The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-20 00:00:00

Presentation of the Freedom of the City of
London to Garibaldi,

(THIS DAY.)

General Garibaldi, to-day, met with another ova-
tion in his progress from Prince's-gate to the
Guildhall to receive the freedom of the city of Lon-
don. At a very early hour large numbers of the
metropolitan police were posted on the different
points in the line of route, but on this occa-
sion they were placed in clusters at the en-
trances of the principal streets, and not in
the usual way, when they are called upon to
keep clear any particular road for a public proces-
sion. Tne excitement occasioned by the rumour of
Garibald►'s abrupt determination to quit England,
although officially contradicted in both Houses of
Parliament lest night as being in any way con-
nected with politleil reaeone, no doubt greatly
augmented the crowds of pertons assembled, and
opinions were freely discussed as to the real nature
of the necessity that had led General Garibaldi to
forego his proposed visit to the principal towns and
cities in the United Kingdom. The spectators
assembled along the entire road, from Mr. Seeley's
to the west of Temple-bar, although large, were as
nothing compared with the gigantic gather-
ing that took place to welcome the
General's arrival in London. At the National
Gallery and on the steps of St. Martin's Church
the largest numbers took their station, and as a
matter of course at these particular places the cheer
ing was the loudest and the most prolonged, but
along the whole line of road traversed by the
general he was received by the most cordial greet-
ing. Very little display in the shape of flags,
banners, &c., was made without the City bounds,
although a somewhat greater attempt was made in
Fleet-street and Cheapside.
About 12 o'clock an open carriage and four drove
up to Mr. Seely's house, and in a few minutes after
General Garibaldi, Mr. J. Richardson, the
mover of the vote in the Court of Common
Council, and Mr. Alderman Abbiss the seconder,
in his scarlet robes, entered the vehicle
and attended by his suite in other carriages, the
cortege, aided by a body of the metropolitan police,
drove along Piccadilly, turning down St. James's
street into Pall Mall, and straight on, along the
north side of Trafalgar-square, in front of the
National Gallery, into the Strand. The carriages
passed through Temple bar, along Fleet-street,
Ludgate-hill, the south side of St. Paul's,Cheapside,
turning up King-street to the Guildhall. Upon
the arrival of the General and his suite at the
Guildhall, he was received at the entrance by the
members of the City Lands Committee, and con-
ducted by them through the hall and loggias (the
line of route being lined with rained seats on both
sides), through the chamber of the aldermen, to the
council chamber, and to the dais prepared for him
on the left of the Lord Mayor, where the presentee.
tion of the freedom took place. The reception of
the General by the civic functionaries was enthu-
siastic, the ladies vieing with the gentlemen in
testifying the warmth of their admiration,

After the usual formal introductions,
The Chamberlain of Lindon (Benjamin Scott,
Esq.), addressed General Garibaldi as follows:

Illustrious Sir,—The City of London invites you to-day
to accept the highest honour at her disposal, placing your
distinguished name upon the list of worthies inscribed upon
the roll of honorary citizenship. It becomes my duty ac •
cordingly to address to you, in her name, a few words,
however inadequate, of thanks, congratulation, and hearty
welcome. We are well aware that no one shrinks more
sensitively than yourself from the voice of eulogy, and yet,
living as you do to please, not yourself alone, you will feel
that there are occasions, and this would appear to be one of
them, when, for the sake of others, truth, though ft. ttering,
should be listened to. Bear with me, then, while I
attempt to give feeble expression to the feelings of
unbounded admiration and affection entertained
towards you by the citizens of London. I am not
called to dilate upon the marvellous incidents of your event-
ful career, rivalling in interest the wildest romance, because
the resolution of this Honourable Court, devised so as to
secure a perfect unanimity of welcome, directs my remarks
rather to your character than to the political events of your
life. History, it has been acid, usually reproduces herself
at intervals more or less frequent, but we turn her pages in
vain to meet with the prototype of Giuseppe Garibaldi;
" none but himself can be his parallel !" We find, sir, no
counterpart to your career among the fabled legends of the
ea, ly periods of that city with which your name is hence-
forth imperishably associated, when Romans in the interest
of their country

