The Life of General Garibaldi

"Garibaldi entered the private carriage of the French minister, his staff following in other carriages, and some few on horseback; the cortége consisted of about twenty vehicles. Individually I have never seen such men as his body-guard, and the picturesque dress sets off their height and the squareness of their build. Compared with these soldiers, Garibaldi is short, but very powerfully made. Along the crowded Marinelli, the headquarters of lazzaroni, now constitutional popolani, one of whom rode before Garibaldi's carriage, through the Largo del Castello, the Strada di Toledo, and finally to the Palazzo della Regina di Savoia, opposite the Palazzo Reale, which the dictator refused to inhabit, the cortége makes its way, and Garibaldi enters into what was once a palace of the Bourbons. The shouts of the crowd now gathered together in the square penetrate the inmost recesses, and presently the window opens and Garibaldi appears, followed by a large staff of officials. The others stop, and he advances alone to the centre of the balcony that extends along the palace, and the cheering is deafening. It is no use for the hero to speak till the people have a little exhausted their powers; so he stands there alone, leaning on his hand, with his fine features in repose, and an almost melancholy expression on his face, as if he felt that his career was a duty which had its thorns as well as its roses; and that, though the end sanctifies the means, yet carnage and slaughter, tottering thrones and crumbling dynasties, leave their impression on the brow that caused them. I have never seen so grand a study as Garibaldi, as he stood silently speculating, perhaps, over the true value of the people whom he had just freed. He spoke at some length, but it was impossible to distinguish what he said, though it was easy to perceive that he speaks with great energy. Having satisfied, for the moment at least, the desires of the bassa-gente (the populace), it was time to re-enter the palace and receive the welcome of the upper classes. The stair and entrée to the dictator's levée were an extraordinary spectacle. The door leading to the suite of apartments in which the general held his reception was kept by the national guard, who were perpetually assailed by persons desiring to see the dictator 'face to face.' Men of all nations and in all costumes seemed suddenly to have started up in the heart of Naples.

"The reception was brief – even Garibaldi requires repose – and after having appeared on both sides of the palace, and received the compliments of all classes, including a Venetian deputy, who said, 'We are ready, and only await Garibaldi,' to which the dictator replied, with a quiet smile, 'Aspetta, aspetta!' (Wait, wait), he retired from the palazzo to his quarters in the Palazzo Angri, Strada Toledo, where another ovation awaited him. On his way he went to the cathedral, and was received with due honors. The generality of priests have retired to their cells, but many are still about, and I met one in the presence chambers in full canonicals, crossed by a tri-colored scarf, and bearing an enormous Sardinian flag – 'Tempora mutantur et nos.'"

On Saturday, the 8th, there was a sudden commotion in the Castelnovo, on the shore, a description of which will convey a just idea of the state of Naples and the garrison. A spectator wrote:

"One of those uproarious bursts of applause which come upon us like hurricanes, called me to the window. The soldiers in the garrison at the Castelnovo had just burst out, and were running, jumping, galloping past my house like so many slaves who had burst out of the house of bondage. Some were armed with muskets; most had their sacks full of loaves of bread, which dropped from their wallets as they ran along, shouting, like so many madmen, 'Viva Garibaldi!' At every step they met with crowds of men and women, armed with naked swords, daggers, and pikes, which they flourished in the air, uttering at the same time the usual magic cries. Dirty-looking fellows, in the Neapolitan uniform, were hugged and kissed by persons as dirty as themselves, and then uniting, all surged onward to the Toledo. It was impossible to remain in the house, and escaping from my chains, which fell from me as soon as the post left, I hurried into the street. I turn round to Criatamone, and just above me, peering over the walls, I see a number of soldiers in garrison in the Pizzofalcone, and watching if the road was clear. The people about me were waving their hands to them, and inviting them to come down. There are iron doors at the bottom, and sentinels stand by them. Down come the troops in a torrent – sentinels are motionless, the doors bend, at last yield, and at length out they come like so many madmen out of Bedlam, and run after their companions from the Castelnovo. Sentinels still stand, 'pro formâ,' at the doors of both the forts, but they are abandoned, and empty walls and harmless cannon alone remain to be guarded. Meanwhile, Garibaldi is going to Pie di Grotta, like another Emperor Carlo III., on the first day of his entry into Naples. Carriages dash by me full of red jackets, or of men and women brandishing swords and pikes, whilst the rain is pouring down in torrents, and the thunder is pealing, as if it were a salute of heaven for the liberator of the Two Sicilies. The weather prevented any grand display, though the disposition was not wanting on the part of the people, as the flags which hung down lank from the windows abundantly showed. The weather brightened up toward the evening, and the town was more brilliantly illuminated than last night. There can be no mistake about the matter, the enthusiasm is very great. People are beside themselves, and scenes are witnessed which, perhaps, have never been witnessed in any other country under the sun. Two lines of carriages go up and down the Toledo filled with persons decorated with tri-colored ribbons and scarfs, and carrying the flag of Piedmont, or rather of Italy. There are people of every class: there are priests and monks, as gaily decorated as any, and some are armed; there are women in the Garibaldian dress, and many carry daggers or pikes; there are red jackets of Garibaldi and red jackets of England; there are people from the provinces, who have scarcely dared to speak or breathe for twelve long years, who are now frantic with joy. What wonder if they have lost their senses?

