the case, and this was by far the greatest miracle operated
by Garibaldi. The populations shook off their apathy, and not in
Calabria only but in the Puglie, the Basilicata, the Abruzzi, there
was a sudden awakening as from a too long sleep. When Garibaldi got to
Monteleone he found that Ghio had evacuated the town. He pursued him
to Soveria, where, on the 30th of August, the 12,000 men laid down
their arms. A few days later, another officer, General Caldarelli,
capitulated with 4000 men. Garibaldi's onward march was a perpetual
_fete_; everywhere he was received with frantic demonstrations of
delight. Still there was one point between himself and the capital
which might reasonably cause him some anxiety. There were 30,000 men
massed near Salerno, in positions of immense natural strength, where
they ought to have been able to stop the advance of an army twice the
size of Garibaldi's. How this obstacle was removed is far more
suggestive of a scene in a comic opera than of a page in history.
Colonel Peard, 'Garibaldi's Englishman,' went in advance of the army
to Eboli, where he was mistaken, as commonly happened, for his chief.
He was past middle age; very tall, with a magnificent beard and a
stern, dictatorial air, which answered admirably to the popular idea
of what the conqueror of Sicily ought to be like, although there was
no resemblance to the real person. It happened that Eboli was a
royalist town and beyond the pale of declared revolution--a placid and
antiquated little city with a forgotten air, where life had been
probably too easy for its inhabitants to wish for a change. But the
supposed arrival of the Terrible Man turned everything upside-down.
Peard, with Commander Forbes, who was following the campaign as a
non-combatant, rode up to the house of the old Syndic, who instantly
became their devoted servant. Like wildfire spread the news--the whole
population besieged the house, brass bands resounded, chinese lanterns
were hung out; the Church, led by the bishop, hurried to the spot, the
Law, headed by a judge, closely following, while the wives of the
local officials appeared in perfectly new bonnets. They all craved an
audience, and the same answer was given to all: that General
Garibaldi was much fatigued and was asleep--so he was, but ninety
miles away. He would be pleased to receive the deputations if they
would return punctually at half-past three a.m. In the meantime, Peard
was in an inner room, engaged