“But this must not be.  You, our brothers, must not permit it to be; your honor, your interests, do not permit it.  Will you fight in a cause which you must feel to be absurd and wicked?  You sink to the condition of hirelings, and do you not believe that the Austrian government, should it conquer us and Italy, would turn against you the arms you had furnished for the conquest?  Do you not believe it would act as after the struggle with Napoleon?  And are you not terrified by the idea of finding yourself in conflict with all civilized Europe, and constrained to receive, to feast as your ally, the Autocrat of Russia, that perpetual terror to the improvement and independence of Europe?  It is not possible for the house of Lorraine to forget its traditions; it is not possible that it should resign itself to live tranquil in the atmosphere of Liberty.  You can only constrain it by sustaining yourself, with the Germanic and Slavonian nationalities, and with this Italy, which longs only to see the nations harmonize with that resolve which she has finally taken, that she may never more be torn in pieces.

“Think of us, brothers.  This is for you and for us a question of life and of death; it is a question on which depends, perhaps, the peace of Europe.

“For ourselves, we have already weighed the chances of the struggle, and subordinated them all to this final resolution, that we will be free and independent, with our brothers of Italy.

“We hope that our words will induce you to calm counsels; if not, you will find us on the field of battle generous and loyal enemies, as now we profess ourselves your generous and loyal brothers.

  (Signed,)

    “CASATI, President,
    DURINI,
    STRIGELLI,
    BERETTA,
    GRAPPI,
    TURRONI,
    REZZONICO,
    CARBONERA,
    BORROMEO,
    P. LITTA,
    GIULINI,
    GUERRIERI,
    PORRO,
    MORRONI,
    AB.  ANELLI,
    CORRENTI, Sec.-Gen.”

These are the names of men whose hearts glow with that generous ardor, the noble product of difficult times.  Into their hearts flows wisdom from on high,—­thoughts great, magnanimous, brotherly.  They may not all remain true to this high vocation, but, at any rate, they will have lived a period of true life.  I knew some of these men when in Lombardy; of old aristocratic families, with all the refinement of inheritance and education, they are thoroughly pervaded by principles of a genuine democracy of brotherhood and justice.  In the flower of their age, they have before them a long career of the noblest usefulness, if this era follows up its present promise, and they are faithful to their present creed, and ready to improve and extend it.

Every day produces these remarkable documents.  So many years as we have been suffocated and poisoned by the atmosphere of falsehood in official papers, how refreshing is the tone of noble sentiment in Lamartine!  What a real wisdom and pure dignity in the letter of Beranger! He was always absolutely true,—­an oasis in the pestilential desert of Humbug; but the present time allowed him a fine occasion.