" Spared neither lands nor gold,
Nor son, nor wife, nor limb, nor life,

In those brava times of old,"
In your person the primitive spirit of self-sacrifice is re-
produced, in combination with characteristics and quAifi •
cations hitherto deemed incompatible. The genius of an
accomplished general, associated with the instincts and dar-
ing of one of the old sea-kings ; valour which liberated
kingdoms and placed them at your feet, combined with the
stern incorruptibility of a Dentetus and the severe simpli-
city of a Cincinnatus ; a heart in which the boldness of a
Leonidas dwells compatibly with the tenderness of a woman
and the trust and truthfulness of a child. The whole
strangely tempered and elevated by an earnest craving for
the reign of peace, brotherhood, and freedom, manifesting
faith in the world's future, in humanity, and in God.
Twice ere mature manhood you had risked your own
life to rescue a fellow creature from drowning. Then,
like our own Florence Nightingale, you devote
yourself to the suffering and the dying at a cholera hospital
at Marseilles. Proceeding to South America, you are sub-
jected to the infUction of a torture to the utmost point of
human endurance to compel (hopeless task) the betrayal of
a friend; and, with generosity almost superhuman, you re-
lease with his life, liberty, and property intact, the monster
who had so tortured you when he falls into your hands.
What shall I say of the magnanimity which distributed the
spoils of war and of prize money on the ocean to the most
needy of your companions, and stripped from your own back
even the last remaining shirt to shelter a comrade I Re-
stored to Italy and to the work to which your life is devoted,
victory places at your disposal the revenues of two kingdoms
and spoils which might have graced an Oriental triumph ; but
you reserve not to yourself sufficient to convey you to your
sea-girt rock of Caprera ; and grandest of all, when stricken
down in the name of your country, " wounded in the house
of your friends," suffering and helpless during thirty weary
days and sleepless nights, no taunt or reproach escaped
your lips. Welcome, then, in the language and the resolu-
tion of this court, "most generous, brave, and disinterested
of patriots,"—
" 'Welcome, because the glory of thy wreath

Had never shade nor stain,
Because thy sword sprung never from its sheath
Except to cleave a chain;
Because thy hand, outstretched to all who live,
Armed not for thine own sake,
So strong to save, opened so wide to give,
Do not know how to take;
Because thy toes can reckon to thy charge
Only the noble crime
Of faith too liberal and love too large
For this unworthy time."
We 'thank you for the honour of this visit to our country
and to our City. Wo accspt implicitly the assurance that
you come among us to seek renewed health, and to find op-
portunity to thank us for the sympathy wo extended and
the aid (small indeed) which we rendered to the cause of
constitutional freedom in your beloved land. 117 e have no
selfish interest to promote in relation to this 3 cur visit. The
era ot revolutions is to us closed. Freedom is, as it regards
ourselves, era accomplished fact. There may be deficiencies
to supply and defects to remedy in the laws which regulate
our social condition ; but. we wait as a people patiently
and self-reliantly, being well assured that an intelligent,
earnest unanimity will ever obtain for us that which we
desire. We are, nevertheless, deeply indebted to you, sir,
for stirring anew the altar fires of our liberty, aiding
us to realise afresh how dear to us is our old familiar
freedom as we witness your struggles and sacrifices and
those of your gallant sons and compatriots, to win the same
for your loved Italy. You will go back to that beautiful
but long-misgoverned country to tell of a sight you have
witnessed, unique of its kind, in Europe—of a million ot
leen, contributing to a triumph of the uncrowned Champion
of Liberty without the presence of a single soldier; and you
can acquaint those who rule that the securest throne rests
solely upon the affections of a
_free people, and that the