is sure to
be hard fighting, and this was seen at Alma,
as often before.
From the Alma the allies proceeded slowly
to Sebastopol, and by a flank march placed
themselves on the southern side, with Bala-
klava for their base.
Then commenced one of the most remark-
able sieges recorded. The besiegers suffered
from cold in winter and mud in summer; both
seasons, by their peculiar phenonema in that
climate, so interfering with facilities of trans-
port, that the armies had to endure hunger
and nakedness, as well as battle.
There did not exist much cordiality between
the British and French troops, and very little
of a spirit of co-operation between the
generals, especially the generals commanding
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
581
in chief. There was interchange of courtesy,
ostensible and insincere laudations of one
another in despatches, mutual admiration of
the bravery by which both armies were charac-
terised; but, after all, dislike.
While these proceedings were occurring, the
war between the Sultan and the Czar raged
along the conterminal portion of their
empires. In Asia the Turks were only suc-
cessful when led by British or Hungarian
officers. The corruption, cowardice, inactivity,
cruelty, and treachery of the pashas would
have placed Asia Minor at the feet of the
Czar but for the help of England. France did
nothing in support of the war in Asia, and the
French press decried the efforts of the English
in a tone of jealousy and envy.
During August, 1854, the Russians advanced
with the design of attacking Erzerum. The
Turkish pashas were too much intent upon
plundering every one within the range of their
power to offer any effectual resistance. Hun-
garian, German, and Polish officers, especially
the two latter, were equally zealous in quarel-
ling with one another. Guyon alone, among
the officers of superior rank in the Turkish
service, displayed activity, intelligence, fore-
sight, and spirit; but he was thwarted by the
other Europeans, and insulted and defied by
the Turkish Muchir, Feriks, and Beys. Again
and again he pointed out the sure road to
victory, and the fact that the Turks were
superior in numbers and resources to their
foes; his counsel was despised, delays were
interposed, when no alternative but the osten-
sible adoption of his plans remained, and the
result was the almost total dispersion of the
Turkish armies, and the imminent danger of
Erzerum, and even Kars, falling into the
hands of the enemy without a struggle.
This state of things continued until Lieut.-
Colonel (afterwards Major-General Sir Fenwick
-
Williams, Bart.) Williams appeared upon the
scene as the commissioner of her Britannic
Majesty. In that character he was invested
with an authority poor Guyon could not claim,
and without which the latter officer struggled
in vain. Colonel Williams, like Guyon, was
an object of the insatiable jealousy of Lord
Stratford de Redcliffe, who gave him no
support, and in spite of the entreaties-and,
at last, of the commands-of the English
Minister for Foreign Affairs, thwarted Coloncl
Williams in every conceivable way. Supported.
however, by the decision, perseverance, and
intelligence of Lord Clarendon, the English
commissioner held his ground in spite of the
coldness, and even opposition, of the Am-
bassador, and was enabled to reorganise
the dispersed armies of the Porte, to place
Kars and Erzerum in conditions of defence,
and to throw such obstructions in the way
of the Russians, then flushed with success,
as retarded their advance, until the fall of
Sebastopol decided virtually the fortunes of
the war.
Leaving the struggle in Asia in the position
above noticed, it is necessary to turn once
more to Europe.
While the allies were before Sebastopol the
Russians made various efforts to dislodge them,
or to hinder them proceeding with the siege
works; some of these were met and repulsed by
the troops of the Emperor, and some by those
of her Britannic Majesty. The most remark-
able engagements were such as the French
had little part in, except the battle of the
Tchernaya and the final assault on Sebastopol.
The battle of the Tchernaya was described
at length in the Life of Victor Emmanuel,
the troops of that monarch having taken a
distinguished part in that contest.
The battles of Balaklava and the two Inker-
mans were the most remarkable as detached
ست
582
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
1
:
conflicts, and they were mainly fought by the
Emperor's British allies.
The battle of Balaklava was one of the most
singular ever fought, all the folly and nearly
all the glory of which belonged to the British.
The Russians desired to conquer some re-
doubts garrisoned by Turks, and succeeded.
The British then marched some infantry into
the plain, with a brigade of heavy cavalry, and
a light cavalry brigade.
