Garibaldi (V. Hugo, Pendant l'exil, Edition nationale, t40) - Mongin after Chaperon

"We had to deliver these people; I would almost say, we had to deliver this king. Garibaldi did it (Bravos.)
Garibaldi. What's Garibaldi? He's a man, nothing more. But a man in every sublime sense of the word. A man of freedom; a man of humanity. Vir, as his compatriot Virgil would say.
Does he have an army? No. A handful of volunteers. Munitions of war? None. Gunpowder? Barely a few barrels. Cannons? The enemy's. What is his strength? What makes him victorious? What does he have with him? The soul of the people. He goes, he runs, his march is a trail of flame, his handful of men medusa the regiments, his weak weapons are enchanted, the bullets from his carbines stand up to the cannonballs; he has the Revolution with him, and, from time to time, in the chaos of battle, in the smoke, in the lightning, as if he were a hero from Homer, we see behind him the goddess. (Acclamation.)" (Actes et paroles, 1860, I, Rentrée à Jersey)