to succeed in Italy, but most people supposed the object to be
different--namely, the preparation of the youth of the nation for an
immediate war. The idea was strengthened when it was observed that
Trescorre, in the province of Bergamo, where Garibaldi stopped to take
a course of sulphur baths, became the centre of a gathering which
included the greater part of his old Sicilian staff. There was no
concealment in what was done, and the Government manifested no alarm.
The air was full of rumours, and in particular much was said about a
Garibaldian expedition to Greece, for which, it was stated and
re-stated, Rattazzi had promised L40,000. That Garibaldi meant to cast
his lot in any struggle not bearing directly on Italian affairs, as
long as the questions of Rome and Venice still hung in the balance, is
not to be believed. A little earlier than this date, President Lincoln
invited him to take the supreme command of the Federal army in the war
for the Union, and he declined the offer, attractive though it must
have been to him, both as a soldier and an abhorrer of slavery,
because he did not think that Italy could spare him. But the 'Greek
Expedition,' though a misleading name, was not altogether a blind.
Before Cavour's death, there had been frequent discussion of a project
for revolutionising the east of Europe on a grand scale; Hungary and
the southern provinces of the Austrian Empire were to co-operate with
the Slavs and other populations under Turkey in a movement which, even
if only partially successful, would go far to facilitate the
liberation of Venice. It cannot be doubted that Rattazzi's brain was
at work on something of this sort, but the mobilisation, so to speak,
of the Garibaldians suggested proceedings nearer home. Trescorre was
very far from the sea, very near the Austrian frontier.

In spite of contradictions, a plan for invading the Trentino, or South
Tyrol, almost certainly did exist. Whether Garibaldi was alone
answerable for it cannot be determined. The Government became suddenly
alive to the enormous peril such an attack would involve, and arrested
several of the Garibaldian officers at Sarnico. They were conveyed to
Brescia, where a popular attempt was made to liberate them; the troops
fired on the crowd, and some blood was shed. Garibaldi wrote an
indignant protest and retired, first to the villa of Signora Cairoli
at Belgirate, and then to Caprera. He did not, however, remain there
long.

Afte