LU'.I 01'
G.A..IB.U.DI.
placing himself and his companions at the disposal of government, he
request.ed immediate and active employment in the war.The coldness
with wlilich he was treated must have cruelly disappointed him. De
clining the responsibility of deciding on such a subject, the ministers
referred him to the king. Charles Albert received him courteously,
spoke in very fiattering terms of his achievements in South America, but
gave him no positive reply to the subject that had led him t.o the camp.
To all his ardent solicit.ations, the king at .first answered vaguely and
hesit.atilllgly; and, at last, when pressed for an immediate reply, referred
him bac:k again t.o his minist.ers at Turin.
Poor Garibaldi! it was hardly worth while t.o display in Uruguay such
impatience to fight the Austrians, and see his servioes postponed by a
nuncio :11.nd rejected by a king I The GuerUlero's haughty nature chafed
at being thus bandied about like a suppliant. The sword which seemed
so littlE: appreciated, he resolved t.o offer t.o Mi!an, wh.ere it must be
gladly Charles Albert eventually repented his conduct, and
justly 110; for the refusal of Garibaldi's aid was certainly one of the
gravest faults that king committed. One of the first Austrian generals
addresa,ed the following cutting reproach t.o Piedmont :-" The man, who,
of all others, would have best served your ca1ae, you were not clever
enough t.o enlist." That man was Garibaldi. Fortunately for Italy.
Vict.or Emanuel was better inspired than Charles Albert.
The fitvour with which theGuerillero was greeted bythe Milanese, caused
him to forget all past mortifications. The Committee of Public Defence
immediiltcly granted him the authority t.o levy volunteers t.o protect the
. Bergamaaque ; and, attracted by the inlluence of his name, 3,000 men
were soon enrolled beneath his banner. No one will be surprised at this
reault, when he learns that Garibaldi's popularity was ao great, that,
while fighting far away for a cause which did not affect his own country,
Florence had voted a sword of honour to the valiant champion of the
independence and liberty of the peoples. All the Italians oontributed t.o
this testimony of admiration and sympathy, and a Florentine artist
made the blade, tempering it in the tear• of tAe alaou. Garibaldi had
been given but a short time t.o exccut.e his mission, when he was recalled
general, had awaited the arrival or Creah troops, " 'hich enabled them to
surpriaet the Piedmontcae at vo.rioua points and force them to retreat.
Now, in a position t.o act, they seriously menaced the capital of Lom
bardy. Disputing every inch of ground, the Piedmontese army, har
raaaed, uuffering from hunger and deapondeucy, fell back on Milan, where
LJ,
1 zedbyGooglc