The latter was commanded by Major-General |
the Earl of Cardigan, who was ordered to
charge, and recapture some guns which the
Russians had borne away. The gallant general
led on his men, and immediately a shell struck
Captain Nolan, by whom the order was
brought. This misfortune deprived the army
of one of its ablest and bravest cavalry officers.
In this terrible onset, the charge of six hun-
dred men against an army in position, with its
flanks defended by strong batteries on elevated
posts, there was no flinching. The gallant
leader has told the author of this work that
various officers shouted, brandished their
swords, and were excited; that if any effort
were required on the part of the commander,
it was to keep the men cool and the lines
regular as they galloped forward to the terrific
encounter. The charge was made, how gal-
lantly the whole world admits. The wonder is
that any escaped. Probably, hardly any would,
had not Colonel Sewell, at the head of the
Royal Irish Hussars, thought of the peril of
the Russian cavalry wheeling from the flanks
and blocking up the way of return. He im-
mediately turned his rear, and found this
danger in actual existence. He charged the
Russian cavalry, and, with the aid of a handful
of French horsemen, kept open the way for
those who had dashed,
The leader and a portion of this gallant band
escaped. It has been said of the Earl of Car-
digan that "he was the first in and the first
out." This, is simply not true. He entered the
Russian lines at the head of his men, and when
his brigade was broken in pieces upon the guns
and lines of the enemy, he, as a fragment of
the shattered mass, like other fragments,
turned to re-form and act as duty then might
dictate. He rode slowly from the Russian
lines under the fire of the enemy,
and joined
the rest of the survivors, who received him
with cheers. The Earl of Lucan, with the
heavy brigade, rendered the retreat of the light
brigade possible.
That brigade, led by General Scarlett,
made a splendid and successful charge upon
the Russian cavalry.
The only part taken by the troops of his
Imperial Majesty was the assistance already
named, rendered by a few horsemen to Colonel
Sewell in covering the retreat.
The Russians retired to their positions and
kept there, but the redoubts were held by them.
Had Lord Raglan advanced his infantry, an
action of a more general and scientific character
would have ensued, and an opportunity might
have been made available for inflicting a defeat
upon the enemy which would have relieved
Balaklava of his vicinity. Such was the opinion
of various officers of authority, and Sir De Lacy
Evans, who had as good opportunities as any
general to form a judgment upon the occasion,
and was as competent as any officer in Europe
to do so, expressed, in conversation with the
author of this history, the same opinion.
The men and horses of the British army
were now suffering severely from the climate,
and from various privations, which the bad
commissariat arrangements, and the want of
energy and capacity on the part of the com-
their fiery steeds through the lines of the enemy. mander-in-chief entailed upon them. November
"With fetlock deep in blood."
S
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
583
opened gloomily in every way upon the be-
siegers. Its first event of importance was the
battle of the Little Inkerman, as it was called
among the soldiers. The Russians attempted
a surprise upon the dangerous and exposed
post of the second division, which was for-
tunately commanded by Sir De Lacy Evans.
The result was the most scientifically-fought
battle of the war. General Evans, not ham-
pered by the interference of a commander-in-
chief, whose only title to command him was
that conferred by his social rank and favour
with the ministry, had full scope for his own
superior powers. The Russians were repulsed
with great slaughter and with little loss to
their victors. The French offered assistance
tardily, but their aid was declined-good
generalship won the battle. The men of the
second division knew how to obey the com-
mands of a general whom they trusted, and to
follow a leader himself the bravest of the
brave.
