5 MARCH 1887, Page 23

Garibaldi : Recollections of his Public and Private Life. By

Elpis Helena. English Version by Charles Edwards. (Tritimer.)—The last sentence in "Elpis Melon's" book ie,—" In history, Garibaldi will always shine resplendent as the sun; but even the sun has its spots." It would hardly be fair to say that she has more to tell about the spots than about the brightness ; for she quite recognises the hero's courage and patriotism. Still, this is the general impres. sion left. We rise from the perusal of the book with a livelier mime of the great man's weaknesses, especially of the way in which, like many another Samson, he could be fooled- by woman, than we had before. The writer has some personal grievances against Garibaldi ; she charges him with ingratitude ; still, she does not cease to admire; in fact., her book is a curious medley, in which genuine feeling, and resentment which sometimes seems a little petty, are curiously mingled. There are some strange stories of the writer's personal .experiences as one of GaribaldVa emissaries,—stories sometimes exciting, sometimes amusing, as when she had to eat, there being no other possible way of disposing of it, one of the General's manuscripts, written, unhappily, on very thick paper. On the whole, we are inclined to wish that the book had not been written.