once the abode where the pilgrims were received during holy week, and where foreigners were entertained by seeing their feet washed by the noble dames and dignitaries of Rome, she has remained day and night since the 30th of April, when the wounded were first there.  Some money she procured at first by going through Rome, accompanied by two other ladies veiled, to beg it.  Afterward the voluntary contributions were generous; among the rest, I am proud to say, the Americans in Rome gave $250, of which a handsome portion came from Mr. Brown, the Consul.

I value this mark of sympathy more because of the irritation and surprise occasioned here by the position of Mr. Cass, the Envoy.  It is most unfortunate that we should have an envoy here for the first time, just to offend and disappoint the Romans.  When all the other ambassadors are at Gaeta, ours is in Rome, as if by his presence to discountenance the republican government, which he does not recognize.  Mr. Cass, it seems, is required by his instructions not to recognize the government till sure it can be sustained.  Now it seems to me that the only dignified ground for our government, the only legitimate ground for any republican government, is to recognize for any nation the government chosen by itself.  The suffrage had been correct here, and the proportion of votes to the whole population was much larger, it was said by Americans here, than it is in our own country at the time of contested elections.  It had elected an Assembly; that Assembly had appointed, to meet the exigencies of this time, the Triumvirate.  If any misrepresentations have induced America to believe, as France affects to have believed, that so large a vote could have been obtained by moral intimidation, the present unanimity of the population in resisting such immense odds, and the enthusiasm of their every expression in favor of the present government, puts the matter beyond a doubt.  The Roman people claims once more to have a national existence.  It declines further serfdom to an ecclesiastical court.  It claims liberty of conscience, of action, and of thought.  Should it fall from its present position, it will not be from, internal dissent, but from foreign oppression.

Since this is the case, surely our country, if no other, is bound to recognize the present government so long as it can sustain itself.  This position is that to which we have a right:  being such, it is no matter how it is viewed by others.  But I dare assert it is the only respectable one for our country, in the eyes of the Emperor of Russia himself.

The first, best occasion is past, when Mr. Cass might, had he been empowered to act as Mr. Rush did in France, have morally strengthened the staggering republic, which would have found sympathy where alone it is of permanent value, on the basis of principle.  Had it been in vain, what then?  America would have acted honorably; as to our being compromised thereby with the Papal government, that fear is idle.