The battle of the Little Inkerman was soon
followed by that called, par excellence, the
battle of Inkerman. The morning of the 5th
of November dawned mistily and dimly over
the plateau before Sebastopol, and along the
dark course of the Tchernaya. The Russians
ascended stealthily against the flank of the
British. A terrible battle ensued. The English
surprised, fought in their great coats; although
otherwise imperfectly dressed, and some with-
out shoes or shakos. Evans, who would have
been at the head of his second division, was ill
on board ship at Balaklava, and his place was
nobly filled by General Pennefather. At the
sound of the cannon booming heavily over the
plateau of Balaklava, Evans rose from his sick
bed and hurried to the front of battle, where he
remained during the terrible morning of con-
flict which opened that eventful day. The
English were all but overpowered, although
-
they fought as Englishmen-as probably no
men ever before fought-with a tenacious
obstinacy that yielded to no force, with a
chivalrous dash and daring which contemned
all odds. The Duke of Cambridge, probably,
escaped greater danger than any British officer
on the field. For a time he rode along the
line encouraging his men, the fire of the ad-
vancing columns of the Russians directed
upon him; nearly all around him were killed
or wounded. It was a critical and awful
moment: the Russians were gaining the
summit of the ascent; they would there have
had room to deploy, and the British would
have been in danger of being driven from their
intrenchments, and the allied armies of being
forced back upon the sea. Fortunately the
French, who were engaged in watching the
manœuvres of Liprandi in the valley beneath,
at last came to the assistance of their allies,
and fell upon the Russian flank. The British
at the same moment received supplies of
ammunition, of which they had been in need
through the wretched management of every-
thing that depended upon head-quarters; their
ranks rallied and poured deadly volleys of
Minié bullets upon the masses of the enemy
struggling with the French. The slopes of the
plateau were strewn with dead, and slippery
with gore; the Russians, foiled everywhere,
retreated. The French, fresh for pursuit,
would not pursue unless the weary guards-
men led the van. Canrobert, the successor
of Arnaud in command of the French army,
complimented the British, but did not act
heartily with them. The services of Sir
Richard England at Inkerman have been
generally overlooked by British writers. Eng-
land was not favourable to the agents of the
press, and he showed this feeling in a manner
which offended that class. This was unwise,
both for himself, his division, and the service.
584
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
A
:
:
Were it not for that circumstance, the valuable
services of that general would have become
better known to the public. When the battle
of Inkerman began, England occupied a po-
sition to the left of the English lines, near
to a ravine which separated them from those
occupied by the French. Leaving a portion
of his troops under the command of one of
his brigadiers, he despatched the rest under
Brigadier Campbell to the right, and himself
followed. His opportune arrival supported
the divisions exposed to attack; and as their
several detachments moved to the more im-
mediate theatre of conflict, England's troops
occupied the ground from which they had
been removed, and which would have been
exposed to the enemy. It is remarkable that
the plan of the Russian generals was to make
the principal attack upon the extreme left of
the British, so as to separate the English left
from the French right. The officer in charge
of the attacking column missed his way,
delay was thus caused, as well as the plan
of assault totally deranged; possibly, to these
circumstances may be attributed the failure
of the Russian attack on the 5th of November.
1.
After this battle, Sir De Lacy Evans strongly
recommended Lord Raglan to change his posi-
tion. He was influenced in offering this advice
by the total inadequacy of the English army,
numerically, to occupy such extended lines,
and by the suffering of the army from ill-
health, climate, and deficient supplies, per-
sonal and military. This letter of the general
has been much misrepresented in the London
clubs, and among coteries unfriendly to the
general's liberal parliamentary policy. It was,
however, the opinion of Sir De Lacy that,
unless reinforcements arrived in numbers far
superior to what was then probable, the British
would be unable to hold their ground; and,
notwithstanding the actual issue, such advice
was sound, and based upon facts and proba-
bilities.
After the battle of Inkerman, the condition
of the British army became truly horrible, so
that the closing winter months of 1854 were
such as tried the fortitude of the British
troops and their hardihood of endurance to
the uttermost.
The first bombardment of Sebastopol took
place on the 17th of October, in which the
fleet took an active part; but the combined
efforts of the artillery, afloat and ashore, failed
to subdue the gigantic works which had arisen
for the defence.
Various bombardments and incessant watch-
ing occupied the fleets until, in the following
year, the grand catastrophe occurred, and
southern Sebastopol fell under what the
Russian commander called "the fire infernal"
of the allies.
The operations in the Baltic were not so
important as those in the Black Sea. The
fine British fleet, commanded by Sir Charles
Napier, was aided by a powerful French fleet,
under the command of Vice-Admiral Parseval-
Deschênes. The achievements of those fleets
did not answer the expectations formed. The
French arrived late in the season, and acted
so dependently upon the British, that they
did not attempt anything. The English
admiral showed neither spirit nor activity.
Partly through his want of enterprise, and
still more from the neglect of the Admiralty
at home to provide vessels of draught suitable
to the shallow waters of the Baltic, no attempt
was made to conquer any of the Russian
strongholds. The island and forts of Bomar-
sund were captured and destroyed, the British
and French engineers and artillery having
the chief glory of the conquest. The British
engineer officer, General Jones, greatly dis-
tinguished himself.
