The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-08 00:00:00

11.T8T.

GARIBALDL

...21

Egham
Oxford
York
Plymouth

ME GARIBALDI SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Mr. W. H. Ashurst has received the following
Letter from Garibaldi :

Caprera, Jan. 26, 1861.
Mr. A shurst,—Our friend Vecchi informs me that
he has heard from Mr. Crauford that you desire to
have my signature to the authorisation,given you by
him, as my aide-de-camp, to call in as col.lector-gene-
ral any and all the sums subscribed in behalf of
Italy by your generous countryrne,n, of whatever city.
I therefore authorise you to de; this, in order that
whatever money may be subscribed in future for
this purpose may be added to that you have already
collected. And I desire that this expression of my
wish should serve as a rule and guide to the various
committees either now existin or likely to be in-
stituted. And here I ought to state that I have
never drawn any draft upon those bankers who
have received sums of money in my name. The
sums I have received from the patriots of your
country have been individual payments or offerings
exclusively. I will, however, inquire of Dr. Bertani
whether those gentlemen and the Leeds and Man-
chester committees have sent sums to him direct.
•

Colonel Peard has my esteem, both as a gentle.
man and as a soldier. His officers did their duty.
There might have , been better discipline main-
tained among the men. I know it. They came
late. But they made ample amends for this defect,
not their own, by the brilliant' courage they
displayed in the slight engagements they shared
with us near the Volturno, which enabled me to
judge how precious an assistance they would have
rendered us had the war of liberation remained
len gr

jer in my hands. In every way the English
volunteers were a proof of the goodwill borne by
your noble nation towards the liberty and indepen-
dence of Italy. And I believe your generous coun,
try—which I so much love and respect—will never
refuse us her contingent, whether of arms, men, or
money, in testimony of those qualities by which she
is distinguished, and which have made her the first
nation of the civilised world.
A

ccept, honoured Mr. Ashurst, the earnest assu-
rance of my grateful friendship, and always com-
maud your G. GARIBALDI.

A medical man, who lately visited Caprera, gives
some details concerning the ex-Dictator :
" Garibaldi, in height, is five feet six inches,
and in width of shoulders and length of arms and

legs is well proportioned ; he is strongly built, and
of a nervous sanguine temperament. The volume

of the head is remarkable, and the principal thing

in it is the height of the skull, which measured

'rom the ear to the summit more than seven inches.

This peculiar formation of the head denotes at
first glance an exceptional organisation; and the

development of the skull in the upper part, which
is the seat of the sentiments, indicates the pre-

ponderance of all the noble faculties over the

instincts. In a word, the head of Garibaldi, after

examination, presents 'an extremely rare pheno-
menon—it might be said almost an unexampled

one—which is the perfect harmony of all the

organs. The mathematical result of their union
presents :--Abnegation above all things and on all
occasions ; prudence and calm ; a natural severity
of morals; almost continual meditation ; grave and
correct eloquence; dominating uprightness; de-
ference to friends—even .to the extent of causing

pain to himself; and lastly, the power of appre-

ciating the people about him is very remarkable.
In a word, without making a comparison of the
different phrenological qualities, it may be said
that his head is a marvellous one, and that science
may study it as a model."
Respecting the domestic arrangement of the Ge
neral's household, the writer says :
" There are no domestics in Garibaldi's house
everybody serves himself. There is, however, a
man blind of one eye acting as cook and as
house steward. A surprise has been given to
the General—some person unknown has planted

