To M. Ljubibratić and his worthy companions in Herzegovina
My dear and glorious friends! You have undertaken a difficult endeavor, yet a beautiful, noble, and holy one; you have set out to liberate slaves from among the most brutal tyrannies.
I envy you, and never have I felt the burden of years as I do today, that I cannot share with you the glory and the dangers.
I have already appealed to all the peoples who groan under the Turkish yoke, and I do not doubt that I shall see heroes join your banner—men who in their history count Leonidas, Spartacus, and Skanderbeg.
Your intention to sustain the war throughout the entire winter I consider the best course; the future is yours, and the rotten crescent hastens toward its downfall. Any man in the world, so long as he is not corrupt, will adopt your cause as his own, and like us will rejoice when you triumph gloriously.
In Rome, 29 October 1875
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Glorious patriot M. Ljubibratić,
Conveying the letter of the illustrious General Garibaldi addressed to you and your brave companions, the Rome Committee for Aid to the Wounded Herzegovinians joins, through me, in expressing feelings of the highest respect and love, which all honorable people feel for those brave men who show themselves worthy of freedom by fighting tirelessly for the independence of their homeland.
May the future answer your heroism. May this brave people become masters of their own hearth, companions in the great task of the civilization of Europe alongside other peoples who, in order to be happier in the future, earlier undertook the difficult yet sacred path of liberation.
For the present, the Roman Committee can show its sympathy only by collecting contributions from labourers, as the richest aid an affluent citizen can provide.
The entire Italian people have another task to fulfill in favor of this brave nation. By word and by deed, we shall hasten the hour when Italy—owing a good part of its own liberation to the generous and genuine sympathies of other peoples—will show its gratitude through participation in your liberation.
From Rome, 29 October 1875
Domenico Naratone
From Zastava, Novi Sad, issue 144, 7/19 November 1875.
Translated by Books of Jeremiah
