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    impetus of enthusiasm . And the people were ready to rise , the people desired to rise , many thousands among them did rise . But how were they received ? All volunteers were treated with disdain , nay , with cruelty . To be a volunteer was to be a possible traitor—to what ? to Italy ? no , to the royalists . Garibaldi ' s sword was rejected ; Cialdini who , at Mazzini ' s request , came from Spain , was coldly dismissed . He went to Venice and was wounded in the ranks .

    The Moderates would persist in saving Italy by the royal arms ; and saving Italy meant erecting the phantom kingdom of the north . There was no heartiness in Charles Albert , no heartiness in his officials , no heartiness in the leaders of the Moderates . And the consequences which ensued from this moderate policy , were perfectly natural , and inexorably just . Radetski was in earnest ! Was Charles Albert ? Mazzini has drawn a portrait of the man ; he generously abstains from attacking the character of the king—of the king , be it remembered , who once condemned him to death : — -

    ? ' I speak not of the King ; whatever his adulators and the political hypocrites , who are now making the posthumous enthusiasm for Charles Albert an arm of opposition against his successor—may attempt to say , however sincere the people of the kingdom of Piedmont may be in their illusion , that the idea of the war of independence is symbolized in that name ; the judgment of posterity will weigh heavily upon the man of 1821 , of 1833 —of the capitulation of Milan . The nature , the temperament of the individual was such as to exclude all hope of enterprize , on his part , for the Unity of Italy .

    Genius , love , and faith were wanting in Charles Albert . Of the first , which reveals itself by a life entirely , logically , and resolutely devoted to a great idea , the career of Charles Albert does not offer the least trace ; the second was stifled in him by the continual mistrust of men and things , which was awakened by the remembrance of an unhappy past ; the last was denied him by his uncertain character , wavering always between good and evil , between to do and not to do , between daring and not daring . In his youth , a thought , not of virtue , but of Italian ambition—the ambition , however , which

    may be profitable to nations—had passed through his soul like lightning ; but he recoiled in affright , and the remembrance of this one brilliant moment of his youth presented itself hourly to him , and tortured him like the incessant throbbing of an old wound , instead of acting upon him as an excitement to a new life . Between the risk of losing , if he failed , the crown of his little kingdom , and the fear of the liberty which the people , after having fought for him , would claim for themselves , he went hesitating on , with this spectre before his eyes , stumbling at every step , without energy to confront these dangers , without the will or power to comprehend

    that to become Xing of Italy lie must first of all forgot that he was King of Piedmont . Despotic from rooted instinct , liberal from self-love and from a presentiment of the future , he submitted alternately to the government of Jesuits and to that of men of progress . A fatal disunion between thought and action , between conception and the facility of execution , showed itself in every act . Most of those who endeavoured to place him at the head of the enterprize were forced toasiree to this view of his character . Some of those intimate with him went so far as to whisper that he was threatened with lunacy , lie was the Hamlet of Monarchy . "

    But the blame docs not wholly rest on Charles Albert . The Provisional Government of Milan , thinking only of their miserable aristocratic interests , when the fate of Italy was at stake , and soliciting his aid , in preference to an appeal to the people , were far more to blame than ho . They , Austrian officials , in part , dominated by old habits and constitutional timidity , had no faith in the Italian cause ; and , as Mazzini truly observes , they substituted " a miserable project of political egotism for the grand national idea . " The difference is immense . They did not keep faith

    with the Republican party , as the latter strictly , generously kept faith with them . Instead of adjourning the political question until after the victory , they caused the fusion to be voted in the most unfair manner ; and on the 13 th of June the act which annexed , on paper ¦ , Lombardy with Piedmont was solemnly presented to the King in his camp . Had the Republicans been the anarchists described by the Austrian , French , and English absolutists , they

    would have overturned the Provisional Government which had violated its pact with the people . The ltepublicans , faithi'ul to their promises , abstained from all opposition . They simply protested ; and , preserving their honour , Mazzini published in the programme of the Italia del Popolo , a few days after the decree of the 12 th of May , a declaration , that " their first thought should be war ; their second , the unity of the country ; their last , the form of the institution which would assure its liberty and its

    mission . " Even the British envoys , even the correspondent of the Times in the camp of Charles Albert testified to the good faith of the Kepublicans and the bad

