wipe out the glories of our history, and libel the memory of the noblest of our ancestors, did we interpose our conservatism to shield a tyrant from the wrath of an outraged people. We are enabled to greet Garibaldi as the agent of revolt and change, because he has done for the Italians much what William the Third did for us. He has given them freedom of government and of conscience together. He has not destroyed, but built up a nation. Civil discord and disorganization have not followed his sword, but order and peace. He has not, indeed, been unvaryingly wise; but this no man disputes-that to his magnanimity and intelligence that unity of Italy is referable which, alone, guarantees the continuance of the new and happier state of things.

Garibaldi came amongst us with no flush of recent victory upon him. The demonstrations in his honour were not the reward of a general hot from the field. He had emerged, rather, from under a cloud. Since the affair at Aspromonte, he had lain at his island retreat, shattered in health, and compromised by the imputation of inexcusable rashness. His very appearance disappointed the popular conception of the hero of the Volturno-his greatest battle, won certainly by his own hand. Still, such is the abiding lustre of his achievements, the perfect honesty of his nature, his unparalleled disinterestedness, his want of egotism, that it is impossible to keep within restraint the admiration which his name inspires.

It is not our business here, however, to notice, even in the briefest manner, the various features of Garibaldi's visit; nor do we aim at pointing the moral of the event. These interesting tasks have been admirably performed by the daily journals-those voluminous and picturesque, for we can no longer say "brief and abstract," chroniclers of the time, to which the public owe so much on occasions of the sort.

We have thought it useful rather to take a retrospective, glance at certain points in the career of General Garibaldi, which will probably be found to have their interest revived and freshened by current events. Trite as the subject is supposed to have become, the reader will find much to engage his attention profit

ably in the study of a character absolutely unique, and in the re-examination of heroic deeds, on the motives and difficulties of which considerable light has been thrown since the date of their occurrence.

The simplicity of Garibaldi's life at Caprera has been charmingly depicted by Colonel Vecchj, one of his faithful companions in arms, and lately his secretary, in a little book translated by Mrs. Gaskell. Vecchj's admiration for "my General" finds the most glowing expression; but this perfectly honest and spontaneous enthusiasm, is a powerful testimony to the attraction of the patriot's bearing. All through his life, and in the later Italian scenes of it more particularly, he has shown a marvellous power of attaching to himself singleminded and thorough men, and of animating them with his own unselfish spirit. Caprera is Vecchj's Paradise. He is satisfied with the hardest labour and the coarsest farefor Garibaldi's military family all assist in tilling his little farm--to be near his beloved chief. Nor is this feeling confined to the General's secretary. In 1862 there were, besides, among the suite of the hero several of his principal lieutenants, as fondly attached to his person as when he led them to fresh victories daily. Nino Bixio, who had the confidence at once of the Italian Government and his leader; Fruscianti, who has steadily followed Garibaldi's fortunes since he first served under him, as a common soldier, in Rome, in 1849, and now leads the life of a colonist, working from dawn to sunset among his master's vines and vegetables; Specchi, another of the brave men of 1848, who, though afterwards settled in America, abandoned that country to join the modest circle on the barren Italian rock, and give up his days to hunting and fishing for Garibaldi's table; Stagneti, also an exile, returned from America to share his former commander's glorious isolation; Carpeneti, formerly Sardinian Consul-General at Tangiers, who lost his position by entertaining the future author of Piedmont's greatness in 1849; Basso, a sailor, and the companion of many of Garibaldi'sy 's voyages; and Adolph Wolff, a Bavarian, who hurried from London when the war in Italy broke out, to offer his sword

to the emancipator-these all resided cheerfully at Caprera in 1862, sharing the illustrious proprietor's humble fare, and pursuing the commonest occupations, after his example. And not only do Garibaldi's old friends and fellow-soldiers thus respect him; every visitor to the island, of whatever country, is hardly there a day until he has yielded his heart to the influence of the General's unaffected and inspiring demeanour.

