Cesare Battisti and the Trentino
He spoke little, hut accomplished much. So his voice was heard only when he deemed it necessary to overcome obstacles, to encourage flagging spirits, to urge to more strenuous efforts.
He put reality above appearance, action before words, and made sacrifice to an ideal the constant vocation of his life. We do not know which to praise more — his strong will or his spirit of self-denial; both qualities are equalled only by his intense love for the poor, the humble, the toiler, and his pure love of his native Trentino and mother Italy. His nationalism was not jingoism, but blended harmoniously with the high aspirations and ideals of a sane socialism.
Having dedicated his whole life to his country, to her he also gave the last full measure of devotion. But Trentino, too, through him, offered to the mother country one of the best among its sons; the most heroic of all. And whenever our country shall be confronted by a moral or political crisis, it will suffice to remember Battisti in order promptly to find the right way.
For many a century Trentino will remember Cesare Battisti. But not Trentino alone, nor Italy, must be proud of such a citizen; the whole world should cherish and honor his memory, for he was not only a soldier fighting for the unification of Italy, but the soldier of a universal idea of justice and good-will. A leaf for him in the national history of Italy, a page for him in the history of all mankind!
