Cavour, in fact, did obtain something; much more than the army
authorities wished to give, but much less than Garibaldi asked or than
the Count would doubtless have given had not his hands been tied. And,
doubtless, he would have given it with more grace.
As it was, the volunteers were deeply offended and sent their griefs
by every post to Caprera. Garibaldi, who refused every favour and
honour for himself, was worked up into a state of fury by what he
deemed the wrongs of his faithful followers, and in April he arrived
unexpectedly at Turin to plead their cause before the Chamber of
Deputies. Perhaps by a wise presentiment he had refused to stand for
any constituency; but when Naples elected him her representative,
almost without opposition, he submitted to the popular will. At Turin
he fell ill with rheumatic fever, but on the day of the debate on the
Southern Army he rose from his bed to take his seat in the Chamber.
The case for the volunteers was opened, and this is worthy of note, by
Baron Ricasoli, aristocrat and conservative. Afterwards Garibaldi got
up--at first he tried to make out the statistics and particulars which
he had on paper, but blinded by passion and by fever, he threw down
his notes and launched into a fierce invective against 'the man who
had made him a foreigner in his own birthplace and the government
which was driving the country straight into civil war.' At the words
'civil war' Cavour sprang to his feet, unwontedly moved, and uttered
some expressions of protest, which were lost in the general uproar.
When this was quieted, Garibaldi finished his speech in a moderate
tone, and then General Bixio rose to make that noble appeal to concord
which, had he done nothing else for Italy, should be a lasting title
to her gratitude. 'I am one of those,' he said, 'who believe in the
sacredness of the thoughts which have guided General Garibaldi, but
I am also one of those who have faith in the patriotism of Count
Cavour. In God's holy name let us make an Italy superior to the
strife of parties.' He might not be making a parliamentary speech,
he added, but he would give his children and his life to see peace
established--words flowing so plainly from his honest heart that
savage indeed would have been the enmity which, for the time, at
least, was not quelled. Cavour grasped the olive branch at once; all
his momentary ire vanished. He made excuses for his adversary; from
the grief which he had felt himself when he advised the King to cede
Savoy and Nice, he could understand the general's resentment. He had
always been, he said in general terms, a friend to the volunteers.
What he did not even remotely suggest was the dissension which existed
between himself and his military colleague on the subject of the
Garibaldians. The least hint would have gained for Cavour any amount
of applause and popularity; but he preferred to bear all the blame
rather than bring the national army into disfavour. Garibaldi replied
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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