Garibaldi's house at Caprera has been much improved since the calamity at Aspromonte. Those of his followers who accompanied him back to his refuge have built, with their own hands, a considerable addition to its humble accommodation. The presents of admirers-some of them grotesque enough-have contributed to its ornamentation. The farm and gardens are now in better condition, the proprietor himself having laboured incessantly, despite his lameness, to make the most of an infertile patch of soil. One who visited Caprera, in August, 1861, found only one chair in the hero's house, and it was partially broken. The first chairs possessed by the soldier and patriot, who had given away a kingdom, were the gift of the officers and crew of the ship Washington, and bear the names of the donors, who must have been Yankees, ostentatiously engraved on the back. Garibaldi's house has been often described. It occupies a level spot, protected on one side by high rocks, and on the other by walls, lately built. "The hero's room"-every particular about him is interesting to the British people-" contains a small plain iron bedstead, with muslin curtains hanging from a cane tester, a walnut-wood writing table, and a chest of drawers with a dressing glass on the top, blocking up a window that looks to the north. Close to the bed stands a deal stool covered with books and letters. On a cord stretched from the walls across the room are hung to dry the General's red shirts, drawers, trousers, and stockings, for he changes his clothes every time he changes his occupation. The fireplace is in the middle of the wall at the end of the room; some logs are always kept blazing in it on account of the damp; for beneath the stone floor is the cistern which receives the water from the gutters when it rains,

and causes the flags to be always slimy and wet. On each side of the fireplace are book-cases containing works on shipping, history, and mili tary tactics; but books and bundles of papers, to tell the truth, are all around, lying on every available piece of furniture; the countless bundles of newspapers are removed as soon as the General has read them. Over the mantel-piece hangs a portrait in oil-colours of his infant daughter, Rosita, who died at Monte Video. At the head of the bed, in an ebony frame, hangs a lock of hair, his wife Anita's, the brave woman who is no more. Under this hangs the portrait of C. Augusto Vecchj, placed between the portraits of two officers who fell, one at Melazzo, the other on the Volturno. On the wall over the writing table hang the hero's famous sword, his revenque (a sort of Brazilian whip), and the sword of the brave La Tour d'Auvergne, whose fame still lives although he fell long ago on the field of glory. The warrior's relations have placed the weapon in the General's hand as the most worthy guardian of so honourable a relic."

When Vecchj resided at Caprera the days were spent in what Garibaldi called amusement," the building of walls, the training of vines, the hoeing of vegetables, and other similar occupations, in which many of the General's visitors respectfully joined whose workmanship gave anything but evidence that they were accustomed so to amuse themselves. The fatigue of certain dilettante tourists after a few hours of manual labour of this sort caused no little mirth in the settlement. After a plain but substantial dinner-fish, roast partridges, wild boar, with Calabrian fruits and Capri wine, the evening was passed in friendly converse, the ladies-Teresita, Garibaldi's daughter and Madame Deiderj-playing the pianoforte, and the Italian gentlemen singing the choicest passages of the best operas. Garibaldi himself sings well, and once in his earlier life escaped from the French in Genoa by delivering with Italian fervour one of the noblest of Beranger's songs. Specchi and Salvi, who, in 1861, were of "the family" at Caprera, have sung at the Paris, London, and New York opera-houses. The materials for a capital concert, therefore, were always at hand. Ga

ribaldi was at this time, however, subject to fits of depression, and wont to slip off towards the shore, unattended. "He loves solitude and the sea, conducive to dreams and deep emotions," continues his quondam aide-de-camp, describing the genuine amiability of his character,

"He respects every one, be they humble or exalted. I never heard him speak ill of any one. He is as kind to the brute

creation as to man, and is so pained to see

an animal struck, that he never permits it

in his presence. He takes special delight in planting and cultivating useful vegetables, and is highly displeased if a plant be trodden on, or pulled up by mistake. He who is so renowned for his use of the sword, would like to see the accursed steel turned into a ploughshare. He has led in this century a life in accordance with the chivalric age, for he has always drawn his sword in the cause of the oppressed. His lamented wife was as heroic as himself; she followed him everywhere, and fell a victim to her devotion; their first-born saw the light in the desert, with nothing but a poncho to

wrap him in."

Retiring early, the General awakes at three in the morning and reads and answers letters, some containing the most extraordinary requests, others tendering spiritual counsel; others denouncing him in terms of genuine Ultramontane vulgarity and indecency; others calling upon him to exterminate the Pope and Antonelli (these last chiefly from Italian priests); others soliciting his sword in the cause of an "oppressed nationality" at some distant corner of the earth; others containing frightful sonnets (English these, generally); others accompanying presents in ludicrous discordance with the manner of life of the recipient. The General replies to those communications in all cases courteously. The epistles begging trifling articles as memorials of Caprera and its occupant are the most troublesome. The ladies who honour the General with their correspondence usually beseech a lock of his hair. Had he complied with the request of a tithe of these fair applicants, he would have been long ago condemned to the ignominy of a wig.

