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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16896-8.txt b/16896-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c656b7b --- /dev/null +++ b/16896-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9678 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) + Or Italy + +Author: Mme de Stael + +Commentator: George Saintsbury + +Illustrator: R. S. Greig + +Release Date: October 17, 2005 [EBook #16896] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass.] + + + + +CORINNE + +OR + +ITALY + +BY + +MME. DE STAËL + + +WITH INTRODUCTION BY + +GEORGE SAINTSBURY + +(_In Two Volumes_) + +VOL. I. + +_Illustrated_ + +_by_ + +H.S. Greig + +LONDON: Published by J.M. DENT and COMPANY at +ALDINE HOUSE in Great Eastern Street, E.C. + +MDCCCXCIV + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +THE CROWD BREAK THEIR RANKS AS THE HORSES PASS _Frontispiece_. + +CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL PAGE 33 + +CORINNE SHOWING OSWALD HER PICTURES " 235 + +[Illustration] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In Lady Blennerhassett's enthusiastic and encyclopædic book on Madame de +Stael she quotes approvingly Sainte-Beuve's phrase that "with _Corinne_ +Madame de Stael ascended the Capitol." I forget in which of his many +dealings with an author who, as he remarks in the "Coppet-and-Weimar" +_causeries_, was "an idol of his youth and one that he never renounced," +this fancy occurs. It must probably have been in one of his early +essays; for in his later and better, Sainte-Beuve was not wont to give +way to the little flashes and crackles of conceit and epigram which many +Frenchmen and some Englishmen think to be criticism. There was, however, +some excuse for this. In the first place (as one of Charles Lamb's +literal friends would have pointed out), Madame de Stael, like her +heroine, did actually "ascend the Capitol," and received attentions +there from an Academy. In the second, there can be no doubt that +_Corinne_ in a manner fixed and settled the high literary reputation +which she had already attained. Even by her severest critics, and even +now when whatever slight recrudescence of biographical interest may have +taken place in her, her works are little read, _Corinne_ is ranked next +to _De l'Allemagne_ as her greatest production; while as a work of form, +not of matter, as literature of power, not of knowledge, it has at last +a chance of enduring when its companion is but a historical +document--the record of a moment that has long passed away. + +The advocates of the _milieu_ theory--the theory which will have it that +you can explain almost the whole of any work of art by examining the +circumstances, history, and so forth of the artist--have a better chance +with _Corinne_ than with many books, though those who disagree with them +(as I own that I do) may retort that this was precisely because Madame +de Stael in literature has little idiosyncracy, and is a receptive, not +a creative, force. The moment at which this book was composed and +appeared had really many of the characteristics of crisis and climax in +the life of the author. She was bidding adieu to youth; and though her +talents, her wealth, her great reputation, and her indomitable +determination to surround herself with admirers still made her a sort of +queen of society, some illusions at least must have been passing from +her. The most serious of her many passions, that for Benjamin Constant, +was coming, though it had not yet come, to an end. Her father, whom she +unfeignedly idolised, was not long dead. The conviction must have been +for some time forcing itself on her, though she did not even yet give up +hope, that Napoleon's resolve not to allow her presence in her still +more idolised Paris was unconquerable. Her husband, who indeed had long +been nothing to her, was dead also, and the fancy for replacing him with +the boy Rocca had not yet arisen. The influence of the actual chief of +her usual herd of lovers, courtiers, teachers, friends (to use whichever +term, or combination of terms, the charitable reader pleases), A.W. +Schlegel, though it never could incline her innately unpoetical and +unreligious mind to either poetry or religion, drove her towards +æsthetics of one kind and another. Lastly, the immense intellectual +excitement of her visits to Weimar, Berlin, and Italy, added its +stimulus to produce a fresh intellectual ferment in her. On the purely +intellectual side the result was _De l'Allemagne_, which does not +concern us; on the side of feeling, tinged with æsthetic philosophy, of +study of the archaic and the picturesque illuminated by emotion--the +result was _Corinne_. + +If there had been only one difference between this and its author's +earlier attempt at novel-writing, that difference would have given +_Corinne_ a great advantage. _Delphine_ had been irreverently described +by Sydney Smith, when it appeared a few years earlier, as "this dismal +trash which has nearly dislocated the jaws of every critic with gaping." +The Whigs had not then taken up Madame de Stael, as they did afterwards, +or it is quite certain that Mr Sydney would not have been allowed to +exercise such Britannic frankness. _Corinne_ met with gentler treatment +from his friends, if not from himself. Sir James Mackintosh, in +particular, was full of the wildest enthusiasm about it, though he +admitted that it was "full of faults so obvious as not to be worth +mentioning." It must be granted to be in more than one, or two important +points a very great advance on _Delphine_. One is that the easy and +illegitimate source of interest which is drawn upon in the earlier book +is here quite neglected. _Delphine_ presents the eternal French +situation of the "triangle;" the line of _Corinne_ is straight, and the +only question is which pair of three points it is to unite in an +honourable way. A French biographer of Madame de Stael, who is not only +an excellent critic and an extremely clever writer, but a historian of +great weight and acuteness, M. Albert Sorel, has indeed admitted that +both Léonce, the hero of _Delphine_, who will not make himself and his +beloved happy because he has an objection to divorcing his wife, and +Lord Nelvil, who refuses either to seduce or to marry the woman who +loves him and whom he loves, are equal donkeys with a national +difference. Léonce is more of a "fool;" Lord Nelvil more of a "snob." It +is something to find a Frenchman who will admit that any national +characteristic is foolish: I could have better reciprocated M. Sorel's +candour if he had used the word "prig" instead of "snob" of Lord Nelvil. +But indeed I have often suspected that Frenchmen confuse these two +engaging attributes of the Britannic nature. + +A "higher moral tone" (as the phrase goes) is not the only advantage +which _Corinne_ possesses over its forerunner. _Delphine_ is almost +avowedly autobiographical; and though Madame de Stael had the wit and +the prudence to mix and perplex her portraits and her reminiscences so +that it was nearly impossible to fit definite caps on the personages, +there could be no doubt that Delphine was herself--as she at least would +have liked to be--drawn as close as she dared. These personalities have +in the hands of the really great masters of fiction sometimes produced +astonishing results; but no one probably would contend that Madame de +Stael was a born novelist. Although _Delphine_ has many more personages +and much more action of the purely novel kind than _Corinne_, it is +certainly not an interesting book; I think, though I have been +reproached for, to say the least, lacking fervour as a Staelite, that +_Corinne_ is. + +But it is by no means unimportant that intending readers should know the +sort of interest that they are to expect from this novel; and for that +purpose it is almost imperative that they should know what kind of +person was this novelist. A good deal of biographical pains has been +spent, as has been already more than once hinted, on Madame de Stael. +She was most undoubtedly of European reputation in her day; and between +her day and this, quite independently of the real and unquestionable +value of her work, a high estimate of her has been kept current by the +fact that her daughter was the wife of Duke Victor and the mother of +Duke Albert of Broglie, and that so a proper respect for her has been a +necessary passport to favour in one of the greatest political and +academic houses of France; while another not much less potent in both +ways, that of the Counts d'Haussonville, also represents her. Still +people, and especially English people, have so many non-literary things +to think of, that it may not be quite unpardonable to supply that +conception of the life of Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Baroness of +Stael-Holstein, which is so necessary to the understanding of _Corinne_, +and which may, in possible cases, be wanting. + +She was born on the 22nd of April 1766, and was, as probably everybody +knows, the daughter of the Swiss financier, Necker, whom the French +Revolution first exalted to almost supreme power in France, and then +cast off--fortunately for him, in a less tragical fashion than that in +which it usually cast off its favourites. Her mother was Suzanne +Curchod, the first love of Gibbon, a woman of a delicate beauty, of very +considerable mental and social faculties, a kind of puritanical +coquette, but devoted to her (by all accounts not particularly +interesting) husband. Indeed, mother and daughter are said to have been +from a very early period jealous of each other in relation to Necker. +Germaine, as she was generally called, had, unluckily for her, inherited +nothing of her mother's delicacy of form and feature; indeed, her most +rapturous admirers never dared to claim much physical beauty for her, +except a pair of fine, though unfeminine, eyes. She was rather short +than tall; her figure was square-set and heavy; her features, though not +exactly ill-formed, matched her figure; her arms were massive, though +not ill-shaped; and she was altogether distinctly what the French call +_hommasse_. Nevertheless, her great wealth, and the high position of her +father, attracted suitors, some of whom at least may not have overlooked +the intellectual ability which she began very early to display. There +was talk of her marrying William Pitt, but either Pitt's well-known +"dislike of the fair," or some other reason, foiled the project. After +one or two other negotiations she made a match which was not destined to +good fortune, and which does not strike most observers as a very +tempting one in any respect, though it carried with it some exceptional +and rather eccentric guarantees for that position at court and in +society on which Germaine was set. The King of Sweden, Gustavus, whose +family oddity had taken, among less excusable forms, that of a platonic +devotion to Marie Antoinette, gave a sort of perpetual brevet of his +ministry at Paris to the Baron de Stael-Holstein, a nobleman of little +fortune and fair family. This served, using clerical language, as his +"title" to marriage with Germaine Necker. Such a marriage could not be +expected to, and did not, turn out very well; but it did not turn out as +ill as it might have done. Except that M. de Stael was rather +extravagant (which he probably supposed he had bought the right to be) +nothing serious is alleged against him; and though more than one thing +serious might be alleged against his wife, it is doubtful whether either +contracting party thought this out of the bargain. For business reasons, +chiefly, a separation was effected between the pair in 1798, but they +were nominally reconciled four years later, just before Stael's death. + +Meanwhile the Revolution broke out, and Madame de Stael, who, as she was +bound to do, had at first approved it, disapproved totally of the +Terror, tried to save the Queen, and fled herself from France to +England. Here she lived in Surrey with a questionable set of _émigrés_, +made the acquaintance of Miss Burney, and in consequence of the +unconventionalities of her relations, especially with M. de Narbonne, +received, from English society generally, a cold shoulder, which she has +partly avenged, or tried to avenge, in _Corinne_ itself. She had already +written, or was soon to write, a good deal, but nothing of the first +importance. Then she went to Coppet, her father's place, on the Lake of +Geneva, which she was later to render so famous; and under the Directory +was enabled to resume residence in Paris, though she was more than once +under suspicion. It was at this time that she met Benjamin Constant, the +future brilliant orator, and author of _Adolphe_, the only man perhaps +whom she ever really loved, but, unluckily, a man whom it was by no +means good to love. For some years she oscillated contentedly enough +between Coppet and Paris. But the return of Bonaparte from Egypt was +unlucky for her. Her boundless ambition, which, with her love of +society, was her strongest passion, made her conceive the idea of +fascinating him, and through him ruling the world. Napoleon, to use +familiar English, "did not see it." When he liked women he liked them +pretty and feminine; he had not the faintest idea of admitting any kind +of partner in his glory; he had no literary taste; and not only did +Madame de Stael herself meddle with politics, but her friend, Constant, +under the Consulate, chose to give himself airs of opposition in the +English sense. Moreover, she still wrote, and Bonaparte disliked and +dreaded everyone who wrote with any freedom. Her book, _De la +Littérature_, in 1800, was taken as a covert attack on the Napoleonic +_régime_; her father shortly after republished another on finance and +politics, which was disliked; and the success of _Delphine_, in 1803, +put the finishing touch to the petty hatred of any kind of rival +superiority which distinguished the Corsican more than any other man of +equal genius. Madame de Stael was ordered not to approach within forty +leagues of Paris, and this exile, with little softening and some +excesses of rigour, lasted till the return of the Bourbons. + +Then it was that the German and Italian journeys already mentioned (the +death of M. Necker happening between them and recalling his daughter +from the first) led to the writing of _Corinne_. + +A very few words before we turn to the consideration of the book, as a +book and by itself, may appropriately finish all that need be said here +about the author's life. After the publication of _Corinne_ she returned +to Germany, and completed the observation which she thought necessary +for the companion book _De l'Allemagne_. Its publication in 1810, when +she had foolishly kindled afresh the Emperor's jealousy by appearing +with her usual "tail" of worshippers or parasites as near Paris as she +was permitted, completed her disgrace. She was ordered back to Coppet: +her book was seized and destroyed. Then Albert de Rocca, a youth of +twenty-three, who had seen some service, made his appearance at Geneva. +Early in 1811, Madame de Stael, now aged forty-five, married him +secretly. She was, or thought herself, more and more persecuted by +Napoleon; she feared that Rocca might be ordered off on active duty, and +she fled first to Vienna, then to St Petersburg, then to Stockholm, and +so to England. Here she was received with ostentatious welcome and +praises by the Whigs; with politeness by everybody; with more or less +concealed terror by the best people, who found her rhapsodies and her +political dissertations equally boring. Here too she was unlucky enough +to express the opinion that Miss Austen's books were vulgar. The fall +of Napoleon brought her back to Paris; and after the vicissitudes of +1814-15, enabled her to establish herself there for the short remainder +of her life, with the interruption only of visits to Coppet and to +Italy. She died on the 13th July 1817: her two last works, _Dix Années +d'Exil_ and the posthumous _Considérations sur La Révolution Française_, +being admittedly of considerable interest, and not despicable even by +those who do not think highly of her political talents. + +And now to _Corinne_, unhampered and perhaps a little helped by this +survey of its author's character, career, and compositions. The +heterogeneous nature of its plan can escape no reader long; and indeed +is pretty frankly confessed by its title. It is a love story doubled +with a guide-book: an eighteenth-century romance of "sensibility" +blended with a transition or even nineteenth-century diatribe of +æsthetics and "culture." If only the first of these two labels were +applicable to it, its case would perhaps be something more gracious than +it is; for there are more unfavourable situations for cultivating the +affections, than in connection with the contemplation of the great works +of art and nature, and it is possible to imagine many more disagreeable +_ciceroni_ than a lover of whichever sex. But Corinne and Nelvil (whom +our contemporary translator[1] has endeavoured to acclimatise a little +more by Anglicising his name further to Nelville), do not content +themselves with making love in the congenial neighbourhoods of Tiber or +Poestum, or in the stimulating presence of the masterpieces of modern +and ancient art. A purpose, and a double purpose, it might almost be +said, animates the book. It aims at displaying "sensibility so +charming"--the strange artificial eighteenth-century conception of love +which is neither exactly flirtation nor exactly passion, which sets +convention at defiance, but retains its own code of morality; at +exhibiting the national differences, as Madame de Stael conceived them, +of the English and French and Italian temperaments; and at preaching the +new cult of æsthetics whereof Lessing and Winckelmann, Goethe, and +Schlegel, were in different ways and degrees the apostles. And it seems +to have been generally admitted, even by the most fervent admirers of +Madame de Stael and of _Corinne_ itself, that the first purpose has not +had quite fair play with the other two. "A little thin," they confess of +the story. In truth it could hardly be thinner, though the author has +laid under contribution an at least ample share of the improbabilities +and coincidences of romance. + +Nelvil, an English-Scottish peer who has lost his father, who accuses +himself of disobedience and ingratitude to that father, and who has been +grievously jilted by a Frenchwoman, arrives in Italy in a large black +cloak, the deepest melancholy, and the company of a sprightly though +penniless French _émigré_, the Count d'Erfeuil. After performing +prodigies of valour in a fire at Ancona, he reaches Rome just when a +beautiful and mysterious poetess, the delight of Roman society, is being +crowned on the Capitol. The only name she is known by is Corinne. The +pair are soon introduced by the mercurial Erfeuil, and promptly fall in +love with each other, Corinne seeking partly to fix her hold on Nelvil, +partly to remove his Britannic contempt for Italy and the Italians, by +guiding him to all the great spectacles of Rome and indeed of the +country generally, and by explaining to him at great length what she +understands of the general theory of æsthetics, of Italian history, and +of the contrasted character of the chief European nations. Nelvil on his +side is distracted between the influence of the beauty, genius, and +evident passion of Corinne, and his English prejudices; while the +situation is further complicated by the regulation discovery that +Corinne, though born in Italy of an Italian mother, is, strictly +speaking, his own compatriot, being the elder and lawful daughter of a +British peer, Lord Edgermond, his father's closest friend. Nay more, he +had always been destined to wed this very girl; and it was only after +her father's second marriage with an Englishwoman that the younger and +wholly English daughter, Lucile, was substituted in the paternal schemes +as his destined spouse. He hears, on the other hand, how Corinne had +visited her fatherland and her step-mother, how she had found both +intolerable, and how she had in a modified and decent degree "thrown her +cap over the mill" by returning to Italy to live an independent life as +a poetess, an improvisatrice, and, at least in private, an actress. + +It is not necessary to supply fuller argument of the text which follows, +and of which, when the reader has got this length, he is not likely to +let the _dénoûment_ escape him. But the action of _Corinne_ gets rather +slowly under weigh; and I have known those who complained that they +found the book hard to read because they were so long in coming to any +clear notion of "what it was all about." Therefore so much argument as +has been given seems allowable. + +But we ought by this time to have laid sufficient foundation to make it +not rash to erect a small superstructure of critical comment on the book +now once more submitted to English readers. Of that book I own that I +was myself a good many years ago, and for a good many years, a harsh and +even a rather unfair judge. I do not know whether years have brought me +the philosophic mind, or whether the book--itself, as has been said, the +offspring of middle-aged emotions--appeals more directly to a +middle-aged than to a young judgment. To the young of its own time and +the times immediately succeeding it appealed readily enough, and +scarcely Byron himself (who was not a little influenced by it) had more +to do with the Italomania of Europe in the second quarter of this +century than Madame de Stael. + +The faults of the novel indeed are those which impress themselves (as +Mackintosh, we have seen, allowed) immediately and perhaps excessively. +M. Sorel observes of its companion sententiously but truly, "Si le style +de _Delphine_ semble vieilli, c'est qu'il a été jeune." If not merely +the style but the sentiment, the whole properties and the whole stage +management of _Corinne_ seem out of date now, it is only because they +were up to date then. It is easy to laugh--not perhaps very easy to +abstain from laughing--at the "schall" twisted in Corinne's hair, where +even contemporaries mocked the hideous turban with which Madame de Stael +chose to bedizen her not too beautiful head; at Nelvil's inky cloak; at +the putting out of the fire; at the queer stilted half-Ossianic, +half-German rants put in the poetess's mouth; at the endless mingling of +gallantry and pedantry; at the hesitations of Nelvil; at the agonies of +Corinne. When French critics tell us that as they allow the +good-humoured satire on the Count d'Erfeuil to be just, we ought to do +the same in reference to the "cant Britannique" of Nelvil and of the +Edgermond circle, we can only respectfully answer that we should not +presume to dispute their judgment in the first case, but that they +really must leave us to ours in the second. As a matter of fact, Madame +de Stael's goody English characters, are rather like Miss Edgeworth's +naughty French ones in _Leonora_ and elsewhere--clever generalisations +from a little observation and a great deal of preconceived idea, not +studies from the life. + +But this (and a great deal more that might be said if it were not +something like petty treason in an introduction-writer thus to play the +devil's advocate against his author) matters comparatively little, and +leaves enough in _Corinne_ to furnish forth a book almost great, +interesting without any "almost," and remarkable as a not very large +shelf-ful in the infinite library of modern fiction deserves remark. For +the passion of its two chief characters, however oddly, and to us +unfashionably, presented, however lacking in the commanding and +perennial qualities which make us indifferent to fashion in the work of +the greatest masters, is _real_. And it is perhaps only after a pretty +long study of literature that one perceives how very little real passion +books, even pretty good books, contain, how much of what at times seems +to us passionate in them owes its appeal to accident, mode, and the +personal equation. Of the highest achievement of art--that which avails +itself of, but subdues, personal thought and feeling in the elaboration +of a perfectly live character--Madame de Stael was indeed incapable. But +in the second order--that which, availing itself of, but not subduing, +the personal element, keeps enough of its veracity and lively force to +enliven a composite structure of character--she has here produced very +noteworthy studies. Corinne is a very fair embodiment of the beauty +which her author would so fain have had; of the youthful ardour which +she had once actually possessed; of the ideas and cults to which she was +sincerely enough devoted; of the instruction and talent which +unquestionably distinguished her. And it is not, I think, fanciful to +discover in this heroine, with all her "Empire" artifice and convention, +all her smack of the theatre and the _salon_, a certain live quiver and +throb, which, as has been already hinted, may be traced to the combined +working in Madame de Stael's mind and heart of the excitements of +foreign travel, the zest of new studies, new scenes, new company, with +the chill regret for lost or passing youth and love, and the chillier +anticipation of coming old age and death. It is a commonplace of +psychology that in shocks and contrasts of this kind the liveliest +workings of the imagination and the emotions are to be expected. If we +once establish the contact and complete the circle, and feel something +of the actual thrill that animated the author, we shall, I think, feel +disposed to forgive Corinne many things--from the dress and attitude +which recall that admirable frontispiece of Pickersgill's to Miss +Austen's _Emma_, where Harriet Smith poses in rapt attitude with +"schall" or scarf complete, to that more terrible portrait of Madame de +Stael herself which editors with remorseless ferocity will persist in +prefixing to her works, and especially to _Corinne_. We shall consent to +sweep away all the _fatras_ and paraphernalia of the work, and to see in +the heroine a real woman enough--loving, not unworthy of being loved, +unfortunate, and very undeserving of her ill fortune. We shall further +see that besides other excuses for the mere guide-book detail, the +enthusiasm for Italy which partly prompted it was genuine enough and +very interesting as a sign of the times--of the approach of a period of +what we may call popularised learning, culture, sentiment. In some +respects _Corinne_ is not merely a guide-book to Italy; it is a +guide-book by prophecy to the nineteenth century. + +The minor characters are a very great deal less interesting than Corinne +herself, but they are not despicable, and they set off the heroine and +carry out what story there is well enough. Nelvil of course is a thing +shreddy and patchy enough. He reminds us by turns of Chateaubriand's +René and Rousseau's Bomston, both of whom Madame de Stael of course +knew; of Mackenzie's Man of Feeling, with whom she was very probably +acquainted; but most of no special, even bookish, progenitor, but of a +combination of theoretic deductions from supposed properties of man in +general and Englishman in particular. Of Englishmen in particular Madame +de Stael knew little more than a residence (chiefly in _émigré_ society) +for a short time in England, and occasional meetings elsewhere, could +teach her. Of men in general her experience had been a little +unfortunate. Her father had probity, financial skill, and, I suppose, a +certain amount of talent in other directions; but while he must have had +some domestic virtues he was a wooden pedant. Her husband hardly counted +for more in her life than her _maître d'hôtel_, and though there seems +to have been no particular harm in him, had no special talents and no +special virtues. Her first regular lover, Narbonne, was a handsome, +dignified, heartless _roué_ of the old _régime_. Her second, Benjamin +Constant, was a man of genius, and capable of passionate if inconstant +attachment, but also what his own generation in England called a +thorough "raff"--selfish, treacherous, fickle, incapable of considering +either the happiness or the reputation of women, theatrical in his ways +and language, venal, insolent, ungrateful. Schlegel, though he too had +some touch of genius in him, was half pedant, half coxcomb, and full of +intellectual and moral faultiness. The rest of her mighty herd of male +friends and hangers-on ranged from Mathieu de Montmorency--of whom, in +the words of Medora Trevilian it may be said, that he was "only an +excellent person"--through respectable savants like Sismondi and Dumont, +down to a very low level of toady and tuft-hunter. It is rather +surprising that with such models and with no supreme creative faculty +she should have been able to draw such creditable walking gentlemen as +the Frenchman Erfeuil, the Englishman Edgermond, and the Italian +Castel-Forte; and should not have produced a worse hero than Nelvil. For +Nelvil, whatever faults he may have, and contemptible as his vacillating +refusal to take the goods the gods provide him may be, is, after all, if +not quite a live man, an excellent model of what a considerable number +of the men of his time aimed at being, and would have liked to be. He is +not a bit less life-like than Byron's usual hero for instance, who +probably owes not a little to him. + +And so we get to a fresh virtue of _Corinne_, or rather we reach its +main virtue by a different side. It has an immense historical value as +showing the temper, the aspirations, the ideas, and in a way the manners +of a certain time and society. A book which does this can never wholly +lose its interest; it must always retain that interest in a great +measure, for those who are able to appreciate it. And it must interest +them far more keenly, when, besides this secondary and, so to speak, +historical merit, it exhibits such veracity in the portraiture of +emotion, as, whatever be its drawbacks, whatever its little temptations +to ridicule, distinguishes the hapless, and, when all is said, the noble +and pathetic figure of Corinne. + + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] I am creditor neither to praise nor to blame for this translation, +which is the old English version brought out in the same year as the +original, but corrected by another hand for the present edition in the +pretty numerous points where it was lax or unintelligent in actual +rendering. In the places which I have compared, it seems to me to +present that original very fairly now; and I am by no means sure that an +excessively artificial style like that of the French Empire is not best +left to contemporaries to reproduce. At any rate, a really good new +translation of _Corinne_ would be a task unlikely to be achieved except +by rather exceptional talents working in labour of love: and I cannot +blame the publishers of this issue for not waiting till such a +translator appeared. + + + + +Book i. + +OSWALD. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CORINNE. + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald, Lord Nelville, Peer of Scotland, quitted Edinburgh for Italy +during the winter of 1794-5. He possessed a noble and handsome figure, +an abundance of wit, an illustrious name, and an independent fortune, +but his health was impaired by deeply-rooted sorrow, and his physicians, +fearing that his lungs were attacked, had prescribed him the air of the +South. Though indifferent as to the preservation of his life, he +followed their advice. He expected, at least, to find in the diversity +of objects he was about to see, something that might divert his mind +from the melancholy that preyed upon it. The most exquisite of +griefs--the loss of a father--was the cause of his malady; this was +heightened by cruel circumstances, which, together with a remorse +inspired by delicate scruples, increased his anguish, which was still +further aggravated by the phantoms of the imagination. Those who suffer, +easily persuade themselves that they are guilty, and violent grief will +extend its painful influence even to the conscience. + +At twenty-five years of age he was dissatisfied with life, his mind +anticipated every thing that it could afford, and his wounded +sensibility no longer enjoyed the illusions of the heart. Nobody +appeared more complacent, more devoted to his friends when he was able +to render them service; but not even the good he performed could afford +him a pleasurable sensation. + +He incessantly sacrificed his own taste to that of others; but it was +impossible to explain, upon principles of generosity alone, this total +abnegation of every selfish feeling, most frequently to be attributed to +that species of sadness which no longer permitted him to take any +interest in his own fate. Those indifferent to him enjoyed this +disposition so full of benignity and charm; but those who loved him +perceived that he sought the happiness of others like a man who no +longer expected any himself; and they almost experienced a pain from his +conferring a felicity for which it was impossible to make him a return +in kind. + +He was, notwithstanding, of a nature susceptible of emotion, sensibility +and passion; he combined every thing that could evoke enthusiasm in +others and in himself; but misfortune and repentance had taught him to +tremble at that destiny whose anger he sought to disarm by forbearing to +solicit any favour at her hands. + +He expected to find in a strict attachment to all his duties, and in a +renunciation of every lively enjoyment, a security against those pangs +that tear the soul. What he had experienced struck fear into his heart; +and nothing this world can afford, could, in his estimation, compensate +the risk of those sufferings; but when one is capable of feeling them, +what mode of life can shelter us from their power? + +Lord Nelville flattered himself that he should be able to quit Scotland +without regret, since he resided in it without pleasure; but the +unhappy imagination of the children of sensibility is not so formed: he +did not suspect what ties attached him to those scenes which were most +painful to him,--to the home of his father. There were in this +habitation, chambers, places, which he could not approach without +shuddering, and, nevertheless, when he resolved to quit them, he felt +himself still more solitary. His heart became dried up; he was no longer +able to give vent to his sufferings in tears; he could no longer call up +those little local circumstances which affected him deeply; his +recollections no longer possessed anything of the vivid semblance of +real existence; they were no longer in affinity with the objects that +surrounded him; he did not think less on him whose loss he lamented, but +he found it more difficult to recall his presence. + +Sometimes also he reproached himself for abandoning those abodes where +his father had dwelt. "Who knows," said he to himself, "whether the +shades of the departed are allowed to pursue every where the objects of +their affection? Perhaps it is only permitted them to wander about the +spot where their ashes repose! Perhaps at this moment my father regrets +me, while distance prevents my hearing his voice exerted to recall his +son. Alas! while he was living must not a concourse of strange events +have persuaded him that I had betrayed his tenderness, that I was a +rebel to my country, to his paternal will, to everything that is sacred +on earth?"--These recollections excited in Lord Nelville a grief so +insupportable that not only was he unable to confide it to others, but +even dreaded himself to sound it to the bottom. So easily do our own +reflections become to us an irreparable evil. + +It costs us more to quit our native country when to leave it we must +traverse the sea; all is solemn in a journey of which ocean marks the +first steps. An abyss seems to open behind you, and to render your +return for ever impossible. Besides, the sublime spectacle which the sea +presents must always make a deep impression on the imagination; it is +the image of that Infinity which continually attracts our thoughts, that +run incessantly to lose themselves in it. Oswald, supporting himself on +the helm, his eyes fixed on the waves, was apparently calm, for his +pride, united to his timidity, would scarcely ever permit him to +discover, even to his friends, what he felt; but he was internally +racked with the most painful emotions. + +He brought to mind the time when the sight of the sea animated his youth +with the desire of plunging into her waves, and measuring his force +against her's.--"Why," said he to himself, with the most bitter regret, +"why do I yield so unremittingly to reflection? How many pleasures are +there in active life, in those exercises which make us feel the energy +of existence? Death itself then appears but an event, perhaps glorious, +at least sudden, and not preceded by decline. But that death which comes +without having been sought by courage, that death of darkness which +steals from you in the night all that you hold most dear, which despises +your lamentations, repulses your embrace, and pitilessly, opposes to you +the eternal laws of nature and of time! such a death inspires a sort of +contempt for human destiny, for the impotence of grief, for all those +vain efforts that dash and break themselves upon the rock of necessity." + +Such were the sentiments that tormented Oswald; and what particularly +characterised his unhappy situation, was the vivacity of youth united to +thoughts of another age. He entered into those ideas which he conceived +must have occupied his father's mind in the last moments of his life; +and he carried the ardour of twenty-five into the melancholy +reflections of old age. He was weary of every thing, and yet still +regretted happiness, as if her illusions were still within his grasp. +This contrast, quite in hostility with the ordinance of nature, which +gives uniformity and graduation to the natural course of things, threw +the soul of Oswald into disorder; but his manners always possessed +considerable sweetness and harmony, and his sadness, far from souring +his temper, only inspired him with more condescension and goodness +towards others. + +Two or three times during the passage from Harwich to Empden the sea put +on the appearance of approaching storm; Lord Nelville counselled the +sailors, restored confidence to the passengers, and when he himself +assisted in working the ship, when he took for a moment the place of the +steersman, there was in all he did, a skill and a power which could not +be considered as merely the effect of the agility of the body,--there +was soul in all that he did. + +On his quitting the vessel all the crew crowded around Oswald to take +leave of him; they all thanked him for a thousand little services which +he had rendered them during the voyage, and which he no longer +remembered. Upon one occasion, perhaps, it was a child which had +occupied a large share of his attention; more often an old man, whose +tottering steps he had supported when the wind agitated the ship. Such a +general attention, without any regard to rank or quality, was perhaps +never met with. During the whole day he would scarcely bestow a single +moment upon himself: influenced alike by melancholy and benevolence, he +gave his whole time to others. On leaving him the sailors said to him +with one voice, "My dear Lord, may you be more happy!" Oswald had not +once expressed the internal pain he felt; and the men of another rank, +who had accompanied him in his passage, had not spoken a word to him on +that subject. But the common people, in whom their superiors rarely +confide, accustom themselves to discover sentiments and feelings by +other means than speech: they pity you when you suffer, though they are +ignorant of the cause of your grief, and their spontaneous pity is +unmixed with either blame or advice. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Travelling, whatever may be said of it, is one of the saddest pleasures +of life. When you find yourself comfortable in some foreign city it +begins to feel, in some degree, like your own country; but to traverse +unknown realms, to hear a language spoken which you hardly comprehend, +to see human countenances which have no connection either with your past +recollections or future prospects, is solitude and isolation, without +dignity and without repose; for that eagerness, that haste to arrive +where nobody expects us, that agitation, of which curiosity is the only +cause, inspires us with very little esteem for ourselves, till the +moment when new objects become a little old, and create around us some +soft ties of sentiment and habit. + +The grief of Oswald was, then, redoubled in traversing Germany in order +to repair to Italy. On account of the war it was necessary to avoid +France and its environs; it was also necessary to keep aloof from the +armies who rendered the roads impracticable. This necessity of occupying +his mind with particulars material to the journey, of adopting, every +day, and almost every instant, some new resolution, was quite +insupportable to Lord Nelville. His health, far from becoming better, +often obliged him to stop, when he felt the strongest desire to hasten +to his journey's end or at least to make a start. He spat blood, and +took scarcely any care of himself; for he believed himself guilty, and +became his own accuser with too great a degree of severity. He no longer +wished for life but as it might become instrumental to the defence of +his country. "Has not our country," said he, "some paternal claims upon +us? But we should have the power to serve it usefully: we must not offer +it such a debilitated existence as I drag along to ask of the sun some +principle of life to enable me to struggle against my miseries. None but +a father would receive me to his bosom, under such circumstances, with +affection increased in proportion as I was abandoned by nature and by +destiny." + +Lord Nelville had flattered himself that the continual variety of +external objects would distract his imagination a little from those +ideas by which it was habitually occupied; but that circumstance was far +from producing, at first, this happy effect. After any great misfortune +we must become familiarised anew with everything that surrounds us; +accustom ourselves to the faces that we behold again, to the house in +which we dwell, to the daily habits that we resume; each of these +efforts is a painful shock, and nothing multiplies them like a journey. + +The only pleasure of Lord Nelville was to traverse the Tirolese +Mountains upon a Scotch horse which he had brought with him, and which +like the horses of that country ascended heights at a gallop: he quitted +the high road in order to proceed by the most steep paths. The +astonished peasants cried out at first with terror at beholding him thus +upon the very brink of precipices, then clapped their hands in +admiration of his address, his agility, and his courage. Oswald was fond +of this sensation of danger; it supports the weight of affliction, it +reconciles us, for a moment, with that life which we have reconquered, +and which it so easy to lose. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +In the town of Inspruck, before entering Italy, Oswald heard a merchant +at whose house he had stopped some time, relate the story of a French +emigré called the Count d'Erfeuil, which greatly interested him in his +favour. This man had suffered the entire loss of a very large fortune +with the most perfect serenity; he had, by his talent for music, +supported himself and an old uncle, whom he had taken care of until his +death; he had constantly refused to accept offers of pecuniary +assistance pressingly made to him; he had manifested the most brilliant +valour--a French valour--during the war, and the most invincible gaiety +in the midst of reverses. He was desirous of going to Rome to see a +relation, whose heir he was to be, and wished for a companion, or rather +a friend, in order to render the journey more agreeable to both. + +The most bitter recollections of Lord Nelville were connected with +France; nevertheless he was exempt from those prejudices which divide +the two nations; for a Frenchman had been his intimate friend, and he +had found in this friend the most admirable union of all the qualities +of the soul. He, therefore, offered to the merchant who related to him +the story of the Count d'Erfeuil, to take this noble and unfortunate +young man to Italy; and at the end of an hour the merchant came to +inform Lord Nelville that his proposition was accepted with gratitude. +Oswald was happy in being able to perform this service, but it cost him +much to renounce his solitude; and his timidity was wounded at finding +himself, all of a sudden, in an habitual relation with a man whom he did +not know. + +The Count d'Erfeuil came to pay a visit to Lord Nelville, in order to +thank him. He possessed elegant manners, an easy politeness, good taste, +and appeared, from the very first introduction, perfectly at his ease. +In his company one would feel astonished at all that he had suffered, +for he supported his fate with a courage approaching to oblivion; and +there was in his conversation a facility truly admirable when he spoke +of his own reverses; but less admirable, it must be confessed, when it +extended to other subjects. + +"I owe you infinite obligation, my lord," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "for +rescuing me from this Germany, where I was perishing with _ennui_." "You +are here, nevertheless," replied Lord Nelville, "generally beloved and +esteemed." "I have friends here," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "whom I +sincerely regret; for we meet in this country the best people in the +world; but I do not know a word of German, and you will agree with me +that it would be too long and fatiguing a task for me to set about +learning it now. Since I have had the misfortune to lose my uncle I do +not know what to do with my time, when I had the care of him it filled +up my day, at present the twenty-four hours weigh heavily upon my +hands." "The delicacy of your conduct towards your uncle," said Lord +Nelville, "inspires everybody with the most profound esteem for your +character, Count." "I have only done my duty," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "the poor man had overwhelmed me with kindnesses during my +childhood; I should never have deserted him had he lived a hundred +years! But it is happy for him, however, that he is dead; it would be a +happy thing for me also were I to follow him," added he, laughing; "for +I have not much hope in this world. I used my best endeavours, during +the war, to get killed; but, since fate has spared me, I must only live +as well as I can." "I shall congratulate myself on my arrival here," +answered Lord Nelville, "if you find yourself comfortable at Rome, and +if--" "Oh, _mon Dieu_," interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "I shall find +myself comfortable every where: when we are young and gay every thing +accommodates itself to us. It is not from books, nor from meditation, +that I have derived the philosophy which I possess, but from knowledge +of the world, and trials of misfortune; and you see, my lord, that I +have reason to reckon upon chance, since it has procured me the honour +of travelling with you." In finishing these words the Count d'Erfeuil +saluted Lord Nelville with the best grace in the world, settled the hour +of departure for the following day, and took his leave. + +The Count d'Erfeuil and Lord Nelville set out on the morrow. Oswald, +after some expressions of politeness had passed between them, was +several hours without saying a word; but perceiving that this silence +was disagreeable to his companion, he asked him if he anticipated +pleasure from a residence in Italy: "_Mon Dieu_," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "I know what I have to expect from that country. I have no +hope of any amusement there: a friend of mine, who had passed six months +at Rome, has assured me there is not a province of France where one may +not find a better theatre and a more agreeable society than at Rome, but +in that ancient capital of the world I shall surely find some Frenchmen +to chat with, and that is all I desire." "You have not attempted to +learn Italian?" interrupted Oswald. "Not at all," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "that did not enter into my plan of study." And in saying +this he assumed such a serious air that one would have believed it was a +resolution founded upon grave motives. + +"If I may speak my mind to you," continued the Count d'Erfeuil, "as a +nation, I love only the English and the French, one must either be proud +like them or brilliant like us; all the rest is only imitation." Oswald +was silent; the Count d'Erfeuil some moments after resumed the +conversation by the most lively sallies of wit and gaiety. He played +with words and phrases in a very ingenious manner, but neither external +objects nor intimate sentiments were the object of his discourse. His +conversation proceeded, if it may be so expressed, neither from without +nor within; it was neither reflective nor imaginative, and the bare +relations of society were its subject. + +He repeated twenty proper names to Lord Nelville, either in France, or +in England, to know if he was acquainted with them, and related upon +this occasion highly seasoned anecdotes with a most graceful turn; but +one would have said, in hearing him, that the only discourse suitable to +a man of taste was, to use the expression, the gossip of good company. + +Lord Nelville reflected some time on the character of Count d'Erfeuil; +that singular mixture of courage and frivolity, that contempt of +misfortune, so great if it had cost more efforts, so heroic if it did +not proceed from the same source that renders us incapable of deep +affections. "An Englishman," said Oswald to himself, "would be weighed +down with sadness under similar circumstances.--Whence proceeds the +resolution of this Frenchman? Whence proceeds also his mobility? Does +the Count d'Erfeuil then truly understand the art of living? Is it only +my own disordered mind that whispers to me I am superior to him? Does +his light existence accord better than mine with the rapidity of human +life? And must we shun reflection as an enemy, instead of giving up our +whole soul to it?" Vainly would Oswald have cleared up those doubts; no +one can escape from the intellectual region allotted him; and qualities +are still more difficult to subdue than defects. + +The Count d'Erfeuil paid no attention to Italy, and rendered it almost +impossible for Lord Nelville to bestow a thought upon it; for he +incessantly distracted him from that disposition of mind which excites +admiration of a fine country, and gives a relish for its picturesque +charms. Oswald listened as much as he could to the noise of the wind and +to the murmuring of the waves; for all the voices of nature conveyed +more gratification to his soul than he could possibly receive from the +social conversation indulged in at the foot of the Alps, among the +ruins, and on the borders of the sea. + +The sadness which consumed Oswald would have opposed fewer obstacles to +the pleasure which he could have derived from Italy than the gaiety of +Count d'Erfeuil, the sorrows of a sensitive mind will blend with the +contemplation of nature and the enjoyment of the fine arts; but +frivolity, in whatever form it presents itself, deprives attention of +its force, thought of its originality, and sentiment of its profundity. +One of the singular effects of this frivolity was to inspire Lord +Nelville with a great deal of timidity in his intercourse with Count +d'Erfeuil: embarrassment is nearly always on the side of him whose +character is the more serious. Mental levity imposes upon the mind +habitually disposed to meditation, and he who proclaims himself happy, +appears wiser than he who suffers. + +The Count d'Erfeuil was mild, obliging, and easy in every thing; serious +only in self love, and worthy of being regarded as he regarded others; +that is to say, as a good companion of pleasures and of perils; but he +had no idea whatever of sharing sorrows: he was wearied to death with +the melancholy of Oswald, and, as much from goodness of heart as from +taste, was desirous of dissipating it. + +"What is it you find wanting?" said he to him often; "are you not young, +rich, and if you choose, in good health? for you are only ill because +you are sad. For my part I have lost my fortune, my existence: I know +not in fact what will become of me; nevertheless I enjoy life as if I +possessed all the prosperity that earth can afford." "You are endowed +with a courage as rare as it is honourable," replied Lord Nelville; "but +the reverses which you have experienced are less injurious in their +consequences than the grief which preys upon the heart." "The grief +which preys upon the heart," cried the Count d'Erfeuil; "Oh! it is true, +that is the most cruel of all;--but--but yet we should console ourselves +under it; for a sensible man ought to drive away from his soul every +thing that can neither be useful to others nor to himself. Are we not +here below to be useful first and happy afterwards? My dear Nelville let +us hold to that." + +What the Count d'Erfeuil said was reasonable, according to the general +import of the word, for it savoured a good deal of what is usually +called common sense: passionate characters are much more capable of +folly than cool and superficial ones; but so far was the Count +d'Erfeuil's mode of feeling from exciting the confidence of Lord +Nelville that he would gladly have convinced him he was the most happy +of men in order to avoid the pain which his consolation gave him. + +However the Count became greatly attached to Lord Nelville: his +resignation and his simplicity, his modesty and his pride, inspired him +with an involuntary respect for his character. He was concerned at the +calm exterior of Oswald; he ransacked his head to bring to recollection +all the most grave sayings which, in his childhood, he had heard from +his aged parents, in order to try their effect upon Lord Nelville; and, +quite astonished at not overcoming his apparent coldness, he said to +himself: "Do I not possess courage, goodness, and openness of +disposition? Am I not beloved in society? What is it then that I want to +make an impression upon this man? There surely must be some +misunderstanding between us which probably arises from his not +understanding French sufficiently well." + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +An unforeseen circumstance greatly increased the sentiment of respect +which the Count d'Erfeuil experienced already, almost without knowing +it, for his travelling companion. The health of Lord Nelville had +obliged him to stop some days at Ancona. The mountains and the sea +render the situation of this city very fine, and the crowd of Greeks who +work in front of their shops seated in the oriental manner, the +diversity of costume of the inhabitants of the Levant, whom one meets in +the streets, give it an original and interesting appearance. The art of +civilization has a continual tendency to render all men alike in +appearance and almost in reality; but the mind and the imagination take +pleasure in the characteristic differences of nations: it is only by +affectation and by calculation that men resemble each other; all that is +natural is varied. The eyes then, at least, derive some little pleasure +from diversity of costume; it seems to promise a new manner of feeling +and of judging. + +The Greek, the Catholic, and the Jewish worships exist simultaneously +and peaceably in the city of Ancona. The ceremonies of these several +religions differ widely from each other; but in those various forms of +worship, the same sentiment lifts the soul to heaven--the same cry of +grief, the same need of support. + +The catholic church is on the top of a mountain, which dominates the +sea: the roaring of the waves is often mingled with the song of the +priests. The interior of the church is overladen with a crowd of rather +tawdry ornaments; but if one stop beneath the portico of the temple, the +soul is filled with the purest sentiments of religion, heightened by +that sublime spectacle the sea, on whose bosom man has never been able +to imprint the smallest trace. The earth is tilled by him, the mountains +are cut through by his roads, and rivers shut up into canals to +transport his merchandise; but if the waves are furrowed for a moment by +his vessels the billows immediately efface this slight mark of +servitude, and the sea appears again as it was the first day of the +creation. + +Lord Nelville had fixed his departure for Rome for the morrow, when he +heard, during the night the most dreadful cries in the city. He hastily +quitted the inn in order to learn the cause, when he beheld a terrible +fire, which proceeded from the port, and climbed from house to house +even to the very top of the city. The flames were mirrored at a distance +in the sea; the wind, which increased their fierceness, also disturbed +their image in the surging waves, which reflected in a thousand ways the +lurid traits of the conflagration. + +The inhabitants of Ancona[2], not having among them pumps in good +condition, were obliged to carry water to extinguish the flames, which +they did with great eagerness. Amidst the din of different cries was +heard the clank of chains, from the galley slaves, who were employed in +saving that city which served them for a prison. The different nations +of the Levant, which commerce draws to Ancona, expressed their fear by +the stupor which appeared in their looks. The merchants, on beholding +their warehouses in flames, entirely lost their presence of mind. Alarm +for the loss of fortune affects the common order of men as much as the +fear of death, and does not inspire that energy of the soul, that +enthusiasm which brings resources to our aid. + +The cries of sailors have always something doleful and prolonged in +them, and were now rendered still more so by terror. The mariners on the +shores of the Adriatic are clad in a red and brown hooded cloak of most +singular appearance, and from the midst of this vestment emerged the +animated countenances of the Italians, painting fear in a thousand +shapes. The inhabitants, throwing themselves down in the streets, +covered their heads with their cloaks, as if nothing remained for them +now to do but to avoid seeing their disaster; others precipitated +themselves into those flames from which they entertained no hope of +escaping. A thoughtless fury and a blind resignation appeared by turns; +but nowhere was seen that cool deliberation which redoubles our +resources and our strength. + +Oswald recollected that there were two English vessels in the harbour +which had on board pumps of the best construction: he ran to the +captain, who accompanied him in a boat to bring away these pumps. The +inhabitants, seeing them enter the boat, exclaimed, "_Ah! strangers you +do well to quit our unhappy city_!" "We shall come back again," said +Oswald. They did not believe him. He returned however, fixed one of the +pumps opposite the first house on fire, near the port, and the other +facing that which was burning in the middle of the street. The Count +d'Erfeuil exposed his life with carelessness, courage, and gaiety; the +English sailors, and the domestics of Lord Nelville, all came to his +aid; for the inhabitants of Ancona remained motionless, hardly +comprehending what these strangers were about, and not expecting the +least success from them. + +The bells rang in every quarter, the priests made processions, the women +lamented and prostrated themselves before the images of the saints at +the corners of the streets; but no one thought of those natural means +which God has given to man for his defence. However, when the +inhabitants perceived the happy effect of Oswald's activity; when they +saw that the flames were being extinguished, and that their houses would +be saved, they passed from astonishment to enthusiasm; they thronged +about Lord Nelville, and kissed his hands with such lively eagerness +that he was obliged to appear angry in order to drive away from him all +who might obstruct the rapid succession of orders, and of efforts +necessary to save the city. Every body was arranged under his command; +for, in the least as well as in the greatest circumstances, when danger +presents itself courage assumes its proper station; as soon as men are +possessed with fear they cease to be jealous of one another. + +Oswald, however, amid the general din, distinguished some cries more +horrible than the rest, which resounded from the other extremity of the +city. He demanded whence these cries proceeded, and was informed that +they came from the quarter which was allotted for the Jews: the officer +of the police was accustomed to shut the gates of this quarter in the +evening, and, the fire having reached that part of the city, the Jews +had no means of escape. + +Oswald shuddered at this idea, and demanded that the gate should be +immediately opened; but some women of the people who heard him threw +themselves at his feet, entreating him to desist.--"_You see very +well_," said they, "_our good angel! that it is certainly on account of +these Jews who reside here that we have suffered this fire, it is they +who bring calamity upon us, and if you set them at liberty all the water +in the sea will not extinguish the flames_." And they besought Oswald to +let the Jews be burnt with as much eloquence and tenderness as if they +were soliciting an act of clemency. This was not the effect of natural +cruelty, but of a superstitious imagination acutely impressed by a great +misfortune; however, Oswald could hardly contain his indignation on +hearing these strange entreaties. + +He sent four English sailors with hatchets to break open the gates which +inclosed these unfortunate people, who spread themselves in an instant +through the city, running to their merchandise with that greed of +possession which has something very melancholy in it, when it induces +mortals to risk their lives for worldly wealth. One would say that in +the present state of society the simple blessing of life is esteemed by +man of little value. + +There now remained but one house at the top of the city, which the +flames surrounded in such a manner that it was impossible to extinguish +them, and more impossible to enter it. The inhabitants of Ancona had +manifested so little concern for this house, that the English sailors, +not believing it to be inhabited, had dragged their pumps towards the +harbour. Oswald himself, stunned by the cries of those who surrounded +him and solicited his aid, had not paid attention to it. The fire had +extended the latest to that quarter, but had made considerable progress +there. Lord Nelville demanded so impatiently what house that was, that +at length a man informed him it was the madhouse. At this idea his whole +soul was agitated; he turned, but found none of the sailors around him; +the Count d'Erfeuil was not there either, and he would vainly have +addressed himself to the inhabitants of Ancona: they were almost all +occupied in saving their merchandise, and considered it absurd to run +any risk to rescue men, of whom there was not one who was not incurably +mad: "_It is a blessing from Heaven_," said they, "_for them, and for +their relations, that they should die in this manner; without any one +incurring a crime by their death_." + +Whilst they held such language as this around Oswald, he proceeded with +the utmost speed towards the madhouse, and the crowd, by whom he was +censured, followed him with a confused sentiment of involuntary +enthusiasm. As Oswald approached the house, he saw, at the only window +which was not surrounded with flames, a number of lunatics, who regarded +the progress of the fire with that horrid kind of smile which either +supposes ignorance of all the ills of life, or so much grief at the +bottom of the soul that death in no shape can terrify it. An +inexpressible shudder seized upon Oswald at this sight; he had felt in +the most dreadful moment of his despair, that his reason was on the +point of being affected, and since that epoch, the aspect of madness +always inspired him with the most sorrowful emotions of pity. He seized +a ladder which he found near the spot, fixed it against the wall, and +entered by the window into an apartment where the unhappy people who +remained in the madhouse were assembled together. + +Their insanity was so harmless, that they were suffered to be at large +in the interior of the house with the exception of one, who was chained +in this very room, where the flames already began to appear through the +door, but had not yet consumed the floor. These miserable creatures, +quite degraded by disease and suffering, were so surprised and enchanted +by the appearance of Oswald among them, that they obeyed him at first +without resistance. He ordered them to descend before him, one after +another, by means of the ladder, which the flames might devour in a +moment. The first of these wretched people obeyed without uttering a +word; the accent and the physiognomy of Lord Nelville had entirely +subdued him. A third wished to resist, without suspecting the danger +that he incurred by each moment of delay, and without thinking of the +peril to which he exposed Oswald in detaining him. The people, who felt +all the horrors of his situation, cried out to Lord Nelville to return, +and to let those maniacs get away how they could. But the deliverer +would listen to nothing till he had achieved his generous enterprise. + +Of the six lunatics who were in the madhouse, five were already saved; +there now only remained the sixth who was chained. Oswald loosened his +irons, and endeavoured to make him take the same means of escaping as +his companions had done; but it was a poor young man, whose reason was +entirely destroyed, and, finding himself at liberty, after being chained +for two years, he darted about the room with an extravagant joy. This +joy rose to fury, when Oswald tried to make him go out at the window. +Lord Nelville perceiving that it was impossible to prevail upon this +maniac to save himself, though the flames increased around them, seized +him in his arms, in spite of the efforts of the unhappy wretch, who +struggled against his benefactor. He carried him off, without knowing +where he placed his feet, so much was his sight obscured by the smoke; +he leaped from nearly the middle of the ladder, and consigned the +lunatic, who loaded him with curses, to some people whom he made promise +to take care of him. + +Oswald, animated by the danger he had just run, his hair dishevelled, +his look so proud yet so mild, struck the crowd who beheld him with +admiration, and almost with fanaticism; the women, above all, expressed +themselves with that imagination which is an almost universal gift in +Italy, and even gives a nobleness to the conversation of the common +people. They threw themselves on their knees before him, and cried, +"_You are surely St Michael, the patron of our city; display thy wings +most holy saint! but do not quit us: deign to ascend the steeple of the +cathedral, that all the city may behold, and pray to thee_." "_My child +is sick_," said one, "_heal him_." "_Tell me_," said another, "_where my +husband is, who has been absent several years_?" Oswald sought a means +of escape. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and said to him, pressing his +hand, "My dear Nelville, we ought to share all things with our friends; +it is unkind of you thus to monopolise all the danger." "Release me from +these people," said Oswald to him, in a low voice. A moment of darkness +favoured their flight, and both of them went in haste to get post +horses. + +Lord Nelville experienced, at first, some pleasure from the good action +he had just performed, but with whom could he enjoy it now that his best +friend was no more? How unhappy is the lot of orphans! The most +fortunate events, as well as the most painful, make them feel alike the +solitude of the heart. How is it possible, in effect, ever to replace +that affection which is born with us, that intelligence, that sympathy +of blood, that friendship prepared by heaven between the child and the +father? We may still, it is true, find an object of love; but one in +whom we can confide our whole soul is a happiness which can never be +found again. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] Ancona is now pretty nearly in the same predicament that it was +then. + + + + +Chapter v. + + +Oswald pursued his journey through the Marches of Ancona, and the +Ecclesiastical States, without any thing attracting his observation, or +exciting his interest: this was occasioned as well by the melancholy +habit of his soul, as by a certain natural indolence, from which he was +only to be aroused by strong passions. His taste for the arts had not +yet unfolded itself; he had never dwelt but in France, where society is +all in all, and in London, where political interests absorb almost every +other: his imagination, concentrated in his sufferings, had not yet +learnt to take pleasure in the wonders of nature and the masterpieces of +art. + +The Count d'Erfeuil traversed every town with the "Traveller's Guide" in +his hand, and had at once the double pleasure of losing his time in +seeing every thing, and of declaring, that he had seen nothing which +could excite admiration in any person acquainted with France. The +_ennui_ of Count d'Erfeuil discouraged Oswald; he, besides, entertained +prejudices against the Italians and against Italy: he did not yet +penetrate the mystery of this nation or of this country;--a mystery +which must be comprehended by the imagination, rather than by that +faculty of judgment which is particularly developed by an English +education. + +The Italians are much more remarkable for what they have been, and for +what they might be than for what they actually are. The deserts which +surround the city of Rome, that land which, fatigued with glory, seems +to hold in contempt the praise of being productive, presents but an +uncultivated and neglected country to him who considers it with regard +to utility. Oswald, accustomed from his infancy to the love of order and +public prosperity, received, at first, unfavourable impressions in +traversing those deserted plains which announce the approach to that +city formerly the queen of the world: he blamed the indolence of the +inhabitants and that of their rulers. Lord Nelville judged of Italy as +an enlightened administrator, the Count d'Erfeuil as a man of the world: +thus the one from reason, and the other from levity, were not sensible +of that effect which the country about Rome produces upon the +imagination, when it is impressed with the recollections, the +sympathies, the natural beauties and the illustrious misfortunes which +spread over these regions an undefinable charm. + +The Count made ludicrous lamentations on the environs of Rome. "What," +said he, "no country house, no carriage, nothing that announces the +vicinity of a great city? Heavens! what a melancholy prospect!" In +approaching Rome, the postillions cried, with transport, "_See! See, +there is the dome of St Peter's_!" It is thus that the Neapolitans shew +mount Vesuvius, and the sea excites the same emotions of pride in the +inhabitants of the coast. "One would have thought they had seen the dome +of _Les Invalides_;" cried the Count d'Erfeuil. This comparison, more +patriotic than just, destroyed the impression which Oswald might have +received on beholding this magnificent wonder of human creation. They +entered Rome, not on a fine day--not on a fine night--but on a gloomy +evening, which tarnished and confounded every object. They traversed the +Tiber without remarking it; they arrived at Rome by the Porta del Popolo +which conducts immediately to the Corso, to the largest street of the +modern city, but to that part of Rome which possesses the least +originality, because it resembles more the other cities of Europe. + +Crowds were walking in the streets; the puppet shows and the charlatans +were formed in groups in the square, where stands the column of +Antoninus. All the attention of Oswald was captivated by the objects +nearest to him. The name of Rome no longer vibrated through his soul; he +felt nothing but that isolation which oppresses the heart when we enter +a strange city, when we behold that multitude of people to whom our +existence is unknown, and who have no interest in common with us. Those +reflections, so sad for every man, are still more so for the English, +who are accustomed to live among themselves, and who with difficulty +enter into the manners of other nations. In the vast caravansary of Rome +everything is foreign, even the Romans seem to inhabit there not as the +possessors, _but like pilgrims who repose beneath the ruins_[3]. Oswald, +oppressed with painful sensations, shut himself up at home, and went not +out to see the city. He was very far from thinking that this country, +which he entered under such sadness and dejection of spirits, would soon +become for him a source of so many new ideas and enjoyments. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] This reflection is taken from a letter on Rome, by M. de Humboldt, +brother of the celebrated Traveller, and Prussian Minister at Rome. It +is difficult to find anywhere a man whose conversation and writings +bespeak more knowledge and ideas. + + + + +Book ii. + +CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald awoke in Rome. His first looks were saluted by the brilliancy of +an Italian sun, and his soul was penetrated with a sentiment of love and +gratitude towards that Power which seemed manifested in its resplendent +beams. He heard the bells of the different churches of the city; the +firing of cannon at intervals announced some great solemnity. He +demanded the cause of it, and was informed that that morning was to be +crowned, at the Capitol, the most celebrated woman in Italy. Corinne, +poetess, writer, _improvisatrice_, and one of the greatest beauties of +Rome. He made some enquiries respecting this ceremony consecrated by the +names of Petrarch and of Tasso, and all the answers that he received +strongly excited his curiosity. + +There is certainly nothing more contrary to the habits and opinions of +an Englishman, than this great publicity given to the destiny of a +woman; but even foreigners are affected, at least for a moment, with +that enthusiasm which is inspired in the Italians by all those talents +that belong to the imagination, and they forget the prejudices of their +country amidst a nation so warm in the expression of its feelings. The +common people of Rome reason with taste upon their statues, pictures, +monuments and antiquities; and literary merit, carried to a certain +pitch, excites in them a national interest. + +Oswald quitted his lodgings to repair to the public square, where he +heard everybody speaking of the genius and talents of Corinne. The +streets through which she was to pass had been decorated; the people, +who rarely assemble together except to pay their homage to fortune or +power, were, upon this occasion, almost in a tumult to behold a female +whose mind was her only claim to distinction. In the actual state of the +Italians the field of glory is only open to them in the fine arts, and +they possess a sensibility for genius in that department, which ought to +give birth to great men, if applause alone were sufficient to produce +them, if the stress of vigorous life, great interests and an independent +existence were not necessary to nourish thought. + +Oswald walked the streets of Rome, waiting the arrival of Corinne. At +every instant he heard her name accompanied with some anecdote +concerning her, which implied the possession of all those talents that +captivate the imagination. One said that her voice was the most touching +in Italy; another, that nobody played tragedy like her; somebody else, +that she danced like a nymph, and designed with as much taste as +invention: all said that nobody had ever written or improvised such fine +verses, and that, in habitual conversation she possessed by turns, a +grace and an eloquence which charmed every mind. Disputes were entered +into as to what city of Rome had given her birth; but the Romans +maintained, warmly, that she must have been born in Rome to speak +Italian in such purity as she did. No one was acquainted with her family +name. Her first work had appeared five years before, and only bore the +name of Corinne; nobody knew where she had lived, nor what she had been +before that time: she was, however, nearly twenty-six years of age. This +mystery and publicity both at the same time, this woman of whom +everybody spoke, but whose real name was known to nobody, appeared to +Lord Nelville one of the wonders of the singular country he had just +come to live in. He would have judged very severely of such a woman in +England, but he did not apply the usual etiquette of society to Italy, +and the coronation of Corinne inspired him beforehand with that interest +to which an adventure of Ariosto would give birth. + +Very fine and brilliant music preceded the arrival of the triumphal +procession. Any event, whatever it may be, which is announced by music, +always produces emotion. A great number of Roman Lords, and some +foreigners, preceded the car of Corinne. "_That is the train of her +admirers!_" said a Roman. "_Yes_," replied the other, "_she receives the +incense of everybody; but she grants nobody a decided preference: she is +rich and independent; it is even believed, and certainly her appearance +bespeaks it, that she is a woman of illustrious birth who desires to +remain unknown_." "_Be it as it may_," replied a third, "_she is a +goddess wrapt in a cloud_." Oswald looked at the man who spoke thus, and +every thing about him indicated that he belonged to the most obscure +rank in society; but in the south people so naturally make use of +poetical expressions, that one would say they were inhaled with the air +and inspired by the sun. + +At length way was made through the crowd for the four white horses that +drew the car of Corinne. Corinne was seated in this car which was +constructed upon an antique model, and young girls, dressed in white, +walked on each side of her. Wherever she passed an abundance of perfumes +was thrown into the air; the windows, decorated with flowers and scarlet +tapestry, were crowded with spectators; every body cried, "_Long live +Corinne!_" "_Long live Genius and Beauty!_" The emotion was general but +Lord Nelville did not yet share it, and though he had observed in his +own mind that in order to judge of such a ceremony we must lay aside +the reserve of the English and the pleasantry of the French, he did not +share heartily in the _fête_ till at last he beheld Corinne. + +[Illustration: _Corinne at the Capitol._] + +She was dressed like the Sybil of Domenichino; an Indian shawl twisted +about her head, and her hair of the finest jet black, entwined with this +shawl; her dress was white, with blue drapery from her bosom downwards, +and her costume was very picturesque, at the same time without departing +so much from established modes as to savour of affectation. Her attitude +on the car was noble and modest: it was easily perceived that she was +pleased with being admired, but a sense of timidity was mingled with her +joy, and seemed to ask pardon for her triumph. The expression of her +physiognomy, of her eyes, of her smile, interested all in her favour, +and the first look made Lord Nelville her friend, even before that +sentiment was subdued by a warmer impression. Her arms were of dazzling +beauty; her shape, tall, but rather full, after the manner of the +Grecian statues, energetically characterised youth and happiness; and +there was something inspired in her look. One might perceive in her +manner of greeting and returning thanks for the applause which she +received, a kind of disposition which heightened the lustre of the +extraordinary situation in which she was placed. She gave at once the +idea of a priestess of Apollo advancing towards the temple of the Sun, +and of a woman of perfect simplicity in the common relations of life. To +conclude, in her every motion there was a charm which excited interest, +curiosity, astonishment and affection. The admiration of the people +increased in proportion as she advanced towards the Capitol--that spot +so fertile in memories. The beauty of the sky, the enthusiasm of these +Romans, and above all Corinne, electrified the imagination of Oswald. He +had often, in his own country, seen statesmen carried in triumph by the +people, but this was the first time he had been a witness of the +honours paid to a woman--a woman illustrious only by the gifts of +genius. Her chariot of victory was not purchased at the cost of the +tears of any human being, and no regret, no terror overshadowed that +admiration which the highest endowments of nature, imagination, +sentiment and mind, could not fail to excite. + +Oswald was so absorbed in his reflections, so occupied by novel ideas, +that he did not remark the antique and celebrated places through which +the car of Corinne passed. It was at the foot of the flight of steps +which leads to the Capitol, that the car stopped, and at that moment all +the friends of Corinne rushed forward to offer her their hands. She +chose that of the prince Castel-Forte, the most esteemed of the Roman +nobility, for his intellect and for his disposition: every one approved +the choice of Corinne, and she ascended the steps of the Capitol whose +imposing majesty seemed to receive, with kind condescension, the light +footsteps of a woman. A new flourish of music was heard at the moment of +Corinne's arrival, the cannon resounded and the triumphant Sybil entered +the palace prepared for her reception. + +At the lower end of the hall in which she was received were placed the +senator who was to crown her, and the conservators of the senate; on one +side all the cardinals and the most distinguished women of the country; +on the other the men of letters of the academy of Rome; and at the +opposite extremity the hall was occupied by a part of the immense crowd +who had followed Corinne. The chair destined for her was placed a step +below that of the senator. Corinne, before she seated herself in it, +made a genuflection on the first step, agreeably to the etiquette +required in this august assembly. She did it with so much nobleness and +modesty, so much gentleness and dignity, that Lord Nelville in that +moment felt his eyes moist with tears: he was astonished at his own +tenderness, but in the midst of all her pomp and triumph it seemed to +him that Corinne had implored, by her looks, the protection of a +friend--that protection which no woman, however superior, can dispense +with; and how sweet, said he within himself, would it be to become the +support of her to whom sensibility alone renders that support necessary. + +As soon as Corinne was seated the Roman poets began to read the sonnets +and odes which they had composed for the occasion. They all exalted her +to the skies, but the praises which they lavishly bestowed upon her did +not draw any characteristic features of distinction between her and +other women of superior talents. They were only pleasing combinations of +images, and allusions to mythology, which might, from the days of Sappho +to those in which we live, have been addressed indiscriminately to any +woman who had rendered herself illustrious by her literary talents. + +Already Lord Nelville felt hurt at this manner of praising Corinne; he +thought, in beholding her, that he could at that very instant draw a +portrait of her, more true, more just, more characteristic--a portrait +in fact that could only belong to Corinne. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The Prince Castel-Forte then rose to speak, and his observations upon +the merits of Corinne excited the attention of the whole assembly. He +was about fifty years of age, and there was in his speech and in his +deportment much deliberate ease and dignity. The assurances which Lord +Nelville received from those about him, that he was only the friend of +Corinne, excited, in his lordship's mind, an interest for the portrait +which he drew of her, unmixed with any other emotion. Without such a +security a confused sentiment of jealousy would have already disturbed +the soul of Oswald. + +The Prince Castel-Forte read some unpretentious pages of prose which +were particularly calculated to display the genius of Corinne. He first +pointed out the peculiar merit of her work, and said that that merit +partly consisted of her profound study of foreign literature: she +united, in the highest degree, imagination, florid description and all +the brilliancy of the south, with that knowledge, that observation of +the human heart, which falls to the share of those countries where +external objects excite less interest. + +He extolled the elegant graces and the lively disposition of Corinne--a +gaiety which partook of no improper levity, but proceeded solely from +the vivacity of the mind and the freshness of the imagination. He +attempted to praise her sensibility, but it was easily perceived that +personal regret mingled itself with this part of his speech. He lamented +the difficulty which a woman of her superior cast experienced of meeting +with the object of which she has formed to herself an ideal portrait--a +portrait clad with every endowment the heart and mind can wish for. He +however took pleasure in painting the passionate sensibility which the +poetry of Corinne inspired, and the art she possessed of seizing every +striking relation between the beauties of nature and the most intimate +impressions of the soul. He exalted the originality of Corinne's +expressions, those expressions which were the offspring of her character +and manner of feeling, without ever permitting any shade of affectation +to disfigure a species of charm not only natural but involuntary. + +He spoke of her eloquence as possessing an irresistible force and energy +which must the more transport her hearers the more they possessed within +themselves true intellectual sensibility. "Corinne," said he, "is +indubitably the most celebrated woman of our country, and nevertheless +it is only her friends who can properly delineate her; for we must +always have recourse, in some degree, to conjecture, in order to +discover the genuine qualities of the soul. They may be concealed from +our knowledge by celebrity as well as obscurity, if some sort of +sympathy does not assist us to penetrate them." He enlarged upon her +talent for extemporisation, which did not resemble any thing of that +description known in Italy. "It is not only to the fecundity of her mind +that we ought to attribute it;" said he; "but to the deep emotion which +every generous thought excites in her. She cannot pronounce a word that +recalls such thoughts without enthusiasm, that inexhaustible source of +sentiments and of ideas animating and inspiring her." The Prince +Castel-Forte also made his audience sensible of the beauties of a style +always pure and harmonious. "The poetry of Corinne," added he, "is an +intellectual melody which can alone express the charm of the most +fugitive and delicate impressions." + +He praised the conversation of his heroine in a manner that easily made +it perceived he had experienced its delight. "Imagination and +simplicity, justness and elevation, strength and tenderness, are +united," said he, "in the same person to give incessant variety to all +the pleasures of the mind: we may apply to her, this charming verse of +Petrarch: + + _Il parlar che nell' anima si sente._[4] + +and, I believe, in her will be found that grace so much boasted of, +that oriental charm which the ancients attributed to Cleopatra. + +"The places I have visited with her, the music we have heard together, +the pictures she has pointed out to me, the books she has made me +comprehend, compose the universe of my imagination. There is in all +these objects a spark of her life; and if I were to exist at a distance +from her I would wish at least to be surrounded by those objects, +certain as I am of finding nowhere else that trace of fire, that trace +of herself in fact, which she has left in them. Yes," continued he (and +at that moment his eyes fell by chance upon Oswald), "behold Corinne; if +you can pass your life with her, if that double existence which it is in +her power to give can be assured to you for a long time; but do not +behold her if you are condemned to quit her; you will seek in vain as +long as you live that creative soul which shares and multiplies your +sentiments and your thoughts; you will never behold her like again." + +Oswald started at these words, his eyes fixed themselves upon Corinne, +who heard them with an emotion that was not inspired by self-love, but +which was allied to the most amiable and delicate feelings. The Prince +Castel-Forte was much affected for a moment, and then resumed his +speech. He spoke of Corinne's talent for music, for painting, for +declamation and for dancing: In all these talents, he said, she was +entirely herself, not confined to any particular manner, or to any +particular rule, but expressing in various languages the same powers of +the imagination, and the same witchery of the fine arts under all their +different forms. + +"I do not flatter myself," said the Prince Castel-Forte in concluding, +"that I have been able to paint a lady of whom it is impossible to form +an idea without having heard her; but her presence is, for us at Rome, +as one of the benefits of our brilliant sky and our inspired nature. +Corinne is the tie that unites her friends together; she is the moving +principle and the interest of our life. We reckon upon her goodness; we +are proud of her genius; we say to strangers, 'Behold her! She is the +image of our beautiful Italy; she is what we should be without the +ignorance, the envy, the discord and the indolence to which our fate has +condemned us.' We take pleasure in contemplating her as an admirable +production of our climate and of our fine arts,--as a scion shooting out +of the past, as a prophecy of the future. When foreigners insult this +country, whence has issued that intelligence which has shed its light +over Europe; when they are without pity for our defects, which arise out +of our misfortunes, we will say to them: 'Behold Corinne! 'Tis our +desire to follow her footsteps; we would endeavour to become, as men, +what she is as woman, if man like woman could create a world in his own +heart; and if our genius, necessarily dependent upon social relations +and external circumstances, could be kindled by the torch of poetry +alone.'" + +The moment the Prince Castel-Forte left off speaking unanimous applause +was heard on all sides, and though towards the conclusion of his speech +he indirectly blamed the present state of the Italians, all the nobles +of the state approved of it; so true it is that we find in Italy that +sort of liberality which does not lead men to alter institutions, but +which pardons in superior minds a tranquil opposition to existing +prejudices. The reputation of Prince Castel-Forte was very great in +Rome. He spoke with a rare sagacity, which is a remarkable gift in a +nation who exhibit more intellect in their conduct than in their +conversation. He did not in his worldly concerns shew that address which +often distinguishes the Italians, but he took delight in thought, and +did not dread the fatigue of meditation. The happy inhabitants of the +south sometimes shrink from this fatigue, and flatter themselves that +imagination will do everything for them, as their fertile soil produces +fruit without cultivation assisted only by the bounty of the sky. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] The language which is felt in the depth of the soul. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Corinne arose when the Prince Castel-Forte had ceased speaking; she +thanked him by an inclination of the head so dignified yet so gentle, +that it expressed at once the modesty and joy so natural at having +received praise according to her heart's desire. It was the custom that +every poet crowned at the Capitol should recite or extemporise some +piece of poetry, before the destined laurel was placed on his head. +Corinne ordered her lyre to be brought to her--the instrument of her +choice--which greatly resembled the harp, but was however more antique +in form and more simple in its sounds. In tuning it she was seized with +uncommon timidity, and it was with a trembling voice that she asked to +know the subject imposed on her. "_The glory and happiness of Italy!_" +cried all around her with a unanimous voice. "Very well," replied she +already fired with enthusiasm, already supported by her genius, "_the +glory and happiness of Italy_;" and feeling herself animated by the love +of her country she commenced the most charming strains, of which prose +can give but a very imperfect idea. + + * * * * * + +_The Improvisation of Corinne, at the Capitol._ + +"Italy, empire of the sun! Italy, mistress of the world! Italy, the +cradle of letters, I salute thee! How often has the human race been +subjected to thee, tributary to thy arms, to thy art and to thy sky. + +"A deity quitted Olympus to take refuge in Ausonia; the aspect of this +country recalled the virtues of the golden age;--man appeared there too +happy to be supposed guilty. + +"Rome conquered the universe by her genius, and became sovereign by +liberty. The Roman character was imprinted everywhere, and the invasion +of the Barbarians, in destroying Italy obscured the whole world. + +"Italy appeared again with the divine treasures which the fugitive +Greeks brought back to her bosom; heaven revealed its laws to her; the +daring of her children discovered a new hemisphere; she again became +sovereign by the sceptre of thought, but this laurelled sceptre only +produced ingratitude. + +"Imagination restored to her the universe which she had lost. The +painters and the poets created for her an earth, an Olympus, a hell, and +a heaven; and her native fire, better guarded by her genius than by the +Pagan deity, found not in Europe a Prometheus to ravish it from her. + +"Why am I at the Capitol? Why is my humble forehead about to receive the +crown which Petrarch, has worn, and which remained suspended on the +gloomy cypress that weeps over the tomb of Tasso?--Why, if you were not +so enamoured of glory, my fellow-countrymen, that you recompense its +worship as much as its success? + +"Well, if you so love this glory which too often chooses its victims +among the conquerors which it has crowned, reflect with pride upon those +ages which beheld the new birth of the arts. Dante, the modern Homer, +the hero of thought, the sacred poet of our religious mysteries, plunged +his genius into the Styx to land in the infernal regions, and his mind +was profound as the abyss which he has described. + +"Italy in the days of her power was wholly revived in Dante. Animated by +a republican spirit, warrior as well as poet, he breathed the flame of +action among the dead; and his shadows have a more vivid existence than +the living here below. + +"Terrestrial remembrances pursue them still; their aimless passions +devour one another in the heart; they are moved at the past which seems +to them less irrevocable than their eternal future. + +"One would say that Dante, banished from his country, has transported +into imaginary regions the pangs which devoured him. His shades +incessantly demand news from the scene of mortal existence, as the poet +himself eagerly enquires after his native country; and hell presents +itself to him in the form of exile. + +"All, in his eyes, are clothed in the costume of Florence. The ancient +dead whom he invokes, seem to be born again as completely Tuscan as +himself. It was not that his mind was limited--it was the energy of his +soul, that embraced the whole universe within the circle of his +thoughts. + +"A mystical chain of circles and of spheres conducts him from hell to +purgatory, from purgatory to paradise. Faithful historian of his vision, +he pours a flood of light upon the most obscure regions, and the world +which he creates in his triple poem is as complete, as animated and as +brilliant as a planet newly-discovered in the firmament. + +"At his voice the whole earth assumes a poetical form, its objects, +ideas, laws and phenomena, seem a new Olympus of new deities; but this +mythology of the imagination is annihilated, like paganism, at the +aspect of paradise, of that ocean of light, sparkling with rays and with +stars, with virtues and with love. + +"The magic words of our great poet are the prism of the universe; all +its wonders are there reflected, divided, and recomposed; sounds imitate +colours, and colours are blended in harmony; rhyme, sonorous or bizarre, +rapid or prolonged, is inspired by this poetical divination; supreme +beauty of art! triumph of genius! which discovers in nature every secret +in affinity with the heart of man. + +"Dante hoped from his poem the termination of his exile; he reckoned on +Fame as his mediator; but he died too soon to receive the palm of his +country. Often is the fleeting life of man worn out in adversity! and if +glory triumph, if at length he land upon a happier shore, he no sooner +enters the port than the grave yawns before him, and destiny, in a +thousand shapes, often announces the end of life by the return of +happiness. + +"Thus unfortunate Tasso, whom your homage, Romans, was to console for +all the injustice he had suffered; Tasso, the handsome, the gentle, the +heroic, dreaming of exploits, feeling the love which he sang, approached +these walls as his heroes did those of Jerusalem--with respect and +gratitude. But on the eve of the day chosen for his coronation, Death +claimed him for its terrible festival: Heaven is jealous of earth, and +recalls her favourites from the treacherous shores of Time! + +"In an age more proud and more free than that of Tasso, Petrarch was, +like Dante, the valorous poet of Italian independence. In other climes +he is only known by his amours,--here, more severe recollections +encircle his name with never-fading honour; for it is known that he was +inspired by his country more than by Laura herself. + +"He re-animated antiquity by his vigils; and, far from his imagination +raising any obstacle to the most profound studies, its creative power, +in submitting the future to his will, revealed to him the secrets of +past ages. He discovered how greatly knowledge assists invention; and +his genius was so much the more original, since, like the eternal +forces, he could be present at all periods of time. + +"Ariosto derived inspiration from our serene atmosphere, and our +delicious climate. He is the rainbow which appeared after our long wars; +brilliant and many-hued, like that herald of fine weather, he seems to +sport familiarly with life; his light and gentle gaiety is the smile of +nature and not the irony of man. + +"Michael Angelo, Raphael, Pergolese, Galileo, and you, intrepid +travellers, greedy of new countries, though nature could offer nothing +finer than your own, join your glory also to that of the poets. Artists, +scholars, philosophers! you are, like them, the children of that sun +which by turns developes the imagination, animates thought, excites +courage, lulls us into a happy slumber, and seems to promise everything, +or cause it to be forgotten. + +"Do you know that land where the Orange-trees bloom, which the rays of +heaven make fertile with love? Have you heard those melodious sounds +which celebrate the mildness of the nights? Have you breathed those +perfumes which are the luxury of that air, already so pure and so mild? +Answer, strangers; is nature in your countries so beautiful and so +beneficent? + +"In other regions, when social calamities afflict a country, the people +must believe themselves abandoned by the Deity; but here we ever feel +the protection of heaven; we see that he interests himself for man, that +he has deigned to treat him as a noble being. + +"It is not only with vine branches, and with ears of corn, that Nature +is here adorned; she prodigally strews beneath the feet of man, as on +the birthday of a sovereign, an abundance of useless plants and flowers, +which, destined to please, will not stoop to serve. + +"The most delicate pleasures nourished by nature are enjoyed by a nation +worthy of them--a nation who are satisfied with the most simple dishes; +who do not become intoxicated at the fountains of wine which plenty +prepares for them;--a nation who love their sun, their arts, their +monuments, their country, at once antique and in the spring of youth;--a +nation that stand equally aloof from the refined pleasures of luxury, as +from the gross and sordid pleasures of a mercenary people." + +"Here sensations are confounded with ideas; life is drawn in all its +fulness from the same spring, and the soul, like the air, inhabits the +confines of earth, and of heaven. Genius is untrammelled because here +reverie is sweet: its holy calm soothes the soul when perturbed, +lavishes upon it a thousand illusions when it regrets a lost purpose, +and when oppressed by man nature is ready to welcome it." + +"Thus is our country ever beneficent, and her succouring hand heals +every wound. Here, even the pangs of the heart receive consolation, in +admiring a God of kindness, and penetrating the secrets of his love; the +passing troubles of our ephemeral life are lost in the fertile and +majestic bosom of the immortal universe." + +Corinne was interrupted, for some moments, by a torrent of applause. +Oswald alone took no share in the noisy transports that surrounded him. +He had leaned his head upon his hand, when Corinne said: "_Here, even +the pangs of the heart receive consolation_;" and had not raised it +since. Corinne remarked it, and soon, from his features, the colour of +his hair, his costume, his lofty figure, from his whole manner in short, +she knew him for an Englishman: she was struck with his mourning habit, +and the melancholy pictured in his countenance. His look, at that moment +fixed upon her, seemed full of gentle reproaches; she guessed the +thoughts that occupied his mind, and felt the necessity of satisfying +him, by speaking of happiness with less confidence, by consecrating some +verses to death in the midst of a festival. She then resumed her lyre, +with this design, and having produced silence in the assembly, by the +moving and prolonged sounds which she drew from her instrument, began +thus: + +"There are griefs however which our consoling sky cannot efface, but in +what retreat can sorrow make a more sweet and more noble impression upon +the soul than here? + +"In other countries hardly do the living find space sufficient for their +rapid motions and their ardent desires; here, ruins, deserts and +uninhabited palaces, afford an asylum for the shades of the departed. Is +not Rome now the land of tombs? + +"The Coliseum, the obelisks, all the wonders which from Egypt and from +Greece, from the extremity of ages, from Romulus to Leo X. are assembled +here, as if grandeur attracted grandeur, and as if the same spot was to +enclose all that man could secure from the ravages of time; all these +wonders are consecrated to the monuments of the dead. Our indolent life +is scarcely perceived, the silence of the living is homage paid to the +dead; they endure and we pass away. + +"They only are honoured, they are still celebrated: our obscure +destinies serve only to heighten the lustre of our ancestors: our +present existence leaves nothing standing but the past; it will exact no +tribute from future recollections! All our masterpieces are the work of +those who are no more, and genius itself is numbered among the +illustrious dead. + +"Perhaps one of the secret charms of Rome, is to reconcile the +imagination with the sleep of death. Here we learn resignation, and +suffer less pangs of regret for the objects of our love. The people of +the south picture to themselves the end of life in colours less gloomy +than the inhabitants of the north. The sun, like glory, warms even the +tomb. + +"The cold and isolation of the sepulchre beneath our lovely sky, by the +side of so many funereal urns, have less terrors for the human mind. We +believe a crowd of spirits is waiting for our company; and from our +solitary city to the subterranean one the transition seems easy and +gentle. + +"Thus the edge of grief is taken off; not that the heart becomes +indifferent, or the soul dried up; but a more perfect harmony, a more +odoriferous air, mingles with existence. We abandon ourselves to nature +with less fear--to nature, of whom the Creator has said: 'Consider the +lilies of the field; they toil not neither do they spin: yet I say unto +you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these.'" + +Oswald was so ravished with these last strains, that he gave the most +lively testimonies of his admiration; and, upon this occasion, the +transports of the Italians themselves did not equal his. In fact, it was +to him more than to the Romans, that the second improvisation of Corinne +was directed. + +The greater part of the Italians have, in reading poetry, a kind of +singing monotony, called _cantilene_, which destroys all emotion[5]. It +is in vain that the words vary--the impression remains the same; since +the accent, more essential than even the words, hardly varies at all. +But Corinne recited with a variety of tone, which did not destroy the +sustained charm of the harmony;--it was like several different airs +played on some celestial instrument. + +The tones of Corinne's voice, full of sensibility and emotion, giving, +effect to the Italian language, so pompous and so sonorous, produced +upon Oswald an impression entirely novel. The English prosody is uniform +and veiled, its natural beauties are all of a sombre cast; its colouring +has been formed by clouds, and its modulation by the roaring of the sea; +but when Italian words, brilliant as an Italian festival, resonant like +those instruments of victory, which have been compared to scarlet among +colours; when these words, bearing the stamp of that joy which a fine +climate spreads through every heart, are pronounced in a moving voice, +their lustre softened, their strength concentrated, the soul is affected +in a manner as acute as unforeseen. The intention of nature seems +baffled, her benefits of no use, her offers rejected, and the expression +of pain, in the midst of so many enjoyments, astonishes and affects us +more deeply than the grief which is sung in those northern languages +which it seems to inspire. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] We must expect from this censure upon the Italian mode of +declamation, the celebrated Monti, who recites verses as well as he +composes them. It is really one of the greatest dramatic pleasures that +can be experienced, to hear him recite the Episode of Ugolin, of +Francesca da Rimini, the Death of Clorinda, &c. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The Senator took the crown of myrtle and laurel which he was to place on +the head of Corinne. She removed the shawl which graced her forehead, +and all her ebon hair fell in ringlets about her shoulders. She advanced +with her head bare, and her look animated by a sentiment of pleasure and +gratitude which she sought not to conceal. She a second time bent her +knee, to receive the crown; but she displayed less agitation and tremor +than at first; she had just spoken; she had just filled her mind with +the most noble thoughts, and enthusiasm conquered diffidence. She was +no longer a timid woman, but an inspired priestess who joyfully +consecrated herself to the worship of genius. + +As soon as the crown was placed on the head of Corinne all the +instruments were heard in those triumphant airs which fill the soul with +the most sublime emotion. The sound of kettle-drums, and the flourish of +trumpets, inspired Corinne with new feelings--her eyes were filled with +tears--she sat down a moment, and covered her face with her +handkerchief. Oswald, most sensibly affected, quitted the crowd, and +advanced to speak to her, but was withheld by an invincible +embarrassment. Corinne looked at him for some time, taking care +nevertheless, that he should not observe the attention she paid him; but +when the Prince Castel-Forte came to take her hand, in order to conduct +her to the car, she yielded to his politeness with an absent mind; and, +while she permitted him to hand her along, turned her head several +times, under various pretexts, to take another view of Oswald. + +He followed her, and at the moment when she descended the steps +accompanied by her train, she made a retrograde movement, in order to +behold him once more, when her crown fell off. Oswald hastened to pick +it up; and in restoring it to her, said in Italian, that an humble +mortal like himself might venture to place at the feet of a goddess that +crown which he dared not presume to place on her head[6]. Corinne +thanked Lord Nelville in English, with that pure national accent--that +pure insular accent, which has scarcely ever been successfully imitated +on the continent. What was the astonishment of Oswald in hearing her! He +remained at first immovably fixed to the spot where he was, and feeling +confused he leaned against one of the lions of basalt at the foot of +the stairway descending from the Capitol. Corinne viewed him again, +forcibly struck with the emotion he betrayed; but she was dragged away +towards the car, and the whole crowd disappeared long before Oswald had +recovered his strength and his presence of mind. + +Corinne, till then, had enchanted him as the most charming of +foreigners--as one of the wonders of that country he had come to visit; +but her English accent recalled every recollection of his native +country, and in a manner naturalised all the charms of Corinne. Was she +English? Had she passed several years of her life in England? He was +lost in conjecture; but it was impossible that study alone could have +taught her to speak thus--Corinne and Lord Nelville must have lived in +the same country. Who knows whether their families were not intimate? +Perhaps even, he had seen her in his infancy! We often have in our +hearts, we know not what kind of innate image of that which we love, +which may persuade us that we recognise it in an object we behold for +the first time. + +Oswald had cherished many prejudices against the Italians; he believed +them passionate, but changeable, and incapable of any deep and lasting +affection. Already the language of Corinne at the Capitol had inspired +him with a different idea. What would be his fortune, then, if he could +at once revive the recollections of his native country, and receive by +imagination a new existence,--live again for the future without +forgetting the past! + +In the midst of his reveries, Oswald found himself upon the bridge of St +Angelo, which leads to the castle of the same name, or rather to the +tomb of Adrian, which has been converted into a fortress. The silence of +the place, the pale waves of the Tiber, the moon-beams which shed their +mild radiance upon the statues placed on the bridge, and gave to those +statues the appearance of white spectres steadfastly regarding the +current of the waters, and the flight of time which no longer concerned +them; all these objects led him back to his habitual ideas. He put his +hand upon his breast, and felt the portrait of his father which he +always carried there; he untied it, contemplated the features, and the +momentary happiness which he had just experienced, as well as the cause +of that happiness, only recalled, with too severe a remembrance, the +sentiment which had already rendered him so guilty towards his father: +This reflection renewed his remorse. + +"Eternal recollection of my life!" cried he: "Friend so offended, yet so +generous! Could I have believed that any pleasurable sensation would so +soon have found access to my heart? It is not thou, best and most +indulgent of men,--it is not thou who reproachest me with them--it was +thy wish that I should be happy, and, in spite of my errors, that is +still thy desire: but at least, may I not misconceive thy voice, if thou +speak to me from heaven, as I have misconceived it upon earth!" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] Lord Nelville seems to have alluded to this beautiful distich of +Propertius: + + "Ut caput in Magnis ubi non est ponere signis, + Ponitur hîc imos ante corona pedes." + + + + +Book iii. + +CORINNE + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The Count d'Erfeuil was present at the ceremony of the Capitol: He came +the next day to Lord Nelville, and said to him, "My dear Oswald, shall I +take you this evening to see Corinne?" "How!" interrupted Oswald; "are +you acquainted with her, then?" "No," replied the Count d'Erfeuil; "but +so celebrated a lady is always flattered when people express a desire to +see her; and I have written to her this morning to request permission to +visit her in the evening accompanied by you." "I could have wished," +replied Oswald blushing, "that you had not named me in this manner +without my consent." "Do not be angry with me," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "for having spared you some tiresome formalities: Instead of +going to an ambassador, who would have taken you to a cardinal, who +would have conducted you to a lady, who would have introduced you to +Corinne, I present you--you present me, and we shall both of us be very +well received I have no doubt." + +"I am less confident on that subject than you," replied Lord Nelville, +"and certainly not without reason. I am afraid that this forward request +may have displeased Corinne." "Not at all, I assure you," said the Count +d'Erfeuil; "she has too much good sense for that; and her answer is +extremely polite." "How! she has answered you," replied Lord Nelville; +"and what has she said to you, my dear Count?" "Ah, my dear Count?" +said M. d'Erfeuil, laughing, "you change your note then, since you know +that Corinne has answered me; however, _I love you, and all is +pardoned_. I will confess to you then, modestly, that in my note I had +spoken of myself more than of you, and that, in her answer she seems to +have named you first, but I am never jealous of my friends." "Indeed," +replied Lord Nelville, "I do not think that either you or I have any +reason to flatter ourselves with being agreeable to Corinne; and as to +me, all that I desire is sometimes to enjoy the society of so +extraordinary a lady: so adieu till this evening, since you have +arranged it so." "You will accompany me then?" said the Count d'Erfeuil. +"Well, yes, I will," answered Lord Nelville with visible embarrassment. +"Why then," continued the Count, "find fault with what I have done? You +finish as I have begun, but however, I must allow you the honour of +being more reserved than I, provided you lose nothing by it. Corinne is +certainly a charming lady, she is graceful and witty; I could not +comprehend what she said very well, because she spoke Italian; but I +would venture to lay a wager, from only seeing her, that she knows +French very well: however, we shall judge of that in the evening. She +leads a very singular life; she is rich, young, and independent; yet no +one can tell, to a certainty, whether she has lovers or not. It appears +certain, notwithstanding, that, at present she gives a preference to no +one; indeed," added he, "it may be the case that she has not been able +to find in this country a man worthy of her: that would not astonish me +at all." + +The Count held this kind of discourse some time longer without being +interrupted by Lord Nelville. He said nothing that was discourteous; but +he always wounded the delicate feelings of Oswald by speaking with too +much boldness or too much levity upon what interested him. There is a +certain tact that even wit and knowledge of the world will not teach; so +that, without being wanting in the most perfect politeness, we may often +wound the heart. + +Lord Nelville was very much agitated the whole day in thinking of the +visit he was to make in the evening; but he drove away from him as much +as he could the reflections which disturbed him, and endeavoured to +persuade himself that he might find pleasure in a sentiment, without +permitting it to decide the fate of his life. False security! for the +soul receives no pleasure from anything which it deems transient. + +Oswald and the Count arrived at Corinne's house, which was situated in +the _Quartiere di Trastevere_, a little beyond the castle of St Angelo. + +The view of the Tiber gave an additional embellishment to this house, +which was ornamented, internally, with the most perfect elegance. The +saloon was decorated with copies, in plaster, of the best statues in +Italy--Niobe, Laocoon, Venus de Medicis, and the Dying Gladiator. In the +apartment where Corinne received company were instruments of music, +books, and furniture not more remarkable for its simplicity than for its +convenience, being merely arranged so as to render the conversation +easy, and to draw the circle more closely together. Corinne had not yet +made her appearance when Oswald arrived; while waiting for her he walked +about the apartment with much eager curiosity, remarking in every +particular a happy medley of all that is most agreeable in the English, +French and Italian nations; the love of literature, the taste for +society, and a passion for the fine arts. + +Corinne at length appeared; her costume was still picturesque without +being over-studied. Her hair was ornamented with antique cameos and she +wore a necklace of coral: her politeness was noble and easy: in +beholding her in the familiar circle of her friends, you might discover +in her the goddess of the Capitol, notwithstanding she was perfectly +simple and natural in everything. She first saluted the Count d'Erfeuil, +her eyes fixed upon Oswald; and then, as if she repented this piece of +falsehood, she advanced towards the latter--and it might be remarked +that in addressing him by the title of Lord Nelville, that name seemed +to produce a singular effect upon her, and twice she repeated it with a +faltering voice, as if it recalled some affecting remembrances. + +At length, in the most graceful manner, she thanked Lord Nelville, in +Italian, for his obliging behaviour on the preceding day in picking up +her crown. Oswald answered by expressing the admiration with which she +inspired him, and gently complained of her not speaking to him upon this +occasion in English: "Am I more an alien to you to-day," added he, "than +I was yesterday?" "No certainly," replied Corinne; "but when people +have, like me, for several years, been in the habit of speaking two or +three different languages, they are apt to employ that which will best +convey the sentiments they wish to express." "Surely," said Oswald, +"English is your natural language, that which you speak to your friends, +that--" "I am an Italian," interrupted Corinne--"pardon me, my lord, but +I think I discover in you that national pride which often characterises +your countrymen. In this country we are more modest; we are neither +pleased with ourselves like the French, nor proud of ourselves like the +English: we only ask a little indulgence of foreigners, and as we have +long ceased to be considered a nation, we are guilty of sometimes being +wanting, as individuals, in that dignity which is not allowed us as a +people. But when you are acquainted with the Italians, you will see +that they possess in their character, some traces of ancient greatness, +some rare traces which, though now effaced, may appear again in happier +times. I will speak English to you sometimes, but not always: Italian is +dear to me; for I have endured much," added she, "to reside in Italy." + +The Count d'Erfeuil politely reproached Corinne with having entirely +forgotten him, by expressing herself in languages he did not understand. +"Lovely Corinne," said he to her, "pray talk French; indeed you are +worthy of such an accomplishment." Corinne smiled at this compliment, +and began to speak French, with great purity and much facility, but with +an English accent. Lord Nelville and the Count d'Erfeuil were equally +astonished, but the Count, who believed he might say anything, provided +it was done with grace, and who imagined that impoliteness consisted in +the form, and not the substance, asked directly of Corinne, the reason +of this singularity. She was at first a little discomposed at this +sudden interrogation; but recovering her presence of mind, she said to +the Count--"Apparently, Sir, I have learnt French of an Englishman?" He +renewed his questions smilingly, but with much earnestness. Corinne more +and more embarrassed, said to him at last, "For these four years past, +Sir, since I have settled at Rome, none of my friends, none of those +who, I am sure, are most interested on my account have questioned me +concerning my destiny; they easily perceived that it was painful to me +to speak on the subject." + +Those words put an end to the questions of the Count; but Corinne was +afraid she had offended him, and as he appeared to be very intimately +connected with Lord Nelville, she feared still more, without asking +herself the reason of such fear, that he might speak disadvantageously +of her to his friend; and therefore she set about taking much pains to +please him. + +The Prince Castel-Forte arrived at this moment, with several Romans, +friends of his and of Corinne. They were men of an amiable mind and +lively disposition, very prepossessing in their appearance, and so +easily animated by the conversation of others that it was a great +pleasure to converse with them, so exquisitely did they appear to feel +every thing that was worthy of being felt. The indolence of the Italians +prevents them from displaying in company, or often in any way whatever, +all the wit they possess. The greater part of them do not even cultivate +in retirement, the intellectual faculties that nature has given them; +but they enjoy with transport, that which comes to them without trouble. + +Corinne possessed a very gay turn of wit; she perceived the ridiculous +with the keen sense of a French woman, and coloured it with the +imagination of an Italian; but in every instance it was mingled with +goodness of heart; nothing was ever seen in her, either premeditated or +hostile; for, in every thing, it is coldness that offends--and +imagination on the contrary, is always accompanied with good-nature. + +Oswald discovered a grace in Corinne which was entirely new to him. One +great and terrible circumstance of his life was connected with the +remembrance of a very amiable and intelligent French woman; but Corinne +resembled her in nothing--her conversation was a mixture of every kind +of intellectual endowment, enthusiasm for the fine arts, and knowledge +of the world; refinement of ideas, and depth of sentiment; in short, all +the charms of a vivacious and rapid mind were observable in her, without +her thoughts ever being on that account incomplete, or her reflections +superficial. Oswald was at once surprised and charmed, uneasy and +transported; he was unable to comprehend how one person alone could +combine all the qualifications of Corinne. He asked himself whether the +union of all these qualities was the effect of an inconsistent or a +superior character; whether it was by the force of universal feeling, or +because she forgot every thing successively, that she passed thus, +almost in the same instant, from melancholy to gaiety, from profundity +to grace--from conversation the most astonishing, by the knowledge and +the ideas it displayed, to the coquetry of a woman who seeks to please, +and desires to captivate; but there was, even in that coquetry, such +perfect nobleness that it imposed as much respect as the most severe +reserve. + +The Prince Castel-Forte was very much taken up with Corinne, and the +sentiments of all his party were manifested towards her by attention and +the most delicate and assiduous respect; and the habitual worship with +which they surrounded her, made every day of her life a sort of +festival. Corinne felt herself happy in being thus beloved; but it was +that sort of happiness which we feel in living in a mild climate, +hearing nothing but harmonious sounds, and receiving, in short, nothing +but agreeable impressions. The serious and profound passion of love was +not painted on her countenance, where every emotion of her soul was +expressed by a most bright and mobile physiognomy. Oswald beheld her in +silence; his presence animated Corinne, and inspired her with the desire +of pleasing. However, she sometimes checked herself in those moments +when her conversation was the most brilliant, astonished at the calm +exterior of Oswald, not knowing whether he approved her or blamed her +secretly, or whether his English ideas would permit him to applaud this +display of talents in a woman. + +Oswald was too much captivated by the charms of Corinne, to call to +mind his old opinions upon that obscurity which became women; but he was +inquiring of himself, whether it were possible to be beloved by her; +whether any man could expect to concentrate in himself so many rays of +light. In fact, he was at the same time dazzled and disturbed; and +although, at his departure, she invited him, very politely, to come and +see her again, he suffered a whole day to pass without availing himself +of the invitation, experiencing a sort of terror from the sentiment by +which he felt himself impelled. + +Sometimes he compared this sentiment with the fatal error of the first +moments of his youth, but immediately banished such a comparison from +his mind--for then it was a perfidious art that had overcome him; but +who could doubt the truth of Corinne? Was that peculiar charm she +possessed the effect of magic, or of poetical inspiration? Was she an +Armida, or a Sappho? Was there any hope of captivating so lofty and +brilliant a genius! It was impossible to decide; but at least it was +easily seen, that not society, but heaven itself, could have formed this +extraordinary being, and that her mind could no more be imitated, than +her character feigned. "Oh, my father!" said Oswald, "if you had known +Corinne what would you have thought of her?" + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The Count d'Erfeuil came in the morning, according to custom, to see +Lord Nelville, and reproaching him for not having been to see Corinne +the day before, said, "Had you come, you would have been very happy." +"Why so?" replied Oswald. "Because yesterday I discovered, to a +certainty, that you have greatly interested her." "Still this levity," +interrupted Lord Nelville; "know that I neither can nor will endure it." +"Do you call levity," said the Count, "the promptitude of my +observation? Am I less in the right, because more quickly so? You were +made to live in the happy time of the Patriarchs, when the age of man +was five centuries; but mind, I give you notice that four of them at +least are lopped off in our days." "Be it so," answered Oswald, "and +what discovery have you made by these rapid observations?"--"That +Corinne loves you. Yesterday, when I arrived at her house, she received +me very kindly, to be sure; but her eyes were fixed on the door, to see +whether you followed me. She tried for a moment to talk of something +else; but as she is a lady of a very ingenuous and natural disposition, +she asked me, quite frankly, why you had not come with me? I blamed you +very much; I said that you were a very odd, gloomy sort of creature; but +you will excuse my relating all that I said over and above in your +praise." + +"'He is very sad,' said Corinne; 'he must certainly have lost some one +very dear to him. Whom is he in mourning for?' 'His father, Madam,' said +I; 'though it is more than a year since he lost him; and as the law of +nature obliges us all to survive our parents, I imagine there is some +other secret cause for so long and deep a melancholy.' 'Oh!' replied +Corinne, 'I am very far from thinking that griefs, similar in +appearance, are felt alike by all men. I am very much tempted to believe +that the father of your friend, and your friend himself, are exceptions +from the general rule.' Her voice was very tender, my dear Oswald, when +she said these words." "Are these," replied Oswald, "your proofs of that +interest you spoke of?" "In truth," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "these +are quite enough, according to my way of thinking, to convince a man +that he is beloved by a lady; but since you wish for better, you shall +have them; I have reserved the strongest for the last. Prince +Castel-Forte arrived, and related your adventure at Ancona, without +knowing that he was speaking of you: he related it with much fire and +imagination, as well as I could judge from the two lessons of Italian I +have taken; but there are so many French words in the foreign languages, +that we comprehend them, almost all, without even knowing them. Besides, +the countenance of Corinne would have explained to me what I did not +understand. One might read in it so visibly the agitation of her heart! +She did not breathe, for fear of losing a single word; and when she +asked if he knew the name of this generous and intrepid Englishman, such +was her anxiety, that it was easy to judge how much she dreaded to hear +pronounced any other name than yours. + +"Prince Castel-Forte said he did not know the gentleman's name; and +Corinne, turning quickly towards me, cried, 'Is it not true, Sir, that +it was Lord Nelville?' 'Yes, Madam,' answered I, 'it was he, himself;' +and Corinne then melted in tears. She had not wept during the story; +what was there then more affecting in the name of the hero than in the +recital itself?" "She wept!" cried Nelville, "Ah!--why was I not there?" +Then, checking himself all of a sudden, he cast down his eyes, and his +manly countenance was expressive of the most delicate timidity: he +hastened to resume the conversation, for fear that the Count might +disturb his secret joy by observing it. "If the adventure of Ancona +deserves to be related," said Oswald, "'tis to you, also, my dear Count, +that the honour of it belongs." "It is true," answered d'Erfeuil, +laughing, "that they mentioned an amiable Frenchman, who was along with +you, my lord; but no one save myself paid attention to this parenthesis +in the narration. The lovely Corinne prefers you; she believes you, +without doubt, the more faithful of the two: perhaps she may be +mistaken; you may even cause her more grief than I should; but women are +fond of pain, provided it is a little romantic; so you will suit her." + +Lord Nelville suffered from every word of the Count, but what could he +say to him? He never argued; he never listened attentively enough to +change his opinion; his words, once uttered, gave him no farther +concern, and the best way was to forget them, if possible, as soon as he +himself did. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Oswald arrived in the evening at Corinne's, with a sentiment entirely +new; he thought that he was expected. What enchantment there is in that +first gleam of intercourse with the object of our love!--before +remembrance enters into partnership with hope--before words have +expressed our sentiments,--before eloquence has painted what we feel, +there is in these first moments, something so indefinite, a mystery of +the imagination, more fleeting than happiness, it must be owned, but +also more celestial. + +Oswald, on entering the apartment of Corinne, felt more timid than ever. +He saw that she was alone, and that circumstance almost gave him pain: +he could have wished to see her longer in the midst of society; he could +have wished to be convinced, in some manner, of her preference, instead +of finding himself all of a sudden engaged in a conversation which might +make Corinne cool towards him, if, as was certain, he should appear +embarrassed, and cold in consequence of that embarrassment. + +Whether Corinne perceived this disposition of Oswald, or whether it was +that a similar disposition produced in her a desire to animate the +conversation in order to remove restraint, she asked his Lordship +whether he had seen any of the monuments of Rome. "No," answered Oswald. +"What did you do with yourself yesterday, then?" replied Corinne +smiling. "I passed the whole day at home," said Oswald. "Since I have +been at Rome, Madam, my time has been divided between solitude and you." +Corinne wished to introduce the subject of his behaviour at Ancona; she +began by these words: "Yesterday I learnt--" then she stopped and said, +"I will speak to you of that when the company comes." There was a +dignity in the manners of Lord Nelville that intimidated Corinne; and, +besides, she feared, lest in reminding him of his noble conduct, she +should betray too much emotion; conceiving that emotion would be less +when they were no longer alone. Oswald was deeply touched with the +reserve of Corinne, and the frankness with which she testified, without +thinking, the motives of that reserve; but the more he was affected the +less was he able to express what he felt. + +He arose all of a sudden, and advanced towards the window; then he felt +that Corinne would be unable to explain the meaning of this movement, +and more disconcerted than ever, he returned to his place without saying +anything. There was in the conversation of Corinne more confidence than +in that of Oswald; nevertheless, she partook of the embarrassment which +he exhibited; and in her absence of mind, seeking to recover her +countenance, she placed her fingers upon the harp which was standing by +her side, and struck some chords, without connection or design. These +harmonious sounds, by increasing the emotion of Oswald, seemed to +inspire him with more boldness. He could now look at Corinne, and who +but must have been struck, in beholding her, with that divine +inspiration which was painted in her eyes! Encouraged at the same moment +by that mild expression which veiled the majesty of her looks, he would +then perhaps have spoken, but was prevented by the entrance of Prince +Castel-Forte. + +It was not without pain that he beheld Nelville _tête-à-tête_ with +Corinne, but he was accustomed to dissimulate his feelings. This habit, +which is often found in the Italians united with great vehemence of +sensation, was in him rather the result of indolence and of natural +gentleness. He was content not to be the first object of Corinne's +affections; he was no longer young; he possessed great intelligence, +considerable taste for the arts, an imagination sufficiently animated to +diversify life without disturbing it, and such a desire to pass all his +evenings with Corinne, that if she were to be married he would conjure +her husband to let him come every day, to see her as usual, and upon +this condition he would not have been very unhappy at seeing her united +to another. The grief of the heart is not found in Italy complicated +with the sufferings of vanity, so that we find there, men either +passionate enough to stab their rival through jealousy, or men modest +enough to take willingly the second rank in the favour of a lady whose +conversation is agreeable to them; but rarely will be found any who for +fear of being thought despised, would refuse to preserve any sort of +connection which they found pleasing. The empire of society over +self-esteem is almost null in this country. + +The Count d'Erfeuil and the company that met every evening at Corinne's +house being assembled, the conversation turned upon the talent for +improvisation which their heroine had so gloriously displayed at the +Capitol, and they went so far as to ask her own opinion of it. "It is +something so rare," said Prince Castel-Forte, "to find any one at once +susceptible of enthusiasm and of analysis, gifted as an artist and +capable of observing herself, that we must intreat her to reveal to us +the secrets of her genius." "The talent for improvisation," replied +Corinne, "is not more extraordinary in the languages of the south, than +the eloquence of the tribune, or the brilliant vivacity of conversation +in other tongues. I will even say that, unfortunately it is with us more +easy to make verses _impromptu_ than to speak well in prose. The +language of poetry is so different from that of prose, that from the +first verses the attention is commanded by the expressions themselves, +which, if I may so express it, place the poet at a distance from his +auditors. It is not only to the softness of the Italian language, but +much more to its strong and pronounced vibration of sonorous syllables, +that we must attribute the empire of poetry amongst us. There is a kind +of musical charm in Italian, by which the bare sound of words, almost +independently of the ideas, produces pleasure; besides, these words have +almost all something picturesque in them; they paint what they express. +You feel that it is in the midst of the arts, and under an auspicious +sky that this melodious, and highly-coloured language has been formed. +It is therefore more easy in Italy than any where else, to seduce with +words, without profundity of thought or novelty of imagery. Poetry, like +all the fine arts, captivates the senses, as much as the intellect. I +dare venture to say, however, that I have never improvised without +feeling myself animated by some real emotion, some idea which I believed +new, therefore I hope that I have trusted less than others to our +bewitching language. It is possible, if I may say so, to prelude at +random, and convey a lively pleasure by the charm of rhythm and of +harmony alone." + +"You believe then," interrupted one of the friends of Corinne, "that the +talent for improvisation injures our literature; I thought so once +myself, but hearing you, madam, has made me entirely alter that +opinion." "I have said," replied Corinne, "that there resulted from this +facility, this literary abundance, a quantity of inferior poetry; but I +am as pleased with this fecundity, which exists in Italy, as I am with +seeing our fields covered with a thousand superfluous products. This +liberality of nature makes me proud. I am particularly pleased with the +improvisations of the lower classes of the people; it discovers their +imagination to us, which is concealed everywhere else, and is only +developed amongst us. They give a poetical character to the lowest +orders of society, and spare us the contempt which we cannot help +feeling for every thing that is vulgar. When our Sicilians, conveying +travellers in their vessels, so delicately and politely felicitate them +in their pleasing dialect, and wish them in verse a sweet and long +adieu, one would say the pure breeze of heaven and of the sea produces +the same effect upon the imagination of men as the wind on the Æolian +harp, and that poetry, like the chords of that instrument, is the echo +of nature. One thing makes me attach an additional value to our talent +for improvisation, and that is, that it would be almost impossible in a +society disposed to mockery. It requires the good humour of the south, +or rather of those countries where people love to amuse themselves +without taking pleasure in criticising that which affords them +amusement, to encourage poets to venture on so perilous an enterprise. +One jeering smile would be sufficient to destroy that presence of mind +necessary for a sudden and uninterrupted composition: your audience must +become animated with you, and inspire you with their applause." + +"But madam," said Oswald at last, who till then had kept silence without +having for a moment ceased to behold Corinne, "to which of your poetical +talents do you yourself give the preference? To the work of inflection, +or of momentary inspiration?" "My lord," answered Corinne, with a look +that expressed the highest interest and the most delicate sentiment of +respectful consideration, "it is you that I would wish to make the judge +of that; but if you ask me to examine my own thoughts upon this subject, +I would say that improvisation is to me as an animated conversation. I +do not confine myself to any particular subject, I yield entirely to the +impression produced on me by the attention of my hearers, and it is to +my friends, in this instance, that I owe the greatest part of my talent. +Sometimes the impassioned interest with which I am inspired by a +conversation in which we have spoken of some great and noble question +that relates to the moral existence of man, his destiny, his end, his +duties and his affections; sometimes this interest elevates me above my +strength, makes me discover in nature, in my own heart, bold truths, +expressions full of life, that solitary reflection would not have given +birth to. I then believe myself acted upon by a supernatural enthusiasm, +and feel that what is speaking within me is greater than myself. Often I +quit the rhythm of poetry to express my thoughts in prose; sometimes I +quote the finest verses of the different languages I am acquainted with. +These divine verses, with which my soul is penetrated, have become my +own. Sometimes also I finish upon my lyre by chords, by simple and +national airs, the sentiments and thoughts which have escaped me in +speaking. In a word, I feel myself a poet, not only when a happy choice +of rhymes and harmonious syllables, or a happy combination of images +dazzles my auditors, but when my soul is elevated to the highest degree +and looks down with contempt upon every thing that is selfish and base: +in short, when a noble action appears most easy to me, it is then that +my poetry is in its greatest perfection. I am a poet when I admire, when +I despise, when I hate, not from personal feeling, not on my own +account, but for the dignity of human nature and the glory of the +world." + +Corinne then perceiving how the conversation had carried her away, +blushed a little, and turning towards Lord Nelville said to him, "you +see, my lord, I cannot touch upon any of those subjects that affect me +without experiencing that sort of shock which is the source of ideal +beauty in the arts, of religion in solitary minds, of generosity in +heroes, and of disinterestedness among men. Pardon me, my lord, although +such a woman resemble but little those whom your nation approves." "Who +could resemble you?" replied Lord Nelville; "can we make laws for one +who is without her like?" + +The Count d'Erfeuil was absolutely enchanted, notwithstanding he had not +understood all that Corinne had said; but her gestures, the sound of her +voice, and her pronunciation, charmed him.--It was the first time that +any grace which was not French had produced an effect upon him. But +indeed the great celebrity of Corinne at Rome put him a little in the +way of what he should think of her, and in his admiration of this +extraordinary lady he did not drop the good custom of letting himself be +guided by the opinion of others. + +He quitted Corinne's house along with Lord Nelville, and said to him on +their way home, "allow, my dear Oswald, that I may lay claim to some +merit for not having paid my court to so charming a lady." "But," +observed Nelville, "it seems, according to general opinion, that she is +not easy to please in that respect." "It is said so," replied the Count, +"but I can hardly believe it. A single woman of independent means who +leads nearly the life of an artist ought not to be so difficult to +captivate." Lord Nelville was wounded by this reflection. The Count, +whether he did not perceive it, or whether he wished to pursue the train +of his own ideas, continued thus: + +"I do not mean to say, however, that if I entertained much faith in a +lady's virtue, I might not as readily believe in that of Corinne as in +that of any other. She has certainly a thousand times more expression in +her look, and vivacity in her arguments than would be necessary in your +country, or even in ours, to excite suspicion of the rigidness of a +lady's virtue; but she is a person of so superior a mind, such profound +knowledge, and such fine tact, that the ordinary rules by which we judge +a woman cannot apply to her. In fact, would you believe it, +notwithstanding the openness of her disposition, and the freedom of her +conversation, she really imposes reserve upon me. It was my wish, +yesterday, with all due respect to her predilection for you, to say a +few words, at random, upon my own account: they were words that take +their chance; if they are heard, well and good; if not, well and good +still; and do you know Corinne gave me such cold looks that I was quite +disconcerted. It is, however, singular that one should feel any timidity +in the company of an Italian, a poet, an artist, every thing, in short, +that ought to produce quite a contrary effect." "Her name is unknown," +observed Nelville, "but her manners would make one believe that her +birth is illustrious." "Ah! it is in romances," said the Count, "that we +see the finest part of a character concealed, but in real life people +are more disposed to exhibit all that is most honourable in their life, +and even a little more than all." "Yes," interrupted Oswald, "in some +societies where people think of nothing but the effect they can produce +upon one another; but in one whose existence is internal there may be +mysteries in circumstances, as there are secrets in thought, and he only +who would espouse Corinne might be able to know them." "Espouse +Corinne!" interrupted the Count, bursting out laughing, "truly that idea +never occurred to me! Take my advice, my dear Nelville, if you wish to +do foolish things let them be such as will admit of reparation; but as +for marriage, you must always consider propriety. I appear frivolous in +your eyes, nevertheless I wager that in the conduct of life I shall be +more reasonable than you." "I believe so too," answered Lord Nelville, +and said not another word. + +In effect, he might have told the Count d'Erfeuil that there is often a +great deal of egotism in frivolity, and that such egotism can never +betray people into those errors of sentiment in which we always +sacrifice our own personal considerations to those of others! Frivolous +characters are very likely to acquire address in the pursuit of their +own interests; for in all that is called the political science of +private, as well as of public life, people succeed oftener by those +qualities which they have not than by those which they possess. Absence +of enthusiasm, absence of opinion, absence of sensibility, a little +understanding, combined with this negative treasure, and social life, +that is to say, fortune and rank, may be acquired or supported well +enough. The pleasantries of the Count however pained Lord Nelville; he +blamed them, but nevertheless they continually occupied his thoughts. + + + + +Book iv. + +ROME. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +A fortnight passed away, during which Lord Nelville dedicated himself +entirely to the society of Corinne. He quitted his lodgings but to go +and visit her--he saw nothing--he sought nothing but her; and, without +ever mentioning his passion, he made her sensible of it at every moment +of the day. She was accustomed to the lively and flattering homage of +the Italians; but Oswald's dignity of manners, his apparent coldness, +and the sensibility which he betrayed in spite of himself, produced a +more powerful effect upon her imagination.--Never did he relate a +generous action, never did he speak of a misfortune, without his eyes +being filled with tears; but he always endeavoured to conceal his +emotion. He inspired Corinne with a sentiment of respect such as she had +not felt for a long time before. No wit, however sparkling, could dazzle +her; but she was deeply interested by elevation and dignity of +character. Lord Nelville joined to these qualities, a nobleness in his +expressions, an elegance in the least actions of his life, which formed +a striking contrast to the negligence and familiarity of the greater +part of the Roman nobility. + +Though the tastes of Oswald were in some respects different from those +of Corinne, they mutually understood each other in a most wonderful +manner. Nelville conjectured the impressions of Corinne with perfect +sagacity, and Corinne discovered, in the slightest alteration of +Nelville's countenance, what passed in his mind. Accustomed to the +stormy demonstrations of passion that characterise the Italians, this +timid but proud attachment, this passion, incessantly proved, but never +avowed, spread a new charm over her existence: she felt as if encircled +with a calmer and purer atmosphere, and every instant of the day +inspired her with a sentiment of happiness which she loved to enjoy +without accounting for it. + +One morning Prince Castel-Forte visited her--he appeared sorrowful--she +asked him the cause of his sorrow. "This Scotsman," said he to her, "is +about to deprive us of your affections; and who knows even, whether he +will not rob us of you entirely?" Corinne was silent for some moments, +and then answered, "I assure you he has not even once told me that he +loved me." "You are, notwithstanding, convinced of it," answered Prince +Castel-Forte; "his conduct is sufficiently eloquent, and even his +silence is a powerful means of interesting you.--What can language +express that you have not heard? What kind of praise is there that has +not been offered you? What species of homage is there that you are not +accustomed to receive? But there is something concealed in the character +of Lord Nelville which will never allow you to know him entirely as you +know us. There is no person in the world whose character is more easy +than yours to become acquainted with; but it is precisely because you +shew yourself without disguise that mystery and reserve have a pleasing +ascendancy over you. That which is unknown, be it what it may, +influences you more strongly than all the sentiments which are +manifested to you." Corinne smiled; "You believe then, my dear Prince," +said she, "that my heart is ungrateful, and my imagination capricious. +Methinks however that Lord Nelville possesses and displays qualities +sufficiently remarkable to render it impossible that I can flatter +myself with having discovered them." "He is, I agree," answered Prince +Castel-Forte, "proud, generous and intelligent; with much sensibility +too, and particularly melancholy; but I am very much deceived, or there +is not the least sympathy of taste between you. You do not perceive it +while he is under the charm of your presence, but your empire over him +would not hold if he were absent from you. Obstacles would fatigue him; +his soul has contracted by the grief which he has experienced, a kind of +discouragement, which must destroy the energy of his resolutions; and +you know, besides, how much the English in general are enslaved to the +manners and habits of their country." + +At these words Corinne was silent and sighed. Painful reflections on the +first events of her life were retraced in her mind; but in the evening +she saw Oswald again, more her slave than ever; and all that remained in +her mind of the conversation of Prince Castel-Forte was the desire of +fixing Lord Nelville in Italy by making him enamoured of the beauties of +every kind with which that country abounds. It was with this intention +that she wrote to him the following letter. The freedom of the life +which is led in Rome excused this proceeding, and Corinne in particular, +though she might be reproached with too much openness and enthusiasm, +knew how to preserve dignity with independence, and modesty with +vivacity. + + _Corinne to Lord Nelville_. + _Dec. 15th, 1794._ + +"I do not know, my lord, whether you will think me too confident in +myself, or whether you will do justice to the motives which may excuse +that confidence. Yesterday I heard you say that you had not yet seen +Rome, that you were neither acquainted with the masterpieces of our fine +arts, nor those ancient ruins which teach us history by imagination and +sentiment, and I have conceived the idea of presuming to offer myself as +your guide in this journey through a course of centuries. + +"Without doubt, Rome could easily present a great number of scholars +whose profound erudition might be much more useful to you, but if I can +succeed in inspiring you with a love for this retreat, towards which I +have always felt myself so imperiously attracted, your own studies will +finish the rude draft which I shall have begun. + +"Many foreigners come to Rome as they would go to London or to Paris, to +seek the dissipation of a great city; and if they dared confess they +were bored at Rome, I believe the greater part would confess it; but it +is equally true that here may be found a charm that never tires. Will +you pardon me, my lord, a wish that this charm were known to you. + +"It is true that here you must forget all the political interests in the +world, but when these interests are not united to sacred sentiments and +duties they chill the heart. Here too you must renounce what would be +called the pleasures of society, but these pleasures almost invariably +wither up the imagination. In Rome you may enjoy an existence at once +solitary and animated, which freely develops all that Heaven has +implanted in us. I repeat it, my lord; pardon this love of my country, +which begets a desire to make it beloved by such a man as you; and do +not judge, with the severity of an Englishman, those testimonies of +good-will which an Italian hopes she may give you without sinking either +in her own estimation or in yours. + + CORRINE." + + +In vain would Oswald have endeavoured to conceal the exquisite pleasure +he received from this letter; he caught a glimpse of a confused future +of enjoyment and happiness: imagination, love, enthusiasm, all that is +divine in the soul of man, appeared to him united with the project of +seeing Rome with Corinne. For, this time he did not reflect; this time +he set out the very instant to visit Corinne, and by the way he +contemplated the sky, he enjoyed the charm of the weather, life sat +lightly on him. His griefs and his fears were lost in the clouds of +hope; his heart, so long oppressed by sadness, palpitated and leaped +with joy; he feared, it is true, that so happy a disposition of mind +might not last; but the very idea that it was fleeting gave to this +fever of enjoyment more force and activity. + +"What, are you come already?" said Corinne, seeing Lord Nelville enter; +"Ah, thanks!" and she stretched forth her hand. Oswald seized it, and +imprinted his lips on it with the warmest tenderness; nor did he suffer +now that timidity which often mingled itself with his most agreeable +impressions, and caused him sometimes to endure, in the company of those +he loved best, the most bitter and painful feelings. The intimacy had +commenced between Oswald and Corinne since they had parted; it was the +letter of Corinne which had established it: they were satisfied with +each other, and mutually felt the most tender gratitude. + +"This morning then," said Corinne, "I will shew you the Pantheon and St +Peter's: I had, indeed, some hope," added she smiling, "that you would +accept my offer to make the tour of Rome with you, so my horses are +ready. I have expected you; you have arrived; 'tis very well, let us set +out." "Astonishing woman!" said Oswald; "Who then, art thou? Whence hast +thou derived so many opposite charms, which it would seem ought to +exclude each other;--sensibility, gaiety, profound reflection, external +grace, freedom, and modesty? Art thou an illusion? art thou some +supernatural blessing, destined to make happy the life of him who is +fortunate enough to meet with thee?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "if I have +it in my power to do you any service you must not think I will ever give +up the merit of it." "Take care," said Oswald, seizing Corinne's hand +with emotion; "take care what service it is you are about to render me. +For these two years the iron hand of affliction has closed up my heart; +if your sweet presence has afforded me relief; if, while with you, I +breathe again, what will become of me when once more abandoned to my +destiny?--What will become of me?" "Let us leave to time and to chance," +interrupted Corinne, "to decide whether this impression of a day, which +I have produced upon you, will be longer than a day in its duration. If +there be a mutual sympathy between our souls, our mutual affection will +not be transient. Be that as it may, let us go and admire together all +that can elevate our mind and our sentiments; we shall thus taste some +moments of happiness." + +In finishing these words Corinne went down stairs, and Nelville followed +her, astonished at her answer. It seemed to him that she admitted the +possibility of a half sentiment,--a momentary attraction. In short, he +thought he perceived something like levity in the manner in which she +had expressed herself, and he was hurt at it. + +He placed himself, without saying a word, in Corinne's carriage; who, +guessing his thoughts, said to him, "I do not believe that the heart of +man is so formed that he must always feel either no love at all or the +most invincible passion. There are beginnings of sentiment which a more +profound examination may dissipate. We flatter and then undeceive +ourselves, and even the enthusiasm of which we are susceptible, if it +renders the enchantment more rapid, may also cause coldness to succeed +the more quickly." "You have, then, reflected deeply on the tender +passion," said Oswald with bitterness. Corinne blushed at this word, and +was silent for some moments; then resuming the conversation, with a +striking mixture of frankness and dignity, "I do not believe," said she, +"that a woman of sensibility has ever arrived at the age of twenty-six +years, without having known the illusion of love; but if never having +been happy, if never having met the object who could merit all the +affections of my heart, be any claim to interest in the bosom of man, I +have a claim to yours." These words, and the accent with which Corinne +pronounced them, dissipated a little, the cloud which had spread over +the soul of Lord Nelville; nevertheless he said to himself: "She is the +most fascinating of women, but an Italian; and hers is not that timid, +innocent heart, to herself unknown, which the young English lady that my +father destined for me must possess." + +The name of this young English lady was Lucilia Edgermond, daughter to +the best friend of Lord Nelville's father; but she was too young when +Oswald quitted England for him to marry her, or even foresee, with +certainty, what she would one day become. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Oswald and Corinne went first to the Pantheon, which is now called _St +Mary of the Rotunda_. In every part of Italy Catholicism has inherited +something of Paganism, but the Pantheon is the only ancient Temple of +Rome which is preserved entire, the only one where may be remarked in +its _ensemble_ the beauty of the architecture of the ancients, and the +particular character of their worship. Oswald and Corinne stopped in the +square of the Pantheon to admire the portico of this Temple and the +pillars that support it. + +Corinne made Nelville observe that the Pantheon was constructed in such +a manner as to appear greater than it was. "The church of St Peter," +said she, "will produce quite a different effect upon you; you will +believe it at first less stupendous than it is in reality. This +illusion, so favourable to the Pantheon, comes, as I am assured, from +there being more space between the pillars, and the air playing freely +around it; but principally from your not perceiving any of that detailed +ornament with which St Peter's is overladen. It is thus that the ancient +poets only designed large masses, and left the imagination of the hearer +to fill up the intervals, and supply the developments; but we moderns in +all things say too much." + +"This Temple," continued Corinne, "was consecrated by Agrippa, the +favourite of Augustus, to his friend, or rather to his master. However, +the master had the modesty to refuse the dedication of the Temple, and +Agrippa was obliged to dedicate it to all the gods in Olympus, in order +to take the place of Power, the god of the earth. There was a car of +bronze on the top of the Pantheon, on which were placed the statues of +Augustus and of Agrippa. On each side of the portico these same statues +were placed in another form, and on the pediment of the Temple is still +to be read: '_Consecrated by Agrippa_.' Augustus gave his name to the +age in which he lived because he made that age an epoch of the human +mind. The masterpieces of every kind produced by his contemporaries form +the rays of glory that encircle his head. He knew how to honour the men +of genius who cultivated letters, and he has found his recompense in +posterity." + +"Let us enter the temple," said Corinne. "You see it remains uncovered, +almost the same as it was formerly. They say that this light, proceeding +from the top, was the emblem of that God who was superior to all the +other deities. The Pagans have always been fond of symbolic images. It +seems, in effect, that this language is more fitting than speech to +religion. The rain often falls upon this marble court, but the rays of +the sun also enter to enlighten devotion. What serenity! What an air of +festivity is remarkable in this edifice! The Pagans have deified life, +and the Christians have deified death. Such is the spirit of the two +worships, but the Roman Catholic religion here, however, is less sombre +than in the northern countries. You will observe it when we visit St +Peter's. Inside the sanctuary of the Pantheon are the busts of our most +celebrated artists, they adorn the niches where were placed the gods of +the ancients.--As, since the destruction of the empire of the Cæsars, we +have hardly ever had political independence in Italy, you do not find +here either statesmen or great commanders. It is the genius of +imagination which constitutes our own glory; but do you not think, my +lord, that a people who honour talents in this manner ought to merit a +nobler fate?" "I am very severe towards nations," answered Oswald; "I +always believe that they deserve their fate let it be what it may." +"That is hard," replied Corinne; "perhaps after a longer residence in +Italy you will experience a sentiment of compassion towards this unhappy +country, which nature seems to have decorated as a victim; but, at +least, you will remember that the dearest hope of us artists, of us +lovers of glory, is to obtain a place here. I have already fixed upon +mine," said she pointing to a niche still vacant. "Oswald! who knows +whether you will not come again to this same enclosure when my bust +shall be placed there? Then--" + +Oswald interrupted her quickly and said, "In the shining splendour of +youth and beauty can you talk thus to one whom misfortune and suffering +have already bent towards the grave?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "the storm +may in a moment snap asunder those flowers that now have their heads +upreared in life and bloom. Oswald, dear Oswald!" added she; "why should +you not be happy? Why--" "Never interrogate me," replied Lord Nelville, +"you have your secrets--I have mine, let us mutually respect each +other's silence. No--you know not what emotion I should feel were I +obliged to relate my misfortunes." Corinne was silent, and her steps in +leaving the temple were slower, and her looks more thoughtful. + +She stopped beneath the portico:--"There," said she to Lord Nelville, +"was a most beautiful urn of porphyry, now transferred to St John of +Lateran; it contained the ashes of Agrippa, which were placed at the +foot of the statue that he had raised to himself. The ancients took so +much care to soften the idea of dissolution that they knew how to strip +it of every thing that was doleful and repulsive. There was, besides, so +much magnificence in their tombs that the contrast was less felt between +the blank of death and the splendours of life. It is true that the hope +of another world being less vivid among the Pagans than amongst +Christians, they endeavoured to dispute with death the future +remembrance which we place, without fear, in the bosom of the Eternal." + +Oswald sighed and was silent. Melancholy ideas have many charms when we +have not been ourselves deeply wretched, but when grief in all its +asperity has seized upon the soul, we no longer hear without shuddering +certain words which formerly only excited in us reveries more or less +pleasing. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +On the way to St Peter's the bridge of St Angelo is passed, and Corinne +and Lord Nelville crossed it on foot. "It was on this bridge," said +Oswald, "that, in returning from the Capitol, I for the first time +thought deeply of you." "I did not flatter myself," replied Corinne, +"that the coronation at the Capitol would have procured me a friend, but +however, in the pursuit of fame it was always my endeavour to make +myself beloved.--What would fame be to woman without such a hope?" "Let +us stop here a few minutes," said Oswald. "What remembrance of past ages +can produce such welcome recollections as this spot, which brings to +mind the day when first I saw you." "I know not whether I deceive +myself," replied Corinne; "but it seems to me that we become more dear +to one another in admiring together those monuments which speak to the +soul by true grandeur. The edifices of Rome are neither cold nor dumb, +they have been conceived by genius, and consecrated by memorable events. +Perhaps, Oswald, it is even necessary that we should be enamoured of +such a character as yours, in order to derive such pleasure from feeling +with you all that is noble and fine in the universe." "Yes," replied +Lord Nelville; "but in beholding you, and listening to your +observations, I feel no want of other wonders." Corinne thanked him in a +bewitching smile. + +On their way to St Peter's they stopped before the castle of St Angelo. +"There," said Corinne, "is one of those edifices whose exterior is most +original; this is the tomb of Adrian, which, changed into a fortress by +the Goths, bears the double character of its first and second +destination. Built for the dead, an impenetrable enclosure surrounds it; +and, nevertheless, the living have added something hostile to it by the +external fortifications, which form a contrast with the silence and +noble inutility of a funereal monument. On the top is seen an angel of +bronze with a naked sword[7], and in the interior the most cruel prisons +are contrived. Every event of Roman history, from Adrian to our time, is +connected with this monument. It was here that Belisarius defended +himself against the Goths, and, almost as barbarous as they who attacked +him, threw at his enemy the beautiful statues that adorned the interior +of the edifice[8]. Crescentius, Arnault de Brescia, Nicolas Rienzi, +those friends of Roman liberty who so often mistook memories for hopes, +defended themselves for a long time in this imperial tomb. I love these +stones which are connected with so many illustrious facts. I love this +luxury of the master of the world--a magnificent tomb. There is +something great in the man who, possessing every enjoyment, every +terrestrial pomp, is not dismayed from making preparations for his death +a long time before hand. Moral ideas and disinterested sentiments fill +the soul when it in a manner breaks through the boundaries of mortality. + +"It is from here that we ought to perceive St Peter's. The pillars +before it were to extend as far as here:--such was the superb plan of +Michael Angelo; he expected, at least, that it would be so finished +after his death; but the men of our days no longer think of posterity. +When once enthusiasm has been turned into ridicule every thing except +money and power is destroyed." "It is you who will revive that +sentiment," cried Lord Nelville. "Who ever experienced the happiness I +enjoy? Rome shewn by you, Rome interpreted by imagination and genius, +_Rome, that is a world animated by sentiment, without which the world +itself is a desert_[9]. Ah, Corinne! what will succeed to these days, +more happy than my heart and my fate permit!" Corinne answered him with +sweetness: "All sincere affections proceed from heaven, Oswald! Why +should it not protect what it inspires? To that Power belongs our fate." + +At that moment St Peter's appeared to them, the greatest building that +man has ever raised; for the pyramids of Egypt themselves are inferior +to it in height. "Perhaps," said Corinne, "I ought to have shewn you the +finest of our buildings last, but that is not my system. It is my +opinion that to beget a sensibility for the fine arts, we must begin by +beholding objects that inspire a deep and lively admiration. This +sentiment once felt, reveals, if I may so express myself, a new sphere +of ideas, and renders us afterwards more capable of loving, and of +judging, what even in an inferior order recalls the first impression we +have received. All those gradations, those prudent methods, one tint +after another, to prepare for great effects, are not to my taste; we +cannot arrive at the sublime by degrees; infinite distances separate it +even from that which is only beautiful." Oswald felt an altogether +extraordinary emotion on arriving opposite St Peter's. It was the first +time that the work of man had produced upon him the same effect as one +of the wonders of nature. This is the only work of art, now on our +earth, possessing that kind of grandeur which characterises the +immediate works of the creation. Corinne enjoyed the astonishment of +Oswald. "I have chosen," said she, "a day when the sun is in all its +lustre, to shew you this edifice. I have in reserve for you a still more +exquisite, more religious pleasure, when you shall contemplate it by +moonlight: but you must first witness the most brilliant intellectual +feast--the genius of man adorned with the magnificence of nature." + +The square of St Peter is surrounded by pillars--those at a distance of +a light, and those near of a massive structure. The ground, which is +upon a gentle ascent up to the portico of the church, still adds to the +effect which it produces. An obelisk, 80 feet high, stands in the middle +of the square, but its height appears as nothing in presence of the +cupola of St Peter's. The form of an obelisk alone has something in it +that pleases the imagination; its summit is lost in the air, and seems +to lift the mind of man to heaven. This monument, which was constructed +in Egypt to adorn the baths of Caligula, and which Sixtus Quintus caused +to be transported to the foot of the temple of St Peter, this +cotemporary of so many centuries, which have spent their fury upon it in +vain, inspires us with a sentiment of respect; man, sensible of his own +fleeting existence, cannot contemplate without emotion that which +appears to be immutable. At some distance on each side of the obelisk +are two fountains, whose waters form a perpetual and abundant cascade. +This murmuring of waters, which we are accustomed to hear in the open +country, produces, in this enclosure, an entirely new sensation; but +this sensation is quite in harmony with that to which the aspect of a +majestic temple gives birth. + +Painting and sculpture, imitating generally the human figure or some +object existing in nature, awaken in our soul perfectly clear and +positive ideas; but a beautiful architectural monument has not any +determinate meaning, if it may be so expressed, so that we are seized, +in contemplating it, with that kind of aimless reverie, which leads us +into a boundless ocean of thought. The sound of fountains harmonises +with all these vague and deep impressions; it is uniform as the edifice +is regular. + + "Eternal motion, and eternal rest," + +are thus blended with each other. It is particularly in a spot like this +that Time seems stript of his power, for he appears no more able to dry +up the fountains than to shake these immovable stones. The waters, which +spout in sheaves from these fountains, are so light and cloudlike that +on a fine day the rays of the sun produce on them little rainbows, +formed of the most beautiful colours. + +"Stop here a moment," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, when they had +already reached the portico of the church; "stop a little before you +lift up the curtain which covers the door of the temple. Does not your +heart beat as you approach this sanctuary? And do not you feel at the +moment of entrance all that excites expectation of a solemn event?" +Corinne herself lifted up the curtain and held it to let Nelville pass; +she displayed so much grace in this attitude that the first look of +Oswald was to admire her as she stood, and for some moments she +engrossed his whole observation. However, he proceeded into the temple, +and the impression which he received beneath these immense arches was so +deep, and so solemn, that love itself was no longer able to fill his +soul entirely. He walked slowly by the side of Corinne, both preserving +silence. Indeed here every thing seemed to command silence; the least +noise re-echoes to such a distance that no language seems worthy of +being repeated in an abode which may almost be called eternal! Prayer +alone, the voice of calamity, produces a powerful emotion in these vast +regions; and when beneath these immense domes you hear some old man +dragging his feeble steps along the polished marble, watered with so +many tears, you feel that man is imposing even by the infirmity of his +nature which subjects his divine soul to so many sufferings; and that +Christianity, the worship of suffering, contains the true guide for the +conduct of man upon earth. + +Corinne interrupted the reverie of Oswald, and said to him, "You have +seen Gothic churches in England and in Germany; you must have remarked +that they have a much more gloomy effect than this church. There was +something mysterious in the Catholicism of the northern nations; ours +speaks to the imagination by external objects. Michael Angelo said on +beholding the cupola of the Pantheon, 'I will place it in the air;' and, +in effect, St Peter's is a temple built upon a church. There is some +connection between the ancient religions and Christianity, in the effect +which the interior of this edifice produces upon the imagination. I +often come and walk here to restore to my soul that serenity which it +sometimes loses: the sight of such a monument is like continual and +sustained music, which waits to do you good when you approach; and +certainly we must reckon among the claims of our nation to glory, the +patience, the courage and the disinterestedness of the heads of the +church, who have devoted one hundred and fifty years, so much money, and +so much labour, to the completion of an edifice which they who built it +could not expect to enjoy[10]. It is even a service rendered to the +public morals to present a nation with a monument which is the emblem of +so many noble and generous ideas." "Yes," answered Oswald; "here the +arts possess grandeur, and imagination and invention are full of genius; +but how is the dignity of man himself protected here! What +institutions! what feebleness in the greater part of the governments of +Italy! and, nevertheless, what subjugation in the mind!" "Other +nations," interrupted Corinne, "have borne the yoke the same as we, and +have lacked the imagination to dream of another fate. + + 'Servi siam sì, ma servi ognor frementi.' + + '_Yes! we are slaves, but slaves ever quivering with hope,_' + +says Alfieri, the most bold of our modern writers. There is so much soul +in our fine arts that perhaps one day our character will be equal to our +genius. + +"Behold," continued Corinne, "those statues placed on the tombs, those +pictures in mosaic--patient and faithful copies of the masterpieces of +our great artists. I never examine St Peter's in detail, because I do +not wish to discover those multiplied beauties which disturb in some +degree the impression of the whole. But what a monument is that, where +the masterpieces of the human mind appear superfluous ornaments! This +temple is like a world by itself; it affords an asylum against heat and +cold; it has its own peculiar season--a perpetual spring, which the +external atmosphere can never change. A subterraneous church is built +beneath this temple;--the popes, and several foreign potentates, are +buried there: Christina after her abdication--the Stuarts since the +overthrow of their dynasty. Rome has long afforded an asylum to exiles +from every part of the world. Is not Rome herself dethroned? Her aspect +affords consolation to kings, fallen like herself. + + 'Cadono le citta, cadono i regni, + E l'uom, d'esser mortal, par che si sdegni.' + + '_Cities fall. Empires disappear, + and yet man is angry at being mortal!_' + +"Place yourself here," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, "near the altar +in the middle of the cupola; you will perceive through the iron grating, +the church of the dead, which is beneath our feet, and lifting up your +eyes, their ken will hardly reach the summit of the vault. This dome, +viewing it even from below, inspires us with a sentiment of terror; we +imagine that we see an abyss suspended over our head. All that is beyond +a certain proportion causes man, limited creature as he is, an +invincible dread. That which we know is as inexplicable as that which is +unknown, but then we are accustomed to our habitual darkness, whilst new +mysteries terrify us and disturb our faculties. + +"All this church is ornamented with antique marble, and its stones know +more than we concerning the ages that are past. There is the statue of +Jupiter, which has been converted into St Peter, by adding the nimbus to +the head. The general expression of this temple perfectly characterises +the mixture of gloomy tenets with brilliant ceremonies; a depth of +sadness in ideas, but the softness and vivacity of the south in external +application; severe intentions, but mild interpretations; the Christian +theology, and the images of Paganism; in a word, the most admirable +union of splendour and majesty that man can infuse into his worship of +the deity. + +"The tombs, decorated by the wonders of the fine arts, do not present +death under a formidable aspect. It is not altogether like the ancients, +who engraved dances and games upon their sarcophagi; but the mind is +abstracted from the contemplation of a coffin by the masterpieces of +genius. They recall immortality, even upon the altar of death; and the +imagination animated by the admiration which they inspire, does not +feel, as in the north, silence and cold, the immutable guardians of +sepulchres." "Without doubt," said Oswald, "we wish death to be +surrounded by sadness; and even before we were enlightened by +Christianity our ancient mythology, our Ossian, made lamentations and +dirges concomitants of the tomb. Here one wishes to forget and to enjoy. +I know not whether I should be desirous of such a benefit from your fine +sky." "Do not believe, however," replied Corinne, "that our character is +light, or our mind frivolous; it is only vanity that causes frivolity. +Indolence may introduce some intervals of sleep, or of forgetfulness +into our lives, but it neither wears out nor dries up the heart; and +unfortunately for us we may be aroused from this state by passions more +deep, and more terrible than those of souls habitually active." + +In finishing these words, Corinne and Lord Nelville approached the door +of the church. "Another glance towards this immense sanctuary," said she +to Nelville: "See how little man appears in presence of religion, even +when we are reduced to consider only its material emblem! See what +immobility, what eternity, mortals can give to their works, whilst they +themselves pass away so rapidly, and only survive themselves by their +genius! This temple is an image of the infinite, and there is no limit +to the sentiments to which it gives birth--to the ideas which it +revives--to the immense quantity of years which it recalls to our +reflection, either of past or future ages; and on quitting its walls we +seem to pass from celestial thoughts to worldly interests, from the +eternity of religion to the atmosphere of time." + +When they were outside the church Corinne pointed out to Nelville Ovid's +Metamorphoses, which were represented on the gates in basso-relievo. "We +are not scandalised in Rome," said she to him, "with the images of +Paganism when they have been consecrated by the fine arts. The wonders +of genius always make a religious impression on the soul, and we make an +offering to the Christian religion of all the masterpieces which other +modes of worship have inspired." Oswald smiled at this explanation. +"Believe me, my lord," continued Corinne, "there is much sincerity in +the sentiments of nations who possess a very lively imagination. But +to-morrow if you choose I will conduct you to the Capitol. I have, I +hope, many other walks to propose to you. When they are finished will +you go? Will you--" She stopped, fearing she had said too much. "No +Corinne," replied Oswald; "no, I will never renounce that gleam of +happiness which my guardian angel, perhaps, causes to shine upon me from +the height of heaven." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] A Frenchman in the late war, commanded the Castle of St Angelo; the +Neapolitan troops summoned him to capitulate; he answered that the +fortress should be surrendered when the Angel of Bronze should sheathe +his sword. + +[8] These facts are to be found in the _History of the Italian Republics +of the Middle Ages_, by M. Simonde, of Geneva. This history will +certainly be considered as an authority; for we perceive, in reading it, +that its author is a man of profound sagacity, as conscientious as he is +energetic in his manner of relating and describing. + +[9] + "Eine Welt zwar bist du o Rom; doch ohne die Liebe, + Wäre die Welt nicht die Welt, wäre denn Rom auch nicht Rom." + +These two verses are from Goëthe, the German poet, the philosopher, the +man of letters, whose originality and imagination are most remarkable. + +[10] The Church of St Peter is said to be one of the chief causes of the +Reformation, inasmuch as it cost the Popes so much money that they had +recourse to the multiplication of indulgences in order to build it. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The next day Oswald and Corinne set out with more confidence and +serenity. They were friends travelling together;--they began to say +_we_. Ah! how touching is that _we_ when pronounced by love! How +timidly, yet how vividly expressed, is the declaration which it +contains! "We will go to the Capitol then," said Corinne. "Yes, we will +go there," replied Oswald. Simplicity was in his words--softness and +tenderness in his accent. "From the height of the Capitol, such as it is +now," said Corinne, "we can easily perceive the seven hills; we will +survey them all, one after another; there is not one of them which does +not preserve in it some traces of history." + +Corinne and Lord Nelville took what was formerly called the _Via Sacra_ +or Triumphal Way. "'Tis this way that your car passed," said Oswald to +Corinne. "Yes," answered she; "this ancient dust might be astonished at +bearing such a car; but since the Roman republic, so many criminal +traces have been imprinted on it that the sentiment of respect which it +inspires is much weakened." They then arrived at the foot of the steps +of the present Capitol. The entrance to the ancient Capitol was through +the Forum. "I could wish," said Corinne, "that these steps were the same +that Scipio mounted, when, repelling calumny by glory, he entered the +temple to return thanks to the gods for the victories which he had +gained. But these new steps, this new Capitol, has been built upon the +ruins of the old, in order to receive the peaceable magistrate who bears +in himself alone the immense title of Roman Senator, formerly an object +of respect to the whole universe. Here we have no longer any thing but +names; yet their harmony, their ancient dignity, inspire us with a +pleasing sensation, mingled with regret. I asked a poor woman, whom I +met the other day, where she lived? '_At the Tarpeian Rock_,' answered +she. This word, however stripped of the ideas which formerly attached to +it, still vibrates upon the imagination." + +Oswald and Corinne stopped to contemplate the two lions of basalt at the +foot of the steps[11]. They came from Egypt. The Egyptian sculptors were +more happy in seizing the figure of animals than that of man. These +lions of the Capitol are nobly peaceful, and their physiognomy is the +true image of tranquillity in strength. + + "A guisa di leon, quando si posa." + DANTE. + + "_In the manner of the lion, when he reposes._" + +Not far from these lions is a statue of Rome, mutilated, which the +modern Romans have placed there, without thinking that they were thus +giving the most perfect emblem of their city as it now is. This statue +has neither head nor feet, but the body and the drapery which still +remain have something of their ancient beauty. At the top of the steps +are two colossal figures which represent as it is believed Castor and +Pollux; then the trophies of Marius; then two milliary columns which +served for the admeasurement of the Roman universe; and the equestrian +statue of Marcus Aurelius, noble and calm in the midst of these several +recollections. Thus, the whole Roman history is here emblematically +represented: The heroic age by the Dioscuri; the republic by the lions; +the civil wars by Marius; and the golden age of the emperors by Marcus +Aurelius. + +Advancing towards the modern Capitol, we see to the right and to the +left two churches, built on the ruins of the temples of the Feretrian +and Capitoline Jupiter. Before the vestibule is a fountain, over which +preside two rivers, the Nile and the Tiber, with the she-wolf of +Romulus. The name of the Tiber is not pronounced like that of inglorious +rivers; it is one of the pleasures of the Romans, to say, "_Conduct me +to the borders of the Tiber; let us cross the Tiber._" In pronouncing +these words they seem to invoke history and to re-animate the dead. In +going to the Capitol, by way of the Forum, we find, to the right, the +Mamertine prisons.--These prisons were at first constructed by Ancus +Martius, and were then employed for ordinary criminals. But Servius +Tullius caused more horrid ones to be dug under ground for state +criminals, as if such prisoners were not those who deserve most +consideration, since their errors might be united with sincerity. +Jugurtha and the accomplices of Cataline perished in these prisons. It +is also said that St Peter and St Paul have been incarcerated in them. +On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the foot +of this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospital +of Consolation. It seems that thus in Rome the severe spirit of +antiquity and the mildness of Christianity meet each other throughout +the ages, and present themselves to our sight as well as to our +reflection. + +When Oswald and Corinne had reached the top of the tower of the Capitol, +she showed him the Seven Hills; the city of Rome bounded at first by +Mount Palatine, then by the walls of Servius Tullius, which enclose the +Seven Hills; lastly by the walls of Aurelian, which still serve as an +enclosure to the greatest part of Rome. Corinne recalled to mind the +verses of Tibullus and Propertius[12], who are proud of the weak +beginnings whence has sprung the mistress of the world. Mount Palatine +was in itself the whole of Rome for some time, but afterwards the palace +of the Emperors filled the space which had before sufficed for a nation. +A poet, in the time of Nero, made the following epigram upon this +occasion.[13] _Rome will soon be only a palace. Go to Veii Romans, if +this palace does not now occupy Veii itself._ + +The Seven Hills are infinitely less elevated than formerly when they +deserved the name of the Steep Mountains. Modern Rome is raised forty +feet above the ancient city. The valleys which separated the hills are +almost filled up by time with the ruins of edifices; but what is more +singular yet, a heap of broken vases has raised two new hills;[14] and +we almost discover an image of modern times, in this progress, or rather +this wreck of civilisation, levelling mountains with valleys, effacing +in the moral as well as the physical world all those beautiful +inequalities produced by nature. + +Three other hills,[15] not comprised in the seven famous ones, give +something picturesque to the city of Rome, which perhaps is the only +city that of itself, and in its own boundaries, offers the most +magnificent points of observation. It presents such a remarkable mixture +of ruins, edifices, fields and deserts, that we may contemplate Rome on +all sides, and always find a striking picture in the opposite +perspective. + +Oswald could never feel tired of viewing the traces of ancient Rome from +the elevated point of the Capitol to which Corinne had conducted him. +The reading of history, and the reflections which it excites, produce a +less powerful effect upon the soul than those heaps of stones, those +ruins mingled with new habitations. So strongly do our eyes carry +conviction to the mind, that after having beheld these ruins of Rome we +believe the history of the ancient Romans as if we had been cotemporary +with them. The recollections of the mind are acquired by study; the +recollections of the imagination are born of a more immediate and +intimate impression, which gives body to thought, and renders us, if I +may so express it, witnesses of what we have learnt. Undoubtedly one is +vexed sometimes at those modern buildings which intrude themselves among +the venerable spoils of antiquity. But a portico by the side of a humble +cottage, pillars, between which appear the little windows of a church, a +tomb affording an asylum to a whole rustic family, produce an +indescribable mixture of great and simple ideas, a newly-discovered +pleasure which inspires a continual interest. The greater part of our +European cities have externally a common and prosaic appearance; and +Rome, oftener than any other, presents the melancholy aspect of misery +and degradation; but all of a sudden a broken column, a bas-relief +half-destroyed, stones knit together in the indestructible manner of the +ancient architects, remind us that there is in man an eternal power, a +divine spark, which he must never cease to excite in himself and revive +in others. + +This Forum, whose enclosure is so narrow in compass, and which has +witnessed so many astonishing things, is a striking proof of the moral +greatness of man. When the universe, in the latter times of Rome, was +subjected to inglorious masters, we find whole centuries, of which +history has scarcely preserved any events; and this Forum, this little +space in the centre of a city, at that time very circumscribed, whose +inhabitants were fighting all around them for their territory, has it +not occupied by the memories which it recalls, the most sublime geniuses +of every age! Honour then, eternal honour, to nations, courageous and +free, since they thus captivate the admiration of posterity! + +Corinne observed to Lord Nelville that there were very few remains of +the Republican age to be found at Rome. The aqueducts, the canals formed +under ground, for the distribution of water, were the only luxury of the +Republic and the kings who preceded it. They have only left us useful +edifices: tombs raised to the memory of their great men, and some +temples of brick, which still subsist. It was not until after the +conquest of Sicily that the Romans for the first time made use of marble +for their monuments; but it is sufficient to behold places where great +actions have occurred, to experience an indefinable emotion. It is to +this disposition of the soul that we must attribute the religious power +of pilgrimages. Celebrated countries of every kind, even when stripped +of their great men and of their monuments, preserve their effect upon +the imagination. What struck our sight no longer exists, but the charm +of recollection remains. + +This Forum no longer presents us with any trace of that famous Tribune, +from which the Roman people were governed by eloquence. Three pillars +remain of a temple, raised by Augustus in honour of Jupiter Tonans, when +the thunderbolt fell at his feet without striking him, and an arch +which the senate raised to Septimus Severus in reward of his exploits. +The names of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were inscribed on the +fronton of the arch; but when Caracalla had assassinated Geta he caused +his name to be erased, and some traces of the cancelled letters are +still to be seen. At some distance is a temple to Faustina, a monument +of the blind weakness of Marcus Aurelius; a temple to Venus which, in +the time of the republic, was consecrated to Pallas--and farther on, the +ruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon, built by the Emperor +Adrian, who was jealous of Apollodorus, the famous Grecian architect, +and put him to death for having found fault with the proportions of his +edifice. + +On the other side of the square we behold the ruins of some monuments +consecrated to nobler and purer aims. The pillars of a temple which is +believed to have been that of Jupiter Stator, who prevented the Romans +from ever flying before their enemies. A pillar remaining of the Temple +of Jupiter Guardian, placed, we are told, not far from the abyss into +which Curtius precipitated himself. Pillars also of a temple, raised, +some say, to Concord, others to Victory. Perhaps these two ideas are +confounded by conquering nations, who probably think no real peace can +exist till they have subdued the universe! At the extremity of Mount +Palatine is a beautiful triumphal arch, dedicated to Titus, for the +conquest of Jerusalem. We are informed that the Jews who are at Rome +never pass under this arch, and a little path is shewn which they take +to avoid it. It is to be wished, for the honour of the Jews, that this +anecdote may be true; long recollections suit long misfortunes. + +Not far from thence is the arch of Constantine, embellished with some +bas-reliefs taken away from the forum of Trajan, by the Christians, who +wished to adorn the monument consecrated to the _founder of repose_; so +they called Constantine. The arts at this epoch were already on the +decline, and they stripped the past to honour new exploits. These +triumphal gates, which are seen at Rome, give perpetuity as much as man +can give it, to the honours paid to glory. There was a place upon their +summits destined for flute and trumpet players, in order that the victor +when passing might be intoxicated at the same time by music and praise, +and taste at the same moment all the most exalted emotions. + +Facing these triumphal arches are the ruins of the temple of Peace built +by Vespasian; it was so decorated with brass and with gold, internally, +that when consumed by fire, the streams of burning metal that flowed +from it extended even to the Forum. Lastly, the Coliseum, the most +beautiful ruin of Rome, terminates this noble enclosure, which embraces +all history in its compass. This superb edifice, of which only the +stones remain, stript of the gold and the marble, served as an +amphitheatre for the combats of the gladiators, with wild beasts. It was +thus that the Roman people were amused and deceived by strong emotions, +when natural sentiments could no longer soar. The entrance to the +Coliseum is by two doors, one consecrated to the victors, and by the +other were carried out the dead: strange contempt for the human race, +which made the life or death of man dependent upon the pastime of a +public spectacle! Titus, the best of emperors, dedicated the Coliseum to +the Roman people,--and these admirable ruins bear such fine traits of +magnificence and genius, that we are led into an illusion on the subject +of true greatness, and tempted to grant that admiration to the +masterpieces of art, which is only the due of monuments consecrated to +generous institutions. + +Oswald did not indulge in that admiration which Corinne felt in +contemplating these four galleries; these four edifices, rising one +upon another; this medley of pomp and barbarism, which at once inspires +respect and compassion. He beheld in these scenes nothing but the luxury +of the master, and the blood of the slaves, and felt indignant at the +arts which, regardless of their aim, lavish their gifts upon whatever +object they may be destined for. Corinne endeavoured to combat this +disposition:--"Do not," said she, to Lord Nelville, "carry the rigour of +your principles of morality and justice into the contemplation of the +Italian monuments; they, for the most part, recall, as I have told you, +rather the splendour, the elegance of taste of ancient forms, than the +glorious epoch of Roman virtue. But do you not find some traces of the +moral greatness possessed by the first ages, in the gigantic luxury of +the monuments which have succeeded them? Even the degradation of the +Roman people still commands respect: the mourning of her liberty covers +the world with wonders, and the genius of ideal beauty seeks to console +man for the true and real dignity which he has lost. Behold those +immense baths, open to all those who were willing to taste oriental +voluptuousness--those circuses destined for the elephants which were +brought there to combat with tigers, and those aqueducts which in a +moment converted the amphitheatre into a lake, where galleys too fought +in their turn, and crocodiles appeared where lions were seen +before:--such was the luxury of the Romans when luxury was their pride! +Those obelisks which were brought from Egypt, stolen from African +shades, in order to adorn the Roman sepulchres; that population of +statues which formerly existed in Rome cannot be looked upon in the same +light as the useless pageantry of the Asiatic despots: it is the Roman +genius which conquered the world, and to which the arts have given an +external form. There is something supernatural in this magnificence, +and its poetical splendour makes us forget its origin and its aim." + +The eloquence of Corinne excited the admiration of Oswald without +convincing him; he sought for some moral sentiment in all this, without +which all the magic of the arts could not satisfy him. Corinne then +recollected that in this very amphitheatre the persecuted Christians +died victims of their perseverance, and showing Lord Nelville the altars +which are raised in honour of their ashes, as well as the path of the +cross, which is trodden by penitents, at the foot of the most +magnificent wrecks of worldly grandeur, asked him if the ashes of +martyrs conveyed no language to his heart? "Yes," cried he, "I deeply +admire the triumph of the soul and of the will over the pains of death. +A sacrifice, whatever it may be, is nobler and more difficult than all +the flights of the soul and of thought.--An exalted imagination may +produce miracles of genius, but it is only in devoting ourselves to our +opinion or to our sentiments that we are truly virtuous;--it is then +alone that a celestial power subdues the mortal man in us." + +This language, so noble and so pure, yet gave uneasiness to Corinne. She +looked at Nelville--then cast down her eyes--and though, at that moment, +he took her hand and pressed it against his heart, she shuddered at the +idea that such a man could sacrifice others or himself to the worship of +opinions, of principles, or of duties, which he might have chosen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] Mineralogists affirm that these lions are not of basalt, because +the volcanic stone to-day known under that name could not have existed +in Egypt; but as Pliny calls the Egyptian stone out of which these lions +have been carved, basalt, and as Winckelmann, the historian of the arts, +also retains this appellation, I have deemed myself justified in using +it in its primitive acceptation. + +[12] + "Carpite nunc, tauri, de septem collibus herbas, + Dum licet. Hic magnæ jam locus urbis erit." + TIBULLUS. + + "Hoc quodcunque vides hospes quam maxima Roma est, + Ante Phrygem Enean collis et herba fuit." + PROPERTIUS, Book IV. el. 1. + +[13] + Roma domus fiet: Veios migrate, Quirites; + Si non et Veios occupat ista domus. + +[14] Mounts Citorio and Testacio. + +[15] The Janicula, Mount Vaticano and Mount Mario. + + + + +Chapter v. + + +After the excursion to the Capitol and the Forum, Corinne and Nelville +spent two days in visiting the Seven Hills. The Romans formerly observed +a festival in honour of them. These hills, enclosed in her bosom, are +one of the original beauties of Rome; and we may easily conceive what +delight was experienced by feelings attached to their native soil, in +celebrating this singularity. + +Oswald and Corinne, having seen the Capitoline Hill the day before, +began their walks by Mount Palatine; it was entirely occupied by the +palace of the Cæsars, called _the golden palace_. This hill offers +nothing to our view, at present, but the ruins of that palace. The four +sides of it were built by Augustus Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero; but the +stones, covered with fertile plants, are all that now remain of it: +Nature has there resumed her empire over the labours of man, and the +beauty of the flowers consoles us for the destruction of the palace. The +luxury of the times of the kings and of the Republic only consisted in +public edifices; private houses were very small, and very simple. +Cicero, Hortensius, and the Gracchi, dwelt upon Mount Palatine, which, +at the decline of Rome, was scarcely sufficient for the abode of a +single man. In the latter ages, the nation was nothing more than an +anonymous crowd, merely designated by the era of its master. We look in +vain here for the two laurels planted before the door of Augustus, the +laurel of war, and that of the fine arts cultivated by peace; both have +disappeared. + +There is still remaining, on Mount Palatine, some chambers of the Baths +of Livia; we are there shown the holes which contained the precious +stones that were then lavished upon ceilings, as a common ornament, and +paintings are to be seen there whose colours are yet perfectly +untouched; the fragility of the colours adds to our astonishment at +seeing them preserved, and seems to carry us back nearer to past ages. +If it be true that Livia shortened the days of Augustus, it is in one of +these rooms that the crime was conceived, and the eyes of the sovereign +of the world, betrayed in his most intimate affections, were perhaps +fixed upon one of those pictures whose elegant flowers still remain[16]. +What, in old age, were his thoughts upon his life and his pomp? Did he +recall to mind his proscriptions or his glory? Did he hope, or did he +fear a world to come? Does the last thought, which reveals everything to +man; does the last thought of a master of the universe still wander +beneath these vaults? + +Mount Aventine offers more traces than any other of the first periods of +the Roman History. Exactly opposite the Palace, raised by Tiberius, we +see the ruins of the Temple of Liberty, which was built by the father of +the Gracchi. At the foot of Mount Aventine stood the temple dedicated to +the Fortune of men by Servius Tullius, to thank the gods for having +raised him from the condition of a slave to the rank of a king. Without +the walls of Rome we find also the ruins of a temple, which was +consecrated to the Fortune of women when Veturia stopped the progress of +Coriolanus. Opposite Mount Aventine is Mount Janicula, on which Porsenna +placed his army. It was opposite this Mount that Horatius Cocles caused +the bridge leading to Rome to be cut away behind him. The foundation of +this bridge is still to be seen; there stands on the bank of the river a +triumphal arch, built of brick, as simple as the action which it recalls +was grand; this arch having been raised, it is said, in honour of +Horatius Cocles. In the middle of the Tiber is perceived an island +formed of sheaves of corn gathered in the fields of Tarquin, which were +a long time exposed on the river because the Roman people would not take +them, believing that they should entail bad fortune on themselves by so +doing. It would be difficult in our days to cast a malediction upon +riches of any sort which could prevent everybody from seizing them. + +On Mount Aventine were placed the temple of patrician, and that of +plebeian modesty. At the foot of this hill is seen the temple of Vesta, +which yet remains whole, though it has been often menaced by the +inundations of the Tiber. Not far from thence is the ruin of a prison +for debt, where it is said a fine trait of filial piety was displayed, +which is pretty generally known. It was also in this place that Clelia +and her companions, prisoners of Porsenna, crossed the Tiber in order to +rejoin the Romans. This Aventine Mount affords the soul repose after the +painful reflections which the other hills awaken, and its aspect is as +beautiful as the memories it recalls. The name of _Pulchrum Littus_, +Beautiful Shore, was given to the banks of the river, which rolls at its +foot, which was the walk of the Roman orators when they quitted the +forum--it was there that Cæsar and Pompey met like private citizens, and +sought to captivate Cicero whose independent eloquence was then of more +importance to them than even the power of their armies. + +Poetry too lends its aid to embellish this retreat; Virgil has placed +the cavern of Cacus upon Mount Aventine, and the Romans, so great by +their history, are still more so by the heroic fictions with which the +bards have decorated their fabulous origin. Lastly, in returning from +this mountain is seen the house of Nicholas Rienzi, who vainly +endeavoured to revive ancient times among the moderns, and this memento, +feeble as it is, by the side of so many others, gives birth to much +reflection. Mount Cælius is remarkable because there we behold the +remains of the Prætorian camp, and that of the foreign soldiers. This +inscription has been found in the ruins of the edifice built for the +reception of these soldiers:--"To the hallowed genius of foreign camps!" +Hallowed indeed, for those whose power it maintained! What remains of +these ancient barracks, enables us to judge that they were built after +the manner of cloisters, or rather, that cloisters have been built upon +their model. + +Mount Esquiline was called the _Poets' Mount_, because Mecenas having +his palace on this hill, Horace, Propertius and Tibullus dwelt there +also. Not far from here are the ruins of the Thermæ of Titus, and of +Trajan. It is believed that Raphael took the model of his arabesques +from the fresco paintings of the Thermæ of Titus. It is there, also, +that was discovered the group of the Laocoon. The freshness of water +affords such pleasure in hot countries that delight is taken in +assembling together all the pomp of luxury, and every enjoyment of the +imagination, in the places appropriated for bathing. It was there that +the Romans exposed their masterpieces of painting and of sculpture. They +were seen by the light of lamps, for it appears by the construction of +these buildings, that daylight never entered them: they wished thus to +preserve themselves from the rays of the sun, so burning in the south: +the sensation they produce must certainly have been the cause of the +ancients calling them the darts of Apollo. It is reasonable to suppose, +from observing the extreme precaution of the ancients to guard against +heat, that the climate was then more burning than it is in our days. It +is in the Thermæ of Caracalla, that were placed the Hercules Farnese, +the Flora, and the group of Dirce. In the baths of Nero near Ostia was +found the Apollo Belvedere. Is it possible to conceive that in +contemplating this noble figure Nero did not feel some generous +emotions? + +The Thermæ and the Circuses are the only kind of buildings appropriated +to public amusements of which there remain any relics at Rome. There is +no theatre except that of Marcellus whose ruins still exist. Pliny +relates that there were three hundred and sixty pillars of marble, and +three thousand statues employed in a theatre, which was only to last a +few days. Sometimes the Romans raised fabrics so strong that they +resisted the shock of earthquakes; at others they took pleasure in +devoting immense labour to buildings which they themselves destroyed as +soon as their feasts were over; thus they sported with time in every +shape. Besides, the Romans were not like the Greeks--influenced by a +passion for dramatic representations. It was by Grecian work, and +Grecian artists, that the fine arts flourished at Rome, and Roman +greatness expressed itself rather by the colossal magnificence of +architecture than by the masterpieces of the imagination. This gigantic +luxury, these wonders of riches, possess great and characteristic +dignity, which, though not the dignity of liberty, is that of power. The +monuments appropriated for public baths, were called provinces; in them +were united all the divers productions and divers establishments which a +whole country can produce. The circus (called _Circus Maximus_) of which +the remains are still to be seen, was so near the palace of the Cæsars +that Nero could from his windows give the signal for the games. The +circus was large enough to contain three hundred thousand persons. The +nation almost in its entirety was amused at the same moment, and these +immense festivals might be considered as a kind of popular institution, +which united every man in the cause of pleasure as they were formerly +united in the cause of glory. + +Mount Quirinal and Mount Viminal are so near each other that it is +difficult to distinguish them: it was here that the houses of Sallust +and of Pompey, formerly stood; it is here also that the Pope has now +fixed his abode. We cannot take one step in Rome without bringing the +present near to the past, and different periods of the past near to each +other. But we learn to reconcile ourselves to the events of our own +time, in beholding the eternal mutability of the history of man; and we +feel ashamed of letting our own lot disturb us in the presence of so +many ages, which have all overthrown the work of the preceding ones. + +By the side of the Seven Hills, on their declivities or on their +summits, are seen a multitude of steeples, and of obelisks; Trajan's +column, the column of Antoninus, the Tower of Conti (whence it is said +Nero beheld the conflagration of Rome), and the Dome of St Peter's, +whose commanding grandeur eclipses that of every other object. It +appears as if the air were peopled with all these monuments, which +extend towards Heaven, and as if an aerial city were majestically +hovering over the terrestrial one. + +On entering Rome again Corinne made Oswald pass under the portico of +Octavia, she who loved so well, and suffered so much; then they +traversed the _Path of Infamy_, by which the infamous Tullia passed, +trampling her father's corpse beneath the feet of her horses. At a +distance from this spot is seen the temple raised by Agrippina in honour +of Claudius whom she caused to be poisoned. And lastly we pass the tomb +of Augustus, whose enclosure now serves as an amphitheatre for the +combats of beasts. + +"I have caused you to run over very rapidly," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "some traces of ancient history; but you will comprehend the +pleasure to be found in these researches, at once learned and poetic, +which speak to the imagination as well as to the mind. There are in Rome +many distinguished men whose only occupation is to discover some new +relation between history and the ruins." "I know no study that would +more captivate and interest me," replied Lord Nelville, "if I felt +sufficiently at rest to give my mind to it: this species of erudition is +much more animated than that which is acquired from books: one would say +that we make what we discover to live again, and that the past +re-appears from beneath the dust in which it has been buried." +"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "this passion for antiquity is not a vain +prejudice. We live in an age when personal interest seems to be the only +principle of all the actions of men, and what sympathy, what emotion, +what enthusiasm, can ever result from such a principle? It is sweeter to +dream of those days of devotion, of personal sacrifice and heroism, +which however, have existed, and of which the earth still bears some +honourable testimonies." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[16] Augustus died at Nola, on his way to the waters of Brindisi, which +had been prescribed him; but he left Rome in a dying state. + + + + +Chapter vi. + + +Corinne flattered herself in secret with having captivated the heart of +Oswald, but as she knew his reserve and his severity, she had not dared +make known to him all the interest he had excited in her heart, though +she was disposed, by character, to conceal nothing that she felt. +Perhaps also she believed that even in speaking on subjects foreign to +their growing passion there was a tenderness of accent in their voice, +which betrayed their mutual affection, and that a secret avowal of love +was painted in their looks, and in that melancholy and veiled language +which penetrates so deeply into the soul. + +One morning, when Corinne was getting ready to continue her walks with +Oswald, she received a note from him, somewhat ceremonious, informing +her that the bad state of his health would confine him at home for some +days. A painful disquietude seized upon the heart of Corinne: she at +first feared he might be dangerously ill, but the Count d'Erfeuil, whom +she saw at night, told her it was one of those melancholy fits to which +he was very much subject and, during which he would not speak to +anybody.--"He will not see _even me_," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "when +he is so."--This _even me_ was highly displeasing to Corinne, but she +was upon her guard not to betray any symptoms of that displeasure to the +only man who might be able to give her news of Lord Nelville. She +interrogated him, flattering herself that a man of so much apparent +levity would tell her all he knew. But on a sudden, whether he wished to +conceal from her by an air of mystery that Oswald had confided nothing +to him, or whether he believed it more honourable to refuse what was +asked of him than to grant it, he opposed an invincible silence to the +ardent curiosity of Corinne. She who had always had an ascendency over +those with whom she conversed, could not comprehend why all her means of +persuasion were without effect upon the Count d'Erfeuil: did she not +know that there is nothing in the world so inflexible as self-love? + +What resource remained then to Corinne to know what was passing in the +heart of Oswald! should she write to him? The formality it would require +was too foreign to her open disposition. Three days glided away, during +which she did not see Lord Nelville, and was tormented by the most cruel +agitation.--"What have I done then," said she, "to drive him from me? I +have not told him that I loved him.--I have not been guilty of that +crime, so terrible in England, but so pardonable in Italy. Has he +guessed it? But why should he esteem me the less for it?" Oswald had +only absented himself from Corinne because he felt the power of her +charms becoming too strong to resist. Though he had not given his word +to espouse Lucilia Edgermond, he knew it was his father's wish that she +should become his wife, and to that wish he desired to conform. Besides, +Corinne was not known by her real name, and had, for several years, led +a life much too independent. Such a marriage, Lord Nelville believed +would not have obtained the approbation of his father, and he felt that +it was not thus he could expiate the transgressions he had been guilty +of towards him. Such were his motives for removing himself from the +presence of Corinne. He had formed the project of writing to her on +quitting Rome, stating the motives that condemned him to this +resolution; but as he could not find strength to do that, he contented +himself with abstaining from visiting her, and even this sacrifice +became almost too painful to bear from the second day of his absence. + +Corinne was struck with an idea that she should never behold Oswald +again; that he would go away without bidding her adieu. She expected +every instant to receive the news of his departure, and this fear so +increased the agony of her feelings that she felt herself all of a +sudden seized by passion, that vulture beneath whose talons happiness +and independence sink. Unable to endure the house that Lord Nelville no +longer visited, she frequently wandered in the gardens of Rome, hoping +to meet with him. The hours so spent were the least insupportable, since +they afforded some chance of seeing the object of her wanderings. The +ardent imagination of Corinne was the source of her talents; but, +unfortunately for her, it was united to her natural sensibility, which +often rendered it extremely painful to her. + +On the evening of the fourth day of this cruel absence, the moon shone +beautifully bright, and the silence of the night gives Rome a fine +effect: it seems then to be inhabited by the shades of its illustrious +ancients. Corinne, returning from the house of a female friend, +oppressed with grief, quitted her carriage, to sit for a few moments +near the fountain of Trevi; before that abundant cascade, which, falling +in the midst of Rome, seems like the vital principle of this tranquil +abode. When this cascade ceases to play for some days, one would say +that Rome is struck with stupor. It is the noise of carriages that we +expect to hear in other capitals; but at Rome, it is the murmuring of +this immense fountain, which seems to be an accompaniment necessary to +the pensive life people lead there: the image of Corinne was painted in +this stream, so pure, that for several centuries past it has borne the +name of the _Virgin Spring_. Oswald, who had stopped in the same place a +few moments afterwards, beheld the charming features of his love +reflected in the water. He was seized with so lively an emotion, that he +did not know, at first, whether it was not his imagination which +presented to him the shadow of Corinne, as it had so often done that of +his father; he bent towards the fountain to observe more distinctly, +when his own countenance was reflected by the side of Corinne's. She +knew him, uttered a cry, and darting towards him rapidly, seized his arm +as if she were afraid he would leave her again; but hardly had she +yielded to this impetuous emotion than recollecting the character of +Nelville, she blushed at having given him this lively testimony of her +feelings, and letting fall the hand which held Oswald, she covered her +face with the other to conceal her tears. + +"Corinne!" said Oswald, "dear Corinne! my absence has then rendered you +unhappy!" "Oh yes," answered she, "you were sure of that! Why then pain +me! have I deserved to suffer at your hand?" "No, certainly," cried +Nelville, "but if I do not think myself free; if I feel in my heart a +storm of grief, why should I associate you with such a torture of +sentiment and dread?"--"It is too late," interrupted Corinne, "it is too +late, grief has already seized upon my bosom--spare me."--"Do you +mention grief?" replied Oswald, "in the midst of so brilliant a career, +of such renown, and possessing so lively an imagination?"--"Hold," said +Corinne, "you do not know me; of all the faculties I possess, the most +powerful is that of suffering. I am born for happiness, my disposition +is open, my imagination animated; but pain excites in me a certain +impetuosity, powerful enough to disturb my reason or bring me to my +grave; therefore I beseech you, spare me. My gaiety and mobility are +only superficial; but there are in my soul abysses of sadness, which I +can only escape by guarding against love." + +Corinne pronounced these words with an expression that deeply affected +Oswald.--"I will come and see you to-morrow morning," said he. "Do you +swear it?" said she, with a disquietude which she vainly endeavoured to +conceal. "Yes, I swear it," cried Lord Nelville, and disappeared. + + + + +Book v. + +THE TOMBS, THE CHURCHES, AND THE PALACES. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The next day, Oswald and Corinne felt much embarrassed at meeting each +other. Corinne was no longer confident of the love which she inspired. +Oswald was dissatisfied with himself; he knew there was a weakness in +his character which sometimes made him feel irritated at his own +sentiments as at a species of tyranny; and both endeavoured to avoid +speaking of their mutual affection. "I have to propose to-day," said +Corinne, "rather a solemn walk; but one that will certainly prove highly +interesting: let us go and see the tombs, let us go and see the last +asylum of those who inhabited the monuments whose ruins we have +contemplated."--"Yes," answered Oswald, "you have conjectured what will +suit the present disposition of my soul;" and he pronounced these words +in so dolorous an accent, that Corinne was silent some moments, not +daring to speak to him. But the desire of affording consolation to +Oswald, and the lively interest she took in every thing they were to see +together, inspired her with courage, and she said to him: "You know my +lord, that, among the ancients, so far was the aspect of the tombs from +dispiriting the living, that they endeavoured to excite a new emulation +by placing these tombs on the public roads, in order that by recalling +to young people the remembrance of illustrious men, they might silently +admonish them to follow their example." "Ah! how I envy all those," +said Oswald, "whose grief is not mingled with remorse!" "Do you talk of +remorse," cried Corinne; "you whose only failings, if they may be so +called, are an excess of virtue, a scrupulosity of heart, an exalted +delicacy--" "Corinne, Corinne, do not approach that subject," +interrupted Oswald, "in your happy country, sombre thoughts disappear +before the lustre of a brilliant sky; but that grief which has +penetrated to the depths of our soul, must for ever sap the foundation +of our existence." "You form an erroneous judgment of me," replied +Corinne; "I have already told you, that though I am formed by the nature +of my character, for lively enjoyment, I should suffer more exquisitely +than you if--" She did not conclude; but changed the discourse.--"My +only desire, my lord, is to divert your attention for a moment; I hope +for nothing more." The sweetness of this reply moved Lord Nelville, and +seeing a melancholy expression in the looks of Corinne, naturally so +interesting and so full of fire, he reproached himself for having +afflicted a woman, born for the most tender and lively sensations, and +endeavoured to atone for it. But the disquietude which Corinne +experienced with regard to the future intentions of Oswald, and the +possibility of his departure, entirely disturbed her accustomed +serenity. + +She conducted Lord Nelville outside the gates of the city, where are to +be seen the ancient vestiges of the Appian way. These vestiges are +indicated in the midst of the Campagna, by the tombs to the right and to +the left, which extend out of sight for several miles beyond the walls. +The Romans would not permit their dead to be buried inside the city: the +emperors alone were allowed that privilege. One private citizen, +however, named Publius Bibulus, obtained this favour in reward of his +obscure virtues.--Cotemporaries are always more willing to honour +virtues of that description than any other. + +It is the gate of St Sebastian, formerly called _Capene_, that conducts +to the Appian way. Cicero tells us, that the first tombs we meet after +passing this gate, are those of the Metelli, the Scipios, and the +Servilii. The family tomb of the Scipios has been found in this very +spot and since transplanted to the Vatican. It is almost a sacrilege to +displace the ashes of the dead or to change the aspect of ruins. +Imagination is more closely connected with morality than is generally +believed, and should not be offended. Among so many tombs which strike +our sight, names are ascribed to some without any positive certainty; +but even the emotion which this uncertainty inspires will not permit us +to contemplate any of these monuments with indifference. There are some +in which houses for the peasantry are built; for the Romans consecrated +an extensive space and vast edifices to the funereal urns of their +friends or their illustrious fellow-citizens. They were not influenced +by that dry principle of utility which fertilized a few corners of the +earth, while blasting with sterility the vast domain of sentiment and of +thought. + +At some distance from the Appian way is seen a temple, raised by the +republic to Honour and Virtue; another to the god who caused Hannibal to +turn back, and also the fountain of Egeria, where Numa went to consult +the god of all good men,--conscience interrogated in solitude. It seems +that about these tombs no traces but those of virtue have subsisted. No +monument of the ages of crime is to be found by the side of those where +repose the illustrious dead; they are surrounded by an honourable space, +where the noblest memories may preserve their reign undisturbed. + +The aspect of the country about Rome has something in it singularly +remarkable: undoubtedly it is a desert, for it contains neither trees +nor habitation; but the earth is covered with wild plants which the +energy of vegetation incessantly renews. These parasitic plants glide +among the tombs, adorn the ruins, and seem only there to honour the +dead. One would say, that proud Nature has rejected all the labours of +man, since Cincinnatus no longer guided the plough which furrowed her +bosom. She produces plants by chance, without permitting the living to +make use of her riches. These uncultivated plains must be displeasing to +the agriculturist, to administrators, to all those who speculate upon +the earth, and who would lay it under contribution to supply the wants +of man. But pensive minds, which are occupied as much by death as by +life, take pleasure in contemplating this Roman Campagna upon which the +present age has imprinted no trace; this land which cherishes its dead, +and covers them lovingly with useless flowers, with useless plants which +creep upon the earth, and never rise sufficiently to separate themselves +from the ashes which they appear to caress. + +Oswald agreed that in this spot the mind felt more calm than it possibly +could any where else; besides, here the soul does not suffer so much +from the images that grief presents to it; one seems still to share with +those who are no more, the charms of that air, of that sun, and of that +verdure. Corinne observed the impression that Lord Nelville received, +and conceived some hopes from it: she did not flatter herself with being +able to console Oswald; she had not even wished to efface from his heart +the just regret he must feel at the loss of his father; but there is, +even in this regret, something tender and harmonious, which we must +endeavour to make known to those who have hitherto only felt its +bitterness; it is the only benefit we can confer upon them. + +"Let us stop here," said Corinne, "opposite this tomb, the only one +which remains yet almost whole: it is not the tomb of a celebrated +Roman, it is that of Cecilia Metella, a young maiden to whom her father +has raised this monument." "Happy!" said Oswald, "happy are the children +who die in the arms of their father and receive death in the bosom of +him who gave them life; death itself then loses its sting." "Yes," said +Corinne; "happy are those not doomed to the wretched lot of orphans. +See, arms have been sculptured on this tomb, though it belongs to a +woman: but the daughters of heroes may have their monuments adorned with +the trophies of their fathers; what a beautiful union is that of +innocence and valour! There is an elegy of Propertius which paints +better than any other writing of antiquity, this dignity of woman among +the Romans, more imposing, more pure than the worship paid to them +during the age of chivalry. Cornelia, dying in her youth, addresses to +her husband the most affecting consolations and adieus, in which we feel +at every word, all that is respectable and sacred in family ties. The +noble pride of an unspotted life is painted in this majestic poetry of +the Latins, this poetry, noble and severe as the masters of the +world[17]. '_Yes_,' says Cornelia, '_no stain has sullied my life from +the nuptial bed to the funeral pyre; I have lived pure between the two +torches._' What an admirable expression" cried Corinne; "What a sublime +image! How worthy of envy is the lot of that woman who has been able to +preserve the most perfect unity in her destiny and carries but one +recollection to the grave: it is enough for a life!" + +In finishing these words, the eyes of Corinne were filled with tears; a +cruel sentiment, a painful suspicion seized upon the heart of +Oswald.--"Corinne," cried he, "Corinne, has your delicate soul nothing +to reproach itself with? If I were able to dispose of myself, if I could +offer myself to you, should I have no rival in the past? Should I have +reason to be proud of my choice? Would no cruel jealousy disturb my +happiness?"--"I am free, and I love you as I never loved man before!" +answered Corinne--"What would you have more?--Must I be condemned to an +avowal, that before I have known you I have been deceived by my +imagination as to the interest which another excited in me? Is there not +in the heart of man a divine pity for the errors which sentiment, or +rather the illusion of sentiment, may have led us to commit?" In +finishing these words a modest blush covered her face. Oswald was +startled; but remained silent. There was in Corinne's look an expression +of repentance and timidity which did not permit him to judge with +rigour--a ray from heaven seemed to descend upon, and absolve her! He +took her hand, pressed it against his heart, and knelt before her, +without uttering anything, without promising anything; but contemplated +her with a look of love which gave the utmost latitude to hope. + +"Believe me," said Corinne, to Lord Nelville--"let us form no plan for +the years to come. The most happy moments are those which a bountiful +chance gives us. Is it here then, is it in the midst of the tombs that +we should think of future days?"--"No," cried Lord Nelville, "I can +think of no future day that would be likely to part us! these four days +of absence have taught me too well that I now no longer exist but in +you!"--Corinne made no reply to these sweet expressions; but she +treasured them religiously in her heart; she was always fearful that in +prolonging the conversation upon that subject most interesting to her, +she might draw from Oswald a declaration of his future intentions, +before a longer acquaintance might render separation impossible. She +often, even designedly, turned his attention towards external +objects--like that Sultana in the Arabian Tales, who sought by a +thousand different recitals to awaken the interest of him she loved, in +order to postpone the decision of her fate till her charms and her wit +had completed their conquest. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[17] + "Viximus insignes inter utramque facem." + PROPERTIUS. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Not far from the Appian way, Oswald and Corinne visited the +_Columbarium_, where slaves are united with their masters; where are +seen in the same tomb, all who lived under the protection of one man or +one woman. The women of Livia, for example, they who, appointed to the +care of her beauty, struggled for its preservation against the power of +time and disputed with the years some one of her charms, are placed by +her side in little urns. We fancy that we see an assemblage of the +obscure dead round one of the illustrious departed, not less silent than +his train. At a little distance from here, is perceived the field where +vestals, unfaithful to their vows, were buried alive; a singular +instance of fanaticism in a religion naturally tolerant. + +"I will not conduct you to the catacombs," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "though, by a singular chance, they are under this Appian way; +tombs thus having their abode beneath tombs; but this asylum of the +persecuted Christians has something so gloomy, and so terrible in it, +that I cannot find resolution to return thither. It does not inspire the +same affecting melancholy as more open situations; it is like a dungeon +adjoining a sepulchre; the torment of life accompanied with the horrors +of death. Undoubtedly, we feel penetrated with admiration of men who, by +the power of enthusiasm alone, have been able to support this +subterraneous existence; separating themselves from the sun and from +nature; but the mind is so ill at ease in this abode that it is +incapable of receiving any improvement. Man is a part of the creation; +he must find his moral harmony in the whole system of the universe, in +the usual order of destiny, and certain violent and formidable +exceptions may astonish the mind; but they are so terrifying to the +imagination that the habitual disposition of the soul cannot benefit by +them. Let us rather," continued Corinne, "go and see the pyramid of +Cestius: the Protestants who die here are all buried around this +pyramid, which affords them a mild, tolerant, and liberal asylum." +"Yes," answered Oswald, "it is there that several of my +fellow-countrymen have found their last retreat. Let us go thither; and +thus, at least, it may happen that I shall never quit you."--Corinne +shuddered at these words, and her hand trembled as she supported herself +upon the arm of Lord Nelville--"I am better, much better," said he, +"since I have known you."--The countenance of Corinne was lighted up +anew with that sweet and tender joy which it was accustomed to express. + +Cestius presided over the Roman games. His name is not to be found in +history; but it is rendered illustrious by his tomb. The massive pyramid +which encloses his ashes, defends his death from that oblivion which has +entirely effaced his life. Aurelian, fearing that this pyramid might be +employed as a fortress to attack Rome, has caused it to be enclosed +within the walls which are yet standing, not as useless ruins, but as +the actual enclosure of the modern city. It is said that the form of +the pyramid is in imitation of the flame which ascends from a funeral +pyre. It is certain that this mysterious form attracts the eye and gives +a picturesque aspect to every perspective of which it forms a part. +Opposite this pyramid is Mount Testaceo, under which there are extremely +cool grottos where feasts are given in summer. The festivals of Rome are +not disturbed at the sight of tombs. The pines and the cypresses which +are perceived at various distances in the smiling country of Italy, are +also pregnant with solemn remembrances; and this contrast produces the +same effect as the verses of Horace, + + ----moriture Delli + ------------------------------------------ + Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens + Uxor,[18] + +in the midst of poetry consecrated to every enjoyment upon earth. The +ancients have always felt that the idea of death has its pleasures: it +is recalled by love and by festivals, and the most lively emotion of joy +seems to increase even from the idea of the shortness of life. + +Corinne and Nelville returned from the walk among the tombs, along the +banks of the Tiber.--Once it was covered with vessels and bordered with +palaces; once even its inundations were regarded as presages; it was the +prophetic river, the tutelary Deity of Rome[19]. At present, one would +say that it rolled its tide through a land of shadows; so solitary does +it seem, so livid do its waters appear. The finest monuments of the +arts, the most admirable statues have been thrown into the Tiber, and +are concealed beneath its waves. Who knows whether, in order to find +them, the river will not one day be turned from its bed? But when we +think that the masterpieces of human genius are perhaps there before +us, and that a more piercing eye would behold them through the waves--we +feel that indescribable emotion which incessantly arises at Rome, under +various forms, and creates a society for the mind in physical objects +which every where else are dumb. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] + Dellius thou must die--------------------- + Thou must quit thy land, thy home, and thy beloved wife. + +[19] PLIN. _Hist. Natur._ L. iii. Tiberis ... quamlibet magnorum navium +ex Italo mari capax, rerum in toto orbe nascentium mercator +placidissimus, pluribus probe solus quam ceteri in omnibus terris amnes +accolitur aspiciturque villis. Nullique fluviorum minus licet, inclusis +utrinque lateribus: nec tamen ipse pugnat, quamquam creber ac subitis +incrementis, et nusquam magis aquis quam in ipsa urbe stagnantibus. Quin +imo vates intelligitur potius ac monitor auctu semper religiosus verius +quam sævus. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Raphael has said that modern Rome was almost entirely built with the +ruins of the ancient city, and it is certain that we cannot take a step +here without being struck by some relics of antiquity. We perceive the +_eternal walls_, to use the expression of Pliny, through the work of the +later centuries; the Roman edifices almost all bear a historical stamp; +in them may be remarked, if we may so express it, the physiognomy of +ages. From the Etruscans to our days, from that people, more ancient +than the Romans themselves, and who resembled the Egyptians by the +solidity of their works and the fantastical nature of their designs, +from that people to Chevalier Bernini, an artist whose style resembles +that of the Italian poets of the seventeenth century, we may observe the +human mind at Rome, in the different characters of the arts, the +edifices and the ruins. The middle ages, and the brilliant century of +the Medici, re-appear before our eyes in their works, and this study of +the past in objects present to our sight, penetrates us with the genius +of the times. It was believed that Rome had formerly a mysterious name +which was only known to a few adepts; it seems that it is yet necessary +to be initiated into the secret of this city. It is not simply an +assemblage of habitations, it is the history of the world, figured by +divers emblems and represented under various forms. + +Corinne agreed with Lord Nelville that they should go and visit +together, the edifices of modern Rome, and reserve for another +opportunity the admirable collections of pictures and statues which it +contains. Perhaps, without accounting for it to herself, she desired to +put off till the most distant day possible, those objects which people +cannot dispense with seeing at Rome; for who has ever quitted it without +having contemplated the Apollo Belvedere and the pictures of Raphael? +This guarantee, weak as it was, that Oswald should not leave her, +pleased her imagination. Is there not an element of pride some one will +ask, in endeavouring to retain the object of our love by any other means +than the real sentiment itself? I really do not know; but the more we +love, the less we trust to the sentiment we inspire; and whatever may be +the cause which secures the presence of the object who is dear to us, we +always embrace it joyfully. There is often much vanity in a certain +species of boldness, and if charms, generally admired, like those of +Corinne, possess a real advantage, it is because they permit us to place +our pride to the account of the sentiment we feel rather than to that +which we inspire. + +Corinne and Nelville began their observations by the most remarkable of +the numerous churches of Rome--they are all decorated with ancient +magnificence; but something gloomy and fantastical is mingled with that +beautiful marble and those festival ornaments which have been taken from +the Pagan temples. Pillars of porphyry and granite were so numerous in +Rome that they have lavishly distributed them, scarcely considering them +of any value. At St John Lateran, that church so famous for the +councils that have been held in it, are found such a quantity of marble +pillars that many of them have been covered with a cement of plaster to +make pilasters, so indifferent have they become to these riches from +their multitude. + +Some of these pillars were in the tomb of Adrian, others at the Capitol; +these latter still bear on their capitals the figures of the geese which +saved the Roman people. Some of these pillars support Gothic, and others +Arabian ornaments. The urn of Agrippa conceals the ashes of a Pope; for +even the dead have yielded place to other dead, and the tombs have +almost as often changed their masters as the abodes of the living. + +Near St John Lateran is the holy stair-case, transported, it is said, +from Jerusalem to Rome. It may only be ascended kneeling. Cæsar himself, +and Claudius also, mounted on their knees the stair-case which conducted +to the Temple of the Capitoline Jove. On one side of St John Lateran is +the font where it is said that Constantine was baptised.--In the middle +of the square is seen an obelisk, which is perhaps the most ancient +monument in the world--an obelisk cotemporary with the Trojan war!--an +obelisk which the barbarous Cambyses respected so much that in honour of +it he put a stop to the conflagration of a city!--an obelisk for which a +king pledged the life of his only son!--The Romans have, miraculously, +brought this pillar to Italy from the lowest part of Egypt.--They turned +the Nile from its course in order that it might seek it, and transport +it to the sea. This obelisk is still covered with hieroglyphics which +have preserved their secret during so many ages, and which to this day +defy the most learned researches. The Indians, the Egyptians, the +antiquity of antiquity, might perhaps be revealed to us by these +signs.--The wonderful charm of Rome is not only the real beauty of its +monuments; but the interest which it inspires by exciting thought; and +this kind of interest increases every day with each new study. + +One of the most singular churches of Rome, is that of St Paul: its +exterior is like a badly built barn, and the interior is ornamented with +eighty pillars of so fine a marble and so exquisite a make, that one +would believe they belonged to an Athenian temple described by +Pausanias. Cicero said--_We are surrounded by the vestiges of +history_,--if he said so then, what shall we say now? + +The pillars, the statues, the bas-reliefs of ancient Rome, are so +lavished in the churches of the modern city, that there is one (St +Agnes) where bas-reliefs, turned, serve for the steps of a stair-case, +without any one having taken the trouble to examine what they +represented. What an astonishing aspect would ancient Rome offer now, if +the marble pillars and the statues had been left in the same place where +they were found! The ancient city would still have remained standing +almost entire--but would the men of our day dare to walk in it? + +The palaces of the great lords are extremely vast, of an architecture +often very fine, and always imposing: but the interior ornaments are +rarely tasteful; we do not find in them even an idea of those elegant +apartments which the finished enjoyments of social life have given rise +to elsewhere. These vast abodes of the Roman princes are empty and +silent; the lazy inhabitants of these superb palaces retire into a few +small chambers unperceived, and leave strangers to survey their +magnificent galleries where the finest pictures of the age of Leo X. are +collected together. The great Roman lords of the present day, are as +unacquainted with the pompous luxury of their ancestors, as these +ancestors themselves were with the austere virtues of the Roman +republic. The country houses convey still more the idea of this +solitude, of this indifference of the possessors in the midst of the +most admirable abodes in the world. People may walk in these immense +gardens without suspecting that they have a master. The grass grows in +the middle of the walks, and in these very walks are trees fantastically +cut according to the ancient taste that prevailed in France.--What a +singular whimsicality is this neglect of the necessary, and affectation +of the useless!--But one is often surprised at Rome, and in the greater +part of the other cities of Italy, at the taste of the Italians for +extravagant ornaments,--they who have incessantly before their eyes the +noble simplicity of the antique. They love what is brilliant, much +better than what is elegant and commodious. They have in every instance, +the advantages and the inconveniences of not living habitually in +society. Their luxury is rather that of the imagination, than the luxury +of actual enjoyment;--isolated as they are among themselves, they cannot +dread the spirit of ridicule, which seldom penetrates at Rome into +domestic secrecy; and often, in contrasting the interior with the +exterior of their palaces, one would say, that the greater part of the +Italian nobility arrange their dwellings more to dazzle the passers-by +than to receive their friends. + +After having surveyed the churches and the palaces, Corinne conducted +Oswald to the villa Mellini, a solitary garden, without any other +ornament than its magnificent trees. From here is seen, at a distance, +the chain of the Appenines; the transparency of the air colours these +mountains and throws them forward in the perspective, giving them a most +picturesque appearance. Oswald and Corinne remained in this spot to +enjoy the charms of the sky and the tranquillity of nature. It is +impossible to form an idea of this singular tranquillity without having +lived in Southern countries. On a hot day there is not felt the lightest +breath of wind. The feeblest blade of grass is perfectly still, and the +animals themselves partake of the indolence which the fine weather +inspires: in the middle of the day, you neither hear the hum of flies, +the chirping of grasshoppers, nor the song of birds; no object fatigues +itself with useless and trifling agitation; all sleep till storm or the +passions awaken the vehemence of nature, who then rushes with +impetuosity from her profound repose. + +There are in the gardens of Rome, a great number of trees clad in +perennial green, which heighten the illusion produced by the mildness of +the climate during winter. Pines, of a particular elegance, large, +tufted towards the top, and interwoven with one another, form a kind of +plain in the air, whose effect is charming when we mount sufficiently +high to perceive it. The lower trees are placed beneath the shelter of +this verdant vault. Two palm trees only are found in Rome which are both +planted in the gardens of the monks; one of them, placed upon an +eminence, serves as a landmark, and a particular pleasure must always be +felt in perceiving and retracing in the various perspectives of Rome, +this deputy of Africa, this type of a Southern climate more burning +still than that of Italy, and which awakens so many new ideas and +sensations. + +"Do you not find," said Corinne, contemplating with Oswald the country +surrounding them; "that nature in Italy disposes us more to reverie than +any where else?--It might be said, that she is here more in affinity +with man, and that the Creator uses her as a medium of interpretation +between his creature and himself." "Undoubtedly," replied Oswald, "I +think so; but who knows whether it may not be the deep feelings of +tenderness which you excite in my heart, that render me sensible to all +I see?--You reveal to me the emotions and thoughts, which external +objects can give birth to. I existed but in my heart; you have awakened +my imagination. But this magic of the universe, which you teach me to +know, will never present me with any thing more lovely than your look, +more moving than your voice." "May the sentiment I now inspire you with, +last as long as my life," said Corinne, "or at least, may my life never +survive the power of inspiring it!" + +Oswald and Corinne terminated their tour of Rome by the Borghese villa. +Of all the Roman gardens and palaces, here the splendours of nature and +the arts, are assembled with the greatest taste and brilliancy. Here are +seen trees of every kind, and magnificent fountains; an incredible +number of statues, vases, and antique sarcophagi, mingled with the +freshness of the youthful nature of the South. The ancient mythology +here seems revived; the naiades are placed on the borders of rivers, the +nymphs in woods worthy of them, the tombs beneath Elysian shades, and +the statue of Esculapius in the middle of an isle, while that of Venus +appears to rise out of the waters: Ovid and Virgil might walk in this +enchanting spot, and still believe themselves in the Augustan age. The +masterpieces of sculpture which the palace contains, give it a +magnificence ever new. At a distance, through the trees, is perceived +the city of Rome and St Peter's, the Campagna, and those long arches, +the wrecks of aqueducts, which conveyed the springs from the mountains +into ancient Rome. Everything is there that can excite thought, delight +the imagination, and foster reverie. The most pure sensations are +confounded with the pleasures of the soul, and give an idea of perfect +happiness; but when we ask why this charming abode is not inhabited? +they answer you that the malaria (_la cattiva aria_) will not permit any +one to live here during summer. + +This malaria, in a manner, lays siege to Rome; it advances every year +some steps farther, and they are obliged to abandon the most charming +habitations to its empire: undoubtedly, the absence of trees in the +country about the city, is one of the causes of it; and it is perhaps, +on that account, that the ancient Romans consecrated the woods to +goddesses, in order to make them respected by the people. At present, +forests without number have been cut down;--can there indeed exist, in +our days, any place so sanctified, that the avidity of man will spare it +from the work of devastation? The malaria is the scourge of the +inhabitants of Rome, and threatens the city with an entire depopulation; +but perhaps it increases the effect produced by the superb gardens which +are seen within the walls of Rome. The malign influence is not felt by +any external sign; you breathe an air which seems pure, and is very +agreeable; the earth is smiling and fertile; a delicious coolness +refreshes you in the evening after the burning heat of the day; and all +this is death! + +"I love," said Oswald to Corinne, "this mysterious, invisible danger, +this danger under the form of the sweetest impressions. If death be +only, what I believe it to be, a summons to a happier existence, why +should not the perfume of flowers, the umbrage of fine trees, and the +refreshing breath of the evening breeze, be the bearers of that summons? +Undoubtedly, governments ought to watch in every way over the +preservation of human life; but there are secrets in nature which the +imagination alone can penetrate; and I easily conceive that neither the +inhabitants nor the strangers who visit it, are disgusted with Rome, by +the species of peril to which they are exposed there during the most +beautiful seasons of the year." + + + + +Book vi. + +THE MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE ITALIANS. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The indecision of Oswald's character, increased by his misfortunes, led +him to dread forming any irrevocable resolve. He had not even dared, in +his state of irresolution, to ask of Corinne the secret of her name and +destiny; nevertheless, his love acquired every day new strength; he +never beheld her without emotion; in company he could hardly quit, even +for an instant, the place where she was seated; she did not speak a word +that he felt not; nor did she experience one moment's sadness or gaiety, +that was not reflected in his countenance. But in the midst of his +admiration and of his love for Corinne, he recollected how little such a +woman agreed with the English manner of living; how much she differed +from the idea which his father had formed of her whom it would be proper +for him to espouse; and all that he said to Corinne partook of the +trouble and constraint which these reflections caused him. + +Corinne perceived this too well; but it would have cost her so much to +break off with Lord Nelville, that she herself endeavoured to avoid, as +much as he, a decisive explanation; and as she was not possessed of much +foresight she was happy with the present, such as it was, although it +was impossible for her to know what would be the issue of it. + +She had become entirely divided from the world, in order to devote +herself entirely to her passion for Oswald. But at length, so much +affected was she at his silence with regard to the future, that she +resolved to accept an invitation for a ball to which she had been +pressingly solicited. Nothing is more common at Rome than to leave +society and to appear in it again, alternately, just as the parties feel +it agreeable to themselves: it is the country where people trouble their +minds the least with what is elsewhere called _gossip_; each one does as +he pleases, without any person enquiring about it, or at least, without +finding in others any obstacle either to his love or his ambition. The +Romans are as inattentive to the conduct of their fellow-countrymen, as +to that of strangers, who pass and repass through their city, the +rendezvous of Europeans. When Lord Nelville knew that Corinne was going +to the ball, he was vexed at it. He thought he had perceived in her for +some time a melancholy disposition in sympathy with his own: all on a +sudden she appeared to him to be taken up with dancing, an art in which +she excelled; and her imagination seemed fired at the approach of a +_féte_. Corinne was not frivolous by character; but she felt herself +every day more and more enslaved by her love for Oswald, and she would +fain endeavour to weaken its force. She knew by experience, that +reflection and sacrifices have less effect upon passionate characters +than dissipation, and she thought that reason did not consist in +conquering ourselves according to rules, but by doing so how we can. + +"I must," said she to Lord Nelville, who reproached her with her +intention of going to the ball, "I must know, however, if there be only +you in the world who can fill the void of my life; if that which pleased +me formerly may not still have the power to amuse me; and if the +sentiment you have inspired me with must absorb every other interest, +every other idea."--"You would then cease to love me?" replied +Oswald.--"No;" answered Corinne, "but it is only in domestic life that +it could be pleasing to me to feel thus governed by a single affection. +To me who need my talents, my mind, and my imagination, to support the +lustre of that kind of life which I have adopted, it must be +painful--extremely painful to love as I love you."--"You would not +sacrifice to me then," said Oswald to her, "this homage and this +glory."--"Of what importance can it be to you," said Corinne, "to know +whether or not I would sacrifice them to you? Since we are not +absolutely destined for one another, it would not be prudent to let that +happiness with which I must be satisfied, wither for ever."--Lord +Nelville made no answer, because it was necessary, in expressing his +sentiments, to avow also the purpose they inspired, and of this his own +heart was still in ignorance. He was silent therefore, and sighing, +followed Corinne to the ball, whither he went with much reluctance. + +It was the first time since his calamity that he had seen a large +assembly; and the tumult of a _féte_ caused him such an impression of +sadness that he remained a long time in a room contiguous to that +appropriated for the ball, his head supported on his hand, not even +curious to behold Corinne dance. He listened to the festive music, which +like every other music, produces reverie, though only intended to +inspire joy. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, quite enchanted at the sight +of a ball, which produced in him some recollections of France.--"I have +tried all I could," said he to Lord Nelville, "to discover something +interesting in these ruins of which they talk so much, and I can really +find no charm in them. It must be the effect of a very great prejudice +to admire those heaps of rubbish covered with thorns. I shall speak my +mind of them when I return to Paris, for it is time that this Italian +delusion should cease. There is not a monument now standing whole in any +part of Europe, that I would not sooner see than those old stumps of +pillars, those bas-reliefs, all black with time, which can only be +admired by dint of erudition. A pleasure which must be bought with so +much study, does not appear to me very lively in itself--to be charmed +with the sights of Paris, nobody need grow pale over books." Lord +Nelville made no reply.--The Count interrogated him afresh, as to the +impression that Rome produced on him. "In the midst of a ball," said +Oswald, "is not the most proper time for serious conversation on this +subject; and you know that I am incapable of any other."--"Well and +good:" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "I am more gay than you I admit; but +who knows whether I am not also the more wise of the two? Believe me, +there is much philosophy in my apparent levity: it is the way we should +take life."--"You are perhaps in the right," answered Oswald, "but it is +from nature, and not from reflection, that you acquire that way of +thinking; and that is why your manner of taking life may only suit +yourself." + +The Count d'Erfeuil heard the name of Corinne mentioned in the ball +room, and entered it to know what was going forward. Lord Nelville +advanced as far as the door, and beheld the Prince Amalfi, a Neapolitan +of the most handsome figure, who besought Corinne to dance with him the +_Tarantula_, a Neapolitan dance full of grace and originality. The +friends of Corinne besought her also to comply with his request. She +yielded to their desire without waiting to be asked frequently, which +astonished the Count d'Erfeuil, accustomed as he was to the refusals +with which it is customary to precede consenting to a request of this +nature. But in Italy, these kind of graces are unknown, and all believe +they please most in society by showing an eagerness to do what is asked +of them. Corinne would have invented this natural behaviour if she were +not already accustomed to it. The dress she had chosen for the ball was +elegant and light; her hair was gathered up in a fillet of silk, after +the Italian fashion; and her eyes expressed a lively pleasure, which +rendered her more seductive than ever. Oswald was disturbed at this; he +warred against himself; he was indignant at being captivated with charms +which he ought to lament, since, far from thinking to please him, it was +to escape his empire that Corinne appeared so attractive.--But who could +resist the seductions of a grace like hers? Were she even disdainful, +she would be still more omnipotent; and that certainly was not the +disposition of Corinne. She perceived Lord Nelville, and blushed, while +there was in her eyes as she looked upon him, a most enchanting +softness. + +The Prince d'Amalfi accompanied himself, in dancing, with castanets. +Corinne before she began saluted the assembly most gracefully with both +her hands, then turning round upon her heel took the tambourine which +the Prince Amalfi presented her with. She then began to dance, striking +the air upon the tambourine, and there was in all her motions, an +agility, a grace, a mixture of modesty and voluptuousness, which might +give an idea of that power which the Bayadores exercise over the +imagination of the Indians, when, if we may use the expression, they are +almost poets in their dance; when they express so many different +sentiments by the characteristic steps and the enchanting pictures which +they offer to the sight. Corinne was so well acquainted with all the +attitudes which the ancient painters and sculptors have represented, +that by a light movement of her arms, sometimes in placing the +tambourine over her head, sometimes forward, with one of her hands, +whilst the other ran over the little bells with an incredible dexterity, +she recalled to mind the dancers of Herculaneam[20], and gave birth +successively to a crowd of new ideas for painting and design. + +It was not the French style, characterised by the elegance and +difficulty of the step; it was a talent more connected with imagination +and sentiment. The character of the music was alternately expressed by +the exactitude and softness of the movements. Corinne, in dancing, +conveyed to the souls of her spectators what was passing in her own. The +same as in her improvisation, her performance on the lyre, or the +efforts of her pencil,--she reduced everything to language. The +musicians, in beholding her, exerted themselves to make the genius of +their art felt more exquisitely; a kind of passionate joy, a sensibility +of the imagination, electrified all the spectators of the magic dance, +and transported them to that state of ideal existence in which we dream +of happiness that does not exist in this world. + +There is a part of this Neapolitan dance when the lady kneels, whilst +the gentleman moves round her, not as a master, but as a +conqueror.--What at this moment were the charms and dignity of Corinne. +How regal, even in kneeling, did she appear! And when she arose, +striking her aerial cymbal, she seemed animated with that lively +enthusiasm of youth and beauty, which would create a belief that nothing +was wanting to complete her happiness. Alas! it was far otherwise; but +Oswald feared it, and sighed in the midst of his admiration of Corinne, +as if each triumph of her genius was a degree of separation from him: at +the conclusion of the dance, the gentleman kneels in his turn, and the +lady dances round him. Corinne in this part, if it were possible, +surpassed herself; her step was so light, as she tripped two or three +times round the same circle, that her buskined feet seemed to fly over +the floor with the velocity of lightning; and when she lifted up one of +her hands, shaking the tambourine, while with the other she motioned the +Prince Amalfi to rise, all the male part of the company were tempted to +throw themselves on their knees too, except Oswald, who retired a few +paces backward, and the Count d'Erfeuil, who advanced a few paces +forward to compliment Corinne. This enthusiasm of the Italians was by no +means assumed, but was the spontaneous effect of their feelings. They +are not sufficiently practised in society and in self-esteem to pay much +regard to the effect which their actions will produce; they never let +themselves be thwarted in their pleasures by vanity, nor turned aside +from the object of their pursuit by applause. + +Corinne was charmed at her success, and thanked all her admirers with +the most simple grace.--The satisfaction she felt at having succeeded so +well, appeared beneath a veil of modesty; but her chief anxiety was to +make her way through the crowd, in order to reach the door against which +the pensive Oswald was leaning. When she had reached the spot, she +paused to hear what he would say to her:--"Corinne," said he, +endeavouring to conceal his captivation as well as the pain that he +felt: "Corinne, I hope you have met with sufficient homage and +sufficient applause; but in the midst of these enthusiastic admirers, +have you found one certain and courageous friend--one protector for +life? Can this vain tumult of applause satisfy a heart like thine?" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[20] It is the dance of Mm. Recamier that gave me the idea of what I +have attempted to describe. This woman, so celebrated for her grace and +beauty, offers in the midst of her misfortunes the example of so +touching a resignation, and of such a total oblivion of her personal +interests, that her moral qualities seem to everyone as remarkable as +her accomplishments. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Corrine was prevented by the crowd from making any answer to Lord +Nelville. They were going to the supper room, and each _cavaliere +servente_ was hastening to seat himself by the side of his partner. A +strange lady entered when all the seats were occupied, and no gentleman, +except Lord Nelville and Count d'Erfeuil, made her an offer of his. This +was not the effect of impoliteness or of egotism; but the idea which the +great Roman lords entertain of honour and duty, is not to stir one step, +nor be absent one moment from their ladies. Some who were unable to find +seats, stood behind the chairs of their mistresses, ready to wait upon +them at the least signal. The ladies only conversed with their gallants; +strangers wandered unnoticed about the circle; for the ladies in Italy +are unacquainted with coquetry, nor does any vain triumph of self-love +ever introduce itself into their tender attachments. They have no desire +to please any other than him who possesses their affection; you can +never engage their minds before you have interested their hearts or +pleased their eyes, and frequently the most sudden beginnings of passion +are followed by a sincere devotion, and even a very long constancy. In +Italy, infidelity is more severely condemned in man than in woman. Three +or four gentlemen, under different titles, are followers of the same +lady, who leads them about with her, often without even concerning +herself to mention their names to the master of the house who receives +them. One is the favoured suitor--the other he who aspires to be so--a +third is called the sufferer (_il patito_); this latter is absolutely +disdained, but nevertheless, permitted to continue his adoration; and +all these rivals live peaceably together. The use of the poignard now +only survives among the common people. There is in this country a +whimsical mixture of simplicity and depravity, dissimulation and truth, +sincerity and revenge, weakness and resolution, which can only be +explained by constant observation; the reason being that their good +qualities proceed from the fact that nothing is done from vanity, and +their bad ones from the fact that they will do a great deal for +interest, whether that interest be allied to love, to ambition, or to +fortune. + +Distinctions of rank have in general little effect in Italy; this is not +from philosophy, but their facility of character and familiarity of +manners. This accounts for the little influence of aristocratic +prejudices amongst them; for as society does not pretend to judge of +anything, it embraces the opinions of all. + +After supper the company betook themselves to play. Some ladies +preferred the game of hazard, whilst others chose the silent one of +whist; and not a word was heard pronounced in that room which so lately +was filled with noise. The inhabitants of the south often pass from the +greatest agitation to the most profound repose: another contrasted part +of their character is indolence united to the most unwearied activity. +In any individual instance among these people, we must beware of judging +upon a first observation, since we find in them the most opposite +qualities: if at one moment they are prudent, perhaps in the next they +show themselves the boldest of men; if they appear indolent, it is only +because they are reposing after some exertion, or preparing for another: +their soul loses none of its force in society, but is most probably +concentrating all its energies for decisive circumstances. + +In this Roman assembly of which Oswald and Corinne formed a part, there +were men who lost enormous sums at play, without betraying in their +countenances the slightest emotion. Had these men been relating some +facts of trifling importance, they would have exhibited the most lively +expression and the most animated gestures; but when their passions +arrive at a certain pitch of violence, they dread the eye of +observation, and nearly always conceal them beneath a veil of silence +and apparent apathy. + +The scene of the ball was impressed upon Lord Nelville's memory, +associated with bitter resentment; for he feared that the enthusiasm of +the Italians had, at least for a moment, robbed him of the affection of +Corinne. This rendered him very unhappy; but pride whispered him to +conceal it, or discover it only by expressing contempt for the suffrages +of those who had flattered the dazzling accomplishments of his mistress. +He was invited by the company to make one at play, but he refused. +Corinne did the same, and motioned him to come and sit down by her. +Oswald expressed himself uneasy, lest he should expose Corinne to +observation by thus passing the whole evening with her in company. "Make +yourself easy on that score," said she, "nobody will trouble their heads +with us: it is the custom here for people to do as they please in +company; we have no established, ceremonious forms to lay one another +under an unpleasant restraint, nor do we exact any formal attention; a +general polite disposition is all that is expected. This is not, +certainly, a country where liberty exists such as you understand the +term in England; but we enjoy here a perfect independence in society." +"That is to say," replied Oswald, "you show a complete disregard for +manners." "At least," interrupted Corinne, "we show no hypocrisy. M. de +la Rochefoucault has said, '_coquetry is the least of a woman's +defects_': in truth, whatever may be the faults of women in Italy, they +do not seek to hide them by dissimulation. And if the sacredness of +marriage be not here sufficiently respected, it is at least with the +consent of both parties." + +"It is not from sincerity that this kind of frankness proceeds," replied +Oswald, "but from indifference to public opinion. When I arrived here, I +had a letter of recommendation to a princess, which I gave to my Italian +servant to deliver; he said to me, '_Sir, it will be of no use to +deliver this letter now, for the princess sees nobody; she is_ +INAMORATA;' and this state of being _in love_, is announced with as much +indifference as any other situation incidental to our existence. This +publicity cannot be palliated by the plea of extraordinary vehemence of +passion; several attachments of this sort succeed each other, and are of +equal notoriety. So little are women given to mystery in this respect, +that they avow their connections with less embarrassment than those of +our country would feel in speaking of their husbands. It is easy to +believe that no profound or delicate sentiment is mixed with this +sensibility of passion, divested of modesty. Hence it happens that in +this nation, where nothing is thought of but love, there is not a single +romance; because love is here so rapid and so public that it affords no +interesting developments; and to give a true picture of general manners +in this respect, it would be necessary to begin and terminate it in the +first page. Pardon me, Corinne," cried Lord Nelville, observing the pain +that he gave her; "you are an Italian, and that thought ought to disarm +me; but one of the causes of that incomparable grace which distinguishes +you, is the union of all the characteristic charms of different nations. +I know not in what country you have been brought up; but it appears to +me certain, that you have not passed your whole life in Italy--perhaps +in England itself--Ah, Corinne! if that were so, how could you have +quitted that sanctuary of modesty and delicacy, for these regions, +where not only virtue, but love itself, is so badly understood? It is +breathed in the air; but does it penetrate the heart? Your poetry, in +which love performs so principal a part, possesses considerable grace, +and much imagination; it is ornamented with brilliant pictures, whose +colours are lively and voluptuous. But where will you find that tender, +melancholy sentiment, which animates our poetry? What have you that can +be put in comparison with the scene between Belvidera and her husband, +in OTWAY; or with that in SHAKESPEARE, between Romeo and Juliet? But +above all, what have you to compare with those admirable lines of +THOMSON, in his 'Spring,' where he paints in such noble and affecting +traits, the happiness of love, when sanctioned by marriage? Have you any +such marriage in Italy? And can love exist where there is no domestic +felicity? Is it not this happiness which the heart seeks, as possession +is the object of sensual passion? Do not all young and beautiful women +resemble each other, unless the qualities of the mind and soul determine +a preference? And what desire is excited by all these qualities? +Marriage. That is to say, the association of every thought, and of every +sentiment. Illicit love, when unfortunately it exists amongst us, is, if +it may be so expressed, only a reflection of marriage. In such +connections, that happiness is sought for, which the wanderer cannot +find at home; and infidelity itself is more moral in England than +marriage in Italy." + +These words were hard: they deeply wounded the sensibility of Corinne; +who, rising immediately, her eyes filled with tears, quitted the room +and returned directly home. Oswald was distracted at having offended +her; but it was the irritation of his mind, occasioned by the impression +she made in the ball, which had betrayed itself in the remarks that had +just escaped him. He followed her to her abode; but she refused to see +him. He called again the next morning, but in vain: her door was closed +against him. This protracted refusal to receive Lord Nelville, was not +agreeable to the disposition of Corinne; but she was painfully afflicted +at the opinion he had expressed of the Italian women; and this very +opinion induced her to form a determination of concealing, for the +future, if possible, the sentiment that preyed on her heart. + +Oswald, on his side, found, in this instance, that the behaviour of +Corinne was not consistent with her natural simplicity, and he became +confirmed more and more in the discontent with which the ball had +inspired him; and a disposition of mind was excited from these +circumstances, capable of struggling against the passion whose empire he +dreaded. His principles were rigid, and the mystery which enveloped the +past life of her whom he loved, afflicted him intensely. The manners of +Corinne appeared to him most fascinating, but sometimes too much +animated by the universal desire of pleasing. He discovered much +nobleness and reserve in her conversation and deportment; but she seemed +to indulge in too much latitude of opinion. In fact, Oswald was a +captivated man, hurried away by the passion he felt for his accomplished +mistress, but cherishing in his breast an opponent which combated his +feelings. Such a situation of mind is frequently attended with much +bitterness. We are dissatisfied with ourselves, and with others. We +suffer, and feel at the same time that our suffering ought to increase, +or at least terminate in a violent explanation, by which one of those +two sentiments that lacerate the heart must obtain a complete triumph. + +It was in such a state of mind as this that Lord Nelville wrote to +Corinne. His letter was harsh and ungentlemanly. He felt this; but +various confused emotions impelled him to send it: he was rendered so +wretched by these internal conflicts, that he wished, at all hazards, +for some circumstance or other to terminate them. + +A report, which had just been communicated to him by the Count +d'Erfeuil, though he did not give credence to it, contributed perhaps to +give more asperity to his expressions. It was noised about Rome, that +Corinne was about to marry the Prince Amalfi. Oswald knew very well that +she did not love him, and of course concluded that the events of the +ball afforded the only foundation for such a report; but he was +convinced that she had been at home to the Prince on the morning when he +himself was refused admission; and too proud to discover the slightest +sentiment of jealousy, he satisfied his discontent by denigrating the +nation, for which he beheld with so much pain, Corinne's predilection. + + + + +Chapter iii. + +_Oswald's Letter to Corinne_. + + + _January 24, 1795._ + +"You refuse to see me; you are offended at our conversation of the night +before last; and you have doubtless formed an intention to open your +doors in future only to your own countrymen, meaning probably by this +means, to expiate the fault you have committed in admitting to your +society a man of another nation. However, far from repenting my +sincerity with respect to the Italians, far from regretting the +observations which I made to you, whom, deluded by phantoms, I wished to +consider as an Englishwoman, I will venture to predict more strongly +still, that you will find neither happiness nor dignity should you make +choice of a husband from that society by which you are surrounded. I +know not the Italian worthy of you; there is not one by whose alliance +you could be honoured, let him be invested with whatever title he may. +Men in Italy are much less estimable than women; for they possess the +defects of the women, in addition to their own. Will you persuade me, +that these inhabitants of the South, who so pusillanimously shrink from +pain, and pursue the phantom of pleasure with so much avidity, can be +susceptible of love? Have you not seen (I have the fact from you) the +very last month, an Italian husband at the play, who but eight days +before had lost his wife, and a wife whom he pretended to love? They are +here not more eager to remove the dead from their sight than to efface +the remembrance of them from their mind. The funeral ceremonies are +attended to by the priests, as the rites of love are performed by the +attendant Cavaliers: ceremonial and custom supply the place of regret +and enthusiasm. Lastly, and it is this that principally destroys love, +the men of Italy are incapable of inspiring the women with any kind of +respect: the latter do not feel obliged by the submission of the former, +because their character is not dignified with firmness, nor their life +with serious occupation. In order that nature and social order may +appear in all their beauty, man must be the protector, and woman the +protected; but the protector must adore that weakness which he defends, +and reverence the helpless deity, who, like the household gods of the +ancients, brings happiness to his home. So it might almost be said, that +every woman is a Sultan, having at her command a seraglio of men. + +The men are here distinguished by that softness and pliability of +character, which properly belongs to women. An Italian proverb says: +'_who knows not how to feign, knows not how to live_.' Is not that a +woman's proverb? In truth, how can the manly character be formed upon +true principles of dignity and strength, in a country which affords no +military career of glory, which contains no free institutions? Hence it +is, that they direct their minds to all the little arts of cunning; they +treat life like a game of chess, in which success is everything. All +that remains to them from antiquity, is something gigantic in their +expressions and in their external magnificence; but this baseless +grandeur is frequently accompanied by all that is vulgar in taste, and +miserably negligent in domestic life. Is this, Corinne, the nation which +you would be expected to prefer to every other? Is this the nation whose +roaring applauses are so necessary to you, that every other destiny +would appear dull and congenial compared with their noisy '_bravos_?' +Who could flatter himself with being able to render you happy away from +these dear scenes of tumult? What an inconceivable character is that of +Corinne! profound in sentiment, but frivolous in taste; independent from +innate pride, yet servile from the need of distraction! She is a +sorceress whose spells alternately alarm and then allay the fears which +they have created; who dazzles our view in native sublimity, and then, +all of a sudden disappears from that region where she is without her +like, to lose herself in an indiscriminate crowd. Corinne, Corinne, he +who is your adorer cannot help feeling his love disturbed by fear! + + "OSWALD." + + +Corinne, on reading this letter, was much incensed at the inveterate +prejudices which Oswald appeared to entertain of her country. But she +was happy enough in her conjectures, to discover that she owed this to +the dissatisfaction he experienced at the _fête_, and to her refusing to +see him ever since after his final conversation on that evening; and +this reflection softened a little the painful impression which the +letter produced upon her. She hesitated for some time, or at least, +fancied she hesitated, as to the conduct which she should observe +towards him. The tenderness she cherished for this eccentric lover, +induced a wish to see him; but it was extremely painful to her that he +should imagine her to be desirous of marrying him, although their +fortunes were at least equal, and although in revealing her name, it +would be easy to show that it was by no means inferior to that of Lord +Nelville. Nevertheless, the independence and singularity of that mode of +life which she had adopted, ought to have inspired her with a +disinclination for marriage; and most assuredly she would have repulsed +the idea, had not her passion blinded her to the sufferings she would +have to undergo in espousing an Englishman and renouncing Italy. + +We willingly make an offering of pride upon the altar of the heart; but +when social prosperity and worldly interests oppose obstacles in any +shape, when we can suppose that the object of our love makes any sort of +sacrifice in uniting himself to us, it is no longer possible to show him +any alteration of sentiment. Corinne not being equal to a determination +to break off with Oswald, wished to persuade herself of the possibility +of seeing him in future, and yet concealing the passion which she felt +for him. It was in this intention that she came to a determination to +confine herself, in the answer she should send to his letter, merely to +his unjust accusations against the Italian nation, and to reason with +him upon this subject as if it were the only one that interested her. +Perhaps the best way in which a woman of intellect can resume her +coldness and dignity, is by seeking an asylum in her own mind. + + _Corinne to Lord Nelville_. + + _Jan. 15, 1795._ + +"Did your letter, my lord, concern only me, I should not have attempted +the task of self-justification: my character is so easy to know, that he +who might not be able to comprehend it by himself, would derive little +aid in his scrutiny by any explanation that I could give him on the +subject. The virtuous reserve of the English women, and the graceful art +of the French, take my word for it, often serve to conceal one half of +what is passing in their souls: that which you are pleased to +distinguish in me by the name of magic, is nothing but a sort of +transparency of mind, which allows its different sentiments and opposing +thoughts to be seen without labouring to harmonize them; for that +harmony, when it exists, is almost always assumed--most genuine +characters being by nature inconsequent--but it is not of myself I wish +to speak, it is of that unfortunate nation you so cruelly attack. Can it +be my affection for my friends which has inspired you with this bitter +malevolence? You know me too well to be jealous of me; indeed I have not +the vanity to believe that a sentiment of this description could have +sufficient power to transport you to such a degree of injustice. You +repeat the opinion of every other foreigner upon the Italian character, +when drawn from first impressions; but it requires deeper penetration, +and a more patient scrutiny, to be able to form a correct judgment upon +this country, which at different epochs has been so great. Whence comes +it that this nation, under the Romans, has attained the highest military +character in the world? that it has been the most jealous of its +liberties, in the republics of the middle ages, and in the sixteenth +century, the most illustrious in literature, and the arts and sciences? +Has she not pursued glory under every form? And if now, alas! she can +boast of none, why do you not rather accuse her political situation, +since in other circumstances she has shown herself different? + +"I know not whether I deceive myself; but the wrongs of the Italians +inspire me with no other sentiment than pity for their lot. Foreigners +have in every age conquered and torn asunder this beautiful country, the +perpetual object of their ambition; and yet foreigners bitterly reproach +this nation, with the wrongs of a conquered and dismembered country? +Europe is indebted to the Italians for the arts and sciences, and shall +Europe, turning their own benefits against them, dispute with her +benefactors the only species of renown which can distinguish a nation +without either military strength or political liberty? + +"It is so true that nations derive their character from the nature of +their government, that in this same Italy, we behold a remarkable +difference of manners in the different states that compose it. The +Piedmontese, who formed a little national body, have a more martial +spirit than all the rest of Italy; the Florentines, who have had the +good fortune either to enjoy their liberty, or to be governed by liberal +princes, are mild and enlightened; the Venetians and the Genoese, +discover a genius for politics, because their government is a republican +Aristocracy; the Milanese are remarkable for their sincerity, which +character they have long since derived from the nations of the north; +the Neapolitans might easily become a warlike people, because during +several centuries they have been united under a government, very +imperfect it is true, but yet a government of their own. The Roman +nobility being totally unoccupied with either military or political +pursuits, must in consequence become indolent and uninformed; but the +ecclesiastics, having a career of emulation open before them, are much +more enlightened and cultivated than the nobles, and as the papal +government admits of no distinction of birth, and is purely elective in +the clerical body, it begets a sort of liberality, not in ideas, but in +habits, which renders Rome a most agreeable abode for those who have +neither the prospect, nor the ambition of worldly eminence. + +"The nations of the south more easily receive the impression of their +political establishment than those of the north; they possess an +indolence which soon softens into resignation, and nature offers them so +many enjoyments, that they are easily consoled for the loss of those +which society refuses them. There is certainly much depravity in Italy, +and nevertheless civilisation is here in a much lower stage of +development than that of other countries. There is something almost +savage in the character of the Italians, notwithstanding their +intellectual acuteness, which too much resembles that of the hunter in +the art of surprising his prey. And indolent people easily acquire a +cunning character; they possess a habit of gentleness which serves them, +upon occasion, to dissimulate even their wrath: it is always by our +usual manners that we succeed in concealing an unexpected situation. + +"The Italians are sincere and faithful in the private intercourse of +life. Interest and ambition exercise considerable sway among them; but +pride and vanity none: the distinctions of rank produce little +impression. They have no society, no salons, no fashions, no little +daily methods of giving effect to minute circumstances. These habitual +sources of dissimulation and envy exist not among them. When they +deceive their enemies and their rivals, it is because they consider +themselves in a state of warfare with them; but in other circumstances +they are frank and ingenuous. It is this ingenuousness alone that has +scandalised you respecting our women, who, hearing love constantly +spoken of, and surrounded by its seductions and examples, conceal not +their sentiments, and if it may be so expressed, give even, to gallantry +a character of innocence; besides, they have no ridicule to dread from +that society in which they live. Some of them are so ignorant that they +cannot write; this they publicly avow, and answer a billet by means of +their agent (_il paglietto_) in a formal style on official paper. But to +make amends for this, among those who are well educated, you will find +academy professors who give public lessons in a black scarf; and should +this excite a smile, you would be answered, 'Is there any harm in +knowing Greek? Is there any harm in earning one's living by one's own +exertions? Why should so simple a matter provoke your mirth?' + +"But now my lord, allow me to touch upon a more delicate subject; allow +me to enquire the cause why our men display so little military ardour. +They expose their lives freely when impelled by love and hatred; and a +stab from a stiletto given or received in such a cause, excites neither +astonishment nor dread. They fear not death when natural passions bid +them brave its terrors; but often, it must be owned, they prefer life to +political interests, which seldom affect them because they possess no +national independence. Often too, that notion of honour which descends +to us from the age of chivalry, has little power in a nation where +opinion, and society by which opinion is formed, do not exist; it is a +natural consequence of this disorganisation of every public authority, +that women should attain that ascendancy which they here possess over +the men, perhaps in too high a degree to respect and admire them. +Nevertheless, the conduct of men towards women is full of delicacy and +attention. The domestic virtues in England constitute female glory and +happiness; but if there are countries where love exists outside the +sacred ties of marriage; that one among these countries where female +happiness excites the greatest attention and care, is Italy. Here men +have invented moral duties for relations outside the bounds of morality +itself; but at least in the division of these duties, they have been +both just and generous: they considered themselves more guilty than +women, when they broke the ties of love; because the latter had made the +greater sacrifice and lost more. They conceive that before the tribunal +of the heart, he is the most guilty who does the most injury. Men do +wrong for want of feeling; but women through weakness of character. +Society, which is at once rigorous and depraved--that is to say, without +pity for errors when they entail misfortunes,--must be very severe upon +women; but in a country which has no society, natural goodness of heart +has freer exercise. + +"Ideas of consideration and dignity are, I agree, less powerful and even +less known in Italy than any where else: the want of society and of +public opinion is the cause of it: but notwithstanding all that may be +said of the perfidy of the Italians, I maintain that there is not a +country in the world where more sincerity is to be found. So far is this +sincerity from being checked by vanity, that although that country be +one of which foreigners speak most ill, there is no country where they +meet with a more kindly reception. The Italians are reproached with +being too much inclined to flattery; but it must be allowed in their +favour, that generally, they lavish their soft expressions, not from +design, but a real desire to please; nor can it be alleged that these +expressions are ever falsified by their conduct. But it may be asked, +would they be faithful to their friends in extraordinary circumstances, +in which it might be necessary to brave for them the perils of +adversity? A very small number, I must own, would be capable of such +friendship; but this observation will not apply to Italy alone. + +"The Italians are remarkable for that lassitude which distinguishes the +eastern nations; but there are no men more active and persevering when +once their passions are excited. These very women, too, whom you behold +as indolent as the odalisks of a seraglio, upon some occasions give most +striking proofs of attachment. There is something mysterious in the +character and the imagination of the Italians, in whom you will find by +turns, either unexpected traits of generosity and friendship, or gloomy +and formidable proofs of hatred and revenge. They have no emulation, +because life to them is only a pleasant summer's dream; but give those +men a purpose, and you will see them in six months, develop an +unrivalled power of will and intelligence. It is the same with women: +what ambition can they feel, to excel in education when the ignorance of +the men renders them insensible to its value? By cultivating their minds +their hearts would become isolated; but these very women would soon +become worthy a man of superior mind, if such a man were the object of +their tender affection[21]. + +"Everything here sleeps: but in a country where great interests are +dead, repose and carelessness are more noble than a busy anxiety about +trifling concerns. + +"Even literature languishes in a country where thought is not renewed by +the strong and varied action of life.--But what nation has testified +more admiration for literature and the fine arts than Italy? We are +informed by history, that the popes, the princes, and the people, have +at all times paid to painters, poets, and distinguished writers, the +most public homage. This enthusiastic veneration of talent is I confess, +my lord, one of the first motives of my attachment to this country.--We +do not find here that _blasée_ imagination, that discouraging temper of +mind, that despotic mediocrity, which in other countries so effectually +torment and stifle natural genius.--A happy idea, sentiment, or +expression, sets an audience on fire, if I may say so. By the same rule +that talent holds the first rank amongst us, it excites considerable +envy; Pergolese was assassinated for his _Stabat Mater_; Giorgione armed +himself with a cuirass when he was obliged to paint in public; but the +violent jealousy which talent inspires amongst us, is that which, in +other nations, gives birth to power. This jealousy does not degrade its +object; it may hate, proscribe, and kill, but it is nevertheless mingled +with the fanaticism of admiration, and encourages genius, even in +persecuting it. To conclude; when we see so much life in so confined a +circle, in the midst of so many obstacles and so much subjection of +every kind, we cannot avoid in my opinion taking the deepest interest in +a people who inhale, with so much avidity, the little air which the +loopholes of imagination allow to enter through the walls that confine +them. + +"That this confinement is such, I will not deny: nor that men rarely +acquire in Italy that dignity, that boldness, which distinguishes free +and military nations.--I will even admit my lord, if you choose, that +the character of such nations is capable of inspiring women with more +love and enthusiasm. But might it not also be possible, that a noble and +interested man, cherishing the most rigid virtues, might unite in his +character every quality that can excite love, without possessing those +which promise happiness. + + "CORINNE." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[21] Mr Roscoe, author of the History of the Medici, has recently +published an History of Leo X., which is truly a masterpiece in its +kind, in which he relates all those marks of esteem and admiration, +which the princes and the people of Italy have conferred on +distinguished men of letters; he also shows, with impartiality, that the +conduct of many of the Popes has been, in this respect, very liberal. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +Corinne's letter made Oswald a second time repent the idea he had formed +of detaching himself from her. The intellectual dignity, the attractive +tenderness with which she repelled the harsh allegations he had made +against her country, affected him deeply, and penetrated him with +admiration. A superiority, so grand, so simple, and so true, appeared to +him above all ordinary rules. He felt that Corinne was not the weak, +timid woman, without an opinion on any subject beyond the sphere of her +private duties and sentiments, which he had chosen in his imagination as +a partner for life. The remembrance of Lucilia, such as he had beheld +her at the age of twelve years, agreed much better with this idea;--but +could any woman be compared with Corinne? Could ordinary laws and rules +be applied to one, who united in herself so many different qualities, +cemented by genius and sensibility? Corinne was a miracle of nature, and +was it not a miracle worked in favour of Oswald, when he could flatter +himself with interesting such a woman? But her real name and condition +were unknown to him. What would be her future projects were he to avow +his intention of uniting himself to her? All was yet in obscurity; and +although the enthusiasm with which Corinne had inspired Oswald made him +desirous of espousing her, yet the idea that her life had not been +wholly irreproachable, and that such an union would certainly have been +condemned by his father, threw his soul into confusion, and racked him +with the most painful anxiety. + +He was not now so sunk in grief, as before his acquaintance with +Corinne; but he no longer felt that sort of calm, which may even +accompany repentance, when our whole life is devoted to the expiation of +a crime. Formerly, he was not afraid to abandon himself to his +recollections, bitter as they were; but now he dreaded those long and +profound reveries, which would have revealed to him what was passing at +the bottom of his soul. In the meantime he prepared to visit Corinne, in +order to thank her for her letter, and obtain pardon for what he had +written to her, when Mr Edgermond, a relation of young Lucilia, entered +the room. + +He was a worthy English gentleman, who had almost constantly resided in +Wales, where he possessed an estate. He cherished those principles and +prejudices which, in every country, serve to maintain things as they +are, and which have a most beneficial tendency, when things are as well +as human reason will permit. When that is the case, such men as Mr +Edgermond, that is to say, the partizans of established order, though +strongly and even obstinately attached to their customs and to their +manner of thinking, ought to be considered as men of rational and +enlightened minds. + +Lord Nelville was startled when he heard Mr Edgermond announced; every +recollection of the past rushed upon him at once; but as it immediately +occurred to his mind that Lady Edgermond, the mother of Lucilia, had +sent her relation to reproach him, and thus restrain his independence, +this thought restored his firmness, and he received Mr Edgermond with +great coldness. However, he wronged his visitor by his suspicions, for +he had not the least design in his head that regarded Nelville. He +visited Italy for the sake of his health alone; and ever since he had +been in the country, he was constantly employed in hunting, and drinking +to King George and Old England. He was the most open-hearted of men, +and possessed a much better informed mind than his habits would induce +many to believe. He was a downright Englishman, not only as he ought to +be, but also as one might wish he were not: following in every country +the customs of his own, living only with Englishmen, and never +discoursing with foreigners; not out of contempt to them, but from a +sort of repugnance to foreign languages, and a timidity, which even at +the age of fifty, rendered him very diffident in forming new +acquaintances. + +"I am happy to see you," said he to Nelville, "I am going to Naples in a +fortnight and should be glad to see you there, for I have not long to +stay in Italy; my regiment will soon embark." "Your regiment!" repeated +Lord Nelville, and blushed as if he had forgotten that he had a year's +leave of absence because his regiment was not to be employed before the +expiration of that period. He blushed at the thought that Corinne could +make him forget even his duty. "Your regiment," continued Mr Edgermond, +"will not go upon service so soon; so stay here quietly, and regain your +health. I saw my young cousin before I set out--she is more charming +than ever. I am sure by the time you return she will be the finest woman +in England." Lord Nelville said nothing--and Mr Edgermond was also +silent. Some other words passed between them, very laconic, though +extremely friendly, and Mr Edgermond was going, when suddenly turning +back, he said, "Apropos, my lord, you can do me a kindness--they tell me +you are acquainted with the celebrated Corinne: I don't much like +forming new acquaintances, but I am quite curious to see this lady." +"Since you desire it, I will ask Corinne's permission to introduce you," +replied Oswald. "Do so, I beseech you," said Mr Edgermond; "and contrive +to let me see her some day when she improvises, or dances and sings to +the company." "Corinne does not thus display her talents to strangers," +said Nelville; "she is your equal and mine in every respect." "Pardon my +mistake," said Mr Edgermond, "as she is not known by another name than +that of Corinne, and lives by herself at the age of twenty-six years +unaccompanied by any part of her family, I thought she derived support +from her talents." "Her fortune is entirely independent," answered his +lordship warmly, "and her mind is still more so." Mr Edgermond +immediately dropped this subject, and repented at having introduced it, +seeing that it interested Oswald. No men in the world have so much +discretion and delicate precaution in what concerns the affections, as +the English. + +Mr Edgermond went away. Lord Nelville, when alone, could not help +exclaiming with emotion, "I must espouse Corinne. I must become her +protector, in order to preserve her from obloquy. She shall have the +little it is in my power to bestow--a rank and a name; whilst she on her +part will confer on me every earthly felicity." It was in this +disposition that he hastened to visit Corinne, and never did he enter +her doors with sweeter sentiments of hope and love; but, swayed by his +natural timidity, and in order to recover confidence, he began the +conversation with insignificant topics, and of this number was his +request for permission to introduce Mr Edgermond. At this name Corinne +was visibly agitated, and with a faltering voice refused what Oswald +solicited. All astonishment, he said to her, "I thought that in this +house, to which so many are allowed access, the title of my friend would +not afford a motive of exclusion." "Do not be offended, my lord," +replied Corinne: "Believe that I must have very powerful reasons not to +consent to your desire." "Ands will you acquaint me with those +reasons?" replied Oswald. "Impossible!" cried Corinne; "Impossible!" "So +then--" said Nelville, and his emotion rendered him unable to proceed. +He was about to depart, when Corinne, all in tears, exclaimed in +English, "For God's sake do not leave me unless you wish to break my +heart!" + +These words, and the tone of voice in which they were uttered, deeply +affected the soul of Oswald. He sat down again at some distance from +Corinne, supporting his head against a vase of alabaster which +embellished her apartment; then, suddenly, he said to her, "Cruel woman! +you see that I love you--you see that, twenty times a day, I am ready to +offer you my hand and my heart; yet you will not inform me who you are! +Tell me, Corinne, tell me the story of your past life," repeated he, +stretching his hand to her with the most moving expression of +sensibility. "Oswald!" cried Corinne; "Oswald! you do not know the pain +you give me. If I were mad enough to tell you all you would no longer +love me." "Great God!" replied he; "what have you then to reveal?" +"Nothing that renders me unworthy of you," said she; "but fortuitous +circumstances, and differences between our tastes and opinions, which +existed formerly and which no longer exist. Do not oblige me to confess +who I am. Some day, perhaps--some day, should you love me +sufficiently--Ah! I know not what I say," continued Corinne; "you shall +know all; but do not forsake me before you have heard it. Promise me +that you will not, in the name of your father who is now in heaven!" +"Pronounce not that name," cried Lord Nelville; "can you fathom his will +respecting us? Think you that he would consent to our union? If you do, +declare it, and I shall no longer be racked with doubts and fears. Some +time or other, I will unfold to you my sad story; but behold the +condition you have now reduced me to." In truth, his forehead was +covered with a cold sweat, his face was pale, and his trembling lips +with difficulty articulated these last words. Corinne, seated by the +side of Nelville, holding his hands in hers, gently recalled him to +himself. "My dear Oswald," said she to him; "ask Mr Edgermond if he has +ever been in Northumberland; or at least if he has only been there +within these past five years. Should he answer in the affirmative he may +then accompany you hither." At these words Oswald looked steadfastly at +Corinne, who cast down her eyes and was silent. "I shall do as you +desire me," said Lord Nelville, and went away. + +On his return home, he exhausted conjecture upon the secrets of Corinne. +It appeared evident that she had passed a considerable time in England, +and that her name and family must be known there. But what could be her +motive for concealing them; and if she had been settled in England, why +had she left it? These questions greatly disturbed the heart of Oswald. +He was convinced that no stain would be found in her life; but he feared +a combination of circumstances might have rendered her guilty in the +eyes of others. What he most dreaded, was her being an object of English +disapprobation. He felt sufficiently fortified against that of every +other country; but the memory of his father was so intimately connected +with the love of his native country, that these two sentiments +strengthened each other. + +Oswald, having learnt of Mr Edgermond that he had been in Northumberland +for the first time the preceding year, promised to introduce him to +Corinne that evening. Oswald arrived at her house before him, and made +her acquainted with the ideas that Mr Edgermond had conceived +respecting her, suggesting the propriety of convincing him how much he +was in error, by assuming the most cold and reserved manners. + +"If you permit me," replied Corinne, "I will be the same to him as to +everybody else; if he desire to hear me, I will improvise before him; in +fact, I will appear to him as I am, not doubting that he will perceive +as much dignity of soul in this simple and natural behaviour, as if I +were to put on an air of restraint which would only be affected." "Yes, +Corinne," replied Oswald, "you are right. Ah! how much in the wrong is +he, who would in the least alter your admirable disposition." + +At this moment Mr Edgermond arrived with the rest of the company. At the +commencement of the evening, Lord Nelville placed himself by the side of +Corinne, and with an interest which at once became the lover and the +protector, he said every thing that could enhance her worth. The respect +he testified for her seemed to have for its object rather to win the +attention of others, than to satisfy himself; but it was with the most +lively joy that he soon felt the folly of all his anxiety. Corinne +entirely captivated Mr Edgermond--she not only captivated him by her +genius and her charms, but by inspiring him with that sentiment of +esteem which true characters always obtain of honest ones; and when he +presumed to express a wish to hear her upon a subject of his choice, he +aspired to this favour with as much respect as eagerness. She consented +without for a moment waiting to be pressed, and thus manifested that +this favour had a value independent of the difficulty of obtaining it. +But she felt so lively a desire to please a countryman of Oswald's, a +man who by the consideration which he merited might influence his +opinion in speaking of her, that this sentiment suddenly filled her with +a timidity which was quite new to her: she wished to begin, but her +tongue was suspended by the emotion she felt. Oswald was pained that she +did not dazzle his English friend with all her superiority; his eyes +were cast down, and his embarrassment was so visible, that Corinne, +solely engrossed by the effect that she produced upon him, lost more and +more the presence of mind necessary for improvisation. At length, +sensible of her hesitation, feeling that her words were the offspring of +memory and not of sentiment, and that thus she was neither able to paint +what she thought nor what she really felt, she suddenly stopped and said +to Mr Edgermond, "Pardon me Sir, if upon this occasion timidity has +deprived me of my usual facility; it is the first time, as my friends +can testify, that I have been below myself; but perhaps," added she, +sighing, "it will not be the last." + +Oswald was deeply affected by the touching failure of Corinne. Till then +he had always been accustomed to see imagination and genius triumph over +her affections and reanimate her soul at the moment when she was most +cast down; but at this time her mind was entirely fettered by feeling, +yet Oswald had so identified himself with her fame on this occasion, +that he partook of the mortification of her failure, instead of +rejoicing at it. But as it appeared certain, that she would one day +shine with her natural lustre, he yielded to the tender reflections that +arose in his mind, and the image of his mistress was enthroned more than +ever in his heart. + + + + +Book vii. + +ITALIAN LITERATURE. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Lord Nelville felt a lively desire that Mr Edgermond should enjoy the +conversation of Corinne, which was more than equivalent to her +improvised verses. The following day the same company assembled at her +house; and to elicit her sentiments, he turned the conversation upon +Italian literature, and provoked her natural vivacity, by affirming that +the English poets were much superior in energy and sensibility to those +of which Italy could boast. + +"In the first place," said Corinne, "strangers are for the most part +acquainted only with our poets of the first rank--Dante, Petrarch, +Ariosto, Guarini, Tasso, and Metastasio; whilst we have several others, +such as Chiabrera, Guidi, Filicaja, Parini, without reckoning +Sannazarius, Politian, &c., who have written in Latin, with as much +taste as genius; and all unite in their verses the utmost beauty of +colouring and harmony; all, with more or less talent, adorn the wonders +of nature and art with the imagery of speech. Without doubt our poets +cannot pretend to that profound melancholy, that knowledge of the human +heart which characterise yours; but does not this kind of superiority +belong more properly to philosophical writers than to poets? The +brilliant melody of Italian is more suitable to the splendour of +external objects than to meditation; our language is better adapted to +paint fury than sadness, because sentiments which arise from deep +reflection demand more metaphysical expressions, whilst the desire of +vengeance animates the imagination to the exclusion of grief. Cesarotti +has produced the best and most elegant translation of Ossian extant; but +it seems in reading it that the words possess in themselves an air of +festivity that forms a contrast with the sombre ideas of the poem. We +cannot help being charmed with our sweet expressions,--_the limpid +stream, the smiling plain, the cooling shade_, the same as with the +murmur of the waves, and variety of colours. What more do you expect +from poetry? Why would you ask of the nightingale, the meaning of her +song? She can only answer you by resuming the strain, and you cannot +comprehend it without yielding to the impression which it produces. The +measure of verse, harmonious rhymes, and those rapid terminations +composed of two short syllables whose sounds glide in the manner that +their name (_Sdruccioli_) indicates, sometimes imitate the light steps +of a dance; at others, more sombre tones recall the fury of the tempest +and the clangour of arms. In fact, our poetry is a wonder of the +imagination--we must only seek it in the various pleasures which it +affords." + +"It must be allowed," replied Lord Nelville, "that you explain very +clearly the beauties and defects of your poetry; but how will you defend +your prose, in which those defects are to be found unaccompanied by the +beauties? That which is only loose and indefinite in poetry will become +emptiness in prose; and the crowd of common ideas which your poets +embellish with their melody and their images, are in prose, cold and +dry, while their vivacity of style renders them more fatiguing. The +language of the greater part of the prose-writers of the present day is +so declamatory, so diffuse, and so abundant in superlatives, that their +work seems written to order, in hackneyed phraseology, and for +conventional natures; it does not once enter into their heads that to +write well is to express one's thoughts and character. Their style is an +artificial web, a kind of literary mosaic, every thing in fact that is +foreign to their soul, and is made with the pen as any other mechanical +work is with the fingers. They possess in the highest degree the secret +of developing, commenting, inflating an idea, and, if I may use the +expression, of working a sentiment into a ferment. So much do they excel +in this, that one would be tempted to ask these writers, what the +African woman asked a French lady, who wore a large pannier under a long +dress:--'_Madam, is all that a part of yourself?_' In short, what real +existence is there in all this pomp of words which one true expression +would dissipate like a vain prestige." + +"You forget," interrupted Corinne sharply; "first, Macchiavelli and +Boccacio; next Gravina, Filangieri, and in our days, Cesarotti, Verri, +Bettinelli, and so many others, in short, who know how to write and to +think[22]. But I agree with you that in the latter ages, unfortunate +circumstances having deprived Italy of its independence, its people have +lost all interest in truth and often even the possibility of speaking +it: from this has resulted the habit of sporting with words without +daring to approach a single idea. As they were certain of not being able +to obtain any influence over things by their writings, they were only +employed to display their wit, which is a sure way to end in having no +wit at all; for it is only in directing the mind towards some noble +object that ideas are acquired. When prose writers can no longer in any +way influence the happiness of a nation--when they only write to +dazzle--when, in fact, the road itself is the object of their journey, +they indulge in a thousand windings without advancing a step. The +Italians, it is true, fear new thoughts; but that is an effect of +indolence, and not of literary baseness. In their character, their +gaiety, and their imagination, there is much originality; and +nevertheless, as they take no pains to reflect, their general ideas do +not soar above mediocrity; their eloquence even, so animated when they +speak, has no character when they write; one would say that labour of +any kind freezes their faculties; it may also be added, that the nations +of the South are fettered by prose, and that poetry alone can express +their real sentiments. It is not thus in French literature," said +Corinne, addressing herself to the Count d'Erfeuil--"your prose writers +are often more eloquent, and even more poetic, than your poets."--"It is +true," answered the Count, "your assertion can be verified by truly +classical authorities:--Bossuet, La Bruyère, Montesquieu, and Buffon, +cannot be excelled; more particularly the first two, who are of the age +of Louis the Fourteenth, in whose praise too much cannot be said, for +they are perfect models for imitation. They are models that foreigners +ought to be as eager to imitate as the French themselves."--"I can +hardly think it desirable," answered Corinne, "for the whole world +entirely to lose their national colouring, as well as all originality of +sentiment and genius; and I am bold enough to tell you Count, that even +in your country, this literary orthodoxy, if I may so express myself, +which is opposed to every innovation, will in time render your +literature extremely barren. Genius is essentially creative; it bears +the character of the individual that possesses it. Nature, who has not +formed two leaves alike, has infused a still greater variety into the +human soul; imitation is therefore a species of death, since it robs +each one of his natural existence." + +"You would not wish, fair stranger," replied the Count, "that we should +admit Teutonic barbarism amongst us--that we should copy Young's Night +Thoughts, and the _Concetti_ of the Italians and Spaniards. What would +become of the taste and elegance of our French style after such a +mixture?" Prince Castel-Forte, who had not yet spoken, said--"It seems +to me that we all stand in need of each other: the literature of every +country discovers to him who is acquainted with it a new sphere of +ideas. It was Charles the Fifth himself who said--that _a man who knows +four languages, is worth four men_. If that great political genius +judged thus, in regard to the conduct of affairs, how much more true is +it with respect to literature? Foreigners all study French; thus they +command a more extended horizon than you, who do not study foreign +languages. Why do you not more often take the trouble of learning +them?--You would thus preserve your own peculiar excellence, and +sometimes discover your deficiencies." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[22] Cesarotti, Verri, and Bettinelli, are three living authors who have +introduced thought into Italian prose; it must be confessed, that this +was not the case for a long time before. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +"You will at least confess," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "that there is +one part of literature in which we have nothing to learn of any +country.--Our drama is decidedly the first in Europe; for I cannot +believe that the English would presume to oppose their Shakespeare to +us."--"I beg your pardon," interrupted Mr Edgermond, "they have that +presumption."--And after this observation he was silent.--"In that case +I have nothing to say," continued the Count, with a smile which +expressed a kind of civil contempt: "Each one may think as he pleases, +but for my part I persist in believing that we may affirm without +presumption that we are the very first in dramatic art. As to the +Italians, if I may speak my mind freely, they do not appear even to +suspect that there is a dramatic art in the world.--With them the music +is every thing, and the play itself nothing. Should the music of the +second act of a piece be better than the first, they begin with the +second act. Or, should a similar preference attach to the first acts of +two different pieces, they will perform these two acts in the same +evening, introducing between, perhaps, an act of some comedy in prose +that contains irreproachable morality, but a moral teaching entirely +composed of aphorisms, that even our ancestors have already cast off to +the foreigner as too old to be of any service to them. Your poets are +entirely at the disposal of your famous musicians; one declares that he +cannot sing without there is in his air the word _felicità_; the tenor +must have _tomba_; while a third singer can only quaver upon the word +_catene_. The poor bard must make these different whims agree with +dramatic situation as well as he can. This is not all; there are actors +who will not appear immediately treading the boards of the stage; they +must first be seen in a cloud, or they must descend the lofty stairs of +a palace, in order to give more effect to their _entrée_. When the air +is finished, whatever may be the violent or affecting situation of his +character, the singer must bow to the audience in acknowledgment of +their applause. The other day, in Semiramis, after the spectre of Ninus +had sung his air, the representative of this shadowy personage made in +his ghostly costume a low reverence to the pit, which greatly diminished +the terror of the apparition. + +"They are accustomed in Italy to consider the theatre merely as a large +assembly room, where there is nothing to hear but the airs, and the +ballet! I am justified in saying _that they listen to nothing but the +ballet_; for it is only when the ballet is about to begin, that silence +is called for in the pit: and what is this ballet but a masterpiece of +bad taste? There is nothing amusing in the dancing save the comic part +of it; the grotesque figures alone afford entertainment, being indeed a +good specimen of caricature. I have seen Gengis-Kan in a ballet, all +covered with ermine, and full of fine sentiments; for he ceded his crown +to the child of a king whom he had conquered, and lifted him up in the +air upon one foot; a new mode of establishing a monarch upon his throne. +I have also seen the sacrifice of Curtius formed into a ballet of three +acts, with divertisements. Curtius, in the dress of an Arcadian +shepherd, danced for a considerable time with his mistress; then +mounting a real horse in the middle of the stage, he plunged into the +gulf of fire, made of yellow satin and gilt paper, which looked more +like a fancy riding habit than an abyss. In fact, I have seen the whole +of Roman history from Romulus to Cæsar, compressed into a ballet." + +"What you say is true," replied Prince Castel-Forte, mildly; "but you +have only spoken of music and dancing, which do not comprise what we +understand by the drama of any country." "It is much worse," interrupted +the Count d'Erfeuil, "when tragedies are represented, or dramas that are +not termed _dramas that end happily_: they unite more horrors in the +course of five acts, than the imagination could form a picture of. In +one piece of this kind, the lover kills the brother of his mistress in +the second act; in the third he blows out the brains of his mistress +herself upon the stage; her funeral occupies the fourth; in the +interval, between the fourth and fifth acts, the actor who performs the +lover comes forward, and announces to the audience with the greatest +tranquillity in the world, the harlequinades which are to be performed +on the following evening; he then reappears in the fifth act, to shoot +himself with a pistol. The tragic actors are quite in harmony with the +coldness and extravagance of these pieces: they commit all these horrors +with the utmost calm. When a performer uses much action, they say he +conducts himself like a preacher; for in truth, there is more acting in +the pulpit than on the stage. It is very fortunate that these actors are +so moderate in their pathos; for as there is nothing interesting, either +in the piece or its situations, the more noise they made about it, the +more ridiculous they would appear: it might still be endurable, were +there any thing gay in this nonsense; but it is most stupidly dull and +monotonous. There is in Italy no more comedy than tragedy; and here +again we stand foremost. The only species of comedy peculiar to Italy is +harlequinade. A valet, at once a knave, a glutton, and a coward; an old +griping, amorous dupe of a guardian, compose the whole strength of these +pieces. I hope you will allow that _Tartuffe_, and the _Misanthrope_, +require a little more genius than such compositions." + +This attack of the Count d' Erfeuil was sufficiently displeasing to the +Italians who were his auditors; nevertheless they laughed at it. The +Count was more desirous of showing his wit than his natural goodness of +disposition; for though this latter quality influenced his actions, +self-love guided his speech. Prince Castel-Forte and the rest of his +countrymen present, were extremely impatient to refute the Count +d'Erfeuil; but as they were little ambitious of shining in conversation +and believed their cause would be more ably defended by Corinne, they +besought her to reply, contenting themselves with barely citing the +celebrated names of Maffei, Metastasio, Goldoni, Alfieri, and Monti. +Corinne began by granting that the Italians had no drama; but she +undertook to prove that circumstances and not want of talent, were the +cause of it. Comedy, which depends upon the observation of manners, can +only exist in a country where we live in the midst of a numerous and +brilliant society. In Italy we meet with nothing but violent passions or +idle enjoyments which produce crimes of so black a hue that no shades of +character can be distinguished. But ideal comedy, if it may be so +termed, that which depends upon the imagination, and may agree with all +times and all countries, owes its invention to Italy. Harlequin, +punchinello, pantaloon, &c., have the same character in every different +piece. In all cases they exhibit masks, and not faces: that is to say, +their physiognomy is that of some particular species of character, and +not that of any individual. Undoubtedly, the modern authors of +harlequinades, finding every part ready carved out for them like the men +of a chess-board, have not the merit of inventing them; but their first +invention is due to Italy; therefore these fantastic personages, which +from one end of Europe to the other afford amusement to every child, and +to every grown-up person whom imagination has made childlike, must +certainly be considered as the creation of Italians: this I should +conceive ought to give them some claim to the art of comedy. + +The observation of the human heart is an inexhaustible source of +literature; but nations more disposed to poetry than to reflection, more +easily surrender themselves to the intoxication of joy than to +philosophic irony. That pleasantry which is founded upon the knowledge +of mankind has something sad at bottom. It is only the gaiety of the +imagination which is truly inoffensive. It is not that the Italians do +not study deeply the men whom they have to do with; for none discover +more subtly their secret thoughts; but they employ this talent as a +guide of conduct, and have no idea of converting it to any literary +purpose. Perhaps even they have no wish to generalise their discoveries, +and publish their perceptions. There is a prudent dissimulation in their +character, which teaches them not to expose in comedies that which +affords rules for private intercourse; not to reveal by the fictions of +the mind what may be useful in circumstances of real life. + +Macchiavelli however, far from concealing anything, has exposed all the +secrets of a criminal polity; and through him we may learn of what a +terrible knowledge of the human heart the Italians are capable. But +profound observation is not the province of comedy: the leisure of +society, properly speaking, can alone furnish matter for the comic +scene. Goldoni, who lived at Venice, where there is more society than in +any other Italian city, has introduced more refinement of observation +into his pieces than is generally to be found in other authors. +Nevertheless his comedies are monotonous, and we meet with the same +situations in them, because they contain so little variety of character. +His numerous pieces seem formed upon the general model of dramatic +works, and not copied from real life. The true character of Italian +gaiety is not satire, but imagination; not delineation of manners, but +poetical exaggeration. It is Ariosto, and not Molière, who can amuse +Italy. + +Gozzi, the rival of Goldoni, has more originality in his compositions; +they bear less resemblance to regular comedy. His determination was +liberally to indulge the Italian genius; to represent fairy tales, and +mingle buffoonery and harlequinade with the marvels of poetry; to +imitate nothing in nature, but to give free scope to the gay illusions +of fancy, to the chimeras of fairy magic, and to transport the mind by +every means beyond the boundaries of human action. He was crowned with +prodigious success in his time, and perhaps there never existed an +author more congenial to an Italian imagination; but to know with +certainty what degree of perfection Tragedy and Comedy can reach in +Italy, it should possess a theatrical establishment. The multitude of +little cities who all wish to have a theatre, lose, by dispersing them, +its dramatic resources: that division in states, in general so +favourable to liberty and happiness, is hurtful to Italy. She must needs +concentrate her light and power to resist the prejudices which are +devouring her. The authority of governments often represses individual +energy. In Italy this authority would be a benefit if it struggled +against the ignorance of separate states and of men isolated among them; +if it combated by emulation that indolence so natural to the climate; +and if, in a word, it gave life to the whole of this nation which now is +satisfied with a dream. + +These ideas, and several others besides, were ingeniously developed by +Corinne. She well understood the rapid art of light conversation, which +does not dogmatically insist upon any thing, and also that pleasing +address which gives a consideration to each of the company in turn, +though she often indulged in that kind of talent which rendered her a +celebrated improvisatrice. Several times she intreated Prince +Castel-Forte to assist her with his opinion on the same subject; but she +spoke so well herself, that all the audience were delighted in listening +to her, and would not suffer her to be interrupted. Mr Edgermond, in +particular, could scarcely satisfy himself with seeing and hearing +Corinne; hardly did he dare to express the admiration she inspired him +with, and he pronounced some words of panegyric in a low tone of voice +hoping she would comprehend them without obliging him to address her +personally. He however possessed such a lively desire to know her +sentiments on Tragedy, that in spite of his timidity he ventured a few +words on that subject. + +"Madam," said he to Corinne, "where the Italian literature appears to me +most defective is in Tragedy; methinks the distance is not so great +between infancy and manhood, as between your Tragedies and ours; for in +the changeableness of children may be discovered true if not deep +sentiments, but there is something affected and extravagant in Italian +Tragedy, which destroys for me all emotion whatever. Is this not so? +Lord Nelville," continued Mr Edgermond, turning to his lordship and +inviting his support by a glance, quite astonished at having found +courage to speak in such a numerous assembly. + +"I am entirely of your opinion," answered Oswald; "Metastasio, who is +vauntingly called the poet of love, gives the same colouring to this +passion in every country and under every circumstance. His admirable +airs are entitled to our applause as much from their grace and harmony +as the lyrical beauties which they contain, especially when detached +from the drama in which they are placed; but it is impossible for us who +possess Shakespeare, who has most deeply fathomed History and the +passions of man, to suffer those amorous couples, that divide between +them almost all the pieces of Metastasio alike, under the names of +Achilles, of Tircis, of Brutus, and of Corilas, singing, in a manner +that hardly touches the surface of the soul, the grief and sufferings of +love, so as almost to reduce to imbecility the noblest passion that +animates the human heart. It is with the most profound respect for the +character of Alfieri that I shall indulge in a few reflections upon his +pieces. Their aim is so noble, the sentiments which the author expresses +are so much in unison with his personal conduct, that his tragedies must +always deserve praise as actions, even when they are criticised as +literary performances. But I find in the vigour of some of his tragedies +as much monotony as in the tenderness of Metastasio. There is, in the +plays of Alfieri, such a profusion of energy and magnanimity, or rather +such an exaggeration of violence and crime, that it is impossible to +discover in them the true characters of men. They are never so wicked +nor so generous as painted by this author. The aim of most of his scenes +is to place virtue and vice in contrast with each other; but these +oppositions are not according to the gradations of truth. If, during +their life, tyrants bore with what the oppressed are made to say to +their face in the tragedies of Alfieri, one would be almost tempted to +pity them. His play of Octavia is one of those where the want of +probability is most striking. In this piece, Seneca moralises +incessantly with Nero, as if the latter were the most patient of men, +and Seneca the most courageous. The master of the world permits himself +to be insulted, and his anger to be excited in every scene, for the +amusement of the spectators, as if it were not in his power to end it +all with a word. Certainly these continual dialogues give rise to some +very fine replies on the part of Seneca, and one would be glad to find +in an harangue or in a moral work the noble thoughts which he expresses; +but is this the way to give us an idea of tyranny? It is not painting it +in its formidable colours, but merely making it a subject for verbal +fencing. If Shakespeare had represented Nero surrounded by trembling +slaves, who hardly dared reply to the most indifferent question, +himself concealing his internal agitation and endeavouring to appear +calm, with Seneca near him writing the apology for the murder of +Agrippina, would not the terror have been a thousand times greater? And +for one reflection spoken by the author, would not a thousand be +generated in the soul of the spectators by the very silence of rhetoric +and the truth of the picture?" + +Oswald might have spoken much longer without receiving any interruption +from Corinne; so much pleasure did she receive from the sound of his +voice and the noble elegance of his language, that she could have wished +to prolong this impression for hours together. Hardly could she remove +her eyes, which were earnestly fixed upon him, even after he had ceased +to speak. She turned them reluctantly to the rest of the company, who +were impatient to hear her thoughts upon Italian tragedy, and turning to +Lord Nelville:--"My Lord," said she, "it is not to combat your +sentiments that I reply, for they meet mine in almost every point: my +only intention is to offer some exceptions to your rather too general +observations. It is true that Metastasio is rather a lyrical than a +dramatic poet, and that he describes love like one of the fine arts that +adorn life, not as the most important secret of our happiness and our +pain. I will venture to say, notwithstanding our language has been +consecrated to the cause of love, that we have more profoundness and +sensibility in describing any other passion than this. The practice of +making amorous verses has created a kind of commonplace language amongst +us for that subject; so that not what he has felt, but what he has read, +inspires the poet. Love, such as it exists in Italy, by no means +resembles that love which is described by our writers. It is only in +Boccacio's romance of _Fiametta_, that according to the best of my +recollection, there is to be found an idea of that passion, painted in +truly national colours. Our poets subtilise and exaggerate the +sentiment, whilst agreeably to the real Italian character, it is a rapid +and profound impression, which rather expresses itself by silent and +passionate actions than by ingenious language. In general our literature +is not characteristic of our national manners[23]. We are much too +modest, I had almost said too humble a nation to aspire to tragedies +taken from our own history, and bearing the stamp of our own sentiments. + +"Alfieri, by a singular chance, was transplanted, if I may use the +expression, from ancient to modern times; he was born for action, and +his destiny only permitted him to write; this constraint appears in the +style of his tragedies. He wished to make literature subservient to a +political purpose; undoubtedly his object was noble, but nothing +perverts the labours of the imagination so much as having a purpose. In +this nation, where certainly, some erudite scholars and very enlightened +men are to be met with, Alfieri was indignant at seeing literature +consecrated to no serious end, but merely engrossed with tales, novels, +and madrigals. Alfieri wished to give a more austere character to his +tragedy. He has stript it of all the borrowed appendages of theatrical +effect, preserving nothing but the interest of the dialogue. It appears +to have been his wish to place the natural vivacity and imagination of +the Italians in a state of penitence; he has however been very much +admired for his character and the energies of his soul, which were truly +great. The inhabitants of modern Rome are particularly given to applaud +the actions and sentiments of their ancient country; as if those actions +and sentiments had any relation to them in their present state. + +They are amateurs of energy and independence, in the same manner as +they are of the fine pictures which adorn their galleries. But it is not +less true that Alfieri has by no means created what may be called an +Italian theatre; that is to say, tragedies of a merit peculiar to Italy. +He has not even characterised the manners of those countries and those +centuries which he has painted. His conspiracy of the Pazzi, his +Virginia, and his Philip II., are to be admired for elevation and +strength of thought; but it is always the character of Alfieri, and not +that of peculiar nations and peculiar times, which are to be discovered +in them. Although there be no analogy between the French genius and that +of Alfieri, they resemble each other in this, that both of them give +their own colouring to every subject of which they treat." + +The Count d' Erfeuil, hearing the French genius called in question, was +induced to speak. "It would be impossible for us," said he, "to tolerate +upon the stage either the incongruities of the Greeks or the +monstrosities of Shakespeare; the French have too pure a taste for that. +Our theatre is the model of delicacy and elegance: those are its +distinguishing characteristics, and we should plunge ourselves into +barbarism by introducing anything foreign amongst us." + +"That would be like encompassing yourselves with the great wall of +China," said Corinne, smiling. "There are certainly many rare beauties +in your tragic authors; and perhaps they would admit of new ones, could +you bring yourselves to tolerate anything not exactly French on your +stage. But as for us Italians, our dramatic genius would be greatly +diminished in submitting to the fetters of those laws which we had not +the honour of inventing, and from which, consequently, we could derive +nothing but their restraint. A theatre ought to be formed upon the +imagination, the character, and the custom of a nation. The Italians are +passionately fond of the fine arts, of music, painting, and even +pantomime: of every thing, in short, that strikes the senses. How then +could they be satisfied with the austerity of an eloquent dialogue, as +their only theatrical pleasure?[24] Vainly has Alfieri, with all his +genius, endeavoured to reduce them to it; he felt himself that his +system was too rigorous. + +"The Merope of Maffei, the Saul of Alfieri, the Aristodemus of Monti, +and particularly the poem of Dante, although this last author never +composed a tragedy, seem calculated to convey an idea of what the +dramatic art might be brought to in Italy. There is in the Merope of +Maffei, a great simplicity of action, but the most brilliant poetry, +adorned with the happiest images: and why should this poetry be +forbidden in dramatic works? The language of poetry is so magnificent in +Italy that we should be more censurable than any other nation in +renouncing its beauties. Alfieri, wishing to excel in every department +of poetry, has, in his Saul, made a most beautiful use of the lyric; and +one might with excellent effect introduce music itself into the piece, +not so much to harmonise the words, as to calm the frenzy of Saul by the +harp of David. So delicious is our music that it may even render us +indolent as to intellectual enjoyments. Far therefore from wishing to +separate music from the drama, it should be our earnest endeavour to +unite them; not in making heroes sing, which destroys all dramatic +effect, but in introducing choruses, as the ancients did, or such other +musical aid, as may naturally blend with the situations of the piece, as +so often happens in real life. So far from retrenching the pleasures of +the imagination on the Italian stage, it is my opinion, that we should +on the contrary augment and multiply them in every possible manner. The +exquisite taste of the Italians for music, and for splendid ballets, is +an indication of the power of their imagination, and manifests the +necessity of rendering even the most serious subjects interesting to +them, instead of heightening their severity as Alfieri has done. The +nation conceive it their duty to applaud what is grave and austere; but +they soon return to their natural taste; however, tragedy might become +highly pleasing to them if it were embellished by the charm and the +variety of different kinds of poetry, and with all the divers theatrical +attractions which the English and the Spaniards enjoy. + +"The Aristodemus of Monti has in it something of the terrible pathos of +Dante; and surely this tragedy is very justly one of the most admired. +Dante, that great master of various powers, possessed that kind of +tragic genius which would have produced the most effect in Italy, if it +could in any way be adapted to the stage; for that poet knew how to +represent to the eye, what was passing at the bottom of the soul, and +his imagination could make grief seen and felt. If Dante had written +tragedies, they would have been as striking to children as to men, to +the illiterate crowd as to the polished few. Dramatic literature ought +to be popular; like some public event, the whole nation ought to judge +of it." + +"When Dante was living," said Oswald, "the Italians performed a +distinguished part in the political drama of Europe. Perhaps it would +now be impossible for you to have a national tragic theatre: it would be +necessary for the existence of such a theatre, that great events should +develop in life those sentiments which are expressed upon the stage. Of +all the masterpieces of literature, there is not one which depends so +much upon the whole people as tragedy; the spectators contribute to it +as much as the author. Dramatic genius is composed of the public mind, +of History, of government, of national customs, of everything, in fact, +which each day blends itself with thought, and forms the moral being, as +the air which we breathe nourishes physical existence. The Spaniards, +with whom you have some affinity as to climate and religion, are much +superior to you in dramatic genius; their pieces are filled with their +history, their chivalry, and their religious faith, and these pieces +possess life and originality; but their success, in this respect, dates +back to the epoch of their historical glory. How then could it be +possible now to establish in Italy, that which it never could boast +of--a genuine tragic drama!" + +"It is unfortunately possible that you may be in the right," replied +Corinne; "however, I hope for greater things from the natural impulse of +mind in Italy, and from the individual emulation of my countrymen, even +when not favoured by external circumstances; but what we most want in +tragedy is actors. Affected words necessarily lead to false declamation; +but there is no language in which an actor can display so much talent as +in ours; for the melody of sound gives a new charm to truth of accent: +it is a continual music which mingles with the expression of feeling +without diminishing its vigour." "If you wish," interrupted Prince +Castel-Forte, "to convince the company of what you assert, it only +remains for you to prove it: yes, allow us to enjoy the inexpressible +pleasure of seeing you perform tragedy; you must grant these foreign +gentlemen the rare enjoyment of being made acquainted with a talent +which you alone in Italy possess; or rather that you alone in the world +possess, since the whole of your genius is impressed upon it." + +Corinne felt a secret desire to play tragedy before Lord Nelville, and +by this means show herself to very great advantage; but she dared not +accede to the proposal of Prince Castel-Forte, without that approbation +of Oswald, which the looks she cast upon him earnestly entreated. He +understood them; and as he was at the same time concerned at that +timidity which had the day before prevented the exertion of her talent +for improvisation, and ambitious that she should obtain the applause of +Mr Edgermond, he joined in the solicitations of her friends. Corinne +therefore no longer hesitated. "Well, then," said she, turning to Prince +Castel-Forte, "we will accomplish the project which I have so long +formed, of playing my own translation of Romeo and Juliet," +"Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?" cried Mr Edgermond; "you understand +English, then?" "Yes," answered Corinne. "And you are fond of +Shakespeare!" added Mr Edgermond. "As a friend," replied she; "he was so +well acquainted with all the secrets of grief." "And you will perform in +Italian," cried Mr Edgermond; "and I shall hear you! And you too, my +dear Nelville. Ah, how happy you will be!" Then, repenting immediately +this indiscreet word, he blushed: and a blush inspired by delicacy and +goodness may be interesting at all periods of life. "How happy we shall +be," resumed he, a little embarrassed, "to be present at such a +representation!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] Giovanni Pindemonte, has recently published a collection of Dramas, +the subjects of which are taken from Italian history, and this is a very +interesting and praiseworthy enterprize. The name of Pindemonte is also +rendered illustrious by Hippolito Pindemonte, one of the sweetest and +most charming of the present Italian poets. + +[24] The posthumous works of Alfieri are just published, in which are to +be found many exquisite pieces; but we may conclude from a rather +singular Dramatic Essay, which he has written on the Death of Abel, that +he himself was conscious that his pieces were too austere, and that on +the stage more must be allowed to the pleasures of the imagination. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Every thing was arranged in a few days, the parts distributed, and the +evening chosen for the performance in a palace belonging to a female +relation of Prince Castel-Forte, and a friend of Corinne. Oswald felt a +mixture of uneasiness and pleasure, at the approach of this new scene of +triumph for the talents of Corinne. He enjoyed the by anticipation; but +he was also jealous in the same manner, not of any man in particular, +but of that whole audience in general who were to witness the talents of +her whom he loved. He wished to be the only witness of her mental +charms;--he wished that Corinne, timid and reserved, like an English +woman, should possess eloquence and genius for none but him. However +distinguished a man may be, perhaps he never enjoys, without alloy, the +superiority of a woman: if he feel an affection for her, his heart is +disturbed;--if not, his self-love is wounded. Oswald, in the presence of +Corinne, was more intoxicated than happy; and the admiration which she +inspired him with, increased his love without giving more stability to +his projects. He contemplated her as an admirable phenomenon, which +appeared to him anew every day; but even the transport and astonishment +which she made him feel, seemed to render the hope of a peaceful and +tranquil life more distant. Corinne, however, was of the tenderest and +most easy disposition in private life; her ordinary qualities would have +made her beloved independently of her brilliant ones; but yet again, she +united in herself too much talent, and was too dazzling in every +respect. Lord Nelville, with all his accomplishments, did not believe +himself equal to her, and this idea inspired him with fears as to the +duration of their mutual affection. Vainly did Corinne by force of love +become his slave; the master, often uneasy about his captive queen, did +not enjoy his empire undisturbed. + +Some hours before the representation, Lord Nelville conducted Corinne to +the palace of Princess Castel-Forte, where the theatre was fitted up. +The sun shone most brilliantly, and from one of the windows of the +stair-case, Rome and the _Campagna_ were discovered. Oswald stopped +Corinne a moment and said, "Behold this beautiful day, it is for your +sake; it is to heighten the splendour of your fame." "Ah, if that were +so," answered she, "it is you who would bring me happiness; it is to you +that I should owe the protection of heaven." "Would the pure and gentle +sentiments which the beauty of nature inspires, be sufficient to make +you happy?" replied Oswald: "there is a great distance between the air +that we breathe, the reverie which the country inspires, and that noisy +theatre which is about to resound with your name." "Oswald," said +Corinne, "if the applause which I am about to receive, have the power to +affect me, will it not be because it is witnessed by you? And should I +display any talent, will it not owe its success to you, who have +animated and inspired it? Love, poetry, and religion, all that is born +of enthusiasm, is in harmony with nature; and in beholding the azure +sky, in yielding to the impression which it causes, I have a juster +comprehension of the sentiments of Juliet, I am more worthy of Romeo." +"Yes, thou art worthy of him, celestial creature!" cried Lord Nelville; +"'tis only a weakness of the soul, this jealousy of thy talents, this +desire to live alone with thee in the universe. Go, receive the meed of +public homage, go; but let that look of love, still more divine than thy +genius, be directed to me alone!" They then parted, and Lord Nelville +went and took his seat in theatre, awaiting the pleasure of beholding +the appearance of Corinne. + +Romeo and Juliet is an Italian subject; the scene is placed in Verona, +where is still to be seen the tomb of those two lovers. Shakespeare has +written this piece with that Southern imagination at once impassioned +and pleasing; that imagination which triumphs in happiness, but which, +nevertheless, passes so easily from happiness to despair, and from +despair to death. The impressions are rapid; but one easily feels that +these rapid impressions will be ineffaceable. It is the force of nature, +and not the frivolity of the heart, which beneath an energetic climate +hastens the development of the passions. The soil is not light, though +vegetation is prompt; and Shakespeare has seized, more happily than any +other foreign writer, the national character of Italy and that fecundity +of the mind which invents a thousand ways of varying the expression of +the same sentiments--the oriental eloquence which makes use of all the +images of nature to paint what is passing in the heart. It is not as in +Ossian, one same tint, one uniform sound which responds constantly to +the most sensitive chords of the heart; the multiplied colours that +Shakespeare employs in Romeo and Juliet, do not give a cold affectation +to his style; it is the ray divided, reflected, and varied, which +produces these colours, in which we ever feel that fire they proceed +from. There is a life and a brilliancy in this composition which +characterise the country and the inhabitants. The play of Romeo and +Juliet translated into Italian would only seem to return to its mother +tongue. + +The first appearance of Juliet is at a ball, where Romeo Montague has +introduced himself into the house of the Capulets, the mortal enemies of +his family. Corinne was dressed in a charming festive habit, conformable +to the costume of the times. Her hair was tastefully adorned with +precious stones and artificial flowers. Her friends did not know her on +her first appearance, till her voice discovered her: her figure then +became familiar to them; but it was in a manner deified, and preserved +only a poetical expression. The theatre resounded with unanimous +applause upon her appearance. Her first looks discovered Oswald, and +rested upon him--a spark of joy, a lively and gentle hope, was painted +in her countenance: on beholding her, every heart beat with pleasure and +fear: it was felt that so much felicity could not last upon earth; was +it for Juliet, or Corinne, that this presentiment was to be verified? + +When Romeo approached to address to her in a low voice, the lines, so +brilliant in English, so magnificent in the Italian translation, upon +her grace and beauty, the spectators, charmed to hear their own +sentiments so finely interpreted, joined in the transport of Romeo; and +the sudden passion which the first look of Juliet kindled in his soul, +appeared like reality to every eye. Oswald from this moment felt +disturbed; it appeared to him that all was near to being revealed, that +Corinne was about to be proclaimed an angel among women, that he should +be forced to reveal his sentiments, that his claim would be disputed and +the prize ravished from him--a kind of dazzling cloud seemed to pass +before his eyes--he feared his sight might fail him--he was ready to +faint, and retired for some moments behind a pillar. Corinne, uneasy, +sought him with anxiety, and pronounced this line, + + "Too early seen unknown, and known too late!" + +with such a tone of voice, that Oswald started as he heard it, for it +seemed to him to be applied to their personal situation. + +He could never feel tired of admiring the grace of her actions, the +dignity of her motions, and the expression of her countenance, in which +was painted what language could not reveal, all those mysteries of the +heart which cannot be reduced to words; but which, nevertheless, dispose +of our life. The accent, the look, the least gesture of an actor, truly +inspired and influenced by genuine emotion, are a continual revelation +of the human heart; and the ideal of the fine arts is always mingled +with these revelations of nature. The harmony of the verse and the charm +of the attitudes, lend to passion that grace and dignity which it often +wants in reality. Thus every sentiment of the heart, and every emotion +of the soul, pass before the imagination without losing anything of +their truth. + +In the second act, Juliet appears in the balcony to converse with Romeo. +Corinne had preserved, of her former ornaments, only the flowers, and +those were soon to disappear: the theatre half-lighted to represent +night, cast a milder reflection upon the countenance of Corinne. There +was now something more melodious in her voice, than when surrounded with +the splendour of a _fête_. Her hand lifted towards the stars, seemed to +invoke the only witnesses worthy of hearing her, and when she repeated, +"_Romeo! Romeo!_" although Oswald was certain that she thought of him, +he felt jealous that these delicious accents should make the air resound +with any other name than his. Oswald was seated opposite the balcony, +and he who performed Romeo being a little concealed by the darkness of +the scene, Corinne was enabled to fix her eyes upon Oswald when +pronouncing these lines: + + "In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond; + And therefore thou may'st think my 'haviour light; + But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true + Than those that have more cunning to be strange. + * * * * * + * * * * * + * * * * * therefore pardon me." + +At these words--"Pardon me! Pardon me for loving; pardon me for having +let you know it!"--There was in Corinne's look, so tender a prayer and +so much respect for her lover, so much exultation in her choice, when +she said, "Noble Romeo! Fair Montague!" that Oswald felt as proud as he +was happy. He raised his head, which tenderness had bowed down, and +fancied himself the king of the world, since he reigned over a heart +which contained all the treasures of life. + +Corinne, perceiving the effect which she produced upon Oswald, became +more and more animated by that emotion of the heart which alone produces +miracles; and when at the approach of day, Juliet thought she heard the +song of the lark--a signal for the departure of Romeo, the accents of +Corinne possessed a supernatural charm: they described love, and +nevertheless one might perceive that there was something of religious +mystery in them, some recollections of heaven, with a presage that she +was shortly to return thither; a kind of celestial melancholy, as of a +soul exiled upon earth, but which was soon to be called to its divine +home. Ah! how happy was Corinne the day that she represented the part of +a noble character in a beautiful tragedy before the lover of her choice; +how many years, how many lives would appear dull, compared to such a +day! + +If Lord Nelville could have performed, with Corinne, the part of Romeo, +the pleasure which she would have tasted would not have been so +complete. She would have desired to put aside the verses of the greatest +poet in order to speak the dictates of her own heart; perhaps even her +genius would have been confined by insurmountable timidity; she would +not have dared to look at Oswald for fear of betraying herself, and +truth would have destroyed the charm of art; but how sweet it was to +know that he whom she loved was present when she experienced those +exalted sentiments which poetry alone can inspire; when she felt all the +charm of tender emotions, without their real pain; when the affection +she expressed was neither personal nor abstract; and when she seemed to +say to Lord Nelville, "See how I am able to love." + +It is impossible when the situation is our own to be satisfied with +ourselves: passion and timidity alternately transport and check +us--inspire us either with too much bitterness or too much submission; +but to appear perfect without affectation; to unite calm to sensibility, +which too frequently destroys it; in a word, to exist for a moment in +the sweetest reveries of the heart; such was the pure enjoyment of +Corinne in performing tragedy. She united to this pleasure that of all +the plaudits she received; and her look seemed to place them at the feet +of Oswald, at the feet of him whose simple approval she valued more than +all her fame. Corinne was happy, at least for a moment! for a moment, at +least, she experienced at the price of her repose, those delights of the +soul which till then she had vainly wished for, and which she would ever +have to regret! + +Juliet in the third act becomes privately, the wife of Romeo. In the +fourth, her parents wishing to force her to marry another, she +determines to take the opiate which she receives from the hand of a +friar, and which is to give her the appearance of death. All the motions +of Corinne, her disturbed gait, her altered accent, her looks, sometimes +animated and sometimes dejected, painted the cruel conflict of fear and +love, the terrible images which pursued her at the idea of being +transported alive to the tomb of her ancestors, and the enthusiasm of +passion, which enabled a soul, so young, to triumph over so natural a +terror. Oswald felt an almost irresistible impulse to fly to her aid. At +one time she lifted her eyes towards heaven, with an ardour which deeply +expressed that need of divine protection, from which no human being was +ever free. At another time, Lord Nelville thought he saw her stretch her +arms towards him to ask his assistance--he rose up in a transport of +delirium, and then sat down immediately, brought to his senses by the +astonished looks of those about him; but his emotion became so strong +that it could no longer be concealed. + +In the fifth act, Romeo, who believes Juliet dead, lifts her from the +tomb before she awakes and presses her to his heart. Corinne was clad in +white, her black hair dishevelled, and her head inclined upon Romeo with +a grace, and nevertheless an appearance of death, so affecting and so +gloomy, that Oswald felt himself shaken with the most opposite +impressions. He could not bear to see Corinne in the arms of another, +and he shuddered at beholding the image of her whom he loved, apparently +deprived of life; so that in fact he felt, like Romeo, that cruel +combination of despair and love, of death and pleasure, which makes this +scene the most agonising that ever was represented on a stage. At +length, when Juliet awakes in this tomb, at the foot of which her lover +has just immolated himself, when her first words in her coffin, beneath +these funeral vaults, are not inspired by the terror which they ought to +cause, when she exclaims: + + "Where is my lord? Where is my Romeo?" + +Lord Nelville replied by deep groans, and did not return to himself till +Mr Edgermond conducted him out of the theatre. + +The piece being finished, Corinne felt indisposed from emotion and +fatigue. Oswald entered first into her apartment, where he saw her alone +with her women, still in the costume of Juliet, and, like Juliet, almost +swooning in their arms. In the excess of his trouble he could not +distinguish whether it was truth or fiction, and throwing himself at +the feet of Corinne, exclaimed, in English: + + "Eyes look your last! Arms take your last embrace." + +Corinne, still wandering, cried: "Good God! what do you say? are you +going to leave me?"--"No;" interrupted Oswald, "I swear--" At that +instant the crowd of Corinne's friends and admirers forced the door in +order to see her. Her eyes were fixed upon Oswald, listening with +anxiety for what he was about to answer; but there was no opportunity +for further conversation between them during the whole evening, for they +were not left alone a single instant. + +Never had the performance of a tragedy produced such an effect in Italy. +The Romans extolled with transport the talents of Corinne, both as the +representative of Juliet, and the translator of the piece. They said +that this was truly the species of tragedy which suited the Italians, +which painted their manners, moved the soul by captivating the +imagination, and gave effect to their beautiful language, in a style +alternately eloquent and lyrical, inspired and natural. Corinne received +all these praises with the sweetest air imaginable; but her soul +remained suspended on the words "_I swear_,"--which Oswald had +pronounced when he was prevented by the entrance of the company from +concluding his sentence: this word might in truth contain the secret of +her destiny. + + + + +Book viii. + +THE STATUES AND THE PICTURES. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +After the day which had passed, Oswald could not close his eyes during +the night. He had never been so near sacrificing every thing to Corinne. +He did not even desire to know her secret; or rather, before he was +acquainted with it, he wished to contract a solemn engagement, to +consecrate his life to her. For some hours uncertainty seemed banished +from his mind; and he took pleasure in composing, in his thoughts, the +letter which he should write to her on the morrow, and which would +decide his fate. But this confidence in happiness, this reliance upon +resolution, was of no long duration. His thoughts soon reverted to the +past, he remembered that he had loved, much less, it is true, than he +loved Corinne; and the object of his first choice could not be compared +to her; but nevertheless it was this sentiment which had hurried him +away to thoughtless actions, to actions which had torn the heart of his +father.--"Ah! who knows," cried he, "whether he would not fear equally +to-day, lest his son should forget his native country and the duties +which he owes it?" + +"Oh thou!" said he, addressing the portrait of his father, "thou, the +best friend I shall ever have upon earth, I can no longer hear thy +voice, but teach me by that silent look which yet retains such power +over my soul, inform me what I am to do, that now at least in thy +celestial abode, thou mayest be satisfied with the conduct of thy son! +Forget not, however, that need of happiness which consumes mortal +man--be indulgent in heaven, as thou wert upon earth! I shall become +better if I am allowed to taste of happiness; if I am permitted to live +with this angelic creature, to have the honour of protecting, of saving +such a woman.--Of saving her?" continued he suddenly; "and from what? +From a life of homage, of fame, and of independence!"--This reflection, +which originated in himself, terrified him like an inspiration of his +father. + +In conflicts of sentiment, who has not felt that kind of secret +superstition which makes us take our own thoughts for presages, and our +sufferings for a warning from heaven? Ah! how bitter is the struggle +between passion and conscience, in susceptible minds! + +Oswald paced his chamber under the most cruel agitation, sometimes +stopping to look at the moon, which in Italy is so mild and so +beautiful. The aspect of nature inspires resignation; but it is without +effect upon a mind racked with uncertainty. The next day arrived without +bringing any relief to his distracted thoughts, and when the Count +d'Erfeuil and Mr Edgermond came to visit him, they were uneasy as to the +state of his health, so much was he altered by the anxieties of the +night. The Count d'Erfeuil was the first who spoke.--"It must be +allowed," said he, "that yesterday's entertainment was charming. Corinne +is a most admirable woman. I lost half her words, but I understood +everything from her voice and her countenance. What a pity it is, that a +rich lady should be possessed of this talent! For if she were in humbler +circumstances, and unrestrained as she is, she might embrace the stage +as a profession; and to have an actress like her, would be the glory of +Italy." + +Oswald received a painful impression from this speech, and yet could +not tell how to make it known. For there was that about the Count, that +one could not be angry at what he said, even though it were disagreeable +to one's feelings. None but sensitive minds understand those delicate +precautions which they owe each other: self-love, so alive to every +thing that affects itself, hardly ever thinks of the susceptibility of +others. + +Mr Edgermond praised Corinne in the most becoming and flattering terms. +Oswald answered him in English, in order to relieve the conversation +about Corinne from the disagreeable eulogiums of the Count. "I see I am +one too many here," said the Count; "well I will pay a visit to Corinne: +she will not be sorry I dare say to hear my observations upon her acting +yesterday evening. I have some advice to give her, too, upon details; +but these details are very essential to the effect of the whole: she is +really so astonishing a woman that one should neglect nothing to assist +her in attaining perfection.--And besides," said he, inclining towards +Nelville's ear, "I wish to encourage her to play tragedy more often: +'tis a certain way to get married by some foreigner of distinction who +may pass through this city. As to you and me, my dear Oswald, that idea +does not concern us, we are too much accustomed to charming women to +commit foolish things; but who knows? a German prince, or a Spanish +grandee--" At these words Oswald rose up almost beside himself, and it +is impossible to conceive what would have been the issue, if the Count +d'Erfeuil had perceived his emotion; but he was so satisfied with his +last reflection, that he tripped away lightly, not in the least +suspecting that he had offended Lord Nelville: had he known it, though +he loved him as much as man could love another, he would certainly have +remained. The brilliant valour of the Count, contributed still more than +his self-love to render him blind to his defects. As he was extremely +delicate in everything that regarded honour, he did not imagine that he +could be wanting with respect to sensibility; and believing himself, not +without reason, amiable and brave, he was pleased with his lot, and did +not suspect there was any more profound way of regarding life than his +own. + +None of the sentiments which agitated Oswald had escaped Mr Edgermond, +and when the Count d'Erfeuil was gone, he said to him--"My dear Oswald, +I take my leave,--I am going to Naples."--"Why so soon?" answered +Nelville. "Because it is not good for me to stay here," continued +Edgermond; "I am fifty years of age, and nevertheless I am not sure that +Corinne would not make a fool of me."--"And even in that case," +interrupted Oswald, "what would be the consequence?"--"Such a woman is +not formed to live in Wales," replied Mr Edgermond; "believe me, my dear +Oswald, only Englishwomen are fit for England: it does not become me to +give you advice, I need not assure you that I shall not mention a word +of what I have seen; but with all Corinne's accomplishments, I should +say, with Thomas Walpole, _of what use is all that at home_? And, you +know the _home_ is all with us, all for our women at least. Imagine to +yourself your beautiful Italian alone, while you are hunting or +attending your duty in Parliament; imagine her leaving you at dessert to +get tea ready against you shall leave table! Dear Oswald, depend upon it +our women possess those domestic virtues which are to be found nowhere +else. The men in Italy have nothing to do but to please the women; +therefore the more attractive they are the better. But with us, where +men have active pursuits, women must be satisfied with the shade. That +it would be a great pity to condemn Corinne to such a destiny, I freely +acknowledge. I should be glad to see her upon the throne of England; but +not beneath my humble roof. My lord, I knew your mother, whose loss was +so much lamented by your worthy father: she was a lady in every respect +like my young cousin. Such is the wife, which, were I at a proper time +of life, I should choose. Adieu, my dear friend, do not be offended at +what I have said, for nobody can be a greater admirer of Corinne than I +am, and I own to you that after all were I at your time of life, I doubt +whether I could have sufficient fortitude to renounce the hope of +becoming agreeable to her."--In finishing, these words, he took the hand +of Oswald, squeezed it cordially, and departed without receiving a word +in reply. But Mr Edgermond comprehended the cause of his silence, and +satisfied with a pressure of the hand from Oswald in answer to his own, +he went away, impatient himself to finish a conversation which was +painful to him. + +Of all that he had said, only one word had penetrated the heart of +Oswald, and that was the recollection of his mother, and his father's +profound attachment to her. He had lost her when he was only fourteen +years of age, but he recollected her virtues with the most heart-felt +reverence, as well as that timidity and reserve which characterised +them.--"Fool that I am," cried he, when alone, "I wish to know what kind +of wife my father destined for me, and do I not know it, since I can +call to mind the image of my mother whom he so tenderly loved? What do I +want more? Why deceive myself in feigning ignorance of what would be his +sentiments now, were it in my power to consult his will?" It was, +however, a terrible task for Oswald to return to Corinne, after what had +passed the evening before, without saying something in confirmation of +the sentiments which he had expressed. His agitation and his trouble +became so violent, that they affected a ruptured blood-vessel which he +thought had completely healed up, but which now re-opened and began to +bleed afresh. Whilst his servants, in affright, called everywhere for +assistance, he secretly wished that the end of life might terminate his +sufferings.--"If I could die," said he, "after having seen Corinne once +more, after having heard her again call me her Romeo!"--Tears rolled +down his cheeks; they were the first tears he had shed for the sake of +another since the death of his father. + +He wrote to Corinne informing her of his accident, and some melancholy +words terminated his letter. Corinne had begun this day under the most +deceitful auspices: happy in the impression she conceived she had made +upon Oswald, believing herself beloved, she was happy; nor did busy +thought conjure up any reflection not in unison with what she so much +desired. A thousand circumstances ought to have mingled considerable +fear with the idea of espousing Lord Nelville; but as there was more +passion than foresight in her character, governed by the present, and +not diving into the future, this day, which was to cost her so many +pangs, dawned upon her as the most pure and serene of her life. + +On receiving Oswald's note, her soul was a prey to the most cruel +feelings: she believed him in imminent danger, and set out immediately +on foot, traversing the Corso at the hour when all the city were walking +there, and entered the house of Oswald in face of all the first society +of Rome. She had not taken time to reflect, and had walked so fast, that +when she reached the chamber, she could not breathe, or utter a single +word. Lord Nelville conceived all that she had risked to come and see +him, and exaggerating the consequences of this action, which in England +would have entirely ruined the reputation of an unmarried woman, he felt +penetrated with generosity, love, and gratitude, and rising up, feeble +as he was, he pressed Corinne to his heart, and cried:--"My dearest +love! No, I never will abandon you! After having exposed yourself on my +account! When I ought to repair--" Corinne comprehended what he would +say, and as she gently disengaged herself from his arms, interrupted him +thus, having first enquired how he was:--"You are deceived, my lord; in +coming to see you I do nothing that most of my countrywomen would not do +in my place. I knew you were ill--you are a stranger here--you know +nobody but me; it is therefore my duty to take care of you. Were it +otherwise, ought not established forms to yield to those real and +profound sentiments, which the danger or the grief of a friend give +birth to? What would be the fate of a woman if the rules of social +propriety, permitting her to love, forbade that irresistible emotion +which makes us fly to succour the object of our affection? But I repeat +to you, my lord, you need not be afraid that I have compromised myself +by coming hither. My age and my talents allow me, at Rome, the same +liberty as a married woman. I do not conceal from my friends that I am +come to see you. I know not whether they blame me for loving you; but +that fact admitted, I am certain that they do not think me culpable in +devoting myself entirely to you." + +On hearing these words, so natural and so sincere, Oswald experienced a +confused medley of different feelings. He was moved with the delicacy of +Corinne's answer; but he was almost vexed that his first impression was +not just. He could have wished that she had committed some great fault +in the eyes of the world, in order that this very fault, imposing upon +him the duty of marrying her, might terminate his indecision. He was +offended at this liberty of manners in Italy, which prolonged his +anxiety by allowing him so much happiness, without annexing to it any +condition. He could have wished that honour had commanded what he +desired, and these painful thoughts produced new and dangerous effects. +Corinne, notwithstanding the dreadful alarm she was in, lavished upon +him the most soothing attentions. + +Towards the evening, Oswald appeared more oppressed; and Corinne, on her +knees by the side of his bed, supported his head in her arms, though she +was herself racked with more internal pain than he. This tender and +affecting care made a gleam of pleasure visible through his +sufferings.--"Corinne," said he to her, in a low voice, "read in this +volume, which contains the thoughts of my father, his reflections on +death. Do not think," he continued, seeing the terror of Corinne; "that +I feel myself menaced with it. But I am never ill without reading over +these consoling reflections. I then fancy that I hear them from his own +mouth; besides, my love, I wish you to know what kind of man my father +was; you will the better comprehend the cause of my grief, and of his +empire over me, as well as all that I shall one day confide to +you."--Corinne took this manuscript, which Oswald never parted from, and +in a trembling voice read the following pages. + +"Oh ye just, beloved of the Lord! you can speak of death without fear; +for you it is only a change of habitation, and that which you quit is +perhaps the least of all! Oh numberless worlds, which in our sight fill +the boundless region of space! unknown communities of God's creatures; +communities of His children, scattered throughout the firmament and +ranged beneath its vaults, let our praises be joined to yours! We are +ignorant of your condition, whether you possess the first, second, or +last share of the generosity of the Supreme Being; but in speaking of +death or of life, of time past or of time to come, we assimilate our +interests with those of all intelligent and sensible beings, no matter +where placed, or by what distance separated from us. Families of +peoples! Families of nations! Assemblage of worlds! you say with us, +Glory to the Master of the Heavens, to the King of Nature, to the God of +the Universe! Glory and homage to Him, who by his will can convert +sterility into abundance, shadow into reality, and death itself into +eternal life. + +"Undoubtedly the end of the just is a desirable death; but few amongst +us, few amongst our forefathers have witnessed it. Where is the man who +could approach without fear the presence of the Eternal? Where is the +man who has loved God unremittingly, who has served Him from his youth, +and who, attaining an advanced age, finds in his recollections no +subject of uneasiness? Where is the man, moral in all his actions, +without ever thinking of the praise and the reward of public opinion? +Where is that man, so rare among the human species, who is worthy to +serve as a model to all? Where is he? Where is he? Ah! if he exist +amongst us, let our reverence and respect surround him; and ask, you +will do wisely to ask, to be present at his death, as at the sublimest +of earthly spectacles: only arm yourself with courage to follow him to +that bed, so repulsive to our feelings, from which he will never rise. +He foresees it; he is certain of it; serenity reigns in his countenance, +and his forehead seems encircled with a celestial aureole: he says, with +the apostle, _I know in whom I have believed_; and this confidence +animates his countenance, even when his strength is exhausted. He +already contemplates his new country, but without forgetting that which +he is about to quit: he gives himself up to his Creator and to his God, +without forgetting those sentiments which have charmed him during his +life. + +"Is it a faithful spouse, who according to the laws of nature must be +the first of all his connections to follow him: he consoles her, he +dries her tears, he appoints a meeting with her in that abode of +felicity of which he can form no idea without her. He recalls to her +mind those happy days which they have spent together; not to rend the +heart of a tender friend, but to increase their mutual confidence in the +goodness of heaven. He also reminds the companion of his fortunes, of +that tender love which he has ever felt for her; not to give additional +poignancy to that grief which he wishes to assuage, but to inspire her +with the sweet idea that two lives have grown upon the same stalk; and +that by their union they will become an additional defence to each other +in that dark futurity where the pity of the Supreme God is the last +refuge of our thoughts. Alas! is it possible to form a just conception +of all the emotions which penetrate a loving soul at the moment when a +vast solitude presents itself to our eyes, at the moment when the +sentiments, the interests upon which we have subsisted during so many +smiling years, are about to vanish for ever? Ah! you who are to survive +this being like unto yourself whom heaven had given you for your +support; that being who was every thing to you, and whose looks bid you +an agonizing adieu, you will not refuse to place your hand upon an +expiring heart, in order that its last palpitation may still speak to +you when all other language has failed! And shall we blame you, faithful +pair, if you had desired that your mortal remains should be deposited in +the same resting place? Gracious God, awaken them together; or if one +of them only has merited that favour, if only one of them must join the +small number of the elect, let the other be informed of it; let the +other perceive the light of angels at the moment when the fate of the +happy shall be proclaimed, in order that he may possess one moment of +joy before he sinks into eternal night. + +"Ah! perhaps we wander when we endeavour to describe the last days of +the man of sensibility, of the man who beholds death advance with hasty +strides, who sees it ready to separate him from all the objects of his +affection. + +"He revives, and regains a momentary strength in order that his last +words may serve for the instruction of his children. He says to +them--'Do not be afraid to witness the approaching end of your father, +of your old friend.--It is in obedience to a law of nature that he quits +before you, this earth which he entered first. He teaches you courage, +and nevertheless he leaves you with grief. He would certainly have +wished to assist you a little longer with his experience--to walk a +little longer side by side with you through all those perils with which +your youth is surrounded; _but life has no defence in the hour allotted +for our descent to the tomb_. You will now live alone in the midst of a +world from which I am about to disappear; may you reap in abundance the +gifts which Providence has sown in it; but do not forget that this world +itself is only a transient abode, and that you are destined for another +more permanent one. We shall perhaps see one another again; and in some +other region, in the presence of my God, I shall offer for you as a +sacrifice, my prayers and my tears! Love then religion, which is so rich +in promise! love religion, the last bond of union between fathers and +their children, between death and life!--Approach, that I may behold +you once more! May the benediction of a servant of God light on +you!'--He dies!--O, heavenly angels, receive his soul, and leave us upon +earth the remembrance of his actions, of his thoughts, and of his +hopes!"[25] + +The emotion of Oswald and Corinne had frequently interrupted this +reading. At length they were obliged to give it up. Corinne feared for +the effects of Oswald's grief, which vented itself in torrents of tears, +and suffered the bitterest pangs at beholding him in this condition, not +perceiving that she herself was as much afflicted as he. "Yes," said he, +stretching his hand to her, "dear friend of my heart, thy tears are +mingled with mine. Thou lamentest with me that guardian angel, whose +last embrace I yet feel, whose noble look I yet behold; perhaps it is +thou whom he has chosen for my comforter--perhaps--" "No, no," cried +Corinne; "he has not thought me worthy of it." "What is it you say?" +interrupted Oswald. Corinne was alarmed at having revealed what she so +much wished to conceal, and repeated what had escaped her, in another +form, saying--"He would not think me worthy of it!"--This phrase, so +altered, dissipated the disquietude which the first had excited in the +heart of Oswald, and he continued, undisturbed by any fears, to +discourse with Corinne concerning his father. + +The physicians arrived and dissipated somewhat the alarm of Corinne; but +they absolutely forbade Lord Nelville to speak till the ruptured +blood-vessel was perfectly closed. For a period of six whole days +Corinne never quitted Oswald, and prevented him from uttering a word, +gently imposing silence upon him whenever he wished to speak. She found +the art of varying the hours by reading, music, and sometimes by a +conversation of which the burden was supported by herself alone; now +serious, now playful, her animation of spirits kept up a continual +interest. All this charming and amiable attention concealed that +disquietude which internally preyed upon her, and which it was so +necessary to conceal from Lord Nelville; though she herself did not +cease one instant to be a martyr to it. She perceived almost before +Oswald himself what he suffered, nor was she deceived by the courage he +exerted to conceal it; she always anticipated everything that would be +likely to relieve him; only endeavouring to fix his attention as little +as possible upon her assiduous cares for him. However, when Oswald +turned pale, the colour would also abandon the lips of Corinne; and her +hands trembled when stretched to his assistance; but she struggled +immediately to appear composed, and often smiled when her eyes were +suffused with tears. Sometimes she pressed the hand of Oswald against +her heart, as if she would willingly impart to him her own life. At +length her cares succeeded, and Oswald recovered. + +"Corinne," said he to her, as soon as he was permitted to speak: "why +has not Mr Edgermond, my friend, witnessed the days which you have spent +by my bedside? He would have seen that you are not less good than +admirable; he would have seen that domestic life with you is a scene of +continual enchantment, and that you only differ from every other woman, +by adding to every virtue the witchery of every charm. No, it is too +much--this internal conflict which rends my heart, and that has just +brought me to the brink of the grave, must cease. Corinne, thou shalt +know my secrets though thou concealest from me thine--and thou shalt +decide upon our fate."--"Our fate," answered Corinne, "if you feel as I +do, is never to part. But will you believe me that, till now, I have +not dared even entertain a wish to be your wife. What I feel is very +new to me: my ideas of life, my projects for the future, are all upset +by this sentiment, which every day disturbs and enslaves me more and +more. But I know not whether we can, whether we ought to be united!"-- +"Corinne," replied Oswald, "would you despise me for having hesitated? +Would you attribute that hesitation to trifling considerations? Have you +not divined that the deep and sad remorse which for two years has preyed +upon me, could alone cause my indecision?" + +"I have comprehended it," replied Corinne; "had I suspected you of a +motive foreign to the affections of the heart, you would not have been +he whom I loved. But life, I know, does not entirely belong to love. +Habits, recollections, and circumstances, create around us a sort of +entanglement that passion itself cannot destroy. Broken for a moment, it +will join again, and encircle our heart as the ivy twines round the oak. +My dear Oswald, let us not appropriate to any epoch of our existence +more than that epoch demands. Nothing is now so absolutely necessary to +my happiness as that you should not leave me. The terror of your sudden +departure pursues me incessantly. You are a stranger in this country, +and bound to it by no tie. Should you go, all my prospects would +fade,--you would leave your poor Corinne nothing but her grief. This +beautiful climate, these fine arts, that poetical inspiration which I +feel with you, and now, alas! with you alone, would for me become mute. +I never awake but trembling; when I behold the god of day, I know not +whether it deceives me by its resplendent beams, ignorant as I am +whether this city still contains you within its walls--you, the star of +my life! Oswald, remove this terror from my soul, and I will desire to +know nothing beyond the delightful security you will give me."--"You +know," replied Oswald, "that an Englishman can never abandon his native +country, that war may recall me, that--" "Oh, God!" cried Corinne, "are +you going to prepare me for the dreadful moment?" and she trembled in +every limb, as at the approach of some terrible danger.--"Well, if it be +so, take me with you as your wife--as your slave--" But, suddenly +recovering herself, she said--"Oswald, you will not go without giving me +previous notice of your departure, will you? Hear me: in no country +whatever, is a criminal conducted to execution without some hours being +allotted for him to collect his thoughts. It will not be by letter that +you will announce this to me--but you will come yourself in person--you +will hear me before you go far away! And shall I be able then--What, you +hesitate to grant my request?" cried Corinne. "No," replied he, "I do +not hesitate; since it is thy wish, I swear that should circumstances +require my departure, I will apprize thee of it beforehand, and that +moment will decide the fate of our future lives."--She then left the +room. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[25] I have taken the liberty here to borrow some passages of the +Discourse on Death, which is to be found in the _Cours de Morale +Religieuse_, by M. Necker. This work, which appeared in times when the +attention was engrossed by political events, is sometimes confounded +with another by the same author, called _l'Importance des Opinions +Religieuses_, which has had the most brilliant success. But I dare +affirm, that the former is my father's most eloquent work. No minister +of state, I believe, before him, ever composed works for the Christian +pulpit; and that which ought to characterise this kind of writing from a +man who has had so much dealings with his race, is a knowledge of the +human heart, and the indulgence which this knowledge inspires: it +appears then, that considered in these two points of view, the _Cours de +Morale_, is perfectly original. Religious men in general do not mix in +the world, and men of the world for the most part, are not religious: +where then would it be possible to find to such a degree, knowledge of +life united to the elevation which detaches us from it? I will assert +without being afraid that my opinion will be attributed to my feelings, +that this book ranks among the first of those which console the sensible +being, and interest minds which reflect on the great questions that the +soul incessantly agitates within us. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +During those days which immediately followed the illness of Oswald, +Corinne carefully avoided any thing that might lead to an explanation +between them. She wished to render life as calm as possible; but she +would not yet confide her history to him. All her remarks upon their +different conversations, had only served to convince her too well of the +impression he would receive in learning who she was, and what she had +sacrificed; and nothing appeared more dreadful to her than this +impression, which might detach him from her. + +Returning then to the amiable artifice with which she had before +prevented Oswald from abandoning himself to passionate disquietudes, she +desired to interest his mind and his imagination anew, by the wonders of +the fine arts which he had not yet seen, and by this means retard the +moment when their fate should be cleared up and decided. Such a +situation would be insupportable, governed by any other sentiment than +that of love; but so much is it in the power of love to sweeten every +hour, to give a charm to every minute, that although it need an +indefinite future, it becomes, intoxicated with the present, and is +filled every day with such a multitude of emotions and ideas that it +becomes an age of happiness or pain! + +Undoubtedly it is love alone that can give an idea of eternity; it +confounds every notion of time; it effaces every idea of beginning and +end; we believe that we have always loved the object of our affection; +so difficult is it to conceive that we have ever been able to live +without him. The more dreadful separation appears, the less it seems +probable; it becomes, like death, a fear which is more spoken of than +believed--a future event which seems impossible, even at the very moment +we know it to be inevitable. + +Corinne, among her innocent stratagems to vary the amusements of Oswald, +had still in reserve the statues and the paintings. One day therefore, +when Oswald was perfectly restored, she proposed that they should go +together to see the most beautiful specimens of painting and sculpture +that Rome contains. "It is a reproach," said she to him, smiling, "not +to be acquainted with our statues and our pictures; so to-morrow we will +commence our tour of the museums and the galleries."--"It is your wish," +answered Nelville, "and I agree. But in truth, Corinne, you have no +need of these foreign resources to retain me; on the contrary, it is a +sacrifice that I make whenever I turn my eyes from you to any object +whatever." + +They went first to the Museum of the Vatican, that palace of statues +where the human figure is deified by Paganism, in the same manner as the +sentiments of the soul are now by Christianity. Corinne directed the +observation of Lord Nelville to those silent halls, where the images of +the gods and the heroes are assembled, and where the most perfect beauty +seems to enjoy itself in eternal repose. In contemplating these +admirable features and forms, the intentions of the Deity towards man, +seems, I know not how, to be revealed by the noble figure which He has +been pleased to give him. The soul is uplifted by this contemplation to +hopes full of enthusiasm and virtue; for beauty is one and the same +throughout the universe, and under whatever form it presents itself, it +always excites a religious emotion in the heart of man. What poetic +language, there is in those countenances where the most sublime +expression is for ever imprinted,--where the grandest thoughts are clad +with an image so worthy of them! + +In some instances, an ancient sculptor only produced one statue during +his life--it was his whole history.--He perfected it every day: if he +loved, if he was beloved, if he received from nature or the fine arts +any new impression, he adorned the features of his hero with his +memories and affections: he could thus express to outward eyes all the +sentiments of his soul. The grief of our modern times, in the midst of +our cold and oppressive social conditions, contains all that is most +noble in man; and in our days, he who has not suffered, can never have +thought or felt. But there was in antiquity, something more noble than +grief--an heroic calm--the sense of conscious strength, which was +cherished by free and liberal institutions. The finest Grecian statues +have hardly ever indicated anything but repose. The Laocoon and Niobe +are the only ones which paint violent grief and pain; but it is the +vengeance of heaven which they represent, and not any passion born in +the human heart; the moral being was of so sound an organization among +the ancients, the air circulated so freely in their deep bosoms, and the +order politic was so much in harmony with their faculties, that troubled +minds hardly ever existed then, as at the present day. This state causes +the discovery of many fine ideas, but does not furnish the arts, +particularly sculpture, with those simple affections, those primitive +elements of sentiment, which can alone be expressed by eternal marble. +Hardly do we find any traces of melancholy; a head of Apollo, at the +Justinian palace, another of the dying Alexander, are the only ones in +which the thoughtful and suffering dispositions of the soul are +indicated; but according to all appearances they both belong to the time +when Greece was enslaved. Since that epoch, we no longer see that +boldness, nor that tranquillity of soul, which among the ancients, has +produced masterpieces of sculpture, and poetry composed in the same +spirit. + +That thought which has nothing to nourish it from without, turns upon +itself, analyses, labours, and dives into every inward sentiment; but it +has no longer that creative power which supposes happiness, and that +plenitude of strength which happiness alone can give. Even the +sarcophagi, among the ancients, only recall warlike or pleasing ideas: +in the multitude of those which are to be found at the museum of the +Vatican, are seen battles and games represented in bas-relief on the +tombs. The remembrance of living activity was thought to be the finest +homage that could be rendered to the dead; nothing relaxed, nothing +diminished strength. Encouragement and emulation were the principles of +the fine arts as well as of politics; they afforded scope for every +virtue, and for every talent. The vulgar gloried in knowing how to +admire, and the worship of genius was served even by those who could not +aspire to its rewards. + +The religion of Greece was not, like Christianity, the consolation of +misfortune, the riches of poverty, the future hope of the dying--it +sought glory and triumph;--in a manner it deified man: in this +perishable religion, beauty itself was a religious dogma. If the artists +were called to paint the base and ferocious passions, they rescued the +human form from shame, by joining to it, as in Fauns and Centaurs, some +traits of the animal figure; and in order to give to beauty its most +sublime character, they alternately blended in their statues (as in the +warlike Minerva and in the Apollo Musagetus), the charms of both +sexes--strength and softness, softness and strength; a happy mixture of +two opposite qualities, without which neither of the two would be +perfect. + +Corinne, continuing her observations, retained Oswald some time before +those sleeping statues which are placed on the tombs, and which display +the art of sculpture in the most agreeable point of view. She pointed +out to him, that whenever statues are supposed to represent an action, +the arrested movement produces a sort of astonishment which is sometimes +painful. But statues asleep, or merely in the attitude of complete +repose, offer an image of eternal tranquillity which wonderfully accords +with the general effect of a southern climate upon man. The fine arts +appear there to be peaceful spectators of nature, and genius, which in +the north agitates the soul of man, seems beneath a beautiful sky, only +an added harmony. + +Oswald and Corinne passed on to the hall where are collected together +the sculptured images of animals and reptiles; and the statue of +Tiberius is found, by chance, in the midst of this court. This +assemblage is without design. Those statues appear to have ranged +themselves of their own accord about their master. Another hall enclosed +the dull and rigid monuments of the Egyptians; of that people whose +statues resembled mummies more than men, and who by their silent, stiff, +and servile institutions, seem to have assimilated as much as possible, +life to death. The Egyptians excelled much more in the art of imitating +animals than in representing men: the dominion of the soul seems to have +been inaccessible to them. + +After these come the porticos of the museum, where at each step is seen +a new masterpiece. Vases, altars, ornaments of every kind, encircle the +Apollo, the Laocoon, and the Muses. It is there that we learn to feel +Homer and Sophocles: it is there that a knowledge of antiquity is +awakened in the soul, which cannot be acquired elsewhere. It is in vain +that we trust to the reading of history to comprehend the spirit of +nations; what we see inspires us with more ideas than what we read, and +external objects cause in us a strong emotion, which gives that living +interest to the study of the past which we find in the observation of +contemporary facts and events. + +In the midst of these magnificent porticos, which afford an asylum to so +many wonders of art, there are fountains, which, flowing incessantly, +seem to tell us how sweetly the hours glided away two thousand years +ago, when the artists who executed these masterpieces were yet alive. +But the most melancholy impression which we experience at the Vatican, +is in contemplating the remains of statues which are collected there: +the torso of Hercules, heads separated from the trunks, and a foot of +Jupiter, which indicates a greater and more perfect statue than any that +we know. We fancy a field of battle before us, where time has fought +with genius; and these mutilated limbs attest its victory, and our +losses. + +After leaving the Vatican, Corinne conducted him to the Colossi of Mount +Cavallo; these two statues represent, as it is said, Castor and Pollux. +Each of the two heroes is taming with one hand a fiery steed. These +colossal figures, this struggle between man and the animal creation, +gives, like all the works of the ancients, an admirable idea of the +physical power of human nature. But this power has something noble in +it, which is no longer found in modern society, where all bodily +exercises are for the most part left to the common people. It is not +merely the animal force of human nature, if I may use the expression, +which is observable in these masterpieces. There seems to have been a +more intimate union between the physical and moral qualities among the +ancients, who lived incessantly in the midst of war, and a war almost of +man to man. Strength of body and generosity of soul, dignity of features +and boldness of character, loftiness of stature and commanding +authority, were ideas almost inseparable, before a religion, entirely +intellectual, had placed the power of man in his mind. The human figure, +which was also the figure of the gods, appeared symbolical; and the +nervous colossus of Hercules, as well as every other ancient statue of +this sort, do not convey vulgar ideas of common life; but an omnipotent +and divine will, which shews itself under the emblem of a supernatural +physical force. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville finished the day with a visit to the studio of +Canova, the greatest modern sculptor. As it was late when they got +there, they were shewn it by torch light; and statues improve much in +their effect by being seen in this manner. The ancients appear to have +been of this opinion, since they often placed them in their Thermæ, +where day could not enter. By the light of the flambeaux, the shadows +being more full, the uniform lustre of the marble was softened, and the +statues appeared as so many pale figures, possessing a more touching +character of grace and life. There was, in the studio of Canova, an +admirable statue destined for a tomb, which represented the genius of +grief leaning upon a lion, the emblem of strength. Corinne, in +contemplating the figure of grief, thought she discovered in it some +resemblance to Oswald, and the artist himself was struck with it; Lord +Nelville turned about to avoid this kind of notice; but he said in a low +voice to his fair companion, "Corinne, I was condemned to a fate like +that which is here represented, when I met with you; but you have +changed my existence, and sometimes hope, and always an anxiety mixed +with charm, fills that heart which was to suffer nothing but regret." + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +The masterpieces of painting were then all collected together at Rome, +whose riches in this respect surpassed that of all the rest of the +world. There could exist only one disputable point as to the effect +produced by this collection, namely, whether the nature of the subjects +chosen by the Italian artists, afford a scope for all the variety and +all the originality of passion and character which painting can express? +Oswald and Corinne were of contrary opinions in this respect; but this, +like every other opposition of sentiment that existed between them, was +owing to the difference of nation, climate, and religion. Corinne +affirmed that the most favourable subjects for painting were religious +ones[26]. She said that sculpture was a Pagan art, and painting a +Christian one; and that in these arts were to be found, as in poetry, +the distinguishing qualities of ancient and modern literature. The +pictures of Michael Angelo, the painter of the Bible, and of Raphael, +the painter of the Gospel, suppose as much profound thought, as much +sensibility as are to be found in Shakespeare and Racine: sculpture can +only present a simple, energetic existence, whilst painting indicates +the mysteries of reflection and resignation, and makes the immortal soul +speak through transient colours. Corinne maintained also that historical +or poetical facts were rarely picturesque. In order to comprehend such +subjects, it would often be necessary to preserve the practice of +painters of old, and write the speech of each personage in a ribbon +proceeding out of the mouth. But religious subjects are instantly +understood by everybody, and attention is not removed from the picture +to guess what it represents. + +Corinne was of opinion that the expression of modern painters was often +theatrical, and that it bore the stamp of their age, in which was no +longer found, as in Andrea Mantegna, Perugino, and Leonardo da Vinci, +the unity and simplicity which characterised the repose of the ancients; +a repose to which is joined that profundity of sentiment which is the +characteristic of Christianity. She admired the artless composition of +Raphael's pictures, especially those in his first manner. All the +figures are directed towards one principal object, without any +contrivance on the part of the artist to group them in various attitudes +in order to produce a laboured effect. Corinne said that this sincerity +in the arts of the imagination, as well as in every other, is the true +character of genius; and that studied efforts for fame are almost +always destructive of enthusiasm. She maintained that there was rhetoric +in painting as well as in poetry, and that all those who could not +embody character called every accessory ornament to their aid, uniting +rich costumes and remarkable attitudes to the attraction of a brilliant +subject, whilst a single Virgin holding a child in her arms, an +attentive old man in the Mass of Bolsena, a man leaning on his stick in +the School of Athens, or Saint Cecilia with her eyes lifted up to +heaven, produced the deepest effect by the expression of the countenance +alone. These natural beauties increase every day more and more in our +estimation; but on the contrary, in pictures done for effect, the first +glance is always the most striking. + +Corinne added to these reflections an observation which strengthened +them: which was, that the religious sentiments of the Greeks and Romans, +and the disposition of their minds, being in every respect absolutely +foreign from ours, it is impossible for us to create according to their +conceptions, or to build upon their ground. They may be imitated by dint +of study; but how can genius employ all its energies in a work where +memory and erudition are so necessary? It is not the same with subjects +that belong to our own history and our own religion. Here the painter +himself may be inspired; he may feel what he paints, and paint what he +has seen. Life assists him to imagine life; but in transporting himself +to the regions of antiquity, his invention must be guided by books and +statues. To conclude, Corinne found that pictures from pious subjects, +impart a comfort to the soul that nothing could replace; and that they +suppose a sacred enthusiasm in the artist which blends with genius, +renovates, revives, and can alone support him against the injustice of +man and the bitterness of life. + +Oswald received, in some respects, a different impression. In the first +place, he was scandalized to see the Deity represented as he is by +Michael Angelo, in human form and feature. It was his opinion that +thought dare not give Him shape and figure, and that hardly at the very +bottom of the soul could be found an idea sufficiently intellectual, +sufficiently ethereal to elevate it to the Supreme Being; as to subjects +taken from the Holy Scripture, it seemed to him that the expression and +the images left much to be desired. He thought, with Corinne, that +religious meditation is the most intimate sentiment that man can +experience; and in this respect, it is that which furnishes the painter +with the deepest mysteries of physiognomy and expression; but as +religion represses every emotion which does not proceed immediately from +the heart, the figures of the saints and martyrs cannot admit of much +variety. The sentiment of humility, so noble in the face of heaven, +weakens the energy of terrestrial passions and necessarily gives +monotony to most religious subjects. When Michael Angelo applied his +terrible genius to those subjects, he almost changed their essence by +giving to his prophets a formidable expression of power more becoming a +Jupiter than a Saint. He, like Dante, often avails himself of the images +of Paganism and blends the heathen mythology with the Christian +religion. One of the most admirable circumstances attending the +establishment of Christianity, is the lowly estate of the apostles who +have preached it, and the misery and debasement of the Jewish people, so +long the depositaries of the promises that announced the coming of +Christ. This contrast between the littleness of the means and the +greatness of the result, is in a moral point of view, extremely fine; +but in painting, which exhibits the means alone, Christian subjects must +be less dazzling than those taken from the heroic and fabulous ages. +Among the arts, music alone can be purely religious. Painting cannot be +confined to so abstract and vague an expression as that of sound. It is +true that the happy combination of colour, and of _chiaro-oscuro_ +produces, if it may be so expressed, a musical effect in painting; but +as the latter represents life, it should express the passions in all +their energy and diversity. Undoubtedly it is necessary to choose among +historical facts, those which are sufficiently known not to require +study in order to comprehend them; for the effect produced by painting +ought to be immediate and rapid, like every other pleasure derived from +the fine arts; but when historical facts are as popular as religious +subjects, they have the advantage over them of the variety of situations +and sentiments which they recall. + +Lord Nelville thought also, that scenes of tragedy and the most moving +poetical fictions, ought to claim a preference in painting, in order +that all the pleasures of the imagination and of the soul might be +united. Corinne combated this opinion, fascinating as it was. She was +convinced that the encroachment of one art upon another was mutually +injurious. Sculpture loses the advantages which are peculiar to it when +it aspires to represent a group of figures as in painting; painting when +it wishes to attain dramatic expression. The arts are limited in their +means, though boundless in their effects. Genius seeks not to combat +that which is in the essence of things; on the contrary, its superiority +consists in discovering it.--"As for you, my dear Oswald," said Corinne, +"you do not love the arts in themselves, but only on account of their +relation with mind and feeling. You are only sensible to that which +represents the sorrows of the heart. Music and poetry agree with this +disposition; whilst the arts which speak to the eyes, though their +signification be ideal, only please and interest us when the soul is +tranquil and the imagination entirely free; nor do we require, in order +to relish them, that gaiety which society inspires, but only the +serenity which beautiful weather and a fine climate diffuse over the +mind. We must be capable of feeling the universal harmony of nature in +those arts which represent external objects; this is impossible when the +soul is troubled, that harmony having been destroyed in us by +calamity."--"I know not," replied Oswald, "whether my taste in the fine +arts be confined to that alone which can recall the sufferings of the +soul; but I know, at least, that I cannot endure the representation of +physical pain. My strongest objection," continued he, "against Christian +subjects in painting, is the painful sensations excited in me by the +image of blood, wounds, and torture, notwithstanding the victims may +have been animated by the noblest enthusiasm. Philoctetus is perhaps the +only tragical subject in which bodily ills can be admitted. But with how +many poetical circumstances are his cruel pangs surrounded? They have +been caused by the arrows of Hercules. They will be healed by the son of +Æsculapius. In short, the wound is almost confounded with the moral +resentment produced in him who is struck, and cannot excite any +impression of disgust. But the figure of the boy possessed with a devil, +in Raphael's superb picture of the Transfiguration, is a disagreeable +image, and in no way possesses the dignity of the fine arts. They must +discover to us the charm of grief, as well as the melancholy of +prosperity; it is the ideal part of human destiny which they should +represent in each particular circumstance. Nothing torments the +imagination more than bloody wounds and nervous convulsions. It is +impossible in such pictures not to seek, and at the same time dread, to +find the exactness of the imitation. What pleasure can we receive from +that art which only consists in such an imitation; it is more horrible, +or less beautiful than nature herself, the moment it only aspires to +resemble her." + +"You are right, my lord," said Corinne, "to wish that Christian subjects +were divested of painful images; they do not require them. But confess, +however, that genius, and the genius of the soul, can triumph over every +thing. Behold that picture of the Communion of St Jerome, by +Domenichino. The body of the dying saint is livid and gaunt: death has +seized upon it; but in that look is eternal life, and every earthly +misery seems produced here only to disappear before the pure lustre of a +religious sentiment. However, dear Oswald," continued Corinne, "though I +am not of your opinion in everything, I will shew you that even in +differing from one another there is some analogy of sentiment between +us. I have endeavoured to accomplish what you desire, in the gallery of +pictures which has been furnished me by those artists who were of my +acquaintance, among which are some designs of my own sketching. You will +there see the defects and the advantages of those subjects which you +prefer. This gallery is at my country seat at Tivoli. The weather is +fine enough to visit it.--Shall we go thither to-morrow?" As she awaited +Oswald's consent, he said to her: "My love, have you any doubt of my +answer? Have I in this world, any other pleasure, any other thought, +besides you? And is not my life, too free perhaps from any occupation, +as from every interest, solely taken up with the happiness of seeing and +hearing you?" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] In a journal entitled _Europe_, are to be found observations full +of information on subjects relating to painting: from this journal I +have extracted many of these reflections, which have just been read; Mr +Frederic Schlegel is the author of it, and this writer, as well as the +German thinkers in general, is an inexhaustible mine. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +They set out therefore the next day for Tivoli. Oswald himself drove the +four horses that drew them; he took pleasure in their swiftness, which +seemed to increase the vivacity of thought and of existence; and such an +impression is sweet by the side of the object we love. He performed the +office of whip with the most extreme attention, for fear the slightest +accident should happen to Corinne. He felt the duties of a protector +which is the softest tie that binds man to woman. Corinne was not, like +most women, easily terrified by the possible dangers of a journey; but +it was so sweet to remark the solicitude of Oswald, that she almost +wished to be frightened, to enjoy the pleasure of, hearing him cheer and +comfort her. + +That which gave Lord Nelville, as will be seen in the sequel, so great +an ascendancy over the heart of his mistress, was the unexpected +contrasts which gave a peculiar charm to his manners. Everybody admired +his intellect and the gracefulness of his figure; but he must have been +particularly interesting to one, who uniting in herself by a singular +accord, constancy and mobility, took delight in impressions, at once +various and faithful. Never did he think of anything but Corinne; and +this very occupation of his mind incessantly assumed different +characters: at one time he was governed by reserve, at another he was +open and communicative: one moment he was perfectly calm, and another a +prey to the most gloomy and bitter sensations, which proved the depth of +his sentiments, but mingled anxiety with confidence and incessantly gave +birth to new emotions. Oswald, internally agitated, endeavoured to +assume an external appearance of composure, and Corinne, occupied in +conjecturing his thoughts, found in this mystery a continual interest. +One would have said, that the very defects of Oswald were only made to +set off his agreeable qualities. No man, however distinguished, in whose +character there was no contradiction, who was subject to no internal +conflict, could have captivated the imagination of Corinne. She felt a +sort of awe of Oswald, which subjected her to him. He reigned over her +soul by a good and by an evil power; by his qualities, and by the +disquietude which these qualities, badly combined, could inspire: in +short there was no security in the happiness that Lord Nelville +conferred, and perhaps the violence of Corinne's passion was owing to +this; perhaps she could only love, to such a degree, him whom she feared +to lose. A superior mind, a sensibility as ardent as it was delicate, +might become weary of everything, except that truly extraordinary man, +whose soul, constantly agitated, seemed like the sky--sometimes serene, +sometimes covered with clouds. Oswald, always true, always of profound +and impassioned feelings, was nevertheless often ready to renounce the +object of his tenderness, because a long habit of mental pain made him +believe, that only remorse and suffering could be found in the too +exquisite affections of the heart. + +Lord Nelville and Corinne, in their journey to Tivoli, passed before the +ruins of Adrian's palace, and the immense garden which surrounded it. +That prince had collected together in this garden, the most rare +productions, the most admirable masterpieces of those countries which +were conquered by the Romans. To this very day some scattered stones are +seen there, which are called _Egypt_, _India_, and _Asia_. Farther on +was the retreat, where Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, ended her days. She +did not support in adversity, the greatness of her destiny; she was +incapable of dying for glory like a man; or like a woman, dying rather +than betray her friend. + +At length they discovered Tivoli, which was the abode of so many +celebrated men, of Brutus, of Augustus, of Mecenas, and of Catullus; but +above all, the abode of Horace, for it is his verse which has rendered +this retreat illustrious. The house of Corinne was built over the noisy +cascade of Teverone; at the top of the mountain, opposite her garden, +was the temple of the Sybil. It was a beautiful idea of the ancients, to +place their temples on the summits of high places. They majestically +presided over the surrounding country, as religious ideas over all other +thoughts. They inspired more enthusiasm for nature, by announcing the +Deity from which she emanates, and the eternal gratitude of successive +generations towards her. The landscape, from whatever point of view +considered, formed a picture with the temple, which was placed there as +the centre and the ornament of the whole. Ruins spread a singular charm +over the _campagna_ of Italy. They do not recall, like modern edifices, +the labour and the presence of man; they are confounded with nature and +the trees; they seem in harmony with the solitary torrent; they present +the image of time, which has made them what they are. The most beautiful +countries in the world, when they bring to mind no recollection, when +they bear the stamp of no remarkable event, are stripped of interest +when compared with historical countries. What place in Italy could be +more suitable for the habitation of Corinne than the retreat consecrated +to the sybil, to the memory of a woman, animated by divine inspiration. +The house of Corinne was delightful; it was ornamented with the elegance +of modern taste, and yet discovered the charm of an imagination +enamoured of the beauties of antiquity; happiness, in the most elevated +sense of the word, seemed to reign there; a felicity which consisted in +all that ennobles the soul, excites thought, and vivifies talent. + +In walking with Corinne, Oswald perceived that the wind possessed an +harmonious sound, and filled the air with chords, which seemed to +proceed from the waving of the flowers, and the rustling of the trees, +and to give a voice to nature. Corinne told him that the wind produced +this harmony from the æolian harps, which she had placed in grottoes to +fill the air with sound, as well as perfumes. In this delicious abode, +Oswald was inspired with the purest sentiment.--"Hear me," said he to +Corinne; "till this moment I felt the happiness I derived from your +society blended with remorse; but now I say to myself, that you are sent +by my father to terminate my sufferings upon this earth. It is he that I +had offended; but it is, nevertheless, he who has obtained by his +prayers my pardon in heaven. Corinne!" cried he, throwing himself upon +his knees, "I am pardoned; I feel it in this sweet calm of innocence +which pervades my soul. Thou canst now, without apprehension, unite +thyself to me, nor fear that fate opposes our union."--"Well," said +Corinne, "let us continue to enjoy this peace of the heart which is +granted us. Let us not meddle with destiny: she inspires so much dread +when we wish to interfere with her, when we try to obtain from her more +than she will give! Since we are now happy, let us not desire a change!" + +[Illustration: _Corinne showing Oswald her pictures._] + +Lord Nelville was hurt at this answer of Corinne. He conceived she ought +to comprehend that he was ready to tell her every thing, to promise +every thing, if she would only confide to him her history; and this +manner of avoiding it gave him as much offence as apprehension; he did +not perceive that a sense of delicacy prevented Corinne from taking +advantage of his emotion, to bind him by an oath. Perhaps also, it is in +the nature of a profound and genuine passion, to dread a solemn moment, +however much desired, and to tremble at exchanging hope for happiness +itself. Oswald, far from judging in this manner, persuaded himself, that +although Corinne loved him, she wished to preserve her independence, and +intentionally deferred all that might lead to an indissoluble union. +This thought excited in him a painful irritation, and immediately +assuming a cold and reserved air, he followed Corinne to her gallery of +pictures, without uttering a word. She soon divined the impression she +had produced on him, but knowing his pride, she durst not impart to him +her observations; however, in showing him her pictures and discussing +general topics, she felt a vague hope of softening him, which gave to +her voice a more moving charm, even when uttering the most indifferent +words. + +Her gallery was composed of historical pictures, paintings on poetical +and religious subjects, and landscapes. None of them was composed of a +very large number of figures. That style of painting undoubtedly +presents greater difficulties, but affords less pleasure. Its beauties +are too confused, or too minute. That unity of interest, which is the +vital principle of the arts, as well as anything else, is necessarily +divided and scattered. The first of the historical pictures represented +Brutus, in profound meditation, seated at the foot of the statue of +Rome. In the back ground, the slaves are carrying the lifeless bodies of +his two sons, whom he had condemned to death; and on the other side of +the picture, the mother and sisters appear plunged into an agony of +grief: women are, happily, divested of that courage, which can triumph +over the affections of the heart. The statue of Rome, placed by the +side of Brutus, is a beautiful idea; it speaks eloquently. Yet how can +any body know without an explanation, that it is the elder Brutus who +has just sent his sons to execution? Nevertheless, it is impossible to +characterise this event better than it is done in this picture. At a +distance the city of Rome is perceived in its ancient simplicity, +without edifices or ornaments, but full of patriotic grandeur, since it +could inspire such a sacrifice.