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
585
Operations were also conducted on the extraordinary incompetency was impressed
White Sea by the allied squadrons.
on all their undertakings.
In the Pacific Ocean the blunders and
tardiness which characterised the allies were
Such were the fortunes of the great war
with Russia during 1854.
CHAPTER LXXII.
WAR WITH RUSSIA, CONTINUED.—PEACE.-DIPLOMATIC DISCUSSIONS.—EVASION OF THE TREATY.-
FRANCE COURTS ALLIANCE WITH RUSSIA.
“The nations meet in league-a solemn league;
This is their vow, this their united pledge,
For all adventure."-SIIAKSPEARE.
THE battle of Eupatoria had great influence | House of Commons, "horrible and heart-
rending."
A motion of censure was sub-
mitted to Parliament, and carried by an over-
whelming majority. The Aberdeen ministry
resigned. A new ministry was formed, from
which was omitted those who had the chief
conduct of affairs connected with the war—
the Earl of Aberdeen and the Duke of New-
castle-Lord Palmerston became Premier.
upon the war, but France had little share
in its danger or its glory, in which Turks
and British maintained their soldierly honour.
The Turks were, however, the troops by which
victory was achieved. The Russians were
much hurt in their honour by the seizure of
that port by the Turks; and the skill and
obstinacy with which they maintained their
position, menacing the Russian communica-
tions with the army in Sebastopol. An attack
was made on the 17th of February, 1855,
and the repulse was bloody and decisive.
The Czar took this to heart; he never re-
gained his hope, or spirits, but pined and
died. Napoleon III. was avenged. The troops
of the 'parvenu,' as Nicholas had called him,
appeared on his territory, and brought down
to death the mighty Cæsar of the North.
The confidence felt in the United Kingdom
and the French Empire in the noble Viscount
inspired the people and the troops with new
energy. It was universally acknowledged that
the British government was placed under the
guidance of the ablest and most experienced
statesman in the world.
statesman in the world. Moreover, it was
believed that no other statesman in England
had so much influence over the mind and
policy of the subject of this memoir as Lord
Palmerston. Hence the vast importance at
that crisis that the helm of British states-
manship was entrusted to his courageous,
energetic, and skilful hand.
This change of government in England was
attended by some events of immediate in-
fluence. A conference of representatives of
the great Powers had been appointed to take
Events occurred in England which greatly
influenced the progress of the war, and the
councils of the French Empire.
The British people had become discontented
with the conduct of the war. The sufferings
of the allied armies from cold, hunger, and
disease were, as the author of this work heard
Lord John Russell designate them in the

4 F
586
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
place in Vienna, and Lord John Russell was
appointed to attend it as the representative
of England.
The sittings of this conference were held
in March and April. Both Lord John Russell
and the French plenipotentiary agreed to terms
which, as they were ultimately rejected by the
allied governments, need not be detailed here.
"Both France and England, however, became
disgusted with professional and ministerial
diplomatists, and denounced all negociations
with Russia until, by sword and lance, rifle
and cannon, the foe was humiliated.
According to the imperial commissioner
with the French army, the month of January,
1855, was fertile in partial combats, and
sudden but sanguinary and obstinate struggles.
Mr. Woods, the correspondent of the London
Morning Herald, affirmed that the combats
were useless skirmishes.
The accession of Alexander II. to the throne
of the Russian empire, while it encouraged
diplomatic efforts for peace, led to renewed
efforts for war, the young Emperor being
anxious to show his people zeal for "the
orthodox Church," and reverence for the
policy of his predecessor, whom Russia
regarded as a saint and a martyr. The
Emperor Alexander resolved upon a desperate
effort to bring the war to an issue favour-
able to his Empire by force of arms, unless,
through the instrumentality of Austria at
the Vienna conference, he could more cheaply
conquer peace.
Through the month of March, the allies
became more active in the siege of Sebastopol.
During April, they made powerful efforts
again to bombard the place.
At this period, the Black Sea fleet operated
in watching the enemy's coasts in that sea,
and in harassing him in his harbours in the
Sea of Azoff.
On the 8th of April Sebastopol was once
more bombarded. The bombardment even-
tually failed.
May opened brightly and beautifully, as it
generally does in the Crimea.
The King of Sardinia having joined the
alliance against Russia, several thousand fine
troops from that nation landed at Balaklava.
