Garibaldi in England, 1864
The Italian patriot’s visit to England was extraordinarily successful. But Queen Victoria deplored the scenes it provoked; and Karl Marx described them as “a miserable spectacle of imbecility”.
No one seemed quite sure why Garibaldi had come to England.
He said himself at Malta, where he called on his way, that the purpose of his visit was “to obtain the benefit of medical advice and to pay a debt of gratitude he considers he owes to the English people.”
The Italian Government, however, felt sure that there must be some other reason. He had long been publicly complaining that the Government had denied freedom of speech to some of his friends and had imprisoned others.
Indeed, ever since his march on Rome had been checked at Aspromonte he had been complaining that the Ministers in Turin were, to use his own words published later in his Memorie, “preparing a nauseous reaction, and spending the riches of Italy in hiring spies, police agents, priests and similar rabble.”
The thought that he might express such opinions in London, that he might collect money for some new adventure, that he would be received with an enthusiasm which would encourage his revolutionary supporters, filled the Italian Government with foreboding.
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