MEMOIR OF DANIEL TEEADWELL. 



4G5 



The day after our arrival there was a great fcsta to promulgate the Pope's bull of the Im- 

 maculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which was r done at Si. Peter's in presence of about 

 fifty cardinals and some hundreds of bishops who had composed the council, and a throng that 

 filled the cathedral. The reading of the bull was responded to by the cannon of St. Angclo, 

 and the day closed with a complete illumination of St. Peter's, which is one of the greatest sights 

 I ever saw, and has not been cried up above its merits. 



Rome is very quiet. The French soldiers are said to be very much disliked ; but it seems to 

 me that they perform a necessary police service to a people that, without them, would run wild 

 with political vagaries, to the destruction of all security of person or property. As to the Ro- 

 mans having a republic, they are about as fit for it as the Southern slaves are for freedom. Even 

 Dominic gives up the " beautiful movement," and says, " It is impossible, they are not fit." 



We have the news of the Crimea before you. The allies have had a hard time, but they have 

 fought up to the standard of their blood, and as none but English and French can fight. I am sorry 

 to see that so many in the United States take against them, as I believe this war was undertaken, 

 at least on the part of Lord Aberdeen, in defence of national rights and in pursuance of the 

 promise of treaties, and that it is substantially in favor of human progress and liberal institu- 

 tions. My hope is that they will- humble the Czar, support the Turkish independence, open the 

 Black Sea to western commerce, and by this means bring the people upon its shores into a more 

 civilized state, in the only way in which this end can be accomplished. 



I must not forget to tell you that Robert and I went to Pisa, where all remains as we left it. 

 The custode at the Cathedral recollected me as le seigneur qui avecmadame et unjeune monsieur 

 mesurait la tour. The old tower seems to lean more than ever. It is indeed a grand monu- 

 ment, and with the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Campo Santo is worth a long journey to see even 

 a second time. Perhaps you will be glad to hear that in the " fraternizing " of 1848 the Floren- 

 tines sent back that piece of chain they took from the Pisan harbor so many centuries ago, and 

 it now hangs in the Campo Santo at Pisa, instead of the Baptistery of Florence. The Genoese 

 still keep their piece of it. . . . 



Daniel Treadwell. 



To Dr. "William Sweetser. 



Paris, April 10, 1855. 



My dear Dr. Sweetser, — If I am 



spent time in this, I am certain that no great part of it will be in useless letter-writing. Per- 

 haps the great amount of time that I see others give in writing nothings in letters has given 

 me a distaste for all labors of this sort, and thus I fail in my duty to let the few that I really 



om 



I need not write to you about Florence, Rome, or Naples, as you have seen them all so 

 thoroughly, and moreover have Madam Starke on your desk. Let me tell you, however, that 

 Italy has improved considerably since you were there; that is, it has taken more of an 

 English or American aspect. There are fewer beggars, more work and thrift, and somewhat 

 less dirt. Everything, politically, is quiet. The soldiers, French and Austrian, keep the 

 peace in Lombardy, Tuscany, and Rome; and Naples takes care of itself, or is taken care 

 of by the king ; and it is best that it should be so, for the people are no more capable of gov- 

 erning themselves than the inhabitants of Bedlam are. Dr. Ware says that I have lost a 

 great deal of patriotism since I left home. The truth is, that I see more clearly than he does 

 the compensations in the systems of different countries. Here the armies, the priests, and the 