They were eventually quartered upon the Tcher-
naya, and, with some Turkish detachments,
and French divisions, held at bay the Russian
army in the field, and rendered all further
operations of the enemy against Balaklava
impossible.
An expedition was sent against Kertch.
When May closed, the allies and the Russians
confronted one another, in formidable force,
upon the opposite heights of the Tchernaya.
June was an eventful month before Sebasto-
pol. It began with a third bombardment of
the gallant city, which, like previous ones, was
a failure.
The third bombardment having failed, the
allies lost no time in bringing fresh resources
of attack and storm against the defences. A
fourth bombardment produced signal havoc
and extensive dilapidation. On the 18th of
the month, the allies attempted to take the
place.
place. A combined assault of a most san-
guinary nature was made and defeated.
General Simpson, on his assumption of
command, ordered the siege to be prosecuted
without intermission, in the hope of giving a
fresh and successful assault. The month of
July and part of August witnessed the progress
of events for the grand and final struggle.
After the failure of the assault on the 18th
of June, the opposing hosts on the Tchernaya
assumed gradually a more menacing attitude, so
that from the middle of July a battle was daily
and even hourly expected. It was the interest
of the Russians to strike the first blow, and the
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
587
allies prepared to ward it off, and, if possible,
deal in return a more deadly stroke. The
great trial of strength on the banks and steep
acclivities of the "Black River" was destined
to occur in August. On the 16th, the Russians
attacked the whole line of the French and Sar-
dinian posts, and, after a long and sanguinary
battle, were defeated. This decisive repulse of
the Russian army in the field, left the allies
more at liberty to prosecute to perfection the
works necessary to secure a successful assault.
The British army experienced a serious injury
in the retirement of Lieutenant-General Sir
Richard England. He had probably endured
more fatigue, and worked on with more patience,
perseverance, and continuity of action than any
officer in the British army. One by one the
English chiefs had fallen away by death, or
wounds, or sickness, General England, with
frame of iron and indomitable will, still bearing
up, although sharing cold, watchings, labours,
and privations with his soldiers in a way cha-
racteristic of his generous nature and military
temper. He was perhaps the least ostentatious
soldier in either army. He never put himself
forward prominently, but was always ready to
perform the most arduous task committed to
him with scrupulous precision, and quiet and
indomitable resolution. Had he not offended
the agents of the press by his resolution of not
allowing any reporters within his division-
under the conviction, probably erroneous, that
the reports which found their way into the
English papers, gave information to the enemy
injurious to the service-he would have had
many a gallant deed, and his stern uncompro-
mising sense of duty, emblazoned to the world.
His health at last suffered so severely that he
was obliged to return home, shortly before the
grand conquest was achieved.
September opened with the immediate pre-
liminaries of the grand struggle. The last
bombardment of the strong city began, and
finally southern Sebastopol was captured.
General Simpson resigned his command, and
General Codrington, a general of less than two
years' standing, assumed the important post.
Discord among the allied commanders, and
intrigues in the French foreign-office and the
imperial court of France, paralysed the vigorous
purposes of the English cabinet. The French
Emperor wished to conciliate his brother auto-
crat of Russia, and was unwilling to strike a
blow which in proportion as it humbled Russia
exalted England. A fear lest any glory or in-
fluence in the East should accrue to England
swayed the French ministry. Napoleon had
other designs which England was less likely
to favour than was Alexander II., and the
policy adopted was to gain an ally in the
enemy which England aided him to subdue.
-
Another winter encampment before Sebas-
topol was necessary.
Various operations in other directions were
undertaken.
-
On a previous page the arrival of Colonel
Williams as
Williams as her Majesty's commissioner,
and his efforts to restore order in the Turkish
armies, and to correct the rapacity and dis-
order of its chiefs, were noticed. That skilful
and gallant officer, now so well known as
Major-General Sir Fenwick Williams, Bart. of
Kars, late M.P. for Calne, and Governor of
Woolwich, and while these pages are going
to press, Commander-in-chief of the forces in
Canada, put forth almost superhuman efforts
to save Asia Minor from the Russians during
the summer and autumn of 1855.
