Italy in the nineteenth century and the making of Austria-Hungary and Germany . after had been cut to pieces by the Austrians. The details of the siege of Venice, which lasted fromAugust, 1848, to August, 1849, need not here be told;the particulars of military operations are rarely interestingto the general reader, who looks only to their results. ButI think I may add a very touching episode of the war inthose days. My sister, living in Venice, sent me the documents con-cerning it some years ago, saying that she thought I mightmake some hterary use of them ; but having afterwards men-tioned th
Italy in the nineteenth century and the making of Austria-Hungary and Germany . after had been cut to pieces by the Austrians. The details of the siege of Venice, which lasted fromAugust, 1848, to August, 1849, need not here be told;the particulars of military operations are rarely interestingto the general reader, who looks only to their results. ButI think I may add a very touching episode of the war inthose days. My sister, living in Venice, sent me the documents con-cerning it some years ago, saying that she thought I mightmake some hterary use of them ; but having afterwards men-tioned the story to Mr. Browning, he seemed to her so de-sirous to make a poem on the subject himself, that shewrote to me to return the papers for his use, which, ofcourse, I did, being unwilling that the unfortunate heroshould lose the immortality which a poem by Mr. Browningwould have conferred on him. I copied the documents,however, before parting with them, and, as Mr. Browningnever accomplished his wish of writing a poem on the sub-ject, I here add a translation of the GENERAL PEPE. DANIEL iMANIN AND HIS CITY. 85 The holy reverence in my heart, says the Venetian narra-tor, concerning the glory and honor of my country, impels meto recount a most unhappy episode in its history. It is a storythat might well move every heart, — even the least emotional, —to pity. It happened in Venice, May 30, 1S49, toward theclose of the celebrated siege. The heroic enterprise of the principal actor in the story,which might well serve to illustrate one of the grandest pages inthe annals of a generous people, was marred not only by cruelFate, but by men still living, who have paid their debt of grati-tude to the heros memory by forgetting him and his exploitaltogether. This oblivion has gone so far that he almost restsunder a false, dishonorable suspicion, — a stain which historyshould make speed to wipe away. Let us, therefore, with thepride of true Italians, rehabilitate our heros mem
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