The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-18 00:00:00

GENERAL GARIBALDL

Garibaldi has since his arrival in England been
favoured with weather which neither Nice nor
Naples need have disowned. "Royal weather"
almost has attended his movements, and the pale
blue skies of spring have seldom been hidden by
murky clouds. But on Saturday all this was for
once changed. From early morning—earlier even
than Garibaldi was astir—" the heavens were black
with clouds and rain." But it is not a shower that
daunts either the Italian general or his more enthu-
siastic admirers, some of whom were afoot and
staring at Stafford House by six o'clock. Just before
eight a number of the members of the Working
Men's Committee arrived, and were introduced, and
Mr. S. Plimsoll, of the City Reception Committee,
attended to accompany the general to a locality
where he might see a sight to which even "fair and
fruitful Italy "—the modern land of milk and honey,
where meat and drink grow spontaneously within
reach of the peasant's arm, and where wine runs
like water in the houses of rich and poor—could
afford no parallel. He went to see Barclay and
Perkins's brewery, at Bankside, and once in a way
he passed through the streets comparatively in
peace, although he was heartily cheered when he
left the ducal mansion. The general on his arrival
at the brewery was received by the members of the
firm, and conducted over the whole of the extensive
premises ; the various processes of the art and mys-
tery of brewing being explained to him by Mr. Per-
kins, who speaks Italian fluently. The general ap-
peared delighted and astonished at the vast extent
of the works and machinery. After inspecting
the warehouses and cellars, he proceeded to the
stables, which are of great extent, and where
several hundred horses are accommodated. A
magnificent horse named " Baby," standing about
18 hands high, was much admired by the general,
and at the request of the master of the stables, and
amidst the cheers of the stablemen, of whom there
are 30, he renamed the animal " Garibaldi." The
general was then conducted to one of the large
warehouses, which had been tastefully fitted up fur
the occasion. Around the place were galleries in
which the whole of the workmen were placed, and
in the centre was a large hogshead, on the top of
which stood several tankards of " Barclay's stout."
Thu cheering of the men on the entrance of the
general was most enthusiastic. A tankard of stout
having been handed to Garibaldi, he drank to the
health of the workmen present. He said he had
read with great delight some years since the well-
merited chastisement the workmen of this establish-
ment had indicted upon General Haynau, the flogger
of Hungarian women. He thought their conduct
on that occasion worthy of recognition. He was a
working man himself—he had worked hard for
freedom. He was proud and happy to come amongt
working men. Mr. Plimsoll then proposed the
" Health of Garibaldi," which was drunk with
deafening cheers. The general then went round the
yards of the establishment, which were filled with
the wives and children of the workmen. After a
stay of about an hour Garibaldi and his attendants
left, having thanked the members of the firm for the
courtesy shown him. The visit being a private one,
few, except those connected with the firm, were
aware of the intended honours, and there were not
many persons assembled about the brewery on his
arrival. He had not been there long, however, be-
fore the news spread round the neighbourhood,
and on his leaving several thousand persons lined
the strce a adjacent. The general returned to
Staffard House at ten o'clock, where several
deputations were awaiting him. He left again
at half-past twelve o'clock fsr the Crystal Palace.
His route was through the Park and over Vauxhall
Bridge, which was reechsd about one o'clock, and
a few minutes before two he arrived at the house of
glass at Sydenham, where an immense crowd
awaited his arrival. On Monday last he had a
reception from the lower and the lower-middle
classes ; on Wednesday he was honoured by same
of the foremost men and women in Eagland ; on
Saturday the upper middle classes met to pay him
greeting. Holders of season tickets entered the
Palace as a matter of coarse, but those who did not
possess the magic annual pasteboard were compelled
to pay half-a-crown for tickets, or, if they paid at
the doors, 53., More they could secure admission.
They came in thousands by road and in thousands
by rail. From the west they came through Ken-
nington and Stockwell ; from the east and north
over London Bridge; from the south by innu-
merable bye-roads, where the trees were putting
forth the premise of their summer foliage, and
where through the rain nature smiled her welcome ;
as an enthusiastic Italian put it—" Her smiles for
the here, her tears for his yet unaccomplished work.
And both from Victoria and the Elephant and
Castle by the Chatham and Dover rcute, to Syden-
ham Hill, went droves, shoals, flocks to see the hero
of the hour; and not only up till the time appointed
for the commencement of the proceedings, bat
long afterwards—even till near five o'clock—were
people still going to the Palace, which inside pre-
seated an appearance affording a curious contrast
to the exterior dripping with rain and mist.
Where the glass fountain plashes, bedewing with
spray the lovely flowers that encircle its basin,
away to neer the tropical screen, the people
were thick; bat from the Stationery Court to
Renaissance Court they were in an impene-
trable mass. The reserved seats were nearly all
occupied, and in the galleries people paid for
standing ground. In the North Gallery at the
corner, half in the transept, half in the nave, and
facing the Handel Orchestra, was a box of goodly
size, draped with the colours of nature, which are
also the colours of Italy—the red, the white, and the
green. Here were placed chairs of state; hero too
were gathered the most distinguished of the visitors.
Looking at the Palace from this point a scene pre-
yen tee: itself which can hardly be described, but can
never be forgotten. On the Handel orchestra were
the artists from the two operas, who had volunteered
their services for a concert, and who were supported
by a full orchestra and chorus, as well as by a num-
ber of persons who had been fortunate enough to
secure the reserved seats hero set apart. At the
Bides of the Handel stage people hung on by the eye-
lids; about the concert room they flocked, climbing
on to the pedestals of the statues, so that perchance
they might get a peep. And in the area imme-
diately in front of the box the reserved seats were
filled with gentlemen and ladies, who vied with
each other in the brilliancy of their toilettes, who
were to a woman in panoply of crinoline, and who
bore for weapons, offensive and defensive, umbrellas
and opera glasses—

" Armoured in steel they stole a glance, and then,
All disappointed, they glanced back again."

But still Garibaldi did not come, so there was
nothing for it but to endeavour to make out the
mottoes—and the Crystal Palace is a regular manu-

factory of appropriate sentiments in white letters
on a red ground—which flanked the general's box.
At length patience was rewarded, and the general