    faith of the Moderates . He told us , in his letter of May 14 th , 18-18 , that the " train was well laid , " that Charles Albert was made to appear " quite disinterested" in the proceedings ; that before the world it was *• the Lombards who sought annexation , " but that in reality it was the King . Thus the war of independence , from the moment when Charles Albert crossed the Ticino , became a dynastic war—a war of conquests , of aggression , and as such it was legitimately treated by the diplomatists . Charles Albert pretended to respect , while he violated , the treaties of 1815 . To have succeeded he should have trampled on those treaties , called the people to his standard , and made war on the Austrians without any other aim than their expulsion . But this was too much to expect from a King ; and it was an expectation which no one but a Moderate could have entertained . We pass over the details of the royal war . We have seen that its motive power was fear ; its

    guiding principle , hesitation ; and its crowning results , defeat . The whole campaign may be characterized in one sentence . The advance of a brave and excited army , backed by an enthusiastic population , and then the disgraceful retreat of the same army , demoralized by inaction and the cold scepticism of its chiefs , through a betrayed and abandoned population . It was then only that the Republican banner was unfurled . But let Mazzini tell the story of those desolating days : —

    " On the night of the 3 rd of August , Fantl and Restelli went to Lodi to ask Charles Albert what his intentions were . They did not see him , but they had from General Bava the declaration * that the King would inarch to the defence of Milan . ' I met Fanti on his return , and I foresaw ruin . He must remember now ' that I conjured him to prepare plans of defence , ' as if the Piedmontese army were coming only to go away again ;' but he , above all a soldier in ideas , as ulterior facts have but too well proved , fascinated by the expectation of the 40 , 000 soldiers who were to arrive , smiled at my scepticism .

    never stop , nor leave the column . It happened even that seeing one of our youngest volunteers clothed merely in , linen , and who , consequently , had no protection against the rain and the sudden cold , he forced him to accept and wear his own cloak . " Arrived at Monza , we learned the fatal news of the capitulation of Milan , and heard that a numerous body of Austrian cavalry had been sent against us , and was already at the other side , at the gates of Monza . " Garibaldi , very inferior in forces , not wishing to expose his small body to a complete and useless destruction , gave orders to fall back upon Como ; and placed me with , my column as rear-guard , in order to cover the retreat .

    " For youthful volunteers , whose greatest wish was to fight , the order to retreat was a signal of discouragement , and in the first moments was accompanied with some disorder . Happily , this did not occur in my rearguard . From Monza to Como , my column , always pursued by the enemy , menaced with destruction at every moment by a very superior force , never wavered , remained compact and united , showing itself always ready to repulse all attack , and kept the enemy in check to the last .

    "In this march , full of danger and difficulty , the strength of soul , intrepidity and decision which Mazzini possesses in such a high degree , never failed , and were the admiration of the bravest among us . His presence , his words , the example of his courage animated our young soldiers , who were besides proud of partaking such dangers with him ; and all decided , Mazzini amongst the first , in case of an engagement , to perish to the last man for the defence of a faith of which he had been the apostle , and for which he was ready to become the martyr . This resolute determination contributed much to maintain the order and the firm attitude which saved the rest of the division . "

    That banner , six months later , floated from the Capitol . That banner , as yet , has not been disgraced ; we cannot say so much for the tricolor which usurped its place . The infamous siege of Home , by a French army , is yet fresh in the memory of us all ; but not so the refutation , which this volume affords , of the calumnies emanating from the French and Austrian Embassies , " our foreign Correspondent , " and other sources , which were poured through the English press at the time , and which have not yet ceased to flow . We place a few facts side by side . The French proclamation declared that Rome was ruled and defended

    *'• On the 3 rd appeared General Olivieri , furnished with a royal decree , which named him Military Commissary , with " the Marquis Montezemolo and the Marquis Strigelli . They camp , and in virtue of the fusion , assumed to themselves all executive power . I saw the three ; I heard their words to thn multitude assembled under the windows of the palace ; I saw Fanti again , I ran through the streets of Milan , I studied men ' s facrs and words , and I despaired . The people believed themselves saved , they were then irrevocably lost . I left the city—God alone knows with , what grief ; and I joined Garibaldi ' s column at Bergamo .

    by foreigners . Let us see . There were only seven men in the Constituent Assembly not Romans , but they were Italians . The employe ' s , metropolitan and provincial , were " all Romans . " Only ' * two superior officers were not born Romans . " Signior Mazzini asks : — " Where , then , were the foreigners ? Garibaldi and his legion , 800 men ; Arcioni and his legion , 300 men ; Manara , dead for liberty , and his Lombard Riflemen , 500 men ; 200 Poles ; the foreign legion , 100 men ; the handful of brave men who defended the Vascello under Medici . Altogether 2000 men ; but not really so many ,