"But many adjourn to San Carlo,3 for Garibaldi is to be there, and, indeed, one of our autumnal hurricanes of rain is coming down. I was there when he arrived, and we knew of his approach from the shouts of the populace outside. Every one is standing and craning over his seat to catch a view of the great man, and at last he enters the stage box, while many of his followers take possession of the neighboring boxes, and a storm of applause greets him, and calls him to the front. There are few spectacles so brilliant as San Carlo when lighted up in gala fashion; and this evening particularly, with the banners waving from the boxes, and from above the stage, it showed better than I have ever before seen it; but altogether the demonstration was a failure. The theatre was not two-thirds full, and when those two magnificent pieces of music were performed, the 'Hymn of Garibaldi' and 'The Chorus of the Lombardi,' not a voice joined in. I wanted, together with my friends, to raise a chorus on our own account, for it was irritating enough to witness a number of people sitting and fanning themselves, as though they came to be amused, instead of pouring out their very souls in honor of the great man who had liberated them. I shall not say anything more of San Carlo. On my road home, a poor fellow was found not far from my door with a dagger in his body. I regret to say that several, if not many, cases of assassination have occurred during the last three days. Political fanatics have stopped every one, and threatened them with the knife if they were not prompt in crying out 'Viva Garibaldi;' and private vengeance has demanded its victims too, perhaps. But, take it altogether, the people have not been sanguinary, and, considering the immense provocation which they have received, order has been wonderfully preserved, and little blood shed."

Garibaldi, from the first, gratified the Neapolitans, by appointing natives to office. All public officers were, for the moment, retained in their old stations. The holding of several offices by one and the same person was forbidden, and pluralists were to select, within five days, which office they would retain.

All military men willing to serve were ordered to present themselves at the nearest station, give in their adhesion to the actual government, and take their certificate of it.

Those officers who presented themselves with their troops were retained in their positions in full activity; those who presented themselves alone were placed in the second class, to be employed when the army is reformed; those who did not send in their adhesion in ten days were excluded.

The "Official Journal" of Naples of Sept. 9th, published a series of decrees, of which the following are the most important: All the acts of public authority and of administration are to be issued in the name of His Majesty Victor Emanuel, King of Italy, and all the seals of state, of public administration, and of the public offices, are to bear the arms of the Royal House of Savoy, with the legend, "Victor Emanuel, King of Italy." The public debt of the Neapolitan state was recognized; the public banks were to continue their payments, as also the Discount Bank, according to existing laws and regulations. Passports for the United Italian States were abolished; those for foreign states and Italian states not united were to be signed by the Director of Police. The following address to the army was published:

"If you do not disdain Garibaldi for your companion in arms, he only desires to fight by your side the enemies of the country. Truce, then, to discord – the chronic misfortune of our land. Italy, trampling on the fragments of her chains, points to the north – the path of honor, toward the last lurking-place of tyrants. I promise you nothing more than to make you fight.

