Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-02-01
How GarIbaIdI Wooed Anita


ions, especially Carniglia and Mutru,
weighed him down with a profound
sadness. He felt alone upon the
earth, and was conscious Of an inn
mense void in his heart; life seemed
insupportable. 1t was then that for
the first time the idea of matrimony
flashed across his mind. Up to that
date the conjugal state seemed so ill,
adapted to his wandering and adj
venturous life that he had regarded it
as an impossible event. But after the
shipwreek the current of his thoughts
changed. He felt the need Of supply
ing, in some way, the fast friends; to
find faithful and loving soul to share
with him the battles of life, to render
less hard the solitude Of his exile
He had Rossetti, it is true, whom he
loved like a brother; but the duties Of
his Office obliged Rossetti to live at a
distance, and rare We're the occasions
when he could see him. Besides, the
friendship OF man, however strong,
did not any longer satisfy him. 1t was
a woman's heart that he needed,
a woman entirely and indissolubly
his; and when he found the right
ono he took her. One evening he
stood on the deck, occupied with these
thoughts, looking upon theshore, when
he saw on mole a group of women
and girls. At first their forms passed
unnoticed before him, but by degrees
his eye, and perhaps his heart, fixed
upon one, and he stopped to contem-
plate her. She was young woman
in the bloom Of health and strength,
gifted with sort Of irregular mascu-
line beauty. She was the ideal woman
that GaTibaldi was in search of. Be
fore be had spoken to her or heard her
speak, by some invisible and magic
spark which kindles love, the Mizgardo
loved her. She also had remarked the
blonde, leonine head Of the foreign
sailor who watched her day after day.
She felt the facination of that glance,
the touch Of the magic spark, and
secretly gave her heart to him who
offered his.
One evening Garibaldi resolved te
delay no longer, and went to the girls
home. His heart beat violently, but
held a firm resolution. At the door he
met man, who, perhaps, knowing
something Of the gallant italian, OF in
obedience to custom Of the country,
invited him to take a cup of coffee.
Garibaldi said be would have entered
even without an invitation, but it rem
dered his design more easy. He took
an opportunity of whispering to the
object Of his devotion, sMaiden, viii
you be mine?" to which she replied
only look, which contained the prom
Use of unutterable love. Some even
ings after he returned and carried her
off, put her on board the safe refuge Of |
his Rio Pardo, under the formidable
protection of his cannon and his sail
ors, and swore before heaven to make
her his wife. They were legally married |
at Montevideo soon after. She was
called Anita Riberas, and was anative of
Merinos, in that district Of Laguna.
The man that Garlbaldi met at the
door was her father, and those that |
said it was her husband erred.
Anita, however, was promised by her
father to aman she did not love; but
she was not married, as has been be-
lieYed. Yielding to her love she tore
her fathers heart, but did not break |
faith with any other man. "If there |
was guilt" exclaimed Garibaldi, ''it |
was all mine. If an innocent person
has suffered, only have to answer for
it, and have answered. She is dead,
and her father is avenged. There at
the mouth Of the Eridano, the day on
which hoped to fight death for her
as 1 pressed convulsively her pulse to
count its last throbs, as 1 received
upon my lips her parting sigh and held
a corpse in my arms-on that day i /
recognized the greatness of my fault"
From "Gariba1di" 5y Giuseppe Gster-
zoni.