"But while thus the general march of events is decidedly favorable, I must say the Palermitans are scarcely up to the mark. They are all well-intentioned, but they are distressingly indolent, and want that general coöperation which is most calculated to insure success. There is no initiative or activity on their part, and their sole occupation seems to be to invent and spread rumors. Not a quarter of an hour passes without some fellow or other coming in out of breath and announcing the advance of the royal troops; now they are from one, now from the other side. Above all, horses and cavalry seem to be the nightmare of the Palermitans. They see the solitary regiment of Neapolitan cavalry everywhere. It is in vain that their noses are thrust against the barricades with which the whole town is blocked up, they will see the cavalry. But, although they are thus haunted by the royal troops, few seem to think that they ought to do some thing for themselves—making preparations for the defence of their houses and streets, and being always ready to meet an attack. It never occurs to them, as it did to the Lombards last year, that it is their duty to think day and night how to alleviate the sufferings of those who bleed in their cause. It is not the want of will, but a deficiency in acting otherwise than by order. The only thing which they do spontaneously, is to cry "Evviva," and promenade the streets, eager for news and gossip.
"The irregulars are decidedly improving. They are getting a taste for barricade and street fighting; they still blaze away their ammunition in a frantic manner, but they are beginning to keep to their posts and even to advance, if not too much exposed. This is our advantage in these street fights; the longer they last, the more they increase the confidence of the irregulars, and destroy the discipline of the regular troops.
"Every hour brings new proofs of this in the shape of prisoners and deserters from the Neapolitan forces. With those taken in the hospitals, there must be above 1,000. There is an order from the general to treat them well, and there is no animosity prevailing against them, but so much the greater is that against the sbirri and 'compagni d'armi,' a kind of local police, who have committed great horrors. They are picked out everywhere, and brought up in gangs of five and six to the committee, trembling for their lives; but only one of them has been killed hitherto, having been taken in the act of firing at those who wanted to arrest him.
"The ceasing of the bombardment, or rather the diminishing of it, has brought people out into the streets again."
GARIBALDI IN A DANGEROUS CRISIS.
"May 29—6 P.M.
"About 3 P.M. one of those panics suddenly broke out again which occur every moment, and serve more than anything else to demoralize the town and the squadre. The steamers which had gone off yesterday came back, and the rumor was that they were disembarking their troops before the Porta dei Greci;—great running and movement, great confusion, all caused by a column of dust on the road running along the sea-shore. In the afternoon there was some heavy firing, both toward the Piazza Reale and on the left of it, where the Neapolitans have a bastion which flanks the palace and is itself defended from the Castello. All yesterday and to-day the object on that side was to get possession of a cluster of houses, so as to isolate that bastion, and force them out of this, as from that of Sant' Agata. The town is too large, and Garibaldi's immediate followers are too few to be sent everywhere, and too precious to be exposed, except in the greatest necessity. Thus it is the squadre who form the mass in most places.
"The Archbishop of Palermo, and many heads of religious orders, paid a visit to Garibaldi, and returned, delighted with the simplicity and modesty of his bearing. Garibaldi finds himself more at home with the Sicilian clergy than with any other, because it has never made common cause with tyranny, or lost the manly virtues of the citizen. 'It was worth while to come to Sicily,' he said, 'if only to find out that there is still an Italian clergy.' Garibaldi, on the other hand, must contrast favorably in their eyes with the Neapolitan generals who have profaned their churches and plundered them of their sacred vessels, as General Clary did at the sack of Catania, in the confident expectation that the Pope would absolve him as he absolved the Swiss, who, in sacking Perugia, laid ecclesiastical as well as lay property under contribution."
ADDRESS OF THE PALERMO CORPORATION TO GARIBALDI.
"A deputation of the municipality of Palermo presented an address to Garibaldi, expressing its thanks to the liberator of Sicily. The address contains the resolution that the Porta Termini, by which the forces of Garibaldi entered, is to be called henceforth Porta Garibaldi, and the Piazza Vecchia the Piazza di Vittorio Emmanuell. A statue has been likewise decreed to Garibaldi. It is to be erected by subscription.