--"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "when I +have named Brutus, your whole soul will become fixed to this picture; +but still it would be possible to behold it without divining the subject +it represented. And does not this uncertainty, which almost always +exists in historical pictures, mingle the torment of an enigma with the +enjoyment of the fine arts, which ought to be so easy and so clear? + +"I have chosen this subject because it recalls the most terrible action +that love of country has inspired. The companion to this picture is +Marius, spared by the Cimbrian, who cannot bring himself to kill this +great man; the figure of Marius is imposing; the costume of the Cimbrian +and the expression of his physiognomy, are very picturesque. It is the +second epoch of Rome, when laws no longer existed, but when genius still +exercised considerable influence upon circumstances. Then comes that era +when talents and fame were only objects of misfortune and insult. The +third picture which you see here, represents Belisarius, carrying on his +shoulders the body of his young guide, who died while asking alms for +him. Belisarius, blind and mendicant, is thus recompensed by his master; +and in the universe which he has conquered, he is employed in bearing to +the grave the remains of the poor boy who alone had not abandoned him. +This figure of Belisarius is admirable; another so fine is not to be +found in the modern school. The painter, with a truly poetical +imagination, has united here every species of misfortune, and perhaps +the picture is too dreadful even to awaken pity: but who tells us it is +Belisarius? to indicate him it should be faithful to history: but that +fidelity would deprive the subject of all its picturesque beauty. +Following these pictures which represent in Brutus, virtues approaching +to crime; in Marius, glory, the cause of calamity; in Belisarius, +services paid by the blackest persecutions; in short, every misery of +human destiny, which is recorded in the events of history, I have placed +two pictures of the old school, which a little relieve the oppressed +soul by recalling that religion which has consoled the enslaved and +distracted universe, that religion which stirred the depths of the heart +when all without was but oppression and silence. The first is by Albano; +he has painted the infant Jesus sleeping on a cross. Behold the +sweetness and calm of that countenance! What pure ideas it recalls; how +it convinces the soul that celestial love has nothing to fear, either +from affliction or death. The second picture is by Titian; the subject +is Christ sinking beneath the weight of the cross. His mother comes to +meet Him, and throws herself upon her knees on perceiving Him. Admirable +reverence in a mother for the misfortunes and divine virtues of her son! +What a look is that of our Redeemer, what a divine resignation in the +midst of suffering, and in this suffering what sympathy with the heart +of man! That is, doubtless, the finest of my pictures. It is that +towards which I incessantly turn my eyes, without ever being able to +exhaust the emotion which it inspires. Next come the dramatic pieces," +continued Corinne, "taken from four great poets. Judge with me, my lord, +of the effect which they produce. The first represents Æneas in the +Elysian fields, when he wishes to approach Dido. The indignant shade +retires, rejoiced that she no longer carries in her bosom that heart +which would still beat with love at the aspect of her guilty paramour. +The vapoury colour of the shades and the paleness of the surrounding +scene, form a contrast with the life-like appearance of Æneas and of the +sybil who conducts him. But this kind of effect is an amusement of the +artist, and the description of the poet is necessarily superior to +anything that painting can produce. I will say as much of this picture +of Clorinda dying, and Tancred. The utmost pathos which it can excite, +is to call to our minds the beautiful lines of Tasso, when Clorinda +pardons her adoring enemy who has just pierced her breast. Painting +necessarily becomes subordinate to poetry, when devoted to subjects +which have been treated by great poets; for their words leave an +impression which effaces every other; the situations which they have +chosen almost ever derive their chief strength from the development of +the passions and their eloquence, whilst the greater part of picturesque +effects arises from a calm beauty, a simple expression, a noble +attitude, a moment of repose, worthy of being indefinitely prolonged +without ever wearying the eye. + +"Your terrible Shakespeare, my lord," continued Corinne, "has furnished +the subject of the third dramatic picture--it is Macbeth,--the +invincible Macbeth--who, ready to fight Macduff, whose wife and children +he has put to death, learns that the oracle of the witches is +accomplished, that Birnam Wood is advancing to Dunsinane, and that he is +fighting a man who was born after the death of his mother. Macbeth is +conquered by fate, but not by his adversary.--He grasps the sword with a +desperate hand;--he knows that he is about to die;--but wishes to try +whether human strength cannot triumph over destiny. There is certainly +in this head, a fine expression of wildness and fury--of trouble and of +energy; but how many poetical beauties do we miss? Is it possible to +paint Macbeth plunged in guilt by the spells of ambition, which offer +themselves to him under the shape of witchcraft? How can painting +express the terror which he feels? That terror, however, which is not +inconsistent with intrepid bravery? Is it possible to characterise that +peculiar species of superstition which oppresses him? That belief +without dignity, that hell-born fatality which weighs him down, his +contempt of life, his horror of death? Undoubtedly the human countenance +is the greatest of mysteries; but the motionless physiognomy of a +painting can never express more than the workings of a single sentiment. +Contrasts, conflicts of the mind, events, in short, belong to the +dramatic art. Painting can with difficulty render a succession of +events: time and movement exist not for it. + +"The Phèdre of Racine has furnished the subject of the fourth picture," +said Corinne, showing it to Lord Nelville.--"Hippolitus, in all the +beauty of youth and innocence, repels the perfidious accusations of his +step-mother; the hero, Theseus, still protects his guilty spouse, whom +he encircles with his conquering arm. There is in the countenance of +Phèdre, a trouble which freezes the soul with horror; and her nurse, +without remorse, encourages her in her guilt. Hippolitus in this picture +is perhaps more beautiful than even in Racine; he resembles more the +ancient Meleager, because no love for Aricia disturbs the impression of +his wild and noble virtue; but is it possible to suppose that Phèdre, in +the presence of Hippolitus, can support her falsehood? Is it possible +that she can behold him innocent and persecuted without falling at his +feet? An offended woman may wrong the object of her affection in his +absence; but when she sees him, her heart is wholly absorbed in love. +The poet has never put Phèdre and Hippolitus in the same scene after the +former has calumniated the latter; the painter has been obliged to do so +in order to bring together, as he has done in his picture, all the +beauties of the contrast; but is not this a proof that there is such a +difference between poetical and picturesque subjects that it would be +better for the poets to write from pictures, than for the painters to +compose their works from the poets? The history of the human mind proves +to us that imagination must always precede thought." + +Whilst Corinne was thus explaining her pictures to Lord Nelville, she +had stopped several times, in the hope that he would speak to her; but +his wounded soul did not betray itself by a single word; whenever she +expressed a feeling idea he only sighed and turned his head, in order +that she might not see how easily he was affected in his present state +of mind. Corinne, overcome by this silence, sat down and covered her +face with her hands--Lord Nelville for some time walked about the room +with a hurried step, then approaching Corinne, was about to betray his +feelings; but the invincible pride of his nature repressed his emotion, +and he returned to the pictures as if he were waiting for Corinne to +finish showing them. Corinne expected much from the effect of the last +of all; and making an effort in her turn to appear calm, she arose and +said, "My lord, I have yet three landscapes to show you--two of them are +allied to very interesting ideas. I am not fond of those rustic scenes +which are as dull in painting as idylls, when they make no allusion to +fable or to history. I am most pleased with the manner of Salvator Rosa, +who represents, as you see in this picture, a rock with torrents and +trees, without a single living creature, without even a bird recalling +an idea of life. The absence of man in the midst of natural scenes, +excites deep reflection. What would the earth be in this state of +solitude? A work without an aim; and yet a work so beautiful, the +mysterious impression of which would be addressed to the Divinity alone! + +"We are come at last to the two pictures in which, according to my +opinion, history and poetry are happily blended with landscape[27]. One +represents the moment when Cincinnatus is invited by the consuls to +leave the plough, in order to take the command of the Roman armies. In +this landscape you behold all the luxury of the South, its abundant +vegetation, its burning sky, the smiling aspect of all nature, +discoverable even in the plants themselves; and that other picture which +forms a contrast with this, is the son of Cairbar asleep upon the tomb +of his father.--For three days and three nights he has awaited the +arrival of the bard who is to honour the memory of the dead. This bard +is perceived at a distance descending the mountain; the shade of the +father hovers in the clouds; the country is covered with hoar frost; the +trees, though naked, are agitated by the wind, and their dead branches +and dried leaves, still follow the current of the storm." + +Till then, Oswald had been influenced by resentment at what had taken +place in the garden; but on beholding this picture, the tomb of his +father and the mountains of Scotland appeared to his mind, and his eyes +were filled with tears. Corinne took her harp, and before this picture, +began to sing one of those Scotch ballads whose simple notes seem to +accompany the noise of the wind, mournfully complaining through the +valleys. She sang the farewell of a warrior quitting his native land and +his mistress; and the word, _no more_, one of the most harmonious and +touching in the English language, was pronounced by Corinne with the +most moving expression. Oswald sought not to resist his emotion, and +both yielded without restraint to their tears.--"Ah!" cried Lord +Nelville, "does my native country speak no language to thy heart? +Wouldst thou follow me into those retreats, peopled by my recollections? +Wouldst thou be the worthy companion of my life, as thou art its sole +charm and delight?"--"I believe so," replied Corinne--"I believe so; for +I love thee!"--"In the name of love then, no longer conceal anything +from me," said Oswald.--"I consent," interrupted Corinne; "since it is +thy wish. My promise is given; I only make one condition, which is, that +thou wilt not exact it of me before the approaching epoch of our +religious ceremonies. Will not the support of heaven be more than ever +necessary to me at the moment when my fate is about to be decided?"--"No +more," cried Lord Nelville, "if that fate depend upon me, it is no +longer doubtful."--"Thou thinkest so," replied she; "I have not the same +confidence; but, in a word, I intreat thee show that condescension to my +weakness which I request."--Oswald sighed, without either granting or +refusing the delay required.--"Let us now return to town," said Corinne. +"How can I conceal anything from thee in this solitude? And if what I +have to relate must divide us, ought I so soon--Let us go, Oswald--thou +wilt return hither again, happen what may: my ashes will find rest +here." Oswald, much affected, obeyed Corinne. He returned to the city +with her, and scarcely a word passed between them upon the road. From +time to time they looked at each other with an affection that said +everything; but nevertheless, a sentiment of melancholy reigned in the +depths of their souls when they arrived in the midst of Rome. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[27] The historical pictures which compose the gallery of Corinne, are +either from copies or originals of the Brutus of _David_, the Maurius of +_Drouet_, and the Belisarius of _Gerard_; among the other pictures +mentioned, that of Dido was done by _M. Rehberg_, a German painter; that +of Clorinda, is in the gallery of Florence; that of Macbeth, is in an +English collection of pictures from Shakespeare; and that of Phèdre, is +by _Guérin_; lastly, the two landscapes of Cincinnatus and Ossian, are +at Rome, and were done by Mr Wallis, an English painter. + + + + +Book ix. + +THE POPULAR FESTIVAL, AND MUSIC. + + + + +Chapter i. + + +It was the last day of carnival, which is the most noisy festival of the +year, when a fever of joy, a mania of amusement, unparalleled in any +other country, seized the Roman people. Everybody is disguised; hardly +does there remain at the windows, an unmasked spectator: the scene of +gaiety commences at a given hour on a certain day, and scarcely ever +does any public or private event of the year hinder any person from +joining the sports of the season. + +It is then that we can form a judgment of the extent of imagination +possessed by the common people. The Italian language, even in their +mouths, is full of charm. Alfieri said that he went to the public market +at Florence to learn to speak good Italian,--Rome has the same +advantages: and perhaps these are the only two cities in the world where +the people speak so well that the mind may receive entertainment at +every corner of the street. + +That kind of humour which shines in the authors of harlequinades and +opera-buffa, is very commonly found even among men without education. In +these days of carnival, when extravagance and caricature are admitted, +the most comic scenes take place between the masks. + +Often a burlesque gravity is contrasted with the vivacity of the +Italians; and one would say that these fantastic vestments inspired a +dignity in the wearers, not natural to them; at other times, they +manifest such a singular knowledge of mythology in their disguises, that +we would be inclined to believe the ancient fables still popular in +Rome; and more frequently they ridicule different gradations of society +with a pleasantry full of force and originality. The nation appears a +thousand times more distinguished in its sports than in its history. The +Italian language yields to every shade of gaiety with a facility which +only requires a light inflection of the voice and a little difference of +termination in order to increase or diminish, ennoble or travesty, the +sense of words. It is particularly graceful in the mouth of +children[28]. The innocence of this age and the natural malice of the +language, form an exquisite contrast. In truth, it may be said, that it +is a language which explains itself without any aid and always appears +more intellectual than he who speaks it. + +There is neither luxury nor good taste in the feast of carnival; a kind +of universal petulance makes it resemble the bacchanals of the +imagination; but in imagination only is this resemblance, for the Romans +are in general very sober, and except the last day of carnival, +tolerably serious. We often make sudden discoveries of every sort in the +character of the Italians, and this is what contributes to give them the +reputation of being subtle and crafty.--There is, undoubtedly, a strong +habit of dissimulation in this country, which has supported so many +different yokes; but it is not to dissimulation that we must always +attribute the rapid transition from one manner of being to another. An +inflammable imagination is often the cause of it. The character of a +people who are only rational or witty, may be easily understood and will +not suddenly surprise us, but all that belongs to the imagination is +unexpected. It leaps over intermediate barriers, it is often hurt at +nothing, and frequently indifferent to that which ought most to affect +it. In fact, it is a law unto itself, and we can never calculate its +impressions from their causes. + +For example, we cannot comprehend what amusement the Roman nobility find +in riding in their carriages from one end of the _corso_ to the other +for whole hours together, as well during the carnival as on the other +days of the year. Nothing ever diverts them from this custom. There are +also among the masks, men who saunter about with every appearance of +weariness, in the most ridiculous costume imaginable, and +who--melancholy harlequins and silent punchinellos,--do not say a word +the whole evening, but appear, if it may be so expressed, to have +satisfied their carnival conscience by having neglected nothing to be +merry. + +We find at Rome a certain species of mask which is not seen elsewhere: +masks formed after the figures of the ancient statues, and which at a +distance imitate the most perfect beauty--the women often lose greatly +by removing them. But nevertheless this motionless imitation of life, +these stalking wax countenances, however pretty they may be, have +something terrifying in them. The great nobles make a tolerably grand +display of carriages on the last days of the carnival; but the pleasure +of this festival is the crowd and the confusion: it seems like a relic +of the _Saturnalia_; every class in Rome is mixed together. The most +grave magistrates ride with official dignity in the midst of the masks; +every window is decorated. The whole town is in the streets: it is truly +a popular festival. The pleasure of the people consists neither in the +shows nor the feasts that are given them, nor the magnificence they +witness. They commit no excess either in drinking or eating: their +recreation is to be set at liberty, and to find themselves among the +nobility, who on their side are pleased at being among the people. It is +especially the refinement and delicacy of amusements as well as the +perfection of education, that places a barrier between different classes +of people. But in Italy this distinction of rank is not very sensible; +the country is more characterised by the natural talent and imagination +of all, than by the extraordinary cultivation of the upper classes. +There is therefore, pending carnival, a complete confusion of ranks, of +manners, and of sentiments: the crowd, the cries, the wit, and the +comfits with which they inundate without distinction the carriages as +they pass along, confound every mortal together and set the nation +pell-mell, as if social order no longer existed. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville, both buried in thought, arrived in the midst +of this tumult. They were at first almost stunned; for nothing appears +more singular than this activity of noisy pleasures, when the soul is +entirely absorbed in itself. They stopped at the Piazza del Popolo to +ascend the amphitheatre near the obelisk, whence is seen the race +course. At the moment they got out of their calash, the Count d'Erfeuil +perceived them and took Oswald aside to speak to him. + +"It is not right," said he, "to show yourself in this public manner, +arriving from the country alone with Corinne; you will compromise her +character, then what will you do?" "I do not think," answered Nelville, +"that I compromise the character of Corinne by showing the attachment +she inspires me with. But even were that true, I should be too happy if +the devotion of my life--" "As to your being happy," interrupted the +Count, "I do not believe it;" people can only be happy in acting +becomingly. Society, think as you may, has much influence "upon our +happiness, and we should never do what it disapproves."--"We should then +never be guided by our own thoughts and our own feelings, but live +entirely for society," replied Oswald. "If it be so, if we are +constantly to imitate one another, to what purpose was a soul and an +understanding given to each? Providence might have spared this +superfluity."--"That is very well said," replied the Count, "very +philosophically thought; but people ruin themselves by these kind of +maxims, and when love is gone, the censure of opinion remains. I, who +appear to possess levity, would never do any thing to draw upon me the +disapprobation of the world. We may indulge in trifling liberties, in +agreeable pleasantries which announce an independent manner of thinking, +provided we do not carry it into action; for when it becomes serious--" +"But the serious consequences are love and happiness," answered Lord +Nelville.--"No, no;" interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "that is not what +I wish to say; there are certain established rules of propriety, which +one must not brave, on pain of passing for an eccentric man, a man--in +fact, you understand me--for a man who is not like others."--Lord +Nelville smiled, and without being in the least vexed; for he was by no +means pained with these remarks; he rallied the Count upon his frivolous +severity; he felt with secret satisfaction that for the first time, on a +subject which caused him so much emotion, the Count did not possess the +least influence over him. Corinne, at a distance, conjectured what was +passing; but the smile of Nelville restored tranquillity to her heart, +and this conversation of the Count d'Erfeuil, far from embarrassing +Oswald or his fair companion, only inspired them with a temper of mind +more in harmony with the scene before them. + +The horse-racing was about to begin. Lord Nelville expected to see +races like those of England; but what was his surprise, when informed +that only little Barbary horses without riders were to run against each +other. This sight excites the attention of the Romans in a singular +manner. The moment it is about to commence, all the crowd arrange +themselves on each side of the way. The Piazza del Popolo, which was +covered with people, is empty in a moment. Each one ascends the +amphitheatres which surround the obelisk, and innumerable multitudes of +heads and dark eyes are turned towards the barrier from which the horses +are to start. + +They arrive without bridle or saddle, with merely a rich cloth thrown +over their backs, and led by extremely well-dressed grooms, who take a +most passionate interest in their success. The horses are placed behind +the barrier and their ardour to clear it is extreme. At every moment +they are held back; they prance, they neigh, they clatter with their +feet, as if they were impatient of a glory which they are about to +obtain themselves without the guidance of man. This impatience of the +horses and the shouts of the grooms at the moment when the barrier +falls, produce a fine dramatic effect. The horses start, the grooms cry +"Stand back! Stand back!" with inexpressible transport. They accompany +the horses with their voice and gestures till they are out of sight. The +horses seem inspired with the same emulation as men. The pavement +sparkles beneath their feet; their manes fly in the air, and their +desire, thus left to their own efforts, of winning the prize is such, +that there have been some who, on arriving at the goal, have died from +the swiftness with which they have run. It is astonishing to see these +freed horses thus animated with personal passions; it almost induces a +belief that thought exists beneath this animal form. The crowd break +their ranks when the horses are gone by, and follow them in disorder. +They reach the Venetian palace which serves for the goal. Never was +anything like the cries of the grooms whose horses are victors. He who +had gained the first prize, threw himself on his knees before his +horse[29], and thanked him, recommending him to the protection of St +Anthony, the patron of animals, with an enthusiasm as serious as it was +comic to the spectators. + +It is generally the close of day when the races finish. Then commences +another kind of amusement, much less picturesque, but also very noisy. +The windows are illuminated. The guards abandon their post to mix in the +general joy[30]. Each one then takes a little torch called a _moccolo_, +and they seek mutually to extinguish each other's light, repeating the +word _ammazzare_ (kill) with a formidable vivacity. _Che la Bella +Principessa sia ammazata! Che il signore abbate sia ammazata!_ (Let the +fair princess be killed, let the abbot be killed!) is shouted from one +end of the street to the other. The crowd, become emboldened, because at +this hour horses and carriages are forbidden, hurl themselves in all +directions. At length there is no other pleasure than that of tumult and +disorder. In the meantime night advances, the noise ceases by degrees--a +profound silence succeeds, and there only remains of this evening the +confused idea of a dream, in which the people had forgotten for a moment +their labour, the learned their studies, and the nobility their +idleness. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] I asked a little Tuscan girl which was the handsomer, she or her +sister? "Ah!" answered she, "_Il più bel viso è il mio_;"--Mine is the +most beautiful face. + +[29] An Italian postillion, whose horse was dying, prayed for him, +saying. "_O Sant' Antonio, abbiate pietà dell' anima sua_;"--O Saint +Anthony, have mercy on his soul! + +[30] Goëthe has a description of the carnival at Rome, which gives a +faithful and animated picture of that festival. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Oswald, since his calamity, had not found spirits to seek the pleasure +of music. He dreaded those ravishing strains so soothing to melancholy, +but which inflict pain, when we are oppressed by real grief. Music +awakens those bitter recollections which we are desirous to appease. +When Corinne sang, Oswald listened to the words she uttered; he +contemplated the expression of her countenance, it was she alone that +occupied him; but if in the streets of an evening, several voices were +joined, as it frequently happens in Italy, to sing the fine airs of the +great masters, he at first endeavoured to listen, and then retired, +because the emotion it excited, at once so exquisite and so indefinite, +renewed his pain. However, there was a magnificent concert to be given +in the theatre at Rome, which was to combine the talents of all the best +singers. Corinne pressed Lord Nelville to accompany her to this concert, +and he consented, expecting that his feelings would be softened and +refined by the presence of her he loved. + +On entering her box, Corinne was immediately recognised, and the +remembrance of the Capitol adding to the interest which she usually +inspired, the theatre resounded with applause. From every part of the +house they cried, "Long live Corinne!" and the musicians themselves, +electrified by this general emotion, began to play victorious strains; +for men are led to associate triumph of every sort with war and battle. +Corinne was intimately affected with these universal tokens of +admiration and respect. The music, the applause, the _bravos_, and that +indefinable impression, which a multitude of people expressing one +sentiment always produces, awakened those feelings which, in spite of +her efforts to conceal them, appeared in her eyes suffused with tears, +and the palpitation of her heart equally visible. Oswald, jealous of +this emotion, approached her, saying in a low voice,--"It would be a +pity madam to snatch you from this brilliant popularity, it is certainly +equal to love, since it produces the same effect in your heart."--Having +spoken thus, he retired to the further end of the box without waiting +for any reply. These words produced the most cruel agitation in the +bosom of Corinne, and in a moment destroyed all the pleasure she +received from these expressions of applause, which principally gave her +delight because they were witnessed by Oswald. + +The concert began--he who has not heard Italian singing can have no idea +of music! Italian voices are so soft and sweet, that they recall at once +the perfume of flowers, and the purity of the sky. Nature has destined +the music for the climate: one is like a reflection of the other. The +world is the work of one mind, expressed in a thousand different forms. +The Italians, during a series of ages, have been enthusiastically fond +of music. Dante, in his poem of purgatory, meets with one of the best +singers of his age; being entreated, he sings one of his delicious airs, +and the ravished spirits are lulled into oblivion of their sufferings, +until recalled by their guardian angel. The Christians, as well as the +pagans, have extended the empire of music beyond the grave. Of all the +fine arts, it is that which produces the most immediate effect upon the +soul. The others are directed to some particular idea; but this appeals +to the intimate source of our existence, and entirely changes our inmost +soul. What is said of Divine Grace, which suddenly transforms the heart, +may humanly speaking be applied to the power of melody; and among the +presentiments of the life to come, those which spring from music are +not to be despised. + +Even the gaiety which the comic music of Italy is so well calculated to +excite, is not of that vulgar description which does not speak to the +imagination. At the very bottom of the mirth which it excites, will be +found poetical sensations and an agreeable reverie, which mere verbal +pleasantry never could inspire. Music is so fleeting a pleasure, that it +glides away almost at the same time we feel it, in such a manner, that a +melancholy impression is mingled with the gaiety which it excites; but +when expressive of grief, it also gives birth to a sweet sentiment. The +heart beats more quickly while listening to it, and the satisfaction +caused by the regularity of the measure, by reminding us of the brevity +of time, points out the necessity of enjoying it. You no longer feel any +void, any silence, around you; life is filled; the blood flows quickly; +you feel within you that motion which gives activity to life, and you +have no fear of the external obstacles with which it is beset. + +Music redoubles the ideas which we possess of the faculties of the soul; +when listening to it we feel capable of the noblest efforts. Animated by +music, we march to the field of death with enthusiasm. This divine art +is happily incapable of expressing any base sentiment, any artifice, any +falsehood. Calamity itself, in the language of music, is stript of its +bitterness; it neither irritates the mind nor rends the heart. Music +gently raises that weight which almost constantly oppresses the heart +when we are formed for deep and serious affections; that weight which +sometimes becomes confounded with the very sense of our existence, so +habitual is the pain which it causes. It seems to us in listening to +pure and delectable sounds, that we are about to seize the secret of +the Creator, and penetrate the mystery of life. No language can express +this impression, for language drags along slowly behind primitive +impressions, as prose translators behind the footsteps of poets. It is +only a look that can give some idea of it; the look of an object you +love, long fixed upon you, and penetrating by degrees so deeply into +your heart, that you are at length obliged to cast down your eyes to +escape a happiness so intense, that, like the splendour of another life, +it would consume the mortal being who should presume stedfastly to +contemplate it. + +The admirable exactness of two voices perfectly in harmony produces, in +the duets of the great Italian masters, a melting delight which cannot +be prolonged without pain. It is a state of pleasure too exquisite for +human nature; and the soul then vibrates like an instrument which a too +perfect harmony would break. Oswald had obstinately kept at a distance +from Corinne during the first part of the concert; but when the duet +began, with faintly-sounding voices, accompanied by wind instruments, +whose sounds were more pure than the voices themselves, Corinne covered +her face with her handkerchief, entirely absorbed in emotion; she wept, +but without suffering--she loved, and was undisturbed by any fear. +Undoubtedly the image of Oswald was present to her heart; but this image +was mingled with the most noble enthusiasm, and a crowd of confused +thoughts wandered over her soul: it would have been necessary to limit +these thoughts in order to render them distinct. It is said that a +prophet traversed seven different regions of heaven in a minute. He who +could thus conceive all that an instant might contain, must surely have +felt the sublime power of music by the side of the object he loved. +Oswald felt this power, and his resentment became gradually appeased. +The feelings of Corinne explained and justified everything; he gently +approached her, and Corinne heard him breathing by her side in the most +enchanting passage of this celestial music. It was too much--the most +pathetic tragedy could not have excited in her heart so much sensation +as this intimate sentiment of profound emotion which penetrated them +both at the same time, and which each succeeding moment, each new sound, +continually exalted. The words of a song have no concern in producing +this emotion--they may indeed occasionally excite some passing +reflection on love or death; but it is the indefinite charm of music +which blends itself with every feeling of the soul; and each one thinks +he finds in this melody, as in the pure and tranquil star of night, the +image of what he wishes for on earth. + +"Let us retire," said Corinne; "I feel ready to faint." "What ails you?" +said Oswald, with uneasiness; "you grow pale. Come into the open air +with me; come." They went out together. Corinne, leaning on the arm of +Oswald, felt her strength revive from the consciousness of his support. +They both approached a balcony, and Corinne, with profound emotion, said +to her lover, "Dear Oswald, I am about to leave you for eight days." +"What do you tell me?" interrupted he. "Every year," replied she, "at +the approach of Holy Week, I go to pass some time in a convent, to +prepare myself for the solemnity of Easter." Oswald advanced nothing in +opposition to this intention; he knew that at this epoch, the greater +part of the Roman ladies gave themselves up to the most rigid devotion, +without however on that account troubling themselves very seriously +about religion during the rest of the year; but he recollected that +Corinne professed a different worship to his, and that they could not +pray together. "Why are you not," cried he, "of the same religion as +myself?" Having pronounced this wish, he stopped short. "Have not our +hearts and minds the same country?" answered Corinne. "It is true," +replied Oswald; "but I do not feel less painfully all that separates +us." They were then joined by Corinne's friends; but this eight days' +absence so oppressed his heart that he did not utter a word during the +whole evening. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Oswald visited Corinne at an early hour, uneasy at what she had said to +him. He was received by her maid, who gave him a note from her mistress +informing him that she had entered the convent on that same morning, +agreeably to the intention of which he had been apprised by her, and +that she should not be able to see him until after Good Friday. She +owned to him that she could not find courage to make known her intention +of retiring so soon, in their conversation the evening before. This was +an unexpected stroke to Oswald. That house, which the absence of Corinne +now rendered so solitary, made the most painful impression upon his +mind; he beheld her harp, her books, her drawings, all that habitually +surrounded her; but she herself was no longer there. The recollection of +his father's house struck him--he shuddered and, unable to support +himself, sunk into a chair. + +"In such a way as this," cried he, "I might learn her death! That mind, +so animated, that heart, throbbing with life, that dazzling form, in all +the freshness of vernal bloom, might be crushed by the thunderbolt of +fate, and the tomb of youth would be silent as that of age. Ah! what an +illusion is happiness! What a fleeting moment stolen from inflexible +Time, ever watching for his prey! Corinne! Corinne! you must not leave +me; it was the charm of your presence which deprived me of reflection; +all was confusion in my thoughts, dazzled as I was by the happy moments +which I passed with you. Now I am alone--now I am restored to myself, +and all my wounds are opened afresh." He invoked Corinne with a kind of +despair which could not be attributed to her short absence, but to the +habitual anguish of his heart, which Corinne alone could assuage. +Corinne's maid, hearing the groans of Oswald, entered the room and, +touched with the manner in which he was affected by the absence of her +mistress, said to him, "My lord, let me comfort you; I hope my dear lady +will pardon me for betraying her secret. Come into my room, and you +shall see your portrait." "My portrait!" cried he. "Yes; she has painted +it from memory," replied Theresa (that was the name of Corinne's maid); +"she has risen at five o'clock in the morning this week past, in order +to finish it before she went to the convent." + +Oswald saw this portrait, which was a striking likeness and most +elegantly executed: this proof of the impression which he had made on +Corinne penetrated him with the sweetest emotion. Opposite this portrait +was a charming picture, representing the Blessed Virgin--and before this +picture was the oratory of Corinne. This singular mixture of love and +religion is common to the greater part of Italian women, attended with +circumstances more extraordinary than in the apartment of Corinne; for +free and unrestrained as was her life, the remembrance of Oswald was +united in her mind with the purest hopes and purest sentiments; but to +place thus the resemblance of a lover opposite an emblem of divinity, +and to prepare for a retreat to a convent by consecrating a week to +paint that resemblance, was a trait that characterised Italian women in +general rather than Corinne in particular. Their kind of devotion +supposes more imagination and sensibility than seriousness of mind and +seventy of principles;--nothing could be more contrary to Oswald's +religious ideas; yet how could he find fault with Corinne, at the very +moment when he received so affecting a proof of her love? + +He minutely surveyed this chamber, which he now entered for the first +time: at the head of Corinne's bed he saw the portrait of an elderly +man, whose physiognomy was not Italian; two bracelets were hanging near +this portrait, one formed of dark and light hair twisted together; the +other was of the most lovely flaxen, and what appeared a most remarkable +effect of chance, perfectly resembled that of Lucilia Edgermond, which +he had observed very attentively three years ago on account of its +extreme beauty. Oswald contemplated these bracelets without uttering a +word, for to interrogate Theresa he felt to be unworthy of him. But +Theresa, fancying she guessed Oswald's thoughts, and wishing to remove +from his mind every jealous suspicion, hastened to inform him that +during eleven years that she had waited on Corinne, her mistress had +always worn these bracelets, and that she knew they were composed of the +hair of her father and mother, and that of her sister. "You have been +eleven years with Corinne," said Lord Nelville; "you know then--" +blushing, he suddenly checked himself, ashamed of the question he was +about to put, and quitted the house immediately, to avoid saying another +word. + +In going away, he turned about several times to behold the windows of +Corinne, and when he had lost sight of her habitation, he felt a sadness +now new to him--that which springs from solitude. In the evening, he +sought to dissipate his melancholy by joining a distinguished assembly +in Rome; for to find a charm in reverie, we must in our happy as well as +in our clouded moments, be at peace with ourselves. + +The party he visited was soon insupportable to Lord Nelville, inasmuch +as it made him feel more sensibly all the charms that Corinne could +diffuse through society, by observing the void caused by her absence. He +essayed to converse with some ladies, who answered him in that insipid +phraseology which is established to avoid the true expression of our +sentiments and opinions, if those who use it have anything of this sort +to conceal. He approached several groups of gentlemen who seemed by +their voice and gesture to be discoursing upon some important subject; +he heard them discussing the most trivial topic in the most common +manner. He then sat down to contemplate at his ease, that vivacity +without motive and without aim which is found in most numerous +assemblies; nevertheless, mediocrity in Italy is by no means +disagreeable; it has little vanity, little jealousy, and much respect +for superiority of mind; and if it fatigues with its dulness, it hardly +ever offends by its pretensions. + +It was in these very assemblies, however, that Oswald had found so much +to interest him a few days before; the slight obstacle which the company +opposed to his conversation with Corinne,--the speedy opportunity which +she took to return to him as soon as she had been sufficiently polite to +the rest of the circle,--the similarity of sentiment which existed +between them in the observations which the company suggested,--the +pleasure which Corinne took when discoursing in Oswald's presence, to +address indirectly to him some reflection of which he alone comprehended +the true meaning, had attached such recollections to every part of this +very room, that Oswald had been deluded so far as to believe that there +was something amusing in these assemblies themselves. "Ah!" said he, +when departing, "it was here as every where else--she was the life of +the scene; let me rather seek the most desert spot till she return. I +shall feel her absence less bitterly when there is nothing about me +bearing the resemblance of pleasure." + + + + +Book x. + +HOLY WEEK. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald passed the following day in the gardens of some monasteries. He +went first to that of the Carthusians, and stopped some time before he +entered, to contemplate two Egyptian lions which are at a little +distance from the gate. Those lions have a remarkable expression of +strength and repose; there is something in their physiognomy belonging +neither to the animal nor the man: they seem one of the forces of nature +and enable us to form a conception how the gods of the Pagan theology +might be represented under this emblem. + +The Carthusian monastery is built upon the ruins of the Thermæ of +Diocletian; and the church by the side of the monastery, is decorated +with such of its granite columns as remained standing. The monks who +inhabit this retreat are very eager to show them, and the interest they +take in these ruins seems to be the only one they feel in this world. +The mode of life observed by the Carthusians, supposes in them either a +very limited mind, or the most noble and continued elevation of +religious sentiments; this succession of days without any variety of +event, reminds us of that celebrated line: + + Sur les mondes détruits le Temple dort immobile. + + _The Temple sleeps motionless on the ruins of worlds_. + +The whole employment of their life serves but to contemplate death. +Activity of mind, with such an uniformity of existence, would be a most +cruel torment. In the midst of the cloister grow four cypresses. This +dark and silent tree, which is with difficulty agitated by the wind, +introduces no appearance of motion into this abode. Near the cypresses +is a fountain, scarcely heard, whose fall is so feeble and slow, that +one would be led to call it the clepsydra of this solitude, where time +makes so little noise. Sometimes the moon penetrates it with her pale +lustre, and her absence and return may be considered as an event in this +monotonous scene. + +Those men who exist thus, are nevertheless the same to whom war and all +its bustle would scarcely suffice if they had been brought up to it. + +The different combinations of human destiny upon earth afford an +inexhaustible source of reflection. A thousand accidents pass, and a +thousand habits are formed in the interior of the soul, which make every +individual a world and the subject of a history. To know another +perfectly, would be the task of a whole life; what is it then that we +understand by knowing men? To govern them is practicable by human +wisdom, but to comprehend them belongs to God alone. + +From the Carthusian monastery Oswald repaired to that of St Bonaventure, +built upon the ruins of the palace of Nero; there, where so many crimes +have been committed without remorse, poor monks, tormented by scruples +of conscience, impose upon themselves the most cruel punishment for the +slightest fault. "_Our only hope_," said one of these devotees, "_is +that at the hour of death our sins will not have exceeded our +penances_." Lord Nelville, as he entered this monastery struck his foot +against a trap, and asking the use of it--"_It leads to our place of +interment_;" said one of the young monks, who was already struck with +the malady caused by the malaria. The inhabitants of the south being +very much afraid of death, we are astonished to find institutions in +Italy which fix the ideas upon this point; but it is natural to be fond +of thoughts that inspire us with dread. There is, as it were, an +intoxication of sadness, which does good to the soul by occupying it +entirely. + +An ancient Sarcophagus of a young child serves for the fountain to this +convent. The beautiful Palm-tree of which Rome boasts, is the only tree +of any sort in the garden of these monks; but they pay no attention to +external objects. Their discipline is too rigorous to allow any kind of +latitude to the mind. Their looks are cast down, their gait is slow, +they make no use of their will. They have abdicated the government of +themselves, _so fatiguing is this empire to its sad possessor_. This +day, however, did not produce much emotion in the soul of Oswald; the +imagination revolts at death, presented under all its various forms in a +manner so manifestly intentional. When we unexpectedly meet this +_memento mori_, when it is nature and not man that speaks to our soul, +the impression we receive is much deeper. + +Oswald felt the most calm and gentle sensations when, at sunset, he +entered the garden of _San Giovanni e Paolo_. The monks of this +monastery are subjected to a much less rigid discipline, and their +garden commands a view of all the ruins of ancient Rome. From this spot +is seen the Coliseum, the Forum, and all the triumphal arches, the +obelisks, and the pillars which remain standing. What a fine situation +for such an asylum! The secluded monks are consoled for their own +nothingness, in contemplating the monuments raised by those who are no +more. Oswald strolled for a long time beneath the umbrageous walks of +this garden, whose beautiful trees sometimes interrupt for a moment the +view of Rome, only to redouble the emotion which is felt on beholding it +again. It was that hour of the evening, when all the bells in Rome are +heard chiming the _Ave Maria_. + + ----------------squilla di lontano + Che paja il giorno pianger che si muore. + DANTE. + + ----------------_the vesper bell from far, + That seems to mourn for the expiring day._ + CAREY'S TR. + +The evening prayer is used to fix the time. In Italy they say: _I will +see you an hour before, or an hour after the Ave Maria_: and the +different periods of the day and of the night, are thus religiously +designated. Oswald enjoyed the admirable spectacle of the sun which +towards the evening descends slowly in the midst of the ruins, and +appears for a moment submitted to the same destiny as the works of man. +Oswald felt all his habitual thoughts revive within him. Corinne herself +was too charming, and promised too much happiness to occupy his mind at +this moment. He sought the spirit of his father in the clouds, where the +force of imagination traced his celestial form, and made him hope to +receive from heaven some pure and beneficent breath, as the benediction +of his sainted parent. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The desire of studying and becoming acquainted with the Roman religion, +determined Lord Nelville to seek an opportunity of hearing some of those +preachers who make the churches of this city resound with their +eloquence during Lent. He reckoned the days that were to divide him from +Corinne, and during her absence, he wished to see nothing that +appertained to the fine arts; nothing that derived its charm from the +imagination. He could not support the emotion of pleasure produced by +the masterpieces of art when he was not with Corinne; he was only +reconciled to happiness when she was the cause of it. Poetry, painting, +music, all that embellishes life by vague hopes, was painful to him out +of her presence. + +It is in the evening, with lights half extinguished, that the Roman +preachers deliver their sermons in Holy Week. All the women are then +clad in black, in remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ, and there is +something very moving in this anniversary mourning, which has been so +often renewed during a lapse of ages. It is therefore impossible to +enter without genuine emotion those beautiful churches, where the tombs +so fitly dispose the soul for prayer; but this emotion is generally +destroyed in a few moments by the preacher. + +His pulpit is a fairly long gallery, which he traverses from one end to +the other with as much agitation as regularity. He never fails to set +out at the beginning of a phrase and to return at the end, like the +motion of a pendulum; nevertheless he uses so much action, and his +manner is so vehement, that one would suppose him capable of forgetting +everything. But it is, to use the expression, a kind of systematic fury +that animates the orator, such as is frequently to be met with in Italy, +where the vivacity of external action often indicates no more than a +superficial emotion. A crucifix is suspended at the extremity of the +pulpit; the preacher unties it, kisses it, presses it against his heart, +and then restores it to its place with the greatest coolness, when the +pathetic period is concluded. There is a means of producing effect which +the ordinary preachers frequently have recourse to, namely, the square +cap they wear on their head, which they take off, and put on again with +inconceivable rapidity. One of them imputed to Voltaire, and +particularly to Rousseau, the irreligion of the age. He threw his cap +into the middle of the pulpit, charging it to represent Jean Jacques, +and in this quality he harangued it, saying; "_Well, philosopher of +Geneva, what have you to object to my arguments_?" He was silent for +some minutes as if he waited for a reply--the cap made no answer: he +then put it upon his head again and finished the conversation in these +words: "_now that you are convinced I shall say no more_." + +These whimsical scenes are often repeated among the Roman preachers; for +real talent in this department is here very scarce. Religion is +respected in Italy as an omnipotent law; it captivates the imagination +by its forms and ceremonies, but moral tenets are less attended to in +the pulpit than dogmas of faith, which do not penetrate the heart with +religious sentiments. Thus the eloquence of the pulpit, as well as +several other branches of literature, is absolutely abandoned to common +ideas, which neither paint nor express any thing. A new thought would +cause almost a panic in those minds at once so indolent and so full of +ardour that they need the calm of uniformity, which they love because it +offers repose to their thoughts. The ideas and phraseology of their +sermons are confined to a sort of etiquette. They follow almost in a +regular sequence, and this order would be disturbed if the orator, +speaking from himself, were to seek in his own mind what he should say. +The Christian philosophy, whose aim is to discover the analogy between +religion and human nature, is as little known to the Italian preachers +as any other kind of philosophy. To think upon matters of religion would +scandalise them as much as to think against it; so much are they +accustomed to move in a beaten track. + +The worship of the Blessed Virgin is particularly dear to the Italians, +and to every other nation of the south; it seems in some manner united +with all that is most pure and tender in the affection we feel for +woman. But the same exaggerated figures of rhetoric are found in what +the preachers say upon this subject; and it is impossible to conceive +why their gestures do not turn all that is most serious into mockery. +Hardly ever in Italy do we meet in the august function of the pulpit, +with a true accent or a natural expression. + +Oswald, weary of the most tiresome of all monotony--that of affected +vehemence, went to the Coliseum, to hear the Capuchin who was to preach +there in the open air, at the foot of one of those altars which mark +out, within the enclosure, what is called _the Stations of the Cross_. +What can offer a more noble subject of eloquence than the aspect of this +monument, of this amphitheatre, where the martyrs have succeeded to the +gladiators! But nothing of this kind must be expected from the poor +Capuchin, who, of the history of mankind, knows no more than that of his +own life. Nevertheless, if we could be insensible to the badness of his +discourse, we should feel ourselves moved by the different objects that +surround him. The greater part of his auditors are of the confraternity +of the _Camaldoli_; they are clad during their religious exercises in a +sort of grey robe, which entirely covers the head and the whole body, +with two little holes for the eyes. It is thus that the spirits of the +dead might be represented. These men, who are thus concealed beneath +their vestments, prostrate themselves on the earth and strike their +breasts. When the preacher throws himself on his knees crying for _mercy +and pity_, the congregation throw themselves on their knees also, and +repeat this same cry, which dies away beneath the ancient porticoes of +the Coliseum. It is impossible at this moment not to feel the most +religious emotion; this appeal from earthly misery to celestial good, +penetrates to the inmost sanctuary of the soul. Oswald started when all +the audience fell on their knees; he remained standing, not to join in a +worship foreign to his own; but it was painful to him that he could not +associate publicly with mortals of any description, who prostrated +themselves before God. Alas! is there an invocation of heavenly pity +that is not equally suited to all men? + +The people had been struck with the fine figure and foreign manners of +Lord Nelville, but were by no means scandalized at his not kneeling +down. There are no people in the world more tolerant than the Romans; +they are accustomed to visitors who come only to see and observe; and +whether by an effect of pride or of indolence, they never seek to instil +their opinions into others. What is more extraordinary still, is, that +during Holy Week particularly, there are many among them who inflict +corporal punishment upon themselves; and while they are performing this +flagellation, the church-doors are open, and they care not who enters. +They are a people who do not trouble their heads about others; they do +nothing to be looked at; they refrain from nothing because they are +observed; they always proceed to their object, and seek their pleasure +without suspecting that there is a sentiment called vanity, which has no +object, no pleasure, except the desire of being applauded. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +The ceremonies of Holy Week at Rome have been much spoken of. Foreigners +come thither during Lent expressly to enjoy this spectacle; and as the +music of the Sixtine Chapel and the illumination of St Peter's are +beauties unique in themselves, it is natural that they should excite a +lively curiosity; but expectation is not equally satisfied. The +ceremonies themselves, properly speaking--the dinner of the twelve +Apostles, served by the Pope, the washing of the feet by him, and all +the different customs of this solemn season--excite very moving +recollections; but a thousand inevitable circumstances often injure the +interest and the dignity of this spectacle. All those who assist at it +are not equally devout, equally occupied with pious ideas. These +ceremonies, so often repeated, have become a sort of mechanical exercise +for most people, and the young priests despatch the service of great +festivals with an activity and a dexterity little calculated to produce +any religious effect. That indefinite, that unknown, that mysterious +impression, which religion ought to excite, is entirely destroyed by +that species of attention which we cannot help paying to the manner in +which each acquits himself of his functions. The avidity of some for the +meats presented them, and the indifference of others in the +genuflections which they multiply and the prayers which they recite, +often strip the festival of its solemnity. + +The ancient costumes which still serve for the vestments of the priests, +agree badly with the modern style of treating the hair. The Greek +bishop, with his long beard, has the most respectable appearance. The +ancient custom also of making a reverence after the manner of women, +instead of bowing as men do now, produces an impression by no means +serious. In a word, the _ensemble_ is not in harmony, and the ancient is +blended with the modern without sufficient care being taken to strike +the imagination, or at least to avoid all that may distract it. A +worship, dazzling and majestic in its external forms, is certainly +calculated to fill the soul with the most elevated sentiments; but care +must be taken that the ceremonies do not degenerate into a spectacle in +which each one plays his part--in which each one studies what he must do +at such a moment; when he is to pray, when he is to finish his prayer; +when to kneel down, and when to get up. The regulated ceremonies of a +court introduced into a temple of devotion, confine the free movement of +the heart, which can alone give man the hope of drawing near to the +Deity. + +These observations are pretty generally felt by foreigners, but the +Romans for the most part do not grow weary of those ceremonies; and +every year they find in them new pleasure. A singular trait in the +character of the Italians is, that their mobility does not make them +inconstant, nor does their vivacity render variety necessary to them. +They are in every thing patient and persevering; their imagination +embellishes what they possess; it occupies their life instead of +rendering it uneasy; they think every thing more magnificent, more +imposing, more fine, than it really is: and whilst in other nations +vanity consists in an affectation of boredom, that of the Italians, or +rather their warmth and vivacity, makes them find pleasure in the +sentiment of admiration. + +Lord Nelville, from all that the Romans had said to him, expected to be +more affected by the ceremonies of Holy Week. He regretted the noble and +simple festivals of the Anglican church. He returned home with a +painful impression; for nothing is more sad than not being moved by that +which ought to move us; we believe that our soul is become dry, we fear +that the fire of enthusiasm is extinguished in us, without which the +faculty of thinking can only serve to disgust us with life. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +But Good Friday soon restored to Lord Nelville all those religious +emotions, the want of which he so much regretted on the preceding days. +The seclusion of Corinne was about to terminate; he anticipated the +happiness of seeing her again: the sweet expectations of tender +affection accord with piety; it is only a factious, worldly life, that +is entirely hostile to it. Oswald repaired to the Sixtine Chapel to hear +the celebrated _miserere_, so much talked of all over Europe. He arrived +thither whilst it was yet day, and beheld those celebrated paintings of +Michael Angelo, which represent the Last Judgment, with all the terrible +power of the subject and the talent which has handled it. Michael Angelo +was penetrated with the study of Dante; and the painter, in imitation of +the poet, represents mythological beings in the presence of Jesus +Christ; but he always makes Paganism the evil principle, and it is under +the form of demons that he characterises the heathen fables. On the +vault of the chapel are represented the prophets, and the sybils called +in testimony by the Christians, + + Teste David cum Sibyllâ. + +A crowd of angels surround them; and this whole vault, painted thus, +seems to bring us nearer to heaven, but with a gloomy and formidable +aspect. Hardly does daylight penetrate the windows, which cast upon the +pictures shadow rather than light. The obscurity enlarges those figures, +already so imposing, which the pencil of Michael Angelo has traced; the +incense, whose perfume has a somewhat funereal character, fills the air +in this enclosure, and every sensation is prelusive to the most profound +of all--that which the music is to produce. + +Whilst Oswald was absorbed by the reflections which every object that +surrounded him gave birth to, he saw Corinne, whose presence he had not +hoped to behold so soon, enter the women's gallery, behind the grating +which separated it from that of the men. She was dressed in black, all +pale with absence, and trembled so when she perceived Oswald, that she +was obliged to lean on the balustrade for support as she advanced; at +this moment the _miserere_ began. + +The voices, perfectly trained in this ancient song, proceeded from a +gallery at the commencement of the vault; the singers are not seen; the +music seems to hover in the air; and every instant the fall of day +renders the chapel more gloomy. It was not that voluptuous and +impassioned music which Oswald and Corinne had heard eight days before; +they were holy strains which counselled mortals to renounce every +earthly enjoyment. Corinne fell on her knees before the grating and +remained plunged in the most profound meditation. Oswald himself +disappeared from her sight. She thought that in such a moment one could +wish to die, if the separation of the soul from the body could take +place without pain; if, on a sudden, an angel could carry away on his +wings our sentiments and our thoughts--sparks of ethereal fire, +returning towards their source: death would then be, to use the +expression, only a spontaneous act of the heart, a more ardent and more +acceptable prayer. + +The _miserere_, that is to say, _have mercy on us_, is a psalm, +composed of verses, which are sung alternately in a very different +manner. A celestial music is heard by turns, and the verse following, in +recitative, is murmured in a dull and almost hoarse tone. One would say, +that it is the reply of harsh and stern characters to sensitive hearts; +that it is the reality of life which withers and repels the desires of +generous souls. When the sweet choristers resume their strain, hope +revives; but when the verse of recitative begins, a cold sensation +seizes upon the hearer, not caused by terror, but by a repression of +enthusiasm. At length, the last piece, more noble and affecting than all +the others, leaves a pure and sweet impression upon the soul: may God +vouchsafe that same impression to us before we die. + +The torches are extinguished; night advances, and the figures of the +prophets and the sybils appear like phantoms enveloped in twilight. The +silence is profound; a word spoken would be insupportable in the then +state of the soul, when all is intimate and internal; as soon as the +last sound expires, all depart slowly and without the least noise; each +one seems to dread the return to the vulgar interests of the world. + +Corinne followed the procession, which repaired to the temple of St +Peter, then lighted only by an illuminated cross. This sign of grief, +alone and shining in the august obscurity of this immense edifice, is +the most beautiful image of Christianity in the midst of the darkness of +life. A pale and distant light is cast on the statues which adorn the +tombs. The living, who are perceived in crowds beneath these vaults, +seem like pigmies, compared with the images of the dead. There is around +the cross, a space which it lights up, where the Pope clad in white is +seen prostrate, with all the cardinals ranged behind him. They remain +there for half an hour in the most profound silence, and it is +impossible not to be moved at this spectacle. We know not the subject +of their prayers; we hear not their secret groanings; but they are old, +they precede us in the journey to the tomb. When we in our turn pass +into that terrible advance guard, may God by his grace so ennoble our +age, that the decline of life may be the first days of immortality! + +Corinne, also,--the young and beautiful Corinne,--was kneeling behind +the train of priests, and the soft light reflected on her countenance, +gave it a pale hue, without diminishing the lustre of her eyes. Oswald +contemplated her as a beautiful picture--a being that inspired +adoration. When her prayer was concluded she arose. Lord Nelville dared +not yet approach her, respecting the religious meditation in which he +thought her plunged; but she came to him first with a transport of +happiness; and this sentiment pervading all her actions, she received +with a most lively gaiety, all those who accosted her in St Peter's, +which had become, all at once, a great public promenade, and a +rendezvous to discuss topics of business or pleasure. + +Oswald was astonished at this mobility which caused such opposite +impressions to succeed each other; and though the gaiety of Corinne gave +him pleasure, he was surprised to find in her no trace of the emotions +of the day. He did not conceive how, upon so solemn, a day, they could +permit this fine church to be converted into a Roman _café_, where +people met for pleasure; and beholding Corinne in the midst of her +circle, talking with so much vivacity, and not thinking on the objects +that surrounded her, he conceived a sentiment of mistrust as to the +levity of which she might be capable. She instantly perceived it, and +quitting her company abruptly, she took the arm of Oswald to walk with +him in the church, saying, "I have never held any conversation with you +upon my religious sentiments--permit me to speak a little upon that +subject now; perhaps I shall be able to dissipate those clouds which I +perceive rising in your mind." + + + + +Chapter v. + + +"The difference of our religions, my dear Oswald," continued Corinne, +"is the cause of that secret censure which you cannot conceal from me. +Yours is serious and rigid--ours, cheerful and tender. It is generally +believed that Catholicism is more rigorous than Protestantism; and that +may be true in a country where a struggle has subsisted between the two +religions; but we have no religious dissensions in Italy, and you have +experienced much of them in England. The result of this difference is, +that Catholicism in Italy has assumed a character of mildness and +indulgence; and that to destroy it in England, the Reformation has armed +itself with the greatest severity in principles and morals. Our +religion, like that of the ancients, animates the arts, inspires the +poets, and becomes a part, if I may so express it, of all the joys of +our life; whilst yours, establishing itself in a country where reason +predominates more than imagination, has assumed a character of moral +austerity which will never leave it. Ours speaks in the name of love, +and yours in the name of duty. Our principles are liberal, our dogmas +are absolute; nevertheless, our despotic orthodoxy accommodates itself +to particular circumstances, and your religious liberty enforces +obedience to its laws without any exception. It is true that our +Catholicism imposes very hard penance upon those who have embraced a +monastic life. This state, freely chosen, is a mysterious relation +between man and the Deity; but the religion of laymen in Italy is an +habitual source of affecting emotions. Love, hope, and faith, are the +principal virtues of this religion, and all these virtues announce and +confer happiness. Our priests therefore, far from forbidding at any time +the pure sentiment of joy, tell us that it expresses our gratitude +towards the Creator. What they exact of us, is an observance of those +practices which prove our respect for our worship, and our desire to +please God, namely, charity for the unfortunate, and repentance for our +errors. But they do not refuse absolution, when we zealously entreat it; +and the attachments of the heart inspire a more indulgent pity amongst +us than anywhere else. Has not Jesus Christ said of the Magdalen: _Much +shall be pardoned her, because she hath loved much_? These words were +uttered beneath a sky, beautiful as ours; this same sky implores for us +the Divine mercy." + +"Corinne!" answered Lord Nelville, "how can I combat words so sweet, and +of which my heart stands so much in need? But I will do it, +nevertheless, because it is not for a day that I love Corinne--I expect +with her a long futurity of happiness and virtue. The most pure religion +is that which makes a continual homage to the Supreme Being, by the +sacrifice of our passions and the fulfilment of our duties. A man's +morality is his worship of God; and it would be degrading the idea we +form of the Creator, to suppose that He wills anything in relation with +His creature, that is not worthy of His intellectual perfection. +Paternal authority, that noble image of a master sovereignly good, +demands nothing of its children that does not tend to make them better +or happier. How then can we imagine that God would exact anything from +man, which has not man himself for its object? You see also what +confusion in the understandings of your people results from the +practice of attaching more importance to religious ceremonies than to +moral duties. It is after Holy Week, you know, that the greatest number +of murders is committed at Rome. The people think, to use the +expression, that they have laid in a stock during Lent, and expend in +assassination the treasures of their penitence. Criminals have been +seen, yet reeking with murder, who have scrupled to eat meat on a +Friday; and gross minds, who have been persuaded that the greatest of +crimes consists in disobeying the discipline of the church, exhaust +their consciences on this head, and conceive that the Deity, like human +sovereigns, esteems submission to his power more than every other +virtue. This is to substitute the sycophancy of a courtier for the +respect which the Creator inspires, as the source and reward of a +scrupulous and delicate life. Catholicism in Italy, confining itself to +external demonstrations, dispenses the soul from meditation and +self-contemplation. When the spectacle is over, the emotion ceases, the +duty is fulfilled, and one is not, as with us, a long time absorbed in +thoughts and sentiments, which give birth to a rigid examination of +one's conduct and heart." + +"You are severe, my dear Oswald," replied Corinne; "it is not the first +time I have remarked it. If religion consisted only in a strict +observance of moral duties, in what would it be superior to reason and +philosophy? And what sentiments of piety could we discover, if our +principal aim were to stifle the feelings of the heart? The stoics were +as enlightened as we, as to the duties and the austerity of human +conduct; but that which is peculiar to Christianity is the religious +enthusiasm which blends with every affection of the soul; it is the +power of love and pity; it is the worship of sentiment and of +indulgence, so favourable to the flights of the soul towards heaven. +How are we to interpret the parable of the Prodigal Son, if not that +love, sincere love, is preferred even to the most exact discharge of +every duty? This son had quitted his paternal abode, and his brother had +remained there; he had plunged into all the dissipation and pleasure of +the world, and his brother had never deviated for a single moment from +the regularity of domestic life; but he returned, full of love for his +father and of repentance for his past follies, and his parent celebrated +this return by a festival. Ah! can it be doubted that among the +mysteries of our nature, to love and to love again is what remains to us +of our celestial inheritance? Even our virtues are often too complicated +with life, for us to comprehend the gradations of good, and what is the +secret sentiment that governs and leads us astray: I ask of my God to +teach me to adore him, and I feel the effect of my prayers in the tears +that I shed. But to support this disposition of the soul, religious +practices are more necessary than you think; they are a constant +communication with the Deity; they are daily actions, unconnected with +the interests of life and solely directed towards the invisible world. +External objects are also a great help to piety; the soul falls back +upon itself, if the fine arts, great monuments, and harmonic strains, do +not reanimate that poetical genius, which is synonymous with religious +inspiration. + +"The most vulgar man, when he prays, when he suffers, and places hope in +heaven, has at that moment something in him which he would express like +Milton, Homer, or Tasso, if education had taught him to clothe his +thoughts with words. There are only two distinct classes of men in the +world; those who feel enthusiasm, and those who despise it; every other +difference is the work of society. The former cannot find words to +express their sentiments, and the latter know what it is necessary to +say to conceal the emptiness of their heart. But the spring that bursts +from the rock at the voice of heaven, that spring is the true talent, +the true religion, the true love. + +"The pomp of our worship; those pictures in which the kneeling saints +express a continual prayer in their looks; those statues placed on the +tombs as if they were one day to rise with their inhabitants; those +churches and their immense domes, have an intimate connection with +religious ideas. I like this splendid homage paid by men to that which +promises them neither fortune nor power--to that which neither punishes +nor rewards them, but by a sentiment of the heart. I then feel more +proud of my being; I recognise something disinterested in man; and were +even religious magnificence multiplied to an extreme, I should love that +prodigality of terrestrial riches for another life, of time for +eternity: enough is provided for the morrow, enough care is taken for +the economy of human affairs. How I love the useless, useless if +existence be only a painful toil for a miserable gain! But if on this +earth we are journeying towards heaven, what can we do better than to +take every means of elevating our soul, that it may feel the infinite, +the invisible, and the eternal, in the midst of all the limits that +surround us? + +"Jesus Christ permitted a weak, and perhaps, repentant woman, to anoint +His feet with the most precious perfumes, and repulsed those who advised +that those perfumes should be reserved for a more profitable use. "_Let +her alone_" said He, "_for I am only with you for a short time_." Alas! +all that is good and sublime upon earth is only with us for a short +time; age, infirmity, and death, would soon dry up that drop of dew +which falls from heaven and only rests upon the flowers. Let us then, +dear Oswald, confound everything,--love, religion, genius, the sun, the +perfumes, music, and poetry: atheism only consists in coldness, egotism, +and baseness. Jesus Christ has said: _When two or three are gathered +together in my name, I will be in the midst of them._ And what is it O +God! to be assembled in Thy name, if it be not to enjoy Thy sublime +gifts, and to offer Thee our homage, to thank Thee for that existence +which Thou hast given us; above all, to thank Thee, when a heart, also +created by Thee is perfectly responsive to our own?" + +At this moment a celestial inspiration animated the countenance of +Corinne. Oswald could hardly refrain from falling on his knees before +her in the midst of the temple, and was silent for a long time to +indulge in the pleasure of recalling her words and retracing them still +in her looks. At last he set about replying; for he would not abandon a +cause that was dear to him. "Corinne," said he, then, "indulge your +lover with a few words more. His heart is not dry; no, Corinne, believe +me it is not, and if I am an advocate for austerity in principle and +action, it is because it renders sentiment more deep and permanent. If I +love reason in religion, that is to say, if I reject contradictory +dogmas and human means of producing effect upon men, it is because I +perceive the Deity in reason as well as in enthusiasm; and if I cannot +bear that man should be deprived of any one of his faculties, it is +because I conceive them all barely sufficient to comprehend truths which +reflection reveals to him, as well as the instinct of the heart, namely, +the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul. What can be added +to these sublime ideas, to their union with virtue? What can we add +thereto that is not beneath them? The poetical enthusiasm which gives +you so many charms, is not, I venture to assert, the most salutary +devotion. Corinne, how could we by this disposition prepare for the +innumerable sacrifices which duty exacts of us! There was no revelation, +except by the flights of the soul, when human destiny, present and +future, only revealed itself to the mind through clouds; but for us, to +whom Christianity has rendered it clear and positive, feeling may be our +recompense, but ought not to be our only guide: you describe the +existence of the blessed, not that of mortals. Religious life is a +combat, not a hymn. If we were not condemned in this world to repress +the evil inclinations of others and of ourselves, there would in truth +be no distinction to be made except between cold and enthusiastic souls. +But man is a harsher and more formidable creature than your heart paints +him to you; and reason in piety, and authority in duty, are a necessary +curb to the wanderings of his pride. + +"In whatever manner you may consider the external pomp and multiplied +ceremonies of your religion, believe me, my love, the contemplation of +the universe and its author, will be always the chief worship; that +which will fill the imagination, without any thing futile or absurd +being found in it upon investigation. Those dogmas which wound my reason +also cool my enthusiasm. Undoubtedly the world, such as it is, is a +mystery which we can neither deny nor comprehend; it would therefore be +foolish to refuse credence to what we are unable to explain; but that +which is contradictory is always of human creation. The mysteries of +heavenly origin are above the lights of the mind; but not in opposition +to them. A German philosopher[31] has said: _I know but two beautiful +things in the universe: the starry sky above our heads, and the +sentiment of duty in our hearts_. In truth all the wonders of the +creation are comprised in these words. + +"So far from a simple and severe religion searing our hearts, I should +have thought, before I had known you, Corinne, that it was the only one +which could concentrate and perpetuate the affections. I have seen the +most pure and austere conduct unfold in a man the most inexhaustible +tenderness. I have seen him preserve even to old age, a virginity of +soul, which the passions and their criminal effects would necessarily +have withered. Undoubtedly repentance is a fine thing, and I have more +need than any person to believe in its efficacy; but repeated repentance +fatigues the soul--this sentiment can only regenerate once. It is the +redemption which is accomplished at the bottom of our soul, and this +great sacrifice cannot be renewed. When human weakness is accustomed to +it, the power to love is lost; for power is necessary in order to love, +at least with constancy. + +"I shall offer some objections of the same kind to that splendid form of +worship, which according to you, acts so powerfully upon the +imagination. I believe the imagination to be modest, and retired as the +heart. The emotions which are imposed on it, are less powerful than +those born of itself. I have seen in the Cevennes, a Protestant minister +who preached towards the evening in the heart of the mountains. He +invoked the tombs of the French, banished and proscribed by their +brethren, whose ashes had been assembled together in this spot. He +promised their friends that they should meet them again in a better +world. He said that a virtuous life secured us this happiness; he said: +_do good to mankind, that God may heal in your heart the wound of +grief_. He testified his astonishment at the inflexibility and +hard-heartedness of man, the creature of a day, to his fellow man +equally with himself the creature of a day, and seized upon that +terrible idea of death, which the living have conceived, but which they +will never be able to exhaust. In short, he said nothing that was not +affecting and true: his words were perfectly in harmony with nature. The +torrent which was heard in the distance, the scintillating light of the +stars, seemed to express the same thought under another form. The +magnificence of nature was there, that magnificence, which can feast the +soul without offending misfortune; and all this imposing simplicity, +touched the soul more deeply than dazzling ceremonies could have done." + +On the second day after this conversation, Easter Sunday, Corinne and +Lord Nelville went together to the square of St Peter, at the moment +when the Pope appears upon the most elevated balcony of the church, and +asks of heaven that benediction which he is about to bestow on the land; +when he pronounces these words, _urbi et orbi_ (to the city and to the +world)--all the assembled people fell on their knees, and Corinne and +Lord Nelville felt, by the emotion which they experienced at this +moment, that all forms of worship resemble each other. The religious +sentiment intimately unites men among themselves, when self-love and +fanaticism do not make it an object of jealousy and hatred. To pray +together in the same language, whatever be the form of worship, is the +most pathetic bond of fraternity, of hope, and of sympathy, which men +can contract upon earth. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[31] Kant. + + + + +Chapter vi. + + +Easter-Day was passed, and Corinne took no notice of the fulfilment of +her promise to confide her history to Lord Nelville. Wounded by this +silence, he said one day before her that he had heard much of the +beauty of Naples, and that he had a mind to visit it. Corinne, +discovering in a moment what was passing in his soul, proposed to +perform the journey with him. She flattered herself that she, should be +able to postpone the confession which he required of her, by giving him +this satisfying proof of her love. And besides she thought that if he +should take her with him, it would be without doubt because he desired +to consecrate his life to her. She waited then with anxiety for what he +should say to her, and her almost suppliant looks seemed to entreat a +favourable answer. Oswald could not resist; he had at first been +surprised at this offer and the simplicity with which Corinne made it, +and hesitated for some time before he accepted it; but beholding the +agitation of her he loved, her palpitating bosom, her eyes suffused with +tears, he consented to set out with her, without reflecting upon the +importance of such a resolution. Corinne was elevated to the summit of +joy; for at this moment her heart entirely relied on the passion of +Oswald. + +The day was fixed upon, and the sweet perspective of their journey +together made every other idea disappear. They amused themselves with +settling the details of their journey, and every one of these details +was a source of pleasure. Happy disposition of the soul, in which all +the arrangements of life have a particular charm, from their connection +with some hope of the heart! That moment arrives only too soon, when +each hour of our existence is as fatiguing as its entirety, when every +morning requires an effort to support the awakening and to guide the day +to its close. + +The moment Lord Nelville left Corinne's house in order to prepare every +thing for their departure, the Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and learnt from +her the project which they had just determined on.--"Surely you don't +think of such a thing!" said he, "what! travel with Lord Nelville +without his being your husband! without his having promised to marry +you! And what will you do if he abandon you?" "Why," replied Corinne, +"in any situation of life if he were to cease to love me, I should be +the most wretched creature in the world!" "Yes, but if you have done +nothing to compromise your character, you will remain entirely +yourself."--"Remain entirely myself, when the deepest sentiment of my +life shall be withered? when my heart shall be broken?"--"The public +will not know it, and by a little dissimulation you would lose nothing +in the general opinion." "And why should I take pains to preserve that +opinion," replied Corinne, "if not to gain an additional charm in the +eyes of him I love?"--"We may cease to love," answered the Count, "but +we cannot cease to live in the midst of society, and to need its +services."--"Ah! if I could think," retorted Corinne, "that that day +would arrive when Oswald's affection would not be all in all to me in +this world; if I could believe it, I should already have ceased to love. +What is love when it anticipates and reckons upon the moment when it +shall no longer exist? If there be any thing religious in this +sentiment, it is because it makes every other interest disappear, and, +like devotion, takes a pleasure in the entire sacrifice of self." + +"What is that you tell me?" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "can such an +intellectual lady as you fill her head with such nonsense? It is the +advantage of us men that women think as you do--we have thus more +ascendancy over you; but your superiority must not be lost, it must be +serviceable to you." "Serviceable to me?" said Corinne, "Ah! I owe it +much, if it has enabled me to feel more acutely all that is interesting +and generous in the character of Lord Nelville."--"Lord Nelville is +like other men," said the Count; "he will return to his native country, +he will pursue his profession; in short he will recover his reason, and +you would imprudently expose your reputation by going to Naples with +him."--"I am ignorant of the intentions of Lord Nelville," observed +Corinne, "and perhaps I should have done better to have reflected more +deeply before I had let him obtain such power over my heart; but now, +what signifies one more sacrifice! Does not my life depend on his love? +I feel pleasure, on the contrary, in leaving myself no resource;--there +is none when the heart is wounded; nevertheless, the world may sometimes +think the contrary, and I love to reflect that even in this respect my +calamity would be complete, if Lord Nelville were to leave me!"--"And +does he know how you expose yourself on his account?" proceeded +d'Erfeuil.--"I have taken great care to conceal it from him," answered +Corinne, "and as he is not well acquainted with the customs of this +country, I have a little exaggerated to him the latitude of conduct +which they allow. I must exact from you a promise, that you will never +undeceive him in this respect--I wish him to be perfectly free, he can +never make me happy by any kind of sacrifice. The sentiment which +renders me happy is the flower of my life; were it once to decay, +neither kindness nor delicacy could revive it. I conjure you then, my +dear Count, not to interfere with my destiny; no opinion of yours upon +the affections of the heart can possibly apply to me. Your observations +are very prudent, very sensible, and extremely applicable to the +situations of ordinary life; but you would innocently do me a great +injury, in attempting to judge of my character in the same manner as +large bodies of people are judged, for whom there are maxims ready made. +My sufferings, my enjoyments, and my feelings, are peculiar to myself, +and whoever would influence my happiness must contemplate me alone, +unconnected with the rest of the world." + +The self-love of Count d'Erfeuil was a little wounded by the inutility +of his counsels, and the decided proof of her affection for Lord +Nelville which Corinne gave him. He knew very well that he himself was +not beloved by her, he knew equally that Oswald was; but it was +unpleasant to him to hear this so openly avowed. There is always +something in the favour which a man finds in a lady's sight, that +offends even his best friends.--"I see that I can do nothing for you," +said the Count; "but should you become very unhappy you will think of +me; in the meantime, I am going to leave Rome, for since you and Lord +Nelville are about to quit it, I should be too much bored in your +absence. I shall certainly see you both again, either in Scotland or +Italy; for since I can do nothing better with myself, I have acquired a +taste for travelling. Forgive my having taken the liberty to counsel +you, charming Corinne, and believe me ever devoted to you!"--Corinne +thanked him, and separated with a sentiment of regret. Her acquaintance +with him commenced at the same time as with Oswald, and this remembrance +formed a tie between them which she did not like to see broken. She +conducted herself agreeably to what she had declared to the Count. Some +uneasiness disturbed for a moment the joy with which Lord Nelville had +accepted the project of the journey. He feared that their departure for +Naples might injure Corinne, and wished to obtain her secret before they +went, in order to know with certainty whether some invincible obstacle +to their union might not exist; but she declared to him that she would +not relate her history till they arrived at Naples, and sweetly +deceived him, as to what the public opinion would be on her conduct. +Oswald yielded to the illusion. In a weak and undecided character, love +half deceives, reason half enlightens, and it is the present emotion +that decides which of the two halves shall be the whole. The mind of +Lord Nelville was singularly expansive and penetrating; but he only +formed a correct judgment of himself in reviewing his past conduct. He +never had but a confused idea of his present situation. Susceptible at +once of transport and remorse, of passion and timidity, those contrasts +did not permit him to know himself till the event had decided the combat +that was taking place within him. + +When the friends of Corinne, particularly Prince Castel-Forte, were +informed of her project, they felt considerably chagrined. Prince +Castel-Forte was so much pained at it, that he resolved in a short time +to go and join her. There was certainly no vanity in thus filling up the +train of a favoured lover; but he could not support the dreadful void +which he would find in the absence of Corinne. He had no acquaintances +but the circle he met at her house; and he never entered any other. The +company which assembled around her would disperse when she should be no +longer there; and it would be impossible to collect together the +fragments. Prince Castel-Forte was little accustomed to domestic life: +though possessing a good share of intellect, he did not like the fatigue +of study; the whole day therefore would have been an insufferable weight +to him, if he had not come, morning and evening, to visit Corinne. She +was about to depart--he knew not what to do; however he promised himself +in secret to approach her as a friend, who indulged in no pretensions, +but who was ever at hand to offer his consolation in the moment of +misfortune; such a friend may be sure that his hour will come. + +Corinne felt oppressed with melancholy in thus breaking all her former +connections; she had led for some years in Rome a manner of life that +pleased her. She was the centre of attraction to every artist and to +every enlightened man. A perfect independence of ideas and habits gave +many charms to her existence: what was to become of her now? If destined +to the happiness of espousing Oswald, he would take her to England, and +what would she be thought of there; how would she be able to confine +herself to a mode of existence so different from what she had known for +six years past! But these sentiments only passed through her mind, and +her passion for Oswald always obliterated every trace of them. She saw, +she heard him, and only counted the hours by his absence or his +presence. Who can dispute with happiness? Who does not welcome it when +it comes? Corinne was not possessed of much foresight--neither fear nor +hope existed for her; her faith in the future was vague, and in this +respect her imagination did her little good, and much harm. + +On the morning of her departure, Prince Castel-Forte visited her, and +said with tears in his eyes: "Will you not return to Rome?" "Oh, _Mon +Dieu_, yes!" replied she, "we shall be back in a month."--"But if you +marry Lord Nelville you must leave Italy!" "Leave Italy!" said Corinne, +with a sigh.--"This country," continued Prince Castel-Forte, "where your +language is spoken, where you are so well known, where you are so warmly +admired, and your friends, Corinne--your friends! Where will you be +beloved as you are here? Where will you find that perfection of the +imagination and the fine arts, so congenial to your soul? Is then our +whole life composed of one sentiment? Is it not language, customs, and +manners, that compose the love of our country; that love which creates +a home sickness so terrible to the exile?" "Ah, what is it you tell me," +cried Corinne, "have I not felt it? Is it not that which has decided my +fate?"--She regarded mournfully her room and the statues that adorned +it, then the Tiber which rolled its waves beneath her windows, and the +sky whose beauty seemed to invite her to stay. But at that moment Oswald +crossed the bridge of St Angelo on horseback, swift as lightning. "There +he is!" cried Corinne. Hardly had she uttered these words, when he was +already arrived,--she ran to meet him, and both impatient to set out +hastened to ascend the carriage. Corinne, however, took a kind farewell +of Prince Castel-Forte; but her obliging expressions were lost in the +midst of the cries of postillions, the neighing of horses, and all that +bustle of departure, sometimes sad, and sometimes intoxicating, +according to the fear or the hope which the new chances of destiny +inspire. + + + + +Book xi. + +NAPLES AND THE HERMITAGE OF ST SALVADOR. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald was proud of carrying off his conquest; he who felt himself +almost always disturbed in his enjoyments by reflections and regrets, +for once did not experience the pangs of uncertainty. It was not that he +was decided, but he did not think about it and followed the tide of +events hoping it would lead him to the object of his wishes. + +They traversed the district of Albano[32], where is still shown what is +believed to be the tomb of the Horatii and the Curiatii. They passed +near the lake of Nemi and the sacred woods that surround it. It is said +that Hippolitus was resuscitated by Diana in these parts; she would not +permit horses to approach it, and by this prohibition perpetuated the +memory of her young favourite's misfortune. Thus in Italy our memory is +refreshed by History and Poetry almost at every step, and the charming +situations which recall them, soften all that is melancholy in the past, +and seem to preserve an eternal youth. + +Oswald and Corinne traversed the Pontine marshes--a country at once +fertile and pestilential,--where, with all the fecundity of nature, a +single habitation is not to be found. Some sickly men change your +horses, recommending to you not to sleep in passing the marshes; for +sleep there is really the harbinger of death. The plough which some +imprudent cultivators will still sometimes guide over this fatal land, +is drawn by buffaloes, in appearance at once mean and ferocious, whilst +the most brilliant sun sheds its lustre on this melancholy spectacle. +The marshy and unwholesome parts in the north are announced by their +repulsive aspect; but in the more fatal countries of the south, nature +preserves a serenity, the deceitful mildness of which is an illusion to +travellers. If it be true that it is very dangerous to sleep in crossing +the Pontine marshes, their invincible soporific influence in the heat of +the day is one of those perfidious impressions which we receive from +this spot. Lord Nelville constantly watched over Corinne. Sometimes she +leant her head on Theresa who accompanied them; sometimes she closed her +eyes, overcome by the languor of the air. Oswald awakened her +immediately, with inexpressible terror; and though he was naturally +taciturn, he was now inexhaustible in subjects of conversation, always +well supported and always new, to prevent her from yielding to this +fatal sleep. Ah! should we not pardon the heart of a woman the cruel +regret which attaches to those days when she was beloved, when her +existence was so necessary to that of another, when at every moment she +was supported and protected? What isolation must succeed this season of +delight! How happy are they whom the sacred hand of Hymen has conducted +from love to friendship, without one painful moment having embittered +their course! + +Oswald and Corinne, after the anxious passage of the marshes, at length +arrived at Terracina, on the sea coast, near the confines of the kingdom +of Naples. It is there that the south truly begins; it is there that it +receives travellers in all its magnificence. Naples, _that happy +country_, is, as it were, separated from the rest of Europe by the sea +which surrounds it and by that dangerous district which must be passed +in order to arrive at it. One would say that nature, wishing to secure +to herself this charming abode, has designedly made all access to it +perilous. At Rome we are not yet in the south; we have there a foretaste +of its sweets, but its enchantment only truly begins in the territory of +Naples. Not far from Terracina is the promontory fixed upon by the poets +as the abode of Circe: and behind Terracina rises Mount Anxur, where +Theodoric, king of the Goths, had placed one of those strong castles +with which the northern warriors have covered the earth. There are few +traces of the invasion of Italy by the barbarians; or at least, where +those traces consist in devastation, they are confounded with the +effects of time. The northern nations have not given to Italy that +warlike aspect which Germany has preserved. It seems that the gentle +soil of Ausonia was unable to support the fortifications and citadels +which bristle in northern countries. Rarely is a Gothic edifice or a +feudal castle to be met with here; and the monuments of the ancient +Romans reign alone triumphant over Time, and the nations by whom they +have been conquered. + +The whole mountain which dominates Terracina, is covered with orange and +lemon trees, which embalm the air in a delicious manner. There is +nothing in our climate that resembles the southern perfume of lemon +trees in the open air; it produces on the imagination almost the same +effect as melodious music; it gives a poetic disposition to the soul, +stimulates genius, and intoxicates with the charms of nature. The aloe +and the broad-leaved cactus, which are met here at every step, have a +peculiar aspect, which brings to mind all that we know of the formidable +productions of Africa. These plants inspire a sort of terror: they seem +to belong to a violent and despotic nature. The whole aspect of the +country is foreign: we feel ourselves in another world, a world which is +only known by the descriptions of the ancient poets, who have at the +same time so much imagination and so much exactness in their +descriptions. On entering Terracina, the children threw into the +carriage of Corinne an immense quantity of flowers which they gather by +the road-side or on the mountain, and which they carelessly scatter +about; such is their reliance on the prodigality of nature! The carts +which bring home the harvest from the fields are every day ornamented +with garlands of roses, and sometimes the children surround the cups +they drink out of with flowers; for beneath such a sky the imagination +of the common people becomes poetical. By the side of these smiling +pictures the sea, whose billows lashed the shore with fury, was seen and +heard. It was not agitated by the storm; but by the rocks which stand in +habitual opposition to its waves, irritating its grandeur. + + E non udite ancor come risuona + Il roco ed alto fremito marino? + +_And do you not hear still the hoarse and deep roar of the sea?_ + +This motion without aim, this strength without object which is renewed +throughout eternity without our being able to discover either its cause +or its end, attracts us to the shore, where this grand spectacle offers +itself to our sight; and we experience, as it were, a desire mingled +with terror, to approach the waves and to deaden our thoughts by their +tumult. + +Towards the evening all was calm. Corinne and Lord Nelville walked into +the country; they proceeded with a slow pace silently enjoying the scene +before them. Each step they took crushed the flowers and extorted from +them their delicious perfumes; the nightingales, resting on the +rose-bushes, willingly lent their song, so that the purest melodies were +united to the most delicious odours; all the charms of nature mutually +attracted each other, while the softness of the air was beyond +expression. When we contemplate a fine view in the north, the climate in +some degree disturbs the pleasure which it inspires: those slight +sensations of cold and humidity are like a false note in a concert, and +more or less distract your attention from what you behold; but in +approaching Naples you experience the friendly smiles of nature, so +perfectly and without alloy, that nothing abates the agreeable +sensations which they cause you. All the relations of man in our climate +are with society. Nature, in hot countries, puts us in relation with +external objects, and our sentiments sweetly expand. Not but that the +south has also its melancholy. In what part of the earth does not human +destiny produce this impression? But in this melancholy there is neither +discontent, anxiety, nor regret. In other countries it is life, which, +such as it is, does not suffice for the faculties of the soul; here the +faculties of the soul do not suffice for life, and the superabundance of +sensation inspires a dreamy indolence, which we can hardly account for +when oppressed with it. + +During the night, flies of a shining hue fill the air; one would say +that the mountain emitted sparks of fire, and that the burning earth had +let loose some of its flames. These insects fly through the trees, +sometimes repose on the leaves, and the wind blows these minute stars +about, varying in a thousand ways their uncertain light. The sand also +contained a great number of metallic stones, which sparkled on every +side: it was the land of fire, still preserving in its bosom the traces +of the sun, whose last rays had just warmed it. There is a life, and at +the same time, a repose, in this nature, which entirely satisfies the +various desires of human existence. + +Corinne abandoned herself to the charms of this evening, and was +penetrated with joy; nor could Oswald conceal the emotion they +inspired--many times he pressed Corinne to his heart, many times he drew +back from her, then returned, then drew back again out of respect to her +who was to be the companion of his life. Corinne felt no alarm, for such +was her esteem for Oswald, that if he had demanded the entire surrender +of her being she would have considered that request as a solemn vow to +espouse her; but she saw him triumph over himself, and this conquest was +an honour paid her; whilst her heart felt that plenitude of happiness, +and of love, which does not permit us to form another desire. Oswald was +far from being so calm: he was fired with the charms of Corinne. Once he +threw himself at her feet with violence, and seemed to have lost all +empire over his passion; but Corinne regarded him with such an +expression of sweetness and fear, she made him so sensible of his power +while beseeching him not to abuse it, that this humble entreaty inspired +him with more respect than any other could possibly have done. + +They then perceived in the sea, the reflection of a torch carried by the +unknown hand of one who traversed the shore, repairing secretly to a +neighbouring house. "He is going to see the object of his love;" said +Oswald.--"Yes," answered Corinne. "And my happiness, for to-day, is +about to end,"--resumed Oswald. At this moment the looks of Corinne were +lifted towards heaven, and her eyes suffused with tears. Oswald, fearing +that he had offended her, fell on his knees to entreat her forgiveness +for that love which had overpowered him. "No," said Corinne, stretching +forth her hand to him, and inviting him to return with her. "No, +Oswald, I feel no alarm: you will respect her who loves you: you know +that a simple request from you would be all-powerful with me; it is +therefore you who must be my security--you who would for ever reject me +as your bride, if you had rendered me unworthy of being so." "Well," +answered Oswald, "since you believe in this cruel empire of your will +upon my heart, Corinne, whence arises your sadness?"--"Alas!" replied +she, "I was saying to myself, that the moments which I have just passed +with you were the happiest of my life, and as I turned my eyes in +gratitude to heaven, I know not by what chance, a superstition of my +childhood revived in my heart. The moon which I contemplated was covered +with a cloud, and the aspect of that cloud was fatal. I have always +found in the sky a countenance sometimes paternal and sometimes angry; +and I tell you, Oswald, heaven has to-night condemned our love."--"My +dear," answered Lord Nelville, "the only omens of the life of man, are +his good or evil actions; and have I not this very evening, immolated my +most ardent desires on the altar of virtue?"--"Well, so much the better +if you are not included in this presage," replied Corinne; "it may be +that this angry sky has only threatened me." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[32] There is a charming description of the Lake of Albano, in a +collection of poems by Madame Brunn, _née_ Münter, whose talent and +imagination give her a first rank among the women of her country. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +They arrived at Naples by day, in the midst of that immense population, +at once so animated and so indolent. They first traversed the Via +Toledo, and saw the Lazzaroni lying on the pavement, or in osier baskets +which serve them for lodging, day and night. There is something +extremely original in this state of savage existence, mingled with +civilization. There are some among these men who do not even know their +own name, and who go to confess anonymous sins; not being able to tell +who it is that has committed them. There is a subterranean grotto at +Naples where thousands of Lazzaroni pass their lives, only going out at +noon to see the sun, and sleeping the rest of the day, whilst their +wives spin. In climates where food and raiment are so easy of attainment +it requires a very independent and active government to give sufficient +emulation to a nation; for it is so easy for the people merely to +subsist at Naples, that they can dispense with that industry which is +necessary to procure a livelihood elsewhere. Laziness and ignorance +combined with the volcanic air which is breathed in this spot, ought to +produce ferocity when the passions are excited; but this people is not +worse than any other. They possess imagination, which might become the +principle of disinterested actions and give them a bias for virtue, if +their religious and political institutions were good. + +Calabrians are seen marching in a body to cultivate the earth with a +fiddler at their head, and dancing from time to time, to rest themselves +from walking. There is every year, near Naples, a festival consecrated +to the _madonna of the grotto_, at which the girls dance to the sound of +the tambourine and the castanets, and it is not uncommon for a condition +to be inserted in the marriage contract, that the husband shall take his +wife every year to this festival. There is on the stage at Naples, a +performer eighty years old, who for sixty years has entertained the +Neapolitans in their comic, national character of Polichinello. Can we +imagine what the immortality of the soul may be to a man who thus +employs his long life? The people of Naples have no other idea of +happiness than pleasure; but the love of pleasure is still better than +a barren egotism. + +It is true that no people in the world are more fond of money than the +Neapolitans: if you ask a man of the people in the street to show you +your way, he stretches out his hand after having made you a sign, for +they are more indolent in speech than in action; but their avidity for +money is not methodical nor studied; they spend it as soon as they get +it. They use money as savages would if it were introduced among them. +But what this nation is most wanting in, is the sentiment of dignity. +They perform generous and benevolent actions from a good heart rather +than from principle; for their theory in every respect is good for +nothing, and public opinion in this country has no force. But when men +or women escape this moral anarchy their conduct is more remarkable in +itself and more worthy of admiration than any where else, since there is +nothing in external circumstances favourable to virtue. It is born +entirely in the soul. Laws and manners neither reward nor punish it. He +who is virtuous is so much the more heroic for not being on that account +either more considered or more sought after. + +With some honourable exceptions the higher classes pretty nearly +resemble the lower: the mind of the one is seldom more cultivated than +that of the other, and the practice of society is the only external +difference between them. But in the midst of this ignorance there is +such a natural intelligence in all ranks that it is impossible to +foresee what a nation like this might become if all the energies of +government were directed to the advancement of knowledge and morality. +As there is little education at Naples, we find there, at present, more +originality of character than of mind. But the remarkable men of this +country, it is said, such as the Abbé Galiani, Caraccioli, &c., +possessed the highest sense of humour, joined to the most profound +reflection,--rare powers of the mind!--an union without which either +pedantry or frivolity would hinder us from knowing the true value of +things. + +The Neapolitan people, in some respects, are not civilized at all; but +their vulgarity does not at all resemble that of other nations. Their +very rudeness interests the imagination. The African coast which borders +the sea on the other side is almost perceptible; there is something +Numidian in the savage cries which are heard in every part of the city. +Those swarthy faces, those vestments formed of a few pieces of red or +violet stuff whose deep colours attract the eye, even those very rags in +which this artistic people drape themselves with grace, give to the +populace a picturesque appearance, whilst in other countries they +exhibit nothing but the miseries of civilization. A certain taste for +finery and decoration is often found in Naples accompanied with an +absolute lack of necessaries and conveniences. The shops are agreeably +ornamented with flowers and fruit. Some have a festive appearance that +has no relation to plenty nor to public felicity, but only to a lively +imagination; they seek before every thing to please the eye. The +mildness of the climate permits mechanics of every class to work in the +streets. The tailors are seen making clothes, and the victuallers +providing their repasts, and these domestic occupations going on out of +doors, multiply action in a thousand ways. Singing, dancing, and noisy +sports, are very suitable to this spectacle; and there is no country +where we feel more clearly the difference between amusement and +happiness. At length we quit the interior of the city, and arrive at the +quays, whence we have a view of the sea and of Mount Vesuvius, and +forget then all that we know of man. + +Oswald and Corinne arrived at Naples, whilst the eruption of Mount +Vesuvius yet lasted. By day nothing was seen but the black smoke which +mixed with the clouds; but viewing it in the evening from the balcony of +their abode it excited an entirely unexpected emotion. A river of fire +descends towards the sea, and its burning waves, like the billows of the +sea, express the rapid succession of continual and untiring motion. One +would say that when nature transforms herself into various elements she +nevertheless preserves some traces of a single and primal thought. The +phenomenon of Vesuvius deeply impresses us. We are commonly so +familiarised with external objects that we hardly perceive their +existence; we scarcely ever feel a new emotion in the midst of our +prosaic countries, but that astonishment which the universe ought to +cause, is suddenly evoked at the aspect of an unknown wonder of +creation: our whole being is shaken by this power of nature, in whose +social combinations we have been so long absorbed; we feel that the +greatest mysteries in this world do not all consist in man, and that he +is threatened or protected by a force independent of himself, in +obedience to laws which he cannot penetrate. Oswald and Corinne proposed +to ascend Mount Vesuvius, and the peril of this enterprise gave an +additional charm to a project which they were to execute together. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +There was at that time in the port of Naples, an English man-of-war in +which divine service was performed every Sunday. The captain, and all +the English who were at Naples, invited Lord Nelville to come the +following day; he consented without thinking at first whether he should +take Corinne with him, and how he should present her to his +fellow-countrymen. He was tormented by this disquietude the whole night. +As he was walking with Corinne, on the following morning near the port +and was about to advise her not to go on board, they saw an English +long-boat rowed by ten sailors, clad in white, and wearing black velvet +caps, on which was embroidered silver leopards. A young officer landed +from it, and accosting Corinne by the name of Lady Nelville, begged to +have the honour of conducting her to the ship. At the name of Lady +Nelville Corinne was embarrassed--she blushed and cast down her eyes. +Oswald appeared to hesitate a moment: then suddenly taking her hand, he +said to her in English,--"Come, my dear,"--and she followed him. + +The noise of the waves and the silence of the sailors, who neither moved +nor spoke but in pursuance of their duty, and who rapidly conducted the +bark over that sea which they had so often traversed, gave birth to +reverie. Besides, Corinne dared not question Lord Nelville on what had +just passed. She sought to conjecture his purpose, not thinking (which +is however the more probable) that he had none, and that he yielded to +each new circumstance. One moment she imagined that he was conducting +her to divine service in order to espouse her, and this idea caused her +at the time more fear than happiness: it appeared to her that she was +going to quit Italy and return to England, where she had suffered so +much. The severity of manners and customs in that country returned to +her mind, and love itself could not entirely triumph over the bitterness +of her recollections. But how astonished will she be in other +circumstances at those thoughts, fleeting as they were! how she will +abjure them! + +Corinne ascended the ship, the interior of which presented a picture of +the most studied cleanliness and order. Nothing was heard but the voice +of the captain, which was prolonged and repeated from one end to the +other by command and obedience. The subordination, regularity, silence, +and serious deportment so remarkable on this ship, formed a system of +social order rigid and free, in contrast with the city of Naples, so +volatile, so passionate, and tumultuous. Oswald was occupied with +Corinne and the impressions she received; but his attention was +sometimes diverted from her by the pleasure he felt in finding himself +in his native country. And indeed are not ships and the open sea a +second country to an Englishman? Oswald walked the deck with the English +on board to learn the news from England, and to discuss the politics of +their country; during which time Corinne was with some English ladies +who had come from Naples to attend divine worship. They were surrounded +by their children, as beautiful as the day, but timid as their mothers; +and not a word was spoken before a new acquaintance. This constraint, +this silence, rendered Corinne very sad; she turned her eyes towards +beautiful Naples, towards its flowery shores, its animated existence, +and sighed. Fortunately for her Oswald did not perceive it; on the +contrary, beholding her seated among English women, her dark eyelids +cast down like their fair ones, and conforming in every respect to their +manners, he felt a sensation of joy. In vain does an Englishman find +pleasure in foreign manners; his heart always reverts to the first +impressions of his life. If you ask Englishmen sailing at the extremity +of the world whither they are going, they will answer you, _home_, if +they are returning to England. Their wishes and their sentiments are +always turned towards their native country, at whatever distance they +may be from it. + +They descended between decks to hear divine service, and Corinne soon +perceived that her idea was without foundation, that Lord Nelville had +not formed the solemn project she had at first supposed. She then +reproached herself with having feared such an event, and the +embarrassment of her present situation revived in her bosom; for all the +company believed her to be the wife of Lord Nelville, and she had not +the courage to say a word that might either destroy or confirm this +idea. Oswald suffered as cruelly as she did; but in the midst of a +thousand rare qualities, there was much weakness and irresolution in his +character. These defects are unperceived by their possessor, and assume +in his eyes a new form under every circumstance; he conceives it +alternately to be prudence, sensibility, or delicacy, which defers the +moment of adopting a resolution and prolongs a state of indecision; +hardly ever does he feel that it is the same character which attaches +this kind of inconvenience to every circumstance. + +Corinne, however, notwithstanding the painful thoughts that occupied +her, received a deep impression from the spectacle which she witnessed. +Nothing, in truth, speaks more to the soul than divine service performed +on board a ship; and the noble simplicity of the reformed worship seems +particularly adapted to the sentiments which are then felt. A young man +performed the functions of chaplain; he preached with a mild but firm +voice, and his figure bespoke the rigid principles of a pure soul amidst +the ardour of youth. That severity carries with it an idea of force, +very suitable to a religion preached among the perils of war. At stated +moments, the English minister delivered prayers, the last words of which +all the assembly repeated with him. These confused but mild voices +proceeding from various distances kept alive interest and emotion. The +sailors, the officers, and the captain, knelt down several times, +particularly at these words, "_Lord, have mercy upon us!_" The sword of +the captain, which dragged on the deck whilst he was kneeling, called to +mind that noble union of humility before God and intrepidity before man, +which renders the devotion of warriors so affecting; and whilst these +brave people besought the God of armies, the sea was seen through the +port-holes, and sometimes the murmuring of the waves, at that moment +tranquil, seemed to say, "_your prayers are heard_." The chaplain +finished, the service by a prayer, peculiar to the English sailors. +"_May God_," say they, "_give us grace to defend our happy Constitution +from without, and to find on our return domestic happiness at home!_" +How many fine sentiments are united in these simple words! The long and +continued study which the navy requires and the austere life led in a +ship, make it a military cloister in the midst of the waves; and the +regularity of the most serious occupations is there only interrupted by +perils and death. The sailors, in spite of their rough, hardy manners, +often express themselves with much gentleness, and show a particular +tenderness to women and children when they meet them on board. We are +the more touched with these sentiments, because we know with what +coolness they expose themselves to those terrible dangers of war and the +sea, in the midst of which the presence of man has something of the +supernatural. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville returned to the boat which was to bring them +ashore; they beheld the city of Naples, built in the form of an +amphitheatre, as if to take part more commodiously in the festival of +nature; and Corinne, in setting her foot again upon Italian ground, +could not refrain from feeling a sentiment of joy. If Nelville had +suspected this sentiment he would have been hurt at it, and perhaps with +reason; yet he would have been unjust towards Corinne, who loved him +passionately in spite of the painful impression caused by the +remembrance of a country where cruel circumstances had rendered her so +unhappy. Her imagination was lively; there was in her heart a great +capacity for love; but talent, especially in a woman, begets a +disposition to weariness, a want of something to divert the attention, +which the most profound passion cannot make entirely disappear. The idea +of a monotonous life, even in the midst of happiness, makes a mind which +stands in need of variety, to shudder with fear. It is only when there +is little wind in the sails, that we can keep close to shore; but the +imagination roves at large, although affection be constant; it is so, at +least, till the moment when misfortune makes every inconsistency +disappear, and leaves but one thought and one grief in the mind. + +Oswald attributed the reverie of Corinne solely to the embarrassment +into which she had been thrown by hearing herself called Lady Nelville; +and reproaching himself for not having released her from that +embarrassment he feared she might suspect him of levity. He began +therefore in order to arrive at the long-desired explanation by offering +to relate to her his own history. "I will speak first," said he, "and +your confidence will follow mine." "Yes, undoubtedly it must," answered +Corinne, trembling; "but tell me at what day--at what hour? When you +have spoken, I will tell you all."--"How agitated you are," answered +Oswald; "what then, will you ever feel that fear of your friend, that +mistrust of his heart?" "No," continued Corinne; "it is decided; I have +committed it all to writing, and if you choose, to-morrow--" +"To-morrow," said Lord Nelville, "we are to go together to Vesuvius; I +wish to contemplate with you this astonishing wonder, to learn from you +how to admire it; and in this very journey, if I have the strength, I +will make you acquainted with the particulars of my past life. My heart +is determined; thus my confidence will open the way to yours." "So you +give me to-morrow," replied Corinne; "I thank you for this one day. Ah! +who knows whether you will be the same for me when I have opened my soul +to you? And how can I feel such a doubt without shuddering?" + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The ruins of Pompei are near to Mount Vesuvius, and Corinne and Lord +Neville began their excursion with these ruins. They were both silent; +for the moment approached which was to decide their fate, and that vague +hope they had so long enjoyed, and which accords so well with the +indolence and reverie that the climate of Italy inspires, was to be +replaced by a positive destiny. They visited Pompei together, the most +curious ruin of antiquity. At Rome, seldom any thing is found but the +remains of public monuments, and these monuments only retrace the +political history of past ages; but at Pompei it is the private life of +the ancients which offers itself to the view, such as it was. The +Volcano, which has covered this city with ashes, has preserved it from +the destroying hand of Time. Edifices, exposed to the air, never could +have remained so perfect; but this hidden relic of antiquity was found +entire. The paintings and bronzes were still in their pristine beauty; +and every thing connected with domestic life is fearfully preserved. The +amphoræ are yet prepared for the festival of the following day; the +flour which was to be kneaded is still to be seen; the remains of a +woman, are still decorated with those ornaments which she wore on the +holiday that the Volcano disturbed, and her calcined arms no longer fill +the bracelets of precious stones which still surround them. Nowhere is +to be seen so striking an image of the sudden interruption of life. The +traces of the wheels are visible in the streets, and the stones on the +brink of the wells bear the mark of the cord which has gradually +furrowed them. On the walls of a guardhouse are still to be seen those +misshapen characters, those figures rudely sketched, which the soldiers +traced to pass away the time, while Time was hastily advancing to +swallow them up. + +When we place ourselves in the midst of the crossroads from which the +city that remains standing almost entire is seen on all sides, it seems +to us as if we were waiting for somebody, as if the master were coming; +and even the appearance of life which this abode offers makes us feel +more sadly its eternal silence. It is with petrified lava that the +greater part of these houses are built, which are now swallowed up by +other lava. Thus ruins are heaped upon ruins, and tombs upon tombs. This +history of the world, where the epochs are counted from ruin to ruin, +this picture of human life, which is only lighted up by the Volcanoes +that have consumed it, fill the heart with a profound melancholy. How +long man has existed! How long he has suffered and died! Where can we +find his sentiments and his thoughts? Is the air that we breathe in +these ruins impregnated with them, or are they for ever deposited in +heaven where reigns immortality? Some burnt leaves of manuscripts, which +have been found at Herculaneum, and Pompei, and which scholars at +Portici are employed to decipher, are all that remain to give us +information of those unhappy victims, whom the Volcano, that +thunder-bolt of earth, has destroyed. But in passing near those ashes, +which art has succeeded in reanimating, we are afraid to breathe lest a +breath should carry away that dust where noble ideas are perhaps still +imprinted. + +The public edifices in the city itself of Pompei, which was one of the +least important of Italy, are yet tolerably fine. The luxury of the +ancients had almost ever some object of public interest for its aim. +Their private houses are very small, and we do not see in them any +studied magnificence, though we may remark a lively taste for the fine +arts in their possessors. Almost the whole interior is adorned with the +most agreeable paintings and mosaic pavements ingeniously worked. On +many of these pavements is written the word _Salve_. This word is placed +on the threshold of the door, and must not be simply considered as a +polite expression, but as an invocation of hospitality. The rooms are +singularly narrow, and badly lighted; the windows do not look on the +street, but on a portico inside the house, as well as a marble court +which it surrounds. In the midst of this court is a cistern, simply +ornamented. It is evident from this kind of habitation that the ancients +lived almost entirely in the open air, and that it was there they +received their friends. Nothing gives us a more sweet and voluptuous +idea of existence than this climate, which intimately unites man with +nature; we should suppose that the character of their conversation and +their society, ought, with such habits, to be different from those of a +country where the rigour of the cold forces the inhabitants to shut +themselves up in their houses. We understand better the Dialogues of +Plato in contemplating those porches under which the ancients walked +during one half of the day. They were incessantly animated by the +spectacle of a beautiful sky: social order, according to their +conceptions, was not the dry combination of calculation and force, but a +happy assemblage of institutions, which stimulated the faculties, +unfolded the soul, and directed man to the perfection of himself and his +equals. + +Antiquity inspires an insatiable curiosity. Those men of erudition who +are occupied only in forming a collection of names which they call +history, are certainly divested of all imagination. But to penetrate the +remotest periods of the past, to interrogate the human heart through the +intervening gloom of ages, to seize a fact by the help of a word, and by +the aid of that fact to discover the character and manners of a nation; +in effect, to go back to the remotest time, to figure to ourselves how +the earth in its first youth appeared to the eyes of man, and in what +manner the human race then supported the gift of existence which +civilization has now rendered so complicated, is a continual effort of +the imagination, which divines and discovers the finest secrets that +reflection and study can reveal to us. This occupation of the mind +Oswald found most fascinating, and often repeated to Corinne that if he +had not been taken up with the noblest interests in his own country, he +could only have found life supportable in those parts where the +monuments of history supply the place of present existence. We must at +least regret glory when it is no longer possible to obtain it. It is +forgetfulness alone that debases the soul; but it may find an asylum in +the past, when barren circumstances deprive actions of their aim. + +On leaving Pompei and returning to Portici, Corinne and Lord Nelville +were surrounded by the inhabitants, who cried to them loudly to come and +see _the mountain_; so they call _Vesuvius_. Is it necessary to name it? +It is the glory of the Neapolitans and the object of their patriotic +feelings; their country is distinguished by this phenomenon. Oswald had +Corinne carried in a kind of palanquin as far as the hermitage of St +Salvador, which is half way up the mountain, and where travellers repose +before they undertake to climb the summit. He rode by her side to watch +those who carried her, and the more his heart was filled with the +generous thoughts that nature and history inspire, the more he adored +Corinne. + +At the foot of Vesuvius the country is the most fertile and best +cultivated that can be found in the kingdom of Naples, that is to say, +in the country of Europe most favoured of heaven. The celebrated vine, +whose wine is called _Lacryma Christi_, grows in this spot, and by the +side of lands which have been laid waste by the lava. One would say that +nature has made a last effort in this spot, so near the Volcano, and has +decked herself in her richest attire before her death. In proportion as +we ascend the mountain, we discover on turning round, Naples, and the +beautiful country that surrounds it. The rays of the sun make the sea +sparkle like precious stones; but all the splendour of the creation is +extinguished by degrees as we approach the land of ashes and smoke which +announces the vicinity of the Volcano. The ferruginous lava of preceding +years has traced in the earth deep and sable furrows, and all around +them is barren. At a certain height not a bird is seen to fly, at +another, plants become very scarce, then even the insects find nothing +to subsist on in the arid soil. At length every living thing disappears; +you enter the empire of death, and the pulverised ashes alone roll +beneath your uncertain feet. + + Nè griggi nè armenti + Guida bifolco, mai guida pastore + +_Neither flocks nor herds does the husbandman or the shepherd ever guide +to this spot._ + +Here dwells a hermit on the confines of life and death. A tree, the +last farewell of vegetation, grows before his door: and it is beneath +the shadow of its pale foliage that travellers are accustomed to wait +the approach of night, to continue their route; for during the day, the +fires of Vesuvius are only perceived like a cloud of smoke, and the +lava, so bright and burning in the night, appears black before the beams +of the sun. This metamorphosis itself is a fine spectacle, which renews +every evening that astonishment which the continuity of the same aspect +might weaken. The impression of this spot and its profound solitude, +gave Lord Nelville more resolution to reveal the secrets of his soul; +and desiring to excite the confidence of Corinne, he said to her with +the most lively emotion:--"You wish to read the inmost soul of your +unhappy friend; well, I will tell you all: I feel my wounds are about to +bleed afresh; but ought we, in this desolate scene of nature, to dread +so much those sufferings which Time brings in its course?" + +[Illustration] + +PRINTED BY TURNBULL AND SPEARS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + +***** This file should be named 16896-8.txt or 16896-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/8/9/16896/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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De Staël. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem div {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + + /* index */ + + div.index ul li { padding-top: 1em ;text-align: left; } + + div.index ul ul ul, div.index ul li ul li { padding: 0; text-align: left; } + + div.index ul { list-style: none; margin: 0; } + + div.index ul, div.index ul ul ul li { display: inline; } + + div.index .subitem { display: block; padding-left: 2em; } + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) + Or Italy + +Author: Mme de Stael + +Commentator: George Saintsbury + +Illustrator: R. S. Greig + +Release Date: October 17, 2005 [EBook #16896] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="center"><a name="frontis-0349-1.jpg" id="frontis-0349-1.jpg" /><img src="images/frontis-0349-1.jpg" width='600' +height='395' alt="The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass." /></p> + +<p class="center"><i>The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-002.png" id="illus-002.png" /><img src="images/illus-002.png" width='493' +height='700' alt="Title page (text as below)." /></p> + + +<h1>CORINNE</h1> + +<h3>OR</h3> + +<h2>ITALY</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>MME. DE STAËL</h2> + +<h3>WITH INTRODUCTION BY</h3> + +<h3>GEORGE SAINTSBURY</h3> + +<p class='center'>(<i>In Two Volumes</i>)</p> + +<h3>VOL. I.</h3> + +<h3><i>Illustrated</i></h3> + +<h3><i>by</i></h3> + +<h3>H.S. Greig</h3> + +<p class='center'>LONDON: Published by <span class="smcap">J.M. Dent</span> and <span class="smcap">Company</span> at +<span class="smcap">Aldine House</span> in Great Eastern Street, E.C.</p> + +<h3>MDCCCXCIV</h3> + +<hr /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<ul> +<li><a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</a></li> +<li><a href="#Book_i">Book i.</a>OSWALD +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_i">Chapter i.</a>CORINNE</li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_iii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_iv">Chapter iv.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_v">Chapter v.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_ii">Book ii.</a>CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_bi">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_bii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_biii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_biv">Chapter iv.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_iii">Book iii.</a>CORINNE. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ci">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_cii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ciii">Chapter iii.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_iv">Book iv.</a>ROME. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_di">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_dii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_diii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_div">Chapter iv.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_dv">Chapter v.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_dvi">Chapter vi.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_v">Book v.</a>THE TOMBS, THE CHURCHES, AND THE PALACES. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ei">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_eii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_eiii">Chapter iii.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_vi">Book vi.</a>THE MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE ITALIANS. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_fi">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_fii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_fiii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_fiv">Chapter iv.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_vii">Book vii.</a>ITALIAN LITERATURE. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_gi">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_gii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_giii">Chapter iii.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_viii">Book viii.</a>THE STATUES AND THE PICTURES. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_hi">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_hii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_hiii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_hiv">Chapter iv.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_ix">Book ix.</a>THE POPULAR FESTIVAL, AND MUSIC. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ji">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_jii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_jiii">Chapter iii.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_x">Book x.</a>HOLY WEEK. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_ki">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_kii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_kiii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_kiv">Chapter iv.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_kv">Chapter v.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_kvi">Chapter vi.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +<li><a href="#Book_xi">Book xi.</a>NAPLES AND THE HERMITAGE OF ST SALVADOR. +<ul> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_li">Chapter i.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_lii">Chapter ii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_liii">Chapter iii.</a></li> + <li class="subitem"><a href="#Chapter_liv">Chapter iv.</a></li> +</ul></li> + +</ul> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + +<div class="index"> +<ul> +<li><a href="#frontis-0349-1.jpg"><span class="smcap">The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus-pic1.png"><span class="smcap">Corinne at the Capitol</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#illus-pic2.png"><span class="smcap">Corinne showing Oswald her pictures</span></a></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-007.png" id="illus-007.png" /><img src="images/illus-007.png" width='600' +height='149' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p>In Lady Blennerhassett's enthusiastic and encyclopædic book on Madame de +Stael she quotes approvingly Sainte-Beuve's phrase that "with <i>Corinne</i> +Madame de Stael ascended the Capitol." I forget in which of his many +dealings with an author who, as he remarks in the "Coppet-and-Weimar" +<i>causeries</i>, was "an idol of his youth and one that he never renounced," +this fancy occurs. It must probably have been in one of his early +essays; for in his later and better, Sainte-Beuve was not wont to give +way to the little flashes and crackles of conceit and epigram which many +Frenchmen and some Englishmen think to be criticism. There was, however, +some excuse for this. In the first place (as one of Charles Lamb's +literal friends would have pointed out), Madame de Stael, like her +heroine, did actually "ascend the Capitol," and received attentions +there from an Academy. In the second, there can be no doubt that +<i>Corinne</i> in a manner fixed and settled the high literary reputation +which she had already attained. Even by her severest critics, and even +now when whatever slight recrudescence of biographical interest may have +taken place in her, her works are little read, <i>Corinne</i> is ranked next +to <i>De l'Allemagne</i> as her greatest production; while as a work of form, +not of matter, as literature of power, not of knowledge, it has at last +a chance of enduring when its companion is but a historical +document—the record of a moment that has long passed away.</p> + +<p>The advocates of the <i>milieu</i> theory—the theory which will have it that +you can explain almost the whole of any work of art by examining the +circumstances, history, and so forth of the artist—have a better chance +with <i>Corinne</i> than with many books, though those who disagree with them +(as I own that I do) may retort that this was precisely because Madame +de Stael in literature has little idiosyncracy, and is a receptive, not +a creative, force. The moment at which this book was composed and +appeared had really many of the characteristics of crisis and climax in +the life of the author. She was bidding adieu to youth; and though her +talents, her wealth, her great reputation, and her indomitable +determination to surround herself with admirers still made her a sort of +queen of society, some illusions at least must have been passing from +her. The most serious of her many passions, that for Benjamin Constant, +was coming, though it had not yet come, to an end. Her father, whom she +unfeignedly idolised, was not long dead. The conviction must have been +for some time forcing itself on her, though she did not even yet give up +hope, that Napoleon's resolve not to allow her presence in her still +more idolised Paris was unconquerable. Her husband, who indeed had long +been nothing to her, was dead also, and the fancy for replacing him with +the boy Rocca had not yet arisen. The influence of the actual chief of +her usual herd of lovers, courtiers, teachers, friends (to use whichever +term, or combination of terms, the charitable reader pleases), A.W. +Schlegel, though it never could incline her innately unpoetical and +unreligious mind to either poetry or religion, drove her towards +æsthetics of one kind and another. Lastly, the immense intellectual +excitement of her visits to Weimar, Berlin, and Italy, added its +stimulus to produce a fresh intellectual ferment in her. On the purely +intellectual side the result was <i>De l'Allemagne</i>, which does not +concern us; on the side of feeling, tinged with æsthetic philosophy, of +study of the archaic and the picturesque illuminated by emotion—the +result was <i>Corinne</i>.</p> + +<p>If there had been only one difference between this and its author's +earlier attempt at novel-writing, that difference would have given +<i>Corinne</i> a great advantage. <i>Delphine</i> had been irreverently described +by Sydney Smith, when it appeared a few years earlier, as "this dismal +trash which has nearly dislocated the jaws of every critic with gaping." +The Whigs had not then taken up Madame de Stael, as they did afterwards, +or it is quite certain that Mr Sydney would not have been allowed to +exercise such Britannic frankness. <i>Corinne</i> met with gentler treatment +from his friends, if not from himself. Sir James Mackintosh, in +particular, was full of the wildest enthusiasm about it, though he +admitted that it was "full of faults so obvious as not to be worth +mentioning." It must be granted to be in more than one, or two important +points a very great advance on <i>Delphine</i>. One is that the easy and +illegitimate source of interest which is drawn upon in the earlier book +is here quite neglected. <i>Delphine</i> presents the eternal French +situation of the "triangle;" the line of <i>Corinne</i> is straight, and the +only question is which pair of three points it is to unite in an +honourable way. A French biographer of Madame de Stael, who is not only +an excellent critic and an extremely clever writer, but a historian of +great weight and acuteness, M. Albert Sorel, has indeed admitted that +both Léonce, the hero of <i>Delphine</i>, who will not make himself and his +beloved happy because he has an objection to divorcing his wife, and +Lord Nelvil, who refuses either to seduce or to marry the woman who +loves him and whom he loves, are equal donkeys with a national +difference. Léonce is more of a "fool;" Lord Nelvil more of a "snob." It +is something to find a Frenchman who will admit that any national +characteristic is foolish: I could have better reciprocated M. Sorel's +candour if he had used the word "prig" instead of "snob" of Lord Nelvil. +But indeed I have often suspected that Frenchmen confuse these two +engaging attributes of the Britannic nature.</p> + +<p>A "higher moral tone" (as the phrase goes) is not the only advantage +which <i>Corinne</i> possesses over its forerunner. <i>Delphine</i> is almost +avowedly autobiographical; and though Madame de Stael had the wit and +the prudence to mix and perplex her portraits and her reminiscences so +that it was nearly impossible to fit definite caps on the personages, +there could be no doubt that Delphine was herself—as she at least would +have liked to be—drawn as close as she dared. These personalities have +in the hands of the really great masters of fiction sometimes produced +astonishing results; but no one probably would contend that Madame de +Stael was a born novelist. Although <i>Delphine</i> has many more personages +and much more action of the purely novel kind than <i>Corinne</i>, it is +certainly not an interesting book; I think, though I have been +reproached for, to say the least, lacking fervour as a Staelite, that +<i>Corinne</i> is.</p> + +<p>But it is by no means unimportant that intending readers should know the +sort of interest that they are to expect from this novel; and for that +purpose it is almost imperative that they should know what kind of +person was this novelist. A good deal of biographical pains has been +spent, as has been already more than once hinted, on Madame de Stael. +She was most undoubtedly of European reputation in her day; and between +her day and this, quite independently of the real and unquestionable +value of her work, a high estimate of her has been kept current by the +fact that her daughter was the wife of Duke Victor and the mother of +Duke Albert of Broglie, and that so a proper respect for her has been a +necessary passport to favour in one of the greatest political and +academic houses of France; while another not much less potent in both +ways, that of the Counts d'Haussonville, also represents her. Still +people, and especially English people, have so many non-literary things +to think of, that it may not be quite unpardonable to supply that +conception of the life of Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Baroness of +Stael-Holstein, which is so necessary to the understanding of <i>Corinne</i>, +and which may, in possible cases, be wanting.</p> + +<p>She was born on the 22nd of April 1766, and was, as probably everybody +knows, the daughter of the Swiss financier, Necker, whom the French +Revolution first exalted to almost supreme power in France, and then +cast off—fortunately for him, in a less tragical fashion than that in +which it usually cast off its favourites. Her mother was Suzanne +Curchod, the first love of Gibbon, a woman of a delicate beauty, of very +considerable mental and social faculties, a kind of puritanical +coquette, but devoted to her (by all accounts not particularly +interesting) husband. Indeed, mother and daughter are said to have been +from a very early period jealous of each other in relation to Necker. +Germaine, as she was generally called, had, unluckily for her, inherited +nothing of her mother's delicacy of form and feature; indeed, her most +rapturous admirers never dared to claim much physical beauty for her, +except a pair of fine, though unfeminine, eyes. She was rather short +than tall; her figure was square-set and heavy; her features, though not +exactly ill-formed, matched her figure; her arms were massive, though +not ill-shaped; and she was altogether distinctly what the French call +<i>hommasse</i>. Nevertheless, her great wealth, and the high position of her +father, attracted suitors, some of whom at least may not have overlooked +the intellectual ability which she began very early to display. There +was talk of her marrying William Pitt, but either Pitt's well-known +"dislike of the fair," or some other reason, foiled the project. After +one or two other negotiations she made a match which was not destined to +good fortune, and which does not strike most observers as a very +tempting one in any respect, though it carried with it some exceptional +and rather eccentric guarantees for that position at court and in +society on which Germaine was set. The King of Sweden, Gustavus, whose +family oddity had taken, among less excusable forms, that of a platonic +devotion to Marie Antoinette, gave a sort of perpetual brevet of his +ministry at Paris to the Baron de Stael-Holstein, a nobleman of little +fortune and fair family. This served, using clerical language, as his +"title" to marriage with Germaine Necker. Such a marriage could not be +expected to, and did not, turn out very well; but it did not turn out as +ill as it might have done. Except that M. de Stael was rather +extravagant (which he probably supposed he had bought the right to be) +nothing serious is alleged against him; and though more than one thing +serious might be alleged against his wife, it is doubtful whether either +contracting party thought this out of the bargain. For business reasons, +chiefly, a separation was effected between the pair in 1798, but they +were nominally reconciled four years later, just before Stael's death.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Revolution broke out, and Madame de Stael, who, as she was +bound to do, had at first approved it, disapproved totally of the +Terror, tried to save the Queen, and fled herself from France to +England. Here she lived in Surrey with a questionable set of <i>émigrés</i>, +made the acquaintance of Miss Burney, and in consequence of the +unconventionalities of her relations, especially with M. de Narbonne, +received, from English society generally, a cold shoulder, which she has +partly avenged, or tried to avenge, in <i>Corinne</i> itself. She had already +written, or was soon to write, a good deal, but nothing of the first +importance. Then she went to Coppet, her father's place, on the Lake of +Geneva, which she was later to render so famous; and under the Directory +was enabled to resume residence in Paris, though she was more than once +under suspicion. It was at this time that she met Benjamin Constant, the +future brilliant orator, and author of <i>Adolphe</i>, the only man perhaps +whom she ever really loved, but, unluckily, a man whom it was by no +means good to love. For some years she oscillated contentedly enough +between Coppet and Paris. But the return of Bonaparte from Egypt was +unlucky for her. Her boundless ambition, which, with her love of +society, was her strongest passion, made her conceive the idea of +fascinating him, and through him ruling the world. Napoleon, to use +familiar English, "did not see it." When he liked women he liked them +pretty and feminine; he had not the faintest idea of admitting any kind +of partner in his glory; he had no literary taste; and not only did +Madame de Stael herself meddle with politics, but her friend, Constant, +under the Consulate, chose to give himself airs of opposition in the +English sense. Moreover, she still wrote, and Bonaparte disliked and +dreaded everyone who wrote with any freedom. Her book, <i>De la +Littérature</i>, in 1800, was taken as a covert attack on the Napoleonic +<i>régime</i>; her father shortly after republished another on finance and +politics, which was disliked; and the success of <i>Delphine</i>, in 1803, +put the finishing touch to the petty hatred of any kind of rival +superiority which distinguished the Corsican more than any other man of +equal genius. Madame de Stael was ordered not to approach within forty +leagues of Paris, and this exile, with little softening and some +excesses of rigour, lasted till the return of the Bourbons.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the German and Italian journeys already mentioned (the +death of M. Necker happening between them and recalling his daughter +from the first) led to the writing of <i>Corinne</i>.</p> + +<p>A very few words before we turn to the consideration of the book, as a +book and by itself, may appropriately finish all that need be said here +about the author's life. After the publication of <i>Corinne</i> she returned +to Germany, and completed the observation which she thought necessary +for the companion book <i>De l'Allemagne</i>. Its publication in 1810, when +she had foolishly kindled afresh the Emperor's jealousy by appearing +with her usual "tail" of worshippers or parasites as near Paris as she +was permitted, completed her disgrace. She was ordered back to Coppet: +her book was seized and destroyed. Then Albert de Rocca, a youth of +twenty-three, who had seen some service, made his appearance at Geneva. +Early in 1811, Madame de Stael, now aged forty-five, married him +secretly. She was, or thought herself, more and more persecuted by +Napoleon; she feared that Rocca might be ordered off on active duty, and +she fled first to Vienna, then to St Petersburg, then to Stockholm, and +so to England. Here she was received with ostentatious welcome and +praises by the Whigs; with politeness by everybody; with more or less +concealed terror by the best people, who found her rhapsodies and her +political dissertations equally boring. Here too she was unlucky enough +to express the opinion that Miss Austen's books were vulgar. The fall +of Napoleon brought her back to Paris; and after the vicissitudes of +1814-15, enabled her to establish herself there for the short remainder +of her life, with the interruption only of visits to Coppet and to +Italy. She died on the 13th July 1817: her two last works, <i>Dix Années +d'Exil</i> and the posthumous <i>Considérations sur La Révolution Française</i>, +being admittedly of considerable interest, and not despicable even by +those who do not think highly of her political talents.</p> + +<p>And now to <i>Corinne</i>, unhampered and perhaps a little helped by this +survey of its author's character, career, and compositions. The +heterogeneous nature of its plan can escape no reader long; and indeed +is pretty frankly confessed by its title. It is a love story doubled +with a guide-book: an eighteenth-century romance of "sensibility" +blended with a transition or even nineteenth-century diatribe of +æsthetics and "culture." If only the first of these two labels were +applicable to it, its case would perhaps be something more gracious than +it is; for there are more unfavourable situations for cultivating the +affections, than in connection with the contemplation of the great works +of art and nature, and it is possible to imagine many more disagreeable +<i>ciceroni</i> than a lover of whichever sex. But Corinne and Nelvil (whom +our contemporary translator<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> has endeavoured to acclimatise a little +more by Anglicising his name further to Nelville), do not content +themselves with making love in the congenial neighbourhoods of Tiber or +Pœstum, or in the stimulating presence of the masterpieces of modern +and ancient art. A purpose, and a double purpose, it might almost be +said, animates the book. It aims at displaying "sensibility so +charming"—the strange artificial eighteenth-century conception of love +which is neither exactly flirtation nor exactly passion, which sets +convention at defiance, but retains its own code of morality; at +exhibiting the national differences, as Madame de Stael conceived them, +of the English and French and Italian temperaments; and at preaching the +new cult of æsthetics whereof Lessing and Winckelmann, Gœthe, and +Schlegel, were in different ways and degrees the apostles. And it seems +to have been generally admitted, even by the most fervent admirers of +Madame de Stael and of <i>Corinne</i> itself, that the first purpose has not +had quite fair play with the other two. "A little thin," they confess of +the story. In truth it could hardly be thinner, though the author has +laid under contribution an at least ample share of the improbabilities +and coincidences of romance.</p> + +<p>Nelvil, an English-Scottish peer who has lost his father, who accuses +himself of disobedience and ingratitude to that father, and who has been +grievously jilted by a Frenchwoman, arrives in Italy in a large black +cloak, the deepest melancholy, and the company of a sprightly though +penniless French <i>émigré</i>, the Count d'Erfeuil. After performing +prodigies of valour in a fire at Ancona, he reaches Rome just when a +beautiful and mysterious poetess, the delight of Roman society, is being +crowned on the Capitol. The only name she is known by is Corinne. The +pair are soon introduced by the mercurial Erfeuil, and promptly fall in +love with each other, Corinne seeking partly to fix her hold on Nelvil, +partly to remove his Britannic contempt for Italy and the Italians, by +guiding him to all the great spectacles of Rome and indeed of the +country generally, and by explaining to him at great length what she +understands of the general theory of æsthetics, of Italian history, and +of the contrasted character of the chief European nations. Nelvil on his +side is distracted between the influence of the beauty, genius, and +evident passion of Corinne, and his English prejudices; while the +situation is further complicated by the regulation discovery that +Corinne, though born in Italy of an Italian mother, is, strictly +speaking, his own compatriot, being the elder and lawful daughter of a +British peer, Lord Edgermond, his father's closest friend. Nay more, he +had always been destined to wed this very girl; and it was only after +her father's second marriage with an Englishwoman that the younger and +wholly English daughter, Lucile, was substituted in the paternal schemes +as his destined spouse. He hears, on the other hand, how Corinne had +visited her fatherland and her step-mother, how she had found both +intolerable, and how she had in a modified and decent degree "thrown her +cap over the mill" by returning to Italy to live an independent life as +a poetess, an improvisatrice, and, at least in private, an actress.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to supply fuller argument of the text which follows, +and of which, when the reader has got this length, he is not likely to +let the <i>dénoûment</i> escape him. But the action of <i>Corinne</i> gets rather +slowly under weigh; and I have known those who complained that they +found the book hard to read because they were so long in coming to any +clear notion of "what it was all about." Therefore so much argument as +has been given seems allowable.</p> + +<p>But we ought by this time to have laid sufficient foundation to make it +not rash to erect a small superstructure of critical comment on the book +now once more submitted to English readers. Of that book I own that I +was myself a good many years ago, and for a good many years, a harsh and +even a rather unfair judge. I do not know whether years have brought me +the philosophic mind, or whether the book—itself, as has been said, the +offspring of middle-aged emotions—appeals more directly to a +middle-aged than to a young judgment. To the young of its own time and +the times immediately succeeding it appealed readily enough, and +scarcely Byron himself (who was not a little influenced by it) had more +to do with the Italomania of Europe in the second quarter of this +century than Madame de Stael.</p> + +<p>The faults of the novel indeed are those which impress themselves (as +Mackintosh, we have seen, allowed) immediately and perhaps excessively. +M. Sorel observes of its companion sententiously but truly, "Si le style +de <i>Delphine</i> semble vieilli, c'est qu'il a été jeune." If not merely +the style but the sentiment, the whole properties and the whole stage +management of <i>Corinne</i> seem out of date now, it is only because they +were up to date then. It is easy to laugh—not perhaps very easy to +abstain from laughing—at the "schall" twisted in Corinne's hair, where +even contemporaries mocked the hideous turban with which Madame de Stael +chose to bedizen her not too beautiful head; at Nelvil's inky cloak; at +the putting out of the fire; at the queer stilted half-Ossianic, +half-German rants put in the poetess's mouth; at the endless mingling of +gallantry and pedantry; at the hesitations of Nelvil; at the agonies of +Corinne. When French critics tell us that as they allow the +good-humoured satire on the Count d'Erfeuil to be just, we ought to do +the same in reference to the "cant Britannique" of Nelvil and of the +Edgermond circle, we can only respectfully answer that we should not +presume to dispute their judgment in the first case, but that they +really must leave us to ours in the second. As a matter of fact, Madame +de Stael's goody English characters, are rather like Miss Edgeworth's +naughty French ones in <i>Leonora</i> and elsewhere—clever generalisations +from a little observation and a great deal of preconceived idea, not +studies from the life.</p> + +<p>But this (and a great deal more that might be said if it were not +something like petty treason in an introduction-writer thus to play the +devil's advocate against his author) matters comparatively little, and +leaves enough in <i>Corinne</i> to furnish forth a book almost great, +interesting without any "almost," and remarkable as a not very large +shelf-ful in the infinite library of modern fiction deserves remark. For +the passion of its two chief characters, however oddly, and to us +unfashionably, presented, however lacking in the commanding and +perennial qualities which make us indifferent to fashion in the work of +the greatest masters, is <i>real</i>. And it is perhaps only after a pretty +long study of literature that one perceives how very little real passion +books, even pretty good books, contain, how much of what at times seems +to us passionate in them owes its appeal to accident, mode, and the +personal equation. Of the highest achievement of art—that which avails +itself of, but subdues, personal thought and feeling in the elaboration +of a perfectly live character—Madame de Stael was indeed incapable. But +in the second order—that which, availing itself of, but not subduing, +the personal element, keeps enough of its veracity and lively force to +enliven a composite structure of character—she has here produced very +noteworthy studies. Corinne is a very fair embodiment of the beauty +which her author would so fain have had; of the youthful ardour which +she had once actually possessed; of the ideas and cults to which she was +sincerely enough devoted; of the instruction and talent which +unquestionably distinguished her. And it is not, I think, fanciful to +discover in this heroine, with all her "Empire" artifice and convention, +all her smack of the theatre and the <i>salon</i>, a certain live quiver and +throb, which, as has been already hinted, may be traced to the combined +working in Madame de Stael's mind and heart of the excitements of +foreign travel, the zest of new studies, new scenes, new company, with +the chill regret for lost or passing youth and love, and the chillier +anticipation of coming old age and death. It is a commonplace of +psychology that in shocks and contrasts of this kind the liveliest +workings of the imagination and the emotions are to be expected. If we +once establish the contact and complete the circle, and feel something +of the actual thrill that animated the author, we shall, I think, feel +disposed to forgive Corinne many things—from the dress and attitude +which recall that admirable frontispiece of Pickersgill's to Miss +Austen's <i>Emma</i>, where Harriet Smith poses in rapt attitude with +"schall" or scarf complete, to that more terrible portrait of Madame de +Stael herself which editors with remorseless ferocity will persist in +prefixing to her works, and especially to <i>Corinne</i>. We shall consent to +sweep away all the <i>fatras</i> and paraphernalia of the work, and to see in +the heroine a real woman enough—loving, not unworthy of being loved, +unfortunate, and very undeserving of her ill fortune. We shall further +see that besides other excuses for the mere guide-book detail, the +enthusiasm for Italy which partly prompted it was genuine enough and +very interesting as a sign of the times—of the approach of a period of +what we may call popularised learning, culture, sentiment. In some +respects <i>Corinne</i> is not merely a guide-book to Italy; it is a +guide-book by prophecy to the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>The minor characters are a very great deal less interesting than Corinne +herself, but they are not despicable, and they set off the heroine and +carry out what story there is well enough. Nelvil of course is a thing +shreddy and patchy enough. He reminds us by turns of Chateaubriand's +René and Rousseau's Bomston, both of whom Madame de Stael of course +knew; of Mackenzie's Man of Feeling, with whom she was very probably +acquainted; but most of no special, even bookish, progenitor, but of a +combination of theoretic deductions from supposed properties of man in +general and Englishman in particular. Of Englishmen in particular Madame +de Stael knew little more than a residence (chiefly in <i>émigré</i> society) +for a short time in England, and occasional meetings elsewhere, could +teach her. Of men in general her experience had been a little +unfortunate. Her father had probity, financial skill, and, I suppose, a +certain amount of talent in other directions; but while he must have had +some domestic virtues he was a wooden pedant. Her husband hardly counted +for more in her life than her <i>maître d'hôtel</i>, and though there seems +to have been no particular harm in him, had no special talents and no +special virtues. Her first regular lover, Narbonne, was a handsome, +dignified, heartless <i>roué</i> of the old <i>régime</i>. Her second, Benjamin +Constant, was a man of genius, and capable of passionate if inconstant +attachment, but also what his own generation in England called a +thorough "raff"—selfish, treacherous, fickle, incapable of considering +either the happiness or the reputation of women, theatrical in his ways +and language, venal, insolent, ungrateful. Schlegel, though he too had +some touch of genius in him, was half pedant, half coxcomb, and full of +intellectual and moral faultiness. The rest of her mighty herd of male +friends and hangers-on ranged from Mathieu de Montmorency—of whom, in +the words of Medora Trevilian it may be said, that he was "only an +excellent person"—through respectable savants like Sismondi and Dumont, +down to a very low level of toady and tuft-hunter. It is rather +surprising that with such models and with no supreme creative faculty +she should have been able to draw such creditable walking gentlemen as +the Frenchman Erfeuil, the Englishman Edgermond, and the Italian +Castel-Forte; and should not have produced a worse hero than Nelvil. For +Nelvil, whatever faults he may have, and contemptible as his vacillating +refusal to take the goods the gods provide him may be, is, after all, if +not quite a live man, an excellent model of what a considerable number +of the men of his time aimed at being, and would have liked to be. He is +not a bit less life-like than Byron's usual hero for instance, who +probably owes not a little to him.</p> + +<p>And so we get to a fresh virtue of <i>Corinne</i>, or rather we reach its +main virtue by a different side. It has an immense historical value as +showing the temper, the aspirations, the ideas, and in a way the manners +of a certain time and society. A book which does this can never wholly +lose its interest; it must always retain that interest in a great +measure, for those who are able to appreciate it. And it must interest +them far more keenly, when, besides this secondary and, so to speak, +historical merit, it exhibits such veracity in the portraiture of +emotion, as, whatever be its drawbacks, whatever its little temptations +to ridicule, distinguishes the hapless, and, when all is said, the noble +and pathetic figure of Corinne.</p> + +<p class='right'><span class="smcap">George Saintsbury</span>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I am creditor neither to praise nor to blame for this +translation, which is the old English version brought out in the same +year as the original, but corrected by another hand for the present +edition in the pretty numerous points where it was lax or unintelligent +in actual rendering. In the places which I have compared, it seems to me +to present that original very fairly now; and I am by no means sure that +an excessively artificial style like that of the French Empire is not +best left to contemporaries to reproduce. At any rate, a really good new +translation of <i>Corinne</i> would be a task unlikely to be achieved except +by rather exceptional talents working in labour of love: and I cannot +blame the publishers of this issue for not waiting till such a +translator appeared.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_i" id="Book_i"></a>Book i.</h2> + +<h2>OSWALD.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-025.png" id="illus-025.png" /><img src="images/illus-025.png" width='600' +height='151' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h2>CORINNE.</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_i" id="Chapter_i"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>Oswald, Lord Nelville, Peer of Scotland, quitted Edinburgh for Italy +during the winter of 1794-5. He possessed a noble and handsome figure, +an abundance of wit, an illustrious name, and an independent fortune, +but his health was impaired by deeply-rooted sorrow, and his physicians, +fearing that his lungs were attacked, had prescribed him the air of the +South. Though indifferent as to the preservation of his life, he +followed their advice. He expected, at least, to find in the diversity +of objects he was about to see, something that might divert his mind +from the melancholy that preyed upon it. The most exquisite of +griefs—the loss of a father—was the cause of his malady; this was +heightened by cruel circumstances, which, together with a remorse +inspired by delicate scruples, increased his anguish, which was still +further aggravated by the phantoms of the imagination. Those who suffer, +easily persuade themselves that they are guilty, and violent grief will +extend its painful influence even to the conscience.</p> + +<p>At twenty-five years of age he was dissatisfied with life, his mind +anticipated every thing that it could afford, and his wounded +sensibility no longer enjoyed the illusions of the heart. Nobody +appeared more complacent, more devoted to his friends when he was able +to render them service; but not even the good he performed could afford +him a pleasurable sensation.</p> + +<p>He incessantly sacrificed his own taste to that of others; but it was +impossible to explain, upon principles of generosity alone, this total +abnegation of every selfish feeling, most frequently to be attributed to +that species of sadness which no longer permitted him to take any +interest in his own fate. Those indifferent to him enjoyed this +disposition so full of benignity and charm; but those who loved him +perceived that he sought the happiness of others like a man who no +longer expected any himself; and they almost experienced a pain from his +conferring a felicity for which it was impossible to make him a return +in kind.</p> + +<p>He was, notwithstanding, of a nature susceptible of emotion, sensibility +and passion; he combined every thing that could evoke enthusiasm in +others and in himself; but misfortune and repentance had taught him to +tremble at that destiny whose anger he sought to disarm by forbearing to +solicit any favour at her hands.</p> + +<p>He expected to find in a strict attachment to all his duties, and in a +renunciation of every lively enjoyment, a security against those pangs +that tear the soul. What he had experienced struck fear into his heart; +and nothing this world can afford, could, in his estimation, compensate +the risk of those sufferings; but when one is capable of feeling them, +what mode of life can shelter us from their power?</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville flattered himself that he should be able to quit Scotland +without regret, since he resided in it without pleasure; but the +unhappy imagination of the children of sensibility is not so formed: he +did not suspect what ties attached him to those scenes which were most +painful to him,—to the home of his father. There were in this +habitation, chambers, places, which he could not approach without +shuddering, and, nevertheless, when he resolved to quit them, he felt +himself still more solitary. His heart became dried up; he was no longer +able to give vent to his sufferings in tears; he could no longer call up +those little local circumstances which affected him deeply; his +recollections no longer possessed anything of the vivid semblance of +real existence; they were no longer in affinity with the objects that +surrounded him; he did not think less on him whose loss he lamented, but +he found it more difficult to recall his presence.</p> + +<p>Sometimes also he reproached himself for abandoning those abodes where +his father had dwelt. "Who knows," said he to himself, "whether the +shades of the departed are allowed to pursue every where the objects of +their affection? Perhaps it is only permitted them to wander about the +spot where their ashes repose! Perhaps at this moment my father regrets +me, while distance prevents my hearing his voice exerted to recall his +son. Alas! while he was living must not a concourse of strange events +have persuaded him that I had betrayed his tenderness, that I was a +rebel to my country, to his paternal will, to everything that is sacred +on earth?"—These recollections excited in Lord Nelville a grief so +insupportable that not only was he unable to confide it to others, but +even dreaded himself to sound it to the bottom. So easily do our own +reflections become to us an irreparable evil.</p> + +<p>It costs us more to quit our native country when to leave it we must +traverse the sea; all is solemn in a journey of which ocean marks the +first steps. An abyss seems to open behind you, and to render your +return for ever impossible. Besides, the sublime spectacle which the sea +presents must always make a deep impression on the imagination; it is +the image of that Infinity which continually attracts our thoughts, that +run incessantly to lose themselves in it. Oswald, supporting himself on +the helm, his eyes fixed on the waves, was apparently calm, for his +pride, united to his timidity, would scarcely ever permit him to +discover, even to his friends, what he felt; but he was internally +racked with the most painful emotions.</p> + +<p>He brought to mind the time when the sight of the sea animated his youth +with the desire of plunging into her waves, and measuring his force +against her's.—"Why," said he to himself, with the most bitter regret, +"why do I yield so unremittingly to reflection? How many pleasures are +there in active life, in those exercises which make us feel the energy +of existence? Death itself then appears but an event, perhaps glorious, +at least sudden, and not preceded by decline. But that death which comes +without having been sought by courage, that death of darkness which +steals from you in the night all that you hold most dear, which despises +your lamentations, repulses your embrace, and pitilessly, opposes to you +the eternal laws of nature and of time! such a death inspires a sort of +contempt for human destiny, for the impotence of grief, for all those +vain efforts that dash and break themselves upon the rock of necessity."</p> + +<p>Such were the sentiments that tormented Oswald; and what particularly +characterised his unhappy situation, was the vivacity of youth united to +thoughts of another age. He entered into those ideas which he conceived +must have occupied his father's mind in the last moments of his life; +and he carried the ardour of twenty-five into the melancholy +reflections of old age. He was weary of every thing, and yet still +regretted happiness, as if her illusions were still within his grasp. +This contrast, quite in hostility with the ordinance of nature, which +gives uniformity and graduation to the natural course of things, threw +the soul of Oswald into disorder; but his manners always possessed +considerable sweetness and harmony, and his sadness, far from souring +his temper, only inspired him with more condescension and goodness +towards others.</p> + +<p>Two or three times during the passage from Harwich to Empden the sea put +on the appearance of approaching storm; Lord Nelville counselled the +sailors, restored confidence to the passengers, and when he himself +assisted in working the ship, when he took for a moment the place of the +steersman, there was in all he did, a skill and a power which could not +be considered as merely the effect of the agility of the body,—there +was soul in all that he did.</p> + +<p>On his quitting the vessel all the crew crowded around Oswald to take +leave of him; they all thanked him for a thousand little services which +he had rendered them during the voyage, and which he no longer +remembered. Upon one occasion, perhaps, it was a child which had +occupied a large share of his attention; more often an old man, whose +tottering steps he had supported when the wind agitated the ship. Such a +general attention, without any regard to rank or quality, was perhaps +never met with. During the whole day he would scarcely bestow a single +moment upon himself: influenced alike by melancholy and benevolence, he +gave his whole time to others. On leaving him the sailors said to him +with one voice, "My dear Lord, may you be more happy!" Oswald had not +once expressed the internal pain he felt; and the men of another rank, +who had accompanied him in his passage, had not spoken a word to him on +that subject. But the common people, in whom their superiors rarely +confide, accustom themselves to discover sentiments and feelings by +other means than speech: they pity you when you suffer, though they are +ignorant of the cause of your grief, and their spontaneous pity is +unmixed with either blame or advice.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_ii" id="Chapter_ii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>Travelling, whatever may be said of it, is one of the saddest pleasures +of life. When you find yourself comfortable in some foreign city it +begins to feel, in some degree, like your own country; but to traverse +unknown realms, to hear a language spoken which you hardly comprehend, +to see human countenances which have no connection either with your past +recollections or future prospects, is solitude and isolation, without +dignity and without repose; for that eagerness, that haste to arrive +where nobody expects us, that agitation, of which curiosity is the only +cause, inspires us with very little esteem for ourselves, till the +moment when new objects become a little old, and create around us some +soft ties of sentiment and habit.</p> + +<p>The grief of Oswald was, then, redoubled in traversing Germany in order +to repair to Italy. On account of the war it was necessary to avoid +France and its environs; it was also necessary to keep aloof from the +armies who rendered the roads impracticable. This necessity of occupying +his mind with particulars material to the journey, of adopting, every +day, and almost every instant, some new resolution, was quite +insupportable to Lord Nelville. His health, far from becoming better, +often obliged him to stop, when he felt the strongest desire to hasten +to his journey's end or at least to make a start. He spat blood, and +took scarcely any care of himself; for he believed himself guilty, and +became his own accuser with too great a degree of severity. He no longer +wished for life but as it might become instrumental to the defence of +his country. "Has not our country," said he, "some paternal claims upon +us? But we should have the power to serve it usefully: we must not offer +it such a debilitated existence as I drag along to ask of the sun some +principle of life to enable me to struggle against my miseries. None but +a father would receive me to his bosom, under such circumstances, with +affection increased in proportion as I was abandoned by nature and by +destiny."</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville had flattered himself that the continual variety of +external objects would distract his imagination a little from those +ideas by which it was habitually occupied; but that circumstance was far +from producing, at first, this happy effect. After any great misfortune +we must become familiarised anew with everything that surrounds us; +accustom ourselves to the faces that we behold again, to the house in +which we dwell, to the daily habits that we resume; each of these +efforts is a painful shock, and nothing multiplies them like a journey.</p> + +<p>The only pleasure of Lord Nelville was to traverse the Tirolese +Mountains upon a Scotch horse which he had brought with him, and which +like the horses of that country ascended heights at a gallop: he quitted +the high road in order to proceed by the most steep paths. The +astonished peasants cried out at first with terror at beholding him thus +upon the very brink of precipices, then clapped their hands in +admiration of his address, his agility, and his courage. Oswald was fond +of this sensation of danger; it supports the weight of affliction, it +reconciles us, for a moment, with that life which we have reconquered, +and which it so easy to lose.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_iii" id="Chapter_iii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>In the town of Inspruck, before entering Italy, Oswald heard a merchant +at whose house he had stopped some time, relate the story of a French +emigré called the Count d'Erfeuil, which greatly interested him in his +favour. This man had suffered the entire loss of a very large fortune +with the most perfect serenity; he had, by his talent for music, +supported himself and an old uncle, whom he had taken care of until his +death; he had constantly refused to accept offers of pecuniary +assistance pressingly made to him; he had manifested the most brilliant +valour—a French valour—during the war, and the most invincible gaiety +in the midst of reverses. He was desirous of going to Rome to see a +relation, whose heir he was to be, and wished for a companion, or rather +a friend, in order to render the journey more agreeable to both.</p> + +<p>The most bitter recollections of Lord Nelville were connected with +France; nevertheless he was exempt from those prejudices which divide +the two nations; for a Frenchman had been his intimate friend, and he +had found in this friend the most admirable union of all the qualities +of the soul. He, therefore, offered to the merchant who related to him +the story of the Count d'Erfeuil, to take this noble and unfortunate +young man to Italy; and at the end of an hour the merchant came to +inform Lord Nelville that his proposition was accepted with gratitude. +Oswald was happy in being able to perform this service, but it cost him +much to renounce his solitude; and his timidity was wounded at finding +himself, all of a sudden, in an habitual relation with a man whom he did +not know.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil came to pay a visit to Lord Nelville, in order to +thank him. He possessed elegant manners, an easy politeness, good taste, +and appeared, from the very first introduction, perfectly at his ease. +In his company one would feel astonished at all that he had suffered, +for he supported his fate with a courage approaching to oblivion; and +there was in his conversation a facility truly admirable when he spoke +of his own reverses; but less admirable, it must be confessed, when it +extended to other subjects.</p> + +<p>"I owe you infinite obligation, my lord," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "for +rescuing me from this Germany, where I was perishing with <i>ennui</i>." "You +are here, nevertheless," replied Lord Nelville, "generally beloved and +esteemed." "I have friends here," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "whom I +sincerely regret; for we meet in this country the best people in the +world; but I do not know a word of German, and you will agree with me +that it would be too long and fatiguing a task for me to set about +learning it now. Since I have had the misfortune to lose my uncle I do +not know what to do with my time, when I had the care of him it filled +up my day, at present the twenty-four hours weigh heavily upon my +hands." "The delicacy of your conduct towards your uncle," said Lord +Nelville, "inspires everybody with the most profound esteem for your +character, Count." "I have only done my duty," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "the poor man had overwhelmed me with kindnesses during my +childhood; I should never have deserted him had he lived a hundred +years! But it is happy for him, however, that he is dead; it would be a +happy thing for me also were I to follow him," added he, laughing; "for +I have not much hope in this world. I used my best endeavours, during +the war, to get killed; but, since fate has spared me, I must only live +as well as I can." "I shall congratulate myself on my arrival here," +answered Lord Nelville, "if you find yourself comfortable at Rome, and +if—" "Oh, <i>mon Dieu</i>," interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "I shall find +myself comfortable every where: when we are young and gay every thing +accommodates itself to us. It is not from books, nor from meditation, +that I have derived the philosophy which I possess, but from knowledge +of the world, and trials of misfortune; and you see, my lord, that I +have reason to reckon upon chance, since it has procured me the honour +of travelling with you." In finishing these words the Count d'Erfeuil +saluted Lord Nelville with the best grace in the world, settled the hour +of departure for the following day, and took his leave.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil and Lord Nelville set out on the morrow. Oswald, +after some expressions of politeness had passed between them, was +several hours without saying a word; but perceiving that this silence +was disagreeable to his companion, he asked him if he anticipated +pleasure from a residence in Italy: "<i>Mon Dieu</i>," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "I know what I have to expect from that country. I have no +hope of any amusement there: a friend of mine, who had passed six months +at Rome, has assured me there is not a province of France where one may +not find a better theatre and a more agreeable society than at Rome, but +in that ancient capital of the world I shall surely find some Frenchmen +to chat with, and that is all I desire." "You have not attempted to +learn Italian?" interrupted Oswald. "Not at all," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "that did not enter into my plan of study." And in saying +this he assumed such a serious air that one would have believed it was a +resolution founded upon grave motives.</p> + +<p>"If I may speak my mind to you," continued the Count d'Erfeuil, "as a +nation, I love only the English and the French, one must either be proud +like them or brilliant like us; all the rest is only imitation." Oswald +was silent; the Count d'Erfeuil some moments after resumed the +conversation by the most lively sallies of wit and gaiety. He played +with words and phrases in a very ingenious manner, but neither external +objects nor intimate sentiments were the object of his discourse. His +conversation proceeded, if it may be so expressed, neither from without +nor within; it was neither reflective nor imaginative, and the bare +relations of society were its subject.</p> + +<p>He repeated twenty proper names to Lord Nelville, either in France, or +in England, to know if he was acquainted with them, and related upon +this occasion highly seasoned anecdotes with a most graceful turn; but +one would have said, in hearing him, that the only discourse suitable to +a man of taste was, to use the expression, the gossip of good company.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville reflected some time on the character of Count d'Erfeuil; +that singular mixture of courage and frivolity, that contempt of +misfortune, so great if it had cost more efforts, so heroic if it did +not proceed from the same source that renders us incapable of deep +affections. "An Englishman," said Oswald to himself, "would be weighed +down with sadness under similar circumstances.—Whence proceeds the +resolution of this Frenchman? Whence proceeds also his mobility? Does +the Count d'Erfeuil then truly understand the art of living? Is it only +my own disordered mind that whispers to me I am superior to him? Does +his light existence accord better than mine with the rapidity of human +life? And must we shun reflection as an enemy, instead of giving up our +whole soul to it?" Vainly would Oswald have cleared up those doubts; no +one can escape from the intellectual region allotted him; and qualities +are still more difficult to subdue than defects.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil paid no attention to Italy, and rendered it almost +impossible for Lord Nelville to bestow a thought upon it; for he +incessantly distracted him from that disposition of mind which excites +admiration of a fine country, and gives a relish for its picturesque +charms. Oswald listened as much as he could to the noise of the wind and +to the murmuring of the waves; for all the voices of nature conveyed +more gratification to his soul than he could possibly receive from the +social conversation indulged in at the foot of the Alps, among the +ruins, and on the borders of the sea.</p> + +<p>The sadness which consumed Oswald would have opposed fewer obstacles to +the pleasure which he could have derived from Italy than the gaiety of +Count d'Erfeuil, the sorrows of a sensitive mind will blend with the +contemplation of nature and the enjoyment of the fine arts; but +frivolity, in whatever form it presents itself, deprives attention of +its force, thought of its originality, and sentiment of its profundity. +One of the singular effects of this frivolity was to inspire Lord +Nelville with a great deal of timidity in his intercourse with Count +d'Erfeuil: embarrassment is nearly always on the side of him whose +character is the more serious. Mental levity imposes upon the mind +habitually disposed to meditation, and he who proclaims himself happy, +appears wiser than he who suffers.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil was mild, obliging, and easy in every thing; serious +only in self love, and worthy of being regarded as he regarded others; +that is to say, as a good companion of pleasures and of perils; but he +had no idea whatever of sharing sorrows: he was wearied to death with +the melancholy of Oswald, and, as much from goodness of heart as from +taste, was desirous of dissipating it.</p> + +<p>"What is it you find wanting?" said he to him often; "are you not young, +rich, and if you choose, in good health? for you are only ill because +you are sad. For my part I have lost my fortune, my existence: I know +not in fact what will become of me; nevertheless I enjoy life as if I +possessed all the prosperity that earth can afford." "You are endowed +with a courage as rare as it is honourable," replied Lord Nelville; "but +the reverses which you have experienced are less injurious in their +consequences than the grief which preys upon the heart." "The grief +which preys upon the heart," cried the Count d'Erfeuil; "Oh! it is true, +that is the most cruel of all;—but—but yet we should console ourselves +under it; for a sensible man ought to drive away from his soul every +thing that can neither be useful to others nor to himself. Are we not +here below to be useful first and happy afterwards? My dear Nelville let +us hold to that."</p> + +<p>What the Count d'Erfeuil said was reasonable, according to the general +import of the word, for it savoured a good deal of what is usually +called common sense: passionate characters are much more capable of +folly than cool and superficial ones; but so far was the Count +d'Erfeuil's mode of feeling from exciting the confidence of Lord +Nelville that he would gladly have convinced him he was the most happy +of men in order to avoid the pain which his consolation gave him.</p> + +<p>However the Count became greatly attached to Lord Nelville: his +resignation and his simplicity, his modesty and his pride, inspired him +with an involuntary respect for his character. He was concerned at the +calm exterior of Oswald; he ransacked his head to bring to recollection +all the most grave sayings which, in his childhood, he had heard from +his aged parents, in order to try their effect upon Lord Nelville; and, +quite astonished at not overcoming his apparent coldness, he said to +himself: "Do I not possess courage, goodness, and openness of +disposition? Am I not beloved in society? What is it then that I want to +make an impression upon this man? There surely must be some +misunderstanding between us which probably arises from his not +understanding French sufficiently well."</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_iv" id="Chapter_iv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>An unforeseen circumstance greatly increased the sentiment of respect +which the Count d'Erfeuil experienced already, almost without knowing +it, for his travelling companion. The health of Lord Nelville had +obliged him to stop some days at Ancona. The mountains and the sea +render the situation of this city very fine, and the crowd of Greeks who +work in front of their shops seated in the oriental manner, the +diversity of costume of the inhabitants of the Levant, whom one meets in +the streets, give it an original and interesting appearance. The art of +civilization has a continual tendency to render all men alike in +appearance and almost in reality; but the mind and the imagination take +pleasure in the characteristic differences of nations: it is only by +affectation and by calculation that men resemble each other; all that is +natural is varied. The eyes then, at least, derive some little pleasure +from diversity of costume; it seems to promise a new manner of feeling +and of judging.</p> + +<p>The Greek, the Catholic, and the Jewish worships exist simultaneously +and peaceably in the city of Ancona. The ceremonies of these several +religions differ widely from each other; but in those various forms of +worship, the same sentiment lifts the soul to heaven—the same cry of +grief, the same need of support.</p> + +<p>The catholic church is on the top of a mountain, which dominates the +sea: the roaring of the waves is often mingled with the song of the +priests. The interior of the church is overladen with a crowd of rather +tawdry ornaments; but if one stop beneath the portico of the temple, the +soul is filled with the purest sentiments of religion, heightened by +that sublime spectacle the sea, on whose bosom man has never been able +to imprint the smallest trace. The earth is tilled by him, the mountains +are cut through by his roads, and rivers shut up into canals to +transport his merchandise; but if the waves are furrowed for a moment by +his vessels the billows immediately efface this slight mark of +servitude, and the sea appears again as it was the first day of the +creation.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville had fixed his departure for Rome for the morrow, when he +heard, during the night the most dreadful cries in the city. He hastily +quitted the inn in order to learn the cause, when he beheld a terrible +fire, which proceeded from the port, and climbed from house to house +even to the very top of the city. The flames were mirrored at a distance +in the sea; the wind, which increased their fierceness, also disturbed +their image in the surging waves, which reflected in a thousand ways the +lurid traits of the conflagration.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Ancona<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>, not having among them pumps in good +condition, were obliged to carry water to extinguish the flames, which +they did with great eagerness. Amidst the din of different cries was +heard the clank of chains, from the galley slaves, who were employed in +saving that city which served them for a prison. The different nations +of the Levant, which commerce draws to Ancona, expressed their fear by +the stupor which appeared in their looks. The merchants, on beholding +their warehouses in flames, entirely lost their presence of mind. Alarm +for the loss of fortune affects the common order of men as much as the +fear of death, and does not inspire that energy of the soul, that +enthusiasm which brings resources to our aid.</p> + +<p>The cries of sailors have always something doleful and prolonged in +them, and were now rendered still more so by terror. The mariners on the +shores of the Adriatic are clad in a red and brown hooded cloak of most +singular appearance, and from the midst of this vestment emerged the +animated countenances of the Italians, painting fear in a thousand +shapes. The inhabitants, throwing themselves down in the streets, +covered their heads with their cloaks, as if nothing remained for them +now to do but to avoid seeing their disaster; others precipitated +themselves into those flames from which they entertained no hope of +escaping. A thoughtless fury and a blind resignation appeared by turns; +but nowhere was seen that cool deliberation which redoubles our +resources and our strength.</p> + +<p>Oswald recollected that there were two English vessels in the harbour +which had on board pumps of the best construction: he ran to the +captain, who accompanied him in a boat to bring away these pumps. The +inhabitants, seeing them enter the boat, exclaimed, "<i>Ah! strangers you +do well to quit our unhappy city</i>!" "We shall come back again," said +Oswald. They did not believe him. He returned however, fixed one of the +pumps opposite the first house on fire, near the port, and the other +facing that which was burning in the middle of the street. The Count +d'Erfeuil exposed his life with carelessness, courage, and gaiety; the +English sailors, and the domestics of Lord Nelville, all came to his +aid; for the inhabitants of Ancona remained motionless, hardly +comprehending what these strangers were about, and not expecting the +least success from them.</p> + +<p>The bells rang in every quarter, the priests made processions, the women +lamented and prostrated themselves before the images of the saints at +the corners of the streets; but no one thought of those natural means +which God has given to man for his defence. However, when the +inhabitants perceived the happy effect of Oswald's activity; when they +saw that the flames were being extinguished, and that their houses would +be saved, they passed from astonishment to enthusiasm; they thronged +about Lord Nelville, and kissed his hands with such lively eagerness +that he was obliged to appear angry in order to drive away from him all +who might obstruct the rapid succession of orders, and of efforts +necessary to save the city. Every body was arranged under his command; +for, in the least as well as in the greatest circumstances, when danger +presents itself courage assumes its proper station; as soon as men are +possessed with fear they cease to be jealous of one another.</p> + +<p>Oswald, however, amid the general din, distinguished some cries more +horrible than the rest, which resounded from the other extremity of the +city. He demanded whence these cries proceeded, and was informed that +they came from the quarter which was allotted for the Jews: the officer +of the police was accustomed to shut the gates of this quarter in the +evening, and, the fire having reached that part of the city, the Jews +had no means of escape.</p> + +<p>Oswald shuddered at this idea, and demanded that the gate should be +immediately opened; but some women of the people who heard him threw +themselves at his feet, entreating him to desist.—"<i>You see very +well</i>," said they, "<i>our good angel! that it is certainly on account of +these Jews who reside here that we have suffered this fire, it is they +who bring calamity upon us, and if you set them at liberty all the water +in the sea will not extinguish the flames</i>." And they besought Oswald to +let the Jews be burnt with as much eloquence and tenderness as if they +were soliciting an act of clemency. This was not the effect of natural +cruelty, but of a superstitious imagination acutely impressed by a great +misfortune; however, Oswald could hardly contain his indignation on +hearing these strange entreaties.</p> + +<p>He sent four English sailors with hatchets to break open the gates which +inclosed these unfortunate people, who spread themselves in an instant +through the city, running to their merchandise with that greed of +possession which has something very melancholy in it, when it induces +mortals to risk their lives for worldly wealth. One would say that in +the present state of society the simple blessing of life is esteemed by +man of little value.</p> + +<p>There now remained but one house at the top of the city, which the +flames surrounded in such a manner that it was impossible to extinguish +them, and more impossible to enter it. The inhabitants of Ancona had +manifested so little concern for this house, that the English sailors, +not believing it to be inhabited, had dragged their pumps towards the +harbour. Oswald himself, stunned by the cries of those who surrounded +him and solicited his aid, had not paid attention to it. The fire had +extended the latest to that quarter, but had made considerable progress +there. Lord Nelville demanded so impatiently what house that was, that +at length a man informed him it was the madhouse. At this idea his whole +soul was agitated; he turned, but found none of the sailors around him; +the Count d'Erfeuil was not there either, and he would vainly have +addressed himself to the inhabitants of Ancona: they were almost all +occupied in saving their merchandise, and considered it absurd to run +any risk to rescue men, of whom there was not one who was not incurably +mad: "<i>It is a blessing from Heaven</i>," said they, "<i>for them, and for +their relations, that they should die in this manner; without any one +incurring a crime by their death</i>."</p> + +<p>Whilst they held such language as this around Oswald, he proceeded with +the utmost speed towards the madhouse, and the crowd, by whom he was +censured, followed him with a confused sentiment of involuntary +enthusiasm. As Oswald approached the house, he saw, at the only window +which was not surrounded with flames, a number of lunatics, who regarded +the progress of the fire with that horrid kind of smile which either +supposes ignorance of all the ills of life, or so much grief at the +bottom of the soul that death in no shape can terrify it. An +inexpressible shudder seized upon Oswald at this sight; he had felt in +the most dreadful moment of his despair, that his reason was on the +point of being affected, and since that epoch, the aspect of madness +always inspired him with the most sorrowful emotions of pity. He seized +a ladder which he found near the spot, fixed it against the wall, and +entered by the window into an apartment where the unhappy people who +remained in the madhouse were assembled together.</p> + +<p>Their insanity was so harmless, that they were suffered to be at large +in the interior of the house with the exception of one, who was chained +in this very room, where the flames already began to appear through the +door, but had not yet consumed the floor. These miserable creatures, +quite degraded by disease and suffering, were so surprised and enchanted +by the appearance of Oswald among them, that they obeyed him at first +without resistance. He ordered them to descend before him, one after +another, by means of the ladder, which the flames might devour in a +moment. The first of these wretched people obeyed without uttering a +word; the accent and the physiognomy of Lord Nelville had entirely +subdued him. A third wished to resist, without suspecting the danger +that he incurred by each moment of delay, and without thinking of the +peril to which he exposed Oswald in detaining him. The people, who felt +all the horrors of his situation, cried out to Lord Nelville to return, +and to let those maniacs get away how they could. But the deliverer +would listen to nothing till he had achieved his generous enterprise.</p> + +<p>Of the six lunatics who were in the madhouse, five were already saved; +there now only remained the sixth who was chained. Oswald loosened his +irons, and endeavoured to make him take the same means of escaping as +his companions had done; but it was a poor young man, whose reason was +entirely destroyed, and, finding himself at liberty, after being chained +for two years, he darted about the room with an extravagant joy. This +joy rose to fury, when Oswald tried to make him go out at the window. +Lord Nelville perceiving that it was impossible to prevail upon this +maniac to save himself, though the flames increased around them, seized +him in his arms, in spite of the efforts of the unhappy wretch, who +struggled against his benefactor. He carried him off, without knowing +where he placed his feet, so much was his sight obscured by the smoke; +he leaped from nearly the middle of the ladder, and consigned the +lunatic, who loaded him with curses, to some people whom he made promise +to take care of him.</p> + +<p>Oswald, animated by the danger he had just run, his hair dishevelled, +his look so proud yet so mild, struck the crowd who beheld him with +admiration, and almost with fanaticism; the women, above all, expressed +themselves with that imagination which is an almost universal gift in +Italy, and even gives a nobleness to the conversation of the common +people. They threw themselves on their knees before him, and cried, +"<i>You are surely St Michael, the patron of our city; display thy wings +most holy saint! but do not quit us: deign to ascend the steeple of the +cathedral, that all the city may behold, and pray to thee</i>." "<i>My child +is sick</i>," said one, "<i>heal him</i>." "<i>Tell me</i>," said another, "<i>where my +husband is, who has been absent several years</i>?" Oswald sought a means +of escape. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and said to him, pressing his +hand, "My dear Nelville, we ought to share all things with our friends; +it is unkind of you thus to monopolise all the danger." "Release me from +these people," said Oswald to him, in a low voice. A moment of darkness +favoured their flight, and both of them went in haste to get post +horses.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville experienced, at first, some pleasure from the good action +he had just performed, but with whom could he enjoy it now that his best +friend was no more? How unhappy is the lot of orphans! The most +fortunate events, as well as the most painful, make them feel alike the +solitude of the heart. How is it possible, in effect, ever to replace +that affection which is born with us, that intelligence, that sympathy +of blood, that friendship prepared by heaven between the child and the +father? We may still, it is true, find an object of love; but one in +whom we can confide our whole soul is a happiness which can never be +found again.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Ancona is now pretty nearly in the same predicament that it +was then.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_v" id="Chapter_v"></a>Chapter v.</h3> + +<p>Oswald pursued his journey through the Marches of Ancona, and the +Ecclesiastical States, without any thing attracting his observation, or +exciting his interest: this was occasioned as well by the melancholy +habit of his soul, as by a certain natural indolence, from which he was +only to be aroused by strong passions. His taste for the arts had not +yet unfolded itself; he had never dwelt but in France, where society is +all in all, and in London, where political interests absorb almost every +other: his imagination, concentrated in his sufferings, had not yet +learnt to take pleasure in the wonders of nature and the masterpieces of +art.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil traversed every town with the "Traveller's Guide" in +his hand, and had at once the double pleasure of losing his time in +seeing every thing, and of declaring, that he had seen nothing which +could excite admiration in any person acquainted with France. The +<i>ennui</i> of Count d'Erfeuil discouraged Oswald; he, besides, entertained +prejudices against the Italians and against Italy: he did not yet +penetrate the mystery of this nation or of this country;—a mystery +which must be comprehended by the imagination, rather than by that +faculty of judgment which is particularly developed by an English +education.</p> + +<p>The Italians are much more remarkable for what they have been, and for +what they might be than for what they actually are. The deserts which +surround the city of Rome, that land which, fatigued with glory, seems +to hold in contempt the praise of being productive, presents but an +uncultivated and neglected country to him who considers it with regard +to utility. Oswald, accustomed from his infancy to the love of order and +public prosperity, received, at first, unfavourable impressions in +traversing those deserted plains which announce the approach to that +city formerly the queen of the world: he blamed the indolence of the +inhabitants and that of their rulers. Lord Nelville judged of Italy as +an enlightened administrator, the Count d'Erfeuil as a man of the world: +thus the one from reason, and the other from levity, were not sensible +of that effect which the country about Rome produces upon the +imagination, when it is impressed with the recollections, the +sympathies, the natural beauties and the illustrious misfortunes which +spread over these regions an undefinable charm.