"G. Garibaldi.

"Naples, Sept. 10."

A series of dispatches was published from Nola, Benevento, Aquila, and a host of other places, expressive of the public joy at the arrival of the Dictator in the capital. In Arriano and Avellino there had been a reactionary movement among the liberals. Some disturbances also took place in Canosa, and in the island of Ischia.

In Naples, the castles had all capitulated, and were in the hands of the National Guard. The population gradually settled down into its usual sober state, which had recently been disturbed by the madness of exultation, and before that by apprehension.

Naples continued tranquil on the 11th of July, to the surprise of everybody; and the means by which the public peace was preserved at that time and afterward, may well be a subject of curious inquiry. The public anticipations of mobs, violence, robbery and bloodshed were as much and as agreeably disappointed, as when the "levée en masse" in Turkey was disbanded after the Russian war, and the soldiers went home joyfully and peaceably. The truth is, that men who desire power, wealth, and undeserved honors, have too long accused their less ambitious or vicious fellow-beings of needing their government. Naples with her 70,000 lazzaroni, who are destitute even of shelter at night, remained quiet during and subsequently to one of the most peaceful revolutions on record.

The following accounts were reported on the 11th of September:

The tranquillity of the town had not been disturbed, and the same enthusiasm still prevailed. The Elmo and the other forts have surrendered. The English admiral paid a visit to Garibaldi, who afterward went on board the Hannibal, the English ambassador being present. On that occasion the Sardinian fleet fired a salute of seventeen guns in honor of the dictator. The Sardinian troops disembarked by order of the Dictator. It was said that the king, in leaving Naples, ordered the bombardment of the town and the burning of the royal castle, and that the original of the order has been found. The king had formed a new royalist ministry, the members of which are Caselli, Canofini, Girolamo, and Ulloa. The Austrian, Russian, Prussian, and Spanish ministers, and Papal nuncio, had followed the king to Gaeta. The whole army of Garibaldi was to arrive at Naples in four days, and, with the revolutionary bands, the total force was 20,000 or 30,000 men. The revolution was everywhere triumphant. The Bixio and Medici brigades had just arrived in port. The entrance of Garibaldi into Naples was celebrated at Milan in the most enthusiastic manner. The whole city was illuminated and decorated with flags. The very name of the dictator inspired electric enthusiasm. A number of illuminated drums, fixed on long poles, were carried through the streets. The drums bore significant inscriptions, as follow: "To Rome!" "To Venice!" "Rome, the capital!" Most cities of Italy celebrated the annexation of Naples.

The Neapolitan navy, which had deserted, all together, to Garibaldi, he delivered to the Sardinian admiral. The Neapolitan navy is of very respectable size, taking a place in respect to materiel at least above the second rank in Europe. It does not fall much below that of the United States. The whole number of vessels amounts to ninety, carrying 786 guns, with a complement of upward of 7,000 sailors and officers of all sorts. Of the vessels, 27 are propelled by steam. Of these, one is of large size, carrying 60 guns; 11 are frigates, armed with 10 guns each; 8 corvettes, with 8 guns each, besides seven smaller vessels, each with four guns. Of the sixty or more sailing vessels, the largest is armed with 80 guns. There are five frigates, carrying an aggregate of 252 guns, or about 50 each. Among the rest are bomb and mortar boats in considerable number, and others armed with Paixhan guns. These latter have been found useful by the king, when he has felt inclined to indulge his propensity of knocking down the palaces and cities of his disobedient subjects.

GARIBALDI'S PROCLAMATION TO THE CITIZENS OF NAPLES

"To the beloved population of Naples, offspring of the people! It is with true respect and love that I present myself to this noble and imposing centre of the Italian population, which many centuries of despotism have not been able to humiliate or to induce to bow their knees at the sight of tyranny.

"The first necessity of Italy was harmony, in order to unite the great Italian family; to-day Providence has created harmony through the sublime unanimity of all our provinces for the reconstitution of the nation, and for unity, the same Providence has given to our country Victor Emanuel, whom we from this moment may call the true father of our Italian land.

