The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-13
Lord Baaoonsfeld's Theodore.

The will of the late Mrs. Col. Cham
| bers has stirred us once more with
memories of the old Garibaldian times,
! When the name was SO closely connected
with that of the great hero that for :,
long time the one was scarcely ever
mentioned without the other. Mrs.
Chambers may be said, indeed, to have
been the pillar of the Italian cause, far
more than Garibaldi himself-for she ii
was who, like the fair Ayesha of the
Prophet Mohammed believed in her hero
from the first, encouraged him i'll his
efforts, gloriiied him in success, con
soled him in defeat, and, more than all,
supplied him with the nerve and SineWs
of war on which he entered. 1t was
Mrs. Chambers who furnished the Eng
lish gold, without which Italian courage
would have been wasted in hopeless
struggle. This fact so impressed itself
upon the minds of Garibaldi followers
that the good lady was known among
them as the ''Padrona" Lord Bea-
consfield has introduced her in the very
habit as she lived in his novel of 10
THAR, where, under the name of Theo-
dora, she occupies a conspicuous place
For many years her house was the cen
ter of a widely-eXtended system of hos
pita1ity-and here ware the refugees of
all nations received with the most gen
erouS welcome. Theodore had a soul
too lofty for distinctions. 1t scared
above them all, and many are the anec
dotes-some of them ludicrous enough,
while others are pathetic-of her
undetermined trust and confidence in
those who, driven from their country,
sought her aid and protection in their
exile, Her charity and forbearance to
the unhappy visitors of disturbed politics
were boundless as the sea. A curious
story is told of this indiscriminate re
ception of exiled patriots After a
LUNCHEON given to one or two of the fur
rim legin, as the servants were wont to
call the crowd of hungry visitors who
swarmed in one continual stream to the
lady's house at Putney. silver spoon
was missing; and the butler, in high
wrath, came to inform his mistress of
the fact, with tie assurance that his in
stinct had told him who was the thief.
By his description Theodore guessed at
once the truth But, while the butler
stormed and raved, imploring the lady
to have the rascal brought to Justice,
she calmly sat down at her writing-desk
and wrote to the young man, merely
saying that "she felt so strongly for the
distress which had compelled him to take
u silver spoon from her table that if he
would send the pawnbroker' duplicate
she would see to the recovery of the ar
ticle, which, being one of set, she
would be sorry To lose" The youth did
as he was bid. He brought the ticket
and with tears and repentance threw
himself at Theodore S feet in n passion
ate burst of Italian grief But instead
of the reproaches for which he was pre-
pared, he was met with the most kind
and soothing words, and nothing more
was ever limited at concerning it, the
only token of its remembrance in the
household being the scrupulous care
with which the old butler always re-
moved the young mans spoon out of
reach as soon as he had finished the
soup.
Theodore had espoused the cause of
Italian freedom with an enthusiasm
bordering on frenzy, and was most gal
lantly seconded by her husband in her
endeavors. She was reported in the
Italian papers as not being in any one
feature like an English woman (Which
is the highest praise that can be award
ed to woman on the Continent). 1t is
certain that, with her dark, flashing
ewes and Jet black hair, she was as I'M
like as possible to the ordinary British
matron. She was far from handsome
in countenance, but there was certain
wildness in her expression
which never failed to elicit from Strano-
ers the question of who is she?" Her
dark hair was parted over the forehead
and tucked behind her ears, and fell in
two thick curls down her neck. in the
fashion of Sir Joshua's latest pictures.
Her dress was always of the simplest
though made of rich materials.
In short. it was impossible for those who
had once beheld Theodore ever to forget
her London Letter.