    " The next day Charles Albprt entered , he brought with him the capitulation , and yet promised to defend the city , and ordered all buildings which could serve the enemy to be burnt ; how , after having on the 4 th taken the oath for himself , his sons , and his soldiers , before a deputation of the National Guard , yet on the 5 th , while the people were thrilling with eagerness for thf battle , he and his declared that the capitulation of Milan was an accomplished fact ; how , at this news , a transport , of fury seized upon the population , and

    mebecause Arcioni ' s legion contained , at least , one-third of Romagnoli , because the little knot of cavalry which formed part of Garibaldi ' s legion , and which was commanded by Masina of Bologna—dead on the field—were almost all Roman citizens , and because half even of the foot soldiers of Garibaldi belonged to the country . The number of foreigners' who assisted in the defence of Rome was from 1400 to 1500 men ; from 1400 to 1500 men amongst a total of 14 , 000 ; for it is well that Italy should know that 14 , 000 men , a young army without traditions , and improvised under the very fire of the enemy , held in check , for two months , 30 , 000 soldiers of

    nuccs were addressed to the King ; what scenes occurred at the Greppi Palace , where new verbal and written promises were made by Charles Albert , that he , moved by the people ' s unanimous wish , would fight to the deathwith his secret and cowardly flight immediately ensuing ; all these facts , with details which will render the monarchy for ever infamous , may be found recounted in the narrative of the Committee of Defence , and in that terrible chanter of Cattaneo , entitled ' La Consegna . '"

    How Mazzini joined the legion of Garibaldi at Monza is be-t told in the words of Giacomo Medici , one of the best and bravest of the Italian patriots , who hastened from Monte Video to Italy at the first news of the movement , nnd who , eleven months after the fall of Milan , so obstinately defended the Vascello at Home : — " On the mnrninff of the 3 rd of August , 1818 ,

    Gari-France . You knew all this , gentlemen , or you could have known it , and therefore you ought to have done so ; and , nevertheless , you shamelessly gave out to the Assembly the number of ' foreigners' as 20 , 000 , as a proof that , after all , it was not a Roman idea that you had endeavoured to stifle in blood : and upon this cipher of your own invention depends the greater part of your argument . Foreigners ! I entreat pardon of my countrymen for having inscribed the word , after you , upon my page . What ! Lombards , Tuscans , Italians , foreigners at Rome

    And it is by you , Frenchmen , by you—who , in reestablishing the Pontifical throne , have been supported by Austrians and Spaniards—that this reproach is made ! A year ago our provinces sent e"lite of their youth to fight upon the plains of Lombardy , as to a convention of honour ; but I do not remember that Radetzky ever called them in his proclamations , foreigners . The absolute denial of Italian nationality has been reserved for the nephew of him who , at St . Helena , uttered these words — ' Unity of manners , of language , of literature show that Italy is destined to form a single country . ' "

    baldi , with his division , was just about to quit Bergamo , in order , by forced marches , to reach Monza , when we saw appear amongst us , carabine on shoulder , Mazzini , asking to join our ranks as a simple soldier of the legion I commanded , which was to form the vanguard of the division of Gsiribalui . A general acclamation saluted the great Italian , and the legion unanimously confided its b timer , which bore the device , ' God and the People , ' to his charge . ' As soon nsMajsziiii ' s arrival was known at Bergamo ,

    flic population ran to see him . y pressed arounu him , they begged him to speak . All those who heard him must remember his discourse , lie recommended raising barricades to defend the town in case of attack , whilst we should march upon Milan ; and he conjured them , whatever might arrive , to love Italy always , and never to despair of her redemption . His words were rcce . iv < d with enthusiasm , and the column left amid murks u ( ihe deepest sympathy . " The march wus very fatiguing—rain fell in torrents , wo were drenched to the skin , Although accustomed to a liTe of study , and little adapted to the violent exorcise of forced marches , hi * constancy and serenity never forsook him for an instant , and , notwithstanding our counsels , for we feared fur his physical strength , he would

    The accusation of violence , of a reign of terror , nnd of revolutionary excess , is as easily disposed of . Compare the two following extracts—tho first , asserting what the Roman Government did not do ; and the second , what the French commander did do . The extracts are from the " Letter to MM . de Tocquevillc and De Falloux : "" During nearly five months of Republican Government can you , gentlemen , point out a single condemnation to death for a political offence ? A single exile founded upon political suspicions ? A single exceptional tribunal instituted in Rome to judge political offences ? A single newspaper suspended by order of the Government ? A single decree directed to restrain the liberty

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    Nov . 9 , 1850 . ] &f ) £ $ LeaiieV + 785

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 9, 1850, page 785, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1858/page/17/