</p> + +<p>The Count made ludicrous lamentations on the environs of Rome. "What," +said he, "no country house, no carriage, nothing that announces the +vicinity of a great city? Heavens! what a melancholy prospect!" In +approaching Rome, the postillions cried, with transport, "<i>See! See, +there is the dome of St Peter's</i>!" It is thus that the Neapolitans shew +mount Vesuvius, and the sea excites the same emotions of pride in the +inhabitants of the coast. "One would have thought they had seen the dome +of <i>Les Invalides</i>;" cried the Count d'Erfeuil. This comparison, more +patriotic than just, destroyed the impression which Oswald might have +received on beholding this magnificent wonder of human creation. They +entered Rome, not on a fine day—not on a fine night—but on a gloomy +evening, which tarnished and confounded every object. They traversed the +Tiber without remarking it; they arrived at Rome by the Porta del Popolo +which conducts immediately to the Corso, to the largest street of the +modern city, but to that part of Rome which possesses the least +originality, because it resembles more the other cities of Europe.</p> + +<p>Crowds were walking in the streets; the puppet shows and the charlatans +were formed in groups in the square, where stands the column of +Antoninus. All the attention of Oswald was captivated by the objects +nearest to him. The name of Rome no longer vibrated through his soul; he +felt nothing but that isolation which oppresses the heart when we enter +a strange city, when we behold that multitude of people to whom our +existence is unknown, and who have no interest in common with us. Those +reflections, so sad for every man, are still more so for the English, +who are accustomed to live among themselves, and who with difficulty +enter into the manners of other nations. In the vast caravansary of Rome +everything is foreign, even the Romans seem to inhabit there not as the +possessors, <i>but like pilgrims who repose beneath the ruins</i><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>. Oswald, +oppressed with painful sensations, shut himself up at home, and went not +out to see the city. He was very far from thinking that this country, +which he entered under such sadness and dejection of spirits, would soon +become for him a source of so many new ideas and enjoyments.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This reflection is taken from a letter on Rome, by M. de +Humboldt, brother of the celebrated Traveller, and Prussian Minister at +Rome. It is difficult to find anywhere a man whose conversation and +writings bespeak more knowledge and ideas.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_ii" id="Book_ii"></a>Book ii.</h2> + +<h2>CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-051.png" id="illus-051.png" /><img src="images/illus-051.png" width='600' +height='150' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_bi" id="Chapter_bi"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>Oswald awoke in Rome. His first looks were saluted by the brilliancy of +an Italian sun, and his soul was penetrated with a sentiment of love and +gratitude towards that Power which seemed manifested in its resplendent +beams. He heard the bells of the different churches of the city; the +firing of cannon at intervals announced some great solemnity. He +demanded the cause of it, and was informed that that morning was to be +crowned, at the Capitol, the most celebrated woman in Italy. Corinne, +poetess, writer, <i>improvisatrice</i>, and one of the greatest beauties of +Rome. He made some enquiries respecting this ceremony consecrated by the +names of Petrarch and of Tasso, and all the answers that he received +strongly excited his curiosity.</p> + +<p>There is certainly nothing more contrary to the habits and opinions of +an Englishman, than this great publicity given to the destiny of a +woman; but even foreigners are affected, at least for a moment, with +that enthusiasm which is inspired in the Italians by all those talents +that belong to the imagination, and they forget the prejudices of their +country amidst a nation so warm in the expression of its feelings. The +common people of Rome reason with taste upon their statues, pictures, +monuments and antiquities; and literary merit, carried to a certain +pitch, excites in them a national interest.</p> + +<p>Oswald quitted his lodgings to repair to the public square, where he +heard everybody speaking of the genius and talents of Corinne. The +streets through which she was to pass had been decorated; the people, +who rarely assemble together except to pay their homage to fortune or +power, were, upon this occasion, almost in a tumult to behold a female +whose mind was her only claim to distinction. In the actual state of the +Italians the field of glory is only open to them in the fine arts, and +they possess a sensibility for genius in that department, which ought to +give birth to great men, if applause alone were sufficient to produce +them, if the stress of vigorous life, great interests and an independent +existence were not necessary to nourish thought.</p> + +<p>Oswald walked the streets of Rome, waiting the arrival of Corinne. At +every instant he heard her name accompanied with some anecdote +concerning her, which implied the possession of all those talents that +captivate the imagination. One said that her voice was the most touching +in Italy; another, that nobody played tragedy like her; somebody else, +that she danced like a nymph, and designed with as much taste as +invention: all said that nobody had ever written or improvised such fine +verses, and that, in habitual conversation she possessed by turns, a +grace and an eloquence which charmed every mind. Disputes were entered +into as to what city of Rome had given her birth; but the Romans +maintained, warmly, that she must have been born in Rome to speak +Italian in such purity as she did. No one was acquainted with her family +name. Her first work had appeared five years before, and only bore the +name of Corinne; nobody knew where she had lived, nor what she had been +before that time: she was, however, nearly twenty-six years of age. This +mystery and publicity both at the same time, this woman of whom +everybody spoke, but whose real name was known to nobody, appeared to +Lord Nelville one of the wonders of the singular country he had just +come to live in. He would have judged very severely of such a woman in +England, but he did not apply the usual etiquette of society to Italy, +and the coronation of Corinne inspired him beforehand with that interest +to which an adventure of Ariosto would give birth.</p> + +<p>Very fine and brilliant music preceded the arrival of the triumphal +procession. Any event, whatever it may be, which is announced by music, +always produces emotion. A great number of Roman Lords, and some +foreigners, preceded the car of Corinne. "<i>That is the train of her +admirers!</i>" said a Roman. "<i>Yes</i>," replied the other, "<i>she receives the +incense of everybody; but she grants nobody a decided preference: she is +rich and independent; it is even believed, and certainly her appearance +bespeaks it, that she is a woman of illustrious birth who desires to +remain unknown</i>." "<i>Be it as it may</i>," replied a third, "<i>she is a +goddess wrapt in a cloud</i>." Oswald looked at the man who spoke thus, and +every thing about him indicated that he belonged to the most obscure +rank in society; but in the south people so naturally make use of +poetical expressions, that one would say they were inhaled with the air +and inspired by the sun.</p> + +<p>At length way was made through the crowd for the four white horses that +drew the car of Corinne. Corinne was seated in this car which was +constructed upon an antique model, and young girls, dressed in white, +walked on each side of her. Wherever she passed an abundance of perfumes +was thrown into the air; the windows, decorated with flowers and scarlet +tapestry, were crowded with spectators; every body cried, "<i>Long live +Corinne!</i>" "<i>Long live Genius and Beauty!</i>" The emotion was general but +Lord Nelville did not yet share it, and though he had observed in his +own mind that in order to judge of such a ceremony we must lay aside +the reserve of the English and the pleasantry of the French, he did not +share heartily in the <i>fête</i> till at last he beheld Corinne.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-pic1.png" id="illus-pic1.png" /><img src="images/illus-pic1.png" width='547' +height='700' alt="Corinne at the Capitol." /></p> + +<p class='center'><i>Corinne at the Capitol.</i></p> + +<p>She was dressed like the Sybil of Domenichino; an Indian shawl twisted +about her head, and her hair of the finest jet black, entwined with this +shawl; her dress was white, with blue drapery from her bosom downwards, +and her costume was very picturesque, at the same time without departing +so much from established modes as to savour of affectation. Her attitude +on the car was noble and modest: it was easily perceived that she was +pleased with being admired, but a sense of timidity was mingled with her +joy, and seemed to ask pardon for her triumph. The expression of her +physiognomy, of her eyes, of her smile, interested all in her favour, +and the first look made Lord Nelville her friend, even before that +sentiment was subdued by a warmer impression. Her arms were of dazzling +beauty; her shape, tall, but rather full, after the manner of the +Grecian statues, energetically characterised youth and happiness; and +there was something inspired in her look. One might perceive in her +manner of greeting and returning thanks for the applause which she +received, a kind of disposition which heightened the lustre of the +extraordinary situation in which she was placed. She gave at once the +idea of a priestess of Apollo advancing towards the temple of the Sun, +and of a woman of perfect simplicity in the common relations of life. To +conclude, in her every motion there was a charm which excited interest, +curiosity, astonishment and affection. The admiration of the people +increased in proportion as she advanced towards the Capitol—that spot +so fertile in memories. The beauty of the sky, the enthusiasm of these +Romans, and above all Corinne, electrified the imagination of Oswald. He +had often, in his own country, seen statesmen carried in triumph by the +people, but this was the first time he had been a witness of the +honours paid to a woman—a woman illustrious only by the gifts of +genius. Her chariot of victory was not purchased at the cost of the +tears of any human being, and no regret, no terror overshadowed that +admiration which the highest endowments of nature, imagination, +sentiment and mind, could not fail to excite.</p> + +<p>Oswald was so absorbed in his reflections, so occupied by novel ideas, +that he did not remark the antique and celebrated places through which +the car of Corinne passed. It was at the foot of the flight of steps +which leads to the Capitol, that the car stopped, and at that moment all +the friends of Corinne rushed forward to offer her their hands. She +chose that of the prince Castel-Forte, the most esteemed of the Roman +nobility, for his intellect and for his disposition: every one approved +the choice of Corinne, and she ascended the steps of the Capitol whose +imposing majesty seemed to receive, with kind condescension, the light +footsteps of a woman. A new flourish of music was heard at the moment of +Corinne's arrival, the cannon resounded and the triumphant Sybil entered +the palace prepared for her reception.</p> + +<p>At the lower end of the hall in which she was received were placed the +senator who was to crown her, and the conservators of the senate; on one +side all the cardinals and the most distinguished women of the country; +on the other the men of letters of the academy of Rome; and at the +opposite extremity the hall was occupied by a part of the immense crowd +who had followed Corinne. The chair destined for her was placed a step +below that of the senator. Corinne, before she seated herself in it, +made a genuflection on the first step, agreeably to the etiquette +required in this august assembly. She did it with so much nobleness and +modesty, so much gentleness and dignity, that Lord Nelville in that +moment felt his eyes moist with tears: he was astonished at his own +tenderness, but in the midst of all her pomp and triumph it seemed to +him that Corinne had implored, by her looks, the protection of a +friend—that protection which no woman, however superior, can dispense +with; and how sweet, said he within himself, would it be to become the +support of her to whom sensibility alone renders that support necessary.</p> + +<p>As soon as Corinne was seated the Roman poets began to read the sonnets +and odes which they had composed for the occasion. They all exalted her +to the skies, but the praises which they lavishly bestowed upon her did +not draw any characteristic features of distinction between her and +other women of superior talents. They were only pleasing combinations of +images, and allusions to mythology, which might, from the days of Sappho +to those in which we live, have been addressed indiscriminately to any +woman who had rendered herself illustrious by her literary talents.</p> + +<p>Already Lord Nelville felt hurt at this manner of praising Corinne; he +thought, in beholding her, that he could at that very instant draw a +portrait of her, more true, more just, more characteristic—a portrait +in fact that could only belong to Corinne.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_bii" id="Chapter_bii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>The Prince Castel-Forte then rose to speak, and his observations upon +the merits of Corinne excited the attention of the whole assembly. He +was about fifty years of age, and there was in his speech and in his +deportment much deliberate ease and dignity. The assurances which Lord +Nelville received from those about him, that he was only the friend of +Corinne, excited, in his lordship's mind, an interest for the portrait +which he drew of her, unmixed with any other emotion. Without such a +security a confused sentiment of jealousy would have already disturbed +the soul of Oswald.</p> + +<p>The Prince Castel-Forte read some unpretentious pages of prose which +were particularly calculated to display the genius of Corinne. He first +pointed out the peculiar merit of her work, and said that that merit +partly consisted of her profound study of foreign literature: she +united, in the highest degree, imagination, florid description and all +the brilliancy of the south, with that knowledge, that observation of +the human heart, which falls to the share of those countries where +external objects excite less interest.</p> + +<p>He extolled the elegant graces and the lively disposition of Corinne—a +gaiety which partook of no improper levity, but proceeded solely from +the vivacity of the mind and the freshness of the imagination. He +attempted to praise her sensibility, but it was easily perceived that +personal regret mingled itself with this part of his speech. He lamented +the difficulty which a woman of her superior cast experienced of meeting +with the object of which she has formed to herself an ideal portrait—a +portrait clad with every endowment the heart and mind can wish for. He +however took pleasure in painting the passionate sensibility which the +poetry of Corinne inspired, and the art she possessed of seizing every +striking relation between the beauties of nature and the most intimate +impressions of the soul. He exalted the originality of Corinne's +expressions, those expressions which were the offspring of her character +and manner of feeling, without ever permitting any shade of affectation +to disfigure a species of charm not only natural but involuntary.</p> + +<p>He spoke of her eloquence as possessing an irresistible force and energy +which must the more transport her hearers the more they possessed within +themselves true intellectual sensibility. "Corinne," said he, "is +indubitably the most celebrated woman of our country, and nevertheless +it is only her friends who can properly delineate her; for we must +always have recourse, in some degree, to conjecture, in order to +discover the genuine qualities of the soul. They may be concealed from +our knowledge by celebrity as well as obscurity, if some sort of +sympathy does not assist us to penetrate them." He enlarged upon her +talent for extemporisation, which did not resemble any thing of that +description known in Italy. "It is not only to the fecundity of her mind +that we ought to attribute it;" said he; "but to the deep emotion which +every generous thought excites in her. She cannot pronounce a word that +recalls such thoughts without enthusiasm, that inexhaustible source of +sentiments and of ideas animating and inspiring her." The Prince +Castel-Forte also made his audience sensible of the beauties of a style +always pure and harmonious. "The poetry of Corinne," added he, "is an +intellectual melody which can alone express the charm of the most +fugitive and delicate impressions."</p> + +<p>He praised the conversation of his heroine in a manner that easily made +it perceived he had experienced its delight. "Imagination and +simplicity, justness and elevation, strength and tenderness, are +united," said he, "in the same person to give incessant variety to all +the pleasures of the mind: we may apply to her, this charming verse of +Petrarch:</p> + +<blockquote><p><i>Il parlar che nell' anima si sente.</i><a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p></blockquote> + +<p>and, I believe, in her will be found that grace so much boasted of, +that oriental charm which the ancients attributed to Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>"The places I have visited with her, the music we have heard together, +the pictures she has pointed out to me, the books she has made me +comprehend, compose the universe of my imagination. There is in all +these objects a spark of her life; and if I were to exist at a distance +from her I would wish at least to be surrounded by those objects, +certain as I am of finding nowhere else that trace of fire, that trace +of herself in fact, which she has left in them. Yes," continued he (and +at that moment his eyes fell by chance upon Oswald), "behold Corinne; if +you can pass your life with her, if that double existence which it is in +her power to give can be assured to you for a long time; but do not +behold her if you are condemned to quit her; you will seek in vain as +long as you live that creative soul which shares and multiplies your +sentiments and your thoughts; you will never behold her like again."</p> + +<p>Oswald started at these words, his eyes fixed themselves upon Corinne, +who heard them with an emotion that was not inspired by self-love, but +which was allied to the most amiable and delicate feelings. The Prince +Castel-Forte was much affected for a moment, and then resumed his +speech. He spoke of Corinne's talent for music, for painting, for +declamation and for dancing: In all these talents, he said, she was +entirely herself, not confined to any particular manner, or to any +particular rule, but expressing in various languages the same powers of +the imagination, and the same witchery of the fine arts under all their +different forms.</p> + +<p>"I do not flatter myself," said the Prince Castel-Forte in concluding, +"that I have been able to paint a lady of whom it is impossible to form +an idea without having heard her; but her presence is, for us at Rome, +as one of the benefits of our brilliant sky and our inspired nature. +Corinne is the tie that unites her friends together; she is the moving +principle and the interest of our life. We reckon upon her goodness; we +are proud of her genius; we say to strangers, 'Behold her! She is the +image of our beautiful Italy; she is what we should be without the +ignorance, the envy, the discord and the indolence to which our fate has +condemned us.' We take pleasure in contemplating her as an admirable +production of our climate and of our fine arts,—as a scion shooting out +of the past, as a prophecy of the future. When foreigners insult this +country, whence has issued that intelligence which has shed its light +over Europe; when they are without pity for our defects, which arise out +of our misfortunes, we will say to them: 'Behold Corinne! 'Tis our +desire to follow her footsteps; we would endeavour to become, as men, +what she is as woman, if man like woman could create a world in his own +heart; and if our genius, necessarily dependent upon social relations +and external circumstances, could be kindled by the torch of poetry +alone.'"</p> + +<p>The moment the Prince Castel-Forte left off speaking unanimous applause +was heard on all sides, and though towards the conclusion of his speech +he indirectly blamed the present state of the Italians, all the nobles +of the state approved of it; so true it is that we find in Italy that +sort of liberality which does not lead men to alter institutions, but +which pardons in superior minds a tranquil opposition to existing +prejudices. The reputation of Prince Castel-Forte was very great in +Rome. He spoke with a rare sagacity, which is a remarkable gift in a +nation who exhibit more intellect in their conduct than in their +conversation. He did not in his worldly concerns shew that address which +often distinguishes the Italians, but he took delight in thought, and +did not dread the fatigue of meditation. The happy inhabitants of the +south sometimes shrink from this fatigue, and flatter themselves that +imagination will do everything for them, as their fertile soil produces +fruit without cultivation assisted only by the bounty of the sky.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The language which is felt in the depth of the soul.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_biii" id="Chapter_biii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>Corinne arose when the Prince Castel-Forte had ceased speaking; she +thanked him by an inclination of the head so dignified yet so gentle, +that it expressed at once the modesty and joy so natural at having +received praise according to her heart's desire. It was the custom that +every poet crowned at the Capitol should recite or extemporise some +piece of poetry, before the destined laurel was placed on his head. +Corinne ordered her lyre to be brought to her—the instrument of her +choice—which greatly resembled the harp, but was however more antique +in form and more simple in its sounds. In tuning it she was seized with +uncommon timidity, and it was with a trembling voice that she asked to +know the subject imposed on her. "<i>The glory and happiness of Italy!</i>" +cried all around her with a unanimous voice. "Very well," replied she +already fired with enthusiasm, already supported by her genius, "<i>the +glory and happiness of Italy</i>;" and feeling herself animated by the love +of her country she commenced the most charming strains, of which prose +can give but a very imperfect idea.</p> + +<p class='center'><i>The Improvisation of Corinne, at the Capitol.</i></p> + +<p>"Italy, empire of the sun! Italy, mistress of the world! Italy, the +cradle of letters, I salute thee! How often has the human race been +subjected to thee, tributary to thy arms, to thy art and to thy sky.</p> + +<p>"A deity quitted Olympus to take refuge in Ausonia; the aspect of this +country recalled the virtues of the golden age;—man appeared there too +happy to be supposed guilty.</p> + +<p>"Rome conquered the universe by her genius, and became sovereign by +liberty. The Roman character was imprinted everywhere, and the invasion +of the Barbarians, in destroying Italy obscured the whole world.</p> + +<p>"Italy appeared again with the divine treasures which the fugitive +Greeks brought back to her bosom; heaven revealed its laws to her; the +daring of her children discovered a new hemisphere; she again became +sovereign by the sceptre of thought, but this laurelled sceptre only +produced ingratitude.</p> + +<p>"Imagination restored to her the universe which she had lost. The +painters and the poets created for her an earth, an Olympus, a hell, and +a heaven; and her native fire, better guarded by her genius than by the +Pagan deity, found not in Europe a Prometheus to ravish it from her.</p> + +<p>"Why am I at the Capitol? Why is my humble forehead about to receive the +crown which Petrarch, has worn, and which remained suspended on the +gloomy cypress that weeps over the tomb of Tasso?—Why, if you were not +so enamoured of glory, my fellow-countrymen, that you recompense its +worship as much as its success?</p> + +<p>"Well, if you so love this glory which too often chooses its victims +among the conquerors which it has crowned, reflect with pride upon those +ages which beheld the new birth of the arts. Dante, the modern Homer, +the hero of thought, the sacred poet of our religious mysteries, plunged +his genius into the Styx to land in the infernal regions, and his mind +was profound as the abyss which he has described.</p> + +<p>"Italy in the days of her power was wholly revived in Dante. Animated by +a republican spirit, warrior as well as poet, he breathed the flame of +action among the dead; and his shadows have a more vivid existence than +the living here below.</p> + +<p>"Terrestrial remembrances pursue them still; their aimless passions +devour one another in the heart; they are moved at the past which seems +to them less irrevocable than their eternal future.</p> + +<p>"One would say that Dante, banished from his country, has transported +into imaginary regions the pangs which devoured him. His shades +incessantly demand news from the scene of mortal existence, as the poet +himself eagerly enquires after his native country; and hell presents +itself to him in the form of exile.</p> + +<p>"All, in his eyes, are clothed in the costume of Florence. The ancient +dead whom he invokes, seem to be born again as completely Tuscan as +himself. It was not that his mind was limited—it was the energy of his +soul, that embraced the whole universe within the circle of his +thoughts.</p> + +<p>"A mystical chain of circles and of spheres conducts him from hell to +purgatory, from purgatory to paradise. Faithful historian of his vision, +he pours a flood of light upon the most obscure regions, and the world +which he creates in his triple poem is as complete, as animated and as +brilliant as a planet newly-discovered in the firmament.</p> + +<p>"At his voice the whole earth assumes a poetical form, its objects, +ideas, laws and phenomena, seem a new Olympus of new deities; but this +mythology of the imagination is annihilated, like paganism, at the +aspect of paradise, of that ocean of light, sparkling with rays and with +stars, with virtues and with love.</p> + +<p>"The magic words of our great poet are the prism of the universe; all +its wonders are there reflected, divided, and recomposed; sounds imitate +colours, and colours are blended in harmony; rhyme, sonorous or bizarre, +rapid or prolonged, is inspired by this poetical divination; supreme +beauty of art! triumph of genius! which discovers in nature every secret +in affinity with the heart of man.</p> + +<p>"Dante hoped from his poem the termination of his exile; he reckoned on +Fame as his mediator; but he died too soon to receive the palm of his +country. Often is the fleeting life of man worn out in adversity! and if +glory triumph, if at length he land upon a happier shore, he no sooner +enters the port than the grave yawns before him, and destiny, in a +thousand shapes, often announces the end of life by the return of +happiness.</p> + +<p>"Thus unfortunate Tasso, whom your homage, Romans, was to console for +all the injustice he had suffered; Tasso, the handsome, the gentle, the +heroic, dreaming of exploits, feeling the love which he sang, approached +these walls as his heroes did those of Jerusalem—with respect and +gratitude. But on the eve of the day chosen for his coronation, Death +claimed him for its terrible festival: Heaven is jealous of earth, and +recalls her favourites from the treacherous shores of Time!</p> + +<p>"In an age more proud and more free than that of Tasso, Petrarch was, +like Dante, the valorous poet of Italian independence. In other climes +he is only known by his amours,—here, more severe recollections +encircle his name with never-fading honour; for it is known that he was +inspired by his country more than by Laura herself.</p> + +<p>"He re-animated antiquity by his vigils; and, far from his imagination +raising any obstacle to the most profound studies, its creative power, +in submitting the future to his will, revealed to him the secrets of +past ages. He discovered how greatly knowledge assists invention; and +his genius was so much the more original, since, like the eternal +forces, he could be present at all periods of time.</p> + +<p>"Ariosto derived inspiration from our serene atmosphere, and our +delicious climate. He is the rainbow which appeared after our long wars; +brilliant and many-hued, like that herald of fine weather, he seems to +sport familiarly with life; his light and gentle gaiety is the smile of +nature and not the irony of man.</p> + +<p>"Michael Angelo, Raphael, Pergolese, Galileo, and you, intrepid +travellers, greedy of new countries, though nature could offer nothing +finer than your own, join your glory also to that of the poets. Artists, +scholars, philosophers! you are, like them, the children of that sun +which by turns developes the imagination, animates thought, excites +courage, lulls us into a happy slumber, and seems to promise everything, +or cause it to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>"Do you know that land where the Orange-trees bloom, which the rays of +heaven make fertile with love? Have you heard those melodious sounds +which celebrate the mildness of the nights? Have you breathed those +perfumes which are the luxury of that air, already so pure and so mild? +Answer, strangers; is nature in your countries so beautiful and so +beneficent?</p> + +<p>"In other regions, when social calamities afflict a country, the people +must believe themselves abandoned by the Deity; but here we ever feel +the protection of heaven; we see that he interests himself for man, that +he has deigned to treat him as a noble being.</p> + +<p>"It is not only with vine branches, and with ears of corn, that Nature +is here adorned; she prodigally strews beneath the feet of man, as on +the birthday of a sovereign, an abundance of useless plants and flowers, +which, destined to please, will not stoop to serve.</p> + +<p>"The most delicate pleasures nourished by nature are enjoyed by a nation +worthy of them—a nation who are satisfied with the most simple dishes; +who do not become intoxicated at the fountains of wine which plenty +prepares for them;—a nation who love their sun, their arts, their +monuments, their country, at once antique and in the spring of youth;—a +nation that stand equally aloof from the refined pleasures of luxury, as +from the gross and sordid pleasures of a mercenary people."</p> + +<p>"Here sensations are confounded with ideas; life is drawn in all its +fulness from the same spring, and the soul, like the air, inhabits the +confines of earth, and of heaven. Genius is untrammelled because here +reverie is sweet: its holy calm soothes the soul when perturbed, +lavishes upon it a thousand illusions when it regrets a lost purpose, +and when oppressed by man nature is ready to welcome it."</p> + +<p>"Thus is our country ever beneficent, and her succouring hand heals +every wound. Here, even the pangs of the heart receive consolation, in +admiring a God of kindness, and penetrating the secrets of his love; the +passing troubles of our ephemeral life are lost in the fertile and +majestic bosom of the immortal universe."</p> + +<p>Corinne was interrupted, for some moments, by a torrent of applause. +Oswald alone took no share in the noisy transports that surrounded him. +He had leaned his head upon his hand, when Corinne said: "<i>Here, even +the pangs of the heart receive consolation</i>;" and had not raised it +since. Corinne remarked it, and soon, from his features, the colour of +his hair, his costume, his lofty figure, from his whole manner in short, +she knew him for an Englishman: she was struck with his mourning habit, +and the melancholy pictured in his countenance. His look, at that moment +fixed upon her, seemed full of gentle reproaches; she guessed the +thoughts that occupied his mind, and felt the necessity of satisfying +him, by speaking of happiness with less confidence, by consecrating some +verses to death in the midst of a festival. She then resumed her lyre, +with this design, and having produced silence in the assembly, by the +moving and prolonged sounds which she drew from her instrument, began +thus:</p> + +<p>"There are griefs however which our consoling sky cannot efface, but in +what retreat can sorrow make a more sweet and more noble impression upon +the soul than here?</p> + +<p>"In other countries hardly do the living find space sufficient for their +rapid motions and their ardent desires; here, ruins, deserts and +uninhabited palaces, afford an asylum for the shades of the departed. Is +not Rome now the land of tombs?</p> + +<p>"The Coliseum, the obelisks, all the wonders which from Egypt and from +Greece, from the extremity of ages, from Romulus to Leo X. are assembled +here, as if grandeur attracted grandeur, and as if the same spot was to +enclose all that man could secure from the ravages of time; all these +wonders are consecrated to the monuments of the dead. Our indolent life +is scarcely perceived, the silence of the living is homage paid to the +dead; they endure and we pass away.</p> + +<p>"They only are honoured, they are still celebrated: our obscure +destinies serve only to heighten the lustre of our ancestors: our +present existence leaves nothing standing but the past; it will exact no +tribute from future recollections! All our masterpieces are the work of +those who are no more, and genius itself is numbered among the +illustrious dead.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps one of the secret charms of Rome, is to reconcile the +imagination with the sleep of death. Here we learn resignation, and +suffer less pangs of regret for the objects of our love. The people of +the south picture to themselves the end of life in colours less gloomy +than the inhabitants of the north. The sun, like glory, warms even the +tomb.</p> + +<p>"The cold and isolation of the sepulchre beneath our lovely sky, by the +side of so many funereal urns, have less terrors for the human mind. We +believe a crowd of spirits is waiting for our company; and from our +solitary city to the subterranean one the transition seems easy and +gentle.</p> + +<p>"Thus the edge of grief is taken off; not that the heart becomes +indifferent, or the soul dried up; but a more perfect harmony, a more +odoriferous air, mingles with existence. We abandon ourselves to nature +with less fear—to nature, of whom the Creator has said: 'Consider the +lilies of the field; they toil not neither do they spin: yet I say unto +you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these.'"</p> + +<p>Oswald was so ravished with these last strains, that he gave the most +lively testimonies of his admiration; and, upon this occasion, the +transports of the Italians themselves did not equal his. In fact, it was +to him more than to the Romans, that the second improvisation of Corinne +was directed.</p> + +<p>The greater part of the Italians have, in reading poetry, a kind of +singing monotony, called <i>cantilene</i>, which destroys all emotion<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>. It +is in vain that the words vary—the impression remains the same; since +the accent, more essential than even the words, hardly varies at all. +But Corinne recited with a variety of tone, which did not destroy the +sustained charm of the harmony;—it was like several different airs +played on some celestial instrument.</p> + +<p>The tones of Corinne's voice, full of sensibility and emotion, giving, +effect to the Italian language, so pompous and so sonorous, produced +upon Oswald an impression entirely novel. The English prosody is uniform +and veiled, its natural beauties are all of a sombre cast; its colouring +has been formed by clouds, and its modulation by the roaring of the sea; +but when Italian words, brilliant as an Italian festival, resonant like +those instruments of victory, which have been compared to scarlet among +colours; when these words, bearing the stamp of that joy which a fine +climate spreads through every heart, are pronounced in a moving voice, +their lustre softened, their strength concentrated, the soul is affected +in a manner as acute as unforeseen. The intention of nature seems +baffled, her benefits of no use, her offers rejected, and the expression +of pain, in the midst of so many enjoyments, astonishes and affects us +more deeply than the grief which is sung in those northern languages +which it seems to inspire.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> We must expect from this censure upon the Italian mode of +declamation, the celebrated Monti, who recites verses as well as he +composes them. It is really one of the greatest dramatic pleasures that +can be experienced, to hear him recite the Episode of Ugolin, of +Francesca da Rimini, the Death of Clorinda, &c.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_biv" id="Chapter_biv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>The Senator took the crown of myrtle and laurel which he was to place on +the head of Corinne. She removed the shawl which graced her forehead, +and all her ebon hair fell in ringlets about her shoulders. She advanced +with her head bare, and her look animated by a sentiment of pleasure and +gratitude which she sought not to conceal. She a second time bent her +knee, to receive the crown; but she displayed less agitation and tremor +than at first; she had just spoken; she had just filled her mind with +the most noble thoughts, and enthusiasm conquered diffidence. She was +no longer a timid woman, but an inspired priestess who joyfully +consecrated herself to the worship of genius.</p> + +<p>As soon as the crown was placed on the head of Corinne all the +instruments were heard in those triumphant airs which fill the soul with +the most sublime emotion. The sound of kettle-drums, and the flourish of +trumpets, inspired Corinne with new feelings—her eyes were filled with +tears—she sat down a moment, and covered her face with her +handkerchief. Oswald, most sensibly affected, quitted the crowd, and +advanced to speak to her, but was withheld by an invincible +embarrassment. Corinne looked at him for some time, taking care +nevertheless, that he should not observe the attention she paid him; but +when the Prince Castel-Forte came to take her hand, in order to conduct +her to the car, she yielded to his politeness with an absent mind; and, +while she permitted him to hand her along, turned her head several +times, under various pretexts, to take another view of Oswald.</p> + +<p>He followed her, and at the moment when she descended the steps +accompanied by her train, she made a retrograde movement, in order to +behold him once more, when her crown fell off. Oswald hastened to pick +it up; and in restoring it to her, said in Italian, that an humble +mortal like himself might venture to place at the feet of a goddess that +crown which he dared not presume to place on her head<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>. Corinne +thanked Lord Nelville in English, with that pure national accent—that +pure insular accent, which has scarcely ever been successfully imitated +on the continent. What was the astonishment of Oswald in hearing her! He +remained at first immovably fixed to the spot where he was, and feeling +confused he leaned against one of the lions of basalt at the foot of +the stairway descending from the Capitol. Corinne viewed him again, +forcibly struck with the emotion he betrayed; but she was dragged away +towards the car, and the whole crowd disappeared long before Oswald had +recovered his strength and his presence of mind.</p> + +<p>Corinne, till then, had enchanted him as the most charming of +foreigners—as one of the wonders of that country he had come to visit; +but her English accent recalled every recollection of his native +country, and in a manner naturalised all the charms of Corinne. Was she +English? Had she passed several years of her life in England? He was +lost in conjecture; but it was impossible that study alone could have +taught her to speak thus—Corinne and Lord Nelville must have lived in +the same country. Who knows whether their families were not intimate? +Perhaps even, he had seen her in his infancy! We often have in our +hearts, we know not what kind of innate image of that which we love, +which may persuade us that we recognise it in an object we behold for +the first time.</p> + +<p>Oswald had cherished many prejudices against the Italians; he believed +them passionate, but changeable, and incapable of any deep and lasting +affection. Already the language of Corinne at the Capitol had inspired +him with a different idea. What would be his fortune, then, if he could +at once revive the recollections of his native country, and receive by +imagination a new existence,—live again for the future without +forgetting the past!</p> + +<p>In the midst of his reveries, Oswald found himself upon the bridge of St +Angelo, which leads to the castle of the same name, or rather to the +tomb of Adrian, which has been converted into a fortress. The silence of +the place, the pale waves of the Tiber, the moon-beams which shed their +mild radiance upon the statues placed on the bridge, and gave to those +statues the appearance of white spectres steadfastly regarding the +current of the waters, and the flight of time which no longer concerned +them; all these objects led him back to his habitual ideas. He put his +hand upon his breast, and felt the portrait of his father which he +always carried there; he untied it, contemplated the features, and the +momentary happiness which he had just experienced, as well as the cause +of that happiness, only recalled, with too severe a remembrance, the +sentiment which had already rendered him so guilty towards his father: +This reflection renewed his remorse.</p> + +<p>"Eternal recollection of my life!" cried he: "Friend so offended, yet so +generous! Could I have believed that any pleasurable sensation would so +soon have found access to my heart? It is not thou, best and most +indulgent of men,—it is not thou who reproachest me with them—it was +thy wish that I should be happy, and, in spite of my errors, that is +still thy desire: but at least, may I not misconceive thy voice, if thou +speak to me from heaven, as I have misconceived it upon earth!"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Lord Nelville seems to have alluded to this beautiful +distich of Propertius:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>"Ut caput in Magnis ubi non est ponere signis,</div> +<div>Ponitur hîc imos ante corona pedes.</div></div> +</div></div></div> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_iii" id="Book_iii"></a>Book iii.</h2> + +<h2>CORINNE</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-077.png" id="illus-077.png" /><img src="images/illus-077.png" width='600' +height='163' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_ci" id="Chapter_ci"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil was present at the ceremony of the Capitol: He came +the next day to Lord Nelville, and said to him, "My dear Oswald, shall I +take you this evening to see Corinne?" "How!" interrupted Oswald; "are +you acquainted with her, then?" "No," replied the Count d'Erfeuil; "but +so celebrated a lady is always flattered when people express a desire to +see her; and I have written to her this morning to request permission to +visit her in the evening accompanied by you." "I could have wished," +replied Oswald blushing, "that you had not named me in this manner +without my consent." "Do not be angry with me," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "for having spared you some tiresome formalities: Instead of +going to an ambassador, who would have taken you to a cardinal, who +would have conducted you to a lady, who would have introduced you to +Corinne, I present you—you present me, and we shall both of us be very +well received I have no doubt."</p> + +<p>"I am less confident on that subject than you," replied Lord Nelville, +"and certainly not without reason. I am afraid that this forward request +may have displeased Corinne." "Not at all, I assure you," said the Count +d'Erfeuil; "she has too much good sense for that; and her answer is +extremely polite." "How! she has answered you," replied Lord Nelville; +"and what has she said to you, my dear Count?" "Ah, my dear Count?" +said M. d'Erfeuil, laughing, "you change your note then, since you know +that Corinne has answered me; however, <i>I love you, and all is +pardoned</i>. I will confess to you then, modestly, that in my note I had +spoken of myself more than of you, and that, in her answer she seems to +have named you first, but I am never jealous of my friends." "Indeed," +replied Lord Nelville, "I do not think that either you or I have any +reason to flatter ourselves with being agreeable to Corinne; and as to +me, all that I desire is sometimes to enjoy the society of so +extraordinary a lady: so adieu till this evening, since you have +arranged it so." "You will accompany me then?" said the Count d'Erfeuil. +"Well, yes, I will," answered Lord Nelville with visible embarrassment. +"Why then," continued the Count, "find fault with what I have done? You +finish as I have begun, but however, I must allow you the honour of +being more reserved than I, provided you lose nothing by it. Corinne is +certainly a charming lady, she is graceful and witty; I could not +comprehend what she said very well, because she spoke Italian; but I +would venture to lay a wager, from only seeing her, that she knows +French very well: however, we shall judge of that in the evening. She +leads a very singular life; she is rich, young, and independent; yet no +one can tell, to a certainty, whether she has lovers or not. It appears +certain, notwithstanding, that, at present she gives a preference to no +one; indeed," added he, "it may be the case that she has not been able +to find in this country a man worthy of her: that would not astonish me +at all."</p> + +<p>The Count held this kind of discourse some time longer without being +interrupted by Lord Nelville. He said nothing that was discourteous; but +he always wounded the delicate feelings of Oswald by speaking with too +much boldness or too much levity upon what interested him. There is a +certain tact that even wit and knowledge of the world will not teach; so +that, without being wanting in the most perfect politeness, we may often +wound the heart.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville was very much agitated the whole day in thinking of the +visit he was to make in the evening; but he drove away from him as much +as he could the reflections which disturbed him, and endeavoured to +persuade himself that he might find pleasure in a sentiment, without +permitting it to decide the fate of his life. False security! for the +soul receives no pleasure from anything which it deems transient.</p> + +<p>Oswald and the Count arrived at Corinne's house, which was situated in +the <i>Quartiere di Trastevere</i>, a little beyond the castle of St Angelo.</p> + +<p>The view of the Tiber gave an additional embellishment to this house, +which was ornamented, internally, with the most perfect elegance. The +saloon was decorated with copies, in plaster, of the best statues in +Italy—Niobe, Laocoon, Venus de Medicis, and the Dying Gladiator. In the +apartment where Corinne received company were instruments of music, +books, and furniture not more remarkable for its simplicity than for its +convenience, being merely arranged so as to render the conversation +easy, and to draw the circle more closely together. Corinne had not yet +made her appearance when Oswald arrived; while waiting for her he walked +about the apartment with much eager curiosity, remarking in every +particular a happy medley of all that is most agreeable in the English, +French and Italian nations; the love of literature, the taste for +society, and a passion for the fine arts.</p> + +<p>Corinne at length appeared; her costume was still picturesque without +being over-studied. Her hair was ornamented with antique cameos and she +wore a necklace of coral: her politeness was noble and easy: in +beholding her in the familiar circle of her friends, you might discover +in her the goddess of the Capitol, notwithstanding she was perfectly +simple and natural in everything. She first saluted the Count d'Erfeuil, +her eyes fixed upon Oswald; and then, as if she repented this piece of +falsehood, she advanced towards the latter—and it might be remarked +that in addressing him by the title of Lord Nelville, that name seemed +to produce a singular effect upon her, and twice she repeated it with a +faltering voice, as if it recalled some affecting remembrances.</p> + +<p>At length, in the most graceful manner, she thanked Lord Nelville, in +Italian, for his obliging behaviour on the preceding day in picking up +her crown. Oswald answered by expressing the admiration with which she +inspired him, and gently complained of her not speaking to him upon this +occasion in English: "Am I more an alien to you to-day," added he, "than +I was yesterday?" "No certainly," replied Corinne; "but when people +have, like me, for several years, been in the habit of speaking two or +three different languages, they are apt to employ that which will best +convey the sentiments they wish to express." "Surely," said Oswald, +"English is your natural language, that which you speak to your friends, +that—" "I am an Italian," interrupted Corinne—"pardon me, my lord, but +I think I discover in you that national pride which often characterises +your countrymen. In this country we are more modest; we are neither +pleased with ourselves like the French, nor proud of ourselves like the +English: we only ask a little indulgence of foreigners, and as we have +long ceased to be considered a nation, we are guilty of sometimes being +wanting, as individuals, in that dignity which is not allowed us as a +people. But when you are acquainted with the Italians, you will see +that they possess in their character, some traces of ancient greatness, +some rare traces which, though now effaced, may appear again in happier +times. I will speak English to you sometimes, but not always: Italian is +dear to me; for I have endured much," added she, "to reside in Italy."</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil politely reproached Corinne with having entirely +forgotten him, by expressing herself in languages he did not understand. +"Lovely Corinne," said he to her, "pray talk French; indeed you are +worthy of such an accomplishment." Corinne smiled at this compliment, +and began to speak French, with great purity and much facility, but with +an English accent. Lord Nelville and the Count d'Erfeuil were equally +astonished, but the Count, who believed he might say anything, provided +it was done with grace, and who imagined that impoliteness consisted in +the form, and not the substance, asked directly of Corinne, the reason +of this singularity. She was at first a little discomposed at this +sudden interrogation; but recovering her presence of mind, she said to +the Count—"Apparently, Sir, I have learnt French of an Englishman?" He +renewed his questions smilingly, but with much earnestness. Corinne more +and more embarrassed, said to him at last, "For these four years past, +Sir, since I have settled at Rome, none of my friends, none of those +who, I am sure, are most interested on my account have questioned me +concerning my destiny; they easily perceived that it was painful to me +to speak on the subject."</p> + +<p>Those words put an end to the questions of the Count; but Corinne was +afraid she had offended him, and as he appeared to be very intimately +connected with Lord Nelville, she feared still more, without asking +herself the reason of such fear, that he might speak disadvantageously +of her to his friend; and therefore she set about taking much pains to +please him.</p> + +<p>The Prince Castel-Forte arrived at this moment, with several Romans, +friends of his and of Corinne. They were men of an amiable mind and +lively disposition, very prepossessing in their appearance, and so +easily animated by the conversation of others that it was a great +pleasure to converse with them, so exquisitely did they appear to feel +every thing that was worthy of being felt. The indolence of the Italians +prevents them from displaying in company, or often in any way whatever, +all the wit they possess. The greater part of them do not even cultivate +in retirement, the intellectual faculties that nature has given them; +but they enjoy with transport, that which comes to them without trouble.</p> + +<p>Corinne possessed a very gay turn of wit; she perceived the ridiculous +with the keen sense of a French woman, and coloured it with the +imagination of an Italian; but in every instance it was mingled with +goodness of heart; nothing was ever seen in her, either premeditated or +hostile; for, in every thing, it is coldness that offends—and +imagination on the contrary, is always accompanied with good-nature.</p> + +<p>Oswald discovered a grace in Corinne which was entirely new to him. One +great and terrible circumstance of his life was connected with the +remembrance of a very amiable and intelligent French woman; but Corinne +resembled her in nothing—her conversation was a mixture of every kind +of intellectual endowment, enthusiasm for the fine arts, and knowledge +of the world; refinement of ideas, and depth of sentiment; in short, all +the charms of a vivacious and rapid mind were observable in her, without +her thoughts ever being on that account incomplete, or her reflections +superficial. Oswald was at once surprised and charmed, uneasy and +transported; he was unable to comprehend how one person alone could +combine all the qualifications of Corinne. He asked himself whether the +union of all these qualities was the effect of an inconsistent or a +superior character; whether it was by the force of universal feeling, or +because she forgot every thing successively, that she passed thus, +almost in the same instant, from melancholy to gaiety, from profundity +to grace—from conversation the most astonishing, by the knowledge and +the ideas it displayed, to the coquetry of a woman who seeks to please, +and desires to captivate; but there was, even in that coquetry, such +perfect nobleness that it imposed as much respect as the most severe +reserve.</p> + +<p>The Prince Castel-Forte was very much taken up with Corinne, and the +sentiments of all his party were manifested towards her by attention and +the most delicate and assiduous respect; and the habitual worship with +which they surrounded her, made every day of her life a sort of +festival. Corinne felt herself happy in being thus beloved; but it was +that sort of happiness which we feel in living in a mild climate, +hearing nothing but harmonious sounds, and receiving, in short, nothing +but agreeable impressions. The serious and profound passion of love was +not painted on her countenance, where every emotion of her soul was +expressed by a most bright and mobile physiognomy. Oswald beheld her in +silence; his presence animated Corinne, and inspired her with the desire +of pleasing. However, she sometimes checked herself in those moments +when her conversation was the most brilliant, astonished at the calm +exterior of Oswald, not knowing whether he approved her or blamed her +secretly, or whether his English ideas would permit him to applaud this +display of talents in a woman.</p> + +<p>Oswald was too much captivated by the charms of Corinne, to call to +mind his old opinions upon that obscurity which became women; but he was +inquiring of himself, whether it were possible to be beloved by her; +whether any man could expect to concentrate in himself so many rays of +light. In fact, he was at the same time dazzled and disturbed; and +although, at his departure, she invited him, very politely, to come and +see her again, he suffered a whole day to pass without availing himself +of the invitation, experiencing a sort of terror from the sentiment by +which he felt himself impelled.</p> + +<p>Sometimes he compared this sentiment with the fatal error of the first +moments of his youth, but immediately banished such a comparison from +his mind—for then it was a perfidious art that had overcome him; but +who could doubt the truth of Corinne? Was that peculiar charm she +possessed the effect of magic, or of poetical inspiration? Was she an +Armida, or a Sappho? Was there any hope of captivating so lofty and +brilliant a genius! It was impossible to decide; but at least it was +easily seen, that not society, but heaven itself, could have formed this +extraordinary being, and that her mind could no more be imitated, than +her character feigned. "Oh, my father!" said Oswald, "if you had known +Corinne what would you have thought of her?"</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_cii" id="Chapter_cii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil came in the morning, according to custom, to see +Lord Nelville, and reproaching him for not having been to see Corinne +the day before, said, "Had you come, you would have been very happy." +"Why so?" replied Oswald. "Because yesterday I discovered, to a +certainty, that you have greatly interested her." "Still this levity," +interrupted Lord Nelville; "know that I neither can nor will endure it." +"Do you call levity," said the Count, "the promptitude of my +observation? Am I less in the right, because more quickly so? You were +made to live in the happy time of the Patriarchs, when the age of man +was five centuries; but mind, I give you notice that four of them at +least are lopped off in our days." "Be it so," answered Oswald, "and +what discovery have you made by these rapid observations?"—"That +Corinne loves you. Yesterday, when I arrived at her house, she received +me very kindly, to be sure; but her eyes were fixed on the door, to see +whether you followed me. She tried for a moment to talk of something +else; but as she is a lady of a very ingenuous and natural disposition, +she asked me, quite frankly, why you had not come with me? I blamed you +very much; I said that you were a very odd, gloomy sort of creature; but +you will excuse my relating all that I said over and above in your +praise."</p> + +<p>"'He is very sad,' said Corinne; 'he must certainly have lost some one +very dear to him. Whom is he in mourning for?' 'His father, Madam,' said +I; 'though it is more than a year since he lost him; and as the law of +nature obliges us all to survive our parents, I imagine there is some +other secret cause for so long and deep a melancholy.' 'Oh!' replied +Corinne, 'I am very far from thinking that griefs, similar in +appearance, are felt alike by all men. I am very much tempted to believe +that the father of your friend, and your friend himself, are exceptions +from the general rule.' Her voice was very tender, my dear Oswald, when +she said these words." "Are these," replied Oswald, "your proofs of that +interest you spoke of?" "In truth," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "these +are quite enough, according to my way of thinking, to convince a man +that he is beloved by a lady; but since you wish for better, you shall +have them; I have reserved the strongest for the last. Prince +Castel-Forte arrived, and related your adventure at Ancona, without +knowing that he was speaking of you: he related it with much fire and +imagination, as well as I could judge from the two lessons of Italian I +have taken; but there are so many French words in the foreign languages, +that we comprehend them, almost all, without even knowing them. Besides, +the countenance of Corinne would have explained to me what I did not +understand. One might read in it so visibly the agitation of her heart! +She did not breathe, for fear of losing a single word; and when she +asked if he knew the name of this generous and intrepid Englishman, such +was her anxiety, that it was easy to judge how much she dreaded to hear +pronounced any other name than yours.</p> + +<p>"Prince Castel-Forte said he did not know the gentleman's name; and +Corinne, turning quickly towards me, cried, 'Is it not true, Sir, that +it was Lord Nelville?' 'Yes, Madam,' answered I, 'it was he, himself;' +and Corinne then melted in tears. She had not wept during the story; +what was there then more affecting in the name of the hero than in the +recital itself?" "She wept!" cried Nelville, "Ah!—why was I not there?" +Then, checking himself all of a sudden, he cast down his eyes, and his +manly countenance was expressive of the most delicate timidity: he +hastened to resume the conversation, for fear that the Count might +disturb his secret joy by observing it. "If the adventure of Ancona +deserves to be related," said Oswald, "'tis to you, also, my dear Count, +that the honour of it belongs." "It is true," answered d'Erfeuil, +laughing, "that they mentioned an amiable Frenchman, who was along with +you, my lord; but no one save myself paid attention to this parenthesis +in the narration. The lovely Corinne prefers you; she believes you, +without doubt, the more faithful of the two: perhaps she may be +mistaken; you may even cause her more grief than I should; but women are +fond of pain, provided it is a little romantic; so you will suit her."</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville suffered from every word of the Count, but what could he +say to him? He never argued; he never listened attentively enough to +change his opinion; his words, once uttered, gave him no farther +concern, and the best way was to forget them, if possible, as soon as he +himself did.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_ciii" id="Chapter_ciii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>Oswald arrived in the evening at Corinne's, with a sentiment entirely +new; he thought that he was expected. What enchantment there is in that +first gleam of intercourse with the object of our love!—before +remembrance enters into partnership with hope—before words have +expressed our sentiments,—before eloquence has painted what we feel, +there is in these first moments, something so indefinite, a mystery of +the imagination, more fleeting than happiness, it must be owned, but +also more celestial.</p> + +<p>Oswald, on entering the apartment of Corinne, felt more timid than ever. +He saw that she was alone, and that circumstance almost gave him pain: +he could have wished to see her longer in the midst of society; he could +have wished to be convinced, in some manner, of her preference, instead +of finding himself all of a sudden engaged in a conversation which might +make Corinne cool towards him, if, as was certain, he should appear +embarrassed, and cold in consequence of that embarrassment.</p> + +<p>Whether Corinne perceived this disposition of Oswald, or whether it was +that a similar disposition produced in her a desire to animate the +conversation in order to remove restraint, she asked his Lordship +whether he had seen any of the monuments of Rome. "No," answered Oswald. +"What did you do with yourself yesterday, then?" replied Corinne +smiling. "I passed the whole day at home," said Oswald. "Since I have +been at Rome, Madam, my time has been divided between solitude and you." +Corinne wished to introduce the subject of his behaviour at Ancona; she +began by these words: "Yesterday I learnt—" then she stopped and said, +"I will speak to you of that when the company comes." There was a +dignity in the manners of Lord Nelville that intimidated Corinne; and, +besides, she feared, lest in reminding him of his noble conduct, she +should betray too much emotion; conceiving that emotion would be less +when they were no longer alone. Oswald was deeply touched with the +reserve of Corinne, and the frankness with which she testified, without +thinking, the motives of that reserve; but the more he was affected the +less was he able to express what he felt.</p> + +<p>He arose all of a sudden, and advanced towards the window; then he felt +that Corinne would be unable to explain the meaning of this movement, +and more disconcerted than ever, he returned to his place without saying +anything. There was in the conversation of Corinne more confidence than +in that of Oswald; nevertheless, she partook of the embarrassment which +he exhibited; and in her absence of mind, seeking to recover her +countenance, she placed her fingers upon the harp which was standing by +her side, and struck some chords, without connection or design. These +harmonious sounds, by increasing the emotion of Oswald, seemed to +inspire him with more boldness. He could now look at Corinne, and who +but must have been struck, in beholding her, with that divine +inspiration which was painted in her eyes! Encouraged at the same moment +by that mild expression which veiled the majesty of her looks, he would +then perhaps have spoken, but was prevented by the entrance of Prince +Castel-Forte.</p> + +<p>It was not without pain that he beheld Nelville <i>tête-à-tête</i> with +Corinne, but he was accustomed to dissimulate his feelings. This habit, +which is often found in the Italians united with great vehemence of +sensation, was in him rather the result of indolence and of natural +gentleness. He was content not to be the first object of Corinne's +affections; he was no longer young; he possessed great intelligence, +considerable taste for the arts, an imagination sufficiently animated to +diversify life without disturbing it, and such a desire to pass all his +evenings with Corinne, that if she were to be married he would conjure +her husband to let him come every day, to see her as usual, and upon +this condition he would not have been very unhappy at seeing her united +to another. The grief of the heart is not found in Italy complicated +with the sufferings of vanity, so that we find there, men either +passionate enough to stab their rival through jealousy, or men modest +enough to take willingly the second rank in the favour of a lady whose +conversation is agreeable to them; but rarely will be found any who for +fear of being thought despised, would refuse to preserve any sort of +connection which they found pleasing. The empire of society over +self-esteem is almost null in this country.</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil and the company that met every evening at Corinne's +house being assembled, the conversation turned upon the talent for +improvisation which their heroine had so gloriously displayed at the +Capitol, and they went so far as to ask her own opinion of it. "It is +something so rare," said Prince Castel-Forte, "to find any one at once +susceptible of enthusiasm and of analysis, gifted as an artist and +capable of observing herself, that we must intreat her to reveal to us +the secrets of her genius." "The talent for improvisation," replied +Corinne, "is not more extraordinary in the languages of the south, than +the eloquence of the tribune, or the brilliant vivacity of conversation +in other tongues. I will even say that, unfortunately it is with us more +easy to make verses <i>impromptu</i> than to speak well in prose. The +language of poetry is so different from that of prose, that from the +first verses the attention is commanded by the expressions themselves, +which, if I may so express it, place the poet at a distance from his +auditors. It is not only to the softness of the Italian language, but +much more to its strong and pronounced vibration of sonorous syllables, +that we must attribute the empire of poetry amongst us. There is a kind +of musical charm in Italian, by which the bare sound of words, almost +independently of the ideas, produces pleasure; besides, these words have +almost all something picturesque in them; they paint what they express. +You feel that it is in the midst of the arts, and under an auspicious +sky that this melodious, and highly-coloured language has been formed. +It is therefore more easy in Italy than any where else, to seduce with +words, without profundity of thought or novelty of imagery. Poetry, like +all the fine arts, captivates the senses, as much as the intellect. I +dare venture to say, however, that I have never improvised without +feeling myself animated by some real emotion, some idea which I believed +new, therefore I hope that I have trusted less than others to our +bewitching language. It is possible, if I may say so, to prelude at +random, and convey a lively pleasure by the charm of rhythm and of +harmony alone."</p> + +<p>"You believe then," interrupted one of the friends of Corinne, "that the +talent for improvisation injures our literature; I thought so once +myself, but hearing you, madam, has made me entirely alter that +opinion." "I have said," replied Corinne, "that there resulted from this +facility, this literary abundance, a quantity of inferior poetry; but I +am as pleased with this fecundity, which exists in Italy, as I am with +seeing our fields covered with a thousand superfluous products. This +liberality of nature makes me proud. I am particularly pleased with the +improvisations of the lower classes of the people; it discovers their +imagination to us, which is concealed everywhere else, and is only +developed amongst us. They give a poetical character to the lowest +orders of society, and spare us the contempt which we cannot help +feeling for every thing that is vulgar. When our Sicilians, conveying +travellers in their vessels, so delicately and politely felicitate them +in their pleasing dialect, and wish them in verse a sweet and long +adieu, one would say the pure breeze of heaven and of the sea produces +the same effect upon the imagination of men as the wind on the Æolian +harp, and that poetry, like the chords of that instrument, is the echo +of nature. One thing makes me attach an additional value to our talent +for improvisation, and that is, that it would be almost impossible in a +society disposed to mockery. It requires the good humour of the south, +or rather of those countries where people love to amuse themselves +without taking pleasure in criticising that which affords them +amusement, to encourage poets to venture on so perilous an enterprise. +One jeering smile would be sufficient to destroy that presence of mind +necessary for a sudden and uninterrupted composition: your audience must +become animated with you, and inspire you with their applause."</p> + +<p>"But madam," said Oswald at last, who till then had kept silence without +having for a moment ceased to behold Corinne, "to which of your poetical +talents do you yourself give the preference? To the work of inflection, +or of momentary inspiration?" "My lord," answered Corinne, with a look +that expressed the highest interest and the most delicate sentiment of +respectful consideration, "it is you that I would wish to make the judge +of that; but if you ask me to examine my own thoughts upon this subject, +I would say that improvisation is to me as an animated conversation. I +do not confine myself to any particular subject, I yield entirely to the +impression produced on me by the attention of my hearers, and it is to +my friends, in this instance, that I owe the greatest part of my talent. +Sometimes the impassioned interest with which I am inspired by a +conversation in which we have spoken of some great and noble question +that relates to the moral existence of man, his destiny, his end, his +duties and his affections; sometimes this interest elevates me above my +strength, makes me discover in nature, in my own heart, bold truths, +expressions full of life, that solitary reflection would not have given +birth to. I then believe myself acted upon by a supernatural enthusiasm, +and feel that what is speaking within me is greater than myself. Often I +quit the rhythm of poetry to express my thoughts in prose; sometimes I +quote the finest verses of the different languages I am acquainted with. +These divine verses, with which my soul is penetrated, have become my +own. Sometimes also I finish upon my lyre by chords, by simple and +national airs, the sentiments and thoughts which have escaped me in +speaking. In a word, I feel myself a poet, not only when a happy choice +of rhymes and harmonious syllables, or a happy combination of images +dazzles my auditors, but when my soul is elevated to the highest degree +and looks down with contempt upon every thing that is selfish and base: +in short, when a noble action appears most easy to me, it is then that +my poetry is in its greatest perfection. I am a poet when I admire, when +I despise, when I hate, not from personal feeling, not on my own +account, but for the dignity of human nature and the glory of the +world."</p> + +<p>Corinne then perceiving how the conversation had carried her away, +blushed a little, and turning towards Lord Nelville said to him, "you +see, my lord, I cannot touch upon any of those subjects that affect me +without experiencing that sort of shock which is the source of ideal +beauty in the arts, of religion in solitary minds, of generosity in +heroes, and of disinterestedness among men. Pardon me, my lord, although +such a woman resemble but little those whom your nation approves." "Who +could resemble you?" replied Lord Nelville; "can we make laws for one +who is without her like?"</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil was absolutely enchanted, notwithstanding he had not +understood all that Corinne had said; but her gestures, the sound of her +voice, and her pronunciation, charmed him.—It was the first time that +any grace which was not French had produced an effect upon him. But +indeed the great celebrity of Corinne at Rome put him a little in the +way of what he should think of her, and in his admiration of this +extraordinary lady he did not drop the good custom of letting himself be +guided by the opinion of others.</p> + +<p>He quitted Corinne's house along with Lord Nelville, and said to him on +their way home, "allow, my dear Oswald, that I may lay claim to some +merit for not having paid my court to so charming a lady." "But," +observed Nelville, "it seems, according to general opinion, that she is +not easy to please in that respect." "It is said so," replied the Count, +"but I can hardly believe it. A single woman of independent means who +leads nearly the life of an artist ought not to be so difficult to +captivate." Lord Nelville was wounded by this reflection. The Count, +whether he did not perceive it, or whether he wished to pursue the train +of his own ideas, continued thus:</p> + +<p>"I do not mean to say, however, that if I entertained much faith in a +lady's virtue, I might not as readily believe in that of Corinne as in +that of any other. She has certainly a thousand times more expression in +her look, and vivacity in her arguments than would be necessary in your +country, or even in ours, to excite suspicion of the rigidness of a +lady's virtue; but she is a person of so superior a mind, such profound +knowledge, and such fine tact, that the ordinary rules by which we judge +a woman cannot apply to her. In fact, would you believe it, +notwithstanding the openness of her disposition, and the freedom of her +conversation, she really imposes reserve upon me. It was my wish, +yesterday, with all due respect to her predilection for you, to say a +few words, at random, upon my own account: they were words that take +their chance; if they are heard, well and good; if not, well and good +still; and do you know Corinne gave me such cold looks that I was quite +disconcerted. It is, however, singular that one should feel any timidity +in the company of an Italian, a poet, an artist, every thing, in short, +that ought to produce quite a contrary effect." "Her name is unknown," +observed Nelville, "but her manners would make one believe that her +birth is illustrious." "Ah! it is in romances," said the Count, "that we +see the finest part of a character concealed, but in real life people +are more disposed to exhibit all that is most honourable in their life, +and even a little more than all." "Yes," interrupted Oswald, "in some +societies where people think of nothing but the effect they can produce +upon one another; but in one whose existence is internal there may be +mysteries in circumstances, as there are secrets in thought, and he only +who would espouse Corinne might be able to know them." "Espouse +Corinne!" interrupted the Count, bursting out laughing, "truly that idea +never occurred to me! Take my advice, my dear Nelville, if you wish to +do foolish things let them be such as will admit of reparation; but as +for marriage, you must always consider propriety. I appear frivolous in +your eyes, nevertheless I wager that in the conduct of life I shall be +more reasonable than you." "I believe so too," answered Lord Nelville, +and said not another word.</p> + +<p>In effect, he might have told the Count d'Erfeuil that there is often a +great deal of egotism in frivolity, and that such egotism can never +betray people into those errors of sentiment in which we always +sacrifice our own personal considerations to those of others! Frivolous +characters are very likely to acquire address in the pursuit of their +own interests; for in all that is called the political science of +private, as well as of public life, people succeed oftener by those +qualities which they have not than by those which they possess. Absence +of enthusiasm, absence of opinion, absence of sensibility, a little +understanding, combined with this negative treasure, and social life, +that is to say, fortune and rank, may be acquired or supported well +enough. The pleasantries of the Count however pained Lord Nelville; he +blamed them, but nevertheless they continually occupied his thoughts.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_iv" id="Book_iv"></a>Book iv.</h2> + +<h2>ROME.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-099.png" id="illus-099.png" /><img src="images/illus-099.png" width='600' +height='177' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_di" id="Chapter_di"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>A fortnight passed away, during which Lord Nelville dedicated himself +entirely to the society of Corinne. He quitted his lodgings but to go +and visit her—he saw nothing—he sought nothing but her; and, without +ever mentioning his passion, he made her sensible of it at every moment +of the day. She was accustomed to the lively and flattering homage of +the Italians; but Oswald's dignity of manners, his apparent coldness, +and the sensibility which he betrayed in spite of himself, produced a +more powerful effect upon her imagination.—Never did he relate a +generous action, never did he speak of a misfortune, without his eyes +being filled with tears; but he always endeavoured to conceal his +emotion. He inspired Corinne with a sentiment of respect such as she had +not felt for a long time before. No wit, however sparkling, could dazzle +her; but she was deeply interested by elevation and dignity of +character. Lord Nelville joined to these qualities, a nobleness in his +expressions, an elegance in the least actions of his life, which formed +a striking contrast to the negligence and familiarity of the greater +part of the Roman nobility.</p> + +<p>Though the tastes of Oswald were in some respects different from those +of Corinne, they mutually understood each other in a most wonderful +manner. Nelville conjectured the impressions of Corinne with perfect +sagacity, and Corinne discovered, in the slightest alteration of +Nelville's countenance, what passed in his mind. Accustomed to the +stormy demonstrations of passion that characterise the Italians, this +timid but proud attachment, this passion, incessantly proved, but never +avowed, spread a new charm over her existence: she felt as if encircled +with a calmer and purer atmosphere, and every instant of the day +inspired her with a sentiment of happiness which she loved to enjoy +without accounting for it.</p> + +<p>One morning Prince Castel-Forte visited her—he appeared sorrowful—she +asked him the cause of his sorrow. "This Scotsman," said he to her, "is +about to deprive us of your affections; and who knows even, whether he +will not rob us of you entirely?" Corinne was silent for some moments, +and then answered, "I assure you he has not even once told me that he +loved me." "You are, notwithstanding, convinced of it," answered Prince +Castel-Forte; "his conduct is sufficiently eloquent, and even his +silence is a powerful means of interesting you.—What can language +express that you have not heard? What kind of praise is there that has +not been offered you? What species of homage is there that you are not +accustomed to receive? But there is something concealed in the character +of Lord Nelville which will never allow you to know him entirely as you +know us. There is no person in the world whose character is more easy +than yours to become acquainted with; but it is precisely because you +shew yourself without disguise that mystery and reserve have a pleasing +ascendancy over you. That which is unknown, be it what it may, +influences you more strongly than all the sentiments which are +manifested to you." Corinne smiled; "You believe then, my dear Prince," +said she, "that my heart is ungrateful, and my imagination capricious. +Methinks however that Lord Nelville possesses and displays qualities +sufficiently remarkable to render it impossible that I can flatter +myself with having discovered them." "He is, I agree," answered Prince +Castel-Forte, "proud, generous and intelligent; with much sensibility +too, and particularly melancholy; but I am very much deceived, or there +is not the least sympathy of taste between you. You do not perceive it +while he is under the charm of your presence, but your empire over him +would not hold if he were absent from you. Obstacles would fatigue him; +his soul has contracted by the grief which he has experienced, a kind of +discouragement, which must destroy the energy of his resolutions; and +you know, besides, how much the English in general are enslaved to the +manners and habits of their country."</p> + +<p>At these words Corinne was silent and sighed. Painful reflections on the +first events of her life were retraced in her mind; but in the evening +she saw Oswald again, more her slave than ever; and all that remained in +her mind of the conversation of Prince Castel-Forte was the desire of +fixing Lord Nelville in Italy by making him enamoured of the beauties of +every kind with which that country abounds. It was with this intention +that she wrote to him the following letter. The freedom of the life +which is led in Rome excused this proceeding, and Corinne in particular, +though she might be reproached with too much openness and enthusiasm, +knew how to preserve dignity with independence, and modesty with +vivacity.</p> + +<p class='center'><i>Corinne to Lord Nelville.</i></p> + +<p class='right'><i>Dec. 15th, 1794.</i></p> + +<p>"I do not know, my lord, whether you will think me too confident in +myself, or whether you will do justice to the motives which may excuse +that confidence. Yesterday I heard you say that you had not yet seen +Rome, that you were neither acquainted with the masterpieces of our fine +arts, nor those ancient ruins which teach us history by imagination and +sentiment, and I have conceived the idea of presuming to offer myself as +your guide in this journey through a course of centuries.</p> + +<p>"Without doubt, Rome could easily present a great number of scholars +whose profound erudition might be much more useful to you, but if I can +succeed in inspiring you with a love for this retreat, towards which I +have always felt myself so imperiously attracted, your own studies will +finish the rude draft which I shall have begun.</p> + +<p>"Many foreigners come to Rome as they would go to London or to Paris, to +seek the dissipation of a great city; and if they dared confess they +were bored at Rome, I believe the greater part would confess it; but it +is equally true that here may be found a charm that never tires. Will +you pardon me, my lord, a wish that this charm were known to you.</p> + +<p>"It is true that here you must forget all the political interests in the +world, but when these interests are not united to sacred sentiments and +duties they chill the heart. Here too you must renounce what would be +called the pleasures of society, but these pleasures almost invariably +wither up the imagination. In Rome you may enjoy an existence at once +solitary and animated, which freely develops all that Heaven has +implanted in us. I repeat it, my lord; pardon this love of my country, +which begets a desire to make it beloved by such a man as you; and do +not judge, with the severity of an Englishman, those testimonies of +good-will which an Italian hopes she may give you without sinking either +in her own estimation or in yours.</p> + +<p class='right'><span class="smcap">Corrine</span>."</p> + +<p>In vain would Oswald have endeavoured to conceal the exquisite pleasure +he received from this letter; he caught a glimpse of a confused future +of enjoyment and happiness: imagination, love, enthusiasm, all that is +divine in the soul of man, appeared to him united with the project of +seeing Rome with Corinne. For, this time he did not reflect; this time +he set out the very instant to visit Corinne, and by the way he +contemplated the sky, he enjoyed the charm of the weather, life sat +lightly on him. His griefs and his fears were lost in the clouds of +hope; his heart, so long oppressed by sadness, palpitated and leaped +with joy; he feared, it is true, that so happy a disposition of mind +might not last; but the very idea that it was fleeting gave to this +fever of enjoyment more force and activity.</p> + +<p>"What, are you come already?" said Corinne, seeing Lord Nelville enter; +"Ah, thanks!" and she stretched forth her hand. Oswald seized it, and +imprinted his lips on it with the warmest tenderness; nor did he suffer +now that timidity which often mingled itself with his most agreeable +impressions, and caused him sometimes to endure, in the company of those +he loved best, the most bitter and painful feelings. The intimacy had +commenced between Oswald and Corinne since they had parted; it was the +letter of Corinne which had established it: they were satisfied with +each other, and mutually felt the most tender gratitude.</p> + +<p>"This morning then," said Corinne, "I will shew you the Pantheon and St +Peter's: I had, indeed, some hope," added she smiling, "that you would +accept my offer to make the tour of Rome with you, so my horses are +ready. I have expected you; you have arrived; 'tis very well, let us set +out." "Astonishing woman!" said Oswald; "Who then, art thou? Whence hast +thou derived so many opposite charms, which it would seem ought to +exclude each other;—sensibility, gaiety, profound reflection, external +grace, freedom, and modesty? Art thou an illusion? art thou some +supernatural blessing, destined to make happy the life of him who is +fortunate enough to meet with thee?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "if I have +it in my power to do you any service you must not think I will ever give +up the merit of it." "Take care," said Oswald, seizing Corinne's hand +with emotion; "take care what service it is you are about to render me. +For these two years the iron hand of affliction has closed up my heart; +if your sweet presence has afforded me relief; if, while with you, I +breathe again, what will become of me when once more abandoned to my +destiny?—What will become of me?" "Let us leave to time and to chance," +interrupted Corinne, "to decide whether this impression of a day, which +I have produced upon you, will be longer than a day in its duration. If +there be a mutual sympathy between our souls, our mutual affection will +not be transient. Be that as it may, let us go and admire together all +that can elevate our mind and our sentiments; we shall thus taste some +moments of happiness."</p> + +<p>In finishing these words Corinne went down stairs, and Nelville followed +her, astonished at her answer. It seemed to him that she admitted the +possibility of a half sentiment,—a momentary attraction. In short, he +thought he perceived something like levity in the manner in which she +had expressed herself, and he was hurt at it.</p> + +<p>He placed himself, without saying a word, in Corinne's carriage; who, +guessing his thoughts, said to him, "I do not believe that the heart of +man is so formed that he must always feel either no love at all or the +most invincible passion. There are beginnings of sentiment which a more +profound examination may dissipate. We flatter and then undeceive +ourselves, and even the enthusiasm of which we are susceptible, if it +renders the enchantment more rapid, may also cause coldness to succeed +the more quickly." "You have, then, reflected deeply on the tender +passion," said Oswald with bitterness. Corinne blushed at this word, and +was silent for some moments; then resuming the conversation, with a +striking mixture of frankness and dignity, "I do not believe," said she, +"that a woman of sensibility has ever arrived at the age of twenty-six +years, without having known the illusion of love; but if never having +been happy, if never having met the object who could merit all the +affections of my heart, be any claim to interest in the bosom of man, I +have a claim to yours." These words, and the accent with which Corinne +pronounced them, dissipated a little, the cloud which had spread over +the soul of Lord Nelville; nevertheless he said to himself: "She is the +most fascinating of women, but an Italian; and hers is not that timid, +innocent heart, to herself unknown, which the young English lady that my +father destined for me must possess."</p> + +<p>The name of this young English lady was Lucilia Edgermond, daughter to +the best friend of Lord Nelville's father; but she was too young when +Oswald quitted England for him to marry her, or even foresee, with +certainty, what she would one day become.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_dii" id="Chapter_dii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne went first to the Pantheon, which is now called <i>St +Mary of the Rotunda</i>. In every part of Italy Catholicism has inherited +something of Paganism, but the Pantheon is the only ancient Temple of +Rome which is preserved entire, the only one where may be remarked in +its <i>ensemble</i> the beauty of the architecture of the ancients, and the +particular character of their worship. Oswald and Corinne stopped in the +square of the Pantheon to admire the portico of this Temple and the +pillars that support it.</p> + +<p>Corinne made Nelville observe that the Pantheon was constructed in such +a manner as to appear greater than it was. "The church of St Peter," +said she, "will produce quite a different effect upon you; you will +believe it at first less stupendous than it is in reality. This +illusion, so favourable to the Pantheon, comes, as I am assured, from +there being more space between the pillars, and the air playing freely +around it; but principally from your not perceiving any of that detailed +ornament with which St Peter's is overladen. It is thus that the ancient +poets only designed large masses, and left the imagination of the hearer +to fill up the intervals, and supply the developments; but we moderns in +all things say too much."</p> + +<p>"This Temple," continued Corinne, "was consecrated by Agrippa, the +favourite of Augustus, to his friend, or rather to his master. However, +the master had the modesty to refuse the dedication of the Temple, and +Agrippa was obliged to dedicate it to all the gods in Olympus, in order +to take the place of Power, the god of the earth. There was a car of +bronze on the top of the Pantheon, on which were placed the statues of +Augustus and of Agrippa. On each side of the portico these same statues +were placed in another form, and on the pediment of the Temple is still +to be read: '<i>Consecrated by Agrippa</i>.' Augustus gave his name to the +age in which he lived because he made that age an epoch of the human +mind. The masterpieces of every kind produced by his contemporaries form +the rays of glory that encircle his head. He knew how to honour the men +of genius who cultivated letters, and he has found his recompense in +posterity."</p> + +<p>"Let us enter the temple," said Corinne. "You see it remains uncovered, +almost the same as it was formerly. They say that this light, proceeding +from the top, was the emblem of that God who was superior to all the +other deities. The Pagans have always been fond of symbolic images. It +seems, in effect, that this language is more fitting than speech to +religion. The rain often falls upon this marble court, but the rays of +the sun also enter to enlighten devotion. What serenity! What an air of +festivity is remarkable in this edifice! The Pagans have deified life, +and the Christians have deified death. Such is the spirit of the two +worships, but the Roman Catholic religion here, however, is less sombre +than in the northern countries. You will observe it when we visit St +Peter's. Inside the sanctuary of the Pantheon are the busts of our most +celebrated artists, they adorn the niches where were placed the gods of +the ancients.—As, since the destruction of the empire of the Cæsars, we +have hardly ever had political independence in Italy, you do not find +here either statesmen or great commanders. It is the genius of +imagination which constitutes our own glory; but do you not think, my +lord, that a people who honour talents in this manner ought to merit a +nobler fate?" "I am very severe towards nations," answered Oswald; "I +always believe that they deserve their fate let it be what it may." +"That is hard," replied Corinne; "perhaps after a longer residence in +Italy you will experience a sentiment of compassion towards this unhappy +country, which nature seems to have decorated as a victim; but, at +least, you will remember that the dearest hope of us artists, of us +lovers of glory, is to obtain a place here. I have already fixed upon +mine," said she pointing to a niche still vacant. "Oswald! who knows +whether you will not come again to this same enclosure when my bust +shall be placed there? Then—"</p> + +<p>Oswald interrupted her quickly and said, "In the shining splendour of +youth and beauty can you talk thus to one whom misfortune and suffering +have already bent towards the grave?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "the storm +may in a moment snap asunder those flowers that now have their heads +upreared in life and bloom. Oswald, dear Oswald!" added she; "why should +you not be happy? Why—" "Never interrogate me," replied Lord Nelville, +"you have your secrets—I have mine, let us mutually respect each +other's silence. No—you know not what emotion I should feel were I +obliged to relate my misfortunes." Corinne was silent, and her steps in +leaving the temple were slower, and her looks more thoughtful.</p> + +<p>She stopped beneath the portico:—"There," said she to Lord Nelville, +"was a most beautiful urn of porphyry, now transferred to St John of +Lateran; it contained the ashes of Agrippa, which were placed at the +foot of the statue that he had raised to himself. The ancients took so +much care to soften the idea of dissolution that they knew how to strip +it of every thing that was doleful and repulsive. There was, besides, so +much magnificence in their tombs that the contrast was less felt between +the blank of death and the splendours of life. It is true that the hope +of another world being less vivid among the Pagans than amongst +Christians, they endeavoured to dispute with death the future +remembrance which we place, without fear, in the bosom of the Eternal."</p> + +<p>Oswald sighed and was silent. Melancholy ideas have many charms when we +have not been ourselves deeply wretched, but when grief in all its +asperity has seized upon the soul, we no longer hear without shuddering +certain words which formerly only excited in us reveries more or less +pleasing.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_diii" id="Chapter_diii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>On the way to St Peter's the bridge of St Angelo is passed, and Corinne +and Lord Nelville crossed it on foot. "It was on this bridge," said +Oswald, "that, in returning from the Capitol, I for the first time +thought deeply of you." "I did not flatter myself," replied Corinne, +"that the coronation at the Capitol would have procured me a friend, but +however, in the pursuit of fame it was always my endeavour to make +myself beloved.—What would fame be to woman without such a hope?" "Let +us stop here a few minutes," said Oswald. "What remembrance of past ages +can produce such welcome recollections as this spot, which brings to +mind the day when first I saw you." "I know not whether I deceive +myself," replied Corinne; "but it seems to me that we become more dear +to one another in admiring together those monuments which speak to the +soul by true grandeur. The edifices of Rome are neither cold nor dumb, +they have been conceived by genius, and consecrated by memorable events. +Perhaps, Oswald, it is even necessary that we should be enamoured of +such a character as yours, in order to derive such pleasure from feeling +with you all that is noble and fine in the universe." "Yes," replied +Lord Nelville; "but in beholding you, and listening to your +observations, I feel no want of other wonders." Corinne thanked him in a +bewitching smile.</p> + +<p>On their way to St Peter's they stopped before the castle of St Angelo. +"There," said Corinne, "is one of those edifices whose exterior is most +original; this is the tomb of Adrian, which, changed into a fortress by +the Goths, bears the double character of its first and second +destination. Built for the dead, an impenetrable enclosure surrounds it; +and, nevertheless, the living have added something hostile to it by the +external fortifications, which form a contrast with the silence and +noble inutility of a funereal monument. On the top is seen an angel of +bronze with a naked sword<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>, and in the interior the most cruel prisons +are contrived. Every event of Roman history, from Adrian to our time, is +connected with this monument. It was here that Belisarius defended +himself against the Goths, and, almost as barbarous as they who attacked +him, threw at his enemy the beautiful statues that adorned the interior +of the edifice<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>. Crescentius, Arnault de Brescia, Nicolas Rienzi, +those friends of Roman liberty who so often mistook memories for hopes, +defended themselves for a long time in this imperial tomb. I love these +stones which are connected with so many illustrious facts. I love this +luxury of the master of the world—a magnificent tomb. There is +something great in the man who, possessing every enjoyment, every +terrestrial pomp, is not dismayed from making preparations for his death +a long time before hand. Moral ideas and disinterested sentiments fill +the soul when it in a manner breaks through the boundaries of mortality.</p> + +<p>"It is from here that we ought to perceive St Peter's. The pillars +before it were to extend as far as here:—such was the superb plan of +Michael Angelo; he expected, at least, that it would be so finished +after his death; but the men of our days no longer think of posterity. +When once enthusiasm has been turned into ridicule every thing except +money and power is destroyed." "It is you who will revive that +sentiment," cried Lord Nelville. "Who ever experienced the happiness I +enjoy? Rome shewn by you, Rome interpreted by imagination and genius, +<i>Rome, that is a world animated by sentiment, without which the world +itself is a desert</i><a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>. Ah, Corinne! what will succeed to these days, +more happy than my heart and my fate permit!" Corinne answered him with +sweetness: "All sincere affections proceed from heaven, Oswald! Why +should it not protect what it inspires? To that Power belongs our fate."</p> + +<p>At that moment St Peter's appeared to them, the greatest building that +man has ever raised; for the pyramids of Egypt themselves are inferior +to it in height. "Perhaps," said Corinne, "I ought to have shewn you the +finest of our buildings last, but that is not my system. It is my +opinion that to beget a sensibility for the fine arts, we must begin by +beholding objects that inspire a deep and lively admiration. This +sentiment once felt, reveals, if I may so express myself, a new sphere +of ideas, and renders us afterwards more capable of loving, and of +judging, what even in an inferior order recalls the first impression we +have received. All those gradations, those prudent methods, one tint +after another, to prepare for great effects, are not to my taste; we +cannot arrive at the sublime by degrees; infinite distances separate it +even from that which is only beautiful." Oswald felt an altogether +extraordinary emotion on arriving opposite St Peter's. It was the first +time that the work of man had produced upon him the same effect as one +of the wonders of nature. This is the only work of art, now on our +earth, possessing that kind of grandeur which characterises the +immediate works of the creation. Corinne enjoyed the astonishment of +Oswald. "I have chosen," said she, "a day when the sun is in all its +lustre, to shew you this edifice. I have in reserve for you a still more +exquisite, more religious pleasure, when you shall contemplate it by +moonlight: but you must first witness the most brilliant intellectual +feast—the genius of man adorned with the magnificence of nature."</p> + +<p>The square of St Peter is surrounded by pillars—those at a distance of +a light, and those near of a massive structure. The ground, which is +upon a gentle ascent up to the portico of the church, still adds to the +effect which it produces. An obelisk, 80 feet high, stands in the middle +of the square, but its height appears as nothing in presence of the +cupola of St Peter's. The form of an obelisk alone has something in it +that pleases the imagination; its summit is lost in the air, and seems +to lift the mind of man to heaven. This monument, which was constructed +in Egypt to adorn the baths of Caligula, and which Sixtus Quintus caused +to be transported to the foot of the temple of St Peter, this +cotemporary of so many centuries, which have spent their fury upon it in +vain, inspires us with a sentiment of respect; man, sensible of his own +fleeting existence, cannot contemplate without emotion that which +appears to be immutable. At some distance on each side of the obelisk +are two fountains, whose waters form a perpetual and abundant cascade. +This murmuring of waters, which we are accustomed to hear in the open +country, produces, in this enclosure, an entirely new sensation; but +this sensation is quite in harmony with that to which the aspect of a +majestic temple gives birth.</p> + +<p>Painting and sculpture, imitating generally the human figure or some +object existing in nature, awaken in our soul perfectly clear and +positive ideas; but a beautiful architectural monument has not any +determinate meaning, if it may be so expressed, so that we are seized, +in contemplating it, with that kind of aimless reverie, which leads us +into a boundless ocean of thought. The sound of fountains harmonises +with all these vague and deep impressions; it is uniform as the edifice +is regular.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Eternal motion, and eternal rest,"</p></blockquote> + +<p>are thus blended with each other. It is particularly in a spot like this +that Time seems stript of his power, for he appears no more able to dry +up the fountains than to shake these immovable stones. The waters, which +spout in sheaves from these fountains, are so light and cloudlike that +on a fine day the rays of the sun produce on them little rainbows, +formed of the most beautiful colours.</p> + +<p>"Stop here a moment," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, when they had +already reached the portico of the church; "stop a little before you +lift up the curtain which covers the door of the temple. Does not your +heart beat as you approach this sanctuary? And do not you feel at the +moment of entrance all that excites expectation of a solemn event?" +Corinne herself lifted up the curtain and held it to let Nelville pass; +she displayed so much grace in this attitude that the first look of +Oswald was to admire her as she stood, and for some moments she +engrossed his whole observation. However, he proceeded into the temple, +and the impression which he received beneath these immense arches was so +deep, and so solemn, that love itself was no longer able to fill his +soul entirely. He walked slowly by the side of Corinne, both preserving +silence. Indeed here every thing seemed to command silence; the least +noise re-echoes to such a distance that no language seems worthy of +being repeated in an abode which may almost be called eternal! Prayer +alone, the voice of calamity, produces a powerful emotion in these vast +regions; and when beneath these immense domes you hear some old man +dragging his feeble steps along the polished marble, watered with so +many tears, you feel that man is imposing even by the infirmity of his +nature which subjects his divine soul to so many sufferings; and that +Christianity, the worship of suffering, contains the true guide for the +conduct of man upon earth.</p> + +<p>Corinne interrupted the reverie of Oswald, and said to him, "You have +seen Gothic churches in England and in Germany; you must have remarked +that they have a much more gloomy effect than this church. There was +something mysterious in the Catholicism of the northern nations; ours +speaks to the imagination by external objects. Michael Angelo said on +beholding the cupola of the Pantheon, 'I will place it in the air;' and, +in effect, St Peter's is a temple built upon a church. There is some +connection between the ancient religions and Christianity, in the effect +which the interior of this edifice produces upon the imagination. I +often come and walk here to restore to my soul that serenity which it +sometimes loses: the sight of such a monument is like continual and +sustained music, which waits to do you good when you approach; and +certainly we must reckon among the claims of our nation to glory, the +patience, the courage and the disinterestedness of the heads of the +church, who have devoted one hundred and fifty years, so much money, and +so much labour, to the completion of an edifice which they who built it +could not expect to enjoy<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>. It is even a service rendered to the +public morals to present a nation with a monument which is the emblem of +so many noble and generous ideas." "Yes," answered Oswald; "here the +arts possess grandeur, and imagination and invention are full of genius; +but how is the dignity of man himself protected here! What +institutions! what feebleness in the greater part of the governments of +Italy! and, nevertheless, what subjugation in the mind!" "Other +nations," interrupted Corinne, "have borne the yoke the same as we, and +have lacked the imagination to dream of another fate.</p> + +<p class='center'>'Servi siam sì, ma servi ognor frementi.'</p> + +<p class='center'>'<i>Yes! we are slaves, but slaves ever quivering with hope,</i>'</p> + +<p>says Alfieri, the most bold of our modern writers. There is so much soul +in our fine arts that perhaps one day our character will be equal to our +genius.</p> + +<p>"Behold," continued Corinne, "those statues placed on the tombs, those +pictures in mosaic—patient and faithful copies of the masterpieces of +our great artists. I never examine St Peter's in detail, because I do +not wish to discover those multiplied beauties which disturb in some +degree the impression of the whole. But what a monument is that, where +the masterpieces of the human mind appear superfluous ornaments! This +temple is like a world by itself; it affords an asylum against heat and +cold; it has its own peculiar season—a perpetual spring, which the +external atmosphere can never change. A subterraneous church is built +beneath this temple;—the popes, and several foreign potentates, are +buried there: Christina after her abdication—the Stuarts since the +overthrow of their dynasty. Rome has long afforded an asylum to exiles +from every part of the world. Is not Rome herself dethroned? Her aspect +affords consolation to kings, fallen like herself.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>'Cadono le citta, cadono i regni,</div> +<div>E l'uom, d'esser mortal, par che si sdegni.'</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'>'<i>Cities fall. Empires disappear, and yet man is angry at being mortal!</i>'</p> + +<p>"Place yourself here," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, "near the altar +in the middle of the cupola; you will perceive through the iron grating, +the church of the dead, which is beneath our feet, and lifting up your +eyes, their ken will hardly reach the summit of the vault. This dome, +viewing it even from below, inspires us with a sentiment of terror; we +imagine that we see an abyss suspended over our head. All that is beyond +a certain proportion causes man, limited creature as he is, an +invincible dread. That which we know is as inexplicable as that which is +unknown, but then we are accustomed to our habitual darkness, whilst new +mysteries terrify us and disturb our faculties.</p> + +<p>"All this church is ornamented with antique marble, and its stones know +more than we concerning the ages that are past. There is the statue of +Jupiter, which has been converted into St Peter, by adding the nimbus to +the head. The general expression of this temple perfectly characterises +the mixture of gloomy tenets with brilliant ceremonies; a depth of +sadness in ideas, but the softness and vivacity of the south in external +application; severe intentions, but mild interpretations; the Christian +theology, and the images of Paganism; in a word, the most admirable +union of splendour and majesty that man can infuse into his worship of +the deity.</p> + +<p>"The tombs, decorated by the wonders of the fine arts, do not present +death under a formidable aspect. It is not altogether like the ancients, +who engraved dances and games upon their sarcophagi; but the mind is +abstracted from the contemplation of a coffin by the masterpieces of +genius. They recall immortality, even upon the altar of death; and the +imagination animated by the admiration which they inspire, does not +feel, as in the north, silence and cold, the immutable guardians of +sepulchres." "Without doubt," said Oswald, "we wish death to be +surrounded by sadness; and even before we were enlightened by +Christianity our ancient mythology, our Ossian, made lamentations and +dirges concomitants of the tomb. Here one wishes to forget and to enjoy. +I know not whether I should be desirous of such a benefit from your fine +sky." "Do not believe, however," replied Corinne, "that our character is +light, or our mind frivolous; it is only vanity that causes frivolity. +Indolence may introduce some intervals of sleep, or of forgetfulness +into our lives, but it neither wears out nor dries up the heart; and +unfortunately for us we may be aroused from this state by passions more +deep, and more terrible than those of souls habitually active."</p> + +<p>In finishing these words, Corinne and Lord Nelville approached the door +of the church. "Another glance towards this immense sanctuary," said she +to Nelville: "See how little man appears in presence of religion, even +when we are reduced to consider only its material emblem! See what +immobility, what eternity, mortals can give to their works, whilst they +themselves pass away so rapidly, and only survive themselves by their +genius! This temple is an image of the infinite, and there is no limit +to the sentiments to which it gives birth—to the ideas which it +revives—to the immense quantity of years which it recalls to our +reflection, either of past or future ages; and on quitting its walls we +seem to pass from celestial thoughts to worldly interests, from the +eternity of religion to the atmosphere of time."</p> + +<p>When they were outside the church Corinne pointed out to Nelville Ovid's +Metamorphoses, which were represented on the gates in basso-relievo. "We +are not scandalised in Rome," said she to him, "with the images of +Paganism when they have been consecrated by the fine arts. The wonders +of genius always make a religious impression on the soul, and we make an +offering to the Christian religion of all the masterpieces which other +modes of worship have inspired." Oswald smiled at this explanation. +"Believe me, my lord," continued Corinne, "there is much sincerity in +the sentiments of nations who possess a very lively imagination. But +to-morrow if you choose I will conduct you to the Capitol. I have, I +hope, many other walks to propose to you. When they are finished will +you go? Will you—" She stopped, fearing she had said too much. "No +Corinne," replied Oswald; "no, I will never renounce that gleam of +happiness which my guardian angel, perhaps, causes to shine upon me from +the height of heaven."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> A Frenchman in the late war, commanded the Castle of St +Angelo; the Neapolitan troops summoned him to capitulate; he answered +that the fortress should be surrendered when the Angel of Bronze should +sheathe his sword.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> These facts are to be found in the <i>History of the Italian +Republics of the Middle Ages</i>, by M. Simonde, of Geneva. This history +will certainly be considered as an authority; for we perceive, in +reading it, that its author is a man of profound sagacity, as +conscientious as he is energetic in his manner of relating and +describing.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>"Eine Welt zwar bist du o Rom; doch ohne die Liebe,</div> +<div>Wäre die Welt nicht die Welt, wäre denn Rom auch nicht Rom."</div></div> +</div> + +<p>These two verses are from Goëthe, the German poet, the philosopher, the +man of letters, whose originality and imagination are most remarkable.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The Church of St Peter is said to be one of the chief +causes of the Reformation, inasmuch as it cost the Popes so much money +that they had recourse to the multiplication of indulgences in order to +build it.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_div" id="Chapter_div"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>The next day Oswald and Corinne set out with more confidence and +serenity. They were friends travelling together;—they began to say +<i>we</i>. Ah! how touching is that <i>we</i> when pronounced by love! How +timidly, yet how vividly expressed, is the declaration which it +contains! "We will go to the Capitol then," said Corinne. "Yes, we will +go there," replied Oswald. Simplicity was in his words—softness and +tenderness in his accent. "From the height of the Capitol, such as it is +now," said Corinne, "we can easily perceive the seven hills; we will +survey them all, one after another; there is not one of them which does +not preserve in it some traces of history."</p> + +<p>Corinne and Lord Nelville took what was formerly called the <i>Via Sacra</i> +or Triumphal Way. "'Tis this way that your car passed," said Oswald to +Corinne. "Yes," answered she; "this ancient dust might be astonished at +bearing such a car; but since the Roman republic, so many criminal +traces have been imprinted on it that the sentiment of respect which it +inspires is much weakened." They then arrived at the foot of the steps +of the present Capitol. The entrance to the ancient Capitol was through +the Forum. "I could wish," said Corinne, "that these steps were the same +that Scipio mounted, when, repelling calumny by glory, he entered the +temple to return thanks to the gods for the victories which he had +gained. But these new steps, this new Capitol, has been built upon the +ruins of the old, in order to receive the peaceable magistrate who bears +in himself alone the immense title of Roman Senator, formerly an object +of respect to the whole universe. Here we have no longer any thing but +names; yet their harmony, their ancient dignity, inspire us with a +pleasing sensation, mingled with regret. I asked a poor woman, whom I +met the other day, where she lived? '<i>At the Tarpeian Rock</i>,' answered +she. This word, however stripped of the ideas which formerly attached to +it, still vibrates upon the imagination."</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne stopped to contemplate the two lions of basalt at the +foot of the steps<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>. They came from Egypt. The Egyptian sculptors were +more happy in seizing the figure of animals than that of man. These +lions of the Capitol are nobly peaceful, and their physiognomy is the +true image of tranquillity in strength.</p> + +<p class='center'>"A guisa di leon, quando si posa."</p> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Dante</span>.</p> + +<p class='center'>"<i>In the manner of the lion, when he reposes.</i>"</p> + +<p>Not far from these lions is a statue of Rome, mutilated, which the +modern Romans have placed there, without thinking that they were thus +giving the most perfect emblem of their city as it now is. This statue +has neither head nor feet, but the body and the drapery which still +remain have something of their ancient beauty. At the top of the steps +are two colossal figures which represent as it is believed Castor and +Pollux; then the trophies of Marius; then two milliary columns which +served for the admeasurement of the Roman universe; and the equestrian +statue of Marcus Aurelius, noble and calm in the midst of these several +recollections. Thus, the whole Roman history is here emblematically +represented: The heroic age by the Dioscuri; the republic by the lions; +the civil wars by Marius; and the golden age of the emperors by Marcus +Aurelius.</p> + +<p>Advancing towards the modern Capitol, we see to the right and to the +left two churches, built on the ruins of the temples of the Feretrian +and Capitoline Jupiter. Before the vestibule is a fountain, over which +preside two rivers, the Nile and the Tiber, with the she-wolf of +Romulus. The name of the Tiber is not pronounced like that of inglorious +rivers; it is one of the pleasures of the Romans, to say, "<i>Conduct me +to the borders of the Tiber; let us cross the Tiber.</i>" In pronouncing +these words they seem to invoke history and to re-animate the dead. In +going to the Capitol, by way of the Forum, we find, to the right, the +Mamertine prisons.—These prisons were at first constructed by Ancus +Martius, and were then employed for ordinary criminals. But Servius +Tullius caused more horrid ones to be dug under ground for state +criminals, as if such prisoners were not those who deserve most +consideration, since their errors might be united with sincerity. +Jugurtha and the accomplices of Cataline perished in these prisons. It +is also said that St Peter and St Paul have been incarcerated in them. +On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the foot +of this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospital +of Consolation. It seems that thus in Rome the severe spirit of +antiquity and the mildness of Christianity meet each other throughout +the ages, and present themselves to our sight as well as to our +reflection.</p> + +<p>When Oswald and Corinne had reached the top of the tower of the Capitol, +she showed him the Seven Hills; the city of Rome bounded at first by +Mount Palatine, then by the walls of Servius Tullius, which enclose the +Seven Hills; lastly by the walls of Aurelian, which still serve as an +enclosure to the greatest part of Rome. Corinne recalled to mind the +verses of Tibullus and Propertius<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>, who are proud of the weak +beginnings whence has sprung the mistress of the world. Mount Palatine +was in itself the whole of Rome for some time, but afterwards the palace +of the Emperors filled the space which had before sufficed for a nation. +A poet, in the time of Nero, made the following epigram upon this +occasion.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> <i>Rome will soon be only a palace. Go to Veii Romans, if +this palace does not now occupy Veii itself.</i></p> + +<p>The Seven Hills are infinitely less elevated than formerly when they +deserved the name of the Steep Mountains. Modern Rome is raised forty +feet above the ancient city. The valleys which separated the hills are +almost filled up by time with the ruins of edifices; but what is more +singular yet, a heap of broken vases has raised two new hills;<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and +we almost discover an image of modern times, in this progress, or rather +this wreck of civilisation, levelling mountains with valleys, effacing +in the moral as well as the physical world all those beautiful +inequalities produced by nature.</p> + +<p>Three other hills,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> not comprised in the seven famous ones, give +something picturesque to the city of Rome, which perhaps is the only +city that of itself, and in its own boundaries, offers the most +magnificent points of observation. It presents such a remarkable mixture +of ruins, edifices, fields and deserts, that we may contemplate Rome on +all sides, and always find a striking picture in the opposite +perspective.</p> + +<p>Oswald could never feel tired of viewing the traces of ancient Rome from +the elevated point of the Capitol to which Corinne had conducted him. +The reading of history, and the reflections which it excites, produce a +less powerful effect upon the soul than those heaps of stones, those +ruins mingled with new habitations. So strongly do our eyes carry +conviction to the mind, that after having beheld these ruins of Rome we +believe the history of the ancient Romans as if we had been cotemporary +with them. The recollections of the mind are acquired by study; the +recollections of the imagination are born of a more immediate and +intimate impression, which gives body to thought, and renders us, if I +may so express it, witnesses of what we have learnt. Undoubtedly one is +vexed sometimes at those modern buildings which intrude themselves among +the venerable spoils of antiquity. But a portico by the side of a humble +cottage, pillars, between which appear the little windows of a church, a +tomb affording an asylum to a whole rustic family, produce an +indescribable mixture of great and simple ideas, a newly-discovered +pleasure which inspires a continual interest. The greater part of our +European cities have externally a common and prosaic appearance; and +Rome, oftener than any other, presents the melancholy aspect of misery +and degradation; but all of a sudden a broken column, a bas-relief +half-destroyed, stones knit together in the indestructible manner of the +ancient architects, remind us that there is in man an eternal power, a +divine spark, which he must never cease to excite in himself and revive +in others.</p> + +<p>This Forum, whose enclosure is so narrow in compass, and which has +witnessed so many astonishing things, is a striking proof of the moral +greatness of man. When the universe, in the latter times of Rome, was +subjected to inglorious masters, we find whole centuries, of which +history has scarcely preserved any events; and this Forum, this little +space in the centre of a city, at that time very circumscribed, whose +inhabitants were fighting all around them for their territory, has it +not occupied by the memories which it recalls, the most sublime geniuses +of every age! Honour then, eternal honour, to nations, courageous and +free, since they thus captivate the admiration of posterity!</p> + +<p>Corinne observed to Lord Nelville that there were very few remains of +the Republican age to be found at Rome. The aqueducts, the canals formed +under ground, for the distribution of water, were the only luxury of the +Republic and the kings who preceded it. They have only left us useful +edifices: tombs raised to the memory of their great men, and some +temples of brick, which still subsist. It was not until after the +conquest of Sicily that the Romans for the first time made use of marble +for their monuments; but it is sufficient to behold places where great +actions have occurred, to experience an indefinable emotion. It is to +this disposition of the soul that we must attribute the religious power +of pilgrimages. Celebrated countries of every kind, even when stripped +of their great men and of their monuments, preserve their effect upon +the imagination. What struck our sight no longer exists, but the charm +of recollection remains.</p> + +<p>This Forum no longer presents us with any trace of that famous Tribune, +from which the Roman people were governed by eloquence. Three pillars +remain of a temple, raised by Augustus in honour of Jupiter Tonans, when +the thunderbolt fell at his feet without striking him, and an arch +which the senate raised to Septimus Severus in reward of his exploits. +The names of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were inscribed on the +fronton of the arch; but when Caracalla had assassinated Geta he caused +his name to be erased, and some traces of the cancelled letters are +still to be seen. At some distance is a temple to Faustina, a monument +of the blind weakness of Marcus Aurelius; a temple to Venus which, in +the time of the republic, was consecrated to Pallas—and farther on, the +ruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon, built by the Emperor +Adrian, who was jealous of Apollodorus, the famous Grecian architect, +and put him to death for having found fault with the proportions of his +edifice.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the square we behold the ruins of some monuments +consecrated to nobler and purer aims. The pillars of a temple which is +believed to have been that of Jupiter Stator, who prevented the Romans +from ever flying before their enemies. A pillar remaining of the Temple +of Jupiter Guardian, placed, we are told, not far from the abyss into +which Curtius precipitated himself. Pillars also of a temple, raised, +some say, to Concord, others to Victory. Perhaps these two ideas are +confounded by conquering nations, who probably think no real peace can +exist till they have subdued the universe! At the extremity of Mount +Palatine is a beautiful triumphal arch, dedicated to Titus, for the +conquest of Jerusalem. We are informed that the Jews who are at Rome +never pass under this arch, and a little path is shewn which they take +to avoid it. It is to be wished, for the honour of the Jews, that this +anecdote may be true; long recollections suit long misfortunes.</p> + +<p>Not far from thence is the arch of Constantine, embellished with some +bas-reliefs taken away from the forum of Trajan, by the Christians, who +wished to adorn the monument consecrated to the <i>founder of repose</i>; so +they called Constantine. The arts at this epoch were already on the +decline, and they stripped the past to honour new exploits. These +triumphal gates, which are seen at Rome, give perpetuity as much as man +can give it, to the honours paid to glory. There was a place upon their +summits destined for flute and trumpet players, in order that the victor +when passing might be intoxicated at the same time by music and praise, +and taste at the same moment all the most exalted emotions.</p> + +<p>Facing these triumphal arches are the ruins of the temple of Peace built +by Vespasian; it was so decorated with brass and with gold, internally, +that when consumed by fire, the streams of burning metal that flowed +from it extended even to the Forum. Lastly, the Coliseum, the most +beautiful ruin of Rome, terminates this noble enclosure, which embraces +all history in its compass. This superb edifice, of which only the +stones remain, stript of the gold and the marble, served as an +amphitheatre for the combats of the gladiators, with wild beasts. It was +thus that the Roman people were amused and deceived by strong emotions, +when natural sentiments could no longer soar. The entrance to the +Coliseum is by two doors, one consecrated to the victors, and by the +other were carried out the dead: strange contempt for the human race, +which made the life or death of man dependent upon the pastime of a +public spectacle! Titus, the best of emperors, dedicated the Coliseum to +the Roman people,—and these admirable ruins bear such fine traits of +magnificence and genius, that we are led into an illusion on the subject +of true greatness, and tempted to grant that admiration to the +masterpieces of art, which is only the due of monuments consecrated to +generous institutions.</p> + +<p>Oswald did not indulge in that admiration which Corinne felt in +contemplating these four galleries; these four edifices, rising one +upon another; this medley of pomp and barbarism, which at once inspires +respect and compassion. He beheld in these scenes nothing but the luxury +of the master, and the blood of the slaves, and felt indignant at the +arts which, regardless of their aim, lavish their gifts upon whatever +object they may be destined for. Corinne endeavoured to combat this +disposition:—"Do not," said she, to Lord Nelville, "carry the rigour of +your principles of morality and justice into the contemplation of the +Italian monuments; they, for the most part, recall, as I have told you, +rather the splendour, the elegance of taste of ancient forms, than the +glorious epoch of Roman virtue. But do you not find some traces of the +moral greatness possessed by the first ages, in the gigantic luxury of +the monuments which have succeeded them? Even the degradation of the +Roman people still commands respect: the mourning of her liberty covers +the world with wonders, and the genius of ideal beauty seeks to console +man for the true and real dignity which he has lost. Behold those +immense baths, open to all those who were willing to taste oriental +voluptuousness—those circuses destined for the elephants which were +brought there to combat with tigers, and those aqueducts which in a +moment converted the amphitheatre into a lake, where galleys too fought +in their turn, and crocodiles appeared where lions were seen +before:—such was the luxury of the Romans when luxury was their pride! +Those obelisks which were brought from Egypt, stolen from African +shades, in order to adorn the Roman sepulchres; that population of +statues which formerly existed in Rome cannot be looked upon in the same +light as the useless pageantry of the Asiatic despots: it is the Roman +genius which conquered the world, and to which the arts have given an +external form. There is something supernatural in this magnificence, +and its poetical splendour makes us forget its origin and its aim."</p> + +<p>The eloquence of Corinne excited the admiration of Oswald without +convincing him; he sought for some moral sentiment in all this, without +which all the magic of the arts could not satisfy him. Corinne then +recollected that in this very amphitheatre the persecuted Christians +died victims of their perseverance, and showing Lord Nelville the altars +which are raised in honour of their ashes, as well as the path of the +cross, which is trodden by penitents, at the foot of the most +magnificent wrecks of worldly grandeur, asked him if the ashes of +martyrs conveyed no language to his heart? "Yes," cried he, "I deeply +admire the triumph of the soul and of the will over the pains of death. +A sacrifice, whatever it may be, is nobler and more difficult than all +the flights of the soul and of thought.—An exalted imagination may +produce miracles of genius, but it is only in devoting ourselves to our +opinion or to our sentiments that we are truly virtuous;—it is then +alone that a celestial power subdues the mortal man in us."</p> + +<p>This language, so noble and so pure, yet gave uneasiness to Corinne. She +looked at Nelville—then cast down her eyes—and though, at that moment, +he took her hand and pressed it against his heart, she shuddered at the +idea that such a man could sacrifice others or himself to the worship of +opinions, of principles, or of duties, which he might have chosen.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Mineralogists affirm that these lions are not of basalt, +because the volcanic stone to-day known under that name could not have +existed in Egypt; but as Pliny calls the Egyptian stone out of which +these lions have been carved, basalt, and as Winckelmann, the historian +of the arts, also retains this appellation, I have deemed myself +justified in using it in its primitive acceptation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>"Carpite nunc, tauri, de septem collibus herbas,</div> +<div>Dum licet. Hic magnæ jam locus urbis erit."</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Tibullus</span>.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>"Hoc quodcunque vides hospes quam maxima Roma est,</div> +<div>Ante Phrygem Enean collis et herba fuit."</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Propertius</span>, Book IV. el. 1.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Roma domus fiet: Veios migrate, Quirites; Si non et Veios +occupat ista domus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Mounts Citorio and Testacio.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The Janicula, Mount Vaticano and Mount Mario.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_dv" id="Chapter_dv"></a>Chapter v.</h3> + + +<p>After the excursion to the Capitol and the Forum, Corinne and Nelville +spent two days in visiting the Seven Hills. The Romans formerly observed +a festival in honour of them. These hills, enclosed in her bosom, are +one of the original beauties of Rome; and we may easily conceive what +delight was experienced by feelings attached to their native soil, in +celebrating this singularity.</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne, having seen the Capitoline Hill the day before, +began their walks by Mount Palatine; it was entirely occupied by the +palace of the Cæsars, called <i>the golden palace</i>. This hill offers +nothing to our view, at present, but the ruins of that palace. The four +sides of it were built by Augustus Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero; but the +stones, covered with fertile plants, are all that now remain of it: +Nature has there resumed her empire over the labours of man, and the +beauty of the flowers consoles us for the destruction of the palace. The +luxury of the times of the kings and of the Republic only consisted in +public edifices; private houses were very small, and very simple. +Cicero, Hortensius, and the Gracchi, dwelt upon Mount Palatine, which, +at the decline of Rome, was scarcely sufficient for the abode of a +single man. In the latter ages, the nation was nothing more than an +anonymous crowd, merely designated by the era of its master. We look in +vain here for the two laurels planted before the door of Augustus, the +laurel of war, and that of the fine arts cultivated by peace; both have +disappeared.</p> + +<p>There is still remaining, on Mount Palatine, some chambers of the Baths +of Livia; we are there shown the holes which contained the precious +stones that were then lavished upon ceilings, as a common ornament, and +paintings are to be seen there whose colours are yet perfectly +untouched; the fragility of the colours adds to our astonishment at +seeing them preserved, and seems to carry us back nearer to past ages. +If it be true that Livia shortened the days of Augustus, it is in one of +these rooms that the crime was conceived, and the eyes of the sovereign +of the world, betrayed in his most intimate affections, were perhaps +fixed upon one of those pictures whose elegant flowers still remain<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>. +What, in old age, were his thoughts upon his life and his pomp? Did he +recall to mind his proscriptions or his glory? Did he hope, or did he +fear a world to come? Does the last thought, which reveals everything to +man; does the last thought of a master of the universe still wander +beneath these vaults?</p> + +<p>Mount Aventine offers more traces than any other of the first periods of +the Roman History. Exactly opposite the Palace, raised by Tiberius, we +see the ruins of the Temple of Liberty, which was built by the father of +the Gracchi. At the foot of Mount Aventine stood the temple dedicated to +the Fortune of men by Servius Tullius, to thank the gods for having +raised him from the condition of a slave to the rank of a king. Without +the walls of Rome we find also the ruins of a temple, which was +consecrated to the Fortune of women when Veturia stopped the progress of +Coriolanus. Opposite Mount Aventine is Mount Janicula, on which Porsenna +placed his army. It was opposite this Mount that Horatius Cocles caused +the bridge leading to Rome to be cut away behind him. The foundation of +this bridge is still to be seen; there stands on the bank of the river a +triumphal arch, built of brick, as simple as the action which it recalls +was grand; this arch having been raised, it is said, in honour of +Horatius Cocles. In the middle of the Tiber is perceived an island +formed of sheaves of corn gathered in the fields of Tarquin, which were +a long time exposed on the river because the Roman people would not take +them, believing that they should entail bad fortune on themselves by so +doing. It would be difficult in our days to cast a malediction upon +riches of any sort which could prevent everybody from seizing them.</p> + +<p>On Mount Aventine were placed the temple of patrician, and that of +plebeian modesty. At the foot of this hill is seen the temple of Vesta, +which yet remains whole, though it has been often menaced by the +inundations of the Tiber. Not far from thence is the ruin of a prison +for debt, where it is said a fine trait of filial piety was displayed, +which is pretty generally known. It was also in this place that Clelia +and her companions, prisoners of Porsenna, crossed the Tiber in order to +rejoin the Romans. This Aventine Mount affords the soul repose after the +painful reflections which the other hills awaken, and its aspect is as +beautiful as the memories it recalls. The name of <i>Pulchrum Littus</i>, +Beautiful Shore, was given to the banks of the river, which rolls at its +foot, which was the walk of the Roman orators when they quitted the +forum—it was there that Cæsar and Pompey met like private citizens, and +sought to captivate Cicero whose independent eloquence was then of more +importance to them than even the power of their armies.</p> + +<p>Poetry too lends its aid to embellish this retreat; Virgil has placed +the cavern of Cacus upon Mount Aventine, and the Romans, so great by +their history, are still more so by the heroic fictions with which the +bards have decorated their fabulous origin. Lastly, in returning from +this mountain is seen the house of Nicholas Rienzi, who vainly +endeavoured to revive ancient times among the moderns, and this memento, +feeble as it is, by the side of so many others, gives birth to much +reflection. Mount Cælius is remarkable because there we behold the +remains of the Prætorian camp, and that of the foreign soldiers. This +inscription has been found in the ruins of the edifice built for the +reception of these soldiers:—"To the hallowed genius of foreign camps!" +Hallowed indeed, for those whose power it maintained! What remains of +these ancient barracks, enables us to judge that they were built after +the manner of cloisters, or rather, that cloisters have been built upon +their model.</p> + +<p>Mount Esquiline was called the <i>Poets' Mount</i>, because Mecenas having +his palace on this hill, Horace, Propertius and Tibullus dwelt there +also. Not far from here are the ruins of the Thermæ of Titus, and of +Trajan. It is believed that Raphael took the model of his arabesques +from the fresco paintings of the Thermæ of Titus. It is there, also, +that was discovered the group of the Laocoon. The freshness of water +affords such pleasure in hot countries that delight is taken in +assembling together all the pomp of luxury, and every enjoyment of the +imagination, in the places appropriated for bathing. It was there that +the Romans exposed their masterpieces of painting and of sculpture. They +were seen by the light of lamps, for it appears by the construction of +these buildings, that daylight never entered them: they wished thus to +preserve themselves from the rays of the sun, so burning in the south: +the sensation they produce must certainly have been the cause of the +ancients calling them the darts of Apollo. It is reasonable to suppose, +from observing the extreme precaution of the ancients to guard against +heat, that the climate was then more burning than it is in our days. It +is in the Thermæ of Caracalla, that were placed the Hercules Farnese, +the Flora, and the group of Dirce. In the baths of Nero near Ostia was +found the Apollo Belvedere. Is it possible to conceive that in +contemplating this noble figure Nero did not feel some generous +emotions?</p> + +<p>The Thermæ and the Circuses are the only kind of buildings appropriated +to public amusements of which there remain any relics at Rome. There is +no theatre except that of Marcellus whose ruins still exist. Pliny +relates that there were three hundred and sixty pillars of marble, and +three thousand statues employed in a theatre, which was only to last a +few days. Sometimes the Romans raised fabrics so strong that they +resisted the shock of earthquakes; at others they took pleasure in +devoting immense labour to buildings which they themselves destroyed as +soon as their feasts were over; thus they sported with time in every +shape. Besides, the Romans were not like the Greeks—influenced by a +passion for dramatic representations. It was by Grecian work, and +Grecian artists, that the fine arts flourished at Rome, and Roman +greatness expressed itself rather by the colossal magnificence of +architecture than by the masterpieces of the imagination. This gigantic +luxury, these wonders of riches, possess great and characteristic +dignity, which, though not the dignity of liberty, is that of power. The +monuments appropriated for public baths, were called provinces; in them +were united all the divers productions and divers establishments which a +whole country can produce. The circus (called <i>Circus Maximus</i>) of which +the remains are still to be seen, was so near the palace of the Cæsars +that Nero could from his windows give the signal for the games. The +circus was large enough to contain three hundred thousand persons. The +nation almost in its entirety was amused at the same moment, and these +immense festivals might be considered as a kind of popular institution, +which united every man in the cause of pleasure as they were formerly +united in the cause of glory.</p> + +<p>Mount Quirinal and Mount Viminal are so near each other that it is +difficult to distinguish them: it was here that the houses of Sallust +and of Pompey, formerly stood; it is here also that the Pope has now +fixed his abode. We cannot take one step in Rome without bringing the +present near to the past, and different periods of the past near to each +other. But we learn to reconcile ourselves to the events of our own +time, in beholding the eternal mutability of the history of man; and we +feel ashamed of letting our own lot disturb us in the presence of so +many ages, which have all overthrown the work of the preceding ones.</p> + +<p>By the side of the Seven Hills, on their declivities or on their +summits, are seen a multitude of steeples, and of obelisks; Trajan's +column, the column of Antoninus, the Tower of Conti (whence it is said +Nero beheld the conflagration of Rome), and the Dome of St Peter's, +whose commanding grandeur eclipses that of every other object. It +appears as if the air were peopled with all these monuments, which +extend towards Heaven, and as if an aerial city were majestically +hovering over the terrestrial one.</p> + +<p>On entering Rome again Corinne made Oswald pass under the portico of +Octavia, she who loved so well, and suffered so much; then they +traversed the <i>Path of Infamy</i>, by which the infamous Tullia passed, +trampling her father's corpse beneath the feet of her horses. At a +distance from this spot is seen the temple raised by Agrippina in honour +of Claudius whom she caused to be poisoned. And lastly we pass the tomb +of Augustus, whose enclosure now serves as an amphitheatre for the +combats of beasts.</p> + +<p>"I have caused you to run over very rapidly," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "some traces of ancient history; but you will comprehend the +pleasure to be found in these researches, at once learned and poetic, +which speak to the imagination as well as to the mind. There are in Rome +many distinguished men whose only occupation is to discover some new +relation between history and the ruins." "I know no study that would +more captivate and interest me," replied Lord Nelville, "if I felt +sufficiently at rest to give my mind to it: this species of erudition is +much more animated than that which is acquired from books: one would say +that we make what we discover to live again, and that the past +re-appears from beneath the dust in which it has been buried." +"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "this passion for antiquity is not a vain +prejudice. We live in an age when personal interest seems to be the only +principle of all the actions of men, and what sympathy, what emotion, +what enthusiasm, can ever result from such a principle? It is sweeter to +dream of those days of devotion, of personal sacrifice and heroism, +which however, have existed, and of which the earth still bears some +honourable testimonies."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Augustus died at Nola, on his way to the waters of +Brindisi, which had been prescribed him; but he left Rome in a dying +state.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_dvi" id="Chapter_dvi"></a>Chapter vi.</h3> + +<p>Corinne flattered herself in secret with having captivated the heart of +Oswald, but as she knew his reserve and his severity, she had not dared +make known to him all the interest he had excited in her heart, though +she was disposed, by character, to conceal nothing that she felt. +Perhaps also she believed that even in speaking on subjects foreign to +their growing passion there was a tenderness of accent in their voice, +which betrayed their mutual affection, and that a secret avowal of love +was painted in their looks, and in that melancholy and veiled language +which penetrates so deeply into the soul.</p> + +<p>One morning, when Corinne was getting ready to continue her walks with +Oswald, she received a note from him, somewhat ceremonious, informing +her that the bad state of his health would confine him at home for some +days. A painful disquietude seized upon the heart of Corinne: she at +first feared he might be dangerously ill, but the Count d'Erfeuil, whom +she saw at night, told her it was one of those melancholy fits to which +he was very much subject and, during which he would not speak to +anybody.—"He will not see <i>even me</i>," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "when +he is so."—This <i>even me</i> was highly displeasing to Corinne, but she +was upon her guard not to betray any symptoms of that displeasure to the +only man who might be able to give her news of Lord Nelville. She +interrogated him, flattering herself that a man of so much apparent +levity would tell her all he knew. But on a sudden, whether he wished to +conceal from her by an air of mystery that Oswald had confided nothing +to him, or whether he believed it more honourable to refuse what was +asked of him than to grant it, he opposed an invincible silence to the +ardent curiosity of Corinne. She who had always had an ascendency over +those with whom she conversed, could not comprehend why all her means of +persuasion were without effect upon the Count d'Erfeuil: did she not +know that there is nothing in the world so inflexible as self-love?</p> + +<p>What resource remained then to Corinne to know what was passing in the +heart of Oswald! should she write to him? The formality it would require +was too foreign to her open disposition. Three days glided away, during +which she did not see Lord Nelville, and was tormented by the most cruel +agitation.—"What have I done then," said she, "to drive him from me? I +have not told him that I loved him.—I have not been guilty of that +crime, so terrible in England, but so pardonable in Italy. Has he +guessed it? But why should he esteem me the less for it?" Oswald had +only absented himself from Corinne because he felt the power of her +charms becoming too strong to resist. Though he had not given his word +to espouse Lucilia Edgermond, he knew it was his father's wish that she +should become his wife, and to that wish he desired to conform. Besides, +Corinne was not known by her real name, and had, for several years, led +a life much too independent. Such a marriage, Lord Nelville believed +would not have obtained the approbation of his father, and he felt that +it was not thus he could expiate the transgressions he had been guilty +of towards him. Such were his motives for removing himself from the +presence of Corinne. He had formed the project of writing to her on +quitting Rome, stating the motives that condemned him to this +resolution; but as he could not find strength to do that, he contented +himself with abstaining from visiting her, and even this sacrifice +became almost too painful to bear from the second day of his absence.</p> + +<p>Corinne was struck with an idea that she should never behold Oswald +again; that he would go away without bidding her adieu. She expected +every instant to receive the news of his departure, and this fear so +increased the agony of her feelings that she felt herself all of a +sudden seized by passion, that vulture beneath whose talons happiness +and independence sink. Unable to endure the house that Lord Nelville no +longer visited, she frequently wandered in the gardens of Rome, hoping +to meet with him. The hours so spent were the least insupportable, since +they afforded some chance of seeing the object of her wanderings. The +ardent imagination of Corinne was the source of her talents; but, +unfortunately for her, it was united to her natural sensibility, which +often rendered it extremely painful to her.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the fourth day of this cruel absence, the moon shone +beautifully bright, and the silence of the night gives Rome a fine +effect: it seems then to be inhabited by the shades of its illustrious +ancients. Corinne, returning from the house of a female friend, +oppressed with grief, quitted her carriage, to sit for a few moments +near the fountain of Trevi; before that abundant cascade, which, falling +in the midst of Rome, seems like the vital principle of this tranquil +abode. When this cascade ceases to play for some days, one would say +that Rome is struck with stupor. It is the noise of carriages that we +expect to hear in other capitals; but at Rome, it is the murmuring of +this immense fountain, which seems to be an accompaniment necessary to +the pensive life people lead there: the image of Corinne was painted in +this stream, so pure, that for several centuries past it has borne the +name of the <i>Virgin Spring</i>. Oswald, who had stopped in the same place a +few moments afterwards, beheld the charming features of his love +reflected in the water. He was seized with so lively an emotion, that he +did not know, at first, whether it was not his imagination which +presented to him the shadow of Corinne, as it had so often done that of +his father; he bent towards the fountain to observe more distinctly, +when his own countenance was reflected by the side of Corinne's. She +knew him, uttered a cry, and darting towards him rapidly, seized his arm +as if she were afraid he would leave her again; but hardly had she +yielded to this impetuous emotion than recollecting the character of +Nelville, she blushed at having given him this lively testimony of her +feelings, and letting fall the hand which held Oswald, she covered her +face with the other to conceal her tears.</p> + +<p>"Corinne!" said Oswald, "dear Corinne! my absence has then rendered you +unhappy!" "Oh yes," answered she, "you were sure of that! Why then pain +me! have I deserved to suffer at your hand?" "No, certainly," cried +Nelville, "but if I do not think myself free; if I feel in my heart a +storm of grief, why should I associate you with such a torture of +sentiment and dread?"—"It is too late," interrupted Corinne, "it is too +late, grief has already seized upon my bosom—spare me."—"Do you +mention grief?" replied Oswald, "in the midst of so brilliant a career, +of such renown, and possessing so lively an imagination?"—"Hold," said +Corinne, "you do not know me; of all the faculties I possess, the most +powerful is that of suffering. I am born for happiness, my disposition +is open, my imagination animated; but pain excites in me a certain +impetuosity, powerful enough to disturb my reason or bring me to my +grave; therefore I beseech you, spare me. My gaiety and mobility are +only superficial; but there are in my soul abysses of sadness, which I +can only escape by guarding against love."</p> + +<p>Corinne pronounced these words with an expression that deeply affected +Oswald.—"I will come and see you to-morrow morning," said he. "Do you +swear it?" said she, with a disquietude which she vainly endeavoured to +conceal. "Yes, I swear it," cried Lord Nelville, and disappeared.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_v" id="Book_v"></a>Book v.</h2> + +<h2>THE TOMBS, THE CHURCHES, AND THE PALACES.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-141.png" id="illus-141.png" /><img src="images/illus-141.png" width='600' +height='148' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_ei" id="Chapter_ei"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>The next day, Oswald and Corinne felt much embarrassed at meeting each +other. Corinne was no longer confident of the love which she inspired. +Oswald was dissatisfied with himself; he knew there was a weakness in +his character which sometimes made him feel irritated at his own +sentiments as at a species of tyranny; and both endeavoured to avoid +speaking of their mutual affection. "I have to propose to-day," said +Corinne, "rather a solemn walk; but one that will certainly prove highly +interesting: let us go and see the tombs, let us go and see the last +asylum of those who inhabited the monuments whose ruins we have +contemplated."—"Yes," answered Oswald, "you have conjectured what will +suit the present disposition of my soul;" and he pronounced these words +in so dolorous an accent, that Corinne was silent some moments, not +daring to speak to him. But the desire of affording consolation to +Oswald, and the lively interest she took in every thing they were to see +together, inspired her with courage, and she said to him: "You know my +lord, that, among the ancients, so far was the aspect of the tombs from +dispiriting the living, that they endeavoured to excite a new emulation +by placing these tombs on the public roads, in order that by recalling +to young people the remembrance of illustrious men, they might silently +admonish them to follow their example." "Ah! how I envy all those," +said Oswald, "whose grief is not mingled with remorse!" "Do you talk of +remorse," cried Corinne; "you whose only failings, if they may be so +called, are an excess of virtue, a scrupulosity of heart, an exalted +delicacy—" "Corinne, Corinne, do not approach that subject," +interrupted Oswald, "in your happy country, sombre thoughts disappear +before the lustre of a brilliant sky; but that grief which has +penetrated to the depths of our soul, must for ever sap the foundation +of our existence." "You form an erroneous judgment of me," replied +Corinne; "I have already told you, that though I am formed by the nature +of my character, for lively enjoyment, I should suffer more exquisitely +than you if—" She did not conclude; but changed the discourse.—"My +only desire, my lord, is to divert your attention for a moment; I hope +for nothing more." The sweetness of this reply moved Lord Nelville, and +seeing a melancholy expression in the looks of Corinne, naturally so +interesting and so full of fire, he reproached himself for having +afflicted a woman, born for the most tender and lively sensations, and +endeavoured to atone for it. But the disquietude which Corinne +experienced with regard to the future intentions of Oswald, and the +possibility of his departure, entirely disturbed her accustomed +serenity.</p> + +<p>She conducted Lord Nelville outside the gates of the city, where are to +be seen the ancient vestiges of the Appian way. These vestiges are +indicated in the midst of the Campagna, by the tombs to the right and to +the left, which extend out of sight for several miles beyond the walls. +The Romans would not permit their dead to be buried inside the city: the +emperors alone were allowed that privilege. One private citizen, +however, named Publius Bibulus, obtained this favour in reward of his +obscure virtues.—Cotemporaries are always more willing to honour +virtues of that description than any other.</p> + +<p>It is the gate of St Sebastian, formerly called <i>Capene</i>, that conducts +to the Appian way. Cicero tells us, that the first tombs we meet after +passing this gate, are those of the Metelli, the Scipios, and the +Servilii. The family tomb of the Scipios has been found in this very +spot and since transplanted to the Vatican. It is almost a sacrilege to +displace the ashes of the dead or to change the aspect of ruins. +Imagination is more closely connected with morality than is generally +believed, and should not be offended. Among so many tombs which strike +our sight, names are ascribed to some without any positive certainty; +but even the emotion which this uncertainty inspires will not permit us +to contemplate any of these monuments with indifference. There are some +in which houses for the peasantry are built; for the Romans consecrated +an extensive space and vast edifices to the funereal urns of their +friends or their illustrious fellow-citizens. They were not influenced +by that dry principle of utility which fertilized a few corners of the +earth, while blasting with sterility the vast domain of sentiment and of +thought.</p> + +<p>At some distance from the Appian way is seen a temple, raised by the +republic to Honour and Virtue; another to the god who caused Hannibal to +turn back, and also the fountain of Egeria, where Numa went to consult +the god of all good men,—conscience interrogated in solitude. It seems +that about these tombs no traces but those of virtue have subsisted. No +monument of the ages of crime is to be found by the side of those where +repose the illustrious dead; they are surrounded by an honourable space, +where the noblest memories may preserve their reign undisturbed.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the country about Rome has something in it singularly +remarkable: undoubtedly it is a desert, for it contains neither trees +nor habitation; but the earth is covered with wild plants which the +energy of vegetation incessantly renews. These parasitic plants glide +among the tombs, adorn the ruins, and seem only there to honour the +dead. One would say, that proud Nature has rejected all the labours of +man, since Cincinnatus no longer guided the plough which furrowed her +bosom. She produces plants by chance, without permitting the living to +make use of her riches. These uncultivated plains must be displeasing to +the agriculturist, to administrators, to all those who speculate upon +the earth, and who would lay it under contribution to supply the wants +of man. But pensive minds, which are occupied as much by death as by +life, take pleasure in contemplating this Roman Campagna upon which the +present age has imprinted no trace; this land which cherishes its dead, +and covers them lovingly with useless flowers, with useless plants which +creep upon the earth, and never rise sufficiently to separate themselves +from the ashes which they appear to caress.</p> + +<p>Oswald agreed that in this spot the mind felt more calm than it possibly +could any where else; besides, here the soul does not suffer so much +from the images that grief presents to it; one seems still to share with +those who are no more, the charms of that air, of that sun, and of that +verdure. Corinne observed the impression that Lord Nelville received, +and conceived some hopes from it: she did not flatter herself with being +able to console Oswald; she had not even wished to efface from his heart +the just regret he must feel at the loss of his father; but there is, +even in this regret, something tender and harmonious, which we must +endeavour to make known to those who have hitherto only felt its +bitterness; it is the only benefit we can confer upon them.</p> + +<p>"Let us stop here," said Corinne, "opposite this tomb, the only one +which remains yet almost whole: it is not the tomb of a celebrated +Roman, it is that of Cecilia Metella, a young maiden to whom her father +has raised this monument." "Happy!" said Oswald, "happy are the children +who die in the arms of their father and receive death in the bosom of +him who gave them life; death itself then loses its sting." "Yes," said +Corinne; "happy are those not doomed to the wretched lot of orphans. +See, arms have been sculptured on this tomb, though it belongs to a +woman: but the daughters of heroes may have their monuments adorned with +the trophies of their fathers; what a beautiful union is that of +innocence and valour! There is an elegy of Propertius which paints +better than any other writing of antiquity, this dignity of woman among +the Romans, more imposing, more pure than the worship paid to them +during the age of chivalry. Cornelia, dying in her youth, addresses to +her husband the most affecting consolations and adieus, in which we feel +at every word, all that is respectable and sacred in family ties. The +noble pride of an unspotted life is painted in this majestic poetry of +the Latins, this poetry, noble and severe as the masters of the +world<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>. '<i>Yes</i>,' says Cornelia, '<i>no stain has sullied my life from +the nuptial bed to the funeral pyre; I have lived pure between the two +torches.</i>' What an admirable expression" cried Corinne; "What a sublime +image! How worthy of envy is the lot of that woman who has been able to +preserve the most perfect unity in her destiny and carries but one +recollection to the grave: it is enough for a life!"</p> + +<p>In finishing these words, the eyes of Corinne were filled with tears; a +cruel sentiment, a painful suspicion seized upon the heart of +Oswald.—"Corinne," cried he, "Corinne, has your delicate soul nothing +to reproach itself with? If I were able to dispose of myself, if I could +offer myself to you, should I have no rival in the past? Should I have +reason to be proud of my choice? Would no cruel jealousy disturb my +happiness?"—"I am free, and I love you as I never loved man before!" +answered Corinne—"What would you have more?—Must I be condemned to an +avowal, that before I have known you I have been deceived by my +imagination as to the interest which another excited in me? Is there not +in the heart of man a divine pity for the errors which sentiment, or +rather the illusion of sentiment, may have led us to commit?" In +finishing these words a modest blush covered her face. Oswald was +startled; but remained silent. There was in Corinne's look an expression +of repentance and timidity which did not permit him to judge with +rigour—a ray from heaven seemed to descend upon, and absolve her! He +took her hand, pressed it against his heart, and knelt before her, +without uttering anything, without promising anything; but contemplated +her with a look of love which gave the utmost latitude to hope.</p> + +<p>"Believe me," said Corinne, to Lord Nelville—"let us form no plan for +the years to come. The most happy moments are those which a bountiful +chance gives us. Is it here then, is it in the midst of the tombs that +we should think of future days?"—"No," cried Lord Nelville, "I can +think of no future day that would be likely to part us! these four days +of absence have taught me too well that I now no longer exist but in +you!"—Corinne made no reply to these sweet expressions; but she +treasured them religiously in her heart; she was always fearful that in +prolonging the conversation upon that subject most interesting to her, +she might draw from Oswald a declaration of his future intentions, +before a longer acquaintance might render separation impossible. She +often, even designedly, turned his attention towards external +objects—like that Sultana in the Arabian Tales, who sought by a +thousand different recitals to awaken the interest of him she loved, in +order to postpone the decision of her fate till her charms and her wit +had completed their conquest.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a></p> + +<p class='center'>"Viximus insignes inter utramque facem."</p> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Propertius.</span></p> +</div></div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_eii" id="Chapter_eii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>Not far from the Appian way, Oswald and Corinne visited the +<i>Columbarium</i>, where slaves are united with their masters; where are +seen in the same tomb, all who lived under the protection of one man or +one woman. The women of Livia, for example, they who, appointed to the +care of her beauty, struggled for its preservation against the power of +time and disputed with the years some one of her charms, are placed by +her side in little urns. We fancy that we see an assemblage of the +obscure dead round one of the illustrious departed, not less silent than +his train. At a little distance from here, is perceived the field where +vestals, unfaithful to their vows, were buried alive; a singular +instance of fanaticism in a religion naturally tolerant.</p> + +<p>"I will not conduct you to the catacombs," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "though, by a singular chance, they are under this Appian way; +tombs thus having their abode beneath tombs; but this asylum of the +persecuted Christians has something so gloomy, and so terrible in it, +that I cannot find resolution to return thither. It does not inspire the +same affecting melancholy as more open situations; it is like a dungeon +adjoining a sepulchre; the torment of life accompanied with the horrors +of death. Undoubtedly, we feel penetrated with admiration of men who, by +the power of enthusiasm alone, have been able to support this +subterraneous existence; separating themselves from the sun and from +nature; but the mind is so ill at ease in this abode that it is +incapable of receiving any improvement. Man is a part of the creation; +he must find his moral harmony in the whole system of the universe, in +the usual order of destiny, and certain violent and formidable +exceptions may astonish the mind; but they are so terrifying to the +imagination that the habitual disposition of the soul cannot benefit by +them. Let us rather," continued Corinne, "go and see the pyramid of +Cestius: the Protestants who die here are all buried around this +pyramid, which affords them a mild, tolerant, and liberal asylum." +"Yes," answered Oswald, "it is there that several of my +fellow-countrymen have found their last retreat. Let us go thither; and +thus, at least, it may happen that I shall never quit you."—Corinne +shuddered at these words, and her hand trembled as she supported herself +upon the arm of Lord Nelville—"I am better, much better," said he, +"since I have known you."—The countenance of Corinne was lighted up +anew with that sweet and tender joy which it was accustomed to express.</p> + +<p>Cestius presided over the Roman games. His name is not to be found in +history; but it is rendered illustrious by his tomb. The massive pyramid +which encloses his ashes, defends his death from that oblivion which has +entirely effaced his life. Aurelian, fearing that this pyramid might be +employed as a fortress to attack Rome, has caused it to be enclosed +within the walls which are yet standing, not as useless ruins, but as +the actual enclosure of the modern city. It is said that the form of +the pyramid is in imitation of the flame which ascends from a funeral +pyre. It is certain that this mysterious form attracts the eye and gives +a picturesque aspect to every perspective of which it forms a part. +Opposite this pyramid is Mount Testaceo, under which there are extremely +cool grottos where feasts are given in summer. The festivals of Rome are +not disturbed at the sight of tombs. The pines and the cypresses which +are perceived at various distances in the smiling country of Italy, are +also pregnant with solemn remembrances; and this contrast produces the +same effect as the verses of Horace,</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>—————————moriture Delli</div> +<div>——————————————</div> +<div>Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens</div> +<div>Uxor,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></div></div> +</div> + +<p>in the midst of poetry consecrated to every enjoyment upon earth. The +ancients have always felt that the idea of death has its pleasures: it +is recalled by love and by festivals, and the most lively emotion of joy +seems to increase even from the idea of the shortness of life.</p> + +<p>Corinne and Nelville returned from the walk among the tombs, along the +banks of the Tiber.—Once it was covered with vessels and bordered with +palaces; once even its inundations were regarded as presages; it was the +prophetic river, the tutelary Deity of Rome<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>. At present, one would +say that it rolled its tide through a land of shadows; so solitary does +it seem, so livid do its waters appear. The finest monuments of the +arts, the most admirable statues have been thrown into the Tiber, and +are concealed beneath its waves. Who knows whether, in order to find +them, the river will not one day be turned from its bed? But when we +think that the masterpieces of human genius are perhaps there before +us, and that a more piercing eye would behold them through the waves—we +feel that indescribable emotion which incessantly arises at Rome, under +various forms, and creates a society for the mind in physical objects +which every where else are dumb.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>Dellius thou must die—————</div> +<div>Thou must quit thy land, thy home, and thy beloved wife.</div></div> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <span class="smcap">Plin.</span> <i>Hist. Natur.</i> L. iii. Tiberis ... +quamlibet magnorum navium ex Italo mari capax, rerum in toto orbe +nascentium mercator placidissimus, pluribus probe solus quam ceteri in +omnibus terris amnes accolitur aspiciturque villis. Nullique fluviorum +minus licet, inclusis utrinque lateribus: nec tamen ipse pugnat, +quamquam creber ac subitis incrementis, et nusquam magis aquis quam in +ipsa urbe stagnantibus. Quin imo vates intelligitur potius ac monitor +auctu semper religiosus verius quam sævus.</p></div> + +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_eiii" id="Chapter_eiii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>Raphael has said that modern Rome was almost entirely built with the +ruins of the ancient city, and it is certain that we cannot take a step +here without being struck by some relics of antiquity. We perceive the +<i>eternal walls</i>, to use the expression of Pliny, through the work of the +later centuries; the Roman edifices almost all bear a historical stamp; +in them may be remarked, if we may so express it, the physiognomy of +ages. From the Etruscans to our days, from that people, more ancient +than the Romans themselves, and who resembled the Egyptians by the +solidity of their works and the fantastical nature of their designs, +from that people to Chevalier Bernini, an artist whose style resembles +that of the Italian poets of the seventeenth century, we may observe the +human mind at Rome, in the different characters of the arts, the +edifices and the ruins. The middle ages, and the brilliant century of +the Medici, re-appear before our eyes in their works, and this study of +the past in objects present to our</p> + +<p>sight, penetrates us with the genius of the times. It was believed that +Rome had formerly a mysterious name which was only known to a few +adepts; it seems that it is yet necessary to be initiated into the +secret of this city. It is not simply an assemblage of habitations, it +is the history of the world, figured by divers emblems and represented +under various forms.</p> + +<p>Corinne agreed with Lord Nelville that they should go and visit +together, the edifices of modern Rome, and reserve for another +opportunity the admirable collections of pictures and statues which it +contains. Perhaps, without accounting for it to herself, she desired to +put off till the most distant day possible, those objects which people +cannot dispense with seeing at Rome; for who has ever quitted it without +having contemplated the Apollo Belvedere and the pictures of Raphael? +This guarantee, weak as it was, that Oswald should not leave her, +pleased her imagination. Is there not an element of pride some one will +ask, in endeavouring to retain the object of our love by any other means +than the real sentiment itself? I really do not know; but the more we +love, the less we trust to the sentiment we inspire; and whatever may be +the cause which secures the presence of the object who is dear to us, we +always embrace it joyfully. There is often much vanity in a certain +species of boldness, and if charms, generally admired, like those of +Corinne, possess a real advantage, it is because they permit us to place +our pride to the account of the sentiment we feel rather than to that +which we inspire.</p> + +<p>Corinne and Nelville began their observations by the most remarkable of +the numerous churches of Rome—they are all decorated with ancient +magnificence; but something gloomy and fantastical is mingled with that +beautiful marble and those festival ornaments which have been taken from +the Pagan temples. Pillars of porphyry and granite were so numerous in +Rome that they have lavishly distributed them, scarcely considering them +of any value. At St John Lateran, that church so famous for the +councils that have been held in it, are found such a quantity of marble +pillars that many of them have been covered with a cement of plaster to +make pilasters, so indifferent have they become to these riches from +their multitude.</p> + +<p>Some of these pillars were in the tomb of Adrian, others at the Capitol; +these latter still bear on their capitals the figures of the geese which +saved the Roman people. Some of these pillars support Gothic, and others +Arabian ornaments. The urn of Agrippa conceals the ashes of a Pope; for +even the dead have yielded place to other dead, and the tombs have +almost as often changed their masters as the abodes of the living.</p> + +<p>Near St John Lateran is the holy stair-case, transported, it is said, +from Jerusalem to Rome. It may only be ascended kneeling. Cæsar himself, +and Claudius also, mounted on their knees the stair-case which conducted +to the Temple of the Capitoline Jove. On one side of St John Lateran is +the font where it is said that Constantine was baptised.—In the middle +of the square is seen an obelisk, which is perhaps the most ancient +monument in the world—an obelisk cotemporary with the Trojan war!—an +obelisk which the barbarous Cambyses respected so much that in honour of +it he put a stop to the conflagration of a city!—an obelisk for which a +king pledged the life of his only son!—The Romans have, miraculously, +brought this pillar to Italy from the lowest part of Egypt.—They turned +the Nile from its course in order that it might seek it, and transport +it to the sea. This obelisk is still covered with hieroglyphics which +have preserved their secret during so many ages, and which to this day +defy the most learned researches. The Indians, the Egyptians, the +antiquity of antiquity, might perhaps be revealed to us by these +signs.—The wonderful charm of Rome is not only the real beauty of its +monuments; but the interest which it inspires by exciting thought; and +this kind of interest increases every day with each new study.</p> + +<p>One of the most singular churches of Rome, is that of St Paul: its +exterior is like a badly built barn, and the interior is ornamented with +eighty pillars of so fine a marble and so exquisite a make, that one +would believe they belonged to an Athenian temple described by +Pausanias. Cicero said—<i>We are surrounded by the vestiges of +history</i>,—if he said so then, what shall we say now?</p> + +<p>The pillars, the statues, the bas-reliefs of ancient Rome, are so +lavished in the churches of the modern city, that there is one (St +Agnes) where bas-reliefs, turned, serve for the steps of a stair-case, +without any one having taken the trouble to examine what they +represented. What an astonishing aspect would ancient Rome offer now, if +the marble pillars and the statues had been left in the same place where +they were found! The ancient city would still have remained standing +almost entire—but would the men of our day dare to walk in it?</p> + +<p>The palaces of the great lords are extremely vast, of an architecture +often very fine, and always imposing: but the interior ornaments are +rarely tasteful; we do not find in them even an idea of those elegant +apartments which the finished enjoyments of social life have given rise +to elsewhere. These vast abodes of the Roman princes are empty and +silent; the lazy inhabitants of these superb palaces retire into a few +small chambers unperceived, and leave strangers to survey their +magnificent galleries where the finest pictures of the age of Leo X. are +collected together. The great Roman lords of the present day, are as +unacquainted with the pompous luxury of their ancestors, as these +ancestors themselves were with the austere virtues of the Roman +republic. The country houses convey still more the idea of this +solitude, of this indifference of the possessors in the midst of the +most admirable abodes in the world. People may walk in these immense +gardens without suspecting that they have a master. The grass grows in +the middle of the walks, and in these very walks are trees fantastically +cut according to the ancient taste that prevailed in France.—What a +singular whimsicality is this neglect of the necessary, and affectation +of the useless!—But one is often surprised at Rome, and in the greater +part of the other cities of Italy, at the taste of the Italians for +extravagant ornaments,—they who have incessantly before their eyes the +noble simplicity of the antique. They love what is brilliant, much +better than what is elegant and commodious. They have in every instance, +the advantages and the inconveniences of not living habitually in +society. Their luxury is rather that of the imagination, than the luxury +of actual enjoyment;—isolated as they are among themselves, they cannot +dread the spirit of ridicule, which seldom penetrates at Rome into +domestic secrecy; and often, in contrasting the interior with the +exterior of their palaces, one would say, that the greater part of the +Italian nobility arrange their dwellings more to dazzle the passers-by +than to receive their friends.</p> + +<p>After having surveyed the churches and the palaces, Corinne conducted +Oswald to the villa Mellini, a solitary garden, without any other +ornament than its magnificent trees. From here is seen, at a distance, +the chain of the Appenines; the transparency of the air colours these +mountains and throws them forward in the perspective, giving them a most +picturesque appearance. Oswald and Corinne remained in this spot to +enjoy the charms of the sky and the tranquillity of nature. It is +impossible to form an idea of this singular tranquillity without having +lived in Southern countries. On a hot day there is not felt the lightest +breath of wind. The feeblest blade of grass is perfectly still, and the +animals themselves partake of the indolence which the fine weather +inspires: in the middle of the day, you neither hear the hum of flies, +the chirping of grasshoppers, nor the song of birds; no object fatigues +itself with useless and trifling agitation; all sleep till storm or the +passions awaken the vehemence of nature, who then rushes with +impetuosity from her profound repose.</p> + +<p>There are in the gardens of Rome, a great number of trees clad in +perennial green, which heighten the illusion produced by the mildness of +the climate during winter. Pines, of a particular elegance, large, +tufted towards the top, and interwoven with one another, form a kind of +plain in the air, whose effect is charming when we mount sufficiently +high to perceive it. The lower trees are placed beneath the shelter of +this verdant vault. Two palm trees only are found in Rome which are both +planted in the gardens of the monks; one of them, placed upon an +eminence, serves as a landmark, and a particular pleasure must always be +felt in perceiving and retracing in the various perspectives of Rome, +this deputy of Africa, this type of a Southern climate more burning +still than that of Italy, and which awakens so many new ideas and +sensations.</p> + +<p>"Do you not find," said Corinne, contemplating with Oswald the country +surrounding them; "that nature in Italy disposes us more to reverie than +any where else?—It might be said, that she is here more in affinity +with man, and that the Creator uses her as a medium of interpretation +between his creature and himself." "Undoubtedly," replied Oswald, "I +think so; but who knows whether it may not be the deep feelings of +tenderness which you excite in my heart, that render me sensible to all +I see?—You reveal to me the emotions and thoughts, which external +objects can give birth to. I existed but in my heart; you have awakened +my imagination. But this magic of the universe, which you teach me to +know, will never present me with any thing more lovely than your look, +more moving than your voice." "May the sentiment I now inspire you with, +last as long as my life," said Corinne, "or at least, may my life never +survive the power of inspiring it!"</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne terminated their tour of Rome by the Borghese villa. +Of all the Roman gardens and palaces, here the splendours of nature and +the arts, are assembled with the greatest taste and brilliancy. Here are +seen trees of every kind, and magnificent fountains; an incredible +number of statues, vases, and antique sarcophagi, mingled with the +freshness of the youthful nature of the South. The ancient mythology +here seems revived; the naiades are placed on the borders of rivers, the +nymphs in woods worthy of them, the tombs beneath Elysian shades, and +the statue of Esculapius in the middle of an isle, while that of Venus +appears to rise out of the waters: Ovid and Virgil might walk in this +enchanting spot, and still believe themselves in the Augustan age. The +masterpieces of sculpture which the palace contains, give it a +magnificence ever new. At a distance, through the trees, is perceived +the city of Rome and St Peter's, the Campagna, and those long arches, +the wrecks of aqueducts, which conveyed the springs from the mountains +into ancient Rome. Everything is there that can excite thought, delight +the imagination, and foster reverie. The most pure sensations are +confounded with the pleasures of the soul, and give an idea of perfect +happiness; but when we ask why this charming abode is not inhabited? +they answer you that the malaria (<i>la cattiva aria</i>) will not permit any +one to live here during summer.</p> + +<p>This malaria, in a manner, lays siege to Rome; it advances every year +some steps farther, and they are obliged to abandon the most charming +habitations to its empire: undoubtedly, the absence of trees in the +country about the city, is one of the causes of it; and it is perhaps, +on that account, that the ancient Romans consecrated the woods to +goddesses, in order to make them respected by the people. At present, +forests without number have been cut down;—can there indeed exist, in +our days, any place so sanctified, that the avidity of man will spare it +from the work of devastation? The malaria is the scourge of the +inhabitants of Rome, and threatens the city with an entire depopulation; +but perhaps it increases the effect produced by the superb gardens which +are seen within the walls of Rome. The malign influence is not felt by +any external sign; you breathe an air which seems pure, and is very +agreeable; the earth is smiling and fertile; a delicious coolness +refreshes you in the evening after the burning heat of the day; and all +this is death!</p> + +<p>"I love," said Oswald to Corinne, "this mysterious, invisible danger, +this danger under the form of the sweetest impressions. If death be +only, what I believe it to be, a summons to a happier existence, why +should not the perfume of flowers, the umbrage of fine trees, and the +refreshing breath of the evening breeze, be the bearers of that summons? +Undoubtedly, governments ought to watch in every way over the +preservation of human life; but there are secrets in nature which the +imagination alone can penetrate; and I easily conceive that neither the +inhabitants nor the strangers who visit it, are disgusted with Rome, by +the species of peril to which they are exposed there during the most +beautiful seasons of the year."</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_vi" id="Book_vi"></a>Book vi.</h2> + +<h2>THE MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE ITALIANS.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-161.png" id="illus-161.png" /><img src="images/illus-161.png" width='600' +height='154' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_fi" id="Chapter_fi"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>The indecision of Oswald's character, increased by his misfortunes, led +him to dread forming any irrevocable resolve. He had not even dared, in +his state of irresolution, to ask of Corinne the secret of her name and +destiny; nevertheless, his love acquired every day new strength; he +never beheld her without emotion; in company he could hardly quit, even +for an instant, the place where she was seated; she did not speak a word +that he felt not; nor did she experience one moment's sadness or gaiety, +that was not reflected in his countenance. But in the midst of his +admiration and of his love for Corinne, he recollected how little such a +woman agreed with the English manner of living; how much she differed +from the idea which his father had formed of her whom it would be proper +for him to espouse; and all that he said to Corinne partook of the +trouble and constraint which these reflections caused him.</p> + +<p>Corinne perceived this too well; but it would have cost her so much to +break off with Lord Nelville, that she herself endeavoured to avoid, as +much as he, a decisive explanation; and as she was not possessed of much +foresight she was happy with the present, such as it was, although it +was impossible for her to know what would be the issue of it.</p> + +<p>She had become entirely divided from the world, in order to devote +herself entirely to her passion for Oswald. But at length, so much +affected was she at his silence with regard to the future, that she +resolved to accept an invitation for a ball to which she had been +pressingly solicited. Nothing is more common at Rome than to leave +society and to appear in it again, alternately, just as the parties feel +it agreeable to themselves: it is the country where people trouble their +minds the least with what is elsewhere called <i>gossip</i>; each one does as +he pleases, without any person enquiring about it, or at least, without +finding in others any obstacle either to his love or his ambition. The +Romans are as inattentive to the conduct of their fellow-countrymen, as +to that of strangers, who pass and repass through their city, the +rendezvous of Europeans. When Lord Nelville knew that Corinne was going +to the ball, he was vexed at it. He thought he had perceived in her for +some time a melancholy disposition in sympathy with his own: all on a +sudden she appeared to him to be taken up with dancing, an art in which +she excelled; and her imagination seemed fired at the approach of a +<i>féte</i>. Corinne was not frivolous by character; but she felt herself +every day more and more enslaved by her love for Oswald, and she would +fain endeavour to weaken its force. She knew by experience, that +reflection and sacrifices have less effect upon passionate characters +than dissipation, and she thought that reason did not consist in +conquering ourselves according to rules, but by doing so how we can.</p> + +<p>"I must," said she to Lord Nelville, who reproached her with her +intention of going to the ball, "I must know, however, if there be only +you in the world who can fill the void of my life; if that which pleased +me formerly may not still have the power to amuse me; and if the +sentiment you have inspired me with must absorb every other interest, +every other idea."—"You would then cease to love me?" replied +Oswald.—"No;" answered Corinne, "but it is only in domestic life that +it could be pleasing to me to feel thus governed by a single affection. +To me who need my talents, my mind, and my imagination, to support the +lustre of that kind of life which I have adopted, it must be +painful—extremely painful to love as I love you."—"You would not +sacrifice to me then," said Oswald to her, "this homage and this +glory."—"Of what importance can it be to you," said Corinne, "to know +whether or not I would sacrifice them to you? Since we are not +absolutely destined for one another, it would not be prudent to let that +happiness with which I must be satisfied, wither for ever."—Lord +Nelville made no answer, because it was necessary, in expressing his +sentiments, to avow also the purpose they inspired, and of this his own +heart was still in ignorance. He was silent therefore, and sighing, +followed Corinne to the ball, whither he went with much reluctance.</p> + +<p>It was the first time since his calamity that he had seen a large +assembly; and the tumult of a <i>féte</i> caused him such an impression of +sadness that he remained a long time in a room contiguous to that +appropriated for the ball, his head supported on his hand, not even +curious to behold Corinne dance. He listened to the festive music, which +like every other music, produces reverie, though only intended to +inspire joy. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, quite enchanted at the sight +of a ball, which produced in him some recollections of France.—"I have +tried all I could," said he to Lord Nelville, "to discover something +interesting in these ruins of which they talk so much, and I can really +find no charm in them. It must be the effect of a very great prejudice +to admire those heaps of rubbish covered with thorns. I shall speak my +mind of them when I return to Paris, for it is time that this Italian +delusion should cease. There is not a monument now standing whole in any +part of Europe, that I would not sooner see than those old stumps of +pillars, those bas-reliefs, all black with time, which can only be +admired by dint of erudition. A pleasure which must be bought with so +much study, does not appear to me very lively in itself—to be charmed +with the sights of Paris, nobody need grow pale over books." Lord +Nelville made no reply.—The Count interrogated him afresh, as to the +impression that Rome produced on him. "In the midst of a ball," said +Oswald, "is not the most proper time for serious conversation on this +subject; and you know that I am incapable of any other."—"Well and +good:" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "I am more gay than you I admit; but +who knows whether I am not also the more wise of the two? Believe me, +there is much philosophy in my apparent levity: it is the way we should +take life."—"You are perhaps in the right," answered Oswald, "but it is +from nature, and not from reflection, that you acquire that way of +thinking; and that is why your manner of taking life may only suit +yourself."</p> + +<p>The Count d'Erfeuil heard the name of Corinne mentioned in the ball +room, and entered it to know what was going forward. Lord Nelville +advanced as far as the door, and beheld the Prince Amalfi, a Neapolitan +of the most handsome figure, who besought Corinne to dance with him the +<i>Tarantula</i>, a Neapolitan dance full of grace and originality. The +friends of Corinne besought her also to comply with his request. She +yielded to their desire without waiting to be asked frequently, which +astonished the Count d'Erfeuil, accustomed as he was to the refusals +with which it is customary to precede consenting to a request of this +nature. But in Italy, these kind of graces are unknown, and all believe +they please most in society by showing an eagerness to do what is asked +of them. Corinne would have invented this natural behaviour if she were +not already accustomed to it. The dress she had chosen for the ball was +elegant and light; her hair was gathered up in a fillet of silk, after +the Italian fashion; and her eyes expressed a lively pleasure, which +rendered her more seductive than ever. Oswald was disturbed at this; he +warred against himself; he was indignant at being captivated with charms +which he ought to lament, since, far from thinking to please him, it was +to escape his empire that Corinne appeared so attractive.—But who could +resist the seductions of a grace like hers? Were she even disdainful, +she would be still more omnipotent; and that certainly was not the +disposition of Corinne. She perceived Lord Nelville, and blushed, while +there was in her eyes as she looked upon him, a most enchanting +softness.</p> + +<p>The Prince d'Amalfi accompanied himself, in dancing, with castanets. +Corinne before she began saluted the assembly most gracefully with both +her hands, then turning round upon her heel took the tambourine which +the Prince Amalfi presented her with. She then began to dance, striking +the air upon the tambourine, and there was in all her motions, an +agility, a grace, a mixture of modesty and voluptuousness, which might +give an idea of that power which the Bayadores exercise over the +imagination of the Indians, when, if we may use the expression, they are +almost poets in their dance; when they express so many different +sentiments by the characteristic steps and the enchanting pictures which +they offer to the sight. Corinne was so well acquainted with all the +attitudes which the ancient painters and sculptors have represented, +that by a light movement of her arms, sometimes in placing the +tambourine over her head, sometimes forward, with one of her hands, +whilst the other ran over the little bells with an incredible dexterity, +she recalled to mind the dancers of Herculaneam<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>, and gave birth +successively to a crowd of new ideas for painting and design.</p> + +<p>It was not the French style, characterised by the elegance and +difficulty of the step; it was a talent more connected with imagination +and sentiment. The character of the music was alternately expressed by +the exactitude and softness of the movements. Corinne, in dancing, +conveyed to the souls of her spectators what was passing in her own. The +same as in her improvisation, her performance on the lyre, or the +efforts of her pencil,—she reduced everything to language. The +musicians, in beholding her, exerted themselves to make the genius of +their art felt more exquisitely; a kind of passionate joy, a sensibility +of the imagination, electrified all the spectators of the magic dance, +and transported them to that state of ideal existence in which we dream +of happiness that does not exist in this world.</p> + +<p>There is a part of this Neapolitan dance when the lady kneels, whilst +the gentleman moves round her, not as a master, but as a +conqueror.—What at this moment were the charms and dignity of Corinne. +How regal, even in kneeling, did she appear! And when she arose, +striking her aerial cymbal, she seemed animated with that lively +enthusiasm of youth and beauty, which would create a belief that nothing +was wanting to complete her happiness. Alas! it was far otherwise; but +Oswald feared it, and sighed in the midst of his admiration of Corinne, +as if each triumph of her genius was a degree of separation from him: at +the conclusion of the dance, the gentleman kneels in his turn, and the +lady dances round him. Corinne in this part, if it were possible, +surpassed herself; her step was so light, as she tripped two or three +times round the same circle, that her buskined feet seemed to fly over +the floor with the velocity of lightning; and when she lifted up one of +her hands, shaking the tambourine, while with the other she motioned the +Prince Amalfi to rise, all the male part of the company were tempted to +throw themselves on their knees too, except Oswald, who retired a few +paces backward, and the Count d'Erfeuil, who advanced a few paces +forward to compliment Corinne. This enthusiasm of the Italians was by no +means assumed, but was the spontaneous effect of their feelings. They +are not sufficiently practised in society and in self-esteem to pay much +regard to the effect which their actions will produce; they never let +themselves be thwarted in their pleasures by vanity, nor turned aside +from the object of their pursuit by applause.</p> + +<p>Corinne was charmed at her success, and thanked all her admirers with +the most simple grace.—The satisfaction she felt at having succeeded so +well, appeared beneath a veil of modesty; but her chief anxiety was to +make her way through the crowd, in order to reach the door against which +the pensive Oswald was leaning. When she had reached the spot, she +paused to hear what he would say to her:—"Corinne," said he, +endeavouring to conceal his captivation as well as the pain that he +felt: "Corinne, I hope you have met with sufficient homage and +sufficient applause; but in the midst of these enthusiastic admirers, +have you found one certain and courageous friend—one protector for +life? Can this vain tumult of applause satisfy a heart like thine?"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> It is the dance of Mm. Recamier that gave me the idea of +what I have attempted to describe. This woman, so celebrated for her +grace and beauty, offers in the midst of her misfortunes the example of +so touching a resignation, and of such a total oblivion of her personal +interests, that her moral qualities seem to everyone as remarkable as +her accomplishments.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_fii" id="Chapter_fii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>Corrine was prevented by the crowd from making any answer to Lord +Nelville. They were going to the supper room, and each <i>cavaliere +servente</i> was hastening to seat himself by the side of his partner. A +strange lady entered when all the seats were occupied, and no gentleman, +except Lord Nelville and Count d'Erfeuil, made her an offer of his. This +was not the effect of impoliteness or of egotism; but the idea which the +great Roman lords entertain of honour and duty, is not to stir one step, +nor be absent one moment from their ladies. Some who were unable to find +seats, stood behind the chairs of their mistresses, ready to wait upon +them at the least signal. The ladies only conversed with their gallants; +strangers wandered unnoticed about the circle; for the ladies in Italy +are unacquainted with coquetry, nor does any vain triumph of self-love +ever introduce itself into their tender attachments. They have no desire +to please any other than him who possesses their affection; you can +never engage their minds before you have interested their hearts or +pleased their eyes, and frequently the most sudden beginnings of passion +are followed by a sincere devotion, and even a very long constancy. In +Italy, infidelity is more severely condemned in man than in woman. Three +or four gentlemen, under different titles, are followers of the same +lady, who leads them about with her, often without even concerning +herself to mention their names to the master of the house who receives +them. One is the favoured suitor—the other he who aspires to be so—a +third is called the sufferer (<i>il patito</i>); this latter is absolutely +disdained, but nevertheless, permitted to continue his adoration; and +all these rivals live peaceably together. The use of the poignard now +only survives among the common people. There is in this country a +whimsical mixture of simplicity and depravity, dissimulation and truth, +sincerity and revenge, weakness and resolution, which can only be +explained by constant observation; the reason being that their good +qualities proceed from the fact that nothing is done from vanity, and +their bad ones from the fact that they will do a great deal for +interest, whether that interest be allied to love, to ambition, or to +fortune.</p> + +<p>Distinctions of rank have in general little effect in Italy; this is not +from philosophy, but their facility of character and familiarity of +manners. This accounts for the little influence of aristocratic +prejudices amongst them; for as society does not pretend to judge of +anything, it embraces the opinions of all.</p> + +<p>After supper the company betook themselves to play. Some ladies +preferred the game of hazard, whilst others chose the silent one of +whist; and not a word was heard pronounced in that room which so lately +was filled with noise. The inhabitants of the south often pass from the +greatest agitation to the most profound repose: another contrasted part +of their character is indolence united to the most unwearied activity. +In any individual instance among these people, we must beware of judging +upon a first observation, since we find in them the most opposite +qualities: if at one moment they are prudent, perhaps in the next they +show themselves the boldest of men; if they appear indolent, it is only +because they are reposing after some exertion, or preparing for another: +their soul loses none of its force in society, but is most probably +concentrating all its energies for decisive circumstances.</p> + +<p>In this Roman assembly of which Oswald and Corinne formed a part, there +were men who lost enormous sums at play, without betraying in their +countenances the slightest emotion. Had these men been relating some +facts of trifling importance, they would have exhibited the most lively +expression and the most animated gestures; but when their passions +arrive at a certain pitch of violence, they dread the eye of +observation, and nearly always conceal them beneath a veil of silence +and apparent apathy.</p> + +<p>The scene of the ball was impressed upon Lord Nelville's memory, +associated with bitter resentment; for he feared that the enthusiasm of +the Italians had, at least for a moment, robbed him of the affection of +Corinne. This rendered him very unhappy; but pride whispered him to +conceal it, or discover it only by expressing contempt for the suffrages +of those who had flattered the dazzling accomplishments of his mistress. +He was invited by the company to make one at play, but he refused. +Corinne did the same, and motioned him to come and sit down by her. +Oswald expressed himself uneasy, lest he should expose Corinne to +observation by thus passing the whole evening with her in company. "Make +yourself easy on that score," said she, "nobody will trouble their heads +with us: it is the custom here for people to do as they please in +company; we have no established, ceremonious forms to lay one another +under an unpleasant restraint, nor do we exact any formal attention; a +general polite disposition is all that is expected. This is not, +certainly, a country where liberty exists such as you understand the +term in England; but we enjoy here a perfect independence in society." +"That is to say," replied Oswald, "you show a complete disregard for +manners." "At least," interrupted Corinne, "we show no hypocrisy. M. de +la Rochefoucault has said, '<i>coquetry is the least of a woman's +defects</i>': in truth, whatever may be the faults of women in Italy, they +do not seek to hide them by dissimulation. And if the sacredness of +marriage be not here sufficiently respected, it is at least with the +consent of both parties."</p> + +<p>"It is not from sincerity that this kind of frankness proceeds," replied +Oswald, "but from indifference to public opinion. When I arrived here, I +had a letter of recommendation to a princess, which I gave to my Italian +servant to deliver; he said to me, '<i>Sir, it will be of no use to +deliver this letter now, for the princess sees nobody; she is</i> +<span class="smcap">inamorata</span>;' and this state of being <i>in love</i>, is announced +with as much indifference as any other situation incidental to our +existence. This publicity cannot be palliated by the plea of +extraordinary vehemence of passion; several attachments of this sort +succeed each other, and are of equal notoriety. So little are women +given to mystery in this respect, that they avow their connections with +less embarrassment than those of our country would feel in speaking of +their husbands. It is easy to believe that no profound or delicate +sentiment is mixed with this sensibility of passion, divested of +modesty. Hence it happens that in this nation, where nothing is thought +of but love, there is not a single romance; because love is here so +rapid and so public that it affords no interesting developments; and to +give a true picture of general manners in this respect, it would be +necessary to begin and terminate it in the first page. Pardon me, +Corinne," cried Lord Nelville, observing the pain that he gave her; "you +are an Italian, and that thought ought to disarm me; but one of the +causes of that incomparable grace which distinguishes you, is the union +of all the characteristic charms of different nations. I know not in +what country you have been brought up; but it appears to me certain, +that you have not passed your whole life in Italy—perhaps in England +itself—Ah, Corinne! if that were so, how could you have quitted that +sanctuary of modesty and delicacy, for these regions, where not only +virtue, but love itself, is so badly understood? It is breathed in the +air; but does it penetrate the heart? Your poetry, in which love +performs so principal a part, possesses considerable grace, and much +imagination; it is ornamented with brilliant pictures, whose colours are +lively and voluptuous. But where will you find that tender, melancholy +sentiment, which animates our poetry? What have you that can be put in +comparison with the scene between Belvidera and her husband, in +<span class="smcap">Otway</span>; or with that in <span class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>, between Romeo and +Juliet? But above all, what have you to compare with those admirable +lines of <span class="smcap">Thomson</span>, in his 'Spring,' where he paints in such +noble and affecting traits, the happiness of love, when sanctioned by +marriage? Have you any such marriage in Italy? And can love exist where +there is no domestic felicity? Is it not this happiness which the heart +seeks, as possession is the object of sensual passion? Do not all young +and beautiful women resemble each other, unless the qualities of the +mind and soul determine a preference? And what desire is excited by all +these qualities? Marriage. That is to say, the association of every +thought, and of every sentiment. Illicit love, when unfortunately it +exists amongst us, is, if it may be so expressed, only a reflection of +marriage. In such connections, that happiness is sought for, which the +wanderer cannot find at home; and infidelity itself is more moral in +England than marriage in Italy."</p> + +<p>These words were hard: they deeply wounded the sensibility of Corinne; +who, rising immediately, her eyes filled with tears, quitted the room +and returned directly home. Oswald was distracted at having offended +her; but it was the irritation of his mind, occasioned by the impression +she made in the ball, which had betrayed itself in the remarks that had +just escaped him. He followed her to her abode; but she refused to see +him. He called again the next morning, but in vain: her door was closed +against him. This protracted refusal to receive Lord Nelville, was not +agreeable to the disposition of Corinne; but she was painfully afflicted +at the opinion he had expressed of the Italian women; and this very +opinion induced her to form a determination of concealing, for the +future, if possible, the sentiment that preyed on her heart.</p> + +<p>Oswald, on his side, found, in this instance, that the behaviour of +Corinne was not consistent with her natural simplicity, and he became +confirmed more and more in the discontent with which the ball had +inspired him; and a disposition of mind was excited from these +circumstances, capable of struggling against the passion whose empire he +dreaded. His principles were rigid, and the mystery which enveloped the +past life of her whom he loved, afflicted him intensely. The manners of +Corinne appeared to him most fascinating, but sometimes too much +animated by the universal desire of pleasing. He discovered much +nobleness and reserve in her conversation and deportment; but she seemed +to indulge in too much latitude of opinion. In fact, Oswald was a +captivated man, hurried away by the passion he felt for his accomplished +mistress, but cherishing in his breast an opponent which combated his +feelings. Such a situation of mind is frequently attended with much +bitterness. We are dissatisfied with ourselves, and with others. We +suffer, and feel at the same time that our suffering ought to increase, +or at least terminate in a violent explanation, by which one of those +two sentiments that lacerate the heart must obtain a complete triumph.</p> + +<p>It was in such a state of mind as this that Lord Nelville wrote to +Corinne. His letter was harsh and ungentlemanly. He felt this; but +various confused emotions impelled him to send it: he was rendered so +wretched by these internal conflicts, that he wished, at all hazards, +for some circumstance or other to terminate them.</p> + +<p>A report, which had just been communicated to him by the Count +d'Erfeuil, though he did not give credence to it, contributed perhaps to +give more asperity to his expressions. It was noised about Rome, that +Corinne was about to marry the Prince Amalfi. Oswald knew very well that +she did not love him, and of course concluded that the events of the +ball afforded the only foundation for such a report; but he was +convinced that she had been at home to the Prince on the morning when he +himself was refused admission; and too proud to discover the slightest +sentiment of jealousy, he satisfied his discontent by denigrating the +nation, for which he beheld with so much pain, Corinne's predilection.