CHAPTER V.
"A brighter course has never A hero true display'd; Unblemish'd in the hour of peace, In danger undismay'd."— _Lines to Garibaldi._
THE CHARACTER OF ITALIAN PATRIOTS—HOW IT HAS BEEN DISPLAYED BY EXILES IN THE UNITED STATES—IGNORANCE OF ITALY IN AMERICA—GARIBALDI'S APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER —HIS BAND—HIS "ENGLISHMAN," COL. PEARD.
And now that we have arrived at another peaceful interval in the life of this extraordinary man, the astonishing effects of his superior skill, bravery, and success, having broken the arm of Austria in Italy, and nothing but the shield of Louis Napoleon having sheltered her head, a sudden suspension of hostilities left the world at leisure to admire the past, feel astounded at the unexpected present state of things, and look with interest, but painful uncertainty, for the future. All observers, who had not before made Italy or Italians their attentive study, were anxious to know more of the people who had suddenly sprung from a low general estimation as patriots and soldiers, to the rank due to the conquerors at Palestro, Montebello, and Solferino, and had furnished the files of the heroic and irresistible hunters of the Alps, and their leader, Garibaldi himself. Let us turn a few moments to inquiries of the same kind; for even at the present time, there is too much reason to fear, there are few, even of our most intelligent countrymen, who have paid sufficient attention to the affairs of Italy during the past half century, to give full and clear replies to these questions.
Few indeed have had the best opportunities to learn the general truths, and fewer still have had access to many of those details, by which alone the causes can be well understood, and the effects clearly accounted for. The published accounts of Italians and their affairs have been presented to the world in a detached, uncertain and often confused and even contradictory form, which most readers had neither the disposition, the time, nor the means to unravel, reconcile and correct. There have always been, however, intelligent and virtuous patriotic Italians residing in the United States, and especially in New York, who were able and ready to communicate real facts and just opinions on every event and question of importance. And to such are justly due some portion of the facts contained in this volume, and of the views and spirit under which they are now laid before the American people. With their assistance, and at their urgent request also, was done the little which has ever been effected in this country in past years, to explain and vindicate their cause, to relieve its exiled victims, to expose the insidious intrigues of their enemies against American institutions, and to invite and foster mutual acquaintance, and brotherly affection and coöperation between us and the noble patriots of Italy.
Americans have but one excuse to give for their neglect of Italy in her more triumphant struggle against her combined enemies and oppressors. The intrigues of her enemies and their insidious calumnies were sufficient to mislead the incautious and the honest. But we have long since lost the spirit of our Protestant ancestors, who were men of clearer sight, greater knowledge, stronger judgment, and more resolution, bravery and perseverance than their descendants. They distinguished, as we do not, between great truths and great falsehoods; between great rights and great wrongs; and acted with promptitude and vigor whenever the time arrived to vindicate or secure the one, and to expose and counteract the other. And such a spirit was displayed by the Italian exiles on our soil. They set us examples of similar ways of thinking, speaking and acting; and well would it have been if we had rightly appreciated the knowledge which they possessed, the manly views which they entertained, and the plans which they proposed for our mutual benefit.
The following description of Garibaldi we translate from the "History of the Glorious Campaign of the Cacciatori delle Alpi, in the war of 1859," by one of his officers, Col. Francesco Corrano:
"Giuseppe Garibaldi is of middle stature, with broad and square shoulders, herculean limbs, long brownish hair, and beard slightly grey; a heavy and strong step, sailor-like air, look, and manner of speaking; his vest buttoned up to his throat, a hat with a broad brim, in the Calabrian style, and large trousers. The noises of the city annoy and disturb him. Commanding mountains please him, covered with evergreen trees, and the sight of the vast horizon and the boundless sea.
