GARIBALDI ON THE GOLDEN AGE.
A DoetriemeT imputed to Garibaldi, said to have been written at Nice last spring, published by Alexandre Dumas in French at Naples, and by the journals Of Paris and London, has attracted Much attention net from the novelty of its forceeeSting specula- bons, but beciinse it has been written by a man who has passed a large spew of his life in warfare, and who stands before us as the Patriot hero of today. It is entitled, "Of. the Present State of Europe, and of what this litter could be in the interests of the Governments and People." If really written by Garibaldi, it was the project of a leisure hour, the interim of repose between action and action, and before France had laid her armed hand upon Savoy and upon Nice, where the dream it embodies in words was dreamed. It must have been composed in a moment when faith in the French Emperor was vital in the heart of Garibaldi, and when that potentate was regarded by credulous Italians as the disinterested friend of Italy. Had the writing been pestponed a month later, the words, perhaps, would never have flowed from the hero's pen. What Garibaldi dreamed of ia his Nicean retreat was the Con federation of Eurepe. He saw the great Powers of Europe ex- hausting their tesources in maintaining vast fleets and armies, and. the lesser Powers, pour payer de presence, obliged to keep up their armamenfa in some degrees of proportion to those of their big neighbours. He mourns to think that "we differ but little from those primitive times when inen warred on each other for plunder ; " andjietimagines some secret enemy of humanity driv- ing them On " foinaisacre each other with so much science and refinement." Shocked at the spectacle, he casts about for a remedy, and he finds one. The times are propitious, too_ Alez- ander of Russia is emancipating his serfs [he is also at Warsaw, for far other purposes]; Victor Emmanuel has thrown his sceptre on the battle-field, and risked his life to regenerate a noble race ;
England is governed. by a virtuous Queen, and Englishmen aid the cause of oppressed nationalities. Then there is France— Garibaldi treats Austria as something to be wiped out utterly- " France called to arbitrate in Europe by the mass of her con- centrated population, by the valour of her soldiers, and by the recent prestige of the most brilliant period of her military his- tory." The remedy of Garibaldi is the formation of Europe into one State ; the machinery which is to initiate this noble work is —the Chief of the French empire. We can imagine the smile of that notable personage, the deliberate ascent of the smoke of his cigar, the twirl of his moustache, when ha read, as no doubt he has read, this appeal to him as the leader of Europe. His prac- tical good sense, at all events, would tell hini that, however mag- nificent the role appointed for him by the dreamer of Nice it is not one suited to his genius or his projects, not one that hi; could hope to execute. France and England are to begin the good work ; then the smaller constitutional States are to follow, and, finalLy, the Germans, Mayes,. and Scandinavians are to come in too. It is very beautiful in vision. Armies are to be disbanded and. fleets broken up ; an European Militia and. vast merchant navies are to take their place. Deprived of armies and fleets, the minds of sovereigns would "no more be occupied with the lust of conquest, with war and destruction," and war being impossible, peace, industry-, and happiness would prevaiL Such is the dream of Garibaldi. We have' heard of it before. Tennyson has had. a vision of the time when the war-drum shall throb no longer- " —and the battle flags be furled In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World."
The later creed is, that "the golden age is before us," and be-
nevolent men, who have experienced the vast goodness and. the vast 'wickedness of humanity have seen visions of its coming. There have been always prophets of a millennium. These dreams are indications of the longing of men t r peaceful labour, and a beautiful and religious life. There is no 11..rm in them, and much good. They help to cheer the faint-heart, 1 and. strengthen the strong. But woe to the people which, overlooking the hard facts ^ of life, see any tangible ground for the realization of such grand
schemes in our day, and woe unto those who look to France, above all, for an initiative in what must be a disinterested course of action. Nations like men are radically different. They can be acquaintances, sometimes friends; but their tempers, passions, interests, talents, are so diverse, that intimate union is impos- sible. When Garibaldi pointed to Louis Napoleon as the initiator of his magnificent scheme he forgot that, like his predeces- sors in primitive times, When men warred on each other for plunder, his great initiator was intent on founding a dynasty, an aggrandizing the state he governs, and augmenting the publics armed force he commands. When he talked of " Austria and the Ottoman Empire as doomed to perish for the welfare of mankind," he forgot how their destruction would have to be ac- complished by war, and how from the general scramble that would ensue, no state could say in what shape it would emerge. All the great continental governors are as much intent on preserving as Louis Napoleon is on founding a dynasty ; and what with these dynastic interests and the radical antagonism of nations, a dream of Europe as one State, could only be realized by some conqueror whose fate it should be to trample out his fellow kings, and establish an universal monarchy. We may approximate, indeed, to a con- federation. The tendency of all diplomatic action since 1815, has been in that direction, but until human passions are uprooted and personal ambition subjectedto complete control, we can never ob- tain from nations nor from dynasties that amount of unselfish general action, which could fuse the whole in one and preserve the individuality of each. A monarch, especially, who adopted Gari- baldi's suggestion, and took the initiative prescribed, would be sure to do so with the covert purpose of establishing himself as supreme. Nevertheless, we can wish as ardently as Garibaldi, that the age of war should cease, and that his words should reach those to whom God has confided the holy mission to do good, and that they would. do it, preferring real grandeur, based on the love and ,gratitude of the people, to their present and ephe- meral grandeur.
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