"Victor Emanuel, the model of all sovereigns, will impress upon his descendants the duty that they owe to the prosperity of a people which has elected him for their chief with enthusiastic devotion. The Italian priests, who are conscious of their true mission, have, as a guaranty of the respect with which they will be treated, the ardor, the patriotism, and the truly Christian conduct of their numerous fellow ecclesiastics, who, from the highly to be praised monks of Lagracia to the noble-hearted priests of the Neapolitan continent, one and all, in the sight and at the head of our soldiers, defied the gravest dangers of battle. I repeat it, concord is the first want of Italy, so we will welcome as brothers those who once disagreed with us, but now sincerely wish to bring their stone to raise up the monument of our country. Finally, respecting other people's houses: we are resolved to be masters in our own house, whether the powerful of the earth like it or not.

"Giuseppe Garibaldi."

The following were some of the occurrences in Naples immediately after the entrance of Garibaldi.

The four battalions of chasseurs whom the king had left behind in his flight, quartered here and there about the town, disbanded. Many of the soldiers went home; those who wished to remain at Naples, secure from harm, did obeisance to the new powers, by wearing a small badge with the Savoy cross on their breasts. The fortress of St. Elmo followed the example of the fleet. It fired a thundering salvo in honor of Garibaldi, hoisted the Sardinian colors, and admitted the national guards within its walls. The other forts were garrisoned by this same burgher militia. Naples, in short, was now wholly in the hands of the patriots, and Garibaldi had already pushed forward one or two brigades, which gained possession of the royal palace of Caserta. The king had shut the gates of Capua. There and at Gaeta he was to abide till his enemies should come on. Meanwhile Garibaldi, master of the seas, sent his steamers to Paola, to Sapri, to all the small ports near which his overtasked legions lingered behind. Every morning were shouts of a joyous landing and a triumphant march of those several brigades. The whole force was soon brought together, and the respite allowed to the king at Gaeta was of no long duration.

The joy of the good Neapolitans at their cheaply-gotten emancipation, became daily more noisy and frantic. Every evening the Toledo was all alive with banners and torches, with thronged masses of possessed people, all shouting out with all the might of their southern throats, that favorite cry, "Una! Una! Una!" – conveying their desire that all Italy should be made one country. There was a grand gala night at San Carlo, when the proscenium, the pit, and the boxes became one vast stage. The whole performance consisted of Io Pæans to Garibaldi, who, calm and serene in his homely garb, had a pleasant word for all the friends who surrounded him in his box, and was, in fact, less insensible to that popular demonstration than he might have wished to avow.

One of the greatest objects of interest was the easily-won castle St. Elmo. The whole population of Naples, male and female, seemed bent on performing a pilgrimage to that shrine of their patriot martyrs.

One of Garibaldi's soldiers thus described it:

"Yesterday I went up myself with a party of friends. We first walked through St. Martin's marble church and monastery, where our Garibaldian red shirts, I dare say, boded little good to the white-cowled monks, who gazed at us as we passed, tall, stately, and motionless, so that we at first mistook them for statues; – good Carthusian monks, doing penance in a marble paradise, bound by vow to perpetual silence, and affecting an easy, unconcerned air, though in their heart of hearts, probably, trembling not a little for the visible and invisible treasures of which their sanctuary has been, time out of mind, the repository.

"From the marble cells of the monks to the iron dungeons of the victims of Castle St. Elmo the transition is but short, but the contrast is appalling. The stone steps wind down six floors, and at every floor room was made for about half a score of victims. Some of the miserable cells had windows; but, as the view from the hill over the loveliest panorama of land and sea would have been too great a solace to the lonely captive, the window was latticed over by thick wooden bars, not intended to prevent escape – for from that height only a bird could attempt it – but simply to rob the poor recluse of the distant view of his familiar scenes. In the lowest floor there is no window to the dungeons – only a little wicket in the door, opening outwardly, for the gaoler to communicate with the prisoner if he has a mind. That wicket would be opened one moment in the morning to let in a little bread and water; then the wicket would fall to, and for twenty-four hours all would be darkness inside.