in the Fontanone, his favourite resort, a pear tree
with the inscription, ' Pear tree of the soldier-
labourer.' A Milanese painter, of the name of
Zuccoli, has been here for some days to paint a
portrait of Garibaldi, but the General only gives
him a few minutes at a time at rare intervals, and
on each occasion he says that the painting seems
to him to be sufficiently resembling, •and that he
will not sit any more. The unfortunate painter
is in despair. On the first day I arrived we
were twelve in number, and dined together at a
table which at the outside was only capable of
accommodating six. The General was at a corner
with just room enough for his plate. You would
have had bad fare at Caprera, my dear fries.d, and
I assure you that the table is not decked out with.
cut-glass or plate ; paltry little drinking glasses,
such as are 'used in public-houses, odd knives,
forks made of composition metal, and common
delf plates, are what appear. The first evening I
was with Garibaldi he was afflicted with a violent
ear-ache caught by sitting in a draught ; I put
a poultice on his cheek and passed the
night on a sofa at the door of his cham-
ber. The day after he rose at his usual hour,
and, with his head enveloped, went out at five
o'clock in the morning. A grave affair now occu-
pies attention at Caprcra—the enlargement of Gari-
baldi's house. Colonel Deideri brought from
Genoa a plan of what is to be done. A single
mason of La Maddalena has been charged to super.
intend the operations, but we all help him, and
Garibaldi, for his part, began forming a wall out
of the remains of a windmill which he commenced
some years back. I shall never forget having
seen the man who carried so high the flag of in-
dependence at Varese, Como, and Calatafimi,
placing one stone on 'another on the projected
wall, and fixing each with mortar, like the most
modest of masons. Buc the mason who acted as
architect was not satisfied with Garibaldi's work
and he said, ' Believe me, General, you shine more
in making war than in building walls.' Perhaps
you are right,' answered Garibaldi, and so I will
content myself with bringing up in a wheelbarrow
the stones required.' And for more than an hour
afterwards the General was occupied in conveying
stones !"

SCOTCH WHISKY .IND FRENCH WINES.

At a conversazione of the Scottish Trade Protec-
tion Society on Monday Mr. Duncan M‘Larea
delivered an address on the recent treaty with
France, in which he referred to the probable effect
of the introduction of French wines into Scotland:
•Ile said,—As Scotchmen we have a special interest
in the wine duty question. We consume only
about one-half of the quantity of wine per head
which our brethren across the Tweed
teonsucuioen;
and, unhappily, we balance the aeern of ardent
yardent
suming more than double the quhaen t
Le duties,
spirits. If a reduction of
ocw
fabulously
classes,
siSscnehos
extent, for the light
then, shall beget a preferencew,itntoe aofeoFnsriadnecrea,ble.
cheap will accrue, which
great social and moral
national exchequer.stalocslee
hulbepee easnayt e s
efroi
or u anys ob
Nor does there pp
thereby occasioned ocmcoals'ieontehdanatrebtcoote
a heange. The ancient beverages
ale and. beers for. the poorer
to such a P
,twl
andaa s
ndileawl-aerPerYet for those in better circumstances,
sold at what would now be thought
low rates, as appears from the records of
earlylimes. Whisky was hardly known as an article
of general consumption in Scotland till the begin-
ning of the 18th century. In 1786 the consump..
tion took a great leap, having advanced to 824,983
gallons, the duty being 2s. 7::,d. At this period—
only 75 years since, Scotland may be said to have
commenced its career as a whisky-drinking nation,
and it has gone on rapidly increasing since that
time. During the three years ending in 1852 the
consumption reached its maximum, the average
yearly quantity being 7,041,904 gallons, the &TV
being then 4s. per gallon, including the duty oa
the malt. Since that period a considerable reduc-
tion has taken place, partly from the effects of
recent legislation respecting publichouscs, and.
partly from the increase of the Excise duties.
During the two 3-ears ending in March, the average
quantity consumed was reduced to 5,453,021
gallons, the duty being Bs. per gallon, which is still
an enormous quantity, being equal to about 11
bottles for each man, woman, and child of the popu-
lation ; while the consumption of wine in Scotland
is less than one bottle for each person. The quantity
of whisky consumed is thus unhappily ten times
greater than the quantity of wine. Now that the
duty on light wines is reduced to ls., and the duty
on whisky increased to 10s. per gallon, there is
reason to hope that, as a new generation rises up,
Scotland may gradually abandon its recentlyan
acquired habits as a whisky-drinking iiiiihtiaobnits
odf
in this respect revert to acesastdsand
and cherisb ed,
many previous centuries, q !
lle of France.,
peep
had so long existed Vf it h the
no doubt, through the friendryir-ntercourse w).l7ich