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_July_, 1849.--I cannot tell you what I endured in leaving Rome;
abandoning the wounded soldiers; knowing that there is no provision
made for them, when they rise from the beds where they have been
thrown by a noble courage, where they have suffered with a noble
patience. Some of the poorer men, who rise bereft even of the right
arm,--one having lost both the right arm and the right leg,--I could
have provided for with a small sum. Could I have sold my hair, or
blood from my arm, I would have done it. Had any of the rich Americans
remained in Rome, they would have given it to me; they helped nobly at
first, in the service of the hospitals, when there was far less need;
but they had all gone. What would I have given that I could have
spoken to one of the Lawrences, or the Phillipses; they could and
would have saved the misery. These poor men are left helpless in
the power of a mean and vindictive foe. You felt so oppressed in the
slave-states; imagine what I felt at seeing all the noblest youth, all
the genius of this dear land, again enslaved.
TO W.H.C.
_Rieti, Aug_. 28, 1849.--You say, you are glad I have had this great
opportunity for carrying out my principles.
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