The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-11 00:00:00

ASPROMONTE.

The following is a letter from a distinguished
officer formerly serving under Garibaldi :

Turin, Sept. 6.

My dear Friend,—ln the past days my brain
oppressed by the fatal news, has not been able to
put together two ideas. I arrived here on the 3d
in the evening. Along the road the sad catastrophe
was announced to me by the telegrams. Here
neither the ministers Conforti nor Depretis can tell
me the With as to the general's wounds. Alarm-
ing reports are spread, and I do not like to be their
echo and cruelly afflict you.

Now I know that the general suffers from the
ball that struck the muscle of the right foot, broke
the ankle bone, and hid itself amongst the muscles
behind the tendon of Achilles. The surgeons are
four. Prandino is a friend of mine, a learned man,
and a liberal, as much as we are; end he has as-
sumed the cure, and he assures me there is row
nothing dangerous. They hope to extract the ball
from its nest when suppuration shall have enlarged
the orifice and rendered the lacerated flesh less sen-
sitive to pain.

The hero is as tranquil as his conscience. He
desired to make Italy one, by freeing the Romans
from their humiliating condition, and by delivering
the Venetians from foreign insolence ; and for his
brothers and fellow countrymen, and for his king.
Most transparent was his design, worthy of him
alone, and a most noble enterprise. Never thought
be of being a rebel to his king, never thought he of
being a fratricide.
The truth of Aspromonte is this. At the ap-
proach of the Bersaglieri to the advanced posts of
the volunteers there was no sort of summons. One
of our officers went to warn the general. He ran
to the spot, when the rascally muskets discharged
their projectiles. 'While calling to them to desist
he was wounded slightly in the left :side and the
left foot, Menotti in one thigh. They surrounded
him and made him prisoner. He would not fight.
It was the others who had Rattazzi's orders to
crush in any way the Titan who prevents the des-
pot of France from sleeping soundly, and thwarts
his pro-consuls here in their mal-administration.
These wretches will drag him before the Senate,
converted into a high court of justice. They will
condemn him legally, in cold blood, in order to be
able to say afterwards .—" We have prostrated
this giant. He thought himself the first of men,
the all-powerful. We call him a trator to his
country. We have conquered him. We will get
to Rome and Venice when our patron chooses to
let us."

The King assists at the councils without saying
much. He is grieved, they say. He is for amnesty ;
but Rattazzi is not at present. The bandit of France
so wills it. Conforti and Depretis are also for
amnesty for the general and for his followers. They
resign—who will take their place ? We shall
know them again, the turnspits. In the mean
time the government raises to a general the Colonel
Pallavicino di Priola and decorates him. And the
man accepts it ! What men inhabit the earth, 0
fiend I

Menotti, Tercsita, Deideri, Ricciotti are with the
illustrious sufferer. The officers taken with him are
all sent to Fenestrelle. Yesterday I saw Bixio
just come from Spezzia. All are frantic with rage,
on my word. Poor Italy ! She must endure to
see the most noble of her sons, the honour and
glory of humanity lamed by an Italian bullet,
sitting on the stool of the wicked, for having too
much loved and served her; and the man who has
done nothing but harm to Italy, who in years past
fraternised with her enemies, crying to the four
ends of the earth, " tie is guilty of high treason ;"
and these mistakes waxing clement, go, intercede
with the King for the pardon of such a criminal !
How will this comedy end ? I, who assisted in
" Platea," feel my heart and soul offended and grow
better. I imagine your sorrow.

In order to get to Spezzia one must ho.vl the
permission of the minister of War, and it is difficult
to obtain. All letters are sent open to this
criminal.—Adieu, &c.