ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH ITALY. S
embraced représentatives of ail the States of Italy except Naples. The king marched southwards to take possession of that kingdom, and before starting he issued a proclamation To the People of South Italy, which was a résumé oi the history of his reign from the day of Novara to the présent time, with an explanation of his policy and the motives which had guided him. As it is a lengthy address, and deals with facts already recorded here, it is not necessary to transcribe it. We give the concluding paragraph : —
People of South Italy, — My troops advance amorig you to maintain order ; I do not corne to impose my will upon you, but to see that yours is respected. You will be able to manifest it freely. That Providence which protects just causes will guide the vote which you will place upon the urn. Whatever be the gravity of the events which may arise, I await tranquilly the judgment of civilised Europe and of history, because I hâve the consciousness of having fulfilled my duty as king and as an Italian. In Europe my policy perhaps will not be without effect in helping to reconcile the progress of the people with the stability of the monarchy. In Italy I know that I close the era of révolutions.
Victor Emmanuel.
Given in Ancona, October 9, 1860.
As a proof that some of the priests were national in thcir sympathies, it is recorded that on October 15, before the plébiscite, in a church in the Abruzzi, there was
a solemn service held for the salvation of ‘ our kîng Victor Emmanuel,’ in which many ecclesiastics took part. The people of the Abruzzi were passionately desirous of annexation, and pétitions with thousands of signatures were sent to Ancona, begging an immédiate plébiscite. The king was pleased with this, for he said it would show the powers that he had good reason for passing the Tronto. ‘ Italy must be made by us, or it runs the risk of being unmade for ever,’ he said to Dr. Tommasi, a Neapolitan who took an active part in the révolution. ‘ Garibaldi is a hero, but he does not know how to combat the difficulties of the situation. We alone * can meet them.’
The king journeyed southward with two Neapolitan gentlemen attached to his staff, Dr. Tommasi and Signor Devincenzi, that they might supply him with useful information about the state of the country. A députation of distinguished Neapolitans met him as soon as he crossed the frontier, begging of him to hasten to the capital, as his presence was much needed to calm the agitation and uneasiness of the inhabitants. He made the whole tour of the country on horseback, starting at daybreak every morning after partaking of a cup of coffee and a roll, and never halting till late in • the evening when he dined at some country house or inn. After dinner he occupied himself in reading and replying to the numerous letters and telegrams which followed him — mostly from Count Cavour — and rarely retired to rest before two o’clock ; but he was always ready again at dawn for the day’s journey. At the
THE NEAPOLITAN CHARACTER.
close of one such day when the king and his followers had ridden through a heavy rain for many hours, Dr. Tommasi, not being acquainted with his new sovereign’s habits, remarked that his majesty must be fatigued. ‘ I,’ said Victor with a frown, ‘ I am never tired.’
During this joumey the king talked freely to his new subjects, and showed much intelligent curiosity about the kingdom of Naples. He was astonished at the want of proper roads through the country, and he could hardly believe some things that he was told about the scarcity of schools and teachers.
‘ I cannot understand,’ said the citizen-king, ‘ how even a despotic sovereign should wish to abase the civil condition of his own State. But where the light of liberty does not illuminate a government it is blind.’ He talked a great deal about the political prisoners, particularly Poerio, and asked Devincenzi to tell him ail about him. Ferdinand had offered him (Poerio) liberty, if he would ask pardon, and the prisoner^replied, ‘Not I, but the king, ought to ask pardon. He has destroyed the constitution he had sworn to defend, he has oppressed his fellow-citizens. I will never bow to what I think wrong.’
‘ Bravo, bravo ! ’ cried Victor, enthusiastically, ‘ those are the sort of men that I like.’ Then after discussing the Neapolitan character he said, ‘ It seems to me that among you there is no medium ; you are either very good or very bad, either a Poerio or ’
He did not finish the sentence, but it is easy to supply the ellipsis by the next question : —
‘ Hâve you ever known Ferdinand II. ? ’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘ And was he the monster that so many say ? ’
Devincenzi replied by narrating some facts about the late king.
‘ Perhaps,’ suggested Victor Emmanuel, ‘ he was under the influence of the Jesuits, and that want of spirit was the cause of some of his errors. You must know that it took ail my strength to resist them, and without a character of iron I could not hâve succeeded. But what a struggle I had.’
The conversation one day tumed upon England, where Signor Devincenzi had lived ; and Victor showed himself very anxious to know how he was regarded in that country.
Sir James Hudson often assured him of the good-will of his compatriots. ‘ But,’ said the king, ‘ he is attached to our cause, and his opinion may be biassed by friendship.’
When Signor Devincenzi told him that it was true that he was really much esteemed by the English people, he replied, —
‘ I am very glad. I hâve a great respect for the English nation, and I desire that my Italians may deserve the réputation the English enjoy.’
It came quite natural to Victor to call them ‘ my Italians ; ’ he had long regarded them as his ; for, as Signor Massari had said, ‘ Before the victories and the plébiscites had given him the crown of Italy, he was our king, he reigned in our hearts ; ’ and now he
MEETING OF VICTOR AND GARIBALDI. 6l
felt he was in truth no longer the Sardic, but the Italîan king.
One bright morning as the king, at the head of his troops, and surrounded by his générais, set out for the day’s ride, he saw another body of horsemen approaching, which proved to be the Red Shirts, with their gallant chief in the midst, corne to lay down the dictatorship at the feet of his constitutional sovereign. Garibaldi’s picturesque figure, with the grey mantle flung over the red shirt, his auburn locks blowing in the wintry breeze, was easily distinguishable by the keen eyes of Victor Emmanuel. The two leaders rode quickly forward, and when near enough to sainte, Garibaldi reined up his horse, and said in an agitated voice, ‘ King of Italy ! ’
‘I thank you,’ was the simple response of ü Rè galantuomo. They clasped hands and stood looking at each other in éloquent silence, the black eyes and the blue flashing forth mutual congratulations, while the royal troops and Garibaldians, mingling together fraternally, rent the air with joyous acclamations. Viva Vittorio, Rè d' Italia! Viva Garibaldi! Viva V Italia l were the cries echoed again and again over the country.
Alas for the instability of human friendship ! Who that had seen Victor and Garibaldi riding
hand in hand,
’Neath the blue sky of their regenerate land
on that happy day, could hâve guessed that the future held in store for them such dark ones as Aspronionte and Mentana.^
On November 7 Victor Emmanuel made a triumphal entry into Naples, amidst the wildest démonstrations of popular enthusiasm. Députations of citizens of ail classes struggled with each other to hâve the first word from the king, to give him the first welcome, and express their gratitude and affection.
‘ I hâve hastened my coming,’ said he to a friend,
‘ to save the country from a civil war.’
‘ Your majesty’s name exercises a perfect fascination on General Garibaldi,’ said Pisanelli.
‘ I know it,’ replied the king. ‘ I never for a moment doubted Garibaldi’s great soûl ; but I hâve good reason to suspect many who are about him, and who might exercise a fascination upon him even more potent than mine, because nearer.’
The king and the dictator drove through Naples in the same carriage, amid the frantic plaudits of the populace, who almost went mad with the excitement of having two such heroes to fête at the same time.
Then Garibaldi, refusing ail the honours and émoluments which his grateful sovereign wished to bestow, went his way, still a poor soldier of fortune, to his lonely Isle of Caprera.