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_fiii" id="Chapter_fiii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p class='center'><i>Oswald's Letter to Corinne</i>.</p> + +<p class='right'><i>January 24, 1795.</i></p> + +<p>"You refuse to see me; you are offended at our conversation of the night +before last; and you have doubtless formed an intention to open your +doors in future only to your own countrymen, meaning probably by this +means, to expiate the fault you have committed in admitting to your +society a man of another nation. However, far from repenting my +sincerity with respect to the Italians, far from regretting the +observations which I made to you, whom, deluded by phantoms, I wished to +consider as an Englishwoman, I will venture to predict more strongly +still, that you will find neither happiness nor dignity should you make +choice of a husband from that society by which you are surrounded. I +know not the Italian worthy of you; there is not one by whose alliance +you could be honoured, let him be invested with whatever title he may. +Men in Italy are much less estimable than women; for they possess the +defects of the women, in addition to their own. Will you persuade me, +that these inhabitants of the South, who so pusillanimously shrink from +pain, and pursue the phantom of pleasure with so much avidity, can be +susceptible of love? Have you not seen (I have the fact from you) the +very last month, an Italian husband at the play, who but eight days +before had lost his wife, and a wife whom he pretended to love? They are +here not more eager to remove the dead from their sight than to efface +the remembrance of them from their mind. The funeral ceremonies are +attended to by the priests, as the rites of love are performed by the +attendant Cavaliers: ceremonial and custom supply the place of regret +and enthusiasm. Lastly, and it is this that principally destroys love, +the men of Italy are incapable of inspiring the women with any kind of +respect: the latter do not feel obliged by the submission of the former, +because their character is not dignified with firmness, nor their life +with serious occupation. In order that nature and social order may +appear in all their beauty, man must be the protector, and woman the +protected; but the protector must adore that weakness which he defends, +and reverence the helpless deity, who, like the household gods of the +ancients, brings happiness to his home. So it might almost be said, that +every woman is a Sultan, having at her command a seraglio of men.</p> + +<p>The men are here distinguished by that softness and pliability of +character, which properly belongs to women. An Italian proverb says: +'<i>who knows not how to feign, knows not how to live</i>.' Is not that a +woman's proverb? In truth, how can the manly character be formed upon +true principles of dignity and strength, in a country which affords no +military career of glory, which contains no free institutions? Hence it +is, that they direct their minds to all the little arts of cunning; they +treat life like a game of chess, in which success is everything. All +that remains to them from antiquity, is something gigantic in their +expressions and in their external magnificence; but this baseless +grandeur is frequently accompanied by all that is vulgar in taste, and +miserably negligent in domestic life. Is this, Corinne, the nation which +you would be expected to prefer to every other? Is this the nation whose +roaring applauses are so necessary to you, that every other destiny +would appear dull and congenial compared with their noisy '<i>bravos</i>?' +Who could flatter himself with being able to render you happy away from +these dear scenes of tumult? What an inconceivable character is that of +Corinne! profound in sentiment, but frivolous in taste; independent from +innate pride, yet servile from the need of distraction! She is a +sorceress whose spells alternately alarm and then allay the fears which +they have created; who dazzles our view in native sublimity, and then, +all of a sudden disappears from that region where she is without her +like, to lose herself in an indiscriminate crowd. Corinne, Corinne, he +who is your adorer cannot help feeling his love disturbed by fear!</p> + +<p class='right'><span class="smcap">Oswald</span>."</p> + +<p>Corinne, on reading this letter, was much incensed at the inveterate +prejudices which Oswald appeared to entertain of her country. But she +was happy enough in her conjectures, to discover that she owed this to +the dissatisfaction he experienced at the <i>fête</i>, and to her refusing to +see him ever since after his final conversation on that evening; and +this reflection softened a little the painful impression which the +letter produced upon her. She hesitated for some time, or at least, +fancied she hesitated, as to the conduct which she should observe +towards him. The tenderness she cherished for this eccentric lover, +induced a wish to see him; but it was extremely painful to her that he +should imagine her to be desirous of marrying him, although their +fortunes were at least equal, and although in revealing her name, it +would be easy to show that it was by no means inferior to that of Lord +Nelville. Nevertheless, the independence and singularity of that mode of +life which she had adopted, ought to have inspired her with a +disinclination for marriage; and most assuredly she would have repulsed +the idea, had not her passion blinded her to the sufferings she would +have to undergo in espousing an Englishman and renouncing Italy.</p> + +<p>We willingly make an offering of pride upon the altar of the heart; but +when social prosperity and worldly interests oppose obstacles in any +shape, when we can suppose that the object of our love makes any sort of +sacrifice in uniting himself to us, it is no longer possible to show him +any alteration of sentiment. Corinne not being equal to a determination +to break off with Oswald, wished to persuade herself of the possibility +of seeing him in future, and yet concealing the passion which she felt +for him. It was in this intention that she came to a determination to +confine herself, in the answer she should send to his letter, merely to +his unjust accusations against the Italian nation, and to reason with +him upon this subject as if it were the only one that interested her. +Perhaps the best way in which a woman of intellect can resume her +coldness and dignity, is by seeking an asylum in her own mind.</p> + +<p class='center'><i>Corinne to Lord Nelville</i>.</p> + +<p class='right'><i>Jan. 15, 1795.</i></p> + +<p>"Did your letter, my lord, concern only me, I should not have attempted +the task of self-justification: my character is so easy to know, that he +who might not be able to comprehend it by himself, would derive little +aid in his scrutiny by any explanation that I could give him on the +subject. The virtuous reserve of the English women, and the graceful art +of the French, take my word for it, often serve to conceal one half of +what is passing in their souls: that which you are pleased to +distinguish in me by the name of magic, is nothing but a sort of +transparency of mind, which allows its different sentiments and opposing +thoughts to be seen without labouring to harmonize them; for that +harmony, when it exists, is almost always assumed—most genuine +characters being by nature inconsequent—but it is not of myself I wish +to speak, it is of that unfortunate nation you so cruelly attack. Can it +be my affection for my friends which has inspired you with this bitter +malevolence? You know me too well to be jealous of me; indeed I have not +the vanity to believe that a sentiment of this description could have +sufficient power to transport you to such a degree of injustice. You +repeat the opinion of every other foreigner upon the Italian character, +when drawn from first impressions; but it requires deeper penetration, +and a more patient scrutiny, to be able to form a correct judgment upon +this country, which at different epochs has been so great. Whence comes +it that this nation, under the Romans, has attained the highest military +character in the world? that it has been the most jealous of its +liberties, in the republics of the middle ages, and in the sixteenth +century, the most illustrious in literature, and the arts and sciences? +Has she not pursued glory under every form? And if now, alas! she can +boast of none, why do you not rather accuse her political situation, +since in other circumstances she has shown herself different?</p> + +<p>"I know not whether I deceive myself; but the wrongs of the Italians +inspire me with no other sentiment than pity for their lot. Foreigners +have in every age conquered and torn asunder this beautiful country, the +perpetual object of their ambition; and yet foreigners bitterly reproach +this nation, with the wrongs of a conquered and dismembered country? +Europe is indebted to the Italians for the arts and sciences, and shall +Europe, turning their own benefits against them, dispute with her +benefactors the only species of renown which can distinguish a nation +without either military strength or political liberty?</p> + +<p>"It is so true that nations derive their character from the nature of +their government, that in this same Italy, we behold a remarkable +difference of manners in the different states that compose it. The +Piedmontese, who formed a little national body, have a more martial +spirit than all the rest of Italy; the Florentines, who have had the +good fortune either to enjoy their liberty, or to be governed by liberal +princes, are mild and enlightened; the Venetians and the Genoese, +discover a genius for politics, because their government is a republican +Aristocracy; the Milanese are remarkable for their sincerity, which +character they have long since derived from the nations of the north; +the Neapolitans might easily become a warlike people, because during +several centuries they have been united under a government, very +imperfect it is true, but yet a government of their own. The Roman +nobility being totally unoccupied with either military or political +pursuits, must in consequence become indolent and uninformed; but the +ecclesiastics, having a career of emulation open before them, are much +more enlightened and cultivated than the nobles, and as the papal +government admits of no distinction of birth, and is purely elective in +the clerical body, it begets a sort of liberality, not in ideas, but in +habits, which renders Rome a most agreeable abode for those who have +neither the prospect, nor the ambition of worldly eminence.</p> + +<p>"The nations of the south more easily receive the impression of their +political establishment than those of the north; they possess an +indolence which soon softens into resignation, and nature offers them so +many enjoyments, that they are easily consoled for the loss of those +which society refuses them. There is certainly much depravity in Italy, +and nevertheless civilisation is here in a much lower stage of +development than that of other countries. There is something almost +savage in the character of the Italians, notwithstanding their +intellectual acuteness, which too much resembles that of the hunter in +the art of surprising his prey. And indolent people easily acquire a +cunning character; they possess a habit of gentleness which serves them, +upon occasion, to dissimulate even their wrath: it is always by our +usual manners that we succeed in concealing an unexpected situation.</p> + +<p>"The Italians are sincere and faithful in the private intercourse of +life. Interest and ambition exercise considerable sway among them; but +pride and vanity none: the distinctions of rank produce little +impression. They have no society, no salons, no fashions, no little +daily methods of giving effect to minute circumstances. These habitual +sources of dissimulation and envy exist not among them. When they +deceive their enemies and their rivals, it is because they consider +themselves in a state of warfare with them; but in other circumstances +they are frank and ingenuous. It is this ingenuousness alone that has +scandalised you respecting our women, who, hearing love constantly +spoken of, and surrounded by its seductions and examples, conceal not +their sentiments, and if it may be so expressed, give even, to gallantry +a character of innocence; besides, they have no ridicule to dread from +that society in which they live. Some of them are so ignorant that they +cannot write; this they publicly avow, and answer a billet by means of +their agent (<i>il paglietto</i>) in a formal style on official paper. But to +make amends for this, among those who are well educated, you will find +academy professors who give public lessons in a black scarf; and should +this excite a smile, you would be answered, 'Is there any harm in +knowing Greek? Is there any harm in earning one's living by one's own +exertions? Why should so simple a matter provoke your mirth?'</p> + +<p>"But now my lord, allow me to touch upon a more delicate subject; allow +me to enquire the cause why our men display so little military ardour. +They expose their lives freely when impelled by love and hatred; and a +stab from a stiletto given or received in such a cause, excites neither +astonishment nor dread. They fear not death when natural passions bid +them brave its terrors; but often, it must be owned, they prefer life to +political interests, which seldom affect them because they possess no +national independence. Often too, that notion of honour which descends +to us from the age of chivalry, has little power in a nation where +opinion, and society by which opinion is formed, do not exist; it is a +natural consequence of this disorganisation of every public authority, +that women should attain that ascendancy which they here possess over +the men, perhaps in too high a degree to respect and admire them. +Nevertheless, the conduct of men towards women is full of delicacy and +attention. The domestic virtues in England constitute female glory and +happiness; but if there are countries where love exists outside the +sacred ties of marriage; that one among these countries where female +happiness excites the greatest attention and care, is Italy. Here men +have invented moral duties for relations outside the bounds of morality +itself; but at least in the division of these duties, they have been +both just and generous: they considered themselves more guilty than +women, when they broke the ties of love; because the latter had made the +greater sacrifice and lost more. They conceive that before the tribunal +of the heart, he is the most guilty who does the most injury. Men do +wrong for want of feeling; but women through weakness of character. +Society, which is at once rigorous and depraved—that is to say, without +pity for errors when they entail misfortunes,—must be very severe upon +women; but in a country which has no society, natural goodness of heart +has freer exercise.</p> + +<p>"Ideas of consideration and dignity are, I agree, less powerful and even +less known in Italy than any where else: the want of society and of +public opinion is the cause of it: but notwithstanding all that may be +said of the perfidy of the Italians, I maintain that there is not a +country in the world where more sincerity is to be found. So far is this +sincerity from being checked by vanity, that although that country be +one of which foreigners speak most ill, there is no country where they +meet with a more kindly reception. The Italians are reproached with +being too much inclined to flattery; but it must be allowed in their +favour, that generally, they lavish their soft expressions, not from +design, but a real desire to please; nor can it be alleged that these +expressions are ever falsified by their conduct. But it may be asked, +would they be faithful to their friends in extraordinary circumstances, +in which it might be necessary to brave for them the perils of +adversity? A very small number, I must own, would be capable of such +friendship; but this observation will not apply to Italy alone.</p> + +<p>"The Italians are remarkable for that lassitude which distinguishes the +eastern nations; but there are no men more active and persevering when +once their passions are excited. These very women, too, whom you behold +as indolent as the odalisks of a seraglio, upon some occasions give most +striking proofs of attachment. There is something mysterious in the +character and the imagination of the Italians, in whom you will find by +turns, either unexpected traits of generosity and friendship, or gloomy +and formidable proofs of hatred and revenge. They have no emulation, +because life to them is only a pleasant summer's dream; but give those +men a purpose, and you will see them in six months, develop an +unrivalled power of will and intelligence. It is the same with women: +what ambition can they feel, to excel in education when the ignorance of +the men renders them insensible to its value? By cultivating their minds +their hearts would become isolated; but these very women would soon +become worthy a man of superior mind, if such a man were the object of +their tender affection<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>.</p> + +<p>"Everything here sleeps: but in a country where great interests are +dead, repose and carelessness are more noble than a busy anxiety about +trifling concerns.</p> + +<p>"Even literature languishes in a country where thought is not renewed by +the strong and varied action of life.—But what nation has testified +more admiration for literature and the fine arts than Italy? We are +informed by history, that the popes, the princes, and the people, have +at all times paid to painters, poets, and distinguished writers, the +most public homage. This enthusiastic veneration of talent is I confess, +my lord, one of the first motives of my attachment to this country.—We +do not find here that <i>blasée</i> imagination, that discouraging temper of +mind, that despotic mediocrity, which in other countries so effectually +torment and stifle natural genius.—A happy idea, sentiment, or +expression, sets an audience on fire, if I may say so. By the same rule +that talent holds the first rank amongst us, it excites considerable +envy; Pergolese was assassinated for his <i>Stabat Mater</i>; Giorgione armed +himself with a cuirass when he was obliged to paint in public; but the +violent jealousy which talent inspires amongst us, is that which, in +other nations, gives birth to power. This jealousy does not degrade its +object; it may hate, proscribe, and kill, but it is nevertheless mingled +with the fanaticism of admiration, and encourages genius, even in +persecuting it. To conclude; when we see so much life in so confined a +circle, in the midst of so many obstacles and so much subjection of +every kind, we cannot avoid in my opinion taking the deepest interest in +a people who inhale, with so much avidity, the little air which the +loopholes of imagination allow to enter through the walls that confine +them.</p> + +<p>"That this confinement is such, I will not deny: nor that men rarely +acquire in Italy that dignity, that boldness, which distinguishes free +and military nations.—I will even admit my lord, if you choose, that +the character of such nations is capable of inspiring women with more +love and enthusiasm. But might it not also be possible, that a noble and +interested man, cherishing the most rigid virtues, might unite in his +character every quality that can excite love, without possessing those +which promise happiness.</p> + +<p class='right'>"<span class="smcap">Corinne</span>."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Mr Roscoe, author of the History of the Medici, has +recently published an History of Leo X., which is truly a masterpiece in +its kind, in which he relates all those marks of esteem and admiration, +which the princes and the people of Italy have conferred on +distinguished men of letters; he also shows, with impartiality, that the +conduct of many of the Popes has been, in this respect, very liberal.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_fiv" id="Chapter_fiv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>Corinne's letter made Oswald a second time repent the idea he had formed +of detaching himself from her. The intellectual dignity, the attractive +tenderness with which she repelled the harsh allegations he had made +against her country, affected him deeply, and penetrated him with +admiration. A superiority, so grand, so simple, and so true, appeared to +him above all ordinary rules. He felt that Corinne was not the weak, +timid woman, without an opinion on any subject beyond the sphere of her +private duties and sentiments, which he had chosen in his imagination as +a partner for life. The remembrance of Lucilia, such as he had beheld +her at the age of twelve years, agreed much better with this idea;—but +could any woman be compared with Corinne? Could ordinary laws and rules +be applied to one, who united in herself so many different qualities, +cemented by genius and sensibility? Corinne was a miracle of nature, and +was it not a miracle worked in favour of Oswald, when he could flatter +himself with interesting such a woman? But her real name and condition +were unknown to him. What would be her future projects were he to avow +his intention of uniting himself to her? All was yet in obscurity; and +although the enthusiasm with which Corinne had inspired Oswald made him +desirous of espousing her, yet the idea that her life had not been +wholly irreproachable, and that such an union would certainly have been +condemned by his father, threw his soul into confusion, and racked him +with the most painful anxiety.</p> + +<p>He was not now so sunk in grief, as before his acquaintance with +Corinne; but he no longer felt that sort of calm, which may even +accompany repentance, when our whole life is devoted to the expiation of +a crime. Formerly, he was not afraid to abandon himself to his +recollections, bitter as they were; but now he dreaded those long and +profound reveries, which would have revealed to him what was passing at +the bottom of his soul. In the meantime he prepared to visit Corinne, in +order to thank her for her letter, and obtain pardon for what he had +written to her, when Mr Edgermond, a relation of young Lucilia, entered +the room.</p> + +<p>He was a worthy English gentleman, who had almost constantly resided in +Wales, where he possessed an estate. He cherished those principles and +prejudices which, in every country, serve to maintain things as they +are, and which have a most beneficial tendency, when things are as well +as human reason will permit. When that is the case, such men as Mr +Edgermond, that is to say, the partizans of established order, though +strongly and even obstinately attached to their customs and to their +manner of thinking, ought to be considered as men of rational and +enlightened minds.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville was startled when he heard Mr Edgermond announced; every +recollection of the past rushed upon him at once; but as it immediately +occurred to his mind that Lady Edgermond, the mother of Lucilia, had +sent her relation to reproach him, and thus restrain his independence, +this thought restored his firmness, and he received Mr Edgermond with +great coldness. However, he wronged his visitor by his suspicions, for +he had not the least design in his head that regarded Nelville. He +visited Italy for the sake of his health alone; and ever since he had +been in the country, he was constantly employed in hunting, and drinking +to King George and Old England. He was the most open-hearted of men, +and possessed a much better informed mind than his habits would induce +many to believe. He was a downright Englishman, not only as he ought to +be, but also as one might wish he were not: following in every country +the customs of his own, living only with Englishmen, and never +discoursing with foreigners; not out of contempt to them, but from a +sort of repugnance to foreign languages, and a timidity, which even at +the age of fifty, rendered him very diffident in forming new +acquaintances.</p> + +<p>"I am happy to see you," said he to Nelville, "I am going to Naples in a +fortnight and should be glad to see you there, for I have not long to +stay in Italy; my regiment will soon embark." "Your regiment!" repeated +Lord Nelville, and blushed as if he had forgotten that he had a year's +leave of absence because his regiment was not to be employed before the +expiration of that period. He blushed at the thought that Corinne could +make him forget even his duty. "Your regiment," continued Mr Edgermond, +"will not go upon service so soon; so stay here quietly, and regain your +health. I saw my young cousin before I set out—she is more charming +than ever. I am sure by the time you return she will be the finest woman +in England." Lord Nelville said nothing—and Mr Edgermond was also +silent. Some other words passed between them, very laconic, though +extremely friendly, and Mr Edgermond was going, when suddenly turning +back, he said, "Apropos, my lord, you can do me a kindness—they tell me +you are acquainted with the celebrated Corinne: I don't much like +forming new acquaintances, but I am quite curious to see this lady." +"Since you desire it, I will ask Corinne's permission to introduce you," +replied Oswald. "Do so, I beseech you," said Mr Edgermond; "and contrive +to let me see her some day when she improvises, or dances and sings to +the company." "Corinne does not thus display her talents to strangers," +said Nelville; "she is your equal and mine in every respect." "Pardon my +mistake," said Mr Edgermond, "as she is not known by another name than +that of Corinne, and lives by herself at the age of twenty-six years +unaccompanied by any part of her family, I thought she derived support +from her talents." "Her fortune is entirely independent," answered his +lordship warmly, "and her mind is still more so." Mr Edgermond +immediately dropped this subject, and repented at having introduced it, +seeing that it interested Oswald. No men in the world have so much +discretion and delicate precaution in what concerns the affections, as +the English.</p> + +<p>Mr Edgermond went away. Lord Nelville, when alone, could not help +exclaiming with emotion, "I must espouse Corinne. I must become her +protector, in order to preserve her from obloquy. She shall have the +little it is in my power to bestow—a rank and a name; whilst she on her +part will confer on me every earthly felicity." It was in this +disposition that he hastened to visit Corinne, and never did he enter +her doors with sweeter sentiments of hope and love; but, swayed by his +natural timidity, and in order to recover confidence, he began the +conversation with insignificant topics, and of this number was his +request for permission to introduce Mr Edgermond. At this name Corinne +was visibly agitated, and with a faltering voice refused what Oswald +solicited. All astonishment, he said to her, "I thought that in this +house, to which so many are allowed access, the title of my friend would +not afford a motive of exclusion." "Do not be offended, my lord," +replied Corinne: "Believe that I must have very powerful reasons not to +consent to your desire." "Ands will you acquaint me with those +reasons?" replied Oswald. "Impossible!" cried Corinne; "Impossible!" "So +then—" said Nelville, and his emotion rendered him unable to proceed. +He was about to depart, when Corinne, all in tears, exclaimed in +English, "For God's sake do not leave me unless you wish to break my +heart!"</p> + +<p>These words, and the tone of voice in which they were uttered, deeply +affected the soul of Oswald. He sat down again at some distance from +Corinne, supporting his head against a vase of alabaster which +embellished her apartment; then, suddenly, he said to her, "Cruel woman! +you see that I love you—you see that, twenty times a day, I am ready to +offer you my hand and my heart; yet you will not inform me who you are! +Tell me, Corinne, tell me the story of your past life," repeated he, +stretching his hand to her with the most moving expression of +sensibility. "Oswald!" cried Corinne; "Oswald! you do not know the pain +you give me. If I were mad enough to tell you all you would no longer +love me." "Great God!" replied he; "what have you then to reveal?" +"Nothing that renders me unworthy of you," said she; "but fortuitous +circumstances, and differences between our tastes and opinions, which +existed formerly and which no longer exist. Do not oblige me to confess +who I am. Some day, perhaps—some day, should you love me +sufficiently—Ah! I know not what I say," continued Corinne; "you shall +know all; but do not forsake me before you have heard it. Promise me +that you will not, in the name of your father who is now in heaven!" +"Pronounce not that name," cried Lord Nelville; "can you fathom his will +respecting us? Think you that he would consent to our union? If you do, +declare it, and I shall no longer be racked with doubts and fears. Some +time or other, I will unfold to you my sad story; but behold the +condition you have now reduced me to." In truth, his forehead was +covered with a cold sweat, his face was pale, and his trembling lips +with difficulty articulated these last words. Corinne, seated by the +side of Nelville, holding his hands in hers, gently recalled him to +himself. "My dear Oswald," said she to him; "ask Mr Edgermond if he has +ever been in Northumberland; or at least if he has only been there +within these past five years. Should he answer in the affirmative he may +then accompany you hither." At these words Oswald looked steadfastly at +Corinne, who cast down her eyes and was silent. "I shall do as you +desire me," said Lord Nelville, and went away.</p> + +<p>On his return home, he exhausted conjecture upon the secrets of Corinne. +It appeared evident that she had passed a considerable time in England, +and that her name and family must be known there. But what could be her +motive for concealing them; and if she had been settled in England, why +had she left it? These questions greatly disturbed the heart of Oswald. +He was convinced that no stain would be found in her life; but he feared +a combination of circumstances might have rendered her guilty in the +eyes of others. What he most dreaded, was her being an object of English +disapprobation. He felt sufficiently fortified against that of every +other country; but the memory of his father was so intimately connected +with the love of his native country, that these two sentiments +strengthened each other.</p> + +<p>Oswald, having learnt of Mr Edgermond that he had been in Northumberland +for the first time the preceding year, promised to introduce him to +Corinne that evening. Oswald arrived at her house before him, and made +her acquainted with the ideas that Mr Edgermond had conceived +respecting her, suggesting the propriety of convincing him how much he +was in error, by assuming the most cold and reserved manners.</p> + +<p>"If you permit me," replied Corinne, "I will be the same to him as to +everybody else; if he desire to hear me, I will improvise before him; in +fact, I will appear to him as I am, not doubting that he will perceive +as much dignity of soul in this simple and natural behaviour, as if I +were to put on an air of restraint which would only be affected." "Yes, +Corinne," replied Oswald, "you are right. Ah! how much in the wrong is +he, who would in the least alter your admirable disposition."</p> + +<p>At this moment Mr Edgermond arrived with the rest of the company. At the +commencement of the evening, Lord Nelville placed himself by the side of +Corinne, and with an interest which at once became the lover and the +protector, he said every thing that could enhance her worth. The respect +he testified for her seemed to have for its object rather to win the +attention of others, than to satisfy himself; but it was with the most +lively joy that he soon felt the folly of all his anxiety. Corinne +entirely captivated Mr Edgermond—she not only captivated him by her +genius and her charms, but by inspiring him with that sentiment of +esteem which true characters always obtain of honest ones; and when he +presumed to express a wish to hear her upon a subject of his choice, he +aspired to this favour with as much respect as eagerness. She consented +without for a moment waiting to be pressed, and thus manifested that +this favour had a value independent of the difficulty of obtaining it. +But she felt so lively a desire to please a countryman of Oswald's, a +man who by the consideration which he merited might influence his +opinion in speaking of her, that this sentiment suddenly filled her with +a timidity which was quite new to her: she wished to begin, but her +tongue was suspended by the emotion she felt. Oswald was pained that she +did not dazzle his English friend with all her superiority; his eyes +were cast down, and his embarrassment was so visible, that Corinne, +solely engrossed by the effect that she produced upon him, lost more and +more the presence of mind necessary for improvisation. At length, +sensible of her hesitation, feeling that her words were the offspring of +memory and not of sentiment, and that thus she was neither able to paint +what she thought nor what she really felt, she suddenly stopped and said +to Mr Edgermond, "Pardon me Sir, if upon this occasion timidity has +deprived me of my usual facility; it is the first time, as my friends +can testify, that I have been below myself; but perhaps," added she, +sighing, "it will not be the last."</p> + +<p>Oswald was deeply affected by the touching failure of Corinne. Till then +he had always been accustomed to see imagination and genius triumph over +her affections and reanimate her soul at the moment when she was most +cast down; but at this time her mind was entirely fettered by feeling, +yet Oswald had so identified himself with her fame on this occasion, +that he partook of the mortification of her failure, instead of +rejoicing at it. But as it appeared certain, that she would one day +shine with her natural lustre, he yielded to the tender reflections that +arose in his mind, and the image of his mistress was enthroned more than +ever in his heart.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_vii" id="Book_vii"></a>Book vii.</h2> + +<h2>ITALIAN LITERATURE.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-195.png" id="illus-195.png" /><img src="images/illus-195.png" width='600' +height='151' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_gi" id="Chapter_gi"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>Lord Nelville felt a lively desire that Mr Edgermond should enjoy the +conversation of Corinne, which was more than equivalent to her +improvised verses. The following day the same company assembled at her +house; and to elicit her sentiments, he turned the conversation upon +Italian literature, and provoked her natural vivacity, by affirming that +the English poets were much superior in energy and sensibility to those +of which Italy could boast.</p> + +<p>"In the first place," said Corinne, "strangers are for the most part +acquainted only with our poets of the first rank—Dante, Petrarch, +Ariosto, Guarini, Tasso, and Metastasio; whilst we have several others, +such as Chiabrera, Guidi, Filicaja, Parini, without reckoning +Sannazarius, Politian, &c., who have written in Latin, with as much +taste as genius; and all unite in their verses the utmost beauty of +colouring and harmony; all, with more or less talent, adorn the wonders +of nature and art with the imagery of speech. Without doubt our poets +cannot pretend to that profound melancholy, that knowledge of the human +heart which characterise yours; but does not this kind of superiority +belong more properly to philosophical writers than to poets? The +brilliant melody of Italian is more suitable to the splendour of +external objects than to meditation; our language is better adapted to +paint fury than sadness, because sentiments which arise from deep +reflection demand more metaphysical expressions, whilst the desire of +vengeance animates the imagination to the exclusion of grief. Cesarotti +has produced the best and most elegant translation of Ossian extant; but +it seems in reading it that the words possess in themselves an air of +festivity that forms a contrast with the sombre ideas of the poem. We +cannot help being charmed with our sweet expressions,—<i>the limpid +stream, the smiling plain, the cooling shade</i>, the same as with the +murmur of the waves, and variety of colours. What more do you expect +from poetry? Why would you ask of the nightingale, the meaning of her +song? She can only answer you by resuming the strain, and you cannot +comprehend it without yielding to the impression which it produces. The +measure of verse, harmonious rhymes, and those rapid terminations +composed of two short syllables whose sounds glide in the manner that +their name (<i>Sdruccioli</i>) indicates, sometimes imitate the light steps +of a dance; at others, more sombre tones recall the fury of the tempest +and the clangour of arms. In fact, our poetry is a wonder of the +imagination—we must only seek it in the various pleasures which it +affords."</p> + +<p>"It must be allowed," replied Lord Nelville, "that you explain very +clearly the beauties and defects of your poetry; but how will you defend +your prose, in which those defects are to be found unaccompanied by the +beauties? That which is only loose and indefinite in poetry will become +emptiness in prose; and the crowd of common ideas which your poets +embellish with their melody and their images, are in prose, cold and +dry, while their vivacity of style renders them more fatiguing. The +language of the greater part of the prose-writers of the present day is +so declamatory, so diffuse, and so abundant in superlatives, that their +work seems written to order, in hackneyed phraseology, and for +conventional natures; it does not once enter into their heads that to +write well is to express one's thoughts and character. Their style is an +artificial web, a kind of literary mosaic, every thing in fact that is +foreign to their soul, and is made with the pen as any other mechanical +work is with the fingers. They possess in the highest degree the secret +of developing, commenting, inflating an idea, and, if I may use the +expression, of working a sentiment into a ferment. So much do they excel +in this, that one would be tempted to ask these writers, what the +African woman asked a French lady, who wore a large pannier under a long +dress:—'<i>Madam, is all that a part of yourself?</i>' In short, what real +existence is there in all this pomp of words which one true expression +would dissipate like a vain prestige."</p> + +<p>"You forget," interrupted Corinne sharply; "first, Macchiavelli and +Boccacio; next Gravina, Filangieri, and in our days, Cesarotti, Verri, +Bettinelli, and so many others, in short, who know how to write and to +think<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>. But I agree with you that in the latter ages, unfortunate +circumstances having deprived Italy of its independence, its people have +lost all interest in truth and often even the possibility of speaking +it: from this has resulted the habit of sporting with words without +daring to approach a single idea. As they were certain of not being able +to obtain any influence over things by their writings, they were only +employed to display their wit, which is a sure way to end in having no +wit at all; for it is only in directing the mind towards some noble +object that ideas are acquired. When prose writers can no longer in any +way influence the happiness of a nation—when they only write to +dazzle—when, in fact, the road itself is the object of their journey, +they indulge in a thousand windings without advancing a step. The +Italians, it is true, fear new thoughts; but that is an effect of +indolence, and not of literary baseness. In their character, their +gaiety, and their imagination, there is much originality; and +nevertheless, as they take no pains to reflect, their general ideas do +not soar above mediocrity; their eloquence even, so animated when they +speak, has no character when they write; one would say that labour of +any kind freezes their faculties; it may also be added, that the nations +of the South are fettered by prose, and that poetry alone can express +their real sentiments. It is not thus in French literature," said +Corinne, addressing herself to the Count d'Erfeuil—"your prose writers +are often more eloquent, and even more poetic, than your poets."—"It is +true," answered the Count, "your assertion can be verified by truly +classical authorities:—Bossuet, La Bruyère, Montesquieu, and Buffon, +cannot be excelled; more particularly the first two, who are of the age +of Louis the Fourteenth, in whose praise too much cannot be said, for +they are perfect models for imitation. They are models that foreigners +ought to be as eager to imitate as the French themselves."—"I can +hardly think it desirable," answered Corinne, "for the whole world +entirely to lose their national colouring, as well as all originality of +sentiment and genius; and I am bold enough to tell you Count, that even +in your country, this literary orthodoxy, if I may so express myself, +which is opposed to every innovation, will in time render your +literature extremely barren. Genius is essentially creative; it bears +the character of the individual that possesses it. Nature, who has not +formed two leaves alike, has infused a still greater variety into the +human soul; imitation is therefore a species of death, since it robs +each one of his natural existence."</p> + +<p>"You would not wish, fair stranger," replied the Count, "that we should +admit Teutonic barbarism amongst us—that we should copy Young's Night +Thoughts, and the <i>Concetti</i> of the Italians and Spaniards. What would +become of the taste and elegance of our French style after such a +mixture?" Prince Castel-Forte, who had not yet spoken, said—"It seems +to me that we all stand in need of each other: the literature of every +country discovers to him who is acquainted with it a new sphere of +ideas. It was Charles the Fifth himself who said—that <i>a man who knows +four languages, is worth four men</i>. If that great political genius +judged thus, in regard to the conduct of affairs, how much more true is +it with respect to literature? Foreigners all study French; thus they +command a more extended horizon than you, who do not study foreign +languages. Why do you not more often take the trouble of learning +them?—You would thus preserve your own peculiar excellence, and +sometimes discover your deficiencies."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Cesarotti, Verri, and Bettinelli, are three living authors +who have introduced thought into Italian prose; it must be confessed, +that this was not the case for a long time before.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_gii" id="Chapter_gii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>"You will at least confess," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "that there is +one part of literature in which we have nothing to learn of any +country.—Our drama is decidedly the first in Europe; for I cannot +believe that the English would presume to oppose their Shakespeare to +us."—"I beg your pardon," interrupted Mr Edgermond, "they have that +presumption."—And after this observation he was silent.—"In that case +I have nothing to say," continued the Count, with a smile which +expressed a kind of civil contempt: "Each one may think as he pleases, +but for my part I persist in believing that we may affirm without +presumption that we are the very first in dramatic art. As to the +Italians, if I may speak my mind freely, they do not appear even to +suspect that there is a dramatic art in the world.—With them the music +is every thing, and the play itself nothing. Should the music of the +second act of a piece be better than the first, they begin with the +second act. Or, should a similar preference attach to the first acts of +two different pieces, they will perform these two acts in the same +evening, introducing between, perhaps, an act of some comedy in prose +that contains irreproachable morality, but a moral teaching entirely +composed of aphorisms, that even our ancestors have already cast off to +the foreigner as too old to be of any service to them. Your poets are +entirely at the disposal of your famous musicians; one declares that he +cannot sing without there is in his air the word <i>felicità</i>; the tenor +must have <i>tomba</i>; while a third singer can only quaver upon the word +<i>catene</i>. The poor bard must make these different whims agree with +dramatic situation as well as he can. This is not all; there are actors +who will not appear immediately treading the boards of the stage; they +must first be seen in a cloud, or they must descend the lofty stairs of +a palace, in order to give more effect to their <i>entrée</i>. When the air +is finished, whatever may be the violent or affecting situation of his +character, the singer must bow to the audience in acknowledgment of +their applause. The other day, in Semiramis, after the spectre of Ninus +had sung his air, the representative of this shadowy personage made in +his ghostly costume a low reverence to the pit, which greatly diminished +the terror of the apparition.</p> + +<p>"They are accustomed in Italy to consider the theatre merely as a large +assembly room, where there is nothing to hear but the airs, and the +ballet! I am justified in saying <i>that they listen to nothing but the +ballet</i>; for it is only when the ballet is about to begin, that silence +is called for in the pit: and what is this ballet but a masterpiece of +bad taste? There is nothing amusing in the dancing save the comic part +of it; the grotesque figures alone afford entertainment, being indeed a +good specimen of caricature. I have seen Gengis-Kan in a ballet, all +covered with ermine, and full of fine sentiments; for he ceded his crown +to the child of a king whom he had conquered, and lifted him up in the +air upon one foot; a new mode of establishing a monarch upon his throne. +I have also seen the sacrifice of Curtius formed into a ballet of three +acts, with divertisements. Curtius, in the dress of an Arcadian +shepherd, danced for a considerable time with his mistress; then +mounting a real horse in the middle of the stage, he plunged into the +gulf of fire, made of yellow satin and gilt paper, which looked more +like a fancy riding habit than an abyss. In fact, I have seen the whole +of Roman history from Romulus to Cæsar, compressed into a ballet."</p> + +<p>"What you say is true," replied Prince Castel-Forte, mildly; "but you +have only spoken of music and dancing, which do not comprise what we +understand by the drama of any country." "It is much worse," interrupted +the Count d'Erfeuil, "when tragedies are represented, or dramas that are +not termed <i>dramas that end happily</i>: they unite more horrors in the +course of five acts, than the imagination could form a picture of. In +one piece of this kind, the lover kills the brother of his mistress in +the second act; in the third he blows out the brains of his mistress +herself upon the stage; her funeral occupies the fourth; in the +interval, between the fourth and fifth acts, the actor who performs the +lover comes forward, and announces to the audience with the greatest +tranquillity in the world, the harlequinades which are to be performed +on the following evening; he then reappears in the fifth act, to shoot +himself with a pistol. The tragic actors are quite in harmony with the +coldness and extravagance of these pieces: they commit all these horrors +with the utmost calm. When a performer uses much action, they say he +conducts himself like a preacher; for in truth, there is more acting in +the pulpit than on the stage. It is very fortunate that these actors are +so moderate in their pathos; for as there is nothing interesting, either +in the piece or its situations, the more noise they made about it, the +more ridiculous they would appear: it might still be endurable, were +there any thing gay in this nonsense; but it is most stupidly dull and +monotonous. There is in Italy no more comedy than tragedy; and here +again we stand foremost. The only species of comedy peculiar to Italy is +harlequinade. A valet, at once a knave, a glutton, and a coward; an old +griping, amorous dupe of a guardian, compose the whole strength of these +pieces. I hope you will allow that <i>Tartuffe</i>, and the <i>Misanthrope</i>, +require a little more genius than such compositions."</p> + +<p>This attack of the Count d' Erfeuil was sufficiently displeasing to the +Italians who were his auditors; nevertheless they laughed at it. The +Count was more desirous of showing his wit than his natural goodness of +disposition; for though this latter quality influenced his actions, +self-love guided his speech. Prince Castel-Forte and the rest of his +countrymen present, were extremely impatient to refute the Count +d'Erfeuil; but as they were little ambitious of shining in conversation +and believed their cause would be more ably defended by Corinne, they +besought her to reply, contenting themselves with barely citing the +celebrated names of Maffei, Metastasio, Goldoni, Alfieri, and Monti. +Corinne began by granting that the Italians had no drama; but she +undertook to prove that circumstances and not want of talent, were the +cause of it. Comedy, which depends upon the observation of manners, can +only exist in a country where we live in the midst of a numerous and +brilliant society. In Italy we meet with nothing but violent passions or +idle enjoyments which produce crimes of so black a hue that no shades of +character can be distinguished. But ideal comedy, if it may be so +termed, that which depends upon the imagination, and may agree with all +times and all countries, owes its invention to Italy. Harlequin, +punchinello, pantaloon, &c., have the same character in every different +piece. In all cases they exhibit masks, and not faces: that is to say, +their physiognomy is that of some particular species of character, and +not that of any individual. Undoubtedly, the modern authors of +harlequinades, finding every part ready carved out for them like the men +of a chess-board, have not the merit of inventing them; but their first +invention is due to Italy; therefore these fantastic personages, which +from one end of Europe to the other afford amusement to every child, and +to every grown-up person whom imagination has made childlike, must +certainly be considered as the creation of Italians: this I should +conceive ought to give them some claim to the art of comedy.</p> + +<p>The observation of the human heart is an inexhaustible source of +literature; but nations more disposed to poetry than to reflection, more +easily surrender themselves to the intoxication of joy than to +philosophic irony. That pleasantry which is founded upon the knowledge +of mankind has something sad at bottom. It is only the gaiety of the +imagination which is truly inoffensive. It is not that the Italians do +not study deeply the men whom they have to do with; for none discover +more subtly their secret thoughts; but they employ this talent as a +guide of conduct, and have no idea of converting it to any literary +purpose. Perhaps even they have no wish to generalise their discoveries, +and publish their perceptions. There is a prudent dissimulation in their +character, which teaches them not to expose in comedies that which +affords rules for private intercourse; not to reveal by the fictions of +the mind what may be useful in circumstances of real life.</p> + +<p>Macchiavelli however, far from concealing anything, has exposed all the +secrets of a criminal polity; and through him we may learn of what a +terrible knowledge of the human heart the Italians are capable. But +profound observation is not the province of comedy: the leisure of +society, properly speaking, can alone furnish matter for the comic +scene. Goldoni, who lived at Venice, where there is more society than in +any other Italian city, has introduced more refinement of observation +into his pieces than is generally to be found in other authors. +Nevertheless his comedies are monotonous, and we meet with the same +situations in them, because they contain so little variety of character. +His numerous pieces seem formed upon the general model of dramatic +works, and not copied from real life. The true character of Italian +gaiety is not satire, but imagination; not delineation of manners, but +poetical exaggeration. It is Ariosto, and not Molière, who can amuse +Italy.</p> + +<p>Gozzi, the rival of Goldoni, has more originality in his compositions; +they bear less resemblance to regular comedy. His determination was +liberally to indulge the Italian genius; to represent fairy tales, and +mingle buffoonery and harlequinade with the marvels of poetry; to +imitate nothing in nature, but to give free scope to the gay illusions +of fancy, to the chimeras of fairy magic, and to transport the mind by +every means beyond the boundaries of human action. He was crowned with +prodigious success in his time, and perhaps there never existed an +author more congenial to an Italian imagination; but to know with +certainty what degree of perfection Tragedy and Comedy can reach in +Italy, it should possess a theatrical establishment. The multitude of +little cities who all wish to have a theatre, lose, by dispersing them, +its dramatic resources: that division in states, in general so +favourable to liberty and happiness, is hurtful to Italy. She must needs +concentrate her light and power to resist the prejudices which are +devouring her. The authority of governments often represses individual +energy. In Italy this authority would be a benefit if it struggled +against the ignorance of separate states and of men isolated among them; +if it combated by emulation that indolence so natural to the climate; +and if, in a word, it gave life to the whole of this nation which now is +satisfied with a dream.</p> + +<p>These ideas, and several others besides, were ingeniously developed by +Corinne. She well understood the rapid art of light conversation, which +does not dogmatically insist upon any thing, and also that pleasing +address which gives a consideration to each of the company in turn, +though she often indulged in that kind of talent which rendered her a +celebrated improvisatrice. Several times she intreated Prince +Castel-Forte to assist her with his opinion on the same subject; but she +spoke so well herself, that all the audience were delighted in listening +to her, and would not suffer her to be interrupted. Mr Edgermond, in +particular, could scarcely satisfy himself with seeing and hearing +Corinne; hardly did he dare to express the admiration she inspired him +with, and he pronounced some words of panegyric in a low tone of voice +hoping she would comprehend them without obliging him to address her +personally. He however possessed such a lively desire to know her +sentiments on Tragedy, that in spite of his timidity he ventured a few +words on that subject.</p> + +<p>"Madam," said he to Corinne, "where the Italian literature appears to me +most defective is in Tragedy; methinks the distance is not so great +between infancy and manhood, as between your Tragedies and ours; for in +the changeableness of children may be discovered true if not deep +sentiments, but there is something affected and extravagant in Italian +Tragedy, which destroys for me all emotion whatever. Is this not so? +Lord Nelville," continued Mr Edgermond, turning to his lordship and +inviting his support by a glance, quite astonished at having found +courage to speak in such a numerous assembly.</p> + +<p>"I am entirely of your opinion," answered Oswald; "Metastasio, who is +vauntingly called the poet of love, gives the same colouring to this +passion in every country and under every circumstance. His admirable +airs are entitled to our applause as much from their grace and harmony +as the lyrical beauties which they contain, especially when detached +from the drama in which they are placed; but it is impossible for us who +possess Shakespeare, who has most deeply fathomed History and the +passions of man, to suffer those amorous couples, that divide between +them almost all the pieces of Metastasio alike, under the names of +Achilles, of Tircis, of Brutus, and of Corilas, singing, in a manner +that hardly touches the surface of the soul, the grief and sufferings of +love, so as almost to reduce to imbecility the noblest passion that +animates the human heart. It is with the most profound respect for the +character of Alfieri that I shall indulge in a few reflections upon his +pieces. Their aim is so noble, the sentiments which the author expresses +are so much in unison with his personal conduct, that his tragedies must +always deserve praise as actions, even when they are criticised as +literary performances. But I find in the vigour of some of his tragedies +as much monotony as in the tenderness of Metastasio. There is, in the +plays of Alfieri, such a profusion of energy and magnanimity, or rather +such an exaggeration of violence and crime, that it is impossible to +discover in them the true characters of men. They are never so wicked +nor so generous as painted by this author. The aim of most of his scenes +is to place virtue and vice in contrast with each other; but these +oppositions are not according to the gradations of truth. If, during +their life, tyrants bore with what the oppressed are made to say to +their face in the tragedies of Alfieri, one would be almost tempted to +pity them. His play of Octavia is one of those where the want of +probability is most striking. In this piece, Seneca moralises +incessantly with Nero, as if the latter were the most patient of men, +and Seneca the most courageous. The master of the world permits himself +to be insulted, and his anger to be excited in every scene, for the +amusement of the spectators, as if it were not in his power to end it +all with a word. Certainly these continual dialogues give rise to some +very fine replies on the part of Seneca, and one would be glad to find +in an harangue or in a moral work the noble thoughts which he expresses; +but is this the way to give us an idea of tyranny? It is not painting it +in its formidable colours, but merely making it a subject for verbal +fencing. If Shakespeare had represented Nero surrounded by trembling +slaves, who hardly dared reply to the most indifferent question, +himself concealing his internal agitation and endeavouring to appear +calm, with Seneca near him writing the apology for the murder of +Agrippina, would not the terror have been a thousand times greater? And +for one reflection spoken by the author, would not a thousand be +generated in the soul of the spectators by the very silence of rhetoric +and the truth of the picture?"</p> + +<p>Oswald might have spoken much longer without receiving any interruption +from Corinne; so much pleasure did she receive from the sound of his +voice and the noble elegance of his language, that she could have wished +to prolong this impression for hours together. Hardly could she remove +her eyes, which were earnestly fixed upon him, even after he had ceased +to speak. She turned them reluctantly to the rest of the company, who +were impatient to hear her thoughts upon Italian tragedy, and turning to +Lord Nelville:—"My Lord," said she, "it is not to combat your +sentiments that I reply, for they meet mine in almost every point: my +only intention is to offer some exceptions to your rather too general +observations. It is true that Metastasio is rather a lyrical than a +dramatic poet, and that he describes love like one of the fine arts that +adorn life, not as the most important secret of our happiness and our +pain. I will venture to say, notwithstanding our language has been +consecrated to the cause of love, that we have more profoundness and +sensibility in describing any other passion than this. The practice of +making amorous verses has created a kind of commonplace language amongst +us for that subject; so that not what he has felt, but what he has read, +inspires the poet. Love, such as it exists in Italy, by no means +resembles that love which is described by our writers. It is only in +Boccacio's romance of <i>Fiametta</i>, that according to the best of my +recollection, there is to be found an idea of that passion, painted in +truly national colours. Our poets subtilise and exaggerate the +sentiment, whilst agreeably to the real Italian character, it is a rapid +and profound impression, which rather expresses itself by silent and +passionate actions than by ingenious language. In general our literature +is not characteristic of our national manners<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>. We are much too +modest, I had almost said too humble a nation to aspire to tragedies +taken from our own history, and bearing the stamp of our own sentiments.</p> + +<p>"Alfieri, by a singular chance, was transplanted, if I may use the +expression, from ancient to modern times; he was born for action, and +his destiny only permitted him to write; this constraint appears in the +style of his tragedies. He wished to make literature subservient to a +political purpose; undoubtedly his object was noble, but nothing +perverts the labours of the imagination so much as having a purpose. In +this nation, where certainly, some erudite scholars and very enlightened +men are to be met with, Alfieri was indignant at seeing literature +consecrated to no serious end, but merely engrossed with tales, novels, +and madrigals. Alfieri wished to give a more austere character to his +tragedy. He has stript it of all the borrowed appendages of theatrical +effect, preserving nothing but the interest of the dialogue. It appears +to have been his wish to place the natural vivacity and imagination of +the Italians in a state of penitence; he has however been very much +admired for his character and the energies of his soul, which were truly +great. The inhabitants of modern Rome are particularly given to applaud +the actions and sentiments of their ancient country; as if those actions +and sentiments had any relation to them in their present state.</p> + +<p>They are amateurs of energy and independence, in the same manner as +they are of the fine pictures which adorn their galleries. But it is not +less true that Alfieri has by no means created what may be called an +Italian theatre; that is to say, tragedies of a merit peculiar to Italy. +He has not even characterised the manners of those countries and those +centuries which he has painted. His conspiracy of the Pazzi, his +Virginia, and his Philip II., are to be admired for elevation and +strength of thought; but it is always the character of Alfieri, and not +that of peculiar nations and peculiar times, which are to be discovered +in them. Although there be no analogy between the French genius and that +of Alfieri, they resemble each other in this, that both of them give +their own colouring to every subject of which they treat."</p> + +<p>The Count d' Erfeuil, hearing the French genius called in question, was +induced to speak. "It would be impossible for us," said he, "to tolerate +upon the stage either the incongruities of the Greeks or the +monstrosities of Shakespeare; the French have too pure a taste for that. +Our theatre is the model of delicacy and elegance: those are its +distinguishing characteristics, and we should plunge ourselves into +barbarism by introducing anything foreign amongst us."</p> + +<p>"That would be like encompassing yourselves with the great wall of +China," said Corinne, smiling. "There are certainly many rare beauties +in your tragic authors; and perhaps they would admit of new ones, could +you bring yourselves to tolerate anything not exactly French on your +stage. But as for us Italians, our dramatic genius would be greatly +diminished in submitting to the fetters of those laws which we had not +the honour of inventing, and from which, consequently, we could derive +nothing but their restraint. A theatre ought to be formed upon the +imagination, the character, and the custom of a nation. The Italians are +passionately fond of the fine arts, of music, painting, and even +pantomime: of every thing, in short, that strikes the senses. How then +could they be satisfied with the austerity of an eloquent dialogue, as +their only theatrical pleasure?<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Vainly has Alfieri, with all his +genius, endeavoured to reduce them to it; he felt himself that his +system was too rigorous.</p> + +<p>"The Merope of Maffei, the Saul of Alfieri, the Aristodemus of Monti, +and particularly the poem of Dante, although this last author never +composed a tragedy, seem calculated to convey an idea of what the +dramatic art might be brought to in Italy. There is in the Merope of +Maffei, a great simplicity of action, but the most brilliant poetry, +adorned with the happiest images: and why should this poetry be +forbidden in dramatic works? The language of poetry is so magnificent in +Italy that we should be more censurable than any other nation in +renouncing its beauties. Alfieri, wishing to excel in every department +of poetry, has, in his Saul, made a most beautiful use of the lyric; and +one might with excellent effect introduce music itself into the piece, +not so much to harmonise the words, as to calm the frenzy of Saul by the +harp of David. So delicious is our music that it may even render us +indolent as to intellectual enjoyments. Far therefore from wishing to +separate music from the drama, it should be our earnest endeavour to +unite them; not in making heroes sing, which destroys all dramatic +effect, but in introducing choruses, as the ancients did, or such other +musical aid, as may naturally blend with the situations of the piece, as +so often happens in real life. So far from retrenching the pleasures of +the imagination on the Italian stage, it is my opinion, that we should +on the contrary augment and multiply them in every possible manner. The +exquisite taste of the Italians for music, and for splendid ballets, is +an indication of the power of their imagination, and manifests the +necessity of rendering even the most serious subjects interesting to +them, instead of heightening their severity as Alfieri has done. The +nation conceive it their duty to applaud what is grave and austere; but +they soon return to their natural taste; however, tragedy might become +highly pleasing to them if it were embellished by the charm and the +variety of different kinds of poetry, and with all the divers theatrical +attractions which the English and the Spaniards enjoy.</p> + +<p>"The Aristodemus of Monti has in it something of the terrible pathos of +Dante; and surely this tragedy is very justly one of the most admired. +Dante, that great master of various powers, possessed that kind of +tragic genius which would have produced the most effect in Italy, if it +could in any way be adapted to the stage; for that poet knew how to +represent to the eye, what was passing at the bottom of the soul, and +his imagination could make grief seen and felt. If Dante had written +tragedies, they would have been as striking to children as to men, to +the illiterate crowd as to the polished few. Dramatic literature ought +to be popular; like some public event, the whole nation ought to judge +of it."</p> + +<p>"When Dante was living," said Oswald, "the Italians performed a +distinguished part in the political drama of Europe. Perhaps it would +now be impossible for you to have a national tragic theatre: it would be +necessary for the existence of such a theatre, that great events should +develop in life those sentiments which are expressed upon the stage. Of +all the masterpieces of literature, there is not one which depends so +much upon the whole people as tragedy; the spectators contribute to it +as much as the author. Dramatic genius is composed of the public mind, +of History, of government, of national customs, of everything, in fact, +which each day blends itself with thought, and forms the moral being, as +the air which we breathe nourishes physical existence. The Spaniards, +with whom you have some affinity as to climate and religion, are much +superior to you in dramatic genius; their pieces are filled with their +history, their chivalry, and their religious faith, and these pieces +possess life and originality; but their success, in this respect, dates +back to the epoch of their historical glory. How then could it be +possible now to establish in Italy, that which it never could boast +of—a genuine tragic drama!"</p> + +<p>"It is unfortunately possible that you may be in the right," replied +Corinne; "however, I hope for greater things from the natural impulse of +mind in Italy, and from the individual emulation of my countrymen, even +when not favoured by external circumstances; but what we most want in +tragedy is actors. Affected words necessarily lead to false declamation; +but there is no language in which an actor can display so much talent as +in ours; for the melody of sound gives a new charm to truth of accent: +it is a continual music which mingles with the expression of feeling +without diminishing its vigour." "If you wish," interrupted Prince +Castel-Forte, "to convince the company of what you assert, it only +remains for you to prove it: yes, allow us to enjoy the inexpressible +pleasure of seeing you perform tragedy; you must grant these foreign +gentlemen the rare enjoyment of being made acquainted with a talent +which you alone in Italy possess; or rather that you alone in the world +possess, since the whole of your genius is impressed upon it."</p> + +<p>Corinne felt a secret desire to play tragedy before Lord Nelville, and +by this means show herself to very great advantage; but she dared not +accede to the proposal of Prince Castel-Forte, without that approbation +of Oswald, which the looks she cast upon him earnestly entreated. He +understood them; and as he was at the same time concerned at that +timidity which had the day before prevented the exertion of her talent +for improvisation, and ambitious that she should obtain the applause of +Mr Edgermond, he joined in the solicitations of her friends. Corinne +therefore no longer hesitated. "Well, then," said she, turning to Prince +Castel-Forte, "we will accomplish the project which I have so long +formed, of playing my own translation of Romeo and Juliet," +"Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?" cried Mr Edgermond; "you understand +English, then?" "Yes," answered Corinne. "And you are fond of +Shakespeare!" added Mr Edgermond. "As a friend," replied she; "he was so +well acquainted with all the secrets of grief." "And you will perform in +Italian," cried Mr Edgermond; "and I shall hear you! And you too, my +dear Nelville. Ah, how happy you will be!" Then, repenting immediately +this indiscreet word, he blushed: and a blush inspired by delicacy and +goodness may be interesting at all periods of life. "How happy we shall +be," resumed he, a little embarrassed, "to be present at such a +representation!"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Giovanni Pindemonte, has recently published a collection +of Dramas, the subjects of which are taken from Italian history, and +this is a very interesting and praiseworthy enterprize. The name of +Pindemonte is also rendered illustrious by Hippolito Pindemonte, one of +the sweetest and most charming of the present Italian poets.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The posthumous works of Alfieri are just published, in +which are to be found many exquisite pieces; but we may conclude from a +rather singular Dramatic Essay, which he has written on the Death of +Abel, that he himself was conscious that his pieces were too austere, +and that on the stage more must be allowed to the pleasures of the +imagination.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_giii" id="Chapter_giii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>Every thing was arranged in a few days, the parts distributed, and the +evening chosen for the performance in a palace belonging to a female +relation of Prince Castel-Forte, and a friend of Corinne. Oswald felt a +mixture of uneasiness and pleasure, at the approach of this new scene of +triumph for the talents of Corinne. He enjoyed the by anticipation; but +he was also jealous in the same manner, not of any man in particular, +but of that whole audience in general who were to witness the talents of +her whom he loved. He wished to be the only witness of her mental +charms;—he wished that Corinne, timid and reserved, like an English +woman, should possess eloquence and genius for none but him. However +distinguished a man may be, perhaps he never enjoys, without alloy, the +superiority of a woman: if he feel an affection for her, his heart is +disturbed;—if not, his self-love is wounded. Oswald, in the presence of +Corinne, was more intoxicated than happy; and the admiration which she +inspired him with, increased his love without giving more stability to +his projects. He contemplated her as an admirable phenomenon, which +appeared to him anew every day; but even the transport and astonishment +which she made him feel, seemed to render the hope of a peaceful and +tranquil life more distant. Corinne, however, was of the tenderest and +most easy disposition in private life; her ordinary qualities would have +made her beloved independently of her brilliant ones; but yet again, she +united in herself too much talent, and was too dazzling in every +respect. Lord Nelville, with all his accomplishments, did not believe +himself equal to her, and this idea inspired him with fears as to the +duration of their mutual affection. Vainly did Corinne by force of love +become his slave; the master, often uneasy about his captive queen, did +not enjoy his empire undisturbed.</p> + +<p>Some hours before the representation, Lord Nelville conducted Corinne to +the palace of Princess Castel-Forte, where the theatre was fitted up. +The sun shone most brilliantly, and from one of the windows of the +stair-case, Rome and the <i>Campagna</i> were discovered. Oswald stopped +Corinne a moment and said, "Behold this beautiful day, it is for your +sake; it is to heighten the splendour of your fame." "Ah, if that were +so," answered she, "it is you who would bring me happiness; it is to you +that I should owe the protection of heaven." "Would the pure and gentle +sentiments which the beauty of nature inspires, be sufficient to make +you happy?" replied Oswald: "there is a great distance between the air +that we breathe, the reverie which the country inspires, and that noisy +theatre which is about to resound with your name." "Oswald," said +Corinne, "if the applause which I am about to receive, have the power to +affect me, will it not be because it is witnessed by you? And should I +display any talent, will it not owe its success to you, who have +animated and inspired it? Love, poetry, and religion, all that is born +of enthusiasm, is in harmony with nature; and in beholding the azure +sky, in yielding to the impression which it causes, I have a juster +comprehension of the sentiments of Juliet, I am more worthy of Romeo." +"Yes, thou art worthy of him, celestial creature!" cried Lord Nelville; +"'tis only a weakness of the soul, this jealousy of thy talents, this +desire to live alone with thee in the universe. Go, receive the meed of +public homage, go; but let that look of love, still more divine than thy +genius, be directed to me alone!" They then parted, and Lord Nelville +went and took his seat in theatre, awaiting the pleasure of beholding +the appearance of Corinne.</p> + +<p>Romeo and Juliet is an Italian subject; the scene is placed in Verona, +where is still to be seen the tomb of those two lovers. Shakespeare has +written this piece with that Southern imagination at once impassioned +and pleasing; that imagination which triumphs in happiness, but which, +nevertheless, passes so easily from happiness to despair, and from +despair to death. The impressions are rapid; but one easily feels that +these rapid impressions will be ineffaceable. It is the force of nature, +and not the frivolity of the heart, which beneath an energetic climate +hastens the development of the passions. The soil is not light, though +vegetation is prompt; and Shakespeare has seized, more happily than any +other foreign writer, the national character of Italy and that fecundity +of the mind which invents a thousand ways of varying the expression of +the same sentiments—the oriental eloquence which makes use of all the +images of nature to paint what is passing in the heart. It is not as in +Ossian, one same tint, one uniform sound which responds constantly to +the most sensitive chords of the heart; the multiplied colours that +Shakespeare employs in Romeo and Juliet, do not give a cold affectation +to his style; it is the ray divided, reflected, and varied, which +produces these colours, in which we ever feel that fire they proceed +from. There is a life and a brilliancy in this composition which +characterise the country and the inhabitants. The play of Romeo and +Juliet translated into Italian would only seem to return to its mother +tongue.</p> + +<p>The first appearance of Juliet is at a ball, where Romeo Montague has +introduced himself into the house of the Capulets, the mortal enemies of +his family. Corinne was dressed in a charming festive habit, conformable +to the costume of the times. Her hair was tastefully adorned with +precious stones and artificial flowers. Her friends did not know her on +her first appearance, till her voice discovered her: her figure then +became familiar to them; but it was in a manner deified, and preserved +only a poetical expression. The theatre resounded with unanimous +applause upon her appearance. Her first looks discovered Oswald, and +rested upon him—a spark of joy, a lively and gentle hope, was painted +in her countenance: on beholding her, every heart beat with pleasure and +fear: it was felt that so much felicity could not last upon earth; was +it for Juliet, or Corinne, that this presentiment was to be verified?</p> + +<p>When Romeo approached to address to her in a low voice, the lines, so +brilliant in English, so magnificent in the Italian translation, upon +her grace and beauty, the spectators, charmed to hear their own +sentiments so finely interpreted, joined in the transport of Romeo; and +the sudden passion which the first look of Juliet kindled in his soul, +appeared like reality to every eye. Oswald from this moment felt +disturbed; it appeared to him that all was near to being revealed, that +Corinne was about to be proclaimed an angel among women, that he should +be forced to reveal his sentiments, that his claim would be disputed and +the prize ravished from him—a kind of dazzling cloud seemed to pass +before his eyes—he feared his sight might fail him—he was ready to +faint, and retired for some moments behind a pillar. Corinne, uneasy, +sought him with anxiety, and pronounced this line,</p> + +<p class='center'>"Too early seen unknown, and known too late!"</p> + +<p>with such a tone of voice, that Oswald started as he heard it, for it +seemed to him to be applied to their personal situation.</p> + +<p>He could never feel tired of admiring the grace of her actions, the +dignity of her motions, and the expression of her countenance, in which +was painted what language could not reveal, all those mysteries of the +heart which cannot be reduced to words; but which, nevertheless, dispose +of our life. The accent, the look, the least gesture of an actor, truly +inspired and influenced by genuine emotion, are a continual revelation +of the human heart; and the ideal of the fine arts is always mingled +with these revelations of nature. The harmony of the verse and the charm +of the attitudes, lend to passion that grace and dignity which it often +wants in reality. Thus every sentiment of the heart, and every emotion +of the soul, pass before the imagination without losing anything of +their truth.</p> + +<p>In the second act, Juliet appears in the balcony to converse with Romeo. +Corinne had preserved, of her former ornaments, only the flowers, and +those were soon to disappear: the theatre half-lighted to represent +night, cast a milder reflection upon the countenance of Corinne. There +was now something more melodious in her voice, than when surrounded with +the splendour of a <i>fête</i>. Her hand lifted towards the stars, seemed to +invoke the only witnesses worthy of hearing her, and when she repeated, +"<i>Romeo! Romeo!</i>" although Oswald was certain that she thought of him, +he felt jealous that these delicious accents should make the air resound +with any other name than his. Oswald was seated opposite the balcony, +and he who performed Romeo being a little concealed by the darkness of +the scene, Corinne was enabled to fix her eyes upon Oswald when +pronouncing these lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>"In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond;</div> +<div>And therefore thou may'st think my 'haviour light;</div> +<div>But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true</div> +<div>Than those that have more cunning to be strange.</div> +<div> * * * * * *</div> +<div> * * * * * *</div> +<div> * * * * therefore pardon me."</div></div> +</div> + +<p>At these words—"Pardon me! Pardon me for loving; pardon me for having +let you know it!"—There was in Corinne's look, so tender a prayer and +so much respect for her lover, so much exultation in her choice, when +she said, "Noble Romeo! Fair Montague!" that Oswald felt as proud as he +was happy. He raised his head, which tenderness had bowed down, and +fancied himself the king of the world, since he reigned over a heart +which contained all the treasures of life.</p> + +<p>Corinne, perceiving the effect which she produced upon Oswald, became +more and more animated by that emotion of the heart which alone produces +miracles; and when at the approach of day, Juliet thought she heard the +song of the lark—a signal for the departure of Romeo, the accents of +Corinne possessed a supernatural charm: they described love, and +nevertheless one might perceive that there was something of religious +mystery in them, some recollections of heaven, with a presage that she +was shortly to return thither; a kind of celestial melancholy, as of a +soul exiled upon earth, but which was soon to be called to its divine +home. Ah! how happy was Corinne the day that she represented the part of +a noble character in a beautiful tragedy before the lover of her choice; +how many years, how many lives would appear dull, compared to such a +day!</p> + +<p>If Lord Nelville could have performed, with Corinne, the part of Romeo, +the pleasure which she would have tasted would not have been so +complete. She would have desired to put aside the verses of the greatest +poet in order to speak the dictates of her own heart; perhaps even her +genius would have been confined by insurmountable timidity; she would +not have dared to look at Oswald for fear of betraying herself, and +truth would have destroyed the charm of art; but how sweet it was to +know that he whom she loved was present when she experienced those +exalted sentiments which poetry alone can inspire; when she felt all the +charm of tender emotions, without their real pain; when the affection +she expressed was neither personal nor abstract; and when she seemed to +say to Lord Nelville, "See how I am able to love."</p> + +<p>It is impossible when the situation is our own to be satisfied with +ourselves: passion and timidity alternately transport and check +us—inspire us either with too much bitterness or too much submission; +but to appear perfect without affectation; to unite calm to sensibility, +which too frequently destroys it; in a word, to exist for a moment in +the sweetest reveries of the heart; such was the pure enjoyment of +Corinne in performing tragedy. She united to this pleasure that of all +the plaudits she received; and her look seemed to place them at the feet +of Oswald, at the feet of him whose simple approval she valued more than +all her fame. Corinne was happy, at least for a moment! for a moment, at +least, she experienced at the price of her repose, those delights of the +soul which till then she had vainly wished for, and which she would ever +have to regret!</p> + +<p>Juliet in the third act becomes privately, the wife of Romeo. In the +fourth, her parents wishing to force her to marry another, she +determines to take the opiate which she receives from the hand of a +friar, and which is to give her the appearance of death. All the motions +of Corinne, her disturbed gait, her altered accent, her looks, sometimes +animated and sometimes dejected, painted the cruel conflict of fear and +love, the terrible images which pursued her at the idea of being +transported alive to the tomb of her ancestors, and the enthusiasm of +passion, which enabled a soul, so young, to triumph over so natural a +terror. Oswald felt an almost irresistible impulse to fly to her aid. At +one time she lifted her eyes towards heaven, with an ardour which deeply +expressed that need of divine protection, from which no human being was +ever free. At another time, Lord Nelville thought he saw her stretch her +arms towards him to ask his assistance—he rose up in a transport of +delirium, and then sat down immediately, brought to his senses by the +astonished looks of those about him; but his emotion became so strong +that it could no longer be concealed.</p> + +<p>In the fifth act, Romeo, who believes Juliet dead, lifts her from the +tomb before she awakes and presses her to his heart. Corinne was clad in +white, her black hair dishevelled, and her head inclined upon Romeo with +a grace, and nevertheless an appearance of death, so affecting and so +gloomy, that Oswald felt himself shaken with the most opposite +impressions. He could not bear to see Corinne in the arms of another, +and he shuddered at beholding the image of her whom he loved, apparently +deprived of life; so that in fact he felt, like Romeo, that cruel +combination of despair and love, of death and pleasure, which makes this +scene the most agonising that ever was represented on a stage. At +length, when Juliet awakes in this tomb, at the foot of which her lover +has just immolated himself, when her first words in her coffin, beneath +these funeral vaults, are not inspired by the terror which they ought to +cause, when she exclaims:</p> + +<p class='center'>"Where is my lord? Where is my Romeo?"</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville replied by deep groans, and did not return to himself till +Mr Edgermond conducted him out of the theatre.</p> + +<p>The piece being finished, Corinne felt indisposed from emotion and +fatigue. Oswald entered first into her apartment, where he saw her alone +with her women, still in the costume of Juliet, and, like Juliet, almost +swooning in their arms. In the excess of his trouble he could not +distinguish whether it was truth or fiction, and throwing himself at +the feet of Corinne, exclaimed, in English:</p> + +<p class='center'>"Eyes look your last! Arms take your last embrace."</p> + +<p>Corinne, still wandering, cried: "Good God! what do you say? are you +going to leave me?"—"No;" interrupted Oswald, "I swear—" At that +instant the crowd of Corinne's friends and admirers forced the door in +order to see her. Her eyes were fixed upon Oswald, listening with +anxiety for what he was about to answer; but there was no opportunity +for further conversation between them during the whole evening, for they +were not left alone a single instant.</p> + +<p>Never had the performance of a tragedy produced such an effect in Italy. +The Romans extolled with transport the talents of Corinne, both as the +representative of Juliet, and the translator of the piece. They said +that this was truly the species of tragedy which suited the Italians, +which painted their manners, moved the soul by captivating the +imagination, and gave effect to their beautiful language, in a style +alternately eloquent and lyrical, inspired and natural. Corinne received +all these praises with the sweetest air imaginable; but her soul +remained suspended on the words "<i>I swear</i>,"—which Oswald had +pronounced when he was prevented by the entrance of the company from +concluding his sentence: this word might in truth contain the secret of +her destiny.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_viii" id="Book_viii"></a>Book viii.</h2> + +<h2>THE STATUES AND THE PICTURES.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-227.png" id="illus-227.png" /><img src="images/illus-227.png" width='600' +height='169' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_hi" id="Chapter_hi"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>After the day which had passed, Oswald could not close his eyes during +the night. He had never been so near sacrificing every thing to Corinne. +He did not even desire to know her secret; or rather, before he was +acquainted with it, he wished to contract a solemn engagement, to +consecrate his life to her. For some hours uncertainty seemed banished +from his mind; and he took pleasure in composing, in his thoughts, the +letter which he should write to her on the morrow, and which would +decide his fate. But this confidence in happiness, this reliance upon +resolution, was of no long duration. His thoughts soon reverted to the +past, he remembered that he had loved, much less, it is true, than he +loved Corinne; and the object of his first choice could not be compared +to her; but nevertheless it was this sentiment which had hurried him +away to thoughtless actions, to actions which had torn the heart of his +father.—"Ah! who knows," cried he, "whether he would not fear equally +to-day, lest his son should forget his native country and the duties +which he owes it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh thou!" said he, addressing the portrait of his father, "thou, the +best friend I shall ever have upon earth, I can no longer hear thy +voice, but teach me by that silent look which yet retains such power +over my soul, inform me what I am to do, that now at least in thy +celestial abode, thou mayest be satisfied with the conduct of thy son! +Forget not, however, that need of happiness which consumes mortal +man—be indulgent in heaven, as thou wert upon earth! I shall become +better if I am allowed to taste of happiness; if I am permitted to live +with this angelic creature, to have the honour of protecting, of saving +such a woman.—Of saving her?" continued he suddenly; "and from what? +From a life of homage, of fame, and of independence!"—This reflection, +which originated in himself, terrified him like an inspiration of his +father.</p> + +<p>In conflicts of sentiment, who has not felt that kind of secret +superstition which makes us take our own thoughts for presages, and our +sufferings for a warning from heaven? Ah! how bitter is the struggle +between passion and conscience, in susceptible minds!</p> + +<p>Oswald paced his chamber under the most cruel agitation, sometimes +stopping to look at the moon, which in Italy is so mild and so +beautiful. The aspect of nature inspires resignation; but it is without +effect upon a mind racked with uncertainty. The next day arrived without +bringing any relief to his distracted thoughts, and when the Count +d'Erfeuil and Mr Edgermond came to visit him, they were uneasy as to the +state of his health, so much was he altered by the anxieties of the +night. The Count d'Erfeuil was the first who spoke.—"It must be +allowed," said he, "that yesterday's entertainment was charming. Corinne +is a most admirable woman. I lost half her words, but I understood +everything from her voice and her countenance. What a pity it is, that a +rich lady should be possessed of this talent! For if she were in humbler +circumstances, and unrestrained as she is, she might embrace the stage +as a profession; and to have an actress like her, would be the glory of +Italy."</p> + +<p>Oswald received a painful impression from this speech, and yet could +not tell how to make it known. For there was that about the Count, that +one could not be angry at what he said, even though it were disagreeable +to one's feelings. None but sensitive minds understand those delicate +precautions which they owe each other: self-love, so alive to every +thing that affects itself, hardly ever thinks of the susceptibility of +others.</p> + +<p>Mr Edgermond praised Corinne in the most becoming and flattering terms. +Oswald answered him in English, in order to relieve the conversation +about Corinne from the disagreeable eulogiums of the Count. "I see I am +one too many here," said the Count; "well I will pay a visit to Corinne: +she will not be sorry I dare say to hear my observations upon her acting +yesterday evening. I have some advice to give her, too, upon details; +but these details are very essential to the effect of the whole: she is +really so astonishing a woman that one should neglect nothing to assist +her in attaining perfection.—And besides," said he, inclining towards +Nelville's ear, "I wish to encourage her to play tragedy more often: +'tis a certain way to get married by some foreigner of distinction who +may pass through this city. As to you and me, my dear Oswald, that idea +does not concern us, we are too much accustomed to charming women to +commit foolish things; but who knows? a German prince, or a Spanish +grandee—" At these words Oswald rose up almost beside himself, and it +is impossible to conceive what would have been the issue, if the Count +d'Erfeuil had perceived his emotion; but he was so satisfied with his +last reflection, that he tripped away lightly, not in the least +suspecting that he had offended Lord Nelville: had he known it, though +he loved him as much as man could love another, he would certainly have +remained. The brilliant valour of the Count, contributed still more than +his self-love to render him blind to his defects. As he was extremely +delicate in everything that regarded honour, he did not imagine that he +could be wanting with respect to sensibility; and believing himself, not +without reason, amiable and brave, he was pleased with his lot, and did +not suspect there was any more profound way of regarding life than his +own.</p> + +<p>None of the sentiments which agitated Oswald had escaped Mr Edgermond, +and when the Count d'Erfeuil was gone, he said to him—"My dear Oswald, +I take my leave,—I am going to Naples."—"Why so soon?" answered +Nelville. "Because it is not good for me to stay here," continued +Edgermond; "I am fifty years of age, and nevertheless I am not sure that +Corinne would not make a fool of me."—"And even in that case," +interrupted Oswald, "what would be the consequence?"—"Such a woman is +not formed to live in Wales," replied Mr Edgermond; "believe me, my dear +Oswald, only Englishwomen are fit for England: it does not become me to +give you advice, I need not assure you that I shall not mention a word +of what I have seen; but with all Corinne's accomplishments, I should +say, with Thomas Walpole, <i>of what use is all that at home</i>? And, you +know the <i>home</i> is all with us, all for our women at least. Imagine to +yourself your beautiful Italian alone, while you are hunting or +attending your duty in Parliament; imagine her leaving you at dessert to +get tea ready against you shall leave table! Dear Oswald, depend upon it +our women possess those domestic virtues which are to be found nowhere +else. The men in Italy have nothing to do but to please the women; +therefore the more attractive they are the better. But with us, where +men have active pursuits, women must be satisfied with the shade. That +it would be a great pity to condemn Corinne to such a destiny, I freely +acknowledge. I should be glad to see her upon the throne of England; but +not beneath my humble roof. My lord, I knew your mother, whose loss was +so much lamented by your worthy father: she was a lady in every respect +like my young cousin. Such is the wife, which, were I at a proper time +of life, I should choose. Adieu, my dear friend, do not be offended at +what I have said, for nobody can be a greater admirer of Corinne than I +am, and I own to you that after all were I at your time of life, I doubt +whether I could have sufficient fortitude to renounce the hope of +becoming agreeable to her."—In finishing, these words, he took the hand +of Oswald, squeezed it cordially, and departed without receiving a word +in reply. But Mr Edgermond comprehended the cause of his silence, and +satisfied with a pressure of the hand from Oswald in answer to his own, +he went away, impatient himself to finish a conversation which was +painful to him.</p> + +<p>Of all that he had said, only one word had penetrated the heart of +Oswald, and that was the recollection of his mother, and his father's +profound attachment to her. He had lost her when he was only fourteen +years of age, but he recollected her virtues with the most heart-felt +reverence, as well as that timidity and reserve which characterised +them.—"Fool that I am," cried he, when alone, "I wish to know what kind +of wife my father destined for me, and do I not know it, since I can +call to mind the image of my mother whom he so tenderly loved? What do I +want more? Why deceive myself in feigning ignorance of what would be his +sentiments now, were it in my power to consult his will?" It was, +however, a terrible task for Oswald to return to Corinne, after what had +passed the evening before, without saying something in confirmation of +the sentiments which he had expressed. His agitation and his trouble +became so violent, that they affected a ruptured blood-vessel which he +thought had completely healed up, but which now re-opened and began to +bleed afresh. Whilst his servants, in affright, called everywhere for +assistance, he secretly wished that the end of life might terminate his +sufferings.—"If I could die," said he, "after having seen Corinne once +more, after having heard her again call me her Romeo!"—Tears rolled +down his cheeks; they were the first tears he had shed for the sake of +another since the death of his father.</p> + +<p>He wrote to Corinne informing her of his accident, and some melancholy +words terminated his letter. Corinne had begun this day under the most +deceitful auspices: happy in the impression she conceived she had made +upon Oswald, believing herself beloved, she was happy; nor did busy +thought conjure up any reflection not in unison with what she so much +desired. A thousand circumstances ought to have mingled considerable +fear with the idea of espousing Lord Nelville; but as there was more +passion than foresight in her character, governed by the present, and +not diving into the future, this day, which was to cost her so many +pangs, dawned upon her as the most pure and serene of her life.</p> + +<p>On receiving Oswald's note, her soul was a prey to the most cruel +feelings: she believed him in imminent danger, and set out immediately +on foot, traversing the Corso at the hour when all the city were walking +there, and entered the house of Oswald in face of all the first society +of Rome. She had not taken time to reflect, and had walked so fast, that +when she reached the chamber, she could not breathe, or utter a single +word. Lord Nelville conceived all that she had risked to come and see +him, and exaggerating the consequences of this action, which in England +would have entirely ruined the reputation of an unmarried woman, he felt +penetrated with generosity, love, and gratitude, and rising up, feeble +as he was, he pressed Corinne to his heart, and cried:—"My dearest +love! No, I never will abandon you! After having exposed yourself on my +account! When I ought to repair—" Corinne comprehended what he would +say, and as she gently disengaged herself from his arms, interrupted him +thus, having first enquired how he was:—"You are deceived, my lord; in +coming to see you I do nothing that most of my countrywomen would not do +in my place. I knew you were ill—you are a stranger here—you know +nobody but me; it is therefore my duty to take care of you. Were it +otherwise, ought not established forms to yield to those real and +profound sentiments, which the danger or the grief of a friend give +birth to? What would be the fate of a woman if the rules of social +propriety, permitting her to love, forbade that irresistible emotion +which makes us fly to succour the object of our affection? But I repeat +to you, my lord, you need not be afraid that I have compromised myself +by coming hither. My age and my talents allow me, at Rome, the same +liberty as a married woman. I do not conceal from my friends that I am +come to see you. I know not whether they blame me for loving you; but +that fact admitted, I am certain that they do not think me culpable in +devoting myself entirely to you."</p> + +<p>On hearing these words, so natural and so sincere, Oswald experienced a +confused medley of different feelings. He was moved with the delicacy of +Corinne's answer; but he was almost vexed that his first impression was +not just. He could have wished that she had committed some great fault +in the eyes of the world, in order that this very fault, imposing upon +him the duty of marrying her, might terminate his indecision. He was +offended at this liberty of manners in Italy, which prolonged his +anxiety by allowing him so much happiness, without annexing to it any +condition. He could have wished that honour had commanded what he +desired, and these painful thoughts produced new and dangerous effects. +Corinne, notwithstanding the dreadful alarm she was in, lavished upon +him the most soothing attentions.</p> + +<p>Towards the evening, Oswald appeared more oppressed; and Corinne, on her +knees by the side of his bed, supported his head in her arms, though she +was herself racked with more internal pain than he. This tender and +affecting care made a gleam of pleasure visible through his +sufferings.—"Corinne," said he to her, in a low voice, "read in this +volume, which contains the thoughts of my father, his reflections on +death. Do not think," he continued, seeing the terror of Corinne; "that +I feel myself menaced with it. But I am never ill without reading over +these consoling reflections. I then fancy that I hear them from his own +mouth; besides, my love, I wish you to know what kind of man my father +was; you will the better comprehend the cause of my grief, and of his +empire over me, as well as all that I shall one day confide to +you."—Corinne took this manuscript, which Oswald never parted from, and +in a trembling voice read the following pages.</p> + +<p>"Oh ye just, beloved of the Lord! you can speak of death without fear; +for you it is only a change of habitation, and that which you quit is +perhaps the least of all! Oh numberless worlds, which in our sight fill +the boundless region of space! unknown communities of God's creatures; +communities of His children, scattered throughout the firmament and +ranged beneath its vaults, let our praises be joined to yours! We are +ignorant of your condition, whether you possess the first, second, or +last share of the generosity of the Supreme Being; but in speaking of +death or of life, of time past or of time to come, we assimilate our +interests with those of all intelligent and sensible beings, no matter +where placed, or by what distance separated from us. Families of +peoples! Families of nations! Assemblage of worlds! you say with us, +Glory to the Master of the Heavens, to the King of Nature, to the God of +the Universe! Glory and homage to Him, who by his will can convert +sterility into abundance, shadow into reality, and death itself into +eternal life.</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly the end of the just is a desirable death; but few amongst +us, few amongst our forefathers have witnessed it. Where is the man who +could approach without fear the presence of the Eternal? Where is the +man who has loved God unremittingly, who has served Him from his youth, +and who, attaining an advanced age, finds in his recollections no +subject of uneasiness? Where is the man, moral in all his actions, +without ever thinking of the praise and the reward of public opinion? +Where is that man, so rare among the human species, who is worthy to +serve as a model to all? Where is he? Where is he? Ah! if he exist +amongst us, let our reverence and respect surround him; and ask, you +will do wisely to ask, to be present at his death, as at the sublimest +of earthly spectacles: only arm yourself with courage to follow him to +that bed, so repulsive to our feelings, from which he will never rise. +He foresees it; he is certain of it; serenity reigns in his countenance, +and his forehead seems encircled with a celestial aureole: he says, with +the apostle, <i>I know in whom I have believed</i>; and this confidence +animates his countenance, even when his strength is exhausted. He +already contemplates his new country, but without forgetting that which +he is about to quit: he gives himself up to his Creator and to his God, +without forgetting those sentiments which have charmed him during his +life.</p> + +<p>"Is it a faithful spouse, who according to the laws of nature must be +the first of all his connections to follow him: he consoles her, he +dries her tears, he appoints a meeting with her in that abode of +felicity of which he can form no idea without her. He recalls to her +mind those happy days which they have spent together; not to rend the +heart of a tender friend, but to increase their mutual confidence in the +goodness of heaven. He also reminds the companion of his fortunes, of +that tender love which he has ever felt for her; not to give additional +poignancy to that grief which he wishes to assuage, but to inspire her +with the sweet idea that two lives have grown upon the same stalk; and +that by their union they will become an additional defence to each other +in that dark futurity where the pity of the Supreme God is the last +refuge of our thoughts. Alas! is it possible to form a just conception +of all the emotions which penetrate a loving soul at the moment when a +vast solitude presents itself to our eyes, at the moment when the +sentiments, the interests upon which we have subsisted during so many +smiling years, are about to vanish for ever? Ah! you who are to survive +this being like unto yourself whom heaven had given you for your +support; that being who was every thing to you, and whose looks bid you +an agonizing adieu, you will not refuse to place your hand upon an +expiring heart, in order that its last palpitation may still speak to +you when all other language has failed! And shall we blame you, faithful +pair, if you had desired that your mortal remains should be deposited in +the same resting place? Gracious God, awaken them together; or if one +of them only has merited that favour, if only one of them must join the +small number of the elect, let the other be informed of it; let the +other perceive the light of angels at the moment when the fate of the +happy shall be proclaimed, in order that he may possess one moment of +joy before he sinks into eternal night.</p> + +<p>"Ah! perhaps we wander when we endeavour to describe the last days of +the man of sensibility, of the man who beholds death advance with hasty +strides, who sees it ready to separate him from all the objects of his +affection.</p> + +<p>"He revives, and regains a momentary strength in order that his last +words may serve for the instruction of his children. He says to +them—'Do not be afraid to witness the approaching end of your father, +of your old friend.—It is in obedience to a law of nature that he quits +before you, this earth which he entered first. He teaches you courage, +and nevertheless he leaves you with grief. He would certainly have +wished to assist you a little longer with his experience—to walk a +little longer side by side with you through all those perils with which +your youth is surrounded; <i>but life has no defence in the hour allotted +for our descent to the tomb</i>. You will now live alone in the midst of a +world from which I am about to disappear; may you reap in abundance the +gifts which Providence has sown in it; but do not forget that this world +itself is only a transient abode, and that you are destined for another +more permanent one. We shall perhaps see one another again; and in some +other region, in the presence of my God, I shall offer for you as a +sacrifice, my prayers and my tears! Love then religion, which is so rich +in promise! love religion, the last bond of union between fathers and +their children, between death and life!—Approach, that I may behold +you once more! May the benediction of a servant of God light on +you!'—He dies!—O, heavenly angels, receive his soul, and leave us upon +earth the remembrance of his actions, of his thoughts, and of his +hopes!"<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>The emotion of Oswald and Corinne had frequently interrupted this +reading. At length they were obliged to give it up. Corinne feared for +the effects of Oswald's grief, which vented itself in torrents of tears, +and suffered the bitterest pangs at beholding him in this condition, not +perceiving that she herself was as much afflicted as he. "Yes," said he, +stretching his hand to her, "dear friend of my heart, thy tears are +mingled with mine. Thou lamentest with me that guardian angel, whose +last embrace I yet feel, whose noble look I yet behold; perhaps it is +thou whom he has chosen for my comforter—perhaps—" "No, no," cried +Corinne; "he has not thought me worthy of it." "What is it you say?" +interrupted Oswald. Corinne was alarmed at having revealed what she so +much wished to conceal, and repeated what had escaped her, in another +form, saying—"He would not think me worthy of it!"—This phrase, so +altered, dissipated the disquietude which the first had excited in the +heart of Oswald, and he continued, undisturbed by any fears, to +discourse with Corinne concerning his father.</p> + +<p>The physicians arrived and dissipated somewhat the alarm of Corinne; but +they absolutely forbade Lord Nelville to speak till the ruptured +blood-vessel was perfectly closed. For a period of six whole days +Corinne never quitted Oswald, and prevented him from uttering a word, +gently imposing silence upon him whenever he wished to speak. She found +the art of varying the hours by reading, music, and sometimes by a +conversation of which the burden was supported by herself alone; now +serious, now playful, her animation of spirits kept up a continual +interest. All this charming and amiable attention concealed that +disquietude which internally preyed upon her, and which it was so +necessary to conceal from Lord Nelville; though she herself did not +cease one instant to be a martyr to it. She perceived almost before +Oswald himself what he suffered, nor was she deceived by the courage he +exerted to conceal it; she always anticipated everything that would be +likely to relieve him; only endeavouring to fix his attention as little +as possible upon her assiduous cares for him. However, when Oswald +turned pale, the colour would also abandon the lips of Corinne; and her +hands trembled when stretched to his assistance; but she struggled +immediately to appear composed, and often smiled when her eyes were +suffused with tears. Sometimes she pressed the hand of Oswald against +her heart, as if she would willingly impart to him her own life. At +length her cares succeeded, and Oswald recovered.</p> + +<p>"Corinne," said he to her, as soon as he was permitted to speak: "why +has not Mr Edgermond, my friend, witnessed the days which you have spent +by my bedside? He would have seen that you are not less good than +admirable; he would have seen that domestic life with you is a scene of +continual enchantment, and that you only differ from every other woman, +by adding to every virtue the witchery of every charm. No, it is too +much—this internal conflict which rends my heart, and that has just +brought me to the brink of the grave, must cease. Corinne, thou shalt +know my secrets though thou concealest from me thine—and thou shalt +decide upon our fate."—"Our fate," answered Corinne, "if you feel as I +do, is never to part. But will you believe me that, till now, I have +not dared even entertain a wish to be your wife. What I feel is very new +to me: my ideas of life, my projects for the future, are all upset by +this sentiment, which every day disturbs and enslaves me more and more. +But I know not whether we can, whether we ought to be +united!"—"Corinne," replied Oswald, "would you despise me for having +hesitated? Would you attribute that hesitation to trifling +considerations? Have you not divined that the deep and sad remorse which +for two years has preyed upon me, could alone cause my indecision?"</p> + +<p>"I have comprehended it," replied Corinne; "had I suspected you of a +motive foreign to the affections of the heart, you would not have been +he whom I loved. But life, I know, does not entirely belong to love. +Habits, recollections, and circumstances, create around us a sort of +entanglement that passion itself cannot destroy. Broken for a moment, it +will join again, and encircle our heart as the ivy twines round the oak. +My dear Oswald, let us not appropriate to any epoch of our existence +more than that epoch demands. Nothing is now so absolutely necessary to +my happiness as that you should not leave me. The terror of your sudden +departure pursues me incessantly. You are a stranger in this country, +and bound to it by no tie. Should you go, all my prospects would +fade,—you would leave your poor Corinne nothing but her grief. This +beautiful climate, these fine arts, that poetical inspiration which I +feel with you, and now, alas! with you alone, would for me become mute. +I never awake but trembling; when I behold the god of day, I know not +whether it deceives me by its resplendent beams, ignorant as I am +whether this city still contains you within its walls—you, the star of +my life! Oswald, remove this terror from my soul, and I will desire to +know nothing beyond the delightful security you will give me."—"You +know," replied Oswald, "that an Englishman can never abandon his native +country, that war may recall me, that—" "Oh, God!" cried Corinne, "are +you going to prepare me for the dreadful moment?" and she trembled in +every limb, as at the approach of some terrible danger.—"Well, if it be +so, take me with you as your wife—as your slave—" But, suddenly +recovering herself, she said—"Oswald, you will not go without giving me +previous notice of your departure, will you? Hear me: in no country +whatever, is a criminal conducted to execution without some hours being +allotted for him to collect his thoughts. It will not be by letter that +you will announce this to me—but you will come yourself in person—you +will hear me before you go far away! And shall I be able then—What, you +hesitate to grant my request?" cried Corinne. "No," replied he, "I do +not hesitate; since it is thy wish, I swear that should circumstances +require my departure, I will apprize thee of it beforehand, and that +moment will decide the fate of our future lives."—She then left the +room.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> I have taken the liberty here to borrow some passages of +the Discourse on Death, which is to be found in the <i>Cours de Morale +Religieuse</i>, by M. Necker. This work, which appeared in times when the +attention was engrossed by political events, is sometimes confounded +with another by the same author, called <i>l'Importance des Opinions +Religieuses</i>, which has had the most brilliant success. But I dare +affirm, that the former is my father's most eloquent work. No minister +of state, I believe, before him, ever composed works for the Christian +pulpit; and that which ought to characterise this kind of writing from a +man who has had so much dealings with his race, is a knowledge of the +human heart, and the indulgence which this knowledge inspires: it +appears then, that considered in these two points of view, the <i>Cours de +Morale</i>, is perfectly original. Religious men in general do not mix in +the world, and men of the world for the most part, are not religious: +where then would it be possible to find to such a degree, knowledge of +life united to the elevation which detaches us from it? I will assert +without being afraid that my opinion will be attributed to my feelings, +that this book ranks among the first of those which console the sensible +being, and interest minds which reflect on the great questions that the +soul incessantly agitates within us.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_hii" id="Chapter_hii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>During those days which immediately followed the illness of Oswald, +Corinne carefully avoided any thing that might lead to an explanation +between them. She wished to render life as calm as possible; but she +would not yet confide her history to him. All her remarks upon their +different conversations, had only served to convince her too well of the +impression he would receive in learning who she was, and what she had +sacrificed; and nothing appeared more dreadful to her than this +impression, which might detach him from her.</p> + +<p>Returning then to the amiable artifice with which she had before +prevented Oswald from abandoning himself to passionate disquietudes, she +desired to interest his mind and his imagination anew, by the wonders of +the fine arts which he had not yet seen, and by this means retard the +moment when their fate should be cleared up and decided. Such a +situation would be insupportable, governed by any other sentiment than +that of love; but so much is it in the power of love to sweeten every +hour, to give a charm to every minute, that although it need an +indefinite future, it becomes, intoxicated with the present, and is +filled every day with such a multitude of emotions and ideas that it +becomes an age of happiness or pain!</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly it is love alone that can give an idea of eternity; it +confounds every notion of time; it effaces every idea of beginning and +end; we believe that we have always loved the object of our affection; +so difficult is it to conceive that we have ever been able to live +without him. The more dreadful separation appears, the less it seems +probable; it becomes, like death, a fear which is more spoken of than +believed—a future event which seems impossible, even at the very moment +we know it to be inevitable.</p> + +<p>Corinne, among her innocent stratagems to vary the amusements of Oswald, +had still in reserve the statues and the paintings. One day therefore, +when Oswald was perfectly restored, she proposed that they should go +together to see the most beautiful specimens of painting and sculpture +that Rome contains. "It is a reproach," said she to him, smiling, "not +to be acquainted with our statues and our pictures; so to-morrow we will +commence our tour of the museums and the galleries."—"It is your wish," +answered Nelville, "and I agree. But in truth, Corinne, you have no +need of these foreign resources to retain me; on the contrary, it is a +sacrifice that I make whenever I turn my eyes from you to any object +whatever."</p> + +<p>They went first to the Museum of the Vatican, that palace of statues +where the human figure is deified by Paganism, in the same manner as the +sentiments of the soul are now by Christianity. Corinne directed the +observation of Lord Nelville to those silent halls, where the images of +the gods and the heroes are assembled, and where the most perfect beauty +seems to enjoy itself in eternal repose. In contemplating these +admirable features and forms, the intentions of the Deity towards man, +seems, I know not how, to be revealed by the noble figure which He has +been pleased to give him. The soul is uplifted by this contemplation to +hopes full of enthusiasm and virtue; for beauty is one and the same +throughout the universe, and under whatever form it presents itself, it +always excites a religious emotion in the heart of man. What poetic +language, there is in those countenances where the most sublime +expression is for ever imprinted,—where the grandest thoughts are clad +with an image so worthy of them!</p> + +<p>In some instances, an ancient sculptor only produced one statue during +his life—it was his whole history.—He perfected it every day: if he +loved, if he was beloved, if he received from nature or the fine arts +any new impression, he adorned the features of his hero with his +memories and affections: he could thus express to outward eyes all the +sentiments of his soul. The grief of our modern times, in the midst of +our cold and oppressive social conditions, contains all that is most +noble in man; and in our days, he who has not suffered, can never have +thought or felt. But there was in antiquity, something more noble than +grief—an heroic calm—the sense of conscious strength, which was +cherished by free and liberal institutions. The finest Grecian statues +have hardly ever indicated anything but repose. The Laocoon and Niobe +are the only ones which paint violent grief and pain; but it is the +vengeance of heaven which they represent, and not any passion born in +the human heart; the moral being was of so sound an organization among +the ancients, the air circulated so freely in their deep bosoms, and the +order politic was so much in harmony with their faculties, that troubled +minds hardly ever existed then, as at the present day. This state causes +the discovery of many fine ideas, but does not furnish the arts, +particularly sculpture, with those simple affections, those primitive +elements of sentiment, which can alone be expressed by eternal marble. +Hardly do we find any traces of melancholy; a head of Apollo, at the +Justinian palace, another of the dying Alexander, are the only ones in +which the thoughtful and suffering dispositions of the soul are +indicated; but according to all appearances they both belong to the time +when Greece was enslaved. Since that epoch, we no longer see that +boldness, nor that tranquillity of soul, which among the ancients, has +produced masterpieces of sculpture, and poetry composed in the same +spirit.</p> + +<p>That thought which has nothing to nourish it from without, turns upon +itself, analyses, labours, and dives into every inward sentiment; but it +has no longer that creative power which supposes happiness, and that +plenitude of strength which happiness alone can give. Even the +sarcophagi, among the ancients, only recall warlike or pleasing ideas: +in the multitude of those which are to be found at the museum of the +Vatican, are seen battles and games represented in bas-relief on the +tombs. The remembrance of living activity was thought to be the finest +homage that could be rendered to the dead; nothing relaxed, nothing +diminished strength. Encouragement and emulation were the principles of +the fine arts as well as of politics; they afforded scope for every +virtue, and for every talent. The vulgar gloried in knowing how to +admire, and the worship of genius was served even by those who could not +aspire to its rewards.</p> + +<p>The religion of Greece was not, like Christianity, the consolation of +misfortune, the riches of poverty, the future hope of the dying—it +sought glory and triumph;—in a manner it deified man: in this +perishable religion, beauty itself was a religious dogma. If the artists +were called to paint the base and ferocious passions, they rescued the +human form from shame, by joining to it, as in Fauns and Centaurs, some +traits of the animal figure; and in order to give to beauty its most +sublime character, they alternately blended in their statues (as in the +warlike Minerva and in the Apollo Musagetus), the charms of both +sexes—strength and softness, softness and strength; a happy mixture of +two opposite qualities, without which neither of the two would be +perfect.</p> + +<p>Corinne, continuing her observations, retained Oswald some time before +those sleeping statues which are placed on the tombs, and which display +the art of sculpture in the most agreeable point of view. She pointed +out to him, that whenever statues are supposed to represent an action, +the arrested movement produces a sort of astonishment which is sometimes +painful. But statues asleep, or merely in the attitude of complete +repose, offer an image of eternal tranquillity which wonderfully accords +with the general effect of a southern climate upon man. The fine arts +appear there to be peaceful spectators of nature, and genius, which in +the north agitates the soul of man, seems beneath a beautiful sky, only +an added harmony.</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne passed on to the hall where are collected together +the sculptured images of animals and reptiles; and the statue of +Tiberius is found, by chance, in the midst of this court. This +assemblage is without design. Those statues appear to have ranged +themselves of their own accord about their master. Another hall enclosed +the dull and rigid monuments of the Egyptians; of that people whose +statues resembled mummies more than men, and who by their silent, stiff, +and servile institutions, seem to have assimilated as much as possible, +life to death. The Egyptians excelled much more in the art of imitating +animals than in representing men: the dominion of the soul seems to have +been inaccessible to them.</p> + +<p>After these come the porticos of the museum, where at each step is seen +a new masterpiece. Vases, altars, ornaments of every kind, encircle the +Apollo, the Laocoon, and the Muses. It is there that we learn to feel +Homer and Sophocles: it is there that a knowledge of antiquity is +awakened in the soul, which cannot be acquired elsewhere. It is in vain +that we trust to the reading of history to comprehend the spirit of +nations; what we see inspires us with more ideas than what we read, and +external objects cause in us a strong emotion, which gives that living +interest to the study of the past which we find in the observation of +contemporary facts and events.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these magnificent porticos, which afford an asylum to so +many wonders of art, there are fountains, which, flowing incessantly, +seem to tell us how sweetly the hours glided away two thousand years +ago, when the artists who executed these masterpieces were yet alive. +But the most melancholy impression which we experience at the Vatican, +is in contemplating the remains of statues which are collected there: +the torso of Hercules, heads separated from the trunks, and a foot of +Jupiter, which indicates a greater and more perfect statue than any that +we know. We fancy a field of battle before us, where time has fought +with genius; and these mutilated limbs attest its victory, and our +losses.</p> + +<p>After leaving the Vatican, Corinne conducted him to the Colossi of Mount +Cavallo; these two statues represent, as it is said, Castor and Pollux. +Each of the two heroes is taming with one hand a fiery steed. These +colossal figures, this struggle between man and the animal creation, +gives, like all the works of the ancients, an admirable idea of the +physical power of human nature. But this power has something noble in +it, which is no longer found in modern society, where all bodily +exercises are for the most part left to the common people. It is not +merely the animal force of human nature, if I may use the expression, +which is observable in these masterpieces. There seems to have been a +more intimate union between the physical and moral qualities among the +ancients, who lived incessantly in the midst of war, and a war almost of +man to man. Strength of body and generosity of soul, dignity of features +and boldness of character, loftiness of stature and commanding +authority, were ideas almost inseparable, before a religion, entirely +intellectual, had placed the power of man in his mind. The human figure, +which was also the figure of the gods, appeared symbolical; and the +nervous colossus of Hercules, as well as every other ancient statue of +this sort, do not convey vulgar ideas of common life; but an omnipotent +and divine will, which shews itself under the emblem of a supernatural +physical force.</p> + +<p>Corinne and Lord Nelville finished the day with a visit to the studio of +Canova, the greatest modern sculptor. As it was late when they got +there, they were shewn it by torch light; and statues improve much in +their effect by being seen in this manner. The ancients appear to have +been of this opinion, since they often placed them in their Thermæ, +where day could not enter. By the light of the flambeaux, the shadows +being more full, the uniform lustre of the marble was softened, and the +statues appeared as so many pale figures, possessing a more touching +character of grace and life. There was, in the studio of Canova, an +admirable statue destined for a tomb, which represented the genius of +grief leaning upon a lion, the emblem of strength. Corinne, in +contemplating the figure of grief, thought she discovered in it some +resemblance to Oswald, and the artist himself was struck with it; Lord +Nelville turned about to avoid this kind of notice; but he said in a low +voice to his fair companion, "Corinne, I was condemned to a fate like +that which is here represented, when I met with you; but you have +changed my existence, and sometimes hope, and always an anxiety mixed +with charm, fills that heart which was to suffer nothing but regret."</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_hiii" id="Chapter_hiii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>The masterpieces of painting were then all collected together at Rome, +whose riches in this respect surpassed that of all the rest of the +world. There could exist only one disputable point as to the effect +produced by this collection, namely, whether the nature of the subjects +chosen by the Italian artists, afford a scope for all the variety and +all the originality of passion and character which painting can express? +Oswald and Corinne were of contrary opinions in this respect; but this, +like every other opposition of sentiment that existed between them, was +owing to the difference of nation, climate, and religion. Corinne +affirmed that the most favourable subjects for painting were religious +ones<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>. She said that sculpture was a Pagan art, and painting a +Christian one; and that in these arts were to be found, as in poetry, +the distinguishing qualities of ancient and modern literature. The +pictures of Michael Angelo, the painter of the Bible, and of Raphael, +the painter of the Gospel, suppose as much profound thought, as much +sensibility as are to be found in Shakespeare and Racine: sculpture can +only present a simple, energetic existence, whilst painting indicates +the mysteries of reflection and resignation, and makes the immortal soul +speak through transient colours. Corinne maintained also that historical +or poetical facts were rarely picturesque. In order to comprehend such +subjects, it would often be necessary to preserve the practice of +painters of old, and write the speech of each personage in a ribbon +proceeding out of the mouth. But religious subjects are instantly +understood by everybody, and attention is not removed from the picture +to guess what it represents.</p> + +<p>Corinne was of opinion that the expression of modern painters was often +theatrical, and that it bore the stamp of their age, in which was no +longer found, as in Andrea Mantegna, Perugino, and Leonardo da Vinci, +the unity and simplicity which characterised the repose of the ancients; +a repose to which is joined that profundity of sentiment which is the +characteristic of Christianity. She admired the artless composition of +Raphael's pictures, especially those in his first manner. All the +figures are directed towards one principal object, without any +contrivance on the part of the artist to group them in various attitudes +in order to produce a laboured effect. Corinne said that this sincerity +in the arts of the imagination, as well as in every other, is the true +character of genius; and that studied efforts for fame are almost +always destructive of enthusiasm. She maintained that there was rhetoric +in painting as well as in poetry, and that all those who could not +embody character called every accessory ornament to their aid, uniting +rich costumes and remarkable attitudes to the attraction of a brilliant +subject, whilst a single Virgin holding a child in her arms, an +attentive old man in the Mass of Bolsena, a man leaning on his stick in +the School of Athens, or Saint Cecilia with her eyes lifted up to +heaven, produced the deepest effect by the expression of the countenance +alone. These natural beauties increase every day more and more in our +estimation; but on the contrary, in pictures done for effect, the first +glance is always the most striking.</p> + +<p>Corinne added to these reflections an observation which strengthened +them: which was, that the religious sentiments of the Greeks and Romans, +and the disposition of their minds, being in every respect absolutely +foreign from ours, it is impossible for us to create according to their +conceptions, or to build upon their ground. They may be imitated by dint +of study; but how can genius employ all its energies in a work where +memory and erudition are so necessary? It is not the same with subjects +that belong to our own history and our own religion. Here the painter +himself may be inspired; he may feel what he paints, and paint what he +has seen. Life assists him to imagine life; but in transporting himself +to the regions of antiquity, his invention must be guided by books and +statues. To conclude, Corinne found that pictures from pious subjects, +impart a comfort to the soul that nothing could replace; and that they +suppose a sacred enthusiasm in the artist which blends with genius, +renovates, revives, and can alone support him against the injustice of +man and the bitterness of life.</p> + +<p>Oswald received, in some respects, a different impression. In the first +place, he was scandalized to see the Deity represented as he is by +Michael Angelo, in human form and feature. It was his opinion that +thought dare not give Him shape and figure, and that hardly at the very +bottom of the soul could be found an idea sufficiently intellectual, +sufficiently ethereal to elevate it to the Supreme Being; as to subjects +taken from the Holy Scripture, it seemed to him that the expression and +the images left much to be desired. He thought, with Corinne, that +religious meditation is the most intimate sentiment that man can +experience; and in this respect, it is that which furnishes the painter +with the deepest mysteries of physiognomy and expression; but as +religion represses every emotion which does not proceed immediately from +the heart, the figures of the saints and martyrs cannot admit of much +variety. The sentiment of humility, so noble in the face of heaven, +weakens the energy of terrestrial passions and necessarily gives +monotony to most religious subjects. When Michael Angelo applied his +terrible genius to those subjects, he almost changed their essence by +giving to his prophets a formidable expression of power more becoming a +Jupiter than a Saint. He, like Dante, often avails himself of the images +of Paganism and blends the heathen mythology with the Christian +religion. One of the most admirable circumstances attending the +establishment of Christianity, is the lowly estate of the apostles who +have preached it, and the misery and debasement of the Jewish people, so +long the depositaries of the promises that announced the coming of +Christ. This contrast between the littleness of the means and the +greatness of the result, is in a moral point of view, extremely fine; +but in painting, which exhibits the means alone, Christian subjects must +be less dazzling than those taken from the heroic and fabulous ages. +Among the arts, music alone can be purely religious. Painting cannot be +confined to so abstract and vague an expression as that of sound. It is +true that the happy combination of colour, and of <i>chiaro-oscuro</i> +produces, if it may be so expressed, a musical effect in painting; but +as the latter represents life, it should express the passions in all +their energy and diversity. Undoubtedly it is necessary to choose among +historical facts, those which are sufficiently known not to require +study in order to comprehend them; for the effect produced by painting +ought to be immediate and rapid, like every other pleasure derived from +the fine arts; but when historical facts are as popular as religious +subjects, they have the advantage over them of the variety of situations +and sentiments which they recall.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville thought also, that scenes of tragedy and the most moving +poetical fictions, ought to claim a preference in painting, in order +that all the pleasures of the imagination and of the soul might be +united. Corinne combated this opinion, fascinating as it was. She was +convinced that the encroachment of one art upon another was mutually +injurious. Sculpture loses the advantages which are peculiar to it when +it aspires to represent a group of figures as in painting; painting when +it wishes to attain dramatic expression. The arts are limited in their +means, though boundless in their effects. Genius seeks not to combat +that which is in the essence of things; on the contrary, its superiority +consists in discovering it.—"As for you, my dear Oswald," said Corinne, +"you do not love the arts in themselves, but only on account of their +relation with mind and feeling. You are only sensible to that which +represents the sorrows of the heart. Music and poetry agree with this +disposition; whilst the arts which speak to the eyes, though their +signification be ideal, only please and interest us when the soul is +tranquil and the imagination entirely free; nor do we require, in order +to relish them, that gaiety which society inspires, but only the +serenity which beautiful weather and a fine climate diffuse over the +mind. We must be capable of feeling the universal harmony of nature in +those arts which represent external objects; this is impossible when the +soul is troubled, that harmony having been destroyed in us by +calamity."—"I know not," replied Oswald, "whether my taste in the fine +arts be confined to that alone which can recall the sufferings of the +soul; but I know, at least, that I cannot endure the representation of +physical pain. My strongest objection," continued he, "against Christian +subjects in painting, is the painful sensations excited in me by the +image of blood, wounds, and torture, notwithstanding the victims may +have been animated by the noblest enthusiasm. Philoctetus is perhaps the +only tragical subject in which bodily ills can be admitted. But with how +many poetical circumstances are his cruel pangs surrounded? They have +been caused by the arrows of Hercules. They will be healed by the son of +Æsculapius. In short, the wound is almost confounded with the moral +resentment produced in him who is struck, and cannot excite any +impression of disgust. But the figure of the boy possessed with a devil, +in Raphael's superb picture of the Transfiguration, is a disagreeable +image, and in no way possesses the dignity of the fine arts. They must +discover to us the charm of grief, as well as the melancholy of +prosperity; it is the ideal part of human destiny which they should +represent in each particular circumstance. Nothing torments the +imagination more than bloody wounds and nervous convulsions. It is +impossible in such pictures not to seek, and at the same time dread, to +find the exactness of the imitation. What pleasure can we receive from +that art which only consists in such an imitation; it is more horrible, +or less beautiful than nature herself, the moment it only aspires to +resemble her."</p> + +<p>"You are right, my lord," said Corinne, "to wish that Christian subjects +were divested of painful images; they do not require them. But confess, +however, that genius, and the genius of the soul, can triumph over every +thing. Behold that picture of the Communion of St Jerome, by +Domenichino. The body of the dying saint is livid and gaunt: death has +seized upon it; but in that look is eternal life, and every earthly +misery seems produced here only to disappear before the pure lustre of a +religious sentiment. However, dear Oswald," continued Corinne, "though I +am not of your opinion in everything, I will shew you that even in +differing from one another there is some analogy of sentiment between +us. I have endeavoured to accomplish what you desire, in the gallery of +pictures which has been furnished me by those artists who were of my +acquaintance, among which are some designs of my own sketching. You will +there see the defects and the advantages of those subjects which you +prefer. This gallery is at my country seat at Tivoli. The weather is +fine enough to visit it.—Shall we go thither to-morrow?" As she awaited +Oswald's consent, he said to her: "My love, have you any doubt of my +answer? Have I in this world, any other pleasure, any other thought, +besides you? And is not my life, too free perhaps from any occupation, +as from every interest, solely taken up with the happiness of seeing and +hearing you?"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> In a journal entitled <i>Europe</i>, are to be found +observations full of information on subjects relating to painting: from +this journal I have extracted many of these reflections, which have just +been read; Mr Frederic Schlegel is the author of it, and this writer, as +well as the German thinkers in general, is an inexhaustible mine.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_hiv" id="Chapter_hiv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>They set out therefore the next day for Tivoli. Oswald himself drove the +four horses that drew them; he took pleasure in their swiftness, which +seemed to increase the vivacity of thought and of existence; and such an +impression is sweet by the side of the object we love. He performed the +office of whip with the most extreme attention, for fear the slightest +accident should happen to Corinne. He felt the duties of a protector +which is the softest tie that binds man to woman. Corinne was not, like +most women, easily terrified by the possible dangers of a journey; but +it was so sweet to remark the solicitude of Oswald, that she almost +wished to be frightened, to enjoy the pleasure of, hearing him cheer and +comfort her.</p> + +<p>That which gave Lord Nelville, as will be seen in the sequel, so great +an ascendancy over the heart of his mistress, was the unexpected +contrasts which gave a peculiar charm to his manners. Everybody admired +his intellect and the gracefulness of his figure; but he must have been +particularly interesting to one, who uniting in herself by a singular +accord, constancy and mobility, took delight in impressions, at once +various and faithful. Never did he think of anything but Corinne; and +this very occupation of his mind incessantly assumed different +characters: at one time he was governed by reserve, at another he was +open and communicative: one moment he was perfectly calm, and another a +prey to the most gloomy and bitter sensations, which proved the depth of +his sentiments, but mingled anxiety with confidence and incessantly gave +birth to new emotions. Oswald, internally agitated, endeavoured to +assume an external appearance of composure, and Corinne, occupied in +conjecturing his thoughts, found in this mystery a continual interest. +One would have said, that the very defects of Oswald were only made to +set off his agreeable qualities. No man, however distinguished, in whose +character there was no contradiction, who was subject to no internal +conflict, could have captivated the imagination of Corinne. She felt a +sort of awe of Oswald, which subjected her to him. He reigned over her +soul by a good and by an evil power; by his qualities, and by the +disquietude which these qualities, badly combined, could inspire: in +short there was no security in the happiness that Lord Nelville +conferred, and perhaps the violence of Corinne's passion was owing to +this; perhaps she could only love, to such a degree, him whom she feared +to lose. A superior mind, a sensibility as ardent as it was delicate, +might become weary of everything, except that truly extraordinary man, +whose soul, constantly agitated, seemed like the sky—sometimes serene, +sometimes covered with clouds. Oswald, always true, always of profound +and impassioned feelings, was nevertheless often ready to renounce the +object of his tenderness, because a long habit of mental pain made him +believe, that only remorse and suffering could be found in the too +exquisite affections of the heart.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville and Corinne, in their journey to Tivoli, passed before the +ruins of Adrian's palace, and the immense garden which surrounded it. +That prince had collected together in this garden, the most rare +productions, the most admirable masterpieces of those countries which +were conquered by the Romans. To this very day some scattered stones are +seen there, which are called <i>Egypt</i>, <i>India</i>, and <i>Asia</i>. Farther on +was the retreat, where Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, ended her days. She +did not support in adversity, the greatness of her destiny; she was +incapable of dying for glory like a man; or like a woman, dying rather +than betray her friend.</p> + +<p>At length they discovered Tivoli, which was the abode of so many +celebrated men, of Brutus, of Augustus, of Mecenas, and of Catullus; but +above all, the abode of Horace, for it is his verse which has rendered +this retreat illustrious. The house of Corinne was built over the noisy +cascade of Teverone; at the top of the mountain, opposite her garden, +was the temple of the Sybil. It was a beautiful idea of the ancients, to +place their temples on the summits of high places. They majestically +presided over the surrounding country, as religious ideas over all other +thoughts. They inspired more enthusiasm for nature, by announcing the +Deity from which she emanates, and the eternal gratitude of successive +generations towards her. The landscape, from whatever point of view +considered, formed a picture with the temple, which was placed there as +the centre and the ornament of the whole. Ruins spread a singular charm +over the <i>campagna</i> of Italy. They do not recall, like modern edifices, +the labour and the presence of man; they are confounded with nature and +the trees; they seem in harmony with the solitary torrent; they present +the image of time, which has made them what they are. The most beautiful +countries in the world, when they bring to mind no recollection, when +they bear the stamp of no remarkable event, are stripped of interest +when compared with historical countries. What place in Italy could be +more suitable for the habitation of Corinne than the retreat consecrated +to the sybil, to the memory of a woman, animated by divine inspiration. +The house of Corinne was delightful; it was ornamented with the elegance +of modern taste, and yet discovered the charm of an imagination +enamoured of the beauties of antiquity; happiness, in the most elevated +sense of the word, seemed to reign there; a felicity which consisted in +all that ennobles the soul, excites thought, and vivifies talent.</p> + +<p>In walking with Corinne, Oswald perceived that the wind possessed an +harmonious sound, and filled the air with chords, which seemed to +proceed from the waving of the flowers, and the rustling of the trees, +and to give a voice to nature. Corinne told him that the wind produced +this harmony from the æolian harps, which she had placed in grottoes to +fill the air with sound, as well as perfumes. In this delicious abode, +Oswald was inspired with the purest sentiment.—"Hear me," said he to +Corinne; "till this moment I felt the happiness I derived from your +society blended with remorse; but now I say to myself, that you are sent +by my father to terminate my sufferings upon this earth. It is he that I +had offended; but it is, nevertheless, he who has obtained by his +prayers my pardon in heaven. Corinne!" cried he, throwing himself upon +his knees, "I am pardoned; I feel it in this sweet calm of innocence +which pervades my soul. Thou canst now, without apprehension, unite +thyself to me, nor fear that fate opposes our union."—"Well," said +Corinne, "let us continue to enjoy this peace of the heart which is +granted us. Let us not meddle with destiny: she inspires so much dread +when we wish to interfere with her, when we try to obtain from her more +than she will give! Since we are now happy, let us not desire a change!"</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-pic2.png" id="illus-pic2.png" /><img src="images/illus-pic2.png" width='533' +height='700' alt="Corinne showing Oswald her pictures." /></p> + +<p class='center'><i>Corinne showing Oswald her pictures.</i></p> + +<p>Lord Nelville was hurt at this answer of Corinne. He conceived she ought +to comprehend that he was ready to tell her every thing, to promise +every thing, if she would only confide to him her history; and this +manner of avoiding it gave him as much offence as apprehension; he did +not perceive that a sense of delicacy prevented Corinne from taking +advantage of his emotion, to bind him by an oath. Perhaps also, it is in +the nature of a profound and genuine passion, to dread a solemn moment, +however much desired, and to tremble at exchanging hope for happiness +itself. Oswald, far from judging in this manner, persuaded himself, that +although Corinne loved him, she wished to preserve her independence, and +intentionally deferred all that might lead to an indissoluble union. +This thought excited in him a painful irritation, and immediately +assuming a cold and reserved air, he followed Corinne to her gallery of +pictures, without uttering a word. She soon divined the impression she +had produced on him, but knowing his pride, she durst not impart to him +her observations; however, in showing him her pictures and discussing +general topics, she felt a vague hope of softening him, which gave to +her voice a more moving charm, even when uttering the most indifferent +words.</p> + +<p>Her gallery was composed of historical pictures, paintings on poetical +and religious subjects, and landscapes. None of them was composed of a +very large number of figures. That style of painting undoubtedly +presents greater difficulties, but affords less pleasure. Its beauties +are too confused, or too minute. That unity of interest, which is the +vital principle of the arts, as well as anything else, is necessarily +divided and scattered. The first of the historical pictures represented +Brutus, in profound meditation, seated at the foot of the statue of +Rome. In the back ground, the slaves are carrying the lifeless bodies of +his two sons, whom he had condemned to death; and on the other side of +the picture, the mother and sisters appear plunged into an agony of +grief: women are, happily, divested of that courage, which can triumph +over the affections of the heart. The statue of Rome, placed by the +side of Brutus, is a beautiful idea; it speaks eloquently. Yet how can +any body know without an explanation, that it is the elder Brutus who +has just sent his sons to execution? Nevertheless, it is impossible to +characterise this event better than it is done in this picture. At a +distance the city of Rome is perceived in its ancient simplicity, +without edifices or ornaments, but full of patriotic grandeur, since it +could inspire such a sacrifice.—"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "when I +have named Brutus, your whole soul will become fixed to this picture; +but still it would be possible to behold it without divining the subject +it represented. And does not this uncertainty, which almost always +exists in historical pictures, mingle the torment of an enigma with the +enjoyment of the fine arts, which ought to be so easy and so clear?</p> + +<p>"I have chosen this subject because it recalls the most terrible action +that love of country has inspired. The companion to this picture is +Marius, spared by the Cimbrian, who cannot bring himself to kill this +great man; the figure of Marius is imposing; the costume of the Cimbrian +and the expression of his physiognomy, are very picturesque. It is the +second epoch of Rome, when laws no longer existed, but when genius still +exercised considerable influence upon circumstances. Then comes that era +when talents and fame were only objects of misfortune and insult. The +third picture which you see here, represents Belisarius, carrying on his +shoulders the body of his young guide, who died while asking alms for +him. Belisarius, blind and mendicant, is thus recompensed by his master; +and in the universe which he has conquered, he is employed in bearing to +the grave the remains of the poor boy who alone had not abandoned him. +This figure of Belisarius is admirable; another so fine is not to be +found in the modern school. The painter, with a truly poetical +imagination, has united here every species of misfortune, and perhaps +the picture is too dreadful even to awaken pity: but who tells us it is +Belisarius? to indicate him it should be faithful to history: but that +fidelity would deprive the subject of all its picturesque beauty. +Following these pictures which represent in Brutus, virtues approaching +to crime; in Marius, glory, the cause of calamity; in Belisarius, +services paid by the blackest persecutions; in short, every misery of +human destiny, which is recorded in the events of history, I have placed +two pictures of the old school, which a little relieve the oppressed +soul by recalling that religion which has consoled the enslaved and +distracted universe, that religion which stirred the depths of the heart +when all without was but oppression and silence. The first is by Albano; +he has painted the infant Jesus sleeping on a cross. Behold the +sweetness and calm of that countenance! What pure ideas it recalls; how +it convinces the soul that celestial love has nothing to fear, either +from affliction or death. The second picture is by Titian; the subject +is Christ sinking beneath the weight of the cross. His mother comes to +meet Him, and throws herself upon her knees on perceiving Him. Admirable +reverence in a mother for the misfortunes and divine virtues of her son! +What a look is that of our Redeemer, what a divine resignation in the +midst of suffering, and in this suffering what sympathy with the heart +of man! That is, doubtless, the finest of my pictures. It is that +towards which I incessantly turn my eyes, without ever being able to +exhaust the emotion which it inspires. Next come the dramatic pieces," +continued Corinne, "taken from four great poets. Judge with me, my lord, +of the effect which they produce. The first represents Æneas in the +Elysian fields, when he wishes to approach Dido. The indignant shade +retires, rejoiced that she no longer carries in her bosom that heart +which would still beat with love at the aspect of her guilty paramour. +The vapoury colour of the shades and the paleness of the surrounding +scene, form a contrast with the life-like appearance of Æneas and of the +sybil who conducts him. But this kind of effect is an amusement of the +artist, and the description of the poet is necessarily superior to +anything that painting can produce. I will say as much of this picture +of Clorinda dying, and Tancred. The utmost pathos which it can excite, +is to call to our minds the beautiful lines of Tasso, when Clorinda +pardons her adoring enemy who has just pierced her breast. Painting +necessarily becomes subordinate to poetry, when devoted to subjects +which have been treated by great poets; for their words leave an +impression which effaces every other; the situations which they have +chosen almost ever derive their chief strength from the development of +the passions and their eloquence, whilst the greater part of picturesque +effects arises from a calm beauty, a simple expression, a noble +attitude, a moment of repose, worthy of being indefinitely prolonged +without ever wearying the eye.</p> + +<p>"Your terrible Shakespeare, my lord," continued Corinne, "has furnished +the subject of the third dramatic picture—it is Macbeth,—the +invincible Macbeth—who, ready to fight Macduff, whose wife and children +he has put to death, learns that the oracle of the witches is +accomplished, that Birnam Wood is advancing to Dunsinane, and that he is +fighting a man who was born after the death of his mother. Macbeth is +conquered by fate, but not by his adversary.—He grasps the sword with a +desperate hand;—he knows that he is about to die;—but wishes to try +whether human strength cannot triumph over destiny. There is certainly +in this head, a fine expression of wildness and fury—of trouble and of +energy; but how many poetical beauties do we miss? Is it possible to +paint Macbeth plunged in guilt by the spells of ambition, which offer +themselves to him under the shape of witchcraft? How can painting +express the terror which he feels? That terror, however, which is not +inconsistent with intrepid bravery? Is it possible to characterise that +peculiar species of superstition which oppresses him? That belief +without dignity, that hell-born fatality which weighs him down, his +contempt of life, his horror of death? Undoubtedly the human countenance +is the greatest of mysteries; but the motionless physiognomy of a +painting can never express more than the workings of a single sentiment. +Contrasts, conflicts of the mind, events, in short, belong to the +dramatic art. Painting can with difficulty render a succession of +events: time and movement exist not for it.</p> + +<p>"The Phèdre of Racine has furnished the subject of the fourth picture," +said Corinne, showing it to Lord Nelville.—"Hippolitus, in all the +beauty of youth and innocence, repels the perfidious accusations of his +step-mother; the hero, Theseus, still protects his guilty spouse, whom +he encircles with his conquering arm. There is in the countenance of +Phèdre, a trouble which freezes the soul with horror; and her nurse, +without remorse, encourages her in her guilt. Hippolitus in this picture +is perhaps more beautiful than even in Racine; he resembles more the +ancient Meleager, because no love for Aricia disturbs the impression of +his wild and noble virtue; but is it possible to suppose that Phèdre, in +the presence of Hippolitus, can support her falsehood? Is it possible +that she can behold him innocent and persecuted without falling at his +feet? An offended woman may wrong the object of her affection in his +absence; but when she sees him, her heart is wholly absorbed in love. +The poet has never put Phèdre and Hippolitus in the same scene after the +former has calumniated the latter; the painter has been obliged to do so +in order to bring together, as he has done in his picture, all the +beauties of the contrast; but is not this a proof that there is such a +difference between poetical and picturesque subjects that it would be +better for the poets to write from pictures, than for the painters to +compose their works from the poets? The history of the human mind proves +to us that imagination must always precede thought."</p> + +<p>Whilst Corinne was thus explaining her pictures to Lord Nelville, she +had stopped several times, in the hope that he would speak to her; but +his wounded soul did not betray itself by a single word; whenever she +expressed a feeling idea he only sighed and turned his head, in order +that she might not see how easily he was affected in his present state +of mind. Corinne, overcome by this silence, sat down and covered her +face with her hands—Lord Nelville for some time walked about the room +with a hurried step, then approaching Corinne, was about to betray his +feelings; but the invincible pride of his nature repressed his emotion, +and he returned to the pictures as if he were waiting for Corinne to +finish showing them. Corinne expected much from the effect of the last +of all; and making an effort in her turn to appear calm, she arose and +said, "My lord, I have yet three landscapes to show you—two of them are +allied to very interesting ideas. I am not fond of those rustic scenes +which are as dull in painting as idylls, when they make no allusion to +fable or to history. I am most pleased with the manner of Salvator Rosa, +who represents, as you see in this picture, a rock with torrents and +trees, without a single living creature, without even a bird recalling +an idea of life. The absence of man in the midst of natural scenes, +excites deep reflection. What would the earth be in this state of +solitude? A work without an aim; and yet a work so beautiful, the +mysterious impression of which would be addressed to the Divinity alone!</p> + +<p>"We are come at last to the two pictures in which, according to my +opinion, history and poetry are happily blended with landscape<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>. One +represents the moment when Cincinnatus is invited by the consuls to +leave the plough, in order to take the command of the Roman armies. In +this landscape you behold all the luxury of the South, its abundant +vegetation, its burning sky, the smiling aspect of all nature, +discoverable even in the plants themselves; and that other picture which +forms a contrast with this, is the son of Cairbar asleep upon the tomb +of his father.—For three days and three nights he has awaited the +arrival of the bard who is to honour the memory of the dead. This bard +is perceived at a distance descending the mountain; the shade of the +father hovers in the clouds; the country is covered with hoar frost; the +trees, though naked, are agitated by the wind, and their dead branches +and dried leaves, still follow the current of the storm."</p> + +<p>Till then, Oswald had been influenced by resentment at what had taken +place in the garden; but on beholding this picture, the tomb of his +father and the mountains of Scotland appeared to his mind, and his eyes +were filled with tears. Corinne took her harp, and before this picture, +began to sing one of those Scotch ballads whose simple notes seem to +accompany the noise of the wind, mournfully complaining through the +valleys. She sang the farewell of a warrior quitting his native land and +his mistress; and the word, <i>no more</i>, one of the most harmonious and +touching in the English language, was pronounced by Corinne with the +most moving expression. Oswald sought not to resist his emotion, and +both yielded without restraint to their tears.—"Ah!" cried Lord +Nelville, "does my native country speak no language to thy heart? +Wouldst thou follow me into those retreats, peopled by my recollections? +Wouldst thou be the worthy companion of my life, as thou art its sole +charm and delight?"—"I believe so," replied Corinne—"I believe so; for +I love thee!"—"In the name of love then, no longer conceal anything +from me," said Oswald.—"I consent," interrupted Corinne; "since it is +thy wish. My promise is given; I only make one condition, which is, that +thou wilt not exact it of me before the approaching epoch of our +religious ceremonies. Will not the support of heaven be more than ever +necessary to me at the moment when my fate is about to be decided?"—"No +more," cried Lord Nelville, "if that fate depend upon me, it is no +longer doubtful."—"Thou thinkest so," replied she; "I have not the same +confidence; but, in a word, I intreat thee show that condescension to my +weakness which I request."—Oswald sighed, without either granting or +refusing the delay required.—"Let us now return to town," said Corinne. +"How can I conceal anything from thee in this solitude? And if what I +have to relate must divide us, ought I so soon—Let us go, Oswald—thou +wilt return hither again, happen what may: my ashes will find rest +here." Oswald, much affected, obeyed Corinne. He returned to the city +with her, and scarcely a word passed between them upon the road. From +time to time they looked at each other with an affection that said +everything; but nevertheless, a sentiment of melancholy reigned in the +depths of their souls when they arrived in the midst of Rome.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The historical pictures which compose the gallery of +Corinne, are either from copies or originals of the Brutus of <i>David</i>, +the Maurius of <i>Drouet</i>, and the Belisarius of <i>Gerard</i>; among the other +pictures mentioned, that of Dido was done by <i>M. Rehberg</i>, a German +painter; that of Clorinda, is in the gallery of Florence; that of +Macbeth, is in an English collection of pictures from Shakespeare; and +that of Phèdre, is by <i>Guérin</i>; lastly, the two landscapes of +Cincinnatus and Ossian, are at Rome, and were done by Mr Wallis, an +English painter.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_ix" id="Book_ix"></a>Book ix.</h2> + +<h2>THE POPULAR FESTIVAL, AND MUSIC.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-271.png" id="illus-271.png" /><img src="images/illus-271.png" width='600' +height='150' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_ji" id="Chapter_ji"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>It was the last day of carnival, which is the most noisy festival of the +year, when a fever of joy, a mania of amusement, unparalleled in any +other country, seized the Roman people. Everybody is disguised; hardly +does there remain at the windows, an unmasked spectator: the scene of +gaiety commences at a given hour on a certain day, and scarcely ever +does any public or private event of the year hinder any person from +joining the sports of the season.</p> + +<p>It is then that we can form a judgment of the extent of imagination +possessed by the common people. The Italian language, even in their +mouths, is full of charm. Alfieri said that he went to the public market +at Florence to learn to speak good Italian,—Rome has the same +advantages: and perhaps these are the only two cities in the world where +the people speak so well that the mind may receive entertainment at +every corner of the street.</p> + +<p>That kind of humour which shines in the authors of harlequinades and +opera-buffa, is very commonly found even among men without education. In +these days of carnival, when extravagance and caricature are admitted, +the most comic scenes take place between the masks.</p> + +<p>Often a burlesque gravity is contrasted with the vivacity of the +Italians; and one would say that these fantastic vestments inspired a +dignity in the wearers, not natural to them; at other times, they +manifest such a singular knowledge of mythology in their disguises, that +we would be inclined to believe the ancient fables still popular in +Rome; and more frequently they ridicule different gradations of society +with a pleasantry full of force and originality. The nation appears a +thousand times more distinguished in its sports than in its history. The +Italian language yields to every shade of gaiety with a facility which +only requires a light inflection of the voice and a little difference of +termination in order to increase or diminish, ennoble or travesty, the +sense of words. It is particularly graceful in the mouth of +children<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>. The innocence of this age and the natural malice of the +language, form an exquisite contrast. In truth, it may be said, that it +is a language which explains itself without any aid and always appears +more intellectual than he who speaks it.</p> + +<p>There is neither luxury nor good taste in the feast of carnival; a kind +of universal petulance makes it resemble the bacchanals of the +imagination; but in imagination only is this resemblance, for the Romans +are in general very sober, and except the last day of carnival, +tolerably serious. We often make sudden discoveries of every sort in the +character of the Italians, and this is what contributes to give them the +reputation of being subtle and crafty.—There is, undoubtedly, a strong +habit of dissimulation in this country, which has supported so many +different yokes; but it is not to dissimulation that we must always +attribute the rapid transition from one manner of being to another. An +inflammable imagination is often the cause of it. The character of a +people who are only rational or witty, may be easily understood and will +not suddenly surprise us, but all that belongs to the imagination is +unexpected. It leaps over intermediate barriers, it is often hurt at +nothing, and frequently indifferent to that which ought most to affect +it. In fact, it is a law unto itself, and we can never calculate its +impressions from their causes.</p> + +<p>For example, we cannot comprehend what amusement the Roman nobility find +in riding in their carriages from one end of the <i>corso</i> to the other +for whole hours together, as well during the carnival as on the other +days of the year. Nothing ever diverts them from this custom. There are +also among the masks, men who saunter about with every appearance of +weariness, in the most ridiculous costume imaginable, and +who—melancholy harlequins and silent punchinellos,—do not say a word +the whole evening, but appear, if it may be so expressed, to have +satisfied their carnival conscience by having neglected nothing to be +merry.</p> + +<p>We find at Rome a certain species of mask which is not seen elsewhere: +masks formed after the figures of the ancient statues, and which at a +distance imitate the most perfect beauty—the women often lose greatly +by removing them. But nevertheless this motionless imitation of life, +these stalking wax countenances, however pretty they may be, have +something terrifying in them. The great nobles make a tolerably grand +display of carriages on the last days of the carnival; but the pleasure +of this festival is the crowd and the confusion: it seems like a relic +of the <i>Saturnalia</i>; every class in Rome is mixed together. The most +grave magistrates ride with official dignity in the midst of the masks; +every window is decorated. The whole town is in the streets: it is truly +a popular festival. The pleasure of the people consists neither in the +shows nor the feasts that are given them, nor the magnificence they +witness. They commit no excess either in drinking or eating: their +recreation is to be set at liberty, and to find themselves among the +nobility, who on their side are pleased at being among the people. It is +especially the refinement and delicacy of amusements as well as the +perfection of education, that places a barrier between different classes +of people. But in Italy this distinction of rank is not very sensible; +the country is more characterised by the natural talent and imagination +of all, than by the extraordinary cultivation of the upper classes. +There is therefore, pending carnival, a complete confusion of ranks, of +manners, and of sentiments: the crowd, the cries, the wit, and the +comfits with which they inundate without distinction the carriages as +they pass along, confound every mortal together and set the nation +pell-mell, as if social order no longer existed.</p> + +<p>Corinne and Lord Nelville, both buried in thought, arrived in the midst +of this tumult. They were at first almost stunned; for nothing appears +more singular than this activity of noisy pleasures, when the soul is +entirely absorbed in itself. They stopped at the Piazza del Popolo to +ascend the amphitheatre near the obelisk, whence is seen the race +course. At the moment they got out of their calash, the Count d'Erfeuil +perceived them and took Oswald aside to speak to him.</p> + +<p>"It is not right," said he, "to show yourself in this public manner, +arriving from the country alone with Corinne; you will compromise her +character, then what will you do?" "I do not think," answered Nelville, +"that I compromise the character of Corinne by showing the attachment +she inspires me with. But even were that true, I should be too happy if +the devotion of my life—" "As to your being happy," interrupted the +Count, "I do not believe it;" people can only be happy in acting +becomingly. Society, think as you may, has much influence "upon our +happiness, and we should never do what it disapproves."—"We should then +never be guided by our own thoughts and our own feelings, but live +entirely for society," replied Oswald. "If it be so, if we are +constantly to imitate one another, to what purpose was a soul and an +understanding given to each? Providence might have spared this +superfluity."—"That is very well said," replied the Count, "very +philosophically thought; but people ruin themselves by these kind of +maxims, and when love is gone, the censure of opinion remains. I, who +appear to possess levity, would never do any thing to draw upon me the +disapprobation of the world. We may indulge in trifling liberties, in +agreeable pleasantries which announce an independent manner of thinking, +provided we do not carry it into action; for when it becomes serious—" +"But the serious consequences are love and happiness," answered Lord +Nelville.—"No, no;" interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "that is not what +I wish to say; there are certain established rules of propriety, which +one must not brave, on pain of passing for an eccentric man, a man—in +fact, you understand me—for a man who is not like others."—Lord +Nelville smiled, and without being in the least vexed; for he was by no +means pained with these remarks; he rallied the Count upon his frivolous +severity; he felt with secret satisfaction that for the first time, on a +subject which caused him so much emotion, the Count did not possess the +least influence over him. Corinne, at a distance, conjectured what was +passing; but the smile of Nelville restored tranquillity to her heart, +and this conversation of the Count d'Erfeuil, far from embarrassing +Oswald or his fair companion, only inspired them with a temper of mind +more in harmony with the scene before them.</p> + +<p>The horse-racing was about to begin. Lord Nelville expected to see +races like those of England; but what was his surprise, when informed +that only little Barbary horses without riders were to run against each +other. This sight excites the attention of the Romans in a singular +manner. The moment it is about to commence, all the crowd arrange +themselves on each side of the way. The Piazza del Popolo, which was +covered with people, is empty in a moment. Each one ascends the +amphitheatres which surround the obelisk, and innumerable multitudes of +heads and dark eyes are turned towards the barrier from which the horses +are to start.</p> + +<p>They arrive without bridle or saddle, with merely a rich cloth thrown +over their backs, and led by extremely well-dressed grooms, who take a +most passionate interest in their success. The horses are placed behind +the barrier and their ardour to clear it is extreme. At every moment +they are held back; they prance, they neigh, they clatter with their +feet, as if they were impatient of a glory which they are about to +obtain themselves without the guidance of man. This impatience of the +horses and the shouts of the grooms at the moment when the barrier +falls, produce a fine dramatic effect. The horses start, the grooms cry +"Stand back! Stand back!" with inexpressible transport. They accompany +the horses with their voice and gestures till they are out of sight. The +horses seem inspired with the same emulation as men. The pavement +sparkles beneath their feet; their manes fly in the air, and their +desire, thus left to their own efforts, of winning the prize is such, +that there have been some who, on arriving at the goal, have died from +the swiftness with which they have run. It is astonishing to see these +freed horses thus animated with personal passions; it almost induces a +belief that thought exists beneath this animal form. The crowd break +their ranks when the horses are gone by, and follow them in disorder. +They reach the Venetian palace which serves for the goal. Never was +anything like the cries of the grooms whose horses are victors. He who +had gained the first prize, threw himself on his knees before his +horse<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>, and thanked him, recommending him to the protection of St +Anthony, the patron of animals, with an enthusiasm as serious as it was +comic to the spectators.</p> + +<p>It is generally the close of day when the races finish. Then commences +another kind of amusement, much less picturesque, but also very noisy. +The windows are illuminated. The guards abandon their post to mix in the +general joy<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>. Each one then takes a little torch called a <i>moccolo</i>, +and they seek mutually to extinguish each other's light, repeating the +word <i>ammazzare</i> (kill) with a formidable vivacity. <i>Che la Bella +Principessa sia ammazata! Che il signore abbate sia ammazata!</i> (Let the +fair princess be killed, let the abbot be killed!) is shouted from one +end of the street to the other. The crowd, become emboldened, because at +this hour horses and carriages are forbidden, hurl themselves in all +directions. At length there is no other pleasure than that of tumult and +disorder. In the meantime night advances, the noise ceases by degrees—a +profound silence succeeds, and there only remains of this evening the +confused idea of a dream, in which the people had forgotten for a moment +their labour, the learned their studies, and the nobility their +idleness.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> I asked a little Tuscan girl which was the handsomer, she +or her sister? "Ah!" answered she, "<i>Il più bel viso è il mio</i>;"—Mine +is the most beautiful face.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> An Italian postillion, whose horse was dying, prayed for +him, saying. "<i>O Sant' Antonio, abbiate pietà dell' anima sua</i>;"—O +Saint Anthony, have mercy on his soul!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Goëthe has a description of the carnival at Rome, which +gives a faithful and animated picture of that festival.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_jii" id="Chapter_jii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>Oswald, since his calamity, had not found spirits to seek the pleasure +of music. He dreaded those ravishing strains so soothing to melancholy, +but which inflict pain, when we are oppressed by real grief. Music +awakens those bitter recollections which we are desirous to appease. +When Corinne sang, Oswald listened to the words she uttered; he +contemplated the expression of her countenance, it was she alone that +occupied him; but if in the streets of an evening, several voices were +joined, as it frequently happens in Italy, to sing the fine airs of the +great masters, he at first endeavoured to listen, and then retired, +because the emotion it excited, at once so exquisite and so indefinite, +renewed his pain. However, there was a magnificent concert to be given +in the theatre at Rome, which was to combine the talents of all the best +singers. Corinne pressed Lord Nelville to accompany her to this concert, +and he consented, expecting that his feelings would be softened and +refined by the presence of her he loved.</p> + +<p>On entering her box, Corinne was immediately recognised, and the +remembrance of the Capitol adding to the interest which she usually +inspired, the theatre resounded with applause. From every part of the +house they cried, "Long live Corinne!" and the musicians themselves, +electrified by this general emotion, began to play victorious strains; +for men are led to associate triumph of every sort with war and battle. +Corinne was intimately affected with these universal tokens of +admiration and respect. The music, the applause, the <i>bravos</i>, and that +indefinable impression, which a multitude of people expressing one +sentiment always produces, awakened those feelings which, in spite of +her efforts to conceal them, appeared in her eyes suffused with tears, +and the palpitation of her heart equally visible. Oswald, jealous of +this emotion, approached her, saying in a low voice,—"It would be a +pity madam to snatch you from this brilliant popularity, it is certainly +equal to love, since it produces the same effect in your heart."—Having +spoken thus, he retired to the further end of the box without waiting +for any reply. These words produced the most cruel agitation in the +bosom of Corinne, and in a moment destroyed all the pleasure she +received from these expressions of applause, which principally gave her +delight because they were witnessed by Oswald.</p> + +<p>The concert began—he who has not heard Italian singing can have no idea +of music! Italian voices are so soft and sweet, that they recall at once +the perfume of flowers, and the purity of the sky. Nature has destined +the music for the climate: one is like a reflection of the other. The +world is the work of one mind, expressed in a thousand different forms. +The Italians, during a series of ages, have been enthusiastically fond +of music. Dante, in his poem of purgatory, meets with one of the best +singers of his age; being entreated, he sings one of his delicious airs, +and the ravished spirits are lulled into oblivion of their sufferings, +until recalled by their guardian angel. The Christians, as well as the +pagans, have extended the empire of music beyond the grave. Of all the +fine arts, it is that which produces the most immediate effect upon the +soul. The others are directed to some particular idea; but this appeals +to the intimate source of our existence, and entirely changes our inmost +soul. What is said of Divine Grace, which suddenly transforms the heart, +may humanly speaking be applied to the power of melody; and among the +presentiments of the life to come, those which spring from music are +not to be despised.</p> + +<p>Even the gaiety which the comic music of Italy is so well calculated to +excite, is not of that vulgar description which does not speak to the +imagination. At the very bottom of the mirth which it excites, will be +found poetical sensations and an agreeable reverie, which mere verbal +pleasantry never could inspire. Music is so fleeting a pleasure, that it +glides away almost at the same time we feel it, in such a manner, that a +melancholy impression is mingled with the gaiety which it excites; but +when expressive of grief, it also gives birth to a sweet sentiment. The +heart beats more quickly while listening to it, and the satisfaction +caused by the regularity of the measure, by reminding us of the brevity +of time, points out the necessity of enjoying it. You no longer feel any +void, any silence, around you; life is filled; the blood flows quickly; +you feel within you that motion which gives activity to life, and you +have no fear of the external obstacles with which it is beset.</p> + +<p>Music redoubles the ideas which we possess of the faculties of the soul; +when listening to it we feel capable of the noblest efforts. Animated by +music, we march to the field of death with enthusiasm. This divine art +is happily incapable of expressing any base sentiment, any artifice, any +falsehood. Calamity itself, in the language of music, is stript of its +bitterness; it neither irritates the mind nor rends the heart. Music +gently raises that weight which almost constantly oppresses the heart +when we are formed for deep and serious affections; that weight which +sometimes becomes confounded with the very sense of our existence, so +habitual is the pain which it causes. It seems to us in listening to +pure and delectable sounds, that we are about to seize the secret of +the Creator, and penetrate the mystery of life. No language can express +this impression, for language drags along slowly behind primitive +impressions, as prose translators behind the footsteps of poets. It is +only a look that can give some idea of it; the look of an object you +love, long fixed upon you, and penetrating by degrees so deeply into +your heart, that you are at length obliged to cast down your eyes to +escape a happiness so intense, that, like the splendour of another life, +it would consume the mortal being who should presume stedfastly to +contemplate it.</p> + +<p>The admirable exactness of two voices perfectly in harmony produces, in +the duets of the great Italian masters, a melting delight which cannot +be prolonged without pain. It is a state of pleasure too exquisite for +human nature; and the soul then vibrates like an instrument which a too +perfect harmony would break. Oswald had obstinately kept at a distance +from Corinne during the first part of the concert; but when the duet +began, with faintly-sounding voices, accompanied by wind instruments, +whose sounds were more pure than the voices themselves, Corinne covered +her face with her handkerchief, entirely absorbed in emotion; she wept, +but without suffering—she loved, and was undisturbed by any fear. +Undoubtedly the image of Oswald was present to her heart; but this image +was mingled with the most noble enthusiasm, and a crowd of confused +thoughts wandered over her soul: it would have been necessary to limit +these thoughts in order to render them distinct. It is said that a +prophet traversed seven different regions of heaven in a minute. He who +could thus conceive all that an instant might contain, must surely have +felt the sublime power of music by the side of the object he loved. +Oswald felt this power, and his resentment became gradually appeased. +The feelings of Corinne explained and justified everything; he gently +approached her, and Corinne heard him breathing by her side in the most +enchanting passage of this celestial music. It was too much—the most +pathetic tragedy could not have excited in her heart so much sensation +as this intimate sentiment of profound emotion which penetrated them +both at the same time, and which each succeeding moment, each new sound, +continually exalted. The words of a song have no concern in producing +this emotion—they may indeed occasionally excite some passing +reflection on love or death; but it is the indefinite charm of music +which blends itself with every feeling of the soul; and each one thinks +he finds in this melody, as in the pure and tranquil star of night, the +image of what he wishes for on earth.</p> + +<p>"Let us retire," said Corinne; "I feel ready to faint." "What ails you?" +said Oswald, with uneasiness; "you grow pale. Come into the open air +with me; come." They went out together. Corinne, leaning on the arm of +Oswald, felt her strength revive from the consciousness of his support. +They both approached a balcony, and Corinne, with profound emotion, said +to her lover, "Dear Oswald, I am about to leave you for eight days." +"What do you tell me?" interrupted he. "Every year," replied she, "at +the approach of Holy Week, I go to pass some time in a convent, to +prepare myself for the solemnity of Easter." Oswald advanced nothing in +opposition to this intention; he knew that at this epoch, the greater +part of the Roman ladies gave themselves up to the most rigid devotion, +without however on that account troubling themselves very seriously +about religion during the rest of the year; but he recollected that +Corinne professed a different worship to his, and that they could not +pray together. "Why are you not," cried he, "of the same religion as +myself?" Having pronounced this wish, he stopped short. "Have not our +hearts and minds the same country?" answered Corinne. "It is true," +replied Oswald; "but I do not feel less painfully all that separates +us." They were then joined by Corinne's friends; but this eight days' +absence so oppressed his heart that he did not utter a word during the +whole evening.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_jiii" id="Chapter_jiii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>Oswald visited Corinne at an early hour, uneasy at what she had said to +him. He was received by her maid, who gave him a note from her mistress +informing him that she had entered the convent on that same morning, +agreeably to the intention of which he had been apprised by her, and +that she should not be able to see him until after Good Friday. She +owned to him that she could not find courage to make known her intention +of retiring so soon, in their conversation the evening before. This was +an unexpected stroke to Oswald. That house, which the absence of Corinne +now rendered so solitary, made the most painful impression upon his +mind; he beheld her harp, her books, her drawings, all that habitually +surrounded her; but she herself was no longer there. The recollection of +his father's house struck him—he shuddered and, unable to support +himself, sunk into a chair.</p> + +<p>"In such a way as this," cried he, "I might learn her death! That mind, +so animated, that heart, throbbing with life, that dazzling form, in all +the freshness of vernal bloom, might be crushed by the thunderbolt of +fate, and the tomb of youth would be silent as that of age. Ah! what an +illusion is happiness! What a fleeting moment stolen from inflexible +Time, ever watching for his prey! Corinne! Corinne! you must not leave +me; it was the charm of your presence which deprived me of reflection; +all was confusion in my thoughts, dazzled as I was by the happy moments +which I passed with you. Now I am alone—now I am restored to myself, +and all my wounds are opened afresh." He invoked Corinne with a kind of +despair which could not be attributed to her short absence, but to the +habitual anguish of his heart, which Corinne alone could assuage. +Corinne's maid, hearing the groans of Oswald, entered the room and, +touched with the manner in which he was affected by the absence of her +mistress, said to him, "My lord, let me comfort you; I hope my dear lady +will pardon me for betraying her secret. Come into my room, and you +shall see your portrait." "My portrait!" cried he. "Yes; she has painted +it from memory," replied Theresa (that was the name of Corinne's maid); +"she has risen at five o'clock in the morning this week past, in order +to finish it before she went to the convent."</p> + +<p>Oswald saw this portrait, which was a striking likeness and most +elegantly executed: this proof of the impression which he had made on +Corinne penetrated him with the sweetest emotion. Opposite this portrait +was a charming picture, representing the Blessed Virgin—and before this +picture was the oratory of Corinne. This singular mixture of love and +religion is common to the greater part of Italian women, attended with +circumstances more extraordinary than in the apartment of Corinne; for +free and unrestrained as was her life, the remembrance of Oswald was +united in her mind with the purest hopes and purest sentiments; but to +place thus the resemblance of a lover opposite an emblem of divinity, +and to prepare for a retreat to a convent by consecrating a week to +paint that resemblance, was a trait that characterised Italian women in +general rather than Corinne in particular. Their kind of devotion +supposes more imagination and sensibility than seriousness of mind and +seventy of principles;—nothing could be more contrary to Oswald's +religious ideas; yet how could he find fault with Corinne, at the very +moment when he received so affecting a proof of her love?</p> + +<p>He minutely surveyed this chamber, which he now entered for the first +time: at the head of Corinne's bed he saw the portrait of an elderly +man, whose physiognomy was not Italian; two bracelets were hanging near +this portrait, one formed of dark and light hair twisted together; the +other was of the most lovely flaxen, and what appeared a most remarkable +effect of chance, perfectly resembled that of Lucilia Edgermond, which +he had observed very attentively three years ago on account of its +extreme beauty. Oswald contemplated these bracelets without uttering a +word, for to interrogate Theresa he felt to be unworthy of him. But +Theresa, fancying she guessed Oswald's thoughts, and wishing to remove +from his mind every jealous suspicion, hastened to inform him that +during eleven years that she had waited on Corinne, her mistress had +always worn these bracelets, and that she knew they were composed of the +hair of her father and mother, and that of her sister. "You have been +eleven years with Corinne," said Lord Nelville; "you know then—" +blushing, he suddenly checked himself, ashamed of the question he was +about to put, and quitted the house immediately, to avoid saying another +word.</p> + +<p>In going away, he turned about several times to behold the windows of +Corinne, and when he had lost sight of her habitation, he felt a sadness +now new to him—that which springs from solitude. In the evening, he +sought to dissipate his melancholy by joining a distinguished assembly +in Rome; for to find a charm in reverie, we must in our happy as well as +in our clouded moments, be at peace with ourselves.</p> + +<p>The party he visited was soon insupportable to Lord Nelville, inasmuch +as it made him feel more sensibly all the charms that Corinne could +diffuse through society, by observing the void caused by her absence. He +essayed to converse with some ladies, who answered him in that insipid +phraseology which is established to avoid the true expression of our +sentiments and opinions, if those who use it have anything of this sort +to conceal. He approached several groups of gentlemen who seemed by +their voice and gesture to be discoursing upon some important subject; +he heard them discussing the most trivial topic in the most common +manner. He then sat down to contemplate at his ease, that vivacity +without motive and without aim which is found in most numerous +assemblies; nevertheless, mediocrity in Italy is by no means +disagreeable; it has little vanity, little jealousy, and much respect +for superiority of mind; and if it fatigues with its dulness, it hardly +ever offends by its pretensions.</p> + +<p>It was in these very assemblies, however, that Oswald had found so much +to interest him a few days before; the slight obstacle which the company +opposed to his conversation with Corinne,—the speedy opportunity which +she took to return to him as soon as she had been sufficiently polite to +the rest of the circle,—the similarity of sentiment which existed +between them in the observations which the company suggested,—the +pleasure which Corinne took when discoursing in Oswald's presence, to +address indirectly to him some reflection of which he alone comprehended +the true meaning, had attached such recollections to every part of this +very room, that Oswald had been deluded so far as to believe that there +was something amusing in these assemblies themselves. "Ah!" said he, +when departing, "it was here as every where else—she was the life of +the scene; let me rather seek the most desert spot till she return. I +shall feel her absence less bitterly when there is nothing about me +bearing the resemblance of pleasure."</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_x" id="Book_x"></a>Book x.</h2> + +<h2>HOLY WEEK.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-289.png" id="illus-289.png" /><img src="images/illus-289.png" width='600' +height='152' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_ki" id="Chapter_ki"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>Oswald passed the following day in the gardens of some monasteries. He +went first to that of the Carthusians, and stopped some time before he +entered, to contemplate two Egyptian lions which are at a little +distance from the gate. Those lions have a remarkable expression of +strength and repose; there is something in their physiognomy belonging +neither to the animal nor the man: they seem one of the forces of nature +and enable us to form a conception how the gods of the Pagan theology +might be represented under this emblem.</p> + +<p>The Carthusian monastery is built upon the ruins of the Thermæ of +Diocletian; and the church by the side of the monastery, is decorated +with such of its granite columns as remained standing. The monks who +inhabit this retreat are very eager to show them, and the interest they +take in these ruins seems to be the only one they feel in this world. +The mode of life observed by the Carthusians, supposes in them either a +very limited mind, or the most noble and continued elevation of +religious sentiments; this succession of days without any variety of +event, reminds us of that celebrated line:</p> + +<p class='center'>Sur les mondes détruits le Temple dort immobile.</p> + +<p class='center'><i>The Temple sleeps motionless on the ruins of worlds</i>.</p> + +<p>The whole employment of their life serves but to contemplate death. +Activity of mind, with such an uniformity of existence, would be a most +cruel torment. In the midst of the cloister grow four cypresses. This +dark and silent tree, which is with difficulty agitated by the wind, +introduces no appearance of motion into this abode. Near the cypresses +is a fountain, scarcely heard, whose fall is so feeble and slow, that +one would be led to call it the clepsydra of this solitude, where time +makes so little noise. Sometimes the moon penetrates it with her pale +lustre, and her absence and return may be considered as an event in this +monotonous scene.</p> + +<p>Those men who exist thus, are nevertheless the same to whom war and all +its bustle would scarcely suffice if they had been brought up to it.</p> + +<p>The different combinations of human destiny upon earth afford an +inexhaustible source of reflection. A thousand accidents pass, and a +thousand habits are formed in the interior of the soul, which make every +individual a world and the subject of a history. To know another +perfectly, would be the task of a whole life; what is it then that we +understand by knowing men? To govern them is practicable by human +wisdom, but to comprehend them belongs to God alone.</p> + +<p>From the Carthusian monastery Oswald repaired to that of St Bonaventure, +built upon the ruins of the palace of Nero; there, where so many crimes +have been committed without remorse, poor monks, tormented by scruples +of conscience, impose upon themselves the most cruel punishment for the +slightest fault. "<i>Our only hope</i>," said one of these devotees, "<i>is +that at the hour of death our sins will not have exceeded our +penances</i>." Lord Nelville, as he entered this monastery struck his foot +against a trap, and asking the use of it—"<i>It leads to our place of +interment</i>;" said one of the young monks, who was already struck with +the malady caused by the malaria. The inhabitants of the south being +very much afraid of death, we are astonished to find institutions in +Italy which fix the ideas upon this point; but it is natural to be fond +of thoughts that inspire us with dread. There is, as it were, an +intoxication of sadness, which does good to the soul by occupying it +entirely.</p> + +<p>An ancient Sarcophagus of a young child serves for the fountain to this +convent. The beautiful Palm-tree of which Rome boasts, is the only tree +of any sort in the garden of these monks; but they pay no attention to +external objects. Their discipline is too rigorous to allow any kind of +latitude to the mind. Their looks are cast down, their gait is slow, +they make no use of their will. They have abdicated the government of +themselves, <i>so fatiguing is this empire to its sad possessor</i>. This +day, however, did not produce much emotion in the soul of Oswald; the +imagination revolts at death, presented under all its various forms in a +manner so manifestly intentional. When we unexpectedly meet this +<i>memento mori</i>, when it is nature and not man that speaks to our soul, +the impression we receive is much deeper.</p> + +<p>Oswald felt the most calm and gentle sensations when, at sunset, he +entered the garden of <i>San Giovanni e Paolo</i>. The monks of this +monastery are subjected to a much less rigid discipline, and their +garden commands a view of all the ruins of ancient Rome. From this spot +is seen the Coliseum, the Forum, and all the triumphal arches, the +obelisks, and the pillars which remain standing. What a fine situation +for such an asylum! The secluded monks are consoled for their own +nothingness, in contemplating the monuments raised by those who are no +more. Oswald strolled for a long time beneath the umbrageous walks of +this garden, whose beautiful trees sometimes interrupt for a moment the +view of Rome, only to redouble the emotion which is felt on beholding it +again. It was that hour of the evening, when all the bells in Rome are +heard chiming the <i>Ave Maria</i>.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>—————squilla di lontano</div> +<div>Che paja il giorno pianger che si muore.</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Dante.</span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div><i>—————the vesper bell from far,</i></div> +<div><i>That seems to mourn for the expiring day.</i></div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Carey's Tr.</span></p> + +<p>The evening prayer is used to fix the time. In Italy they say: <i>I will +see you an hour before, or an hour after the Ave Maria</i>: and the +different periods of the day and of the night, are thus religiously +designated. Oswald enjoyed the admirable spectacle of the sun which +towards the evening descends slowly in the midst of the ruins, and +appears for a moment submitted to the same destiny as the works of man. +Oswald felt all his habitual thoughts revive within him. Corinne herself +was too charming, and promised too much happiness to occupy his mind at +this moment. He sought the spirit of his father in the clouds, where the +force of imagination traced his celestial form, and made him hope to +receive from heaven some pure and beneficent breath, as the benediction +of his sainted parent.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_kii" id="Chapter_kii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>The desire of studying and becoming acquainted with the Roman religion, +determined Lord Nelville to seek an opportunity of hearing some of those +preachers who make the churches of this city resound with their +eloquence during Lent. He reckoned the days that were to divide him from +Corinne, and during her absence, he wished to see nothing that +appertained to the fine arts; nothing that derived its charm from the +imagination. He could not support the emotion of pleasure produced by +the masterpieces of art when he was not with Corinne; he was only +reconciled to happiness when she was the cause of it. Poetry, painting, +music, all that embellishes life by vague hopes, was painful to him out +of her presence.</p> + +<p>It is in the evening, with lights half extinguished, that the Roman +preachers deliver their sermons in Holy Week. All the women are then +clad in black, in remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ, and there is +something very moving in this anniversary mourning, which has been so +often renewed during a lapse of ages. It is therefore impossible to +enter without genuine emotion those beautiful churches, where the tombs +so fitly dispose the soul for prayer; but this emotion is generally +destroyed in a few moments by the preacher.</p> + +<p>His pulpit is a fairly long gallery, which he traverses from one end to +the other with as much agitation as regularity. He never fails to set +out at the beginning of a phrase and to return at the end, like the +motion of a pendulum; nevertheless he uses so much action, and his +manner is so vehement, that one would suppose him capable of forgetting +everything. But it is, to use the expression, a kind of systematic fury +that animates the orator, such as is frequently to be met with in Italy, +where the vivacity of external action often indicates no more than a +superficial emotion. A crucifix is suspended at the extremity of the +pulpit; the preacher unties it, kisses it, presses it against his heart, +and then restores it to its place with the greatest coolness, when the +pathetic period is concluded. There is a means of producing effect which +the ordinary preachers frequently have recourse to, namely, the square +cap they wear on their head, which they take off, and put on again with +inconceivable rapidity. One of them imputed to Voltaire, and +particularly to Rousseau, the irreligion of the age. He threw his cap +into the middle of the pulpit, charging it to represent Jean Jacques, +and in this quality he harangued it, saying; "<i>Well, philosopher of +Geneva, what have you to object to my arguments</i>?" He was silent for +some minutes as if he waited for a reply—the cap made no answer: he +then put it upon his head again and finished the conversation in these +words: "<i>now that you are convinced I shall say no more</i>."</p> + +<p>These whimsical scenes are often repeated among the Roman preachers; for +real talent in this department is here very scarce. Religion is +respected in Italy as an omnipotent law; it captivates the imagination +by its forms and ceremonies, but moral tenets are less attended to in +the pulpit than dogmas of faith, which do not penetrate the heart with +religious sentiments. Thus the eloquence of the pulpit, as well as +several other branches of literature, is absolutely abandoned to common +ideas, which neither paint nor express any thing. A new thought would +cause almost a panic in those minds at once so indolent and so full of +ardour that they need the calm of uniformity, which they love because it +offers repose to their thoughts. The ideas and phraseology of their +sermons are confined to a sort of etiquette. They follow almost in a +regular sequence, and this order would be disturbed if the orator, +speaking from himself, were to seek in his own mind what he should say. +The Christian philosophy, whose aim is to discover the analogy between +religion and human nature, is as little known to the Italian preachers +as any other kind of philosophy. To think upon matters of religion would +scandalise them as much as to think against it; so much are they +accustomed to move in a beaten track.</p> + +<p>The worship of the Blessed Virgin is particularly dear to the Italians, +and to every other nation of the south; it seems in some manner united +with all that is most pure and tender in the affection we feel for +woman. But the same exaggerated figures of rhetoric are found in what +the preachers say upon this subject; and it is impossible to conceive +why their gestures do not turn all that is most serious into mockery. +Hardly ever in Italy do we meet in the august function of the pulpit, +with a true accent or a natural expression.</p> + +<p>Oswald, weary of the most tiresome of all monotony—that of affected +vehemence, went to the Coliseum, to hear the Capuchin who was to preach +there in the open air, at the foot of one of those altars which mark +out, within the enclosure, what is called <i>the Stations of the Cross</i>. +What can offer a more noble subject of eloquence than the aspect of this +monument, of this amphitheatre, where the martyrs have succeeded to the +gladiators! But nothing of this kind must be expected from the poor +Capuchin, who, of the history of mankind, knows no more than that of his +own life. Nevertheless, if we could be insensible to the badness of his +discourse, we should feel ourselves moved by the different objects that +surround him. The greater part of his auditors are of the confraternity +of the <i>Camaldoli</i>; they are clad during their religious exercises in a +sort of grey robe, which entirely covers the head and the whole body, +with two little holes for the eyes. It is thus that the spirits of the +dead might be represented. These men, who are thus concealed beneath +their vestments, prostrate themselves on the earth and strike their +breasts. When the preacher throws himself on his knees crying for <i>mercy +and pity</i>, the congregation throw themselves on their knees also, and +repeat this same cry, which dies away beneath the ancient porticoes of +the Coliseum. It is impossible at this moment not to feel the most +religious emotion; this appeal from earthly misery to celestial good, +penetrates to the inmost sanctuary of the soul. Oswald started when all +the audience fell on their knees; he remained standing, not to join in a +worship foreign to his own; but it was painful to him that he could not +associate publicly with mortals of any description, who prostrated +themselves before God. Alas! is there an invocation of heavenly pity +that is not equally suited to all men?</p> + +<p>The people had been struck with the fine figure and foreign manners of +Lord Nelville, but were by no means scandalized at his not kneeling +down. There are no people in the world more tolerant than the Romans; +they are accustomed to visitors who come only to see and observe; and +whether by an effect of pride or of indolence, they never seek to instil +their opinions into others. What is more extraordinary still, is, that +during Holy Week particularly, there are many among them who inflict +corporal punishment upon themselves; and while they are performing this +flagellation, the church-doors are open, and they care not who enters. +They are a people who do not trouble their heads about others; they do +nothing to be looked at; they refrain from nothing because they are +observed; they always proceed to their object, and seek their pleasure +without suspecting that there is a sentiment called vanity, which has no +object, no pleasure, except the desire of being applauded.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_kiii" id="Chapter_kiii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>The ceremonies of Holy Week at Rome have been much spoken of. Foreigners +come thither during Lent expressly to enjoy this spectacle; and as the +music of the Sixtine Chapel and the illumination of St Peter's are +beauties unique in themselves, it is natural that they should excite a +lively curiosity; but expectation is not equally satisfied. The +ceremonies themselves, properly speaking—the dinner of the twelve +Apostles, served by the Pope, the washing of the feet by him, and all +the different customs of this solemn season—excite very moving +recollections; but a thousand inevitable circumstances often injure the +interest and the dignity of this spectacle. All those who assist at it +are not equally devout, equally occupied with pious ideas. These +ceremonies, so often repeated, have become a sort of mechanical exercise +for most people, and the young priests despatch the service of great +festivals with an activity and a dexterity little calculated to produce +any religious effect. That indefinite, that unknown, that mysterious +impression, which religion ought to excite, is entirely destroyed by +that species of attention which we cannot help paying to the manner in +which each acquits himself of his functions. The avidity of some for the +meats presented them, and the indifference of others in the +genuflections which they multiply and the prayers which they recite, +often strip the festival of its solemnity.</p> + +<p>The ancient costumes which still serve for the vestments of the priests, +agree badly with the modern style of treating the hair. The Greek +bishop, with his long beard, has the most respectable appearance. The +ancient custom also of making a reverence after the manner of women, +instead of bowing as men do now, produces an impression by no means +serious. In a word, the <i>ensemble</i> is not in harmony, and the ancient is +blended with the modern without sufficient care being taken to strike +the imagination, or at least to avoid all that may distract it. A +worship, dazzling and majestic in its external forms, is certainly +calculated to fill the soul with the most elevated sentiments; but care +must be taken that the ceremonies do not degenerate into a spectacle in +which each one plays his part—in which each one studies what he must do +at such a moment; when he is to pray, when he is to finish his prayer; +when to kneel down, and when to get up. The regulated ceremonies of a +court introduced into a temple of devotion, confine the free movement of +the heart, which can alone give man the hope of drawing near to the +Deity.