Over on the home page George Weigel has a typically interesting take on the sesquicentennial of the establishment of a more or less united Italy in 1861. That said, his description of Pope Pius IX’s honorable surrender at the time of the liberation of Rome nine years later (1870) should not be allowed to convey the impression that Pio Nono was always such a man of peace. In 1870 the pope’s position was hopeless (his principal protector, Napoleon III, was busy losing the Franco-Prussian war) and the game was clearly up.

Three years before, however, matters had been very different. Papal forces and their French allies successfully crushed an abortive rising in Rome (a number of the unfortunate losers were executed) and then went on to repel the invading Italian patriots at the battle of Mentana. Of turning the other cheek, there was little sign.

For an unusual angle on the story of Garibaldi, Italy’s great nationalist leader (and a man after whom a rather good English biscuit [cookie] is named), here’s an interesting tale (via the Guardian) of how Abraham Lincoln offered to put him in charge of the Union forces in the early years of the American civil war. Allegedly.

As for Italy, it has its troubles, but for today — buon compleanno! Some grappa is called for tonight, I reckon.