"His nose is straight and almost vertical, and his aspect at once vivacious and sweet. Often, under his very heavy beard, his lips are gently moved by a natural and fascinating smile. He converses frankly and unaffectedly, condemns with decision, and praises warmly but briefly; but he is ever animated, fluent, and even eloquent, whenever the conversation turns on Italy, liberty, and deeds of daring and skill; to overcome the enemy, and to overdo them (_sopraffare_), his favorite word. Above all things, he prizes faithfulness and valor in chivalrous warfare, though it be not accompanied by fame or popular applause. Proud despiser of pay and money, he loves Italy above all things.
"Cuneo, who is called his friend for life, by Garibaldi himself, writes of him: 'A man of humanity, he is laboring to secure in the future the brotherhood of the people; but at the banquet of nations he will sit only as an equal, or not sit at all.' He is by nature tolerant of every suggestion. He has trust and sympathy in discipline produced by love, more than by the rigor of laws.
"It would be difficult to find a successor to Garibaldi. His name is popular in Italy, through all Europe, and in America also, as no other is in our day; and it was owing chiefly to his name, that ten thousand Italians, from every province in the country, and in a short space of time, hastened to join him, and to write their names as 'Cacciatori delle Alpi.' But, more than to command battalions, he is fitted to lead them in fine order; prepared to fight, and with ten-fold moral force, by his terrible name, to overcome and scatter the enemy; to conquer or to fall with signal honor."
The intelligence and respectability of Garibaldi's soldiers were attested by an English gentleman who visited his camp at Firano, August 5th. He wrote:
"You are already aware that in this singular corps the soldier generally belongs to the best class of Italian society. In consequence of this peculiarity, each of this gallant band is a politician of the first class. The doings of our ministers are sensibly discussed in these bivouacs.
"The only Englishman who is among them has become the lion of this singular corps. In my former letter I had occasion to speak of Captain Peard, the gentleman in question. He comes from Cornwall, and belongs to a militia regiment, whose uniform he wears with a decidedly martial bearing. He is a man of tall and colossal frame, nearer sixty than fifty, and is considered the best shot in the party. Although he has been attached to Garibaldi's staff, he makes war at his own expense, and he was always to be found in the thick of the fray. Whenever he had killed an Austrian, he was seen to mark him down in his pocket-book. A few days ago I met Captain Peard at Brescia, and he was kind enough to show me his book, from which it was apparent that twenty-five Austrians were killed by him during the campaign, besides ten who were under the head of 'uncertain.'
"There are also with Garibaldi two rather eccentric young Frenchmen, dressed in a peculiar costume of their own, who are members of the Paris Jockey Club. These two gentlemen have been so charmed by the gallant general, that I am told they will share his fate, whatever it may be. _Five American citizens_, and a few Germans, are going to do the same, together with a Chinese, who, were I to believe what he told me, is one of the few who escaped the slaughter of Commissioner Yeh at Canton. Most of Garibaldi's officers belong to the upper classes of Lombardy, and have borne arms with him either in South America or in Rome."
The interval which occurred between the day of Garibaldi's departure from Turin, with his _Alpine Huntsmen_, and the dispersion of the forty thousand Austrians at Calatrava, is one of the most interesting and important in modern history. While the most anxious fears prevailed among his friends, and the most alarming reports were circulated by his enemies; while the promise of being supported by the number of troops which he had thought indispensable was entirely disappointed, by the inability of Cialdini to cross the rivers, Garibaldi, as we have seen, undismayed by that and other difficulties, pursued his way with unfailing resolution and complete success. He raised the country in insurrection wherever he went; kindled a flame in every heart from the electric fire which had so long been cherished in his own; unhesitatingly attacked the opposing hosts of the enemy, and put them all to flight. Thus he alarmed, weakened, and terrified the invaders, and animated the Allies, whose precursor he was; gave an impulse to the war at the commencement, and a most powerful support to it till the close, which will ever secure to him an indisputable claim to a large, a very large, share of the victory and its results. This claim, we may surely foretell, will never be made by himself. It will, however, be made by the world—by mankind—on whom he has conferred the inestimable benefits of his great deeds, and his pure and noble example. Such concurrences and successions of events, such men as have been employed in the various scenes, and especially such a heroic leader, could have been devised only by infinite wisdom, and conducted to such results only by an Almighty hand.