</p> + +<p>These observations are pretty generally felt by foreigners, but the +Romans for the most part do not grow weary of those ceremonies; and +every year they find in them new pleasure. A singular trait in the +character of the Italians is, that their mobility does not make them +inconstant, nor does their vivacity render variety necessary to them. +They are in every thing patient and persevering; their imagination +embellishes what they possess; it occupies their life instead of +rendering it uneasy; they think every thing more magnificent, more +imposing, more fine, than it really is: and whilst in other nations +vanity consists in an affectation of boredom, that of the Italians, or +rather their warmth and vivacity, makes them find pleasure in the +sentiment of admiration.</p> + +<p>Lord Nelville, from all that the Romans had said to him, expected to be +more affected by the ceremonies of Holy Week. He regretted the noble and +simple festivals of the Anglican church. He returned home with a +painful impression; for nothing is more sad than not being moved by that +which ought to move us; we believe that our soul is become dry, we fear +that the fire of enthusiasm is extinguished in us, without which the +faculty of thinking can only serve to disgust us with life.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_kiv" id="Chapter_kiv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>But Good Friday soon restored to Lord Nelville all those religious +emotions, the want of which he so much regretted on the preceding days. +The seclusion of Corinne was about to terminate; he anticipated the +happiness of seeing her again: the sweet expectations of tender +affection accord with piety; it is only a factious, worldly life, that +is entirely hostile to it. Oswald repaired to the Sixtine Chapel to hear +the celebrated <i>miserere</i>, so much talked of all over Europe. He arrived +thither whilst it was yet day, and beheld those celebrated paintings of +Michael Angelo, which represent the Last Judgment, with all the terrible +power of the subject and the talent which has handled it. Michael Angelo +was penetrated with the study of Dante; and the painter, in imitation of +the poet, represents mythological beings in the presence of Jesus +Christ; but he always makes Paganism the evil principle, and it is under +the form of demons that he characterises the heathen fables. On the +vault of the chapel are represented the prophets, and the sybils called +in testimony by the Christians,</p> + +<p class='center'>Teste David cum Sibyllâ.</p> + +<p>A crowd of angels surround them; and this whole vault, painted thus, +seems to bring us nearer to heaven, but with a gloomy and formidable +aspect. Hardly does daylight penetrate the windows, which cast upon the +pictures shadow rather than light. The obscurity enlarges those figures, +already so imposing, which the pencil of Michael Angelo has traced; the +incense, whose perfume has a somewhat funereal character, fills the air +in this enclosure, and every sensation is prelusive to the most profound +of all—that which the music is to produce.</p> + +<p>Whilst Oswald was absorbed by the reflections which every object that +surrounded him gave birth to, he saw Corinne, whose presence he had not +hoped to behold so soon, enter the women's gallery, behind the grating +which separated it from that of the men. She was dressed in black, all +pale with absence, and trembled so when she perceived Oswald, that she +was obliged to lean on the balustrade for support as she advanced; at +this moment the <i>miserere</i> began.</p> + +<p>The voices, perfectly trained in this ancient song, proceeded from a +gallery at the commencement of the vault; the singers are not seen; the +music seems to hover in the air; and every instant the fall of day +renders the chapel more gloomy. It was not that voluptuous and +impassioned music which Oswald and Corinne had heard eight days before; +they were holy strains which counselled mortals to renounce every +earthly enjoyment. Corinne fell on her knees before the grating and +remained plunged in the most profound meditation. Oswald himself +disappeared from her sight. She thought that in such a moment one could +wish to die, if the separation of the soul from the body could take +place without pain; if, on a sudden, an angel could carry away on his +wings our sentiments and our thoughts—sparks of ethereal fire, +returning towards their source: death would then be, to use the +expression, only a spontaneous act of the heart, a more ardent and more +acceptable prayer.</p> + +<p>The <i>miserere</i>, that is to say, <i>have mercy on us</i>, is a psalm, +composed of verses, which are sung alternately in a very different +manner. A celestial music is heard by turns, and the verse following, in +recitative, is murmured in a dull and almost hoarse tone. One would say, +that it is the reply of harsh and stern characters to sensitive hearts; +that it is the reality of life which withers and repels the desires of +generous souls. When the sweet choristers resume their strain, hope +revives; but when the verse of recitative begins, a cold sensation +seizes upon the hearer, not caused by terror, but by a repression of +enthusiasm. At length, the last piece, more noble and affecting than all +the others, leaves a pure and sweet impression upon the soul: may God +vouchsafe that same impression to us before we die.</p> + +<p>The torches are extinguished; night advances, and the figures of the +prophets and the sybils appear like phantoms enveloped in twilight. The +silence is profound; a word spoken would be insupportable in the then +state of the soul, when all is intimate and internal; as soon as the +last sound expires, all depart slowly and without the least noise; each +one seems to dread the return to the vulgar interests of the world.</p> + +<p>Corinne followed the procession, which repaired to the temple of St +Peter, then lighted only by an illuminated cross. This sign of grief, +alone and shining in the august obscurity of this immense edifice, is +the most beautiful image of Christianity in the midst of the darkness of +life. A pale and distant light is cast on the statues which adorn the +tombs. The living, who are perceived in crowds beneath these vaults, +seem like pigmies, compared with the images of the dead. There is around +the cross, a space which it lights up, where the Pope clad in white is +seen prostrate, with all the cardinals ranged behind him. They remain +there for half an hour in the most profound silence, and it is +impossible not to be moved at this spectacle. We know not the subject +of their prayers; we hear not their secret groanings; but they are old, +they precede us in the journey to the tomb. When we in our turn pass +into that terrible advance guard, may God by his grace so ennoble our +age, that the decline of life may be the first days of immortality!</p> + +<p>Corinne, also,—the young and beautiful Corinne,—was kneeling behind +the train of priests, and the soft light reflected on her countenance, +gave it a pale hue, without diminishing the lustre of her eyes. Oswald +contemplated her as a beautiful picture—a being that inspired +adoration. When her prayer was concluded she arose. Lord Nelville dared +not yet approach her, respecting the religious meditation in which he +thought her plunged; but she came to him first with a transport of +happiness; and this sentiment pervading all her actions, she received +with a most lively gaiety, all those who accosted her in St Peter's, +which had become, all at once, a great public promenade, and a +rendezvous to discuss topics of business or pleasure.</p> + +<p>Oswald was astonished at this mobility which caused such opposite +impressions to succeed each other; and though the gaiety of Corinne gave +him pleasure, he was surprised to find in her no trace of the emotions +of the day. He did not conceive how, upon so solemn, a day, they could +permit this fine church to be converted into a Roman <i>café</i>, where +people met for pleasure; and beholding Corinne in the midst of her +circle, talking with so much vivacity, and not thinking on the objects +that surrounded her, he conceived a sentiment of mistrust as to the +levity of which she might be capable. She instantly perceived it, and +quitting her company abruptly, she took the arm of Oswald to walk with +him in the church, saying, "I have never held any conversation with you +upon my religious sentiments—permit me to speak a little upon that +subject now; perhaps I shall be able to dissipate those clouds which I +perceive rising in your mind."</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_kv" id="Chapter_kv"></a>Chapter v.</h3> + +<p>"The difference of our religions, my dear Oswald," continued Corinne, +"is the cause of that secret censure which you cannot conceal from me. +Yours is serious and rigid—ours, cheerful and tender. It is generally +believed that Catholicism is more rigorous than Protestantism; and that +may be true in a country where a struggle has subsisted between the two +religions; but we have no religious dissensions in Italy, and you have +experienced much of them in England. The result of this difference is, +that Catholicism in Italy has assumed a character of mildness and +indulgence; and that to destroy it in England, the Reformation has armed +itself with the greatest severity in principles and morals. Our +religion, like that of the ancients, animates the arts, inspires the +poets, and becomes a part, if I may so express it, of all the joys of +our life; whilst yours, establishing itself in a country where reason +predominates more than imagination, has assumed a character of moral +austerity which will never leave it. Ours speaks in the name of love, +and yours in the name of duty. Our principles are liberal, our dogmas +are absolute; nevertheless, our despotic orthodoxy accommodates itself +to particular circumstances, and your religious liberty enforces +obedience to its laws without any exception. It is true that our +Catholicism imposes very hard penance upon those who have embraced a +monastic life. This state, freely chosen, is a mysterious relation +between man and the Deity; but the religion of laymen in Italy is an +habitual source of affecting emotions. Love, hope, and faith, are the +principal virtues of this religion, and all these virtues announce and +confer happiness. Our priests therefore, far from forbidding at any time +the pure sentiment of joy, tell us that it expresses our gratitude +towards the Creator. What they exact of us, is an observance of those +practices which prove our respect for our worship, and our desire to +please God, namely, charity for the unfortunate, and repentance for our +errors. But they do not refuse absolution, when we zealously entreat it; +and the attachments of the heart inspire a more indulgent pity amongst +us than anywhere else. Has not Jesus Christ said of the Magdalen: <i>Much +shall be pardoned her, because she hath loved much</i>? These words were +uttered beneath a sky, beautiful as ours; this same sky implores for us +the Divine mercy."</p> + +<p>"Corinne!" answered Lord Nelville, "how can I combat words so sweet, and +of which my heart stands so much in need? But I will do it, +nevertheless, because it is not for a day that I love Corinne—I expect +with her a long futurity of happiness and virtue. The most pure religion +is that which makes a continual homage to the Supreme Being, by the +sacrifice of our passions and the fulfilment of our duties. A man's +morality is his worship of God; and it would be degrading the idea we +form of the Creator, to suppose that He wills anything in relation with +His creature, that is not worthy of His intellectual perfection. +Paternal authority, that noble image of a master sovereignly good, +demands nothing of its children that does not tend to make them better +or happier. How then can we imagine that God would exact anything from +man, which has not man himself for its object? You see also what +confusion in the understandings of your people results from the +practice of attaching more importance to religious ceremonies than to +moral duties. It is after Holy Week, you know, that the greatest number +of murders is committed at Rome. The people think, to use the +expression, that they have laid in a stock during Lent, and expend in +assassination the treasures of their penitence. Criminals have been +seen, yet reeking with murder, who have scrupled to eat meat on a +Friday; and gross minds, who have been persuaded that the greatest of +crimes consists in disobeying the discipline of the church, exhaust +their consciences on this head, and conceive that the Deity, like human +sovereigns, esteems submission to his power more than every other +virtue. This is to substitute the sycophancy of a courtier for the +respect which the Creator inspires, as the source and reward of a +scrupulous and delicate life. Catholicism in Italy, confining itself to +external demonstrations, dispenses the soul from meditation and +self-contemplation. When the spectacle is over, the emotion ceases, the +duty is fulfilled, and one is not, as with us, a long time absorbed in +thoughts and sentiments, which give birth to a rigid examination of +one's conduct and heart."</p> + +<p>"You are severe, my dear Oswald," replied Corinne; "it is not the first +time I have remarked it. If religion consisted only in a strict +observance of moral duties, in what would it be superior to reason and +philosophy? And what sentiments of piety could we discover, if our +principal aim were to stifle the feelings of the heart? The stoics were +as enlightened as we, as to the duties and the austerity of human +conduct; but that which is peculiar to Christianity is the religious +enthusiasm which blends with every affection of the soul; it is the +power of love and pity; it is the worship of sentiment and of +indulgence, so favourable to the flights of the soul towards heaven. +How are we to interpret the parable of the Prodigal Son, if not that +love, sincere love, is preferred even to the most exact discharge of +every duty? This son had quitted his paternal abode, and his brother had +remained there; he had plunged into all the dissipation and pleasure of +the world, and his brother had never deviated for a single moment from +the regularity of domestic life; but he returned, full of love for his +father and of repentance for his past follies, and his parent celebrated +this return by a festival. Ah! can it be doubted that among the +mysteries of our nature, to love and to love again is what remains to us +of our celestial inheritance? Even our virtues are often too complicated +with life, for us to comprehend the gradations of good, and what is the +secret sentiment that governs and leads us astray: I ask of my God to +teach me to adore him, and I feel the effect of my prayers in the tears +that I shed. But to support this disposition of the soul, religious +practices are more necessary than you think; they are a constant +communication with the Deity; they are daily actions, unconnected with +the interests of life and solely directed towards the invisible world. +External objects are also a great help to piety; the soul falls back +upon itself, if the fine arts, great monuments, and harmonic strains, do +not reanimate that poetical genius, which is synonymous with religious +inspiration.</p> + +<p>"The most vulgar man, when he prays, when he suffers, and places hope in +heaven, has at that moment something in him which he would express like +Milton, Homer, or Tasso, if education had taught him to clothe his +thoughts with words. There are only two distinct classes of men in the +world; those who feel enthusiasm, and those who despise it; every other +difference is the work of society. The former cannot find words to +express their sentiments, and the latter know what it is necessary to +say to conceal the emptiness of their heart. But the spring that bursts +from the rock at the voice of heaven, that spring is the true talent, +the true religion, the true love.</p> + +<p>"The pomp of our worship; those pictures in which the kneeling saints +express a continual prayer in their looks; those statues placed on the +tombs as if they were one day to rise with their inhabitants; those +churches and their immense domes, have an intimate connection with +religious ideas. I like this splendid homage paid by men to that which +promises them neither fortune nor power—to that which neither punishes +nor rewards them, but by a sentiment of the heart. I then feel more +proud of my being; I recognise something disinterested in man; and were +even religious magnificence multiplied to an extreme, I should love that +prodigality of terrestrial riches for another life, of time for +eternity: enough is provided for the morrow, enough care is taken for +the economy of human affairs. How I love the useless, useless if +existence be only a painful toil for a miserable gain! But if on this +earth we are journeying towards heaven, what can we do better than to +take every means of elevating our soul, that it may feel the infinite, +the invisible, and the eternal, in the midst of all the limits that +surround us?</p> + +<p>"Jesus Christ permitted a weak, and perhaps, repentant woman, to anoint +His feet with the most precious perfumes, and repulsed those who advised +that those perfumes should be reserved for a more profitable use. "<i>Let +her alone</i>" said He, "<i>for I am only with you for a short time</i>." Alas! +all that is good and sublime upon earth is only with us for a short +time; age, infirmity, and death, would soon dry up that drop of dew +which falls from heaven and only rests upon the flowers. Let us then, +dear Oswald, confound everything,—love, religion, genius, the sun, the +perfumes, music, and poetry: atheism only consists in coldness, egotism, +and baseness. Jesus Christ has said: <i>When two or three are gathered +together in my name, I will be in the midst of them.</i> And what is it O +God! to be assembled in Thy name, if it be not to enjoy Thy sublime +gifts, and to offer Thee our homage, to thank Thee for that existence +which Thou hast given us; above all, to thank Thee, when a heart, also +created by Thee is perfectly responsive to our own?"</p> + +<p>At this moment a celestial inspiration animated the countenance of +Corinne. Oswald could hardly refrain from falling on his knees before +her in the midst of the temple, and was silent for a long time to +indulge in the pleasure of recalling her words and retracing them still +in her looks. At last he set about replying; for he would not abandon a +cause that was dear to him. "Corinne," said he, then, "indulge your +lover with a few words more. His heart is not dry; no, Corinne, believe +me it is not, and if I am an advocate for austerity in principle and +action, it is because it renders sentiment more deep and permanent. If I +love reason in religion, that is to say, if I reject contradictory +dogmas and human means of producing effect upon men, it is because I +perceive the Deity in reason as well as in enthusiasm; and if I cannot +bear that man should be deprived of any one of his faculties, it is +because I conceive them all barely sufficient to comprehend truths which +reflection reveals to him, as well as the instinct of the heart, namely, +the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul. What can be added +to these sublime ideas, to their union with virtue? What can we add +thereto that is not beneath them? The poetical enthusiasm which gives +you so many charms, is not, I venture to assert, the most salutary +devotion. Corinne, how could we by this disposition prepare for the +innumerable sacrifices which duty exacts of us! There was no revelation, +except by the flights of the soul, when human destiny, present and +future, only revealed itself to the mind through clouds; but for us, to +whom Christianity has rendered it clear and positive, feeling may be our +recompense, but ought not to be our only guide: you describe the +existence of the blessed, not that of mortals. Religious life is a +combat, not a hymn. If we were not condemned in this world to repress +the evil inclinations of others and of ourselves, there would in truth +be no distinction to be made except between cold and enthusiastic souls. +But man is a harsher and more formidable creature than your heart paints +him to you; and reason in piety, and authority in duty, are a necessary +curb to the wanderings of his pride.</p> + +<p>"In whatever manner you may consider the external pomp and multiplied +ceremonies of your religion, believe me, my love, the contemplation of +the universe and its author, will be always the chief worship; that +which will fill the imagination, without any thing futile or absurd +being found in it upon investigation. Those dogmas which wound my reason +also cool my enthusiasm. Undoubtedly the world, such as it is, is a +mystery which we can neither deny nor comprehend; it would therefore be +foolish to refuse credence to what we are unable to explain; but that +which is contradictory is always of human creation. The mysteries of +heavenly origin are above the lights of the mind; but not in opposition +to them. A German philosopher<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> has said: <i>I know but two beautiful +things in the universe: the starry sky above our heads, and the +sentiment of duty in our hearts</i>. In truth all the wonders of the +creation are comprised in these words.</p> + +<p>"So far from a simple and severe religion searing our hearts, I should +have thought, before I had known you, Corinne, that it was the only one +which could concentrate and perpetuate the affections. I have seen the +most pure and austere conduct unfold in a man the most inexhaustible +tenderness. I have seen him preserve even to old age, a virginity of +soul, which the passions and their criminal effects would necessarily +have withered. Undoubtedly repentance is a fine thing, and I have more +need than any person to believe in its efficacy; but repeated repentance +fatigues the soul—this sentiment can only regenerate once. It is the +redemption which is accomplished at the bottom of our soul, and this +great sacrifice cannot be renewed. When human weakness is accustomed to +it, the power to love is lost; for power is necessary in order to love, +at least with constancy.</p> + +<p>"I shall offer some objections of the same kind to that splendid form of +worship, which according to you, acts so powerfully upon the +imagination. I believe the imagination to be modest, and retired as the +heart. The emotions which are imposed on it, are less powerful than +those born of itself. I have seen in the Cevennes, a Protestant minister +who preached towards the evening in the heart of the mountains. He +invoked the tombs of the French, banished and proscribed by their +brethren, whose ashes had been assembled together in this spot. He +promised their friends that they should meet them again in a better +world. He said that a virtuous life secured us this happiness; he said: +<i>do good to mankind, that God may heal in your heart the wound of +grief</i>. He testified his astonishment at the inflexibility and +hard-heartedness of man, the creature of a day, to his fellow man +equally with himself the creature of a day, and seized upon that +terrible idea of death, which the living have conceived, but which they +will never be able to exhaust. In short, he said nothing that was not +affecting and true: his words were perfectly in harmony with nature. The +torrent which was heard in the distance, the scintillating light of the +stars, seemed to express the same thought under another form. The +magnificence of nature was there, that magnificence, which can feast the +soul without offending misfortune; and all this imposing simplicity, +touched the soul more deeply than dazzling ceremonies could have done."</p> + +<p>On the second day after this conversation, Easter Sunday, Corinne and +Lord Nelville went together to the square of St Peter, at the moment +when the Pope appears upon the most elevated balcony of the church, and +asks of heaven that benediction which he is about to bestow on the land; +when he pronounces these words, <i>urbi et orbi</i> (to the city and to the +world)—all the assembled people fell on their knees, and Corinne and +Lord Nelville felt, by the emotion which they experienced at this +moment, that all forms of worship resemble each other. The religious +sentiment intimately unites men among themselves, when self-love and +fanaticism do not make it an object of jealousy and hatred. To pray +together in the same language, whatever be the form of worship, is the +most pathetic bond of fraternity, of hope, and of sympathy, which men +can contract upon earth.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Kant.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_kvi" id="Chapter_kvi"></a>Chapter vi.</h3> + +<p>Easter-Day was passed, and Corinne took no notice of the fulfilment of +her promise to confide her history to Lord Nelville. Wounded by this +silence, he said one day before her that he had heard much of the +beauty of Naples, and that he had a mind to visit it. Corinne, +discovering in a moment what was passing in his soul, proposed to +perform the journey with him. She flattered herself that she, should be +able to postpone the confession which he required of her, by giving him +this satisfying proof of her love. And besides she thought that if he +should take her with him, it would be without doubt because he desired +to consecrate his life to her. She waited then with anxiety for what he +should say to her, and her almost suppliant looks seemed to entreat a +favourable answer. Oswald could not resist; he had at first been +surprised at this offer and the simplicity with which Corinne made it, +and hesitated for some time before he accepted it; but beholding the +agitation of her he loved, her palpitating bosom, her eyes suffused with +tears, he consented to set out with her, without reflecting upon the +importance of such a resolution. Corinne was elevated to the summit of +joy; for at this moment her heart entirely relied on the passion of +Oswald.</p> + +<p>The day was fixed upon, and the sweet perspective of their journey +together made every other idea disappear. They amused themselves with +settling the details of their journey, and every one of these details +was a source of pleasure. Happy disposition of the soul, in which all +the arrangements of life have a particular charm, from their connection +with some hope of the heart! That moment arrives only too soon, when +each hour of our existence is as fatiguing as its entirety, when every +morning requires an effort to support the awakening and to guide the day +to its close.</p> + +<p>The moment Lord Nelville left Corinne's house in order to prepare every +thing for their departure, the Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and learnt from +her the project which they had just determined on.—"Surely you don't +think of such a thing!" said he, "what! travel with Lord Nelville +without his being your husband! without his having promised to marry +you! And what will you do if he abandon you?" "Why," replied Corinne, +"in any situation of life if he were to cease to love me, I should be +the most wretched creature in the world!" "Yes, but if you have done +nothing to compromise your character, you will remain entirely +yourself."—"Remain entirely myself, when the deepest sentiment of my +life shall be withered? when my heart shall be broken?"—"The public +will not know it, and by a little dissimulation you would lose nothing +in the general opinion." "And why should I take pains to preserve that +opinion," replied Corinne, "if not to gain an additional charm in the +eyes of him I love?"—"We may cease to love," answered the Count, "but +we cannot cease to live in the midst of society, and to need its +services."—"Ah! if I could think," retorted Corinne, "that that day +would arrive when Oswald's affection would not be all in all to me in +this world; if I could believe it, I should already have ceased to love. +What is love when it anticipates and reckons upon the moment when it +shall no longer exist? If there be any thing religious in this +sentiment, it is because it makes every other interest disappear, and, +like devotion, takes a pleasure in the entire sacrifice of self."</p> + +<p>"What is that you tell me?" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "can such an +intellectual lady as you fill her head with such nonsense? It is the +advantage of us men that women think as you do—we have thus more +ascendancy over you; but your superiority must not be lost, it must be +serviceable to you." "Serviceable to me?" said Corinne, "Ah! I owe it +much, if it has enabled me to feel more acutely all that is interesting +and generous in the character of Lord Nelville."—"Lord Nelville is +like other men," said the Count; "he will return to his native country, +he will pursue his profession; in short he will recover his reason, and +you would imprudently expose your reputation by going to Naples with +him."—"I am ignorant of the intentions of Lord Nelville," observed +Corinne, "and perhaps I should have done better to have reflected more +deeply before I had let him obtain such power over my heart; but now, +what signifies one more sacrifice! Does not my life depend on his love? +I feel pleasure, on the contrary, in leaving myself no resource;—there +is none when the heart is wounded; nevertheless, the world may sometimes +think the contrary, and I love to reflect that even in this respect my +calamity would be complete, if Lord Nelville were to leave me!"—"And +does he know how you expose yourself on his account?" proceeded +d'Erfeuil.—"I have taken great care to conceal it from him," answered +Corinne, "and as he is not well acquainted with the customs of this +country, I have a little exaggerated to him the latitude of conduct +which they allow. I must exact from you a promise, that you will never +undeceive him in this respect—I wish him to be perfectly free, he can +never make me happy by any kind of sacrifice. The sentiment which +renders me happy is the flower of my life; were it once to decay, +neither kindness nor delicacy could revive it. I conjure you then, my +dear Count, not to interfere with my destiny; no opinion of yours upon +the affections of the heart can possibly apply to me. Your observations +are very prudent, very sensible, and extremely applicable to the +situations of ordinary life; but you would innocently do me a great +injury, in attempting to judge of my character in the same manner as +large bodies of people are judged, for whom there are maxims ready made. +My sufferings, my enjoyments, and my feelings, are peculiar to myself, +and whoever would influence my happiness must contemplate me alone, +unconnected with the rest of the world."</p> + +<p>The self-love of Count d'Erfeuil was a little wounded by the inutility +of his counsels, and the decided proof of her affection for Lord +Nelville which Corinne gave him. He knew very well that he himself was +not beloved by her, he knew equally that Oswald was; but it was +unpleasant to him to hear this so openly avowed. There is always +something in the favour which a man finds in a lady's sight, that +offends even his best friends.—"I see that I can do nothing for you," +said the Count; "but should you become very unhappy you will think of +me; in the meantime, I am going to leave Rome, for since you and Lord +Nelville are about to quit it, I should be too much bored in your +absence. I shall certainly see you both again, either in Scotland or +Italy; for since I can do nothing better with myself, I have acquired a +taste for travelling. Forgive my having taken the liberty to counsel +you, charming Corinne, and believe me ever devoted to you!"—Corinne +thanked him, and separated with a sentiment of regret. Her acquaintance +with him commenced at the same time as with Oswald, and this remembrance +formed a tie between them which she did not like to see broken. She +conducted herself agreeably to what she had declared to the Count. Some +uneasiness disturbed for a moment the joy with which Lord Nelville had +accepted the project of the journey. He feared that their departure for +Naples might injure Corinne, and wished to obtain her secret before they +went, in order to know with certainty whether some invincible obstacle +to their union might not exist; but she declared to him that she would +not relate her history till they arrived at Naples, and sweetly +deceived him, as to what the public opinion would be on her conduct. +Oswald yielded to the illusion. In a weak and undecided character, love +half deceives, reason half enlightens, and it is the present emotion +that decides which of the two halves shall be the whole. The mind of +Lord Nelville was singularly expansive and penetrating; but he only +formed a correct judgment of himself in reviewing his past conduct. He +never had but a confused idea of his present situation. Susceptible at +once of transport and remorse, of passion and timidity, those contrasts +did not permit him to know himself till the event had decided the combat +that was taking place within him.</p> + +<p>When the friends of Corinne, particularly Prince Castel-Forte, were +informed of her project, they felt considerably chagrined. Prince +Castel-Forte was so much pained at it, that he resolved in a short time +to go and join her. There was certainly no vanity in thus filling up the +train of a favoured lover; but he could not support the dreadful void +which he would find in the absence of Corinne. He had no acquaintances +but the circle he met at her house; and he never entered any other. The +company which assembled around her would disperse when she should be no +longer there; and it would be impossible to collect together the +fragments. Prince Castel-Forte was little accustomed to domestic life: +though possessing a good share of intellect, he did not like the fatigue +of study; the whole day therefore would have been an insufferable weight +to him, if he had not come, morning and evening, to visit Corinne. She +was about to depart—he knew not what to do; however he promised himself +in secret to approach her as a friend, who indulged in no pretensions, +but who was ever at hand to offer his consolation in the moment of +misfortune; such a friend may be sure that his hour will come.</p> + +<p>Corinne felt oppressed with melancholy in thus breaking all her former +connections; she had led for some years in Rome a manner of life that +pleased her. She was the centre of attraction to every artist and to +every enlightened man. A perfect independence of ideas and habits gave +many charms to her existence: what was to become of her now? If destined +to the happiness of espousing Oswald, he would take her to England, and +what would she be thought of there; how would she be able to confine +herself to a mode of existence so different from what she had known for +six years past! But these sentiments only passed through her mind, and +her passion for Oswald always obliterated every trace of them. She saw, +she heard him, and only counted the hours by his absence or his +presence. Who can dispute with happiness? Who does not welcome it when +it comes? Corinne was not possessed of much foresight—neither fear nor +hope existed for her; her faith in the future was vague, and in this +respect her imagination did her little good, and much harm.</p> + +<p>On the morning of her departure, Prince Castel-Forte visited her, and +said with tears in his eyes: "Will you not return to Rome?" "Oh, <i>Mon +Dieu</i>, yes!" replied she, "we shall be back in a month."—"But if you +marry Lord Nelville you must leave Italy!" "Leave Italy!" said Corinne, +with a sigh.—"This country," continued Prince Castel-Forte, "where your +language is spoken, where you are so well known, where you are so warmly +admired, and your friends, Corinne—your friends! Where will you be +beloved as you are here? Where will you find that perfection of the +imagination and the fine arts, so congenial to your soul? Is then our +whole life composed of one sentiment? Is it not language, customs, and +manners, that compose the love of our country; that love which creates +a home sickness so terrible to the exile?" "Ah, what is it you tell me," +cried Corinne, "have I not felt it? Is it not that which has decided my +fate?"—She regarded mournfully her room and the statues that adorned +it, then the Tiber which rolled its waves beneath her windows, and the +sky whose beauty seemed to invite her to stay. But at that moment Oswald +crossed the bridge of St Angelo on horseback, swift as lightning. "There +he is!" cried Corinne. Hardly had she uttered these words, when he was +already arrived,—she ran to meet him, and both impatient to set out +hastened to ascend the carriage. Corinne, however, took a kind farewell +of Prince Castel-Forte; but her obliging expressions were lost in the +midst of the cries of postillions, the neighing of horses, and all that +bustle of departure, sometimes sad, and sometimes intoxicating, +according to the fear or the hope which the new chances of destiny +inspire.</p> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Book_xi" id="Book_xi"></a>Book xi.</h2> + +<h2>NAPLES AND THE HERMITAGE OF ST SALVADOR.</h2> + +<p class="center"><a name="illus-321.png" id="illus-321.png" /><img src="images/illus-321.png" width='600' +height='153' alt="Chapter heading - cherubs." /></p> + +<h3><a name="Chapter_li" id="Chapter_li"></a>Chapter i.</h3> + +<p>Oswald was proud of carrying off his conquest; he who felt himself +almost always disturbed in his enjoyments by reflections and regrets, +for once did not experience the pangs of uncertainty. It was not that he +was decided, but he did not think about it and followed the tide of +events hoping it would lead him to the object of his wishes.</p> + +<p>They traversed the district of Albano<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>, where is still shown what is +believed to be the tomb of the Horatii and the Curiatii. They passed +near the lake of Nemi and the sacred woods that surround it. It is said +that Hippolitus was resuscitated by Diana in these parts; she would not +permit horses to approach it, and by this prohibition perpetuated the +memory of her young favourite's misfortune. Thus in Italy our memory is +refreshed by History and Poetry almost at every step, and the charming +situations which recall them, soften all that is melancholy in the past, +and seem to preserve an eternal youth.</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne traversed the Pontine marshes—a country at once +fertile and pestilential,—where, with all the fecundity of nature, a +single habitation is not to be found. Some sickly men change your +horses, recommending to you not to sleep in passing the marshes; for +sleep there is really the harbinger of death. The plough which some +imprudent cultivators will still sometimes guide over this fatal land, +is drawn by buffaloes, in appearance at once mean and ferocious, whilst +the most brilliant sun sheds its lustre on this melancholy spectacle. +The marshy and unwholesome parts in the north are announced by their +repulsive aspect; but in the more fatal countries of the south, nature +preserves a serenity, the deceitful mildness of which is an illusion to +travellers. If it be true that it is very dangerous to sleep in crossing +the Pontine marshes, their invincible soporific influence in the heat of +the day is one of those perfidious impressions which we receive from +this spot. Lord Nelville constantly watched over Corinne. Sometimes she +leant her head on Theresa who accompanied them; sometimes she closed her +eyes, overcome by the languor of the air. Oswald awakened her +immediately, with inexpressible terror; and though he was naturally +taciturn, he was now inexhaustible in subjects of conversation, always +well supported and always new, to prevent her from yielding to this +fatal sleep. Ah! should we not pardon the heart of a woman the cruel +regret which attaches to those days when she was beloved, when her +existence was so necessary to that of another, when at every moment she +was supported and protected? What isolation must succeed this season of +delight! How happy are they whom the sacred hand of Hymen has conducted +from love to friendship, without one painful moment having embittered +their course!</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne, after the anxious passage of the marshes, at length +arrived at Terracina, on the sea coast, near the confines of the kingdom +of Naples. It is there that the south truly begins; it is there that it +receives travellers in all its magnificence. Naples, <i>that happy +country</i>, is, as it were, separated from the rest of Europe by the sea +which surrounds it and by that dangerous district which must be passed +in order to arrive at it. One would say that nature, wishing to secure +to herself this charming abode, has designedly made all access to it +perilous. At Rome we are not yet in the south; we have there a foretaste +of its sweets, but its enchantment only truly begins in the territory of +Naples. Not far from Terracina is the promontory fixed upon by the poets +as the abode of Circe: and behind Terracina rises Mount Anxur, where +Theodoric, king of the Goths, had placed one of those strong castles +with which the northern warriors have covered the earth. There are few +traces of the invasion of Italy by the barbarians; or at least, where +those traces consist in devastation, they are confounded with the +effects of time. The northern nations have not given to Italy that +warlike aspect which Germany has preserved. It seems that the gentle +soil of Ausonia was unable to support the fortifications and citadels +which bristle in northern countries. Rarely is a Gothic edifice or a +feudal castle to be met with here; and the monuments of the ancient +Romans reign alone triumphant over Time, and the nations by whom they +have been conquered.</p> + +<p>The whole mountain which dominates Terracina, is covered with orange and +lemon trees, which embalm the air in a delicious manner. There is +nothing in our climate that resembles the southern perfume of lemon +trees in the open air; it produces on the imagination almost the same +effect as melodious music; it gives a poetic disposition to the soul, +stimulates genius, and intoxicates with the charms of nature. The aloe +and the broad-leaved cactus, which are met here at every step, have a +peculiar aspect, which brings to mind all that we know of the formidable +productions of Africa. These plants inspire a sort of terror: they seem +to belong to a violent and despotic nature. The whole aspect of the +country is foreign: we feel ourselves in another world, a world which is +only known by the descriptions of the ancient poets, who have at the +same time so much imagination and so much exactness in their +descriptions. On entering Terracina, the children threw into the +carriage of Corinne an immense quantity of flowers which they gather by +the road-side or on the mountain, and which they carelessly scatter +about; such is their reliance on the prodigality of nature! The carts +which bring home the harvest from the fields are every day ornamented +with garlands of roses, and sometimes the children surround the cups +they drink out of with flowers; for beneath such a sky the imagination +of the common people becomes poetical. By the side of these smiling +pictures the sea, whose billows lashed the shore with fury, was seen and +heard. It was not agitated by the storm; but by the rocks which stand in +habitual opposition to its waves, irritating its grandeur.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>E non udite ancor come risuona</div> +<div>Il roco ed alto fremito marino?</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><i>And do you not hear still the hoarse and deep roar of the sea?</i></p> + +<p>This motion without aim, this strength without object which is renewed +throughout eternity without our being able to discover either its cause +or its end, attracts us to the shore, where this grand spectacle offers +itself to our sight; and we experience, as it were, a desire mingled +with terror, to approach the waves and to deaden our thoughts by their +tumult.</p> + +<p>Towards the evening all was calm. Corinne and Lord Nelville walked into +the country; they proceeded with a slow pace silently enjoying the scene +before them. Each step they took crushed the flowers and extorted from +them their delicious perfumes; the nightingales, resting on the +rose-bushes, willingly lent their song, so that the purest melodies were +united to the most delicious odours; all the charms of nature mutually +attracted each other, while the softness of the air was beyond +expression. When we contemplate a fine view in the north, the climate in +some degree disturbs the pleasure which it inspires: those slight +sensations of cold and humidity are like a false note in a concert, and +more or less distract your attention from what you behold; but in +approaching Naples you experience the friendly smiles of nature, so +perfectly and without alloy, that nothing abates the agreeable +sensations which they cause you. All the relations of man in our climate +are with society. Nature, in hot countries, puts us in relation with +external objects, and our sentiments sweetly expand. Not but that the +south has also its melancholy. In what part of the earth does not human +destiny produce this impression? But in this melancholy there is neither +discontent, anxiety, nor regret. In other countries it is life, which, +such as it is, does not suffice for the faculties of the soul; here the +faculties of the soul do not suffice for life, and the superabundance of +sensation inspires a dreamy indolence, which we can hardly account for +when oppressed with it.</p> + +<p>During the night, flies of a shining hue fill the air; one would say +that the mountain emitted sparks of fire, and that the burning earth had +let loose some of its flames. These insects fly through the trees, +sometimes repose on the leaves, and the wind blows these minute stars +about, varying in a thousand ways their uncertain light. The sand also +contained a great number of metallic stones, which sparkled on every +side: it was the land of fire, still preserving in its bosom the traces +of the sun, whose last rays had just warmed it. There is a life, and at +the same time, a repose, in this nature, which entirely satisfies the +various desires of human existence.</p> + +<p>Corinne abandoned herself to the charms of this evening, and was +penetrated with joy; nor could Oswald conceal the emotion they +inspired—many times he pressed Corinne to his heart, many times he drew +back from her, then returned, then drew back again out of respect to her +who was to be the companion of his life. Corinne felt no alarm, for such +was her esteem for Oswald, that if he had demanded the entire surrender +of her being she would have considered that request as a solemn vow to +espouse her; but she saw him triumph over himself, and this conquest was +an honour paid her; whilst her heart felt that plenitude of happiness, +and of love, which does not permit us to form another desire. Oswald was +far from being so calm: he was fired with the charms of Corinne. Once he +threw himself at her feet with violence, and seemed to have lost all +empire over his passion; but Corinne regarded him with such an +expression of sweetness and fear, she made him so sensible of his power +while beseeching him not to abuse it, that this humble entreaty inspired +him with more respect than any other could possibly have done.</p> + +<p>They then perceived in the sea, the reflection of a torch carried by the +unknown hand of one who traversed the shore, repairing secretly to a +neighbouring house. "He is going to see the object of his love;" said +Oswald.—"Yes," answered Corinne. "And my happiness, for to-day, is +about to end,"—resumed Oswald. At this moment the looks of Corinne were +lifted towards heaven, and her eyes suffused with tears. Oswald, fearing +that he had offended her, fell on his knees to entreat her forgiveness +for that love which had overpowered him. "No," said Corinne, stretching +forth her hand to him, and inviting him to return with her. "No, +Oswald, I feel no alarm: you will respect her who loves you: you know +that a simple request from you would be all-powerful with me; it is +therefore you who must be my security—you who would for ever reject me +as your bride, if you had rendered me unworthy of being so." "Well," +answered Oswald, "since you believe in this cruel empire of your will +upon my heart, Corinne, whence arises your sadness?"—"Alas!" replied +she, "I was saying to myself, that the moments which I have just passed +with you were the happiest of my life, and as I turned my eyes in +gratitude to heaven, I know not by what chance, a superstition of my +childhood revived in my heart. The moon which I contemplated was covered +with a cloud, and the aspect of that cloud was fatal. I have always +found in the sky a countenance sometimes paternal and sometimes angry; +and I tell you, Oswald, heaven has to-night condemned our love."—"My +dear," answered Lord Nelville, "the only omens of the life of man, are +his good or evil actions; and have I not this very evening, immolated my +most ardent desires on the altar of virtue?"—"Well, so much the better +if you are not included in this presage," replied Corinne; "it may be +that this angry sky has only threatened me."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> There is a charming description of the Lake of Albano, in +a collection of poems by Madame Brunn, <i>née</i> Münter, whose talent and +imagination give her a first rank among the women of her country.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_lii" id="Chapter_lii"></a>Chapter ii.</h3> + +<p>They arrived at Naples by day, in the midst of that immense population, +at once so animated and so indolent. They first traversed the Via +Toledo, and saw the Lazzaroni lying on the pavement, or in osier baskets +which serve them for lodging, day and night. There is something +extremely original in this state of savage existence, mingled with +civilization. There are some among these men who do not even know their +own name, and who go to confess anonymous sins; not being able to tell +who it is that has committed them. There is a subterranean grotto at +Naples where thousands of Lazzaroni pass their lives, only going out at +noon to see the sun, and sleeping the rest of the day, whilst their +wives spin. In climates where food and raiment are so easy of attainment +it requires a very independent and active government to give sufficient +emulation to a nation; for it is so easy for the people merely to +subsist at Naples, that they can dispense with that industry which is +necessary to procure a livelihood elsewhere. Laziness and ignorance +combined with the volcanic air which is breathed in this spot, ought to +produce ferocity when the passions are excited; but this people is not +worse than any other. They possess imagination, which might become the +principle of disinterested actions and give them a bias for virtue, if +their religious and political institutions were good.</p> + +<p>Calabrians are seen marching in a body to cultivate the earth with a +fiddler at their head, and dancing from time to time, to rest themselves +from walking. There is every year, near Naples, a festival consecrated +to the <i>madonna of the grotto</i>, at which the girls dance to the sound of +the tambourine and the castanets, and it is not uncommon for a condition +to be inserted in the marriage contract, that the husband shall take his +wife every year to this festival. There is on the stage at Naples, a +performer eighty years old, who for sixty years has entertained the +Neapolitans in their comic, national character of Polichinello. Can we +imagine what the immortality of the soul may be to a man who thus +employs his long life? The people of Naples have no other idea of +happiness than pleasure; but the love of pleasure is still better than +a barren egotism.</p> + +<p>It is true that no people in the world are more fond of money than the +Neapolitans: if you ask a man of the people in the street to show you +your way, he stretches out his hand after having made you a sign, for +they are more indolent in speech than in action; but their avidity for +money is not methodical nor studied; they spend it as soon as they get +it. They use money as savages would if it were introduced among them. +But what this nation is most wanting in, is the sentiment of dignity. +They perform generous and benevolent actions from a good heart rather +than from principle; for their theory in every respect is good for +nothing, and public opinion in this country has no force. But when men +or women escape this moral anarchy their conduct is more remarkable in +itself and more worthy of admiration than any where else, since there is +nothing in external circumstances favourable to virtue. It is born +entirely in the soul. Laws and manners neither reward nor punish it. He +who is virtuous is so much the more heroic for not being on that account +either more considered or more sought after.</p> + +<p>With some honourable exceptions the higher classes pretty nearly +resemble the lower: the mind of the one is seldom more cultivated than +that of the other, and the practice of society is the only external +difference between them. But in the midst of this ignorance there is +such a natural intelligence in all ranks that it is impossible to +foresee what a nation like this might become if all the energies of +government were directed to the advancement of knowledge and morality. +As there is little education at Naples, we find there, at present, more +originality of character than of mind. But the remarkable men of this +country, it is said, such as the Abbé Galiani, Caraccioli, &c., +possessed the highest sense of humour, joined to the most profound +reflection,—rare powers of the mind!—an union without which either +pedantry or frivolity would hinder us from knowing the true value of +things.</p> + +<p>The Neapolitan people, in some respects, are not civilized at all; but +their vulgarity does not at all resemble that of other nations. Their +very rudeness interests the imagination. The African coast which borders +the sea on the other side is almost perceptible; there is something +Numidian in the savage cries which are heard in every part of the city. +Those swarthy faces, those vestments formed of a few pieces of red or +violet stuff whose deep colours attract the eye, even those very rags in +which this artistic people drape themselves with grace, give to the +populace a picturesque appearance, whilst in other countries they +exhibit nothing but the miseries of civilization. A certain taste for +finery and decoration is often found in Naples accompanied with an +absolute lack of necessaries and conveniences. The shops are agreeably +ornamented with flowers and fruit. Some have a festive appearance that +has no relation to plenty nor to public felicity, but only to a lively +imagination; they seek before every thing to please the eye. The +mildness of the climate permits mechanics of every class to work in the +streets. The tailors are seen making clothes, and the victuallers +providing their repasts, and these domestic occupations going on out of +doors, multiply action in a thousand ways. Singing, dancing, and noisy +sports, are very suitable to this spectacle; and there is no country +where we feel more clearly the difference between amusement and +happiness. At length we quit the interior of the city, and arrive at the +quays, whence we have a view of the sea and of Mount Vesuvius, and +forget then all that we know of man.</p> + +<p>Oswald and Corinne arrived at Naples, whilst the eruption of Mount +Vesuvius yet lasted. By day nothing was seen but the black smoke which +mixed with the clouds; but viewing it in the evening from the balcony of +their abode it excited an entirely unexpected emotion. A river of fire +descends towards the sea, and its burning waves, like the billows of the +sea, express the rapid succession of continual and untiring motion. One +would say that when nature transforms herself into various elements she +nevertheless preserves some traces of a single and primal thought. The +phenomenon of Vesuvius deeply impresses us. We are commonly so +familiarised with external objects that we hardly perceive their +existence; we scarcely ever feel a new emotion in the midst of our +prosaic countries, but that astonishment which the universe ought to +cause, is suddenly evoked at the aspect of an unknown wonder of +creation: our whole being is shaken by this power of nature, in whose +social combinations we have been so long absorbed; we feel that the +greatest mysteries in this world do not all consist in man, and that he +is threatened or protected by a force independent of himself, in +obedience to laws which he cannot penetrate. Oswald and Corinne proposed +to ascend Mount Vesuvius, and the peril of this enterprise gave an +additional charm to a project which they were to execute together.</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_liii" id="Chapter_liii"></a>Chapter iii.</h3> + +<p>There was at that time in the port of Naples, an English man-of-war in +which divine service was performed every Sunday. The captain, and all +the English who were at Naples, invited Lord Nelville to come the +following day; he consented without thinking at first whether he should +take Corinne with him, and how he should present her to his +fellow-countrymen. He was tormented by this disquietude the whole night. +As he was walking with Corinne, on the following morning near the port +and was about to advise her not to go on board, they saw an English +long-boat rowed by ten sailors, clad in white, and wearing black velvet +caps, on which was embroidered silver leopards. A young officer landed +from it, and accosting Corinne by the name of Lady Nelville, begged to +have the honour of conducting her to the ship. At the name of Lady +Nelville Corinne was embarrassed—she blushed and cast down her eyes. +Oswald appeared to hesitate a moment: then suddenly taking her hand, he +said to her in English,—"Come, my dear,"—and she followed him.</p> + +<p>The noise of the waves and the silence of the sailors, who neither moved +nor spoke but in pursuance of their duty, and who rapidly conducted the +bark over that sea which they had so often traversed, gave birth to +reverie. Besides, Corinne dared not question Lord Nelville on what had +just passed. She sought to conjecture his purpose, not thinking (which +is however the more probable) that he had none, and that he yielded to +each new circumstance. One moment she imagined that he was conducting +her to divine service in order to espouse her, and this idea caused her +at the time more fear than happiness: it appeared to her that she was +going to quit Italy and return to England, where she had suffered so +much. The severity of manners and customs in that country returned to +her mind, and love itself could not entirely triumph over the bitterness +of her recollections. But how astonished will she be in other +circumstances at those thoughts, fleeting as they were! how she will +abjure them!</p> + +<p>Corinne ascended the ship, the interior of which presented a picture of +the most studied cleanliness and order. Nothing was heard but the voice +of the captain, which was prolonged and repeated from one end to the +other by command and obedience. The subordination, regularity, silence, +and serious deportment so remarkable on this ship, formed a system of +social order rigid and free, in contrast with the city of Naples, so +volatile, so passionate, and tumultuous. Oswald was occupied with +Corinne and the impressions she received; but his attention was +sometimes diverted from her by the pleasure he felt in finding himself +in his native country. And indeed are not ships and the open sea a +second country to an Englishman? Oswald walked the deck with the English +on board to learn the news from England, and to discuss the politics of +their country; during which time Corinne was with some English ladies +who had come from Naples to attend divine worship. They were surrounded +by their children, as beautiful as the day, but timid as their mothers; +and not a word was spoken before a new acquaintance. This constraint, +this silence, rendered Corinne very sad; she turned her eyes towards +beautiful Naples, towards its flowery shores, its animated existence, +and sighed. Fortunately for her Oswald did not perceive it; on the +contrary, beholding her seated among English women, her dark eyelids +cast down like their fair ones, and conforming in every respect to their +manners, he felt a sensation of joy. In vain does an Englishman find +pleasure in foreign manners; his heart always reverts to the first +impressions of his life. If you ask Englishmen sailing at the extremity +of the world whither they are going, they will answer you, <i>home</i>, if +they are returning to England. Their wishes and their sentiments are +always turned towards their native country, at whatever distance they +may be from it.</p> + +<p>They descended between decks to hear divine service, and Corinne soon +perceived that her idea was without foundation, that Lord Nelville had +not formed the solemn project she had at first supposed. She then +reproached herself with having feared such an event, and the +embarrassment of her present situation revived in her bosom; for all the +company believed her to be the wife of Lord Nelville, and she had not +the courage to say a word that might either destroy or confirm this +idea. Oswald suffered as cruelly as she did; but in the midst of a +thousand rare qualities, there was much weakness and irresolution in his +character. These defects are unperceived by their possessor, and assume +in his eyes a new form under every circumstance; he conceives it +alternately to be prudence, sensibility, or delicacy, which defers the +moment of adopting a resolution and prolongs a state of indecision; +hardly ever does he feel that it is the same character which attaches +this kind of inconvenience to every circumstance.</p> + +<p>Corinne, however, notwithstanding the painful thoughts that occupied +her, received a deep impression from the spectacle which she witnessed. +Nothing, in truth, speaks more to the soul than divine service performed +on board a ship; and the noble simplicity of the reformed worship seems +particularly adapted to the sentiments which are then felt. A young man +performed the functions of chaplain; he preached with a mild but firm +voice, and his figure bespoke the rigid principles of a pure soul amidst +the ardour of youth. That severity carries with it an idea of force, +very suitable to a religion preached among the perils of war. At stated +moments, the English minister delivered prayers, the last words of which +all the assembly repeated with him. These confused but mild voices +proceeding from various distances kept alive interest and emotion. The +sailors, the officers, and the captain, knelt down several times, +particularly at these words, "<i>Lord, have mercy upon us!</i>" The sword of +the captain, which dragged on the deck whilst he was kneeling, called to +mind that noble union of humility before God and intrepidity before man, +which renders the devotion of warriors so affecting; and whilst these +brave people besought the God of armies, the sea was seen through the +port-holes, and sometimes the murmuring of the waves, at that moment +tranquil, seemed to say, "<i>your prayers are heard</i>." The chaplain +finished, the service by a prayer, peculiar to the English sailors. +"<i>May God</i>," say they, "<i>give us grace to defend our happy Constitution +from without, and to find on our return domestic happiness at home!</i>" +How many fine sentiments are united in these simple words! The long and +continued study which the navy requires and the austere life led in a +ship, make it a military cloister in the midst of the waves; and the +regularity of the most serious occupations is there only interrupted by +perils and death. The sailors, in spite of their rough, hardy manners, +often express themselves with much gentleness, and show a particular +tenderness to women and children when they meet them on board. We are +the more touched with these sentiments, because we know with what +coolness they expose themselves to those terrible dangers of war and the +sea, in the midst of which the presence of man has something of the +supernatural.</p> + +<p>Corinne and Lord Nelville returned to the boat which was to bring them +ashore; they beheld the city of Naples, built in the form of an +amphitheatre, as if to take part more commodiously in the festival of +nature; and Corinne, in setting her foot again upon Italian ground, +could not refrain from feeling a sentiment of joy. If Nelville had +suspected this sentiment he would have been hurt at it, and perhaps with +reason; yet he would have been unjust towards Corinne, who loved him +passionately in spite of the painful impression caused by the +remembrance of a country where cruel circumstances had rendered her so +unhappy. Her imagination was lively; there was in her heart a great +capacity for love; but talent, especially in a woman, begets a +disposition to weariness, a want of something to divert the attention, +which the most profound passion cannot make entirely disappear. The idea +of a monotonous life, even in the midst of happiness, makes a mind which +stands in need of variety, to shudder with fear. It is only when there +is little wind in the sails, that we can keep close to shore; but the +imagination roves at large, although affection be constant; it is so, at +least, till the moment when misfortune makes every inconsistency +disappear, and leaves but one thought and one grief in the mind.</p> + +<p>Oswald attributed the reverie of Corinne solely to the embarrassment +into which she had been thrown by hearing herself called Lady Nelville; +and reproaching himself for not having released her from that +embarrassment he feared she might suspect him of levity. He began +therefore in order to arrive at the long-desired explanation by offering +to relate to her his own history. "I will speak first," said he, "and +your confidence will follow mine." "Yes, undoubtedly it must," answered +Corinne, trembling; "but tell me at what day—at what hour? When you +have spoken, I will tell you all."—"How agitated you are," answered +Oswald; "what then, will you ever feel that fear of your friend, that +mistrust of his heart?" "No," continued Corinne; "it is decided; I have +committed it all to writing, and if you choose, to-morrow—" +"To-morrow," said Lord Nelville, "we are to go together to Vesuvius; I +wish to contemplate with you this astonishing wonder, to learn from you +how to admire it; and in this very journey, if I have the strength, I +will make you acquainted with the particulars of my past life. My heart +is determined; thus my confidence will open the way to yours." "So you +give me to-morrow," replied Corinne; "I thank you for this one day. Ah! +who knows whether you will be the same for me when I have opened my soul +to you? And how can I feel such a doubt without shuddering?"</p> + +<hr /> +<h3><a name="Chapter_liv" id="Chapter_liv"></a>Chapter iv.</h3> + +<p>The ruins of Pompei are near to Mount Vesuvius, and Corinne and Lord +Neville began their excursion with these ruins. They were both silent; +for the moment approached which was to decide their fate, and that vague +hope they had so long enjoyed, and which accords so well with the +indolence and reverie that the climate of Italy inspires, was to be +replaced by a positive destiny. They visited Pompei together, the most +curious ruin of antiquity. At Rome, seldom any thing is found but the +remains of public monuments, and these monuments only retrace the +political history of past ages; but at Pompei it is the private life of +the ancients which offers itself to the view, such as it was. The +Volcano, which has covered this city with ashes, has preserved it from +the destroying hand of Time. Edifices, exposed to the air, never could +have remained so perfect; but this hidden relic of antiquity was found +entire. The paintings and bronzes were still in their pristine beauty; +and every thing connected with domestic life is fearfully preserved. The +amphoræ are yet prepared for the festival of the following day; the +flour which was to be kneaded is still to be seen; the remains of a +woman, are still decorated with those ornaments which she wore on the +holiday that the Volcano disturbed, and her calcined arms no longer fill +the bracelets of precious stones which still surround them. Nowhere is +to be seen so striking an image of the sudden interruption of life. The +traces of the wheels are visible in the streets, and the stones on the +brink of the wells bear the mark of the cord which has gradually +furrowed them. On the walls of a guardhouse are still to be seen those +misshapen characters, those figures rudely sketched, which the soldiers +traced to pass away the time, while Time was hastily advancing to +swallow them up.</p> + +<p>When we place ourselves in the midst of the crossroads from which the +city that remains standing almost entire is seen on all sides, it seems +to us as if we were waiting for somebody, as if the master were coming; +and even the appearance of life which this abode offers makes us feel +more sadly its eternal silence. It is with petrified lava that the +greater part of these houses are built, which are now swallowed up by +other lava. Thus ruins are heaped upon ruins, and tombs upon tombs. This +history of the world, where the epochs are counted from ruin to ruin, +this picture of human life, which is only lighted up by the Volcanoes +that have consumed it, fill the heart with a profound melancholy. How +long man has existed! How long he has suffered and died! Where can we +find his sentiments and his thoughts? Is the air that we breathe in +these ruins impregnated with them, or are they for ever deposited in +heaven where reigns immortality? Some burnt leaves of manuscripts, which +have been found at Herculaneum, and Pompei, and which scholars at +Portici are employed to decipher, are all that remain to give us +information of those unhappy victims, whom the Volcano, that +thunder-bolt of earth, has destroyed. But in passing near those ashes, +which art has succeeded in reanimating, we are afraid to breathe lest a +breath should carry away that dust where noble ideas are perhaps still +imprinted.</p> + +<p>The public edifices in the city itself of Pompei, which was one of the +least important of Italy, are yet tolerably fine. The luxury of the +ancients had almost ever some object of public interest for its aim. +Their private houses are very small, and we do not see in them any +studied magnificence, though we may remark a lively taste for the fine +arts in their possessors. Almost the whole interior is adorned with the +most agreeable paintings and mosaic pavements ingeniously worked. On +many of these pavements is written the word <i>Salve</i>. This word is placed +on the threshold of the door, and must not be simply considered as a +polite expression, but as an invocation of hospitality. The rooms are +singularly narrow, and badly lighted; the windows do not look on the +street, but on a portico inside the house, as well as a marble court +which it surrounds. In the midst of this court is a cistern, simply +ornamented. It is evident from this kind of habitation that the ancients +lived almost entirely in the open air, and that it was there they +received their friends. Nothing gives us a more sweet and voluptuous +idea of existence than this climate, which intimately unites man with +nature; we should suppose that the character of their conversation and +their society, ought, with such habits, to be different from those of a +country where the rigour of the cold forces the inhabitants to shut +themselves up in their houses. We understand better the Dialogues of +Plato in contemplating those porches under which the ancients walked +during one half of the day. They were incessantly animated by the +spectacle of a beautiful sky: social order, according to their +conceptions, was not the dry combination of calculation and force, but a +happy assemblage of institutions, which stimulated the faculties, +unfolded the soul, and directed man to the perfection of himself and his +equals.</p> + +<p>Antiquity inspires an insatiable curiosity. Those men of erudition who +are occupied only in forming a collection of names which they call +history, are certainly divested of all imagination. But to penetrate the +remotest periods of the past, to interrogate the human heart through the +intervening gloom of ages, to seize a fact by the help of a word, and by +the aid of that fact to discover the character and manners of a nation; +in effect, to go back to the remotest time, to figure to ourselves how +the earth in its first youth appeared to the eyes of man, and in what +manner the human race then supported the gift of existence which +civilization has now rendered so complicated, is a continual effort of +the imagination, which divines and discovers the finest secrets that +reflection and study can reveal to us. This occupation of the mind +Oswald found most fascinating, and often repeated to Corinne that if he +had not been taken up with the noblest interests in his own country, he +could only have found life supportable in those parts where the +monuments of history supply the place of present existence. We must at +least regret glory when it is no longer possible to obtain it. It is +forgetfulness alone that debases the soul; but it may find an asylum in +the past, when barren circumstances deprive actions of their aim.</p> + +<p>On leaving Pompei and returning to Portici, Corinne and Lord Nelville +were surrounded by the inhabitants, who cried to them loudly to come and +see <i>the mountain</i>; so they call <i>Vesuvius</i>. Is it necessary to name it? +It is the glory of the Neapolitans and the object of their patriotic +feelings; their country is distinguished by this phenomenon. Oswald had +Corinne carried in a kind of palanquin as far as the hermitage of St +Salvador, which is half way up the mountain, and where travellers repose +before they undertake to climb the summit. He rode by her side to watch +those who carried her, and the more his heart was filled with the +generous thoughts that nature and history inspire, the more he adored +Corinne.</p> + +<p>At the foot of Vesuvius the country is the most fertile and best +cultivated that can be found in the kingdom of Naples, that is to say, +in the country of Europe most favoured of heaven. The celebrated vine, +whose wine is called <i>Lacryma Christi</i>, grows in this spot, and by the +side of lands which have been laid waste by the lava. One would say that +nature has made a last effort in this spot, so near the Volcano, and has +decked herself in her richest attire before her death. In proportion as +we ascend the mountain, we discover on turning round, Naples, and the +beautiful country that surrounds it. The rays of the sun make the sea +sparkle like precious stones; but all the splendour of the creation is +extinguished by degrees as we approach the land of ashes and smoke which +announces the vicinity of the Volcano. The ferruginous lava of preceding +years has traced in the earth deep and sable furrows, and all around +them is barren. At a certain height not a bird is seen to fly, at +another, plants become very scarce, then even the insects find nothing +to subsist on in the arid soil. At length every living thing disappears; +you enter the empire of death, and the pulverised ashes alone roll +beneath your uncertain feet.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class='stanza'><div>Nè griggi nè armenti</div> +<div>Guida bifolco, mai guida pastore</div></div> +</div> + +<p class='center'><i>Neither flocks nor herds does the husbandman or the shepherd ever guide +to this spot.</i></p> + +<p>Here dwells a hermit on the confines of life and death. A tree, the +last farewell of vegetation, grows before his door: and it is beneath +the shadow of its pale foliage that travellers are accustomed to wait +the approach of night, to continue their route; for during the day, the +fires of Vesuvius are only perceived like a cloud of smoke, and the +lava, so bright and burning in the night, appears black before the beams +of the sun. This metamorphosis itself is a fine spectacle, which renews +every evening that astonishment which the continuity of the same aspect +might weaken. The impression of this spot and its profound solitude, +gave Lord Nelville more resolution to reveal the secrets of his soul; +and desiring to excite the confidence of Corinne, he said to her with +the most lively emotion:—"You wish to read the inmost soul of your +unhappy friend; well, I will tell you all: I feel my wounds are about to +bleed afresh; but ought we, in this desolate scene of nature, to dread +so much those sufferings which Time brings in its course?"</p> + +<p class='center'>PRINTED BY TURNBULL AND SPEARS, EDINBURGH.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + +***** This file should be named 16896-h.htm or 16896-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/8/9/16896/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2) + Or Italy + +Author: Mme de Stael + +Commentator: George Saintsbury + +Illustrator: R. S. Greig + +Release Date: October 17, 2005 [EBook #16896] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: The crowd break their ranks as the horses pass.] + + + + +CORINNE + +OR + +ITALY + +BY + +MME. DE STAEL + + +WITH INTRODUCTION BY + +GEORGE SAINTSBURY + +(_In Two Volumes_) + +VOL. I. + +_Illustrated_ + +_by_ + +H.S. Greig + +LONDON: Published by J.M. DENT and COMPANY at +ALDINE HOUSE in Great Eastern Street, E.C. + +MDCCCXCIV + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +THE CROWD BREAK THEIR RANKS AS THE HORSES PASS _Frontispiece_. + +CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL PAGE 33 + +CORINNE SHOWING OSWALD HER PICTURES " 235 + +[Illustration] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In Lady Blennerhassett's enthusiastic and encyclopaedic book on Madame de +Stael she quotes approvingly Sainte-Beuve's phrase that "with _Corinne_ +Madame de Stael ascended the Capitol." I forget in which of his many +dealings with an author who, as he remarks in the "Coppet-and-Weimar" +_causeries_, was "an idol of his youth and one that he never renounced," +this fancy occurs. It must probably have been in one of his early +essays; for in his later and better, Sainte-Beuve was not wont to give +way to the little flashes and crackles of conceit and epigram which many +Frenchmen and some Englishmen think to be criticism. There was, however, +some excuse for this. In the first place (as one of Charles Lamb's +literal friends would have pointed out), Madame de Stael, like her +heroine, did actually "ascend the Capitol," and received attentions +there from an Academy. In the second, there can be no doubt that +_Corinne_ in a manner fixed and settled the high literary reputation +which she had already attained. Even by her severest critics, and even +now when whatever slight recrudescence of biographical interest may have +taken place in her, her works are little read, _Corinne_ is ranked next +to _De l'Allemagne_ as her greatest production; while as a work of form, +not of matter, as literature of power, not of knowledge, it has at last +a chance of enduring when its companion is but a historical +document--the record of a moment that has long passed away. + +The advocates of the _milieu_ theory--the theory which will have it that +you can explain almost the whole of any work of art by examining the +circumstances, history, and so forth of the artist--have a better chance +with _Corinne_ than with many books, though those who disagree with them +(as I own that I do) may retort that this was precisely because Madame +de Stael in literature has little idiosyncracy, and is a receptive, not +a creative, force. The moment at which this book was composed and +appeared had really many of the characteristics of crisis and climax in +the life of the author. She was bidding adieu to youth; and though her +talents, her wealth, her great reputation, and her indomitable +determination to surround herself with admirers still made her a sort of +queen of society, some illusions at least must have been passing from +her. The most serious of her many passions, that for Benjamin Constant, +was coming, though it had not yet come, to an end. Her father, whom she +unfeignedly idolised, was not long dead. The conviction must have been +for some time forcing itself on her, though she did not even yet give up +hope, that Napoleon's resolve not to allow her presence in her still +more idolised Paris was unconquerable. Her husband, who indeed had long +been nothing to her, was dead also, and the fancy for replacing him with +the boy Rocca had not yet arisen. The influence of the actual chief of +her usual herd of lovers, courtiers, teachers, friends (to use whichever +term, or combination of terms, the charitable reader pleases), A.W. +Schlegel, though it never could incline her innately unpoetical and +unreligious mind to either poetry or religion, drove her towards +aesthetics of one kind and another. Lastly, the immense intellectual +excitement of her visits to Weimar, Berlin, and Italy, added its +stimulus to produce a fresh intellectual ferment in her. On the purely +intellectual side the result was _De l'Allemagne_, which does not +concern us; on the side of feeling, tinged with aesthetic philosophy, of +study of the archaic and the picturesque illuminated by emotion--the +result was _Corinne_. + +If there had been only one difference between this and its author's +earlier attempt at novel-writing, that difference would have given +_Corinne_ a great advantage. _Delphine_ had been irreverently described +by Sydney Smith, when it appeared a few years earlier, as "this dismal +trash which has nearly dislocated the jaws of every critic with gaping." +The Whigs had not then taken up Madame de Stael, as they did afterwards, +or it is quite certain that Mr Sydney would not have been allowed to +exercise such Britannic frankness. _Corinne_ met with gentler treatment +from his friends, if not from himself. Sir James Mackintosh, in +particular, was full of the wildest enthusiasm about it, though he +admitted that it was "full of faults so obvious as not to be worth +mentioning." It must be granted to be in more than one, or two important +points a very great advance on _Delphine_. One is that the easy and +illegitimate source of interest which is drawn upon in the earlier book +is here quite neglected. _Delphine_ presents the eternal French +situation of the "triangle;" the line of _Corinne_ is straight, and the +only question is which pair of three points it is to unite in an +honourable way. A French biographer of Madame de Stael, who is not only +an excellent critic and an extremely clever writer, but a historian of +great weight and acuteness, M. Albert Sorel, has indeed admitted that +both Leonce, the hero of _Delphine_, who will not make himself and his +beloved happy because he has an objection to divorcing his wife, and +Lord Nelvil, who refuses either to seduce or to marry the woman who +loves him and whom he loves, are equal donkeys with a national +difference. Leonce is more of a "fool;" Lord Nelvil more of a "snob." It +is something to find a Frenchman who will admit that any national +characteristic is foolish: I could have better reciprocated M. Sorel's +candour if he had used the word "prig" instead of "snob" of Lord Nelvil. +But indeed I have often suspected that Frenchmen confuse these two +engaging attributes of the Britannic nature. + +A "higher moral tone" (as the phrase goes) is not the only advantage +which _Corinne_ possesses over its forerunner. _Delphine_ is almost +avowedly autobiographical; and though Madame de Stael had the wit and +the prudence to mix and perplex her portraits and her reminiscences so +that it was nearly impossible to fit definite caps on the personages, +there could be no doubt that Delphine was herself--as she at least would +have liked to be--drawn as close as she dared. These personalities have +in the hands of the really great masters of fiction sometimes produced +astonishing results; but no one probably would contend that Madame de +Stael was a born novelist. Although _Delphine_ has many more personages +and much more action of the purely novel kind than _Corinne_, it is +certainly not an interesting book; I think, though I have been +reproached for, to say the least, lacking fervour as a Staelite, that +_Corinne_ is. + +But it is by no means unimportant that intending readers should know the +sort of interest that they are to expect from this novel; and for that +purpose it is almost imperative that they should know what kind of +person was this novelist. A good deal of biographical pains has been +spent, as has been already more than once hinted, on Madame de Stael. +She was most undoubtedly of European reputation in her day; and between +her day and this, quite independently of the real and unquestionable +value of her work, a high estimate of her has been kept current by the +fact that her daughter was the wife of Duke Victor and the mother of +Duke Albert of Broglie, and that so a proper respect for her has been a +necessary passport to favour in one of the greatest political and +academic houses of France; while another not much less potent in both +ways, that of the Counts d'Haussonville, also represents her. Still +people, and especially English people, have so many non-literary things +to think of, that it may not be quite unpardonable to supply that +conception of the life of Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Baroness of +Stael-Holstein, which is so necessary to the understanding of _Corinne_, +and which may, in possible cases, be wanting. + +She was born on the 22nd of April 1766, and was, as probably everybody +knows, the daughter of the Swiss financier, Necker, whom the French +Revolution first exalted to almost supreme power in France, and then +cast off--fortunately for him, in a less tragical fashion than that in +which it usually cast off its favourites. Her mother was Suzanne +Curchod, the first love of Gibbon, a woman of a delicate beauty, of very +considerable mental and social faculties, a kind of puritanical +coquette, but devoted to her (by all accounts not particularly +interesting) husband. Indeed, mother and daughter are said to have been +from a very early period jealous of each other in relation to Necker. +Germaine, as she was generally called, had, unluckily for her, inherited +nothing of her mother's delicacy of form and feature; indeed, her most +rapturous admirers never dared to claim much physical beauty for her, +except a pair of fine, though unfeminine, eyes. She was rather short +than tall; her figure was square-set and heavy; her features, though not +exactly ill-formed, matched her figure; her arms were massive, though +not ill-shaped; and she was altogether distinctly what the French call +_hommasse_. Nevertheless, her great wealth, and the high position of her +father, attracted suitors, some of whom at least may not have overlooked +the intellectual ability which she began very early to display. There +was talk of her marrying William Pitt, but either Pitt's well-known +"dislike of the fair," or some other reason, foiled the project. After +one or two other negotiations she made a match which was not destined to +good fortune, and which does not strike most observers as a very +tempting one in any respect, though it carried with it some exceptional +and rather eccentric guarantees for that position at court and in +society on which Germaine was set. The King of Sweden, Gustavus, whose +family oddity had taken, among less excusable forms, that of a platonic +devotion to Marie Antoinette, gave a sort of perpetual brevet of his +ministry at Paris to the Baron de Stael-Holstein, a nobleman of little +fortune and fair family. This served, using clerical language, as his +"title" to marriage with Germaine Necker. Such a marriage could not be +expected to, and did not, turn out very well; but it did not turn out as +ill as it might have done. Except that M. de Stael was rather +extravagant (which he probably supposed he had bought the right to be) +nothing serious is alleged against him; and though more than one thing +serious might be alleged against his wife, it is doubtful whether either +contracting party thought this out of the bargain. For business reasons, +chiefly, a separation was effected between the pair in 1798, but they +were nominally reconciled four years later, just before Stael's death. + +Meanwhile the Revolution broke out, and Madame de Stael, who, as she was +bound to do, had at first approved it, disapproved totally of the +Terror, tried to save the Queen, and fled herself from France to +England. Here she lived in Surrey with a questionable set of _emigres_, +made the acquaintance of Miss Burney, and in consequence of the +unconventionalities of her relations, especially with M. de Narbonne, +received, from English society generally, a cold shoulder, which she has +partly avenged, or tried to avenge, in _Corinne_ itself. She had already +written, or was soon to write, a good deal, but nothing of the first +importance. Then she went to Coppet, her father's place, on the Lake of +Geneva, which she was later to render so famous; and under the Directory +was enabled to resume residence in Paris, though she was more than once +under suspicion. It was at this time that she met Benjamin Constant, the +future brilliant orator, and author of _Adolphe_, the only man perhaps +whom she ever really loved, but, unluckily, a man whom it was by no +means good to love. For some years she oscillated contentedly enough +between Coppet and Paris. But the return of Bonaparte from Egypt was +unlucky for her. Her boundless ambition, which, with her love of +society, was her strongest passion, made her conceive the idea of +fascinating him, and through him ruling the world. Napoleon, to use +familiar English, "did not see it." When he liked women he liked them +pretty and feminine; he had not the faintest idea of admitting any kind +of partner in his glory; he had no literary taste; and not only did +Madame de Stael herself meddle with politics, but her friend, Constant, +under the Consulate, chose to give himself airs of opposition in the +English sense. Moreover, she still wrote, and Bonaparte disliked and +dreaded everyone who wrote with any freedom. Her book, _De la +Litterature_, in 1800, was taken as a covert attack on the Napoleonic +_regime_; her father shortly after republished another on finance and +politics, which was disliked; and the success of _Delphine_, in 1803, +put the finishing touch to the petty hatred of any kind of rival +superiority which distinguished the Corsican more than any other man of +equal genius. Madame de Stael was ordered not to approach within forty +leagues of Paris, and this exile, with little softening and some +excesses of rigour, lasted till the return of the Bourbons. + +Then it was that the German and Italian journeys already mentioned (the +death of M. Necker happening between them and recalling his daughter +from the first) led to the writing of _Corinne_. + +A very few words before we turn to the consideration of the book, as a +book and by itself, may appropriately finish all that need be said here +about the author's life. After the publication of _Corinne_ she returned +to Germany, and completed the observation which she thought necessary +for the companion book _De l'Allemagne_. Its publication in 1810, when +she had foolishly kindled afresh the Emperor's jealousy by appearing +with her usual "tail" of worshippers or parasites as near Paris as she +was permitted, completed her disgrace. She was ordered back to Coppet: +her book was seized and destroyed. Then Albert de Rocca, a youth of +twenty-three, who had seen some service, made his appearance at Geneva. +Early in 1811, Madame de Stael, now aged forty-five, married him +secretly. She was, or thought herself, more and more persecuted by +Napoleon; she feared that Rocca might be ordered off on active duty, and +she fled first to Vienna, then to St Petersburg, then to Stockholm, and +so to England. Here she was received with ostentatious welcome and +praises by the Whigs; with politeness by everybody; with more or less +concealed terror by the best people, who found her rhapsodies and her +political dissertations equally boring. Here too she was unlucky enough +to express the opinion that Miss Austen's books were vulgar. The fall +of Napoleon brought her back to Paris; and after the vicissitudes of +1814-15, enabled her to establish herself there for the short remainder +of her life, with the interruption only of visits to Coppet and to +Italy. She died on the 13th July 1817: her two last works, _Dix Annees +d'Exil_ and the posthumous _Considerations sur La Revolution Francaise_, +being admittedly of considerable interest, and not despicable even by +those who do not think highly of her political talents. + +And now to _Corinne_, unhampered and perhaps a little helped by this +survey of its author's character, career, and compositions. The +heterogeneous nature of its plan can escape no reader long; and indeed +is pretty frankly confessed by its title. It is a love story doubled +with a guide-book: an eighteenth-century romance of "sensibility" +blended with a transition or even nineteenth-century diatribe of +aesthetics and "culture." If only the first of these two labels were +applicable to it, its case would perhaps be something more gracious than +it is; for there are more unfavourable situations for cultivating the +affections, than in connection with the contemplation of the great works +of art and nature, and it is possible to imagine many more disagreeable +_ciceroni_ than a lover of whichever sex. But Corinne and Nelvil (whom +our contemporary translator[1] has endeavoured to acclimatise a little +more by Anglicising his name further to Nelville), do not content +themselves with making love in the congenial neighbourhoods of Tiber or +Poestum, or in the stimulating presence of the masterpieces of modern +and ancient art. A purpose, and a double purpose, it might almost be +said, animates the book. It aims at displaying "sensibility so +charming"--the strange artificial eighteenth-century conception of love +which is neither exactly flirtation nor exactly passion, which sets +convention at defiance, but retains its own code of morality; at +exhibiting the national differences, as Madame de Stael conceived them, +of the English and French and Italian temperaments; and at preaching the +new cult of aesthetics whereof Lessing and Winckelmann, Goethe, and +Schlegel, were in different ways and degrees the apostles. And it seems +to have been generally admitted, even by the most fervent admirers of +Madame de Stael and of _Corinne_ itself, that the first purpose has not +had quite fair play with the other two. "A little thin," they confess of +the story. In truth it could hardly be thinner, though the author has +laid under contribution an at least ample share of the improbabilities +and coincidences of romance. + +Nelvil, an English-Scottish peer who has lost his father, who accuses +himself of disobedience and ingratitude to that father, and who has been +grievously jilted by a Frenchwoman, arrives in Italy in a large black +cloak, the deepest melancholy, and the company of a sprightly though +penniless French _emigre_, the Count d'Erfeuil. After performing +prodigies of valour in a fire at Ancona, he reaches Rome just when a +beautiful and mysterious poetess, the delight of Roman society, is being +crowned on the Capitol. The only name she is known by is Corinne. The +pair are soon introduced by the mercurial Erfeuil, and promptly fall in +love with each other, Corinne seeking partly to fix her hold on Nelvil, +partly to remove his Britannic contempt for Italy and the Italians, by +guiding him to all the great spectacles of Rome and indeed of the +country generally, and by explaining to him at great length what she +understands of the general theory of aesthetics, of Italian history, and +of the contrasted character of the chief European nations. Nelvil on his +side is distracted between the influence of the beauty, genius, and +evident passion of Corinne, and his English prejudices; while the +situation is further complicated by the regulation discovery that +Corinne, though born in Italy of an Italian mother, is, strictly +speaking, his own compatriot, being the elder and lawful daughter of a +British peer, Lord Edgermond, his father's closest friend. Nay more, he +had always been destined to wed this very girl; and it was only after +her father's second marriage with an Englishwoman that the younger and +wholly English daughter, Lucile, was substituted in the paternal schemes +as his destined spouse. He hears, on the other hand, how Corinne had +visited her fatherland and her step-mother, how she had found both +intolerable, and how she had in a modified and decent degree "thrown her +cap over the mill" by returning to Italy to live an independent life as +a poetess, an improvisatrice, and, at least in private, an actress. + +It is not necessary to supply fuller argument of the text which follows, +and of which, when the reader has got this length, he is not likely to +let the _denoument_ escape him. But the action of _Corinne_ gets rather +slowly under weigh; and I have known those who complained that they +found the book hard to read because they were so long in coming to any +clear notion of "what it was all about." Therefore so much argument as +has been given seems allowable. + +But we ought by this time to have laid sufficient foundation to make it +not rash to erect a small superstructure of critical comment on the book +now once more submitted to English readers. Of that book I own that I +was myself a good many years ago, and for a good many years, a harsh and +even a rather unfair judge. I do not know whether years have brought me +the philosophic mind, or whether the book--itself, as has been said, the +offspring of middle-aged emotions--appeals more directly to a +middle-aged than to a young judgment. To the young of its own time and +the times immediately succeeding it appealed readily enough, and +scarcely Byron himself (who was not a little influenced by it) had more +to do with the Italomania of Europe in the second quarter of this +century than Madame de Stael. + +The faults of the novel indeed are those which impress themselves (as +Mackintosh, we have seen, allowed) immediately and perhaps excessively. +M. Sorel observes of its companion sententiously but truly, "Si le style +de _Delphine_ semble vieilli, c'est qu'il a ete jeune." If not merely +the style but the sentiment, the whole properties and the whole stage +management of _Corinne_ seem out of date now, it is only because they +were up to date then. It is easy to laugh--not perhaps very easy to +abstain from laughing--at the "schall" twisted in Corinne's hair, where +even contemporaries mocked the hideous turban with which Madame de Stael +chose to bedizen her not too beautiful head; at Nelvil's inky cloak; at +the putting out of the fire; at the queer stilted half-Ossianic, +half-German rants put in the poetess's mouth; at the endless mingling of +gallantry and pedantry; at the hesitations of Nelvil; at the agonies of +Corinne. When French critics tell us that as they allow the +good-humoured satire on the Count d'Erfeuil to be just, we ought to do +the same in reference to the "cant Britannique" of Nelvil and of the +Edgermond circle, we can only respectfully answer that we should not +presume to dispute their judgment in the first case, but that they +really must leave us to ours in the second. As a matter of fact, Madame +de Stael's goody English characters, are rather like Miss Edgeworth's +naughty French ones in _Leonora_ and elsewhere--clever generalisations +from a little observation and a great deal of preconceived idea, not +studies from the life. + +But this (and a great deal more that might be said if it were not +something like petty treason in an introduction-writer thus to play the +devil's advocate against his author) matters comparatively little, and +leaves enough in _Corinne_ to furnish forth a book almost great, +interesting without any "almost," and remarkable as a not very large +shelf-ful in the infinite library of modern fiction deserves remark. For +the passion of its two chief characters, however oddly, and to us +unfashionably, presented, however lacking in the commanding and +perennial qualities which make us indifferent to fashion in the work of +the greatest masters, is _real_. And it is perhaps only after a pretty +long study of literature that one perceives how very little real passion +books, even pretty good books, contain, how much of what at times seems +to us passionate in them owes its appeal to accident, mode, and the +personal equation. Of the highest achievement of art--that which avails +itself of, but subdues, personal thought and feeling in the elaboration +of a perfectly live character--Madame de Stael was indeed incapable. But +in the second order--that which, availing itself of, but not subduing, +the personal element, keeps enough of its veracity and lively force to +enliven a composite structure of character--she has here produced very +noteworthy studies. Corinne is a very fair embodiment of the beauty +which her author would so fain have had; of the youthful ardour which +she had once actually possessed; of the ideas and cults to which she was +sincerely enough devoted; of the instruction and talent which +unquestionably distinguished her. And it is not, I think, fanciful to +discover in this heroine, with all her "Empire" artifice and convention, +all her smack of the theatre and the _salon_, a certain live quiver and +throb, which, as has been already hinted, may be traced to the combined +working in Madame de Stael's mind and heart of the excitements of +foreign travel, the zest of new studies, new scenes, new company, with +the chill regret for lost or passing youth and love, and the chillier +anticipation of coming old age and death. It is a commonplace of +psychology that in shocks and contrasts of this kind the liveliest +workings of the imagination and the emotions are to be expected. If we +once establish the contact and complete the circle, and feel something +of the actual thrill that animated the author, we shall, I think, feel +disposed to forgive Corinne many things--from the dress and attitude +which recall that admirable frontispiece of Pickersgill's to Miss +Austen's _Emma_, where Harriet Smith poses in rapt attitude with +"schall" or scarf complete, to that more terrible portrait of Madame de +Stael herself which editors with remorseless ferocity will persist in +prefixing to her works, and especially to _Corinne_. We shall consent to +sweep away all the _fatras_ and paraphernalia of the work, and to see in +the heroine a real woman enough--loving, not unworthy of being loved, +unfortunate, and very undeserving of her ill fortune. We shall further +see that besides other excuses for the mere guide-book detail, the +enthusiasm for Italy which partly prompted it was genuine enough and +very interesting as a sign of the times--of the approach of a period of +what we may call popularised learning, culture, sentiment. In some +respects _Corinne_ is not merely a guide-book to Italy; it is a +guide-book by prophecy to the nineteenth century. + +The minor characters are a very great deal less interesting than Corinne +herself, but they are not despicable, and they set off the heroine and +carry out what story there is well enough. Nelvil of course is a thing +shreddy and patchy enough. He reminds us by turns of Chateaubriand's +Rene and Rousseau's Bomston, both of whom Madame de Stael of course +knew; of Mackenzie's Man of Feeling, with whom she was very probably +acquainted; but most of no special, even bookish, progenitor, but of a +combination of theoretic deductions from supposed properties of man in +general and Englishman in particular. Of Englishmen in particular Madame +de Stael knew little more than a residence (chiefly in _emigre_ society) +for a short time in England, and occasional meetings elsewhere, could +teach her. Of men in general her experience had been a little +unfortunate. Her father had probity, financial skill, and, I suppose, a +certain amount of talent in other directions; but while he must have had +some domestic virtues he was a wooden pedant. Her husband hardly counted +for more in her life than her _maitre d'hotel_, and though there seems +to have been no particular harm in him, had no special talents and no +special virtues. Her first regular lover, Narbonne, was a handsome, +dignified, heartless _roue_ of the old _regime_. Her second, Benjamin +Constant, was a man of genius, and capable of passionate if inconstant +attachment, but also what his own generation in England called a +thorough "raff"--selfish, treacherous, fickle, incapable of considering +either the happiness or the reputation of women, theatrical in his ways +and language, venal, insolent, ungrateful. Schlegel, though he too had +some touch of genius in him, was half pedant, half coxcomb, and full of +intellectual and moral faultiness. The rest of her mighty herd of male +friends and hangers-on ranged from Mathieu de Montmorency--of whom, in +the words of Medora Trevilian it may be said, that he was "only an +excellent person"--through respectable savants like Sismondi and Dumont, +down to a very low level of toady and tuft-hunter. It is rather +surprising that with such models and with no supreme creative faculty +she should have been able to draw such creditable walking gentlemen as +the Frenchman Erfeuil, the Englishman Edgermond, and the Italian +Castel-Forte; and should not have produced a worse hero than Nelvil. For +Nelvil, whatever faults he may have, and contemptible as his vacillating +refusal to take the goods the gods provide him may be, is, after all, if +not quite a live man, an excellent model of what a considerable number +of the men of his time aimed at being, and would have liked to be. He is +not a bit less life-like than Byron's usual hero for instance, who +probably owes not a little to him. + +And so we get to a fresh virtue of _Corinne_, or rather we reach its +main virtue by a different side. It has an immense historical value as +showing the temper, the aspirations, the ideas, and in a way the manners +of a certain time and society. A book which does this can never wholly +lose its interest; it must always retain that interest in a great +measure, for those who are able to appreciate it. And it must interest +them far more keenly, when, besides this secondary and, so to speak, +historical merit, it exhibits such veracity in the portraiture of +emotion, as, whatever be its drawbacks, whatever its little temptations +to ridicule, distinguishes the hapless, and, when all is said, the noble +and pathetic figure of Corinne. + + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] I am creditor neither to praise nor to blame for this translation, +which is the old English version brought out in the same year as the +original, but corrected by another hand for the present edition in the +pretty numerous points where it was lax or unintelligent in actual +rendering. In the places which I have compared, it seems to me to +present that original very fairly now; and I am by no means sure that an +excessively artificial style like that of the French Empire is not best +left to contemporaries to reproduce. At any rate, a really good new +translation of _Corinne_ would be a task unlikely to be achieved except +by rather exceptional talents working in labour of love: and I cannot +blame the publishers of this issue for not waiting till such a +translator appeared. + + + + +Book i. + +OSWALD. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CORINNE. + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald, Lord Nelville, Peer of Scotland, quitted Edinburgh for Italy +during the winter of 1794-5. He possessed a noble and handsome figure, +an abundance of wit, an illustrious name, and an independent fortune, +but his health was impaired by deeply-rooted sorrow, and his physicians, +fearing that his lungs were attacked, had prescribed him the air of the +South. Though indifferent as to the preservation of his life, he +followed their advice. He expected, at least, to find in the diversity +of objects he was about to see, something that might divert his mind +from the melancholy that preyed upon it. The most exquisite of +griefs--the loss of a father--was the cause of his malady; this was +heightened by cruel circumstances, which, together with a remorse +inspired by delicate scruples, increased his anguish, which was still +further aggravated by the phantoms of the imagination. Those who suffer, +easily persuade themselves that they are guilty, and violent grief will +extend its painful influence even to the conscience. + +At twenty-five years of age he was dissatisfied with life, his mind +anticipated every thing that it could afford, and his wounded +sensibility no longer enjoyed the illusions of the heart. Nobody +appeared more complacent, more devoted to his friends when he was able +to render them service; but not even the good he performed could afford +him a pleasurable sensation. + +He incessantly sacrificed his own taste to that of others; but it was +impossible to explain, upon principles of generosity alone, this total +abnegation of every selfish feeling, most frequently to be attributed to +that species of sadness which no longer permitted him to take any +interest in his own fate. Those indifferent to him enjoyed this +disposition so full of benignity and charm; but those who loved him +perceived that he sought the happiness of others like a man who no +longer expected any himself; and they almost experienced a pain from his +conferring a felicity for which it was impossible to make him a return +in kind. + +He was, notwithstanding, of a nature susceptible of emotion, sensibility +and passion; he combined every thing that could evoke enthusiasm in +others and in himself; but misfortune and repentance had taught him to +tremble at that destiny whose anger he sought to disarm by forbearing to +solicit any favour at her hands. + +He expected to find in a strict attachment to all his duties, and in a +renunciation of every lively enjoyment, a security against those pangs +that tear the soul. What he had experienced struck fear into his heart; +and nothing this world can afford, could, in his estimation, compensate +the risk of those sufferings; but when one is capable of feeling them, +what mode of life can shelter us from their power? + +Lord Nelville flattered himself that he should be able to quit Scotland +without regret, since he resided in it without pleasure; but the +unhappy imagination of the children of sensibility is not so formed: he +did not suspect what ties attached him to those scenes which were most +painful to him,--to the home of his father. There were in this +habitation, chambers, places, which he could not approach without +shuddering, and, nevertheless, when he resolved to quit them, he felt +himself still more solitary. His heart became dried up; he was no longer +able to give vent to his sufferings in tears; he could no longer call up +those little local circumstances which affected him deeply; his +recollections no longer possessed anything of the vivid semblance of +real existence; they were no longer in affinity with the objects that +surrounded him; he did not think less on him whose loss he lamented, but +he found it more difficult to recall his presence. + +Sometimes also he reproached himself for abandoning those abodes where +his father had dwelt. "Who knows," said he to himself, "whether the +shades of the departed are allowed to pursue every where the objects of +their affection? Perhaps it is only permitted them to wander about the +spot where their ashes repose! Perhaps at this moment my father regrets +me, while distance prevents my hearing his voice exerted to recall his +son. Alas! while he was living must not a concourse of strange events +have persuaded him that I had betrayed his tenderness, that I was a +rebel to my country, to his paternal will, to everything that is sacred +on earth?"--These recollections excited in Lord Nelville a grief so +insupportable that not only was he unable to confide it to others, but +even dreaded himself to sound it to the bottom. So easily do our own +reflections become to us an irreparable evil. + +It costs us more to quit our native country when to leave it we must +traverse the sea; all is solemn in a journey of which ocean marks the +first steps. An abyss seems to open behind you, and to render your +return for ever impossible. Besides, the sublime spectacle which the sea +presents must always make a deep impression on the imagination; it is +the image of that Infinity which continually attracts our thoughts, that +run incessantly to lose themselves in it. Oswald, supporting himself on +the helm, his eyes fixed on the waves, was apparently calm, for his +pride, united to his timidity, would scarcely ever permit him to +discover, even to his friends, what he felt; but he was internally +racked with the most painful emotions. + +He brought to mind the time when the sight of the sea animated his youth +with the desire of plunging into her waves, and measuring his force +against her's.--"Why," said he to himself, with the most bitter regret, +"why do I yield so unremittingly to reflection? How many pleasures are +there in active life, in those exercises which make us feel the energy +of existence? Death itself then appears but an event, perhaps glorious, +at least sudden, and not preceded by decline. But that death which comes +without having been sought by courage, that death of darkness which +steals from you in the night all that you hold most dear, which despises +your lamentations, repulses your embrace, and pitilessly, opposes to you +the eternal laws of nature and of time! such a death inspires a sort of +contempt for human destiny, for the impotence of grief, for all those +vain efforts that dash and break themselves upon the rock of necessity." + +Such were the sentiments that tormented Oswald; and what particularly +characterised his unhappy situation, was the vivacity of youth united to +thoughts of another age. He entered into those ideas which he conceived +must have occupied his father's mind in the last moments of his life; +and he carried the ardour of twenty-five into the melancholy +reflections of old age. He was weary of every thing, and yet still +regretted happiness, as if her illusions were still within his grasp. +This contrast, quite in hostility with the ordinance of nature, which +gives uniformity and graduation to the natural course of things, threw +the soul of Oswald into disorder; but his manners always possessed +considerable sweetness and harmony, and his sadness, far from souring +his temper, only inspired him with more condescension and goodness +towards others. + +Two or three times during the passage from Harwich to Empden the sea put +on the appearance of approaching storm; Lord Nelville counselled the +sailors, restored confidence to the passengers, and when he himself +assisted in working the ship, when he took for a moment the place of the +steersman, there was in all he did, a skill and a power which could not +be considered as merely the effect of the agility of the body,--there +was soul in all that he did. + +On his quitting the vessel all the crew crowded around Oswald to take +leave of him; they all thanked him for a thousand little services which +he had rendered them during the voyage, and which he no longer +remembered. Upon one occasion, perhaps, it was a child which had +occupied a large share of his attention; more often an old man, whose +tottering steps he had supported when the wind agitated the ship. Such a +general attention, without any regard to rank or quality, was perhaps +never met with. During the whole day he would scarcely bestow a single +moment upon himself: influenced alike by melancholy and benevolence, he +gave his whole time to others. On leaving him the sailors said to him +with one voice, "My dear Lord, may you be more happy!" Oswald had not +once expressed the internal pain he felt; and the men of another rank, +who had accompanied him in his passage, had not spoken a word to him on +that subject. But the common people, in whom their superiors rarely +confide, accustom themselves to discover sentiments and feelings by +other means than speech: they pity you when you suffer, though they are +ignorant of the cause of your grief, and their spontaneous pity is +unmixed with either blame or advice. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Travelling, whatever may be said of it, is one of the saddest pleasures +of life. When you find yourself comfortable in some foreign city it +begins to feel, in some degree, like your own country; but to traverse +unknown realms, to hear a language spoken which you hardly comprehend, +to see human countenances which have no connection either with your past +recollections or future prospects, is solitude and isolation, without +dignity and without repose; for that eagerness, that haste to arrive +where nobody expects us, that agitation, of which curiosity is the only +cause, inspires us with very little esteem for ourselves, till the +moment when new objects become a little old, and create around us some +soft ties of sentiment and habit. + +The grief of Oswald was, then, redoubled in traversing Germany in order +to repair to Italy. On account of the war it was necessary to avoid +France and its environs; it was also necessary to keep aloof from the +armies who rendered the roads impracticable. This necessity of occupying +his mind with particulars material to the journey, of adopting, every +day, and almost every instant, some new resolution, was quite +insupportable to Lord Nelville. His health, far from becoming better, +often obliged him to stop, when he felt the strongest desire to hasten +to his journey's end or at least to make a start. He spat blood, and +took scarcely any care of himself; for he believed himself guilty, and +became his own accuser with too great a degree of severity. He no longer +wished for life but as it might become instrumental to the defence of +his country. "Has not our country," said he, "some paternal claims upon +us? But we should have the power to serve it usefully: we must not offer +it such a debilitated existence as I drag along to ask of the sun some +principle of life to enable me to struggle against my miseries. None but +a father would receive me to his bosom, under such circumstances, with +affection increased in proportion as I was abandoned by nature and by +destiny." + +Lord Nelville had flattered himself that the continual variety of +external objects would distract his imagination a little from those +ideas by which it was habitually occupied; but that circumstance was far +from producing, at first, this happy effect. After any great misfortune +we must become familiarised anew with everything that surrounds us; +accustom ourselves to the faces that we behold again, to the house in +which we dwell, to the daily habits that we resume; each of these +efforts is a painful shock, and nothing multiplies them like a journey. + +The only pleasure of Lord Nelville was to traverse the Tirolese +Mountains upon a Scotch horse which he had brought with him, and which +like the horses of that country ascended heights at a gallop: he quitted +the high road in order to proceed by the most steep paths. The +astonished peasants cried out at first with terror at beholding him thus +upon the very brink of precipices, then clapped their hands in +admiration of his address, his agility, and his courage. Oswald was fond +of this sensation of danger; it supports the weight of affliction, it +reconciles us, for a moment, with that life which we have reconquered, +and which it so easy to lose. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +In the town of Inspruck, before entering Italy, Oswald heard a merchant +at whose house he had stopped some time, relate the story of a French +emigre called the Count d'Erfeuil, which greatly interested him in his +favour. This man had suffered the entire loss of a very large fortune +with the most perfect serenity; he had, by his talent for music, +supported himself and an old uncle, whom he had taken care of until his +death; he had constantly refused to accept offers of pecuniary +assistance pressingly made to him; he had manifested the most brilliant +valour--a French valour--during the war, and the most invincible gaiety +in the midst of reverses. He was desirous of going to Rome to see a +relation, whose heir he was to be, and wished for a companion, or rather +a friend, in order to render the journey more agreeable to both. + +The most bitter recollections of Lord Nelville were connected with +France; nevertheless he was exempt from those prejudices which divide +the two nations; for a Frenchman had been his intimate friend, and he +had found in this friend the most admirable union of all the qualities +of the soul. He, therefore, offered to the merchant who related to him +the story of the Count d'Erfeuil, to take this noble and unfortunate +young man to Italy; and at the end of an hour the merchant came to +inform Lord Nelville that his proposition was accepted with gratitude. +Oswald was happy in being able to perform this service, but it cost him +much to renounce his solitude; and his timidity was wounded at finding +himself, all of a sudden, in an habitual relation with a man whom he did +not know. + +The Count d'Erfeuil came to pay a visit to Lord Nelville, in order to +thank him. He possessed elegant manners, an easy politeness, good taste, +and appeared, from the very first introduction, perfectly at his ease. +In his company one would feel astonished at all that he had suffered, +for he supported his fate with a courage approaching to oblivion; and +there was in his conversation a facility truly admirable when he spoke +of his own reverses; but less admirable, it must be confessed, when it +extended to other subjects. + +"I owe you infinite obligation, my lord," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "for +rescuing me from this Germany, where I was perishing with _ennui_." "You +are here, nevertheless," replied Lord Nelville, "generally beloved and +esteemed." "I have friends here," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "whom I +sincerely regret; for we meet in this country the best people in the +world; but I do not know a word of German, and you will agree with me +that it would be too long and fatiguing a task for me to set about +learning it now. Since I have had the misfortune to lose my uncle I do +not know what to do with my time, when I had the care of him it filled +up my day, at present the twenty-four hours weigh heavily upon my +hands." "The delicacy of your conduct towards your uncle," said Lord +Nelville, "inspires everybody with the most profound esteem for your +character, Count." "I have only done my duty," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "the poor man had overwhelmed me with kindnesses during my +childhood; I should never have deserted him had he lived a hundred +years! But it is happy for him, however, that he is dead; it would be a +happy thing for me also were I to follow him," added he, laughing; "for +I have not much hope in this world. I used my best endeavours, during +the war, to get killed; but, since fate has spared me, I must only live +as well as I can." "I shall congratulate myself on my arrival here," +answered Lord Nelville, "if you find yourself comfortable at Rome, and +if--" "Oh, _mon Dieu_," interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "I shall find +myself comfortable every where: when we are young and gay every thing +accommodates itself to us. It is not from books, nor from meditation, +that I have derived the philosophy which I possess, but from knowledge +of the world, and trials of misfortune; and you see, my lord, that I +have reason to reckon upon chance, since it has procured me the honour +of travelling with you." In finishing these words the Count d'Erfeuil +saluted Lord Nelville with the best grace in the world, settled the hour +of departure for the following day, and took his leave. + +The Count d'Erfeuil and Lord Nelville set out on the morrow. Oswald, +after some expressions of politeness had passed between them, was +several hours without saying a word; but perceiving that this silence +was disagreeable to his companion, he asked him if he anticipated +pleasure from a residence in Italy: "_Mon Dieu_," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "I know what I have to expect from that country. I have no +hope of any amusement there: a friend of mine, who had passed six months +at Rome, has assured me there is not a province of France where one may +not find a better theatre and a more agreeable society than at Rome, but +in that ancient capital of the world I shall surely find some Frenchmen +to chat with, and that is all I desire." "You have not attempted to +learn Italian?" interrupted Oswald. "Not at all," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil; "that did not enter into my plan of study." And in saying +this he assumed such a serious air that one would have believed it was a +resolution founded upon grave motives. + +"If I may speak my mind to you," continued the Count d'Erfeuil, "as a +nation, I love only the English and the French, one must either be proud +like them or brilliant like us; all the rest is only imitation." Oswald +was silent; the Count d'Erfeuil some moments after resumed the +conversation by the most lively sallies of wit and gaiety. He played +with words and phrases in a very ingenious manner, but neither external +objects nor intimate sentiments were the object of his discourse. His +conversation proceeded, if it may be so expressed, neither from without +nor within; it was neither reflective nor imaginative, and the bare +relations of society were its subject. + +He repeated twenty proper names to Lord Nelville, either in France, or +in England, to know if he was acquainted with them, and related upon +this occasion highly seasoned anecdotes with a most graceful turn; but +one would have said, in hearing him, that the only discourse suitable to +a man of taste was, to use the expression, the gossip of good company. + +Lord Nelville reflected some time on the character of Count d'Erfeuil; +that singular mixture of courage and frivolity, that contempt of +misfortune, so great if it had cost more efforts, so heroic if it did +not proceed from the same source that renders us incapable of deep +affections. "An Englishman," said Oswald to himself, "would be weighed +down with sadness under similar circumstances.--Whence proceeds the +resolution of this Frenchman? Whence proceeds also his mobility? Does +the Count d'Erfeuil then truly understand the art of living? Is it only +my own disordered mind that whispers to me I am superior to him? Does +his light existence accord better than mine with the rapidity of human +life? And must we shun reflection as an enemy, instead of giving up our +whole soul to it?" Vainly would Oswald have cleared up those doubts; no +one can escape from the intellectual region allotted him; and qualities +are still more difficult to subdue than defects. + +The Count d'Erfeuil paid no attention to Italy, and rendered it almost +impossible for Lord Nelville to bestow a thought upon it; for he +incessantly distracted him from that disposition of mind which excites +admiration of a fine country, and gives a relish for its picturesque +charms. Oswald listened as much as he could to the noise of the wind and +to the murmuring of the waves; for all the voices of nature conveyed +more gratification to his soul than he could possibly receive from the +social conversation indulged in at the foot of the Alps, among the +ruins, and on the borders of the sea. + +The sadness which consumed Oswald would have opposed fewer obstacles to +the pleasure which he could have derived from Italy than the gaiety of +Count d'Erfeuil, the sorrows of a sensitive mind will blend with the +contemplation of nature and the enjoyment of the fine arts; but +frivolity, in whatever form it presents itself, deprives attention of +its force, thought of its originality, and sentiment of its profundity. +One of the singular effects of this frivolity was to inspire Lord +Nelville with a great deal of timidity in his intercourse with Count +d'Erfeuil: embarrassment is nearly always on the side of him whose +character is the more serious. Mental levity imposes upon the mind +habitually disposed to meditation, and he who proclaims himself happy, +appears wiser than he who suffers. + +The Count d'Erfeuil was mild, obliging, and easy in every thing; serious +only in self love, and worthy of being regarded as he regarded others; +that is to say, as a good companion of pleasures and of perils; but he +had no idea whatever of sharing sorrows: he was wearied to death with +the melancholy of Oswald, and, as much from goodness of heart as from +taste, was desirous of dissipating it. + +"What is it you find wanting?" said he to him often; "are you not young, +rich, and if you choose, in good health? for you are only ill because +you are sad. For my part I have lost my fortune, my existence: I know +not in fact what will become of me; nevertheless I enjoy life as if I +possessed all the prosperity that earth can afford." "You are endowed +with a courage as rare as it is honourable," replied Lord Nelville; "but +the reverses which you have experienced are less injurious in their +consequences than the grief which preys upon the heart." "The grief +which preys upon the heart," cried the Count d'Erfeuil; "Oh! it is true, +that is the most cruel of all;--but--but yet we should console ourselves +under it; for a sensible man ought to drive away from his soul every +thing that can neither be useful to others nor to himself. Are we not +here below to be useful first and happy afterwards? My dear Nelville let +us hold to that." + +What the Count d'Erfeuil said was reasonable, according to the general +import of the word, for it savoured a good deal of what is usually +called common sense: passionate characters are much more capable of +folly than cool and superficial ones; but so far was the Count +d'Erfeuil's mode of feeling from exciting the confidence of Lord +Nelville that he would gladly have convinced him he was the most happy +of men in order to avoid the pain which his consolation gave him. + +However the Count became greatly attached to Lord Nelville: his +resignation and his simplicity, his modesty and his pride, inspired him +with an involuntary respect for his character. He was concerned at the +calm exterior of Oswald; he ransacked his head to bring to recollection +all the most grave sayings which, in his childhood, he had heard from +his aged parents, in order to try their effect upon Lord Nelville; and, +quite astonished at not overcoming his apparent coldness, he said to +himself: "Do I not possess courage, goodness, and openness of +disposition? Am I not beloved in society? What is it then that I want to +make an impression upon this man? There surely must be some +misunderstanding between us which probably arises from his not +understanding French sufficiently well." + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +An unforeseen circumstance greatly increased the sentiment of respect +which the Count d'Erfeuil experienced already, almost without knowing +it, for his travelling companion. The health of Lord Nelville had +obliged him to stop some days at Ancona. The mountains and the sea +render the situation of this city very fine, and the crowd of Greeks who +work in front of their shops seated in the oriental manner, the +diversity of costume of the inhabitants of the Levant, whom one meets in +the streets, give it an original and interesting appearance. The art of +civilization has a continual tendency to render all men alike in +appearance and almost in reality; but the mind and the imagination take +pleasure in the characteristic differences of nations: it is only by +affectation and by calculation that men resemble each other; all that is +natural is varied. The eyes then, at least, derive some little pleasure +from diversity of costume; it seems to promise a new manner of feeling +and of judging. + +The Greek, the Catholic, and the Jewish worships exist simultaneously +and peaceably in the city of Ancona. The ceremonies of these several +religions differ widely from each other; but in those various forms of +worship, the same sentiment lifts the soul to heaven--the same cry of +grief, the same need of support. + +The catholic church is on the top of a mountain, which dominates the +sea: the roaring of the waves is often mingled with the song of the +priests. The interior of the church is overladen with a crowd of rather +tawdry ornaments; but if one stop beneath the portico of the temple, the +soul is filled with the purest sentiments of religion, heightened by +that sublime spectacle the sea, on whose bosom man has never been able +to imprint the smallest trace. The earth is tilled by him, the mountains +are cut through by his roads, and rivers shut up into canals to +transport his merchandise; but if the waves are furrowed for a moment by +his vessels the billows immediately efface this slight mark of +servitude, and the sea appears again as it was the first day of the +creation. + +Lord Nelville had fixed his departure for Rome for the morrow, when he +heard, during the night the most dreadful cries in the city. He hastily +quitted the inn in order to learn the cause, when he beheld a terrible +fire, which proceeded from the port, and climbed from house to house +even to the very top of the city. The flames were mirrored at a distance +in the sea; the wind, which increased their fierceness, also disturbed +their image in the surging waves, which reflected in a thousand ways the +lurid traits of the conflagration. + +The inhabitants of Ancona[2], not having among them pumps in good +condition, were obliged to carry water to extinguish the flames, which +they did with great eagerness. Amidst the din of different cries was +heard the clank of chains, from the galley slaves, who were employed in +saving that city which served them for a prison. The different nations +of the Levant, which commerce draws to Ancona, expressed their fear by +the stupor which appeared in their looks. The merchants, on beholding +their warehouses in flames, entirely lost their presence of mind. Alarm +for the loss of fortune affects the common order of men as much as the +fear of death, and does not inspire that energy of the soul, that +enthusiasm which brings resources to our aid. + +The cries of sailors have always something doleful and prolonged in +them, and were now rendered still more so by terror. The mariners on the +shores of the Adriatic are clad in a red and brown hooded cloak of most +singular appearance, and from the midst of this vestment emerged the +animated countenances of the Italians, painting fear in a thousand +shapes. The inhabitants, throwing themselves down in the streets, +covered their heads with their cloaks, as if nothing remained for them +now to do but to avoid seeing their disaster; others precipitated +themselves into those flames from which they entertained no hope of +escaping. A thoughtless fury and a blind resignation appeared by turns; +but nowhere was seen that cool deliberation which redoubles our +resources and our strength. + +Oswald recollected that there were two English vessels in the harbour +which had on board pumps of the best construction: he ran to the +captain, who accompanied him in a boat to bring away these pumps. The +inhabitants, seeing them enter the boat, exclaimed, "_Ah! strangers you +do well to quit our unhappy city_!" "We shall come back again," said +Oswald. They did not believe him. He returned however, fixed one of the +pumps opposite the first house on fire, near the port, and the other +facing that which was burning in the middle of the street. The Count +d'Erfeuil exposed his life with carelessness, courage, and gaiety; the +English sailors, and the domestics of Lord Nelville, all came to his +aid; for the inhabitants of Ancona remained motionless, hardly +comprehending what these strangers were about, and not expecting the +least success from them. + +The bells rang in every quarter, the priests made processions, the women +lamented and prostrated themselves before the images of the saints at +the corners of the streets; but no one thought of those natural means +which God has given to man for his defence. However, when the +inhabitants perceived the happy effect of Oswald's activity; when they +saw that the flames were being extinguished, and that their houses would +be saved, they passed from astonishment to enthusiasm; they thronged +about Lord Nelville, and kissed his hands with such lively eagerness +that he was obliged to appear angry in order to drive away from him all +who might obstruct the rapid succession of orders, and of efforts +necessary to save the city. Every body was arranged under his command; +for, in the least as well as in the greatest circumstances, when danger +presents itself courage assumes its proper station; as soon as men are +possessed with fear they cease to be jealous of one another. + +Oswald, however, amid the general din, distinguished some cries more +horrible than the rest, which resounded from the other extremity of the +city. He demanded whence these cries proceeded, and was informed that +they came from the quarter which was allotted for the Jews: the officer +of the police was accustomed to shut the gates of this quarter in the +evening, and, the fire having reached that part of the city, the Jews +had no means of escape. + +Oswald shuddered at this idea, and demanded that the gate should be +immediately opened; but some women of the people who heard him threw +themselves at his feet, entreating him to desist.--"_You see very +well_," said they, "_our good angel! that it is certainly on account of +these Jews who reside here that we have suffered this fire, it is they +who bring calamity upon us, and if you set them at liberty all the water +in the sea will not extinguish the flames_." And they besought Oswald to +let the Jews be burnt with as much eloquence and tenderness as if they +were soliciting an act of clemency. This was not the effect of natural +cruelty, but of a superstitious imagination acutely impressed by a great +misfortune; however, Oswald could hardly contain his indignation on +hearing these strange entreaties. + +He sent four English sailors with hatchets to break open the gates which +inclosed these unfortunate people, who spread themselves in an instant +through the city, running to their merchandise with that greed of +possession which has something very melancholy in it, when it induces +mortals to risk their lives for worldly wealth. One would say that in +the present state of society the simple blessing of life is esteemed by +man of little value. + +There now remained but one house at the top of the city, which the +flames surrounded in such a manner that it was impossible to extinguish +them, and more impossible to enter it. The inhabitants of Ancona had +manifested so little concern for this house, that the English sailors, +not believing it to be inhabited, had dragged their pumps towards the +harbour. Oswald himself, stunned by the cries of those who surrounded +him and solicited his aid, had not paid attention to it. The fire had +extended the latest to that quarter, but had made considerable progress +there. Lord Nelville demanded so impatiently what house that was, that +at length a man informed him it was the madhouse. At this idea his whole +soul was agitated; he turned, but found none of the sailors around him; +the Count d'Erfeuil was not there either, and he would vainly have +addressed himself to the inhabitants of Ancona: they were almost all +occupied in saving their merchandise, and considered it absurd to run +any risk to rescue men, of whom there was not one who was not incurably +mad: "_It is a blessing from Heaven_," said they, "_for them, and for +their relations, that they should die in this manner; without any one +incurring a crime by their death_." + +Whilst they held such language as this around Oswald, he proceeded with +the utmost speed towards the madhouse, and the crowd, by whom he was +censured, followed him with a confused sentiment of involuntary +enthusiasm. As Oswald approached the house, he saw, at the only window +which was not surrounded with flames, a number of lunatics, who regarded +the progress of the fire with that horrid kind of smile which either +supposes ignorance of all the ills of life, or so much grief at the +bottom of the soul that death in no shape can terrify it. An +inexpressible shudder seized upon Oswald at this sight; he had felt in +the most dreadful moment of his despair, that his reason was on the +point of being affected, and since that epoch, the aspect of madness +always inspired him with the most sorrowful emotions of pity. He seized +a ladder which he found near the spot, fixed it against the wall, and +entered by the window into an apartment where the unhappy people who +remained in the madhouse were assembled together. + +Their insanity was so harmless, that they were suffered to be at large +in the interior of the house with the exception of one, who was chained +in this very room, where the flames already began to appear through the +door, but had not yet consumed the floor. These miserable creatures, +quite degraded by disease and suffering, were so surprised and enchanted +by the appearance of Oswald among them, that they obeyed him at first +without resistance. He ordered them to descend before him, one after +another, by means of the ladder, which the flames might devour in a +moment. The first of these wretched people obeyed without uttering a +word; the accent and the physiognomy of Lord Nelville had entirely +subdued him. A third wished to resist, without suspecting the danger +that he incurred by each moment of delay, and without thinking of the +peril to which he exposed Oswald in detaining him. The people, who felt +all the horrors of his situation, cried out to Lord Nelville to return, +and to let those maniacs get away how they could. But the deliverer +would listen to nothing till he had achieved his generous enterprise. + +Of the six lunatics who were in the madhouse, five were already saved; +there now only remained the sixth who was chained. Oswald loosened his +irons, and endeavoured to make him take the same means of escaping as +his companions had done; but it was a poor young man, whose reason was +entirely destroyed, and, finding himself at liberty, after being chained +for two years, he darted about the room with an extravagant joy. This +joy rose to fury, when Oswald tried to make him go out at the window. +Lord Nelville perceiving that it was impossible to prevail upon this +maniac to save himself, though the flames increased around them, seized +him in his arms, in spite of the efforts of the unhappy wretch, who +struggled against his benefactor. He carried him off, without knowing +where he placed his feet, so much was his sight obscured by the smoke; +he leaped from nearly the middle of the ladder, and consigned the +lunatic, who loaded him with curses, to some people whom he made promise +to take care of him. + +Oswald, animated by the danger he had just run, his hair dishevelled, +his look so proud yet so mild, struck the crowd who beheld him with +admiration, and almost with fanaticism; the women, above all, expressed +themselves with that imagination which is an almost universal gift in +Italy, and even gives a nobleness to the conversation of the common +people. They threw themselves on their knees before him, and cried, +"_You are surely St Michael, the patron of our city; display thy wings +most holy saint! but do not quit us: deign to ascend the steeple of the +cathedral, that all the city may behold, and pray to thee_." "_My child +is sick_," said one, "_heal him_." "_Tell me_," said another, "_where my +husband is, who has been absent several years_?" Oswald sought a means +of escape. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and said to him, pressing his +hand, "My dear Nelville, we ought to share all things with our friends; +it is unkind of you thus to monopolise all the danger." "Release me from +these people," said Oswald to him, in a low voice. A moment of darkness +favoured their flight, and both of them went in haste to get post +horses. + +Lord Nelville experienced, at first, some pleasure from the good action +he had just performed, but with whom could he enjoy it now that his best +friend was no more? How unhappy is the lot of orphans! The most +fortunate events, as well as the most painful, make them feel alike the +solitude of the heart. How is it possible, in effect, ever to replace +that affection which is born with us, that intelligence, that sympathy +of blood, that friendship prepared by heaven between the child and the +father? We may still, it is true, find an object of love; but one in +whom we can confide our whole soul is a happiness which can never be +found again. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] Ancona is now pretty nearly in the same predicament that it was +then. + + + + +Chapter v. + + +Oswald pursued his journey through the Marches of Ancona, and the +Ecclesiastical States, without any thing attracting his observation, or +exciting his interest: this was occasioned as well by the melancholy +habit of his soul, as by a certain natural indolence, from which he was +only to be aroused by strong passions. His taste for the arts had not +yet unfolded itself; he had never dwelt but in France, where society is +all in all, and in London, where political interests absorb almost every +other: his imagination, concentrated in his sufferings, had not yet +learnt to take pleasure in the wonders of nature and the masterpieces of +art. + +The Count d'Erfeuil traversed every town with the "Traveller's Guide" in +his hand, and had at once the double pleasure of losing his time in +seeing every thing, and of declaring, that he had seen nothing which +could excite admiration in any person acquainted with France. The +_ennui_ of Count d'Erfeuil discouraged Oswald; he, besides, entertained +prejudices against the Italians and against Italy: he did not yet +penetrate the mystery of this nation or of this country;--a mystery +which must be comprehended by the imagination, rather than by that +faculty of judgment which is particularly developed by an English +education. + +The Italians are much more remarkable for what they have been, and for +what they might be than for what they actually are. The deserts which +surround the city of Rome, that land which, fatigued with glory, seems +to hold in contempt the praise of being productive, presents but an +uncultivated and neglected country to him who considers it with regard +to utility. Oswald, accustomed from his infancy to the love of order and +public prosperity, received, at first, unfavourable impressions in +traversing those deserted plains which announce the approach to that +city formerly the queen of the world: he blamed the indolence of the +inhabitants and that of their rulers. Lord Nelville judged of Italy as +an enlightened administrator, the Count d'Erfeuil as a man of the world: +thus the one from reason, and the other from levity, were not sensible +of that effect which the country about Rome produces upon the +imagination, when it is impressed with the recollections, the +sympathies, the natural beauties and the illustrious misfortunes which +spread over these regions an undefinable charm. + +The Count made ludicrous lamentations on the environs of Rome. "What," +said he, "no country house, no carriage, nothing that announces the +vicinity of a great city? Heavens! what a melancholy prospect!" In +approaching Rome, the postillions cried, with transport, "_See! See, +there is the dome of St Peter's_!" It is thus that the Neapolitans shew +mount Vesuvius, and the sea excites the same emotions of pride in the +inhabitants of the coast. "One would have thought they had seen the dome +of _Les Invalides_;" cried the Count d'Erfeuil. This comparison, more +patriotic than just, destroyed the impression which Oswald might have +received on beholding this magnificent wonder of human creation. They +entered Rome, not on a fine day--not on a fine night--but on a gloomy +evening, which tarnished and confounded every object. They traversed the +Tiber without remarking it; they arrived at Rome by the Porta del Popolo +which conducts immediately to the Corso, to the largest street of the +modern city, but to that part of Rome which possesses the least +originality, because it resembles more the other cities of Europe. + +Crowds were walking in the streets; the puppet shows and the charlatans +were formed in groups in the square, where stands the column of +Antoninus. All the attention of Oswald was captivated by the objects +nearest to him. The name of Rome no longer vibrated through his soul; he +felt nothing but that isolation which oppresses the heart when we enter +a strange city, when we behold that multitude of people to whom our +existence is unknown, and who have no interest in common with us. Those +reflections, so sad for every man, are still more so for the English, +who are accustomed to live among themselves, and who with difficulty +enter into the manners of other nations. In the vast caravansary of Rome +everything is foreign, even the Romans seem to inhabit there not as the +possessors, _but like pilgrims who repose beneath the ruins_[3]. Oswald, +oppressed with painful sensations, shut himself up at home, and went not +out to see the city. He was very far from thinking that this country, +which he entered under such sadness and dejection of spirits, would soon +become for him a source of so many new ideas and enjoyments. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] This reflection is taken from a letter on Rome, by M. de Humboldt, +brother of the celebrated Traveller, and Prussian Minister at Rome. It +is difficult to find anywhere a man whose conversation and writings +bespeak more knowledge and ideas. + + + + +Book ii. + +CORINNE AT THE CAPITOL. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald awoke in Rome. His first looks were saluted by the brilliancy of +an Italian sun, and his soul was penetrated with a sentiment of love and +gratitude towards that Power which seemed manifested in its resplendent +beams. He heard the bells of the different churches of the city; the +firing of cannon at intervals announced some great solemnity. He +demanded the cause of it, and was informed that that morning was to be +crowned, at the Capitol, the most celebrated woman in Italy. Corinne, +poetess, writer, _improvisatrice_, and one of the greatest beauties of +Rome. He made some enquiries respecting this ceremony consecrated by the +names of Petrarch and of Tasso, and all the answers that he received +strongly excited his curiosity. + +There is certainly nothing more contrary to the habits and opinions of +an Englishman, than this great publicity given to the destiny of a +woman; but even foreigners are affected, at least for a moment, with +that enthusiasm which is inspired in the Italians by all those talents +that belong to the imagination, and they forget the prejudices of their +country amidst a nation so warm in the expression of its feelings. The +common people of Rome reason with taste upon their statues, pictures, +monuments and antiquities; and literary merit, carried to a certain +pitch, excites in them a national interest. + +Oswald quitted his lodgings to repair to the public square, where he +heard everybody speaking of the genius and talents of Corinne. The +streets through which she was to pass had been decorated; the people, +who rarely assemble together except to pay their homage to fortune or +power, were, upon this occasion, almost in a tumult to behold a female +whose mind was her only claim to distinction. In the actual state of the +Italians the field of glory is only open to them in the fine arts, and +they possess a sensibility for genius in that department, which ought to +give birth to great men, if applause alone were sufficient to produce +them, if the stress of vigorous life, great interests and an independent +existence were not necessary to nourish thought. + +Oswald walked the streets of Rome, waiting the arrival of Corinne. At +every instant he heard her name accompanied with some anecdote +concerning her, which implied the possession of all those talents that +captivate the imagination. One said that her voice was the most touching +in Italy; another, that nobody played tragedy like her; somebody else, +that she danced like a nymph, and designed with as much taste as +invention: all said that nobody had ever written or improvised such fine +verses, and that, in habitual conversation she possessed by turns, a +grace and an eloquence which charmed every mind. Disputes were entered +into as to what city of Rome had given her birth; but the Romans +maintained, warmly, that she must have been born in Rome to speak +Italian in such purity as she did. No one was acquainted with her family +name. Her first work had appeared five years before, and only bore the +name of Corinne; nobody knew where she had lived, nor what she had been +before that time: she was, however, nearly twenty-six years of age. This +mystery and publicity both at the same time, this woman of whom +everybody spoke, but whose real name was known to nobody, appeared to +Lord Nelville one of the wonders of the singular country he had just +come to live in. He would have judged very severely of such a woman in +England, but he did not apply the usual etiquette of society to Italy, +and the coronation of Corinne inspired him beforehand with that interest +to which an adventure of Ariosto would give birth. + +Very fine and brilliant music preceded the arrival of the triumphal +procession. Any event, whatever it may be, which is announced by music, +always produces emotion. A great number of Roman Lords, and some +foreigners, preceded the car of Corinne. "_That is the train of her +admirers!_" said a Roman. "_Yes_," replied the other, "_she receives the +incense of everybody; but she grants nobody a decided preference: she is +rich and independent; it is even believed, and certainly her appearance +bespeaks it, that she is a woman of illustrious birth who desires to +remain unknown_." "_Be it as it may_," replied a third, "_she is a +goddess wrapt in a cloud_." Oswald looked at the man who spoke thus, and +every thing about him indicated that he belonged to the most obscure +rank in society; but in the south people so naturally make use of +poetical expressions, that one would say they were inhaled with the air +and inspired by the sun. + +At length way was made through the crowd for the four white horses that +drew the car of Corinne. Corinne was seated in this car which was +constructed upon an antique model, and young girls, dressed in white, +walked on each side of her. Wherever she passed an abundance of perfumes +was thrown into the air; the windows, decorated with flowers and scarlet +tapestry, were crowded with spectators; every body cried, "_Long live +Corinne!_" "_Long live Genius and Beauty!_" The emotion was general but +Lord Nelville did not yet share it, and though he had observed in his +own mind that in order to judge of such a ceremony we must lay aside +the reserve of the English and the pleasantry of the French, he did not +share heartily in the _fete_ till at last he beheld Corinne. + +[Illustration: _Corinne at the Capitol._] + +She was dressed like the Sybil of Domenichino; an Indian shawl twisted +about her head, and her hair of the finest jet black, entwined with this +shawl; her dress was white, with blue drapery from her bosom downwards, +and her costume was very picturesque, at the same time without departing +so much from established modes as to savour of affectation. Her attitude +on the car was noble and modest: it was easily perceived that she was +pleased with being admired, but a sense of timidity was mingled with her +joy, and seemed to ask pardon for her triumph. The expression of her +physiognomy, of her eyes, of her smile, interested all in her favour, +and the first look made Lord Nelville her friend, even before that +sentiment was subdued by a warmer impression. Her arms were of dazzling +beauty; her shape, tall, but rather full, after the manner of the +Grecian statues, energetically characterised youth and happiness; and +there was something inspired in her look. One might perceive in her +manner of greeting and returning thanks for the applause which she +received, a kind of disposition which heightened the lustre of the +extraordinary situation in which she was placed. She gave at once the +idea of a priestess of Apollo advancing towards the temple of the Sun, +and of a woman of perfect simplicity in the common relations of life. To +conclude, in her every motion there was a charm which excited interest, +curiosity, astonishment and affection. The admiration of the people +increased in proportion as she advanced towards the Capitol--that spot +so fertile in memories. The beauty of the sky, the enthusiasm of these +Romans, and above all Corinne, electrified the imagination of Oswald. He +had often, in his own country, seen statesmen carried in triumph by the +people, but this was the first time he had been a witness of the +honours paid to a woman--a woman illustrious only by the gifts of +genius. Her chariot of victory was not purchased at the cost of the +tears of any human being, and no regret, no terror overshadowed that +admiration which the highest endowments of nature, imagination, +sentiment and mind, could not fail to excite. + +Oswald was so absorbed in his reflections, so occupied by novel ideas, +that he did not remark the antique and celebrated places through which +the car of Corinne passed. It was at the foot of the flight of steps +which leads to the Capitol, that the car stopped, and at that moment all +the friends of Corinne rushed forward to offer her their hands. She +chose that of the prince Castel-Forte, the most esteemed of the Roman +nobility, for his intellect and for his disposition: every one approved +the choice of Corinne, and she ascended the steps of the Capitol whose +imposing majesty seemed to receive, with kind condescension, the light +footsteps of a woman. A new flourish of music was heard at the moment of +Corinne's arrival, the cannon resounded and the triumphant Sybil entered +the palace prepared for her reception. + +At the lower end of the hall in which she was received were placed the +senator who was to crown her, and the conservators of the senate; on one +side all the cardinals and the most distinguished women of the country; +on the other the men of letters of the academy of Rome; and at the +opposite extremity the hall was occupied by a part of the immense crowd +who had followed Corinne. The chair destined for her was placed a step +below that of the senator. Corinne, before she seated herself in it, +made a genuflection on the first step, agreeably to the etiquette +required in this august assembly. She did it with so much nobleness and +modesty, so much gentleness and dignity, that Lord Nelville in that +moment felt his eyes moist with tears: he was astonished at his own +tenderness, but in the midst of all her pomp and triumph it seemed to +him that Corinne had implored, by her looks, the protection of a +friend--that protection which no woman, however superior, can dispense +with; and how sweet, said he within himself, would it be to become the +support of her to whom sensibility alone renders that support necessary. + +As soon as Corinne was seated the Roman poets began to read the sonnets +and odes which they had composed for the occasion. They all exalted her +to the skies, but the praises which they lavishly bestowed upon her did +not draw any characteristic features of distinction between her and +other women of superior talents. They were only pleasing combinations of +images, and allusions to mythology, which might, from the days of Sappho +to those in which we live, have been addressed indiscriminately to any +woman who had rendered herself illustrious by her literary talents. + +Already Lord Nelville felt hurt at this manner of praising Corinne; he +thought, in beholding her, that he could at that very instant draw a +portrait of her, more true, more just, more characteristic--a portrait +in fact that could only belong to Corinne. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The Prince Castel-Forte then rose to speak, and his observations upon +the merits of Corinne excited the attention of the whole assembly. He +was about fifty years of age, and there was in his speech and in his +deportment much deliberate ease and dignity. The assurances which Lord +Nelville received from those about him, that he was only the friend of +Corinne, excited, in his lordship's mind, an interest for the portrait +which he drew of her, unmixed with any other emotion. Without such a +security a confused sentiment of jealousy would have already disturbed +the soul of Oswald. + +The Prince Castel-Forte read some unpretentious pages of prose which +were particularly calculated to display the genius of Corinne. He first +pointed out the peculiar merit of her work, and said that that merit +partly consisted of her profound study of foreign literature: she +united, in the highest degree, imagination, florid description and all +the brilliancy of the south, with that knowledge, that observation of +the human heart, which falls to the share of those countries where +external objects excite less interest. + +He extolled the elegant graces and the lively disposition of Corinne--a +gaiety which partook of no improper levity, but proceeded solely from +the vivacity of the mind and the freshness of the imagination. He +attempted to praise her sensibility, but it was easily perceived that +personal regret mingled itself with this part of his speech. He lamented +the difficulty which a woman of her superior cast experienced of meeting +with the object of which she has formed to herself an ideal portrait--a +portrait clad with every endowment the heart and mind can wish for. He +however took pleasure in painting the passionate sensibility which the +poetry of Corinne inspired, and the art she possessed of seizing every +striking relation between the beauties of nature and the most intimate +impressions of the soul. He exalted the originality of Corinne's +expressions, those expressions which were the offspring of her character +and manner of feeling, without ever permitting any shade of affectation +to disfigure a species of charm not only natural but involuntary. + +He spoke of her eloquence as possessing an irresistible force and energy +which must the more transport her hearers the more they possessed within +themselves true intellectual sensibility. "Corinne," said he, "is +indubitably the most celebrated woman of our country, and nevertheless +it is only her friends who can properly delineate her; for we must +always have recourse, in some degree, to conjecture, in order to +discover the genuine qualities of the soul. They may be concealed from +our knowledge by celebrity as well as obscurity, if some sort of +sympathy does not assist us to penetrate them." He enlarged upon her +talent for extemporisation, which did not resemble any thing of that +description known in Italy. "It is not only to the fecundity of her mind +that we ought to attribute it;" said he; "but to the deep emotion which +every generous thought excites in her. She cannot pronounce a word that +recalls such thoughts without enthusiasm, that inexhaustible source of +sentiments and of ideas animating and inspiring her." The Prince +Castel-Forte also made his audience sensible of the beauties of a style +always pure and harmonious. "The poetry of Corinne," added he, "is an +intellectual melody which can alone express the charm of the most +fugitive and delicate impressions." + +He praised the conversation of his heroine in a manner that easily made +it perceived he had experienced its delight. "Imagination and +simplicity, justness and elevation, strength and tenderness, are +united," said he, "in the same person to give incessant variety to all +the pleasures of the mind: we may apply to her, this charming verse of +Petrarch: + + _Il parlar che nell' anima si sente._[4] + +and, I believe, in her will be found that grace so much boasted of, +that oriental charm which the ancients attributed to Cleopatra. + +"The places I have visited with her, the music we have heard together, +the pictures she has pointed out to me, the books she has made me +comprehend, compose the universe of my imagination. There is in all +these objects a spark of her life; and if I were to exist at a distance +from her I would wish at least to be surrounded by those objects, +certain as I am of finding nowhere else that trace of fire, that trace +of herself in fact, which she has left in them. Yes," continued he (and +at that moment his eyes fell by chance upon Oswald), "behold Corinne; if +you can pass your life with her, if that double existence which it is in +her power to give can be assured to you for a long time; but do not +behold her if you are condemned to quit her; you will seek in vain as +long as you live that creative soul which shares and multiplies your +sentiments and your thoughts; you will never behold her like again." + +Oswald started at these words, his eyes fixed themselves upon Corinne, +who heard them with an emotion that was not inspired by self-love, but +which was allied to the most amiable and delicate feelings. The Prince +Castel-Forte was much affected for a moment, and then resumed his +speech. He spoke of Corinne's talent for music, for painting, for +declamation and for dancing: In all these talents, he said, she was +entirely herself, not confined to any particular manner, or to any +particular rule, but expressing in various languages the same powers of +the imagination, and the same witchery of the fine arts under all their +different forms. + +"I do not flatter myself," said the Prince Castel-Forte in concluding, +"that I have been able to paint a lady of whom it is impossible to form +an idea without having heard her; but her presence is, for us at Rome, +as one of the benefits of our brilliant sky and our inspired nature. +Corinne is the tie that unites her friends together; she is the moving +principle and the interest of our life. We reckon upon her goodness; we +are proud of her genius; we say to strangers, 'Behold her! She is the +image of our beautiful Italy; she is what we should be without the +ignorance, the envy, the discord and the indolence to which our fate has +condemned us.' We take pleasure in contemplating her as an admirable +production of our climate and of our fine arts,--as a scion shooting out +of the past, as a prophecy of the future. When foreigners insult this +country, whence has issued that intelligence which has shed its light +over Europe; when they are without pity for our defects, which arise out +of our misfortunes, we will say to them: 'Behold Corinne! 'Tis our +desire to follow her footsteps; we would endeavour to become, as men, +what she is as woman, if man like woman could create a world in his own +heart; and if our genius, necessarily dependent upon social relations +and external circumstances, could be kindled by the torch of poetry +alone.'" + +The moment the Prince Castel-Forte left off speaking unanimous applause +was heard on all sides, and though towards the conclusion of his speech +he indirectly blamed the present state of the Italians, all the nobles +of the state approved of it; so true it is that we find in Italy that +sort of liberality which does not lead men to alter institutions, but +which pardons in superior minds a tranquil opposition to existing +prejudices. The reputation of Prince Castel-Forte was very great in +Rome. He spoke with a rare sagacity, which is a remarkable gift in a +nation who exhibit more intellect in their conduct than in their +conversation. He did not in his worldly concerns shew that address which +often distinguishes the Italians, but he took delight in thought, and +did not dread the fatigue of meditation. The happy inhabitants of the +south sometimes shrink from this fatigue, and flatter themselves that +imagination will do everything for them, as their fertile soil produces +fruit without cultivation assisted only by the bounty of the sky. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] The language which is felt in the depth of the soul. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Corinne arose when the Prince Castel-Forte had ceased speaking; she +thanked him by an inclination of the head so dignified yet so gentle, +that it expressed at once the modesty and joy so natural at having +received praise according to her heart's desire. It was the custom that +every poet crowned at the Capitol should recite or extemporise some +piece of poetry, before the destined laurel was placed on his head. +Corinne ordered her lyre to be brought to her--the instrument of her +choice--which greatly resembled the harp, but was however more antique +in form and more simple in its sounds. In tuning it she was seized with +uncommon timidity, and it was with a trembling voice that she asked to +know the subject imposed on her. "_The glory and happiness of Italy!_" +cried all around her with a unanimous voice. "Very well," replied she +already fired with enthusiasm, already supported by her genius, "_the +glory and happiness of Italy_;" and feeling herself animated by the love +of her country she commenced the most charming strains, of which prose +can give but a very imperfect idea. + + * * * * * + +_The Improvisation of Corinne, at the Capitol._ + +"Italy, empire of the sun! Italy, mistress of the world! Italy, the +cradle of letters, I salute thee! How often has the human race been +subjected to thee, tributary to thy arms, to thy art and to thy sky. + +"A deity quitted Olympus to take refuge in Ausonia; the aspect of this +country recalled the virtues of the golden age;--man appeared there too +happy to be supposed guilty. + +"Rome conquered the universe by her genius, and became sovereign by +liberty. The Roman character was imprinted everywhere, and the invasion +of the Barbarians, in destroying Italy obscured the whole world. + +"Italy appeared again with the divine treasures which the fugitive +Greeks brought back to her bosom; heaven revealed its laws to her; the +daring of her children discovered a new hemisphere; she again became +sovereign by the sceptre of thought, but this laurelled sceptre only +produced ingratitude. + +"Imagination restored to her the universe which she had lost. The +painters and the poets created for her an earth, an Olympus, a hell, and +a heaven; and her native fire, better guarded by her genius than by the +Pagan deity, found not in Europe a Prometheus to ravish it from her. + +"Why am I at the Capitol? Why is my humble forehead about to receive the +crown which Petrarch, has worn, and which remained suspended on the +gloomy cypress that weeps over the tomb of Tasso?--Why, if you were not +so enamoured of glory, my fellow-countrymen, that you recompense its +worship as much as its success? + +"Well, if you so love this glory which too often chooses its victims +among the conquerors which it has crowned, reflect with pride upon those +ages which beheld the new birth of the arts. Dante, the modern Homer, +the hero of thought, the sacred poet of our religious mysteries, plunged +his genius into the Styx to land in the infernal regions, and his mind +was profound as the abyss which he has described. + +"Italy in the days of her power was wholly revived in Dante. Animated by +a republican spirit, warrior as well as poet, he breathed the flame of +action among the dead; and his shadows have a more vivid existence than +the living here below. + +"Terrestrial remembrances pursue them still; their aimless passions +devour one another in the heart; they are moved at the past which seems +to them less irrevocable than their eternal future. + +"One would say that Dante, banished from his country, has transported +into imaginary regions the pangs which devoured him. His shades +incessantly demand news from the scene of mortal existence, as the poet +himself eagerly enquires after his native country; and hell presents +itself to him in the form of exile. + +"All, in his eyes, are clothed in the costume of Florence. The ancient +dead whom he invokes, seem to be born again as completely Tuscan as +himself. It was not that his mind was limited--it was the energy of his +soul, that embraced the whole universe within the circle of his +thoughts. + +"A mystical chain of circles and of spheres conducts him from hell to +purgatory, from purgatory to paradise. Faithful historian of his vision, +he pours a flood of light upon the most obscure regions, and the world +which he creates in his triple poem is as complete, as animated and as +brilliant as a planet newly-discovered in the firmament. + +"At his voice the whole earth assumes a poetical form, its objects, +ideas, laws and phenomena, seem a new Olympus of new deities; but this +mythology of the imagination is annihilated, like paganism, at the +aspect of paradise, of that ocean of light, sparkling with rays and with +stars, with virtues and with love. + +"The magic words of our great poet are the prism of the universe; all +its wonders are there reflected, divided, and recomposed; sounds imitate +colours, and colours are blended in harmony; rhyme, sonorous or bizarre, +rapid or prolonged, is inspired by this poetical divination; supreme +beauty of art! triumph of genius! which discovers in nature every secret +in affinity with the heart of man. + +"Dante hoped from his poem the termination of his exile; he reckoned on +Fame as his mediator; but he died too soon to receive the palm of his +country. Often is the fleeting life of man worn out in adversity! and if +glory triumph, if at length he land upon a happier shore, he no sooner +enters the port than the grave yawns before him, and destiny, in a +thousand shapes, often announces the end of life by the return of +happiness. + +"Thus unfortunate Tasso, whom your homage, Romans, was to console for +all the injustice he had suffered; Tasso, the handsome, the gentle, the +heroic, dreaming of exploits, feeling the love which he sang, approached +these walls as his heroes did those of Jerusalem--with respect and +gratitude. But on the eve of the day chosen for his coronation, Death +claimed him for its terrible festival: Heaven is jealous of earth, and +recalls her favourites from the treacherous shores of Time! + +"In an age more proud and more free than that of Tasso, Petrarch was, +like Dante, the valorous poet of Italian independence. In other climes +he is only known by his amours,--here, more severe recollections +encircle his name with never-fading honour; for it is known that he was +inspired by his country more than by Laura herself. + +"He re-animated antiquity by his vigils; and, far from his imagination +raising any obstacle to the most profound studies, its creative power, +in submitting the future to his will, revealed to him the secrets of +past ages. He discovered how greatly knowledge assists invention; and +his genius was so much the more original, since, like the eternal +forces, he could be present at all periods of time. + +"Ariosto derived inspiration from our serene atmosphere, and our +delicious climate. He is the rainbow which appeared after our long wars; +brilliant and many-hued, like that herald of fine weather, he seems to +sport familiarly with life; his light and gentle gaiety is the smile of +nature and not the irony of man. + +"Michael Angelo, Raphael, Pergolese, Galileo, and you, intrepid +travellers, greedy of new countries, though nature could offer nothing +finer than your own, join your glory also to that of the poets. Artists, +scholars, philosophers! you are, like them, the children of that sun +which by turns developes the imagination, animates thought, excites +courage, lulls us into a happy slumber, and seems to promise everything, +or cause it to be forgotten. + +"Do you know that land where the Orange-trees bloom, which the rays of +heaven make fertile with love? Have you heard those melodious sounds +which celebrate the mildness of the nights? Have you breathed those +perfumes which are the luxury of that air, already so pure and so mild? +Answer, strangers; is nature in your countries so beautiful and so +beneficent? + +"In other regions, when social calamities afflict a country, the people +must believe themselves abandoned by the Deity; but here we ever feel +the protection of heaven; we see that he interests himself for man, that +he has deigned to treat him as a noble being. + +"It is not only with vine branches, and with ears of corn, that Nature +is here adorned; she prodigally strews beneath the feet of man, as on +the birthday of a sovereign, an abundance of useless plants and flowers, +which, destined to please, will not stoop to serve. + +"The most delicate pleasures nourished by nature are enjoyed by a nation +worthy of them--a nation who are satisfied with the most simple dishes; +who do not become intoxicated at the fountains of wine which plenty +prepares for them;--a nation who love their sun, their arts, their +monuments, their country, at once antique and in the spring of youth;--a +nation that stand equally aloof from the refined pleasures of luxury, as +from the gross and sordid pleasures of a mercenary people." + +"Here sensations are confounded with ideas; life is drawn in all its +fulness from the same spring, and the soul, like the air, inhabits the +confines of earth, and of heaven. Genius is untrammelled because here +reverie is sweet: its holy calm soothes the soul when perturbed, +lavishes upon it a thousand illusions when it regrets a lost purpose, +and when oppressed by man nature is ready to welcome it." + +"Thus is our country ever beneficent, and her succouring hand heals +every wound. Here, even the pangs of the heart receive consolation, in +admiring a God of kindness, and penetrating the secrets of his love; the +passing troubles of our ephemeral life are lost in the fertile and +majestic bosom of the immortal universe." + +Corinne was interrupted, for some moments, by a torrent of applause. +Oswald alone took no share in the noisy transports that surrounded him. +He had leaned his head upon his hand, when Corinne said: "_Here, even +the pangs of the heart receive consolation_;" and had not raised it +since. Corinne remarked it, and soon, from his features, the colour of +his hair, his costume, his lofty figure, from his whole manner in short, +she knew him for an Englishman: she was struck with his mourning habit, +and the melancholy pictured in his countenance. His look, at that moment +fixed upon her, seemed full of gentle reproaches; she guessed the +thoughts that occupied his mind, and felt the necessity of satisfying +him, by speaking of happiness with less confidence, by consecrating some +verses to death in the midst of a festival. She then resumed her lyre, +with this design, and having produced silence in the assembly, by the +moving and prolonged sounds which she drew from her instrument, began +thus: + +"There are griefs however which our consoling sky cannot efface, but in +what retreat can sorrow make a more sweet and more noble impression upon +the soul than here? + +"In other countries hardly do the living find space sufficient for their +rapid motions and their ardent desires; here, ruins, deserts and +uninhabited palaces, afford an asylum for the shades of the departed. Is +not Rome now the land of tombs? + +"The Coliseum, the obelisks, all the wonders which from Egypt and from +Greece, from the extremity of ages, from Romulus to Leo X. are assembled +here, as if grandeur attracted grandeur, and as if the same spot was to +enclose all that man could secure from the ravages of time; all these +wonders are consecrated to the monuments of the dead. Our indolent life +is scarcely perceived, the silence of the living is homage paid to the +dead; they endure and we pass away. + +"They only are honoured, they are still celebrated: our obscure +destinies serve only to heighten the lustre of our ancestors: our +present existence leaves nothing standing but the past; it will exact no +tribute from future recollections! All our masterpieces are the work of +those who are no more, and genius itself is numbered among the +illustrious dead. + +"Perhaps one of the secret charms of Rome, is to reconcile the +imagination with the sleep of death. Here we learn resignation, and +suffer less pangs of regret for the objects of our love. The people of +the south picture to themselves the end of life in colours less gloomy +than the inhabitants of the north. The sun, like glory, warms even the +tomb. + +"The cold and isolation of the sepulchre beneath our lovely sky, by the +side of so many funereal urns, have less terrors for the human mind. We +believe a crowd of spirits is waiting for our company; and from our +solitary city to the subterranean one the transition seems easy and +gentle. + +"Thus the edge of grief is taken off; not that the heart becomes +indifferent, or the soul dried up; but a more perfect harmony, a more +odoriferous air, mingles with existence. We abandon ourselves to nature +with less fear--to nature, of whom the Creator has said: 'Consider the +lilies of the field; they toil not neither do they spin: yet I say unto +you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these.'" + +Oswald was so ravished with these last strains, that he gave the most +lively testimonies of his admiration; and, upon this occasion, the +transports of the Italians themselves did not equal his. In fact, it was +to him more than to the Romans, that the second improvisation of Corinne +was directed. + +The greater part of the Italians have, in reading poetry, a kind of +singing monotony, called _cantilene_, which destroys all emotion[5]. It +is in vain that the words vary--the impression remains the same; since +the accent, more essential than even the words, hardly varies at all. +But Corinne recited with a variety of tone, which did not destroy the +sustained charm of the harmony;--it was like several different airs +played on some celestial instrument. + +The tones of Corinne's voice, full of sensibility and emotion, giving, +effect to the Italian language, so pompous and so sonorous, produced +upon Oswald an impression entirely novel. The English prosody is uniform +and veiled, its natural beauties are all of a sombre cast; its colouring +has been formed by clouds, and its modulation by the roaring of the sea; +but when Italian words, brilliant as an Italian festival, resonant like +those instruments of victory, which have been compared to scarlet among +colours; when these words, bearing the stamp of that joy which a fine +climate spreads through every heart, are pronounced in a moving voice, +their lustre softened, their strength concentrated, the soul is affected +in a manner as acute as unforeseen. The intention of nature seems +baffled, her benefits of no use, her offers rejected, and the expression +of pain, in the midst of so many enjoyments, astonishes and affects us +more deeply than the grief which is sung in those northern languages +which it seems to inspire. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] We must expect from this censure upon the Italian mode of +declamation, the celebrated Monti, who recites verses as well as he +composes them. It is really one of the greatest dramatic pleasures that +can be experienced, to hear him recite the Episode of Ugolin, of +Francesca da Rimini, the Death of Clorinda, &c. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The Senator took the crown of myrtle and laurel which he was to place on +the head of Corinne. She removed the shawl which graced her forehead, +and all her ebon hair fell in ringlets about her shoulders. She advanced +with her head bare, and her look animated by a sentiment of pleasure and +gratitude which she sought not to conceal. She a second time bent her +knee, to receive the crown; but she displayed less agitation and tremor +than at first; she had just spoken; she had just filled her mind with +the most noble thoughts, and enthusiasm conquered diffidence. She was +no longer a timid woman, but an inspired priestess who joyfully +consecrated herself to the worship of genius. + +As soon as the crown was placed on the head of Corinne all the +instruments were heard in those triumphant airs which fill the soul with +the most sublime emotion. The sound of kettle-drums, and the flourish of +trumpets, inspired Corinne with new feelings--her eyes were filled with +tears--she sat down a moment, and covered her face with her +handkerchief. Oswald, most sensibly affected, quitted the crowd, and +advanced to speak to her, but was withheld by an invincible +embarrassment. Corinne looked at him for some time, taking care +nevertheless, that he should not observe the attention she paid him; but +when the Prince Castel-Forte came to take her hand, in order to conduct +her to the car, she yielded to his politeness with an absent mind; and, +while she permitted him to hand her along, turned her head several +times, under various pretexts, to take another view of Oswald. + +He followed her, and at the moment when she descended the steps +accompanied by her train, she made a retrograde movement, in order to +behold him once more, when her crown fell off. Oswald hastened to pick +it up; and in restoring it to her, said in Italian, that an humble +mortal like himself might venture to place at the feet of a goddess that +crown which he dared not presume to place on her head[6]. Corinne +thanked Lord Nelville in English, with that pure national accent--that +pure insular accent, which has scarcely ever been successfully imitated +on the continent. What was the astonishment of Oswald in hearing her! He +remained at first immovably fixed to the spot where he was, and feeling +confused he leaned against one of the lions of basalt at the foot of +the stairway descending from the Capitol. Corinne viewed him again, +forcibly struck with the emotion he betrayed; but she was dragged away +towards the car, and the whole crowd disappeared long before Oswald had +recovered his strength and his presence of mind. + +Corinne, till then, had enchanted him as the most charming of +foreigners--as one of the wonders of that country he had come to visit; +but her English accent recalled every recollection of his native +country, and in a manner naturalised all the charms of Corinne. Was she +English? Had she passed several years of her life in England? He was +lost in conjecture; but it was impossible that study alone could have +taught her to speak thus--Corinne and Lord Nelville must have lived in +the same country. Who knows whether their families were not intimate? +Perhaps even, he had seen her in his infancy! We often have in our +hearts, we know not what kind of innate image of that which we love, +which may persuade us that we recognise it in an object we behold for +the first time. + +Oswald had cherished many prejudices against the Italians; he believed +them passionate, but changeable, and incapable of any deep and lasting +affection. Already the language of Corinne at the Capitol had inspired +him with a different idea. What would be his fortune, then, if he could +at once revive the recollections of his native country, and receive by +imagination a new existence,--live again for the future without +forgetting the past! + +In the midst of his reveries, Oswald found himself upon the bridge of St +Angelo, which leads to the castle of the same name, or rather to the +tomb of Adrian, which has been converted into a fortress. The silence of +the place, the pale waves of the Tiber, the moon-beams which shed their +mild radiance upon the statues placed on the bridge, and gave to those +statues the appearance of white spectres steadfastly regarding the +current of the waters, and the flight of time which no longer concerned +them; all these objects led him back to his habitual ideas. He put his +hand upon his breast, and felt the portrait of his father which he +always carried there; he untied it, contemplated the features, and the +momentary happiness which he had just experienced, as well as the cause +of that happiness, only recalled, with too severe a remembrance, the +sentiment which had already rendered him so guilty towards his father: +This reflection renewed his remorse. + +"Eternal recollection of my life!" cried he: "Friend so offended, yet so +generous! Could I have believed that any pleasurable sensation would so +soon have found access to my heart? It is not thou, best and most +indulgent of men,--it is not thou who reproachest me with them--it was +thy wish that I should be happy, and, in spite of my errors, that is +still thy desire: but at least, may I not misconceive thy voice, if thou +speak to me from heaven, as I have misconceived it upon earth!" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] Lord Nelville seems to have alluded to this beautiful distich of +Propertius: + + "Ut caput in Magnis ubi non est ponere signis, + Ponitur hic imos ante corona pedes." + + + + +Book iii. + +CORINNE + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The Count d'Erfeuil was present at the ceremony of the Capitol: He came +the next day to Lord Nelville, and said to him, "My dear Oswald, shall I +take you this evening to see Corinne?" "How!" interrupted Oswald; "are +you acquainted with her, then?" "No," replied the Count d'Erfeuil; "but +so celebrated a lady is always flattered when people express a desire to +see her; and I have written to her this morning to request permission to +visit her in the evening accompanied by you." "I could have wished," +replied Oswald blushing, "that you had not named me in this manner +without my consent." "Do not be angry with me," replied the Count +d'Erfeuil, "for having spared you some tiresome formalities: Instead of +going to an ambassador, who would have taken you to a cardinal, who +would have conducted you to a lady, who would have introduced you to +Corinne, I present you--you present me, and we shall both of us be very +well received I have no doubt." + +"I am less confident on that subject than you," replied Lord Nelville, +"and certainly not without reason. I am afraid that this forward request +may have displeased Corinne." "Not at all, I assure you," said the Count +d'Erfeuil; "she has too much good sense for that; and her answer is +extremely polite." "How! she has answered you," replied Lord Nelville; +"and what has she said to you, my dear Count?" "Ah, my dear Count?" +said M. d'Erfeuil, laughing, "you change your note then, since you know +that Corinne has answered me; however, _I love you, and all is +pardoned_. I will confess to you then, modestly, that in my note I had +spoken of myself more than of you, and that, in her answer she seems to +have named you first, but I am never jealous of my friends." "Indeed," +replied Lord Nelville, "I do not think that either you or I have any +reason to flatter ourselves with being agreeable to Corinne; and as to +me, all that I desire is sometimes to enjoy the society of so +extraordinary a lady: so adieu till this evening, since you have +arranged it so." "You will accompany me then?" said the Count d'Erfeuil. +"Well, yes, I will," answered Lord Nelville with visible embarrassment. +"Why then," continued the Count, "find fault with what I have done? You +finish as I have begun, but however, I must allow you the honour of +being more reserved than I, provided you lose nothing by it. Corinne is +certainly a charming lady, she is graceful and witty; I could not +comprehend what she said very well, because she spoke Italian; but I +would venture to lay a wager, from only seeing her, that she knows +French very well: however, we shall judge of that in the evening. She +leads a very singular life; she is rich, young, and independent; yet no +one can tell, to a certainty, whether she has lovers or not. It appears +certain, notwithstanding, that, at present she gives a preference to no +one; indeed," added he, "it may be the case that she has not been able +to find in this country a man worthy of her: that would not astonish me +at all." + +The Count held this kind of discourse some time longer without being +interrupted by Lord Nelville. He said nothing that was discourteous; but +he always wounded the delicate feelings of Oswald by speaking with too +much boldness or too much levity upon what interested him. There is a +certain tact that even wit and knowledge of the world will not teach; so +that, without being wanting in the most perfect politeness, we may often +wound the heart. + +Lord Nelville was very much agitated the whole day in thinking of the +visit he was to make in the evening; but he drove away from him as much +as he could the reflections which disturbed him, and endeavoured to +persuade himself that he might find pleasure in a sentiment, without +permitting it to decide the fate of his life. False security! for the +soul receives no pleasure from anything which it deems transient. + +Oswald and the Count arrived at Corinne's house, which was situated in +the _Quartiere di Trastevere_, a little beyond the castle of St Angelo. + +The view of the Tiber gave an additional embellishment to this house, +which was ornamented, internally, with the most perfect elegance. The +saloon was decorated with copies, in plaster, of the best statues in +Italy--Niobe, Laocoon, Venus de Medicis, and the Dying Gladiator. In the +apartment where Corinne received company were instruments of music, +books, and furniture not more remarkable for its simplicity than for its +convenience, being merely arranged so as to render the conversation +easy, and to draw the circle more closely together. Corinne had not yet +made her appearance when Oswald arrived; while waiting for her he walked +about the apartment with much eager curiosity, remarking in every +particular a happy medley of all that is most agreeable in the English, +French and Italian nations; the love of literature, the taste for +society, and a passion for the fine arts. + +Corinne at length appeared; her costume was still picturesque without +being over-studied. Her hair was ornamented with antique cameos and she +wore a necklace of coral: her politeness was noble and easy: in +beholding her in the familiar circle of her friends, you might discover +in her the goddess of the Capitol, notwithstanding she was perfectly +simple and natural in everything. She first saluted the Count d'Erfeuil, +her eyes fixed upon Oswald; and then, as if she repented this piece of +falsehood, she advanced towards the latter--and it might be remarked +that in addressing him by the title of Lord Nelville, that name seemed +to produce a singular effect upon her, and twice she repeated it with a +faltering voice, as if it recalled some affecting remembrances. + +At length, in the most graceful manner, she thanked Lord Nelville, in +Italian, for his obliging behaviour on the preceding day in picking up +her crown. Oswald answered by expressing the admiration with which she +inspired him, and gently complained of her not speaking to him upon this +occasion in English: "Am I more an alien to you to-day," added he, "than +I was yesterday?" "No certainly," replied Corinne; "but when people +have, like me, for several years, been in the habit of speaking two or +three different languages, they are apt to employ that which will best +convey the sentiments they wish to express." "Surely," said Oswald, +"English is your natural language, that which you speak to your friends, +that--" "I am an Italian," interrupted Corinne--"pardon me, my lord, but +I think I discover in you that national pride which often characterises +your countrymen. In this country we are more modest; we are neither +pleased with ourselves like the French, nor proud of ourselves like the +English: we only ask a little indulgence of foreigners, and as we have +long ceased to be considered a nation, we are guilty of sometimes being +wanting, as individuals, in that dignity which is not allowed us as a +people. But when you are acquainted with the Italians, you will see +that they possess in their character, some traces of ancient greatness, +some rare traces which, though now effaced, may appear again in happier +times. I will speak English to you sometimes, but not always: Italian is +dear to me; for I have endured much," added she, "to reside in Italy." + +The Count d'Erfeuil politely reproached Corinne with having entirely +forgotten him, by expressing herself in languages he did not understand. +"Lovely Corinne," said he to her, "pray talk French; indeed you are +worthy of such an accomplishment." Corinne smiled at this compliment, +and began to speak French, with great purity and much facility, but with +an English accent. Lord Nelville and the Count d'Erfeuil were equally +astonished, but the Count, who believed he might say anything, provided +it was done with grace, and who imagined that impoliteness consisted in +the form, and not the substance, asked directly of Corinne, the reason +of this singularity. She was at first a little discomposed at this +sudden interrogation; but recovering her presence of mind, she said to +the Count--"Apparently, Sir, I have learnt French of an Englishman?" He +renewed his questions smilingly, but with much earnestness. Corinne more +and more embarrassed, said to him at last, "For these four years past, +Sir, since I have settled at Rome, none of my friends, none of those +who, I am sure, are most interested on my account have questioned me +concerning my destiny; they easily perceived that it was painful to me +to speak on the subject." + +Those words put an end to the questions of the Count; but Corinne was +afraid she had offended him, and as he appeared to be very intimately +connected with Lord Nelville, she feared still more, without asking +herself the reason of such fear, that he might speak disadvantageously +of her to his friend; and therefore she set about taking much pains to +please him. + +The Prince Castel-Forte arrived at this moment, with several Romans, +friends of his and of Corinne. They were men of an amiable mind and +lively disposition, very prepossessing in their appearance, and so +easily animated by the conversation of others that it was a great +pleasure to converse with them, so exquisitely did they appear to feel +every thing that was worthy of being felt. The indolence of the Italians +prevents them from displaying in company, or often in any way whatever, +all the wit they possess. The greater part of them do not even cultivate +in retirement, the intellectual faculties that nature has given them; +but they enjoy with transport, that which comes to them without trouble. + +Corinne possessed a very gay turn of wit; she perceived the ridiculous +with the keen sense of a French woman, and coloured it with the +imagination of an Italian; but in every instance it was mingled with +goodness of heart; nothing was ever seen in her, either premeditated or +hostile; for, in every thing, it is coldness that offends--and +imagination on the contrary, is always accompanied with good-nature. + +Oswald discovered a grace in Corinne which was entirely new to him. One +great and terrible circumstance of his life was connected with the +remembrance of a very amiable and intelligent French woman; but Corinne +resembled her in nothing--her conversation was a mixture of every kind +of intellectual endowment, enthusiasm for the fine arts, and knowledge +of the world; refinement of ideas, and depth of sentiment; in short, all +the charms of a vivacious and rapid mind were observable in her, without +her thoughts ever being on that account incomplete, or her reflections +superficial. Oswald was at once surprised and charmed, uneasy and +transported; he was unable to comprehend how one person alone could +combine all the qualifications of Corinne. He asked himself whether the +union of all these qualities was the effect of an inconsistent or a +superior character; whether it was by the force of universal feeling, or +because she forgot every thing successively, that she passed thus, +almost in the same instant, from melancholy to gaiety, from profundity +to grace--from conversation the most astonishing, by the knowledge and +the ideas it displayed, to the coquetry of a woman who seeks to please, +and desires to captivate; but there was, even in that coquetry, such +perfect nobleness that it imposed as much respect as the most severe +reserve. + +The Prince Castel-Forte was very much taken up with Corinne, and the +sentiments of all his party were manifested towards her by attention and +the most delicate and assiduous respect; and the habitual worship with +which they surrounded her, made every day of her life a sort of +festival. Corinne felt herself happy in being thus beloved; but it was +that sort of happiness which we feel in living in a mild climate, +hearing nothing but harmonious sounds, and receiving, in short, nothing +but agreeable impressions. The serious and profound passion of love was +not painted on her countenance, where every emotion of her soul was +expressed by a most bright and mobile physiognomy. Oswald beheld her in +silence; his presence animated Corinne, and inspired her with the desire +of pleasing. However, she sometimes checked herself in those moments +when her conversation was the most brilliant, astonished at the calm +exterior of Oswald, not knowing whether he approved her or blamed her +secretly, or whether his English ideas would permit him to applaud this +display of talents in a woman. + +Oswald was too much captivated by the charms of Corinne, to call to +mind his old opinions upon that obscurity which became women; but he was +inquiring of himself, whether it were possible to be beloved by her; +whether any man could expect to concentrate in himself so many rays of +light. In fact, he was at the same time dazzled and disturbed; and +although, at his departure, she invited him, very politely, to come and +see her again, he suffered a whole day to pass without availing himself +of the invitation, experiencing a sort of terror from the sentiment by +which he felt himself impelled. + +Sometimes he compared this sentiment with the fatal error of the first +moments of his youth, but immediately banished such a comparison from +his mind--for then it was a perfidious art that had overcome him; but +who could doubt the truth of Corinne? Was that peculiar charm she +possessed the effect of magic, or of poetical inspiration? Was she an +Armida, or a Sappho? Was there any hope of captivating so lofty and +brilliant a genius! It was impossible to decide; but at least it was +easily seen, that not society, but heaven itself, could have formed this +extraordinary being, and that her mind could no more be imitated, than +her character feigned. "Oh, my father!" said Oswald, "if you had known +Corinne what would you have thought of her?" + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The Count d'Erfeuil came in the morning, according to custom, to see +Lord Nelville, and reproaching him for not having been to see Corinne +the day before, said, "Had you come, you would have been very happy." +"Why so?" replied Oswald. "Because yesterday I discovered, to a +certainty, that you have greatly interested her." "Still this levity," +interrupted Lord Nelville; "know that I neither can nor will endure it." +"Do you call levity," said the Count, "the promptitude of my +observation? Am I less in the right, because more quickly so? You were +made to live in the happy time of the Patriarchs, when the age of man +was five centuries; but mind, I give you notice that four of them at +least are lopped off in our days." "Be it so," answered Oswald, "and +what discovery have you made by these rapid observations?"--"That +Corinne loves you. Yesterday, when I arrived at her house, she received +me very kindly, to be sure; but her eyes were fixed on the door, to see +whether you followed me. She tried for a moment to talk of something +else; but as she is a lady of a very ingenuous and natural disposition, +she asked me, quite frankly, why you had not come with me? I blamed you +very much; I said that you were a very odd, gloomy sort of creature; but +you will excuse my relating all that I said over and above in your +praise." + +"'He is very sad,' said Corinne; 'he must certainly have lost some one +very dear to him. Whom is he in mourning for?' 'His father, Madam,' said +I; 'though it is more than a year since he lost him; and as the law of +nature obliges us all to survive our parents, I imagine there is some +other secret cause for so long and deep a melancholy.' 'Oh!' replied +Corinne, 'I am very far from thinking that griefs, similar in +appearance, are felt alike by all men. I am very much tempted to believe +that the father of your friend, and your friend himself, are exceptions +from the general rule.' Her voice was very tender, my dear Oswald, when +she said these words." "Are these," replied Oswald, "your proofs of that +interest you spoke of?" "In truth," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "these +are quite enough, according to my way of thinking, to convince a man +that he is beloved by a lady; but since you wish for better, you shall +have them; I have reserved the strongest for the last. Prince +Castel-Forte arrived, and related your adventure at Ancona, without +knowing that he was speaking of you: he related it with much fire and +imagination, as well as I could judge from the two lessons of Italian I +have taken; but there are so many French words in the foreign languages, +that we comprehend them, almost all, without even knowing them. Besides, +the countenance of Corinne would have explained to me what I did not +understand. One might read in it so visibly the agitation of her heart! +She did not breathe, for fear of losing a single word; and when she +asked if he knew the name of this generous and intrepid Englishman, such +was her anxiety, that it was easy to judge how much she dreaded to hear +pronounced any other name than yours. + +"Prince Castel-Forte said he did not know the gentleman's name; and +Corinne, turning quickly towards me, cried, 'Is it not true, Sir, that +it was Lord Nelville?' 'Yes, Madam,' answered I, 'it was he, himself;' +and Corinne then melted in tears. She had not wept during the story; +what was there then more affecting in the name of the hero than in the +recital itself?" "She wept!" cried Nelville, "Ah!--why was I not there?" +Then, checking himself all of a sudden, he cast down his eyes, and his +manly countenance was expressive of the most delicate timidity: he +hastened to resume the conversation, for fear that the Count might +disturb his secret joy by observing it. "If the adventure of Ancona +deserves to be related," said Oswald, "'tis to you, also, my dear Count, +that the honour of it belongs." "It is true," answered d'Erfeuil, +laughing, "that they mentioned an amiable Frenchman, who was along with +you, my lord; but no one save myself paid attention to this parenthesis +in the narration. The lovely Corinne prefers you; she believes you, +without doubt, the more faithful of the two: perhaps she may be +mistaken; you may even cause her more grief than I should; but women are +fond of pain, provided it is a little romantic; so you will suit her." + +Lord Nelville suffered from every word of the Count, but what could he +say to him? He never argued; he never listened attentively enough to +change his opinion; his words, once uttered, gave him no farther +concern, and the best way was to forget them, if possible, as soon as he +himself did. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Oswald arrived in the evening at Corinne's, with a sentiment entirely +new; he thought that he was expected. What enchantment there is in that +first gleam of intercourse with the object of our love!