Ladies, however, were not the only -must it be written ?-tormentors. There was a certain English nobleman, according to Vecchj, who

partook of Garibaldi's hospitality, pronounced his viands excellent, spent several very pleasant days in the island, and when taking his leave, placed a covetous eye upon a pair of strong-nailed shoes of Nice manufacture, which he had seen under the General's bed. It was impossible to yield to this demand, however; for, as Garibaldi goodnaturedly intimated to the polite highwayman, he had but one pair, and the shoemaker lived at a great distance. "They," added Garibaldi, are the souvenir of my native land." Turning to a cord, however, on which several red shirts were drying, he presented one of these with a grave humour to his modest guest, who was good enough to profess himself satisfied. Among Garibaldi's letters at this period, one came from a priest at Foggia, who declared Italy to be 'possessed," and called on Garibaldi to exorcise it with fire and sword. The Pope he described as the representative of Lucifer, and the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and monks, as demons of various degrees. Another letter offered an infernal machine to destroy the Quadrilateral in an amazingly short space of time; whilst a second diabolical invention was guaranteed to annihilate an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men by one stroke. The writer of the latter, however, patriotically merciful, was careful to stipulate that the men destroyed should not be French.

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An epistle, couched in very angry phrase, attributing to Garibaldi the promotion of anarchy, and charging him with

envy, vanity, and impotence," gave occasion for such a statement of his principles, in a conversation at Caprera, about this time, as his career more perfectly justifies than superficial students imagine. "I declare to you," said Garibaldi, addressing his friends who surrounded him, "that by a Republic I only mean that Government which gives the people the greatest possible national prosperity. I do not care whether at the head of such a government there be a king or a president. We have as a gift from Providence our exceptional King, a prince and honest, a citizen and a soldier! This forms a centre of loyalty for the union of the different States of Italy, and will arm

them to rescue the dislocated provinces. We have made him amid the plaudits of the world. I love him, Victor! You love him also. But if anybody doubts whether I am a Republican, let him come here and judge. Do you think we lead a very aristocratic life?"

These constitutional sentiments, which establish a wide distinction between Garibaldi and the mere Revolutionist, were made more striking by frequent statements of his abhorrence of war. Even since his coming to England he has been depicted by his enemies, of a particular faction a mere minority of the population happily-as one who delights in conflict, from a wild and fierce instinct, the result of his early South American adventures. How different his real spirit is may be gathered from the words which he used during a memorable political discussion at Caprera, when the portion of his policy that seemed to many the most rash, was thus defended:

"My plan for a national arming was based on the old Piedmontese statute. It only required calling into force. Did you see how perversely it was annihilated? They would disarm all but the men they have drilled into inert sticks. Yet, if they wanted preservers, sincere patriots; if they were not concealing secret plans, they would not doubt me and mine; they would permit us to institute a force like the English Volunteers in the United Kingdom. I repeat, I abhor war, I have to struggle with myself every time I order a battalion to charge the enemy; but it was to avoid

war that I wanted the Government to arm

the nation. Diplomacy will feel quite differently towards us, drawn up in battle array, six hundred thousand strong, ready to fight for our country from the Alps to the Guarnero. The French will remember that Rome is Italy, and that we are not men to permit any excess against the Vatican, or the poor old priests saying their orisons there. The Austrians will understand that the hour strikes for them to clear out of Venice. Nor will Spain ask

of her patron what attitude she should as

sume. Nor Prussia look with an evil eye

on Austria's humiliation. Nor Russia raise

the Ukase to frighten us. Nor England be displeased to have us for a strong, loyal friend."