In conse-
quence of the wretched conduct of the Turkish
pashas, and the quarrels of the European
officers in the Turkish service, especially the
Poles, Germans, and Hungarians, Colonel,
or as we shall now call him General Williams,
shut himself up in Kars. The Turkish pashas

588
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
.
immediately conspired together to neglect him,
to refuse succours military or material, and
by leaving Kars to fall into the hands of the
Russians, bring discredit upon the foreign
general, and deter the Sultan from committing
commands or positions of authority over the
faithful to infidel generals. The limits of this
history do not allow of the detail of the defence
of Kars. It is one of the most remarkable and
romantic in history. So extraordinary was the
capacity of General Williams that he inspired
confidence in the minds of the abject Turks,
and ensured order among the wild and pre-
datory auxiliaries who came to the assistance
of his garrison. His exceeding sweetness of
temper, urbanity of manner, and ease and
persuasiveness of address, enabled General
Williams to secure the support of the people
of Kars, the wild Lazi, and his own little
band of noble British officers. He defended
He defended
Kars without any European troops whatever
against the best general in the Russian service,
and one of the most noble and generous as
well as heroic of men, Mouravieff. The Russians
were repulsed again and again by the towns
people and their rude and undisciplined assis-
tants from the country. The army of Mouravieff
was punished with appalling slaughter, and
had food been sent to the garrison, which the
Turkish pashas could have effected, General
Williams would not only have saved Kars, but
have driven the Russians back upon the line
of the Caucasus. Famine, however, conquered
the heroic chief and his devoted followers. The
surrender of Kars became necessary, and the
famished garrison and its adored chief went
forth prisoners to the Russian camp. Severely
as the besiegers had suffered, they used lan-
guage of unbounded admiration for the skill
and gallantry of General Williams and his
officers, and for the devotion, endurance, and
courage of their followers.
The subject of our memoir offered neither
assistance nor sympathy to the hero of Kars
and his "gallant little Turks," as he called
them. The Emperor, his cabinet, and his
people, showed more concern lest England
should gain influence in Asia Minor, than
for the resistance of the enemy against whom
they had allied themselves.
While yet the struggle was going on in
Kars, Omar Pasha, at the head of a Turkish
army, was despatched to the northern shores
of the Asiatic coast of the Black Sea to create
a diversion, and cause the siege of Kars to be
raised. In this undertaking Omar was not
sincere. He, like the other pashas, was
jealous of Williams, and wished Kars to fall.
Omar landed, lost time wherever he could on
any pretence make a stay, beat his enemy
to prove his own generalship, and took care
to reap none of the fruits of victory lest Kars
should be saved.
While war was raging on the eastern side.
of the Russian and Turkish empires, the
western waters and shores of Russia were also
the scenes of sanguinary contests.
The operations in the White Sea were
similar to what took place in the Baltic. In-
accessible harbours defied the allied fleets.
Want of vessels of small draught rendered
pursuit impossible when Russian ships made
the sinuosities of the coast, and shallow rivers,
available for retreat. Still, great havoc was
effected, and the loss of property sustained
by the Russians was very severe. Both in
the Baltic and the White seas the allies
arrived too late in the season, and left too
early.
As in the previous year, the Russians showed
superior foresight, activity, and intelligence
to the allied naval forces in the Pacific. In
vain the powerful squadrons of France and
England pursued their enemy hither and
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
589
thither; little was accomplished-incapacity by the chief German Powers, and ardently
and tardiness marred all enterprise.
desired by France, was a treaty of peace on
In the early winter months of 1856 negotia- the 30th of March, 1856.
tions for peace were opened.
Peace was proclaimed on the 20th of April
The result of the negotiations, brought about following.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
VISIT OF THE EMPEROR TO HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY.-VISIT OF HER MAJESTY TO THE EMPEROR.
-ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE EMPEROR.-THE CONGRESS OF PARIS.-JEALOUSIES BETWEEN
FRANCE AND ENGLAND.-THE WAR IN CHINA.-EVENTS OF RECENT YEARS.-CHARACTER OF
THE EMPEROR'S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.
"Patience is genius."-BUFFOn.
If the language of this motto were ever true,
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is its exemplifica-
tion. As year after year rolled by, he watched
his opportunities with untiring patience, and
made them available with daring promptitude.
Two incidents occurred extremely interest-
ing in the Emperor's life, and arising out of
this war; one of these was the visit of the
Emperor and his beautiful Empress to the
Queen of the United Kingdom; the other
the visit of her Britannic Majesty to the Court
of the Tuileries. The first of these took place
in the middle of April, 1855. The Emperor
and Empress left Paris on the 15th, and on
the 16th sailed for England. In the author's
History of the War against Russia a long and
particular account is given of this incident in
the Emperor's life.
