A Note on Whittier and Italian Freedom

104Bulletin of Friends Historical Association consisted of forty-seven members, including Sachems of the Sénecas, Buffaloes, Cayoges, Onondagoes, Oneidas, Tuscarores and Stockbridges. They were received at the State House by Governor Mifflin in the presence of a number of ladies and other spectators. A few days afterwards they gave an exhibition of war dances, and about a week after the formal reception, Red Jacket made a speech expressing their gratification at the civilities shown them. Among these civilities must have been a glimpse of the Whitman copy of the Boydell engraving of the West painting. A Note on Whittier and Italian Freedom By Francis B. Dedmond* The biographers of John Greenleaf Whittier have, by and large, neglected to record his efforts and to reveal his concern for the freedom of Rome and the unity of Italy—a concern which, with Whittier, was vital and deep. Among the Horace Greeley Papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress is a hitherto unpublished letter in which Whittier expressed something of the intensity of his feeling on the Italian question. Amesbury Essex Co. Mass H. Greeley21st of 8th Mo. 1849 Dear Friend. I enclose a copy of a few lines of mine,1 a feeble expression of my feelings—with the wish that they may appear in the Tribune & that thou wouldst take pains to send copies of them to the Editor of the New Italian paper,2 to Gen Avessena3 [sic] & Mr. Foresti.4 I am not without hopes that they may be translated into Italian and that the noble-hearted Romans may hear on the banks of the Tiber the voice lifted in their behalf on the banks of the Merrimack. Heartily approving thy course in regard to the Roman invasion5 I am very truly thy friend John G. Whittier More than two decades later, Whittier wrote a message which was read "at the great meeting in New York, January, * Francis B. Dedmond is a graduate student at the University of North Carolina. Notes and Documents105 1871, in celebration of the freedom of Rome and complete unity of Italy." Whittier had in mind his earlier efforts. "For many years," he wrote, "I have watched with deep interest and sympathy die popular movement on the Italian peninsula." But back of all his efforts and concern was the desire, as he stated it, "that all men, of all creeds, should enjoy die civil liberty which I prized so highly for myself."6 1 The poem referred to here may have been "To Pius IX." However , I have been unable to locate the poem in the file of the New York Daily Tribune for 1849, although it may have appeared in the Weekly Tribune or the Semi-Weekly Tribune. The first appearance of this poem was in the Washington National Era for August 16, 1849. Thomas F. Currier, A Bibliography of John Greenleaf Whittier (Cambridge, Mass., 1937), p. 367. 2 This newspaper is probably L'Eco d'Italia, which was begun in New York in 1849. But according to the American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Avaüabh in the United States and Canada, ed. Winifred Gregory (New York, 1937) , no library listed has a file of the newspaper for 1849. It is thus impossible to determine the reaction of "the Editor of the New Italian paper" to Whittier's poem if Greeley complied with his request or if Greeley forwarded Whittier's manuscript copy to the editor of the Italian paper. 3 General Giuseppe Avezzana, like Garibaldi himself, fled to America after the fall of Rome to the French, July 4, 1849. A little more than twenty years before this time, Avezzana had come to the United States. In 1829, he fought with Mexico in her war for independence, but in 1848, he was back in Italy giving his services to the Italian people. Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Milano-Roma, 1929) , V, 634. 4Eleuterio Felice Foresti came to America in 1836 and became Professor of Italian Literature at Columbia University. In 1840, he began to correspond with Colonel Mazzini and later organized the Giovine Italia, an organization probably to aid and encourage Italian refugees in America...