Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-10-08
GARIBALDI AND HIS SONS.

T. c. Grenvle- Murray in the Continental Times.
IL one wished to summarize the character of
Garibaldi as tersely as possible, one would de-
scribe him as man with the heart of lion and
the head of a less redoubtable animal. But it is
impossible to do justice to great man in a
couple of lines. The truth is that it is not Ga ri
baldi's head that is small but his heart that is so
large. The moral qualities in him have dwarfed
| the intellectual. Consumed through half a life
time with a burning sense of his cOuntry's
wrongs, he lost the power of discussing political
questions with calmness. He could scarcely be
blamed for failing to.see that Austria was po
litical necessity; or that even treaties which i'm
posed foreign yoke upon Italy represented in
ternational engagements of the most solemn
kind: and could not be flung into the fire at a
moments notice without imperilling higher
than national interests. His trade has been to
fight not to cTiticise-to do, not to think. 1t
was MaZZini who
'Bade the conqueror go forth,
And launched that thunderbOt of war;
on Sicily, Naples and Rome. The one thought
out the idea of united Italy; the other worked
it out
Siste riutor heroa calcas That is the mood
in which one should approach the examination
of such character as Garibaldi's: thankful that
| it is indeed a hero one has to deal with, nor
vainly regretting that he is not critic into the
bargain. II the utterances of the old warrior
have been Incorporate of late years. one must
make allowances for the effervescence Of the
spirit which carried him TO victory in 1860 Had
he then reflected. italy might still be awaiting
her saviour. They laughed at Turin when he
sailed for MARSHA. ''That poor Garibaldi." said
Victor Emanuel, as he lighted cigar, 'he'll in
fallibly get hanged, and then what a fine fun
eral We shall give him!' A few months later
Garibaldi saluted him as King of Italy. sab,
Garibaldi, how do you dO?" was his Majesty's
only reply. AS matter of fact. the easy-gong
monarch was not particularly pleased at the adj
dtiOn to his responsibilities. The Incidence
and apathy of those whom he shed his blood to
raise to hOnor-these Garibaldi has ALWAYS
found the most troublesome obstacles in his
path No wonder he hates Opportunism and
Moderation. Too often he heard them prated
OF while POeriO and Carafa languished in the
dungeons Of BOmba.
The zeal of humanity has eaten him up: and
let it always be remembered to his praise that
the liberatOr of Italy is man before all things
He Is friend OF every country and his own.
Let nation be in trouble and Garibaldi will
come to the rescue. 1t matters not that the
nations trouble is of its own making He will
even forgive that nation the wrong it may have
done to Italy. How bitterly Garibaldi felt the
annexation OF Nice to France he showed in
other ways than by the issue of flaming procla-
nations. friend of mine was once in CONVEX
satiOn with him, when the General took out his
cigaT-case. As he rendered the contents, ''they
are all, he said, 'thatis left me of my country
for they were of Nizzan manufacture, Yet
when France lay well-nigh PROSTATE after Sc
advantage should be taken of the situation to
strike blow for the recovery of Nice and Sa-
vOy. He did more; receiving small thanks from
Generals who would have preferred the ruin of
their country to its deliverance by foreigner.
The story of the cigar would be incomplete,
If l omitted to mention one little circumstance.
Italians who do not gamble are among the
thriftiest of mOrtals, and NiZzans are pre- emil
nently Italian in this respect. His friend having
helped himself Garibaldi broke cigar care
fyVn -ha fo fhn
lighted the other. poor man. he considered
that the strictest economy was due to the dig
nifty of the cause he represented; and it was a
cruel blow to his self-respect to have to apply
for pension. Not his own necessities, but his
son RicciOttis debts compelled the step. Rcci-
Otti has been described as ''the gentleman" of
the family. Certainly he is son many a father
would be proud Of-blessed with courage gen.
crosby. talent and charming manner; but
lacking the virtues (Which republicans love to
claim as their Own) of frugality and simplicity
RicciOtti lOvestO enjoy life: and has occasionally
shown that his sympathies are rather with ty-
rants who wash their hands than with patriots
who don't. How he captured the solitary Ger
man standard that fell into the hands of the
enemy during the last war is known to all; but
IT Is not 80 generally known how he added to
the grace Of his exploit by anxiously disclaiming
all the merit. He wrote to the Prussian COM
mander to tell him that the standard i'm question
could not be said to have been taken; 1T had
simply been found after the battle. buried I'M
der heap OfcOrpses. Nevertheless admired by
friend and fOe the young paadin does not stand
so high in his fathers favor as the less brilliant
but steadier MeAOtti, who never owed twenty
lire to anybody.
The mention Of the FrancO-G German war sug-
gests the Often-mOOted question as to the mill
tary capacities of Garibaldi. His enemies are
fond OF calling him a chief of guerllas' Well,
so were Hereward, and Wallace. and HOfer men
whose fame shines with purer light than that
OF Luxembourg or SAKE. 1t is incontestable that,
in command of volunteers, Garibald has put
regulars to flight; and that he has never been
beaten in the field save when the odds were
overwhelmingly against him.
The worst fault urged against him in the cam
paign of 1S70-'1 was his treatment of the clergy
and the religious. Frankly one must own that
he was much to blame; and it is to be lamented
that his hostility to what is virtually the only |
form Of faith recognized in Southern Europe has
incre ased instead of abating with the growth of
years. On the other hand, Garibaldi has what |
too many of his felOw-wOrkers lack-a sincere !
belief of his own. God and the immortality of
the soul are to him realities. which is more |
than one can say Of a good many protesting |
Christians. To a fneethinker who asked his ad- |
vice on delicate point. ''BaptiZe your children
by all MEANS" he replied, ''but baptize them
yourself. You don't want priest to do it for
you"
Giuseppe Garibaldi is now in the seventy
fifth year of the most eventful life led by any
man in the present century He has been every
where, done everything, experienced nearly
every sensation but that of being hanged, He
was condemned to death at the early age of
twenty-seven for plotting against Charles Albert,
but had the good fortune to be out of his native
country at the time. He has been soldier,
sailor sOap-bOiler. talOw-chandler farmer, en-
gineer. Spectator. politician and dictator and
in every calling has shown himself man of in
dOmtable pluck, whom even his own blunders
could not dishearten.
A Seng.
From the Boston Transcript
Dear heart. do you remember