The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-14 00:00:00

G ,11118-ILDI AND 211zIZZLVL

(From the Times.)

The long contest for Italian independence has_
produced no nobler man than Joseph Garibaldi. It
is strange how much and for how long a time the
public opinion of Europe, and more especially of
England, has been mistaken as to the character and
ability of this remarkable man. For the most part
he was accepted as a kind of melodramatic hero, fit
at best to astonish the groundlings of London or
Paris at Astley's or Franconi's—a kind of Massani-
ella without his nets, or Murat without his horse.
lle was the hero of broad sa,hes, vulgar pathos, and
claptrap—the property of the penny novelist and
suburban playwright. By others he was confounded
with the secret conspirators who have unconsciously
done their best to protract the slavery of their coun-
try to a foreign yoke. Now, there are no two men
adysih) pnooei
giadi
ntri
in Europe more entirely dissimilar than Mazzini and
d
y
al-
e.
Garibaldi. The simple, frank, open-hearted soldier
—the man of midday—has nothing in common with
the gloomy, dreaming, burrowing conspirator—the
man of midnight. The langnage of Garibaldi has
always been, "Follow me"—th3 language of Maz-
zini,lbiaa " Go, and I will scheme for you." In what
contest in which he has borne a part has not Gari-
t
ed
e
baldi
of
pc.
olysifae);
nanvtoi oocehsnfdootsfxatedtl
ettsde:ceolefliieuiftteinh:hti
.:maiptaeitotesssoahanaisl.
nei%oiesei
disengaged
7icefnt:se
ntioi
connection.
asmn,
Itgnsioieoicoepretismy:dicte:t.
indepe of
ndence,
e?inns,
isdeiesacbll
sksrount-
ft:so.
ooteu,whatntniotesgrot
oni
futsuefaottot
gaolernhehon
noes.
nfn
forroodmohuti doubt, tef,
et
I,Gari-
baldifellow-
creatures prone
creatures to accept a man at his own estimate of
himself, that it is no great wonder if all Italian
patriots, Garibaldi included, gave way for a time
to the vehemence of Mazzinian ideas. But while
one man was losing power the other was gain-
ing it. As sailor, as soldier, as merchant,
Garibaldi was going about the world and
learning in the wholesome school of actual life
the value of ideaS and of men, the distinction
between thought and action. Mazzini, on the other
hand, had either shut himself up in some solitary
lodging in a foreign capital, or was skulking about
Europe under various disguises, and with passports
made out in any other name but his own. So it
came to pass that he degenerated from the promise
of his youth and early manhood, and year by year
dwindled down into the proportions of a monoma-
niac. He believed in the cloak of darkness; Gari-
baldi, in many a contest with his fellow-men under
the broad light of day, has taught his hand to use
the sword of sharpness, and we see the result. At
the present moment, the name of Victor Emmanuel
apart, Garibaldi is deservedly the foremost man in
the contest of tVe Italians for independence. So
overwhelming, in the long run,' is the strength of
simplicity of character, steadfastness of purpose, of
fortitude, and of courage, that the mere presence of
this patriotic chieftian acts like a charm upon his
countrymen. He is the visible embodiment of their
aspirations and hOpes. ,-'4ey•klow -that. he will
not lead them astray ; that he has no selfish purpose
of his own to serve ; that, when he says the cause of
Italian independence is dearer to him than life
itself, he has proved the truth of his assertion by the
devotion of his iife; and, more than this, that in him
are found those great qualities of intelligence, pru-
dence, and professional skill without which the
noblest sentiments are of little avail in the practical
affairs of life.

The truth with regard to Garibaldi has been well
known to the bulk of Italian patriots for many years
past ; it has but slo svly made its way to the under-
standings of Englishmen. A letter addressed by
Lord Ellenhorough to Lord Brougham ,which we pub-
lished on Wednesday, is the first definite recognition
given by any English statesman to thacapacity and
influence of the guerilla chief. Garibaldi had long
maintained that, if Italy was ever to be independent,
his countrymen must win their own independence in
the long run, however necessary it might be in the
first instance to take advantage of some moment of
general diplomatic complication in order to begin
the strife. The French might sweep the Austrians
out of Lombardy, but that, although the first step
in the struggle, would avail the Italians but little
if the fortunate moment did not find them a nation
of soldiers. Whatever the future destiny of the
Italian Peninsula may be—and we trust it may be
glorious and worthy of its history—there is no
doubt that the Italians must submit for a season to
the monotonous schooling of the drill-sergeant and
the dull discipline of the camp. They must fight
the Austrians with their own weapons. The fran-
tic enthusiasm of the devotees of Italian indepen-
dence would be worse than useless at the present
epoch of Italian history unless this ardour be
drilled, and controlled, and directed aright. Be-
fore all things the Italians must be soldiers—
not soldiers in the sense of the poet and the
writer of romances, but soldiers as practical men
understand the word when they rest the indepen-
dence and good order of a country—its security
against foreign invasion and domestic turmoil—
upon the bayonets of a disciplined host. It is not
on the field of battle that the soldier's highest ca-
pacities are displayed—the field of battle is the
soldier's holyday—but in the slow acquisition of
those higher qualities of fortitude, endurance, and
united action which make the distinction between
an army and an armed mob. If the trickery of
French-and the stolidity of Austrian diplomacy are
now to be paralysed, it is above all things necessary
that there should speedily be found forthcoming in
Central Italy an army worthy of its name.. This is
the only manner in which the Gordian knot can be
effectively cut—the only manner in which the
Italians can confound the devices of their ene-
mies and strengthen the hands of their friends.
Whatever the wishes of the English may be,
our representatives at any European Congress
can only protest against the use of armed
force in Central Italy; but, unless the Cen-
tral Italians be prepared to defend their own
hearths, there are many points in which irresistible
pressure can be brought to bear on them without a
specific defiance of the public opinion of Europe.
Some months have now elapsed since the battle of
Solferino was fought, and the conditions of the ar-
mistice at Villafranca should have caused every in-
habitant of Central Italy to feel that he must de-
fend his own independence if he wished to take a
place amen; the free men of the world. how has
this ;breathing-time been employed ? Something
has been done, much has been neglected ; but, on
the whole, it would appear that if the Romagnoli,
the Tuscans, the Parmesans, and the Modenese
would even now awake to the danger of their si-
tuation and take warning by the past, the fatal
words " It is too late" have not yet gone forth.
The two points to which we would direct the
attention of the Central Italians arc—first, the ne-

cessity of instantly raising a sufficient and a dis-
ciplined force for the defence of the region they in-
habit; the second is, that it would be absolute in-
sanity on their part to provoke a contest with
either France or Austria by any act of aggression
beyond their evyn frontiers. Within these limits
they have a right to declare that they will live
under any form of government they may choose to
adopt, and to defend their liberties as best they
may. As long as their action is confined to the
defence of their own frontiers it would be a task of

no small difficulty and embarrassment to assail
their position. We can fully appreciate the delicate
nature of the task which Garibaldi is now called
apon to discharge, and how hard it is with the
same breath to excite the sentiment and to restrain
the passions of a multitude ; but upon the success-
ful solution of this problem the cause of Italian in-
dependence rests, at least for the present. The in-
telligence which has reached us during the last few
days seems to show that the Central Italians are
aware of their critical situation. If they are able to
produce in the field a cnfficient force to justify their
assumption of independence, we are assured that no