Chapter VI

"Italia! I thank thee for life, and for pow'r
To fight with the foes of thyself and mankind."
_Lines on the death of Anna._

GARIBALDI WITH AN ARMY AT RIMINI—GENERAL LAMORICIÈRE
AT PESARO—VICTOR EMANUEL APPREHENDS A PREMATURE
COLLISION—GARIBALDI GOES TO PIEDMONT—NICE AND SAVOY
CEDED TO FRANCE—GARIBALDI AT CAPRERA—THE SICILIAN
REVOLUTION COMMENCED—GARIBALDI'S EXPEDITION FOR
SICILY—THE ISLAND—THE PEOPLE.

After the interesting scenes described in the last chapter, Garibaldi went to Rimini, and took command of an army which had been collected there, to resist General Lamoricière, who was at Pesaro, 22 miles distant, that French general, commanding the Pope's troops, being menaced by Garibaldi's position, who was said to be urgent for permission to pass at once through the Pope's territory into the Abruzzo, and raise the Neapolitans in insurrection against their cruel old king, Bomba.

Victor Emanuel, disapproving such a movement at that time, wrote to Garibaldi, requesting him to resign his command, with which he complied; and General Fanti received it in his stead. He then proceeded to Piedmont, where he published the following manifesto:

"TO MY COMPANIONS IN ARMS IN CENTRAL ITALY.

"Let not my temporary absence cool your ardor for the
holy cause that we defend.

"In separating myself from you, whom I love as the
representatives of a sublime idea—the idea of Italian
deliverance—I am excited and sad; but consolation comes
in the certainty that I shall very soon be among you
again, to aid you in finishing the work so gloriously
begun.

"For you, as for me, the greatest of all possible
misfortunes would be not to be present wherever there is
fighting for Italy. Young men who have sworn to be
faithful to Italy and to the chief who will lead you to
victory, lay not down your arms; remain firm at your
post—continue your exercises—persevere in the soldier's
discipline.

"The truce will not last long; old diplomacy seems but
little disposed to see things as they really are.
Diplomacy still looks upon you as the handful of
malcontents which she had been accustomed to despise.
She does not know that in you there are the elements of
a great nation, and that in your free and independent
hearts there germinate the seeds of a world-wide
revolution if our rights shall not be recognized, and if
people will not allow us to be masters in our own home.

"We desire to invade no foreign soil; let us remain
unmolested on our own. Whosoever attempts to gainsay
this our determination will find that we will never be
slaves, unless they succeed in crushing by force an
entire people ready to die for liberty.

"But, even should we all fall, we shall bequeath to
future generations a legacy of hatred and vengeance
against foreign domination; the inheritance of each of
our sons will be a rifle, and the consciousness of his
rights; and by the blessing of God, the oppressor will
never sleep soundly.

"Italians, I say again, do not lay down your arms; rally
more closely than ever to your chiefs, and maintain the
strictest discipline. Fellow-citizens, let not a man in
Italy omit to contribute his mite to the national
subscription; let not one fail to clean his gun, so as
to be ready, perhaps to-morrow, to obtain by force that
which to-day they hesitate to grant to our just rights.

"GARIBALDI.

"GENOA, _Nov. 23, 1859_."

Garibaldi then proceeded to Turin, and took his seat as a member of the Sardinian Parliament, to which he had been elected two years before, as the representative of Nice, his native country.

Louis Napoleon having proposed that Savoy and Nice should be ceded to France, the subject was brought before the Parliament and discussed at length, Garibaldi opposing the project with great zeal in several very animated speeches. The conduct of Napoleon, in 1849, against Rome, may easily account for his feelings on that occasion. He soon withdrew from the chamber, and departed for Caprera, where he remained until a new scene was opened to him in another quarter, where Providence was preparing for him to make that display of his noble character and superior powers, which now has gained him the warmest love, as well as the highest admiration, of the world.

The Sicilians, unable any longer to suppress their discontent under the cruel government of the king, began, in April, 1860, once more to show signs of rebellion. An insurrection was made in Palermo, when the people raised barricades in the streets, and fought the troops with resolution. The combat was very bloody, but the citizens were soon overcome, and most of the insurgents perished at the barricades. Several monks of the convents were seized and imprisoned. Reinforcements had been sent into Sicily. The commercial steamboats had been put into requisition, and the army in Sicily was to be augmented to 30,000 men.

Prince Castilcicala had returned to his post as governor of the island. The panic at Naples on the 6th instant was general, but without consequence. On the evening of the 6th an immense crowd, estimated to number 80,000, blocked up the Rue Tolede at Naples, and raised numerous shouts of "_Viva la Constituzione_" before the residence of the Papal Nuncio. The street was quickly cleared by the patrols.

Palermo had been placed in a state of siege. The insurgents were said to number 10,000 well armed men.

The insurrection at Messina broke out on Sunday morning, April 11th. The popular movement commenced by shots being fired in the strada Ferdinando. Pieces of furniture were thrown from the windows at the troops.

Count Cavour had telegraphed to Leghorn, ordering two steam frigates to proceed at once toward the coast of Sicily, and shelter all fugitives from political vengeance. The cry at Palermo, as well as at Messina, was for union with the Italian kingdom.