"I do not like to witness horrors, much less to dwell upon them, else I could tell you of the loopholes we were shown, through which the sentries could shoot the prisoners in their cells and their beds. I could repeat the instances of wholesale executions of Swiss and Sicilian mutineers of which St. Elmo has been the theatre, and of which the world never knew anything. The caitiffs who were but yesterday in the king's pay are eager to promulgate abroad the infamy of his doings, and I have no doubt St. Elmo will soon become the subject of books or pamphlets, yielding but little in interest to the stories of La Bastille, of which it will soon share the fate.

"The good people of Naples are bent upon demolishing St. Elmo, and are only awaiting the dictator's bidding to lay hand to the work. A tough job they will find it, I am sure. As I was walking yesterday along the upper battlements the impatient citizens were already busy pulling back the huge brass guns, each of which was most offensively pointed at some of the most densely crowded quarters of the town, and turning their muzzles inward. What a fortress that was, and what a protection to the city! It was no bad emblem of the whole sea and land might of the Bourbon – worse than useless against foreign aggression, wholly and exclusively directed to crush internal commotion."

The condition of Naples on the 12th of September was thus described in a private letter of that date:

"There is much to be done here, and Garibaldi is doing it well. It is impossible to take up a journal, or move about in the midst of the vast crowds which throng the capital, without feeling that a master-spirit is here. Long before the city has shaken off its slumber, the dictator is up and driving about. Yesterday he went to visit Nisida, and surprised the British library, on his return, with a visit at half-past six o'clock A.M, wishing to purchase some books. During the day he was hard at work receiving visitors and legislating, and the following are some of the fruits of his labors:

"All political prisoners are to be liberated immediately. All custom-house barriers between Sicily and the Neapolitan continent are abolished. Twelve infant asylums, one for each quarter, are to be established in the capital at the public expense, and are to be municipal institutions. Secret ministerial funds are abolished. The trial by jury in criminal cases is to be established. The order of Jesuits, with all their dependencies, is abolished in the territory. Two Sicilies, and their property declared national. All contracts on property for the benefit of the order are annulled. Considering that religious fanaticism and aristocratic pride induced the late government to make distinctions even between the dead, the burial of the dead is henceforward absolutely forbidden within the walls of a city. The traffic in grain and flour with Ancona is prohibited.

"All these decrees have a history attached to them, which, if narrated, would tell of sufferings and persecutions almost incredible. They are admirable, and in themselves amount to a beneficial revolution; but the better and the more sweeping the changes that are introduced, the greater the necessity for some established government.

"His majesty, Francis II. has already formed his ministry, and placed at the head of it Gen. Cotruffiano; and among his colleagues are Caselli, Ulloa – not the general – and Canofari, all of the legal profession.

"MM. Maniscalchi, father and son, notorious for having been the most active agents of the late king's tyranny at Palermo, were arrested on the 7th, at Caserta, and taken under escort to Naples."

Another letter, written on the same day, gave the following additional particulars:

"Troops are continually coming in and marching to the frontier. The Piedmontese admiral, with another steam frigate and the ex-Neapolitan ships, is in the harbor.

"I hear the sound of cracked trumpets, and, looking out, see the first ranks of a Garibaldi division coming down the Santa Lucia. I am struck by the youthful appearance of some, certainly not more than twelve, or at the furthest fourteen years old – fair, pretty-looking boys, who might have had a satchel instead of a knapsack on their backs. There were, however, some glorious-looking fellows, and all, whether men or boys, seemed to be animated by a spirit little known to the Neapolitan troops. The latter were a sect to defend a vile political creed, and inflict chastisement on those who opposed it; but the former are banded together to assert the sacred rights of liberty. I saw it in their march; there was an elasticity about it which denoted what was passing within. I cannot say much for their uniforms; they were very dirty, out of order, and irregular, and I have no doubt but that so eminent a general officer as Ferdinand II. would have been much scandalized; but they were evidently working men, had an object in view, and were not going to fight for money. I have seen hundreds of them about the town to-day; they are billeted about in the hotels and lodging-houses, while the Piedmontese troops are in Castel-Ovo.