rvices to
the blind. On weighing it, he found that the value of the gold was equal
to the amount of money which he had been required to pay for his board
in the prison at Berlin. In spite of the prohibition, we managed to see
something of the Rhine, and journeyed through Switzerland and the
Austrian Tyrol to Vienna, where we remained for some weeks. We here made
the acquaintance of Madame von Walther and her daughter Theresa,
afterward known as Madame Pulszky, the wife of one of Louis Kossuth's
most valued friends.

Arriving in Milan, we presented a letter of introduction from Miss
Catharine Sedgwick to Count Confalonieri, after Silvio Pellico the most
distinguished of the Italian patriots who underwent imprisonment in the
Austrian fortress of Spielberg. His life had been spared only through
the passionate pleading of his wife, who traveled day and night to throw
herself at the feet of the Empress, imploring the commutation of the
death sentence passed upon her husband. This heroic woman did not long
survive the granting of her prayer. She died while her husband was still
in prison; but the men who had been his companions in misfortune so
revered her memory as always to lift their hats when they passed near
her grave. Years had elapsed since the events of which I speak, and the
count had married a second wife, a lively and attractive person, from
whom, as from the count, we received many kind attentions.

Dr. Howe was at this time called to Paris by some special business, and
I remained a month in Milan with my sister. We greatly enjoyed the
beauty of the cathedral and the hospitality of our new friends. Among
these were the Marchese Arconati and his wife, a lady of much
distinction, and in after years a friend of Margaret Fuller.

Some delightful entertainments were given us by these and other friends,
and I remember with pleasure an expedition to Monza, where the iron
crown of the Lombard kingdom is still shown. Napoleon is said to have
placed it on his head while he was still First Consul. Apropos of this,
we saw in one of the Milanese mansions a seat on which Napoleon had once
sat, and which, in commemoration of this, bore the inscription, "Egli ci
ha dato l'unione" (He gave us unity). Alas! this precious boon was only
secured to Italy many years later, and after much shedding of blood.

Several of the former captives of Spielberg were living in Milan at this
time. Of these I may mention Castiglia and the advocat