The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1860-09-18 00:00:00

GARIBALDI ON THE ROAD TO NAPLEL

The following is an extract from a letter from Mr.
Edwin Janice to a friend :

SALERNO, Friday, Sept. 6,-9 cm.
Under the gray twilight of a September morning we
'deemed out of the harbour of Naples in search of
Garibaldi. Count favour had kindly placed at our dis-
posal a Sardinian corvette, the A uthion (m named from
the place where one of thxir great battles had been
gained), and at lialf•past 8 o'clock we had entered the
beautiful hay of Salerno. A sultry sun had strum/lid
through Cie thick sea mist, and poured its berets& rays
upon the long row of stately white houses which form
the great atrial& of Salerno. From the deck of the cor-
vette we soon olaierverl that great i•xcilement prevailed
in the town • the shore was thronged with people; the
whole population, shout 20,000, was astir. As we
approached we could observe that bayonets glistened in
the sun, and the echoes of loud " rims" reached us.
What did it all mean As we steamed slowly towards
(lie shore the large crowd moved to the point where we
prepared to land, and anxiously watched the deharca-
Om of our party—the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, Captain
Gmlnim, fith Dragoon Guards; Mr. Adam Smith, and
myself.
From the windows of the Intendens, the Mansion-
house of Salerno, waved all sorts of Bags, pieoes of red
cloth, the tricolour, the Satdinian and the Neapolitan
colours, and handkerchiefs of every hue. Every
window was thronged ' • the dark eyes of the South
Italian beauty flashed from every casement, and fair
hands waved their fans must excitingly.
. . . . .

Bus who had arrived? Was Garibaldi here ? Had
the Mall whose name is now on every lip reached
Salerno? Was he within an hour by railway of the
d Aimed city? Where wes his srmy Where the
lided Bavarian troops who were io the town yester-
day, ansl had been sent from Naples to make the last
stand for its effete and impotent nionarelt ? tin I went
at once to the Intendenza. I sent in my card, and
found that the gallant Colonel Peard, " Garibaldi's
Euglishinan," was installed in the gaudy rooms of the
old mansiou, and one or two of Garibaldi'. staff. He
had entered the town alone, and in the name of the
General had taken possession of it. The Bavarian
troops, who the day previously were stationed in this
town, and who guarded the beautiful pass which termi-
nates the railway, were not to be seen, and four
unarmed men had captured • considerable city! From ,
Col. Peard, with whom I had an interview, I learnt that
the General was expected at Eboli, a village about 16
miles distant, and I at once proceeded there. Along
the road we met many hundreds of the Neapolitan
tenons who had laid down their arms near Monteleone,
wending their way home.—wretched-looking creatures,
footsore and disedrited, and many lying in the edges of
the vineyards half famished and abated dead. At the
entrance of Kboli, on the descent of the pass of the
mountain upon the side of which the village rests we
saw four old pietureepse carriages driving in hot haute
into the 'latrine streets of the village, and one of the
General's staff, an American, to whom I had given a
seat in the carriage, espitul the General, and I shouted,
" Viva Garibaldi !" We followed to the Intendemos,
and in a little bedroom, crowded with his Staff and the
local authorities, I bad my first interview with the
disinterested and brave liberator of Italy, in his red
shirt, in a dirty pair of jean trousers, and worn-out
boots. Combing his long, thin hair at the glass' stood I
the greatest patriot since Washington. Mr. Ashley and
I were announced. Ile remained in the same attitude
for a few minutes, but was evidently thoughtful. He
shook us moat cordially hy the land, aaked most
anxiously the state of Naples, and whether the King
had left at the time of our departure, and whether
troops were placed between Eboli and Salerno; hut his
greatest anxiety was to know the feeling of the English
people on the great mission he has to carry out. He
spoke in highest terms of the impartial end kind conduct
of our Admiral at Naples. and requested us to bee him
again in the evening at Salerno, to which placr, after
changing horses, he was hastening. He stated that
hie determination was to take tiaples at the earliest
moment, and that he desired to do so without its costing
a life if powiible. All was bustle and excitement. The
National Guard, aware of his approach, mustered in
large numbers; their unmusical band were inakiug their
utmost noise. Deputations of priests and Franciscan
monks were crowding idto his presence. Women and
children were thrlwing flowers into the room, in the
corner of which lie sat in a rickety old chair, unmoved
and tranquil. There is a simple grandeur about his
demeanour which is very striking, very cool and col-
lected, hut when he spoke of the subject of the French
policy his eye lighted up instantly, and in short epi-
grammatic sentences he spoke of the sympathies of the
French people with his cairie • but in terms which I
need not repeat of the policy of the Emperor.
Mounting our mules, we started back to Salerno, and
on our journey suet one of his regiments on their march
to Salerno. The General had retained the hands of two
of Cie regiments which had laid down their arms at
Monteleone, and nothing could be more ridiculous than
the appearance presented by hie tattered troops headed
by the smart baud of the army of the King.
We shares! souls wine we hail on the mountain side
with the officers and men, and drank the health of our
Queen, the friend of Italy, and success to Caribaldi,
under the shade of • large vineyard. On entering the
town (Salerno) we found it brilliantly illuminated, and
up to the very top of the mountain every cottage bad its
little lanterns peeping forth like glimmering stars " in
the blue canopy in Heaven." Thousands had collected,
bands played. and when the General appeared by torch-
light at the window of she "Hotel de Ville," the
enthusiasm of she people knew no bounds ; and into
midnight was sling scene protrscted. The ieowds seemed
drunk with the idea of liberty, and with the hope of
casting off the despotism which had crowded the horrible
prisons with untried victims, and this night the
General will sleep with his handl Staff within an hour's
distance of Naples. He is.,. not met a soldier of the
King, nor has alle life been the sacrifice. What a
revolution' A dynasty overthrown by the mighty
influence of opinion —a kingdom .0 corrupt and au
degraded that a hired soldiery employed to suppress the
eonatitutional liberty of the people refuses in the hour
of need to protect even the person of their King!
What a lesson to monarchs !
_ . .

I 1111.11 enter Naples with the Genentl, and will send
you a little eketels of the wow.