During the week Napoleon and his Em-
press received many demonstrations of popular
respect and even enthusiasm, but their re-
ception in the City by the Corporation was
especially splendid. Men of reflection can
hardly fail to wonder that two such men so
opposite in principles and character as Gari-
baldi and Napoleon III. should be received by
the same people with similar popularity and
even exultation.
On Saturday their Imperial Majesties re-
turned to France.
Soon afterwards the Emperor narrowly
escaped death by the hand of an Italian
assassin.
On the 18th of August her Britannic Majesty
accompanied by Prince Albert and the Prince
of Wales, visited the French Emperor at Paris.
His Imperial Majesty and the people of France
displayed a cordiality of welcome, and a taste-
ful hospitality, which rivalled those qualities
put forth in England on occasion of the Em-
peror's visit.
Soon after these events the Emperor united
with the Queen of the United Kingdom in
remonstrance with the King of Naples for the
cruelties perpetrated upon his subjects. Both
her Majesty and the Emperor failed to produce
any impression upon the obstinate sovereign
by whom that part of Italy was misgoverned,
and they withdrew their ambassadors.
On previous pages of this history the pro-
590
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
ceedings in a congress held at Paris were
described. At that congress the rights of
Italy became a subject of discussion, and the
Emperor's government showed favour to the
injured land. All that concerned Italy in
connection with that congress is related in the
life of Victor Emmanuel. But a common
European agreement was arrived at which
affects France and other Powers. It related
to maritime international law, and may be
expressed in a single sentence, "A neutral
flag covers an enemy's goods." This was
generally regarded in Europe as a blow struck
by France at the maritime power of England.
The government of the United States of
America refused assent to the principle.
F
A
removed, and the policy of the French Em-
peror became obviously one of conciliation, and
even friendship, with that power.
One purpose he kept steadily in view as
soon as he was able to direct the policy of
France-not to allow England to interfere any-
where without also interfering; not to allow
her to reap any glory of whatsoever kind with-
out either participating in it, or by appearing
to participate, and help actually to frustrate.
If England sent out even a religious or bene-
volent expedition, which might be expected
from the nature of her relations, French agents
were sure to follow; England was literally
dogged through the world by the French
Emperor.
The year 1857 opened with jealousies be-
tween France and England. All classes in
All classes in
the latter country acknowledged the benefits
of a French alliance, but felt that the main-rights there. At the close of 1856 the British
In 1856 operations in China were neces-
sitated by the views which English states-
men took of English commercial interests and
tenance of it was extremely difficult. The
policy of the French Emperor was considered
selfish and dynastic, and not regulated by
good faith. His eagerness to create an alliance
with Russia, at the expense of England, be-
came even more obvious than before in every
circumstance which brought the three Powers
into diplomatic connection. On June the 19th
a treaty was signed at Paris, but not ratified
until the last day of the year, between Great
Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and
Sardinia, relating to the rectification of the
Russian and Turkish frontiers, the Isle of
Serpents, and the Delta of the Danube, in
which the whole English policy prevailed.
The shameful and unjust delay in the execu-
tion of this treaty may be fairly attributed to
the French Emperor. Had he frankly sup-
ported her Majesty in insisting upon Russia
fulfilling the terms of the peace, there would
have been neither apprehension nor delay.
admiral in those waters was obliged to wait
for reinforcements. In 1857 they arrived, and
also a French squadron "to co-operate." It
was October before the Emperor's forces joined
the British. The French co-operation was
mischievous, as an alliance of Western Europe
in those seas provoked the rivalry of the United
States of America and Russia. It soon became
obvious also that the French Emperor had
objects of his own to answer, and he desired
the aid of British arms and British moral in-
fluence under cover of which to accomplish
purposes not held in common by the allied
Powers. He was desirous of obtaining exclu-
sive favours for the Roman Catholic religion.
This the English seemed to regard with too
little concern; but the Americans and Russians
were at once offended by the religious zealotry
of France, and indifference of England. The
English were, however, exceedingly annoyed
by the avarice of glory shown by the French,
their self-assertion, vanity, ambition, and
The causes of contest with Russia were now
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
591
ostentatious depreciation of everything not
performed by themselves.
