TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN LADIES,
DR. HOWE'S LETTER.
To the ladies' Greek Committee of the United States.

Ladies- I address you for the last time, with very different feelings from those which prompted me on former occasions.

Greece is no longer in a state to demand charity as one nation from another; she owes a heavy debt of gratitude to the Christian world for its generous succours in her hour of peril and agony, but to none more than the females of America; nor do I believe there is on the page of history a nobler or more disinterested act of charity, than theirs to Greece; it is as honour to our country, to your sex, and to human nature; and every one who was employed in it, deserves her share of that honour- from the affluent city lady to the poorest serving girl, whose means were smaller but whose motives were as pure.

Other agents have distributed many garments. I myself have given out about 50,000 pieces to women and children: it would be easy for me to procure hundreds of letters of thanks to you from females in Greece, but it seems to me superfluous and a little too like show; most of the poor creatures who have received the garments cannot read or write, and it never would enter their simple minds to get up a letter; but I have read their thanks in their gushing eyes- heard their blessing on Americans, and Heaven has recorded their prayers for their benefactors. Go where you will in Greece, you see the blue checked gowns and cotton frocks made by you; ask the poor widow where she got her gown, and she will answer, "The Americans gave it me;" demand of any man, woman or child in Greece, what nation has been the kindest and most charitable to their country in the bitter hour of trial, and the answer ever is "America."

I have the honor to be, Ladies, respectfully yours, SAMUEL G. HOWE.
Isthmus of Corinth, Feb. 6th, 1830.
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-1876) was appointed Director of the Medical Department of the Greek fleet in 1826, during the Greek Revolution. Greek independence from the Turks was declared in 1830. This open letter to the Ladies Greek Committee of the United States is a thank you for all the clothing that was donated to the people of Greece. He says that Greece owes the Christian world a dept of gratitude for the help it received during the struggle. The revolution happened at a time when there was a religious revival in America, and many missionary and relief organizations were formed as a result. The Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald was the newspaper in Greenfield, Massachusetts, from June 26, 1827 to June 27, 1837. It changed its name to the Gazette & Mercury.

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