To arrive at a fair estimate of Garibaldi's career, it must be borne in mind, first of all, that he repeatedly urged the importance of a grand

national military organization in Italy, under the auspices of the King not to carry war into other countries, not to play the knighterrant for "oppressed nationalities," but to secure the independence of his native land, alike against sinister alliances, and Austrian and Roman intrigues. He may have exaggerated the danger involved in Count Cavour's compact with the Emperor of the French. He may have unwisely resisted the large projects of the statesman, which his mind was ill fitted to appreciate; but his theory was by no means a foolish or ignoble one. It may be shortly expressed as-Italy constitutionally free, united, and self-contained. At an early stage of the struggle, before the sword of Louis Napoleon had been thrown into the scale, he held that Italy, alone, was able to perform the task before her. Count Cavour judged differently; and although the course adopted by the latter was that of prudence, it cannot be taken quite for granted that Garibaldi's plan would have failed. Certainly, had the Austrians been expelled by the Italians unassisted, the kingdom of and more glorious basis, and the comItaly would have rested on a broader pletion of her liberty, by the abolition of the temporal power of the Papacy, would have been inevitable and immediate. The intrusion of France, however useful-and it is popularly considered to have been of vital value to the aspiring Piedmontese Statebrought with it engagements, restraints, and demands for rewards, which have seriously narrowed the benefit of the Revolution. It was for the interest of Europe that the constitutional changes inaugurated by Garibaldi should have gone much farther. The hand of the French monarch checked the process. Garibaldi writhed under this disappointment, when, as a senator, he saw in power at Turin a Minister little more than the creature of Napoleon the Third. It was then that he took the field again in his last unfortunate exploit. Garibaldi's appearance in Rome, and the fall of the Pope-events which might have occurred in a few days-would not have suited the plans of the Emperor; and as there was no Cavour then at Turin to act the part of " the daring pilot in extremity," the hero was

sacrificed. It is to France he owes the wound received at Aspromonte.

That Garibaldi contemplated throughout a constitutional monarchy only, under the Re Galantuomo, is proved by the fact that he was the first to present Victor Emmanuel to the people of Southern Italy as their legitimate sovereign. He stood sponsor for him when Cavour conceived the idea of a single great kingdom, under a Piedmontese dynasty; and had Garibaldi taken a different course, the French plan for Italy's future, devised at Villafranca, would have succeeded, and the redemption of the people have been again postponed. And it is in this respect that Garibaldi presents so marked a contrast to Mazzini. The Nizzard certainly caught up his first inspirations as a patriot from that gifted man, who, whatever his faults, exercises a wonderful charm over those in contact with him; but he has never been a mere dreamer like Mazzinihe has never been a Republican of the stamp of Mazzini. On the contrary, when he yielded up the kingdom he had conquered to Victor Emmanuel, that magnanimous act was only the carrying out of the principle which he had at once, and of his own accord, avowed on the occasion when Cavour sent for him, and solicited his aid, previous to the war with Austria. That remarkable passage in the life of the General is too much forgotten, and to recall it here will serve the useful purpose of dispelling the calumny which ascribes to Garibaldi sympathy with the "Reds."

In April, 1859, as Count Arrivabene states the circumstances, on high authority," Cavour sent suddenly for Garibaldi. So pressing was the matter in hand that the General was admitted to an audience of the King, attended by his distinguished Minister, at the moment of his arrival in Turin, the hour being five o'clock in the morning. This interview took place in the palace of Piazza Castello. Cavour opened the conversation, or negotiation, with the words-"Well, General, the long expected day is near at hand: we want you." Garibaldi had not been satisfied with Cavour's policy, which he did not, in fact, fathom, and answered cautiously-"I am always ready to

That

serve my country, "and you know that I shall put all my heart into the work. Here, however," he added, "in presence of our Re Galantuomo, I must 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 insurrection ?" is not precisely our plan," rejoined 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 has massed on the frontier. We must, therefore, have the assistance of a powerful ally; and this is already secured." Garibaldi needed no further elucidation of this alliance, and stated his views frankly and immediately. "Although my principles are known both to you and to the King," he rejoined, "I feel that my first duty is that of offering my sword to my country; my war-cry shall, therefore, beItalian unity under the constitutional rule of Victor Emmanuel.” Such a declaration is sufficient to satisfy the most conservative Englishman; and the war-cry of the hero has never changed since. The same spirit animated him at Calatafimi and at Aspromonte. The key to his seeming eccentricities is found in the warning which, not without reason, he proceeded to utter, on the memorable morning in question. Mind, however," said the General, "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." As Colonel Vecchj reports this conversation in pretty much the same terms, it may be accepted as a fair statement of what took place.

This adhesion of Garibaldi to the constitutional cause made Victor Emmanuel King of Italy. As soon as it became known that Garibaldi had joined the King's service, the “best elements of Lombardy, of Romagna, and the Duchies," flocked to him, says Count Arrivabene. His Guides and Genoese Sharpshooters had to pro