1
This war continued through 1857, but was
terminated in 1858, by a favourable treaty in
which all Europeans were to possess equal
advantages. The Chinese never intended to
fulfil the treaty, war again broke out, the
English and French were again allies, and
once more the co-operation was not hearty.
Pekin itself was conquered, and the French
renewed their efforts, and with some success,
for peculiar religious advantages.
In 1857, a mutiny broke out in the British
native army in India. The French Emperor
offered a passage through France of the troops
sent out to quell the insurrection, and also
offered the Queen of England the assistance of
his army, which was declined.
These foreign wars told severely on French
finance, and the Emperor made great and
somewhat successful efforts to restore it. He
probably already contemplated new enterprises
"for the glory of France."
A variety of irritating topics sprung up for
discussion between the French and English
people in 1858. The French Emperor ap-
peared to countenance the alarms in France
of everything English.
7
After allowing much abuse and violence,
the Emperor suddenly silenced the aspersers
of his ally, or directed the same journals to
uphold the alliance they had just before so
bitterly decried.
In 1859 occurred the Italian war, already
sufficiently noticed on other pages of this book.
The years 1860-61 were, as already re-
corded in this work, eventful to Italy. The
policy of the French Emperor to the Italian
people was fitful, wavering, inconsistent, and
unintelligible.
The events of recent years which are most
likely to make history busy with the Emperor's
character, are his designs to extend his empire
or his influence to remote parts of the world.
From Abyssinia and Egypt, to China and
Japan, he has been, in the persons of his
agents and officers, roaming about as it were
for any opening by which territory and "glory"
might be gained, and the honour of Napo-
leon III. made to penetrate the eastern world.
Perhaps no act of his reign, not even the
coup d'état, was so scandalous an outrage upon
the rights of others as his invasion of Mexico.
The year 1864 will be ever memorable to
France and Italy for the conclusion of the
convention already related in the history of
Victor Emmanuel.
Among the incidents of the Emperor's life
most precious to himself has been the birth of
an heir to his throne. The Prince Imperial
gives promise of health and intellect, both of
which are cultivated by all that care and skill
can accomplish. The education of his child-
hood was liberally entrusted to an English-
woman and a Protestant.
There are other acts of the Emperor worthy
of discussion, but they are recent and their
results uncertain.
The general spirit of his government has
been despotic. Freedom of political or the-
ological discussion by the press, or viva voce,
is put down at the point of the bayonet, and
even personal liberty is insecure for him who
is suspected of being unfavourable to the
dynasty of the Emperor.
The military and naval direction given to
the country by the Emperor has been trium-
phant. Never before in French history were
the army and navy, relatively or really, so
efficient. England, the mistress of the seas,
fell behind France in naval architecture, and
followed timidly her example.
No previous ruler of France gave so much
attention and study to questions of political
592
THE LIBERATORS OF ITALY.
economy as the Emperor has done. He has
removed from France restrictions upon her
commerce which impeded her progress, and he
has already enriched her by this sound poli-
tical philosophy.
Confidence is reposed in him by the majority
of his subjects. There may be some under-
current flowing in darkness and sapping the
foundations of his power, but to all appear-
ance, the edifice of government he has raised
is strong and magnificent.
Many believe that France will revolt against
the despotism with which he governs, but as
many think he will make concessions at the
opportune moment, and cover his name with
fresh popularity.
Some of the clearest thinkers in Europe are
of opinion that he will fall, and that his ruin
will come from without. That some new
aggression upon the independence of some
***
other nation or nations, will arouse Europe,
perhaps the world, to hurl him from his throne,
as in the case of his imperial predecessor.
Whatever be his future, his past has been
eventful, wonderful, romantic, mysterious;
and as the hearts and destinies of men and
nations are in the hands of Him who is
infinitely just, and wise, and pitiful, He will
direct all things for good. This is the con-
solation of all who love freedom and justice,
that as concussing states crumble, and am-
bition draws its flaming track athwart the
world, destroying the proudest monuments,
and most ingeniously adopted combinations of
the past, the Great Architect and Governor
of the universe will put forth His providence
and bring light and order from the chaos and
ruin which man creates. Above the thrones
of empires and worlds He reigns supreme,
omnipotent, just, and eternal.
THE END.
3.8. VIRTUE, PRINTER, CITY ROAD, LONDON.
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 01150 4050

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