--before +remembrance enters into partnership with hope--before words have +expressed our sentiments,--before eloquence has painted what we feel, +there is in these first moments, something so indefinite, a mystery of +the imagination, more fleeting than happiness, it must be owned, but +also more celestial. + +Oswald, on entering the apartment of Corinne, felt more timid than ever. +He saw that she was alone, and that circumstance almost gave him pain: +he could have wished to see her longer in the midst of society; he could +have wished to be convinced, in some manner, of her preference, instead +of finding himself all of a sudden engaged in a conversation which might +make Corinne cool towards him, if, as was certain, he should appear +embarrassed, and cold in consequence of that embarrassment. + +Whether Corinne perceived this disposition of Oswald, or whether it was +that a similar disposition produced in her a desire to animate the +conversation in order to remove restraint, she asked his Lordship +whether he had seen any of the monuments of Rome. "No," answered Oswald. +"What did you do with yourself yesterday, then?" replied Corinne +smiling. "I passed the whole day at home," said Oswald. "Since I have +been at Rome, Madam, my time has been divided between solitude and you." +Corinne wished to introduce the subject of his behaviour at Ancona; she +began by these words: "Yesterday I learnt--" then she stopped and said, +"I will speak to you of that when the company comes." There was a +dignity in the manners of Lord Nelville that intimidated Corinne; and, +besides, she feared, lest in reminding him of his noble conduct, she +should betray too much emotion; conceiving that emotion would be less +when they were no longer alone. Oswald was deeply touched with the +reserve of Corinne, and the frankness with which she testified, without +thinking, the motives of that reserve; but the more he was affected the +less was he able to express what he felt. + +He arose all of a sudden, and advanced towards the window; then he felt +that Corinne would be unable to explain the meaning of this movement, +and more disconcerted than ever, he returned to his place without saying +anything. There was in the conversation of Corinne more confidence than +in that of Oswald; nevertheless, she partook of the embarrassment which +he exhibited; and in her absence of mind, seeking to recover her +countenance, she placed her fingers upon the harp which was standing by +her side, and struck some chords, without connection or design. These +harmonious sounds, by increasing the emotion of Oswald, seemed to +inspire him with more boldness. He could now look at Corinne, and who +but must have been struck, in beholding her, with that divine +inspiration which was painted in her eyes! Encouraged at the same moment +by that mild expression which veiled the majesty of her looks, he would +then perhaps have spoken, but was prevented by the entrance of Prince +Castel-Forte. + +It was not without pain that he beheld Nelville _tete-a-tete_ with +Corinne, but he was accustomed to dissimulate his feelings. This habit, +which is often found in the Italians united with great vehemence of +sensation, was in him rather the result of indolence and of natural +gentleness. He was content not to be the first object of Corinne's +affections; he was no longer young; he possessed great intelligence, +considerable taste for the arts, an imagination sufficiently animated to +diversify life without disturbing it, and such a desire to pass all his +evenings with Corinne, that if she were to be married he would conjure +her husband to let him come every day, to see her as usual, and upon +this condition he would not have been very unhappy at seeing her united +to another. The grief of the heart is not found in Italy complicated +with the sufferings of vanity, so that we find there, men either +passionate enough to stab their rival through jealousy, or men modest +enough to take willingly the second rank in the favour of a lady whose +conversation is agreeable to them; but rarely will be found any who for +fear of being thought despised, would refuse to preserve any sort of +connection which they found pleasing. The empire of society over +self-esteem is almost null in this country. + +The Count d'Erfeuil and the company that met every evening at Corinne's +house being assembled, the conversation turned upon the talent for +improvisation which their heroine had so gloriously displayed at the +Capitol, and they went so far as to ask her own opinion of it. "It is +something so rare," said Prince Castel-Forte, "to find any one at once +susceptible of enthusiasm and of analysis, gifted as an artist and +capable of observing herself, that we must intreat her to reveal to us +the secrets of her genius." "The talent for improvisation," replied +Corinne, "is not more extraordinary in the languages of the south, than +the eloquence of the tribune, or the brilliant vivacity of conversation +in other tongues. I will even say that, unfortunately it is with us more +easy to make verses _impromptu_ than to speak well in prose. The +language of poetry is so different from that of prose, that from the +first verses the attention is commanded by the expressions themselves, +which, if I may so express it, place the poet at a distance from his +auditors. It is not only to the softness of the Italian language, but +much more to its strong and pronounced vibration of sonorous syllables, +that we must attribute the empire of poetry amongst us. There is a kind +of musical charm in Italian, by which the bare sound of words, almost +independently of the ideas, produces pleasure; besides, these words have +almost all something picturesque in them; they paint what they express. +You feel that it is in the midst of the arts, and under an auspicious +sky that this melodious, and highly-coloured language has been formed. +It is therefore more easy in Italy than any where else, to seduce with +words, without profundity of thought or novelty of imagery. Poetry, like +all the fine arts, captivates the senses, as much as the intellect. I +dare venture to say, however, that I have never improvised without +feeling myself animated by some real emotion, some idea which I believed +new, therefore I hope that I have trusted less than others to our +bewitching language. It is possible, if I may say so, to prelude at +random, and convey a lively pleasure by the charm of rhythm and of +harmony alone." + +"You believe then," interrupted one of the friends of Corinne, "that the +talent for improvisation injures our literature; I thought so once +myself, but hearing you, madam, has made me entirely alter that +opinion." "I have said," replied Corinne, "that there resulted from this +facility, this literary abundance, a quantity of inferior poetry; but I +am as pleased with this fecundity, which exists in Italy, as I am with +seeing our fields covered with a thousand superfluous products. This +liberality of nature makes me proud. I am particularly pleased with the +improvisations of the lower classes of the people; it discovers their +imagination to us, which is concealed everywhere else, and is only +developed amongst us. They give a poetical character to the lowest +orders of society, and spare us the contempt which we cannot help +feeling for every thing that is vulgar. When our Sicilians, conveying +travellers in their vessels, so delicately and politely felicitate them +in their pleasing dialect, and wish them in verse a sweet and long +adieu, one would say the pure breeze of heaven and of the sea produces +the same effect upon the imagination of men as the wind on the AEolian +harp, and that poetry, like the chords of that instrument, is the echo +of nature. One thing makes me attach an additional value to our talent +for improvisation, and that is, that it would be almost impossible in a +society disposed to mockery. It requires the good humour of the south, +or rather of those countries where people love to amuse themselves +without taking pleasure in criticising that which affords them +amusement, to encourage poets to venture on so perilous an enterprise. +One jeering smile would be sufficient to destroy that presence of mind +necessary for a sudden and uninterrupted composition: your audience must +become animated with you, and inspire you with their applause." + +"But madam," said Oswald at last, who till then had kept silence without +having for a moment ceased to behold Corinne, "to which of your poetical +talents do you yourself give the preference? To the work of inflection, +or of momentary inspiration?" "My lord," answered Corinne, with a look +that expressed the highest interest and the most delicate sentiment of +respectful consideration, "it is you that I would wish to make the judge +of that; but if you ask me to examine my own thoughts upon this subject, +I would say that improvisation is to me as an animated conversation. I +do not confine myself to any particular subject, I yield entirely to the +impression produced on me by the attention of my hearers, and it is to +my friends, in this instance, that I owe the greatest part of my talent. +Sometimes the impassioned interest with which I am inspired by a +conversation in which we have spoken of some great and noble question +that relates to the moral existence of man, his destiny, his end, his +duties and his affections; sometimes this interest elevates me above my +strength, makes me discover in nature, in my own heart, bold truths, +expressions full of life, that solitary reflection would not have given +birth to. I then believe myself acted upon by a supernatural enthusiasm, +and feel that what is speaking within me is greater than myself. Often I +quit the rhythm of poetry to express my thoughts in prose; sometimes I +quote the finest verses of the different languages I am acquainted with. +These divine verses, with which my soul is penetrated, have become my +own. Sometimes also I finish upon my lyre by chords, by simple and +national airs, the sentiments and thoughts which have escaped me in +speaking. In a word, I feel myself a poet, not only when a happy choice +of rhymes and harmonious syllables, or a happy combination of images +dazzles my auditors, but when my soul is elevated to the highest degree +and looks down with contempt upon every thing that is selfish and base: +in short, when a noble action appears most easy to me, it is then that +my poetry is in its greatest perfection. I am a poet when I admire, when +I despise, when I hate, not from personal feeling, not on my own +account, but for the dignity of human nature and the glory of the +world." + +Corinne then perceiving how the conversation had carried her away, +blushed a little, and turning towards Lord Nelville said to him, "you +see, my lord, I cannot touch upon any of those subjects that affect me +without experiencing that sort of shock which is the source of ideal +beauty in the arts, of religion in solitary minds, of generosity in +heroes, and of disinterestedness among men. Pardon me, my lord, although +such a woman resemble but little those whom your nation approves." "Who +could resemble you?" replied Lord Nelville; "can we make laws for one +who is without her like?" + +The Count d'Erfeuil was absolutely enchanted, notwithstanding he had not +understood all that Corinne had said; but her gestures, the sound of her +voice, and her pronunciation, charmed him.--It was the first time that +any grace which was not French had produced an effect upon him. But +indeed the great celebrity of Corinne at Rome put him a little in the +way of what he should think of her, and in his admiration of this +extraordinary lady he did not drop the good custom of letting himself be +guided by the opinion of others. + +He quitted Corinne's house along with Lord Nelville, and said to him on +their way home, "allow, my dear Oswald, that I may lay claim to some +merit for not having paid my court to so charming a lady." "But," +observed Nelville, "it seems, according to general opinion, that she is +not easy to please in that respect." "It is said so," replied the Count, +"but I can hardly believe it. A single woman of independent means who +leads nearly the life of an artist ought not to be so difficult to +captivate." Lord Nelville was wounded by this reflection. The Count, +whether he did not perceive it, or whether he wished to pursue the train +of his own ideas, continued thus: + +"I do not mean to say, however, that if I entertained much faith in a +lady's virtue, I might not as readily believe in that of Corinne as in +that of any other. She has certainly a thousand times more expression in +her look, and vivacity in her arguments than would be necessary in your +country, or even in ours, to excite suspicion of the rigidness of a +lady's virtue; but she is a person of so superior a mind, such profound +knowledge, and such fine tact, that the ordinary rules by which we judge +a woman cannot apply to her. In fact, would you believe it, +notwithstanding the openness of her disposition, and the freedom of her +conversation, she really imposes reserve upon me. It was my wish, +yesterday, with all due respect to her predilection for you, to say a +few words, at random, upon my own account: they were words that take +their chance; if they are heard, well and good; if not, well and good +still; and do you know Corinne gave me such cold looks that I was quite +disconcerted. It is, however, singular that one should feel any timidity +in the company of an Italian, a poet, an artist, every thing, in short, +that ought to produce quite a contrary effect." "Her name is unknown," +observed Nelville, "but her manners would make one believe that her +birth is illustrious." "Ah! it is in romances," said the Count, "that we +see the finest part of a character concealed, but in real life people +are more disposed to exhibit all that is most honourable in their life, +and even a little more than all." "Yes," interrupted Oswald, "in some +societies where people think of nothing but the effect they can produce +upon one another; but in one whose existence is internal there may be +mysteries in circumstances, as there are secrets in thought, and he only +who would espouse Corinne might be able to know them." "Espouse +Corinne!" interrupted the Count, bursting out laughing, "truly that idea +never occurred to me! Take my advice, my dear Nelville, if you wish to +do foolish things let them be such as will admit of reparation; but as +for marriage, you must always consider propriety. I appear frivolous in +your eyes, nevertheless I wager that in the conduct of life I shall be +more reasonable than you." "I believe so too," answered Lord Nelville, +and said not another word. + +In effect, he might have told the Count d'Erfeuil that there is often a +great deal of egotism in frivolity, and that such egotism can never +betray people into those errors of sentiment in which we always +sacrifice our own personal considerations to those of others! Frivolous +characters are very likely to acquire address in the pursuit of their +own interests; for in all that is called the political science of +private, as well as of public life, people succeed oftener by those +qualities which they have not than by those which they possess. Absence +of enthusiasm, absence of opinion, absence of sensibility, a little +understanding, combined with this negative treasure, and social life, +that is to say, fortune and rank, may be acquired or supported well +enough. The pleasantries of the Count however pained Lord Nelville; he +blamed them, but nevertheless they continually occupied his thoughts. + + + + +Book iv. + +ROME. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +A fortnight passed away, during which Lord Nelville dedicated himself +entirely to the society of Corinne. He quitted his lodgings but to go +and visit her--he saw nothing--he sought nothing but her; and, without +ever mentioning his passion, he made her sensible of it at every moment +of the day. She was accustomed to the lively and flattering homage of +the Italians; but Oswald's dignity of manners, his apparent coldness, +and the sensibility which he betrayed in spite of himself, produced a +more powerful effect upon her imagination.--Never did he relate a +generous action, never did he speak of a misfortune, without his eyes +being filled with tears; but he always endeavoured to conceal his +emotion. He inspired Corinne with a sentiment of respect such as she had +not felt for a long time before. No wit, however sparkling, could dazzle +her; but she was deeply interested by elevation and dignity of +character. Lord Nelville joined to these qualities, a nobleness in his +expressions, an elegance in the least actions of his life, which formed +a striking contrast to the negligence and familiarity of the greater +part of the Roman nobility. + +Though the tastes of Oswald were in some respects different from those +of Corinne, they mutually understood each other in a most wonderful +manner. Nelville conjectured the impressions of Corinne with perfect +sagacity, and Corinne discovered, in the slightest alteration of +Nelville's countenance, what passed in his mind. Accustomed to the +stormy demonstrations of passion that characterise the Italians, this +timid but proud attachment, this passion, incessantly proved, but never +avowed, spread a new charm over her existence: she felt as if encircled +with a calmer and purer atmosphere, and every instant of the day +inspired her with a sentiment of happiness which she loved to enjoy +without accounting for it. + +One morning Prince Castel-Forte visited her--he appeared sorrowful--she +asked him the cause of his sorrow. "This Scotsman," said he to her, "is +about to deprive us of your affections; and who knows even, whether he +will not rob us of you entirely?" Corinne was silent for some moments, +and then answered, "I assure you he has not even once told me that he +loved me." "You are, notwithstanding, convinced of it," answered Prince +Castel-Forte; "his conduct is sufficiently eloquent, and even his +silence is a powerful means of interesting you.--What can language +express that you have not heard? What kind of praise is there that has +not been offered you? What species of homage is there that you are not +accustomed to receive? But there is something concealed in the character +of Lord Nelville which will never allow you to know him entirely as you +know us. There is no person in the world whose character is more easy +than yours to become acquainted with; but it is precisely because you +shew yourself without disguise that mystery and reserve have a pleasing +ascendancy over you. That which is unknown, be it what it may, +influences you more strongly than all the sentiments which are +manifested to you." Corinne smiled; "You believe then, my dear Prince," +said she, "that my heart is ungrateful, and my imagination capricious. +Methinks however that Lord Nelville possesses and displays qualities +sufficiently remarkable to render it impossible that I can flatter +myself with having discovered them." "He is, I agree," answered Prince +Castel-Forte, "proud, generous and intelligent; with much sensibility +too, and particularly melancholy; but I am very much deceived, or there +is not the least sympathy of taste between you. You do not perceive it +while he is under the charm of your presence, but your empire over him +would not hold if he were absent from you. Obstacles would fatigue him; +his soul has contracted by the grief which he has experienced, a kind of +discouragement, which must destroy the energy of his resolutions; and +you know, besides, how much the English in general are enslaved to the +manners and habits of their country." + +At these words Corinne was silent and sighed. Painful reflections on the +first events of her life were retraced in her mind; but in the evening +she saw Oswald again, more her slave than ever; and all that remained in +her mind of the conversation of Prince Castel-Forte was the desire of +fixing Lord Nelville in Italy by making him enamoured of the beauties of +every kind with which that country abounds. It was with this intention +that she wrote to him the following letter. The freedom of the life +which is led in Rome excused this proceeding, and Corinne in particular, +though she might be reproached with too much openness and enthusiasm, +knew how to preserve dignity with independence, and modesty with +vivacity. + + _Corinne to Lord Nelville_. + _Dec. 15th, 1794._ + +"I do not know, my lord, whether you will think me too confident in +myself, or whether you will do justice to the motives which may excuse +that confidence. Yesterday I heard you say that you had not yet seen +Rome, that you were neither acquainted with the masterpieces of our fine +arts, nor those ancient ruins which teach us history by imagination and +sentiment, and I have conceived the idea of presuming to offer myself as +your guide in this journey through a course of centuries. + +"Without doubt, Rome could easily present a great number of scholars +whose profound erudition might be much more useful to you, but if I can +succeed in inspiring you with a love for this retreat, towards which I +have always felt myself so imperiously attracted, your own studies will +finish the rude draft which I shall have begun. + +"Many foreigners come to Rome as they would go to London or to Paris, to +seek the dissipation of a great city; and if they dared confess they +were bored at Rome, I believe the greater part would confess it; but it +is equally true that here may be found a charm that never tires. Will +you pardon me, my lord, a wish that this charm were known to you. + +"It is true that here you must forget all the political interests in the +world, but when these interests are not united to sacred sentiments and +duties they chill the heart. Here too you must renounce what would be +called the pleasures of society, but these pleasures almost invariably +wither up the imagination. In Rome you may enjoy an existence at once +solitary and animated, which freely develops all that Heaven has +implanted in us. I repeat it, my lord; pardon this love of my country, +which begets a desire to make it beloved by such a man as you; and do +not judge, with the severity of an Englishman, those testimonies of +good-will which an Italian hopes she may give you without sinking either +in her own estimation or in yours. + + CORRINE." + + +In vain would Oswald have endeavoured to conceal the exquisite pleasure +he received from this letter; he caught a glimpse of a confused future +of enjoyment and happiness: imagination, love, enthusiasm, all that is +divine in the soul of man, appeared to him united with the project of +seeing Rome with Corinne. For, this time he did not reflect; this time +he set out the very instant to visit Corinne, and by the way he +contemplated the sky, he enjoyed the charm of the weather, life sat +lightly on him. His griefs and his fears were lost in the clouds of +hope; his heart, so long oppressed by sadness, palpitated and leaped +with joy; he feared, it is true, that so happy a disposition of mind +might not last; but the very idea that it was fleeting gave to this +fever of enjoyment more force and activity. + +"What, are you come already?" said Corinne, seeing Lord Nelville enter; +"Ah, thanks!" and she stretched forth her hand. Oswald seized it, and +imprinted his lips on it with the warmest tenderness; nor did he suffer +now that timidity which often mingled itself with his most agreeable +impressions, and caused him sometimes to endure, in the company of those +he loved best, the most bitter and painful feelings. The intimacy had +commenced between Oswald and Corinne since they had parted; it was the +letter of Corinne which had established it: they were satisfied with +each other, and mutually felt the most tender gratitude. + +"This morning then," said Corinne, "I will shew you the Pantheon and St +Peter's: I had, indeed, some hope," added she smiling, "that you would +accept my offer to make the tour of Rome with you, so my horses are +ready. I have expected you; you have arrived; 'tis very well, let us set +out." "Astonishing woman!" said Oswald; "Who then, art thou? Whence hast +thou derived so many opposite charms, which it would seem ought to +exclude each other;--sensibility, gaiety, profound reflection, external +grace, freedom, and modesty? Art thou an illusion? art thou some +supernatural blessing, destined to make happy the life of him who is +fortunate enough to meet with thee?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "if I have +it in my power to do you any service you must not think I will ever give +up the merit of it." "Take care," said Oswald, seizing Corinne's hand +with emotion; "take care what service it is you are about to render me. +For these two years the iron hand of affliction has closed up my heart; +if your sweet presence has afforded me relief; if, while with you, I +breathe again, what will become of me when once more abandoned to my +destiny?--What will become of me?" "Let us leave to time and to chance," +interrupted Corinne, "to decide whether this impression of a day, which +I have produced upon you, will be longer than a day in its duration. If +there be a mutual sympathy between our souls, our mutual affection will +not be transient. Be that as it may, let us go and admire together all +that can elevate our mind and our sentiments; we shall thus taste some +moments of happiness." + +In finishing these words Corinne went down stairs, and Nelville followed +her, astonished at her answer. It seemed to him that she admitted the +possibility of a half sentiment,--a momentary attraction. In short, he +thought he perceived something like levity in the manner in which she +had expressed herself, and he was hurt at it. + +He placed himself, without saying a word, in Corinne's carriage; who, +guessing his thoughts, said to him, "I do not believe that the heart of +man is so formed that he must always feel either no love at all or the +most invincible passion. There are beginnings of sentiment which a more +profound examination may dissipate. We flatter and then undeceive +ourselves, and even the enthusiasm of which we are susceptible, if it +renders the enchantment more rapid, may also cause coldness to succeed +the more quickly." "You have, then, reflected deeply on the tender +passion," said Oswald with bitterness. Corinne blushed at this word, and +was silent for some moments; then resuming the conversation, with a +striking mixture of frankness and dignity, "I do not believe," said she, +"that a woman of sensibility has ever arrived at the age of twenty-six +years, without having known the illusion of love; but if never having +been happy, if never having met the object who could merit all the +affections of my heart, be any claim to interest in the bosom of man, I +have a claim to yours." These words, and the accent with which Corinne +pronounced them, dissipated a little, the cloud which had spread over +the soul of Lord Nelville; nevertheless he said to himself: "She is the +most fascinating of women, but an Italian; and hers is not that timid, +innocent heart, to herself unknown, which the young English lady that my +father destined for me must possess." + +The name of this young English lady was Lucilia Edgermond, daughter to +the best friend of Lord Nelville's father; but she was too young when +Oswald quitted England for him to marry her, or even foresee, with +certainty, what she would one day become. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Oswald and Corinne went first to the Pantheon, which is now called _St +Mary of the Rotunda_. In every part of Italy Catholicism has inherited +something of Paganism, but the Pantheon is the only ancient Temple of +Rome which is preserved entire, the only one where may be remarked in +its _ensemble_ the beauty of the architecture of the ancients, and the +particular character of their worship. Oswald and Corinne stopped in the +square of the Pantheon to admire the portico of this Temple and the +pillars that support it. + +Corinne made Nelville observe that the Pantheon was constructed in such +a manner as to appear greater than it was. "The church of St Peter," +said she, "will produce quite a different effect upon you; you will +believe it at first less stupendous than it is in reality. This +illusion, so favourable to the Pantheon, comes, as I am assured, from +there being more space between the pillars, and the air playing freely +around it; but principally from your not perceiving any of that detailed +ornament with which St Peter's is overladen. It is thus that the ancient +poets only designed large masses, and left the imagination of the hearer +to fill up the intervals, and supply the developments; but we moderns in +all things say too much." + +"This Temple," continued Corinne, "was consecrated by Agrippa, the +favourite of Augustus, to his friend, or rather to his master. However, +the master had the modesty to refuse the dedication of the Temple, and +Agrippa was obliged to dedicate it to all the gods in Olympus, in order +to take the place of Power, the god of the earth. There was a car of +bronze on the top of the Pantheon, on which were placed the statues of +Augustus and of Agrippa. On each side of the portico these same statues +were placed in another form, and on the pediment of the Temple is still +to be read: '_Consecrated by Agrippa_.' Augustus gave his name to the +age in which he lived because he made that age an epoch of the human +mind. The masterpieces of every kind produced by his contemporaries form +the rays of glory that encircle his head. He knew how to honour the men +of genius who cultivated letters, and he has found his recompense in +posterity." + +"Let us enter the temple," said Corinne. "You see it remains uncovered, +almost the same as it was formerly. They say that this light, proceeding +from the top, was the emblem of that God who was superior to all the +other deities. The Pagans have always been fond of symbolic images. It +seems, in effect, that this language is more fitting than speech to +religion. The rain often falls upon this marble court, but the rays of +the sun also enter to enlighten devotion. What serenity! What an air of +festivity is remarkable in this edifice! The Pagans have deified life, +and the Christians have deified death. Such is the spirit of the two +worships, but the Roman Catholic religion here, however, is less sombre +than in the northern countries. You will observe it when we visit St +Peter's. Inside the sanctuary of the Pantheon are the busts of our most +celebrated artists, they adorn the niches where were placed the gods of +the ancients.--As, since the destruction of the empire of the Caesars, we +have hardly ever had political independence in Italy, you do not find +here either statesmen or great commanders. It is the genius of +imagination which constitutes our own glory; but do you not think, my +lord, that a people who honour talents in this manner ought to merit a +nobler fate?" "I am very severe towards nations," answered Oswald; "I +always believe that they deserve their fate let it be what it may." +"That is hard," replied Corinne; "perhaps after a longer residence in +Italy you will experience a sentiment of compassion towards this unhappy +country, which nature seems to have decorated as a victim; but, at +least, you will remember that the dearest hope of us artists, of us +lovers of glory, is to obtain a place here. I have already fixed upon +mine," said she pointing to a niche still vacant. "Oswald! who knows +whether you will not come again to this same enclosure when my bust +shall be placed there? Then--" + +Oswald interrupted her quickly and said, "In the shining splendour of +youth and beauty can you talk thus to one whom misfortune and suffering +have already bent towards the grave?" "Ah!" replied Corinne, "the storm +may in a moment snap asunder those flowers that now have their heads +upreared in life and bloom. Oswald, dear Oswald!" added she; "why should +you not be happy? Why--" "Never interrogate me," replied Lord Nelville, +"you have your secrets--I have mine, let us mutually respect each +other's silence. No--you know not what emotion I should feel were I +obliged to relate my misfortunes." Corinne was silent, and her steps in +leaving the temple were slower, and her looks more thoughtful. + +She stopped beneath the portico:--"There," said she to Lord Nelville, +"was a most beautiful urn of porphyry, now transferred to St John of +Lateran; it contained the ashes of Agrippa, which were placed at the +foot of the statue that he had raised to himself. The ancients took so +much care to soften the idea of dissolution that they knew how to strip +it of every thing that was doleful and repulsive. There was, besides, so +much magnificence in their tombs that the contrast was less felt between +the blank of death and the splendours of life. It is true that the hope +of another world being less vivid among the Pagans than amongst +Christians, they endeavoured to dispute with death the future +remembrance which we place, without fear, in the bosom of the Eternal." + +Oswald sighed and was silent. Melancholy ideas have many charms when we +have not been ourselves deeply wretched, but when grief in all its +asperity has seized upon the soul, we no longer hear without shuddering +certain words which formerly only excited in us reveries more or less +pleasing. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +On the way to St Peter's the bridge of St Angelo is passed, and Corinne +and Lord Nelville crossed it on foot. "It was on this bridge," said +Oswald, "that, in returning from the Capitol, I for the first time +thought deeply of you." "I did not flatter myself," replied Corinne, +"that the coronation at the Capitol would have procured me a friend, but +however, in the pursuit of fame it was always my endeavour to make +myself beloved.--What would fame be to woman without such a hope?" "Let +us stop here a few minutes," said Oswald. "What remembrance of past ages +can produce such welcome recollections as this spot, which brings to +mind the day when first I saw you." "I know not whether I deceive +myself," replied Corinne; "but it seems to me that we become more dear +to one another in admiring together those monuments which speak to the +soul by true grandeur. The edifices of Rome are neither cold nor dumb, +they have been conceived by genius, and consecrated by memorable events. +Perhaps, Oswald, it is even necessary that we should be enamoured of +such a character as yours, in order to derive such pleasure from feeling +with you all that is noble and fine in the universe." "Yes," replied +Lord Nelville; "but in beholding you, and listening to your +observations, I feel no want of other wonders." Corinne thanked him in a +bewitching smile. + +On their way to St Peter's they stopped before the castle of St Angelo. +"There," said Corinne, "is one of those edifices whose exterior is most +original; this is the tomb of Adrian, which, changed into a fortress by +the Goths, bears the double character of its first and second +destination. Built for the dead, an impenetrable enclosure surrounds it; +and, nevertheless, the living have added something hostile to it by the +external fortifications, which form a contrast with the silence and +noble inutility of a funereal monument. On the top is seen an angel of +bronze with a naked sword[7], and in the interior the most cruel prisons +are contrived. Every event of Roman history, from Adrian to our time, is +connected with this monument. It was here that Belisarius defended +himself against the Goths, and, almost as barbarous as they who attacked +him, threw at his enemy the beautiful statues that adorned the interior +of the edifice[8]. Crescentius, Arnault de Brescia, Nicolas Rienzi, +those friends of Roman liberty who so often mistook memories for hopes, +defended themselves for a long time in this imperial tomb. I love these +stones which are connected with so many illustrious facts. I love this +luxury of the master of the world--a magnificent tomb. There is +something great in the man who, possessing every enjoyment, every +terrestrial pomp, is not dismayed from making preparations for his death +a long time before hand. Moral ideas and disinterested sentiments fill +the soul when it in a manner breaks through the boundaries of mortality. + +"It is from here that we ought to perceive St Peter's. The pillars +before it were to extend as far as here:--such was the superb plan of +Michael Angelo; he expected, at least, that it would be so finished +after his death; but the men of our days no longer think of posterity. +When once enthusiasm has been turned into ridicule every thing except +money and power is destroyed." "It is you who will revive that +sentiment," cried Lord Nelville. "Who ever experienced the happiness I +enjoy? Rome shewn by you, Rome interpreted by imagination and genius, +_Rome, that is a world animated by sentiment, without which the world +itself is a desert_[9]. Ah, Corinne! what will succeed to these days, +more happy than my heart and my fate permit!" Corinne answered him with +sweetness: "All sincere affections proceed from heaven, Oswald! Why +should it not protect what it inspires? To that Power belongs our fate." + +At that moment St Peter's appeared to them, the greatest building that +man has ever raised; for the pyramids of Egypt themselves are inferior +to it in height. "Perhaps," said Corinne, "I ought to have shewn you the +finest of our buildings last, but that is not my system. It is my +opinion that to beget a sensibility for the fine arts, we must begin by +beholding objects that inspire a deep and lively admiration. This +sentiment once felt, reveals, if I may so express myself, a new sphere +of ideas, and renders us afterwards more capable of loving, and of +judging, what even in an inferior order recalls the first impression we +have received. All those gradations, those prudent methods, one tint +after another, to prepare for great effects, are not to my taste; we +cannot arrive at the sublime by degrees; infinite distances separate it +even from that which is only beautiful." Oswald felt an altogether +extraordinary emotion on arriving opposite St Peter's. It was the first +time that the work of man had produced upon him the same effect as one +of the wonders of nature. This is the only work of art, now on our +earth, possessing that kind of grandeur which characterises the +immediate works of the creation. Corinne enjoyed the astonishment of +Oswald. "I have chosen," said she, "a day when the sun is in all its +lustre, to shew you this edifice. I have in reserve for you a still more +exquisite, more religious pleasure, when you shall contemplate it by +moonlight: but you must first witness the most brilliant intellectual +feast--the genius of man adorned with the magnificence of nature." + +The square of St Peter is surrounded by pillars--those at a distance of +a light, and those near of a massive structure. The ground, which is +upon a gentle ascent up to the portico of the church, still adds to the +effect which it produces. An obelisk, 80 feet high, stands in the middle +of the square, but its height appears as nothing in presence of the +cupola of St Peter's. The form of an obelisk alone has something in it +that pleases the imagination; its summit is lost in the air, and seems +to lift the mind of man to heaven. This monument, which was constructed +in Egypt to adorn the baths of Caligula, and which Sixtus Quintus caused +to be transported to the foot of the temple of St Peter, this +cotemporary of so many centuries, which have spent their fury upon it in +vain, inspires us with a sentiment of respect; man, sensible of his own +fleeting existence, cannot contemplate without emotion that which +appears to be immutable. At some distance on each side of the obelisk +are two fountains, whose waters form a perpetual and abundant cascade. +This murmuring of waters, which we are accustomed to hear in the open +country, produces, in this enclosure, an entirely new sensation; but +this sensation is quite in harmony with that to which the aspect of a +majestic temple gives birth. + +Painting and sculpture, imitating generally the human figure or some +object existing in nature, awaken in our soul perfectly clear and +positive ideas; but a beautiful architectural monument has not any +determinate meaning, if it may be so expressed, so that we are seized, +in contemplating it, with that kind of aimless reverie, which leads us +into a boundless ocean of thought. The sound of fountains harmonises +with all these vague and deep impressions; it is uniform as the edifice +is regular. + + "Eternal motion, and eternal rest," + +are thus blended with each other. It is particularly in a spot like this +that Time seems stript of his power, for he appears no more able to dry +up the fountains than to shake these immovable stones. The waters, which +spout in sheaves from these fountains, are so light and cloudlike that +on a fine day the rays of the sun produce on them little rainbows, +formed of the most beautiful colours. + +"Stop here a moment," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, when they had +already reached the portico of the church; "stop a little before you +lift up the curtain which covers the door of the temple. Does not your +heart beat as you approach this sanctuary? And do not you feel at the +moment of entrance all that excites expectation of a solemn event?" +Corinne herself lifted up the curtain and held it to let Nelville pass; +she displayed so much grace in this attitude that the first look of +Oswald was to admire her as she stood, and for some moments she +engrossed his whole observation. However, he proceeded into the temple, +and the impression which he received beneath these immense arches was so +deep, and so solemn, that love itself was no longer able to fill his +soul entirely. He walked slowly by the side of Corinne, both preserving +silence. Indeed here every thing seemed to command silence; the least +noise re-echoes to such a distance that no language seems worthy of +being repeated in an abode which may almost be called eternal! Prayer +alone, the voice of calamity, produces a powerful emotion in these vast +regions; and when beneath these immense domes you hear some old man +dragging his feeble steps along the polished marble, watered with so +many tears, you feel that man is imposing even by the infirmity of his +nature which subjects his divine soul to so many sufferings; and that +Christianity, the worship of suffering, contains the true guide for the +conduct of man upon earth. + +Corinne interrupted the reverie of Oswald, and said to him, "You have +seen Gothic churches in England and in Germany; you must have remarked +that they have a much more gloomy effect than this church. There was +something mysterious in the Catholicism of the northern nations; ours +speaks to the imagination by external objects. Michael Angelo said on +beholding the cupola of the Pantheon, 'I will place it in the air;' and, +in effect, St Peter's is a temple built upon a church. There is some +connection between the ancient religions and Christianity, in the effect +which the interior of this edifice produces upon the imagination. I +often come and walk here to restore to my soul that serenity which it +sometimes loses: the sight of such a monument is like continual and +sustained music, which waits to do you good when you approach; and +certainly we must reckon among the claims of our nation to glory, the +patience, the courage and the disinterestedness of the heads of the +church, who have devoted one hundred and fifty years, so much money, and +so much labour, to the completion of an edifice which they who built it +could not expect to enjoy[10]. It is even a service rendered to the +public morals to present a nation with a monument which is the emblem of +so many noble and generous ideas." "Yes," answered Oswald; "here the +arts possess grandeur, and imagination and invention are full of genius; +but how is the dignity of man himself protected here! What +institutions! what feebleness in the greater part of the governments of +Italy! and, nevertheless, what subjugation in the mind!" "Other +nations," interrupted Corinne, "have borne the yoke the same as we, and +have lacked the imagination to dream of another fate. + + 'Servi siam si, ma servi ognor frementi.' + + '_Yes! we are slaves, but slaves ever quivering with hope,_' + +says Alfieri, the most bold of our modern writers. There is so much soul +in our fine arts that perhaps one day our character will be equal to our +genius. + +"Behold," continued Corinne, "those statues placed on the tombs, those +pictures in mosaic--patient and faithful copies of the masterpieces of +our great artists. I never examine St Peter's in detail, because I do +not wish to discover those multiplied beauties which disturb in some +degree the impression of the whole. But what a monument is that, where +the masterpieces of the human mind appear superfluous ornaments! This +temple is like a world by itself; it affords an asylum against heat and +cold; it has its own peculiar season--a perpetual spring, which the +external atmosphere can never change. A subterraneous church is built +beneath this temple;--the popes, and several foreign potentates, are +buried there: Christina after her abdication--the Stuarts since the +overthrow of their dynasty. Rome has long afforded an asylum to exiles +from every part of the world. Is not Rome herself dethroned? Her aspect +affords consolation to kings, fallen like herself. + + 'Cadono le citta, cadono i regni, + E l'uom, d'esser mortal, par che si sdegni.' + + '_Cities fall. Empires disappear, + and yet man is angry at being mortal!_' + +"Place yourself here," said Corinne to Lord Nelville, "near the altar +in the middle of the cupola; you will perceive through the iron grating, +the church of the dead, which is beneath our feet, and lifting up your +eyes, their ken will hardly reach the summit of the vault. This dome, +viewing it even from below, inspires us with a sentiment of terror; we +imagine that we see an abyss suspended over our head. All that is beyond +a certain proportion causes man, limited creature as he is, an +invincible dread. That which we know is as inexplicable as that which is +unknown, but then we are accustomed to our habitual darkness, whilst new +mysteries terrify us and disturb our faculties. + +"All this church is ornamented with antique marble, and its stones know +more than we concerning the ages that are past. There is the statue of +Jupiter, which has been converted into St Peter, by adding the nimbus to +the head. The general expression of this temple perfectly characterises +the mixture of gloomy tenets with brilliant ceremonies; a depth of +sadness in ideas, but the softness and vivacity of the south in external +application; severe intentions, but mild interpretations; the Christian +theology, and the images of Paganism; in a word, the most admirable +union of splendour and majesty that man can infuse into his worship of +the deity. + +"The tombs, decorated by the wonders of the fine arts, do not present +death under a formidable aspect. It is not altogether like the ancients, +who engraved dances and games upon their sarcophagi; but the mind is +abstracted from the contemplation of a coffin by the masterpieces of +genius. They recall immortality, even upon the altar of death; and the +imagination animated by the admiration which they inspire, does not +feel, as in the north, silence and cold, the immutable guardians of +sepulchres." "Without doubt," said Oswald, "we wish death to be +surrounded by sadness; and even before we were enlightened by +Christianity our ancient mythology, our Ossian, made lamentations and +dirges concomitants of the tomb. Here one wishes to forget and to enjoy. +I know not whether I should be desirous of such a benefit from your fine +sky." "Do not believe, however," replied Corinne, "that our character is +light, or our mind frivolous; it is only vanity that causes frivolity. +Indolence may introduce some intervals of sleep, or of forgetfulness +into our lives, but it neither wears out nor dries up the heart; and +unfortunately for us we may be aroused from this state by passions more +deep, and more terrible than those of souls habitually active." + +In finishing these words, Corinne and Lord Nelville approached the door +of the church. "Another glance towards this immense sanctuary," said she +to Nelville: "See how little man appears in presence of religion, even +when we are reduced to consider only its material emblem! See what +immobility, what eternity, mortals can give to their works, whilst they +themselves pass away so rapidly, and only survive themselves by their +genius! This temple is an image of the infinite, and there is no limit +to the sentiments to which it gives birth--to the ideas which it +revives--to the immense quantity of years which it recalls to our +reflection, either of past or future ages; and on quitting its walls we +seem to pass from celestial thoughts to worldly interests, from the +eternity of religion to the atmosphere of time." + +When they were outside the church Corinne pointed out to Nelville Ovid's +Metamorphoses, which were represented on the gates in basso-relievo. "We +are not scandalised in Rome," said she to him, "with the images of +Paganism when they have been consecrated by the fine arts. The wonders +of genius always make a religious impression on the soul, and we make an +offering to the Christian religion of all the masterpieces which other +modes of worship have inspired." Oswald smiled at this explanation. +"Believe me, my lord," continued Corinne, "there is much sincerity in +the sentiments of nations who possess a very lively imagination. But +to-morrow if you choose I will conduct you to the Capitol. I have, I +hope, many other walks to propose to you. When they are finished will +you go? Will you--" She stopped, fearing she had said too much. "No +Corinne," replied Oswald; "no, I will never renounce that gleam of +happiness which my guardian angel, perhaps, causes to shine upon me from +the height of heaven." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] A Frenchman in the late war, commanded the Castle of St Angelo; the +Neapolitan troops summoned him to capitulate; he answered that the +fortress should be surrendered when the Angel of Bronze should sheathe +his sword. + +[8] These facts are to be found in the _History of the Italian Republics +of the Middle Ages_, by M. Simonde, of Geneva. This history will +certainly be considered as an authority; for we perceive, in reading it, +that its author is a man of profound sagacity, as conscientious as he is +energetic in his manner of relating and describing. + +[9] + "Eine Welt zwar bist du o Rom; doch ohne die Liebe, + Waere die Welt nicht die Welt, waere denn Rom auch nicht Rom." + +These two verses are from Goethe, the German poet, the philosopher, the +man of letters, whose originality and imagination are most remarkable. + +[10] The Church of St Peter is said to be one of the chief causes of the +Reformation, inasmuch as it cost the Popes so much money that they had +recourse to the multiplication of indulgences in order to build it. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The next day Oswald and Corinne set out with more confidence and +serenity. They were friends travelling together;--they began to say +_we_. Ah! how touching is that _we_ when pronounced by love! How +timidly, yet how vividly expressed, is the declaration which it +contains! "We will go to the Capitol then," said Corinne. "Yes, we will +go there," replied Oswald. Simplicity was in his words--softness and +tenderness in his accent. "From the height of the Capitol, such as it is +now," said Corinne, "we can easily perceive the seven hills; we will +survey them all, one after another; there is not one of them which does +not preserve in it some traces of history." + +Corinne and Lord Nelville took what was formerly called the _Via Sacra_ +or Triumphal Way. "'Tis this way that your car passed," said Oswald to +Corinne. "Yes," answered she; "this ancient dust might be astonished at +bearing such a car; but since the Roman republic, so many criminal +traces have been imprinted on it that the sentiment of respect which it +inspires is much weakened." They then arrived at the foot of the steps +of the present Capitol. The entrance to the ancient Capitol was through +the Forum. "I could wish," said Corinne, "that these steps were the same +that Scipio mounted, when, repelling calumny by glory, he entered the +temple to return thanks to the gods for the victories which he had +gained. But these new steps, this new Capitol, has been built upon the +ruins of the old, in order to receive the peaceable magistrate who bears +in himself alone the immense title of Roman Senator, formerly an object +of respect to the whole universe. Here we have no longer any thing but +names; yet their harmony, their ancient dignity, inspire us with a +pleasing sensation, mingled with regret. I asked a poor woman, whom I +met the other day, where she lived? '_At the Tarpeian Rock_,' answered +she. This word, however stripped of the ideas which formerly attached to +it, still vibrates upon the imagination." + +Oswald and Corinne stopped to contemplate the two lions of basalt at the +foot of the steps[11]. They came from Egypt. The Egyptian sculptors were +more happy in seizing the figure of animals than that of man. These +lions of the Capitol are nobly peaceful, and their physiognomy is the +true image of tranquillity in strength. + + "A guisa di leon, quando si posa." + DANTE. + + "_In the manner of the lion, when he reposes._" + +Not far from these lions is a statue of Rome, mutilated, which the +modern Romans have placed there, without thinking that they were thus +giving the most perfect emblem of their city as it now is. This statue +has neither head nor feet, but the body and the drapery which still +remain have something of their ancient beauty. At the top of the steps +are two colossal figures which represent as it is believed Castor and +Pollux; then the trophies of Marius; then two milliary columns which +served for the admeasurement of the Roman universe; and the equestrian +statue of Marcus Aurelius, noble and calm in the midst of these several +recollections. Thus, the whole Roman history is here emblematically +represented: The heroic age by the Dioscuri; the republic by the lions; +the civil wars by Marius; and the golden age of the emperors by Marcus +Aurelius. + +Advancing towards the modern Capitol, we see to the right and to the +left two churches, built on the ruins of the temples of the Feretrian +and Capitoline Jupiter. Before the vestibule is a fountain, over which +preside two rivers, the Nile and the Tiber, with the she-wolf of +Romulus. The name of the Tiber is not pronounced like that of inglorious +rivers; it is one of the pleasures of the Romans, to say, "_Conduct me +to the borders of the Tiber; let us cross the Tiber._" In pronouncing +these words they seem to invoke history and to re-animate the dead. In +going to the Capitol, by way of the Forum, we find, to the right, the +Mamertine prisons.--These prisons were at first constructed by Ancus +Martius, and were then employed for ordinary criminals. But Servius +Tullius caused more horrid ones to be dug under ground for state +criminals, as if such prisoners were not those who deserve most +consideration, since their errors might be united with sincerity. +Jugurtha and the accomplices of Cataline perished in these prisons. It +is also said that St Peter and St Paul have been incarcerated in them. +On the other side of the Capitol is the Tarpeian Rock, and at the foot +of this rock we find at the present time a hospital, called The Hospital +of Consolation. It seems that thus in Rome the severe spirit of +antiquity and the mildness of Christianity meet each other throughout +the ages, and present themselves to our sight as well as to our +reflection. + +When Oswald and Corinne had reached the top of the tower of the Capitol, +she showed him the Seven Hills; the city of Rome bounded at first by +Mount Palatine, then by the walls of Servius Tullius, which enclose the +Seven Hills; lastly by the walls of Aurelian, which still serve as an +enclosure to the greatest part of Rome. Corinne recalled to mind the +verses of Tibullus and Propertius[12], who are proud of the weak +beginnings whence has sprung the mistress of the world. Mount Palatine +was in itself the whole of Rome for some time, but afterwards the palace +of the Emperors filled the space which had before sufficed for a nation. +A poet, in the time of Nero, made the following epigram upon this +occasion.[13] _Rome will soon be only a palace. Go to Veii Romans, if +this palace does not now occupy Veii itself._ + +The Seven Hills are infinitely less elevated than formerly when they +deserved the name of the Steep Mountains. Modern Rome is raised forty +feet above the ancient city. The valleys which separated the hills are +almost filled up by time with the ruins of edifices; but what is more +singular yet, a heap of broken vases has raised two new hills;[14] and +we almost discover an image of modern times, in this progress, or rather +this wreck of civilisation, levelling mountains with valleys, effacing +in the moral as well as the physical world all those beautiful +inequalities produced by nature. + +Three other hills,[15] not comprised in the seven famous ones, give +something picturesque to the city of Rome, which perhaps is the only +city that of itself, and in its own boundaries, offers the most +magnificent points of observation. It presents such a remarkable mixture +of ruins, edifices, fields and deserts, that we may contemplate Rome on +all sides, and always find a striking picture in the opposite +perspective. + +Oswald could never feel tired of viewing the traces of ancient Rome from +the elevated point of the Capitol to which Corinne had conducted him. +The reading of history, and the reflections which it excites, produce a +less powerful effect upon the soul than those heaps of stones, those +ruins mingled with new habitations. So strongly do our eyes carry +conviction to the mind, that after having beheld these ruins of Rome we +believe the history of the ancient Romans as if we had been cotemporary +with them. The recollections of the mind are acquired by study; the +recollections of the imagination are born of a more immediate and +intimate impression, which gives body to thought, and renders us, if I +may so express it, witnesses of what we have learnt. Undoubtedly one is +vexed sometimes at those modern buildings which intrude themselves among +the venerable spoils of antiquity. But a portico by the side of a humble +cottage, pillars, between which appear the little windows of a church, a +tomb affording an asylum to a whole rustic family, produce an +indescribable mixture of great and simple ideas, a newly-discovered +pleasure which inspires a continual interest. The greater part of our +European cities have externally a common and prosaic appearance; and +Rome, oftener than any other, presents the melancholy aspect of misery +and degradation; but all of a sudden a broken column, a bas-relief +half-destroyed, stones knit together in the indestructible manner of the +ancient architects, remind us that there is in man an eternal power, a +divine spark, which he must never cease to excite in himself and revive +in others. + +This Forum, whose enclosure is so narrow in compass, and which has +witnessed so many astonishing things, is a striking proof of the moral +greatness of man. When the universe, in the latter times of Rome, was +subjected to inglorious masters, we find whole centuries, of which +history has scarcely preserved any events; and this Forum, this little +space in the centre of a city, at that time very circumscribed, whose +inhabitants were fighting all around them for their territory, has it +not occupied by the memories which it recalls, the most sublime geniuses +of every age! Honour then, eternal honour, to nations, courageous and +free, since they thus captivate the admiration of posterity! + +Corinne observed to Lord Nelville that there were very few remains of +the Republican age to be found at Rome. The aqueducts, the canals formed +under ground, for the distribution of water, were the only luxury of the +Republic and the kings who preceded it. They have only left us useful +edifices: tombs raised to the memory of their great men, and some +temples of brick, which still subsist. It was not until after the +conquest of Sicily that the Romans for the first time made use of marble +for their monuments; but it is sufficient to behold places where great +actions have occurred, to experience an indefinable emotion. It is to +this disposition of the soul that we must attribute the religious power +of pilgrimages. Celebrated countries of every kind, even when stripped +of their great men and of their monuments, preserve their effect upon +the imagination. What struck our sight no longer exists, but the charm +of recollection remains. + +This Forum no longer presents us with any trace of that famous Tribune, +from which the Roman people were governed by eloquence. Three pillars +remain of a temple, raised by Augustus in honour of Jupiter Tonans, when +the thunderbolt fell at his feet without striking him, and an arch +which the senate raised to Septimus Severus in reward of his exploits. +The names of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, were inscribed on the +fronton of the arch; but when Caracalla had assassinated Geta he caused +his name to be erased, and some traces of the cancelled letters are +still to be seen. At some distance is a temple to Faustina, a monument +of the blind weakness of Marcus Aurelius; a temple to Venus which, in +the time of the republic, was consecrated to Pallas--and farther on, the +ruins of a temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon, built by the Emperor +Adrian, who was jealous of Apollodorus, the famous Grecian architect, +and put him to death for having found fault with the proportions of his +edifice. + +On the other side of the square we behold the ruins of some monuments +consecrated to nobler and purer aims. The pillars of a temple which is +believed to have been that of Jupiter Stator, who prevented the Romans +from ever flying before their enemies. A pillar remaining of the Temple +of Jupiter Guardian, placed, we are told, not far from the abyss into +which Curtius precipitated himself. Pillars also of a temple, raised, +some say, to Concord, others to Victory. Perhaps these two ideas are +confounded by conquering nations, who probably think no real peace can +exist till they have subdued the universe! At the extremity of Mount +Palatine is a beautiful triumphal arch, dedicated to Titus, for the +conquest of Jerusalem. We are informed that the Jews who are at Rome +never pass under this arch, and a little path is shewn which they take +to avoid it. It is to be wished, for the honour of the Jews, that this +anecdote may be true; long recollections suit long misfortunes. + +Not far from thence is the arch of Constantine, embellished with some +bas-reliefs taken away from the forum of Trajan, by the Christians, who +wished to adorn the monument consecrated to the _founder of repose_; so +they called Constantine. The arts at this epoch were already on the +decline, and they stripped the past to honour new exploits. These +triumphal gates, which are seen at Rome, give perpetuity as much as man +can give it, to the honours paid to glory. There was a place upon their +summits destined for flute and trumpet players, in order that the victor +when passing might be intoxicated at the same time by music and praise, +and taste at the same moment all the most exalted emotions. + +Facing these triumphal arches are the ruins of the temple of Peace built +by Vespasian; it was so decorated with brass and with gold, internally, +that when consumed by fire, the streams of burning metal that flowed +from it extended even to the Forum. Lastly, the Coliseum, the most +beautiful ruin of Rome, terminates this noble enclosure, which embraces +all history in its compass. This superb edifice, of which only the +stones remain, stript of the gold and the marble, served as an +amphitheatre for the combats of the gladiators, with wild beasts. It was +thus that the Roman people were amused and deceived by strong emotions, +when natural sentiments could no longer soar. The entrance to the +Coliseum is by two doors, one consecrated to the victors, and by the +other were carried out the dead: strange contempt for the human race, +which made the life or death of man dependent upon the pastime of a +public spectacle! Titus, the best of emperors, dedicated the Coliseum to +the Roman people,--and these admirable ruins bear such fine traits of +magnificence and genius, that we are led into an illusion on the subject +of true greatness, and tempted to grant that admiration to the +masterpieces of art, which is only the due of monuments consecrated to +generous institutions. + +Oswald did not indulge in that admiration which Corinne felt in +contemplating these four galleries; these four edifices, rising one +upon another; this medley of pomp and barbarism, which at once inspires +respect and compassion. He beheld in these scenes nothing but the luxury +of the master, and the blood of the slaves, and felt indignant at the +arts which, regardless of their aim, lavish their gifts upon whatever +object they may be destined for. Corinne endeavoured to combat this +disposition:--"Do not," said she, to Lord Nelville, "carry the rigour of +your principles of morality and justice into the contemplation of the +Italian monuments; they, for the most part, recall, as I have told you, +rather the splendour, the elegance of taste of ancient forms, than the +glorious epoch of Roman virtue. But do you not find some traces of the +moral greatness possessed by the first ages, in the gigantic luxury of +the monuments which have succeeded them? Even the degradation of the +Roman people still commands respect: the mourning of her liberty covers +the world with wonders, and the genius of ideal beauty seeks to console +man for the true and real dignity which he has lost. Behold those +immense baths, open to all those who were willing to taste oriental +voluptuousness--those circuses destined for the elephants which were +brought there to combat with tigers, and those aqueducts which in a +moment converted the amphitheatre into a lake, where galleys too fought +in their turn, and crocodiles appeared where lions were seen +before:--such was the luxury of the Romans when luxury was their pride! +Those obelisks which were brought from Egypt, stolen from African +shades, in order to adorn the Roman sepulchres; that population of +statues which formerly existed in Rome cannot be looked upon in the same +light as the useless pageantry of the Asiatic despots: it is the Roman +genius which conquered the world, and to which the arts have given an +external form. There is something supernatural in this magnificence, +and its poetical splendour makes us forget its origin and its aim." + +The eloquence of Corinne excited the admiration of Oswald without +convincing him; he sought for some moral sentiment in all this, without +which all the magic of the arts could not satisfy him. Corinne then +recollected that in this very amphitheatre the persecuted Christians +died victims of their perseverance, and showing Lord Nelville the altars +which are raised in honour of their ashes, as well as the path of the +cross, which is trodden by penitents, at the foot of the most +magnificent wrecks of worldly grandeur, asked him if the ashes of +martyrs conveyed no language to his heart? "Yes," cried he, "I deeply +admire the triumph of the soul and of the will over the pains of death. +A sacrifice, whatever it may be, is nobler and more difficult than all +the flights of the soul and of thought.--An exalted imagination may +produce miracles of genius, but it is only in devoting ourselves to our +opinion or to our sentiments that we are truly virtuous;--it is then +alone that a celestial power subdues the mortal man in us." + +This language, so noble and so pure, yet gave uneasiness to Corinne. She +looked at Nelville--then cast down her eyes--and though, at that moment, +he took her hand and pressed it against his heart, she shuddered at the +idea that such a man could sacrifice others or himself to the worship of +opinions, of principles, or of duties, which he might have chosen. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] Mineralogists affirm that these lions are not of basalt, because +the volcanic stone to-day known under that name could not have existed +in Egypt; but as Pliny calls the Egyptian stone out of which these lions +have been carved, basalt, and as Winckelmann, the historian of the arts, +also retains this appellation, I have deemed myself justified in using +it in its primitive acceptation. + +[12] + "Carpite nunc, tauri, de septem collibus herbas, + Dum licet. Hic magnae jam locus urbis erit." + TIBULLUS. + + "Hoc quodcunque vides hospes quam maxima Roma est, + Ante Phrygem Enean collis et herba fuit." + PROPERTIUS, Book IV. el. 1. + +[13] + Roma domus fiet: Veios migrate, Quirites; + Si non et Veios occupat ista domus. + +[14] Mounts Citorio and Testacio. + +[15] The Janicula, Mount Vaticano and Mount Mario. + + + + +Chapter v. + + +After the excursion to the Capitol and the Forum, Corinne and Nelville +spent two days in visiting the Seven Hills. The Romans formerly observed +a festival in honour of them. These hills, enclosed in her bosom, are +one of the original beauties of Rome; and we may easily conceive what +delight was experienced by feelings attached to their native soil, in +celebrating this singularity. + +Oswald and Corinne, having seen the Capitoline Hill the day before, +began their walks by Mount Palatine; it was entirely occupied by the +palace of the Caesars, called _the golden palace_. This hill offers +nothing to our view, at present, but the ruins of that palace. The four +sides of it were built by Augustus Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero; but the +stones, covered with fertile plants, are all that now remain of it: +Nature has there resumed her empire over the labours of man, and the +beauty of the flowers consoles us for the destruction of the palace. The +luxury of the times of the kings and of the Republic only consisted in +public edifices; private houses were very small, and very simple. +Cicero, Hortensius, and the Gracchi, dwelt upon Mount Palatine, which, +at the decline of Rome, was scarcely sufficient for the abode of a +single man. In the latter ages, the nation was nothing more than an +anonymous crowd, merely designated by the era of its master. We look in +vain here for the two laurels planted before the door of Augustus, the +laurel of war, and that of the fine arts cultivated by peace; both have +disappeared. + +There is still remaining, on Mount Palatine, some chambers of the Baths +of Livia; we are there shown the holes which contained the precious +stones that were then lavished upon ceilings, as a common ornament, and +paintings are to be seen there whose colours are yet perfectly +untouched; the fragility of the colours adds to our astonishment at +seeing them preserved, and seems to carry us back nearer to past ages. +If it be true that Livia shortened the days of Augustus, it is in one of +these rooms that the crime was conceived, and the eyes of the sovereign +of the world, betrayed in his most intimate affections, were perhaps +fixed upon one of those pictures whose elegant flowers still remain[16]. +What, in old age, were his thoughts upon his life and his pomp? Did he +recall to mind his proscriptions or his glory? Did he hope, or did he +fear a world to come? Does the last thought, which reveals everything to +man; does the last thought of a master of the universe still wander +beneath these vaults? + +Mount Aventine offers more traces than any other of the first periods of +the Roman History. Exactly opposite the Palace, raised by Tiberius, we +see the ruins of the Temple of Liberty, which was built by the father of +the Gracchi. At the foot of Mount Aventine stood the temple dedicated to +the Fortune of men by Servius Tullius, to thank the gods for having +raised him from the condition of a slave to the rank of a king. Without +the walls of Rome we find also the ruins of a temple, which was +consecrated to the Fortune of women when Veturia stopped the progress of +Coriolanus. Opposite Mount Aventine is Mount Janicula, on which Porsenna +placed his army. It was opposite this Mount that Horatius Cocles caused +the bridge leading to Rome to be cut away behind him. The foundation of +this bridge is still to be seen; there stands on the bank of the river a +triumphal arch, built of brick, as simple as the action which it recalls +was grand; this arch having been raised, it is said, in honour of +Horatius Cocles. In the middle of the Tiber is perceived an island +formed of sheaves of corn gathered in the fields of Tarquin, which were +a long time exposed on the river because the Roman people would not take +them, believing that they should entail bad fortune on themselves by so +doing. It would be difficult in our days to cast a malediction upon +riches of any sort which could prevent everybody from seizing them. + +On Mount Aventine were placed the temple of patrician, and that of +plebeian modesty. At the foot of this hill is seen the temple of Vesta, +which yet remains whole, though it has been often menaced by the +inundations of the Tiber. Not far from thence is the ruin of a prison +for debt, where it is said a fine trait of filial piety was displayed, +which is pretty generally known. It was also in this place that Clelia +and her companions, prisoners of Porsenna, crossed the Tiber in order to +rejoin the Romans. This Aventine Mount affords the soul repose after the +painful reflections which the other hills awaken, and its aspect is as +beautiful as the memories it recalls. The name of _Pulchrum Littus_, +Beautiful Shore, was given to the banks of the river, which rolls at its +foot, which was the walk of the Roman orators when they quitted the +forum--it was there that Caesar and Pompey met like private citizens, and +sought to captivate Cicero whose independent eloquence was then of more +importance to them than even the power of their armies. + +Poetry too lends its aid to embellish this retreat; Virgil has placed +the cavern of Cacus upon Mount Aventine, and the Romans, so great by +their history, are still more so by the heroic fictions with which the +bards have decorated their fabulous origin. Lastly, in returning from +this mountain is seen the house of Nicholas Rienzi, who vainly +endeavoured to revive ancient times among the moderns, and this memento, +feeble as it is, by the side of so many others, gives birth to much +reflection. Mount Caelius is remarkable because there we behold the +remains of the Praetorian camp, and that of the foreign soldiers. This +inscription has been found in the ruins of the edifice built for the +reception of these soldiers:--"To the hallowed genius of foreign camps!" +Hallowed indeed, for those whose power it maintained! What remains of +these ancient barracks, enables us to judge that they were built after +the manner of cloisters, or rather, that cloisters have been built upon +their model. + +Mount Esquiline was called the _Poets' Mount_, because Mecenas having +his palace on this hill, Horace, Propertius and Tibullus dwelt there +also. Not far from here are the ruins of the Thermae of Titus, and of +Trajan. It is believed that Raphael took the model of his arabesques +from the fresco paintings of the Thermae of Titus. It is there, also, +that was discovered the group of the Laocoon. The freshness of water +affords such pleasure in hot countries that delight is taken in +assembling together all the pomp of luxury, and every enjoyment of the +imagination, in the places appropriated for bathing. It was there that +the Romans exposed their masterpieces of painting and of sculpture. They +were seen by the light of lamps, for it appears by the construction of +these buildings, that daylight never entered them: they wished thus to +preserve themselves from the rays of the sun, so burning in the south: +the sensation they produce must certainly have been the cause of the +ancients calling them the darts of Apollo. It is reasonable to suppose, +from observing the extreme precaution of the ancients to guard against +heat, that the climate was then more burning than it is in our days. It +is in the Thermae of Caracalla, that were placed the Hercules Farnese, +the Flora, and the group of Dirce. In the baths of Nero near Ostia was +found the Apollo Belvedere. Is it possible to conceive that in +contemplating this noble figure Nero did not feel some generous +emotions? + +The Thermae and the Circuses are the only kind of buildings appropriated +to public amusements of which there remain any relics at Rome. There is +no theatre except that of Marcellus whose ruins still exist. Pliny +relates that there were three hundred and sixty pillars of marble, and +three thousand statues employed in a theatre, which was only to last a +few days. Sometimes the Romans raised fabrics so strong that they +resisted the shock of earthquakes; at others they took pleasure in +devoting immense labour to buildings which they themselves destroyed as +soon as their feasts were over; thus they sported with time in every +shape. Besides, the Romans were not like the Greeks--influenced by a +passion for dramatic representations. It was by Grecian work, and +Grecian artists, that the fine arts flourished at Rome, and Roman +greatness expressed itself rather by the colossal magnificence of +architecture than by the masterpieces of the imagination. This gigantic +luxury, these wonders of riches, possess great and characteristic +dignity, which, though not the dignity of liberty, is that of power. The +monuments appropriated for public baths, were called provinces; in them +were united all the divers productions and divers establishments which a +whole country can produce. The circus (called _Circus Maximus_) of which +the remains are still to be seen, was so near the palace of the Caesars +that Nero could from his windows give the signal for the games. The +circus was large enough to contain three hundred thousand persons. The +nation almost in its entirety was amused at the same moment, and these +immense festivals might be considered as a kind of popular institution, +which united every man in the cause of pleasure as they were formerly +united in the cause of glory. + +Mount Quirinal and Mount Viminal are so near each other that it is +difficult to distinguish them: it was here that the houses of Sallust +and of Pompey, formerly stood; it is here also that the Pope has now +fixed his abode. We cannot take one step in Rome without bringing the +present near to the past, and different periods of the past near to each +other. But we learn to reconcile ourselves to the events of our own +time, in beholding the eternal mutability of the history of man; and we +feel ashamed of letting our own lot disturb us in the presence of so +many ages, which have all overthrown the work of the preceding ones. + +By the side of the Seven Hills, on their declivities or on their +summits, are seen a multitude of steeples, and of obelisks; Trajan's +column, the column of Antoninus, the Tower of Conti (whence it is said +Nero beheld the conflagration of Rome), and the Dome of St Peter's, +whose commanding grandeur eclipses that of every other object. It +appears as if the air were peopled with all these monuments, which +extend towards Heaven, and as if an aerial city were majestically +hovering over the terrestrial one. + +On entering Rome again Corinne made Oswald pass under the portico of +Octavia, she who loved so well, and suffered so much; then they +traversed the _Path of Infamy_, by which the infamous Tullia passed, +trampling her father's corpse beneath the feet of her horses. At a +distance from this spot is seen the temple raised by Agrippina in honour +of Claudius whom she caused to be poisoned. And lastly we pass the tomb +of Augustus, whose enclosure now serves as an amphitheatre for the +combats of beasts. + +"I have caused you to run over very rapidly," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "some traces of ancient history; but you will comprehend the +pleasure to be found in these researches, at once learned and poetic, +which speak to the imagination as well as to the mind. There are in Rome +many distinguished men whose only occupation is to discover some new +relation between history and the ruins." "I know no study that would +more captivate and interest me," replied Lord Nelville, "if I felt +sufficiently at rest to give my mind to it: this species of erudition is +much more animated than that which is acquired from books: one would say +that we make what we discover to live again, and that the past +re-appears from beneath the dust in which it has been buried." +"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "this passion for antiquity is not a vain +prejudice. We live in an age when personal interest seems to be the only +principle of all the actions of men, and what sympathy, what emotion, +what enthusiasm, can ever result from such a principle? It is sweeter to +dream of those days of devotion, of personal sacrifice and heroism, +which however, have existed, and of which the earth still bears some +honourable testimonies." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[16] Augustus died at Nola, on his way to the waters of Brindisi, which +had been prescribed him; but he left Rome in a dying state. + + + + +Chapter vi. + + +Corinne flattered herself in secret with having captivated the heart of +Oswald, but as she knew his reserve and his severity, she had not dared +make known to him all the interest he had excited in her heart, though +she was disposed, by character, to conceal nothing that she felt. +Perhaps also she believed that even in speaking on subjects foreign to +their growing passion there was a tenderness of accent in their voice, +which betrayed their mutual affection, and that a secret avowal of love +was painted in their looks, and in that melancholy and veiled language +which penetrates so deeply into the soul. + +One morning, when Corinne was getting ready to continue her walks with +Oswald, she received a note from him, somewhat ceremonious, informing +her that the bad state of his health would confine him at home for some +days. A painful disquietude seized upon the heart of Corinne: she at +first feared he might be dangerously ill, but the Count d'Erfeuil, whom +she saw at night, told her it was one of those melancholy fits to which +he was very much subject and, during which he would not speak to +anybody.--"He will not see _even me_," said the Count d'Erfeuil, "when +he is so."--This _even me_ was highly displeasing to Corinne, but she +was upon her guard not to betray any symptoms of that displeasure to the +only man who might be able to give her news of Lord Nelville. She +interrogated him, flattering herself that a man of so much apparent +levity would tell her all he knew. But on a sudden, whether he wished to +conceal from her by an air of mystery that Oswald had confided nothing +to him, or whether he believed it more honourable to refuse what was +asked of him than to grant it, he opposed an invincible silence to the +ardent curiosity of Corinne. She who had always had an ascendency over +those with whom she conversed, could not comprehend why all her means of +persuasion were without effect upon the Count d'Erfeuil: did she not +know that there is nothing in the world so inflexible as self-love? + +What resource remained then to Corinne to know what was passing in the +heart of Oswald! should she write to him? The formality it would require +was too foreign to her open disposition. Three days glided away, during +which she did not see Lord Nelville, and was tormented by the most cruel +agitation.--"What have I done then," said she, "to drive him from me? I +have not told him that I loved him.--I have not been guilty of that +crime, so terrible in England, but so pardonable in Italy. Has he +guessed it? But why should he esteem me the less for it?" Oswald had +only absented himself from Corinne because he felt the power of her +charms becoming too strong to resist. Though he had not given his word +to espouse Lucilia Edgermond, he knew it was his father's wish that she +should become his wife, and to that wish he desired to conform. Besides, +Corinne was not known by her real name, and had, for several years, led +a life much too independent. Such a marriage, Lord Nelville believed +would not have obtained the approbation of his father, and he felt that +it was not thus he could expiate the transgressions he had been guilty +of towards him. Such were his motives for removing himself from the +presence of Corinne. He had formed the project of writing to her on +quitting Rome, stating the motives that condemned him to this +resolution; but as he could not find strength to do that, he contented +himself with abstaining from visiting her, and even this sacrifice +became almost too painful to bear from the second day of his absence. + +Corinne was struck with an idea that she should never behold Oswald +again; that he would go away without bidding her adieu. She expected +every instant to receive the news of his departure, and this fear so +increased the agony of her feelings that she felt herself all of a +sudden seized by passion, that vulture beneath whose talons happiness +and independence sink. Unable to endure the house that Lord Nelville no +longer visited, she frequently wandered in the gardens of Rome, hoping +to meet with him. The hours so spent were the least insupportable, since +they afforded some chance of seeing the object of her wanderings. The +ardent imagination of Corinne was the source of her talents; but, +unfortunately for her, it was united to her natural sensibility, which +often rendered it extremely painful to her. + +On the evening of the fourth day of this cruel absence, the moon shone +beautifully bright, and the silence of the night gives Rome a fine +effect: it seems then to be inhabited by the shades of its illustrious +ancients. Corinne, returning from the house of a female friend, +oppressed with grief, quitted her carriage, to sit for a few moments +near the fountain of Trevi; before that abundant cascade, which, falling +in the midst of Rome, seems like the vital principle of this tranquil +abode. When this cascade ceases to play for some days, one would say +that Rome is struck with stupor. It is the noise of carriages that we +expect to hear in other capitals; but at Rome, it is the murmuring of +this immense fountain, which seems to be an accompaniment necessary to +the pensive life people lead there: the image of Corinne was painted in +this stream, so pure, that for several centuries past it has borne the +name of the _Virgin Spring_. Oswald, who had stopped in the same place a +few moments afterwards, beheld the charming features of his love +reflected in the water. He was seized with so lively an emotion, that he +did not know, at first, whether it was not his imagination which +presented to him the shadow of Corinne, as it had so often done that of +his father; he bent towards the fountain to observe more distinctly, +when his own countenance was reflected by the side of Corinne's. She +knew him, uttered a cry, and darting towards him rapidly, seized his arm +as if she were afraid he would leave her again; but hardly had she +yielded to this impetuous emotion than recollecting the character of +Nelville, she blushed at having given him this lively testimony of her +feelings, and letting fall the hand which held Oswald, she covered her +face with the other to conceal her tears. + +"Corinne!" said Oswald, "dear Corinne! my absence has then rendered you +unhappy!" "Oh yes," answered she, "you were sure of that! Why then pain +me! have I deserved to suffer at your hand?" "No, certainly," cried +Nelville, "but if I do not think myself free; if I feel in my heart a +storm of grief, why should I associate you with such a torture of +sentiment and dread?"--"It is too late," interrupted Corinne, "it is too +late, grief has already seized upon my bosom--spare me."--"Do you +mention grief?" replied Oswald, "in the midst of so brilliant a career, +of such renown, and possessing so lively an imagination?"--"Hold," said +Corinne, "you do not know me; of all the faculties I possess, the most +powerful is that of suffering. I am born for happiness, my disposition +is open, my imagination animated; but pain excites in me a certain +impetuosity, powerful enough to disturb my reason or bring me to my +grave; therefore I beseech you, spare me. My gaiety and mobility are +only superficial; but there are in my soul abysses of sadness, which I +can only escape by guarding against love." + +Corinne pronounced these words with an expression that deeply affected +Oswald.--"I will come and see you to-morrow morning," said he. "Do you +swear it?" said she, with a disquietude which she vainly endeavoured to +conceal. "Yes, I swear it," cried Lord Nelville, and disappeared. + + + + +Book v. + +THE TOMBS, THE CHURCHES, AND THE PALACES. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The next day, Oswald and Corinne felt much embarrassed at meeting each +other. Corinne was no longer confident of the love which she inspired. +Oswald was dissatisfied with himself; he knew there was a weakness in +his character which sometimes made him feel irritated at his own +sentiments as at a species of tyranny; and both endeavoured to avoid +speaking of their mutual affection. "I have to propose to-day," said +Corinne, "rather a solemn walk; but one that will certainly prove highly +interesting: let us go and see the tombs, let us go and see the last +asylum of those who inhabited the monuments whose ruins we have +contemplated."--"Yes," answered Oswald, "you have conjectured what will +suit the present disposition of my soul;" and he pronounced these words +in so dolorous an accent, that Corinne was silent some moments, not +daring to speak to him. But the desire of affording consolation to +Oswald, and the lively interest she took in every thing they were to see +together, inspired her with courage, and she said to him: "You know my +lord, that, among the ancients, so far was the aspect of the tombs from +dispiriting the living, that they endeavoured to excite a new emulation +by placing these tombs on the public roads, in order that by recalling +to young people the remembrance of illustrious men, they might silently +admonish them to follow their example." "Ah! how I envy all those," +said Oswald, "whose grief is not mingled with remorse!" "Do you talk of +remorse," cried Corinne; "you whose only failings, if they may be so +called, are an excess of virtue, a scrupulosity of heart, an exalted +delicacy--" "Corinne, Corinne, do not approach that subject," +interrupted Oswald, "in your happy country, sombre thoughts disappear +before the lustre of a brilliant sky; but that grief which has +penetrated to the depths of our soul, must for ever sap the foundation +of our existence." "You form an erroneous judgment of me," replied +Corinne; "I have already told you, that though I am formed by the nature +of my character, for lively enjoyment, I should suffer more exquisitely +than you if--" She did not conclude; but changed the discourse.--"My +only desire, my lord, is to divert your attention for a moment; I hope +for nothing more." The sweetness of this reply moved Lord Nelville, and +seeing a melancholy expression in the looks of Corinne, naturally so +interesting and so full of fire, he reproached himself for having +afflicted a woman, born for the most tender and lively sensations, and +endeavoured to atone for it. But the disquietude which Corinne +experienced with regard to the future intentions of Oswald, and the +possibility of his departure, entirely disturbed her accustomed +serenity. + +She conducted Lord Nelville outside the gates of the city, where are to +be seen the ancient vestiges of the Appian way. These vestiges are +indicated in the midst of the Campagna, by the tombs to the right and to +the left, which extend out of sight for several miles beyond the walls. +The Romans would not permit their dead to be buried inside the city: the +emperors alone were allowed that privilege. One private citizen, +however, named Publius Bibulus, obtained this favour in reward of his +obscure virtues.--Cotemporaries are always more willing to honour +virtues of that description than any other. + +It is the gate of St Sebastian, formerly called _Capene_, that conducts +to the Appian way. Cicero tells us, that the first tombs we meet after +passing this gate, are those of the Metelli, the Scipios, and the +Servilii. The family tomb of the Scipios has been found in this very +spot and since transplanted to the Vatican. It is almost a sacrilege to +displace the ashes of the dead or to change the aspect of ruins. +Imagination is more closely connected with morality than is generally +believed, and should not be offended. Among so many tombs which strike +our sight, names are ascribed to some without any positive certainty; +but even the emotion which this uncertainty inspires will not permit us +to contemplate any of these monuments with indifference. There are some +in which houses for the peasantry are built; for the Romans consecrated +an extensive space and vast edifices to the funereal urns of their +friends or their illustrious fellow-citizens. They were not influenced +by that dry principle of utility which fertilized a few corners of the +earth, while blasting with sterility the vast domain of sentiment and of +thought. + +At some distance from the Appian way is seen a temple, raised by the +republic to Honour and Virtue; another to the god who caused Hannibal to +turn back, and also the fountain of Egeria, where Numa went to consult +the god of all good men,--conscience interrogated in solitude. It seems +that about these tombs no traces but those of virtue have subsisted. No +monument of the ages of crime is to be found by the side of those where +repose the illustrious dead; they are surrounded by an honourable space, +where the noblest memories may preserve their reign undisturbed. + +The aspect of the country about Rome has something in it singularly +remarkable: undoubtedly it is a desert, for it contains neither trees +nor habitation; but the earth is covered with wild plants which the +energy of vegetation incessantly renews. These parasitic plants glide +among the tombs, adorn the ruins, and seem only there to honour the +dead. One would say, that proud Nature has rejected all the labours of +man, since Cincinnatus no longer guided the plough which furrowed her +bosom. She produces plants by chance, without permitting the living to +make use of her riches. These uncultivated plains must be displeasing to +the agriculturist, to administrators, to all those who speculate upon +the earth, and who would lay it under contribution to supply the wants +of man. But pensive minds, which are occupied as much by death as by +life, take pleasure in contemplating this Roman Campagna upon which the +present age has imprinted no trace; this land which cherishes its dead, +and covers them lovingly with useless flowers, with useless plants which +creep upon the earth, and never rise sufficiently to separate themselves +from the ashes which they appear to caress. + +Oswald agreed that in this spot the mind felt more calm than it possibly +could any where else; besides, here the soul does not suffer so much +from the images that grief presents to it; one seems still to share with +those who are no more, the charms of that air, of that sun, and of that +verdure. Corinne observed the impression that Lord Nelville received, +and conceived some hopes from it: she did not flatter herself with being +able to console Oswald; she had not even wished to efface from his heart +the just regret he must feel at the loss of his father; but there is, +even in this regret, something tender and harmonious, which we must +endeavour to make known to those who have hitherto only felt its +bitterness; it is the only benefit we can confer upon them. + +"Let us stop here," said Corinne, "opposite this tomb, the only one +which remains yet almost whole: it is not the tomb of a celebrated +Roman, it is that of Cecilia Metella, a young maiden to whom her father +has raised this monument." "Happy!" said Oswald, "happy are the children +who die in the arms of their father and receive death in the bosom of +him who gave them life; death itself then loses its sting." "Yes," said +Corinne; "happy are those not doomed to the wretched lot of orphans. +See, arms have been sculptured on this tomb, though it belongs to a +woman: but the daughters of heroes may have their monuments adorned with +the trophies of their fathers; what a beautiful union is that of +innocence and valour! There is an elegy of Propertius which paints +better than any other writing of antiquity, this dignity of woman among +the Romans, more imposing, more pure than the worship paid to them +during the age of chivalry. Cornelia, dying in her youth, addresses to +her husband the most affecting consolations and adieus, in which we feel +at every word, all that is respectable and sacred in family ties. The +noble pride of an unspotted life is painted in this majestic poetry of +the Latins, this poetry, noble and severe as the masters of the +world[17]. '_Yes_,' says Cornelia, '_no stain has sullied my life from +the nuptial bed to the funeral pyre; I have lived pure between the two +torches._' What an admirable expression" cried Corinne; "What a sublime +image! How worthy of envy is the lot of that woman who has been able to +preserve the most perfect unity in her destiny and carries but one +recollection to the grave: it is enough for a life!" + +In finishing these words, the eyes of Corinne were filled with tears; a +cruel sentiment, a painful suspicion seized upon the heart of +Oswald.--"Corinne," cried he, "Corinne, has your delicate soul nothing +to reproach itself with? If I were able to dispose of myself, if I could +offer myself to you, should I have no rival in the past? Should I have +reason to be proud of my choice? Would no cruel jealousy disturb my +happiness?"--"I am free, and I love you as I never loved man before!" +answered Corinne--"What would you have more?--Must I be condemned to an +avowal, that before I have known you I have been deceived by my +imagination as to the interest which another excited in me? Is there not +in the heart of man a divine pity for the errors which sentiment, or +rather the illusion of sentiment, may have led us to commit?" In +finishing these words a modest blush covered her face. Oswald was +startled; but remained silent. There was in Corinne's look an expression +of repentance and timidity which did not permit him to judge with +rigour--a ray from heaven seemed to descend upon, and absolve her! He +took her hand, pressed it against his heart, and knelt before her, +without uttering anything, without promising anything; but contemplated +her with a look of love which gave the utmost latitude to hope. + +"Believe me," said Corinne, to Lord Nelville--"let us form no plan for +the years to come. The most happy moments are those which a bountiful +chance gives us. Is it here then, is it in the midst of the tombs that +we should think of future days?"--"No," cried Lord Nelville, "I can +think of no future day that would be likely to part us! these four days +of absence have taught me too well that I now no longer exist but in +you!"--Corinne made no reply to these sweet expressions; but she +treasured them religiously in her heart; she was always fearful that in +prolonging the conversation upon that subject most interesting to her, +she might draw from Oswald a declaration of his future intentions, +before a longer acquaintance might render separation impossible. She +often, even designedly, turned his attention towards external +objects--like that Sultana in the Arabian Tales, who sought by a +thousand different recitals to awaken the interest of him she loved, in +order to postpone the decision of her fate till her charms and her wit +had completed their conquest. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[17] + "Viximus insignes inter utramque facem." + PROPERTIUS. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Not far from the Appian way, Oswald and Corinne visited the +_Columbarium_, where slaves are united with their masters; where are +seen in the same tomb, all who lived under the protection of one man or +one woman. The women of Livia, for example, they who, appointed to the +care of her beauty, struggled for its preservation against the power of +time and disputed with the years some one of her charms, are placed by +her side in little urns. We fancy that we see an assemblage of the +obscure dead round one of the illustrious departed, not less silent than +his train. At a little distance from here, is perceived the field where +vestals, unfaithful to their vows, were buried alive; a singular +instance of fanaticism in a religion naturally tolerant. + +"I will not conduct you to the catacombs," said Corinne to Lord +Nelville, "though, by a singular chance, they are under this Appian way; +tombs thus having their abode beneath tombs; but this asylum of the +persecuted Christians has something so gloomy, and so terrible in it, +that I cannot find resolution to return thither. It does not inspire the +same affecting melancholy as more open situations; it is like a dungeon +adjoining a sepulchre; the torment of life accompanied with the horrors +of death. Undoubtedly, we feel penetrated with admiration of men who, by +the power of enthusiasm alone, have been able to support this +subterraneous existence; separating themselves from the sun and from +nature; but the mind is so ill at ease in this abode that it is +incapable of receiving any improvement. Man is a part of the creation; +he must find his moral harmony in the whole system of the universe, in +the usual order of destiny, and certain violent and formidable +exceptions may astonish the mind; but they are so terrifying to the +imagination that the habitual disposition of the soul cannot benefit by +them. Let us rather," continued Corinne, "go and see the pyramid of +Cestius: the Protestants who die here are all buried around this +pyramid, which affords them a mild, tolerant, and liberal asylum." +"Yes," answered Oswald, "it is there that several of my +fellow-countrymen have found their last retreat. Let us go thither; and +thus, at least, it may happen that I shall never quit you."--Corinne +shuddered at these words, and her hand trembled as she supported herself +upon the arm of Lord Nelville--"I am better, much better," said he, +"since I have known you."--The countenance of Corinne was lighted up +anew with that sweet and tender joy which it was accustomed to express. + +Cestius presided over the Roman games. His name is not to be found in +history; but it is rendered illustrious by his tomb. The massive pyramid +which encloses his ashes, defends his death from that oblivion which has +entirely effaced his life. Aurelian, fearing that this pyramid might be +employed as a fortress to attack Rome, has caused it to be enclosed +within the walls which are yet standing, not as useless ruins, but as +the actual enclosure of the modern city. It is said that the form of +the pyramid is in imitation of the flame which ascends from a funeral +pyre. It is certain that this mysterious form attracts the eye and gives +a picturesque aspect to every perspective of which it forms a part. +Opposite this pyramid is Mount Testaceo, under which there are extremely +cool grottos where feasts are given in summer. The festivals of Rome are +not disturbed at the sight of tombs. The pines and the cypresses which +are perceived at various distances in the smiling country of Italy, are +also pregnant with solemn remembrances; and this contrast produces the +same effect as the verses of Horace, + + ----moriture Delli + ------------------------------------------ + Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens + Uxor,[18] + +in the midst of poetry consecrated to every enjoyment upon earth. The +ancients have always felt that the idea of death has its pleasures: it +is recalled by love and by festivals, and the most lively emotion of joy +seems to increase even from the idea of the shortness of life. + +Corinne and Nelville returned from the walk among the tombs, along the +banks of the Tiber.--Once it was covered with vessels and bordered with +palaces; once even its inundations were regarded as presages; it was the +prophetic river, the tutelary Deity of Rome[19]. At present, one would +say that it rolled its tide through a land of shadows; so solitary does +it seem, so livid do its waters appear. The finest monuments of the +arts, the most admirable statues have been thrown into the Tiber, and +are concealed beneath its waves. Who knows whether, in order to find +them, the river will not one day be turned from its bed? But when we +think that the masterpieces of human genius are perhaps there before +us, and that a more piercing eye would behold them through the waves--we +feel that indescribable emotion which incessantly arises at Rome, under +various forms, and creates a society for the mind in physical objects +which every where else are dumb. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] + Dellius thou must die--------------------- + Thou must quit thy land, thy home, and thy beloved wife. + +[19] PLIN. _Hist. Natur._ L. iii. Tiberis ... quamlibet magnorum navium +ex Italo mari capax, rerum in toto orbe nascentium mercator +placidissimus, pluribus probe solus quam ceteri in omnibus terris amnes +accolitur aspiciturque villis. Nullique fluviorum minus licet, inclusis +utrinque lateribus: nec tamen ipse pugnat, quamquam creber ac subitis +incrementis, et nusquam magis aquis quam in ipsa urbe stagnantibus. Quin +imo vates intelligitur potius ac monitor auctu semper religiosus verius +quam saevus. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Raphael has said that modern Rome was almost entirely built with the +ruins of the ancient city, and it is certain that we cannot take a step +here without being struck by some relics of antiquity. We perceive the +_eternal walls_, to use the expression of Pliny, through the work of the +later centuries; the Roman edifices almost all bear a historical stamp; +in them may be remarked, if we may so express it, the physiognomy of +ages. From the Etruscans to our days, from that people, more ancient +than the Romans themselves, and who resembled the Egyptians by the +solidity of their works and the fantastical nature of their designs, +from that people to Chevalier Bernini, an artist whose style resembles +that of the Italian poets of the seventeenth century, we may observe the +human mind at Rome, in the different characters of the arts, the +edifices and the ruins. The middle ages, and the brilliant century of +the Medici, re-appear before our eyes in their works, and this study of +the past in objects present to our sight, penetrates us with the genius +of the times. It was believed that Rome had formerly a mysterious name +which was only known to a few adepts; it seems that it is yet necessary +to be initiated into the secret of this city. It is not simply an +assemblage of habitations, it is the history of the world, figured by +divers emblems and represented under various forms. + +Corinne agreed with Lord Nelville that they should go and visit +together, the edifices of modern Rome, and reserve for another +opportunity the admirable collections of pictures and statues which it +contains. Perhaps, without accounting for it to herself, she desired to +put off till the most distant day possible, those objects which people +cannot dispense with seeing at Rome; for who has ever quitted it without +having contemplated the Apollo Belvedere and the pictures of Raphael? +This guarantee, weak as it was, that Oswald should not leave her, +pleased her imagination. Is there not an element of pride some one will +ask, in endeavouring to retain the object of our love by any other means +than the real sentiment itself? I really do not know; but the more we +love, the less we trust to the sentiment we inspire; and whatever may be +the cause which secures the presence of the object who is dear to us, we +always embrace it joyfully. There is often much vanity in a certain +species of boldness, and if charms, generally admired, like those of +Corinne, possess a real advantage, it is because they permit us to place +our pride to the account of the sentiment we feel rather than to that +which we inspire. + +Corinne and Nelville began their observations by the most remarkable of +the numerous churches of Rome--they are all decorated with ancient +magnificence; but something gloomy and fantastical is mingled with that +beautiful marble and those festival ornaments which have been taken from +the Pagan temples. Pillars of porphyry and granite were so numerous in +Rome that they have lavishly distributed them, scarcely considering them +of any value. At St John Lateran, that church so famous for the +councils that have been held in it, are found such a quantity of marble +pillars that many of them have been covered with a cement of plaster to +make pilasters, so indifferent have they become to these riches from +their multitude. + +Some of these pillars were in the tomb of Adrian, others at the Capitol; +these latter still bear on their capitals the figures of the geese which +saved the Roman people. Some of these pillars support Gothic, and others +Arabian ornaments. The urn of Agrippa conceals the ashes of a Pope; for +even the dead have yielded place to other dead, and the tombs have +almost as often changed their masters as the abodes of the living. + +Near St John Lateran is the holy stair-case, transported, it is said, +from Jerusalem to Rome. It may only be ascended kneeling. Caesar himself, +and Claudius also, mounted on their knees the stair-case which conducted +to the Temple of the Capitoline Jove. On one side of St John Lateran is +the font where it is said that Constantine was baptised.--In the middle +of the square is seen an obelisk, which is perhaps the most ancient +monument in the world--an obelisk cotemporary with the Trojan war!--an +obelisk which the barbarous Cambyses respected so much that in honour of +it he put a stop to the conflagration of a city!--an obelisk for which a +king pledged the life of his only son!--The Romans have, miraculously, +brought this pillar to Italy from the lowest part of Egypt.--They turned +the Nile from its course in order that it might seek it, and transport +it to the sea. This obelisk is still covered with hieroglyphics which +have preserved their secret during so many ages, and which to this day +defy the most learned researches. The Indians, the Egyptians, the +antiquity of antiquity, might perhaps be revealed to us by these +signs.--The wonderful charm of Rome is not only the real beauty of its +monuments; but the interest which it inspires by exciting thought; and +this kind of interest increases every day with each new study. + +One of the most singular churches of Rome, is that of St Paul: its +exterior is like a badly built barn, and the interior is ornamented with +eighty pillars of so fine a marble and so exquisite a make, that one +would believe they belonged to an Athenian temple described by +Pausanias. Cicero said--_We are surrounded by the vestiges of +history_,--if he said so then, what shall we say now? + +The pillars, the statues, the bas-reliefs of ancient Rome, are so +lavished in the churches of the modern city, that there is one (St +Agnes) where bas-reliefs, turned, serve for the steps of a stair-case, +without any one having taken the trouble to examine what they +represented. What an astonishing aspect would ancient Rome offer now, if +the marble pillars and the statues had been left in the same place where +they were found! The ancient city would still have remained standing +almost entire--but would the men of our day dare to walk in it? + +The palaces of the great lords are extremely vast, of an architecture +often very fine, and always imposing: but the interior ornaments are +rarely tasteful; we do not find in them even an idea of those elegant +apartments which the finished enjoyments of social life have given rise +to elsewhere. These vast abodes of the Roman princes are empty and +silent; the lazy inhabitants of these superb palaces retire into a few +small chambers unperceived, and leave strangers to survey their +magnificent galleries where the finest pictures of the age of Leo X. are +collected together. The great Roman lords of the present day, are as +unacquainted with the pompous luxury of their ancestors, as these +ancestors themselves were with the austere virtues of the Roman +republic. The country houses convey still more the idea of this +solitude, of this indifference of the possessors in the midst of the +most admirable abodes in the world. People may walk in these immense +gardens without suspecting that they have a master. The grass grows in +the middle of the walks, and in these very walks are trees fantastically +cut according to the ancient taste that prevailed in France.--What a +singular whimsicality is this neglect of the necessary, and affectation +of the useless!--But one is often surprised at Rome, and in the greater +part of the other cities of Italy, at the taste of the Italians for +extravagant ornaments,--they who have incessantly before their eyes the +noble simplicity of the antique. They love what is brilliant, much +better than what is elegant and commodious. They have in every instance, +the advantages and the inconveniences of not living habitually in +society. Their luxury is rather that of the imagination, than the luxury +of actual enjoyment;--isolated as they are among themselves, they cannot +dread the spirit of ridicule, which seldom penetrates at Rome into +domestic secrecy; and often, in contrasting the interior with the +exterior of their palaces, one would say, that the greater part of the +Italian nobility arrange their dwellings more to dazzle the passers-by +than to receive their friends. + +After having surveyed the churches and the palaces, Corinne conducted +Oswald to the villa Mellini, a solitary garden, without any other +ornament than its magnificent trees. From here is seen, at a distance, +the chain of the Appenines; the transparency of the air colours these +mountains and throws them forward in the perspective, giving them a most +picturesque appearance. Oswald and Corinne remained in this spot to +enjoy the charms of the sky and the tranquillity of nature. It is +impossible to form an idea of this singular tranquillity without having +lived in Southern countries. On a hot day there is not felt the lightest +breath of wind. The feeblest blade of grass is perfectly still, and the +animals themselves partake of the indolence which the fine weather +inspires: in the middle of the day, you neither hear the hum of flies, +the chirping of grasshoppers, nor the song of birds; no object fatigues +itself with useless and trifling agitation; all sleep till storm or the +passions awaken the vehemence of nature, who then rushes with +impetuosity from her profound repose. + +There are in the gardens of Rome, a great number of trees clad in +perennial green, which heighten the illusion produced by the mildness of +the climate during winter. Pines, of a particular elegance, large, +tufted towards the top, and interwoven with one another, form a kind of +plain in the air, whose effect is charming when we mount sufficiently +high to perceive it. The lower trees are placed beneath the shelter of +this verdant vault. Two palm trees only are found in Rome which are both +planted in the gardens of the monks; one of them, placed upon an +eminence, serves as a landmark, and a particular pleasure must always be +felt in perceiving and retracing in the various perspectives of Rome, +this deputy of Africa, this type of a Southern climate more burning +still than that of Italy, and which awakens so many new ideas and +sensations. + +"Do you not find," said Corinne, contemplating with Oswald the country +surrounding them; "that nature in Italy disposes us more to reverie than +any where else?--It might be said, that she is here more in affinity +with man, and that the Creator uses her as a medium of interpretation +between his creature and himself." "Undoubtedly," replied Oswald, "I +think so; but who knows whether it may not be the deep feelings of +tenderness which you excite in my heart, that render me sensible to all +I see?--You reveal to me the emotions and thoughts, which external +objects can give birth to. I existed but in my heart; you have awakened +my imagination. But this magic of the universe, which you teach me to +know, will never present me with any thing more lovely than your look, +more moving than your voice." "May the sentiment I now inspire you with, +last as long as my life," said Corinne, "or at least, may my life never +survive the power of inspiring it!" + +Oswald and Corinne terminated their tour of Rome by the Borghese villa. +Of all the Roman gardens and palaces, here the splendours of nature and +the arts, are assembled with the greatest taste and brilliancy. Here are +seen trees of every kind, and magnificent fountains; an incredible +number of statues, vases, and antique sarcophagi, mingled with the +freshness of the youthful nature of the South. The ancient mythology +here seems revived; the naiades are placed on the borders of rivers, the +nymphs in woods worthy of them, the tombs beneath Elysian shades, and +the statue of Esculapius in the middle of an isle, while that of Venus +appears to rise out of the waters: Ovid and Virgil might walk in this +enchanting spot, and still believe themselves in the Augustan age. The +masterpieces of sculpture which the palace contains, give it a +magnificence ever new. At a distance, through the trees, is perceived +the city of Rome and St Peter's, the Campagna, and those long arches, +the wrecks of aqueducts, which conveyed the springs from the mountains +into ancient Rome. Everything is there that can excite thought, delight +the imagination, and foster reverie. The most pure sensations are +confounded with the pleasures of the soul, and give an idea of perfect +happiness; but when we ask why this charming abode is not inhabited? +they answer you that the malaria (_la cattiva aria_) will not permit any +one to live here during summer. + +This malaria, in a manner, lays siege to Rome; it advances every year +some steps farther, and they are obliged to abandon the most charming +habitations to its empire: undoubtedly, the absence of trees in the +country about the city, is one of the causes of it; and it is perhaps, +on that account, that the ancient Romans consecrated the woods to +goddesses, in order to make them respected by the people. At present, +forests without number have been cut down;--can there indeed exist, in +our days, any place so sanctified, that the avidity of man will spare it +from the work of devastation? The malaria is the scourge of the +inhabitants of Rome, and threatens the city with an entire depopulation; +but perhaps it increases the effect produced by the superb gardens which +are seen within the walls of Rome. The malign influence is not felt by +any external sign; you breathe an air which seems pure, and is very +agreeable; the earth is smiling and fertile; a delicious coolness +refreshes you in the evening after the burning heat of the day; and all +this is death! + +"I love," said Oswald to Corinne, "this mysterious, invisible danger, +this danger under the form of the sweetest impressions. If death be +only, what I believe it to be, a summons to a happier existence, why +should not the perfume of flowers, the umbrage of fine trees, and the +refreshing breath of the evening breeze, be the bearers of that summons? +Undoubtedly, governments ought to watch in every way over the +preservation of human life; but there are secrets in nature which the +imagination alone can penetrate; and I easily conceive that neither the +inhabitants nor the strangers who visit it, are disgusted with Rome, by +the species of peril to which they are exposed there during the most +beautiful seasons of the year." + + + + +Book vi. + +THE MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE ITALIANS. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +The indecision of Oswald's character, increased by his misfortunes, led +him to dread forming any irrevocable resolve. He had not even dared, in +his state of irresolution, to ask of Corinne the secret of her name and +destiny; nevertheless, his love acquired every day new strength; he +never beheld her without emotion; in company he could hardly quit, even +for an instant, the place where she was seated; she did not speak a word +that he felt not; nor did she experience one moment's sadness or gaiety, +that was not reflected in his countenance. But in the midst of his +admiration and of his love for Corinne, he recollected how little such a +woman agreed with the English manner of living; how much she differed +from the idea which his father had formed of her whom it would be proper +for him to espouse; and all that he said to Corinne partook of the +trouble and constraint which these reflections caused him. + +Corinne perceived this too well; but it would have cost her so much to +break off with Lord Nelville, that she herself endeavoured to avoid, as +much as he, a decisive explanation; and as she was not possessed of much +foresight she was happy with the present, such as it was, although it +was impossible for her to know what would be the issue of it. + +She had become entirely divided from the world, in order to devote +herself entirely to her passion for Oswald. But at length, so much +affected was she at his silence with regard to the future, that she +resolved to accept an invitation for a ball to which she had been +pressingly solicited. Nothing is more common at Rome than to leave +society and to appear in it again, alternately, just as the parties feel +it agreeable to themselves: it is the country where people trouble their +minds the least with what is elsewhere called _gossip_; each one does as +he pleases, without any person enquiring about it, or at least, without +finding in others any obstacle either to his love or his ambition. The +Romans are as inattentive to the conduct of their fellow-countrymen, as +to that of strangers, who pass and repass through their city, the +rendezvous of Europeans. When Lord Nelville knew that Corinne was going +to the ball, he was vexed at it. He thought he had perceived in her for +some time a melancholy disposition in sympathy with his own: all on a +sudden she appeared to him to be taken up with dancing, an art in which +she excelled; and her imagination seemed fired at the approach of a +_fete_. Corinne was not frivolous by character; but she felt herself +every day more and more enslaved by her love for Oswald, and she would +fain endeavour to weaken its force. She knew by experience, that +reflection and sacrifices have less effect upon passionate characters +than dissipation, and she thought that reason did not consist in +conquering ourselves according to rules, but by doing so how we can. + +"I must," said she to Lord Nelville, who reproached her with her +intention of going to the ball, "I must know, however, if there be only +you in the world who can fill the void of my life; if that which pleased +me formerly may not still have the power to amuse me; and if the +sentiment you have inspired me with must absorb every other interest, +every other idea."--"You would then cease to love me?" replied +Oswald.--"No;" answered Corinne, "but it is only in domestic life that +it could be pleasing to me to feel thus governed by a single affection. +To me who need my talents, my mind, and my imagination, to support the +lustre of that kind of life which I have adopted, it must be +painful--extremely painful to love as I love you."--"You would not +sacrifice to me then," said Oswald to her, "this homage and this +glory."--"Of what importance can it be to you," said Corinne, "to know +whether or not I would sacrifice them to you? Since we are not +absolutely destined for one another, it would not be prudent to let that +happiness with which I must be satisfied, wither for ever."--Lord +Nelville made no answer, because it was necessary, in expressing his +sentiments, to avow also the purpose they inspired, and of this his own +heart was still in ignorance. He was silent therefore, and sighing, +followed Corinne to the ball, whither he went with much reluctance. + +It was the first time since his calamity that he had seen a large +assembly; and the tumult of a _fete_ caused him such an impression of +sadness that he remained a long time in a room contiguous to that +appropriated for the ball, his head supported on his hand, not even +curious to behold Corinne dance. He listened to the festive music, which +like every other music, produces reverie, though only intended to +inspire joy. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, quite enchanted at the sight +of a ball, which produced in him some recollections of France.--"I have +tried all I could," said he to Lord Nelville, "to discover something +interesting in these ruins of which they talk so much, and I can really +find no charm in them. It must be the effect of a very great prejudice +to admire those heaps of rubbish covered with thorns. I shall speak my +mind of them when I return to Paris, for it is time that this Italian +delusion should cease. There is not a monument now standing whole in any +part of Europe, that I would not sooner see than those old stumps of +pillars, those bas-reliefs, all black with time, which can only be +admired by dint of erudition. A pleasure which must be bought with so +much study, does not appear to me very lively in itself--to be charmed +with the sights of Paris, nobody need grow pale over books." Lord +Nelville made no reply.--The Count interrogated him afresh, as to the +impression that Rome produced on him. "In the midst of a ball," said +Oswald, "is not the most proper time for serious conversation on this +subject; and you know that I am incapable of any other."--"Well and +good:" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "I am more gay than you I admit; but +who knows whether I am not also the more wise of the two? Believe me, +there is much philosophy in my apparent levity: it is the way we should +take life."--"You are perhaps in the right," answered Oswald, "but it is +from nature, and not from reflection, that you acquire that way of +thinking; and that is why your manner of taking life may only suit +yourself." + +The Count d'Erfeuil heard the name of Corinne mentioned in the ball +room, and entered it to know what was going forward. Lord Nelville +advanced as far as the door, and beheld the Prince Amalfi, a Neapolitan +of the most handsome figure, who besought Corinne to dance with him the +_Tarantula_, a Neapolitan dance full of grace and originality. The +friends of Corinne besought her also to comply with his request. She +yielded to their desire without waiting to be asked frequently, which +astonished the Count d'Erfeuil, accustomed as he was to the refusals +with which it is customary to precede consenting to a request of this +nature. But in Italy, these kind of graces are unknown, and all believe +they please most in society by showing an eagerness to do what is asked +of them. Corinne would have invented this natural behaviour if she were +not already accustomed to it. The dress she had chosen for the ball was +elegant and light; her hair was gathered up in a fillet of silk, after +the Italian fashion; and her eyes expressed a lively pleasure, which +rendered her more seductive than ever. Oswald was disturbed at this; he +warred against himself; he was indignant at being captivated with charms +which he ought to lament, since, far from thinking to please him, it was +to escape his empire that Corinne appeared so attractive.--But who could +resist the seductions of a grace like hers? Were she even disdainful, +she would be still more omnipotent; and that certainly was not the +disposition of Corinne. She perceived Lord Nelville, and blushed, while +there was in her eyes as she looked upon him, a most enchanting +softness. + +The Prince d'Amalfi accompanied himself, in dancing, with castanets. +Corinne before she began saluted the assembly most gracefully with both +her hands, then turning round upon her heel took the tambourine which +the Prince Amalfi presented her with. She then began to dance, striking +the air upon the tambourine, and there was in all her motions, an +agility, a grace, a mixture of modesty and voluptuousness, which might +give an idea of that power which the Bayadores exercise over the +imagination of the Indians, when, if we may use the expression, they are +almost poets in their dance; when they express so many different +sentiments by the characteristic steps and the enchanting pictures which +they offer to the sight. Corinne was so well acquainted with all the +attitudes which the ancient painters and sculptors have represented, +that by a light movement of her arms, sometimes in placing the +tambourine over her head, sometimes forward, with one of her hands, +whilst the other ran over the little bells with an incredible dexterity, +she recalled to mind the dancers of Herculaneam[20], and gave birth +successively to a crowd of new ideas for painting and design. + +It was not the French style, characterised by the elegance and +difficulty of the step; it was a talent more connected with imagination +and sentiment. The character of the music was alternately expressed by +the exactitude and softness of the movements. Corinne, in dancing, +conveyed to the souls of her spectators what was passing in her own. The +same as in her improvisation, her performance on the lyre, or the +efforts of her pencil,--she reduced everything to language. The +musicians, in beholding her, exerted themselves to make the genius of +their art felt more exquisitely; a kind of passionate joy, a sensibility +of the imagination, electrified all the spectators of the magic dance, +and transported them to that state of ideal existence in which we dream +of happiness that does not exist in this world. + +There is a part of this Neapolitan dance when the lady kneels, whilst +the gentleman moves round her, not as a master, but as a +conqueror.--What at this moment were the charms and dignity of Corinne. +How regal, even in kneeling, did she appear! And when she arose, +striking her aerial cymbal, she seemed animated with that lively +enthusiasm of youth and beauty, which would create a belief that nothing +was wanting to complete her happiness. Alas! it was far otherwise; but +Oswald feared it, and sighed in the midst of his admiration of Corinne, +as if each triumph of her genius was a degree of separation from him: at +the conclusion of the dance, the gentleman kneels in his turn, and the +lady dances round him. Corinne in this part, if it were possible, +surpassed herself; her step was so light, as she tripped two or three +times round the same circle, that her buskined feet seemed to fly over +the floor with the velocity of lightning; and when she lifted up one of +her hands, shaking the tambourine, while with the other she motioned the +Prince Amalfi to rise, all the male part of the company were tempted to +throw themselves on their knees too, except Oswald, who retired a few +paces backward, and the Count d'Erfeuil, who advanced a few paces +forward to compliment Corinne. This enthusiasm of the Italians was by no +means assumed, but was the spontaneous effect of their feelings. They +are not sufficiently practised in society and in self-esteem to pay much +regard to the effect which their actions will produce; they never let +themselves be thwarted in their pleasures by vanity, nor turned aside +from the object of their pursuit by applause. + +Corinne was charmed at her success, and thanked all her admirers with +the most simple grace.--The satisfaction she felt at having succeeded so +well, appeared beneath a veil of modesty; but her chief anxiety was to +make her way through the crowd, in order to reach the door against which +the pensive Oswald was leaning. When she had reached the spot, she +paused to hear what he would say to her:--"Corinne," said he, +endeavouring to conceal his captivation as well as the pain that he +felt: "Corinne, I hope you have met with sufficient homage and +sufficient applause; but in the midst of these enthusiastic admirers, +have you found one certain and courageous friend--one protector for +life? Can this vain tumult of applause satisfy a heart like thine?" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[20] It is the dance of Mm. Recamier that gave me the idea of what I +have attempted to describe. This woman, so celebrated for her grace and +beauty, offers in the midst of her misfortunes the example of so +touching a resignation, and of such a total oblivion of her personal +interests, that her moral qualities seem to everyone as remarkable as +her accomplishments. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Corrine was prevented by the crowd from making any answer to Lord +Nelville. They were going to the supper room, and each _cavaliere +servente_ was hastening to seat himself by the side of his partner. A +strange lady entered when all the seats were occupied, and no gentleman, +except Lord Nelville and Count d'Erfeuil, made her an offer of his. This +was not the effect of impoliteness or of egotism; but the idea which the +great Roman lords entertain of honour and duty, is not to stir one step, +nor be absent one moment from their ladies. Some who were unable to find +seats, stood behind the chairs of their mistresses, ready to wait upon +them at the least signal. The ladies only conversed with their gallants; +strangers wandered unnoticed about the circle; for the ladies in Italy +are unacquainted with coquetry, nor does any vain triumph of self-love +ever introduce itself into their tender attachments. They have no desire +to please any other than him who possesses their affection; you can +never engage their minds before you have interested their hearts or +pleased their eyes, and frequently the most sudden beginnings of passion +are followed by a sincere devotion, and even a very long constancy. In +Italy, infidelity is more severely condemned in man than in woman. Three +or four gentlemen, under different titles, are followers of the same +lady, who leads them about with her, often without even concerning +herself to mention their names to the master of the house who receives +them. One is the favoured suitor--the other he who aspires to be so--a +third is called the sufferer (_il patito_); this latter is absolutely +disdained, but nevertheless, permitted to continue his adoration; and +all these rivals live peaceably together. The use of the poignard now +only survives among the common people. There is in this country a +whimsical mixture of simplicity and depravity, dissimulation and truth, +sincerity and revenge, weakness and resolution, which can only be +explained by constant observation; the reason being that their good +qualities proceed from the fact that nothing is done from vanity, and +their bad ones from the fact that they will do a great deal for +interest, whether that interest be allied to love, to ambition, or to +fortune. + +Distinctions of rank have in general little effect in Italy; this is not +from philosophy, but their facility of character and familiarity of +manners. This accounts for the little influence of aristocratic +prejudices amongst them; for as society does not pretend to judge of +anything, it embraces the opinions of all. + +After supper the company betook themselves to play. Some ladies +preferred the game of hazard, whilst others chose the silent one of +whist; and not a word was heard pronounced in that room which so lately +was filled with noise. The inhabitants of the south often pass from the +greatest agitation to the most profound repose: another contrasted part +of their character is indolence united to the most unwearied activity. +In any individual instance among these people, we must beware of judging +upon a first observation, since we find in them the most opposite +qualities: if at one moment they are prudent, perhaps in the next they +show themselves the boldest of men; if they appear indolent, it is only +because they are reposing after some exertion, or preparing for another: +their soul loses none of its force in society, but is most probably +concentrating all its energies for decisive circumstances. + +In this Roman assembly of which Oswald and Corinne formed a part, there +were men who lost enormous sums at play, without betraying in their +countenances the slightest emotion. Had these men been relating some +facts of trifling importance, they would have exhibited the most lively +expression and the most animated gestures; but when their passions +arrive at a certain pitch of violence, they dread the eye of +observation, and nearly always conceal them beneath a veil of silence +and apparent apathy. + +The scene of the ball was impressed upon Lord Nelville's memory, +associated with bitter resentment; for he feared that the enthusiasm of +the Italians had, at least for a moment, robbed him of the affection of +Corinne. This rendered him very unhappy; but pride whispered him to +conceal it, or discover it only by expressing contempt for the suffrages +of those who had flattered the dazzling accomplishments of his mistress. +He was invited by the company to make one at play, but he refused. +Corinne did the same, and motioned him to come and sit down by her. +Oswald expressed himself uneasy, lest he should expose Corinne to +observation by thus passing the whole evening with her in company. "Make +yourself easy on that score," said she, "nobody will trouble their heads +with us: it is the custom here for people to do as they please in +company; we have no established, ceremonious forms to lay one another +under an unpleasant restraint, nor do we exact any formal attention; a +general polite disposition is all that is expected. This is not, +certainly, a country where liberty exists such as you understand the +term in England; but we enjoy here a perfect independence in society." +"That is to say," replied Oswald, "you show a complete disregard for +manners." "At least," interrupted Corinne, "we show no hypocrisy. M. de +la Rochefoucault has said, '_coquetry is the least of a woman's +defects_': in truth, whatever may be the faults of women in Italy, they +do not seek to hide them by dissimulation. And if the sacredness of +marriage be not here sufficiently respected, it is at least with the +consent of both parties." + +"It is not from sincerity that this kind of frankness proceeds," replied +Oswald, "but from indifference to public opinion. When I arrived here, I +had a letter of recommendation to a princess, which I gave to my Italian +servant to deliver; he said to me, '_Sir, it will be of no use to +deliver this letter now, for the princess sees nobody; she is_ +INAMORATA;' and this state of being _in love_, is announced with as much +indifference as any other situation incidental to our existence. This +publicity cannot be palliated by the plea of extraordinary vehemence of +passion; several attachments of this sort succeed each other, and are of +equal notoriety. So little are women given to mystery in this respect, +that they avow their connections with less embarrassment than those of +our country would feel in speaking of their husbands. It is easy to +believe that no profound or delicate sentiment is mixed with this +sensibility of passion, divested of modesty. Hence it happens that in +this nation, where nothing is thought of but love, there is not a single +romance; because love is here so rapid and so public that it affords no +interesting developments; and to give a true picture of general manners +in this respect, it would be necessary to begin and terminate it in the +first page. Pardon me, Corinne," cried Lord Nelville, observing the pain +that he gave her; "you are an Italian, and that thought ought to disarm +me; but one of the causes of that incomparable grace which distinguishes +you, is the union of all the characteristic charms of different nations. +I know not in what country you have been brought up; but it appears to +me certain, that you have not passed your whole life in Italy--perhaps +in England itself--Ah, Corinne! if that were so, how could you have +quitted that sanctuary of modesty and delicacy, for these regions, +where not only virtue, but love itself, is so badly understood? It is +breathed in the air; but does it penetrate the heart? Your poetry, in +which love performs so principal a part, possesses considerable grace, +and much imagination; it is ornamented with brilliant pictures, whose +colours are lively and voluptuous. But where will you find that tender, +melancholy sentiment, which animates our poetry? What have you that can +be put in comparison with the scene between Belvidera and her husband, +in OTWAY; or with that in SHAKESPEARE, between Romeo and Juliet? But +above all, what have you to compare with those admirable lines of +THOMSON, in his 'Spring,' where he paints in such noble and affecting +traits, the happiness of love, when sanctioned by marriage? Have you any +such marriage in Italy? And can love exist where there is no domestic +felicity? Is it not this happiness which the heart seeks, as possession +is the object of sensual passion? Do not all young and beautiful women +resemble each other, unless the qualities of the mind and soul determine +a preference? And what desire is excited by all these qualities? +Marriage. That is to say, the association of every thought, and of every +sentiment. Illicit love, when unfortunately it exists amongst us, is, if +it may be so expressed, only a reflection of marriage. In such +connections, that happiness is sought for, which the wanderer cannot +find at home; and infidelity itself is more moral in England than +marriage in Italy." + +These words were hard: they deeply wounded the sensibility of Corinne; +who, rising immediately, her eyes filled with tears, quitted the room +and returned directly home. Oswald was distracted at having offended +her; but it was the irritation of his mind, occasioned by the impression +she made in the ball, which had betrayed itself in the remarks that had +just escaped him. He followed her to her abode; but she refused to see +him. He called again the next morning, but in vain: her door was closed +against him. This protracted refusal to receive Lord Nelville, was not +agreeable to the disposition of Corinne; but she was painfully afflicted +at the opinion he had expressed of the Italian women; and this very +opinion induced her to form a determination of concealing, for the +future, if possible, the sentiment that preyed on her heart. + +Oswald, on his side, found, in this instance, that the behaviour of +Corinne was not consistent with her natural simplicity, and he became +confirmed more and more in the discontent with which the ball had +inspired him; and a disposition of mind was excited from these +circumstances, capable of struggling against the passion whose empire he +dreaded. His principles were rigid, and the mystery which enveloped the +past life of her whom he loved, afflicted him intensely. The manners of +Corinne appeared to him most fascinating, but sometimes too much +animated by the universal desire of pleasing. He discovered much +nobleness and reserve in her conversation and deportment; but she seemed +to indulge in too much latitude of opinion. In fact, Oswald was a +captivated man, hurried away by the passion he felt for his accomplished +mistress, but cherishing in his breast an opponent which combated his +feelings. Such a situation of mind is frequently attended with much +bitterness. We are dissatisfied with ourselves, and with others. We +suffer, and feel at the same time that our suffering ought to increase, +or at least terminate in a violent explanation, by which one of those +two sentiments that lacerate the heart must obtain a complete triumph. + +It was in such a state of mind as this that Lord Nelville wrote to +Corinne. His letter was harsh and ungentlemanly. He felt this; but +various confused emotions impelled him to send it: he was rendered so +wretched by these internal conflicts, that he wished, at all hazards, +for some circumstance or other to terminate them. + +A report, which had just been communicated to him by the Count +d'Erfeuil, though he did not give credence to it, contributed perhaps to +give more asperity to his expressions. It was noised about Rome, that +Corinne was about to marry the Prince Amalfi. Oswald knew very well that +she did not love him, and of course concluded that the events of the +ball afforded the only foundation for such a report; but he was +convinced that she had been at home to the Prince on the morning when he +himself was refused admission; and too proud to discover the slightest +sentiment of jealousy, he satisfied his discontent by denigrating the +nation, for which he beheld with so much pain, Corinne's predilection. + + + + +Chapter iii. + +_Oswald's Letter to Corinne_. + + + _January 24, 1795._ + +"You refuse to see me; you are offended at our conversation of the night +before last; and you have doubtless formed an intention to open your +doors in future only to your own countrymen, meaning probably by this +means, to expiate the fault you have committed in admitting to your +society a man of another nation. However, far from repenting my +sincerity with respect to the Italians, far from regretting the +observations which I made to you, whom, deluded by phantoms, I wished to +consider as an Englishwoman, I will venture to predict more strongly +still, that you will find neither happiness nor dignity should you make +choice of a husband from that society by which you are surrounded. I +know not the Italian worthy of you; there is not one by whose alliance +you could be honoured, let him be invested with whatever title he may. +Men in Italy are much less estimable than women; for they possess the +defects of the women, in addition to their own. Will you persuade me, +that these inhabitants of the South, who so pusillanimously shrink from +pain, and pursue the phantom of pleasure with so much avidity, can be +susceptible of love? Have you not seen (I have the fact from you) the +very last month, an Italian husband at the play, who but eight days +before had lost his wife, and a wife whom he pretended to love? They are +here not more eager to remove the dead from their sight than to efface +the remembrance of them from their mind. The funeral ceremonies are +attended to by the priests, as the rites of love are performed by the +attendant Cavaliers: ceremonial and custom supply the place of regret +and enthusiasm. Lastly, and it is this that principally destroys love, +the men of Italy are incapable of inspiring the women with any kind of +respect: the latter do not feel obliged by the submission of the former, +because their character is not dignified with firmness, nor their life +with serious occupation. In order that nature and social order may +appear in all their beauty, man must be the protector, and woman the +protected; but the protector must adore that weakness which he defends, +and reverence the helpless deity, who, like the household gods of the +ancients, brings happiness to his home. So it might almost be said, that +every woman is a Sultan, having at her command a seraglio of men. + +The men are here distinguished by that softness and pliability of +character, which properly belongs to women. An Italian proverb says: +'_who knows not how to feign, knows not how to live_.' Is not that a +woman's proverb? In truth, how can the manly character be formed upon +true principles of dignity and strength, in a country which affords no +military career of glory, which contains no free institutions? Hence it +is, that they direct their minds to all the little arts of cunning; they +treat life like a game of chess, in which success is everything. All +that remains to them from antiquity, is something gigantic in their +expressions and in their external magnificence; but this baseless +grandeur is frequently accompanied by all that is vulgar in taste, and +miserably negligent in domestic life. Is this, Corinne, the nation which +you would be expected to prefer to every other? Is this the nation whose +roaring applauses are so necessary to you, that every other destiny +would appear dull and congenial compared with their noisy '_bravos_?' +Who could flatter himself with being able to render you happy away from +these dear scenes of tumult? What an inconceivable character is that of +Corinne! profound in sentiment, but frivolous in taste; independent from +innate pride, yet servile from the need of distraction! She is a +sorceress whose spells alternately alarm and then allay the fears which +they have created; who dazzles our view in native sublimity, and then, +all of a sudden disappears from that region where she is without her +like, to lose herself in an indiscriminate crowd. Corinne, Corinne, he +who is your adorer cannot help feeling his love disturbed by fear! + + "OSWALD." + + +Corinne, on reading this letter, was much incensed at the inveterate +prejudices which Oswald appeared to entertain of her country. But she +was happy enough in her conjectures, to discover that she owed this to +the dissatisfaction he experienced at the _fete_, and to her refusing to +see him ever since after his final conversation on that evening; and +this reflection softened a little the painful impression which the +letter produced upon her. She hesitated for some time, or at least, +fancied she hesitated, as to the conduct which she should observe +towards him. The tenderness she cherished for this eccentric lover, +induced a wish to see him; but it was extremely painful to her that he +should imagine her to be desirous of marrying him, although their +fortunes were at least equal, and although in revealing her name, it +would be easy to show that it was by no means inferior to that of Lord +Nelville. Nevertheless, the independence and singularity of that mode of +life which she had adopted, ought to have inspired her with a +disinclination for marriage; and most assuredly she would have repulsed +the idea, had not her passion blinded her to the sufferings she would +have to undergo in espousing an Englishman and renouncing Italy. + +We willingly make an offering of pride upon the altar of the heart; but +when social prosperity and worldly interests oppose obstacles in any +shape, when we can suppose that the object of our love makes any sort of +sacrifice in uniting himself to us, it is no longer possible to show him +any alteration of sentiment. Corinne not being equal to a determination +to break off with Oswald, wished to persuade herself of the possibility +of seeing him in future, and yet concealing the passion which she felt +for him. It was in this intention that she came to a determination to +confine herself, in the answer she should send to his letter, merely to +his unjust accusations against the Italian nation, and to reason with +him upon this subject as if it were the only one that interested her. +Perhaps the best way in which a woman of intellect can resume her +coldness and dignity, is by seeking an asylum in her own mind. + + _Corinne to Lord Nelville_. + + _Jan. 15, 1795._ + +"Did your letter, my lord, concern only me, I should not have attempted +the task of self-justification: my character is so easy to know, that he +who might not be able to comprehend it by himself, would derive little +aid in his scrutiny by any explanation that I could give him on the +subject. The virtuous reserve of the English women, and the graceful art +of the French, take my word for it, often serve to conceal one half of +what is passing in their souls: that which you are pleased to +distinguish in me by the name of magic, is nothing but a sort of +transparency of mind, which allows its different sentiments and opposing +thoughts to be seen without labouring to harmonize them; for that +harmony, when it exists, is almost always assumed--most genuine +characters being by nature inconsequent--but it is not of myself I wish +to speak, it is of that unfortunate nation you so cruelly attack. Can it +be my affection for my friends which has inspired you with this bitter +malevolence? You know me too well to be jealous of me; indeed I have not +the vanity to believe that a sentiment of this description could have +sufficient power to transport you to such a degree of injustice. You +repeat the opinion of every other foreigner upon the Italian character, +when drawn from first impressions; but it requires deeper penetration, +and a more patient scrutiny, to be able to form a correct judgment upon +this country, which at different epochs has been so great. Whence comes +it that this nation, under the Romans, has attained the highest military +character in the world? that it has been the most jealous of its +liberties, in the republics of the middle ages, and in the sixteenth +century, the most illustrious in literature, and the arts and sciences? +Has she not pursued glory under every form? And if now, alas! she can +boast of none, why do you not rather accuse her political situation, +since in other circumstances she has shown herself different? + +"I know not whether I deceive myself; but the wrongs of the Italians +inspire me with no other sentiment than pity for their lot. Foreigners +have in every age conquered and torn asunder this beautiful country, the +perpetual object of their ambition; and yet foreigners bitterly reproach +this nation, with the wrongs of a conquered and dismembered country? +Europe is indebted to the Italians for the arts and sciences, and shall +Europe, turning their own benefits against them, dispute with her +benefactors the only species of renown which can distinguish a nation +without either military strength or political liberty? + +"It is so true that nations derive their character from the nature of +their government, that in this same Italy, we behold a remarkable +difference of manners in the different states that compose it. The +Piedmontese, who formed a little national body, have a more martial +spirit than all the rest of Italy; the Florentines, who have had the +good fortune either to enjoy their liberty, or to be governed by liberal +princes, are mild and enlightened; the Venetians and the Genoese, +discover a genius for politics, because their government is a republican +Aristocracy; the Milanese are remarkable for their sincerity, which +character they have long since derived from the nations of the north; +the Neapolitans might easily become a warlike people, because during +several centuries they have been united under a government, very +imperfect it is true, but yet a government of their own. The Roman +nobility being totally unoccupied with either military or political +pursuits, must in consequence become indolent and uninformed; but the +ecclesiastics, having a career of emulation open before them, are much +more enlightened and cultivated than the nobles, and as the papal +government admits of no distinction of birth, and is purely elective in +the clerical body, it begets a sort of liberality, not in ideas, but in +habits, which renders Rome a most agreeable abode for those who have +neither the prospect, nor the ambition of worldly eminence. + +"The nations of the south more easily receive the impression of their +political establishment than those of the north; they possess an +indolence which soon softens into resignation, and nature offers them so +many enjoyments, that they are easily consoled for the loss of those +which society refuses them. There is certainly much depravity in Italy, +and nevertheless civilisation is here in a much lower stage of +development than that of other countries. There is something almost +savage in the character of the Italians, notwithstanding their +intellectual acuteness, which too much resembles that of the hunter in +the art of surprising his prey. And indolent people easily acquire a +cunning character; they possess a habit of gentleness which serves them, +upon occasion, to dissimulate even their wrath: it is always by our +usual manners that we succeed in concealing an unexpected situation. + +"The Italians are sincere and faithful in the private intercourse of +life. Interest and ambition exercise considerable sway among them; but +pride and vanity none: the distinctions of rank produce little +impression. They have no society, no salons, no fashions, no little +daily methods of giving effect to minute circumstances. These habitual +sources of dissimulation and envy exist not among them. When they +deceive their enemies and their rivals, it is because they consider +themselves in a state of warfare with them; but in other circumstances +they are frank and ingenuous. It is this ingenuousness alone that has +scandalised you respecting our women, who, hearing love constantly +spoken of, and surrounded by its seductions and examples, conceal not +their sentiments, and if it may be so expressed, give even, to gallantry +a character of innocence; besides, they have no ridicule to dread from +that society in which they live. Some of them are so ignorant that they +cannot write; this they publicly avow, and answer a billet by means of +their agent (_il paglietto_) in a formal style on official paper. But to +make amends for this, among those who are well educated, you will find +academy professors who give public lessons in a black scarf; and should +this excite a smile, you would be answered, 'Is there any harm in +knowing Greek? Is there any harm in earning one's living by one's own +exertions? Why should so simple a matter provoke your mirth?' + +"But now my lord, allow me to touch upon a more delicate subject; allow +me to enquire the cause why our men display so little military ardour. +They expose their lives freely when impelled by love and hatred; and a +stab from a stiletto given or received in such a cause, excites neither +astonishment nor dread. They fear not death when natural passions bid +them brave its terrors; but often, it must be owned, they prefer life to +political interests, which seldom affect them because they possess no +national independence. Often too, that notion of honour which descends +to us from the age of chivalry, has little power in a nation where +opinion, and society by which opinion is formed, do not exist; it is a +natural consequence of this disorganisation of every public authority, +that women should attain that ascendancy which they here possess over +the men, perhaps in too high a degree to respect and admire them. +Nevertheless, the conduct of men towards women is full of delicacy and +attention. The domestic virtues in England constitute female glory and +happiness; but if there are countries where love exists outside the +sacred ties of marriage; that one among these countries where female +happiness excites the greatest attention and care, is Italy. Here men +have invented moral duties for relations outside the bounds of morality +itself; but at least in the division of these duties, they have been +both just and generous: they considered themselves more guilty than +women, when they broke the ties of love; because the latter had made the +greater sacrifice and lost more. They conceive that before the tribunal +of the heart, he is the most guilty who does the most injury. Men do +wrong for want of feeling; but women through weakness of character. +Society, which is at once rigorous and depraved--that is to say, without +pity for errors when they entail misfortunes,--must be very severe upon +women; but in a country which has no society, natural goodness of heart +has freer exercise. + +"Ideas of consideration and dignity are, I agree, less powerful and even +less known in Italy than any where else: the want of society and of +public opinion is the cause of it: but notwithstanding all that may be +said of the perfidy of the Italians, I maintain that there is not a +country in the world where more sincerity is to be found. So far is this +sincerity from being checked by vanity, that although that country be +one of which foreigners speak most ill, there is no country where they +meet with a more kindly reception. The Italians are reproached with +being too much inclined to flattery; but it must be allowed in their +favour, that generally, they lavish their soft expressions, not from +design, but a real desire to please; nor can it be alleged that these +expressions are ever falsified by their conduct. But it may be asked, +would they be faithful to their friends in extraordinary circumstances, +in which it might be necessary to brave for them the perils of +adversity? A very small number, I must own, would be capable of such +friendship; but this observation will not apply to Italy alone. + +"The Italians are remarkable for that lassitude which distinguishes the +eastern nations; but there are no men more active and persevering when +once their passions are excited. These very women, too, whom you behold +as indolent as the odalisks of a seraglio, upon some occasions give most +striking proofs of attachment. There is something mysterious in the +character and the imagination of the Italians, in whom you will find by +turns, either unexpected traits of generosity and friendship, or gloomy +and formidable proofs of hatred and revenge. They have no emulation, +because life to them is only a pleasant summer's dream; but give those +men a purpose, and you will see them in six months, develop an +unrivalled power of will and intelligence. It is the same with women: +what ambition can they feel, to excel in education when the ignorance of +the men renders them insensible to its value? By cultivating their minds +their hearts would become isolated; but these very women would soon +become worthy a man of superior mind, if such a man were the object of +their tender affection[21]. + +"Everything here sleeps: but in a country where great interests are +dead, repose and carelessness are more noble than a busy anxiety about +trifling concerns. + +"Even literature languishes in a country where thought is not renewed by +the strong and varied action of life.--But what nation has testified +more admiration for literature and the fine arts than Italy? We are +informed by history, that the popes, the princes, and the people, have +at all times paid to painters, poets, and distinguished writers, the +most public homage. This enthusiastic veneration of talent is I confess, +my lord, one of the first motives of my attachment to this country.--We +do not find here that _blasee_ imagination, that discouraging temper of +mind, that despotic mediocrity, which in other countries so effectually +torment and stifle natural genius.--A happy idea, sentiment, or +expression, sets an audience on fire, if I may say so. By the same rule +that talent holds the first rank amongst us, it excites considerable +envy; Pergolese was assassinated for his _Stabat Mater_; Giorgione armed +himself with a cuirass when he was obliged to paint in public; but the +violent jealousy which talent inspires amongst us, is that which, in +other nations, gives birth to power. This jealousy does not degrade its +object; it may hate, proscribe, and kill, but it is nevertheless mingled +with the fanaticism of admiration, and encourages genius, even in +persecuting it. To conclude; when we see so much life in so confined a +circle, in the midst of so many obstacles and so much subjection of +every kind, we cannot avoid in my opinion taking the deepest interest in +a people who inhale, with so much avidity, the little air which the +loopholes of imagination allow to enter through the walls that confine +them. + +"That this confinement is such, I will not deny: nor that men rarely +acquire in Italy that dignity, that boldness, which distinguishes free +and military nations.--I will even admit my lord, if you choose, that +the character of such nations is capable of inspiring women with more +love and enthusiasm. But might it not also be possible, that a noble and +interested man, cherishing the most rigid virtues, might unite in his +character every quality that can excite love, without possessing those +which promise happiness. + + "CORINNE." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[21] Mr Roscoe, author of the History of the Medici, has recently +published an History of Leo X., which is truly a masterpiece in its +kind, in which he relates all those marks of esteem and admiration, +which the princes and the people of Italy have conferred on +distinguished men of letters; he also shows, with impartiality, that the +conduct of many of the Popes has been, in this respect, very liberal. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +Corinne's letter made Oswald a second time repent the idea he had formed +of detaching himself from her. The intellectual dignity, the attractive +tenderness with which she repelled the harsh allegations he had made +against her country, affected him deeply, and penetrated him with +admiration. A superiority, so grand, so simple, and so true, appeared to +him above all ordinary rules. He felt that Corinne was not the weak, +timid woman, without an opinion on any subject beyond the sphere of her +private duties and sentiments, which he had chosen in his imagination as +a partner for life. The remembrance of Lucilia, such as he had beheld +her at the age of twelve years, agreed much better with this idea;--but +could any woman be compared with Corinne? Could ordinary laws and rules +be applied to one, who united in herself so many different qualities, +cemented by genius and sensibility? Corinne was a miracle of nature, and +was it not a miracle worked in favour of Oswald, when he could flatter +himself with interesting such a woman? But her real name and condition +were unknown to him. What would be her future projects were he to avow +his intention of uniting himself to her? All was yet in obscurity; and +although the enthusiasm with which Corinne had inspired Oswald made him +desirous of espousing her, yet the idea that her life had not been +wholly irreproachable, and that such an union would certainly have been +condemned by his father, threw his soul into confusion, and racked him +with the most painful anxiety. + +He was not now so sunk in grief, as before his acquaintance with +Corinne; but he no longer felt that sort of calm, which may even +accompany repentance, when our whole life is devoted to the expiation of +a crime. Formerly, he was not afraid to abandon himself to his +recollections, bitter as they were; but now he dreaded those long and +profound reveries, which would have revealed to him what was passing at +the bottom of his soul. In the meantime he prepared to visit Corinne, in +order to thank her for her letter, and obtain pardon for what he had +written to her, when Mr Edgermond, a relation of young Lucilia, entered +the room. + +He was a worthy English gentleman, who had almost constantly resided in +Wales, where he possessed an estate. He cherished those principles and +prejudices which, in every country, serve to maintain things as they +are, and which have a most beneficial tendency, when things are as well +as human reason will permit. When that is the case, such men as Mr +Edgermond, that is to say, the partizans of established order, though +strongly and even obstinately attached to their customs and to their +manner of thinking, ought to be considered as men of rational and +enlightened minds. + +Lord Nelville was startled when he heard Mr Edgermond announced; every +recollection of the past rushed upon him at once; but as it immediately +occurred to his mind that Lady Edgermond, the mother of Lucilia, had +sent her relation to reproach him, and thus restrain his independence, +this thought restored his firmness, and he received Mr Edgermond with +great coldness. However, he wronged his visitor by his suspicions, for +he had not the least design in his head that regarded Nelville. He +visited Italy for the sake of his health alone; and ever since he had +been in the country, he was constantly employed in hunting, and drinking +to King George and Old England. He was the most open-hearted of men, +and possessed a much better informed mind than his habits would induce +many to believe. He was a downright Englishman, not only as he ought to +be, but also as one might wish he were not: following in every country +the customs of his own, living only with Englishmen, and never +discoursing with foreigners; not out of contempt to them, but from a +sort of repugnance to foreign languages, and a timidity, which even at +the age of fifty, rendered him very diffident in forming new +acquaintances. + +"I am happy to see you," said he to Nelville, "I am going to Naples in a +fortnight and should be glad to see you there, for I have not long to +stay in Italy; my regiment will soon embark." "Your regiment!" repeated +Lord Nelville, and blushed as if he had forgotten that he had a year's +leave of absence because his regiment was not to be employed before the +expiration of that period. He blushed at the thought that Corinne could +make him forget even his duty. "Your regiment," continued Mr Edgermond, +"will not go upon service so soon; so stay here quietly, and regain your +health. I saw my young cousin before I set out--she is more charming +than ever. I am sure by the time you return she will be the finest woman +in England." Lord Nelville said nothing--and Mr Edgermond was also +silent. Some other words passed between them, very laconic, though +extremely friendly, and Mr Edgermond was going, when suddenly turning +back, he said, "Apropos, my lord, you can do me a kindness--they tell me +you are acquainted with the celebrated Corinne: I don't much like +forming new acquaintances, but I am quite curious to see this lady." +"Since you desire it, I will ask Corinne's permission to introduce you," +replied Oswald. "Do so, I beseech you," said Mr Edgermond; "and contrive +to let me see her some day when she improvises, or dances and sings to +the company." "Corinne does not thus display her talents to strangers," +said Nelville; "she is your equal and mine in every respect." "Pardon my +mistake," said Mr Edgermond, "as she is not known by another name than +that of Corinne, and lives by herself at the age of twenty-six years +unaccompanied by any part of her family, I thought she derived support +from her talents." "Her fortune is entirely independent," answered his +lordship warmly, "and her mind is still more so." Mr Edgermond +immediately dropped this subject, and repented at having introduced it, +seeing that it interested Oswald. No men in the world have so much +discretion and delicate precaution in what concerns the affections, as +the English. + +Mr Edgermond went away. Lord Nelville, when alone, could not help +exclaiming with emotion, "I must espouse Corinne. I must become her +protector, in order to preserve her from obloquy. She shall have the +little it is in my power to bestow--a rank and a name; whilst she on her +part will confer on me every earthly felicity." It was in this +disposition that he hastened to visit Corinne, and never did he enter +her doors with sweeter sentiments of hope and love; but, swayed by his +natural timidity, and in order to recover confidence, he began the +conversation with insignificant topics, and of this number was his +request for permission to introduce Mr Edgermond. At this name Corinne +was visibly agitated, and with a faltering voice refused what Oswald +solicited. All astonishment, he said to her, "I thought that in this +house, to which so many are allowed access, the title of my friend would +not afford a motive of exclusion." "Do not be offended, my lord," +replied Corinne: "Believe that I must have very powerful reasons not to +consent to your desire." "Ands will you acquaint me with those +reasons?" replied Oswald. "Impossible!" cried Corinne; "Impossible!" "So +then--" said Nelville, and his emotion rendered him unable to proceed. +He was about to depart, when Corinne, all in tears, exclaimed in +English, "For God's sake do not leave me unless you wish to break my +heart!" + +These words, and the tone of voice in which they were uttered, deeply +affected the soul of Oswald. He sat down again at some distance from +Corinne, supporting his head against a vase of alabaster which +embellished her apartment; then, suddenly, he said to her, "Cruel woman! +you see that I love you--you see that, twenty times a day, I am ready to +offer you my hand and my heart; yet you will not inform me who you are! +Tell me, Corinne, tell me the story of your past life," repeated he, +stretching his hand to her with the most moving expression of +sensibility. "Oswald!" cried Corinne; "Oswald! you do not know the pain +you give me. If I were mad enough to tell you all you would no longer +love me." "Great God!" replied he; "what have you then to reveal?" +"Nothing that renders me unworthy of you," said she; "but fortuitous +circumstances, and differences between our tastes and opinions, which +existed formerly and which no longer exist. Do not oblige me to confess +who I am. Some day, perhaps--some day, should you love me +sufficiently--Ah! I know not what I say," continued Corinne; "you shall +know all; but do not forsake me before you have heard it. Promise me +that you will not, in the name of your father who is now in heaven!" +"Pronounce not that name," cried Lord Nelville; "can you fathom his will +respecting us? Think you that he would consent to our union? If you do, +declare it, and I shall no longer be racked with doubts and fears. Some +time or other, I will unfold to you my sad story; but behold the +condition you have now reduced me to." In truth, his forehead was +covered with a cold sweat, his face was pale, and his trembling lips +with difficulty articulated these last words. Corinne, seated by the +side of Nelville, holding his hands in hers, gently recalled him to +himself. "My dear Oswald," said she to him; "ask Mr Edgermond if he has +ever been in Northumberland; or at least if he has only been there +within these past five years. Should he answer in the affirmative he may +then accompany you hither." At these words Oswald looked steadfastly at +Corinne, who cast down her eyes and was silent. "I shall do as you +desire me," said Lord Nelville, and went away. + +On his return home, he exhausted conjecture upon the secrets of Corinne. +It appeared evident that she had passed a considerable time in England, +and that her name and family must be known there. But what could be her +motive for concealing them; and if she had been settled in England, why +had she left it? These questions greatly disturbed the heart of Oswald. +He was convinced that no stain would be found in her life; but he feared +a combination of circumstances might have rendered her guilty in the +eyes of others. What he most dreaded, was her being an object of English +disapprobation. He felt sufficiently fortified against that of every +other country; but the memory of his father was so intimately connected +with the love of his native country, that these two sentiments +strengthened each other. + +Oswald, having learnt of Mr Edgermond that he had been in Northumberland +for the first time the preceding year, promised to introduce him to +Corinne that evening. Oswald arrived at her house before him, and made +her acquainted with the ideas that Mr Edgermond had conceived +respecting her, suggesting the propriety of convincing him how much he +was in error, by assuming the most cold and reserved manners. + +"If you permit me," replied Corinne, "I will be the same to him as to +everybody else; if he desire to hear me, I will improvise before him; in +fact, I will appear to him as I am, not doubting that he will perceive +as much dignity of soul in this simple and natural behaviour, as if I +were to put on an air of restraint which would only be affected." "Yes, +Corinne," replied Oswald, "you are right. Ah! how much in the wrong is +he, who would in the least alter your admirable disposition." + +At this moment Mr Edgermond arrived with the rest of the company. At the +commencement of the evening, Lord Nelville placed himself by the side of +Corinne, and with an interest which at once became the lover and the +protector, he said every thing that could enhance her worth. The respect +he testified for her seemed to have for its object rather to win the +attention of others, than to satisfy himself; but it was with the most +lively joy that he soon felt the folly of all his anxiety. Corinne +entirely captivated Mr Edgermond--she not only captivated him by her +genius and her charms, but by inspiring him with that sentiment of +esteem which true characters always obtain of honest ones; and when he +presumed to express a wish to hear her upon a subject of his choice, he +aspired to this favour with as much respect as eagerness. She consented +without for a moment waiting to be pressed, and thus manifested that +this favour had a value independent of the difficulty of obtaining it. +But she felt so lively a desire to please a countryman of Oswald's, a +man who by the consideration which he merited might influence his +opinion in speaking of her, that this sentiment suddenly filled her with +a timidity which was quite new to her: she wished to begin, but her +tongue was suspended by the emotion she felt. Oswald was pained that she +did not dazzle his English friend with all her superiority; his eyes +were cast down, and his embarrassment was so visible, that Corinne, +solely engrossed by the effect that she produced upon him, lost more and +more the presence of mind necessary for improvisation. At length, +sensible of her hesitation, feeling that her words were the offspring of +memory and not of sentiment, and that thus she was neither able to paint +what she thought nor what she really felt, she suddenly stopped and said +to Mr Edgermond, "Pardon me Sir, if upon this occasion timidity has +deprived me of my usual facility; it is the first time, as my friends +can testify, that I have been below myself; but perhaps," added she, +sighing, "it will not be the last." + +Oswald was deeply affected by the touching failure of Corinne. Till then +he had always been accustomed to see imagination and genius triumph over +her affections and reanimate her soul at the moment when she was most +cast down; but at this time her mind was entirely fettered by feeling, +yet Oswald had so identified himself with her fame on this occasion, +that he partook of the mortification of her failure, instead of +rejoicing at it. But as it appeared certain, that she would one day +shine with her natural lustre, he yielded to the tender reflections that +arose in his mind, and the image of his mistress was enthroned more than +ever in his heart. + + + + +Book vii. + +ITALIAN LITERATURE. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Lord Nelville felt a lively desire that Mr Edgermond should enjoy the +conversation of Corinne, which was more than equivalent to her +improvised verses. The following day the same company assembled at her +house; and to elicit her sentiments, he turned the conversation upon +Italian literature, and provoked her natural vivacity, by affirming that +the English poets were much superior in energy and sensibility to those +of which Italy could boast. + +"In the first place," said Corinne, "strangers are for the most part +acquainted only with our poets of the first rank--Dante, Petrarch, +Ariosto, Guarini, Tasso, and Metastasio; whilst we have several others, +such as Chiabrera, Guidi, Filicaja, Parini, without reckoning +Sannazarius, Politian, &c., who have written in Latin, with as much +taste as genius; and all unite in their verses the utmost beauty of +colouring and harmony; all, with more or less talent, adorn the wonders +of nature and art with the imagery of speech. Without doubt our poets +cannot pretend to that profound melancholy, that knowledge of the human +heart which characterise yours; but does not this kind of superiority +belong more properly to philosophical writers than to poets? The +brilliant melody of Italian is more suitable to the splendour of +external objects than to meditation; our language is better adapted to +paint fury than sadness, because sentiments which arise from deep +reflection demand more metaphysical expressions, whilst the desire of +vengeance animates the imagination to the exclusion of grief. Cesarotti +has produced the best and most elegant translation of Ossian extant; but +it seems in reading it that the words possess in themselves an air of +festivity that forms a contrast with the sombre ideas of the poem. We +cannot help being charmed with our sweet expressions,--_the limpid +stream, the smiling plain, the cooling shade_, the same as with the +murmur of the waves, and variety of colours. What more do you expect +from poetry? Why would you ask of the nightingale, the meaning of her +song? She can only answer you by resuming the strain, and you cannot +comprehend it without yielding to the impression which it produces. The +measure of verse, harmonious rhymes, and those rapid terminations +composed of two short syllables whose sounds glide in the manner that +their name (_Sdruccioli_) indicates, sometimes imitate the light steps +of a dance; at others, more sombre tones recall the fury of the tempest +and the clangour of arms. In fact, our poetry is a wonder of the +imagination--we must only seek it in the various pleasures which it +affords." + +"It must be allowed," replied Lord Nelville, "that you explain very +clearly the beauties and defects of your poetry; but how will you defend +your prose, in which those defects are to be found unaccompanied by the +beauties? That which is only loose and indefinite in poetry will become +emptiness in prose; and the crowd of common ideas which your poets +embellish with their melody and their images, are in prose, cold and +dry, while their vivacity of style renders them more fatiguing. The +language of the greater part of the prose-writers of the present day is +so declamatory, so diffuse, and so abundant in superlatives, that their +work seems written to order, in hackneyed phraseology, and for +conventional natures; it does not once enter into their heads that to +write well is to express one's thoughts and character. Their style is an +artificial web, a kind of literary mosaic, every thing in fact that is +foreign to their soul, and is made with the pen as any other mechanical +work is with the fingers. They possess in the highest degree the secret +of developing, commenting, inflating an idea, and, if I may use the +expression, of working a sentiment into a ferment. So much do they excel +in this, that one would be tempted to ask these writers, what the +African woman asked a French lady, who wore a large pannier under a long +dress:--'_Madam, is all that a part of yourself?_' In short, what real +existence is there in all this pomp of words which one true expression +would dissipate like a vain prestige." + +"You forget," interrupted Corinne sharply; "first, Macchiavelli and +Boccacio; next Gravina, Filangieri, and in our days, Cesarotti, Verri, +Bettinelli, and so many others, in short, who know how to write and to +think[22]. But I agree with you that in the latter ages, unfortunate +circumstances having deprived Italy of its independence, its people have +lost all interest in truth and often even the possibility of speaking +it: from this has resulted the habit of sporting with words without +daring to approach a single idea. As they were certain of not being able +to obtain any influence over things by their writings, they were only +employed to display their wit, which is a sure way to end in having no +wit at all; for it is only in directing the mind towards some noble +object that ideas are acquired. When prose writers can no longer in any +way influence the happiness of a nation--when they only write to +dazzle--when, in fact, the road itself is the object of their journey, +they indulge in a thousand windings without advancing a step. The +Italians, it is true, fear new thoughts; but that is an effect of +indolence, and not of literary baseness. In their character, their +gaiety, and their imagination, there is much originality; and +nevertheless, as they take no pains to reflect, their general ideas do +not soar above mediocrity; their eloquence even, so animated when they +speak, has no character when they write; one would say that labour of +any kind freezes their faculties; it may also be added, that the nations +of the South are fettered by prose, and that poetry alone can express +their real sentiments. It is not thus in French literature," said +Corinne, addressing herself to the Count d'Erfeuil--"your prose writers +are often more eloquent, and even more poetic, than your poets."--"It is +true," answered the Count, "your assertion can be verified by truly +classical authorities:--Bossuet, La Bruyere, Montesquieu, and Buffon, +cannot be excelled; more particularly the first two, who are of the age +of Louis the Fourteenth, in whose praise too much cannot be said, for +they are perfect models for imitation. They are models that foreigners +ought to be as eager to imitate as the French themselves."--"I can +hardly think it desirable," answered Corinne, "for the whole world +entirely to lose their national colouring, as well as all originality of +sentiment and genius; and I am bold enough to tell you Count, that even +in your country, this literary orthodoxy, if I may so express myself, +which is opposed to every innovation, will in time render your +literature extremely barren. Genius is essentially creative; it bears +the character of the individual that possesses it. Nature, who has not +formed two leaves alike, has infused a still greater variety into the +human soul; imitation is therefore a species of death, since it robs +each one of his natural existence." + +"You would not wish, fair stranger," replied the Count, "that we should +admit Teutonic barbarism amongst us--that we should copy Young's Night +Thoughts, and the _Concetti_ of the Italians and Spaniards. What would +become of the taste and elegance of our French style after such a +mixture?" Prince Castel-Forte, who had not yet spoken, said--"It seems +to me that we all stand in need of each other: the literature of every +country discovers to him who is acquainted with it a new sphere of +ideas. It was Charles the Fifth himself who said--that _a man who knows +four languages, is worth four men_. If that great political genius +judged thus, in regard to the conduct of affairs, how much more true is +it with respect to literature? Foreigners all study French; thus they +command a more extended horizon than you, who do not study foreign +languages. Why do you not more often take the trouble of learning +them?--You would thus preserve your own peculiar excellence, and +sometimes discover your deficiencies." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[22] Cesarotti, Verri, and Bettinelli, are three living authors who have +introduced thought into Italian prose; it must be confessed, that this +was not the case for a long time before. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +"You will at least confess," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "that there is +one part of literature in which we have nothing to learn of any +country.--Our drama is decidedly the first in Europe; for I cannot +believe that the English would presume to oppose their Shakespeare to +us."--"I beg your pardon," interrupted Mr Edgermond, "they have that +presumption."--And after this observation he was silent.--"In that case +I have nothing to say," continued the Count, with a smile which +expressed a kind of civil contempt: "Each one may think as he pleases, +but for my part I persist in believing that we may affirm without +presumption that we are the very first in dramatic art. As to the +Italians, if I may speak my mind freely, they do not appear even to +suspect that there is a dramatic art in the world.--With them the music +is every thing, and the play itself nothing. Should the music of the +second act of a piece be better than the first, they begin with the +second act. Or, should a similar preference attach to the first acts of +two different pieces, they will perform these two acts in the same +evening, introducing between, perhaps, an act of some comedy in prose +that contains irreproachable morality, but a moral teaching entirely +composed of aphorisms, that even our ancestors have already cast off to +the foreigner as too old to be of any service to them. Your poets are +entirely at the disposal of your famous musicians; one declares that he +cannot sing without there is in his air the word _felicita_; the tenor +must have _tomba_; while a third singer can only quaver upon the word +_catene_. The poor bard must make these different whims agree with +dramatic situation as well as he can. This is not all; there are actors +who will not appear immediately treading the boards of the stage; they +must first be seen in a cloud, or they must descend the lofty stairs of +a palace, in order to give more effect to their _entree_. When the air +is finished, whatever may be the violent or affecting situation of his +character, the singer must bow to the audience in acknowledgment of +their applause. The other day, in Semiramis, after the spectre of Ninus +had sung his air, the representative of this shadowy personage made in +his ghostly costume a low reverence to the pit, which greatly diminished +the terror of the apparition. + +"They are accustomed in Italy to consider the theatre merely as a large +assembly room, where there is nothing to hear but the airs, and the +ballet! I am justified in saying _that they listen to nothing but the +ballet_; for it is only when the ballet is about to begin, that silence +is called for in the pit: and what is this ballet but a masterpiece of +bad taste? There is nothing amusing in the dancing save the comic part +of it; the grotesque figures alone afford entertainment, being indeed a +good specimen of caricature. I have seen Gengis-Kan in a ballet, all +covered with ermine, and full of fine sentiments; for he ceded his crown +to the child of a king whom he had conquered, and lifted him up in the +air upon one foot; a new mode of establishing a monarch upon his throne. +I have also seen the sacrifice of Curtius formed into a ballet of three +acts, with divertisements. Curtius, in the dress of an Arcadian +shepherd, danced for a considerable time with his mistress; then +mounting a real horse in the middle of the stage, he plunged into the +gulf of fire, made of yellow satin and gilt paper, which looked more +like a fancy riding habit than an abyss. In fact, I have seen the whole +of Roman history from Romulus to Caesar, compressed into a ballet." + +"What you say is true," replied Prince Castel-Forte, mildly; "but you +have only spoken of music and dancing, which do not comprise what we +understand by the drama of any country." "It is much worse," interrupted +the Count d'Erfeuil, "when tragedies are represented, or dramas that are +not termed _dramas that end happily_: they unite more horrors in the +course of five acts, than the imagination could form a picture of. In +one piece of this kind, the lover kills the brother of his mistress in +the second act; in the third he blows out the brains of his mistress +herself upon the stage; her funeral occupies the fourth; in the +interval, between the fourth and fifth acts, the actor who performs the +lover comes forward, and announces to the audience with the greatest +tranquillity in the world, the harlequinades which are to be performed +on the following evening; he then reappears in the fifth act, to shoot +himself with a pistol. The tragic actors are quite in harmony with the +coldness and extravagance of these pieces: they commit all these horrors +with the utmost calm. When a performer uses much action, they say he +conducts himself like a preacher; for in truth, there is more acting in +the pulpit than on the stage. It is very fortunate that these actors are +so moderate in their pathos; for as there is nothing interesting, either +in the piece or its situations, the more noise they made about it, the +more ridiculous they would appear: it might still be endurable, were +there any thing gay in this nonsense; but it is most stupidly dull and +monotonous. There is in Italy no more comedy than tragedy; and here +again we stand foremost. The only species of comedy peculiar to Italy is +harlequinade. A valet, at once a knave, a glutton, and a coward; an old +griping, amorous dupe of a guardian, compose the whole strength of these +pieces. I hope you will allow that _Tartuffe_, and the _Misanthrope_, +require a little more genius than such compositions." + +This attack of the Count d' Erfeuil was sufficiently displeasing to the +Italians who were his auditors; nevertheless they laughed at it. The +Count was more desirous of showing his wit than his natural goodness of +disposition; for though this latter quality influenced his actions, +self-love guided his speech. Prince Castel-Forte and the rest of his +countrymen present, were extremely impatient to refute the Count +d'Erfeuil; but as they were little ambitious of shining in conversation +and believed their cause would be more ably defended by Corinne, they +besought her to reply, contenting themselves with barely citing the +celebrated names of Maffei, Metastasio, Goldoni, Alfieri, and Monti. +Corinne began by granting that the Italians had no drama; but she +undertook to prove that circumstances and not want of talent, were the +cause of it. Comedy, which depends upon the observation of manners, can +only exist in a country where we live in the midst of a numerous and +brilliant society. In Italy we meet with nothing but violent passions or +idle enjoyments which produce crimes of so black a hue that no shades of +character can be distinguished. But ideal comedy, if it may be so +termed, that which depends upon the imagination, and may agree with all +times and all countries, owes its invention to Italy. Harlequin, +punchinello, pantaloon, &c., have the same character in every different +piece. In all cases they exhibit masks, and not faces: that is to say, +their physiognomy is that of some particular species of character, and +not that of any individual. Undoubtedly, the modern authors of +harlequinades, finding every part ready carved out for them like the men +of a chess-board, have not the merit of inventing them; but their first +invention is due to Italy; therefore these fantastic personages, which +from one end of Europe to the other afford amusement to every child, and +to every grown-up person whom imagination has made childlike, must +certainly be considered as the creation of Italians: this I should +conceive ought to give them some claim to the art of comedy. + +The observation of the human heart is an inexhaustible source of +literature; but nations more disposed to poetry than to reflection, more +easily surrender themselves to the intoxication of joy than to +philosophic irony. That pleasantry which is founded upon the knowledge +of mankind has something sad at bottom. It is only the gaiety of the +imagination which is truly inoffensive. It is not that the Italians do +not study deeply the men whom they have to do with; for none discover +more subtly their secret thoughts; but they employ this talent as a +guide of conduct, and have no idea of converting it to any literary +purpose. Perhaps even they have no wish to generalise their discoveries, +and publish their perceptions. There is a prudent dissimulation in their +character, which teaches them not to expose in comedies that which +affords rules for private intercourse; not to reveal by the fictions of +the mind what may be useful in circumstances of real life. + +Macchiavelli however, far from concealing anything, has exposed all the +secrets of a criminal polity; and through him we may learn of what a +terrible knowledge of the human heart the Italians are capable. But +profound observation is not the province of comedy: the leisure of +society, properly speaking, can alone furnish matter for the comic +scene. Goldoni, who lived at Venice, where there is more society than in +any other Italian city, has introduced more refinement of observation +into his pieces than is generally to be found in other authors. +Nevertheless his comedies are monotonous, and we meet with the same +situations in them, because they contain so little variety of character. +His numerous pieces seem formed upon the general model of dramatic +works, and not copied from real life. The true character of Italian +gaiety is not satire, but imagination; not delineation of manners, but +poetical exaggeration. It is Ariosto, and not Moliere, who can amuse +Italy. + +Gozzi, the rival of Goldoni, has more originality in his compositions; +they bear less resemblance to regular comedy. His determination was +liberally to indulge the Italian genius; to represent fairy tales, and +mingle buffoonery and harlequinade with the marvels of poetry; to +imitate nothing in nature, but to give free scope to the gay illusions +of fancy, to the chimeras of fairy magic, and to transport the mind by +every means beyond the boundaries of human action. He was crowned with +prodigious success in his time, and perhaps there never existed an +author more congenial to an Italian imagination; but to know with +certainty what degree of perfection Tragedy and Comedy can reach in +Italy, it should possess a theatrical establishment. The multitude of +little cities who all wish to have a theatre, lose, by dispersing them, +its dramatic resources: that division in states, in general so +favourable to liberty and happiness, is hurtful to Italy. She must needs +concentrate her light and power to resist the prejudices which are +devouring her. The authority of governments often represses individual +energy. In Italy this authority would be a benefit if it struggled +against the ignorance of separate states and of men isolated among them; +if it combated by emulation that indolence so natural to the climate; +and if, in a word, it gave life to the whole of this nation which now is +satisfied with a dream. + +These ideas, and several others besides, were ingeniously developed by +Corinne. She well understood the rapid art of light conversation, which +does not dogmatically insist upon any thing, and also that pleasing +address which gives a consideration to each of the company in turn, +though she often indulged in that kind of talent which rendered her a +celebrated improvisatrice. Several times she intreated Prince +Castel-Forte to assist her with his opinion on the same subject; but she +spoke so well herself, that all the audience were delighted in listening +to her, and would not suffer her to be interrupted. Mr Edgermond, in +particular, could scarcely satisfy himself with seeing and hearing +Corinne; hardly did he dare to express the admiration she inspired him +with, and he pronounced some words of panegyric in a low tone of voice +hoping she would comprehend them without obliging him to address her +personally. He however possessed such a lively desire to know her +sentiments on Tragedy, that in spite of his timidity he ventured a few +words on that subject. + +"Madam," said he to Corinne, "where the Italian literature appears to me +most defective is in Tragedy; methinks the distance is not so great +between infancy and manhood, as between your Tragedies and ours; for in +the changeableness of children may be discovered true if not deep +sentiments, but there is something affected and extravagant in Italian +Tragedy, which destroys for me all emotion whatever. Is this not so? +Lord Nelville," continued Mr Edgermond, turning to his lordship and +inviting his support by a glance, quite astonished at having found +courage to speak in such a numerous assembly. + +"I am entirely of your opinion," answered Oswald; "Metastasio, who is +vauntingly called the poet of love, gives the same colouring to this +passion in every country and under every circumstance. His admirable +airs are entitled to our applause as much from their grace and harmony +as the lyrical beauties which they contain, especially when detached +from the drama in which they are placed; but it is impossible for us who +possess Shakespeare, who has most deeply fathomed History and the +passions of man, to suffer those amorous couples, that divide between +them almost all the pieces of Metastasio alike, under the names of +Achilles, of Tircis, of Brutus, and of Corilas, singing, in a manner +that hardly touches the surface of the soul, the grief and sufferings of +love, so as almost to reduce to imbecility the noblest passion that +animates the human heart. It is with the most profound respect for the +character of Alfieri that I shall indulge in a few reflections upon his +pieces. Their aim is so noble, the sentiments which the author expresses +are so much in unison with his personal conduct, that his tragedies must +always deserve praise as actions, even when they are criticised as +literary performances. But I find in the vigour of some of his tragedies +as much monotony as in the tenderness of Metastasio. There is, in the +plays of Alfieri, such a profusion of energy and magnanimity, or rather +such an exaggeration of violence and crime, that it is impossible to +discover in them the true characters of men. They are never so wicked +nor so generous as painted by this author. The aim of most of his scenes +is to place virtue and vice in contrast with each other; but these +oppositions are not according to the gradations of truth. If, during +their life, tyrants bore with what the oppressed are made to say to +their face in the tragedies of Alfieri, one would be almost tempted to +pity them. His play of Octavia is one of those where the want of +probability is most striking. In this piece, Seneca moralises +incessantly with Nero, as if the latter were the most patient of men, +and Seneca the most courageous. The master of the world permits himself +to be insulted, and his anger to be excited in every scene, for the +amusement of the spectators, as if it were not in his power to end it +all with a word. Certainly these continual dialogues give rise to some +very fine replies on the part of Seneca, and one would be glad to find +in an harangue or in a moral work the noble thoughts which he expresses; +but is this the way to give us an idea of tyranny? It is not painting it +in its formidable colours, but merely making it a subject for verbal +fencing. If Shakespeare had represented Nero surrounded by trembling +slaves, who hardly dared reply to the most indifferent question, +himself concealing his internal agitation and endeavouring to appear +calm, with Seneca near him writing the apology for the murder of +Agrippina, would not the terror have been a thousand times greater? And +for one reflection spoken by the author, would not a thousand be +generated in the soul of the spectators by the very silence of rhetoric +and the truth of the picture?" + +Oswald might have spoken much longer without receiving any interruption +from Corinne; so much pleasure did she receive from the sound of his +voice and the noble elegance of his language, that she could have wished +to prolong this impression for hours together. Hardly could she remove +her eyes, which were earnestly fixed upon him, even after he had ceased +to speak. She turned them reluctantly to the rest of the company, who +were impatient to hear her thoughts upon Italian tragedy, and turning to +Lord Nelville:--"My Lord," said she, "it is not to combat your +sentiments that I reply, for they meet mine in almost every point: my +only intention is to offer some exceptions to your rather too general +observations. It is true that Metastasio is rather a lyrical than a +dramatic poet, and that he describes love like one of the fine arts that +adorn life, not as the most important secret of our happiness and our +pain. I will venture to say, notwithstanding our language has been +consecrated to the cause of love, that we have more profoundness and +sensibility in describing any other passion than this. The practice of +making amorous verses has created a kind of commonplace language amongst +us for that subject; so that not what he has felt, but what he has read, +inspires the poet. Love, such as it exists in Italy, by no means +resembles that love which is described by our writers. It is only in +Boccacio's romance of _Fiametta_, that according to the best of my +recollection, there is to be found an idea of that passion, painted in +truly national colours. Our poets subtilise and exaggerate the +sentiment, whilst agreeably to the real Italian character, it is a rapid +and profound impression, which rather expresses itself by silent and +passionate actions than by ingenious language. In general our literature +is not characteristic of our national manners[23]. We are much too +modest, I had almost said too humble a nation to aspire to tragedies +taken from our own history, and bearing the stamp of our own sentiments. + +"Alfieri, by a singular chance, was transplanted, if I may use the +expression, from ancient to modern times; he was born for action, and +his destiny only permitted him to write; this constraint appears in the +style of his tragedies. He wished to make literature subservient to a +political purpose; undoubtedly his object was noble, but nothing +perverts the labours of the imagination so much as having a purpose. In +this nation, where certainly, some erudite scholars and very enlightened +men are to be met with, Alfieri was indignant at seeing literature +consecrated to no serious end, but merely engrossed with tales, novels, +and madrigals. Alfieri wished to give a more austere character to his +tragedy. He has stript it of all the borrowed appendages of theatrical +effect, preserving nothing but the interest of the dialogue. It appears +to have been his wish to place the natural vivacity and imagination of +the Italians in a state of penitence; he has however been very much +admired for his character and the energies of his soul, which were truly +great. The inhabitants of modern Rome are particularly given to applaud +the actions and sentiments of their ancient country; as if those actions +and sentiments had any relation to them in their present state. + +They are amateurs of energy and independence, in the same manner as +they are of the fine pictures which adorn their galleries. But it is not +less true that Alfieri has by no means created what may be called an +Italian theatre; that is to say, tragedies of a merit peculiar to Italy. +He has not even characterised the manners of those countries and those +centuries which he has painted. His conspiracy of the Pazzi, his +Virginia, and his Philip II., are to be admired for elevation and +strength of thought; but it is always the character of Alfieri, and not +that of peculiar nations and peculiar times, which are to be discovered +in them. Although there be no analogy between the French genius and that +of Alfieri, they resemble each other in this, that both of them give +their own colouring to every subject of which they treat." + +The Count d' Erfeuil, hearing the French genius called in question, was +induced to speak. "It would be impossible for us," said he, "to tolerate +upon the stage either the incongruities of the Greeks or the +monstrosities of Shakespeare; the French have too pure a taste for that. +Our theatre is the model of delicacy and elegance: those are its +distinguishing characteristics, and we should plunge ourselves into +barbarism by introducing anything foreign amongst us." + +"That would be like encompassing yourselves with the great wall of +China," said Corinne, smiling. "There are certainly many rare beauties +in your tragic authors; and perhaps they would admit of new ones, could +you bring yourselves to tolerate anything not exactly French on your +stage. But as for us Italians, our dramatic genius would be greatly +diminished in submitting to the fetters of those laws which we had not +the honour of inventing, and from which, consequently, we could derive +nothing but their restraint. A theatre ought to be formed upon the +imagination, the character, and the custom of a nation. The Italians are +passionately fond of the fine arts, of music, painting, and even +pantomime: of every thing, in short, that strikes the senses. How then +could they be satisfied with the austerity of an eloquent dialogue, as +their only theatrical pleasure?[24] Vainly has Alfieri, with all his +genius, endeavoured to reduce them to it; he felt himself that his +system was too rigorous. + +"The Merope of Maffei, the Saul of Alfieri, the Aristodemus of Monti, +and particularly the poem of Dante, although this last author never +composed a tragedy, seem calculated to convey an idea of what the +dramatic art might be brought to in Italy. There is in the Merope of +Maffei, a great simplicity of action, but the most brilliant poetry, +adorned with the happiest images: and why should this poetry be +forbidden in dramatic works? The language of poetry is so magnificent in +Italy that we should be more censurable than any other nation in +renouncing its beauties. Alfieri, wishing to excel in every department +of poetry, has, in his Saul, made a most beautiful use of the lyric; and +one might with excellent effect introduce music itself into the piece, +not so much to harmonise the words, as to calm the frenzy of Saul by the +harp of David. So delicious is our music that it may even render us +indolent as to intellectual enjoyments. Far therefore from wishing to +separate music from the drama, it should be our earnest endeavour to +unite them; not in making heroes sing, which destroys all dramatic +effect, but in introducing choruses, as the ancients did, or such other +musical aid, as may naturally blend with the situations of the piece, as +so often happens in real life. So far from retrenching the pleasures of +the imagination on the Italian stage, it is my opinion, that we should +on the contrary augment and multiply them in every possible manner. The +exquisite taste of the Italians for music, and for splendid ballets, is +an indication of the power of their imagination, and manifests the +necessity of rendering even the most serious subjects interesting to +them, instead of heightening their severity as Alfieri has done. The +nation conceive it their duty to applaud what is grave and austere; but +they soon return to their natural taste; however, tragedy might become +highly pleasing to them if it were embellished by the charm and the +variety of different kinds of poetry, and with all the divers theatrical +attractions which the English and the Spaniards enjoy. + +"The Aristodemus of Monti has in it something of the terrible pathos of +Dante; and surely this tragedy is very justly one of the most admired. +Dante, that great master of various powers, possessed that kind of +tragic genius which would have produced the most effect in Italy, if it +could in any way be adapted to the stage; for that poet knew how to +represent to the eye, what was passing at the bottom of the soul, and +his imagination could make grief seen and felt. If Dante had written +tragedies, they would have been as striking to children as to men, to +the illiterate crowd as to the polished few. Dramatic literature ought +to be popular; like some public event, the whole nation ought to judge +of it." + +"When Dante was living," said Oswald, "the Italians performed a +distinguished part in the political drama of Europe. Perhaps it would +now be impossible for you to have a national tragic theatre: it would be +necessary for the existence of such a theatre, that great events should +develop in life those sentiments which are expressed upon the stage. Of +all the masterpieces of literature, there is not one which depends so +much upon the whole people as tragedy; the spectators contribute to it +as much as the author. Dramatic genius is composed of the public mind, +of History, of government, of national customs, of everything, in fact, +which each day blends itself with thought, and forms the moral being, as +the air which we breathe nourishes physical existence. The Spaniards, +with whom you have some affinity as to climate and religion, are much +superior to you in dramatic genius; their pieces are filled with their +history, their chivalry, and their religious faith, and these pieces +possess life and originality; but their success, in this respect, dates +back to the epoch of their historical glory. How then could it be +possible now to establish in Italy, that which it never could boast +of--a genuine tragic drama!" + +"It is unfortunately possible that you may be in the right," replied +Corinne; "however, I hope for greater things from the natural impulse of +mind in Italy, and from the individual emulation of my countrymen, even +when not favoured by external circumstances; but what we most want in +tragedy is actors. Affected words necessarily lead to false declamation; +but there is no language in which an actor can display so much talent as +in ours; for the melody of sound gives a new charm to truth of accent: +it is a continual music which mingles with the expression of feeling +without diminishing its vigour." "If you wish," interrupted Prince +Castel-Forte, "to convince the company of what you assert, it only +remains for you to prove it: yes, allow us to enjoy the inexpressible +pleasure of seeing you perform tragedy; you must grant these foreign +gentlemen the rare enjoyment of being made acquainted with a talent +which you alone in Italy possess; or rather that you alone in the world +possess, since the whole of your genius is impressed upon it." + +Corinne felt a secret desire to play tragedy before Lord Nelville, and +by this means show herself to very great advantage; but she dared not +accede to the proposal of Prince Castel-Forte, without that approbation +of Oswald, which the looks she cast upon him earnestly entreated. He +understood them; and as he was at the same time concerned at that +timidity which had the day before prevented the exertion of her talent +for improvisation, and ambitious that she should obtain the applause of +Mr Edgermond, he joined in the solicitations of her friends. Corinne +therefore no longer hesitated. "Well, then," said she, turning to Prince +Castel-Forte, "we will accomplish the project which I have so long +formed, of playing my own translation of Romeo and Juliet," +"Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?" cried Mr Edgermond; "you understand +English, then?" "Yes," answered Corinne. "And you are fond of +Shakespeare!" added Mr Edgermond. "As a friend," replied she; "he was so +well acquainted with all the secrets of grief." "And you will perform in +Italian," cried Mr Edgermond; "and I shall hear you! And you too, my +dear Nelville. Ah, how happy you will be!" Then, repenting immediately +this indiscreet word, he blushed: and a blush inspired by delicacy and +goodness may be interesting at all periods of life. "How happy we shall +be," resumed he, a little embarrassed, "to be present at such a +representation!" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] Giovanni Pindemonte, has recently published a collection of Dramas, +the subjects of which are taken from Italian history, and this is a very +interesting and praiseworthy enterprize. The name of Pindemonte is also +rendered illustrious by Hippolito Pindemonte, one of the sweetest and +most charming of the present Italian poets. + +[24] The posthumous works of Alfieri are just published, in which are to +be found many exquisite pieces; but we may conclude from a rather +singular Dramatic Essay, which he has written on the Death of Abel, that +he himself was conscious that his pieces were too austere, and that on +the stage more must be allowed to the pleasures of the imagination. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Every thing was arranged in a few days, the parts distributed, and the +evening chosen for the performance in a palace belonging to a female +relation of Prince Castel-Forte, and a friend of Corinne. Oswald felt a +mixture of uneasiness and pleasure, at the approach of this new scene of +triumph for the talents of Corinne. He enjoyed the by anticipation; but +he was also jealous in the same manner, not of any man in particular, +but of that whole audience in general who were to witness the talents of +her whom he loved. He wished to be the only witness of her mental +charms;--he wished that Corinne, timid and reserved, like an English +woman, should possess eloquence and genius for none but him. However +distinguished a man may be, perhaps he never enjoys, without alloy, the +superiority of a woman: if he feel an affection for her, his heart is +disturbed;--if not, his self-love is wounded. Oswald, in the presence of +Corinne, was more intoxicated than happy; and the admiration which she +inspired him with, increased his love without giving more stability to +his projects. He contemplated her as an admirable phenomenon, which +appeared to him anew every day; but even the transport and astonishment +which she made him feel, seemed to render the hope of a peaceful and +tranquil life more distant. Corinne, however, was of the tenderest and +most easy disposition in private life; her ordinary qualities would have +made her beloved independently of her brilliant ones; but yet again, she +united in herself too much talent, and was too dazzling in every +respect. Lord Nelville, with all his accomplishments, did not believe +himself equal to her, and this idea inspired him with fears as to the +duration of their mutual affection. Vainly did Corinne by force of love +become his slave; the master, often uneasy about his captive queen, did +not enjoy his empire undisturbed. + +Some hours before the representation, Lord Nelville conducted Corinne to +the palace of Princess Castel-Forte, where the theatre was fitted up. +The sun shone most brilliantly, and from one of the windows of the +stair-case, Rome and the _Campagna_ were discovered. Oswald stopped +Corinne a moment and said, "Behold this beautiful day, it is for your +sake; it is to heighten the splendour of your fame." "Ah, if that were +so," answered she, "it is you who would bring me happiness; it is to you +that I should owe the protection of heaven." "Would the pure and gentle +sentiments which the beauty of nature inspires, be sufficient to make +you happy?" replied Oswald: "there is a great distance between the air +that we breathe, the reverie which the country inspires, and that noisy +theatre which is about to resound with your name." "Oswald," said +Corinne, "if the applause which I am about to receive, have the power to +affect me, will it not be because it is witnessed by you? And should I +display any talent, will it not owe its success to you, who have +animated and inspired it? Love, poetry, and religion, all that is born +of enthusiasm, is in harmony with nature; and in beholding the azure +sky, in yielding to the impression which it causes, I have a juster +comprehension of the sentiments of Juliet, I am more worthy of Romeo." +"Yes, thou art worthy of him, celestial creature!" cried Lord Nelville; +"'tis only a weakness of the soul, this jealousy of thy talents, this +desire to live alone with thee in the universe. Go, receive the meed of +public homage, go; but let that look of love, still more divine than thy +genius, be directed to me alone!" They then parted, and Lord Nelville +went and took his seat in theatre, awaiting the pleasure of beholding +the appearance of Corinne. + +Romeo and Juliet is an Italian subject; the scene is placed in Verona, +where is still to be seen the tomb of those two lovers. Shakespeare has +written this piece with that Southern imagination at once impassioned +and pleasing; that imagination which triumphs in happiness, but which, +nevertheless, passes so easily from happiness to despair, and from +despair to death. The impressions are rapid; but one easily feels that +these rapid impressions will be ineffaceable. It is the force of nature, +and not the frivolity of the heart, which beneath an energetic climate +hastens the development of the passions. The soil is not light, though +vegetation is prompt; and Shakespeare has seized, more happily than any +other foreign writer, the national character of Italy and that fecundity +of the mind which invents a thousand ways of varying the expression of +the same sentiments--the oriental eloquence which makes use of all the +images of nature to paint what is passing in the heart. It is not as in +Ossian, one same tint, one uniform sound which responds constantly to +the most sensitive chords of the heart; the multiplied colours that +Shakespeare employs in Romeo and Juliet, do not give a cold affectation +to his style; it is the ray divided, reflected, and varied, which +produces these colours, in which we ever feel that fire they proceed +from. There is a life and a brilliancy in this composition which +characterise the country and the inhabitants. The play of Romeo and +Juliet translated into Italian would only seem to return to its mother +tongue. + +The first appearance of Juliet is at a ball, where Romeo Montague has +introduced himself into the house of the Capulets, the mortal enemies of +his family. Corinne was dressed in a charming festive habit, conformable +to the costume of the times. Her hair was tastefully adorned with +precious stones and artificial flowers. Her friends did not know her on +her first appearance, till her voice discovered her: her figure then +became familiar to them; but it was in a manner deified, and preserved +only a poetical expression. The theatre resounded with unanimous +applause upon her appearance. Her first looks discovered Oswald, and +rested upon him--a spark of joy, a lively and gentle hope, was painted +in her countenance: on beholding her, every heart beat with pleasure and +fear: it was felt that so much felicity could not last upon earth; was +it for Juliet, or Corinne, that this presentiment was to be verified? + +When Romeo approached to address to her in a low voice, the lines, so +brilliant in English, so magnificent in the Italian translation, upon +her grace and beauty, the spectators, charmed to hear their own +sentiments so finely interpreted, joined in the transport of Romeo; and +the sudden passion which the first look of Juliet kindled in his soul, +appeared like reality to every eye. Oswald from this moment felt +disturbed; it appeared to him that all was near to being revealed, that +Corinne was about to be proclaimed an angel among women, that he should +be forced to reveal his sentiments, that his claim would be disputed and +the prize ravished from him--a kind of dazzling cloud seemed to pass +before his eyes--he feared his sight might fail him--he was ready to +faint, and retired for some moments behind a pillar. Corinne, uneasy, +sought him with anxiety, and pronounced this line, + + "Too early seen unknown, and known too late!" + +with such a tone of voice, that Oswald started as he heard it, for it +seemed to him to be applied to their personal situation. + +He could never feel tired of admiring the grace of her actions, the +dignity of her motions, and the expression of her countenance, in which +was painted what language could not reveal, all those mysteries of the +heart which cannot be reduced to words; but which, nevertheless, dispose +of our life. The accent, the look, the least gesture of an actor, truly +inspired and influenced by genuine emotion, are a continual revelation +of the human heart; and the ideal of the fine arts is always mingled +with these revelations of nature. The harmony of the verse and the charm +of the attitudes, lend to passion that grace and dignity which it often +wants in reality. Thus every sentiment of the heart, and every emotion +of the soul, pass before the imagination without losing anything of +their truth. + +In the second act, Juliet appears in the balcony to converse with Romeo. +Corinne had preserved, of her former ornaments, only the flowers, and +those were soon to disappear: the theatre half-lighted to represent +night, cast a milder reflection upon the countenance of Corinne. There +was now something more melodious in her voice, than when surrounded with +the splendour of a _fete_. Her hand lifted towards the stars, seemed to +invoke the only witnesses worthy of hearing her, and when she repeated, +"_Romeo! Romeo!_" although Oswald was certain that she thought of him, +he felt jealous that these delicious accents should make the air resound +with any other name than his. Oswald was seated opposite the balcony, +and he who performed Romeo being a little concealed by the darkness of +the scene, Corinne was enabled to fix her eyes upon Oswald when +pronouncing these lines: + + "In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond; + And therefore thou may'st think my 'haviour light; + But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true + Than those that have more cunning to be strange. + * * * * * + * * * * * + * * * * * therefore pardon me." + +At these words--"Pardon me! Pardon me for loving; pardon me for having +let you know it!"--There was in Corinne's look, so tender a prayer and +so much respect for her lover, so much exultation in her choice, when +she said, "Noble Romeo! Fair Montague!" that Oswald felt as proud as he +was happy. He raised his head, which tenderness had bowed down, and +fancied himself the king of the world, since he reigned over a heart +which contained all the treasures of life. + +Corinne, perceiving the effect which she produced upon Oswald, became +more and more animated by that emotion of the heart which alone produces +miracles; and when at the approach of day, Juliet thought she heard the +song of the lark--a signal for the departure of Romeo, the accents of +Corinne possessed a supernatural charm: they described love, and +nevertheless one might perceive that there was something of religious +mystery in them, some recollections of heaven, with a presage that she +was shortly to return thither; a kind of celestial melancholy, as of a +soul exiled upon earth, but which was soon to be called to its divine +home. Ah! how happy was Corinne the day that she represented the part of +a noble character in a beautiful tragedy before the lover of her choice; +how many years, how many lives would appear dull, compared to such a +day! + +If Lord Nelville could have performed, with Corinne, the part of Romeo, +the pleasure which she would have tasted would not have been so +complete. She would have desired to put aside the verses of the greatest +poet in order to speak the dictates of her own heart; perhaps even her +genius would have been confined by insurmountable timidity; she would +not have dared to look at Oswald for fear of betraying herself, and +truth would have destroyed the charm of art; but how sweet it was to +know that he whom she loved was present when she experienced those +exalted sentiments which poetry alone can inspire; when she felt all the +charm of tender emotions, without their real pain; when the affection +she expressed was neither personal nor abstract; and when she seemed to +say to Lord Nelville, "See how I am able to love." + +It is impossible when the situation is our own to be satisfied with +ourselves: passion and timidity alternately transport and check +us--inspire us either with too much bitterness or too much submission; +but to appear perfect without affectation; to unite calm to sensibility, +which too frequently destroys it; in a word, to exist for a moment in +the sweetest reveries of the heart; such was the pure enjoyment of +Corinne in performing tragedy. She united to this pleasure that of all +the plaudits she received; and her look seemed to place them at the feet +of Oswald, at the feet of him whose simple approval she valued more than +all her fame. Corinne was happy, at least for a moment! for a moment, at +least, she experienced at the price of her repose, those delights of the +soul which till then she had vainly wished for, and which she would ever +have to regret! + +Juliet in the third act becomes privately, the wife of Romeo. In the +fourth, her parents wishing to force her to marry another, she +determines to take the opiate which she receives from the hand of a +friar, and which is to give her the appearance of death. All the motions +of Corinne, her disturbed gait, her altered accent, her looks, sometimes +animated and sometimes dejected, painted the cruel conflict of fear and +love, the terrible images which pursued her at the idea of being +transported alive to the tomb of her ancestors, and the enthusiasm of +passion, which enabled a soul, so young, to triumph over so natural a +terror. Oswald felt an almost irresistible impulse to fly to her aid. At +one time she lifted her eyes towards heaven, with an ardour which deeply +expressed that need of divine protection, from which no human being was +ever free. At another time, Lord Nelville thought he saw her stretch her +arms towards him to ask his assistance--he rose up in a transport of +delirium, and then sat down immediately, brought to his senses by the +astonished looks of those about him; but his emotion became so strong +that it could no longer be concealed. + +In the fifth act, Romeo, who believes Juliet dead, lifts her from the +tomb before she awakes and presses her to his heart. Corinne was clad in +white, her black hair dishevelled, and her head inclined upon Romeo with +a grace, and nevertheless an appearance of death, so affecting and so +gloomy, that Oswald felt himself shaken with the most opposite +impressions. He could not bear to see Corinne in the arms of another, +and he shuddered at beholding the image of her whom he loved, apparently +deprived of life; so that in fact he felt, like Romeo, that cruel +combination of despair and love, of death and pleasure, which makes this +scene the most agonising that ever was represented on a stage. At +length, when Juliet awakes in this tomb, at the foot of which her lover +has just immolated himself, when her first words in her coffin, beneath +these funeral vaults, are not inspired by the terror which they ought to +cause, when she exclaims: + + "Where is my lord? Where is my Romeo?" + +Lord Nelville replied by deep groans, and did not return to himself till +Mr Edgermond conducted him out of the theatre. + +The piece being finished, Corinne felt indisposed from emotion and +fatigue. Oswald entered first into her apartment, where he saw her alone +with her women, still in the costume of Juliet, and, like Juliet, almost +swooning in their arms. In the excess of his trouble he could not +distinguish whether it was truth or fiction, and throwing himself at +the feet of Corinne, exclaimed, in English: + + "Eyes look your last! Arms take your last embrace." + +Corinne, still wandering, cried: "Good God! what do you say? are you +going to leave me?"--"No;" interrupted Oswald, "I swear--" At that +instant the crowd of Corinne's friends and admirers forced the door in +order to see her. Her eyes were fixed upon Oswald, listening with +anxiety for what he was about to answer; but there was no opportunity +for further conversation between them during the whole evening, for they +were not left alone a single instant. + +Never had the performance of a tragedy produced such an effect in Italy. +The Romans extolled with transport the talents of Corinne, both as the +representative of Juliet, and the translator of the piece. They said +that this was truly the species of tragedy which suited the Italians, +which painted their manners, moved the soul by captivating the +imagination, and gave effect to their beautiful language, in a style +alternately eloquent and lyrical, inspired and natural. Corinne received +all these praises with the sweetest air imaginable; but her soul +remained suspended on the words "_I swear_,"--which Oswald had +pronounced when he was prevented by the entrance of the company from +concluding his sentence: this word might in truth contain the secret of +her destiny. + + + + +Book viii. + +THE STATUES AND THE PICTURES. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +After the day which had passed, Oswald could not close his eyes during +the night. He had never been so near sacrificing every thing to Corinne. +He did not even desire to know her secret; or rather, before he was +acquainted with it, he wished to contract a solemn engagement, to +consecrate his life to her. For some hours uncertainty seemed banished +from his mind; and he took pleasure in composing, in his thoughts, the +letter which he should write to her on the morrow, and which would +decide his fate. But this confidence in happiness, this reliance upon +resolution, was of no long duration. His thoughts soon reverted to the +past, he remembered that he had loved, much less, it is true, than he +loved Corinne; and the object of his first choice could not be compared +to her; but nevertheless it was this sentiment which had hurried him +away to thoughtless actions, to actions which had torn the heart of his +father.--"Ah! who knows," cried he, "whether he would not fear equally +to-day, lest his son should forget his native country and the duties +which he owes it?" + +"Oh thou!" said he, addressing the portrait of his father, "thou, the +best friend I shall ever have upon earth, I can no longer hear thy +voice, but teach me by that silent look which yet retains such power +over my soul, inform me what I am to do, that now at least in thy +celestial abode, thou mayest be satisfied with the conduct of thy son! +Forget not, however, that need of happiness which consumes mortal +man--be indulgent in heaven, as thou wert upon earth! I shall become +better if I am allowed to taste of happiness; if I am permitted to live +with this angelic creature, to have the honour of protecting, of saving +such a woman.--Of saving her?" continued he suddenly; "and from what? +From a life of homage, of fame, and of independence!"--This reflection, +which originated in himself, terrified him like an inspiration of his +father. + +In conflicts of sentiment, who has not felt that kind of secret +superstition which makes us take our own thoughts for presages, and our +sufferings for a warning from heaven? Ah! how bitter is the struggle +between passion and conscience, in susceptible minds! + +Oswald paced his chamber under the most cruel agitation, sometimes +stopping to look at the moon, which in Italy is so mild and so +beautiful. The aspect of nature inspires resignation; but it is without +effect upon a mind racked with uncertainty. The next day arrived without +bringing any relief to his distracted thoughts, and when the Count +d'Erfeuil and Mr Edgermond came to visit him, they were uneasy as to the +state of his health, so much was he altered by the anxieties of the +night. The Count d'Erfeuil was the first who spoke.--"It must be +allowed," said he, "that yesterday's entertainment was charming. Corinne +is a most admirable woman. I lost half her words, but I understood +everything from her voice and her countenance. What a pity it is, that a +rich lady should be possessed of this talent! For if she were in humbler +circumstances, and unrestrained as she is, she might embrace the stage +as a profession; and to have an actress like her, would be the glory of +Italy." + +Oswald received a painful impression from this speech, and yet could +not tell how to make it known. For there was that about the Count, that +one could not be angry at what he said, even though it were disagreeable +to one's feelings. None but sensitive minds understand those delicate +precautions which they owe each other: self-love, so alive to every +thing that affects itself, hardly ever thinks of the susceptibility of +others. + +Mr Edgermond praised Corinne in the most becoming and flattering terms. +Oswald answered him in English, in order to relieve the conversation +about Corinne from the disagreeable eulogiums of the Count. "I see I am +one too many here," said the Count; "well I will pay a visit to Corinne: +she will not be sorry I dare say to hear my observations upon her acting +yesterday evening. I have some advice to give her, too, upon details; +but these details are very essential to the effect of the whole: she is +really so astonishing a woman that one should neglect nothing to assist +her in attaining perfection.--And besides," said he, inclining towards +Nelville's ear, "I wish to encourage her to play tragedy more often: +'tis a certain way to get married by some foreigner of distinction who +may pass through this city. As to you and me, my dear Oswald, that idea +does not concern us, we are too much accustomed to charming women to +commit foolish things; but who knows? a German prince, or a Spanish +grandee--" At these words Oswald rose up almost beside himself, and it +is impossible to conceive what would have been the issue, if the Count +d'Erfeuil had perceived his emotion; but he was so satisfied with his +last reflection, that he tripped away lightly, not in the least +suspecting that he had offended Lord Nelville: had he known it, though +he loved him as much as man could love another, he would certainly have +remained. The brilliant valour of the Count, contributed still more than +his self-love to render him blind to his defects. As he was extremely +delicate in everything that regarded honour, he did not imagine that he +could be wanting with respect to sensibility; and believing himself, not +without reason, amiable and brave, he was pleased with his lot, and did +not suspect there was any more profound way of regarding life than his +own. + +None of the sentiments which agitated Oswald had escaped Mr Edgermond, +and when the Count d'Erfeuil was gone, he said to him--"My dear Oswald, +I take my leave,--I am going to Naples."--"Why so soon?" answered +Nelville. "Because it is not good for me to stay here," continued +Edgermond; "I am fifty years of age, and nevertheless I am not sure that +Corinne would not make a fool of me."--"And even in that case," +interrupted Oswald, "what would be the consequence?"--"Such a woman is +not formed to live in Wales," replied Mr Edgermond; "believe me, my dear +Oswald, only Englishwomen are fit for England: it does not become me to +give you advice, I need not assure you that I shall not mention a word +of what I have seen; but with all Corinne's accomplishments, I should +say, with Thomas Walpole, _of what use is all that at home_? And, you +know the _home_ is all with us, all for our women at least. Imagine to +yourself your beautiful Italian alone, while you are hunting or +attending your duty in Parliament; imagine her leaving you at dessert to +get tea ready against you shall leave table! Dear Oswald, depend upon it +our women possess those domestic virtues which are to be found nowhere +else. The men in Italy have nothing to do but to please the women; +therefore the more attractive they are the better. But with us, where +men have active pursuits, women must be satisfied with the shade. That +it would be a great pity to condemn Corinne to such a destiny, I freely +acknowledge. I should be glad to see her upon the throne of England; but +not beneath my humble roof. My lord, I knew your mother, whose loss was +so much lamented by your worthy father: she was a lady in every respect +like my young cousin. Such is the wife, which, were I at a proper time +of life, I should choose. Adieu, my dear friend, do not be offended at +what I have said, for nobody can be a greater admirer of Corinne than I +am, and I own to you that after all were I at your time of life, I doubt +whether I could have sufficient fortitude to renounce the hope of +becoming agreeable to her."--In finishing, these words, he took the hand +of Oswald, squeezed it cordially, and departed without receiving a word +in reply. But Mr Edgermond comprehended the cause of his silence, and +satisfied with a pressure of the hand from Oswald in answer to his own, +he went away, impatient himself to finish a conversation which was +painful to him. + +Of all that he had said, only one word had penetrated the heart of +Oswald, and that was the recollection of his mother, and his father's +profound attachment to her. He had lost her when he was only fourteen +years of age, but he recollected her virtues with the most heart-felt +reverence, as well as that timidity and reserve which characterised +them.--"Fool that I am," cried he, when alone, "I wish to know what kind +of wife my father destined for me, and do I not know it, since I can +call to mind the image of my mother whom he so tenderly loved? What do I +want more? Why deceive myself in feigning ignorance of what would be his +sentiments now, were it in my power to consult his will?" It was, +however, a terrible task for Oswald to return to Corinne, after what had +passed the evening before, without saying something in confirmation of +the sentiments which he had expressed. His agitation and his trouble +became so violent, that they affected a ruptured blood-vessel which he +thought had completely healed up, but which now re-opened and began to +bleed afresh. Whilst his servants, in affright, called everywhere for +assistance, he secretly wished that the end of life might terminate his +sufferings.--"If I could die," said he, "after having seen Corinne once +more, after having heard her again call me her Romeo!"--Tears rolled +down his cheeks; they were the first tears he had shed for the sake of +another since the death of his father. + +He wrote to Corinne informing her of his accident, and some melancholy +words terminated his letter. Corinne had begun this day under the most +deceitful auspices: happy in the impression she conceived she had made +upon Oswald, believing herself beloved, she was happy; nor did busy +thought conjure up any reflection not in unison with what she so much +desired. A thousand circumstances ought to have mingled considerable +fear with the idea of espousing Lord Nelville; but as there was more +passion than foresight in her character, governed by the present, and +not diving into the future, this day, which was to cost her so many +pangs, dawned upon her as the most pure and serene of her life. + +On receiving Oswald's note, her soul was a prey to the most cruel +feelings: she believed him in imminent danger, and set out immediately +on foot, traversing the Corso at the hour when all the city were walking +there, and entered the house of Oswald in face of all the first society +of Rome. She had not taken time to reflect, and had walked so fast, that +when she reached the chamber, she could not breathe, or utter a single +word. Lord Nelville conceived all that she had risked to come and see +him, and exaggerating the consequences of this action, which in England +would have entirely ruined the reputation of an unmarried woman, he felt +penetrated with generosity, love, and gratitude, and rising up, feeble +as he was, he pressed Corinne to his heart, and cried:--"My dearest +love! No, I never will abandon you! After having exposed yourself on my +account! When I ought to repair--" Corinne comprehended what he would +say, and as she gently disengaged herself from his arms, interrupted him +thus, having first enquired how he was:--"You are deceived, my lord; in +coming to see you I do nothing that most of my countrywomen would not do +in my place. I knew you were ill--you are a stranger here--you know +nobody but me; it is therefore my duty to take care of you. Were it +otherwise, ought not established forms to yield to those real and +profound sentiments, which the danger or the grief of a friend give +birth to? What would be the fate of a woman if the rules of social +propriety, permitting her to love, forbade that irresistible emotion +which makes us fly to succour the object of our affection? But I repeat +to you, my lord, you need not be afraid that I have compromised myself +by coming hither. My age and my talents allow me, at Rome, the same +liberty as a married woman. I do not conceal from my friends that I am +come to see you. I know not whether they blame me for loving you; but +that fact admitted, I am certain that they do not think me culpable in +devoting myself entirely to you." + +On hearing these words, so natural and so sincere, Oswald experienced a +confused medley of different feelings. He was moved with the delicacy of +Corinne's answer; but he was almost vexed that his first impression was +not just. He could have wished that she had committed some great fault +in the eyes of the world, in order that this very fault, imposing upon +him the duty of marrying her, might terminate his indecision. He was +offended at this liberty of manners in Italy, which prolonged his +anxiety by allowing him so much happiness, without annexing to it any +condition. He could have wished that honour had commanded what he +desired, and these painful thoughts produced new and dangerous effects. +Corinne, notwithstanding the dreadful alarm she was in, lavished upon +him the most soothing attentions. + +Towards the evening, Oswald appeared more oppressed; and Corinne, on her +knees by the side of his bed, supported his head in her arms, though she +was herself racked with more internal pain than he. This tender and +affecting care made a gleam of pleasure visible through his +sufferings.--"Corinne," said he to her, in a low voice, "read in this +volume, which contains the thoughts of my father, his reflections on +death. Do not think," he continued, seeing the terror of Corinne; "that +I feel myself menaced with it. But I am never ill without reading over +these consoling reflections. I then fancy that I hear them from his own +mouth; besides, my love, I wish you to know what kind of man my father +was; you will the better comprehend the cause of my grief, and of his +empire over me, as well as all that I shall one day confide to +you."--Corinne took this manuscript, which Oswald never parted from, and +in a trembling voice read the following pages. + +"Oh ye just, beloved of the Lord! you can speak of death without fear; +for you it is only a change of habitation, and that which you quit is +perhaps the least of all! Oh numberless worlds, which in our sight fill +the boundless region of space! unknown communities of God's creatures; +communities of His children, scattered throughout the firmament and +ranged beneath its vaults, let our praises be joined to yours! We are +ignorant of your condition, whether you possess the first, second, or +last share of the generosity of the Supreme Being; but in speaking of +death or of life, of time past or of time to come, we assimilate our +interests with those of all intelligent and sensible beings, no matter +where placed, or by what distance separated from us. Families of +peoples! Families of nations! Assemblage of worlds! you say with us, +Glory to the Master of the Heavens, to the King of Nature, to the God of +the Universe! Glory and homage to Him, who by his will can convert +sterility into abundance, shadow into reality, and death itself into +eternal life. + +"Undoubtedly the end of the just is a desirable death; but few amongst +us, few amongst our forefathers have witnessed it. Where is the man who +could approach without fear the presence of the Eternal? Where is the +man who has loved God unremittingly, who has served Him from his youth, +and who, attaining an advanced age, finds in his recollections no +subject of uneasiness? Where is the man, moral in all his actions, +without ever thinking of the praise and the reward of public opinion? +Where is that man, so rare among the human species, who is worthy to +serve as a model to all? Where is he? Where is he? Ah! if he exist +amongst us, let our reverence and respect surround him; and ask, you +will do wisely to ask, to be present at his death, as at the sublimest +of earthly spectacles: only arm yourself with courage to follow him to +that bed, so repulsive to our feelings, from which he will never rise. +He foresees it; he is certain of it; serenity reigns in his countenance, +and his forehead seems encircled with a celestial aureole: he says, with +the apostle, _I know in whom I have believed_; and this confidence +animates his countenance, even when his strength is exhausted. He +already contemplates his new country, but without forgetting that which +he is about to quit: he gives himself up to his Creator and to his God, +without forgetting those sentiments which have charmed him during his +life. + +"Is it a faithful spouse, who according to the laws of nature must be +the first of all his connections to follow him: he consoles her, he +dries her tears, he appoints a meeting with her in that abode of +felicity of which he can form no idea without her. He recalls to her +mind those happy days which they have spent together; not to rend the +heart of a tender friend, but to increase their mutual confidence in the +goodness of heaven. He also reminds the companion of his fortunes, of +that tender love which he has ever felt for her; not to give additional +poignancy to that grief which he wishes to assuage, but to inspire her +with the sweet idea that two lives have grown upon the same stalk; and +that by their union they will become an additional defence to each other +in that dark futurity where the pity of the Supreme God is the last +refuge of our thoughts. Alas! is it possible to form a just conception +of all the emotions which penetrate a loving soul at the moment when a +vast solitude presents itself to our eyes, at the moment when the +sentiments, the interests upon which we have subsisted during so many +smiling years, are about to vanish for ever? Ah! you who are to survive +this being like unto yourself whom heaven had given you for your +support; that being who was every thing to you, and whose looks bid you +an agonizing adieu, you will not refuse to place your hand upon an +expiring heart, in order that its last palpitation may still speak to +you when all other language has failed! And shall we blame you, faithful +pair, if you had desired that your mortal remains should be deposited in +the same resting place? Gracious God, awaken them together; or if one +of them only has merited that favour, if only one of them must join the +small number of the elect, let the other be informed of it; let the +other perceive the light of angels at the moment when the fate of the +happy shall be proclaimed, in order that he may possess one moment of +joy before he sinks into eternal night. + +"Ah! perhaps we wander when we endeavour to describe the last days of +the man of sensibility, of the man who beholds death advance with hasty +strides, who sees it ready to separate him from all the objects of his +affection. + +"He revives, and regains a momentary strength in order that his last +words may serve for the instruction of his children. He says to +them--'Do not be afraid to witness the approaching end of your father, +of your old friend.--It is in obedience to a law of nature that he quits +before you, this earth which he entered first. He teaches you courage, +and nevertheless he leaves you with grief. He would certainly have +wished to assist you a little longer with his experience--to walk a +little longer side by side with you through all those perils with which +your youth is surrounded; _but life has no defence in the hour allotted +for our descent to the tomb_. You will now live alone in the midst of a +world from which I am about to disappear; may you reap in abundance the +gifts which Providence has sown in it; but do not forget that this world +itself is only a transient abode, and that you are destined for another +more permanent one. We shall perhaps see one another again; and in some +other region, in the presence of my God, I shall offer for you as a +sacrifice, my prayers and my tears! Love then religion, which is so rich +in promise! love religion, the last bond of union between fathers and +their children, between death and life!--Approach, that I may behold +you once more! May the benediction of a servant of God light on +you!'--He dies!--O, heavenly angels, receive his soul, and leave us upon +earth the remembrance of his actions, of his thoughts, and of his +hopes!"[25] + +The emotion of Oswald and Corinne had frequently interrupted this +reading. At length they were obliged to give it up. Corinne feared for +the effects of Oswald's grief, which vented itself in torrents of tears, +and suffered the bitterest pangs at beholding him in this condition, not +perceiving that she herself was as much afflicted as he. "Yes," said he, +stretching his hand to her, "dear friend of my heart, thy tears are +mingled with mine. Thou lamentest with me that guardian angel, whose +last embrace I yet feel, whose noble look I yet behold; perhaps it is +thou whom he has chosen for my comforter--perhaps--" "No, no," cried +Corinne; "he has not thought me worthy of it." "What is it you say?" +interrupted Oswald. Corinne was alarmed at having revealed what she so +much wished to conceal, and repeated what had escaped her, in another +form, saying--"He would not think me worthy of it!"--This phrase, so +altered, dissipated the disquietude which the first had excited in the +heart of Oswald, and he continued, undisturbed by any fears, to +discourse with Corinne concerning his father. + +The physicians arrived and dissipated somewhat the alarm of Corinne; but +they absolutely forbade Lord Nelville to speak till the ruptured +blood-vessel was perfectly closed. For a period of six whole days +Corinne never quitted Oswald, and prevented him from uttering a word, +gently imposing silence upon him whenever he wished to speak. She found +the art of varying the hours by reading, music, and sometimes by a +conversation of which the burden was supported by herself alone; now +serious, now playful, her animation of spirits kept up a continual +interest. All this charming and amiable attention concealed that +disquietude which internally preyed upon her, and which it was so +necessary to conceal from Lord Nelville; though she herself did not +cease one instant to be a martyr to it. She perceived almost before +Oswald himself what he suffered, nor was she deceived by the courage he +exerted to conceal it; she always anticipated everything that would be +likely to relieve him; only endeavouring to fix his attention as little +as possible upon her assiduous cares for him. However, when Oswald +turned pale, the colour would also abandon the lips of Corinne; and her +hands trembled when stretched to his assistance; but she struggled +immediately to appear composed, and often smiled when her eyes were +suffused with tears. Sometimes she pressed the hand of Oswald against +her heart, as if she would willingly impart to him her own life. At +length her cares succeeded, and Oswald recovered. + +"Corinne," said he to her, as soon as he was permitted to speak: "why +has not Mr Edgermond, my friend, witnessed the days which you have spent +by my bedside? He would have seen that you are not less good than +admirable; he would have seen that domestic life with you is a scene of +continual enchantment, and that you only differ from every other woman, +by adding to every virtue the witchery of every charm. No, it is too +much--this internal conflict which rends my heart, and that has just +brought me to the brink of the grave, must cease. Corinne, thou shalt +know my secrets though thou concealest from me thine--and thou shalt +decide upon our fate."--"Our fate," answered Corinne, "if you feel as I +do, is never to part. But will you believe me that, till now, I have +not dared even entertain a wish to be your wife. What I feel is very +new to me: my ideas of life, my projects for the future, are all upset +by this sentiment, which every day disturbs and enslaves me more and +more. But I know not whether we can, whether we ought to be united!"-- +"Corinne," replied Oswald, "would you despise me for having hesitated? +Would you attribute that hesitation to trifling considerations? Have you +not divined that the deep and sad remorse which for two years has preyed +upon me, could alone cause my indecision?" + +"I have comprehended it," replied Corinne; "had I suspected you of a +motive foreign to the affections of the heart, you would not have been +he whom I loved. But life, I know, does not entirely belong to love. +Habits, recollections, and circumstances, create around us a sort of +entanglement that passion itself cannot destroy. Broken for a moment, it +will join again, and encircle our heart as the ivy twines round the oak. +My dear Oswald, let us not appropriate to any epoch of our existence +more than that epoch demands. Nothing is now so absolutely necessary to +my happiness as that you should not leave me. The terror of your sudden +departure pursues me incessantly. You are a stranger in this country, +and bound to it by no tie. Should you go, all my prospects would +fade,--you would leave your poor Corinne nothing but her grief. This +beautiful climate, these fine arts, that poetical inspiration which I +feel with you, and now, alas! with you alone, would for me become mute. +I never awake but trembling; when I behold the god of day, I know not +whether it deceives me by its resplendent beams, ignorant as I am +whether this city still contains you within its walls--you, the star of +my life! Oswald, remove this terror from my soul, and I will desire to +know nothing beyond the delightful security you will give me."--"You +know," replied Oswald, "that an Englishman can never abandon his native +country, that war may recall me, that--" "Oh, God!" cried Corinne, "are +you going to prepare me for the dreadful moment?" and she trembled in +every limb, as at the approach of some terrible danger.--"Well, if it be +so, take me with you as your wife--as your slave--" But, suddenly +recovering herself, she said--"Oswald, you will not go without giving me +previous notice of your departure, will you? Hear me: in no country +whatever, is a criminal conducted to execution without some hours being +allotted for him to collect his thoughts. It will not be by letter that +you will announce this to me--but you will come yourself in person--you +will hear me before you go far away! And shall I be able then--What, you +hesitate to grant my request?" cried Corinne. "No," replied he, "I do +not hesitate; since it is thy wish, I swear that should circumstances +require my departure, I will apprize thee of it beforehand, and that +moment will decide the fate of our future lives."--She then left the +room. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[25] I have taken the liberty here to borrow some passages of the +Discourse on Death, which is to be found in the _Cours de Morale +Religieuse_, by M. Necker. This work, which appeared in times when the +attention was engrossed by political events, is sometimes confounded +with another by the same author, called _l'Importance des Opinions +Religieuses_, which has had the most brilliant success. But I dare +affirm, that the former is my father's most eloquent work. No minister +of state, I believe, before him, ever composed works for the Christian +pulpit; and that which ought to characterise this kind of writing from a +man who has had so much dealings with his race, is a knowledge of the +human heart, and the indulgence which this knowledge inspires: it +appears then, that considered in these two points of view, the _Cours de +Morale_, is perfectly original. Religious men in general do not mix in +the world, and men of the world for the most part, are not religious: +where then would it be possible to find to such a degree, knowledge of +life united to the elevation which detaches us from it? I will assert +without being afraid that my opinion will be attributed to my feelings, +that this book ranks among the first of those which console the sensible +being, and interest minds which reflect on the great questions that the +soul incessantly agitates within us. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +During those days which immediately followed the illness of Oswald, +Corinne carefully avoided any thing that might lead to an explanation +between them. She wished to render life as calm as possible; but she +would not yet confide her history to him. All her remarks upon their +different conversations, had only served to convince her too well of the +impression he would receive in learning who she was, and what she had +sacrificed; and nothing appeared more dreadful to her than this +impression, which might detach him from her. + +Returning then to the amiable artifice with which she had before +prevented Oswald from abandoning himself to passionate disquietudes, she +desired to interest his mind and his imagination anew, by the wonders of +the fine arts which he had not yet seen, and by this means retard the +moment when their fate should be cleared up and decided. Such a +situation would be insupportable, governed by any other sentiment than +that of love; but so much is it in the power of love to sweeten every +hour, to give a charm to every minute, that although it need an +indefinite future, it becomes, intoxicated with the present, and is +filled every day with such a multitude of emotions and ideas that it +becomes an age of happiness or pain! + +Undoubtedly it is love alone that can give an idea of eternity; it +confounds every notion of time; it effaces every idea of beginning and +end; we believe that we have always loved the object of our affection; +so difficult is it to conceive that we have ever been able to live +without him. The more dreadful separation appears, the less it seems +probable; it becomes, like death, a fear which is more spoken of than +believed--a future event which seems impossible, even at the very moment +we know it to be inevitable. + +Corinne, among her innocent stratagems to vary the amusements of Oswald, +had still in reserve the statues and the paintings. One day therefore, +when Oswald was perfectly restored, she proposed that they should go +together to see the most beautiful specimens of painting and sculpture +that Rome contains. "It is a reproach," said she to him, smiling, "not +to be acquainted with our statues and our pictures; so to-morrow we will +commence our tour of the museums and the galleries."--"It is your wish," +answered Nelville, "and I agree. But in truth, Corinne, you have no +need of these foreign resources to retain me; on the contrary, it is a +sacrifice that I make whenever I turn my eyes from you to any object +whatever." + +They went first to the Museum of the Vatican, that palace of statues +where the human figure is deified by Paganism, in the same manner as the +sentiments of the soul are now by Christianity. Corinne directed the +observation of Lord Nelville to those silent halls, where the images of +the gods and the heroes are assembled, and where the most perfect beauty +seems to enjoy itself in eternal repose. In contemplating these +admirable features and forms, the intentions of the Deity towards man, +seems, I know not how, to be revealed by the noble figure which He has +been pleased to give him. The soul is uplifted by this contemplation to +hopes full of enthusiasm and virtue; for beauty is one and the same +throughout the universe, and under whatever form it presents itself, it +always excites a religious emotion in the heart of man. What poetic +language, there is in those countenances where the most sublime +expression is for ever imprinted,--where the grandest thoughts are clad +with an image so worthy of them! + +In some instances, an ancient sculptor only produced one statue during +his life--it was his whole history.--He perfected it every day: if he +loved, if he was beloved, if he received from nature or the fine arts +any new impression, he adorned the features of his hero with his +memories and affections: he could thus express to outward eyes all the +sentiments of his soul. The grief of our modern times, in the midst of +our cold and oppressive social conditions, contains all that is most +noble in man; and in our days, he who has not suffered, can never have +thought or felt. But there was in antiquity, something more noble than +grief--an heroic calm--the sense of conscious strength, which was +cherished by free and liberal institutions. The finest Grecian statues +have hardly ever indicated anything but repose. The Laocoon and Niobe +are the only ones which paint violent grief and pain; but it is the +vengeance of heaven which they represent, and not any passion born in +the human heart; the moral being was of so sound an organization among +the ancients, the air circulated so freely in their deep bosoms, and the +order politic was so much in harmony with their faculties, that troubled +minds hardly ever existed then, as at the present day. This state causes +the discovery of many fine ideas, but does not furnish the arts, +particularly sculpture, with those simple affections, those primitive +elements of sentiment, which can alone be expressed by eternal marble. +Hardly do we find any traces of melancholy; a head of Apollo, at the +Justinian palace, another of the dying Alexander, are the only ones in +which the thoughtful and suffering dispositions of the soul are +indicated; but according to all appearances they both belong to the time +when Greece was enslaved. Since that epoch, we no longer see that +boldness, nor that tranquillity of soul, which among the ancients, has +produced masterpieces of sculpture, and poetry composed in the same +spirit. + +That thought which has nothing to nourish it from without, turns upon +itself, analyses, labours, and dives into every inward sentiment; but it +has no longer that creative power which supposes happiness, and that +plenitude of strength which happiness alone can give. Even the +sarcophagi, among the ancients, only recall warlike or pleasing ideas: +in the multitude of those which are to be found at the museum of the +Vatican, are seen battles and games represented in bas-relief on the +tombs. The remembrance of living activity was thought to be the finest +homage that could be rendered to the dead; nothing relaxed, nothing +diminished strength. Encouragement and emulation were the principles of +the fine arts as well as of politics; they afforded scope for every +virtue, and for every talent. The vulgar gloried in knowing how to +admire, and the worship of genius was served even by those who could not +aspire to its rewards. + +The religion of Greece was not, like Christianity, the consolation of +misfortune, the riches of poverty, the future hope of the dying--it +sought glory and triumph;--in a manner it deified man: in this +perishable religion, beauty itself was a religious dogma. If the artists +were called to paint the base and ferocious passions, they rescued the +human form from shame, by joining to it, as in Fauns and Centaurs, some +traits of the animal figure; and in order to give to beauty its most +sublime character, they alternately blended in their statues (as in the +warlike Minerva and in the Apollo Musagetus), the charms of both +sexes--strength and softness, softness and strength; a happy mixture of +two opposite qualities, without which neither of the two would be +perfect. + +Corinne, continuing her observations, retained Oswald some time before +those sleeping statues which are placed on the tombs, and which display +the art of sculpture in the most agreeable point of view. She pointed +out to him, that whenever statues are supposed to represent an action, +the arrested movement produces a sort of astonishment which is sometimes +painful. But statues asleep, or merely in the attitude of complete +repose, offer an image of eternal tranquillity which wonderfully accords +with the general effect of a southern climate upon man. The fine arts +appear there to be peaceful spectators of nature, and genius, which in +the north agitates the soul of man, seems beneath a beautiful sky, only +an added harmony. + +Oswald and Corinne passed on to the hall where are collected together +the sculptured images of animals and reptiles; and the statue of +Tiberius is found, by chance, in the midst of this court. This +assemblage is without design. Those statues appear to have ranged +themselves of their own accord about their master. Another hall enclosed +the dull and rigid monuments of the Egyptians; of that people whose +statues resembled mummies more than men, and who by their silent, stiff, +and servile institutions, seem to have assimilated as much as possible, +life to death. The Egyptians excelled much more in the art of imitating +animals than in representing men: the dominion of the soul seems to have +been inaccessible to them. + +After these come the porticos of the museum, where at each step is seen +a new masterpiece. Vases, altars, ornaments of every kind, encircle the +Apollo, the Laocoon, and the Muses. It is there that we learn to feel +Homer and Sophocles: it is there that a knowledge of antiquity is +awakened in the soul, which cannot be acquired elsewhere. It is in vain +that we trust to the reading of history to comprehend the spirit of +nations; what we see inspires us with more ideas than what we read, and +external objects cause in us a strong emotion, which gives that living +interest to the study of the past which we find in the observation of +contemporary facts and events. + +In the midst of these magnificent porticos, which afford an asylum to so +many wonders of art, there are fountains, which, flowing incessantly, +seem to tell us how sweetly the hours glided away two thousand years +ago, when the artists who executed these masterpieces were yet alive. +But the most melancholy impression which we experience at the Vatican, +is in contemplating the remains of statues which are collected there: +the torso of Hercules, heads separated from the trunks, and a foot of +Jupiter, which indicates a greater and more perfect statue than any that +we know. We fancy a field of battle before us, where time has fought +with genius; and these mutilated limbs attest its victory, and our +losses. + +After leaving the Vatican, Corinne conducted him to the Colossi of Mount +Cavallo; these two statues represent, as it is said, Castor and Pollux. +Each of the two heroes is taming with one hand a fiery steed. These +colossal figures, this struggle between man and the animal creation, +gives, like all the works of the ancients, an admirable idea of the +physical power of human nature. But this power has something noble in +it, which is no longer found in modern society, where all bodily +exercises are for the most part left to the common people. It is not +merely the animal force of human nature, if I may use the expression, +which is observable in these masterpieces. There seems to have been a +more intimate union between the physical and moral qualities among the +ancients, who lived incessantly in the midst of war, and a war almost of +man to man. Strength of body and generosity of soul, dignity of features +and boldness of character, loftiness of stature and commanding +authority, were ideas almost inseparable, before a religion, entirely +intellectual, had placed the power of man in his mind. The human figure, +which was also the figure of the gods, appeared symbolical; and the +nervous colossus of Hercules, as well as every other ancient statue of +this sort, do not convey vulgar ideas of common life; but an omnipotent +and divine will, which shews itself under the emblem of a supernatural +physical force. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville finished the day with a visit to the studio of +Canova, the greatest modern sculptor. As it was late when they got +there, they were shewn it by torch light; and statues improve much in +their effect by being seen in this manner. The ancients appear to have +been of this opinion, since they often placed them in their Thermae, +where day could not enter. By the light of the flambeaux, the shadows +being more full, the uniform lustre of the marble was softened, and the +statues appeared as so many pale figures, possessing a more touching +character of grace and life. There was, in the studio of Canova, an +admirable statue destined for a tomb, which represented the genius of +grief leaning upon a lion, the emblem of strength. Corinne, in +contemplating the figure of grief, thought she discovered in it some +resemblance to Oswald, and the artist himself was struck with it; Lord +Nelville turned about to avoid this kind of notice; but he said in a low +voice to his fair companion, "Corinne, I was condemned to a fate like +that which is here represented, when I met with you; but you have +changed my existence, and sometimes hope, and always an anxiety mixed +with charm, fills that heart which was to suffer nothing but regret." + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +The masterpieces of painting were then all collected together at Rome, +whose riches in this respect surpassed that of all the rest of the +world. There could exist only one disputable point as to the effect +produced by this collection, namely, whether the nature of the subjects +chosen by the Italian artists, afford a scope for all the variety and +all the originality of passion and character which painting can express? +Oswald and Corinne were of contrary opinions in this respect; but this, +like every other opposition of sentiment that existed between them, was +owing to the difference of nation, climate, and religion. Corinne +affirmed that the most favourable subjects for painting were religious +ones[26]. She said that sculpture was a Pagan art, and painting a +Christian one; and that in these arts were to be found, as in poetry, +the distinguishing qualities of ancient and modern literature. The +pictures of Michael Angelo, the painter of the Bible, and of Raphael, +the painter of the Gospel, suppose as much profound thought, as much +sensibility as are to be found in Shakespeare and Racine: sculpture can +only present a simple, energetic existence, whilst painting indicates +the mysteries of reflection and resignation, and makes the immortal soul +speak through transient colours. Corinne maintained also that historical +or poetical facts were rarely picturesque. In order to comprehend such +subjects, it would often be necessary to preserve the practice of +painters of old, and write the speech of each personage in a ribbon +proceeding out of the mouth. But religious subjects are instantly +understood by everybody, and attention is not removed from the picture +to guess what it represents. + +Corinne was of opinion that the expression of modern painters was often +theatrical, and that it bore the stamp of their age, in which was no +longer found, as in Andrea Mantegna, Perugino, and Leonardo da Vinci, +the unity and simplicity which characterised the repose of the ancients; +a repose to which is joined that profundity of sentiment which is the +characteristic of Christianity. She admired the artless composition of +Raphael's pictures, especially those in his first manner. All the +figures are directed towards one principal object, without any +contrivance on the part of the artist to group them in various attitudes +in order to produce a laboured effect. Corinne said that this sincerity +in the arts of the imagination, as well as in every other, is the true +character of genius; and that studied efforts for fame are almost +always destructive of enthusiasm. She maintained that there was rhetoric +in painting as well as in poetry, and that all those who could not +embody character called every accessory ornament to their aid, uniting +rich costumes and remarkable attitudes to the attraction of a brilliant +subject, whilst a single Virgin holding a child in her arms, an +attentive old man in the Mass of Bolsena, a man leaning on his stick in +the School of Athens, or Saint Cecilia with her eyes lifted up to +heaven, produced the deepest effect by the expression of the countenance +alone. These natural beauties increase every day more and more in our +estimation; but on the contrary, in pictures done for effect, the first +glance is always the most striking. + +Corinne added to these reflections an observation which strengthened +them: which was, that the religious sentiments of the Greeks and Romans, +and the disposition of their minds, being in every respect absolutely +foreign from ours, it is impossible for us to create according to their +conceptions, or to build upon their ground. They may be imitated by dint +of study; but how can genius employ all its energies in a work where +memory and erudition are so necessary? It is not the same with subjects +that belong to our own history and our own religion. Here the painter +himself may be inspired; he may feel what he paints, and paint what he +has seen. Life assists him to imagine life; but in transporting himself +to the regions of antiquity, his invention must be guided by books and +statues. To conclude, Corinne found that pictures from pious subjects, +impart a comfort to the soul that nothing could replace; and that they +suppose a sacred enthusiasm in the artist which blends with genius, +renovates, revives, and can alone support him against the injustice of +man and the bitterness of life. + +Oswald received, in some respects, a different impression. In the first +place, he was scandalized to see the Deity represented as he is by +Michael Angelo, in human form and feature. It was his opinion that +thought dare not give Him shape and figure, and that hardly at the very +bottom of the soul could be found an idea sufficiently intellectual, +sufficiently ethereal to elevate it to the Supreme Being; as to subjects +taken from the Holy Scripture, it seemed to him that the expression and +the images left much to be desired. He thought, with Corinne, that +religious meditation is the most intimate sentiment that man can +experience; and in this respect, it is that which furnishes the painter +with the deepest mysteries of physiognomy and expression; but as +religion represses every emotion which does not proceed immediately from +the heart, the figures of the saints and martyrs cannot admit of much +variety. The sentiment of humility, so noble in the face of heaven, +weakens the energy of terrestrial passions and necessarily gives +monotony to most religious subjects. When Michael Angelo applied his +terrible genius to those subjects, he almost changed their essence by +giving to his prophets a formidable expression of power more becoming a +Jupiter than a Saint. He, like Dante, often avails himself of the images +of Paganism and blends the heathen mythology with the Christian +religion. One of the most admirable circumstances attending the +establishment of Christianity, is the lowly estate of the apostles who +have preached it, and the misery and debasement of the Jewish people, so +long the depositaries of the promises that announced the coming of +Christ. This contrast between the littleness of the means and the +greatness of the result, is in a moral point of view, extremely fine; +but in painting, which exhibits the means alone, Christian subjects must +be less dazzling than those taken from the heroic and fabulous ages. +Among the arts, music alone can be purely religious. Painting cannot be +confined to so abstract and vague an expression as that of sound. It is +true that the happy combination of colour, and of _chiaro-oscuro_ +produces, if it may be so expressed, a musical effect in painting; but +as the latter represents life, it should express the passions in all +their energy and diversity. Undoubtedly it is necessary to choose among +historical facts, those which are sufficiently known not to require +study in order to comprehend them; for the effect produced by painting +ought to be immediate and rapid, like every other pleasure derived from +the fine arts; but when historical facts are as popular as religious +subjects, they have the advantage over them of the variety of situations +and sentiments which they recall. + +Lord Nelville thought also, that scenes of tragedy and the most moving +poetical fictions, ought to claim a preference in painting, in order +that all the pleasures of the imagination and of the soul might be +united. Corinne combated this opinion, fascinating as it was. She was +convinced that the encroachment of one art upon another was mutually +injurious. Sculpture loses the advantages which are peculiar to it when +it aspires to represent a group of figures as in painting; painting when +it wishes to attain dramatic expression. The arts are limited in their +means, though boundless in their effects. Genius seeks not to combat +that which is in the essence of things; on the contrary, its superiority +consists in discovering it.--"As for you, my dear Oswald," said Corinne, +"you do not love the arts in themselves, but only on account of their +relation with mind and feeling. You are only sensible to that which +represents the sorrows of the heart. Music and poetry agree with this +disposition; whilst the arts which speak to the eyes, though their +signification be ideal, only please and interest us when the soul is +tranquil and the imagination entirely free; nor do we require, in order +to relish them, that gaiety which society inspires, but only the +serenity which beautiful weather and a fine climate diffuse over the +mind. We must be capable of feeling the universal harmony of nature in +those arts which represent external objects; this is impossible when the +soul is troubled, that harmony having been destroyed in us by +calamity."--"I know not," replied Oswald, "whether my taste in the fine +arts be confined to that alone which can recall the sufferings of the +soul; but I know, at least, that I cannot endure the representation of +physical pain. My strongest objection," continued he, "against Christian +subjects in painting, is the painful sensations excited in me by the +image of blood, wounds, and torture, notwithstanding the victims may +have been animated by the noblest enthusiasm. Philoctetus is perhaps the +only tragical subject in which bodily ills can be admitted. But with how +many poetical circumstances are his cruel pangs surrounded? They have +been caused by the arrows of Hercules. They will be healed by the son of +AEsculapius. In short, the wound is almost confounded with the moral +resentment produced in him who is struck, and cannot excite any +impression of disgust. But the figure of the boy possessed with a devil, +in Raphael's superb picture of the Transfiguration, is a disagreeable +image, and in no way possesses the dignity of the fine arts. They must +discover to us the charm of grief, as well as the melancholy of +prosperity; it is the ideal part of human destiny which they should +represent in each particular circumstance. Nothing torments the +imagination more than bloody wounds and nervous convulsions. It is +impossible in such pictures not to seek, and at the same time dread, to +find the exactness of the imitation. What pleasure can we receive from +that art which only consists in such an imitation; it is more horrible, +or less beautiful than nature herself, the moment it only aspires to +resemble her." + +"You are right, my lord," said Corinne, "to wish that Christian subjects +were divested of painful images; they do not require them. But confess, +however, that genius, and the genius of the soul, can triumph over every +thing. Behold that picture of the Communion of St Jerome, by +Domenichino. The body of the dying saint is livid and gaunt: death has +seized upon it; but in that look is eternal life, and every earthly +misery seems produced here only to disappear before the pure lustre of a +religious sentiment. However, dear Oswald," continued Corinne, "though I +am not of your opinion in everything, I will shew you that even in +differing from one another there is some analogy of sentiment between +us. I have endeavoured to accomplish what you desire, in the gallery of +pictures which has been furnished me by those artists who were of my +acquaintance, among which are some designs of my own sketching. You will +there see the defects and the advantages of those subjects which you +prefer. This gallery is at my country seat at Tivoli. The weather is +fine enough to visit it.--Shall we go thither to-morrow?" As she awaited +Oswald's consent, he said to her: "My love, have you any doubt of my +answer? Have I in this world, any other pleasure, any other thought, +besides you? And is not my life, too free perhaps from any occupation, +as from every interest, solely taken up with the happiness of seeing and +hearing you?" + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] In a journal entitled _Europe_, are to be found observations full +of information on subjects relating to painting: from this journal I +have extracted many of these reflections, which have just been read; Mr +Frederic Schlegel is the author of it, and this writer, as well as the +German thinkers in general, is an inexhaustible mine. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +They set out therefore the next day for Tivoli. Oswald himself drove the +four horses that drew them; he took pleasure in their swiftness, which +seemed to increase the vivacity of thought and of existence; and such an +impression is sweet by the side of the object we love. He performed the +office of whip with the most extreme attention, for fear the slightest +accident should happen to Corinne. He felt the duties of a protector +which is the softest tie that binds man to woman. Corinne was not, like +most women, easily terrified by the possible dangers of a journey; but +it was so sweet to remark the solicitude of Oswald, that she almost +wished to be frightened, to enjoy the pleasure of, hearing him cheer and +comfort her. + +That which gave Lord Nelville, as will be seen in the sequel, so great +an ascendancy over the heart of his mistress, was the unexpected +contrasts which gave a peculiar charm to his manners. Everybody admired +his intellect and the gracefulness of his figure; but he must have been +particularly interesting to one, who uniting in herself by a singular +accord, constancy and mobility, took delight in impressions, at once +various and faithful. Never did he think of anything but Corinne; and +this very occupation of his mind incessantly assumed different +characters: at one time he was governed by reserve, at another he was +open and communicative: one moment he was perfectly calm, and another a +prey to the most gloomy and bitter sensations, which proved the depth of +his sentiments, but mingled anxiety with confidence and incessantly gave +birth to new emotions. Oswald, internally agitated, endeavoured to +assume an external appearance of composure, and Corinne, occupied in +conjecturing his thoughts, found in this mystery a continual interest. +One would have said, that the very defects of Oswald were only made to +set off his agreeable qualities. No man, however distinguished, in whose +character there was no contradiction, who was subject to no internal +conflict, could have captivated the imagination of Corinne. She felt a +sort of awe of Oswald, which subjected her to him. He reigned over her +soul by a good and by an evil power; by his qualities, and by the +disquietude which these qualities, badly combined, could inspire: in +short there was no security in the happiness that Lord Nelville +conferred, and perhaps the violence of Corinne's passion was owing to +this; perhaps she could only love, to such a degree, him whom she feared +to lose. A superior mind, a sensibility as ardent as it was delicate, +might become weary of everything, except that truly extraordinary man, +whose soul, constantly agitated, seemed like the sky--sometimes serene, +sometimes covered with clouds. Oswald, always true, always of profound +and impassioned feelings, was nevertheless often ready to renounce the +object of his tenderness, because a long habit of mental pain made him +believe, that only remorse and suffering could be found in the too +exquisite affections of the heart. + +Lord Nelville and Corinne, in their journey to Tivoli, passed before the +ruins of Adrian's palace, and the immense garden which surrounded it. +That prince had collected together in this garden, the most rare +productions, the most admirable masterpieces of those countries which +were conquered by the Romans. To this very day some scattered stones are +seen there, which are called _Egypt_, _India_, and _Asia_. Farther on +was the retreat, where Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, ended her days. She +did not support in adversity, the greatness of her destiny; she was +incapable of dying for glory like a man; or like a woman, dying rather +than betray her friend. + +At length they discovered Tivoli, which was the abode of so many +celebrated men, of Brutus, of Augustus, of Mecenas, and of Catullus; but +above all, the abode of Horace, for it is his verse which has rendered +this retreat illustrious. The house of Corinne was built over the noisy +cascade of Teverone; at the top of the mountain, opposite her garden, +was the temple of the Sybil. It was a beautiful idea of the ancients, to +place their temples on the summits of high places. They majestically +presided over the surrounding country, as religious ideas over all other +thoughts. They inspired more enthusiasm for nature, by announcing the +Deity from which she emanates, and the eternal gratitude of successive +generations towards her. The landscape, from whatever point of view +considered, formed a picture with the temple, which was placed there as +the centre and the ornament of the whole. Ruins spread a singular charm +over the _campagna_ of Italy. They do not recall, like modern edifices, +the labour and the presence of man; they are confounded with nature and +the trees; they seem in harmony with the solitary torrent; they present +the image of time, which has made them what they are. The most beautiful +countries in the world, when they bring to mind no recollection, when +they bear the stamp of no remarkable event, are stripped of interest +when compared with historical countries. What place in Italy could be +more suitable for the habitation of Corinne than the retreat consecrated +to the sybil, to the memory of a woman, animated by divine inspiration. +The house of Corinne was delightful; it was ornamented with the elegance +of modern taste, and yet discovered the charm of an imagination +enamoured of the beauties of antiquity; happiness, in the most elevated +sense of the word, seemed to reign there; a felicity which consisted in +all that ennobles the soul, excites thought, and vivifies talent. + +In walking with Corinne, Oswald perceived that the wind possessed an +harmonious sound, and filled the air with chords, which seemed to +proceed from the waving of the flowers, and the rustling of the trees, +and to give a voice to nature. Corinne told him that the wind produced +this harmony from the aeolian harps, which she had placed in grottoes to +fill the air with sound, as well as perfumes. In this delicious abode, +Oswald was inspired with the purest sentiment.--"Hear me," said he to +Corinne; "till this moment I felt the happiness I derived from your +society blended with remorse; but now I say to myself, that you are sent +by my father to terminate my sufferings upon this earth. It is he that I +had offended; but it is, nevertheless, he who has obtained by his +prayers my pardon in heaven. Corinne!" cried he, throwing himself upon +his knees, "I am pardoned; I feel it in this sweet calm of innocence +which pervades my soul. Thou canst now, without apprehension, unite +thyself to me, nor fear that fate opposes our union."--"Well," said +Corinne, "let us continue to enjoy this peace of the heart which is +granted us. Let us not meddle with destiny: she inspires so much dread +when we wish to interfere with her, when we try to obtain from her more +than she will give! Since we are now happy, let us not desire a change!" + +[Illustration: _Corinne showing Oswald her pictures._] + +Lord Nelville was hurt at this answer of Corinne. He conceived she ought +to comprehend that he was ready to tell her every thing, to promise +every thing, if she would only confide to him her history; and this +manner of avoiding it gave him as much offence as apprehension; he did +not perceive that a sense of delicacy prevented Corinne from taking +advantage of his emotion, to bind him by an oath. Perhaps also, it is in +the nature of a profound and genuine passion, to dread a solemn moment, +however much desired, and to tremble at exchanging hope for happiness +itself. Oswald, far from judging in this manner, persuaded himself, that +although Corinne loved him, she wished to preserve her independence, and +intentionally deferred all that might lead to an indissoluble union. +This thought excited in him a painful irritation, and immediately +assuming a cold and reserved air, he followed Corinne to her gallery of +pictures, without uttering a word. She soon divined the impression she +had produced on him, but knowing his pride, she durst not impart to him +her observations; however, in showing him her pictures and discussing +general topics, she felt a vague hope of softening him, which gave to +her voice a more moving charm, even when uttering the most indifferent +words. + +Her gallery was composed of historical pictures, paintings on poetical +and religious subjects, and landscapes. None of them was composed of a +very large number of figures. That style of painting undoubtedly +presents greater difficulties, but affords less pleasure. Its beauties +are too confused, or too minute. That unity of interest, which is the +vital principle of the arts, as well as anything else, is necessarily +divided and scattered. The first of the historical pictures represented +Brutus, in profound meditation, seated at the foot of the statue of +Rome. In the back ground, the slaves are carrying the lifeless bodies of +his two sons, whom he had condemned to death; and on the other side of +the picture, the mother and sisters appear plunged into an agony of +grief: women are, happily, divested of that courage, which can triumph +over the affections of the heart. The statue of Rome, placed by the +side of Brutus, is a beautiful idea; it speaks eloquently. Yet how can +any body know without an explanation, that it is the elder Brutus who +has just sent his sons to execution? Nevertheless, it is impossible to +characterise this event better than it is done in this picture. At a +distance the city of Rome is perceived in its ancient simplicity, +without edifices or ornaments, but full of patriotic grandeur, since it +could inspire such a sacrifice.--"Undoubtedly," said Corinne, "when I +have named Brutus, your whole soul will become fixed to this picture; +but still it would be possible to behold it without divining the subject +it represented. And does not this uncertainty, which almost always +exists in historical pictures, mingle the torment of an enigma with the +enjoyment of the fine arts, which ought to be so easy and so clear? + +"I have chosen this subject because it recalls the most terrible action +that love of country has inspired. The companion to this picture is +Marius, spared by the Cimbrian, who cannot bring himself to kill this +great man; the figure of Marius is imposing; the costume of the Cimbrian +and the expression of his physiognomy, are very picturesque. It is the +second epoch of Rome, when laws no longer existed, but when genius still +exercised considerable influence upon circumstances. Then comes that era +when talents and fame were only objects of misfortune and insult. The +third picture which you see here, represents Belisarius, carrying on his +shoulders the body of his young guide, who died while asking alms for +him. Belisarius, blind and mendicant, is thus recompensed by his master; +and in the universe which he has conquered, he is employed in bearing to +the grave the remains of the poor boy who alone had not abandoned him. +This figure of Belisarius is admirable; another so fine is not to be +found in the modern school. The painter, with a truly poetical +imagination, has united here every species of misfortune, and perhaps +the picture is too dreadful even to awaken pity: but who tells us it is +Belisarius? to indicate him it should be faithful to history: but that +fidelity would deprive the subject of all its picturesque beauty. +Following these pictures which represent in Brutus, virtues approaching +to crime; in Marius, glory, the cause of calamity; in Belisarius, +services paid by the blackest persecutions; in short, every misery of +human destiny, which is recorded in the events of history, I have placed +two pictures of the old school, which a little relieve the oppressed +soul by recalling that religion which has consoled the enslaved and +distracted universe, that religion which stirred the depths of the heart +when all without was but oppression and silence. The first is by Albano; +he has painted the infant Jesus sleeping on a cross. Behold the +sweetness and calm of that countenance! What pure ideas it recalls; how +it convinces the soul that celestial love has nothing to fear, either +from affliction or death. The second picture is by Titian; the subject +is Christ sinking beneath the weight of the cross. His mother comes to +meet Him, and throws herself upon her knees on perceiving Him. Admirable +reverence in a mother for the misfortunes and divine virtues of her son! +What a look is that of our Redeemer, what a divine resignation in the +midst of suffering, and in this suffering what sympathy with the heart +of man! That is, doubtless, the finest of my pictures. It is that +towards which I incessantly turn my eyes, without ever being able to +exhaust the emotion which it inspires. Next come the dramatic pieces," +continued Corinne, "taken from four great poets. Judge with me, my lord, +of the effect which they produce. The first represents AEneas in the +Elysian fields, when he wishes to approach Dido. The indignant shade +retires, rejoiced that she no longer carries in her bosom that heart +which would still beat with love at the aspect of her guilty paramour. +The vapoury colour of the shades and the paleness of the surrounding +scene, form a contrast with the life-like appearance of AEneas and of the +sybil who conducts him. But this kind of effect is an amusement of the +artist, and the description of the poet is necessarily superior to +anything that painting can produce. I will say as much of this picture +of Clorinda dying, and Tancred. The utmost pathos which it can excite, +is to call to our minds the beautiful lines of Tasso, when Clorinda +pardons her adoring enemy who has just pierced her breast. Painting +necessarily becomes subordinate to poetry, when devoted to subjects +which have been treated by great poets; for their words leave an +impression which effaces every other; the situations which they have +chosen almost ever derive their chief strength from the development of +the passions and their eloquence, whilst the greater part of picturesque +effects arises from a calm beauty, a simple expression, a noble +attitude, a moment of repose, worthy of being indefinitely prolonged +without ever wearying the eye. + +"Your terrible Shakespeare, my lord," continued Corinne, "has furnished +the subject of the third dramatic picture--it is Macbeth,--the +invincible Macbeth--who, ready to fight Macduff, whose wife and children +he has put to death, learns that the oracle of the witches is +accomplished, that Birnam Wood is advancing to Dunsinane, and that he is +fighting a man who was born after the death of his mother. Macbeth is +conquered by fate, but not by his adversary.--He grasps the sword with a +desperate hand;--he knows that he is about to die;--but wishes to try +whether human strength cannot triumph over destiny. There is certainly +in this head, a fine expression of wildness and fury--of trouble and of +energy; but how many poetical beauties do we miss? Is it possible to +paint Macbeth plunged in guilt by the spells of ambition, which offer +themselves to him under the shape of witchcraft? How can painting +express the terror which he feels? That terror, however, which is not +inconsistent with intrepid bravery? Is it possible to characterise that +peculiar species of superstition which oppresses him? That belief +without dignity, that hell-born fatality which weighs him down, his +contempt of life, his horror of death? Undoubtedly the human countenance +is the greatest of mysteries; but the motionless physiognomy of a +painting can never express more than the workings of a single sentiment. +Contrasts, conflicts of the mind, events, in short, belong to the +dramatic art. Painting can with difficulty render a succession of +events: time and movement exist not for it. + +"The Phedre of Racine has furnished the subject of the fourth picture," +said Corinne, showing it to Lord Nelville.--"Hippolitus, in all the +beauty of youth and innocence, repels the perfidious accusations of his +step-mother; the hero, Theseus, still protects his guilty spouse, whom +he encircles with his conquering arm. There is in the countenance of +Phedre, a trouble which freezes the soul with horror; and her nurse, +without remorse, encourages her in her guilt. Hippolitus in this picture +is perhaps more beautiful than even in Racine; he resembles more the +ancient Meleager, because no love for Aricia disturbs the impression of +his wild and noble virtue; but is it possible to suppose that Phedre, in +the presence of Hippolitus, can support her falsehood? Is it possible +that she can behold him innocent and persecuted without falling at his +feet? An offended woman may wrong the object of her affection in his +absence; but when she sees him, her heart is wholly absorbed in love. +The poet has never put Phedre and Hippolitus in the same scene after the +former has calumniated the latter; the painter has been obliged to do so +in order to bring together, as he has done in his picture, all the +beauties of the contrast; but is not this a proof that there is such a +difference between poetical and picturesque subjects that it would be +better for the poets to write from pictures, than for the painters to +compose their works from the poets? The history of the human mind proves +to us that imagination must always precede thought." + +Whilst Corinne was thus explaining her pictures to Lord Nelville, she +had stopped several times, in the hope that he would speak to her; but +his wounded soul did not betray itself by a single word; whenever she +expressed a feeling idea he only sighed and turned his head, in order +that she might not see how easily he was affected in his present state +of mind. Corinne, overcome by this silence, sat down and covered her +face with her hands--Lord Nelville for some time walked about the room +with a hurried step, then approaching Corinne, was about to betray his +feelings; but the invincible pride of his nature repressed his emotion, +and he returned to the pictures as if he were waiting for Corinne to +finish showing them. Corinne expected much from the effect of the last +of all; and making an effort in her turn to appear calm, she arose and +said, "My lord, I have yet three landscapes to show you--two of them are +allied to very interesting ideas. I am not fond of those rustic scenes +which are as dull in painting as idylls, when they make no allusion to +fable or to history. I am most pleased with the manner of Salvator Rosa, +who represents, as you see in this picture, a rock with torrents and +trees, without a single living creature, without even a bird recalling +an idea of life. The absence of man in the midst of natural scenes, +excites deep reflection. What would the earth be in this state of +solitude? A work without an aim; and yet a work so beautiful, the +mysterious impression of which would be addressed to the Divinity alone! + +"We are come at last to the two pictures in which, according to my +opinion, history and poetry are happily blended with landscape[27]. One +represents the moment when Cincinnatus is invited by the consuls to +leave the plough, in order to take the command of the Roman armies. In +this landscape you behold all the luxury of the South, its abundant +vegetation, its burning sky, the smiling aspect of all nature, +discoverable even in the plants themselves; and that other picture which +forms a contrast with this, is the son of Cairbar asleep upon the tomb +of his father.--For three days and three nights he has awaited the +arrival of the bard who is to honour the memory of the dead. This bard +is perceived at a distance descending the mountain; the shade of the +father hovers in the clouds; the country is covered with hoar frost; the +trees, though naked, are agitated by the wind, and their dead branches +and dried leaves, still follow the current of the storm." + +Till then, Oswald had been influenced by resentment at what had taken +place in the garden; but on beholding this picture, the tomb of his +father and the mountains of Scotland appeared to his mind, and his eyes +were filled with tears. Corinne took her harp, and before this picture, +began to sing one of those Scotch ballads whose simple notes seem to +accompany the noise of the wind, mournfully complaining through the +valleys. She sang the farewell of a warrior quitting his native land and +his mistress; and the word, _no more_, one of the most harmonious and +touching in the English language, was pronounced by Corinne with the +most moving expression. Oswald sought not to resist his emotion, and +both yielded without restraint to their tears.--"Ah!" cried Lord +Nelville, "does my native country speak no language to thy heart? +Wouldst thou follow me into those retreats, peopled by my recollections? +Wouldst thou be the worthy companion of my life, as thou art its sole +charm and delight?"--"I believe so," replied Corinne--"I believe so; for +I love thee!"--"In the name of love then, no longer conceal anything +from me," said Oswald.--"I consent," interrupted Corinne; "since it is +thy wish. My promise is given; I only make one condition, which is, that +thou wilt not exact it of me before the approaching epoch of our +religious ceremonies. Will not the support of heaven be more than ever +necessary to me at the moment when my fate is about to be decided?"--"No +more," cried Lord Nelville, "if that fate depend upon me, it is no +longer doubtful."--"Thou thinkest so," replied she; "I have not the same +confidence; but, in a word, I intreat thee show that condescension to my +weakness which I request."--Oswald sighed, without either granting or +refusing the delay required.--"Let us now return to town," said Corinne. +"How can I conceal anything from thee in this solitude? And if what I +have to relate must divide us, ought I so soon--Let us go, Oswald--thou +wilt return hither again, happen what may: my ashes will find rest +here." Oswald, much affected, obeyed Corinne. He returned to the city +with her, and scarcely a word passed between them upon the road. From +time to time they looked at each other with an affection that said +everything; but nevertheless, a sentiment of melancholy reigned in the +depths of their souls when they arrived in the midst of Rome. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[27] The historical pictures which compose the gallery of Corinne, are +either from copies or originals of the Brutus of _David_, the Maurius of +_Drouet_, and the Belisarius of _Gerard_; among the other pictures +mentioned, that of Dido was done by _M. Rehberg_, a German painter; that +of Clorinda, is in the gallery of Florence; that of Macbeth, is in an +English collection of pictures from Shakespeare; and that of Phedre, is +by _Guerin_; lastly, the two landscapes of Cincinnatus and Ossian, are +at Rome, and were done by Mr Wallis, an English painter. + + + + +Book ix. + +THE POPULAR FESTIVAL, AND MUSIC. + + + + +Chapter i. + + +It was the last day of carnival, which is the most noisy festival of the +year, when a fever of joy, a mania of amusement, unparalleled in any +other country, seized the Roman people. Everybody is disguised; hardly +does there remain at the windows, an unmasked spectator: the scene of +gaiety commences at a given hour on a certain day, and scarcely ever +does any public or private event of the year hinder any person from +joining the sports of the season. + +It is then that we can form a judgment of the extent of imagination +possessed by the common people. The Italian language, even in their +mouths, is full of charm. Alfieri said that he went to the public market +at Florence to learn to speak good Italian,--Rome has the same +advantages: and perhaps these are the only two cities in the world where +the people speak so well that the mind may receive entertainment at +every corner of the street. + +That kind of humour which shines in the authors of harlequinades and +opera-buffa, is very commonly found even among men without education. In +these days of carnival, when extravagance and caricature are admitted, +the most comic scenes take place between the masks. + +Often a burlesque gravity is contrasted with the vivacity of the +Italians; and one would say that these fantastic vestments inspired a +dignity in the wearers, not natural to them; at other times, they +manifest such a singular knowledge of mythology in their disguises, that +we would be inclined to believe the ancient fables still popular in +Rome; and more frequently they ridicule different gradations of society +with a pleasantry full of force and originality. The nation appears a +thousand times more distinguished in its sports than in its history. The +Italian language yields to every shade of gaiety with a facility which +only requires a light inflection of the voice and a little difference of +termination in order to increase or diminish, ennoble or travesty, the +sense of words. It is particularly graceful in the mouth of +children[28]. The innocence of this age and the natural malice of the +language, form an exquisite contrast. In truth, it may be said, that it +is a language which explains itself without any aid and always appears +more intellectual than he who speaks it. + +There is neither luxury nor good taste in the feast of carnival; a kind +of universal petulance makes it resemble the bacchanals of the +imagination; but in imagination only is this resemblance, for the Romans +are in general very sober, and except the last day of carnival, +tolerably serious. We often make sudden discoveries of every sort in the +character of the Italians, and this is what contributes to give them the +reputation of being subtle and crafty.--There is, undoubtedly, a strong +habit of dissimulation in this country, which has supported so many +different yokes; but it is not to dissimulation that we must always +attribute the rapid transition from one manner of being to another. An +inflammable imagination is often the cause of it. The character of a +people who are only rational or witty, may be easily understood and will +not suddenly surprise us, but all that belongs to the imagination is +unexpected. It leaps over intermediate barriers, it is often hurt at +nothing, and frequently indifferent to that which ought most to affect +it. In fact, it is a law unto itself, and we can never calculate its +impressions from their causes. + +For example, we cannot comprehend what amusement the Roman nobility find +in riding in their carriages from one end of the _corso_ to the other +for whole hours together, as well during the carnival as on the other +days of the year. Nothing ever diverts them from this custom. There are +also among the masks, men who saunter about with every appearance of +weariness, in the most ridiculous costume imaginable, and +who--melancholy harlequins and silent punchinellos,--do not say a word +the whole evening, but appear, if it may be so expressed, to have +satisfied their carnival conscience by having neglected nothing to be +merry. + +We find at Rome a certain species of mask which is not seen elsewhere: +masks formed after the figures of the ancient statues, and which at a +distance imitate the most perfect beauty--the women often lose greatly +by removing them. But nevertheless this motionless imitation of life, +these stalking wax countenances, however pretty they may be, have +something terrifying in them. The great nobles make a tolerably grand +display of carriages on the last days of the carnival; but the pleasure +of this festival is the crowd and the confusion: it seems like a relic +of the _Saturnalia_; every class in Rome is mixed together. The most +grave magistrates ride with official dignity in the midst of the masks; +every window is decorated. The whole town is in the streets: it is truly +a popular festival. The pleasure of the people consists neither in the +shows nor the feasts that are given them, nor the magnificence they +witness. They commit no excess either in drinking or eating: their +recreation is to be set at liberty, and to find themselves among the +nobility, who on their side are pleased at being among the people. It is +especially the refinement and delicacy of amusements as well as the +perfection of education, that places a barrier between different classes +of people. But in Italy this distinction of rank is not very sensible; +the country is more characterised by the natural talent and imagination +of all, than by the extraordinary cultivation of the upper classes. +There is therefore, pending carnival, a complete confusion of ranks, of +manners, and of sentiments: the crowd, the cries, the wit, and the +comfits with which they inundate without distinction the carriages as +they pass along, confound every mortal together and set the nation +pell-mell, as if social order no longer existed. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville, both buried in thought, arrived in the midst +of this tumult. They were at first almost stunned; for nothing appears +more singular than this activity of noisy pleasures, when the soul is +entirely absorbed in itself. They stopped at the Piazza del Popolo to +ascend the amphitheatre near the obelisk, whence is seen the race +course. At the moment they got out of their calash, the Count d'Erfeuil +perceived them and took Oswald aside to speak to him. + +"It is not right," said he, "to show yourself in this public manner, +arriving from the country alone with Corinne; you will compromise her +character, then what will you do?" "I do not think," answered Nelville, +"that I compromise the character of Corinne by showing the attachment +she inspires me with. But even were that true, I should be too happy if +the devotion of my life--" "As to your being happy," interrupted the +Count, "I do not believe it;" people can only be happy in acting +becomingly. Society, think as you may, has much influence "upon our +happiness, and we should never do what it disapproves."--"We should then +never be guided by our own thoughts and our own feelings, but live +entirely for society," replied Oswald. "If it be so, if we are +constantly to imitate one another, to what purpose was a soul and an +understanding given to each? Providence might have spared this +superfluity."--"That is very well said," replied the Count, "very +philosophically thought; but people ruin themselves by these kind of +maxims, and when love is gone, the censure of opinion remains. I, who +appear to possess levity, would never do any thing to draw upon me the +disapprobation of the world. We may indulge in trifling liberties, in +agreeable pleasantries which announce an independent manner of thinking, +provided we do not carry it into action; for when it becomes serious--" +"But the serious consequences are love and happiness," answered Lord +Nelville.--"No, no;" interrupted the Count d'Erfeuil, "that is not what +I wish to say; there are certain established rules of propriety, which +one must not brave, on pain of passing for an eccentric man, a man--in +fact, you understand me--for a man who is not like others."--Lord +Nelville smiled, and without being in the least vexed; for he was by no +means pained with these remarks; he rallied the Count upon his frivolous +severity; he felt with secret satisfaction that for the first time, on a +subject which caused him so much emotion, the Count did not possess the +least influence over him. Corinne, at a distance, conjectured what was +passing; but the smile of Nelville restored tranquillity to her heart, +and this conversation of the Count d'Erfeuil, far from embarrassing +Oswald or his fair companion, only inspired them with a temper of mind +more in harmony with the scene before them. + +The horse-racing was about to begin. Lord Nelville expected to see +races like those of England; but what was his surprise, when informed +that only little Barbary horses without riders were to run against each +other. This sight excites the attention of the Romans in a singular +manner. The moment it is about to commence, all the crowd arrange +themselves on each side of the way. The Piazza del Popolo, which was +covered with people, is empty in a moment. Each one ascends the +amphitheatres which surround the obelisk, and innumerable multitudes of +heads and dark eyes are turned towards the barrier from which the horses +are to start. + +They arrive without bridle or saddle, with merely a rich cloth thrown +over their backs, and led by extremely well-dressed grooms, who take a +most passionate interest in their success. The horses are placed behind +the barrier and their ardour to clear it is extreme. At every moment +they are held back; they prance, they neigh, they clatter with their +feet, as if they were impatient of a glory which they are about to +obtain themselves without the guidance of man. This impatience of the +horses and the shouts of the grooms at the moment when the barrier +falls, produce a fine dramatic effect. The horses start, the grooms cry +"Stand back! Stand back!" with inexpressible transport. They accompany +the horses with their voice and gestures till they are out of sight. The +horses seem inspired with the same emulation as men. The pavement +sparkles beneath their feet; their manes fly in the air, and their +desire, thus left to their own efforts, of winning the prize is such, +that there have been some who, on arriving at the goal, have died from +the swiftness with which they have run. It is astonishing to see these +freed horses thus animated with personal passions; it almost induces a +belief that thought exists beneath this animal form. The crowd break +their ranks when the horses are gone by, and follow them in disorder. +They reach the Venetian palace which serves for the goal. Never was +anything like the cries of the grooms whose horses are victors. He who +had gained the first prize, threw himself on his knees before his +horse[29], and thanked him, recommending him to the protection of St +Anthony, the patron of animals, with an enthusiasm as serious as it was +comic to the spectators. + +It is generally the close of day when the races finish. Then commences +another kind of amusement, much less picturesque, but also very noisy. +The windows are illuminated. The guards abandon their post to mix in the +general joy[30]. Each one then takes a little torch called a _moccolo_, +and they seek mutually to extinguish each other's light, repeating the +word _ammazzare_ (kill) with a formidable vivacity. _Che la Bella +Principessa sia ammazata! Che il signore abbate sia ammazata!_ (Let the +fair princess be killed, let the abbot be killed!) is shouted from one +end of the street to the other. The crowd, become emboldened, because at +this hour horses and carriages are forbidden, hurl themselves in all +directions. At length there is no other pleasure than that of tumult and +disorder. In the meantime night advances, the noise ceases by degrees--a +profound silence succeeds, and there only remains of this evening the +confused idea of a dream, in which the people had forgotten for a moment +their labour, the learned their studies, and the nobility their +idleness. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[28] I asked a little Tuscan girl which was the handsomer, she or her +sister? "Ah!" answered she, "_Il piu bel viso e il mio_;"--Mine is the +most beautiful face. + +[29] An Italian postillion, whose horse was dying, prayed for him, +saying. "_O Sant' Antonio, abbiate pieta dell' anima sua_;"--O Saint +Anthony, have mercy on his soul! + +[30] Goethe has a description of the carnival at Rome, which gives a +faithful and animated picture of that festival. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +Oswald, since his calamity, had not found spirits to seek the pleasure +of music. He dreaded those ravishing strains so soothing to melancholy, +but which inflict pain, when we are oppressed by real grief. Music +awakens those bitter recollections which we are desirous to appease. +When Corinne sang, Oswald listened to the words she uttered; he +contemplated the expression of her countenance, it was she alone that +occupied him; but if in the streets of an evening, several voices were +joined, as it frequently happens in Italy, to sing the fine airs of the +great masters, he at first endeavoured to listen, and then retired, +because the emotion it excited, at once so exquisite and so indefinite, +renewed his pain. However, there was a magnificent concert to be given +in the theatre at Rome, which was to combine the talents of all the best +singers. Corinne pressed Lord Nelville to accompany her to this concert, +and he consented, expecting that his feelings would be softened and +refined by the presence of her he loved. + +On entering her box, Corinne was immediately recognised, and the +remembrance of the Capitol adding to the interest which she usually +inspired, the theatre resounded with applause. From every part of the +house they cried, "Long live Corinne!" and the musicians themselves, +electrified by this general emotion, began to play victorious strains; +for men are led to associate triumph of every sort with war and battle. +Corinne was intimately affected with these universal tokens of +admiration and respect. The music, the applause, the _bravos_, and that +indefinable impression, which a multitude of people expressing one +sentiment always produces, awakened those feelings which, in spite of +her efforts to conceal them, appeared in her eyes suffused with tears, +and the palpitation of her heart equally visible. Oswald, jealous of +this emotion, approached her, saying in a low voice,--"It would be a +pity madam to snatch you from this brilliant popularity, it is certainly +equal to love, since it produces the same effect in your heart."--Having +spoken thus, he retired to the further end of the box without waiting +for any reply. These words produced the most cruel agitation in the +bosom of Corinne, and in a moment destroyed all the pleasure she +received from these expressions of applause, which principally gave her +delight because they were witnessed by Oswald. + +The concert began--he who has not heard Italian singing can have no idea +of music! Italian voices are so soft and sweet, that they recall at once +the perfume of flowers, and the purity of the sky. Nature has destined +the music for the climate: one is like a reflection of the other. The +world is the work of one mind, expressed in a thousand different forms. +The Italians, during a series of ages, have been enthusiastically fond +of music. Dante, in his poem of purgatory, meets with one of the best +singers of his age; being entreated, he sings one of his delicious airs, +and the ravished spirits are lulled into oblivion of their sufferings, +until recalled by their guardian angel. The Christians, as well as the +pagans, have extended the empire of music beyond the grave. Of all the +fine arts, it is that which produces the most immediate effect upon the +soul. The others are directed to some particular idea; but this appeals +to the intimate source of our existence, and entirely changes our inmost +soul. What is said of Divine Grace, which suddenly transforms the heart, +may humanly speaking be applied to the power of melody; and among the +presentiments of the life to come, those which spring from music are +not to be despised. + +Even the gaiety which the comic music of Italy is so well calculated to +excite, is not of that vulgar description which does not speak to the +imagination. At the very bottom of the mirth which it excites, will be +found poetical sensations and an agreeable reverie, which mere verbal +pleasantry never could inspire. Music is so fleeting a pleasure, that it +glides away almost at the same time we feel it, in such a manner, that a +melancholy impression is mingled with the gaiety which it excites; but +when expressive of grief, it also gives birth to a sweet sentiment. The +heart beats more quickly while listening to it, and the satisfaction +caused by the regularity of the measure, by reminding us of the brevity +of time, points out the necessity of enjoying it. You no longer feel any +void, any silence, around you; life is filled; the blood flows quickly; +you feel within you that motion which gives activity to life, and you +have no fear of the external obstacles with which it is beset. + +Music redoubles the ideas which we possess of the faculties of the soul; +when listening to it we feel capable of the noblest efforts. Animated by +music, we march to the field of death with enthusiasm. This divine art +is happily incapable of expressing any base sentiment, any artifice, any +falsehood. Calamity itself, in the language of music, is stript of its +bitterness; it neither irritates the mind nor rends the heart. Music +gently raises that weight which almost constantly oppresses the heart +when we are formed for deep and serious affections; that weight which +sometimes becomes confounded with the very sense of our existence, so +habitual is the pain which it causes. It seems to us in listening to +pure and delectable sounds, that we are about to seize the secret of +the Creator, and penetrate the mystery of life. No language can express +this impression, for language drags along slowly behind primitive +impressions, as prose translators behind the footsteps of poets. It is +only a look that can give some idea of it; the look of an object you +love, long fixed upon you, and penetrating by degrees so deeply into +your heart, that you are at length obliged to cast down your eyes to +escape a happiness so intense, that, like the splendour of another life, +it would consume the mortal being who should presume stedfastly to +contemplate it. + +The admirable exactness of two voices perfectly in harmony produces, in +the duets of the great Italian masters, a melting delight which cannot +be prolonged without pain. It is a state of pleasure too exquisite for +human nature; and the soul then vibrates like an instrument which a too +perfect harmony would break. Oswald had obstinately kept at a distance +from Corinne during the first part of the concert; but when the duet +began, with faintly-sounding voices, accompanied by wind instruments, +whose sounds were more pure than the voices themselves, Corinne covered +her face with her handkerchief, entirely absorbed in emotion; she wept, +but without suffering--she loved, and was undisturbed by any fear. +Undoubtedly the image of Oswald was present to her heart; but this image +was mingled with the most noble enthusiasm, and a crowd of confused +thoughts wandered over her soul: it would have been necessary to limit +these thoughts in order to render them distinct. It is said that a +prophet traversed seven different regions of heaven in a minute. He who +could thus conceive all that an instant might contain, must surely have +felt the sublime power of music by the side of the object he loved. +Oswald felt this power, and his resentment became gradually appeased. +The feelings of Corinne explained and justified everything; he gently +approached her, and Corinne heard him breathing by her side in the most +enchanting passage of this celestial music. It was too much--the most +pathetic tragedy could not have excited in her heart so much sensation +as this intimate sentiment of profound emotion which penetrated them +both at the same time, and which each succeeding moment, each new sound, +continually exalted. The words of a song have no concern in producing +this emotion--they may indeed occasionally excite some passing +reflection on love or death; but it is the indefinite charm of music +which blends itself with every feeling of the soul; and each one thinks +he finds in this melody, as in the pure and tranquil star of night, the +image of what he wishes for on earth. + +"Let us retire," said Corinne; "I feel ready to faint." "What ails you?" +said Oswald, with uneasiness; "you grow pale. Come into the open air +with me; come." They went out together. Corinne, leaning on the arm of +Oswald, felt her strength revive from the consciousness of his support. +They both approached a balcony, and Corinne, with profound emotion, said +to her lover, "Dear Oswald, I am about to leave you for eight days." +"What do you tell me?" interrupted he. "Every year," replied she, "at +the approach of Holy Week, I go to pass some time in a convent, to +prepare myself for the solemnity of Easter." Oswald advanced nothing in +opposition to this intention; he knew that at this epoch, the greater +part of the Roman ladies gave themselves up to the most rigid devotion, +without however on that account troubling themselves very seriously +about religion during the rest of the year; but he recollected that +Corinne professed a different worship to his, and that they could not +pray together. "Why are you not," cried he, "of the same religion as +myself?" Having pronounced this wish, he stopped short. "Have not our +hearts and minds the same country?" answered Corinne. "It is true," +replied Oswald; "but I do not feel less painfully all that separates +us." They were then joined by Corinne's friends; but this eight days' +absence so oppressed his heart that he did not utter a word during the +whole evening. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +Oswald visited Corinne at an early hour, uneasy at what she had said to +him. He was received by her maid, who gave him a note from her mistress +informing him that she had entered the convent on that same morning, +agreeably to the intention of which he had been apprised by her, and +that she should not be able to see him until after Good Friday. She +owned to him that she could not find courage to make known her intention +of retiring so soon, in their conversation the evening before. This was +an unexpected stroke to Oswald. That house, which the absence of Corinne +now rendered so solitary, made the most painful impression upon his +mind; he beheld her harp, her books, her drawings, all that habitually +surrounded her; but she herself was no longer there. The recollection of +his father's house struck him--he shuddered and, unable to support +himself, sunk into a chair. + +"In such a way as this," cried he, "I might learn her death! That mind, +so animated, that heart, throbbing with life, that dazzling form, in all +the freshness of vernal bloom, might be crushed by the thunderbolt of +fate, and the tomb of youth would be silent as that of age. Ah! what an +illusion is happiness! What a fleeting moment stolen from inflexible +Time, ever watching for his prey! Corinne! Corinne! you must not leave +me; it was the charm of your presence which deprived me of reflection; +all was confusion in my thoughts, dazzled as I was by the happy moments +which I passed with you. Now I am alone--now I am restored to myself, +and all my wounds are opened afresh." He invoked Corinne with a kind of +despair which could not be attributed to her short absence, but to the +habitual anguish of his heart, which Corinne alone could assuage. +Corinne's maid, hearing the groans of Oswald, entered the room and, +touched with the manner in which he was affected by the absence of her +mistress, said to him, "My lord, let me comfort you; I hope my dear lady +will pardon me for betraying her secret. Come into my room, and you +shall see your portrait." "My portrait!" cried he. "Yes; she has painted +it from memory," replied Theresa (that was the name of Corinne's maid); +"she has risen at five o'clock in the morning this week past, in order +to finish it before she went to the convent." + +Oswald saw this portrait, which was a striking likeness and most +elegantly executed: this proof of the impression which he had made on +Corinne penetrated him with the sweetest emotion. Opposite this portrait +was a charming picture, representing the Blessed Virgin--and before this +picture was the oratory of Corinne. This singular mixture of love and +religion is common to the greater part of Italian women, attended with +circumstances more extraordinary than in the apartment of Corinne; for +free and unrestrained as was her life, the remembrance of Oswald was +united in her mind with the purest hopes and purest sentiments; but to +place thus the resemblance of a lover opposite an emblem of divinity, +and to prepare for a retreat to a convent by consecrating a week to +paint that resemblance, was a trait that characterised Italian women in +general rather than Corinne in particular. Their kind of devotion +supposes more imagination and sensibility than seriousness of mind and +seventy of principles;--nothing could be more contrary to Oswald's +religious ideas; yet how could he find fault with Corinne, at the very +moment when he received so affecting a proof of her love? + +He minutely surveyed this chamber, which he now entered for the first +time: at the head of Corinne's bed he saw the portrait of an elderly +man, whose physiognomy was not Italian; two bracelets were hanging near +this portrait, one formed of dark and light hair twisted together; the +other was of the most lovely flaxen, and what appeared a most remarkable +effect of chance, perfectly resembled that of Lucilia Edgermond, which +he had observed very attentively three years ago on account of its +extreme beauty. Oswald contemplated these bracelets without uttering a +word, for to interrogate Theresa he felt to be unworthy of him. But +Theresa, fancying she guessed Oswald's thoughts, and wishing to remove +from his mind every jealous suspicion, hastened to inform him that +during eleven years that she had waited on Corinne, her mistress had +always worn these bracelets, and that she knew they were composed of the +hair of her father and mother, and that of her sister. "You have been +eleven years with Corinne," said Lord Nelville; "you know then--" +blushing, he suddenly checked himself, ashamed of the question he was +about to put, and quitted the house immediately, to avoid saying another +word. + +In going away, he turned about several times to behold the windows of +Corinne, and when he had lost sight of her habitation, he felt a sadness +now new to him--that which springs from solitude. In the evening, he +sought to dissipate his melancholy by joining a distinguished assembly +in Rome; for to find a charm in reverie, we must in our happy as well as +in our clouded moments, be at peace with ourselves. + +The party he visited was soon insupportable to Lord Nelville, inasmuch +as it made him feel more sensibly all the charms that Corinne could +diffuse through society, by observing the void caused by her absence. He +essayed to converse with some ladies, who answered him in that insipid +phraseology which is established to avoid the true expression of our +sentiments and opinions, if those who use it have anything of this sort +to conceal. He approached several groups of gentlemen who seemed by +their voice and gesture to be discoursing upon some important subject; +he heard them discussing the most trivial topic in the most common +manner. He then sat down to contemplate at his ease, that vivacity +without motive and without aim which is found in most numerous +assemblies; nevertheless, mediocrity in Italy is by no means +disagreeable; it has little vanity, little jealousy, and much respect +for superiority of mind; and if it fatigues with its dulness, it hardly +ever offends by its pretensions. + +It was in these very assemblies, however, that Oswald had found so much +to interest him a few days before; the slight obstacle which the company +opposed to his conversation with Corinne,--the speedy opportunity which +she took to return to him as soon as she had been sufficiently polite to +the rest of the circle,--the similarity of sentiment which existed +between them in the observations which the company suggested,--the +pleasure which Corinne took when discoursing in Oswald's presence, to +address indirectly to him some reflection of which he alone comprehended +the true meaning, had attached such recollections to every part of this +very room, that Oswald had been deluded so far as to believe that there +was something amusing in these assemblies themselves. "Ah!" said he, +when departing, "it was here as every where else--she was the life of +the scene; let me rather seek the most desert spot till she return. I +shall feel her absence less bitterly when there is nothing about me +bearing the resemblance of pleasure." + + + + +Book x. + +HOLY WEEK. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald passed the following day in the gardens of some monasteries. He +went first to that of the Carthusians, and stopped some time before he +entered, to contemplate two Egyptian lions which are at a little +distance from the gate. Those lions have a remarkable expression of +strength and repose; there is something in their physiognomy belonging +neither to the animal nor the man: they seem one of the forces of nature +and enable us to form a conception how the gods of the Pagan theology +might be represented under this emblem. + +The Carthusian monastery is built upon the ruins of the Thermae of +Diocletian; and the church by the side of the monastery, is decorated +with such of its granite columns as remained standing. The monks who +inhabit this retreat are very eager to show them, and the interest they +take in these ruins seems to be the only one they feel in this world. +The mode of life observed by the Carthusians, supposes in them either a +very limited mind, or the most noble and continued elevation of +religious sentiments; this succession of days without any variety of +event, reminds us of that celebrated line: + + Sur les mondes detruits le Temple dort immobile. + + _The Temple sleeps motionless on the ruins of worlds_. + +The whole employment of their life serves but to contemplate death. +Activity of mind, with such an uniformity of existence, would be a most +cruel torment. In the midst of the cloister grow four cypresses. This +dark and silent tree, which is with difficulty agitated by the wind, +introduces no appearance of motion into this abode. Near the cypresses +is a fountain, scarcely heard, whose fall is so feeble and slow, that +one would be led to call it the clepsydra of this solitude, where time +makes so little noise. Sometimes the moon penetrates it with her pale +lustre, and her absence and return may be considered as an event in this +monotonous scene. + +Those men who exist thus, are nevertheless the same to whom war and all +its bustle would scarcely suffice if they had been brought up to it. + +The different combinations of human destiny upon earth afford an +inexhaustible source of reflection. A thousand accidents pass, and a +thousand habits are formed in the interior of the soul, which make every +individual a world and the subject of a history. To know another +perfectly, would be the task of a whole life; what is it then that we +understand by knowing men? To govern them is practicable by human +wisdom, but to comprehend them belongs to God alone. + +From the Carthusian monastery Oswald repaired to that of St Bonaventure, +built upon the ruins of the palace of Nero; there, where so many crimes +have been committed without remorse, poor monks, tormented by scruples +of conscience, impose upon themselves the most cruel punishment for the +slightest fault. "_Our only hope_," said one of these devotees, "_is +that at the hour of death our sins will not have exceeded our +penances_." Lord Nelville, as he entered this monastery struck his foot +against a trap, and asking the use of it--"_It leads to our place of +interment_;" said one of the young monks, who was already struck with +the malady caused by the malaria. The inhabitants of the south being +very much afraid of death, we are astonished to find institutions in +Italy which fix the ideas upon this point; but it is natural to be fond +of thoughts that inspire us with dread. There is, as it were, an +intoxication of sadness, which does good to the soul by occupying it +entirely. + +An ancient Sarcophagus of a young child serves for the fountain to this +convent. The beautiful Palm-tree of which Rome boasts, is the only tree +of any sort in the garden of these monks; but they pay no attention to +external objects. Their discipline is too rigorous to allow any kind of +latitude to the mind. Their looks are cast down, their gait is slow, +they make no use of their will. They have abdicated the government of +themselves, _so fatiguing is this empire to its sad possessor_. This +day, however, did not produce much emotion in the soul of Oswald; the +imagination revolts at death, presented under all its various forms in a +manner so manifestly intentional. When we unexpectedly meet this +_memento mori_, when it is nature and not man that speaks to our soul, +the impression we receive is much deeper. + +Oswald felt the most calm and gentle sensations when, at sunset, he +entered the garden of _San Giovanni e Paolo_. The monks of this +monastery are subjected to a much less rigid discipline, and their +garden commands a view of all the ruins of ancient Rome. From this spot +is seen the Coliseum, the Forum, and all the triumphal arches, the +obelisks, and the pillars which remain standing. What a fine situation +for such an asylum! The secluded monks are consoled for their own +nothingness, in contemplating the monuments raised by those who are no +more. Oswald strolled for a long time beneath the umbrageous walks of +this garden, whose beautiful trees sometimes interrupt for a moment the +view of Rome, only to redouble the emotion which is felt on beholding it +again. It was that hour of the evening, when all the bells in Rome are +heard chiming the _Ave Maria_. + + ----------------squilla di lontano + Che paja il giorno pianger che si muore. + DANTE. + + ----------------_the vesper bell from far, + That seems to mourn for the expiring day._ + CAREY'S TR. + +The evening prayer is used to fix the time. In Italy they say: _I will +see you an hour before, or an hour after the Ave Maria_: and the +different periods of the day and of the night, are thus religiously +designated. Oswald enjoyed the admirable spectacle of the sun which +towards the evening descends slowly in the midst of the ruins, and +appears for a moment submitted to the same destiny as the works of man. +Oswald felt all his habitual thoughts revive within him. Corinne herself +was too charming, and promised too much happiness to occupy his mind at +this moment. He sought the spirit of his father in the clouds, where the +force of imagination traced his celestial form, and made him hope to +receive from heaven some pure and beneficent breath, as the benediction +of his sainted parent. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +The desire of studying and becoming acquainted with the Roman religion, +determined Lord Nelville to seek an opportunity of hearing some of those +preachers who make the churches of this city resound with their +eloquence during Lent. He reckoned the days that were to divide him from +Corinne, and during her absence, he wished to see nothing that +appertained to the fine arts; nothing that derived its charm from the +imagination. He could not support the emotion of pleasure produced by +the masterpieces of art when he was not with Corinne; he was only +reconciled to happiness when she was the cause of it. Poetry, painting, +music, all that embellishes life by vague hopes, was painful to him out +of her presence. + +It is in the evening, with lights half extinguished, that the Roman +preachers deliver their sermons in Holy Week. All the women are then +clad in black, in remembrance of the death of Jesus Christ, and there is +something very moving in this anniversary mourning, which has been so +often renewed during a lapse of ages. It is therefore impossible to +enter without genuine emotion those beautiful churches, where the tombs +so fitly dispose the soul for prayer; but this emotion is generally +destroyed in a few moments by the preacher. + +His pulpit is a fairly long gallery, which he traverses from one end to +the other with as much agitation as regularity. He never fails to set +out at the beginning of a phrase and to return at the end, like the +motion of a pendulum; nevertheless he uses so much action, and his +manner is so vehement, that one would suppose him capable of forgetting +everything. But it is, to use the expression, a kind of systematic fury +that animates the orator, such as is frequently to be met with in Italy, +where the vivacity of external action often indicates no more than a +superficial emotion. A crucifix is suspended at the extremity of the +pulpit; the preacher unties it, kisses it, presses it against his heart, +and then restores it to its place with the greatest coolness, when the +pathetic period is concluded. There is a means of producing effect which +the ordinary preachers frequently have recourse to, namely, the square +cap they wear on their head, which they take off, and put on again with +inconceivable rapidity. One of them imputed to Voltaire, and +particularly to Rousseau, the irreligion of the age. He threw his cap +into the middle of the pulpit, charging it to represent Jean Jacques, +and in this quality he harangued it, saying; "_Well, philosopher of +Geneva, what have you to object to my arguments_?" He was silent for +some minutes as if he waited for a reply--the cap made no answer: he +then put it upon his head again and finished the conversation in these +words: "_now that you are convinced I shall say no more_." + +These whimsical scenes are often repeated among the Roman preachers; for +real talent in this department is here very scarce. Religion is +respected in Italy as an omnipotent law; it captivates the imagination +by its forms and ceremonies, but moral tenets are less attended to in +the pulpit than dogmas of faith, which do not penetrate the heart with +religious sentiments. Thus the eloquence of the pulpit, as well as +several other branches of literature, is absolutely abandoned to common +ideas, which neither paint nor express any thing. A new thought would +cause almost a panic in those minds at once so indolent and so full of +ardour that they need the calm of uniformity, which they love because it +offers repose to their thoughts. The ideas and phraseology of their +sermons are confined to a sort of etiquette. They follow almost in a +regular sequence, and this order would be disturbed if the orator, +speaking from himself, were to seek in his own mind what he should say. +The Christian philosophy, whose aim is to discover the analogy between +religion and human nature, is as little known to the Italian preachers +as any other kind of philosophy. To think upon matters of religion would +scandalise them as much as to think against it; so much are they +accustomed to move in a beaten track. + +The worship of the Blessed Virgin is particularly dear to the Italians, +and to every other nation of the south; it seems in some manner united +with all that is most pure and tender in the affection we feel for +woman. But the same exaggerated figures of rhetoric are found in what +the preachers say upon this subject; and it is impossible to conceive +why their gestures do not turn all that is most serious into mockery. +Hardly ever in Italy do we meet in the august function of the pulpit, +with a true accent or a natural expression. + +Oswald, weary of the most tiresome of all monotony--that of affected +vehemence, went to the Coliseum, to hear the Capuchin who was to preach +there in the open air, at the foot of one of those altars which mark +out, within the enclosure, what is called _the Stations of the Cross_. +What can offer a more noble subject of eloquence than the aspect of this +monument, of this amphitheatre, where the martyrs have succeeded to the +gladiators! But nothing of this kind must be expected from the poor +Capuchin, who, of the history of mankind, knows no more than that of his +own life. Nevertheless, if we could be insensible to the badness of his +discourse, we should feel ourselves moved by the different objects that +surround him. The greater part of his auditors are of the confraternity +of the _Camaldoli_; they are clad during their religious exercises in a +sort of grey robe, which entirely covers the head and the whole body, +with two little holes for the eyes. It is thus that the spirits of the +dead might be represented. These men, who are thus concealed beneath +their vestments, prostrate themselves on the earth and strike their +breasts. When the preacher throws himself on his knees crying for _mercy +and pity_, the congregation throw themselves on their knees also, and +repeat this same cry, which dies away beneath the ancient porticoes of +the Coliseum. It is impossible at this moment not to feel the most +religious emotion; this appeal from earthly misery to celestial good, +penetrates to the inmost sanctuary of the soul. Oswald started when all +the audience fell on their knees; he remained standing, not to join in a +worship foreign to his own; but it was painful to him that he could not +associate publicly with mortals of any description, who prostrated +themselves before God. Alas! is there an invocation of heavenly pity +that is not equally suited to all men? + +The people had been struck with the fine figure and foreign manners of +Lord Nelville, but were by no means scandalized at his not kneeling +down. There are no people in the world more tolerant than the Romans; +they are accustomed to visitors who come only to see and observe; and +whether by an effect of pride or of indolence, they never seek to instil +their opinions into others. What is more extraordinary still, is, that +during Holy Week particularly, there are many among them who inflict +corporal punishment upon themselves; and while they are performing this +flagellation, the church-doors are open, and they care not who enters. +They are a people who do not trouble their heads about others; they do +nothing to be looked at; they refrain from nothing because they are +observed; they always proceed to their object, and seek their pleasure +without suspecting that there is a sentiment called vanity, which has no +object, no pleasure, except the desire of being applauded. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +The ceremonies of Holy Week at Rome have been much spoken of. Foreigners +come thither during Lent expressly to enjoy this spectacle; and as the +music of the Sixtine Chapel and the illumination of St Peter's are +beauties unique in themselves, it is natural that they should excite a +lively curiosity; but expectation is not equally satisfied. The +ceremonies themselves, properly speaking--the dinner of the twelve +Apostles, served by the Pope, the washing of the feet by him, and all +the different customs of this solemn season--excite very moving +recollections; but a thousand inevitable circumstances often injure the +interest and the dignity of this spectacle. All those who assist at it +are not equally devout, equally occupied with pious ideas. These +ceremonies, so often repeated, have become a sort of mechanical exercise +for most people, and the young priests despatch the service of great +festivals with an activity and a dexterity little calculated to produce +any religious effect. That indefinite, that unknown, that mysterious +impression, which religion ought to excite, is entirely destroyed by +that species of attention which we cannot help paying to the manner in +which each acquits himself of his functions. The avidity of some for the +meats presented them, and the indifference of others in the +genuflections which they multiply and the prayers which they recite, +often strip the festival of its solemnity. + +The ancient costumes which still serve for the vestments of the priests, +agree badly with the modern style of treating the hair. The Greek +bishop, with his long beard, has the most respectable appearance. The +ancient custom also of making a reverence after the manner of women, +instead of bowing as men do now, produces an impression by no means +serious. In a word, the _ensemble_ is not in harmony, and the ancient is +blended with the modern without sufficient care being taken to strike +the imagination, or at least to avoid all that may distract it. A +worship, dazzling and majestic in its external forms, is certainly +calculated to fill the soul with the most elevated sentiments; but care +must be taken that the ceremonies do not degenerate into a spectacle in +which each one plays his part--in which each one studies what he must do +at such a moment; when he is to pray, when he is to finish his prayer; +when to kneel down, and when to get up. The regulated ceremonies of a +court introduced into a temple of devotion, confine the free movement of +the heart, which can alone give man the hope of drawing near to the +Deity. + +These observations are pretty generally felt by foreigners, but the +Romans for the most part do not grow weary of those ceremonies; and +every year they find in them new pleasure. A singular trait in the +character of the Italians is, that their mobility does not make them +inconstant, nor does their vivacity render variety necessary to them. +They are in every thing patient and persevering; their imagination +embellishes what they possess; it occupies their life instead of +rendering it uneasy; they think every thing more magnificent, more +imposing, more fine, than it really is: and whilst in other nations +vanity consists in an affectation of boredom, that of the Italians, or +rather their warmth and vivacity, makes them find pleasure in the +sentiment of admiration. + +Lord Nelville, from all that the Romans had said to him, expected to be +more affected by the ceremonies of Holy Week. He regretted the noble and +simple festivals of the Anglican church. He returned home with a +painful impression; for nothing is more sad than not being moved by that +which ought to move us; we believe that our soul is become dry, we fear +that the fire of enthusiasm is extinguished in us, without which the +faculty of thinking can only serve to disgust us with life. + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +But Good Friday soon restored to Lord Nelville all those religious +emotions, the want of which he so much regretted on the preceding days. +The seclusion of Corinne was about to terminate; he anticipated the +happiness of seeing her again: the sweet expectations of tender +affection accord with piety; it is only a factious, worldly life, that +is entirely hostile to it. Oswald repaired to the Sixtine Chapel to hear +the celebrated _miserere_, so much talked of all over Europe. He arrived +thither whilst it was yet day, and beheld those celebrated paintings of +Michael Angelo, which represent the Last Judgment, with all the terrible +power of the subject and the talent which has handled it. Michael Angelo +was penetrated with the study of Dante; and the painter, in imitation of +the poet, represents mythological beings in the presence of Jesus +Christ; but he always makes Paganism the evil principle, and it is under +the form of demons that he characterises the heathen fables. On the +vault of the chapel are represented the prophets, and the sybils called +in testimony by the Christians, + + Teste David cum Sibylla. + +A crowd of angels surround them; and this whole vault, painted thus, +seems to bring us nearer to heaven, but with a gloomy and formidable +aspect. Hardly does daylight penetrate the windows, which cast upon the +pictures shadow rather than light. The obscurity enlarges those figures, +already so imposing, which the pencil of Michael Angelo has traced; the +incense, whose perfume has a somewhat funereal character, fills the air +in this enclosure, and every sensation is prelusive to the most profound +of all--that which the music is to produce. + +Whilst Oswald was absorbed by the reflections which every object that +surrounded him gave birth to, he saw Corinne, whose presence he had not +hoped to behold so soon, enter the women's gallery, behind the grating +which separated it from that of the men. She was dressed in black, all +pale with absence, and trembled so when she perceived Oswald, that she +was obliged to lean on the balustrade for support as she advanced; at +this moment the _miserere_ began. + +The voices, perfectly trained in this ancient song, proceeded from a +gallery at the commencement of the vault; the singers are not seen; the +music seems to hover in the air; and every instant the fall of day +renders the chapel more gloomy. It was not that voluptuous and +impassioned music which Oswald and Corinne had heard eight days before; +they were holy strains which counselled mortals to renounce every +earthly enjoyment. Corinne fell on her knees before the grating and +remained plunged in the most profound meditation. Oswald himself +disappeared from her sight. She thought that in such a moment one could +wish to die, if the separation of the soul from the body could take +place without pain; if, on a sudden, an angel could carry away on his +wings our sentiments and our thoughts--sparks of ethereal fire, +returning towards their source: death would then be, to use the +expression, only a spontaneous act of the heart, a more ardent and more +acceptable prayer. + +The _miserere_, that is to say, _have mercy on us_, is a psalm, +composed of verses, which are sung alternately in a very different +manner. A celestial music is heard by turns, and the verse following, in +recitative, is murmured in a dull and almost hoarse tone. One would say, +that it is the reply of harsh and stern characters to sensitive hearts; +that it is the reality of life which withers and repels the desires of +generous souls. When the sweet choristers resume their strain, hope +revives; but when the verse of recitative begins, a cold sensation +seizes upon the hearer, not caused by terror, but by a repression of +enthusiasm. At length, the last piece, more noble and affecting than all +the others, leaves a pure and sweet impression upon the soul: may God +vouchsafe that same impression to us before we die. + +The torches are extinguished; night advances, and the figures of the +prophets and the sybils appear like phantoms enveloped in twilight. The +silence is profound; a word spoken would be insupportable in the then +state of the soul, when all is intimate and internal; as soon as the +last sound expires, all depart slowly and without the least noise; each +one seems to dread the return to the vulgar interests of the world. + +Corinne followed the procession, which repaired to the temple of St +Peter, then lighted only by an illuminated cross. This sign of grief, +alone and shining in the august obscurity of this immense edifice, is +the most beautiful image of Christianity in the midst of the darkness of +life. A pale and distant light is cast on the statues which adorn the +tombs. The living, who are perceived in crowds beneath these vaults, +seem like pigmies, compared with the images of the dead. There is around +the cross, a space which it lights up, where the Pope clad in white is +seen prostrate, with all the cardinals ranged behind him. They remain +there for half an hour in the most profound silence, and it is +impossible not to be moved at this spectacle. We know not the subject +of their prayers; we hear not their secret groanings; but they are old, +they precede us in the journey to the tomb. When we in our turn pass +into that terrible advance guard, may God by his grace so ennoble our +age, that the decline of life may be the first days of immortality! + +Corinne, also,--the young and beautiful Corinne,--was kneeling behind +the train of priests, and the soft light reflected on her countenance, +gave it a pale hue, without diminishing the lustre of her eyes. Oswald +contemplated her as a beautiful picture--a being that inspired +adoration. When her prayer was concluded she arose. Lord Nelville dared +not yet approach her, respecting the religious meditation in which he +thought her plunged; but she came to him first with a transport of +happiness; and this sentiment pervading all her actions, she received +with a most lively gaiety, all those who accosted her in St Peter's, +which had become, all at once, a great public promenade, and a +rendezvous to discuss topics of business or pleasure. + +Oswald was astonished at this mobility which caused such opposite +impressions to succeed each other; and though the gaiety of Corinne gave +him pleasure, he was surprised to find in her no trace of the emotions +of the day. He did not conceive how, upon so solemn, a day, they could +permit this fine church to be converted into a Roman _cafe_, where +people met for pleasure; and beholding Corinne in the midst of her +circle, talking with so much vivacity, and not thinking on the objects +that surrounded her, he conceived a sentiment of mistrust as to the +levity of which she might be capable. She instantly perceived it, and +quitting her company abruptly, she took the arm of Oswald to walk with +him in the church, saying, "I have never held any conversation with you +upon my religious sentiments--permit me to speak a little upon that +subject now; perhaps I shall be able to dissipate those clouds which I +perceive rising in your mind." + + + + +Chapter v. + + +"The difference of our religions, my dear Oswald," continued Corinne, +"is the cause of that secret censure which you cannot conceal from me. +Yours is serious and rigid--ours, cheerful and tender. It is generally +believed that Catholicism is more rigorous than Protestantism; and that +may be true in a country where a struggle has subsisted between the two +religions; but we have no religious dissensions in Italy, and you have +experienced much of them in England. The result of this difference is, +that Catholicism in Italy has assumed a character of mildness and +indulgence; and that to destroy it in England, the Reformation has armed +itself with the greatest severity in principles and morals. Our +religion, like that of the ancients, animates the arts, inspires the +poets, and becomes a part, if I may so express it, of all the joys of +our life; whilst yours, establishing itself in a country where reason +predominates more than imagination, has assumed a character of moral +austerity which will never leave it. Ours speaks in the name of love, +and yours in the name of duty. Our principles are liberal, our dogmas +are absolute; nevertheless, our despotic orthodoxy accommodates itself +to particular circumstances, and your religious liberty enforces +obedience to its laws without any exception. It is true that our +Catholicism imposes very hard penance upon those who have embraced a +monastic life. This state, freely chosen, is a mysterious relation +between man and the Deity; but the religion of laymen in Italy is an +habitual source of affecting emotions. Love, hope, and faith, are the +principal virtues of this religion, and all these virtues announce and +confer happiness. Our priests therefore, far from forbidding at any time +the pure sentiment of joy, tell us that it expresses our gratitude +towards the Creator. What they exact of us, is an observance of those +practices which prove our respect for our worship, and our desire to +please God, namely, charity for the unfortunate, and repentance for our +errors. But they do not refuse absolution, when we zealously entreat it; +and the attachments of the heart inspire a more indulgent pity amongst +us than anywhere else. Has not Jesus Christ said of the Magdalen: _Much +shall be pardoned her, because she hath loved much_? These words were +uttered beneath a sky, beautiful as ours; this same sky implores for us +the Divine mercy." + +"Corinne!" answered Lord Nelville, "how can I combat words so sweet, and +of which my heart stands so much in need? But I will do it, +nevertheless, because it is not for a day that I love Corinne--I expect +with her a long futurity of happiness and virtue. The most pure religion +is that which makes a continual homage to the Supreme Being, by the +sacrifice of our passions and the fulfilment of our duties. A man's +morality is his worship of God; and it would be degrading the idea we +form of the Creator, to suppose that He wills anything in relation with +His creature, that is not worthy of His intellectual perfection. +Paternal authority, that noble image of a master sovereignly good, +demands nothing of its children that does not tend to make them better +or happier. How then can we imagine that God would exact anything from +man, which has not man himself for its object? You see also what +confusion in the understandings of your people results from the +practice of attaching more importance to religious ceremonies than to +moral duties. It is after Holy Week, you know, that the greatest number +of murders is committed at Rome. The people think, to use the +expression, that they have laid in a stock during Lent, and expend in +assassination the treasures of their penitence. Criminals have been +seen, yet reeking with murder, who have scrupled to eat meat on a +Friday; and gross minds, who have been persuaded that the greatest of +crimes consists in disobeying the discipline of the church, exhaust +their consciences on this head, and conceive that the Deity, like human +sovereigns, esteems submission to his power more than every other +virtue. This is to substitute the sycophancy of a courtier for the +respect which the Creator inspires, as the source and reward of a +scrupulous and delicate life. Catholicism in Italy, confining itself to +external demonstrations, dispenses the soul from meditation and +self-contemplation. When the spectacle is over, the emotion ceases, the +duty is fulfilled, and one is not, as with us, a long time absorbed in +thoughts and sentiments, which give birth to a rigid examination of +one's conduct and heart." + +"You are severe, my dear Oswald," replied Corinne; "it is not the first +time I have remarked it. If religion consisted only in a strict +observance of moral duties, in what would it be superior to reason and +philosophy? And what sentiments of piety could we discover, if our +principal aim were to stifle the feelings of the heart? The stoics were +as enlightened as we, as to the duties and the austerity of human +conduct; but that which is peculiar to Christianity is the religious +enthusiasm which blends with every affection of the soul; it is the +power of love and pity; it is the worship of sentiment and of +indulgence, so favourable to the flights of the soul towards heaven. +How are we to interpret the parable of the Prodigal Son, if not that +love, sincere love, is preferred even to the most exact discharge of +every duty? This son had quitted his paternal abode, and his brother had +remained there; he had plunged into all the dissipation and pleasure of +the world, and his brother had never deviated for a single moment from +the regularity of domestic life; but he returned, full of love for his +father and of repentance for his past follies, and his parent celebrated +this return by a festival. Ah! can it be doubted that among the +mysteries of our nature, to love and to love again is what remains to us +of our celestial inheritance? Even our virtues are often too complicated +with life, for us to comprehend the gradations of good, and what is the +secret sentiment that governs and leads us astray: I ask of my God to +teach me to adore him, and I feel the effect of my prayers in the tears +that I shed. But to support this disposition of the soul, religious +practices are more necessary than you think; they are a constant +communication with the Deity; they are daily actions, unconnected with +the interests of life and solely directed towards the invisible world. +External objects are also a great help to piety; the soul falls back +upon itself, if the fine arts, great monuments, and harmonic strains, do +not reanimate that poetical genius, which is synonymous with religious +inspiration. + +"The most vulgar man, when he prays, when he suffers, and places hope in +heaven, has at that moment something in him which he would express like +Milton, Homer, or Tasso, if education had taught him to clothe his +thoughts with words. There are only two distinct classes of men in the +world; those who feel enthusiasm, and those who despise it; every other +difference is the work of society. The former cannot find words to +express their sentiments, and the latter know what it is necessary to +say to conceal the emptiness of their heart. But the spring that bursts +from the rock at the voice of heaven, that spring is the true talent, +the true religion, the true love. + +"The pomp of our worship; those pictures in which the kneeling saints +express a continual prayer in their looks; those statues placed on the +tombs as if they were one day to rise with their inhabitants; those +churches and their immense domes, have an intimate connection with +religious ideas. I like this splendid homage paid by men to that which +promises them neither fortune nor power--to that which neither punishes +nor rewards them, but by a sentiment of the heart. I then feel more +proud of my being; I recognise something disinterested in man; and were +even religious magnificence multiplied to an extreme, I should love that +prodigality of terrestrial riches for another life, of time for +eternity: enough is provided for the morrow, enough care is taken for +the economy of human affairs. How I love the useless, useless if +existence be only a painful toil for a miserable gain! But if on this +earth we are journeying towards heaven, what can we do better than to +take every means of elevating our soul, that it may feel the infinite, +the invisible, and the eternal, in the midst of all the limits that +surround us? + +"Jesus Christ permitted a weak, and perhaps, repentant woman, to anoint +His feet with the most precious perfumes, and repulsed those who advised +that those perfumes should be reserved for a more profitable use. "_Let +her alone_" said He, "_for I am only with you for a short time_." Alas! +all that is good and sublime upon earth is only with us for a short +time; age, infirmity, and death, would soon dry up that drop of dew +which falls from heaven and only rests upon the flowers. Let us then, +dear Oswald, confound everything,--love, religion, genius, the sun, the +perfumes, music, and poetry: atheism only consists in coldness, egotism, +and baseness. Jesus Christ has said: _When two or three are gathered +together in my name, I will be in the midst of them._ And what is it O +God! to be assembled in Thy name, if it be not to enjoy Thy sublime +gifts, and to offer Thee our homage, to thank Thee for that existence +which Thou hast given us; above all, to thank Thee, when a heart, also +created by Thee is perfectly responsive to our own?" + +At this moment a celestial inspiration animated the countenance of +Corinne. Oswald could hardly refrain from falling on his knees before +her in the midst of the temple, and was silent for a long time to +indulge in the pleasure of recalling her words and retracing them still +in her looks. At last he set about replying; for he would not abandon a +cause that was dear to him. "Corinne," said he, then, "indulge your +lover with a few words more. His heart is not dry; no, Corinne, believe +me it is not, and if I am an advocate for austerity in principle and +action, it is because it renders sentiment more deep and permanent. If I +love reason in religion, that is to say, if I reject contradictory +dogmas and human means of producing effect upon men, it is because I +perceive the Deity in reason as well as in enthusiasm; and if I cannot +bear that man should be deprived of any one of his faculties, it is +because I conceive them all barely sufficient to comprehend truths which +reflection reveals to him, as well as the instinct of the heart, namely, +the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul. What can be added +to these sublime ideas, to their union with virtue? What can we add +thereto that is not beneath them? The poetical enthusiasm which gives +you so many charms, is not, I venture to assert, the most salutary +devotion. Corinne, how could we by this disposition prepare for the +innumerable sacrifices which duty exacts of us! There was no revelation, +except by the flights of the soul, when human destiny, present and +future, only revealed itself to the mind through clouds; but for us, to +whom Christianity has rendered it clear and positive, feeling may be our +recompense, but ought not to be our only guide: you describe the +existence of the blessed, not that of mortals. Religious life is a +combat, not a hymn. If we were not condemned in this world to repress +the evil inclinations of others and of ourselves, there would in truth +be no distinction to be made except between cold and enthusiastic souls. +But man is a harsher and more formidable creature than your heart paints +him to you; and reason in piety, and authority in duty, are a necessary +curb to the wanderings of his pride. + +"In whatever manner you may consider the external pomp and multiplied +ceremonies of your religion, believe me, my love, the contemplation of +the universe and its author, will be always the chief worship; that +which will fill the imagination, without any thing futile or absurd +being found in it upon investigation. Those dogmas which wound my reason +also cool my enthusiasm. Undoubtedly the world, such as it is, is a +mystery which we can neither deny nor comprehend; it would therefore be +foolish to refuse credence to what we are unable to explain; but that +which is contradictory is always of human creation. The mysteries of +heavenly origin are above the lights of the mind; but not in opposition +to them. A German philosopher[31] has said: _I know but two beautiful +things in the universe: the starry sky above our heads, and the +sentiment of duty in our hearts_. In truth all the wonders of the +creation are comprised in these words. + +"So far from a simple and severe religion searing our hearts, I should +have thought, before I had known you, Corinne, that it was the only one +which could concentrate and perpetuate the affections. I have seen the +most pure and austere conduct unfold in a man the most inexhaustible +tenderness. I have seen him preserve even to old age, a virginity of +soul, which the passions and their criminal effects would necessarily +have withered. Undoubtedly repentance is a fine thing, and I have more +need than any person to believe in its efficacy; but repeated repentance +fatigues the soul--this sentiment can only regenerate once. It is the +redemption which is accomplished at the bottom of our soul, and this +great sacrifice cannot be renewed. When human weakness is accustomed to +it, the power to love is lost; for power is necessary in order to love, +at least with constancy. + +"I shall offer some objections of the same kind to that splendid form of +worship, which according to you, acts so powerfully upon the +imagination. I believe the imagination to be modest, and retired as the +heart. The emotions which are imposed on it, are less powerful than +those born of itself. I have seen in the Cevennes, a Protestant minister +who preached towards the evening in the heart of the mountains. He +invoked the tombs of the French, banished and proscribed by their +brethren, whose ashes had been assembled together in this spot. He +promised their friends that they should meet them again in a better +world. He said that a virtuous life secured us this happiness; he said: +_do good to mankind, that God may heal in your heart the wound of +grief_. He testified his astonishment at the inflexibility and +hard-heartedness of man, the creature of a day, to his fellow man +equally with himself the creature of a day, and seized upon that +terrible idea of death, which the living have conceived, but which they +will never be able to exhaust. In short, he said nothing that was not +affecting and true: his words were perfectly in harmony with nature. The +torrent which was heard in the distance, the scintillating light of the +stars, seemed to express the same thought under another form. The +magnificence of nature was there, that magnificence, which can feast the +soul without offending misfortune; and all this imposing simplicity, +touched the soul more deeply than dazzling ceremonies could have done." + +On the second day after this conversation, Easter Sunday, Corinne and +Lord Nelville went together to the square of St Peter, at the moment +when the Pope appears upon the most elevated balcony of the church, and +asks of heaven that benediction which he is about to bestow on the land; +when he pronounces these words, _urbi et orbi_ (to the city and to the +world)--all the assembled people fell on their knees, and Corinne and +Lord Nelville felt, by the emotion which they experienced at this +moment, that all forms of worship resemble each other. The religious +sentiment intimately unites men among themselves, when self-love and +fanaticism do not make it an object of jealousy and hatred. To pray +together in the same language, whatever be the form of worship, is the +most pathetic bond of fraternity, of hope, and of sympathy, which men +can contract upon earth. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[31] Kant. + + + + +Chapter vi. + + +Easter-Day was passed, and Corinne took no notice of the fulfilment of +her promise to confide her history to Lord Nelville. Wounded by this +silence, he said one day before her that he had heard much of the +beauty of Naples, and that he had a mind to visit it. Corinne, +discovering in a moment what was passing in his soul, proposed to +perform the journey with him. She flattered herself that she, should be +able to postpone the confession which he required of her, by giving him +this satisfying proof of her love. And besides she thought that if he +should take her with him, it would be without doubt because he desired +to consecrate his life to her. She waited then with anxiety for what he +should say to her, and her almost suppliant looks seemed to entreat a +favourable answer. Oswald could not resist; he had at first been +surprised at this offer and the simplicity with which Corinne made it, +and hesitated for some time before he accepted it; but beholding the +agitation of her he loved, her palpitating bosom, her eyes suffused with +tears, he consented to set out with her, without reflecting upon the +importance of such a resolution. Corinne was elevated to the summit of +joy; for at this moment her heart entirely relied on the passion of +Oswald. + +The day was fixed upon, and the sweet perspective of their journey +together made every other idea disappear. They amused themselves with +settling the details of their journey, and every one of these details +was a source of pleasure. Happy disposition of the soul, in which all +the arrangements of life have a particular charm, from their connection +with some hope of the heart! That moment arrives only too soon, when +each hour of our existence is as fatiguing as its entirety, when every +morning requires an effort to support the awakening and to guide the day +to its close. + +The moment Lord Nelville left Corinne's house in order to prepare every +thing for their departure, the Count d'Erfeuil arrived, and learnt from +her the project which they had just determined on.--"Surely you don't +think of such a thing!" said he, "what! travel with Lord Nelville +without his being your husband! without his having promised to marry +you! And what will you do if he abandon you?" "Why," replied Corinne, +"in any situation of life if he were to cease to love me, I should be +the most wretched creature in the world!" "Yes, but if you have done +nothing to compromise your character, you will remain entirely +yourself."--"Remain entirely myself, when the deepest sentiment of my +life shall be withered? when my heart shall be broken?"--"The public +will not know it, and by a little dissimulation you would lose nothing +in the general opinion." "And why should I take pains to preserve that +opinion," replied Corinne, "if not to gain an additional charm in the +eyes of him I love?"--"We may cease to love," answered the Count, "but +we cannot cease to live in the midst of society, and to need its +services."--"Ah! if I could think," retorted Corinne, "that that day +would arrive when Oswald's affection would not be all in all to me in +this world; if I could believe it, I should already have ceased to love. +What is love when it anticipates and reckons upon the moment when it +shall no longer exist? If there be any thing religious in this +sentiment, it is because it makes every other interest disappear, and, +like devotion, takes a pleasure in the entire sacrifice of self." + +"What is that you tell me?" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "can such an +intellectual lady as you fill her head with such nonsense? It is the +advantage of us men that women think as you do--we have thus more +ascendancy over you; but your superiority must not be lost, it must be +serviceable to you." "Serviceable to me?" said Corinne, "Ah! I owe it +much, if it has enabled me to feel more acutely all that is interesting +and generous in the character of Lord Nelville."--"Lord Nelville is +like other men," said the Count; "he will return to his native country, +he will pursue his profession; in short he will recover his reason, and +you would imprudently expose your reputation by going to Naples with +him."--"I am ignorant of the intentions of Lord Nelville," observed +Corinne, "and perhaps I should have done better to have reflected more +deeply before I had let him obtain such power over my heart; but now, +what signifies one more sacrifice! Does not my life depend on his love? +I feel pleasure, on the contrary, in leaving myself no resource;--there +is none when the heart is wounded; nevertheless, the world may sometimes +think the contrary, and I love to reflect that even in this respect my +calamity would be complete, if Lord Nelville were to leave me!"--"And +does he know how you expose yourself on his account?" proceeded +d'Erfeuil.--"I have taken great care to conceal it from him," answered +Corinne, "and as he is not well acquainted with the customs of this +country, I have a little exaggerated to him the latitude of conduct +which they allow. I must exact from you a promise, that you will never +undeceive him in this respect--I wish him to be perfectly free, he can +never make me happy by any kind of sacrifice. The sentiment which +renders me happy is the flower of my life; were it once to decay, +neither kindness nor delicacy could revive it. I conjure you then, my +dear Count, not to interfere with my destiny; no opinion of yours upon +the affections of the heart can possibly apply to me. Your observations +are very prudent, very sensible, and extremely applicable to the +situations of ordinary life; but you would innocently do me a great +injury, in attempting to judge of my character in the same manner as +large bodies of people are judged, for whom there are maxims ready made. +My sufferings, my enjoyments, and my feelings, are peculiar to myself, +and whoever would influence my happiness must contemplate me alone, +unconnected with the rest of the world." + +The self-love of Count d'Erfeuil was a little wounded by the inutility +of his counsels, and the decided proof of her affection for Lord +Nelville which Corinne gave him. He knew very well that he himself was +not beloved by her, he knew equally that Oswald was; but it was +unpleasant to him to hear this so openly avowed. There is always +something in the favour which a man finds in a lady's sight, that +offends even his best friends.--"I see that I can do nothing for you," +said the Count; "but should you become very unhappy you will think of +me; in the meantime, I am going to leave Rome, for since you and Lord +Nelville are about to quit it, I should be too much bored in your +absence. I shall certainly see you both again, either in Scotland or +Italy; for since I can do nothing better with myself, I have acquired a +taste for travelling. Forgive my having taken the liberty to counsel +you, charming Corinne, and believe me ever devoted to you!"--Corinne +thanked him, and separated with a sentiment of regret. Her acquaintance +with him commenced at the same time as with Oswald, and this remembrance +formed a tie between them which she did not like to see broken. She +conducted herself agreeably to what she had declared to the Count. Some +uneasiness disturbed for a moment the joy with which Lord Nelville had +accepted the project of the journey. He feared that their departure for +Naples might injure Corinne, and wished to obtain her secret before they +went, in order to know with certainty whether some invincible obstacle +to their union might not exist; but she declared to him that she would +not relate her history till they arrived at Naples, and sweetly +deceived him, as to what the public opinion would be on her conduct. +Oswald yielded to the illusion. In a weak and undecided character, love +half deceives, reason half enlightens, and it is the present emotion +that decides which of the two halves shall be the whole. The mind of +Lord Nelville was singularly expansive and penetrating; but he only +formed a correct judgment of himself in reviewing his past conduct. He +never had but a confused idea of his present situation. Susceptible at +once of transport and remorse, of passion and timidity, those contrasts +did not permit him to know himself till the event had decided the combat +that was taking place within him. + +When the friends of Corinne, particularly Prince Castel-Forte, were +informed of her project, they felt considerably chagrined. Prince +Castel-Forte was so much pained at it, that he resolved in a short time +to go and join her. There was certainly no vanity in thus filling up the +train of a favoured lover; but he could not support the dreadful void +which he would find in the absence of Corinne. He had no acquaintances +but the circle he met at her house; and he never entered any other. The +company which assembled around her would disperse when she should be no +longer there; and it would be impossible to collect together the +fragments. Prince Castel-Forte was little accustomed to domestic life: +though possessing a good share of intellect, he did not like the fatigue +of study; the whole day therefore would have been an insufferable weight +to him, if he had not come, morning and evening, to visit Corinne. She +was about to depart--he knew not what to do; however he promised himself +in secret to approach her as a friend, who indulged in no pretensions, +but who was ever at hand to offer his consolation in the moment of +misfortune; such a friend may be sure that his hour will come. + +Corinne felt oppressed with melancholy in thus breaking all her former +connections; she had led for some years in Rome a manner of life that +pleased her. She was the centre of attraction to every artist and to +every enlightened man. A perfect independence of ideas and habits gave +many charms to her existence: what was to become of her now? If destined +to the happiness of espousing Oswald, he would take her to England, and +what would she be thought of there; how would she be able to confine +herself to a mode of existence so different from what she had known for +six years past! But these sentiments only passed through her mind, and +her passion for Oswald always obliterated every trace of them. She saw, +she heard him, and only counted the hours by his absence or his +presence. Who can dispute with happiness? Who does not welcome it when +it comes? Corinne was not possessed of much foresight--neither fear nor +hope existed for her; her faith in the future was vague, and in this +respect her imagination did her little good, and much harm. + +On the morning of her departure, Prince Castel-Forte visited her, and +said with tears in his eyes: "Will you not return to Rome?" "Oh, _Mon +Dieu_, yes!" replied she, "we shall be back in a month."--"But if you +marry Lord Nelville you must leave Italy!" "Leave Italy!" said Corinne, +with a sigh.--"This country," continued Prince Castel-Forte, "where your +language is spoken, where you are so well known, where you are so warmly +admired, and your friends, Corinne--your friends! Where will you be +beloved as you are here? Where will you find that perfection of the +imagination and the fine arts, so congenial to your soul? Is then our +whole life composed of one sentiment? Is it not language, customs, and +manners, that compose the love of our country; that love which creates +a home sickness so terrible to the exile?" "Ah, what is it you tell me," +cried Corinne, "have I not felt it? Is it not that which has decided my +fate?"--She regarded mournfully her room and the statues that adorned +it, then the Tiber which rolled its waves beneath her windows, and the +sky whose beauty seemed to invite her to stay. But at that moment Oswald +crossed the bridge of St Angelo on horseback, swift as lightning. "There +he is!" cried Corinne. Hardly had she uttered these words, when he was +already arrived,--she ran to meet him, and both impatient to set out +hastened to ascend the carriage. Corinne, however, took a kind farewell +of Prince Castel-Forte; but her obliging expressions were lost in the +midst of the cries of postillions, the neighing of horses, and all that +bustle of departure, sometimes sad, and sometimes intoxicating, +according to the fear or the hope which the new chances of destiny +inspire. + + + + +Book xi. + +NAPLES AND THE HERMITAGE OF ST SALVADOR. + +[Illustration] + + + + +Chapter i. + + +Oswald was proud of carrying off his conquest; he who felt himself +almost always disturbed in his enjoyments by reflections and regrets, +for once did not experience the pangs of uncertainty. It was not that he +was decided, but he did not think about it and followed the tide of +events hoping it would lead him to the object of his wishes. + +They traversed the district of Albano[32], where is still shown what is +believed to be the tomb of the Horatii and the Curiatii. They passed +near the lake of Nemi and the sacred woods that surround it. It is said +that Hippolitus was resuscitated by Diana in these parts; she would not +permit horses to approach it, and by this prohibition perpetuated the +memory of her young favourite's misfortune. Thus in Italy our memory is +refreshed by History and Poetry almost at every step, and the charming +situations which recall them, soften all that is melancholy in the past, +and seem to preserve an eternal youth. + +Oswald and Corinne traversed the Pontine marshes--a country at once +fertile and pestilential,--where, with all the fecundity of nature, a +single habitation is not to be found. Some sickly men change your +horses, recommending to you not to sleep in passing the marshes; for +sleep there is really the harbinger of death. The plough which some +imprudent cultivators will still sometimes guide over this fatal land, +is drawn by buffaloes, in appearance at once mean and ferocious, whilst +the most brilliant sun sheds its lustre on this melancholy spectacle. +The marshy and unwholesome parts in the north are announced by their +repulsive aspect; but in the more fatal countries of the south, nature +preserves a serenity, the deceitful mildness of which is an illusion to +travellers. If it be true that it is very dangerous to sleep in crossing +the Pontine marshes, their invincible soporific influence in the heat of +the day is one of those perfidious impressions which we receive from +this spot. Lord Nelville constantly watched over Corinne. Sometimes she +leant her head on Theresa who accompanied them; sometimes she closed her +eyes, overcome by the languor of the air. Oswald awakened her +immediately, with inexpressible terror; and though he was naturally +taciturn, he was now inexhaustible in subjects of conversation, always +well supported and always new, to prevent her from yielding to this +fatal sleep. Ah! should we not pardon the heart of a woman the cruel +regret which attaches to those days when she was beloved, when her +existence was so necessary to that of another, when at every moment she +was supported and protected? What isolation must succeed this season of +delight! How happy are they whom the sacred hand of Hymen has conducted +from love to friendship, without one painful moment having embittered +their course! + +Oswald and Corinne, after the anxious passage of the marshes, at length +arrived at Terracina, on the sea coast, near the confines of the kingdom +of Naples. It is there that the south truly begins; it is there that it +receives travellers in all its magnificence. Naples, _that happy +country_, is, as it were, separated from the rest of Europe by the sea +which surrounds it and by that dangerous district which must be passed +in order to arrive at it. One would say that nature, wishing to secure +to herself this charming abode, has designedly made all access to it +perilous. At Rome we are not yet in the south; we have there a foretaste +of its sweets, but its enchantment only truly begins in the territory of +Naples. Not far from Terracina is the promontory fixed upon by the poets +as the abode of Circe: and behind Terracina rises Mount Anxur, where +Theodoric, king of the Goths, had placed one of those strong castles +with which the northern warriors have covered the earth. There are few +traces of the invasion of Italy by the barbarians; or at least, where +those traces consist in devastation, they are confounded with the +effects of time. The northern nations have not given to Italy that +warlike aspect which Germany has preserved. It seems that the gentle +soil of Ausonia was unable to support the fortifications and citadels +which bristle in northern countries. Rarely is a Gothic edifice or a +feudal castle to be met with here; and the monuments of the ancient +Romans reign alone triumphant over Time, and the nations by whom they +have been conquered. + +The whole mountain which dominates Terracina, is covered with orange and +lemon trees, which embalm the air in a delicious manner. There is +nothing in our climate that resembles the southern perfume of lemon +trees in the open air; it produces on the imagination almost the same +effect as melodious music; it gives a poetic disposition to the soul, +stimulates genius, and intoxicates with the charms of nature. The aloe +and the broad-leaved cactus, which are met here at every step, have a +peculiar aspect, which brings to mind all that we know of the formidable +productions of Africa. These plants inspire a sort of terror: they seem +to belong to a violent and despotic nature. The whole aspect of the +country is foreign: we feel ourselves in another world, a world which is +only known by the descriptions of the ancient poets, who have at the +same time so much imagination and so much exactness in their +descriptions. On entering Terracina, the children threw into the +carriage of Corinne an immense quantity of flowers which they gather by +the road-side or on the mountain, and which they carelessly scatter +about; such is their reliance on the prodigality of nature! The carts +which bring home the harvest from the fields are every day ornamented +with garlands of roses, and sometimes the children surround the cups +they drink out of with flowers; for beneath such a sky the imagination +of the common people becomes poetical. By the side of these smiling +pictures the sea, whose billows lashed the shore with fury, was seen and +heard. It was not agitated by the storm; but by the rocks which stand in +habitual opposition to its waves, irritating its grandeur. + + E non udite ancor come risuona + Il roco ed alto fremito marino? + +_And do you not hear still the hoarse and deep roar of the sea?_ + +This motion without aim, this strength without object which is renewed +throughout eternity without our being able to discover either its cause +or its end, attracts us to the shore, where this grand spectacle offers +itself to our sight; and we experience, as it were, a desire mingled +with terror, to approach the waves and to deaden our thoughts by their +tumult. + +Towards the evening all was calm. Corinne and Lord Nelville walked into +the country; they proceeded with a slow pace silently enjoying the scene +before them. Each step they took crushed the flowers and extorted from +them their delicious perfumes; the nightingales, resting on the +rose-bushes, willingly lent their song, so that the purest melodies were +united to the most delicious odours; all the charms of nature mutually +attracted each other, while the softness of the air was beyond +expression. When we contemplate a fine view in the north, the climate in +some degree disturbs the pleasure which it inspires: those slight +sensations of cold and humidity are like a false note in a concert, and +more or less distract your attention from what you behold; but in +approaching Naples you experience the friendly smiles of nature, so +perfectly and without alloy, that nothing abates the agreeable +sensations which they cause you. All the relations of man in our climate +are with society. Nature, in hot countries, puts us in relation with +external objects, and our sentiments sweetly expand. Not but that the +south has also its melancholy. In what part of the earth does not human +destiny produce this impression? But in this melancholy there is neither +discontent, anxiety, nor regret. In other countries it is life, which, +such as it is, does not suffice for the faculties of the soul; here the +faculties of the soul do not suffice for life, and the superabundance of +sensation inspires a dreamy indolence, which we can hardly account for +when oppressed with it. + +During the night, flies of a shining hue fill the air; one would say +that the mountain emitted sparks of fire, and that the burning earth had +let loose some of its flames. These insects fly through the trees, +sometimes repose on the leaves, and the wind blows these minute stars +about, varying in a thousand ways their uncertain light. The sand also +contained a great number of metallic stones, which sparkled on every +side: it was the land of fire, still preserving in its bosom the traces +of the sun, whose last rays had just warmed it. There is a life, and at +the same time, a repose, in this nature, which entirely satisfies the +various desires of human existence. + +Corinne abandoned herself to the charms of this evening, and was +penetrated with joy; nor could Oswald conceal the emotion they +inspired--many times he pressed Corinne to his heart, many times he drew +back from her, then returned, then drew back again out of respect to her +who was to be the companion of his life. Corinne felt no alarm, for such +was her esteem for Oswald, that if he had demanded the entire surrender +of her being she would have considered that request as a solemn vow to +espouse her; but she saw him triumph over himself, and this conquest was +an honour paid her; whilst her heart felt that plenitude of happiness, +and of love, which does not permit us to form another desire. Oswald was +far from being so calm: he was fired with the charms of Corinne. Once he +threw himself at her feet with violence, and seemed to have lost all +empire over his passion; but Corinne regarded him with such an +expression of sweetness and fear, she made him so sensible of his power +while beseeching him not to abuse it, that this humble entreaty inspired +him with more respect than any other could possibly have done. + +They then perceived in the sea, the reflection of a torch carried by the +unknown hand of one who traversed the shore, repairing secretly to a +neighbouring house. "He is going to see the object of his love;" said +Oswald.--"Yes," answered Corinne. "And my happiness, for to-day, is +about to end,"--resumed Oswald. At this moment the looks of Corinne were +lifted towards heaven, and her eyes suffused with tears. Oswald, fearing +that he had offended her, fell on his knees to entreat her forgiveness +for that love which had overpowered him. "No," said Corinne, stretching +forth her hand to him, and inviting him to return with her. "No, +Oswald, I feel no alarm: you will respect her who loves you: you know +that a simple request from you would be all-powerful with me; it is +therefore you who must be my security--you who would for ever reject me +as your bride, if you had rendered me unworthy of being so." "Well," +answered Oswald, "since you believe in this cruel empire of your will +upon my heart, Corinne, whence arises your sadness?"--"Alas!" replied +she, "I was saying to myself, that the moments which I have just passed +with you were the happiest of my life, and as I turned my eyes in +gratitude to heaven, I know not by what chance, a superstition of my +childhood revived in my heart. The moon which I contemplated was covered +with a cloud, and the aspect of that cloud was fatal. I have always +found in the sky a countenance sometimes paternal and sometimes angry; +and I tell you, Oswald, heaven has to-night condemned our love."--"My +dear," answered Lord Nelville, "the only omens of the life of man, are +his good or evil actions; and have I not this very evening, immolated my +most ardent desires on the altar of virtue?"--"Well, so much the better +if you are not included in this presage," replied Corinne; "it may be +that this angry sky has only threatened me." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[32] There is a charming description of the Lake of Albano, in a +collection of poems by Madame Brunn, _nee_ Muenter, whose talent and +imagination give her a first rank among the women of her country. + + + + +Chapter ii. + + +They arrived at Naples by day, in the midst of that immense population, +at once so animated and so indolent. They first traversed the Via +Toledo, and saw the Lazzaroni lying on the pavement, or in osier baskets +which serve them for lodging, day and night. There is something +extremely original in this state of savage existence, mingled with +civilization. There are some among these men who do not even know their +own name, and who go to confess anonymous sins; not being able to tell +who it is that has committed them. There is a subterranean grotto at +Naples where thousands of Lazzaroni pass their lives, only going out at +noon to see the sun, and sleeping the rest of the day, whilst their +wives spin. In climates where food and raiment are so easy of attainment +it requires a very independent and active government to give sufficient +emulation to a nation; for it is so easy for the people merely to +subsist at Naples, that they can dispense with that industry which is +necessary to procure a livelihood elsewhere. Laziness and ignorance +combined with the volcanic air which is breathed in this spot, ought to +produce ferocity when the passions are excited; but this people is not +worse than any other. They possess imagination, which might become the +principle of disinterested actions and give them a bias for virtue, if +their religious and political institutions were good. + +Calabrians are seen marching in a body to cultivate the earth with a +fiddler at their head, and dancing from time to time, to rest themselves +from walking. There is every year, near Naples, a festival consecrated +to the _madonna of the grotto_, at which the girls dance to the sound of +the tambourine and the castanets, and it is not uncommon for a condition +to be inserted in the marriage contract, that the husband shall take his +wife every year to this festival. There is on the stage at Naples, a +performer eighty years old, who for sixty years has entertained the +Neapolitans in their comic, national character of Polichinello. Can we +imagine what the immortality of the soul may be to a man who thus +employs his long life? The people of Naples have no other idea of +happiness than pleasure; but the love of pleasure is still better than +a barren egotism. + +It is true that no people in the world are more fond of money than the +Neapolitans: if you ask a man of the people in the street to show you +your way, he stretches out his hand after having made you a sign, for +they are more indolent in speech than in action; but their avidity for +money is not methodical nor studied; they spend it as soon as they get +it. They use money as savages would if it were introduced among them. +But what this nation is most wanting in, is the sentiment of dignity. +They perform generous and benevolent actions from a good heart rather +than from principle; for their theory in every respect is good for +nothing, and public opinion in this country has no force. But when men +or women escape this moral anarchy their conduct is more remarkable in +itself and more worthy of admiration than any where else, since there is +nothing in external circumstances favourable to virtue. It is born +entirely in the soul. Laws and manners neither reward nor punish it. He +who is virtuous is so much the more heroic for not being on that account +either more considered or more sought after. + +With some honourable exceptions the higher classes pretty nearly +resemble the lower: the mind of the one is seldom more cultivated than +that of the other, and the practice of society is the only external +difference between them. But in the midst of this ignorance there is +such a natural intelligence in all ranks that it is impossible to +foresee what a nation like this might become if all the energies of +government were directed to the advancement of knowledge and morality. +As there is little education at Naples, we find there, at present, more +originality of character than of mind. But the remarkable men of this +country, it is said, such as the Abbe Galiani, Caraccioli, &c., +possessed the highest sense of humour, joined to the most profound +reflection,--rare powers of the mind!--an union without which either +pedantry or frivolity would hinder us from knowing the true value of +things. + +The Neapolitan people, in some respects, are not civilized at all; but +their vulgarity does not at all resemble that of other nations. Their +very rudeness interests the imagination. The African coast which borders +the sea on the other side is almost perceptible; there is something +Numidian in the savage cries which are heard in every part of the city. +Those swarthy faces, those vestments formed of a few pieces of red or +violet stuff whose deep colours attract the eye, even those very rags in +which this artistic people drape themselves with grace, give to the +populace a picturesque appearance, whilst in other countries they +exhibit nothing but the miseries of civilization. A certain taste for +finery and decoration is often found in Naples accompanied with an +absolute lack of necessaries and conveniences. The shops are agreeably +ornamented with flowers and fruit. Some have a festive appearance that +has no relation to plenty nor to public felicity, but only to a lively +imagination; they seek before every thing to please the eye. The +mildness of the climate permits mechanics of every class to work in the +streets. The tailors are seen making clothes, and the victuallers +providing their repasts, and these domestic occupations going on out of +doors, multiply action in a thousand ways. Singing, dancing, and noisy +sports, are very suitable to this spectacle; and there is no country +where we feel more clearly the difference between amusement and +happiness. At length we quit the interior of the city, and arrive at the +quays, whence we have a view of the sea and of Mount Vesuvius, and +forget then all that we know of man. + +Oswald and Corinne arrived at Naples, whilst the eruption of Mount +Vesuvius yet lasted. By day nothing was seen but the black smoke which +mixed with the clouds; but viewing it in the evening from the balcony of +their abode it excited an entirely unexpected emotion. A river of fire +descends towards the sea, and its burning waves, like the billows of the +sea, express the rapid succession of continual and untiring motion. One +would say that when nature transforms herself into various elements she +nevertheless preserves some traces of a single and primal thought. The +phenomenon of Vesuvius deeply impresses us. We are commonly so +familiarised with external objects that we hardly perceive their +existence; we scarcely ever feel a new emotion in the midst of our +prosaic countries, but that astonishment which the universe ought to +cause, is suddenly evoked at the aspect of an unknown wonder of +creation: our whole being is shaken by this power of nature, in whose +social combinations we have been so long absorbed; we feel that the +greatest mysteries in this world do not all consist in man, and that he +is threatened or protected by a force independent of himself, in +obedience to laws which he cannot penetrate. Oswald and Corinne proposed +to ascend Mount Vesuvius, and the peril of this enterprise gave an +additional charm to a project which they were to execute together. + + + + +Chapter iii. + + +There was at that time in the port of Naples, an English man-of-war in +which divine service was performed every Sunday. The captain, and all +the English who were at Naples, invited Lord Nelville to come the +following day; he consented without thinking at first whether he should +take Corinne with him, and how he should present her to his +fellow-countrymen. He was tormented by this disquietude the whole night. +As he was walking with Corinne, on the following morning near the port +and was about to advise her not to go on board, they saw an English +long-boat rowed by ten sailors, clad in white, and wearing black velvet +caps, on which was embroidered silver leopards. A young officer landed +from it, and accosting Corinne by the name of Lady Nelville, begged to +have the honour of conducting her to the ship. At the name of Lady +Nelville Corinne was embarrassed--she blushed and cast down her eyes. +Oswald appeared to hesitate a moment: then suddenly taking her hand, he +said to her in English,--"Come, my dear,"--and she followed him. + +The noise of the waves and the silence of the sailors, who neither moved +nor spoke but in pursuance of their duty, and who rapidly conducted the +bark over that sea which they had so often traversed, gave birth to +reverie. Besides, Corinne dared not question Lord Nelville on what had +just passed. She sought to conjecture his purpose, not thinking (which +is however the more probable) that he had none, and that he yielded to +each new circumstance. One moment she imagined that he was conducting +her to divine service in order to espouse her, and this idea caused her +at the time more fear than happiness: it appeared to her that she was +going to quit Italy and return to England, where she had suffered so +much. The severity of manners and customs in that country returned to +her mind, and love itself could not entirely triumph over the bitterness +of her recollections. But how astonished will she be in other +circumstances at those thoughts, fleeting as they were! how she will +abjure them! + +Corinne ascended the ship, the interior of which presented a picture of +the most studied cleanliness and order. Nothing was heard but the voice +of the captain, which was prolonged and repeated from one end to the +other by command and obedience. The subordination, regularity, silence, +and serious deportment so remarkable on this ship, formed a system of +social order rigid and free, in contrast with the city of Naples, so +volatile, so passionate, and tumultuous. Oswald was occupied with +Corinne and the impressions she received; but his attention was +sometimes diverted from her by the pleasure he felt in finding himself +in his native country. And indeed are not ships and the open sea a +second country to an Englishman? Oswald walked the deck with the English +on board to learn the news from England, and to discuss the politics of +their country; during which time Corinne was with some English ladies +who had come from Naples to attend divine worship. They were surrounded +by their children, as beautiful as the day, but timid as their mothers; +and not a word was spoken before a new acquaintance. This constraint, +this silence, rendered Corinne very sad; she turned her eyes towards +beautiful Naples, towards its flowery shores, its animated existence, +and sighed. Fortunately for her Oswald did not perceive it; on the +contrary, beholding her seated among English women, her dark eyelids +cast down like their fair ones, and conforming in every respect to their +manners, he felt a sensation of joy. In vain does an Englishman find +pleasure in foreign manners; his heart always reverts to the first +impressions of his life. If you ask Englishmen sailing at the extremity +of the world whither they are going, they will answer you, _home_, if +they are returning to England. Their wishes and their sentiments are +always turned towards their native country, at whatever distance they +may be from it. + +They descended between decks to hear divine service, and Corinne soon +perceived that her idea was without foundation, that Lord Nelville had +not formed the solemn project she had at first supposed. She then +reproached herself with having feared such an event, and the +embarrassment of her present situation revived in her bosom; for all the +company believed her to be the wife of Lord Nelville, and she had not +the courage to say a word that might either destroy or confirm this +idea. Oswald suffered as cruelly as she did; but in the midst of a +thousand rare qualities, there was much weakness and irresolution in his +character. These defects are unperceived by their possessor, and assume +in his eyes a new form under every circumstance; he conceives it +alternately to be prudence, sensibility, or delicacy, which defers the +moment of adopting a resolution and prolongs a state of indecision; +hardly ever does he feel that it is the same character which attaches +this kind of inconvenience to every circumstance. + +Corinne, however, notwithstanding the painful thoughts that occupied +her, received a deep impression from the spectacle which she witnessed. +Nothing, in truth, speaks more to the soul than divine service performed +on board a ship; and the noble simplicity of the reformed worship seems +particularly adapted to the sentiments which are then felt. A young man +performed the functions of chaplain; he preached with a mild but firm +voice, and his figure bespoke the rigid principles of a pure soul amidst +the ardour of youth. That severity carries with it an idea of force, +very suitable to a religion preached among the perils of war. At stated +moments, the English minister delivered prayers, the last words of which +all the assembly repeated with him. These confused but mild voices +proceeding from various distances kept alive interest and emotion. The +sailors, the officers, and the captain, knelt down several times, +particularly at these words, "_Lord, have mercy upon us!_" The sword of +the captain, which dragged on the deck whilst he was kneeling, called to +mind that noble union of humility before God and intrepidity before man, +which renders the devotion of warriors so affecting; and whilst these +brave people besought the God of armies, the sea was seen through the +port-holes, and sometimes the murmuring of the waves, at that moment +tranquil, seemed to say, "_your prayers are heard_." The chaplain +finished, the service by a prayer, peculiar to the English sailors. +"_May God_," say they, "_give us grace to defend our happy Constitution +from without, and to find on our return domestic happiness at home!_" +How many fine sentiments are united in these simple words! The long and +continued study which the navy requires and the austere life led in a +ship, make it a military cloister in the midst of the waves; and the +regularity of the most serious occupations is there only interrupted by +perils and death. The sailors, in spite of their rough, hardy manners, +often express themselves with much gentleness, and show a particular +tenderness to women and children when they meet them on board. We are +the more touched with these sentiments, because we know with what +coolness they expose themselves to those terrible dangers of war and the +sea, in the midst of which the presence of man has something of the +supernatural. + +Corinne and Lord Nelville returned to the boat which was to bring them +ashore; they beheld the city of Naples, built in the form of an +amphitheatre, as if to take part more commodiously in the festival of +nature; and Corinne, in setting her foot again upon Italian ground, +could not refrain from feeling a sentiment of joy. If Nelville had +suspected this sentiment he would have been hurt at it, and perhaps with +reason; yet he would have been unjust towards Corinne, who loved him +passionately in spite of the painful impression caused by the +remembrance of a country where cruel circumstances had rendered her so +unhappy. Her imagination was lively; there was in her heart a great +capacity for love; but talent, especially in a woman, begets a +disposition to weariness, a want of something to divert the attention, +which the most profound passion cannot make entirely disappear. The idea +of a monotonous life, even in the midst of happiness, makes a mind which +stands in need of variety, to shudder with fear. It is only when there +is little wind in the sails, that we can keep close to shore; but the +imagination roves at large, although affection be constant; it is so, at +least, till the moment when misfortune makes every inconsistency +disappear, and leaves but one thought and one grief in the mind. + +Oswald attributed the reverie of Corinne solely to the embarrassment +into which she had been thrown by hearing herself called Lady Nelville; +and reproaching himself for not having released her from that +embarrassment he feared she might suspect him of levity. He began +therefore in order to arrive at the long-desired explanation by offering +to relate to her his own history. "I will speak first," said he, "and +your confidence will follow mine." "Yes, undoubtedly it must," answered +Corinne, trembling; "but tell me at what day--at what hour? When you +have spoken, I will tell you all."--"How agitated you are," answered +Oswald; "what then, will you ever feel that fear of your friend, that +mistrust of his heart?" "No," continued Corinne; "it is decided; I have +committed it all to writing, and if you choose, to-morrow--" +"To-morrow," said Lord Nelville, "we are to go together to Vesuvius; I +wish to contemplate with you this astonishing wonder, to learn from you +how to admire it; and in this very journey, if I have the strength, I +will make you acquainted with the particulars of my past life. My heart +is determined; thus my confidence will open the way to yours." "So you +give me to-morrow," replied Corinne; "I thank you for this one day. Ah! +who knows whether you will be the same for me when I have opened my soul +to you? And how can I feel such a doubt without shuddering?" + + + + +Chapter iv. + + +The ruins of Pompei are near to Mount Vesuvius, and Corinne and Lord +Neville began their excursion with these ruins. They were both silent; +for the moment approached which was to decide their fate, and that vague +hope they had so long enjoyed, and which accords so well with the +indolence and reverie that the climate of Italy inspires, was to be +replaced by a positive destiny. They visited Pompei together, the most +curious ruin of antiquity. At Rome, seldom any thing is found but the +remains of public monuments, and these monuments only retrace the +political history of past ages; but at Pompei it is the private life of +the ancients which offers itself to the view, such as it was. The +Volcano, which has covered this city with ashes, has preserved it from +the destroying hand of Time. Edifices, exposed to the air, never could +have remained so perfect; but this hidden relic of antiquity was found +entire. The paintings and bronzes were still in their pristine beauty; +and every thing connected with domestic life is fearfully preserved. The +amphorae are yet prepared for the festival of the following day; the +flour which was to be kneaded is still to be seen; the remains of a +woman, are still decorated with those ornaments which she wore on the +holiday that the Volcano disturbed, and her calcined arms no longer fill +the bracelets of precious stones which still surround them. Nowhere is +to be seen so striking an image of the sudden interruption of life. The +traces of the wheels are visible in the streets, and the stones on the +brink of the wells bear the mark of the cord which has gradually +furrowed them. On the walls of a guardhouse are still to be seen those +misshapen characters, those figures rudely sketched, which the soldiers +traced to pass away the time, while Time was hastily advancing to +swallow them up. + +When we place ourselves in the midst of the crossroads from which the +city that remains standing almost entire is seen on all sides, it seems +to us as if we were waiting for somebody, as if the master were coming; +and even the appearance of life which this abode offers makes us feel +more sadly its eternal silence. It is with petrified lava that the +greater part of these houses are built, which are now swallowed up by +other lava. Thus ruins are heaped upon ruins, and tombs upon tombs. This +history of the world, where the epochs are counted from ruin to ruin, +this picture of human life, which is only lighted up by the Volcanoes +that have consumed it, fill the heart with a profound melancholy. How +long man has existed! How long he has suffered and died! Where can we +find his sentiments and his thoughts? Is the air that we breathe in +these ruins impregnated with them, or are they for ever deposited in +heaven where reigns immortality? Some burnt leaves of manuscripts, which +have been found at Herculaneum, and Pompei, and which scholars at +Portici are employed to decipher, are all that remain to give us +information of those unhappy victims, whom the Volcano, that +thunder-bolt of earth, has destroyed. But in passing near those ashes, +which art has succeeded in reanimating, we are afraid to breathe lest a +breath should carry away that dust where noble ideas are perhaps still +imprinted. + +The public edifices in the city itself of Pompei, which was one of the +least important of Italy, are yet tolerably fine. The luxury of the +ancients had almost ever some object of public interest for its aim. +Their private houses are very small, and we do not see in them any +studied magnificence, though we may remark a lively taste for the fine +arts in their possessors. Almost the whole interior is adorned with the +most agreeable paintings and mosaic pavements ingeniously worked. On +many of these pavements is written the word _Salve_. This word is placed +on the threshold of the door, and must not be simply considered as a +polite expression, but as an invocation of hospitality. The rooms are +singularly narrow, and badly lighted; the windows do not look on the +street, but on a portico inside the house, as well as a marble court +which it surrounds. In the midst of this court is a cistern, simply +ornamented. It is evident from this kind of habitation that the ancients +lived almost entirely in the open air, and that it was there they +received their friends. Nothing gives us a more sweet and voluptuous +idea of existence than this climate, which intimately unites man with +nature; we should suppose that the character of their conversation and +their society, ought, with such habits, to be different from those of a +country where the rigour of the cold forces the inhabitants to shut +themselves up in their houses. We understand better the Dialogues of +Plato in contemplating those porches under which the ancients walked +during one half of the day. They were incessantly animated by the +spectacle of a beautiful sky: social order, according to their +conceptions, was not the dry combination of calculation and force, but a +happy assemblage of institutions, which stimulated the faculties, +unfolded the soul, and directed man to the perfection of himself and his +equals. + +Antiquity inspires an insatiable curiosity. Those men of erudition who +are occupied only in forming a collection of names which they call +history, are certainly divested of all imagination. But to penetrate the +remotest periods of the past, to interrogate the human heart through the +intervening gloom of ages, to seize a fact by the help of a word, and by +the aid of that fact to discover the character and manners of a nation; +in effect, to go back to the remotest time, to figure to ourselves how +the earth in its first youth appeared to the eyes of man, and in what +manner the human race then supported the gift of existence which +civilization has now rendered so complicated, is a continual effort of +the imagination, which divines and discovers the finest secrets that +reflection and study can reveal to us. This occupation of the mind +Oswald found most fascinating, and often repeated to Corinne that if he +had not been taken up with the noblest interests in his own country, he +could only have found life supportable in those parts where the +monuments of history supply the place of present existence. We must at +least regret glory when it is no longer possible to obtain it. It is +forgetfulness alone that debases the soul; but it may find an asylum in +the past, when barren circumstances deprive actions of their aim. + +On leaving Pompei and returning to Portici, Corinne and Lord Nelville +were surrounded by the inhabitants, who cried to them loudly to come and +see _the mountain_; so they call _Vesuvius_. Is it necessary to name it? +It is the glory of the Neapolitans and the object of their patriotic +feelings; their country is distinguished by this phenomenon. Oswald had +Corinne carried in a kind of palanquin as far as the hermitage of St +Salvador, which is half way up the mountain, and where travellers repose +before they undertake to climb the summit. He rode by her side to watch +those who carried her, and the more his heart was filled with the +generous thoughts that nature and history inspire, the more he adored +Corinne. + +At the foot of Vesuvius the country is the most fertile and best +cultivated that can be found in the kingdom of Naples, that is to say, +in the country of Europe most favoured of heaven. The celebrated vine, +whose wine is called _Lacryma Christi_, grows in this spot, and by the +side of lands which have been laid waste by the lava. One would say that +nature has made a last effort in this spot, so near the Volcano, and has +decked herself in her richest attire before her death. In proportion as +we ascend the mountain, we discover on turning round, Naples, and the +beautiful country that surrounds it. The rays of the sun make the sea +sparkle like precious stones; but all the splendour of the creation is +extinguished by degrees as we approach the land of ashes and smoke which +announces the vicinity of the Volcano. The ferruginous lava of preceding +years has traced in the earth deep and sable furrows, and all around +them is barren. At a certain height not a bird is seen to fly, at +another, plants become very scarce, then even the insects find nothing +to subsist on in the arid soil. At length every living thing disappears; +you enter the empire of death, and the pulverised ashes alone roll +beneath your uncertain feet. + + Ne griggi ne armenti + Guida bifolco, mai guida pastore + +_Neither flocks nor herds does the husbandman or the shepherd ever guide +to this spot._ + +Here dwells a hermit on the confines of life and death. A tree, the +last farewell of vegetation, grows before his door: and it is beneath +the shadow of its pale foliage that travellers are accustomed to wait +the approach of night, to continue their route; for during the day, the +fires of Vesuvius are only perceived like a cloud of smoke, and the +lava, so bright and burning in the night, appears black before the beams +of the sun. This metamorphosis itself is a fine spectacle, which renews +every evening that astonishment which the continuity of the same aspect +might weaken. The impression of this spot and its profound solitude, +gave Lord Nelville more resolution to reveal the secrets of his soul; +and desiring to excite the confidence of Corinne, he said to her with +the most lively emotion:--"You wish to read the inmost soul of your +unhappy friend; well, I will tell you all: I feel my wounds are about to +bleed afresh; but ought we, in this desolate scene of nature, to dread +so much those sufferings which Time brings in its course?" + +[Illustration] + +PRINTED BY TURNBULL AND SPEARS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Corinne, Volume 1 (of 2), by Mme de Stael + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CORINNE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2) *** + +***** This file should be named 16896.txt or 16896.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/8/9/16896/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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