The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-13 00:00:00

elf-past eight o'clock we had entered the beautiful bay of
Salerno. A. sultry sun had struggled through the thick
sea mist, and poured its fiercest rays upon the long row of
stately white houses which form the great strada of
Salerno. From the deck of the corvette we soon ob-
served that great excitement prevailed in the town ; the
shore was thronged with people; the whole population,
about 20,000, was astir. As we approached we could ob-
serve that bayonets glistened in the sun, and the echoes of
loud " vivas" reached us What did it all mean ? As we
steamed slowly towards the shore, the large crowd moved
to the point where we prepared to land, and anxiously
watched the debarkation of our party—the Hon. Evelyn
Ashley, Capt. Godraan, sth Dragoon Guards ; Mr. Adam
Smith, and myself.
From the windows of the Intendenza, the Mansion-
house of Salerno, waved all sorts of flags, pieces of red
cloth, the tricolour, the Sardinian and the Neapolitan co-
lours 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 most
excitingly. _ _

But who had arrived ? Was Garibaldi here ? Had the

man whose name is now on every lip reached Salerno ?
Was he within an hour by the railway of the doomed city ?
"Where was his army ? Where the 17,000 Bavarian troops
who were in the town yesterday, and had been sent from
Naples to make the last stand for its effete and impotent

monarch. On I went at once to the Intendenza. I sent in
my card, and found that the gallant Col. Peard, " Gari-
baldi's Englishman," was installed in the gaudy rooms of
the old mansion, and one or two of Garibaldi's staff. He
hal entered the town alone, and in the name of the Gene-
ral had taken possession of it. The Bavarian troops, who
the day previously were stationed in this town, and
who guarded the beautiful pass which terminates the
railway, were not to be seen, and four unarmed men had
captured a considerable city I 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 pro-
ceeded there. Along the road we met many hundreds of
the Neapolitan troops who had laid down their arms near
Monteleone, wending away home—wretched-looking crea-
tures, footsore and dispirited, and many lying in tke edges
of the vineyards half famished and almost dead. At the
entrance of Eboli, on the descent of the pass of the moun-
tain, upon the side of which the village rests, we saw four
old' picturesque carriages driving in hot haste into the
narrow streets of the village, and one of the General's staff,
an American, to whom I had given a seat in the carriage,
espied the General, and I shouted, " Viva Garibaldi I"
We followed to the Intendenza, and in a little bedroom,
crowded with his Staff and the local authorities, I had 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 the greatest patriot since Washington. Mr. Ashley
and I were announced. He remained in the same attitude
for a few minutes, but was evidently thoughtful. He shook
us most cordially by the hand, asked 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 ; but his greatest anxiety was to know
the feeling of the English people on the great mission he has
to carry out. He spoke in the highest terms of the impartial
and kind conduct of our Admiral at Naples, and requested
us to see him again in the evening at Salerno, to which
plaee, after changing horses, he was hastening. He stated
hat his determination was to take Naples at the earliest
moment, and that he desired to do so without its costing
a life, if possible. All was bustle and excitement. The
National Guard, aware of his approach, roistered in large
numbers ; their unmusical band were making their utmost
noise. Deputations of priests and Franciscan monks were
crowding into his presence. "Women and children were
throwing flowers into the room, in the corner of which he
eat, in a rickety old chair, unmoved and tranquil. There
is a simple grandeur about his demeanour which is very
striking, very cool and collected, but when he spoke of the
subject of French policy his eye lighted up instantly, and
in short epigrammatic sentences he spoke of the sympathies
of the French people with his cause ; 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 met one of his regiments on their march to
Salerno. The General had retained the bands of two of
the regiments which had laid down their arms at Monte-
leone, and nothing could be more ridiculous than the ap-
pearance presented by his tattered troops headed by the
smart band of the army of the King.
We shared some wine we had on the mountain side with
the officers and men, and drank the health of our Queen, the
friend of Italy, and success to Garibaldi, under the shade of
a large vineyard. On entering the town (Salerno) we found
it brilliantly illuminated, and up to the very top of the moun-
tain every cottage had its little lanterns peeping forth
like glimmering stars in the blue canopy of Heaven.'
Thousands had collected, bands played, and when the
General appeared by torchlight at the window of the Hotel
de Ville' the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds ;
and into midnight was this scene protracted. The crowds
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 small Staff within an hour's distance of
Naples. He has not met a soldier of the King, nor has one
life been the sacrifice. "What a revolution I A dynasty
overthrown by the mighty influence of opinion—a kingdom
no corrupt and so degraded that a hired soldiery employed
to suppress the constitutioaal liberty of the people refuses
in the hour of need to protect even their King I What a
lesson to monarchs I
" I shall enter Naples with the General, and will send
you a little sketch of the scene."