A FRENCH VIEW OF GARIBALDI'S VISIT TO ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1266, 21 July 1864, Page 2

A FRENCH VIEW OF GARIBALDI'S VISIT TO ENGLAND.

(/•Yum the Paris Corrmtpomlnnt of (he London Timet.) Our old acquaintance M. Assolant gives in tlio C'tiirriur da JJimunalia an account of the proceedings In England on the occasion of Garibaldi's visit. Garibaldi, It seems, had heard while in Caprera of the probability, or rather the cortstitit y« of! there being 11 luriro surplus revenue for tho English Exchequer. lie knew t.he iiiiionnt exactly as it Ims been declared by Mr. (Jludnioru", nnd he resolved to Bct out ftt once tor the only country where such a phenomenon occurred. The surplus, he conceived, should not bo applied to so common-place a purpose us reducing taxation, but to tho higher and nobler object of procuring the million of muskets which ho bus so often and vainly culled for. to enable him to complete Italian unity. When Garibaldi's intention was kn:>wn all who speak the language of Shakespeare bounded with joy, for they were about to behold what they have never yet beheld—a real bond fide hero. The list of English heroes is, to be sure, rather long; but, somehow or other, not one of them is the genuine article, English heroes are but a mixture of linen, thread, and cotton. Cromwell was only a preacher and a tradesman. Marlborough sold his country, his army, and himself for 20,000,000 f.; Clivc, while ho held a sword in one hand, wielded with the other the yard-measure of the shopkeeping East India Company ; Nelson had the courage and the furious appetite of a bulldog ; " and Wellington himself, the only constantly lucky General of the present century, speculated so well in his trade of killing men, and gained so many domains, honours, titles, and pensions that the best eulogium one can bestow upon him is that he was a capital accountant and a clever man." As for Garibaldi, no one has ever doubted his being a hero of the true type, for he had not, like the others, a ready-made army under his command. He held out at Rome, in 1849, two months against the French army, which certainly is not an army of pasteboard; lie baffled the Austrians, who who were in his pursuit; in 1859 he was the first to enter Lombardy with his volunteers ; and in 1860, when all Italy hesitated, he landed in Sicily with his thousand crusaders.

The English receive Garibaldi with enthusiasm, for enthusiasm is the cheapest mode of flattering Italy. They did not give a man or a shilling for the campaign of 1859; but they will with pleasure give the hero plum pudding and sandwiches for 15 days, not to speak of tea in the evening. They will buy his photographic portraits; shout for him as he passes along in procession; drink thousands of gallons of beer to his health; write in their newspapers that he is the first, the greatest, the most illustrious of all men (the English race, of course, excepted); and they will pay him enormous compliments, in order that he may in turn tell them that they arc the pick and choice of. the human species — the chosen people of God, destined to teach all other people how they are to eat, drink, sleep, shout, think, and digest. In the same happy vein M. Assolant sketches the civic banquet that will not fail to be given to Garibaldi in London. As M. Assolant once spent a week in that city, lie will, of course, be accepted as a perfectly competent authority on these entertainments. The programme of the feast is this:—The Lord Mayor, wearing his wig, preceded by his " enormous abdomen," and followed by his aldermen with red faces, will receive him on the stairs of the Mansionhouse, seat him on his right hand, exactly opposite a tureen of turtle soup, of ox tail, and the ox itself roasted entire for exactly the space of 12 hours. The wines of France, Spain, and the Cape will be set flowing like the waters of a fountain. Two hundred English young women, the daughters of dukes, marquises, counts, and simple miUionnaires, will shout with might and main the moment they see the hero. The hero will respond to these shouts with low bows, and will put his hand to his heart hy way of showing that emotion prevents liim from speaking, but does not affect his appetite. When the dessert is nearly over the Lord Mayor will rise and propose the " Health of the Queen," at the same time expressing the joy he feels at seeing by his side an illustrious stranger, who, &c.; and Garibaldi will reply that he had long desired to set his foot on English soil—on that soil which is the terror of the tyrant and the hope of the slave; and those Englishmen " who have so many shillings and so much liberty." As some apprehension will then arise that at thi3 point Garibaldi may enter on financial matters, and propose to the guests to lend money to Italy, " which," as M. Assolant shrewdly observes, "is somewhat unpleasant after drinking," they will all hasten to applaud by way of interrupting .him. Viscount Palmerston, " the facetious statesman," will next propose a toast in honour of the English ladies—"the finest and the most graceful in the universe." The toast will, of course, have its effect, for every true Englishman loves to drink, whether in honour of the ladies, or for his own private satisfaction. Then the noble Viscount will propose a toast to the English Volunteers, which will be as well received as the first; and he will launch out into praises of English valour, English industry, the English navy, the English militia, and the English artillery ; but he will not forget to impress upon the company that it is his vigilance only which has saved England from French invasion, and that if he had not spent two or three thousand millions of francs in building forts and ironclads the turtle soup-which his honourable friend the Lord Mayor placed on the table would not be safe in English stomachs, but be swallowed by the frogeaters on the other side of the channel, as well as the excellent ox-tail with which his honourable friend had also supplied the guests. The company will, after this speech, be convinced of the patriotism and eloquence of the Viscount, "for" adds M. Assolant, "the best way to gain applause from your hearers is to lavish praise on them." The scene thus faithfully sketched will be repeated in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, York, and, in fact, in every place where Garibaldi shows himself. An excellent dinner, choice wines, great compliments, drums and trumpetsnothing will be wanting. But the moment lie attempts to utter a word about business, or to hint about the million of niuskets he wishes to have, purses and hearts will be instantly, closed. " The .Englishman in his house and the Englishman in his shop are two very different persons." If, as there can be little doubt, M. Assolant has been favored by the Lord Mayor with an early copy of his programme of the civic feast, the menu of the Mansion-house must be strangely restricted, for in M. Assolant's summary of it the solid part of the entertainment consists only of turtle and ox-tail soup.