It was the year of Novara;
Mazzini was in Rome; the dry bones of Italy were moving; and for
people of alert and liberal sympathies the time was inspiriting.
What with exiles turned Ministers of State, universities thrown
open to Protestants, Fleeming himself the first Protestant student
in Genoa, and thus, as his mother writes, 'a living instance of the
progress of liberal ideas' - it was little wonder if the
enthusiastic young woman and the clever boy were heart and soul
upon the side of Italy. It should not be forgotten that they were
both on their first visit to that country; the mother still child
enough 'to be delighted when she saw real monks'; and both mother
and son thrilling with the first sight of snowy Alps, the blue
Mediterranean, and the crowded port and the palaces of Genoa. Nor
was their zeal without knowledge. Ruffini, deputy for Genoa and
soon to be head of the University, was at their side; and by means
of him the family appear to have had access to much Italian
society. To the end, Fleeming professed his admiration of the
Piedmontese and his unalterable confidence in the future of Italy
under their conduct; for Victor Emanuel, Cavour, the first La
Marmora and Garibaldi, he had varying degrees of sympathy and
praise: perhaps highest for the King, whose good sense and temper
filled him with respect - perhaps least for Garibaldi, whom he
loved but yet mistrusted.
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