for a
time by the splendors of Solferino. Immediately after that battle he
retired into private life, and the motley troop which he commanded
disappeared. Whilst, however, there remained any revolutionary work to be
done, such a man could not be idle. The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was,
as yet, unshaken. This was too much for Count de Cavour, and so he
encouraged the ever-willing Garibaldi to fit out an armament against that
kingdom. The hero sailed for Sicily, and there, assured of
_non-intervention_ by the presence of the flags of France, England and
Sardinia, he made an easy conquest of the defenceless island. As soon as
he got possession of Palermo, and had assumed the title and powers of
dictator, he commenced, like a true revolutionist, the work of subversion.
Garibaldi, no doubt, was a man of the age, and the great diplomatic
discovery which the age had fallen upon was never wanting to him. It
served him at Naples as it had done in Sicily; and so, a mere diplomatic
idea--_non-intervention_--drove the king to Gaeta, and established the power
of the revolutionist.

(M73) As soon as Garibaldi was master in Sicily, the work of revolutionary
reform commenced. It was always the first aim of the revolutionists to
strike at civilization and civilizing influences. Churches were
desecrated, the ministers of religion insulted, religious orders
suppressed. "The Society of Jesus alone," said the venerable superior,
Father Beckx, in his solemn protestation of 24th October, 1860, to the
King of Sardinia, "was robbed of three residences and colleges in
Lombardy; of six in the Duchy of Modena; of eleven in the Pontifical
States; nineteen in the kingdom of Naples; and fifteen in Sicily."
"Everywhere," adds Father Beckx, "the Society has been literally stripped
of all its property, movable and immovable. Its members, to the number of
1,500, were driven forth from their houses and the cities. They were led
by an armed force, like so many malefactors, from province to province,
cast into the public prisons, ill-treated and outraged in the most
horrible manner. They were even prevented from finding a refuge in pious
families, while in several places no consideration was had for the extreme
old age of many among them, nor for the infirmity and weakness of others.

"All these acts were perpetrated against men who were not accused of one
illegal or criminal act, without any judicial process, without allowing
any justification to be rec