SD2302. Harriet Beecher Stowe to Editor of The Independent
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 27, 336–337 (in part).
Florence
Nov. 13th [1859]
I shall send you by this mail a copy of the official paper containing an account of the decisive meeting of the Tuscan National Assembly, wherein was consummated the act which gives to Tuscany an established government free from the dictation of Austrian tyranny. …
An English gentleman, who has for many years made Florence his home, and who feels the interest of a native in its affairs, told us that in 1848 the revolution was conducted in quite another spirit. That was a crude, romantic, ill-considered outburst of popular feeling. Men feted each other, formed mutual admiration societies, gave banquets, made dinner speeches, and talked largely about the glories of Florence. Young men paraded the streets in velvet and feathers, much as Romeo is represented on the stage, and declared their intention of reviving the old Italian costume; and then, on the very first attempt of their own elected president to impose a tax for the public good, and to enroll an army for the frontiers, they revolted and called back the old stupid Grand Duke—who spent their money in paying Austrian soldiers for keeping them down. Years of suffering and hard experience have taught wisdom—and now having “learned obedience by the things they have suffered,” Italy is exhibiting to-day a spirit on which even her best friends look with wonder, and those who thought and hoped most for her are taken by surprise. The gentleman we have spoken of is Robert Browning the poet, a noble, large-minded, and thoroughly manly observer, who, with his gifted wife, have adopted Florence for many years as their home. Mrs. Browning’s “Casa Guidi Windows” has left an eloquent record how much those noble minds felt and suffered for their adopted country in her struggles. They say that the spirit which now pervades Italy is so sacred and peculiar, that one can but regard it as a divine gift. …
As to Victor Emanuel, the character given of him is that of a man whose strength is in a broad, generous, honest heart, backed by a physical courage as undaunted as that of an old Paladin. In battle his personal daring and prowess were such that the Zouaves, the most fanatically brave of the French army, have elected him an honorary officer of their ranks; and besides this impetuosity, he has all the standstill “pluck” and endurance of an Englishman. Mr. Browning related to us that the course he has pursued was opposed not only by the clergy, but by his wife, mother, and sister, and the two former on their death-bed pleaded with him to renounce his course, as one that would certainly bring down the judgments of heaven, but he was immovable. …
Viva Victorio Immanueli, nostro Re!
H.B.S.
Text: The Independent (New York), 22 December 1859, p. 1.
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