The feeling of profound gratitude to Napoleon III., among this people here, is sublime from its unanimity and depth....
All this excitement has made Florence quite unlike its quiet self, in spite of the flight of many residents and nearly all travellers.

Even we have been stirred up to wander about more than our custom here.

There's something that forbids us to sit at home; we run in and out after the bulletins, and to hear and give opinions; and then, in the rebound, we have been caught and sent several times to the theatre (so unusual for us) to see the great actor, Salvini, who is about to leave Florence.

We saw him in 'Othello' and in 'Hamlet,' and he was very great in both, Robert thought, as well as I.Only his houses pine, because, as he says, the 'true tragedies spoil the false,' and the Italians have given up the theatres for the cafes at this moment of crisis....
In best love, BA.
* * * * * After Villafranca the immediate anxiety for news from the seat of war naturally came to an end, and the Brownings were able to escape from the heat of Florence to Siena, where they remained about three months.
* * * * * _To Miss Browning_ Siena: [July-August 1859].
Dearest Sarianna,--This to certify that I am alive after all; yes, and getting stronger, and intending to be strong before long, though the sense left to me is of a peculiar frailty of being; no very marked opinion upon my hold of life.

But life will last as long as God finds it useful for myself and others--which is enough, both for them and me.
So well I was with all the advantages of Rome in me looking so well, that I was tired of hearing people say so.