It cannot be pretended that the army of Garibaldi was, in any degree, a
national representation. No nation or community can be fairly represented
by a number of its people, insignificantly small, unless, indeed, these
few individuals hold commission from their fellow-countrymen. We have not
read anywhere that the Garibaldian army was thus honored. Social status,
character and respectability, may, on occasions, give to individuals the
privilege of representing their country. But on these grounds the motley
troop of the revolutionary leader possessed no claim. They were men for
whom peace and order have no charms. The powerful corrective of military
discipline was applied to them in vain. Their insubordination was
notorious. To Garibaldi even it was intolerable. And this man, daring as
he was, withdrew from the command in disgust. He had scarcely retired when
many of his men deserted. These the people refused to recognize, and would
not afford them assistance on their journey. Some fifty of them arrived at
Placentia, after having been reduced to mendicancy before they could reach
their homes. The revolutionary governor, Doctor Fanti, issued an order of
the day, requiring that these men, on account of their insubordination and
bad conduct, should not be admitted anew into the army of the League. The
general-in-chief also published an order, under date of 26th November,
1859, absolutely forbidding to accept any person who had belonged to
Garibaldi’s force. An army so composed could, by no means, claim to
represent the highly refined, intellectual, and moral populations of
Italy. Far less did it afford any proof that the people of the Papal
States were anxious to forward the work of the revolution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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