The disturbances increased, and the Sicilians rose in different places, fought bravely, and maintained themselves with great resolution.

Garibaldi was urgently called to their assistance, and was soon in Piedmont collecting men for an expedition. Great enthusiasm was displayed. Many volunteers pressed forward, and considerable numbers of soldiers deserted from the king's army to join their favorite leader. The government and its agents affected not to perceive the movement, and no impediment was thrown in its way. Vessels were prepared at the little port of Cagliari, and the volunteers, collected at convenient points not far distant, marched quietly to the shore, embarked, and sailed in the night of the 6th of May.

As the events which followed this first step in the last grand drama of Italian history are fresh in the minds of all, the following brief review of them, recently published by the Paris "Siècle," may not be out of place here:

"A man, accompanied by a few volunteers, sails from the
environs of Genoa in the night of the 6th of May, on
board of a vessel which is not even his own property. He
goes to liberate several millions of oppressed people,
and to overthrow a powerful monarchy; he is stigmatized
as a brigand, and all the penalties inflicted on pirates
are invoked on his devoted head; the cry is raised that
both he and his followers might be hanged from the
yard-arms of their vessel. On the 7th of September
this man has almost accomplished the task he had
undertaken; the monarchy he assailed is _de facto_
overthrown. A nation is delivered. Now, which are the
wise counsellors? Those who advise sovereigns to make
concessions to the spirit of the age, or the flatterers
who promise them a protracted reign, if they will but
resist all progress? The answer is easy now. The king of
Naples is a fugitive. Another dynasty has fallen, though
surrounded by soldiers, and well provided with cannon
and gold; another hope of the counter-revolutionists has
fallen away. But the men bent on the ruin of princes
still persist in giving the same pernicious counsels.
'The King of Naples has fallen,' say they, 'but General
de Lamoricière still remains; he will fight, he will; he
is ready, and the revolution will be overcome.' Wretched
counsellors! They are not yet satisfied with their work;
they want more catastrophes. Nevertheless, how easy the
dynasty of Naples might have escaped destruction!
Warnings were not wanting. Four years ago, during the
Conferences of Paris, did not Europe, by the voice of
her diplomatists, unanimously declare to the King of
Naples that he was courting destruction by his bad
government—that he was gathering around him all the
elements of revolution? Was he not, in a manner,
implored to adopt a different policy? Was he not duly
informed of the abyss that lay before him?

"The general success of the Italian leader is thus
summed up: Five marvellous stages—Marsala, Palermo,
Milazzo, Reggio and Naples—performed in the short space
of three months, have been all that Garibaldi required,
supported as he is by the national sentiment, to
overthrow a monarchy deemed immovable; which, not yet
four years since, defied France and England; which, in
the face of the naval preparations of the two greatest
powers in the world, had determined to persevere in its
resistance."

The modern history of Sicily requires a particular study before the sufferings and the spirit of its inhabitants can be well understood. The cruelty of the government and its agents have surpassed belief. The people, although few, compared with the numbers which that large and fertile island might sustain under a better government, have made repeated and strenuous efforts to obtain their freedom, and submitted only to overwhelming and irresistible force. They commenced the Italian revolution in 1820; and on several subsequent occasions they boldly commenced insurrections, but always with ill success. The king of the Two Sicilies would send troops from Naples, and then his immediate subjects would endeavor to take advantage of the opportunity. Sometimes the Sicilians rose against the king's troops, in secret concert with arrangements made in other parts of Italy, and sometimes, as it seemed, independently. Bloody scenes followed the victories of the king's troops, but some fugitives were always able to escape, and numbers lived in New York and other parts of the United States—some ever since 1820 or 1822.

Sicily, as described by recent Italian authorities, contains about two thirds as many inhabitants as the State of New York, or a little over two millions, and a territory of 26,582,59 kilometers. A chain of mountains through the northern part appears to be a continuation of the Appenines, and the highest peak is the volcano of Etna, otherwise called Mongibello. The island is the largest in the Mediterranean, extending from N. latitude 36° to 38° 8´, and E. longitude 10° 5´ to 13° 20´. It has always been celebrated for the fertility of its soil, and was long called the granary of Rome. It contains several provinces, named from their chief cities Palermo, Messina, Catania, Trappani, Syracuse or Boto, Girgenti and Caltanissetta. The city of Palermo has 483,206 inhabitants; Catania, 56,515; Messina, 93,822; and Syracuse, 16,916. The land is but little divided, and all the province of Trappani is possessed by only three proprietors. In consequence of bad government, Sicily has only 126 persons to a square kilometer, and the rest of the late kingdom of Naples 87, while Tuscany has 126. In 20 years, under a free government, it may double its population. There were, last year, in Sicily, 17,000 secular priests, 7,591 monks, and 8,675 nuns. Total, 33,976 drones in the hive. Many of those joyfully joined the revolution on Garibaldi's appearance, and gave money from their treasures, and offered their church bells to melt into cannon, preached, and even fought for liberty and Victor Emanuel.

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