The Express.
London, England, 1867-10-10 00:00:00

GENERAL GARIBALDI.

[The following appears in the Daily New]:
TO THI ZDITO2 OF TH2 DAILY MINS.

R, —As yours is the one London paper which
has ever sought to give Italy and Garibaldi fair
play, I feel sure that you will grant me sufficient
apace in your columns to narrate the history of the
last fortnight as only an eye-witness of events can
narrate them. _

On Sunday, 22nd September, the day following
the appearance of the " Warning" in the Official
Gazette, General Garibaldi left Florence for Arezzo,
accompanied by his Caprera friends, Basso and
Barberini, Del Vecchio, secretary, and myself. As
the train started some one said to him, " General,
you will be arrested at Compiobbi, or some little
station where the populace can offer no resistance."
" Possibly," he answered, "because this govern-
ment is capable of anything ; but how they can
violate my quality of deputy unless I attempt to
cross the frontier I can scarcely see. They know
that I do not intend to import revolution into
Rome, but merely to help the Romania if they rise."
No more was said on the subject. Along the road
the usual demonstrations: at Arezzo the entire
populace at the station : reception prepared in the
syndic's house. The one cry of the red shirts, who
, thronged in hundreds, was ' Take us to Rome."
His reply, "How can I take you I If the Romans
rime I shall do my best to reach them and offer my
arm. You, if you really wish to help them, must
do the same." Spies and provocative agents were
not wanting to induce the general or some of his
followers to enrol volunteers, but all had their
instructions, and followed them to the letter. On
the following day (Monday), borrowing a " Livy "
Ithe general accepted a couple of carriages from a
friend, agreed to spend a couple of days in Val di
Chianti, and on Lake Trasimeno, and to pay a
lung-promised visit to one of his favourite friends
at Sinalungs. 1 was the only ono of the party
who accompanied him in the carriage, and I can
affirm that neither at Mercian, where we halted,
nor during the drive, nor at Sinalunga did he
hold interviews with any one who could be sus-
pected of designs on Rome. The object of his
journey was simply to pass the time until the
Romans should decide on stirring, or release him
from his promise not to abandon them. He had
promised to be at Perugia on the following day :
where he intended to go afterwards he alone knows.
In the house where the banquet was spread at
Sinalunga there were but two bed-rooms free ; in
one slept the general, in the other Basso: Maurizio
on the floor. We were dispersed in houses in the
village, and consequently were not present at the
moment of arrest. But the facts occurred
thus. At 1 a.m. the syndic received news of the
arrest, and kept the news to himself. At 4 a.m.
the house was surrounded by two companies of the
37th Regiment of the line ; at 5 a.m. the syndic
opened the door, and allowed the Carabinieri to
pass in. A lieutenant knocked at Garibaldi's
door, was admitted, and presented a paper—the
warrant for arrest. Garibaldi read it, and said,
'" I understand. Can I take my bath I" " Cer-
tainly." But the captain of the line refused this
" luxury," and Garibaldi was taken from his bed
to the cart without time being allowed for Mau-
rizio to put him up a second shirt.
So much fur the actual facts. Listen to
the narration of the official Gazette :—" Ge-
neral Garibaldi, quitting Florence and Arezzo, bent
his steps towards the frontier." You will see on
the map that Sinalunga is on the Siena line of
rail, and as to where the general was going after
Perugia, I repeat, he alone knows. " General
Garibaldi at Sinalunga was warned in the name of
the law to retrace his steps." (He was arrested,:
voila tout.) "On his refusal he was conducted to
Alessandria : deposits of arms were sequestrated."
False again: he was taken towards Florence by spe-
cial train ; no advice of special train was sent, and
it was the danger signal at Siena alone that
stopped it. In a few seconds some score of Sienese
gathered—" Release Garibaldi ! Viva la Repub-
lica !" they cried. A few minutes, and he would
have been released, but the Carabinieri forced the
engine driver to speed on towards Florence.
There counter orders arrived ; the engine was
changed, and the general was taken to Alessandria.
Not a single arm was taken ; aeither Garibaldi nor
his friends were armed. Basso, on reaching the
fortress, found two revolvers in his bag, and con-
, signed them to the commander. The whole popu-
lation of Sinalunga amounts to 1,200. They had
'no arms, otherwise the syndic and secretary would
not have escaped with merely torn cheeks and
broken heads. When attracted by the clamour,
the friends gathering to the house saw the general
in the cart. Del Vecchio and Barberini scram-
bled in, despite the opposition of the officers, both
ex-Garitaldian officers of 1860, as he sadly noted.
I sped to the telegraph office, sent off a telegram
to Florence and to London, just in time, as the
government at 7 a.m. took possession of all the
offices, and even at Milan the arrest was not known
in the evening. Gathering together his bath and
bags, and sending off Maurizio to Perugia for the
heavy baggage, I took the first train at Frassineto,
three hours drive from Sinalunga, for Florence,
arriving at 5 p.m.; went straight to the Roane-office;
said that I must take on the general's image, was
told, what the Official Gazette also affirmed, that he
was treated "with the utmost consideration"—
massimi rignardi ; and that there would be no
difficulty in being admitted to the fortress. At
10.10 p.m., with the ready help of the station-
master, we picked Maurizio and heavy baggage out
of the Perugia train, deposited both in the express,
and started at 10.15 p.m. for Alessandria, arriving
at 9.50 a.m., Wednesday. Florence, as we left,
seemed in a state of siege ; the population (not
" 70 boys and women ") in the streets ; cavalry,
infantry, all arrayed. The troops and National
Guard would not act against the people ; and
although the syndic thanked the latter for their
" devoted services," the government trusted them
so little that the houses of parliament were con-