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23 - Garibaldi and the Making of Italy by George Macaulay Trevelyan · Garibaldi and the Making of Italy

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  Speaker 1: Appendix D of Garibaldi and the Making of Italy by
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  Speaker 1: George Macaulay Trevellion. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: The state of Sicily under the dictator and his pro
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  Speaker 1: dictators this is an obscure subject, and I am not
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  Speaker 1: aware of any work of careful historical research dealing with it.
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  Speaker 1: The noise that was made about the outbreak of social
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  Speaker 1: war at Bronti shows that these disturbances were local and exceptional.
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  Speaker 1: They were very promptly suppressed by Bixio. The history of
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  Speaker 1: the march of Eber's Column through the heart of Sicily
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  Speaker 1: from June twentieth to July fifteenth, recorded in great detail
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  Speaker 1: in the Times Morning Post, Adamoli, Tours, Division Abbot and elsewhere,
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  Speaker 1: shows on the whole a peaceable state of society in
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  Speaker 1: the villages, considering that they were in process of revolution.
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  Speaker 1: Some banditi complained of by the villagers were arrested by
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  Speaker 1: the Garibaldini. But from Amari's letter of August third, quoted below,
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  Speaker 1: one would gather that the country grew more disturbed near
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  Speaker 1: Palermo at the beginning of August. The Farina himself admits that,
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  Speaker 1: in spite of the disorder, the taxes and duties are paid,
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  Speaker 1: but he is no doubt right in complaining that there
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  Speaker 1: was still considerable disorder and delay in the work of
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  Speaker 1: the magistracy, police and judicature of the island within a
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  Speaker 1: month of the taking of Palermo. It will be well
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  Speaker 1: to record the impressions of several impartial and well informed persons. One,
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  Speaker 1: the British consul Goodwin, who had been many years in
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  Speaker 1: the island and was perhaps the man most generally trusted there,
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  Speaker 1: reported to his government that peace and order in Palermo
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  Speaker 1: as early as June eleventh were far better than the
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  Speaker 1: state of things after the revolution of eighteen forty eight,
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  Speaker 1: which he had witnessed. In no subsequent passage in his
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  Speaker 1: political journal or official correspondence for the year does he
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  Speaker 1: complain of a lapse towards anarchy, either in Palermo or
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  Speaker 1: in the island. Two. Mikla Amari, a most impartial observer,
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  Speaker 1: a moderate Kovorian who was in his native island from
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of July onwards, writes on July third, in Palermo,
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  Speaker 1: nothing is heard of the thefts, homicides and other violent
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  Speaker 1: acts of eighteen forty eight. I can affirm this. They
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  Speaker 1: have until a few days ago, continued to kill some
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  Speaker 1: of the ex police agents. But the case is exceptional.
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  Speaker 1: It is bad, certainly, but does not prove anarchy. On
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  Speaker 1: July sixth, he writes, if I am not mistaken, the
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  Speaker 1: condition of the country is far from anarchy, as some
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  Speaker 1: cry out, seeing there is neither the order of quiet
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  Speaker 1: times nor authority in the proper hands. In Palermo, though
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  Speaker 1: the week before I came one of Manniskalko's ex police
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  Speaker 1: agents was killed. There is complete security of person and property.
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  Speaker 1: Business is conducted as usual. People frequent the streets until
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  Speaker 1: late at night. Up country, there are perhaps local parties
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  Speaker 1: with their quarrels and revenges, but I have not heard
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  Speaker 1: recently of any spilling of blood, and I hope that
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  Speaker 1: gradual order will recover its natural balance. A month later,
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  Speaker 1: on August third, he writes, less hopefully, of every sort
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  Speaker 1: of disorder in the provinces. Though in Palermo there is
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  Speaker 1: security and tranquility as in the time of peace. In
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  Speaker 1: the provinces, the stupid local parties tear each other to pieces,
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  Speaker 1: ambitious of power, vain and greedy. In some places they
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  Speaker 1: come to blows, and the robbers let out from the prisons,
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  Speaker 1: feast and riot in the countryside, particularly in the district
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  Speaker 1: of Palermo. There is ample provision under the laws, but
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  Speaker 1: who enforces them. The governors of the districts and provinces
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  Speaker 1: have done badly. With the few exceptions, the National Guard,
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  Speaker 1: through fold of the governors or owing to municipal corals,
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  Speaker 1: is powerless to combat the robberies and acts of violence.
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  Speaker 1: He very wisely says that nothing but a strong force
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  Speaker 1: of giordarmes from the north, neither Sicilian nor Neapolitan, can
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  Speaker 1: enforce order in the island. This was one of the
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  Speaker 1: strongest arguments for an early annexation three twur Though he
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  Speaker 1: served Garibaldi well, was almost as much of Cavour's as
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  Speaker 1: of Garibaldi's party, and was bitterly attacked by Bertani's friends.
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  Speaker 1: But in July he wrote to the papers to protest
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  Speaker 1: against Lafarina's interference in Sicily. Loaforina Tour wrote, depicts Sicily
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  Speaker 1: in prey to anarchy and declares that the setting up
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  Speaker 1: of the National Guard was opposed in every way. This
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  Speaker 1: is false. Tour says that there was no ill feeling
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  Speaker 1: between parties in Palermo till Lafferina came and stirred it up,
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  Speaker 1: and that it died down. After his departure. Four Nievo,
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  Speaker 1: one of the thousand, remained at Palermo from June to
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  Speaker 1: December as military intendant, supplying Garibaldi's armies. He saw the
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  Speaker 1: insight of Sicily all that year. He was an honorable
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  Speaker 1: and an intellectual man, though he cannot, like a Marian Tour,
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  Speaker 1: be called impartial, as between Garibaldi and Kapor. For whatever
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  Speaker 1: his opinion was worth, he wrote on October sixteenth, pay
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  Speaker 1: no attention to the talk about anarchy. Here order is
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  Speaker 1: perfect as it never was before in Sicily. Five the
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  Speaker 1: time special correspondent Eber the Hungarian, writing from Castro Giovanni
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of the island on July tenth says, Garibaldi,
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  Speaker 1: from the first moment of his arrival in Sicily has
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  Speaker 1: adopted the policy of leaving the internal administration of the
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  Speaker 1: country in the hands of Sicilians, and every day shows
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  Speaker 1: that he was right in this measure, For in the
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  Speaker 1: great general greediness of employees, the nomination of any one
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  Speaker 1: but Sicilians would have been looked upon as an intrusion.
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  Speaker 1: It is only justice to say that, in spite of
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  Speaker 1: this office hunt, public tranquility has not suffered in more
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  Speaker 1: than three or four communes in the whole island. And
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  Speaker 1: even in these the disturbances happened before the regular government
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  Speaker 1: was established. In all the rumors of disturbances which you hear,
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  Speaker 1: there is not a word of foundation. And this is
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  Speaker 1: perhaps the greatest of all the wonders which Garibaldi has
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  Speaker 1: achieved since his arrival in Sicily. For to his prestige
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  Speaker 1: alone must this be attributed. And of Appendix D