The Life of General Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
The Life of General Garibaldi / Translated from his private papers; with the history of / his splendid exploits in Rome, Lombardy, Sicily and to the / present time
INTRODUCTION
The following pages are principally written by the pen of the hero of our age, that pure-hearted man – that devoted patriot, and noble, generous, and disinterested philanthropist – that spirited, undaunted, and indomitable warrior, whose splendid deeds have dazzled the world, and whose career, according to his own recent declaration, will be brought to its close by a final triumph, for which he is now preparing, to be gained early in the present year.
While General Garibaldi resided in New York and its vicinity, in the years 1850 and '51, the author of this book enjoyed his acquaintance, and the favor of receiving from him his private memoirs, with permission to translate and publish them.[1 - (TRANSLATION.)Staten Island, 30th October, 1850."Dear Mr. Theodore Dwight:"According to what I have promised you, I send you the first biographical sketch; and do not be surprised that it is that of my wife. She was my constant companion, in good and bad fortune – sharing, as you will see, my greatest dangers, and surpassing the bravest men. I wish you to consult Foresti, respecting the manuscripts and translations, and frankly express to me your opinion."Yours,G. Garibaldi."] They had just been prepared for the press, when Garibaldi requested that they might be withholden from the public while he remained in this country, probably because he preferred to be unnoticed, being at that time employed in making candles on Staten Island, and naturally fond of retirement.
The first part of this volume, to page 210, contains a literal translation from his original private manuscripts, in which a clear, unadorned English style was adopted, as nearly corresponding, as the translator's abilities would allow, to the manly and pure Italian of the author. No attempt was made to change, by dilating or polishing, as the translator believed it to be almost as hopeless to improve his style as to rival him with the sword. That portion of the volume relates to his early life, and the fourteen years he spent in the service of the Republican cause in South America.
The succeeding pages are devoted to his services in Italy in the revolutions of 1849, 1859 and 1860; and a large proportion of their contents is occupied by his proclamations and other documents of his own, in translating which the same efforts have been made to render them correctly.
The author has received assistance from some of the countrymen of Garibaldi in New York, for information not otherwise to be obtained, several of whom have been his fellow-soldiers. Many extracts have been taken from the most authentic and interesting descriptions, by intelligent eye-witnesses, of scenes in the two last campaigns in Italy. A personal acquaintance with Italy and Italians has enabled the writer to select, arrange, and explain the vast amount of materials presented by those most extraordinary seasons, in a manner perhaps best adapted for his readers. Some omissions were necessary, in composing a work of this kind, but nothing of essential importance.
The reader can hardly fail to bear in mind, while here reviewing the life of this wonderful man, the most formidable of modern times, who is at the same time one of the most gentle and amiable at heart, that even now the present pause in his career is a solemn one, as it is speedily to be followed by a scene of excitement, conflict and consequences, perhaps unequalled by those which are past. The results none can foresee: but it is evident that they must be momentous and extensive, whether prosperous or adverse; and no intelligent American can anticipate them without deep emotion. Well may we look to heaven for the protection and success of the noble hero of Italian independence and liberty, the avowed enemy of the Papal Anti-Christ, whom he unmasks and denounces, and for the diffusion among his